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T H I Si ^ O O
WAS SOLD TO
HENRY BVRON PHILLIPS
AN
ENCYCLOPAEDIA
OF
AGRICULTURE:
COMPRISING THE
THEORY AND PRACTICE
OF THE VALUATION, TRANSFER, LAYING OUT, IMPROVEMENT, AND
MANAGEMENT OF
LANDED PROPERTY}
AND THE CULTIVATION AND ECONOMY OF
THE ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS
OF AGRICULTURE,
INCLUDING
an tfie \mn Jmptotjement^ i
A GENERAL HISTORY OF AGRICUJ.TURE IN ALL COUNTRIES;
AND A STATISTICAL VIEW OF ITS PRESENT STATE,
WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR ITS FUTURE PROGRESS IN THE
BRITISH ISLES.
By J. C. LOUDON, F. L. G. Z. & H.S. &c.
AOTHOR OP THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF GAp.DENING,
AND CONDUCTOR OP IHE GARDENER'S MAGAZINE, AND OF THE MAGAZINE OF NATURAL IHSTORY.
SECOND EDITION.
ILLUSTRATED WITH
UPWARDS OF ELEVEN HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD BY BRANSTON
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR
LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREE:N,
PATERNOSTER-ROW. -^
1831.
Mam U^'
LoN'now
Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode,
New- St reel- Square.
PREFACE.
the cultivation and treatment of its more useful a,!L»I !nH ^'"^''"'^ f^onomy ; and
are called HuA.niry, or ^,nc«*«« Tna more HmUed "use ff Se l?™ "^"'''"'' "''''^''
have been the publications on rural matters durin",! uT, ^™- Numerous as
two or three of them whose titles mXZn.^ ^ ' "''"'>' >'«'"^' "'"'^ »« but
of these departments. Th« "one oTI,em dfd ^w'TT". '^' ""^ '^'"'^'^ "oth
appearance of this Encyclop^d,: m'ay b^ ct^fiXntTraSed""^"'' -^^™""^ -^ «"
comp L^Sen ss .iLTl'u^ an^».yc V«*„ „/ ^gn.^ft^r., ^n account of its superior
expeLnce and XrvT.l /;: l^Frto^^^^ ''T ^ ^"^^'^ P™"'"'
embrace everv part of the subiect and wht.T "^ u-^ " ''°°'"'- '' Professes to
a general History of A^ricuSin alt'co,^^^^^^ "T '""'T" '^" -"«'"P"^<J. to give
state in every coLty of th" British lerTsv-sS-",^ '.™"''^"='"' =""^y of i«» Pre^n,
far the best for instruction, andTso ^ l^st tlSr^f "'■''"«""• "' '^ ="'°P""* »^ '')'
r:'hoX7re^ri't:rh-i£?^^^^^^^
Thrufc^rti^/rBS
of the Agriculture o;:nVo;re\'r;^:sTtdrrs*n
sxr^it^rxts^nAtfo'ii^^^^^^^^^^
rd^i-bj^gt^rd^nf^S?""^^^^^^^^^^^^
::£iXirirSHrr-r^^^^^^^
bailiffs, and othTr irvlnl aJ^^fcuISs wtS '" ^^"«-"g ?-_, ^"ties of land stewards,
(See § 7834. 78^ and^7953 "mso ) C"? '"''"''''!^- '"^ .'*"'• ''■'^'' >'"??<'«•
fltrwitrf-to'iTsiS^^
a^r-s:?--e:?s^^^^
buildings have noTfornd^rir wty inVl^tl J^ 'anTforTem" 'b '""'^?'"'^ """
Lv;rm:«;rranr;;:rrb.tS?i"^^^^^^
Agricultural Repository oXd Ifreet l^^Tf^ ^"^ ■" ^' foP"^'"'^ «f heir's
from their extensive colfe^donrandmoreVSlarif of ^w^^ "' '" """^ '''''''"^
which the late Mr. Weir iny^ni^A^JZ. Pf "!'^""™y f «hosc implements and machines •
to Mr. Morton LiAwLlk Edinbumh wrr""'' „ *'"' !"'' *""''' "^"^ "''« <>"«
mechanist in Scotland ^ to Met" Cotta^ and Tu" T'i^^' ,"' ^" -«"''=""--'J
iv PREFACE.
of agricultural implements both in timber and iron. There is no implement or
machine mentioned in this work which will not be found on sale, or may not be
made to order, in the establishments of these gentlemen, in the best manner, and at
an equitable charge.
For important assistance in the Veterinary Part of this work, our best thanks are due
to an eminent professor. Through the kind assistance of this gentleman we have been
enabled to bring together a body of useful information on the anatomy, physiology,
pathology, breeding, rearing, and general treatment of the horse, the ox, the sheep, and
other domestic animals, even to dogs and poultry, such as we can safely assert is not to
be found in any other single volume on Agriculture.
It may be necessary to mention, as a key to this work, that such technical terms as are
used in a more definite sense than usual, or such as practical readers in the country, or
mere general readers, may be supposed not familiar with, are explained in a Glossarial
Index (p. 1241.) ; and that the abridged titles of books are given at length in an appro-
priate catalogue, (p. viii.) The systematic nomenclature of plants adopted is that of our
Hortus Britdnnicus, with some exceptions which are noted where they occur. In the
specific names of the more common animals, we have followed Turton's edition of the
Sysiema Natiirce of Linnseus ; in those of insects, \^'e have followed modern authors : such
chemical, mineralogical, and geological terms as occur, are those used by Sir H. Davy
in his Agricultural Chemistry, and by Professor Brande in his Geology : the weights and
measures are always according to the standard of Britain, and the temperature to that of
Fahrenheit's thermometer, unless otherwise expressed. Systematic names of animals,
vegetables, and minerals are accented, and their derivations indicated, in the manner
adopted in the Gardener s Magazine and in the Magazine of Natural History, as ex-
plained in a separate article, (p. vii.)
The recent changes which have taken place in the market value of currency, render
price a criterion of much too temporary a nature to be employed in any work which
aims at general and permanent utility. For this reason we have in this Encyclopaedia
generally avoided money calculations, preferring to indicate the value of objects or
operations by the quantity of materials and labour requisite to produce them, or by
stating their cost relatively to the cost of other articles.
We have also avoided entering on the subject of state policy, as to the relative pro-
tection of agriculture and manufactures, or of the protection of the home against the
foreign grower of corn. Natural prices will always be safer for the farmer than arti-
ficial ones ; and with low prices the farmer has the chance of deriving a greater benefit on
an extraordinary rise, and sustaining less loss on an extraordinary fall. If the prices of
corn were one half lower than they are, neither farmers nor proprietors would find their
comforts diminished ; for the value of manufactures and importations would fall in pro-
portion to that of agricultural produce. Price, it is true, is not always value ; but they
are never materially different for any length of time.
The first edition of this work was written in the autumn and winter of 1822-3, and
published in June, 1825. In this second edition, commenced in January, 1828, and
completed in January, 1831, will be found very considerable additions and improvements,
including nearly 500 new engravings. Of these engravings nearly 200 are more useful
figures, substituted for others considered less so ; and the remainder, consisting of nearly
300 are entirely additional. A catalogue of all the engravings in the work arranged
systematically is also given (p. xxxii. ), for more convenient reference, when the purpose
of the reader is a choice of implements or machines.
The principal additions to the letter-press of this edition have been (nade at the
suggestion of our much esteemed friend Mr. Cleghorn, of Edinburgh, late editor of
the Farmer''s Magazvie, formerly published in that city ; ana, in consequence of the
assistance procured by the Proprietors, on our recommendation, from Mr. Swainson, the
eminent naturalist. The former gentleman perused an interleaved copy of the Ency-
clopaidia, and suggested on the blank pages whatever he thought wanting ; indicating at
the same time the books or other sources which might be consulted for the purpose of
supplying these wants. Mr. Swainson most obligingly took the trouble of writing
some paragraphs in the Agricultural History of South America (p. 200.), and the whole
of the article on Insects (from p. 1 112. to p. 1121.), with some other sentences and para-
graphs in different parts of the work, not always considered of sufficient importance to
be marked with his signature. Dr. Trail, of Liverpool, on our suggestion to the Pro-
prietors, examined the chemical and geological departments of Part II. Book III., and
was good enough to send us some corrections and additions, most of which are indicated
by the letter T. With the exception of the additional engravings of implements before
mentioned, Mr. Swainson's article on Insects is by far the most valuable addition which
the Encyclopaedia has received ; and it is l)ut doing justice to him to state, that he is
the only gentleman among the List of Contributors (p. vi.), who took the trouble to
write out his additions in such a manner as to accommodate them to the portions of the
PREFACE. V
work for which they were intended. The amalgamation of the information sent by the
other contributors, and the selection and description of the engravings, are of course our
own ; together with what we have been able to collect ourselves, not only from books
and correspondence, but also from the personal observations we made, during a tour in
France and Germany undertaken in 1828-9 on purpose for this work.
In consequence of repeated invitations given on* the cover of the Gardener's Magazine,
a considerable number of corrections, additions, and suggestions, have been sent us by
the anonymous and other correspondents enumerated in the list (p. vi.) before referred
to. The essence of the greater part of these communications was inserted in the
Gardener's Magazine at the time they were received, and the whole of these are either
given, quoted, or referred to, in this edition of the Encyclopaedia, in the proper places ;
but some which arrived too late for being used in the body of the work are given
in the Supplement, (p. 1279.) Similar Supplements are intended to be published occa-
sionally, perhaps every two years, and sold separately at the lowest possible price.
To every supplementary paragraph will be prefixed the number of the paragraph in the
body of the work to which the additional information belongs; and every future im-
pression of the body of the work will contain references from the proper paragraphs
to the additions to these paragraphs given in the different Supplements : the manner
is exemplified in p. 1138., viz. by the star (*) placed before §7790., which signi-
fies that an addition to that paragraph will be found in the Supplement given in
the present edition after the General Index, (p. 1279.) Where the supplementary
matter contains figures, similar references will be made from the Systematic
List of Engravings, as in (p. xxxii.), where the star (*) prefixed to Threshing
Machines indicates that the Supplement contains a figure or figures of one or more
kinds of threshing machines. This improvement in the manner of rendering supple-
mentary information available to a work already in type, and, considered in all its
bearings, a very great one it is, can only be effected in consecutive editions of a
stereotyped book, in the plates of which stars or other marks can at any time be
easily introduced It is calculated to save the reader much trouble that would other-
wise be unavoidable in referring to numerous Supplements at random ; to prevent any
additional information from escaping his attention ; and to render it unnecessary on the
part of the Proprietors to publish, or on that of the possessors of the work to purchase,
a new edition for several years to come.
We have stated above that the essence of most of the improvements contained in this
edition, and many of the new engravings, have been given from time to time in the
published volumes of the Gardener's Magazine j into which they have been introduced in
conformity with that object of the work indicated in the titlepage by the expression " Re-
gister of Rural and Domestic Improvement." We think it right here to repeat, whatwa
stated in the Prospectus and Introduction to that Periodical (see vol. i.), that though chiefly
intended as a perpetual Supplement to the Encyclopcedia of Gardening, it is also meant
to be a perpetual Supplement to the Encyclopcedia of Agriculture in all matters of vegetable
culture, implements, buildings, and territorial improvements, with a view to farm bailiffs
ind land stewards. Temporary agriculture and statistics, and matters connected with,
live stock and other things which more immediately interest the commercial farmer, we
leave to journals and newspapers wholly agricultural.
In order to show how much we are indebted to contribv-tors for the improvements
contained in this second edition, as well as to simplify the duty of thanking them,
we have placed their names or signatures in the following alphabetical Ust; and
we beg leave, on the part of the Proprietors and ourselves, to return them sincere
thanks. We have earnestly to request that these contributors and all our readers will
examine the present work with a scrutinising eye, and send us whatever they think will
contribute to its farther improvement. Our ardent wish is, by means of frequent
Supplements, to keep it at all times on a pace with the rapidly advancing state of agri-
cultural knowledge and practice ; and we are well aware that this can only be done by
the extensive cooperation of scientific and practical men.
By referring to the Calendarial Index (p. 1233.), those parts of this work which treat
of Farm and Forest Culture and Management may be consulted monthly, as the
operations require to be performed; by recurring to the General Index (p. 1248.),
any particular subject may be traced alphabetically, through all its ramifications of
history, theory, practice, and statistics; and, by turning to the Glossarial Index
(p. 1241.), the meaning of all words not familiar to general readers may be found. Thus
we have here combined an Agricultural Treatise, embracing every part of the subject, a
Husbandman's Calendar, a Dictionary of Rural Affairs, and a Glossary of Agricul-
tural Terms.
J. C. L.
Bayswatcr^ January, 1831.
A3
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
TO THE SECOND EDITION OF THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AGRICULTURE.
An Amateur NaturaUst,8iC. ; Anon., Coleshill, War-
wickshire; a Reader of the Gardener's Magazine
from its commencement; a Subscriber to the
Magazine of Natural History.
Suggestions, corrections and hints.
Anderson, John, 49. Park Street, Grosvenor Square,
London, agricultural engineer ; formerly an ex-
tensive farmer in Northumberland ; afterwards
draughtsman and manager at E. Weir's agricul-
tural repository, Oxford Street.
Various elaborate drawings of machines, par-
ticularly of the bone-mill, and of the very excellent
machine for threshing and other purposes erected
at Bagshot Park, Berkshire.
J?., a retired veterinary surgeon of eminence, author
of various works.
The greater part of the article on the horse,
p. 949., and the veterinary part of the subsequent
articles on agricultural and domestic animals.
Bt;ll, the Rev. Patrick, of Mid Lioch, Auchter
House, near Dundee, inventor of a greatly
improved reaping-machine.
Drawings and an elaborate description of his
excellent invention, p. 41'2.
Booth and Co., distillers, Brentford, Middlesex.
The details of their establishment for fattening
cattle, furnished to us on the spot, p. 1025.
Burncs, — , Farm manager to the Duke of Glouces.
ter, at Bagshot Park.
Various hints, and pennission to publish plans
of his machine, &c.
Cleghom, James, Accountant, Edinburgh; editor of
the latter volumes of the Farmer's Magazine, till
that work was discontinued ; characterised by the
late Professor Coventry to us, in 1822, as the first
agricultural writer in Scotland. Author of the
article Agriculture in the Supplement to the
Encyc. Brit, and of other works.
A general examination of the whole work, with
numerous corrections, various suggestions for im-
provements, and references to works where the
requisite information might be obtained.
Cottajn and Hallen, agricultural implement manu-
facturers, chiefly in iron, Winsley Street, Oxford
Street.
Corrections, additions, and every assistance in
delineating some new implements and machines.
Dickson, W. formerly a farmer near Edinburgh, now
of Kidbrook, in Kent
Various details respecting his farm when in-
spected by us, in April, 1829.
Dombasie, C. J. A. Mathieu de, director of the agri-
cultural establishment at Koville, near Nancy, in
France, and author of various agricultural works.
Various information respecting the agriculture
of France, and the inspection of all the details of
the establishment at Koville.
Eichthal, M. le Baron de, an extensive proprietor in
Bavaria,who has resided sometime in Britain, and
especially in Scotland; studied our agriculture;
and introduced it on his Bavarian estates by means
of Scotch farmers.
Various information respecting the agriculture
and state of property in Bavaria, in London in
1826, and at Munich and Eichthal in 1828.
Torsyth, William, F.H.S. &c., Nottingham Place,
London.
Various corrections and additions, more espe-
cially to the bibliography, p. 1206.
F. and W., the latter a Scotch farmer of experience
both in Fifeshire and Middlesex.
Notes on the agriculture of France and Italy,
from a tour made there in 1828.
Gihbs and Co., Messrs., nursery and seedsmen, Lon-
don.
Lists of hardy fruits suitable for a field orchard
in the midland counties of England, p. 667, and
information respecting the Serradilla, p. 886.
Gibbs, M. sen., late nurseryman at Inverness ; after-
wards superintendent of a British colony attempt-
ed to be established at Caraccas.
Information respecting the agricultural capa-
bilities of some parts of Noith and South Ame-
rica.
Gladstojte, M., engineer, Chester.
Drawings of several of his late father*s inven-
tions ; among otliers, of the bean reaping-machine,
p. 427., and water-furrowing plough, p. 397.
Gorrie, Archibald, F.H.S., &c., Annat Gardens,
Errol, Perthshire.
Various corrections and additions, as to the
wheat-fly and other matters.
Gassier, M. 1' Abb«5 de, of Rouen, late president of
the Agricultural Society there.
Information respecting the state of agriculture
in Normandy.
Graham, James, formerly a farmer in Perthshire;
afterwards in Middlesex; and latterly in the neigli-
bourhood of Sydney, in Australia.
Some notice's respecting Australia.
Hazzi, M., president of the Agricultural Society of
Bavaria, and the father of improved agriculture
in that country; author and editor of various
works. ^
Various corrections and additions relative to the
agriculture of Bavaria.
Headrick, the Rev. J., author of the Survey of For-
farshire, and of various chemical and agricultural
works.
Various additions and corrections to the sta-
tistics.
J. C, near Alnwick, Northumberland, a very ex-
tensive farmer, and an enlightened political
economist.
Various corrections and additions.
J. W. L.
Corrections and additions to the statistical de-
partments, and especially to Worcestershire and
Warwickshire.
Laycock, M., Islington.
The details of his dairy establishment, from
which we drew up the account, p. 1029.
Lindtey, John, F.R.S. L.S. &c., professor of botany
in the University of London.
Botanical corrections.
M., an extensive proprietor, who cultivates a part
of his own estate in Suffolk,
A general examination of the whole work, and
various corrections, suggestions, and additions.
Main, James, A.L.S., &c., editor of the British Far-
mer's Magazine ; author of the Cottage Florist's
Directory, and other works.
General corrections and additions.
Masclet, M. le Chevalier de, late French consul at
Edinburgh, and then a writer in the Farmer's
Magazine and other periodicals; now residing in
Paris.
Various corrections and additions relative to
the agriculture of France and Flanders.
Menteath, C. G., stuart of Closeburn, Dumfries-
shire.
An account of his limekilns, waggons, andmode
of improving grass lands, p. 626. et seq.
Morton and Co., Leith Walk, Edinburgh, agricul-
tural implement manufacturers, chiefly in wood.
Various information respecting agricultural im-
plements, and several drawings of some new
ploughs, drill-machines, &c.
Fearson and Co., Messrs., nurserymen, Chilwell,
near Nottingham.
Lists of hardy fruits suitable for a field orchard
in the northern counties of England, p. 668.
R. M. of Devonshire.
Additions to the dairy department
Ransome and Co., agricultural implement makers,
Ipswich.
Drawings of ploughs and other implements.
Rhodes and Co., Islington.
The details of their dairy establishment, from
which we drew up the account, p. 1028.
Ronalds and Sons, Messrs., nurserymen, Brentford.
Lists of hardy fruits suitable for a field orchard
in the midland counties of England, p. 668.
Sherriff, Patrick, of Mungo's Wells, near Hadding-
ton.
Several important suggestions, and various cor-
rections.
Sinclair, George, F.L.S., H.S., &c. of the firm of
INDICATIONS, &c., OF SYSTEMATIC NAMES.
Cormack, Sons, and Sinclair, nursery and seeds-
men, Newcross, London.
Various corrections and suggestions.
Snoivden and Co., agricultural implement manu-
facturers, Oxford Street, London.
Drawings of the leaf-gathering machine, and
other implements.
Swainson, IVUliam, F.R.S., L.S., &c., author of vari-
ous important works on natural history.
Various corrections and additions ; more espe-
cially the entire article on insects injurious to
agriculture, p. 1112.
Tay/or, R. C, F.G.S., &c.
Geological and statistical corrections, and in-
formation from North America.
Tat/lor, Samuel, F.R.S., &c., late editor of the agri-
cultural department of the Country Times news-
paper.
Various corrections and additions.
Trail, Dr., of Liverpool.
Geological and chemical corrections.
Tredgold, Thomas, civil engineer, author of various
works, who died in 1829.
Some hints as to the subject of the application
of steam to agriculture.
T. W. H,. agricultural pupil with a farmer near
Wooler in Northumberland.
Information and corrections.
Vilmorin, M., of the firm of Vilmorin and Co.,
seedsmen, Paris.
Various corrections as to the agriculture of
France, and additions to the forage plants and
Cere&lia.
W., proprietor of the Metropolitan Dairy establish-
ment, in the Edgeware Road, London.
The details of his dairy establishment, fVom
which we drew up the account, p. 1029.
Weir and Co., Oxford Street, London, agricultural
implement manufacturers, chiefly in wood.
Corrections, additions, and every assistance in
making drawings and descriptions of a great
variety of new implements, machines, and utensils.
Wilkie, J., of Uddistone, near Glasgow, agricultural
implement maker, both of wood and iron.
Various drawings and descriptions ; especially
of his new plough, p. 392., and cultivator, p. 405.
INDICATIONS AND ACCENTUATION OF SYSTEMATIC NAMES.
The systematic names employed in the sciences are for the greater part derived from the Greek or
Latin, as being dead, and consequently fixed, languages ; and partly also as being languages more or less
understood by men of science throughout the world. The Greek language is preferred to the Latin, as
being more copious and flexible. In general, family or generic names are composed of two or more Greek
words, indicating some quality common to the family or genus ; and specific or individual names, of
Latin words indicative of some quality in the individual or species. A number of names, however, are
formed by giving Greek or Latin terminations to aboriginal names, or by aboriginal words unchanged ;
not a few names, generic and specific, are given in honour of individuals ; and some, more especially
specific names, point to countries, towns, or other places connected with the history of the plants.
All systematic names, whether generic or specific, which Greek or Roman authors have applied to the
same class of beings as the moderns, and which on this account are called classical names, are indicated
by the first letter being put in Italic when the remainder of the word is in Roman, or in Roman when
the remainder of the word is in Italic ; as, J5^quus, the horse ; Pinus, the pine tree; il/armor, marble :
or, TS^quus, the horse ■ Fmus, the pine tree ; M(ir?nor, marble.
Names, whether generic or specific, formed from aboriginal words by altering the termination of the
aboriginal word, or by adopting the aboriginal word without altering its termination, and names of
uncertain derivation, are distinguished by all the letters being in Italic when the preceding and following
words are in Roman, and in Roman when the preceding and following words are in Italic ; as, Gluma
(Cam^lusG/owfl), the lama; Tabucnm (Nicotjana Tiafiacwml, toDacco; and TiV/rt (Cemdntum 7Y//a), vol-
canic earth : or, Glkma {Camilus Gl^ma), the lama ; Tabacum {Nicotikna Tab^um), tobacco y and
Tiifa {Cemdntum Tiifa), vulcanic earth.
Names, generic or specific, commemorative of individuals, are indicated by putting the letters added
to the name of the person, or the final letter if none are added, in Italic when the preceding and
following words are in Roman, and in Roman when the preceding and following words are in Italic ;
as, Cygnus Yarrelli, Yarrell's Swan ; L^cium Shaw», Shaw's Lycium, andOlivlnus Wern^ri, the Olivine
of Werner : or, Cygnus Yarrell'i, Yarrell's Swan s Lycium Shawn, Shaw's Lycium ; and Olivinus
Wemeri, the Olivine of Werner.
RULES FOR PRONOUNCING SYSTEMATIC NAMES.
SYLLABLES.
In classical words there are as many syllables as there are vowels ; except when « with any other vowel
follows g, q, or s, and when two vowels unite to form a diphthong. The diphthongs are ee, ee, at, ei, at, ui,
au, eu, and ou. These seldom coalesce in final syllables, oo, ee, ea, and other combinations which never
occur as diphthongs in classical words, follow, in commemorative names, the pronunciation of their primi.
tives, as Teedia, Woodsta.
VOWELS.
In this work the sounds of the accented vowels are indicated by the mark placed over each ; the long
sound by a grave accent O, and the short by an acute ( ), as M&ry, M&rtha.
In addition to the primary accent, every word of more than three syllables contains a secondary accent,
which is regulated by the same rules. The secondary accent must always be at least two syllables before
the primary accent, as in Ch<!'lidf)nium ; for its place the ear is a sufficient guide, and even were it entirely
omitted, still, however inharmonious, the pronunciation would not be incorrect
CONSONANTS.
C and g are hard before a, o, and u, as C6rnus, Galium • soft before e, i, and y, as Cetr^ria, Citrus.
T, s, and c, before ia, ie, ii, to, iu, and eu, when prececled by the accent, change their sounds, t and c
into sh, as Bletm, ficia ; and s into xh, as BRs/a : but, when the accent is on the first diphthongal vowel,
the preceding consonant preserves its sound, as aurantiacum.
Ch, before a vowel, is pronounced like *, as Chelidfmium [kel), C61chicum {kolkekum) ; but in comme-
morative names it follows their primitives, as Richardsunm, in which the ch is soft.
Cm, en, ct, gm, gn, mn, tm, ps, pt, and other incombinable consonants, when they begin a word, are
pronounced with the first letter mute, as Ptferis [teris), Cnicus {nikus), Gmellna {tnelina), Gnidia {nidia) ;
m the middle of a word they separate as in English, as Lap-skna, Z,6m-na.
PA, followed by a mute, is not sounded ; but, followed by a vowel or a liquid, sounds like/, as Phlfeum
ifleum).
Sch sounds like sk, as Schoe'^nus (skenus) ; in tl and zm both letters are heard.
S, at the end of a word, has its pure hissing sound, as D&ctylis ; except when preceded by e, r, or n,
when it sounds like z, as Kibes {ez).
X, at the beginning of a word, sounds like z, as X&nthium ; in any other situation it retains its own
sound, as T^xus, Timnix. {Gardener's Magazine, vol. v. p. 232.)
A 4
LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO,
THE TITLES OF WHICH ARE ABRIDGED IN THE TEXT.
0/ those marked * some further account, or some notice of their authors, will be found in the Agricultural
Bibliogruyhy, p. H'OS.
Account of the Shetland Sheep, by Thos. John,
son, page 1052. Report on the subject of Shet-
land Wool. Lond. 1790. 8vo. 25.
Advt by Cormack, Son, and Sinclair, p. 894. A few
pages printed and given away by Cormack, Soii,
and Sinclair, aeedsmen. New Cross. Lond. 8vo.
1830.
• Agriculture appliqufee, &c. p. 321. See Chaptal.
Agriculture appliquee k Chimie, p. 322. See Chaptal.
Agr. Chim. app. p. 895. See Chaptal.
• Agricultural buildings, p. 741. See Waistell's Agri-
cultural Buildings.
Agr. Rep of Cheshire, p. 713. See Holland.
Agr. Mem., p. 306. Agricultural Memoirs ; or,
History of the Dishley System, in answer to
Sir John Sebright. Lond. 1812. 8vo.
Agricultural Memoirs, &c., p. 305. See Agr. Mem.
• Agr. Tuscan, p. 50. Tableau de I'Agriculture Tos-
cane. Geneva, 8vo. 1801.
• Alton, p. 1015. A Treatise on Dairy Husbandry.
Edin. 8vo. 1825.
• Alton's General View, p. 1185. General View of
the Agriculture of the County of Ayr, with Ob-
servations on the Means of its Improvement.
Glasg. 1811. 8vo.
Amer. Quart Rev., p. 266. American Quarterly
Review, New York. 8vo.
American Farmer, lOyO. New York. 4to.
Amcpn. Acad., p. 109. Amoenitates Academicje, seu
Dissertationes variae, &c. By Charles Linna;us,
&c. 3d edition. Erlang. 1787.
• Amos*s Essay on Agricultural Machines, p. 391.
Minutes of Agriculture and Planting, illustrated
with specimens of eight sorts of the best, and
two sorts of the worst, natural grasses, and
with accurate drawings and descriptions of prac-
tical machines, on seven copper-plates, &c..
Lond. 1804. 4to.
• Anderson's Recreations in Agriculture, p. 387.
Recreations in Agriculture, Natural History,
Arts, and Miscellaneous Literature. Lond.
1799—1802. 6 vols. 8vo.
Andrew's Continuation of Henry's Hist, p. 42. See
Henry. A Continuation of Henry's History of
(Jreat Britain. Lond. 1796. 4to. 21s. 2 vols.
8vo.
Annalendes Ackerbaues. Vol. 1 1 1, s. 389. Berlin,8vo.
• Annals of Agriculture, p. 428. See Young's Annals
of Agriculture.
• Annals of Agric, p. 47. See Young's Annals of
Agriculture.
Annals of Phil. Annals of Philosophy, &c. In
monthly Nos. 8vo., continued in conjunction
with the Philosophical Magazine.
Annual Biography, p. 1208. Annual Biography
and Obituary. Lond. 8vo. 1 vol. annually.
Archer's Dublin, p. 1224. Statistical Survey of the
County of Dublin, with Observations on the
Means of Improvement, drawn up for the Dub-
lin Society. Dub. 1803. 8vo.
Archer's Statistical Survey, &c,, p. 1199. See
Archer's Dublin.
• Arthur Young's Survey, p. 1155. General View of
the Agriculture of the County of Lincoln ;
drawn up for the Board of Agriculture. Lond.
1799. 8vo.
• Arthur Young's Oxfordshire, p. 1137. General
View of the Agriculture of Ojifordshire. Lond.
1808. 8vo.
• Arthur Young's Survey, p. 1150. General View of
the Agriculture of Hertford.sliire; drawn up for
the Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1804. 8vo.
A. Young's Sussex, p. 1127. A General View of the
Agriculture of the County of Sussex ; drawn
up for the Board of Agriculture. By the
Rev. Arthur Young. Lond. 1808. 8vo.
A. and W. Driver's General View, p. 1165. General
View of the Agriculture of the County of Hants.
Lond. nSM'. 4to.
App. to Flinders' Voyage, p. 166. A Voyage to Terra
Australis, undertaken to complete the discovery
of that vast country, and prosecuted in the years
1801, 1802, 1803, in His Majesty's ship the Inves-
tigator, and subsequently in the armed vessel
Porpoise, and Cumberland schooner. Lond.
1814. 2vols. 4to., with an atlas and plates.
A Series of Plans for Cottages, by J. Wood of Bath,
p. 457. Series of plans for cottages or habitaticms
of the labourers, Lond. 1792. fol
B.
♦Bailey, p. 1161. A General View of the Agriculture
of the County of Northumberland, with observ-
ations on the means of its improvement; drawn
up for the Board of Agriculture. Newcastle,
1797. 8vo. 1800. 8vo.
* Bailey and Culley's General View, p. 1160. See
Bailey.
♦Bailey's General View, p. 1159. A General View
of the Agriculture of Durham, with observ-
ations on the means of its improvement ; drawn
up for the Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1811.
8vo.
* Baily's Tables, p. 541. Tables for the purchasing
and renewing of leases. 1803. 8vo. 3d. edit.
* Bakewell's Tarentaise, p. 94. Travels in the
Tareiitaise, &c. By Robert Bakewell, Esq.
Lond. 8vo. 1824.
Bakewell, p. 63. See Bakewell's Tarentaise.
Bakewell's Travels, p. 59. See Bakewell's Taren-
taise.
Barrington's Observations on the Statutes, p. 40.
Observations on the more ancient statutes, from
Magna Charta to the 21st James V., cap. xxvii.,
with an api)endix, being a proposal for new mo-
delling the statutes. Lond. 1766. 4to.
Batcliclor's Bedfordshire, p. 1132. General View of
the Agriculture of Bedfordshire. Lond. 1808.
8vo.
Bath Society's Papers. Letters and Papers on Agri-
culture, Planting, &c., selected from the Cor-
respondence-Book of the Bath Society. Bath,
8vo. 1780.
* Bayldon's Valuation of Rents and Tillages, p. ,541.
The Art of Valuing Rents and Tillages, and the
Tenant's Right on entering and quitting farms.
Lond. 8vo. 1825.
Bedffi Hist Abbat Weremath., p. 36. Historic
Ecclesiastic£e libri quinque, Latine. Ant 1550.
fol.
Belsche's General View, p. 1187. Belsche's General
View of the Agriculture of Stirlingshire. Lond.
4to. 1794.
Berenger's History and Art of Horsemanship, p.1002.
The History and Art of Horsemanship ; from
the French of Mons. Bourgelat 1754. 4to.
Lond. 1771. 2 vols. 4to.
Bibliographia Britannica, p. 1206. Bibliotheca Bri-
tannica; or. General Index to British and
Foreign Literature. By Robert Watt, M. D.
Edin. 4 vols. 4to. 1824.
Biblioth. Univcr. de G^nfeve, p. 810. Geneva, 8vo.
LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO.
Bicheno's Ireland, p. 1202. Ireland and its Eco-
nomy. By J. E. Bicheno, Esq., F.R.S. Lond.
12mo. 1830.
Billington's Facts on Oaks and Trees, 1111. A
Series of Facts, Hints, Observations, and Expe-
riments on the different modes of raising,
pruning, and training young trees in plant-
ations. Shrewsbury, 8vo. 1830.
Billingsley's General View, p. 116a General View
of the Agriculture of the County of Somerset,
with observations on the means of its improve-
ment; drawn up for the Board of Agriculture,
in the year 1795. Bath, 1798. Svo.
Birkbeck, p. 68. Notes in a Journey in America, from
the coast of Virginia to the territory of the
Illinois. Lond. Svo. 1818.
Bishop's Causal Botany. Causal Botany ; or, a
IVeatise on the causes and character of changes
in plants, especially of changes which are pro-
ductive of subspecies or varieties. Lond. 1829.
Svo.
Bishton's General View of the Agriculture of the
County of Salop. Brentford, 1794. 4to.
Bishton's Shropshire, p. 1 145.
Blackstone's Commentaries, p. 560. Commentaries
on the Laws of England. Oxf. 1765-8. 4vols. 4to.
Blyth's Improver Improved, ed. 1652, p. 391. The
Improver Improved. 1652. 4to.
Bot Reg., p. 935. The Botanical Register. Lond.
In monthly Nos. 8vo., continued.
Boys's Kent, p. 1128. A General View of the Agri-
culture of the County, with observations on the
means of its improvement ; drawn up for the
Board of Agriculture, with additional remarks
of several respectable country gentlemen and
farmers. Lond. 1796. Svo.
British Colonies, p. 167. See Kingdom.
* British Farmer, p. 393. Finlayson's Treatise on
Agricultural Subjects. Svo. plates, subsequently
changed to the British Farmer, &c. Lond.
1830. Svo.
* Brit. Farm. Mag., p. 306. Fleming's British Far-
mer's Magazine. Lond. 2 vols. 8vo. : continued
under the name of the British Farmer's Maga-
zine. 2 vols. Svo.
Bright's Travels, p. 98. Travels from Vienna through
Lower Hungary, with some Account of Vienna
during the Congress. Edin. 1818. 4to.
♦Brodigaivp. 938. A Botanical, Historical, and Prac-
tical Treatise on the Tobacco Plant, in which
the art of growing and curing tobacco in the
British Isles is made familiar to every capacity,
as deduced from the observations of the author
in the United States of America, and his prac-
tice in field cultivation in Ireland. Lond.
Svo.
Brown's Derbyshire, p. 1152. General View of the
Agriculture of Derbyshire. Lond. 1794. 4to.
* Brown's Treatise on Rural Affairs, p. 129. Treatise
on Rural Affairs ; being the substance of the
article, Agriculture, originally published in the
Edinburgh Encyclopaadia, with improvements
and additions. Edin. 1811. 2 vols. Svo.
* Brown's West Riding, p. 1157. General View of
the Agriculture ofthe West Riding of Yorkshire,
surveyed by Messrs. Rennie, Brown, and Sheriff;
in 1793 ; with observations on the means of its
improvement, and additional information since
received ; drawn up for the Board of Agricul-
ture. Lond. 1799 Svo.
Browne, p. 195. The Civil and Natural History of
Jamaica ; containing an accurate description of
that island, its situation and soil, and a brief
account of its former and present state, govern-
ment, revenues, produce, and trade ; a history
of its natural productions, including various
sorts of native fossils, perfect and imperfect
vegetables, birds, fishes, reptiles, insects, &c.;
an account of the nature of climates in general,
and their different effects upon the human
body, with a detail of the diseases arising from
this source, particularly within the tropics.
The whole illustrated with fifty copper-plates.
Lond. 1789. fol. 420.
Browne's Hist, of Jam., p. 196. See Browne.
Bull, in Caled. Hort. Mem., p. 657. Memoirs ofthe
Caledonian Horticultural Society. Edin. 8vo.
5 vols, to 1831.
Bull, du Comit6 d'Agri. de la Soc. des Arts de
GiJnfeve, p. 341. Geneva, Svo.
Bull, des Sci. Agr. Feby. 1828., p. 837. Ferrusac's
Bulletin des Sciences Agricolcs. Paris, Svo.
monthly.
Burchell's Travels, p. 182. Burchell's Travels m
Africa. Lond. 1821, 4to,
Caesar de BelL GalL, p. 36. De Belle Gallico, k Main
1808 Svo.
Cat., p. 14. Cato de Re Rustica, cum Notis Beroaldi.
Reg. 1496. fol.
Chalmers's Caledonia, p. 45. Caledonia; or, an Ac-
count, Historical and Topographical, of North
Britain, from the most arcient to the present
times, with a Dictionary of Places, Chronolo.
gical and Philological ; in 4 vols. Lond. 4to.
* Chaptal de 1' Industrie Fran^aise, p. 68. De 1' In-
dustrie Fran9aise. Paris, 1819. 2 vols. 8vo.
La Chimie appliqu^e a 1' Agriculture. Paris,
1822. 2 vo4s. Svo.
Chateauvieux, p. 268. Italy, its Agriculture. Trans-
lated by Dr. Rigby. Norwich, 1819. Svo.
Chimie appliquee, p. 345. See ChaptaL
Chimie appliquee k 1' Agriculture, p. 135. See
Chaptal.
Chron. Gervas., p. 37. A Chronicle of the Kings
of England, trom. the year 1122 to 1200.
Claridge's General View, p. 1168. General View of
the Agriculture of the County of Dorset. Lond.
1793. 4to.
Clarke's Enquiry into the Nature and Value of
Leasehold Property and Life Annuities, p. 541.
An Enquiry into the Nature and Value of
Household Property, Reversionary Interest in
Estates, and Life Annuities ; with a variety of
tables, demonstrating the ratio of fines due on
the renewal of leases of church, college, and
other estates, and for the purchase and sale of
leases of every denomination. Lond. 1808. Svo.
Clark's Herefordshire, p. 1144. General View of
the Agriculture of the County of Hereford.
Lond. 1794. 4to.
Clarke's Observations upon Roads, p. 589. Dublin
Svo.
Clarke's Scandinavia, p. 109. Travels in various
countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Lond.
1810 and 1812. 4to.
Clarke's Travels, p. 7. See Clarke's Scandniavia,
p. 109.
Clavigero, p. 191. The Historj' of Mexico, collected
from the Spanish and Mexican historians, from
MSS. and ancient paintings of the Indians ; to
which are added, critical dissertations on the
land, the animals, and the inhabitants of
Mexico. Lond. 1782. 2 vols. 4to.
* Cleghorn on the Depressed State of Agriculture,
p. 125. Edin. 8vo.
Climate of Britain, p. 368. Williams's Climate of
Great Britain. Lond. 1818. Svo.
Climate of Great Britain, p, 353. See Climate of
Britain, p. 368.
Cobbett's Treatise on Cobbett's Corn, p. 1208. Lond.
1829. 12mo.
Code. See Sinclair.
Code of Agriculture, p. 453. See Code.
Col, p 14. Columella De Re Rustica.
Collection of Antiquitie, p. 24. A collection of
curious Travels, Voyages, Antiquities, and
Natural Histories of Countries.
* Collection de Machines, p. 26. Collection de
Machines, d'Instrumens, &c. employes dans
I'Economi^ Rurale, Domestique et Indus-
trielle, d'apres les Dessins faits dans diverses
Parties de I'Europe. 2 vols. 4to. 2U0 pis. Paris,
1820.
CoU. de Mach., p. 51. See Collection de Machines,
p. 26.
Commun. to Board of Agriculture, p. 21. Com-
munications to the Board of Agriculture. Lond.
7 vols. 4to. New Series, 1 vol. Svo. 1797—
1819.
Communications to the B. of Ag., p. 304. See Com-
mun. to the Board of Ag. p. 21.
Com. B. Ag., p. 1153. See Commun. to Board of Ag.,
p. 21.
* Complete Farmer, p. 441. Dickson's complete Sys-
tem of Modern Husbandry. Lond. 1811. Svo.
Co-operative Magazine, p. 1230. Lond. 1827. Svo.
Cooper's Lectures on Political Economy, p. 1226.
New York, 1830. Svo,
Coote's Agricultural Survey of King's County,
p. 120(1. Dublin, 1801. Svo.
Coote's Statistical Account of Cavan, p. 1204.
Dublin, 1801. Svo.
LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO.
Coote's Survey of Monaghan, p. 1204. Dublin, 1801.
8vo.
Coote's Survey of Armagh, p. 1305, Dublin, 1804.
8vo.
Cours, &c., p. 739. Nouveau Cours Complet d'Agri-
culture, 16 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1821.
* Cours Complet d' Agriculture, p. 333. See Cours,
&c. p. 739.
County Reports, p. 470. The Reports of the different
Counties of Great Britain and Ireland, drawn
up for the consideration of the Board of Agri-
culture.
Country Times, p. 826. A weekly agricultural news-
paper, commenced in, 1830 : the agricultural
part of which was for some time edited by
S. Taylor, Esq., F.R.S.
* Coventry on Live Stock, p. 1017. Observations on
Live Stock, in a letter to Henry Cline, Esq.
Edin. 8vo.
Cruickshank's Practical Planter. The Practical
Planter; containing directions for the planting
of waste land, and management of wood ; with
a new method of rearing the oak. Edin. 1830.
Svo.
Crutchley's Report, p. 1156. Crutchley's General
Vie w of the Agriculture of Rutlandshire. Lond.
1794. 4to.
* CuUey's Introduction, p. 302. Observations on
Live Stock ; containing hints for choosing and
improving the best breeds of the most useful
kinds of domestic animals. Lond. 1786. 8vo.
* Culley on Ljve Stock, p. 954. See Culley's Intro-
duction, p. 302.
Cumming's Essay on the Principles of Wheels and
Wheel Carriages, p. 605. The destructive ef-
fects of the conical broad wheels of carriages,
controverted ; with the improving effects of
cylindrical wheels of the same breadth, as they
regard the roads, the labour of cattle, &c. 1804.
4to.
* Curwen, p. 1201. Letters written during a Tour
in Ireland. Lond. 1819. 2 vols. Svo.
Curwen's Letters, p. 132. See Curwen.
Curwen's Observations, p. 1231. Observations on
Live Stock, &c. Workington, 1810. Svo.
* Dairy Husbandry, p. 1015. See Aiton.
Daniel's Rural Sports, Lond. 1810. 3 vols. Svo. ;
vol 4. 1813. Svo. ; supplement, 1813. 4to.
Darby's View of the United States, p. 184.
Davis's Report, 1137. General View of the Agri-
culture of the County of Oxford. Lond. 1794.
4to.
Davis's Report of Wilts, p. 905. General View of
the Agriculture of Wiltshire, drawn up for the
Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1811. Svo.
Davis's Wiltshire, p. 1166. See Davis's Report,
905,
Davv's Ceylon, p. 150. An Account of the Island
of Ceylon, &c. Lond. 1820. 4to.
Dearn's Tract on Hollow Walls. Hints on an im-
proved method of building. Lond. 1821. Svo.
Denson's Peasant'sVoice, p. 1231. A Peasant's Voice
to Landowners on the best means of benefiting
Agricultural Labourers, and of reducing Poor
Rates. Cambridge and Lond. 1830, Svo.
* Derbyshire Report, p. 724. See Farey.
Des Etablissemens pour I'Education Publique, &c.
p. 1226. Des Etablissemens pour I'Education
Publique en Bavifere, dans le Wittemberg, et k
Bade, avec Remarques sur les Ameliorations k
introduire dans ces Etablissemens pour les faire
adopter en France, en Angleterre, et autres
Pays. Par J. C. Loudon. Paris, 1829. Svo.
Des Institutes de Hofwyl, &c. Par Cte. L. de V.,
p, 62. Paris, Svo.
Description of Britaine, p. 42. Hollingshed's Chro-
nicles of England, Ireland, and Scotland. Lond.
1587. 2 vols. fol. Vol. 1. contains An Histori-
cal description of the Island of Britanne, in 3
books. By William Harrison.
* Designs for Farms and Farm Buildings in the
Scotch style, adapted to England, &c., p. 1138.
By J. C. I>oudon. Lond. 1811. fol.
Dewar, p. 135. Observations on the Character,
Customs, Superstitions, Music, Poetry, and
Language of the Irish ; and on some of the
causes which have hitherto retarded the moral
and political improvement of Ireland. Lond.
1812. Svo.
Dial, on Bot. p. 264, Dialogues on Botany. Lond.
1810. Svo.
* Dickson, p. 1163. General View of the Agricul-
ture of Lancashire. By R. W. Dickson, M, D.
Lond. 1815. Svo.
* Dickson's General View, prenared by Stevenson,
p. 1162. See Dickson, p. 1163.
* Dickson's Practical Agr., vol. 2. p. 915. Practi-
cal Agriculture ; or a complete system of mo-
dern husbandry; with the methods of planting
and the management of live stock. Plates
Lond. 1804, 1805. 2 vols. Svo.
Diet, de r Agr., p. 13. Cours complet d' Agriculture,
Theorique, Practique, Economique, &c. ; ou
Dictionnaire universel d'Agriculiure. 12 vols,
4to 1796.
Diet, of Chem. p. 317. Ure's Dictionary of Che-
mistry. Lond. 1821. Svo.
* Donaldson, p. 914. Modern Agriculture ; or the
present state of Husbandry in Great Britain.
Edin. 1795, 1796. 4 vols. Svo.
* Donaldson's Report, p. 1156. General Views of
the Agriculture of the Counties of Perth, Banff,
Northampton, and Mearns or Kincardine.
London, 1794. 4to.
Douglas's General View, p. 1183. A General View
of the Agriculture of the County of Roxburgh
and Selkirk. Edin. 1798. Svo.
Douglas's Roxburghshire, p. 1182. See Douglas's
General View.
Douglas's Surv. of Roxb., p. 129. See Douglas's
General View.
Dr. Abel's Nar., p. 158. Personal Observations made
during the Progress of the British Embassy
through China, and on its Voyage to and from
that Country, in the Years 1816, 1817, 1818. 4to,
Lond. 1821.
Dr. Brewster's Edin. Journ. p. 744. The Edinburgh
Journal of Science. In Quarterly Numbers,
Svo. continued.
Dr. Hutton's Mathematical Dictionary, p. 535. A
Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary;
containing an explanation of the terms, and an
account of the several subjects comprised under
the heads, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Phi-
losophy both natural and experimental; with
an Historical account of the rise, progress, and
present state of these sciences ; also memoirs of
the lives and writings of the most eminent
authors, &c. With numerous plates, Lond.
1795, 1796. 2 vols. 4to.
Dr. Mavor, p. 1139. General View of the Agricul-
ture of Berkshire. Lond. 1809. Svo.
Dr. Parry's Tracts on Wool and Merinos, p. 1064.
Facts and Observations, tending to show the
practicability and advantage to the individual
and the nation, of producing in the British Isles,
clothing. wool equal to that of Spain : together
with some hints towards the management of
fine-wooled sheep. Lond. 1800. Svo.
Dr. Rigby's Holkham, its agriculture, &c., p. 1136.
Norwich. 1818. Svo.
Dr. Robertson's General View, p. 1189. General View
of the agriculture in the County of Perth, with
observations on the means of its improvement ;
drawn up for the Board of Agriculture. Perth,
1799, Svo.
Dr. Thomson's System of Chemistry, p. 226. Lond.
4 vols. Svo. See Thomson.
Dr. Young, p. 291. Young's Lectures on Mechanical
Philosophy. Lond. 1807. 2 vols. 4to.
Dublin Society's Transactions. Transactions of the
Dublin Society. Dublin. Svo.
Dubourdieu's Survey of Antrim, p. 1205. Statistical
Survey of the County of Antrim. Dublin, 1812.
2 vols. Svo.
Dubourdieu's Down, p. 134. Statistical Survey of
the County of Down. Dublin, 1802. Svo.
Dubourdieu's Survey of Down. See Dubourdieu's
Down.
Duncombe's Report, p. 1144. Survey of the Agri-
culture and Rural Economy of Herefordshire;
drawn up for the Board of Agriculture. Lond.
1805. Svo.
Dutrochet, Agent Imm^diat du Mouvement Vital,
p. 287. Agent immddiat du Mouvement Vital
devoil^ dans sa Nature et dans son Mode
d' Action chez les Vegfetaux et chez les Ani-
maux. Paris. Svo. pp. 226.
Dutton's Survey of Galway, p.l203. A Statistical and
Agricultural Survey of the County of Galway,
with observations on the means of improve-
ment; drawn up for the consideration, and by
LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO.
the direction of the Royal Dublin Society. By
Hely Dutton, landscape gardener and land
improver. Dublin, 1824. 8vo.
Button's Survey of Clare, p. 1202. Dublin, 1808. 8vo.
K
Edgeworth on Roads, p. o70. An Essay on the Con-
struction of Roads and Carriages. Lond. 1810.
1812. 8vo.
Edin. Encyc, p. 44. The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia
Edited by Dr. Brewster. Edin. 18 vols. 4to.
Ed. Encyc, p. 125. See Edin. Encyc.
Ellin. Encyc. Roads. See Edin. Encyc.
Edin. Gaz', p. 1125. The Edinburgh Gazetteer, or
Geographical Dictionary, &c. In 6 vols. Lond.
1827.
Edin. Gaz. abridged, p. 1171. The Edinburgh Ga-
zetteer, &c. abridged from the larger work.
Edin. 1829. 1 vol. 8vo.
Edinb. Phil. Journal, p. 1117. The Edinburgh Phi.
losophical Journal. Conducted by Dr. Brewster.
In quarterly Nos. 8vo. continued.
Edin. Phil. Tr., p. 357. Edinburgh Philosophical
Transactions. Edin. 4to.
Ed. Rev , p. 201. The Edinburgh Review. In
quarterly Nos. 8vo.
Eleni. of Agric. Chem., p. 311. Davy's Elements of
Agricultural Chemistry ; in a course of lec-
tures for the Board of Agriculture, 1813. 4to.,
and 1829. 8vo.
Elements of Agr., p. 328. Elements of Agriculture ;
being an essay towards establishing ihe culti-
vation of the soil, and promoting vegetation on
steady principles. Lond. 1807. 8vo.
Elements of Natural Philosophy, p. 525. Elements
of Physics, or Natural Philosophy, General and
Medical, explained independently of Technical
Mathematics, and containing new Disquisitions,
and practical Suggestions. By Neil Arnott,
M. D. Lond. 1827.
• Ellis's Practical Farmer, p. 521. Practical Farmer,
or Hertfordshire Husbandman ; containing
many improvements in Husbandry. Lond.
1732. 8vo.
Encyc. Brit., p. 41. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Edin. 4to.
Encyc. of Gard., p. 5. Loudon's Encyclopedia of
Gardening, &c. Lond. 1824. 8vo.
Encyc. Brit. Sup., p. 310. Supplement to the Ency-
clopedia Britannica. Edin. 4to.
Encyc. Methodique, p. 11. EncyclopMie M^tho-
dique. Paris, 4to.
Erskine's General View, p. 1187. General View of
the Agriculture of the County of Clackmanan.
Edin. 1795. 4to.
Essai sur la Geographic des Plantes, p. 264. Paris,
1807. Svo.
• Essay on the Construction of the Plough on
Mathematical Principles, by Baillie of Chil-
lingliam, p. 390. 1795. Svo.
Essay on Dew, p. 352. An Essay on Dew; with
several appearances connected with it. By
W. C. Wells, M. D. Lond. 1814, 1815. 8vo.
Essay on the Improvement of Peat-moss, 1795. p. 329.
Smith's Essay on the Improvement of Peat-
moss. Edin. 1795. Svo.
• Essay on Manure, p. 328. Essay on Manures. By
Arthur Young. Bath Soc. Papers, vol. x. p. 97.
Essay on Wheel Carriages, &c., p. 484. Fry's Ebiiay
on Wheel Carriages. Lond. Svo.
Every Man his own Road-maker, p. 587. Fall's
Surveyor's Guide; or Every Man his own Road-
maker. East Retford, 1828. 12mo.
Examiner, p. 1225. The Examiner Newspaper.
Lond. In weekly Nos. 4to. ,
F.
Fell's Surveyor's Guide, p. 591. See Every Man his
own Road-maker.
• Farcy's Agricultural and Mineral Survey, p. 1152.
General View of the Agriculture and Minerals
of Derbyshire. Published by order of the
Board of Agriculture; with a map and sections.
vol. i. Lond. 1811. Svo. vol. ii. 1813. vol. iii.
1817.
Farcy's Derbyshire, vol. i. p. 65.3. See Farcy's
Agricultural and Mineral Survey.
Farmer's Journal, p. 327. The Farmer's Journal
Newspaper, In weekly Nos. fol.
Farmer's Magazine, p. 327. The Farmer's Maga-
zine. Edin. 26 vols. Svo. pis. '
Fife Report, p. 1018. General View of the Agricul-
ture of the County of Fife ; with observations
on the means of its improvement By the Rev.
John Thomson, D.D. Edin. 1800. Svo.
Fitzherbert on the Statute Ex.tenta Manerii, p. 560.
The Reading on the SUtute 4 Edw. 1. De
Extenta Manerii, 15^:9.
* Findlater's Report, &c., p. 1183. General Survey of
the Agriculture of the County of Peebles ; with
various suggestions as to its improvement; with
^ a map and plates. Edin. 1K02. Svo.
* Fleming's Fanner's Journal, p. 127. A weekly
Agricultural Newspaper, begun in 1825, and
discontinued in 1827.
Fieta, p. 39. Fleta Book with Mr. Selden's Dissert-
ation. Lond. 2d edit. 168.5.
F15ra Brit., p. 316. Compendium Flora Britannica?.
By Sir J. S. Smith. Lond. 1800 Svo.
Flbra Grse^ca, 1138. Flora Grasca, sive Plantarnm
rariarum Historia, quas in Provinciis Gracias
legit, investigavit et dcpingi curavit Joannes
Sibthor|)e, M. D. By Sir J. E. Smith. 1808.
Forest Pruner, p. 6)2. The Forest Pruner, or Tim-
ber Owner's Assistant ; being a treatise on the
training or management of British timber trees,
&c. By William Pontey. Lond. 1805. Svo.
Forsyth's 'I'reatise on P'ruit trees, p. 513. Treatise
on the Culture and Management of Fruit 'i'rees ;
in which a new method of pruning and training
is fully described. With plates. Lond. 1802.
4to. 1827. Svo.
For. Rev. and Cont. Misc., p. 61. The Foreign
Review and Continental Miscellany. Lond.
In quarterly Nos. Svo.
For. Quart. Rev. The Foreign Quarterly Review.
London, Paris, and Strasburg. In quarterly
Nos. 8vo.
Eraser's General View, p. 1169. General View of
the Agriculture of the County of Devon ; with
observations on the means of its improvement.
Lond. 1794. 4to.
Eraser's Cornwall, p. 1171. A General View of the
Agriculture of the County of Cornwall. Lond.
1794. 4to.
Eraser's Survey of Wexford, p. 1199. A General
View of the Agriculture of the County of Wex-
ford. Wexford, 1796. Svo.
Fr.-,ser's Survey of Wicklow, p. 1 199. General View
of the Agriculture of the County of Wicklow.
Frazer's Dissertation, &c. A Dissertation on the
High Roads of the Duchy of Lorraine, as well
ancient as modern ; done from the French.
1729. Svo.
Fulton, p. 615. Treatise on the Improvement of
Canal Navigation, &c. 17 plates. Lond. 1796
4to.
Galpine's Compendium, p. 316. A Synoptical Com-
pend of British Botany (from the Class Mo-
nandria toPolyg^mia inclusive), arranged after
the Linnaean System ; and containing the es-
sential characters of the genera, the specific
characters, English names, places and growth,
soil and situation, colour of the flowers, times
of flowering, duration, and reference to figures.
Lond. 1806. i2mo.
* Gardener's Magazine, p 167. Lond. 1826. In Svo.
Nos. every two months.
Garten Magazin, p. 98. Neues AUgemeines Garten
Magazin, &c. Weimar. 4to.
Gaufrid. Vinisauf Iter Hierosolymit. p. 38. Galfridi
Itmerarium Regis Ricardi in Terram Hiero-
solymitanam, &c. Oxon. 1687—91. 2 vols. fol.
General Report of the Agricultural State of Scot-
land, p. 470. General View of the Agriculture of
the Northern Counties and Islands of Scotland.
Edin. 1812. Svo.
General Report of Scotland, p. 302. General Report
of Scotland. Edin. 5 vols. Svo.
General Survey of the Agriculture of Shropshire.
By Joseph Plymley, M.A. Lond. 1803. Svo.
p. 310.
General View, by J. Bailey and G. Culley, p. 1161.
General View o'^^he Agriculture of the County
of Cumberland. 1811. Svo.
Georg. p. 21. The Works of Virgil, translated into
English. By Robert Andrews. Birming. 1766.
Svo.
xu
LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO.
Geographic des Plantes, p. 270. Humboldt's Geo-
graphic des Plantes. Paris. 8vo.
Geological Essays, p. 317. Geological Essays. By
Richard Kirwan, LL. D. Lond. 1799. 8vo.
Geschichte, p. 270. Sickler's Geschichte der Obst.
baumzucht, &c. Leipzig, 8vo.
Gill's Technological Rep., p. 1088. The Technolo-
gical Repository. In 8vo. Nos. monthly.
Gilpin's Life of Latimer, p. 42. Life of Hugh Lati.
mer. Bishop of Worcester. Lond. 1753. 8vo.
Girald. Cambrens. p. 38. Itinerarium Cambrias, &c.
Lond. 1585. 8vo. A translation by Sir Richard
Colt Hoare, in 1806.
Girald. Cambrens. Descript. Cambriae, p. 38. See
Girald. Cambrens., p. 38.
Gloucestershire Report, p. 724. Survey of the Agri-
culture of the County of Gloucester, drawn up
for the Board of Agriculture. By the Rev. S.
Rudge. Lond. 1807. 8vo.
Gooche's Cambridgeshire, p. 1134. General View of
the Agriculture of Cambridgeshire, drawn up
for the Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1811. 8vo.
Granger's General View, p. 1159. General View of
the Agriculture of the County of Durham.
Lond. 1794. 4to.
Gray's Implements, p. 400. The Plough Wright's
Assistant; or a Practical Treatise on various
implements employed in agriculture, illustrated
with 16 fengravings. Edin. 1808. 8vo.
* Grisenthwaite, p. 318. A New Theory of Agricul-
ture, in which the nature of soils, crops, and
manures, is explained, many prevailing preju-
dices are exploded, and the application of bones,
gypsum, lime, chalk, &c. determined on scien-
tific principles. By W. Grisenthwaite. Wells,
12mo.
H.
* H. G. Wob., 2d. edit p. 420, 421. 889. H6rtus Gra-
mineus Woburnensis ; or, an account of the re-
sults of various experiments on the produce and
fattening properties of different grasses, and
other plants used as the food of the more valu-
able domestic animals ; instituted by John Duke
of Bedford. To which is added, an api>endix,
pointing out the different grasses best adapted
for the manufacture of Leghorn bonnets, &c.
By G. Sinclair. Lond. Royal 8 vo. 1825.
Harleian Dairy System, p. 446. The Harleian Dairy
Sy.stem,&c. By William Harley. Lond. 1829. 8vo.
Harrison's Description of England, p. 42. The first
volume of the Chronicles of Englande,- Scot-
lande, and Irelande, &c. Lond. 1577. fol. See
Description of Britaine.
Harte's Essays, p. 11. Essays on Husbandry. Lond.
1770. 8vo.
Hassal's Report, p. 1143. A General View of the
Agriculture of Monmouthshire. Lond. 1794. 4to.
» Headrick's General View, p. ] 190. General View
of the Agriculture of the County of Angus, or
Forfarshire; with observations on the means
of its improvement. Drawn up for the consi-
deration of the Board of Agriculture, and In-
ternal Improvement. 1813. 8vo.
* Headrick's Survey, p. 1197. See Headrick's Ge-
neral View, 1190.
Henderson's General View, p. 1193. General View
of the Agriculture of the County of Caithness.
1812. 8vo.
Henderson's Treatise on Swine, p. 1076. Treatise
on the Breeding of Swine and Curing of Bacon,
with hints on agricultural subjects. Edin. 1811
8vo.
Henry, p. 40. Henry's History of Great Britain,
from the first Invasion of it by the Romans under
Julius Cffisar. Continued by Andrews. Lond.
1814. 12 vols. 8vo.
* Highland Society's Transactions, p. 373. Prize
Essays and Transactions of the Highland Society
of Scotland. Edin. to 1820. 6 vols. 8vo. New
Series, published in the Quarterly Journal of
Agriculture, commencing 1828 to 1831. 2 vols
forming the 7th and 8th.
Hints to Paviors, p. 602. Hints to Paviors. By
Colonel Macerone. Lond. 1826. 8vo. A 2d
edition in 1827, by the Editor of the Mechanics'
Magazine, in which is given a Comparative
View of all the different methods of paving hi-
therto used or suggested.
History of Britain, p. 39. See Henry.
History d'un Morceau de Bois, Hort Tour, p 235
See Neill's Horticultural Tour.
History of Java, p. 153 A Statistical Account of the
Island of Java. By T. S. Raffles, Lieutenant
Governor of Batavia. Lond. 1815. 2 vols. 4to.
History of Moscow, p. 107. Lyall's History and De-
scription of Moscow. Lond. 1824. 1 vol. 4to.
History of Northumberland, p. 1112. The Natural
History and Antiquities of Northumberland,
and of so much of the County of Durham as
lies between the rivers Tyne and Tweed. By J.
Wallis, A. M. Lond. 1769. 2 vols. 4to.
History of Sumatra, p. 164. The History of the
Island of Sumatra, &c. By W. Marsden. Lond.
1811. 4to.
Hodgson, p. 88. Hodgson's Travels in Germany.
2 vols. 8vo. 1819.
Holinshead, p. 41. Chronicles of England, Ireland,
and Scotland. Lond. 1577. 2 vols, fol
* Holland's General View, p. 1163. General View of
the Agriculture of Cheshire ; drawn up for the
Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1817. 8vo.
Holt's General View, p. 1162. General View of the
Agriculture of the County of Lancaster ; with
observations on the means of its improve-
ment Drawn up for the Board of Agriculture.
Lond. 1795. 8vo.
Homer's Enquiry into the State of the Public Roads,
p. 567. An Ejiquiry into the Means of Preserving
and Improving the Public Roads of this King,
dom. Oxford, 1767. 8vo.
Horner's Art of Delineating Estates, p. 546. De-
scription of an Improved Method of Delineating
Estates. Lond. 1813. 8vo.
Horse-hoeing Husbandry, p. 126. See Tull.
Hort Trans., p. 1.55. Transactions of the London
Horticultural Society. Lond. 7 vols. 4to. 1815
to 1831.
Houghton's Collections, p. 4t. Collections for the
Improvement of Husbandry, relating to Corn.
Lond. 1727. 4 vols. 8vo.
Huish's Treatise on Bees, p. 1107. A Treatise on the
Nature, Economy, and Practical Management
of Bees. Lond. 181.5. 8vo.
Husb. of the Anc, p. 22. The Husbandry of the
Ancients. Edin. 1778. 2 vols. 8vo.
♦Husbandry of Scotland, p. 1 138. An Account of the
Systems of Husbandry adopted in the more im-
proved Districts of Scotland, &c. By Sir John
Sinclair, Bart Edin. 1812. 8vo.
Hunt's Agricultural Memoirs, p. 127. See Agricul-
tural Memoirs.
Huntingdonshire Report, p. 746. General View of
the Agriculture of Huntingdonshire. Drawn
up for the Board of Agriculture. By R. Park-
inson. Lond. 1811. 8vo.
* Illust. of L. G. Illustrations of Landscape Garden-
ing and Garden Architecture ; or a collection
of designs original and executed, for laying out
country residences of every degree of extent,
from the cottage and farm, to the national pa-
lace and public park or garden ; kitchen gar-
dens, flower-gardens, arboretums, shrubberies,
botanic gardens, scientific gardens, cemeteries,
&c. In different styles, by different artists, of
different periods and countries. Accompanied
by letter-press descriptions in English, French,
and German. By J. C. Loudon, Lond. 1830.
Atlas foL, in half yearly parts.
♦Improvements on theMarquess of Stafford's Estates,
p. 1145. Loch's Improvements on the Marquess
of Stafford's Estates. Lond. 1819. 8vo.
Introd. to Gerardin's Essay, p. 16. An Essay on
Landscape ; or on the means of ornamenting
the country around our habitations. Translated
from the French, said (but erroneously) by Da-
niel Malthus, Esq. Lond. 1783. 12mo.
Inwood's Tables for Purchasing Estates, &c. p. 541.
Tables for thePurchasing of Estates, Freehold,
Copyhold, or Leasehold; Annuities; and for
the renewing of leases held under cathedral
churches, colleges, or other corjwrate bodies,
for terms, or years certain, and for lives, &c
Lond. 8vo,
* Italy, p. 50. See Chateauvieux.
Jacob on theTradein Com, and on the Agriculture
of Northern Europe, p. 90. Lond. fol 1826.
LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO.
Jacob's Travels, p. 1 15. Travels in the South of Spain,
in Letters written A. D. 1809 and 1810 ; illus-
tratetl with 13 plates. Loud. 1811. 4to.
Jamaica Planter's Guide, p. 194. Roughley's Ja-
maica Planter's Guide. Lond. 1823. 8vo.
* Johnstone's Account of Elkington's Mode of
Draining Land, p, 691. An account of the most
approved mode of draining land, according to
the system practised by the late Mr. Joseph
Elkington; with an appendix, containing hints
for farther improvement of bogs and other
marshy grounds, after draining ; together with
observations on hollow and surface draining in
general. The whole illustrated by explanatory
engravings. Drawn up for the consideration
of the Board of Agriculture. Edin. 1797. 4to
Journ. de Med., p. 10o6. Journal de M^decine. Pa-
ris, in Svo. Nos. monthly.
* Kames, Gent. Farmer, p. 742. The Gentleman
Farmer ; being an attempt to improve agricul-
ture, by subjecting it to the test of rational
principles. Edin. 1776, 8va ; fifth edit., Edin-
1802. Svo. By Henry Home, usually called
Lord Kames.
Keith's General View, p. 1191. General View of the
Agriculture of Aberdeenshire ; drawn up for
the Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1811. Svo. 15*.
Kent's Hint*, p. 316. Hints to Gentlemen of Landed
Property. Lond. 1775. Svo.
Kent's Hints to Gentlemen of Landed Property,
p. 542. See Kent's Hints, p. 316.
Kent's Norfolk, p. 1136. General View of the Agri-
culture of the County of Norfolk ; with observ
ations on the means for its improvement. Drawn
up for the Board of Agriculture, and Internal
Improvement; with additional remarks from
several respectable Gentlemen and Farmers, &c.
Norwich, 1796. Svo.
Kerr's Berwickshire, p. 1181. Statistical, Agri-
cultural, and Political Survey of Berwickshire.
1809. Svo.
Kingdom, p. 167. Account of British Colonies.
Lond. 1820. Svo.
Kirby, p. 298. An Introduction to Entomology ; or
elements of the natural history of insects. Il-
lustrated with coloured plates. 2 vols. Svo.
181.5 — 1817. A fourth edition, much improved,
in 1822.
Kirby and Spence, Int. to Entomology, p. 1120. See
Kirby.
Klapuieyer in Thaer's Annalen., p. 875. SeeThaer.
Kincardineshire Report, p. 1052. General View of
the Agriculture of Kincardineshire, By James
Robertson, D.D. 1811. Svo.
Lancashire Report, p. 903. General View of the
Agriculture of the County of Lancaster ; with
observations on the means of its improve-
ment. Drawn up for the Board of Agriculture,
By John Holt. Lond. 1795. Svo.
Lancisis Disputatio Historica de Bouvilla Peste,
Paris, p. 1032. Svo,
Lardner's Cyclo. Dom. Econ., p. 672. Lond. 1829.
12mo.
Last Col. de Machines, &c., p. 740. See Col. de
Machines.
Leatham's General View, p. 1158. General View
of the Agriculture of the East Riding of York-
shire. Lond. 1794. 4to.
Lectures on Natural Philosophy, p. 311. A Course
of Lectures on Natural Philosophy, and the
Mechanical Arts. By Thomas Young, M. D.,
F. R. S. Lond. 1807. 2 vols. 4to.
Leges Burgundiorura, p. 34. See Ranken's History
of France. The History of France, Civil and
Military, Ecclesiastical, Political. Literary,
Commercial, &c., from the time of its conquest
by Clovis, A. D. 486. Lond. 1801—1805. 3 vols.
Leges Wallicae, p. 36. See Henry's History of Bri-
tain.
Lehman's Topographical Plan Drawing, p. 543,
Lond. 1819. Oblong folio.
Leslie's General View, p. 1192. A General View of
the Agriculture of the Counties of Nairn and
Murray. 1811. Svo.
Les Pr^jug^s Dfetruits, &c., p. 1226. Les Prfejugfes
Di^truits ; par J. M. Lequinio. Membre de la
Convention National de la France, et Citoyen
du Globe. Paris, 1792. Svo.
Letter to a Young Planter, p. 195. Lond 1785. Svo.
Letters and Communications, p. 578. See Communi-
cations to the Board of Agriculture
Letters on Italy, p. 56. See Chateauvieux.
Letters on Road-making, p. 578. See Paterson.
Life of the Duke ofOrmond, p. 134. Tho History of
the Life of James Duke of Ormond, from his
birth in 1610, to his death in 1688 ; with a
collection of his letters to verify the said his-
tory. By T. Carte. Lond. 1735, 1736. 3 vols,
folio.
Linn. Trans., p. 258. Transactions of the Linnaan
Society of London, Lond, 1782—1831. 17 vols.
4to.
* Loch, p. 708, See Loch's Improvements of the
Marquess of Staftbrd, 470. Lond. 1820. Svo,
Loch's Improvements, p, 1148. See Loch.
London Encyc, p. 237. Tegg's London Encyclops-
dia, Lond. 1S25. 8vo,
London Journal of the Arts, p, 591, See Newton's
Journal.
Long's Jam., p. 195. History of Jamaica, Lond,
1774. 3 vols. 4to.
Lord Kames's Gentleman Farmer, p. S9I. See
Kames.
* Lord Somerville's Facts, p. 1054; Facts and Ob-
servations relative to Sheep, Wool, Ploughs,
and Oxen; in which the importance of improv-
ing the short- woolled breeds by a mixture of the
Merino breed, is deduced from actual practice.
Together with some remarks on the advantages
which have been derived from the use of salt.
Lond. 1803. New edition, 1809. Svo.
* Loudon's Hortus Brit, p. 316. Loudon's H6rtus
Britannicus. A Catalogue of all the Plants,
indigenous, cultivated in, or introduced to,
Britain. Lond. 1830. 1 vol. 8vo.
Lowe's Report, p. 1155, General View of the Agn-
culture of the County of Nottingham ; with ob-
servations on the means of its improvement
Drawn up for the Board of Agriculture and-
Internal Improvement Lond, 1794. 4to.
M'Adam's Remarks on Roads, p, 577. Lond, 1819.
Svo.
M' Adam's Report to the Board of Agriculture, p.
577. See M' A dam's Remarks on Roads.
Macdonald's General View, p. 1197. General View
of the Agriculture of the Hebrides, 1811.
Svo.
Macdonald's Report of the Western Islands, p, 519.
General View of the Agriculture of the
Hebrides. A new edition. 1811, Svo,
Macdonald's Report of the Hebrides, p. 1052. See
Macdonald's Report of the Western Islands,
p. 519,
M'Evc
ivoy's Survey of Tyrone, p. 1204. A General
View of the Agriculture of the County of
Tyrone. Dublin,' 1802. Svo.
Mackenzie's General View, p. 1192. A General
View of the Agriculture of the Counties of
Ross and Cromarty. Lond. ISIO. Svo.
M'Nab's Hints on Planting Evergreens. Hints on
the Planting and General Treatment of Hardy
Evergreens in the Climate of Scotland. Edin.
1830. Svo.
M'Parlan's Survey of Leitrim, p. 1203. A General
View of the Agriculture of the County of
Leitrim. Dubl. 1802. Svo.
M'Parlan's Survey of Donegal, p. 1204. A General
View of the Agriculture of the County of Done-
gal. Dubl. 1802. Svo.
M'Parlan's Survey of Mayo, p. 1203. A General
View of the Agriculture of the County of Mayo.
Dubl. 1802. Svo.
M'Parlan's Survey of Sligo, p. 1204. A General
View of the Agriculture of the County of Sligo.
Dubl. 1902. Svo.
Maison Rustique de Cayenne, p. 201. Paris, Svo.
Mag. Nat Hist, p. 1126. Loudon's Magazine of
Natural History. Lond. in Svo. Nos. every
two months.
Major's Treatise on Insects. A Treatise on the
Insects most prevalent on Fruit Trees and
Garden I'roduce ; giving an account of the
states they pass through, the depredations they
XIV
LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO.
commit, including the Kecipes of various au-
tiiors for tiieir destruction, with remarks on
rtieir utility ; also, a few Hints on the Causes and
Treatment of mildew and canlier on fruit trees,
cucumbers, &c. &c. London and Leeds. 8vo.
Malcolm's Survey, p. 1126. General View cf the
Agriculture of the County of Surrey. Lond.
1794. 4to
* Manual of Cottage Gardening, 1225. Loudon's
Manual of Cottage Gardening, Husbandry, and
Architecture, &c., with 3 Plans for Cottages.
Lond. 1830. 8vo.
* Marquess of Stafford's Improvements, p. 562. See
Loch.
* Marshall's Midland Counties, Minute 27, p. 731.
Rural Economy of the Midland Counties ; in-
cluding the management of livestock in Leices-
ter and its environs ; together with Minutes on
Agriculture and Planting in the District of the
Midland Station. Lond. 179(). 2 vols. 8vo.
* Marshall's Review, p. 1125. Reviewof The Land-
scape ; a Didactic Poem : and also, an Essay on
the Picturesque ; together with practical re-
marks on rural ornament. Lond. 1795. Svo.
Marshall's Rural Economy of Norfolk, p. 1061. The
Rural Economy of Norfolk ; comprising the
Management of Landed Estates, and the present
Practice of Husbandry in that County. Lond.
1788. 2 vols. Svo,
* Marshall's Yorkshire, vol. L, p. 744. The Rural Eco-
nomy of Yorkshire; comprising the Management
of Landed Estates, and the present Practice of
Husbandry in the Agricultural Districts of that
County. Lond. 1788. 2 vols. Svo.
Martin's Essay on Plantership, in Young's Annals
of Agriculture, p. 195. See Young.
Massinger's New Way to Pay Old Debts, p. 550.
Plays, with Notes critical and explanatory, by
William Gifford. I^nd. 1805. 4 vols Svo.
Matthew on Naval Timber, &c. A Treatise on
Naval Timber, and Arboriculture; to which
are added. Critical Notes on Authors who have
recently treated the Subject of Planting. Lond.
1831. Svo.
* Mavor's Report, p. 1138. Mavor's Agricultural
Survey of Berkshire.
* Maxwell's Practical Husbandman, p. 391. The
Practical Husbandman ; being a collection of
miscellaneous papers on Husbandry. Edin.
1757. Svo.
* Maxwell, p. 11S4. See Maxwell's Practical Hus-
bandman, p. 391.
Mech. Mag., p. 429. Mechanics' Magazine, Mu-
seum, Register, Journal, and Gazette. Lond.
Svo. In weekly Nos. and Monthly Parts.
M^m. de la Soc. Agr. du Seine, tome ii. p. SOS. M^--
moires de la Socitte d' Agriculture du Seine et
Oise. Paris. 8vo.
M^m. de la Soc. Agr., p. 49. See Mem. de la Soc.
Agr. de Seine.
Mt^m. de la Soci^t^ Royale et Centrale d'Agr. de
Paris, p. 333. Paris, 8va
Middlesex Report, p. 731. A View of the Agricul-
ture of Middlesex ; with observations on the
means of its improvement ; with several Essays
on Agriculture in general. Drawn up for the
Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1798. Svo.
Sliddleton's Survey, p. 1125. See Middlesex Report,
p. 731.
Middleton's Survey of Middlesex, p. 519. See Mid-
(llesex Report, p. 731.
Minutes of Evidence before a Committee of the
House of Commons, p. 372. Lond. fol.
Montfaucon, M., Monumensde la Monarchie. Les
Monumens de la Monarchie Frangaise,avec les
fig. de chaque Regne, que I'injure du Temps a
^pargnees. Par. 1729—1733. 5 vols. fol.
Month y Magazine, p. 744. The Monthly Magazine,
Lond. In Monthly Nos. Svo.
* Morel de Vindt^, p. 340. Essai sur les Construc-
tions Rurales et Economiques ; conteuant leurs
Plans, Cou()es, Elevations, Details, et Dt'vis,
etablis aux plus bas Prix possibles. Paris, folio,
1822. 40 pages, with 36 plates.
Morier's Second Journey, p. 141. A Second Jour-
ney through Persia to Constantinople, between
the Years 1810— 1816; with a Journal of the
Voyage by the Brazils and Bombay to the Per-
sian Gulf; together with an Account of the
Proceedings of h\s Majcstv's Embassy, under
his Excellency Sir GoreOusley, Bart, F.R.S.L
With maps, coloured costumes, and other en-
gravings, from the designs of the Author. 1818
Moryson's Itin., p. 42. Itinerary ; written first in
the Latin tongue, and then translated by him.
self into English ; containing twelve Years'
Travels through Germany, Bohmerland, Switz-
erland, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Italy,
Turkey, France, England, Scotland, and Ire-
land. In three parts. Lond. 1617. fol.
Mowbray, p. 1086. A Practical Treatise on the Me-
thod of Breeding, Rearing, and Fattening
Domestic Poultry, Pigeons, and Rabbits. Lond.
1815. Svo.
Munro's Guide to Farm Book-keeping. A Guide
to Farm Book-keeping, founded upon actual
practice and upon new and concise principles.
Iklin. 1822. 8va
N.
Naismith's General View, 1185. General View of
the Agriculture of the County of Clydesdale,
with Observations on the Means of its Improve-
ment. Drawn up for the Consideration of the
Board of Agriculture' and Internal Improve-
ment. Brent. 1794. 4to.
Narrative, p. 155. Personal Observations made dur-
ing the Progress of the British Embassy through
China, and on its Voyage to and from that
Country, in the Years 1816-1817. By Clerk Abel.
Lond. 1818. 4to.
Nat. Hist., p. 14. See P!in.
Nicholson's Journal of Natural Philosophy, Che-
mistry, and the Arts. Illustrated with engrav-
ings. Lond. 1797—1802. 5 vols. 4to.
Nic. Jour., p. 1223. New Series. Lond 1802—1814.
36 vols. Svo.
Neill, p. 69. Journal of a Horticultural Tour
throughout some parts of Flanders, Holland,
and the North of France, in the Autumn of
1817, by a Deputation of the Caledonian Hor-
ticultural Society. Drawn up by P. Neill, one
of the Deputation. Edin. Svo. 1823.
New System of Cultivation, by General Beatson,
p. 402. A New System of Cultivation, without
Lime or Dung, or Summer Fallows, as practised
at Knowle Farm, in the County of Sussex.
Lond. 1820. Svo. Plates and Supplement, 1821.
Sva plates.
* New Theory of Agr., p. 260. A New Theory ot
Agriculture, in which the Nature of Soils, Crops,
and Manures is explained, many prevailing
Prejudices are exploded, ard the Application of
Bones, Gypsum, Lime, Chalk, &c., determined
on scientific Princii)les. By William Grisen-
thwaite. 1820. 12mo.
Newenham, p. 135. A Statistical and Historical En-
quiry into the Progress and Magnitude of Popu-
lation in Ireland. Lond. 1805. Svo. 1818. Svo.
Newenham's Statistical Survey, p. 1205. See Newen.
ham, p. 135.
Newton's Journal, p. 372. The London Journal
of Arts and Sciences, &c. Lond. Monthly Nos.
Svo.
* Northum. Survey, p. 127. A General View of
the Agriculture of the County of Northumber-
land, with Observations on the Means of its Im-
provement. Drawn up for the Board of Agri-
culture. By John Bailey. Newcastle, 1797.
Svo. 18C0. Svo.
* Northumberland Report, p. 501. See Northum.
Survey, p. 127.
Notes, p. 107. Notes on the Crimea. By Mary Hol-
derness. Lond. 18'21. 12mo.
Notes to Sir H. Davy's Agr. Chem., p. 353. Davy's
Agricultural Chemistry. Edit. 1826. Svo.
Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle, p. S09.
Paris, 1,3 vols. Svo.
O.
* Obs. on Husbandry, p. 45. Observations on Hus-
bandry. Bv Edward Lisle, Esq. Lond. Second
edition. 1759. 2 vols. Svo.
* Observations on Irrigation, p. 731. Observation*.
on the Utility, Form, and Management of Wa-
ter Meadows, and the Draining and Irrigating
Peat-bogs ; with an Account of Prisley Bog, and
other extraordinary Improvements, conduttert
for the Duke of Bedford. By William Smith.
Lond. 1809. Svo.
Observations upon Roads, p. 576. Fry's Observations
on Roads and WheeUCarriages, Lond. Svo.
LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO.
Odyss., p. 10. The Iliad and Odyssej' of Homer,
translated by Alexander Pope. Lond. 1806.
4 vols. 12mo.
♦ On the Conversion of Arable Land into Pasture,
p. 895. On the Conversion of Arable Land into
Pasture, and on other Rural Subjects. By
Francis Blaikie. Lond. 1819. 12mo.
On Hedges and Hedge-row Timber, p. 10. A Trea-
tise on the Management of Hedges and Hedge,
row Timber. By Francis Blaikie. Lond. 12mo.
Oxfordshire Report, p. 745. General View of the
Agriculture of the County of Oxford. By
Richard Davis. Lond. 1794. 4to.
Pal. p. 21. Translation of the Fourteen Books of
Palladius on Agriculture. By the Rev. T. Owen.
Lond. 1807. 8vo.
Pallad., 16. See Pal., p. 21.
Paper apud Transactions of Sc. Ant. Soc, p. 42.
Transactions of the Antiquarian Society of
Scotland. Edin. 4to.
Parker's Essay, p. 502. An Essay or Practical En-
quiry concerning the Hanging and Fastening of
Gates and Wickets. Second edition, im-
proved and enlarged. Six 4to plates. Lond.
1804.
Parker's Essay on Hanging Gates, p. 504. See Par-
ker's Essay, p. 502.
• Parkinson, p. 1134. General View of the Agricul-
ture of Huntingdonshire. Drawn up for the
Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1811. 8vo.
Paris, M. Hist., p. 38. Historia major Anglis Guli-
elmo Victore ad ultimum annum Henr. III.
Lond. 1684. fol.
Paris, M., Vit. Abbot, p. 38. See Paris, M., Hist,
p. 38.
• Parochial Institutions, &c., p. 1226. Parochial
Institutions ; or an outline for a National Edu-
cation Establishment, as a substitute for the
National Churches of England, Scotland, and
Ireland. By J. C. Loudon. Lond. 1829. 8vo.
Paterson's Letters, p. 581. Letters on Road-making.
Montrose, 12mo.
Pearce's Berkshire, p. 1138. General View of the
Agriculture of Berkshire. Lond. 1794. 4to.
Perth Miscellany. The Perth Miscellany of Litera-
ture. Agriculture, Gardening, and Local In-
telligence. Perth, 1830. Three Nos.
Peyrouse, p. 71. A Sketch of the Agriculture of a
District in the South of France. By Baron
Picot de la Peyrouse. Translation, with notes.
Lond. 1819. 8vo.
Phil. Trans., p. 1118. The Philosophical Transac-
tions of the Royal Society of London, from
their commencernent in 1665 to 1831. Lond.
4to. Abridgement by Hutton, Shaw, and Pear-
son. Lond. 1804—1809. 18 vols. 4to.
Phil. Trans, et Abr., p. 1207. See Phil. Trans.,
p. 1118.
philos. Mag., p. 334. The Philosophical Magzaine.
Lond. 8vo. In monthly Nos. Continued.
Phys. des Arb., p. 241. Physique des Arbres, oil
il est traite de I'Anatomie des Plantes, et de
I'Economie Vegetale : avec une explication des
termes propres h. cette science. Par Henri
Louis du Hamel du Monceau. Paris, 1758.
2 vols. 4to.
• Phytologia, p. 329. Phytologia, or the Philosophy
of Agriculture and Gardening, with the theory
of draining morasses, and with an improved
construction of the drill plough. By Erasmus
Darwin, M. D. Lond. 1801. 4to.
Pitscottie, p. 40. See Henry's History of Britain.
Pitt's Report, p. 11.56. A General View of the
Agriculture of Northamptonshire. 8vo. Lond.
1809.
Plant Kal., p. 640. The Planter's Calendar, by the
late Walter Nicol ; edited and completed, by
Edward Sang. Edin. 1820. 2d edition. 8vo.
Planter's Guide, 193. The Planter's Guide ; or, a
practical essay on the best method of giving
immediate effect to wood, by the removal of
large trees and underwood, &c. By Sir Henry
Steuart, Bart., LL.D., &c. Edin. 8vo. 5 pis.
pp. 473.
Plin. Nat. Hist, p. 17. Pliny's Natural History of
the World, translated into English by Phile-
mon Holland. Lond. 1601. 1634. 2 vols., ge-
nerally bound in one, foL
Plumtree's Residence in Ireland, p. 133. London,
1820. 4to.
Plymley's Shropshire, p. 1145. A General View of
the Agriculture of Shropshire. Lond. 1804
8vo.
Polydore Virgil, p. 41. Historia Anglicana. Basle.
1534. fol.
Pomeroy's Worcestershire, p. 1142. General View
of the Agriculture of the County of Worces-
ter. Lond. 1794. 4to.
Potter's Antiq., p. 10. Archsologia Grajca ; or, the
Antiquities of Greece. Oxf. 1697—1699. 2 vols.
8vo.
Present State of Turkey, p. 121. The Present State
of Turkey ; or a description of the political, ci-
vil, and religious constitution, government, and
laws of the Ottoman empire, &c. By F. Thorn-
ton. Lond. 1807. 4to.
Principles of Botany, p. 243. See Willdenow.
Pringle's General View, p. 1162. A General View
of the Agriculture of the County of Westmore-
land, with observations on the means of its
improvement. Edin. 1794. 4to.
Pringle's Present State of Albany, South Africa,
p. 181.
* Prof. Plant., 639. The Profitable Planter ; a trea-
tise on the cultivation of the larch and Scotch
pine timber,showing that their excellent quality,
especially that of the former, will render them
so essentially useful, as greatly to promote the
interests of the country. By William Pontey,
Huddersfield, 1800. 8vo.
Q.
Quarterly Journal of Agric, p. 316. The Quarterly
Journal of Agriculture : and the Prize Essays
and Transactions of the Highland Society of
Scotland. Edin. 1828. In 8vo numbers, quar-
terly.
Quar. Jour. Science, p. 602. The Quarterly Journal
of Science. Edited at the Royal Institution of
Great Britain. In 8vo numbers, quarterly. In
October, 1830, it was given up, and the Journal
of the Royal Institution of Great Britain sub-
stituted.
Quayle's General View, &c. of the Norman Islands,
p. 1 172. Quayle's General View of the Agricul.
ture, &c. of the Islands on the coast of Nor-
mandy subject to Great Britain. Lond. 1815.
8vo
Raccolta dei Autori che trattano del' Aque, p.
329. Firenze, 8vo.
Rawson's Survey of Kildare, p. 1200. A General
View of the Agriculture of the County of Kil-
dare. Dubl. 1807. 8vo.
Recherches de Physiologic et de Chimie Patholo-
gique, par P. N. Nysten., p. 311. Paris, 1811. 8vo.
Recr., p. 144. See Anderson.
Recueil Industriel, p. 810. Recueil Industriel Ma-
nufacturier, Agricole, et Commerciel, &c. Paris,
1829. In monthly numbers, 8vo. Continued.
Rees's Cyc, p. 1224. The New Cyclopaedia, or Uni-
versal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, formed
upon a more enlarged plan of arrangement
than the Dictionary of IVIr. Chambers, compre-
hending the various articles of that work, with
additions and improvements ; together with the
new subject of biography, geography, and his-
tory, and adapted to the present state of litera-
ture and science. Lond. 1802, 45 vols. 4to.
Reflections on the Commerce of the Mediterranean.
By John Jackson, Esq. Reflections on the Com-
merce of the Mediterranean, deduced from ac-
tual Experience during a Residence on both
Shores of the Mediterranean Sea, &c. Lond.
1804. 8vo.
Regiam Majestatem, p. 39. See Henry's History of
Britain.
Relat. of Heat and Moisture, p. 359. Short Account
of Experiments and Instruments depending on
the Relation of the Air to Heat and Moisture.
By John Leslie, F.R.S., &c. Edin. 1813. 8vo.
Relat du Voy. fait, en Egypte, p. 7. Relation du
Voyage fait en Egypte, dans 1' Annee 1730. Par
Granger. Paris, 1745. 12mo.
Reliquiee Spelmannianae, p. 36. Reliquse Spelman.
nianae ; or his posthumous works, &c. Par
Edmund Gibson. Oxf. 1698, Fol
XVI
LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO.
Remarks on Live Stock, p. 302. Remarks on Live
Stock, in a letter to Henry Cline, Esq. By
Andrew Coventry, M. D. Edin. 1808. 8v'o.
Report of the Edinburgh Railway, p. 572. Edin.
1826. 4to.
Report of Nairn and Moray, p. lOlS. Donaldson's
General View of the Agriculture of Nairn,
Lond. 1794; 4to. ; and of Elgin and Moray,
Lond. 1794. 4to.
Report of Northum., 1182. See Bailey.
* Report of the Workington Society, p. 77L By John
C. Curwen, M P.
Repton's Enquiry, p. 566. An Enquiry into the
Changes in Taste and Landscape Gardening.
By Humphry Repton, Esq. Lond. 1806. Svo.
* Robertson's Rural Recollections, p. 11/8. Rural
Recollections ; or, the progress of improvement
in agriculture and rural affairs. Irvine, 1829.
Svo.
* Robertson's Survey, p. 1178. General View of the
Agriculture of the County of Mid. Lothian,
with observations on the means of its improve-
ment. With the additional remarks of several
respectable gentlemen and farmers in the
county. Drawn up for the Board of Agricul-
ture. Edin. 1795. Svo.
Roughley, p. 193. Jamaica Planter's Guide. Lond.
1823. Svo.
Roughley's Jamaica Planter's Guide, p. 195. See
Roughley, p. 193.
Rox. Coromandel, p. 158. Plants of the Coast of Co-
romandel ; selected from the drawings and de-
scriptions presented to the Court of Directors
of the East India Company. Bv W. Roxburgh,
M.D., F.R.S., &c. Lond. 179a 1802. 2 vols,
fol.
Roxburghshire Report, p. 1060. A General View
of the Agriculture of the Counties of Roxburgh
and Selkirk. By Robert Douglas, D.D. Lond.
1802. Svo.
Rudge's Report, p. 1140. Survey of the Agriculture
of the County of Gloucester. Drawn up for the
Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1807. Svo.
Rural Economy of Norfolk, p. 518. The Rural Eco-
nomy of Norfolk ; comprising the management
of landed estates, and the present practice of
husbandry in that county. Lond. 1788. 2 vols.
Svo.
* Rural Recollections, p. 1178. See Robertson.
Saggio Botanico Georgico intorno I'Hibridismo delle
Piante. By Billardi. Pavia, 1809., p. 813.
Sampson's Survey of Londonderry, p. 1205. Memoir
explanatory of the Chart and Survey of the
County of Londonderry, Ireland. Dubl. 1802.
Svo.
Sang, p. 656. See Plant. Cal.
Scandinavia, p. 110. See Dr. Clarke's Travels.
Saxon Rarities of the Eighth Century, p. 36. See
Strutt's Chronicle of England ; or, complete
History, &c. Plates. Lond. 1777, 1778. 2 vols.
4to.
Scot Waring's Persia, p. 139. Tour to Sheeraz, by
the Route of Kazroon and Feerozabad ; with va-
rious remarks on the manners, customs, laws,
language, and literature of the Persians. To
which is added, A History of Persia from the
death of Kureem Khan to the subversion of
the Zund Dynasty. Lond. 1807. 4to.
Scotsman, p. 65. The Scotsman Newspaper. In
■ folio numbers, twice a week.
Select Remains of John Ray, p. 45. Select Me-
moirs of the learned John Ray ; with his life
by Derhara. Published by John Scott. Lond.
1761. Svo.
Shaw's Zoology, p. 1103. General Zoology, or Sys-
tematic Natural History ; with plates from the
first authorities, and most select specimens,
engraved principally bv Mr. Heath. Lond.
1800—1806. 6 vols, large Svo., and a smaUer
size.
Shirrefi's Survey of Orkney and Shetland, p. 1052.
General View of the Agriculture of the Orkney
Islands, with observations on the means of their
Improvement; drawn up for the Board of
Agriculture. Edin. 1814. Svo.
Shrew. Rep., p. 311. See Plymley.
Sigismondi, Agr. Tosc, p. 329. See Agr. Tuscan.
Simond's Switzerland, 60. A Tour in Switzerland,
&c Lond. 1819. 8v0i
Sir J. Banks on Blight, 1805. p. 260. A short Ac^
count of the Causes of the Diseases in Corn,
called by Farmers the Blight, the Mildew, and
the Rust. With plates. Lond. 1803. 4to.
Six Essays on Public Education, from the New
York Daily Sentinel, p. 1226. New York, 1830.
Svo.
Smeaton's Posthumous Works, p. 329. Lond. 1810.
3 vols. 4to.
Smith's Compendium of Practical Inventions, p.
433. Smith's Mechanic, or Compendium of
Practical Inventions. Liverpool. 2 vols. Svo.
Smith's Mechanic, p. 432. See Smith's Compendium
of Practical Inventions, p. 433.
Smith's County Geological RIaps, p. 1125. Geologi-
cal Maps of the different Counties of England.
By William Smith, Engineer and Mineralogist
Lond.
Smith's Geological Map, p. 1136. See Smith's
County Geological Maps, 1125.
Smith's Geological Map of England, Wales, and
part of Scotland, p. 1125. Lond. 1818.
Smith's General View, p. 1184. General View of
the Agriculture of Galloway ; drawn up for
the Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1811. Svo.
Smith's Geological Table of British organised Fos-
sils, p. 1125. Lond. 1819.
Smith's History of Kerry, p. 1202. The ancient and
present State of the Countv of Kerry, &c.
Dublin, 1774. Svo.
Smith's Introduction, p. 262. An Introduction to
Physiological and Systematical Botany. Lond.
2d edit. 1809. Svo.
* Small's Treatise on Ploughs and Wheel Carriciges,
p. 391. Treatise on Ploughs and Wheel Car-
riages. Edin. 1784. Svo.
* Somerville's General View, p. 1180. General View
of the Agriculture of East Lothian ; drawn up
from the papers of the author. Lond. 1805. Svo.
* Specimen of a work on Horse-hoeing Husbandry.
p. 1161. By Jethro Tull. Lond. 1731. 4to.
Spectator, p. 1226. The Spectator Newspaper. In
weekly Numbers. Long 4to.
Spix, p. 200. Travels in Brazil. By Drs. Spix and
Martins. Lond. 1821. 2 vols. Svo.
Spix's Travels, p. 165. See Spix.
Strabo, p. 36. Geographia, &c. Oxford, 1807. 2 vols.
folio.
* Statistical account of Scotland. The Statistical
Account of Scotland ; drawn up from the com-
munications of the ministers of the different
parishes. Edin. 1791—1799- 21 vols. Svo.
Stedman's Surinam, p. 201. Narrative of a five
Years' Expedition against the revolted Negroes
of Surinam, in Guiana, on the wild Coast of
South America, from 1773 to 1777 ; elucidating
the history of that country, and describing its
productions, viz. quadrupeds, birds, fishes, rep-
tiles, trees, shrubs, &c. ; with an account of the
Indians of Guiana and negroes of Guinea : il-
lustrated with 80 elegant engravings, from
drawings made by the author. Lond. 1796.
2 vols. 4to.
* Stevenson, p. 1127. General View of the Agricul-
ture of the County of Surrey. Lond. 1809. Svo.
* Stevenson's General View, p. 1168. See Stevenson,
p. 1127.
* Stevenson's Surrey, p. 439. See Stevenson, p. 1127.
* Stevenson's Survey, p. 1126. See Stevenson, p. 1127.
* Stevenson's Plan for Track-roads, p. 570. See
Brewster's Encyclopedia. Art. Road.
Stillingfleet's Life and Works, p. 5. His Literary
Life, and Select Works By William Cox.
Lond. 1811. 3 vols. Svo.
Stone's Bedfordshire, p. 1132 General View of the
Agriculture of the County of Bedford. Lond.
1791. 4to.
Stone's Report, p. 1155. See Stone's Bedfordshire,
p. 1132.
Stone's Huntingdonshire, p. 1134. A General View
of the Agriculture of Huntingdonshire. Lond.
1733. 4to.
Strickland's View, p. 1158. A General View of the
Agriculture of the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Lond. 1812. Svo.
Strutt's Complete View of the Manners, &c. Horda
Angel-Cynnan; or, a complete view of the
manners, customs, arms, habits, &c., of the
people of England from the arrival of the
Saxons till the reign of Henry VIII. ; with a
short account of the Britons during the govern-
ment of the Romans. Lond. 1771—1776. 3 vols.
4to.
LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO.
Survey of the West Riding of Yorkshire, p. 391.
See Brown's West Riding.
Survey by St John Priest, p. 1131. General View of
the Agriculture of Buckinghamshire. 8vo.
Lond. 1810. in 4to.
Swainson's MSS., p. 2()0. Matter furnished by Mr.
Swainson, F. R. S. See List of Contributors,
p. 6.
System of Chemistry, p. 311. A Svstem of Chemis-
try. By Thomas Thomson, M. D., F. R. S.,
&c. Lond. 1817. 4 vols. 8vo.
T., p. 347. Matter furnished by Dr. Trail of Liver-
pool. See List of Contributors.
Tacit, de Morib. German., p. 36. The works of Taci-
tus. By T. Gordon. Lond. 1770, 1771, 5 vols.
12mo.
The Country Gentleman's Companion, p. 521. By
Stephen Switzer, Gardener. Lond. 1732. 8vo.
The Country Gentleman's Recreation, p. 1100. Lon-
don. 1753. 2 vols. 12mo.
The New York Daily Sentinel, p. 1226. A Daily
Newspaper published at New York.
The Rev. Dr. Singer's General View. p. 1183. Ge-
neral View of the Agriculture, State of Pro-
perty, and Improvements in the County of
Dumfries. Edin. 1812. 8vo.
The Woodlands, p. 610. The Woodlands ; or a
treatise on planting, describing the trees, &c.
By William Cobbett. Lond. 1826. 8vo.
The Working Man's Advocate, p. 1226. A New
York Newspaper.
Theo. de Caus. Plant, p. 25. Historia Plantarum,
k Theodoro Gaza interprete. Ven. apud Aid.
1498.
Theophrast Hist Plant., p. 251. See Theo. de
Caus. Plant, p. 25.
Thomson's General View, p. 188. General View of
the Agriculture of the County of Fife ; with
observations on the means of its improvement.
Edin. 1800. 8vo.
Thomson's Survey of Meath. Dublin, 1802. 8vo.
Thornton, p. 121. The present State of Turkey, &c.
By Thomas Thornton. Lond. 1810. 2 vols.
8vo.
* Thouin, p. 371. Cours de Culture et de Natural-
isation des Vegetaux, &c. By Andr6 Thouin,
with an Atlas of 25 plates in 4to. Published
by his Nephew Oscar Leclerc. Paris. 1827.
3 vols. 8vo. and 1 vol. 4to.
Tighe's Survey of Kilkenny, p. 134. Statistical Ob-
servations on the County of Kilkenny, made in
1800 and 1801. 8vo.
Tooke's View of the Russian Empire, p. 105. View
of the Russian Empire during the reign of
Catherine II. and to the close of the present
century. Lond. 1799. 3 vols. 8vo.
Townsend, p. 118. A Journey through Spain in the
years 1786 and 1787 ; with particular attention
to the Agriculture, Manufectures, Commerce,
Population, Taxes, and Revenue of that coun-
try, and Remarks in passing through part of
France. Lond. 1791. 3 vols. 8vo.
Townsend's Spain, p. 115. See Townsend, 118.
Townshend's Cork, p. 134. Statistical Survey of the
County of Cork. 1810. 8vo.
Townshend's Survey of Cork, p. 1201. See Town-
shend's Cork, 134.
Traits des Assolemens, p. 333. See Nouveau Cours
complet d'Agriculture, &c.
Traitfe de Chim. Element p. 226. Recherches Phy-
sico-Chimiques. Par MM. Gay-Lussac et The-
nard. Paris. 181.'5. 2 vols. 8vo.
Transactions of the Dublin Society, p. 568. See Dub-
lin Soc.
* Trans. Highl. Soc, p. 1187. See Highland Society's
Transactions.
Trans. Ir. Acad. p. 367. Transactions of the Royal
Irish Academy. Dublin, 4to.
Trans Soc. Arts, p. 373. Transactions of the So-
ciety for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufac-
tures, and Commerce. &c. Lond. 1783. 8vo.
Travels, p. 95. See Jacob.
Travels in Hungary, p. 96. Travels from Vienna
through Lower Hungary ; with some Account
of Vienna during the Congress. By Richard
Bright, IM. D. Edin. 1818. 4to. Numerous
engravings.
Travels in the Tarentaise, p. 62. See Bakewell.
Travels through Germany, Poland, &c., p. 89. Mar.
shall's Travels through Germany, Poland, &c.
Travels, trans, by A. Plumtree, p. 122. Travels
through the Morea, Albania, and other parts of
the Ottoman Empire. From the French of
Poucqueville. 1813. 4to.
Treatise on Cobbett's Corn, and Quar. Journ. Agr.,
p. 831. A Treatise on Cobbett's Corn ; contain-
ing instructions for propagating and cultivating
the plant, &c. Lond. 1828. 12mo.
• Treatise on Country Resid. vol. 2., p. 64. Loudon's
Treatise on Country Residences, &c. Lond.
1826. 2 vols. 4to.
Treatise on Dew, p. 359. Garstin's Treatise on
Dew. Lond. 8vo.
Treatise on Horses, p. 308. Philosc^hical and prac-
tical Treatise on Horses; and on the moral
duties of man towards the brute creation. By
John Lawrence. 1809. 2 vols. 8vo.
Treatise on Roads, p. 571. Paterson's Treatise on
Roads. Montrose. 18 . 12mo.
Trotter's General View, p. 1187. General View of
the Agriculture of West Lothian; with ob-
servations on the means of its improvement.
1812. 8vo.
Tuke's Report, p. 1157. General View of the Agri-
culture of the North Riding of Yorkshire ;
drawn up for the Board of Agriculture. 15
plates. Lond. 1800. 8vo.
Turner's Report, p. 1140. A General View of the
Agriculture of Gloucestershire. Lond. 1794. 4to.
Tyrwhitt's Tracts on the Improvements at Dart-
moor, p. 1169. Printed, but not published, 1819.
U.
Ure's General View, p. 1188. A General View of
the Agriculture of Kinross-shire. Edin. 1795.
4to.
V.
VaL Max. p. 17. The History of the Acts and Say-
ings of Valerius Maximus. By W. Speed. Lond.
1678. 8vo.
Vancouver's Cambridgeshire, 1134. A General
View of the Agriculture of Cambridgeshire.
Lond. 1794. 4to.
Vancouver's General View, p. 1165. General View
of the Agriculture of Hampshire, including the
Isle of Wight ; with observations on the means
of its improvement. Drawn up for the Board
of Agriculture. 1811. 8vo.
Vancouver's Survey of Devon, p. 1048. General
View of the Agriculture of the County of De-
von ; with observations on the means of its im-
provement Lond. 1807. 8vo. ^
Vancouver's View, p. 1169. See Vancouver's Sur-
vey of Devon, 1048.
Var., p. 21. Marcus Terentius Varro, Libri de Re
Rustica, Reg. 1496. fol. Translated into Eng-
lish, by the Rev. T. Owen. Lond. 1800. 8vo.
Var. de R. R., p. 14. See Var. p. 21.
Varro, p. 22. See Var. p. 21.
Vet Outlines, p. 997. The Outlines of Veterinary
Art ; or the principles of medicine, as applied
to a knowledge of the structure, functions, and
economy of the horse, the ox, the sheep, and
the dog ; and to a more scientific and successful
manner of treating their various diseases ; illus-
trated with plates. By Delabere Blaine. I-ond.
1802. 2 vols. New edit. 1816. 8vo.
Voyage, &c., p. 149. The Journal of a Voyage to
Madras and China. By James Wathen, Esq.
1804. 4to.
W.
Waistell's Designs for Agr. Buildings, p. 810. De-
signs for Agricultural Buildings, &c. ; to which
are added, plans and remarks on Caterham
farmyard, as it formerly was; and also, as it
has been improved. Lond. 1826. 8vo.
Wakefield, 1199. An Account of Ireland, Statis-
tical and Political. Lond. 1812. 2 vols. 4to.
* Wakefield's Statistical Account, p. 132. See
Wakefield, p. 1199.
* Wakefield's Statistical Survey of Ireland, p. 1201.
See Wakefield, 1199.
Walker's Hebrides, p. 519. The Economical His-
tory of the Hebrides and Highlands of Scot-
land. Edin. 1812. 2 vols. 8vo.
XVlll
LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO.
Walker's Report, p. 1130. A General View of
the Agriculture of Hertfordshire. Lond. 1795.
4to.
Warner's Isle of Wight, p. 1165. The History of
the Isle of Wight, Military, Ecclesiastical,
Civil, and Natural : to which is added a view
of its Agriculture. Southampton, 1795. 8vo.
Wedge's General View, p. 1163. A General View
of the Agriculture of the County of Cheshire.
Lond. 1794. 4to.
White's Treatise on Veter. Med., p. 443. Treatise
on Veterinary Medicine. Lond. 1815. 4 vols.
12mo.
White and Macfarlane's Report, p. 1186. General
View of the Agriculture of Dumbartonshire ;
with observations on the means of its improve.
ment : drawn up for the Board of Agriculture.
Glasgow, 1811. 8vo.
Widowson, p. 168. Present State of Van Diemen's
Land ; comprising an account of its agricultural
capabilities, &c. Lond. 1827. 8vo.
Widowson's Present State of Van Diemen's Land,
p. 166. See Widowson, p. 168.
Wilkins, Leges Saxon., 35. Leges Anglo-Saxonicas
Ecclesiasticae et Civilesj accedunt Leges Ed-
vardi Latinse, Guil. Conquestoris Gallo-Nor.
mannicas, et Henrici I. Latinse ; subjungitur
H. Spelmanni Cod. Legg. Vett. a Guil. I. ad
Hen. III.; et Dissertatio GuiL Nicolsoni, de
Jure Feud. Vet. Saxonum, cum Notis, &c. ;
Lat. et Sax. Lond. 1721. foL
Willdenow, Princ. Bot., p. 263. The Principles of
Botany and Vegetable Physiology, translated
from the German. Edin. 1805. 8vo. With
plates.
Withering, p. 935. An Arrangement of British
Plants. 3d edition. Birmingham, 1796. 4 vols.
8vo.
Worgan's Cornwall, p. 1171. General View of the
Agriculture of the County of Cornwall. Lond.
1811. 8vo.
Worgan's Survey, p. 1171. Sec Worgan's Cornwall,
p. 1171.
Works, p. 5. See Stillingfleet.
Wotton's Leges Wallicae, p. 1176. Leges Wallicse
Ecclesiasticae et Civiles Hoeli Boni et aliorum
Principum Walliis, &c. Welsh, with a Latin
translation. Notes, and a Glossary. To which
is added a Preface by Mr. Clarke. Lond. 1730.
Fol. Posth.
* Young, p. 135. See Young's Tour, and Arthur
Young.
* Young's Annals of Agr., p. 194. Annals of Agri-
culture, and other useful Arts. Published in
Nos. Bury St. Edmund's, 17S0— 1804. 40 vols.
8vo.
* Young's Norfolk, p. 1136. General View of the
Agriculture of the County of Norfolk. Lond.
1804. Bvo.
* Young's Report, p. 1155. General View of the
Agriculture of the County of Lincoln. Drawn
up for the Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1799.
8vo.
♦Young's Suffolk, p. 1136. General View of the Agri-
culture of the County of Suffolk. Drawn up for
the Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1797. 8vo.
* Young's Survey, p. 1129. General View of the
Agriculture of the County of Essex. Lond.
1806, 1807. 2 vols. 8vo.
* Young's Tour, p. 1200. Tour in Ireland ; with ge-
neral Observations on the present State of that
Kingdom; made in 1776—1779. DubL 1780.
2 vols, 8vo.
N.B. Such as are in possession of some of the County Surveys above enumerated, may probably find
the year of publication in the titlepage different from what is here given. The reason is, these surveys,
most of which belonged to the late Board of Agriculture, were twice sold to different booksellers, on
which occasions new and altered titlepages were printed. We have generally endeavoured to give the
original title ; and, through the kind assistance of Mr. Forsyth, we have been enabled to do so in most
instances.
AGRICULTURAL WEIGHTS AND MEASURES,
As a source of reference to the readers of agricultural works, foreign as well as domestic, we have
deemed it useful to bring together in this place comparative views of the land and corn measure of Eng.
land, Scotland, and Ireland, and of different foreign countries. We have also given a general view of the
French metrical or decimal system, as being the most perfect which has hitherto appeared, and alone
worthy, in our opinion, of universal adoption. All young persons ought to make themselves masters of this
system as one likely to be in general use, at least in Europe, North America, and Australia, before they
become old men.
LAND MEASURE.
Contents of a single Measure
of each sort.
Number of
each equal to
England
Acre ....
English
Square Yards.
French Acres.
10 English
Acres.
4840
40-466
10-000
Scotland
Acre . . -
6150
51-419
7-869
Ireland
Acre .....
7840
65 549
6-173
France
Hectare ....
11960
100-000
4-046
Berlin
Great Morgen . . .
6786
56-736
7-132
Little Morgen
3054
25-534
15-848
Prussia
Morgen ....
3053
25-526
15-853
Saxony
Acre ....
6590
55-098
7-344
Hamburg
Scheffel of Corn Land
5022
41-984
9-637
Morgen . . . -
11545
96-525
4-192
Hanover
Morgen . . . .
3100
25-918
15 613
Nuremberg
Corn Land Morgen
5654
47-272
8-560
Meadow Morgen ...
2544
21-270
19-025
Rhineland
Morgen ...
10185
85-158
4-752
Dantzic
Morgen . ...
6650
55-642
7-278
Geneva
Arpent ....
6179
51-661
7-833
Amsterdam
Morgen - - "-
9722
81-286
4-978
Netherlands
Vierkantebunder ...
119-6
1-000
406722
Naples
Moggia ...
3998
33-426
12-106
Spain
Fanegada - - . -
5.500
45-984
8-800
Portugal
Geira ....
6970
58-275
6-944
Sweden
Tunneland . . .
5900
49-329
8-203
Switzerland
Faux . ...
7855
65-674
6-161
Tuscany
Quadrato ...
4074
34-062
11-880
ROAD MEASURE.
Length of a single Measure
of each sort.
Number of
each equal to
• French
Kilometres.
10() English
England
Mile ....
English Yards.
Miles.
1760
1-609
100 000
Mile, geographical ...
2025
1-a'il
86-913
Scotland
Mile ....
- 1984
1-814
88709
Ireland
Mile - . . .
2240
2-048
78-571
France
Kilometre ...
1093
1-000
161-024
League of 2000 toises
4563
3-898
41-285
League of 25 to the degree .
4860
4-444
36-214
League, marine . . _
6076
5-555
28 966
Germany
Mile, geographical
8101
7-407
21-725
Mile, long
10126
9-2.-)8
17-.-581
Mile, short
6859
6-271
2.5-6.59
Netherlands
Mile, metrical ...
1093
1-000
161-024
Poland
Mile, long ....
8101
7-407
21-725
Mile, short
6076
5-.555
28-966
Denmark
Mile ....
8244
7-538
21-348
Holland
Mile ....
8101
7-407
21-725
Spain
League, common ...
7416
6-781
23-732
League, judicial ...
4635
4-238
37 972
Russia
Werst
11^
1066
150-814
Sweden
Mile ....
11700
10-698
15 042
Switzerland
Mile - . . : .
9153
8-369
19 228
Tuscany
Mile - . .~ .
1808
1-653
97.345 ,
96-385 I
Turkey
Berri . ...
1826
1-669
a2
AGRICULTURAL WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
LONG MEASURE.
England
France
Rhineland
Amsterdam
Berlin
Bourdeaux
Copenhagen
Dantzic
Frankfort
Hamburg
Leipsic
Malta
Moscow
Prussia
Rome
Spain
Sweden
Vienna
Wirtemberg
Foot . . - -
Pied de Roi ...
IMetre . . - -
Foot . - - ..
Foot ....
Rhineland Foot ...
Foot ....
Foot ....
Rhineland Foot ...
Foot ....
Foot - - - -
Foot ....
Foot - - - -
Builder's Foot ...
Foot ....
Foot - -
Rhineland Foot ...
Foot ....
Foot . ...
Foot - ...
Foot - - . .
Foot ....
Length of a single Measure
of each sort.
Number of
each equal to
100 English
Feet.
English
Inches.
French
Decimetres.
12-00
1278
39-37
12-35
11-14
12-35
12-19
1404
12-35
11-30
11-28
1128
11-11
11-13
1116
13-17
12-35
11-72
1112
11-68
12-45
11-26
3-048
3-248
10-000
3-138
2-831
3-138
3-097
3-567
3-138
2-869
2-865
2-865
2-822
2-826
2836
3-343
3-138
2978
2-826
2-968
3-161
2-860
100-000
93 896
30-480
97-166
107-719
97-166
98-441
85-470
97166
106-194
106-382
106-382
108010
107-816
107-526
91-116
97-166
102-389
107-913
102-739
96-385
106-571
CORN MEASURE.
Contents of a
single Measure of each sort |
Number of
each equal to
One English
England
Bushel
Cubic Inches.
Bushels.
French Litres.
Quarter.
2150-4
1-000
35-236
8-000
Scotland
Wheat Firlot - -
2197-3
1-022
36-005
7-827
Barley Firlot
3205-5
1-490
52-525
5-369
France
Setier
9519-5
4-427
156-000
1-807
Hectolitre
6102
2-837
100-000
2-819
Boisseau Usuel
762-7
0-354
12-500
22-598
Amsterdam
Mudde - .
6788
3-157
111-256
2-534
Berlin
Scheffel - . .
3180
1-479
52-107
5-409
Bourdeaux
Boisseau
4682
2-177
76708
3-674
Cadiz
Fanega -
3439
1-599
56-351
5-003
Copenhagen
Toende .
8488
3-947
139,084
2-026
Constantinople
Killow .
2023
0-941
33-148
8-501
Elbing
Scheffel - - -
2965
1-378
48-584
5-805
Florence
Stajo . -
1486
0-691
24-369
11-577
Frankfort
Malter .
6590
3-064
107-984
2-611
Hamburg
Scheffel
6426
2-988
105-296
2.677
Munich
Scheffel - - .
22130
10-290
362-622
0.777
Netherlands
Mudde -
6102
2-837
100-000
2-819
Poland
Korzee . - -
3120-8
1-451
51-137
5-513
Russia
Chetwert -
12800
5-952
209-740
1-544
Sicily ,
Salma grossa -
21014
9-771
34-433
0-818
Salma generale -
16886
7-851
27-667
1-019
Spain
Fanega ...
3439
1-599
56-351
5-003
Sweden
Tunna of 32 Kappar
8940
4-157
146-490
1-924
Kann ...
159-G
0-0742
2-615
107-816
Vienna
Metzen . - -
3753
■ 1745
61-496
4-584
Zealand
Sack
4556
2-119
74-660
3775
FRENCH WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
What is called a standard in weights and measures is merely an authority ; and this in rude ages
is founded on custom, or some arbitrary quantity ; while, in the progress of improvement, a standard is
derived from nature. Among the various natural standards, the two following may be considered the
best : —
1. The length of a pendulum that vibrates seconds of mean solar time.
2. The length of an arc or portion of a meridional circle.
From the measurement of a meridional arc in France ; the length of the quadrantal arc was computed ;
and the ten.millionth part of this quadrant is the metre, which is the standard unit for all French mea-
sures.
The standard unit for all weights is the gramme, which is the weight of a cubic vessel of water of the
greatest condensation and purity ; the side of such cube being the hundredth part of the metre.
From these two units the other measures are derived by decimal division or multiplication, and hence
this system is generally called.
AGRICULTURAL WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
THE METRICAL OB DECIMAL SYSTEM.
In order to express the decimal proportion, the following vocabulary of names has been adopted, in
which the terms for multiplying are Greek, and those for dividing are Latin : —
For multipliers, the word
Deca prefixed means.,.. 10 times.
Hecto 100 times.
Kilo 1000 times.
Myria ^ 10,000 times.
On the contrary, for divisors, the
word Deci expresses the 10th part.
Ce7in lOOth part.
Milli lOOOth part.
Thus, Decametre means 10 metres.
Decimetre the 10th part of a metre.
Kilogramme 1000 grammes, &c.
The are is the element of square measure, and is
a square decametre, equal to 3955 English perches.
The stere is the element of cube measure, and
contains 35.317 cubic feet English.
The litre is the element of all measures of capacity.
It is a cubic decimetre, and equals 21135 English
pints. 100 litres make the hectolitre, which equals
26-419 English gallons, or 2-838 Winchester bushels.
The decimal Weights and Measures of France, compared with the Weights and Measures
at present considered the National Measures of Britain.
Long Measures.
British arbitrary System.
003937 inches.
0-39371 inches.
3-93710 inches.
39-37100 inches.
82-80916 feet.
328-09167 feet.
Decimal System.
Millimetre
Centimetre
Decimetre
Metre
Decametre
Hectometre
Kilometre 10936389 yards.
Myriametre 1093638900 yards, or
6 miles, 1 furlong, 28 poles.
Superficial Measures.
Centiare 1-1960 square yards.
^de^tSe? ] 1^9-6«6 square yards.
Decare 11960460 square yards.
Hectare 11660-4604 square yards,
or 2 acres, 1 rood, 35 perches.
Measures of Capacity.
0-06103 cubic inches.
0-61028 cubic inches.
610280 cubic inches.
I Decimal System.
Hectolitre
British arbitrary Systen
Millitre
Centilitre
Decilitre
Litre (a cubic 7
decimetre) 3
Decalitre ~ 61028028 cubic inches,
or 2-642 wine gallons,
5 61-02802 cubic inches.
or 21 135 wine pints.
, 3-5317 cubic feet, or
26419 wine gallons, 22 Imperial gal-
lons, or 2-839 Winchester bushels.
Kilolitre 353171 cubic feet, or
1 tun and 12 wine gallons.
Myrialitre 353-17146 cubic feet.
Solid Measures.
Decistere 35317 cubic feet.
Stere (a cubic metre) 353174 cubic feet.
Decastere 353-1714 cubic feet.
Weights.
Milligramme 00154 grains.
Centigramme 01543 grains.
Decigramme 15434 grains.
Gramme 15*4340 grains.
Decagramme 154*3402 grains, or
564 drams avoirdupois.
Hectogramme 3-2154 oz. troy, or
3527 oz. avoirdupois.
Kilogramme 21b. 8oz. 3dwt. 2gr. troy,
or 2 lb. 3 oz. 4.428 drams avoirdupois.
Myriagramme 26-795 pounds troy,
or 22-0485 avoirdupois
Quintal 1 cwt 3qrs. 251b. nearly.
Millier, or Bar .^ 9 tons 16 cwt. 3qrs. 12 lb.
THE FRENCH SYSTEME USUEL.
The Systhne Usuel has the metrical standards for its basis ; but their divisions are binary ; and instead
of the new nomenclature, the names of the ancient weights and measures are used, annexing the term wiwe/
to each : thus, the half kilogramme is called the livre usuelle, and the double metre, the toise usuelle, &c.
This system was legalised by an imperial decree in 1812, for the use of retail traders, and the decimal
system was continued for all other kinds of business and measurement : but as the law was left optional,
it led to many difficulties, insomuch that in 1816 the syst&me usuel was enforced by a royal decree,
in which the use of weights or measures decimally divided is absolutely prohibited in shops or any
departments of trade connected with retail business, while the decimal system is confirmed for afl
other purposes.
As the systime usuel has the metre and gramme for its basis, any of its divisions may be easily com-
puted from the foregoing tables. The following, however, are the contents of its principal units in Eng-
lish measure :—
The toise usuelle of 2 metres equals 6 feet 6f inches English.
The pied usuel equals \ of the toise, and the inch -^^ of the foot.
The aune usuelle equals 3 feet 11^ Inches English, with all its divisions in proportion.
The long measures are also divided into thirds, sixths, and twelfths, which are easily computed from
the foregoing dimensions of the toise and aune.
The boisseau usuel is i of the hectolitre, and equals 0-35474 English bushels, with halves, quarters, &c.
in proportion.
The litron usuel equals 1-074 Paris pints, with halves, quarters, &c. in proportion.
Apothecaries have adopted the systhne usuel in compounding medicines ; which weight, in small quan-
titles, scarcely differs from the poids de marc.
Diamonds are still weighed by carats of 4 grains each ; but these grains differ from the foregoing : thus,
1 carat equals 3.876 grains poids de marc, or 3798 grains usuels, and also answers to 201 decigrammes, or
3^ English grains.
The livre usuelle = 500 grammes = 9413-575 grains poids de marc, or 7717 English grains ; and all its di-
visions and multiples in proportion. Hence the common pound of France equals lib. 11 oz. 10|^ drams
avoirdupois ; and therefore the quintal metrique of 100 kilogrammes answers to 220486 lb. avoirdupois,
orlcwt. 3qrs. 24| lb., which is 1000 grains less than has been hitherto reckoned, on account of the undue
proportion allowed to the French weight. {Kelly's Catnbisi, vol. i. p. 140 )
The Sysleme Usuel of the French, compared ivith the British System.
Comparison of Weight.
Troy \\'eight.
Grammes, lb. oz. dwt. gr.
Kilogramme 1000 2 8 3 2
Livre usuelle 500 1 4 1 13
Half 250 8 0 18-5
Quarter 125 4 C 925
Avoirdupois,
lb. oz. dr.
Eighth
Troy Weight.
Grammes, lb. oz. dwt
62-5 2 0
31-3 1 0
Avoirdupois,
gr. lb. oz. dr.
4-5 2 Si
2-25 1 If
? ? 3
Half
15-8 10
. 1-125 8|
0-5 4i
12-25 2i
1 1 lOi
8 131
Quarter ....
Gross ....,.,
7-8 5
3-9 2
4 6i
a
3
AGRICULTURAL WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Comparison of Linear Measures.
Mesurea usuelles.
Toiseusuelle 2 ... 6 6
Pied, or Foot 0^ ... 1 1
Inch 0<ri ... 0 1
Aune ij ... 3 11
Half (^ ... 1 11
Quarter 0-^ ... 0 11
Eighth O^i ... 0 5
Sixteenth (% ... 0 2
Mesures usuelles. English Measures.
Metres. Feet. Inches. Parts.
One third of an aune ... 0| ...1 3 9
Sixth Qi ... 0 7 10|
Twelfth 0/j, ... 0 S Hi
Comparison qf Measures of Capacity.
Litres. English bushels.
Boisseau usuel 12'5 0'35474
With halves and quarters in proportion.
Paris pinte.
Litron usuel 1-074 ....
English pint.
m3 I With halves and quarters in proportion.
EKGUSH WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
The following Tables show the state of English weights and measures as long established ; but a new
law has lately passed, which proposes the following alteration in measures of capacity, that is to say, both
in liquid and dry measures, from the 1st of January, 1826. Thus, instead of the three different gallons
heretofore used, viz. the wine, ale, and corn gallons, one measure only is to be adopted, called the imperial
gallon, with its divisions and multiples, which are to be as heretofore for wine measure. But for corn or
other dry goods not heaped, the divisions and multiples are to be as in corn measure.
The imperial gallon is to measure 277274 cubic inches, and to weigh 10 lb. avoirdupois of water at the
temperature of 62 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, thebarometer being at thirty inches.
The imperial bushel is to measure and weigh eight times the above, and all the other multiples and di-
visions of the imperial gallon are to be in proportion.
All new measures in future are to be constructed on the imperial plan ; but the old measures may con-
tinue to be used, provided their contents be marked on them, that is, the proportion which they may be
found to bear to imperial measure.
The following Table shows the contents of the differ-
ent Gallons, both in Measure and Weight.
Imperial gallon
Corn gallon
Wine gallon....
Ale gallon
Cubic
Inches.
Avoirdup.
Weight.
Troy
Weight
277-274
268-8
2;31
282
lb. oz. dr.
10 0 0
9 10 If
8 5 6J
10 2 111
lb. oz.dwtgr.
12 1 16 16
11 9 7 12
10 1 9 22
12 4 6 8
Tlie above Table will be found useful in compar-
ing different vessels where gauging cannot be relied
Rules for converting the Old Measures to the Xew,
and the contrary.
\. Wine Measure multiplied by r> and divided by
6 will give imperial measure, and the contrary.
2. Corn Measure multiplied by 31 and divided by
32 will give imperial measure, and the contrary
3. Ale Measure multiplied by 59 and divided by
60 will give imperial measure, and the contrary.
The coal measure is scarcely changed by the new
law, and therefore will probably remain unaltered
in practice.
Tables of English Weights and Measures, compared
with those of France.
TROY WEIGHT.
French grammes.
1 grain 0-06+8
24 grains 1 pennyweight 1-5552
20 pennyweights 1 ounce 31-1027
12 ounces 1 pound 373-2330
The grain troy is divided into 20 mites, the mite
into 24 doits, the doits into 20 periots, and the pe-
riot into 24 blanks. These divisions are imaginary •
but there are real weights of decimal divisions to
the thousandth part of a grain.
apothecaries' -weight.
Fr. gram.
1 grain 0C648
20 grains 1 scruple 1-29.5
3 scruples 1 dram 3888
8 drams 1 ounce 31102
12 ounces 1 pound 373-233
This weight is es-ssentially the same as troy
weight, but differently divided. It is chiefly used
AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT.
Frencli gram.
1 dram 1-771
16 drams 1 ounce <2.9,'3iG
16 ounces 1 pound 453-;)44
28 pounds 1 quarter 12699 kilog.
4 quarters 1 hundred wt .')0-796
20 hundred wt 1 ton 1015920
The dram is subdivided into three scruples, and
each scruple into ten grains ; the poimd or 76SO
grains avoirdupois, equals 7000 grains troy, and
hence one grain troy equals 1.097 grains avoirdupois.
Hence also 1441b. avoird 1751b. troy.
and 192 oz. ditto 175 oz. do.
The stone 'is generally 14 lb. avoirdupois, but for
butcher's meat or fish it is 8 lb. Hence the hundred
equals 8 stone of 14 lb. or 14 stone of 8 lb.
A stone of glass is 5 lb. A seam of glass 24 stone,
or 120 lb.
Hay and straw are sold by the load of 56 trusses.
The truss of hay weighs ,56 lb. and of straw 36 lb.
The truss of new hay is 60 lb. until the 1st of Sep-
tember. The hay is by that time become dry, and
the same quantity weighs less.
The custom of allowing more than 16 ounces to
the pound of butter is very general in several parts
of the country.
Other customary Weights, Sfc.
CHEESE AND BUTTER.
8 pounds 1 clove.
32 cloves 1 wey in Essex.
42 ditto 1 ditto in Suffolk
56 pounds 1 firkin of butter.
BEEF, MUTTON, &C.
8 pounds 1 stone of beef,
mutton, &c.
64 pounds of soap 1 firkin.
30 pounds of ancnovies 1 barrel.
112 pounds of gunpowder 1 ditto.
112 pounds of raisins 1 ditto.
120 pounds of prunes 1 puncheon.
7J pounds of oil 1 gallon.
8 pounds of vinegar 1 ditto.
36 pounds of straw 1 truss.
60 pounds of new hay 1 ditto.
56 pounds of old hay 1 ditto.
36 trusses of hay or straw 1 load.
7 pounds of salt 1 gallon.
56 pounds or 8 gallons 1 bushel
WOOL WEIGHT.
Wool, like all other common articles, is weigheil
by avoirdupois, but the divisions differ : thus.
Kilogram.
AGRICULTURAL WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Kilogram.
2 Stone 1 tod 12-fi992
61 tods 1 wey 82543
2 weys 1 sack 165-087
12 sacks 1 last 1981044
LONG MEASURE.
Fr. metres.
... 1 inch 0-0254
... 1 foot 0-3048
... 1 yard 0-9144
.... 1 pole or rod 5-0291
... 1 furlong 201-1632
.... 1 mile 1609-3059
4827-9179
3 barleycorns
12 inches
3 feet
5| yards
40 poles
8 furlongs
3 miles 1 league
60 geographical, "I
or 69^ Eng. }- 1 degree 11120.7442
lish miles... J
Besides the above, there are the palm, which
equals 3 inches ; the hand, 4 inches ; the span, 9
inches ; and the fathom, 6 feet.
SQUARE MEASURE.
Fr. sq. metres.
144 inches 1 square foot 0-0929
9 square feet 1 square yard 08361
30i square yards... 1 square pole 25-2916
40 square poles ... 1 rood 1011-6662
4 roods 1 acre 40646648
The inch is generally divided, on scales, into
tenths, or decimal parts ; but in squaring the di-
mensions of artificer's work, the duodecimal system
is adopted ; — thus, the inch is divided into 12 parts
or lines, each part into 12 seconds, and each second
into 12 thirds.
In land measure there are (besides the above pole
of 16| feet, which is called statute measure) the
woodland pole of 18 feet, the plantation pole of 21 feet,
the Cheshire pole of 24 feet, and the Sherwood Fo-
rest pole of 25 feet. A rope in some kinds of mea-
surement is reckoned 20 feet, 30 acres is called a
yard of land, 100 acres a hide of land, and 640 acres
a mile of land.
Land is usually measured by a chain of 4 poles, or
22 yards, which is divided into 100 links. 10 chains
in length and 1 in breadth make an acre, which
equals 160 square perches, or 4840 square yards.
CUBIC OR SOLID MEASURE.
Fr. cubic metres.
1728 cubic inches 1 cubic foot -0283
27 cubic feet 1 cubic yard -7645
40 ft. of rough timber 1 , , , . f 1-13^6
or 50ft. hewn ditto] ^ ^^^"^ °'^^°" 1 14157
42 cubic feet 1 ton of shipping 11892
By cubic measure marble, stone, timber, masonry,
and all artificers' works of length, breadth, and
thickness, are measured, and also the contents of
all measures of capacity, both liquid and dry.
DRY MEASURE,
cub. in.
4 gills 1 pint 33.6 .
2 pints 1 quart 67.2 .
2 quarts 1 pottle ... 134.4 .
2 pottles ... 1 gallon ... 268.8 .
2 gallons... 1 peck 537.6
4 pecks 1 bushel. ..2150.42
4 bushs 1 coom
2 cooms .... 1 quarter..
'"'■ l'o7&,]
2 weys 1 last
Fr. litres.
0-55053
1-10107
2-20214
4-40428
8-80856
,.. 35-23430
4.977 feet 140-93721
9.954 ditto .... 281-87443
49.770 ditto
99.540 ditto .
1409-37216
2818-74432
The Winchester bushel, which is the legal mea-
sure for corn and seeds, should be 18^ inches wide,
and 8 inches deep. Its contents are therefore, as
above, 2150-42 inches. Corn and seeds are measured
in the port of London by striking the bushel from
the brim, with a round piece of light wood, about 2
inches in diameter and of equal thickness from one
end to the other. All other dry goods are heaped.
There are two other bushels of different shapes,
but containing the same quantity ; the one, called
the drum bushel, generally used for the London
granaries, is 13 inches in diameter, and 16.2 inches
in depth ; and the other, called the farmer's bushe),
is chiefly used in the country, its diameter is 15.375,
and depth 11-589 inches. These shapes are chosen
for the convenience of working and loading ; but
the shallow vessel or standard, to avoid the effects
of pressure in filling, which depth might cause.
The dimensions of the imperial standard bushel
are as follows : — The outer diameter 19^ inches, and
the inner diameter 18^. The depth is 8^, and the
height of the cone, for heaped measure, is 6 inches.
Hence the contents of the stricken imperial bushel
are2218 192 cubic inches, and it is to weigh 801b.
avoirdupois of water. The contents of the imperial
heaped bushel are 2815-4887 cubic inches. The
subdivisions and multiples of this measure are of
course in the same proportion.
In some markets corn is sold by weight, which is
the fairest mode of dealing, but not the most conve-
nient in practice. Even where measures are used,
it is customary to weigh certain quantities or pro-
portions, and to regulate the prices accordingly.
The average bushel of wheat is generally reckoned
at 60 lb. — of barley 49 lb. — of oats 38 lb. — peas 64,
beans 63, clover 68, rye and canary 53, and rape
481b. In some places a load of corn, for a man, is
reckoned five bushels, and a cart load 40 bushels.
COAL MEASURE.
Coals are generally sold by the chaldron, which
bears a certain proportion to Winchester measure.
; 4 pecks 1 bushel
3 bushels 1 sack.
3 sacks 1 vat
4 vats 1 chaldron.
21 chaldron 1 score.
The coal bushel holds one Winchester quart more
than the Winchester bushel ; it therefore contains
221762 cubic inches. This bushel must be 19| inches
wide from outside to outside, and 8 inches deep. In
measuring coals, it is to be heaped up in the form
of a cone, at the height of at least 6 inches above
the brim (according to a regulation passed at Guild-
hall in 1806). The outside of the bushel must be
the extremity of the cone, and thus the bushel
should contain at least 28149 cubic inches, which is
i nearly equal to the imperial heaped bushel. Hence
I the chaldron should measure 58.64 cubic feet.
The chaldron of ccfals at Newcastle is not a mca
I sure, but a weight of 53 cwt., which is found some-
j times to equal two London chaldrons ; but the
i common reckoning is, that the keel, which is S
I Newcastle chaldrons, equals 15| London chaldrons.
! In such comparisons, however, there can be no cer.
I tainty, as coals not only differ in their specific gra-
{ vity, but even those of the same quality weigh more,
I measure for measure, when large, than when
i broken into smaller parts. — (Mortimer's Ck)7?imer.
I cial Dictionary, art. Weights and Measures.)
UNIFORMITY OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES IN BRITAIN.
The act for this purpose, which came into force in 1826, contains the following clauses which more
immediately concern the agriculturist : —
Standard yard d^ned as the measure of length. — The straight line or distance between the centres of
the two points in the gold studs in the straight brass rod, now in the custody of the clerk of the House of
Commons, whereon the words and fig^ures " Sta.ndard Yard, 1760," are engraved, shall be the original
and genuine standard of that measure of length or lineal extension called a yard ; and the sam.e straight
line or distance between the centres of tlie said two points in the said gold studs in the said brass rod, the
brass being of the temperature of sixty-two degrees by Fahrenheit's thermometer, shall be and is hereby
denominated the " Imperial Standard Yard," and shall be the unit or only standard measure of exten-
sion, wherefrom or whereby all other measures of extension whatsoever, whether the same be lineal, su-
perficial, or solid, shall be derived, computed, and ascertained, s. 1.
Standard pound defined treight. — The standard brass weight of one pound troy weight, made in the
year 1758, now in the custody of the clerk of the House of Commons, shall be declared to be the oiiginal
and genuine standard measure of weight, and such brass weight shall be denominated the imperial stand,
ard troy pound, and shall be the unit or only stardard measure of weight from which all other weights sl)all
be derived, computed, or ascertained, s. 4.
xxiv AGRICULTURAL WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Standard gallon to be the measure of capacity. —- The standard measure of capacity, as well for liquids
as for dry goods not measured by heaped measure, shall be the gallon, containing ten pounds avoirdu-
pois of distilled water weighed in air, at the temperature of sixty-two degrees of Fahrenheit's thermo-
meter, tlie barometer being at thirty inches ; and a measure shall be forthwith made of brass, of such con-
tents as aforesaid, under the directions of the commissioners of his majesty's treasury ; and such brass
measure shall be the imperial standard gallon, and shall be the unit and only standard measure of capacity,
from which all other measures of capacity to be used, as well for wine, beer, ale, spirits, and all sorts of
liquids, as for dry goods, not measured by heap measure, shall be derived, computed, and ascertained ;
and all measures shall be taken in parts or multiples or certain proportions of the said imperial standard
gallon, and the quart shall be the fourth part of such standard gallon, and the pint shall be one eighth of
such standard gallon, and two such gallons shall be a peck, and eight such gallons shall be a bushel, and
eight such bushels a quarter of corn or other dry goods not measured by heaped measure, s. 6.
Standard for heaped mcasxire. — The standard measure of capacity for coals, culm, lime,fish, potatoes^
or fruit, and all other goods and things commonly soldby heaped measure, shall be the aforesaid bushel,
containing eighty pounds avoirdupois of water as aforesaid, the same being made round with a plain and
even bottom, and being nineteen inches and a half from outside to outside of such standard measure as
aforesaid, s. 7.
In making use of such bushel, all coals and other goods and things commonly sold by heaped measure,
shall be duly heaped up in such bushel, in the form of a cone, such cone to be of the height of at least six
inches, and the outside of the bushel to be the extremity of the base of such cone j and that three bushels
shall be a sack, and that twelve such sacks shall be a chaldron, s. 8.
Measure of weight, or heaped measure, to be used for wheat. — Provided always that any contracts^
bargains, sales, and dealings, made or had for or with respect to any coals, culm, lime, fish, potatoes, or
fruit, and all other goods and things commonly sold by heaped measure, sold, delivered, done, or agreed
for, or to be sold, delivered, done, or agreed for by weight or measure, shall and may be either
according to the said standard of weight, or the said standard for heaped measure; but all con-
tracts, bargains, sales, and dealings, made or had for any other goods, wares, or merchandise, or
other thing done or agreed for, or to be sold, delivered, done, or agreed for by weight or measure, shall
be made and had according to the said standard of weight, or to the said gallon, or the parts, multiples,
or proportions thereof; and in using the same the measures shall not be heaped, but shall be stricken
■with a round stick or roller, straight, and of the same diameter from end to end. s. 9.
Weight in Ireland. — But nothing herein shall authorise the selling in Ireland, by measure, of any ar-
ticles, matters, or things, which by any law in force in Ireland are required to be sold by weight only.'
s. 10.
Contracts for sale, S(c. by weight or measure. — All contracts, bargains, sales, and dealings, which shall
be made or had within any part of the United Kingdom, for any work to be done, or for any goods, wares,
merchandise, or other thing to be sold, delivered, done, or agreed for by weight or measure, where no spe-
cial agreement shall be made to the contrary, shall be deemed to be made and had according to the standard
"weights and measures, ascertained by this art ; and in all cases where any special agreement shall be made,
■with reference to any weight or measure established by local custom, the ratio or proportion which
every such local weight or measure shall bear to any of the said standard weights or measures, shall be
expressed, declared, and specified in such agreement, or otherwise such agreement shall be null and
"void. s. 15.
Existing weights and measures may be used, being marked. — And as it is expedient that persons should
be allowed to use the several weights and measures which they may have in their possession, although
such weights and measures may not be in conformity with the standard •weights and measures established
by this act ; it is therefore enacted, that it shall be lawful for any person or persons to buy and sell goods
and merchandise by any weights or measures established either by local custom, or founded on special
agreement : provided that in order that the ratio or proportion which all such measures and weights shall
bear to the standard weights and measures established by this act, shall be and become a matter of com-
mon notoriety, the ratio or proportion which all such customary measures and weights shall bear
to the said standard weights and measures shall be painted or marked upon all such customary
weights and measures respectively ; but nothing herein contained shall extend to permit any maker of
weights or measures, or any person or persons whomsoever, to make any weight or measure at any time
after the 1st day of May, 1825, except in conformity with the standard weights and measures established
under this act. s. 16.
American Weights. — The several European colonies make use of the weights of the states or kingdoms
of Europe they belong to. For, as to the aroue of Peru, which weighs twenty-seven pounds, it is evi-
dently no other than the Spanish arroba, with a little difference in the name.
African Weights — As to the weights of Africa, there are few places that have any, except Egypt, and
the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, whose weights have been already enumerated among
those of the ports of the Levant. The island of Madagascar, indeed, has weights, but none that exceed
the drachm, nor are they used for any thing but gold and silver.
The above information is taken from an elaborate quarto volumes of Dr. Kelly, and the very use-
ful Commercial Dictionary of Mortimer. It is impossible to turn over the leaves of such a book as
Kelly's, without lamenting the time which every commercial man must lose in acquiring, and in
Practising, the art of overcoming the obstacles which not only impede the intercourse of nations,
ut open a fertile source for deception and chicanery. How easy it would be for one nation to
become acquainted with another, even if they spoke different languages, provided their weights, mea-
sures, monies, and all that was done by figures, were the same ! How easy for the three leading powers
of the world, France, Britain, and America, to effect this ! Naturalists in every part of the world use
the same language, and the same names for natural objects, and they accordingly form but one family,
every member of which, however remotely situated, holds ready communication with all the others.
How easy for the great powers alluded to, by prospective measures, which would occasion no inconve-
nience to any one, not only to render one description of weights, measures, and monies, universal, but
one language 1 The establishment in one nation after another oi Parochial Institutions, such as those al-
ready existing in Wirtemberg and Bavaria, and obliging some one language to be taught to every one in
addition to that which was the native tongue, would have the complete effect in two generations. But
legislators, at least in Europe, have hitherto been too much occupied with the concerns of their own day
and generation to think of futurity ; and the policy has too generally been to devise measures which
should isolate nations, and separate their interests, rather than unite them in one common intercourse,
commercial and intellectual.
CONTENTS.
Preface - - " - - iii
List of Contributors - . . vi
Indications and accentuation of Systematic
Names - - - - vii
Rules for pronouncing Systematic Names - vii
List of Books referred to - _ . viii
Tables of Weights and Measures . . xix
List of Engravings ... xxii
PART I.
AGRICULTURE CONSIDERED AS TO ITS ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT STATE
AMONG DIFFERENT NATIONS, GOVERNMENTS, AND CLIMATES.
BOOK I.
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE AMONG ANCIENT
AND MODERN NATIONS.
Chap. I. Page
Of the History of Agriculture in the Ages of
Antiquity ; or from the Deluge to the Esta-
blishment of the Roman Empire, in the Cen-
tury preceding the vulgar iEra ... 4
I. Of the Agriculture of Egypt - - 5
II. Of the Agriculture of the Jews, and other
Nations of Antiquity - - -7
III. Of the Agriculture of the Greeks - 9
IV. Of the Agriculture of the Persians, Cartha-
ginians, and other Nations of Antiquity - 11
Chap. II.
History of Agriculture among the Romans, or
from the Second Century B. C. to the Fifth
Century of our JEra - - - 12
I. Of the Roman Agricultural Writers - 12
II. Of the Proprietorship, Occupancy, and
General Management of Landed Pro-
perty among the Romans - -13
III. Of the Surface, Soil, Climate, and other
Agricultural Circumstances of Italy,
during the Time of the Romans - - 15
IV. Of the Culture and Farm Management of
the Romans - - . - 16
1. Of the Choice of a Farm, and of the Villa
or Farmery - - . - 16
2. Of the Servants employed in Roman Agri-
culture - - . - 18
3. Of the Beasts of Labour used by the
Romans - - - _ - 21
4. Of the Agricultural Implements of the
Romans . - . - 22
5. Of the Agricultural Operations of the
Romans - - . . -24
6. Of the Crops cultivated, and Animals
reared by the Romans - - 28
7. Of the General Maxims of Farm Manage-
ment among the Romans - - 29
V. Of the Produce and Profit of Roman Agri-
culture - - - - 30
VI. Of the Roman Agriculturists, in respect to
General Science, and the Advancement
of the Art - - -31
VII. Of the Extent to which Agriculture was
■ carried in the Roman Provinces, and of
its Decline - - . - 32
Chap. III.
History of Agriculture during the Middle Ages,
or from the Fifth to the Seventeenth Cen-
tury - - . . .33
I. History of Agriculture in Italy, during the
Middle Ages - - - - 33
II. History of Agriculture in France, from the
Fifth to the Seventeenth Century - 34
III. Of the Agriculture of Germany and other
Northern States, from the Fifth to the
Seventeenth Century . . .35
IV. History of Agriculture in Britain, from the
Fifth to the Seventeenth Century . 35
1. History of Agriculture in Britain during
the Anglo-Saxon Dynasty, or from the
Fifth to the Eleventh Century - 35
2. Of the State of Agriculture in Britain
after the Norman Conquest, or from the
Eleventh to the Thirteenth Century . 37
3. History of Agriculture in Britain, from
the Thirteenth Century to the Time of
Henry VIII. . . .39
Page
4. History of Agriculture, from the Time of
Henry VIII. to the Revolution in 1688 - 40
V. History of Agriculture in Ultra-European
Countries during the Middle Ages - 47
Chap. IV.
Present State of Agriculture in Europe - 47
I. Of the present State of Agriculture in
Italy - - - - 47
1. Of the Agriculture of Lombardy - 48
2. Of the Agriculture of Tuscany - -50
3. Of the Agriculture of the Maremmes, or
the District of Pestilential Air - 54
4. Of Farming in the Neapolitan Territory,
or the Land of Ashes - - -56
II. Of the present State of Agriculture in
Switzerland - - - 58
1. Of the Agriculture of the Swiss Cantons - 68
2. Of the Agriculture of the Duchy of Savoy 62
III. Of the present State of Agriculture in
France - - - - 65
1. Of the Progress of French Agriculture,
from the Sixteenth Century to the pre-
sent Time - - - 65
2. Of the general Circumstances of France,
in respect to Agriculture - -66
3. Of the common Farming of France - 68
4. Of Farming in the warmer Climates of
France - - . _ 70
IV. Of the present State of Agriculture in
Holland and the Netherlands - - 72
1. Of the present State of Agriculture in
Holland - ... 72
2. Of the present State of Agriculture in the
Netherlands - - - 73
V. Of the present State of Agriculture in Ger-
many - - - - 87
1. General View of the Agricultural Circum-
stances of Germany - - 87
2. Agriculture of the Kingdom of Denmark,
including Greenland and Iceland - 89
3. Of the Agriculture of the Kingdom of
Prussia - - - - 90
4. Of the Agriculture of the Kingdom of
Hanover . .. - - 92
5. Of the present State of Agriculture in
Saxony - - - - 94
6. Of the present State of Agriculture in the
Kingdom of Bavaria - - 95
7. Of the present State of Agriculture in the
Empire of Austria - - - 96
VI. Of the present State of Agriculture in the
Kingdom of Poland - - lOO
VII. Of the present State of Agriculture in
Russia . - . - 104
VIII. Of the present State of Agriculture in
Sweden and Norway. - - 109
IX. Of the present State of Agriculture in
Spain and Portugal - - - 113
X. Of the present State of Agriculture in Eu-
ropean Turkey - - - 121
Chap. V.
Modern History and present State of Agricul-
ture in the British Isles - - 123
I. Political History of Agriculture in Britain,
from the Revolution in 1688 to the pre-
sent Time - - - 123
II. Professional History of Agriculture, from
the Revolution to the present Time - 125
III. Of the Literature of British Agriculture
from the Revolution to the present Time 130
PAITIL
CONTENTS.
Chap. IV.
Page
Animal Physiology; the Digestive, Circulat-
ing, and Reproductive Functions of Animals 292
I. Of the Digestive System . . .292
II. Of the Circulating System . - .293
III. Of the Reproductive System of Animals . 293
Animal Pathology ; or the Duration, Diseases,
and Casualties of Animal Life - - 295
Chap. VI.
On the Distribution of Animals
Chap. VII.
Of the Economical Uses of Animals
296
Chap. VIII.
Principles of Improving the Domestic Ani-
mals used in Agriculture - - 300
I. Objects to be kept in View in the Improve.
ment of Breeds . - - . 300
n. Of the Meaiis of Improving the Breed of
Animals - . - . 300
III. Of the General Principles of rearing, ma-
naging, and feeding Domestic Animals - 306
IV. Of Feeding for Extraordinary Purposes
309
- 310
V. Of the Modes of killing Animals
BOOK III.
OF THE STUDY OF THE MINERAL KINGDOM AND THE
ATMOSPHERE, WITH REFERENCE TO AGRICUL-
TUBE.
Chap. I.
Of Earths and Soils - . .312
L Of the Geological Structure of the Globe,
and the Formation of F.arths and Soils - 312
II. Classification and Nomenclature of Soils - 314
III. Of discovering the Qualities of Soils - 315
1. Of discovering the Qualities of Soils by
means of the Plants which grow on them 315
2. Of discovering the Qualities of Soils by
Chemical Analysis - . . 317
3. Of discovering the Qualities of a Soil me-
chanically and empirically . . 318
IV. Of the Uses of the Soil to Vegetables - 318
V. Of the Improvement of Soils - - 322
1. Pulverisation . - - 322
2. Of the Improvement of Soils bv Com-
pression . - '. . 323
3. Of the Improvement of Soils by Aeration
or Fallowing ... 323
4. Alteration of the constituent Parts of
Soils - . . .325
Cy. Changing the Condition of Lands in re-
spect to Water , . . 328
6. Changing the Condition of Lands, in re-
spect to Atmospherical Influence - 331
7. RoUtion of Crops - . .331
Chap. IL
Of Manures . . .333
I. Of Manures of Animal and Vegetable
Origin - . . .333
1. The Theory of the Operation of Manures
of Animal and Vegetable Origin - 333
2. Of the different Species of Manures of
Animal and Vegetable Origin . .334
3. Of the Fermenting, Preserving, and Ap.
plying of Manures of Animal and Vege-
table Origin ... 344
II. Of Manures of Mineral Origin . - 3*3
1. Theory of the Operation of Mineral Ma-
nures - . . .343
2. Of the different Species of Mineral Ma-
nures - . . .344
Chap. III.
Of the Agency of Heat, Light, Electricitv, and
Water in Vegetable Culture - ' - 549
I. Of Heat and Light . . . 34<)
I I. Of Electricity . . .353
III. Of Water . . . . 353
Chap. IV.
Of the Agency of the Atmosphere in Vegeta-
tion - - - . . 3.54
I. Of the Elements of tlie Atmosphere - 354
Page
II. Of the Means of Prognosticating the Wea-
ther - . . .364
III. Of the Climate of Britain . .367
BOOK IV.
OF THE MECHANICAL AGENTS EMPLOYED IN AGRI-
CULTURE.
Chap. I.
Of the Implements of Manual J.Abour used in
Agriculture - - - 369
I. Tools used in Agriculture - - . 369
II. Instruments - . . . 372
1. Instruments of Labour . - 372
2. Instruments of Science . -375
III. Utensils used in Agriculture - .378
IV. Hand Machines used in Agriculture - 379
Chap. IL
Of Agricultural Implements and Machines
drawn by Beasts of Labour . . 389
I Tillage implements and Machines . - 389
1. Swing Ploughs, or such as are constructed
without W^heels - - - 389
2. W^heel Ploughs . . . 397
3. Tillage Implements, known as Scarifiers,
Stnifflers, Cultivators, and Grubbers - 402
4. Tillage Implements of the Hoe Kind - 405
II. Machines for Sowing and Planting -408
III. Harrows or Pronged Implements for
Scratching the Surface Soil, for covering
the Seed, and for other Purposes . 413
IV. Rollers - - - - 416
V. Machines for laying Land even, and other
occasional or anomalous Tillage Ma-
chines .... 419
VI. Machines for reaping and gathering the
Crop . - - - 420
1. Horse Rakes and Haymaking Machines - 420
2. Reaping Machines - . . 421
VII. Machines of Deportation - -428
1. Carts . . - - 428
2. Waggons . . - - 433
VIII. Machines for threshing and otherwise
preparing Com for Market - . 435
IX. Mechanical and other fixed Apparatus,
for the Preparation of Food for Cattle,
and for grinding Manure - - 444
Chap. III.
Edifices in use in Agriculture - - 442
I. Buildings for Live Stock - - 443
II. Buildings as Repositories, and for perform.
ing in-door Operations - - 449
III. The Farmer's Dwelling.house . - 453
IV. Cottages for Farm Servants - - 454
V. Stack-yard, Dung-yard, and other Enclo-
sures immediately connected with Farm
Buildings - - - . 459
VI. Union of the different Farm Buildings and
Enclosures in a Farmery . 461
Chap. IV.
Fences used in Agriculture - - 473
I. Situation or Emplacement of Fences . 473
II. Difffercnt Kinds of Fences - - 474
1. Ditch or Drain Fences - - 474
2. Hedge Fences - . - 475
3. Compound Hedge Fences - - 480
4. Paling Fences ... 492
5. Wall Fences . - - 496
Chap. V.
Gates and Bridges appropriate to Agriculture . 498
BOOK V.
OF THE OPERATIONS OF AGRICULTURE.
Chap. I. Page
Manual Labours and Operations - . 506
I. Mechanical Operations common to all Arts
of Manual Labour ... .506
IT. Agricultural Labours of the simplest Kind 507
III. Agricultural Operations with Plants -510
IV. Mixed Operations performed by Manual
Labour - - - 517
CONTENTS.
Chap. II.
Page
Agricultural Operations requiring the Aid of
Labouring Cattle - - - 524
I. Operations for the Care of Live Stock - 524
II. Labours with Cattle on the Soil - - 525
III. Labours and Operations with the Crop,
performed with the Aid of Cattle - 530
Chap. III.
Scientific Operations, and Operations of Order
and general Management - - 533
Page
I. Scientific Operations required of the Agri-
culturist - - . . 533
1. Measuring relatively to Agriculture - 534
2. Taking the Levels of Surfaces - . 535
3. Division and laying out of Lands - 536
4. Estimating Weight, Power, and Quanti-
ties - . . _ 538
5. Estimating the Value of Agricultural La-
bour and Materials, Rents and Tillages - 539
6. Professional Routine of Land Surveyors,
Appraisers and Valuators, in making up
their Plans and Reports - . 543
I II. Operations of Order and Management 548
PART III.
AGRICULTURE AS PRACTISED IN BRITAIN.
BOOK I.
of the valuation, purchase, and transfer of
landed property.
Chap. L
The difFerent Kinds and Tenures of Landed
Property in the British Isles - - 551
I. The Kinds of Landed Property, and its dif-
ferent Tenures, in England - - 551
II. The Kinds and Tenures of Landed Pro-
perty in Scotland - - - 552
IIL The Kinds and Tenures of Landed Pro-
perty in Ireland - - - 552
Chap. II,
Valuation of Landed Property
Chap. IIL
Purchase or Transfer of Landed Property
- 553
- 557
BOOK II.
OP THE LAYINO OUT, OR GENERAL ARRANGEMENT,
OF LANDED ESTATES.
Chap. I.
Consolidated detached Property
559
Chap. II.
Appropriating Commonable Lands - - 560
I. Origin and difFerent Kinds of Commonable
Lands - - - - 560
II. General Principles of Appropriating and
dividing Commonable Lands - - 562
Chap. III.
Choice of the Demesne or Site for the Proprie-
tor's Residence - - .565
Chap. IV.
Formation and Management of Roads - - 567
I. Different Kinds of Roads - - 568
II. Line of Direction, or laying out of Roads . 570
III. Form and Materials of Roads - - 574
1. Formation of Roads, and of their Wear
or Injury - . - - 574
2. M' Adam's Theory and Practice of Road-
making - . - - 576
3. Road-making, as treated of and practised
by various eminent Engineers and Sur-
veyors - - . . 579
I V. Paved Roads . _ .597
V. Milestones, Guide-posts, and Toll-gates - 602
VI. Preservation and Repair of Roads . 605
VII. Railroads - ... 513
Chap. V.
Formation of Canals - - . 616
I. Utility and Rise of Navigable Canals - 616
II. Of discovering the most eligible Route for
a Line of Canal - . . 517
III. Powers granted to Canal Companies by
Government - . - 6I9
IV. Execution of the Works - . 619
Chap. VL
Improvementof Estates by the Establishment of
Mills, Manufactories, Villages, Markets, &c, 622
Chap. VIL
Of Mines, Quarries, Pits, and Metalliferous
Bodies - _ _ 624
Chap. VI IL
Establishment of Fisheries - . 629
I. Marine Fisheries . - - 629
II. River, Lake, and other Inland Fisheries - 630
Chap. IX.
Plantations and Woodlands - . 635
I. Soils and Situations which may be most pro-
fitably employed in Timber Plantations - 633
II. Trees suitable for different Soils, Situations,
and Climates - . - 634
III. Forming Plantations - - - 636
IV. Mixture of Trees in Plantations - 644
V. Culture of Plantations - - 645
1. General Influence of Culture on Trees - 615
2. Culture of the Soil among Trees - 647
3. Filling up of Blanks or Failures in Plant-
ations - - - - 648
4. Pruning and Heading down Trees in
Plantations - . - 648
5. Thinning young Plantations - - 652
VI. Improvement of Neglected Plantations 6,54
VI J. Treatment of Injured and Diseased Trees 655
VJII. Products of Trees, and their Preparation
for Use or Sale - - - 657
IX. Estimating the Value of Plantations and
their Products, and exposing them to
Sale - - - 662
Chap. X.
Formation and Management of Orchards - 66i
I. Soils and Situations most suitable for Or-
chards - - - 664
II. Sorts of Trees and Manner of Planting - 665
III. Cultivation of Farm Orchards - 669
IV. Gathering and Keeping of Orchard Fruit - 671
V. Manufacture of Cider and Perry - 671
VI. Machinery and Utensils necessary for
Cider-making - - - 675
Chap. XL
Laying out of Farm and other Culturable
Lands - - - 676
I. Extent or Size of Farm and Cottage Lands 677
II, Laying out Farms and Farmeries - 677
1. Situation and Arrangement of the Farmery 677
2. Laying out Cottages - - - 685
3. Laying out the Farm Lands - - 687
BOOK III.
OF IMPROVING THE CULTURABLE LANDS OF AN
ESTATE.
Chap. I.
Draining Watery Lands - - 690
I. Natural Causes of Wetness in Lands, and
the general Theory of Draining -690
TI. The Methods of Draining Boggv Land - 693
III. Draining Hilly Lands - -698
IV. Methods of draining Mixed Soils - 699
V. Methods of draining of Retentive Soils -701
VI. Methods of draining Mines, Quarries, Pits,
Ponds, and Lakes . . 705
CONTENTS.
Page
VII. Formation of Drains, and Materials used
in filling them - - - 706
VIII. Of the Implements peculiar to Draining 712
Chap. II.
Embanking and otherwise protecting Lands
from the Overflowing or Encroachment of
Rivers or the Sea - . . 713
I. Embanking Lands from Rivers or the Sea - 713
1. General Principles of designing Embank-
ments . . - . 714
2. Diflferent Descriptions of Banks in general
Use for excluding Waters - - 715
II. Guarding the Banks and otherwise improv-
ing the Courses of Rivers and Streams - 719
1. Guarding River Banks - - 719
2. Changing the Courses of Rivers, deepening
their Beds, or raising their Waters to a
higher Level . - - 721
Chap. III.
Irrigation, or the Improvement of Culturable
Lands and Farmeries by the means of Water 722
I. Irrigation, or the Preparation of the Surface
of Lands for the profitable Application
of Water - - -723
1. Soils and Situations suitable for Watering 723
2. Implements made Use of in Watering
Lands ; and the Terms of Art peculiar to
such Operations - - - 723
3. Preparation of Surfaces for Irrigation - 723
II. Warping, or the Improvement of Land by
muddy Water - . - 730
1. Irrigation of Arable Lands, and Subter-
raneous Irrigation - - 731
III. Artificial Means of Procuring Water for
the Use of Live Stock - . 732
Chap. IV.
Improvement of Lands lying Waste, so as to fit
them for Farm-Culture - - 739
I. Mountainous and hilly Grounds and their
Improvement - _ - 740
II. Rocky or Stony Surfaces - .740
III. Improving Woody Wastes or Wealds . 742
IV. Moors and their Improvements - - 743
V. Peat Mosses, Bogs, and Morasses, and their
Improvement ... 744
VI. Marshes and their Improvement - - 747
VI L Downs and other Shore Lands - - 748
Chap. V.
Improvement of Lands already in a State of
Culture - . - - 749
L General Phrinciples and Modes of Procedure,
in improving Estates already more or less
improved . . . 750
II. Improvement of Farmeries and Farm
Lands . . .750
Chap. VI.
Execution of Improvements - -756
I. Different Modes of procuring the Execution
of Improvements on Estates - - 756
II. General Cautions on the Subject of Execut-
ing Improvements - _ 757
BOOK IV.
MANAGEMENT OF LANDED PROPERTY.
Chap. I.
Superintendents, or Executive Establishment of
an Estate - . . .759
L Steward or Manager of an Estate, and his
Assistants . . _ 759
II. Land Steward's Place of Business, and what
belongs to it . . . 76I
Chap. II.
Duties of Managers of Estates . . 762
I. General Principles of Business considered
TT „^«^l^tively to Land Stewardship . -763
II. Management of Tenants . .763
1. Proper Treatment of Tenants . . 763
2. Business of letting Farms - .764
3. Different Species of Tenancy . . 764
4. Rent and Covenants of a Lease . . 766
TT» Receiving Rents . . .758
in. Keeping and Auditing Accounts - 769
BOOK V.
SELECTION, HIRING, AND STOCKING OF FARMS.
Chap. I. Page
Circumstances of a Farm necessary to be con-
sidered by a proposed Tenant - . 771
I. Climate, in respect to farming Lands - 771
II. Soil in respect to farming Lands - 773
III. Subsoil relatively to the Choice of a Farm 774
IV. Elevation of Lands relatively to Farming - 775
V. Character of Surface in regard to farming
Lands - - . .775
VI. Af?pect in regard to farming Lands . 776
VII. Situation of Farm Lands in regard to
Markets - - - .776
VIII. Extent of Land suitable for a Farm - 777
IX. Tenure on which Lands are held for Farm-
ing - . . .777
X. Rent . . - . 777
XI. Taxes and other Burdens which affect the
Farmer - .... 779
XII. Other Particulars requiring a Farmer's
Attention, with a View to the Renting
of Land . . . 779
Chap. II.
Considerations respecting Himself, which a
Farmer ought to keep in view in selecting
and hiring a Farm - . . 78O
I. Personal Character and Expectations of a
professional Farmer . - 780
II. Capital required by the Farmer . . 781
Chap. IIL
Choice of Stock for a Farm . . -782
I. Choice of Live Stock . . ,. 782
1. Live Stock for the Purposes of Labour . 782
2. Choice of Live Stock for the Purposes of
breeding or feeding - . 733
II. Choice of Agricultural Implements, Seeds,
and Plants . . . 785
III. Choice of Servants . - - 788
Chap. IV,
General Management of a Farm . .789
I. Keeping Accounts ... 789
II. Management of Servants - . 795
III. Arrangement of Farm Labour - 796
IV. Domestic Management and personal Ex-
-797
BOOK VI.
culture of farm lands,
Chap. L »
General Processes common to Farm Lands - 798
I. Rotation of Crops suitable to different De-
scriptions of Soils . - - 798
II. The working of Fallows - - 800
III. General Management of Manures - 803
1. Management of Farm-yard Dung - 804
2. Lime, and its Management as a Manure 805
IV. Composts and other Manures - - 807
Chap. IL
Culture of the Cereal Grasses
I. Wheat
II. Rye - . .
IIL Barley
IV. The Oat
V. Cereal Grasses cultivated in Europe, some
of which might be tried in Britain
1. Maize, or Indian Corn
2. Canary Corn
3. The Millets
4. Rice, and some other Cereal Gramina
Chap. III.
Culture of Leguminous Field. Plants, the Seeds
of which are used as Food for Man or
Cattle - - - .834
I. The Pea . - . . 835
II. The Bean . . - 838
HI. The Tare . . . . 841
IV. Various Legumes which might be culti-
vated in British Farming „ . 843
- 826
- 834
CONTENTS. .
Chap. IV. Page
Plants cultivated for their Roots or Leaves in
a recent State as Food for Man or Cattle 844
I. The Potato . - .845
II. The Turnip . - . 854
III. The Carrot - . . 862
IV. TheParsnep . - . 865
V. The Field Beet - - -866
VI. The Cabbage Tribe - - - 867
VII. Other Plants which might be cultivated
in the Felds for their Roots or Leaves, as
Food for Man or Cattle, In a recent State 869
Chap. V.
Culture of Herbage Plants - -871
I. The Clover Family - . - 871
II. Lucern - - . . 877
III. Saintfoin - . .880
IV. Various Plants which are or may be culti-
vated as Herbage and for Hay . 883
Chap. VL
Cultivated Grasses - . . 886
I. Tall-growing or Hay Grasses - . 887
1. Tall or Hay Grasses of temporary Dura.
tion - - - -887
2. Tall or Hay Grasses of permanent Dura-
tion - . . .889
II. Grasses chiefly adapted for Pasturage 893
HI. General View of the Produce, Uses, Cha.
racter, and Value of the principal Bri-
tish Grasses, according to the Result of
John Duke of Bedford's Experiments at
Woburn . - - - 895
Chap. VIL
Management of Lands permanently under
Grass - . - 901
I. Perennial Grass Lands fit for mowing, or
Meadow Lands - - - 901
II. Permanent Pastures - - 905
1. Rich or feeding Pastures - - 905
2. Hilly and Mountainous Pastures - 908
III. Improvement of Grass Lands, by a tem-
porary Conversion to Tillage - - 909
1. Grass Lands that ought not to be broken
up by the Plough - - - 909
2. Advantages and Disadvantages of break-
ing up Grass Lands - - - 910
3. Breaking up Grass Lands, and afterwards
restoring them to Grass - - 911
Chap. VIIL
Plants cultivated on a limited Scale for various
Arts and Manufactures - - - 912
I. Plants grown chiefly for the Clothing Arts - 912
1. Flax - . - - 913
2. Hemp - - - - 917
3. The Fuller's Thistle, or Teasel - 918
4. Madder - . - 919
5. Woad - - . .920
6. Weld, or Dyer's V^'eed - - 921
7- Bastard Saffron - - - 922
8. Various Plants which have been proposed
as Substitutes for the Thread and dyeing
Plants grown in Britain . - 923
II. Plants cultivated for the Brewery and Dis-
tillery - - - - 923
1. The Hop - - . . 924
2. Culture of the Coriander and Caraway - 930
3. Plants which may be substituted for
Brewery and Distillery Plants - 930
III. Oilplants - - - 931
IV. Plants used in Domestic Economy - 933
1. Mustard - - -933
2 Buck-wheat - - - 934
3. Tobacco - - -936
4. Other Plants used in Domestic Economy,
which are or miay be cultivated in the
Fields - - -942
V. Plants which are are or may be grown in
the Fields for Medicinal Purposes . 943
Chap. IX.
Marine Plants used in Agriculture . - 945
Chap. X.
Weeds or Plants injurious to those cultivated
in Agriculture - - - 947
BOOK VII.
THE ECONOMY OF LIVE STOCK AND THE DAIRY.
Chap, I. Page
The cultivated Horse . . .94^
I. Varieties of the Horse . .950
II. Organology or exterior Anatomy of the
Horse - - . 955
III. The Bony Anatomy or Osseous Structure
of the Horse - - - 962
1. Osseous Structure of the Head - - 9G2
2. Bony Anatomy of the Trunk - -964
3. Bony Anatomy of the Extremities . 964
4. General Functions of the Bony Skeleton - 966
IV. Anatomy and Physiology of the soft Parts 966
1. Appendages to Bone, the Muscles, and
Tendons - - . gsG
2. Blood-vessels of the Horse . - 967
3. Absorbents of the Horse - . 9(18
4. Nerves and Glands of the Horse . 968
5. Integuments of the Horse's Body . 9(58
6. The Head generally - - - 969
7. The Ear - - . . c.'69
8. The Eye and its Appendages . . 970
9. The Nose and Sense of Smelling - 971
10. The Cavity of the Mouth . . 972
11. The Neck . . . 972
12 The Thorax or Chest - . - 973
13. The Abdomen - . .973
14. The Fcetal Colt - - - 975
15. The Foot - - .976
V. Diseases of the Horse - .977
1. General Remarks on the Healthy and
diseased State of the Horse . .977
2. Inflammatory Diseases of the Horse - 978
3. Diseases of the Head . . 979
4. Diseases of the Neck . . 9S()
5. The Chest . . . 980
6. Diseases of the Skin . - - 984
7. Glanders and Farcy - . . 985
8. Diseases of the Extremities - .985
9. Diseases of the Feet . . -987
VI. Veterinary Operations - . 989
1. Treatment of Wounds . . 989
2. Balls and Drinks . . -989
3. Fomentations and Poultices - - 989
4. Setons and Rowels - . . 990
5. Blistering and Firing - - 990
6. Clystering and Physicking - . QirO
7. Castration, Nicking, Docking, &c. - 991
8. Bleeding - - -991
VII. Veterinary Pharmacopoeia - - 991
VIII. Shoeing of Horses - -993
IX. Criteria of the Qualities of Horses for
various Purposes - - - 995
X. Breeding of Horses - - - 997
XI. Rearing of Horses - - - 999
XII. Training of Horses . . 1000
XIII. The Art of Horsemanship - -1003
XIV. Feeding of Horses - . 1004
XV. Stabling and Grooming of Horses - 1006
XVI. Management and Working of Horses - 100/
1. Management and Working of Race
Horses - - - 1007
2. Management and Working of the Hunter 1009
3. Working and Management of Riding
Horses - . - 1009
4. Horses in Curricles and Coaches . 1010
5. Working of Cart, Waggon, and Farm
Horses - - , . 1010
Chap. II.
The Ass
- 1012
Chap. III.
The Mule and Hinny, Hybrids of the Horse
and Ass - - . - 1013
Chap. IV.
Neat or Horned Cattle - . -1014
I. The Ox . . . 1014
1. Varieties and Breeds of the Bull - 1014
2. Criteria of Cattle for various Objects and
Purposes ... 1019
3. Breeding of Horned Cattle - - 1020
4. Rearing of Horned Cattle - - 1021
5. Fattening Calves by Suckling - - 1023
6. Fattening Horned Cattle - - 1024
7. Management of Cows kept for the
Dairy .... 1025
CONTENTS.
XXXI
Page
8. Working of Horned Cattle - - 1029
9. Anatomy and Physiology of the Bull and
Cow - - . - 1031
10. Diseases of Horned Cattle - - 1032
II. The Buffalo - . - 1035
Chap. V.
The Dairy and its Management - - 1035
I. Chemical Principles of Milk, and the Proper-
ties of the Milk of different Animals - 1036
II. The Dairy House, its Furniture and Uten-
sils - - - - 1037
III. Milking and the general Management of
Milk - ... low
IV. Making and Curing of Butter . . 1041
V. Process of Cheese-making - - 1043
VI. Catalogue of the different Sorts of Cheeses
and other Preparations made from Milk 1045
Chap. VI.
The Sheep . . . . 1049
I. Varieties of Sheep - - - 1049
II. Criteria of Properties in Sheep - - 1052
III. Breeding of Sheep . . 1053
IV. Rearing and general Management of
Sheep . - . 1055
1. Rearing and Management of Sheep on
rich grass and arable Lands . - 1056
2. Rearing and general Management of
Sheep on Hilly and Mountainous Dis-
tricts, or what is generally termed Store
Sheep Husbandry - - . 1058
V. Folding of Sheep - . - . 1061
VI. Of Fattening Sheep and Lambs - 1062
VII. Probable Improvement to be derived
from Crosses of the Merino Breed of
Sheep . . . . 1063
VIII. Anatomy and Physiology of Sheep . 1064
IX. Diseases of Sheep - . 1064
Chap. VIL
The Swine
I. Varieties of the Common Hog
II. Breeding and Rearing of Swine
- 1067
- 1068
Page
III. Fattening of Swine ... 1070
IV. Curing of Pork and Bacon - -1070
V. Diseases of Swine - - . . 1071
Chap. VIIL
Of the Goat, Rabbit, Hare, Dormouse, Deer,
and various other Animals, that are or may
be subjected to British Agriculture . - 1071
Chap. IX.
Animals of the Bird Kind employed in Agri-
culture .... 1083
I. Poultry Houses and their Furniture and
Utensils ... 1083
II. Gallinaceous Fowls, their Kinds, Breeding,
Rearing, and Management . - 1084
III. Anserine or Aquatic Fowls . .1091
IV. Diseases of Poultry . . 1095
V. Birds of Luxury which are or may be cul.
tivated by Farmers ... 1095
Chap. X.
Fish and Amphibious Animals subjected to
Cultivation - - . 1100
Chap. XI.
Insects and Worms which are or may be sub-
jected to Culture - - - .
Chap. XIL
Animals noxious to Agriculture
I. Noxious Mammalia - . -
II. Birds injurious to Agriculture
III. Insects injurious to Agriculture
1. Physiology of Insects
2. Arrangement or Classification of Insects
3. Insects injurious to live Stock
4. Insects injurious to Vegetables
5. Insects injurious to Food, Clothing, &c.
6. Operations for subduing Insects
IV. Worm-like Animals injurious to Agri.
culture . - .
1104
1108
1108
1112
1112
1112
1113
1114
1115
1118
1119
1120
PART IV.
STATISTICS OF BRITISH AGRICULTURK
BOOK I.
OF THE PRESENT STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE
BRITISH ISLES.
Chap. I.
Different Descriptions of Men engaged in the
Practice or Pursuit of Agriculture . 1121
I. Operators, or serving Agriculturists - 1121
II. Commercial Agriculturists - - 1122
IIL Agricultural Counsellors, Artists, or
Professors . - . 1123
IV. Patrons of Agriculture - - 1123
Chap. II.
Different Kinds of Farms in Britain relatively
to the difl'erent Classes of Society who are
the Occupiers . . . .1124
Chap. III.
Topographical Survey of the British Isles in
respect to Agriculture - . . 1125
I. Agricultural Survey of England - -1125
II. Agricultural Survey of Wales . . 1173
IIL Agricultural Survey of Scotland -1178
IV. Agricultural Survey of Ireland - 1198
Chap. IV.
Literature and Bibliogaphy of Agriculture - 1206
I. :Kbliography of British Agriculture - - 1206
II. Bibliography of Agriculture in Foreign
Countries - - . . 1214
1. Bibliography of French Agriculture - 1214
2. Bibliography of German Agriculture - 1219
3. Bibliography of Italian Agriculture - l'i21
4. Bibliography of the Agriculture of other
Countries of Europe - - 1222
5. Agricultural Bibliography of North Ame-
rica - ^ ^ : . 1223
Chap. V.
Professional Police and Public Laws relative
to Agriculturists and Agriculture - - 1223
BOOK II.
OP the FirruRE progress op agriculture in
BRITAIN.
Chap. I.
Improvement of Agriculture, by refining the
Taste of the Purchasers of its Products, and
creasing the Knowledge of Agricultural
Patrons - - - 1225
Chap. II.
Improvement of Agriculture, by the better
Education of those who are engaged in it as
a Profession - - . . 1226
I. Degree of Knowledge which may be at-
tained by Practical Men, and general Powers
of the human Mind as to Attainments . 1226
II. Professional Education of Agriculturists - 1228
III. Conduct and Economy of an Agricul-
turist's Life - - - 1229
Calendarial Index
Glossarial Index
General Index
- 1233
. 1241
- 1248
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS,
ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE SUBJECTS.
Those marked f are chiefly of historical interest ; those marked * are considered the best of their kind.
Na
Picks and Mattocks.
2 t Primeval pick of Egypt
25 t Pick of the ancient Britons
124 t Picks or Pick hoes of Java
460 * The planter's foot-pick
590 6 * The planting-mattock
590 c * The planter's adze
1115 a, b Grubbing-mattocks of Devonshire
Spades.
14 t The Roman spade . . .
155 t The Bushman's spade
1136 t The caschrom or Highland spade
210 The Flemish spade
211 * The turf spade
661 * Draining-spades
679, 680 * Irrigating.spades
469 6 * The hedger's spade
655 a The semicylindrical draining-spade
Shovels and Scoops.
459 * The ditcher's shovel
661 d * The drainer's shovel
680 a,b* Irrigation shovels
1115 c The Devonshire paring-shovel
661 a,b,c* Drain ing-scoops
680 c * The irrigator's scoop - . -
Forks.
25, 26, 27 f Forks of the Ancient Britons -
682 c * I'he irrigator's fork . - -
753 * Forks for spreading dung
548 * The road-maker's fork - _ -
Drags or Hacks, and Pronged Hoes.
752 * A light dung drag
756 * A turnip-hook, or pronged hoe
215 * A three-pronged double hoe
282 * The pronged hoe and turnip chopper -
Rakes.
25 t Rake of the Ancient Britons
212 * The English corn-rake
213 * The East Lothian corn-rake
214 * The daisy rake . . . .
Hoes.
121 c t The hoe of Ceylon . . -
124 6, c t The hoes of Java . . -
215 * The double hoe, with a pronged blade
216 Ducket's hoes ....
469 a The common Dutch hoe . . -
217 * The improved Dutch hoe
218 * Knight's improved thrust-hoe
219 * The Spanish draw-hoe . . .
513 The Dutch wheel-hoe
590 d * Sang's plantation-hoe . . .
760 * The best turnip hand-hoe
Weeding Implements.
220 * Baker's thistle-extirpator - •
221 a * The Scotch thistle-drawers
221 b * The Havre weeding-pincers
Rope-twisters.
222 The common twisting-crook
223 ♦ The improved twisting-crook
Page
5
. 38
. 152
- 481
- 641
. a51
- 1170
24
182
1197
369
369
712
725
485
710
481
712
725
1170
712
725
38
370
370
370
372
372
No.
Dibbles.
91 The Swedish dibbling-board . - 112
224 * The double corn-dibble - - . 372
Sq/thes.
21 t Italian scythe and scythe stone of the
middle ages . ... 33
25 t 26 t Scythes of the Ancient Britons - 38
49 The Brabant cradle scythe ... 69
61 The great Brabant scythe . - 83
60 * The Hainault scythe - . - 83
225 * The improved Hainault scythe - - 372
226 * The improved cradle scythe . - 373
Reaping-hooks.
6 f The reaping-hook of Egypt - - 7
25 t 27 t Ancient British reaping-hooks - 38
121 1 1 The reaping-hook of Ceylon - . 149
125 fl, 6 t Reaping-hooks of Java . . 152
227 * The improved reaping.hook . - 373
Boring Instruments.
228 * The stack-borer . - . - 373
238 * 239 * 240* Good's improved well.borers 377, 378
241 * Busby's quicksand borer . - 378
242 * The peat borer . - - - 378
662 The common draining-borer - . 712
663 * The horizontal boring-machine - - 713
708 * The root borer for rifting roots by gun-
powder - ... 744
704—707 Stone borers, or jumpers for blasting
stones - - - - 743
Hedge-bills and Pruning-axes, and ground Knives.
53
36 t The pruning-hook of the middle ages -
121 a t The jungle-hook of Ceylon
121 b t The pruning-axe of Ceylon
125 c to ^ f The pruning-hooks of Java - -
229 a * The Berwickshire hedge-bill or hedge-
scimitar - _ - -
229 c * The bill-hook . . - -
229 d * The dressing-hook . . -
229 e * The lopping-hook . - - -
£29 b * The hedge axe - . - -
469 d * The hedge switching-bill
469 e * Stephens's hedge-cutting bill
469/* Stephens's hedge-axe . . .
661 e * The drainer's sod knife ...
681 * The turf knife - - - -
682 o * The water scythe . . - -
682 b * The water-hook - - - -
Level Instrmnents.
234 * The common road-level - - -
233 * Parker's level . - . -
235 a * The American level - - -
235 6 * The square level . - -
235 c * The object staff - - - -
235 dto h* The levelling stafF - -
549 * Telford's road-level - - -
ern a* Brown's irrigator's portable level -
678 * The compass-level ...
Hand-Hummelling Implements.
405 * The hummelling-roller
406 The hummelling-beater - ■. i
149
149
152
374
374
374
374
374
485
485
485
712
725
725
725
375
375
376
376
376
376
596
725
725
440
440
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
xxxfti
Na Page
Miscellaneous Implements and Instruments.
230 * The woodman's scorer . - . 374
231 * 232 * Potato-set scoops - - - 374
2.36, 237 * Hunter's odometer - . - 376
598 * Barking instruments - - - 659
599 * Broad's callipers for measuring standing
timber . . . . GQo
703 * Callipers for raising stones - - 745
600 * Rogers's dendrometer . - - 663
708 * The blasting screw for rending roots of
trees ^ . ... 744
892 * Sheep crooks - ... 1057
870 * Syringe and ^nema tubes for relieving
horses, cattle, sheep, and swine - 1034
838 * The fleam for bleeding horses . . 991
866 * Ring for fastening cattle . . - 1030
867 * Yoke and bow for oxen . - . lUoO
Miscellaneous Utensils.
27 t The ancient British harvest-horn - 58
1119 d Cornish dung panniers - . -1171
1119 e Cornish faggot and sheaf corn panniers 1171
243 * The corn-screen - . . . 378
244 * The iron corn-basket - - - 378
245 * The seed.carrier . ... 378
246 * Jones's corn and seed drier . . 379
811 Barrel for blanching endive . - 942
977 * The turnip beetle-net - . - 1120
S78 * Curtis's lime-duster - - . -1120
* Utensils for Poultry,
926 a, b, c Poultry coops .... 1084
926 d Portable shelter for poultry . - 1084
927 * The improved poultry-feeder . . 1084
1145 * The pheasant-feeder - . -1282
Scientific Utensils.
203 Vessels for examining soils - . - 318
208 * Leslie's hygrometer . . - Sm
209 * The rain-gauge - . - - 366
Utensils for the Dairy.
81 f The cowherd's lure of Norway . - 110
33 t The dairy caldron of Lodi - - 49
879 * The box churn ... 1040
880 * The Derbyshire churn - -1040
881 The Lancashire plough.churn - - 1040
877 The cheese-press .... 1039
878 The lactometer . . . - 1039
Wheelbarrows.
247 * The earth barrow . - -379
248 * The iron barow for dung - . - 379
249 * The corn barrow - . - 379
250 * The hay and straw barrow - - 379
251 The package barrow - - . 379
252 * The Normandy barrow . - - 380
253 The French truck . . -380
254 * The common hand-barrow - - 380
255 * The earth hand-barrow - - 380
256 The dung hand-barrow ... 380
257 * The improved dressing machine . S80
258 * The hand threshing-machine - .380
259 * The maize sheller - - .381
260 * Marriott's improved maize separator . 381
1120 The box barrow of Cornwall . -1172-
Handmills.
261 * A hand flour-mill for grinding maize - 381
734 The maize sheller . . - 831
262 * A hand bolting-machine - - 381
263 * The furze bruiser . - - . 382
266 * The root breaker or bruiser . . 383
267 * The corn bruiser - . .383
268 * The potato flour.mill - - . 383
269 * The chaff-cutter . . .384
281 * The turnip-slicer - . - 386
Weighing and Draught Machines.
276 * The weighing-cage - - - 385
277 * Weir's cattle weighing-machine . 385
279 * Smith's potato-weighing machine - 38&
278 * The sack- weighing machine . . 385
280 * Ruthven's farmer's steelyard . . 386
272 * The hay-weighing machine - . S84
274 * Finlayson's draught-machine . .385
275. ♦ Braljy's draught-machine . - - 385
No. Page
Hand-drills, Dibbling and Sowing Machines.
284 * The common hand-drill . . 387
287 * The hand turnip-drill - - . 388
286 * Coggins's corn-dibbler . - . 387
283 * Plunknet's bean or potato dibbler - 387
285 * The broadcast sowing-machine - . ^7
290 * Field rat-trap
291 * Improved rat-trap
292 Wooden mole-traps
964, 965 * Paul's rattery
Traps for Vermin.
1110, 1111
Miscellaneous Hand Machines.
\11 f The whin-bruiser of Britany - - 207
270—272 * The hay-binder - - - 384
273 * The rope-twister . ... 385
288 * The hand turnip-roller . - . 388
289 Doxat's mechanical power - - 388
293 * An improved grindstone . . - 3S9
750 Machine for washing potatoes . - 853
872 The gin-wheel potato-washer . . 1038
767 Cabbage-cutter for sauerkraut - - 869
768 Newton's cabbage-chopper - - 869
408 A lime-pounding machine ... 442
409 Low's machine for raising large stones . 442
705, 706 Richardson 's machine for raising large
stones .... 745
987 Hill and Bundy's flax.breaking machine 918
Ploughs of Historical Interest.
2 f 3 f 4 1 Primitive tillage implements
of the greatest antiquity - . -5,5
9 f Primitive plough of Sicily . - 10
11 t Plough of the South of France . . 23
12 t Plough of Valencia . . .23
13 a,b,c\ Wheel-ploughs of the greatest
antiquity 23
22 f A Saxon wheel-plough of the eighth
century - . . . . SQ
23 t 24 t Ancient British ploughs . 37
38 f The modern plough of Rome . . 55
50 t The plough of Toulouse ... 70
51 f The Arabian plough - . - 70
74 t The plough of Tykochin, in Poland - \02
89 + The plough of Osterobothnia . - 112
90 + The ancient Samnite plough - 112
97 f The Castilian plough . . .119
100 t The Arcadian plough . . .121
109 t The plough of Erzerum . . 141
113 + The plough of Yemen, in Arabia . 142
119 f Hindustanee ploughs - • - - 14S
121 d + The plough of Ceylon - . 149
131 t Chinese ploughs - . - Vk)
Modern Swing Ploughs.
294 * Small's plough - - - . 392
295 * * Wilkie's iron swing plough - - 392
296 • Finlayson's crane-necked self-cleaning
iron plough ... . 392
297 • Finlayson's open beam self-cleaning
iron plough - . . . 393
298 • Finlayson's skeleton self-cleaning
turn-wrest plough - . . 393
299 » Finlayson's line plough . . 393
300 • Gray's turn- wrest plough . . 394
301 * Weatherley's movable stilt plough - 394
302 * Ducket's skim-coulter plough - . 394
303 » Somerville's double-furrow plough . 395
304 Clymer's iron plough ... 396
305 • Morton's trenching plough - . 39S
306 Gladstone's water-furrowing plough . 397
1130 An addition to a plough called a ridder,
used in Fifeshire ... 1188
Modern ffTiecl-Ploughs.
308 * Improved Scotch wheel-plough - 398
309 The Beverstone wheel-plough . . S98
310 The Norfolk wheel-plough . . 398
311 * Wilkie's single-horse wheel-plough . 399
312 ** Wilkie's improved friction-wheel
plough - • - - - 399
313 The paring wheel-plough . - - 400
1128 * * Wilkie's one-wheel two-horse plough,
with shifting muzzle . . 1186
Draining- Ploughs
314 Clarke's draining.plough - - 400
315 Gray's draining-plough . - - 400
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
No. Page
316 * Morton's draining-plough - - WO
317 * The gutter drain-plough . - 401
318 Lumbert's mole-plough - . _ 401
319 Lumbert's working power for his mole-
plough . . . - 401
320 Weir's improved working power for
Lumbert's mole-plough - - 401
321 * Bridgewater's draining-plough - 402
656, 657 Pearson's pipe draining-plough - 710
Pronged 'Tillage Implements.
322 * Wilkie's parallel adjusting-brake - 403
323 Wilkie's improved prongs for brakes ex-
plained - - . - . 403
324 * Finlayson's cultivator and liarrow - 403
721 * Kirkwood's grubber - . - 803
325 Weir's improved cultivator . - 404
326 The Scotch cultivator or grubber - 404
327 Parkinson's cultivator - - - 404
328 Hayward's cultivator - - 405
Horse-hoes and Drill-Harrows.
380 * Wilkie's horse-hoe and drill-harrow - 405
331 ** Finlayson's self-cleaning horse-hoe
and drill-harrow - . . 406
332 * Blaikie's inverted horse-hoe - - 406
333 The Scotch horse-hoe - . - 407
33i Henry's improved scarifier - - 407
335 Amos's horse-hoe and harrow - - 407
336 The horse-hoe and castor wheel - 407
337 The thistle hoe, or hoe scythe - - 408
982 A scuffler used in Essex - - 1129
995 A drill hoe used in Worcestershire - 1142
Horse Machthes for sowing and planting.
338, 339 Cooke's corn-drill and horse-hoe 408, 409
340 The Norfolk lever-drill - - -409
341 * Morton's improved grain-drill - 409
342 * The improved bean-drill - - 410
343 The horsebean dibbler - - - 410
344, 345 * The Northumberland two-row tur-
nip drill - - - - 411
346 *The Northumberland one-row turnip
drill 411
347 * * Weir's manuring one-row turnip drill 412
722 * * The improved broad-cast sowing-
machine - - - - 809
Watering Machines.
348 * Young's drill-waterer - - 413
362 The watering-roller - - 418
569 * The road water-barrow - - - 610
Han-ows.
124 t Harrow of the Singalese - - 152
323. 349 Principles on which harrow prongs
are formed 403. 413
350 * The Berwickshire harrow - - 414
351 The angular-sided harrow - - 414
795 The grass-ground harrow - - . 906
352 * The grass-seed harrow - - 414
353 The common brake - - - 415
354 * The grubber, or levelling-harrow - 415
355 * Morton's revolving brake-harrow - 415
356, 357 Gray's wet-weather harrow - 416
358 The bush harrow . . - 416
518 The improved single harrow - - 528
565 The road-harrow - . - 608
990 Circular harrows ... 1136
1003 * An excellent harrow used in Derby-
shire - - - . 1152
Rollers, Cutters, and Scrapers.
121 g,hi Scrapers of Ceylon - - - 149
359 * The loaded roller . - - 417
363 The furrow roller - - - 418
362 The roller and water-box - - 418
364, 365 * The pressing-plough - - 418
360 Bartlett's cutting roller or cultivator - 417
366 Brown's furrow cross-cutter - - 418
566 The road roller - . .608
567, 568 * Boase's road scraper and sweeper
608,609
£70 Biddle's road-maker . - - 611
709 Peat rollers - . - 746
No. Page
Levelling Machines,
59 The Mouldebaert or Flemish leveller - 82
367, 368 * The Scotch land-leveller - 419
369 The improved Flemish leveller - - 419
Horse-Rakes, and Hay-making Machines.
370 The Norfolk horse-rake . . 420
371 * Weir's improved hay or corn rake - 420
372 * Salmon's hay tedder improved by Weir 421
373 The hay sweeper - - - 421
Reaping Machines.
16 + A Roman reaping machine - - 26
375 Smith's reaping machine - . 422
376, 377 * Bell's reaping.machine - 423. 425
378 • Gladstone's bean reaper - - 427
379 The clover.pod reaper - - 427
Carts.
39 + The modern Roman cart - .55
48 T The gairabarde, or one-horse hay and
wood cart of Paris - - 69
78 t Cart of Livonia - - - 108
103 f The cart of Albania - - 122
1119 t Cornish sledges - - - 1171
380--383 Principles respecting wheels and
axles, as applied to one-horse carts 428,429
386. 388. 390, 391, 392 Principles of adjusting
draught and drags - - 430. 432, 433
384 The Scotch one-horse cart - - 450
385 The Scotch corn-cart - - - 430
386 The Scotch two-horse cart, with adjusting
traces - - - - 430
387 Somerville's drag cart - - 431
1008, 1009 Simple carts in use in Yorkshire - 1158
Waggons.
62 t The Flemish grand waggon . - 83
65 t The old Danish waggon - - 88
67 t The Hungarian travelling waggon - 9(i
68 t The Hungarian agricultural waggon - 97
75 t A Polish waggon - - - 102
149 t Dutch waggon of the Cape of Good
Hope - - - - 180
1118 The Cornwall harvest waggon - - 1171
393, 394 Baddeley's waggon with bent axle - 433
395 * The Berkshire waggon - - 434
396 Rood's waggon - . - - 434
397,398 Gordon's one-horse waggon - 435
* Threshing Machines.
17 t The Roman threshing machine - 26
32 t Threshing-rollers of modern Italy - 49
399, 400 * Meikle's two-horse threshing
machine ... - 437
401 * Meikle's water threshing machine - 438
402 * Meikle's water and horse threshing
machine . . - - 438
984 * A threshing machine driven by water 1130
Smut and Hummelling Machines.
403 Hall's smut machine - - - 439
404 Mitchell's hummelling machine - 440
Cider and Oil MUls impelled by Horses or Water.
. 675
- 675
- 676
. 1141
- 1117
157, 158
- 160
602 Common cider.miU
603 * Improved cider.mill
604 French cider-mill
994 The cider-press
95 t The olive-oil mill of Spain
128, 129 t Oil-mills of China
133 t Water oil-miU of China
Miscellaneous Horse Machines.
98 The Noria, or bucket-wheel of the Moors 119
374 Snowden's leaf collector - ".S^i
565 Harriott's road harrow - - ^ - oU«
566 Beatson's road roller or protector for
common carts - - - ^°
567 * 568 * Boase's road scraper and sweeper 6('», buy
- 610
The improved road-waterer
„,^, 571 Biddle's machine for re.
592, 593 Steuart's machine for transplanting
670, 571 Bii
— —3 St
large trees
machine for repairing roads 611
643
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
No. Page
Miscellaneous Machines impelled by Water.
44 fThe Noriaofthe Alps ... 64
204—206 The Persian wheel of Blair-Drum-
mond - - . - 326
Fixed Apparatus.
407 * A cattle food-steaming machine - 441
597 * Boiler for distilling the spray of trees - 657
934 * Bonnemain's apparatus for hatching
eggs by hot water . - . 1087
Portable Structures for Corn or Forage.
519 * The stack guard . . .532
520 * The stacking stage . - - 533
1136 Structures for drying hay and corn in use
in Argyleshire - . - 1197
79 t The Russian roofed frame for drying
com in the sheaf . - . 108
Farmeries or HoinestalU.
123 t A Singalese farmery - - - 150
175 t An Alpine farmery of Norway - - 205
55, 56 t A Flemish farmery - . - 74, 75
418 * An octagon corn farmery, ground plan
and isometrical views, designed and
drawn by J. C. L. in 1820 - .449
419 * A rectangular farmery, ground plan
and isometrical view, designed and
drawn by J. C. L. in 1820 - - 450
420 * Circular farmery, ground plan and
isometrical view, designed and drawn
by J. C. L. in 1820 . . - 450
443 * Waistell's farmery for a grazing farm
in a hilly country ... 46.5
444 * Waistell's arable and grazing farmery 466
445 Marshal's octagon farmery . . 467
446 Beatson's small farmery . . . 468
447 * A Berwickshire farmery - . 468
448 * A proprietor's farmery with bailiff's
house .... 469
449 * A very commodious farmery . . 470
450 * A very complete farmery . .471
451, 45C' ♦ Waistell's large farmery . . 472
G05 * Fearn farmery with steam-power
threshing machine ... 679
606 * Knolwell farmery - - .680
607, 608 * A Middlesex farmery, designed by
J.C.L. - . ! . 681
609, 610 Farmery for a hay farm in Middlesex,
designed by J. C. L. . . . 682
611, 612 * A corn and stall feeding farmery,
designed by J. C. L. . . - 683
613 * A farmery for a meadow farm, designed
by J. C. L. - . . . 684
614, 615 * A farmery for a turnip farm . 684, 685
1011 A Northumberland farmery - . 1161
1112 A Cheshire farmery . . -1154
1116, 1117 A farmery in Cornwall ... II71
Farm-houses.
35 f A farm-house in Tuscany
(18 to 21) * Position of the farm-house
419
51
relatively to the farmery explained - 4.50
422, 423 Farm-houses of the lowest class . 453
424 * 425 * Small farm-houses . - . 454
986, 987 An octagonal farm-house, erected by
Francis, Duke of Bedford . - 1132
988 A square farm-house, erected by Francis.
Duke of Bedford - . _ II33
998 * A farm-house of the Marquess of Staf.
ford's in Shropshire . - - II45
1132 A farm-house combining an inn, erected
by the Marquess of Stafford in Suther-
land 1194
Cottages.
83 A Swedish log cottage . . - 110
104 t A Hungarian cottage ... 123
139 t Hut of the Arabs - . - - 173
84 f Circular huts of the Laplanders - . Ill
142 t Mud huts of Nubia . . . 175
141 t Straw huts of Egypt . . .175
146 t Reed huts of the Foulahs . . . 177
150—152 t Huts of the Hottentots . . 181
160 f American cottage built of logs . . 189
169 f Brazilian .shelter - . - 200
431 An economical stair for cottages , . 457
422, 423 Cottages approaching to the character
of farm-houses . . -453
b2
No. Page
426 * 427 * Cottages for farm.servants . . 455
428 * A double cottage for farm-labourers . 456
429 * * Waistell's double cottage with cow-
houses ..... 456
430 * * Another double cottage by Waistell im
432 * 433 * Gothic cottages by Holland . 458
434 * An ornamental cottage, erected by
Lord Penryn . _ . . 458
435 * An economical double cottage, designed
by J. C. L. . r - - 458
6!6 * An economical double cottage . - 685
617 * A labourer's cottage with cow-house
and piggery - . . . 686
618 * A good mechanic's cottage - . 688
619 A group of three cottages - - . 686
620 An ornamental Gothic cottage for a la.
bourer - ... 686
621 An Italian cottage - - - 686
622 An entrance lodge to a farm . . 686
981 A cottage for a small farmer . - 1129
991 A cottage erected in Berkshire - - 1139
1002 A cottage erected in Staffordshire . 1148
1122 A cottage in North Wales - . 1174
1125 A cottage in Berwickshire - . 1181
1126 A cottage in Ayrshire ... 118S
1129 Two cottages in West Lothian . -1187
1138 t A cabin in King's County, Ireland , 1200
Buildings or other fixed Structures for Horses,
Cattle, and Implements.
410 Trevises or partitions - _ . 444
1004 * A mounted crib for hay, in use in the
field in Derbyshire ... 1152
1113 A rustic shed or shelter - . . 1165
1121 The cow or cattle feeding house in Corn-
wall 1172
421 Open cart or cattle shed - - . 452
See the details of the Farmeries.
411 * Cattle hummels - - - .445
412 Section of Harley's cow-house - . 446
413 * Calf-pens 446
421 Open cattle-shed for fields - . 452
865, 866 Fastenings for cattle . . - 1030
868 A shoeing-stall . - . 1030
Buildings a- other fixed Structures for Cows and
the Dairy. See p. xxxix.
Buildings or other fixed Structures for Sheep and
Swine.
416 A sheep-house and dove-cot combined - 449
891 * Inclosure for washing sheep - -1057
89.5—897 Rustic sheep-houses by Kraft - 1063
1138 A rustic sheep-house - - - 1197
414 Harley's pigsties ... 447
Fixed or Portable Structures for Poultry, Pigeons,
Babbits, SfC.
110 t Pigeon-houses of Persia - . - 141
415 * Section for general poultry-house - 448
416 A dove-cot and sheep-house combined - 449
908, 909 The rabbit-hutch - . . 1074
924, 925 A complete set of poultry-houses - 1083
926 a A portable nest - . - 1084
926 b, c Hen-coops . - - - 1084
926 d Portable shelter for turkeys . . 1084
927 * An improved poultry.feeder . .1084
1143 * A pheasant-feeder « - 1281
734 Bonnemain's apparatus for hatching eggs
by hot water - . - 1087
940 * A decoy for wild ducks . - 1092
946. 948 Pigeon-houses - - - 1097
954, 95.5 Bird-cages .... 1100
47 t Elevated hen-roost of France . . 69
Fixed or Portable Structures for Bees,
417 Thebee.house - - . - 449
960 The chained hive . - - 11(J6
961 * The Polish hive - . . 1106
Portable Structures for Cattle or Sheep.
796 Portable shelter . - - . 908
894 A portable hav-rack - . . 1061
983 Wakefield's portable bridge . . .1130
Buildings or Fixed Structures for Corn or Forage.
122 + A Singalese threshing-floor . - 150
436 * The common rick-stand . .460
437 * The cast-iron rick-stand . . - 460
XXXVl
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
No. Page
438 Waistdl'8 circular rick-stand - - 460
439 The timber and iron rick-stand - - 451
440 — 442 Ground-plans of barns, illustrative
of first principles - - - 464
92, 93 Swedish racks for drying corn - 113
728 The Russian kiln for drying corn in the
sheaf - - . . 828
Lime-kilns.
579 Booker's lime-kiln ... 626
681— 686 Menteath's lime-kilns - - 626,62?
587 Heathorn's lime-kiln and coke oven - 628
Miscellaneous Buildings or Structures, Landscapes,
and Diagrams, chiefly qf Historical Interest,
1 f Mount Ararat . ... 4
5 -f- Raising. water from the Nile . . 6
10 A Roman villa and its environs, accord.
ingtoCastel . -• - - 19
41 Arrangements in the Lake Facino for
breeding oysters - - - 57
45 Map of France, showing its climate - 67
66 t A post-house, combining a farm, situ-
ated on the Frisclie Hoff, between
Memel and Konigsberg in Prussia - 89
72 t A post-house and farm in Poland . 100
73 t A Jewish village in the south of Poland 101
76 t A Russian village - . - 106
77 t A farmery in the British style in the
neighbourhood of Moscow - - 106
80 t A church and mountain scenery in
Norway - - - .110
84 t Lapland huts - . . - 111
102 t The plain of Thessaly - - - 122
106 f Buschire and its territory - - 139
120 A corn-mill in Penang ... 149
126 t A Chinese village - - .156
131 t Villa of Thibet . - .163
141 t Camps of the nomadic agriculturists of
Morocco - - . - 177
157 + Small English villa or cottage ornee . 186
162 f A West Indian overseer and his maid 193
172, 173 t Stedman's cottage and sleeping-
place while at Surinam . . 202
176 t The Sunday dance of Norway ^ . 205
201 t View in Mexico . - .271
1134 t View of Dunrobin house in Sutherland 1195
1114 t The Dartmoor dep6t for prisoners of
war 1169
Live Fences.
455 The double ditch and hedge between - 475
457, 458 Pruning and repairing old hedges - 479
462—467 Diagrams illustrating the art of
planting hedges - - 482, 483
468 Hedge drains . . - -484
470—473 Illustrative diagrams - - 486, 487
476 Protecting young hedges . . 488
477 Cutting down an old hedge . - 489
482, 483 The poplar or willow fence - . 494
589 Fences for plantations - . .636
Dead Fences.
453 • Medium between a sunk and raised
fence . . - .474
454 The double ditch with bank between - 475
456 The dead hedge . ... 475
474 A hedge paling - ... 487
475 A stake and rice fence - - - 487
478—481 Wooden and iron hurdles, 13 sorts 494
484 The wattled fence . ... 495
485 Primitive paling fence . - - 495
82 Swedish paling fence . . .110
486 Iron park fence - - . 495
487, 488 Light iron pasture fences . - 496
489 The field wall - - - . 496
490 The Galloway wall - - . . 496
491 Mould for stamped-earth walls . . 498
Gates.
53 t Field gate of Holland . . .72
492. 494 First principles - . . 499, 500
493 * Waistell's gate - ... 499
495 * Parker's compensation hinge - . 501
496 Iron gates 501
4')7 — 500 Improved fastenings for gates - 502
.501 * 502 * Field gates, by Parker - - 502
503 * Menteath's gate . . - - 503
504 * Hunter's field gate . - .503
505 * The imi)rovcd park gate - . - 503
No. Page
506 The Florence barrier - - - 504
507 The double or folding gate . - 504
508, 5U9 Clarke's window-sash gate - - 505
510 The sympathetic park gate . . 505
511 The stile gate - . - . 505
997 An iron gate and gate-posts used in Mon.
mouthshire .... II43
Plantations.
461 • Planting corners of fields - - 481
588 Distributing plantations over a country . 634
589 Fences for plantations ... 636
590, 591 Planting implements and operations
641, 642
592, 593 Steuart's transplanting machine . 643
594 Effects of good and bad pruning - - 650
595 Cutting over copse-wood stools . . 655
^6 Pruning hedge-row trees . . 655
597 Distilling spray for pyrolignous acid - 657
593 Barking instruments ... 659
599, 600 Timber measures . . - 663
717, 718 Planting irregular grounds - - 754
Fruit Trees.
601 Portraits of five sorts of standard pear
trees . - - .667
Operations on the Soil.
512 Trenching
517 Burning clay
. 508
. 523
591 Slitting for tree planting - . . 642
1010 t Section of a coal district in Durham - 1159
22,t 23,t 24 1 Ploughing in Britain inthemid-
dleages - - - . 36, 37
985 Straightening ridges - - - 1131
Operations on Plants.
6 f Reaping in Egypt - - - 7
15 t Roman manner of striking off" the ears
of corn - - - - 24
19 t 20 t Training the vine in ancient
Italy - - - - 29
34 t Training the vine in modern Italy . 50
26—29 1 Mowing, reaping, and threshing
in Britain in the middle ages - 38, 39
514 Cutting in pruning - - - 512
515, 516 Thatching - . - 517, 518
594 Pruning timber trees - . . 650
595 Pruning copse-vi^ood and stools - » &55
596 Pruning hedge-row timber - - 655
996 * Saddle grafting .... 1143
1005 1 Tapping a birch tree for wine . - 1153
Scientific Operations.
521 Levelling - - . . 5S5
522 Dividing a field - - - .5m
523 Mapping - - - .537
524 Delineating . - . .543
525—530 Mapping and delineating . 644— >546
531 Isometrical perspective illustrated - 547
Plans of Estates.
532, 533 A country residence, laid out as a
park - - - - 566
999 The Lilleshall estate of the Marquess of
Stafford in Shropshire - - 1146
1000 The Wildmoor estate of the Marquess of
Stafford in Shropshire - . -1147
1124 The Tremadok estate in North Wales - 1175
1131 The Marquess of Stafford's estate in
Sutherland - - - 1194
Plans of Farms.
623 * A newly inclosed farm - .689
712 A farm in Norfolk - - - 751
713, 714 A farm in Middlesex, laid out by
J. C. L. - - - - 752
715, 716 A grass farm in Middlesex - - 753
719,720 A hill farm in Berkshire - - 755
893 A store sheep farm . - - 1059
980 A seed farm in Essex . - - 1129
1007 A cottage farm in Derbyshire - -1156
1123 Cottage farms in North Wales
1174
Plans qf Villages.
511 The village of Bridekirk - - 623
578 Village sea-port - - - 624
1183 A fishing village in Sutherland . .1195
150. t 153 Villages of the Hottentots - 181,182
170 A Surinam village - - - ^-'01
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
xzxvu
Na Page
Road-making and Roads.
534, 535 Sections - ... 568, 569
546, 5*6, 547, and 550 Sections - 592, 593, 594. 597
5m Field or farm roads - - - 569
537 Street roads with stone tracks - - 569
538 Road over a hill ... 573
539 Leverage of the feet of animals - . 575
540 Leverage of wheels . . , 575
541 Locomotive table for breaking stones - 590
542 Gauge ring for the size of stones . - 590
543 Hand-barrow measure for broken stones 590
544 Wire-guard for the faces of stone-
breakers ... - 590
548, 549 Implements ... - 596
551 — 555 Stone railways for roads of different
kinds .... 598, 599
55Q—55^J 512 Different modes of paving
601, 602. 612
563 Comparative effect of broad and narrow
wheels on roads ... 605
564 Effect of heavy waggons . . • 607
565—570 Machines for repairing or cleaning
roads . , . . 608—511
Railroads.
573 Railroad carriage ... 614
574 Flat railways . - . .616
Milestones, Guide-posts, and Toll-gates.
560 An improved milestone ... 603
561 Improved guide-posts ... 604
562 Edgware toll-house and gate - • 604
Canals.
515, 576 SecUons ..... 619, 620
Draining and Drains.
624—628 Plans and sections - 693—696
629—631 Plans and sections - - 698, 699
632—635 Plans and sections . - 700, 701
636 Section of a drain - . . . 701
637 Section of a conduit drain . - 703
638—640 Essex draining - j . - 704
641, 612 Sections . . . -705,706
643—55-2 Different kinds of drains - 707, 708, 709
646,647* Draining tiles - . .708
653 — 655 * Draining implements - 709, 710
656 Pearson's draining-plough - . 710
658 The Cheshire turf drain . .711
659 The mole drain . . - . 711
660 Cartwheel draining - - - 711
661 — G63 Draining implements and boring
machines .... 712, 713
Embanking.
661— 669 Sections of banks - .115—111
670 Seawall - . - - 718
671 — 673 Protecting river banks, and chang-
ing the course of rivers - -719 — ^721
674 — 676 Dams, heads, or banks . - 722
Irrigation.
677—682 Implements and instruments - 725
683 Sluices - - - .726
684—687 Examples of flooded land . 729, 730
Ponds.
688 Section of a circular pond . . 734
735 Plans and sections of field ponds - - 735
Boring for Water and Wells.
Ill tPersian wells . . . .141
691 The manner of boring an Artesian well 736
132 1 Universal lever well - . - 160
Lifting Water.
697 Buckets moved by horse power . . 739
699 Raising a bucket obliquely as practised
on the Continent - . .740
698 * • Siebe's pump . . .739
Filtering Water.
700 Filtering by two casks
700 Filtering into a Unk
702 Filtering salt water
- 740
.. 741
- 741
b
Nd Page
Removing Rocks, Stones, and Roots.
703. 705, 706 Machines for raising large stones 745
704 — 707 Modes of blasting stones - . 745
708 Blasting or rending roots of large trees - 744
The Culture of the Potato.
747 Cutting a tuber into sets - . . 848
748 Planting in Lancashire ... &19
749 Planting in Argyleshire - - 850
750 Machine for washing potatoes - - 853
Tlie Culture of the Turnip.
151 — 766 The improved mode of cultivating
in drills, from the preparation of the
ground to the taking up and storing
or consumption of the crop . 856 — 859
Scientific Diagram.
207 Nomenclature of the clouds . -358
Plants, or Parts qf Plants, to illustrate Vegetable
Anatomy and Physiology.
178 a DionfflV Muscipula, Venus's fly-trap - 211
178 b Sarracfenj'a purpilrea, purple side-saddle
flower - . . - 211
178 c A'ep^nthes distillatbria, the pitcher
plant . - . . 211
179 a b The Musci . . .212
179 c The Hepaticae . ► . .212
180 a Lamin^ria saccharina - - 212
180 b Halymfenia palmita , . 212
180 c HalymJjnia ediilis . - .212
181 a i^ungi which grow on the surface of
the earth . . - 213
181 o Fungi which grow on the stumps of
rotten trees . . .213
182 Interior integument in the garden bean 213
183 Section of the stem of herbaceous and
annual or biennial plants . - 214
184 Section of the stem of trees and shrubs . 214
185, 186 The cortical layers - - .215
187 Simple tubes - - - 216
188 Physical phenomena of the germination
of seed .... 228
189 The foxtail root .... 2!5
190 The flattened stem . . .246
191 a Bunches or knot exhibiting a plexus of
young shoots - . - 246
191 6 The oak apple - - - 246
192 The knot or bunch formed on the branches
of the dog rose ... 247
193 The proliferous flower - - , 248
194 The flower of the fig . . 248
195 A fruit with an unnatural appendage of
leaves - - . . 249
195 Vallisnerirt spiralis, spiral vallisneria - 249
197 Pericarp of the dorsiferous fern . . 252
198 Av^wa. fatua, the wild oat . . 252
199 Specimens of genus CoralRna or Coral.
lines . . - - 258
200 Cuscuta europse^a, the dodder . - 269
Botanical Figures of Trees and Shrubs, of His-
torical Interest, or belonging to Foreign Agri-
culture.
31 Paliiirus austrklis, southern Christ's thorn 48
37 Pinus Pinea,5/owepine - - 54
46 C&pparis spin6sa, common spiny caper
tree . - . . 67
96 Cistus ladanfferus, labdanum-bearing
rock rose - . .117
99 Qu^rcus Suber, cork tree oak . .120
101 O^lea europjB^a, European olive . 121
117 Cdcos nucffera, common nut-bearing
cocoa-nut tree ... 146
127 a Camellia Bohka, bohea tree camellia . 157
127 b Cam^lUa Sasdnqua, sasanqua camellia 157
135 Piper nigrum, black pepper . - 164
136 Musa paradislaca, the plantain - - 169
137 Arhca olericea, the cabbage tree . 169
147 Mimijsa nil6tica, the gum arabic tree . 177
148 Pentad^sma butyrkcea, the butter tree - 178
161 Swietfenja Mahdgoni, the mahogany tree 192
161 Coffea ar^bica, the cofffee tree - - 196
167 Theobrbma, the chocolate plant - .198
166 Eixa Orelldna, the annotto plant . 198
145 Ceratonia siliqua, carob tree, or St. John's
bread - - . . 177
xxxviu
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
No. Page
Botanical Figures of Herbaceous and Culmiferous
JPlants of Historical Interest, or belonging to
Foreign Agriculture.
94 a A'\oe soccotorina, the pita, or aloe - 116
91 b Cactus Opuntia, the hina, or Indian fig 116
18 S^samum orientale, the oily grain - 28
30 Convolvulus Batatas, the sweet potato - 44
40 Gossypium herbaceum, the cotton plant 57
43 >/elilotus officinalis, the common melilot 61
52 Clcer arietlnum, the chick pea - . 70
54 3/elamp^rum pratdnse, the meadow cow-
weed - - - - 73
68 Spfergula arv^nsis, the field spurry - 80
69 a C^'pt-rus escui(5ntus, the eatable cyperus 98
69 b /Astragalus boe'ticus, Boetic milk vetch 98
86 Lycopbdium complan^tum, the flattened
club moss - - - 112
87 J?iibus Chamaemorus, the cloud berry - 112
105 iiicinus communis, the common castor
oil nut - - .138
116 Indigofera tinct^ria, the dyer's indigo - 145
140 Cdrtha^nus tinctt>rius, the dyer's saf-
flower ... 174
154 T^mus elephS-ntipes, the elephant's foot 182
156 b Salsbla Kali, kali saltwort . - 183
165 Dioscbrea satlva, the cultivated yam - 196
196 Vallisnferia spiralis, spiral vallisneria - 249
200 (Mscuta europce^a, the common dodder 269
Cereal Grasses, or Bread Coi-ns.
723 a Triticum sestivum, summer wheat, or
spring wheat ... 812
723 6 Triticum hybernum, Lammas wheat - 812
723 c Triticum compOsitum, Egyptian wheat 812
723 d Triticum turgidum, turgid wheat - 812
723 e Triticum polonicum, Polish wheat - 812
723 / Triticum Spelta, spelt wheat - . 812
723 g Triticum monoc6ccum, one-grained
wheat - - - . 812
725 SecJile cereMe, rye - - - 821
726 a //6rdeum vulgJire, spring barley - 823
726 b J/6rdeum hexastichon, winter barley 823
726 c i/ordeum distichon, common or long-
eared barley - - - 823
726 d Hordeum Zeocriton, sprat or battledore
barley - - - 823
727 a A\lx\a. sativa v. vulgaris, the white or
common oat - - - 826
727 b Ay^na. sativa v. sibirica, the Siberian or
Tartarian oat ... 826
729 — ^733 Zha. Mays, maize or Indian corn
829, 830
735 Ph&laris canari^nsis, Canary corn - 832
736 a Set^ria germ&nica, the German millet 833
736 b Setkria W2ilikceum,the common or cul-
tivated millet - - - 833
736 c Set^ria italica, the Italian millet - 833
739 Oryza sativa, the rice - - - 834
740Zi2^niaaquatica, water Canada rice - 834
Tall-growing or Hay Grasses.
789 a Zblium perenne, the perennial rye-
grass - - - - 888
789 6 Dactylis glomerata, the cock's-foot grass 889
789 c i/.)lcus lanktus, the woolly soft grass . 889
790 a FestUca pratensis, the meadow fescue.
grass - . - . 890
790 b Festiica elktior, the tall fescue-grass - 890
790 c Festiica /oliacea, the spiked fescue-
grass - . . - 890
790 d ^lopectirus pratensis, the meadow fox-
tail grass - _ - 890
790 e Poa. pratensis, the great or smooth-
stalked meadow grass . 89 )
790/Pba trivi^lis, the rough-stalked mea-
dow grass - _ . . 891
791 a Phlfeum prat^nse, the cat's-tail or
Timothy grass . _ . 891
791 b Festiica fliiitans, the floating fescue.
grass - - - - 892
791 c Pba aqu&tica, the water meadow-grass 892
791 d ^gr6stis stolonifera, the fiorin-grass - 892
Pasture Grasses.
792 a Anthox&nthum odorktum, the sweet-
scented vernal-grass - - 893
792 b Avhna pubdscens, the downy oat-grass 893
792 c Poa ^nnua, the annual meadow-grass 893
792 d -4gr6stis vulgaris, the fine bent-grass - 893
792 e Pba. angustifblia, the narrow-leaved
meadow-grass ... 8C3
No. Page
793 a Cynosilrus cristktus, the dog's-tail grass 894
793 b Festiica duriuscula, the hard fescue-
grass - . - - 894
793 c Festiica glkbra, the smooth fescue-grass 8J)4
793 d Festiica Aordeif6rmis, the barley-spiked
fescue-grass - - - 894
794 a Festiica ovina, sheep's fescue-grass - 894
794 6 Pba alp'ina, alpine meadow-grass - 894
794 c ^iracasspitbsa, the tufted air-grass - 894
794 d ^iza m^dia, the common quaking-
grass - - - - 894
Grasses for fixing Drift Sands.
710 ^rUndo arenkria, the sand reed, or Mar-
ram grass ... 749
711 a £1ymus arenkrius, the sand or sea-side
Lyme-grass . - - 749
711 6 jE'lymus geniculktus, the knee-jointed
Lyme-grass . _ - 749
711 c £'lymus sibiricus, the Siberian Lyme-
grass - - - - 749
Leguminous Field Plants.
741 Plsum sativum, the pea - - - 835
742 ricia sativa, the tare, vetch, or fitch - 841
743 £'rvum Lens, the lentil - - 843
744 iathyrus sativus, the Spanish lentil - 844
745 Ffciapisiformis, the lentil of Canada - 844
746 iupinus albus, the white lupine - - 844
Clovers and other Herbage Plants,
769 dchiirium J'ntybus, the chiccory - - 870
770 Symphytum asperrimum, the rough com-
frey - - - - 870
771 JSemerocallis fulva, the day lily - - 870
772 a TYifulium pratense, the red clover - 872
772 b Trifolium ripens, the white or creeping
Dutch clover - ... 872
772 c Ttifblium proclimbens, the yellow clover 872
772 d Trifolium mfedium, the meadow clover 872
773 Medic^go lupWina, the hop medick . 872
774 Trifolium incarn^tum, the flesh-coloured
clover - - - - 872
775 MedicJlgo sativa, lucern - - - 877
776 MedicJlgo falckta, yellow lucern - 878
777 //edysarum Onobrychis, saintfoin - 880
778 Potferium Sanguis6rba, the burnet - 883
779 Planttlgo lanceolkta, the ribwort plantain 833
780 f/Mex europae^a, the whin, furze, or gorse 884
781 iSpergula arvensis, the spurry - - 885
782 Sp&^rtium scoparium, the common broom 885
783 Spartium jiinceum, the Spanish broom - 885
784 ^pium Petroselinum, the parsley - 885
786 Zbtus corniculatus, the bird's-foot trefoil 886
786 ibtus tetragon61obus,the four-wing podded
trefoil - - - - 886
787 TrigonfeUa Poe^num-grze^'cum, the fenu-
greek - - - - 886
788 a ^iinias orientalis, the oriental bunias - 886
788 b ^chillfea 3/illefblium, the yarrow - 886
Plants used in various Arts and Manufactures.
797 a J.lnum usitatissimum, the common flax 913
797 b iinum perenne, the perennial flax
799 Dipsacus fullonum, the fuller's thistle or
teasel - - - -
800 ^ubia tinctbrum, the madder
801 /s&tis tinctoria, the woad - -
802 Reshda Luteola, weld or dyer's weed .
803 Hiimulus Ltipulus, the hop
804 a Coriandrum sativum, the coriander -
lot 6 Ctirum Ckrui, the caraway
805 a Sinkpis alba, the white mustard
805 b Sinkpis nigra, the black or common
mustard - - - - ^"^
806 Polygonum Fagopyrum, the buck wheat 934
807 a Polygonum tataricum, Tatarian buck
wheat - " " T "
807 b Polygonum emarginiltum, emarginated
buck wheat - - - -
808 Wicotidna Tabdcum, the Virginian
tobacco - - - -
809 Nicotiawrt riistica, the common green
tobacco - - ,, " , ^ ■
810 a Kicotidna repanda, the scolloped to-
bacco - " o " 1 J
810 b tiicotidna quadriv&lvis,the four-valved
tobacco - " „ ^'
810 c Nicot/dna n§ina, the dwarf tobacco -
812 Astragalus boe'ticus, Boetic milk vetch -
813 a Crocus sativus, the saft'ron or autumn
crocus
913
918
919
920
922
924
930
930
933
933
935
935
937
937
937
937
937
942
'" 943
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS
No. Page
813 b Glycjrrrhlza glJlbra, the liquorice - 943
813 c Bhhum palmktum, the rhubarb - 943
813 d Lavandula Sp'ica, the lavender - « 943
814 jBh^um aiistr^le, southern rhubarb - 944
815 a Fucus vesiculbsus, bladdered fucua - 946
815 b Fhcus nodbsus, knotty fucus - - 946
815 c JPucus serrktus, serrated fucus - 946
815 d LaminSria digitata, digitate laminaria 946
Weeds.
816 a Arenaria, sandwort - . - 947
816 6 ^iimex Acet6sa, sorrel - - 947
816 c Tussilkgo Farfara, coltsfoot - - 947
817 a Polygonum amohibium - - 948
817 b jEquistitum, the'horse-tail - - 948
917 c Serratula arvfensis, the corn thistle - 948
Animals of Historical Interest, or belonging to
Foreign Agriculture.
8 t The camel - - . - 9
42 The goat as harnessed in Switzerland - 60
70 t OVis Strepsiceros, the original Hun-
garian sheep - - - - 99
107 t Persian camels and horSe - - 140
112 t Bds griinniens, the ox of Thibet - 142
114 + The dromedary ... 143
118 t The jackal - - - - 147
138 t Abyssinian oxen - . - 171
141 f The dromedary in Egypt - - 175
143 t The zebu or humped ox - . 175
168 t The wild swine of Paraguay - - 198
174 + The true Amazonian parrot - - 202
71 Hfelix pom^tia, edible snail - - 99
171 a,b ^ The CurcWio palmkrum of Suri.
nam .... 201
F^qutis Cabdllus, the horse.
818 The Arabian horse . . -
819 The race horse ...
820 The hunter - - . -
821 The improved hackney
822 The old English road horse
823 The black horse - - .
824 * The Cleveland bays
825 * The Suffolk punch
826. 1127 The Clydesdale or Lanarkshire horse
954 1186
827 a The Welsh horse - . ." 954
827 b The Galloway horse - - - 954
827 c Horse of the highlands and isles of
Scotland - - - - 954
828 Exterior anatomy of the horse - - 956
830 Anatomical skeleton of the horse - 963
831. 833 Interior anatomy of the horse - 969. 974
832 Eye of the horse - . - 970
834 The ccecum, or grst large intestine of the
horse . . . .
835—837 Anatomy of the foot of the horse
838 A fleam for bleeding the horse
839—843 Horse shoes of different kinds 993—995
829. 844, 845 Teeth of the horse - 957. 996, 997
846 A horse as in the act of trotting . 1001
847 Position of the reins of the bridle in the
hands of the rider . . . 1003
848, 849 Position of the rider's feet in the
stirrup .... 1003, 1004
850 Russian carriage horses - . 1010
IT'quus A'sinus, the Ass.
851 Female ass and foal
852 The use of the ass in Syria
853 Z^^quus /4'sinus y Mulus, the mule
975
976
991
867
B6s Taurus, Homed Cattle.
t The ox of Thibet . . . .
t The zebu or humped ox of Africa
The long-homed or Lancashire breed -
* The improved Leicestershire breed
The short-horned or Dutch breed
The Devonshire breed - - -
The Sussex and * Herefordshire breed -
The polled or hornless breed
864 * The Ayrshire breed - 1017,
The Argyleshire breed . . .
The Welsh breed . . . .
The wild breed - . . .
866 Fastenings for cattle
A yoke and bow for draught oxen
Shoeing-stall for cattle - - -
Ox shoe for cattle . . .
1012
1012
1014
142
175
1015
1015
1015
1016
1016
1016
1025
1018
1018
1019
1030
1030
1030
1030
b4
No. Page
870 Syringe and enema tubes for relieving
cattle - ... 1034
The Dairy, as connected with Horn Cattle.
871 * A dairy and cow-house ... 1037
873 * A dairy for a private family . . 1038
874—876 * A dairy on a large scale - - 1038
877 The cheese press ... 1039
878 A lactometer - - . 1039
879 * 880 * 881 Churns . . 1038. 1040
989 The Chinese dairy at Wobum Abbey . 1133
993 The milk tankard (or cart) of Berkshire 1140
1006 The milk tankard of Derbyshire . 1153
O^vis A\ies. The Sheep.
70 f The Hungarian sheep ... - 99
882 The Teeswater sheep . - . 1050
883 The Dishley sheep - . - 1050
884 The Devonshire Nots sheep . . 1050
885 The Dorsetshire sheep . . 1051
886 The Herefordshire sheep - . 1051
992 The Berkshire polled sheep . . 1140
887 * The South Down sheep . . 1051
888 The Herdwick sheep ... 1051
889, 890 The Spanish or Merino - . 1052
891 Arrangements for washing sheep - 1057
892 Crooks for catching sheep . - 1057
893 A store sheep farm in Scotland w . 1059
895—897 Sheep houses - . . 1063
S^ Scr^a, the Swine.
168 f The wild swine of Paraguay
898 t The wild boar of the continent of Eu-
rope ...
899 The common European hog
900 The Chinese hog . -
901 * The Berkshire swine . . -
902 The Hampshire swine ...
903 The Herefordshire swine * . .
904 The SuflPolk swine
198
1067
1068
1068
Cdpra MgagruSy the Goat.
42 + The goat of Switzerland, as harnessed 60
905 The common goat _ . _ 1071
906 The Syrian goat - - - . 1072
Cdnis/amilidrts, the Dog.
917 The English sheep dog
918, 919 * Sheep dogs of Scotland
920 The mastiff, or guard dog
921 The terrier
922 The pointer, setter, and spaniel
The Hare, Rabbit, %c.
907 Zfepus Cunfculus, the rabbit
910 i^pus tfmidus, the hare
911 Cdvia Cobdya, the guinea pig
923 Jfustbla Furo, the ferret
Deer.
912 a C^rvus £:'lephas, the stag
912 b C^rvus Capreolus, the roe
912 c C^rvus D^ma, the fallow deer
913 C^rvus Tardndus, the rein deer
914 a Antelhpe ijupfcapra, the chamois
914 b Antelope picta, the nilgau
Camel Family.
915 Camfelus bactria.nus, the dromedary
916 Camfelus Glama, the lama
1079
1079
1079
1079
. 1073
. 1075
. 1075
. 1083
1076
1076
1076
1077
1077
1077
- 1078
- 1078
Poultry or Birds which are or may be cultivated in
British Agriculture.
928 GkUus SonnerMtV, the jungle cock - 1084
929 The game cock and hen . . - 1084
930 * The Dorking cock and hen . . 1085
931 rt * The Poland cock and hen . . 1085
931 6 The golden Poland fowl . . 1085
932 The bantam cock and hen . . 1085
933 The Chittagong or Malay hen . - 1085
936 TV/eldagris Gallipavo, the turkey . 1090
937 Numidia 3/elfeagris, the guinea hen . 1091
938 Crkx ^l^ctor, the crested curassow - 1091
939 ^nas 56schas, the duck . - 1091
941 A"tiaa A'naer, the goose - . . 1093
xl
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
Na Page
M2 Cfgnus mansufttusj the mute or tame
swan - - - - 1094
943 O^tis t&rda, the bustard - - - 1094
944 The grey pigeon - - - 1095
945 a The carrier pigeon « - - 1096
945 b The tumbler pigeon - - - 1096
945 c The pouter pigeon - - - 1096
949 retrao Perdix, the partridge . - 1099
950 Tetrao Coturnix, the quail - - 1099
951 T^trao sc6ticus, the red grouse or moor
cock . . - . 1099
952 Tetrao Tutrix, the black grouse or black
cock .... 1099
953 T^trao Urog&Uus, the wood grouse - 1099
108 Hunting the quail - - - 140
924, 925 A complete set of poultry-houses - 1083
926 Portable nests, coops, and shelters . 1084
927 An improved poultry-feeder . - 1084
1143 An improved pheasant-feeder - - 1281
934 Bonnemain's apparatus for the incubation
of chickens by hot water - - 1087
935 Pinioning fowls - - - 1090
940 A decoy for wild ducks or wild fowl - 1092
946—948 Pigeon.houses .... 1097
953, 955 Bird-cages .... 1100
Fishes
956 a Cyprinus Carpio, the carp - . 1101
956 b Cyprinus Tinea, the tench . . 1101
956 c Cyprinus Gobio, the gudgeon . . 1101
956 d Pirca fluviitilis, the perch . . 1101
956 e E\ox iiicius, the pike - . - 1101
956 / cyprinus Ph6xinus, the minnow . 1101
Miscellaneous cultivated Animals.
957 a JRknn esculenta, the esculent frog - 1103
957 * Rhna arbbrea, the tree frog - - 1103
958 a Testudo grae^ca, the common tortoise 1103
958 b TestMo lutkria, the mud tortoise - 1103
962 Cancer ^'stacus, the craw or cray fish . 1108
71 Hfelix pom^tia, the edible snail . . 99
959 J56mbyx m6ri, the silk-worm . . 1104
Quadruped Vermin.
963 Mus Rattus, the domestic rat - - 1109
966 a Miis sylvSticus. the long-tailed field.
mouse - . - - 1111
966 b The short-tailed field mouse - - 1111
964 *, 965 * Paul's rattery . . 1110, 1111
Insects, Worms, and MolMsca.
63 B6strichus pinip^rdus - . . 86
724 a Cecidom^ia trftici - - . 820
724 b Cecidom^ia destructor, the Hessian fly 820
967 a A'^grion virgo, the green dragon-fly ' * 1113
No. Page
967 b ffphgmera vulgata, the day fly .1113
967 c PhrygJinea rhombica, the spring fly . 1113
968 Papilio urtica;, the small tortoiseshell
butterfly - . . -1113
969 a ffi'strus iTqui, the horse bee, male • 1114
969 b tB'stiUS £^qui, the horse bee, female - 1114
969 c ffi'strus £*qui, the larva of, commonly
called " the bots " . . .1114
969 d, e,f, m ffi'strus i?bvis, the ox fly _ 1114
969 g, h, i ffi'strus OVis, the sheep fly - - 1114
969 k, I Tabhxxi, horse flies - . , 1114
970 a 5carab£e'*us 3/elol6ntha, the cock-chafer
or midsummer dor . - -UK
970 b 5carabae^us Melol6ntha, the larva of - IIU
970 c, d Curculio niicum, the nut maggot,
the larva of - ... lllf
970 e, e Curculio nticum, perfect insects of - 1116
971 a Caterpillar of Pieris br^ssicae, or white
cabbage butterfly . - - 1116
971 b Caterpillar of Pieris, in thechrysalis state 1116
971 c Pleri^ br&ssicae, perfect insect of . 1116
971 d Green caterpillar of another species of
white butterfly ... 1116
971 e Green caterpillar, chrysalis of . - 1116
971 / Green caterpillar, perfect insect or but-
terfly - . . . 1116
972 a C6ccus persicbrum, natural size - 1117
972 b Coccus persicbrum, magnified - - 1117
972 c C<iccus persicbrum, turned on its back 1117
972 d, e, e C6ccus fcilii qu^rcus . - 1117
972 g Excrescences on beech twigs . .1117
972/ TTirips Physapus, natural size - - 1117
972 h rhrips Phy^sapus, magnified . - 1117
972 i The gall apples of the oak - . 1117
972 k C^nips quercus fblii, the oak gall fly - 1117
972 / A^his in the winged state, magnified 1117
972 m A^his in the larva or apterous state,
magnified .... 1117
973 a Sc61ytus destructor, female, natural size 1117
973 b Passages made in the bark by the
winged Scolytus destructor - .1117
973 c Passages made in the bark by the larvee
of Scolytus destructor . . 1117
973 d Scolytus destructor, magnified - 1117
974 a, b Coccintlla, the lady-bird orlady.cow 1118
974 c S^rphus, the larva of, . . .1118
975 a 2'lpula croca,ta, saflfron-coloured crane
fly 1118
975 b, d, e,f,g, h TYpula tritici, the wheat fly 1118
975 c T^pula rivbsa, the river crane fly - 1118
976 a, b, c, Bl&tta orientalis, the cock-roach 1119
977 Net for capturing the turnip beetle - 1120
978 Curtis's lime duster ... 1120
979 a, b ilmax agr^stis, the common slug . 1121
979 c, d Testacellus mdngi, the shell slug - 1121
979 e Helix nemorklis, the variegated wood
snail - - - - 1121
ENCYCLOPAEDIA
AGRICULTURE
THE first want of man is food, and his first resource for it the ground. Whether
herbs or fruits were resorted to, must have depended on their relative abundance
in the country where man found himself ; but the latter would probably be preferred,
till the use of fire was discovered in the preparation of the former. The first cai-e and
labour of man would thus be bestowed on fruit trees, and hence gardening may be said
to be the art of earliest invention. But man is also a carnivorous animal, and this pro-
pensity of liis nature would soon induce him to attempt domesticating such beasts of the
earth as he found most useful in affording milk, clotliing, or food, or in performing
labour. Hence the origin of pasturage, and the management of live stock. The in-
vention of tillage would be coeval with the discovery of the use of the cereal grasses, and
may be considered as the last grand step in the invention of husbandry, and the most
important, as leading to the establishment of property in territorial surface.
In the earlier stages of civilisation, these branches of economy, in common with
all the arts of life, would be practised by ev^ry family for itself ; but the advantages of
separating occupations would soon present themselves, and the result of tliis principle
in regard to rural culture and management, the res ruslica of the Romans and hus-
bandry of old English authors, is, that all their operations are now classed under the
two designations of agriculture and gardening.
Agriculture, the art to which we here confine ourselves, as compared to gardening,
is the culture and management of certain plants and animals for the food and service of
man ; but, relatively to the present improved state of the art, it may be defined, the cultiva-
tion and management of territorial surface on an ext nded scale, by manual and animal
labour, for the production of objects and materials used for the food and service of man,
and for various important purposes in arts, manufactures, and civilised life.
The importance of agriculture is obvious, not only by its affording the direct supply
of our greatest wants, but as the parent of manufactures and commerce. Without
agriculture there can be neither civilisation nor population. Hence it is not only the
most universal of arts, but that which requires tlie greatest number of operators : the
main body of the population in every country is employed in the pursuit of agriculture ;
and the most powerful individuals, in almost all nations, derive their wealth and conse-
quence from tiieir property in land.
In tlie earliest ages of mankind, before tillage was invented, the surface of the
earth would be common to all the inhabitants, and every family would pasture its
flock, and pitch its tent, or erect its hut, where it thought fit : but when tillage came
in use, it became necessary to assign to each family a portion of territory, and of this
portion that family became the proprietor and cultivator, and the consumer of the product.
B
Hence the invention of property in land, and progressively of purchased cultivators,
or slaves; of hired cultivators, or labourers; of commercial agriculturists, or farmers;
and of the various laws and customs in regard to the proprietorsliip and occupation of
landed property.
The practice of agriculture, however rude in early times or in countries still com-
paratively uncivilised, assumes a very different character among the most advanced
nations. Not to mention the peculiarities of implements, machines, and domestic ani-
mals, and tlie different kinds of culture and management requisite for the different
countries and climates of the world, the local variations requisite even in Britain are so
considerable, that an agriculturist whose experience and observation had been confined to
one district, may be comparatively unfit to exercise his profession in another. Tlie sheep
farming of the North Highlands, the dairy farming of Gloucestershire, the hop culture of
Kent, the woodlands of Buckinghamshire, and the hay management of Middlesex, have
given rise to commercial agriculturists of very distinct varieties from the common com
farmer. The previous preparation of land for culture, by enclosure, drainage, embanking,
road-making, &c., demands considerable science ; and has given rise to artist agricul-
turists, known as land-surveyors and land-engineers. The relative changes as to rent and
occupancy which take place between land-owners and farmers, and the valuation and
transfer of landed property among monied men, have produced land-valuators and land-
agents ; from the direction of extensive estates, and the management of small, concerns
and farms, have originated the serving agriculturists, known as land-stewards and bailiffs ;
and the operators are shepherds, her^men, ploughmen, carters, spadesmen, and hands of
all work.
The practice of agriculture, from having been chiefly confined to men of humble
station, who pursued it as a matter of business or profit, has of late years been engaged
in by men of rank, and other opulent or amateur practitioners, as matter of taste and
recreation. The contrast between the simple and healthy pursuits of the country, and
such as require intense application, and confine men chiefly to to\»-ns and cities, gives
them a peculiar charm to the industrious and active citizen, while the idle and the opu-
lent find relief in it from ihe weariness of inaction or a frivolous waste of time. Some
magnificent displays of the art have thus been made by great landed proprietors on their
demesne or home farms ; and very neat and tasteful specimens of culture, by retired
citizens and other possessors of villas, farms, and fermes orrJes. These circumstances may
be said to have raised the pursuit of agriculture to a comparatively dignified state, with
reference to that in which it was formerly held ; while the political advantages which are
enjoyed by all classes in a free and commercial country, have improved the circum-
stances of agriculturists of every grade, and tended to raise them in the scale of society.
Tlie recent discoveries in chemistry and physiology, have led to the most important
improvements in the culture of plants, and the breeding and rearing of animals ; agri-
culture is, in consequence, no longer an art of labour, but of science ; hence the
advantage of scientific knowledge to agriculturists, and the susceptibility, in the art, of
progressive advancement. " Agriculture," Marshall obser\es, " is a subject, which,
viewed in all its branches and to their fullest extent, is not only the most important and
the most diflficult in rural economies, but in the circle of human arts and sciences."
For the purpose of agricultural improvement, societies have been established in every
country of Europe, and in almost every county of Britain. Most of these, as well as se-
veral eminent individuals, have stimulated cultivators and breeders to exertion, by the offer
of premiums, and other honorary rewards. Professorships of rural economy have also been
instituted in some colleges ; and other independent georgical institutions have been
established for public instruction, especially on the Continent : to which we may add,
the publication of numerous books on the subject of agriculture and territorial im-
provement.
Such are the origin, the extent, the importance, and the interest of the subject of
agriculture ; from which it cannot be surprising that a varied and voluminous mass
of knowledge has been accumulated on the subject, and is consequently more or less
necessarj' to every one who would practise the art with success himself, or understand
when it is well practised for him by others. To combine as far as practicable the whole
of this knowledge, and arrange it in a systematic form, adapted both for study and
reference, are the objects of the present work. The sources from which we have selected,
are the modem British authors of decided reputation and merit ; sometimes we have
recurred to ancient and to Continental authors, and occasionally, though rarely, to our
own observation and experience : observation chiefly in Britain, but partly also on
the Continent; and experience in Scotland, under the patemal roof, during our early
years, — during some years' occupancy of two extensive farms in England, — and, in the
engineering and surAcying departments, during our practice for upwards of twenty years
as a landscape-gardener.
Part I. HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. 3
With tliis purpcjse in view, Agriculture is here considered, in
Part Book
I, As to its origin, progress, and f 1. Among ancient and modem nations.
present state, ^2. Under different geographical, physical, and political circumstances.
The study of the vegetable kingdom.
The study of the animal kingdom.
II. As a science founded on ^ 3. The study of the mineral kingdom and the atmosphere.
The study of the mechanical agents employed in agriculture.
The study of the operations of agriculture.
'1. The valuation, purchase, and transfer of landed property.
2. The laying out, or general arrangement, of landed property,
3. The improvement of culturable lands.
4. The management of landed estates. .
5. The selection, hiring, and stocking of farms.
6. The culture of farm lands.
,7. The economy of live stock, and the dairy.
IV. SUtMican, ,„ B,i..l„. g ^ ;° lEl ?;L1fp?i'?^.
A Calendarial Index to those parts of the work which treat of cixlture and manage-
ment, points out the operations as they are to be performed, in the order of time and of
season : and
A General Index explains the technical terms of agriculture, the abbreviations here
made use of, and presents an analysis of the whole work in alphabetical, as the Table
of Contents does in systematic, order.
[II. As an art comprehending
PART I.
AGRICULTURE CONSIDERED AS TO ITS ORIGIN, PROGRESS,'
AND PRESENT STATE AMONG DIFFERENT NATIONS, GOVERN-
MENTS, AND CLIMATES.
1. The history of agriculture may be considered chronologically, or in connection
with that of the diflferent nations who have successively flourished in various parts
of the world ; politically, as influenced by the different forms of government which have
prevailed ; geographically, as affected by different climates ; and physically, as influenced
by the characters of the earth's surface. The first kind of history is useful, by displaying
the relative situation of different countries as to agriculture ; instructive, as enabling
us to contrast our present situation ^^-ith that of other nations and former times ; and
curious, as discovering the route by which agriculture has passed from primitive ages and
countries to our own. The political and geographical histories of the art, derive their value
from pointing out causes favourable and unfavourable to improvement, and countries and
climates favourable or unfavourable to particular kinds of cidtivation and management.
I
BOOK L
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE AMONG ANCIENT AND MODERN NATIONS.
2. Traditional history traces man back to the time of the deluge. After that catastrophe,
of which the greater part of the earth's surface bears evidence, man seems to have
recovered himself (in our hemisphere at least) in the central parts of Asia, and to have
first attained to eminence in arts and government on the allurial plains of the Nile.
Egypt colonised Greece, Carthage, and some other places on the Mediterranean sea ;
and thus the Greeks received their arts from the Egyptians, afterwards the Romans from
the Greeks, and finally the rest of Europe from the Romans. Such is the route by
which agriculture is traced to our part of the world : how it may have reached the
eastern countries of India and China is less certain ; though, from the great antiquity of
their inhabitants and governments, it appears highly probable that arts and civilisation
were either coeval there, or, if not, that they traveUed to the east much more rapidly than
they did to the west.
B 2
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
3. The early history of man in America rests on very indistinct traditions : there arts
and civilisation do not seem qf such antiquity as in Asia ; in North America they are
of very recent introduction ; but of the agriculture of either division of tliat continent,
and of India and China, we shall attempt little more than some sketches of the modern
liistory, and its present state.
4. The history of agriculture, among the nations qf what may be called classic antiquity,
is involved in impenetrable obscurity. Very few facts are recorded on the subject pre-
viously to the time of the Romans. That enterprising people considerably improved the
art, and extended its practice with their conquests. After the fall of their empire, it
declined tliroughout Europe ; and, during the dark ages, was cliiefly preserved on the
estates of the church. With tlie general revival of arts and letters, which took place
during the sixteenth century, agriculture also revived ; first in Italy, and then in France
and Germany ; but it flourished most in Switzerland and Holland ; and finally, in recent
times, has attained its highest degree of perfection in Britain. The modern agriculture
of America is copied from that of Europe ; and the same may be said of the agriculture
of European colonies established in different parts of the world. The agriculture of
China, and the native agriculture of India, seem to have undergone no change for many
ages. — Such is the outline which we now proceed to fill up by details, and we shall adopt
the usual division of time, into the ages of antiquity, the middle ages, and the modern
times.
Chap. I.
Of the History of Agricidture in the Ages of Antiquity ; or from the Deluge to the Establish-
ment of the Roman Empire, in tJte Century preceding the vulgar ^ra.
5. The world, as known to the ancients, consisted of not more than half of Asia, and
of a small part of Africa and Europe. During the inundation of the deluge, a rem-
nant of man, and of other animals, is related to have been saved on the top of
tlie high mountain of Ararat, near the Caspian sea (Jig. 1.), and, when the waters sub-
sided, to have descended and multiplied in the plains of Assyria. As they increased in
numbers they are related to have separated, and, after an unknown length of time, to
have formed several nations and governments. Of these the principal are those of the
Assyrian empire, known as Babylonians, Assyrians, Medes, and Persians, in Asia ; of the
Jews and the Egyptians, chiefly in Africa; and of the Grecians, chiefly in Europe.
Least is known of the nations which composed the Assyrian empiie ; of the Jews, more
is known of their gardening and domestic economy, than of their field culture ; the
Egyptians may be considered the parent nation of arts and civilisation, and are supposed
to have excelled in agriculture ; and something is known of that art among the Greeks.
6. The authors whose ivritings relate to the period under consideration are few, and the
relations of some of them very contradictory. The eailiest is Moses, who flourished
B. C. 1 600 ; Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, who wrote more particularly on the
history and geography of Egypt, lived, the former in the fifth, and the latter in the sixth,
century B. C. ; and Hesiod, the ancient Greek writer on husbandry, in the tenth century
preceding our aera.
7. Estimating the value of the writers of antiquity on these principles, they may be con-
sidered as reaching back to a period 1 600 years before our aera, or nearly 8500 years
from the present time ; and it is truly remarkable, that, in the Eastern countries, the state
of agriculture and other arts, and even of machinery, at that period, does not appear to
have been materially different from what it is in the same countries at the present day.
Book L AGRICULTURE OF ANTIQUITY. 5
Property in land was recognised, the same grains cultivated, and the same domestic
animals reared or employed : some led a wandering Hie and dwelt in tents like the
Arabs ; and others dwelt in towns or cities, and pursued agriculture and commerce like
the fixed nations. It is reasonable indeed, and consistent with received opinions, that this
should be the case ; for, admitting the human race to have been nearly exterminated at the
deluge, those who survived that catastrophe would possess the more useful arts, and
general habits of life, of the antediluvian world. Noah, accordingly, is styled a husband-
man, and is said to liave cultivated the vine and to have made wine. In little more than
three centuries afterwards, Abraham is stated to have had extensive flocks and herds, slaves
of both sexes, silver and gold, and to have purchased a family sepulchre with a portion of
territory around it. Isaac his son, during his residence in Palestine, is said to have sown
and reaped a hundred fold. Com seems to have been grown in abundance in Egypt ;
for Abi'aham, and afterwards Jacob, had recourse to that country during times of famine.
Irrigation was also extensively practised there, for it is said {Gen., xiii. JO.) that the plain
of Jordan was watered everywhere, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt.
Such is the amount of agricultural information contained in the wTitings of Moses, from
which the general conclusion is, that agriculture, in the East, has been practised in all or
most of its branches from time immemorial. The traditions of other countries, however,
as recorded by various writers, ascribe its invention to certain fabulous personages ; as
the Egyptians to Osiris ; the Greeks to Ceres and Triptolemus j the Latins to Janus ; and
the Chinese to Chin-hong, successor of Fo-hi.
Sect. I. Of the Agriculture of Egypt.
8. The origin of agriculture has been sought by modern philosophers in natural cir-
cumstances. Man in his rudest state, they consider, would first live on fruits or roots,
afterwards by hunting or fishing, next by the pasturage of animals, and lastly, to all of
these he would add the raising of corn. Tillage, or the culture of the soil for this pur-
pose, is supposed to have been first practised in imitation of the effects produced by the
sand and mud left by the inundations of rivers. These take place more or less in every
country, and their effects on the herbage which spontaneously springs up among the
deposited sand and mud must at a very early period liave excited the attention of the coun-
tryman. This hypothesis seems supported by the traditions and natural circumstances
of Egypt, a country overflowed by a river, civilised from time immemorial, and so
abundant in corn as to be called the granary of the adjoining states. Sir Isaac Newton
and Stillingfleet, accordingly, considered that corn was first cultivated on the batiks of the
Nile. Sir Isaac fixes on Lower Egypt ; but, as Herodotus and other ancient Greek
writers assert that that country was once a marsh, and as Major Rennel in his work on
the geography of Herodotus is of the same opinion, Stillingfleet {Works, vol. ii. 524.)
considers it more probable that the cultivation of land was invented in Upper Egypt, and
proceeded downwards according to the course of the Nile.
9. The situation and natural phenomena of Upper Egypt, Stillingfleet considers,
rendered it fitter for the invention of cultivation than the low country ; " for, while
Lower Egypt was a marsh, formed by the depositions of the Nile, the principal part of
Upper Egypt was a valley a few leagues broad, bounded by mountains, and on both sides
declining to the river. Hence it was overflowed only for a certain time and season ; the
waters rapidly declined, and the ground, enriched by the mud, was soon dry, and in a
state fit to receive seed. The process of cultivation in this country was also most obvious
and natural ; for the ground being every year covered with mud brought by the Nile,
and plants springing up spontaneously after its recess, must have given the hint, that
nothing more was necessary than to scatter the seeds, and they would vegetate. Secondly,
the ground was prepared by nature for receiving the seed, and required only stimng
suflicient to cover it. From this phenomenon the surrounding nations learned two
things : first, that the ground before sowing should be prepared, and cleared from plants j
and secondly, that the mixture of rich mould and sand would produce fertility. What
is here stated may appear without foundation as to Upper Egypt ; because at present, in
the vicinity of Thebes, water is raised by art. But this objection is obviated by the
testimony of Dr. Pococke, who is of opinion that formerly Upper Egypt was overflowed,
in the same manner as Lower Egypt was afterwards, and is to
this day." {Stilling feet's Life and Works, ii. 524.)
10. The invention of agricultural imj^lements must have
been coeval with the invention of aration ; and, accordingly,
they are supposed to have originated in Egypt. Antiquarians
are agreed, that the primeval implement used in cultivating
the soil, must have been of the pick kind, {fig, 2.) A
medal of the greatest antiquity, dug up at Syracuse, con-
tained an impression of such an instrument {Encyc of Gard., fig. 77.) : and its pro-
B 3
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
gress till it became a plough has been recognised in a cameo, published by Menestrier, on
which a pick-like plough is
drawn by two serpents {Jig.
3. a) : it may be also seen on
a medal from the village of
Enna, in Sicily, published by
Combe (6) ; in a figure given
by Spon, as found on an an-
tique tomb (c) J in an Etrus-
can plough, copied from a
fragment in the Roman col-
lege at Rome, by Lasteyrie
(d)j and as we still see in
the instrument depicted by
Niebuhr, as used for plough-
ing inEgypt and Arabig. at the
present day (e). What seems
to confirm these conjectures
is, that the image of Osiris
is sculptured with a similar
plough in each hand {Jig. 4.
abed), and with a harrow (e)
suspended by a cord (/)
over the left shoulder. This
plough there can be little
doubt was used in war as well
as in agriculture, and seems to have been of that kind with which the Israelites fought
against their enemies the Philistines (1 Sam., xiii. 19. 23.) : it is thought, by some, to be
the archetype of the letter alpha (the hieralpha of
Kircher) ; and, by others, the sounds necessary to
conduct the processes of culture are thought to have
founded the origin of language. Thus it is that agri-
culture is considered by some antiquarians, as not only
the parent of all other arts, but also of language and
literature.
11. Whether the culture of com were invented in
Egypt or not, all testimonies concur that cultivation
was carried to a higher degree of perfection there
than in any other country of antiquity. The canals
and banks wliich still remain in Lower Egypt, and
especially in the Delta, are evidences of the ex-
tent to which embanking, irrigation, and drainage
have been carried. These works are said to have been greatly increased by Sesostris,
in the 17th or 18th century B. C. Many of the canals and drains have been
long obliterated ; but there are still reckoned eighty canals, like rivers, all excavated by
manual labour, several of which are twenty, thirty, and forty leagues in length. These
receive the inundations of the Nile, and circulate the waters through the country, wliich
before was wholly overflown by them. The large lakes of Moeris, Behire, and Mareotis,
formed vast reservoirs for containing the superfluous waters, from which they were con-
ducted by the canals over the adjacent plains. Upon the elevated ridges, and even on
the sides of the hills which form the boundary to the fiat alluvial grounds, the water was
raised by wheels turned by oxen ; and by a succession of wheels, and gradations of
aqueducts, it is said, some hills, and even moun-
tains, were watered to their summits. All the
towns at some distance from the Nile were sur-
rounded with reservoirs for the supply of the
inhabitants, and for watering the gardens. For
this last purpose the water was raised in a very
simple manner, by a man walking on a plank with
raised edges, or on a bamboo or other tube,
which, it is observed in Calmet's Bible, is
the machine alluded to by Moses, when he
speaks of sowing the seed and watering it
" with the foot." (Deut., xi. 10.) They also
raised water by swinging it up in baskets (Jig. 5.) ; a mode wliich, like the others,
remains in use at the present day. Tlie water is lifted in a basket lined with leather.
" Two men, holding the basket between them, by a cord in each end fastened to the edge
Book T. AGRICULTURE OF ANTIQUITY. 7
of it, lower it into the Nile, and then swing it between them, till it acquires a velocity
sufficient to enable them to throw the water over a bank into a canal. They work stark
naked, or, if in summer, only with a slight blue cotton sliirt or belt." (^Clarke's Travels.)
] 2. Of these immense embankmerits, some of which served to keep in the river, and
others to oppose the torrents of sand wliich occasionally were blown from the Great Desert,
and which tlireatened to cover the country as effectually as the waters of the Nile, the
ruins still remain. But, in spite of these remains, the sand is accumulating, and the
limits of cultivated Egypt have been annually decreasing for the last 1200 years ; the
barbarous nations, to which the banks of the Nile have been subject during this period,
having paid no attention to cultivation, or to the preservation of these noble works of
antiquity.
13. Landed property, in ancient Egypt, it would appear, was the absolute right of the
owners, till by the procurement of Joseph, in the eighteenth century B.C., the paramount
or allodial property of the whole was transferred to the government. The king, however,
made no other use of tliat right, than to place the former occupiers in the situation of
tenants in capitc ; bound to pay a rent or land-tax of one fifth of the produce. This,
Moses says, continued to be the law of Egypt down to his time ; and the same thing is
confirmed by the testimony of Herodotus and Strabo.
14. The soil of Egypt is compared by Pliny to that of the Leontines, formerly regarded
as the most fertile in Sicily. There, he says, corn yields a hundred for one ; but Cicero,
as Gouguet observes, has proved tliis to be an exaggeration, and that the ordinary increase
in that part of Sicily is eight for one. Granger [Relat. du Voy. fait, en Egypte, 1730.),
who paid much attention to this subject, says that the lands nearest to the Nile, which
during the inundation were covered with water forty days, did not, in the most favourable
seasons, yield more than ten for one ; and that those lands which the water covered only
five days, seldom gave more than four for one. This, however, is probably owing to
their present neglected state.
15. Of the aiiimal or vegetable products of Egyptian agriculture very little is known.
The ox seems to have been the chief animal of labour from the earliest period ; and rice
at all times the principal grain in cultivation. By a painting
discovered in the ancient Elethia {fg. 6.), it would appear that
the operation of reaping was performed much in the same way
as at present, the ears being cropped by a hook, and the prin-
cipal part of tlie straw left as stubble. Herodotus mentions
that, in his time, wheat was not cultivated, and that the bread
made from it was despised, and reckoned not fit to be eaten ;
beans were also held in abhorrence by the ancient inhabitants :
but it is highly probable, that in latter times, when they began
to have commerce with other nations, they laid aside these and
other prejudices, and cultivated what they found best suited to
tlie foreign market.
1 6. Agriculture was, no ,doubt, the chief occupation of the Egyptians : and though they
are said to have held the profession of shepherd in abhorrence, yet it appears that Pharaoh
not only had considerable flocks and herds in liis own possession, but was desirous of
introducing any improvement which might be made in their management ; for when Jacob,
in answer to his questions, told him that he and liis family had been brought up to the
care of live stock from their youth, he expressed a wish to Joseph to have a Jewish
bailiff for the superintendence of his grazing farm : " If thou knowest any men of activity
among them, then make them rulers over my cattle." (Gen., xlvii. 6.)
Sect. II. Of the Agriculture of the Jews, and other Nations of Antiquity.
17. Of the agriculture of the nations contemporary ivith the Egyptians and Greeks nothing
is distinctly known ; but, assuming it as most probable thai agriculture was first brought
into notice in Egypt, it may be concluded tliat most other countries, as well as Greece,
would begin by imitating the practices of that country.
18. On the agriculttire of the Jews, we find there are various incidental remarks in the
books of the Old Testament. On the conquest of Canaan, it appears that the different
tribes had their territory assigned them by lot ; that it was equally divided among the
heads of families, and by them and their posterity held by absolute right and impartial
succession. Thus every family had originally the same extent of territory ; but, as it
became customary afterwards to borrow money on its security, and as some families
became indolent and were obliged to sell, and others extinct by death witliout issue,
landed estates soon varied in point of extent. In the time of Nehemiah a famine
occurred, on which account many had " mortgaged their lands, their vineyards, and
houses, that they might buy corn for their sons and daughters ; and to enable them to
pay the king's tribute." (Nehem., v. 2.) Some were unable to redeem their lands other-
wise than by selling their children as slaves, and tliereby " bringing the sons and daugh-
B 4
8 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
ters of God into bondage." Boaz came into three estates by inheritance, and also a
wife, after much curious ceremony. (Ruth, iv. 8 — 12.) Large estates, however, were
not approved of. Isaiah pronounces a curee on those " that join house to house, that
lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst."
While some portions of land near the towns were enclosed, the greater part was in
common, or in alternate proprietorship and occupation, as in our common fields. This
appears both from the laws and regulations laid down by Moses as to herds and flocks ;
and from the beautiful rural story of Ruth, who, to procure sustenance for herself and
her widowed mother-in-law Naomi, " came and gleaned in tlie field after tlie reapers,
and her hap was to light on a part of the field [that is, of the common field] belonging
unto Boaz." (Ruth, ii. 3.)
1 9. It would appear that evert/ j^roprietor cultivated his oum lands, however extensive ;
and that agriculture was held in high esteem even by their princes. Tlie crown-lands
in King David's time, were managed by seven oflficers : one was over the storehouses,
one over the work of the field and tillage of the ground, one over the vineyards and wine-
cellars, one over the olive and oil-stores and sycamore (jPicus jSycomorus imn.) plant-
ations, one over the herds, one over the camels and asses, and one over the flocks.
(1 Chron., xxvii. 25. ) King Uzziah " built towers in the desert, and digged many wells ;
for he had much cattle both in the low country and in the plains ; husbandmen also and
vine-dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel, for he loved husbandry." (2 Chron., xxvi.
10.) Even private individuals cultivated to a great extent, and attended to the practical
part of the business themselves. Elijah found Elisha in the field, with twelve yoke of
oxen before liim, and liimself with the twelfth. Job had five hundred yoke of oxen, and
five hundred she-asses, seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels. Both asses
and oxen were used in ploughing ; for Moses forbade the Jews to yoke an ass with an
ox, their step or progress being different, and of course their labours unequal.
20. Among the operations of agriculture are mentioned watering by m.achinery, plough-
ing, digging, reaping, threshing, &c. " Doth the ploughman ploughe all day to sow ?
doth he open and break the clods of his ground ? When he hath made plain the face
thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin [Cuminum 6'yminum
Linn.}, and cast in the principal wheat, and the appointed barley, and the rye, in their
place?" (/saiaA, xxviii. 24,25.) The plough was probably a clumsy instrument, re-
quiring the most vigilant attention from the ploughman ; for Luke (ch. ix. 62.) uses the
figure of a man at the plough looking back, as one of utter worthlessness. Covered thresh-
ing-floors were in use ; and, as appears from the case of Boaz and Ruth, it was no
uncommon thing to sleep in them during the harvest. Corn was threshed in different ways.
" The fitches," says Isaiah, " are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a
cart-wheel turned about upon the cummin ; but the filches ai-e beaten out with a staff,
and the cummin with a rod [flail]. Bread corn is bruised, because he will not ever be
threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horse-
men." (Ch. xxviii. 27,28.) The bread corn here mentioned was probably the /ar of
the Romans (maize, Zea Mut/s L.), which was commonly separated by hand-mills, or
hand-picking, or beating, as is still the case in Italy and other countries where this
corn is grown. Corn was " winnowed with the shovel and with the fan." (Id., xxx. 24.)
Sieves were also in use, for Amos says, " I will sift the house of Israel, as corn is sifted
in a sieve" (Ch. ix. 9.); and Christ is re-
presented by St. Luke as saying, " Simon,
Simon, Satan hath desired to have you, that
lie may sift you as wheat." Isaiah men-
tions (vii. 25.) the " digging of- hills with the
mattock .•" to which implement the original ^
pick (j^^. 2.) would gradually arrive, first,
by having the head put on at right angles,
and pointed (fig. 7. a) ; next, by having it
flattened, sharpened, and shod with iron (b c) ; is=^^=^^^
and lastly, by forming the head entirely of ^
metal, and forked (d), such probably as we see it in use in Judea, and the land of Canaan,
at the present day.
21. Vineyards were planted on rising grounds, fenced round, the soil well prepared, and
a vintage-house and watch-tower built in a central situation (Isaiah, v. 2.), as is still
done in European Turkey and Italy. Moses gives directions to the Jews for culti-
vating the vine and other fruit trees ; the three first years after planting, the fruit is not
to be eaten ; the fourth it is to be given to the Lord ; and it is not till tiie fifth year
that they are " to eat of the fruit thereof." (Levit., xix. 25.) The intention of these
precepts was, to prevent the trees from being exhausted by bearing, before they had
acquired sufficient strength and establishment in the soil.
22. Of other agricultural operations and customs, it may be observed with Dr. Brown,
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF ANTIQUITY. 9
(Antiq. of the Jews, vol. ii. partxii. sect. 5, 6.) that they differed very little from the
existing practices in the same countries, as described by modem travellers.
23. IVie agricultural produce of the Jews was the same as among the Egyptians ; com,
wine, oil, fruits, milk, honey, sheep, and cattle, but not swine. The camel then, as now,
was the beast of burden and long journeys (Jig. 8. ) ; and the horse, the animal of war and
luxury. The fruit of the sycamore-fig was abundant, and in general use ; and grapes
attained an astonishing size, both of berry and bunch ; the melon and gourd tribes were
common. The returns of corn were in general good ; but as neither public stores, nor
com monopolisers, seem to have existed, dearths, and their attendant miseries, happened
occasionally. A number of these are mentioned in Scripture, and some of extraordinary
severity;
Sect. III. Of the Agriculture of the Greeks.
24. The Aboriginal Greeks, or Pelasgi, were civilised by colonies from Egypt, and
received from that country their agriculture, in common with other arts and customs.
Some of the ancient Greeks pretend that the culture of corn was taught them by
Ceres ; but Herodotus, and most of the ancients, concur in considering this divinity as
the same with the Egyptian Isis. There is no particular evidence that the Greeks were
much attached to, or greatly improved, agriculture ; though Homer gives us a picture of
old King Laertes, divested of wealth, power, and grandeur, and living happy on a little
farm, the fields of which were well cultivated. (^Odi/ssei/, \ih. xxiv.) On another occa-
sion, he represents a king standing amongst the reapers, and giving them directions by
pointing with liis sceptre. (Ibid., v. 550.) Xenophon highly commends the art; but
the practical instances he refers to, as examples, are of Persian kings.
25. JFhat we know of the agriculture of Greece is chiefly derived from the poem of
Hesiod, entitled Works and Days. Some incidental remarks on the subject may be
found in the writings of Herodotus, Xenophon, Theophrastus, and others. Varro, a
Roman, writing in the century preceding the commencement of our aera, informs us,
that there were more than fifty authors, who might at that time be consulted on the
subject of agriculture, all of whom were ancient Greeks, except Mago the Carthaginian.
Among them he includes Democritus, Xenophon, Aristotle, Theophrastus, and Hesiod.
The works of the other writers he enumerates have been lost ; and indeed all that remain
of Democritus are only a few extracts preserved in the Geoponika, an agricultural treatise
published at Constantinople by the Greeks of the fourth or fifth centuries of our aera.
Xenophon, Aristotle, Homer, and others, touch on our subject but very slightly.
Xenophon, after his banishment to Scillus, is said to have spent his time in literary pur-
suits, and in improving and decorating his estate ; he wrote a treatise expressly on rural
and domestic affairs, the third book of which is devoted to agriculture, entitled (Econo-
mics, in the form of a dialogue, and he is even said to have given lessons on the subject.
Of his treatise, Harte {Essays, p. 201.) says, " I. take it to be one of the plainest and
most sensible performances amongst the writings of the ancients." Theophrastus, a
disciple of Aristotle, wrote on natural history, and his history of plants possesses an
astonishing degree of merit, for the age in which it was written. He is justly considered
the father of botany, and his work contains some curious observations on soils and
manures, and on various parts of agriculture and gardening.
26. But the writings of Hesiod are the chief resource for details as to Grecian agri-
culture. This author flourished in the tenth century B. C, and was therefore contem-
porary with Homer. He lived at Askra, a village at the foot of Mount Helicon, in
Boeotia. There he kept a flock, and cultivated a soil which he describes as " bad in
winter, hard in summer, and never good," probably a stiflf clay. As a poet who had
written on various subjects, Hesiod was held in great veneration ; and Aristotle states,
that when the Thesprotians destroyed the village of Askra, and the Orchomenians re-
ceived the fugitives who escaped, the oracle ordered them to send for the remains of the
poet who had given celebrity to the place.
27. The Works, which constitute the first parts of his Poem, are not merely
details of agricultural labours, but comprise directions for the whole business of family
economy in the country. The poem sets out by describing the state of the world, past
and present, for the purpose of exemplifying the condition of human nature. This con-
dition entails on man the necessity of exertion to preserve the goods of life, and leaves
him no alternative but honest industry or unjust violence ; of which the good and evil
10 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
consequences are respectively illustrated. Dissension and emulation are represented as
two principles actively at work ; much is said of the corruption of judges, and the evils
of litigation ; contentment is apostrophised as the true secret of happiness ; virtue and
industry strongly recommended. The poet now proceeds to describe the prognostics of
the seasons of agricultural labour, and gives directions for providing a house, wife, slaves,
and two steers ; how and when to cut down timber ; to construct carts and ploughs, and
make clothes and shoes ; when to sow, reap, dress the vine, and make wine. He then
treats of navigation, and gives cautions against risking every thing in one voyage : he
describes the fit seasons for the coasting trade, and advises taking great care of the
vessel at such time as she is not in use, and hanging up the rudder and other tackle in
the smoke of the chimney. He concludes the Works with some desultory precepts of
religion, personal propriety, and decorum ; and enjoins some curious superstitious ob-
servances relative to family matters. The Days contain a division of the lunar month
into holy, auspicious, and inauspicious, mixed and intermediary days, the latter being
such as are entitled to no particular observance.
28. Property in land, among the Greeks, seems to have been absolute in the owner, or
what we would term freehold. The manner of inheritance seems to have been that of
gavelkind ; the sons dividing the patrimony in equal portions. One of Solon's laws
forbade that men should purchase as much land as they desired. An estate containing
water, either in springs or otherwise, was highly valued, especially in Attica : and there
a law existed relating to the depth of wells ; the distance they were to be dug from oilier
men's grounds ; what was to be done when no water was found ; and other matters to
prevent contentions as to water. Lands were enclosed, probably with a ring-fence, or
boundary-mark ; or, most likely, the enclosed lands were such as surrounded the vil-
lages, and were in constant cultivation ; the great breadth of covmtry being, it may be
presumed, in common pasture. Solon decrees, that " he who digs a ditch, or makes a
trench, nigh another's land, shall leave so much distance from his neighbour, as the ditch
or trench is deep. If any one makes a hedge near his neighbour's ground, let liim not
pass his neighbour's landmark : if he builds a wall, he is to leave one foot between him
and Ids neighbour ; if a house, two feet. A man building a house in his field, must place
it a bowshot from his neighbour's." (Potter s Antiq.)
29. The surface of Greece was, and is, irregular and hilly, with rich vales, and some
rocky places and mountains : the soil is various ; clayey in some places, but most gene-
rally light and sandy, on a calcareous subsoil.
30. The operations of culture, as appears by Hesiod, required to be adapted to the
season : summer fallows were in use, and the ground received three ploughings, one in
autumn, another in spring, and a third immediately before sowing the seed. Manures
were applied : in Homer, an old king is found manuring his fields with his own hands ;
and the invention of manures is ascribed by Pliny to the Grecian king Augeas. The-
ophrastus enumerates six different species of manures ; and adds, tliat a mixture of soils
produces the same effects as manure. Clay, he says, should be mixed with sand, and
sand with clay. The seed was sown by hand, and covered with a rake. Com was reaped
with a sickle ; bound in sheaves ; carted to a well-prepared threshing-floor, in an airy
situation, where it might be threshed and fanned by the wind, as is still practised in
modern Greece, Italy, and other countries of the Continent. Afterwards it was laid up
in bins, chests, or granaries, and taken out as wanted by the family, to be pounded in
mortars or quern-mills, into meal. Thorns and other plants for hedges were procured
from the woods, as we find from a passage in Homer, in which he represents Ulysses as
finding Laertes digging and preparing to plant a row of quicksets. {Odyss., lib. xxiv.)
31. The implements ermmeraXQAhy Hesiod are, a plough, of which he recommends
two to be provided in case of accident ; and a cart ten spans (seven feet six inches)
in width, with two low wheels. The plough consisted of tln-ee parts ; the share-beam,
tlie draught-pole, and the plough-tail. The share-beam is to be made of oak, and the
otlier parts of elm or bay: they are to
be joined firmly with nails. Antiquarians
are not agreed as to tlie exact form of
this implement. Gouguet conjectures
it may not have been unlike one still
in use in the same countries, and in the
south of France ; others, with greater
probability, refer to the more simple
plough still in use in Magna Graecia and
Sicily {fig. 9.), originally Greek colonies.
The rake, sickle, and ox-goad are men-
tioned ; but nothing said of their construction, or of spades or other manual implements.
32. The beasts of labour mentioned are oxen and mules : the former were more common ;
and it would appear, from a passage in Homer (/A, lib. xiii. v. 704.), were yoked by tlic
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF ANTIQUITY. II
horns. Oxen of four years and a half old are recommended to be purchased, as most
serviceable. In winter, both oxen and mules were fed under cover, on hay and straw,
mast, and tlie leaves of vines and various trees.
33. The most desirable age for a ploughman is forty. He must be well fed, go naked
in summer, rise and go to work very early, and have a sort of annual feast, proper rest,
good food, and clothing consisting of coats of kid skins, worsted socks, and half boots of
ox hides in winter. He must not let his eye wander about while at the plough, but cut a
straight furrow ; nor be absent in mind when sowing the seed, lest he sow the same furrow
twice. The vine is to be pruned and stalked in due season ; the vintage made in fine
weather, and the grapes left a few days to dry, and then carried to the press.
34. The products of Grecian agriculture were, the grains and legumes at present in
cultivation, with tlie vine, fig, olive, apple, date, and other fruits : the live stock con-
sisted of sheep, goats, swine, cattle, mules, asses, and horses. It does not appear that
artificial grasses or herbage plants were in use ; but recourse was had, in times of scarcity,
to the mistletoe and the cytisus : what plant is meant by the latter designation is not
agreed on; some consider it the Medicago arborea L., and others the common lucerne.
Hay was, in all probability, obtained from the meadows and pastures, which were used
in common; flax, and probably hemp, were grovra. Wood for fuel, and timber for
construction, were obtained from the natural forests, which, in Solon's time, abounded with
wolves. Nothing is said of the olive or fig by Hesiod ; but they were cultivated in the
fields for oil and food, as well as the vine for wine. One of Solon's laws directs that olive
and fig trees must be planted nine feet from a neighbour's ground, on account of their
spreading roots ; other trees might be planted witliin five feet.
35. In Hesiod' s time almost every citizen ivas a husbandman, and had a portion of land
which he cultivated himself, with the aid of his family, and perhaps of one or two slaves ;
and the produce, whether for food or clothing, appears to have been manufactured at
home. The progress of society would, no doubt, introduce the usual division of labour
and of arts ; and commercial cultivators, or such as raised produce for the purpose of
exchange, would in consequence arise ; but when this state of things occurred, and to
what extent it was carried at the time Greece became a Roman province (B. C. 100),
the ancient writers afford us no means of ascertaining.
Sect. IV. Of the Agriculture of the Persians, Carthaginians, and other Nations of Antiquity.
36. Of the agriculture of the other civilised and stationary nations of this period, scarcely
any thing is known. According to Herodotus, the soil of Babylon was rich, well cul-
tivated, and yielded two or three hundred for one. Xenophon, in his book of (Eco-
nomics, bestows due encomiums on a Persian king, who examined, with his own eyes,
the state of agiiculture throughout his dominions ; and in all such excursions, as
occasion required, bountifully rewarded the industrious, and severely discountenanced
the slothful. In another place he observes, that when Cyrus distributed premiums with
his own hand to diligent cultivators, it was his custom to say, " My friends, I have a like
title with yourselves to the same honours and remuneration from the public ; I give you
no more than I have deserved in my own person ; having made the selfsame attempts
with equal diligence and success." (CEconom., c. iv. sect. 16.) The same author else-
where remarks, that a truly great prince ought to hold the arts of war and agriculture in
the highest esteem ; for by such means he will be enabled to cultivate his territories
eflPectually, and protect them when cultivated. (Harte's Essays, p. 19.)
37. Phoenicia, a country of Asia, at the east of the Mediterranean, has the reputation
of having been cultivated at an early period, and of having colonised and introduced
agriculture at Carthage, Marseilles, and other places. The Phoenicians are said to
have been the original occupiers of the adjoining country of Canaan ; and when driven
out by the Jews, to have settled in Tyre and Sidon (now Sur and Saida), in the fifteenth
century B. C. They were naturally industrious ; and their manufactures acquired such a
superiority over those of other nations, that, among the ancients, whatever was elegant,
great, or pleasing, either in apparel or domestic utensils, was called Sidonian ; but of their
agriculture it can only be conjectured that it was Egyptian, as far as local circumstances
would permit.
38. The republic of Carthage included Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia, and flourished for
upwards of seven centuries previous to the second century B. C. Agriculture was
practised at an early period in Sicily ; and, according to some, Greece received that art
from this island. It must have been also considerably advanced in Spain, and in the
Carthaginian territory, since they had books on the subject. In 147 B. C, when Car-
thage was destroyed by Scipio, and the contents of the libraries were given in presents to
the princes, allies of the Romans, the senate only reserved the twenty-eight books on
agriculture of the Carthaginian general Magon, which Decius Syllanus was directed to
translate, and of which the Romans preserved, for a long time, the original and the
translation. (Encyc. Methodique, art. Agriculture.)
12 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
39. Italy, and a part of the south of France, would probably be partially cultivated,
from the influence of the Carthaginians in Sicily and Marseilles ; but the north of
France, and the rest of Europe, appear to have been chiefly, if not entirely, in a wild
state, and the scene of the pastoral and hunting employments of the nomadic nations,
the Kelts or Celts, the Goths, and the Slaves.
40. The Indian and Chinese nations appear to be of equal antiquity with the Egyptians.
Joseph de Guignes, an eminent French Oriental scholar, who (fied in the first year of
the present century, has written a memoir (in 1759, 12mo), to prove that the Chinese
were a colony from Egypt ; and M. de Guignes, a French resident in China, who pub-
lished at Paris a Chinese dictionary in 1813, is of the same opinion. The histories of
the Oriental nations, however, are not yet suflSciently developed from the original sources,
to enable us to avail ourselves of the information they may contain, as to the agriculture
of so remote a period as that now under consideration.
41. With respect to the American nations, during this period, there are no facts on
record to prove either their existence or their civilisation, though Bishop Huet and the
Abbe Clavigero think that they also are descendants of Noah, who, while in a nomadic
state, arrived in the western world, through the northern parts of the eastern continent.
Chap. II.
History of Agriculture among the Romans, or from the Second Century B. C. to the Fifth
Century of our j^ra.
42. We have now amved at a period of our history where certainty supplies the place
of conjecture, and which may be considered as not only entertaining but instructive.
The attention of the Romans to agriculture is well known. The greatest men amongst
them applied themselves to the study and practice of it, not only in the first ages of the
state, but after they had carried their arms into every country of Europe, and into many
countries of Asia and Africa. Some of their most learned men and one of their greatest
poets wrote on it ; and all were attached to the things of the country. Varro, speaking
of the farms of C. Tremellius Scrofa, says, " they are to many, on account of their
culture, a more agreeable spectacle than the royally ornamented edifices of others."
(Var. de R. R., lib. i. cap. 2.) In ancient times, Pliny observes, tlie lands were culti-
vated by the hands even of generals, and the earth delighted to be ploughed with a share
adorned with laurels, and by a ploughman who had been honoured with a triumph. {Nat.
Hist., lib. xviii. c. 3.) The Romans spread their arts with their conquests; and their
agriculture became that of all Europe at an early period of our aera.
43. The sources from which we have drawn our information being first related, we
shall review, in succession, the proprietorship, occupancy, soil, culture, and produce of
Roman agriculture.
Sect. I. Of the Roman Agricultural Writers.
44. The Roman authors on agriculture, whose works have reached the present age,
are Cato, Varro, Virgil, Columella, Pliny, and Palladius ; there were many more,
whose writings are lost. The compilation of Constantine Poligonat, or, as others
consider, of Cassius Bassus, entitled Geoponika, already mentioned (18.), is also to be
considered as a Roman production, though published in the Greek language at Constan-
tinople, after the removal thither of the seat of government.
45. M. Porcius Cato, called the Censor, and the father of the Roman rustic writers,
lived in the seventh century of the republic, and died at an extreme old age, B. C. 150.
He recommended himself, at the age of seventeen, by his valour in a battle against
Annibal ; and afterwards rose to all the honours of the state. He particularly distinguished
himself as a censor, by his impartiality and opposition to all luxury and dissipation ; and
was remarkably strict in his morals. He wrote several works, of which only some
fragments remain, under the titles of Origines and Be Re R^istica. Tlie latter is the
oldest Roman work on agriculture : it is much mutilated, and more curious for the
account it contains of Roman customs and sacrifices, than valuable for its georgical
infonnation. . ^-r i j
46. M. Terentius Varro died B. C. 28, in the 88th year of his age. He was a learned
writer, a distinguished soldier both by sea and land, and a consul. He was a grammarian,
a philosopher, a historian, and an astronomer ; and is thought to have written five hundred
volumes on different subjects, all of which are lost, except his treatise De Re Rustica.
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF THE ROMANS. 13
This is a complete system of directions in three books, on the times proper for, and the
different kinds of, rural labour ; it treats also of live stock, and of the villa and offices.
As Varro vi^as for some time lieutenant-general in Spain and Africa, and afterwards
retired and cultivated liis own estate in Italy, his experience and observation must have
been very considerable.
47. Publius VirgUius Maro, called the prince of the Latin poets, was born at a village
near Mantua in Lombardy about 70 B. C, and died B. C. 19, aged 51. He culti-
vated Ms own estate till he was thirty years old, and spent the rest of his life chiefly at
the court of Augustus. His works are the Bucolics, Georgics, and JEneid. The
Georgics is to be considered as a poetical compendium of agriculture, taken from the
Greek and Roman writers then extant, but especially from Varro.
48. Luc. Jun. Moderatus Columella was a native of Gades, now Cadiz, in Spain,
but passed most of his time in Italy. The time of his birth and death are not known,
but he is supposed to have lived under Claudius in the first century. His work De
Re Rustica, in twelve books, of which the tenth is still extant, was a complete treatise on
rural affairs, including field operations, timber trees, and gardens.
49. C. Plinius Secundus, sumamed the elder, was born at Verona in Lombardy, and
suffocated at the destruction of Pompeii in his 56th year, A.D. 79. He was of a noble
family ; distinguished himself in the field and in the fleet ; was governor of Spain ; and
was a great naturalist, and an extensive writer. Of tlie works which he composed none are
extant but his Natural History in thirty-seven books ; a work full of the erudition of the
time, accompanied with much erroneous, useless, and frivolous matter. It treats of the
stars and the heavens, of wind, rain, hail, minerals, trees, flowers, and plants ; gives an
account of all living animals ; a geographical description of every place on the globe ;
and a history of commerce and navigation, and of every art and science, with their rise,
progress, and several improvements. His work may be considered as a compendium of
all preceding writers on these subjects, with considerable additions from his personal
experience and observation. >^
50. Rutilius Taurus Emilianus Palladius is by some supposed to have lived under
Antoninus Pius, in the second century, though others place him in the fourth. His
work De Re Rustica is a poem in fourteen books, and is little more than a compendium
of those works which preceded it on the same subject. The editor of the article Agri-
culture, in the Encyclopedie McHhodiqu£, says it is too dull to be read as a poem, and too
concise to be useful as a didactic work.
51. These works have been rendered accessible to all by translations ; and a judiciotis
and instructive treatise composed from them by Adam Dickson, a Scotch clergyman, was
published in 1788, under the title of The Husbandry of the Ancients. To this latter
work we are indebted for the greater part of what we have to submit on Roman
agriculture.
52. The Roman authors, as Rozier has observed (Diet, de VAgr., art. Hist.), do not
enable us to trace the rise and progress of agriculture, either in Italy or in any other country
under their dominion. What they contain is a picture of their rural economy in its
most perfect state, delivered in precepts, generally founded on experience, though some-
times on superstition ; never, however, on theory or hypothesis. For, as the Rev. Adam
Dickson states, " instead of schemes produced by a lively imagination, which we receive
but too frequently from authors of genius unacquainted with tihe practice of agriculture,
we have good reason to believe that they deliver, in their writings, a genuine account of
the most approved practices ; practices, too, the goodness of which they had themselves
experienced." (Husb. of the Anc, p. 16.) He adds, that if in the knowledge of the
theory of agriculture, the Roman cultivators are inferior to our modern improvers ; yet in
attention to circumstances and exactness of execution, and in economical management,
they are greatly superior.
Sect. II. Of the Proprietorship, Occupancy, and General Management of Landed Property
among the Romans.
53. The Roman nation originated from a company of robbers and runaway slaves, vi'ho
placed themselves under their leader Romulus. This chief having conquered a small
part of Italy divided the land among his followers, and by what is called the Agrarian
Law, allowed 2 jugera or li acre to every citizen. After the expulsion of the kings in the
6th century B. C., 7 yoke, or 3f acres were allotted. The custom of distributing the
conquered lands, by giving 7 jugera to every citizen, continued to be observed in latter
times ; but when each soldier had received his share, the remainder was sold in lots
of various sizes, even to 50 jugera ; and no person was prevented from acquiring as large
a landed estate as he could, till a law passed by Stolo, the second plebeian consul, B. C.
377, that no one should possess more than 500 jugera. This law appears to have remained
in force during the greater period of the Roman power. Whatever might be the size of
the estate, it was held by the proprietor as an absolute right, without acknowledgment to
14 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
any superior power ; and passed to his successors, agreeably to testament, if he made one ;
or if not, by common law to his nearest relations.
54. I7t the first ages of the commonwealth, the lands were occupied and cultivated hy
the jrroprietors themselves ; and as this state of things continued for four or five centuries,
it was probably the chief cause of the agricultural eminence of the Romans. When a
person has only a small portion of land assigned to him, and the maintenance of liis
family depends entirely upon its productions, it is natural to suppose that the culture
of it employs his whole attention. A person who has been accustomed to regular end
systematic habits of action, such as those of a military life, will naturally carry those
habits into whatever he undertakes. Hence, it is probable, a degree of industrious appli-
cation, exactness, and order in performing operations, in a soldier-agriculturist, which
would not be displayed by men who had never been trained to any regular habits of
action. The observation of Pliny confirms tliis supposition : he asserts that the Roman
citizens, in early times, " ploughed their fields with the same diligence that they pitched
their camps, and sowed their corn with the same care that they formed their armies
for battle." {Nat. Hist.iliib. xviii. c. 3.) Corn, he says, was then both abundant and
cheap.
55. Afterwards, when Rome extended her conquests, and acquired large territories,
rich individuals purchased large estates,- the culture of these fell into different hands,
and was carried on by bailiffs and farmers much in the same way as in modern times.
Columella informs us that it was so in his time, stating, that " the men employed
in agriculture are either farmers or servants ; the last being divided into free servants
and slaves." (Col., lib. i. cap. 7.) It was a common practice to cultivate land by slaves
during the time of the elder Pliny ; but his nephew and successor let his estates to
farmers.
56. In the time qf Cato the Censor, the author of The Husbandry of the Ancients observes, though the
operations of agriculture were generally performed by servants, yet the great men among the Romans
continued to give particular attention to it, studied its improvement, and were very careful and exact
in the management of all their country affairs. This appears from the directions given them by this
most attentive farmer. Those great men had both houses in town, and villas in the country ; and, as they
resided frequently in town, the management of their country affairs was committed to a bailiff or over-
seer. Now their attention to the culture of their lands and to every other branch of husbandry, appears,
from the directions given them how to behave upon their arrival from the city at their villas. " After the
landlord," says Cato, " has come to the villa, and performed his devotions, he ought that very day, if pos-
sible, to go through his farm ; if not that day, at least the next. When he has considered in what
manner his fields should be cultivated, what work should be done, and what not ; next day he ought to
call the bailiff, and enquire what of the work is done, and what remains ; whether the labouring is far
enough advanced for the season, and whether the things that remain might have been finished ; and
what is done about the wine, corn, and all other things. When he has made himself acquainted with all
these, he ought to take an account of the workmen and working days. If a sufficiency of work does not
appear, the bailiff will say that he was very diligent, but that the servants were not well ; that there
were violent storms ; that the slaves had run away ; and that they were employed in some public work.
When he has given these and many other excuses, call him again to the account of the work and the
workmen. When there have been storms, enquire for how many days, and consider what work might be
done in rain ; casks ought to have been washed and mended, the villa cleaned, corn carried away, dung
carried out, a dunghill made, seed cleaned, old ropes mended, new ones made, and the servant's clothes
mended. On holidays, old ditches may have been scoured, a highway repaired, briars cut, the garden
digged, meadows cleared from weeds, twigs bound up, thorns pulled, far (bread-corn, maize) pounded, all
things made clean. When the servants have been sick, the ordinary quantity of meat ought not to have
been given them. When he is fully satisfied in all these things, and has given orders that the work that
remains be finished, he should inspect the bailiff's accounts, his account of money, of corn, fodder, wine,
oil, what has been sold, what exacted, what remains, what of this may be sold, whether there is good
security for what is owing. He should inspect the things that remain, buy what is wanting for the year,
and let out what is necessary to be employed in this manner. He should give orders concerning the
works he would have executed, and the things he is inclined to let out, and leave his orders in writing.
He should inspect his flocks, make a sale, sell the superfluous oil, wine, and corn ; if they are giving a
proper price, sell the old oxen, the refuse of the cattle and sheep, wool, hides, the old carts, old iron tools,
and old and diseased slaves. Whatever is superfluous he ought to sell j a farmer should be a seller, not a
buyer." {Cat., cap. ii.)
57. The landlord is thus suirposed hy Cato to he perfectly acquainted with every kind of
work projier on his farm, and the seasons for performing it, and also to be a perfect judge
how much work, both without and within doors, ought to be perfoi-med by any number of
servants and cattle in a given time ; the knowledge of which is highly useful to a farmer,
and what very few perfectly acquire. It may be observed, likewise, that the landlord
is here supposed to enquire into all circumstances, with a minuteness of which there is
scarcely even an actual farmer in this age who has any conception.
58. Varro complains that, in his time, the same attention to agriculture was not given
as in former times ; that the great men resided too much within the walls of the city,
and employed themselves more in the theatre and circus, than in the com fields and
vineyards. {Var. de R. R., lib. i. praef.)
59. Columella complains that, in his time, agriculture was almost entirely neglected.
However, from the directions which he gives to the proprietors of land, it appears that
there were still a few who continued to pay a regard to it ; for, after mentioning some
things, which he says, by the justice and care of the landlord, contribute much to im-
prove his estate, he adds, « But he should likewise remember, when he returns from the
city, immediately after paying his devotions, if he has time, if not, next day, to view his
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF THE ROMANS. 15
marches, inspect every part of his farm, and observe whether in his absence any part
of discipline or watchfulness has been dispensed with ; and whether any vine, any other
tree, or any fruits are missing. Then likewise he ought to review the cattle and servants,
all the instruments of husbandry, and the household furniture. If he continue to do all
these things for some years, he will find a habit of discipline established when he is old ;
and at no age will he be so much impaired witli years as to be despised by his servants."
{Col, lib. i. cap. 9.)
60. The earliest farmers among the Romans seem not Uy have been upon the same
footing as in Britain. The stock on the farm belonged to the landlord, and the farmer
received a certain proportion of the produce for his labour. The farmer, who possessed
a farm upon these terms, was called politor or polintor, from liis business, being the
dresser of the land ; and jjartuarius, from his being in a kind of copartnership with his
landlord, and his receiving a part of the produce of the farm for his labour. Cato taltes
notice of this kind of farmers only, and it is probable that there were no others in his time.
" The terms," says he, " upon which land ought to be let to a politor : in the good land
of Casinum and Venafrum, he receives the eighth basket ; in the second kind of land he
receives the seventh ; in the tliird kind he receives the sixth. In this last kind, when the
grain is divided by the modius, he receives the fifth part ; in the very best kind of land
about Venafrum, when divided by the basket, he receives only the ninth. ...If the land-
lord and politor husk the far in common, the politor receives the same proportion after
as before; of barley and beans divided by the modius, he receives a fifth." (Ch. xl.
xli. ) The small proportion of the produce that the politor received, makes it evident
that he was at no expense in cultivating the land, and that he received his proportion
clear of all deductions.
61. The coloni or farmers mentioned by ColumeUa, seem to have paid rent for their
farms in the same manner as is done by the farmers in Britain. The directions given by
this author to landlords, concerning the mode of treating them, are curious as well as
important. A landlord, he says, " ought to treat his tenants with gentleness, should show
himself not difficult to please, and be more vigorous in exacting culture than rent, because
this is less severe, and upon the whole more advantageous. For, where a field is care-
fully cultivated, it for the most part brings profit, never loss, except when assaulted by a
storm or pillagers ; and therefore the farmer cannot have the assurance to ask any ease (rf
his rent. Neither should the landlord be very tenacious of his right in every thing to
which the farmer is bound, particularly as to days of payment, and demanding the wood
and other small things which he is obliged to, besides paying his I'ent, the care of which
is a greater trouble than expense to the rustics. Nor is every penalty in our power to
be exacted, for our ancestors were of opinion, that the rigour of the law is the greatest
oppression. On the other, the landlord ought not to be entirely negligent in this matter ;
because it is certainly true, what Alpheus the usurer used to say, that good debts become
bad ones, by being not called for," &c. {Col., lib. i. cap. 7.)
62. These directions are valuable even with reference to the present times ; and they
instruct us respecting the general management of landed property among the Romans.
It appears that the landlord was considered as understanding every thing respecting the
husbandry of liis estate himself ; and that there was no agent, or intermediate person,
between him and the farmer. The farmers paid rent for the use of their farms, and were
bound to a particular kind of culture, according to the conditions of their lease ; but they
were perfectly free and independent of their landlords ; so much so, as sometimes to
enter into lawsuits vnih them. On the whole, they seem to have been upon tlie same
footing as the farmers of Britain in modem times.
Sect. III. Of the Surface, Soil, Climate, and other Agricultural Circumstances of Italy,
during the Time of the Romans.
63. The agriculture of any country must necessarily take its character from the nature
of that country. The extent and manner of cultivating the soil, and the kind of plants
cultivated, or animals reared, must necessarily be regulated by the surface of the soil, the
natural productions, the climate, the artificial state, and the habits of the people.
64. The climate of Italy is regular, dry, clear, and considerably warmer than that of
Britain. At the bottoms of the mountains, it is subject to severe storms of hail in
summer, and snow in winter, which often do considerable damage ; but these are only
accidental disadvantages ; and in the champaign lands and gentle declivities, the vine,
the fig, and the olive, ripened anciently, as now, in open plantations, from one extremity
of Italy to the other.
65. The surface of Italy is very irregular. A ridge of hills, and mountains passes
through its whole length, forming numerous valleys of different degrees of extent;
some elevated and narrow, others low and watered by a river, a stream, or by lakes.
The immense plain of the Po constitutes a capital feature towards the north-east ; the
sandy plain of Calabria towards the south j and the marsliy plain of Terracino, and
16 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Pakt I.
the rocky coast of Genoa, towards the western shore. Columella and Palladius agree in
stating, tliat the best situation for lands is, not so much on a level as to make the water
stagnate, nor so steep as to make it run off with violence ; nor so low as to be buried in
the bottom of a valley, nor so exposed as to feel the violence of storms and heats ; for
in these a mediocrity is always best : but champaign lands exposed, and whose declivity
affords the rain a free passage j or a hill whose sides gently decline ; or a valley not too
much confined, and into which tlie air has easy access ; or a mountain defended by a
higher top, and thereby secured from the winds that are most pernicious, or, if high and
rugged, at the same time covered witli trees and grass. (Col., lib. ii. cap. 2. ; Pallad.,
lib. i. cap. 5.) Tlie situation of lands which Cato reckons the best, is at the foot of a
mountain with a south exposure. Varro and Pliny concur in this opinion, and the latter
states tliat the best lands in Italy are so situated.
66. The soil of Itcdy is as varied as the surface. About Genoa a yellow marly clay
forms a base to schistous cliffs and hilly slopes ; a blue clay containing sulphur and
alum on the west coast between Florence and Venice ; volcanic earth about Rome and
Naples ; sand about Florence, and at tlie estuaries of most of the rivers ; rich black
loam in the central parts of Tuscany ; and rich, deep, soft, moist earth, and mild marly
clay, in Lombardy. Columella divides the soils of Italy into six kinds ; fat and lean,
free and stiff, wet and dry : these mixed with one another, he says, make great varieties.
In common with all the other writers, he prefers a free soil.
67. The native productions of Italy, in an agricultural point of view, are, timber on the
mountains, pastures on the hill sides, and meadow or very luxuriant grass-lands in the
alluvial plains. The rich, low, and yet dry lands do not produce a close pasture, but a
rough herbage, unless they are covered with trees ; the sandy soils produce little of any
thing ; and the fens and marshes reeds and other coarse aquatics. Such were the pro-
ductions of Italy antecedent to culture.
68. The artificial state of the country, in respect to agriculture, during the time of the
Romans, seems to have differed less from its present state than will be imagined. The
cultivated lands were open, and enclosures only to be seen near the villas. These were
of small size, and chiefly gardens and orchards, except in the case of parks for game,
formed by the wealthy, wluch never were very numerous. With the exception of part
of Tuscany and Lombardy, this is still the case ; and the landscape, as Daniel Malthus
has observed {Introd. to Girardiiis Essay), which Pliny observes as seen from his villas,
does not appear to have been different two thousand years ago, from what it is at this
day. But the roads, canals, markets, and artificial water-courses for the irrigation botli
of arable and grass-lands, are undoubtedly greatly increased since the time of the Ro-
mans : though they also practised irrigation.
69. The habits of a people take their rise, in a great degree, from the climate in which
they live, and the native or cultivated productions with which the country abounds. As
respects agriculture, it may be sufficient to mention, that the great heat of the climate, by
relaxing the frame, naturally produces indolence in many, and leads to a life of plunder
in some. Hence then, as now, tlie danger from tliieves and robbers in that country ;
and hence, also, the custom of performing field labours early in the morning, and in the
evening, and resting during the mid-day heat. Tlie general use of oil and wine as
food and drink, and also of the fig as an article of nourishment, are habits which arise
immediately from the circumstance of these articles being the artificial produce of the
country ; but are ultimately, like most other habits, to be referred to the climate.
70. These hints respecting the natural and agricultural geography of Italy, during the
time of the Romans, are confessedly too scanty to be of more use than to recal to the
reader's recollection the information on the same subject with which liis mind is already
stored ; and by this means to enable him to form a due estimate of the nature and merits
of the agriculture which we are about to describe.
Sect. IV. Of the Culture and Farm Management of the Romans.
71. The Roman authors are much more copious in describing farm cidture and economy,
than in relating the state of landed property as to extent and proprietorsliip. Their
directions, being founded on experience, are in great part applicable at the present day :
they are remarkable for their minuteness ; but we can only give a verj' brief compen-
dium, beginning with some account of the farm and the villa, or farmery, and taking in
succession the servants, beasts of labour, implements, operations, crops cultivated, animals
reared, and profit produced.
SuBSECT. 1. Of the Choice of a Farm, and of the Villa or Farmery.
72. In the choice of a farm, Cato recommends a situation where there are plenty of
artificers and good water ; which has a fortified town in its neighbourhood ; is near the
sea or a navigable river, or where the roads are easy and good. {Cat., cap. 1.) To these
requisites Varro adds, a proper market for buying and selling, security from tliieves and
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF THE ROMANS. 17
robbers, and tbe boundaries planted with useful trees. Tlie interior of the farm was not
subdivided by enclosures, which were seldom used but for tlieir gardens, and to form
parks in the villas of the wealthy.
73. The soil preferred by Columella and all the Roman authors is the fat and free,
as producing the greatest crops, and requiring the least culture ; next, fat stiff soil j
then stiff and lean soil, that can be watered ; and, last of all, lean dry soil.
74. The state of a farm preferred by Cato and some other writers is that of pasture,
meadow, and watered grass-lands, as yielding produce at least expense ; and lands under
vines and olives, as producing the greatest profit according to the expense. Tlie opinions
of the Roman agriculturalists, however, seem to disagree on the subject of meadows,
apparently from confounding a profitable way of management, with a capacity of yielding
great profit with superior management, and none without.
75. The ivord Villa onginally denoted a farm-house and its appurtenances. In the first
age of the commonwealth, these were very plain and small, suitable to the plain manners
of the people, and adapted to the small size of their farms : but, when the Romans had
extended their empire, when they had become rich and luxurious, and particular persons
were possessed of large landed estates, then tlie villas became large and magnificent. In
the time of Valerius Maximus, there were villas that covered more gromid than was in
the estates of some of the ancient nobles. " Now," says he, " those think themselves
very much confined, whose houses are not more extensive than the fields of Cincinnatus."
{Val. Max., lib. iv. cap. 4. sect. 7.) In the days of Cato, it is probable that they had
begun to extend their villas considerably, which makes him give a caution to the proprie-
tors of land not to be rash in building. He recommends to them to sow and plant in
their youth, but not to build till somewhat advanced in years. His words are remark-
able : " A landliolder," says he, " should apply himself to the planting of his fields early
in his youth ; but he ought to think long before he builds. He ought not to think
about planting ; but he ought to do it. When he is about thirty-six years of age, he
may build, provided his fields are planted." {Cat., cap. 3.)
76. Men should plant in their youth, and not build till their fields are planted ; and even
then ought " not to be in a hurry, but take time to consider. It is best, according to the
proverb, to profit by the folly of others." {Plin. Nat. Hist., lib. xviii. cap. 5.) The rea-
son why these authors recommend greater attention to planting than building is, that the
labouring oxen in Italy, in the time of the Romans, were fed, for several months in. the
year, with leaves and mast ; and the vine, the fig, the olive, and oUier trees, were cul-
tivated for their fruit.
77. Build in such a manner that your villa may not be too small for your farm, nor your
farm too small for your villa. (Cat., cap. 3.) Varro assigns proper reasons for this. "In
not attending," says he, " to the measure of the farm, many have gone wrong. Some
have made the villa much smaller, and others much larger than the farm required. One
of these is contrary to a man's interest, and the other hurtful to the produce of his lands.
For we both build and repair the larger buildings at a greater expense than is necessary ;
and, when the buildings are less than what the farm requires, the fruits are in danger of
being destroyed." (Var. de R. li., lib. i. cap. 11.) Columella expresses himself to the
same purpose, and mentions two persons in particular who had fallen into each of the
extremes. " I remember," says he, " that many have erred in this point, as these most
excellent men did, L. Lucullus and Q,. Scaevola, one of whom built a villa much larger,
and the other much less than the farm required." {Col., lib. i. cap. 4.)
78. Pliny, noticing the above remark of Caio's, observes that Lucullus had thereby rendered himself
liable to the chastisement of the censors, having less occasion to plough his lands than to clean his house.
" In this case," says he, " to plough less than to sweep, was a foundation for the chastisement of the
censors." {Flin. Nat. Hist., lib. xviii. cap. 6.)
79. Proportion the exjjense of the building to the rent, or the profits arising from the
farm. " An edifice should be built according to the value of the farm and fortune of
tlie master, which, immoderately undertaken, it is commonly more difficult to support
than to build. 'Die largeness of it should be so estimated, that, if any tiling shall happen
to destroy it, it may be rebuilt by one, or at most by two years' rent or profits of the farm
in which it is placed." {Pal., lib. i. tit. 8.)
80. The position of the villa, and the situation of its different parts, are also noticed by
some of these authors. " Some art," says Pliny, " is required in this. C. Marius, of a
very mean family, seven times consul, placed a villa in the lands of Misenum, with such
skill in the contrivance, that Sylla Felix said, that all others in this respect were blind,
when compared to him." {Plin. Nat. Hist., lib. xviii. cap. 7.) All of them advise that
it shall not be placed near a marsh, nor fronting a river. Pliny cites the authority of
Homer for this. Varo says, that such a situation is cold in winter and unhealthful in
summer ; that, in such a place, there are many small insects which, though invisible, enter
the body at the mouth and nostrils, and occasion diseases. {Var. de R. R., lib. i. tit. 12.)
Palladius gives reasons of the same kind. {Pal., lib. i. tit. 7.) Besides tliis, Varro
C
18 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
directs, that, if possible, it shall be placed at the foot of a mountain covered with woods,
in such a manner as to be exposed to the most healthful winds, and to enjoy the sun in
winter and the shade in summer. An east exposure, he tliinks, is the best for this pur-
pose, ( Var. de R. R., lib. i. cap. 12.) Palladius proposes that, for the same purpose, the
villa shall front the south-east ; that the prcetoriufn, or master's house, shall be a little
higher than the rest of the villa, both to secure the foundations, and to have a more agreeable
prospect. (Pal., lib. i. tit. 8.) It is probable that both these authors have Italy particu-
cularly in view. But Pliny extends his views further ; for he says, that the villa in warm
climates ought to front the north, in cold climates the south, and in temperate cli-
mates the east. (Plin. A^at. Hist., lib. xviii. cap. 7.) Columella is more particular than
any of the other authors, both in giving directions as to the situation of the villa, and
giving reasons for the situation he recommends. (Col., lib. i. cap. 5.)
8 1 . The villa is divided into three parts, the urbana, the riistica, and the fructuarin.
All the particulars of these, Columella says, ought to be properly placed with respect to
each other. The urbana contained the apartments of the landlord ; the rustica con-
tained the kitchen, the houses of the labouring servants, the stables, piggeries, and poultry
houses, ponds for water, dunghills, on wliich, says Varro, some persons place necessary
conveniences for the family. (§ xii.) Adjoining the villa rustica, in the residence of
opulent Romans, were placed the aviary, apiary, a place for dormice, a warren for hares
and rabbits, a place for snails, and a large enclosure or park of fifty acres or more for
retaining live deer and wild beasts taken in the chase. Thefructuaria contained the oil
and wine cellars, the places for the oil and wine presses, the corn-yards, barns, granaries,
store-houses, repositories for roots and fruits, &c.
82. Both Columella and Palladius give directions hoiv all these parts should be situated
and constructed; but, though minute, they are not so explicit as to enable any one to
delineate their ground plan. The same may be said as to the directions given by these
autlior , and by Pliny (N^at. Hist., lib. xviii.), respecting the laying out of the viila
urbana, and the apartments for summer and winter. The subject of designing villas
for the opulent belongs no doubt more to architecture than to agriculture ; and therefore
we shall refer, for details, to the plans given by Cast el (Jig. 10.) and other modern authors,
who have attempted to embody the descriptions of the ancient writers.
83. CasteVs general arrangement of a grand Roman villa and its environs, is as
follows : —
1, Praetorium. 11, Omithon of Varro. 20, Mill driven by water. "
2, Farm-house and offices. 12, Vivarium, or park for wild beasts. 21, Temple of Ceres.
3, Canal, parting the farm from the 13, Small woody islands for peacocks. 22, Corn-fields.
praetonum. 14, Place for turkeys(! ! ),ratnerswans, 23, Vineyards.
4, Stone-banks to the canal. and their keepers: turkeys being 24, Olive grounds.
5, Bridges. natives of Americ;i, and conse- 2.5, Meadows.
6, Museum. quently unknown to the Romans. 26, Orchard.
7, River Vinius. ' 15, For geese and their keeper. 27, (Jarden.
8, Part of the island surrounded by 16, Cochlearium. 28, Osier ground.
that river. 17, Dormice. 29, Woods, &c.
9, The other river. 18, Apiarv. 30, Coppices.
10, Walk on the bank of that river. 19, Threshing floor and bam.
84. It is remarkable that no directions are given as to the materials of which the villa
should be built. These would, in all probability, depend on local circumstances ; rammed
earth, timber, brick burned or only dried in the sun, or stone, would be taken according
to convenience. The remains of villas which have reached modem times, are chiefly
of brick stuccoed over. Pliny mentions walls in Africa and Spain, called formacii, the
formation of which, by cramming the earth between two boards, exactly agrees with the
French mode of building mud walls, called en pise. He also mentions walls of unbumt
brick, of mud, of turf, and frames filled up wdth bricks and mud. (Nat. Hist., lib. xxxv.
cap. 14.)
SuBSECT. 2. Of the Servants employed in Roman Agriculture.
85. The servants employed in Roman agriculture were of two sorts, freemen and slaves.
"When the proprietor or farmer lived on the farm and directed its culture, these were
directly under his management ; in other cases there was a bailiff or overseer, to whom
all the other servants were subordinate. This was the case so early as Cato's time, who
is very particular in his directions respecting the care a bailiff ought to take of the
servants, the cattle, the labouring utensils, and in executing his master's orders.
86. The bailiff" was generally a person who had received some education, and could
write and keep accounts ; and it was expected that he should be careful, apt to learn,
and capable to execute his master's orders with a proper attention to situations and
circumstances. Columella, however, says that " the bailiff may do his business very well,
though he is illiterate." Cornelius Celsus says that " such a bailiff will bring money to
his master oftener than his book ; because, being ignorant of letters, he is the less capable
to contrive accounts, and is afraid to trust another, being conscious of fraud." (Col., lib. i.
cap. 8.) There are some other things mentioned by this author, with respect to the
bailiff, that are very proper, and show particularly the attention of the Romans. " He
Bock I.
AGRICULTURE OF THE ROMANS.
19
ought not," says he, " to trade on his own account, nor employ his master's money in
purchasing cattle or any other goods ; for this trading takes off his attention, and prevents
10
him from keeping square accounts with liis master. But when he is required to settle
them, he shows his goods in the place of money. This, above all, he should be careful
of, not to think he knows any thing he does not know ; and always to be ready to learn
what he is ignorant of. For as it is of great advantage to do a thing well, so it is most
hurtful to have it ill done. This one thing holds true in all rustic work, to do but once
what the manner of culture requires ; because, when imprudence or negligence in work-
ing is to be set to rights, the time for the work is already wasted ; nor are the effects of
the amendment such as to make up the lost labour, and balance tlie advantages that might
have been gained by improving the season that is past." {Col.', libi. cap. 8.)
87. The qualities of the other villa servants are represented- by the same author in this
manner : " The careful and industrious," says he, " should be appointed masters of the
works ; these qualities are more necessary for this business than stature or strength of
body, for this service requires diligent care and art." Of tlie ploughman he says,
88. In the ploughman, though a degree of genius is necessary, yet it is not enough. " There should be
joined to it a harshness of voice and manner, to terrify the cattle : but he should temper strength with
clemency ; because he ought to be more terrible than cruel, that so the oxen may obey his commands,
and continue the longer at their work, not being spent, at the same time, both with the severity of
labour and stripes. But what the offices of masters of works and of ploughman are, I shall mention in
C 2
20 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
their proper places. It is sufficient at present to observe, that tallness and strength are of great use in the
one, and of very little in the other ; for we should make, as I have said, the tallest man a ploughman,
both for the reason I have already mentioned, and because there is no rustic work by wliicli a tall man is
less fatigued than by ploughing ; because, when employed in this, walking almost iipriglit, he may lean
upon the handle of the plough." Of the common labourer he says, " The common labourer may be of any
size, provided he is able to endure fatigue." And of the vine-dresser, " Vineyards do not require such
tall men, provided they are thick and brawny; for this constitution of body is most proper for digging,
pruning, and the other culture necessary for them. In this work diligence is less necessary than in the
other works of husbandry ; because the vine-dresser ought to perform his work in company and under
the eye of a director. Commonly wicked men are of a quicker genius, which this kind of work requires ;
and, as it requires not only a stout servant, but one of an active contrivance, vineyards are commonly
cultivated by slaves in chains." {Col.y lib. i. cap. 9.) Thus we see, that, among the Romans, labourers were
appointed to the different works of husbandry, according to their strength, size, and genius.
89. With res5)ect to the wages of agricultural labour aynong the Romas, very little benefit
can be derived from knowing the absolute sum of money paid for any article, unless it
can be compared with the price of other commodities. The price of a slave in Cato's
time, was about 50/. ; in the time of Columella it had risen to 60/. ; or to the price of
eight acres of good land. A good vine-dresser cost 661. 13s. 4d., and a good ploughman
or labourer not less than 60/. The interest of money at this time was 61. per cent per
annum ; therefore, in stating the expense of farm labour, a slave must be rated at not less
than 12/. per cent, as being a perishable commodity ; so that one who cost 60/. would
fall to be charged at the rate of 7/. 45. per annum, besides his maintenance and clothing.
Tliis may give some idea of the wages tliat would be paid to a free servant who hired him-
self by the year ; of which, however, there appears to have been no great number, their
wages not being stated.
90. All the -servants were maintained and clothed by the farmer or proprietor ; and as may
be supposed, it was the interest of the latter that this should be done in a good and suffi-
cient manner. Columella mentions what he calls an old maxim, concerning the bailiff :
" That he should not eat but in the sight of all the servants, nor of any other thing but
what was given for the rest." He mentions the reason of this : " For thus," says he,
" shall he take care that both the bread be well baked, and the other things prepared in a
wholesome manner." (Co/., lib. i. cap. 8.) The same author mentions the treatment
that masters ought to give their slaves : " So much the more attentive," says he, " ought
the master to be in his enquiry concenaing tliis kind of servants, that they may not be
injured in their clothes and other things afforded them, inasmuch as they are subject to
many, such as bailiffs, masters of works, and gaolers ; and the more they are liable to
receive injuries, and the more they are hurt through cruelty or avarice, the more they are
to be feared. Therefore a diligent master ought to enquire, both at themselves, and
likewise the free servants in whom he may put greater confidence, whether they receive
the full of what is allowed them ; he himself ought likewise to try, by tasting the good-
ness of the bread and drink, and examine their clotlies, mittens, and shoes." (Co/., lib. i.
cap. 8.) In another place, he says, " That the bailiff should have the family dressed
and clothed rather usefully than nicely, and carefully fortified against the w'ind, cold, and
rain ; all which they will be secured from, by sleeved leathern coats, old centones (thick
patchwork as bed-quilts) for defending their heads ; or cloaks with hoods. If the labourers
are clothed with these, no day is so stormy as to prevent them from working without doors.
{Col., lib. i. cap. 8.) Cato likewise makes particular mention of the clothes of the slaves :
" The vestments of the family," says he, " a coat and a gown three feet and a half long
should be given once in two years ; whenever you give a coat or a gown, first receive the
old one ; of these make centones. Good shoes should be given once in two years." (C«f.,
cap. 59.)
91. Cato informs us what quality of bread and wine, and what other kinds qf meat, ivere given to la-
bourers. Of bread, he says, each labourer was allowed at the rate of three pounds avoirdupois, or of
three pounds twelve ounces avoirdupois in the day, according to the severity of his labour. " During
the winter," says he, " the bailiff she ild have four 7nodii of wheat each month, and during the summer
four fnodii and a half; and the housekeeper, or the bailiff's wife, and the shepherd, should have three.
During the winter, the slaves should have four pounds of bread each in the day ; from the time that they
begin to dig the vineyard, to the ripening of the figs, they should have five pounds each ; after which
they should return again to four." (CaA, cap. 56.) To this bread, there was a daily allowance of wine;
during the three months that immediately followed the vintage, the servants drank a weak kind of wine
called lora. The manner in which this liquor was made, is described both by Pliny and Columella ; and
from the description given by them, it may well be supposed to be as good as the small beer given to
servants in Britain. [Plin. Nat. Hist., lib. xiv. cap. 10.) It does not appear that the Roman slaves were
much restricted in the quantity; Cato mentions no measure; he only says, that they have this to drink
for three months after the vintage ; he proceeds in this manner : " In the fourth month, each should get
a heinitia of wine in the day, which is at the rate of two and a half congii in the month ; in the fifth,
sixth, seventh, and eighth months, each a sectary in the day, which is five congii in the month ; in the
ninth, tenth, and eleventh, each three hemituB in the day, which is an amphora in the month. More
than this, at the saturnalia and cofnpitalia, to each man was given a congius. The quantity of wine for
each man in the year is eight quadrantals ; however, as addition must be made according to the work in
which the slaves are employed, it is not too much for each of them to drink ten quadrantals in the year."
This allowance of wine, it must be acknowledged, was not inconsiderable, being at least seventy-four
gallons in the year, or at an average 1-62 parts of a pint in the day.
92. Besides bread and wine, the slaves got what was called pulmentarium, which an-
swers to what in some parts of the country is called kitchen dripping or fat. (Plin.
Nat. Hist.f lib. xviii. cap. 8.) For this purpose Cato recommends the laying up as
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF THE ROMANS. 21
many fallen bifves as can be gathered ; afterwards the early olives from which the smallest
quantity of oil is expected ; at the same time observing that these must be given sparingly,
that they may last the longer. When the olives are finished, he desires salt fish and
vinegar to be given, and besides, to each man a sextarius of oil in the month, and a
fnodius of salt in the year. (Cat., cap. 18.) Columella, for this purpose, directs apples,
pears, and figs, to be laid up : he adds, if there is a great quantity of these, tlie rustics
are secured in no small part of their meat during the winter, for they serve for dripping
or fat. (Col., lib. xii. cap. 14.)
SuBSKCT. 3. Of the Beasts of Labour used by the Romans.
93. The labouring cattle used by the Romans, as well as by all the ancient nations, were
chiefly the ox, the ass sometimes, the mule for burdens, and but very rarely the horse.
The horse, however, was reared ; but almost exclusively for the saddle, the chase, or
for war. The respect for the ox which existed among the Egyptians, Jews, and Greeks,
was continued among the Romans, so much so that Varro, and after him Columella and
Pliny, adduce an instance of a man having been indicted and condemned, for killing one
to please a boy who longed for a dish of tripe.
94. The breeding, breaking, feeding, and working of the ox are very particularly treated
of by the ancient authors.
95. Bulls, says Palladius, " should be tall, with huge members, of a middle age, rather young than old,
of a stern countenance, small horns, a brawny and vast neck, and a confined belly." {Pal., lib. iv.
sect. 11.)
96. The cows Columella " most approves of, are of a tall make, long, with very large belly, very broad
forehead, eyes black and open, horns graceful, smooth, and black, hairy ears, strait jaws, very large
dewlap and tail, and moderate hoofs and legs." {Col., lib. vi. cap. 21.)
97. Breeders both of horses and cows, Virgil observes, should attend principally to ihe
make of the female. " If any one," says he, " fond of the prize at the Olympic games,
breeds horses ; or if any one breeds stout bullocks for the plough, he chiefly attends to
the make of the mother, who ought to be large in all her parts." (^Georg., iii. v. 49.) The
same maxim is enforced scientifically by Cline. (Commun. to Board of Ag., vol. iv.)
98. For breaking and training cattle to the yoke, Varro and Columella give very parti-
cular directions. " To break bullocks," says Varro, " put their necks between forked
stakes ; .set up one for each bullock, and give them meat from the hand ; they will become
tractable in a few days : then, in order that by degrees they may become accustomed to
the yoke, let an unbroken one be joined with a veteran, whom he will imitate j then
let them go upon even ground without a plough ; then yoked to a light plough in a sandy
soil. That they may be trained for carriages, they should first be put to empty carts, and
driven, if convenient, through a village or town ; the habit of hearing frequent noise, and
seeing a variety of objects, will soon make them fit for use. ( Var., lib. i. cap. 20.)
99. Training commences with the calf state ; and " calves," says Virgil, " which
you intend for country labour, should be instructed while their youthful minds are
tractable, and their age manageable : first bind round their necks wide wreaths of tender
twigs ; tlien, when their free necks have been accustomed to servitude, put real collars
upon them ; join bullocks of equal strength, and make them step together ; at first let
them frequently be employed in drawing along the ground wheels without any carriage
upon them, so that they may print their steps only upon the top of ihe dust ; afterwards
let the beechen axle groan under the heavy load, and the pole draw iie wheels joined t(»
the weighty carriage." (Georg., iii. v. 163.)
100. Labouring oxen zverefed with the mast or nuts of the beech or sweet chestnut, grape
stones and husks after being pressed, hay, wheat and barley straw, bean vetch and lupine
chaff, all parts of corn and pulse, grass, green forage, and leaves. Ihe leaves used
were those of the holm oak, ivy, elm (considered the best), the vine, the poplar, &c.
The poplar leaves were mixed with the elm leaves to make them hold out, and when there
were no elm leaves, then oak and fig leaves were used. (Cat., cap. 54.) The food pre
ferred before all others by Columella, is good pasturage in summer, and hay and com in
winter; but he says the food and manner of feeding differ in different countries.
101. Oxen ivere worked in pairs abreast both with the cart and plough, and stood in the
stables also in pairs, in bnbilia or stalls formed on purpose. They were carefully matched,
in order that tlie stronger might not wear out the weaker. They were yoked either by
the horn or neck ; but the latter mode was greatly preferred.
102. Yoking by the horns. Columella observes, " is condemned by almost all who have written on hus-
bandry ; because cattle can exert more strength from the neck and breast, than the horns ; as in the one
way, they pre.ss with the whole weight and bulk of their botlies ; whereas in the other way, they are tor-
mented with having their heads drawn back and turned up, and with ditficulty stir the surface of the
earth with a light plough." {Col., lib. ii. cap. 11. 22.)
103. Oxen, when in the plough, were not allowed to go a great way without turning ;
one hundred and twenty feet was the length fixed upon, and further than this it was
thought imjjioper for them to pull hard without stopping. The Reverend A. Dickson
thinks it probable, that « the breaks or plats for the different kinds of corn and pulse
C 3
23 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
were laid out nearly of this length and breadth " (Husb. of the Anc, ii. 452.) ; and there
appear grounds for concluding that the case was the same among the Jews and Greeks.
It was thought proper that oxen, in ploughing, should be allowed to stop a little at the
turning, and when they stopped, that the ploughman should put the yoke a little forward,
that so their necks might cool. " Unless their necks are carefully and regularly cooled,"
says Columella, " they will soon become inflamed, and swellings and ulcers will arise."
The same author directs that " the ploughman, when he has unyoked his oxen, must rub
them after they are tied up, press their backs with his hands, pull up their hides, and not
suffer them to stick to their bodies ; for this is a disease that is very destructive to working
cattle." No food must be given them till they have ceased from sweating and high
breathing, and then by degrees, in portions as eaten ; and afterwards they are to be led to
the water, and encouraged by wliistling." (Co/., lib. ii. cap. 3.)
104. In purchasing working oxen, Varro directs to choose such as have " spacious horns,
rather black than otherwise, a broad forehead, wide nostrils, a broad chest, and thick
dewlap." (Lib. i. cap. 20.) All the Roman authors agree that the best colour of the body
is red or dark brown ; that the black are hardier, but not so valuable ; that the hair should
be short and thick, and the whole skin veiy soft to the touch ; the body in general very
long and deep, or, as Columella and Palladius express it, compact and square. The
particular parts they also describe at length in terms such as would for the most part be
approved by experienced breeders of cattle ; making due allowance for the difference be-
tween choice for working, and choice for fatting. They all concur in recommending
farmers to rear at home what oxen they want, as those brought from a distance often
disagree with the change of soil and climate.
105. The ass was the animal next in general use. Varro says they were chiefly used for
carrying burdens, or for the mill, or for ploughing where the land was light, and that they
were most common in the south of Italy, especially in Campania. (Lib. ii. cap. 6.) He
gives directions for breeding and rearing them ; and states that the female sliould not
be allowed to work when in an advanced state of pregnancy, but that the male does
not improve by indulgence in labour. The foal is removed from the dam a year after being
foaled, and broken for labour in the third year.
106. Mules, Columella says, " are very proper both for the road and the plough, provided
they are not too dear, and the stiff lands do not require the strength of the ox." " Mules
and hinni," Varro observes, " are of two kinds ; the first being the offspring of a mare and
an ass, and the second of a horse and an ass. A hinnus is less than an ass in the body, com-
monly of a brighter colour ; his ears, mane, and tail like those of the horse. The mule is
larger than the ass, but has more of the character of that animal in its parts than the
hinnus. To breed mules, a joung jackass is put under a mare when he is foaled, and
being reared with her is admitted to her the third year ; nor does he despise the mare on
account of former habits. If you admit him younger he soon gets old, and Ms offspring
is less valuable. Persons who have not an ass wluch they have brought up under a mare,
and who wish to have an ass for admission, choose the largest and the handsomest they
can find, from a good breed." {Varro, lib. ii. cap. 8.) Mules are fed like the ass, on
spray, leaves, herbage, hay, chaff, and corn.
107. The horse was scarcely, if at all, used in Roman agriculture, but was reared for the
saddle and the army, by some farmers. Varro and Columella are particular in their
directions as to the choice of mares, and breeding and rearing their young ; but as these
contain nothing very remarkable, we shall merely remark that the signs of future merit
in a colt are said to be a small head, well formed limbs, and contending with other colts
or horses for superiority in running, or in any other thing.
108. The dog is a valuable animal in every unenclosed country, and was kept by the
Roman farmers for its use in assisting the shepherd, and also for watching. Vari'o men-
tions two kinds : one for hunting, which belongs to fierce and savage beasts ; and one for
the shepherd and the watch-box. The latter are not to be bought from hunters or
butchers, because these are either lazy, or will follow a stag rather than a sheep. The
best colour is white, because it is most discernible in the dark. They must be fed in the
kitchen with bread and milk ; or broth with bruised bones, but never with animal food,
and never allowed to suffer from hunger, lest they attack the flock. That they may not
be wounded by other beasts, they wear a collar made of strong leather set with nails, the
inward extremities of which are covered with soft leather, that the hardness of the iron
may not hurt their necks. If a wolf or any other beast is wounded by these, it makes
other dogs that have not the collar remain secure. ( Varr., lib. ii. cap. 9.)
SuBSECT. 4. Of the Agricidtural Implements of the Romans.
109. The Ro7nans used a great many instruments in their culture and farm manage-
ment ; but their particular forms and uses are so imperfectly described, that very little is
known concerning them. »
110. The plough, the most important instrument in agriculture, is mentioned by Cato as
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF THE ROMANS.
23
of two kinds, one for strong, and the other for light, soils. Varro mentions one witli two
mould boards, with which, he says, " when they plough after sowing the seed, they are said
to ridge." Pliny mentions a plough with one mould board for the same purpose, and
otiiers with a coulter, of which, he says, there are many kinds. It is probable indeed,
as the Rev. A. Dickson has remarked, that the ancients had many kinds of ploughs,
though, perhaps, not so scientifically constructed as those of modern times. " lliey had
ploughs," he says, " with mould boards, and without mould boards ; with and without
coulters ; with and without wheels ; with broad and narrow pointed shares ; and with
shares not only with sharp sides and points, but also with high-raised cutting tops."
(Husb. of the An., ii. 388.) But amidst all this variety of ploughs, no one has been able
to depict the simplest form of that implement in use among the Romans. Professor John
Martyn, in his notes to Virgil's Georgics, gives a figure of a modern Italian plough to
illustrate Virgil's description. Rosier says the Roman plough was the same as is still
used in the south of France (Jig. 11.) Some authors have made fanciful representations
of it of the rudest construction ; others have exhibited more refined pieces of mechanism,
but most improbable as portraits.
111. From the different parts of the plough mentioned by the Roman authors, a
figure has been imagined and described by the author of the Husbandry of the
Ancients, which, from his practical knowledge of agriculture, and considerable classi-
cal attainments, it is to be regretted he did not live to see delineated. A plough in
use from time immemorial in Valentia (^. 12.), is supposed to come the nearest to
the common Roman imple-
ment. In it we have the
buris or head (a) ; the temo,
or beam (b) ; the stiva, or
handle (c) ; the dentale, or
share head (d) ; and the vo-
mer or share (e). The other
parts, the aura or mould
board, and the culter or
coulter, com})Osed no part
of the simplest form of Ro-
man plough ; the plough-
staff, or paddle, was a detached part ; and the manicula, or part which the ploughman
took hold of, was a short bar fixed across, or into the handle, and the draught pole (/)
was that part to which the oxen were attached.
112, The plough described by Virgil had a mould board, and was used for
covering seed and ridging ;
but that which we have de-
picted, was the common
form used in stirring the
soil. To supply the place
of our mould boards, this
plough required either a
sort of diverging stick (g),
inserted in the share head,
or to be held obliquely and
sloping towards the side to
which the earth was to be
turned. The Romans did
not plough their fields in
beds, by circumvolving fur-
rows, as we do ; but the cat-
tle returned always on the
same side, as in ploughing
with a turnwrest plough.
113 Wheel ploughs, Lasteyrie thinks, were invented in or not long before the time of
Pliny, who attributes the invention to the inhabitants of Cisalpine Gaul. Virgil seems
C 4
24 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
to have known euch ploughs, and refers to them in his Georgics. In the Greek monu-
ments of antiquity are only four or five examples of these. Lasteyrie has given figures
of tliree wheel ploughs from Caylus's Collection of Antiquities (Jig. IS. a and b), and from
a Sicilian medal (c).
114 The urpex, or irpex, seems to have been a plank- with several teeth, used as our
brake or cultivator, to break rough ground, and tear out roots and weeds. - 14
115. The crates seems to have been a kind of harrow ; ^^^X
116. The rastrum, a rake used in manual labour ; f }\
117. The sarculum, a hand hoe, similar to our draw hoe j and ' ' ' '
I IB. The marra, a hand hoe of smaller size. '— t't—
119. The bidens (bi-dens) seems to have been a two-pronged hoe of large size, « fj^'
with a hammer at the other end used to break clods. These were used chiefly
in cultivating vineyards.
120 The ligo seems to have been a spade (Jig. 14.), and the paia a shovel or
sort of spade, or probably a synonym. The ligo and pala were made of wood
only, of oak shod with iron, or with the blade entirely of iron.
121. The securis seems to have been an axe, and the same term was applied to
the blade of the pruning knife, which was formed like a crescent, C.
122. The dolabra was a kind of adze for cutting roots in tree culture.
123. The reaping hook seems to have been the same as that in modern use : some were
used for cutting off tiie ears of far or maize, and these, it may be presumed, were not
serrated like our sickles ; others for cutting wheat and
barley near the ground, like our reaping hooks. In the
south of Gaul, Pliny informs us, they had invented a reap-
ing machine : from his description this machine must have
borne a considerable resemblance to that used in Suffolk,
for cropping the heads off clover left for seed, and not
unlike other modern attempts at an engine of this descrip-
tion. (See Jig. 16.)
124. There were threshing implements for manual labour,
and for being drawn by horses ; and some for striking off
the ears of corn (Jig. 15.), like what are called rippling
combs, for combing off the capsules of newly pulled flax.
125. A variety of other inst-ruments for cleaning corn,
and for the wine and oil press, are mentioned j but too
obscurely to admit of exact description.
SuBSETCT. 5. Cf the Agricultural Operations of the Romans.
126. Of simple agricultural operations, the most important are ploughing, sowing,
and reaping ; and of such as are compound, or involve various simple operations, fallow-
ing, manuring, weeding, and field-watering.
127. Ploughing is universally allowed to be the most important operation of agri-
culture. " What," says Cato, " is the best culture of land ? Good ploughing.
What is the second? Ploughing in the ordinai-y way. What is *he third? Laying
on manure." (Cap. Ixi.) The season for plougliing was any time wheu land was not wet :
in the performance, the furrow is directed to be kept equal in breadth throughout, one
furrow equal to another ; and straight furrows. The usual depth is not mentioned, but it
was probably considerable, as Cato says corn land should be of good quality -for two feet
in depth. No scamni or balks (hard unmoved soil) were to be left, and to ascertain that
this was properly attended toj the farmer is directed, when inspecting the work done, to
push a pole into the ploughed land in a variety of places. The plough was generally
drawn by one pair of oxen, which were guided by the ploughman without the aid of a
driver. In breaking up stiff land he was expected to plough half an acre, in free land
an acre, and in light land an acre and a half, each day. Land, as already noticed
(103.), was ploughed in square plots of 120 feet to the side, two of which made a jugerum
or acre. A similar practice seems to have existed among the Eastern nations, and is
probably alluded to in the book of Samuel (chap. xiv. 5. 14.), where Jonathan and his
armour-bearer are said to have slain about twenty men within half an acre, or literally
" half a furrow of an acre of land."
128. Fallowing ivas a universal practice among the Romans. In most cases, a crop and
3 year's fallow succeeded each other ; though, when manure could be got, two crops or
more were taken in succession ; and on certain rich soils, which Pliny describes as
favourable for barley, a crop was taken every year. In fallowing, the lands were first
ploughed after the crop was removed, generally in August ; they were again cross-
ploughed in spring, and at least a third time before sowing, whether spring corn or
winter corn was the crop. There was, however, no limit to the number of ploughings
and sarclings, and, when occasioned required, manual operations ; the object being, as
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF THE ROMANS. 25
Tlieophrastus observes, " to let the earth feel the cold of winter, and the sun of summer,
to invert the soil, and render it free, light, and clear of weeds, so that it can most easily
afford nourishment." {Theo. de Cans. Plant., lib. iii. cap. 25.)
129. Manuriyig was held in such high esteem by the Romans, that immortality was
given to Sterculius for the invention. They collected it from every source which has
been thought of by the moderns, vegetable, animal, and mineral, territorial, aquatic, and
marine. Animal dung was divided into three kinds, that produced by birds, that by
men, and that by cattle- Pigeon-dung was preferred to all, and next human ordure and
urine. Pigeon-dung was used as a top-dressing ; and human dung, mixed with clean-
ings of the villa, and with urine, was applied to the roots of the vine and the olive. " M.
Varro," says Pliny, " extols the dung of thrushes from the aviaries, as food for swine
and oxen, and asserts that there is no food that fattens them more quickly." Varro pre-
fers it also as a manure ; on which Pliny observes, " we may have a good opinion of the
manners of our times, if our ancestors had such large aviaries, as to procure from them
dung to their fields." (Nat. Hist., lib. xvii. cap. 9.) Dunghills were directed to be
placed near the villa, their bottoms hollowed out to retain the moisture, and their sides
and top defended from the sun by twigs and leaves. Dung usually remained in the
heap a year, and was laid on in autumn and spring, the two sowing seasons. No more
was to be spread than could be ploughed in the same day. Crops that were sickly were
revived by sowing over them the dust of dung, especially that of birds, that is, by what is
now called a top-dressing. Frequent and moderate dungings are recommended as pre-
ferable to occasional and very abundant supplies. Green crops, especially lupines, were
sown, and before they came into pod ploughed in as manures : they were also cut and
buried at the roots of fruit trees for the same purpose. Trees, twigs, stubble, &c., were
burned for manure. Cato says, " If you cannot sell wood and twigs, and have no
stone that will bum into lime, make charcoal of the wood, and bum in the com fields the
twigs and small branches that remain." Palladius says that " lands which have been
manured by ashes of trees will not require manure for five years." (Lib. i. 6.) Stubble
was very generally burned, as it was also among the Jews. Lime was used as a manure,
especially for vines and olives. Cato gives particular directions how to form the kiln
and burn it. He prefers a truncated cone, ten feet in diameter at the bottom, twenty-
feet high, and three feet in diameter at the top. The grate covers the whole bottom ;
tliere is a pit below for the ashes, and two furnace-doors, one for drawing out the burnt
stone, and the other for admitting air to tlie fire. The fuel used was wood or charcoal.
(Cap. 38.)
1 30. Marl was known to the earlier Roman authors, but not used in Italy. It is men-
tioned by Pliny as having been " found out in Britain and Gaul It is a certain rich-
ness of earth," he says, " like the kernels in animal bodies that are increased by fatness."
Marl, he says, was known to the Greeks, " for is there any tiling," he adds, " that has
not been tried by them ? They call the marl-like white clay leucargillon, which they use
in the lands of Megara, but only where they are moist and cold." (Nat. Hist., lib. xvii.
cap. 5. 8.) But though the Romans did not use marl, because they had not dis-
covered it in Italy, they were aware, as Varro and others inform us, of its use. " When
I marched an army," says Varro, " to the Rhine, in Transalpine Gaul, I passed through
some countries where I saw tlie fields manured with white fossil clay." (Lib. i.
cap. 7.) This must have been either marl or chalk.
131. Sowi7ig was performed by hand from a basket, as in modem times ; the hand, as
Pliny observes, moving with the step, and always with the right foot. The corns and
leguminous seeds were covered with the plough, and sometimes so as to rise in drills ; the
smaller seeds with the hoe and rake.
132. In reaping com, it was a maxim, that it is " better to reap two days too soon than
two days too late." Varro mentions three modes of performing the operation : cutting
close to the ground with hooks, a handful at a time ; cutting off their ears with a curved
stick, and a saw attached ; and cutting the stalks in the middle, leaving the lower part or
stubble to be cut afterwards. Columella says, " Many cut the stalks by the middle, with
drag-hooks, and these either beaked or toothed : many gather the ears with mergce, and
others with combs. This method does very well where the crop is thin ; but it is very
troublesome where the corn is thick. If, in reaping with books, a part of the straw
is cut off vvdth the ears, it is immediately gathered into a heap, or into the nubilarium, and
after being dried, by being exposed to the sun, is threshed. But if the ears only are cut
off, they are carried directly to the granary, and tlireshed during the winter." (CoA, lib. ii.
cap. 21.) To these modes Pliny adds that of pulling up by the roots; and remarks,
generally, that, « where they cover their houses with stubble, they cut high, to preserve
this of as great a length as possible ; when there is a scarcity of hay, they cut low, that
straw may be added to the chaff." (Nat. Hist., lib. xviii. cap. 30.)
133. A reaping machine used in the plains of Gaul, is mentioned both by Pliny and Palladius, which is
thus described by the latter : — " In the plains of Gaul, they use this quick way of reaping, and, without
26
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
reapers, cut large fields with an ox in one day. For this purpose a machine is made, carried upon two
wheels; the square surface has boards erected at the side, which, sloping outwards, make a wider space
above ; the board on the fore part is lower than the others; upon it there are a great many small teeth,
wide set in a row, answering to the height of the ears of the corn, and turned upwards at the ends;
on the back part of this machine two
short shafts are fixed, like the poles 16
of a litter ; to these an ox is yoked,
with his head to the machine, and
the yoke and traces likewise turned
the contrary way : he is well trained^
and does not go faster than he is
driven. When this machine is pushed
through the standing corn, all the
ears are comprehended by the teeth,
and heaped up in the hollow part of
it, being cut off" from the straw, which
is left behind ; the driver setting it
higher or lower, as he finds it neces-
sary ; and thus, by a few goings and
returnings, the whole field is reaped.
This machine does very well in plain
and smooth fields, and in places
where there is no necessity for feed-
ing with straw." {Pal., lib. vii. tit. 2.)
A conjectural delineation of this ma-
chine {Jig. 16.) is given by Lasteyrie,
in his Collection des Machines, S[c.
134. The Roynans did not bind their com into sheaves, as is customary in northern cli-
mates. When cut it was in general sent directly to the area to be threshed ; or, if the
ears only were cropped, sent in baskets to the barn. Among the Jews, Egyptians,
and Greeks, the corn was bound in sheaves j or at least some kinds were so treated, as
appears from the story of Ruth " gleaning among the sheaves ;" of Joseph's dream, in
which his " sheaf arose ;" and from the harvest represented by Homer, on one of the
compartments of Achilles's shield. (II., lib. xviii. 550.) Reapers were set in bands on
the opposite sides of the field or plot, and worked towards the centre. As the land was
ploughed in the same manner from the sides to the middle, there was an open furrow
left there, to which the reapers hastened in the way of competition. A reaper was
expected to cut down a jugerum of wheat in a day and a half; of barley, legumes, and
medica or clover, in one day ; and of flax in three days.
1 35. Threshing was performed in the area or threshing floor, a circular space of from 40
to 60 feet in diameter, in the open air, with a smooth hard surface. The floor was generally
made of well wrought clay mixed with amurca or the lees of oil ; sometimes it was
paved. It was generally placed near the nubilarium or barn, in order that^ when a
sudden shower happened, during the process of threshing, the ears might be carried in
there out of the rain. Sometimes also the ears or unthreshed corn of the whole farm
were first put in this barn and carried out to the area afterwards. Varro and Columella
recommended that the situation of the area should be high and airy, and within sight of
the farmer or bailiflf's house, to prevent fraud ; distant from gardens and orchards,
because, though dung and straw are beneficial to the roots of vegetables, they are de-
structive when they fall on their leaves." (Var., lib. i. cap. 51.)
136. The corn being spread over the area a foot or two
in thickness, was threshed or beaten out by the hoofs
of cattle, or horses driven round it, or dragging a ma-
chine over it. This machine, Varro informs us, was
" made of a board, rough with stones or iron, with a
driver or great weight placed on it." A machine com-
posed of rollers studded with iron knobs, and furnished
with a seat for the driver {fig. 17.), was used in the
Carthaginian territory. Sometimes also they threshed
with rods or flails. Far, or Indian corn (Zt!a Muys
L.), was generally hand-picked, or passed through a
handmill.
137. Corn was cleansed or winnowed by throwing it from one part of the floor to another
(in the wind when there was any), with a kind of shovel called ventilabrum ; another im-
plement, called a van, probably a kind of sieve, was used when there was no wind. After
being dressed, the corn was laid in the granary, and the straw either laid aside for litter,
or, what is not a little remarkable, " sprinkled with brine ; then, when dried, rolled up in
bundles, and so given to the oxen for hay." (PUn. Nat. Hist., lib. xviii. cap. 30.)
138. Hay-making among the liomans was performed much in the same way as in
modern times. The meadows were mown when the flowers of the grass began to fade ;
" as it dries," says Varro, " it is turned with forks ; it is then tied up in bundles of four
pounds each, and carried home, and what is left strewed upon the meadow is raked
together, and added to the crop." " A good mower," Columella informs us, " cuts a
jugerum of meadow, and binds twelve hundred bundles of hay." It is probable that this
quantity, which is nearly two tons, was the produce per acre of a good crop. A second
crop was cut, called cordum, and was chiefly used tar feeding sheep in winter. Hay
Book I. AGHICULTURE OF THE ROMANS. 27
was also made of leafy twigs for the same purpose. Cato directs the bailiff to " cut
down poplar, elm, and oak spray, and put them up in time, not over drj, for fodder for
the sheep." (Cap. 5.)
139. f Feeding and stirring the soil were performed, the first by cutting with a hook, or
pulling the weeds up with the hand ; and the second by sarcling or hoeing. Beans were
hoed three times, and corn twice : the first time they were earthed up, but not the second or
third ; " for," says Columella, " when the corn ceases to tiller, it rots if covered with
earth." Lupines were not sarcled at all, " because so far from being infested with weeds,
they destroy them." Horse-hoeing was also practised, the origin of wliich is thus given
by Pliny : " We must not omit," says he, " a particular method of ploughing, at this
time practised in Italy beyond the Po, and introduced by the injuries of war. The
Salassi, when they ravaged the lands lying under the Alps, tried likewise to destroy the
panic and millet that had just come above ground. Finding that the situation of the crop
prevented them from destroying it in the ordinary way, they ploughed the fields;
but the crop at harvest being double what it used to be, taught the farmer to plough
amongst the corn." This operation, he informs us, was performed, either when the stalk
was beginning to appear, or when tlie plant had put forth two or three leaves. The
corn being generally sown in drills, or covered with the plough, so as to come up in
rows, readily admitted this practice.
140. PastU7-i7ig and harrowing corny when too luxuriant, were practised. Virgil says,
** What commendation shall I give to him, who, lest his corn should lodge, pastures it
while young, as soon as the blade equals the furrow." (Geor.,i. 111.) Pliny directs
to comb the corn with a harrow before it is pastured, and sarcle it afterwards.
141. Watering on a. large scale was applied both to arable and grass lands. Virgil
advises to " bring down the waters of a river upon the sown corn, and when the field is
parched, and the plants dying, convey it from the brow of a hill in channels. (Geor., i.
106.) Pliny mentions the practice, and observes that the water destroys the weeds,
nourishes the com, and serves in place of sarcling. Watering grass lands was practised
wherever an opportunity offered. " As much as in your power," says Cato, " make wa-
tered meadows." Land that is naturally rich and in good heart, says Columella, " does
not need to have water set over it, because the hay produced in a juicy soil is better than
that excited by water ; when the poverty of the soil requires it, however, water may be
set over it." The same author likewise describes, very particularly, the position of the
land most proper for water meadows. " Neither a low field," says he, " with hollows,
nor a field broken with steep rising grounds, are proper. The first, because it contains
too long the water collected in the hollows ; the last, because it makes the water to run
too quickly over it. A field, however, that has a moderate descent, may be inade a
meadow, whether it is rich or poor, if so situated as to be watered. But the best situation
is, where tlie surface is smooth, and the descent so gentle, as to prevent either showers, or
the rivers that overflow it, from remaining long ; and, on the other hand, to allow the
water that comes over it gently to glide off". Therefore, if in any part of a field intended
for a meadow, a pool of water should stand, it must be let off" by drains ; for the loss is
equal, either from too much water or too little grass." (Col., lib. ii. cap. 17.)
142. Old water meadows were renewed hy breaking up and sowing them with com for
three years ; the third year they were laid down with vetches and grass seeds, and then
watered again, but " not with a great force of water, till the ground had become firm and
bound together with turf." (Co/., lib. ii. cap. 18.) Watering, Pliny informs us, was
commenced immediately after the equinox, and restrained when the grass sent up flower
stalks ; it was recommenced in mowing grounds, after the hay season, and in pasture
lands at intervals.
143. Draining, though an operation of an opposite nature to watering, is yet essential
to its success. It was particularly attended to by the Romans, both to remove surface
water, and to intercept and carry off" under the surface the water of springs.
Cato gives directions for opening the furrows of sown fields, and clearing them so as the
water might find its way readily to the ditches : and for wet-bottomed lands he directs
to make drains three feet broad at top, four feet deep, and a foot and a quarter wide at
the bottom ; to lay them with stones, or, if these cannot be got, with willow rods placed
contrariwise, or twigs tied together. (Cap. 43.) Columella directs both open and
covered drains to be made sloping at the sides, and in addition to what Cato says respecting
the water-ways of covered drains, directs to make the bottom narrow, and fit a rope made
of twigs to it, pressing the rope firmly down, and putting some leaves or pine branches
over it before throwing in the earth. Pliny says the ropes may be made of straw, and
that flint or gravel may be used to form the water-way, filling the excavation half full,
or to within eighteen inches of the top.
144. Fencing was performed by the Romans, but only to a limited extent. Varro
says " the limits of a farm should be fenced (rendered obvious) by planting trees, that
families may not quarrel with their neighbours, and that the limits may not want the
28 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
decision of a judge." (Lib. i. 15.) Palladius directs to enclose meadows, and gardens,
and orchards. Columella mentions folds for enclosing the cattle in the night-time ; but
the chief fences of his time were the enclosures called parks for preserving wild beasts,
and forming agreeable prospects from the villas of the wealthy. Pliny mentions these,
and says they were the invention of Fulvius Lupinus. (Nat. Hist., lib. viii.) Varro
describes fences raised by planting briars or thorns, and training them into a hedge ; and
these, he says, have the advantage of not being in danger from the burning torch of the
wanton passenger ; fences of stalks, interwoven with twigs, ditches with earthen dykes,
and walls of stone or brick, or rammed earth and gravel. (Lib. i. cap. 14.)
145. Trees were pruned and felled at different times, according to the object in view.
The olive was little cut ; the vine had a winter dressing, and one or two summer
dressings. Green branches or spray, of which the leaves were used as food for oxen and
sheep, were cut at the end of summer ; copse wood for fuel, in winter ; and timber trees
generally in that season. Cato, however, directs that trees wliich are to be felled for
timber should be cut down at different times, according to their natures : such as ripen
seeds, when the seed is ripe ; such as do not produce seeds, when the leaves drop ; such as
produce both flowers and seeds at the same time, also when the leaves drop ; but if they
are evergreens, such as the cypress and pine, they may be felled at any time.
146. Fruits were gathered hy hand. The ripest grapes were cut first ; such as were
selected for eating were carried home and hung up ; and those for the press were put in
baskets, and carried to the vdne-press to be picked and then pressed. Olives were plucked
by hand, and some selected for eating ; the rest were laid up in lofts for future bruising, or
they were immediately pressed. Such as could not be reached by ladders, Varro directs
to be " struck vnXh a reed rather than with a rod, for a deep wound requires a physician."
It does not appear that green olives were pickled and used as food as in modern times.
147. Such are the chief agricidtural operations of the Roinans, of which it cannot fail to
be observed as most remarkable, that tiiey differ little from what we know of the rural
operations of the Jews and Greeks on the one hand, and from the practices of modem
times on the other.
Sdbsect. 6. Of the Crops cultivated, and Animals reared by the Romans.
1^8. The cereal grasses cultivated by the Romans were chiefly the triticum or wheat, the
far, or Indian corn (Zea), and the hordeum or barley : but they sowed also the siligo or
rye, the holcus or millet, the panic grass (Panicum miliaceum), and the avena or oat.
149. Of legumes they cultivated the faha or bean, the pisum or pea, the lupimis or
lupine, the ervum or tare, the lens or flat tare (idthyrus Cicera), the chickling vetch (Za-
thyrus sativus), the chick or mouse pea (Cicer arietinum), and the kidneybean (Phas^olus).
The bean was used as food for the servants or slaves, the others were grown principally
for food to the labouring cattle.
150. The sesamum, or oily grain (S'^samum orient^le X.)
{fig. 18.), was cultivated for the seeds, from which an oil was
expressed, and used as a substitute for that of olives, as it
Btill is in India and China, and as the oil of the poppy is
in Holland, that of the walnut in Savoy, and that of the
hemp in Russia.
151. The Jierbage plants were chiefly the trifolium or clover,
the medic or lucem, and the cytisus. What the latter plant
is, has not been distinctly ascertained. Tliey cultivated also
the ocymum and fcenum grcecum, vnth several others, which
from the descriptions left of them cannot now be identified.
The napus or turnip, and rapa or rape, were much esteemed
and carefully cultivated. Pliny says " they require a dry
soil ; that the rapa will grow almost any where ; that it is
nourished by mists, hoar-frosts, and cold ; and that he has seen
some of them upwards of forty pounds* weight. The napus,"
he says, " delights equally in colds, which make it both
sweeter and larger, while by heat they grow to leaves." He
adds, " the more diligent husbandmen plough five times for the napus, four times for tlie
rapa, and apply dung to both." (Mat. Hist., lib. xviii. cap. 13.) Palladius recommends
soot and oil as a remedy against flies and snails, in the culture of the napus and rapa.
While the turnips were growing, it appears, persons were not much restricted from pulling
them. Columella observes that, in his time, the more religious husbandmen still ob-
served an ancient custom, mentioned by Varro as being recorded by Demetrius, a Greek.
This was, that w'lile sowing them they prayed they might grow both for themselves and
neighbours. Pliny' says the sower was naked.
152. Of crops used in the arts may be mentioned the flax, the sesamum already men-
tioned, and the poppy ; the two latter were grown for their seeds, which werebioiised for oil.
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF THE ROMANS.
29
1 53. The ligneous crops were willows, both for basketmaking, and as ties and poles for
olives and vines. Copse wood was grown in some places for fuel ; but chiefly in natural
woods, which were periodically cut. Timber was also pro- 1 !
cured from the natural forests, w^hich were abundant in oak,
elm, beech, pine, and larix.
154. The fruit trees cultivated extensively were the vine and
the olive. The fig was grown in gardens and orchards, and
also the pear ; and in the gardens of the wealthy were found
most fruits in present use, with the exception of the pine-
apple, the gooseberry, and perhaps the orange, though the
lemon seems to have been known in Palladius's time. The vine
was supported by elms or poplars {jtg> 19.), or tied to differ-
20 ent sorts of trellises {Jig- 20.), as in Italy at the present day.
155. Such are the principal Jield crops of Roman agriculture
from which, and from the list of cultivated vegetables given by
Pliny, it appears that they had most plants and trees now in
use, with the exception of tlie potato, and one or two others
of less consequence.
156. Ofaniynals reared, the quadrupeds were of the same kinds
as at present ; and to the common sorts of poultry they added
thrushes, larks, peacocks, and turtle doves ; they also reared snails, dormice, bees, and
fish. The care of the poultry was chiefly committed to the wife of the farmer or bailiflp;
and it was principally near Rome and Naples that the more delicate birds were ex-
tensively reared. When Rome was at her greatest height, in the time of the Caesars, the
minor articles of farm produce bore a very high price. Varro informs us that " fat birds,
such as thrushes, blackbirds, &c., were sold at two shillings, and sometimes 5000 of
them were sold in a year from one farm. ( Var.i lib. iii. cap. 2.) Pea-fowls were sold at
1/. 13s. 4cZ. ; an egg was sold at 3s. 4rf. A farm produced sometimes as many of these
fowls as to sell at 500/. {Var., lib. iii. cap. 6.) A pair of fine doves were commonly of
the same price with a peacock, 1/. 13s. 4d. If very pretty, they were much higher in
the price, no less than 8/. 6s. 8d. L. Anius, a Roman knight, refused to sell a pair
under 13/. 6s. 8rf." {Far., lib. iii. cap. 7.) Some kinds of fishes were very highly valued
among the Romans in the time of Varro. Hortensius, whom Varro used frequently
to visit, would sooner have parted with a pair of his best coach-mules, than with a bearded
mullet. {Var., lib. iii. cap. 17.) Herrius's fishponds, on account of the quantity offish,
were sold for 33,333/. 6s. 8d. {Plin. Nat. Hist., lib. ix. cap. 55.) ; Lucullus's, likewise,
for the same price. {Id., lib. ix. cap. 54.)
•
SuBSECT. 7. Of the general Maxims of Farm, Management among the Itomans.
157. In every art which has been long jyractised, there are maxims of management
which have been handed down from one generation to another ; and in no art are there more
of these than in agpculture. Maxims of this sort were held among the Romans in the
greatest estimation, and their writers have recorded a number derived from the lost
Greek writers, and from their own traditionary or experimental knowledge. A few of
these shall be noticed, as characteristic of Roman economy, and not without their use in
modem times.
158. To sow less and plough better was a maxim indicating that the extent of farms
ought to be kept in their proper bounds. Pliny and Virgil consider large farms as pre-
judicial, and Columella says, one of the seven wise men has pronounced that there
jdiould be limits and measures in all things. " You may admire a large farm, but cul-
tivate a small one ; " and the Carthaginian saying, that " the land ought to be weaker
than the husbandman," were maxims to the same eflPect.
159. The importance of the master s presence in every operation of farming, was in-
culcated by many maxims. " Whoever would buy a field ought to sell his house, lest
he delight more in tlie town than in the country," was a saying of Mago. " Wherever the
eyes of the master most frequently approach," says Columella, " there is the greatest
increase." It is justly remarked by the Rev. A. Dickson, that though " every person
knows that the presence and attention of the master is of great importance in every
business ; yet every person does not know, that in no business are they so important as
in farming." {Hu^. of the An., \. 206.)
160. That more is to be gained by cultivating a small spot well than a large space indif-
ferently, is illustrated by many sayings and stories. " A vine-dresser had two daughters
and a vineyard ; when, his eldest daughter was married, he gave her a third of his vine-
yard for a portion ; notwithstanding which, he had the same quantity of fruit as formerly.
When his younger daughter was married he gave her the half of what remained, and still
the produce of his vineyard was not diminished." {Col., lib. iv. cap. 3.) Pliny mentions
a freedman, who having much larger crops than his neighbours, was accused of witchcraft
so HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
and brought to trial. He produced in the forum a stout daughter, and his excellently
constructed iron spades, shears, and other tools, with his oxen, and said, " These, Romans,
are my charms." He was acquitted. (^Nat. Hist., lib. xviii. cap. 6.)
161. Ostentatious or profuse culture is not less condemned than imperfect culture.
" The ancients," says Pliny, " assert that notliing turns to less account tlian to give land
a great deal of culture. To cultivate well is necessary, to cultivate in an extraordi-
nary manner is hurtful. In what manner, then," he asks, " are lands to be culti-
vated to the best advantage ?" To this he answers, " In the cheapest manner, if it is
good ;" or " by good bad things," which, he says, were the words in which the ancients
used to express this maxim.
162. Industry is recommended by numerous maxims. " The ancients," says
Pliny, " considered him a bad husbandman who buys what his farm can produce to him ;
a bad master of a family, who does in the day-time wliat he may do at night, except in
the time of a storm ; a worse, who does on common days what is lawful on holidays ;
the worst of all, who on a good day is employed more within doors than in the fields."
{Nat. Hist., lib. xviii. cap. 6.)
163. Kindness and humanity to servants and slaves is strongly recommended. " Slaves,"
says Varro, " must not be timid nor petulant. They who preside must have some de ree
of learning and education ; they must be frugal, older than the workmen, for the latter are
more attentive to the directions of tliese, than they are to those of younger men. Besides,
it must be most eligible that they should preside, who are experienced in agriculture ;
for they ought not only to give orders, but to work, that they may imitate him, and that
they may consider that he presides over them with reason, because he is superior in
knowledge and experience : nor is he to be suffered to be so imperious to use coercion
with stripes rather than words, if this can be done. Nor are many to be procured of the
same country, for domestic animosities very often arise from this source. You must en-
courage them who preside, by rewarding tliem, and you must endeavour to let them have
some privilege, and maid servants wedded to them, by whom they may have a family ;
for by these means they become more steady and more attached to tlie farm. On account
of these connections, tie Epirotic families are so distinguished and attached. To give the
persons who preside some degree of pleasure, you must hold them in some estimation ;
and you must consult with some of the superior workmen concerning the work that is to
be done : when you behave thus, they think tliat they are less despicable, and that they
are held in some degree of esteem by their master. They become more eager for work
by liberal treatment, by giving them victuals, or a large garment, or by granting them
some recreation or favour, as the privilege of feeding something on the farm, or some such
thing. In relation to them, who are commanded to do work of greater drudgery, or who
are punished, let somebody restore their good will and affection to their master by afford-
ing them the benefit of consolation."
164. Knowledge in matters relative to agriculture is inculcated by all the rustic authors.
" Whoever," says Columella, " would be perfect in this science, must be well acquainted
with the qualities of soils and plants ; must not be ignorant of the various climates,
that so he may know what is agreeable, and what is repugnant, to each ; he must know
exactly the succession of the seasons, and the nature of each, lest, beginning his work
when showers and wind are just at hand, his labour shall be lost. He must be capable to
observe exactly the present temper of the sky and seasons ; for these are not always re-
gular, nor in every year does the summer and winter bring the same kind of weather, nor
is the spring always rainy, and the autumn wet. To know these things before they hap-
pen, without a very good capacity, and the greatest care to acquire knowledge, is, in my
opinion, in the power of no man." {Col., lib. i. praef.) To these things mentioned by
Columella, Virgil adds several others. " Before we plough a field to which we are
strangers," says he, " we must be careful to attain a knowledge of the winds, from what
points they blow at the pai-ticular seasons, and when and from whence they are most
violent ; the nature of the climate, which in different places is very different ; the cus-
toms of our forefathers ; the customs of the country ; the qualities of tlie different soils ;
and what are the crops that each country and climate produces and rejects." {Virg.
Georg.,1. 1.)
165. The making of experiments is a thing very strongly recommended to the farmer by
some of our authors. " Nature," says Varro, " has pointed out to. us two paths, which
lead to the knowledge of agriculture, viz. experience and imitation. The ancient hus-
bandmen, by making experiments, have established many maxims. Their posterity, for
the most part, imitate them ; we ought to do both, imitate others and make experiments
ourselves, not directed by chance, but reason." {Var., lib. i. cap. 18.)
Sect. V. Of tlie Produce and Profit of Roman Agriculture.
166. The topics of produce and profits in agriculttire, are very difficult to he discussed
satisfactorily. In manufactures the raw material is purchased for a sum certain, and tlie
Book I AGRICULTURE OF THE ROMANS. 31
manipulation given by the manufacturer can be accurately calculated ; but in farming,
though we know the rent of the land and price of seed-corn, which may be considered
the raw materials ; yet the quantity of labour required to bring forth the produce, depends
so much on seasons, accidents, and other circumstances, to which agriculture is more
liable than any other art, that its value or cost price cannot easily be determined. It is
a common mode to estimate the profits of farming by the numerical returns of the seed
sown. But this is a most fallacious ground of judgment, since the quantity of seed given
to lands of different qualities, and of different conditions, is very different ; and the acre,
which, being highly cultivated and sown with only a bushel of seed, returns forty for one,
may yield no more profit than that which, being in a middling condition, requires four
bushels of seed, and yields only ten for one.
167. The returns of seed sown, mentioned by the ancients, are very remarkable. We
have noticed Isaac's sowing and reaping at Gerar (7.), where he received a hundred for
one. In Mark's gospel, " good seed sown upon good ground, is said to bring forth in
some places tliirty, in others forty, in others sixty, and in others even an hundred fold."
(Afark, iv. 8.) A hundred fold, Varro informs us, was reaped about Garada in Syria,
and Byzacium in Africa. Pliny adds, that from the last place, there were sent to
Augustus by his factor nearly 400 stalks, all from one grain ; and to Nero, 340 stalks.
He says he has seen the soil of tliis field, " which when dry the stoutest oxen cannot
plough ; but after rain I have seen it opened up by a share, drawn by a wretched ass on
the one side, and an old woman on the other." (A^at. Hist., lib. xviii. cap. 5. j The returns
in Italy were much less extraordinary. Varro says, there are sown on a jugenim, four
modii (pecks) of beans, five of wheat, six of barley, and ten of far (maize) ; more or less
as the soil is rich or poor. The produce is in some places ten after one, but in others, as
in Tuscany, fifteen afler one." (Lib. i. cap. 44.) This, in round numbers, is at the rate
of twenty-one and thirty-two bushels an JEnglish acre. On the excellent lands of Leon-
tinum in Sicily, the produce, according to Cicero, was no more than from eight to ten for
one. In Columella's time, when agriculture had declined, it was still less.
1 68. The farmer's profit cannot be correctly ascertained ; but, according to a calculation
made by the Rev. A. Dickson, the surplus produce of good land in the time of Varro,
was about fifteen pecks of wheat per acre ; and in the time of Columella, lands being
worse cultivated, it did not exceed three and one third pecks per acre. What proportion
of tliis went to the landlord cannot be ascertained. Com, in Varro's time, was from 4rf.
to 5^d. per peck ; seventy years afterwards, in the time of Columella, it had risen to
Is. 9d. per peck. Vineyarck were so neglected in the time of this autlior, that they did
not yield more to the landlord as rent, than 145. or 15s. per acre.
169. The price of land, in the time of Columella and Pliny, was twenty-five years'
purchase. It was common, both these writers inform us, to receive 4 per cent for capital
so invested. The interest of money was then 6 per cent ; but this 6 per cent was not
what we would call legal interest ; money among the Romans being left to find its value,
like other commodities, of course the interest was always fluctuating. — Such is the
essence of what is known as to the produce, rent, and price of lands among the Romans.
Sect. VI. Of the Roman Agriculturists, in respect to general Science, and the
Advancement of the Art.
1 70. The sciences cultivated by the Greeks and Romans were chiefly of the mental and
mathematical kind. They knew nothing of chemistry or physiology, and very little of
ottier branches of natural philosophy ; and hence their progress in the practical arts was
entirely the result of observation, experience, or accident. In none of their agricultural
writers is there any attempt made to give the rationale of the practices described : abso-
lute directions are either given, as is frequently the case in Virgil and Columella ; or the
historical relation is adopted, and the reader is informed what is done by certain persons,
or in certain places, as is generally the case with Varro and PUny.
171. Jflierever the phenomena of nature are not accounted for scientifically, recourse is
had to supernatural causes,- and the idea of this kind of agency once admitted, there is
no limit that can be set to its influence over the mind. In the early and ignorant ages,
good and evil spirits were supposed to take a concern in every thing ; and hence the
endless and absurd superstitions of the Egyptians, some of which have been already
noticed, and the equally numerous though perhaps less absurd rites and ceremonies of the
Greeks, to procure their favour, or avert their evil influence. Hesiod considered it of not
more importance to describe what works were to be done, than to describe the lucky and
unlucky days for their performance. Homer, Aristotle, Theophrastus, and all the Greek
authors, are more or less tinctured with this religion, or superstition as we are pleased to
call it, of their age.
172. As the Romans mudefew advances in science, consequently tliey made equally few
in divesting tliemselves of the superstitions of their ancestors. These, as most readers
know, entered into every action and art of that people, and into none more than agri-
32 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE Part I.
culture. In some cases it is of importance for the general reader to be aware of this,
before perusing their rustic authors ; as in the case of heterogeneous grafting, and the
spontaneous generation and transmutation of plants, which, though stated by Virgil and
Pliny, and others, as facts, are known to every physiologist to be impossible : but other
relations are too gross to be entertained as truths by any one. Of these we may mention
the lunar days, the impregnation of animals by particular winds, &c. It is impossible
not heartily to concur with Lord Kaimes in congratulating the present age on its delivery
from such " heavy fetters." It is curious to observe the religious economy of Cato.
After recommending the master of the family to be regular in performing his devotions, he
expressly forbids the rest of the family to perform any, either by themselves or others,
telling them that they were to consider that the master performed sufficient devotions for
the family. (Ca?., cap. 43.) This was probably intended not only to save time, but also
to prevent such slaves as had naturally more susceptible imaginations than the others,
from becoming religious enthusiasts.
173. What degree of improvement agriculture received from the Romans, is a question
we liave no means of answering. Agriculture appears obviously to have declined
from the time of Cato and Varro to Pliny ; and therefore any improvement it received
must have taken place antecedently to their era. As these authors, however, generally
refer to the Greeks as their masters in this art, it appears very doubtful whether they
did any thing more than imitate their practice. As a more luxurious people, tliey
introduced new fruits, and probably improved the treatment of birds, and other minor
products ; but these belong more to gardening and domestic economy, than to field
cultivation. In the culture of corn, herbage, plants, and fruit trees, and in the breeding
and rearing of cattle, Noah and his sons, the Jews, the Babylonians, Egyptians, and
Greeks, may have been as far advanced as die Romans, for any thing that appears to the
contrary. The great agricultural advantage which mankind have derived from the
Romans, is the diffusion of the art by their almost universal conquests.
Sect. VII. Of tlie Extent to which Agriculture was carried in the Roman Provinces, and
of its Decline.
174. The art of agriculture was not only familiar to, hut held in estimation hy, every Ro-
man soldier. It was practised by him in every foreign country where he was stationary ;
and he taught it to the inhabitants of such as were uncultivated. In some countries, as in
Carthaginia, great part of Spain, and a part of the soutli-east of France, agriculture
was as far advanced as in Italy ; because at Carthage and Marseilles the Greeks had
planted colonies, which flom-ished anterior to the Romans, or at least long before they
extended their conquests to these countries : but in Helvetia, Germany, and Britain, it
was in a very rude state or unknown.
175. In Germany, except on the borders of the Rhine, agriculture was never
generally practised. The greater part of the country was covered with forests ; and
hunting and pasturage were the chief occupations of the people when not engaged in war.
The decline of the Roman power in that country, therefore, could make very little dif-
ference as to its agriculture.
176. In Britain, according to Caesar, agriculture was introduced by colonies from
Belgium, which took shelter there from the encroachments of tlie Belgce from Germany,
about B.C. 150. These colonies began to cultivate the sea coasts ; but the natives of the
inland parts lived on roots, berries, flesh, and milk, and it appears from Dionysius
that they never tasted fish. Pliny mentions tlie use of marl as being known to the
Britons ; and Diodorus Siculus describes their method of preserving corn, by laying it
up in the ear in caves or granaries.
177. JSut the general spread of agriculture in Britain was no doubt effected by the
Romans. The tribute of a certain quantity of com, which they imposed on every part of
the country, as it fell under their dominion, obliged the inhabitants to practise tillage ;
and from the example of the conquerors, and the richness of the soil, they soon not only
produced a sufficient quantity of corn for their own use and that of the Roman troops, but
afforded every year a very great surplus for exportation. The Emperor Julian, in the
fourth century, built granaries to receive this corn, and on one occasion sent a fleet of
eight hundred ships, '* larger than common barks," to convey it to the mouth of the
Rhine, where it was sent up the country for the support of the plundered inhabitants.
178. Agriculture among the Romans themselves had begun to decline in Varro' s time, and
was at a low ebb in the days of Pliny. Many of the great men in Rome, trusting
to their revenues from the provinces, neglected the culture of their estates in Italy ;
others, in want of money to answer the demands of luxury, raised all they could upon
credit or mortgage, and raised the rents of tlieir tenants to an oppressive height to
enable them to pay the interest. The farmer was in this manner deprived of his capital ;
his spirits were broken, and he ceased to exert himself, or became idle and rapacious like
his landlord, The civil wars in the end of the second century, tlie tyrannic conduct of
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 33
the emperors in the third ; and the removal of the seat of empire to Constantinople in the
middle of that which followed, prepared the way for the entrance of the Goths in the
beginning of the fifth century, which completed the downfal of agriculture and every
peaceful art. It declined at the same time in all the western provinces : in Africa and
Spain, from the incursions of the Moors ; in France, from the inroads of the Germans ;
in Germany and Helvetia, from the inhabitants leaving their country and preferring a
predatory life in other states ; and in Britain, from the invasion of the Saxons, and the
inroads of the Scots and Picts.
Chap. IIL
History of Agriculture during the Middle Ages, or from the Fifth to the Seventeenth
Century.
179. In the ages of anarchy and barbarism which succeeded the fall of the Roman pouter
in Europe, agriculture appears to have been abandoned, or at least extremely neglected.
Pasturage, in troublesome times, is always preferred to tillage, because sheep or cattle
may be concealed from an enemy, or driven away on his approach ; but who would
sow without a certainty of being able to reap ? Happily, the weaknesses of mankind
sometimes serve to mitigate the effects of their vices. Thus, the credulity of the bar-
barians of those times led them to respect the religious establishments, and in these were
preserved such remains of letters and of arts as had escaped from utter destruction.
These institutions were at first very limited, both in their buildings and possessions, and
the inhabitants frugal and virtuous in their habits ; but in a very few years, by the grants
of the rich warriors, they acquired extensive possessions ; erected the most magnificent
buildings, and lived in abundance and luxuiy. Their lands were cultivated by servants,
under the direction of the priests, who would have recourse for information to the Roman
agricultural writers, which, in common with such other books as then existed, were almost
exclusively to be found in tlieir libraries. We know little of tlie progress of agriculture
under these circumstances for nearly ten centuries, when it began to revive throughout
Europe among the lay proprietors. We shall notice some particulars relative to this
revival, first in Italy, and next in Germany, France, and England. So little is known
of the husbandry of Spain and the Netherlands during this period, that we shall defer
what we have to say of those countries till we treat of their modem state.
Sect. I. History of Agriculture in Italy, during the Middle Ages.
180. Little is known of the agriculture of Italy from the time of Pliny till that of
Crescenzio, a senator of Bologna, whose work In Commodum Buralium, written in
1300, was first printed at Florence in 1478. He was soon followed by several of his
countrymen, among whom Tatti, Stefano, Augustino Gallo, Sansovino, Lauro, and
Torello deserve to be mentioned with honour. From some records, however, it appears
that irrigation had been practised in Italy previously to 1037. The monks of Chiarevalle
had formed extensive works of this kind, and had become so celebrated as to be consulted
and employed as hydraulic engineers, by the Emperor Frederic I., in the thirteenth
century. Silkworms were imported from Greece into Sicily by Roger, the first king of
that island, in 1146 ; but they did not extend to the Continental states for many years
afterwards.
181. In the early part of the fourteenth century, the inhabitants of the south of Italy
were strangers to many of the conveniences of life ; they were ignorant of the proper
cultivation of the vine, and the common people were just beginning to wear shirts.
The Florentines were the only people of Italy who, at that time, traded with England and
France. The work of Crescenzio is, in great part, a compilation from the Roman
authors; but an edition published at Basil in 1548, and illustrated with figures, may
probably be considered as indicating the implements then in use. The plough is drawn
by only one ox : but different kinds to be drawn by two and four oxen are described in
the text. A driver is also mentioned, which shows that the ploughmen in those days were
less expert than during the time of the Romans, who did not use drivers. A waggon is
described with a wooden axle and low wooden wheels J each wheel formed A^^
either of one piece or of four pieces joined together. Knives, scythes (j^rrTy ~ ^
{fig. 21.), and grafting tools, as well as the mode of performing the ^^^f^^ \
operation, are figured. Sowing was then performed exactly as it was V4k I
among the Romans, and is still in most parts of Europe, where a sowing |nlN
machine is not employed. The various hand tools for stirring and T|) I
turning the soil are described and exhibited; and the Roman bidens ..„id(4^w«
shown as in use for cultivating the vine. All the agricultural and horti- ^^^-^--='
cultural plants described by Pliny are treated of, but no others.
D
34 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
182. Towards the end of the sixteenth century., Torello's Ricordo d^Agncultura was
published. In 1584, Pope Sixtus, according to Harte {Essay i.)> forced his subjects to
work, that they might pay the heavy taxes imposed on them ; and by this means rendered
them happy and contented, and himself rich and powerful. He found them sunk in
sloth, overrun with pride and poverty, and lost to all sense of civil duties ; but he
recovered them from that despicable state, first to industry, and next to plenty and
regularity.
183. Naples being at this period a Spanish province, the wars in which Spain was
engaged obliged her to put a tax upon fruit ; and as fruits were not only the chief
delicacies, but articles of subsistence, among the Neapolitans, this imposition is said to
have rendered them industrious. But though some agricultural books were published at
Naples during the sixteenth century, there is no evidence that they ever made much pro-
gress in culture. Their best lands are in Sicily ; and on them a com crop and a fallow
was and is the rotation, and the produce seldom exceeded eight or ten for one, as in the
time of the Romans. This is the case in Sicily at present ; and it is likely that it was not
different, or at least, that it was not better, from the fifth to the seventeenth centuries.
• 184. The greatest agiicultural improvements in Italy which took place during the
period in question, were in Tuscany and Lombardy, In the former country the culture
of the vine and the olive were brought to greater perfection than any where else in
Europe. The oil of Lucca and the wines of Florence became celebrated in other coun-
tries, and the commerce in these articles enriched the inhabitants, and enabled the pro-
prietors to bestow increased attention on the cultivation of their estates. Lombardy
excelled in the management of com and cattle as well as of the vine. The butter, cheese,
and beef of the country, were esteemed the best in Italy. The pastures were at that
time, and still are, more productive than any in Europe, or perhaps in the world, having the
three advantages of a climate so temperate in winter that the grass grows all the year, a
soil naturally rich, and an abundant supply of river water for irrigation. The irrigation
of Lombardy forms the chief feature of its culture. It was begun and carried to a con-
siderable extent under the Romans, and in tlie period of which we speak extended and
increased under the Lombard kings and wealthy religious establishments. Some idea
may be formed of the comfort of the farmers in Lombardy in the thirteenth century, by
the picture of a farm-house given by Crescenzio, who lived on its borders, which, as
a French antiquarian (Paulinay) has observed, differs little from the best modem ones of
Italy, but in being covered wiUi thatch.
Sect. II. History of Agriculture in France, from the Fifth to the Seventeenth Century.
185. The nations who conquered France in the fifth century were the Goths, Vandals,
and Franks. The two former nations claimed two thirds of the conquered lands {Leges
JBurgundiorum, tit. 54. ), and must of course have very much altered both the state of
property, and the management of the affairs of husbandry. The claim of the Franks is
more uncertain ; they were so much a warlike people, that they probably dealt more
favourably with those whom they subjected to their dominion.
1 86. All that is known of the agriculture of these nations and of France, till the ninth
century, is derived from a perusal of their laws. These appear to have been favourable
to cultivation, especially the laws of the Franks. Horses are frequently mentioned, and
a distinction made between the war horse and farm horse, which shows that this animal
was at that period more common in France than in Italy. Horses, cattle, and sheep
were pastured in the forests and commons, with bells about the necks of several of them,
for their more ready discovery. The culture of vines and orchards was greatly encouraged
by Charlemagne in the ninth century. He planted many vineyards on the crown lands
which were situated in every part of the country, and left in his capitularies particular
instructions for their culture. One of his injunctions prohibits an ox and an ass from
being yoked together in the same plough.
1 87. During great part of the ninth and tenth centuries, France was harassed by civil
wars, and agriculture declined ; but to what extent, scarcely any facts are left us to ascer-
tain. A law passed in that period, respecting a farmer's tilling the lands of his superior,
enacts that, if the cattle are so weak that four could not go a whole day in the plough, he
was to join these to the cattle of another and work two days instead of one. He who
kept no cattle of his own was obliged to work for his superior three days as a labourer.
188. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the country enjoyed more tranquillity, and
agriculture was improved. Judging from the Abb6 Suger's account of the abbey lands
of St. Denis, better farm-houses were built, waste lands cultivated, and rents more than
doubled. Tlie church published several canons for the security of agriculture during
this period, which must have had a beneficial effect, as the greatest proportion of the best
lands in every country was then in the hands of the clergy.
189. In the thirteenth century little alteration took place ; but the number of holidays
were diminished, and mills for grinding corn driven by wind introduced.
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 35
190. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, agriculture suffered greatly by the English
wars and conquests, and by political regulations relative to the export and market price
of corn.
191. About the middle of the sixteenth century, the first agricultural work produced in
France made its appearance. It was entitled, Les Mai/ens de devenir riche, and was com-
posed by Bernard de Pallisy, a potter, who had written on various subjects. It is a very
short tract, composed of economical remarks on husbandry, or rural and domestic
economy. Towards the end of this century, under Henry IV. , and his virtuous minister
Sully, considerable enterprise was displayed. Canals were projected, and one begun, and,
according to Sully, France in his time abounded with corn, grain, pulse, wine, cider, flax,
hemp, salt, wool, oil, dying drugs, cattle great and small, and every thing else, whether
necessary or convenient for life, both for home consumption and exportation. {Mem.,
xvi. 225. ; Rankens Hist, of France, i. 433.)
Sect. III. Of the Agriculture of Germany and ot/ier Northern States, from the Fifth to
the Seventeenth Century.
1 92. The nations north of the Rhine and the Danube, during the first half of these
centuries, were chiefly employed in making inroads or conquests on their southern neigh-
bours ; and during the whole period they were more or less engaged in attacking one
another. Under such circumstances, agriculture must either have remained in the state
wliich we have already described (178.), or it must have declined. In some states or
kingdoms it may have been less neglected than in others, or may even have improved ;
but, during the whole of this period, notliing was effected wliich demands particular
attention.
193. The earliest German author on husbandry is Conradus Heresbachius, who was
born in 1508, and died in 1576. His work, De Re Rustica, was published after his
death. It is an avowed compilation from all the authors who had preceded him, and
contains no information as to the state of agriculture around him. It is a dialogue in
four books, and also includes gardening. The persons are Cono, a gentleman retired
into the country ; Rigo, a courtier ; Metelea, wife of Cono ; and Hermes, a servant.
The conversation is carried on in Cono's house, and on his farm, and the different
speakers are made to deliver all that has been said by all the Greek and Roman writers,
from Hesiod to Pliny, by Crescenzio and other Italians, and by various writers on
general subjects : they converse on the advantages of agriculture as a pursuit ; on its
general maxims and practices ; on the culture of particular plants ; and on the economy
of the house and garden.
1 94. No other books on agriculture, of any note, appeared in Germany during the period
under revieiv. About the middle of the sixteenth century, the Elector «f Saxony,
Augustus II., is said to have encouraged agriculture, and to have planted the first vine-
yard in Saxony ; but, from the implements with which he worked in person, which are
still preserved in the arsenal of Dresden, he appears to have been more a gardener than a
farmer. It is to be regretted that the histories of the arts in the nortliem countries during
the middle ages are very few, and so little known or accessible, that we cannot derive
much advantage from them.
Sect. IV. History of Agriculture in Britain, from the Fifth to the Seventeenth Century.
1 95. Britain, on being quitted by the Romans, ivas invaded by the Saxons, a ferocious
and ignorant people, by whom agriculture and all other civilised arts were neglected.
In the eleventh century, when the Saxons bad amalgamated with the natives, and con-
stituted tlie main body of the English nation, the country was again invaded by the Nor-
mans, a much more civilised race, who introduced considerable improvement. These
two events form distinct periods in the history of British agriculture, and two others will
bring it down to the seventeenth century.
SuBSECT. 1. History of Agriculture in Britain during the Anglo-Saxon Dynasty, or from
the Fifth to the Eleventh Century.
196. At the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons this island, according to Fleury (History,
vol. iv. p. 97.), abounded in numerous flocks and herds, which these conquerors seized,
and pastured for their own use ; and, after their settlement, they still continued to follow
pasturage as one of the chief means of their subsistence. This is evident from the great
number of laws that were made in the Anglo-Saxon times, for regulating the prices of all
kinds of tame cattle, for directing the manner in which they were to be pastured, and
for preserving them from thieves, robbers, and beasts of prey. (JFilkins, Leges Saxon.,
passim. )
1 97. The Welsh in this period, from the nature of their country and other circum-
stances, depended still more on their flocks and herds for their support ; hence their laws
respecting pasturage were more numerous and minute than those of the Saxons. (Leges
D 2
86 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
WalliccB, passim.) From these laws we learn, among many other particulars which need
not be mentioned, that all the cattle of a village, though belonging to different owners, were
pastured together in one herd, under the direction of one person (with proper assistants) ;
whose oath, in all disputes about the cattle under his care, was decisive.
198. By one of these laws, they ivere prohibited from ploughing with horses, mares, or cows,
and restricted to oxen. (Leges Wallicce, p. 288.) Their ploughs seem to have been very-
slight and inartificial : for it was enacted that no man should undertake to guide a plough,
who could not make one ; and that the driver should make the ropes with which it was
drawn of twisted willows. {Ibid., p. 283.) Hence the names still in use of ridge- withy,
wanty or womb-tye, whipping-trees, tail-withes, &c. But slight as these ploughs were,
it was usual for six or eight persons to fomi themselves into a society for fitting out one of
them, and providing it with oxen, and every thing necessary for plougliing ; and many
minute and curious laws were made for the regulation of such societies. This is a sufficient
proof both of the poverty of the husbandmen, and of the imperfect state of agriculture
among the ancient Britons in this period.
1 99. Certain privileges were allowed to any person who laid dung on a field, cut down a
wood, or folded his cattle on another's land for a year. , . Such was the state of agriculture
during this period in Wales ; it was probably in a still more imperfect state among the
Scots and Picts, but this we have no means of ascertaining.
200. Our Anglo-Saxon ancestors derived their origin and manners from the ancient
Germans, who were not much addicted to agriculture, but depended chiefly on their
flocks and herds for their subsistence. {Straho, 1. vii. ; Cessar cle Sell. Gall., 1. vi.) These
restless and haughty warriors esteemed the cultivation of their lands too ignoble and
laborious an employment for themselves, and therefore committed it wholly to their
women and slaves. [Tacit, de Morib. German., c 15.) They were even at pains to con-
trive laws to prevent their contracting a taste for agriculture, lest it should render them
less fond of arms and warlike expeditions. {Id., c. 26.)
201. The division of landed estates into what are called inlands and outlands, originated
with the Saxon princes and great men, who, in the division of the conquered lands, ob-
tained the largest shares, and are said to have subdivided their territory into two parts,
which were so named. The inlands were those which lay most contiguous to the mansion-
house of their owner, which he kept in his own immediate possession, and cultivated by
his slaves, under tlie direction of a bailiff, for the purpose of raising provisions for his
family. The outlands were those which lay at a greater distance from the mansion-
house, and were let to the ceorls or farmers of those times at a certain rent, which was
very moderate, and generally paid in kind. {Reliquice Spelmanniance, p. 12.)
202. The rent of lands in these tim^s was established by law, and not by the owners of
the land. By the laws of Ina, king of the West Saxons, who flourished in the end of
the seventh and beginning of the eighth century, a farm consisting of ten hides, or plough
lands, was to pay the following rent, viz. ten casks of honey, three hundred loaves of
bread, twelve casks of strong ale, thirty casks of small ale, two oxen, ten wethers, ten
geese, twenty hens, ten cheeses, one cask of butter, five salmon, twenty pounds of forage,
and one hundred eels. {Wilkins, Leges Saxon., p. 25.) The greatest part of the crown
lands in every county was farmed in this manner by ceorls or farmers, who in general
appear to have been freemen and soldiers.
203. Very little is known of the implements
or operations of husbandry during this period.
In one of Strutt's plates of ancient dresses,
entitled, Saxon Rarities of the Eighth Cen-
tury, may be seen a picture of a plough and
ploughman, {fg. 22.) This is sufficiently
rude, though it has evidently undergone some
improvement from the art of the delineator.
The laboiirers were no doubt slaves, and the
animals of draught, oxen. The lands be-
longing to the monasteries were by much the ^,, — ^^^g, . ,niurs:s--'--5^ii,-/- , --
best cultivated; because the secular canons '^J^:-'^^: '^^::z:^=^^^-^,-r^^-:'i>^^'''^^^^
who possessed them spent some part of their
time in cultivating their own lands. The venerable Bede, in his life of Easterwin,
Abbot of Weremouth, tells us that " This abbot, being a strong man, and of an humble
disposition, used to assist his monks in their rural labours, sometimes guiding the plough
by its stilt or handle, sometimes winnowing corn, and sometimes forging instruments
of husbandry with a hammer upon an anvil." {Bedce Hist. Abbat. Weremath., p. 296.)
For in those times the husbandmen were under a necessity of making many implements
of husbandry with their own hands.
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES.
37
SuBSECT. 2. (yf the State of Agriculture in Britain after the Norman Conquest, or from
the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries.
204. That the conquest of England by the Normans contributed to the improvement of
agriculture in Britain is undeniable. " For by that event many thousands of husband-
men, from the fertile and well cultivated plains of Flanders, France, and Normandy,
settled in this island, obtained estates or farms, and employed the same methods in the
cultivation of them that they had used in their native countries. Some of the Norman
barons were great improvers of their lands, and are celebrated in history for their skill
in agriculture." " Richard de Rulos, lord of Brunne and Deeping," says Ingulphus,
" was much addicted to agriculture, and delighted in breeding horses and cattle. Be-
sides enclosing and draining a great extent of country, he imbanked the river Wielland,
(which used every year to overflow the neighbouring fields) in a most substantial manner,
J)uilding many houses and cottages upon the bank ; which increased so much, that in a
little time they formed a large town called Deeping, from its low situation. Here he
planted orchards, cultivated commons, converted deep lakes and impassible quagmires
into fertile fields, rich meadows, and pastures ; and, in a word, rendered thie whole
country about it a garden of delights." (Hist. Ingulphi., Oxon. edit. 1684, tom. i.
p. 77, 78.) From the above description, it appears that this nobleman (who was
chamberlain to William the Conqueror) was not only fond of agriculture, but also that
he conducted his improvements with skill and success.
205. The Norman clergy, and particularly the monks, were still greater improvers than
the nobility ; and the lands of the church, especially of the convents, were conspicuous
for their superior cultivation : for the monks of every monastery retained such of their
lands as lay most convenient in their own possession, which they cultivated with great
care, under their own inspection, and frequently with their own hands. It was so much
the custom of the monks of this period to assist in the cultivation of their lands, especially
in seed-time, hay-time, and harvest, that the famous Thomas Becket, after he was
Archbishop of Canterbury, used to go out to the field, with the monks of the monasteries
where he happened to reside, and join with them in reaping their corn and making their
hay. (Chron. Gervas., col. 1400.) This is indeed mentioned by the historian as an act
of uncommon condescension in a person of his high station in the church ; but it is
sufficient proof that the monks of those times used to work with their own hands, at
some seasons, in the labours of the field : and, as many of them were men of genius and
invention, they no doubt made various improvements in the art of agriculture. The
twenty-sixth canon of the general council of Lateran, held A.D. 1179, affords a further
proof that tlie protection and encouragement of all who were concerned in agriculture,
were objects of attention to the church. For by that canon it is decreed, " That all
presbyters, clerks, monks, converts, pilgrims, and peasants, when they are engaged in
the labours of husbandry, together with 23
the cattle in their ploughs, and the seed
which tliey carry into the field, shall
enjoy perfect security ; and that all who
molest or interrupt them, if they do not
desist when they have been admonished,
shall be excommunicated. " ( Ibid. , col .
1456.)
206. The implements of husbandry, in
this j)eriod, were of the same kind with
those that are employed at present,
though all of them, no doubt, much less
perfect in their construction. One sort
of plough, for example, had but one
stilt or handle, which the ploughman guided with one hand, having in his other hand an
instrument wliich served both for cleaning and mending his plough, and breaking the clods.
(Jig. 23.) This implement was pro-
bably intended for breaking up strong ^ ^"-t. 24
lands ; for such a purpose the wheels
would contribute much to its steadiness, , . .. >. > ^.^.^^^ ,, .
which would render two handles unne- / (j <^VJ ""^^W^
cessary, and thus leave the holder with ' ' ^ ' '''^ " ^"^ "'' '^
one hand at liberty to use his axe-like
instrument in clearing away roots and ^ _
clods, or otherwise aiding the operation '^•^ ^<>^ifc^.^^ ff j [ ^ l--^^\ W^ ^X^'.'^t^
of the plough. Anotlier plough (^g.24.) '^
seems to have been without wheals, and was propably intended for light soil. (See
Strutt's Co7nplete View of the Manners, ^c. of Englan^ vol. ii. p. 12.) Tlie Norman
D 3
38
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
plough had two wheels ; and, in the light soil of Normandy, was commonly drawn by
one ox, or two oxen ; but in England a greater number, according to the nature of the
soil, were often necessary, (ilf. Montfaucon, Monumens de Monarchie Francois, torn. i.
plate 47. ; Girald. Cambrens. Descript. CambruE, c. 17.) In Wales, the person who con-
ducted the oxen in the plough walked backwards. (Girald. Cambrens., c. 17.) Their carts,
harrows, scythes, sickles, and flails, from the figures of them still remaining, appear to have
been nearly of the same construction with those that are now used. (^Strutt^s View, vol. i.
pi. 26. 82, 33. and our Jig. 25.) In Wales they did not v r-^ 25
use a sickle in reaping their corn, but an instrument
like the blade of a knife, with a wooden handle at each
end. (Girald. Cam., c. 17.) Water-mills for grinding
Com were very common, but they had also a kind of
mills turned by horses, which were chiefly used in
their armies, and at sieges, or in places where running
water was scarce. (Gaufrid. Vinisauf. Iter Hieroso-
lymit., 1. i. c. 33.; M. Paris, Vit. Abbot., p. 94. col. 2.)
207. The various ojierations of husbandry, as
manuring, ploughing, sovdng, harrowing, reaping,
threshing, winnowing, &c., are incidentally men-
tioned by the writers of this period ; but it is impossible to collect from them a distinct
account of the manner in which these operations were performed. Marl seems to have
been the chief manure next to dung, employed by the Anglo-Normans, as it had l>een
by the Anglo-Saxon and British husban(inen. (M. Paris, Hist., p. 181. ; In Vit. Abbot.,
p. 101. col. 1.) Summer fallowing of lands designed for wheat, and ploughing them
several times, appear to have been common practices of the English farmers of this
period : for Giraldus Cambrensis, in his description of Wales, takes notice of it as a
great singularity in the husbandmen of that country, " that they ploughed their lands
only once a year, in March or April, in order to sow them with oats ; but did not, like
other farmers, plough them twice in summer, and once in winter, in order to prepare
them for wheat." (Girald- Cambrens. Descript. Cambrue, c. viii. p. 887.) On the border
of one of the compartments in the famous tapestry of Bayeux, we see the figure of one
man sowing with a sheet about his neck, containing the seed under his left arm, and scat-
tering it with his right hand ; and of another man harrowing with one harrow, drawn by
one horse. (Montfaucon, Monumens de Monarchie Franqois, tom. i. plate 47.) In two
plates of Strutt's very curious and valuable work (Jigs. 26, 27.), we perceive the figures
of several persons engaged in mowing, reaping, threshing, and winnowing ; in all which
operations there appears to be little singular or different from modern practice. (Stridt^s
Complete View of the Manners, Custom^ ^c, of England, vol. i. plates 11, 12.)
208. Agriculture in Scotland seems to have been in a very imperfect state towards the
end of this period. For in a parliament held at Scone, by King Alexander II., A. D.
1214, it was enacted, that such farmers as had four oxen or cows, or upwards, should
labour their lands, by tilling tl^^ with a plough, and should begin to till fifteen days
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES. ' 39
before Candlemas ; and that such farmers as had not so many as four oxen, though they
could not labour their lands by tilling, should delve as much with hand and foot as would
produce a sufficient quantity of corn to support themselves and their families. (Regmni
Majeslatem, p. 307. ) But this law was probably designed for the highlands, and most
uncultivated parts of the kingdom ; for in the same parliament a very severe law was
made against those farmers who did not extirpate a pernicious weed called guilde (Chrysan-
themum s^getum L.) out of their lands, which seems to indicate a more advanced state
of cultivation. {Ibid., p. 335.) Their agricul- '29^
28 tural operations, as far as can be gathered
from old tapestries and illuminated missals,
were similar to those of England. Thresh-
ing appears to have been performed by women
(Jig. 28.), and reaping by the men (Jig. 29.),
which is the reverse of the modern practice
in that and in most countries. Such is the account of Henry.
(History of Britain, vol. vi. p. 173.)
209. Thejield culture of the vine, which had been commenced by
tlie monks for their own use, was more extensively spread by the
Normans. William of Malmsbury, who flourished in the early part of the twelfth
century, says there were a greater number of vineyards in the vale of Gloucester than
any where else, and that from the grapes was produced a wine very little inferior to that
of France. Orchards and cider were also abundant, and the apple trees, it is said, lined
the roads in some parts of the country, as they still do in Normandy, whence in all pro-
bability tlie plants or at least the grafts were imported.
SuBSECT. 3. History of Agriculture in Britain, from the Thirteenth Century to the Time
of Henry VIII.
210. Agriculture in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, it appears, was still carried
on with vigour. Sir John Fortescue, in a work in praise of the English laws, mentions
the progress that had been made in planting hedges and hedge-row trees before the end
of the fourteenth century. Judge Fortescue wrote his Legum Anglice in the fifteenth
century, but it was not published till the reign of Henry VIII. In the law book called
Fleta (supposed to have been written by some lawyers, prisoners in the Fleet, in 1340),
very particular directions are given as to the most proper times and best manner of
ploughing and dressing fallows. (Fleta, lib. ii. chap. 73. p. 163.) The farmer is there
directed to plough no deeper in summer, than is necessary for destroying the weeds ; nor
to lay on his manure till a little before the last ploughing, which is to be with a deep and
narrow furrow. Rules are also given for the changing and choosing of seed ; for pro-
portioning-the quantity of different kinds of seed to be sown on an acre, according to the
nature of the soil, and the degree of richness ; for collecting and compounding ma-
nures, and accommodating them to the grounds on which they are to be laid ; for the
best seasons for sowing seeds of different kinds on all the variety of soils ; and, in a
word, for performing every operation in husbandry, at the best time, and in the best
manner. (Fleta, lib. ii. chap. 72, 73. 76.) In the same work, the duties and business
of the steward, bailiff, and overseer, of a manor and of all the other persons concerned in
the cultivation of it, are explained at full length, and with so much good sense, that if
they were well performed the manor could not be ill cultivated. (Ibid., chap. 72. 88. ;
Henry, viii. 267.) lliis work, as well as others of the kind, is written in Latin, and even
the farming accounts were in those days kept in that language, as they still are in the
greater part of Hungary.
211. During the greater part of tlie fifteenth century England was engaged in civil wars,
and agriculture, as well as other arts, declined. The labourers, called from the plough by
royal proclamation or the mandates of their lords, perished in battle, or by accident and
fatigue, in immense numbers. Labour rose in price notwithstanding various laws for its
limitation, and this at last produced a memorable revolution in the state of agriculture,
which made a mighty noise for many years. The prelates, barons, and other great
proprietors of land, kept extensive tracts around their castles, which were called their
demesne lands, in their own immediate possession, and cultivated them by their villains,
and by hired servants, under the direction of their bailiffs. But these great landholders
liaving often led their followers into the fields of war, their numbers were gradually
diminished, and hired servants could not be procured on reasonable terms. Tliis obliged
the prelates, lords, and gentlemen to enclose the lands around their castles, and to con-
vert them into pasture grounds. This practice of enclosing became very general in
England about the middle of this period, and occasioned prodigious clamours from those
who mistook the effect of depopulation for its cause.
212. The habit of enclosing lands and converting tJiem to pasture continued after the
cause had ceased, and an act was passed to stop its progress in the beginning of the reign
D 4 *
40' HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Tart I.
of Henry VII. Tlie dearths of this period furnish another proof of the low state of
agriculture. Wheat in 1437 and 1438 rose from 4s. or 45. 6(/., the ordinary price per
quarter, to 11. 6s. Sd., equivalent to 131. 6s. 8d. of our money. Stow observes that, ip
these extremities, the common people endeavoured to preserve their wretched lives, by
drying the roots of herbs and converting them into a kind of bread. Land in those days
was sold for ten years' purchase, so great was the insecurity of possession.
213. Aj^riculture in Scotland was at a low ebb during the tliirteenth, fourteenth, and
fifteenth centuries, on account of the long and ruinous wars in which the country was
engaged. A law passed in 1424 enacts that every labourer of " simple estate " dig a
piece of ground daily, of seven feet square ; another in 1457, that farmers who had
eight oxen should sow every year one firlot (bushel) of wheat, half a firlot of pease, and
forty beans, under the pain of ten shillings to be paid to tlie baron ; and if the baron did
not do tlie same tiling to the lands in liis possession, he should pay the same penalty to
the king.
214. From the accession of Henry VII. in 1485, to nearly the middle of the seventeenth
century, England enjoyed peace. To remove the effects of former wars, however,
required a considerable time. The high price of labour, and the conversion of so much
land to tillage, gave rise to different impolitic statutes, prohibiting the exportation of
corn ; while a great demand was created for wool by the manufactures of the Nether-
lands, which tended to enhance tlie value of pasture lands, and depopulate the country.
The flocks of individuals, in these times, sometimes exceeded twenty thousand, and an
act was passed by Henry VIII., restricting them to a tenth of that number, apparently
eluded from the partial exception of hereditary opulence. Had the restraints imposed on
the exportation of com been transferred to wool, the internal consumption would have
soon regulated the respective prices of those articles ; the proportion between arable and
pasture lands would soon have been adjusted ; and the declining cultivation of the country
restored. An improved cultivation was reserved, however, for a future period, when
persecution extirpated manufactures from the Netherlands ; then, when the exportation of
English wool had subsided, and its price diminished, the farmer or landholder, disap-
pointed of his former exuberant profits, discovered the necessity of resuming tlie plough,
and restoring his pastures to culture. {Henry, xii. 261.)
215. Of the state of agriculture in Scotland during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
little can be stated. According to Major {^Historia Britnnnica, Paris, 1526), a native of
Bermck, " the peasants neither enclosed nor planted, nor endeavoured to ameliorate the
sterility of the soil." According to Fynnis Moryson, the produce of the country consisted
cliiefly of oats and barley j but it would appear from Chalmers that wheat was cultivated
in Scotland, at least upon the church lands, so early as the thirteenth century. Different
laws were enacted for planting groves and hedges, pruning orchards and gardens, and
forming parks for deer : but it is not the barren injunctions of statutes that will excite a
spirit of improvement in a country.
SuBSECT. 4. History of Agriculture, from the Time of Henry VIII. to the Revolution
in 1688.
216. Agriculture, soon after the beginning of the sixteenth century, partook of the general
improvement which followed tlie invention of the art of printing, the revival of literature,
and the more settled authority of government; and, instead of the occasional notices of
historians, we can now refer to regular treatises, written by men who engaged eagerly in
this neglected, and hitherto degraded, occupation.
217. The culture of hops was either introduced or revived early in the reign of Henry
VIII. ; and that of flax was attempted, but without success, though enforced by law.
(Holinshead, p. 110, 111. ; 24 Hen. 8. c. 4.) The legislature at that time endeavoured
to execute, by means of penalties, those rational improvements which have since been
fostered and cherished by bounties j or, what is better, pursued from the common motive
of self-interest.
218. The breeding of horses was now much encouraged. To tlie passion of the age,
and the predilection of the monarch for splendid tournaments, may be attributed the
attention bestowed on a breed of horses of a strength and stature adapted to the weight
of tlie complicated panoply with which the knight and his courser were both invested.
Statutes of a singular nature were enacted, allotting for deer parks a certain propor-
tion of breeding mares, and enjoining, not the prelates and nobles only, but those
whose wives wore velvet bonnets, to have stallions of a certain size for their saddle.
The legal standard was fifteen hands in horses, thirteen in mares, and *' unlikely tits "
•were, without distinction, consigned to execution. (27 Hen. 8. cap. 6. ; 36 Hen. 8.
cap. 13. See Barringtoiis Observations on the Statutes, p. 443.) James the Fourth,
of Scotland, with more propriety, imported horses from foreign countries in order to
improve the degenerate breed of his own. (Pitscotlic, p. 153.) The cultivation of
grasses for their winter provendfl§ was still unknown ; nor were asses propagated in
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 41
England till a subsequent period. (Holinshead, p. 220. ; Polydore Virgil, p. 13. ; Henry y
xii. 268.)
219. The first English treatise on husbandry now appeared, written by Sir A. Fitzherbert,
judge of the common pleas. It is entitled The Book of Husbandry, and contains directions
for draining, clearing, and enclosing a farm ; and for enriching and reducing the soil
to tillage. Lime, marl, and fallowing are strongly recommended. The landlords are
advised to grant leases to farmers who will surround their farms, and divide them by
hedges into proper enclosures ; by which operation, he says, " if an acre of land be
worth sixpence before it is enclosed, it will be worth eightpence when it is enclosed, by
reason of the compost and dunging of the cattle." Another reason is, that it will pre-
serve the corn without the expense of a herdsman. From the time of the appearance of
this work, in 1534, Harte dates the revival of husbandry in England.
220. The Book cf Surveying and Improvements, by the author of The Book of Hus-
bandry, appeared in 1539. In the former treatise we have a clear and minute description
of the rural practices of that period ; and from the latter may be learned a good deal of
the economy of the feudal system in its decline. The author of The Book of Husbandry
writes from his own experience of more than forty years ; and, if we except his biblical
allusions, and some vestiges of the superstition of the Roman writers about the influence
of the moon, there is very little of his work that should be omitted, and not a great deal
of subsequent science that need be added, with regard to the culture of corn, in a manual
of husbandry adapted to the present time. It may surprise some of the agriculturists of
the present day, an eminent agricultural writer remarks, to be told that, after the lapse of
almost three centuries, Fitzherbert's practice, in some material branches, has not been im-
proved upon ; and tliat in several districts abuses still exist, which were as clearly pointed
out by him at that early period, as by any writer of the present age. His remarks on
sheep are so accurate, that one might imagine they came from a storemaster of tlie pre-
sent day : those on horses, cattle, &c., are not less interesting ; and there is a very good
account of the diseases of each species, and some just observations on the advantage of
mixing different kinds in the same pasture. Swine and bees conclude this branch of the
work. He then points out the great advantages of enclosures ; recommends " quyck-
settynge, dychynge,and hedgyng ;" and gives particular directions about the settes, and the
method of training a hedge, as well as concerning the planting and management of trees.
We have then a short information " for a yonge gentylman that intendeth to thryve," and
a " prolouge for the wive's occupation," in some instances, rather too homely for the pre-
sent time. Among other things, she is to " make her husband and herself some clothes ;"
and " she may have the lockes of the shepe, either to make blankettes and coverlettes, or
both." This is not so much amiss ; but what follows will bring our learned judge into
disrepute, even with our most industrious housewives. " It is a wive's occupation to
wynowe all manner of cornes, to make malte, to washe and wrynge, to make heye, shere
come, and, in time of nede, to helpe her husbande to fyll the muckewayne or dounge
carte, drive the ploughe, to loade heye, corne, and suche other. And to go or ride to the
market, to sel butter, chese, mylke, egges, chekyns, capons, hennes, pygges, gese, and all
manner of cornes." The rest of the book contains some useful advices about diligence
and economy j and concludes, after the manner of the age, with many pious exhortations.
(Encyc. Brit., art. Agr.)
221. The state of agriculture in England in the early part of the sixteenth century, and
probably for a long time before, is thus ascertained ; for Fitzherbert no where speaks of
the practices which he describes or recommends as of recent introduction. The Book of
Surveyinge adds considerably to our knowledge of the rural economy of that age.
" Four maner of commens" are described ; several kinds of mills for corn, and other
purposes, and also " qu ernes that goo with hand ;" different orders of tenants, dovm to
the ** boundmen," who "in some places contynue as yet; and many tymes, by
color thereof, there be many freemen taken as boundmen, and their lands and goods is
taken from them." Lime and marl are mentioned as common manures ; and the former
was sometimes spread on the surface to destroy heath. Both draining and irrigation
are noticed; though the latter but slightly. The work concludes with an enquiry
" How to make a township that is worth XX merke a yere worth XX li. a year :'*
this is to be done by enclosing, by which, he says, live stock may be better kept and
vdthout herds ; and the closes or fields alternately cropped with corn, and " let lye " for a
time.
222. Agriculture had attained a considerable degree of respectability during the reign of
Elizabeth. According to Tusser, who wrote in that age, and whose work will be pre-'
sently noticed, agriculture was best understood in Essex and Suffolk ; at least enclosures
were more common in these counties than in any other, which is always a proof of
advancement. A farmer, according to Harrison the geographer, " will thinke his gaines
very small towardes the end of his terme if he have not six or seven years rent lieing by
him, therewith to purchase a new lease ; beside a fair garnish of pewter on his cupboard.
42 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
with as much more in odd vessels going about the house ; three or four feather-beds ; so
many coverlets, and carpets of tapestrie ; a silver salt ; a bowle for wine, if not a whole
neast; and a dozen of spoones to furnish owte the sute." {Harrisons Description of
England, p. 188.)
223. The condition of a yeoman, before or about Elizabeth* s lime, is exemplified in the
case of Bishop Latimer's father. " My father," says Hugh Latimer, " was a yeoman,
and had no land of his own ; only he had a farm of three or four pounds by the year at
the utmost ; and hereupon he tilled so much as kept half a dozen men. He had a walk
for a hundred sheep ; and my mother milked thirty kine, &c. He kept his son at
school till he went to the university, and maintained him there ; he married his daugh-
ters with five pounds, or twenty nobles apiece ; he kept liospitality with his neighbours,
and some alms he gave to the poor ; and all this he did but of the said farm." [Gilpin s
Life of Latimer.)
224. Cattle were not jylentiful in England at the beginning of Elizabeth'' s reign. In 1563
it was enacted that no one should eat flesh on Wednesdays or Fridays, on forfeiture of
three pounds, unless in oase of sickness, or of a special license, neither of which was to
extend to beef or veal. (^Stat. 5 Eliz. cap. 4. ) Great pains were taken in the act to prove
that it was a political, not a religious measure.
225. The vast number of parks in the kingdom are complained of by Harrison. " There
are not less," he says, " than an hundred in Essex alone, where almost nothing is kept
but a sorte of wilde and savage beasts, cherished for pleasure and delight." And pursuing
the same subject, he says, " that if the world last a while after this rate, wheate and rie
will be no graine for poore men to feed on." (Description of Britaine, p. 168.)
226. Ln Scotland the civil dissensions, and even anarchy, which prevailed until a late
period in the sixteenth century, operated as a harsh check on every improvement in
agriculture, and the total expulsion of ecclesiastical landholders increased this evil ;
as the monks were easy landlords, and frequently not uninstructed in georgical know-
ledge. The tillers of the earth in Scotland had at least their full share of their country's
misfortunes, when private vengeance for private wrongs superseded the regular but timid
proceedings of public justice. A statute was then formed for their particular benefit,
whereby (Stat. 110. Pari. 7. Jac. 6.) " the slayers and houchers (houghers) of horses
and uther cattel," with their employers and maintainers, are declared " to have incurred
the paine of death, and confiscation of alle their gudes movvabil. " A second act passed
in 1587 for the further protection of husbandmen, declaring all such as destroyed or
maimed horses, oxen, &c., cut or destroyed ploughs or plough-geers (in time of tilling),
or trees and com, should suffer death. {Stat. 83. Pari. 2. Jac 6.) Several acts of parlia-
ment were made to protect the farmers from petulant tithe-gatherers ; the proper times of
notice were herein pointed out, and liberty given to the tiller of the land to proceed in
his work if this notice were neglected. The last (Stat. 84. Pari. 2. Jac 6.) confirmed and
explained the others. (Andrew* s Continuation of Henry* s Hist., ii. 124.)
227. Great attention was still paid to the breed of horses in England ; but, during the
reign of Elizabeth, it was found necessary to lower the standard appointed by Henry VIII.
for stallions, from fourteen hands to thirteen. This modification, however, was only to
take place in the counties of Cambridge, Huntingdon, Northampton, Lincoln, Norfolk,
and Suifolk. (18 Eliz. cap. 8.) No stallion of less height could be turned out on com-
mons, forests, &c., for fear of deteriorating the breed. Harrison extols the height and
strength of the English draught-horses ; five or six of them, he says, will with ease draw
three thousand weight of the greatest tale for a long journey.
228. An English traveller, who visited Scotland in 1598, observed a great abundance of
all kind of cattle, and many horses ; not large, but high-spirited and patient of labour.
(Morysons Itin., part iii. p. 154.) Great care, indeed, was taken by the English, while
the kingdoms were separate, to prevent the Scots from improving their breed by southen
stallions; it was even made felony to export horses thither from England. (1 Eliz.
cap. 7.) This unneighbourly prohibition was answered by a reciprocal restriction in
1567, as to the exportation of Scottish horses (Stat. 22. Pari. 1. Jac. 6.) ; but France,
rather than England, seems to be aimed at by that statute. One circumstance,
pointed out by a curious antiquary (Paper ajmd Transactions of Sc. Ant. Soc, vol. i.
p. 171.), is a convincing proof of the modern improvement in the breed: for many
years past eight nails have been used to each horse's shoe in the north ; six used to be the
number.
229. The proper seasons for turning horses to grass was thought a consideration worth
the attention of the Scottish government, avowedly to prevent the waste of corn. All
horses were, therefore, ordered to be put to grass from May 15th to Oct. 15th, on
pain of forfeiting each horse, or its value, to the king. Gentlemen of 1000 marks,
yearly rent, and all upwards, are excepted. (Stat. 122. Pari. 7. Jac 6.) The 1st of
June was substituted in a subsequent act (Stat. 56. Pari. 2. Jac 6.) for the 15th of
May.
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 43
230. The vine in England continued to he cultivated for wine ; but not generally, for
the vineyards of the Lords Cobham and Williams of Thames, are pointed out by Bamaby
Gooch as eminently productive. It is probable this branch of culture declined with the
suppression of the monasteries, and the more general culture of barley ; as farmers and
others would soon find that good beer was a cheaper and better drink, than any wine that
could be made in this country. Though in 1565, in this reign, the potato was intro-
duced from Santa Fe by Capt. Hawkins, yet it did not come into general use, even in
gardens, for nearly two centuries afterwards.
23 1 . Tlie principal agricultural authors of Elizabeth* s reign are, Tusser, Googe, and
Sir Hugh Piatt. Thomas Tusser was born at Rivenhall in Essex, in 1 527. Having
a fine voice, he was impressed for the royal chapel, and sang in St. Paul's, under a
celebrated musician. " Afterwards he was a scholar at Eton, and next a student at
Cambridge. He next became, by turns, musician, farmer, grazier, and poet; but
always unsuccessfully, although guilty of neither vice nor extravagance." His Five
Hundred Points of Husbandry was published in 1562, and has been recommended by
Lord Molesworth to be taught in schools. (Some Considerations for the Promolitig of
Agriculture and employing the Poor, Dublin, 1723.) It is written in hobbling verse,
and contains some useful notices concerning the state of agriculture in diflferent parts of
England. Hops, which had been introduced in the early part of the sixteenth century,
and on the culture of which a treatise was published in 1574, by Reynolds Scott, are
mentioned as a well known crop. Buck-wheat was sown after barley. It seems to have
been the practice then, in some places, to " geld fillies " as well as colts. Hemp and flax
are mentioned as common crops. Enclosures must have been numerous in several
counties ; and there is a very good " comparison between champion (open fields) coun-
try, and severall." There is nothing to be found in Tusser about serfs or bondmen, as in
Fitzherbert's works. (Encyc. Brit., art. Agricul.)
232. The next writer is Bamaby Googe, a Lincolnshire gentleman, whose Whole Art of Husbandry was
printed in 1578. It is, for the most part, made up of gleanings from all the ancient writers of Greece and
Rome, whose absurdities are faithfully retained ; with here and there some description of the practices of
the age, in which there is little novelty or importance. Googe mentions a number of English writers
who lived about the time of Fitzherbert, whose works have not been preserved.
233. Sir Hugh PlatVs Jewel Houses of Art and Nature was printed in 1594. It is chiefly a compilation
from other writers. The author appears to have been a lawyer of Lincoln's Inn, but he had a seat in
Essex, and another in Middlesex, where he spent great part of his time. — The Rev. William Harrison,
a contemporary of Piatt, and chaplain to Baron Cobham, wrote a description of Britain, and translated
Boeth'ms's History of Scotland. In the former work are many valuable hints on the progress of hus-
bandry in the early part of the reign of Elizabeth. Among other curious things he asserts that the
Spanish, or Merino sheep, was originally derived from England,
234. The seventeenth century is distinguished by some important improvements in agricul-
ture, among which are the introduction of clovers and turnips in England ; of hedges
in Scotland and Ireland ; and the execution of extensive embankments and drainages.
Some useful writers also appeared, especially Norden, Gabriel Plattes, Sir Richard
Weston, Hartlib, and Blythe, to whom may be added Evelyn.
235. For the adoption of the clover, as an agricultural plant, we are indebted to Sir
Richard Weston, who, in 1645, gives an account of its culture in Flanders, where he
says " he saw it cutting near Antwerp, on the 1st of June 1644, being then two feet
long, and very thick ; that he saw it cut again on the 29th of the same month, being
twenty inches long; and a third time in August, being eighteen inches long." Blythe,
in 1653, is copious in his directions for its cultivation ; and Lisle (06s. on Husbandry),
in the beginning of the eighteenth century, speaks of it as commonly cultivated in Hamp-
shire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and other counties.
236. Turnips were probably introduced as a field crop by the same patriotic author,
though they may probably have been grown in the gardens of the church establishments
long before. They are cultivated, he observes, " for feeding kine in many parts of England ;
but there is as much difference between what groweth in Flanders and here, as is between
the same thing which groweth in a garden and that which groweth wild in the fields." It is
probable the English turnips he alludes to were rape, which is mentioned by Googe in
1586 ; but, though Gerarde, in 1597, and Parkinson, in 1629, mention the turnip as a garden
vegetable, yet neither of these authors gives the least hint of their field culture : be that as
it may, Ray, in 1686, informs us, that they are sown every where in fields and gardens,
both in England and abroad, for the sake of their roots. Lisle also, in 1707, mentions
their being common in Norfolk, Hampshire, Berkshire, and various counties. The
common story, therefore, that their culture was first introduced by Charles Lord Viscount
Townsend, cannot be true ; but their culture was probably greatly improved by him,
when he retired from public business to Rainham in Norfolk, in 1730.
237. The first notices of sheep being fed on the ground with turnips, is given in Houghton's
Collections on Husbandry and Trade, a periodical work begun in 1681. In 1684, Wor-
lidge, one of Houghton's correspondents, observes, " sheep fatten very well on turnips,
which prove an excellent nourishment for them in hard winters, when fodder is scarce ;
44
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
for they will not only eat the greens, but feed on the roots in the ground, and scoop them
hollow even to the verj- skin Ten acres," he adds, « sown with clover, turnips, &c,
will feed as many sheep as one hundred acres thereof would before have done." {Hough-
tons Collections, vol. iv. p. 142— 144.)
238. Potatoes, first introduced in 1565 (230.), were at this time beginning to attract
notice. " The potato, " says Houghton, " is a bacciferon^ herb, with esculent roots,
bearing winged leaves, and a bell flower This, 1 have been informed, was brought
first out of Virginia by Sir Walter Baleigh ;
and he stopping at Ireland, some was
planted there, where it thrived verj- well,
and to good purpose ; for in their succeed-
ing wars, when all the com above ground
was destroyed, this supported them ; for
the soldiers, unless they had dug up all the
ground where they grew, and almost sifted
it, could not extirpate them. From thence
they were brought to Lancashire, where
they are very numerous, and now they be-
gan to spread all the kingdom over. They
are a pleasant food, boiled or roasted, and
eaten with butter and sugar. There is a
sort brought from Spain that are of a longer
form (Convolvulus ^a/uVas) {fg. 30.), and
are more luscious than ours ; tliey are much
set by, and sold for sixpence or eightpence the pound." (lb., vol. ii. p. 468.)
239. Embankments were made on the eastward of England, in various places, by the
Romans, when in possession of the country, and afterwards by some wealthy rehgious
houses, and by the government. Considerable exertions were made at Boston during the
reign of Henry VII., under the direction of Mayhave Hake, a Flemish engineer, and
fourteen masons ; but the principal effort, as far as respects gaining land for agricultural
purposes, was made during tlie protectorate, by Col. Vermuyden, a Fleming, who
served in Cromwell's army. Speaking of this engineer's exertions, Harte obsenes, " if my
accoimt stands right (and it comes from the best authority extant), our kingdom in the
space of a few years, till the year 1651 only, had recovered, or was on the point of
recovering, in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, and Kent, 425,000 acres
of fens and morasses, which were advanced in general, from half a crown an acre to
twenty and thirty shillings. So that, perhaps, few statesmen and generals have better
deserved a statue or mommient from this country than Vermuyden, the principal un-
dertaker."
240. The exportation of com was regulated by various laws, during the sixteenth cen-
tury ; and importation was not restrained even in plenty and cheapness. In 1 663 was
passed the first statute for levying tolls at turnpikes. Enclosures by consent and by act
of parliament began also to be made during this century.
241. The agriculture of Scotland during the Jtfieenth and sixteenth centuries continued
to languish, especially upon the estates of the barons, where the profession of a soldier
was regarded as of greater importance than that of a cultivator of the ground ; but the
ecclesiastical lands were considerably improved, and the tenants of them were generally
much more comfortably circmnstanced than those upon the estates of laymen. The
reformation of religion, beneficial as it was in other respects, rather checked than pro-
moted agricultural improvement ; because the change of property, which then occurred,
occasioned a similar change of tenantrj', and almost took husbandrj' out of the hands of the
monks, the only class of people by whom it was practised upon correct principles. The
dissolution of the monasteries and other religious houses was also attended -n-ith injurious
consequences in the first instance ; though latterly the greatest benefit has been derived
from tithes and church lands having come into the hands of laymen. It is probable, had
not these circumstances occurred, that the tithe system would have still remained in force,
and Scottish husbandry have continued under a burthen, which sinks and oppresses the
cultivator of England and Ireland. But tithes having got into the hands of lay titulars,
or impropriators, were in general collected or farmed with such severity as to occasion the
most grievous complaints, not only from the tenantry, but also from the numerous class
of proprietors, who had not been so fortunate as to procure a share of the general spoil.
This, added to the desire shown by the crown to resume the grants made when its power
was comparatively feeble, occasioned the celebrated submission to Charles I., which ended
in a settlement, that in modem times has proved highly beneficial, not only to the interest
of proprietors, but likewise to general improvement. Tithes, in fact, are a burthen,
which operate as a tax upon industry, though it was a long time before the beneficial
consequences of withdrawing them were fully understood. (J?dm. Encyc, art. Agr.)
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 45
242. Of the state of agriculture in Scotland during the greater part of the seventeenth
centuiy very little is known ; no professed treatise on the subject appeared till after the
revolution. The south-eastern counties were the earliest improved, and yet, in 1660,
their condition seenns to have been very ^>Tetched. Ray, who made a tour along the
eastern coast in that year, says, " We obser^-ed little or no fallow grounds in Scotland j
some ley ground we saw, which they manured with sea wreck. The men seemed to be
very lazy, and may be frequently observed to plough in their cloaks. It is the fashion of
tliem to wear cloaks when they go abroad, but especially on Sundays. They have neither
good bread, cheese, nor drink. They cannot make them, nor will they learn. Their
butter is very indifferent, and one would wonder how they could contrive to make it so
bad. They use much pottage made of colewort, which they call kail, sometimes broth
of decorticated l)arley. The ordinary country houses are pitiful cots, built of stone, and
covered with turfs, having in them but one room, many of them no chimneys, the win-
dows very small holes, and not glazed. The ground in the valleys and plains bears very
good com, but especially bears barley or bigge and oats, but rarely wheat and rye."
(Select Remains of John Ray. Lond. 1760.)
2i.3. // is probable thai no great change had taken place in Scotland from the end of the fifteenth century,
except that tenants graduaUy became possessed of a little stock of their own, instead of having their
farms stocked by the landlord. " The minority of James V., the reign of Mary Stewart, the infancy of
her son, and the civil wars of her grandson Charles I., were all periods of lasting waste. The very laws
which were made during successive reigns, for protecting the tillers of the soil from spoil, are the best
proofs of the deplorable state of the hustwndman." {^Chalmers's Caledonia, vol iL p. 732. ; Encyc. Brit.,
art. Agr.) t
244. The accession of James VI. to the crown of England is understood to have been
unfavourable to the agricultural interest of Scotland ; inasmuch as the nobles and gentry,
being by that event led into great expenses, raised the rents of the tenantry considerably,
wliilst the very circumstance which occasioned the rise, contributed to lessen the means
of the tenant for fulfilling his engagements. Scotland, however, was much benefited by
the soldiers of Cromwell, who were chiefly English yeomen, not only well acquainted
with husbandry, but, like the Romans at a former period, studious»also to improve and
enlighten the nation which Aey had subdued. The soldiers of Cromwell's army were
regularly paid at the rate of eightpence per day, a sum equal at least to the money value
of two shillings of our currency ; and as this army lay in Scotland for many years, there
was a great circulation of money through the country. Perhaps the low country districts
were at that time in a higher state of improvement than at any former period. In the
counties of Lanark, Renfrew, Ayr, and Kirkcudbright, the rentals of various estates
were greater in 1660, than they were seventy years afterwards ; and the causes which
brought about a declension in value are ascertained without diflSculty. The large fines
exacted from country gentlemen and tenants in these counties, during the reign of
Charles II. and his brother James, were almost suflBcient to impoverish both proprietors
and cultivators, had they even been as wealthy as they are at the present day. In addi-
tion to those fines, the dreadful imprisonments, and other oppressive measures pursued by
those in power, equally contrary to sound policy and to justice and humanity, desolated
large tracts, drove the oppressed gentry and many of their wealthy tenants into foreign
countries, and extinguished the spirit of industry and improvement in the breasts of those
who were left behind.
245. Yet in the seventeenth century tvere those laws made which paved the way for the
present imjrroved system of agriculture in Scotland. By statute 1 633, landholders were
enabled to have their tithes valued, and to buy them either at nine or at six years' pur-
chase, according to the nature of the property. The statute 1685, conferring on land-
lords a power to entail their estates, was indeed of a very different tendency, in regard to
its effects on agriculture ; but the two acts in 1695, for the division of commons, and
separation of intermixed properties, have facilitated in an eminent degree the progress of
improvement. {Encyc. Brit., art. Agr.)
246. The literary history of agriculture, during the seventeenth century, is of no great
interest till about the middle of that period. For more than fifty years after the appear-
ance of Googe's work, there are no systematic works on husbandry, though several trea-
tises on particular departments of it. From these it is evident, that all the different
operations of the farmer were performed with more care and correctness than formerly ;
that the fallows were better worked ; the fields kept free of weeds ; and much more
attention paid to manures of every kind. A few of the writers of this period deserve to
be shortly noticed.
247. Sir John Nordens Surveyor's Dialogue, printed in 1607, is a work of consider-
able merit. The first three books of it relate to the rights of the lord of the manor,
and the various tenures by which landed property was then held, and the obligations
which they imposed : among others, we find the singular custom, so humorously described
in the Spectator, about the incontinent widow riding upon a ram. In the fifth book,
there are a good many judicious observations on the " different natures of grounds, how
46 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part 1.
they may be employed, how they may be bettered, reformed, and amended." The
famous meadows near &ilisbury are mentioned ; and when cattle have fed their fill, hogs,
it is pretended, " are made fat with the remnant, namely, with the knots and sappe of
the grasse." So many extravagant assertions have been made about these meadows by
several of our early writers, that we ought to receive their statements with some degree
of scepticism, wherever they seem to approach the marvellous. " Clover grass, or the
grass honeysuckle " (white clover), is directed to be sown with other hay-seeds. *' Car-
rot-roots " were then raised in several parts of England, and sometimes by farmers."
London street-dung and stable-dung were carried to a distance by water ; though it
appears from later writers to have been got almost for the trouble of removing. And
leases of twenty-one years are recommended for persons of small capital, as better than
employing it in purchasing land ; an opinion that prevails very generally among our
present farmers.
248. Bees seem to have been great favourites with these early writers ; and among others,
there is a treatise by Butler, a gentleman of Oxford, called the Feminine Mo7iarchie, or
the History of Bees, printed in 1609, full of all manner of quaintness and pedantry.
249. Markham, Mascall, Gabriel Plattes, Weston, and other authors, belonged to this
period. In Sir Richard Weston's Discourse on the Husbandry of Brabant and Flanders,
published by Hartlib, in 1645, we may mark the dawn of the vast improvements which
have since been effected in Britain. This gentleman was ambassador from England to
the Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia, in 1619, and had the merit of being tlie first
who introduced the great clover, as it was then called, into English agriculture, about
1 645, and probably turnips also. In less than ten years after its introduction, that is,
before 1655, the culture of clover, exactly according to the present method, seems to
have been well known in England, and had made its way even to Ireland.
250. A great many loorks on agriculture appeared during the time of the common-
wealth, of which Blythe's Improver improved and Hartlib's Legacy are the most valu-
able. The first edition of the former was published in 1649, and of the latter in 1650 ;
and both of them were enlarged in subsequent editions. In the first edition of the
Improver improved, no mention is made of clover, nor in the second of turnips ; but, in
the third, published in 1 662, clover is treated of at some length ; and turnips are recom-
mended as an excellent cattle crop, the culture of which should be extended from the
kitchen-garden to the field. Sir Richard Weston must have cultivated turnips before
this ; for Blythe says, that " Sir Richard aflirmed to himself, he did feed his swine vnth
them ; they were first given boiled, but afterwards the swine came to eat them raw," and
" would run after the carts and pull them forth as they gathered them ;" an expression
which conveys an idea of their being cultivated in the fields.
251. Blythe's hook is the first systematic work in which there are some traces of the convertible husbandry,
so beneficially established since, by interposing clover and turnip between culmiferous crops. He is a
great enemy to commons and common fields ; and to retaining land in old pasture, unless it be of the
best quality. His description of different kinds of ploughs is interesting ; and he justly recommends such
as were drawn by two horses (some even by one horse), in preference to the weighty clumsy machines
which required four horses or oxen, or more. Almost all the manures now used seem to have been then
well known ; and he brought lime himself from a distance of twenty miles. He speaks of an instrument
which ploughed, sowed, and harrowed at the same time; and the s^^//7?g o/ cor/i was then a subject of
much discussion. " It was not many years," says Blythe, " since the famous city of London petitioned
the parliament of England against two anusancies or offensive commodities, which were likely to come
into great use and esteem ; and that was Newcastle coal, in regard of their stench, &c. ; and hops, in
regard they would spoyle the taste of drinck, and endanger the people !"
252. Hartlib's Legacy is a very heterogeneous performance, containing among some very judicious
directions, a great deal of rash speculation. Several of the deficiencies which the writer (R. Child)
complains of in English agriculture, must be placed to the account of our climate, and never have been
nor can be supplied.
253. Houghton s valuable Collections o/" IfMs&andry have been already mentioned. (237.)
254. Worlidge's Systema Agriculturce was published in 1668 ; it treats of improve-
ments in geneiul, of enclosing meadows and pastures, and of watering and draining
them, of clovers, vetches, spurry, Wiltshire long-grass (probably that of the meadows
of Salisbury), hemp, flax, rape, turnips, &c. A Persian wheel was made by his direc-
tion in Wiltshire, in 1665, that carried water in good quantity above tvj^enty feet high,
for watering meadows, and another near Godalming in Surrey. Sowing clover and
other seeds preserved the cattle in the fatal winter of 1673, in the southern parts of Eng-
land ; whereas in the western and northern, through defect of hay and pasture, the
greater part of their cattle perished. Hops enough were not planted, but we imported
them from the Netherlands of a quality not so good as our own. The authors he chiefly
quotes are Weston, Hartlib, and Blythe.
255. Among other writers of this century may be mentioned Bacon, who, in his natural
history, has some curious observations on agriculture ; Ray, the botanist, whose works
are rich in facts; and Evelyn, a great encourager of all manner of improvements, as
well as a useful writer on planting.
256. Some of the works of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are now very scarce,
Book I. AGRICULTURE OF MODERN TIMES. 47
and most of them little known to agriculturists of the present day. In almost all of
them there is much that is now useless, and not a little that is trifling and foolish ; yet the
labour of perusal is not altogether fruitless. He who wishes to view the condition of the
great body of the people during this period, as well as the cultivator who still obstinately
resists every new practice, may, each of them, be gratified and instructed, in tracing the
gradual progress of improvement, both in enjojTnent and useful industry. {Encyc.
Brit., art. Agr.)
Sect. V. History of Agriculture in Ultra- European Countries during the Middle Ages.
257. The general history of the old Ultra- European countries, during this period, is not
known with sufficient precision and detail, to enable us to give a progressive account of
their agriculture. There is no evidence of any improvement having been made in the
agriculture of the Indian and Chinese nations, from the earliest period of their known
history to the present time. The agriculture of Persia, of the African shores of the
Mediterranean sea, and of all the countries under the Turks, seems, if any change has
taken place, rather to have declined than advanced during the latter centuries of the
middle ages.
258. The history of the n£w Ultra-European countries of America and Australasia, only
dates its commencement (with the exception of part of America) from the latter end of
the period under notice, and therefore cannot furnish sufficient materials for any useful
account of their agriculture. Under these circumstances we think it better to defer an
account of the origin and progress of Ultra-European agriculture till the succeeding
Chapter, where it will precede some account of its present state. We have adopted the
same plan with respect to the agriculture of some of the northern European nations, as
Russia and Sweden, and also with regard to that of Spain and Ireland* .»
Chap. IV.
Present State of Agriculture in Eurojye.
259. Agriculture began to be studied, as a science, in the principal countries of Europe,
about the middle of the 16th century. The works of Crescenzio in Italy, Olivier de
Serres in France, Heresbach in Germany, Herrera in Spain, and Fitzherbert in Eng-
land, all published about that period, supplied the materials of study, and led to improved
practices among the reading agriculturists. The art received a second impulse in the
middle of the century follovring, after the general peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. Then, as
Harte has observed {Essays, i. p. 62.), " almost all the European nations, by a sort of
tacit consent, applied themselves to the study of agriculture, and continued to do so,
more or less, even amidst the universal 'confusion that soon succeeded." During the
18th century, the march of agriculture has been progressive throughout Europe, with
little exception ; and it has attained to a very considerable degree of perfection, in some
districts of Italy, in the Netherlands, and in Great Britain. In Spain it has been least
improved, and it is still in a very backward state in most parts of Hungary, Poland, and
Russia. We shall, in the following sections, give such notices of the agriculture of these
and the other countries of Europe, as we have been enabled to glean from the very scanty
materials which exist on the subject. Had these been more abundant, this part of our
work would have been much more instructive. The past state of agriculture can do
little more than gratify the curiosity, but its present state is calculated both to excite our
curiosity and aflfect our interests. Independently of the political relations which may be
established by a free trade in corn, there is probably no European country that does not
possess some animal or vegetable production, or pursue some mode of culture or manage-
ment, that might not be benefidaily introduced into Britain ; but, with the exception of
Flanders and some parts of France and Italy, there are as yet no sufficient data for
obtaining the necessary details.
Sect. I. Of the present State of Agriculture in Italy.
260. Italy is the most interesting country of Euro^ye in respect to Us rural economy. Its
climate, soils, rivers, and surface are so various, as to have given rise to a greater variety
of culture than is to be found throughout the rest of Europe j while the number of
governments and petty states into which it is divided, has occasioned an almost equally
great variety in the tenure of land, and the political circumstances which affect the cul
tivator. The great advantage which Italy possesses over the rest of Europe, in an agricul-
tural point of view, is its climate ; for though, as the learned Sismondi has shown {Annals
qf Agric', vol. i.), it is, in point of health and agreeableness, one of the worst in the
48 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
world, yet the cool temperature of some of the northern districts admits of the finest
pastures, while, from the warmth of others, the rocky sides of hills are as productive of
grapes and olives as the plains are in corn. It is the only country in Europe, with the
exception of some parts of Spain, where corn, grass, butcher's meat, cheese, butter, rice,
silk, cotton, wine, oil, and fruits are produced, all in the highest degree of perfection.
Only a fifth of its surface is considered sterile ; while only a fifth of the surface of France
is considered fertile. The population of Italy is greater in proportion to the surface,
than that of either France or Britain.
261. The ivriters on the rural economy 'of Italy are, Arthur Young, in 1788; Sis-
mondi, in 1801 ; and, Chateauvieux, in 1812. From the works of these authors, from
those of Forsyth, Wilson, and other recent tourists, and from our own observations in
1819, we shall select some of the most characteristic traits as to the agriculture of Italy,
adopting the division of Chateauvieux, of the region of irrigation, and the rotation of
crops, in Lombardy ; the region of vines and olives, exemplified in Tuscany ; the region
of insalubrious air, or the states of the church ; and the region of volcanic ashes, or the
Neapolitan culture.
SuBSECT. 1. Of the Agriculture of Lombardy.
262. The climate of Lombardy is less irregular than that of some other districts. It
is temperate on the declivities of the mountains in Piedmont, where the richest sheep
pastures are situated ; subject to great vicissitudes and to severe storms at the base of
the Alps ; and warm and humid in the plain of the Po. In some parts the olive and
the orange endure the open air throughout tlie year, as in the islands of the lakes ; in
other places, at Milan for example, they require nearly as much protection in winter as
in England.
263. The soil of the plain of the Po has evidently been formed by the recession or
deposition of water, and is a rich black mould, deep, and every where perfectly level.
264. These lands are every where enclosed, either with hedges and ditches, or with open
water-courses for irrigation. The hedges, however, are not very well kept : they are a
mixture of different plants ; often of willows chiefly, occasionally of the mulberry for
feeding the ' silkworms, and sometimes of reeds. The hedge-plants of the country are
the Christ's thorn (Paliilrus australis,^. 31.), common hawthorn, and pomegranate.
265. The lands are generally farmed by metayers
(from meta, one half, Ital.). The landlord pays the
taxes, and repairs the buildings ; the tenant provides
cattle, implements, and seed ; and the produce is di-
vided. In some cases the landlord's half is delivered to
him in kind ; in others it is valued annually at har-
vest, and paid in money, or partly in money and
partly in produce. There are some farmers who have ,
leases, generally for short periods, not exceeding nine
years, and pay fixed rents. The size of farms is from
ten to sixty acres ; but there are a few of two or three
hundred acres. The latter, however, are chiefly cul-
tivated by the proprietors. Farm-houses are of brick,
sometimes stucc6ed, and covered with tiles. They are not always detached ; but two,
three, or more, farmeries are often grouped together, and their united buildings might be
mistaken for those of one large farm. One side of a square contains the houses of the
farmers, the stables, and cattle-sheds ; and the three otliers are sheds, supported by
colutnns, and open on all sides, for implements and produce. The metayers never get
rich, and are seldom totally ruined ; they are not often changed ; the same farm passes
from father to son, like a patrimonial estate.
266. Landed property is generally managed by a steward or factor (fattore), whose
business it is to inspect tibe cultivation of the lands, to direct repairs, pay taxes and tithes,
and see that the landlord has his proper share of the produce. Tithes have been greatly
lessened by the sale of a great part of the church lands at the revolution ; but are still
taken in kind, or commuted for, in order to support the parish clergy.
267. The irrigation of Lombardy is its most remarkable feature. The antiquity of the
practice has been already noticed (180). In most states of Italy, the right and property
of all rivers, and in some, as Venice, even of springs and rain, are considered as
vested in the king or govermnent. All canals taken from rivers are, therefore, purchased
from the state, and may be carried through any person's lands, provided tliey do not pass
through a garden, or within a certain distance of a mansion, on paying the value of the
ground occupied. Such canals, indeed, are generally considered as enhancing the value
of the property they pass through, by enabling them to purchase water, which is sold by
the hour, half hour, or quarter, or by so many days' run, at certain fixed times, in the
year. ITie right to water from such canals may even be purchased j and Arthur Young
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN ITALY.
49
They are
afterwards
mentions that the fee-simple for an hour's run per week, through a sluice of a certain
dimension, near Turin, was, in 1788, 1500 livres. The water is not only used for grass-
lands, which, when fully watered, are mown four, and sometimes five, times a year, and in
some cases (e. g. Prato Marcita) as early as March ; but is conducted between the narrow
ridges of corn-lands, in the hollows between drilled crops, among vines, or to flood, a foot
or more in depth, lands wliich are sown with rice. It is also used for combles, or
depositing a surface of mud, in some places where the water is charged with that mate-
rial ; and this is done somewhat in the manner of what we call warping. The details of
watering, for these and other purposes, are given in various works ; and collected in those
of Professor Re. In general, watered lands let at one third higher than lands unwatered.
268. The implements and oj}erations of agriculture in Lombardy are very imper-
feet. The plough is of very rude contrivance, with a handle thirteen or fourteen feet
long. It is drawn by two oxen without a driver or reins, the ploughman using a long
light rod or goad. The names given to the different parts 32
of the plough are corruptions or variations of the Roman
terms already mentioned. (111.) Corn is generally beaten
out by a wheel or large fluted cylinder {^Jig. 32.), which
is turned in a circular track, somewhat in the manner of a
bark-mill in England.
269. The cattle of Piedmont are, in some cases, fed with extraordinary care,
tied up in stalls ; then bled once or twice ; cleaned and rubbed with oil ;
combed and brushed twice a day : their food in summer is clover, or other green herbage ;
in winter a mixture of elm leaves, clover-hay, and pulverised walnut-cake, over which
boiling water is poured, and bran and salt added. Where grains (pouture) can be
procured, they are also given. In a short time, the cattle cast their hair, grow smooth,
round, fat, and so improved as to double their value to the butcher. {Mem. della Sac. Agr.^
vol. i. p. 73.)
270. The dairies on the plain of the Po, near Lodi, produce the Parmesan cheese. The
peculiar qualities of this cheese depend more on the manner of making than on any thing
else. The cows are a mixed breed, between the red Hungarian or Swiss cow, and
those of Lombardy. The chief peculiarity in their feeding is, that they are allowed to eat
four or five hours in the twenty-four ; all the rest of the time they are stalled, and get
33 C3 hay. Both their pasture and hay are chiefly from irri-
. 1.,'j gated lands. The cheeses are made entirely of skimmed
' ozl milk ; half of that which has stood sixteen or seventeen
^^ hours, and half of that which has stood only six. The
'■^^' milk is heated and coagulated in a caldron {fg. 33.),
placed in a very ingenious fire-place, being an inverted
T~ semi-cone in brickwork, well adapted for preserving
iizx^ heat and for the use of wood as fuel. Without being
iC-i;t3^X taken out of the caldron, the curd is broken very small
' Cj;rJ^I-j3:^ by an implement, consisting of a stick with cross wires ;
tp:.,Xl;.rr it is again heated, or rather scalded, till the curd, now a
deposition from the whey, has attained a considerable
degree of firmness ; it is then taken out, drained, salted,
and pressed, and in forty days is fit to put in the cheese-
loft. The peculiar properties of this cheese seem to
depend on the mode of scalding the curd ; though the
dairyists pretend that it also depends on the mode of
feeding the cows. Where one farmer has not enough of cows to carry on the process
himself, it is common for two or more to join and keep a partnership account, as in
Switzerland. More minute details will be found in Book IV. Part VII.
271. Sheep are not common in Lombardy : there are flocks on the mountains, but in the
plains only a few are kept, in the manner pigs are in England, to eat refuse vegetables.
The Merino breed was introduced, and found not to succeed.
272. The rotations of crops are not so remarkable for preserving the fertility of the soil, as
for an immediate return of profit. The produce however being seldom bulky, the object
is defeated. As examples, we may mention, 1. maize drilled; 2, 3, and 4. wheat;
5. maize drilled; 6, 7, and 8. wheat. Another is, 1. fallow; 2, 3, and 4. rice; 5.
fallow ; 6. wheat and clover, &c. Hemp, flax, lupines, rape, millet, panic, rye, and
sometimes oats, with other crops, enter into the rotations. Rice is reckoned the most
profitable crop ; the next, wheat and millet. The rice-grounds receive but one plough-
ing, which is given in the middle of March, and the seed is sown at the end of the same
month ; sometimes in water up to the seedsman's knees, but more frequently the water is
not let on till the rice is come up. The water is then admitted, and left on the ground
till the beginning of June, when the crop is weeded by hand, by women half naked, with
their petticoats tucked to their waists, wading in the water ; and they make so droll a
E
50 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
figure, that parties are often made at that season to go and view the rice-grounds. When
the weeding is finished, the water is drawn off for eight days ; it is again drawn off
when the ear begins to form, but after its formation is let in again till the rice is nearly-
ripe, which is about the end of August or beginning of September. The produce is from
ten to twenty fold.
273. Among tlie herbage crops cultivated, may be mentioned chiccory, very common in
the watered meadows, rib-grass, also very common, oat-grass, and some other grasses ;
but not near the variety of grasses found in the English meadows and pastures ; fenu-
greek (Trigon^lla i.), clovers, lucerne, saintfoin, and in some places burnet and spurry.
274. Among the trees grown hy the farmer, the mulberry predominates, and is pollarded
once or oftener every year for the silkworm. The tree is common in the hedge-rows, and
in rows along with vines parallel to broad ridges. The vine is generally cultivated ;
trained or rather hung on mulberry, maple, or flowering ash pollards, or climbing up tall
elms, or in the hedges, or against willow poles or rude espalier rails. The olive is not
very common, but is planted in schistous declivities in warm situations ; the apple, pear,
and green gage plum are common.
275. Though the agriculture of Lombardy aj)pears to be practised, more for subsistence,
than for the employment of capital and the acquisition of riches, yet, from the effect of
irrigation in producing large crops of grass, the profits of rearing silk, and the rigid
economy of the farmers, it is thought by Chateauvieux that it sends more produce to
market than any district of Italy. {Italy, let. iv.)
SuBSECT. 2. Of the Agriculture of Tuscany.
276. The picture of the agriculture of Tuscany given by Sismondi, a distinguished literary
character of Geneva, who resided five years as a cultivator in that country, is well known.
Sismondi arranges the rural economy of this district into that of the plains, the slopes,
and the mountains ; and we shall here state the most interesting or characteristic circum-
stances which occur in his work, or that of Chateauvieux, under these heads. According
to Forsyth, one half of Tuscany consists of mountains which produce nothing but timber ;
one sixth of olive and vine hills ; and the remaining third is plain. The whole is distri-
buted into eighty thousand fattorie, or stewardships. Each fattoria includes, on an average,
seven farms. This property is divided among forty thousand families or corporations.
The Riccardi, the Strozzi, the Feroni, and the Benedictines rank first in the number.
Tlie clergy keep the farmers well disciplined in faith, and through the terror of bad crops,
they begin to extort the abolished tithes. This was in 1802: tithes are again fully
established under the Austrian power.
277. The climate of Tuscany is esteemed the best in Italy, with the exception of that
of its maremme, or pestilential region on the sea-coast. The great heats commence at
the end of June, and diminish in the middle of September ; the rest of the year is a
perpetual spring, and vegetation in the plains is only interrupted for two or three weeks
in the middle of winter. On the mountains there is snow all the year ; and the hilly
districts enjoy a temperate but irregular weather in summer, and a winter of from one to
thi'ee months.
278. The soil of the plains is either sand or mud of " inexpressible fertility ;" some
parts were marshy, but the surface is now comparatively elevated and enriched (as was
that of the Delta) by combles (colmata), or warping, a process ably described by
Sismondi. (Agr. Tuscan., § ii.)
279. Irrigation in the plains is practised in all the different modes as in Lombardy, but
on a smaller scale, correspondent with their extent.
280. The plain is every where enclosed. The fields are parallelograms, generally one
hundred feet broad, and four or five hundred feet long, surrounded by a ditch planted
with Lombardy poplars and vines, with rows, lengthwise, of mulberries, maple, or the
flowering or manna ash, also interspersed with vines ; and ^ 34
often, by the way-sides, these hang in festoons, from tall elms.
(fg. 34. ) The poplars supply leaves for feeding heifers, rods
which are sold for making espaliers for vines, and spray for
fuel. Every now and then a few are cut down for timber, as
at twenty years they are found to be too large for the situation.
The top of the ash and maple is used for fuel ; the timber for
implements of husbandry. The mulberry is pollarded every
other year for the leaves, which are stripped off for the silk-
worms, and the spray used as fuel. The produce of raw silk
is one of the most important in Tuscany, and is almost the only article the farmer of the
plains has to exchange for money. He has wine also, it is true, but that, though pro-
duced in abundance, is of so wretched a quality, compared with that of the hills, that it
brings but little. Hedges are only planted on the road sides to keep off beggars and
thieves, who are veiy numerous, and who steal the grapes and the ears of maize. Some-
Book
AGRICULTURE IN ITALY.
times the grapes next the road are sprinkled with mud or lime-water to deter them ; at
other times a temporary dead fence of thorns is used during the ripening season and taken
down afterwards. The hedge plants are the hawthorn, sloe, bramble, briar, evergreen
rose, ilex, service, myrtle, pomegranate, bay, laurel, &c.
281. In the arable lands of the plains, the row and mostly the raised drill culture are
generally followed, or the land is ploughed into beds of three or four feet broad, between
which water is introduced in the furrows. Every year a third of the farm is turned over
with a spade to double the depth of the plough, so as to bring a new soil to the surface.
The sort of trenching which effects this is performed diflferently from that of any other
country ; the spade being thrust in horizontally or obliquely, and the trench formed by
taking off successive layers from the top of the firm side, and turning them regularly over
in the trench. In this way the surface is completely reversed.
282. The rotation of crops in the plain includes a period of three or five years, and five
or seven crops. There are, for a three-years* course ; 1. wheat or other grain, and lupines
in the autumn ; 2. corn of some sort, and turnips or clover in the autumn ; 3. maize,
panic, or common millet, and Indian or black millet (IZ'61cus Sorghum). Com is cut
about the end of June close to the earth, left to dry a day or two, and then tied in bundles
(bottes), and put in cocks for a week or two. At the end of this period the ears are cut
off, and beaten out on a smooth prepared piece of ground in the farm-yard. The straw
is stacked, and the corn cleaned by throwing it with shovels, &c. The corn is laid up
till wanted in oval excavations in dry ground, wliich are covered with tiled roofs. The
excavations are lined with straw ; one holds from twenty to a hundred sacks, and being
covered with straw, is heaped over with earth. In this way it is kept in perfect pre-
servation a year or longer, and untouched by insects. The lupines sown after wheat are
often ploughed in for manure ; sometimes French beans are substituted, and the ripe
seeds used as food ; or turnips are sown for cattle. They have few sorts of turnips that
are good ; and Sismondi complains that half of them never bulb. Maize is sown in drills,
and forms a superb crop in appearance, and no less important, constituting the principal
food of the lower classes in every part of
Italy where the chestnut does not abound.
When the male flowers of the maize be-
gin to fade, they are cut off by degrees,
so as not to injure the swelling grain ;
the leaves are also cut off about that
time, cattle being remarkably fond of
them. In the plain of Bologna, hemp,
flax, and beans enter into the rotation.
283. Cattle in the plains are kept con-
stantly in close warm houses, and fed
with weeds, leaves, or whatever can be
got. The oxen in Tuscany are all dove-
coloured ; even those which are im-
ported from other states, are said to
change their coat here. They are guided
in the team by reins fixed to rings which
are inserted in their nostrils ; sometimes
two hooks, jointed Uke pincers, are used
for the same purpose. In general, only
one crop in four is raised for the food of
cattle, so that these are not numerous ;
it may thus appear that manure would
be scarce, but tiie Tuscan farmers are as
assiduous in preserving every particle
both of human and animal manure as the
Flemings.
284. The farm-houses of the plain of
Tuscany, according to Lasteyrie {Coll.
de Mach.), are constructed with more
taste, solidity, and convenience, than
in any other country on the Continent.
They are built of stones generally, in
rubble work, with good lime and sand,
which become as hard as stucco, and
they are covered with red pantiles.
The elevation {fig. 35.) presents two
deep recesses, the one a porch or com-
mon hall to the ground floor, or hus-
j^artlfii^ '^
j^siiiilBte.
...artliillB^
D
D
D
)
IX
^
E 2
52 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
bandry part of the edifice (a) ; and the other above it to the dwelling family apartments.
The ground floor consists of this porch, which is arched over (a), a workshop (6), a harness
and tool-room (c), pigsty (d), poultry-house (e), a stove (f), staircase [g), stable (/«),
cow or ox house (i), and sheep-house {k). The dwelling floor consists of the upper
gallery or open hall (/), which serves as a sort of kitchen, work-room, or scullery, a kitchen
(m), a master and mistress's room (n), a girls' room (o), a boys' room (p), a store room
(y), and silkworm room (r).
285. The peasants, or fanners, of the plains are for the most part metayers ; their farms
are from five to ten acres, each having a house and offices, like that just described, towards
its centre. Some pay a fixed rent on short leases ; and some hold farms on improving
leases wliich extend to four generations. They are more than economical ; never tasting
butcher's meat but on Sunday. The three repasts of the other days are either of porridge
of maize and a salad ; porridge of bread and French beans, seasoned with oUve oil ; or
of some sort of soup. In general the whole family remain at home, and aid their parents
in performing the labours of the farm. Seldom any but the oldest son marries; and
when the father dies he succeeds in his turn, and lus brothers and sisters serve him as
they did their father till they die off, and are replaced by tlieir nephews and nieces. Such
is the state of things which, as Chateauvieux has observed, is the result of early civilisation
and excessive population.
286. The culture of the hills and declivities, Chateauvieux supposes to have been intro-
duced from Canaan at the time of the crusades : but, though that culture, and also the
irrigation system, have, no doubt, been originally copied from that country and Egypt,
yet some think it more likely to have been imported by the Romans or the priests, than
by the chivalric adventurers of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
287. The soil of the hills is in general either schistous or calcareous, on a pliable rocky
or gravelly bottom. It is cut into horizontal terraces, of diflPerent widths according to the
steepness of the declivity, and each terrace is supported by a wall or sloping bank of turf
or stones. Intercepting gutters are formed every sixty or seventy feet, in the direction of
the slope, to carry off the waters which do not sink in the rainy season. Sismondi con-
siders the turfed terraces of the hills of Nievole the most elegant. On the terraces of the
most rapid and least favourably exposed slopes, olives are planted ; on the best exposure,
vines. Where th6 terrace is broad, two rows of mulberries, and sometimes of fig trees,
are planted, and between these, where the soil is not too dry, early crops of grain or
legumes are taken. The walls of turf are mown.
288. The olive being an evergreen, and in a state of growth all the year, requires a more
equable climate than the vine ; but it vdll grow on any dry soil, and in an inferior
exposure, because the fruit never ripens till tlie hoar frosts have commenced. Tlie young
plants are raised from cuttings or suckers in a nursery, and in the same manner in
which it was during the time of the Romans. " An old tree is hewn down, and the
ceppo, or stock (that is, the collar or neck between the root and the trunk, wliere in all
plants the principle of life more eminently resides), is cut into pieces of nearly the size
and shape of a mushi'oom, and wliich from that circumstance are called novali ; care at
the same time is taken that a small portion of bark shall belong to each novalo ; these,
after having been dipped in manure, are put into the earth, soon throw up shoots, are
transplanted at the end of one year, and in three years are fit to form an olive yard."
{Blunt' s Vestiges, 216.) They are planted generally fifteen feet apart in rows, with the
same distance between the rows.
289. The olive is of very slow growth hut of great duration. Some plantations exist, which
are supposed to be those mentioned by Pliny, and therefore must have existed nearly
two thousand years, if not more. In one of these, which we have seen in the vale
of Marmora, near Temi, the trunks of many trees have rotted at the core, and the
circumference has split open and formed several distinct stems. Though in ruins, these
trees still bear abundant crops. The olive requires little pruning, and is seldom otherwise
manured than by sowdng lupines under it, and digging them in. The fruit becomes
black in November ; is gathered in the course of that and the three foUovdng months ;
and ground in a stone trough by a stone turned by a water-wheel. The paste formed by
the fruit, and its kernels, is then put in a hair cloth and pressed, and the oil drops in a tub
of water somewhat warm, from which it is skimmed and put in glass bottles for sale,
or glazed jars for home consumption. The paste is moistened and pressed a second and
third time for oils of inferior quality. The crop of olives is very uncertain ; sometimes
one that yields a profit does not occur for six or eight years together, as in the culture of
wine and cider : and these departments of culture on the Continent are considered as
injurious to the peasant, because in the year of plenty he consumes his superfluous profits,
without laying any thing aside to meet the years of loss. Hence the remark common in
France and Italy, that wine and oil farming is less beneficial than that of corn.
290. The vine on the hills is generally raised where it is to rem'ain, by planting cuttings ;
but it is also planted with roots procured by layering : in either case, it seldom bears fruit
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN ITALY. 53
till the fifth year after planting. It is trained on trees, poles, and trellised roofs, over
paths, and different kinds of espalier rails. The poles are of barked chestnut, and the
lesser rods used are generally of reeds ; the latter forms a profitable article of culture on
the brink of water-courses for this purpose. These reeds last from one to four years,
according to their size. The ties used in binding the vine both on the hills and plains are
of willow, often the yellow or golden sort. The general maxim in pruning the vine is to
leave as much wood to one stool as possible, in order to prevent two shoots from proceeding
from one eye, in which case both are generally barren. They give no summer
pruning ; but, when the fruit is nearly ripe, they cut off the extremities of the
shoots for the sake of the leaves as forage, and to admit the sun and air more
directly to the fruit. The pruning-hook they use {Jig. 36.) is not unlike a
hand hedge-bill. The fruit is gathered by women, and put into baskets and
hampers ; then carried to a tub or cistern of masonry, where it lies and ferments,
being frequently stirred, but not pressed as in France and other parts of Italy.
The management of the wine is not considered good ; and there are but few
sorts of Tuscan %vine that will keep above a year.
291. The potato, little known in Lombardy, was introduced in the hills of Tuscany
by Sismondi, but was little cultivated or esteemed. It is only known, he says, to the
gardeners of Florence and Leghorn. If not taken up about the middle of July, the
tubers are either burned and rotted by the heat, or they germinate at every bud. An
early sort, he tliinks, might be introduced both in the plain and liill culture with great
advantage.
292. The hill farmers, like those of the plains, are generally metayers, and rent their
farms, which seldom exceed seven or eight acres j and the most general conditions of their
lease (bail), according to M. Sismondi, are the follovnng : — 1 . The farmer engages to
cultivate the lands, and find the requisite props for the vines. 2. To advance the half of
the seed, and the half of the dung that is obliged to be purchased. 3. To deliver to
the proprietor half the crop, or sell it for his account. 4. To divide with the proprietor
the profit made on cattle, and to deliver a certain number of eggs, chickens, and capons
in lieu of that on poultry. 5. To wash the whole or a part of the proprietor's linen,
he finding soap. The proprietor on his part engages to advance the other half of the
seed, and of the manure which must be purchased ; to be at the expense of making up
new grounds and other radical improvements, to effect repairs, &c., and to find the first
props for newly planted vines. Tliis contract goes on from year to year, and can only be
dissolved by a year's notice ; changes, however, very seldom take place. The conditions
in some places are more severe for the farmer ; and on oil and certain other articles he
only receives a third of the profits.
293. The culture of the mountains of Tuscany consists of the harvesting of chestnuts,
and the management of live stock and of forests. The chestnut trees, Sismondi is of
opinion, have been originally planted, but they now receive no other care than that of
replacing a worn out tree by a young one, and cutting out dead wood, which is done
more for the sake of fuel than any thing else. The fruit is gathered in November, after
it drops on the turf: it is eaten either in its natural state, or it is ground into meal
and prepared as flour. Such as are to be ground, are first kilndried ; next, they
are put into small bags, which hold half a bushel each, and these are beat against
the ground till the outer husk is removed ; they are then taken out, the outer husks
separated, and the chestnuts replaced, and beat as before till the inner husk comes off;
they are then cleaned in the wind, and sent to a corn-mill to be ground. The flour they
produce has no bran, and is mild and sweet, and keeps well. Lands covered with
chestnuts are valued, not by their extent, but by the number of sacks of fruit annually
produced. Chestnut flour is chiefly used in the form of porridge or pudding. In the
coffee-houses of Lucca, Pescia, and Pistoja, pat^s, muflBns, tarts, and other articles are
made of it, and are considered delicate.
294. The management of sheep in the mountains is rude and unprofitable, and so little
is mutton esteemed in Tuscany that it always sells at two or three sous a pound under
every other meat. The sheep are pastured all the summer under the chestnut trees ; but
in October, when the fruit begins to fall, they are sent to the maremmes, where they
remain till the May or June following, at the cost of not more than a penny a head.
A wretched cheese is made from the milk ; but, bad as it is, it is better than what is
made from the milk of goats or cows. The Tuscans, indeed, are so unwilling to believe
that good cheese can be produced from the latter animals, that they consider the Dutch
and other excellent foreign cheeses which they purchase at Leghorn, as all made from the
milk of sheep.
295. Forests of timber trees cover the highest parts of the mountains. These form
sources of profit to the peasantry, independently of the sale of timber, which is very •
limited, owing to the diflSculty of carriage. Hogs are pastured there, left to themselves
the whole year, and only sought for when wanted for the butcher. Their flesh is excellent,
E 3
54 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
and, being very abundant in the markets of most parts of Italy, is not dear. Acorns
are collected in some places, and sold to the farmers of the plains, for feeding swine.
The cones of the Finns Finea, (Jtg. 37.) are "V \ \ k i
collected, and the seeds taken out : these are _ C^^^^^V U v ^^
much esteemed, and bear a high price. The ,
same thing is, in some places, done with the
cones of the wild pine, commonly but erro-
peously called the Scotch fir (Pinus sylves-
tris i.), whose seeds are equally good, though
smaller. Strawberries, bramble-berries, goose-
berries, currants, raspberries, and other wild
fruits, ai*e collected, and either sold publicly
in the markets of the plains, or privately to
the confectioners for flavouring ices; an article
in great demand throughout all Italy. Sismondi seems to have been the first who noticed
that the black mulberry was grown in the mountains for its leaves, being considered as
hardier than the white. The fruit was only eaten by children. In the plains and gardens
of Italy the mulberry is scarcely known as a fruit tree, though the white species is every
where grown for the silkworm.
296. The mountain farmers are generally proprietors of their farms. They live together
in villages, which are very numerous ; many of them hire themselves to the farmers of the
maremmes, where there is a scarcity of population, to assist in their harvests ; and with the
money saved in this way, and by sending fruits, collected by their wives and children, to
the towns in the plains, they are generally better off than the farmers of the hills, or of the
low country.
297. The agricultural establishment of Rossore may be mentioned as belonging to
Tuscany. It is situated at the gate of Pisa, and was founded by the family of Medici, in
the time of the crusades, and now belongs to government. A league square of ground,
which was so poor and sandy as to be unfit for culture, was surrounded by a fence, and,
having been left to itself, has now the appearance of a neglected park. A building was
erected in its centre as a lodge, and the grounds were interspersed with stables and sheep
houses. The park was stocked with an Arabian stallion and a few mares, and some Asiatic
camels ; and these were left to breed and live in a state of nature. About the beginning
of the present century a flock of Merino sheep was added. The horses have formed
themselves into distinct tribes or troops, each of fifteen or twenty mares governed by
a stallion. These tribes never mix together, each has its quarter of pasture which they
divide among themselves without the interference of shepherds. TTie shape of these
horses is wretched, and the spare or superfluous ones are sold only to fuel-drivers
(coalmen, carbonari) and the post. Tliere are more than two hundi-ed camels which
associate together, and multiply at pleasure. They are worked in the plough and cart,
and the spare stock supplies all the mountebanks of Europe, who buy them at the low
price of six or seven louis each. The next feature of this establishment is a herd of 1 800
wild bulls and cows, fierce and dangerous : the superfluous stock of these is either hunted
and killed for their hides and flesh, or sold alive to the farmers to be fed or worked. The
flock of Merinos are but lately introduced. Such are the chief features of this establish-
ment, which Chateauvieux terms a specimen of Tatar culture. It is evident it has no
other art or merit than that of allowing the powers and instincts of nature to operate in
their own way ; and it forms a very singular contrast to the highly artificial state of rural
economy in Tuscany.
SuBSECT. 3. Of the Agriculture of the Maremmes, or the District of Pestilential Air.
298. The extent of this district is from Leghorn to Terracina in length; and its
widest part is in the states of the church ; it includes Rome, and extends to the base
of the Apennines.
299. The climate of the maremmes is so mild that vegetation goes on during the whole
of the winter ; but so pestilential that there are scarcely any fixed inhabitants in this
inmiense tract of country, with the exception of those of the towns or cities on its
borders.
300. The surface is flat or gently varied ; and the soil in most places deep and rich.
In the .maremmes of Tuscany it is in some places a blue clay abounding in sulphur and
alum, and produces almost nothing but coltsfoot ( Tussilkgo).'
301. The estates are generally extensive, and let in large farms, at fixed rents, to men
of capital. The maremmes of Rome, forty leagues in extent, are divided into a few
hundred estates only, and let to not more than eighty farmers. These farmers grow
com, and pasture oxen of their own ; and in winter they graze the wandering flocks of
tlie mountains of Tuscany and other states at so much a head. The corn grown is
chiefly wheat, which is reaped by peasants from the mountains, some of whom also stay
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN ITALY.
55
and assist in sowing the succeeding crop ; after which the whole disappear, and the
maremmes remain a desert with a few men, whom Chateauvieux designates as " half
savages, who run over these solitudes like Tatars, armed with long lances, and covered
with coarse woollens and untanned skins." The lance they use in hunting down the
oxen wrhen they are to be caught for the butcher, or to be broken in for labour ; and the
clothing alluded to has been recommended by the medical men of Rome, as the most
likely to resist the attacks of the malaria (bad air), or pestilence.
302. The agricultural implements and operations differ little from those of other parts
of Italy. The plough, or araire, of Rome
(.fiS' ^^0 ^^ ^ rude implement, with a broad
flat share, on the hinder end of which the
ploughman stands ; and thus drawn along,
his weight makes a deeper furrow. Two
strips of wood (the bince aures of Virgil),
about eighteen inches long, are often attached
to the share, diverging a little from each other,
and these serve to lay open the furrow like
our mould-board. In the operation of propagating the vine, cuttings are planted in
trenches four feet
u9 I! nli r li r I r II .d . deep, into which stones
have been previously
thrown, for the alleged
purpose of encouraging
moisture about the
roots. The same mode
was practised in Vir-
gil's time. (Georg., ii.
346.) The common
Roman cart (Jig. 39.)
is supposed to have
been originally de-
signed by the celebrated Michael Angelo, in his quality of engineer and wheeler. (See
Lasteyrie, Col. des Mach.)
303. The farm ofCampo Morto (field of death) includes the whole property of St. Peter's
church in Rome, which is supported from its sole revenue. Tliis vast estate is situated in
the Pontine marshes, and the following outline of its management is taken from a letter
of Chateauvieux^ written in July 1813 • —
504. The farmery, the only Building on an estate of many thousand acres, consists of a central building
and two wings, the ground-floor of the central part consists of an immense kitchen and five large rooms,
the latter without windows, and unfurnished. The first story consists of six rooms, used as corn-chambers,
with the exception of one, which was furnished, and served to lodge the principal officers. The two wings
contained large vaulted stables, with hay-lofts over. One female lived in the house, in order to cook for
Uie officers or upper servants, whose wives and families live in the towns as do those of the shepherds.
There was no garden, nor any appearance of neatness or cleanliness, and not a fence or a hedge, and
scarcely a tree on the whole farm.
305. The fattore, or steward, was an educated man, and a citizen of Rome, where his family lived ; he
and all the other officers, and even shepherds, always went out mounted and armed.
306. The reapers were at work in a distant part of the estate, when Chateauvieux went over it : they
were an immense band, ranged as in the order of battle, and guarded by twelve chiefs or overseers on
horseback, with lances in their hands. These reapers had lately arrived from the mountains; half
were men and the rest women. " They were bathed in sweat ; the sun was intolerable ; the men were
good figures, but the women were frightful. They had been some days from the mountains, and the foul
air had begun to attack them. Two only had yet taken the fever ; but they told me, from that time a
great number would be seized every day, and that by the end of harvest the troop would be reduced at
least one half What then, 1 said, becomes of these unhappy creatures ? They give them a morsel of
bread, and send them back. But whither do they go? They take the way to the mountains ; some remain
on the road, some die, but others arrive, suJBering under, misery and inanition, to come again the following
year."
307. The corn is threshed fifteen days after being cut : the grain is trodden out under the feet of horses,
cleaned, and carried to Rome. The straw was formerly suffered to be dispersed by the wind ; but it is
now collected in heaps at regular distances over the country, and always on eminences : there it lies ready
to be burned on the approach of " those clouds of grashoppers which often devastate the whole of this
country."
308. The live stock of the farm consisted of a hundred working oxen ; several hundreds of wild cows and
bulls, kept for maintaining the stock, and for the sale of their calves and heifers ; two thousand swine,
which are fatted upon nuts and acorns in the'forests belonging to the estate; and a hundred horses for the use
of the herdsmen. There were four thousand sheep on the low grounds, and six hundred and eighty thou-
sand on the mountains belonging to the estate. Of the latter, eighty thousand were of the Negretti breed,
whose wool it was intended to have manufactured into the dresses of all the mendicant monks in Italy, and
into the great coats of the shepherds : the rest were of the Pouille breed, which produces a white wool,
but only on the upi)er part of the body. As mutton is not good in Italy, and but little eaten, they kill most
of the tup-lambs as soon as they are born, and milk the ewes to make cheese. The temporary flocks had
not arrived when Chateauvieux was at Campo Morto, the fields not being then cleared of their crops.
309. The farmer of this extensive domain is M. Trucci, who pays a rent for it of
22,000 piastres (4950/.). This, said M. Trucci to Chateauvieux, *< supposes an extent
of three thousand rubbi, or six thousand acres, of culturablc land. I have nearly as
E 4
5« HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I,
much that is not fit for the plough, and it is there my pigs and my cows principally feed.
My three thousand rubbi are divided into nearly nine equal parts of three hundred and
thirty rubbi each : one of these is in fallow, another in corn, and the seven others in
pasture. On the two thousand three hundred rubbi, wliich remain in grass, I support
four thousand sheep, four hundred horses, and two hundred oxen, and I reserve a portion
for hay. In the macchie (bushy places, woody wastes) I have seven hundred cows,
and sometimes nearly two thousand pigs.
810. My expenses " are limited to paying the rent of the farm, to purchasing bread for
the workmen, and to the entire maintenance of my army of shepherds, superintendents,
and the fattore ; to paying for the work of the day-labourers, of the harvest-men, &c. ;
and, in short, to the expense of moving the flocks, and to what, in large farms, are called
the extra-charges, the amount of which is always very high. There must also be deducted
from the gross profits of the flock about one tenth, which belongs, in different proportions,
to my cliiefs and to my shepherds, because I support this tenth at my expense. We have
also, in this mode of culture, to sustain great losses on our cattle, notwithstanding which
I must acknowledge that our farming is profitable.
311. Of annual profit " I average above five thousand piastres, besides five per cent
on the capital of my flocks. You see, then, that the lands in the Campagna of Rome, so
despised, and in such a state of wildness, let at the rate of eighteen francs (fifteen shillings)
the Paris acre : there is an immense quantity in France which does not let for so much.
They would, doubtlessly, let for more if they were divided and peopled, but not in the
proportion supposed : for the secret in large farms consists in their economy ; and notliing
on the subject of agricultural profit is so deceptive as the appearance they present to our
view, for the profit depends solely on the amount of the economical combinations, and not
on the richness of the productions displayed to the eye." (Letters on Italy.)
SuBSECT. 4. Of Farming in the Neapolitan Territory, or the Land of Ashes.
312. Hie farming on the volcanic soil, in the neighbourhood of Vesuvius, belongs
to the valley farming of Tuscany ; but, as it varies a little, and as the farmers are much
more wretched, we shall give the following relation, as received by Chateauvieux from a
Neapolitan metayer : —
3 1 3. We, poor inetayers, he said, " occupy only so much land as we can cultivate by
our own families, that is to say, four or five acres. Our condition is not a good one,
since we get for our trouble only a third of the produce, two thirds belonging to the
owner, which we pay in kind into the hands of the steward. We have no ploughs, and
the whole is cultivated by the spade. It is true that the soil, being mixed with ashes,
is easily stirred ; and even our children assist us in this work. At times the mountain,
hence named Vesuvius, pours forth showers of ashes, which spread over our fields and
fertilise them.
314. The trees which you see on the land, " are not without their use; they support
the vine, and give us fruit ; we also carefully gather their leaves : it is the last autumnal
crop, and serves to feed our cattle in the winter. We cultivate, in succession, melons,
between the rows of elms, wliich we carry to the city to sell ; after which we sow wheat.
When the wheat crop is taken off, we dig in the stubble, which is done by our families,
to sow beans or purple clover. During six months, our children go every morning to
cut a quantity of it with the sickle, to feed the cows. We prefer the females of the
buffaloes, as they give most milk. We have also goats, and sometimes an ass, or a small
horse, to go to the city and carry our burthens ; but this advantage belongs only to the
richer metayers.
315. We plant the maize " the following spring, after clover or beans. We manure
the land at this time, because this plant is to support our families ; this crop, therefore,
interests us more than all the others, and the day in which it is harvested is a day of
festivity in our country. All the villagers assemble together, the young women dance,
and the rest of us walk slowly, being laden with our tools : arrived at our dwellings,
each family goes into its own ; but they are so near each other, that we can still converse
together.
316. We often gather seven ears from one stalk of maize, « and many of thena are three
palms long. When the sun is high, the father of the family goes into the adjoining field
to get some melons, wliile the children gather fruit from the surrounding fig trees. The
fruit is brought under an elm tree, round which the whole family, sits ; after this repast
the work begins again, and does not cease until the close of day. Each family then visits
its neighbours, and tells of the rich crop the season has bestowed upon them.
317. We have no sooner gotten in the maize thaii the earth is again dug, to be sown once
more with wheat; after this second crop, we grow in the fields only vegetables of different
kinds. Our lands thus produce wine and fruit, corn and vegetables, and leaves and grass
for the cattle. We have no reason to complain of their fertility : but our conditions are
Book L
AGRICULTURE IN ITALY.
57
hard, litde being left for our pains ; and if the season is not propitious, the metayer has
much to complain of." {Letters on Italy.)
318. The cotton plant (Gossypium herbaceum) {Jig. 40.) is beginning to be cultivated
in the neighbourhood of Vesuvius, and in Sicily. It is sown
in March, in lines three feet distant, and the plants two
feet apart in the lines. The earth is stirred by a one-horse
plough, or by hoes, and carefully weeded. As soon as the
flowering season is over, about the middle of September, the
ends of the shoots are nipped off, to determine the sap to the
fruit. The capsules are collected as they ripen ; a tedious
process, lasting two months : the cotton and the seeds are then
separated ; an operation still more tedious. Tlie most ex/-
tensive cotton farmers are in the vale of Sorento. There the
rotation is, 1 . maize ; 2. wheat, followed by beans, which
ripen next March; 3. cotton; 4. wheat, followed by clover ;
5. melons, followed by French or common beans. Thus, in
five years, are produced eight crops. In this district, wherever
water can be commanded, it is distributed, as in Tuscany and
Lombardy, among every kind of crop.
"319. The tomato, or love apple (.Solanum Lycop^rsicum L.),
so extensively used in Italian cookery, forms also an article of
field culture near Pompeii, and especially in Sicily, whence they are sent to Naples, Rome,
and several towns on the Mediterranean sea. It is treated much in the same way as the
cotton plant.
320. The orange, lemon, peach. Jig, and various other fruits, are grown in the Nea-
politan territory, both for home use and exportation : but their culture we consider to
belong to gardening.
321. The Neapolitan maremmes, near Salerno, to the evils of those of Rome, add
that of a wretched soil. They ai-e pastured by a few herds of buffaloes and oxen ; the
herdsmen of which have no other shelter during the night than reed huts ; these desert
tracts being without either houses or ruins. The plough of this ancient Greek colony is
thought to be the nearest to that of Greece, and has been already adverted to (31.).
322. The manna, a concrete juice, forms an article of cultivation in Calabria. This
substance is nothing more than the exsiccated juice of the flowering ash tree (O'mus
rotundifolia), which grows there wild in abundance. In April or May, the peasants
make one or two incisions in the trunk of the tree with a hatchet, a few inches deep ; and
insert a reed in each, round which the sap trickles down : after a month or two they return,
and find this reed sheathed with manna. The use of manna, in medicine, is on the decline.
323. TheJUberts and chestnuts of the Calabrian Apennines are collected by the farmers,
and sold in Naples for exportation or consumption.
324. The culture of indigo and sugar was attempted in the Neapolitan territory, under
the reign of Murat. The indigo succeeded ; but sufficient time had not elapsed to judge
of the sugar culture when it was abandoned. Tlie plants, however, grew vigorously, and
their remains may still (1819) be seen in the fields near TeiTacina.
325 Oysters have been bred and reared in the kingdom of Naples from the time of the
Romans. The subject is mentioned by Nonnius {De Reb. Cib., 1. iii. c 37.) ; and by
Pliny {Nat. Hist., h. xviii. c. 54.). Count Lasteyrie {Col. desMach.) describes the place
mentioned by the latter autlior, as it now exists in the Lake Facino, at Baia. This lake
{Jig, 41 .) communicates with the sea by a narrow passage. On the water near its margin,
58 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
a house (c) is constructed for those who take care of the oysters, and who sell them to
the dealers in Naples, or to those who come and eat them on the spot ; and adjoining
the house is a covered enclosure (6), where the oysters are kept till wanted. Along the
margin of the lake, and in most parts of it, are placed circles of reeds (a), with their sum-
mits above the water. The spawn of the oysters attaches itself to these reeds, and grows
there till of an edible size : the oysters are then removed to the reserve (6), and kept there
till wanted. In removing them the reeds are pulled up one by one, examined, and the
full-grown oysters removed and put in baskets, while the small-sized and spawn are suffered
to remain, and the reed is replaced as it was. The baskets are then placed in the reserve,
and not emptied till sold. In two years from the spawn, Lasteyrie observes, the oyster
is fully grown.
Sect. II. Of the present State of Agriculture in Switzerland.
326. The agriculture of Switzerland is necessarily of a peculiar nature, and on a very
confined scale. The country is strictly pastoral ; little corn is produced, and the crops are
scanty and precarious. Cattle, sheep, and goats constitute the chief riches and
dependence of the inhabitants. Each proprietor farms his own small portion of land ; or
the mountainous tracts belonging to the communities are pastured in common. But,
whether private or common property, it is evident thai mountainous pastures are little
susceptible of improvement. {For. Quart, and Continent. Miscell., Jan. 1828.)
327. Though of a very primitive kind, this agriculture is not without interest, from the nice
attention required in some parts of its operations. The surface, soil, and climate of the
country, are so extraordinarily irregular and diversified, that in some places grapes ripen,
and in many others corn will not arrive at maturity ; on one side of a hill the inhabitants
are often reaping, while they are sowing on the other ; or they are obliged to feed the
cattle on its summits with leaves of evergreens while they are making hay at its base. A
season often happens in which rains during harvest prevent the corn from being dried,
and it germinates, rots, and becomes useless ; in others it is destroyed by frost. In some
cases there is no corn to reap, from the effect of summer storms. In no country is so
much skill required in harvesting com and hay as Switzerland ; and no better school
could be found for the study of that part of Scotch and Irish farming. After noticing
some leading features of the culture of the cantons which form the republic, we shall cast
our eye on the mountains of Savoy,
SuBSECT. 1. Of the Agriculture of the Swiss Cantons.
328. Agriculture began to attract public attention in Switzerland about the middle of
the eighteenth century. In 1759, a society for the promotion of rural economy esta-
blished itself at Berne : they offered premiums, and have published some useful papers in
several volumes. Long before tliat period, however, the Swiss farmers were considered
the most exact in Europe. (Stanyans Account of Switzerland in 1714.) Chateauvieux
attributes the progress which agriculture has made, near Vevay, on the Lake of Geneva,
to the" settlement of the protestants, who emigrated tliither from France, at the end of the
seventeenth century. They cut the hills into terraces, and planted vines, which has so
much increased the value of the land, that what was before worth little, now sells at
10,000 francs per acre. {Let. xxi.) Improvement in Switzerland is not likely to be
rapid ; because agriculture there is limited almost entirely to procuring the means of
subsistence, and not to the employment of capital for profit.
329. Landed proj^erty in Switzerland is minutely divided, and almost always farmed
by the proprietors and their families : or it is in immense tracts of mountain belonging
to the bailiwicks, and pastured in common : every proprietor and burgess having a right
according to the extent of his property. These men are, perhaps, the most frugal
cultivators in Europe : they rear numerous families, a part of which is obliged to
emigrate, because there are few manufactures j and land is excessively dear, and seldom
in the market.
330. The valleys of the Alpine regions (f Switzerland are subject to very peculiar injuries
from the rivers, mountain rocks, and glaciers. As the rivers are subject to vast and
sudden inundations, from the thawing of the snow on the mountains, they bring down
at such times an immense quantity of stones, and spread them over the bottoms of the
valleys. Many a stream, which appears in ordinary times inconsiderable, has a stony
bed of half a mile in breadth, in various parts of its course ; thus a portion of the finest
land is rendered useless. The cultivated slopes, at the bases of the mountains, are subject
to be buried under dboulemens, when the rocks above fall down, and sometimes cover
many square miles with their ruins.
SSI. E'boulement (Fr.) denotes a falling down of a mountain or mass of rock, and consequent covering
of the lower grounds with its fragments ; when an immense quantity of stones are suddenly brought down
from the mountains by the breaking or thawing of a glacier, it is also called an eboulement. {Bakewell,
vol. i. p. 11.) Vast eboulemens are every year falling from the enormous precipices that overhang the
valley of the Rhone ; many of these are recorded which have destroyed entire villages.
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN SWITZERLAND. 59
332. One qf the most extraordinary eboulemens ever known was that of Mont Grenier, five miles
south of Chambery. A part of this mountain fell down in the year 1248, and entirely buried fiVe
parishes, and the town and church of St. Andri The ruins spread over an extent of about nine
square miles, and are called Les Abymes des Myans. After a lapse of so many centuries, they stUl
present a singular scene of desolation. The catastrophe must have been most awful when seen from the
vicinity ; for Mont Grenjer is almost isolated, advancing into a narrow plain, which extends to the valley
of the Isere.
333. Mont Grenier rises very abruptly upwards of 4000 feet above the plain. Like the mountains of
Les Echelles, with which it is connected, it is capped with an immense mass of limestone strata, not less
than 600 feet in thickness, which presents on everyside the appearance of a wall. The strata dip gently
to the side which fell into the plain. This mass of limestone rests on a foundation of softer strata,
probably molasse. Under this molasse are distinctly seen thin strata, probably of limestone, alternating
with soft strata. There can be little doubt that the catastrophe was caused by the gradual erosion of the
soft strata which undermined the mass of limestone above, and projected it into the plain ; it is also pro-
bable that the part which fell had for some time been nearly detached from the mountain by a shrinking
of the southern side, as there is at present a rent at this end, upwards of two thousand feet deep, which
seems to have cut off a large section from the eastern end, and that now " Hangs in doubtful ruins o'er
its base," as if prepared to renew the catastrophe of 1248.
334. Avalanches, or falls of immense masses of snow from the mountains, often occasion dreadful
effects. Villages are overwhelmed by them ; and rivers, stopped in their course by them, inundate narrow
valleys to a ruinous extent. In February 1820, the village of Obergestelen, with eighty-eight of its inha-
bitants, was overwhelmed by an avalanche.
335. The glaciers, or ice-hills, or ice-heaps, slide down into the mountain valleys, and form dams across
them, which produce large lakes ; by the breaking up of the glacier, these lakes are sometimes suddenly
poured into the lower valleys, and do immense mischief. Man, in such a country, as Bakewell has
observed, is in a constant state of warfare with the elements, and compelled to be incessantly on his guard
against the powers that threaten his destruction. This constant exposure to superhuman dangers is
supposed to have given the aged inhabitants, especially of the Vallais, an air of uncommon seriousness and
melancholy.
336. The Swiss cottages are generally formed of wood, with projecting roofs, covered
with slates, tiles, or shingles. A few small enclosures surround or are contiguous
to them, some of which are watered meadows, others dry pasture ; and one or more
always devoted to the raising of oats, some barley, and rye or wheat, for the family con-
sumption. In the garden, which is large in proportion to the farm, are grown hemp,
flax, tobacco, potatoes, white beet to be used as spinach and asparagus, French beans,
cabbages, and turnips. The whole has every appearance of neatness and comfort. There
are, however, some farmers who hire lands from the corporate bodies and others at a fixed
rent, or on the metayer system j and in some cases both land and stock are hired ; and
peasants are found who hire so many cows and their keep, during a certain number of
months, either for a third or more of the produce, or for a fixed sum.
337. The villages of Switzerland are often built in lofty situations, and some so high
as 5000 feet above the level of tiae sea. " In a country where land is much divided, and
small proprietors cultivate their own property on the mountains, it is absolutely necessary
that they should reside near it, otherwise a great part of their time and strength would
be exhausted in ascending and descending, as it would take a mountaineer four hours
in each day, to ascend to many of these villages and return to the valley. In building
theii houses on the mountains, they place them together in villages, when it can be done,
and at a moderate distance from their property, to have the comforts of society, and be
more secure from the attack of wolves and other wild animals. Potatoes and barley can
be cultivated at the height of 4500 feet in Savoy, and these, with cheese and milk, and
a little maize for porridge, form the principal part of the food of the peasantry. The
harvest is over in the plains by the end of June, and in the mountains by the end of
September. Several of the mountain villages, with the white spires of their churches,
form pleasing objects in the landscape, but on entering them the charm vanishes, and
nothing can exceed the dirtiness and want of comfort which they present, except the cabins
of the Irish." {BakeweW s Travels, vol. i. 270.) Yet habit, and a feeling of independence,
■which the mountain peasant enjoys under almost every form of government, make him
disregard the inconveniences of his situation and abode. Damsels and their flocks form
pleasing groups at a distance ; but the former, viewed near, bear no more resemblance to
les bergeres des Alpes of the poets, than a female Hottentot to the Venus de Medicis.
338. The vine is cultivated in several of the Swiss cantons on a small scale ; and either
against trellises, or kept low and tied to short stakes as in France. The grapes, which
seldom ripen well, produce a very inferior wine. The best in Switzerland are grown in
the Pays de Vaud round Vevay. They are white, and, Bakewell says, " as large and
fine-flavoured as our best hot-house grapes. " The physicians at Geneva send some of their
patients here during the vintage, to take what is called a regular course of grapes ; that is,
to subsist for three weeks entirely on this fruit, without taking any other food or drink. In
a few days a grape diet becomes agreeable, and weak persons, and also the insane, have
found great relief from subsisting on it for three or four weeks. {BakeweWs Travels,
ii. 206.)
339. Of fruit trees, the. apple, pear, cherry, plum, and walnut, surround the small field
or fields of every peasant. The walnut tree also lines the public roads in many places,
and its dropping fruit is often the only food of the mendicant traveller.
340. The management qf woods and forests forms a part of Swiss culture. The
herbage is pastured with sheep and swine as in Italy ; the copse wood and lop are used
60 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
for fuel, as in all countries ; and when a mode of conveyance and a market can be found
the timber is sold, but in many places neither is the case. A singular construction was
erected for the purpose of bringing down to the Lake of Lucerne the fine pine trees
which grow upon Mount Pilatus, by the engineer Rupp. The wood was purchased by
a company for 3000^., and 9000;. were expended in constructing the slide. The length
of the slide is about 44,000 English feet, or about eight miles and two furlongs ; and
the difference of level of its two extremities is about 2600 feet. It is a wooden trough,
about five feet broad and four deep, the bottom of which consists of three trees, the middle
one being a little hollowed ; and small rills of water are conducted into it, for the pur-
pose of diminishing the friction. The declivity, at its commencement, is about 22^°.
The large pines, with their branches and boughs cut off, are placed in the slide, and
descending by their own gravity, they acquire such an impetus by their descent through
the first part of the slide, that they perform their journey of eight miles and a quarter in
the short space of six minutes ; and, under favourable circumstances, that is, in wet
weather, in three minutes. Only one tree descends at a time, but, by means of signals
placed along the slide, another tree is launched as soon as its predecessor has plunged
into the lake. Sometimes the moving trees spring or bolt out of the trough, and when
this happens, they have been known to cut tlirough trees in the neighbourhood, as if it
had been done by an axe. When the trees reach the lake, they are formed into rafts, and
floated down the Reuss into the Rhine.
341. Timber is alsojloated down mountain torrents from a great height. The trees are
cut down during summer and laid in the then dry bed of the stream : with the first heavy
rains in autumn they are set in motion, and go thundering down among the rocks to the
valleys, where what arrives sound is laid aside for construction, and the rest is used as fuel.
342. The chamois goats abound in some of the 42
forests, and are hunted for their fat and flesh, and
for their skins, which are valuable as glove and
breeches leather. They herd in flocks, led by a
female ; live on lichens, and on the young shoots
and bark of pines ; are remarkably fond of salt ; and
require great caution in hunting. {Simond's Swit-
zerland, vol. i. p. 245. ) The common goat is fre-
quently domesticated for the sake of its milk, and
may be seen near cottages, curiously harnessed
(Jig. 42.) to prevent its breaking through, or
jumping over, fences.
343. The care of pastures and mowing grounds
forms an important part of the agricultural economy
of Switzerland. In places inaccessible to cattle, the peasant sometimes makes hay with
cramps on his feet. Grass, not three inches high, is cut in some places three times a
year ; and, in the valleys, the fields are seen shaven as close as a bowling-green, and all
inequalities cropped as with a pair of scissors. In Switzerland, as in Norway, ar.d for
the same reasons, the arts of mowing and hay-making seem to be carried to the
highest degree of perfection. Harvesting com is not less perfect ; and the art of pro-
curing fodder for cattle, from the trees, shrubs, and wild plants, and applying this fodder
with economy, is pushed as far as it will go. In some parts, very minute attention is
paid to forming and collecting manure, especially that liquid manure, which, in the
German cantons, is known under the name of jauche or mist-wasser, and in the Canton
de Vaud, of sissier. {For. Quart. Bev. and Cont. Mis., Jan. 1828.)
344. Cows, goats, and sheep constitute the wealth of the Swiss farmers, and their principal means of sup.
port ; or, to discriminate more accurately, the goats, in a great measure, support the poorer class ; and (he
cows supply the cheese from which the richer derive their little wealth. The extent of a pasture is esti-
mated by the number of cows it maintains : six or eight goats are deemed equal to a cow, as are four calves,
four sheep, or four hogs ; but a horse is reckoned equal to five or six cows, because he roots up the grass.
Throughout the high Alps, they are of opinion that sheep are destructive to the pastures, in proportion to
their elevation, because the herbage, which they eat down to the roots, cannot, in such a cold climate,
regain its strength and luxuriance. The mountain pastures are rented at so much per cow's feed, from
the 15th of May to the 18th of October ; and the cows are hired from the peasants for the same period : at
the end of it, both are restored to their owners. In other parts, the proprietors of the pastures hire the
cows, or the proprietors of the cows rent the land. The proceeds of a cow are estimated at 31. or 31. 10s.,
▼iz. 255. in summer ; and, during the time they are kept in the valleys or in the house, at Zl. The Grin-
delwald Alps feed three thousand cows, and as many sheep and goats. The cattle are attended on the
mountains by herdsmen ; when the weather is tempestuous they are up all night calling to them, other-
wise they would take fright and run into danger. Chalets are built for the use of the herdsmen : these
are log-houses of the rudest construction, without a chimney, having a pit or trench dug for the fire, the
earth thrown up forming a mound around it, by way of a seat. To those chalets, the persons whose
employment it is to milk the cows, and to make cheese and butter, ascend in the summer time. When
they go out to milk the cows, a portable seat, with a single leg, is strapped to their backs ; at the hour of
milking, the cows are attracted home from the most distant pastures by a handful of salt, which the shep-
herd takes from a leathern pouch hanging over his shoulder. During the milking, the Ranz dcs Faches
is frequently sung. {For. Quart. Rev. and Cont. Misc.)
345. The Swiss cows yield more milk than those of Lombardy, where they are in great demand ; but
after the third generation their milk falls off In some parts of Switzerland they. yield, on an average.
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN SWITZERLAND. 61
twelve English quarts a day ; and with forty cows, a cheese of forty-five pounds can be made daily. In
the vicinity of Altdorf they make, in the course of a hundred days, from the 20th of June, two cheeses
daily, of twenty-five pounds each, from the milk of eighteen cows. On the high pastures of Scarla, a cow
during the best season, supplies near sixty pounds of skim-milk cheese, and forty pounds of butter.
Reckoning twenty pounds of milk, observes our author, equivalent to one of butter, the produce in milk
will be eight hundred pounds for ninety days, or less than nine pounds a day. This small supply he
ascribes to the great elevation of the pastures, and the bad keep of the cows in the winter. {For. Quart.
Rev. and Cont. Misc.)
SiS. Great variety of cheese is made in Switzerland. The most celebrated are the Schabzieger and
Gruyfere ; the former made by the mountaineers of the canton of Glarus, and the latter in the valley of
Gruyfere. The cheese of Switzerland must have been for a long period a great article of commerce ; for,
Myconius, of Lucerne, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, in a commentary on a poem of his friend
Glarianus, expatiates on the large quantities of butter and cheese which his fellow-citizens sent into
Burgundy, Suabia, and Italy : he adds, that twenty cows would bring in, annually, a net sum of 100 crowns.
In 1563, a law was passed in the Upper Engadine to guard against fraud in the manufacture of cheese
meant for sale. Formerly, the depots of rich cheese were principally near Lake Como; it was supposed
that the exhalations, at once warm and moist, ripened the cheese, without drying it too much ; at present,
however, these depots are not near so numerous. In the Upper Engadine, cheese loses, by drying, a
twentieth part ot its weight in the first ten weeks ; and skim-milk cheese the half of its weiglit in two years.
Of the quantity of cheeses exported from Switzerland we have no information that can be relied upon j but
it is computed that thirty-thousand hundred-weight of Gruyfere cheese
alone, fit for exportation, is annually made ; and that, from the middle
of July to October, three hundred horses, weekly, are employed in trans-
porting Swiss cheese over Mount Grias. {For. Rev. and Cont. Misc.)
347. The Schabzieger cheese is made by the mountaineers of the Can-
ton of Glarus alone ; and, in its greatest perfection, in the valley of
Kloen. It is readily distinguished by its marbled appearance and
aromatic .flavour, both produced by the bruised leaves of the melilot. ;^
The dairy is built near a stream of water ; the vessels containing the "^
milk are placed on gravel or stone in the dairy, and the water con-
ducted into it in such a manner as to reach their brim. The milk is
exposed to this temperature, about six degrees of Reaumur (forty-six
degrees of Fahrenheit), for five or six days, and in that time the cream
is completely formed. After this it is drained off, the caseous particles are
separated, by the addition of some sour milk, and not by rennet. The
curd thus obtained is pressed strongly in bags, on which stones are laid j
when sufficiently pressed and dried, it is ground to powder in autumn,
salted, and mixed with either the pressed flowers or the bruised seeds of
the melilot trefoil (Melil?)tus officinalis), {fig. 43.) The practice of mixing
the flowers or the seeds of plants with cheese was common among the
Romans, who used those of the thyme for that purpose. The entire sepa-
ration of the cream or unctuous portion of the milk is indispensable in the -
manufacture of Schabzieger. The unprepared curd never sells for more
than three halfpence a pound ; whereas, prepared as Schabzieger, it sells
for sixpence or seven-pence. {For. Rev. and Cont. Misc.)
348. The Gruyere cheese of Switzerland is so named after a valley, where the best of
that kind is made. Its merit depends chiefly on the herbage of the mountain pastures,
and partly on the custom of mixing the flowers or bruised seeds of ilfelilotus oflScinalis
with the curd, before it is pressed. The mountain pastures are rented at so much per
cow's feed from the 15th of May to the 18th of October ; and the cows are hired from
the peasants, at so much, for the same period. On the precise day both land and cows
return to their owners. It is estimated that 15,000 cows are so grazed, and 30,000 cwt.
of cheese made fit for exportation, besides what is reserved for home use.
349. Ewe.milk cheese of Switzerland. One measure of ewe's milk is added to three measures of cow's
milk ; little rennet is used, and no acid. The best Swiss cheese of this kind is made by the Bergamese
sheep-masters, on Mount Splugen. {For. Rev. and Cont. Misc.)
350. The establishment at Hofwyl, near Berne, may be considered as in great part
belonging to agriculture, and deserves to be noticed in this outline. It was projected by,
and is conducted at the sole expense of, M. Fellenberg, a proprietor and agriculturist.
His object was to apply a sounder system of education for the great body of the people,
in order to stop the progress of misery and crime. Upwards of twelve years ago he
undertook to systematise domestic education, and to show, on a large scjile, how the
children of the poor might be best taught, and their labour at the same time most pro-
fitably applied ; in short, how the first twenty years of a poor man's life might be so
employed as to provide both for his support and his education. The peasants in his
neighbourhood were at first rather shy of trusting their children for a new experiment ;
and being thus obliged to take his pupils where he could find them, many of the earliest
were the sons of vagrants, and literally picked up on the highways : this is the case with
one or two of the most distinguished pupils.
351. Their treatTuent is nearly that of children under the paternal roof. They go out
every morning to their work soon after sunrise, having first breakfasted, and received a
lesson of about an hour: they return at noon. Dinner takes them half an hour,
a lesson of one hour follows ; then to work again till six in the evening. On Sunday
the different lessons take six hours instead of two ; and they have butcher's meat on that
day only. They are divided into three classes, according to age and strength ; an entry
is made in a book every night of the number of hours each class has worked, specifying
the sort of labour done, in order that it may be charged to the proper account, each par-
ticular crop having an account opened for it, as well as every new building, the live stock,
the machines, the schools themselves, &c. &c. In winter, and whenever there is not out-
62 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
of-doors work, the boys plait straw for chairs, make baskets, saw logs with the cross-saw
and split them, thrash and winnow corn, grind colours, knit stockings, or assist the wheel-
wright and other artificers, of whom there are many employed in the establishment. For
all which different sorts of labour an adequate salary is credited to each boy's class.
S52. The boys never see a newspaper, and scarcely a book ,• they are taught, viva voce, a few matters of
fact, and rules of practical application : the rest of their education consists chiefly in inculcating habits of
industry, frugality, veracity, docility, and mutual kindness, by means of good example, rather than pre.
cepts ; and, above all, by the absence of bad example. It has been said of the Bell and Lancaster schools,
that the good they do is mostly negative : they take children out of the streets, employ them in a harm,
less sort of mental sport two or three hours in the day, exercise their understanding gently and pleasantly,
and accustom them to order and rule, without compulsion. Now, what these schools undertake to do
for a few hours of each week, during one or two years of a boy's life, the School of Ijidustry at Hofwyl
does incessantly, during the whole course of his youth ; providing, at the same time, for his whole
physical maintenance, at a rate which must be deemed excessively cheap for any but the very lowest of
the people.
353. The practicability of this scheme for inculcating individual prudence and practical
morality, not only in the agricultural, but in all the operative, classes of society, M.
Simond considers as demonstrated ; and it only remains to ascertain the extent of its
application. Two only of the pupils have left Hofwyl, for a place, before the end of
their time ; and one, with M. de Fellenberg's leave, is become chief manager of the
immense estates of Comte Abaffy, in Hungary, and has, it is said, doubled its proceeds
by the improved method of husbandry he has introduced. This young man, whose name
is Madorly, was originally a beggar boy, and not particularly distinguished at school.
Another directs a school established near Zurich, and acquits himself to the entire
satisfaction of his employers. M. Fellenberg has besides a number of pupils of the
higher classes, some of whom belong to the first families of Germany, Russia, and Swit-
zerland. They live enfamille with their master, and are instructed by the different tutors
in the theory and practice of agriculture, and in the arts and sciences on which it is
founded. (See SimoncCs Account of Switzerland, vol. i. ; JEd. Rev. 1819, No. 64. ; JDes
Institutes de Hofwyl de par Cte. L. de V. Paris, 1821.)
SuBSECT. 2. Of the Agriculture of the Duchy of Savoy.
354. Of the agriculture of Savoy, wliich naturally belongs to Switzerland, a general
view, with some interesting details, is given by Bakewell. {Travels in the Tarantaise, &c.,
1820-22.) Landed property there is divided into three qualities, and rated for a land-
tax accordingly. There is an office for registering estates, to which a per centage is paid
on each transfer or additional registering. There is also an oflSce for registering all
mortgages, with the particulars ; both are found of great benefit to the landed interest
and tfie public, by the certainty which they give to titles, and the safety both to borrowers
and lenders on land.
355. Land in Savoy is divided into very small farms, and is occupied by the proprietors
or pay sans, who live in an exceedingly frugal manner, and cultivate the ground with the
assistance of their wives and children ; for in Savoy, as in many other parts of Europe,
the women do nearly as much field labour as the men.
356. The lands belonging to the monasteries were sold during the French revolution, when Savoy was
annexed to France. The gradual abolition of the monasteries had been begun by the old government of
Sardinia before the revolution, for the monks were prohibited from receiving any new brethren into their
establishments, in order that the estates might devolve to the crown, on the extinction of the different
fraternities. This measure, though wise in the abstract, was not unattended with inconvenience, and
perhaps we may add, injustice. The poor, who had been accustomed to fly to the monasteries for relief
in cases of distress, were left without any support, except the casual charity of their neighbours, who had
little to spare from their own absolute necessities. The situation of the poor is therefore much worse in
Savoy, than before the abolition of the monasteries. The poor in England suffered in the same manner,
on the abolition of the monasteries in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, before the poor's rates
were enacted. The charity of the monks of Savoy lost much of its usefulness by the indiscriminate manner
in which it was generally bestowed : certain days and hours were appointed at each monastery, for the
distribution of provisions, and the indolent were thereby enabled to support themselves during the whole
week, by walking to the different monasteries on the days of donation. This was offering a premium to
idleness, and was the means of increasing the number of mendicants, which will, in every country, be
proportionate to the facility of obtaining food without labour.
357. The peasantry in Savoy are very poor, but they cannot be called miserable. In the neighbourhood
of towns, their situation is worse than at a distance ; and not far from Chambery may be seen a few
families that might almost vie in squalid misery, rags, and filth, with the poor of Ireland ; but the general
appearance of the peasantry is respectable. Having learnt the price of labour in various parts of Savoy,
Bakewell proposed the following question : Is it possible for a labourer, with a family, to procure a
sufficient quantity of wholesome food for their consumption ? One of the answers was, " Cela est tres-facile
(It is very easy)", the other was, " The labourer lives very frugally {tres-sobrement)." " In general
he eats very coarse, but wholesome, bread, and, except in the mountains, he eats very little meat, and
rarely drinks wine, but he has a great resource in potatoes."
358. One day's labour of a farming man will purchase about twelve pounds avoirdupois of wheat, or from
four to five pounds of beef, veal, or mutton ; but these are dainties which he rarely tastes; potatoes, rye-
bread, chestnuts, and milk, form the principal part of the food of the poor. The day-labourer in Savoy has
to deduct, from the amount of his labour, about seventy days in the year, including saint-days and Sundays,
on which he receives no wages. {Bakeweirs Travels, vol i. 314.)
359. There are four modes of occupying land for cultivation in Savoy : by the pro-
prietors ; by farmers ; by grangers ; and by tacheurs.
360. Land very near to towns is generally cultivated by the proprietors, who either keep cattle, or take
them in to graze at so much per head.
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN SWITZERLAND. 63
361. By farming land, is understood, letting it at a fixed rent, to be paid according to the value of the
produce, taken at an average often years.
3fi2. By grangers, or renting land d moitie fruit, is understood, that the proprietor takes half of all the
grain and fruit, half the produce or increase of the cows, half the eggs, and, in short, half of every thing
which is productive.
363. By tacheurs, is another mode of cultivating land, in the immediate vicinity of towns. The pro-
prietors, to avoid keeping too many servants in their own houses, place a father of a family in the house
upon the farm. This man is called le tacheur. He takes care of the cows, for half their produce : he
ploughs the ground, receiving for every pair of oxen employed, or for three horses, from seventy to eighty
francs per annum : he has half the wine : the share he receives of the wheat and grain is in the proportion
of two parts for every nine taken by the proprietor. The latter pays all the taxes, and keeps the accounts.
The tacheur may be changed every year. When he is employed in repairing fences, &c., he is paid by the
day ; this is always undertaken when he enters the farm.
364. Tlie leases granted to the farmers and grangers are on terms of three, six, or
nine years ; but when the leases are for six or nine years, a reservation is always made,
that at the expiration of every three years the proprietor may revoke the lease, by giving
three months' notice, if he be not satisfied with the tenant. The proprietor always
supplies the farmer or granger with a sum of money without interest, called chaptal
(capital), to aid him in buying oxen : for a farm of two oxen it is generally about twenty
louis ; for a farm of four oxen, forty louis ; and so on. The proprietor, for this sum,
has an exclusive right to seize the cattle of the farmer, should he sell them clandestinely.
365. The mode of pasturage in Chamouny will apply, with little variation, to all the
Alpine communes in Savoy. The rich peasants in the Alps possess meadows, and
even habitations, at different heights. In winter they live in the bottom of the valley,
but they quit it in spring, and ascend gradually, as the heat pushes out vegetation. In
autumn they descend by the same gradation. Those who are less rich have a resource
in the common pastures, to which they send a number of cows, proportionate to their
resources, and their means of keeping them during the winter. Tlie poor, who have no
meadows to supply fodder for the winter, cannot avail themselves of this advantage.
Eight days after the cows have been driven up into the common pasture, all the owners
assemble, and the quantity of milk from each cow is weighed. The same operation is
repeated one day in the middle of the summer, and at the end of the season, the quantity
of cheese and butter is divided, according to the quantity of iQilk each cow yielded on
the days of trial. (Bakewell.)
366. There are chalets, or public dairies, near the mountain pastures in Savoy, as well as in Switzerland ;
persons reside in these chalets during the summer months, to make cheese and butter. In many
situations it is the labour of a day to ascend to these chalets, and return to the valleys immediately below
them. There are also public dairies in some of the villages, where the poorer peasants may bring all the
milk they can spare, from the daily consumption of their families. The milk is measured, and an account
kept of it ; and at the end of the season the due portion of cheese is allotted to each, after a small deduc-
tion for the expense of making. {Id.)
367. "No large flocks of sheep are kept in Savoy, as it is necessary to house them during the winter, at
which time they are principally fed with dried leaves of trees, collected during the autumn. Many poor
families keep a few sheep to supply them with wool for their domestic use. These little flocks are driven
home every evening, and are almost always accompanied by a goat, a cow, a pig, or an ass, and followed
by a young girl spinning with a distaff As they wind down the lower slopes of the mountains, they form
the most picturesque groups for the pencil of the painter ; and, seen at a distance, carry back the imagination
to the ages of pastoral simplicity, sung by Theocritus and Virgil. {Id.)
368. The vineyards in Savoy are cultivated for half the produce of the wine. The
cultivator pays the whole expense, except the taxes, which are paid by the proprietor.
369. Walnut trees, of immense size and great beauty, enrich the scenery of Savoy, and
supply sufficient oil for the consumption of the inhabitants, and for the adjoining canton
of Geneva. The walnut has been called the olive of the country. The trees belong
principally to the larger proprietors. They are planted by nature, being scattered over
the fields, and in the woods and hedge-rows, intermixed witli chestnuts and forest trees
of various kinds. {Bakewell.)
370. The loalnut harvest at Chateau Duing commences in September. " They are
beaten off the trees with long poles ; the green husks are taken. off as soon as they begin
to decay ; the walnuts are then laid in a chamber to dry, where they remain till November,
when the process of making the oil commences. The first operation is to crack the nuts,
and take out the kernel. For tliis purpose several of the neighbouring peasants, with their
wives and elder children, assembled at the chateau of an evening, after their work was
done. The party generally consisted of about thirty persons, who were placed around
a long table in the kitchen. One man sat at each end of the table, with a small mallet to
crack the nuts by hitting them on the point : as fast as they are cracked, they are
distributed to the other persons around the table, who take the kernels out of the shell,
and remove the inner part ; but tliey are not peeled. The peasants of Savoy are naturally
lively and loquacious ; and they enliven their labour with facetious stories, jokes, and
noisy mirth. About ten o'clock the table is cleared to make room for the goute, or sup-
per, consisting of dried fruit, vegetables, and wine ; and the remainder of the evening
is spent in singing and dancing, which is sometimes continued till midnight. In a
favourable season, the number of walnuts from the Duing estate is so great, that the party
assemble in this manner every evening for a fortnight, before all the walnuts are cracked ;
and the poor people look forward to these meetings, from year to year, as a kind of
64
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
festival. They do not receive any pay ; the gouU and the amusement of the evening are
their only reward." (Bakewell.)
371. The walnut kernels are laid on cloths to dry, and in about a fortnight are carried to the crushing-
mill, where they are ground into a paste; this is put into cloths, and undergoes the operation of pressing
to extract the oil. The best oil, which is used for salads and cooking, is pressed- cold ; but an inferior
oil for lamps is extracted by heating the paste. Thirty people in one evening will crack as many walnuts
as will produce sixty pounds of paste; this yields about fifteen wine-quarts of oil. The walnut-shells are
not lost among so frugal a people as the Savoyards, but are burned for the ashes, which are used for washing.
Two pounds of these ashes are equal in strength to three of wood-ashes ; but the alkali is so caustic, that
it frequently injures the linen. The paste, after it is pressed, is dried in cakes, called pain amerj this is
eaten by children and poor people, and it is sold in the shops in Savoy and Geneva.
372. T/ie best walnut oil, pressed cold, has but very little of the kernelly taste ; but it may be easily
distinguished from the best olive oil, which it resembles in colour. If the peel were taken off the
walnuts, the oil would probably be quite free from any peculiar flavour; but this operation would be
too tedious. {lb.)
373. Tobacco, which is much used in Savoy, was cultivated with success in the
neighbourhood of Ramilly ; but on the restoration of the old despotism, its culture was
prohibited, and the implements of manufacture seized.
374. The culture of artificial grasses is spreading in Savoy, but is not yet very general.
In the neighbourhood of Aix, Ramilly, and Annecy, wheat is succeeded by rye. The
rye-harvest being over in June, they immediately sow the land with buck- wheat (sarrasin),
which is cut in September ; the following year the land is sown with spring corn.
375. The grass-lands are always mown twice, and the latter mowing is sufficiently
early to allow a good pasturage in the autumn. Water-meadows are occasionally found
near towns. The water is generally let down from mountain sti-eams ; but sometimes it
is raised from rivers by a sort of bucket- wheel (Jig. 44. ), which is called the Noria of the
Jlps. This wheel is raised or lowered by means of a loaded lever (a), which turns on a
fulcrum {b), formed by a piece of wood with its end inserted in the river's bank.
376. Agriculttiral improvement in Savoy must be in a very low state, if the answers
Bakewell received respecting the average quantity of the produce are correct. One of
the answers stated the average increase of wheat to be from three to five on the quantity
sown, and near the towns from five to seven. Another agriculturist stated the average
increase on the best lands to be nine, and, in the neighbourhood of Annecy, thirteen, fold.
One part of Savoy is, perhaps, the finest corn-land in Europe ; and the very heavy crops
Bakewell saw in the neighbourhood of Aix and Annecy, made him doubt the accuracy of
the above statements : but, on referring to Arthur Young's account of the agriculture of
France before the revolution, it appears that four and a half was regarded as the average
increase in that country, which is very similar in climate to Savoy. (Travels, i. 328.)
377. The salt-works of Moutiers, in the valley of the Isere, in the Tarantaise, are parti-
cularly deserving attention, being perhaps the best conducted of any in Europe, with respect
to economy. Nearly three million pounds of salt are extracted annually from a source of
water which would scarcely be noticed, except for medical purposes, in any other country.
378. The springs that supply the salt-works at Moutiers, rise at the bottom of a nearly perpendicular rock
of limestone, situated on the south side of a deep valley or gorge. The temperature of the strongest
spring is ninety-nine Fahrenheit, it contains 183 per cent of saline matter. It may seem extraordinary
that the waters at Moutiers, which have only half the strength of sea-water, should repay the expense
of evaporation ; but the process by which it is [effected is both simple and ingenious, and might be
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN FRANCE. 03
introduced with great advantage on many parts of our ovm coast, more particularly in Ireland It
IS obvious that water, so weakly impregnated with salt as to contain only one pound and a half in every
thirteen gallons, could not repay the expense of evaporating by fuel in any country. The water of the
North Sea contains two and a quarter' per cent of salt, and yet it has never been attempted to make
salt from it by evaporation with coal-fires, even on the coast of Northumberland or Durham where
refuse coal, suited to the purpose, might be purchased for one shilling and sixpence per ton. In order to
make salt from the saline water at Moutiers, it was necessary to concentrate it by natural evaporation •
and to effect this speedily, it was required to spread the surface of the fluid over as large a space as
possible, the ratio of evaporation being, ctetens paribus, in proportion to the extent of the surface exposed
to the action of the atmosphere. The first attempt at Moutiers was made in 1550, by arranging pyramids
of rye straw in open galleries, and letting the water trickle through the straw gradually and repeatedly
This was abandoned, and faggots of thorns were substituted : these faggots are suspended on frames the
water is raised to their height, and spread by channels so as to trickle through them : it passes through
three separate sets or frames of thorns, and has then become so concentrated as to contain nearly 22 per
cent of salt : it is then boiled in nans in the usual manner.
379. Evaporating on ver Hear cords, erected in a house open on all sides, is a third method, which
succeeds even better than the mode by thorns. The water, by repeatedly passing over the cords is found
in forty.five days to deposit all its salt on thiem, and the saline cylinder is then broken off. The cords are
renewed once in twenty or thirty years, and the faggots once in seven years. Minute details of these
simple but very ingenious processes will be found in the very scientific Travels of Bakewell (vol, i. 230.').
Sect. III. Of the present State of Agriculture in France.
380. The first agricultural survey of France was made in 1787, 8, and 9. by the
celebrated Arthur Young. Since that period no similar account has been published either
in France or England : but several French writers have given the statistics and culture of
different districts, as the Baron de la Peyrouse, Sinetti, Cordier, &c. ; and others have
given general views of the whole kingdom, as La Statistique Generate de la France, by
Penchet ; De I' Industrie Franqoise, by Chaptal ; and Les Forces Productes et Commer-
ciales de la France, Sec, by Dupin. From these works, some recent tours of Englishmen,
and our own observations in 1815, 1819, and 1828, we have drawn the following outline
of the progress of French agriculture since the middle of the sixteenth century, and
more especially since the time of Louis XIV. ; including the general circumstances of
France as to agriculture, its common culture, its culture of vines and maize, and its
culture of olives and oranges.
SuBSECT. 1. Of the Progress of French Agriculture, from the Sixteenth Century to tlie
present Time.
381. That Fra7ice is the most favourable country in Europe for agriculture, is tlie opinion
both of its own and foreign writers on the subject. For, though the country " suffered
deeply from the wars in wliich she was engaged, first by a hateful conspiracy of kings, and
next, by the mad ambition of Bonaparte, the purifying effects of the revolution have
indemnified her ten fold for all the losses she has sustained. She has come out of the
contest with a debt comparatively light, with laws greatly amended, many old abuses
destroyed, and with a population more industrious, moral, enlightened, and happy, than
she ever had before. The fortunate change which peace has made in her situation, has
filled her with a healthy activity, which is carrying her forward with rapid strides ; she has
the most popular, and therefore the most rational, liberal, and beneficial, system of govern-
ment of any state in Europe, Britain not excepted ; and, altogether, she is perhaps in a
condition of more sound prosperity than any other state in the old world." (Scotsman,
vol. xii. No. 861.)
382. The agriculture of France at present, a,\ Mr. Jacob has observed (Itejjort, ^c,
1828), occupies one of the lowest ranks in that of the Northern States of Europe;
but the fertility of the soil, the suitableness of the subsoil and of the surface for aration,
and, above all, the excellence of the climate, are such as are not united to an equal extent
in any other European State. When we consider these circumstances in connection
with the extraordinary exertions now making for the education of the laborious classes,
and the no less extraordinary progress that has been made witlain these few years in
manufactures (For. Rev., Jan. 1829, art. 1.), it is easy to see that in a few years the
territorial riches of France will be augmented to an extraordinary extent.
383. Of the agriculture of France, previous to the middle of the sixteenth century, scarcely
any thing is known. Chopin, who it appears resided in the neighbourhood of Paris,
wrote a treatise on the Privileges of Labourers, in 1574, which, M. Gr^goire remarks
(Hist, of Agr. prefaced to edit, of Olivier de Serres, pub. in 1804), is calculated rather
for the advantage of the proprietor than of the farmer. A Code Rural, published some
time after, is characterised by the same writer as a Manual of Tyranny.
384. French agriculture began to fiourish in the beginning of the seventeenth centurj',
under Henry IV., and its precepts at that time were published by Olivier de Serres, and
Charles Estienne. In 1621, great quantities of corn were exported to England, in con-
sequence of a wise ordinance of Sully, passed some years before, permitting a free
commerce in com. In 1641, the draining of fens and bogs was encouraged; and, in
1756, the land-tax taken off newly broken up lands for the space of twenty years.
Mazarin, during the minority of Louis XIV., prohibited the exportation of corn, and
checked the progress of its culture. This circumstance, and the wars of that king, greatly
F
66 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
discouraged agriculture, and produced several dearths. Fleury, under Louis XV. , was
not favourable to agriculture ; but, in 1754, an act was passed for a free corn trade, which
effected its revival. Tlie economists of this time, however mistaken in their views,
inspired a taste for the art ; and agricultural societies were first established in France
under the patronage and at the expense of government. In 1761, there were thirteen
such societies in France, and nineteen cooperating societies. Those of Paris, Lyons,
Amiens, and Bourdeaux, have distinguished themselves by their published Memoirs. At
Tours a georgical society was established and directed by the Marquis of Tourbili, a
patriot and agricultural writer. Du Hamel and Buffon gave eclat to the study of rural
economy, and many other writers might be mentioned as having contributed to its im-
provement. M. de Trudaine introduced the Merino breed of sheep in 1776, and Comte
Lasteyrie has studied that breed in Spain, and written a valuable work on the subject ;
as has the Baron de Mortemart on the English breeds, some of which he has introduced.
385. The agnculture of France in 1819, as compared with what it was in 1789,
presents, Chaptal observes, astonishing improvements. Crops of every kind cover
the soil ; numerous and robust animals are employed in labouring it, and they
also enrich it by their manure. The country population are lodged in commodious
habitations, decently clothed, and abundantly nourished with wholesome food. The
misery which existed in France in former times, when properties of immense extent
supported little more than a single family, is banished, and its place supplied by ease and
liberty. We are not to suppose, however, the same author observes, that the agriculture
of France has arrived at perfection ; much still remains to be done : new plans of im-
provement should be more generally introduced ; and a greater quantity of live stock is
wanted for every province of France, except two or three which abound in natural meadows.
Few domains have more than half the requisite number of labouring cattle ; the necessary
result of wliich is a deficiency of labour, of manure, and of crop. The only mode of
remedying these evils is to multiply the artificial pastures, and increase the cultivation of
plants of forage. Abundance of forage is indeed the foundation of every good system of
agriculture, as a proper succession of crops is the foundation of abundance of forage.
The rich inhabitants of France have already adopted these principles ; but they have not
yet found their way among the lowest class of cultivators. According to M. Dupin,
four fifths of the peasantry of France are proprietors of land, which they cultivate them-
selves ; and though they are at present very ignorant, yet knowledge of every kind is
rapidly advancing. The wages of labourers in France, compared with the price of corn,
are calculated to be higher than the wages paid to labourers in England.
SuBSECT. 2. Of the general Circumstances of France, in respect to Agriculture.
386. The surface of France has been divided by geographers into what are called
basins, or great plains, tlirough which flow the principal rivers, and which basins are
separated by original or secondary ridges of mountains. The chief basins are those of tlie
Loire {fig. 45. a), of the Seine (6), of the Garonne (r), and of the Rhone and Saone {d).
{Journal de Physique, tom. xxx.)
387. The soil of France has been divided by Arthur Young into the mountainous district
of Languedoc and Provence {e) ; the loamy district of Limosin (/) ; the chalky districts of
Champagne and Poitiers {g) ; the gravelly district of Bourbonnois {h) ; the stony district
of Lorraine and Franche Comte {i) ; the rich loam of Picardy and Guienne {k); and
the heathy surface on gravel, or gravelly sand, of Bretagne and Gascoigne (/). {Agr.
France, chap, ii.)
388. The climate of France has been ingeniously divided by the same author into that
of corn and common British agriculture, including Picardy, Normandy, French Flanders,
Artois, Hainault, &c. {fig. 45. /, b, k) ; that of vines, mulberries, and common culture
{y, a, h, g,i)', that of vines, mulberries, maize, and common culture {c,f, d, i) ; that of
oUves, vines, mulberries, maize, oranges, and common culture (o, e). It is singular that
these zones (m m, n n, and o o) do not run parallel to the degrees of latitude, but obliquely
to them to such an extent that the climate for the vines leaves off at 46° on the west coast
{y m), but extends to 49^° on the east {g m). The cause is to be found chiefly in the soil
and surface producing a more favourable climate in one place than in another ; but partly
also in the wants of cultivators. The vine is cultivated in Germany in situations where
it would not be cultivated in France, because wine is of more value in the former country
than in the latter. The northern boundary of the vine culture has even extended in
France since the revolution, from the natural wish of small proprietors to supply them-
selves with wine of their own growth. In Germany the vine is cultivated as far north as
latitude 52°, on the warm sides of dry rocky hills.
389. The central climate, which admits vines without being hot enough for maize^
(y, a, h, g, i), Young considers as the finest in the world, and the most eligible part of
France or of Europe as to soil. " Here," he says, " you are exempt from the extreme
humidity which gives verdure to Normandy and England j and yet equally free from the
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN FRANCE.
45
67
burning heats which turn verdure itself into a russet brown : no ardent rays that oppress
with their fervour in summer, nor pinching tedious frosts that chill with their severity in
winter, but a light, pure, elastic air, admirable for every constitution except consumptive
ones." This climate, however, has its drawbacks ; and is so subject to violent storms of
rain and hail, that " no year ever passes without whole parishes suffering to a degree of
which we in Britain have no conception." It has been calculated, that in some provinces
the damage from hail amounts, on an average of years, to one tenth of the whole produce.
Spring frosts are sometimes so severe as to kill' the broom : few years pass that they do not
blacken the first leaves of the walnut trees ; the fig trees are protected with straw.
390. Of the vine and maize climate (c,f, d, i) some account is given by M. Picot, Baron
de la Peyrouse, an extensive and spirited cultivator. He kept an accurate account of the
crops and seasons in his district for twenty years from 1 800 ; and the result is, twelve years
of fair average crops, four years most abundant, and four years attended with total loss.
391. In the olive climate (o, e) insects are incredibly
numerous and troublesome, and the locust is injurious to
corn crops ; but both the olive and maize districts have
tliis advantage, that two crops a year, or at least three
in two years, may be obtained. The orange is cultivated
in so small a proportion of the olive climate as scarcely
to deserve notice. The caper (Capparis spinosa) (fig. 46.)
and the fig are also articles of field culture in this climate.
392. The climate of Picardy and Normandy is the
nearest to that of England, and is rather superior.
The great agricultural advantage which France possesses
over Britain, in regard to climate, is, that, by means of
the vine and olive, as valuable produce may be raised on
rocky wastes as on rich soils ; and that in all soils what-
ever, root weeds may be easily and effectually destroyed
without a naked fallow. [Young'' s France, ch. iii.)
393. The lands of France are not generally enclosed and subdivided by hedges or other
fences. Some fences are to be seen near towns, and in the northern parts of the kingdom
more especially : but, in general, the whole country is open ; the boundaries of estates
being marked by slight ditches or ridges, with occasional stones or heaps of earth, rows of
trees, or occasional trees. Depredations from passengers on the highways are prevented
by gardes champetres, which are established throughout all France. Farms are sometimes
compact and distinct, but generally scattered, and often alternating in the common field
manner of England, or run-rig of Scotland. The farm-houses of large fanns are gene-
rally placed on the lands ; those of smaller ones in villages, often at some distance.
F 2
68 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
S94. The value of landed proper tij is in general lower than in England, being at present
(1829) sold at from twenty-two to twenty-six years' purchase.
395. The farming of lands in France, according to Professor Thonin, naturally divides
itself into tliree kinds : 1. The grand culture, in which from two to twelve ploughs are
employed, and corn chiefly cultivated ; 2. The middle culture, including the metayers,
who also grow corn, but more frequently rear live stock, maintain a dairy, or produce
silk, wine, cider, or oil, according to the climate in which tliey may be situated ; and 3.
The minor culture, or that which is done by manual labour, and into which live stock or
corns do not enter. The middle culture is by far the most common. There are very
few farms of six or eight ploughs in France, and equally few farmers who do not labour
in person at all times of the year. It is acknowledged by Professor Thouin, tliat each
of these divisions is susceptible of very great improvement.
Sdbsect. 3. Of the common Farming of France,
396. The corn farming in France is carried on in the best manner in French Flanders,
Picardy, and Brie. The first may be considered as equally well cultivated with Suffolk ;
and the last produces three crops in two years, or five in three years. The crops of these
districts are wheat, beans, turnips, maize, and buckwheat. The most frequent rotations
are, two corn crops and a fallow, or an alternation of com and green or pulse crops,
without a naked fallow. In the heath district, broom enters into the rotation for fuel,
and is cut the fourth year ; buckwheat is also extensively sown, and rye and oats. After
lands have borne crops, it is usual to let them rest a year or two, during which they
produce nothing but grass and weeds, and they are afterwards broken up with a naked
fallow. Potatoes enter more or less into the field culture of the greater part of France,
and especially of the northern districts ; but in Provence, and some parts of Languedoc,
they are still little known. Irrigation, both of arable and grass lands, is adopted where-
ever it is practicable. It is common in the Vosges, and remarkably well conducted
in the lands round Avignon, formerly for many miles the property of the church.
397. The meadows of France contain nearly the same herbage, plants, and grasses as
those of England ; but though clovers and lucerne are cultivated in many places, yet rye-
grass and other grasses, either for hay crops or temporary or permanent pasture,' are not
generally resorted to. {Chaptal de Vindustrie Fra7i^aise, vol. i. p. 157.)
398. To sheep the French have paid considerable attention from the time of Colbert ;
and there are now considerable flocks of short-woolled and Spanish breeds in some
places, besides several national flocks. That of Rambouillet (established in 1786 by
Louis XVI.) is managed by M. Tessier, a well known writer on agriculture, and when
visited by Birkbeck, in 1814, was in excellent order. Sheep are housed, and kept in
folds and little yards or enclosures, much more than in England. Great part of the
sheep of France are black. (^Birkbeck.) Some curious attempts have lately been made to
inoculate them for the claveau and the scab, but a definite result has not yet been ascer-
tained, at least as to the latter disease. Birkbeck considers the practice of housing as the
cause why the foot-rot is so common a disease among sheep in France. Where flocks
remain out all night, the shepherd sleeps in a small thatched hut or portable watchhouse,
placed on wheels. He guides the flock by walking before them, and his dog guards them
from the wolves, which still abound even in Picardy. During summer, in the hottest
districts, they are fed in the night, and housed in the heat of tlie day. Hay is the
general winter food; and, in some parts of the Picardy climate, tuniips. In 1811,
Bonaparte monopolised the breeding of Merinos, and from that time to the passing
of an act for the exportation of wool and rams in 1814 they declined; but they are
now greatly on the increase. Among the most extensive flocks, are those of the cele-
brated M. Ternaux.
399. The beasts of labour are chiefly the ox on small farms, and the horse on the larger.
Both are kept under cover the greater part of the year. The breeds of oxen are very
various; they are generally cream-coloured. The best oxen are in Auvergne, Poitiers,
and Languedoc. Normandy furnishes the best breed of working horses ; as Limosin
does of those for the saddle. In the south of France the ass and mule are of frequent use
in husbandry. There, as in many parts of Italy, the poor people collect the stolones of
-^igrostis, and creeping roots of couch, and sell them in little bundles to the carriers and
others who keep road horses. A royal stud of Arabians has been kept up at Aurillac in
Limosin, for a century ; and another has been lately formed near Nismes. Studs of
English horses and mixed breeds of high blood, have been established by government
in several departments.
400. The best dairies are in Normandy ; but in tliis department France does not excel.
In the southern districts, olive, almond, and poppy oil supply the place of butter j and
goats' milk is that used in cookery.
401. The goats of Thibet, have been imported by M. Ternaux, who has been success-
ful in midtiplying them and in manufacturing their hair.
I
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN FRANCE.
69
402. Poultry is an important article of French husbandry, and well understood as far
as breeding and feeding. Birkbeck thinks the consumption of poultry in towns may be
equal to that of mutton. The smallest cottage owns a few hens, 4JJ
which often roost under cover, in a neat little structure [Jig, 4:1. ),
elevated so as to be secure from dogs, wolves, and foxes.
403. The breed of swine is in general bad ; but excellent hams are
sent from Bretagne, from hogs reared on acorns, and fatted off
with maize. Pigeon-houses are not uncommon.
404. The management of Jish-ponds is well understood in France,
owing to fish in all catholic countries being an article of necessity.
In the internal district there are many large artificial ponds, as well
as natural lakes, where the eel, carp, pike, and a few other species, are
reared, separated, and fed, as in the Berkshire ponds in England.
405. The implements and operations of the common farms of
France are in general rude. The ploughs of Normandy resemble
the large wheel-ploughs of Kent. Those farther south are generally
without wheels ; often without coulters ; and an iron mould-board
is rare. In many parts of the south the ploughs have no mould-
board, and turn the earth in the manner of the simplest form of
Roman plough. (110.) Harrows are in general wholly of wood; and,
instead of a roller, a plank is for the most part used. Large farmers, as in Normandy,
plough with four or six oxen : small farmers with two, or even one ; or, when stift*
soils are to be worked out
^ of season, they join to-
gether, and form a team of
four or six cattle. Their
carts are narrow and long,
with low wheels, seldom
shod in the remote parts
of the country. The gnim-
barde of the Seine and
Oise {fig. 48.) is a light
and useful machine. Corn is reaped with sickles, hooks, and the Brabant and cradle
scythes, {fg. 49.) Threshing, in
Normandy, is performed with the flail
in houses, as in England ; in the
other climates, in the open air with
flails, or by the tread of horses. There
are few permanent threshing-floors ;
a piece of ground being smoothed in
the most convenient part of the field
is found sufficiently hard. Farmers,
as we have already observed, perform
most of their operations without extra
labourers ; and their wives and daugh-
ters reap, thresh, and perform almost every part of the farm and garden work indifferently.
Such farmers " prefer living in villages ; society and the evening dance being nearly as
indispensable to them as their daily food. If the farm be distant, the farmer and his
servants of all descriptions set off eao-ly in the morning in a light waggon, carrying with
them their provisions for the day." {NeiJl.) Hence it is, that a traveller in France may
pass through ten or twenty miles of corn-fields, without seeing a single farm-house.
406. Large farms, which are extremely rare, have generally farmeries on the lands ;
and there the labour is in great part performed by labourers, who, as well as the tradesmen
employed, are frequently paid in kind. (Birkbeck.)
407. ^11 the plants cultivated by the British farmer are also grown in France ; the
turnip not generally, and in the warm districts scarcely at all, as it does not bulb; but
it is questionable, whether, if it did bulb, it would be so valuable in these districts as the
lucerne, or clover, which grow all the winter ; or the potato, from which flour is now
made extensively ; or the field beet, which may be used either as food for cattle, or for.
yielding sugar. Of plants not usually cultivated on British farms may be mentioned,
the chiccory for green food, fuller's thistle for its heads, furze and broom for green
food, madder, tobacco, poppies for oil, rice in Dauphine (but now dropped as pre-
judicial to liealth), saiFron about Angouleme, iathyrus sativus, the pois Breton or
lentil of Spain, iathyrus setifolius, Ficia Zathyroides and sativa, Cicer arietinum, JJ'rvum
i^ns, il/elilotus sibirica, Coronilla varia, ^edysarum coronkrivim, &c. They have a hardy
red wheat, called Vepcautre (spelt), which grows in the worst soil and climates, and is
common in Alsace and Suabia. They grow the millet, the dura or douro of Egvpt
F 3
70
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
(^olcus S6rghum L.), in the maize district. The flower-stalks and spikes of this plant
are sold at Marseilles and Leghorn, for making chamber-besoms and clothes-brushes.
Ilie hop and the common fruit trees are cultivated ; and the chestnut is used as food in
some places. An oil used as food, and also much esteemed by painters, is made from
the walnut. The other fruits of field-culture, as the almond, fig, vine, caper, olive,
and orange,' belong to the farming of the southern districts.
408. The forest culture of France is scientifically conducted, both in the extensive
national forests, and on private estates. ' The chief objects are fuel, charcoal, and bark ;
and next, timber for construction : but in some districts other products are collected, as
acorns, mast, nuts, resin, &c. The French and Germans have written more on this
department of rural economy than the English, and understand it better.
409. ^ remarkable feature in the agriculture of France, and of most warm countries,
is the use of leaves of trees as food for cattle. Not only are mulberry, olive, poplar,
vine, and other leaves gathered in autumn, when they begin to change colour, and acquire
a sweetness of taste ; but spray is cut green in July, dried in the sun or in the shade of
trees in woods, faggoted, and stacked for winter use. During that season they are given
to sheep and cattle like hay ; and sometimes, boiled with grains or bran, to cows. The
astringency of some sorts of leaves, as the oak, is esteemed medicinal, especially for
sheep. Such are the outlines of that description of agriculture which is practised more or
less throughout France, but chiefly in the northern and middle districts.
SuBSECT. 4. Of Farming in the warmer Climates of France.
410. The culture peculiar to the vine, maize, olive, and orange climates, we shall extract
from the very interesting work of Baron de la Peyrouse. The estate of this gentleman
is situated in the maize district at Pepils, near Toulouse. Its extent is 800 acres ; and
he has, since the year 1788, been engaged, and not without success, in introducing a
better system of agriculture.
411. The farm-houses and offices in the ivarm districts are generally built of brick ;
framework filled up with a mixture of straw and clay ; or, en pise; and they are covered
with gutter-tiles. The vineyards are enclosed by hawthorn hedges or mud walls ; the
boundaries of arable farms are formed by wide ditches ; and those of grass lands by fixed
stones or wild quince trees. Implements are wretched, operations not well performed,
and labourers, and even overseers, paid in kind, and
allowed to sow flax, beans, haricots, &c., for them-
selves. The old plough (fg. 50.) resembles that used Mf^.
by the Arabs, which the French antiquarian, Gouguet,
{Origine des Lois) thinks, in all probability, the same
as that used by the ancient Egyptians. They have also a light one-handled plough
for stirring fallows, called the araire.
{fig. 51.) A plough with coulters
was first employed at Pepils ; and
a Scotch plough, with a cast-iron
mould-board, was lately sent there,
and excited the wonder of the whole
district. In notliing is France more
deficient than in suitable agricultural
implements.
412. Fallow, wheat, and maize con-
stitute the common rotation of crops.
413. The live stock consists chiefly of oxen and mules;
the latter are sold to the Spaniards. Some flocks of sheep
are kept ; but it is calculated that the rot destroys them
once in three years. Beans are the grain of the poor, and
are mixed with wheat for bread. The chick pea (Cicer
arietinum) (fig. 52. ) is a favourite dish with the Proven9als,
and much cultivated. Spelt is sown on newly broken up
lands. Potatoes were unknown till introduced at Pepils
from the Pyrenees, where they had been cultivated for fifty
years. In the neighbourhood they are beginning to be
cultivated. Turnips and rutabaga were tried often at
Pepils, but did not succeed once in ten years. Maize
is reckoned a clearing crop, and its grain is the principal
food of the people.
414. The vine is cultivated in France in fields, and on
terraced hills, as in Italy, but managed in a different
manner from what it is in that country. Here it is kept low,
and treated more as a plantation of raspberries or currants
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN FRANCE. 71
is in England. It is either planted in large plots, in rows three or four feet apart, and
the plants two or three feet distant in the row ; or it is planted in double or single
rows alternating with ridges of arable land. In some cases, also, two close rows and a
space of six or seven feet alternate, to admit a sort of horse-hoeing culture in the wide
interval. Most generally, plantations are made by dibbling in cuttings of two feet in
length, pressing the earth firmly to their lower end ; an essential part of the operation,
noticed even by Xenophon. In pruning, a stem or stool of a foot or more is left above
ground, and the young shoots are every year cut down vnthin two buds of this stool.
These stools get very bulky after sixty or a hundred years, and then it is customary,
in some places, to lay down branches from them, and form new stools, leaving the old for
a. time, which, however, soon cease to produce any but weak shoots. The winter pruning
of the vine generally takes place in February : a bill is used resembling that of Italy
(Jtg. 36. ) ; the women faggot the branches, and their value, as fuel, is expected to pay
the expense of dressing. In summer, the ground is twice or thrice hoed, and the young
shoots are tied to short stakes wdth wheat or rye straw, or whatever else comes cheapest.
The shoots are stopped, in some places, after the blossom has expanded ; the tops are
given to cows. In some places, also, great part of the young wood is cut off before
vintage for feed for cows, and to let the sun directly to the fruit. The sorts cultivated are
almost as numerous as the vineyards. Fourteen hundred sorts were collected from all
parts of France, by order of the Comte Chaptal, and are now in the nursery of the
Luxembourg : but little or no good will result from the collection, or from attempting to
describe them ; for it has been ascertained that, after a considerable time, the fruit of the
vine takes a particular character from the soil in which it is planted ; so that fourteen
hundred sorts, planted in one soil and garden, would in time, probably in less than half a
century, be reduced to two or three sorts ; and, on the contrary, two or three sorts planted
in fourteen hundred different vineyards, would soon become as many distinct varieties.
The pineau of Burgogne, and the auvernat of Orleans, are esteemed varieties ; and these,
.with several others grown for wine-making, have small berries and branches like our
Burgundy grape. Small berries and a harsh flavour are universally preferred for wine-
making, both in France and Italy. The oldest vines invariably give the best grapes, and
produce the best wines. The Baron de la Peyrouse planted a vineyard twenty years ago,
which, though in full bearing, he says, is still too vigorous to enable him to judge of the
fineness and quality of the wine, which it may one day afford. " In the Clos de Vougeot
vineyard, in which the most celebrated Burgundy wine is produced, new vine plants have
not been set for 300 years : the vines are renewed by laying (provigner) ; but the root
is never separated from the stock. This celebrated vineyard is never manured. The
extent is 160 French arpents. It makes, in a good year, from 160 to 200 hogsheads, of
260 bottles each hogshead. The expense of labour and cooperage, in such a year, has
arisen to 33,000 francs ; and the wine sells on the spot at five francs a bottle. The vine-
yard is of the pineau grape. The soil, about three feet deep, is a limestone gravel on a
limestone rock." (^Peyrouse, 96.)
415. The white mulberry is very extensively cultivated in France for feeding the silkworm. It is placed
in corners, rows along roads, or round fields or farms. The trees are raised from seeds in nurseries,
sometimes grafted with a large-leafed sort, and sold generally at five years, when they have strong stems.
They are planted, staked, and treated as pollards. Some strip the leaves from the young shoots, others cut
these off twice one year, and only once the next ; others pollard the tree every second year.
416. The eggs of the silk-moth (J?6mbyx mhr'i) are hatched in rooms heated by means of stoves to 18° of
Reaumur (72|o Fah.). One ounce of eggs requires one hundred-weight of leaves, and will produce from
seven to nine pounds of raw silk. The hatching commences about the end of April, and, with the feeding,
is over in about a month. Second broods are procured in some places. The silk is wound off the coccoons,
or little balls, by women and children. This operation is reserved for leisure days throughout the rest of
the season, or given out to women in towns. The eggs are small round objects ; the caterpillar attains a
considerable size ; the chrysalis is ovate ; and the male and female are readily distinguishable. '-■
417. The olive, of which the most luxuriant plantations are between Aix and Nice, is treated in
France in the same way as in Italy. (288.) The fruit is picked green, or, when ripe, crushed for oil,
as in the latter country.
418. The fig is cultivated in the olive district as a standard tree ; and dried for winter use, and
exportation. At Argenteuil it is cultivated in the gardening manner for eating green.
419. The almond is cultivated about Lyons, and in different parts in the department of the Rhone, as
a standard, in the vineyards. As it blossoms early, and the fruit is liable to injury from fogs and rains, it is
a very precarious article of culture, and does not yield a good crop above once in five, or, according to
some, ten, years.
420. The caper is an article of field culture about Toulon. It has the habit of a bramble bush, and is
planted in squares, ten or twelve feet plant from plant every way. Standard figs, peaches, and other fruit
trees are intermixed with it.
421. The culture of the orange is very limited; it is conducted in large walled enclosures at Hieres and
its neighbourhood. The fruit, like that of Geneva and Naples, is very inferior to the St. Michael's and
Maltese oranges, as imported to Britain ; but the lemons are good.
422. The winter melon is cultivated in different parts of Provence and Languedoc, and especially in the
orange orchards of Hieres. It forms an article of exportation.
423. Various other fruits are cultivated by the small proprietors in all the districts of
France, and sold in the adjoining markets ; but tliis department of rural economy belongs
rather to gardening than to agriculture.
F 4
72
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
Sect. IV. Of the present State of Agriculture hi Holland and the Netherlands.
424. The agriculture of the Low Countries, and especially of Flanders, has been celebrated
by the rest of Europe for upwards of 600 years ; that of Holland for its pasturage, and
that of the Netherlands for tillage. We shall notice a part of the agricultural circum-
stances of the two countries.
SuBSECT. 1. Of the present State of Agriculture in Holland.
425. The climate of Holland is cold and moist. The surface of the country towards
the sea is low and marshy, and that of the interior sandy and naturally barren. A
considerable part of Holland, indeed the chief part of tlie seven provinces comprising the
country, is lower than the sea, and is secured from inundation by immense embankments ;
while the internal water is delivered over these banks into the canals and drains leading
to the sea, by mills, commonly impelled by wind. In the province of Guelderland and
other internal parts, the waste grounds are extensive ; being overrun with broom and
heath, and the soil a black sand. The marshes, morasses, and heatlis, which are
characteristic of the different provinces, are, however, intermixed with cities, towns,
villages, groves, gardens, and meadows, to a degree only equalled in England. There
are no hills, but only gentle elevations, and no extensive woods ; but almost every
where an intimate combination of land, water, and buildings. The soil in the low
districts is a rich, deep, sandy mud ; sometimes alluvial, but more frequently siliceous,
and mixed with rotten shells. In a few places there are beds of decayed trees ;
but no where rough gravel or rocks. The soil of the inland provinces is in general
a brown or black sand, naturally poor, and, wherever it is productive, indebted entirely
to art.
426. The landed property of Holland is in moderate or rather small divisions ; and, in the
richer parts, generally in farms of from twenty to one hundred and fifty or two hundred
acres, often farmed by the proprietor. In the interior provinces, both estates and farms
are much larger ; and instances occur of farms of five hundred or seven hundred acres,
partly in tillage, and partly in wood and pasture.
427. The agriculture of Holland is almost entirely confined to a system of pasturage
and dairy management, for the production of butter and cheese ; the latter well known
in every part of the world. Almost the only objects of tillage are some madder,
tobacco, and herbage plants and roots for stall-feeding the cattle. The pastures, and
especially the lower meadows, produce a coarse grass, but in great abundance. The
cows are allowed to graze at least a part of the day throughout the greater part of
the year, but are generally fed in sheds, once a day or oftener, with rape cake, grains,
and a' great variety of other preparations. Their manure is preserved with the
greatest care, and the animals themselves are kept perfectly clean. The breed is
large, small-legged, generally red and white, with long slender horns ; they are
very well known in England as the Dutch breed. The fuel used in Amsterdam
and most of the towns is peat, and the ashes are collected and sold at high prices,
chiefly to the Flemings, but also to other nations. A considerable quantity has been
imported to England ; they are found excellent as a top dressing for clovers and other
green crops, and are strongly recommended by Sir John Sinclair and other writers.
Other particulars of Dutch culture and economy correspond with the practice of the
Netherlands.
428. The field implements, buildings, and operations of Holland, are more ingeniously
contrived and better executed than those of any other country on the Continent. The
best plough in the world (the Scotch) is an improvement on the Rotheram or Dutch
implement. The farmeries, and especially the cow-houses and stables, are remarkable
for arrangements which facilitate and economise manual labour, and insure comfort to the
animals and general cleanliness. Even
the fences and gates are generally found
in a better state than in most other
countries. They have a simple field
gate [fig. 53.) constructed with few rails,
and balanced so as it may be opened
and shut without straining the posts
or hinges, which deserves imitation. ^^
Their bridges, foot-planks, and other "-
mechanical agents of culture, are in general indicative of more art and invention than is
usual in Continental agriculture.
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN THE NETHERLANDS 73
SuBSECX. 2, Of the i)resent State of Agriculture in the Netherlands.
429. The Netherlands and Holland, from the tenth to the fifteenth century, were tlie
great marts of manufactures and commerce in the west of Europe ; and, at the same
time, made distinguished progress in other arts. The particular causes wliich first
contributed to the advancement of agriculture are not exactly known at this distance of
time ; but it is certain that even in the thirteenth century the art was in an advanced
state, and, ever since, the culture of the Low Countries, both agricultural and horticul-
tural, has been looked up to by the rest of Europe.
430. About the beginning of the seventeenth century, according to Harte, the Flemings
dealt more in the practice of husbandry, than in publishing books upon the subject : so
that, questionless, their intention was to carry on a private lucrative trade without
instructing their neighbours ; and hence it happened, that whoever wanted to copy their
agriculture, was obliged to travel into their country, and make his own remarks ; as
Plattes, Hartlib, and Sir R. Weston actually did.
431. To make a farm resemble a garden as nearly as possible was their principal
idea of husbandry. Such an excellent principle, at first setting out, led them of course to
undertake the culture of small estates only, which they kept free from weeds, continually
turning the ground, and manuring it plentifully and judiciously. Having thus brought
the soil to a just degree of cleanliness, health, and sweetness, they ventured chiefly
upon the culture of the more delicate grasses, as the surest means of acquiring wealth in
husbandry, upon a small scale, without the expense of keeping
many draught horses or servants. After a few years' experience,
they soon found that ten acres of the best vegetables for
feeding cattle, properly cultivated, would maintain a larger stock
of grazing animals, than forty acres of common farm grass : and
the vegetables they chiefly cultivated for tliis purpose were
lucerne, saintfoin, trefoils of most denominations, sweet fenu-
greek (Trigonella),buck and cow wheat (ilfelampyrum prat^nse)
(Jig. 54.), field turnips, and spurry (Sp^rgula), by them called
Marian grass.
432. The political secret of Flemish husbandry was, the letting
farms on improvement. Add to this, they discovered eight or
ten new sorts of manures. They were the first among the
moderns, who ploughed in living crops for the sake of fertilising
the earth, and confined their sheep at night in large sheds
built on purpose, whose floor was covered with sand, or earth,
&c., which the shepherd carted away every morning to the
compost -dunghill. Such was the chief mystery of the Flemish
husbandry. (Harte.)
433. The present state of agriculture in the Netherlands corresponds entirely with
the outline given by Harte, and it has probably been in this state for nearly a thousand
years. The country has lately been visited with a view to its rural economy by Sir John
Sinclair, and minutely examined and ably depicted by the Rev. Thomas RadclifF. To
such British farmers as wish to receive a most valuable lecture on the importance of
a proper frugality and economy in farming, as well as judicious modes of culture, we
would recommend the latter work ; all that we can do here, is to select from it the leading
features of Flemish farming.
434. The climate of Flanders may be considered the same as that of Holland, and not
materially different from that of the low parts of the opposite coast of England.
435. The surface of the country is every where flat, or very gently elevated, and some
extensive tracts have been recovered from the sea. The soil is for the most part poor,
generally sandy ; but in various parts of a loamy or clayey nature. " Flanders," RadclifF
observes, " was in general believed to be a soil of extreme natural richness ; whereas, with
the exception of some few districts, it is precisely the reverse." He found the strongest
and best soil near Ostend ; and between Bruges and Ghent some of the worst, being little
better than a pure sand.
436. From confounding the Dutch Netherlands with the Flemish Netherlands, a good
deal of confusion in ideas has resulted. RadclifF, on arriving in Flanders, was informed
that, " with respect to culture, not only the English, but the French, confounded under
the general name of Brabant or Flanders, all the provinces of the Low Countries, however
different might be their modes of cultivation ; but that in Flanders itself might best be
seen, with what skill the farmer cultivates a bad soil {un sol ingrat), which he forces to
return to him, with usury, a produce that the richest and strongest lands of the neigh-
bouring provinces of Holland refuse to yield." The districts described as East and West
Flanders, are bounded on the east by Brabant and Hainault ; on the west by the German
Ocean ; on the north by the Sea of Zealand and the West Scheldt ; and on the south by
74
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
French Flanders. It is about ninety miles long, and sixty broad, and abounds with towns
and villages.
437. The landed property of Flanders is not in large estates : very few amount to
2000 acres. It is generally freehold, or the property of religious or civil corporations.
When the proprietor does not cultivate his own lands, which, however, is most frequently
the case, he lets it on leases ; generally of seven, fourteen, or twenty-one years' endurance,
at a fixed money rent, and sometimes a com and money rent combined. The occupier is
bound to live on the premises, pay taxes, effect repairs, preserve timber, not sublet
without a written agreement, and to give the usual accommodations to an incoming
tenant at the end of the lease. Leases of fourteen or twenty- one years are most common :
there are scarcely any lands held from year to year, or on the metayer system. Estates
are every where enclosed with hedges, and the fields are generally small.
438. Farmeries are convenient, and generally more ample in proportion to the extent
of the farm than in England. On the larger farms a distillery, oil mill, and sometimes
a flour mill, are added to the usual accommodations. The buildings: on a farm of 150
acres of strong soil, enumerated by Radcliff, are : — 1. The farm-house, with an arched
cellar used as a dairy, an apartment for churning, with an adjoining one for a horse
wheel to turn the churning machinery. 2. A small building for the use of extra-
labourers, with a fire-place for cooking. 3. The grange or great bam, 130 feet long, by
35 feet wide. The ground floor of this structure, besides accommodating by its divisions
all the horses and cows of the farm in comfortable stables, and fumisliing two threshing
floors for the flail, is sufficient also for ^ considerable depot of com in the sheaf, in two
extensive compartments to the height of twelve feet, at which elevation an open floor of
joists, supported by wooden pillars, is extended over the entire area of the bam, and is
repeated at every five feet in height, to the top. Each floor is braced from the pillars, and
not only forms a connection of strength throughout the whole, but separates at the same
time, without much loss of space, the different layers of com, securing them from damage,
by taking off the pressure of the great mass. 4. A house for farming implements, with
granary over, and piggery behind. In the centre is the dunghill ; the bottom of which is
rendered impervious to moisture.
439. A plan of a Flemish farmery, is given by Sir John Sinclair, as suited to a farm
of 300 acres : it is executed with great solidity and a due attention to salubrity, being
vaulted and well aired. Sir John mentions that he saw, in some places, " a mode of
making floors by small brick arches, from one beam to the other, instead of using deals,
and then making the floor of bricks," a mode generally adopted in British manufac-
tories, where the beams which serve as abutments are of cast-iron, tied together with trans-
verse wrought-iron rods.
440. The accommodations of this farmery (fg- 55.) are.
1, The vestibule, or entrance of the farm-house.
2, The hall.
3, 4, 5, Closets.
6, Sheds destined for different purposes, but more espe-
cially.for elevating or letling down grain from the jp-anaries, bj
xnachinery.
7, ICitchen.
8, Washing-house.
9, Chambar for female servants.
10, HalL
11, 12, Closets.
13, Necessaries.
14, Room for the gardener.
15, Shed for fuel.
16, 16, Kitchen-garden.
\l' Hoggery.
18, Poultry-yard.
19, 20, Stables for cows and calves.
'21, Necessaries for the servants, connected with tlie cis-
terns.
22, 23, Sheep-folds.
24, 25, Sheds for carts-
26, Bam.
27, Area.
28, Flax bam.
29, 30, Sheep-houses
31, 32, Stables for the horses and foals.
33, 34, 55, 36, Places for the hogs.
37 and 38, Cisterns destined to receive the urine of the
cattle.
39, Well.
40, Dung-pit, concave in the middle.
41, Pool serving to receive the superabundant waters of
the dung-pit, the weeditigs of the gardens, &c.
42, 42, Reservoirs to receive the waters of the farm-yard.
43, Entrance gateway with dovecot over.
44, Small trenches, or gutters.
45, 45, Sheds destined for clover, cut green in summer, or
dry in winter.
46, Cistern for the wash-houses.
47, 47, Situations of the com stacks, in years of abundance.
\
1
Ll
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN THE NETHERLANDS.
75
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441. t/rmc cisterns are formed in the fields, to receive purchased liquid manure ; but, for that made in
the farm-yard, generally in the yard, or under the stables. In the latter case, the urine is conducted from
each stall to a common grating, through which it descends into the vault, whence it is taken up by a
pump : in the best-regulated farmeries there is a partition in the cistern, with a valve to admit the con-
tents of the first space into the second, to be preserved there free from the more recent additions, age
rendering it considerably more efficacious. This species of manure is relied on beyond any other, upon
all the light soils throughout Flanders ; and, even upon the strong lands (originally so rich as to preclude
the necessity of manure), it is now coming into great esteem, being considered appUcable to most crops,
and to all the varieties of soil.
442. The arable lands of Flanders include by far the greater part of the surface of the
country. The crops raised are the same as those in Britain ; but, from local circumstances,
flax, hemp, chiccory, rape, spurry, madder, woad, tobacco, and some others, enter more
generally into rotations.
443. Fallows, according to Sir John Sinclair, are in a great measure abolished, even on strong land ; by
means of which, produce is increased, and the expense of cultivation, on the crops raised in the course of
a rotation, necessarily diminished ; and by the great profit they derive from their flax and rape, or colsat,
they can afford to sell all their crops of grain at a lower rate. The Flemish farmers, however, understand
their interest too well, to abolish naked fallows on strong clayey soils in a humid climate.
444. In regard to soil and culture, Radcliff arranges Flanders into eleven agricultural
divisions, and of the principal of these we shall notice the soil and rotations, and some
other features of culture.
445. The first division extends along the North Sea, and includes Ostend. This
district consists of the strongest and heaviest soil which Flanders possesses, and a similarity
of quality prevails generally thi'oughout, with some occasional exceptions. It may be
represented as a clay loam of a greyish colour, and yields the various produce to be
expected from a strong soil ; rich pasture, wheat, beans, barley, and rape, considered as
primary crops ; and, as secondary (or such as are not so generally cultivated), oats, carrots,
potatoes, flax, and tares. In this division, however, though the nature of the soil may be
stated under the general description of a clay loam, yet there are of this three degrees of
quality, not to be marked by regular limits, but to be found throughout the whole, in
distinct situations. It becomes the more necessary to remark this, as the succession of
crops depends on the quality of the soil ; and as there are here three different degrees of
quality, so are there tlu-ee different systems of rotation.
446. Upon the first quality of soil, the succession is as follows : first year, barley ;
second, beans ; third, wheat ; fourth, oats ; fifth, fallow. For the second quality of soil,
the succession is as follows : first year, wheat ; second, beans or tares ; third, wheat or
oats ; fourth, fallow. For the third quality of soil, the succession is as follows : first
year, wheat; second, fallow; third, wheat; fourtli, fallow. Besides these three qualities
of strong soil, another of still superior fertility prevails in this district in considerable
extent, known by the denomination of Polders.
447. The polders, or embanked lands of Flanders, are certain areas of land reclaimed
from the sea by embankment, whose surface, once secured from the influx of the tide,
becomes the most productive soil, without requiring the assistance of any description of
manure. They owe their origin partly to the collection of sand, in the small branches of
rivers, gradually increasing, so as naturally to embank a portion of land, and convert it
into an arable and fertile soil. They also have proceeded from the contraction of the
river itself, which, by the effect of the tides, is diminished in one place, whilst an alluvial
soil is formed in another by its overflow. Hence it is, that, within a century, entire
polders in certain situations have been inundated, whilst, in others, new and fertile land
has appeared, as if from the bosom of the water. These operations of nature pointed out
facilities many centuries back, which excited the industry of the Low Countries, an industry
76 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
which has been rewarded by the acquisition of their richest soil. These newly-formed
lands, before their embankment, are called schotn^es. They are flooded at every tide by the
water of the sea, and are augmented by mire, bits of wood, rushes, sea-weeds, and other
marine plants decayed and putrid, also by shells and fishy particles which the ebb always
leaves behind in considerable quantity. This growing soil soon produces various plants and
grasses, and improves daily. When such lands have acquired a crust or surface of black
earth, three or four inches deep, they may be embanked and fallowed. Those are always
the most productive which have been deepened in their soil by the augmentations of the
sea ; and experience proves that in the corners and hollows, where, from an obstructing
boundary, the greatest quantity of mire has been deposited, the soil is doubly rich and
good, and cannot be impoverished by the crops of many years. In some instances, the
embankments are made on the part of government ; in others, by companies or individuals,
under a grant of a specific tenure (generally twenty-one years), rent free, or, according to
circumstances, at some moderate annual payment.
448. The polder of Snaerskirke, near Ostend, contains about 1 300 acres. It is of late
formation, and was overflowed by a creek with its minor branches every spring tide. By
constructing two banks and a flood-gate at the creek, the sea is excluded, and the space
subdivided by roads, and laid out in fields of thirteen acres each, surrounded by ditches.
The bank is fifteen feet in height, thirty feet in the base, and ten feet across the top : the
land which has been reclaimed by it, was let for a sheep pasturage at 600 francs (25/.) per
annum, and was thrown up by the farmer as untenable. Upon being dried by tliis sum-
mary improvement, the lots, of which there are one hundred of thirteen acres each, were
sold by auction at an average of 7000 francs (291/. 135. 4(1.) a lot, and would now bring
nearly double that rate. They are let to the occupying fanners at 3G guilders the mesure,
or about 21. 15s. the English acre, and are now producing superior crops of rape, of
sucrion (winter barley), and beans, which constitute the usual rotation ; this, however, is
varied according to circumstances, as follows : — 1 . oats, or rape ; 2. winter barley, or
rape ; 3. winter barley ; 4. beans, pease, or tares.
449. Olher examples of reclaimed lands are given. One called the G^^eat Moor, recovered
through the spirited exertions of M. Hyrwein, contains 2400 acres. Attempts had been
made to recover it by the Spaniards, in 1610, but without success. This marsh was
seven feet below the level of the surrounding land ; therefore, to drain it, the following
operations became necessary : —
450. To surround the whole with a bank of eight feet in height, above the level of the enclosed ground,
formed by the excavation of a foss<!, fifteen feet wide and ten feet deep, which serves to conduct the
water to the navigable canal. — To construct mills to throw the water over the bank into the fosse. — To
intersect the interior by numerous drains from eight to twelve feet wide, with a fall to the respective mills,
to which they conduct all the rain water, and all the soakage water which oozes through the banks.
451 . The mills in use for raising the water, are of a simple but effectual construction, and
are driven by wind. The horizontal shaft above works an upright shalt, at the bottom of
which a screw bucket, twenty-four feet in length, is put in motion by a bevil wheel, at such
an angle as to give a perpendicular height of eight feet from the level of the interior drain
to the point of disgorgement, whence the water is emptied with great force into the exterior
canal. With full wind, each mill can discharge 150 tonneavx of water every minute.
The height of the building from the foundation is about fifty feet, one half of it above the
level of the bank. The whole is executed in brickwork, and the entire cost 36,000 francs,
about 1500/. British. It is judiciously contrived that the drains, which conduct the water
to the mills, constitute the divisions and subdivisions of the land, forming it into regular
oblong fields of considerable extent, marked out by the lines of osiers which ornament
their banks. Roads of thirty feet wide lead through the whole in parallel directions.
452. The soil of this tract, which has been formed by the alluvial deposit of ages, is a
clay loam, strong and rich, but not of the extraordinary fertility of some polders, which are
cropped independent of manure for many years. The first course of crops, commencing
with rape, is obtained without manure, and the return for six years is abundant j the
second commences and proceeds as follows : —
1. Fallow, with manure from farm-yard. 5. Clover.
2. Sucrion (winter barley). 6. Beans and Peas mixed.
3. Beans. 7. Oats.
4. Wheat.
453. The second division adjoins French Flanders, but does not extend to the sea. The
soil may be described as a good loam of a yellowish colour, mixed with some sand ; but
is not in its nature as strong as that of the former division. Its chief produce is wheat,
barley, oats, hops, tobacco, meadow, rape-seed and flax, as primary crops ; and, as
secondary, buckwheat, beans, turnips, potatoes, carrots, and clover. This division, unlike
the former in this respect, is richly wooded.
454. The general course of crops in this division is as follows : —
1 . Wheat upon manured fallow. 5. Flax, highly manured with urine and rape cake, 1 t Fallow, manured.
2. Clover, top dressed with ashes. 6. Wheat, >or< Rye.
4; feps,}--ye"> without manure L&, manured, ^ ^'^"''
Book 1. AGRICULTURE IN THE NETHERLANDS. 77
9. Wheat. 14. -Wheat.
10. Oats. 15. Hops, with abundant manure.
11. Turnips. This last crop remains generally five years, and the ground
12. Rye. is afterwards fit for any kind of produce.
I.''. Tobacco, three times ploughed, and richly manured.
455. In another j)art of this division, where hops are not grown, the following rotation
is observed : —
1. Potatoes, with manure. 9. Wheat.
2. AVheat. 10. Oats, l^^^,^,,
3. Beans, with manure. 11. Turnips, J ^*™°y®"* •
4. Rye. 12. Fallow, without manure.
a. VVheat, with manure. 13. Rye.
6. Clover, top-dressed with ashes. 14. Tobacco, richly manured.
7. Turnips, with manure. 15. Wheat.
8. Flax, highly manured with urine and rape cake.
456. In addition to these crops in some parts of the district, particularly in the line
between Woomen and Ypres, magnificent crops of rape are cultivated, and are relied on
as a sure and profitable return. Flax is also a crop upon which their best industry-
is bestowed, and their careful preparation of the soil is scarcely to be surpassed by that of
the neatest garden.
457. In the third division the soil is a good sandy loam, of a light colour, and is
in a superior state of cultivation; it yields a produce similar to that of the foregoing
division, with the same quality of hay j but plantations are here more numerous. The
succession is as follows : —
1. -Wheat, with dung. 10. Clover, with ashes, seeds sometimes saved.
2. Clover, with ashes, seed sometimes saved. 11. Oats, without manure.
3. Flax, with urine and rape cake. 12. Flax, with urine and rape cake.
4. ■VVheat,with compost ofshort dung and various sweepings. 13. Wheat, with dung.
5. Potatoes, with farm-yard dung or night soil. f Beans, with dung.
6. Rye, with urine. 14. <J Beet root, with rape cake, or
7. Rape seed, with rape cake and urine. (. Tobacco, with rape sake in great quantities.
8. Potatoes, with dimg. Timiips are also grown, but are taken as a second crop after
9. -yVheat, with manure of divers kinds. rape, flax, wheat, or rye.
458. Passing over the other divisions to the eighth and ninth, we find the reporter describes
them as of considerable extent, and, in the poverty of their soil and abundance of their
produce, bearing ample testimony to the skill and perseverance of the Flemish farmers.
The soil consists of a poor light sand, in the fifteenth century exhibiting barren gravel and
heaths. The chief produce here consists of rye, flax, potatoes, oats, buckwheat, rape-
seed, and wheat, in a few favourable spots ; clover, carrots, and turnips generally.
459. On the western side of these districts, and where the soil is capable of yielding
wheat, there are two modes of rotation : one comprising a nine years' course, in which
wheat is but once introduced ; and the other a ten years' course, in which they contrive
to produce that crop a second time ; but in neither instance without manure, which,
indeed, is never omitted in these divisions, except for buckwheat, and occasionally for
rye. The first course alluded to above is as follows : • —
1. Potatoes or Carrots, with four ploughings, and twelve tons 5. Oats with Clover, with two ploughings, and ten tons and a
of farm-yard dung per English acre. half of farm-yard dung per English acre.
2. Flax, with two ploughings, and 105 Winchester bushels 6. Clover, top-dressed, with 105 Winchester bushels of peat or
of ashes, and 48 hogsheads, beer measure, of urine Dutch ashes per English acre.
_ per English acre. 7 . Rye, with one ploughing, and 52 hogsheads, beer measure,
3. Wheat, with two ploughings, and ten tons and a half of of night soil and urine.
farm-yard dung per English acre. 8. Oats, with two ploughings, and 52 hogsheads, beer measure,
4. Rye and Turnips, with two plotighings, and ten tons and of night soil and urine.
a half of farm-ya^d dung per English acre. 9. Buckwheat, with four ploughings, and without any manure.
460. Of the Flemish mode of cultivating some particular crops we shall give a few
examples. The drill husbandry has never been generally introduced in the Low Countries.
It has been tried in the neighbourhood of Ostend, forty acres of beans against forty acres
of drilled crop, and the result was considered to be in favour of the system. But the row
culture, as distinguished from the raised drill manner, has been long known in the case of
tobacco, cabbages, and some other crops.
461. Wlieat is not often diseased in Planders. Most farmers change their seed, and
others in several places steep it in salt water or urine, and copperas or verdigrise. The
proportion of verdigrise is half a pound to every six bushels of seed ; and the time in
which the latter remains in the mixture is three hours, or one hour if cows' urine be used,
because of its ammonia, wliich is considered injurious. The ripest and plumpest seed is
always preferred.
462. Rt/e is grown both as a bread corn, and for the distillery. In Flanders
frequently, and in Brabant very generally, the farmer upon the scale of from one
hundred to two hundred acres of light soil is also a distiller, purely for the improvement
of the land by the manure of the beasts, which he can feed upon the straw of the rye, and
the grains of the distillery.
463. Buckwheat enters into the rotations on the poorest soils, and is sown on lands
not got ready in time for other grain. The chief application of buckwheat is to the
feeding of swine and poultry, for which it is preeminent ; it is also used in flour as a
constituent in the liquid nourishment prepared for cattle and horses ; and bears no incon-
siderable share in the diet of the peasant. Formed into a cake, without yeast, it is a very
wholesome, and not a disagreeable, species of bread; but it is necessary to use it while
80 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
added to the precipitate, which being boiled again, the lime was disengaged ; the saccharine matter, being
then freed from the liquor, granulated, and was ready for the refiner. The pulp has been found to yield,
upon distillation, a wholesome spirit, very inferior, but not very unlike, to geneva, and has been proved
excellent as a manure, but not valuable as food for cattle, beyond the first or second day from the press.
The foregoing process required but a fortnight to complete it.
479. Flax is cultivated with the utmost care. The field intended for this crop, after
two or three ploughings and harrowdngs, is again ploughed, commencing in the centre,
and ploughing round and round to the circumference, so as to leave it without any
furrow. The heavy roller is drawn across the ploughing by tliree horses; the liquid
manure is then spread equally over the entire surface, and when well harrowed in by
eight or nine strokes of the harrow, the seed is sown, which is also harrowed in by a light
harrow, with wooden pins of less than three inches; and the surface, to conclude the
operation, is again carefully rolled. Nothing can exceed the smoothness and cultivated
appearance of fields thus accurately prepared.
480. The manure universally used for the Jlax crop, demands particular notice : it is
termed liquid manure, and consists of the urine of cattle, in which rape-cake has been
dissolved, and in which the vidanges conveyed from the privies of the adjoining towns
and villages have also been blended. This manure is gradually collected in subter-
raneous vaults of brickwork, at the verge of the farm next to the main road. Those
receptacles are generally forty feet long, by fourteen wide, and seven or eight feet deep,
and in some cases are contrived with the crown of the arch so much below the surface of
the ground, as to admit the plough to work over it. An aperture is left in the side,
through which the manure is received from the cart by means of a shoot or trough, and
at one end an opening is left to bring it up again, by means of a temporary pump, which
delivers it either into carts or tonneaus.
481. The liquid is carried to the field in sheets or barrels, according to the distance.
"Where the cart pUes, the manure is carried in a great sheet called a voile, closed at the
comers by running strings, and secured to the four uprights of the carts ; and two men,
standing one on each side of the cart, scatter it with hollow shovels upon the rolled
ground. Where the tonneaus are made use of, each is carried by two men with poles,
and set down at equal intervals across the field in the line of the rolling. There are two
sets of vessels, which enable the men, who deposit the loaded ones, to bring back the
others empty. One man to each vessel, with a scoop, or rather a kind of bowl with a
long handle, spreads the manure, so as to cover a certain space ; and thus, by preserving
the intervals correctly, they can precisely gauge the quantity for a given extent of
surface. For the flax crop they are profuse ; and of this liquid mixture, in this part of
the country, they usually allow at the rate of 2480 gallons, beer measure, to the
English acre.
482. Spurry (Sp^rgula arvensis) {fig. 58.) is cultivated
on the poorest soils. It is so quick of growth and short of
duration, that it is often made to take an intermediate
place between the harvest and the spring sowing, without
any strict adherence to the regularity of succession. It
is sown sometimes in the spring, but in general in the ^^j^ \ Mdnh 58
autumn, immediately after harvesting the corn crops. One
light ploughing is suflScient ; and as the grain is very
small, it is but very lightly covered. About twenty- four
pounds of seed to the acre is the usual quantity. Its growth
is so rapid that in five or six weeks it acquires its full
height, which seldom exceeds twelve or fourteen inches.
The crop is of course a light one, but is considered of great
value, both as supplying a certain quantum of provender
at very little cost, and as being the best food for milch cows, to improve the quality of
the butter. It lasts till the frost sets in, and is usually fed off by milch cows tethered on
it, but is sometimes cut and carried to the stalls.
483. Where spurry is sown in spring the crop is occasionally made into hay ; but from
the watery nature of the plant, it shrinks very much in bulk, and upon the whole is much
more advantageously consumed in the other manner. It is indigenous in Flanders ; and,
except when cultivated, is looked on as a weed, as in this country.
484. The hop is cultivated on good soils, and generally after wheat. Tlie land being
four times ploughed, the plants are put in, in the month of May, in rows with intervals
of six feet, and six feet distant in the row. In the month of October they raise the
earth round each plant, in little mounds about two feet and a half high, for the purpose
of encouraging a number of shoots, and of preserving them from the frost. When all
harsh weather has disappeared, about the beginning of April in the second year, they
level those little heaps, and take away all superfluous shoots at the root, leaving but
four or five of the strongest. They then spread over tlie entire surface, at the rate
of twelve carts of 1500 lbs. each, by the English acre, of dung, either of cows, or of cows
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN THE NETHERLANDS. 81
and swine mixed ; but they avoid the heat and fermentation of horse-dung. This dress-
ing is given when the shoots begin to appear ; at which time also, they fix in the eartJi,
close to each hill, a pole of dry wood, about eighteen feet in length, for the vines to
cling by. In the month of July, they give the surface another dressing with urine, at
the rate of 1000 gallons the English acre. In the month of August, the crop has
nearly arrived at its full growth, and flourishes in all its beauty.
485. The crop is ready to gather in the month of September, when they cut the runners at about three
feet from the ground, and in November they cut them to the earth ; they then heap up the soil about
each plant as before, to the height of two feet and a half, and follow precisely the same course as above-
mentioned each year, dunng five, which is the usual time they suffer the plantation to continue, and at
the expiration of which the land is in the highest condition, and suited to the reception of any other
48G. Madder Is sometimes cultivated, but only on land of the best quality, and with
plenty of manure. At the end of April or May, accordingly as the young plants are
large enough to be transplanted, the land must be ploughed in beds of two feet and two
feet and a half wide ; the beds are then to be harrowed and raked, and the young suckers
of the roots or plants are to be put down in rows, at intervals of a foot or a foot and a
half, and six or eight inches distant in the row.
487. During the entire summer the land should be frequently stirred, and kept free from weeds. In the
month of November, when the leaves are faded, the plants are covered with two inches of earth by a
plough, having the point of the coulter a little raised or rounded, so as not to injure the young plants.
488. In the folloioing spring, when the young shoots are four or five inches long, they are gathered or
torn off, and planted in new beds, in the same manner as has been pointed out above ; and then in the
month of September or October, after the faded leaves have been removed, the old roots are taken up.
489. The madder thus taken up should be deposited under cover, to protect it from the rain ; and, after
ten or twelve days, placed in an oven moderately heated. When dried sufficiently, it is gently beaten
with a flail, to get rid of any clay that may adhere to the plants ; and, by means of a small windmill, is
ground and sifted, to separate it from any remaining earth or dirt. It is then replaced in the oven for a
short time, and when taken out is spread upon a hair-cloth to cool ; after which it is ground and
cleaned once more. It is then carried to a bruising-mill, and reduced to a line powder, after which it is
packed in casks or barrels for market.
490. The culture of woad, though not general, has been practised in Flanders. It
was an object with the French government to spread the cultivation of it, and a con-
siderable quantity of seed was sent gratis into the country for that purpose.
491. Woad thrives only on gravelhj and sandy soils, which must be well pulverised,
manured, and formed into beds, as in the case of madder culture. It is sown in March
or April in rows, or broad-cast, and harrowed or covered with a rake. All weeds are
cleared away, and the plants thinned, if a careful culture is followed. The leaves are the
part of the plant which is used by the indigo manufacturer. They should be gathered
singly, like those of spinach, as soon as they begin to show signs of maturity, and the
mature leaves taken off from time to time as they grow. This operation goes on from
June to September in the first year, and from June to August in the second ; when the
plant being a biennial, shoots into flower stems. The leaves are fermented, and the dye
precipitated from the liquor and dried, &c., in a manner analogous to what is practised
in India with indigo ; but with great improvements, made at the instance of the French
government, which, in 1810, called forth the process described in a French work, and
translated in the appendix to Radcliff's report. At present it is to be considered more
as matter of curious historical infonnation, or of local adoption, than of general utility ;
because no mode of cultivating or preparing woad could bring it into competition, either
in the European or American market, with indigo.
492. JFith culinary ves;etables the Flemish markets are abundantly supplied. Most of
these are grown by the small fai-mers, and are of excellent quality. To every cottage
in Flanders a garden of some description is attached ; and according to the means, the
leisure, and the skill of the possessor, is rendered more or less productive. The general
principles of management with all are, frequent digging, careful weeding, ample ma-
nuring, and immediate succession. The rotation depends on circumstances. The
chief vegetables in common use are, parsnep, carrot, turnip, scorzonera, savoy, jettechou
cabbage (Brussels sprouts), onions, leeks, peas, beans, and all kinds of salading, with
another vegetable called feve haricot, a large species of French bean, which has a place
in the field or garden of almost every farmer, and being sliced down, pod and seed, is
made a chief ingredient in all farm-house. cookery.
493. The treatment of asparagus here, and generally in Flanders, differs considerably
from our method. In forming their beds, they are not by any means particular as to
very deep trenching, or a profusion of manure ; nor, as they grow up, do they cover the
beds with litter for the winter, nor fork and dress them in the spring. In the furrows
they form a rich and mellow compost of earth and dung, with which, before winter
sets in, they dress up the beds to the height of nearly eighteen inches from the level of
the crowns ; and, without any further operation (except supplying the furrows again for
the ensuing year), as soon as the buds appear, they cut them nine inches under the
surface, by which means, having but just reached the light, the whole of the stock is
blanched.
G
82 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Paut I.
494. The frequent manurings given hy the Flemish farmer astonish a stranger ; the
sources whence it is obtained in sufficient quantity form the difficulty, and this can only
be resolved by referring to the practice of soiling ; to the numerous towns and villages ; and
to the care with which every particle of vegetable or animal refuse is saved for this
purpose. Manure in Flanders, as in China, is an article of trade. The selling price
of each description is easily ascertained ; the towns let the cleansing of the streets and
public retiring places at great rents. Chaptal says there are in every town sworn brokers,
expressly for the purpose of valuing night soil ; and that these brokers know the exact de-
gree of fermentation in that manure which suits every kind of vegetable, at the different
periods of its growth. {Chimie ajypliquee a V Agnculture, 1. 137.)
495. Every substance that constitutes, or is convertible to, manure, is sought cfter with
avidity, which accounts for the extreme cleanliness of the Flemish towns and pavements,
hourly resorted to, with brooms and barrows, as a source of profit. Even the chips
which accumulate in the formation of the wooden shoes worn by the peasantry, are made
to constitute a part of tlie compost dung-heap ; and trees are frequently cultivated in
barren lands, merely to remain till their deciduous leaves shall, in course of time, have
formed an artificial surface for the purpose of cultivation. The manures in general use
are, —
496. The farm-yard dung, which is a mixture of every matter that the farm-yard produces, formed into
a compost, which consists of dung and litter from the stables, chaff, sweepings, straw, sludge, and rubbish,
all collected in a hollow part of the yard, so prepared as to prevent the juices from being wasted ; and the
value of this, by the cart-load of 1500 lbs. of Ghent, is estimated at five francs.
497. The dung of sheep, pigeons, or poultry, by the same cart-load, five francs and a half.
498. Sweepings of streets and roads, same "quantity, three francs.
499. Ashes of peat and wood mixed, same quantity, eight francs.
500. Privy manure and urine, same quantity, seven francs.
501. Lime, same quantity, twenty-four francs.
502. Rape-cake, per hundred cakes, fifteen francs.
503. Gypsum, sea mud, and the sediment of the canals, have been all tried experimentally, and with
fair results ; but the two former have been merely tried ; the latter is used successfully in the vicinity of
Bruges.
504. Bone manure was altogether unknown in Flanders j but, at the suggestion of Rad liff, is now
under experiment in that country.
505. The agricultural implements of Flanders are by no means such as the excellence
of the Flemish culture would lead us to suspect. They are in general of rude work-
manship, but constructed with attention to strength, durability, and cheapness.
506. The plough has a rude appearance, but works easily, and makes excellent work in
loose friable soil ; though it would not make a sharp angled furrow-slice in breaking up
pastures. It is never dbrawn by more than two horses, and on light sands often by one,
or by a single ass.
507. The binot, or Walloon plough, used in Brabant, described by Sir John Sinclair, is a plough with a
double or scuffler share, two mould-boards, but no coulter. It is chiefly used for breaking up lands. If
the soil is foul, they employ it two or three times, for the purpose of cleaning it thoroughly. The land
is not turned over, as by the plough, and the weeds buried, but the soil is elevated into small ridges, by
means of which the couch and other root-weeds are not only cut, but they are exposed to the frost in
winter, and to the drought of spring ; and when the land becomes dry, which it does quickly when thus
elevated, these weeds are collected by the harrow, by a trident (or large pitchfork), by a rake, or by the
hand. After the binot, the land is always ploughed for the seed furrow. This implement and its appli-
cation are strongly recommended to the British farmer, by Sir J. Sinclair, as improvements ; but, as the
editor of the Farmer's Magazine observes, the implement is nothing more than a double mould-board
plough, and the operation of ridging with it is the justly exploded practice of " ribbing." The late
machinist Weir informed us, that he had orders for several binots from Sir J. Sinclair and others, and
that he used exactly the same form, as when a double mould-board plough was ordered.
508. The mouldebaert {fig. 59.) is a curious and useful implement. It resembles a
large square malt or cinder shovel, strongly prepared with iron on the cutting edge, and
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN THE NETHERLANDS.
83
is drawn by a pair of horses with swingle-trees. It is used to lessen inequalities of
surface, by removing a part of the soil from the heights to the hollows, which it does
in an easy and expeditious manner. The driver, who uses long reins, by pressing
moderately on the handle (a) as the horses go forward, collects and transports about five
hundred weight of earth to the place where it is to be deposited ; which is effected in the
most summary manner by his letting go the handle : this causes the front, or edge of
the machine, (6) to dip, and catch against the ground, whereby it is at once inverted and
emptied of its load. The extremity of the handle, to which a rope (c) is affixed, by this
inversion strikes against, and rests upon the swingle-tree bar, arid in this manner the
mouldebaert is drawn along towards the accumulated earth, when, by taking up the rope,
the driver draws back the handle, collects his load as before, ^ gO
proceeds to the spot which is to receive it, and the horses are
never for a moment delayed. The saving of time and labour, in
filling and emptying, gives this implement a decided superiority
over the cart j nor is the ground so much injured by this, as by
wheels.
509. The Hainault scythe {fig. 60.) is the general reaping instrument both
in the Netherlands and in French Flanders. The handle is fourteen inches,
with a shield for the hand of four and a half inches, in all eighteen and a half
inches : the blade is two feet three inches in length, the point a little raised,!^
and the entire edge bevelled upwards so as to avoid the surface of the ground, "
and the frequent use of the sharpening stone. The handle of the crook being
of hard wood, is used as a scythe board. A farther account of the mode of
using this instrument, and of a series of trials which have been made with it in Scotland, will be found
in a succeeding part of this work.
510. The great Brabant scythe [fig. 61.) differs little from the British implement, and is in general use
for mowing clover.
511. The kylanderie, to which Radcliff seems to attach unmerited importance, is
nothing more than a screen for freeing grain from vermin, dust,, or small seeds. It
resembles a gravel screen, and is used in the same manner.
512. The trenching spade consists of a blade of iron fifteen inches long, and a han-
dle of two feet. The labourer standing in the last formed trench, with his left hand at
the bottom of the handle, and his right near the top, by the weight of his body, and
without the assistance of his foot, sinks the spade about eighteen inches, and
standing sideways, throws off the soil with a peculiar sleight and turn of the wrist,
so as to lodge it in an oblique position in the trench, and against the preceding line
of work, retiring as he casts it from the spade, and thereby effecting some little mix-
ture of the two strata, though the upper surface is at the same time placed below the
other.
513. The pronged hoe has a pronged blade on one side, and a common plate on the
other ; it is exceedingly useful ; one side may be used for cutting weeds where they
prevail, and the other for stirring a surface already clean.
514. The chariot, or great cart {fig. 62.), is the only machine of the Flemish farmer
which appears to transgress the bounds of a rigid economy. This, as it is not only
to be used for the transport of grain, but of the farmer and his family occasionally,
to the market-town, is more ornamentally finished than any other, and is painted
in showy colours, chiefly green and red ; an awning also is very ingeniously contrived, as an occasional
defence against the rain and sun. From the natural spring of so long a perch, the centre part of this machine
is by no.means an uneasy conveyance ; and there the farmer sits in all solemnity, whilst a well appointed
boor acts as a postilion, and his fine and spirited pair of well-trained horses bring him home from market
at a rapid trot.
515. Agricultural operations of every kind are performed with particular care in
Flanders. The most remarkable feature in the operations of culture consists in the fre-
quent ])loughings given on all soils ; in strong soils for the sake of pulverisation as well as
cleanliness ; in the lighter, chiefly for the destruction of weeds, and blending the manure
with the soil. But, considering that but one pair of horses is in general allowed to about
thirty acres, it is surprising how (with the execution of all the other farming work)
time can be found for the number of ploughings which is universally given. Very
generally, the number, for the various crops, respectively, is as follows : —
G 2
84 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
Fdc IVketH, two plouRhitiRS, with two han-owings. For Oilettes, two or three ploughlngs, with twt) harrowlngs.
R,ye, two or three ditto, ditto. Tobacco, four ditto, ditto.
Oats, three ditto, ditto. Hemp, four ditto, ditto.
two or
three ditto.
ditto.
three
ditto.
ditto.
four
ditto.
ditto.
four
ditto.
ditto.
two
ditto.
ditto.
four
ditto.
ditto.
three
ditto.
ditto.
three
ditto.
ditto.
Carrvts, four ditto, ditto. ^' 1 one as a second crop, ditto, ditto.
Flax, two ditto, ditto. s„uri-« /three as a first crop, ditto, ditto.
Bucktvheat, four ditto, ditto. ^ •"(. one as a second crop, ditto, ditto.
tlape, three ditto, ditto. Beam, two ditto, ditto.
Uarley, three ditto, ditto. Fallows, four or five ditto, ditto.
516. Trenching is a feature almost peculiar to Flemish farming, and that of Tuscany,
This remarkable practice is confined to the lighter soils, and is not used where the strong
clay prevails. In the districts in which it is adopted, the depth of the operation varies
with that of the soil ; but till this has arrived at nearly two feet of mellow surface,
a little is added to it at each trenching, by bringing to the top a certain proportion of
the under stratum ; which, being exposed to the action of the atmosjDhere, and minutely
mixed with a soil already fertilised, gradually augments the staple till the sought-for
depth be required.
517. Tlie management of live stock in Flanders, though good, is not so eminently ex-
emplary as their tillage culture. The cattle are the short-horned Dutch breed ; the colour
generally black, or black and white. Little attention is given to the improvement of the
form by selection. The sheep are long-wooUed and long-legged, and afford a coarse fleece
and very indifferent mutton. They are housed at night, and, in the daytime, follow the shep-
herd and his dog through pathways and along the verges of the fields and roads, picking
up a mere subsistence, and never enjoying the range of a sweet and wholesome pasture. In
winter they are let out but once a day, and are fed in the sheep houses on rye and hay,
&c. A cross with the INIerino breed has been tried ; but, as might have been predicted
from the incongruous parentage, with no benefit. The swine are long-legged, narrow-
backed, and flat-ribbed ; not easily fatted, but, when well fed and long kept, making
excellent pork and bacon.
518. The horse is the animal for wliich Flanders has long been noted, with regard to the
excellence of its working breed ; and that of England has been considerably improved
by the frequent importation thence of stallions and mares, previous to the French
revolution. The Suffolk punch horse comes nearest to the most prevalent variety in
Flanders ; the resemblance is strong, not only in colour, but in some of the essential
points of form : however, though the prevailing colour is chestnut in all its shades, yet
other colours are likewise to be met with ; and, with very few exceptions, the Flemish
horses are of superior strength, and of the true working character. The chief, indeed
almost the only, defects to be observed in any are, a want of depth in the girth, and a
dip behind the vsdthers ; for symmetry, perhaps the shoulder also, at the top, should be a
little finer ; but in all other respects they possess the best shapes.
519. Every farmer breeds his own work-horses, and disposes of the redundance. Even the total absence
of pasture is not suffered to prevent it ; and the foals are found to thrive remarkably well in a close
house. For this purpose, as well as for the general keep of the stock, a regular dietary is observed. The
manger is formed of well cemented brickwork. In summer clover, and in winter carrots, are usually
given ; hay in very small quantities, but in all cases chopped straw mixed with corn or beans, or both,
and water aired by keeping in the stable, and whitened with a pretty strong proportion of barley-meal.
With every symptom of sufficient spirit, they are extremely docile ; and, besides being obedient to the
word, are guided in intricate cases, in a manner surprising to a stranger, by a single cord ; this rein is
never thick, and, in some instances, is as small as a stout whipcord, and yet in the deeper soils
three powerful horses abreast (the bridles of the middle and ofi'-side horses being connected with
that upon the near-side horse, to which this rein is affixed) are guided by it at all the turnings, the
ploughman holding the rein in one hand, and his single-handed plough in the other, and performing his
v/ork with the most accurate straightness and precision. Of corn to market, a pair of horses generally
draw two tons ; of manure to the field, one ton and half; and on the pavement in the towns, three tons,
without appearing to be overloaded.
520. The shoeing of horses in Flanders is attended to with particular care, and in
that country has long been practised the mode of preserving the bars of the hoof, and of
letting the frog come in contact with the ground, recommended in England by Freeman
and Professor Colman. The use of cockers, or turned heels, is, except in part,
entirely abandoned. In two respects, however, the shoeing in Flanders differs from any
of the methods in use with us. In 07ie, that to prevent ripping, the hoofs of the fore-
feet are pared away towards the toe, and the shoes so fitted, that the fore part shall not
touch (within three fourths of an inch) the same level surface, upon wliich the heel and
middle of the shoe shall rest.
521. This preparation of the foot is in general use ; the horses are not thereby in any degree injured,
and are particularly sure-footed. The other point of difference is, that the shoe is nailed on fiat and close
to the foot, which, in depriving the iron of all spring, and all unequal pressure against the nails, may be
in part the cause of the durability of the shoeing.
522. For shoeing vicious horses every precaution is taken by the use of the forge machine, a common
appendage to the smithies in Flanders. If the horse is not altogether unmanageable, his hind foot is tied
to a cross bar, or his fore leg to a stilt and bracket ; but if he is extremely vicious indeed, he can be raised
from the ground in a minute, by means of a cradle-sling of strong girth web, hooked to the upper side-
rails, which, with a slight handspike, are turned in the blocks that support them (the extremities of the
sling thereby coiling round them), till the horse is elevated to the proper height, and rendered wholly
powerless.
523, The Flemish and Dutch dailies are more remarkable for the abundance than the
excellence of their products ; owing to the inferiority of their pastiu-es, and the cows
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN THE NETHERLANDS. 85
being kept the greater part of the winter in the house. In summer the principal article
of food in Flanders is clover, cut and carried to the stall. On a small scale, when
pasturage is to be had, they are left at liberty ; when this is not the case, each cow is led
by a rope, and permitted to feed round the corn fields, the grassy borders of which are
left about ten feet wide for this purpose.
524. The food for one cow in winter, for twenty-four hours, is straw, eighteen pounds ; turnips, sixty
pounds. Some farmers boil the turnips for them ; others give them raw, chopping them with the spade :
one or other operation is necessary to obviate the risk of the animal being choked, where the turnips,
which is usually the case in Flanders, are of too small a size. In lieu of turnips, potatoes, carrots, and
grains are occasionally used. Bean-straw is likewise given, and uniformly a white drink, prepared both for
cows and horses, consisting of water in which some oilcake has been dissolved, whitened with ryemeal,
oatmeal, or the flour of buckwheat.
525. In the dairies the summer feed is pasturage day and night; in winter, hay,
turnips, carrots, grains from the breweries, cakes of linseed, rapeseed, bean and other
meals, and the white drink before mentioned. For the sake of cleanliness, the tails
of the cows are tied to the roof of the cow-house with a cord during the time of milking.
The cow-houses, both in Flanders and Holland, are kept remarkably clean and warm ; so
much so, that a gentleman " spoke (to Radcliff) of having drunk coffee with a cow-
keeper, in the general stable, in winter, without the annoyance of cold, of dirt, or of
any offensive smell." The Dutch are particularly averse from unfolding the secrets of
their dairy management ; and, notwithstanding the pointed queries of Sir John Sinclair
on the subject, no satisfactory idea was given him of their mode of manufacturing
butter or cheese.
526. The woodlands of Flanders are of considerable extent ; but more remarkable for
the care bestowed on them, than for the bulk of timber grown. To this purpose, in-
deed, the soil is inadequate ; most of these woods having been planted or sown on land
considered too poor for tillage.
527. lit forming artificial plantations, the general mode is to plough the ground three or four times, and
take a crop of buckwheat ; afterwards the plants or seeds are inserted and hoed for a year or two, till they
cover the surface. For the Scotch pine, which is sometimes sown alone on the poorest soils, the most
common and the simplest mode is that of burning the surface, for which process its heathy quality gives
great facility. The ashes being spread.the ground is formed into beds from six to fifteen feet wide, accord-
ing to circumstances ; the seed sown at the rate of six pounds to the English acre, and covered by a
light shoveling from the furrows, Avhich are sunk about two feet, not only to supply covering to the beds,
but as drains to carry off the surface water.
528. Extensive artificial woods have been created in this manner, converting a barren
soil into a state of productiveness, the least expensive, very profitable, and highly orna-
mental. Of six years' growth, there exist flourishing plantations (treated in this manner),
from five to nine feet in height. At about ten years from its formation, they begin to thin
the wood, and continue to do so annually, with such profit by the sale, as at the end of
thirty years to have it clear of every charge ; a specific property being thus acquired, by
industry and attention merely, without the loss of any capital.
529. Pine woods are often sown, and with great success, without the labour of burning
the surface ; as at Vladsloo, in the neighbourhood of Dixmude, where a luxuriant crop,
seven feet high, though of but five years' growth, had been cultivated by Madame de Cleir,
by merely ploughing the heathy surface into beds of fifteen feet, harrowing, sowing at the
rate of six pounds to the English acre, raking in the seed, and covering the beds lightly
from the furrows, which are sunk about eighteen inches deep.
530. Another mode of sowing, practised by the Baron de Serret, in the vicinity of Bruges, was productive
of a growth not less luxuriant, merely by sowing the seed upon sand (taken from the excavation for a
building) which was spread over the heathy surface, the seed raked in, and the furrows shoveled up.
531. The sowing of pine seed in many cases is adopted for the purpose of bringing waste land into an
arable state, which, when the timber has been disposed of, is found to yield admirable crops, from a
surface soil formed by the accumulation of the leaves which have fallen for so many years. For this
purpose also, the broom is frequently sown upon waste lands of a similar description, and at the end of
four or five years is pulled away, leaving the soil capable of yielding crops of corn.
532. The preservation of trees is attended to in the strictest manner, not only by
proprietors, but by the government. As an example of this, Radcliff mentions that at
a certain season of the year, when the caterpillars commence their attack upon the trees,
every farmer is obliged to destroy those upon his own premises, to the satisfaction of the
mayor of his particular commune, or to pay the cost of having it done for him. As a
proof of the strictness with which this is enforced, the governor sends round a circular
letter annually, reminding the sub-intendants and mayors of the obligations and penalties
for nonperformance.
533. There are a number of royal forests in Flanders ; and, besides these, all the trees
on tlie sides of the public roads belong to the government. In West Flanders there are
five, amounting together to nearly 10,000 acres. They are supei'intended by eighteen
persons : an inspector, resident at Bruges ; a deputy inspector, resident at Ypres ; two
gardes generaux, and fourteen particuliers, or privates. The inspector is answerable for
all : from him tlie garde gena-al takes his instructions, and sees that they are enforced by
the privates, to whom is conunitted the regulation of the necessary labour,
G 3
86
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
65
53i. The cuttings take place periodically with respect to small trees and fire-wood, so as to secure an
annual produce ; but reserves are always lett to become, eventually, large and valuable timber.
Son. The cutting of the taillis or coppice, chiefly used as fire- wood, takes place every eleventh year ;
that of the high and grosser coppice, every twenty-fifth year ; the felling of the half-grown forest trees,
every sixtieth year ; and that of the full-grown forest trees, once in a hundred years.
536. hi the manageinent of coppices, it is considered essential to preserve tlie roots from
stagnant water ; the trenches originally formed for that purpose are from time to time
cleared out; and the sediment and manure from the falling leaves, which have accumulated
in them, are carefully spread upon the ridge, or rounded set, which the wood occupies. A
second branch of regular attention is to remove all brambles and briars ; a third, to
replace the old and fading stocks by new plantations ; a fourth, to thin the stems with
regularity and care.
537. The sorts of trees are birch, oak, service, ash, maple, elm, beech, poplar, aspen, wild pine, Wey-
mouth pine, plane, lime, larch, Spanish chestnut, and alder. A variety of pine, called the Pinus mari-
tima, but not the plant of that name which is known on the coast of Italy and Greece, has been tried on
the sea-coast, and found to resist the sea-breeze. It is said extensive plantations have been made of this
tree on the coast of France, at Bourdeaux, and that it produces excellent timber ; but whether it is
a distinct species, or a variety possessing any particular qualities, or merely the common wild or Scotch
pine, in a favourable situation, does not appear. Most probably the last circumstance is the case. The
pine is liable to the attacks of the Bostrichus joinip^rdus {fig. 63.),
on the wood of the old branches, and of the larva of a species of moth
on the leading young shoots. The moth deposits its eggs among the
buds at their extremities : the turpentine or resin which oozes from
the buds, protects the eggs till the insect is brought out by the
warmth of the atmosphere, when vegetation commences ; it then
inserts itself into one of the young shoots, about five or six inches below the
end {fig. 64. a), and works upwards till it finds its way out at the extremity (6),
which at this time begins to shoot, and lodging itself in the centre of it, perforates
the young shoot up and down, till it either breaks off, or withers.
538. The domestic circumstances of the Flemish fanner and his
servants are depicted by RadclifF in a favourable point of view.
" Nothing," he says, " tends more to the uniform advancement of good^
fanning, than a certain degree of ease and comfort in those who occupy
the soil, and in the labouring classes whom they employ. Without it,
an irregular, speculative, and anticipatory extraction of produce, always
followed by eventual loss, is resorted to, in order to meet the emei-gen-
cies and difficulties of the moment ; whereas, under different circum-
stances, the successive returns of a well regulated course become the
farmer's object, rather than the forced profit of a single year ; and whilst
he himself is thus intrinsically served, his landlord is secured, and
his ground ameliorated.
539. The laborious industry/ of the Flemish fariner is recruited by intervals of decent
and comfortable refreshment; and the farm -servants are treated with kindness and
respect. They uniformly dinevnth the farmer and his family, at a clean tablecloth, well
supplied with spoons, with four-pronged forks, and every thing necessary for their
convenience. In Flanders, the gentlemen are all farmers ; but the farmers do not aspire
to be gentlemen, and their servants feel the benefit. They partake with them of a plen-
tiful and orderly meal, which varies according to circumstances. One standing dish,
however, is universal, a soup, composed of buttermilk, boiled and thickened with flour or
rye-bread. Potatoes, salt pork, salt fish, various vegetables, and eggs are common ; fresh
meat and fresh fish occur occasionally, though not for daily consumption : add to these,
a plentiful supply of butter, or rendered lard, which is sometimes substituted ; and when
it is recollected that these articles of provision are always made palatable by very tolerable
cookery, it will be allowed that the farmer's table is comfortably supplied. The potatoes
are always peeled, and are generally stewed in milk ; a particular kind of kidneybean,
as mentioned before, the feve haricot, sliced and stewed in milk also, is a frequent dish.
No farmer is without a well cultivated garden, full of the best vegetables, which all
appear at his own table ; and apples are also introduced into their cookery. The great
fruit and vegetable markets of the towns are supplied by gardeners who make it tlieir
means of subsistence ; but the gardens of the farmers, unless in case of redundance, are
cultivated wholly for their own consumption."
540. The farm^ervants partake of their master's fare, except in his refreshments of tea, coffee, and
541. The day-labourers are not so well provided : they have, however, rye-bread, potatoes, buttermilk,
and occasionally some salt pork. The labourer is, in general, very well able to support himself by his
work : in a country where so much manual labour is required in weeding, the labourer s family is
occupied pretty constantly in summer ; and in winter they spin. Each day-labourer has, in most cases, a
small quantity of land, from a rood to half an acre, for his own cultivation. , , ^ r tv, t
542. Beggars in common times are scarcely to be seen, except in the towns, and but lew there, in
the country, habits of industry are kept up till health fails ; and to meet the infirmities of age, the poor
possess a revenue from pious donations, regulated by the government, and vested by them in commissions,
of which the mayors of the different communes are presidents, respectively, m right of their othce.
543. The clothing of the peasantry is warm and comfortable, good shoes, stockings, and frequently
gaiters of leather or strong linen, which are sold very cheap ; their innate frugahty leads theni, however,
to economise in those articles, substituting on many occasions coarse flannel socks and wooden sabots,
both of which are supplied in all the public markets at about eightpcnce cost. Their comfortable supply
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN GERMANY. 87
of linen is remarkable ; there are few of the labouring classes without many changes. In riding with a
landed proprietor through a part of the country in which his property was situated, a neat cottage pre-
sented itself: the clipped hedge which surrounded the garden, covered with linen very white, suggested
an enquiry, " whether it did not belong to a washerwoman ?" The answer was, " That it was occupied
by a labourer and his family, and that the linen was all their own." It must, however, be observed, that
universally in proportion to the supply is the postponement of the washing, which causes the greater
display, and particularly at the beginning of May, which is a chosen season for this purpose. Any
circumstance connected with the cleanliness, health, and comfort of the lower classes is interesting ; and
to this of which we have been speaking, a peculiar degree of decency is attached. If the labourer is com-
fortable in point of apparel, the farmer is still more so. In home-work, the farmer generally protects his
clothes by a smock-frock of blue linen ; and great attention to cleanliness prevails throughout his operations.
544. JVith respect to the farm-house, the exterior is for the most part ornamented with
creepers, or fruit trees trained against the w^alls ; and within, the neatness which prevails
is quite fascinating. Every article of furniture is polished ; the service of pewter dis-
plays a peculiar brightness ; and the tiled floor is purified by frequent ablutions.
545. The cottage of the labourer, though not so well furnished, is, however, as clean ;
a frequent and periodical use of water and the broom pervades every house, great and
small, in the country and in towns; originating, perhaps, in the necessity of cleanliness,
and the public enforcement of it, when Flanders was visited by the plague.
546. The Flemish farmer seldom amasses riches, but is rarely afflicted by poverty : in-
dustry and frugality are his characteristics ; he never looks beyond the enjoyment of
moderate comforts ; abstains from spirituous liquors, however easily to be procured ;
never exceeds his means ; pays his rent punctually ; and, in case of emergency, has
always something to command, beyond his necessary disbursements.
Sect. V. Of the present State of Agriculture in Germany.
547. The agriculture of Germany is, in many respects, less different from that of Britain
than is the agriculture of France or Italy. It is, however, but very imperfectly known in
this country ; partly from the numerous petty states into which the German empire is
divided, which greatly increases the variety of political circumstances affecting agricul-
ture ; but principally from the German language being less generally cultivated by
Britons, than that of France or of Italy. The outline which we submit is drawn chiefly
from the published journals of recent travellers, especially Jacob, Hodgson, and Bright,
and from our own observations made in 1813, 1814, and 1828. Those who desire more
copious details may consult Thaer's Annals der Landuirtschaft, Hassel's Erdebeschreibung,
and the agricultural writings of Hazzi, Schwartz, and Krunitz.
SuBSECT. 1. General View of the Agricultural Circumstances of Germany.
548. A great variety of soil, surface, climate, and culture must necessarily exist in a
country so extensive as Germany. From the south of Hungary to the north of Den-
mark are included upwards of twelve degrees of latitude, which alone is calculated to
produce a difference of temperature of twenty degrees : and the effect of this difference
of geographical position is greatly increased by the variations of surface ; the immense
ridges of mountains, inlets of the sea, lakes and rivers, and extensive plains. The
winters in Denmark and Prussia are very severe, and last from six to eight months ; the
winters in the south of Hungary are from one to three months. The south and south-
east of Germany, comprising part of Bohemia, Silesia, and Hungary, are the most
mountainous : and the north-east, including Prussia and part of Holstein and Hanover,
presents the most level surface. The richest soil is included in the interior and south-
western parts ; in the immense plain of the Danube, from Presburg to Belgrade, an
extent of three hundred miles ; and great part of Swabia, Franconia, and Westphalia.
The most barren parts are the mountains and sandy plains and heaths of the north, and
especially of Prussia ; and that country, and part of Denmark and Holstein, abound
also in swamps, marshes, and stagnant lakes.
549. Landed property, throughout Germany, is almost universally held on feudal
tenure, and strictly entailed on the eldest son. It is generally in estates from one hun-
dred acres upwards, which cannot be divided or increased. Most of the sovereigns have
large domains, and also the religious and civil corporations.
550. The farmers of Germany are still in many instances metayers; but the variety of
this mode of holding is much greater there than in France and Italy. In some cases the
fanner does not even find stock ; and in others, more particularly in Hungary, he and
his family are little better off than the cultivators of Russia. In Brandenburg, Saxony,
and part of Hanover, the farmers hold on the metayer tenure, or that of paying a fixed rent
of corn or money, unalterable either by landlord or tenant. In Mecklenburg, Fries-
land, Holstein, Bavaria, &c., most of the property is free, as in Britain, and there
agriculture is carried to great perfection. Tithes are almost universal in Germany ; but
are not felt as any great grievance. Poor-rates are unknown.
551. The consequence of these arrangements of landed property in Germany is a com-
paratively fixed state of society. The regulations which have forbid an augmentation
G 4
88 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
of rent, or a union of farms, and which have secured to the ov/ner the full enjoyment
of tlie use of the land, have prevented any person, except the sovereign, from amassing
an enormous quantity, and have preserved, among the inhabitants a species of equality as
to property. There are, comparatively, few absolutely destitute labourers. The mass
of the people do not live in such affluence as Englishmen ; but this is more than com-
pensated to them by all being in some measure alike. In civilised society, it is not
destitution, but the craving wants wliich the splendour of other persons excites, which are
the true evils of poverty. Tlie metayer regulations have hindered improvement ; but they
have also hindered absolute destitution and enormous accumulation. (JIodgso?i.)
552. From the regtUadons concer7iing landed property in Gerrnany, it has resulted that
fewer paupers are found there than in our country. Some other regulations are known,
which have probably assisted in protecting Germany from the evil of pauperism to tlie
same extent in which it exists with us. There is no legal provision for paupers. A
law of the guilds, which extended to most trades, forbade, and still forbids^ where guilds
are not abolished, journeying mechanics from marrying ; and, in most countries of
Gennany, people are obliged to have the permission of the civil magistrate, before it is
legal for the clergyman to celebrate a marriage. The permission seems to be given or
withheld, as the parties soliciting it are thought by the magistrates to be capable of main-
taining a family. At least, it is to prevent the land from being overrun with paupers,
that the law on this subject has been made.
553. The agricultural produce of Germany is for the greater part consumed there;
but excellent wines are exported from Hungary and the Rhine ; and also wool, flax,
timber, bark, hams salted and smoked, geese, goosequills, the canary, goldfinch, and
other singing birds, silk, &c.
554. The culture of the mulberry and rearing of the silkworm^ in Germany, are carried
on as far north as Berlin ; that of the vine, as Dresden ; and that of the peach, as a
standard in the fields, as Vienna. The maize is little cultivated in Germany ; but patches
of it are to be found as far north as Augsburg, in Swabia. Rice is cultivated in a few
places in Westphalia. The olive is not planted, because to it, even in the warmest part
of Germany, the winters would prove fatal.
555. The common cultivation includes all the different corns, and many or most of
the legumes, roots, herbage, and grasses, grown in Britain. They grow excellent hemp,
flax, and oats ; and rye is the bread-corn of all Germany. They also cultivate turnips,
rapeseed, madder, woad, tobacco, hops, saffron, teasel, caraway ; many garden vegetables,
such as white beet, French beans, cabbage, carrots, parsneps, &c. ; and some medicinal
plants, as rhubarb, lavender, mint, &c. ; independently of their garden culture of fruits,
culinary vegetables, and herbs for apothecaries. The most common rotation in Ger-
many is two com crops and a fallow ; or, in poor lands, one or two com crops, and two
or three years' rest; but in rich lands, in the south- western districts, green crops or
legumes intervene with those of corn.
556. The best pastures and meadows are in Holstein, and along the margin of the Ger-
man Ocean ; and for the same reasons as in Holland and Britain, viz. the mildness and
moisture of the winters. There are also good pastures and meadows on the Danube, in
Hungary; but the great heats of summer stimulate the plants too much to send up
flowers ; and the culture there is not so perfected as to regulate this tendency by irrigation.
Irrigation, however, is very scientifically conducted in some parts of Holstein, and on the
Rhine and Oder.
557. The operations and implements of Gei-man agriculture vary exceedingly. Tliey
are wretched in Hungary, and some parts of Bohemia, where six or more oxen may be
seen drawing a clumsy plough, entirely of wood, and vrithout a mould-board. In
Denmark, Hanover, and in l^ssia, they use much better ploughs, some of which have
iron mould-boards ; and in many places they are drawn by a pair of oxen or horses.
The plough, in the more improved districts, has a straight beam, two low wheels, a share,
which cuts nearly horizontally, and a wooden mould-board sometimes partially shod with
iron : it is drawn by two horses. In Friesland, and some parts of Holstein, the Dutch
swing-plough is used. The common waggon
is a heavy clumsy machine on low wheels.
(^fig- 65.) The theoretical agriculturists are
well acquainted with all the improved im-
plements of Britain, and some of them have
been introduced, especially in Holstein,
Hanover, and Westphalia ; but these are
nothing in a general view. Horses are the
most common animals of labour in the north
and west of Germany, and oxen in the south. Fallows are rarely w^ell cultivated ; and
nothing can be worse than the mode of resting lands, and leaving them to be covered with
weeds during two or three years in succession.
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN GERMANY. 89
558. Of the live stock of Germany, the best breeds of working horses and of oxen are in
Ilolstein, and some districts between Hamburg and Hanover. The best saddle horses are
reared in Hungary. There are also excellent oxen and cows reared in that country, and
exported to Italy and Turkey. The best sheep are in Saxony and Prussia, where the
Spanish breed has been naturalised. Swine are common ; but the breed is every where
very indifferent. Goats are reared in the mountains ; and also asses and mules. The
forests are stocked with wild deer, boars, stags, hares, and other game. Fish are carefully
bred and fattened in some places, especially in Prussia'; and poultry is every where attended
to, and carried to a liigh degree of luxury at Vienna. Bees are attended to in the neighbour-
hood of the forests ; and silkworms in the southern districts, as far as Presburg. Canary
and other singing birds are reared in Westphalia, and exported to most parts of Europe.
559. Tlie culture afforests is particularly attended to in Germany, for the same reasons
as in France, and the details in both countries are nearly the same. The number
of German books on Forst-wissenschaft is astonishing, and most of the writers seem
to consider woodlands in that country as a more eligible source of income than any other.
560. The common agriculture of Germxiny may be considered as every where in a state
of gradual improvement. Both governments and individuals have formed institutions for
its promotion, by the instruction of youth in its principles and most enlightened practices ;
or for the union of men of talent. The Imperial Society of Vienna, the Georgical Institu-
tion of Presburg, and that of the late Professor Thaer, in Prussia, may be mentioned
as recent efforts. The farmers in Germany are particularly deficient in the breeding and
rearing of horses, cattle, sheep, and swine. Of the latter two, tliey require new breeds
from judicious crosses ; and the former require selection, and much more care in
rearing. The implements of husbandry also require to be improved, and the importance
of working fallows in a very different manner from what is now done should be inculcated.
If peace continue, there can be no doubt that these, and all other ameliorations will go
rapidly forward ; for the spirit of agricultural improvement is at present, perhaps, more
alive in Germany than in any other country of Europe.
561. In noticing some traits of agriculture in the different states of Germany, we shall
begin witli Denmark at the most northerly extremity, and proceed, in the order of
geograpliical position, to Hungary in the south.
SuBSECT. 2. Agriculture of the Kingdom of Denmarlc, including Greenland and Iceland.
562. The improvement of the agnculture of Denmark maybe dated from 1660, when
the king became despotic, and was enabled to carry measures of national benefit into
execution without the jarring interference of councils. The slaves of the crown were
immediately made free, and the example followed by several wealthy proprietors. Acts
were passed for uniting and consolidating landed property by equitable exchanges, and
for preventing the right of free way ; both which led to enclosures, draining, and irrigation.
There are now better meadows, and more hedges and walls, in Denmark, than in any
country of Germany of the same extent. Various institutions for instruction and reward
were formed, and among others, in 1686, the first veterinary school founded in Germany.
Artificial grasses and herbage plants enter into most rotations, and rye-grass is perhaps
more sown in Holstein than any where, except in England. In a word, considering
the disadvantages of climate, the agriculture of Denmark is in a more advanced state than
that of any other kingdom of Germany.
563. The Danish farm-houses are described by Dr. Neale, in 1805, as " generally built upon the same
plan, having externally the appearance of large barns, with folding doors at each end, and of sufficient size
to admit loaded waggons ; on one hand are the apartments occupied by the farmer and his family ; on the
other, the stable, cow-house, dairy, and piggery ; in the centre, a large space, set apart for the waggons,
ploughs, harrows, and other implements of husbandry ; and overhead, the granary and hay-loft." As
the postmasters are generally farmers, it is customary to drive in at one end ; change horses, and then
drive out at the other, which is the case in the north of Germany and in Poland, and more or less so in
every part of the north of Europe.
564. Of the farmer's family, the same accomplished traveller observes, " we were often agreeably
surprised at finding the living-apartments funiished with a degree of comfort and neatness bordering
upon luxury ; every article was substantially good in itself, and was preserved in the greatest order and
cleanliness. Thus, white muslin curtains, with fringes and draperies, covered the windows ; looking-
glasses and chests of drawers were placed around ; excellent large feather beds, and a profusion of the
best well-bleached linen displayed the industry of the good liousewives, while their dinner tables were
equally well supplied with damask cloths, and snow-white napkins ; and near the doors of the dairies
were ranged quantities of large, singularly shaped, brass and copper vessels, bright as mirrors."
565. The dimensions of sorne of their buiklingSyhe says, 6sY^ 66
" is surprising ; one measured 110 yards long, resembling ^ te»=»->.^
in extent the area of Westminster Hall. On the tops
of their roofs are generally displayed a set of antlers,
and a weathercock ; on others, two horses' lieads
are carved out in wood, and announce the rank of the4
inhabitants ; the antlers, or rather bulls' horns, denot-
ing the house of a tenant ; and the horses' heads, that |
of a landed proprietor. This form of building {Jig. 66.) =
seems to have been adopted from the earliest ages;
amongst the inhabitants of northern Germany," as
similar ones are described by Joannes Lasicius in the
middle of the sixteenth century. {Travels through Germany, Poland, ^c. 13.)
90 HISTOB.Y OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
566. The rural economy of Greenland and Iceland has been given, the former by Crantz,
and the latter by Sir G. Mackenzie. Only a small part of Greenland produces pasture,
and a still smaller part grain. The culture of the last, however, is now given up.
Cabbages and turnips grow well in the gardens, and there are some oak trees, brambles,
and junipers between the 60° and 65° N. lat. Sir G. Mackenzie thinks potatoes and
barley might succeed in some places. There are considerable pasture farms, a good and
hardy breed of horses, and herds and flocks of cattle and sheep. Farmers have no leases,
but pay rent in kind, and cannot be removed from the land unless it can be proved that
they have neglected its culture ; that is, they hold on tlie metayer system. The stock of
cattle and sheep is considered as belonging to the soil of the landlord. A tenant may
quit his farm whenever he chooses, but must leave the proper amount of stock to
be taken by his successor.
Sdbsect. 3. Of the Agriculture of the Kingdom of Prussia.
567. The agriculture of Prussia was considerably advanced by its second king,
Frederic William, who is said to have imported 16,000 men from Saltzburg, and
expended 25 millions of francs in building villages and distributing lands among them.
His successor, Frederick the Great, after having procured a peace, made exertions in
agriculture as extraordinary as in war and architecture. He di-ained and brought into
cultivation the borders of the lakes of the Netz and the Wasta, and established 3500
families oh wh^t before was a marsh. He di-ained the marsh of Fridburg, and established
on it 400 families. He made extensive drainages, enclosures, and other improvements
in Brandenburg, and in Pomerania, and built the extensive embankments of Dallast, in
Friesland, by which, by degrees, a large tract of land was recovered, which the sea sub-
merged in 1 724. He formed a Council of Woods and Waters for managing the national
forests, and regulating rivers and lakes. He established the Royal Economical Society
of Potsdam, and other societies, and cultivated a farm. He created a market for agri-
cultural produce, by the establishment of manufactures ; and, in short, he left nothing
unattempted that might benefit his kingdom. The successors of the great Frederic have
not distinguished themselves as encouragers of agriculture, with the exception of the
present king, Frederic William I.
568. The surface and soil of a country so extensive as Prussia are necessarily various ;
but, nevertheless, there are few or no mountainous or hilly districts, or fertile plains.
The prevailing soil is sand, and almost the whole of the country is in aration.
569. The soil of the maritime provinces of Prussia is in general so light, that it may be
easily ploughed with two oxen, and those of diminished size, and no great strength.
Jacobs not unfrequently saw, on tlie smaller portions of land, a single cow drawing the
plough, and whilst the plough was guided by the owner, the cow was led by his wife.
The more tenacious soils, on the banks of the streams, are commonly but of small extent.
There is, indeed, a large portion of land in the delta, formed by the separation of tlie
Nogat from the Vistula, between Derschau and Marienburg, which, under a good
system of management, would be highly productive, and which requires greater strength
to plough ; there are some others, especially near Tilsit, of less extent ; but the whole
of them, if compared with the great extent of the surface of the country, are merely suffi-
cient to form exceptions to the general classification which may be made of tlie soil.
{Jacob on the Trade in Com'., and on the Agriculture of Northern Europe. )
570. The landed estates in Prussia, previously to the year 1 807, were large, and could
only be held by such as were of noble birth, or by merchants, manufacturers, or artisans,
who had obtained a patent of nobility. When the French had overrun the country, in
1807, these restrictions were removed; and, by successive measures, personal services
have been abolished, and the whole of the enslaved peasants have become converted into
freemen and freeholders. These small and numerous freeholders are the occupiers and
principal cultivators of the soil ; rent-paying farmers being seldom to be met with, except
in the vicinity of large towns, and on the domains of the crown. (Ibid. )
571. The general course of cultivation in Prussia is to fallow every third year, by
ploughing three times when designed for rye, or five times if intended for wheat, and
allowing the land to rest without any crop during the whole of the year, from one autumn
to the next. Most of the land is deemed to be unfit for the growth of wheat, under any
circumstances. Where it is deemed adapted to that grain, as much as can be manured,
from their scanty supply of that article, is sown with wheat, and the remainder of the
fallow-ground with rye. The portion which is destined for wheat, even in the best farms,
is thus very small ; and, as on many none is sown, the whole of the land devoted to wheat
does not amount to one tenth of that on which rye is grown. (Ibid.)
572. The live stock, in proportion to the surface, is veiy deficient. According to a
calculation by Mr. Jacob, the proportion of animals to an acre, over the whole of East
Prussia, West Prussia, and Pomerania, is less than one third of Avhat it is in England.
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN GERMANY. 91
573. The implements of husbandry are quite of as low a description as the working
cattle. The ploughs are ill-constructed, with very little iron on them. The harrows are
made of wood, without any iron, even for the tines or teeth. The waggons are mere
planks, laid on the frame loose, and resting against upright stakes fixed into its sides.
The cattle are attached to these implements by ropes, without leather in any part of the
harness. The use of the roller is scarcely known, and the clods, in preparing the fallow-
ground, are commonly broken lo pieces by hand with wooden mallets. In sowing, the
seed is carried in the apron or the skirts of the frock of the man who scatters it on the
ground. (Ibid.)
574. The produce of the soil, whether in corn or cattle, is of an inferior quality, and
bears a low money price. The scale of living of all classes, is influenced by this state of
things. The working classes, including both those who work for daily wages", and those
who cultivate their own little portions of land, live in dwellings provided with few con-
veniences, on the lowest and coarsest food ; potatoes, rye, and buckwheat form their chief,
and frequently their only, food ; linen, from flax of their own growth, and cloth from
wool spun by their own hands, both coarse, and both worn as long as they will hold
together, furnish their dress ; whilst an earthen pot that will bear fire, forms one of the
most valuable articles of their furniture. (Ibid.)
575. The improvement of the agriculture of Prussia is ardently desired by the present
government, and in consequence, about twenty-four years ago, the Agricultural Institution
of Moegelin on the Oder, conducted by the late Von Thaer, justly celebrated in Ger-
many as an agricultural writer, was founded. This institution was visited by Jacob
in 1819 ; and from his Travels we shall give a short account of it.
576. The Agricultural Institution of Moegelin is situated in the country or march of Brandenburg, about
forty.five miles from Berlin. The chief professor, Von Thaer, was formerly a medical practitioner at
Celle, near Luneburg, in the kingdom of Hanover ; and had distinguished himself by the translation
of various agricultural works from the French and English, and by editing a Magazine of Rural
Economy. About 1804, the King of Prussia invited him to settle in his dominions, and gave him the
estate of Moegelin to improve and manage as a pattern farm.
577. This estate consists of 1200 acres. Thaer began by erecting extensive buildings for himself, three
profess6rs, a variety of tradesmen, the requisite agricultural buildings, and a distillery. The three pro-
fessors are, one for mathematics, chemistry, and geology ; one for veterinary knowledge ; and a third for
botany and the use of the different vegetable productions in the Materia Medica, as well as for
entomology. Besides these, an experienced agriculturist is engaged, whose office it is to point out to
the pupils the mode of applying the sciences to the practical business of husbandry. The course com-
mences in September. During the winter months, the time is occupied in mathematics, and the first six
books of Euclid are studied ; and in the summer, the geometrical knowledge is practically applied to the
measurement of land, timber, buildings, and other objects. The first principles of chemistry are
unfolded. By a good but economical apparatus, various experiments are made, both on a large and small
scale. For the larger experiments, the brew-house and still.house with their respective fixtures are
found highly useful.
578. Much attention is paid to the analysation of vat-ious soils, and the different kinds, with the
relative quantity of their component parts, are arranged with great order and regularity. The classifica-
tion is made with neatness, by having the specimens of soil arranged in order, and distinguished by
different colours. Thus, for instance, if the basis of the soil is sandy, the glass has a cover of yellow
paper ; if the next predominating earth is calcareous, the glass has a white ticket on its side ; if it is
red clay, it has a red ticket ; if blue clay, a blue one. Over these tickets, others, of a smaller size,
indicate by their colour the third greatest quantity of the particular substance contained in the soil. This
matter may appear to many more ingenious than useful, and savouring too much of the German habit of
generalising. The classification of Von Thaer is, however, as much adopted, and as commonly used on
the large estates in Germany, where exact statistical accounts are kept, as the classification of Linnsus in
natural history is throughout the civilised world.
579. There is a large botanic garden, arranged on the system of the Swedish naturalist, kept in
excellent order, with all the plants labelled, and the Latin as well as German names. A herbarium,
with a good collection of dried plants which is constantly increasing, is open to the examination of the
pupils, as well as skeletons of the different animals, and casts of their several parts, which must be of
great use in veterinary pursuits. Models of agricultural implements, especially of ploughs, are preserved
in a museum, which is stored as well with such as are common in Germany, as with those used in
England, or other countries.
580. The various implements used on the farm are all made by smiths, wheelers, and carpenters,
residing round the institution ; the workshops are open to the pupils, and they are encouraged by
attentive inspection, to become masters of the more miimte branches of the economy of an estate.
581. The sum paid by each pupil is four hundred rix-doUars annually, besides which they provide their
own beds and breakfasts. In this country, such an expense precludes the admission of all but youths of
good fortune. Each has a separate apartment. They are very well behaved young men, and their
conduct to each other, and to the professors, was polite, even to punctilio.
582. Jacob's opinion of this institution is, that an attempt is made to crowd too much instruction into
too short a compass, for many of the pupils spend but one year in the institution ; and thus only the
foundation, and that a very slight one, can be laid in so short a space of time. It is, however, to be
presumed, that the young men come here prepared with a considerable previous knowledge, as they are
mostly between the ages of twenty and twenty-four, and some few appeared to be still older.
58 J. The farm at Moegelin was examined by Jacob in the autumn. The soil is light and sandy, and
the climate cold. The wheat was put in the ground with a drill of Thacr's invention, which sows and
covers nine rows at once, and is drawn by two horses. The saving of seed Thaer considers the only
circumstance which makes drilling preferable to sowing broad-cast, as far as respects wheat, rye, barley,
and oats. The average produce of wheat is sixteen bushels per acre : not much is sown in Prussia, as
rye is the bread corn of that country ; it produces, with Thaer, twenty-two bushels and a half to the
acre. The usual rotation of crops is, potatoes or peas, rye, clover, and wheat. Winter tares are killed
by the frost, and the summer species come to nothing, owing to the dry soil and drought. The spurry
(Spergula) is therefore grown for the winter food of sheep : it is sown on the stubbles immediately after
harvest, and in six weeks furnishes an herbage of which the sheep are very fond, and which is said to be
very nutritious. Potatoes are a favourite crop ; and the small-tubered and rather glutinous ill-flavoured
sort common in France and Germany is preferred, as containing more starch in proportion to bulk, than
the large kinds, Thaer maintains that, beyond a certain size, the increase of the potato is only water and
92 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
not nutriment. The produce per acre is 300 bushels or five tons, which, Thaer contends, contain more
nutriment than twenty tons of turnips, because the proportion of starch in potatoes to that in turnips is
more than four to one. The soil is excellent for turnips, but the long series of dry weather, common on
the Continent in the beginning of summer, renders them one of the most uncertain of crops.
584. A brewery and distillery are the necessary accompaniments of every large farming establishment
in Germany. The result of many experiments in the latter proved that the same quantity of alcohol is
produced from 100 bushels of potatoes as from twenty-four bushels of wheat, or thirty-three of barley.
As the products of grain or of potatoes are relatively greater, the distillery is regulated by that propor-
tion. During the enforcement of the Continental system, many experiments were tried in making sugar
from native plants. Von Thaer found, after many trials, that the most profitable vegetable from which
sugar could be made was the common garden turnip (of which variety Jacob did not ascertain), and
that whilst sugar was sold at a rix-doUar the pound, it was very profitable to extract it from that root.
The samples of sugar made during that period from different roots, the processes, and their results, are
carefully preserved in the museum, but would now be tedious to describe. They are certainly equal in
strength of sweetness, and those refined, in colour and hardness, to any produced from the sugar-cane of
of the tropics. ^
585. The improvement of the breed of sheep, which has been an important object of this establishment,
as far as the fineness of the wool is regarded, has admirably succeeded. By various crosses from select
Merinos, by sedulously excluding from the flock every ewe that had coarse wool, and, still more, by
keeping them in a warm house during the winter. Von Thaer has brought the wool of his sheep to great
fineness, far greater than any that is clipped in Spain ; but the improvement of the carcass has been
neglected, so that his, like all other German mutton, is very indifferent.
586. The various kinds of wool have been arranged by Von Thaer, with the assistance of the professors
of the institution, on cards ; and the fineness of that produced from different races of sheep, is dis-
criminated with geometrical exactness. The finest are some specimens from Saxony, his own are the
next. The fine Spanish wool from Leon is inferior to his, in the proportion of eleven to sixteen. The
wool from Botany Bay, of which he had specimens, is inferior to the Spanish. He had arranged, by a
similar mode, the relative fineness of the wools produced on the different parts of the body of the sheep,
so as to bring under the eye, at one view, the comparative value of the different parts of the fleeces ;
and he had, also, ascertained the proportionate weight of those different parts. The application of optics
and geometry, by which the scales that accompany the specimens are constructed, is such as to leave no
doubts on any mind of the accuracy of the results. The scales, indeed, show only the fineness, and not
the length of the fibre ; which is, I believe, of considerable importance in the process of spinning. The
celebrity of the Moegelin sheep is so widely diffused, that the ewes and rams are sold at enormous prices
to the agriculturists in East Prussia, Poland, and as far as Russia.
587. The breeding of cows and the manasement of a dairy are secondary objects, as far as the mere
farming is regarded ; but it is attended to with care, for the sake of the pupils, who thus have before their eyes
that branch of agricultural practice, which may be beneficial on some soils though not adapted to this.
The cows are in good order, of an excellent breed ; and, considering that they are, like the sheep, fed
only on potatoes and chopped straw, are in good condition. They yield, when in full milk, from five to
six pounds of butter weekly. The custom of kiUing the calves, when only a fortnight or three weeks old,
prevails here as well as elsewhere in Germany. There is no disputing about taste ; but though veal is a
favourite food in Germany at the tables of the rich, it always seems very unpleasant to an Englishman.
588. The ploughs at Moegelin arc better constructed than in most parts of Germany. They resemble
our common swing-plough, but v/ith a broader fin at the point of the share. The mould-board is con-
structed on a very good principle and with great skill; the convexity of its fore-part so gradually
changing into concavity at the hinder-part as to turn the soil completely upside down. The land is
cleanly and straightly ploughed, to the depth of six and a half or seven inches, with a pair of oxen,
whose usual work is about an acre and a quarter each day.
589. A threshing-machine is rarely used, and only to show the pupils the principle on which it is con-
structed, and the effect it produces ; but having neither wind nor water machinery to work it, the flail is
almost exclusively used, the threshers receive the sixteenth bushel for their labour. The rate of wages
to the labourers is four groschcn a day, winter and summer, besides which, they are provided with
liabitations and fuel The women receive from two to three groschen, according to their strength and
skill. They live on rye-bread or potatoes, thin soup, and scarcely any animal food but bacon, and a very
small portion even of that ; yet they look strong and healthy, and tolerably clean.
590. The culture of the vine and the rearing of the silkworm are carried on in the more southerly of
the recent territorial accessions which have been made by Prussia. The culture of culinary vegetables is
carried on round Erfurth, and other towns furnished with them whose neighbourhoods are less favourable
for their growth. Garden seeds are also raised at Erfurth, and most of the seedsmen of Germany
supplied with them. Anise, canary, coriander, mustard, and poppy seeds are grown for distillers and
others, and woad, madder, teasel, saffron, rhubarb, &c., for dyers and druggists.
591. The present king of Prussia has done much for agriculture, and is said to design more, by lessen-
hig the feudal claims of the lords ; by permitting estates even of knightly tenure to be purchased by
burghers and non-nobles ; by simplifying the modes of conveyance and investiture ; by setting an
example of renouncing most of the feudal dues on his vast patrimonial estates ; and by making good
communications by roads, rivers, and canals, through his extensive territories. {Jacob's Travels, 189.)
SuBSECT. 4. Of the Agriculture of the Kingdom of Hanover.
592. The agriculture of the kingdom of Hanover has been depicted by Hodgson as it
appeared in 181 7. The territory attached to the free town of Hanover, previously to its
elector being made king of Britain, was very trifling ; but so- many dukedoms and other
provinces have been since added, that it now contains upwards of 11,045 square geo-
graphical miles, and 1,314,104 inhabitants.
593. All agricidiural society was founded in Hanover in 1751, by Geo. II., and
about the same time one at Celle in Luneburg. The principal business of the latter
was to superintend and conduct a general enclosure of all the common lands j it was
conducted by Meyer, who wrote a large work on the subject. The present Hanove-
rian ministry are following up the plans of Meyer, and, according to Hodgson, are
" extremely solicitous to promote agriculture."
594. The landed properly of Hanover may be thus arranged : — One sixth belongs to
the sovereign, possibly three sixths to the nobles, one sixth to tlie corporations of towns
and religious bodies, and less than one sixth to persons not noble. The crown lands are let
to noblemen, or rather favoured persons, at very moderate rents, who either farm them or
sublet them to farmers. There are six hundred and forty-four noble properties, but
few of them with mansions, the proprietors living in towns. For a nobleman to live in
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN GERMANY. 93
the country without being a magistrate, or without holding some office, is looked on
as degrading. Hodgson met with only three instances of nobles cultivating their own
estates, and then they lived in towns. The farmers of these estates are bauers or
peasants, who hold from ten to eighty acres each, at old fixed rents and services long since
established, which the landlord has no power to alter. " It may be from tliis cause
that so few nobles reside in the country. They have in truth no land, but what is occu-
pied by other people. The use of these small portions of land on certain conditions, is
the property of the occupier, which he can sell, as the stipulated rent and services are the
pi-operty of the landlord. The bauer has a hereditary right to the use ; the landlord
a hereditary right to be paid for that use."
595. The land of religious corporations is let in the same manner as the crown lands.
That of towns is generally divided into very small lots of twelve or ten acres, and let to
the townsmen as gardens, or for growing potatoes and com for their own consumption.
Almost every family of the middling and poorer classes in towns, as well as in the country,
has a small portion of land. Most of the towns and villages have large commons, and
the inhabitants have certain rights of grazing cows, ^c.
596. The occupiers of land may be divided into two classes, metayers and leibeigeners.
The first occupy from eighty to twenty acres, and pay a fixed corn or money rent, which
the landlord cannot alter; nor can he refuse to renew the lease, on the death of the-
occupier. The money rent paid by such farmers varies from seven to twelve shillings
per acre. The term leibeigener signifies a slave, or a person who owns his own body
and no more. He also holds his land on fixed terms independently of the will of liis
lord. His conditions are a certain number of days' labour at the different seasons of
sowing, reaping, &c., bringing home his lord's fuel, supplying coach or cart horses when
wanted, and various other feudal services. The stock of the leibeigener is generally the
property of the landlord, who is obliged to make good all accidents or deaths in cattle,
and to supply the family with food when the crops fail. This wretched tenure the
governments of Hanover, Prussia, and Bavaria are endeavouring to mitigate, or do away
altogether ; and so much has already been done that the condition of the peasants is said
to be greatly superior to what it was a century back.
597. The free landed property of the kingdom of Hanover lies principally in Fries-
land and the marsh lands. There it is cultivated in large, middling, and small farms, as
in England, and the agriculture is evidently superior to that of the other provinces.
598. The large farmers of Hanover have in general extensive rights of pasturage ;
keep large flocks of sheep, grow artificial grasses, turnips, and even fiorin ; and have
permanent pastures or meadows. Sometimes a brewery, distillery, or public house, is
united with the farm.
599. The farm of Coldiiigen, within eight miles of Hanover, was visited by Hodgson.
It contained two tihousand six hundred acres, with extensive rights of pasturage : it
belonged to the crown, and was rented by an amptman or magistrate. The soil was a
free brown loam, and partly in meadow, liable to be overflowed by a river. The rota-
tion on one part of tlie arable lands was, 1 . drilled green crop ; 2. wheat or rye ;
3. clover ; 4. wheat or rye ; 5. barley or peas ; and 6. oats or rye. On another portion,
fallow, rape, beans, the cabbage turnip or kohl-rabi, flax, and oats were introduced.
Seven pair of horses and eight pair of oxen were kept as working cattle. No cattle
were fattened ; but a portion of the land was sublet for feeding cows
600. Of sheep there were two thousand two hundred, of a cross between the Rhenish or Saxon breed
and the Merino. No attention was paid to the carcass, but only to the wool. The " shepherds were all
dressed in long white linen coats, and white linen smallclothes, and wore large hats cocked up behind,
and ornamented by a large steel buckle. They all looked respectable and clean. They were paid in pro-
portion to the success of the flock, and had thus a considerable interest in watching over its improve-
ment. They received a ninth of the profits, but also contributed on extraordinary occasions ; such as
buying oilcake for winter food, when it was necessary, and on buying new stock, a ninth of the expenses.
The head shepherd had two ninths of the profits."
601. Of the workmen on this farm, some were paid in proportion to their labour. The threshers, for
example, were paid with the sixteenth part of what they threshed. Other labourers were hired by the
day, and they received about sevenpence. In harvest-time they may make eightpence. Some are paid
by the piece, and then receive at the rate of two shillings for cutting and binding an acre of corn.
602. The farming of the cidtivators of free lands resembles that of England, and is
best exemplified on the Elbe, in the neighbourhood of Hamburg. A distinguishing
characteristic is, that the farm-houses are not collected in villages ; but each is built on
the ground its owner cultivates. " This," Hodgson observes, " is a most reasonable
plan, and marks a state of society which, in its early stages, was different from that of
the rest of Germany, when all the vassals crowded round the castle of their lord. It is
an emblem of security, and is of itself almost a proof of a different origin in the people,
and of an origin the same as our own. So far as I am acquainted, this mode is fol-
lowed only in Britain, and in Holland, on the sea-coast, from the Ems to the Elbe, to which
Holstein may be added, and the vale of Arno in Italy. It is now followed in America ;
and we may judge that this reasonable practice is the result of men thinking for them-
selves, and following their individual interest." {Travels, \ol.i. p, 247.) We may
94 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part 1.
add that it is also followed in great part of the mountainous regions of Norway, Sweden,
and Switzerland. (See Clarke s Scandinavia and BakeweWs Tarentaise.)
603. Many proprietors of free lands near Hamburg also farm them. Speaking of
these farmers, Hodgson observes, " compared with the other farmers of Germany, they
live in affluence and splendour. They eat meat three or four times a day, and instead of
being clad in coarse woollen, which has been made by their wives, they wear fine English
clothes, and look like gentleman. Their sons go for soldier officers, and their daughters
are said to study the Journal des Modes. The proprietors ride into town to take their
coffee and play at billiards, and hear and tell the news, and at home they drink their
wine out of cut glass, or tea out of china. Their houses are all surrounded by lofty
trees and handsomely laid-out gardens ; the floors are carpeted, and the windows of plate
glass. The dwelling-apartments, the barns, and the places for the cattle, are all covered
with one immense roof, and every house looks something like a palace surrounded with
a little park. The proprietors direct the agriculture, without working a great deal them-
selves, and resemble much in their hearty manners English farmers."
604. In Friesland they use a swing -plough, known in England as the Dutch plough,
the mediate origin of the Rotherham plough, and remotely of Small's Scotch plough.
Even the cottagers who rent free lands are totally different from the bauers. Their cot-
tages are white- washed ; and they have gardens neatly enclosed, planted with fruit trees,
and carefully cultivated. Such is the influence of liberty and security.
605. T/ie farming of the bauers, like that of the metayers, is prescribed by the lease,
and consists of two crops of corn and a fallow. " Sometimes," Hodgson observes, " they
may sow a little clover, lucerne, or spergel (spurry) ; but they seldom have meadows,
and keep no more cattle than is necessary for their work, and those the common lands
can feed : sheep are only kept where there are extensive heaths ; one or two long-legged
swine are common ; and poultry. The large farmers sometimes plough with two oxen ;
but the bauers, except in the sandy districts, invariably use horses. When they are very
poor, and have no horses, they employ their cows. Two or more join their stock, and,
with a team of four cows, they plough very well. Sometimes they work their land with
the spade. The houses of the bauers in Hanover, as in most parts of Germany, are
bviilt of whatever materials are most readily come at, put together in the coarsest
manner. They are seldom either painted or white-washed, and are unaccompanied by
either yards, rails, gates, gardens, or other enclosures. They seem to be so much
employed in providing the mere necessaries of life, that they have no time to attend
to its luxuries. A savage curiously carves the head of his war spear, or the handle
of his hatchet, or he cuts his own face and head into pretty devices ; but no German
bauer ever paints" his carts or his ploughs, or ornaments his agricultural implements."
(Vol. i. 246.)
606. To improve tlie agriculture of Hanover, Hodgson justly observes, " the simplest
and most effecttial way would be for government to sell all the domains by auction
in good-sized farms, as the Prussian government has done in its newly acquired
dominions." This would end in introducing the Northumberland husbandry, to which,
according both to Jacobs and Hodgson, the soil and climate are well adapted, and double
the present produce would be produced. To these improvements we may suggest
another, that of limiting the rank of noble to the eldest son, so that the rest might without
disgrace engage in agriculture or commerce. This last improvement is equally wanted
for the whole of Germany.
SuBSECT. 5. Of the present State of Agriculture in Saxony.
607. The husbandry and state of landed property in Saxony have so much in common with
that of Hanover and Pnissia, that it will only be requisite to notice the few features in
which they differ.
608. The culture of the vine and the silkworm are carried on in Saxony, and the latter
to some extent. The vine is chiefly cultivated in the margravate, or county, of Theissen,
and entirely in the French manner. (414.) The mulberry is more generally planted, and
chiefly to separate properties or fields, or to fill up odd corners, or along roads, as in the
southern provinces of Prussia and Hanover, and in France.
609. The wool of Saxony is reckoned the finest in Germany. There are three sorts,
that from the native short-woolled Saxon sheep ; that from the produce of a cross
between this breed and the Merino ; and that from the pure Merino. In 1819, Jacob
inspected a flock of pure Merinos, which produced wool that he was told was surpassed
by none in fineness, and the price it brought at market. It was the property of the lord
of the soil, and managed by the amptman, or farmer of the manorial and other rights.
Till the year 1813, it consisted of 1000 sheep ; but so many were consumed in that year,
first by the French, and next by the Swedes, that they have not been able to replace them
further than to 650. The land over which they range is extensive and dry ; not good
enough to grow flax ; but a course of 1. fallow, 2. potatoes, 3. rye or barley, was followed.
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN GERMANY. 95
and the straw of the rye and barley, with the potatoes, constituted the winter food of the
sheep. {Travels, p. 265.)
610. The general rolalion of crops in Saxony, according to Jacob, is two corn crops,
and a fallow, or two corn crops and pease. There are some exceptions ; and cabbages,
turnips, and kohl-rabi are occasionally to be seen. The plough has two wheels, and is
drawn by two oxen ; " and sometimes, notwithstanding the Mosaic prohibition, with a
horse and a cow." There are some fine meadows on the borders of the brooks near the
villages ; but they are in general much neglected, and for want of draining yield but
coarse and rushy grass. The houses of the farmers are in villages, the largest for the
amptman, and the next for the metayers and leibeigeners. " The whole tract of land, from
Meissen to within two English miles of Leipsic, is a sandy loam, admirably calculated
for our Norfolk four-course system, by which it would be enabled to maintain a great
quantity of live-stock, and produce double or treble the quantity of corn it now yields.
In the whole distance from Wurzen, about fifteen miles, I saw but three flocks of sheep ;
two were small, the other, which I examined, consisting of about one thousand ewes,
wedders, and tags, belonged to a count, whose name I did not ascertain. As he is lord
of a considerable tract of country, the flock has the range of many thousand acres in the
summer, and in the winter is fed with chopped straw and potatoes. Upon our system, which
might be advantageously introduced, the same quantity of land would maintain ten times
as many sheep, and still produce much more com than it does at present." {Ibid. 301.)
611. The cows near the villages, between Meissen and Leipsic, were numerous compared with the sheep,
but generally looked poor. " As I saw," continues Jacob, *' no hay or corn stacks in the whole distance,
I had been puzzled to conceive in what manner their cows could be supported through the winter. Upon
enquiring, I learnt a mode of keeping them, which was quite new to me, but which I cannot condemn.
The land is favourable to the growth of cabbages, and abundant quantities are raised, and form a material
article of human sustenance ; the surplus, which this year is considerable, is made into sour-krout, with
a less portion of salt than is applied when it is prepared as food for man. This is found to be very good
for cows, and favourable to the increase of their milk, when no green food, nor any thing but straw can
be obtained. ' ' ( Travels, 303. )
612. The land within two miles of Leipsic is almost whoUy in garden-culture, and is vastly productive
of every kind of culinary vegetable. The fruit trees and orchards, notwithstanding many of them showed
vestiges of the war, surprised Jacob by their abundance. The inhabitants subsist much less on animal
food than we do, but a larger quantity of fruit and vegetables is consumed ; and hence they have greater
inducements to improve their quality, and to increase their quantity, than exist in those rural districts of
Great Britain which are removed from the great towns.
613. Jacob's opinion of the agriculture of Saxony is, that it is equal to that of Prussia.
In one respect he thinks it superior, as no portion of the soil is wholly without some
cultivation; but that cultivation is far below what the land requires, and the produce
much less than the inhabitants must need for their subsistence.
SuBSECT. 6. Ofthej^resent State of Agriculture in the Kingdom of Bavaria.
614. Bavaria, till lately, was one of the most backward countries of Germany, in regard to
every kind of improvement. A bigoted and ignorant priesthood, not content with possess-
ing a valuable portion of the lands of the country, had insisted on the expulsion of the
Protestants, and on the strict observance of the endless holidays and absurd usages which
impede the progress of industry among their followers. " Hence a general habit of
indolence and miserable backwardness in all arts, and especially in agriculture ; and in
point of learning, a complete contrast to the north of Germany." During the electorate
of Bavaria, one of its electors, contemporary with Joseph II. of Austria, desirous of
introducing improvements, abolished monastic orders in some parts of his dominions ; but
the people were not ripe for such a change, notwithstanding the existence of masonic
societies, ignorantly supposed to have rendered them ripe for any sort of revolution.
615. The agricultural improvement of Bavaria commenced at the time of the French
revolution, when the church lands were seized by the government, and sold to the people,
and a system of schools was established in every canton or parish, for the education of the
lower classes. Soon- afterwards agriculture was taught in these schools by a catechism,
in the same way as the Christian religion of Scotland is taught in the schools there. In
consequence of this state of things the country is rapidly improving in every respect, and
will soon be equal to any other in Germany. The names of Monteglas and Hazzi should
not be passed over in this brief statement; nor that of Eichthal, who spent upwards of a year
in Britain, and chiefly in Scotland, to study its agriculture, which he has introduced on
his estate near Munich by a Scotch manager and a Scotch rent-paying farmer.
616. The surface of Bavaria is mountainous towards the south ; the ground rising in
the direction of the Alps, and containing a number of lakes and marshes. To the
northward are extensive plains and also wooded mountains ; round Nuremberg is a tract
of warm sandy soil, and along the Danube are occasional plains of fertile alluvion, partly
in meadow and partly under com.
617. The crops cultivated are the usual corns, legumes, and roots; and the produce
of corn and turnips, under proper culture, is equal to what it is in the north of England, or
in Haddingtonshire. In the dry warm sand around Nuremberg garden seeds are raised
96 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Paut I.
to such an extent as to supply the greater part of Germany and a part of France, and tliey
are even sent to Holland and England.
618. The forests of Bavaria are extensive; and, in consequence of a law of the state,
all the public roads are bordered with rows of fruit trees, chiefly the cherry and the apple.
These trees are raised in nurseries by the government, and sold at cost.
SuBSECT. 7. Of the present State of Jtgriculture in the Empire of Austria.
619. Agricidture is in a very backward state throughout the whole of the Austrian
dominions. The soil, surface, and climate are almost every where favourable for hus-
bandry ; but the political circumstances of the country, and the ignorance of its
inhabitants, which is greater than in most other parts of Germany, have kept it in nearly
a fixed state for several centuries. Various attempts have been made during the eighteenth
century to improve the condition of the peasantry, and simplify the laws relating to
landed property, especially by Joseph II. ; but they have produced no effect, chiefly, as
it appears, because too much was attempted at once. There are agricultural societies at
Vienna, Pesth, Prague, and other places ; and a very complete agricultural school has
been established at Keszthely in Hungary, by the patriotic Graf Festetits. A copious
account of it has been given by Dr. Bright {Travels in Hungary, in 1814, 341. et seq.),
by which it appears much more extensive than those of Hofwyl or Moegelin.
620. The landed property of Austria is under similar circumstances of division and
occupation with that of the rest of Germany. Perhaps the number of large estates is
greater in proportion to the small properties. In Hungary they are of immense extent,
and cultivated aJmost entirely by their proprietors. " In considering a Hungarian pro-
perty," Dr. Bright observes, " we must figure to ourselves a landed proprietor possessing
ten, twenty, or forty estates, distributed in different parts of the kingdom, reckoning his
acres by hundreds of thousands, and the peasants upon his estates by numbers almost as
great ; and remember that all this extent of land is cultivated, not by farmers, but by his
own stewards and officers, who have not only to take care of the agricultural management
of the land, but to direct, to a certain extent, the administration of justice amongst the
people : and we must further bear in mind, that perhaps one third of this extensive
territory consists of the deepest forests, affording a retreat and shelter, not only to beasts
of prey, but to many lawless and desperate characters, who often defy, for a great length
. of time, the vigilance of the police. We shall then have some faint conception of the
situation and duties of a Hungarian magnate."
621. To conduct the business of such extensive domains, a system of officers is formed,
which is governed by a court of directors ; and on w^ell regulated estates, this band of
managers exhibit, in their operations, all the subordination of military, and the accuracy
of mercantile, concerns. For this purpose an office is established at or near the estate
on which the magnate resides, in which a court of directors is held at stated periods,
usually once a week. This court consists of a president or plenipotentiary, a director
or solicitor, a prefect, auditor, engineer or architect, a fiscal for law affairs, the keeper
of the archives, besides a secretary, clerks, &c. Its business is to review all that has
taken place on the different estates, whether of an economical or judicial nature, to
examine accounts, and regulate future proceedings. The steward of each separate estate
has also a weekly court. It consists of the fiscal or lawyer, the bailiff, the forest master,
the engineer, the treasurer, foreman and sub-foreman, police oflScers to guard prisoners
and keep them at work, forest-keeper, rangers, and a gaoler. The estates of Prince
Esterhazy, which are the largest in Europe, of Graf Festetits, and Prince Ballhyani, are
examples of this mode of government and culture ; of which it may be observed, that, like
many German plans, it is very accurate and systematic, but very unproductive of profit.
622. The crown has immense tracts of lands, especially in Gallicia ; and, independently
of these, the personal estates of the reigning family amount to upwards of 100,000/.
sterling a year, all of which are farmed by stewards. In the Moravian, Bohemian, and
Austrian districts, however, where the estates are not so large as in Hungary, and the
people in rather better circumstances as to property and knowledge, they are frequently
farmed on the meyer system.
623. The Austrian dominions, like the rest
of Germany, are unenclosed, with the usual
exceptions ; the farm-houses and cottages are
usually built of wood, and thickly covered
with thatch or with shingles. The cottages
are remarkably uniform in Hungary, and vil-
lage scenery there, according to Dr. Bright,
must be the dullest in Europe. Not less so
are their cultivated plains. Speaking of a plain near Presburg, he says, " The peasants
were employed in ploughing the land, and my driver {fig. 67.) cheered the way by a
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN GERMANY.
97
Sclavonian song. But let no one be induced, by these expressions, to figure to his
imagination a scene of rural delight. The plain is unenlivened by trees, unintersected
by hedges, and thinly inhabited by human beings ; a waste of arable land, badly culti-
vated, and yielding imperfect crops to proprietors, who are scarcely conscious of the extent
of territory they possess. It is for some branch of the families of Esterhazy or Palfy,
known to them only by name, that the Sclavonian peasants who inhabit these regions are
employed. Their appearance bespeaks no fostering care from the superior, no independ-
ent respect, yielded with free satisfaction from the inferior. It is easy to perceive that all
stimulus to invention, all incitement to extraordinary exertion, are wanting. No one peasant
has proceeded in the arts of life and civilisation a step farther than his neighbour. When
you have seen one, you have seen all. From the same little hat, covered with oil, falls
the same matted long black hair, negligently plaited, or tied in knots; and over the
same dirty jacket and trowsers is wrapped on each a cloak of coarse woollen cloth, or
sheep-skin still retaining its wool. Whether it be winter or summer, week-day or
sabbath, the Sclavonian of this district never lays aside his cloak, nor is seen but in heavy
boots.
624. Their instruments of agriculture (Jig. 68.) are throughout the same ; and in all
their habitations is observed a perfect uniformity of design. A wide muddy road separates
two rows of cottages,
which constitute a vil-
lage. From amongst
them, there^ is no possi-
bility of s^cting the best
or tiie worst ; they are
absolutely uniform. In
some villages the cottages
present their ends, in
others their sides, to the
road ; but there is sel-
dom this variety in the
same village. Tlie in-
terior of the cottage is in
general divided into three small rooms on the ground floor, and a little space in the roof
destined for lumber. The roof is commonly covered with a very thick thatch ; the walls
are whitev/ashed, and pierced towards the road by two small windows. The cottages
are usually placed a few yards distant from each other. The intervening space, defended
by a rail and gate, or a hedge of wicker-work towards the road, forms the farm-yard,
which runs back some way, and contains a shed or outhouse for the cattle. Such is the
outward appearance of the peasant and his habitation. The door opens in the side
of the house into the middle room, or kitchen, in which is an oven, constructed of clay,
well calculated for baking bread, and various implements for household purposes, which
generally occupy this apartment fully. On each side of the room is a door, communicating
on one hand with the family dormitory, in which are the two windows that look into the
road. This chamber is usually small, but well arranged ; the beds in good order, piled
upon each other, to be spread out on the floor at night ; and the walls covered with a
multiplicity of pictures and images of our Saviour, together with dishes, plates, and vessels
of coarse earthenware. The other door from the kitchen leads to the store-room, the
repository of the greater part of the peasant's riches, consisting of bags of grain of various
kinds, both for consumption and for seed, bladders of tallow, sausages, and other articles
of provision, in quantities which it would astonish us to find in an English cottage. We
must, however, keep in mind, that the harvest of the Hungarian peasant anticipates the
income of the whole year ; and, from the circumstances in which he is placed, he should
rather be compared with our farmer than our labourer. The yards or folds between the
houses are usually much neglected, and are the dirty receptacles of a thousand uncleanly
objects. Light carts and ploughs (Jig. 68. ), with which the owner performs his stated
labour, his meagre cattle, a loose rudely formed heap of hay, and half a dozen
ragged children, stand there in mixed confusion ; over which three or four noble dogs,
of a peculiar breed, resembling in some degree the Newfoundland dog, keep faithful
watch." (Trav. in Hung., 19.)
625. The agricultural produce of Austria ismore varied than that of any other part of Ger-
many. Excellent wheat is cultivated in Gallicia, where the soil is chiefly on limestone, and
in the adjoining province of Buckowine ; and, from both, immense quantities are sent down
the Vistula to Dantzic. Wheat, rye, and all the other corns, are grown alike in every
district, and the quantity might be greatly increased if there were a suflScient demand.
Maize is cultivated in Hungary and Transylvania ; millet in Hungary, Sclavonia, and
Carinthia ; and rice in the marshy districts of Temeswar. Tobacco is extensively
cultivated in Hungary, and excellent hops are produced in Moravia and Bohemia. It is
H
98
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
estimated that about a sixtli part of the Austrian dominions is under tillage. The most
common rotation is two com crops, and fallow or rest.
626. The Austrian province of Moravia is very fertile ; and, with the exception of some
districts of the Netherlands, scarcely any part of the Continent is so well cultivated.
It bears too, a larger proportion of wheat than any other district in the east of Europe.
Of the winter corn, wheat is estimated at one fourth, and rye at three fourths ; whereas,
in the adjoining province of Silesia, the land sown with rye is nearly ten times that sown
with wheat. Moravia is defended by the Carpathian mountains from the east winds ;
and the harvest, the whole way from Teschen to Olmutz, and indeed to Brunn, is nearly
six weeks earlier than in Silesia. This better state of things arose from the circumstance
of Moravian agriculture finding domestic consumers. It is the chief manufacturing
province of the Austrian empire. A greater proportion of the population can afford to
live on meat, and to use wheaten flour ; and hence the agriculturists find a market near
home for their productions. The demand for animal food, too, being greater, a greater
stock of cattle is kept, and more of the land is destined to clover and other green crops ;
and it may thence be inferred, that the growth of corn does not exhaust the land, so much
as the cattle, by their manure, renew its prolific qualities. (Jacob on the Trade in Com,
and on the Agriculture of northern Europe. )
627. The vine is cultivated to the greatest extent in Hungary. The well known
Tokay is raised on the last chain of the Carpathian hills, in the neighbourhood of the
town of Tokay. The district extends over a space of about twenty English miles.
** Throughout the whole of this country it is the custom to collect the grapes which
have become dry and sweet, like raisins, whilst hanging on the trees. Tliey are
gathered one by one ; and it is from them alone that the prime Tokay, or, as it is termed,
Tokay Ausbruch, is prepared, which, in 1807, sold for 100 florins the cask of 180
halbes on the spot. They are first put together in a cask, in the bottom of which holes
are bored to let that portion of the juice escape which will run from them without any
pressure. This, which is called Tokay essence, is generally in very small quantity, and
very highly prized. The grapes are then put into a vat, and trampled witli the bare
feet, no greater pressure being permitted. To the squeezed mass is next added an
equal quantity of good wine, which is allowed to stand for twenty-four liours, and
is then strained. This juice, without further preparation, becomes the far-famed wine of
Tokay, which is difficult to be obtained, and sells in Vienna at the rate of 12/. sterling
per dozen. The greater part of these vineyards is the property of tlie emperor ;
several, however, are in the hands of nobles." (Biighfs Travels.)
628. Another species of Hungarian wine, called M^neser, is said to equal Tokay; next
to that in value come riie wines of (Edenburg, Rusth, St. Gyorgy, and Ofen, followed
by a great variety, whose names are as various as the hills which produce them. The grape
which is preferred for making the Tokay and other Hungarian wines of that character, is
a small black or blue grape, figured and described by Sickler in his Garten Magazin of
1 804, as the Hungarian Blue.
629. Plums are cultivated, or rather planted and left to themselves ; and an excellent
brandy is distilled from the fermented fruit.
630. The culture of silk is in the least flourishing state in Hungary ; but succeeds well
in Austria and Moravia ; that of cotton was tried, but left off chiefly on account of the
unfavourableness of the autumns for ripening the capsules. The mountain rice (Oryza
miitica), from the north of China, was cultivated with success, but neglected during the
late wars. " The greatest advantages which it
promised arose from the situations in which it
would flourish, and the fact of its not requiring
marshy lands, which are so destructive to the
health of those who are engaged in the cultiva-
tion of common rice." The Rhds Cotinus is
extensively collected from the wastes, and used
as a tanning plant, especially in the preparation
of morocco leather. Woad is cultivated as a
substitute for indigo ; the Cyperus escul^ntus
(fig. 69. a), and the Astragalus boe'ticus (6),
as substitutes for coffee ; the seeds of the latter,
and the tubers of the former, being the parts
used. The ^cer camp^stre, ^jlatanoides, and
Pseudo-pUtanus have been tapped for sugar,
and the A. saccharinum extensively cultivated
for the same purpose, but without any useful
result: it was found cheaper to make sugar
from the grape. The culture of coffecj olives,
indigo, and other exotics, has been tried, bx?t failed.
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN GERMANY.
99
631 The rxaiing and care of bees were much attended to during the latter part of
the eighteenth century ; wath a view to which a public school was opened at Vienna, and
some in the provinces ; and great encouragement was given to such as kept hives. Some
proprietors in Hungary possessed 300 stock hives. It is customary there to transport
them from place to place, preferring sites where buckwheat or the lime tree abounds. The
honey, when procured, is greatly increased in value by exposure to the open air for some
weeks during winter ; it then becomes hard and as white as snow, and is sold to the ma-
nufacturers of liquors at a high price. The noted Italian liqueur, rosoglio, made also in
Dantzic, is nothing more than this honey blanched by exposure to the frost, mixed A\'ith a
spirituous liquor : though the honey used is said to be that of the lime tree, which is
produced only in the forests of that tree near Kowno on the Niemen, and sells at more
than three times the price of common honey.
632. The live stock of Austria consists of sheep, cattle, horses, pigs, and poultry.
Considerable attention has lately been paid to the breeding of sheep, and the Merino
breed has been introduced
on the government estates
and those of the great pro-
prietors. 'Die original Hun-
garian sheep (O'vis strepsi-
ceros) (fg. 70. )bears upright
spiral horns, and is covered
with a very coarse wool.
" Improvement on this stock
by crosses," Dr. Bright in-
forms us, " is become so
general, that a flock of the
native race is seldom to be
met with, except on the
estates of rehgious establish-
ments." Baron Giesler has
long cultivated the Merino
breed in Moravia. In Hun-
gary, Graf Hunyadi has
paid great and successful attention to them for upwards of twenty y'fears His flock,
when Dr. Bright saw it in 1814, amounted to 17,000, not one of which whose family he
could not trace back for several generations by reference to his registers.
633. The hor?ied cattle (f the Austrian dominions are of various breeds, chiefly Danish
and Svriss. The native Hungarian breed are of a dirty white colour, large, vigorous,
and active, with horns of a prodigious length. The cow is deficient in milk ; but where
dairies are established, as in some parts near Vienna, the Swiss breed is adopted.
634. The Hungarian horses have long been celebrated, and considerable attempts
made from time to time to improve them by crosses with Arabian, English, and Spanish
breeds ; and, lately, races have been established for this purpose. The imperial breeding
shed, or huras, of Mezohegyes, established in 1783, upon four commons, is the most
extensive thing of the kind in Europe. It extends over nearly 50,000 acres ; employs
500 persons; and contains nearly 1000 breeding mares of Bessarabian, Moldavian,
Spanish, or English extraction.
635. The breed of swine in some parts of Hungary is excellent.
636. Poultry are extensively reared near Vienna, and also frogs and snails. Townson
has described at length the method of treating these, and of feeding geese for their livers.
{^Travels in Hungary in 1796.)
637. The land tortoise likewise occurs in
great numbers in various parts of Hungary,
more particularly about Fuzes- Gyarmath,
and the marshes of the river Theiss ; and,
being deemed a delicacy for the table, is
caught and kept in preserves. The preserve
of Kesztheley encloses about an acre of land,
intersected by trenches and ponds, in which
the animals feed and enjoy themselves. In
one corner was a space separated from the
rest by boards two feet high, forming a pen
for snails. The upper edge of the boards was
spiked with nails an inch in height, and at
intervals of half an inch, over which these
animals never attempt to make their way.
This snail (H^lix pomatia) {fg. 71. a) is in
H
100 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part V.
great demand in Vienna, where sacks of tbem are regularly exposed to sale in the market,
alternating with sacks of beans, lentils, kidneybeans, and truffles. {Jig. 71. b.)
638. IVie implements and operations of the agriculture of Austria differ little from those
of Saxony. Dr. Bright has given figures of the Hungarian plough and cart {fig. 68.),
and blames the mode of depositing the corn in holes in the ground, lined with straw, by
which it acquires a strong mouldy smell. Vineyards are carefully dug and hoed, and
the shoots of the vines, in places where the winter is severe, laid down and covered with
earth to protect them from the frost. Many of the great proprietors are introducing the
most improved British implements on their estates, and some have taken ploughmen from
this country to instruct the natives in their use. Prince Esterhazy has Engli;;h gardeners,
bailiffs, grooms, and other servants.
6.39. The forests of the Austrian dominions are chiefly in Hungary, and on the
borders of Gallicia, on the Carpathian mountains. They contain all the varieties of needle
or pine-leaved, and broad-leaved trees, which are indigenous north of the Rhine. The
oaks of Hungary are perhaps the finest in Europe. The forest of Belevar on the
Drave was visited by Dr. Bright. It consists chiefly of different species of oak, the
most luxuriant he ever beheld. Thousands measured, at several feet above the root,
niore than seven feet in diameter ; continue almost of the same size, without throwing out
a branch, to the height of thirty, forty, and fifty feet, and are still in the most flourishing
and healthy condition. Timber there is of little value, except for the buildings
wanted on an estate, or for hoops and wine barrels. In some cases the bark is not even
taken from oak trees ; but in others the leaf galls, and the knoppern, or smaller galls,
which grow on the calyx of the acorn, are collected and exported for the use of tanners.
640. The improvement of the agriculture of Austria seems anxiously desired both by
the government and the great proprietors. Various legislative measures are accordingly
adopted from time to time, societies formed^ and premiums offered. These will no
doubt have a certain quantum of effect ; but the radical wants, in our opinion, are inform-
ation and taste for comfortable living among the lower classes ; and these can only be
remedied by the general diffusion of village schools ; and by establishing easy rates,
at which every peasant might purchase his personal liberty, or freedom from the whole or
a certain part of the services he is now bound to render his lord.
Sect. VI. Of the present State of Agriculture in the kingdom of Poland.
641. Poland was formerly called the granary of Europe: but this was when its
boundaries extended from the Baltic to the Black Sea ; and when the Ukraine and
Lithuania were included. At present its limits are so circumscribed, and its arable
surface so indifferently cultivated, or naturally so infertile, that the kingdom of Poland
strictly speaking, or what is called Vice regal Poland, furnishes little more corn than
supplies its own population. The immense supplies of wheat sent to Dantzic are chiefly
from the republic of Cracow, the province both of the kingdom and republic of Gallicia,
united to Austria, and from Volhynia and Podolia, now belonging to Russia.
642. The landed estates are almost every where large, and either belong to the crown,
to the nobles, or to religious corporations. One third of the surface of Vice-regal Poland
belongs to the crown. Estates are farmed by the proprietors, by means of stewai-ds ; or
let out in small portions on the metayer or leibeigener tenure. Tliere are scarcely any
rent-paying farmers. Tlie nobles have generally houses on their estates, which they
occupy, at least, part of the year ; at other periods they are taken care of by the stewards, who
are always admitted at the table of their lords, being themselves what is called of noble de-
scent. The estates of religious houses are of great extent : they are sometimes let to nobles
or others on a corn rent, who generally sublet them ; and in a few cases they are farmed
by the corporation. The postmasters on the different main roads invariably rent a con-
siderable portion of land for the support of their horses. Many of these are metayers, but
some pay a money rent ; and there are one or two instances of nobles farming the post.
643. The houses and offices qf these noble postmasters {Jig. 72.) afford the only distant resemblance to a
British farm-yard, that is to be met with m Poland. The farm-house and farmery of the peasant post-
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN POLAND. 101
master are both included in an immense shed or barn, with a small apartment at one end for the master's
dwelling ; the remaining space divided for live stock and implements of every description, and for the
cattle, carriages, and lodging-place of travellers who may stop during night. Most of these places are
sufficiently wretched as inns ; but in the present state of things they answer very well for the other pur-
poses to which they are applied, and are superior to the hovels of the farmers who are not postmasters
and who are clustered together in villages, or in the outskirts of towns. Some villages, however, in the
south of Poland are almost entirely composed of Jews. There the houses are generally of a superior con-
struction {fig. 73.), but still on the same general plan of a living-room at one end of a large barn, the
main area of which serves for all the purposes of a complete farmery. The buildings in Poland, except
those of the principal towns, are constructed of timber and covered with shingles. The sheds and
other agricultural buildings are boarded on the sides ; but the cottages arc formed of logs joined by mosS
or clay, of frames filled up with wickerwork and clay, or in modes and of materials still more rude. The
commonest kind have no chimneys or glass windows.
644. The climate of Poland, though severe, is much less precarious than that of the
south of Germany or of France. A winter of from five to seven months, during the
greater part of which time the soil is covered with snow, is succeeded by a rapid spring
and warm summer ; and these are followed by a short cold wet autumn. Under such a
climate good meadows and pastures cannot be expected ; but arable culture is singularly
easy on free soils, which the frost has rendered at once clear from most sorts of weeds and
soft and mouldy on the surface.
645. The surface of the vice-regal kingdom of Poland is almost eveiy where level,
with scarcely an ascent or descent, except where the courses of tlie rivers have
formed channels below the general level of the country. As these rivers, though
in summer they appear small streams, are swollen by the rains of autumn, and the
melting of the snow on the Carpathian mountains in tiie spring, they form large chan-
nels, extending over both sides to a great distance ; and their deposit, in many parts,
enriches the land, which presents, in the summer, tihe aspect of verdant and luxuriant
meadows. In other parts the periodical swellings of the streams have formed morasses,
which, in their present state, are not applicable to any agricultural purposes. The plains,
which extend from the borders of one river to another, are open fields with scarcely any
perceptible division of the land, and showing scarcely any trees even around the villages.
The portion of woodland on these plains is very extensive ; but they are in large masses,
with great intervals of arable land between them, {Jacobus Report on the Trade in Corn,
and on the Agriculture of Northern Eurojte, 1826, p. 25.)
646. The soil of Vice-regal Poland is mostly sandy, with an occasional mixture of a sandy
loam ; it is very thin, resting chiefly on a bed of granite, through which the heavy rains
gradually percolate. Such a soil is easily ploughed ; sometimes two horses or two
oxen, and not unfrequently two cows, perform this and the other operations of husbandry.
(Ibid.)
647. The southern part of the ancient kingdom of Poland, now forming the republic
of Cracow, presents a comparatively varied surface, and a more tenacious and fruitful
soil, which produces excellent wheat, oats, and clover. The best wheat of the Dantzic
market comes from this district.
648. The province of Gallicia, a part of the ancient kingdom of Poland, but now
added to the dominions of the Austrian empire, in surface, soil, and products, resembles
the republic of Cracow.
649. The landed estates of Vice-regal Poland and the republic, belonging to the nobility
of the highest rank, are of enormous extent : but, owing to the system of dividing the
land among all the children, unless a special entail secures a majorat to the eldest son
(which is, in some few instances, the case), much of it is possessed in allotments, which we
should deem large ; but which, on account of their low value, and when compared with
those of a few others, are not so. Of these secondary classes of estates, 5 or 6,000 acres
would be deemed small, and 30 or 40,000 acres large. There are, besides these, nume-
rous small properties, some of a few acres, which, by frequent subdivisions, have descended
to younger branches of noble families. The present owners are commonly poor, but too
proud to follow any profession but that of a soldier, and prefer to labour in the fields
with their own hands, rather than to engage in trade of any kind. As titles descended
to every son, and are continued through all the successors, the nobility have naturally
H 3
102
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
become very numerous ; but since the Emperor of Russia has gained the dominion over
Poland, the use of titles has been restricted. The whole of the lands being made alien-
able may now be purchased by persons of any rank, and ai'e actually held by some who
are burghers or peasants j the Jews alone are prohibited from becoming proprietors of the
soil, though they have very numerous mortgages upon it. "When they foreclose, the
lands must consequently be sold ; and as these Jews, the monied capitalists, cannot
become purchasers, the prices they yield are very trifling. (/6irf. )
650. The cultivators are chiefly peasa7its. They have a limited property in the lands
which they occupy, and the cottages in which tliey live, under the condition of working a
stipulated number of days in each week, on their lord's demesne, and paying specified
quantities of produce, such as poultry, eggs, yarn, and other tilings, in conformity with
ancient usage. The extent of these holdings varies, according to the quality of the land,
and the quantity of duty-work, or of payments in kind, which are to be fulfilled. The
peasantry of Poland were declared free in 1791, and this privilege was confirmed to
them in 1815 ; and though their ignorance and poverty have hitherto prevented the prac-
tical effects of liberty from being very obvious among them, yet they are so far elevated
in sentiment, at least, as to feel their superiority to the peasantry of Russia. (^Ibid.)
651. The arable culture of Poland is abundantly simple : the course of crops is, in
most places, 1st, wheat, barley, or rye ; 2d, oats ; 3d, fallow, or several years' rest to
commence with fallow. In a very few places clover is sown, and also beans or peas,
but only in small quantities. The Digitaria sanguinalis is sown as a plant of luxury in
a few places, and the seeds used as rice ; the buckwheat is also sown, and the seeds
ground and used as meal. Almost every farmer sows linseed or hemp, to the extent
required for home use, and some for sale. Rye is the bread corn of the country.
Potatoes are now becoming general, and succeed well. The mangold, or white beet,
was cultivated in many places in 1811 and 1812, by order of Bonaparte, in order that
the natives might grow their own sugar ; but that is now left off, and the peasants have
not even learned its value as a garden plant, producing chard and spinach. Turnips
or cabbages are rarely seen even in gardens ; few of the cottagers, indeed, have any
garden ; those who have, cultivate chiefly potatoes, and kohl riibe. Many species of
mushrooms grow wild in the woods and wastes, and most of these are carefully ga-
thered, and cooked in a variety of ways as in Russia. The wastes or common pastures
are left entirely to nature. There are some tracts of indifferent meadow on the Vistula,
at Warsaw, Thorn, and Cracovie, and some on the tributary streams, which afford a
tolerable hay in summer, and would be greatly improved by draining.
652. The implements and operations are incredibly rude. We have seen lands ploughed
(after their manner) by one cow, tied by the horns to the trunk of a young fir tree, one
of the roots sharpened and acting as a share, and the other serving the ploughman as a
handle. In other instances we have seen
a pair of oxen dragging a wretched imple-
ment (Jig. 74. ) formed by the peasant, who
is in all cases his own plough and wheel
wright, as well as house carpenter and
builder. Their best or usual plough has
no mould-board ; and the crop is in many
cases more indebted to the excellence of the
soil, and the preceding winter's frost, than
to the farmer. Horses are their general beasts of labour ; their harness is very rude,
often of straw ropes, and twisted willow shoots.^ The body of their best market carts,
in which even the lesser nobles visit each
other, are of wicker-work (Jtg, 75.), and
the axle and wheels are made without any
iron.
653. The live stock of Poland is very
small in proportion to the land. Poultry
are abundant, and swine ; but the latter
of the yellow long-legged breed. The
horses are very hardy animals, and of
better shapes than might be expected from their treatment. The best-shaped are in the
province of Lublin, but they are far inferior to the breed of Saxony. The cows are
a small race, and generally kept in bad condition both as to food and cleanliness.
Warsaw and Cracow are supplied with beef and veal, chiefly from the Ukraine. Mutton
is little used.
654. The extensive forests of Poland are little attended to, except on the banks of
the principal rivers, and where oak abounds, from which bark and wheel spokes may be
Book L AGRICULTURE IN POLAND. 103
procured. Tliese are cut over regularly at intervals, and standaids left in the usual
way. The wild or Scotch pine forests are the most extensive ; these perpetuate them-
selves by semination ; and the trees are often so crowded as to be of little use but an
fuel. The chief proprietors of these forests are the crown and the religious corporations,
who, whenever they can find purchasers, are glad to let them thin out the best trees at a
certain rate, and float them, down the neareststream, to the Vistula, Pregel, or Nieraen.
A good deal has been said about the importance of felling timber at particular seasons.
In Poland, the operation generally takes place in summer, but not, as far as we could
learn, from any regard to the effect on the timber. The trees are often notched half
through a year or two before, in order to obtain rosin. The other products of forests,
as fuel, charcoal, ashes, hoops, poles, &c., are obtained in the usual manner. Game is
abundant in them ; and bears, polecats, &c., are to be seen in some places. The- woods
belonging to the crown consist of upwards of two millions of acres, and are felled in
portions annually, so as to cut them every fifty years.
655. The ma?iagement of bees is a material article in the forest culture of Poland.
The honey is divided into three classes, namely lipiec, leszny, and stepowey prasznymird,
thus described by How. (Gen. Rq). Scot, app.)
656. Lipiec is gathered by the bees from the lime tree alone, and is considered on the Continent most
valuable, not only for the superiority of its flavour, but also for the estimation in which it is held as an
arcanum in pulmonary complaints, containing very little wax, and being, consequently, less heating in its
nature ; it is as white as milk, and is only to be met with in the lime forests in the neighbourhood of the
town of Kowno, in Lithuania. The great demand for this honey occasions it to bear a high price, inso-
much, that a small barrel, containing hardly one pound's weight, has been known to sell for two ducats on
the spot. This species of the lime .tree is peculiar to the province of Lithuania ; and is quite different
from all the rest of the genus TKlia, and is called Kamienna lipsUy or stone lime. The inhabitants have no
regular bee-hives about Kowno ; every peasant who is desirous of rearing bees, goes into the forest and
district belonging to his master, without even his leave, makes a longitudinal hollow aperture or apertures
in the trunk of a tree, or in the collateral branches, about three feet in length, one foot broad, and about
a foot deep, where he deposits his bees, leaves them some food, but pays very little further attention to
them, until late in the autumn ; when, after cutting out some of their honey, and leaving some for their
maintenance, he secures the aperture properly with clay and straw against the frost and inclemency of
the approaching season : these tenements (if they may be so called), with their inhabitants and the pro-
duce of their labour, are then become his indisputable property ; he may sell them, transfer them ; in
short, he may do whatever he pleases with them ; and never is it heard that any depredation is com.
mitted on them (those of the bear excepted). In Poland, the laws are particularly severe against robbers
or destroyers of this property, punishing the offender, when detected, by cutting out the navel and
drawing out his intestines round and round the very tree which he has robbed.
657. When spring arrives, the proprietor goes again to the forest, examines the bees, and ascertains
whether there is sufficient food left, till they are able to maintain themselves ; should there not be a
sufficient quantity, he deposits with them as much as he judges necessary till the spring blossom appears.
If he observes that his stock has not decreased by mortality, he makes more of these apertures in the
collateral branches, or in the trunk of the tree, that in case the bees should swarm in his absence, they
may have a ready asylum. In the autumn he visits them again, carries the June and July work away
with him, which is the lipiec, and leaves only that part for their food which was gathered by them before
the commencement and after the decay of the flowering of the lime tree.
658. The lesxny, the next class of honey, which is inferior in a great degree to the lipiec, being only for
the common mead, is that of the pine forests ; the inhabitants of which make apertures in the pine trees,
similar to those near Kowno, and pay the same attention, in regard to the security of the bees, and their
maintenance. The wax is also much inferior in quality ; it requires more trouble in the bleaching, and
is only made use of in the churches.
659. The third class of honey is the stepowey prasxnymird, or the honey fVom meadows or places where
there is an abundance of perennial plants, and hardly any wood. The province of Ukraine produces the
very best, and also the very best wax. In that province the peasants pay particular attention to this
branch of economy, as it is the only resource they have to enable them to defray the taxes levied by
Russia ; and they consider the produce of bees equal to ready money ; wheat, and other species of corn,
being so very fluctuating in price, some years it being of so little value that it is not worth the peasant's
trouble to gather it in (this has happened in the Ukraine, four times in twelve years) : but honey and
wax having always a great demand all over Europe, and even Turkey, some of the peasants have from
four to five hundred ule, or logs of wood in their bee-gardens, which are called pasieka, or bee-hives ;
these logs are about six feet high, commonly of birch wood (the bees prefer the birch to any other wood),
hollowed out in the middle for about five feet ; several lamina of thin boards are nailed before the
aperture, and but a small hole left in the middle of one of them for the entrance of the bees. As the
bees are often capricious at the beginning of their work, frequently commencing it at the front rather
than the back, the peasants cover the aperture with a number of these thin boards, instead of one entire
board, for fear of zlisturbing them, should they have begun their work at the front. It may appear
extraordinary, but it is nevertheless true, that in some favourable seasons, this aperture of five feet in
length, and a foot wide, is full before August ; and the peasants are obliged to take the produce long
before the usual time, with the view of giving room to the bees to continue their work, so favourable is
the harvest some summers.
660. The process of brewing mead in Poland is very simple : the proportion is three parts of water to
one of honey, and 50 lb. of mild hops to 163 gallons, which is called a waar, or a brewing. When the
water is boiling, both the honey and hops are thrown into it, and it is kept stirring until it becomes milk-
warm ; it is then put into a large cask, and allowed to ferment for a few days ; it is then drawn off into
another cask, wherein there has been aqua-vitas, or whisky, bunged quite close, and afterwards taken to
the cellars, which in this country are excellent and cool. This mead becomes good in three years' time ;
and, by keeping, it improves, like many sorts of wine. The mead for immediate drink is made from malt,
hops, and honey, in the same proportion, and undergoes a similar process. In Hungary, it is usual to put
ginger in mead. There are other sorts of mead in Poland, as wisniak, dereniak, maliniak ; they are made
of honey, wild cherries, berries of the Cornus mascula, and raspberries ; they all undergo the same
process, and are most excellent and wholesome after a few years' keeping. The lipiec is made in the same
way, but it contains the honey and pure water only. The honey gathered by the bees from the Azalea
ptjntica, at Oczakow, and in Potesia in Poland, is of an intoxicating nature ; it produces nausea, and is
used only for medical purposes, chiefly in rheumatism, scrophula, and eruption of the skin, in which com-
plaints it has been attended with great success. In a disease among the hogs called weugry (a sort of
plague among these animals) a decoction of the leaves and buds of Azalea is given with the greatest
U 4
104 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
effect, and produces alaiost instantaneous relief. The disease attacks the hogs with a swelling of their
throat, and terminates in large hard knots, not unlike the plague, on which the decoction acts as a
digestive, abates the fever directly in the first stage, and suppurates the knots. It is used in Turkey, with
the same view, in the cure of the plague.
661. Such is the preseiit slate of agriculture in Poland, as it appeared to us during a
residence of four months in Warsaw and its neighbourhood in 1813, and the details in
Mr. Jacob's Report of 1826 (p. 25. to 37.) afford us but little reason for altering our
opinion. But it must always be recollected, that the above view does not include either
Lithuania or Gallicia, the agriculture of which districts is of a much superior description.
Since the middle of the 18th century some of the principal Polish nobles have occa-
sionally made efforts for the improvement of the agricultifre of their country ; but they
have not been designed and directed in the best manner, and what is much worse,
not steadily pursued. Splendid wooden houses and villages have been built, and foreign
farmers induced to settle and cultivate the lands. In the first heat of the business, all
went on well ; but the proprietors soon began to cool, to neglect their new tenants, and
leave them to the mercy of their stewards, who, in Italy and Poland, are known to be
the most corrupt set of men that can be met with. The oppression of these stewards,
and the total disregard of their masters to their promises and agreements made to and
with these strangers, have either forced the latter to return home, or reduced them to the
necessity of becoming servants in the towns, or in Germany j and we know of instances
where it has ruined men of some property. Tliere are one or two exceptions ; but we
could produce names and dates in proof of the general truth of what we have asserted.
The failure of a dairy establishment, and of a brewery, both established before the com-
mencement of the French revolution, is attributable to this sort of conduct in the
proprietors
662. The efforts to introduce a better culture into Poland, since the peace o/'I8i4, have
been more general, and conducted on more moderate and rational principles. British
implements have been imported in considerable numbers, and an iron-foundery and
manufactory of machinery of most kinds and agricultural implements is now established
in Warsaw. Improved breeds of cattle and sheep have been procured from Prussia and
Saxony ; scientific managers are obtained from the German agricultural schools ; and
what will contribute essentially to improvement, encouragement is given to foreigners to
settle, by letting or selling the crown lands at moderate rates, and not only free from all
feudal services for ever, but for a certain period exempted from government taxes. Add
to this, that the leibeigeners and metayers of every description may buy up the services which
they now render their lords, at very easy rates established by law ; and thus, according
to their ambition and means, render themselves partially or wholly independent men.
In short, the most judicious measures have been taken, by the new government of
Poland, for the improvement of the country ; and they have been followed up with con-
siderable vigour by the proprietors. These proprietors are now a different and very
superior class of men to what they were fifty or sixty years ago. They have mostly
been officers in the French army, and with it traversed the greater part of Europe ;
better educated than many of the French, and more engaging in their manners than the
Germans, they may be considered among the first gentlemen of the Continent. The
Polish peasantry are naturally a much more lively and ingenious race than those of
Russia, and since they have been rendered free, they have learned to feel their superiority,
and they will gradually participate in the improvement of their masters.
Sect. VII. Of the prexent State of Agriculture in Russia.
663. The rural economy of the Russian empire was first described by Professor Pallas
in his travels to explore that countiy, made by order of the Empress Catherine. It has
also been incidentally noticed by various travellers, as Tooke, Coxe, Clarke, and several
French and German authors. From these and other works, and a personal residence
which occupied nearly a year in 1813 and 1814, we shall present a very concise state-
ment of the agricultural circumstances of that semibarbarous country.
664. The territory of Russia which may be subjected to aration commences at the
43° and ends at the 65^^ of north latitude. Farther north, the summers are too short for
ripening even barley, and the climate too severe for the growth of pasture or trees. It
is a black waste, productive of little more than lichens, and supporting a few reindeer.
The southern extremity of Asiatic Russia, on the other hand, admits the culture of Italy,
and even the southern parts in Europe, that of the maize district of France.
665. The climate of Russia has been divided into four regions, the very cold, cold,
temperate, and hot. The very cold extends from 60° to 78° of N. latitude, and includes
Archangel. In many of its districts there is scarcely any summer ; the spring has in
general much frost, snow, and rain ; and the winter is always severe. In this region
there is no agriculture.
666. The cold climate extends from 55^ to 60° N. latitude and includes Cazan Mos-
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN RUSSIA. 105
cow, Petersburg, and Riga ; the summer is short, yet in many districts so warm and
the days so long, that agricultural crops usually come to perfect maturity in a much
shorter space of time than elsewhere. The winters are long and severe, even in the
southern parts of the region. The ground round Moscow is generally covered with snow
for six months in the year, and we have seen it covered to the depth of several inches in
the first week of June.
667. The moderate region extends from 50° to 55° and includes Kioff, Saratoff, Wilna,
and Smolensko. The Siberian part of this region being very mountainous, the winters
are long and cold ; but in the European part the winter is short and tolerably temperate,
and the summer warm and agreeable. The snow, however, generally lies from one to
three months, even at Kioff and Saratoff.
668. The hot region reaches from 43° to 50°, and includes the Taurida, Odessa,
Astracan, and the greater part of Caucasus and the district of Kioff. Here the winter
is short and the summer wann, hot, and very dry. The atmosphere in all the different
climates is in general salubrious, both during the intense colds of the north, and the
excessive heats of the southerly regions. The most remarkable circumstance is the
shortness of the seasons of spring and autumn, even in the southern regions ; while in
the very cold and cold regions they can be hardly said to exist. About Moscow the ter-
mination of winter and the commencement of summer generally take place about the
end of April. There the rivers, covered a yard in thickness w^ith ice, break up at once
and overflow their banks to a great extent ; in a fortnight the snow has flisappeared, the
rotten-like blocks of ice dissolved, and the rivers are confined to their limits. A crackling
from the bursting of buds is heard in the birch forests ; in two days afterwards, they are
in leaf; corn which was sown as soon as the lands were sufficiently dry to plough is now
sprung up, and wheat and rye luxuriant. Reaping commences in the government of
Moscow in September, and is finished by the middle of October. Heavy rains and sleet
then come on, and by the beginning of November the ground is covered with snow, which
accumulates generally to two or three feet in thickness before the middle of January, and
remains with little addition till it dissolves in the following April and May. The climate
of Russia, therefore, though severe, is not so uncertain as that of some other countries.
From the middle of November till April it scarcely ever snows or rains; and if the cold
is severe, it is dry, enlivening, and at least foreseen and provided for. Its greatest evils
are violent summer rains, boisterous winds, and continued autumnal fogs. Late frosts
are more injurious than long droughts ; though there are instances of such hot and dry
summers, tliat fields of standing corn and forests take fire and fill whole provinces with
smoke. ( Tooke's View of the Russian Empire. )
669. The surface of Russia is almost every where flat, like that of Poland, with the
exception of certain ridges of mountains which separate Siberia from the other provinces,
and which also occur in Siberian Russia. In travelling from Riga, Petersburg, Wilna,
or Brody, to Odessa, the traveller scarcely meets with an inequality sufficiently great to
be termed a hill ; but he will meet with a greater proportion of forests, steppes or immense
plains of pasture, sandy wastes, marshy surfaces, and gulleys or temporary water-courses,
than in any other country of Europe.
670. IVie soil of Russia is almost every where a soft black mould of great depth, and
generally on a sandy bottom. In some places it inclines to sand or gravel ; in many it
is peaty or boggy from not being drained : but only in Livonia and some parts of Lithu-
ania was it inclined to clay, and no where to chalk. The most fertile provinces are
those of Vladimir and Riazane, east of Moscow, and the whole country of the Ukraine on
the Black Sea, and of the Cossacks on the Don. In Vladimir thirty-fold is often pro-
duced, and still more in Riazane. In many parts of the Ukraine no manure is used ;
the straw is burned ; successive crops of wheat are taken from the same soil, and after a
single ploughing each time, the stalks of which are so tall and thick that they resemble
reeds, and the leaves are like those of Indian corn.
671. Landed properti/ in Russia is alipost everywhere in large tracts, and is either
the property of the emperor, the religious or civil corporations, or the nobles. There
are a few free natives who have purchased their liberty, and some foreigners, especially
Germans, who have landed estates ; but these are comparatively of no account. In tlie
Ukraine, within the last tliirty years, have been introduced on the government estates a
number of foreigners from most countries of Europe, who may be considered as pro-
prietors. These occupy the lands on leases of a hundred years or upwards, at little or no
rent, on condition of peopling and cultivating them and residing there. In the country
parts of Russia, there is no middle class between the nobles, including the priests, and
the slaves. Estates are, therefore, either cultivated directly by the proprietors, acting as
their own stewards ; or indirectly, by letting them to agents or factors, as in Poland and
Ireland, or by dividing them in small portions among the peasantry. In general, the
proprietor is liis own agent and farmer for a great part of his estate ; and the rest he lets
106
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
to his slaves at certain rates of labour, com, personal services, and sometimes a little money.
These slaves, it is to be observed, are as much his property as the soil ; and in seasons of
scarcity, or in the event of any disaster, the lord is bound to provide for them, and indeed
deeply interested in doing so, in order at least to maintain the population, and, if pos-
sible, to obtain a surplus for sale or for letting out to the towns. As in Poland, the lands
are every where unenclosed.
672. The farmeries attached to the houses of noblemen, and the cottages of the peasants,
resemble those of Poland. They are almost every where constructed of timber ; the
stove and its chimney being the only part built of brick or of mud and stones. Tlie
noblemen generally reside on their estates, and their houses are surrounded by the village
which contains their peasants. These villages (Jig. 76.) are in general dull and miserable
assemblages of log-houses all of one size and shape, with a small wooden church.
The mansions of the poorer nobles are merely cottages on a larger scale, with two apart-
ments ; one used for the purposes of the kitchen and other domestic offices, and the
other for all the purposes of the family living-rooms : the more wealthy have wooden
or brick houses stuccoed, or mudded, and whitewashed. One nobleman in the neigh-
bourhood of Moscow has a British steward, who has drained, enclosed, and greatly
improved his estate, and has built some farmeries (Jig. 77.) which might be mistaken
for those of another country.
77
673. The agricultural products of Russia may be known from its climates. The
vegetables of the most northerly region are limited to lichens, some coarse grass, and
some birch, abele, and wild pine forests. The animals there are the reindeer, bear, fox,
and other beasts of the chase, or in esteem for their furs or skins. Some cows and sheep
are also pastured in the northern parts of that region during the summer months.
674. The farming crops of the more southern regions are the same as in similar climates
and countries. Winter and summer rye and oats are cultivated in every part of the
empire south of latitude 60° ; winter wheat only in Russia as far as the Kama ; summer
wheat botli in Russia and Siberia ; barley and spelt plentifully in Russia. Peas, vetches,
and beans are not cultivated in great quantities : but buckwheat is extensively grown,
s»nd there is a large variety, called the Tartarian millet ; PAnicum germanicum and maize
ire grown in Taurida. Rice is cultivated in some parts of Taurida, and what is called
nanna ( Festuca fliiitans) grows wild in most places that are occasionally overflown with
»vater, particularly in the governments of Novogorod, Twer, Polotsk, and Smolensk.
But the grain the most universally cultivated in Russia is rye, which is the bread corn
of the country ; next oats, which furnish the spirit in common use : and then wheat and
barley.
675. The culture of herbage plants, of grasses, clover, turnips, &c., is rare in Russia.
Hay is made from the banks of rivers or lakes ; and pasture obtained from tlie steppes,
forests, grass lands in common, or arable lands at rest.
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN RUSSIA. 107
676. For clothing and other economical purposes the plants in cultivation are flax, which
is cultivated to a great extent on the Volga ; and hemp, which is indigenous, and is culti-
vated both for its fibre and its seed. From the latter an oil is expressed much used as food
during the time of the fasts. Woad is abundantly grown, madder and cotton have been
tried in Astracan and Taurida. Hops grow wild in abundance in some parts of Siberia,
and are cultivated in some European districts. Tobacco is planted in great abundance,
and the produce in the Ukraine is of excellent quality. The potato is not yet in general
cultivation, but has been introduced in different districts. Water melons, cabbages,
turnips, and a variety of garden vegetables, are cultivated in the Ukraine and Taurida.
Asparagus is extensively cultivated in the government of Moscow for the Petersburg
market, and also turnips, onions, and carrots. Mushrooms are found in great plenty in
the steppes and forests. About thirty species are eaten by the peasants, exclusive of our
garden mushroom, \\hich is neglected. Their names and habitats are given by Dr.
Lyali. {History of Moscow, 1824.) The common and Siberian nettle are found wild on
tlie Ural mountains, and their fibres are prepared and woven into linen by the Baschkirs
and Tatars. The rearing of silkworms has been tried in the Ukraine, and found to
answer, as has the culture of the caper and various other plants.
677. Hemp and flax are extensively cultivated, and form the principal article of exportation. There
is nothing very peculiar in their culture ; the soil of the Ukraine is in general too rich for hemp, until
reduced by a series of com crops. Wheat, rye, barley, and oats are succeeded by one or two crops of
hemp, and that Iry a crop of flax ; the whole without any manure. The time of sowing is from the 25th
"" - .. . ~ . ^ j.,^^ - - - _ .
of May to the 10th of June, and that of reaping from the end of August to the end of September. In
general the flax is three, and the hemp about four, months i ~ ■
ing, drying, and other processes, are the same as in Britain.
general the flax is three, and the hemp about four, months in a state of vegetation. The pulling, water-
the - - ■ ■
678. Of fruits grown on a large scale, or plentiful in a wild state in Russia, may be
mentioned the raspberry, currant, strawberry, and bilberry. The hazel is so plen-
tiful in Kazan, that an oil used as food is made from the nuts. Sugar, musk, and
water melons thrive in the open air, as far north as lat. 52°. Pears are wild almost every
where, and cherries found in most forests. On the Oka and Volga are extensive
orchards, principally of these fruits and apples. The apricot, almond, and peach suc-
ceed as standards in Taurida and Caucasus, and other southern districts. The quince is
wild in forests on the Terek. Chestnuts are found singly in Taurida and districts
adjacent. The walnut abounds in most southern districts. Figs and orange trees
grow singly in Kitzliar and in Taurida, planted no doubt by the Tatars before they
were driven out of that country. Lemons, oranges, and olives, according to Pallas,
would bear the winter in Taurida, and have been tried by Stevens, the director of a
government nursery at Nikitka, in tliat country. The vine is cultivated in the govern-
ments of Caucasus, Taurida, Ekatorinoslaf, and other places ; and it is calculated that
nearly one fourth part of the empire is fit for the culture of this fruit for wine. An
account of the products of the Crimea is given by Mary Holderness (Notes, 1821),
from which it appears that all the fruits of France may be grown in the open air there,
and that many of our culinary vegetables are found in a wild state. The Tatar inhabit-
ants, who were driven out by the ambitious wars of Catlierine, had formed gardens and
orchards round their villages, which still exist, and present a singular combination of
beauty, luxuriance, and ruin. The gardens of the village of Karagoss form a wilderness
of upwards of three hundred and sixty English acres, full of scenes of the greatest
beauty, and tlirough which, she says, it requires a little experience to be able to find
one's way. (Notes, 125 — 136.)
679. The live stock of the Riissian farmer consists of the reindeer, horse, ox, ass,
mule, and camel, as beasts of labour ; the ox, sheep, and swine, and in some places the
goat and rabbit, as beasts of clothing and nourishment. Poultry are common, and
housed with the family to promote early laying, in order to have eggs by Easter, a great
object witli a view to certain ceremonies in the Russian religion. Bees are much
attended to in the Ural, in some parts of Lithuania, and in the southern provinces. The
Russian working horses are remarkably strong and hardy, rather small, with large heads,
long flabby ears, not handsome, but not without spirit : the best saddle horses are those
of the Cossacks and Tatars in the Crimea. The horned cattle of the native breeds are
small and brisk ; the cows give but little milk, which is poor and thin : a Dutch breed
was introduced by Peter the Great, near Archangel, and do not degenerate. Oxen are
much less used than horses, as beasts of labour. The original Russian sheep is distin-
guished by a short tail about seven inches in length : the Merinos, and other breeds
from Germany, have been introduced in a few places, and promise success. The great
graziers and breeders of horses, cattle, and sheep, in Russia, are the Cossacks of the Don,
the Kalmucks, and other nomadic tribes. These supply the greater part of the towns
both of Russia and Poland with butcher's meat ; and with the hides and tallow that
form so material an article of export. In the northern districts of Russia and Siberia,
the chase is pursued as an occupation for a livelihood or gain. The chief object is to
108
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
P.VRT I.
entrap by dogs and snares those animals whose skins are used as furs, and especially the
sable. Next to the latter animal, the grey squirrel is the most valuable ; but foxes, mar-
tins, fish, otters, bears, wolves, lynxes, gluttons, ferrets, polecats, and a variety of others,
are taken for their skins by the hunters, who pay a rent or tribute to government in sable
skins, or in other furs regulated by the value of those.
680. The forests of Russia are least abundant in the southern districts ; but the cold
region may, like Poland, be described as one entire forest with extensive glades. Forests
of pine-leaved trees (^or needle-leaved trees, as the German expression is) are chiefly
indigenous in the very cold and cold regions. These include the spruce fir, the wild,
and black pine, and the Siberian cedar or stone pine (Piuus Ce rubra). The larch grows
on most of the Siberian mountains. Among the leafy trees, the birch is the most com-
mon, next the trembling poplar, willow, lime, and ash. Tlie oak is not indigenous in
Siberia ; the beech, elm, maple, and poplar, are found chiefly in the southern districts.
Timber for construction, fuel, charcoal, bark, potashes, barilla, rosin, tar, pitch, &c., are
obtained from these forests, which can hardly be said to have any sort of culture applied
to them.
681 Tar is extracted from the roots of the wild pine These are cut into short pieces, then split, and
put into an iron boiler which is closely covered. Fire being applied below, the tar oozes out of the roots,
and collecting in the bottom of the boiler, runs oft" by a pipe into a cask, which when closed is fit for
exportation. When pitch is wanted, the tar is returned to the boiler, and boiled a second time.
682. Ashes for the purposes of lixiviation are obtained by burning every sort of timber indiscriminately.
After being lixiviated they are barrelled up and sold for exportation.
683. The implements and operations of Russian husbandry are the most simple and art-
less that can well be imagined. Pallas has given figures of ploughs and other articles ;
the former mere crooked sticks pointed, and drawn by horses attached by ropes of bark
or straw. Speaking of the operations, he says, " the cultivator sows his oats, his rye, or
his millet, in wastes which have never been dunged ; he throws down the seed as if he
meant it for the birds to pick up ; he then takes a plough and scratches the earth, and
a second horse following with a harrow terminates the work ; the bounty of nature
supplies the want of skill, and an abundant crop is produced." This applies to the
greater part of ancient Russia and Siberia ; but in Livonia and other Baltic provinces,
and also in some parts of the Polish provinces of the Ukraine, the culture is performed
in a superior manner, with implements equal to the 78
best of those used in Germany. The most improved
form of their carts {fig 78.), in use round Peters-
burg, is evidently copied from those of the Dutch,
and was, probably, introduced by Peter the Great. ;
In the Ukraine tliey thresh out their own corn
by dragging boards studded with flints over it. and
preserve it in pits in dry soil. In the nortliern provinces it is often dried on roofed
frames of different sorts {fig 79.), as in Sweden ; and about Riga and Mittau it is even
79 kiln-dried in the sheaf before it can be stacked or threshed. The
. -T^-^^'^-" - -- -^' manner of performing the operation of kiln-drying in the sheaf, as
it may sometimes be applicable in North Britain or Ireland in
very late and wet seasons, we shall afterwards describe. ( Part
III. Book VL Ch. II.)
684. In no part of Europe are the field operatio7is performed with
such facilitt/ as in Russia, not only from the light nature of the
soil, but from the severity and long continuance of the winters,
which both pulverises the surface and destroys weeds. The same
reasons prevent grass lands, or lands neglected or left to rest, from
ever acquiring a close sward or tough rooty surface, so that even
these are broken up with a very rude plough and very little labour.
In short, there is no country in Europe where corn crops may be
raised at so little expense of labour as in Russia ; and as no more
than one com crop can be got in the year in almost any country, so Russia may be
said to be, and actually is, even with her imperfect cultivation, better able to raise im-
mense quantities of com than any part of the world, except, perhaps, similar parts of
North America.
685. The improvement of Russian agriculture was commenced by Peter the Great,
and continued by Catherine, and the late and present emperor. The peasants, on many
of the government estates, were made free ; some of these estates were let or sold to
freemen, and foreign agriculturists encouraged to settle on them. Rewards and premiums
were given, and professorships of rural economy established in different parts of the
empire. Some of the principal nobles have also made great efforts for the improvement
of agriculture. Count Romansow, about the end of the last century, procured a British
farmer (Rogers), and established him on his estate near Moscow, where he has intro-
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY.
109
duced the improved Scotch husbandry, drained extensively, established a dairy, and
introduced the potato there and on other estates belonging to his master. Others have
made similar efforts, and several British farm bailiffs are now settled in Russia. The
foreigners, merchants in Petersburg, or Riga, or in the employ of government, have also
contributed to the improvement of agriculture. Many of these, intending to establish
their families in Russia, purchase estates, and some receive presents in land from the
emperor. On these they in general introduce the culture of their native country, which,
if only in the superiority of the live stock and implements, is certain of being better
than that of the natives. In short, from these circumstances, and from the comjmratively
rational views of the present government, there can be no doubt of the rapid increase of
agriculture and population in Russia.
Sect. VIII. Of the present State of Agriculture in Sweden and Norway.
686. Sioeden and Norway are not agricultural countries ; but still great attention has
been paid to perfect such culture as they admit of, both by the government and indi-
viduals. From the time of Charles XI., in the end of the seventeenth century, various
laws for the encouragement of agriculture have been passed, professorships founded,
rewards distributed, and the state of the kingdom, in respect to its agricultural resources,
examined by Linnaeus and other eminent men. Norway, till lately under the dominion
of Denmark, is chiefly a pastoral country ; but its live stock and arable culture have
been much improved during the end of the last, and beginning of the present, century,
by the exertions of the Patriotic Society established in that country, which gives pre-
miums for the best improvements and instructions in every part of farming. Our notices
of the rural economy of these countries are drawn from Clarke, Thomson, James, and
our own memoranda, made there in 1813.
687. The climate of Sweden and Norway is similar to that of the cold and very cold
regions of Russia, but rather milder in its southern districts, on account of the numer-
ous inlets of the sea. The lands on the sea- coast of Norway are not, on this account, so
cold as their latitude would lead us to expect ; still the winters are long, cold, and dreary ;
and the summers short and hot, owing to the length of the day and the reflection of the
mountains. So great is the difference of temperature, that at Sideborg, in the latitude of
Upsal, in June or July, it is frequently eighty or eighty-eight degrees, and in January
at forty or fifty below the freezing point. The transition from sterility to luxuriant
vegetation is in.this, as it is in similar climates, sudden and rapid. In the climate of
Upsal, the snow disappears in the open fields from the 6th to the 10th of May ; barley
is sown from the 13th to the 15th of that month, and reaped about the middle of August.
In some parts of Norway corn is sown and cut within the short period of six or seven
weeks. According to a statement published in the Amcen. Acad. vol. iv., a Lapland
summer, including also what in other countries are called spring and autumn, consists
of fifty-six days, as follows : —
June 23. snow melts.
July 1. snow gone.
9. fields quite green.
17. plants at full growth.
25. plants in full blow.
Aug. 2. fruits ripe.
10. plants shed their seeds.
18. snow .
From this time to June 23. the ground is every
where covered with snow, and the waters with ice.
In such a climate no department of agriculture can be expected to flourish. The cul-
ture of corn is only prevalent in two districts, east Gothland, and the eastern shores of
the Gulf of Bothnia, now belonging to Russia.
688. The surface of Sweden every body knpws to be exceedingly rocky and hilly, and
to abound in fir and pine forests, and in narrow green valleys, often containing lakes or
streams. " Sweden," Dr. Clarke observes, " is a hilly, but not a mountainous country,
excepting in its boundary from the Norwegian provinces. It has been remarked, that in
all countries, the abutment of the broken strata, which constitute the earth's surface every
where, causes a gradual elevation to take place towards the north-west ; hence, in all
countries, the more level districts will be found upon the eastern, and the mountainous
or metalliferous region upon the western side ; either placed as a natural boundary
against the territory occurring next in succession ; or terminating in rocks of primary
formation opposed as cliffs towards the sea." [Clarke's Scandinavia.) This is precisely
the case with Sweden : the south-eastern provinces are level and cultivated ; a ridge
of mountains on the west separates it from Norway ; and the intermediate space, from
Gothenberg to Tornea, may be considered as one continued forest, varied by hills, rocks,
lakes, streams, glades of pasture, and spots of com culture. Norway may be consi-
dered as a continuation of the central country of Sweden, terminated by cliflTs opposed
to the ocean. " The tops and sloping sides of the mountains," Dr. Clarke observes,
" are covered with verdure ; farms are stationed on a series of tabular eminences,
and grazing around them the herds of cattle all the way from the top to the bottom.
no
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
and sometimes in places so steep,
80
that we wonder how they could find a foot-
ing. In some places the elevation of
these farms is so extraordinary, that the
houses and flocks appear above the clouds,
and bordering on perpetual snow, and
<^ the actual site of them is hardly to be
^\^ credited. Every hanging-meadow is pas-
tured by cows and goats ; the latter often
browsing upon jutties, so fearfully placed,
that their destruction seems to be inevit-
able ; below is seen the village church
with its spire, the whole built of plank
{jig. 80. j ; the cheerful bleatings of
the sheep, mingled at intervals with the
deep tones of the cow-herds' lures
(Jig. 81.), resounding from the woods. The lure is a long trumpet made of splinters of
wood, bound together by withy."
689. Of FirUand, which we have included with
Sweden and Norway, a considerable part is under
com culture ; the forests cleared, the lands enclosed,
and population increased. The whole country ap-
pears decked with farm-houses, and village churches,
rising to the view or falling from it, over an undulat-
ing district, amidst woods and water, and rocks, and
large loose masses of granite : it may be called
Norway in miniature. Farther up the country,
towards the north, there are scenes which were de-
scribed to Dr. Clarke as unrivalled in the world.
Every charm which the effect of cultivation can give
to the aspect of a region where Nature's wildest
features — headlong cataracts, lakes, majestic rivers,
and forests — are combined, may there be seen. {Scandinavia, sect. ii. p. 459.)
690. The soil of the valleys is, in general, good friable loam, but so mixed with stones
as to render it very troublesome to plough or harrow ; and in many places so much so,
that where the valleys are cultivated it is chiefly vrith the spade. The only exception to
these remarks is a considerable tract of comparatively even surface in South and East
Gothland, where the soil inclines to clay and is well cultivated, and is as prolific in com
crops as any in Europe.
82 ,„ft^«&. 691. The landed jyropei'ty of Sweden
is generally in estates of a moderate
size ; in many cases their extent in
acres is unknown, their value being
estimated by the number of stock
grazed in summer. The proprietors
almost constantly farm their own
estates, or let them out at fixed rents,
in money or grain, to cottagers or
farmers. The largest arable farms
not occupied by the proprietors are in
Gothland ; but few of these exceed
two hundred acres. The fai-m-build-
ings and cottages are there almost al-
ways built of timber and thatched, on account of the warmth of these materials, though
stone is abundant in most places. There are a few small enclosures near the farm-yard;
but to enclose generally could be of no use in a country where the 83
snow, during six or eight months in the year, renders them nuga-
tory either as shelters or fences. The fence in universal use is
made of splinters of deal, set up in a sloping position, and fastened
by withies to upright poles. (Jig. 82.) This is the only fence used
in Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and Finland ; and it is very com-
mon in Poland, Russia, and the northern parts of Germany.
692. The Swedish cottages are built of logs, like those of
Poland {fg. 83.), but they are roofed in a different manner.
Above the usual covering of boards is laid birch bark in the
manner of tiles, and on that a layer of turf, so thick that the
grass grows as vigorously as on a natural meadow. The walls
are often painted red. They are very small, and generally very close and dirty
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY.
Ill
within, at least in winter. Tliere are various exceptions, however as to cleanliness,
especially among the post-masters, who are all farmers. The post-house at Yfre,
north of Stockholm, was found by Dr. Clarke and his party so " neat and com-
fortable, and every thing belonging to it in such order," that they resolved to dine
there. *' The women were spinning wool, weaving, heating the oven, and teaching
children to read, all at the same time. The dairy was so clean and cool, that we
preferred having our dinner there rather than in the parlour. For our fare they readily
set before us a service consisting of bacon, eggs, cream, curd, and milk, sugar, bread,
butter, &c. ; and our bill of fare for the whole amounted only to twenty pence ;
receiving which they were very thankful. Cleanliness in this farmer's family was quite
as conspicuous as in any part of Switzerland. The tables, chairs, and the tubs in which
they kept their provisions, were as white as washing could make them ; and the most
extraordinary industry had been exerted in clearing the land, and in rendering it produc-
tive. They were at this time employed in removing rocks, and in burning them for
levigation, to lay the earth again upon the soil." {Scandinavia, sect. i. p. 179.)
693. The cottages in
Norway are formed as
in Sweden, covered with
birch, bark, and turf. On
some of the roofs, after
the hay was taken, Dr.
Clarke found lambs pas-
turing ; and on one house
he found an excellent
crop of turnips. The gal-
leries about their houses
remind the traveller of
Switzerland. *"
694. The cottages of
the Laplanders are round huts of the rudest description. {Jig. 84. )
695. The agricultural produce of Sweden are the common corns. Wheat and rye are
chiefly grown in South and East Gothland ; oats
85 are the bread com of the country; and big, or
Scotch barley, is the chief corn of Lapland and
the north of Norway. The bean and pea are
grown in Gothland, and potatoes, flax, and
enough of tobacco for home consumption, by
every farmer and cottager. Only a few districts
grow suflScient corn for their own consumption,
l^ji and annual importations are regular.
'^ 696. The Cenomyce rangiferma, or reindeer moss
''^^ (Jig' 85.), is not only used by the reindeer,
"^ but also as fodder for cows and other horned
cattle. It adds a superior richness to the milk
and butter. It is sometimes eaten by the inha-
bitants ; and Dr. Clarke, having tasted it, found
it crisp and agreeable.
697. Rocc^lla. tinctoria (Jig. 86.), which abounds
near Gottenburg and in other parts of Sweden,
was in considerable demand in the early part of last war as a scarlet dye.
698. The Lycopbdiuvi complanhtum (Jig. 86.) 86
is employed in dyeing their woollen. Even
the leaves, as they fall from the trees, are care-
fully raked together and preserved, to increase
the stock of fodder. {Scandinavia, chap, xviii.)
699. Tar, in Sweden, is chiefly extracted from
the roots of the spruce fir, and the more
marshy the forest the more the roots are said to
yield. Roots or billets of any kind are packed
close in a kiln, made like our limekilns, in
the face of a bank. They are covered with
turf and earth, as in burning charcoal. At
the bottom of the kiln is an iron pan, into
which the tar runs during the smothered
combustion of the wood. A spout from the iron pan conveys the tar at once into
the barrels in which it arrives in this country.
112
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Paiit I.
700. The native trees and plants afford important products for the farmer. " The industry
of the Norwegians." Dr. Clarke observes, " induces them to appropriate almost every
thing to some useful purpose. Their summum bonu?n seems to
consist in the produce of the fir (i. e. the wild pine, not the
spruce fir). This tree affords materials for building their
houses, churches, and bridges ; for every article of their
household furniture ; for constructing sledges, carts, and
boats ; besides fuel for their hearths. With its leaves (here
the spruce fir is alluded to) they strew their floors, and after-
wards burn them and collect the ashes for manure. The
birch affords, in its leaves and tender twigs, a grateful fodder
for their cattle, and bark for covering their houses. The
bark of the elm, in powder, is boiled up with other food, to
fatten hogs ; sometimes, but rarely, it is mixed in the com-
position of their bread. The flowers of the haeg-ber (Comus
mascula) flavour their distilled spirits. The moss, as a sub-
stitute for mortar, is used in calking the interstices between
their under walls. The turf covers tlieir roofs.
701. The berries of the Cloud-berry (Riiftus ChanKBmbrus)
{fig. 88.) are used in Lapland and the north of Sweden and
Norway like the strawberry-, and are esteemed as wholesome as they are agree-
able. Dr. Clarke was cured of a
bilious fever chiefly from eating freely
of this fruit. They are used as a sauce
to meat, and put into soup even, in
Stockliolm.
702. The livestock of the Swedish
; farmer consists chiefly of cows. These
are treated in the same manner as in
Switzerland. About the middle of
May they are turned into meadows ;
[towards the middle of June driven to
'the heights, or to the forests, where
they continue till autumn. They are
usually attended by a woman, who
inhabits a small hut, milks them twice a day, and makes butter and cheese on the spot.
On their return, the cattle are again pastured in the meadows, until the snow sets in
about the middle of October, when they are removed to the cow-houses, and fed during
winter with four fifths of straw and one of hay. In some places, portions of salted
fish are given with the straw. The horses are the chief animals of labour ; they are a small,
hardy, spirited race, fed with hay and oat-straw the greater part of the year, and not
littered, which is thought to preserve them from diseases. Sheep are not numerous, requir-
ing to be kept under cover so great a portion of the year. Pigs and poultry are common.
703. The implements and
operations of Swedish agricul-
ture are simple, and in many
places of an improved descrip-
tion. The swing plough, with an
iron mould-board, is general
throughout Gothland, and is
drawn by two horses. The
plough of Osterobothnia {jig. 8 9)
is drawn by a single horse, and
sometimes by a peasant, and called to Dr. Clarke's mind " the old Samnite plough, as it is
still used in the neighbourhood of Beneventum, in Italy ;
where a peasant, by means of a cord passed over his shoulder,
draws the plough, which his companion guides. It only
90 "^-y^V differs from the most ancient plough of Egypt, as we see
it repi'esented upon images of Osiris {Jig. 90.), in having a
double instead of a single coulter." {Scandinavia, ch. xiii.)
They have a very convenient cradle-scythe for mowing oats
and barley, which we shall afterwards describe ; a smaller scythe,
not unlike that of Hainault, for cutting grass and clovers ; and,
among other planting instruments, a frame of dibblers {Jig. 91.)
for planting beans and peas at equal distances,
704. Farming operations are, in general, as neatly performed
as any where in Britain. The humidity of the climate has given
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
113
rise to various tedious but ingenious processes for making hay and drying corn. Tlie
jj II ^^ i latter often remains in the fields in shocks or in small
I \\ J) ricks, after the ground is covered with snow, till the
clear frosts set in, when it becomes dry, and may be
taken home. Besides the common mode of placing
the sheaves astride with the ears downwards on hori-
zontal fir poles (Jig. 92.), there are various others.
In some places young fir trees, with the stumps of the
branches left on, are fixed in the ground, and the
sheaves hung on them, like flowers on a maypole, the
topmost sheaf serving as a cap or finish to all the rest. Sometimes covered rails or racks
are resorted to (Jig. 79.) : at other times skeleton roofs or racks are formed, and the sheaves
distributed over them. (Jig 93.) Often in Norway the com is obliged to be cut green,
from the sudden arrival of winter. Dr. Clarke found it in this state in October ; and
near Christiana it was suspended on poles and racks to dry, above fields covered with
ice and snow. Corn is threshed in the north of Sweden by passing over it a threshing-
carriage, which is sometimes ^ g.}
made of cast-iron, and has twenty
wheels, and sometimes more.
The sheaves are spread on a floor
of boards, and a week's labour of
one carriage, horse, and man will
not thresh more than a ton of corn,
because the crop being always cut
before it is fully ripened, its tex-
ture is exceedingly tough. The
hay is sometimes dried in the same
manner. After all, they are in some seasons obliged to dry both, especially the corn, in
sheds or bams heated by stoves, as in Russia. (683.) In mowing hay in Lapland the
scythe, the blade of which is not larger than a sickle, is swung by the mower to the right
and left, turning it in his hands with great dexterity.
705. The forests of Sweden are chiefly of the wild pine and spmce fir ; the latter
supplies the spars, and the former the masts and building timber so extensively exported.
The roads in Norway, as in some parts of Russia, are formed of young trees laid across
and covered with earth, or left bare. Turpentine is extracted from the pine : the outer bark
of the beech is used for covering houses, and the inner for tanning. The birch is tapped
for wine ; and the spray of this tree, and of the elm, alder, and willow is dried with the
leaves on in summer, and fagoted and stacked for vrinter fodder. The young wood and
inner bark of the pine, fir, and elm, are powdered and mixed with meal for feeding s-w'ine.
706. The chase is pursued as a profitable occupation in the northern parts of Sweden,
and for the same animals as in Russia.
707. If any one, says Dr. Clarke, wishes to see what English farmers once were, and
how they fared, he should visit Norway. Immense families, all sitting down toge-
ther at one table, from the highest to the lowest. If but a bit of butter be called for in
one of these houses, a mass is brought forth weighing six or eight pounds ; and so highly
omamented, being turned out of moulds, with the shape of cathedrals, set oflT with
Gothic spires and various other devices, that, according to the language of our English
farmers' wives, we should deem it " almost a pity to cut." (Scandinavia, ch. xvi.)
They do not live in villages, as in most other countries, but every one on his farm,
however small. They have in consequence little intercourse with strangers, except
during winter, when they attend fairs at immense distances, for the purpose of disposing
of produce, and purchasing articles of dress. " What would be thought in England,'
Dr. Clarke asks, " of a labouring peasant, or the occupier of a small farm, making a
journey of nearly 700 miles to a fair, for the articles of their home consumption ? "
Yet he found Finns at the fair at Abo, who had come from Torneo, a distance of 679
miles, for this purpose.
708. JFith respect to improvement the agriculture of Sweden Is, perhaps, susceptible of
less than that of any of the countries we have hitherto examined ; but what it wants will
be duly and steadily applied, by the intelligence and industry of all ranks in that country.
It must not be forgotten, however, that it is a country of forests and mines, and not of
agriculture.
Sect. IX. Of the present State of Agriculture in Spain and Portugal.
709. Spain, when a Roman province, was undoubtedly as far advanced in agriculture
as any part of the empire. It was overrun by the Vandals and Visigoths in the be-
ginning of the fifth century, under whom it continued till conquered by the Moors in
the beginning of the eighth century. The Moors continued the chief possessors of Spain
I
114 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
until the middle of the thirteenth century. They are said to have materially improved
agriculture during this period; to have introduced various new plants from Africa,
and also bucket-wheels for irrigation. Professor Thouin mentions an ancient work by
Ebn-al-Awam of Seville, of which a translation into Spanish was made by Banquieri
of Madrid, in 1802, which contains some curious particulars of the culture of the Moors
in Spain. The Moors and Arabs were always celebrated for their knowledge of plants ;
and, according to Harte, one fourth of the names of the useful plants of Spain are of
Arabian extraction.
710. Agricidlure formed the jmncipal and most honourable occupation among the Moors,
and more especially in Granada. So great was their attention to manure, that it was
preserved in pits, walled round with rammed earth to retain moisture : irrigation was
employed in every practicable situation. The Moorish or Mohammedan religion forbade
them to sell their superflous corn to the surrounding nations ; but in years of plenty it
was deposited in the caverns of rocks and in other excavations, some of which, as Jacob
informs us (Travels, let. xiii.), are still to be seen on the hills of Granada. These ex-
cavations were lined with straw, and are said (erroneously, we believe) to have preserved
the com for such a length of time, that, when a child was born, a cavern was filled with
corn which was destined to be his portion when arrived at maturity. The Moors were
particularly attentive to the culture of fruits, of which they introduced all the best kinds
now found in Spain, besides the sugar and cotton. Though wine was forbidden, vines
were cultivated to a great extent ; for forbidden pleasures form a main source of enjoy-
ment in every country. An Arabian author, who wrote on agriculture about the year
1140, and who quotes another author of his nation, who wrote in 1073, gives the follow-
ing directions for the cultivation of the sugar-cane : —
711. The canes " should be planted in the month of March, in a plain, sheltered from the east wind, and
near to water ^ they should be well manured with cow-dung, and watered every fourth day, till the shoots
are one palm in height, when they should be dug round, manured with the dung of sheep, and watered
every night and day till the month of October. In January, when the canes are ripe, they should be cut
into short pieces and crushed in the mill The juice should be boiled in iron caldrons, and left to cool
till it becomes clarified ; it should then be boiled again, till the fourth part only remains, when it should
be put into vases of clay, of a conical form, and placed in the shade to thicken ; afterwards the sugar
must be drawn from the canes and left to cooL The canes, after the juice is expressed, are preserved for
the horses, who eat them greedily, and become fat by feeding on them. {Ebn-al-Awam, by Banquieri.
Madrid, 1801, fol.) From the above extract it is evident sugar has been cultivated in Spain upwards of
700 years, and probably two or three centuries before.
712. Ahmit the end of the fifteenth century the Moors were driven out of Spain, and
the kingdom united under one monarchy. Under Charles V., in the first half of the
sixteenth century. South America was discovered; and the prospect of making fortunes,
by working the mines of that country, is said to have depressed the agriculture of Spain
to a degree that it has never been able to surmount. (Heylins Cosmographia. Lond. 1657.)
Albyterio, a Spanish author of the seventeenth century, observes, " that the people who
sailed to America, in order to return laden with wealth, would have done their country
much better service to have staid at home and guided the plough ; for more persons
were employed in opening mines and bringing home money, than the money in effect
proved worth : " tlus author thinking with Montesquieu, that those riches were of a
bad kind which depend on accidental circumstances, and not on industry and ap-
plication.
713. The earliest Spanish work on agriculture generally appeared in 1569, by Herrera :
it is a treatise in many books, and, like other works of its age, is made up of extracts
from the Roman authors. Herrera, however, had not only studied the ancients, but
visited Germany, Italy, and part of France : his work has been translated into several
languages ; and the later editions contain some essays and memoirs by Augustin, author
of Secrets de f Agriculture, Gonzalo de las Cazas on the silkworm, and Mendez and
others on bees.
714. The agriculture of Spain in the middle of the eighteenth century was in a very neg-
lected state. According to Harte, " the inhabitants of Spain were then too lazy and proud
to work. Such pride and indolence are death to agriculture in every country. Want of
good roads and navigable rivers (or, to speak more properly, the want of making rivers
navigable) has helped to ruin the Spanish husbandry. To which we may add another
discouraging circumstance, namely, ' that the sale of an estate vacates the lease : Venta
deschaze renta.' Nor can corn be transported from one province to another. The
Spaniards plant no timber, and make few or no enclosures. With abundance of ex-
cellent cows, they are strangers to butter, and deal so little in cows' milk, that, at
Madrid, those who drink milk with their chocolate, can only purchase goats' milk.
What would Columella say (having written so largely on the Andalusian dairies), if it
were possible for him to revisit this country ? For certain it is that every branch of
rural economics, in the time of him and his uncle, was carried to as high perfection in
Spain as in any part of the Roman empire. Tliough they have no idea of destroying
weeds, and scratch the ground instead of ploughing it, yet nature has been so bounti-
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 115
ful to them, that they taise the brightest and firmest wheat of any in Christendom."
{Essays, i.)
715. A general sjnritfor improvement seems to have sprung up in Spain with the nine-
teenth century, though checked for a while by the wars against Bonaparte ; subsequently
retarded by internal discords ; and again by the cruel interference of the French in 1 823.
In the midst of these troubles, economical societies have been established at Madrid, Valen-
cia, and Saragossa. That of the latter place is connected with a charitable bank in favour
of distressed farmers. Money is advanced to defray the expenses of harvest, and two years
allowed for returning it. It commenced its operations in June 1801, and then dis-
tributed 458^. 2s. to one hundred and ten husbandmen. In the August following
it had furnished sixty-two horses to as many indigent farmers. The Patriotic Society
of Madrid distinguished itself by a memoir on the advancement of agriculture,
and on agrarian laws, addressed to the supreme council of Castile, in 1812. It
was drawn up by a distinguished member, Don G. M. Jovellanos, who recommends the
enclosure of lands, the enactment of laws favourable to agriculturists, the prevention of the
accumulation of landed property in mortmain tenure ; exposes the noxious state of the
estates of the clergy, of various taxes on agricultural productions, and of restrictions on
trade and the export of corn. His whole work breathes the most liberal, enlightened,
and benevolent spirit, and was in consequence so offensive to the clergy, that they pro-
cured his condemnation by the inquisition, (Ed. Rev. ; Jacobus Travels.)
716. The climate of Spain is considei'ed by many as superior to that of any country in
Europe. It is every where dry, and though the heat in some provinces is very great in
the day, it is tempered during the night by breezes from the sea, or from the ridges of
high mountains which intersect the country in various directions. In some provinces
the heat has been considered insalubrious, but this is owing to the undrained marshes,
from which malignant effluvia are exhaled. The mean temperature of the elevated
plains of Spain is 59*^ ; that of the coasts, from 41° to .36° of latitude, is between
6.3^° and 68°, and is therefore suitable for the sugai--cane, coffee, banana, and all plants
of the West India agriculture, not even excepting the pine-apple. The latter is cultivated
in the open air in some gardens in Valencia and at Malaga.
717. The surface of Spain is more irregular and varied by mountains, than that
either of France or Germany. These intersect the country at various distances from
east to west, and are separated by valleys or plains. The strata of the mountains are
chiefly granitic or calcareous ; but many are argillaceous, some silicious, and Mont.
serrat, near Cordova, is a mass of rock salt. A remarkable feature in the surface of
Spain is the height of some of its plains above the level of the sea. According to
Humboldt, the plain of Madrid is the highest plain in Europe that occupies any
extent of country. It is 309f fathoms above the level of the ocean, which is fifteen
times higher than Paris. This circumstance both affects the climate of that part of the
country, and its susceptibility of being improved by canal or river navigation. The rivers
and streams of Spain are numerous, and the marshes not very common. Forests, or
rather forest-wastes, downs, and Merino sheep-walks are numerous, and, with other un-
cultivated tracts and heaths, are said to amount to two-thirds of the surface of the
country. Some tracts are well cultivated in the vine districts, as about Malaga;
and others in the corn countries, as about Oviedo. The resemblance between the
Asturias and many parts of England is very striking. The same is the aspect of the
country, as to verdure, enclosures, live hedges, hedge-rows, and woods ; the same
mixture of woodlands, arable, and rich pasture ; the same kind of trees and crops, and
fruit, and cattle. Both suffer by humidity in winter, yet, from the same source, find
an ample recompense in summer ; and both enjoy a temperate climate, yet, with this
difference, that as to humidity and heat, the scale preponderates on the side of the
Asturias. In sheltered spots, and not far distant from the sea, they have olives, vines,
and oranges, (Townsend's Spain, i. 318.)
718. The soil of Spain is in general light, and either sandy or calcareous, reposing on
beds of gypsum or granite. The poorest soil is a ferrugineous sand on sandstone rock,
only to be rendered of any value by irrigation. The marshes, and also the best meadow
soils, are along the rivers.
719. The landed property of Spain till the late revolution was similarly circumstanced
to that of France and Germany ; that is, in the possession of the crown, great nobles,
and religious and civil corporations. Tithes were more rigidly exacted by the clergy
of Spain, than by those of any other country of Europe (Jacob's Travels, 99.), and a
composition in lieu of tithes was unknown in most provinces. Great part of the
lands of the religious corporations are now sold, and a new class of proprietors are ori-
ginating, as in France. Some of these estates are of immense extent. The monks of
Saint Hieronymo told Jacob that they could travel twenty-four miles from Seville on
their own property, which is rich in corn, oil, and wine. Such was the coiTuption
of this convent, that, notwithstanding all their riches, they were deeply in debt. Lands
I 2
116
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
were and are cultivated in great part by their proprietors; and even the monasteries
held large tracts in hand before their dissolution. What is farmed, is let out in small
portions of arable land, with large tracts of pasture or waste, and a fixed rent is gene-
rally paid, chiefly in kind. The lands are open every where, except immediately round
towns and villages. Many persons in Granada are so remote from the farmeries, that
during harvest the farmers and their labourers live in tents on the spot, both when they are
sowing the corn, and when cutting and thresliing it. The hedges about Cadiz are formed
of the soccotrine aloe and prickly pear ; the latter producing at the same time an agree-
able fruit, and supporting the cochineal insect. Farm-houses and cottages are generally
built of stone or brick, and often of rammed earth, and are covered with tiles or thatch.
720. A bad feature in the polici/ of the old government, considered highly injurious to
agriculture and the improvement of landed property, desei-ves to be mentioned. This
is, the right which the corporation of the mesta or merino proprietors possess, to drive
their sheep over all the estates which lie in their route, from their summer pasture in tlie
north, to their Vinter pasture in the south, of the kingdom. This practice, which we
shall afterwards describe at length, must of course prevent or retard enclosing and
aration. 'ITie emfiteivtic contract is another bad feature. It prevails in Catalonia, and
is found in various other parts of the kingdom. By the- emjUeutic contract the great
proprietor, inheriting more land than he can cultivate to profit, has power to grant any
given quantity for a term of years ; either absolute or conditional ; either for lives or in
perpetuity ; always reserving a quit rent, like our copyhold, with a relief on every suc-
cession, a fine on the alienation of the land, and other seignorial rights dependent on the
custom of the district ; such as tithes, mills, public-houses, the obligation to plough his
land, to furnish him with teams, and to pay hearth-money, with other contributions, by
way of commutation for ancient stipulated services. One species of grant for unculti-
vated land, to be planted with vines, admitted formerly of much dispute. The tenant,^
holding his land as long as the first planted vines should continue to bear fruit, in
order to prolong this term, was accustomed to train layers from the original stocks,
and, by metaphysical distinctions between identity and diversity, to plead that the first
planted vines were not exhausted, claiming thus the inheritance in perpetuity. After
various litigations and inconsistent decisions of the judges, it was finally determined, that
this species of grant should convey a right to the possession for fifty years, unless the
plantation itself should previously fail.
721. The agricultural products of Spain include all those of the rest of Europe, and
most of those of the West Indies ; besides all the grains, for the production of which
some provinces are more celebrated than others, and most of them are known to produce
the best wheat in Europe. Boswell of Balmuto, a Scottish landholder, when at Xeres
de la Fronteira, in the winter of 1809, was shown, on the estate of Mr. Gordon, a very
beautiful crop of turnips, with drills drawn in the most masterly style. The drills were by
a ploughman of East Lothian, and therefore their accuracy was not to be wondered at ; but
the turnips showed what the soil and climate were capable of producing under judicious
management. Other products are flax, hemp, esparto, palmetto (ChamaeVops humilis),
madder, saffron, aloe, cork tree ( Qu^rcus S'uber) ; the kermes grana, a species of coccus,
whose body in the grub state yields a beautiful scarlet colour, and wliich forms its nidus
on the shrub Qu^rcus coccifera ; soda from the Salic6mia and other plants of the salt
marshes ; honey from the forests ; dates (Phoe^x dactylifera), coflfee, almonds, filberts,
figs, olives, grapes, peaches, prickly pears, carob
beans (the locust trees of scripture, Ceratonia
siliqua), oranges, lemons, pomegranates, and
other fruits.
722. The esparto rush {Sttpa tenadssima L.)
grows wild on the plains, and is made into a
variety of articles for common use. It is em-
ployed for making ropes and cables, and is
particularly calculated for the latter purpose,
as it swims on the water, and the cables formed
of it are, consequently, not so liable to rub
against the rocks as those which are made of ■
hemp. It is also woven into floorcloths and
carpets, and made into baskets or panniers, for
carrying produce to market, or manure to the '■■
fields. In Pliny's time this plant was used by
the poor for beds, by the shepherds for gar-,
ments, and by the fishermen for nets ; but it is
now superseded for these and various other ends
by the hemp and flax.
723. The pita, or aloe (^'loe soccotorina, fig. 94.), is an important plant in the hus-
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 117
bandry of Spain. It grows by the leaf, which it is only necessary to slip off, and lay
on the ground with the broad end inserted a little way in the soil : it makes excellent
I'ences ; and the fibres, separated from the mucilage, have been twisted into ropes, and
woven into cloth. Bowles, the best Spanish writer on natural history, says, the mucilage
might easily be made into brandy. The same plant is used as the boundary fence for
villages in the East Indies, and is found a powerful obstacle to cavalry.
724. The hina, or Indian fig (Cactus Opuntia, Jig. 94. b), is cultivated in the plains
of Seville for its fruit, and also for raising the cochineal insect. It is either grown on
rocky places or as hedges.
725. Tlie jjcdmetto, or fan palm (ChamaeVops humilis), is grown near Seville. From
the foot-stalks of the leaves, brushes and brooms of various kinds are formed both for
home use and exportation.
726. The potato is grown, but not in large quantities ; nor so good as in England.
The Irish merchants of the sea-ports import them for themselves and friends. The
batatas, or sweet potato (Convolvulus Batatas), turnips, carrots, cabbages, broccoli,
celery, onions, garlic, melons, pumpkins, cucumbers, &c., are grown in large quantities.
727. Though the olive is grown to greater
perfection in Spain than in Italy, yet the
oil is the worst in Europe ; because the
growers are thirled, that is obliged to grind
their fruit at certain mills. To such mills
{fig. 95.) all the olives of a district are
obliged to be carried ; and, as they cannot all
be ground alone, they are put into heaps to
wait their turn ; these heaps heat and spoil,
and when crushed, produce only an acrid
rancid oil.
728. The vine is cultivated in every pro-
vince of Spain, and chiefly in those of the
east and south. The old sherry wine, Xeres seco, the sherry sack of Shakspeare, is pro-
duced in Valencia and Granada, and especially near Malaga. On the hills surrounding
this city are upwards of seven thousand vineyards, cultivated by the proprietors, or by
petty tenants who pay their rent monthly when in money, or during harvest when in
kind. The first gathering of grapes commences in the month of June, and these are
dried in the sun, and form what are known in Europe as Malaga raisins. A second
crop is gathered in September, and a wine made from it resembling sherry ; and a third
in October and November, which furnishes the wine known on the Continent as Malaga,
and in England as mountain. In Valencia the grapes for raisins are steeped in boiling
water, sharpened with a ley made from vine stems, and then exposed in the air, and sus-
pended in the sun till they are sufficiently dry.
729. The sugar-cane {Saccharum officinarum) is cultivated to a considerable extent in
Malaga and other places, and the ground is irrigated with the greatest care. The sugar
produced resembles that of Cuba, and comes somewhat cheaper than it can be procured
from the West India Islands. Sugar has been cultivated in Spain upwards of seven
hundred years ; and Jacob is of opinion that capital only is wanted to push this branch
of culture to a considerable extent.
730. The white mulberry is extensively grown for rearing the silkworm, especially
in Murcia, Valencia, and Granada. The silk is manufactured
into stuffs and ribands in Malaga.
731. Of other fruits cultivated may be mentioned the fig,
which is grown in most parts of Spain, and the fruit used as
food, and dried for exportation. The gum cistus (Cistus
ladaniferus, ^g. 96.) grows wild, and the gum which exudes.]
from it is eaten by the common people. The caper shrub
grows wild, and is cultivated in some places. The orange
and lemon are abundant, and also the pomegranate.
732. Other productiotis, such as coffee, cotton, cocoa,
indigo, pimento, pepper, banana, plantain, &c., were culti-
vated in Granada for many ages before the West Indies or
America was discovered, and might be carried to such an
extent as to supply the whole or greater part of Europe.
733. The rotations of common crops vary according to
the soil and climate. In some parts of the fertile plains of |
Malaga, wheat and barley are grown alternately without
either fallow or manure. The common course of crops
about Barcelona, according to Townsend, is, 1. wheat, wliich, being ripe in June, is
immediately succeeded by 2. Indian corn, hemp, millet, cabbage, kidneybeans, or
I 3
118 HISTORY OF AGllICLLTURE. Part I.
lettuce. In the second year the same crops are repeated ; and in the third, the place of
wheat is supplied by barley, beans, or vetches. In this way six valuable crops are obtained
in three years. Wheat produces tenfold ; in rainy seasons fifteen, and in some places
as much as fifty, for one. Near Carthagena the course is wheat, barley, and fallow. For
wheat they plougli thrice, and sow from the middle of November to the beginning of
December ; and in July they reap from ten to one hundred for one, as the season happens
to be dry or humid. The Huerta, or rich vale of Alicant, yields a perpetual suc-
cession of crops. Barley is sown in September, and reaped in April ; succeeded by
maize, reaped in September ; and that by a mixed crop of esculents. Wheat is sown
in November, and reaped in June ; flax sown in September is pulled in May. In the
vale of Valencia, wheat yields from twenty to forty fold ; barley from eighteen to twenty-
four fold ; oats from twenty to thirty fold ; maize, one hundred fold ; rice, forty fold.
734. The live stock of the Spanish agriculturist consists of oxen, asses, and mules, as
beasts of labour ; sometimes, also, horses are used on the farm, but these are chiefly
reared for the saddle and the army. During the reign of Philip II. an act was passed
forbidding their use even in coaches. The horses of Andalusia are celebrated : they
are deep-chested, somewhat short-backed ; rather heavy about the legs, but with a good
shoulder. In general their appearance is magnificent when accoutred for the field.
But for the last half century their numbers have been diminishing. The mules and
asses are large, and carry heavy loads. The Spanish cows are an esteemed breed, re-
sembling those of Devonshire. They are used chiefly for breeding, there being little
use made of cow's milk in most parts of Spain ; they are sometimes also put to the
plough and cart. Goats are common about most towns, and furnish the milk used in
cookery.
735. The sheep of Spain ha\e long been celebrated. Pliny relates, that in his time
Spanish clothes were of an excellent texture, and much used in Rome. For many
centuries the wool has been transported to Flanders, for the supply of the Flemish
manufactories, and afterwards to England, since the same manufacture was introduced
there. By far the greater part of Spanish sheep are migratory, and belong to what is called
the mesta or merino corporation ; but there are also stationary flocks belonging to
private individuals in Andalusia, whose wool is of equal fineness and value. The carcass
of the sheep in Spain is held in no estimation, and only used by the shepherds and poor.
736. The term mesta (equivalent to meslin, Eng.) in general signifies a mixture of
grain ; but in a restricted sense a union of flocks. This collection is formed by an
association of proprietors of lands, and originated in the time of the plague in 1350.
The few persons who survived that destructive calamity, took possession of the lands
which had been vacated by the death of their former occupiers ; united them with their
own ; converted nearly the whole to pasturage ; and confined their attention principally
to the care and increase of their flocks. Hence, the immense, pastures of Estremadura,
Leon, and other provinces ; and the prodigious quantity of uncultivated lands throughout
the kingdom. Hence, also, the singular circumistance of many proprietors possessing
extensive estates without any titles to them.
737. The Jlocks which form the mesta usually consist of about 10,000 sheep each.
Every flock is under the care of a directing officer, fifty shepherds, and fifty dogs. The
whole flocks, composing the mesta, consist of about five millions of sheep, and employ
about 45 or 50,000 persons, and nearly as many dogs. The flocks are put in motion in the
latter end of April, or beginning of May, leaving the plains of Estramadura, Andalusia,
Leon, and Old and New Castile, where they usually winter, and they repair to the moun-
tains of the two latter provinces, and those of Biscay, Navarre, and Arragon. The sheep,
while feeding on the mountains, have occasionally administered to them small quantities
of salt. It is laid upon flat stones, to which the flocks are driven, and permitted to eat
what quantity they please. During the days the salt is administered the sheep are not
allowed to depasture on a calcareous soil, but are moved to argillaceous lands, where
they feed voraciously. (Toivnsend.)
738. At the end of July the ewes are put to the rams, after separation has been made of those already
with lamb. Six or seven rams are considered sufficient for one hundred ewes.
739. In September the sheep are ochred, their backs and loins being rubbed with red ochre, or ruddle,
dissolved in water. This practice is founded upon an ancient custom, the reason of which is not clearly
ascertained. Some suppose that the ochre, uniting with the oleaginous matter of the fleece, forms a kind
of varnish, which defends the animal from the inclemency of the weather ; others think the ponderosity
of this earth prevents the wool growing too thick and long in the staple : but the more eligible opinion is,
that the earth absorbs the superabundant perspiration, which would otherwise render the wool both
harsh and coarse.
740. Toivards the end of September the flocks recommence their march. Descending from the moun-
tains, they travel towards the warmer parts of the country, and again repair to the plains of Leon, Estre-
madura, and Andalusia. The sheep are generally conducted to the same pastures they had grazed the
preceding year, and where most of them had been yeaned : there they are kept during the winter.
741. Sheej^shearing commences in the beginning of May, and is performed while the
sheep are on their summer journey, in large buildings called esquileos. Tliose, which are
placed upon the road, are capable of containing forty, fifty, and some sixty thousand sheep.
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
119
They are erected in various places ; but the principal are in the environs of S^ovia, and
the most celebrated is that of Iturviaca. The shearing is preceded by a pompous prepa-
ration, conducted in due fonn, and the interval is considered a time of feasting and recre-
ation. One hundred and twenty-five men are usually employed for shearing a thousand
ewes, and two hundred for a thousand wethers. Each sheep affords four kinds of wool,
more or less fine according to the parts of the animal whence it is taken. The ewes pro-
duce the finest fleeces, and the wethers "the heaviest : three wether fleeces ordinarily weigh
on the average twenty-five pounds ; but it will take five ewe fl eces to amount to the same
weight.
742. The journey which thejlocks make in their peregrination is regulated by particu-
lar laws, and immemorial customs. The sheep pass unmolested over the pastures be-
longing to the villages and the commons which lie in their road, and have a right to feed
on them. They are not, however, allowed to pass over cultivated lands ; but the pro-
prietors of such lands are obliged to leave for them a path ninety varas, or about forty
toises (eighty- four yards), in breadth. When they traverse the commonable pastures, they
seldom travel more than two leagues, or five and a half miles, a day ; but when they walk
in close order over the cultivated fields, often more than six varas, or nearly seventeen miles.
The whole of their journey is usually an extent of one hundred and twenty, thirty, or forty
leagues, which they perform in thirty or thirty-five days. The price paid for depasturing
the lands where they winter is equally regulated by usage, and is very low ; but it is not
in the power of the landed proprietors to make the smallest advance.
743. The mesta has Us particular laws, and a tribunal before which are cited all per-
sons who have any suit or difference with the proprietors. The public opinion in Spain
has long been against the mesta, on account of the number of people it employs, the ex-
tent of land it keeps uncultivated, the injury done to the pasture and cultivated lands of
individuals, and the tyranny of the directors and shepherds. These have been grievances
from time immemorial. Government, yielding to the pressing solicitations of the people,
instituted a committee to enquire into them about the middle of tiie eighteenth century ;
but it did no good, and it was not till the revolution of 1810, that the powers and pri-
vileges of the mesta were greatly reduced.
744. The implements of Spanish agriculture are very simple. The common plough of
Castile and most of the provinces (Jig- 97.)
is supposed to be as old as the time of the
Romans. It it thus described by Townsend :
" The beam is about three feet long, curved,
and tapered at one end, to receive an addi-
tional beam of about five feet, fastened to it
by three iron collars ; the other end of the
three-foot beam touches the ground, and has
a mortise to receive the share, the handle,
and a wedge." From this description it is evident that the beam itself supplies the place
of the sheath ; the share has no fin, and instead of a mould-board, there are two wooden
pins fastened near the heel of the share. As in this plough the share, from the point to
its insertion in the beam, is two feet six inches long, it is strengthened by a retch. That used
near Malaga is described by Jacob as " a cross, with the end of the perpendicular
part shod with iron. It penetrates about six inches into the soil, and is drawn by two
oxen with ropes fastens-
ed to the horns. The
plough of Valencia, on
the eastern coast, we
have already given (Jig-
12.) as coming the
nearest to that described
by Virgil. There are
many wheels and other
contrivances used for
raising water ; the most
general, as well as the
most primitive, is the
noria (Jig. 98.), or
bucket wheel, intro-
duced by the Moors,
from which our chain
pump is evidently de-
rived. A vertical wheel
jars, fastened together by cords of esparto,
themselves; by the motion of the wheel they
I 4
over a well has a series of earthen
which descend into the water and fill
120 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
rise to the surface, and then by the same motion empty themselves into a trough,
from which the water is conveyed by trenches into the different parts of the garden
or field. The vertical wheel is put in motion by a horizontal one, which is turned by a
cow." (Jacob's Travels, 152.) The construction of dung-pits has already been men-
tioned, (710.) as introduced by the Moors, and the practice of preserving the dung in
that manner is still continued in Granada and Valencia. Threshing-floors are made in
the fields, and paved with pebbles or other stones.
745. Few of the operatiotis of Spanish agriculture afford any tiling characteristic. No
hay is made in Spain (Toivusend) ; and so dry and brittle is tlie straw of the corn crops,
that in the process of treading out, which is generally done by mares and colts, it is bro-
Jcen to pieces. The grain being separated, the straw is put in stacks, and preserved for
litter, or mixed with barley as food for cattle. Irrigation is carefully performed, and is the
only effectual mode of insuring a crop of grain, or any sort of herbaceous vegetable. On
some farms on the Vega in Malaga, scarcely any attention is paid to stirring the soil, but
by the very complete irrigation which can be there given, the land yields fifty bushels per
acre. Where the soil is naturally light, situated in a warm climate, and not irrigated, it is
remarkably free from weeds; because from the latter end of May, or the beginning of
June, when the crop is harvested, till October or November, they have no rain ; and the
heat of the sun during that period destroys every plant, and leaves the soil like a fallow
which only requires tlie seed furrow. In effect it gets no more ; and thus, under such cir-
cumstances, one crop a year, after only one ploughing, may be raised for an endless period.
• — In the Asturias, after the women milk the sheep, they carry the milk home in leather bags,
shaking it all tlie way, till by the time of their arrival butter is formed. ( TownsencCs
Travels, i. 273.)
746. The labouring man of Spain adopts a custom which might be useful to the
reapers and haymakers of Britain, in many situations. The labour and heat of hay time
and harvest excite great perspiration and consequent thirst, which it is often necessary
to quench with sun-warmed water. To cool such water, the Spanish reaper puts it in
a porous eartlien pitcher (alcarraza), the surface of which being constantly moist vrith
the transudation of the fluid, its evaporation cools the water within. The frequent appli-
cation of wet cloths to a bottle or earthen vessel, and exposure to the sun and wind,
effects the same object, but with more trouble.
747. The culture of forests is very little attended to in Spain. The best charcoal is
made from heath, chiefly the JE'rica mediterranea, which grows to the size of a small tree,
and of which tliere are immense tracts like forests. The 93
cork tree (Qu^rcus ^Siiber, fg. 99.) affords the most valuable
products. The bark is taken off for the first time when the
tree is about fifteen years old ; it soon grows again, and may
be rebarked three times, the bark improving every time, till
the tree attains the age of thirty years. It is taken off in
sheets or tables, much in the same way as oak or larch bark
is taken from the standing trees in this country. After
being detached, it is flattened by presenting the convex side ;
to heat, or by pressure. In eitlier case it is charred on both
surfaces to close the transverse pores previously to its being
sold, Tliis charring may be seen in bungs and taps ; but
not in corks, which, being cut in the long way of the wood,
the charring is taken off in the rounding.
748. The exertions that have been made for the improvement
of the agriculture of Spain we have already noticed, and need
only add, that if the late government had maintained its
power, and continued in the same spirit, perhaps every thing
would have been effected that could be desired. Time, indeed, would have been requi-
site ; but improvement once heartily commenced, the ratio of its increase is astonishing.
But the French invasion of Spain, first under Bonaparte, and again under the Bourbons,
has spoiled every thing, and for the present almost annihilated hope.
749. The agricultural circumstances of Portugal have so much in common with those
of Spain, that they do not require separate consideration. The two countries differ in
the latter having a more limited cultivation, the sugar-cane, and most of the West
India plants grown in Spain, requiring a warmer climate than that of Portugal. The
vine and orange are cultivated to great perfection ; but common agriculture is neglected.
The breed of horses is inferior, and there are few cows or sheep. Swine form the most
abundant live stock, and fatten, in a half wild state, on the acorns of the numerous oak
forests which cover the mountains.
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN EUROPEAN TURKEY.
121
Sect. X. Present State of Agriculture in European Turkey.
■ 750. The Turkish empire includes a variety of climates and countries, of most of which
so little is correctly known, that we can give no satisfactory account of their agriculture.
Asiatic Turkey is nearly three times the extent of the European part j but the latter is
better cultivated and more populous. " European Turkey," Thornton observes, " de-
pends upon no foreign country for its subsistence. The labour of its inhabitants produces,
in an abundance unequalled in the other countries of Europe, all the alimentary produc-
tions, animal and vegetable, whether for use or enjoyment. The com countries, in spite
of the impolitic restrictions of the government, besides pouring plenty over the empire,
secretly export their superfluities to foreign countries. Their agriculture, therefore,
tliough neglected and discouraged, is still above their wants." {Present State of Turkey,
vol. i. p. 66.)
751. The climate and seasons of European Turkey vary with the latitude and local
circumstances of the different provinces, from the Morea, in lat. 37° and surrounded by
the Mediterranean sea, to Moldavia, between Hungary and Russia, in lat. 48°. The
surface is generally mountainous, with plains and vales ; some rivers, as the Danube in
Wallachia, and numerous gulfs, bays, estuaries, and inlets of the Adriatic, the Archi-
pelago, the Mediterranean, and the Black Seas. The soil is in general fertile, alluvial in some
of the richest plains of Greece, as Thessaly ; and calcareous in many parts of Wallachia
and Moldavia. These provinces produce excellent wheat and rich pasture ; while those
of the south produce maize, wheat, and rice. The vine is cultivated in most provinces ;
and there are extensive forests, especially in tlie north. The live stock consists of the
horse, ox, camel, sheep, and swine. (^Thornton.)
752. Some traits of the agriculture of the Morea, the southernmost province of European
Turkey, have been given by Dr. Pouqueville. Tlie climate holds the exact medium
between the scorching heat of Egypt and tlie cold of more northern countries. The
winter is short, but stormy ; and the summer is hot, but tempered by breezes from the
mountains or the sea. The soil of the mountains is argillaceous ; in some places inclin-
ing to marl, and in others to peat or vegetable earth : the richest parts are Arcadia and
Argos. The plough consists of a share, a jv^^ 100
beam, and a handle (Jig. 100.); the share is NT
shaped somewhat like the claw of an anchor,
and the edges armed with iron. In some cases
it has tw^o wheels. It is drawn by one horse, by
two asses, or by oxen or buffaloes, according to
the nature of the soil. The corn grown is of
excellent quality, though no attention is paid to selecting the seed. The rice of Argolis
is held at Constantinople the next in excellence to that of Damietta. The vine is suc-
cessfully cultivated ; but cit Corinth, " situated in a most unwholesome atmosphere," the
culture of that sort which produces the raisins of Corinth is
less attended to than formerly. The olive trees (O^lea europaeV,
g. 101.) are the finest in the world ; the oil of Maina is the
best, and held in esteem at all the principal markets of Eu-
rope. The white mulberry is extensively cultivated for the
support of the silkworm. Elis yields the best silk. The
cotton is cultivated in fields, which are commonly divided by
hedges of Nepal or Indian fig, which is eaten, but is here
more vapid than in Egypt.
753. The figs of the Morea " are perhaps the most exquisite
that can be eaten." The tree is cultivated with particular
care, and the practice of caprification adopted. They collect
the little figs which have fallen from the trees while very
young, and which contain numbers of the eggs of the gnat
insect (Cynips). Of these they make chaplets, which are
suspended to the branches of the trees. The gnats are soon
hatched, and spread themselves over the whole tree. The
females, in order to provide a nidus for their eggs, pierce the
fruit with their sting, and then deposit them. From this puncture a gummy liquor
oozes ; and after this the figs are not only not liable to fall, but grow larger and finer
than if they had not undergone this operation. It is doubted by some modern physiolo-
gists whether this process is of any real use, it being now neglected in most fig countries
where it was formerly performed. Some allege that it is merely useful as fecundating
the blossoms, which most people are aware are situated inside of the fruit ; others that it
promotes precocity, which the puncture of an insect will do in any fruit, and which any
one may luive observed in the gooseberry, apple, or pear.
122 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Pari I.
754. The almond tree is very pi'oductive. The orange tribe abounds ; and the pomegra-
nates, peaches, apricots, grapes, &c., are of the finest flavour. The banana is cultivated in
the gardens, as are melons, dates, and many other fruits. Carobs (Ceratonia), quinces,
medlars, cherries, &c. are wild in abundance. Bees are found in the hollows of trees ;
and their excellent white honey is exported.
755. Tke oxen of the Morea are low, and have longiwhite hair. The most fleshy do not
weigh more than from 300 to 400 pounds. The cows give little milk, and are much injured
by the jackals, who tear away their teats ; and by large serpents, which are said to suck
the milk. The sheep are small, and have large horns ; their wool is considered of the second
quality of the wool of the East. Cheese is made from their milk, and that of goats.
The horses of the Morea are of a breed between the Moravian and Thracian : their foim
is not admired ; but they are full of fire and courage ; and so vigorous, that they run
with a firm and rapid step over the mountains without ever stumbling. The asses are
miserable.
756. The forests of the Morea produce the cork-tree ; the kermes oak ; the Qu^rcus E'sculus, or Velonia
oak, the acorns of which are eaten, and their cups used as oak-galls, in preparing black dye ; the
azarole, plane, larch, wild olive, sweet chestnut, manna ash ; grains d' Avignon (/Zhamnus infectbrius
L.), from the grains or seeds of which a fine yellow dye is prepared ; Lawsbnm int^rmis, which furnishes
a fine aurora colour, with which the women of the East dye their nails ; the turpentine tree, barren
date trees, silk tree (Mimbsa Julibr'tssin) with its beautiful tufts, pine fir, and a variety of others. Chest-
nuts were at one period the temporary food of nearly the whole country : on Mount Pholoe, where the
peasants are half savages, they form the principal food for the whole year. A variety of plants used in
the arts and in pharmacy grow wild in the wastes, and there are venison and game in the woods, and
fishes in the rivers, lakes, and the surrounding ocean. The Morea, Dr. Pouqueville concludes, is " a fine
country:" and though one does not find the golden age here renewed, yet, " under a better order of
things, it will produce abundantly every thing necessary to supply the wants of man." {Travels,
transl. by A. Plumtree, p. 206.)
757. Some notices of the agriculture of Thessaly and Albania have been given by Dr.
Holland. The plain of Thes- ^ ^ ^^ 102
saly (Jig. 102. ) is an immense
tract of level country, with a fine
alluvial soil, which tradition
and external appearance concur
in testifying, was once covered
with water. *< The capabili-
ties," Dr. Holland observes,
« are great throughout the
whole of this fine province;
and it would not be easy to fix a limit to the amount and variety of produce which might
be raised from its surface. In their present state, the plains of Thessaly form one of the
most productive districts of the Grecian peninsula, and their annual produce, in grain of
different kinds, cotton, silk, wool, rice, and tobacco, allows a very large amount of regular
export from the provinces." The cultivation is not deficient in skill or neatness. Their
plough is of a primitive form ; and their carts are small cars, some of them, as Dr.
Clarke observes, simple enough \jtg. 103.) ; both are drawn by oxen or buffaloes. The
103 p « U a wool of the sheep is moderately fine ; the mulberry is
grown in dwarf pollards ; and the cotton in drills, well
hoed. The men are a stern-looking race, and the women well
I made, and not unlike the antique. " The circumstances
by which the amount of produce might be increased, are
' chiefly, perhaps, of a more general nature, — a better form
of government ; greater security to private property ; a
more uniform distribution of the inhabitants ; and the prevention of those monopolies
in the export of grain, which have hitherto been exercised by the Turkish rulers of the
country. {Travels, 2d. edit. p. 281.)
758. The agriculture of Albania differs in no essential particular from that of Thessaly.
The common tenure on which land is let, is that of paying to the landlord half the
produce. The vale of Deropuli is the most fertile and populous in Albania. The
tillage, generally speaking, is remarkable for its neatness. The products are chiefly
wheat, maize, tobacco, and rice. The returns afford a considerable surplus for export-
ation J and the tobacco is esteemed the best in Albania. Large flocks of sheep feed on
the declivity of the mountains, and afford much coarse wool for the manufactures of the
country.
759. The agriculture of Moldavia and Wallachia, two the most northerly provinces
of European Turkey, has been given by various authors, as Carra, Bauer, and Thornton.
The climate of those provinces is very severe in winter. Spring begins in April ; sum-
mer in June ; and in July and August the days are excessively hot, and the nights cold.
Heavy rains begin in September, and snows in November. The surface is generally
mountainous : but the valleys are dry and rich. The usual grains are cultivated, and also
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN THE BRITISH ISLES.
123
maize. Tliey plough deep with six oxen, and never employ manure. They take a crop,
and leave the land to rest, alternately. The corn is trodden out by horses, and then
laid up in pits. Flax and hemp are sown for local manufacture. Newly broken up
lands are planted with cabbages, which grow to a great size. The vine is cultivated on
the southern declivities of hills, and the wine is said to equal that of Hungary. The mul-
berry is cultivated for the silkworm ; and forests are extensive on the mountains. The
common fruit trees are abundant, and an excellent variety of apple, called the doiniasca,
grows wild. The olive and fig are too delicate for the climate.
760. But the pasture lands are tbe most valuable parts of these provinces. The oxen are
large and fleshy, and so numerous that they form a principal article of export to Russia,
Poland, and Germany. The buffalo thrives better here than in most parts of Europe ;
and is valued for its strength and milk. The sheep winter on the Danube, and pass the
summer on the Carpathian mountains ; their mutton is excellent, and the annual export-
ation of the wool into Germany is very considerable. There are various breeds of
horses ; they are brought up in great numbers, for the Austrian and Prussian cavalry.
They are well formed, spirited, docile, and remarkable for the soundness of their hoofs.
The carriage and draught horses are small but active, and capable of resisting fatigue.
They live in the open air in all seasons, though in winter they are often attacked by wolves.
Domestic fowls and game abound, especially hares. The honey and wine are of the finest
quality. One author (Carra) mentions a kind of green wax, which, being made into
tapers, diffuses an excellent perfume when lighted. Many of the cottages partake of the
104
Swiss character, and are more
picturesque than those of Hun-
gary or Russia. {Jig. 104.)
761. The poorest agriculture
in. European Turkey is that of
Romelia, including the coun-
try round Constantinople. The
surface is hilly, and the soil dry
and stony, chiefly in pasture or
waste. " The capital of the
empire," Thornton observes, '
" as the soil in its immediate
vicinity is barren and ungrateful,
receives from the neighbouring
villages, and from the sur-
rounding coasts of both the seas which it commands, all fhe culinary herbs and fruits of
excellent flavour, which the most fastidious appetites can require ; and from the Asiatic
coasts of the Black Sea, all materials necessary for fuel, or for the construction of ships
and houses."
Chap. V.
Modem History and present State of Agriculture in the British Ides,
762. Having, in the preceding chapter, brought down the history of British
agriculture to the revolution, we shall resume it at that period, and continue our view to
the present time. As this period may be considered the most interesting of the whole
series, we shall, for the sake of distinctness, arrange the matter under the separate sec-
tions of the political, professional, and literary history of agriculture in Britain, and sub-
mit a separate view of the progress and present state of agriculture in Ireland.
Sect. I. Political History of Agriculture in Britain, from the Revolution in 1 668 to
the present Time.
763. That the agriculture and general prosperity of this country were greatly benefited by
the revolution is an undisputed point. That prosperity, as far as respects agriculture, has
been ascribed to the corn-laws then promulgated. " In 1670," a masterly writer on the
subject remarks, " exportation was permitted, whatever the price might be; and im-
portation was virtually prohibited, by a duty of 16s. per quarter, when wheat did not
exceed 53s. 4d. ; of 8s. when above that, and not exceeding 80s. ; and when above 80s.
the duty of 5s. 4d., imposed by the act of 1663, continued to be payable. Still, how-
ever, as there was a duty payable on exportation ; and as importation, from some defect
124 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
in the law respecting the mode of ascertaining the prices at which the diflferent duties
were exigible, still continued at the low duty, the system by which exportation was
encouraged, and importation in ordinary cases prohibited, was not completely established
till 1688 and 1700. In the former of these years, a bounty of 5s. a quarter was given on
exportation, when the price of wheat did not exceed 48s., and in the latter the duties
on exportation were wholly repealed. Under these laws, not only was the excess of
exports very considerable, but the prices of grain, down to 1765, were much lower
than during an equal number of years preceding 1688. lliis is not the place to enquire
how far these laws had an influence in producing this phenomenon ; but the facts
themselves are indisputable. Yet the mere circumstance of large exportations of grain
does by no means prove the prosperity of agriculture ; far less is its cheapness in the
home markets any evidence of the comfortable subsistence of the lower orders. Corn
seems to have been raised in such abundance, not merely because the market was ex-
tended by means of the bounty, but because there was little demand for other products
of the soil, which have, since that time, withdrawn a large portion of the best arable
land from the growth of corn. And the price was low, because neither the number nor
wealth of the consumers had increased in a proportion corresponding to the supply.
Before the accession of his present majesty, the number of acts for enclosure was only
two hundred and forty-four ; a clear proof that agricultural improvements proceeded
much more slowly than they have done since. And it cannot be disputed, that, owing
to the imperfect culture of that period, when ameliorating crops did not enter largely
into the courses of management, any given extent of land did not produce so much corn
as under the improved rotations of modern husbandry."
764. The exportation of wool was prohibited in 1647, in 1660, and in 1668 ; and the
prohibition strictly enforced by subsequent statutes. The effect of this on its price,
and the state of the wool trade, from the earliest period to the middle of last century,
are distinctly exhibited by the learned and laborious author of Memoirs on Wool,
printed in 1747.
765. In 1765 the corn-laws established in the end of the seventeenth century began to be repealed, and ex-
portation was prohibited, and importation permitted without payment of duties, by annual acts, during
the seven subsequent years. " A new system was established in 1773, allowing importation when the price
of wheat was at or above 48s. per quarter, at the low duty of Qd. Exportation was prohibited when the
price was 44s. ; and below that the former bounty of 5s. per quarter continued to be payable."
766. By an act passed in 1791, the bounty on exportation, when the price was under 44s. per quarter,
remained unaltered ; but " exportation was permitted till the price was 46s. Importation was virtually
prohibited by high duties when the price was below 50s. ; and permitted, on payment of a duty of 6rf.,
when at or above 54s."
767. In 1804, " the corn-laws were altered for the third time, and the bounty on exportation was paid
till the price of wheat was 48s. per quarter ; and at 54s. exportation was prohibited. The high duty of
24s. 3d. was payable on importation till the price was 63s. ; above 63s. and under 66s. a duty of 2s. 6d. ;
and above ^s. the low duty of Qd. By an act in 1805, importation into any part of Britain is to be regu-
lated by the aggregate average price of the twelve maritime districts of England. Importation was
never stopped under the law of 1804, till February 1815.
768. During the twenty-two years preceding 1821, about sixty millions of pounds sterling have been
paid for foreign grain. " In bad seasons the prices have been enhanced to a most alarming degree, not-
withstanding large bounties have been paid on importation. The average price of every successive period
of ten years, from 1765 to 1814, has risen considerably ; and since 1795, the price has been seldom less
than double the average of the first sixty years of the last century."
769. The corn-laws since 1814 have undergone a change in almost every session of
parliament. According to the corn act of 1828, foreign corn is admitted at 52s. per
imperial quarter for a duty of 34s. 8rf. per quarter, and from 52s. to 73s. at a graduated
scale of duties, being admitted at the latter price at Is. per quarter. Barley at 24s. is
admitted on a duty of 25s. lOrf. per quarter, and from 24s. to 41s. on a graduated scale of
duties ; so that at the latter price it is admitted at Is. per quarter. Oats are admitted at
18s. per quarter, at a duty of 19s. 9d. per quarter, and from 18s. to 31s. on a graduated
scale of duties ; so that at the latter price the duty is Is. per quarter. In like manner
rye, peas, and beans, when at 29*. are admitted at 25s. 9d. per quarter, and when at
46s. at Is. (Quar. Jour, of Agriculture, vol. i. p. 228.)
770. Agriculture in Scotland was at low ebb at the period of the revolution. *' The
calamity of that evil had so oppressed the tenantry of Scotland, that many farms re-
mained unoccupied. Proprietors were then as eager in searching after tenants who were
able to stock and cultivate the ground, as farmers were assiduous in seeking after farms
previously to the late general peace. Improvements began to be made soon after the union,
especially by some gentlemen of East Lothian, and by the efforts of the Agricultural
Society of Scotland, established in 1723. It was now found beneficial to grant long
leases, which were found greatly to increase the skill and industry of the tenants, by
rendering them secure of enjoying the benefit of their improvements. A great stimulus
was also given to farmers by the money circulated during the rebellion of 1745, which
raised prices, and increased the tenants' capital stock."
771. A desire to improve the roads of Scotland now began to manifest itself among the
proprietors. The first act of parliament for collecting tolls on the highways in Scotland,
was passed in 1 750, for repairing the road from Dunglass bridge to Haddington. In
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 125
ten years after, several acts followed for the counties of Edinburgh and Lanark, and for
making the roads between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The benefit which agriculture has
derived from good roads it would not be easy to estimate. The want of them was one
great cause of the slow progress of the art in former times. At present, all the improve-
ments introduced by M'Adam in the construction and preservation of the roads of
England, are spreading with equal rapidity and good effect in Scotland.
772. The relaxing of the rigour of entails, and abrogating the feudal system, greatly bene-
fited the agriculture of Scotland. The first was effected by an act in 1770, which re-
laxed the rigour of strict entails, and extended the powers of proprietors, in so far as
regards the improvement of their estates, and the granting of leases.
773. But the general progress of agriculture in Britain, from the revolution to the
middle of the eighteenth century, was by no means so considerable as from the great
exportation of corn we should be led to imagine. " The gradual advance in the price of
land produce, soon after the year 1760, occasioned by the increase of population, and
of wealth derived from manufactures and commerce, has given a more powerful stimulus
to rural industry, augmented agricultural capital in a greater degree, and called forth
a more skilful and enterprising race of cultivators, than all the laws for regulating the
corn trade could ever have effected. Most of tlie inventions for increasing produce and
economising labour have either been introduced, or improved and greatly extended, since
that time ; and by means of both, the free surplus has been vastly increased for the supply
of the general consumption. The passing of more than three thousand bills of enclosure, ^
in the late reign, is a proof how much more rapidly the cultivation of new land has
proceeded than in the former period : and the garden-like appearance of the country, as
well as the striking improvement in the condition of all classes of the rural population,
display, in the most decided manner, the skill and the success with which this great
branch of national industry is now followed throughout the greater part of Britain."
774. Since the conclusion of the American war in 1782, " improvement has pro-
ceeded with singular rapidity in every district ; and while the rental rolls of proprietors
have been doubled, tripled, and quadrupled, the condition of the tenantry, and of the
lower ranks, has been ameliorated almost in a proportional degree," (£d. Ency. art.
Agr.)
775. Since the period of 1815, agriculture has sustained a severe shock from the fall of
prices, occasioned by the lessened circulation of currency, the necessary preliminary to a
return to a currency of the precious metals. In this shock many hundreds of farmers lost
all their capital, and were obliged to become operatives to others ; while some, more for-
tunate, contrived to retain as much of the wreck of their property as enabled them to
emigrate to other countries. Cleghorn, whose pamphlet on the depressed state of agri-
culture was honoured with the prize of the Highland Society of Scotland, thinks this loss
cannot have been less than one year's rental of the whole island. " The replies sent to
the circular letter of the Board of Agriculture, regarding the agricultural state of the
kingdom, in February, March, and April, 1816, furnish a body of evidence which cannot
be controverted, and exhibit* a picture of widely spread ruin among the agricultural
classes, and of distress among all that immediately depend upon them, to which there is
probably no parallel." (See Cleghorn on the Depressed State of Agriculture, 1822.) After
upwards of fourteen years' severe suffering, both by landlords and tenants, things have now
assumed a more stationary condition. Rents have been greatly lowered every where in
proportion to the fall of prices and the rise of parocliial burdens, and both fanners and
landlords are beginning gradually to recover themselves.
Sect. II. Professional History of Agriculture, from the Revolution to the
present Time.
776. In England, from the restoration to the middle of the eighteenth century, very little
improvement took place, either in the cultivation of the soil, or in the management of
live stock. Even clover and turnips (the great support of the present improved system
of agriculture) were confined to a few districts, and at the close of this period were scarcely
cultivated at all by common farmers in the northern parts of the island. From the Whole
Art of Husbandry, published by Mortimer in 1 706, a work of considerable merit, it does
not appear that any improvement was made on his practices till near the end of last cen-
tury. In those districts where clover and rye-grass were cultivated, they were cut green,
and used for soiling as at present. Turnips were sown broadcast, hand-hoed, and used for
feeding sheep and cattle, as they were used in Houghton's time, and are still in most
districts of England.
777. In the beginning of the eighteenth century, a considerable improvement in the process
of culture was introduced by Jethro TuU, a cultivator of Berkshire, who began to drill
wheat and other crops about the year 1701, and whose Horse-hoeing Husbandry was pub-
lished in 17S1. " In giving a short account of the innovations of this eccentric writer, it is
126 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
not meant to enter into any discussion of their merits. It will not detract much from his
reputation to admit, that, like most other men who leave the beaten path, he was some-
times misled by inexperience, and sometimes deceived by a too sanguine imagination.
Had Tull confined his recommendation of drill husbandry to leguminous and bulbous-
rooted plants generally, and to the cereal gramina only in particular circumstances ; and
had he, without puzzling himself about the food of plants, been contented with pointing
out the great advantage of pulverising the soil in most cases, and extirpating weeds in every
case, he would certainly have deserved a high rank among the benefactors of his country.
A knowledge of his doctrines and practice, however, will serve as a necessary introduction
to the present approved modes of culture."
778. TulVs theory is promulgated with great confidence; and in the controversy which he thought
proper to maintain in support of it, he scrupled not to employ ridicule as well as reasoning. Besides the
Roman writers de Re Rustica, Virgil in particular, whom he treats with high disdain j he is almost equally
severe on Dr. Woodward, Bradley, and other writers of his own time.
779. Tull begins by showing that the roots qf plants extended much fai'ther than is commonly believed j
and then proceeds to enquire into the nature of their food. After examining several hypotheses, he de-
cides this to be fine particles of earth. The chief, and almost the only use of dung, he thinks, is to divide
the earth ; to dissolve the " terrestrial matter which affords nutriment to the mouths of vegetable roots ;"
and this can be done more completely by tillage. It is therefore necessary, not only to pulverise the soil
by repeated ploughings before it be seeded ; but, as it becomes gradually more and more compressed after-
wards, recourse must be had to tillage or horse-hoeing, while the plants are growing j which also destroys
the weeds that would deprive the plants of their nourishment.
780. The leading feature of TulVs htisbandry, is his practice of laying the land into narrow ridges of
five or six feet, and upon the middle of these drilling one, two, or three rows ; distant from one another
about seven inches, when there were three ; and ten inches, when only two. The distance of the plants
on one ridge from those on the contiguous one, he called an interval ; the distance between the rows on
the same ridge a space, or partition ; the former was stirred repeatedly by the horse-hoe, and the latter by
the hand-hoe.
781. The extraordinary attention Tull gave to his mode of culture is, perhaps, without a parallel. " I
formerly was at much pains," he says, " and at some charge, in improving my drills, for planting the rows
at very near distances ; and had brought them to such perfection, that one horse would draw ^ drill with
eleven shares, making the rows at three inches and a half distant from one another ; and, at the same
time, sow in them three very different sorts of seeds, which did not mix ; and these too at different depths.
As the barley rows were seven inches asunder, the barley lay four inches deep. A little more than three
inches above that, in the same channels, was clover ; betwixt every two of these rows, was a row of saint-
foin, covered half an inch deep. I had a good crop of barley the first year ; the next year two crops of
broad clover, where that was sown ; and where hop clover was sown, a mixed crop of that and saintfoin ;
but I am since, by experience, so fully convinced of the folly of these, or any other mixed crops, and more
especially of narrow spaces, that I have demolished these instruments (in their full perfection) as a vain
curiosity, the drift and use of them being contrary to the true principles and practice of horse-hoeing."
{Horse-hoeing Husbandry, p. 62. London, 1762.)
782. In the culture of wheat he began with ridges six feet broad, or eleven on a breadth of sixty-six feet ;
but on this he afterwards had fourteen ridges. After trying different numbers of rows on a ridge, he at
last preferred two, with an intervening space of about ten inches. He allowed only three pecks of seed for
an acre. The first hoeing was performed by turning a furrow from the row, as soon as the plant had put
forth four or five leaves ; so that it was done before, or at the beginning of, winter. The next hoeing was
in spring, by which the earth was returned to the plants. The subsequent operations depended upon the
circumstances and condition of the land, and the state of the weather. The next year's crop of wheat
was sown upon the intervals which had been unoccupied the former year ; but this he does not seem to
think was a matter of much consequence. " My field," he observes, " whereon is now the thirteenth crop
of wheat, has shown that the rows may successfully stand upon any part of the ground. The ridges
of this field were, for the twelfth crop, changed from six feet to four feet six inches. In order for this al-
teration, the ridges were ploughed down, and then the next ridges were laid out the same way as the
former, but one foot six inches narrower, and the double rows drilled on their tops ; whereby, of conse-
quence, there must be some rows standing on every part of the ground, both on the former partitions, and
on every part of the intervals. Notwithstanding this, there was no manner of difference in the goodness
of the rows ; and the whole field was in every part of it equal, and the best, I believe, that ever grew
on it It is now the thirteenth crop, likely to be good, though the land was not ploughed cross ways."
{Ibid., p. 424.)
783. According to Tull, a rotation of crops of different species was altogether unnecessary ;
and he labours hard to prove, against Dr. Woodward, that the advantages of such a change,
under his plan of tillage, were quite chimerical ; though he seems to admit the benefit of
a change of the seed itself. But the best method of determining the question would have
been, to have stated the amount of his crops per acre, and the quality of the grain, instead
of resting the superiority of his management on the alleged saving of expense, when com-
pared with the common broadcast husbandry.
784. On the culture of the turnip, both his principles and his practice are much more correct. The ridges
were of the same breadth as for wheat ; but only one row was drilled on each. His management, while
the crop was growing, differs very little from the present practice. "When drilled on the level, it is impos-
sible, he observes, to hoe-plough them so well as when they are planted upon ridges. But the seed was
deposited at different depths, the half about four inches deep, and the other half exactly over that, at the
depth of half an inch. " Thus planted, let the weather be never so dry, the deepest seed will come up ;
but if it raineth immediately after planting, the shallow will come up first. We also make it come up at
four times, by mixing our seed, half new and half old, the new coming up a day quicker than the old.
These four comings up give it so many chances for escaping the fly; it being often seen that the seed
sown over night will be destroyed by the fly, when that sown the next morning will escape, and vice versa:
or you may hoe-plough them when the fly is like to devour them; this will bury the greatest part of those
enemies j or else you may drill m another row without new ploughing the land."
785. Drilling, and horse and hand hoeing, seem to have been in use before the publi-
cation of TuU's book. " Hoeing," he says, « may be divided into deep, which is our
horse-hoeing ; and shallow, which is the English hand-hoeing ; and also the shallow
horse-hoeing used in some places betwixt rows, where the intervals are very narrow^, as
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 127
sixteen or eighteen inches. This is but an imitation of the hand-hoe, or a succedaneum
to it, and can neither supply the use of dung, nor of fallow, and may be properly called
scratch-hoeing." But in liis mode of forming ridges, his practice seems to have been
original ; his implements display much ingenuity ; and his claim to the title of father of
the present horse-hoeing husbandry of Great Britain seems indisputable. A translation of
Tull's l)ook was undertaken at one and the same time in France, by three different per-
sons of consideration, without the privity of each other. Two of them afterwards put
their papers into the hands of the third, M. Du Hameldu Monceau, of the Royal Academy
of Sciences, at Paris, who published a treatise on husbandry, on the principles of Tull,
a few years after. But Tull seems to have had very few followers in England for more
than thirty years. The present method of drilling and horse-hoeing turnips was not
introduced into Northumberland till about the year 1780 {Northum. Survey, p. 100.) ;
and it was then borrowed from Scotland, tlie farmers of which had the merit of first
adopting Tull's management in the culture of this root, and improving on it, about
1760, and from them it has since made its way, but slowly, in the southern part of the
island. Tull was bom in Oxfordshire, was bred a barrister, and made the tour of
Europe. He commenced his experiments on his own estate, but being unsuccessful, was
obliged to sell it. He afterwards took a farm in Berkshire, where he renewed his oper-
ations. He published his book in 1731, and died in 1740, leaving a son, an officer in
the army, who ruined himself by projects, and died in the Fleet prison in London in 1764.
786. In the live stock of British agriculture, very little improvement had been made pre-
viously to the middle of the eighteenth century, or later. About this time, the best breed
of cattle and sheep were about Doncaster, in Yorkshire, and in Leicestershire, and the
first grand and successful effort to improve them was made by Robert Bakewell, of
Dishley, in the latter county. Bakewell was born about 1 725 or 26 ; and soon after
arriving at the years of maturity, took an interest in improving the breed of sheep. His
father was a farmer, and died in 1 760 ; but the son had taken an active management of
the farm for many years before that time, having began, about the year 1755, that course
of experiments winch terminated in the important improvements for which his name is
celebrated. (Hunt's Agricultural Memoirs, p. 35 ; Fleming's Farmer s Joumaly August,
1828, p. 319.)
787. By BakeweWs skilful selection at first, and constant care afterwards, to breed from
the best animals, without any regard to their consanguinity, he at last obtained a variety
of sheep, which, for early maturity, and the property of returning a great produce of
mutton for the food they consume, as well as for the small proportion which the weight
of the offal bears to that of the four quarters, are altogether unequalled either in this or
any other country. The Dishley or New Leicester sheep, and their crosses, are now
spread over the principal com districts of Britain ; and from their quiet domesticated
habits, are probably still the most profitable of all the varieties of sheep, on farms where
the rearing and fattening of live stock are combined with the best courses of tillage
crops.
788. The practice of Bakewell and his followers furnishes an instance of the benefits
of a division of labour, in a department of business where it was little to be expected.
Their male stock was let out every year to breeders from all parts of England ; and thus,
by judiciously crossing the old races, all the valuable properties of the Dishley variety
descended, after three or four generations, to their posterity. By no other means could
this new breed have spread so rapidly, nor have been made to accommodate itself so easily
to a change of climate and pasture. Another recommendation of this plan was, that the
ram-hirer had a choice among a number of males, of somewhat different properties, and
in a more or less advanced stage of improvement ; from which it was his business to select
such as suited his particular object. These were reared by experienced men, who gave
their principal attention to this branch alone ; and having the best females as well as males,
they were able to furnish the necessary supply of young males in the greatest variety,
to those farmers whose time was occupied with other pursuits. The prices at which
Bakewell's rams were hii'ed appear enormous. .^' In 1789, he received twelve hundred
guineas for the hire of three brought at one birth ; two thousand for seven ; and, for his
whole letting, at least three thousand guineas. (Encyc. Brit. art. Agr.)
789. Messrs. Matthew and George Culley carried the improvements of Bakewell into Durham and
Northumberland, and perpetuated them in the north of England and south of Scotland. Messrs. Culley
were pupils of Mr. Bakewell in 1762 and 1763, and Mr. George CuUey soon became Mr. Bakewell's
confidential friend, and was always considered his favourite disciple. After practising their improve-
ments for a number of years in the county of Durham, they removed, in 1767, to Fenton farm, near
Wooler, in Northumberland, containing upwards of 1100 acres. At this time, the sheep flocks that
were kept on the arable and grazing districts of Northumberland were a large, slow-feeding, long-woolled
kind ; and a mixed breed, between those long-wooUed sheep and the Cheviot. These breeds were rarely
got fattened before three years old ; but the improved Leicesters (which were introduced by Messrs.
Culley) were sold fat at little more than a year old ; and though they met with much opposition at their
first introduction, there is now scarcely a flock to be found that has not been improved by them. Their
breed of short-horned, or Teeswater, cattle, was also a great acquisition to the district ; and the breed of
draught horses was considerably improved by their introducing a stallion of Mr. Bakewell's. Tliey were
1-^8 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
always amongst the first to adopt and make experiments of any new mode of culture, new implements of
husbandry, or new varieties of grain ; and they practised draining, irrigation, fencing, and other improve-
ments, on the most correct principles. Their great attention to minutite, unremitting industry, and supe-
rior cultivation, not only raised a spirit of exertion and emulation in the surrounding neighbourhood,
but gained them such celebrity as first-rate breeders and agriculturists, that they had pupils from various
parts of the island, with whom they received considerable premiums, besides being amply paid for their
board and instruction. To all those acquirements, they added strict economy; the consequence of which
was a great accumulation of wealth, which they appUed (as occasions offered) to increasing their farming
concerns ; and this to such an extent, that for several years they occupied farms to the amount of about
8000/. a year. The large capital which such extensive concerns required, applied with so much attention
and judgment, could not fail of producing the most lucrative effects. The result is, that, from a small original
capital, their respective families are now enjoying landed property to the amount of nearly 4000/. a year
each (besides a very large sum invested in farming), the well merited reward of unremitting industry
and extensive agricultural knowledge. In 1786, Mr. George Culley published his Observations on Live
Stock, which was the first treatise on the subject that attempted to describe the domesticated animals of
Britain, and the principles by which they may be improved. The great merits of this work are evinced
by the number of editions it has gone through. In 1793, Mr. G. Culley, in conjunction with Mr. Bailey
of Chillingham, drew up the Agricultural Reports for Durham and Northumberland, and in 1813 he
died at Fowberry Tower, the seat of his son, in the 79th year of his age. {Farmer's Mag. vol. xiv. p. 274.)
790. Merino sheep were first brought into England in 1788, when His Majesty procured
a small flock by way of Portugal. In 1791, another flock was imported from Spain. In
1 804, when His Majesty's annual sales commenced, tliis race began to attract much notice.
Dr. Parry, of Bath, has crossed die Ryeland, or Herefordshire sheep, with the merinos,
and brought the wool of the fourth generation to a degree of fineness not excelled by that
of the pure merino itself; while the carcass, in which is the great defect of the merinos,
has been much improved. Lord Somerville, and many other gentlemen, have done them-
selves much honour by their attention to this race ; but it does not appear that the
climate of Britain, the rent of land, and the love of good mutton, admit of substituting
it for others of native origin. (^Encyc. Brit. art. Agr.)
791. The agriculture of Scotland, as we have seen, was in a very depressed state at
the revolution, from political circumstances. It was not less so in point of professional
knowledge. Lord Kaimes, tliat excellent judge of mankind and sound agriculturist,
declares, in strong terms, that the tenantry of Scotland, at the end of the seventeenth and
beginning of the eighteenth century, were so benumbed with oppression or poverty, that
the most able instructor in husbandry would have made nothing of them. Fletcher of
Saltoun, who lived in the best part of Scotland, and in the end of the seventeenth century,
describes their situation as truly deplorable.
792. John Cockburn, of Ormiston, East Lothian, a spirited individual, who rose at this
time, and to whom the agriculture of Scotland is much indebted, deserves to be men-
tioned. He was born in 1685, and succeeded to the family estate of Ormiston in 1714.
He saw that internal improvement could only be effected by forming and extending a
middle rank of society, and increasing their prosperity. In fact, as an able writer. Brown,
the founder of the Farmer's Magazine, has remarked, " the middling ranks are the
strength and support of every nation." In former times, what we now call middling
classes were not known, or at least little known in Scotland, where the feudal system
reigned longer than in England. After trade was introduced, and agriculture improved,
the feudal system was necessarily overturned ; and proprietors, like other men, began to
be estimated according to their respective merits, vs^ithout receiving support from the ad-
ventitious ciixumstances under which they were placed.
793. In 1723, a number of landholders, at the instigation of Mr. Cockburn, formed
themselves into a Society of Improvers in the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scotland. The
Earl of Stair, one of their most active members, is said to have been the first who culti-
vated turnips in that country. This society exerted itself in a very laudable manner,
and apparently with considerable success, in introducing cultivated herbage and turnips,
as well as in improving on the foratier methods of culture : but there is reason to
believe, that the influence of the example of its members did not extend to the common
tenantry, who are always unwilling to adopt the practices of those who are placed in a
higher rank, and supposed to cultivate land for pleasure, rather than profit. Though
this society, the earliest in the united kingdom, soon counted upwards of three hundred
members, it existed little more than twenty years. Maxwell delivered lectures on agri-
culture for one or two sessions at Edinburgh, which, from the specimens he has left,
ought to have been encouraged.
794. Draining, enclosing, summer-fallowing ; sowing flax, hemj), rape, turnip, and grass
seeds ; planting cabbages after and potatoes with the plough, in fields of great extent, are
practices which were already introduced : and, according to the general opinion, more com
was now grown where it was never known to grow before, than, perhaps, a sixth of all that
the kingdom used to produce at any former period. It is singular that though the prac-
tice of summer-fallowing seems to have prevailed in England since the time of the
Romans, yet it was neglected in Scotland till about the beginning of the eighteenth
century, when it was first practised by John Walker, tenant at Beanston, in East Lothian.
The late Lord Milton considered this improvement of so much importance, that he was
I3aoK I. AGRICULTURE IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 129
" eager to procure the erection of a pillar to the memory of Mr. Walker." {Farm.
Mag., vol. i. p. 164.)
795. Thejirst notice of a threshing machine is given by Maxwell, in his Transactions
of the Society/ of Tmj^rovers, ^c. ; it was invented by Michael Menzies, advocate, who
obtained a patent for it. Upon a representation made to the society, that it was to be
seen at work in several places, they appointed two of their number to inspect it ; and in
their report they say that one man would be sufficient to manage a machine which would
do the work of six. One of the machines was '* moved by a great water wheel and
treddles ;" and another, " by a little wheel of three feet in diameter, moved by a
small quantity of water." This machine the society recommended to all gentlemen and
farmers. {Encyc. Brit, and Ed. Encyc. art. Agr. ; Browns Treatise on Rural Affairs,
Introduction, ^c.)
796. Dawson, of Frogden, in Roxburghshire, is a man to whom Scottish agriculture is perhaps more in-
debted than to any other. Findlater, the author of the Survey of Peeblesshire, one of the best judges, terms
him the " father of the improved system of husbandry in Scotland." Dawson was born at Harperton,
in Berwickshire, a farm of which his father was tenant, in 1734. At the age of 16 he was sent to a fann
in the neighbourhood of Sheffield, and thence into Essex, where he directed his attention chiefly to
grazing. He afterwards travelled through several other counties of England, " accurately examining
the best courses of husbandry, and storing up for his own use whatever seemed likely to be introduced
witli advantage into his own country." On his return to Scotland he tried, with the consent of his father,
the culture of turnips on the farm of Harperton, but he did not commence the culture of this root upon
a large scale until he entered on the farm of Frogden on his own account in 1759. Great exertions were
required in enclosing, draining, liming, and manuring the arable part of this farm ; but the soil being
sandy, the expense was ultimately more than repaid. It was here that Mr. Dawson perfected the drill-
system of cultivating turnips, but not before he had grown them for several years in the broadcast man-
ner. The first drills were drawn in the year 1763, and the extent of turnip crop was about 100 acres
annually. In a few years the success which attended Mr. Dawson's management enabled him first to
rent two contiguous farms, and afterwards to purchase and improve, in that county, the estate of Graden,
a property of considerable extent, adjoining Frogden. On these lands he introduced and exemplified,
for the first time in Scotland, what has been called the convertible husbandry ; i. e. the growth of clover
and sown grasses for three or more years in succession, alternately with corn crops and turnips.
797. Mr. Dawson was thejirst to introduce to Scotland the practice qf ploughingwith tiro horses abreast
without the aid of a driver. The first ploughman who effected this was James M'Dougal, who, after being
14 years overseer to Mr. Dawson, in 1778 took a farm of his own at West Linton, in Peeblesshire, where he
died in 1822, aged 82 years. It was the desire of Mr. Dawson that justice should be done to the memory
of this able and worthy man, whose example, as the Rev. Charles Findlater observes, has had more
effect in diffusing the improved system of husbandry than all the premiums ever given by landlords.
{Douglas's Surv. of Roxb. ; Farm. Mag., vol. xiii. p. 512.) Mr. Dawson spent the last years of his life in
Etlinburgh, where he died in January, 1815, in his 81st year, leaving a numerous family in prosperous
circumstances.
798. The character of Dawson is thus given by his biographer in the Farmer's Magazine, and may well
be quoted here as a model for imitation. " He was exceedingly regular in his habits, and most correct and
systematical in all his agricultural operations, which were not only well conducted, but always executed
at the proper season. His plans were the result of an enlightened and sober calculation ; and were per-
sisted in, in spite of every difficulty and discouragement, till they were reduced to practice. Every one
who knows the obstacles that are thrown in the way of all innovations in agriculture, by the sneers of
prejudice and the obstinacy of ignorance, and not unfrequently by the evil offices of jealousy and male-
volence, must be aware, that none but men of very strong minds, and of unceasing activity, are able to
surmount them. Such a man was Mr. Dawson ; and to this single individual may be justly ascribed the
merit of producing a most favourable change in the sentiments, in regard to the trial of new experiments,
as well as in the practice, of the farmers of Scotland. The labouring classes were not less indebted to this
eminent person for opening up a source of employment, which has given bread to the young and feeble in
almost the only branches of labour of which they are capable in merely rural districts. Most of his ser.
vants continued with him for many years ; and such as had benefited by his instructions and advice were
eagerly engaged to introduce their master's improvements in other places. This benevolence, which often
sought for objects at a distance that were not personally known to him, was displayed, not only in pecu-
niary donations, while the giver frequently remained unknown, but was strikingly evinced in the attention
which he paid to the education of the children of his labourers, for whom he maintained teachers at his
own expense. If fame were always the reward of great and useful talents, there are few men of any age
or country that would live longer in the grateful remembrance of posterity than the subject of this
memoir." {Farm. Mag., vol. xvi. p. 168.)
799. As the leading features of practical agricultural improvement in Britain dunngthe
eighteenth century, and to the present time, we may enumerate the following : — The gra-
dual introduction of a better system of rotation since the publication of Tull's Horse-
hoeing Husbandry, and other agricultural works, from 1700 to 1750; the improvement
of live stock by Bakewell, about 1 760 ; the raised drill system of growing turnips, the
use of lime in agriculture, and the convertible husbandry, by Pringle, and more especially
by Dawson, about 1765; the improved swing plough, by Small, about 1790; and the
improved threshing machine, by Meikle, about 1795. As improvements of compara-
tively limited application might be mentioned, the art of tapping springs, or what has
been called Elkington's mode of draining, which seems to have been discovered by Dr.
Anderson, from principle, and Mr. Elkington, by accident, about 1760, or later; and the
revival of the art of irrigation, by Boswell, about 1 780. The field culture of the potato,
shortly after 1750 ; the introduction of the Swedish turnip, about 1790 ; of spring wheat,
about 1795; of summer wheat, about 1800; and of mangold wurtzel more recently,
have, with the introduction of other improved field plants, and improved breeds of animals,
contributed to increase the products of agriculture ; as the enclosing of common field lands
and wastes, and the improvements of mosses and marshes, have contributed to increase the
produce and salubrity of the general surface of the country.
K
130 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
800. The pi'ogress of the taste for agriculture in Britain is shown by the great number
of societies that have been lately formed ; one or more in almost every county, for the
diffusion of knowledge, and the encouragement of correct operations and beneficial dis-
coveries. Among these, the Bath and fVest of England Society, established in 1 777, and the
Highland Society of Scotland, in 1784, hold the first rank. The establishment of the Board
of Agriculture, in 1793, ought to have formed a new era in the history of the agriculture
and rural economy of Britain ; but it effected little beyond the publication of the County
Agricultural Surveys, and, to a certain extent, rendering the art fashionable among the
higher classes.
Sect. III. Of the Literature of British Agriculture from, the Revolution to the
present Time.
801. The literature of English agriculture from the revolution is rich in excellent works.
We have already, in detailing the professional improvements, noticed the writings of
Mortimer and Tull. To these we now add the numerous works of Bradley, which
appeared from 1717 to his death in 1732. They are all compilations, but have been of
very considerable service in spreading a knowledge of culture, and a taste for rural
improvement. Stephen Switzer, a seedsman in London, in 1729 ; Dr. Blackwell, in 1741 ;
and Hitt, a few years afterwards, published tracts recommending the burning of clay as
manure, in the manner recently done by Governor Beatson, of Suffolk; Craig, of Cally
in Kircudbrightshire, and some others. Lisle's useful Observations on Husbandry were
published in 1757 ; Stillingfleet's Tracts, in which he shows the importance of a selection
of grasses for laying down lands, in 1759 ; and the excellent Essays of Harte, canon of
Windsor, in 1764. The celebrated Arthur Young's first publication on agriculture,
entitled. The Farmer's Letters to the People of England, &c., appeared in 1767; and
was followed by a great variety of excellent works, including the Tour in France, and
the Annals of Agriculture, till his pamphlet on the utility of the Board of Agriculture, in
1810. Marshall's numerous and most superior agricultural works commenced wdth his
Minutes of Agriculture, published in 1787, and ended with his Review of the Agricultural
Reports, in 1816. Dr. R. W. Dickson's Practical Agriculture appeared in two quarto
volumes, in 1 806, and may be considered as giving a complete view of the present state
of agriculture at the time. The last general work we shall mention is the Code of Agri-
culture, by Sir John Sinclair, which may be considered as a comprehensive epitome of
the art of farming. It has already been translated into several foreign languages, and
passed through more than one edition in this country. In this sketch a great number of
useful and ingenious authors are necessarily omitted ; but they will all be found in their
places in the Literature of British Agticulture, given in the Fourth Part of this work.
802. The Scottish writers on agriculture confirm our view of the low state of the art
in that country in the beginning of the eighteenth century. The first work, written by
James Donaldson, was printed in 1697, under the title oi Husbandry Anatomised; or,
an Enquiry into the present Manner of Teiling and Manuring the Ground in Scotland.
It appears from this treatise that the state of the art was not more advanced at that time
in North Britain, than it had been in England in the time of Fitzherbert. Farms were
divided into infield and outfield ; corn crops followed one another, without the interven-
tion of fallow, cultivated herbage, or turnips, though something is said about fallowing
the outfield ; enclosures were very rare ; the tenantry had not begun to emerge from a
state of great poverty and depression ; and the wages of labour, compared with the price
of corn, were much lower than at present ; " though that price, at least in ordinary years,
must appear extremely moderate in our times. Leases for a term of years, however,
were not uncommon ; but the want of capital rendered it impossible for the tenantry to
attempt any spirited improvements.
803. The Countryman^s Rudiments ; or, an Advice to the Fanners in East Lothian how to labour and
improve their Grounds, said to have been written by Lord Belhaven, about the time of the union, and
reprinted in 1723, is the next work on the husbandry of Scotland. In this we have a deplorable picture
of the state of agriculture, in what is now the most highly improved county in Scotland. His Lordship
begins with a very high encomium on his own performance. " I dare be bold to say, there never was
such a good, easy method of husbandry as this, so succinct, extensive, and methodical in all its parts,
published before." And he bespeaks the favour of those to whom he addresses himself, by adding,
" neither shall I affright you with hedging, ditching, marling, chalking, paring and burning, draining,
watering, and such like, which are all very good improvements indeed, and very agreeable with the soil
and situation of East Lothian ; but I know ye cannot bear as yet such a crowd of improvements, this
being only intended to initiate you in the true method and principles of husbandry." The farm lands
in East Lothian, as in other districts, were divided into infield and outfield, the former of which got all
the dung. " The infield, where wheat is sown, is generally divided by the tenant into four divisions or
breaks, as they call them, viz. one of wheat, one of barley, one of peas, and one of oats ; so that the
wheat is sowed after the peas, the barley after the wheat, and the oats after the barley. The outfield
land is ordinarily made use of promiscuously for feeding their cows, horses, sheep, and oxen : it is also
dunged by their sheep, who lay in earthen folds ; and sometimes, when they have much of it, they fauch
or fallow part of it yearly. " Under this management, the produce seems to have been three times the
seed ; " and yet," says His Lordship, " if in East Lothian they did not leave a higher stubble than in
other places of the kingdom, their grounds would be in a much worse condition than at present they
are, though bad enough. A good crop of corn makes a good stubble, and a good stubble is the equaUest
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 131
mucking that is." Among the advantages of enclosures, he observes, " you will gain much more labour
from your servants, a great part of whose time was taken up in gathering thistles, and other garbage, for
their horses to feed upon in their stables ; and thereby the great trampling and pulling up, and other
destruction of the corns, while they are yet tender, will be prevented." Potatoes and turnips are recom.
mended to be sown in the yard (kitchen-garden). Clover does not seem to have been known. Rents
were paid in corn ; and, for the largest farm, which he thinks should employ no more than two ploughs,
the rent was " about six chalders of victual, when the ground is very good, and four in that which is
not so good. But I am most fully convinced they should take long leases or tacks, that they may not be
straitened with time in the improvement of their rooms (farms) ; and this is profitable both for master
and tenant."
804. Maxwell's Select Transactions of the Society of Improvers of the Knowledge of Agriculture in
Scotland was published in 1743 (see 793.), and his Practical Husbandtnan, in 1757, including an Essay on
the Husbandry of Scotland. In the latter he lays it down as a rule, that it is bad husbandry to take two
crops of grain successively, which marks a considerable progress in the knowledge of modern culture ;
though he adds that, in Scotland, the best husbandmen after a fallow take a crop of wheat ; after the
wheat, peas, then barley, and then oats ; and after that they fallow again. The want of enclosures was
still a matter of complaint. The ground continued to be cropped so long as it produced two seeds for
one ; the best farmers were contented with four seeds for one, which was more than the general produce.
In 1765, A Treatise on Agriculture was published by the Rev. Adam Dickson, minister of Dunse, in Ber.
wickshire, which was decidedly the best work on tillage which had then appeared in the Enghsh language,
and is stiU held in esteem among the practical farmers of Scotland. In 1777, Lord Kaimes published The
Gentleman Farmer, being an attempt to improve agriculture by subjecting it to the test of rational prin-
ciples. His Lordship was a native of Berwickshire j and had been accustomed to farm in that country
for several years, and afterwards at Blair Drummond, near Stirling. This work was in part a compilation,
and in part the result of his observation ; and was of essential service to the cause of agriculture in Scot-
land. In 1778, appeared Wight's Present State of Husbandry in Scotland. This is a valuable work ; but
the volumes not appearing but at intervals of some years, it was of less benefit than might have been
expected. In 1783, Dr. Anderson published his Essays relating to Agriculture and rural AJtairs ; a work
of science and ingenuity, which did much good both in Scotland and England. In 1810, appeared The
Husbandry of Scotland, and, in 1815, The General Report of the Agricultural State and Political Circum-
stances of Scotland, both by Sir John Sinclair, and excellent works. The Code of Agjiculture, by the
same patriotic and indefatigable character, has been noticed as belonging to English publications on
agriculture. (801.)
805. Agricultural Periodicals. — The Farmers Magazine; a quarterly work, exclu-
sively devoted to agriculture and rural affairs, was commenced in 1800, and has done
more to enlighten both the proprietors and tenantry of Scotland than any other book
vj^hich has appeared. It was at first conducted jointly by Robert Brown, farmer of
Markle ; and Robert Somerville, M. D. of Haddington. Afterwards, on Dr. Somer-
ville's death, by Brown alone ; and subsequently, on the latter gentleman's declining it,
by James Cleghorn, one of the most scientific agriculturists of Scotland. The frequent
recurrence that will be made to The Farmer s Magazine in the course of this work, will
show the high value which we set on it. In November 1825, this work terminated with
the 26th volume, and has since been succeeded by The Farmer s Register and Monthly
Magazine, and The Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, in Scotland ; and by The British
Farmer's Magazine in England. The Farmer's Journal is the first agricultural news-
paper which appeared in Britain; it was commenced in 1808, and is still continued.
The Irish Farmers Journal was commenced in 1812, but discontinued for want of
patronage in 1 827. The names and writings of all the British agricultural authors,
with abridged biographies of all such as could be procured, will be found in chro-
nological order in Chap. IV. of Book I. of Part IV. of this work. (See Contents or
Index. )
806. A j)rofessorship of agriculture was established in the university of Edinburgh, in
1790, and the professor. Dr. Andrew Coventry, is well known as a man of superior
qualifications for fulfilling its duties. Professorships of agriculture, and even of hor-
ticulture, or rather of culture in general, are said to be partly provided for, and partly in
contemplation, both in Oxford and Cambridge. The professor of botany in the London
University, John Lindley, in the Prospectus of his Lectures, announces " the application
of the laws of Vegetable Physiology to the arts of Agriculture and Horticulture."
Sect. IV. Of the Rise, Progress, and present State of Agriculture in Ireland.
807. Of the agriculture of Ireland very little is known up to a recent period. With a
soil singularly prolific in pasture, and rather humid for the easy management of grain,
it is probable that sheep and cattle would be the chief rural products for many cen-
turies. In the twelfth century and earlier, various religious establishments were
founded, and then it is most probable tillage on something like the Roman mode of
culture would be introduced. The monks, says O'Connor, fixed their habitations in
deserts, which they cultivated with their own hands, and rendered them the most delight-
ful spots in the kingdom.
808. During the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, the English were obliged
to suppress the numerous rebellions of their Irish subjects by war, and the forfeited
estates of the rebels would in part be divided among the troops. This might end in
introducing some agricultural improvements ; but there is no evidence that such was
effected before the time of Elizabeth, when the enormous demesnes of the Earl of
Desmond were forfeited, and divided amongst a number of English undertakers, as they
were called, who entered into a stipulation to plant a certain number of English families
K 2
132 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
on their estates, in proportion to the number of acres. Among others who received
portions were, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Spenser, the poet. The former is said to have
then introduced the potato.
809. The reign of James I. was one of comparative tranquillity for Ireland: the power
of the judges, and of the English government, was extensively fixed ; the Irish laws
and customs were abolished, and the English laws were established in all cases without
exception, through the whole island. Numerous colonies were also sent from England
and Scotland, especially the latter, to occupy the forfeited estates ; and seven northern
counties were wholly allotted to undertakers. This was called the " plantation of
Ulster," and was attended by the introduction of an improved agriculture, and by the
linen manufacture, which is still carried on by the descendants of the first colonists in the
same counties.
810. The city of London participated in this distribution of land. The corporation
having accepted of large grants in the county of Deny, they engaged to expend
20,000/. on the plantation ; to build the cities of Derry and Colerain, and at the same
time stipulated for such privileges as might make their settlement convenient and re-
spectable. Under a pretence of protecting this infant settlement, or perhaps with a
view of raising money, the king instituted the order of Irish baronets, or knights of
Ulster ; from each of whom, as was done in Scotland with respect to the knights of Nova
Scotia, he exacted a certain sum, as the price of the dignity conferred. (Wakefeld.)
811. Of the husbandry of Londonderry a curious account was published about a
century ago, by the archbishop of Dublin. He states that there was little wheat grown,
and that of very inferior quality ; the soil being considered as unsuitable to its production.
Potatoes remained three or four years in the ground, reproducing a crop, which at the
best was a very deficient one. Lime was procured by burning sea shells. The appli-
cation of them in an unburnt state arose from accident. A poor curate, destitute of the
means for burning the sea shells which he had collected, more with a view to remove an
evidence of his poverty, than in any hope of benefit, spread them on his ground. The
success which attended the experiment occasioned surprise, and insured a rapid and
general adoption of the practice. ( Wakefield.) The improvements made since the period
of which the archbishop treats, Curwen remarks, are undoubtedly very considerable :
and whilst we smile at the very subordinate state of agriculture at that time, may we not
on reasonable ground expect that equal progress will at least be made in this century as
in the last? {Letters on Ireland, vol. ii. p. 246.)
812. A considerable impulse was given to the agriculture of Ireland after the rebellion of
1641, which was quelled by Cromwell, as commander of the parliamentary army in 1652.
Most of the officers of this army were yeomen, or the sons of English country gentlemen ;
and they took pleasure in instructing the natives in the agricultural practices to which
they were accustomed at home. Afterwards, when Cromwell assumed the protectorship,
he made numerous grants to his soldiers, many of whom settled in Ireland ; and their
descendants have become men of consideration in the country. Happily these grants
were confirmed at the restoration. Some account of the state of culture in that country
at this time, and of the improvements which it was deemed desirable to introduce, will
be found in Hartlib's Legacy.
813. The establishment of the Dublin Society in 1749 gave the next stimulus to agri-
culture and general industry in Ireland. The origin of the Dublin Society may be
dated from 1731, when a number of gentlemen, at the head of whom was Prior of Rath-
downey. Queen's county, associated themselves together for the purpose of improving
the agriculture and husbandry of their country. In 1749, Prior, through the interest
of the then lord-lieutenant, procured a grant of 10,000/. per annum, for the better pro-
motion of its views. Miss Plumtree considers this the first association ever formed in
the British dominions expressly for such purposes ; but the Edinburgh Agricultural
Society, as we have seen (793.), was founded in 1723.
814. Arthur Young^s Toiir in Ireland was published in 1780, and probably did more
good than even the Dublin Society. In this work he pointed out the folly of the bounty
on the inland carriage of corn. His recommendation on this subject was adopted ; and,
according to Wakefield, " from that hour may be dated the commencement of extended
tillage in Ireland." (Wakefield's Statistical Account s Curwen s Letters.)
815. The state of agriculture of Ireland, in the beginning of the present century, is given
with great clearness and ability in the supplement to the Encyclopcedia Britannica ; and
from that source we have selected the following condensed account : —
816. The climate of Ireland is considerably more mild than that of England, and the
southern and western part of the island greatly more so than the northern. The difference
in this respect, indeed, is greater than can be explained by the difference of latitude ;
and is probably ovnng to the immediate vicinity of the western ocean. On the mountains
of Kerry, and in Bantry Bay, the arbutus and some other shrubs grow in great luxu-
riance, which are not to be met with again till the traveller reaches the Alps of Italy. The
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 133
snow in these parts of the island seldom lies for any time, and frost hardly ever continues
beyond a few days, and while it lasts it is by no means intense. The mildness and hu-
midity of the atmosphere produce a luxuriance and rapidity of growth in vegetation, to
which no other part of the empire can afford any parallel ; and this appears in the most
remarkable manner in the ivy, and other evergreens, with which the kingdom abounds.
These are not only much more plentiful, but far more luxuriant, and of much quicker
growth, than in the most favoured parts of Great Britain. To those who are accustomed
to the dry weather of this island, the continued rains of the south and west of Ireland are
extremely disagreeable ; but it is to this peculiarity in their climate, that the Irish have
to attribute the richness of their pasturage, an advantage which, coupled with the re-
markable dryness and friability of the soil, points, in an unequivocal manner, to a rotation
of crops, in which grazing should occupy a principal place.
817. The territorial surface of Ireland affords a pleasing variety, consisting in some
parts of rich and fertile plains, in others of little hills and acclivities, which succeed one
another in frequent succession. The most elevated ground is to be found in the bog of
Allan. Its height above the sea does not exceed 270 feet, yet, from this ridge, the
waters of the rivers run to the different seas. This elevated ground is connected with the
principal mountains of Ireland, diverging in the north from the hills of Tyrone, and
leading in tlie soutli to those of Sleeve Bloom and the Galtees. The chains of moun-
tains are neither numerous nor considerable ; the most remarkable are, the Kerry
mountains, those of Wicklow, the Sleeve Bloom chain between the King's and Queen's
county, and the mountains of Mourne, in the south of the province of Ulster.
818. The soil of Ireland is, generally speaking, a fertile loam, with a rocky sub-
stratum ; although there are many exceptions to this description, and many varieties.
Generally speaking, it is rather shallow ; to which cause the frequent appearance of
rocks near the surface, or at no considerable depth, is to be attributed. It possesses a much
greater proportion of fertile land, in proportion to its extent, than either England or Scot-
land. Not only is the island blessed with this extent of cultivable ground, but it is
almost all of such a quality as to yield luxuriant crops, with little or no cultivation. Sand
does not exist except on the sea shore. Tenacious clay is unknown, at least near the
surface. Great part of the land of Ireland throws up a luxuriant herbage, without any
depth of soil, or any skill on the part of the husbandman. The county of Meath, in
particular, is distinguished by the richness and fertility of its soil ; and, in Limerick and
Tipperary, there is a dark, friable, sandy loam, which, if preserved in a clean state, will
yield crops of corn several years in succession. It is equally well adapted for grazing as
for arable crops, and seldom experiences either a winter too wet, or a summer too dry.
The vales in many of the bleakest parts of the kingdom, as Donegal and Tyrone, are
remarkable for their richness of soil and luxuriance of vegetation, which may be often
accounted for by the deposition of the calcareous soil, washed down by the rains of
winter, which spreads the richest manure over the soil below, without subjecting the
farmer to any labour. {Wakefeld, i. 79, 80.)
8 1 9. The bogs, or peat mosses, of Ireland, form a remarkable feature of the country,
and have been proved by the parliamentary commissioners to be of great extent. They
estimate the whole bogs of the kingdom at 2,330,000 acres, English. These bogs, for
the most part, lie together. In form, they resemble a great broad belt, drawn across the
centre of Ireland, with its narrowest end nearest to the capital, and gradually extending
in breadth as it approaches the western ocean. The bog of Allan is not one contiguous
morass, but this name is indiscriminately applied to a great number of bogs, detached
from each other, and often divided by ridges of dry country. These bogs are not, in
general, level, but most commonly of an uneven surface, swelling into hills, and di-
vided by valleys, which afford the greatest facility to their being drained and improved.
In many places, particularly in the district of Allan, the rivulets wliich these inequalities
of surface produce have worn their channels through the substance of the bog, down to
the clay or limestone gravel beneath ; dividing the bog into distinct masses, and pre-
senting, in themselves, the most proper situations for the main drains, for which pur-
pose, with the assistance of art, they may be rendered effectual.
820. The commissioners employed by government to report on the bogs of Ireland found three distinct
growths of timber immersed below three distinct strata ot bog. The timber was perfectly sound, though
deprived of its bark, which has communicated its antiputrescent quality to the water, and of course has
preserved every thing embedded in the mass ; though, as Miss Plumtree remarks, without " any thing
like a process of tanning ever taking place." The bogs of Ireland are never on low ground, and have
therefore evidently originated from the decay of woody tracts. {Plumtree^s Residence in Ireland.)
821. Landed properti/ in Ireland is more generally in large estates of some thousands
of acres, than in small ones ; but in its occupation it is subdivided in a degree far beyond
any thing which occurs in any other part of the empire. In some counties, as Mayo for
example, there are upwards of 15,000 freeholders on properties of not more than 40s.
K 3
l*^! HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
value, and who are perhaps not worth 10/. each. These are, for the most part, tenants
of the great proprietors, possessing a life interest in their little farm.
822. In Ireland there are no manorial lights separable from the right to the soil, as
in England, nor legal poor rates, which are circumstances materially in favour of the for-
mer country. ( Wakejield, i. 242. )
823. Leases are generally of long endurance ; and three lives, or thirty-one years, is a
common rate. The price of land varies in different parts of Ireland. In the neighbour-
hood of Belfast, and thence to Armagh, it brings thirty years' purchase ; in the greatest
part of the island it does not exceed twenty ; and, in the richest districts, it may often
be bought for sixteen or eighteen. The exposure of landed estates to public sale takes
place very seldom, which is, perhaps, one cause of their not bringing so high a price as
they would otherwise do. ( Wakejield.)
824. Farming in Ireland is, generally speaking, in a very backward state. With
a few exceptions, such as the county of Meath, and some other well cultivated dis-
tricts, the farmers are destitute of capital, and labour small crofts, which they hold of
middlemen interposed between them and the landlord. The fact that in Ireland
the landlord never lays out any thing upon repairs or buildings, coupled with the general
inability of the farmer to do either in a substantial manner, is very significant as to the
state of agriculture. {Tighe's Surveij of Kilkenny, 412. ; Wakejield, i. 244.) But the
worst features of the rural economy of this island are the entire want of capital in the
fanners, and the complete indifference of the landlord to the character, wealth, or indus-
try of his tenant. " Capital," says Wakefield, "is considered of so little importance in
Ireland, that advertisements constantly appear in the newspapers, in which it is stated,
that the preference will certainly be given to the highest bidder. Bargains are con-
stantly made with a beggar, as a new tenant, who, offering more rent, invariably turns
out the old one, however industrious."
825. The rent of land in Ireland from these causes, coupled with the excessive com-
petition of the peasantry for small faniis, as their only means of subsistence, has risen to
a great height. (Townsend's Cork, 218. ; Wakejield, i. 582.)
826. Ireland is divided, by Wakejield, into nine agricultural districts, in each of which
the mode of culture is somewhat different from what it is in the others.
827. The first district comprehends the flat parts of Antrim ; the eastern side of Tyrone, Down, Armagh,
Monaghan, and Cavan. Throughout this district, the farms are extremely small, and the land is ge-
nerally dug with a spade. Potatoes, flax, and oats are the crops usually cultivated, and these are grown
till the land is exhausted, and suffered to " lie at rest," as they term it, till its strength is recruited by
the cow, the goat, two or three sheep, and the poultry lying upon it for some years. The ploughs used in
this district are of the rudest structure, and perform their work in the most slovenly manner. Three ot
four neighbours unite their strength to each plough, every one bringing his horse, his bullock, or his cow.
All the other operations of agriculture are performed in an equally slovenly manner. The little wheat
that is raised is " lashed," as they call it ; that is, the grain is knocked out by striking the sheaf across a
beam placed above a cloth : it is, however, afterwards threshed with a flail. The operation of threshing
usually takes place in the highway, and it is dressed by letting it fall from a kind of sieve, which, during
a pretty strong wind, is held breast-high by a woman. Many cottiers in this district have a cabin with no
land attached to it. They hire an acre or two, for grass or potato land, from some cottier in their vicinity.
The custom of hiring labourers is unknown. The neighbours all assist each other in their more con.
siderable occupations, such as sowing and reaping. The dwellings here are miserably small ; often too
small to contain the numerous families that issue from their doors. Land is every where divided into the
most minute portions. ( Wakefield, i. 363. ; Duhourdicu's Down, 39.)
828. Under the second district may be comprised the northern part of Antrim, Londonderry, the north
and west of Tyrone, and the whole of Donegal. Agriculture here is in a worse state than in the pre-
ceding district. There is no clover, and hardly any wheat.
829. Ttie third district comprehends the northern parts of Fermanagh. Here the farms are much larger
than in the former, and the agricultural system pursued far superior. They plant potatoes on a lea,
twice reversing the lands ; and flax, oats, and weeds constitute the course. Some wheat is grown, but
oats still form the prevalent crop. In the neighbourhood of Enniskillen, the farmers are so rich as to be
able to eat butcher's meat daily, and drink smuggled wine. ( Wakefield, i. 379.)
830. The fourth district comprehends Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Clare, and parts of Roscommon, and
Longford. In some parts of this district the spade culture is pursued ; but, in general, the land is
cultivated by a plough drawn by four horses abreast. In Roscommon, the old custom of yoking the
horses by the tail is still continued ; although, as early as 1634, an act of parliament was passed against
this absurd practice. {Life of the Duke of Ormond, i. 79.) Oats are chiefly raised in this district, and,
along the coast, barley is cultivated. A large portion of the rent depends on the illegal distilleries,
and much of the district is let on lease to several persons jointly, according to the village system.
{lUd., i. 381.)
831. In the fifth district, which comprehends Limerick, Kerry, the south side and northern part of
Cork, and the county of Waterford, cultivation is in a very rude state ; little corn is grown here, with
the exception of the southern part of Cork. Land is extremely divided, and the farms very small The
greater part is a grazing country. {Ibid., i. 387.)
832. The sixth district includes the southern parts of Cork. The spade culture is here almost universal,
and the farms unusually small. Hogs constitute the main support of the poor. (Townsend's Cork, 194.)
833. The seventh district includes part of Tipperary, with Queen's county and King's county. The best
farming in Ireland is observable in this district ; a systematic course of husbandry being pursued, by
which the land is kept in good heart. Oxen and horses are used in the plough, and hedgerows and good
wheat fallows are to be seen. Near Roscrea the cultivation of turnips is followed, and they succeed well.
Ninety acres are considered a large farm. Leases are generally for three lives. {Wakefield, i, 398.)
8.34. The eighth district comprises Wexford and a part of Wicklow. Beans are here sometimes intro-
duced into cultivation, but they are sown broadcast, and never hoed. The mode of ploughing is very
awkward : one man holds the plough, another leads the horse, and a third sits on it to keep it down.
Notwithstanding this rude culture, however, the rents are enormous, owing to the demand for land
created by an excessive population, who, if they had not a portion of land to grow potatoes (getting no
employment), could not live. {Ibid., i 407.)
Boor I. AGRICULTURE IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 135
835. The ninth district comprehends the northern part of Kilkenny, Kildare, the cultivated parts of
Westmeath, Meath, and Louth. Wheat here enters into the system of culture, but the preparatory
fallows are very bad. Clover has been introduced into the district, but under the bad system of sowing
it upon land exhausted, and covered by weeds. Farms are large, and the mode of culture similar to what
is pursued in England, though the details are executed in a slovenly manner. {Ibid., i. 413.)
836. The agricultural implements and operations used in Ireland are all of the rudest
construction. The plough, the spade, the flail, the car, all equally partake of imper-
fections and defects. The fallows are not well attended to ; three ploughings are usually
deemed sufl[icient, and, from the imperfection of the plough, the ground at the end is
generally full of weeds. Trenching land is very general ; they form it into beds, and
shovel out a deep trench between them, throwing up the earth. The expense of this
operation is about eight shillings an acre. Wheat, as will be seen from the preceding
details, is not by any means generally cultivated. It is unknown in Monaghan, Tyrone,
Derry, Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Leitrim, and Cavan, though it is grown to a consider-
able extent in Kilkenny, Carlow, Dublin, Meath, Louth, and parts of Limerick,
lipperary, Clare, and Cork. It is generally sown after potatoes or fallow. The Irish
wheat is, for the most part, coarse and of inferior quality, and does not yield so much
saccharine matter by twenty per cent, as the English. (^Ibid., i. 429. 442.)
837. Barley is ?nore generalbj cultivated in Ireland thaii wheat, and it is generally sown
after potatoes. Oats, however, constitute the species of grain most extensively raised ;
it is calculated that, throughout the whole kingdom, there are ten acres of oats sown for
one of any other species of com. The Irish oats, however, are decidedly inferior to
the English.
838. The potatoes of Ireland have long been celebrated, both on account of their
quantity and excellent qualities : they are cultivated on every species of soil, either in
drills or lazy beds. Potato land lets from six pounds six shillings to ten pounds ten
shillings per acre ; and the expense of culture, including rent, varies from thirteen
pounds to sixteen pounds per acre. The produce is from eight hundred stone to one
thousand stone the acre, at twenty-one pounds to the stone j that is, from sixteen
thousand eight hundred to twenty-one thousand pounds. {Ibid., i. 450.)
839. The indigenous grasses of Ireland axe not of any peculiar excellence. Notwith-
standing all that has been said of the florin grass, its excellence and utility may be called
in question. Tlieir hay is seldom from sown grasses, generally consisting of the spon-
taneous produce of the soil. Clover is almost unknown. Newenham calculates that
there are not five thousand acres under this crop in the whole island. {^Newenham, 314. ;
Wakefield, i. 467.)
840. There are few live hedges in Ireland ; in the level stone districts, stone walls, and
in other places turf banks, are the usual fences.
841. The dairy is the most extensive and the best managed part of Irish husbandry.
Kerry, Cork, Waterford, Carlow, Meath, Westmeath, Longford, and Fermanagh, as
well as the mountains of Leitrim and Sligo, are principally occupied by dairy farms.
Butter is the chief produce. The average number of cows on a dairy farm amounts to
thirty or forty ; three acres of land, of middling quality, are deemed necessary for the sub-
sistence of each cow. A cow produces on an average eight quarts in twenty-four hours in
summer, and five in winter ; four good milkers will yield a quarter of a cwt. of butter
in a week. The best butter is made in Carlow ; the worst in Limerick and Meath.
Generally speaking, the Irish are very cleanly in making this article ; and it is exported
to England, the East and West Indies, and Portugal. {Wakefield, i. 325. et seq.) The
art of salting butter, Chaptal observes, is better known in Ireland than in any other
country. {Chimie applique d V Agriculture.) The grazing of Ireland is not, as in
England, a part of the regular rotation of crops, but is carried on in a country exclusively
devoted to the breeding of cattle, like the highlands of Scotland. Great tracts of the
country also are devoted to the grazing of sheep. Roscommon, Galway, Clare, Limerick,
and Tipperary are the chief breeding counties for sheep ; and Galway, Clare, Roscom-
mon, Tipperary, and Meath are the places where they are fattened. The sheep are of
the long-woolled kind, and very large : they are never kept in sheepfolds, and hardly
ever fed on turnips ; which is chiefly owing to the very limited demand for mutton
among the labouring people. {Ibid., i. 341.)
842. The depressed state of the agriculture of Ireland is considered as proceeding from
the depressed state of the people. The main cause of their suffenngs is traced by most
writers (Young, Dewar, Newenham, Wakefield, Curwen, &c.) to the redundancy of
population. In 1791, the population of the whole kingdom amounted to 4,200,000 per-
sons, and it increases at the rate of one forty-sixth part per annum ; or, in other words,
it doubles itself every forty-six years. As might be expected in a country where the
increase in the number of mankind has so far outstripped the progress of its wealth, and
the increase of its industry, the condition of the people is in every department marked by
extreme indigence. {Dewar, 91. ; Yoimg, ii. 123.) The houses in which they dwell,
the furniture in their interior, their clothing, food, and general way of life, all equally
K 4
136 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
indicate the poverty of the country. The dress of the people is so wretched, that, to
a person who has not visited the country, it is almost inconceivable. The Irish poor,
indeed, have no conception of the comforts of life ; and, if they felt their full value, they
could not afford them, for though necessaries are cheap, conveniences of all sorts are very
dear.
843. But while the Irish poor are in general destitute of all the accommodations, they
hardly ever, except in years of extraordinary distress, know what it is to want the absolute
necessaries, of life. The unsparing meal of potatoes, at which the beggar, the pig, the
dog, the poultry, and the children seem equally welcome, seldom fails the Irish
labourer.
844. Hence the laziness of the lower Irish. Limited as their wants are to the mere sup-
port of animal life, they do not engage in labour with that persevering industry which
artificial desires inspire ; and the mode in which they are often paid, that is, giving
them a piece of potato land by the year, at once furnishes the means of subsistence, and
takes away every stimulus to farther exertion. The farm -servants of the English or
Scotch farmers, who carry on agriculture upon the iinproved system, are constantly em-
ployed in some species of labour ; but, after the potatoes of the Irish cottier are planted,
tliere is hardly any thing to be done about his little croft till the season of digging ar-
rives. During a great portion of the year he is doomed to idleness, and the habits he
acquires during the long periods of almost total inaction, are too strong to be overcome
when he is transferred to a more regular occupation. Such is the condition of the
labouring classes.
845. Ireland exhibits an assemblage of the ynost contradictory circumstances. It is a
country in which, under the most distressing circumstances, population has advanced
with the most rapid pace, in which cultivation has advanced without wealth, and education
without diffusing knowledge ; where the peasantry are more depressed, and yet can ob-
tain subsistence with greater facility, than in any other country of Europe. Their
miserable condition will not appear surprising, when the numerous oppressions to which
they are subject are taken into consideration.
846. In the foremost rank of their many grievances, the general prevalence of middle-
men must be placed. It is difficult to estimate the extent of the misery which the system
of letting and subletting land has brought upon the Irish cultivators. Middlemen have,
in every countiy, been the inseparable attendants of absent proprietors : and in such a
country as Ireland, where there are numbers of disaffected persons in every quarter, the
vigilant eye of a superior inspector is more particularly required.
847. The system of under-letting lands often proves a great evil in Ireland. By the law
of England, the landlord is entitled to (Hstrain for payment of rent, not only the stock
which belongs to his immediate tenant, but the crop or stock of a subtenant ; on the
principle that whatever grows on the soil ought to be a security to the landlord for his rent :
and in Scotland the same rule holds where the landlord has not authorised the subtack ;
but if he has, the subtenant is free when he has paid to the principal tenapt. There is
little hardship in such a rule in England, where the practice of subletting is, generally
speaking, rare ; but when applied to Ireland, where middlemen are universal, it becomes
the source of infinite injustice ; for the cultivator being liable to have his crop and stock
distrained on account of the tenant from whom he holds, and there being often many
tenants interposed between him and the landlord, he is thus perpetually liable to be dis-
trained for arrears not his own. The tenant, in a word, can never be secure, though lie has
faithfully paid his rent to his immediate superior ; because he is still liable to have every
thing which he has in the world swept off by an execution for arrears due by any of the
many leaseholders, who may be interposed between him and the landlord. It is obvious
that such a system must prevent the growth of agricultural capital : this, joined to the
exactions of the middlemen, has been the true cause of the universal prevalence of the
cottage system, and the minute subdivision of farms.
848. The tithes in Ireland have long been collected with a severity of which hardly
any European state furnishes an example. This has arisen from the wealth and influence
of the clergy, joined to the destitute situation of their parishioners. They fall, by the
law of that country, only on the tillage land ; the greater part of which is held by cottier
tenants ; and thus the rich are exempted from bearing their share of the burden.
849. Another grievance, though not so extensive, is the fine imposed upon a township, for
having had the misfortune to have a seizure for illicit distillation made within its bounds.
850. These evils have been attended with the usual depressing effects of oppression. They
have prevented the growth of any artificial wants, or any desire of bettering tlieir con-
dition, among the mass of the people. Despised by their superiors, and oppressed by all
to whom they might naturally have looked for protection, the Irish have felt only the
natural instincts of their being. Among the Presbyterians of the north, and the pea-
santry in the vicinity of manufactming towns, who are to a certain extent educated,
higher notions of comfort may have imposed some restraint on the principle of popu-
lation J but the humiliated poor of other parts, enjoying no respectability or consideration
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 137
in society, have sought only the means of subsistence ; and finding, without difficulty,
potatoes, milk, and a hovel, have overspread the land w^ith a w^retched ofTspring.
851. To these causes of a redundant population, of which the government of the
country is, directly or indirectly, the source, are to be added others of a different kind.
852. The first is the influence of the parish priests, who encourage marriage, in order to increase their
own emoluments, and the superstition of the people, who regard it as a religious duty.
853. The second cause is, the general ignorance of the people.
85't. On the influence of education, in restraining the tendency to early and imprudent marriage, it
would be superfluous in this place to enlarge.
855. Various other circumstances have combined to multiply to a great degree the
facilities of population, and to expand, in tliis country, beyond almost any other, the
means of subsistence.
856. The fertility of the country may be mentioned as one of the most obvious of these
circumstances. The soil of Ireland is in general so rich, that it will yield an alternate
crop of wheat and potatoes for ever, without any very great labour, and with little manure.
The introduction of the potato, and its singular adaptation to the soil and climate of
Ireland, are other concurring causes. An acre of potatoes, according to Newenham, will
yield four times as much nourishment as one of wheat. By thus expanding the means
of human subsistence, the potato has greatly promoted the population of Ireland ; but
as the able writer, from whom we have selected the above remarks, observes, " unless
the people are predisposed, from other causes, to press upon the means of subsistence,
it has no tendency to augment their redundance. Under the government and political
institutions of the Irish, the population of the country would have been equally redundant,
though much smaller that it now is, if they had lived on oats or wheaten bread. The
introduction of the potato may be the cause why the population is now six in place of
three millions : but it is not the cause why, during the whole period of this increase,
the numbers of the people have been greater than, under existing circumstances, could
be comfortably maintained." {Sup' EncyC' Brit., art. Ireland.)
857. That agriculture has made considerable progress in Ireland since the above was
written, nearly twenty years ago, is obvious from the increased exports of wheat and
other grain from her ports ; but it may be questioned whether during this period any
advance has taken place in the comforts of the general mass of her population. It is a
remarkable fact, that in the year 1823, when great numbers of the labouring class in
Ireland were starving from a failure in the potato crop, and when large subscriptions
were raising in England, and even on the Continent, for their relief, the exportation of
grain was going on from Cork and other Irish ports, as if nothing had happened. Be-
fore much improvement can take place in the condition of the mass of Irrsh population,
it is necessary that they should possess such a taste for the comforts of life as will restrain
the principle of population, by lessening the number of early marriages, or inducing
that degree of restraint rendered expedient by a prudent foresight. At present nothing
more is necessary for the happiness of an Irish country labourer and his family than straw
and potatoes : if these fail him he is lost, because he can fall no lower j if any thing is su-
peradded to his means, it only increases the desire for these necessaries, produces a greater
number of children, and creates an additional demand for straw and potatoes. It is gratify-
ing, however, to be able to state that the time seems arrived for the introduction of domestic
improvement among the peasantry of Ireland. At no former period has the British
government manifested so much anxiety to discover the real causes of Che miseries which
afflict that country, and in every session of parliament some enactments are made for its
amelioration. The enlightened principles of political economy which are now acted on
by ministers, and the knowledge of this science which within these few years has spread
among all classes, cannot fail to bring Ireland rapidly forward in civilisation and refine-
ment ; and we wish it may be to such a degree, as in a very few years to render the
account which we have above given mere matter of history. No one can desire this
result more ardently than we do.
Chap. VI.
Of the present State of Agriculture in Ultra-European Countries.
858. In this department of our huttory the reader will not expect more than a very slight
outline ; not only from our limited space and the comparative scarcity of materials, but
because the subject is less interesting to general readers. We shall notice in succession
the principal countries of Asia, Africa, Australia, and America.
138 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I
Sect. I, Of the present State of Agriculture in Asia.
859. The agricvJture of Asia is of a very different character from that of Europe,
owing chiefly to the great difference of climate, and partly to the difference of civili-
sation. The culture of this division of the globe is chiefly of two kinds, water culture
and pasturage. Very little can be done without artificial watering, except in the
northern and mountainous parts, where the climate resembles that of Europe. Even
the palm and other fruit trees are watered in some parts of Persia and Arabia, and
several fruit trees are regularly irrigated in India. The grand bread corn of Asia is rice,
a watered grain ; and the most valuable fruits, those of the palm family ; the most
useful agricultural labourer is the ox, and his species are also the most valuable as pastur-
age animals.
SuBSECT. 1. Of the present State of Agriculture in Asiatic Turkey.
860. Asiatic Turkey extends from the Archipelago 1050 miles to Ararat in Persia on
the east, and from the Euphrates 1100 miles to the Caucasian mountains on the north.
It contains a number of provinces differing materially from each other in natural circum-
stances, and artificial culture ; but, unfortunately for us, very little is known of their
agriculture. In general, the Asiatic Turks are to be considered as a wandering and pas-
toral people, cultivating no more corn than what is suflScient for their own maintenance ;
and scarcely half civilised.
861. The climate of Asia Minor has been always considered excellent. The heat of
the summer is tempered by numerous chains of high mountains, some of which are covered
constantly with snow. The aspect of Asiatic Turkey is mountainous, intermingled with
spacious and beautiful plains, which afford pasture to the numerous flocks and herds of
the Turkomans. The soil is varied; but the chief agricultural products are wheat,
barley, and doura (millet). It abounds also with grapes, olives, and dates. In Syi-ia, the
agriculture is deplorable, and the peasants are in a wretched condition, being sold, as in
Poland, with the soil, and their constant fare being barley bread, onions, and water.
862. The numerous mountains of Asiatic Turkey are frequently clothed with immense
forests of pines, oaks, beeches, elms, and other trees ; and the southern shores of the Black
Sea present many gloomy forests of great extent. The inhabitants are hence supplied with
abundance of fuel, in defect of pit-coal, which has not been explored in any part of
Asiatic Turkey. Sudden conflagrations arise from the heed-
less waste of the caravans, which, instead of cutting off a few
branches, often set fire to a standing tree. The extensive
provinces of Natolia, Syria, and Mesopotamia have been little
accessible to European curiosity, since their reduction under
the Turkish yoke. In Pinkerton's Geography we have a
catalogue of those plants and trees that have been found wild
in the Asiatic part of the Ottoman territory. Several dyeing
drugs and articles of the materia medica are imported from ^^
the Levant, among which are madder, and a variety called
alizan, which grows about Smyrna, and affords a much finer
red dye than the European kind ; jalap, scammony, sebesten,
the ricinus (JRicinus communis, ^g. 105.) yielding by expres-
sion castor oil, squirting cucumber, coloquintida, opium
poppy, and spikenard. The best horses in Asiatic Turkey
are of Arabian extraction ; but mules and asses are more gene-
rally used. Tlie beef is scarce and bad, the mutton superior,
and the kid a favourite repast. Other animals are the bear,
tiger, hyaena, wild boar, jackal, and dogs in great abundance. On the summits of Cau-
casus is found the ibex, or rock-goat; at Angora, singular goats and cats ; the gazel,
deer, and hares in great abundance, are found in Asia Minor. The partridges are gene-
rally of the red-legged kind, larger than the European ; fish is plentiful and excellent.
SuBSECT. 2. Of the jjresent State of Agriculture in Persia.
863. The climate of Persia is various in different parts ; depending less on difference
of latitude than on the nature and elevation of the country, so that it is said to be the
country of three climates. The northern provinces on the Caspian are comparatively cold
and moist : in the centre of the kingdom, as Chardin observes, the winter begins in
November and continues till March, commonly severe, with ice and snow, the latter
falling chiefly on the mountains, and remaining on those three days' journey west of
Ispahan for eight months in the year. From March to May high winds are frequent ;
but from May to September the air is serene, refreshed by breezes in the night. The heat,
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN ASIA. 139
Iiowever, is during this period excessive in the low countries bordering on the Indian
Ocean and Persian Gulf, in Chusistan, the deserts of Kerman, and also in some parts of
the interior, particularly at Tehraun, the capital. From September to November the winds
again prevail. In the centre and south the air is generally dry ; thunder and lightning
are uncommon, and a rainbow is seldom seen ; earthquakes are almost unknown ; but
heat is often destructive in the spring. Near the Persian Gulf the hot wind, called
" samiel," sometimes suffocates the unwary traveller. The summers are, in general,
very mild, after ascending the mountains. To the north of Shiraz the winters are severe,
insomuch that, in the vicinity of Tehraun and Tabreez, all communication is cut off for
several successive weeks between these cities and the adjoining villages. The climate,
notwithstanding this sudden transition from heat to cold, is singularly healthy, with the
exception of the provinces of Ghilan, and Mazanderam. The air is dry ; the dews not
insalubrious. The atmosphere is always clear, and at night the planets shine with a
degree of lustre unknown in Europe ; and as it seldom rains, here are none of those
damps or pestiferous exhalations so common in the woody parts of Hindustan.
864. The surface of Persia is distinguished by a deficiency of rivers and a multitude
of mountains ; its plains, where they occur, are generally desert. So that Persia may be
divided into two parts by deserts and mountains ; and this division, it is said, has generally
influenced its history and destinies in all ages. It is every where open, and no where
presents a thriving populous appearance. Even the cities and their environs have some-
thing of desolation and decay in their aspect, and many of them are actually ruined or
neglected, of which Buschire and its territory {fig. 106.) is an example. The most fer-
tile and thriving provinces are those on the north.
.,r«^/^ lOG
865. The soil may be regarded as unfertile, and, according to Chardin, not more than
one tenth part was cultivated in his time. The mountains of this country, which are for
the most part rocky, vnthout wood or plants, are interspersed with valleys, some of which
are stony and sandy, and some consisting of a hard dry clay, which requires continual
watering ; and hence the Persian cultivator is much employed in irrigation. In general
the soil of Persia is light and sandy in the south and east ; hard and gravelly in the west,
and rich and loamy on the borders of the Caspian Sea.
866. The landed properti/ of Persia, like that of other despotic countries, is considered
as wholly the property of the sovereign ; and held by the proprietors and occupiers on
certain conditions of military service, and supplies of men and provisions in time of war.
867. The agricultural products of Persia are as various as the climate and soils. The
wheat is excellent, and is the common grain used in bread-making. Rice, which is in
more universal use, is produced in great perfection in the northern provinces, which are
well watered. Barley and millet are sown, but oats are little cultivated: in Armenia
there is some rye. llie vine is generally cultivated ; but in the north-west countries they
are obliged to bury the shoots to protect them from the frost. The silkworm is culti-
vated in most parts of the country ; cotton and indigo are also grown ; and no country in
the world equals Persia in the number and excellence of its fruits.
868. The date tree is grown in plantations in the proportion of fifty females to two
males. The natives begin to impregnate the females with the blossoms of the male in
March and April, alleging that their proximity is not sufficient to insure the produce of
fruit : this practice has been cai-ried on among them from the earliest ages. (Scot Waring^ $
Persia, chap, xxix.)
869. The most esteemed of the cultivated fruits of Europe are indigenous in Persia, and
have probably been hence diffused over the western world. These are the fig, the pome-
granate, the mulberry, the almond, peach, and apricot. Orange trees of an enormous
size are found in the sheltered recesses of the mountains, and the deep warm sand
on tlie shore of the Caspian is peculiarly favourable to the culture of tlie citron and the
leguminous fruits. Apples, pears, cherries, walnuts, melons, besides the fruits already
mentioned, are every where to be procured at very low prices ; the quinces of Ispahan are
140
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
the finest in the East ; and no grape is more delicious than that of Shiraz. In the pro-
vinces bordering on the Caspian Sea and Mount Caucasus, the air is perfumed with roses
and other sweet-scented flowers. Among the vegetable productions we may enumerate
cabbages, cucumbers, turnips, carrots, peas, and beans ; and the potato, which has been
lately introduced, thrives remarkably well. Poppies, from which an excellent opium is
extracted, senna, rhubarb, saffron, and assafcetida are produced in many parts of the king-
dom. The vine grows here luxuriantly, and further to the south cotton and sugar are
articles of common cultivation. Poplars, large and beautiful, and the weeping willow,
border the courses of the streams, and the marshy tracts abound with the kind of rush that
serves for the Persian matting. Ornamental shrubs or herbaceous plants are little known ;
but the jasmine and the blue and scarlet anemone in the tliickets, and the tulip and ra-
nunculus in the pastures, are abundant and beautiful, and give an air of elegance to
the country.
870. Tlie saline deserts of Persia are for the most part destitute of trees, and support
hardly any plants except such as are also found on the sea-shore. On the high moun-
tains they are much the same as those observed on the alps of Switzerland and Italy.
The plants on the hills and plains adjoining the Caspian are better known.
871. The live stock of Persia is the same as in European countries with some addi-
tions. According to Chardin, the Persian horses are the most beautiful in the East ;
but they yield in speed, and, as some say, in beauty also, to the Arabian ; however, they
are larger, more powerful, and, all things considered, better calculated for cavalry than
those of Arabia. There are several breeds of horses, but the most valuable is that called
the Turkoram ; these are so hardy that they have been known to travel nine hundred
miles in eleven successive days. The Arabian blood has been introduced into this
country. Their usual food is chopped straw and barley ; their bed is made of dung,
dried and pulverised, and every morning regularly exposed to the sun. They are clothed
with the greatest attention, according to the climate and season of the year ; and during
the warm weather are kept in the stable all day, and taken out at night.
872. Mules are also here in considerable request, and the ass resembles the Euro-
pean ; but a breed of this animal has been brought from Arabia, of an excellent kind,
the hair being smooth, the head high, and tlie motion spirited and agile. Although tlie
mules are small, they are fairly proportioned, carry a great weight, and those that are
intended for the saddle are taught a fine amble, which carries the rider at the rate of five
or six miles an hour. The camel (^^. 107.) is also common ; and the animals which
are exported from
Persia to Turkey
have, as Chardin
says, only one
hunch, while those
of India and Ara-
bia have two. The
Persian cattle in
general resemble
the European.
Swine are scarce,
except in the
north-west pro-
vinces. The flocks of sheep, among which are those with large tails, are most nume-
rous in the northern provinces of Erivan, or the Persian part of Armenia and Balk.
The few forests abound with deer and antelopes ; and the mountains supply wild goats,
and probably the ibex, or rock goat. Hares are common. The ferocious animals are
chiefly concealed in the forests, such as the bear and boar, the lion in the western parts,
the leopard, and, as some say, the small or common tiger. Seals occur on the rocks of
the Caspian. The hyaena and jackal belong to the southern provinces. The seas
abound with fish of various descriptions ; the Caspian affords sturgeon and delicious
carp. The most common river fish is the barbel. The same sorts of wild and tame
fowl are common in Persia and in Europe, with the exception of the turkey, whose
nature does not seem to be congenial to this climate. Pigeons are numerous, and par-
tridges are large and excellent. The bul-bul, or Oriental
nightingale, enlivens the spring with liis varied song.
The Persians have been long accustomed to tame beasts
of prey and even to hunt with lions, tigers, leopards,
panthers, and ounces.
873. The Persians hunt the quail in a curious manner. {Jig. 108.)
' They stick two poles in their girdle, upon which they place either
their outer coat, or a pair of trowsers, and these at a distance are
intended to look like the horns of an animal; they then with a
hand-net prowl about the fields, and the quail, seeing a form more like a beast than a man, permits it to
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN ASIA.
141
approach so near as to allow the hunter to throw his net over it. In this manner they catch these birds
with astonishing rapidity.
874. Of the implements and operations of Persian agricul-
ture little is known with precision. ITie plough is said to be
small, and drawn by lean cattle, so that it merely scratches the
ground. The plough of Erzerum [Jig. 109 ) is a clumsy
implement, on the share of which the driver stands, both for
the sake of being carried along and of pressing down the
wedge. After the plough and harrow the spade is used for
forming the ground into squares, with ledges or little banks to retain the water. The
dung used is chiefly human, and that of pigeons, mingled with earth and preserved for
two years to diminish its heat.
87.'?. The dung of
pigeons is so highly
prized in Persia that
many pigeon-houses
(^5. 110.) are erect-
ed at a distance from
habitations, for the
sole purpose of col-
lecting their ma-
nure. They are
large round towers,
rather broader at
the bottom than at
the top,and crowned
by conical spiracles through which the pigeons descend. Their interior resembles a
honeycomb, forming thousands of holes for nests ; and the outsides are painted and
ornamented. The dung is applied almost entirely to the rearing of melons, a fruit indis-
pensable to the natives of wann countries during the great heats of summer, and also the
most rapidly raised in seasons of scarcity ; and hence the reason that during the famine
of Samaria a cab of dove's dung was sold for five pieces of silver. (2 Kings, vi. 25.) In
Persia are grown the fines-t melons in Asia. The nobles pride themselves in excelling
in tliis fruit, and some are said to keep pigeons to the extent of 10,000, and upwards,
solely for their dung, as a manure for this fruit, the pigeon not being eaten by Persians.
(^Moriers Second Journey, 141.)
876. No arable culture is carried on in Persia without artificial watering ; and various
modes are adopted for raising the element from wells and rivers for this purpose. The
Persian wheel is well known. The deficiency of rivers in Persia has obliged the natives
to turn all their ingenuity to the discovery of springs, and to the bringing of their streams
to the surface of the earth. To effect this, when a spring has been discovered, they dig a
well until they meet with the water ; and if they find that its quantity is sufficient to
repay them for proceeding with the work, they dig a second well, so distant from the
other as to allow a subterranean communication between both. They then ascertain the
"hearest line of communication with the level of the plain upon which the water is to be
brought into use, and dig a succession of wells, with subterranean communications
between the whole suite of them, until the water at
length comes to the surface, when it is conducted by
banked-up channels into the fields to be irrigated. The
extent of country through which such streams are
sometimes conducted is quite extraordinary. In making
the wells (Jig. 111.) a shaft is first dug, then a wooden
handle is placed over it, from which is suspended a 2
leathern bucket, which is filled with the excavated
matter by a man below, and wound up by another above. Where the soil is against the
mouth of the wells, they are secured by masonry. This mode of procuring water is
common to the whole of Persia, and has the great defect of being easily destroyed by an
enemy. (Morier^s Second Journey, 164.)
877. The forests of Persia are few, and chiefly in the mountains of Mazanderam and
Ghilan, and those towards Kurdistan. The trees are several kinds of pines, the cedar
and cypress, limes, oaks, acacias, and chestnuts ; the sumach is abundant, and used for
tanning ; manna is procured from the jprdxinus O'rnus. Very little fuel is consumed
in Persia, and timber is seldom used j in the castles and principal houses, arches are
employed instead of timber floors.
142 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
SuBSECT. 3. Of the present State of j4griciilture in Independent Tatari/.
878. The extent of Independent Tatary can hardly be considered as well defined ;
but Pinkerton measures it from the Caspian Sea on the west to the mountains of Belus
on the east, a space of 870 miles ; and from the mountains of Gaur to the Russian boun-
daries on the north of the desert of Issim, a distance of 1500 miles. It is occupied by
the Bucharian, Tungusian, Kirgusian, and other Tatar hordes ; and is a celebrated and
interesting country, as being the probable seat of the most ancient Persian kingdoms,
and as having given birth to Zoroaster and other men eminent in Oriental literature.
Modern travellers represent the more civilised of this nation as indolent, but good-
natured. They are easily recognised among other varieties of man,
879. The climate of this extensive country appears to be excellent, the heat even of
the southern provinces being tempered by the high mountains capped with perpetual
snow ; and though situated in the parallel of Spain, Greece, and Asiatic Turkey, the
proximity of the Siberian deserts and the lofty alps render the summer more temperate.
880. The surface of the country presents a great variety; and there are numerous
1 ivers, hills, and mountains.
881. The soil near the rivers is very productive, so that the grass exceeds the height of
a man. In any other hands but those of the Tatars, this country might rival any Euro-
pean region.
882. All that is known of the tillage of the Tatars is, that rice and other grains are cul-
tivated near the towns, but that the great dependence of the people is upon their flocks
and herds. Bucharia is the richest country, both in corn and cattle. There they have
horses, camels, oxen, sheep, and goats, which some individuals reckon by thousands, and
make large sales, especially of horses, to the Persians and Turks. They have also
dromedaries, which furnish a considerable quantity of woolly hair, which they clip off'
periodically and sell to the Russians. The lambskins are celebrated, being damasked, as
it were, by clothing the little animal in coarse linen ; but the wool of the sheep is coarse,
and only used in domestic consumption for felts and thick cloths. The steppes, which
are of immense extent, supply them with objects of the 1 12
chace, wolves, foxes, badgers, antelopes, ermines, wea-
sels, marmots, &c. In the southern and eastern
mountains are found wild sheep (0\is il/usimon), the
ox of Thibet {Bos grunniens, fig. 112.) which seems
to delight in snowy alps, chamois, tigers, and wild
asses. There seems throughout the whole of Tatary
to be a deficiency of wood ; and the botany of this im- -^^^"--
mense region is as little known as its agriculture.
SuBSECT. 4. Of the present State of Agriculture in Arabia.
883. The extent of Arabia is somewhat greater than that of Independent Tatary. The
climate is hot, but there is a regular rainy season, from the middle of June to the end of
September, in some mountainous districts, and from November till February in others.
Tlie remaining months are perfectly dry ; so that the year in Arabia consists only of two-
seasons, the dry and the rainy. In the plains, rain is sometimes unknown for a whole
year. It sometimes freezes in the mountains, while the thermometer is at 86" in the
plains, and hence at a small distance are found fruits and animals which might indicate
remote countries.
884. The general surface presents a central desert of great extent, with a few fertile
oases or isles, and some ridges of mountains, chiefly barren and unwooded. The flou-
rishing provinces are those situated on the shores of the Red and Persian Seas, the interior
of the country being sterile for want of rivers, lakes, and perennial streams. The soil is
in general sandy, and in the deserts is blown about by the winds.
885. I'he agricultural products are wheat, maize, doura or millet, barley, beans, lentils,
and rape, with the sugar-cane, tobacco, and cotton. Rice seems unknown in Yemen,
and oats throughout Arabia ; the horses being fed with barley, and the asses with
beans. They also cultivate " uars," a plant which dyes yellow, and is exported in great
quantities from Mocha to Oman j and " fua," used in dyeing red ; likewise indigo.
The wheat, in the environs of Maskat, yields little more than ten for one; and in the best
cultivated districts of Yemen, fifty for one ; but
the doura sometimes much exceeds this ratio,
yielding in the highlands 140, and in the Te-
hama, or plain, from 200 to 400. By their
mode of sowing and watering this grain, the ^-^^
inhabitants of Tehama reap three successive ^^^'"'^
crops from the same field in the same year.
The plough {fig. 113.) is simple, and the pick is used instead of the spade.
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN ASIA. 143
886. The indigenous, or partially cultivated, plants and trees of Arabia are numerous,
and several of them furnish important articles of commerce. The vegetables of the dry
barren districts, exposed to the vertical sun, and refreshed merely by nightly dews, belong
for the most part to the genera of ^'loe, Mesembryanthemum, jEuphorbia, Stapeha, and
Salsola. On the w^estern side of the Arabian desert, numerous rivulets, descending into
the Red Sea, diffuse verdure ; and on the mountains from which they run vegetation is
more abundant. Hither many Indian and Persian plants, distinguished for their beauty
or use, have been transported in former ages, and are now found in a truly indigenous
state : such is the case probably with the tamarind, the cotton tree (inferior to the Indian),
the pomegranate, the banyan tree or Indian fig, the sugar-cane, and many species of
melons and gourds. Arabia Felix may peculiarly boast of two valuable trees, namely,
the coffee [Coffea arAbica), found both cultivated and wild ; and the ^myris Opobalsamum,
which yields the balm of Mecca. Of the palms, Arabia possesses the date, the cocoa-nut,
and the great fan-palm. It has also the sycamore fig, the plantain, the almond, the apricot,
the peach, the papaw, the bead tree, the Mimosa nilotica and seiisitiva, and the orange.
Among its shrubs and herbaceous plants may be enumerated the ricinus, the liquorice,
and the senna, used in medicine ; and the balsam, the globe amaranth, the white lily,
and the greater pancratium, distinguished for their beauty and fragrance.
887. The live stock of Arabia is what constitutes its principal riches, and the most
valuable are those species of animals that require only succulent herbs for their nourish-
ment. The cow here yields but little milk ; and the flesh of the ox is insipid and juice-
less. The wool and mutton of the sheep are coarse. The bezoar goat is found in the
mountains. The buffalo 1 L4
is unknown ; but the
camel and dromedary
( Jig. 114.) are bothin use
as beasts of burden. The
civet cat, musk rat, and
other mountain animals,
are valuable in commerce.
Pheasants,partridges, and
common poultry abound
in Yemen; and there are
numerous ferocious animals, birds of prey, and pestiferous insects.
888. But the horse is of all the animals of Arabia the most valuable. This animal is said
to be found wild in the extensive deserts on the north of Hadramant : this might have been
the case in ancient times, unless it should be thought more probable, that the wild horse
of Tatary has passed through Persia, and has been only perfected in Arabia. The horses
here are distributed into two classes, viz. the kadischi, or common kind, whose genealogy
has not been preserved, and the kochlani, or noble horses, whose breed has been ascertained
for 2000 years, proceeding, as their fables assert, from the stud of Solomon. They
are reared by the Bedouins, in the northern deserts between Bassora, Merdin, and the
frontiers of Syria ; and though they are neither large nor beautiful, their race and here-
ditary qualities being the only objects of estimation, the preservation of their breed is
carefully and authentically witnessed, and the offspring of a kochlani stallion with an
ignoble race is reputed kadischi. These will bear the greatest fatigues, and pass whole
days without food, living, according to the Arabian metaphor, on air. They are said to
rush on a foe with impetuosity ; and it is asserted that some of them, when wounded in
battle, will withdraw to a spot where their master may be secure ; and if he fall, they will
neigh for assistance ; accordingly, their value is derived from their singular agility,
extreme docility, and uncommon attachment to their master. The Arabian steeds are
sometimes bought at excessive rates by the English at Mocha. The Duke of Newcastle
asserts that the ordinary price of an Arabian horse is 1000/., 2000/., or even 3000/. ; and
that the Arabs are as careful in preserving the genealogy of their horses, as princes in re-
cording that of their families. The grooms are very exact in registering the names of the
sires and dams of these animals ; and some of these pedigrees are of very ancient date.
It is affirmed that Arabian colts are brought up with camels' milk.
889. Of the agricultural implements and operations of Arabia almost nothing is known.
Their plough, as we have seen, is a poor implement, and instead of a spade they use the
pick. The principal exertion of the husbandman's industry is to water the lands from
the rivulets and wells, or by conducting the rains. Barley is reaped near Sana in the
middle of July ; but the season depends on the situation. At Maskat, wheat and barley
are sown in December, and reaped in March ; but doura (the great millet) is sown in
August, and reaped in the end of November. The Arabians pull up their ripe com by
the roots ; but the green corn and grass, as forage for their cattle, are cut with the sickle.
In threshing their corn, they lay the sheaves down in a certain order, and then lead over
them two oxen dragging a large stone.
144 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
SuBSECT. 5. Of the present State of Agriculture in Hindustan.
890. The climate and seasons of this extensive region are considerably diversified by
difference of latitude and local situation ; nevertheless, throughout the wide regions of
Hindustan there is some similarity of climate. Although in Thibet the winter nearly
corresponds with that of Switzerland and other parts of Europe, in tlie whole extent of
Hindustan, except in Cashmere, there can hardly be said to be a vestige of winter, except
the thick fogs similar to those of our November ; and excessive rains, or excessive heats,
form the chief varieties of the year.
891. The surface of the country is much diversified; but there are no mountains of
any very great height ; the ghauts not being estimated at above three thousand feet. The
vast extent of Hindustan consists chiefly of large plains, fertilised by numerous rivers and
streams, and interspersed with a few ranges of hills. The periodical rains and intense
heats produce a luxuriance of vegetation almost unknown to any other countiy on the
globe ; and the variety and richness of the vegetable creation delight the eye of every spec-
tator. Bengal is a low, flat country, like Lower Egypt, watered and fertilised by the
Ganges, as the latter country is by the Nile ; and, like the Nile, the Ganges forms an
immense delta before it falls into the sea. The interior of the country is so flat, that the
water runs only at the rate of three miles an hour ; and the ground rises from the sea
towards the interior, at not more than four inches in a mile.
892. The soil varies, but is in most places light and rich : that of Bengal is a stratum
of black vegetable mould, rich and loamy, extending to the depth of six feet, and in
some places fourteen, and even twenty feet ; lying on a deep sand, and interspersed with
shells and rotten wood, which indicate the land to have been overflowed, and to have been
formed of materials deposited by the rivers. It is easily cultivated without manure, and
bad harvests seldom occur. In this country they have two harvests ; one in April, called
the " little harvest," which consists of the smaller grains, as millet; and the second, called
the " grand harvest," is only of rice.
893. Landed property in Hindustan, as in all the countries of Asia, is held to be the
absolute right of the king. The Hindu laws declare the king to be the lord and pro-
prietor of the soil. All proprietors, therefore, paid a quitrent or military services to the
king or rajah, except some few, to whom it would appear absolute grants were made.
In general, the tenure was military ; but some lands were appropriated to the church and
to charitable purposes, and in many places commons were attached to villages as in Europe.
Lands in Hindustan, and in Bengal more especially, are very much divided, and culti-
vated in small portions by the ryots, or peasants, who pay rent to subordinate proprietors,
who hold of others who hold of the rajah. The actual cultivators have hardly any secure
leases ; they are allowed a certain portion of the crop for the maintenance of their families
and their cattle ; but they are not entrusted with the seed, which is furnished by the
proprietor or superior holder. The ryot, or cultivator, is universally poor ; his house,
clothing, and implements of every kind, do not amount to the value of a pound sterling ;
and he is considered as a sort of appendage to the land, and sold along with it, like his
cattle. So little attention is paid to any agreement made with him, that in a good season,
Dr. Tennant informs us, the zemindar, or superior holder, raises his demands to a fourth
more than the rent agreed on. Custom has rendered this evil so common, that the
miserable ryot has no more idea of obtaining redress from it than from the ravages of the
elements. Since Bengal was conquered by the British, the government is, properly
speaking, the proprietor of all the lands ; and Tennant accordingly observes, that " nine
tenths of all the rent of Bengal and the provinces constitute the revenue of the company,
who are, in room of the Mogul emperor, the true proprietors of the soil." {Recr. ii. 184.)
894. The agricultural jn-oducts of Hindustan are very
various. Rice, wheat, and maize are the common grains ;
but barley, peas, a species of tare or cytisus called dohl, and
millet, are also cultivated. Next to them the cotton plant
and the sugar-cane are most extensively grown. To these
may be added, indigo, silk, hemp, poppy for opium, palma
Christi, sesamum, mustard ; the cocoa-nut, which supplies
a manufacture of cordage, and also a liquor called toddy;
guavas, plantains, bananas, pompelos, limes, oranges, and a
great variety of other fruits, besides what are cultivated in
gardens, where the settlers have all the vegetables of Eu-
ropean horticulture. The potato has been introduced, and
though it does not attain the same size as in Europe, is yet of
good quality. It is not disliked by the natives, but cannot
be brought to market at so low a price as rice.
895. The sugar-cane {Saccharum qfUcinhrum) (^^ 115.) is cultivated
in low grounds that may be flooded. The ground being cleaned and pulverised by one or two years
Book t.
AGRICULTURE IN ASIA.
145
fallow is planted with cuttings of two or three buds, in rows four feet apart and eighteen inches
wide in the row ; as they grow, each stool, consisting of three shoots or more, is tied to a bamboo reed
eight or ten feet long, the lower leaves of each cane being first carefully wrapt round it, so as to cover
every part, and prevent the sun from cracking it, or side shoots from breaking out. Watering and
flooding in the dry season, and keeping open the surface drains during the periodical rains, are carefully
attended to. Nine months from the time of planting, the canes are ten feet high, and ready to cut.
The process of sugar-making, like all others in this country, is exceedingly simple. A stone mortar and
wooden pestle turned by two small bullocks express the juice, which is boiled in pots of earthenware
sunk in the ground^ and heated by a flue which passes beneath and around them, and by which no heat
is lost.
896. The indigo (Indigqfera tinctoria. Jig. 116.) is one of the most profitable articles of
culture in Hindustan ; because an immense extent of land is required to produce but a
moderate bulk of the dye ; because labour and land here are cheaper than any where else j
and because the raising of the plant and its manufacture may
be carried on without even the aid of a house. The first step
in the culture of the plant is to render the ground, which
should be friable and rich, perfectly free from weeds and dry,
if naturally moist. The seeds are then sown in shallow drills
about a foot apart. The rainy season must be chosen for
sowing, otherwise, if the seed is deposited in dry soil, it heats,
corrupts, and is lost. The crop being kept clear of weeds is
fit for cutting in two or three months, and this may be re-
peated in rainy seasons every six weeks. The plants must not
be allowed to come into flower, as the leaves in that case
become dry and hard, and the indigo produced is of less
value ; nor must they be cut in dry weather, as they would
not spring again. A crop generally lasts two years. Being
cut, the herb is first steeped in a vat till it has become mace-
rated, and has parted with its colouring matter ; then the liquor
is let off into another, in which it undergoes the peculiar
process of beating, to cause the fecula to separate from the
water. This fecula is let off into a third vat, where it remains some time, and is then
strained through cloth bags, and evaporated in shallow wooden boxes placed in the shade.
Before it is perfectly dry it is cut in small pieces of an inch square ; it is then packed in
barrels, or sowed up in sacks, for sale. Indigo was not extensively cultivated in India
before the British settlements were formed there ; its profits were at first so considerable,
that, as in similar cases, its culture was carried too far, and the market glutted with the
commodity. The indigo is one of the most precarious of Oriental crops ; being liable to
be destroyed by hail storms, which do comparatively little injury to the sugar-cane and
other plants.
897. ne mulberry is cultivated in a different manner from what it is in Europe. It is raised from cut-
tings, eight or ten of which are planted together in one pit, and the pits are distributed over the field at
the distance of two or three feet every way. These cuttings being well firmed at the lower ends soon
form stools about the height of a raspberry bush, and from these the leaves are gathered. The stools are
cut over once a year to encourage the production of vigorous shoots from the roots. _
898. The poppy {Fapnver somnlferum) is cultivated on the best soil, well manured. The land sometimes
receives as many as fifteen stirrings, and the seed is then dropped into shallow drills about two feet
apart. During the growth of the plants the soil is stirred, well watered, and sometimes top-dressed. In
two months from the time of sowing, the capsules are ready for incision, which process goes on for two or
three weeks; several horizontal cuts being made in the capsule on one day, on the next the milky juice
which had oozed out, being congealed, is scraped off. This operation is generally repeated three times on
each capsule, and then the capsules are collected for their seed. The raw juice is kneaded with water,
evaporated in the sun, mixed with a little poppy oil, and, lastly, formed into cakes, which are covered with
leaves of poppy, and packed in chests with poppy husks and leaves.
899. Tobacco in Hindustan is cultivated in the same manner as in Europe. The soil must be rich and
well pulverised, the plants transplanted, and the earth stirred during their growth ; the main stems are
broken off, and the leaves are dried by being suspended on beds of withered grass by means of ropes, and
shaded from the sun and protected from nightly dews. The leaves afford a much weaker odour than
those of the tobacco of Europe or America.
900. The mustard, Sesamum orientdle, Jlax, palma Christi, and some other plants,
are grown for their seeds, which are crushed for oil. The use of the flax, as a clothing
plant, is not understood in India, hemp supplying its place. The mustard and sesamum
are sown on the sand left by the overflowings of the rivers, vnthout any other preparation
or culture than that of drawing a bush over the seeds to cover them. The palma Christi
is sown in patches three or four feet apart, grows to the size of a little tree, and is cut
down with an axe when the seeds are to be gathered. The mill for bruising the seeds
of these plants is simply a thick trunk of a tree hollowed into a mortar, in which is
placed the pestle, turned by oxen.
901. Palm trees of several species are in general cultivation in Hindustan. The
most useful is the cocoa-nut tree {Cocos nucifera, Jig. 117.), which grows almost per-
fectly straight to the height of forty or fifty feet, and is nearly one foot in diameter.
It has no branches, but about a dozen leaves spring immediately from the top : these
are about ten feet long, and nearly a yard in breadth towards the bottom. The leaves
are employed to cover the houses of the natives ; and to make mats either for sitting or
L
146
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
lying upon. The leaf when reduced to fine fibres is tlie material of which a beautiful
and costly carpeting is fabricated for those in the higher ranks ; the coarser fibres
are made into brooms. After these useful mate-
rials are taken from the leaf, the stalk still remains,
■which is about the thickness of the ancle, and fur-
nishes firewood.
902. The wood of this palm, when fresh cut, is spongy ;
but becomes hard, after being seasoned, and assumes a dark-
brown colour. On the top of the tree a large shoot is pro-
■ duced, which when boiled resembles broccoli, but is said to
be of a more delicate taste ; and, though much liked, is
seldom used by the natives ; because on cutting it off the
pith is exposed, and the tree dies. Between this cab-
bage-like shoot and the leaves spring several buds, from
which, on making an incision, distils a juice differing
little from water, either in colour or consistence. It is the
employment of a certain class of men to climb to the tops
of the trees in the evening, with earthen pots tied to their
waists, these they fix at the top to receive the juice, which
is regularly carried away before the sun has any influence
upon it This liquor is sold at the bazaars by the natives,
under the name of toddy. It is used for yest, and forms
an excellent substitute. In this state it is drank with
avidity, both by the low Europeans and the natives ; and it is
reckoned a cooling and agreeable beverage. After being
kept a few hours, it begins to ferment, acquires a sharp
taste, and a slightly intoxicating quality. By boiling it, a coarse kind of sugar is obtained ; and by distil-
lation it yields a strong ardent spirit, which being every where sold, and at a low price, constitutes
one of the most destructive beverages to our soldiers. The name given to this pernicious drink by
Europeans is pariah arrack, from the supposition that it is only drank by the pariahs, or outcasts that
have no rank.
903. The trees from which the toddy is drawn do not bear any fruit, on account of the destruction of
the buds ; but if the buds be left entire, they produce clusters of the cocoa-nut. This nut, in the husk, is
as large as a man's head : and when ripe falls with the least wind. If gathered fresh, it is green on the
outside ; the husk and the shell are tender. The shell, when divested of the husk, may be about the size
of an ostrich's egg, and is lined with a white pulpy substance, which contains about a pint and a half of
liquor like water ; and, though the taste be sweet and agreeable, it is different from that of the toddy.
904. In proportion as the fruit grows old, the shell hardens, and the liquor diminishes, till it is at last
entirely absorbed by the white milky substance ; which gradually acquires the hardness of the kernel of
the almond, and is almost as easily detached from the shell. The natives use this nut in their victuals ;
and from it they also express a considerable quantity of the purest and best lamp oil. The substance
which remains after this operation supplies an excellent food for poultry and hogs. Cups and a variety
of excellent utensils are made of the shell.
905. The husk of the cocoa-nut is nearly an inch thick, and is, perhaps, the most valuable part of the
tree ; for it consists of a number of strong fibres, easily separable, which furnish the material for the
greatest part of the Indian cordage ; but is by no means the only substitute which the country affords
for hemp. This the natives work up with much skill.
906. The palmyra, a species of Corypha, is taller than the cocoa tree ; and affords still
greater supplies of toddy ; because its fruit is in little request, from the smallness of its
size; the produce of the tree is therefore generally drawn off in the liquid state. .This
tree, like the cocoa, has no branches ; and, like it too, sends forth from the top a number
of large leaves, which are employed in thatching houses, and in the manufacture of mats
and umbrellas. The timber of the tree is much used in building.
907. The date tree (Fhoe'nix dactylifera), being smaller, does not make so conspicuous
a figure in the Indian forest as the two last described. Its fruit never arrives at maturity
in India, owing to the heat : toddy is drawn from it, but not in such quantity, nor of so
good a quality, as that which is produced by the other species of the same genus.
908. The bamboo (Bambusa a,rundindcea) is, perhaps, one of the most universally useful
trees in the world ; at all events it is so in the tropical regions. There are above fifty
varieties, all of which are of the most rapid growth, rising from fifty to eighty feet the first
year, and the second perfecting its timber in hardness and elasticity. It grows in stools,
which are cut over every two years, and thus the quantity of timber furnished by an acre
of bamboos is immense. Its uses are almost without end. In building it forms entire
houses for the lower orders, and enters both into the construction and furniture of those
of the higher classes. Bridges, boats, masts, rigging, agricultural and other implements,
and machinery, carts, baskets, ropes, nets, sailcloth, cups, pitchers, troughs, pipes for
conveying water, pumps, fences for gardens and fields, &c., are made of it. Macerated
in water it forms paper ; the leaves are generally put round the tea sent to Europe ; the
thick inspissated juice is a favourite medicine, is said to be indestructible by fire, to resist
acids, and by fusion with alkali to form a transparent permanent glass.
909. The fruits of Hindustan may be said to include all those in cultivation ; since
the hardier fruits of Europe, as the strawberry, gooseberry, apple, &c., are not only
grown by the European settlers in cool situations, but even by the native shahs. The
indigenous sorts include the mango, the mangostan, and the durion, the noblest of known
fruits next to the pine-apple.
910. The natural pastures of Hindustan are every where bad, thin, and coarse, and
mere is no such thing as aitificial herbage plants. In Bengal, where the soil is loamy
to the depth of nine and ten feet, a coarse bent, or species of Juncus, springs up both in
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN ASIA. 147
the pasture and arable lands, wJiicb greatly deteriorates the former as food for cattle,
and unfits the latter for being ploughed. This Juncus, Tennant observes, pushes up
a single seed stem, which is as hard as a reed, and is never touched by cattle so long as
any other vegetable can be had. Other grasses of a better quality are sometimes inter-
mixed with this unpalatable food ; but, during the rain, their growth is so rapid that their
juices must be ill fitted for nutrition. In Upper Hindustan, during the dry season, and
more particularly during the prevalence of the hot winds, every thing like verdure disap-
pears ; so that on examining a herd of cattle, and their pasture, you are not so much sur-
prised at their leanness as that they are alive. The grass-cutters, a class of servants kept by
Europeans for procuring food for their horses, will bring provender from a field where
grass is hardly visible. They use a sharp instrument, like a trowel, with which they cut
the roots below the surface. These roots, when cleared of earth by washing, afford the
only green food which it is here possible to procure.
911. The live stock of Hindustan consists chiefly of beasts of labour, as the natives are
by their religion prohibited the use of animal food. The horses are chiefly of Persian or
Arabian extraction. The Bengal native horse is thin and ill-shaped, and never equals the
Welch or Highland pony, either in figure or usefulness. The buffalo is common, both
tame and wild, and generally jet black, with semicircular horns laid backwards upon the
neck. They are preferred to the ox for carrying goods, and kept in herds for the sake
of their milk, from which ghee, a universal article of Hindoo diet, is made.
912. The common ox of Hindustan is white, and distinguished by a protuberance on
the shoulder, on which the yoke rests. Those kept for travelling-coaches are capable of
performing long journeys nearly in the same time as horses ; those kept by the poor
ryots work patiently in the yoke, beneath the vertical sun, for many hours, and upon the
most wretched food, chaff or dried straw. Cow's milk is used pretty generally in India ;
but buffalo's milk, or goat's milk, is reckoned sweeter and finer than cow's milk, and
preferred at the breakfast table even by the English. Goat's milk is decidedly the best
for tea.
913. The sheep is small, lank, and thin; and the wool chiefly black or dark grey.
The fleece is harsh, thin, and hairy, and only used for a kind of coarse wrappers or
blanketing. A somewhat better breed is found in the province of Bengal. The mut-
ton of India is generally good ; at Poona, and in the Mahratta country, and in Bengal,
it is as fine as any in the world.
914. The goat is kept for its milk, which is commonly used at the breakfast table; and
also for the flesh of the kids, which is by some preferred to the mutton.
915. Swine are pretty common except among Mohammedans. They might be reared
in abundance ; but only Europeans and the low Hindoos eat pork. Wild hogs are
abundant, and do so much injury to the rice fields that it is a material part of the
ryot's business to watch them, which he does night and day, on a raised platform of
bamboos.
916. The elej)hant is used as a beast of burden, but is also kept by a few European
gentlemen, for hunting or show. He is taken by stratagem, and by feeding and gentle
usage soon becomes tame, docile, and even attached to his keeper ; but does not breed
freely in a domesticated state. The leaves and smaller branches of trees, and an allow-
ance of grain, constitute liis food. It is a singular deviation from general nature, that
an old elephant is easier tamed than one taken young.
917. The camel is used chiefly as a beast of burden, and is valued for his uncommon
power of abstinence from drink. He is also patient of fatigue, hunger, and watching, to
an incredible degree. These qualities have recommended the camel, as an auxiliary to
British officers for carrying their baggage ; and from time immemorial, he has been used
by merchants for conveying goods over extensive tracts of country.
918. The predatory anunah axe numerons. Of j jg ytA
these the jackal (Jig. 118.) is the most remarkable. >''***°***'*..^___ ^WT'f^^
He enters at night every farmyard, village, and y^ ^^(TW^ " '^^^
town, and traverses even the whole of Calcutta, yy, ^~. i >\ y
His voracity is indiscriminate, and he acts as a sea- i^ I J^F^'*.,^ Jli
venger in the towns ; but, in the farmyards he is \M<^ \Jff "^ ij\\
destructive to poultry, if he can get at their roosts ; ^j^}/ li'/ \i
and in the fields the hare and the wild pig some- ^-^Y/-^'^^S:S^ci'^ \\
times become his prey. The numerous village ^:f^^« l^^^^T" ""■''•*t^r**<^-L^
dogs, which in general are mangy, are almost as ^^^>^^^-^^^-~.^,j^'^^^^^^''~~'^
troublesome as the jackal. Apes of different kinds
haunt houses, and pilfer food and fruits. The crow, kite, mino, and sparrow hop about
the dwellings of man with a familiarity unknown in Europe, and pilfer from the dishes
of meat, even as they are carried from the kitchen to the eating-room. The stork is
common ; and toads, serpents, lizards, and other reptiles and insects, are greatly kept
uinder by him and other birds.
L 2
148 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
919. The implements and operations oi Hindustanee agriculture are as simple as can
well be imagined. The » \ >:\^^ i ^ y ^.^^ 1 1
plough, of which General V\ ^^'V^;^^ ^^.^''''''^^ I
Beatson has given several Vv ^V;;;^^^ ^--''^^^^^^ //
forms (^. 119.), is little u::^^ V\ ^^^^^^^'^^'^^ /C/^ //
better than a pointed stick, \ \^'*'"«>a\\\ ^^.^-^■;^^^'^^^'^«s^>v''^ //
and is carried to the field \\ \\ VVf'''^'^ /y'^N^T'^^ In
on the shoulder like the \\ ^^ A^sT^^^ /y ^^^'^>^il
spade. It scratches the \\ \\\\*''V^^\,^'</^ ^fl IL\ t
sandy uplands, or the mud iVw \0:s:::v^^Z!>;^t^^^^ " 7y>^^*^"~'^i
left by the rivers, in a to- |\M _.----^^^^^ J^ */ 1
lerable manner; but the j-Aj y^-"^-"""''^^ i/
strong lands of Bengal, ^V \ y'^^^
that send up the Juncus ^s\ /^^"^^
already mentioned, ap- ^ -^^
pear as green after one ploughing as before ; " only a few scratches are perceptible here
and there, more resembling the digging of a mole than the work of the plough." To
accomplish the work of pulverisation, the ploughman repeats the operation from five
to fifteen times, and at last succeeds in raising mould enough to cover the seed : one
plough and pair is allowed to five acres. From this mode of repeatedly going over the
same surface and effecting a little each time, General Beatson has drawn some inge-
nious arguments in favour of the use of the cultivator in this country, which will be
afterwards noticed.
920. The cart, or hackery, has two wheels, and is drawn by two bullocks. The wheels
are under three feet in diameter, and the body of the carriage consists of two bamboos,
united by a few cross-bars, also of bamboo, and approaching each other the whole length
of the machine, till tliey meet at a point between the necks of the cattle, where they are
supported by a bar projecting sideways over the shoulders of both. By this the oxen or
buffaloes are often galled in a shocking manner, and the suppuration which takes place
in consequence is, perhaps, not perfectly cured during the whole life of the animal ; the
evil being aggravated by the crows, which set upon him as soon as he is relieved from the
yoke.
921. As no department of aration can be carried on without ortificial watering, that
operation becomes very expensive and troublesome in elevated districts. In the Mon-
gheer district of Bengal, a deep v/ell is dug in the highest part of the field. The fields,
after being ploughed, are divided into little square plots, resembling the checkers of a
backgammon table. Each square is surrounded with a shelving border, about four
inches high, capable of containing water. Between the square checkers thus constructed
small dykes are formed for conveying a rivulet over the whole field. As soon as the water
has stood a sufficient time in one square for that portion to imbibe moisture, it is let off into
the adjoining one, by opening a small outlet through the surrounding dyke. Thus one
square after another is saturated, till the whole field, of whatever extent, is gone over.
922. The water is raised in large leathern bags, pulled up by two bullocks yoked to a
rope. The cattle are not driven in a gin as ours, but retire away from the well, and re-
turn to its mouth, accordingly as the bag is meant to be raised or to descend. When
raising ihe filled skin they walk down hill away from the well, and they ascend back-
wards as the emptied skin redescends into the water. The earth is artificially raised
to suit this process. The rope is kept perpendicular in the pit, by a pulley, over which
it runs. From the mouth of the well tiius placed, the rivulets are formed to every part
of a field
923. In the district of Patna the wells are not so deep. Here the leathern bags are
raised by long bamboo levers, as buckets are in several parts of this country. In a few
places rice is transplanted, which is done with pointed sticks, and the crop is found to be
better than what is sown broadcast.
924. In the hilly districts they neither plough nor sow ; what grain they raise is
introduced into small holes, made with a peg and mallet, in a soil untouched by
the plough. The only preparation given to it is the turning away of the jungle.
In the vicinity of Rajamahl there are many tribes of peasants, who subsist partly by
digging roots, and by killing birds and noisome reptiles. In these savage districts
ninety villages have been taxed for two hundred rupees ; and yet this paltry sum could
only be made up by fruits peculiar to the situation. The wretched state of these peasants.
Dr. Tennant observes, outdoes every thing which a European can imagine.
925. Harvests are gathered in 4it different seasons of the year ; and as often as a
particular crop is collected, the ryot sends for the brahmin, or parish priest, who burns
ghee and says prayers over the collected heap, and receives one measure of grain for his
trouble.
926. The selections we have now submitted will give some idea of the aboriginal agri-
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN ASIA.
149
culture of Hindustan ; not in its details, but as to its peculiar features. It is evidently
wretched, and calculated for little more than the bare sustenance of an extensive popula*
tion : for though the revenue of the state is in fact the land rent, that revenue, notwitl^
standing the immense tract of country from which it is collected, is known to be very
small. The state of agriculture, however, both politically and professionally, is capable
of great improvement ; and it is believed that the present government has already effected
material benefits, both for the natives and for itself. Wherever the British influence is
preeminent, there Europeans settle and introduce improvements j and even the more in-
dustrious Asiatics find themselves in greater
security. The Chinese are known to be a /fr" /^'^i'^'^ "-C^n /p^
remarkably industrious people, and many of ' '"' ""^ "^
them have established themselves in British- '7ijj(jf^i^^5&^^~^^^"^S^.'
Indian seaports. Wathen ( Fbyage, ^c, 1814) s^w/l^^ Tl^ -^~J^^*S
mentions a corn- mill, combining a bake-
house, both on a large scale and driven by a
powerful stream of water, as having been es-
tablished at Penang, in the island of that name,
by Amee, a Chinese miller. The building is
in the Cliinese taste, and forms a very pic-
turesque group in a romantic spot. {^jlg. 120.)
About sixty people are employed; though:
great part of the labour is done by machinery,
and among other things the kneading of the dough
consumption.
SuBSECT. 6. t)fthe Agnculture of the Island of Ceylon.
927. The agriculture of Ceylon is noticed at some length by Dr. Davy, who says the
art is much respected by the Singalese. The climate of that country is wilhout seasons,
and differs little throughout the year in any thing but in the direction of the wind, or
the presence or absence of rain. Sowing and reaping go on in every month.
928. The soil of Ceylon is generally silicious, seldom with more than from one to three
per cent of vegetable matter. Dr. Davy (^Account, ^c.) found the cinnamon tree in a
state of successful culture in quartz sand, as white as snow on the surface, somewhat grey
below ; containing one part in one hundred of vegetable matter, five tenths of water, and
the remainder silicious sand. He supposes the growth of the trees may be owing in a
considerable degree to the situation being low and moist.
929. Tlie cultivation in the interior of Ceylon is almost exclusively of two kinds ; the
dry and wet. The former consists of grubbing up woods on the sides of hills, and sow-
ing a particular variety of rice and Indian com ; the latter is carried on in low flat sur-
faces, which may be flooded with water. Rice is the only grain sown. The ground is
flooded previously to commencing the operation of ploughing, and is kept under water
The shipping is the chief source of
while two furrows are given ; the water is then let off, and the rice, being previously
steeped in water till it begins to germinate, is sown broadcast. When the seed has taken
L 3
150
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
\ir
root, and before the mud has had time to dry, the water is re-admitted : when the plants
are two or three inches lugh, the ground is weeded, and any thin parts made good by
transplanting from such as are too thick. The water remains on the field till the rice
begins to ripen, wliich is commonly in seven months : it is then let off and the crop cut
down with reaping hooks, and carried to the threshing floor, where it is trod out by
buffaloes.
930. The agricultural implements of the Singalese are few and simple ; they consist of
jungle hooks {Jig. 121. a), for cutting down trees and underwood ; an axe (b) ; a sort of
French spade or beche (c) ; a plough of the lightest kind (rf), which the ploughman holds
with one hand, the beam being attached to a pair of buffaloes, by a yoke (c), and with
the other, he carries a long goad (/), with which, and his voice, he directs and stimu-
lates the animals. A sort of level [g) is used
for levelling the ground after ploughing, which,
like the plough, is drawn by a pair of buffaloes,
the driver sitting on it to give it momentum.
For smoothing the surface of tlie mud pre-
paratory to sowing, a sort of light scraper (Ji)
is employed. The reaping hook (J) is similar
to ours ; their winnow {k) is composed of
strong matting, and a frame of rough twigs.
The threshing floor is made of beaten clay ;
and previously to commencing the operation of
treading out, a charm {Jig. 122. 1) is drawn on
the middle of the floor. A forked stick (w) is .
used to gather and stir up the straw under the
buffaloes' feet. {Davy's Ceylouy 278.)
931. A Singalese farm.yard bears some resemblance to one of this country {Jig. 123.) ;
but fewer buildings are required, and no barn.
123
932. An embankment, or retaining mound, by which an artificial lake of three or four
miles in circumference is dammed up, is described by Dr. Davy. It is nearly a straight
line across the valley, twenty feet high, and 150 or 200 feet wide ; the side next the water
forming an angle of 45°, and faced with large stones, in the manner of steps. This
must have been a work of great labour to so rude and simple a people.
SuBSECT. 7. Of the present State of Agriculture in the J5irman Empire, in Java, Malacca^
Siam, Cochin-China, Tonquin, Japan, ^c.
933. T/ie agriculture of these countries, and of others of minor note adjoining them, differs
little, as far as it is known, from that of Hindustan. In all of them the sovereign is the
lord of the soil ; the operative occupier is wretchedly poor and oppressed. Tlae chief pro-
duct is rice ; the chief animal of labour the buffalo or ox ;" the chief manure, water ; and
the chief material for buildings and implements, the bamboo.
934. The Birman empire is distinguished for the salubrity of its climate, and the health
and vigour of the natives. In this respect they possess a decided preeminence over the
enervated natives of the East ; nor are the inhabitants of any country capable of greater
bodily exertions than the Birmans.
935. The seasons of this country are regular, and the extremes of heat and cold are
seldom experienced ; at least, the duration of that intense heat, which immediately pre-
cedes the commencement of the rainy season, is so short that its inconvenience is very
little felt. The forests, however, like some other woody and uncultivated parts of India,
are extremely pestiferous ; and an inhabitant of the champaign coimtry considers
a journey thither as inevitable destruction. The wood- cutters, who are a particular
class of men, born and bred in the hills, are said to be unhealthy, and seldom attain
longevity.
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN ASIA. 151
936. The soil of the southern provinces of the Birman empire is remarkably fertile,
and produces as luxuriant crops of rice as are to be found in the finest parts of Bengal.
Towards the north, the face of the country is irregular and mountainous, with headlong
torrents and rivers in yawning chasms, crossed by astonishing bridges : but the plains
and valleys are exceedingly fruitful ; they yield good wheat and various kinds of small
grain which grow in Hindustan, together with most of the esculent legumes and
vegetables of India. Sugar-canes, tobacco of a superior quality, indigo, cotton, and
the different tropical fruits in perfection, are all indigenous products of this country.
Besides the teak tree {Tdctona grAndis), which grows in many parts of the Birman
empire, as well to the north of Ummerapoora, as in the southern country, there is
almost every description of timber that is known in India.
937. The cattle used in some parts of the country for tillage and draught are remarkably
good ; they put only a pair of them to liie plough, which is little different from the
plough of India, and turns up the soil very superficially. In their large carts they yoke
four stout oxen, which proceed with the speed of a hand gallop, and are driven by a
country girl, standing up in her vehicle, who manages the reins and a long whip
with ease and dexterity. Many of the rising grounds are planted with indigo ; but the
natives suffer the hills for the most part to remain uncultivated, and only plough the
rich levels. They every where burn the rank grass once a year to improve the pasture.
The Birmans will not take much pains ; they leave half the work to nature, which has
been very bountiful to them. In the neighbourhood of Loonghe many fields are planted
with cotton, which thrives well ; sesamum is also cultivated in this soil, and is found to
answer better than rice, which is most productive in low and moist grounds. In the
suburbs of Pagahm, there are at least two hundred mills employed in expressing oil
from the sesamum seed. In this operation the grain is put into a deep wooden trough,
and pressed by an upright timber fixed in a frame ; the force is increased by a long
lever, on the extremity of which a man sits and guides a bullock that moves in a circle ;
thus turning and pressing the seed at the same time. The machine is simple, and yet
effectually answers the purpose.
938. Among the vegetable productions of this country, we may enumerate the white
sandal-tree, and the Aloexylon verum, producing the true jet-black ebony wood ; the
sycamore fig, Indian fig, and banyan tree ; the Bignonia indica, Nauclea orientalis ;
Corypha rotundifolia, one of the loftiest of the palm trees ; and Excaecaria cochinchin^nsis,
remarkable for the crimson under-surface of its leaves. To the class of plants used in
medicine and the arts, we may refer the ginger and cardamom, found wild on tlie sides
of rivers, and cultivated in great abundance ; the turmeric, used by the natives of the
coast to tinge and flavour their rice and other food ; the betel pepper, Fagdra Piperita,
and three or four kinds of Cdpsicum ; the Justicia tinctoria, yielding a beautiful green
tinge ; Morinda umbellkta, gamboge, and Cdrthamus, furnishing yellow dyes ; the red
wood of the Lawsonia spinosa and Caesalpinia Sdppan / and the indigo. The bark of the
JVi^rium antidysent^rica called codagapala, and that of the Xaurus CulUdban ; the fruit
of the /Strychnos nixx vomica, the Ci^ssia fistula, the tamarind, and the Croton Tiglium ;
the inspissated juice of the aloe, the resin of the camphor tree, and the oil of the Ri-
cinus, are occasionally imported from this country for the European dispensaries. The
cinnamon laurel, sometimes accompanied by the nutmeg, sugar cane, bamboo, and
spikenard, is found throughout the whole country ; the last on dry hills, and the
bamboo and sugar cane in rich swamps. The sweet potato, Ipomoe^a tuberosa, mad
apple and love-apple Sblknum Melongena and Lycop6rsicon), iVTymphEeV, Nelumbium,
gourds, melons, water melons, and various other esculent plants, enrich this country by
cultivation ; and the plantain, cocoa-nut, and sago palm, are produced spontaneously. The
vine grows wild in the forests, but its fruit is inferior, from want of cultivation and through
excess of heat, to that of the south of Europe ; but this country is amply supplied with
the mango, pine- apple, Sapindus ediilis, mangostan plum, Averrhoa Carambbla, custard-
apple, papaw-fig, orange, lemon, lime, and many other exquisite fruits.
939. The animals of the Birman empire correspond to those of Hindustan. The
wild elephants of Pegu are very numerous ; and, allured by the early crops of rice,
commit great devastation among the plantations that are exposed to their ravages. The
king is the proprietor of these animals ; and one of his Birman majesty's titles is " lord
of the white elephants and of all the elephants in the world." The forests abound vidth
tigers. The horses are small, but handsome and spirited, hardy and active ; and are
frequently exported in timber-ships bound for Madras and other parts of the coast, where
they are disposed of to considerable advantage. Their cows are diminutive, resembling
the breed on the coast of Coromandel ; but their buffaloes are noble animals, much
superior to those of India, and are used for draught and agriculture : some of them are of
a light cream colour, and are almost as fierce as tigers, who dare not molest them. The
ichneumon, or rat of Pharaoh, called by the natives ounbaii, is found in this country :
lit there is no such animal as the jackal in the Ava dominions, though thev are very
L 4
152
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
numerous in the adjoining country. Among the birds, which are the same with those
of other parts of India, is one called the henza, the symbol of the Birman nation, as the
eagle was of the Roman empire. It is a species of wild fowl, called in India the
Bramin goose; but the natives of Ava do not deify this bird.
940. The agriculture of Java has been noticed by Thunberg, and more fully described
by Sir Stamford Raffles. The climate, like that of other countries situated within about
ten degrees of the equator, presents a perpetual spring, summer, and harvest. The
distinction of weather is into wet and dry, never hot and cold, and rain depends on the
winds. The surface of the country is low towards the coast, but hilly in the interior ;
unhealthy about Batavia, but in most other parts as salubrious as any other tropical
country. The soil is for the most part rich, and remarkable for its depth ; probably, as
Governor Raffles conjectures, owing to its volcanic ongin.
941. Landed jiroperty in Java is almost exclusively vested in the king, between whom
and the cultivator there are no intermediate holders ; and the cultivator is without lease
or right beyond the will of the sovereign. The manner in which the king draws his
income from the whole surface of the country is by burdening certain " villages or
estates with the salaries of particular officers, allotting others for the support of his
relatives or favourites, or granting them for the use of particular charitable institutions ; in
the same manner as before the consolidation act in Britain, the interest of particular loans
was paid upon the produce of specific imports." Tradesmen, government officers,
priests, and the government, are all alike paid in kind. ,
942. The crops raised by the farmer for home consumjUion are chiefly rice and maize,
some wheat is also grown ; but the staple article is rice, of which one pound and a half
per day are considered sufficient nourishment for an adult.
943. The crops raised by the colonists are coffee, sugar, cotton, tobacco, and a variety of
other productions of the East. One of the principal articles is coffee. The coffee plants
are first raised in seed-beds, then transplanted under an open shed for the sake of shade,
and then in about eighteen months removed into the garden or plantation, where they are
destined to yield their fruit. A plantation is laid out in squares, the distance of plant
from plant being commonly about six feet, and in the centre of each four trees is placed a
dadap tree, for the purpose of affording shade, which in Java seems necessary to the
health of the plants. They are never pruned, grow to the height of sixteen feet, and
will bear for twenty years ; but a plantation in Java is seldom continued more than ten
years. In general three crops of berries are produced in a season.
944. The live stock of the Java farmer consists of the ox and buffalo, used in plough-
ing, and the horse for burden : they have a few sheep, and goats and poultry.
945. The implements are the plough, of which they have a common or rice ground
sort, a dry-soil plough, and a garden or plantation plough, all of which are yoked to a
pair of buffaloes, or oxen, in the same manner. The harrow {fg. 124. a), on which the
124
driver sits, is a sort of rake ; and they have a sort of strong hoe, which they use as a
substitute for a spade [b), and a lighter one, used as a draw hoe (c). Their knives for
weeding, pruning, and reaping
{fig. 1 25. a to/),are very curious ;
one of them (g) is used both
as an axe and bill, and another
(h) as a thrust hoe and prun-
ing hook. It is observed by Go-
vernor Raffles, that in reaping
they crop off " each separate
ear along with a few inches of
the straw ;"an " operose process' '
which he was informed had its
origin in some religious notions.
Crops arc generally dibbled or
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN ASIA. 153
transplanted ; no manure is even required or given in Java except v/ater. In
ploughing for rice, ihe land is converted into a semifluid mire, in which the plants are
inserted. A curious mode is made use of to scare the birds from ripening crops. An
elevated shed is raised in the middle of the plantation or field, within which a child on
the watch touches from time to time a series of cords, extending from the shed to the
extremities of the field like the radii of a circle, and thus prevents the ravages of
birds. The native cart of Java is a clumsy conjunction of boards, running on two
solid wheels from five to six feet in diameter, and only from one inch to two inches broad,
on a revolving axle. It is drawn by two buffaloes.
946. The vpas, or poison tree {Antidris toxicdria), has been said to be a native of, and
peculiar to, Java ; but Dr. Horsfield and other botanists have ascertained that there is no
tree in the island answering its description : there are two trees used for poisoning war-
like instruments, but neither is so powerful as to be used alone ; and, indeed, they are
in no way remarkable either as poison plants or trees. The Rafliesia Arnold?, the most
extraordinary parasitic plant known to botanists, is believed to be a native of this island
as well as of Sumatra, where it was originally found.
947. The roads of Java, Sir Stamford Rafl3es observes, are of a greater extent and
of a better description than in most countries. A high road, passable for carriages at all
seasons of the year, runs from the western to the eastern extremity of the island, a
distance of not less than eight hundred English miles, with post stations and relays of
horses every five miles. The greater part of it is so level that a canal might be cut
along its side. There is another high road which crosses the island from north to south,
and many intersecting cross roads. The main roads were chiefly formed by the Dutch
as military roads, and " so far," Governor Raffles continues, " from contributing to the
assistance of the agriculture or trade of Java, their construction has, on the contrary, in
many instances been destructive to whole districts. The peasant who completed them by
his own labour, or the sacrifice of the lives of his cattle, was debarred from their
use, and not permitted to drive his cattle along them, while he saw the advantages they
were capable of yielding reserved for his European masters, who thus became enabled
to hold a more secure possession of his country." {History of Java, i. 198.)
948. Of the peninsula of Malacca very little is known. Agriculture is carried on in
the marginal districts of the country ; but the central parts are covered with unexplored
forests, which swarm with lemurs, monkeys, tigers, wild boars, elephants, and other
animals. The chief grain cultivated is rice ; and the chief exports are, pepper, ginger,
gum, and other spices, raisins, and woods. Game and fruits abound. " The lands,"
liC Pouvre observes, " are of a superior quality ; and covered with odoriferous woods ;
but the culture of the soil abandoned to slaves is fallen into contempt. These wretched
labourers, dragged incessantly from their rustic employments by their restless masters
who delight in war and maritime enterprises, have rarely time, and never resolution, to
give the necessary attention to the labouring of their grounds. "
949. The kingdom of Sia7n may be described as a wide vale between two high ridges
of mountains ; but compared with the Birman empire, the cultivated land is not above
half the extent either in breadth or length.
950. The agriculture of the Siamese does not extend far from the banks of the river or
Its branches ; so that towards the mountains there are vast aboriginal forests filled with
wild animals, whence they obtain the skins which are exported. The rocky and varie-
gated shores of the noble Gulf of Siam, and the size and inundations of the Meinam,
conspire with the rich and picturesque vegetation of the forests, illumined at night by
crowds of brilliant fire-flies, to impress strangers with admiration and delight.
951. The soil towards the mountains is parched and infertile ; but, on the shores of the
river, consists, like that of Egypt, of a very rich and pure mould, in which a. pebble can
scarcely be found ; and the country would be a terrestrial paradise if its government were
not so despotic as to be justly reckoned far inferior to that of their neighbours the
Birmans Rice of excellent quality is the chief product of their agriculture ; wheat is
not unknown ; peas and other vegetables abound ; and maize is confined to their gardens.
The fertility of Siam depends in a great degree, like that of Egypt on the Nile, on its
grand river Meinam and its tributary streams.
952. The kingdom of Laos borders on China, and is surrounded by forests and deserts,
so as to be of diflUcult access to strangers. The climate is so temperate, and the air so
pure, that men are said to retain their health and vigour, in soine instances, to the age of
one hundred years. The flat part of the country resembles Siam. The soil on the east
bank of the river is more fertile than that on the west. The rice is preferred to that of
other Oriental countries. Excellent wax and honey are produced in abundance, and
the poppy, ginger, pepper, and other useful plants are cultivated, and their products
exchanged with the Chinese for cloths.
953. Cambodia, like Siam, is enclosed by mountains on the east and west; and
fertilised by an overflowing river. The climate is so hot that the inhabitants are under
154 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
the necessity of residing on the banks of the rivers and lakes, where they are tormented
by musquitos. The soil is fertile, and produces abundance of corn, rice, excellent
legumes, sugar, indigo, opium, camphor and various medicinal drugs. The most pecu-
liar product is the gamboge gum (Stalagmitis cambogioides), which yields a fine yellow
tint. Ivory, also, and silk are very plentiful, and of little value. Cattle, particularly of
the cow kind, are numerous and cheap. Elephants, lions, tigers, and almost all tlie
animals of the deserts of Africa are found in Cambodia. It has several precious woods,
among which are the sandal and eagle wood, and a particular tree, in the juice of which
they dip their arrows ; and it is said, that though a wound from one of the arrows proves
fatal, the juice itself may be drank without danger. The country, though fertile, is very
thinly peopled. . ..,
954. Cochin-China presents an extensive range of coast, but few marks of tillage.
Besides rice and other grains, sugar, silk, cotton, tobacco, yams, sweet potatoes, pumpkins,
melons, and other culinary vegetables, are cultivated ; and cinnamon, pepper, ginger,
cardamom, silk, cotton, sugar, aula wood, Japan wood, Columbo, and other woods and
spice plants, abound in the forests and copses. The horses are small but active ; and
they have the ox, buffalo, mules, asses, sheep, swine, and goats. Tigers, elephants, and
monkeys abound in the forests, and on the shores are found the edible swallows' nests,
esteemed a luxury in the East and especially in Cliina. These nests, according to
some, are formed of the i^ucus lichenoides ; according to others, of the spawn of fish. A
good account of them will be found in the Farmer s Magazine (vol. xx.), written by a
gentleman who had resided some years on Prince of Wales's Island. Almost every kind
of domestic animal, except sheep, appears to be very plentiful. In Cochin-China they
have bullocks, goats, swine, buffaloes, elephants, camels, and horses. In the woods are
found the wild boar, tiger, rhinoceros, and plenty of deer. They account the flesh of the
elephant a great dainty, and their poultry is excellent. They pay little attention to the
breeding of bullocks, as the tillage is performed by buffaloes, and bullock's flesh
is not esteemed as food. The sea, as well as the land, is a never-failing source of sus-
tenance to those who dwell on the coast. Most of the marine worms distinguished by
the name of Mollusca, are used as articles of food by the Cochin- Chinese. All the
gelatinous substances derived from the sea, whether animal or vegetable, are considered
by them the most nutritious of all aliments ; and on this principle various kinds of
sea-weeds, particularly the Fnci and A'lgsB, are included in their list of edible plants.
They likewise collect many of the small succulent, or fleshy, plants, which are
usually produced on salt and sandy marshes ; these they either boil in their soups, or eat
in a raw state, to give sapidity to their rice, which with them is the grand support of
existence. In Cochin-China they are almost certain of two plentiful crops of rice every
year, one of which is reaped in April, the other in October. Fruits of various kinds, as
oranges, bananas, figs, pine-apples, pomegranates, and others of inferior note, are
abundantly produced in all parts of the country. They have very fine yams, and plenty
of sweet potatoes. Their small breed of cattle does not appear to furnish them with
much milk ; but of this article they make a sparing use, even with regard to their young
children.
955. Tonqtdn, in regard to surface, may be divided into two portions, the moun-
tainous and the plain. The mountains are neither rocky nor precipitous, and are partly
covered with forests. The plain is flat like Holland, being intersected by canals and
dykes, and varied by lakes and rivers. The chief agricultural product is rice, of which
there are two harvests annually in the low country, but in the high lands only one.
Wheat and wine are unknown. The mulberry tree is common ; and the sugar cane is
indigenous ; but the art of refining the juice is unknown. The live stock are chiefly
oxen, buffaloes, and horses ; swine abound, and there are a few goats, but asses and
sheep are unknown. Dogs, cats, and rats are eaten. Poultry, ducks, and geese abound,
and are found wild in the forests. The eggs of ducks are heated in ovens, and produce
young, which swarm on the canals and ponds. The forests contain deer, boars, peacocks,
a peculiar kind of partridge, and quails. The tigers are large and destructive ; one of
them is said to have entered a town, and to have destroyed eighty-five people. The wild
elephants are also very dangerous. Apes are found in these forests, and some of them of
large size : these and the parrots are not a little destructive to the rice and fruits.
The Tonquin plough consists of three pieces of wood, a pole, a handle, and a third
piece, almost at right angles with the last, for opening the ground ; and they are simply
fixed with straps of leather : this plough is drawn by oxen or buffaloes.
956. The agriculture of Japan is superior to that of most Eastern countries. The
climate is variable. In summer the heat is violent ; and, if it were not moderated by
sea breezes, would be intolerable. The cold in winter is severe. The falls of rain com-
mence at midsummer, and to these Japan owes its fertility, and also its high state of
population. Thunder is not unfrequent : tempests, hurricanes, and earthquakes are
very common. From Thunberg's thermometncal observations it appears that the greatest
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN ASIA. 155
degree of heat at Negasaki was 98° in August, and the severest cold in January, 85°.
The face of the country presents some extensive plains, but more generally mountains,
hills, and valleys ; the coast being mostly rocky and precipitous, and invested with a
turbulent sea. It is also diversified with rivers and rivulets, and many species of
vegetables.
957. The soil of Japan, though barren, is rendered productive by fertilising showers,
by manure, and by the operation of agricultural industry.
958. Agriculture, Thiinberg informs us, is here well understood, and the whole country,
even to the tops of the hills, is cultivated. Free from all feudal and ecclesiastical im-
pediments, the farmer applies himself to the culture of the soil with diligence and vigour.
Here are no commons ; and it is a singular circumstance, that, if any portion be left
uncultivated, it may be seized by a more industrious neighbour. The Japanese mode
of manuring is to form a mixture of all kinds of excrements with kitchen refuse, wKich
is carried in pails into the field, and poured with a ladle upon the plants, when they
have attained the height of about six inches ; so that they thus instantly receive tlie whole
benefit. They are also very attentive to weeding. The sides of the hills are culti-
vated by means of stone walls, supporting broad plots, sown witli rice or esculent roots.
Eice is the chief grain ; buckwheat, rye, barley, and wheat being little used. A kind
of root, used as the potato (Convolvulus edulis), is abundant, with several sorts of
beans, peas, turnips, cabbages, &c. From the seed of a kind of cabbage, lamp oil is
expressed ; and several plants are cultivated for dyeing, with the cotton shrubs, and
mulberry trees for the food of silkworms. The varnish and camphire trees, the vine,
the cedar, the tea tree, and the bamboo reed, not only grow wild but are planted for
numerous uses.
959. In respect to live stock, there are neither sheep nor goats in the whole empire of
Japan ; and, in general, there are but few quadrupeds. The food of the Japanese con-
sists almost entirely of fish and fowl with vegetables. Some few dogs are kept from
motives of superstition ; and cats are favourites with the ladies. Hens and common
ducks are domesticated for the sake of their eggs.
SuBSECT. 8. Of the present State of Agriculture in the Chinese Empire.
960. Agricultural improvement in China has, in all ages, been encouraged and
honoured. The husbandman is considered an honourable, as well as a useful, member of
society ; he ranks next to men of letters or oflficers of state, of whom he is frequently
the progenitor. The soldier, in China, cultivates the ground. Tlie priests also are
agriculturists, whenever their convents are endowed with land. Notwithstanding all
these advantages, however, the Chinese empire is by no means so generally cultivated
as Du Halde and other early travellers asserted. Some districts are almost entirely
under cultivation ; but in many there are extensive wastes.
961. Dr. Abel is of opinion that in that part of China passed through by Lord Am-
herst's embassy, the land " very feebly productive in food for man fully equalled that
which afforded it in abundant quantity." He never found extensive tracts of land in
general cultivation, but often great industry and ingenuity on small spots ; and concludes
tliat " as horticulturists the Chinese may perhaps be allowed a considerable share of
merit ; but, on the great scale of agriculture, they are not to be mentioned with any Eu-
ropean nation." {Narrative, 127.)
962. Livingstone, an intelligent resident in China, observes, " The statement in the Encyclopcedia
Britannica, that ' Chinese agriculture is distinguished and encouraged by the court beyond all other
sciences,' is incorrect, since it is unquestionably subordinate to literature; and it may be well doubted
whether it ought to be considered as holding among the Chinese the rank of a science; for, inde-
pendently of that routine which has been followed, with little variation, from a very high antiquity, they
seem to be entirely ignorant of all the principles by which it could have been placed on a scientific found-
ation." {Hort. Trans., v. 49.)
963. The climate of China is in general reckoned moderate, though it extends from
the 50th to the 21st degree of south latitude, and includes three climates. The northern
parts are liable to all the rigours of a European winter. Even at Pekin, at that season,
the average of the thermometer is under 20° during the night, and in the day consi-
derably below the freezing point. The heat of those parts which lie under the tropics
is moderated by the winds from the mountains of Tatary. In the southern parts there
is neither frost nor snow, but storms are very frequent, especially about the time
of the equinoxes ; all the rest of the year the sky is serene, and the earth covered with
verdure.
964. The surface of the country, though in general flat, is much diversified by chains
of granite mountains, hills, rivers, canals, and savage and uncultivated districts, towns
innumerable, villages, and cottages covered with thatch, reed, or palm leaves, and in
some places with their gardens, or fore-courts, fenced with rude pales, as in England.
156
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
{^fig. 126.) China, Dr. Abel observes, from the great extent of latitude contained in its
boundaries, and from its extensive plains and lofty mountains, partakes of the advan-
tages and defects of many climates, and displays a country of features infinitely varied
by nature. Every thing artificial, however, has nearly the same characters in every
province.
965. The soil varies exceedingly : it is in miny parts not naturally fertile ; but has
almost every where been rendered so by the application" of culture and manure for- suc-
cessive ages.
966. The landed property of China is considered as the absolute right of the emperor :
but the sub-proprietor, or first holder, is never turned out of possession as long as he
continues to pay about the tenth part of what his farm is supposed capable of yielding ;
and, though the holder of lands is only considered as a tenant at will, it is his own
fault if he is dispossessed. If any one happens to hold more than his family can con-
veniently cultivate, he lets it to another, on condition of receiving half the produce,
out of which he pays the whole of the emperor's taxes. The greater part of the poor
peasantry cultivate land on these terms. In China there are no immense estates, no
fisheries are let out to farm. Every subject is equally entitled to the free and uninter-
rupted enjoyment of the sea, of the coasts, of the estuaries, of the lakes and rivers.
There are no manor lords with exclusive privileges, nor any game laws.
967. The agricultural products of China extend to every useful vegetable. There
is scarcely a grain, a fruit, a tree, or ?. culinary vegetable of Europe, or the rest of the
world, that they do not cultivate; and they have a number peculiar to themselves.
Fowl and fish are not extensively reared, as the chief articles of diet are vegetables.
Rice is the common grain of the country ; a species of cabbage, the universal culinary
vegetable ; swine, the most abundant live stock ; and tea, the chief plant of export.
968. The tea districts of China extend from the 27th to the 31st degree of latitude.
According to the missionaries, it tlirives in the more northern provinces ; and from
Kaempfer it appears to be cultivated in Japan as far north as lat. 45°. It seems, according
to Dr. Abel's observation, to succeed best on the sides of mountains, where there can be
but little accumulation of vegetable mould. The soils from which he collected the
best specimens consisted chiefly of sandstone, schistus, or granite. The land forming
the Cape of Good Hope consisting of the same rocks, and its geographical position
corresponding to that of the tea districts of China, Dr. Abel considers it might be
grown there, if desirable, to such an extent as to supersede the necessity of procuring it
from China. It grows well in St. Helena and Rio Janeiro, and will grow any where in
a meagre soil and moderate temperature.
969. The culture of the tea plant in China has been given by various authors. It is
raised from seeds sown where the plants are to remain. Three or more are dropped into
a hole four or five inches deep ; these come up without further trouble, and require
little culture, except that of removing weeds, till the plants are three years old. The
more careful stir the soil, and some manure it ; but the latter practice is seldom adopted.
The third year the leaves are gathered, at three successive gatherings, in February,
April, and June, and so on till the bushes become stinted or tardy in their growth,
which generally happens in from six to ten years. They are then cut~in to encourage
the production of fresh slioots.
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN ASIA.
157
970. The gathering of the leaves is performed with care and selection. The leaves
are plucked off one by one : at the first gathering only the unexpanded and tender are
taken ; at the second, those that are full grown ; and at the third, the coarsest. The
first forms what is called in Europe imperial tea ; but of this and other names by which
tea is designated, the Chinese know nothing ; and the compounds and names are sup-
posed to be made and given by the merchants at Canton, who, from the great number of
varieties brought to them, have an ample opportunity of doing so. These varieties,
though numerous, and some of them very different, are yet not more so than the dif-
ferent varieties of the grape ; they are now generally considered as belonging to one
species ; the Then Bohea, now Cam^llfa Bohea (Jig. 127. a), of botanists. Formerly it was
thought that green tea was gathered exclu-
sively from Camellia viridis ; but that is now
doubtful, though it is certain there is what
is called the green tea district, and the black
tea district ; and tlie varieties grown in the ,
one district differ from those grown in the
other. Dr. Abel could not satisfy him-
self as to there being two species or one ;
but thinks there are two species. He was
told by competent persons that either of the ,
two plants will afford the black or green tea
of the shops, but that the broad thin-leaved
plant (C. viridis) is preferred for making the
green tea.
971. The tea leaves being gathered are
cured in houses which contain from five to
ten or twenty small furnaces, about three
feet high, each having at the top a large flat iron pan. There is also a long low table
covered with mats, on which the leaves are laid, and rolled by workmen, who sit round
it : the iron pan being heated to a certain degree by a little fire made in the furnace
underneath, a few pounds of the fresh-gathered leaves are put upon the pan ; the fresh
and juicy leaves crack when they touch the pan, and it is the business of the operator to
shift them as quickly as possible with his bare hands, till they become too hot to be easily
endured. At this instant he takes off the leaves with a kind of shovel resembling a fan,
and pours them on the mats before the rollers, who, taking small quantities at a time,
roll liiem in the palms of their hands in one direction, while others are fanning them, that
they may cool the more speedily and retain their curl the longer. This process is
repeated two or three times or oftener, before the tea is put into the stores, in order that
all the moisture of the leaves may be thoroughly dissipated, and their curl more com-
pletely preserved. On every repetition the pan is less heated, and the operation performed
more slowly and cautiously. The tea is then separated into the different kinds, and
deposited in the store for domestic use or exportation.
972. The (liferent sorts of black and green are not merely from soil, situation, and age
of the leaf: but, after winnowing the tea, the leaves are taken up in succession as they
fall ; those nearest the -machine, being the heaviest, form the gunpowder tea ; the
light dust the worst, being chiefly used by the lower classes. That which is brought
down to Canton undergoes there a second roasting, winnowing, packing, &c., and
many hundred women are employed for these purposes.
973. As more select sorts qf tea, the blossoms of the CamelbVz Sasanqua {Jig. 127. b) appear to be
collected ; since they are brought over land to Russia, and sold by Chinese and Armenians in Moscow at a
great price. The buds also appear to be gathered in some cases. By far the strongest tea which Dr.
Abel tasted in China, was that called Yu-tien, used on occasions of ceremony. It scarcely coloured the
water, and on examination was found to consist of the half-expanded leaves of the plant.
974. As substitutes for tea, used by the Chinese, may be mentioned a species of moss common to the
mountains of Shan-tung ; an infusion of ferns of different sorts, and, Dr. Abel thinks, the leaves of the
common camellia and oil camellia may be added. Du Halde observes that all the plants called tea by the
Chinese are not to be considered as the true tea plant ; and Kaempfer asserts that in Japan a species of
Camell?o, as well as the O^lea frJigrans, is used to give it a high flavour.
975. The oil-bearing tea plant {Camellia, oleifera) is cultivated for its seeds, from which
an oil is expressed, in very general use in the domestic economy of China. It grows
best in a red sandy soil ; attaining the height of six or eight feet, and producing a pro-
fusion of white blossoms and seeds. These seeds are reduced to a coarse powder, either
in a mortar by a pestle acted on by the cogs of a
water-wheel (Jig. 128.), or by a horizontal wheel, 128
having small perpendicular wheels, shod with iron,
fixed to its circumference, and acting in a groove
lined with the same metal. The seeds, when
ground, are stewed or boiled in bags, and then
pressed, when the oil is yielded. The press is a hollow cylinder, with a piston pressed
158
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
against one end, by driving wedges at the side ; it is very simple and yet powerful.
{^Dr. Abel's N'ar., 176.) An oil used as a varnish is extracted from another variety of
the Camellia, or tea plant (the Dryandra cordata of Thunb.), which is used as a varnish
for their boats, and coarser articles of furniture.
976. The tallow tree (Crbton sebiferum) resembles the oak in the height of its stem and
the spread of its branches, and its foliage has the green and lustre of the laurel ; its
flowers are small and yellow, and its seeds white. The latter ara crushed either as the
camellia seeds, or in a hollow trunk of a tree, lined with iron, by means of a wheel laden
with a heavy weight {Jig> 129.)> and suspended , .%/^/^;^^^j^%g%i^j:jia;>^^;^^^g^$^^^^^^
from a beam. The bruised matter next
undergoes nearly the same process as the
camellia seeds, and the oily matter is found to
have all the properties of animal tallow. It is
mixed with vegetable oil and wax, to give
it consistence, and then made into candles,
which burn with great flame, emit much
smoke, and quickly consume.
977. The wax tree, or Pe-la, is a term which
is not applicable to any one species of tree,
but to such as are attacked by a small worm,
which runs up, and fastens to their leaves,
covering them with combs. "When these worms are once used to the trees of any district,
they never leave them, unless something extraordinary drives them away. The wax pro-
duced is hard, shining, and considerably dearer than that of bees.
978. The Se'samum orientate and the Ricinus communis, or castor-oil plant, are cultivated for the
esculent oils extracted from their seeds. They appear to have some method of depriving the castor oil
of its purgative qualities, but Dr. Abel thinks not completely.
979. The camphire tree CLaurus Camphbra) grows to the size of our elms or oaks. The camphire is
procured by boiling the fresh-gathered branches of the tree, and stirring the whole with a stick, till the
gum begins to adhere to it in the form of a white jelly. The fluid is then poured off into a glazed vessel,
and left to concrete. " The crude camphire is then purified in the following manner. A quantity of the
finely powdered materials of some old wall, built of earth, is put as a first layer at the bottom of a copper
basin ; on this is placed a layer of camphire, and then another of earth, and so on till the vessel is nearly
filled ; the series being terminated with a layer of earth : over this is laid a covering of the leaves of the
plant Po-tio, perhaps a species of Mentha. A second basin is now inverted over the first, and luted on.
The whole thus prepared is put over a regulated fire, and submitted to its action for a certain length of
time: it is then removed and suffered to cool. The camphire is found to have sublimed, and to be
attacned to the upper basin, and is further refined by repetitions of the same process." {Narratt've,
%c., 179.)
980. The oak is as much prized in China as in other countries, and is styled the tree of inheritance.
There are several species in general use for building, dyeing, and fuel ; and the acorns are ground into
a paste, which mixed with the flour of corn is made into cakes.
981. The maidenhair tree {Salisbur'ia. adiantifolia) is grown for its fruit, which Dr. Abel saw exposed
in quantities ; but whether as a table fruit, a culinary vegetable, or a medicine, he could not ascertain.
Kaempfer says, the fruit assists digestion.
982. The cordage plant {Slda ti/ia-folia) is extensively cultivated for the manufacture of cordage from
its fibres. The common hemp is used for the same purpose, but the Slda is preferred. A species of MCiso
is also grown in some places, and its fibres used for rope and other purposes.
983. The common cotton, and also a variety bearing a yellow down, from which, without any
dyeing process, the nankeen cloths are formed, are grown in different places. The mulberry is grown
in a dwarf state, as in Hindustan.
984. The ground nut {A'rachis hypogce'a), the eatable arum (.(i^rum escul^ntum), theTr^pa bic6rnis,
the Scirpus tuberbsus, and Nelumbium, all producing edible tubers, are cultivated in lakes, tanks, or
marshy places.
985. The Neli'imbium, Dr. Abel observes, with its pink and yellow blossoms, and broad green leaves,
gives a charm and productiveness to marshes, otherwise unsightly and barren. The leaves of the plant
are watered in the summer, and cut do\vn close to the roots
on the approach of winter. The seeds, which are in size and
form like a small acorn without its cup, are eaten green, or
dried as nuts, and are often preserved in sweetmeats ; they
have a nut-like flavour. Its roots are sometimes as thick as
the arm, of a pale green without, and whitish within ; in a
raw state they are eaten as fruit, being juicy and of a
sweetish and refreshing flavour ; and when boiled are served
as vegetables.
986. The Scirpus tuberbsus, or water chestnut {fig. 130.),
is a stoloniferous rush, almost without leaves, and the
tubers are produced on the stolones. It grows in tanks,
which are manured for its reception about the end of March.
A tank being drained of its water, small pits are dug in its
bottom ; they are filled with human manure, and exposed
to the sun for a fortnight ; their contents are next intimately
blended with the slimy bottom of the tank, and slips of the
plant insei-ted. The water is now returned to the tank, and
the first crop of tubers comes to perfection in six months.
{Rox. Coromandel.)
987. The millet {Holcus) is grown on the banks of rivers,
and attains the height of sixteen feet. It is sown in rows,
and after it comes up P&nicum is sown between, which
comes to perfection after the other is cut down.
988. Among the many esculent vegetables cul-
tivated in China, the petsai, a species of white cabbage, is in most general use.
The
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN ASIA. 159
quantity consumed of it over the whole empire is, according to all authors, immense ;
and, Dr. Abel thinks, it may be considered to the Chinese what the potato is to the
Irish. It is cultivated with great care, and requires abundant manuring, like its
congeners of the ^r^ssica tribe. Boiled, it has the flavour of asparagus ; and raw, it
eats like lettuce and is not inferior. It often weighs from fifteen to twenty pounds,
and reaches the height of two or tree feet. It is preserved fresh during winter by
burying in the earth ; and it is pickled with salt and vinegar.
989. Almost every vegetable of use, as food, in the arts, or as medicine, knovon to the
rest of the world, is cultivated in China, with, perhaps, a very few exceptions of equatorial
plants. The bamboo and cocoa-nut tree, as in Hindustan, are in universal use : in-
digo is extensively cultivated; sugar also in the southern provinces, but it is rather
a luxury than an article of common consumption. It is used mostly in a coarse
granulated form ; but for exportation, and for the upper classes, it is reduced to its
crystallised state. Tobacco is every where cultivated, and in universal use, by all ages,
and both sexes. Fruits of every kind abound, but they are mostly bad, except the orange
and the lee-tchee (Dimocarpus Litchi), both of which are probably indigenous. The art
of grafting is well known, having been introduced by the missionaries ; but they do not
appear to have taken advantage cf this knowledge for the improvement of their fruits.
They have also an art which enables them to take off bearing branches of fruit, par-
ticularly of the orange and peach, and transfer them, in a growing state, to pots, for
their artificial rocks and grottos, and summer-houses. It is simply by removing a ring
of the bark, plastering round it a ball of earth, and suspending a vessel of water to drop
upon it, until the upper edge of the incision has thrown out roots into the earth.
990. The live stock of Chinese agriculture is neither abundant nor various. The
greater part of their culture being on a small scale, and performed by manual operations,
does not require many beasts of labour : their canals and boats supply the place of beasts
of burden : and their general abstemiousness renders animals for the butcher less neces-
sary. They rear, however, though in comparatively small number, all the domestic
animals of Europe ; the horse, the ass, the ox, the buffalo, the dog, the cat, the pig ; but
their horses are small and ill-formed. The camels of China are often no larger than our
horses ; the other breeds are good, and particularly that of pigs. The kind of dog most
common in the south, from Canton to Tong-chin-tcheu, is the spaniel with straight ears.
More to the north, as far as Pekin, the dogs have generally hanging ears and slender
tails.
991. The Chinese are exceedingly sjmring in the use of animal food. The broad-tailed
sheep are kept in the hilly parts of the country, and brought down to the plains ; but
the two animals most esteemed, because they contribute most to their own subsistence
and are kept at the cheapest rate, are the hog and the duck. Whole swarms of the
latter are bred in large barges, surrounded with projecting stages covered with coops
for the reception of these birds, which are taught, by the sound of the whistle, to jump
into the rivers and canals in search of food, and by another call to return to their lodg-
ings. They are usually hatched by placing their eggs, as the ancient Egyptians were
wont to do, in small ovens, or sandbaths, in order that the same female may continue to
lay eggs throughout the year, which would not be the case if she had a young brood to
attend. The ducks, when killed, are usually split open, salted, and dried in the sun ; in
which state they afford an excellent relish to rice or other vegetables.
992. The wild animals are numerous. Elephants are common in the south of China,
and extend as far as the thirtieth degree of north latitude in the province of Kiangnau and
of Yun-nau. The unicorn rhinoceros lives on the sides of the marshes in the provinces
of Yun-nau and Quan-si. The lion, according to Du Halde and Trigault, is a stranger
to China ; but the animal figured by Neuhoff, under the name of the tiger, seems to be
the maneless lion known to the ancients, described by Oppian, and seen by M. Olivier on
the Euphrates. Marco Polo saw lions in Fo-kien : there were some at the court of Kublai
Khan. The true tiger probably shows himself in the most southerly provinces, where
there are also various kinds of monkeys ; the long-armed gibbou or 5lmia longimknus ; the
iSlmia influens, or ugly baboon ; and the Slmia Sylvknus, which mimics the gestures and
even the laughter of men. The musk animal, which seems peculiar to the central plateau
of Asia, sometimes goes down into the western provinces of China. The deer, the boar,
the fox, and other animals, some of which are little known, are found in the forests.
993. Several of the birds of the country are distinguished for beauty of form and bril-
liancy of colour ; such as the gold and silver pheasants, which we see often painted on
the Chinese papers, and which have been brought to this country to adorn our aviaries ;
also the Chinese teal, remarkable for its two beautiful orange crests. The insects and
butterflies are equally distinguished for their xmcommon beauty. Silkworms are common,
and seem to be indigenous in the country. From drawings made in China, it appears
to possess almost all the common fishes of Europe ; and M. Bloch, and M. de Lacepede
have made us acquainted with several species peculiar to it. The Chinese gold-fish
160
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
(Cyprinus auratus), which, in that country, as with us, is kept in basins as an ornament,
is a native of a lake at the foot of the high mountain of Tein-king, near the city of
Tchang-hoo, in the province of Tchi^-kiang. From that place it has been taken to all the
other provinces of the empire and to Japan. It was in 1611 that it was first brought to
England.
994. TheJUheries of China, as already noticed, are free to all ; there are no restrictions
on any of the great lakes, the rivers, or canals. The subject is not once mentioned in
the Leu-lee ; but the heavy duties on salt render the use of salt-fish in China almost
unknown. Besides the net, the line, and the spear, the Chinese have several ingenious
methods of catching fish. In the middle parts of the empire, the fishing corvorant
(Pelicanus piscator) is almost universally in use; in other parts they catch them by torch-
light ; and a very common practice is, to place a board painted white along the edge of
the boat, which, reflecting the moon's rays into the water, induces the fish to spring
towards it, supposing it to be a moving sheet of water, when they fall into the boat.
995. The implements of Chinese agriculture are few and simple. The plough has one
handle, but no coulter ; there are different forms : some may be drawn by women, {f^.
131. a), otiiers are for stirring the soil under water (6), and the largest is drawn by a
single buffalo or ox (c). Horses are never employed for that purpose. The carts are
low, narrow, and the wheels so diminutive as
often to be made without spokes. A large
cylinder is sometimes used to separate the grain
from the ear, and they have a winnowing ma-
chine similar to that which was invented in
Europe about a century ago. The most
ingenious machines are those for raising water
for the purposes of irrigation. A very ingenious
wheel for this purpose has been figured by
Sir George Staunton : but the most univer-
sally used engine is the chain-pump, worked in
various ways by oxen, by walking in a wheel,
or by the hand ; and next to it buckets worked
by long levers {Jig. 132.), as in the gardens
round London, Paris, Constantinople, and most large cities of Europe. For pounding
oleiferous seeds they have also very simple and economical machines, in which pestles on
the ends of levers are worked by a horizontal shaft put in motion by a water-wheel.
(Jig. 133.) The chief thing to admire in the implements and machines of India and
China is their simplicity, and the ease and little expense with which they may be
constructed.
996. The operations of Chinese agriculture are numerous,
and some of them curious. Two great objects to be pro-
cured are water and manure. The former is raised from
rivers or wells by the machines already mentioned, and dis-
tt-ibuted. over the cultivated surface in the usual manner, and
the latter is obtained from every conceivable source.
997. The object qf their tillage, lAvvngstone observes, " appears to be, in
the first instance, to expose the soil as extensively as possible ; and this is
best effected by throwing it up in large masses, in which state it is allowed
to r^uain till it is finally prepared for planting. When sufficient rain has fallen to allow the husbandman
133
132
to flood his fields, they are laid under water, in which state they are commonly ploughed again, in the
same manner as for fallow, and then a rake, or rather a sort of harrow, about three feet deep and four
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN ASIA. 161
feet wide, with a single row of teeth, is drawn, by the same animal that draws their plough, perpendicu-
larly through the soil, to break the lumps, and to convert it into a kind of oozej and as the teeth ot'thk
rake or harrow are not set more than from two to three inches apart, it serves, at the same time, ver«
effectually to remove roots and other\vise to clean the ground. For some purposes, the ground thus pre.
pared is allowed to dry ; it is then formed into beds or trenches ; the beds are made of a convenient size
for watering and laying on manure. The intermediate trenches are commonly about nine inches deep
and of tlie necessary breadth to give to the beds the required elevation ; but when the trenches are
wanted for the cultivation of water plants, some part of the soil is removed, so that a trench may be
formed of the proper dimensions.
998. For these operations they use a hoe, commonly ten inches deep, and five inches broad, made of
iron, or of wood with an iron border, and for some purposes it is divided into four or five prongs. By.
constant practice the Chinese have acquired such dexterous use of this simple instrument, that they form
their beds and trenches with astonishing neatness and regularity. With it they raise the ground which
has not been ploughed, from the beds and trenches, by only changing it from a vertical to a horizontal
direction, or employing its edge. It is also used for digging, planting, and in general for every purpose
which a Chinese husbandman has to accomplish.
999. The collection of manure is an object of so much attention with the Chinese, that a prodigious
number of old men, women, and children, incapable of much other labour, are constantly employed about
the streets, public roads, and banks of canals and rivers, with baskets tied before them, and holding in
their hands small wooden rakes, to pick up the dung of animals, and offals of any kind that may answer
the purpose of manure : this is mixed sparingly with a portion of stiff loamy earth, and formed into
cakes, dried afterwards in the sun. It sometimes becomes an object of commerce, and is sold to farmers
who never employ it in a compact state. Their first care is to construct very large cisterns, for containing^
besides thase cakes and dung of every kind, all sorts of vegetable matter, as leaves, roots, or stems of plants'
with mud from the canals, and offals of animals, even to the shavings collected by barbers. With all these
they mix as much animal water as can be procured, or common water sufficient to dilute the whole •
and, in this state, generally in the act of putrid fermentation, they apply it to the ploughed earth. In
various parts of a farm, and near the paths and roads, large earthen vessels are buried to the edge in the
ground, for the accommodation of the labourer or passenger who may have occasion to use them. In
small retiring-houses, built also upon the brink of the roads, and in the neighbourhood of villages, reser-
voirs are constructed of compact materials, to prevent the absorption of whatever they receive, and straw
is carefully thrown over the surface from time to time, to prevent evaporation. Such a value is set upon
the principal ingredient, called ta-feu, for manure, that the oldest and most helpless persons are not
deemed wliolly useless to the family by which they are supported. The quantity of manure collected by
every means is still inadequate to the demand.
1000. Vegetable or wood ashes, according to Livingstone, are esteemed the very best
manure by the Chinese. Tlie weeds which were separated from the land by the harrow,
with what they otherwise are able to collect, are carefully burnt, and the ashes spi-ead.
The part of the field where this has been done is easily perceived by the most careless
observer. Indeed the vigour of the productions of those parts of their land where the
ashes have been applied is evident, as long as the crop continues on the ground. The
ashes of burnt vegetables are also mixed with a great variety of other matters in forming
the compositions which are spread on the fields, or applied to individual plants.
10()1. The plaster of old kitchens is much esteemed as a manure ; so that a farmer will replaster a cook-
house for the old plaster, that he may employ it to fertilise his fields.
10()2. Of night-soil (ta-feu), the Chinese have a high notion : and its collection and formation into cakes,
by means of a little clay, clay and lime, or similar substances, give employment to a great number of indi.
viduals. They transport these cakes to a great distance. This manure in its recent state is applied to the
roots of cauliflowers, cabbages, and similar plants, with the greatest advantage.
1003. The dung and urine of all animals are collected with great care; they are used both mixed and
separately. The mixture is less valuable than the dung, and this for general purposes is the better the
older it is. Horns and bones reduced to powder, the cakes left after expressing several oils, such as of the
ground-nut, hemp.seed, and the like, rank also as manures. Small crabs, the feathers of fowls and ducks,
soot, the sweepings of streets, and the stagnant contents of common sewers, are often thought sufficiently
valuable to be taken to a great distance, especially when water carriage can be obtained.
](KJ4. IJme is employed chiefly for the purpose of destroying insects ; but the Chinese are also aware of
its fertilising properties.
](X),5. The Chinese often manure the plant rather than the soil. The nature of the climate in the southern
part of the empire seems to justify fully this very laborious but economical practice. Rain commonly falls in
such quantities and with such force as to wash away all the soluble part of the soil, and the manure on which
its fertility is supposed to depend ; and this often appears to be so effectually done, that nothing meets the
eye but sand and small stones. It is therefore proper that the Chinese husbandman should reserve the
necessary nourishment of the plant to be ^applied at the proper time. For this purpose reservoirs of the
requisite dimensions are constructed at the corner of every field, or other convenient places.
1006. With the seed or young jolant its proper manure is invariably applied. It is then
carefully watered in dry weather night and morning, very often with the black stagnant
contents of the common sewer ; as the plants advance in growth the manure is changed,
in some instances more than once, till their advance towards maturity makes any further
application unnecessary.
1007. The public retiring-houses are described by Dr. Abel, as rather constructed for
exposure than concealment, being merely open sheds with a rail or spar laid over the
reservoir.
1008. The mixture of soils is said to be a common practice as a substitute for manure :
"they are constantly changing earth from one piece of ground to another ; mixing sand
with that which appears to be too adhesive, and loam where the soil appears to be too
loose," &c.
1009. The terrace cultivation is mentioned by Du Halde and others, as carried to great
perfection in China : but the observations of subsequent travellers seem to render this
doubtful. Lord Amherst's embassy passed through a hilly and mountainous country for
many weeks together : but Dr. Abel, who looked eagerly for examples of that system of
cultivation, saw none that answered to the description given by authors. Du Halde's
flescription, he says, may apply to some particular cases : but the instance^ which he
M
162 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
observed lead him to conclude that terrace cultivation is in a great measure confined to
their ravines, undulations, and gentlest declivities.
1010. Rows, or drills, are almost olways adopted in planting or sowing; and for this
purpose the lands are laid flat, and not raised into ridges with intervening furrows. They
are said to be particular in having the direction of their rows from north to south, which,
other circumstamces being suitable, is certainly a desirable practice. Before sowing, seeds
are generally kept in liquid manure till they germinate. Barrow frequently saw in the
province of Keang-see a woman drawing a light plough -with a single handle (Jig. 131. a),
through ground previously prepared ; while a man held the plough with one hand, and
with the other cast the seed into the drills.
1011. Forests of immense extent exist on the mountains of the western districts of
China, and abound in almost ever)- species of tree known in Europe, and many others
unknown. Besides timber and fuel, these forests supply many valuable products, as
barks, gums, oils, and resins, used in the arts. Rose wood, ebony, sandal wood, iron wood,
and a great variety of others are sent to Europe for cabinet work. The Chinese aloe has
the height and figure of an olive tree. It contains within the bark three sorts of wood ; the
first, black, compact, and heavy, b called eagle-wood ; it is scarce ; the second, called
calambooc, is hght like rotten wood ; the third, near the centre, is called calamba wood,
and sells in India for its weight in gold ; its smell is exquisite, and it is an excellent cordial
in cases of fainting or of palsy.
1012. The national agricultural fke of the Chinese deserves to be noticed. Every year
on the fifteenth day of the first moon, which generally corresponds to some day in the
beginning of our March, the emperor in person goes through the ceremony of opening
the ground ; he repairs in great state to the field appointed for this ceremony. The
princes of the imperial family, the presidents of the five great tribunals, and an immense
number of mandarins attend him. Two sides of the field are lined wiili the officers of
the emperor's house, the third is occupied by different mandarins ; the fourtli is reserved
for all the labourers of the province, who repair thitlier to see their art honoured and prac-
tised by the head of the empire. The emperor enters the field alone, prostrates himself,
and touches the ground nine times with his head in adoration of Tien, the God of heaven.
He pronounces with a loud voice a prayer prepared by the court of ceremonies, in which
he invokes the blessing of the Great Being on his labour, and on that of his whole people.
Then, in the capacity of chief priest of the empire, he sacrifices an oi, in homage to
heaven as the fountain of all good. While the victim is offered on the altar, a plough is
brought to the emperor, to which is yoked a pair of oxen, ornamented in a most mag-
nificent style. The prince lays aside his imperial robes, lays hold of tlie liandle of the
plough with the right hand, and opens several furrows in the direction of north and
south ; then gives the plough into tlie hands of the chief mandarins, who, labouring in
succession, display their comparative dexterity. The ceremony concludes with a distri-
bution of money and pieces of cloth, as presents among the labourers ; the ablest of whom
execute the rest of the work in presence of the emperor. After the field has received all
the necessary work and manure, the emperor returns to commence the sowing with
similar ceremony, and in presence of the labourers. These ceremonies are performed on
tfie same day by the viceroys of all the provinces.
SoBSECT. 9. Of the present Stale of Agriculture in Chinese Tatary^ Thibet, and Bootan.
1013. Chinese Tatary is an extensive region, diversified with all the grand features of
nature, and remarkable for its vast elevated plain, supported like a table by the moun-
tains of Thibet in the south, and AUusian cliain in the north. This prodigious plain is
little known ; its climate is supposed to be colder than that of France ; its deserts to
consist chiefly of a black sand ; and its agriculture to be very limited and imperfect.
Wheat, however, is said to be grown among the southern Mandshurs.
1014. Thibet w Tibet is an immense tract of country little known. It consists of two
divisions, Tkibet and Bootan. The climate of Thibet is extremely cold and bleak to-
wards tl^ soutli, for though on the confines of the torrid zone it vies in tliis respect with
that of the Alps of Italy. Tliat of Bootan is more temperate ; arvd the seasons of both
divisions are severe compared to those of Bengal.
1015. With respect to surface, Bootan and Thibet exliibit a very remarkable contrast.
Bootan presents to the view nothing but the most misshapen irregularities ; mountains
covered with eternal verdure, and rich with abundant forests of large and lofty trees.
Almost every favourable aspect of them, coated with tlie smallest quantity of soil, is cleared
and adapted to cultivation, by being shelved into horizontal beds : not a slope or narrow
slip of land between tlie ridges lies unimproved. Tliere is scarcely a mountain v*hose base
is not washed by some rapid torrent, and many of tlie loftiest bear populous villages,
mmiAA orchaids im^ otlicr plantations, on their summits and on their sides. It comt^nes
in its extent the most extravasrant traits of rude nature and laborious art.
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN ASIA. 163
101& TliHif. mi r--rr" 1-1. -r-"^-- -' "^-"-'c'^Mi nr ofltrl in ft iiiwi il iiiiliFn
■Dder heaven, and inwan Id be in a great meKore inc^aMe of adture. It cxluibits qdIt Imr rodbr
kSKwidKNitanyTisihlevc; - .^ . - -
! vegetation, or cxteuive aiid plains, botib of tlie mnt stcftt and itiiibarn aaect,
pnNuring ftiU at little as tlwyr^
1017. The agnctJhtre cf Thibet has manj obstacles to contend widi. Its comman
products are wheat, peas, and bukj. Rice grows (moIj in tbe soudiem parts. IVrnqs,
pumpkins, and cucumbers are abundant, Tbe greater part <^ the plants which traTcOers
hare noticed are such as are met with also in Europe and in BengaL At the fixjt of the
mountains are forests of bamboos, bananas «spens, birches, cypresses, and jew trees. The
a^ (O'mus floribunda) is remarkably large aaad beautilul, but the firs small and stunted.
On the snow-dad mountains grows tibe iSkeam undnlatinn, which die natires use £ar
medicinal purposes. The country contains, bodi in a wild and cahmfted state, pr^^fhw
and apricots, apples, pears, otanges, and pom^ranates. Tbe OwriJia saracenica sertcs
for the manufik^ure of dbai^ a ^urituous and sli^itly acid liquor.
1018. 7%2er ciioiuiifs m amMab, partly in herds and flocks ; but chi^ in a wild state.
Tbe tame horses are small, but full of spirit and restive. Tbe cattle are only of middlii^
ha^U There are numerous flodis of sheep, genially of small breed ; their hf^wj
and legs are bladt, dieir wool fine and soA, and thdr muttcm excellent ; it is eaten in a
raw state, after having be»i dried in the ctJd air, and seasoned with garlic and spicvs.
Tbe goats are numerous, and celebrated fix- didr fine hair, which is used in the manu-
facture of shawls ; this grows under the coarser hair. The yak, or grunting ox, fur-
nished with long and thick hair, and a tafl singular for its allnr lustre and undulating
form, furnishes an article of luxury common in all tfie countries <^the East. Tbe musk
ox, the ounce, a species of tiger, the wild horse, and die Ii<», are among the aniinals of
the country.
1019. TTiat eifgani ^teeimems tf chit arcki-
techtre, both in the constniction of mansions
{^. 134.), or palaces, and in bridges and
otbo* public works, should be foimd in such
a country is rather singular. In Turner's
journey through this mountainous regicMi, he
found bridges of various descriptions gene-
rally of timber. Over broad streams, a triple
or quadruple depth of stretching timbers pro-
ject one over the other, their «ids inserted
into tbe rock. Piers are almost totally ex-
cluded, on account of the extreme rapidity
of tbe rivers. "ITie widest river has an iron
bridge, consisting of a number of iron chains which support a matted platform, and two
chains are stretched above parallel with the sides, to dllow rf a matted bordo- for the
safety of the passenger. Horses are permitted to go orw this bridge, one at a time.
There is another bridge of a more simple construction, formed of two parallel dudns,
round which creepers are loosely twisted, sinking very much in the middle, ^diere suitable
planks are placed for a path. Another mode of pasdng rivers is by two ropes of rattan
or stout osier, stretched from one moimtain to anodic, and mcireled by a hoop of the
same. The passenger places himself between them, sitting in the hoop, and sdxing a
rope in each hand, slides himself al<Hig with facility and sp»^ over an abyss tremendous
to behold. Chain and mre bridges, constructed like those of Thibet, are' now becoming
common in Britain ; and it is singular, that one is described in Hutdunson*^ Dmrkmm
(Newcast. 1785) as having been erected over the Tees.
SuBSKCT. la Qftheprestnt State of Jgriadture m the jishtic Isiandt.
102a The islands of Asia torak a oonsideraUe part of our globe ; and seem wdl
adapted by nature for the support of civilised man, though at present they are mostly
peopled by savages. "We shall notice these islands in the order of Sumatra,' Borneo, the
Manillas, the Celebes, the Loochoo Isles, and the Moluccas.
1021. Sumatra is an island of great extent, with a climate more temperate than that of
Bengal, a surface of mountains and plains, one third of vdiich b cova«d with impervious
forests, and a soil consisting of a stratiun of red clay, covered with a layor of black mould.
The most important agricultural product is rice, which is grown both for home ctmsump-
tion and export- Next may be mentioned the cocoa.nut, the areca palm, or betel-nut
tree, and the pepper. Cotton and coflee are also cultivated ; and the native trees a£K»d
the resin benzoin, casda or wild cinnamon, rattans or small cones (.^frundo Botang), canes
for walkingsticks, turpentine, and gums ; besides ebony, pine, sandal, teak, manchiiied,
iron wood, banyan, aloe, and other woods.
M 2
164 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
1022. The pepper plant (Fiper nigrum,Jig. 1 35. a) is a slender climbing shrub, which also
roots at the joints. It is extensively cultivated
at Sumatra, and the berries exported to every
part of the w^orld. According to Marsden
{Hist, of Sumatra), the ground chosen by the
Sumatrans for a pepper -garden is marked
out into regular squares of six feet, the in-
tended distance of the plants, of which there
are usually a thousand in each garden. The
next business is to plant the chinkareens,
which serve as props to the pepper-vines,
and are cuttings of a tree of that name, which
is of quick growth. When the chinkareen
has been some months planted, tlie most
promising perpendicular shoot is reserved for
growth, and the others lopped off: this
shoot, after it has acquired two fathoms in
height, is deemed sufficiently high, and its top
is cut off. Two pepper-vines are usually planted to one chinkareen, round which the
vines twist for support ; and after being suffered to grow three years (by which time
they acquire eight or twelve feet in height), they are cut off about three feet from the
ground, and being loosened from the prop, are bent into the earth in such a manner
that the upper end is "i-eturned to the root. Tliis operation gives fresh vigour to the
plants, and they bear fruit plentifully the ensuing season. The fruit, which is pro-
duced in long spikes, is four or five months in coming to maturity : the berries are at
first green, turn to a bright red when ripe and in perfection, and soon fall off if not
gathered in proper time. As the whole cluster does not ripen at the same time, part of
the berries would be lost in waiting for the latter ones ; the Sumatrans, therefore,
pluck the bunches as soon as any of the berries ripen, and spread them to dry upon mats,
or upon the ground ; by drying they become black, and more or less shrivelled, according
to their degree of maturity. These are imported here under the name of black pepper.
1023. Willie pepper consists of the ripe and perfect berries of the same species stripped of their outer coats.
For this purpose the berries are steeped for about a fortnight in water, till, by swelling, their outer coverings
burst ; after which they are easily separated, and the pepper is carefully dried by exposure to the sun ;
or the berries are freed from their outer coats by means of a preparation of lime and mustard-oil, called
" chinam," applied before it is dried. Pepper, which has fallen to the ground over-ripe, loses its outer
coat, and is sold as an inferior sort of white pepper.
1024. The betel leaf {Viper Betle,^^?!^-. 135. b) is also cultivated to a considerable extent.
It is a slender-stemmed climbing or trailing plant, like the black pepper, with smooth
pointed leaves. These leaves serve to enclose a few slices of the nut of the areca palm
erroneously called the betel nut. The areca being wrapped up in the leaf, the whole is
covered with a little chunam or shell-lime to retain the flavour. The preparation has the
name of betel, and is chewed by the better sort of southern Asiatics to sweeten the breath
and strengthen the stomach ; and by the lower classes for the same reasons as ours do
tobacco. The consumption is very extensive.
1025. The areca palm (Areca Catechu) grows to the height of forty or fifty feet with a
straight trunk, and is cultivated in the margins of fields for its nut or fruit, which is sold
to be prepared as betel.
1026. Three sorts of cotton are cultivated, including the silk cotton (B6mbax Ceiba), a
handsome tree, which has been compared by some to a dumb waiter, from the regularity
of its branches.
1027. The livestock of Sumatra consists of horses, cows, buffaloes, sheep, andswine. They
are all diminutive. The horse is chiefly used for the saddle, and the buffalo for labour.
The wild animals are numerous, and include the civet cat, monkey, argus pheasant, the
jungle or wild fowl, and the small breed of poultry found also at Bantam on the west
of Java, and well known in Britain by that name.
1 028. Borneo is the largest island in the world next to New Holland. It is low and
marshy towards the shore, and in this respect and in its climate, is similar to Java.
The soil is naturally fertile ; but agriculture is neglected, the inhabitants occupying
themselves in searching for gold, which they exchange with the Japanese for the neces-
saries of life.
1029. The ova, or intoxicating pepper (Viper melhysticum), is cultivated here. It is a
shrub with a forked stem and oblong leaves, bearing a spike of berries, and having thick
roots. The root of this plant, bruised or chewed in the mouth, and mixed with the saliva,
yields that nauseous, hot, intoxicating juice, which is so acceptable to the natives of the
South Sea islands, and which is spoken of with so much just detestation by voyagers. A
similar drink is made in Peru from the meal of the maize. They pour the liquor of the
cocoa-nut, or a little water, on the bruised or masticated matter, and then a small quantity
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN AUSTRALIA. 165
produces intoxication and sleep. After the use of it for some time, it produces inflam-
mation, leprous ulcers, and consumption. It is cultivated in all tlie South Sea islands,
except the New Hebrides and New Caledonia. {Spic's Travels. )
1030. T/ie Manillas, or Phillipine Islands, are a numerous group, generally fruitful in
rice, cotton, the sugar cane, and cocoa. The bread-fruit also begins to be cultivated" here.
1031. The Celebesian Islands are little known. They are said to abound in poisonous
plants ; and the inhabitants cultivate great quantities of rice.
1032. The agriculture of the Loochoo Isles, as far as it is known, resembles that of China.
The climate and soil of the principal island seem to be among the most favourable for
man on the face of the globe. The sea breezes, which, from its situation in the midst of
an immense ocean, blow continually over it, preserve it from the extremes of heat and
cold ; while its configuration, rising in the centre into considerable eminences, supplies
it with rivers and streamlets of excellent water. The verdant lawns and romantic
scenery of Tinian and Juan Fernandez are displayed here in higher perfection ; cultiva-
tion being added to tlie beauties of nature. The fruits and vegetable productions are
excellent, and those of distant regions are found flourishing together: The orange and
the lime, the banyan of India and the Norwegian fir, all thrive in Loochoo. The chief
object of cultivation is rice, the fields of which are kept extremely neat, and the furrows
regularly arranged by a plough of a simple construction : irrigation is practised. They
have also a very nourishing variety of sweet potato. The animal creation is generally
of diminutive size, their bullocks seldom weighing more than 350 lbs., though plump
and well conditioned, and the beef excellent ; their goats and hogs are also diminutive,
but the poultry large and excellent. The bull is cliiefly used in agriculture. These
islands are not infested by any wild animals. The inhabitants seem to be gifted with a
natural politeness, good- breeding, and kindness, analogous to their climate and the pro-
ductions of their country. {Hall in Edin. Gaz., vol. iv.)
1033. The Moluccas, or Spice Islands, are small, but fertile in agricultural products.
In some the bread-fruit is cultivated, also the sago palm, with cloves and nutmegs,
llie nutmeg-tree (Myiistica moschata) grows to the size of a pear tree, with laurel-like
leaves ; it bears fruit from the age of ten to one hundred years. The fruit is about the
size of an apricot, and when ripe nearly of a similar colour. It opens and discovers the
mace of a deep red, growing over, and in part covering, the thin shell of the nutmeg,
which is black. The tree yields three crops annually ; the first in April, which is the
best ; the second, in August ; and the third, in December ; yet the fruit requires nine
months to ripen it. When it is gathered, the outer coriaceous covering is first stripped
off, and then the inner carefully separated and dried in the sun. The nutmegs in the
shell are exposed to heat and smoke for three months, then broken, and the kernels
thrown into a strong mixture of lime and water, which is supposed to be necessary for
their preservation, after which they are cleaned and packed up j and with the same in-
tention the mace is sprinkled with salt water.
Sect. 1 1. Of the present State of Agriculture in tfie Australian Isles.
1034. The Islands of Australia form a most extensive part of the territorial surface
of our globe, and the more interesting to Britons as they are likely one day to be over-
spread by their descendants and language. The important colonies of New Holland
and Van Diemen's Land are increasing in a ratio which, if it continue, will at no very
distant period spread civilisation over the whole of the islands composing this large di-
vision of the earth. The immense population, territorial riches and beauty, commerce,
naval power, intellect and refinement, which may then exist in these scarcely known
regions are too vast and various for the grasp of the imagination. Their rapid progress
to this state, however, is unquestionable ; being founded on those grand requisites, tem-
perate climate, culturable soil, ample water intercommunication ; and, to take advan-
tage of all these, an advanced state of civilisation in the settlers.
1035. The principal Australian Isles are New Holland, Van Diemen's Land, New
Guinea, New Britain, and New Zealand.
1036. New Holland and Van Diemens Land are not rich in mines, sugar canes,
cochineal, or cottons ; but they are blessed with a climate which, though different in
different places, is yet, on the whole, favourable to the health, comfort, and industry of
Europeans ; they exhibit an almost endless extent of surface, various as to aspect and
capability, but, taken together, suited in an extraordinary degree to the numerous
purposes of rural economy, the plough and spade, the dairy and sheep-walk. The
emigrant has not to wage hopeless and ruinous war with interminable forests and
impregnable jungle, as he finds extensive plains prepared by the hand of nature, ready
for the ploughshare, and capable of repaying manifold in the first season. He is not
poisoned by pestiferous swamps, nor frightened from his purpose by beasts of prey and
loathsome reptiles ; he is not chilled by hyperborean cold, nor scorched and enfeebled by
M 3
166 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
tropical heat ; and he is not separated from his kind, nor hardened in his heart, by the
debasing influence of open or concealed slavery. It is true, that he is surrounded by
those who have the brand of crime and punishment upon them, and v^^ho are, therefore,
to a certain extent infamous ; but he has the satisfaction of knowing that it is his duty
and interest to improve, not contribute to the farther degradation of, these fallen beings.
(JFidowsons Present State of Van Diemeiis Land. 1829.)
1037. New Holland, Notasia, or what may be called the continent of Australia, is
of a size nearly equal to the whole of Europe. So extended a surface naturally
presents different characters of climate, elevation, and soil. But the climate is said to
be every where temperate and salubrious ; to the north it may be considered semitropical,
to the south not materially different from that of England. The whole country being
south of the equator, the seasons are like those of the southern parts of Africa and
America, and consequently the reverse of those of Europe. The surface of the country
is in general low and level ; far northward it is hilly, and a chain of mountains is said to
run north and south, very lofty and irregular. Hills and mountains, however, form but
a small part of this extensive country. Lakes and rivers are not very frequent ; but in
the interior there are extensive marshes and savannas, covered with luxuriant grasses.
In some places the country is highly beautiful. Mr. Evans, who made a journey of 300
miles into the interior, in 1818, states that "the farther he advanced the more beautiful
the scenery became ; both hill and dale were clothed with fine grass, the whole appear-
ing at a little distance as if laid out into fields divided by hedge-rows. Through every
valley meandered trickling streams of fine water. Many of the hills are capped with
forest trees, chiefly of the eucalyptus ; and clumps of these, mixed with mimosas and the
cassuarina, were interspersed along the declivities of the hills, and in the valleys, so as to
wear the appearance of a succession of gentlemen's parks. "
1038. The mineral productions include coal, limestone, slate, granite, quartz, sand-
stone, freestone, and iron, the last in great abundance. The coal is of the best quality,
often found in hills, and worked from the side like a stone quarry without expensive
drainage.
1039. The soil towards the south is frequently sandy, and many of the lawns or
savannas are rocky and barren. In general the soil towards the sea coast is naturally
more fertile than in the interior ; but almost every where it may be brought into cultiva-
tion with little labour and abundant success. The colony of New Soutli Wales
possesses every variety of soil, from the sandy heath and the cold hungry clay, to the
fertile loam, and the deep vegetable mould. Tlie prevailing soil hitherto subjected to
agriculture is a thin black earth resting on a stratum of yellow clay, which is again
supported by a deep bed of schistus.
1040. The productions of nature in New Holland present a remarkable sameness
among themselves, and a no less remarkable difference from those of the rest of the
world. This applies more particularly to the animal and vegetable kingdoms. The
rocks, mountains, and earths, resemble nearly the inorganic substances which are met
with in other parts of the world ; but the animals and plants are decidedly peculiar.
The natives are copper-coloured savages of the very lowest description. The quadiii-
peds are all of the kangaroo or opossum tribe, or resemble these, with one or two
exceptions, among which is the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, a quadruped with the beak of
a bird. The fish are for the most part like sharks. Among the birds are black swans
and white eagles, and the emu, supposed to be the tallest and loftiest bird that exists ;
many of them standing full seven feet high. Every one acquainted in the slightest degree
with the plants in our green-houses is aware of the very peculiar appearance of those of
Australia, and there is scarcely a gardener who cannot tell their native country at
first sight. Mr. Brown, who is better acquainted with these plants than any other botanist,
observes that the Acacia and Eucalyptus, of each of which genera there are upwards of
one hundred species, when taken together, and considered vdth respect to the mass of
vegetable matter which they contain, calculated from the size as well as from the number
of individuals,' are, perhaps, nearly equal to all the other plants of that country, {^pp. to
Flinders s Voyage.')
1041. There is 7io indigenous agriculture in any part of New Holland ; but the colony
of New South Wales, which was established in 1788, has appropriated extensive tracts
of country in that quarter of tJie island, and subjected them to the field and garden cul-
tivation of Europe. Every thing that can be cultivated in the open air in England can
be cultivated in New South Wales ; the fruits of Italy and Spain come to greater per-
fection there than here, with the single exception of the orange, which requires a slight
protection in winter. Pine-apples will grow under glass without artificial heat; the
apple and the gooseberry are the only fruits which are found somewhat inferior to those
produced in Britain, But the great advantage of this colony to the agriculturist is, that
it is particularly suited to maize and sheep : maize, it is well known, produces a greater
return in proportion to the seed and labour than any other bread-corn ; and the wool of
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN AUSTRALIA. 167
the sheep of New South Wales is equal to the best of that produced in Saxony, and can
be sent to the British market for about the same expense of transport. This wool forms the
grand article of agricultural export from New Holland. According to a calculation made
by Mr. Kingdom in 1820 {BritishColonies, p. 282.), "making the most liberal allowance for
all kind of expenses, casualties, and deteriorations, money sunk in the rearing of sheep
in this colony will, in the course of three years, double itself besides paying an interest of
75 per cent."
1042. As a country for an agriculturist to emigrate to. New South Wales is perhaps
one of the best in the world, and its advantages are yearly increasing by the great num-
ber of independent settlers who arrive there from Britain. Settlers, on arrival at New
South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, have a grant of land allotted to them pro-
portionate to their powers of making proper use of it, witli a certain number of convicts
as labourers, who with their families are victualed from the public stores for six months.
{Kingdom, p. 311.) The country seems fully adequate to support itself with every
necessary, and almost every luxury, requisite to the present state of human refinement ;
in this respect it has the advantage over France, in being able to bring to perfection the
cotton plant. " As a criterion of the luxuries enjoyed by the inhabitants in fruit, one
garden, belonging to a gentleman a few miles from Sydney, contains the following
extensive variety : — viz. oranges, citrons, lemons, pomegranates, loquatts, guavas, the
olive, grapes of every variety, pine-apples, peaches, nectarines, apricots, apples, pears,
plums, figs ; English, Cape, and China mulberries j walnuts, Spanish chestnuts, almonds,
medlars, raspberries, strawberries, melons, quinces and the caper, with others of minor
value ; and such is the abundance of peaches, that the swine of the settlers are fed with
them." (^Kingdom, p. 308.) In the Gardener s Magazine, vol. v. p. 280., Mr. Fraser,
the Colonial botanist, has given a catalogue of upwards of 100 species and varieties of
fruit under his care in the open garden at Sydney, including the pine-apple, the date,
the plantain, the cocoa, and the mango.
1043. An Australian Agncultural Society was established, in the year 1823, for " the
promotion both of field and garden cultivation ; " and, besides newspapers, there is a
quarterly publication entitled the Australasian Magazine of Agricultural and Commercial
Informalion. In June 1824, an Act of Parliament was passed creating an " Australian
Agricultural Company, for the Cultivation and Improvement of waste Land, in the
Colony of New South Wales." Tliis company have an establishment in London, for
the purpose of raising a capital of one million of pounds sterling, in shares of 100/. each.
1044. Van Diemens Island is about as large as Ireland, and it enjoys a temperate
climate resembling that of England, but less subject to violent changes. According to
Evans, the deputy surveyor of the colony, the climate is more congenial to the European
constitution than any other on the globe. That of New Holland has been commended
for its salubrity, but the north-west winds which prevail there are unknown at Van
Diemen's Land. Neither the summers nor winters are subject to any great extremes of
heat or cold ; for though the summits of the mountains are covered during the greater
part of the year with snow, yet in the valleys it never remains on the ground more than
a few hours. The mean difference of temperature between Van Diemen's Land and
New South Wales is ten degrees, the mean temperature of the whole island may be
reckoned at about 60°, and the extremes at from 36° to 80°. The spring commences
early in September ; the summer in December ; the autumn in April ; and the winter,
the severity of which continues about seven weeks, in June.
1045. The surface oftlie country is richly variegated, diversified by ranges of moderate
hills and broad valleys, and towards the western part of the island there is a range of
mountains, in height 3500 feet ; on their summit is a large lake, the source of several
rivers. But though there are hills in various other parts of the island, there are not above
three or four of them that can be considered mountains. The hills, the ridges or sky
outlines of which form irregular curves, are for tlie greater part wooded ; and from their
summits are to be seen levels of good pasture land, thinly interspersed with trees, below
which is a luxuriant grassy surface. These beautiful plains are generally of the extent
of 8000 or 1 0,000 acres, and, Evans observes, are common throughout the whole island.
1046. The soil, as in New Holland, is greatly diversified ; but in proportion to the
surface of the two countries, this one contains comparatively much less of an indifferent
quality. Many fine tracts of land are found upon the very borders of the sea ; and the
^plains and valleys in the interior are composed of rich loamy clay and vegetable mould.
1047. The animal and vegetable kingdoms are the same as those of New Holland.
The native dog, the agriculturist's great enemy in that country, is unknown here ; but
there is an animal of the panther family in its stead, which commits as great havoc among
the flocks, as the wolf did formerly in Britain. It is very cowardly, and by no means
formidable to man. The native savages are, if possible, more uncivilised than those of
New Holland ; they subsist entirely by hunting, and though the country has the finest
rivers, they have no knowledge whatever of the art of fishing. They bear great animosity
M 4
168 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
to the colonists, having been fired upon by them soon after their first settlement, by which
numbers were killed. Fortunately, however, the natives seldom act on the offensive, and
two persons with muskets may traverse the island from one end to the other in perfect
safety.
1048. The agricultural facilities of Van Diemens Land are still greater than those of
New South Wales. Large tracts of land, perfectly free from timber or underwood,
and covered with the most luxuriant herbage, are to be found in all directions, but more
particularly in the environs of Port Dalrymple. These tracts of land are invariably of
the very best description, and millions of acres, which are capable of being instantly con-
verted to all the purposes of husbandry, still remain unappropriated. Here the colonist
has no expense to incur in clearing his farm : he is not compelled to a great preliminary
outlay of capital, before he can expect a considerable return. He has only to set fire to
the grass to prepare his land for the immediate reception of the ploughshare ; insomuch
that, if he but possesses a good team of horses or oxen, with a set of harness and a couple
of substantial ploughs, he has the main requisites for commencing an agricultural estab-
lishment, and for insuring a comfortable subsistence for himself and family.
1049. To this great superiority which these southern settlements may claim over the
parent colony, may be superadded two advantages, which are perhaps of equal magnitude
and importance. In the first place, the rivers here have a sufficient fall to prevent any
excessive accumulation of water from violent or continued rains, and are, consequently,
free from those awful and destructive inimdations to which the rivers of New South
Wales are perpetually subject. Here, therefore, the industrious colonist may settle on
the bank of a navigable river, and enjoy .all the advantages of sending his produce to
market by water, without running the constant hazard of having the fruits of his labour,
the golden promise of the year, swept away in an hour by a capricious and domineering
element. Secondly, the seasons are more regular and defined, and those great droughts,
which have been so frequent in Port Jackson, are altogether unknown. In the years
181;^, 1814, and 1815, when the whole face of the country was there literally burnt up,
and vegetation completely at a stand still from the want of rain, an abundant supply of
it fell here, and the harvests, in consequence, were never more productive. Indeed,
since these settlements were first established, the crops have never sustained any serious
detriment from an insufficiency of rain; whereas, in the parent colony, there have been,
since its foundation, I may venture to say, half a dozen dearths occasioned by droughts,
and at least as many arising from floods.
1050. The si,steni of farming in Van Diemens Land consists principally of growing
one crop year after year. Ihere are a few enterprising individuals who grow the various
descriptions of grain ; but wheat is what the old settler grew first, and from that he can-
not depart. It is not many years since, when the plough might be said to be unknown
in the island, the ground was then broken up with a hoe, similar to those used in the
West Indies, and the corn brushed in with thorns. This rude system is now abolished,
a pair of bullocks and a plough being witliin the reach of the smallest landholder. New
and old land are generally broken up at the same season of the year. Once ploughed, it
is sown and harrowed, and never again interfered with until the crop is cut down.
Wheat, barley, and oats may be sown at the same season, namely, about the beginning
of August, although wheat is sometimes sown late in November, and a good crop reaped
in the early part of March. There is no fear of injuring the grain by sowing early ; I
have seen seed sown in the beginning of winter, and flourish surprisingly. From ten
to fifteen crops of wheat have been taken in succession, until the land has been com-
pletely exhausted. It is then abandoned, and a new piece broken up. The exhausted
land generally becomes covered with young mimosas (acacias). {Widowson.)
1051. As a country to emigrate to, the circumstance of Van Diemen's Land being
exempt from those calamitous consequences which are so frequent in New Holland,
from a superabundance of rain on the one hand, and a deficiency of it on the other, is a
most important point of consideration for all such as hesitate in their choice between the
two countries. In the system of agriculture pursued in the two colonies there is not
any difference, save that the Indian corn, or maize, is not cultivated here, because the
climate is too cold to bring that grain to maturity. Barley and oats, however, arrive at
much greater perfection, and afford the inhabitants a substitute, although by no means
an equivalent, for this highly valuable product. The wheat, also, -which is raised here is
of a much superior description to the wheat grown in any of the districts of Port Jack-
son, and will always command, in the Sydney market, a difference of price sufficiently
great to pay for the additional cost of transport. The average produce, also, of the land
is greater, although it does not exceed, nor perhaps equal, that of the rich flooded lands on
the banks of the Hawkesbury and Nepean. The produce of both colonies, it is stated,
would be double what it is, if the operations of agriculture were as well performed as
in Britain. At present, however, this can only be the case when a settler is so fortunate
as to get what are called country convicts, that is, Irishmen who have been employed as
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN POLYNESIA. 169
agricultural labourers at home. The system of rearing and fattening cattle is perfectly
analogous to that which is pursued at Port Jackson. The natural grasses afford an
abundance of pasturage at all seasons of the year, and no provision of winter provender,
in the shape either of hay or artificial food, is made by the settler for his cattle ; yet,
notwithstanding this palpable omission, and the greater length and severity of the winters,
all descriptions of stock attain here a much larger size than at Port Jackson. Wool has
every promise of becoming a staple commodity of Van Dienien's Land. It was at first
thought that the climate was more favourable for the production of carcass than of fleece ;
but it has been found since the introduction of merinos, that wool can be produced in
every respect as good as that of New South Wales. In 1822, upwards of 300,000 lbs.
of wool were consigned to London, which sold there at prices equal to those given for
the wool of New South Wales and Saxony. Those who are desirous of more ample
information respecting this colony, which certainly ranks as the first in the world for a
British emigrant, may consult Kingdom's British Colonies, 1820; Evans's Van Diemen's
Land, 1824; Godwins Emigrant's Guide lo Van Diemens Land, 1823; Widowson's
Van Diemens Land, 1829.
1052. New Britain, New Ireland, the Solomon Isles, Neio f^^ I, \36
Caledonia, and the New Hebrides, are little known. They are
mountainous and woody, with fertile vales and beautiful
streams. The nutmeg, cocoa, yam, ginger, pepper, plantains
(Jig. 136.), sugar canes, and other fruit and spice trees,
abound.
1053. Papua, or Neiv Guinea, partakes of the opulence of
the Moluccas (1033.), and their singular varieties of plants and
animals. The coasts are lofty, and abound with cocoa trees. In
the interior, mountain rises above mountain, richly clothed ,
wirfi woods of great variety of species, and abounding in wild
swine. Birds of paradise and elegant parrots abound : they are
shot with blunt arrows, or caught with birdlime or nooses. Tlie
bowels and breast being extracted, they are dried with smoke
and sulphur, and sold for nails or bits of iron to such navigators as touch at the island.
1054. Neio Zealand has scarcely any agriculture, except plantations of yam, cocoa, and
sweet potato. There is only one shrub or tree in this country which produces fruit,
and that is a kind of a berry almost tasteless ; but they have a plant (Phormium tdnax)
which answers all the uses of hemp and flax. There are two kinds of this plant, the
leaves of one of which are yellow, those of the other deep red, and both resembling the
leaves of flags. Of these leaves they make lines and cordage much stronger thau any
thing of the kind in Europe ; they likewise split them into breadths, and tying the
slips together form their fishing-nets. Their common apparel, by a simple process,
is made from these leaves ; and their finer, by another preparation, is made from the
fibres. This plant is found both on high and low ground, in dry mould and deep
bogs ; but as it grows largest in the latter, that seems to be its proper soil. It has lately
been found to prosper in the south of Ireland, but not to such an extent as to determine
its value.
Sect. III. Of the present State of Jgriculture in Polynesia.
1055. This sixth great division of the earth's surface consists of a number of islands in
the northern and southern hemispheres, which, though at present chiefly inhabited by
savages, are yet, from their climate and other circumstances, singularly adapted for cul-
ture and civilisation. The principal are the Pellew Isles, the Ladrone Isles, the Sand-
wich Isles, in the northern hemisphere ; and the Friendly Isles, the Navigator's Isles,
the Society Isles, the Georgian Isles, and the Marquesas, in the southern hemisphere.
1056. The Pellew Isles are covered with wood, and encircled by a coral reef. None
of these islands has any sort of grain or quadruped ; but they are rich in the most
valuable fruit and spice trees, including the cabbage tree {Areca oleracea) {fig. 137.),
cocoa, plantain, and orange; and abound with wild cocks and hens, and many other birds.
The culture of the natives only extends to yams and cocoa-nuts.
1057. The Lndrones are a numerous collection of rocky fragments, little adapted to
agriculture. The isles of Guam and Tinian are exceptions. Tlie latter abounds in
cattle and fruits, the bread-fruit, and orange, but is without agriculture.
1058. The Marquesas are in general rocky and mountainous, and include very few
spots fit for cultivation. The inhabitants are savages, but rudely cultivate the yam
in some places. They have, however, the ava, or intoxicating pepper (1029.) ; and
procure also a strong liquor from the root of ginger, for the same general purpose
of accumulating enjoyment, forgetting care, and sinking into profound sleep.
1059. The Sandwich Isles resemble those of the West Indies in climdte, and the rest
of the South Sea islands in vegetable productions. The bread-fruit tree attains
170
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
great perfection. Sugar canes grow to an unusual size, one being brought to Captain
Cook eleven inches and a quarter in circumference, and having fourteen feet eatable.
Dogs, hogs, and rats are the only native qua-
drupeds of these islands, in common with all
others that have been discovered in the South
Sea. The king of these islands visited Eng-
land in the time of Geo. II., and again in 1824.
1060. The Fiiendly Islands are in most respects
similar to Otaheite ( 1 06 1 . )• Tongataboo appears
to be a flat country, with a fine climate, and
universally cultivated. The whole of this island
is said to consist of enclosures, with reed fences
about six feet high, intersected with innumer-
able roads. The articles cultivated are bread-
fruit, plantains, cocoa-nuts, and yams. In the
other islands, plantains and yams engage most
of their attention ; the cocoa-nut and bread-
fruit trees are dispersed about in less order than
the former, and seem to give them no trouble.
Their implements of culture consist of pointed
sticks of different lengths and degrees of
strength.
1061. The island of Otaheile is the principal
of the Georgian Islands. It is surrounded by
a reef of coral rocks. The surface of the
country, except that part of it which borders
upon the sea, is very uneven ; it rises in ridges
that run up into the middle of the island, and
there form mountains which may be seen at
the distance of sixty miles. Between the foot of
these ridges and the sea is a border of low land,
surrounding the whole island, except in a few
places where the ridges rise directly from the
sea. This border is of different breadths in
different parts, but no where more than a mile
and a half.
1062. The soil of Otaheile, except on the very
tops of the ridges, is extremely rich and fertile,
watered by a great number of rivulets of excellent water, and covered with fruit trees
of various kinds. The low land that lies between the foot of the ridges and the sea,
and some of the valleys, are the only parts of the island that are inhabited, and here it is
populous : the houses do not form villages or towns, but ai-e ranged along the whole
border, at the distance of about fifty yards from each other, with little plantations of
plantains, the tree which furnishes them with cloth.
1063. The produce of Otaheite h the bread-fruit (ArtocArpus integrifolia), cocoa-nuts,
bananas of thirteen sorts, plantains; a fruit not unlike an apple, which, when ripe, is
very pleasant; sweet potatoes, yams, cocoas (^>um Colocasia, and Calddium esculentum,
both propagated by the leaves) ; a fruit known here by the name of jambu, and reckoned
most delicious ; sugar cane, which the inhabitants eat raw ; a root of the saloop kind,
which th'b inhabitants call pea ; a plant called etliee, of which the root only is eaten ; a
fruit that grows in a pod, like that of a large kidneybean, which, when it is roasted,
eats very much like a chestnut, by the natives called whee ; a tree here called wharra, but
in the East Indies pandanus, which produces fruit something like the pine-apple ; a
shrub called nono ; the morinda, M'hich also produces fruit; a species of fern, of which
the root is eaten, and sometimes the leaves ; and a plant called theve, of which the root
also is eaten : but the fruits of the nono, the fern, and the theve, are eaten only by the
inferior people, and in times of scarcity. All these, which serve the inhabitants for food,
the earth produces spontaneously, or with little culture. They had no European fruit,
garden stuff, pulse, or legumes, nor grain of any kind, till some seeds of melons and other
vegetables were given them by Captain Cook.
1064. Of tame animals, the Otaheitans have only hogs, dogs, and poultry; neither is
there a wild animal on the island, except ducks, pigeons, parroquets, with a few other
birds, and rats, there being no other quadruped, nor any serpent. But the sea supplies
them with great variety of most excellent fish, to eat which is their cliief luxury, and to
catch it their principal labour.
1065. The remaining Polynesian Islands of the southern hemisphere are, for the most
part, inhabited by savages, and are without agriculture.
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA. 171
Sect. IV. Of the present State of Agriculture in Africa.
1066. The continent of Africa, in point of agricultural as of political and ethical es-
timation, is the meanest of the great divisions of the earth; though in one corner of it
(Egypt) agriculture is supposed to have originated. The climate is every where hot,
and intensely so in the northern parts. The central parts, as far as knovi^n, consist of
ridges of mountains and immense deserts of red sand. There are very few rivers, inland
lakes, or seas, and indeed fully one half of this continent may be considered as either
desert or unknown. Some of the African islands are fertile and important, especially
Madagascar, Bourbon, Mauritius, &c. We shall take the countries of Africa in the
order of Abyssinia, Egypt, Mohammedan states of the nortli, western coast, Cape of
Good Hope, eastern coast, Madagascar and other isles.
SuBSECT. 1. Of the present State (f Agriculture in Abyssinia.
1067. The climate of Abyssinia , though exceedingly various in different parts, is in
general temperate and healthy. The surface of the country is generally rugged and
mountainous ; it abounds with forests and morasses ; and it is also interspersed with
many fertile valleys and plains adapted both to pasture and tillage. The rivers are
numerous and large, and contribute much to general fertility. The soil is not natu-
rally good, being in general thin and sandy ; but it is rendered fertile and productive by
irrigation and the periodical rains.
1068. The agricultural products are wheat, barley, millet, and other grains. They
cultivate the vine, peach, pomegranate, sugar cane, almonds, lemons, citrons, and
oranges ; and they have many roots and herbs which grow spontaneously, and their soil,
if properly managed, would produce many more. However, they make little wine, but
content themselves with the liquor which they draw from the sugar cane, and their
honey, which is excellent and abundant. They have the coffee tree, and a plant called
ensete, which produces an eatable nourishing fruit. The country also produces many
other plants and fruits adapted both for domestic and medicinal uses. Here is plenty
of cotton, which grows on shrubs like that of India. The forests abound with trees
of various descriptions, particularly the rock, baobob, cedar, sycamore, &c.
1069. Tlie live stock of Abyssinia includes horses, some of which are of a very fine
breed, mules, asses, camels, dromedaries, oxen of different kinds {fg. 138.), cows,
sheep, and goats ; and these constitute the
principal wealth of the inhabitants. Amongst
the wild animals, we may reckon the ante-
lope, the buffalo, the wild boar, the jackal,
the elephant, the rhinoceros, the lion, the
leopard, the hygena, the lynx ; the ape and
baboon which, as well as the common rat,
are very destructive to the fields of millet j
the zecora, or wild mule, and the wild ass ;
the jerboa, the fennic, ashkoko, hare, &c.
The hare, as well as the wild boar, is deemed
unclean, and not used as food. Bruce saw
no sparrows, magpies, nor bats ; nor many
water-fowl, nor any geese, except the golden
goose, or goose of the Nile, which is com-
mon in every part of Africa ; but there are snipes in the marshes. The locusts of this
country are very destructive ; they have also species of ants that are injurious ; but
from their bees they derive a rich supply.
1070. The agriculture of Abyssinia is of far less use to the inhabitants than it might be^
for want of application and exertion. There are two, and often three, harvests in the
year ; and where they have a supply of water, they may sow in all seasons ; many of
their trees and plants retain their verdure, and yield fruit or flowers throughout the year ;
the west side of the tree blossoms first and bears fruit, then the south side, next the north
side, and last of all the east side goes through the same process towards the beginning of
the rainy seasons. Their pastures are covered with flocks and herds. They have grass
in abundance, but they neglect to make hay of it ; and therefore they are obliged to supply
this defect by feeding their cattle with barley, or some other grain. Notvrithstanding
the plenty and frequent return of their crops, they are sometimes reduced almost to
famine, either by the devastations of the locusts or grasshoppers which infest the country,
or by the more destructive ravages of their own armies, and those of their enemies.
172 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
SuBSECT. 2. Of the j)resent State of Agriculture in Egypt.
1071 . The climate of Egypt has a peculiar character from the circumstance of rain being
very uncommon. The heat is also extreme, particularly from March to November;
while the cool season, or a kind of spring, extends through the other months.
1072. The surface of the country is varied in some regions, but is otherwise flat and
uniform. Far the greater part presents a narrow fertile vale, pervaded by the Nile, and
bounded on either side by barren rocks and mountains. The soil of Egypt has been
variously described by different travellers, some representing it as barren sand, only
rendered fertile by watering, and others as " a pure black mould, free from stones, of a
very tenacious and unctuous nature, and so rich as to require no manure." The latter
appears to prevail only in the Delta.
1073. The fertility of Egypt has been generally ascribed to the inundations of the Nile,
but this is applicable in a strict sense only to parts of the Delta ; whereas, in other dis-
tricts there are canals, and the adjacent lands are generally watered by machines. Gray's
description of Egypt, as immersed imder the influx of the Nile, though exquisitely
poetical, is far from being just. In Upper Egypt the river is confined by high banks,
which prevent any inundation into the adjacent country. This is also the case in Lower
Egypt, except at the extremities of the Delta, where the Nile is never more than a few
feet below the surface of the ground, and where of course inundation takes place. But
the country, as we may imagine, is without habitations. The fertility of Egypt, ac-
cording to Browne, an intelligent traveller, arises from human art. The lands near the
river are watered by machines ; and if they extend to any width, canals have been cut.
The soil in general is so rich as to require no manure ; it is a pure black mould, free
from stones, and of a very tenacious unctuous nature. When left uncultivated, fissures
have been observed, arising from extreme heat, of such depth that a spear of six feet
could not reach the bottom.
1074. The limits of cultivated Egypt are encroached upon annually, and barren sand is
accumulating from all parts. In 1517, the era of the Turkish conquest. Lake Mareotis
was at no distance from the walls of Alexandria, and the canal which conveyed the waters
into the city was still navigable. At this day, the lake has disappeared, and the lands
watered by it, which, according to historians, produced abundance of corn, wine, and
various fruits, are changed into deserts, in which are found neither shrub, nor plant, nor
verdure. The canal itself, the work of Alexander, necessary to the subsistence of the
inhabitants of the city which he built, is nearly choked up, and preserves the waters only
when the inundation is at its greatest height, and for a short time. About half a century
ago, part of the mud deposited by the river was cleared out of it, and it retained the
water three months longer. Schemes have lately been adopted for opening and per-
fecting this canal. The Pelusiac branch, which discharges itself into the eastern part of
the Lake of Tanais, or Menzale, is utterly destroyed. With it perished the beautiful
province which it fertilised, and the famous canal begun by Necos, and finished by
Ptolemy Philadelphus. The famous works, executed by kings who sought their glory
and happiness in the prosperity of the people, have not been able to resist the ravages of
conquerors, and that despotism which destroys every thing, till it buries itself under the
wreck of the kingdoms whose foundations it has sapped. The last of the great works
of Egypt, the canal of Amrou, which formed a communication between Fostat and
Colzoum, reaches at present no farther than about four leagues beyond Cairo, and loses
itself in the Lake of Pilgrims. Upon the whole, it may be confidently affirmed that
upwards of one third of the lands formerly in cultivation is metamorphosed into dreary
deserts.
1075. Landed property in Egypt is for the most part to be considered as divided between
the government and the religious bodies who perform the service of the mosques, and
have obtained possession of what they hold by the munificence of princes and rich men,
or by the measures 'taken by individuals for the benefit of their posterity. Hence, a large
proportion of the tenants and cultivators hold either of the government or the procurators
of the mosques. But there is one circumstance common to both, viz. that their lands, when
they become unoccupied, are never let but upon terms ruinous to the tenants. Besides the
property and influence of the beys, of the Mamelukes, and of the professors of the law, are
so extensive, and so absolute, as to enable them to engross into their own hands a very consi-
derable part : the number of the other proprietors is extremely small, and their property
liable to a thousand impositions. Eveiy moment some contribution is to be paid, or
some damage repaired ; there is no right of succession or inheritance for real property,
except for that called " wakf," which is the property of the mosques ; every thing returns
to government, from which every thing must be repurchased. According to Volney,
the peasants are hired labourers, to whom no more is left than what is barely sufficient to
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA. 17i
sustain life ; but Browne says, that these terms can be yroperly applied to very few of
them.
1076. The occupier of the land, assisted by his family, is the cultivator ; and in
the operations of husbandry scarcely requires any other aid. He commonly holds
no more than he and they can cultivate, and gather the produce of. When, indeed,
the Nile rises, those who are employed to water the fields are commonly hired
labourers. The rice and corn they gather are carried to their masters, and nothing is
reserved for them but dourra, or Indian millet, of which they make a coarse and taste-
less bread without leaven ; this, with water and raw onions, is their only food through-
out the year ; and they think themselves happy if they can sometimes procure a little
honey, cheese, sour milk, and dates. Their whole clothing consists of a shirt of coarse
blue linen and a black cloak. Their head-dress is a sort of cloth bonnet, over which
they roll a long handkerchief of red woollen. Their
arms, legs, and breasts are naked, and some of them do *^'^
not even wear drawers. Their habitations (^g'. 139.)
are mud-walled huts, in which they are suffocated with
heat and smoke, and in which, besides the experience
of other inconveniences, they are perpetually distressed
with the dread of the robberies of the Arabs, and the
extortions of the Mamelukes, family feuds, and all the
calamities of a perpetual civil war.
1077. The agricultural products of Egypt consist of grain of most sorts, and particularly
rice. Barley is grown for the horses, but no oats are seen. In the Delta a crop of rice
and a crop of barley are obtained within the year on the same ground. Sometimes, instead
of barley, a fine variety of clover ( rHfolium alcxandrinum Forxkahl) is sown without
ploughing or harrowing. The seed sinks to a sufficient depth in the moist soil, and pro-
duces three cuttings before the time for again sowing the rice.
1078. Rice is sown from the month of March to that of May ; and is generally six months jn coming to
maturity. In reaping, it is most commonly pulled up by the roots. As the use of the flail is unknown
in Egypt, the rice plants are spread in thick layers on floors fonned of earth and pigeon's dung, which are
well beaten and very clean ; and then, in order to separate the grain from the straw, they make use of a
sort of carts, constructed like our sledges with two pieces of wood joined together by two cross bars.
Between the longer sides of this sledge are tixed, transversely, three rows of small wheels, made of solid
iron, and narrowed off" towards their circumference ; and on the fore part is fixed a high seat, on which a
man sits, for the purpose of driving two oxen that are harnessed to the machine, thus moving it in a
circular direction over every part of the heap of rice, till the grain is completely separated from the straw ;
the grain is then spread in the air to be dried. The dried rice is carried to the mill, where it is stripped
of its chaff" or husk. This mill consists of a wheel turned by oxen, which sets several levers in motion ;
and at their extremity is an iron cylinder, about a foot long, and hollow underneath ; these cylinders
turn in troughs which contain the grain ; and at the side of each trough there stands a man, whose bu-
siness it is to place the rice under the cylinders. The next operation is to sift the rice in the open air, by
tilling a small sieve, which a man lilTts over his head, and thus lets fall, with his face turned to the wind,
which blows away the small chaff" or dust. This cleaned rice is put a second time into the mill, in order
to bleach it ; it is afterwards mixed up in troughs with some salt, which contributes very much to its
whiteness and also to its preservation, and in this state it is sold. Rice is furnished in great quantities
in the Delta ; and that which is grown in the environs of Rosetta is more esteemed, on account of its pre-
paration, tlian that which is produced in the vicinity of Damietta. The produce of the one and the other
IS equally wonderful. In a good season, that is, when the rise of the Nile occasions a great expansion of
its waters, the profit of the proprietors of rice fields is estimated at fifty per cent, clear of all expenses.
Savary says that it produces eighty bushels for one.
1079. Wheat is sown as soon as the waters of the Nile have retired from the lands appropriated to it;
the seed time varies with the latitude, and also the harvest, which is earlier in Upper than in Lower
Egypt. Near to Syene they sow the barley and the corn in October, and reap it in January. Towards
Girge they cut in February; and in the month of March, in the vicinity of Cairo. This is the usual pro-
gress of the harvest in the Said. There is also a number of partial liarvests, as the lands are nearer to,
or at a greater distance from, the river, lower or more elevated. In Lower Egypt thev are sowing and
reaping all the year. Where the waters of the river can be procured tlie earth is never idle, and fur-
nishes three crops annually. In descending from the cataracts in Januarv, the corn is seen almost ripe ;
lower down it is in ear ; and, advancing further, the plains are covered with verdure. The cultivator, in
general, merely casts the seed upon the moistened earth ; the corn soon springs up from the mud ; its
vegetation is rapid, and four months after it is sown it is fit to be reaped. In performing this operation,
the sickle not being used, the stalks are pulled up by the roots, and carried to large floors, like those
which are used for treading out rice ; and by a similar operation the corn is separated from the ear.
Unripe ears of corn are dried and slackly baked in an oven ; and being afterwards bruised and boiled with
meat, form a common dish in Lower Egypt, called " ferik."
1080. Flax has been cultivated in Egypt from the most remote period, and is still
grown in considerable quantities. Indigo is also grown for dyeing it, the colour of the
shirt in this country being universally blue.
1081. From the hemp, which is abundantly cultivated in this country, the inhabitants
prepare intoxicating liquors ; and also by pounding the fruit into a paste, which when
fermented answers a similar purpose ; and they mix the capsules with tobacco for
smoking.
1082. The sugar cane is also one of the valuable productions of Egypt. The common
people do not wait for the extraction of the sugar, but cut the canes green, which are
sold in bundles in all the towns. They begin to ripen in October, but are not, in general,
fit to be cut till November or December. The skill of the sugar-refiners is in a very
imperfect state.
174 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
1083. Fruii trees of various species abound in this country. Among these we naay reckon the olive tree,
fig trees which yield figs of an exquisite flavour, and the date tree which is to be found every where in
the Thebais and in the Delta, in the sands as well as in the cultivated districts, requiring little or no cul-
ture, and yielding a very considerable profit, on account of the immense consumption of its fruit. The
species of palm tree that furnishes dates produces also a bark which, together with its leaves and the
rmd of its fruit, affords filaments from which are manufactured ropes and sails for boats. The leaves are
also used for making baskets and other articles. The very long rib of the branches is employed, on ac-
count of its lightness and solidity, by the Mamelukes, in their military exercises, as javelins, which they
throw at each other from their horses when at full speed. A species of Cypferus, which produces a fruit
resembling the earth-nut, but of a much more agreeable flavour, is cultivated in the environs of Rosetta ;
and the small tubercles are sent to Constantinople and other towns of the Levant, where they are much
valued. The Egyptians express from them a milky juice, which they deem pectoral and emollient ; and
give them to nurses, in order to increase the quantity of their milk. The banana trees, though not na-
tives of the soil of Egypt, are nevertheless cultivated in the northern parts of that country. The papaw,
or custard-apple tree {Anbna), is also transplanted into the gardens of Egypt, and yields a fruit equally
gratifying to the taste and smell. In the shade of the orchards are cultivated various plants, the roots of
which are refreshed by the water that is conveyed to them by little trenches j each enclosure having its
well or reservoir, from which the water is distributed by a wheel turned
by oxen. The mallow (Malva rotundifulia) grows here in abundance : it
is dressed with meat, and is one of those herbs that are most generally
consumed in the kitchens of Lower Egypt. Two other plants used as
food, are the garden Jew's mallow, and the esculent i^ibSscus. Another
tree, which appears to be indigenous in this country, is the " atle," a
species of larger tamarisk (Tamarix orientalis Forskahl). The wood of
this tree serves for various purposes ; and, among others, for charcoal. It
is the only wood that is common in Egypt, either for fuel or for manu-
factures. Fenu-greek is cultivated for fodder, though for this use a plant
called barsim is preferred. The plant called " helbe " is cried about for
sale, in November, in the streets of the towns : and it is purchased and
eaten with incredible avidity, without any kind of seasoning. It is pre-
tended that it is an excellent stomachic, a specific against worms and
the dysentery, and, in short, a preservative against a great number of
disorders. Lentils form a considerable article of food to the inhabitants
of Upper Egypt, who rarely enjoy the luxury of rice. The Egyptian
onions are remarkably mild, more so than the Spanish, but not so large.
They are of the purest white, and the laminee are of a sorter and looser
contexture than those of any other species. They deteriorate by trans-
plantation ; so that much must depend on the soil and climate. They
remain a favourite article of food with all classes ; and it is usual to put
a layer or two of them, and of meat, on a spit or skewer, and thus roast
them over a charcoal fire. We need not wonder at the desire of the
Israelites for the onions of Egypt Leeks are also cultivated and eaten
in this country; and almost all the species of European vegetables
abound in the gardens of Rosetta. Millet and Turkey corn, the vine, the henn^ or EgA'ptian privet, and
the water-melon are cultivated in Egypt ; and the country furnishes a variety of medicinal plants, as
Carthatnus tinctbrius {fig. 140.), senna, coloquintida, &c. Of late years the cotton has been grown on
an extensive scale under the care of European and American cultivators, and the raw produce in part
manufactured by machinery sent from Britain, and in part exported to Europe.
1084. The live stock of Egyptian agriculture principally consists of the ox, buffalo,
horse, ass, mule, and camel. The oxen of Egypt are employed in tillage, and in giving
motion to a variety of hydraulic machines ; and as they are harnessed so as to draw from
the pitch of the shoulder, their withers are higher than those of our country ; and, indeed,
they have naturally some resemblance to the bison (.Bos ferus), or hunched ox. It has
been said that the cows of Egypt bring forth two calves at a time ; an instance of fe-
cundity which sometimes happens, but is not reckoned very common. Their calves
are reared to maturity, veal, which is forbidden by the law of the Mohammedans, and
from which the Copts also abstain, not being eaten in Egypt.
1085. The buffalo is more abundant than the ox, and is equally domestic. It is
easily distinguishable by the constantly uniform colour of the hair, and still more by a
remnant of ferocity and intractability of disposition, and a wild lowering aspect, the
characteristics of all half-tamed animals. The females are reared for the sake of the
milk, and the males to be slaughtered and eaten. The flesh is somewhat red, hard, and
dry ; and has also a musky smell, which is rather unpleasant.
1086. The horses of Egypt rank next to those of the Arabians, and are remarkable for
their valuable qualities. Here, as in most countries of the East, they are not castrated
either for domestic use or for the cavalry.
1087. The asses of Egypt have no less a claim to distinction than the horses ; and
these, as well as those of Arabia, are esteemed for vigour and beauty the finest in
the world. They are sometimes sold for a higher price than even the horses, as tliey
are more hardy, less difficult as to the quality and quantity of their food, and therefore
preferred in traversing the deserts. The handsomest asses seen at Cairo are brought from
Upper Egypt and Nubia. On ascending the Nile, the influence of climate is per-
ceptible in these animals, which are most beautiful in the Said, but are in every respect
inferior towards the Delta. With the most distinguished race of horses and asses,
Egypt possesses also the finest mules ; some of which, at Cairo, exceed in price the most
beautiful horses.
1088. T'he camel and dromedary, as every body knows, are the beasts of burden in
Egypt, and not only answer all the purposes of our waggons and public conveyances,
but bear the vehicles {fg. 141.) in which the females of the higher classes pay their visits
on extraordinary occasions.
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA.
175
1089. The agricultural iniplemeuts of Egypt are simple ; but some of them, particularly
the contrivances for raising water, very ingenious. The plough is of the rudest kind,
as are the cart and spade.
1090. The operations of threshing and sowing have been already described (1078>
1079.) ; that of imgation is performed as in other countries. At present there are eighty
canals in use for this purpose, some of them twenty, thirty, and forty leagues in length.
The lands near the river, as the Delta, are watered directly from it : the water is raised
by wheels in the dry season ; and, when the inundation takes place, it is retained on the
J ^2 fields for a certain time by
small embankments made
round them.
1091. Nubia, the Ethiopia
of the ancients, is a miserable
country or desert, thinly in-
habited by a wretched people,
who live chiefly on millet,
and dwell in groups of mud
huts. (Jg. 142.)
ScBSECT. 3. Present Stale of Agriculture in the Mohammedan States of the North of Africa.
1092. These are Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco, territories chiefly on the
southern shore of the Mediterranean ; rich and celebrated in the ages of antiquity, but
at present depressed by the barbarism and fanaticism of tlieir rulers, who are in general
tributary to the Porte.
1093. Tripoli is generally distinguished into maritime and inland. In neither is there
much agriculture ; for the inhabitants of countries on the coast live chiefly by commerce
and piracy, and those of the inland parts on plunder and robbery. There are a few
fields of grain, chiefly rice, round the capital, date palms, olives, and what is called the
lotus tree (Zizyphus iotus), whose fruit is reckoned superior to the date, and makes
excellent wine.
1094. The kingdom of Tunis was formerly the chief seat of Carthaginian power. ITie
soil is in general impregnated with marine salt and nitre, and springs of fresh water are
more rare than those of salt. But the Tunisians are much more agriculturists than their
neighbours either of Tripoli or Algiers. The southern parts of the country are sandy,
barren, and parched by a burning sun : the northern parts enjoy a better soil and tem-
perature, and are more under cultivation : near the sea, the country is rich in olive
trees : the western part abounds in mountains and hills, and is watered by numerous
rivulets ; it is extremely fertile, and produces the finest and most abundant crops. The
first rains commonly fall in September, and then the farmers break up the ground, sow
their grain, and plant beans, lentils, and garvancos. By May following harvest com-
mences ; and we may judge of its productiveness by what the Carthaginians experienced
of old. The ox and the buffalo are the principal beasts of labour, and next the ass,
mule, and horse. The zebu, or humped ox [fg. 143.),
considered by many naturalists as a distinct species, is
common both in this and other kingdoms of northern
Africa.
1095. The territory of Algiers, in an agricultural
point of view, is chiefly distinguished by the fertile
plain of Mettijiah, a vast country which stretches fifty
miles in length, and twenty in breadth, to the foot of
one of the branches of Mount Atlas. This plain is
watered by several streams, tlie soil is light and fertile,
and it is better cultivated than any other district of the
14J
176 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
kingdom. The country-seats and masharcas, as the call the farms of the principal inha-
tants of Algiers, are found in this plain ; and it is chiefly from it that the metropolis is
supplied with provisions. Flax, alhenna, roots, potherbs, rice, fruit, and grain of all
kinds are produced here to such perfection, that the Mettijiah may be justly reckoned
the garden of the whole kingdom.
1096. In the inliind provinces are immense tracts of country wholly uninhabited and
uncultivated. There are also extensive tracts of brushwood, and some timber forests.
The fertility of the soil decreases in approaching Sahara or the Desert, although in its
borders, and even in the desert itself there are some districts which are capable of culti-
vation, and which produce corn, figs, and dates. These regions are inhabited by no-
madical tribes, who, valuing themselves on their independence, endure with fortitude and
resignation the inconveniences attending their condition, and scarcely regret the want of
those advantages and comforts that pertain to a civilised state of society.
1097. The seed-time here, as in Tunis, is during the months of October and November,
when wheat, barley, rice, Indian corn, millet, and various kinds of pulse, are sown. In
six months the crops are harvested, trodden out by oxen or horses, winnowed by throwing
with a shovel against the wind, and then lodged in subterraneous magazines.
1098. The empire of Morocco is an extensive territory of mountains and plains, and
cliiefly an agricultural country. The mountains consist of limestone or clay, or a mix-
ture of both, and no vestiges appear of granite, on which they are supposed to rest. The
climate is temperate and salubrious, and not so hot as the situation would lead us to
suppose. The rains are regular in November, though the atmosphere is not loaded with
clouds : January is summer ; and in March barley harvest commences. The soil consists
either of pure sand often passing into quicksand, or of pure clay ; and is often so
abundantly mixed with iron ochre, that agricultural productions, such as wax, gum,
wool, &c., are distinguished by a reddish tint, which, in the wool, cannot be removed
by washing or bleaching. Cultivation, in this country, requires little labour, and, in
general, no manure ; all weeds and herbaceous plants, not irrigated, are, at a certain
season, burnt up by the sun, as in some parts of Spain (745.); the ground, being
then perfectly clean and dry, is rendered friable and easily pulverised by the rains ; and
one rude stirring suffices both for preparing the soil and covering the seed. The pro-
duce in wheat, rice, millet, maize, barley, and chick-peas (Cicer arietinum), is often sixty
fold ; thirty fold is held to be an indifferent harvest.
1099. In general they make use of no manure except that which is left on the fields by
their flocks and herds. But the people who inhabit places near forests and woods
avail themselves of another method to render the soil productive. A month or two
before the rains commence, the farmer sets fire to the underwood, and by this confla-
gration clears as much land as he intends to cultivate. The soil, immediately after this
treatment, if carefully ploughed, acquires considerable fertility, but is liable soon to be-
come barren, unless annually assisted by proper manure. This system of burning down
the woods for the sake of obtaining arable land, though not generally penuitted in states
differently regulated from this, is allowable in a coimtry, the population of which bears
so small a proportion to the fertility of the soil, and in which the most beautiful tracts
are suffered to remain unproductive from want of hands to cultivate them. In this
manner the nomadic Arab proceeds in his conflagrations, till the whole neighbourhood
around him is exhausted ; he then packs up his tents and travels in search of another
fertile place where to fix his abode, till hunger again obliges him to continue his migra-
tion. Thus it is computed, that at one and the same time no more than a third part of
the whole country is in a state of cultivation.
1100. The live slock of Morocco consists of numerous flocks and herds. Oxen
of a small breed are plentiful, and also camels ; the latter animal being used in
agriculture, for travelling, and for food. 'I'he horses are formed for fleetness and activity,
and taught to endure fatigue, heat, cold, hunger, and thirst. Mules are much used, and
the breed is encouraged. Poultry is abundant in Morocco ; pigeons are excellent ; par-
tridges are plentiful ; woodcocks are scarce, but snipes are numerous in the season ; the
ostrich is hunted both for sport and for profit, as its feathers are a considerable article of
traffic ; hares are good, but rabbits are confined to the northern part of the empire, from
Saracha to Tetuan. Fallow deer, the roebuck, the antelope, foxes, and other animals of
Europe, are not very abundant in Morocco; lions and tigers are not uncommon in some
parts of the empire ; of all the species of ferocious animals found in this empire, the wild
boar is the most common : the sow has several litters in the year, and her young, which
are numerous, serve as food for the lion.
1101. The nomadic agriculturists form themselves into encampments, called douhars
(Jig. 144.), composed of numerous tents, which form a circle or crescent, and their
flocks and herds returning from pasture occupy the centre. Each douhar has a chief,
who is invested with authority for superintending and governing a number of these en-
campments J and many of the lesser subdivisions are again reunited under the govern-
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA.
144
77
ment of a bashaw ; some of whom have 1000 douhars under their command. Their
tents, of a conical form, about eight or ten feet high in the centre, and from twenty
to twenty-five in length, are made of twine composed of goats' hair, camels' wool, and
the leaves of the wild palm, so that they keep out water ; but, being black, their appear-
ance at a distance is not agreeable. In camp the Moors live in the utmost simplicity,
and present a faithful picture of the earth's inhabitants in the first ages. In the milk and
wool of their flocks, they find every thing necessary for their food and clothing. It is
their custom to have several wives, who are employed in all domestic affairs. Beneath
their ill-secured tents they milk their cows and make butter ; they sort and sift their wheat
and barley ; prepare vegetables ; and grind flour with a mill composed of two round stones,
eighteen inches in diameter, in the upper one of which is fixed a handle by which it is
made to turn upon an axle. They daily make bread, which tliey bake between two
earthen plates, and very often on the ground heated by fire.
1102. 2^0 alteration in the agriculture of Morocco seems to have taken place for several
centuries, owing to the insecurity of its government ; every thing being despotic ; and
property in land, as well as the person and life, being subject to the caprice of the
sovereign, and to the laws of the moment.
SuBSECT. 4. Of the present State of Agriculture on the Western Coast of Africa.
1 103. Of the innumerable tribes which occupy the western coast of Africa, the principal are
the Jalefs and Foulahs, and of the former little is known. The remaining part of the
country consists of the territories of Benin, Loango, and
Congo.
1104. The soil qf the Foulah country is fertile. The inhabitants are
said to be diligent as farmers and graziers, and to raise millet, rice, to-
bacco, cotton, peas, carob beans (Ceratonia siliqiia) [fig. 145.), roots, and
fruits in abundance. Their live stock, however, constitutes their chief
wealth, and, accordingly, pursuing a kind of wandering life, they roam,
from field to field and from country to country, with large droves of
cows, sheep, goats, and horses ; removing, as the wet and dry seasons
require, from the low to the high lands, and continue no longer in one
place than the pasture for their cattle will allow. The inconvenience
and labour of this roving life are augmented by the defence they are
obliged to provide against the depredations of the fierce animals with
which the country abounds ; as they are molested by lions, tigers, and
elephants, from the land, and crocodiles from the rivers. At night they
collect their herds and flocks within a circle of huts and tents in which
they live, and where they light fires in order to deter these animals from
approaching them. During the day they often place their children on
elevated platforms of reeds {fig- 146.) for security from wild beasts, while
they are hunting or pursuing other labours. The elephants are so nu-
merous, that they appear in droves of 200 together, plucking up the
small trees, and destroying whole fields of corn ; so that they have
recourse to hunting, not merely as a pastime, but as the means of self-
preservation.
1105. The English settlement of Sierra Leone is
situated to the west of the country of the Foulahs,
on the river Senegal. It was formed in 1787, for
the benevolent purpose of promoting African civil-
isation. A tract of land was purchased from the
prince of the country, and a plantation established,
in which are cultivated rice, cotton, sugar, pep-
per, tobacco, and other products. Gum arable
(Mimosa nilotica) {fg. 147.) and other valuable
articles are procured from the native woods. In
these woods the pine-apple grows wild in the greatest
abundance and luxuriance. The fruit is large and
highly flavoured, and, when in season, may be pur-
chased by strangers at less than a halfpenny each,
A meal in common use by the natives is made from
N
178
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
147
fhe pounded roots of the manioca (Jatropha
Mdniliot). This meal, after being first ground
from the root, is made into a pulp and pressed
to get rid of a poisonous juice. It is then
redried and constitutes a wholesome farina,
which forms almost the entire food of the
slaves.
1106. Benin is an extensive country, very productive
of fruits, trees, and plants, including the orange, cocoa,
cotton, &c. ; and abounding in animals, among which are
enumerated civet cats, and a sort of hairy sheep. Agri-
culture, however, is little attended to, the chief object
being the commerce of slaves.
1107. The inhabitants of Loango, instead of cultivating
the land, content themselves with bread and fish, and
such fruits, greens, and pulse, as the soil naturally pro-
duces. Cocoas, oranges, or lemons are not much cul-
tivated; but sugar-canes, cassia, and tobacco, as well
as the palm, banana, cotton, and pimento trees, grow
here plentifully. They have also a great variety of roots,
herbs, fruits, grain, and other vegetables, of which they
make bread, or which they use for food. They have
few quadrupeds for domestic use, except goats and hogs ;
but poultry and various sorts of game are abundant. Among the wild beasts they have the zebra, and a
great number of elephants, whose teeth they exchange with the Europeans for iron.
1 108. Congo is an extensive and very fertile country ; but the inhabitants are indolent, and neglect its
culture. The operations of digging, sowing, reaping, cutting wood, grinding corn, and fetching water,
they leave to their wives and slaves. Under their management, several sorts of grain and pulse are culti-
vated, especially maize, of which they have two crops in a year : but such is the heat of the climate, that
wheat will not produce plump seeds ; it shoots rapidly up into the straw and ear, the former high enough
to hide a man on horseback, and the latter unfilled. Grass grows to a great height, and affords sheltering
places for a number of wild animals and noisome reptiles and insects. The Portuguese have introduced a
variety of palm and other fruit trees, which are adapted for producing human food in such a climate.
1109. The baobab {Adansbma. di^itiita) is a native of Congo. This tree, discovered by the celebrated
French botanist, Adanson, is considered the largest in the world : several, measured by this gentleman,
were from sixty-five to seventy-eight feet in circumference, but not extraordinarily high. The trunks,
at the height of from twelve to fifteen feet, divided into many horizontal branches, which touched
the ground at their extremities ; these were from forty-five to fifty-five feet long, and were so large that
each branch was equal to a monstrous tree ; and where the water of a neighbouring river had washed
away the earth so as to leave the roots of one of these trees bare and open to the sight, they measured one
hundred and ten feet long, without including those parts of the roots which remained covered. It yields
a fruit which resembles a gourd, and which serves for vessels of various uses • the bark furnishes them
with a coarse thread which they form into ropes, and into a cloth with which the natives cover their
middle from the girdle to the knees ; and the small leaves supply them i ,,
with food in a time of scarcity, while the large ones are used for cover-
ing their houses, or are by burning manufactured into good soap. At
Sierra Leone, this tree does not grow larger than an orchard apple-
tree.
1110. Of the bark qf the infanda tree, and also of the mulemba, re-
sembling in many respects our laurel, they form a kind of stuff or cloth,
which is fine, and used for cloaks and girdles by persons of the higliest
rank. The butter tree (Jig. 148.) affords an excellent substitute for that
European luxury. With the moss that grows about the trunk, the rich
commonly stuff their pillows ; and the Giagas apply it to their wounds
with good effect : with the leaves the Moors cover their houses, and
they draw from these trees, by incision, a pleasant liquor like wine,
which, however, turns sour in five or six days.
1111. Among other fruits and roots, they have the vine, which was
brought thither from Candia, and yields grapes twice a year.
1112. The live stock common to other agricultural countries are here
much neglected ; but the Portuguese settlers have directed their atten-
tion to cows, sheep, and goats, chiefly on account of their milk. Like
most parts of Africa, this country swarms with wild animals. Among
these, the zebra, buffalo, and wild ass are hunted, and made useful as
food or in commerce. The dante, a kind of ox, the skin of which is
sent into Germany to be tanned and made into targets called dantes, abounds, and also the cameleon, a
great variety of monkeys, and all the sorts of domestic poultry and game.
SuBSECT, 5. Of the present State of jigriculture at the Cape of Good Hope.
1113. The Dutch colonised the Cape of Good Hope in 1660, and the English obtained
possession of it in 1795.
1114. The climate of this Cape is not unfriendly to vegetation; but it is so situated,
within the influence of periodical winds, that the rains ai'e very unequal, descending in
torrents during the cold season, though hardly a shower falls to refresh the earth in the
hot summer months, when the dry south-east winds prevail. These winds blast the
foliage, blossom, and fruit, of all those trees that are not well sheltered ; nor is the human
constitution secure against their injurious influence. As a protection from these winds,
the colonists who inhabit the nearest side of the first chain of mountains, beyond which
their eflfect does not very sensibly extend, divide that portion of their ground which
is appropriated to fruit groves, vineyards, and gardens, by oak screens ; but they leave
their corn lands altogether open. The temperature of the climate at the Cape is re-
markably affected by local circumstances. In summer the thermometer is generally
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA. 179
between 70"^ and 80°, and sometimes between 80'' and 90°, but scarcely ever exceeds
95^.
1 115. The surface of the country consists of some mountains and extensive barren-
looking plains. The upper regions of all the chains of mountains are naked masses of
sand -stone ; the valleys beneath them are clothed with grass, with thickets, and in some
cases with impenetrable forests. The inferior hills or knolls, whose surfaces are generally
composed of loose fragments of sandstone, as well as the wide sandy plains that connect
them, are thinly strewed over with heaths and other shrubby plants, exhibiting to the
eye a uniform and dreary appearance. In the lowest part of these plains, where the
waters subside, and, filtering through the sand, break out in springs upon the surface,
vegetation is somewhat more luxuriant. In such situations the farm-houses are generally
placed ; and the patches of cultivated ground contiguous to them, like the oases in
the sandy deserts, may be considered as so many verdant islands in the midst of a bound-
less waste.
1116. Soils, in this tract of country, are generally either a stiff clay, impenetrable by
tlie plough till they are soaked by much rain ; or light and sandy, tinged with red, and
abounding with small round quartzose pebbles. A black vegetable mould seldom ap-
pears, except in patches of garden -ground, vineyards, and orchards, that surround the
habitations, where, by long culture, manui-e, and the fertilising influence of springs or
rills of water, the soil is so far mellowed as to admit the spade at all seasons of the year.
The extensive plains, known in the colony by the Hottentot name of karroo, which
are interspersed between the great chains of mountains, exhibit a more dismal appearance
than the lower plains, which are chequered with patches of cultivated ground ; and their
hard surfaces of clay, glistening with small crystals of quartz, and condemned to per-
petual drought and aridity, are ill adapted to vegetation. The hills that break these
barren plains are chiefly composed of fragments of blue slate, or masses of felspar, and
argillaceous limestone. However, in those karroo plains that are tinged with iron, and
are capable of being watered, the soil is extremely productive. In such situations,
more especially in the vicinity of the Cape, they have the best grapes, and the best fruit
of every sort. The great scarcity of water in summer is much more unfavourable to an
extended cultivation than either the soil or the climate.
1117. Landed property was held by the original Dutch from the government of the
Cape on four diiferent tenures. The first tenure was that of a yearly lease renewable
for ever, on condition of payment of a certain rent, not in general exceeding eight tenths
of a farthing per acre ; the second tenure, a sort of perpetual holding subject to a small
rent ; the third, a holding on fifteen years' leases at a quit-rent, renewable ; and the
last was that of real estate or freehold, the settler having purchased his farm at once for
a certain sum. The second tenure is the most common in the colony. The lands were
originally measured out and allotted in the following manner : a stake was stuck as
near the centre of the future estate as could be guessed, and a man, starting thence,
walked for half an hour in a straight line, to each of the four points of the compass ;
giving thus the radii of a circle that comprised a space of about 6000 acres.
1118. Of these extensive farms, the greater part is, of course, mere sheep and cattle
walks. They break up for tillage, patches here and there, where the plough can be
directed with the least difficulty, or the soil is most inviting for the purpose. A slight
scattering of manure is sometimes used, but more frequently none at all ; and it is
astonishing to see the crops this soil, and even the lightest sands, will produce with so
little artificial stimulus. Seventeen successive crops of wheat without any manure have
been taken. When the land is somewhat exhausted by a succession of crops, they break
up fresh ground, and the old is suffered to lie fallow, as they term it, for many years ;
that is, it is permitted to throw up plentiful crops of huge bushes and heath till its turn
comes round again, which may be in about seven years, when there is the trouble of
breaking it up anew. The sheep and cattle are permitted to stray at pleasure, or are,
perhaps, intrusted to the care of a Hottentot.
1119. The agricultural products of the Cape farmers are chiefly wheat and other grains,
pulse, wine, and brandy, wool, hides, and skins, dried fruits, aloes, and tobacco. The
returns of grain and pulse are froni ten to seventy, according to the nature of the soil
and the supply of water. Barley, i. e. here or bigg, is very productive, and is used only
for feeding horses. Rye and oats run much to straw, and are chiefly used as green
fodder. Indian corn thrives well, and is very productive ; and various kinds of millet,
kidneybeans, and other pulse, are extensively cultivated. The wheat is generally heavier,
and yields a finer flour, than that of England. It is all spring wheat, being sown from
the month of April to June. The returns are very various in the different soils ; some
farmers declare that they have reaped sixty and eighty for one ; the average may be from
twenty to thirty ; but it is impossible to come to a true estimate upon this point, as no
farmers can tell you the exact quantity sown upon a given quantity of acres. The crops
seem to be remarkably precarious, failing sometimes for three or four years in succession.
N 2
180 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
1120. The vine, however, is the most profitable, and what may be considered the staple article of culture.
Better grapes are not produced in any part of tlie world ; but the art of making wine and brandy from
them admits of much improvement. Ten or twelve different kinds of wine are at present manufactured,
having a distinct flavour and quality, according to the farms on which they are produced.
1121. The celebrated Constantia wine is made on two farms of that nanie, close under the mountains
between Table Bay and False Bay. The white wine of that name is made on the farm called Little Con-
stantia, and the other produces the red. The grape is the muscadel, and the rich quality of the wine is
owing partly to the situation and soil of the vineyards, and partly to the care taken in manufacturing the
wine. No stalks, nor any berries but such as are fully ripe, are suffered to go under the press ; precautions
rarely taken by the other farmers of the Cape. The muscadel grape grows on every farm; and on some
farms in Drakenstein the wine pressed from it is as good as the Constantia, if not superior to it, though
sold, on account of the name of the latter, at one sixth part of the price. When they find that the wine
is to be sent abroad, they adulterate it with some other wine : for, according to their own returns, the
quantity exported and consumed in Cape Town, as in the case of Madeira wine, greatly exceeds the
quantity manufactured.
1122. The ahnond is a very productive tree at the Cape ; the tree thrives in the driest and worst soil,
and the fruit, though small, is of excellent quality. Dried peaches, apricots, pears, and apples, are not
only plentiful, but good of their kind j dried grapes, or raisins, are not so well managed. Potash is pro-
cured from a species of Salsula which grows on the deserts ; and with this and the fat of sheeps' tails the
farmers make their soap. The berries of the candleberry myrtle (Myrica cerlfera) supply a vegetable
wax sold at Cape Town in large green cakes, from which odoriferous candles are made.
1123. The K'loe soccotr'ma and perfoliata cover large tracts of ground, and these afford the inspissated
juice or resin of the apothecaries. The leaves of the plant are cut off one by one, and, as they are cut,
thrown into tubs. In a day or two after they are thrown in, the juice will have run out of itself, when
the leaves are taken out and used as manure. The juice is then either clarified in the sun or by boiling,
and when dry, cut into cakes and packed up for sale.
1124. The tobacco grown at the Cape is said to be as good as that of Virginia. Enough is grown for
home consumption, which is considerable, but none for exportation.
1 1 25. The live stock of the Cape fanners chiefly consists of oxen, horses, sheep, swine, and
poultry. There are only some districts adapted to grazing ; and the farmers who follow
this department are in a much less civilised state than the others. The flocks and herds
wander over immense tracts, for the use of which a rent or tax according to the number
of beasts is paid. At night they are brought home to folds or kraals, which are close to
the huts of the farmers, and are represented as places of intolerable filth and stench.
1126. The native cattle of the Cape are hardy, long-legged, bony animals, more in the
coach-horse line than fitted for the shambles. They are bad milkers, probably from the
bad quality and scanty supplies of forage.
1127. The sheep are wretched beasts, more resembling goats, with wool that might be taken for frizzly
hair, and is in fact only used for stuffing chairs, or for like purposes ; the other parts of the body seem
drained to supply the accumulation of fat upon the tail which weighs from six to twelve pounds.
1128. The Merinos, of which there are a few flocks, do very well : they are much degenerated for want
of changing, and a proper selection of rams.
1129. The Ryeland, or Southdown sheep, would be a great acquisition here; for the Cape mutton forms
a detestable food.
1130. The Cape horse, which is not indigenous, but was introduced originally from Java, is a small,
active, spirited animal ; a mixture of the Spanish and Arabian, capable of undergoing great fatigue ; and,
as a saddle-horse, excellently adapted to the country. As a draught-horse for the farmer he is too small ;
and the introduction of a few of the Suffolk punch breed would be a real benefit to the colony, as well as
a source of profit to the importer.
1131. Pigs are scarce in the colony amongst the farmers ; it is difficult to say why, except that there
is more trouble in feeding them, and they cannot be turned to graze like sheep. Poultry is, for the same
reason, neglected. Indeed, bad mutton may be said to be the only food of the colonists.
1 1 32. The agricultural implements and operations of the Cape farmers are said to be
performed in the rudest manner, and their crops are thought to depend principally on
the goodness of the soil and climate. The plough of the Dutch farmers is a couple
of heavy boards nailed together, and armed with a clumsy share, which it requires a
dozen oxen to work. Their harrow, if they use any at all, is composed of a few brambles.
Their waggons (which will carry about thirty Winchester bushels, or a ton-weight, and
are generally drawn by sixteen and sometimes twenty oxen) are well constructed to go
tilting up and down the precipitous passes of the kloofs with safety ; but they have no
variety for the different roads. Burchell has given a portrait of one of these imposing
machines. {Jig. 149.) Their method of beating out the com is well known ; the sheaves
are spread on a circular floor, surrounded by a low wall, with which every farm is
supplied. The farmer's whole stock of brood mares and colts are then turned in, and
a black man, standing in the centre, with a long whip to enforce his authority, the
whole herd are compelled to frisk and canter round till the corn is trampled out of
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA.
181
the ear. Ihis is termed tramping out. The winnowing is performed by tossing the
trampled grain and dung in the air with shovels, or by exposing it to the wind in a
sieve.
1133. The agriculture of the Cape appears capable of much improvement, were tlie
farmers less indolent, and more ambitious of enjoying the comforts and luxuries of exist-
ence. Barrow is of opinion that there might be produced an abundance of corn, cattle,
and wine, for exportation ; but that, to effect this, " it will be necessary to procure a new
race of inhabitants, or to change the nature of the old ones." At the suggestion of
this writer, an attempt was recently made by government to settle a number of British
families in the district of the Albany, an immense plain 60 or 70 miles long, by about
30 broad ; but after remaining there a year, the greater number of them were obliged to
leave that district on account of its unsuitableness for arable culture. A considerable
part returned to England, others remained and became servants in the colony, and a
few who had some property left, took land in more favourable situations. Pringle, who
has given an account of this settlement (1824), describes the deplorable situation of the
greater number of 5000 individuals who had fixed themselves there, and ascribes their
calamities more to the nature of their situation than to any other cause. Other districts,
he contends, might have been chosen much better adapted for the plough and the spade,
while the low and fertile region of Albany might have been usefully occupied as a
sheep pasture. With all the deficiencies of the country and climate, he says, if things
are properly managed, the Cape is not a worse land to live in than any other English
colony. Comparing his own account, however, with the description of other colonies,
especially Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales, we should be disposed to differ
from him in opinion, and to prefer the latter settlements. (Pringle' s Present Slate of
yllbany, South Africa, 12mo, 1824.)
1134. Ill the interior of the country are many tribes of whom little or nothing is
known ; but some of which are every now and then brought into notice by modern
travellers. Some have been visited, for the first time, by the missionary Campbell ;
and the account he gives of their agriculture, manufactures, and customs is often very
curious. It is astonishing how
ingenious lie found some tribes
in cutlery and pottery ; and the
neatness and regularity of the
houses of others are equally re-
markable. In one place the
houses were even tasteful ; they
were conical, and enclosed by
large circular fences (^^g-. 150.) ;
and he found them threshing out the com on raised circular threshing-floors (a), with
flails, much in the same manner as we do.
1135. The unimproved Hotten-
tots form their huts {Jig. 151.) of
mats bound on a skeleton of poles
or strong hoops, [fig. 152.) Their
form is hemispherical ; they are
entered by a low door, which has
a mat shutter, and they are sur-
rounded by a reed or mat fence
to exclude wild animals and re-
tain fuel and cattle. Attempts
to introduce European fonns of
cottages have been made by the
missionaries, which, with a know-
ledge of the more useful arts,
will no doubt in time humanise and refine them. The missionary Kiishe conducted
Burchell along the valley of Genadendal, ^.Mggl?l'lf!f!fl!l1W(f^!!^mi^ 152
to exhibit the progress which the Hotten-
tots, under his instruction, had made in
horticulture and domestic order. The val-
ley is a continued maze of gardens and
fruit trees. " The huts [fig. 153.), un-
like those of Hottentot construction, are a
rude imitation of the quadrangular build-
ings of the colonist. They are generally
from ten to fifteen feet long, and from eight to ten wide, having an earthen floor and
walls white- washed on their inside, composed of rough unhewn poles, filled up
N 3
182
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
153
between with reeds and rushes plastered with mud, and the whole covered with a
roof of thatch. The
eaves being in ge-
neral not higher
from the ground
than four or six
feet, the doors could
not be entered with-
out stooping. A
small unglazed win-
dow admitted light,
but there was nei-
ther chimney nor any other opening in the roof by which the smoke might escape.
(Burchell's Travels, i. 112.)
1 1 36. The cattle of all the Hottentot and other tribes are kept in circular folds during
night ; and it is remarkable that these folds are the only burial places known to be in
use among that people. " Corn is preserved in what may be termed large jars, of
various dimensions, but most commonly between four and five feet high and three wide.
The shape of these corn jars is nearly that of an egg shell, having its upper end cut off :
sometimes their mouth is contracted in a manner which gives them a great resemblance
to a European oil-jar. They are formed with stakes and branches fixed into the
ground and interwoven with twigs ; this frame-work being afterwards plastered within
and without with loam and cow-dung. Frequently, the bottoms of these jars are raised
about six inches or a foot above the ground ; and the lower part of the stakes, being then
uncovered, gives them the appearance of standing on short legs. Their contents are
usually protected by a covering of skin or straw." Tliis mode of keeping their corn
and beans, Burchell observes, shows a degree of ingenuity equal to that which is dis-
played in the construction of their houses, and is to be admired for its simplicity and
perfect adequateness to the purpose. In the dwellings of the richer inhabitants, the
back part of the houses is completely filled with jars of this kind. (^Travels, ii. 520.)
1137. The natives of the South of Africa live much on bulbous roots, of which their
country is naturally more productive than any 154
other. Burchell has enumerated a considerable
number which he saw them use. One of the
most remarkable grows on the mountains of Graf-
reynet, and is called Hottentot's bread ( Tamus ele-
phantipes jErm^,Testudinaria elephdntipes Biirch.).
{fig. 154.) Its bulb stands entirely above ground,
and grows to an enormous size, frequently three feet
in height and diameter. It is closely studded with
angular ligneous protuberances, which give it some
resemblance to the shell of a tortoise. The inside
is a fleshy substance, which may be compared to a
turnip, both in substance and colour. From the top
of this bulb arise several annual stems, the branches
of which have a disposition to twine round any
shrub within reach. The taste of this bulb is
thought to resemble that of the yam of the East
Indies, the plant being closely allied to the genus
Dioscorea. (Burchell's Travels, ii. 147.)
1 138. The Bachapins are a people of the interior
of South Africa, who were visited by Burchell.
Their agriculture, he says, is extremely simple and artless. It is performed entirely
155 /7 by women. To prepare the ground for sowing, they pick it up to the depth
of about fom* inches, with a kind of hoe or mattock, which differs in nothing
from a carpenter's adze but in being twice or thrice as large. The corn
they sow is the CafFre corn or Guinea corn, a variety of millet (fi'olcus Sorghum
Caffrorum). They cultivate also a kind of kidneybean, and eat the ripe seeds ;
they likewise raise water-melons, pumpkins, and the calabash gourd for the use
of its shell as a domestic vessel for drinking and other purposes. They are in-
ordinate smokers of tobacco, but they do not cultivate the plant. Burchell
gave them some potatoes and peach stones to cultivate, which pleased them
exceedingly, and for which they were very thankful. (Travels, ii. 518.)
n.-^Q The Bushman spade {fig. 155.) is a pointed stick about three feet long, to which
ddle, a stone to increase its power in digging up bult
there is affixed, about the midd , . _.
This stone is about five inches in diameter, and is cut or ground ver;
form, and perforated with a hole large enough to receive the stick ant
is fixed to its place. {Burchell's Travels, ii. JO.)
bous roots,
regularly to a round
a wedge by which it
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA. 183
SuBSECT. 6. Of the present State of j^gricuUure on the Eastern Coast of Africa, and in the
African Islands.
] 140. Of the various countries on the eastern coast of Africa the chief is Mocaranga,
the agriculture of which may be considered as a specimen of that of the savage tribes of
the other states. The climate is temperate, though the mountains called Supata, or the
spine of the world, forming a great chain from north to south, are perpetually covered
with snow ; the air clear and salubrious ; and the soil fertile and well watered, so that its
pastures feed a great number of cattle, more valued by the inhabitants than their gold.
The inland parts of the country, however, are sandy, dry, and barren. The products of
the country on the coast, are rice, millet, and maize, but no wheat ; sugar canes and
cotton are found both wild and cultivated. They are without the ox and horse, but
elephants, ostriches, and a great variety of wild animals abound in the forests. Accord-
ing to the doubtful accounts of this countiy, the king, on days of ceremony, wears a little
spade hanging by his side as an emblem of cultivation.
1141. The Island of Madagascar is celebrated for its fertility, and the variety of its
productions. Its climate is mild and agreeable ; and the surface of the country is
divided into the eastern and western provinces by a range of mountains. The summits
of these mountains are crowned with lofty trees of long duration, and the low grounds
are watered by torrents, rivers, and rivulets, which flow from them. The agricultural
products are rice, cotton, indigo, sugar, pulse, the yam, banana, cocoa, pepper, ginger,
turmeric, and a variety of other fruits and spices. There are a great number of rare
fruits and esculent plants, and many curious woods. Oxen and flocks of sheep abound ;
but there are no horses, elephants, lions, or tigers. The culture is very imperfect, the
soil and the excellence of the seasons supplying the place of labour and skill.
1142. The Mauritius, or Isle of France, is a productive island, chiefly indebted to the
industry of the French, who have introduced there most of the grains, roots, and fruits
of other parts of the world, all of which seem to thrive. The climate is excellent, and
similar to that of the Bourbon and Canary Islands. The surface is mountainous towards
the sea coast, but within land there are many spots both level and fertile. The soil is,
generally speaking, red and stony. The agricultural products are numerous. A crop
of maize, succeeded by one of wheat, is procured in one season from the same field. The
rice of Cochin China is extensively cultivated ; the manioc, or cassava ( Jatropha Mdnihot)
of Brazil ; sugar, which is the chief product for export ; cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg
trees, &c. Oranges, citrons, and guavas abound; and pine-apples are said to grow
spontaneously. Many valuable kinds of woods are found in the forests ; and on the
banks of the rivers are fed the flocks and herds of the country.
1 143. The Isle of Bourbon differs little in its natural and agricultural circumstances
from that of the Mauritius.
1 144. St. Helena is a rugged, but beautiful island, occupied by a few farmers, chiefly
English. Their chief productions are cattle, hogs, and poultry ; and when the India
ships arrive every house becomes a tavern.
1145. The Cape Verd Islands are, in general, hot and unhealthy as to climate, and
stony and barren as to soil. Some, however, produce rice, maize, bananas, oranges,
cotton, and sugar-canes, with abundance of poultry.
1 146. The Canary Islands having been subject to Spain for many centuries, the agri-
culture of the parent country prevails throughout. The climate is temperate, and the soil
generally rich. The stock of the farm belongs to the pro-
prietor of the soil, who lends it to the cultivator, on
condition of getting half of the produce. The products
are, wheat, barley, rice, oats, flax, anise seeds, coriander,
the mulberry, grape, cotton, sugar-cane, dragon's-blood tree
(I)racae^na), and a variety of esculent plants and fruits.
The celebrated Canary wine is made chiefly in the islands
of Teneriffe and Canary. Potatoes have been introduced
within the last fifty years, and now constitute the chief
food of the inhabitants. The archil (Roccella tinctoria)
(fg. 156. a), a moss used in dyeing, grows wild on all the
rocks ; and kali ( Salsola Xdli) {fig.l56. b), from which soda
is extracted, is found wild on the sea-shore. The roots of the
male fern (Pteris aquilina) are, in times of scarcity, ground
into flour, and used as food. The live stock of the
Canaries consists of cattle, sheep, horses, and asses ; and
the well-known Canary birds, with a great variety of others,
abound in the woods.
11 47. The Island of Madeira is chiefly celebrated for its wine. It is the boast of tlie
^r.landers, that their country produces the best wheat, the purest sugar, and the finest
N 4
184 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
wines in the world, besides being blest with the clearest water, the most salubrious air,
and a freedom from all noxious reptiles. The first view of the island is particularly
magnificent ; the country rising in lofty hills from every part of the coast, so steep as to
bring very distant objects into the foreground. The sides of these hills are clothed with
vines as high as the temperature will admit ; above this they are clothed with woods or
verdure to their summits, as high as the sight can distinguish ; except those columnar
peaks, the soil of which has been washed away by the violent rains to which those lati-
tudes, and especially such elevated parts, are liable. Deep ravines or valleys descend
from the hills to the sea, and in the hollow of most of them flows a small river, which
in general is rapid and shallow. The soil is clay on the surface ; and large masses of
it, as hard as brick, are found underneath. The island, it is said, when discovered by
the Portuguese, was covered with wood ; and the first step taken by the new settlers was
to set fire to the wood. This conflagration is said to have lasted seven years, and to have
been the chief cause of the fertility of the soil ; but whatever may have been the effect at
first, this fertility could not have lasted for three centuries.
1148. The lands of Madeira are cultivated on the metayer system ; in entailed estates
leases cannot be granted for a longer period than nine years ; but in no case can the
tenant be dismissed till he is paid the full value of liis improvements.
1149. The vine is cultivated chiefly in the French, but partly in the Italian, manner. In the low grounds
it is suffered to grow to a considerable height, and tied to trees, poles, or trellises ; on the sides of the hills
the terrace culture is adopted, and there the plants are kept lower, and tied to single stakes or low trellises.
The variety of grape cultivated is what in France is called the Rhenish, a sort of small black cluster ; but its
character is greatly altered since its transplantation to Madeira. The grape from which the Malmsey
Madeira wine is made is the Ciotat of the French, or parsley-leaved muscadine with a white berry. The
quantity of genuine malmsey produced annually is very small ; and of that a good deal is supposed to be
manufactured with refined sugar. The quality of the wine here, as every where else, depends more on
the aspect and soil than on the kind of grape. The best is grown on the south side of the island, on the
lower declivities which point towards the south-east; the west being always cooled by the sea breeze.
1150. Wheat is grown on lands previously prepared by the culture of common broom.. This is cut for
fuel, and, after a time, grubbed up and burnt on the soil. By these means, a crop of wheat is insured for
a succession of years, more or less, according to the soil ; after which the same process is again resorted to.
For this purpose, the seeds of the broom are collected, and generally bear the same price by measure as
wheat.
1151. The live stock are not numerous. Animals of all sorts, as in most mountainous
countries, are small. The beef and mutton appear to a Briton lean and tasteless ;
common poultry are small ; but ducks and turkeys equal those of England. Pork is
rare, but excellent when well fed.
1152. The tropical fniits are not readily produced here. In the villages are found
guavas, bananas, oranges, and shaddocks. Pine-apples are reared with great difficulty ;
but neitlier the granadilla nor the alligator pear, though they grow vigorously, produces
fruit.
Sect. V. Of tJie present State of Agriculture in North America.
11 53. The climate of this region, which extends from the vicinity of the equator to the
arctic circle, is necessarily extremely various. In general, the heat of summer and the
cold of winter are more intense than in most parts of the ancient continent. The middle
provinces are remarkable for the unsteadiness of the weatlier. Snow falls plentifully in
Virginia, but seldom lies above a day or two. Carolina and Florida are subject to in~
sufFerable heat, furious whirlwinds, hurricanes, tremendous thunder, and fatal lightnings.
The climate of the western parts is least known ; that of California seems to be in general
moderate and pleasant.
1 1 54. The surface of North America is nobly diversified vnth rivers, lakes, mountains,
and extensive plains, covered in many places with forests. Its shores are, in general,
low, irregular, with many bays and creeks ; and the central parts seem to present a vast
fertile plain, watered by the Missouri and its auxiliary streams. New Mexico in surface
is an alpine country, resembling Norway and Greenland ; Labrador, and the countries
round the Hudson Sea, present irregular masses of mountain covered with eternal snow.
In general, all the natural features of America are on a larger scale than those of the old
world. {Darby s View of the United States, 1826.)
1 1 55. The agriculture of North America is chiefly that of the north of Europe : but
in the provinces near the equator the culture of the southern parts of Europe prevails ;
and in the West India Islands that of the warmest climates is followed ; there being no
production of any part of the world which may not be there brought to perfection.
— After this general outline of the agricultural circumstances of North America, we shall
select some notices of the agriculture of the United States, the Spanish dominions in
North America, British possessions, unconquered countries, and North American
Islands or West Indies.
SuBSECT. 1. Of the present State of Agriculture in the United States.
1156. The climate of the United States must necessarily vary in its different parts. In
the north-east the winters are very cold and the summers hot, changing as you proceed
Book I. AGRICULTUliE IN NORTH AMERICA. 185
southward. In the south-east, and along the Gulf of Ilexico, the summers are very hot,
and the winters mild and pleasant. Among the mountains it is cold towards the north,
and temperate in the south. Beyond the mountains, in the rich valleys of Ohio, Mis-
sissippi, and Missouri, the climate is temperate and delightful, till we approach the
Rocky Mountains, when it is subject to extremes, the winters being very cold. The
climate must be chilled among mountains constantly covered with snow. West of these
mountains, the climate changes, until we reach the shores of the Pacific Ocean, where it
resembles that of the western parts of Europe. The prevailing winds are from the west,
and, as they pass over a wide expanse of water, they cool the air in summer, and in win-
ter deluge the country with frequent rain.
11 57. The seasoyis generally correspond with those in Europe, but not with the equality
to be expected on a continent, as even during the summer heats single days will occur
which require the warmth of a fire. The latitude of Labrador corresponds with that of
Stockholm, and that of Canada with France, but the climates of those places are widely
different. It would appear from Humboldt, that the difference of temperature between
the old and new continents, in the same latitude, is between 4° and 5° in favour of the
former.
1158. The surface of the country in the United States presents every variety. The
north-eastern part of the coast is broken and hilly ; and is remarkably indented with
numerous bays and inlets. Towards the south, and along the Gulf of Mexico, the land is
level and sandy, interspersed with many swamps and numerous islands and inlets. At
tlie outlets of many of the rivers, there is a large portion of alluvial land, which is par-
ticularly the case along the Mississippi. Beyond the head of tide-waters, there is a
tolerably rich and agreeably uneven country, which extends to the mountains. The
mountainous district, on the Atlantic side of the country, is about ] 50 miles in breadth,
and 1200 miles in length. It extends in large ridges, from north-east to south-west,
and is known as the Alleghany Mountains. Beyond these the great valley of the Mis-
sissippi presents a surface of the finest land in the world. To the westward of this val-
ley are the mountains of Louisiana, and beyond these the bold shores of the Pacific Ocean.
1159. The soil of I he United States, though of various descriptions, is generally fertile ;
often, on the east of the Blue Mountains, in Virginia, a rich, brown, loamy earth j some-
times a yellowish clay, which becomes more and more sandy towards the sea. There
are considerable marshes and salt-meadows, sandy barrens producing only a few pines,
and sometimes entirely destitute of wood. On the west of the Apalachian Mountains
the soil is also generally excellent; and in Kentucky some spots are deemed too rich for
wheat, but the product may amount to sixty bushels per acre. About six feet below
the surface there is commonly a bed of limestone.
1160. The landed property of the United States is almost universally freehold, having
been purchased or conquered by the different states, or by the general government, from
the native savages ; and either lotted out to the conquering army, or reserved and sold
afterwards according to the demand.
1161. The mode of dividing and selling lands in the United States is thus described by Birkbeck. " The
tract of country which is to be disposed of is surveyed, and laid out in sections of a mile square, contain-
ing six hundred and forty acres, and these are subdivided into quarters, and, in particular situations, half
quarters. The country is also laid out in counties of about twenty miles square, and townships of six miles
square in some instances, and in others of eight. The townships are nuftibered in ranges, from north to
south, and the ranges are numbered from west to east ; and, lastly, the sections in each township are
marked numerically. All these lines are well defined in the woods, by marks on the trees. This done, at
a period of which public notice is given, the lands in question are put up to auction, except the six-
teenth section, which is near the centre, in every township, which is reserved for the support of schools,
and for the maintenance of the poor. There are also sundry reserves of entire townships, as funds for the
support of seminaries on a more extensive scale, and sometimes for other purposes of general interest.
No government lands are sold under two dollars per acre ; and I believe they are put up at this price in
quarter sections at the auction, and if there is no bidding they pass on. The best lands and mo.st
favourable situations are sometimes run up to ten or twelve dollars, and in some late instances much
higher. The lots which remain unsold are from that time open to the public, at the price of two dollars
per acre ; one fourth to be paid down, and the remaining three fourths to be paid by instalments in five
years ; at which time, if the payments are not completed, the lands revert to the state, and the prior
advances are forfeited. When a purchaser has made his election of one, or any number, of the vacant
quarters, he repairs to the land-office, pays eighty dollars, or as many times that sum as he purchases
quarters, and receives a certificate, which is the basis of the complete title, which will be given him when
he pays all ; this he may do immediately, and receive eight per cent interest for prompt payment. The
sections thus sold are marked immediately on the general plan, which is always open at the land-office
to public inspection, with the letters A. P., i. e. advance paid. There is a receiver and a register at each
land-office, who are checks on each other, and are remunerated by a per centage on the receipts."
1 1 62. The price of land, though low when not cleared, rises rapidly in value after a very
slight occupation and improvement. Instances are frequent of a rise of 1000 per cent,
in about ten years. Cobbett, who resided in 1817 in Long Island, which may be con-
sidered the middle climate of the United States, gives the price of a cultivated farm in
that part of the country. " A farm, on this island," he says, " any where not nearer
than thirty miles off, and not more distant than sixty miles from New York, with a good
farm-house, barn, stables, sheds, and sties ; the land fenced into fields with posts and
rails, the wood-land being in the proportion of one to ten of the arable land, and there
186
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Tart I.
being on the farm a pretty good orchard ; such a farm, if the land be in a good state,
and of an average quality, is worth sixty dollars an acre, or thirteen pounds sterling ; of
course, a farm of a hundred acres would cost 1300/. The rich lands on the necks and
bnj/s, where there are meadows and surprisingly productive orchards, and where there is
water carriage, are worth, in some cases, three times this price. But what I have said
will be sufficient to enable the reader to form a pretty correct judgment on the subject.
In New Jersey, in Pennsylvania, every where the price differs with the circumstances of
water-carriage, quality of land, and distance from market When I say a good farm-
house, I mean a house a great deal better than the general run of farm-houses in Eng-
land; more neatly furnished on the inside ; more in, a parlour sort of style; though round
aboi^t the house, things do not look so neat and tight as in England."
1163. The agriculture of the United Slates may be considered as entirely European,
and chiefly British. Not only is the climate better adapted for the British agriculture,
but the great majority of the inhabitants are of British origin. To enter into details of
the products and processes of North American agriculture would therefore be superfluous
in a work principally devoted to British agriculture. All we shall attempt is, to notice
some of the leading peculiarities of North American agriculture, as resulting from na-
tional, political and civil circumstances.
1164. The natural circumstances of lands not under culture chiefly affect the com-
mencement of farming operations. In general, the lands purchased by settlers are
underwood, which must be felled or burned, and the roots grubbed up ; a laborious
operation, which, however, leaves the soil in so rich a state, that it will bear heavy crops
of grain, potatoes, and tobacco, with very little culture and no manure, for several years.
Sometimes they are under grass, or partially covered with brushwood, in which the
operation of clearing is easier. In either case, the occupier has to drain where neces-
sary; to enclose with a ring fence, if he wishes to be compact ; to lay out and make the farm
157
road ; and to build a house and farmery. The latter he constructs of timber, sometimes
plastered with neatness and taste, as in England {fig. 157. )> but generally with logs and
mud, as in Poland and Russia { fg. 158.). With timber he generally forms also his
fences, though thorn and other live hedges are planted in some of 158
the earlier -cultivated districts.
116.5. The usual practice of settlers with capital may be very well exemplified in
the case of Birkbeck. This gentleman having purchased an estate of 1440 acres,
in the Illinois, and fixed on that part of it which he intended as his future
residence and farm, " the first act was building a cabin, about two hundred
yards from the spot where the house was to stand. This cabin is built of round
straight logs, about a foot in diameter, lying upon each other, and notched in at
the corners, forming a room eighteen feet long, by sixteen ; the intervals between
the logs ' chunked,' that is, filled in with slips of wood ; and ' mudded,' that is, daubed with a plaster
of mud : a spacious chimney, built also of logs, stands like a bastion at one end : the roof is well covered
with four hundred clap boards of cleft oak, very much like the pales used in England for fencing parks.
A hole is cut through the side, called, very properly, the ' door (the through),' for which there is a
• shutter,' made also of cleft oak, and hung on wooden hinges. All this has been executed by contract,
and well executed, for twenty dollars. I have since added ten dollars to the cost, for the luxury of a floor
and ceiling of sawn boards, and it is now a comfortable habitation."
1166. An example of a settler u'ho began with capital only sufficient to pay the first instalment of eighty
dollars of the price of ]6() acres of land is given by the same author, who had the information from the
settler himself. Fourteen years ago, he " unloaded his family under a tree," on his present estate ;
where he has now two hundred acres of excellent land, cleared and in good cultivation, capable of pro-
ducing from eighty to one hundred bushels of Indian com per acre. The poor emigrant, having collected
the eighty dollars, repaired to the land-office, and entered his quarter section, then worked his way, with-
out another cent in his pocket, to the solitary spot which was to be his future abode, in a two-horse
waggon, containing his family and his little all, consisting of a few blankets, a skillet, his rifle, and his axe.
Arrived in the spring, after putting up a little log cabin, he proceeded to clear, with intense labour, a plot
of ground for Indian corn, which was to be their next year's support; but for the present, being without
means of obtaining a supply of flour, he depended on his gun for subsistence. In i>ursuit of the game, ho
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN NORTH AMERICA. 187
was compelled, after his day's work, to wade through the evening dews, up to the waist in long grass or
bushes ; and, returning, found nothing to lie on but a bear's skin on the cold ground, exposed to every blast
through the sides, and every shower through the open roof of his wretched dwelling, which he did not
even attempt to close, till the approach of winter, and often not then. Under such distresses of extreme
toil and exposure, debarred from every comfort, many valuable lives have sunk, which have been charged
to the climate. The individual whose case is here included had to carry the little grain he could procure
twelve miles to be ground, and remembers once seeing at the mill a man who had brought his corn sixty
miles, and was compelled to wait three days for his turn. Such are the difficulties which these pioneers
have to encounter j but they diminish as settlements approach each other, and are only heard of by their
successors.
1167. The political circumstances of the United States affect the agriculturist both as to
the cost of production and the value of produce. It is evident that the want of popula-
tion must render the price of labour high, and the produce of land low. In this
Parkinson, Birkbeck, Cobbett, and all wlio have written on the agriculture of America,
agree. " The simple produce of the soil," Birkbeck observes, " that is to say, grain,
is cheap in America ; but every other article of necessity and convenience is dear in
comparison. Every service performed for one man by another must be purchased at a
high rate, much higher than in England." The cheapness of land affords the posses-
sion of independence and comfort at so easy a rate, that strong inducements of profit are
required to detain men in the condition of servitude. Hence the high price of all com-
modities, not simply agricultural ; of the labour of mechanics of every description ;
and hence also the want of local markets for grain, because where three fourths of the
population raise their own grain (which is the calculation), the remaining fourth will
use but a moderate proportion of the spare produce. The low rate of land and taxes
and this want of home mai'kets form the reason why the American farmer, notwith-
standing the price of labour, affords his grain so cheap for exportation. Although the
rate of produce is low, the profits of the American farmers are high, on account of the
small capital required. With 2000/. Birkbeck calculates that a farm of 640 acres, in the
Illinois, may be purchased, stocked, and cultivated, so as to return, after deducting all
expenses, twenty-two per cent, besides the value of the improvements made on the land,
that is, its increased value, which, as has already been stated (1164.), is incredible, in a
very short time.
1168. The agricultural prochicts of the United States include all those of Britain and
France. The British grains, herbage, plants, and fruits are grown in every district. What
appears at first sight very remarkable is, that in America the native pastures (except
on the banks of the rivers) consist entirely of annuals ; and that is the reason why the
country is generally bare and black in winter ; but perennial grasses, when sown in the
uplands, are found to thrive in many situations. The greatest quantity of wheat is
grown in Pennsylvania and New England. Maize ripens in all the districts, except
some of the most northerly. Rice is cultivated in Virginia, and on the Ohio ; and the
vine is indigenous in these and other provinces, though its culture has not yet been
much attempted. Some French cultivators are of opinion that the American soil and
climate are unfavourable ; this, however, is not likely to be the case, it being a native
of the country. The government have established a Swiss colony for its culture, at
Vevay, in Indiana ; and another in Louisiana, for the culture of the olive. The mul-
berry, the cotton, and the sugar-cane are cultivated in Virginia, but not extensively.
Sugar is procured plentifully in the woody districts, by tapping different species of A\er,
especially the saccharinum, in spring ; boiling the juice till it thickens ; and then granulat-
ing it by letting it stand and drain in a tub, the bottom of which is pierced with small
holes. The sugar obtained does little more than pay for the labour.
1169. Of the live stock of the United States, the breed of horses of English extraction is,
in general, good, as are the cows and hogs. In many cases there is no limit to the
number of these that may be grazed in the unoccupied woods : all that the farmer has
to do is, to protect them from bears and wolves at particular seasons, and to keep them
tame, as in Russia and Switzerland, by giving them salt. Sheep are totally unfit for
the climate and state of the country, though a number of proprietors have been at great
pains in attempting to introduce the merinos. Mutton, Birkbeck observes, is almost
as abhonent from an American palate or fancy, as the flesh of swine from an Israelite ;
and the state of the manufactures does not give great encouragement to the growth of
wool of any kind, of merino wool less, perhaps, than any other. Mutton is sold in
the markets of Philadelphia at about half the price of beef; and the Kentuckian, who
would have given a thousand dollars for a merino ram, would dine upon dry bread rather
than taste his own mutton. A few sheep on every farm, to supply coarse wool for
domestic manufacture, seems to be all that ought at present to be attempted in any part
of America that I have yet seen. Deep woods are not the proper abodes of sheep.
When America shall have cleared away her forests, and opened her uplands to the
breezes, tliey will soon be covered with fine turf, and flocks will be seen ranging over
them here, as in other parts of the world.
\ 1 70. Agricnl/nral operations in America are skilfully performed by the farmers of
188
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
capital, who have all the best implements of Europe ; by the poorest settlers this is not
the case, from want of stock ; and by the native American fai-mers, from indolence, which,
according to all accounts, is their general defect. An American labourer is most expert
at the use of the axe and the scythe j the spade he handles in a very awkward manner,
and has no idea of banking, hedging, clipping or cutting hedges, and many other oper-
ations known to every labourer in a highly cultivated and enclosed country like Britain.
But the versatility of talent of an American labourer amply compensates for his inex-
perience in these operations, and is more useful in his circumstances. In handling the
saw, the hammer, and even the trowel, the British labourer has no chance with him.
Most of them can build a house, mend a plough or waggon and even the harness, and
kill and dress sheep and pigs.
1171. Field labours in America require to be performed with much greater expedition
than in England. The winter is long and severe, and the transition to spring is sudden ;
this season in many provinces only lasts a few weeks, when summer commences, and the
ground becomes too hard and dry for the operations of tillage. The operations of seed-
time must therefore be performed %vith the greatest rapidity. The climate of New York
may be reckoned one of the best in North America. There the ground is covered with
snow, or rendered black by frost, in the beginning of December, and continues without
a speck of green till May. Ploughing generally begins in the last week of April ; oats
are sown in that month ; and maize and potatoes about the middle of May. By the end
of May the wheat and rye which has stood the winter, the spring-sown corn, the grass,
and the fruit trees appear as forward as they are at the same period in England. There
is very little rain during June, July, and August. Cherries ripen in the last week of
June; by the middle of July the harvest of
wheat, rye, oats, and barley, is half over ;
pears ripen in the beginning of August ; maize
{fig- 159.), rye, and wheat are sown during the
whole of October ; corn is cut in the first week
of September ; peaches and apples are ripe by the
end of the month ; the general crop of potatoes
is dug up in the beginning of November ; and
also turnips and other roots taken up and housed ;
a good deal of rain falls in September, October,
and November, and severe frosts concimence in
the first week of December, and, as above stated,
continue till the last week of April. Such is the
agricultural year in the country of New York.
Live stock require particular attention during
the long winter ; and unless a good stock of
Swedish turnip, carrot, or other roots, has been
laid up for them, they will generally be found
in a very wretched state in April and May.
1172. The civil circumstances oi the United States are unfavourable to the domestic
enjoyments of a British farmer emigrating thither. Many privations must be suffered at
first, and some, probably, for one or two generations to come. The want of society seems
an obvious drawback ; but this Birkbeck has shown not to be so great as might be imagined.
When an emigrant settles among American fanners, he will generally find them a lazy
ignorant people, priding themselves in their freedom, and making little use of their
privileges ; but, when he settles among other emigrants, he meets at least with people who
have seen a good deal of the world and of life ; and who display often great energy of
character. These cannot be considered as uninteresting, whatever may be their circum-
stances as to fortune ; and, when there is something like a parity in this respect and in
intellectual circumstances, the social bond will be complete. It must be considered
that one powerfully operating circumstance must exist, whatever be the difference
of circumstances or intellect; and that is, an agreement in politics both as to the
country left and that adopted. For the rest, the want of society may be, to a
certain degree, supplied by the press ; there being a regular post in every part of the
United States, and numerous American and European newspapers and periodical works
circulated there. Birkbeck mentions that the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews, the
Monthly and other Magazines, and the London newspapers are as regularly read by him
at the prairie in Illinois, as they were at his farm of Wanborough in Suffolk ; and that
all the difference is, that they arrive at the prairie three months later than they did at
his British residence. We have seen sketches of the houses erected by this gentleman,
and by some others who have settled around him, and we consider them as by no means
deficient either in apparent commodiousness or effect. They remind us of some of
the best houses of Switzerland and Norway, {fig, 160.) Birkbeck and part of his
family were drowned in crossing the Wabash in 1825, an event which must be deeply
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN NORTH AMERICA.
189
lamented by all who knew any thing of this intelligent, enterprising, and benevolent
character.
160
1 1 73. The want of domestic ser-
vants is a considerable drawback in
most parts of the United States;
but especially in the new settle-
ments. Families who remove into
Western America, Birkbeck ob-
serves, should bring with tliem the
power and the inclination to dis-
pense, in a great degree, with ser-
vants. To be easy and comfort-
able there, a man should know how
to wait upon himself, and practise
it. In other respects, this gentle-
man and his friends hope to live
on their estates at the prairie, " much as they were accustomed to live in England.''
An interesting account of the house, garden, and domestic economy of Mr. Hall of
Wanborough, a neighbour of Mr. Birkbeck's, will be found in the Gardener s Magazine^
vol. i. p. 327. and vol. iv. p. ^55.
1 174. As a country for a British farmer to emigrate to, we consider the United States as
superior to every other, in two respects : — first, on account of its form of government ;
by which property is secure, and personal liberty greater than any where else, consistently
witli public safety, and both maintained at less expense than under any government in
the world : secondly, on account of the stock of people being generally British, and
speaking the English language. The only objection we have to America is the climate
— the long and severe winter, and the rapid and hot spring and summer. Land equally
good, and nearly as cheap, may be had in the south of Russia and in Poland ; but
who that knows any thing of the governments of these countries, would voluntarily put
himself in their power M-hile the United States were accessible ?
SuBSECT. 2. Of the present State of Agriculture in Mexico.
^ 1175. The climate of this extensive and recently revolutionised country is singularly
diversified, between the tropical seasons and rains, and the temperature of the southern
and even middle countries of Europe. The maritime districts of Mexico are hot and
unhealthy, so as to occasion much perspiration even in January ; the inland mountains,
on the other hand, present snow and ice in the dog-days. In other inland regions,
however, the climate is mild and benign, with some snow of short duration in winter ;
but no artificial warmth is necessary, and animals sleep all the year under the open
sky. From April to September there are plentiful rains, generally after noon ; hail
storms are not unknown ; thunder is frequent ; and earthquakes and volcanoes occa-
sionally occur. The climate of the capital, in lat. 19° 25', differs much frcm that of
the parts of Asia and Africa under the same parallel ; which difference seems to arise
chiefly from the superior height of the ground. Humboldt found that the vale cf
Mexico is about 6960 feet above the level of the sea, and that even the inland plains are
generally as high as Mount Vesuvius, or about 3600 feet. This superior elevation
tempers the climate with a greater degree of cold ; upon the whole, therefore, it cannot
be regarded as unhealthy.
1176. The surface of the country is diversified by grand ridges of mountains, nume-
rous volcanoes some of which are covered with perpetual snow, cataracts worthy of
the pencil of Rosa, delicious vales, fertile plains, picturesque lakes and rivers, romantic
cities and villages, and a union of the trees and vegetables of Europe and America.
1 177. The soil is often deep clay, surprisingly fertile and requiring no stimulus except
irrigation. In some places it is boggy or composed of a soft black earth, and there are
barren sands and stony soils in the elevated regions.
1178. Of the agriculture of Mexico some account is given by the Abb^ Clavigero and
the Baron de Humboldt. According to the first author, agriculture was from tune
immemorial exercised by the Mexicans, and almost all the people of Anahuac. The
Toltecan nation employed themselves diligently in it, and taught it to the Thechemecan
hunters. With respect to the Mexicans, during the whole of their peregrination, from
their native country Atzlan, unto the lake where they founded Mexico, they are said to
have cultivated the earth in all the places where they made any considerable stop, and
to have lived upon the produce of their labour. When they were brought under subjec-
tion to the Colhuan and Tepanecan nations, and confined to the miserable little islands
on the lake, they ceased for some years to cultivate the land, because they had none, until
necessity and industry together taught them to form movable fields and gardens, which
floated on the waters of the lake.
!90 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
1179. The method of forming floating fields, which they still practise, is extremely simple. They
plait and twist together willows and roots of marsh plants, or other materials which are light but
capable of supporting the earth of the field firmly united. Upon this foundation they lay the light
bushes which float on the lake, and, over all, the mud and dirt which they draw up from the bottom
ot the same lake. Their regular figure is quadrangular ; their length and breadth various : but in
general, they are about eight perches long, and not more than three in breadth, and have less than a
loot of elevation above the surface of the water. There were the first fields which the Mexicans owned
after the foundation of Mexico ; there they first cultivated the maize, great pepper, and other plants
necessary for their support. In progress of time as those fields grew numerous from the industry of those
people, there were among them gardens of flowers and odoriferous plants, which were employed in the
worship of their gods, and served for the recreation of the nobles. At present they cultivate flowers, and
every sort of garden herbs upon them. Every day of the year, at sun-rise, innumerable vessels loaded
with various kinds of flowers and herbs, which are cultivated in those fields and gardens, are seen arriving
by the canal, at the great market-place of that capital. All plants thrive there surprisingly ; the mud of
the lake is an extremely fertile soil, and requires no water from the clouds. In the largest islands there
is commonly a little tree, and even a little hut to shelter the cultivator, and defend him from rain or the
sun. When the owner of an island, or the chinampa, as he is usually called, wishes to change his situa-
tion, to remove from a disagreeable neighbour, or to come nearer to his own family, he gets into his
little vessel, and by his own strength alone, if the garden is small, or with the assistance of others, if it is
large, he tows it after him, and conducts it wherever he pleases with the little tree and hut upon it.
That part of the lake where those floating fields are is a place of infinite recreation, where the senses
receive the highest possible gratification. These floating fields, Humboldt informs us, still exist : they are
of two sorts ; the one mobile and blown here and there by the winds, and the others fixed and united to
the shore. The former alone merit the appellation of floating, and they are diminishing day by day.
He assigns to them the same origin as the Abbe Clavigero ; but thinks it probable that nature also may
have suggested the first idea, and gives instances of small pieces of the surface, netted with roots and
covered with plants, being detached from the marshy shores of other American lakes, and floating about
in the water. The bean, pea, apple, artichoke, cauliflower, and a great variety of other culinary plants,
are cultivated on them.
1180. A floating island, in a small lake in Haverhill, in New England, is mentioned by Dr. Dwight.
It has, he was informed, immemorially floated from one shore to another, whenever it was impelled by a
violent wind. Lately it has adhered for a considerable time to a single spot ; and may perhaps be so
firmly fixed on the shelving bottom, as to move no more hereafter. Several trees and shrubs grow on its
surface, and it is covered by a fresh verdure. {Travels, vol. i. p. 371.)
1181. Having neither ploughs nor oxen, nor any other animals proper to be employed in the culture of
the earth, the Mexicans, when they had shaken off the Tepanecan yoke, supplied the want of them by
labour, and other more simple instruments. To hoe and dig the ground they made use of the coatl, or
coa, which is an instrument made of copper, with a wooden handle, but difFerent from a spade or mattock.
They made use of an axe to cut trees, which was also made of copper, and was of the same form with
those of modern times, except that we put the handle in the eye of the axe, whereas they put the axe
into an eye in the handle. They had several other instruments of agriculture ; but the negligence of
ancient writers on this subject has not left in our power to attempt their description.
1182. They irrigated their fields with the water of rivers and small torrents which came from the moun.
tains, raising dams to collect them, and forming canals to conduct them. Lands which were high, or on
the declivity of mountains, were not sown every year, but allowed to lie fallow until they were over-run
with bushes, which they burned, to repair by their ashes the salt which rains had washed away. They
surrounded their fields with stone enclosures, or hedges made of the penguin, which makes an excellent
fence ; and in the month Panquetzaliztli, which began on the third of December, they were repaired
if necessary.
1183. In the sowing of maixe, the method they observed, and which they still practise in some places,
is this : the sower makes a small hole in the earth with a stick, or drill probably, the point of which is
hardened by fire ; into this hole he drops one or two of the grains of maize from a basket which hangs from
his shoulder, and covers them with a little earth by means of his foot; he then passes forward to a cer-
tain distance, which is greater or less according to the quality of the soil, opens another hole, and con-
tinues so in a straight line to the end of the field ; thence he returns, forming another line parallel to
the first. The rows of plants by these means are as straight as if a line were made use of, and at as equal
distances from each other as if the spaces between were measured. This method of sowing, which is now
used by a few of the Indians only, though more slow, is, however, of some advantage, as they can more
exactly proportion the quantity of seed to the strength of the soil ; besides that there is almost none of
the seed lost which is sown : in consequence of this, the crops of the fields which are thus cultivated
are usually more plentiful When the maize springs up to a certain height, they cover the foot of
the plant round with earth, that it may be better nourished, and more able to withstand sudden gusts
of wind.
1184. In the labours of the field men were assisted by the women. It was the business of the men to
dig and hoe the ground, to sow, to heap the earth about the plants, and to reap ; to the women it belonged
to strip off the leaves from the ears, and to clear the grain ; to weed and to shell it formed the employment
of both.
1185. They had places like farm-yards, -where they stripped off the leaves and shelled the ears, and
granaries to preserve the grain. Their granaries were built in a square form, and generally of wood.
They made use of the ojameth for this purpose, which is a very lofty tree, with but a few and slender
branches, and a thin smooth bark ; the wood is extremely pliant, difficult to break and slow to rot
These granaries were formed by placing the round and equal trunks of the ojameth in a square, one upon
the other, without any labour except that of making a small notch towards their extremities, to adjust
and unite them so perfectly as not to allow any passage to the light. When the structure was raised to a
sufficient height, they covered it with another set of cross-beams, and over these the roof was laid to
defend the grain from rains. These granaries had no other door or outlet than two windows ; one below,
which was small, and another above somewhat wider. Some of them were so large as to contain five or
six thousand, or sometimes more, fanegas of maize. There are some of this sort of granaries to be met
with in a few places at a distance from the capital, and amongst them some so very ancient, thai they
appear to have been built before the conquest ; and, according to information had from persons of intelli-
gence, they preserve the grain better than those which are constructed by the Europeans.
1186. A little tower of wood, branches, and mats, they commonly erected close to fields which were sown,
in which a man, defended from the sun and rain, kept watch, and drove away the birds which came in
flocks to consume the young grain. These little towers are still made use of, even in the fields of the
Spaniards, on account of the excessive number of birds.
1187. The woods which supplied them with fuel to burn, timber to build, and game for the diversion of
the king, were carefully preserved. The woods of King Montezuma were extensive, and the laws of King
Nezahualcojotl concerning the cutting of them particular and severe in their penalties. It would be of
advantage to that kingdom, says Clavigero, that those laws were still in force, or at least that there was
not so much liberty granted in cutting without an obligation to plant a certain number of trees ; as many
people, preferring their private interest and convenience to the public welfare, destroy the wood in order
to enlarge their possessions.
Book t. AGRICULTURE IN NORTH AMERICA. 191
1188. The breeding of animals was not neglected by the Mexicans : though there were
no sheep, they bred up innumerable species of animals unknown in Europe. Bullock
{Travels, 1824) informs us, that they are very curious in rearing and feeding swine ; and
that an essential requisite in a Mexican swineherd is an agreeable voice ; in order that
he may sing or charm the animals into peace when they quarrel and fight, and lull them
to sleep at proper times to promote their fatting. Wind and sounds of every kind have
been long known to have a powerful effect on this genus of animals. Private persons
brought up techichis (quadrupeds similar to little dogs), turkeys, quails, geese, ducks,
and other kinds of fowl ; in the territories of the lords were bred fish, deer, rabbits, and
a variety of birds ; and at the royal residences, almost all the species of quadrupeds and
winged animals of those countries, and a prodigious number of water animals and
reptiles. We may say that in this kind of magnificence Montezuma II. surpassed all
the kings of the world, and that there never has been a nation equal in skill to the
Mexicans in the care of so many different species of animals, which had so much know-
ledge of their dispositions, of the food which was most proper for each, and of all the
means necessary for their preservation and increase.
1189. The Mexican cochineal, so greatly valued in Europe on account of its dyes of scarlet and crimson,
demands a great deal more care from the iH-eeder than is necessary for the silkworm. Rain, cold, and
strong winds destroy it ; birds, mice, and worms persecute it furiously, and devour it : hence it is neces-
sary to keep the rows of Opuntia, or nopal, where those insects are bred, always clean ; to attend constantly
to drive away the birds, which are destructive to them ; to make nests of hay for them among the
Opuntia, by the juice of which they are nourished ; and when the season of rain approaches, to raise them
with a part of the plants, and guard them in houses. Before the females are dehvered they cast their
skin, to obtain which spoil, the breeders make use of the tail of the rabbit, brushing most gently with it
that they may not detach the insects from the plants, or do them any hurt. On every lobe they make three
nests, and in every nest they lay about fifteen cochineals. Every year they make three gatherings, reserv.
ing, however, each time, a certain number for the future generation ; but the last gathering is least
valued, the cochineals being smaller then, and mixed with the prickles of the Opuntia. They kill the
cochineal most commonly with hot water. On the manner of drying it afterwards the quality of the
colour which is obtained from it chiefly depends. The best is that which is dried in the sun. Some dry
it in the comalli, or pan, in which they bake their bread of maize; and others in the temazcalli, a sort of
oven. Iciavigero, vol. i. p. 357. to o81.)
1 190. The fruits of Mexico are very numerous. The banana and granadilla are very
common ; the bread-fruit and cocoa are extensively cultivated ; and a number of sorts
of anona, or custard apple, and especially the cherimoyer (^. Cherimblia), which is much
esteemed. In short, all the fruits of Europe, and most of those of both Indies, are to be
found in the gardens of the nobles and the priests.
SuBSECT. 3. Present State of Agriculture in the British Possessions of North America.
1191. The pnndpal British provinces in America are Canada, New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, Cape Breton, and the adjacent islands of Newfoundland and the Bermudas.
1192. Canada is an extensive country, and the only British province in which agri-
culture is generally pursued. The climate of this country is extremely irregular ; in
July and August, the heat is often 96°, while in winter the mercury freezes. The
ground is covered with snow from November till May, when it thaws suddenly, and
vegetation is instantaneous. The surface of the country is generally mountainous and
woody ; but there are savannas and plains of great beauty towards Upper Canada.
1 193. The soil consists principally of a loose dark-coloured earth, ten or twelve inches
deep, lying on a bed of cold clay. This thin mould, however, is very fertile, and yields
plentiful crops, although it is worked every year by the French Canadians, without
being ever manured. The manures chiefly used, since the practice of manuring has
been introduced, by those who are the best farmers, are marl and gypsum, the former is
found in great quantities in many places along the shores of the river St. Lawrence.
1 1 94. With respect to the products of Canada, the low country is peculiarly adapted to
the growth of small grain. Tobacco also thrives well in it, but the culture is neglected,
except for private use ; and more than half of what is used is imported. The snuflT pro-
duced from the Canadian tobacco is held in great estimation. Culinary vegetables arrive
at great perfection in Canada, which is also the case with most of the European fruits.
The currants, gooseberries, and raspberries are very fine ; the latter are indigenous, and
are found very abundantly in the woods. A kind of vine is also indigenous ; but the
grapes produced by it in its uncultivated state are very poor and sour, and not much
larger than fine currants. In the forest there is a great variety of trees ; such as beech,
oak, elm, ash, pine, sycamore, chestnut, and walnut ; and the sugar-maple tree is found
in almost every part of the country. Of this tree there are two kinds : the one called
the swamp maple, being generally found on low lands ; and the other, the mountain or
curled maple, from its growing upon high dry ground, and from the grain of its wood
being beautifully variegated with little stripes and curls. The former yields more sap
than the latter, but its sap affords less sugar. A pound of sugar is frequently procured
from two or three gallons of the sap of the curled maple, whereas no more than the same
quantity can be had from six or seven gallons of that of the swamp tree. The maple
192 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
sugar is the only sort of raw sugar used in the country parts of Canada, and it is also
very generally used in the towns.
1 195. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are intensely cold countries, and only partially
civilised. The vale of St. John's river is the principal scene of cultivation in New
Brunswick. The upland parts of the country are chiefly covered with forests of pines,
hemlock and spruce fir, beech, birch, maple, and some oak. The pines of St. John's
river are the largest in British America, and afford a considerable supply of masts for
the royal navy. Nova Scotia produces little grain ; supplies being sent from England.
The soil is thin and barren, except on the banks of the river, where it produces grass,
hemp, and flax. A great improvement, however, in the agriculture of Nova Scotia is said
to have taken place, in consequence of certain letters written on the subject, which
first appeared under the name of Agricola, in the Acadian Recorder, a Halifax news-
paper. These letters are by John Young, secretary to the provincial agricultural board,
and have since been collected and published in a separate volume. Some account of
them, accompanied by extracts, will be found in the Farmer's Magazine, vol. xxiv. p. 81.
11 96. In the island of Cape Breton the soil is mere moss, and has been found unfit for
agriculture. Newfoundland seems to be rather hilly than mountainous, with woods of
birch, pine, and fir, numerous ponds and morassts, and some dry barrens. The chief
produce of these islands, as well as of the other British possessions in America, consists
of furs and skins ; and the same remark will apply to the Bermudas and the unconquered
countries, which need not be further noticed.
SuBSECT. 4. Of the present State of Agriculture in the West India Islands.
1197. The principal West India Islands are Cuba, St. Domingo, Jamaica, and Porto
Rico ; and, next, the Windward Islands, Trinidad, the Leeward Islands of tlie Spanish,
and the Bahamas.
1 1 98. Cuba is an extensive and naturally fertile island ; but, from the indolence of the
Spaniards, not above a hundredth part of it is cleared and cultivated. Like most islands
in the West Indies it is subject to storms, but the climate is, upon the whole, healthy,
and even temperate ; for, though in this latitude there is no winter, the air is refreshed
with rains and cooling breezes. The rainy months are July and August ; the rest of the
year is hot. A chain of mountains extends the whole length of the island from east to
west, and divides it into two parts ; but the land near the sea
is in general level, and flooded in the rainy season. The soil
is equal in fertility to any in America, producing ginger, long
pepper, and other spices; aloes, mastich, cassia fistula, manioc,
maize, cocoa, &c. Tobacco is one of its principal productions,
and it is supposed to have the most delicate flavour of any pro-
duced in the new world. The cultivation of sugar has lately i
been introduced j but the indolence of the inhabitants renders
it in every respect much less productive than it othervidse
might be. The quantity of coffee is inconsiderable ; the chief
plantations are in the plains, and are cultivated by about
25,000 slaves. Among the trees are oaks, firs, palms,
cotton trees, ebony, and mahogany (Swietenia Mahdgoni).
(fg. 161.) In 1763 bees were introduced by some emigrants
from Florida, and they multiplied so much in the hollows
of old trees, that they soon obtained honey enough for their
annual consumption. In 1777 they exported honey to the ^
amount of 715,000 pounds. The island abounds with '^'''^^
mules, horses, sheep, wild boars, hogs, and fine black cattle. The horned cattle have
increased so much that the forests are filled with droves of them, which run wild, and
are hunted and killed for their hides and tallow. The chief birds are paroquets, turtle
doves, and partridges ; water-fowl are numerous ; and on the coast turtles are abun-
dant ; mullets and shads are the principal fish.
1 1 99. Jamaica has been in possession of the English since the middle of the seventeenth
century. The climate is extremely hot throughout the year, though mitigated by various
causes. The surface of the country is very irregular : a ridge of mountains from east to
west divides it into two parts. At a small distance from the shore it rises into hills with
gentle acclivity, which are separated from each other by spacious vales and romantic in-
equalities. On the southern side of the island there are precipices and inaccessible cliffs,
amidst which are vast plains covered with extensive cane fields. To the inequalities of
surface that distinguish this island it is owing, that, although the soil in many parts of
the island is deep and very fertile, yet the productive land is but of small extent in pro-
portion to the whole. That which is actually cultivated is of a middling quality, and
requires labour and manure to make it yield liberally.
BookI. agriculture IN NORTH AMERICA. 193
120(X Landed property in Jamaica is in general freehold without manorial rights, and is chiefly in the
enjoyment of individuals, though there is some government and corporation territory. Estates are
generally small, few exceeding 1000 acres : formerly they were managed by resident proprietors ; but at
present, and for some time past, by far the greater number have been managed by agents or attorneys,
who are represented by Roughley as a selfish, grasping, unprincipled set of men, " too ignorant to be
planters, and too ostentatious, proud, and supine, to contribute to the good of their constituents."
{Planter's Guide, p. 8.) They often contrive, by getting estates in debt and mortgaging them, ultimately
to become the proprietors themselves. Some proprietors are so over-careful as to have what is called a
planting attorney, and a mercantile attorney, the latter for the sale of produce, and the purchase of im-
ported stores for the slaves. Besides these there are travelling agents who visit different estates, and
make annual or biennial voyages to Europe to the proprietors ; an overseer for each estate, who has both
free white men and slaves under him; a head driver, a slave; the head cattle and mule man ; the head
boiler or manufacturer of sugar ; head carpenters, coopers, masons, coppersmiths, and watchmen ; a
hot-house or hospital doctor or doctress midwife ; the great gang of able men and women ; the second
gang of rather weakly habits ; and the third, or weeding gang, composed of children ; cattle and mule boys,
watchmen, invalids, and superannuated, and young children and infants. The qualifications, duties,
and treatment of all these classes are discussed at length by Roughley, who gives a picture ot culture
and management very different from any thing belonging to the management of landed property, or the
culture of farm lands, in Britain.
1201. The overseer, who is generally known by his hat and pipe {fig. 162.), should be a man of intelli-
gence, tempered with experience, naturally humane, steadfast in well-devised pursuits, of settled sober
habits, not given to keeping indiscriminate company, or, suffering his subor. /^^^-^^-=^ an
dinate white people to do so, thereby vitiating their manners ; presenting a gen- ^.-*===^^^' A o-^
tleman-like appearance; keeping a regular, well-supplied, comfortable table,
without profusion, not only for himself and the white people under him, but for
the benefit of such sick and convalescent slaves as require salutary and restor-
ing nourishment. His business hours will be fully occupied by the concerns of
the estate, his leisure ones in the innocent enjoyment of some domestic amuse-
ment. He must be kind and courteous to the young men under him, but giving
or allowing them no opportunity to treat him with disrespect ; attentive and
hospitable to respectable strangers ; cautious and wary how he suffers strollers
to tempt his benevolence. He must not capriciously or suddenly discharge his
white people (as is very often the case), taking care that no envious or jealous
sentiment or idea arises in his mind, if his young men have merit on their side,
or are caressed by their superiors. He must keep the slaves strictly to their
work, yet not imposing on them unusual hours, or inflicting punishment for
every trifling offence ; but, when punishment for crimes is necessary, tempering
it with prudent mercy. He must be attentive to their real wants, not suffering
them to tease him with their trifling complaints, or tamper with him by their '
arts, but promptly satisfying them, by enquiring into their serious grievances. Above all things, he m.ust
not encourage the spirit of Obea in them (which is horrible), nor dishearten them by cohabiting with their
wives, annulling thereby their domestic felicities. He must not suffer their provision-grounds to be
neglected, trespassed on, or ruined, nor their houses to be out of repair or uncomfortable ; for it very often
happens, that well-disposed slaves, by such freedoms taken with their wives, their well-established
grounds ruined by thieves or cattle, their domestic quiet and comfort intruded upon, or their houses ren-
dered uninhabitable by storm or other casualty, become runaways. Their conduct influences others, till
at last the strength of the estate vanishes, the evil becomes notorious, and the plantation, of course, be-
comes neglected. The magistrates are then obliged to take this growing evil into serious consideration.
Hunting parties are sent out (perhaps with little success) to bring in the fugitives ; martial law is at last
proclaimed throughout the diseased district; all sorts of people are harassed; public trials are instituted;
some of the runaways are never caught ; others who are brought in undergo trial, and are convicted and
sentenced to death or transportation for life. {Roushley, 40. 43.)
1202. The head driver is seen carrying with him the emblems of his rank and dignity, a polished staff
or wand, with prongy hooks on it to lean on, and a short-handled flexible whip; his oflSce combining
within itself a power, derived principally from the overseer, of directing all conditions of slaves, relative
to the precise work he wishes each gang or mechanic to undergo or execute. The great gang is comprised
of the most powerful field negroes, and is always under his charge. These form the strength with which
principally to carry into effect the main work in the field, and to manufacture the sugar and rum. There
are so many points to turn to, so many occasions for his skill, vigilance, steadiness, and trust-worthiness,
that the selection of a man, fit for such a place, requires circumspection, and an intimate knowledge
of his talents and capacity. A bad or indifferent head driver sets almost every thing at variance; injures
the negroes, and the culture of the land. He is like a cruel blast that pervades every thing, and spares
nothing ; but when he is well-disposed, intelligent, clever, and active, he is the life and soul of an estate.
He very often is an elderly or middle-aged negro, who has long been so employed. If it should be so
ordered, that a new head driver is requisite to be put in commission, I must beg leave to lay before my
readers my opinion of the proper choice of one. I may err, but I hope not irretrievably. He should, in
my judgment, be an athletic man ; sound and hardy in constitution ; of well-earned and reputed good
character ; of an age, and, if possible, an appearance, to carry respect ; perhaps about thirty-five years
old ; clean in his person and apparel ; if possible, a native or Creole of the island, long used to field work,
and marked for his sobriety, readiness, and putting his work well out of his hands. His civility should
be predominant, his patience apparent, his mode of inflicting punishment mild. He should be respectful
to white people ; suffering no freedoms from those under him, by conversation or trifling puerile conduct.
It is rare, indeed, to find this mass of perfection in a negro ; but you may obtain a combination of most of
these virtues ; and, as to petty vices, always inherent in some measure in human nature, they must be
looked over, when not too full of evil. The junior drivers likewise, if possible, should be men of this
description ; but having a good master over them in the head driver, they will be induced to behave
tolerably. {lb., 79. 82.)
1203. The labourers on a Jamaica sugar estate consist almost entirely of slaves, Creoles, natives, or
Africans, with some free blacks and men of colour or mixed progeny. The overseers are almost always
whites, and sometimes also the head drivers.
1204. The buildings required for a sugar plantation are numerous and extensive. In a central
situation, by a stream or other supply of water, an extensive set of works, including an overseer's house,
hospital or hot-house, mill-house, large mill-yard, mule stable, trash or fuel house, cooper and carpenter's
shops, boiling and curing houses, 4 distilling house, tanks, cisterns, &c., should be built, and so arranged
as all to be seen from the overseer's house.
1205. The overseer's house, it would appear, must be both a comfortable and elegant buihhng. It should
be built compact and convenient, not over roomy ; and raised sufficiently high from the foundation, Avith
good masonry work, to admit of suitable stores underneath, to keep all the plantation stores and supplies
in. It should be so placed that all the works can be seen from it, and not far from the boiling-house.
The rooms should be all on the same floor, and closely boarded with seasoned stuff Each white man
should have a small bed-room to himself, with a glazed sash window on hinges, and a shutter to it. The
bed-rooms should be eleven feet by nine each, of which five should be in every overseer's house on a sugar
estate, leaving the overseer's room somewhat largei than the book-keeper's. A large well-covered
o
194
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
piazza, with comfortable glazed windows (to rise and fall occasionally), will answer all the purposes of a
dining and breakfast hall, and for walking in. Large centre halls in such houses are of very little use,
take up a great deal of room, are very expensive, and make the house large, without any real convenience.
A small back piazza, made comfortable by moving blinds with stops, would be proper for the servants.
I think every dwelling-house on a plantation should have a small fire-place in it, with a well-raised
chimney, for fire to be made in occasionally in damp weather ; it will be wholesome and preservative. The
fire-place should be in an extreme angle of the dining piazza, and the overseer's cooking-room, washing-
room, &c., should be apart from the house, though not far oft', conveniently fitted up, and of moderate
size. The little appendages of a hog-sty, fowl-house, &c., to raise small stock in, are easily built at a
small expense. {Roughley, 184, 185.)
1206. A lime^kiln is an essential building for a sugar estate, a considerable quantity of lime being wanted
to neutralise the acid of the expressed juice of the cane. A fixed kiln at the works is best, as what lime
is wanted can then be burnt at any time ; but it often happens that temporary kilns, composed of layers
of stones and wood, with a funnel in the centre, are made in the woods, lighted and burnt, and the pro-
duce carried home. Such a kiln, twenty feet in diameter, and ten or twelve feet high, will produce lime
enough to make sixteen hogsheads of sugar. [lb., 314.)
1207. The houses of the slaves are grouped together on some estates, and scattered in different places in
others, generally on the outskirts of the estate. They are low cottages of one or two apartments, with
open sheds, and pieces of garden ground of from one eighth to one quarter of an acre attached to each,
and some of them are kept neat, and have a clean, not uncomfortable, appearance ; they are generally
built with stone, and covered with shingles.
1208. Every building composing the works of a sugar estate should be formed of the most substantial
materials, durable, hard, well-seasoned timber, well put together, and supported by the best mason
work. They should be shingled instead of being thatched, and kept free from the hungry destructive
ant, who, by his mighty though diminutive efforts, will level a substantial building to the ground
Iti u short time. Poisoning by arsenic is the most expedient mode of getting rid of them, as the living
will feed on the dead, so that the whole nest (by devouring one another) are thus killed. {lb., 194.)
1209. The live stock of a sugar estate consists chiefly of oxen, spayed heifers, and mules, as beasts of labour :
the overseer generally keeps a riding horse, as does the resident agent or proprietor, if there are such j
and there are pigs and poultry, with some sheep for consumption. The cattle and mules are kept on the
savannas or open waste pastures, and on Guinea grass (Panicum) and Scotch grass (/'anicum hirtellum)
Ifig. 162. a), on which they are folded, tethered, or soiled. Mares and Spanish or Maltese jackasses re
kept for breeding the mules ; and the cattle are in general reared on the estate, A jack should be from
ten to twelve hands high, and either stubbled or put nito a close pasture, with high firm walls and gates
to it He should be regularly corned once a day at least ; should have pure water to drink, and should not
be suffered to cover more than one mare daily. The mares should be put to him in season, and attended by
an experienced groom. A proper covering pit should be made for the mare to stand in, with a sur-
mounting stage for the jack to stand on. They should be daily led out to exercise, kept well cleaned,
and by no means allowed to stay out in bad weather, but be comfortably stabled, foddered, and Uttered.
{lb., 141, 142.)
1210. The agricultural operatmis of Jamaica are for the most part performed by the
manual labour of indigenous slaves ; but there are also free servants, and the period, it is
to be hoped, is rapidly approaching when the whole population will be emancipated.
The soil is seldom either ploughed or dug, but generally worked with the hoe-pick.
The spade the negroes are awkward at using ; and they are not more expert at the plough.
White ploughmen have been imported by some cultivators ; but the prejudices of the
overseers, the awkwardness of the oxen and negro diivers, and the effects of the climate
in wearing out the spirits of the ploughman, ai-e said to have discouraged its use. Long,
in 1774, Dr. Stokes (Young's Annals of Agr., xviii. 148.), and others, have tried the
plough, and strongly recommend it, as doing the work better and lessening the necessity
of having so many slaves. Roughley, however,
who was *♦ nearly twenty years a sugar planter
in Jamaica" (Jamaica Planter's Guide, 1823), is
decidedly against it, whether drawn by negroes
or cattle ; both because it does not do the work
so well as the hoe, and because of the difficulty
of getting ploughmen and properly trained beasts.
It is probable, however, that necessity may ulti-
mately lead to the use of the plough drawn by^
oxen, and that the operative man in the West In-
dia Islands will in time assume the sartte attitude
as in Europe.
1211. The agricultural productions of Jamaica
of the greatest importance are sugar, indigo,
coffee, and cotton. The several species of grain
cultivated in this island are maize, or Guinea
com, yielding from thirty to sixty bushels an
acre ; various kinds of calavances, a species
of pea ; and rice, but in no great quantity. The
island abounds also with different kinds of grass
of excellent quality : the artificial grass, called
" Scots grass" (Pinicum hirtellum) (Jig. 163. «),
grows spontaneously in most of the swamps
and morasses of the West Indies ; and it is so
productive, that a single acre of it will main-
tain five horses for a whole year. The " Guinea-
grass " (P. polygamum) (Jig. 163. b) is next in _
importance to the sugar-cane, as the grazing and breeBing farms aire' chiefly supported
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN NORTH AMERICA. I95
by it. Hence arises the plenty of homed cattle, both for the butcher and planter ; which
is such, that few markets in Europe furnish beef of better quality, and at a cheaper
rate, than that of Jamaica. Mutton also is cheap and good. The seeds of the Guinea
grass were brought from the coast of Guinea, as food for some birds which were pre-
sented to Ellis, chief justice of the islands. The several kinds of kitchen- garden pro-
ductions, that are known in Europe, thrive in the mountains of this island ; and the
markets of Kingston and Spanish Town are supplied with cabbages, lettuces, carrots,
turnips, parsneps, artichokes, kidneybeans, green peas, asparagus, and various sorts of
European herbs, in the greatest abundance. Other indigenous productions, that may
be classed among the esculent vegetables, are plantains, bananas, yams of several
varieties, collaloo (a species of ^Vum used as spinach), eddoes (^rum and Caladium),
cassavi, and sweet potatoes. Among the more elegant fruits of the island we may
reckon the ananas, or pine-apple, tamarind, papaw, guava, sweet sop, cashew apple,
custard apple, Akee tree, cocoa nut, star apple, grenadilla, avocado pear, hog plum,
naesberry, mammee sapota, Spanish gooseberry, prickly pear, anchovy pear, and some
others, for which Jamaica is probably indebted to the bounty of nature. For the
orange, the lemon, lime, shaddock, vine, melon, fig, and pomegranate, the West
India Islands are perhaps obliged to their Spanish invaders. The cinnamon has been
lately introduced, and the mango is become almost as common as the orange. The
mountains are generally covered with extensive woods, containing excellent timber ;
such as the lignum vitae, logwood, iron wood, pigeon wood, green-heart braziletto, and
bully trees ; all of which are to a great degree heavy, as well as compact and impene-
trable. Of softer kinds, for boards and sliingles, the species are innumerable ; and there
are many beautiful varieties for cabinet-work ; and among these we may enumerate the
bread nut, the wild lemon, and the well-known mahogany.
1212. The culture of the sugar-cane in Jamaica in some respects resembles that of the hop in this
country. The ground being cleared and worked a foot or more in depth, the sets or cuttings of
cane, which are the tops of the slioots cut off" about a foot long, are planted in rows, generally five
feet distant, and from two to five feet apart in the row, according to the quality of the soil ;
more plants being allowed for poor soil than rich. The ground is kept clear of weeds, frequently stirred,
and some earth drawn up to the plants. From each hill a number of shoots are .produced : in six
months or more these will generally be from seven to ten feet high ; the skin smooth, dry, and brittle,
heavy with a grey or brown pith, and sweet glutinous juice. In this state the canes are cut, tied in bun-
dles or sheaves, and taken to the mill to be divested of their leaves and decayed parts, and then passed
through rollers to express their juice, &c. Cane plantations are made either in May and June, or in
DecembeY and January, these being the rainy seasons. The first cutting of the canes often does not take
place till a year after planting ; but an established plantation is cut over every six months. In good soil
the plants will last twenty years : in inferior soils not more than half the time. {Letter to a Young
Planter, London, 1785 ; Martin's Essay on Plantership, in Young's Annals, xviii. p. 236. ; Roughley's
Jamaica Planter''s Guide, 1823.)
1213. The cotton plant cultivated in Jamaica is a different species from that grown in Italy, Malta, and
the Levant It is the Gossypium barbadense Linn., a suffruticose biennial, growing from six to fifteen
feet in height, with lobed leaves and yellow flowers. It is propagated by the seed, which is set in rows,
about five feet asunder, at the end of September or beginning of October ; at first but slightly covered,
but, after it is grown up, the root is well moulded. The seed is subject to decay, when it is set too deep,
especially m wet weather. The soil should not be stiff nor shallow, as this plant has a tap-root. The
ground is hoed frequently, and kept very clean about the young plants, until they rise to a moderate
height ; otherwise they are apt to be destroyed by caterpillars. It grows from four to six feet high, and
produces two crops annually; the first in eight months from the time of sowing the seed; the second
within four months after the first ; and the produce of each plant is reckoned about one pound's weight.
The branches are pruned and trimmed after the first gathering ; and if the growth is over-luxuriant, this
should be done sooner. When great part of the pods are expanded, the wool is picked, and afterwards
cleared from the seeds by a machine called a gin, composed of two or three smooth wooden rollers of about
one inch in diameter, ranged horizontally, close and parallel to each other, in a frame ; at each extremity
they are toothed or channelled longitudinally, corresponding one with the other ; and the central roller,
being moved with a treadle or foot-lathe, resembling that of a knife-grinder, makes the two others revolve
in contrary directions. The cotton is laid, in small quantities at a time, upon these rollers, whilst they
are in motion, and, readily passing between them, drops into a sack placed underneath to receive it, leav-
ing the seeds, which are too large to pass with it, behind. The cotton thus discharged from the seeds, is
afterwards hand-picked, and cleansed thoroughly from any little particles of the pods or other substances
which may be adhering to it. It is then stowed in large bags, in which it is well trod down, that it may lie
close and compact ; and the better to answer this purpose, some water is every now and then sprinkled
upon the outside of the bag, the marketable weight of which is usually three hundred pounds. An acre
may be expected to produce from two hundred and forty pounds to that quantity, or two hundred and
seventy pounds on an average. {Long's Jam., vol. iii. p. 686, et seq. ; and Browne.)
1214. The indigo cultivated in the West Indies is the same species as that grown in the East Indies and
other places (Indig6fera tinctbria), though there are various species and varieties which afford a similar
dye. Indigo thrives best in a free rich soil, and a warm situation, frequently refreshed with moisture.
Having first chosen a proper piece of ground, and cleared it, hoe it into little trenches, not above two inches,
or two inches and a half, in depth, nor more than fourteen or fifteen inches asunder. In the bottom of
these, at any season of the year, strew the seeds pretty thick, and immediately cover them. As the plants
shoot, they should be frequently weeded, and kept constantly clean, until they s-pread sufficiently to cover
the ground. Those who cultivate great quantities, only strew the seeds pretty thick in little shallow pits,
hoed up irregularly, but generally within four, five, or six inches of one another, and covered as before. ,
Plants raised in this manner are observed to answer as well as the others, or rather better; but they
require more care in the weeding. They grow to full perfection in two or three months, and are observed to
answer best when cut in full blossom. The plants are cut with reaping hooks, a few inches above the root,
tied in loads, carried to the works, and laid by strata in the steeper. Seventeen negroes are sufficient to
manage twenty acres of indigo ; and one acre of rich land, well planted, will, with good seasons and proper
management, yield five hundred pounds of indigo in twelve months; for the plant ratoons (stools, stoles,
or tillers, i. e. it sends out stolones, or new growtjis), and gives ibur or five crops a year, but must be
replanted afterwards. {Browne.)
O 2
196
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part 1.
1215. Tlie cqffee tree {Jig. 164.) i8 less cultivated in Jamaica than in Bar-
badoes, Domingo, and some other islands : the richness of the soil is found
to lessen the flavour of the berry, when compared with those produced in
the sandy, dry, hot soil, and arid climate of Arabia. In a rich soil and
cool situation in Jamaica, Browne informs us that it produces so great a
quantity of fruit, that the branches can hardly sustain the weight : the
fruit large and succulent, and the berries lax and clammy. Some aftirm,
that by keeping these, and other West India berries, for ten or fourteen
years, they will become equal to the best now brought from Turkey.
Small-grained coffee, or that which is produced in a dry soil and warm
situation, will in about three years be as good as that in general use in
Jjondon.
1216. In cultivating the cqffee, the berries are sown immediately after
being gathered, as they are found to retain their vegetative quality
only a few weeks. In three months they are fit to transplant, either to a
nursery or to a final plantation. In the low lands they are planted five
feet apart, and in the mountains ten feet or more. In three years the
plants will produce a crop, and continue bearing for a number of years.
The berries are gathered when they are just about to drop ; and are imme-
diately carried to sheds, where they are dried upon cloths or mats, till the
husk shrivels. They are then passed through between wooden rollers
turned by a mule, which separates the husk, after which they are win-
nowed, sifted, cleaned, exposed to the sun for a few days, and then bar-
relied up for sale. The produce of a good tree is from one pound and a
half to two pounds' weight. {Browne's Hist, of Jam., p. 161.)
1217. The cocoa-root or eddoe {A^rum esculdntum) and alsca species of Caladium produce a root some-
thing like the Indian yam (Z)iosc6rea safiva) {fig. 165.), but differ from them in lasting for several years.
Both the cocoa-root, and yam are cultivated much in the
same way as our potato. They have what they call Bourbon
cocoas and coimtry cocoas, and Negro and white yams ; the
yams have a stake driven in at each hill for the vines to twine
on after the manner of hop
Musa paradis)aea) is cultivated in
rows ton feet apart, and the plants seven feet asunder in the
1218. The plantain
row. The following account of the manner of planting and
managing will give some idea of the mode in which agricul-
tural operations are carried on by a slave population, and
how they are described by a writer who has been " nearly
twenty years " at the business. " The ground being all
cleared from grass, bushes, and weeds, and lined out and
E egged every seven feet, the great gang should be put in with
oes to dig the plantain holes at every peg, a Negro to each
row. The holes should be dug deep, two feet long by sixteen
inches broad, to give room for the large ponderous plantain
sucker to be placed in them. The mould must be hauled
up to the edge of the hole, and broken if too large. The
plantain suckers being ready and trimmed, each negro
should take some, and place one good sucker at every hole
in the piece, and begin to plant them, by taking a sucker, and
E lacing it with the but, or rooty end, in the bottom of the
ole ; make the sucker lie in a leaning, reclining, or half-
horizontal position in the hole, with the small, or sucker,
end of the plant a little above tlie ground ; and when thus placed, draw the mould from the bank, and
cover the plant well with it, leaving a little of the plant above the ground. In this manner the plantain
walk should be formed. In a few weeks (if the weather is favourable) the young plantain shoot will be
seen rearing its perpendicular head, perhaps three or four growing from the same stock. They should
then be carefully moulded, and cleared of grass and weeds when they are a few inches high. No
cavities, or water-logging holes, should be near them. The banks must be levelled about them, the holes
filled and properly closed up, and some fine mould given them to encourage their growth. There will be
no occasion to give them more than two mouldings till they are established ; but they must be care-
fully kept clear from weeds or grass ; and when any dry trash happens to be hanging about them, it
should be gently cut off with a knife, and placed about their roots, to keep them free from either too
much sun or chill. A plantain walk well taken care of will be in bearing in twelve months after
it is planted, amply repaying f'r the labour and trouble of planting it, and giving an almost
inexhaustible supply of fine provisions, if the vicissitudes of hurricanes or storms (which this climate
is unhappily subject to) do not destroy it, which no hinnan foresight or care can prevent.
"When a plantain walk is made, there may be a row of cocoas (1217.) in the middle of the ten feet
spaces, which will yield a crop by the time the plantain walk bears fruit, but they must then be pulled
up. A few banana (Musa sapithitum) suckers can be planted in the plantain row, instead of plantain
suckers ; sometimes they are much in request, as a luscious wholesome fruit, and for the strong fine-
flavoured vinegar which is produced from them. After this piece of ground is thus planted, the whole of
it may be sown with corn (maize), which will not injure the plantain suckers or trees, if it be not too
close or thick. " {Roughley, p. 413, 416.)
1219. The Indian arrow-root {Mardnta. arundindcea) is cultivated, and yields an annual supply of roots,
which, being washed, bruised, and compressed, yield a starch esteemed as a very light wholesome food
for invalids.
1220. Other plants, in great variety, are cultivated both for culinary and medicinal purposes, and in the
gardens of the overseers and agents almost every fruit in the world may be raised.
1221. Thepinguin {Bromelia Pinguin) is grown on the tops of ditches, and forms an impenetrable fence
1222. Maize is grown among the canes, and in fields by itself in rows four feet and a half apart, and the
com dibbled or set in patches of four seeds in a space of six inches square.
1223. Guinea grass {Pdnicufn polygamutn) {fig. 163. b) and Scotch grass {fig. 163. a) are the clovers or
artificial herbage plants of Jamaica. They are perennial, and grow in small enclosures, which are either
eaten down or mown. Cane tops, the leaves of maize, millet, and a variety of other herbage, are given to
the mules and cattle.
1224. Rals, ants, and other vermin, greatly injure the canes; ticks (^4'carus) of dif-
ferent kinds and flies very much annoy the cattle ; and a great variety of evil propensities
and diseases assail the negroes and their children, among others Obea, and wliat Rough-
loy calls " eating dirt," which he thus characterises: — " Too much tenderness gives the
child a fretful longing for the mother, and her scanty milk engendering disease, and,
wliat is worse than all, often (though secretly) giving it a growing liking for the liateful
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN SOUTH AMERICA. 197
fatal habit of eating dirt, than which nothing is more horribly disgusting, nothing moie
to be dreaded ; nothing exhibiting a more heart-rending ghastly spectacle, than a negro
child possessed of this malady. Such is the craving appetite for this abominable cus-
tom, that few, either children or adults, can be broken of it, when once they begin
to taste and swallow its insidious slow poison. For, if by incessant care, watchfulness,
or keeping them about the dwelling-house, giving them abundance of the best nou-
rishing food, stomachic medicines, and kind treatment, it is possible to counteract the
effects and habit of it for some time, the creature will be found wistfully and irresistibly
to steal an opportunity of procuring and swallowing the deadly substance. The symp-
toms arising from it are a shortness of breathing, almost perpetual languor, irregular
throbbing, weak pulse, a horrid cadaverous aspect, the lips and whites of the eyes a deadly
pale (the sure signs of malady in the Negro), the tongue thickly covered with scurf,
violent palpitation of the heart, inordinately swelled belly, the legs and amns reduced in
size and muscle, the whole appearance of the body becoming a dirty yellow, the flesh a
quivering pellucid jelly. The creature sinks into total indifference, insensible to every
thing around him, till death at last declares his victory in his dissolution. Tliis is no
exaggerated account of the effects and termination of this vile propensity. (/6. ,118. 1 20. )
1 225. The agriculture of the other West India Islayids may be considered as similar to
that of Jamaica. So many different kinds of East India fruits have not yet been intro-
duced in them ; but the great articles of sugar, coffee, cotton, indigo, pepper, &c., are
every where cultivated One of the richest of these islands is St. Domingo, now inde-
pendent, and known by its original name of Hayti.
Sect. VI, Of the present State of Agriculture in South America.
1226. The climate of South America combines the most opposite extremes. The
southern parts are subject to all the horrors of the antarctic frosts ; Terra del Fuego
being subject to the almost perpetual wrinter of Greenland. Even under the torrid zone
the cold is extreme on the Andes, and the heat and moisture equally extraordinary in the
plains. The surface of the country is remarkably irregular : these are immense chains
of mountains which stretch along the western coast from the one extremity of the country
to the other. Many parts of the interior are still obscure ; wide regions on the great
river Maragnon being covered with impenetrable forests, and others flooded by the
inundations. In the south there are vast saline plains, and small sandy deserts and savan-
nas. This country being, or having been, almost entirely under the Spaniards and
Portuguese, the cultivated parts display a slovenly agriculture, something like that of
Spain ; the varied and abundant products of the soil depending more on nature than on
man. Indeed minerals have always been more the objects of European nations in South
America than vegetables. — After this general outline we shall, without regard to the
recent political changes, offer such slight notices of South American agriculture as we
have been able to collect, under the divisions of Terra Firma, Peru, Chile, Paraguay,
Brazil, Cayenne, Colombia, Surinam, Amazonia, and Patagonia.
1227. The climate of Terra Firma is extremely hot throughout the year. From the
month of May to the end of November, the season called winter by the inhabitants, is
almost a continual succession of thunder, rain, and tempests ; the clouds precipitating
the rain with such impetuosity, that the low lands exhibit the appearance of an ocean.
Great part of the country is in consequence almost continually flooded ; and this, toge-
ther with the excessive heat, so impregnates the air with vapours, that in many of the pro-
vinces, particularly about Papayan and Portobello, it is extremely unwholesome. The
soil of this country is very different, the inland parts being exceedingly rich and fertile,
while the coasts are sandy and barren. It is impossible to view, without admiration, the
perpetual verdure of the woods, the luxuriance of the plains, and the towering height of
the mountains. This country produces corn, sugar, tobacco, and fruits of all kinds : the
most remarkable is that of the manzanillo tree ; it bears a fruit resembling an apple, but
which, under this appearance, contains a most subtile poison. The bean of Carthagena
is about the bigness of a common bean, and is an excellent remedy for the bite of the
most venomous serpents, which are very frequent all over this country.
1 228. In Peru the soil is dry and has no rain, vegetation being supported by immense
dews. The only spots capable of cultivation are the banks of the rivers, and other places
susceptible of being artificially irrigated. The improvement of the mines is, or ought to
be, the first object of attention in this singular country.
1 229. Chile is an extensive, rich, and fertile country. The climate is the most deli-
cious in the new world, and is hardly equalled by that of any region on the face of tlie
earth. Though bordering on the torrid zone, it never feels extreme heat, being screened
on the cast by the Andes, and refreshed on the west by cooling sea-breezes. The tem-
perature of the air is so n^.ild and equable, that the Spaniards give it the preference to that
of the southern provinces of their native country. The fertility of the soil corresponds
with the benignity of the climate, and it is wonderfully accommodated to European
O 3
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
productions. The most valuable of these, corn, wine, and oil, abound in Chile, as it
they had been native to the country. The soil, even that part of it vv^hich has been long
in tillage, is so little degenerated by producing successive crops, that no manure is neces-
sary. The grain, as some say, yields from 100 to 150 ; but by a more moderate and just
estimate, as it is stated both by Molina and in Peyrouse's Voyage, from 60 to 70 in the
midland country, and in the maritime 40 or 50.
1230. Many of the plants of Chile are the same witli those ^<TY~V^r<~^N Ififi ^^rffSiHi
of Europe, and almost all the potherbs and fruits of our 't^A 1 )\^^ /fO^^^^Mu
Continent flourish there. The northern provinces produce I'^il y)jt\. U i^^^"''^^-^
the sugar- cane, the sweet potato, and other tropical plants. V^!^^7V>^1Xn^ >^^T^ ;^^
Maize is common and abundant ; the magu is a kind of Sy_3*S; i(S-''^-^^*vy^
rice, and the tuca a species of barley, both of which were ^ ^ ^ t* vc-rt^
cultivated before the arrival of the Spaniards. Peas and
potatoes were also well known to the Chilese. Of the latter
they have thirty different kinds: and it is even conjectured
that this valuable root was first brought into Europe from
this country. The large white strawberry of Chile is well
known in English gardens. Many of its plants are valuable
as dyes, and others as medicinal. The vira-vira expels the
ague ; the payco is excellent for indigestion. Wild tobacco
abounds in Chile, and also the annotto(.B<'a-a Orellana). {Jig.
166.) The beautiful flowers and shrubs are infinite. In-
cense, not inferior to that of Arabia, is produced by a shrub,
distilling tears of a whitish yellow, and of a bitter aromatic
taste. The trunk of the puvi supplies excellent cork ; the
Salsbla Kali is plentiful on the shores ; and Chile produces seven kinds of beautiful myrtles, one of which
yields an excellent stomachic wine, preferred by strangers to any muscatel The crelon furnishes a tea,
•which is known as a vermifuge. An acacia of the province of Quillota yields a balsam, which is used in the
cure of wounds ; and the palqui is esteemed, as a febrifuge, superior to the Peruvian bark. The Cassia
Senna grows on the banks of the rivers Maypo and Salvia. Of ninety-seven kinds of trees that diversify
the beautiful forests of Chile, only thirteen lose their leaves in winter. Cj'presses, pines, and red and
white cedars grow in the valleys of the Andes ; the red cedars, particularly in the Isle of Chiloe, are
of an enormous size, so that from 700 to 800 planks, twenty feet long, may be cut from one tree. The
cinnamon tree, which yields what is called Winter's bark, is regarded as sacred by the Araucans, who pre-
sent it as a token of peace. Beautiful woods of various colours are supplied by the Chilese forests. Vines,
though none appear to be natives, flourish admirably well : they are found in the forests, arising from
seeds deposited by the birds : on the confines of the river Mauli they are three or four feet high, and
supported by stakes ; but further to the south they are left loose on the sides of the hills. The best wine
is that which is obtained from the banks of the river Itati, and is commonly called wine of Conception;
it is red, generous, of an excellent flavour, and equal to the best in Europe. Muscatel wines are also
excellent. The vintage is in April and May. All the other European fruits attain the greatest perfection.
Most of the European animals have improved in this delicious climate and fertile country. The cele-
brated Spanish sheep have not lost any of their distinguished qualities : the horned cattle are larger than
those of Spain ; and the breed of horses surpasses both in beauty and spirit the famous Andalusian race
from which they spring.
1231. Paraguay is a fertile province, and singularly prolific in native vegetables. The
climate is extremely hot : the surface of the country consists generally of extensive plains ;
but some tracts are very mountainous. The soil is every where rich and deep ; and the
native pastures so excellent, that the immense herds of wild oxen which feed on them are
only valued for their skins ; the flesh being left to be consumed by ravenous beasts and
birds. Among the agricultural products may be mentioned the potato, of which they
have several sorts of a large size ; red, white, and yellow cotton ; maize, wheat, and the
lb" 7 vine. The last is greatly injured by the ants; but where that
insect is kept under, the wine of Paraguay is excellent. The
bean, pea, melon, cucumber, lettuce, turnip, mustard, cress, leek,
onion, asparagus, and other European vegetables, are found wild
in the plains. The forests abound in the most valuable trees,
among which is the Cinchona, or Jesuits' bark, so called because
the Society of Jesus settled there had originally the monopoly of
this medicine ; the sarsaparilla, sassafras, guaiacum, dragon's
blood, nux vomica, vanilla ; Theobroma, or chocolate plant (Jig.
167.) ; and several species of the Ceratonia, the seeds of which are
ground and made into bread. Palms, figs, peaches, pome-
granates, lemons, and oranges are cultivated; and the jujube, mul-
berry, granadilla, banana, pine-apple, and a great variety of
other fruits, are found in a wild state. Of the live stock, the
most abundant are the ox and the camel ; but there
are horses, asses, sheep, many wild swine (Jig. 1 68. ),
and poultry. The bear, elk, deer, ostrich, and others,
are in a wild state.
1232. Brazil is the most extensive empire in
South America, rivalling Europe in size, while its
provinces may be compared to the territories of European sovereigns. It enjoys a
climate but little inferior in salubrity to that of Chile, but less variable, as the interior
is not traversed by chains of lofty mountains. The climate of the Sertoens (a
general name for the inland country) is colder in winter, and wanner in summer, than
that of the maritime parts. The first of these peculiarities is caused by its greater
elevation ; and the second, by its sandy arid nature, and by the air not being cooled by
Book I. AGRICULTURE IN SOUTH AMERICA. 199
the delicious sea breezes of the coast. During the rainy season (which is the tropical
winter) the nights are sometimes chilly ; and, although the thermometer is seldom lower
than 68° or 65°, the warmth of a fire is found desirable. This coldness is principally felt
in Minas Geraes (the most mountainous part in Brazil), and in the other provinces beyond
Rio de Janeiro. In comparison of the extent of the country, the rivers are very few ;
and nearly throughout the interior there is a general deficiency of water, even for the
purposes of life. During the dry or summer season the heat is excessive, yet it is
neither unhealthy nor very oppressive, being mitigated by the sea breeze, which usually
sets in about half past seven or eight o'clock in the morning, and continues until sunset,
1233. The vegetable productions of Brazil are numerous and important. The
extensive cultivation of the sugar-cane and cotton plant has, of late years, given an
importance to its commerce far greater than that of any other neighbouring state. The
sugar plantations are confined to a short distance from the coast, on account of the
superior quality of the soil (a red clayey loam), and the difficulty of conveyance in a
country where regular carriage roads do not exist. Cotton thrives best on those
poor, sandy, and dry lands, which are met with at a distance from the sea ; it is, there-
fore, cultivated only in the interior, and is brought to the coast on the backs of mules and
horses, frequently from a distance of 150 miles. Coffee has not yet been cultivated
very extensively, although it thrives remarkably well, particularly near Rio de Janeiro ;
wheat is only produced in the milder provinces of the South, and even there but spar-
ingly. Indeed, the " staff of life," throughout the greatest part of Brazil is the man-
diocca, known in the West Indies by the name of cassava ; the root, being divested of
its poisonous juices by pressure, is rasped or ground so as to resemble sago ; and, being
boiled, forms the principal sustenance of the great mass of the people. The cultivation
of the plant is easy ; it will thrive both in the richest and poorest soil, and vast quantities
are grown in the sandy (or tabulara) tracts of Paraiba, Maranham, and Pemambuco.
As we approach the southern provinces, the mandiocca in some measure gives place to
the maize or Indian corn, which, although less nutritious, is much esteemed both by
man and beast : its culture however is more confined, as it requires a good soil and
frequent moisture. Rice is grown but sparingly, and not in sufficient quantities to
make it an article of commerce. Besides these esculent vegetables, there are many
others, either indigenous, or introduced by the Portuguese from their African posses-
sions ; among these may be reckoned the ochro, the different species of Capsicum, yams,
and love apples. I believe the potato is unknown in Brazil ; several attempts were
made in 1817 by the English residents of Pernambuco and Bahia, to cultivate this root
from the English stock ; but they were completely unsuccessful. The tobacco of Brazil
is well known : very extensive tracts in the vicinity of Bahia are entirely covered with
this plant, which flourishes best in a light sandy soil ; although great attention is paid to
its cultivation, the leaves are dried in a careless way, and the subsequent operations
conducted in a most slovenly manner. The fruits are in great variety : besides those
common to the West India Islands, and other parts of tropical America, as the cocoa nut,
pine-apple, plantain, banana, mango, jack, custard apple, orange, and citron, there
are several others peculiar to this country, and only known by Indian names. Those
above enumerated are only to be met with near the coast ; but the cashew tree, so valu-
able for the astringent qualities of its fruit, covers extensive tracts in the interior of
Pernambuco and Paraiba, where the soil is loose, sandy, and arid. In similar situations
are also to be seen many kinds of guava. While the fruit of the larger species of passion
flower (Passiflora) is much esteemed for the coolness and delicacy of its pulp, the
European fruits, which thrive so well on the table land of Mexico, and on the sides of
the Cordilleras of Chile, wither and die beneath the fervour of a Brazilian sun. The
vine, indeed, is sometimes seen in the gardens of the rich ; and there is no doubt but
that it might be cultivated with complete success in the southern provinces ; but this
has been hitherto prevented by that short-sighted policy of the mother country, which
prohibited both the vine and the olive from being planted in any of the colonies.
Agriculture and gardening, in short, are here in their infancy. There is, indeed, a botanical
garden both at Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco ; but the first is neglected, and the
last, existing (in 1816) only in name, is a wilderness. The private gardens of the
higher classes usually consist of orange, citron, and lime trees, planted in rows,
intermixed with a few heavy earthen pots of China-asters, pinks, and other common
plants of Europe, here esteemed because they are exotic ; while, as in other countries,
the most lovely creepers and flowering shrubs grow in the thickets and fences,
totally disregarded. The woods and forests abound with innumerable medicinal
plants, as the castor, two species of contrayerva (Dorstenfo rotundifolia and pernam-
bucana of Arruda), the pinao, the angelim {Skolemora pernambuc^'nsis Arm.), and many
others, the names and qualities of which, the Brazilians, from some unaccountable fancy,
studiously conceal from Europeans, although they willingly administer them as pre-
pared medicaments when applied to. The most valuable dyeing wood is that bearing the
O 4
200 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
name of the country : the monopoly which the crown assumed, of cutting and export-
ing it, was so arbitrary and vexatious, that it has been used as fire-wood by many of
the planters, to conceal from the revenue officers that it was found on their lands. Its
produce has long been gradually diminishing, and unless some judicious measures are
adopted, this valuable wood will be totally lost in a few years. There are many otlier
beautiful woods fit for ornamental furniture, but none are so well known as the rose
wood (said to be a species of Jacardnda), which of late years has become so fashionable
in this country. Numerous species of laurel and myrtle abound in the forests ; the
Mimosa sensitiva, or sensitive plant, will sometimes form impenetrable thickets on the
sides of the ponds and rivers ; while the various species of Amaryllis, as also the crimson
passion flower, are more particularly natives of the southern provinces.
1234. The botanists of Europe have long been Jinacquainted with the plant which produces the true
Ipecacuana ; and even those who have recently travelled in Brazil appear to have fallen into some mistakes
on this subject. In fact, there are two plants essentially very different, but which, from possessing the
same medicinal qualities, have long passed under the same name, even in Brazil The opinion of the
accurate Arruda, whose name as a botanist may rank with the first in Europe, but who lived ar>d
died in Brazil, may be considered, on this question, as decisive. He considers the true ipecacuana, or
Ipecacuanha preta of the natives, as belonging to a new genus. This plant he calls Jpecacuima otficinaiis
{Cent. Plant.); it grows in the southern provinces, and requires shade. The other, called by the Bra-
zilians the white sort (/. Branca), is the VomMklia Ipecacuanha of Vandel : this is found in considerable
abundance in the sandy tracts of Pernambuco and Paraiba, and its root, when dried and pounded, is
much used in these provinces as a gentle purgative; it likewise promotes perspiration, and possesses
stimulant qualities. {Swainson's MSS!)
12.35. The pot tree {Le'ct/this ollaria) is one of the greatest ornaments of the woods ; its immense stem
is above a hundred feet high, and spreads into a majestic and vaulted crown, which is extremely beauti-
ful in the spring when the rose-coloured leaves shoot out, and in the flowering season from the large white
blossoms. The nuts, which have a thick shell, are of the size of a child's head, with a lid which is loose
all round, and which at length, when the weight of the fruit turns it downwards, separates, and lets the
seed fall out. In a high wind it is dangerous to remain in the woods on account of these heavy nuts
falling from so great a height. The seeds are collected in great quantities by the Indians, who are
extremely fond of them, and either eat them raw, or preserve them roasted and pounded, in pots, and
the shells themselves are used as drinking cups. {Spix, vol. ii. p. 222.)
1236. Dr. Arruda has described several of the niost valuable of those indigenous plants rvhose fibres are
adapted for economic purposes. The most important of these are, — 1. The carok (BromtjhVz variegata Ar.),
found in great abundance in the Sertoens of Paraiba and of the northern provinces : the fibres of the
leaves are of two kinds ; from one, a very sti-ong cordage is made, while the other is manufactured by
the fishermen into nets, and sometimes into a coarse cloth, when care is taken in preparing the thread.
2. The Crauata de Rede (Bromel/iX sagcnJlria Ar.) is confined to the maritime parts of Pernambuco and
Paraiba ; the leaves are from six to nine feet long, and the fibres so strong, and at the same time so fine,
that cables made from them are much superior in strength to those of Europe, while they are equally
well adapted for sail-cloth or stockings. The most delicate fibres, however, are those procured from
the leaves of the ananas (Bromeha Ananas-), as they are capable of being manufactured into cloth of
a superior quality. Other plants possess the same qualities, though in an inferior degree. The Bra-
zilian government has hitherto paid little attention to these matters. {Strainson's MSS.)
1237. Brazil likewise produces a species of croton, the' leaves of which are sometimes used as a substitute
for the tea of China. Some years ago, the government evinced a great desire to introduce and cultivate
the genuine tea plant, and actually induced several Chinese to settle near Rio de Janeiro, for the purpose
of superintending its culture: the plan, however, from some jealousy or mismanagement, was abandoned
before it had received a fair trial. A similar project was formed for introducing the cochineal insect,
but which, from similar causes, proved equally abortive. There is every reason to believe, however, that
both would have succeeded under proper management. {Swainson's MSS.)
1 238. The live stock of Brazil chiefly consists of horned cattle, which are pastured in great
numbers in the interior of the southern provinces. The hides are sent to Europe : and
the flesh, after being cut into long stripes and dried in the sun, becomes an article of
considerable internal commerce. Paraiba and Rio Grande are particularly celebrated
for this traffic. Fresh meat, even in maritime towns, cannot always be had, and is at all
times dear. Swine are good, but sheep and goats are almost unknown.
1239. Cavies of different species, porcupines, armadillos, and other wild animals, abound
in some of the forests ; most, if not all, are eaten by the native Indians and the Bra-
zilians : the former do not even
reject the monkeys. In some parts 169
of the interior are small ounces,
but they seldom show themselves
by day. Hammocks made of net-
work are universally preferred to
beds ; and from being of little va-
lue, they are generally possessed by
the poorest natives, who suspend
them between beams in the house,
or trees in the open air. {fg. 169.)
{lb-)
1 240. Cayenne or French Guiana,
is a fertile country, and has been
long well cultivated by the colonists. The climate is salubrious ; the surface of the
country is not mountainous, but abounds in hills and forests ; the soil is in general
uncommonly fertile, and the productions it yields are of excellent quality. The Cayenne
pepper (Capsicum annuum, and other species) is a noted produce of this country, and,
with sugar, cocoa, coffee, indigo, maize, cassia, and vanilla, forms the chief article of its
Book I.
AGRICULTURE IN SOUTH AMERICA.
201
commerce. The interior parts, though much neglected, and remaining obstructed by-
thick forests and undei'wood, feed, nevertheless, a great number of horses, sheep, goats,
and cattle, which roam at pleasure : the beef and mutton are reckoned excellent.
(Maison Rustique de Cayenne, Paris, 1763.)
1^41. Colombia is a fertile tract of country, with an irregular surface and warm
climate. An association was formed in London some years ago to send emigrants thither.
A million of acres were granted to it, besides several important exemptions, by the
Colombian government. A hundred and ninety-one persons left Scotland to settle
there in 1825; but, according to the superintendent, they were such a set of people,
with a very few exceptions, as could not have been procured in any country. They had
every advantage, but acted as if resolved to avail themselves of none. Yet, by the
surgeon's report, the most sickly months in the year were passed over by a population
of drunken adults, and a large proportion of cliildren, with a mortality of about one
fifth less than that of the most healthy parts of Europe.. Mr. Powles is perfectly
justified in his declaration, that the defaulters in tliis transaction are the settlers them-
selves. They are the parties who have not performed their agreement ; and who, by
their own misconduct, have brought a very heavy loss ujwn the association ; and what is
more to be regretted, have greatly retarded the progress of an undertaking calculated to
produce the most extensive advantages both to Colombia and Great Britain. We trust
the success of this wise and benevolent experiment is retarded only. The million of
acres granted to this company present a very different prospect and security from those
golden bubbles which the Reports of Messrs. Head, Andrews, and Beaumont have by
this time blown away. {Ed, Rev., Jan, 1828.)
1242. Surinam is a low moist country, which has been in part studded with wooden
houses (Jig. 170.),
and well cultivated
by the Dutch. The
climate is hot, and
is the most un-
healthy and pesti-
lential in South
America, although
the heat in some
measure is tem-
pered by the sea breeze. The surface of the country is little varied by inequalities.
The uncultivated parts are covered with immense forests, rocks, and mountains, some
of the latter enriched with a great variety of mineral substances ; and the whole country
is intersected by very deep marshes or swamps, and by extensive heaths or savannas.
The soil is, in general, very fertile ; and its fertility may be ascribed, not only to the
rains and warmth of this climate, but also to the low and marshy situation of the country,
which prevents the intense heats from destroying vegetation, and to the extreme richness
of the soil, particularly in those parts that are cultivated by European industry.
1243. The principal products of Surinam are tobacco, sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, and
indigo. The quassia tree, or bitter drug, used by the porter brewers, grows wild in the
woods, and was first exposed for sale by a native called
Quassi, after whom the tree is named. The cabbage
tree is abundant ; and under the rind of the palms is
found tlie Curculio joalmkrum Lin. (Jig. 171. a), the
larva of which (b) is eaten by the natives as a luxury.
A very interesting account of this colony is given by
Captain Stedman (Journal, 2 vols. 4to, 1794), who filled ,
an important military situation there for several years. (
This gentleman, in the midst of the most arduous duties,
contrived to make himself tolerably comfortable. He
built a country house there (Jig. 172.); kept a wife,
pigs, bees, sheep, and cattle, and had children and
slaves. He lived by turns with liis family in a house;5^
and with strange women in the woods, where he '
slept in hammocks {Jig. 173.) and adopted many
of tlie practices of the natives. He made many sketches, and kept a journal ; and
after many years full of interesting adventures with the rebellious natives, and of endearing
scenes with Joanna his local wife, he came home and wrote a very entertaining account
of what he had seen and done. (See Stedman^ s Surinam, 2 vols. 4to, 1794.)
1244. Amazonia is an extensive, unconquered, or at least uncivilised, country. In so
far as it is known, its climate is more temperate than might be expected from its geogra-
phical position. The surface of the country is clothed, in most places, by inter-
171
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
Part I.
17^
minable forests, and its
immense river is well
known. The soil of a
small settlement formed
by the Portuguese is
very fertile, and pro-
duces corn, grain, and
all kinds of tropical
fruits ; besides a variety
of timber, as cedar, brazil
wood, oak, ebony, iron
wood, logwood, and
other dyeing woods ; -
and also cocoa, tobacco,
sugar canes, cotton, cassava root, potatoes, yams, sarsaparilla, gums, raisins, balsams of
various sorts, pine-apples, guavas, bananas, &c. The forests abound with wild honey.
173
r^^
174
and also with tigers, wild boars, buffaloes, and cayies ; while the true Amazonian parrot,
Avith a green plumage and pale yellow front {Jig. 174.), is found in vast flocks, and
annually exported to all parts of Europe. The rivers and
lakes afford an ample supply of fish, manattas, and mud-
tortoises ; but the alligators and water serpents render fishing
a dangerous employment. The trees, fields, and plants are
verdant throughout the year.
1 245. Patagonia consists mostly of open deserts and savannas,
with a few willows on the rivers. It seems to enjoy a tem-
perate but rather cool climate ; but, separated in the middle by
the vast mountains of the Andes, one part of it differs widely
from the other. Northward of La Plata, this part of South
America is covered with wood, and stored with an inexhaustible
fund of large timber: but, southward of that river, there is
scarcely a tree or shrub fit for any mechanical purpose ; yet
even this seemingly barren country has some good pastures.
There are numerous droves of wild horned cattle, and abun-
dance of horses, both originally introduced by the Spaniards.
1246. Of the South American islands, that of Juan Fernandes abounds in pasture, cattle,
and woods ; and Terra del Fuego, amidst its horrible snows, exhibits a variety of plants.
The Falkland Islands contain number of fowls and plants, somewhat resembling those
of Canada. Georgia is a field of ice, in vi'hich, or in any of the other islands, there is no
cultivation whatever.
BOOK II.
AGRICULTURE AS INFLUENCED BY GEOGRAPHICAL, PHYSICAL, CIVIL, AND POLITICAL
CIRCUMSTANCES.
1 247. Agriculture, considered with regard to climate, territorial surface, and soaeti/, presents
some features which it may be instructive to contemplate. Whoever has perused with
attention the outline which we have now concluded of the field culture of the different
nations of the world, must have a general and enlarged view of that art ; and must ne-
cessarily have observed that there are different species of territorial culture, founded on
difference of geographical position or climate, difference of physical circumstances or
surface, and difference of civilisation or human wants. The object of the present Book
is to characterise these diflferent species, and to refer to them the proper districts through-
out the world.
Book II. AGRICULTURE UNDER VARIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. 203
Chap. I.
Agriculture as hifliienced by Geographical Circumstances.
1248. The influence of climate extends not only to the kind of plants and animals
to be reared, but also to the mode of rearing. A few useful plants are universal, and but
a few. Of those belonging to agriculture, we may enumerate most of the annual
pasture or hay grasses, and, of the cereal grasses, the wheat, rye, and barley. The
oat, the pea, bean, turnip, potato, and the perennial pasture grasses, will neither thrive
in very hot nor in very cold climates ; the maize, millet, and rice can only be grown in
warm countries, and the oat in temperate regions. The roots and fruits of what are
denominated hot climates, as the yam, plantain, bread-fruit, &c., are limited to them;
and equally so the timber trees of temperate and torrid regions, as the oak and pine, the
mahogany and teak tree.
1 249. Animals as toell as plants are affected by climate. Some animals are univer-
sal, as the ox and swine, which are found in every latitude ; others are limited in their
range, as the rein-deer, camel, elephant, and, considered as a domesticated animal, the
sheep. The horse and ass are nearly universal, but cannot be substituted for the rein-
deer. The sheep will exist in India and also in Greenland, but loses its 'useful charac-
ter in both countries ; in Greenland it requires protection during nine months of the
year, and in India the wool is changed to hair, and the carcass is too lean for the
butcher.
1 250. The management required for both plants and animals depends materially on cli-
mate. It is not easy for a person who has never been out of Britain to conceive a just
idea of the aquatic culture even of Italy or Spain. In these countries though most crops,
whether of grain or roots, require watering, yet some in the rainy season may be obtained
in the usual way, as melons in Italy and onions in Spain. But in Arabia, Persia, and
India no culture can be undertaken without water, except in the upper regions of
mountains. The fundamental process of culture in these countries is to prepare the
surface for the reception of water, and its circulation in trenches and gutters, and to
procure the water by raising it from wells or rivers by machinery. Wherever the surface
cannot be irrigated, no regular culture need be attempted nor com crop expected. Nature
in such situations produces periodical crops of annual succulents or bulbous- rooted plants ;
and man might, perliaps, to a certain extent, turn this circumstance of climate to account,
by changing the sorts of annual bulbs, &c., from such as are useless, to such as are
useful. The onion or edible crocus or cyperus might, perhaps, be substituted for the
ixia of the Cape ; the sesamum, or some rapid annual, furnishing useful seeds or
herbage, for numerous annual weeds ; and the cochineal cactus for the showy but useless
mesembryanthemums and stapelias of the African wastes. These, however, are only
suggestions.
125 1 . Culture in the north of Europe depends for the most part more on draining lands
of their superfluous water, than on artificial supplies of that element. When irrigation
is applied it is limited entirely to grass lands ; and that not for the purpose of supplying
such lands with moisture, but for stimulating by manure held in solution by the water,
and for increasing or maintaining heat. The greatest care is requisite to prevent this
mode of watering from proving more injurious than useful ; but little danger results
from the application of water in hot countries, and there it is valuable by moderating
rather than increasing the temperature of the soil. Water in the north of Europe is
generally supplied in more than sufficient quantity by the atmosphere ; and, therefore, one
great object of the cultivator is to keep the soil thoroughly drained by surface gutters
and subterraneous conductors ; to keep it pulverised for the moisture to pass through,
and for the roots to extend themselves ; well stocked with manure to supply nourishment ;
freed from weeds, to prevent any of this nourishment from being wasted ; and to
admit the light, air, and weather to the useful plants. In the hot countries keeping the
soil free from weeds is generally a duty easily performed, and often rendered un-
necessary ; for whenever water is withheld, even in the south of Spain (745.), every
living plant is burned up with drought. It is remarkable that in the most northerly
parts of Europe and America the same effect, especially as to fibrous-rooted perennials,
is produced by cold ; and in Russia and New England, where there is scarcely any
spring, the agriculturist has only to plough once, and sow in the same way as in the
hot valleys of the south of Spain, and in South America, where vegetation is as rapid
from the accession of moisture, as it is in the cold plains of Russia from the influence of
the sun during the long days of a northern summer. In hot countries, putrescent
manures are not altogether neglected, but they are much less necessary than in cold
countries, and can be done without where there is abundance of water ; there, water,
204 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
intense heat, and light, a consequently moist atmosphere, and a soil well pulverised by art,
supply every thing necessary for luxuriant vegetation.
1 252. Hence it is that agriculture considered geographically admits of two grand divisions :
that of the cold climates, which may be called agriculture by draining and manures ;
and that of the hot climates, which may be called agriculture by irrigation. To the
former belong the greater part of Europe, the north of Asia, the north of America,
and part of the Australian isles ; to the latter, Egypt, Persia, India, China, Africa,
great part of the south of America, and part of Australia. As interaiediate between
agricidture by watering, and agriculture by draining, may be mentioned that mixed culture
hy watering and manuring which prevails in the south of France, Spain, and Italy ; and
as opposed to the aquatic culture of the torrid zone, may be placed the rural economy of
the arctic circle, which, from the prevalence of cold and ice, precludes all culture of the
soil, admits little else than the growth of mosses and lichens, and is therefore limited to
fishery and the chase.
1253. These leading divisions of culture are hy no means so absolute as to be determinable
by degrees of latitude, so much depending on physical circumstances, as elevation, soil,
aspect, island or continent, &c. ; but as an approximation which may impress some
general ideas on the mind of the practical agriculturist, we submit the following : —
1254. The agriculture of irrigation may be considered as extending thirty-five degrees
on each side of the equator.
1255. The agriculture of manures and irrigation from the thirty-fifth to the forty-fifth
degree north and south of the equator.
1256. The agriculture of draining and manures from the forty-fifth degree, north and
south of the equator, to the sixty-seventh degree or polar circle.
1257. The arts of fishing and hunting, as the only means of subsistence, from the sixty-
seventh degree, or polar circle, to the pole.
Chap. II.
Agriculture as influenced by Physical Circumstances.
1 258. The physical circumstances which principally affect agriculture are temperature,
light, elevation, moisture, and soil.
1259. Temperature and light have the most powerful influence both on the culture of
plants and rearing of animals. Elevation, when not considerable, admits of being ren-
dered subservient to the processes of culture, and to the habits of different plants and
animals ; moisture may be moderated or increased, soil improved, but temperature and
light are in a great measure beyond human control. Hence it is that the plants and ani-
mals under the management of the husbandman do not altogether depend on his skill or
choice, but on his local situation. Not only the maize, rice and millet, which are such
valuable crops in Asia and Africa, are incapable of cultivation in the north of Europe ;
but even within the extent of the British isles, some kinds of grain, pulse, and roots can-
not be grown to such perfection in certain districts as in others. Thus the Angus variety
of oat will not come to the same perfection, south of London, that it does north of York ;
and, of different varieties, the Dutch, Polish, and potato oat will succeed better in a warm
climate, than the Angus, black, or moorland oat, which answer best for cold, moist, and
elevated districts. The turnip arrives at a greater size in Lancashire, Berwickshire, and
Ayrshire, than it does in Kent, Surrey, or Sussex, even admitting the best possible manage-
ment in both districts. The pea requires a dry soil and climate, and more heat than the
bean, and consequently thrives much better in the south of England, in Kent, and Hamp-
shire, than in Scotland or Ireland. Hops cannot be cultivated advantageously in Scotland,
nor clover seeds, except, perhaps, in a few very favourable situations. Even wheat does
not come to maturity in many parts of that country in ordinary seasons. It is certain
that the perennial grasses thrive best where the temperature and light are moderate through-
out the year, as on the sea-coast in various countries, where mildness is obtained from
the influence of the sea, and light from the absence of a covering of snow ; and also in the
south of England, where the snow seldom lies, and where the temperature is moderate,
and the nights not so long as they are farther north. It is equally certain that in
America and Russia, where the cold is intense during winter, and the plants on the sur-
face of the ground are deprived of light for six or seven months together by a covering
of snow, all lierbaceous vegetation is destroyed. Contrasted with these facts may be
mentioned, as equally well ascertained, that annual plants in general attain a greater
size, and a higher degree of pei-fvction, where the winters are long, and the summers hot
Book 11. AGRICULTURE UNDER VARIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. 205
and light ; the reason of which seems to be that the alternate action of heat and cold,
rain and ice, meliorates the soil and prepares it better for the nourishment of annuals
than it can well be in countries where the soil is not only harder naturally (for all coun-
tries that have long winters have soft soils), but more or less occupied by perennial weeds.
Insects, and vermin. In cold countries the insects are generally of that kind whose eggs
go through the processes of the larva and chrysalis state under water, and land reptiles
are generally rare.
1 260. Elevation, when considerable, has an absolute influence on agriculture. The
most obvious effect is that of obliging the agriculturist to isolate his dwelling from
those of other cultivators or villagers in the plains, and to reside on his farm. This is
well exemplified in Switzerland and Norway. We have already noticed the judicious
reflections of Bakewell on the subject as referable to the former country (337.), and
have also referred to those of Dr. Clarke respecting Norway (602.). The latter author
has depicted these alpine farms, both witli his elegant pen and skilful pencil (Jig. 175).
The farmeries are generally built with fir planks, and covered with birch bark and turf.
The inhabitants chiefly live by the dairy, and seldom see their neighbours or any human
being beyond their own fire-side, except on the Sunday mornings when they go to
church, and on the Sunday afternoons in summer x.hen they meet to dance {Jig. 176.)
and amuse themselves.
1 26 1 . As elevation is known to lessen
temperature in regular gradation ac-
cording to the altitude above the sea,
its influence on plants and animals must
correspond. Three hundred feet in
height are considered nearly equal to
half a degree of latitude, and occasion
a difference of temperature of nearly
twelve degrees of Fahrenheit. Hence
it is that the agriculture of the temperate,
may sometimes be adopted in the torrid,
zone ; and that some of the mountains of
Jamaica will produce, between their base
and summit, almost all the plants of tlie world. Hence, also, that even in the limited
extent of the island of Britain, a given elevation on mountains in Devonshire will be
adapted for an agriculture different from that required by the same elevation on the
Cheviot, Grampian, or Sutherland mountains ; and while wheat ripens at six hundred feet
above the level of the sea in Cornwall, oats will hardly ripen at that height in the Western
Isles.
1262. Elevation exposes plants and animals to the powerful operation of wind, and in
this respect must influence the disposition of the fields, fences, plantations, and buildings
of the agriculturist, as well as the plants and animals on the farm. It has some influence
also on the density of the air and the supplies of water and vapour, and even in these
respects must affect the character of the agriculture. In Switzerland and Norway the
upper mountain-farms are completely above the more dense strata of clouds, and their
S06 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
occupiers are often for weeks together without getting a view of the plains or valleys
below.
1263. That soU must influence the agriculture of a country appears at first sight very
obvious ; though, if climate is favourable, time and art will render the soil fit for any
species of culture. Naturally, however, soil has a powerful influence ; and the period,
under ordinary management, will be considerable, before strong deep clays on a flat
surface can be rendered equally fit for the turnip or potato, with friable loams, or more
gravelly or sandy soils.
1264. The itifluence of moisture on the state of lands is naturally very considerable ;
and though draining or irrigation can effectually remove excesses or supply deficiency, yet
fen lands and chalk hills, such as we find in Huntingdonshire, Surrey, and other counties,
will ever have a peculiar character of agriculture ; the marsh perennial hay grasses will
be the characteristic plants of the former, and saintfoin of the latter.
1265. As the general result of this outline of the influence of physical circumstances on
agriculture, we may form a classification of that of any particular country to whichever
of the four universal divisions (1254. to 1257.) it belongs. We submit the following : —
1266. The agriculture of water-fed lands, including fens, marshes, and marsh
meadows.
1267. T/ie agriculture of sun-burnt lands, including chalk, gravel, and sandy hills,
wheie vegetation is annually more or less burned up during two or more of tlie summer
months.
1 268. The agriculture of mountains, in which the farmery is placed on the farm, as
distinguished from those cases in which the whole or a part of the mountain lands is ap-
pended to lands on the plain.
1269. Common agriculture, or that of the plains, valleys, and hills of a country, in which
all the crops and all the animals suitable to the climate may be profitably cultivated and
reared.
Chap. III.
Agriculture as affected by Civil, Political, and Religious Circumstances.
1 270. The influence of the state of society and government on agriculture must, as well as
the climate and situation, obviously be very considerable ; for it will signify little what a
country is capable of producing, if the inhabitants are too barbarous to desire, too igno-
rant to know, or too much oppressed to attain, these products. Some of the finest lands
in the world, capable of producing wheat, maize, rice, and the grape, are inhabited by
savages, who live on game, wild friiits, or native roots ; or by half-civilised tribes who
cultivate maize and yams, or some other local root. Even in Ireland, where the soil is
better than in Britain, and with very moderate culture will produce excellent wheat and
other corns, with beef, mutton, and wool, the greater part of the inhabitants, from igno-
rance, oppression, and in part, as we have seen (852. ), religious slavery, content themselves
with roots and rags, the latter often the cast off refuse of other countries.
1271. The state of civilisation and refinement of a people not only influences agriculture
by the nature of the products such a state requires, but also by the means of production it
affords ; by the superior ease with which information on every subject may be attained ; and
by the existing state of knowledge, for example, in mechanics, chemistry, and physiology,
by which the implements and machines are improved, the operations of soils and manures
regulated, the influence of water, the atmosphere, and the functions of plants and animals
understood. The difference in the means taken to effect the same end in a poor but yet
ingenious country, and in one rich and enlightened, is exemplified in China and India, as
compared with Britain. Wealth and ignorance, as contrasted with poverty and ingenuity,
may also be exemplified in comparing the farmer of Hindustan with the English farmer.
The latter, to stir the soil, employs an unwieldy implement drawn by several oxen or
horses ; the former uses a small light implement drawn by one ox or buffalo, but effects his
object by repeating the operation many times. The Englishman effects it at once, often
in spite of the worst means, by main force. The processes of Chinese manufacture are
exceedingly curious and ingenious, and form a remarkable contrast to the rapid and sci-
entific processes of Britain. There are many curious practices in France and Germany,
the result of poverty and ingenuity. In Brittany the whin is used as horse provender :
to bruise the spines one man operates on a simple but ingenious machine {fig. 177.),
and eftects his purpose completely. Here the same thing is done by a couple of iron
rollers turned by a horse or by water : but the farmer of Brittany, who would purchase
a pair of whin-bruising rollers, must first sell the greater part of his stock and crop.
Book II. AGRICULTURE UNDER VARIOUS CIKCUMSTANCES. 207
1272. The political state (f a country will
powerfully affect its agriculture. Where se-
curity, the greatest object of government, is pro-
cured at too high a rate, the taxes will depress
the cultivator, and not only consume his profits,
but infringe on his capital ; where security,
either relatively to external circumstances or
internal laws, is incomplete, there the farmer
who has capital will be unwilling to risk it :
in either case, few who have capital will engage
in that profession ; and if any find it profitable,
the fear of exposing himself to exactions from
government or from his landlord, will prevent
him from making a proper use of his profits
either in the way of employment or of consump-
tion. Many instances of this state of things are
to be found in the foregoing history. Wherever
the metayer system orthat of short leases prevails,
whatever may be the nature or practice of the
government, these remarks will apply. Security
and liberty at a moderate price are essential to
the prosperity of agriculture, even more so
than to that of manufactures or commerce.
1273. Religion may be thought to have very little influence on agriculture : but in a
Catholic or Mohammedan country, where the religion enjoins a frequent abstinence from
animal food, and long periodical fasts from even the produce of the cow, surely the rear-
ing and feeding of stock for the shambles or the dairy cannot prosper to the same extent
as in a country less enslaved by prejudice, or whose religious opinions do not interfere
with their cookery. The number of holidays is also a great grievance.
1274. The natural character of a people may even have some influence on their agri-
culture, independently of all the other circumstances mentioned. The essential character
of a people is formed by the climate and country in which they live, and their factitious
or accidental character by their government and religion for the time being. The latter
may alter, but the original or native character remains. Thus the French appear to be
the same gay people that they were in the time of Julius Ca?sar ; and, as far as history
enables us to judge, the Greeks and Romans have only lost their accidental character.
1275. The agriculture of the world, in regard to the state of society, may perhaps admit of
the following divisions : —
1 276. The agriculture of science, or modern farming, in which the cultivator is secure
in his property or possession, both with relation to the government and to the landlord
he lives under, as generally in Britain and North America.
1277. The agriculture of habit, or feudal culture, in which the cultivator is a metayer,
or a tenant at will, or on a short lease, or has covenanted to pursue a certain fixed system
of culture.
1278. Barbarian agriculture, or that of a semi-barbarous people who cultivate at ran-
dom, and on land to which they have no defined right of possession, roots or grain,
without regard to rotation, order, or permanent advantage.
1279. The economy of savages, such as hunting, fishing, gathering fruits, or digging
up roots.
Chap. IV.
Of the Agriculture of Britain.
1 280. To which of these geographical, physical, and social divisions of agriculture that of
the British isles may be referred, is the next object to be determined, and we submit the
following as its classification : —
1281. Geographically it is the agriculture of draining and manures.
1282. Physically, those of water-fed and sun-burnt lands, mountains, and variable
plains.
1283. Socially considered, it is the agriculture of science.
1284. The following Parts of this ivork, therefore, are to be considered as treating of a
kind of agriculture so characterised ; that is, of the agriculture of our own country. Who-
ever has paid a due attention to what has preceded, can scarcely fail to have formed an
idea of the agriculture of every other part of the world.
208 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part I.
PART II.
AGRICULTURE CONSIDERED AS A SCIENCE.
285. All knowledge is founded on experience ; in the infancy of any art, experience
is confined and knowledge limited to a few particulars ; but as arts are improved and
extended, a great number of facts become known, and the generalisation of these, or the
arrangement of them according to some leading principle, constitutes the theory, science,
or law of an art.
1286. Agriculture, in common with other arts, may be practised without any knowledge
of its theory ; that is, established practices may be imitated : but in this case it must ever
remain stationary. The mere routine practitioner cannot advance beyond the limits of
his own particular experience, and can neither derive instruction from such accidents as
are favourable to his object, nor guard against the recurrence of such as are unfavourable.
He can have no resource for unforeseen events but ordinary expedients ; while the man
of science resorts to general principles, refers events to their true causes, and adapts his
measures to meet every case.
1287. The object of the art of agriculture is to increase the quantity and improve the
quality of such vegetable and animal productions of the earth as are used by civilised
man ; and the object of the agriculturist is to do this with the least expenditure of means,
or, in other words, with profit. The result of the experience of mankind as to other
objects may be conveyed to an enquiring mind in two ways : he may be instructed in
the practical operations of the art, and their theory, or the reasons on which they are
founded, laid down and explained to him as he goes along ; or he may be first instructed
in general principles, and then in the practices which flow from them. The former
mode is the natural and actual mode in which every art is acquired (in so far as acquire-
ment is made) by such as have no recourse to books, and may be compared to the natural
mode of acquiring a language without the study of its grammar. The latter mode is by
much the myre correct and effectual, and is calculated to enable an instructed agricul-
turist to proceed with the same kind of confidence and satisfaction in his practice, tiiat a
grammarian does in the use of language.
1288. In adopting what we consider as the preferable viode of agricultural instruction,
we shall, as its grammar or science, endeavour to convey a general idea of the nature
of vegetables, animals, minerals, mixed bodies, and the atmosphere, as connected with
agriculture ; of agricultural implements and other mechanical agents ; and of agricul-
tural operations and processes.
1289. The study of the science of agiiculture may be considered as implying a regular
education in the student, who ougiit to be well acquainted with arithmetic and mensur-
ation ; and to have acquired the art of sketching objects, whether animals, vegetables, or
general scenery, of taking off and laying down geometrical plans ; but especially he ought
to have studied chemistry, hydraulics, and something of carpentry, smithery, and the other
building arts ; and, as Professor Von Thaer observes, he ought to have some knowledge
of all those manufactures to which his art furnishes the raw materials.
BOOK L
OF THE STUDY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM WITH A VIEW TO AGRICULTURE.
1290. The various objects with which we are surrounded are either organised, having
several constituent parts which united form a whole capable of increase by nourishment ;
or they are unorganised, and only increased by additions to their external parts. To the
first division belong the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and their study is founded
chiefly on observation : to the second belongs the mineral kingdom, the study of which
in masses, or geology and mineralogy, is also founded chiefly on observation ; and, witli
regard to composition and elements, on experiment or chemistry.
1291. Vegetables are distinguished from animals in not being endowed with sentiment,
or a consciousness of existence. Tlseir study has employed the attention of mankind from
a very early period ; and has been carried to a high degree of perfection within the last
Book I. THE STUDY OF SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 209
century ; more especially by the exertions of Linnaeus, and those of Jussieu, Mirbel, and
some other French philosophers. This study comprehends systematic botany, vegetable
anatomy, vegetable chemistry, physiology, pathology, the distribution of vegetables, and
vegetable culture. The study of these branches is of the utmost importance to the agri-
culturist, especially that of vegetable physiology ; and though the limits of this work do
not permit us to enter into the subject at great length ; yet we shall direct his attention
to the leading points, and refer him to the best books.
Chap. I.
Of the Study of Systematic Botany.
1 292. Glossology, or the study of the names of the parts of plants, is the first step irt
this department.
1293. All the arts and sciences require to express with brevity and perspicuity a crowd of ideas unused in
common language, and unknown to the greater part of men : whence that multitude of terms, or tech-
nical turns, given to ordinary words, which the public often turn into ridicule, because they do not feel
the use of them; but which all are obliged to make use of, who apply themselves to any study what-
ever. Botany having to describe an immense number of beings, and each of these beings having a great
variety of organs, requires a great variety of terms. Nearly all botanists are agreed as to these terms,
and in order that they may be universally understood and remain unchanged in meaning, they are taken
from a dead or fixed language.
1294. A plant in flower, surveyed externally, may be perceived to be composed of a variety of obvious
parts, such as the root, the stem, the branch, the leaf, the flower, the fruit, and perhaps the seed ; and
other parts less obvious, as buds, prickles, tendrils, hairs, glands, &c. These, with their modifications,
and all the relative circumstances which enter into the botanical description of a plant, constitute
the subject of glossology, or the study of the language of botany. The reader may consult Smith's
Introduction to Botany, or almost any recent work on the elements of botanical science.
1295. Phytography, or the naming and describing qf' plants, is the next part of the subject to ])e considered.
Before botany became a regular science, plants were named as individual beings, without regard to any
relation which they had to one another. But from the great number of names to be retained on the memory,
and the obvious affinities existing among certain individuals or natural families, some method was soon
found necessary, and it was then deemed requisite to give such composite names as might recall to mind
something of the individuals to which they were applied. Thus we had Anagnllis Jlbre cierUleo, Mespilus
aculeata pyrifolia, &c. In the end, however, the length of these phrases became inconvenient, and
Linnseus, struck with this inconvenience, proposed that the names of plants should henceforth consist of
two words only, the one the generic or family name, and the other the specific or individual name.
1296. The na7nes qf classes and orders were originally primitive or without meaning, as the Grasses
of Tragus, Poppies of Bauhin, &c. ; and afterwards so compounded as to be long and complex, as the
Polloplostemonopetalt^, Eleuthcromacrostemones, &c., of Wachendorf. Linnaeus decided that the names
of classes and orders should consist of a single word, and that word not simple or primitive, but expressive
of a certain character or characters found in all the plants which compose it.
1297. In applying names to plants, three rules are laid down by botanists: 1st, That the languages chosen
should be fixed and universal, as the Greek and Latin. 2d, That these languages should be used accord-
ing to the general laws of grammar, and compound words always composed from the same language, and
not of entire words, &c. 3d, That the first who discovers a being, and enregisters it in the catalogue ol
nature, has the right of giving it a name; and that that name ought to be received and admitted by
naturalists, unless it belongs to a being already existing, or transgresses the rules of nomenclature. Every
one who discovers a new plant may not be able to enregister it according to these laws, and in that case
has no right to give it a name; but the botanist who enregisters it, and who is in truth the discoverer,
may give it the name proposed by the finder, if he chooses.
1298. The whole vegetable kingdom is divided into classes, orders, genera, species, and varieties. A class
is distinguished by some character which is common to many plants ; an order is distinguished by having
some character limited to a few plants belonging to a class ; a still more limited coincidence constitutes a
genus ; and each individual of a genus, which continues unchanged when raised from seed, is called a spe-
cies. A variety is formed by an accidental deviation from the specific character, and easily returns by
seed to the particular species from which it arose.
1299. For the purposes of recording and communicating botanical knowledge plants are described; and
this is done either by the use of language alone, or by language and figures, models, or dried plants, con-
joined. The description of plants may be either abridged or complete. The shortest mode of abridgement
is that employed in botanical catalogues, as in those of Donn or of Sweet. The most exact descriptions
are deficient vnthout figures or a herbarium. Hence the advantage of being able to see plants at pleasure,
by forming dried collections of them. Most plants dry with facility between the leaves of books, or
between'sheets of paper, the smoother the better. If there is plenty of paper, they often dry best without
shifting ; but if the specimens are crowded, they must be taken out frequently, and the paper dried before
they are replaced.
1300. The language of botany may be acquired by two methods, analogous to those by which common
languages are acquired. The first is the natural method, which begins with the great and obvious classes
of vegetables, and distinguishes trees, grasses, &c., next individuals among these, and afterwards their
parts or organs : this knowledge is acquired insensibly, as we acquire our native tongue. The
second is the artificial method, and begins with the parts of plants, as the leaves, roots, &c., ascending to
nomenclature and classification, and is acquired by particular study, aided by books or instructors, as one
acquires a dead or foreign language. This method i^ the fittest for such as wish to attain a thorough
knowledge of plants, so as to be able to describe them ; the other mode is easier, anil the best suited for
cultivators, whose object does not go beyond that of understanding their descriptions, and studying their
physiology, history, and application. A very good method, for a person at a distance from botanists, is to
form a collection of dried specimens of all the plants of which he wishes to know the names, and to send
them to the curator of the nearest botanic garden, requesting him to write the name below each spe-
cimen, and to refer to some work easily procured, such as Lindley's Vasculares, or Withering or Gray's
Arrangement of British Plants, in which are given its description, uses, history, &c. We know of no
work in which an attempt has been made to comprehend so much, both of theoretical and practical
botany, as is comprised in our Encycloptedia of Plants ; and to those therefore who cannot afford to have
many books, and especially to gardeners, for whose convenience it is more especially intended, it may
be confidently recommended.
P
210 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Pabt II.
1301. Taxonomy, or the classification of plants, is the last part of the study of techno-
logical botany. It is very evident, that, without some arrangement, the mind of man
would be unequal to the task of acquiring even an imperfect knowledge of the various
objects of nature. Accordingly, in every science, attempts have been made to classify
the different objects that it embraces, and these attempts have been founded on various
principles : some have adopted artificial characters ; others have endeavoured to detect
the natural relations of the beings to be arranged, and thus to ascertain a connection by
which the whole may be associated. In the progress of zoology and botany, the fun-
damental organs on which to found a systematic arrangement have been finally agreed on.
In both, those which are essential, and which discover the greatest variety, form the basis
of classification. Animals are found to differ most from each other in the organs of nu-
trition, plants in the organs of reproduction.
1302. Two methods of arranging vegetables have been distinguished by botanists, the natural and
the artificial. A natural method is that which, in its distribution, retains all the natural classes ; that
is, groups into which no plants enter which are not connected by numerous relations, or which can be dis-
joined without doing a manifest violence to nature. An artificial method is that whose classes are not
natural, because they collect together several genera of plants which are not connected by numerous
relations, although they agree in the characteristic mark or marks assigned to that particular class or
assemblage to which they belong. An artificial method is easier than the natural, as in the latter it is
nature, in the former the writer, who prescribes to plants the rules and order to be observed in their dis-
tribution. Hence, likewise, as nature is ever uniform, there can be only one natural method ; whereas
artificial methods may be multiplied almost ad infinitum, according to the different relations under which
bodies are viewed.
1303. The object of the natural method is to promote our knowledge of the vegetable kingdom by gene-
ralising facts and ideas ; the object of the artificial method is to facilitate the knowledge of plants as indi-
vidual objects. The merits of the former method consist in the perfection with which plants are grouped
together in natural families or orders, and these families grouped among themselves ; the merits of the
latter consist in the perfection with which they are arranged according to certain marks by which their
names may be discovered. Plants arranged according to the natural method may be compared to words
arranged according to their roots or derivations ; arranged according to an artificial method they may be
compared to words in a dictionary. The success attending attempts at botanical arrangement, both
natural and artificial, has been singularly striking. Linnaeus has given the most beautiful artificial
system that has ever been bestowed by genius on mankind ; and Jussieu has, with unrivalled ability,
exhibited the natural affinities of the vegetable kingdom. For the study of this department we refer to
the works of Smith, Lindley, Decandolle, and Gray, but especially to the Encyclopcedia of Plants.
Chap. II.
Vegetable Anatomy, or the Structure and Organisation of PlantS'
1 304 . Vegetables may he classed for the study of their anatomy and physiology, accordingly
as they are distinguished by a structure or organisation more complicated or more simple.
The former will constitute what may be denominated perfect plants, and will form a class
comprehending the principal mass of the vegetable kingdom ; the latter will constitute
what may be denominated imperfect plants, and will form a class comprehending all such
vegetables as are not included in the foregoing class. We shall first consider their
external, and next their internal, organisation.
Sect. I. Of the External Structure of Perfect Plants.
1305. The parts of perfect plants may be distributed into conservative and reproduc-
tive, as corresponding to their respective functions in the economy of vegetation.
1306. The conservative organs are such as are absolutely necessary to the growth and
preservation of the plant, and include the root, trunk, branch, leaf, and frond.
1307. The root is that part of the plant by which it attaches itself to the soil in which it grows, or to the
substance on which it feeds, and is the principal organ of nutrition.
1308. The trunk is that part of the plant which, springing immediately from the root, ascends in a ver-
tical position above the surface of the soil, and constitutes the principal bulk of the individual.
1309. The branches are the divisions of the trimk, originating generally in the upper extremity, but
often also along the sides.
1310. The leaf, which is a temporary part of the plant, is a thin and flat substance of a green colour,
issuing generally from numerous points towards the extremities of the branches, but sometimes also imme-
diately from the stem or root, and distinguishable by the sight or touch into an upper and under surface,
a base and apex, with a midrib and lateral veins or nerves.
1311. The frond, which is to be regarded as a compound of several of the parts already described, con-
sists of a union or incorporation of the leaf, leaf-stalk, and branch or stem, forming, as it were, but one
organ, of which the constituent parts do not separate spontaneously from one another by means of the
fracture of any natural joint, as in the case of plants in general, but adhere together even in their decay.
It is found in palms and ferns.
1312. The conservative appendages are such accessory or supernumerary parts as are
found to accompany the conservative organs occasionally, but not invariably. They are
permanent in whatever species they are found to exist, some being peculiar to one
species, and some to another ; but they are never found to be all united in the same
species, and are not necessarily included in the general idea of the plant. They are de-
nominated gems, glands, tendrils, stipulse, ramenta, armature, pubescence, and anomalies.
Book I.
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PLANTS.
211
1313. Gems or bulbs are organised substances issuing from the surface of the plant, and containing the
rudiments of new and additional parts which they protrude ; or the rudiments of new individuals, which
they constitute by detaching themselves ultimately from the parent plant, and fixing themselves in the
soil.
1314. Glands are small and minute substances of various forms, found chiefly on the surface of the
leaf and petiole, but often also on the other parts of the plant, and supposed to be the organs of secretion.
1315. The tendril is a thread-shaped and generally spiral process issuing from the stem, branch, or
petiole, and sometimes even from the expansion of the leaf itself, being an organ by which plants of
weak and climbing stems attach themselves to other plants or other substances for support ; for which
purpose it seems to be well fitted by nature, the tendril being much stronger than a branch of the same
size.
1316. The stipulcB are small foliaceous appendages accompanying the real leaves, and assuming the
appearance of leaves in miniature.
1317. Ramenta are thin, oblong, and strap-shaped appendages, of a brownish colour, issuing from the sur-
face of the plant, and somewhat resembling the stipulas, but not necessarily accompanying the leaves.
1318. The armature consists of such accessory and auxiliary parts as seem to have been intended by
nature to defend the plant against the attacks of animals.
1319. The pubescence is a general term, including under it all sorts of vegetable down or hairiness, with
which the surface of the plant may be covered, finer or less formidable than the armature.
1320. Anomalies.Theie , .
are several other appen-
dages proper to conser-
vative organs, which are
so totally different from
all the foregoing, that
they cannot be classed
with any of them ; and
so very circumscribed in
their occurrence, that
they do not yet seem to "^S^Mi^ Hilllllllll Sf/f/JIM/H Vl.MW.WM C
have been designated by
any peculiar appellation.
The first anomaly, affect-
ing the conservative ap-
pendages, occurs in Dio-
nseV muscipula, Venus's
fly-trap. ( fig. 178. a) A
second is that which oc-
curs in Sarrac^nia pur-
ptirea or purple side-sad-
dle-flower {b). A third, which is still more singular, occurs in iViepdnthes distillatftria (c). The last anomaly
is a small globular and membranaceous bag, attached as an appendage to the roots and leaves of some of
the aquatics. It is confined to a few genera, but it is to be seen in great abundance on the roots or
leaves of the several species of Utricul^ria inhabiting the ponds and ditches of this country j and on the
leaves of Aldrovanda vesiculosa, an inhabitant of the marshes of Italy. In Utriculkria vulgaris this
appendage is pear-shaped, compressed, with an open border at the small end, furnished with several
slender fibres originating in the margin, and containing a transparent and watery fluid and a small bubble
of air, by means of which it seems to acquire a buoyancy that suspends it in the water.
1321. The reproductive organs are such parts of the plant as are essential to its propaga-
tion, whose object is the reproduction of the species, terminating the old individual, and
beginning the new. It includes the flower, with its immediate accompaniments or
peculiarities, the flower-stalk, receptacle, and inflorescence, together with the ovary or
fruit.
1322. The flower, like the leaf, is a temporary part of the plant, issuing generally from the extremity of
the branches, but sometimes also from the root, stem, and even leaf, being the apparatus destined by
nature for the production of the fruit, and being also distinguishable, for the most part, by the brilliancy
of its colouring or the sweetness of its smell.
1323. T/ic flower-stalk is a partial trunk or stem, supporting one or more flowers, if the flowers are not
sessile, and issuing from the root, stem, branch, or petiole, and sometimes even from the leaf
1324. The receptacle is the seat of the flower, and point of union between the diflTerent parts of the flower,
or between the flower and the plant, whether immediate and sessile, or mediate and supported upon a
flower-stalk.
1325. The inflorescence, mode of flowering, is the peculiar mode of aggregation in which flowers are
arranged or distributed upon the plant.
1326. The fruit is the ripened ovary, or seed-vessel which succeeds the flower. In popular language the
term is confined chiefly to such fruits as are esculent, as the apple, the peach, and the cherry ; but with
the botanist the matured ovary of every flower, with the parts contained, constitutes the fruit.
1327. Appendages. The reproductive organs, like the conservative organs, are often
found to be furnished with various additional and supernumerary parts, not at all essential
to their constitution, because not always present, and hence denominated appendages.
Many of them are precisely of the same character with that of the conservative appen-
dages, except that they are of a finer and more delicate texture ; such are the glands,
down, pubescence, hairs, thorns, or prickles, with one or other of which the parts of the
fructification are occasionally furnished : but others are altogether peculiar to the repro-
ductive organs, and are to be regarded as constituting, in the strict acceptation of the
term, true reproductive appendagfes. Some of them are found to be proper to the flower,
as the involucre, spathe, bractea, &c. ; and others to the fruit, as the persisting calyx,
exemplified in the pomegranate.
Sect. IL Of the External Structure of Imperfect Plants.
1328. Plants apparently defective in one or other of the more conspicuous parts or
organs, whether conservative or reproductive, are denominated imperfect. The most
P 2
212
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
generally adopted division of imperfect plants is that by which they are distributed into
i^ilices, J5Jquisetaceae, Lycopodineae, il/usci, Hepatica;, ^Igae, iichenes, and i^ungi.
1329. The Fih'ces, 'Equfsetciceo!, and Ijycopodinece are for the tnost part herbaceous, and die down to the
ground in the winter ; but they are furnished with a perennial root, from which there annually issues a
frond bearing the fructification. The favourite habitations of many of them are heaths and uncultivated
grounds, where they are found intermixed with furze and brambles ; but the habitations of such as are
the most luxuriant in their growth are moist and fertile spots, in shady and retired situations, as on
mossy dripping rocks, or by fountains and rills of water. Some of them will thrive even on the dry and
barren rock, or in the chinks and fissures of walls ; and others only in wet and marshy situations where
they are half immersed in water.
1330. The Mdsci {Jig. 179. a b) form a tribe of imperfect plants of a diminutive size, often consisting
merely of a root, surmounted with a tuft of minute leaves, from the centre of which the fructification
springs ; but furnished for the most part with a stem and branches, on which the leaves are closely imbri-
cated, and the fructification terminal or lateral. They are perennials and herbaceous, approaching to
shrubby ; or annuals, though rarely so, and wholly herbaceous, the perennials being also evergreens.
1331. The Hepdtiae (fig. 179. c) form a tribe of small herbaceous plants resembling the mosses, but
chiefly with frondose herbage, and producing their fruit in a capsule that splits into longitudinal valves.
In their habitations, they affect for the most part the same sort of situations as the mosses, being found
chiefly in wet and shady spots, by the sides of springs and ditches, on the shelving brinks of rivulets,
or on the trunks of trees. Like the mosses, they thrive best also in cold and damp weather, and recover
their verdure thoigh dried, if moistened again with water.
1332. The K'lgce, or sea-weeds, include not merely marine and many other submersed plants, but also a
great variety of plants that are not even aquatics. All the ^'Igse agree in the common character of having
their herbage frondose, or but rarely admitting of the distinction of root, stem, and leaf.
1333. The xdility of the hUgcB is obviously very considerable, whether we regard them as
furnishing an article of animal food, or as appli-
cable to medicine and the arts. The Laminaria
saccharina (^g. 1 80 a), Halym^nia palmata(6) and
edulis (c), and several other Puci, are eaten, and
much relished by many people, whether raw or
dressed J and it is likely that some of them are fed
upon by various species of fish. The i^'ucus Zi-
chenoides {Turner, c. 118.) is now believed to be
the chief material of the edible nests of the East
India swallows, which are so much esteemed for
soups, that they sell in China for their weight in
silver, (Jor. Mag., vol. xx.) When disengaged
from their place of growth and thrown upon the
sea-shore, the European A'lgse are often collected
by the farmer and used as manure. They are
also often employed in the preparation of dyes,
as well as in the lucrative manufacture of kelp, a
commodity of the most indispensable utility in
the important arts of making soap and glass.
1 334. The utility of the Lichenes is also worthy of notice. The Ziehen rangifennus forms
the principal nourishment of the reindeer during the cold months of winter, when all
other herbage fails. The Lichen isldndicus is eaten by the Icelanders instead of bread,
ol- used in the preparation of broths ; and, like the Ziehen pulmonarius, has been lately
found to be beneficial in consumptive affections. Many of them are also employed in
the preAration of some of our finest dyes or pigments ; and it is from the Lecanora parel-
la that 1^ chemical analyst obtains his litmus. The lichens and the mosses seem in-
stituted by nature to provide for the universal diffusion of vegetable life over the whole
surface of the terrestrial globe. The powdery and tuberculous lichens attach themselves
even to the bare and solid rock. Having reached the maturity of their species, they die
and are converted into a fine earth, wliich forms a soil for the leathery lichens. These
again decay and moulder into dust in their turn ; and the depth of soil, which is thus
augmented, is now capable of nourishing and supporting other tribes of vegetables. The
seeds of the mosses lodge in it, and spring up into plants, augmenting also by their decay
the quantity of soil, and preparing it for the support of plants of a more luxuriant growth,
Book I.
INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PLANTS.
21 ;3
so that, in the revolution of ages, even the surface of the barren rock is covered with a soil
capable of supporting the loftiest trees.
1335. The 'Fungiform a tribe of plants whose herbage is a frond of a fleshy or pulpy texture, quick in its
growth and fugacious in its duration, and
bearing seeds or gems in an appropriate
and exposed membrane, or containing them
interspersed throughout its mass. This
assemblage of plants may be regarded
as the lowest in the vegetable scale, ex-
hibiting a considerable resemblaxice to
the tribe of zoophites, and thus forming
the connecting link between the vegetable
and animal kingdoms. The habitations
they affect are very various, many of them
vegetating on the surface of the earth
(^i,'. 181. a), and some of them even buried
under it ; others on stumps and trunks of
rotten trees (6) ; others on decayed fruit ;
oth:^'rs on damp and wet walls ; and others
on animal ordure.
1336. Uses of the Fungi. The pow-
der of the lycoperdons is said to be
an excellent styptic ; and is remarkable also for its property of strongly repelling moisture.
If a basin be filled with water, and a little of the powder strewed upon the surface so as to
cover it only, the hand may be plunged into it and thrust down to the bottom without
being wetted with a single drop of water. Several of the boleti, when dried, afford
a very useful tinder ; and several of the agarics and tubers are used as articles of food,
or as ingredients in the preparation of seasoning. The truffle is much esteemed for the
rich and delicate flavour which it imparts to soups and sauces ; and the mushroom and
morel for their esculent property, and their utility in the preparation of catsup.
Sect. III. Of the Internal Structure of Plants.
1337. The organs of plants discoverable by external examination are themselves reducible
into component organs, which are again resolvable into constituent and primary organs.
These are called the decomposite, the composite, and the elementary.
SuBSECT. 1. Decomposite Organs.
1338. The decomposite organs are distinguishable on external examination, and con-
stitute the vegetable individual ; to the dissection of which we will now proceed, in
the order of the seed, pericarp, flower, leaf, gem, and caudex, with their decomposite
appendages.
1339. The seed. The mass of the seed consists of two principal parts, distinguishable without much diffi-
culty ; namely, the mteguments and nucleus, or embryo and its envelopes.
1340. The integuments proper to the seed are two in number, an exterior integument and an interior
integument.
1341. 7%e exterior integument, or testa, is the original cuticle of the nucleus, not detachable in the early
stages of its growth, but detachable at the period of the maturity of the fruit, when it is generally of a
membranaceous or leathery texture ; though sometimes soft and fleshy, and sometimes crustaceous and
bony. It may be very easily distinguished in the transverse or longitudinal section of the garden bean or
any other large seed.
1342. The interior integument, or membrana, lines the exterior integument, or testa, and immediately
envelopes the nucleus. Like the testa, to which indeed it adheres, it may be easily distinguished in the
garden bear {fig. 182.), or in a ripe walnut ; in which latter it is a fine transparent and netUke membrane.
1343. The nucleus is that part of the seed which is
contained within the proper integuments, consisting
of the albumen with the vitellus, when present, and
embryo.
1344. The albumen is an organ resembling in its
consistence the white of an egg, and forming, in most
cases, the exterior portion of the nucleus, but always
separable from the interior or remaining portion.
1345. The vitellus is an organ of a fleshy but firm
contexture, situated, when present, between the al-
bumen and embryo; to the former of which it is
attached only by adhesion, but to the latter by incor-
poration of substance, so as to be inseparable from it,
except by force.
1346. The embryo, which is the last and^flt essen-
tial part of the seed, and the final object <MSne fructi-
fication, as being the germ of the future plant, is a small and often very minute organ, enclosed within the
albumen and occupying the centre of the seed.
1347. The cotyledon, or seed-lobe (6), is that portion of the embryo that encloses and protects the plant-
let, and springs up during the process of germination into what is usually denominated the seminal leaf,
if the lobe is solitary; or seminal leaves, if there are more lobes than one. In the former case the seed
is said to be monocotyledonous ; in the latter case, it is said to be dicotyledonous. Dicotyledonous
seeds, which constitute by far the majority, are well exemplified in the garden bean. As there are
some seeds whose cotyledon consists of one lobe only, falling short of the general number, so there are
also a few whose cotyledon is divisible into several lobes, exceeding the general number. These have been
denominated polycotyledonous seeds, and are exemplified in the case of Zepidium sativum or common
farden cress, in which the lobes are six in number ; as in that also of the different species of the genus
'inus, in which they vary from three to twelve.
P 3
214
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
1348. The plumule (a), the future plant in miniature, is the interior and essential portion of the embryo,
and seat of vegetable life. In some seeds it is so minute as to be scarcely perceptibly ; while in others it
is so large as to be divisible into distinct parts, as in the garden bean.
1349. TAe pericarp, which in different sjjecies of fruit assumes so many varieties of contexture, acquires
its several aspects, not so miich from a diversity of substance as of modification.
1350. The valves nf the capsule, but particularly the partitions by which it is divided into cells, are com-
posed of a thin and skinny membrane, or of an epidermis covering a pulp more or less indurated, and
interspersed with longitudinal fibres. The capsule of the mosses is composed of a double and netlike
membrane, enclosed within a fine epidermis.
1331. The potne is composed of a fine but double epidermis, or, according to Knight, of two skins, enclos-
ing a soft and fleshy pulp, with bundles of longitudinal fibres passing through it, contiguous to, and in the
direction of, its longitudinal axis.
1352. The valves qf the legume are composed of an epidermis enclosing a firm but fleshy pulp lined for
the most part with a skinny membrane, and of bundles of longitudinal fibres forming the seam.
1353. Tlie nutshell, whether hard and bony, or flexible and leathery, is composed of a pulp more or less
highly indurated, intersi>ersed with longitudinal fibres, and covered with an epidermis.
1354. The drupe is composed of an epidermis enclosing a fleshy pulp, which is sometimes so interwoven
with a multiplicity of longitudinal fibres as to seem to consist wholly of threads, as in the cocoa-nut.
1355. The berry is composed of a very fine epidermis enclosing a soft and juicy pulp.
1356. The scales of the strobile are composed of a tough and leathery epidermis, enclosing a spongy but
often highly indurated pulp interspersed with longitudinal fibres that pervade also the axis.
1357. The flower-stalk, or peduncle supporting the flov/er, which is a prolongation of the stem or branch,
or rather a partial stem attached to it, if carefully dissected with the assistance of a good glass, will be
found to consist of the following parts : — 1st, An epidermis, or external envelope ; 2dly, A paren-
chyma, or soft and pulpy mass ; 3dly, Bundles of longitudinal threads or fibres, originating in the stem or
branch, and passing throughout the whole extent of the parenchyma. The several organs of the flower
are merely prolongations of the component parts of the flower-stalk, though each organ does not always
contain the whole of such component parts, or at least not under the same modifications. The epidermis,
however, and parenchyma are common to them all ; but the longitudinal threads or fibres are seldom, if
ever, to be found, except in the calyx or corolla.
1358. The leafstalk, or petiole supporting the leaf, which is a prolongation of the branch or stem, or
rather a partial stem attached to it, exhibits upon dissection the same sort of structure as the peduncle,
namely, an epidermis, a pulp or parenchyma, and bundles of longitudinal threads or fibres.
1359. Gems. There exist among the different tribes of vegetables four distinct species of gems, two
peculiar to perfect plants, the bud and bulb, and two peculiar to imperfect plants, the propago and gongylus;
the latter being denominated simple gems, because furnished %vith a single envelope only ; and the former
being denominated compound gems, because furnished with more than a single envelope.
1360. Duds are composed externally of a number of spoon-
shaped scales, overlapping one another and converging towards
a point in the apex, and oiften cemented together by means of a
glutinous or mucilaginous substance exuding from their sur-
face. If these scales are stripped off and dissected under the mi-
croscope, they will be found to consist, like the leaves or divi-
liions of the calyx, of an epidermis enclosing a pulp interspersed
with a network of fibres, but unaccompanietl with longitudinal
threads. If the scales of a leaf-bud are taken and stripped off",
and the remaining part carefully opened up, it will be found to
consist cff the rudiments of a young branch terminated by a
bunch of incipient leaves embedded in a white and cottony
down, being minute but complete in all their parts and pro-
portions, and folded or rolled up in the bud in a peculiar and
determinate manner.
1361. Btilbt, which are either radical or caulinary, exhibit in
their external structure, or in a part of their internal structure
that is easily detected, several distinct varieties, some being
solid, some coated, and some scaly ; but all protruding in the
process of vegeUtion the stem, leaf, and flower, peculiar to
their species.
1362. The propajjo, which is a simple pern, peculiar to some
genera of imperfect plants, and exeir.plified by Gaertner in
the lichens, consists of a small and pulpy mass forming a gra-
nule of no regular shape, sometimes naked, and sometimes
covered with an envelope, which is a fine epidermis.
1363. The gonexjlus, which is also a simple gem peculiar to
some genera of n'nperfect plants, and exemplified by Gaertner
in the fuci, consists of a slightly Indurated pulp moulded into a
small and globular granule of a firm and solid contexture, and
invested with an epidermis.
183
1364. The caudex includes the whole mass or body both of the trunk and
root ; its internal structure, like its external aspect or habit, is materially dif-
ferent in diflferent tribes of plants.
1365. The first general mode of the internal structure of the caudex is that in
which an epidermis encloses merely a homogeneous mass of pulp or slender
fibre. This is the simplest mode of internal structure existing among vege-
tables : it is exemplified in the lower orders of imperfect plants, particularly
the A'xgve and JPiingi.
1366. The second general mode of internal structure of the eavdex is that in
which an epidermis encloses two or more substances, or assemblages of sub-
stances, totally heterogeneous in their character. A very common variety of
this mode is that in which an epidermis or bark encloses a soft and pulpy mass,
interspersed with a number of longitudinal nerves or fibres, or bundles of
fibres, extending from the base to the apex, and disposed in a peculiarity of
2g,i manner characteristic of a tribe or genus. This mode prevails chiefly in herbaceous
and annual or biennial plants, {fig. 183.) A second variety of this mode is that in
which a strong and often thick bark encloses a circular layer of longitudinal fibres, or
several such circular and concentric layers, interwoven with thin transverse and diver-
gent layers of pulp, so as to form z.firm and compact cylinder, in the centre of which is
lodged a pulp or pith. This mode is best exemplified in trees and shrubs {fig. 184.),
though it is also applicable to many plants whose texture is chiefly or almost wholly
herbaceous, forming as it were the connecting link between such plants as are purely
herbaceous on the one hand, and such as are purely woody on the other In the latter
case the wood is perfect ; in the former case it is imperfect. The wood being imper-
fect in the root of the beet, the common bramble, and burdock ; and perfect in the oak
or alder.
1367. The appendages of the plant, whether conservative or reproductive, exhibit
nothing in their internal structure that is at all essentially different from that of the
organs that have been already described.
SuBSECT. 2. Composite Organs.
1368. The composite organs are the epidermis, pulp, pith, cortical layers, ligneous
layers, and vegetable fibre, which may be further analysed, as being still compound, with
a view to reach the ultimate and elementary organs of the vegetable subject.
1369. Structure of the vegetable epidermis. The epidermis of the vegetable, which, from its resemblance
to that of the animal, has been designated by the same name, is the external envelope or integument of
the plant, extending over the whole surface, and covering the root, stem, branches, leaves, flower, and
fruit, with their appendages ; the summit of the pistil only excepted. But although it is extended over
the whole surface of the plant, it is not of equal consistence throughout. In the root and trunk it is a
Book I.
INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PLANTS.
215
tough and leathery membrane, or it is a crust of considerable thickness, forming a notable portion of the
bark, and assuming some peculiar shade of colour ; while in the leaves, flowers, and tender shoots, it is a
fine, colourless, and transparent film, when detached ; and when adherent, it is always tinged with some
peculiar shade, which it borrows from the parts immediately beneath it.
1370. The pulp is a soft and juicy substance, constituting the principal mass of succulent plants, and a
notable proportion of many parts even of woody plants. It constitutes the principal mass of many
of the Fungi and Finci, and of herbaceous plants in general. Mirbel compares it to clusters of small
hexagonal cells or bladders, containing for the most part a coloured juice, and formed apparently of the
foldings and doublings of a fine and delicate membrane, in which no traces of organisation are to be
distinguished. 185
1371. The pith is a soft and spongy, but often succulent, substance, occupying the
centre of the root, stem, and branches, and extending in the direction of their longitu- ^
dinal axis, in which it is enclosed as in a tube. The structure of the pith is precisely |
similar to that of the pulp, being composed of an assemblage of hexagonal cells con-
taining a watery and colourless juice, or of cellular tissue and a parenchyma.
1372. The cortical layers, or interior and concentric layers, constituting the mass of
the bark, are situated immediately under the cellular integument, where such integu-
ment exists, and where not, immediately under the epidermis ; or they are themselves
external. They are distinguishable chiefly in the bark of woody plants, but particularly
in that of the lime tree. They are composed of two elementary parts; bundles of
longitudinal fibres constituting a network (fig. 185.), and a mass of pulp more or less
indurated filling up the meshes. The innermost of the layers is denominated the
liber, and was used by the ancients to write on before the invention of paper. It is
the finest and most delicate of them all, and often most beautifully reticulated
{fig. 186. a) and varied by bundles of longitudinal fibre ib). But the liber of Diphne Lag6tto is remarkable
186
bah
beyond that of all other plants for the beauty and delicacy of its network,
which is not inferior to that of the finest lace, and at the same time so very
soft and flexible that, in countries of which the tree is a native, the lace of the
libor is often made to supply the place of a neckcloth. If the cortical layers
are injured or destroyed by accident, the part destroyed is again regenerated,
and the wound healed up without a scar ; but if the wound penetrates beyond
the liber, the part destroyed is no longer regenerated. Or if a tree is bent so as
to break part of the cortical fibres, and then propped up in its former position,
the fractured fibres will again unite. Or if a portion of the stem is entirely
decorticated and covered with a piece of bark, even from another tree, the two
different barks will unite. Hence the practicability of ascertaining how far
the liber extends ; and hence also the origin of grafting, which is always
effected by a union of the liber of the graft and stock.
1373. The ligneous layers, or layers constituting the wood, occupy the
intermediate portion of the stem between the bark and pith ; and are
distinguishable into two sorts, concentric layers and divergent layers.
{fig. 185.)
1374. The concentric layers, which constitute by far the greater part of the
mass of the wood, are sufficiently conspicuous for the purpose of exemplifica-
tion on the surface of a horizontal section of most trunks or branches, as on that of the oak and elm.
But though they are generally described as being concentric, they are not always strictly so. For they are
often found to extend more on the one side of the axis of the stem or branch, than on the other. Some
authors say the excess is on the north side, but others say it is on the south side. The former account
for it by telling us it is because the north side is sheltered from the sun ; and the latter by telling us it is
because the south side is sheltered from the cold ; and thus from the operation of contrary causes alleging
the same effect, which has been also thought to be sufficiently striking and uniform to serve as a sort of
compass, by which the bewildered traveller might safely steer his course, even in the recesses of the most
extensive forest. But Du Hamel has exposed the futility of this notion, by showing that the excess is
sometimes on the one side of the axis, and sometimes on the other, according to the accidental situation
of the great roots and branches ; a thick root or branch producing a proportionably thick layer of wood on
the side of the stem from which it issues. The layers are indeed sometimes more in number on the one
side than on the other, as well as thicker ; but this is the exception, and not the rule. They are thickest,
however, on the side on which they are fewest, though not of the same thickness throughout. Du
Hamel, after counting twenty layers on the one side of the transverse section of the trunk of an oak,
found only fourteen on the other ; but the fourteen exceeded the twenty in thickness by one fourth
part. But the layers thus discoverable on the horizontal section of the trunk are not at ail of an equal
consistence throughout, there being an evident diminution in their degree of solidity from the centre,
where they are hardest, to the circumference, where they are softest. The outermost layer, which is the
softest of all, is denominated the alburnum, perhaps from its being of a brighter white than any of the
other layers, either of wood or bark ; by which character, as well as by its softer texture, it is also
easily distinguished. It does not acquire its utmost degree of solidity till after a number of years ; but if
a tree is barked a year before it is cut down, then the alburnum is converted into wood in the course of
that year.
1375. The divergent layers, which intersect the concentric layers in a transverse direction, constitute also
a considerable proportion of the wood, as may be seen in a horizontal section of the fir or birch, or of
almost any woody plant, on the surface of which they present an appearance like that of the radii of a
circle.
1376. The structure of the concentric layers will be found to consist of several smaller and component
layers, which are themselves composed of layers smaller still, till at last they are incapable of farther
division. The concentric layers are composed of longitudinal fibres, generally forming a network ; and
the divergent layers, of parallel threads or fibres of cellular tissue, extending in a transverse direction,
and fining up the interstices of the network.
1377. The structure of the stem, in plants that are purely herbaceous, and in the herbaceous parts of woody
plants, is distinguished by a number of notable and often insulated fibres passing longitudinally throughout
its whole extent, as in the stipe of Aspidium Fllix-mas or in the leaf-stalk of the alder. These fibres,
when viewed superficially, appear to be merely individuals, but when inspected minutely, and under
the microscope, they prove to be groups or bundles of fibres smaller and minuter still, firmly cemented
together, and forming in the aggregate a strong and elastic thread, but capable of being split into a
number of component fibres, till at last you can divide them no longer. If the fibres of the bark are
separated by the destruction of a part, the part is again regenerated, and the fibres are again united,
without leaving behind them any traces of a wound : but, if the fibres of the wood are separated by the
destruction of a part, the part is never regenerated, and the fibres are never united.
SuBSECT. 3. EleTnentary, or Vascular, Organs.
1378. Fibre, cellular tissue with or without parenchyma, and reti tdated viembrane are
the ultimate and elementary organs of which the whole mass of the plant is composed.
P 4
216 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
If it be asked of what are the elementary organs themselves composed, tlie reply is, they
are composed, as it appears from the same analysis, of a fine, colourless, and transparent
membrane, in which the eye, aided by the assistance even of the best glasses, can discover
no traces whatever of organisation ; which membrane we must also regard as constituting
the ultimate and fundamental fabric of the elementary organs themselves, and, by conse-
quence, of the whole of the vegetable body. It has been asked by some phytologists
whether or not plants are furnished with vessels analogous to the blood-vessels of the
animal system. But if it be admitted that plants contain fluids in motion, which cannot
possibly be denied, it will follow, as an unavoidable consequence, that they are furnished
with vessels conducting or containing such fluids. If the stem of a plant of marigold is
divided by means of a transverse section, the divided extremities of the longitudinal fibres,
arranged in a circular row immediately within the bark, will be distinctly perceived, and
their tubular structure demonstrated by means of the orifices which they present, particu-
larly when the stem has begun to wither. Regarding it, therefore, as certain, that plants
are furnished with longitudinal tubes, as well as with cells or utricles for the purpose of
conveying or containing their alimentaiy juices, we proceed to the specific illustration of
both, together with their peculiarities and appendages.
1379. The utricles are the fine and membranous vessels constituting tlie cellular tissue of the pith and
pulp already described, whether of the plant, flower, or fruit. Individually they resemble oblong bladders
inflated in the middle, as in the case of some plants ; or circular or hexagonal cells, as in the case of
others. Collectively they have been compared to an assemblage of threads of contiguous bladders, or
vesicles, or to the bubbles that are found on the surface of liquor in a state of fermentation.
1380. The tubes are the vessels formed by the cavities of the longitudinal fibres, whether as occurring in
the stem of herbaceous plants, or in the foot-stalk of the leaf and flower, or in the composition of
the cortical and ligneous layers, or by longitudinal openings pervading the pulp itself, as in the case of
the vine.
1381. The larcc tiihes are tubes distinguishable by by being twisted from right to left, or from left to
the superior width of the diameter which they present 187 right, in the form of a corkscrew. They occur in
on the horizontal section of the several parts of the ..«««^ifi6w. most abundance in herbaceous plants, particularly
plant. Jm^SSKS^ in aquatics.
1382. Simple tubes (,f!g. 187.) are the larpest of all |ffflj1rt1[l|n| 1385. False spiral lubes aretubes apparently spiral
large tubes, and are formed of a thin and entire mem- till ifllt 'I °^ ^ slight inspection, but which, upon minute
brane, without any perceptible disruption of con- lljt illfillRl examination, are found to derive their appearance
tinuity. They are found chiefly in the bark, though iilUl lltil merely from their being cut transversely by parallel
not confined to it, as they are to be met with also in Ulllltiiltn fissures.
Uie alburnum and matured wood, as well as in the E|lif||||iFl l^'^^. Mixed tubes are tubes combining in one in-
fibres of herbaceous plants. Ulltliltllia dividual two or more of the foregoing varieties.
1383. Porou»<uAfi resemble the simple tubes in their llllfiill 'H Mirbel exemplifies them in the case of the Biitomus
general aspect ; but differ from them in being pierced liililipn r'n umbellktus, in which the porous tubes, spiral tubes,
with small holes or pores, which are often ilistributed I i(il!|l( I m ^"d false spiral tubes, are often to be met with united
In regular and parallel rows. They are found in BiMlliftIi in one.
most abundance in woody plants, and particularly in I li||| |||i| 1387. The small lubes are tubes composed of a suc-
•wood that is firm and compact, like that of the oak ; I ll|||lfll cession of elongated cells united, like those of the
but they do not, like the simple tubes, seem destined I fllll f I ffi cellular tissue. Individually they may be compared
to contain any oily or resinous juice. ( j|||| j || j I |i to the stem of the grasses, which is formed of several
1384. Spiral tidies are fine, transparent, and thread- ^i|fll|tJJ''^ internodia, separated by transverse diaphragms; and
like substances occasionally interspersed with the -**Vi*>^ collectively to a united assemblage of parallel and
other tubes of the plant, but distinguished from them collateral reeds.
' 1388. Pores are small and minute openings of various shapes and dimensions, that seem to be destined
to the absorption, transmission, or exaltation of fluids. They are distinguishable into perceptible pores
and imperceptible pores.
1389. Gaps, according to Mirbel, are empty, but often regular and symmetrical, spaces formed in the
interior of the plant by means of a partial disruption of the membrane constitutmg the tubes or utricles.
In the leaves of herbaceous plants the gaps are often interrupted by transverse diaphragms formed of a
portion of the cellular tissue which still remains entire, as may be seen in the transparent structure of the
leaves of TYpha and many other plants. Transverse gaps are said to be observable also in the bark of some
plants, though very rarely.
1390. There are variotis appendages connected with the elementary organs, such as internal glands,
internal pubescence, &c. : the latter occurs in dissecting the leaf or flowcr-stalk of JViiphar IMea.
Chap. III.
Vegetable Chemistry, or Primary Principles of Plants.
1391. ^s plants are not merely organised beings, but beings endowed with a species of
life, absorbing nourishment from the soil in which they grow, and assimilating it to their
own substance by means of the functions and operations of their different organs, it is
plain that no progress can be made in the explication of the phenomena of vegetable life,
and no distinct conception formed of the rationale of vegetation, without some specific
knowledge of the primary principles of vegetables, and of their mutual action upon one
another. The latter requisite presupposes a competent acquaintance vdth the elements
of chemistiy ; and the former points out the necessity of a strict and scrupulous analysis
of the several compound ingredients constituting the fabric of the plant, or contained
within it. If the object of the experimenter is merely that of extracting such compound
ingredients as may be known to exist in the plant, the necessary apparatus is simple,
and the process easy : but if it be that of ascertaining the primary and radical principles
of which the compound ingredients are themselves composed, the apparatus is then
complicated, and the process extremely diflScult, requiring much time and laboiu", and
Book I. VEGETABLE CHEMISTRY. 217
much previous practice in analytical research. But whatever may be the object of
analysis, or the particular view of the experimenter, the processes which he employs are
either mechanical or chemical.
1392. The mechanical processes are such as are effected by the agency of mechanical powers, and are
often indeed the operation of natural causes ; hence the origin of gums and other spontaneous exudations.
But the substances thus obtained do not always flow sufficiently fast to satisfy the wants or necessities of
man ; and men have consequently contrived to accelerate the operations of nature by means of artificial
aid in the application of the wimble or axe, widening the passages which the extravasated fluid has
forced, or opening up new ones. It more frequently happens, however, that the process employed is
wholly artificial, and altogether effected without the operation of natural causes. When the juices are
enclosed in vesicles lodged in parts that are isolated or may easily be isolated, the vesicles may be opened
by means of rasps or graters, and the juices expressed by the hand, or by some other fit instrument.
Thus the volatile oil may be obtained that is lodged in the rind of the lemon. When the substance to be
extracted lies more deeply concealed in the plant, or in parts which cannot be easily detached from the
rest, it may then become necessary to pound or bruise the whole or a great part of the plant, and to
subiect it, thus modified, to the action of the press. In this manner seeds are sometimes treated to
express their essential oils. If, by the action of bruising or pressing, heterogeneous ingredients have
been mixed together, they may generally be separated with considerable accuracy by means of decant-
ation, when the substances held in suspension have been precipitated. Thus the acid of lemons,
oranges, gooseberries, and other fruits, may be obtained in considerable purity, when the mucilage
that was mixed with them has subsided.
1393. The chemical processes are such as are effected by the agency of chemical powers, and may be
reduced to the following : distillation, combustion, ti.e action of water, the action of acids and alkalies,
the action of oils and alcohols, and lastly fermentation. They are much more intricate in their nature
than the mechanical processes, as well as more difficult in their application,
■ 1394. Of the products of vegetable analysis, as obtained by the foregoing processes, some consist of several
heterogeneous substances, and are consequently compound, as being capable of farther decomposition ;
and some consist of one individual substance only, and are consequently simple, as being incapable of
further decomposition.
Sect. I. Compo^ind Products.
1395. The compound products of anali/sis are very numerous in themselves, and much
diversified in their qualities. They are gum, sugar, starch, gluten, albumen, fibrinc,
extract, tannin, colouring matter, bitter princij)le, narcotic principle, acids, oils, wax,
resins, gum resins, balsams, camphor, caoutchouc, cork, woody fibre, sap, proper juice,
charcoal, ashes, alkalies, earths, and metallic oxides-.
1396. Gum is an exudation that issues spontaneously from the surface of a variety of plants, in the
state of a clear, viscid, and tasteless fluid, that gradually haniens upon being exposed to the action of
the atmosphere, and condenses into a solid mass. It issues copiously from many fruit trees, but especially
from such as produce stone-fruit, as plum and cherry trees. From plants or parts of plants containing
it, but not discharging it by spontaneous exudation, it may be obtained by the process of maceration in
water.
1397. The uses of gum are considerable. In all its varieties it is capable of being used as an article of
food, and is highly nutritive, though not very palatable. It is also employed in the arts, particularly in
calico-printing, in which the printer makes choice of it to give consistence to his colours, and to prevent
them from spreading. The botanist often uses it to fix his specimens upon paper, for which purpose it is
very well adapted. It forms likewise an ingredient in ink ; and in medicine it forms the basis of many
mixtures, in which its influence is sedative and emollient.
1398. Sugar is the produce of the Saccharum officinarum. The canes or stems of the plant, when ripe,
are bruised between the rollers of a mill, and the expressed juice is collected and put into large boilers, in
which it is mixed with a small quantity of quicklime, or strong ley of ashes, to neutralise its acid, and is
then made to boil ; the scum, which gathers on the top during the process of boiling, being carefully cleared
away. When the juice has been boiled down to the consistence of a syrup, it is drawn off and allowed to
cool in vessels which are placed above a cistern, and are perforated with small holes through which the
impure and liquid part, known by the name of molasses, escapes ; while the remaining part is converted
into a mass of small and hard granules of a brownish or whitish colour, known by the designation of raw
sugar, which when imported into Europe is further purified by an additional process, and converted by
filtration or crystellisation into what is called loaf sugar, refined sugar, or candied sugar. The juice of
the A^ccr sacchar'inum, or American maple, yields sugar in such considerable abundance as to make it an
object with the North American farmer to manufacture it for his own use. A hole is bored in the trunk
of the vegetating tree early in the spring, for the purpose of extracting the sap ; of which a tree of ordi-
nary size, that is, of from two to three feet in diameter, will yield from one hundred and fifty to two
hundred pints and upwards, in a good season. The sap, when thus obtained and neutralised by lime,
deposits, by evaporation, crystals of sugar in the proportion of about a pound of sugar to forty pints of
eap. It is not materially different in its properties from that of the sugar-cane. The juice of the grape,
when ripe, yields also a sugar by evaporation and the action of potashes, which is known by the appel-
lation of the sugar of grapes, and has lately been employed in France as a substitute for colonial sugar,
though it is not so sweet or agreeable to the taste. The root of .B^ta vulgaris, or common beet, yields
also, by boiling and evaporation, a sugar which is distinguished by a peculiar and slightly bitter taste,
owing perhaps to the presence of a bitter extractive matter which has been found to be one of the con-
stituents of the beet. Sugar has been extracted from the following vegetables also, or from their produc-
tions ■ from the sap of the birch, sycamore, bamboo, maize, parsnep, cow-parsnep, American aloe, dulse,
walnut tree, and cocoa-nut tree ; from the fruit of the common arbutus, and other sweet-tasted fruits ;
from the roots of the turnip, carrot, and parsley ; from the flower of the Euxine rhododendron ; and from
the nectary of most other flowers.
1399. The utility qf sugar, as an aliment, is well known ; and it is as much relished by many animals
as by man. By bees it is sipped from the flowers of plants, under the modification of nectar, and con-
verted into honey ; and also seems to be relished by many insects, even in its concrete state ; as it is also
by many birds. By man it is now regarded as being altogether indispensable, and though used chiefly to
give a relish or seasoning to food, is itself highly nutritive. It is also of much utility in medicine, and
celebrated for its anodyne and antiseptic qualities, as well as thought to be peculiarly efficacious in pre-
venting diseases by worms.
1400. Starch. If a quantity of wheaten flour is made into a paste with water, and kneaded and
washed under the action of a jet, till the water runs off colourless, part of it will be found to have been
taken up and to be still held in suspension by the water, which will, by and by, deposit a sediment that
may be separated by decantation. This sediment is starch, which may be obtained also immediately from
the grain itself, by means of a process well known to the manufacturer, who renders it finally fit for the
luarket by washing and edulcorating it with water, and afterwards drying it by a moderate heat. Starch,
218 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
when thrown upon red-hot iron, burns with a kind of explosion, and leaves scarcely any residuum behind.
It has been found, by the analysis of Gav Lussac and Thenard, to be composed of carbon 43-55 ; oxygen
49-68 ; hydrogen 6-77 ; total 100. This result is not very widely different from that of the analysis of
sugar, into wiiich, it seems, starch may be converted by diminishing the proportion of its carbon, and
increasing that of its oxygen and hydrogen. This change is exemplified in the case of the malting of
barley, which contains a great proportion of starch, and which absorbs during the process a quantity of
oxygen, and evolves a quantity of carbonic acid ; and accordingly part of it is converted into sugar.
Perhaps it is exemplified also in the case of the freezing of potatoes, which acquire in consequence a sweet
and sugary taste, and arc known to contain a great deal of starch, which may be obtained as follows. Let
the potatoes be taken and grated down to a pulp, and the pulp placed upon a fine sieve, and water made
to pass through it : the water will be found to have carried off with it an infinite number of particles,
which it will afterwards deposit in the form of a fine powder, separable by decantation ; which powder is
starch, possessing all the essential properties of wheaten starch. It may be obtained from the pith of
several species of palms growing in the Moluccas and several other East India islands, by the following
process : the stem, being first cut into pieces of five or six feet in length, is split longitudinally so as to
expose the pith, which is now taken out and pounded, and mixed with cold water, which, after being
well stirred up, deposits at length a sediment that is separated by decantation, and is the starch which
the pith contained, or the sago of the shops.
1401. Salop is also a species of starch that is prepared, in the countries of the East, from the root of the
O'rchis murio, mascula, bifblia, and pyramidMis ; and, in the Isle of Portland, from the /iVum macul^tum.
So also is cassava, which is prepared from the root of Jdnipha Mdnihot, a native of America, the
expressed juice of which is a deadly poison used by the Indians to poison their arrows ; but the sediment
which it deposits is a starch that is manufactured into bread, retaining nothing of the deleterious pro-
perty of the juice. So also is sowans, which is prepared from the husk of oats, as obtained in the process
of grinding.
1402. Starch may be extracted from a number of plants ; as yf'rctium Lappa, A'tropa Belladdnna, Polygo-
num bistorta, i?rybnia alba, Colchicum autumnale, Spirse'^a Filip^ndula, /Ranunculus bulbbsus, Scrophu-
liria nodbsa, 5ambiicus £'bulus and nigra, O'rchis mbrio and mascula, Imperatbria Ostruthium,
/fyoscyamus nlger, ^iimex obstusifolius, acutus, and aquaticus, /IVum maculktum, i*ris Pseudacorus and
fcetidlssima, O'robus tuberusus, and .Bunium Bulbocastanum. It is found also in the following seeds :
wheat, barley, oats, rice, maize, millet seed, chestnut, horsechestnut, peas, beans, and acorns.
1403. Starch is an extremely nutritive substance, and forms one of the principal ingredients in almost all
articles of vegetable food used by. man or by the inferior animals. The latter feed upon it in the
state in which nature presents it ; but man prepares and purifies it so as to render it pleasing to his taste,
and uses it under the various modifications of bread, pastry, and confectionary. Its utility is also consider-
able in medicine and in the arts ; in the preparation of anodyne and strengthening medicaments ; in
the composition of cements; in the clearing and stiffening of linen j and in the manufacture of hair-
powder.
1404. Gluten is that part of the paste formed from the flour of wheat, which remains unaffected by the
water, after all the starch contained in it has been washed off It is a tougli and elastic substance, of a
dull white colour, without taste, but of a very peculiar smelL It is soluble in the acids and alkalies, but
insoluble in water and in alcohol. Gluten has been detected, under one modification or other, in a very
considerable number of vegetables or vegetable substances, as well as in the flour of wheat.
1405. Gluten is one of the ?nost important of all vegetable substances, as being the principle that renders
the flour of wheat so tit for forming bread, by its occasioning the panary fermentation, and making the
bread light and porous. It is used also as a cement, and is capable of being used as a varnish and a ground
for paint.
1406. Albumen, which is a thick, glairy, and tasteless fluid, resembling the white of an unboiled egg, is
a substance that has been but lately proved to exist in the vegetable kingdom. Its existence was first
announced by Fourcroy, and finally demonstrated by the experiments of Vauquelin on the dried juice of
the papaw tree. It is nearly related to animal gluten.
1407. Fibrine is a peculiar substance which chemists extract from the blood and muscles of animals. This
substance constitutes the fibrous parts of the muscles, and resembles gluten in its appearance and elasti-
city. A substance possessing the same properties has been detected by Vauquelin in the juice of the
papaw tree, which is called vegetable fibrine.
1408. Extract. When vegetable substances are macerated in water, a considerable portion of them is
dissolved ; and if the water is again evaporated, the substance held in solution may be obtained in a sepa-
rate state. This substance is denominated extract. But it is evident that extract thus obtained will not
be precisely the same principle in every different plant, but will vary in its character according to the
species producing it, or the soil in which the plant has grown, or some other accidental cause. Its dis-
tinguishing properties are the following : — It is soluble in water as it is obtained from the vegetable, but
becomes afterwards insoluble in consequence of the absorption of oxygen from the atmosphere It is solu-
ble in alcohol ; and it unites with alkalies, and forms compounds which are soluble in water. When
distilled it yields an acid fluid impregnated with ammonia, and seems to be composed principally of hydro-
gen, oxygen, carbon, and a little nitrogen. Extract, or the extractive principle, is found in a greater
or less proportion in almost all plants whatever, and is very generally an ingredient of the sap and bark,
particularly in barks of an astringent taste ; but still it is not exactly the same in all individual plants,
even when separated as much as possible from extraneous substances. It may therefore be regarded as
constituting several species, of which the following are the most remarkable : —
1409. Extract of caiechu. This extract is obtained from an 1411. Extract nf quinquina. This extract was obtained by
infusion of the wood or powder of catechu in cold water. Its Fourcroy, by evaporating a decoction of the bark of the quin-
colour is pale brown ; and its taste slightly astringent. It is quina of St. Domingo in water, and again dissolring it in
precipitated from iU solution by nitrate of lead, and yields by alcohol, which finally deposited by evaporation the peculiar
distillation carbonic and carburetted hydrogen gas, leaving a extractive. It is insoluble in cold water, but very soluble in
porous charcoal. boiling water; its colour is brown, and its taste bitter. It is
1410. Extract of senna. This extract is obtained from an in- precipitatid from its solution by lime water, in the form of a
fusion of the dried leaves of Cassia S^nna in alcohol. The co- red powder ; and when dry it is black and brittle, breaking
lour of the infusion is brownish, the taste slightly bitter, and with a polished fracture.
the smell aromatic. It is precipitated from its solution by the 1412. Extract of saffron. This extract is obtained in great
muriatic and oxymuriatic acids ; and, when thrown on burning abundance from the summits of the pistils of Crocus sativus,
coals, consumes with a thick smoke and aromatic odour, leaving which are almost wholly soluble in water,
behind a spongy charcoal.
1413. Extracts were formerly much employed in medicitie ; though their efficacy seems to have been
overrated. But a circumstance of much more importance to society is that of their utility in the art of
dyeing. By far the greater part of colours used in dyeing are obtained from vegetable extracts, which
have a strong affinity to the fibres of cotton or linen, with which they enter into a combination that is
rendered still stronger by the intervention of mordants.
1414. Colouring matter. The beauty and variety of the colouring of vegetables, chemists have ascribed to
the modifications of a peculiar substance which they denominate the colouring principle, and which they
have accordingly endeavoured to isolate and extract ; first, by means of maceration or boiling in water,
and then by precipitating it from its solution. The chemical properties of colouring matter seem to be as
yet but imperfectly known, though they have been considerably elucidated by the investigations of
Berthollet, Chaptal, and others. Its affinities to oxygen, alkalies, earths, metallic oxides, and cloths
fabricated of animal or vegetable substances, such as wool or flax, seem to be among its most striking
. characteristics. But its affinity to animal substances is stronger than its affinity to vegetable substances ;
Book I. VEGETABLE CHEMISTRY. 219
and hence wool and silk assume a deeper dye, and retain it longer, than cotton or linen. Colouring
matter exhibits a great variety of tints, as it occurs in different species of plants ; and as it combines
with oxygen, which it absorbs from the atmosphere, it assumes a deeper shade ; but it loses at the same
time a portion of its hydrogen, and becomes insoluble in water; and thus it indicates its relation to ex-
tract. Fourcroy reduced colours to the four following sorts : extractive colours, oxygenated colours, carbo-
nated colours, and hydrogenated colours ; the first being soluble in water, and requiring the aid of saline or
metallic mordants to fix them upon cloth ; the second being insoluble in water, as altered by the absorp.
tion of oxygen, and requiring no mordant to fix them upon cloth ; the third containing in their compo-
sition a great proportion of carbon, but soluble in alkalies ; and the fourth containing a great proportion
of resin, but soluble in oils and alcohol. But the simplest mode of arrangement is that by which the dif-
ferent species of colouring matter are classed according to their effect in the art of dyeing. The principal
and fundamental colours in this art are the blue, the red, the yellow, and the brown.
1415. The finest nfall vei^elable blues is that which is known by by the action of the atmosjiliere. The blue colour of indigo,
the name of indigo. It is the produce of the Indigdfera tinct6ria therefore, is owing to its combination with oxygen.
Lin., a shrab which is cultivated in Mexico and the East 1416. TIte princijMt red cvluurs are such as are found to esdst
Indies for the sake of the dye it affords. The plant reaches in the root, stem, or flower, of the five following plants; iiubia
maturity in about six months, when its leaves are gathered tinct6rum,/iocc^/ti tinctdria.Lecanfirapar^Uajt'a'rtAamiMtinc-
and immersed in vessels filled with water till fermentation t6rius, Caesalpfnia crista, and Haemati5xylon campechiknum.
takes place. The water then becomes opaque and green, ex- 1417. Yellow, which is a colour of very frequent occurrence
haling an odour like that of volatile alkali, and evolving bubbles among vegetables, and the most permanent among flowers, is
of carbonic acid gas. A\'hen the fermentation has been con- extracted for the purpose of dyeing, from a variety of plants,
tinned long enough, the liquid is decanted and put into other It is extracted from the /iesWa Lut^ola Lin., by the decoction
vessels, where it is agitated till blue flakes beg^n to appear. of its dried stems. The colouring matter is jirecipitated by
Water is now poured in, and flakes are precipitated in the means of alum, and is much used in dyeing wool, silk, and
form of a blue powdery sediment, which is obtained by de- cotton. It is also obtained from the Jli6rus tinctoria, Bixa
cantation ; and which, after being made up into small lumps Orellitna or amotta, i'erratiila tinctoria, Genista tinctoria,
and dried in the shade, Ls the indigo of the shops. It is insolu- Rhus Ci5tinus, Hhamnus infectorius, and Qut^rcus tinct6ria,
ble in water, though slightly soluble in alcohol ; but its true or quercitron, the bark of which last affords a rich and per-
solvent is sulphuric acid, with which it forms a fine blue dye, manent yellow at present much in use.
known by the name of liquid blue. It affords by distillation 1418.'riiel>rownc<>louri>ignuitterofvef;et<ibles\srery abundant,
carbonic acid gas, water, ammonia, some oily and acid mat- particularly in Jistringent plants. It is obtained fVom the root
ter, and much charcoal ; whence its constituent principles of the walnut tree, and rind of the walnut ; and also from the
are most probably carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. sumach and alder, but chiefly from nut-galls, which are ex-
Indigo may be procured also from several other plants besides crescences formed upon the leaves of a species of Qu^rcus,
Indig(5fera tinctoria, and particularly from /satis tinctf)ria or indigenous to the south of Europe, in consequence of thepunc-
woad, a plant indigenous to Britain, and thought to be the ture of insects. The best in quality are brought from the
plant with the juice of which the ancient Britons stained their Levant. They are sharp and bitter to the taste, and extremely
naked botlies, to make them look terrible to their enemies. If astringent; and s'oluble in water by decoction when ground or
this plant is digested in alcohol, and the solution evaporated, grated to a powder. The decoction strikes, with the solution
white crystalline grains, somewhat resembling starch, will be of iron, a deep black, that forms the basis of ink, and of most
left behind; which grains are indigo, becoming gradually blue dark colours used in dyeing cloths.
WIQ. Tannin. If a quantity of pounded nut-galls, or bruised seeds of the grape, is taken and dissolved
in cold water, and the solution evaporated to dryness, there will be left behind a brittle and yellovv'ish sub-
stance of a highly astringent taste, which substance is tannin, or the tanning principle. It is soluble both
in water and alcohol, but insoluble in ether. With the salts of iron it strikes a black ; and when a so-
lution of gelatine is mixed with an aqueous solution of tannin, the tannin and gelatine fall down in com-
bination, and form an insoluble precipitate. When tannin is subjected to the process of distillation, it
yields charcoal, carbonic acid, and inflammable gases, with a minute quantity of volatile alkali, and seems
accordingly to consist of the same elements with extract, from which, however, it is distinguished by the
peculiar property of its action upon gelatine. Tannin may be obtained from a great variety of other vege-
tables also, as well as those already enumerated, but chiefly from their bark ; and of barks, chiefly from
those that arc astringent to the taste. The foUowinj? table exhibits a general view of the relative value
of different species of bark, as ascertained by Sir Humphry Davy. It gives the average obtained from
480 lbs. of the entire bark of a middle-sized tree of the different species, taken in the spring, when the
quantity of tannin is the largest : —
Ih.
lb.
U.
Oak - . -
29
Beech
10
Blackthorn
16
Spanish chestnut
- 21
Horsechestnut
9
Coppice oak
- 32
Leicester willow (large) -
- 33
Sycamore
- 11
Inner rind of oak bark -
- 72
Elm - - -
13
Lombardy poplar
- 15
Oak cut in autumn
21
Common willow (large) -
. 11
Birch - -
8
Larch cut in autumn
8
Ash
16
Hazel
14
1420. Tannin is of the very first utility in its application to medicine and the arts ; being regarded by
chemists as the general principle of astringency. The medical virtues of Peruvian bark, so celebrated as
a febrifuge and antiseptic, are supposed to depend upon the quantity and quality of its tannin. In conse-
quence of its peculiar property of forming an insoluble compound with gelatine, the hides of animals are
converted into leather, by the important art of tanning. The bark of the oak tree, which contains tannin
in great abundance, is that which is most generally used by the tanner. The hides to be tanned are pre-
pared for the process by steeping them in lime water, and scraping off the hair and cuticle. They are then
soaked, first in weaker and afterwards in stronger infusions of the bark, till at last they are completely im-
pregnated. This process requires a period of from ten to eighteen months, if the hides are thick ; and
four or five pounds of bark are necessary on an average to form one pound of leather.
1421. Bitter principle. The taste of many vegetables, such as those employed in medicine, is extremely
bitter. The quassia of the shops, the roots of the common gentian, the bark and wood of common broom,
the calyx and floral leaves of the hop, and the leaves and flowers of chamomile, may be quoted as ex-
amples. This bitter taste has been thought to be owing to the presence of a peculiar substance, different
from every other vegetable substance, and has been distinguished by the name of the bitter principle.
When water has been digested for some time over quassia, its colour becomes yellow, and its taste in-
tensely bitter; and if it is evaporated to dryness, it leaves behind a substance of a brownish yellow, with
a slight degree of transparency, that continues for a time ductile, but becomes afterwards brittle. This
substance Dr. Thompson regards as the bitter principle in a state of purity. It is soluble in water and in
alcohol ; but the solution is not much affected by re-agents. Nitrate of silver and acetate of lead are the
only two that occasion a precipitate. The bitter principle is of great importance, not only in the practice
of medicine, but also in the art of brewing ; its influence being that of checking fermentation, preserving
the fermented liquor, and when the bitter of the hop is used, communicating a peculiar and agreeable
flavour. The bitter principle appears to consist principally of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a little
nitrogen.
142i2. Narcotic principle. There is a species of medical preparations known by the name of narcotics,
which have the property of inducing sleep ; and, if administered in large doses, of occasioning death.
They are obtained from the milky and proper juices of some vegetables, and from the infusion of the
leaves or stem of others, all which have been supposed to contain in their composition some common in-
gredient, which chemists have agreed to designate by the name of the narcotic principle. It exists in
great abundance in opium, which is the concrete juice of PapJiver somniferum var. album, or the white
poppy, from which it is obtained pure, in the form of white crystals. It is soluble in boiling water and in
alcohol, as well as in all acid menstrua ; and it appears that the action of opium on the animal subject
depends on this principle. When distilled it emits white vapours, which are condensed into a yellow oil :
some water and carbonate of ammonia pass into a receiver ; and at last carbonic acid gas, ammonia, and
carburetted hydrogen are disengaged, and a bulky charcoal left behind. Many other vegetable substances
^tb
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
besides opium possess narcotic qualities though they have not yet been minutely analysed The following are
the most remarkable : — The inspissated juice of lettuce, which resembles opium much in its appearance, is
obtained by the same means, and possesses the same medical virtues ; the leaves of A'tropa Bellad6nna,
or deadly nightshade, and indeed the whole plant ; the leaves of DigitJllis purpiirea, or foxglove : and
lastly, the following plants, //yosc^amus n'lger, Cbnium maculktum, Dathra Stramonium, and iedum
palustre, with many others belonging to the Linnean natural order of Liiridas.
14'23. Acids. Acids are a class of substances that may be distinguished by their exciting on the palate
the sensation of sourness. They exist not only in the animal and mineral, but also in the vegetable,
kingdom ; and such of them as are peculiar to vegetables have been denominated vegetable acids. Of
acids peculiar to vegetables chemists enumerate the following : the oxalic, acetic, citric, malic, gallic,
tartaric, benzoic, and prussic, which exist ready formed in the juices or organs of the plant, and are
ajccordingly denominated native acids ; together with the mucous, pyromucous, pyrotartarous, pyrolignous,
camphoric, and suberic, which do not exist ready formed in the plant, and are hence denominated artifl-
ficial acids. They are consequently not within the scope of the object of the present work.
W'i^. Oxalic add. If the expressed juice of the (yxalisAceto- blues. It is soluble both in water and alcohol ; and is distin-
s^Ua is left to evaporate slowly, it de))Osits small crystals of a gxiished by its i)roperty of communicating to solutions of iron
yellowish colour and saltish t.iste, which are known by the a deep purple colour. When exposed to a gentle heat it sub-
name of the acidulum of sorrel, that is, a salt with excess ot limes without alteration, but a strong heat decomposes it.
acid, from which the acid may be obtained pure by processes Nitric acid converts it into the malic and oxalic acids. It is of
well known to the chemist. It is not used in meaicine or great utility in the art of dyeing, and forms the basis of all
the arts, except in its state of acidulum, in which it is em- black colours, and of colours with a dark ground. It forms also
ployed to make a sort of lemonade, and to discharge stains of the basis of ink ; and chemists use it as a test to detect the
ink. It has been found also in (/xalis comiculata. Pelargonium presence of iron.
^cidum, in the several species of Aiimex, and in the pubes- 1429. Tartaric acid. If wine is kept for a length of time in a
cence of Cicer arietlnum. cask or other close vessel, a sediment is precipitated which
14^. Acetic aciJ. The acetic acid, or vinegar, which is ge- adheres to the sides or bottom, and forms a crust known by the
nerally manufactured from wine in a certain stage of ferment- name of tartar, which is a combination of potass and a pecu-
ation, has been found also ready formed in the sap of several liar acid in excess. The compound is tartrate of potass, and
trees, as analysed by Vauquelin ; and also in the acid juice the acid, in its state of purity, is the tartaric acid. It is cha-
of the Clcer arietlnum, of which it forms a constituent part. racterised by its nrojierty of forming with potass a salt that
It was obtained by Scheele from the sap of the Sambiicus is soluble with difficulty. It has been found in the following
&i^a; and is consequently to be regarded as a native vegetable vegetable substances also: in the pulp of tamarinds, in the
acid. It is distinguished from other vegetable acids by its juice of the grape, and mulberries, sorrel, and sumach, and
forming soluble salts with the alkalies and earths. "the roots of Aj^opyrum ripens and Ledntodon Taraxacum. It
lA'iG. Citric acid. Citric acid is the acid which exists in the juice is not much iisea except among chemists; but the tartrate,
of lemon. Its taste is very sour in a state of purity, but ex- from which it is usually obtained, is well known for its medical
ceedingly pleasant when diluted with water. By a red heat it virtues under the name of cream of tartar,
yields carbonic acid gas and carbonated hydrogen gas, and is 1430. Benzoic acid. From the Myrax BenzMn there exudes a re-
reduced to a charcoal ; nitric acid converts it into oxalic and sinous substance, known in the shops by the name of benzoin,
acetic acid, and with lime it forms a salt insoluble in water. and in which the benzoic acid is contained. It is distinguished
It has been found unmixed with other acids in the following from the other acids by its aromatic odour and extreme volati-
vegetable substances : in the juice of oranges and lemons, and lity. It has been obtained also from the balsams of tolu and
In the berries of Oxycdccus palAstris, Kaccinium Kitis ldse*a, storax ; and is \ised in pharmacy, in the preparation of boluses
C^rasus P^dus, Solanum Dulcamara, and «6sa canina. It has and electuaries,
been found also in many other fruits, mixed with other acids. 1431. Prussic acid. The prussic acid is generally classed
1427. Malic acid. Malic acid is found chiefly in the juice of among the animal acids, because it is obtained in the greatest
unripe apples, whence it derives its name; but it is found also abundance from animal substances. But it has been proved
In the juice of barberries, alderberries, gooseberries, plums, and to exist in vegetable substances also, and it is procured by dis-
common ho\ise-leek. tilling laurel leaves, or the kernels of the peach and cherry, or
1428. Gallic acid. Gallic acid, as it is obtained in the greatest bitter almonds. Wlien pure, it exists in the form of colourless
abundance, so it derives its name, from the nut-gaH, from fluid, with an odour resembling that of peach tree blossoms. It
which it maybe extracted by exposing a quantity of the powder does not redden vegetable blues; but it is characterised by its
of nut-galls to a moderate heat in a glass retort ; when the acid property of forming a bluish-green precipitate, when it is
will sublime and form crystals of an octahedral figure. Its poured, with a litUe alkali added to it, into solutions containing
taste is austere and astringent. It strongly reddens vegetable iron.
1432. All vegetable acids contain carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, in one propwtion or other ; and the
prussic acid contains also a portion of nitrogen. The gallic acid contains more of carbon than any other
vegetable acid, and the oxalic more of oxygen.
1433. Vegetable oils are of two kinds, the fixed and the volatile. The former are not
suddenly affected by the application of heat ; the latter are very inflammable.
1434. Fixed oils. Fixed oils are but seldom found, except in the seeds of plants, and chiefly in such as
are dicotyledonous. They are found also, though rarely, in the pulp of fleshy fruits, as in thatT)f the olive,
which yields the most abundant and valuable species of all fixed oils. But dicotyledonous seeds, which
contain oil, contain also at the same time a quantity of mucilage and fecula, and form, when bruised in
water, a mild and milky fluid, known by the name of emulsion ; and on this account they are sometimes
denominated emulsive seeds. Some seeds yield their oil merely by means of pressure, though it is often
necessary to reduce them first of all to a sort of pulp, by means of pounding them in a mortar : others
require to be exposed to the action of heat (which is applied to them by means of pressure between warm
plates of tin,) or of the vapour of boiling water, or of roasting, before they are subjected to the press. P'ixed
oil, when pure, is generally a thick and viscous fluid, of a mild or insipid taste, and without smell ; but it
is never entirely without some colour, which is for the most part green or yellow. Its specific gravity is
to water as 9403 or 1-000. It is insoluble in water ; it is decomposed in the acids, but with the alkalies it
forms soap. When exposed to the atmosphere it becomes inspissated and opaque, and assumes a white
colour and a resemblance to fat. This is in consequence of the absorption of oxygen ; but owing to the
appearance of a quantity of water in oil that is exposed to the action of the air, it has been thought that
the oxygen absorbed by it is not yet perhaps assimilated to its substance. When exposed to cold it con-
geals and crystallises, or assumes a solid and granular form ; but not till the thermometer has indicated a
degree considerably below the freezing point. When exposed to the action of heat it is not volatilised till
it begins to boil, which is at 600° of Fahrenheit. By distillation it is converted into water, carbonic acid,
and carburetted hydrogen gas, and charcoal ; the product of its combustion is nearly the same; and hence
it is a compound of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Fixed oils are generally divided into two sorts, fat
oils and drying oils. The former are readily inspissated by the action of the air, and converted into a sort
of fat. The latter are capable of being dried by the action of the air, and converted into a firm and trans-
parent substance.
1435. The principal species of fat oils are the following : —
1436. Olive oil, which is expressed from the pulpy part of the pounded in mortars of marble into a paste, which is afterwards
ruit of Olea europae'a. The fruit is first broken in a mill, and subjected to the action of the press; and the oil is now ob-
reduced to a sort of paste. It is then subjected to the action of tained as in the olive.
a press, and the oil, which Ls now easily separated, swims on the 1458. Rapesecd oil, which is extracted from the Brdssica A'apus
top of the water in the vessel beneath. It is manufactured and campdstris. It is less fixed and less liable to become ran-
chiefly in Prance and in Italy, and is much used throughout cid than the two preceding, and is manufactured chiefly in
Europe instead of butter, and to give a seasoning to food. Flanders.
1437 Oil of almonih, which is extracted from the fruit of the 1439. Oil ofbehen, which is extracted from the fruit of the
.i4mygdalus communis or common almond. The almonds are Jlfwjn^a ptery:;osp^rraa, common in Egypt and Africa. It is apt
first well rubbed or shook in a coarse bag or sack, to separate a to become rancid ; but it is without odour, and is on this ac-
bitter powder which covers their epidermis. They are then count much used in perfumery.
1440. The principal species of drying oils are linseed oil, nut oil, poppy oil, and hempseed oil.
Bjok I. VEGETABLE CHEMISTRY. 221
1441. Litiseed oil is obtained from the seeds of flax, which are 1443. Poppy oil is extracted from the seeds of PapJiver somnf-
eenerally roasted before they are subjected to any other process, fenun, which is cultivated in France and Holland for this piir-
for the purpose of drying up their mucilage and separating pose. It is clear and transparent, and dries readily ; and wheA
more oil. pnre it is without taste or odour. It i> used for the same pur-
14 12. Nut oil is extracted from the fruit of Cdrylm ^vellhna, poses as the olive oil, for which it is cften sold, and possesses
or Jiigians regia. The kernel is first slightlv roasted, and the nothing of the narcotic properties of the poppy,
oil then expressed. It is used in paintings of a coarser sort ; 1414. Hempseed oil is extracted from the seed of the hemp,
and also in the seasoning of food, by many of the inhabitants of It has a harsh and disagreeable taste, and is used by painters in
the middle departments of France ; but it is apt to become this country, and very extensively for food in Russia,
rancid.
1415. Volatile oils. Volatile oils, which are known also by the name of essential oils, are of very common
occurrence in the vegetable kingdom, and are found in almost all the different organs of the plant. They
are found in many roots, to which they communicate a fragrant and aromatic odour, with a taste somewhat
acrid. The roots of Corvisartm He\hniut?t, Genista canariensis, and various other plants, contain essential
oils. They are found also in the bark of Cinnambmum verum, of iatirus Sassafras, and of Pinus ; and in
the leaves of labiate plants, such as mint, rosemary, marjoram ; of the odorous Umbelliferje, such as chervil,
fennel, angelica ; and of plants which compound flowers, such as wormwood. They are found also in the
flower itself, as in the flowers of chamomile, and the rose; in the fruit, as in that of pepper and ginger;
and in the external integuments of many seeds, but never in the cotyledon. They are extracted by means
of expression or distillation, and are extremelv numerous ; and perhaps every plant possessing a peculiar
odour possesses also a peculiar and volatile oil. The aroma of plants, therefore, or the substance from which
they derive their odour, and which is cognisable only to the sense of smell, is perhaps merely the more
volatile and evaporable part of their volatile oil, disengaging itself from its combinations. Volatile oils
are characterised by their strong and aromatic odour, and rather acrid taste. They are soluble in alcohol,
but are not readily converted into soaps by alkalies. They are very inflammable, and are volatilised by a
gentle heat. Like fixed oils, their specific gravity is generally less than that of water, on the surface of
which they will float; though in some cases it is found to be greater than that of water, in which they
consequently sink. They are much in request on account of their agreeable taste and odour, and are pre-
pared and sold by apothecaries and perfumers, under the name of distilled waters or essences; as well as
employed also in the manufacture of varnishes and pigments.
1 146. Wax. On the upper surface of the leaves of many trees there may often be observed a sort of var-
nish, which, when separated by certain chemical processes, is found to possess all the properties of bees'
wax, and is consequently a vegetable wax. It exudes, however, from several other parts of the plant
besides the leaf, and assumes a more waxy and concrete form, as from the catkins of the poplar, the alder,
and the fir ; from the fruit of the Myrica cerifera and Stillingi« sebifera ; but particularly from the anthferae
of the flowers, from which it is probable that the bees extract it unaltered. It was the opinion of Reaumur,
however, that the pollen undergoes a digestive process in the stomach of the bee before it is converted into
wax, though a late writer on the subject endeavours to prove that the wax is elaborated from the honey
extracted by the bee, and not from the pollen. It is found also in the interior of many seeds, from which
it is extracted, by means of pounding them and boiling them in water. The wax is melted and swims on
the top. Wax, when pure, is of a whitish colour, but without taste and without smell. The smell of
bees' wax is indeed somewhat aromatic, and its colour yellow : but this is evidently owing to some foreign
substance with which it is mixed ; because it loses its smell and colour by means of bleaching, and becomes
perfectly white. This is done merely by drawing it out into thin stripes, and exposing it for some time to
the atmosphere. Bleached wax is not aft'ected by the air. Its specific gravity is 09600. It is insoluble in
water and in alcohol. It combines with the fixed oils, and forms with them a composition known by the
name of cerate. It combines also with the fixed alkalies, and forms with them a compound possessing
the properties of common soap. The acids have but little action on it, and for this reason it is useful as a
lute to confine them, or to prevent them from injuring cork. When heat is applied to wax it becomes
soft, and melts at the temperature of 142° if unbleached, and of 155° if bleached, into a colourless and trans,
parent fluid, which, as the temperature diminishes, concretes again and resumes its former appearance.
At a higher temperature it boils and evaporates, and the vapour may be set on fire by the application of red
heat ; hence its utility in making candles, and hence an explication of the singular phenomenon ob-
servable in the ZJictamnus Fraxint 11a. This plant is fragrant, and the odour which it diffuses around forms
a partial and temporary atmosphere, which is inflammable ; for if a lighted candle or other ignited body
is brought near to the plant, especially in the time of drought, its atmosphere immediately takes fire.
This phenomenon was first observed by the daughter of the celebrated Linnasus, and is explained by sup-
posing the partial and temporary atmosphere to contain a proportion of wax exuded from the plant, and
afterwards reduced to vapour by the action of the sun. The result of its combustion in oxygen gas was,
according to Lavoisier, carbonic acid and water, in such proportion as to lead him to conclude that 100
parts of wax are composed of 8228 of carbon and 1772 of hydrogen ; but, owing to the little action of
acids upon it, there seems reason to believe that it contains also oxygen as an ingredient.
1447. JVax possesses all the essential properties of a fixed oil ; and fixed oils ha ve the property of becom-
ing concrete, and of assuming a waxy appearance when long exposed to the air, in consequence, as it seems,
of the absorption of oxygen. Wax therefore may be considered as a fixed oil rendered concrete, perhaps
by the absorption of oxygen during the progress of vegetation. But if this theory is just, the wax may be
expected to occur in a considerable variety of states according to its degrees of oxygenation ; and this is
accordingly the case. Sometimes it has the consistency of butter, and is denominated butter of wax, as
butter of cocoa, butter of galam. Sometimes its consistency is greater, and then it is denominated tallow,
as tallow of croton ; and when it has assumed its last degree of consistency, it then takes the appellation
of wax. The following are its principal species : butter of cacao, butter of cocoa, butter of nutmeg, tallow
of croton, and wax of myrtle.
1448. The butler of cacao is extracted from the seeds of the 1450. Butler of nutmeg is obtained from the seeds of the
Theobr6ma Cacao or chocolate plant, either by boiling them in Myrfelica ofHcinalis, or nutmeg tree.
water, or by subjecting them to the action of the press after 1451. Tallow of croton is obtained from the fruit of the
having exposed them to the vapour of boiling water. Stillfngia sebifera.
1449. Butter of cocoa is found in the fruit of Cbcoa nucffera or 1452. The rva
cocoa-nut tree. It is expressed from the pulp of the nut, and is JIfyrica cerifera
even said to separa " ' ' ■* ■ ■
separates from milk,
lYnig ciijoscu iiieiu lu iiie vapour oi oouing waier. ouuingia seoiiera.
1449. BiUler of cocoa is found in the fruit of Cbcos nucffera or 1452. The max qf myrtle is obtained from the berry of the
coa-nut tree. It is expressed from the pulp of the nut, and is JByrica cerifera.
even said to separate from it when in a fluid state.
1453. Resins. Resins are volatile oils rendered concrete by means of the absorption of oxygen, or
rather perhaps by the abstraction of part of their hydrogen. They have a slight degree of transparency,
and their colour is generally yellowish. Their taste is somewhat acrid ; but they are without smell when
pure. Their specific gravity varies from 10180 to 1 '2^9. They are non-conductors of electricity, and
when excited by friction their electricity is negative. The species of resins are numerous.
1454. Rosin is a species of resin, of which there are several is mixed with it while yet fluid, and incorporated by violent
varieties. From different species of the pine, larch, and fir agitation, the residuum is yellow rosin. The yellow rosin is
tree, there exudes a juice wh-ch concretes in the form of tears. the most ductile, and the rtiost generally used in the irts.
Its extrication is generally aided by means of incisions, and it 1455. Pitch and tar are manufactured from the reshioas juices
receives different appellations, according to the species from of the fir. The tnmk is cut or cleft into pieces of a conve-
which it is obtained. If it is obtained from the Pinus syl- nient size, which are piled together in heaps, and covered
vfetris, it is denominated comm^m turpentine ; from Lkrix with turf. They are tnen set on fire, and the resinous juice
europae*a Venice turpentine ; from^^m^ris toxltera, 6a/«atno/Ca- which is thus extricated, being prevented from escaping in a
na/la. This juice consists of two ingredients, oil of turpentine volatile state by means of the turf, is precipitated and collected
and rosin. The oil is extricated by distillation, and the rosin in a vessel beneath. It is partly converted into an empyreu-
remaing behind. If the distillation is continued to dryness, matic oil, and is now tar, which, by being fiirther inspissated,
the residuum is common roiin or cdophonium ; but if water is converted into pitch.
223 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
1456. llttutich is extracted from the PlstJicla I*ntfsc>is. of trees and of almost all vegetables. It is insoluble in water,
1457. Sandarach is obtained from the Junfperus commiinis, but soluble in alcohol. When treated with oxvmuriatic acid,
by spontaneous exudation. it assumes the colour of a withered leaf, and exhibits the re-
1458. Elemi is extracted from the ^m^ris elemlfera. sinous properties more distinctly.
1459. Tacambac is the produce of the Fagara octindra and 1467. Copal is the produce of the 7ih)is copallinum, a tree
Pdpulus balsamtfera. which is found in North America.
1460. Labilanum is obtained from the Cfstus cr^ticus. 1468. Anitruf, is obtained from the Hymenoj'a CoArbaril, or
1461. 0^)o6a/«rtmKm,or6a/mo/Gi7earf, which has beenso much locust tree, a native of North -America.
famed for its medical virtues, is the produce of the Balsamoden- 1469. Lac is the produce of tTie A leurites laccffera, a native
dron gllead^nse, a shrub which grows in Judea and in Arabia; of the East Indies.
but it is so much valued by the Turks that its importation is pro- 1470. Bloom. Upon the epidermis of the leaves and fruit of
hibited. This is the balm of Gilead so much celebrated in certain species of plants, there is to be found a fine, soft, and
Scripture. Pliny says it was first brought to Rome by the glaucous powder. It is particularly observable upon cabbage
generals of Vespasian. It is obtained in a litjuid state from in- leaves, and upon plums, to which "it communicates a pecu-
cisions made in the bark, and is somewhat bitter to the taste. liar shade. It is known to gardeners by the name of bloom.
1462. Copaiva,or balsam of copaiva is o'otained from the Co- It is easily rubbed off by the fingers; and when viewed un-
patfera officinalis. der the microscope seems to be composed of small opaque
1463. Dragon's blood is obtained from the Dracae'na dr^co, and unpolished granules, somewhat similar to the powder of
fterocirpus rfraco, and Calamus Rhtang. starch ; but with a high magnifying power it appears transparent.
1464. Guoiac is the produce of the GuaCaram officinale. When rubbed oif, it is again reproduced, though slowly. It
1465. Botany Bay resin, the produce of the Eucalyptus resinf- resists the action of dews and rains, and is consequently inso-
fera, a native of New Holland, and found in great abimdance luble in water ; but it is soluble in spirits of wine ; from
about Botany Bay. which circumstance it has been suspected, with some pro-
1466. Green resin constitutes the colouring matter of the leaves bability, to be a resin.
1471. The use of resins in the arts is very considerable ; but their medical virtues are not quite so great
as has been generally supposed. They are employed in the arts of painting, varnishing, embalming, and
perfumery ; and they furnish us with two of the most important of all materials to a naval power, pitch
and tar.
1472. GuTTt-reszns. This term is employed to denote a class of vegetable substances, which have been
regarded by chemists as consisting of gum and resin. They are generally contained in the proper vessels
of the plant, whether in the root, stem, branches, leaves, flowers, or fruit. But there is this remarkable
difference between resins and gum-resins, that the latter have never been known, like the former, to ex-
ude spontaneously from the plant. They are obtained by means of bruising the parts containing them,
and expressing the juice, which is always in the state of an emulsion, generally white, but sometimes of a
different colour ; or they are obtained by means of incisions from which the juice flows. This juice, which
is the proper juice of the plant, is then exposed to the action of the sun, by which, in warm climates, it is
condensed and inspissated, and converted into the gum-resin of commerce. Gum-resins, in their solid
state, are brittle, and less transparent than resins. They have generally a strong smell, which is some-
times alliaceous, and a bitter and nauseous taste. They are partially soluble both in water and in alcohol.
When heated, ihey do not melt like the resins, nor are they so combustible ; but they swell and soften
by heat, and at last burn away with a flame. By distillation they yield volatile oil, ammonia combined
with an acid, and have a bulky charcoal The principal species of gum-resins which have been hitherto
applied to any useful purpose are : —
1473. Galbanum, obtained from the stem of the Bubon gal- 1481. Myrrh, the plant yielding which grows in Abyssinia
bknum. and Arabia. Bruce says it belongs to the genus Blimosa ;
1474. Ammoniac, brought from Africa, In the form of small but however this may be, myrrh is the juice of the plant
tears; the plant which yields it is thought to be a species of concreted in the form of tears. Its colour is yellow, its odour
Ferula. strong but agreeable, and its taste bitter ; it is employed in
1475. Scammony, the produce of the Convdlvulus Scammbnia. medicine, and is esteemed an excellent stomachic.
1476. Opoponax, obtained from the Pastinaca opdponax. 1482. Assajietida, a substance which is well known for its
1477. Euphorbium, the produce of the Buphdrlita officinalis. Strong and fetid smell, is obtained from theF^iula assafoe'tida.
Its taste is caustic ; it is considered as a poison, but is occa- At four years old the plant is dug up by the root. The root
sionally employed in medicine. is then clpaned, and the extremity cut off; a milky juice
1478. Oiiianuni is obtained from the Bosw^liaserrkta, which exudes, which is collected; and when it ceases to flow an-
grows in Arabia, particularly by the borders of the Red Sea. other portion is cut off, and more juice extricated. The pro-
It is the frjmkincense of the ancient*. It exudes from in- cess is continued till the root is exhausted. The juice which
cisions made in the tree, and concretes into masses about the has been collected soon concretes, and constitutes assafoetida.
size of a chestnut. It is brought to Europe in small agglutinated grains of dif-
1479. Sagapenum is supposed to be obtained from the Ferula ferent colours, white, red, yellow. It is hard, but brittle. Its
p^rsica. taste is bitter, and its smell insufferably fetid ; the Indians
l^Wi. Gamboge, or gumgutt, tlie produce of the Garcfnio use it as a seasoning for their food, and call it the food of
Camtdgia. the gods. In Europe, it is used in medicine as an antispas-
modic.
1483. Balsams. The substances known by the name of balsams are resins united to the benzoic acid.
They are obtained by means of incisions made in the bark, from which a viscous juice exudes, which is
afterwards inspissated by the action of the fire or air, or they are obtained by means of boiling the part
that contains them. They are thick and viscid juices, but become readily concrete. Their colour is brown
or red ; their smell aromatic when rubbed ; their taste acrid ; their specific gravity 1090. They are un-
alterable in the air after becoming concrete. They are insoluble in water, but boiling water abstracts part
of their acid ; they are soluble in the alkalies and nitric acid. When heated they melt and swell, evolv-
ing a white and odorous smoke. The principal of the balsams are the following : benzoin, storax, styrax,
balsam of tolu, and balsam of Peru.
1484. Benzoin is the produce of the St^ax BenzbiTU 1487. Balsam of Mu is obtained from the Toluffera B^lsa-
1485. Storax is obtained from the Stjrax officinale. mum.
1486. Styrax is a semi-fluid juice, the produce of a tree seiid 1488. Balsam qf Peru is obtained from the Myrosp^rmum
to be cultivated in Arabia. . perufferum.
1489. Camphor. The substance known by the name of camphor is obtained from the root and stem of
the iaiirus Cdmphora and Dryobalanops Camphora, by distillation. When pure it is a white brittle sub-
stance, forming octagonal crystals or square plates. Its taste is hot and acrid ; its odour strong but
aromatic ; its specific gravity 09887. When broken into small fragments and put into water, on the
surface of which it swims, a singular phenomenon ensues. The water surrounding the fragments is
immediately put into commotion, advancing and retiring in little waves, and attacking the fragments with
violence. The minuter fragments are driven backwards and forwards upon the surface as if impelled by
contrary winds. If a drop of oil is let fall on the surface of the water it produces an immediate calm.
This phenomenon has been attributed to electricity. Fourcroy thinks it is merely the effect of the affinities
of the camphor, water, and air, entering into combination. Though camphor is obtained chiefly from the
ia6rus Cdmphora, yet it is known to exist in a great many other plants, particularly labiate plants, and
has been extracted from the roots of zodoary, sassafras, thyme, rosemary, and lavender.
1490. Caoutchouc. The substance denominated caoutchouc was first introduced into Europe about the
beginning of the eighteenth century ; but, from a use to which it is very generally applied of rubbing out
the marks made upon paper by a black-lead pencil, it is better known to most people in this country by
the name of Indian rubber. It is obtained chiefly from Siphbnia Cahuchu, a tree indigenous to South
America; but it has been obtained also from several trees which grow in the East Indies, such as i^lcus
Sndica and elastica, Artocarpus integrif(:)lia, and Urcfeola elastica. If an incision is made into the bark of
any of these plants a milky juice exudes, which, when exposed to the air, concretes and forms caoutchouc.
As the object of the natives in collecting it had been originally to form it into vessels for their own use, it
is generally made to concrete in the form of bags or bottles. This is done by applying the juice, when
fluid, in thin layers to a mould of dry clay, and then leaving it to concrete in the sun or by the fire, A
second layer is added to the first, and others in succession, till the vessel acquires the thickness that is
wanted. The mould is then broken and the vessel fit for use, and in this state it is generally brought
Book I.
VEGETABLE CHEMISTRY.
into Europa It has been brought, however, even in its milky state, by being confined from the action of
the air. If the milky juice is exposed to the air, an elastic pellicle is formed on the surface. If it is con-
fined in a vessel containing oxygen gas, the pellicle is formed sooner. If oxymuriatic acid is poured into
the milky juice, the caoutchouc precipitates immediately. This renders it probable that the formation of
the caoutchouc is owing to the absorption of oxygen. Caoutchouc, when pure, is of a white colour, with-
out taste and without smell. The black colour of the caoutchouc of commerce is owing to the method of
drying the diiferent layers upon the moulds on which they are spread. They are dried by being exposed
to smoke. The black colour of the caoutchouc, therefore, is owing to the smoke or soot alternating with
its different layers. It is soft and pliable like leather, and extremely elastic, so that it may be stretched
to a very great length, and still recover its former size. Its specific gravity is 09335. Gough, of Man.
Chester, has made some curious and important experiments on the connection between the temperature
of caoutchouc and its elasticity, from which it results that ductility as well as fluidity is owing to latent
heat. Caoutchouc is not altered by exposure to the air. It is perfectly insoluble in water ; but if boiled
in water for some time its edges become so soft that they will cement, if pressed and kept for a while close
together. It is insoluble in alcohol, but soluble in ether. It is soluble also in volatile oils and in alka-
lies. And from the action operated upon by acids it is thought to be composed of carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen, and azote. It seems to exist in a great variety of plants combined with other ingredients. It
may be separated from resins by alcohol. It may be separated from the berries of the mistletoe by means
of water, and from other vegetable substances by other processes. It is said to be contained both in opium
and in mastic ; but from these substances it cannot be extracted in sufficient quantities to make it worth
the labour. It is applied to a great many useful purposes both in medicine and the arts, to which, from
its great pliability and elasticity, it is uncommonly well adapted. In the countries where it is produced
the natives make boots and shoes of it, and often use it by way of candle.
1491. Cork. The substance known by the name of cork is the outer and exfoliated bark of the Gu^rcus
Siiber or cork tree, a species of oak that grows in great abundance in France, Spain, and Italy : but to
prevent its natural exfoliation, which is always irregular, and to disengage it in convenient portions, a
longitudinal incision is made in the bark from the root to the top of the stem ; and a transverse and cir-
cular incision at each extremity. The outer layer, which is cork, is then stripped off, and to flatten and
reduce it to sheets it is put into water and loaded with weights. The tree continues to thrive, though it
is thus stripped of its cork once in two or three years. Cork is a light, soft, and elastic substance, dis-
tinguished by the following properties: — Its colour is a sort of light tan. It is very inflammable, and
burns with a bright white flame, leaving a black and bulky charcoal behind. When distilled it yields a
small quantity of ammonia. Nitric acid corrodes and dissolves it, changing its colour to yellow ; and finally
decomposes it, converting it partly into an acid, and partly into a soft substance resembling wax or resin.
The acid which is thus formed is denominated the suberic acid, and has been proved by the experiments
of Lagrange to be an acid of a peculiar nature. It seems probable that cork exists in the bark of some
other trees, as well as that of the Quercus 5uber. The bark of the f/'lmus suberbsa assumes something
of the external appearance of cork, which it resembles in its thickness, softness, and elasticity, and in its
loose and porous texture, as well as also in its chemical properties. Fourcroy seems, indeed, to regard
the epidermis of all trees whatever to be a sort of cork, but does not say on what grounds his opinion is
founded.
1492. Woody fibre. The principal body of the root, stem, and branches of trees, is designated by the
appellation of wood ; but the term is too general for the purpose of analytical distinction, as the part
designated by it often includes the greater part of the substances that have been already enumerated. It
remains, therefore, to be ascertained whether there exists in the plant any individual substance different
from those already described, and constituting more immediately the fabric of the wood. If a piece of
wood is well dried and digested, first in water and then in alcohol, or such other solvent as shall produce
no violent effects upon the insoluble parts ; and if the digestion is continued till the liquid is no longer
coloured, and dissolves no more of the substance of the plant, there remains behind a sort of vegetable
skeleton, which constitutes the basis of the wood, and which has been denominated woody fibre. It is
composed of bundles of longitudinal threads, which are divisible into others still smaller. It is somewhat
transparent. It is without taste and smell, and is not altered by exposure to the atmosphere. It is inso-
luble in water and alcohol ; but the fixed alkalies decompose it with the assistance of heat. When heated
in the open air it blackens without melting or frothing, and exhales a thick smoke and pungent odour,
leaving a charcoal that retains the form of the original mass. When distilled in a retort it yields an em-
pyreumatic oil, carburetted hydrogen gas, carbonic acid, and a portion of ammonia, according to Four-
croy, indicating the presence of nitrogen as constituting one of its elementary principles ; and yet this
ingredient does not appear in the result of the later analysis of Gay Lussac and Thenard, which is, car-
bon, 5253 ; oxygen, 4178 ; hydrogen, 569 ; total 100.
1493. Charcoal. When wood is burnt with a smothered flame, the volatile parts are driven off by
the heat, and there remains behind a substance exhibiting the exact form, and even the several layers of
the original mass. This process is denominated charring, and the substance obtained charcoal. As it is
the woody fibre alone which resists the action of heat, while the other parts of the plants are dissipated, it
is plain that charcoal must be the residuum of woody fibre, and that the quantity of the one must depend
upon the quantity of the other, if they are not rather to be considered as the same. Charcoal may be ob-
tained from almost all parts of the plants, whether solid or fluid. It often escapes, however, during com-
bustion, under the form of carbonic acid, of which it constitutes one of the elements. From a variety of
experiments made on different plants and on their different parts, it appears that the green parts contain
a greater proportion of charcoal than the rest ; but this proportion is found to diminish in autumn, when
the green parts begin to be deprived of their glutinous and extractive juice. The wood contains more
charcoal than the alburnum, the bark more than both ; but this last result is not constant in all plants ;
because the bark is not a homogeneous substance, the outer parts being affected by the air and the inner
parts not. The wood of the Qutrcus iibbur, separated from the alburnum, yielded from 100 parts of its
dried substance 1975 of charcoal ; the alburnum, 175 ; the bark, 26 ; leaves gathered in May, 80 ; in
September, 26. But the quantity of charcoal differs also in different plants, as well as in different parts
of the same. According to the experiments of Mushet, 100 parts of the following trees afforded as
follows : —
Lignum vitae
Mahogem;
Laburnum
Chestnut
Oak - -
American black birch
- 26-8
- 25-4
- 24-5
- 23-2
- 22-6
- 21-4
Walnut -
- 20-6
Norway fir
- 19'2
Holly
- 19-9
SaUow
- 18-4
Beech
- 19-9
Ash - -
- 17-9
American maple
- 19-9
Birch . . . .
- 17-4
Elm . - - .
- 19-5
Scotch phje -
- 16-4
1494. The properties of charcoal are insolubility in water, of which, however, it absorbs a portion when
newly made, as also of atmospheric air. It is incapable of putrefaction. It is not altered by the most
violent heat that can be applied, if all air and moisture are excluded ; but when heated to about 800 it
burns in atmospheric air or oxygen gas, and if pure, without leaving any residuum. It is regarded by
chemists as being a triple compound, of which the ingredients are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Charcoal is of great utility both to the chemist and artist as a fuel for heating furnaces, as well as for a
variety of other purposes. It is an excellent filter for purifying water. It is a very good tooth-powder:
and IS also an indispensable ingredient in the important manufacture of gunpowder.
1495. The sap. If the branch of a vine is cut asunder early in the spring, before the leaves have begun
to expand, a clear and colourless fluid will issue from the wound, which gardeners denominate the tears of
224 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
the vine. It is merely, however, the ascending sap, and may be procured from almost any other plant by
thesame or similar means, and at the same season ; but particularly from the maple, birch, and walnut
tree, by means of boring a hole in the trunk. It issues chiefly from the porous and mixed tubes of the
alburnum ; though sometimes it does not flow freely till the bore is carried to the centre. A small branch
of a vine has been known to yield from twelve to sixteen ounces, in the space of twenty-four hours. A
maple tree of moderate size yields about 200 pints in a season, as has been already stated ; and a birch
tree has been known to yield, in the course of the bleeding season, a quantity equal to its own weight. In
the sap of Fagus sylvatica Vauquelin found the following ingredients : — Water, acetate of lime with ex-
cess of acid, acetate of potass, gallic acid, tannin, mucous and extractive matter, and acetate of alumina.
In 1039 parts of the sap of the f/'lmus campiJstris he found 1027 parts of water and volatile matter, 9240 of
acetate of potass, 1*060 of vegetable matter, OTQH of carbonate of lime, besides some slight indications of
the presence of sulphuric and muriatic acids ; and at a later period of the season he found the vegetable
matter increased, and the carbonate of lime and acetate of potass diminished. P'rom the above experi-
ments therefore, as well as from those of other chemists, it is plain that the sap consists of a great
variety of mgredients, differing in different species of plants ; though there is too little known concerning
it to warrant the deduction ofany general conclusions, as the number of plants whose sap has been hitherto
analysed is but very limited. It is the grand and principal source of vegetable ahment, and may be
regarded as being somewhat analogous to the blood of animals. It is not made use of by man, at least in
its natural state : but there are trees, such as the birch, whose sap may be manufactured into a very
pleasant wine ; and it is well known that the sap of the American maple tree yields a considerable
quantity of sugar.
1496. The proper juice. When the sap has received its last degree of elaboration from the different or.
gans through which it has to pass, it is converted into a peculiar fluid, called the proper juice. This fluid
may be distinguished from the sap by means of its colour, which is generally green, as in periwinkle ; or
red, as in logwood ; or white, as in spurge ; or yellow, as in celandine ; from the last two of which it may
readily be obtained by breaking the stem asunder, as it will then exude from the fracture. Its principal
seat is in the bark, where it occupies the simple tubes ; but sometimes it is situated between the bark and
wood, as in the juniper tree ; or in the leaf, as in the greater parts of herbs ; or it is diffused throughout
the whole plant, as in the fir and hemlock ; in which case, either the proper juice mixes with the sap, or
the vessels containing it have ramifications so fine as to be altogether imperceptible. It is not, however,
the same in all plants, nor even in the difterent parts of the same plant. In the cherry tree it is mucila-
ginous ; in the pine it is resinous ; in spurge and celandine it is caustic, though resembling in appearance
an emulsion. In many plants the proper juice of the bark is different from that of the flower ; and the
proper juice of the fruit different from both. Its appearance under the microscope, according to Senebier,
is that of an assemblage of small globules connected by small and prism-shaped substances placed between
them. If this juice could be obtained in a state of purity, its analysis would throw a considerable degree
of light upon the subject of vegetation ; but it seems impracticable to extract it without a mixture of
sap. Senebier analysed the milky juice of jBuphorb/a 6'yparissias, of which, though its pungency was
so great as to occasion an inflammation of the eyes to the person employed to procure it, he had obtained
a small quantity considerably pure. It mixed readily with water, to which it communicated its colour.
When left exposed to the air, a slight precipitation ensued; and, when allowed to evaporate, a thin and
opaque crust remained behind. Alcohol coagulated it into small globules. Ether dissolved it entirely, as
did also oil of turpentine. Sulphuric acid changed its colour to black ; nitric acid to green. The most
accurate experiments on the subject are those of Chaptal. When oxymuriatic acid was poured into the
peculiar juice of £uph6rb/rt, a very copious white precipitate fell down, which, when washed and dried,
had the appearance of starch, and was not altered by keeping. Alcohol, aided by heat, dissolved two
thirds of it, which the addition of water again precipitated. They had all the properties of resin. The
remaining third part possessed the properties of woody fibre. The same experiment was tried on the juice
of a variety of other plants, and the result uniformly was that oxymuriatic acid precipitated from them
woody fibre.
1497. The virtues of plants have generally been thought to reside in their proper juices, and the opinion
sllf ■ - • ■■ . .. ~.
seems indeed to be well founded. It is at least proved by experiment in the poppy, spurge, and fig. The
juice of the first is narcotic, of the last two corrosive. The diuretic and balsamic virtues of the fir reside
in its turpentine, and the purgative property of jalap in its resin. If sugar is obtained from the sap of the
sugar-cane and maple, it is only because it has been mixed with a quantity of proper juice. The bark
certainly contains it in greatest abundance, as may be exemplified in cinnamon and quinquina. But the
peach tree furnishes an exception to this rule : its flowers are purgative, and the whole plant aromatic ;
but its gum is without any distinguished virtues. Malpighi regarded the proper juice as the principle
of nourishment, and compared it to the blood of animals ; but this analogy does not hold very closely.
The sap is perhaps more analogous to the blood, from which the proper juice is rather a secretion. In
one respect, however, the analogy holds good, that is, with regard to extravasated blood and peculiar
juices. If the blood escapes from the vessels it forms neither flesh nor bones, but tumours ; and if the pro-
per juices escape from the vessels containing them, they form neither wood nor bark, but a lump or
deposit of inspissated fluid. To the sap or to the proper juice, or rather to a mixture of both, we must
refer such substances as are obtained from plants under the name of expressed juices, because it is evident
that they can come from no other source. In this state they are generally obtained in the first instance,
whether with a view to their use in medicine or their application to the arts. It is the business of the
chemist or artist to separate and purify them afterwards, according to the peculiar object he may happen
to have in view, and the use to which he purposes to apply them. They contain, like the sap, acetate of
potass or of lime, and assume a deeper shade of colour when exposed to the fire or air. The oxymuriatic
acid precipitates from them a coloured and flaky substance as from the sap, and they yield by evaporation
a quantity of extract ; but they differ from the sap in exhibiting no traces of tannin or gallic acid, and
but rarely of the saccharine principle.
1498. Ashes. When vegetables are burnt in the open air the greatest part of their substance is evapo-
rated during the process of combustion ; but ultimately there remains a portion which is altogether
incombustible, and incapable of being volatilised by the action of fire. This residuum is known by the
name of ashes. Herbaceous plants, after being dried, yield more ashes than woody plants ; the leaves
more than the branches ; and the branches more than the trunk. The alburnum yields also more ashes
than the wood ; and putrefied vegetables yield more ashes than the same vegetables in a fresh state, if the
putrefaction has not taken place in a current of water. The result of Saussure's exi)eriments on 1000 parts
of different plants was as follows : — -
GoiAerfd in Jlfai/, dried leaves of the oak . - . . . 53 part* qf athes.
green leaves of the oalc - - - - 13
dried leaves of the Rhododendron - - - 50
dried leaves of the .,aB'sculus HipBocSstanum - 72
trunk and branches of .(E'sculus Hippocfctanum 35
Gathered in September, dried leaves of the .^sculus Hippocdstanum 86
dried leaves of the oak - - - - 55
green leaves of the oak - - - - 24
Gathered when injlower, leaves of Pisum sativum - - - 95
Gathered when in fruit, leaves of Plsum satlviun - - - 81
leaves of Fkba. vulgaris • - - 20
Gathered liejhre coming intojlower, the leaves of the Fkba. -mlgkris 16
Oak, the dried bark 60, the alburnum 4, wood .... 2
Book I. VEGETABLE CHEMISTRY. 225
1499. The analysis of the ashes of plants, with a view to the discovery of the ingredients of which they
are composed, produces alkalies, earths, and metals, which must therefore be considered as ingredients in
the composition of the vegetable. But vegetable ashes contain also a variety of other principles, occur-
ring, however, in such small proportions as generally to escape observation. Perhaps they contain also
substances not capable of being volatilised by the action of fire.
1500. Alkalies. The alkalies are a peculiar class of substances, distinguished by a caustic taste and
the property of changing vegetable blues to green. They are generally regarded as being three in num-
ber, potass, soda, and ammonia, of which the two former only are found in the ashes of vegetables. Am-
monia is, indeed, often obtained from vegetable substances by means of distillation, but then it is always
formed during the process. If the ashes of land vegetables, burnt in the open air, are repeatedly washed
in water, and the water filtered and evaporated to dryness, potass is left behind. The potass of commerce
is manufactured in this manner, though it is not quite pure : but it may be purified by dissolving it in
spirits of wine, and evaporating the solution to dryness in a silver vessel When pure it is white and semi,
transparent, and is extremely caustic and deliquescent. It dissolves all soft animal substances, and changes
vegetable blues into green. It dissolves alumina, and also a small quantity of silex, with which it fuses
into glass by the aid of fire. It had been long suspected by chemists to be a compound substance : and
according to the notable discovery by Sir H. Davy, its component parts are at last ascertained to be
oxygen and a highly inflammable metal, which he denominates potassium, one proportion of each. Soda
is found chiefly in marine plants, from the ashes of which it is obtained by means of lixiviation. It exists
in great abundance in Salsola Soda, Zostfera maritima, and various species of i^fici. It is generally
obtained in the state of a carbonate, but is purified in the same manner as potass, to which it is similar in its
properties; but from which it is easily distinguished by its forming a hard soap with oil, while potass forms
a soft soap. It consists, according to Sir H. Davy, of one proportion of a metal which he denominates
sodium, and two proportions of oxygen. Such are the only vegetable alkalies, and the modes of obtaining
them. They are found generally in the state of carbonates, sulphates, or muriates, salts which form, beyond
all comparison, the most abundant ingredient in the ashes of green herbaceous i^ants whose parts are in a
state of vegetation. The ashes of the golden rod, growing in an uncultivated soil, and of the bean, turn-
sole, and wheat, were found by Saussure to contain at least three fourths of their weight of alkaline salts.
This was nearly the case also with the leaves of trees just bursting from the bud. But the proportion of
alkaline salts is found to diminish, rather than to augment, as the parts of the plant are developed.
The ashes of the leaves of the oak, gathered in May, yielded 47 parts in the 100 of alkaline salts ; and, in
September, only 17.
1501. The utility qf the alkalies, as obtained from vegetables, is of the utmost importance in the arts,
particularly in the formation of glass and of soaps. If a mixture of soda, or potass, and silex, or sand, in
certain proportions, is exposed to a violent heat, the ingredients are melted down into a fluid mass, which
is glass in a state of fusion. In this state it may be moulde<i into almost any form, at the pleasure of the
artist': and, accordingly, we find that it is manufactured into a great variety of utensils and instruments,
under the heads of flint glass, crown glass, bottle glass. Bottle glass is the coarsest ; it is formed of soda
and common sand, and is used in the manufacture of the coarser sort of bottles. Crown glass is composed
of soda and fine sand : it is moulded into large plates for the purpose of forming window-glasses and
looking-glasses. Flint glass is the finest and most transparent of all : that which is of the best quality is
composed of 120 parts of white silicious sand, 40 parts of pearl-ash, 35 of red oxide of lead, 13 of nitrate of
potass, and 25 of black oxide of manganese. It is known also by the name of crystal, and may be cut and
polished so as to serve for a variety of ornamental purposes, as well as for the more important and more
useful purpose of forming optical instruments, of whicli the discoveries made with the telescope and the
microscope are the curious or sublime results. If a quantity of oil is mixed with half its weight of a strong
solution of soda or potass, a combination takes place which is rendered more complete by means of boiling.
The new compound is soap. The union of oil with potass forms a soft soap, and with soda hard soap ; sub.
stances of the greatest efficacy as detergents, and of the greatest utility in the washing and bleaching of
linen. The alkalies are used also in medicine, and found to be peculiarly efficacious in the reduction of
urinary calculi.
1502. Earths. The only earths which have hitherto been found in plants are the
following : lime, silica, magnesia, and alumina.
1503. Lime is by far the most abundant earth. It is generally combined with a portion of phosphoric,
carbonic, or sulphuric acid, fohning phosphates, or carbonates, or sulphates of lime. The phosphate of
lime is, next to the alkaline salt, the most abundant ingredient in the ashes of green herbaceous plants
whose parts are all in a state of vegetation. The leaf of a tree, bursting from the bud, contains in its ashes
a greater portion of earthy phosphate than at any other period : 100 parts of the ashes of the leaves of
the oak, gathered in May, furnished 24 parts of earthy phosphate ; in September, only 1825. In annual
plants the proportion of earthy phosphate diminishes from the period of their germination to that of their
flowering. Plants of the bean, before flowering, gave 145 parts of earthy phosphate ; in flower, only 13"5.
Carbonate of lime is, next to phosphate of lime, the most abundant of the earthy salts that are found in
vegetables. But if the leaves of plants are washed in water the proportion of carbonate is augmented.
This is owing to the subtraction of their alkaline salts and phosphates in a greater proportion than their
lime. In green herbaceous plants whose parts are in a state of increase, there is but little carbonate of
lime ; but the ashes of the bark of trees contain an enormous quantity of carbonate of lime, and much
more than the alburnum, as do also the ashes of the wood. The ashes of most seeds contain no carbonate
of lime ; but they abound in phosphate of potass. Hence the ashes of plants, at the period of the maturity
of the fruit, yields less carbonate of lime than at any previous period.
1504. Silica is not found to exist in a great proportion in the ashes of vegetables, unless they have been
previously deprived of their salts and phosphates by washing; but, when the plants are washed in water,
the proportion of their silica augments. The ashes of the leaves of the hazel, gathered in May, yielded
25 parts of silica in 100. The same leaves, washed, yielded four parts in 100. Young plants, and leaves
bursting from the bud, contain but little of silica in their ashes ; but the proportion of silica augments as
the parts are developed. Perhaps this is owing to the diminution of the alkaline salts. The ashes of
some stalks of wheat gathered a month before the time of flowering, and having some of the radical leaves
withered, contained 12 parts of silica and 65 of alkaline salts in 100. At the period of their flowering, and
when more of their leaves were withered, the ashes contained 32 parts of silica and 54 of alkaline salts.
Seeds divested of their external covering, contain less silica than the stem furnished with its leaves ; and
it is somewhat remarkable that there are trees of which the bark, alburnum, and wood contain scarcely
any silica, and the leaves a great deal, particularly in autumn. This is a phenomenon that seems inexpli-
cable. The greater part of the grasses contain a very considerable proportion of silica, as do also the plants
of the genus jBquisfetum. Sir H. Davy has discovered that it forms a part of the epidermis of these plants,
and in some of them the principal part. From 100 parts of the epidermis of the following plants the pro-
portions of silica were, in bonnet cane, 90 ; bamboo, 71 4 ; common reed, 481 ; stalks of corn, 665. Owing
to the silica contained in the epidermis, the plants in which it is found are sometimes used to give a polish
to the surface of subtances where smoothness is required. The Dutch rush (jBquisfetum hyemale), a plant
of this kind, is used to poUsh even brass.
1505. Magnesia does not exist so abundantly in the vegetable kingdom, as the two preceding earths. It
has been found, however, in several of the marine plants, particularly the Fiici ; but Salsbia Soda contains
Q
226 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
more of magnesia than any other plant yet examined. According to Vauquelin, 100 parts of it contain
17 '929 of Magnesia.
1506. Alumina has been detected in several plants, but never except in very small quantities.
1507. Metallic oxides. Among the substances found in the ashes of vegetables, we must class also metals.
They occur, however, only in small quantities, and arc not to be detected except by the most delicate
experiments. The metals hitherto discovered in plants are iron, manganese, and perhaps gold. Of these
iron is by far the most common. It occurs in the state of an oxide ; and the ashes of hard and woody plants,
such as the oak, are said to contain nearly one twelfth of their own weight of this oxide. The ashes of
Salsbla contain also a considerable quantity. The oxide of manganese was first detected in the ashes of
vegetables byScheele, and afterwards found by Proust in the ashes of the pine, calendula, vine, green oak,
and fig tree. Beccher, Kunckel, and Sage, together with some other chemists, contend also for the
existence of gold in the ashes of certain plants ; but the very minute portion which they found, seems more
likely to have proceeded from the lead employed in the process, than from the ashes of the plant. It has
been observed by Saussure, that the proportion of the oxides of iron and of manganese augments in the
ashes of plants as their vegetation advances. The leaves of trees furnish more of these principles in
autumn than in spring, as do those of annual plants. Seeds contain metals in less abundance than the stem ;
and if plants are washed in water, the proportions of their metallic oxides are augmented.
1508. Such are the principal ingredients that enter into the vegetable composition. They are indeed
numerous, though some of them, such as the metallic oxides, occur in such small proportions as to render
it doubtful whether they are in reality vegetable productions or not. The same thing may be said of some
of the other ingredients that have been found in the ashes of plants, which it is probable have been
absorbed ready formed by the root, and deposited unaltered, so that they can scarcely be at all regarded as
being the genuine products of vegetation.
1509. Other substances. Besides the substances above enumerated, there are also several others which have
been supposed to constitute distinct and peculiar genera of vegetable productions, and which might have
been introduced under such a character; such as the mucus, jelly, sarcocol, asparagin, inulin, and ulmin,
of Dr. Thomson, as described in his well known Si/ste?n of Chefnistri/ ; but as there seems to be some
difference of opinion among chemists with regard to them, and a belief entertained that they are but
varieties of one or other of the foregoing ingredients, it is sufficient for the purposes of this work to have
merely mentioned their names. Several other substances, of a distinct and peculiar character, have been
suspected to exist in vegetable productions : such as the febrifuge principle of Seguin, as discovering itself
in Peruvian bark ; the principle of causticity or acridity of Senebier, as discovering itself in the roots of
i?anunculus bulbbsus, Scilla maritima, ^yunia alba, and A\um maculatum, in the leaves of Digitcllis pur-
purea, in the bark of Daphne Meztreon, and in the juice of the spurges : to which may be added the fluid
exuded from the sting of the common nettle, the poisons inherent in some plants, and the medical virtues
inherent in others ; together with such peculiar principles as may be presumed to exist in such regions
of the vegetable kingdom as remain yet unexplored. The important discoveries which have already
resulted from the chemical analysis of vegetable substances encourage the hope that further discoveries will
be the result of further experiment ; and, from the zeal and ability of such chemists as are now directing
their attention to the subject, every thing is to be expected.
Sect. II. Simple Products.
1510. A very few constituent and uncompounded elements include all the compound
ingredients of vegetables. The most essential of such compounds consist of carbon,
oxygen, and hydrogen ; a small proportion of nitrogen is said to be found only in cruci-
form plants. The remaining elementary principles which plants have been found to
contain, although they may be necessary in the vegetable economy, yet they are by no
means principles of the first importance, as occurring only in small proportions, and be-
ing dependent in a great measure on soil and situation ; whereas the elements of carbon,
oxygen, and hydrogen form as it were the very essence of the vegetable subject, and
constitute by their modifications the peculiar character of the properties of the plant.
This is conspicuously exemplified in the result of the investigations of Gay Lussac, and
Thenard, who have deduced from a series of the most minute and delicate experiments
the three following propositions, which they have dignified by the name of Laws of Ve-
getable Nature (Traite de Chem. Element,, tom. iii. chap, iii.) : — 1st, Vegetable sub-
stances are always acid, when the oxygen they contain is to the hydrogen in a greater
proportion than in water ; 2dly, Vegetable substances are always resinous, or oily, or
spirituous, when the oxygen they contain is to the hydrogen in a smaller proportion than
in water ; 3dly, Vegetable substances are neither acid nor resinous, but saccharine, or
mucilaginous, or analogous to woody fibre or starch, when the oxygen and hydrogen they
contain are in the same proportion as in water. (See Dr. Thomsons System of Chemistry.)
Chap. IV.
Functions of Vegetables.
1511. The life, growth, and propagation of plants necessarily involve the several
following topics : germination, nutriment, digestion, growth and developement of parts,
anomalies of vegetable developement, sexuality of vegetables, impregnation of the
vegetable germen, changes consequent upon impregnation, propagation and dispersion
of the species, causes limiting the dispersion of the species, evidence and character of
vegetable vitality.
Book I. GERMINATION OF THE SEED. 227
Sect. I. Germination of the Seed.
1512. Germination is that act or operation of the vegetative principle, by which the
embryo is extricated from its envelopes, and converted into a plant. This is univer-
sally the first part of the process of vegetation; for it may be regarded as an indu-
bitable fact, that all plants spring originally from seed. The conditions necessary to
germination relate either to the internal state of the seed itself, or to the circumstances
in wliich it is placed with regard to surrounding substances.
1513. The first condition necessary to germination is, that the seed must have reached maturity. Un-
ripe seeds seldom germinate, because tlieir parts are not yet prepared to form the chemical combinations
on which germination depends. There are some seeds, however, whose germination is said to commence
in the very seed-vessel, even before the fruit is ripe, and while it is yet attached to the parent plant
Such are those of the Tangekoili of Adanson, and Agave vivipara of East Florida, as well as those of the
C^amus Ne/i'mibo of Sir J. E. Smith, or sacred bean of India ; to which may be added the seeds of the com-
com garden radish, pea, lemon, &c. But these are examples of rare occurrence ; though it is sometimes
necessary to sow or plant the seed ahnost as soon as it is fully ripe, as in the case of the coffee-bean ;
which will not germinate unless it is sown within five or six weeks after it has been gathered. Most
seeds, however, if guarded from external injury, will retain their germinating faculty for a period of many
years. This has been proved by the experiment of sowing seeds which have been long so kept ; as well as
by the deep ploughing up of fields which have been long left without cultivation. A field which was thus
ploughed up, near Dunkeld, in Scotland, after a period of forty years' rest, yielded a considerable blade of
black oats without sowing. This could have only been by the plough's bringing up to the surface seeds
which had been formerly too deeply lodged for germination.
1514. T/ie second condition is, that the seeds sown must be defended from the action of the rays of light.
This has no doubt been long known to be a necessary condition of germination, if we regard the practice
of the harrowing or raking in of the grains or seeds sown by the farmer or gardener as being founded
upon it.
1515. A third condition necessary to germination is the access of heat. No seed has ever been known
to germinate at or below the freezing point. Hence seeds do not germinate in winter, even though
lodged in their proper soil : but the vital principle is not necessarily destroyed in consequence of this
exposure ; for the seed will germinate still, on the return of spring, when the ground has been again
thawed, and the temperature raised to the proper degree. This degree varies considerably in dif-
ferent species of seeds, as is obvious from observing the times of their germination, whether in the same
climate or in different ones : for if seeds, which naturally sow themselves, germinate in different climates at
the same period, or in the same climate at different periods, the temperature necessary to their germi-
nation must of consequence be different. Now these cases are constantly occurring and presenting them-
selves to our notice ; and have also been made the subject of particular observation. Adanson found
that seeds which will germinate in the space of twelve hours in an ordinary degree of heat, may be made
to germinate in the space of three hours by exposing them to a greater degree of heat; and that seeds
transported from the climate of Paris to that of Senegal, have their periods of germination accelerated
from one to three days. {Fainilles des Plantes, vol. i. p. 84.) Upon the same principle, seeds transported
from a warmer to a colder climate, have their periods of germination protracted till the temperature of the
latter is raised to that of the former. This is well exemplified in the case of green-house and hot-house
plants, from which it is also obvious that the temperature must not be raised beyond a certain degree,
otherwise the vital principle is totally destroyed.
1516. A fourth condition necessary to germination is the access of moisture. Seeds will not germinate
if they are kept perfectly dry. Water, therefore, or some liquid equivalent to it, is essential to germi-
nation. Hence rain is always acceptable to the farmer or gardener, immediately after he has sown his
seeds ; and, if no rain falls, recourse must be had, if possible, to artificial watering. But the quantity of
water applied is not a matter of indifference. There may be too little or there may be too much. If there
be too little, the seed dies for want of moisture ; if there be too much, it then rots. The case is not the
same, however, with all seeds. Some can bear but little moisture, though others will germinate even
when partially immersed ; as was proved by an experiment of Du Hamel's, at least in tlie case of peas,
which he placed merely upon a piece of wet sponge, so as to immerse them by neaiiy the one half, and
which germinated as if placed in the soil. But this was found to be the most they could bear ; for when
totally immersed in the water they rotted. There are some seeds, however,which will germinate even
when wholly submersed. The seeds of aquatics must of necessity germinate under water ; and peas have
been known to do so under certain conditions.
1517. A fifth condition necessary to germination is the access of aimospheiic air. Seeds will not germi-
nate if placed in a vacuum. Ray introduced some grains of lettuce-seed into the receiver of an air-pump,
which he then exhausted. The seeds did not germinate. But they germinated upon the readmission of
the air, which is thus proved by consequence to be necessary to their germination. Achard proved that
no seed will germinate in nitrogen gas, or carbonic acid gas, or hydrogen gas, except when mixed with a
certain proportion of oxygen gas ; and hence concluded that oxygen gas is necessary to the germination
of all seeds, and the only constituent part of the atmospheric air which is absolutely necessary. Hum-
boldt lound that the process of germination is accelerated by means of previously steeping the seed in
water impregnated with oxymuriatic acid. Cress-seed treated in this manner germinated in the space
of three hours, though its ordinary period of germination is not less than thirty-two hours.
1518. The period necessary to comj^ete the process of germination is not the same in all
seeds, even when all the necessary conditions have been furnished. Some species require
a shorter, and others a longer period. The grasses ai-e among the number of those plants
whose seeds are of the most rapid germination ; then perhaps cruciform plants ; then
leguminous plants ; then labiate plants ; then umbelliferous plants ; and in the last
order rosaceous plants, whose seeds germinate the slowest. The following table in-
dicates the periods of the germination of a considerable variety of seeds, as observed
by Adanson : —
Wlieat, Millet-seed
Spinach, Beans, Mustard
Lettuce, Aniseed
Melon, Cucumber, Cress"
seed
)ays.
Days.
Days.
1
Radish, Beet-root
6
Hyssop . . . 50
3
Barley from
- 4 to 7
Parsley - - - 40 or .W
4
Orache
8
Almond, Chestnut, Peach 1 year
5
Purslane
9
Kose, Hawthorn, Filbert 2 years.
Cabbage - - -
10
1519. Physical phenomena. When a seed is committed to the soil under the conditions
which have been just specified, the first infallible symptom of germination is to be detluced
Q 2
228 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
from the prolongation of the radicle {fig, 188. a),
bursting through its proper integuments, and direct-
ing its extremity downwards into the soil. The next
step in the process of germination is the evolution of
the cotyledon or cotyledons (c), unless the seed is al-
together acotyledonous, or the cotyledons hypogean,
as in the oak (6). The next step, in the case of seeds
furnished with cotyledons, is that of the extrication
of the plumelet (c), or first real leaf, from within the
cotyledon or from between the cotyledons, and its
expansion in the open air. The developement of the
rudiments of a stem(d), if the species is furnished
with one, is the last and concluding step, and the
plant is complete. Whatever way the seed may be
deposited, the invincible tendency of the radicle is to
descend and fix itself in the earth ; and of the plumelet, to ascend into the air. Many
conjectures have been offered to account for this. Knight accounts for it on the old
but revived principle of gravitation. Keith conjectures that it takes place from a power
inherent in the vegetable subject, analogous to what we call instinct in the animal sub-
ject, infallibly directing it to the situation best suited to the acquisition of nutriment and
consequent developement of its parts.
1520. The chemical phenomena of germination consist chiefly in the changes which are effected in the
nutriment destined for the support and developement of the embryo till it is converted into a plant.
This nutriment either passes through the cotyledons, or is contained in them ; because the embryo dies
when they are prematurely cut off! But the farinaceous substance of the cotyledons, at least in exal-
buminous seeds, is a proof that they themselves contain the nutriment. They are to be regarded, therefore,
as repositories of the food destined for the support of the embryo in its germinating state ; and, if the
seed is furnished with a distinct and separate albumen, then is the albumen to be regarded as the repo-
sitory of food, and the cotyledon or cotyledons as its channel of conveyance. But the food thus contained
in the albumen or cotyledons is not yet fitted for the immediate nourishment of the embryo : some
previous preparation is necessary; some change must be effected in its properties. This change is
effected by the intervention of chemical agency. The moisture imbibed by a seed placed in the earth is
immediately absorbed by the cotyledons or albumen, which it readily penetrates, and on which it imme-
diately begins to operate a chemical change, dissolving part of their farina, or mixing with their oily
particles, and forming a sort of emulsive juice. The consequence of this change is a slight degree of
fermentation, induced, perhaps, by the mixture of the starch and gluten of the cotyledons in the water
which they have absorbed, and indicated by the extraction of a quantity of carbonic acid gas, as well as
by the smell and taste of the seed. This is the commencement of the process of germination, which
takes place even though no oxygen gas is present. But if no oxygen gas is present, then the process
stops ; which shows that the agency of oxygen gas is indispensable to germination. Accordingly, when
oxygen gas is present, it is gradually inhaled by the seed ; and the farina of the cotyledons is found to
have changed its savour. Sometimes it becomes acid, but generally sweet, resembling the taste of sugar ;
and is consequently converted into sugar or some substance analogous to it. This is a further proof that
a degree of fermentation has been induced ; because the result is precisely the same in the process of the
fermentation of barley when converted into malt, as known by the name of the saccharine fermentation ;
in which oxygen gas is absorbed, heat and carbonic acid evolved, and a tendency to germination indi-
cated by the shooting of the radicle. The effect of oxygen, therefore, in the process, is that of converting
the farina of the albumen or cotyledons into a mild ajid saccharine food, fit for the nourishment of tlie
infant plant by diminishing the proportion of its carbon, and in augmenting, by consequence, that of its
oxygen and hydrogen. The radicle gives the first indications of life, expanding and bursting its integu-
ments, and at length fixing itself in the soil : the plumelet next unfolds its parts, developing the rudi-
ments of leaf, branch, and trunk : and, finally, the seminal leaves decay and drop off; and the embryo
has been converted into a plant, capable of abstracting immediately from the soil or atmosphere the
nourishment necessary to its future growth.
Sect. II. Food of the vegetating Plant,
1521 . The substances which plants abstract from the soil or atmosphere, or the food of the
vegetating plant, have long occupied the phytological enqvdrer. What then are the com-
ponent principles of the soil and atmosphere? The investigations and discoveries of
modern chemists have done much to elucidate this dark and intricate subject. Soil, in
general, may be regarded as consisting of earths, water, vegetable mould, decayed animal
substances, salts, ores, alkalies, gases, perhaps in a proportion corresponding to the order
in which they are now enumerated ; which is at any rate the fact with regard to the first
three, though their relative proportions are by no means uniform. The atmosphere has
been also found to consist of at least four species of elastic matter, nitrogen, oxygen,
carbonic acid gas, and vapour ; together with a multitude of minute particles detached
from the solid bodies occupying the surface of the earth, and wafted upon the winds.
Tlie two former ingredients exist in the proportion of about four to one ; carbonic acid
gas in the proportion of about one part in 100; and vapour in proportion still less.
Such then are the component principles of the soil and atmosphere, and the gources of vege-
table novuishment. But the whole of the ingredients of the soil and atmosphere are not
taken up indiscriminately by tlie plant and converted into vegetable food, because plants
do not thrive indiscriminately in all varieties of soil. Part only ot the ingredients are
selected, and in certain proportions : as is evident from the analysis of the vegetable sub-
Stance given in the foregoing chapter, in which it was found that carbon, hydrogen.
Book I. FOOD OF THE VEGETATING PLANT. 229
oxygen, and nitrogen, are the principal ingredients of plants ; while the other ingredients
contained in them occur but in very small proportions. It does not however follow, that
these ingredients enter the plant in an uncombined and insulated state, because they do
not always so exist in the soil and atmosphere ; it follows only that they are inhaled or
absorbed by the vegetating plant, under one modification or another. The plant then does
not select such principles as are the most abundant in the soil and atmosphere ; nor in
the proportions in which they exist ; nor in an uncombined and insulated state. But
what are the substances actually selected ; in what state are they taken up ; and in what
proportions ? In order to give arrangement and elucidation to the subject, it shall be
considered under the following heads : Water, Gases, Vegetable Extracts, Salts, Earths,
Manures.
1522. Water. As water is necessary to the commencement of vegetation, so also is it
necessary to its progress. Plants will not continue to vegetate unless their roots be
supplied with water ; and if they be kept long without it, the leaves will droop and
become flaccid, and assume a withered appearance. Now this is evidently owing to the
loss of water ; for if the roots be again well supplied with water, the weight of the plant
is increased, and its freshness restored. But many plants will grow, and thrive, and
eifect the developement of all their parts, if the root be merely immersed in water,
though not fixed in the soil. Tulips, hyacinths, and a variety of plants with bulbous
roots, may be so reared, and are often to be met with so vegetating ; and many plants
will also vegetate though wholly immersed. Most of the marine plants are of this de-
scription. It can scarcely be doubted, therefore, that water serves for the purpose of a
vegetable aliment. But, if plants cannot be made to vegetate without water ; and if
they will vegetate, some when partly immersed without the assistance of soil, and some
even when totally immersed, so as that no other food seems to have access to them ; does
it not follow that water is the sole food of plants, the soil being merely the basis on
which they rest, and the receptacle of their food ? This opinion has had many advo-
cates ; and the arguments and experiments adduced in support of it were, at one time,
thought to have completely established its truth. It was indeed the prevailing opinion
of the seventeenth century, and was embraced by several philosophers even of the
eighteenth century ; but its ablest and most zealous advocates were Van Helmont,
Boyle, Du Hamel, and Bonnet, who contended that water, by virtue of the vital energy
of the plant, was suflScient to form all the different substances contained in vegetables.
Du Hamel reared in the above manner plants of the horsechestnut and almond to some
considerable size, and an oak till it was eight years old. But though he informs us
that they died at last only from neglect of watering, yet it seems extremely doubtful
whetlier they would have continued to vegetate much longer, even if they had been
watered ever so regularly : for he admits, in the first place, that they made less and less
progress every year ; and, in the second place, that their roots were found to be in a
very bad state. The result of a great variety of experiments is, that water is not the
sole food of plants, and is not convertible into the whole of the ingredients of the vege-
table substance, even with the aid of the vital energy ; though plants vegetating merely
in water do yet augment the quantity of their carbon.
1523. Gases. When water was found to be insufficient to constitute the sole food
of plants, recourse was next had to the assistance of the atmospheric air ; and the
vital energy of the plant was believed to be at least capable of furnishing all the dif-
ferent ingredients of the vegetable substance, by means of decomposing and combining,
in different ways, atmospheric air and water. But as this extravagant conjecture is
founded on no proof, it is consequently of no value. It must be confessed, however,
that atmospheric air is indispensably necessary to the health and vigour of the plant,
as may be seen by looking at the diflterent aspects of plants exposed to a free circulation
of air, and plants deprived of it : the former are vigorous and luxuriant ; the latter
weak and stunted. It may be seen also by means of experiment even upon a small
scale. If a plant be placed under a glass to which no new supply of air has access, it soon
begins to languish, and at length withers and dies : but particularly if it be placed under
the exhausted receiver of an air-pump ; as might indeed be expected from the failure of
the germination of the seed in similar circumstances. The result of experiments on this
subject is, that atmospheric air and water are not the only principles constituting the
food of plants. But as in germination, so also in the progress of vegetation, it is part
only of the component principles of the atmospheric air that are adapted to the purposes
of vegetable nutrition, and selected by the plant as a food. Let us take them in the
order of their reversed proportions.
1524. The qj^ect of the application of carbonic acid gas was found to be altogether prejudicial in the pro-
cess of the germination of the seed : but in the process of subsequent vegetation its application has been
found, on the contrary, to be extremely beneficial. Plants will not indeed vegetate in an atmosphere of
pure carbonic acid, as was first ascertained by Dr. Priestley, who found that sprigs of mint growing in
water, and placed over wort in a state of fermentation, generally became dead in the space of a day,
and did not even recover when put into an atmosphere of common air. Of a number of experiments the
results are : 1st, That carbonic acid gas is of great utility to the growth of plants vegetating in the sun, as
Q 3
230 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
applied to the leaves and branches, and whatever increases the proportion of this gas In their atmo-
sphere, at least within a given degree, forwards vegetation ; 2d, That, as applied to the leaves and
branches of plants, it is prejudicial to vegetation in the shade, if administered in a proportion beyond
that in which it exists in atmospheric air ; 3d, That carbonic acid gas, as applied to the roots of plants, is
also beneficial to their growth, at least in the more advanced stages of vegetation.
1525. As oxygen is essential to the commencement and progress of germination, so also it is essential to
the progress of vegetation. It is obvious, then, that the experiment proves that it is beneficial to the
growth of the vegetable as applied to the root ; necessary to the developement of the leaves ; and to the
developement of the flower and fruit. The flower-bud will not expand if confined in an atmosphere
deprived of oxygen, nor will the fruit ripen. Flower-buds confined in an atmosphere of pure nitrogen
faded without expanding. A bunch of unripe grapes introduced into a globe of glass which was luted by
its orifice to the bough, and exposed to the sun, ripened without effecting any material alteration in its
atmosphere : but when a bunch was placed in the same circumstances, with the addition of a quantity of
lime, the atmosphere was contaminated, and the grapes did not ripen. Oxygen, therefore, is essential to
the developement of the vegetating plant, and is inhaled during the night.
1526. Though nitrogen gas constitutes by far the greater part of the mass of atmospheric air, it does not
seem capable of affording nutriment to plants ; for as seeds will not germinate, so neither will plants
vegetate, in it, but for a very limited time, with the exception of the /'inca minor, iy thrum Salicaria,
/'nula dysenterica, Epilobium hirsutum, and Polygonum Persicaria, which seem to succeed equally well
in an atmosphere of nitrogen gas as in an atmosphere of common air. Nitrogen is found in almost all
vegetables, particularly in the wood, in extract, and in their green parts, derived, no doubt, from the
extractive principle of vegetable mould.
1527. Hi/drogen gas. A plant of the Epilbbium hirsiltum, which was confined by Priestley in a receiver
filled with inflammable air or hydrogen, consumed one third of its atmosphere and was still green.
Hence Priestley inferred, that it serves as a vegetable food, and constitutes even the true and proper
pabulum of the plant. But the experiments of later phytologists do not at all countenance this opinion.
The conclusion from various experiments is, that hydrogen is unfavourable to vegetation, and does not
serve as the food of plants. But hydrogen is contained in plants, as is evident from their analysis : and if
they refuse it when presented to them in a gaseous state, in what state do they then acquire it ? To this
question it is sufficient for the present to reply, that if plants do not acquire their hydrogen in the state of
gas, they may at least acquire it in the state of water, which is indisputably a vegetable food, and of
which hydrogen constitutes one of the component parts.
1528. Vegetable extract. When it was found that atmospheric air and water are not,
even conjointly, capable of furnishing the whole of the aliment necessary to the de-
velopement of the plant, it was then alleged that, with the exception of water, all sub-
stances constituting a vegetable food must at least be administered to the plant in a
gaseous state. But this also is a conjecture unsupported by proof; for even with
regard to such plants as grow upon a barren rock, or in pure sand, it cannot be said that
they receive no nourishment whatever besides water, except in a gaseous state. Many of
the particles of decayed animal and vegetable substances, which float on the atmosphere
and attach themselves to the leaves, must be supposed to enter the plant in solution with
the moisture which the leaves imbibe ; and so also similar substances contained in the
soil must be supposed to enter it by the root : but these substances may certainly con-
tain vegetable nourishment ; and they will perhaps be found to be taken up by the
plant in proportion to their degree of solubility in water, and to the quantity in which
they exist in the soil. Now one of the most important of these substances is vegetable
extract. When plants have attained to the maturity of their species, the principles of
decay begin gradually to operate upon them, till they at length die and are converted
into dust or vegetable mould, which, as might be expected, constitutes a considerable
proportion of the soil. The chance then is, that it is again converted into vegetable
nourishment, and again enters the plant. But it cannot wholly enter the plant, because
it is not wholly soluble in water. Part of it, however, is soluble, and consequently
capable of being absorbed by the root, and that is the substance which has been denomi-
nated extract.
1529. Saussure filled a large vessel with pure mould of turf, and moistened it with distilled or rain
water, till it was saturated. At the end of five days, when it was subjected to the action of the press,
10,000 parts in weight of the expressed and filtered fluid yielded, by evaporation to dryness, 26 parts of
extract. In a similar experiment upon the mould of a kitchen-garden which had been manured with dung,
10,000 parts of a fluid yielded 10 of extract ; and, in a similar experiment upon mould taken from a well-
cultivated corn field, 10,000 parts of fluid yielded 4 parts of extract. Such was the result in these par-
ticular cases. But the quantity of extract which may be separated from the common soil is not in general
very considerable. After twelve decoctions, all that could be separated was about one eleventh of its
weight ; and yet this seems to be more than sufficient for the purposes of vegetation : for a soil containing
this quantity was found by experiment to be less fertile, at least for peas and beans, than a soil containing
only one half or two thirds of the quantity. But if the quantity of extract must not be too much, neither
must it be too little. Plants that were put to vegetate in soil deprived of its extract, as far as repeated
decoctions could deprive it, were found to be much less vigorous and luxuriant than plants vegetating in
soil not deprived of its extract : and yet the only perceptible difference between them is, that the former
can imbibe and retain a much greater quantity of water than the latter. From this last experiment, as
well as from the great proportion in which it exists in the living plant, it evidently follows that extract
constitutes a vegetable food. But extract contains nitrogen ; for it yields by distillation a fluid impregnated
with ammonia. The difficulty^ therefore, of accounting for the introduction of nitrogen into the vegeta-
ting plant, as well as for its existence in the mature vegetable substance, is done away ; for, although the
plant refuses it when presented in a gaseous state, it is plain that it must admit it along with the extract
It seems also probable that a small quantity of carbonic acid gas enters the plant along with the extractive
principle, as it is known to contain this gas also.
1 5S0. Salts, in a certain proportion, are found in most plants, such as nitrate, muriate,
and sulphate of potass or soda, as has been already shown. These salts are known to
exist in the soil, and the root is supposed to absorb them in solution with the water by
which the plant is nourished. It is at least certain that plants may be made to take up
by the roots a considerable proportion of salts in a state of artificial solution. But if
Book I. FOOD OF THE VEGETATING PLANT. 231
salts are thus taken up by the root of the vegetating plant, does it appear that they are
taken up as a food ? Some plants, it must be confessed, are injured by the application of
salts, as is evident from the experiments of Saussure ; but others are as evidently benefited
by it. Trefoil and lucerne have their growth much accelerated by the application of sul-
phate of lime, though many other plants are not at all influenced by its action. The
parietaria, nettle, and borage will not thrive, except in such soils as contain nitrate of lime,
or nitrate of potass j and plants inhabiting the sea-coast, as was observed by Du Hamel,
will not thrive in a soil that does not contain muriate of soda. It has been thought, how-
ever, that the salts are not actually taken up by the root, though converted to purposes of
utility, by acting as astringents or corrosives in stopping up the orifices of the vessels of the
plant, and preventing the admission of too much water : but it is to be recollected that
the salts in question are found by analysis in the very substance of the plant, and must
consequently have entered in solution. It has been also thought that salts are favourable
to vegetation, only in proportion as they hasten the putrefaction of vegetable substances
contained in the soil, or attract the humidity of the atmosphere. But sulphate of lime is
not deliquescent ; and if its action consists merely in accelerating putrefaction, why is its
beneficial efiect confined but to a small number of plants ? Grisenthwaite {New Theory
of Agriculture, 1819, p. 111.) answers this question by stating, that as in the principal
grain crops which interest the agriculturist, there exists a particular saline substance
peculiar to each, so, if we turn our attention to the clovers and turnips, we shall still find
the same discrimination. Saintfoin, clover, and lucerne have long been known to con-
tain a notable quantity of gypsum (sulphate of lime) ; but such knowledge, very strange
to relate, never led to the adoption of gypsum as a manure for these crops, any more than
tliat of phosphate of lime for wheat, or nitrate of soda or potassa for barley. It is true
that gypsum has been long, and in various places, recommended as a manure, but its uses
not being understood, it was recommended without any reference to crop, or indeed to
the accomplishment of any fixed object. It is very well known that some particular ingre-
dient may be essential to the composition of a body, and yet constitute but a very small
proportion of its mass. Atmospheric air contains only about one part in the 100 of
carbonic acid ; and yet no one will venture to aflSrm that carbonic acid gas is merely an
adventitious and accidental element existing by chance in the air of the atmosphere, and
not an essential ingredient in its composition. Phosphate of lime constitutes but a very
small proportion of animal bodies, perhaps not one part in 500 ; and yet no one doubts
that it is essential to the composition of the bones. But the same salt is found in the
ashes of all vegetables ; and who will say that is not essential to their perfection.
15S1. Earths. As most plants have been found by analysis to contain a portion of
alkaline or earthy salts, so most plants have been found to contain also a portion of
earths : and as the two substances are so nearly related, and so foreign in their character
from vegetable substances in general, the same enquiry has consequently been made with
regard to tlieir origin. Whence are the earths derived that have been found to exist in
plants ? Chiefly from the soil. But in what peculiar state of combination do they enter
the vessels of the plant ? The state most likely to facilitate their absorption is that of their
solution in water, in which all the earths hitherto found in plants are known to be in a
slight degree soluble. If it be said that the proportion in which they are soluble is so
very small tliat it scarcely deserves to be taken into the account, it is to be recollected
that the quantity of water absorbed by the plant is great, while that of the earth
necessary to its health is but little, so that it may easily be acquired in the progress of
vegetation. Such is the manner in which their absorption seems practicable ; and
Woodward's experiments afford a presumption tliat they are actually absorbed by tlie
root.
1532. The proportion of earths contained in the ashes of vegetables depends upon the nature of thesoil in
which they grow. The ashes of the leaves of the /Rhododendron ferrugineum, growing on Mount Jura, a
calcareous mountain, yielded 432o parts of earthy carbonate, and only 075 of silica : but the ashes of
the leaves of a plant of the same species, growing on Mount Breven, a granitic mountain, yielded two parts
of silica, and only 1G75 of earthy carbonate. It is probable, however, that plants are not indebted merely to
the soil for the earthy particles which they may contain. They may acquire them partly from the atmo-
sphere. Margray has shown that rain-water contains silica in the proportion of a grain to a pound ; which, if
it should not reach the root, may possibly be absorbed along with the water that adheres to the leaves. But
although the earths are thus to be regarded as constituting a small proportion of vegetable food, they are
not of themselves sufficient to support the plant, even with the assistance of water. Giobert mixed
together lime, alumine, silica, and magnesia, in such proportions as are generally to be met with in fertile
soils, and moistened them with water. Several different grains were then sown in this artificial soil,
which germinated indeed, but did not thrive ; and perished when the nourishment of the cotyledons was
exhausted. It is plain, therefore, that the earths, though beneficial to the growth of some vegetables,
and perhaps necessary to the health of others, are by no means capable of affording any considerable de.
gree of nourishment to the plant.
1533. Suppli/ of food by manures and culture. With regard to the food of plants derived
from the atmosphere, the supply is pretty regular, at least, in as far as tlie gases are con-
cerned ; for they are not found to vary materially in their proportions on any part of the
surface of the globe : but the quantity of moisture contained in the atmosphere is con-
tinually varying, so that in tlie same season you have not always the same quantity,
Q 4
232 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
though in the course of the year the deficiency is perhaps made up. From the atmo-
sphere, therefore, there is a regular supply of vegetable food kept up by nature for the
support of vegetable life, independent of the aid of man : and if human aid were even
wanted, it does not appear that it could be of much avail. But this is by no means the
case -with regard to soils ; for if soils are less regular in their composition, they are at
least more within the reach of human management. The supply of food may be in-
creased by altering the mechanical or chemical constitution of soils ; and by the addi-
tion of food in the form of manures. The mechanical constitution of soils may be
altered by pulverisation, consolidation, draining, and watering ; their chemical properties
by aeration and torrification j both mechanical and chemical properties, by the addition
of earths or other substances ; and manures, either liquid or solid, are supplied by the
distribution of prepared fluids, dungs, and other nourishing matters, with or without
their interment. (See Book III.)
1 534. Soils in a state of culture, though consisting originally of the due proportion of
ingredients, may yet become exhausted of the principle (f fertility by means of too frequent
cropping ; whether by repetition of the same, or rotation of different, crops. In this
case, it should be the object of the phytologist, as well as of the practical cultivator,
to ascertain by what means fertility is to be restored to an exhausted soil, or commu-
nicated to a new one. In the breaking up of new soils, if the ground has been wet or
marshy, as is frequently the case, it is often suflScient to prepare it merely by means of
draining off the superfluous and stagnant water, and of paring and burning the turf upon
the surface. If the soil has been exhausted by too frequent a repetition of the same
crop, it often happens that a change of crop will answer the purpose of the cultivator ;
for, although a soil may be exhausted for one sort of grain, it does not necessarily follow
that it is also exhausted for another. Accordingly, the practice of the farmer is to
sow his crops in rotation, having in the same field a crop, perhaps, of wheat, barley,
beans, and tares in succession ; each species selecting in its turn some peculiar nutriment,
or requiring, perhaps, a smaller supply than the crop which has preceded it. But even
upon the plan of rotation, the soil becomes at length exhausted, and the cultivator is obliged
to have recourse to other means of restoring its fertility. In this case, an interval of re-
pose is considerably efficacious, as may be seen from the increased fertility of fields that
have not been ploughed up for many years, such as those used for pasture ; or even from
that of the walks and paths in gardens when they are again broken up. Hence also the
practice of fallowing, and of trenching, or deep ploughing which in some cases has nearly
the same effect as trenching.
1535. The fertUily of a soil is restored, in the case of draining, by means of its
carrying off all such superfluous moisture as may be lodged in the soil, which is well
known to be prejudicial to plants not naturally aquatics, as well as by its rendering the
soil more firm and compact. In the case of burning, the amelioration is effected by
means of the decomposition of the vegetable substances contained in the turf, and sub-
jected to the action of the fire, which disperses part also of the superfluous moisture, but
leaves a residue of ashes favourable to future vegetation. In the case of the rotation of
crops, the fertility is not so much restored, as more completely developed and brought into
action ; because the soil, though exhausted for one species of grain, is yet found to be
sufficiently fertile for another, the food necessary to each being different, or required in
less abundance. In the case of the repose of the soil, the restored fertility may be owing to
the decay of vegetable substances which are not now carried off in the annual crop, but left to
augment the proportion of vegetable mould ; or to the accumulation of fertilising particles
conveyed to the soil by rains ; or to the continued abstraction of oxygen from the atmo-
sphere. In the case of fallows, it is owing undoubtedly to the action of the atmospheric
air upon the soil, whether in rendering it more friable, or in hastening the putrefaction
of noxious plants ; or it is owing to the abstraction and accumulation of oxygen. In
the case of trenching, or deep ploughing, it is owing to the increased facility with which
the roots can now penetrate to the proper depth, by which their sphere of nourishment is
increased. But it often happens that the soil can no longer be ameliorated by any of the
foregoing means, or not at least with sufficient rapidity for the purposes of the cultivator ;
and in this case there must be a direct and actual application made to it of such sub-
stances as are fitted to restore its fertility. Hence the indispensable necessity of manures,
which consist chiefly of animal and vegetable remains that are buried and finally decom-
posed in the soil, from which they are afterwards absorbed by the root of the plant, in a
state of solution.
1536. But as carbon is the principal ingredient furnished by manures, as contributing to
tlie nourishment of the plant, and is not itself soluble in water, nor even disengaged by
fermentation in a state of purity ; under what state of chemical combination is its solu-
tion effected ? Is it effected in the state of charcoal ? It has been thought, indeed, that
carbon in the state of charcoal is soluble in water ; because water from a dunghill, when
evaporated, constantly leaves a residuum of charcoal, as was first ascertained by the ex-
Book I. PROCESS OF VEGETABLE NUTRITION. 233
periments of Hassenfratz. But there seem to be reasons for doubting the legitimacy of the
conclusion that has been drawn from it ; for Senebier found that plants whose roots were
immersed in water took up less of the fluid in proportion as it was mixed with water from
a dunghill. Perhaps then the charcoal of water from a dunghill is held merely in sus-
pension, and enters the plant under some other modification. But if carbon is not
soluble in water in the state of charcoal, in what other state is it soluble ? It is soluble
in the state of carbonic acid gas. But is this the state in which it actually enters the
root ? On this subject phytologists have been somewhat divided in opinion. Senebier
endeavours to prove that carbonic acid gas, dissolved in water, supplies the roots of plants
with almost all their carbon, and founds his arguments upon the following facts : — In the
first place, it is known that carbonic acid gas is soluble in water ; in the second place, it
is known to be contained in the soil, and generated by the fermentation of the materials
composing manures ; and, in the next place, it is known to be beneficial to vegetation
when applied artificially to the roots, at least in a certain degree. This is evident from
the following experiment of Ruckert, as well as from several experiments of Saussure's
previously related. Ruckert planted two beans in pots of equal dimensions, filled with
garden mould ; the one was moistened with distilled water, and the other with water im-
pregnated with carbonic acid gas. But the latter appeared above ground nine days
sooner than the former, and produced twenty-five beans ; while the former produced only
fifteen. Now the result of this experiment, as well as the preceding facts, is evidently
favourable to the presumption of Senebier, and shows that if carbonic acid is not the state
in which carbon enters the plant, it is at least a state preparatory to it ; and there are
other circumstances tending to corroborate the opinion, resulting from the analysis of the
ascending sap of plants. The tears of the vine, when analysed by Senebier, yielded a
portion of carbonic acid and earth ; and as the ascending sap could not be supposed to
have yet undergone much alteration, the carbonic acid, like the earth, was probably taken
up from the soil. But this opinion, which seems to be so firmly established upon the
basis of experiment, Hassenfratz strenuously controverts. According to experiments
which he had instituted with an express view to the investigation of this subject, plants
which were raised in water impregnated with carbonic acid differed in no respect from
such as grew in pure water, and contained no carbon that did not previously exist in the
seed. Now if this were the fact, it would be decisive of the point in question. But it
is plain from the experiments of Saussure, as related in the preceding section, that Has-
senfratz must have been mistaken, both with regard to the utility of carbonic acid gas as
furnishing a vegetable aliment, and with regard to the augmentation of carbon in the
plant. The opinion of Senebier, therefore, may still be correct. It must be acknow-
ledged, however, that the subject is not yet altogether satisfactorily cleared up ; and that
carbon may certainly enter the plant in some state different from that either of charcoal
in solution, or of carbonic acid gas. Is not carbonic acid of the soil decomposed before
entering the plant? This is a conjecture of Dr. Thomson's, founded upon the fol-
lowing facts : — The green oxide of iron is capable of decomposing carbonic acid ; and
many soils contain that oxide. Most soils, indeed, contain iron, either in the state of the
brown or green oxide, and it has been found that oils convert the brown oxide into
green. But dung and rich soils contain a quantity of oily substance. One effect of
manures, therefore, may be that of reducing the brown oxide of iron to the green, thus
rendering it capable of decomposing carbonic acid gas, so as to prepare it for some new
combination, in which it may serve as an aliment for plants. All this, however, is
but a conjecture ; and it is more probable that the carbonic acid of the soil enters the
root in combination with some other substance, and is afterwards decomposed within the
plant itself.
Sect. Ill, Process of Vegetable Nutntion.
1537. Plants are nourished in a nmnner in some degree analogous to that in which animals
are sustained. The food of plants, whether lodged in the soil, or wafted through the atmo-
sphere, is taken up by introsusception in the form of gases or other fluids ; it is then known
as their sap : this sap ascends to the leaves, where it is elaborated as the blood of animals is
in the lungs ; it then enters into the general circulation of the plant, and promotes its
growth.
1538. Introsusception. As plants have no organ analogous to the mouth of animals,
they are enabled to take up the nourishment necessary to their support only by absorp-
tion or inhalation, as the chyle into the animal lacteals, or the air into the lungs. The
former term is applied to the introsusception of non-elastic fluids ; the latter to that of
gaseous fluids. The absorption of non-elastic fluids by the epidermis of plants does not
admit of a doubt. It is proved indisputably, that the leaves not only contain air, but do
actually inhale it. It was the opinion of Priestley that they inhale it chiefly by the upper
surface ; and it has been shown by Saussure that their inhaling power depends entirely
upon their organisation. It has been a question, however, among phytologists, whether
234 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
it is not also effected by the epidermis of the other parts of the plant. We can scarcely
suppose it to be effected by the dry and indurate epidermis of tlie bark of aged trunks,
of which the original organisation is obliterated ; nor by that of the larger and more aged
branches. But it has been thought that there are even some of the soft and succulent parts
of the plant by which it cannot be effected, because no pores are visible in their epidermis.
Decandolle found no pores in the epidermis of fleshy fruits, such as pears, peaches, and
gooseberries ; nor in that of roots, or scales of bulbs ; nor in any part not exposed to
the influence of air and light. It is known, however, that fruits will not ripen, and that
roots will not thrive, if wholly deprived of air ; and hence it is probable that they inhale
it by their epidermis, though the pores by which it enters should not be visible. In the
root, indeed, it may possibly enter in combination with the moisture of the soil ; but in
the other parts of the plant it enters no doubt in the state of gas. Herbs, therefore, and
the soft parts of woody plants, absorb moisture and inhale gases from the soil or atmo-
sphere by means of the pores of their epidermis, and thus the plant effects the intro-
susception of its food.
1539. Ascent of the sap ^ The means by which the plant effects the introsusception
of its food, is chiefly that of absorption by the root. But the fluids existing in the soil
when absorbed by the root, are designated by the appellation of sap or lymph ; which,
before it can be rendered subservient to the purposes of vegetable nutrition, must either
be intermediately conveyed to some viscus proper to give it elaboration, or immediately
distributed throughout the whole body of the plant. Our present object, therefore, is
that of tracing out the progress of its distribution or ascent. The sap is in motion in
one direction or other, if not all the year, at least at occasional periods, as the bleeding of
plants in spring and autumn sufficiently illustrates. The plant always bleeds most freely
about the time of the opening of the bud ; for in proportion as the leaves expand the sap
flows less copiously, and when they are fully expanded it entirely ceases. But this sus-
pension is only temporary, for the plant may be made to bleed again in the end of the
atitumn, at least under certain conditions. If an incision is now made into the body
of the tree, after the occurrence of a short but sharp frost, when the heat of the sun or
mildness of the air begins to produce a thaw, the sap will again flow. It will flow
even where the tree has been but partially thawed, which sometimes happens on the south
side of a tree, when the heat of the sun is strong and the wind northerly. At the seasons
now specified, therefore, the sap is evidently in motion ; but the plant will not bleed
at any other season of the year. It has been the opinion of some phytologists, that the
motion of the sap is wholly suspended during the winter. But though the great cold of
winter, as well as the great heat of summer, is by no means so favourable to vegetation as
the milder though more changeable temperature of spring and autumn, yet it does not
wholly suspend the movement of the sap. Palms may be made to bleed at any season of
the year ; and although this is not the case with plants in general, yet there is proof suf-
ficient that the colds of winter do not, even in this climate, entirely prevent the sap from
flowing. Buds exhibit a gradual developement of parts throughout the whole of the
winter, as may be seen by dissecting them at different periods. So also do roots. Ever-
greens retain their leaves ; and many of them, such as the arbutus, laurustinus, and the
beautiful tribe of the mosses, protrude also their blossoms, even in spite of the rigour of the
season. But all this could not possibly be accomplished, if the motion of the sap were
wholly suspended.
1540. Thus the sap is in perpetual viotion, uith a more accelerated or more diminished
velocity, throughout the whole of the year ; but still there is no decided indication exliibited
in the mere circumstance of the plant's bleeding, of the direction in which the sap is
moving at the time ; for the result might be the same whether it was passing from the
root to the branches, or from the branches to the root. But as the great influx of the
sap is effected by means of the pores of the epidermis of the root, it follows that its mo-
tion must, at least in the first place, be that of ascent ; and such is its direction at the
season of the plant's bleeding, as may be proved by the following experiment : — If the
bore or incision that has been made in the trunk is minutely inspected while the plant yet
bleeds, the sap will be found to issue almost wholly froxn the inferior side. If several
bores are made in the same trunk, one above another, the sap will begin to flow first from
the lower bore, and then from those above it. If a branch of a vine be lopped, the sap
will issue copiously from the section terminating the part that remains yet attached to the
plant ; but not from the section terminating the part that has been lopped off. This
proves indubitably that the direction of the sap's motion, during the season of the plant's
bleeding, is that of ascent. But if the sap flows so copiously during the season of bleed-
ing, it follows tliat it must ascend with a very considerable force ; which force has accord-
ingly been made the subject of calculation. To the stem of a vine cut ofi' about two feet
and a half from tho ground. Hales fixed a mercurial gauge which he luted with mastic ;
tlie gauge was in the form of a siphon, so contrived that the mercury might be made to
rise in proportion to the pressure of the ascending sap. The mercury rose accordingly,
Book I. PROCESS OF VEGETABLE NUTRITION. 235
and reached, at its maximum, to a height of thirty-eight inches. But this was equivalent
to a column of water to the height of forty-three feet three and one third inches; demon-
strating a force in the motion of the sap that, without the evidence of experiment, would
have seemed altogether incredible.
1541. Thus the sap, in ascending from the lower to the vpper extremity of the plant, is
propelled with a very considerable force, at least in the bleeding season. But is the as-
cending sap propelled indiscriminately throughout the whole of the tubular apparatus, or
is it confined in its course to any particular channel ? Before the anatomy of plants had
been studied with much accuracy, there was a considerable diversity of opinion on the
subject. Some thought it ascended by the bark ; others thought it ascended by the
bark, wood, and pith, indiscriminately ; and others thought it ascended between the bark
and wood. The first opinion was maintained and supported by Malpighi ; and Grew
considered that the sap ascends by the bark, wood, and pith, indiscriminately. Du Hamel
stripped several trees of their bark entirely, which continued, notwithstanding, to live for
many years, protruding new leaves and new branches as before. Knight stripped the trunks
of a number of young crab trees of a ring of bark half an inch in breadth ; but the leaves
were protruded, and the branches elongated, as if the operation had not been perfoi-med.
Du Petit Thouars removed the central wood and pith from the stems of several young
sycamore trees, leaving the upper part to be supported only by four pillars of bark : in
others he removed the bark, liber, and alburnum, leaving the upper part of the tree to be
supported solely by the central wood. In each case tlie tree lived, so that he concludes
that both the bark and wood are competent to act as conductors to the-^ap. {Hist. d!un
Morceau de Bois, Hart. Tour, 481.)
1.542. That the sap does not ascend exclusively by the bark is thus rendered sufficiently
evident. But it is equally evident that it does not ascend by the pith, at least after the
first year ; for then, even upon Grew's own supposition, it becomes either juiceless
or wholly extinct : and even during the first year it is not absolutely necessary, if at all
subservient to the ascent of the sap, as is proved by an experiment of Knight's. Having
contrived to abstract from some annual shoots a portion of their pith, so as to interrupt
its continuity, but not otherwise materially to injure the fabric of the shoot. Knight found
that the growth of the shoots which had been made the subject of experiment was not at
all affected by it.
1543. The sap ascends neither by the bark nor pith, but by the wood only. But the
whole mass of the wood throughout is not equally well adapted for the purpose of con-
veying it. The interior and central part, or that which has acquired its last degree of
solidity, does not in general afford it a passage. This is proved by what is called the
girdling of trees, which consists in making a circular gap or incision quite round the stem,
and to the depth of two or three inches, so as to cut tluough both the bark and alburnum.
An oak tree on which Knight had performed this operation, with a view to ascertain the
channel of the sap's ascent, exliibited not the slightest mark of vegetation in the spring
following. The sap then does not ascend through the channel of the matured wood.
But if the sap ascends neither through the channel of the bark, nor pith, nor matured
wood, through what other channel does it actually ascend ? The only remaining channel
through which it can possibly ascend is that of the alburnum. In passing through the
channel of the alburnum, does the sap ascend promiscuously by the whole of the
tubes composing it, or is it confined in its passage to any peculiar set ? The earliest
conjectures recorded on this subject are those of Grew and Malpighi, who, though they
maintained that the sap ascends chiefly by the bark, did not yet deny that it ascends also
partly by the alburnum or wood. It occurred to succeeding phytologists that the
progress of the sap, and the vessels through which it passes, might be traced or ascer-
tained by means of making plants vegetate in coloured infusions. Du Hamel steeped
the extremities of branches of the fig, elder, honeysuckle, and filbert in common ink.
In examining the two former, after being steeped for several days, the part immersed
was found to be black throughout, but the upper part was tinged only in the wood, which
was coloured for the length of a foot, but more faintly and partially in proportion to the
height. The pith, indeed, exhibited some traces of ink, but the bark and buds none.
In some other examples the external layers of the wood only were tinged. In the honey-
suckle the deepest shade was about the middle of the woody layers ; and in the filbert there
was also observed a coloured circle surrounding the pith, but none in the pith itself, nor
in the bark.
1544. Thus it is proved that the sap ascends through the vessels of the longitudinal f^e
composing the alburnum of woody plants, and through the vessels of the several bundles of
longitudinal fhre constituting the woody part of herbaceous plants. But it has been already
shown that the vessels composing the woody fibre are not all of the same species. There
are simple tubes, porous tubes, spiral tubes, mixed tubes, and interrupted tubes. Through
which of these, therefore, does the sap pass in its ascent ? The best reply to this enquiry
has been furnished by Knight and Mirbel. Knight prepared some annual shoots of the
2S6 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
apple and horsechestnut, by means of circular incisions, so as to leave detached rings of
bark with insulated leaves remaining on the stem. He then placed them in coloured
infusions obtained by macerating the skins of very black grapes in water ; and, on
examining the transverse section at the end of the experiment, it was found that the
infusion had ascended by the wood beyond his incisions, and also into the insulated
kaves, but had not coloured the pith nor bark, nor the sap between the bark and wood.
From the above experiment, Knight concludes that the sap ascends through what are
called the common tubes of the wood and alburnum, at least till it reaches the leaves.
Thus the sap is conveyed to the summit of the alburnum. But Knight's next ob-
ject was to trace the vessels by which it is conveyed into the leaf. The apple tree and
horsechestnut were still his subjects of experiment. In the former the leaves are
attached to the plants by three strong fibres, or rather bundles of tubes, one in the
middle of the leaf-stalk, and one on each side. In the latter they are attached by means
of several such bundles. Now the coloured fluid was found in each case to have passed
through the centre of the several bundles, and through the centre only, tinging the tubes
throughout almost the whole length of the leaf-stalk. In tracing their direction from the
leaf-stalk upwards, they were found to extend to the extremity of the leaves ; and in
tracing their direction from the leaf-stalk downwards, they were found to penetrate
the bark and alburnum, the tubes of which they join, descending obliquely till they
reach the pith which they surround. From their position Knight calls them central
tubes, thus distinguishing them from the common tubes of the wood and alburnum, and
from the spiral tubes with which they were every where accompanied as appendages, as
well as from a set of other tubes which surrounded them, but were not coloured, and
which he designates by the appellation of external tubes. The experiment was now
transferred to the flower-stalk, and fruit -stalk, which was done by placing branches
of the apple, pear, and vine, furnished with flowers not yet expanded, in a decoction
of logwood. The central vessels were rendered apparent as in the leaf-stalk. When
the fruit of the two former was fully formed, the experiment was then made upon the
fruit-stalk, in which the central vessels were detected as before ; but the colouring matter
was found to have penetrated into the fruit also, diverging round the core, approaching
again in the eye of the fruit, and terminating at last in the stamens. This was effected by
means of a prolongation of the central vessels, which did not however appear to be accom-
panied by the spiral tubes beyond the fruit-stalk. Such then are the parts of the plant
through which the sap ascends, and the vessels by which it is conveyed. Entering by the
pores of the epidermis, it is received into the longitudinal vessels of the root by which it
is conducted to the collar. Thence it is conveyed by the longitudinal vessels of the albur-
num, to the base of the leaf-stalk, and peduncle ; from which it is further transmitted
to the extremity of the leaves, flower, and fruit. There remains a question to be
asked intimately connected with the sap's ascent. Do the vessels conducting the sap
communicate with one another by inosculation or otherwise, so as that a portion of their
contents may be conveyed in a lateral direction, and, consequently, to any part of the plant;
or do they form distinct channels throughout the whole of their extent, having no sort of
communication with any other set of tubes, or with one another ? Each of the two
opinions implied in the question has had its advocates and defenders : but Du Hamel and
Knight have shown that a branch will still continue to live, though the tubes leading
directly to it are cut in the trunk ; from which it follows that the sap, though flowing
the most copiously in the direct line of ascent, is at the same time also diffused in a trans-
verse direction.
1545. Causes of the sap^s ascent. By what power is the sap propelled ? Grew states
two hypotheses : its volatile nature and magnetic tendency, aided by the agency of ferment-
ation. Malpighi was of opinion that the sap ascends by means of the contraction and
dilatation of the air contained in the air-vessels. M. De la Hire attempted to account for
the phenomenon by combining together the theories of Grew and Malpighi ; and Borelli,
who endeavoured to render their theory more perfect, by bringing to its aid the influence
of the condensation and rarefaction of the air and juices of the plant.
1546. Agency of heat. Du Hamel directed his efTorts to the solution of the difficulty, by endeavouring
to account for the phenomenon from the agency of heat, and chiefly on the following grounds : because
the sap begins to flow more copiously as the warmth of spring returns ; because the sap is sometimes found
to flow on the south side of a tree before it flows on the north side, that is, on the side exposed to the
influence of the sun's heat sooner than on the side deprived of it ; because plants maybe made to vegetate,
even in the winter, by means of forcing them in a hot-house ; and because plants raised in a hot-house
produce their fruit earlier than such as vegetate in the open air. There can be no doubt of the great
utility of heat in forwarding the progress of vegetation ; but it will not therefore follow that the motion
and ascent of the sap are to be attributed to its agency. On the contrary, it is very well known that if
the temperature exceeds a certain degree, it becomes then prejudicial both to the ascent of the sap and
also to the growth of the plant. Hales found that the sap flows less rapidly at mid-day than in the
morning ; and every body knows that vegetation is less luxuriant at midsummer than in the spring. So
also, in the case of forcing, it happens but too often that the produce of the hot-house is totally destroyed
by the unskilful application of heat If heat is actually the cause of the sap's ascent, how comes it that the
degree necessary to produce the effect is so very variable, even in the same climate ? For there are many
plants, such as the arbutus, laurustinus, and the mosses, which will continue not only to vegetate,
Book I. PROCESS OF VEGETABLE NUTRITION. 237
but to protrude their blossoms and mature their fruit, even in the midst of winter, when the temperature
is at the lowest ; and, in the case of submarine plants, the temperature can never be very high : so
that, although heat does no doubt facilitate the ascent of the sap by its tendency to make the vessels
expand, yet it cannot be regarded as the efficient cause, since the sap is proved to be in motion even
throughout the whole of the winter. Du Hamcl endeavours, however, to strengthen the operation of
heat by means of the influence of humidity, as being also powerful in promoting the ascent of the sap,
whether as relative to the season of the year or time of the day. The influence of the humidity of the
atmosphere cannot be conceived to operate as a propelling cause, though it may easily be conceived to
operate as affording a faciUty to the ascent of the sap in one way or other ; which under certain circum-
stances is capable of most extraordinary acceleration, but particularly in that state of the atmosphere
which forbodes or precedes a storm. In such a state a stalk of wheat was observed by Du Hamel to grow
three inches in three days ; a stalk of barley six inches, and a shoot of a vine almost two feet ; but this
is a state that occurs but seldom, and cannot be of much service in the general propulsion of the sap.
On this intricate but important subject Linna;us appears to have embraced the opinion of Du Hamel, or
an opinion very nearly allied to it ; but does not seem to have strengthened it by any new accession of
argument ; so that none of the hitherto alleged causes can be regarded as adequate to the production of
the effect
1547. Irritability. Perhaps the only adequate cause ever suggested, prior to the hypothesis of
Dutrochet, is that alleged by Saussure. According to Saussure the cause of the sap's ascent is to
be found in a peculiar species of irritability inherent in the sap-vessels themselves, and dependent upon
vegetable life ; in consequence of which they are rendered capable of a certain degree of contraction,
according to the affection of the internal surface by the application of stimuli, as well as of subsequent
dilatation according to the subsidence of the action of the stimulus ; thus admitting and propelling the sap
by alternate dilatation and contraction. In order to give elucidation to the subject, let the tube be supposed
to consist of an indefinite number of hollow cylinders united one to another, and let the sap be supposed
to enter the first cylinder by capillary attraction, or by any other adequate means ; then the first cylinder
being excited by the stimulus of the sap, begins gradually to contract, and to propel the contained fluid
into the cylinder immediately above it. But the cylinder immediately above it, when acted on in the same
manner, is affected in the same manner ; and thus the fluid is propelled from cylinder to cylinder till it
reaches the summit of the plant. So also when the first cyUnder has discharged its contents into the
second, and is no longer acted upon by the stimulus of the sap, it begins again to be dilated to its original
capacity, and prepared for the introsusception of a new portion of fluid. Thus a supply is constantly kept
up, and the sap continues to flow. The above is by far the simplest as well as most satisfactory of all
theories accounting for the ascent of the sap.
1548. Contraction and dilatation. Knight has presented us with a theory which, whatever may be its
real value, merits at least our particular notice, as coming from an author who stands deservedly high in
the list of phytological writers. This theory rests upon the principle of the contraction and dilatation, not
of the sap-vessels themselves, as in the theory of Saussure, but of what Knight denominates the silver
erain, assisted perhaps by heat and humidity expanding or condensing tlie fluids. {Phil. Trans., 1801.)
Keith considers this theory of Knight as beset with many difficulties, and the agency of the alleged cause
as totally inadequate to the production of the effect to be accomplished.
1549. Necessity of an equilibrium in the plant. Du Petit Thouars attributes the motion of the sap to an
inherent power, with which nature has been pleased to endow vegetables. But the cause of the renewal
of its motion in the spring, after remaining in a quiescent state for several months, he ascribes to the
necessity of maintaining a perfect equilibrium in the system of a plant. So that, if a consumption of sap
is produced at any given point, the necessity of making good the space so occasioned consequently throws
all the parti.-les of sap into motion ; and the same effect will continue to operate as long as any
consumptioi. of sap takes place. The first cause of this consumption of sap he declares to be the deve-
lopement or the buds, and already formed young leaves, by the stimulating action of light and heat, but
particularly of the latter. As soon as this developement occurs, an assimilation and absorption of sap is
occasioned for the support of the young leaves, a vacancy in the immediate vicinity of the leaves is
produced, and a motion immediately takes place. {London Encyc., art Bot.)
1550. Electricity. The most satisfactory hypothesis for the ascent of the sap is that of M. Dutrochet
This philosopher, by careful examination with a microscope, found that the minute conical termination
of the radicle was furnished with other projecting bodies, like sponges, which perform the office of the
piston of a syringe, and have the power of introducing into their cavity, and through their sides, the
water which comes in contact with the exterior surface, and which spongioles oppose, at the same time,
the exit of any fluid which they may imbibe. The motions of the sap and juice in plants take place,
according to this author, in consequence of the operations of two distinct currents of electricity : the
one negative, by which the vessels have the power of absorption, which M. Dutrochet calls endosmose,
and by which the vessels become turgid ; and the other positive, by which the vessels exude or secrete,
which power M. Dutrochet calls exosmose. {Gardener's Mag., vol. iii. p. 78. j Dutrochet, Agent Im?nediat
du mouvement vital, Paris, 8vo, 1826.)
1551. Elaboration of the sap. The moisture of the soil is no sooner absorbed into the
plant than it begins to undergo a change. This is proved by the experiment of making
a bore or incision in the trunk of a tree during the season of bleeding ; the sap that issues
from the w^ound possesses properties very difterent from the mere moisture of the soil,
as is indicated by means of chemical analysis and sometimes also by means of a peculiar
taste or flavour, as in the case of the birch tree. Hence the sap has already undergone a
certain degree of elaboration ; either in passing through the glands of the cellular tissue,
which it reaches through the medium of a lateral communication, or in mingling with
the juices contained in the cells, and thus carrying off a portion of them ; in the same
manner, w^e may suppose, that water, by filtering through a mineral vein, becomes im-
pregnated vnth the mineral through which it passes. But this primary and incipient
stage of the process of elaboration must always of necessity remain a mystery to the
phytologist, as being wholly effected in the interior of the plant, and consequently beyond
the reach of observation. All he can do, therefore, is to trace out its future progress,
and to watch its succeeding changes, in which the rationale of the process of elaboration
may be more evident.
1552. The process of elaboration is chiefly operated in the leaf : for the sap no sooner reaches the leaf,
than part of it is immediately carried off by means of perspiration, perceptible or imperceptible ; effecting
a change in the proportion of its component parts, and by consequence a change in its properties.
1553. Hales reared a sun-flower in a pot of earth till it grew to the height of three feet and a half; he
then covered the mouth of the pot with a plate of lead, which he cemented so as to prevent all evaporation
from the earth contained in it In this plate he fixed two tubes, the one nine inches in length and of but
small diameter, left open to serve as a medium of communication with the external air; the other two
238 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part XL
inches in length and one in diameter, for the purpose of introducing a supply of water, but kept alwavs
shut except at the time of watering. The holes at the bottom of the pot were also shut, and the pot arid
plant weighed for fifteen successive days in the months of July and August : hence he ascertained not only
the fact of transpiration by the leaves, from a comparison of the supply and waste ; but also the quantity of
moisture transpired in a given time, by subtracting from the total waste the amount of evaporation from
the pot. The final result proved that the absorbing power of the root is greater than the transpiring power
of the leaves, in the proportion of five to two. Similar experiments were also made upon some species of
cabbage, whoso mean transpiration was found to be 1 lb. 3 oz. per day ; and on some species of evergreens,
which were found, however, to transpire less than other plants. The same is the case also with succulent
plants, which transpire but little in proportion to their mass, and which as they become more firm tran-
spire less. It is known, however, that they absorb a great deal of moisture, though they give it out thus
sparingly ; which seems intended by nature for the purpose of resisting the great droughts to which they
are generally exposed, inhabiting, as they do for the most part, the sandy desert or the sunny rock. Along
with his own experiments Hales relates also some others that were made by Miller of Chelsea ; the result
of whiQh was that, other circumstances being the same, transpiration is in proportion to the transpiring
surface, and is aff'ected by the temperature of the air ; sunshine or drought promoting it, and cold and
wet diminishing or suppressing it entirely. It is also greatest from six o'clock in the morning till noon,
and is least during the night. But when transpiration becomes too abundant, owing to excess of heat or
drought, the plant immediately suffers and begins to languish ; and hence the leaves droop during the
day, though they are again revived during the night. For the same or for a similar reason, transpiration
has been found also to increase as the heat of summer advances ; being more abundant in July than in June,
and still more in August than in either of the preceding months, from which last period it begins again to
decrease.
1554. A fluid little different from common water is exhaled, according to the experi-
ments of Hales and Guettard ; in some cases it had the odour of the plant ; but Du
Hamel found that it became sooner putrid than water. Such then are the facts that have
been ascertained with regard to the imperceptible perspiration of plants, from which it
unavoidably follows that the sap undergoes a very considerable modification in its passage
through the leaf.
1555. Perceptible perspiration, which is an exudation of sap too gross or too abundant
to be dissipated immediately, and which hence accumulates on the surface of the leaf, is
the cause of its further modification. It is very generally to be met with, in the course of
the summer, on the leaves of the maple, poplar, and lime tree ; but particularly on the
surface exposed to the sun, which it sometimes wholly covers.
1556. The physical as well as chemical qualities of perspired matter are very different in different species
of plants ; so that it is not always merely an exudation of sap, but of sap in a high state of elaboration, or
mingled with the peculiar juices or secretions of the plant. Sometimes it is a clear and watery fluid con-
glomerating into large drops, such as are said to have been observed by Miller, exuding from the leaves
of the Musrt paradisiaca, or plantain tree ; and such as are sometimes to be seen in hot and calm weather
exuding from the leaves of the poplar or willow, and trickling down in such abundance as to resemble a
slight shower. This phenomenon was observed by Sir J. E. Smith, under a grove of willows in Italy, and
is said to have occurred even in England. Sometimes it is glutinous, as on the leaf of the hme tree ;
sometimes it waxy, as on the leaves of rosemary ; sometimes it is saccharine, as on the orange leaf; or
resinous, as on the leaves of the Cistus creticus. The cause of this excess of perspiration has not yet been
altogether satisfactorily ascertained ; though it seems to be merely an effort and institution of nature to
throw off all such redundant juices as may have been absorbed, or secretions as may have been formed,
beyond what are necessary to the due nourishment or composition of the plant, or beyond what the plant
is capable of assimilating at the time. Hence the watery exudation is perhaps nothing more than a re-
dundancy of the fluid thrown off by imperceptible perspiration, and the waxy and resinous exudations
nothing more than a redundancy of secreted juices ; all which may be still perfectly consistent with a
healthy state of the plant. But there are cases in which the exudation is to be regarded as an indication
of disease, particularly in that of the exudation known by the name of honey-dew, a sweet and viscid
substance covering the leaves like a varnish, and sometimes occasioning their decay. Such at least seems
to be the fact with regard to the honey-dew of the hop, which, according to the observations of Linnaus,
is the consequence of the attacks of the caterpillar of the ghost-moth injuring the root; and such seems
also to be the fact with regard to the honey-dew of the beech tree, and perhaps also the honey-dew of the
oak. The sap then, in the progress of its ascent from the extremity of the root to the extremity of the
leaf, undergoes a considerable change, first in its mixing with the juices already contained in the plant,
and then in its throwing off a portion at the lea£
1557. The sap is further affected by means of the gases entering into the root along with
the moisture of tlie soil, but certainly, by means of the gases inhaled into the leaf ; the
action and elaboration of which shall now be elucidated.
1558. Elaboration of carbonic acid. The utility of carbonic acid gas, as a vegetable food, has been al-
ready shown ; plants being found not only to absorb it by the root along with the moisture of the soil, but
also to inhale it by the leaves, at least when vegetating in the sun or during the day. But how is the ela-
boration of this gas effected? Is it assimilated to the vegetable substance immediately upon entering the
plant, or is its assimilation effected by means of intermediate steps ? The gas thus inhaled or absorbed is
not assimilated immediately, or at least not wholly : for it is known that plants do also evolve carbonic
acid gas when vegetating in the shade, or during the night. Priestley ascertained that plants vegetating in
confined atmospheres evolve carbonic acid gas in the shade, or during the night, and that the vitiated
state of their atmospheres after experiment is owing to that evolution ; and Saussure that the elaboration
of carbonic acid gas is essential to vegetation in the sun ; and, finally, Senebier and Saussure proved that
the carbonic acid gas contained in water is abstracted and inhaled by the leaf, and immediately decom-
posed ; the carbon being assimilated to the substance of the plant, and the oxygen in part evolved and
in part also assimilated. The decomposition of carbonic acid gas takes place only during the light of day,
though Saussure has made it also probable that plants decompose a part of the carbonic acid gas, which
they form with the surrounding oxygen, even in the dark. But the effect is operated chiefly by means of
the leaves and other green parts of vegetables, that is, chiefly by the parenchyma ; the wood, roots, petals,
and leaves that have lost their green colour, not being found to exhale oxygen gas. It may be observed,
however, that the green colour is not an absolutely essential character of the parts decomposing carbonic
acid ; because .the leaves of a peculiar variety of the ^'triplex hortensis, in which all the green parts change
to red, do still exhale oxygen gas.
1559. Elaboration of oxygen. It has been already shown that the leaves of plants abstract oxygen from
confined atmospheres, at least when placed in the shade, though they do not inhale all the oxygen that
disappears ; and it has been further proved, from experiment, that the leaves of plants do also evolve a
gas in the sun. From a great variety of experiments relative to the action and influence of oxygen on the
Book I. PROCESS OF VEGETABLE NUTRITION. 239
plant, and the contrary, the following is the sum of the results: — The green parts of plants, but especially
the leaves, when exposed in atmospheric air to the successive influence of light and shade, inhale and
evolve alternately a portion of oxygen gas mixed with carbonic acid. But the oxygen is not immediately
assimilated to the vegetable substance ; it is first converted into carbonic acid by means of combining with
the carbon of the plant, which withers if this process is prevented by the application of lime or potass.
The leaves of aquatics, succulent plants, and evergreens consume, in equal circumstances, less oxygen
than the leaves of other plants. The roots, wood, and petals, and in short all parts not green, with the
exception of some coloured leaves, do not effect the successive and alternate inhalation and extrication of
oxygen ; the inhale it indeed, though they do not again give it out, or assimilate it immediately, but con-
vey it under the form of carbonic acid to the leaves, where it is decomposed. Oxygen is indeed assimilated
to the plant but not directly, and only by means of the decomposition of carbonic acid ; when part of it,
though in a very small proportion, is retained also and assimilated along with the carbon. Hence the most
obvious influence of oxygen, as applied to the leaves, is that of forming carbonic acid gas, and thus pre-
senting to the plants elements which it may assimilate ; and perhaps the carbon of the extractive juices
absorbed even by the root, is not assimilated to the plant till it is converted by means of oxygen into car-
bonic acid. But as an atmosphere composed of nitrogen and carbonic acid gas only is not favourable to
vegetation, it is probable that oxygen performs also some other function beyond that of merely presenting
to the plant, under the modification of carbonic acid, elements which it may assimilate. It may affect also
the disengagement of caloric by its union with the carbon of the vegetable, which is the necessary result
of such union. But oxygen is also beneficial to the plant from its action on the soil; for when the ex-
tractive juices contained in the soil have become exhausted, the oxygenof the atmosphere, by penetrating
into the earth and abstracting from it a portion of its carbon, forms a new extract to replace the first.
Hence we may account for a number of facts observed by the earlier phytologists, but not well explained.
Du Hamel remarked that the lateral roots of plants are always the more vigorous the nearer they are
to the surface ; but it now appears that they are the most vigorous at the surface because they have there
the easiest access to the oxygen of the atmosphere, or to the extract which it may form. It was observed,
also, by the same phytologist, that perpendicular roots do not thrive so well, other circumstances being the
same, in a stiff'and wet soil as in a friable and dry soil ; while plants with slender and divided roots thrive
equally well in both : but this is, no doubt, owing to the obstacles that present themselves to the passage of
the oxygen in the former case, on account of the greater depth and smaller surface of the root. It was
further observed, that roots which penetrate into dung or into pipes conducting water, divide into immense
numbers of fibres, and form what is called the fox-tail root; but it is because they cannot continue to
vegetate, except by increasing their points of contact, with the small quantity of oxygen found in such
mediums. Lastly, it was observed that plants, whose roots are suddenly overflowed with water remaining
afterwards stagnant, suffer sooner than if the accident had happened by means of a continued current. It
is because in the former case the oxygen contained in the water is soon exhausted, while in the latter it is
not exhausted at all. Hence also we may account for the phenomenon exhibited by plants vegetating
in distilled water under a receiver filled with atmospheric air, which, having no proper soil to supply the
root with nourishment, effect the developement of their parts only at the expense of their own proper
substance ; the interior of the stem, or a portion of the root, or the lower leaves, decaying and giving up
their extractive juices to the other parts. — Thus it appears that oxygen gas, or that constituent part of the
atmospheric air which has been found to be indispensable to the life of animals, is also indispensable to the
life of vegetables. But, although the presence and action of oxygen are absolutely necessary to the process
of vegetation, plants do not thrive so well in an atmosphere of pure oxygen, as in an atmosphere of pure or
common air. This was proved by an experiment of Saussure's, who, having introduced some plants of
Pisum sativum, that were but just issuing from the seed, into a receiver containing pure oxygen gas,
found that in the space of six days they had acquired only half the weight of such as were introduced at
the same time into a receiver containing common air. Whence it follows that oxygen, though the
principal agent in the process of vegetation, is not yet the only agent necessary to the health and growth of
the plant, and that the proportion of the constituent parts of the atmospheric air is well adapted for the
purposes both of vegetable and animal life.
1560. Decomposition of water. Although the opinion was proved to be groundless,
by which water had been supposed to be convertible into all the different ingredients en-
tering into the composition of the vegetable substance, by means of the action of the vital
energy of the plant ; yet when water was ultimately proved to be a chemical compound,
it was by no means absurd to suppose that plants may possess the power of decomposing
part, at least, of what they absorb by the root, and thus acquire the hydrogen as well as a
portion of the oxygen which, by analysis, they are found to contain. This opinion was,
accordingly, pretty generally adopted, but was not yet proved by any direct experiment.
Senebier pointed out several phenomena from which he thought it was to be inferred, but
particularly that of the germination of some seeds moistened merely with water, and so
situated as to have no apparent contact with oxygen. The decomposition of water was
inferred also by Ingenhouz, from the amelioration of an atmosphere of common air into
which he had introduced some succulent plants vegetating in pure water. Saussure having
gathered a number of plants, of the same species, as nearly alike as possible in all circum-
stances likely to be affected by the experiment, dried part of them to the temperature of
the atmosphere, and ascertained their weight ; the rest he made to vegetate in pure water,
and in an atmosphere of pure oxygen for a given period of time, at the end of which he
dried them as before, and ascertained their weight also, which it was thus only necessary
to compare with the weight of the former, in order to know whether the plants had in-
creased in solid vegetable substance or not. But after many experiments on a variety of
plants, the result always was, that plants when made to vegetate in pure water only, and
in an atmosphere of pure oxygen, or of common air deprived of its carbonic acid, scarcely
added any thing at all to their weight in a dried state ; or if they did, the quantity was too
small to be appreciated. But from a similar experiment, in which carbonic acid gas was
mixed with common air, the decomposition and fixation of water by the vegetating plant
are legitimately inferred. It does not appear, however, that plants do in any case
decompose water directly ; that is, by appropriating its hydrogen and at the same time
disengaging its oxygen in the form of gas, which is extricated only by the decomposition
of carbonic acid.
1561. Descent of the proper Juice, When the sap has been duly elaborated in the leaf
240 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
by means of the several processes that have just been described, it assumes the appel-
lation of the cambium, or proper juice of the plant. In this ultimate state of elaboration
it is found chiefly in the bark, or rather between the bark and wood, and may very often
be distinguished by a peculiar colour, being sometimes white, as in the several species of
spurge, and sometimes yellow, as in celandine. It is said to be the principal seat of the
medical virtues of plants ; and was regarded by Malpighi as being to the plant what the
blood is to the animal body, the immediate principle of nourishment and grand support
of life ; which opinions he endeavours to establish by the following analogies : if the blood
escapes from the vessels of the animal body, it forms neither flesh nor bone, but tumours j
if the proper juices of the plant are extravasated, they form neither bark nor wood, but a
lump of gum, resin, or inspissated juice. The disruption of the blood-vessels, and conse-
quent loss of blood, injure and often prove fatal to the animal; the extravasation of
the proper juice injures and often proves fatal to vegetables, unless the evil is prevented
by the skill and management of the gardener. Whatever may be the value of these re-
marks as tending to establish the analogy in question, it cannot be doubted that the cam-
bium, or proper juice, constitutes at least the grand principle of vegetaljle organisation ;
generating and developing in succession the several organs of the plant, or furnishing the
vital principle with the immediate materials of assimilation.
1562. The proper juice is conveyed to the several parts of the plant by an appropriate set of vessels. One
of the earliest and most satisfactory experiments on this subject, at least as far as regards the return of
the proper juice through the leaf and leaf-stalk, is that of Dr. Darwin, which was conducted as follows :
a stalk of the Z^uphorb/a helioscupia, furnished with its leaves and seed-vessels, was placed in a decoction
of madder-root, so as that the lower portion of the stem and two of the inferior leaves were immersed in
it. After remaining so for several days the colour of the decoction was distinctly discerned passing along
the midrib of each leaf On the upper side of the leaf many of the ramifications, going from the midrib
towards the circumference, were observed to be tinged with red ; but on the under side there was ob-
served a sj'stem of branching vessels, originating in the extremities of the leaf, and carrying not a red but
a pale milky fluid, which, after uniting in two sets, one on each side the midrib, descended along with it
into the leaf-stalk. These were the vessels returning the elaborated sap. The vessels observable on the
upper surface Darwin calls arteries, and those on the under surface he calls veins. To this mav be added
the more recent discoveries of Knight, who, in his experiments instituted with a view to ascertain the
course of the sap, detected in the leaf-stalk, not only the vessels which he calls central tubes, through
which the coloured infusion ascended, together with their appendages, the spiral tubes ; but also another
set of vessels surrounding the central tubes, which he distinguishes by the appellation of external tubes,
and which appeared to be conveying in one direction or other a fluid which was not coloured, but which
proved, upon further investigation, to be the descending proper juice. In tracing them upwards they
were found to extend to the summit of the leaf, and in tracing them downwards they were found
to extend to the base of the leaf-stalk, and to penetrate even into the inner bark. According
to Knight, then, there are three sets of vessels in leaves, the central tubes, the spiral tubes, and the
external tubes. But by what means is the proper juice conducted from the base of the leaf-stalk to the
extremity of the root ? This was the chief object of the enquiry of the earlier phytologists who had not
yet begun to trace its progress in the leaf and leaf-stalk ; but who were acquainted with facts indicating
at least the descent of a fluid in the trunk. Du Hamel stript sixty trees of their bark in the course of the
spring, laying them bare from the upper extremity of the trunk and branches to the root ; the experiment
proved indeed fatal to them, as they all died in the course of three or four years. But many of them
had made new productions both of wood and bark from the buds downwards, extending in some cases to
the length of a foot ; though very few of them had made any new productions from the root upwards.
Hence it is that the proper juice not only descends from the extremity of the leaf to the extremity of the
root, but generates also in its descent new and additional parts. The experiments of Knight on this sub-
ject are, if possible, more convincing than even those of Du Hamel. From the trunks of a number of
young crab trees he detached a ring of bark of half an inch in breadth. The sap rose in them, and the
portion of the trunk above the ring augmented as in the other subjects that were not so treated, while the
portion below the ring scarcely augmented at all. The upper lips of the wounds made considerable
advances downwards, while the lower lips made scarcely any advances upwards ; but if a bud were protruded
under the ring, and the shoot arising from it allowed to remain, then the portion of the trunk below that
bud began immediately to augment in size, while the portion between the bud and incision remained
nearly as before. When two circular incisions were made in the trunk so as to leave a ring of bark be-
tween them with a leaf growing from it, the portion above the leaf died, while the portion below the leaf
lived ; and when the upper part of a branch was stripped of its leaves the bark withered as far as it was
stript. Whence it is evident that the sap which has been elaborated in the leaves and converted into
proper juice, descends through the channel of the bark, or rather between the bark and alburnum to
the extremity of the root, effecting the developement of new and additional parts. But not only is
the bark thus ascertained to be the channel of the descent of the proper juice after entering the trunk ;
the peculiar vessels through which it immediately passes have been ascertained also. In the language
of Knight they are merely a continuation of the external tubes already noticed, which after quitting the
base of the foot-stalk he describes as not only penetrating the inner bark, but descending along with it
and conducting the proper juice to the very extremity of the root. In the language of Mirbel they are
the large or rather simple tubes so abundant in the bark of woody plants, though not altogether confined
to it ; and so well adapted by the width of their diameter to afford a passage to the proper juice.
1563. Causes of descent. The proper juice then, or sap elaborated in the leaf, de-
scends by the returning vessels of the leaf stalk, and by the longitudinal vessels of the
inner bark, the large tubes of Mirbel and external tubes of Knight, down to the extre-
mity of the root.
1564. The descent of the proper juice was regarded by the earlier phytologists as resulting from the agency
of gravitation, owing perhaps more to the readiness with which the conjecture suggests itself than to the
satisfaction which it gives. But the insufliciency of this cause was clearly pointed out by Du Hamel,
who observed in his experiments with ligatures that the tumour was always formed on the side next to
the leaves, even when the branch was bent down, whether by nature or art, so as to point to the earth, in
which case the power propelling the proper juice is acting not only in opposition to that of gravitation,
but with such force as to overcome it. This is an unanswerable argument ; and yet it seems to have
been altogether overlooked, or at least undervalued in its importance, by Knight, who endeavours to
account for the effect by ascribing it to the joint operation of gravitation, capillary attraction, the waving
motion of the tree, and the structure of the conducting vessels j but the greatest of these causes is gra-
Book I. PROCESS OF VEGETABLE DEVELOPEMENT. 241
vitation. Certain it is that gravitation has considerable influence in preventing the descent of the sap in
young shoots of trees which have grown upright; these, when bent down after being fully grown, form
larger buds, and often blossom instead of leaf buds. This practice, with a view to the production of bios-
som-buds, is frequently adopted by gardeners {Hort. Trans, i. 2:57.) in training fruit trees. — These causes
are each, perhaps, of some efficacy; and yet even when taken altogether they are not adequate to the pro-
duction of the effect. The greatest stress is laid upon gravitation ; but its agency is obviously over-rated,
as is evident from the case of the pendent shoots of the weeping willow ; and if gravitation is so very
efficacious in facilitating the descent of the proper juice, how comes its influence to be suspended in the
case of the ascending sap ? The action of the silver grain will scarcely be sufficient to overcome it ; and
if it should be said that the sap ascends through the tubes of the alburnum by means of the agency of the
vital principle, why may not the same vital principle conduct also the proper juice through the returning
vessels of the bark ? In short, if, with Saussure, we admit the existence of a contracting power in the
former case sufficient to propel the sap from ring to ring, it will be absolutely necessary to admit it also in
the latter. Thus we assign a cause adequate to the production of the effect, and avoid at the same time
the tnmsgression of that most fundamental principle of all sound philosophy which forbids us to multiply
causes without necessity. M. Dutrochet's hypothesis (1550.) for the ascent of the sap accounts equallv for
its descent.
Sect. IV. Process of Vegetable Developement.
1565. The production of the different parts and organs of plants is effected by the assi-
milation of the proper juice. The next object of our enquiry, therefore, will be that of
tracing out the order of the developement of the several parts, together w^ith the peculiar
mode of operation adopted by the vital principle. But this mode of operation is not
exactly the same in herbaceous and annual plants as in woody and perennial plants. In
the former, the process of developement comprises as it were but one act of the vital prin-
ciple, the parts being all unfolded in immediate succession, and without any perceptible
interruption till the plant is complete. In the latter, the process is carried on by gradual
and definite stages easily cognisable to the senses, commencing with the approach of
spring, and terminating with the approach of winter ; during which, the functions of the
vital principle seem to be altogether suspended, till it is aroused again into action by the
warmth of the succeeding spring. The illustration of the latter, however, involves also
that of the former ; because the growth of the first year exemplifies at the same time the
growth of annuals, while the growth of succeeding years exemplifies whatever is peculiar
to perennials.
1566. Elementary organs. If the embryo, on its escape from the seed and conversion
into a plant, is taken and minutely inspected, it will be found to consist of a root, plume-
let, and incipient stem, which have been developed in consecutive order ; and if the
plant is taken and dissected at this period of its growth, it will be found to be composed
merely of an epidermis enveloping a soft and pulpy substance, that forms the mass of
the individual ; or it may be furnished also with a central and longitudinal fibre ; or with
bundles of longitudinal fibres giving tenacity to the whole. These parts have been de-
veloped, no doubt, by means of the agency of the vital principle operating on the proper
juice ; but what have been the several steps of operation ?
1567. No satisfactory explication of this phenomenon has yet been offered. It is likely, however, that the
rudiments of all the parts of the plant do already exist in the embryo in such specific order of arrange-
ment as shall best fit them for future developement, by the introsusception of new and additional
particles. The pellicle constituting the vegetable epidermis has generally been regarded as a membrane
essentially distinct from the parts which it covers, and as generated with a view to the discharge of some
particular function. Some phytologists, however, have viewed it in a light altogether diflferent, and have
regarded it as being merely the effect of accident, and nothing more than a scurf formed on the exterior
and pulpy surface of the parenchyma indurated by the action of the air. It is more probably, however,
formed by the agency of the vital principle, even while the plant is yet in embryo, for the very purpose of
protecting it from injury when it shall have been exposed to the air in the process of vegetation. There
are several respects in which an analogy between the animal and vegetable epidermis is sufficiently
striking : they are both capable of great expansion in the growth of the subject ; they are both easily
regenerated when injured (except in the case of induration), and seemingly in the same manner; they
are both subject, in certain cases, to a constant decay and repair; and they both protect from injury the
parts enclosed.
1568. Composite organs. The elucidation of the developement of the composite
organs involves the discussion of the two following topics : — the foiraation of the annual
plant, and of the original shoot of the perennial ; and the formation of the subsequent
layers that are annually added to the perennial.
1569. Annuals and annual shoots. If a perennial of a year's growth is taken up in
the beginning of winter, when the leaves, which are only temporary organs, have fallen,
it will be found to consist of a root and trunk, surmounted by one bud or more. The
root is the i*adicle expanded into the form peculiar to the species, but the trunk and buds
have been generated in the process of vegetation.
1.570. The root or trunk, if taken and cut into two by means of a transverse section, will be found
to consist already of bark, wood, and pith. Here, then, is the termination of the growth of the annual,
and of the first stage of the growth of the perennial : how have their several parts or organs been
formed ?
1571. The pith seems only a modification of the original pulp, and the same hypothesis that accounts for
the fonnation of the one will account also for the formation of the other ; but the pith and pulp, or
parenchyma, are ultimately converted into organs essentially distinct from one another, though
phytologists have been much puzzled to assign to each its respective functions. In the ages in which
phytological opinions were formed without enquiry, one of the vulgar errors of the time seems to have
been that the function of the pith was that of generating the stone of fruit, and that a tree deprived of its
pith would produce fruit without a stone {Phys. des Arb., liv. i. chap. J.) : but this opinion is by much too
absurd to merit a serious refutation. Another early opinion, exhibiting, however, indications of legitimate
u
242 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
enquiry, was, that the pith was analogous to the heart and brain of animals, as related by Malpighi ; who
did not himself adopt it, but believed the pith to be, like the cellular tissue, the viscera in which the sap
was elaborated for the nourishment of the plant, and for the protrusion of future buds. Magnol thought
that it produced the flower and fruit, but not the wood. Du Hamel regarded it as being merely an exten-
sion of the pulp or cellular tissue, without being destined to perform any important function in the process
of vegetation. But Linneeus was of opinion that it protluces even the wood ; regarding it not only as the
source of vegetable nourishment, but as being also to the vegetable what the brain and spinal marrow
are to animals — the source and scat of life. In these opinions there may be something of truth, but
they have all the common fault of ascribing to the pith either too little or too much. Mr. Lindsay of
Jamaica suggested a new opinion on the subject, regarding it as being the seat of the irritability of the
leaves of the Mim5sa; and Sir J. E Smith says, he can see nothing to invalidate the arguments on which
this opinion is founded. Plenck and Knight regard it as destined by Nature to be a reservoir of moisture to
supply the leaves when exhausted by excess of perspiration. Hence it appears that the peculiar funttion
of the pith has not yet been altogether satisfactorily ascertained ; and the difficulty of ascertaining it has
been thought to be increased from the circumstance of its seeming to be only of a temporary use in the
process of vegetation, by its disappearing in the aged trunk. But although it is thus only temporary
as relative to the body of the trunk, yet it is by no means temporary as relative to the process of
vegetation, the central part of the aged trunk being now no longer in a vegetating state, and the
pith being always present in one shape or other in the annual plant, or in the new additions that are
annually made to perennials. The pith, then, is essential to vegetation in all its stages: and from the
analogy of its structure to that of the pulp, or parenchyma, which is known, as in the leaf, to be an organ
of elaboration, the function of the pith is most probably that of giving some peculiar elaboration to
the sap.
1572. The generation of the layer of wood in woody plants, or of the parts analogous to wood in the case
of herbaceous plants, has been hitherto but little attended to. If we suppose the rudiments of the
different parts to exist already in the embryo, then we have only to account for their developemcnt by
means of the introsusception and assimilation of sap and proper juice : but if we svippose them to be
generated in the course of vegetation, then the difficulty of the case is augmented; and, at the best, we
can only state the result of operations that have been so long continued as to present an effect cognisable
to the sense of sight, though the detail of the process is often so very minute as to escape even the nicest
observation. All, then, that can be said on the subject is merely, that the tubes, however formed, do, by
virtue of the agency of the vital principle operating on the proper juice, always make their appearance at
last in a uniform and determinate manner, according to the tribe or species to which the plant belongs,
uniting and coalescing so as to form either a circular layer investing the pith, as in woody plants ; a
number of divergent layers intersecting the pith, as in some herbaceous plants ; or bundles of longitudinal
and woody fibre interspersed throughout the pith, as in others. In the same manner we may account for
the formation of the layer of bark.
1573. Perennials and their annual layer If a perennial is taken at the end of the
second year and dissected, as in the example of the first year, it will be found to have
increased in height by the addition of a perpendicular shoot, consisting of bark, wood,
and pith, as in the shoot of the former year ; and in diameter by the addition of a new
layer of wood and of bark, generated between the wood and bark of the former year, and
covering the original cone of wood, like the paper that covers a sugar-loaf : this is the
fact of the mode of augmentation about which phytologists have not dilFered, though
they have differed widely with regard to the origin of the additional layer by which the
trunk is increased in diameter. Malpighi was of opinion that the new layer of wood is
formed from the liber of the former year.
1574. The new layer of wood Linnjeus considered as formed from the pith, which is absurd, because the
opinion goes to the inversion of the very order in which the layer is formed, the new layer being always
exterior to the old one. But, according to the most general opinion, the layer was thought to be formed
from a substance oozing out of the wood or bark — first a limpid fluid, then a viscid pulp, and then a thin
layer attaching itself to the former ; the substance thus exuding from the wood or bark was generally
regarded as being merely an extravasated mucilage, which was somehow or other converted into wood
and bark: but Du Hamel regarded it as being already an organised substance, consisting of both cellular
and tubular tissue, which he designated by the appellation of the cambium, or proper juice.
1575. Knight has thrown the highest degree of elucidation on this, one of the 7)iost obscure and intri-
cate processes of the vegetable economy, in having shown that the sap is elaborated, so as to render it fit
for the formation of new parts, in the leaf only. If a leaf or branch of the vine is grafted even on the
fruit-stalk or tendril, the graft will still succeed ; but if the upper part of a branch is stripped of its leaves,
the bark will wither as far as it is stripped ; and if a portion of bark furnished with a leaf is insulated by
means of detaching a ring of bark above and below it, the wood of the insulated portion that is above the
leaf is not augmented : this shows evidently that the leaf gives the elaboration necessary to the formation
of new parts, and that without the agency of the leaf no new part is generated : — Such then is the mode
of the augmentation of the plant in the second year of its growth. It extends in width by a new layer
of wood and of bark insinuated between the wood and bark of the former year ; and in height by
the addition of a perpendicular shoot or of branches, generated as in the shoot of the first year.
But if the plant is taken and dissected at the end of the third year, it will be found to have augmented in
the same manner ; and so also at the end of the succeeding year, as long as it shall continue to live ; so
that the outermost layer of bark, and innermost layer of wood, must have been originally tangent in the
first year of the plant's growth ; the second layer of bark, and second layer of wood, in the second year ;
and so on in the order of succession till you come to the layer of the present year, which will in like man-
ner divide into two portions, the outer forming one layer or more of bark, and the inner forming one
layer or more of wood. And hence the origin of the concentric layers of wood and of bark in the trunk.
But how are we to account for the formation of the divergent layers, which Du Hamel erroneously sup-
posed to proceed from the pith ? The true solution of the difficulty has been furnished by Knight, who,
in tracing the result of the operation of budding, observed, that the wood formed under the bark of the
inserted bud unites indeed confusedly with the stock, though still possessing the character and properties
of the wood from which it was taken, and exhibiting divergent layers of new formation which originate
evidently in the bark, and terminate at the line of union between the graft and stock.
1576. But how is the formation of the wood that noio occupies the place of the pith to be accounted for ?
It appears that the tubes of which the medullary sheath is composed do, in the process of vegetation,
deposit a cambium, which forms an interior layer that is afterwards converted into wood for the purpose
of filling up the medullary canal.
1577. Opinion of Darwin and Du Petit Thouars. According to these philosophers, (and the hypothesis,
we believe, was originally proposed by Dr. Darwin,) " the phenomena which took place at the period of
germination are renewed by every leaf which successively unfolds itself. The cotyledons were the source
of the fibres which were sent down into the earth through the root ; in like manner every leaf is enabled
to maintain a communication between itself and the soil, by the means of fibres. Hence arises another
kind of increase, of which no notice has yet been taken — the increase in thickness. A stem, which at the
Book I. PROCESS OF VEGETABLE DEVELOPEMENT. 243
hour of its birth was no thicker than a pin, in a few months acquires the diameter of an inch, or more.
This arises from the successive superposition of the bundles of fibres which are created upon the develope-
ment of each leaf, and of every leaf-bud. The latter makes its first appearance under the form of a green
point, which originates from the inner layers of the ligneous body, which it traverses, and penetrates into
the bark. A short time after its first appearance, it may be perceived that the bud is surrounded by a
portion of woody fibre, which passes downwards, covers over the wood previously formed, and thus forms
a new layer. The existence of this it is easy to demonstrate ; for the fibres of the leaves separate easily
from the wood, but the leaf-buds, when broken off", evidently arise from the interior of the wood. All the
new parts formed by the leaf-bud soon become so completely identified with the old wood, that, after a
short period, no marks of separation remain. " {London Encyclopaedia, art. Botany.)
1578. Conversion qf the alburnum into perfect wood. In consequence of the increase of the trunk by
means of the regular and gradual addition of an annual layer, the layers, whether of wood or of bark, are
necessarily of different degrees of solidity in proportion to their age, the inner layer of bark and the
outer layer of wood being the softest ; and the other layers increasing in their degree of solidity till you
reach the centre on the one hand, and the circumference on the other, where they are respectively the
hardest, forming perfect wood or highly indurated bark, which bark sloughs or splits into chinks, and falls
off" in thick crusts, as in the plane tree, fir, and birch. What length of time, then, is requisite to convert
the alburnum into perfect wood, or the liber into indurated bark ; and by what means are they so con-
verted? There is no fixed and definite period of time that can be positively assigned as necessary to the
complete induration of the wood or bark, though it seems to require a period of a good many years before
any particular layer is converted from the state of alburnum to that of perfect wood ; and perhaps no layer
has received its final degree of induration till such time as the tree has arrived at its full growth. The indu-
ration of the alburnum, and its consequent durability, are attributed by many to the loss of sap which the
layer sustains after the period of its complete developement, when the supply from the root diminishes,
and the waste by evaporation or otherwise is still kept up, inducing a contraction or condensation of its
elementary principles which augments the solidity of the layer, in tJie first degree, and begins the process
that future years finish. But Knight believes the induration of the alburnum, as distinguishable in the
winter, to be owing rather to some substance deposited in it in the course of the preceding summer, which
he regards as being the proper juice in a concrete or inspissated state, but which is carried ofif again by the
sap as it ascends in the spring.
1579. Circulation of vegetable juices. After the discovery of the circulation of the
blood of animals, phytologists, who were fond of tracing analogies between the animal
and vegetable kingdoms, began to think that there perhaps existed in plants also a circu-
lation of fluids. The sap was supposed to be elaborated in the root. The vessels in
which it was propelled to the summit of the plant were denominated arteries ; and the
vessels in which it was again returned to the root were denominated veins. Du Hamel,
while he admits the ascent of the sap, and descent of the proper juice, each in peculiar
and appropriate vessels, does not, however, admit the doctrine of a circulation, which
seems, about the middle of the last century, to have fallen into disrepute. For Hales, who
contended for an alternate ascent and descent of fluids in the day and night, and in the
same vessels, or for a sort of vibratory motion, as he also describes it, gave no countenance
whatever to the doctrine of a circulation of juices. But the doctrine, as it appears, has
been again revived, and has met with the support of some of the most distinguished of
modern phytologists. Hedwig is said to have declared himself to be of opinion, that plants
have a circulation of fluids similar to that of animals. Corti is said to have discovered a
species of circulation in the stem of the Chara, but confined, it is believed, within
the limits of the intemodia. Willdenow has also introduced the subject, and de-
fended the doctrine (^Principles of Botany, p. 85) ; but only by saying he believes a cir-
culation to exist, and that it is impossible for the leafless tree to resist the cold if there is
not a circulation of fluids. Knight has given his reasons somewhat in detail; and
though his doctrine of a circulation should be false, yet the account wliich he gives of the
progress and agency of the sap and proper juice, short of circulation, may be true. The
sum of the account is as follows : — When the seed is deposited in the ground under
proper conditions, moisture is absorbed and modified by the cotyledons, and conducted
directly to the radicle, which is by consequence first developed. But the fluid which has
been thus conducted to the radicle, mingling no doubt with the fluid which is now also
absorbed from the soil, ascends afterwards to the plumelet through the medium of the
tubes of the alburnum. The plumelet now expands and gives the due preparation to th
ascending sap, returning it in its elaborated state to the tubes of the bark, through
which it again descends to the extremity of the root, forming in its progress new bark and
new alburnum ; but mixing also, as he thinks, with the alburnum of the former year,
where such alburnum exists, and so completing the circulation.
1580. Decomposite organs. To the above brief sketch of the agency of the vital
principle in the generation or growth of the elementary and composite organs, there now
remains to he added that of the progress and mode of the growth- of the decomposite or-
gans, or organs immediately constituting the plant, as finishing the process of the vege-
table developement. This veill include the phenomena of the ultimate developement of
the root, stem, branch, bud, leaf, flower, and fruit.
1581. The root. From the foregoing observations and experiments, it appears that the roots of plants
or at least of woody plants, are augmented in their width by the addition of an annual layer, and in their
length by the addition of an annual shoot, bursting from the terminating fibre. But how is the develope-
ment of the shoot effected ? Is it by the introsusception of additional particles throughout the whole of
its extent ; or only by additions deposited at the extremity? In order to ascertain the fact, with regard
to the elongation of the root, Du Hamel instituted the following experiment : — Having passed several
threads of silver transversely through the root of a plant, and noted the distances, he then immersed the
root in water. The upper threads retained always their relative and original situation, and the lowest
thread, which was placed within a few lines of the end, was the only one that was carried down. Hence
he concluded that the root is elongated merely by the extremity. Knight, who from a similar experiment
R 2
244 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
o1)tained the same result, deduced from it also the same conclusion. We may regard it, then, as certain,
that the mode of the elongation of the root is such as is here represented, though in the progress of its
developement, it may affect a variety of directions. The original direction of the root is generally perpen-
dicular, in which it descends to a considerable depth if not interrupted by some obstacle. In taking up
some young oak trees that had been planted in a poor soil, Du Hamel found that tlie root had descended
almost four feet, while the height of the trunk was not more than six inches. If the root meets with an
obstacle, it then takes a horizontal direction, not by the bending of the original shoot, but by the sending
out of lateral shoots. The same effect also follows if the extremity of the root is cut off, but not always ;
for it is a common thing in nursery gardens to cut off the tap-roots of drills of seedling oaks, without
removing them, by a sharp spade, and these generally push out new tap-roots, though not so strong as the
former. When a root ceases of its own accord to elongate, it sends out lateral fibres which become
branches, and are always the more vigorous the nearer they are to the trunk ; but the lateral branches of
horizontal roots are the less vigorous the nearer they are to the end next the trunk. In the former case,
the increased luxuriance is perhaps owing to the easy access of oxygen in the upper divisions ; but, in the
latter case, the increased luxuriance of the more distant divisions is not so easily accounted for, if it is not
to be attributed to the more ample supply of nutriment which the fibres meet with as they recede from
the trunk, particularly if you suppose a number of them lying horizontally, and diverging like the radii of
a circle. But the direction of roots is so liable to be affected by accidental causes, that there is often but
little uniformity even in roots of the same species. If plants were to be sown in a soil of the same density
throughout, perhaps there might be at least as much uniformity in the figure and direction of their roots,
as in those of their branches; but this will seldom happen. For if the root is injured by the attacks of
insects, or interrupted by stones, or earth of too dense a quality, it then sends out lateral branches, as in
the above cases ; sometimes extending in length, by following the direction of the obstacle, and some-
times ceasing to elongate, and forming a knot at the extremity. But where the soil has been loosened by
digging or otherwise, the root generally extends itself to an unusual length ; and where it is both
loosened and enriched, it divides into a multiplicity of fibres. This is also the case with the roots of
plants vegetating in pots, or near a river, but especially in water. Where roots have some considerable
obstacle to overcome, they will often acquire a strength proportioned to the difficulty : sometimes they
will penetrate through the hardest soil to get at a soil more nutritive ; and sometimes they will insinuate
their fibres into the crevices even of walls and rocks, which they will burst or overturn. This of course
requires much time, and does much injury to the plant. Roots consequently thrive best in a soil that is
neither too loose nor too dense; but as the nourishment which the root absorbs is chiefly taken up by
the extremity, so the soil is often more exhausted at some distance from the trunk than immediately
around it. Du Hamel regards the small fibres of the root, which absorb the moisture of the soil, as being
analogous to the lacteals of the animal system, which absorb the food digested by the stomach : but the
root is rather to be regarded as the mouth of the plant, selecting what is useful to nourishment, and
rejecting what is yet in a crude and indigestible state ; the larger portions of it serving also to fix the
plant in the soil, and to convey to the trunk the nourishment absorbed by the smaller fibres, which,
ascending by the tubes of the alburnum, is thus conveyed to the leaves, the digestive organs of plants.
Du Hamel thinks that the roots of plants are furnished with pre-organised germs, by which they are
enabled to send out lateral branches when cut, though the existence of such germs is not proved ; and
affirms, that the extremities of the fibres of the root die annually, like the leaves of the trunk and
branches, and are again annually renewed ; which last peculiarity Professor Willdenow affirms also to be
the fact, but without adducing any evidence by which it appears to be satisfactorily substantiated. On
the contrary. Knight, who has also made some observations on this subject, says, it does not appear that
the terminating fibres of the roots of woody plants die annually, though those of bulbous roots are found
to do so : but the fibres of creeping plants, as the common crowfoot and strawberry, certainly die annu-
ally, as do those of the vine.
1582. The stem. The stem, like the root, or at least the stem of woody plants, is also augmented in
width by the addition of an annual layer, and in length, by the addition of an annual shoot bursting from
the terminating bud. Is the developement of the shoot issuing from the stem effected in the same man-
ner also ? The developement of the shoot from the stem is not effected in the same manner as the
developement of that from the root, by additions to the extremity only, but by the introsusccption of
additional particles throughout its whole extent, at least in its soft and succulent state : the longitudinal
extension diminishing in proportion as the shoot acquires solidity, and ceasing entirely when the wood
is perfectly formed, though often continuing at the summit after it has ceased at the base. The exten-
sion of the shoot is inversely as its induration, rapid while it remains herbaceous, but slow in proportion
as it is converted into wood. Hence moisture and shade are the most favourable to its elongation, because
they prevent or retard its induration ; and hence the small cone of wood which is formed during the
first year of the plant's growth increases no more after the approach of winter, either in height or thick-
ness. Such is the mode of the growth and developement of the trunk of perennial and woody plants, to
which there exists a striking exception in the growth of the trunk of palms. Their internal structure
has been already taken notice of as possessing no concentric or divergent layers, and no medullary canal,
but merely an assemblage of large and woody fibres, interspersed without order in a pulp or parenchyma,
softer at the centre, and gradually becoming harder as it approaches the circumference. When the
seed of the palm tree germinates, it protrudes a circular row of leaves, or of fronds, which crowns the
radicle, and is succeeded in the following year by a similar row issuing from the centre or bosom of the
former leaves, which ultimately die down to the base. This process is continued for four or five years
successively, without exhibiting as yet any appearance of a stem, the remaining bases of the leaves or
frond forming by their union merely a sort of knob or bulb. At last, however, they constitute by their
union an incipient stem, as thick the first year as it ever is after ; which in the following year is aug-
mented in heighth as before, and so in succession as long as the plant lives, the leaves always issuing
from the summit and crowning the stem, which is a regular column, but decaying at the end of the year,
and leaving circular marks at the points of insertion, which furrow the surface of the plant, and indicate
the years of its growth.
1583. The branches, in their mode of growth and developement, exhibit nearly the same appearances
as the trunk from which they issue. They originate in a bud, and form also a cone which consists of pith,
wood, and bark ; or rather they form a double cone: for the insertion of the branch into the trunk
resembles also a cone whose base is at the circumference, and whose apex is at the centre, at least if it is
formed in the first year of the plant's growth, or on the shoot of the present year ; but falling short of the
centre in proportion to the lateness of its formation, and number of intervening layers. Branches in their
developement assume almost all varieties of position, from the reflected to the horizontal and upright;
but the lower branches of trees are found to be generally parallel to the surface of the soil on which they
grow, even though that surface should be the sloping side of a hill, owing, as some have thought, to the
evolution of a greater number of buds on the side that forms the obtuse angle with the soil, in conse-
quence of its being exposed to the action of a greater mass of air.
1584. The bud, which in the beginning of spring is so very conspicuous on the trees of this country as to
be obvious to the most careless observer, is by no means common to all plants, nor to plants of all
climates; shrubs in general, and annuals universally, as well as all plants whatever growing within
the tropics, are destitute of buds, the leaf being in them immediately protruded from the bark. It is only
in the woody plants of cold climates, therefore, that we are to look for buds ; and in them no new part is
added, whether proper to the leaf or flower, without the intervention of a bud. For when the young
shoot is produced, it is at the same time furnished with new buds, which are again extended into new
Book I. ANOMALIES OF VEGETABLE DEVELOPEMENT. 245
shoots in the following spring; and thus the bud is to be regarded as forming, not only the cradle, but also
the winter quarters of the shoot, for which its coat of tiled and glutinous scales seems admirably adapted.
It is found chiefly in the extremity, or on the surface of the young shoot or branch, and but rarely on the
stem, except it be at the collar where it produces suckers. It is also generated for tlie most part in the
axils of the leaves, as may be seen by inspecting the annual shoot of almost any tree at random : but it is
not universally so ; for to this rule there exists a curious and singular exception in the bud of the Plk-
tanus, which is generated in the very centre of the base of the foot-stalk, and is not discoverable till after
the fall of the leaf. But how are the buds formed which are thus developed? Malpighi thought they
were formed from the pith or cellular tissue, which Grew regarded as viscera destined for the elaboration
of the sap and protrusion of future buds. Du Hamel thinks the exterior scales of the bud originate
in the interior part of the bark, and Knight relates an experiment from which he thinks it follows that
the buds are formed from the descending proper juice. But whatever may be the actual origin of the
bud, it is evident that its developement does not take place except through the medium of the proper
juice, which has been elaborated in the leaves of preceding buds, and originally in those of the plumelet,
as the young bud does not make its appearance till the leaves of the preceding buds have expanded, and
will not ultimately succeed if deprived of them too soon.
158.x r^edarAr, it is probable, performs tiie same functions as the leaves in the early state of the buds, and
occasionally in all states. Otherwise it would not be easy to account for the growth of cactuses, euphor-
bias, some apocyneous plants, &c., which are all destitute of leaves. In fine, the bark may be compared
to a universal leaf, with one surface only. [London Ency. art. Bot.)
1586. Bulbs are so very similar to buds both in their origin and developement, as to require no specific
investigation.
1587. The leaf. When the leaves burst from the expanding bud, and even long before that period, as
may be seen by the dissection of the bud in the winter, they are complete in all their parts. Hence it is
obvious that the leaf, like the young shoot, effects its final developement by means of the introsusception
of new particles throughout the whole of its dimensions ; and yet this law of developement is not common
to all leaves whatever, for the leaves of liliaceous plants extend chiefly at the point of their junction with
the bulb. The effect, perhaps, of their peculiarity of structure, in being formed of parallel tubes which
extend throughout their whole length, without those transverse and branching fibres that constitute what
are called the nerves of the leaves of woody plants.
1588. The flower and fruit. When the flower bursts from the expanding bud, and even long before that
period, it is already complete in all its parts, as may be seen also by the dissection of the bud in
winter. Linnasus represents the pistil as originating in the pith, the stamens in the wood, and the
corolla and calyx in the inner and outer bark respectively : but this account of their origin, though ex-
tremely plausible at first sight, will not bear the test of minute examination, being contradicted by the ana-
tomy of the parts themselves ; particularly in the case of compound flowers. Knight, in investigating the
organisation of the apple and pear, endeavoured to ascertain the origin of the several parts by tracing the
organs of the fruit-stalk to their termination. In the fruit-stalk he thought he could discover the pith, the
central tubes, spiral tubes, and tubes of the bark, together with its epidermis : and in tracing them to their
termination, he thought the pith seemed to end in the pistils ; the central vessels in the stamens, after
diverging round the core and approaching again in the eye of the fruit ; and the bark and epidermis
in the two external skins. Hence he infers that the flower is a prolongation of the pith, wood, and
bark. A question of some considerable importance has arisen out of this subject : does the flower or
fruit elaborate sap for its own developement, or is it supplied with nourishment from the leaf? By
placing small branches of the apple, pear, and vine, with blossoms not expanded, in a decoction of logwood.
Knight found that the central vessels were coloured by the decoction. By means of a similar experiment
on the same subjects after the fruit was formed, the colouring matter was traced through the mass of the
fruit to the base of the stamina. Anil hence it appears that the flower and fruit do possess the power
of elaborating sap for their own developement. Knight infers from the foregoing data, that the blossom
is nourished from the alburnum, by means of the mmgling of the proper juice, which the alburnum may
be supposed to contain, with the sap in its ascent.
Sect. V. Anomalies of Vegetable Developement.
1589. A deviation from the general laws of developement is occasioned by the interven-
tion of some accidental cause ; or of some cause operating permanently in certain sub-
jects. Hence the anomaly may regard the developement either of an individual or a
species, and may occur either in the root, stem, branch, leaf, bud, flower, or fruit, ac-
cording to the circumstances in which it is placed; or it may aflfect the habit, duration,
or physical virtues of the plant.
1590. The root. According to the general laws of vegetable developement, plants of
the same species are furnished with the same species of root, not producing at one time
a woody or fibrous root, and at another time a bulbous root : and yet it is found that
there are cases in which changes of tliis kind do occur. If part of the root of a tree,
planted by a pond or river, protrudes beyond the bank so as to be lgq
partially immersed, it divides at the extremity into innumerable
ramifications, or sends out innumerable fibres from the surface,
which become again subdivided into fibres still more minute, and
give to the whole an appearance something resembling that of the
tail of a fox ; and it has accordingly been denominated by Du
Hamel the fox-tail root. (fg. 189.)
1591. The root of the Vhlemn pratense, when growing in a moist soil, which
it naturally affects, is uniformly fibrous ; but when growing in a dry soil, where
it is also often to be found, it is furnished with a bulbous root. The same is
the case with the ^lopecurus genicul&tus ; which, when growing in its native
marshes, protrudes a fibrous root, though, when growing in a very dry situation,
as on the top of a dry wall, it is found to be furnished with an ovate and juicy
bulb. This anomaly also seems to be merely the result of a provision of nature
by which the plant is endowed with the capacity of collecting a supply of,
moisture suited to existing circumstances, and hence of adapting itself to the ;
soil in which it grows.
1592. The roots of UtricuHiria viinor, which consist of a number of slender ,
and hair-like filaments, exhibit the singular anomaly of being furnished with a
multitude of small and membranous bladders, each containing a transparent
and watery fluid, and a small bubble of air, by means of which the plant is kept floating in the water.
R 3
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SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
15P3. The descending root, an anomaly which attends some perennials, is at first spindle-shaped and per-
pendicular, sending out some lateral fibres, but dies at the lower extremity in the course of the succeed,
ing winter, and protrudes new fibres from the remaining portion, and even from the lower portion of the
stem, in the course" of the following spring, which, by descending into the soil, draw down the plant with
them, so that part of what was formerly stem is now converted into root. This process is repeated every
year, and by consequence a portion of the stem is made to descend every year into the earth. The
anomaly may be exemplified in the roots of Faleriana dioica, Tanacfetum vulgire, and O'xalis Acetos^Ua ;
and will also account for the bitten and truncated appearance of Scabiusa succlsa, or devil's bit.
1594. Migratory roots depend on a principle similar to the foregoing. If the stem of a descending root
happens to be creeping or procumbent instead of being erect, then the lateral shoots from above are carried
forward in the direction of that procumbency, so tliat in the course of a few years the plant has actually
changed its place by so much as the stem has been converted into a root. This is well exemplified in the
genus i^ris, a plant of which, as it enlarges in circumference, dies in the centre, and presents a ring of
plants instead of a solitary one. In the case of some aquatics, which float about on the surface of the
water as they happen to be driven by the winds, the whole plant may be said to be migratory, as in the
genus Lemna, and some marine plants.
1595. The beet-root, if dissected when about a year old, presents the singular anomaly of being already
furnished with from five to eight distinct and concentric circles of longitudinal tubes or sap- vessels, im-
bedded at regular intervals in its pulp; whereas other biennial roots form only an individual circle each
year, and are, consequently, at no time furnished with more than two.
1596. Roots changed to branches and branches to roots. If the stem of a young plum or cherry tree, but
particularly of a willow, is talien in the autumn, and bent so as that one half of the top may be laid in the
earth, one half of the root being at the same time taken carefully out, but sheltered at first from the cold
and then gradually exposed to it, and the remaining part of the top and root subjected to the same process
in the following year, the branches of the top will become roots, and the ramifications of the root will
become branches, protruding leaves, flowers, and fruit in due season.
1597. The stem. If the stem of a tree planted by a pond or river is so bent in its
growth as to come near to the surface of the water and to be occasionally immersed in it,
it will sometimes send out from the under surface a multitude of shoots that will descend
into the water, and develope themselves in the manner of the fox-tail root. Sometimes
it happens that a stem, instead of assuming the cylindrical form common to the species,
assumes a compressed and flattened form similar to the herbage of the Cactus, as in the
fir tribe, ash, &c.
1598. The anomaly of the flattened stetn {fig. 190.) is accounted for by Du
Hamel, by supposing that an unnatural junction must have taken place in the
leaf-bud ; and so united shoots that would otherwise have been distinct.
Sometimes the stem is disfigured by accidental tumours or bunches projecting
from the surface, and forming ultimately what are called knots in the wood.
They are very common in the oal. and elm, and are produced, perhaps, by
means of some obstruction in '.e cliannel of the sap's motion, by which the
vessels become convoluted and :,well up into a bunch.
1599. But bunches are also to be met with on the stems of herbaceous plants,
as on that of the Carduus pratcnsis; of which you will often find a portion
near the top swollen out into an egg-shaped or egg-oblong bunch, extending
from an inch to two inches in length, and about an inch across. If this
bunch is cut open in the month of August, it will be found to contain several
large and white maggots. It has consequently been occasioned by the
puncture of the parent insect depositing its eggs. It does not seern to affect
the general health of a vigorous plant, though it might prove seriously in-
jurious to a weak one.
160(). Bundled stem. Sometimes two or more contiguous stems, extending
in the process of their growth till they meet and press against one another,
become incorporated at length into one, and form a sort of bundle. This is
what may be termed a natural graft, in opposition to an artificial graft, of
which it is the model and prototype. The natural graft is always effected
by means of the union of the liber of the respective stems composing it ; so
that the perfection of the art of grafting consists in applying the liber of the
graft and stock together, in such a manner as shall most facilitate their ^
in:;orporation.
1601. The branch. If the branch of a tree is situated, as in the foregoing case of the
stem, so as to be partially or periodically immersed in water, it will send out also the
same sort of brush-like shoots.
1602. Bunches or knots, exhibitinga plexiis of young shoots [fig. 191. a) issuing from nearly the same ix)int,
crossing in all directions, and finally incorporating together by means of a sort of natural graft, frequently
disfigure the branch. These bunches are frequently to be met with on the branches of the birch tree, and arc
Book I. ANOMALIES OF VEGETABLE DEVELOPEMENT. 217
known among the peasantry of Scotland by the name of witches' knots. They are occasioned, like the
bunches of the stem, by some obstruction in the channel of the sap or proper juice^ A i)eculiar sort of knot
or bunch is also formed on the branches of the dog-rose. The
nucleus, which is generally from an inch to an inch and a half
in diameter, is covered with a long and winged shag, first of a
green and then of a purple colour, presenting the appearance
of a small bunch of moss. {Jig. 192.) It has been occasioned,
like that of the stem of the thistle, by the puncture of an
insect depositing its eggs in the tender shoot; for if it is cutj
open about the month of August, it contains maggots.;
These anomalies remind us always of that singular disease in
the human species, the Plica polonica.
1603. The bud. The regular developement of
the bud is also often prevented by means of the
puncture of insects, and converted into a large
globular tumour.
1604. The mil tumour is very often effected by a species of
Cj^nips, which drives its piercer into the heart of the bud while
yet tender, and penetrates with its saw into the very pith ; in.
jecting at the same time a drop of the corroding liquor con-
tained in its bag, and then laying its eggs. The bud being thus wounded, and the juices corrupted by
the injected poison, the circulation is not only impeded, but a fermentation is induced which burns the
contiguous parts and changes their colour. The extravasated juice flows round the egg, and is there accu.
mulated and converted into a sort of spongy lump, which vegetates and augments till it forms what is
called a gall. The gall thus formed affords both shelter and nourishment to the young maggot, which,
after being converted into a fly, pierces its enclosure and launches into the open air. The most remark-
able of such galls are those produced on the oak tree, and known in this country by the vulgar name of
oak-apples, {fig. 191. b) The bud of the willow, particularly SMix /ffelix, is apt to be punctured by insects
and converted into a gall : but the conversion is not always complete ; and in this case the shoot remains
dwarfish, and the leaves, which are now protruded from nearly the same point, assume something of the
figure of a rose. Hence it has obtained the common name of the rose-willow. The galls of the Salvia
pomifera, formed in the above manner, are said to be of a very pleasant flavour, and are esteemed a
great delicacy in Eastern countries.
1605. The leaves. These, like the buds, are also frequently chosen for the nidus of
insects, and disfigured vrith galls or excrescences. But the most remarkable gall
produced on the leaf, and indeed the most remarkable and important of all galls,
is that which is so extremely useful in the arts of dyeing and making ink, the nut-gall
of the shops.
1606. The nut-gall is generated on the leaf of a species of oak that grows plentifully in the Levant, and
is so well known in commerce as to require no particular description. It is occasioned by the puncture of
the Cynips lyuercif blii, which deposits its egg in the substance of the leaf by making a small perforation
on the under surface. Galls and tumours are to be found on the leaves of many plants ; and indeed almost
all leaves are liable to deformities, giving them a blistered, wrinkled, or curled appearance, and often pro-
ducing disease.
1607. The excess or deficiency of leaves protruded in a group sometimes constitutes the anomaly, as in
the case of the trefoils.
1608. Sometimes it is found in the natural figure of the leaf itself, as in .Asparagus officinalis, where
they are bristle-shaped ; Salsola Kali, awl-shaped ; and AlWuvn Cfepa, in which they are tubular, tapering
to a point. But one of the most remarkable anomalies of figure is that which occurs in the genus Sar-
racenirt, the lower portion of the leaves of which is tubular, ascending, and approaching to funnel-shaped,
or rather pitcher-shaped reversed, with a flattened and concave limb attached by the one side to the orifice
of the tube, and constituting the upper portion of the leaf Linnasus, who was acquainted with this
singularity of structure, accounted for it by supposing that it was an institution of Nature, meant for the
purpose of furnishing the plant with a supply of water, which it could thus catch and retain in the leaf:
but as some species of the genus do not readily admit water, notwithstanding their capacity to retain it, this
hypothesis is regarded by Sir J. E. Smith as being extremely doubtful, who accordingly offers a different
solution, founded upon the following facts. An insect, of the Sphex or /chneiimon kind, had been observed
by one of the gardeners of the botanic garden at Liverpool to drag several large flies to a leaf of Sarracenwi
adunca, and to force them into the tubular part of it. On examination the leaf was found to be about half
filled with water, in which the flies were now struggling ; the other leaves were also examined, and were
found crammed with dead or drowning flies. The leaves of Sarracfenm purpiirea are said to exhibit also
the same phenomena, and seem peculiarly well adapted to entrap and confine flies, by having the margin
beset with inverted hairs, which render the escape of such insects as may have accidentally fallen into the
watery tube, or are intentionally forced into it, impracticable ; so that the putrid exhalation from the dead
insects contained in the leaf often offends the nostrils, even in passing near the plant. Hence Sir J. K
Smith infers, that the growth of the plant is perhaps benefited by means of the air evolved by the dead
flies, which the water has been intended to tempt, and the leaves to entrap and retain. This ingenious
conjecture is, no doubt, sufficiently plausible as far as the plant may be affected ; but cannot be regarded
as quite satisfactory till such time as it shall have been shown that the health of the plant is injured when
insects are prevented from approaching it.
1609. The 'i!iepenthes distillathria exhibits also an anomaly similar to that of SarracfenJa, in holding an
ounce or two of a fluid which appears to be secreted from the leaf, and to be intended as a lure to
insects, which gain admission either by the spontaneous opening of the lid, or by forcibly raising it them-
selves. The consequence is that they fall into the fluid and are drowned, no insect being capable of living
in it except a certain small squilla or shrimp, with a protuberant back, which, according to Rumphius,
sometimes crawls into it and can live there. To this phenomenon Sir J. E. Smith applies the same expli-
cation as above, which is of course liable to the same objection.
1610. The figure of the leaf, however singular, is generally the same throughout the same individual, ex-
cept in the case of accidental deformity, and yet there are exceptions even to this rule ; for sometimes
the lower leaves of a plant are entire while the upper leaves are divided, as occurs in a variety of moun-
tainous plants, such as burnet, saxifrage, anise, coriander ; and sometimes the lower leaves are divided
while the upper leaves are entire, as in the case of a variety of aquatics, particularly iZanfinculus aquati-
cus, in which the lower leaves are capillary and immersed, and the upper leaves flat and circular, floating
on the surface of the water. But sometimes the dissimilitude of the leaves is still more remarkable : the
Chinese mulberry, a Botany Bay tree, has not two leaves alike in form on the whole plant. And, lastly,
there are some plants, as in the case of the Fungi, that are wholly destitute of leaves, and hence called
aphyllous ; while there are others, as in the case of the Fhc\, that seem to be wholly leaf.
1611. The flower. The principal anomaly of the flower is that by which one of its
parts is unduly augmented, to the exclusion or diminution of some of the rest. The
R 4
248
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
193
flower is then said to be luxuriant ; and comprises the three following varieties : the mul-
tiplicate, the full, and the proliferous flower.
1612. The multipljcate flower is sometimes, though rarely, occasioned by an unusual multiplication of
the divisions of the calyx, as in DiAnlhus Caryophyllus, and some of the alpine grasses. But the anomaly
most generally consists in the undue multiplication of the divisions of the corolla, by theconversion of part
of the stamens into petals, which is occasionally to be met w th both in monopetalous and polypetalous
flowers. It occurs but seldom, however, in flowers growing in their natural state and habit, though now
and then a double flower is met with even in such circumstances.
1613. The full flower is generally described to be that in which the divisions of the corrolla are so mul-
tiplied as to exclude the stamens and pistils wholly by means of their conversion into petals ; which con-
version is most readily effected in polypetalous flowers, such as the tulip, poppy, pink, and ranunculus ; mo-
nopetalous flowers seldom being found full. This complete metamorphosis is always either the effect of
cultivation, or of some concurrence of natural circumstances analogous to it, and is indeed one of the
principal objects of the art of the florist ; the beauty of the flower, according to general estimation, being
thus much augmented. In the full flower the stamens are almost always converted into petals, whence we
should perhaps infer their identity of origin. But the pistil is often converted into a leaf, as may be seen
by inspecting the flower of the double-blossomed cherry, which generally protrudes from the centre a leaf
in miniature. But a flower may become full also by the multiplication of the parts of the nectary, as is
sometimes the case in the genus Aquilfegia, which produces full
flowers in three different ways : by the multiplication of the petals
to the exclusion of the nectaries ; by the multiplication of the
nectaries to the exclusion of the petals; and by the multiplication
of the nectaries while the proper petals remain. There are also
some peculiarities in the manner in which compound flowers
become full. Radiated flowers become full sometimes by the
multiplication of the floscules of the ray to the exclusion of
the floscules of the disk, as in Helianthus, J'nthemis, and Cen-
taur^a ; and sometimes by the multiplication of the floscules of
the disk to the exclusion of those of the ray, as in Matricaria and
^ellis.
1614. The proliferous flower (fig. 193.) is that out of which
another flower or another shoot is produced. It is seldom
found but in flowers already full; from the centre of which,
that is, from the ovary or pistil, it sometimes happens that a
new flower and foot-stalk is produced, if the flower is simple, as
in the ranunculus, anemone, and pink ; or several flowers and
foot-stalks issuing from the common calyx, if the flower is com-
pound, as in the daisy, hawkweed, and marigold ; or a new
umbel issuing from the centre of the original umbel, if the
flower is umbellate, as in Cornus.
1615. Various anomalies. Sometimes the proliferous issue of the full flower is not itself a flower, but a
shoot furnished with leaves, as has been sometimes, though rarely, observed in the case of the anemone
and rose. Such are the several varieties of luxuriant flowers, constituting anomalies of excess : but it
sometimes happens that there is also in the flower an anomaly of defect in the absence of one of its parts.
Examples of this sort are occasionally to be met with in the flowers of Cheiranthus Che'iri, Campanula
pentagbnia, and Tussilago aii&ndria, in which the corolla is altogether wanting, though proper to the
species ; and in this case the flower is said to be mutilated. Sometimes the anomaly consists in the situa-
tion of the flower, which is generally protruded from the extremity or sides of tl;e branches; but the flower
of the Tfuscus is protruded from the surface of the leaf Or it may consist in the relative situation of the
several parts of the flower. In simple flowers, the pistil is invariably central with regard to the stamens ;
but in compound flowers the pistils are often situated in the circumference and the stamens in the centre.
This seems to be the case, also, with some monoecious plants, having their flowers on the same peduncle,
as in the example of the Carex and ^^rum, in which the stamens are more central than the pistils. Some-
times the anomaly consists in the color of the corolla, which will often deviate even in the same species.
The general colour of the common cowslip (Primula vferis) is a bright yellow ; but an individual is occa-
sionally to be met with, though very rarely, in which the limb or expansion of the corolla is purple with a
line of yellow around the border. Sometimes the anomaly consists in the time of flowering. The season
proper for the flowering of the apple and pear tree is the month of May; but trees of that sort have been
known to protrude both buds and blossoms even in the month of November. Some plants, however, blow
only in the winter, as in the case of the laurustinus and J'rbutus L''nedo; while others blow only in the
night, and refuse to expand their petals to the light of the sun. Such is the case of the Cactus grandiflbra,
that produces one of the most magnificent of flowers, but blows only in the night ; and is hence known
also by the appellation of the night-blowing cereus. Some plants,
such as the A'lgas, and Fiingi, are altogether destitute of con-
spicuous flowers ; and are hence called Cryptogamous. The ^
flower of the fig is perhaps one of the most singular in respect of \
concealment. The flowers of perfect plants, which, in other cases,
uniformly precede the fruit, are in this case concealed
within what is generally denominated the fruit j as may be
proved by cutting open a green fig (fig. 194.) by means of a lon-
gitudinal section passing through its axis. Great numbers of
flowers are then discovered hning a sort of cavity in the axis of
the fruit; and hence what is called the fruit or fig, in common
language, is rather the receptacle of the flower than any thing
else. Most plants have their flowers furnished both with stamens and pistils, and are hence hermaphro-
dites. But there are also many genera that have the stamens in one flower and the pistilsin another, both
on the same individual : these are denominated Monoecious plants, and are exemplified in the oak and
hazel. Other genera have the flowers with stamens on one plant, and the flowers with pistils on another :
these are denominated D2a?c20M5, and are exemplified in the hop and willow. Others have unisexual
flowers of each kind on one and the same plant, as in Moncecia; on separate plants, as in Dicecia ; and
on others mixed with those which are hermaphrodite : these are Renominated Polygamous, and are ex-
emplified in the genus yl'triplex. In a species of Euterpe, found on the island of Bourbon, the flowers are
visible eight years before they are expanded. The summit is formed of twelve leaves, each supplied with
a bunch of flowers in its axilla. Three leaves only expand each year, so that four years will have elapsed
between the expansion of the first flowers and of the last, although even the former were discoverable
four, and the latter eight, years previously. (London Eticyc., art. Botany.)
1616. The fruit. The anomalies of the fruit may affect either its number, figure,
colour, or appendages.
1617. The common hazel-nut produces in general but one kernel in one shell ; but in the course ot
opening a considerable number, you will now and then meet with one containing two or three kernels in
a shell. This is, perhaps, best accounted for by supposing, with Du Hamel, that it is the result of an un-
natural graft effected in the bud ; though some think that the shell does always contain the rudiments ol
Book I.
SEXUALITY OF VEGETABLES.
249
two or more kcinc.s, although it rarely happens that more than one is developed. But if two apples or
^^^^ pears are developed in an incorporated state, which is a case that now and
1 95 ^^^^^^^fe^ *'^^" occurs, it is no doubt best accounted for by the graft of Du Hamel.
^s^^^^^xseme^^ Sometimes the anomally consist in the figure of the fruit, which is del
formed by tumours or excrescences, in consequence of the bite of insects
or injuries of weather producing warts, moles, or specks. Sometimes it
consists in the colour, producing green melons and white cucumbers.
Sometimes it consists in an appendage of leaves, {fig. 195.)
1618. Habit. The anomalies of habit are principally oc-
casioned by soil and cultivation.
1()19. Some plants, which, when placed in a rich soil, grow to a great
height, and affect the habit of a tree, are, when placed in a poor soil,
converted into dwarfish shrubs. This may be exemplified in the case of
the box-tree ; it also occurs in the case of herbaceous plants ; as in that
of Myosbtis, which in dry situations is but short and dwarfish, while in
moist situations it grows to such a size as to seem to be altogether a differ-
ent plant. The habit of the plant is sometimes totally altered by means
of cultivation : the Pyrus safiva, when growing in a wild and unculti-
vated state, is furnished with strong thorns ; but when transferred to a
rich and cultivated soil the thorns disajjpear. This phenomenon, which
was observed by Linnseus, was regarded as being equivalent to tlie taming of animals : but this explica-
tion is like some others of the same great botanist, much more plausible than profound, in place of wliich
Professor Willdenow substitutes the following ; the thorns protruded in the uncultivated state of the plant,
are buds rendered abortive from want of nourishment, which when supplied with a sufficiency of nourish-
ment are converted into leaves and branches.
1 620. Phi/sical virtues. When plants are removed from their native soil and taken
into a statu of culture, it alters not only their habit but their physical virtues. Thus the
sour grape is rendered sweet ; the bitter pear, pleasant ; the dry apricot, pulpy j tlie prickly
lettuce, smooth ; and the acrid celery, wholesome. Potherbs also are rendered more tender,
by means of cultivation, and better fitted for the use of man ; and so are all our fine fruits.
1621. Duration. Plants are either annuals, biennials, or perennials, and the species
is generally of the same duration in every climate. But it has been found that some
plants, wliich are annuals in a cold climate, such as that of Sweden, will become peren-
nials in a hot climate, such as that of the West Indies ; this anomaly has been exemplified
in Tropce^olum, beet root and il/dlva arborea : and, on the contrary, some plants, which
are perennials in hot climates, are reduced to annuals when transplanted into a cold
climate ; this has been exemplified in the climbing kidneybeans.
Sect.' VI. Of the Sexuality of Vegetables.
1622. The doctrine that plants are of different sexes, and which constitutes the found-
ation of the Linnean system, though but lately established upon the basis of logical in-
duction, is by no means a novel doctrine. It appears to have been entertained even
among the original Greeks, from the antiquity of their mode of cultivating figs and palms.
Aristotle and Theophrastus maintained the doctrine of the sexuality of vegetables ;
and Pliny, Dioscorides, and Galen adopted the division by which plants were then dis-
tributed into male and female ; bvit chiefly upon the erroneous principle of habit or
aspect, and without any reference to a distinction absolutely sexual. Pliny seems to
admit the distinction of sex in all plants whatever, and quotes the case of a palm tree as
exhibiting the most striking example.
16-2o. Linneetis, reviewing with his usual sagacity the evidence on which the doctnne rested, and per.
ceiving that it was supported by a multiplicity of the most incontrovertible facts, resolved to devote his
labours peculiarly to the investigation of the subject, and to prosecute his enquiries throughout the whole
extent of tiie vegetable kingdom ; which great and arduous enterprise he not only undertook, but accom-
plished with a success equal to the unexampled industry with which he pursued it. So that by collecting
into one body all the evidence of former discovery or experiment, and by adding much that was original of
his own, he found himself at length authorised to draw the important conclusion, that no seed is perfected
without the previous agency of the pollen, and that the doctrine of the sexes of plants is consequently
founded in fact.
1624. Proofs from the economy of the aquatics. Many
plants of this class which vegetate for the most part wholly
immersed in water, and often at a considerable depth,
gradually begin to elevate their stems as the season of
flowering advances, when they at last rear their heads
above the surface of the water, and present their opening
blossoms to the sun, till tlje petals have begun to fade, after
which they again gradually sink down to the bottom to
ripen and to sow their seeds. This very peculiar economy
may be exemplified in the case of ^6ppia maritima, and
several species of Potamogfeton common in our ponds
and ditches. From this we may fairly infer, that the
flowers rise thus to the surface merely to give the pollen
an opportunity of reaching the stigma uninjured. But
the most remarkable example of this kind is the Val-
lisneria spiralis {fig 196.), a plant which grows in the
ditches of Italy. The plant is of the class Dice'^cia, pro-
ducing its fertile flowers on the extremity of a long and
slender stalk (a) twisted spirally like a corkscrew, which
uncoiling of its own accord, about the time of the open-
ing of the blossom, elevates the flowers to the surface of
the water, and leaves them to expand in the open air.
The barren flowers (ft) are produced in great numbers upon
short upright stalks issuing from a different root, from
which they detach themselves about the time of the
250 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
expansion of the female blossom, mounting up like little air bubbles, and suddenly expanding when they
reach the surface (c), where they float about in great numbers among the female blossoms, and often cling
to them in clusters, so as to cover them entirely ; thus bringing the stamens and pistils into immediate
contact, and giving the anthers an opportunity of discharging their pollen immediately over the stigma.
When this operation has been performed, the now uncoiled stalk of the female plant begins again to resume
its original and spiral form, and gratiually sinks down, as it gradually rose, to ripen its fruit at the bottom
of the water. In 1819, we gathered these stalks, in the canals near Padua, upwards of ten feet long.
Sect. VII. Impregnation of the Seed.
1625. The stamens and 2>istils are the male and female organs of vegetable generation, and
the pollen is the substance by which the impregnation of the seed is effected; but how is the
pollen conveyed to the ovary, and what is the amount of its action ?
1626. Access of the pollen. When the stamens and pistils are situated near each other, the elastic spring
with which the anther flies open, will generally be suflScient to disperse the pollen, so as that part of it
must infallibly reach the stigma, in such flowers as do not perfect their stamens and pistils at the same
time. The pollen is very generally conveyed from the anther to the stigma, through the instrumentality of
bees, and other insects peculiar to a species. The object of the insect is the discovery of honey, in quest of
which, whilst it roves from flower to flower, and rummages the recesses of the corolla, it unintentionally
covers its body with pollen, which it convey? to the next flower it visits, and brushes off as it acquired it by
rummaging for honey ; so that part of it is almost unavoidably deposited on the stigma, and impregnation
thus effected. Nor is this altogether so much a work of random as it at first appears : for it has been
observed that even insects, which do not upon the whole confine themselves to one species of flower, will
yet very often remain during the whole day upon the species they happen first to alight on in the morning.
Hence the impregnation of the females of Dioecious plants where no male is near ; hence also a sort of
natural crossing of the breed of plants, which might probably otherwise degenerate.
1627. Fecundation of the ovary. Admitting that the pollen is conducted to the ovary
through the tubes of the style, how after all is the ovary fecundated, or the seed ren-
dered fertile ? On this subject naturalists have been much divided ; and, according to
their several opinions, have been classed under the respective appellations of ovarists,
animalculists, and epigenesists.
1628. Ovarist. According to the opinion of the Ovarist, the embryo preexists in the ovary, and is
fecundated by the agency of the pollen, as transmitted to it through the style.
1629. Animalculist. But the theory of the ovarists is not without its difficulties; for, as the embryo Is
never found to make its appearance till after fecundation, it has been thought that it must necessarily pre-
exist in the pollen of the anther ; from which it is conveyed to the ovary through the medium of the style,
and afterwards matured. This theory was founded upon that of Leuwenhoeck, with regard to animal
generation, which supposes the preexislence of animalcula in the seminal principle of the male ; the
animalcula being conveyed in cditu to the ovary of the female, where alone they are capable of
developement.
1630. Epigenesist. The difficulties inseparable from both theories, together with the phenomenon of
hybrid productions, have given rise also to a third ; this is the Theory of the Epigenesists, who maintain
that the embryo preexists neither in the ovary nor pollen, but is generated by the union of the fecundat-
ing principles of the male and female organs ; the former being the fluid issuing from the pollen wlien
it explodes, and the latter the fluid that exudes from the surface of the stigma when mature.
1631. Hybrids. Although the arguments of the epigenesists are by no means satis-
factory, yet it cannot be denied, that hybrid productions partake of the properties both of
the male and female from which they spring. This was long ago proved to be the fact
by Bradley, and more recently confirmed by the experiments of Knight ; as well as hap-
pily converted to the advantage of the cultivator.
1632. Vegetable crossing. Observing that farmers who rear cattle improve the progeny by means of crossing
the breed. Knight argued from analogy, that the same improvement might be introduced into vegetables.
His principal object was that of procuring new and improved varieties of the apple and pear, to supply the
place of such as had become diseased and unproductive. But as the necessary slowness of all experiments
of the kind, with regard to the fruit in question, did not keep pace with the ardour of his desire to obtain
information on the subject, he was induced to institute some tentative experiments upon the common pea ;
a plant well suited to his purpose, both from its quickness of growth, and from the many varieties in form,
size, and colour which itafforded. In 1787, adegenerate sort of pea was growing in his garden, which had
not recovered its former vigour even when removed to a better soil Being thus a good subject of ex-
periment, the male organs of a dozen of its immature blossoms were destroyed, and the female organs left
entire. When the blossoms had attained their mature state, the pollen of a very large and luxuriant grey
pea was introducwl into the one half of them, but not into the other. The pods of both grew equally ; but
the seeds of the half that were unimpregnated withered away without having augmentetl beyond the size to
which they had attained before the blossoms expanded. The seeds of the other half were augmented and
matured, as in the ordinary process of impregnation ; and exhibited no perceptible difference from those
of other plants of the same variety ; perhaps because the external covering of the seed was furnished
entirely by the female. But when they were made to vegetate in the succeeding spring, the effiect of
the experiment was obvious. The plants rose with great luxurance, indicating in their stem, leaves, and
fruit, the influence of this artificial impregnation ; the seeds produced were of a dark grey. By im-
pregnating the flowers of this variety with the pollen of others, the colour was again changed, and new
varieties obtained, superior in every respect to the original on which the experiment was first made, and
attaining, in some cases, to a height of more than twelve feet. {Phil. Trans., 1789.) Knight thinks his
experiments on this subject afford examples of superfoetation, a phenomenon, the existence of which
appears doubtful amongst animals, and of which the proof amongst vegetables is not yet quite satisfactory.
Of one species of superfcetation he has certainly produced examples ; that is, when, by impregnating a
white pea-blossom with the pollen both of a white and grey pea, white and grey seeds were obtamed.
But of the other species of superfoetation, in which one seed is supposed to be the joint issue of two males,
the example is not quite satisfactory. Such a production is perhaps possible, and further experiments
may probably ascertain the fact ; but it seems to be a matter of mere curiosity, and not apparently con-
nected with any views of utility.
1&'53. The practicability of improving the species is rendered strikingly obvious by these experiments ;
and the ameliorating effect is the same, whether by the male or female; as was ascertained by impreg-
nating the largest and most luxuriant plants with the pollen of the most diminutive and dwarfish, or
the contrary. By such means any number of varieties may be obtained, according to the will of the
experimenter, amongst which some will no doubt be suited to all soils and situations. Knight's ex-
periments of this kind were extended also to wheat ; but not with equal success : for though some
very good varieties were obtained, yet they were found not to be permanent. But the success of his
Book I. CHANGES FROM IMPREGNATION. 251
experiments on the apple tree were equal to his hopes. This was, indeed, his principal object, and no
means of obtaining a successful issue were left untried. The plants which were obtained in this case
were found to possess the good qualities of both of the varieties employed, uniting the greatest health
and luxuriance with the finest and best-flavoured fruit.
1634. Improved varieties of every fruit and esculent plant may he obtained by means of artificial impreg-
nation, or crossing, as they were obtained in the cases already stated. Whence Knight thinks, that this
promiscuous impregnation of species has been intended by nature to take place, and that it does in fact
often take place, for the purpose of correcting such accidental varieties as arise from seed, and of con-
fining them within narrower limits. All which is thought to be countenanced from the consideration of
the variety of methods which nature employs to disperse the pollen, either by the elastic spring of the
anthers, the aid of the winds, or the instrumentality of insects. But although he admits the existence
of vegetable hybrids, that is, of varieties obtained from the intermixture of ditterent species of the same
genus, yet he does not admit the existence of vegetable mule?, that is, of varieties obtained from the
intermixture of the species of different genera ; in attempting to obtain which he could never succeed,
in spite of all his efforts. Hence he suspects that where such varieties have been supposed to take place,
the former must have been mistaken for the latter. It may be said, indeed, that if the case exists in the
animal kingdom, why not in the vegetable kingdom ? to v/hich it is, perhaps, difficult to give a satisfactory
reply : but from the narrow limits within which this intercourse is in all cases circumscribed, it scarcely
seems to have been the intention of nature that it should succeed even among animals. Salisbury is of a
different opinion, and considers {Hort. Trans., i. ^^y^.) that new species may be created both by bees and
by the agency of man ; and the recent experiments of Herbert, Sweet, and others, seem to confirm this
opinion. Sweet's experience leads him to conclude that the plants of all orders strictly natural may be
reciprocally impregnated with success, and he has already, in the nursery-gardens of Messrs. Colville,
produced many new Gerknia and ifhodora.ceae.
1635. A singular or anomalous effect of crossing, or extraneous impregnation, is the change sometimes
undergone by the seed or fruit which is produced by the blossom impregnated. These results are not
uniform, but they are of frequent occurrence, and have attracted notice from a very early period. John
Turner observes {Hort. Trans., v. 63.) that Theophrastus and Pliny {Theophrast. Hist. Plant, 1. ii. c. 4.;
Plinii Hist. Nat., 1. xvii. c. 25.) seem to allude to it, and that the notion was entertained by Bradley, who,
in his New hnprovements in Planting and Gardening, after giving directions for fertilising the female
flowers of the hazel with the pollen of the male, says, " By this knowledge we may alter the property and
taste of any fruit, by impregnating the one with the farina of another of the same class, as, for example,
a codlin with a pearmain, which will occasion the codlin so impregnated to last a longer time than usual,
and be of a sharper taste ; or, if the winter fruit should be fecundated with the dust of the summer kinds,
th will decay before their usual time ; and it is from this accidental coupling of the farina of one kind with
the other, that in an orchard, where there is a variety of apples, even the fruit gathered from the same tree
differs in its flavour and times of ripening ; and, moreover, the seeds of those apples so generated, being
changed by that means from their natural qualities, will produce different kinds of fruit, if they are sown."
Turner, after quoting several instances, and, among others, one from the Philosophical Transactions
" concerning the effect which the farina of the blossoms of diflferent sorts of apples had on the fruit of
a neighbouring tree," states upwards of six cases of hybridised apples, that had come within his own
observation ; and concludes with the remark, that, if there does exist in fruits such a liability to change,
it will at once be evident to the intelligent cultivator how much care is requisite in growing melons,
cucumbers, &c., to secure their true characters, even without reference to saving seed for a future crop.
In the same volume of the Horticultural Transactions (p. 234.) an account is given of different-coloured
peas being produced in the same pod, by crossing the parent blossom. All these facts seem to contradict
the generally received opinion, that crossing only affects the next generation ; here it appears to affect
the embryo offspring ; and a gardener, who had no keeping apples in his orchard, might communicate that
quality in part to his summer fruit by borrowing the use of a neighbour's blossoms from a late variety. It
is probable, however, that such counter-impregnations do not take place readily ; otherwise the produce
of a common orchard would be an ever-varying round of monstrosities.
Sect. VIII. Changes consequent upon Impregnation.
1636. The peculiar changes consequent upon impregnation, whether in the flowers or
fruit, may be considered as external and internal.
1637. External changes. At the period of the impregnation of the ovary the flower has attained to its
ultimate state of perfection, and displayed its utmost beauty of colouring and richness of perfume. But as
it is now no longer wanted, so it is no longer provided for in the economy of vegetation. Its period of
decline has commenced ; as is indicated, first by the decay of the stamens, then of the petals, and then of
the calyx, which wither and shrink up, and finally detach themselves from the fruit altogether, except in
some particular cases in which one or other of them becomes permanent and falls only with the fruit. The
stigma exhibits also similar symptoms of decay, and the style itself often perishes. The parts contiguous
to the flower, such as the bractes and floral leaves, are sometimes also affected ; and finally the whole
plant, at least in the case of annuals, begins to exhibit indications of decay. But while the flower withers
and falls, the ovary is advancing to perfection, swelling and augmenting in size, and receiving now all the
nutriment by which the decayed parts were formerly supported. Its colour begins to assume a deeper and
richer tinge ; its figure is also often altered, and new parts are even occasionally added, wings, crests,
prickles, hooks, bloom, down. The common receptacle of the fruit undergoes also similar changes,
becoming sometimes large and succulent, as in the fig and strawberry ; and sometimes julceless and
indurated, as in compound flowers.
1638. Internal changes. If the ovary is cut open as soon as it is first discoverable in the flower, it will
be found to be divisible into several distinct parts, exhibiting an apparatus of cells, valves, and membranes,
constituting the pericarp, and sometimes the external coats of the seed. Impregnation has no sooner
taken place than its influence begins to be visible; the umbilical cord, which was formerly short and dis-
tended, is in some cases converted into a long and slender thread. Sometimes the position of the seed is
altered. Before impregnation the seeds of Caryophyllus aromaticus and Metrosidferos gummifera are
horizontal ; after impregnation they become vertical. Before impregnation the MagnbUa seeds are erect ;
after impregnation they become inverted and pendulous. The figure of the seed is often also altered in passing
from its young to its mature state ; changing from smooth to angular, from tapering to oval, from oval to
round, and from rouml to kidney-shaped. But all the seeds are not brought to maturity, of which the
rudiments may exist in the ovary. Lagoe^'cia and Hasselquistin produce uniformly the rudiments of two
seeds, of which they mature but one. But the principal changes resulting from impregnation are operated
in the seed itself, which, though previously a homogeneous and gelatinous mass, is now converted into an
organised body, or embryo. Such are the phenomena, according to the description of Gaertner, accom-
panying or following the impregnation of all flowers producing seeds: exceptions occur where the fecun-
dation is spurious and incomplete; where the ovary swells, but exhibits no traces of perfect seed within,
as often happens in the vine and Timus ; or where barren and fertile seeds are intermingled together in
the same ovary. This proceeds from some defect either in the quantity or quality of the pollen ; but rather
in the quality, as it is not always plants having the most pollen that produce the most seeds. The
two stamens of the OrchidejE fecundate 8000 seeds, and the five stamens of tobacco fecundate DOO : while
252
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Tart II.
the 50 stamens of Barringtun^'a, the230 of Thea, and Uie 80 of the Caryophyllus fecundate only two or three
ovules.
Sect. IX. The Projmgation of the Species.
1639. As the life of the vegetable, like that of the animal, is limited to a definite period,
and as a continued supply of vegetables is always wanted for the support of animals,
what we call art, or nature operating by means of the animal man, has taken care to
institute such means as shall secure the multiplying and perpetuating of the species in
all possible cases.
1640. Equivocal generation. It was long a vulgar error, countenanced even by the philosophy of the
times, that vegetables do often spring up from the accidental mixture of earth and putrid water, or other
putrid substances, in the manner of what was called the equivocal generation of animals ; or, at the very
least, that the earth contains the principle of vegetable life in itself, which, in order to develope, it is only
necessary to expose to the action of the air. The former alternative of the error has been long ago re-
futed ; the latter has lost its hold, having been refuted by Malpiglii, who proved that the earth produces
no plant without the intervention of a seed, or of some other species of vegetable germ deposited in it by
nature or by art.
1641. Propagatiofi by seeds. When the seed has reached maturity in the due and
regular course of the developement of its several parts, it detaches itself sooner or later
from the parent plant, either singly or along with its pericarp, and drops into the soil,
where it again germinates and takes root, and springs up into a new individual. Such
is the grand means instituted by nature for the replenishing and perpetuating of the
vegetable kingdom.
1642. Dispersion of seed. If seeds were to fall into the soil merely by dropping down from the plant,
then the great mass of them, instead of germinating and springing up into distinct plants, would grow up
only to putrefy and decay ; to prevent which consequence
nature has adopted a variety of the most efficacious contri-
vances, all tending to the dispersion of the seed. The first
means to be mentioned is that of the elasticity of the peri-
carp of many fruits, by which it opens when ripe, with a sort
of sudden spring, ejecting the seed with violence, and throw-
ing it some considerable distance from the plant. This may be
exemplified in a variety of cases ; the seeds of oats when ripe
are projected from the calyx with such violence, that in a fine
and dry day you may even hear them thrown out with a
slight and sudden snap, in passing through a field that is ripe.
The pericarp of the dorsiferous ferns {Jig. 197.) is furnished
with a sort of peculiar elastic ring, intended, as it would
appear, for the very purpose of projecting the seeds. The
capsules of the squirting cucumber, geranium, and Fraxinella,
discharge their seeds also when ripe with an elastic jerk. But
the pericarp of Impatiens, which consists of five cells with
five valves, exhibits perhaps one of the best examples of this
mode of dispersion. If it be accidentally touched when ripe
it will immediately burst open, while the valves, coiling
themselves up in a spiral form, and springing from the stem,
discharge the contained seeds, and scatter them all around.
The bursting of the pericarp of some species of pines is also
worthy of notice. The pericarp, which is a cone, remains
on the tree till the summer succeeding that on which it Was
produced, the scales being still closed: but when the hot
weather has commenced and continued for some time, so as
to dry the cone thoroughly, the scales open of their own
accord with a sudden jerk, ejecting the contained seeds : and if a number of them happen to burst together,
which is often the case, the noise is such as to be heard at some considerable distance. The twisted awn of
Avena. fatua {fig. 198.) or wild oat, as well as that of Erbdiiim cicutarium, and some others, seems to have
been intended particularly for the purpose of aiding the further dispersion of the seed, after being discharged
from the plant or pericarp. This spiral awn or spring,
which is beset with a multitude of fine and minute hairs,
possesses the projierty of contracting by means of drought,
and of expanding by means of moisture. Hence it remains
of necessity in a perpetual state of contraction or dilatation,
dependent upon change of weather ; from which, as well as
from the additional aid of the fine hairs, which act as so many
fulcra, and cling to whatever object they meet, the seed to
which it is attached is kept in continual motion till it either
germinates or is destroyed. The awn of barley, which is
beset with a multitude of little teeth all pointing to its
upper e.xtremify, presents also similar phenomena. For
when tne seed with its awn falls from the ear and lies flat
upon the ground, it is necessarily extended in its dimensions
by the moisture of the night, and contracted by the drought
of the day : but as the teeth prevent it from receding in
the direction of the point, it is consequently made to ad-
vance in the direction of the base of the seed, which is thus
often carried to the distance of many feet from the stalk on
which it grew. If any one is yet sceptical with regard to
the travelling capacity of the awn, let him only introduce
an awn of barley with the seed uppermost between his coat
andshirt sleeve at the wrist, when he walks out in the morn-
ing, and by the time he returns to breakfast, if he has
walked to any great distance, he will find it up at his arm-
pit. This journey has been effected by means of the con-
tinued motion of the arm, and consequently of the teeth
of the awn acting as feet to carry it forward.
1643. Where distance of dispersion is required, nature is
also furnished with a resource. One of the most common modes by which seeds are conveyed to a dis-
tance from their place of growth is that of the instrumentahty of animals. " ' "' '" "~
Manv seeds are thus carried to
Book I. PROPAGATION OF THE SPECIES. 253
a distance from their place of growth, merely by their attaching themselves to the bodies of such animals
as may happen accidentally to come in contact with the plant, in their search after food ; the hooks or hairs
with which one part or other of the fructification is often furnished, serving as the medium of attachment,
and the seed being thus carried about with the animal till it is again detached by some accidental cause, and
at last committed to the soil. This may be exemplified in the case of the Bidens and Myosbtis, in which
the hooks or prickles are attached to the seed itself; or in the case of Galium /Sparine and others, in which
they are attached to the pericarp ; or in the case of the thistle and the burdock, in which they are attached
to the general calyx. Many seeds are dispersed by animals in consequence of their pericarps being used
as food. This is often the case with the seeds of the drupe, as cherries and sloes, and with the berries of
the hawthorn, which birds often carry away till they meet with some convenient place for devouring the
pulpy pericarp, and then drop the stone into the soil. And so also fruit is dispersed that has been hoar(ied
for the winter, though even with the view of feeding on the seed itself, as in the case of nuts hoarded up
by squirrels, which are often dispossessed by some other animal, which, not caring for the hoard, scatters
and disperses it. Sometimes the hoard is deposited in the ground itself, in which rase part of it is generally
found to take root and to spring up into plants ; though it has been observed that the ground squirrel often
deprives the kernel of its germ before it deposits the fruit it collects. Rooks have been also observed to
lay up acorns and other seeds in the holes of fence-posts, which being either forgot or accidentally thrust
out, fall ultimately into the earth and germinate. But sometimes the seed is even taken into the stomach
of the animal, and afterwards deposited in the soil, having passed through it unhurt. This is often the
case with the seed of many species of berry, such as the mistletoe, which the thrush swallows and
afterwards deposits upon the boughs of such trees as it may happen to alight upon. The seeds of the Lo-
ranthus americanus, another parasitical plant, are said to be deposited in like manner on the branches of
the Cocc(')loba grandiflbra and other lofty trees ; as also the seeds of Phytolacca decindra, the berries of
which are eaten by the robin, thrush, and wild pigeon. And so also the seeds of currants or roans are
sometimes deposited, after having b^en swallowed by blackbirds or other birds, as may be seen by ob-
serving a currant bush or young roan tree growing out of the cleft of another tree, where the seed has been
left, and where there may happen to have been a little dust collected by way of soil ; or where a natural
graft may have been effected by the insinuation of the radicle into some chink or cleft. It seems indeed
surprising that any seeds should able to resist the heat and digestive action of the stomach of animals;
but it is undoubtedly the fact. Some seeds seem even to require it. The seeds of MagnJ.hV? gla6ca, which
have been brought to this country, are said generally to have refused to vegetate till alter undergoing this
process, and it is known that some seeds will bear a still greater degree of heat without any injury. Spal-
lanzani mentions some seeds that germinated after having been boiled in water : and Du Hamel gives an
account of some others that germinated even after having been exposed to a degree of heat measuring
2350 of Fahrenheit. In addition to the instrumentality of brute animals in the dispersion of the seed might
be added also that of man, who, for purposes of utility or of ornament, not only transfers to his native soil
seeds indigenous to the most distant regions, but sows and cultivates them with care. " A farmer in the
west of Scotland has been in the practice, for some years, of feeding his cows upon potato-apples, and
using their dung, and raising seedling plants from it the seeds; having passed through the stomach of the
cow, without having undergone such a change as to prevent them from vegetating. " {Note of Mr. Cleghorn,
Ed. of the Edinburgh Farm. Mag.)
1644. The agency of winds is one of the most effective modes of dispersion instituted by nature. Some
seeds are fitted for this mode of dispersion from their extreme minuteness, such as those of the mosses,
lichens and Fi'ingi, which float invisibly on the air, and vegetate wherever they happen to meet with a
suitable soil. Others are fitted for it "by means of an attached wing, as in the case of the fir tree and
Liriodendron tulipifera, so that the seed, in falling from the cone or capsule, is immediately caught hy the
wind, and carried to a distance. Others are peculiarly fitted for it by means of their being furnished with
an aigrette or down, as in the case of tlie dandelion, goat's. beard, and thistle, as well as most plants of the
class Syngenfesia; the down of which is so large and light in proportion to the seed it supports, that it is
wafted on the most gentle breeze, and often seen floating through the atmosphere in great abundance at
the time the seed is ripe. Some have a tail, as in Clematis Vitalba. Others are fitted for this mode of
dispersion by means of the structure of the pericarp, which is also wafted along with them, as in the case of
Staphylfea trifoUa, the inflated capsule of which seems as if obviously intended thus to aid the dispersion
of the contained seed, by its exposing to the wind a large and distended surface with but little weight ; and
so also in the case of the maple, elm, and ash, the capsules of which are furnished, like some seeds, with
a membranous wing, which when they separate from the plant the wind immediately lays hold of and
drives before it.
1645. The instrumentality of streams, rivers, and currents of the ocean, is a further means adopted by
nature for the dispersion of the seeds of vegetables. The mountain-stream or torrent washes down to
the valley the seeds which may accidentally fall into it, or which it may happen to sweep from its banks
when it suddenly overflows them. The broad and majestic river, winding along the extensive plain, and
traversing the continents of the world, conveys to the distance of many hundreds of miles the seeds that
may have vegetated at its source. Thus the southern shores of the Baltic are visited by seeds which grew
in the interior of Germany, and the western shores of the Atlantic by seeds that have been generated in
the interior of America. But fruits indigenous to America and the West Indies have sometimes been
found to be swept along by the currents of the ocean to the western shores of Europe, and even on the
coasts of Orkney and Shetland. Fruits of Mim5sa scandens, Stizolobium pruriens, Guilandina Bonduc,
and Anacardium occidentile, or cashew nut, have been thus known to be driven across the Atlantic
to a distance of upwards of 2000 miles ; and although the fruits now adduced as examples are not such
as could vegetate on the coast on which they were thrown, owing to soil or climate, yet it is to be
believed that fruits may have been often thus transported to climates or countries favourable to their
vegetation.
1646. Propagation by gems. Though plants are for the most part propagated by means of seeds, yet
many of them are propagated also by means of gems ; that is, buU)S and buds.
1647. The caulinary bulb is often the means of the propagation of the species : it generally appears in
the axils of the leaves, as in Dentaria bulbifera and Lilium bulbiferum ; or between the spokes of their
umbels, as in A'Viwxxa. canadense; or in the midst of the spike of flowers, as in Polygonum viviparum and
Pbaalpina. As plants of this last kind are mostly alpine, it has been thought to be an institution or
resource of nature, to secure the propagation of the species in situations where the seed may fail to ripen.
1648. The bud, though it does not spontaneously detach itself from the plant and form a new individual,
will yet sometimes strike root and develope its parts if carefully separated by art and planted in the earth :
but this is to be understood of tlie leaf-bud only, for the flower-bud, according to Mirbel, if so treated,
always perishes.
1649. Propagation l/y the leaves. The species may sometimes be propagated even by means of the leaves,
as in the aloe, Xylophy 11a, sea-onion, and some species of viVum ; which if carefully deposited m the soil
will grow up into new plants, by virtue, no doubt, of some latent gem contained in them. The /aingi and
lichens, according to Gasrtner, are all gemmiferous, having no sexual organs, and no pollen impregnating
a germ. In the genus Lycoperdon, the gelatinous substance that pervades the cellular tissue is converted
into a proliferous powder ; in Clavkria, the fluid contained in the cavities of the plant is converted into a
proliferous powder also; and in the agarics, //ypnum, and J?ol^tus, vesicles containing sobohferous
granules are found within the lamella;, pores, or tubes. Hedwig, on the contrary, ascribes to the Fi'mgi a
sexual apparatus, and maintains that the pollen is lodged in the volva : but here it is to be recollected, as
in the cases of the scutell^ of the litchens, that all Fungi are not furnished with a volva, and consequently
not furnished with i)ollen. The Confi^rvae and f/'lvfp, together with the genera Blilsia and Riccia are
254 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part IT.
also, according to Gjertner, propagated only by gems ; while March4nt/a, Anth6ceros, Jungermannia, and
Lycopt^rdon, are said to be propagated both by gems and seeds.
1650. Runners are young shoots issuing from the collar or summit of the root, and creeping along the
surface of the soil ; but producing a new root and leaves at the extremity, and forming a new individual,
by the decay of the connecting link, as in the strawberry.
Ifi51. Slips. The process of raising perennials by slips is well known to gardeners, and should, perhaps,
be regarded as an extension of the old plant, rather than as the generation of a new one ; though it serves
thepurjiose of the cultivator equally well as a plant raised from seed, with the additional advantage of
bearing fruit much sooner. But how is the root generated which the slip thus produces ? If the trunk of
a tree is lopped, and all its existing buds destroyed, then there will be protruded from between the wood
and bark a sort of protuberant lip or ring formed from the proper juice, and from which there will spring
a number of young shoots. The formation of the root, in the case of the slip, is effected in the same man-
ner, the moisture of the soil encouraging the protrusion of buds at and near the section; and the bud that
would have been converted into a branch above ground is converted into a root below.
l(iC2. Layers. The mode of propagation by layers is practised upon trees that are delicate, and whicli
cannot readily be propagated by means of slips ; in which case the root is generated nearly as in the former
case, the soil stimulating the protrusion of buds which are converted into roots. In many plants, such as
the currant and laurel, this is altogether a natural process, effected by the spontaneous bending down of a
branch to the surface of the soil.
1653. Suckers or offsets. Many plants protrude annually from the collar a number of young shoots,
encircling the principal stem and depriving it of a portion of its nourishment, as in the case of most
fruit trees. Others send out a horizontal root from which there at last issues a bud that ascends above the
soil, and is converted into a little stem, as in the case of the elm tree and Syringa. Others send out a hori-
zontal shoot from the collar or its neighbourhood ; or a shoot that ultimately bends down by its own weight
till it reaches the ground, in which it strikes root, and again sends up a stem as in the currant bush and
laurel. The two former are called suckers or offsets, though the term offset should, perhaps, be restricted
to the young bulbs that issue and detach themselves annually from bulbous roots. The latter is not desig-
nated by any particular name, but may be regarded as a sort of natural layer, resembling also, in some
respects, the runner ; from which, however, it is distinguished in that it never detaches itself spon.
taneously from the parent plant, as is the case also with the two former : but if either of them is arti-
ficially detached, together with a portion of root or a slice of the collar adhering to it, the detached part
will now bear transplanting, and will constitute a distinct plant.
1654. Grafting and budding. The species is also often propagated, or at least the variety is multiplied,
by means oi grafting ; which is an artificial application of a portion of the shoot or root of one tree or
plant to the stem, shoot, branch, or root of another, so that the two shall coalesce together and form but
one plant. The shoot which is to form the summit of the new individual is called the scion ; the stem to
which it is affixed is called the stock ; and the operation, when effected, the graft. As the graft is merely
an extension of the parent plant from which the scion came, and not properly speaking a new individual,
so it is found to be the best method of propagating approved varieties of fruit trees without any danger
of altering the quality of the fruit, which is always apt to be incurred in propagation from seed, but
never in propagating from the scion. The scion will also bear fruit much sooner than the tree that is
raised from seed ; and, if effected on a proper stock, will be much more hardy and vigorous than if left on
the parent plant. Hence the great utility of grafting in the practice of gardening. Till lately, grafting
was confined to the ligneous plants, but it is now successfully practised on the roots and shoots of her-
baceous vegetables ; and the dahlia is grafTted by the root ; the melon on the gourd ; the love-apple on the
potato ; the cauliflower on the cabbage, &c., by the shoot. A very ingenious tract has been published on this
subject, entitled, Essai sur la Greffe de VHerbe des Plantes et des Arbres, par Monsr. le Baron de
Tschoudy, Bourgeois de Glaris. Paris, 1819.
Sect. X. Causes limiting the Propagation of the Species.
1655. Though plants are controlled chiefly by animals, yet they also control one another.
From the various sources of vegetable reproduction, but particularly from the fertility
and dispersion of the seed, the earth would soon be overrun with plants of the most pro-
lific species, and converted again into a desert, if it were not that nature has set bounds
to their propagation by subjecting them to the control of man, and to the depredations
of the great mass of animals ; as well as by confining the germination of their seeds to
certain and peculiar habitations arising from soil, climate, altitude, and other circum-
stances. In order to form an idea of the manner in which the latter act upon vegeta-
tion, imagine that every year an enormous quantity of seeds, produced by the existing
vegetables, are spread over the surface of the globe, by the winds and other causes already
mentioned ; all of these seeds which fall in places suitable for their vegetation, and are
not destroyed by animals, germinate and produce plants ; and then among these plants,
the strongest, and largest, and those to which the soil is best suited, develope themselves
in number and magnitude so as to choke the others. Such is the general progress of
nature, and among plants, as among animals, the strong flourish at the expense of the
weak. These causes have operated for such a length of time, that the greater number
of species are now fixed in, and considered as belonging to, certain soils, situations, and
climates, beyond which they seldom propagate, otherwise than by the hands of man.
Sect. XI. Evidence and Character of Vegetable Vitality.
1656. The power of counteracting the laws of chemical affinity is reckoned the best and
most satisfactory evidence of the presence and agency of a vital principle, as inherent in
any subject. This principle, which seems first to have been instituted by Humboldt, is
obviously applicable to the case of animals, as is proved by the process of the digestion
of the food, and its conversion into chyle and blood ; as well as from the various
secretions and excretions effected by the several organs, and causing the growth and
developement of the individual, in direct opposition to the acknowledged laws of
chemical affinity, which, as soon as the vital principle is extinct, begin immediately to
give evidence of their action, in the incipient symptoms of the putrefaction of the dead
body. But the rule is also applicable to the case of vegetables, as is proved by the
Book I. EVIDENCE OF VEGETABLE VITALITY. 255
introsusception, digestion, and assimilation of the food necessary to their developement ;
all indicating the agency of a principle capable of counteracting the laws of chemical
affinity, which, at the period of what is usually called the death of the plant, begin also
immediately to act, and to give evidence of their action in the incipient symptoms of the
putrefaction of the vegetable. Vegetables are therefore obviously endowed with a species
of vitality. But, admitting the presence and agency of a vital principle inherent in
the vegetable subject, what are the peculiar properties by which this principle is cha-
racterised ?
1657. Excitahility. One of the most distinguishable properties of the vital principle of vegetables is
that of its excitability, or capacity of being acted upon by the application of natural stimuli, impelling it
to the exertion of its vegetative powers ; the natural stimuli thus impelling it being light and heat.
1658. The stimulating influence of light upon the vital principle of the plant is discoverable, whether
in the stem, leaf, or flower. The direction of the stem is influenced by the action of light, as well as
the colour of the leaves. Distance from direct rays of light or weak light produces etiolation, and its
absence blanching. The luxuriance of branches depends on the presence and action of light, as is par-
ticularly observable in the case of hot-house plants, the branches of which are not so conspicuously
directed, either to the flue in quest of heat, or to the door or open sash in quest of air, as to the sun
in quest of light. Hence also the branches of plants are often more luxuriant on the south, than on
the north, side ; or at least on the side that is best exposed to light. The position of the leaf is also
strongly affected by the action of light, to which it uniformly turns its upper surface. This may be readily
perceived in the case of trees trained to a wall, from which the upper surface of the leaf is by con-
sequence always turned ; being on a south wall turned to the south, and on a north wall turned to the
north : and if the upper surface of the leaf is forcibly turned towards the wall, and confined in that
position for a length of time, it will soon resume its primitive position upon regaining its liberty, but
particularly if the atmosphere be clear. The leaves of the mallow are said to exhibit but slight indi-
cations of this susceptibility, as also sword-shaped leaves; and those of the mistletoe are equally
susceptible on both sides. It had been conjectured that these effects are partly attributable to the
agency of heat ; and to try the value of the conjecture. Bonnet placed some plants of the J'triplex in a
stove heated to 25° of Reaumur. Yet the stems were not inclined to the side from which the greatest
degree of heat came ; but to a small opening in the stoves. Heat, then, does not seem to exert any
perceptible influence in the production of the above effects. Does moisture ? Bonnet found that the
leaves of the vine exhibited the same phenomenon when immersed in water, as when left in the open
air. Whence it seems probable that light is the sole agent in the production of the effects in question.
But as light produces such effects upon the leaves, so darkness or the absence of light produces an effect
quite the contrary ; for it is known that the leaves of many plants assume a very different position in the
night from what they have in the day. This is particularly the case with winged leaves, which, though
fully expanded during the day, begin to droop and bend down about sunset and during the fall of the
evening dew, till they meet together on the inferiorside of the leaf-stalk ; the terminal lobe, if the leaf
is furnished with one, folding itself back till it reaches the first pair; or the two side lobes, if the leaf is
trifoliate, as in the case of common clover. So, also, the leaflets of the false acacia and liquorice hang
down during the night, and those of Mimbsa pudlca fold themselves up along the common foot-stalk
so as to overlap one another. Linnaeus has designated the above phenomenon by the appellation of
The Sleep of Plants. The expansion of the flower is also effected by the action of light. Many plants
do not fully expand their petals except when the sun shines : and hence alternately open them during
the day and shut them up during the night. This may be exemplified in the case of papihonaceous
flowers in general, which spread out their wings in fine weather to admit the rays of the sun, and again
fold them up as the night approaches. It may be exemplified also in the case of compound flowers, as
the dandelion and hawkweed. But the most singular case of this kind is perhaps that of the lotus of the
Euphrates, which is described by Theophrastus as rearing and expanding its blossoms by day, closing
and sinking down beneath the surface of the water by night so as to be beyond the grasp of the hand,
and again rising up in the morning to present its expanded blossom to the sun. The same phenomenon
is related also by Pliny. But although many plants open their flowers in the morning and shut them
again in the evening, yet all flowers do not open and shut at the same time. Plants of the same species
are tolerably regular as to time, other circumstances being the same; and hence the daily opening and
shuttmg of the flower botanists have denominated The Horolbgium Flhrte. Flowers requiring but a
slight application of stimulus open early in the morning, while others, requiring more, open somewhat
later. Some do not open till noon, and some, whose extreme delicacy cannot bear the action of light at
all, open only at night ; such as the Cactus grandiflura, or night-blowing cereus. But it seems somewhat
doubtful whether or not light is the sole agent in the present case ; for it has been observed that equatorial
flowers open always at the same hour, and that tropical flowers change their hour of opening according
to the length of the day. It has been observed, also, that the flowers of plants which are removed from a
warmer to a colder climate expand at a later hour in the latter. A flower that opens at six o'clock in the
morning in Senegal, will not open in France or England till eight or nine, nor in Sweden till ten; a
flower that opens at ten o'clock in Senegal, will not open in France or England till noon or later, and in
Sweden it will not open at all ; and a flower that does not open till noon or later in Senegal, will not open
at all in France or England. This seems as if heat or its absence were also an agent in the opening or
shutting of flowers ; though the opening of such as blow only in the night cannot be attributed either to
light or heat. But the opening or shutting of some flowers depends not so much on the action of the
stimulus of light as on the existing state of the atmosphere, and hence their opening or shutting betokens
change. If the Siberian sow-thistle shuts at night, the ensuing day will be fine; and if it opens, it will be
cloudy and rainy. If the African marigold continues shut alter seven o'clock in the morning, rain is
near at hand ; and if the Convolvulus arv^nsis, Calendula pluvialis, or ^inagallis arv^nsis, is even
already open, it will shut upon the approach of rain, the last of which, from its peculiar susceptibility,
has obtained the name of the poor man's weatherglass. But some flowers, besides expanding during the
light of day, incline also towards the sun, and follow his course, looking towards the east in the morning,
towards the south at noon, and towards the west in the evening; and again returning in the night to
their former position in the morning. Such flowers are designated by the appellation of Heliotropes, on
account of their following the course of the sun; and the movement they thus exhibit is denominated
their nutation. This phenomenon had been observed by the ancients long before they made any con-
siderable progress in botany, and had even been interwoven into their mythology, having originated,
according to the records of fabulous history, in one of the metamorphoses of early times. Clytie, inconsol-
able for the loss of the affections of Sol, by whom she had been formerly beloved, and of whom she was
still enamoured, is represented as brooding over her griefs in silence and solitude ; where, refusing all
sustenance, and seated upon the cold ground, with her eyes invariably fixed on the sun during the day,
and watching for his return during the night, she is at length transformed into a flower', retaining, as
much as a flower can retain it, the same unaltered attachment to the sun. This is the flower which is
denominated //eliotropium by the ancients, and described by Ovid as Flos qui ad solem vertitur. But it
is to be observed, that the flower alluded to by Ovid cannot be the i/eliotrbpium of the moderns,
because Ovid describes it as resembling the violet : much less can it be the sun-flower, which is a
native of America, and could not consequently have been known to Ovid ; so that the true Heliotrd-
256 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
plum of the ancients is perhaps not yet ascertained. Bonnet has further remarked that the ripe ears of
com, which bend with the weight of grain, scarcely ever incline to the north, but always less or more to
the south ; of the accuracy of which remark any one may easily satisfy himself by looking at a field of
wheat ready for the sickle; he will find the whole mass of ears nodding, as if witli one consent, to the
south. Tlie cause of the phenomenon has been supposed to be a contraction of tlie fibres of the stem or
flower-stalk on the side exposed to the sun ; and this contraction has been thought by De la Hire and
Dr. Hales to be occasioned by an excess of transpiration on the sunny side ; which is probably the fact,
though there seems upon the principle to be some difficulty in accounting for its returning at night ;
because if you say that the contracted side expands and relaxes by moisture, what is it that contracts the
side that was relaxed in the day? The moisture, of which it is no doubt still full, would counteract the
contraction of its fibres, and prevent it from resuming its former position in the morning.
1659. Heal as well as light acts also as a powerful stimulus to the exertions of the
vital principle. This has been already shown in treating of the process of gennination ;
but the same thing is observable with regard to the developement and maturation of the
leaves, flower, and fruit ; for although all plants produce their leaves, flower, and fruit
annually, yet they do not all produce them at the same period or season. ■ This forms
the foundation of what Linnaeus has called the Calendanum Florce, including a view of
the several periods of the frondescence and efflorescence of plants, together with those of
the maturation of the fruit.
1660. Frondescence. It must be plain to every observer, thai all plants do not protrude their leaves at
the same season, and that even of such as do protrude them in the same season, some are earlier and some
later. The honeysuckle protrudes them in the month of January ; the gooseberry, currant, and elder,
in the end of February, or the beginning of March ; the willow, elm, and lime tree, in April ; and the
Platanus, oak, and ash, which are always the latest among trees, in the beginning or towards the middle
of May. Many annuals do not come up till after the summer solstice ; and many mosses not till after
the commencement of winter. This gradual and successive unfolding of the leaves of different plants
seems to arise from the peculiar susceptibility of the species to the action of heat, as requiring a greater
or less degree of it to give the proper stimulus to the vital principle. But a great many circumstances
will always concur to render the time of the unfolding of the leaves somewhat irregular ; because the
mildness of the season is by no means uniform at the same period of advancement ; and because the
leafing of the plant depends upon the peculiar degree of temperature, and not upon the return of a
Particular day of the year. Hence it has been thought that no rule could be so good for directing the
usbandman in the sowing of his several sorts of grain, as the le.ifing of such species of trees as might be
found by observation to correspond best to each sort of grain respectively, in the degree of temperature
required. Linn;eus (Stillingfleet informs usi instituted some observations on the subject about the year
173(), with a view chieHy to ascertain the time proper for the sowing of barley in Sweden ; he regarded
the leafing of the birch tree as being the best indication for that grain, and recommended the institution
of similar observations with regard to other sorts of grain, upon the grounds of its great importance to
the husbandman, who may be said to attend to it in a manner instinctively ; but as all the trees of the
same species do not come into leaf precisely at the same time, and as the weather may alter even after
the most promising indications, no guide, natural or artificial, can be absolutely depended on with a view
to future results.
1661. Efflorescence. The flowering of the plant, like the leafing, seems to depend upon the degree of
temperature induced by the returning spring, as the flowers are also protruded pretty regularly at the same
successive periods of the season. The mezereon and snowdrop protrude their flowers in February; the
primrose in the month of March ; the cowslip in April ; the great mass of plants in May and June ; many
in July, August, and September ; some not till the month of October, as the meadow saffron ; and some
not till the approach or middle of winter, as the laurustinus and arbutus. Such at least is the period of
their Howering in this country; but in warmer climates they are earlier, and in colder climates they are
later. Between the tropics, where the degree of heat is always high, it often happens that plants will
flower more than once in the year ; because they do not there require to wait till the temperature is
raised to a certain height, but merely till the developement of their parts can be effected in the regular
operation of nature, under a temperature already suthcient. For the greater part, however, they flower
during our summer, though plants in opposite hemispheres flower in opposite seasons. But in all climates
the time of flowering depends also much on the altitude of place, as well as on other causes aflTecting
the degree of heat. Hence plants occupying the polar regions, and plants occupying the tops of the high
mountains of southern latitudes, are in flower at the same season ; and hence the same flowers are later
in opening in North America than in the same latitudes in Europe, because the surface of the earth is
higher, or the winters more severe.
1662. Maturation of the fruit. Plants exhibit as much diversity in the warmth and length of time
necessary to mature their fruit, as in their frondescence and flowering; but the plant that flowers the
soonest does not always ripen its fruit the soonest. The hazel tree, which blows in February, does not
ripen its fruit till autumn ; while the cherry, which does not blow till May, ripens its fruit in June. It
may be regarded, however, as the general rule, that if a plant blows in spring, it ripens its fruit in sum.
mer, as in the case of the currant and gooseberry ; if it blows in summer, it ripens its fruit in autumn, as
in the case of the vine ; and if it blows in autumn, it ripens its fruit in winter : but the meadow-saffron,
which blows in the autumn, does not ripen its fruit till the succeeding spring.
1663. Such are the primary facts on which a Calendarium Florae should be founded.
They have not hitherto been minutely attended to by botanists; and perhaps their
importance is not quite so great as has been generally supposed ; but they are at any
rate sufficiently striking to have attracted the notice even of savages. Some tribes of
American Indians act upon the very principle suggested by Linnteus, and plant their
corn when the wild plum blooms, or when the leaves of the oak are about as large as a
squirrel's ears. The names of some of their months are also designated from the state
of vegetation. One is called the budding month, and another the flowering month ;
one the strawberry month, and another the mulberry month ; and the autumn is desig-
nated by a term signifying the fall of the leaf. Thus the proposed nomenclature of the
French for the months and seasons was founded in nature as well as in reason.
1664. Cold. As the elevation of temperature induced.by the heat of summer is es-
sential to the full exertion of the energies of the vital principle, so the depression of
temperature consequent upon the colds of winter has been thought to suspend the ex-
ertion of the vital energies altogether. But this opinion is evidently founded on a mistake,
as is proved by the example of those plants which protrude their leaves and flowers in
Book I. EVIDENCE OF VEGETABLE VITALITY. 257
the winter season only, such as many of the mosses ; as well as by the dissection of the
yet unfolded buds at different periods of the winter, even in the case of such plants as
protrude their leaves and blossoms in the spring and summer, in which, it has been
already shown, there is a regular, gradual, and incipient developement of parts, from
the time of the bud's first appearance till its ultimate opening in the spring. The sap,
it is true, flows much less freely, but is not wholly stopped. Du Hamel planted some
young trees in the autumn, cutting off all the smaller fibres of the root, with a view to
watch the progress of the formation of new ones. At the end of every fortnight he had
the plants taken up and examined with all possible care to prevent injuring them, and
found that, when it did not actually freeze, new roots were uniformly developed.
1665. Energies of life in plants like the process of respiration in animals. Hence it fol-
lows, that even during the period of winter, when vegetation seems totally at a stand,
the tree being stripped of its foliage, and the herb apparently withering in the frozen
blast, still the energies of vital life are exerted j and still the vital principle is at work,
carrying on in the interior of the plant, concealed from human view, and sheltered from
the piercing frosts, operations necessary to the preservation of vegetable life, or protru-
sion of future parts ; though it requires the returning warmth of spring to give that
degree of velocity to the juices which shall render their ihotion cognizable to man, as
well as that expression to the whole plant which is the most evident token of life : in the
same manner as the processes of respiration, digestion, and the circulation of the blood
are carried on in the animal subject even while asleep ; though the most obvious
indications of animal life are the motions of the animal when awake. Heat then
acts as a powerful stimulus to the operations of the vital principle, accelerating the mo-
tion of the sap, and consequent developement of parts ; as is evident from the sap's
beginning to flow much more copiously as the warmth of spring advances, as well as
from the possibility of anticipating the natural period of their developement by forcing
them in a hot-house. But it is known that excessive heat impedes the progress of
vegetation as well as excessive cold ; both extremes being equally prejudicial. Hence the
sap flows more copiously in the spring and autumn than in either the sununer or winter;
as may readily be seen by watching the progress of the growth of the annual shoot, which,
after having been rapidly protruded in the spring, remains for a while stationary during
the great heat of the summer, but is again elongated during the more moderate temper-
ature of autumn.
1666. Artificial stimulants. There are also several substances which have been found
to operate as stimulants to the agency of the vital principle, when artificially dissolved in
water, and applied to the root or branch. Oxygenated muriatic acid has been already
mentioned : and the vegetation of the bulbs of the hyacinth and narcissus is accelerated
by means of the application of a solution of nitre. Dr. Barton of Philadelphia found
that a decaying branch of Liriod^ndron tulipifera, and a faded flower of the yellow iris,
recovered and continued long fresh when put into water impregnated with camphor ;
though flowers and branches, in all respects similar, did not recover when put into com-
mon water.
1667. Irritability. Plants are not only susceptible of the action of the natural stimuli
of light and heat, exciting them gradually to the exercise of the functions of their dif-
ferent organs in the regular progress of vegetation ; they are susceptible also of the action
of a variety of accidental or artificial stimuli, from the application of which they are
found to give indications of being endowed also with a property similar to what we
call irritability in the animal system. This property is well exemplified in the genus
Mimosa ; particularly in that species known by the name of the Sensitive Plant ; in the
Dionae^a muscipula, and in the Drosera. But sometimes the irritability resides in the
flower, and has its seat either in the stamens or style. The former case is exemplified
in the flower of the berberry and Cactus Tuna, and the latter in Stylidium glandulosum.
1668. Sensation. From the facts adduced in the preceding sections, it is evident that
plants are endowed with a capacity of being acted upon by the application of stimuli,
whether natural or artificial, indicating the existence of a vital principle, and forming
one of the most prominent features of its character. But besides this obvious and ac-
knowledged property, it has been thought by some phytologists that plants are endowed
also with a species of sensation. Sir J. E. Smith seems rather to hope that the doctrine
may be true, than to think it so. ' •
1669. Instinct. There are also various phenomena exhibited throughout the extent
of the vegetable kingdom, some of which are common to plants in general, and some
peculiar to certain species, which have been thought by several botanical writers to exhibit
indications, not merely of sensation, but of instinct. The tendency of plants to incline
their stem and to turn the upper surface of their leaves to the light, the direction which
the extreme fibres of the root will often take to reach the best nourishment, the folding
up of the flower on the approach of rain, the rising and falling of the water lily, and
the peculiar and invariable direction assumed by the twining stem in ascending its prop,
S
258
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
are among the phenomena which have been attributed to instinct. Keith has endeavoured
(Lin. Trans, xi. p. 11.) to establish the doctrine of the existence and agency of an
instinctive principle in the plant, upon the ground of the direction invariably assumed by
the radicle and plumelet respectively, in the germination of the seed.
1670. Definition of the plant. But if vegetables are living beings endowed with
sensation and instinct, or any thing approaching to it, so as to give them a resemblance
to animals, how are we certainly to distinguish the plant from the animal ? At the
extremes of the two kingdoms the distinction is easy ; the more perfect animals can never
be mistaken for plants, nor the more perfect plants for animals ; but at the mean, where
the two kingdoms may be supposed to unite, the shades of discrimination are so very faint
or evanescent that of some individual productions it is almost impossible to say to which
of the kingdoms they belong. Hence it is that substances which have at one time been
classed among plants, have at another time been classed among animals ; and there are
substances to be met with whose place has not yet been satisfactorily determined. Of
these may be mentioned the genus Corallina (Jig. 199.), which Linnaeus placed among
199
animals, but which Gaertner places among plants. Linnaeus, Bonnet, Hedwig, Mirbel,
and Link, have each given particular definitions. According to Link, a plant is a com-
pound organic body, deriving nourishment from the soil in which it grows. According
to Keitli, a vegetable is an organised and living substance springing from a seed or gem,
which it again produces ; and effecting the developement of its parts by means of the
intro-susception and assimilation of unorganised substances which it derives from the
atmosphere or the soil in which it grows. The definition of the animal is the counter-
part : an animal is an organised and living being proceeding from an egg or embryo,
which it again produces, and effecting the developement of its parts by means of the
intro-susception of organised substances or their products. For all practical purposes,
perhaps plants may be distinguished from animals with sufficient accuracy by means of
the trial of burning ; as animal substances in a state of ignition exhale a strong and
phosphoric odour, which vegetable substances do not.
Chap. V.
Vegetable Pathohgy, or the Diseases and Casualties of Vegetable Life.
1671. As plants are, like animals, organised and living beings, they are, like animals,
also liable to such accidental injuries and disorders as may affect the health and vigour,
or occasion the death, of the individual. These are wounds, accidents, diseases, and
natural decay.
Sect. I. Wounds and Accidents.
1672. A wound is a forcible separation of the solid parts of the plant effected by means
of some external cause, intentional or accidental.
1673. Incisions are sometimes necessary to the health of the tree, in the same manner, perhaps, as
bleeding is necessary to the health of the animal. The trunks of the plum and cherry tree seldom expand
freely till a longitudinal incision has been made in the bark ; and hence this operation is often practised
by gardeners. If the incision affects the epidermis only, it heals up without leaving any scar ; if it pene-
trates into the interior of the bark, it heals up only by means of leaving a scar ; if it penetrates into the
wood, the wound in the wood itself never heals up completely, but new wood and bark are formed above
it as before. . .
1674. Boring is an operation by which trees are often wounded for the purpose of making them part
with their sap in the season of their bleeding, particularly the birch tree and American maple. A
horizontal, or rather slanting, hole is bored in them with a wimble, so as penetrate an inch or two into
the wood ; from this the sap flows copiously ; and though a number of holes are often bored in the same
trunk, the health of the tree is not very materially affected. For trees will continue to thrive, thougft
Book I. DISEASES OF VEGETABLES. 259
subjected to this operation for many successive years j and the hole, If not very large, wtU ciose up again
like the deep incision, not by the union of the broken fibres of the wood, but by the formation of new bari
and wood projecting beyond the edge of the orifice, and finally shutting it up altogether.
Ifi75. Girdling is an operation to which trees in North America are often subjected, when the farmer
wishes to clear his land of timber. It consists in making parallel and horizontal incisions with an axe into
the trunk of a tree, and carrying them quite round the stem, so as to penetrate through the alburnum, and
then to scoop out the intervening portion. If this operation is performed early in the spring, and before
the commencement of the bleeding season, the tree rarely survives it ; though some trees that are pecu-
liarly tenacious of life, such as J'cer saccharlnum and Nyssa integrifblia, have been known to survive it a
considerable length of time.
1676. Fracture. If a tree is bent so as to fracture part only of the cortical and woody fibres, and the
stem or branch but small, the parts will again unite by being put back into their natural position, and well
propped up. Especially cure may be expected to succeed if the fracture happens in the spring ; but it will
not succeed if the fracture is accompanied with contusion, or if the stem or branch is large ; and even
where it succeeds the woody fibres do not contribute to the union, but the granular and herbaceous sub-
stance only, which exudes from between the wood and liber, insinuating itself into all interstices, and
finally becoming indurated into wood.
1677. Pruning. Wounds are necessarily inflicted by the gardener or forester in pruning or lopping oflF
the superfluous branches ; but this is seldom attended with any bad effects to the health of the tree, if done
by a skilful practitioner : indeed, no further art is required, merely for the protection of the tree, beyond
that of cutting the branch through in a sloping direction, so as to prevent the rain from lodging. In this
case the wound soon closes up by the induration of the exposed surface of the section, and by the protru-
sion of a granular substance, forming a sort of circular lip between the wood and bark; and hence the
branch is never elongated by the growth of the same vessels that have been cut, but by the protrusion of
new buds near the point of section.
1678. Grafting. In the operation of grafting there is a wound both of the stock and graft, which are
united, not by the immediate adhesion of the surfaces of the two sections, but by means of a granular and
herbaceous substance exuding from between the wood and bark, and insinuating itself as a sort of cement
into all open spaces : new wood is finally formed within it, and the union is complete.
1679. Felling is the operation of cutting down trees close to the ground, which certain species will sur-
vive, if the stump be protected from the injuries of animals, and the root fresh and vigorous. In this case
the fibres of the wood are never again regenerated, but a lip is formed as in the case of pruning ; and buds,
which spring up into new shoots, are protruded near the section ; so that from the old shoot, ten, twelve,
or even twenty, new stems may issue, according to its size and vigour. The stools of the oak and ash tree
will furnish good examples ; but there are some trees, such as the pine and fir tribe, which never send
out any shoots after the operation of felling. The frankincense pine is said to be an exception j but any
specimens we have seen do not incline us to thebelief of such an anomaly.
1680. If buds are destroyed in the course of the winter, or in the early part of the spring, many plants
will again generate new buds, which will develope their parts as the others would have done, except that
they never contain blossom or fruit. Du Hamel thought these buds sprang from preorganised germs,
which he conceived to be dispersed throughout the whole of the plant; but Knight thinks he has dis-
covered the true source of the regeneration of buds, in the proper juice that is lodged in the alburnum.
Buds thus regenerated never contain or produce either flower or fruit; perhaps because the fruit-bud
requires more time to develope its parts, or a peculiar and higher degree of elaboration ; and that this
hasty production is only the effect of a great effort of the vital principle for the preservation of the indi-
vidual, and one of those wonderful resources to which nature always knows how to resort when the vital
principle is in danger. But though such buds do not produce flowers directly, as in the case of plants
which bear their blossoms on last year's wood ; yet they often produce young shoots which produce blos-
soms and fruit the same season, as in the case of cutting down an old vine or pruning the rose.
1681. Sometimes the leaves of a tree are destroyed partially or totally as soon as they are protruded from
the bud, whether by the depredations of caterpillars or other insects, or by the browsing of cattle. But if
the injury is done early in the spring, new leaves will be again protruded without subsequent shoots.
Some trees will bear to be stripped even more than once in a season, as is the case with the mulberry tree^
which is cultivated in the south of France and Italy for the purpose of feeding the silkworm ; but if it be
stripped more than once in the season, it requires now and then a year's rest.
1682. The decortication of a tree, or the stripping it of its bark, may be either intentional or acci-
dental, partial or total. If it is partial, and affects the epidermis only, then it is again regenerated,
as in the case of slight incision, without leaving any scar. But if the epidermis of the petal, leaf, or
fruit is destroyed, it is not again regenerated, nor is the wound healed up, except by means of a scar.
Such is the case also with all decortications that penetrate deeper than the epidermis, particularly if the
wound is not protected from the action of the air. If the decortication reaches to the wood, then new
bark issues from between the bark and wood, and spreads till it covers the wound. But the result is not
the same when the wound is covered from the air. In the season of the flowing of the sap Du Hamel
detached a ring of bark of three or four inches in breadth, from the trunks of several young elm trees,
taking care to defend the decorticated part from the action of the air, by surrounding it with a tube of
glass cemented above and below to the trunk. After a few days the tubes became cloudy within, par.
ticularly when it was hot ; but when the air became cool, the cloud condensed and fell in drops to the
bottom. At last there began to appear, as if exuding from between the bark and wood of the upper part
of the wound, a sort of rough scurfy substance ; and on the surface of the wood, as if exuding from be-
tween the longitudinal fibres of the alburnum, a number of gelatinous drops. They were not connected
with the scurfy substance at the top, but seemed to arise from small slips of the liber that had not been
completely detached. Their first appearance was that of small reddish spots changing by degrees into
white, and finally into a sort of grey, and extending in size till they at last united and formed longitudinal
ridges, which constituted a new bark.
1683. Abortion or failure in the produce of flowers, fruits, or of perfect seeds, is generally the effect of
accidental injuries, either directly to the flower or fruit, by which they are rubbed off or devoured by
insects ; or to the leaves by insects ; or to the roots by exposure to the air or cutting off so much of them
as essentially to lessen their power of drawing up nourishment. Other causes will readily suggest them-
selves ; and one of the commonest, as to seeds and fruits, is want of sufficient impregnation.
1684. Premature flowering or fruiting is sometimes brought on by insects, but more generally by
checks produced by cold, or injuries from excessive heat, or long-continued drought Fruit is often
ripened prematurely by the puncture of insects ; and a pine-apple plant of almost any age may be thrown
into fruit by an hour or two's exposure to a frosty atmosphere in winter, or by scorching the roots in an
overhot tan-bed at any season.
Sect. II. Diseases.
1685. Diseases are corrupt affections of the vegetable body, arising from a vitiated
state of its juices, and tending to injure the habitual health either of the whole or part of
the plant. The diseases which occur the most frequently among vegetables are the fol-
lowing : — Blight, smut, mildew, honey-dew, dropsy, flux of juices, gangrene, etiolation,
suffocation, contortion, consumption.
S 2
260 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
1 686. Slight. Much has been written on the nature of blight ; and in proportion as
words have been multiplied on the subject, tlie difficulties attending its elucidation have
increased.
1687. The blight, or blast, was well known to the ancient Greeks, who were, however, totally ignoram
of its cause, regarding it merely as a blast from heaven, indicating the wrath of their offended deities, and
utterly incapable of prevention or cure. It was known also to the Romans under the denomination
of rub)go, who regarded it in the same light as the Greeks, and even believed it to be under the direction
of a particular deity, Rub'igus, whom they solemnly invoked that blight might be kept from corn and
trees. It is still well known from its effects to every one having the least knowledge of husbandry or gar-
dening ; but it has been very differently accounted for : and, perhaps, there is no one cause that will
account for all the different cases of blight, or disease going by the name of blight ; though they have
been supposed to have all the same origin. If we take the term in its most general acceptation, it will
include at least four distinct species, — blight originating in cold and frosty winds ; blight originating in
a sort of sultry and pestilential vapour ; blight originating from want of nourishment ; and blight origi-
nating in the immoderate propagation of a sort of small and parasitical fungus.
1688. Blight originating in cold and frosty winds, is often occasioned by the cold and easterly winds
of spring, which nip and destroy the tender shoots of the plant, by stopping the current of the juices.
The leaves which are thus deprived of their due nourishment wither and fall, and the juices which are
now stopped in their passage swell and burst the vessels, and become the food of innumerable little insects
which soon after make their appearance. Hence they are often mistaken for the cause of the disease
itself; the farmer supposing they are wafted to him on the east wind, while they are only generated in
the extravasated juices as forming a proper nidus for their eggs. Their multiplication will no doubt con-
tribute to the spread of the disorder, as they always breed fast where they find plenty of food. But a
similar disease is often occasioned by the early frost of spring. If the weather is prematurely mild, the
blossom is prematurely protruded, which, though it is viewed by the unexperienced with delight, yet it is
viewed by the judicious with fear. For it very often happens that this premature blossom is totally de-
stroyed by subsequent frosts, as well as both the leaves and shoots, which consequently wither and fall,
and injure if they do not actually kill the plant. This evil is also often augmented by the unskilful
gardener, even in attempting to prevent it ; that is, by matting up his trees too closely, or by keeping
them covered in the course of the day, and thus rendering the shoots so tender that they can scarcely
fail to be.destroyed by the next frost
1689. Blight, originating in sultry and pestilential vapour, generally happens in the summer, when the
grain has attained to its full growth, and when there are no cold winds or frosts to occasion it. Such was
the blight that used to damage the vineyards of ancient Italy, and which is yet found to damage our hop-
plantations and wheat-crops. The Romans observed that it generally happened after short but heavy
showers occurring about noon, and followed by clear sunshine, about the season of the ripening of the
grapes, and that the middle of the vineyard suffered the most. This corresponds pretty nearly to what
is in this country called the fire-blast among hops, which has been observed to take place most com-
monly about the end of July, when there has been rain with a hot gleam of sunshine immediately after;
the middle of the hop-ground is also the most affected, whether the blight is general or partial, and i^
almost always the point in which it originates. In a particular case which was minutely observed, the
damage happened a little before noon, and the blight ran in a line forming a right angle with the sun-
beams at that time of the day. There was but little wind, which was, however, in the line of the blight.
(Hale's Body of Husbandry.) Wheat is also affected with a similar sort of blight, and about the same
season of the year, which totally destroys the crop. In the summer of 1809, a field of wheat, on rather a
light and sandy soil, came up with every appearance of health, and also into ear with a fair prospect of
ripening well. About the beginning of July it was considered as exceeding any thing expected from such
a soil. A week afterwards a portion of the crop on the east side of the field, to the extent of several acres,
was totally destroyed ; being shrunk and shrivelled up to less than one half the size of what it had for-
merly been, and so withered and blasted as not to appear to belong to the same field. The rest of the
field produced a fair crop.
1690. Blight from want of nourishment may happen to all plants, wild or cultivated ; but it is most
commonly met with in corn fields, in very dry seasons, in those thin gravelly surfaces which do not
sufficiently retain the moisture. In such spots the plants are thrown prematurely into blossom, and the
ear or seed-pod ripens before it is filled. In England the farmers call this the white blight
1691. Blight, originating in FUngi, attacks the leaves or stems both of herbaceous and woody plants,
such as Eu\)h6rhia Cypanssias, .Berberis vulgaris, and iZhamnus catharticus ; but more generally grasses,
and particularly our most useful grains, wheat, barley, and oats. It always appears in the least ventilated
parts of a field, and has generally been preceded by cold, moist weather, which, happening in the warm
month of July, suddenly chills and checks vegetation. It generally assumes the appearance of a rusty-
looking powder, that soils the finger when touched. In March, 1807, some blades of wheat attacked with
this species of blight were examined by Keith ; the appearance was that of a number of rusty-look-
ing spots or patches dispersed over the surface of the leaf, exactly like that of the seeds of dorsiferous
ferns bursting their indusium. Upon more minute inspection, these patches were found to consist of
thousands of small globules collected into groups beneath the epidermis, which they raised up in a sort of
blister, and at last burst Some of the globules seemed as if embedded even in the longitudinal vessels of
the blade. They were of a yellowish or rusty brown, and somewhat transparent. But these groups of
globules have been ascertained by Sir J. Banks to be patches of a minute fungus, the seeds of which, as
they float in the air, enter the pores of the epidermis of the leaf, particularly if the plant is sickly ; or
they exist in the manure or soil, and enter by the pores of the root {Sir J. Banks on Blight, 1805.)
This fungus has been figured by Sowerby, and by F. Bauer and Grew. It is known among farmers by
the name of red rust, and chiefly affects the stalks and leaves. But there is another species of fungus
known to the farmer by the name of red gum, which attacks the ear only, and is extremely prejudicial.
In the aggregate it consists of groups of minute globules interspersed with transparent fibres. The glo-
bules are filled with a fine powder,' which explodes when they are put into water. It is very generally
accompanied with a maggot of a yellow colour, which preys also upon the grain, and increases the amount
of injury.
1692. The only means of preventing or lessening the efTect of any of the different varieties of blight
mentioned is proper culture. Palliatives are to be found in topical applications, such as flower of sul-
phur, and where the disease proceeds from, or consists of, innumerable minute insects, it may occasionally
be removed. Grisenthwaite conjectures that in many cases in which the blight and mildew attack corn-
crops, it may be for want of the peculiar food requisite for perfecting the grain ; it being known that the
fruit or seeds of many plants contain primitive principles not found in the rest of the plant Thus the
grain of wheat contains gluten and phosphate of lime, and where these are wanting in the soil, that i%
in the manured earths in which the plant grows, it will be unable to perfect its fruit, which of conse.
quence becomes more liable to disease. {New Theory of Agr.)
1693. Smut is a disease incidental to cultivated corn, by which the farina of the grain,
together with its proper integuments and even part of the husk, is converted into a black
soot-like powder. If the injured ear be struck with the finger, the powder will be
dispersed like a cloud of black smoke ; and if a portion of the powder be wetted by a
Book I. DISEASES OF VEGETABLES. 261
drop of water and put under the microscope, it will be found to consist of millions of
minute and transparent globules, which seem to be composed of a clear and glairy fluid
encompassed by a tliin and skinny membrane. This disease does not affect the whole
body of the crop, but the smutted ears are sometimes very numerously dispersed through-
out it. Some have attributed it to the soil in which the grain is sown, and others have
attributed it to the seed itself, alleging that smutted seed will produce a smutted crop :
but in all this there seems to be a great deal of doubt. Willdenow regards it as origin-
ating in a small fungus, which multiplies and extends till it occupies the whole ear
(Princip. of Bot. p. '356.) : but F. Bauer of Kew seems to have ascertained it to be
merely a morbid swelling of the ear, and not at all connected with the growth of a
fungus. (Smith's Introd. p. 282.) It is said to be prevented by steeping the grain, before
sowing, in a weak solution of arsenic. But, besides the disease called smut, there is also
a disease analogous to it, or a different stage of the same disease, known to the farmer
by the name of bags or smut balls, in which the nucleus of the seed only is converted
into a black powder, wliilst the ovary, as well as the husk, remains sound. The ear is
not much altered in its external appearance, and the diseased grain contained in it will
even bear the operation of threshing, and consequently mingle with the bulk : but it is
always readily detected by the experienced buyer, and fatal to the character of the sample.
It is said to be prevented as in the case of smut.
1694. Mildew is a thin and whitish coating with which the leaves of vegetables are
sometimes covered, occasioning their decay and death, and injuring the health of the
plant. It is frequently found on the leaves of Tussil^go J'arfara, Humulus Lupulus,
Corylus avellana, and the white and yellow dead-nettle. It is found also on wheat in
the shape of a glutinous exudation, particularly when the days are hot and the nights
without dew. J. Robertson {Hort. Trans, v. 178.) considers it as a minute fungus of
which different species attack different plants. Sulphur he has found to be a specific
cure. In cultivated crops mildew is said to be prevented by manuring with soot ;
though by some this is denied, and soot, by rendering the crop more luxuriant, is said to
be an encourager of mildew, the richest parts of a field being always most infected by it.
As it is least common in airy situations, thinning and ventilation may be considered as
preventives.
1695. Honey-dew is a sweet and clammy substance which coagulates on the surface of
tlie leaves during hot weather, particularly on the leaves of the oak tree and beech, and
is regarded by Curtis as being merely the dung of some species of aphides. This seems
to be the opinion of Willdenow also, and it is no doubt possible that it may be the case
in some instances or species of the disease : but Sir J. E. Smith contends that it is not
always so, or that there are more species of honey-dew than one, regarding it particularly
as being an exudation, at least in the case of the beech, whose leaves are, in consequence
of an unfavourable wind, apt to become covered with a sweet sort of glutinous coating,
similar in flavour to the fluid obtained from the trunk,
1696. It is certain, however, that saccharine exudations are found on the leaves of many plants , though
not always distinguished by the name of honey-dew ; which should not perhaps be applied except when
the exudation occasions disease. But if it is to be applied to all saccharine exudations whatever, then we
must include under the appellation of honey-dew, the saccharine exudations observed on the orange tree
by De la Hire, together with that of the lime tree which Is more glutinous, and of the poplar which is
more resinous ; as also that of the Cistus creticus, and of the manna which exudes from the ash tree of
Italy and larch of France. It is also possible that the exudation or excrement constituting honey-dew
may occasionally occur without producing disease ; for if it should happen to be washed off soon after by
rains or heavy dews, then the leaves will not suffer. Washing is therefore the palliative ; judicious cul-
ture the preventive.
1 697. Dropsy. Plants are also liable to a disease which affects them in a manner similar
to that of the dropsy in animals, arising from long-continued rain or too abundant watering.
Willdenow describes it as occasioning a preternatural swelling of particular parts, and
inducing putrefaction. It is said to take place chiefly in bulbous and tuberous roots,
which are often found much swelled after rain. It affects fruit also, which it renders
watery and insipid. It prevents the ripening of seeds, and occasions an immoderate pro-
duction of roots from the stem.
1698. In succulent plants this disease generally appears in consequence of excessive waterings, and is
for the most part incurable. The leaves drop, even though plump and green ; and the fruit rots before
reaching maturity. In this case the absorption seems to be too great in proportion to the transpiration ;
but the soil when too much manured produces similar effects. Du Hamel planted some elms in a soil
that was particularly well manured, and accordingly they pushed with great vigour for some time ; but
at the end of five or six years they all died suddenly. The bark was found to be detached from the wood,
and the cavity filled up with a reddish-coloured water. The symptoms of this disease suggest the palli-
atives ; and the preventive is ever the same — judicious culture.
1699. Flux of juices. Some trees, but particularly the oak and birch, are liable to a
great loss of sap, wliich bursts out spontaneously, owing to its superabundance, or issues
from accidental wounds : sometimes it is injurious to the health of the plant, and some-
times not.
1700. There is a spontaneous extravasation of the sap of the vine, known by the name of the tears of the
vine, which is not always injurious. As it often happens that the root imbibes sap, which the leaves are
not yet prepared to throw off, because not yet sufficiently expanded, owing to an inclement season, the
S 3
363 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
sap which is first carried up, being propelled by that which follows, ultimately forces Its way through all
obstructions, and exudes from the bud. But this is observed only in cold climates ; for in hot climates,
where the developement of the leaves is not obstructed by cold, they are ready to elaborate the sap as
soon as it reaches them. There is also a spontaneous extravasation of proper juice in some trees, which
does not seem in general to be injurious to the individual. Thus the gum which exudes from cherry,
plum, peach, and almond trees is seldom detrimental to their health, except when it insinuates itself into
the other vessels of the plant and occasions obstructions.
1701. But the exudation of gum is sometimes a disease, and one for which there is seldom any remedy.
It is generally the consequence of an unsuitable soil, situation, or climate. Cold raw summers will pro-
duce it in the peach, apricot, and more tender sorts of plum and cherry ; or grafting these fruits on diseased
stocks. Cutting out the part and applying a covering of loam, or tar and charcoal, to exclude the air, are
paUiatives ; but the only effectual method, where it can be practised, is to take up the tree and place it in
a suitable soil and situation.
1702. The extravasation and corruption of the ascending or descending juices, have been known to occa-
sion a fissure of the solid parts. Sometimes the fissure is occasioned by means of frost, and forms what is
called a double alburnum ; that is, first a layer that has been injured by the frost, and then a layer that
passes into wood. Sometimes a layer is partially affected, and that is generally owing to a sudden and
partial thaw on the south side of the trunk, which may be followed again by a sudden frost. In this case
the alburnum is split into clefts or chinks, by means of the expansion of the frozen sap.
1703. Chilblains. But clefts thus occasioned often degenerate into chilblains which discharge a blackish
and acrid fluid, to the great detriment of the plant, particularly if the sores are so situated that rain or snow
will readily lodge in them and become putrid. The same injury may be occasioned by the bite or punc-
ture of insects while the shoot is yet tender ; and as no vegetable ulcer heals up of its own accord, the
sooner a cure is attempted the better, as it will, if left to itself, ultimately corrode and destroy the whole
plant, bark, wood, and pith. The only palliative is the excision of the part affected, and the application
of a coat of grafting wax. ( WiUdenoto, p, 354)
1 704. Gangrene. Of this disorder there are two varieties, the dry and the wet. The
former is occasioned by means of excessive heat or excessive cold. If by means of cold,
it attacks the leaves of young shoots, and causes them to shrink up, converting them from
green to black ; as also the inner bark, which it blackens in the same manner, so that it
is impossible to save the plant except by cutting it to the ground. If by means of heat,
the effects are nearly similar, as may oftentimes be seen in gardens, or even in forests,
where the foresters are allowed to ckar away the moss and withered leaves from the
roots. Sometimes the disease is occasioned by the too rapid growth of a particular
branch, depriving the one that is next it of its due nourishment, and hence inducing its
decay. Sometimes it is occasioned by means of parasitical plants, as in the case of the
bulbs of the saffron, which a species of Lycop^rdon often attaches itself to and totally
corrupts.
1705. Dry gangrene. The harmattan winds of the coast of Africa kill many plants, by means of
inducing a sort of gangrene which withers and blackens the leaves, and finally destroys the whole plant.
The nopal of Mexico is also subject to a sort of gangrene which begins with a black spot, and extends
till the whole leaf or branch rota off, or the plant dies. But plants are sometimes affected with a
gangrene by which a part becomes first soft and moist, and then dissolves into foul ichor. This is confined
chiefly to the leaves, flowers, and fruit. Sometimes it attacks the roots also, but rarely the stem. It
seems to be owing, in many cases, to too wet or too rich a soil ; but it may originate in contusion, and may
be caught by infection. But the nopal is subject also to a disease called by Thierry la dissolution, con-
sidered by Sir J. E. Smith, as distinct from gangrene, and which appears to be Willdenow's dry gangrene.
A joint of the nopal, or a whole branch, and sometimes an entire plant, changes in the space of a single
hour from a state of apparent health to a state of putrefaction or dissolution. Now its surface is verdant
and shining, and in an instant it changes to a yellov/, and its brilliancy is gone. If the substance is cut
into, the parts are found to have lost all cohesion, and are quite rotten. The attempt at a cure is by speedy
amputation below the diseased part. Sometim.es the vital principle, collecting and exerting all its energies,
makes a stand as it were against the encroaching disease, and throws off" the infected part. (Smith's In-
troduction, p. 276., edit. CL)
1706. Etiolation. Plants are sometimes affected by a disease which entirely destroys
their verdure, and renders them pale and sickly. This is called etiolation, and may arise
merely from want of the agency of light, by which the extrication of oxygen is effected,
and the leaf rendered green. Hence it is that plants placed in dark rooms, or between
great masses of stone, or in the clefts of rocks, or under the shade of other trees, look
always peculiarly pale. But if they are removed from such situations, and exposed to
the action of light, they will again recover their green colour. Etiolation may also
ensue from the depredations of insects nestling in the radicle, and consuming the food of
the plant, thus debilitating the vessels of the leaf so as to render them insusceptible of
the action of light. This is said to be often the case with the radicles of 5eckle cereale ;
and the same result may also arise from poverty of soil.
1707. Siiffbcation. Sometimes it happens that the pores of the epidermis are closed
up, and transpiration consequently obstructed, by means of some extraneous substance
which attaches itself to, and covers, the bark. This obstruction induces disease, and the
disease is called suffocation.
1708. Sometimes it is occasioned by the immoderate growth qf lichens upon the bark, covering the whole
of the plant, as may be often seen in fruit trees, which it is necessary to keep clean by means of scraping
off the lichens, at least from the smaller branches. For if the young branches are thus coated, so as that
the bark cannot perform its proper functions, the tree will soon begin to languish, and will finally become
covered with fungi, inducing or resulting from decay, till it is at last wholly choked up.
1709. But a similar effect is also occasionally produced by insects, in feeding upon the sap or shoot. This
may be exemplified in the case of the aphides, which sometimes breed or settle upon the tender shoot in
such multitudes as to cover it from the action of the external air altogether. It may be exemplified also
in the case of C6ccus Aesp^ridum and yf 'carus telarius, insects which infest hot-house plants, the latter by
spinning a fine and delicate web over the leaf, and thus preventing the access of atmospheric air. Insects
are to be removed either by the hand or other mechanical means, or destroyed by excess of some of the
elements of their nutrition, as heat, cold, or moisture, where such excess does not prove injurious to the
plant i ox by a composition, either fluid or otherwise, which shall have the same effects. Prevention is
Book I. NATURAL DECAY OF VEGETABLES. 263
to be attempted by general culture, and particular attention to hinder the propagation of the Insects or
vermin, whether oviparous or otherwise, by destroying their embryo progeny.
1710. Sometimes the disease is occasioned by an extravasation of juices which coagulate on the surface
of the stalk, so as to form a sort of crust, investing it as a sheath,-and preventing its farther expansion.
1711. Sometimes the disease arises /rom want of an adequate supply of nourishment as derived from the
soil, in which case the lower part of the plant is the best supplied, while the upper part of it is starved. Hence
the top shoots decrease in size every succeeding year, because a sufficient supply of sap cannot be obtained
to give them their proper developement. This is analogous to the phenomena of animal life, when the
action of the heart is too feeble to propel the blood through the whole of the system : for then the
extremities are always the first to suffer. And perhaps it may account also for the fact, that in bad soils,
and unfavourable seasons, when the ear of barley is not wholly perfected, yet a few of the lower grains
are always completely developed. {Smith's Introduction, p. 279.)
1712. Contortion. The leaves of plants are often injured by means of the puncture of
insects, so as to induce a sort of disease which discovers itself in the contortion or convo-
lution of the margin, or wrinkled appearance of the surface. The leaves of the apricot,
peach, and nectarine, are extremely liable to be thus affected in the months of June and
July. The leaves of the apple are affected by the A'phis lanigera ; those of the larch by
another woolly aphis (A. laricio) ; those of the hawthorn by a species of Tenthredo, &c.
{See Major s Treatise on the Insects prevalent in Fruit Trees and Garden Produce.)
1713. The leafvihich has been punctured soon begins to assume a rough and wrinkled figure, and a red-
dish and scrofulous appearance, particularly on the upper surface. The margins roll inwards on the under
side, and enclose the eggs which are scattered irregularly on the surface, giving it a blackish and granular
appearance, but without materially injuring its health. In the vine, the substance deposited on the leaf
is whitish, giving the under surface a sort of a frosted appearance, but not occasioning the red and scrofu-
lous aspect of the upper surface of the leaf of the nectarine. In the poplar, the eggs when first deposited
resemble a number of small and hoary vesicles containing a sort of clear and colourless fluid. The leaf
then becomes reflected and conduplicated, enclosing the eggs, and exhibiting a few reddish protuberances
on the upper surface. The embryo is nourished by this fluid ; and the hoariness is converted into a fine
cottony down, which for some time envelopes the young fly. The leaf of the lime tree in particular, when
fully expanded, is hable to attacks from insects ; and hence the gnawed appearance it so often displays.
The injury seems to be occasioned by some species of puceron depositing its eggs in the parenchyma,
generally about the angles that branch off* from the midrib. A sort of down is produced, at first green, and
afterwards hoary; sometimes in patches, and sometimes pervading the whole leaf; as in the case of the
vine. Under this covering the egg is hatched ; and then the young insect gnaws and injures the leaf,
leaving a hole or scar of a burnt or singed appearance. Sometimes the upper surface of the leaf is covered
with clusters of wart-like substances somewhat subulate and acute. They seem to be occasioned by means
of punctures made in the under surface, on which a number of openings are discoverable, penetrating
into the warts, which are hollow and villous within. The disease admits of palliation by watering
frequently over the leaves ; and by removing such as are the most contorted and covered by larvae.
1714. Consumption. From barren or improper soil, unfavourable climes, careless
planting, or exhaustion from too frequent flowering, it often happens that disease is
induced which terminates in a gradual decline and wasting away of the plant, till at
length it is wholly dried up. Sometimes it is also occasioned by excessive drought, or
by dust lodging on the leaves, or by fumes issuing from neighbouring manufactories, or
by the attacks of insects.
1715. There is a consumptive affection frequently attacking the pine tree ( Willdenow, Princ. Bat. p. 351.),
which affects the alburnum and inner bark chiefly, and seems to proceed from long-continued drought, or
from frost suddenly succeeding mild or warm weather, or from heavy winds. The leaves assume a tinge of
yellow, bordering upon red. A great number of small drops of resin, of a putrid odour, exude from the
middle of the boughs. The bark exfoliates, and the alburnum presents a livid appearance : the tree swarms
with insects ^Dypterygia pinastri Steph.), and the disease is incurable, inducing inevitably the total
decay and death of the individual. The preventive is obviously good culture, so as to maintain vigorous
health : palliatives may be employed, according to the apparent cause of the disease.
Sect. III. Natural Decay.
1716. Although a plant should not suffer from the influence of accidental injury, or
from disease, still there will come a time when its several organs will begin to experience
the approaches of a natural dec/fwe insensibly stealing upon it, did at last inducing death.
The duration of vegetable existence is very different in different species. Yet in the
vegetable, as well as in the animal kingdom, there is a term or limit set, beyond which
the individual cannot pass. Some plants are annuals, and last for one season only,
springing up suddenly from seed, attaining rapidly to maturity, producing and sowing
their seeds, and afterwards immediately perishing. Such is the character of the various
species of corn, as exemplified in oats, wheat, and bailey. Some plants continue to live
for a period of two years, and are therefore called biennials, springing up the first year
from seed, and producing roots and leaves, but no fruit ; and in the second year pro-
ducing both flower and fruit, as exemplified in the carrot, parsnep, and caraway. Other
plants are perennials, that is, lasting for many years ; of which some are called under-
shrubs, and die down to the root every year ; others are called shrubs, and are perma-
nent both by the root and stem, but do not attain to a great height or great age ; others
are called trees, and are not only permanent by both root and stem, but attain to a great
size, and live to a great age. But even of plants that are woody and perennial, there
are parts which perish annually, or which are at least annually separated from the indi-
vidual ; namely, the leaves, flowers, and fruit, leaving nothing behind but the bare
caudex, which submits in its turn to the ravages of time, and ultimately to death.
1717. The decay of the temporary organs, which takes place annually, is a phenomenon
S 4
264 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
familiar to every body, and comprehends the fall of the leaf, the fall of the flower, and
the fall of the fruit.
1718. The fall of the leaf, or annual defoliation of the plant, commences for the most part with the colds
of autumn, and is accelerated by the frosts of winter, which Strip the forest of its foliage, and the landscape
of its verdure. But there are some trees which retain their leaves throughout the whole of the winter,
though changed to a dull and dusky brown, and may be called ever-clothed trees, as the beech : and there
are others which retain their verdure throughout the year, and are denominated evergreens, as the holly.
The leaves of both sorts ultimately fall in the spring. Sir J. E. Smith considers that leaves are thrown off
Dy a process similar to that of the sloughing of diseased parts in the animal economy ; and Keith observes,
that if it is necessary to illustrate the fall of the leaf by any analogous process in the animal economy, it
may be compared to the shedding of the antlers of the stag, or of the hair of beasts or feathers of birds,
which being, like the leaves of plants, distinct and peculiar organs, fall off, and are regenerated annually,
but do not slough. According to Professor Vaucher every leaf consists of a distinct system of fibres,
having only a temporary continuity with the shoot, kept up by an adhesive substance, probably formed
by a portion of the parenchyma interposed between the two systems of fibres. While this parenchyma is
under the influence of vegetable action the adhesion is maintained ; when this action ceases the union is
dissolved and the leaf falls.
1719. The flowers, which, like the leaves, are only temporary organs, are for the most part very short-
lived; for as the object of their production is merely to effect the impregnation of the germs, that object
is no sooner attained than they begin to give indications of decay, and speedily fall from the plant ; so
that the most beautiful part of the vegetable is also the most transient.
1720. The fruit, which begins to appear conspicuous when the flower falls, expands and increases in
volume, and, assuming a peculiar hue as it ripens, ultimately detaches itself from the parent plant, and
drops into the soil. But it does not in all cases detach itself in the same manner : thus, in the bean and
pea the seed-vessel opens and lets the seeds fall out, while in the apple, pear, and cherry, the fruit falls
entire, enclosing the seed, which escapes when the pericarp decays. Most fruits fall soon after ripening,
as the cherry and apricot ; but some remain long attached to the parent plant after being fully ripe, as in
the case of the fruit of J?u6nymus and iVf^spilus. But these, as well as all others, though tenacious of
their hold, detach themselves at last, and bury themselves in the soil, to give birth to a new individual in
the germination of the seed. The fall of the flower and fruit is accounted for in the same manner as that
of the leaf.
1721. Decay of the 'permanent organs. Such, then, is the process and presumptive
rationale of the decay and detachment of the temporary organs of the plant. But there is
also a period beyond which even the permanent organs themselves can no longer carry
on the process of vegetation. Plants are affected by the infirmities of old age as well as
animals, and are found to exhibit also similar symptoms of approaching dissolution. The
root refuses to imbibe the nourishment afforded by the soil, or if it does imbibe a portion,
it is but feebly propelled, and partially distributed, through the tubes of the albui*num ;
the elaboration of the sap is now effected with difficulty as well as the assimilation of the
proper juice, the descent of which is almost totally obstructed ; the bark becomes thick
and woody, and covered with moss or lichens ; the shoot becomes stunted and diminutive ;
and the fruits palpably degenerate, both in quantity and quality. The smaller or ter-
minal branches fade and decay the first, and then the larger branches also, together with
the trunk and root ; the vital principle gradually declines without any chance of recovery,
and is at last totally extinguished. " When life is extinguished, nature hastens the decom-
position ; the surface of the tree is overrun with lichens and mosses, which attract and
retain the moisture ; the empty pores imbibe it ; and putrefaction speedily follows. Then
come the tribes of fungi, which flourish on decaying wood, and accelerate its corruption ;
beetles and caterpillars take up their abode under the bark, and bore innumerable holes
in the timber ; and woodpeckers in search of insects pierce it more deeply, and excavate
large hollows, in which they place their nests. Frost, rain, and heat assist, and the whole
mass crumbles away, and dissolves into a rich mould." {Dial, on BoU p. 365.)
Chap. VI.
Vegetable Geography and History, or the Distribution of Vegetables relatively to the Earth
and to Man.
1722. The science of the distribution of plants, Humboldt observes (Essai sur la Geo-
graphic des Plantes, 1807), considers vegetables in relation to their local associations in
different climates. It points out the grand features of the immense extent which plants
occupy, from the regions of perpetual snow to the bottom of the ocean, and to the inte-
rior of the globe, where, in obscure grottoes, cryptogamous plants vegetate, as unknown
as the insects which they nourish. The superior limits of vegetation are known, but
not the inferior ; for every where in the bowels of the earth are germs which develope
themselves when they find a space and nourishment suitable for vegetation. On taking
a general view of the disposition of vegetables on. the surface of the globe, independently
of the influence of man, that disposition appears to be determined by two sorts of causes,
geographical and physical. The influence of man, or of cultivation, has introduced a
third cause, which may be called dvil. The different aspects of plants, in different
regions, have given rise to what may be called their characteristic or picturesque distribu-
tion ; and the subject of distribution may be also considered relatively to the systematic
divisions of vegetables, their arithmetical proportions, and economical applications.
Book I. DISTRIBUTION OF VEGETABLES. 265;
Skct. I. Geographical Distribution of Vegetables.
1723. The territorial limits to vegetation are determined in general by three causes : —
1 . By sandy deserts, which seeds cannot pass over either by means of winds or birds, as
that of Sahara, in Africa ; 2. By seas too vast for the seeds of plants to be drifted from
one shore to the other, as in the ocean ; while the Mediterranean sea, on the contrary,
exhibits the same vegetation on both shores ; and, 3. By long and lofty chains of moun-
tains. To these causes are to be attributed the fact that similar climates and soils do
not always produce similar plants. Thus in certain parts of North America, which
altogether resemble Europe in respect to soil, climate, and elevation, not a single Eu-
ropean plant is to be found. The same remark will apply to New Holland, the Cape
of Good Hope, Senegal, and other countries, as compared with countries in similar phy-
sical circumstances, but geographically different. The separation of Africa and South
America, Humboldt considers, must have taken place before the developement of
organised beings, since scarcely a single plant of the one country is to be found in a wild
state in the other.
Sect. II. Physical Distribution of Vegetables.
1724. The natural circumstances affecting the distribution of plants may be considered
in respect to. temperature, elevation, moisture, soil, and light.
1725. Temperature has the most obvious influence on vegetation. Every one knows
that the plants of hot countries cannot in general live in such as are cold, and the contrary.
The wheat and barley of Europe will not grow within the tropics. The same remark
applies to plants of still higher latitudes, such as those within the polar circles, which
cannot be made to vegetate in more southern latitudes ; nor can the plants of more southern
latitudes be made to vegetate there. In this respect, not only the medium temperature
of a country ought to be studied, but the temperature of different seasons, and especially
of winter. Countries where it never freezes, those where it never freezes so strongly as
to stagnate the sap in the stems of plants, and those where it freezes with strength suffi-
cient to penetrate into the cellular tissue, form three classes of regions in which vege-
tation ought to differ. But this difference is somewhat modified by the effect of vegetable
structure, which resists, in different degrees, the action of frost. Thus, in general, trees
which lose their leaves during winter resist the cold better than such as retain them ;
resinous trees, more easily than such as are not so ; herbs of which the shoots are
annual and the root perennial, better than those where the stems and leaves are persisting;
annuals which flower early, and whose seeds drop and germinate before vnnter, resist
cold less easily than such as flower late, and whose seeds lie dormant in the soil till spring.
Monocotyledonous trees, which have generally persisting leaves and a trunk without
bark, as in palms, are less adapted to resist cold than dicotyledonous trees, which are
more favourably organised for this purpose, not only by the nature of their proper juice,
but by the disposition of the cortical and alburnous layers, and the habitual carbonisation
of the outer bark. Plants of a dry nature resist cold better than such as are watery ;
all plants resist cold better in dry winters than in moist winters ; and an attack of frost
always does most injury in a moist country, in a humid season, or when the plant is too
copiously supplied with water.
1726. Some plants of firm texture, but natives of warm climates, will endure a frost of
a few hours' continuance, as the orange at Genoa, (Humboldt, De Dislributione Planta-
rum) ; and the same thing is said of the palm and pine-apple, facts most important for
the gardener. Plants of delicate texture, and natives of warm climates, are destroyed
by the slightest attack of frost, as the Phaseolus, iVasturtium, &c.
1727. The temperature ofspringhas a material influence on the life of vegetables ; the
injurious effects of late frosts are known to every cultivator. In general, vegetation is
favoured in cold countries by exposing plants to the direct influence of the sun ; but this
excitement is injurious in a country subject to frosts late in the season ; in such cases, it
is better to retard than to accelerate vegetation.
1728. The temperature of summer, as it varies only by the intensity of heat, is not pro-
ductive of so many injurious accidents as that of spring. Very hot dry summers, how-
ever, destroy many delicate plants, and especially those of cold climates. A very early
summer is injurious to the germination and progress of seeds ; a short summer, to their
lipening, and the contrary.
1729. Autumn is an important season for vegetation, as it respects the ripening d.
seeds ; lience where that season is cold and humid, annual plants, which naturally flower
late, are never abundant, as in the polar regions ; the effect is less injurious to perennial
plants, which generally flower earlier. Frosts early in autumn are as injurious as those
which happen late in spring. The conclusion, from these considerations, obviously is,
that temperate climates are more favourable to vegetation than such as are either extremely
cold or extremely hot : but the warmer climates, as Keith observes, axe more favourable,
266
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
upon the whole, to vegetation than the colder, and that nearly in proportion to their
distance from the equator. The same plants, however, will grow in the same degree of
latitude, tliroughout all degrees of longitude, and also in correspondent latitudes on dif-
ferent sides of the equator ; the same species of plants, as some of the palms and others,
being found in Japan, India, Arabia, the West Indies, and part of South America,
which are all in nearly the same latitudes ; and the same species being also found in
Kamschatka, Germany, Great Britain, and the coast of Labrador, which are all also in
nearly the same latitudes. ( WUldenow, p> 374. )
1730. Rules for determining the temperature of a country. *' The fact that a degree of
latitude is equal to a degree of Fahrenheit, and that 400 feet of elevation is equal also to
a degree of Fahrenheit, is original and curious, and will go far to assist us in determining
the clime of any country." {Amer. Quart. Rev. Marclh 1829. p. 174.)
1 731 . The most remarkable circumstances respecting the temperature in the three zones are
exhibited in the following Table by Humboldt. The temperature is taken according to
the centigrade thermometer. The fathom is 6 French feet, or 6*39453 English feet.
Torrid zone.
Temperate zona
Frigid zone.
Andes
of Quito,
Lat. Oo.
Mountains
of Mexico,
Lat 20°
Caucasus,
Lat 420i.
Pyrenees,
Lat. 42|o.
Lat 45io to
46°
Lapland,
Lat 67° to
70°.
Inferior limit of per- 1
petual snow - -/
2460 fa.
2350 fa.
1650 fa.
1400 fa.
1370 fa.
550 fa.
Mean annual heat af)
that height - -J
IF.
—
—
3i°.
4°.
6°.
Mean heat of winter, do.
If.
—
10°.
20§°
Mean heat of Aug. do.
11".
—
—
6°.
9§°.
Distance between ")
trees and snow -_J
600 fa.
350 fa.
650 fa.
230 fa.
450 fa.
300 fa.
Upper limit of trees
1800 fa.
2000 fa.
1000 fa.
1170 fa.
920 fa.
250 fa.
Last species of trees")
towards the snow J
Escalonia
Alstonia.
i^nus
Occident.
^etula
dlba
^'bies
rdbra
^ bies
communis
i?^tula
dlba.
Upper limit of the")
^ricinesB - -J
BejaruP,
1600 fa.
—
22hodod.
caucAs.
1380 fa.
JJhodod.
ferrug.
1170 fa.
iJhodod.
laponic.
480 fa.
Distance between the \
snow and com - ^
800 fa.
—
630 fa.
—
700 fa.
450 fa.
1732. Elevation, or the height of the soil above the level of the sea, determines, in a
very marked manner, the habitation of plants. The temperature lessens in regular gra-
dation, in the same manner as it does in receding from the equator, and 600 feet of
elevation, Humboldt states, are deemed equal to one degree of latitude, and occasion a
diminution of temperature equal to 23° of Fahrenheit ; 300 feet being nearly equal to
half a degree. Mountains 1000 fathoms in height, at 46° of latitude, have the mean
temperature of Lapland ; mountains of the same height between the tropics enjoy the
temperature of Sicily ; and the summits of the lofty mountains of the Andes, even where
situated almost directly under the equator, are covered with snow as eternal as that of the
north pole. The highest land in Scotland where corn has been found to attain maturity
in favourable seasons is said to be at the mining ground on Lead Hills. {See General
Reports of Scotland, chap. Climate.)
1733. Hence it is that plants of high latitudes live on the mountains of such as are much
lower, and thus the plants of Greenland and Lapland are found on the Alps and Pyrenees.
At the foot of Mount Ararat, Tournefort met with plants peculiar to Armenia ; above
these he met with plants which are found also in France ; at a still greater height he
found himself surrounded with, such as grow in Sweden; and at the summit with such
as vegetate in the polar regions. This accounts for the great variety of plants which are
Book I. DISTRIBUTION OF VEGETABLES. 267
often found in a Flora of no great extent ; and it may be laid down as a botanical axiom,
that the more diversified the surface of the country, the richer will its Flora be, at least
in the same latitudes. It accounts, also, in some cases, for the want of correspondence
between plants of different countries, though placed in the same latitudes ; because the
mountains or ridges of mountains, which may be found in the one and not in the other,
will produce the greatest possible difference in the character of their Floras. To this
cause may generally be ascribed the diversity which often actually exists between plants
growing in the same latitudes, as between those of the north-west and north-east coasts
of North America, and also between those of the south-west and south-east coasts;
the former being more mountainous, the latter more flat. Sometimes the same sort
of difference takes place between the plants of an island and those of the neighbouring
continent ; that is, if the one is mountainous and the other flat ; but if they are alike
in their geographical delineation, then they are generally alike in their vegetable pro-
ductions.
1734. Cold and Iqfiy s'luations are the favourite habitations of most cryptogamic plants of
the terrestrial class, especially the fungi, algae, and mosses ; as also of plants of the class
Tetradynamia, and of the Umbelliferous and Syngenesious tribes ; whereas trees and
shrubs, ferns, parasitic plants, lilies, and aromatic plants, are most abundant in warm
climates : but this is not t'> be understood merely of geographical climates, because, as
we have seen, the physical climate depends upon altitude ; in consequence of which,
combined with the ridges and directions of the mountains, America and Asia are much
colder in the same degrees of northern latitude than Europe. American plants, vege-
tating at forty-two degrees of northern latitude, will vegetate very well at fifty-two degrees
in Europe ; the same- or nearly so, may be said of Asia ; which, in the former case, is
perhaps owing to the immense tracts of woods and marshes covering the surface, and in
the latter, to the more elevated and mountainous situation of the Country affecting the
degree of temperature. So, also, Africa is much hotter under the tropics than America ;
because in the latter, the temperature is lowered by immense chains of mountains travers-
ing the equatorial regions, while in the former it is increased by means of the hot and
burning sands which, cover the greaterpart of its surface.
1735. Elevation influences tlie habits of plants in various ways : by exposing them to the
wind ; by causing them to be watered by a very fresh and pure water from the melting
of adjoining snow ; and to be covered in winter by a thick layer of snow, which pro-
tects them from severe frosts. Hence many alpine plants become frozen during winter
in the plains, and in gardens which are naturally warmer than their proper stations. In
great elevations, the diminution of the density of the air may also have some influence
on vegetation. The rarity of the atmosphere admits a more free passage for the rays
of light, which, being in consequence more active, ought to produce a more active vege-
tation. Experience seems to prove this on high mountains ; and the same effect is pro-
duced in high latitudes by the length of the day. On the other hand, vegetables require
to absorb a certain quantity of oxygen gas from the air during the rught ; and as they find
less of that in the rarefied air of the mountains, they ought to be proportionably feeble and
languishing. According to experiments made by Theodore de Saussure, plants which
grow best in the high Alps are those which require to absorb least oxygen during the night ;
and, in this point of viev/-, the shortness of the nights near the poles corresponds. These
causes, however, are obviously Tery weak, compared to the powerful action of temper-
ature.
1736. Great anomalies are found in the comparative height at which the same plant
will grow in different circumstances. In countries situated under the equator, the two
sides of the mountain are of the &Ame temperature, which is solely determined by ele-
vation ; but in countries distant from it, the warmest side is that towards the south, and
the zones of plants, instead of forming lines parallel to the horizon, incline towards the
north. The reason, in both cases, is sufficiently obvious. In the temperate zone we
find the same plants frequently on low and elevated situations, but this is never the case
between the tropics.
1737. Altitude irifluences the habits of aquatics : thus some aquatics float always on the
surface of the water, as iemna, while others are either partially or wholly immersed.
Such aquatics as grow in the depths of the sea are not influenced by climate ; but such as
are near the surface are influenced by climate, and have their habitations affected by it.
1738. The moisture, or mode of watering, natural to vegetables, is a circumstance which
has a powerful influence on the facility with which plants grow in any given soil. The
quantity of water absolutely necessai-y for the nourishment of plants, varies according to
their tissue : some are immersed, others float on its surface ; some grow on the margin
of waters, with their roots always moistened or soaked in it; others, again, live in soil
slightly humid or almost dry. Vegetables which resist extreme drought most easily
are, I. Trees and herbs with deep roots; because they penetrate to, and derive sufficient
moisture from, some distance below the surface ; 2. Plants, which, being furnished with
268 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
few pores on the epidermis, evaporate but little moisture from their surface, as the suc-
culent tribe.
1739. The qualities of watery or the nature of the substances dissolved in it, must neces-
sarily influence powerfully the possibility of certain plants growing in certain places.
But the difference in this respect is much less than would be imagined, because the food
of one species of plant differs very little from that of another. The most remarkable
case is that of salt marshes, in which a great many vegetables will not live, whilst a
number of others thrive there better than any where else. Plants which grow in marine
marshes, and those which grow in similar grounds situated in the interior of a country,
are the same. Other substances naturally dissolved in water appear to have much less
influence on vegetation, though the causes of the habitations of some plants, such as
those which grow best on walls, as Pelt^ia, and in lime-rubbish, as Thlaspi, and other
Cruciferas, may doubtless be traced to some salt (nitrate of lime, &c.) or other substance
peculiar to such situations.
1740. The nature of the earth'' s surface affects the habitations of vegetables in different
points of view : 1 . As consisting of primitive earths, or the debris of rocks or mineral
bodies; and, 2. As consisting of a mixture of mineral, animal, and vegetable matter.
1741. Primitive surfaces affect vegetables mechanically according to their different
degrees of movability or tenacity. On coarse sandy surfaces plants spring up easily ; but
many of them, which have large leaves or tall stems, are as easily blown about and
destroyed. On fine, dry, sandy surfaces, plants with very delicate roots, as Protea and
Erica., prosper ; a similar earth, but moist in the growing season, is suited to bulbs. On
clayey surfaces plants are more diflicult to establish, but when established are more
permanent : they are generally coarse, vigorous, and perennial in their duration.
1742. With respect to the relative proportions of the piimitive earths in these surfaces,
it does not appear that their influence on the distribution of plants is so great as might
at first sight be imagined. Doubtless different earths are endowed with different degrees
of absorbing, retaining, and parting with moisture and heat ; and these circumstances
have a material effect in a state of culture, where they are comminuted and e:5posed to the
air; but not much in a wild or natural state, where they remain hard, firm, and covered
with vegetation. The difference, with a few exceptions, is never so gre? but that the
seeds of a plant which has been found to prosper well in one description of earth, will
germinate and thrive as well in another composed of totally different earths, provided
they are in a nearly similar state of mechanical division and moisture. Thus, Decan-
dolle observes, though the box is very common on calcareous surfaces, it is found in as
great quantities in such as are schistous or granitic. The chestnut grows equally well
in calcareous and clayey earths, in volcanic ashes, and in sand. The plants of Jura, a
mountain entirely calcareous, grow equally well on the Vosges or the granitic Alps.
But though the kind or mixture of earths seems of no great consequence, yet the presence
of metallic oxides and salts, as sulphates of iron or copper, or sulphur alone, or alum, or
other similar substances in a state to be soluble in water, are found to be injurious to all
vegetation, of which some parts of Derbyshire and the maremmes of Tuscany (Chateau-
vieux, let. 8. ) are striking proofs. But except in these rare cases, plants grow with nearly
equal indifference on all primitive surfaces, in the sense in which we here take these terms;
the result of which is, that earths, strictly or chemically so termed, have much less
influence on the distribution of plants than temperature, elevation, and moisture. Another
result is, as DecandoUe has well remarked, that it is often a very bad method of
culture, to imitate too exactly the nature of the earth in which a plant grows in its wild
state.
1743. Mixed or secondary soils include not only primitive earths, or the debris ot rocks,
but vegetable matters ; not only the medium through which perfect plants obtain their
food, but that food itself. In this view of the subject the term soil is used in a very
extensive acceptation, as signifying, not only the various sorts of earths which constitute
the surface of the globe, but every substance whatever on which plants are found to
vegetate, or from which they derive their nourishment. The obvious division of soils, in
this acceptation of the term, is that of aquatic, terrestrial, and vegetable soils ; corre-
sponding to the division of aquatic, terrestrial, and parasitical plants.
1744. Aquatic soils are such as are either wholly or partially inundated with water,
and are fitted to produce such plants only as are denominated aquatics. Of aquatics
there are several subdivisions according to the particular situations they affect, or the
degree of immersion they require.
1745. One of the principal subdivisions of aquatics is that of marine plants, such as the Fuci and many
of the A'lgx, which are very plentiful in the seas that wash the coasts of Great Britain, and are generally
attached to the stones and rocks near the shore. Some of them are always immersed ; and others, which
are situated above low-water mark, are immersed and exposed to the action of the atmosphere alternately.
Bat none of them can be made to vegetate except in the waters of the sea. Another subdivision of aqua-
tics is that of rtuer plants, such as Chara, Potamogfeton, and A^ymphae^a, which occupy the beds of fresh,
water rivers, and vegetate in the midst of the running stream ; being for the most part wholly immersed,
as well as found only in such situations.
Book I.
DISTRIBUTION OF VEGETABLES.
269
1746. A third subdivision of aquatics is that of paludal or fen plants, being such as are peculiar to
lakes, marshes, and stagnant or nearly stagnant waters, but of which the bottom is often tolerably clear.
In such situations you find the Isofetes lacustris, flowering rush, water ranunculus, water violet, and a
variety of others, which uniformly affect such situations j some of them being wholly immersed, and others
immersed only in part
1747. Earthy soils are such as emerge above the vi'ater, and constitute the surface of
the habitable globe, which is every where covered with vegetable productions. Plants
affecting such soils, which comprise by far the greater part of the vegetable kingdom,
are denominated terrestrial, being such as vegetate upon the surface of the earth, without
having any portion immersed in water, or requiring any further moisture for their
support beyond that which they derive from the earth and atmosphere. This division is,
like the aquatics, distributed into several subdivisions according to the peculiar situations
which difterent tribes affect.
1748. Some of them are ma7itime, that is, growing only on the sea-coast, or at no great distance from
it, such as iStatice, G'laux, Samolus, samphire, sea-pea.
1749. Some are fluviatic, that is, affecting the banks of rivers, such as L^thrum, Lycbpus, jEupatbrmw.
1750. Some are champaign, that is, affecting chiefly the plains, meadows, and cultivated fields, such as
Cardamine, 7'ragopi)gon, Agrostemma.
Ylol. Some are dumose, that is, growing in hedges and thickets, such as the brambl&
1752. Some are ruderate, that is, growing on rubbish, such as Senfccio viscijsus.
- 1753. Some are sylvatic, that is, growing in woods or forests, such as 5tkchys sylvatica, Angelica syl-
vestris.
1754. And, finally, some are alpine, that is, growing on the summits of mountains, such as Poa alp'ina,
Epilobium alpinum, and many of the mosses and lichens.
1755. Vegetable soils are such as are formed of vegetating or decayed plants themselves,
to some of which the seeds of certain other plants are found to adhere, as being the only
soil fitted to their germination and developement. The plants springing from them are
denominated Parasitical, as being plants that will vegetate neither in the water nor earth,
but on certain other plants, to which they attach themselves by means of roots, that pene-
trate the bark, and from the juices of which they do often, though not always, derive
their support. This last circumstance constitutes the ground of a subdivision of parasi-
tical plants, into such as adhere to the dead or inert parts of other plants, and such as
adhere to living plants, and feed on their juices.
1756. In the first subdivision we may place parasitical mosses, lichens, and fungi, which are found as
often, and in as great perfection, on the stumps of rotten trees, and on rotten pales and stakes, as on trees
which are yet vegetating ; whence it is also plain that they do not derive their nourishment from the juices
of the plants on which they grow, but from their decayed parts, and the atmosphere by which they are
surrounded ; the plant to which they cling serving as a basis of support.
1757. In the second subdivision we may place all plants strictly parasitical, that is, all such as do actually
abstract from the juices of the plant to which they cling the nourishment necessary to the developement
of their parts ; and of which the most common, at least as being indigenous to Britain, are the mistletoe,
dodder, broom-rape, and a sort of tuber which grows on the root of saffron, and destroys it if allowed to
spread.
1758. The mistletoe {Viscum album) is found for the most part on the apple tree; but sometimes also
on the oak. If its berry is made to adhere to the trunk or branch of either of the foregoing trees, which
from its glutinous nature it may readily be made to do, it germinates by sending out a small globular body
attached to a pedicle, which after it acquires a certain length bends towards the bark, whether above it or
below it, into which it insinuates itself by means of a num-
ber of small fibres which it now protrudes, and by which it
abstracts from the plant the nourishment necessary to its
future developement. When the root has thus fixed itself
in the bark of the supporting tree, the stem of the para-
site begins to ascend, at first smooth and tapering, and of
a pale green colour, but finally protruding a multiplicity
of branches and leaves. It seems to have been thought
by some botanists that the roots of the mistletoe penetrate
even into the wood, as well as through the bark. But the
observations of Du Hamel show that this opinion is not
well founded. The roots are, indeed, often found within
the wood, which they thus seem to have penetrated by
their own vegetating power : but the fact is, that they are
merely covered by the additional layers of wood which have
been formed since the fibres first insinuated themselves
into the bark.
1759. The Cuscuta europce^a, or dodder (Jtg.^HXi.), though
it is to be accounted a truly parasitical plant in the issue, is
yet not originally so. For the seed of this plant, when it
has fallen to the ground, takes root originally by sending
down its radicle into the soil and elevating its stem into
the air. It is not yet, therefore, a parasitical plant. But
the stem which is now elevated above the surface lays hold
of the first plant it meets with, though it is particularly _
partial to hops and nettles, and twines itself around it, attaching itself by means of little parasitical roots,
at the pomts of contact, and finally detaching itself from the soil altogether by the decay of the original
root, and becoming a truly parasitical plant. Withering describes the plant in his Arrangement as being
ongmally parasitical ; but this is certainly not the fact.
1760. The Orobdnche, or broom-rape, which attaches itself by the root to the roots of other plants, is
also to be regarded as being truly parasitical, though it sometimes sends out fibres which seem to draw
nourishment from the earth. It is found most frequently on the roots of clover and common broom, but
also in various other places.
1761. The Epidendrum fids aeris is regarded also by botanists as a parasitical plant, because it is generally
found growing on other trees. But as it is found to grow in old tan, it probably derives only support from
the bark of trees, and not nourishment.
1762. Light is a body which has very considerable influence on the structure of vege-
STO SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
tables, and some, also, on their habitation. The i^^ingi do not require the usual inter-
vention of day, in order to decompose carbonic acid gas, and can live and thrive with
little or no light. In green plants, which require the action of light, the intensity
requisite is very different in different species ; some require shady places, and hence the
vegetable inhabitants of caves, and the plants which grow in the shades of forests ; others,
and the greater number, require the direct action of the sun, and grow in exposed,
elevated sites. Decandolle considers that the great difficulty of cultivating alpine plants
in the gardens of plains, arises from the impossibility of giving them at once the fresh
temperature and intense light which they find on high mountains.
Sect. III. CivU Causes affecting the Distribution of Plants.
1763. By the art of man plants may be inured to circumstances foreign from, their usiuU
habits. Though plants in general are limited to certain habitations destined for them by
nature, yet some are, and probably the greater number may be, inured to climates, soils,
and situations, of which they are not indigenous. The means used are acclimation and
culture.
1764. Acclimation seems to be most easily effected in going from a hot to a cold
climate, particularly with herbaceous plants ; because it often happens that the frosts of
winter are accompanied with snow, which shelters the plant from the inclemency of the
atmosphere till the return of spring. Trees and shrubs, on the contrary, are acclimated
with more difficulty, because they cannot be so easily sheltered from the colds, owing to
the greater length of their stems and branches. The acclimation, or naturalisation of
vegetables has been attempted by two modes : by sowing the seeds of successive gener-
ations, and by the difference of temperature produced by different aspects. But though
the habits of individuals may be altered by what is called acclimation, that is, by dimi-
nishing or increasing the supplies of nourishment and of heat, yet no art or device of man
will alter the nature of the species. The potato, the kidneybean, the nasturtium,
georgina, and many other plants which have been long in culture in Europe, and pro-
pagated from seeds ripened there through innumerable generations, there is no reason to
suppose are in the least degree more hardy than when first imported from Asia or South
America. The same slight degree of autumnal frost blackens their leaves, and of spring
cold destroys their germinating seeds. But as summer is nearly the same thing in all
lands, the summer or annual plants of the tropics are made to grow in the summers of
the temperate zones, and, indeed, in general, the summer plants of any one country will
grow in the summer climate of any other. The cucumber is grown in tlie fields in
Egypt, and near Petersburg.
1765. Domesticated plants, " Some plants," Humboldt observes, "which constitute
the object of gardening and of agriculture, have time out of mind accompanied man
from one end of the globe to the other. In Europe the vine followed the Greeks ; the
wheat, the Romans ; and the cotton, the Arabs. In America, the Tultiques carried
witli them the maize; and the potato and quinoa (Chenopodium Quinba, of which the
seeds are used) are found wherever have migrated the ancient Condinamarea. The
migration of these plants is evident ; but their first country is as little known as that of
the different races of men, which have been found in all parts of the globe from the
earliest traditions." (Gtographie des Plantes, p. 25.)
1766. The general effect of culture on plants is that of enlarging all their parts; but
it often also alters the qualities, forms, and colours : it never, however, alters their pri-
mitive structure. " The potato," as Humboldt observes, " cultivated in Chile, at nearly
twelve thousand feet above the level of the sea, carries the same flower as in Siberia."
1767. The culinary vegetables of our gardens, compared with the same species in their
wild state, aflford striking proofs of the influence of culture on both the magnitude and
qualities of plants. Nothing in regard to magnitude is more remarkable than in the case
of the J5rAssica tribe ; and nothing, in respect to quality, exceeds the change effected on
the celery, the carrot, and the lettuce.
1768. The influence of culture on fruits is not less remarkable. The peach, in its wild
state in Media, is poisonous ; but cultivated in the plains of Ispahan and Egypt, it
becomes one of the most delicious of fruits. The effect of culture on the apple, pear,
cherry, plum, and other fruits, is nearly as remarkable ; for not only the fruit and leaves,
but the general habits of the tree, are altered in these and other species. The history of
the migration of fruit trees has been commenced by Sickler, in a work (Geschichte, &c.)
which Humboldt has praised as equally curious and philosophical.
1769. The influence of culture on plants of ornament is great in most species. The
parts of all plants are enlarged ; some are numerically increased, as in the case of double
flowers ; and, what is most remarkable, even the colours are frequently changed, in the
leaf, flower, and fruit.
1770. The influence of civilisation and culture, in increasing the number of plants in a
country, is very considerable, and operates directly, by introducing new species for cul-
Book I. DISTRIBUTION OF VEGETABLES. 271
ture in gardens, fields, or timber-plantations ; and indirectly by acclimation and final
naturalisation of many species, by the influence of winds and birds in scattering their
seeds. The vine and the fig are not indigenous to France, but are now naturalised there
by birds. In like manner the orange is naturalised in the south of Italy. Many plants
of the Levant are naturalised both in France and Britain ; some, as the cabbage, cherry,
and apple, were probably naturalised in England during its subjection to the Romans.
The narrow-leaved elm was brought from the Holy Land during the crusades. Pha-
seolus vulgaris and Impatiens Palsamina were brought originally from India ; and,
Datura Stramonium, which is now naturalised in Europe, was brought originally from
India or Abyssinia. Buckv/heat and most species of corn and peas came also from the
East, and along with them several plants found among corn only, such as Centaur^a
Cyanus, Agrostemma Githago, iidphanus Raphanistrum, and Jlfyagrum sativum. The
country whence the most valuable grasses migrated is not known. Bruce says he found
the oat wild in Abyssinia, and wheat and millet have been found in a wild state in hilly
situations in the East Indies. Rye and the potato were not known to the Romans.
The country of the former Humboldt declares to be totally unknown.
1771. The greatest refinement in culture consists in the successful formation of artificial
climates, for the culture of tropical plants, in cold regions. Many vegetables, natives of
the torrid zone, as the pine apple, the palm, &c., cannot be acclimated in temperate
countries : but by means of hot-houses of different kinds, they are grown, even on the
borders of the fro"zen zone, to the highest degree of perfection ; and, in Britain, some of
the tropical fruits, as the pine and melon, are brought to a greater size and better flavour
than in their native habitations. Casting our eyes on man, and the effects of his industry,
we see him spread on the plains and sides of mountains, from the Frozen Ocean to
the equator, and every where wishing to assemble around him whatever is useful and
agreeable of his own country or those of others. The more difficulties to surmount, the
more rapidly are developed the moral faculties ; and thus the civilisation of a people is
almost always in an inverse ratio with the fertility of the soil which they inhabit. What
is the reason of this ? Humboldt asks. Habit and the love of native land.
Sect. IV. Characteristic or Picturesque Distribution of Vegetables,
1 772. The social and antisocial habits of plants are their most remarkable characteristics.
Like animals, they live in two classes : the one class grows alone and scattered, as Soli-
num Dulcamkra, iychnis dioica, Polygonum Bist6rta, Anthericum Liliago, &c. ; the
other class unites in society, like ants or bees, covers immense surfaces, and excludes
other species, such as Fragkria v^sca, Facclnium Myrtillus, Polygonum avicul^re, ,^^ira
can^scens, i^nus sylv^stris, &c. Barton states that the Mitchella ripens is the plant
most extensively spread in North America, occupying all the ground between the 28°
and 69° of north latitude ; that the ^'rbutus uva ursi extends from New Jersey to the 72°
of north latitude ; while, on the contrary, Gordonia, Franklinia, and Dionae^a muscipula are
found isolated in small spots. Associated plants are more common in the temperate zones
than in the tropics, where vegetation is less uniform and more picturesque. In the tem-
perate zones, the frequency of social plants, and the culture of man, have rendered the
aspect of the country comparatively monotonous. Under the tropics, on the contrary, all
sorts of forms are united ; thus cypresses and pines are found in the forests of the Andes
of Quindiu and of Mexico ; and bananas, palms, and bamboos in the valleys (Jig, 201.) :
but green meadows and the season of spring are wanting, for nature has reserved gifts
for every region. « The valleys of the Andes," Humboldt observes, " are ornamented
with bananas and palms j on the mountains are found oaks, firs, barberries, alders,
27-2 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
brambles, and a crowd of genera believed to belong only to countries of the north.
Thus the inhabitant of the equinoctial regions views all the vegetable forms which nature
has bestowed around him on the globe. Earth developes to his eyes a spectacle as
varied as the azure vault of heaven, which conceals none of her constellations." The
people of Europe do not enjoy the same advantage. The languishing plants, which the
love of science or luxury cultivates in our hot-houses, present only the shadow of the
majesty of equinoctial vegetation ; but, by the richness of our language, we paint these
countries to the imagination, and cultivated man feels a happiness peculiar to civilisation.
1773. The features of many plants are so obvious and characteristic, as to strike every
general observer. The Scitamineae, tree-heaths, firs and pines, Mimosse, climbers. Cacti,
grasses, lichens, mosses, palms, ^quisetaceae, Jlfalvaceae, ^rbideae, Orchideaj, iiliaceae,
&c., form remarkable groups distinguishable at first sight. Of these groups, the most
beautiful are the palms, Scitamineae, and iiHaceae, which include the bamboos and plan-
tains, the most splendid of umbrageous plants.
1774. The native countries of plants may often he discovered by their features, in the
same manner as the national distinctions which are observable in the looks and colour of
mankind, and which are effected chiefly by climate. Asiatic plants are remarkable for
their superior beauty ; African plants for their thick and succulent leaves, as in the case
of the Cacti ; and American plants for the length and smoothness of their leaves, and for
a sort of singularity in the shape of the flower and fruit. The flowers of European
plants are but rarely beautiful, a great portion of them being amentaceous. Plants
indigenous to polar and mountainous regions are generally low, with small compressed
leaves ; but with flowers large in proportion. Plants indigenous to New Holland are
distinguishable by small and dry leaves, which have often a shrivelled appearance. In
Arabia they are low ahd dwarfish ; in the Archipelago they are generally shrubby and
furnished with prickles ; while, in the Canary Islands, many plants, which, in other
countries, are merely herbs, assume the port of shrubs and trees. The shrubby plants of
the Cape of Good Hope and New Holland exhibit a striking similarity. The shrubs and
trees of the northern parts of Asia and America also are very much alike ; which may be
exemplified in the Platanus orientalis of the former, and in the Platanus occidentalis of the
latter, as well as in i^agus sylv^tica and i^agus latifolia, or ^^cer cappadbcium and A\er
saccharinum ; and yet the herbs and undershrubs of the two countries do not in the least
correspond. " A tissue of fibres," Humboldt observes, " more or less loose, vegetable
colours more or less vivid, according to the chemical mixture of their elements, and the
force of the solar rays, are some of the causes which impress on the vegetables of each
zone their characteristic features."
1775. The influence of the general aspect of vegetation on the taste and imagination of a
people; the difference in this respect between the monotonous oak and pine forests
of the temperate zones, and the picturesque assemblages of palms, mimosas, plantains,
and bamboos of the tropics ; the influence of the nourishment, more or less stimulant,
pecuHar to different zones, on the character and energy of the passions ; these, Humboldt
observes, unite the history of plants with the moral and political history of man.
Sect. V. Systematic Distribution of Vegetables.
1776. The distribution of plants, considered in respect to their systematic classifications,
is worthy of notice. The three grand systematic divisions of plants are Acotyledoneae,
Dicotyledoneae, and Monocotyledoneae. A simplification of this division considers plants
as agamous or phanerogamous, that is, without or with visible sexes.
1777. Plants of visible sexes. Taking the globe in zones, the temperate contain the
greater part of all the phanerogamous or visible sexual species of plants. The equinoctial
countries contain nearly Jg, and Lapland only ^ part.
1778. Plants with the sexual parts invisible or indistinct. Taking the whole surface
of the globe, the agamous plants, that is, il/usci, Fnngi, Fnci, &c., are to the phane-
rogamous or perfect plants, nearly as 1 to 7 ; in the equinoctial countries as 1 to 5 ; in
the temperate zones, as 2 to 5 ; in New Holland, as 2 to 11 ; in France, as 1 to 2 ; in
Lapland, Greenland, Iceland, and Scotland, they are as 1 to I, or even more numerous
than the phanerogamous plants. Within the tropics, agamous plants grow only on the
summits of the highest mountains. In several of the islands of the Gulf of Carpentaria,
having a Flora of phanerogamous plants exceeding 200 species, R. Brown did not ob-
serve a single moss.
1779. In the whole globe, the Monocotyledoneee, including the Gramineje, iilijLceje,
Scitamineae, &c., are to the whole of the perfect plants as 1 to 6 ; in the temperate zones
(between 36 "" and 52°,) as one to 4 ; and in the polar regions as 1 to 20. In Germany,
the Monocotyledoneae are to the total number of species as 1 to 4^ ; in France as 1 to
4f ; in New Holland the three grand divisions of plants, beginning with the Acotyle-
doneae, are nearly as 1, 2|, and 7|.
1780. Dicotyledonea. In the whole globe, the Monocotyledoneae are estimated bj
Book I
DISTRIBUTION OF VEGETABLES.
27;
R. Brown (Gen. Retn on the Bot. of Terr. Aust., 1814.), from Persoon's Si/nojms, to be
to the Dicotyledoneae as 2 to 11; or, with the addition of undescribed plants, as 2 to 9.
From the equator to 30° of north latitude, they are as 1 to 5. In the higher latitudes a
gradual diminution of Dicotyledoneae takes place, until in about 60° north latitude and
50° south latitude they scarcely equal half their intertropical proportions. The ferns in
the temperate regions are to the whole number of species as 1 , 2, and 5 ; that is, in the
polar regions as 1, in the temperate countries as 2, and in the intertropical regions as 5.
In France, ferns form ^ pait of the phanerogamous plants ; in Germany, -^^ ; in Lap-
land 2V
1781. The natural orders of perfect, or phanerogamous, plants are variously dis-
tributed in different countries. The following Table gives a general view of the relative
proportions of several natural orders of perfect plants in France, Germany, and Lapland.
Ratio of each Family to thol
Names of Natural Orders.
Number of Species in
different Countries.
whole of the
gamous plants
Countries.
Phanero.
in these
Fran.
Germ.
Lapl.
Fran.
Germ.
T5
Lapl.
h
Cyperoideas . _ _
134
102
55
5\
Graniinese - _ -
284
143
49
A
■h
1
10
Jiinceae _ . -
These three Families together
42
20
20
460
265
124
Orchidete _ _ _
54
44
11
1
61
I.
Labi.-itae _ _ -
149
72
7
A
?
■h
Rhinantheae et Scropliularineae
147
76
17
4.
n
a'g
i?oraginea} . _ _
49
26
6
•h
i\
A
Ericese et JJhodod^ndreae
29
21
20
ife
^
4,
Compositae _ _ _
490
238
38
k
I
T^
Umbelliferae . . -
170
86
9
ii
h
3'5
Cruciferae
190
106
22
^
tV
h
Ifalvaccae . _ -
25
8
—
■ris
^z
Carj'ophyllcac _ - -
165
71
29
i^
h
^
Leguminosae _ - -
230
96
14
T^
in
A
jBuphorb/ac^ - - -
51
18
1
'h
ik
,k
Amentaceae _ _ _
69
48
23
A
I9
A
Coniferae
19
7
3
TO2
,h
ife
3645
1884
497
1782. The most universal plants are the agamous
families. Their germs are the only ones which nature
developes spontaneously in all climates. The Poly-
trichum commune (Jig. 202. ) grows in all latitudes ;
in Europe and under the equator; on high mountains
and on a level with the sea; in short, wherever there
is shade and humidity. No phanerogamous plants have
organs sufficiently flexible to accomodate themselves in
this manner to every zone. The ^Isine media, Fra-
garia v^sca, and 5'olanum nigrum have been supposed to
enjoy this advantage ; but all that can be said is, that
these plants are very much spread, like the people of the
race of Caucasus, in the northern part of the ancient con-
tinent. ( Humboldt. )
Sect. VI.
Economical Distribution of Vegetables.
1783. The plants chief y employed in human economy differ in different climates and
countries ; but some, as the cereal grasses, are in universal use ; and others, as the banana
and plantain, only in the countries which produce them.
1784. The bread-corn of the temperate climates is chiefly wheat and maize ; of the hot
climates, rice, and of the coldest climates, barley.
T
274 SCIENCE. OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
1785. The edible roots of the old world are chiefly the yam, sweet potato, onion, carrot,
and turnip ; of the new, the potato.
1786. The oleraceous herbs of temperate climates are chiefly the J9rassica family, and
other Cruciferas. In hot climates potherbs are little used. Legumes, as the pea, bean,
and kidneybean, are in general use in most parts of the old world.
1787. The fruits of the northern hemisphere belong chiefly to the orders of Pomjlceae,
^mygdalineae, Grossulkriae, i^osaceae, Fiticeae, and Amentacece.
1788. The fruits of the East Indies belong chiefly to Myrtaceas, Guttiferae, Aurantiace£e, Musace^,
Palmse, Cucurbit^ceas, Myristice£B, &c.
1789. The fruits of China are chiefly of the orders of Aurantikceae, Myrtaceje, ^hamneae, Pomaceas,
^mygdalineee, Palmffi, &c.
1790. The fruits of Africa belong to Sapbtece, Palmae, Chrysobalaneaj, Guttiferas, .^pocyneae, Papilioniceje,
Mushcece, and CucurbitJlce£e.
1791. The fruits of South America belong to Anonhcetz, Myrtaceze, rerebintacese, Myristicea;, Palm£e,
Broraelii>ce^, Sapotece, taurines, Chrysobal^neae, Mushcc^, Papilionacese, and Passifibreae.
1792. The most shon^y herbaceous flowers of the temperate zone belong to Roskcese,
JLiliaceae, Jrideae, £ricineae, jRanunculacea, Primulaceae, Caryophyllea?, Gentiawe<s, &c.
Those of the torrid zone belong to the Scitamineoe, Amaryllises, Bignoni«ce<:p, Mela-
stomkcea?, Magnoljace<^, Papilionaceee, ^pocyneag, &c.
1793. The most useful timber trees of temperate climates are of the pine or fir kind ; of warm climates,
the palm and bamboo. The universal agricultural order is the Graminece.
Sect. VI T. Arithmetical Distribution of Vegetables.
1794. Tb.e total number of species of plants known, amounted in 1820 to about 44,000,
of which 38,000 have been described. According to Humboldt and R. Brown, they
are thus distributed: — in Europe 7000; in temperate Asia 1500; in equinoctial Asia
and the adjacent islands 4500 ; in Africa 3000 ; in temperate America, in both hemi-
spheres, 4000 ; in equinoctial America 1 3,000 ; in New Holland and the islands of the
Pacific Ocean 5000 ; — in all 38,000. In Spitsbergen there are 30 species of perfect
plants; in Lapland 534; in Iceland 533; in Sweden 1299; in Scotland 900; in Bri-
tain upwards of 1400; in Brandenburg 2000; in Piedmont 2800; in Jamaica, Mada-
gascar, and the coast of Coromandel, from 4000 to 5000. It is now (anno 1829)
believed that there may be from 100,000 to 200,000 species of plants. Such is the
progress of discovery and of ideas.
Sect. VIII. Distribution of the British Flora, indigenous and exotic.
1795. Nearly thirty thousand species are enumerated in Loudon's H6rtus Britdnnicus,
including all the indigenous species of iVfusci, i^ungi, Fuci, A'Xgse, and iichenes.
1796. The natives of Britain, flowering plants, which enter into this Hortus are
upwards of 1400 species; but the native British Flora contains in all above 3300
species. Of these there are about 1437 cotyledonous plants, and nearly 1893 imperfect,
or what are termed, in the Jussieuean system, Acotyledoneas.
1797. Of the cotyledonous or perfect plants, 182 are trees or shrubs; 855 are peren-
nials; 60 are biennials; and 340 annuals. Of the trees and shrubs, 47 are trees; 25
above 30 feet high, and the remainder under 30, but above 10 feet high. Of the peren-
nials 83 are grasses ; the next greatest number belong to the first two orders of the
class Pent^ndria ; the next to the Syngenesia ; and the third to MonoeVia Triandria, or
the Cyperaceae of Jussieu, comprehending chiefly the genus Carex. Most of the bien-
nials belong to the first order of the 1 9th class, and the first two orders of Pentandria.
There are 41 annual grasses ; 52 annuals belong to the first two orders of Pentdndria;
and the next greatest number of annuals to Diadelphia Decandria, which includes the
trefoils and vetches.
1798. Oi the acotyledonous, or imperfect plants, 800 are Fungi; 18 A'lgse; 373
iichenes; 85 Hep^ticae ; 460 ilfusci ; and 130 i^ilices; according to a rude estimate
formed in 1820.
1799. In regard to the distribution of the jjerfect plants as to elevation, little or nothing
has been yet generalised on the subject. In regard to soils, 276 are found in bogs, and
marshy or moist places ; 140 on the sea shores ; 128 in cultivated grounds; 121 in mea-
dows and pastures ; 78 in sandy grounds ; 76 in hedges and on hedge banks ; 70 on
chalky and other calcareous soils ; 64 on heaths ; 60 in woods ; 30 on walls ; 29 on
rocks ; and 19 on salt marshes ; reckoning from Galpine's British Flora, 1820.
1800. In the distribution of the imperfect plants, the jpilices prevail in rocky places and
wastes ; most of the JWusci, Hepaticae, and /iichenes, on rocks and trees ; most of the
Fuci and ^'Igae in the sea ; aijd of the i^ungi, on decaying vegetable bodies, especially
trunks of trees, manures, &c.
i
Book I.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE BRITISH FLORA.
275
1801. In respect to geographical distribution, the mountainous and hilly districts of
England and South Wales are most prolific ; the greatest number, according to extent of
surface, are foiuid in England and Wales, and the smallest number in Ireland.
1802. The genera of the native British Flora enter into 23 classes and 71 orders of the
former, and 8 classes and 121 orders of the latter system.
1 80;}. With respect to the uses or application of the native Flora, there are about 18 sorts
of wild fruits which ?«ay be eaten, exclusive of the wild apple and pear ; but only the
pear, apple, plum, currant, raspberry, strawberry, and cranberry, are gathered wild, or
cultivated in gardens. There are about 20 boiling culinary plants natives, including the
cabbage, sea-kale, asparagus, turnip, carrot, and parsnep. There are about the same
number of spinaceous plants, salading, and pot and sweet herbs, which may be used, but
of which a few only enter into the dietetics of modern cooks. There are 3 fungi, in
general use, the mushroom, truffle, and morel ; and various others, as well as about 8
species of sea-weeds, are occasionally eaten. There are about 6 native plants cultivated as
florist's flowers, including the Primula ehitior, Crocus, iVarcissus, Dianthus, &c. Nearly
100 grasses, clovers, and leguminous plants are used in agriculture, or serve in their native
places of growth as pasturage for cattle. Two native plants, the oat and the big or wild
barley, are cultivated as farinaceous grains. Most of the trees are used in the mechanical
arts, for fuel, or for tanning : one plant, the flax, not aboriginal, but now naturalised,
aflTords fibre for the manufacture of linen cloth. Various plants yield coloured juices
which may be, and in part are, used in dyeing ; and some hundred species have been, and
a few are still, used in medicine. About 20 cotyledonous plants, and above 50 acotyle-
donous, chiefly fungi, are, or are reputed to be, poisonous, both to men and cattle.
1804. By the a7'ti/icinl Flora of Britain, we understand such of the native plants as
admit of preservation or culture in gardens ; and such exotics as are grown there, whether
in the open ground, or in different descriptions of plant habitations. The total number
of species which compose this Flora, or Hortiis Britdnnicus, as taken from Sweet's cata-
logue of 1819, is about 13,000, including botanists' varieties, and excluding agamous
plants. This Flora may be considered in regard to the countries whence the plants were
introduced ; the periods of their introduction ; their obvious divisions ; their systematic
classification ; their garden habitations ; their application ; and their native habitations.
1805. With respect to the native countries of the artificial for a, or H6rtus Britdnnicus,
of 970 species, they are unknown; the remaining 12,000 species were first introduced
from the following : —
EunoPE.
Asia.
Africa.
America.
Continent.
Continent.
Continent.
S. Continent.
N. Continent. \
S. of Europe - 659
East Indies -
826
Cape of Good 7 ^oon
Mexico -
102
United States
1222
Spain - - 266
Siberia -
364
Hope - S
..^ou
Peru . -
77
Carolina -
129
Italy ... 202
Levant -
213
Barbary . .
77
Brazil - -
74
Virginia
49
Hungary - - 173
China
205
Egypt - -
69
Guinea -
33
Canada - -
28
Austria . . 171
Caucasus -
67
Morocco - .
IS
Vera Cruz
22
Missouri -
24
Germany - - 134
Persia
37
Sierra Leone -
12
Caraccas -
21
Louisiana
18
Switzerland - 117
.ra])an
36
Guinea -
11
Chile -
29
Georgia - -
16
France - - 103
Syria ...
19
Abyssinia
8
Buenos Ay res
8
Florida
9
Various other ^ ^^
Parts - j *^
Various other ^
Parts - 5
82
Algiers -
8
Various other?
275
Other parts '
Various other 1
Parts - i
51
Places -
i
of British
America and
► 111
Islands.
Islands.
S. Islands.
the United
Madeira . . 75
New So. Wales
239
Islands.
Cayenne -
.
9
States - .
Candia . . 66
New Holland
152
Canaries - -
82
Falkland
]
3
Other Islands .. 352
Ceylon
31
reneriffe
21
Islands -
N. Islands
Britain - - 1400
Van Dieman's 7
Land - j
21
St. Helena -
6
Terra del
j
1
West Indies -
435
Cape Verde 7
Islands J
1
Fuego -
Jamaica - -
248
Other Islands
73
Bahamas - -
9
Other Islands
55
European plants in the ai
Asiatic
African
tificial Flora of Britain . . .
- 4169
- 2365
- 2639
■
I I
J
South America
. . -
.
_
. 644
North America
_ _ .
.
,
- 2353
Native countries unknown
-
-
- 970
13,140
1806. With respect to the dates of the introduction of the exotics from those countries,
not any are known before the time of Gerard, in Henry VIII.'s reign. From tills
author and Trew, it appears that 47 species were introduced in or before 1548, including
the apricot, fig, pomegranate, &c. Those previously introduced, of which the dates are
unknown, may be considered as left here by the Romans, or afterwards brought over
from France, Italy, and Spain^ by the ecclesiastics, and preserved in the gardens of the
T 2
276
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
religious houses. Henry died in 1547 ; but the plants introduced in the year after his
death may be considered as properly belonging to his reign.
182 plants, chiefly through the
Edrv. VI. 1347 to 1553. During this troublous reign, only
seven exotic species were added to the British garden, chiefly
by Dr. Turner, director of the Duke of Somerset's (then Lord
Protector) garden at Syon House.
Mary. IsS.'? to 1558. No plants introduced.
Elizabeth. 1558 to 1603. 533 species were introduced dvtring
this reign. Of these, 288 are enumerated in the first edition of
Gerard's Herbal, published 1557. Drake's voyage round the
world, Raleigh's discoveries in North America, and the con-
sequent introduction of the tobacco and potato, took place
during this reign.
Jatnes I. 1603 to 1625. Only 20 plants introduced during
this period.
Charles I. 1625 to 1649. 331 plants introduced, which are
chiefly mentioned by Parkinson, the first edition of whose
work was published in 16'i9. Parkinson was the king's herbalist,
and Tradescant'hii kitchen-gardener. A taste for plants began
to appear among the higher classes during this reign ; various
private gentlemen had botanic gardens; and several London
merchants ptocured seeds jmd plants for Lobel, Johnston, and
Parkinson, through their foreign correspondents.
O. and II. Cromwell. 1649 to 1658. 95 plants introduced by
the same means as before. Cromwell encouraged agriculture ;
but the part he acted left no leisure for any description of
elegant or refined enjoyment.
Cliarles II. 1660 to 1685. 152 plants introduced chiefly
mentioned by Ray, Morrison, and different writers in the
Transactions of the Royal Sucietif, founded in 1663. The
Orford and Chelsea gardens were founded, or enlarged, during
this reign. Sir Hans Sloane and Evelyn flourished. Many
native plants were now brought into notice by Ray and Wil-
loughby.
James II. 1685 to 1688. 44 plants introduced.
William and Mary. 1688 to 1702. 298 species introduced,
chiefly from the West Indies, and through Sir Hans Sloane
and the Chelsea garden. Plukenet succeeded Parkinson as
royal herbalist during this reign; and botanists were sent
ftom England, for the first time, to explore foreign countries.
As in the two former reigns great additions were now made
to the indigenous Flora, by Ray, Sibbald, Johnson, and
others. Many of the 50 species annually presented to the
Royal Society were natives.
Anne. 1702 to 1714. 230 plants, in great part from the
East and West Indies, and through the Chelsea garden.
George I. 1714 to 1727.
Chelsea garden.
Georf^e II. 1727 to 1760. 1770 planU, almost entirely
through the Chelsea garden, now in its zenith of fame under
Miller. 375 of these plants are stated as introduced in 17.30
and 1731, the latter being the year in which the first folio
edition of the Gardeners' and Botanists' Dictionary appeared.
239 in 1739, in which year the 4th edition of the same woik
appeared. 196 in 1752, and above 400 in 1758 and 1759,
when subsequent editions were published. In the last, in
1763, the number of plants cultivated in England is stated to
be more than double the number contained in the edition of
1731.
Georf^e III. 1760 to 1817. 6756 plants introduced, or con-
siderably above half the number of exotics now in the trardens
of this country. This is to be accounted for from the general
progress of civilisation, and the great extension of British
power and influence in every quarter of the world; esi)ecia;iy
in the East Indies, at the Cape of Good Hope, and New
South Wales. The increasing liberality of int. rcourse which
now obtained among the learned of all countries, must
also be taken into account, by which, notwithstanding the
existence of political differences, peace reigned and commerce
flourished in the world of science. George III. ma> also be
said to have encouraged botany, aided by the advice, assistance,
and unwearied efforts of that distinguished patron of science.
Sir Joseph Banks ; and the garden of Kew, and its late curator,
Aiton, became the Chelsea garden and the Miller of this reign.
Most of the new plants were sent there, and first described in
the Hilrlus Kervt^nsis. The next greatest numbers were pro-
cured by the activity of the London nurserymen, especially
Lee, and Loddiges, and described in the Botanical Maf^azine
Andrew's Heatliery ; the Botanical Register ; Loddiges" Cabinet,
and other works. The greatest number of plants introduced in
any one year, during this period, is 3,36 in 1800, chiefly heaths
and proteas from the Cape of Good Hope, taken from the
Dutch in 1795. The following eire tlie numbers annually in-
troduced since that period : —
1801.
- 116
1805.
• 169
1809.
- 48
1813.
- 42
1802.
- 169
1806.
. 224
1810.
- 68
1814.
- 44
1S0.3.
- 267
1807.
- 61
1811.
- 149
1815.
- 192
1804.
- 299
1808.
- 62
1812.
- 316
1816.
- 301
Annual Average of 17 years, ending 1816, 156 species.
1807. With respect to the obvious character of the artificial Flora, 350 species are hardy
trees or shrubs ; of these 270 are trees above 10, and 100 trees above 30 feet, high. Of
these, the larch, spruce fir, silver fir, and Lombardy poplar sometimes attain the height
of 100 feet. Above 400 species are hardy grasses. Of the tender exotics, the majority
are trees or shrubs, and the next in number annuals and bulbs. The colours of the
blossoms are generally rich and vivid in proportion to the warmth of the climate of
which the plants are natives.
1 808. Purchasable British Flora. The whole of the plants enumerated as forming the
British Flora, are probably not at any one time all in existence in Britain. Many of them,
especially the exotic species which were introduced at Kew, have been lost there through
accidents or diseases, and are wanting for a time till new seeds or plants are obtained from
abroad. Had they been distributed among the nurserymen, they would have been
abundantly multiplied and spread over the country. Casualties happen even to hardy
plants, and a species which at one time is to be found in moderate quantities in the nur-
series is at another period comparatively scarce. Thus, if we reduce the actual number
of species to be found in cultivation at one time to from 9000 to 10,000, it will be found
nearer the truth. In the public nurseries, varieties are very much cultivated, in order,
as it were, to place the beauties of esteemed species in different points of view ; or to
produce in vegetables something analogous to what are called variations in musical com-
positions. The following may be considered as a popular or horticultural distribution
of the species and varieties obtainable from British nurseries. It is taken from a cata-
logue entitled Prodromus, &c. ; or Forerunner of the collection in Page's Southampton
nursery-garden, said to be drawn up by L. Kennedy (late of the Hammersmith nursery),
and published in 1818.
1809. Hardy Plants.
Trees above 30 feet high
Trees under 30 and above 10
feet high
Deciduous shrubs
Roses, double and single
Evergreen shrubs
Sp.i
i
tVar.
100
200
500
330
400
Hardy climbing shrubs
Herbaceous plants
Grasses introduced in botani
collations
Bulbous-rooted plants
Aquatics . . . -
Marsh plants
Biennials
1810. Green-house and Dry-stooe plants.
Trees and Shrubs
Heaths
Geraniums
Proteas
Sp.&Var.
- 1450
400
150
120
Climbers
Succulents
JMesymbryanthemums
Bulbous-rooted plants
Sp.&Var. Sp.&Var.
90 Herbaceous and stemless plants 340
170
160 Total 3180
A
Book I.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE BRITISH FLORA.
277
1811. Hot-house Plants.
Trees and shrubs
Climbers
Succulent plants
Bulbous-roottd plants
Herbaceous
Sp.atVar.
850
150
- 130
Aquatics
Reed; or scitamineous
1812. Annuals, native and exotic.
Sp.&Var.
300 Used in agriculture exclusive of grztsses
Sp.&Var.
25
55
Sp-ifeVar.
Hardy ....
Half hardy
Tender - - - - . lOU lotalSiJO
Esculent - - - - 200
Total. Hardy, 4580; green-house and dry-stove, 3180; hot-house, 1463; annuals,
820; total, 10,043; of these, above 3000 may be considered as varieties, so that the
actual Hortus procurable in British nurseries may be estimated, as to the British Hortus
of books, as 7 to 12, or including the cryptogamous plants, as 8 to 12.
1813. With respect to the application of the purchasable Flora of Britain, including
species and varieties, w^e submit the following as only a rude outline, the subject not
admitting of perfect accuracy from the ever-changing number of varieties.
1814. Varieties of Fruit-trees, and Fruit-bearing Plants, for Sale in British Nurseries.
Sp. & Var.
Sp.&Var.
Sp.&V'ar
Apples -
. 600
Apricots
30
Cranberry
Pears
400
Plums -
.
. 150
Mulberries - - 2
Medlars -
2
Cherries
.
- 100
Filberts - - 6
Quinces
Services
2
4
Grapes -
Figs
150
30
Walnuts
Chestnuts - - - 3
Oranges and Lemons
60
Gooseberries
.
. 200
Melons - - - 15
Peaches
- 100
Currants
4
Pine-apples - - - 20
Nectarines
50
Raspberries
.
10
Almonds
6
-
40
Total in ordinary nursery catalogues 1906
1815. Esculent Herbaceous Plants, annuals and
perennials, used in Horticulture.
Sp. Var.
Sp. Var.
11 16
Sp.Var.
Cabbage tribe
• . 1 35
Pot herbs and gamishings
Edible wild plants which! -, -,
may be used - - j 31 31
Edible fungi - - 3 3
Leguminous plants
3 59
Sweet htrbs
12 20
Esculent roots
10 45
Plants used in confectionary 1
14 18
Spinaceous plants
AlUaceous plants -
Asparaginous plants
6 10
and domestic medicine J
Ediilefiici - - 8 8
7 18
11 18
Plants used as preserves and 1
pickles - i
12 26
Total 154 337
Acetaceous planU
25 40
1816. Florists'
Flowers, used in Floriculture.
Sp.&Var.
Sp.&Var.
Sp.&Var.
Bulbous.rooted Plmttt
Colchicums
10
Tiiherom-rooted Plants.
Hyacintlis
200
Other sorts
100
Dahlias - - 400
Tuli,«
300
Fibrous-rooted PlanU
Paeonies - - - 20
Crocuses
100
Auriculas
200
Ranunculuses - - 300
Narcissus
200
Polyanthuses
100
Anemones - - - 200
Irises
60
Primroses
.
20
FritiUaries
20
Cowslips -
10
Total 2666
Crown-imperials
20
Pinks -
200
Dens canis
6
Carnations
-
300
1817. Hardy
Timber-trees and Shrubs,
used
m Arboriculture, Floriculture, and
Landscape-gardening.
Sp.&Var.
Sp.&Var.
Trees planted for timber
- 100
Shrubs
Janted for
irewood, &c
various uses, as fuel, charcoal,"! go
20
barkj
Trees planted for ornament
180
Hedge-plants
- 10
Total 330
1818. Agricultural Herbaceous Plants, grown for Food for Men and Cattle, and for
use in various Arts.
Grains for human food
Legummous seeds
Roots
Herbage plants, not grasses • - - 9
Herbage grasses, and grasses for grains for the infe-1 90
nor animals - - - - J
Plants used for furnishing oils and essences • 5
■Sp.Var.
4 20
4 10
6 20
9 15
Plants used for dyeing
PlanU used for the clothing arts
Sea plants used
Mosses used in dyeing
Mosses used for various purposes in the arts
1819. Miscellaneous applications of Hardy Perennials, native and exotic.
Used for distillation and perfumery
Sp.Var.
\ 2
2 2
6 6
1 1
6 6
Sp.&Var.
Sp.&Var,
Border-flowers, or such as are used in flower-gar-'J jqj-
dens and shrubberies, in ordinary cases about J
Used in the modern pharmacopoeias - - 50 Total 870
Sold by herbalists, and used by quacks and irregu-l ^o
lar practitioners - - - i
1820. Application of curious hot-house exotics, or suc/^^ plants of ornament as require the
protection of glass. Of these there are in ordinary green-houses seldom more than 100
species and varieties, and not more than half that number in most of our plant-stoves.
The remainder of this class are confined to the public and private botanic gardens, and
to eminent public nurseries. Many of this division are of great importance in their na-
tive countries, as the indigo, sugar-cane, tea-tree, cinnamon, &c. ; the mango, durion,
and other excellent fruits ; the palms, bamboos, &c. Even some, here treated as entirely
ornamental, afford useful products in their own countries ; as the camellia, sun-flower,
&c., from the seeds of which oils are expressed in China and America. The cultivation
T 3
278 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
or preservation of living specimens of these plants, therefore, in our green-houses and
stoves, is an entertainment at once rational and useful ; as many species at length become
acclimated, and some even naturalised ; and uses may in time be discovered for such as
are now merely looked on as objects of curiosity. But that they contribute to elegant
enjoyment, it is quite enough to justify much more than all the care that is taken to ob-
tain and preserve them ; for w^hat is life w^hen it does not exceed mere obedience to the
animal instincts?
1821. With respect to the native habitations of the exotic part of the British Hortus,
little can be advanced with certainty. In general it would appear that moist and mo-
derately warm climates, and irregular surfaces, are most prolific in species ; and, judging
of the whole world from Europe, we should venture to consider half the species of plants
in existence as growing in soft and rather moist grounds, whether low or elevated. The
soil of surfaces constantly moist, or inclining to be moist, whether watered from the at-
mosphere or from subterraneous sources, is generally found to be minutely divided, and
of a black vegetable or peaty nature. Immense tracts in Russia and America are of
this description, and, even when dry, resist evaporation better than any other. In such
soils, the roots of plants are generally small and finely divided, as those of the heaths,
most bog plants, and nearly all the American shrubs. The next sort of habitation most
prolific in species, appears to us to be arenaceous soils in temperate climates, and in pro-
portion to their moisture. Here the roots of plants are also small, but less so than in
soils of the former description. On rocky and calcareous soils the roots of plants are
generally strong and woody, or at least long and penetrating. In clayey habitations,
exclusive of the alluvial deposits of rivers, few plants are found, and these generally
grasses, strong fibrous-rooted herbaceous plants, or tap-rooted trees. Such at least is
the amount of our generalisations ; but as our observation has been limited to Europe,
and does not even extend to the whole of it, those who have visited Africa and Asia are
much more capable of illustrating the subject. One conclusion, we think, the cultivator
is fully entitled to draw, that the greater number of plants, native or foreign, will thrive
best in light soil, such as a mixture of soft, black, vegetable mould or peat and fine sand
kept moderately moist ; and that on receiving unknown plants or seeds, of the native
sites of which he is ignorant, he will err on the safe side by placing them in such soils
rather than in any other ; avoiding, most of all, clayey and highly manured soils, as only
fit for certain kinds of plants constitutionally robust, or suited to become monstrous by
culture.
1822. The Hortus Briiannicus of 1829 contains nearly 30,000 species and varieties,
and the Purchasable Flora of Britain of the same year, contains at least 1000 species and
varieties, more than it did in the year 1818 when the above estimate was formed; but
the relative proportions of the distribution cannot be materially different now from what
they were then, for which reason we have not deemed it requisite to go a second time
through the labour of enumeration, for the sake of a result which is by no means essential
to a work like the present.
Chap. VII.
Origin and Principles of Culture, as derived froyn the Stiidi/ of Vegetables.
1823. The final object of all the sciences is their apj)lication to purposes subservieiit to
the wants and desires of men. The study of the vegetable kingdom is one of the most
important in this point of view, as directly subservient to the arts which supply food,
clothing, and medicine ; and indirectly to those which supply houses, machines for con-
veying us by land or by water, and in short almost every comfort and luxury. Without
the aid of the vegetable kingdom, few mineral bodies would be employed in the arts,
and the great majority of animals, whether used by man as labourers, or as food, could
not live.
1824. Agriculture and gardening Bxe the two axt^ which, embrace the whole business
of cultivating vegetables, to whatever purpose they are applied by civilised man.
Their fundamental principles, as arts of culture, are the same ; they are for the most
part suggested by nature, and explained by vegetable chemistry and physiology
(Chap. III. and IV.); and most of them have been put in praclice by man for
an unknown length of time, without much reference to principles. All that is neces-
saiy, therefore, for effecting this branch of culture, is to imitate the habitation, and to
propagate. This is, or ought to be, the case, wherever plants are grown for medical or
botanical purposes, as in herb and botanic gardens. Nature is here imitated as exactly
as possible, and the results are productions resembling, as nearly as possible, those of
nature.
Book I. PRINCIPLES OF VEGETABLE CULTURE. 279
1825. To increase the number and improve the nutritive qualities of plants, it is neces-
sary to facilitate their mode of nutrition, by removing all obstacles to the progress of the
plant. These obstacles may either exist under or above the surface ; and hence the ori-
gin of draining, clearing from surface incumbrances, and the various operations, as digging,
ploughing, &c., for pulverising the soil. Nature suggests this in accidental ruptures of
the surface, broken banks, the alluvial deposits from overflowing rivers, and the earth
tlirown up by underground animals. Many of the vegetables within the influence of
such accidents are destroyed, but such as remain are ameliorated in quality, and the
reason is, their food is increased, because their roots being enabled to take a more
extensive range, more is brought within their reach.
1 826. It is necessary, or at least advantageous, to supply food artificially ,- and hence
the origin of manuring. All organised matters are capable of being converted into the
food of plants ; but the best manure for ameliorating the quality, and yet retaining the
peculiar chemical properties of plants, must necessarily be decayed plants of their own
species. It is true that plants do not differ greatly in their primary principles, and that
a supply of any description of putrescent manure will cause all plants to thrive ; but
some plants, as wheat, contain peculiar substances (as gluten and phosphate of lime),
and some manures, as those of animals, or decayed wheat, containing the same substances,
must necessarily be a better food or manure for such plants. Manuring is an obvious
imitation of nature, everywhere observable in the decaying herbage of herbaceous plants,
or the fallen leaves of trees, rotting into dust or vegetable mould about their roots j and
in the effect of the dung left by pasturing or other animals.
1 827. Amelioration of climate by increasing or diminishing its temperature, according
to the nature of the plant, is farther advantageous in improving the qualities of vegetables ;
unless, indeed, the plant is situated in a climate which experience and observation show
to be exactly suited to its nature. Hence the origin of shelter and shade, by means of
walls, hedges, or strips of plantation ; of sloping surfaces or banks, to receive more di-
rectly or indirectly the rays of the sun ; of rows, drills, and ridges, placed north and
south in preference to east and west, in order that the sun may shine on both sides of the
row, drill, or ridge, or on the soil between rows and drills every day in the year ; of
soils better calculated to absorb and retain heat ; of walls fully exposed to the south, or
to the north ; of training or spreading out the branches of trees on these walls ; of hot-
walls ; of hot-beds ; and, finally, of all the varieties of hot-houses. Nature suggests this
part of culture, by presenting, in every country, different degrees of shelter, shade, and
surface, and in every zone different climates.
1828. The regulation of moisture is the next point demanding attention. When the
soil is pulverised, it is more easily penetrated both by air and water ; when an increase
of food is supplied, the medium through which that food is taken up by the plant should
be increased; and when the temperature is increased, evaporation becomes greater.
Hence the origin of watering by surface or subteiTaneous irrigation, manual supplies to
the root, showering over the leaves, steaming the surrounding atmosphere, &c. This
is only to imitate the dews and showers, streams and floods of nature ; and it is to be
regretted that the imitation is in most countries attended with so much labour, and re-
quires so much nicety in the arrangement of the means, and judgment in the application
of the water, that it is but very partially applied by man in every part of the world,
except perhaps in a small district of Italy. But moisture may be excessive ; and on
certain soils at certains seasons, and on certain productions at particular periods of their
progress, it may be necessary to carry off a great part of the natural moisture, rather
than let it sink into the earth, or to draw it off where it has sunk in and injuriously
accumulated, or to prevent its falling on the crop at all. Hence the origin of surface-
drainage by ridges, and of under-draining by covered conduits or gutters ; and of awn-
ings and other coverings to keep off the rain or dews from ripe fruits, seeds, or rare
flowers.
1829. The regulation of light is the remaining point. Light sometimes requires to
be increased and sometimes to be excluded, in order to improve the qualities of vege-
tables ; and hence the origin of thinning the leaves which overshadow fruits and flowers,
the practice of shading cuttings, seeds, &c., and the practice of blanching. The latter
practice is derived from accidents observable among vegetables in a wild state, and its
influence on their quality is physiologically accounted for by the obstruction of per-
spiration, and the prevention of the chemical changes effected by light on the epidermis.
1830. Increase in the magnitude of vegetables, without reference to their quality, is to
be obtained by an increased supply of all the ingredients of food, distributed in such a
body of well pulverised soil as the roots can reach to ; by additional heat and moisture ; and
by a partial exclusion of the direct rays of the sun, so as to moderate perspiration, and
of wind, so as to prevent sudden desiccation. But experience alone can determine what
plants are best suited for this, and to what extent the practice can be carried. Nature
gives the hint in the occasional luxuriance of plants accidentally placed in favourable
T 4
280 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
circumstances ; man adopts it, and, improving on it, produces cabbages and turnips of
half a cwt., apples of one pound and a half, and cabbage-roses of four inches in diameter ;
productions which may in some respects be considered as diseased.
1 83 1. To increase the 7iumber, improve the quality, and increase the magnitude of par-
ticular parts of vegetables. It is necessary, in this case, to remove such parts of the
vegetable as are not wanted, as the blooms of bulbous or tuberous-rooted plants, when
the bulbs are to be increased, and the contrary ; the water-shoots and leaf-buds of fruit-
trees ; the flower-stems of tobacco ; the male flowers and barren runners of the Cucumis
tribe, &c. Hence the important operations of pruning, ringing, cutting off large roots,
and other practices for improving fruits and throwing trees into a bearing state. At
first sight these practices do not appear to be copied from nature ; but, independently of
accidents by fire, already mentioned, which both prune and manure, and of fruit-bearing
trees, say thorns or oaks, which, when partially blown out by the roots, or washed out
of the soil by torrents, always bear better afterwards, why may not the necessity that man
was under, in a primitive state of society, of cutting or breaking off branches of trees, to
form huts, fences, or fires, and the consequently vigorous shoots produced from the parts
where the amputation took place, or the larger fruit on that part of the tree which re-
mained, have given the first idea of pruning, cutting off roots, &c. ? It may be said that
this is not nature but art ; but man, though an improving animal, is still in a state of
nature, and all his practices, in every stage of civilisation, are as natural to him as those
of the other animals are to them. Cottages and palaces are as much natural objects as
the nests of birds, or the burrows of quadrupeds ; and the laws and institutions by which
social man is guided in his morals and politics, are not more artificial than the instinct
which congregates sheep and cattle in flocks and herds, and guides them in their choice
of pasturage and shelter. It is true that the usual acceptation of the words nature and
art scarcely justifies this application of them ; but we are viewing the subject in its most
extensive light.
1832. To form neio varieties of vegetables, as well as of flowers and useful plants of
every description, it is necessary to take advantage of their sexual differences, and to
operate in a manner analogous to crossing the breed in animals. Hence the origin of
new sorts of fruits, grains, legumes, and roots. Even this practice is but an imitation of
what takes place in nature by the agency of bees and other insects, and of the wind ; all
the difference is, that man operates with a particular end in view, and selects individuals
possessing the particular properties which he wishes to perpetuate or improve. New
varieties, or rather subvarieties, are formed by altering the habits of plants ; by dwarfing
tlirough want of nourishment ; variegating by arenaceous soils ; giving or rather con
tinning peculiar habits when formed by nature, as in propagating from monstrosities, for
instance, fasciculi of shoots, weeping shoots, shoots with peculiar leaves, flowers, fruit, &c.
1 833. To propagate and preserve from degeneracy approved varieties of vegetables, it
is in general necessary to have recourse to the different modes of propagating by exten-
sion. ° Thus choice apples and other tree fruits could not be perpetuated by sowing their
seeds, which experience has shown would produce progeny more or less different from
the parent, but they are preserved and multiplied by grafting ; pine-apples are propagated
by cuttings or suckers, choice carnations by layers, potatoes by cuttings of the tubers, &c.
But approved varieties of annuals are in general multiplied and preserved by selecting
seeds from the finest specimens and paying particular attention to supply suitable cul-
ture. Approved varieties of corns and legumes, no less than of other annual plants,
such as garden flowers, can only be with certainty preserved by propagating by cuttings
or layers, which is an absolute prolongation of the individual ; but as this would be too
tedious and laborious for the general purposes both of agriculture and gardening, all
that can be done is to select seeds from the best specimens. This part of culture is the
farthest removed from nature; yet there are, notwithstanding, examples of the fortuitous
graft ; of accidental layers ; and of natural cuttings, as when leaves, or detached por-
tions, of plants (as of the Cardamine hirsuta) drop and take root.
1 834. The preservation of vegetables for future use is effected by destroying or render-
ing dormant the principle of life, and by warding off, as far as practicable, the progress
of^'chemical decomposition. When vegetables or fruits are gathered for use or pre-
servation, the air of the atmosphere which surrounds them is continually depriving them
of carbon, and forming the carbonic acid gas. The water they contain, by its softening
<jualities, weakens the aflSnity of their elements ; and heat produces the same effect by
dilating their parts, and promoting the decomposing effect both of air and water.
Hencet drying in the sun or in ovens, is one of the most obvious modes of preserving
vegetables for food, or for other economic purposes ; but not for growth, if the drymg
processes are carried so far as to destroy the principle of life in seeds, roots, or sections
of the shoots of ligneous plants. Potatoes, turnips, and other esculent roots, may be
preserved from autumn till the following summer, by drying them in the sun, and
burying them in perfectly drv soil, which shall be at the same time at a temperature but
Book II. STUDY OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 281
a few degrees above the freezing point. Corn may be preserved for many years, by first
drying it thoroughly in the sun, and then burying it in dry cool pits, and closing these
so as effectually to exclude the atmospheric air. In a short time the air within is
changed to carbonic acid gas, in which no animal will live, and in which, without an
addition of oxygen or atnaospheric air, no plant or seed will vegetate. The corn is thus
preserved from decomposition, from insects, from vermin, and from vegetation, in a far
more effectual manner than it could be in a granary. In this way the Rom.ans preserved
their corn in chambers hewn out of dry rock ; the Moors, in the sides of hills ; the Chi-
nese, at the present time, in deep pits, in dry soil ; and the aboriginal nations of Africa,
as we have seen (1136.), in earthen vessels hermetically sealed. (Laste^rie des Fosses
propres a la Conservation des Graines. Chaptal Chimie applique a V Agriculture, torn. ii.
ch. 10.) These practices are all obvious imitations of what accidentally takes place in
nature, from the withered grassy tressock to the hedgehog's winter store ; and hence the
origin of herb, seed, fruit, and root rooms and cellars, and of packing plants and seeds
for sending to a distance.
1835. 21ie whole art of vegetable culture is but a varied developement of tlie above
fundamental practices, all founded in nature, and for the most part rationally and satis-
factorily explained on chemical and physiological principles. Hence the great necessity
of the study of botany to the cultivator, not in the limited sense in which the term is
often taken, as including mere nomenclature and classification, but in that extended
signification in which we have here endeavoured, proportionately to our limited space,
to present the study of the vegetable kingdom. Those who would enter more minutely
into the subject will have recourse to the excellent work of Keith, from whom we have
quoted at such length ; to Sir J. E. Smith's Introduction ; and to the familiar introduc-
tions to the Linnean and Jussieuean systems of botany in the Magazine of Natural
History, vols. i. and ii.
BOOK II.
OF THE STUDY OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM WITH REFERENCE TO AGRICULTURE.
1 836. Organised matter is of two lands, animal and vegetable. Yet however obvious
the difference between them may appear, it is, in point of fact, extremely difficult to state
in what this difference consists. The power of locomotion, enjoyed by the more perfect
animals, would seem at first an admirable distinction ; but there are multitudes of others
as completely destitute of this power as plants. If we descend in the scale of animal
life, we find beings formed like vegetables, and externally distinguished from them only
by their voluntary motion. Yet even this, as an exclusive distinction, will not avail usj
because there are very many plants (as the Dionce'^a 7>iuscipula, several species of Mimosa,
and some few of CAssia) which are well known to be highly irritable. Macleay, who
has discussed this question with great ability, concludes by remarking " that animals are
to be distinguished from vegetables by the existence of an absorbent intestinal cavity, and
of a nervous system; but that both these marks become indistinct in those animals, which,
from the simplicity of their structure, approach nearest to the vegetable nature." (^Hor.
Ent.)
1837. A partial knowledge of animals is essential to the agriculturist ; as they have fre-
quently a much greater influence over his operations than the most consummate skill, or
the most prudent management. This knowledge should be both scientific and practical.
Without the first, he cannot communicate to others the established name of any known
animal, or an accurate account of any that may be unknown. While, without the second,
he will be ignorant of those habits and properties which render animals either hurtful or
beneficial to man. In proof of the importance of this knowledge, the following anecdote
deserves attention : — In 1 788, great alarm was excited in this country by the probability
of importing in wheat from North America the insect called the Hessian fly, whose
dreadful ravages had spread desolation and almost famine over that country during the
two preceding years. The privy council sat day after day anxiously debating what
measures should be adopted to ward off a danger, more to be dreaded, as they well
knew, than the plague or pestilence. Expresses were sent off in all directions to the
officers of the customs at the different out-ports respecting the examination of cargoes.
Despatches were sent to the ambassadors in France, Austria, Prussia, and America,
to gain that information which only a scientific knowledge of the insect could supply :
and so important was the business deemed, that, according to Young, the minutes of
282 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
council, and the documents collected, fill upwards of two hundred octavo pages. For-
tunately, England contained one illustrious naturalist, whose attention had long been
directed to all subjects which connects natural history with agriculture, and to whom the
privy council had the wisdom to apply. It was by Sir Joseph Banks's entomological
knowledge, and through his suggestions, that they were at length enabled to form some
kind of judgment on the subject. This judgment was after all, however, very imperfect.
Sir Joseph Banks had never seen the Hessian fly, nor was it described in any entomolo-
gical system. He called for facts respecting its nature, propagation, and economy, which
could be had only in America. These were obtained as speedily as possible, and con-
sisted of numerous letters from individuals ; essays from magazines ; the reports of the
British minister there, &c. One would have supposed that from these statements, many
of them drawn up by farmers who had lost entire crops by the insect, which they pro-
fessed to have examined in every stage, the requisite information might have been
obtained. So far, however, was this from being the case, that many of the writers seem
ignorant whether the insect be a moth, a fly, or what they term a bug ! And though,
from the concurrent testimony of several, its being a two- winged fly seemed pretty accu-
rately ascertained, no intelligent description is given from which any naturalist can infer
to what genus it belongs, or whether it is a known species. With regard to the history
of its propagation and economy, the statements are so various and contradictory, that,
though he had such a mass of materials before him, Sir Joseph Banks was unable to
form any satisfactory conclusion. {Young's Ann. of Agriculture, xi. 406. Kirby and
Spence, i. 51.)
1838. An acquaintance ivilh the domesticated and indigenous animals alone of Britain
is essential to the agriculturist, and even of the latter the terrestrial proportion only will
come under his notice. A knowledge of the names by which the wild species are
universally known is all that he need study in the classification of quadrupeds and birds,
and these may be acquired from the British Zoology of Pennant ; the quadrupeds and
birds of Bewick, or the British Fauna of Dr. Turton. A British Fauna has been
published by Dr. Fleming, which supplies, in a great measure, the deficiencies of the
before-mentioned works. A more perfect acquaintance, however, with insects is essen-
tially necessary, because their influence, in one shape or other, is constantly apparent in
the avocations of the husbandman. The cheapest and most comprehensive work on
British insects is Samouelle's Entomologist'' s useful Compendium, in which the elements
of the science are explained, and a large proportion of our native insects enumerated.
But no work on zoology, as it affects agriculture or gardening, has yet appeared.
Those who wish to enter deeper into this science, and understand the present state of the
« Philosophy of Zoology," will find the discoveries of the celebrated Cuvier, and other
modern naturalists, concentrated and digested with much ability by Dr. Fleming, in a
work bearing the above title. From these sources we have extracted the principal part
of the following chapters, which relate to Animal Anatomy, Chemistry, Physiology,
Pathology, Uses, and Artificial Improvement.
Chap. I.
Systematic Zoology, S[c.
1839. The technical terms in zoology are much more numerous than those in botany,
because there are an infinitely greater variety of forms in ammals than in plants. Those
made use of in the veterinary art are most important to the agriculturist, and these terms
are usually prefixed to treatises on that subject.
1840. In describing animals, naturalists select those characters for distinguishing the
species which are external : but the sexes of the vertebrated animals can only be ascer-
tained by an internal examination of the reproductive organs. The higher divisions, or
those which constitute classes, orders, families, and (in some cases) genera, depend more
or less on internal structure.
1841. The best descriptions are often insufficient: accurate drawings or preserved spe-
cimens should therefore be kept to verify the first examination, or to perpetuate pecu-
liarities that may have escaped^ previous notice. When the agriculturist requires
information from others on any particular insect detrimental to his crops, a simple
description of the object is not sufficient. This indeed may lead to a knowledge of the
species, but not to the means by which the evil is to be checked. He should carefully
note down the time, the manner, and the situation in which the insect first makes its
appearance, the period which it remains in the larva or grub state, in what way it changes
to the perfect insect, whether above or beneath the ground, and, lastly, in what situations
the female deposits her eggs ; two or three specimens of the insect, in its various stages.
Book II. ANIMAL ANATOMY. 283
sliould likewise be preserved in spirits ; and this, from the small size of these beings, can
be done with facility, and will supersede the necessity of any laboured description of the
objects themselves. With such materials, he will find a most important advantage in
submitting his doubts and queries to some one of the societies in London, whose object
is more particularly the investigation of such matters. The Zoological Club of the Lin-
naean Society is composed of the most eminent naturalists in the kingdom ; and their
labours promise to effect much in this department of rural economy. Specimens, &c.
may be sent to the secretary, N. A. Vigors, Esq., Soho Square, London; or they may
be sent to the same gentleman, as secretary of the Zoological Society, Bruton Street,
London.
1842. The classification of animals, until the discoveries of the French philosophers,
was long regulated by their external characters alone ; from this resulted all the artificial
systems of the last century. A more intimate acquaintance with nature has convinced
naturalists of the present day, that it is only by considering the structure of animals, both
internal and external, with reference to their modes of life, that the natural system can ever
hope to be discovered. The brilliant anatomical and physiological discoveries of Cuvier,
Lamark, Latreille, and others, in France, have laid the foundation of this system ; but it
was reserved for our own countryman, Macleay, to generalise their details, and combine
these valuable materials into a whole. By a new and most extraordinary mode of
investigation, this gifted writer has proved the existence of five primary divisions in the
animal world, corresponding to the same number in the vegetable : while, through the
doctrine of affinity and analogy, the apparently contradictory opinions of LinuEeus, with
those of others who succeeded him, are in many instances reconciled and explained.
{Hor. Ent. Trans, of Linn. Society, 14, p. 46.)
Chap. II.
Animal Anatomy.
1843. The leading organs of animal structure may be conveniently arranged as
external and internal.
Sect. I. External Anatomy of Animals.
1844. All animals agree in possessing an exterior covering, or skin, to modify their
surface, regulate their form, and protect them from the action of surrounding elements.
In the more perfect animals, this organ consists of the following parts : the cuticle, the
corpus mucosum, the corium, the panniculus, and the cellular web.
1845. The cuticle is destitute of blood-vessels, nerves, and fibres, and usually consists of a thin transparent
membrane possessing little tenacity. In those animals which live on the land, it is more rigid in its
texture, and more scaly and dry on its surface, than in those which reside in the water. In aquatic
animals, it is in general smooth, often pliable ; and, in many cases, its texture is so soft and delicate, that
it appears like mucus. It assumes, likewise, other appearances, such as scales, nails, shells and plates,
which deserve the attentive consideration of the naturalist, as furnishing him with important characters
for the arrangement of animals.
1846. The mucous web occurs immediately underneath the cuticle, from which, in general, it may be
easily disjoined ; but it is often so closely attached to the true skin below, as not to be separated even by
maceration in water.
1847. The corium {cutis vera), or true skin, lies immediately underneath the cuticle or mucous web. It
is usually destitute of colour. It consists in some animals, as quadrupeds, of solid fibres, which cross one
another in every possible direction, and form a substance capable of considerable extensibility and elasti-
city. It is more obviously organised than the two membranes by which it is covered. Blood-vessels and
nerves penetrate its substance, and may be observed forming a very delicate network on its surface.
1848. The muscular web varies greatly in its appearance according to the motions which the skin and its
appendices are destined to perform. It consists of a layer of muscles, the extremities of whose fibres are
inserted into the corium externally, and adhere to the body internally in various directions. This layer is
very obvious in the hedgehog and the porcupine, to assist in rolling up the body and moving the spines;
and, in birds, to effect the erection of their feathers. In man it can scarcely be said to exist, except in the
upper parts, where cutaneous muscles may be observed, destined for moving the skin of the face, cheeks,
and head. In the skin of the frog, the only cutaneous muscles which can be observed are seated under
the throat ; the skin on the other parts of the body being loose and unconnected with the parts beneath.
The use of this layer of the integument is to corrugate the skin, and elevate the hairs, feathers or spines
with which it is furnished.
1849. The cellular web forms the innermost layer of the common integuments, and rests immediately
on the flesh of the body. It consists of plate* crossing one another in diflf'erent directions, and forming a
cellular membrane, varying in its thickness, tenacity, and contents, according to the species. In frogs it
does not exist, '^e cells of this membrane are filled with various substances, according to the nature of
the animal. In general they contain fat, as in quadrupeds and birds. In some of these the layer is
interrupted, as in the ruminating animals, while it is continuous in others, as the boar and the whale.
In birds, while a part of this web is destined for the reception of fat, other portions are receptacles for air.
In the moon-fish the contained matter resembles albumen in its chemical characters.
1850. The appendices of the skin are hairs, feathers, horns, scales, shells, and crusts.
1851. Hairs differ remarkably not only in their structure, but likewise in their situation. In s6me cases
they appear to be merely filamentous prolongations of the cuticle, and subject to all its changes. This is
obviously the case with the hair which covers the bodies of many caterpillars, and which separates along
with the cuticle, when the animal is said to cast its skin. In true hair the root is in the form of a bulb,
taking its rise in a cellular web. Each bulb consists of two parts, an external, which is vascular, and
284 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
from which the hair probably derives its nourishment ; and an internal, which is membranous, and forms
a tube or sheath to the hair during its passage through the other layers of the skin. From this bulb, and
enveloped by this membrane, the hair passes through the corium, mucous web, and cuticle. It usually
raises up small scales of this last layer, which soon become dry and fall off, but do not form the external
covering of the hair, as some have supposed. The hair itself consists of an external horny covering, and
a central vascular part, termed medulla or pith. This horny covering consists of numerous filaments placed
laterally, to which different kinds of hair owe their striated appearance. These filaments appear of unequal
lengths, those nearest the centre being longest ; and, consequently, the hair assumes the form of an
elongated cone, with its base seated in the skin. This form gives to the hair that peculiar property on
which the operation oi felting depends. In consequence of this structure of the surface, if a hair is seized
at the middle between two fingers, and rubbed by them, the root will gradually recede, while the point of
the hair will approach the fingers ; in other words, the hair will exhibit a progressive motion in the
direction of the root, the imbricated surface preventing all motion in the opposite direction. It is owing
to this state of the surface of hairs, that woollen cloth, however soft and pliable, excites a disagreeable
sensation of the skin in those not accustomed to wear it. It likewise irritates sores by these asperities, and
excites inflammation. The surface of linen cloth, on the other hand, feels smooth, because the fibres of
which it consists possess none of those inequalities of surface by which hairs are characterised.
1852. If a quantity of wool be spread upon a table, covered with a woollen cloth, and pressed down in
different directions, it is obvious that each hair will begin to move in the direction of its root, as if it had
been rubbed between the fingers. The different hairs thus moving in every direction become interwoven
with each other, and unite in a continuous mass. This is the felt with which hats are made. Curled
hairs entwine themselves with one knother more closely than those which are straight, though flexible,
as they do not, like these, recede from the point of pressure in a straight line; and hence hatters employ
various methods to produce curl in the short fur of rabbits, hares, and moles, which they employ. This
is accomplished chielly by applying the solution of certain metallic salts to the fur by a brush ; so that,
when the hairs are dry, the surface which was moistened contracts more than the other, and produces
the requisite curve.
1853. It is owing to the asperities of the surface of hair that the spinning of wool is so difficult. This is
in a great measure removed, by besmearing it with oil, by which the inequalities are filled up, or, at least,
the asperities become less sensible. When the wool is made into cloth, it is necessary to remove the oil,
which is done by the process of fulling. The cloth is placed in a trough, with water and clay, and agitated
for some time. The oil is removed by the clay and water, while the agitation, acting like pressure, brings
the hairs into closer union, and the cloth is taken out, not only cleansed, but felted. The hairs of every
thread entwine themselves with those which are contiguous ; so that the cloth may be cut without being
subject to ravel. It is from this tendency to felt that woollen cloth and stockings increase in density, and
contract in dimensions, on being washed. In many places woollen stuffs are felted, on a small scale, by
placing them in running water, or under cascades ; and the Zetlanders expose them to the motions of
the tides, in narrow inlets of the sea.
1854. In general, there is a close connection between the colour of the hair and that of the mucous web.
This is displayed in those animals which are spotted, in which the colour of the skin is generally variegated
like that of the hair.
1855. Hairs differ remarkably inform. In general they are round. Frequently on
the body they are thickest in the middle. Sometimes they are flat, or two-edged ;
and, in the whiskers of seals, they are waved on the margins. In many animals they are
long and straight ; while, in others, they are crisped, and are then termed wool. When
stiff, they are termed bristles ; and, when inflexible, spines.
1 856. Hair grows by the roots. In some species it is renewed annually ; and in all
it is readily reproduced.
1857. Hair is the most permanent of all the substances consisting of animal matter,
resisting putrefaction for a great length of time.
1 858. Feathers are nearly related to hairs ; they consist of the quill, shaft, and web.
The quill, like the hair, takes its rise in the cellular membrane : the central portion of
the shaft has a texture like cork, and the web which usually occupies both sides of it is
composed of what are called barbes, and the sides of these with barbules. The colour of
feathers exhibits great difference : in some birds it varies with the seasons, in others with
food, and in others with the extinction of life. Like hairs, feathers are not only renewed
periodically, but they are readily reproduced if accidentally destroyed.
1859. Horns take their rise from the same situation as hairs or feathers. They may
be regarded as hairs agglutinated, and forming a hollow cone. The fibrous structure of
horn may be perceived in many animals at the base, where it unites with the skin. At
this part it receives the additions to its growth, the apex of the cone being pushed out in
proportion as the increase takes place at the root, and on the inner surface. But horns
differ remarkably from hair, in having their central cavity filled by a projection of bone
or other solid substance from the body beneath.
1860. The different markings of the horns, particularly the transverse ridges, are indications of the
different layers of growth ; and in many cases the number of these ridges corresponds with the years of
life. . ^
1861. The colour of the horn is, in general, distributed through the mass ; sometimes, however, it is
collected into bands or threads. It seldom experiences much change during the life of the animal. It is
permanent, or does not experience those periodical renovations which we have stated to take place with
hair and feathers. The deciduous horns of the stag are different in their nature from true horns, and
will be afterwards taken notice of. The term horn is usually restricted to the coverings of the projections
of the frontal bones of oxen, sheep, and similar quadrupeds ; but various appendices of the skin, composed
of the same materials, and equally permanent, although seated on other parts of the body, may with
propriety be included under the same appellation ; among these may be enumerated beaks, hoofs, claws,
nails, and spurs.
1862. Beaks. The substance of these covers the external surface of the maxillary
bones of birds, and is composed of horn.
1863. Hoofs resemble horns in their manner of growth, and in containing a central
Rupport, formed by the termination of the extreme bones of the feet. They grow from
Book II. ANIMAL ANATOMY. 285
the inner surface and base, and are thus fitted to supply the place of those parts which
are worn away by being exposed to friction against hard bodies. Hoofs are peculiar to
certain herbivorous quadrupeds.
1864. Claios resemble hoofs in structure and situation, deriving their origin from the
skin, having a bony centre, and occurring at the extremities of the fingers and toes.
1865. Nails differ from horns and claws, in the circumstance of not being tubular,
but consisting of a plate generally convex on the outer surface, and concave beneath.
1866. Spurs occur chiefly on what is termed the leg (tarsus) of gallinaceous birds.
They are found, likewise, on the ornithorynchus. Like horns, they are supported in
the centre by bone.
1867. Horns, hoofs, and similar parts, bear a close resemblance to one another in
chemical composition. When heated they soften, and may be easily bent or squeezed
into particular shapes. They consist of coagulated albumen, with a little gelatine ; and,
when incinerated, yield a little phosphate of lime.
1868. Tkeir use, in animal economy, is to protect the soft parts from being injured by pressure against
hard bodies. They are in general wanting, where the parts are in no danger of suffering from the influence
of such agents. When torn off from the base, they are seldom completely renewed, although very remarkable
exertions are frequently made by the system to repair the loss.
1869. Scales vary remarkably in their form, structure, mode of adliesion, and situation
in different animals. In general they are flat plates, variously marked. In some cases
each scale consists of several decreasing plates, the lowest of which is largest; so that the
upper surface becomes somewhat imbricated. Some scales adliere by the whole of their
central surface ; while others resemble the human nail, in having the outer extremity
free.
1870. Shells consist of layers of an earthy salt, with interposed membranes of animal
matter, resembling coagulated albumen. They grow by the addition of layers of new
matter to the edges and internal surface. When broken, the animal can cement the
edges and fill up the crack, or supply the deficiency when a portion is abstracted.
1871. The earthymatter of shells is lime, in union with carbonic acid. Phosphate of lime has likewise
been detected, but in small quantity. The colour is secreted from the animal, along with the matter of
the shell.
1872. Crusts are, in general, more brittle in their texture than shells. They exhibit
remarkable differences as to thickness and composition. They differ from shells chiefly
in containing a considerable portion of phosphate of lime, and in a greater subdivision of
parts. In some cases, however, as tlie crusts of the bodies of insects, the earthy matter
is almost absent, and they may be regarded as formed of cuticle alone. When they contain
much earthy matter, as in the crusts of lobsters, the epidermis may be detected as a cover,
and the corium l)eneath may be perceived as a very thin film. In many cases, these
crusts are renewed periodically ; and, in all, they are readily repaired. Crusts occur in
insects, the Crustacea, and the Echinod^rmata, or sea-urchins, and star-fish.
1873. These different appendices of the skin pass, by insensible degrees, into one another, as hair into
spines, horns into nails, scales into shells, and crusts into membranes. They have all one common origin,
namely, the skin j and independently of secondary purposes, they all serve for protection.
1 874. The secretions of the skin are of three kinds ; one class performing the office of
lubricating the skin, another of regulating the temperature of the body, and a third that
of carrying off* the superfluous carbon.
1875. Unctuous secretions are confined to animals which have warm blood, and the cells of the cellular
web filled with fat. Mammalia and birds.
1876. Viscous secretions. In the animals with cold blood, secretions are produced, by the skin, of
substances differing in quality from those of warm-blooded animals ; but destined to serve the same
puri)Oses, namely, to protect the skin from the action of the surrounding element.
1877. Sweat, in ordinary cases, exudes from the skin in a state of vapour ; and when
condensed consists of water with a small portion of acetic acid and common salt. This
secretion is considered as intended to regulate the degree of animal heat, and prevent its
accumulation beyond certain limits.
1878. Carbon is also emitted by the skin, and appears to be in effect a secondary kind of respiration, but
the discovery is but recent (See Ellis on the Germination of Seeds and Respiration of Animals, 1807 and
1811.)
1879. Absorption. There are several circumstances which prove that the skin of the
human body, in particular states, is capable of exerting an absorbing power. Whether
the absorption takes place by peculiar vessels, or by the exhaling vessels having their
motions reversed, or whether absorption ever takes place in the state of health, are
questions to which no satisfactory answer has been given.
Sect. II. Internal Anatomy of Animals.
1880. Animal anaiomy admits of three divisions, the osseous, the muscular, and the
nervous structure of animals.
286 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
SuBSECT. 1. Osseous Structure of Animals.
1881. The organs of external anatoiny are generally considered as destined for pro-
tection ; while those of the interior of the animal, or the bones, give stability to the power,
support the muscles, and afford levers for the performance of locomotion. Bones may be
considered with regard to their composition, articulations, and arrangement. All bones
are composed of the periosteum, cartilaginous basis, earthy matter, and fat.
1882. T/ie jomosfewm bears the same relation to the bone as the skin to the body,
serving as a covering for its surface, and a sheath for tlie different cavities which enter it.
It varies in thickness according to the nature of the bone. Its texture is obviously
fibrous ; and it possesses blood-vessels. Its sensibility indicates the existence of nerves.
1883. The cartilaginous basis consists of gelatine and coagulated albumen, the earthy
matter is chiefly phosphate of lime, and the fat resembles that of the fixed oils.
1884. Bones increase in size, not as in shells, scales, or horns, by the addition of layers
to the internal surface, but by the expansion of the cartilaginous basis ; which, when it
becomes saturated with earthy matter, is incapable of farther enlargement. This is the
reason why the bones of young animals are soft and flexible, while those of old animals
are hard and brittle.
1885. The proportion between the cartilaginous basis and the earthy matter differs,
not only in eveiy animal according to age, the earthy matter being smallest in youth,
but, likewise, according to the nature of the bone itself, and the purposes which it is
destined to serve. The teeth contain the largest portion of earthy matter. Remarkable
differences are likewise observable, according to the class or species.
1886. Bone is readily reproduced, in small quantities, especially in youth. In the case of fracture, the
periosteum inflames and swells, the crevice is filled up by a cartilaginous basis, abounding in vessels, and
the earthy matter is at length deposited, giving to the fractured part, in many cases, a greater degree of
strength than it originally possessed. In animals of the deer kind, the horns, which are true bone,
are annually cast oft'; a natural joint forming at their base, between them and the bones of the cranium,
with which they are connected. They are afterwards reproduced under a skin or periosteum, which the
animal rubs off when the new horns have attained their proper size. In some cases of disease, the earthy
matter is again absorbed into the system, the cartilaginous basis predominates, and the bones become soft
and tender. This takes place in the disease of youth termed rickets, and in a similar complaint of
advanced life, known under the name of molUties ossimn. In other instances, bone is formed as a
monstrous production, in organs which do not produce it in a state of health, as the brain, the heart, and
the placenta. {Monro's Outlines of Anatomy, p. (iS.)
1887. Curtilage can scarcely be said to differ in its nature, from the cartilaginous
basis of the bone. It is of a fine fibrous structure, smooth on the surface, and re-
markably elastic. It covers those parts of bones which are exposed to friction, as the
joints, and is thickest at the point of greatest pressure. By its smoothness, it facilitates
the motion of the joints, and its elasticity prevents the bad effects of any violent con-
cussion. It is intimately united with the bone, and can scarcely be regarded as different
from an elongation of the cartilaginous basis. Where it occurs at a joint with consider-
able motion, it is termed articular or abducent cartilage. In other cases, it occurs as a
connecting medium between bones which have no articular surfaces, but where a variable
degree of motion is requisite. The ribs are united to the breast-bone in this manner.
Between the different vertebrae, there are interposed layers of cartilage, by which the
motions of the spine are greatly facilitated. As these connecting cartilages are com-
pressible and elastic, the spine is shortened when the body remains long in a vertical
position, owing to the superincumbent pressure. Hence it is that the height of man is
always less in the evening than in the morning. All these cartilages are more or less
prone to ossification, in consequence of the deposition of earthy matter in the interstices.
To this circumstance may be referred, in a great measure, the stiffness of age, the
elasticity of the cartilages decreasing with the progress of ossification.
1888. The -articulations of bones exhibit such remarkable differences, in respect to
surface, connection, and motion, that anatomists have found it difficult to give to each
manner of union an appropriate name and character. "VN'e shall only notice the most
obvious kinds and motions, and these admit of two divisions, the true joints and the
motionless junctions.
1889. In the motionless junctions, the connecting surfaces come into close and per-
manent contact, as in the serrated edges of the bones of the human skull, or the even
edges of the bones of the heads of quadrupeds and birds. Sometimes a pit in one bone
receives the extremity of another like a wedge, as in the case of the human teeth ; in other
cases, the one bone has a cavity with a protuberance at its centre, which receives another
bone, as in the claws of cats, seals, &c. The human ribs are united with the breast-
bone by the intervention of cartilage, as are the two sides of the lower jaw with eacl
other in vertebral animals.
1 890. In true joints the articular surfaces are enveloped with cartilage, remarkable
for the smoothness of its free surface, and its intimate union with the bone, of which
it forms a protecting covering. The periosteum is not continued over the surface of
the cartilage, but is prolonged like a sheath over the joint, until it joins that of the
Book II. MUSCULAR STRUCTURE OF ANIMALS. 287
opposite bone. It thus forms a close bag at the joint, in which nothing from without
can enter, and from which nothing can escape. Into this bag the lubricating liquor
termed synovia is conveyed. It is secreted by a mucous membrane on the interior ; on
which account, as it in some cases appears like little bags, the term bursa mucosa has
been bestowed upon it.
1891. Ligaments. Besides the sheath formed by the continuation of the periosteum, which is too slender
to retain the bones in their proper place, the joints are furnished with ligaments. These are membranes
of a dense fibrous texture, flexible, elastic, and possessed of great tenacity. They have their insertion in
the periosteum and bone, with which they are intimately united. The motions which joints of this kind
are capable of performing, may be reduced to three kinds, flexion, twisting, and sliding. In flexion, the
free extremity of the bone which is moved, approaches the bone which is fixed, describing the segment
of a circle, whose centre is in the joint. In twisting, the bone which is moved turns round its own axis,
passing through the articulation. In sliding, the free extremity of the bone moved, approaches the bone
which is fixed, in a straight line.
SuBSECT. 2. Muscular Structure of Animals.
1 892. The muscles are the organs by which motion is executed : they unfold the most
singular mechanism of parts, and an infinite variety of movements. The muscles
appear in the form of large bundles, consisting of cords. These, again, are formed of
smaller threads, which are capable of division into the primary filaments. Each muscle,
and all its component cords and filaments, are enveloped by a covering of cellular mem-
brane, liberally supplied with blood-vessels and nerves. — At the extremities of the
muscular fibres, where they are attached to the more solid parts, there are usually threads
of a substance, differing in its appearance from the muscle, and denominated tendon
or sinew. The tendons are, in general, of a silvery white colour, a close, firm, fibrous
texture, and possessed of great tenacity. The thread of which they consist, are attached
on the one extremity to the surface of a bone, or other hard part ; and, on the other, they
are variously interspersed among the fibres or bundles of the muscle. — They are consi-
dered as destitute of sensibility and irritability, and form a passive link between the
muscle and the bone, or other point of support.
1893. Muscles are the most active members of the animal frame. They alone possess the power of
irritability, and execute all the motions of the body. The causes which excite them to action may be
reduced to two kinds. In the first the will, through the medium of the nerves, excites the irritability of
the fibres ; and, in the second, the action is produced by the application of external objects, either directly
or by the medium of the nerves. The changes which take place in the tenacity of muscles after death
are very remarkable. The same force which they could resist with ease in a living state is sufficient to
tear them to pieces after the vital principle has departed.
1894. The functions of the muscles are either those of rest or motion. Many animals
protect themselves against the disturbing movements of the air and water, by placing
their bodies in a prone positio7i. To give still greater eflRcacy to this protecting attitude,
they retire to valleys, woods, or dens, on the earth, or to the deepest places in the waters ;
and are thus able, by the weight of their own bodies, and the advantage of their
position, to outlive the elemental war. — But there are other animals, which, while they
are equally cautious to make choice of proper situations for their safety, employ in
addition, peculiar organs with which they are provided, to connect themselves more
securely with the basis on which they rest.
1895. Grasping. The most simple of these expedients, grasping, is displayed by bats, birds, and insects,
in the employment of their toes and claws in seizing the objects of their support In birds, the assumption
and continuance of this attitude is accomplished bv a mechanical process ; so that there is no expenditure
of muscular energy. In every case of this kind, the claws are so admirably adapted to the station of the
animal, that the detention of the body in the same spot, during this state of rest, is accompanied with little
exertion.
1896. Suction. The sucker by which animals fix themselves varies greatly in its form, and even struc-
ture. In the limpet, and other gasteropodous MoUusca, its surface is smooth and uniform ; and the
adhesion appears to depend on its close application to every part of the opposing surface. In other
animals, as the leech and the sea-urchin, the sucker is formed at the extremity of a tube ; the muscular
motions of which may serve to pump out any air which may remain, after the organ has been applied to
the surface of the body.
1897. Cementation. The cementation which is employed by animals to preserve themselves stationary,
consists in a part of their own bodies being cemented to the substance on which they rest. This takes
place in the common muscle, by means of strong cartilaginous filaments, termed the hyssus, united in
the body to a secreting gland, furnished with powerful muscles, and, at the other extremity, glued to the
rock or other body to which it connects itself In other cases, as in the oyster, the shell itself is cemented
to the rock.
1898. The muscular motions of animals are standing, walking, leaping, flying, and
swimming.
1899. In standing it is necessary that the parts of the body be so disposed, as that the centre of gravity
of the whole body fall within the space which they occupy, and that the muscles have sufficient power to
counteract those movements which might displace the body from that position. It is obvious that the
more numerous the limbs, and the more equally they are distributed on the inferior side of the body, the
more securely will the centre of gravity be retained within the space which these feet include.
1900. Walking is defined by Cuvier to be a motion on a fixed surface, in which the centre of gravity is
alternately moved by one part of the extremities, and sustained by the other, the body never being at
any time completely suspended over the ground. It is produced by the alternate flexion and extension
of the limbs, aided by the motions of the trunk, advancing the position of the centre of gravity in the
intended direction.
288 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
1901. In animnls with many feet, as the Myriopoda, walking is performed by so uniform
a motion, that the body may be said to glide along the surface.
1902. In animals with four feet, " each step is executed by two legs only ; one belonging to the fore
pair, and the other to the hind pair; but sometimes they are those of the same side, and sometimes those
of opposite sides." {Cuvier's Comparative Anatomy, lect. vii, a, 1.) The latter is that kind of motion in
horses, which grooms term a, pace. The right fore-leg is advanced so as to sustain the body, which is
thrown upon it by the left hind-foot, and at the same time, the latter bends in order to its being moved
forward. While they are off the ground, the right hind-foot begins to extend itself, and the moment
they touch the ground, the left fore-foot moves forward to support the impulse of the right foot, which
likewise moves forward. The body is thus supported alternately by two legs placed in a diagonal manner.
When the right fore-foot moves, in order to sustain the body, pushed forward by the right hind-foot, the
motion is then called an amble. The body, being alternately supported by two legs on the same side, is
obliged to balance itself to the right and left, in order to avoid falling; and it is this balancing movement
•which renders the gait so soft and agreeable to women and persons in a weak state of body. {Cuvier's
Camp. Anat., lect. vii.)
1903. The serpentine motion consists in bringing up the tail towards the head by bending the body into
one or more curves, then resting upon the tail, and extending the body, thus moving forward, at each
step, nearly the whole length of the body, or one or more of the curves into which it was formed. Among
the Mollusca, and many of the annulose animals, the same kind of motion is performed by alternate
contractions and expansions, laterally and longitudinally of the whole body, or of those parts which
are appropriated to progressive motion.
1904. A mode of moving analagous to walking, is performed by animals who have suckers, and is
exemplified in the leech, which at every step advances nearly the whole length of its body.
1905. In the action of leaping, the whole body rises from the ground, and for a
shoxt period is suspended in the air. It is produced by the sudden extension of the
limbs, after they have undergone an unusual degree of flexion. The extent of the leap
depends on the form and size of the body, and the length and strength of the limbs. The
Myriopoda are not observed to leap. Many of the spiders and insects leap with ease
forwards, backwards, and laterally. In those which are remarkable for this faculty,
the thighs of the hind-legs are in general of uncommon size and strength. Among
reptiles the leaping frog is well known, in opposition to the crawling toad. Among
quadrupeds, th6se are observed to leap best, which have tlie hind legs longer and thicker
than the fore-legs, as the kangaroo and the hare. These walk with difficulty, but leap
with ease.
1906. Serpents are said to leap, by folding their bodies into several undulations, which they unbend all
at once, according to the velocity they wish to give to their motion. The jumping maggot, found in
cheese, erects itself upon its anus, then forms its body into a circle, bringing its head to the tail; and,
having contracted every part as much as possible, unbends with a sudden jerk, and darts forward
to a surprising distance. Many crabs and Podiirae bend their tail, or hairs which supply its place,
under their belly, and then, suddenly unbending, give to the body a considerable degree of progressive
motion.
1 907. Flying. Flying is the continued suspension and progress of the whole body in
the air, by the action of the wings. In leaping, the body is equally suspended in the
air, but the suspension is only momentary ; in flying, on the contrary, the body remains
in the air, and acquires a progressive motion by repeated strokes of the wings on the
surrounding fluid. The centre of gravity is always below the insertion of the wings in
the bodies of flying animals to prevent them from falling on their backs, but near that
point on which the body is, during flight, as it were suspended. The action of flying is
performed by animals belonging to different classes. Among the Mammalia, bats dis-
play this faculty, by means of wings, formed of a thin membrane extending between
the toes, which are long and spreading, between the fore and hind legs, and between the
hind legs and the tail. In birds, the wings, which occupy the place of the anterior
extremities in the Mammalia, and are the organs of flight, consist of feathers, which are
stronger than those on the body, and of greater length. Among reptiles, the flying lizard
may be mentioned, whose membranaceous wings, projecting from each side of the body,
without being connected with the legs, enable it to fly from one tree to another in search
of food. A few fishes are likewise capable of sustaining themselves for a short time by
means of their fins ; these are termed flying fish. Spiders are able to move in the air by
means of their threads.
1 908. Swimming is the same kind of action in water, as flying is in air. The organs
which are employed for this purpose resemble the oars of a boat in their mode of action,
and in general possess a considerable extent of surface and freedom of motion. Swim-
ming, however, is not confined to those animals which are furnished with oars or
swimmers. Many animals move with ease in the water by means of repeated undulations
of the body, as serpents, eels, and leeches ; or by vai7ing the form of the body by
alternate contractile and expansive movements, as the Medusa.
1 909. In these different displays of voluntary motion, the muscles are only able to
continue in exercise for a limited period, during which the irritability diminishes, and
the further exertion of their powers becomes painful. When thus fatigued, animals
endeavour to place themselves in a condition for resting, and fall into that state of
temporary lethargy, denominated sleep.
1910. The positions assumed by animals during sleep are extremely various. In the
horse, they even differ according to circumstances. In the field he lies down, in the
Book II. ANIMAL CHEMISTRY. 289
stable he stands. Dogs and cats form their bodies into a circle, while birds place theit
heads under their wings.
1911. The ordinary mode of sleep is likewise exceedingly various in different animals, and in the same
animal is greatly influenced by habit. It in general depends on circumstances connected with food. It is
probable, that ail animals, however low in the scale, have their stated intervals of repose, although we are
as yet unacquainted either with the position which many of them assume, or the periods during which
they repose.
SuBSECT. 3. Structure of the Nervous System.
1912. The nervous system, by containing the organs of sensation and volition, is that
which distinguishes animal from vegetable beings. It consists, in the vertebrated animals,
of the brain, the spinal marrow, and the nerves.
1913. The brain, exclusive of its integuments, appears in the form of a soft, compres-
sible, slightly viscous mass. The spinal marrow originates with the brain, and consists of
four cords united in one body. The nerves, also, originate in the brain or spinal mar-
row. Some of them appear to have a simple origin ; but, in general, several filaments,
from different parts of the brain or spinal marrow, unite to form the trunk of a nerve.
This trunk again subdivides in various ways; but the ramifications do not always ex-
hibit a proportional decrease of size. It frequently happens that the branches of the
same nerve, or of different ones, unite and separate repeatedly within a small space,
forming a kind of network, to which the name plexus has been applied. Sometimes
filaments pass from one nerve to another ; and, at the junction, there is usually an
enlargement of medullary matter termed a ganglion. Numerous filaments, from dif-
ferent nerves, often unite to form a ganglion, from which proceed trunks frequently of
greater magnitude than the filaments wliich entered. Thus nerves, very different in their
origin, form communications with one another ; so that the whole nervous system may
be considered as a kind of network, between the different parts of which an intimate con-
nection subsists. In consequence of this an-angement, it is often matter of very great
difficulty to ascertain the origin of those filaments, which unite to constitute the trunk of
a nerve. In some instances, they appear to arise from the surface of the brain or spinal
marrow ; in other cases, from the more central parts.
1914. The brain, in the animals without vertebrcB, is destitute of the protecting bony
covering, which forms the head and back bone in the vertebral animals. The brain
itself is much more simple in its structure. Independently of very remarkable dif-
ferences in the structure of the nervous system in the different genera of invertebral
animals, there may still be perceived two models, according to which, the organs belong-
ing to it are arranged. In the first, the brain is situated upon the oesophagus, and presents
different forms according to the species, appearing more like a ganglion than like the brain
of the vertebral animals. It sends off several nerves to the mouth, eyes, and feelers. Two,
one on each side, pass round the oesophagus, and, uniting below, form a ganglion in some
cases larger than what is considered the true brain. From this ganglion, nerves are
likewise sent off to different parts of the body. The animals in which this nervous system
prevails belong to the great division termed Mollusca. In the second, the brain is situ-
ated as in the Mollusca, sending out nerves to the surrounding parts, and likewise one
nerve on each side, which, by their union, form a ganglion, from which other nerves
issue. This ganglion produces likewise a nervous cord, which proceeds towards the
extremity of the body, forming throughout its length ganglia, from which small nerves
proceed ; this cord, at its commencement, is, in some cases, double for a short distance.
It has been compared to the medulla oblongata, and spinal marrow of the vertebral
animals. This kind of nervous system is peculiar to the annulose animals. There are
usually ganglia on the nervous cord, corresponding with the number of rings of which
the body consists.
1915. The functions of the brain and nervous system,; the organs of perception, as of
touch, of heat, of light, of hearing, of smell, and of taste ; and also the faculties of the
mind, we pass over as belonging chiefly to the anatomy and physiology of the human
frame, and therefore less immediately connected with the animals used in agriculture.
The reader will find these subjects ably treated by Dr. Fleming.
Chap. III.
Animal Chemistry ; or the Substances which enter into the Composilion of the Bodies of
Animals.
1916. The elementary principles of the animal kingdom have been ascertained with
considerable precision ; but the binary, ternary, or other compounds which they form,
have not been investigated with so much success. As these various ingredients are
U
290 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
brought into union in the animal system by the agency of the vital principle, their state
of combination may be expected to differ widely from the ordinary results of electric
attraction. When such compounds of organisation are submitted to analysis, the influ-
ence of the vital principle having ceased, the products obtained may be regarded, in
many cases, as modifications of the elements of the substance, occasioned by the pro-
cesses employed, rather than the display of the number or nature of the ingredients, as
they existed previously to the analytical operations. Hence the great caution requisite
in drawing conclusions regarding the composition of animal bodies.
1917. The elementary sxibslances which are considered as entering into the parts of ani-
mals are, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, azote, phosphorus, sulphur, fluoric acid, muriatic
acid, iodine, potash, soda, ammonia, lime, magnesia, silica, iron, and manganese.
1918. Carbon exists in various states of combination in the fluids, as well as in the solids, of every
animal ; and has been detected in the form of charcoal in the lungs. When animal substances are exposed
to a high temperature in closed vessels, the charcoal which is produced differs considerably from that
which is obtained by the same means from vegetables. It is more glossy in appearance, and is incinerated
with much greater difficulty.
1919. Hydrogen is universally distributed in the animal kingdom ; it occurs as a constituent ingredient
of all the fluids, and of many of the solids. It is invariably in a state of combination with charcoal ; for,
as far as we know, it has never been detected in an uncombined or separate state. It has been found in
the human intestines, in the form of carburetted hydrogen.
1920. Oxygen is as widely distributed as the preceding, in the fluids and solids of all animals. A constant
supply of it from the atmosphere is indispensably necessary to the continuation of animal life. It occurs,
not only in combination with other bodies, but probably, likewise in a separate state, in the air-bag of
fishes, in which it is found, varying in quantity, according to the species, and the depth at which the
fishes have been caught. It is common, in union with charcoal, forming carbonic acid.
1921. Azotic gas is very widely distributed as a component part of animal substances. It occurs in
almost all the fluids, and in those solid parts which have carbon as a base. The almost universal pre-
valence of this principle in animal substances constitutes one of the most certain marks by which they
may be distinguished from vegetables. Azote likewise occurs, in an uncombined state, in the air-bag of
some fishes.
1922. Phosphorus. This inflammable body exists, in union with oxygen, in the state of phosphoric
acid, in many of the solids and fluids of animals. Its existence, however, in an uncombined state, has
not been satisfactorily determined, although there appears a tendency to refer the luminousness of several
animals to the slow combustion of this substance. Even phosphoric acid can scarcely be said to exist in
a separate state, being found in combination with' potash, soda, ammonia, lime, or magnesia.
1923. Sulphur, in combination, exists in considerable abundance in animal substances. It can scarcely
be said to occur in a separate state in animals ; at least, the experiments which may be quoted as
encouraging such a supposition are by no means decisive. United with oxygen, in the form of sulphuric
acid, it exists in combination with potash, soda, and lime.
1924. Fluoric acid has been detected in bones and urine, in a state of combination with lime.
1925. Muriatic acid exists in a great number of the animal fluids, in combination with an alkali, as in
the ammonia and soda of urine.
1926. Iodine has been detected in sponge.
1927. Potash' exists in combination with the sulphuric, muriatic, or phosphoric acids ; but it is far from
abundant in animal fluids.
1928. Soda is present in all the fluids in various states of combination, and is more abundant than the
preceding. It gives to many of the secretions the alkaline property of changing vegetable blues into
green. It is found in union with the carbonic, phosphoric, sulphuric, and muriatic acids.
1929. Amftionia exists in its elements in all the fluids, and many of the solids, of animals, and is fre-
quently produced during putrefaction. These elements are likewise found united in the system, and the
alkali then appears in union with the various acids, as the phosphoric, muriatic, and lactic.
1930. Lime, of which the hard parts of animals, such as bones and shells, are principally composed, is of
universal occurrence. It is always in a state of combination, and chiefly with the carbonic or phosphoric
acids.
1931. Magnesia occurs sparingly. It has been detected in the bones, blood, and some other substances,
but always in small quantity, and chiefly in union with phosphoric acid.
1932. Silica occurs more sparingly than the preceding. It is found in the hair, urine, and urinary
calculi.
1933. Iron has hitherto only been detected in the colouring matter of the blood, in bile, and in milk.
Its peculiar state of combination in the blood has given rise to various conjectures ; but a satisfactory
solution of the question has not yet been obtained. In milk, it appears to be in the state of phosphate.
1934. Manganese, in oxide, has been observed, along with iron, in the ashes of hair.
1935. Such are the simple substances which have been detected by chemists in the
solids and fluids of animals; but seldom in a free state, and often in such various
proportions of combination to render it extremely difficult to determine their true
condition.
1936. The compounds of organisation are gelatine, albumen, fibrin, mucus, urea, sugar,
oils, and acids.
1937. Gelatine occurs in nearly a pure state in the air-bags of different kinds of fishes, as, for example,
isinglass, which, if dissolved in hot water and allowed to cool, forms jelly. When a solution of tannin is
dropped into a solution of gelatiiic, a union takes place, and an insoluble precipitate of a whitish colour
falls to the bottom. It is on the union of the tannin of the oak bark with the gelatine of the hides, that the
process of tanning leather depends. Gelatine exists in abundance in different parts of animals, as bones,
muscles, skin, ligaments, membranes, and blood. It is obtained from these substances by boiling them
in warm water ; renioving the impurities, by skimming, as they rise to the surface, or by subsequent
straining and clarifying. It is then boiled to a proper consistence. It is the characteristic ingredient of
the softest and most flexible parts of animals.
1938. Gelatine is extensively used in the arts, under the names of glue and size, on account of its adhesive
quality, and to give the requisite stifihess to certain articles of manufacture. In domestic economy, it is
likewise employed in the form of jelly, and in the formation of various kinds of soup. What is termed
Portable Soup is merely jelly which has been dried, having been previously seasoned, according to the
taste, with different spices.
1939. Albumen, the white of an egg, exists in great abundance, both in a coagulated
and liquid state, in the different parts of animals. Hair, nails, and horn are composed
Book II. ANIMAL CHEMISTRY. 291
of it. It appears likewise as a constituent of bone and shell ; and there are few of
the fluid or soft parts of animals in which it does not exist in abundance. What has
hitherto been termed the Resin of Bile is, according to Berzelius, analogous to albumen.
1940. Albumen is extensively used in the arts. When spread thin on any substance, it soon dries, and
forms a coating of varnish. Its adhesive power is likewise considerable. When rubbed on leather, it
increases its suppleness. But its chief use is in clarifying liquors. For this purpose, any substance
abounding in albumen, as the white of eggs, or the serum of blood, is mixed with the liquid, and the
whole heated to near the boiling point. The albumen coagulates, and falls to the bottom, carrying along
with it the impurities which were suspended in the fluid, and which rendered it muddy. If the liquor
contains alcohol, the application of heat is unnecessary.
1941. Fibrin exists in the blood, and was formerly called the fibrous part of the
blood. It likewise exists in all muscles, forming the essential part, or basis, of these
organs. It exhibits many remarkable varieties, as it appears in the flesh of quadrupeds,
birds, and fishes ; but has not hitherto been turned to any particular use.
1 942. Extractive exists in the muscles of animals, in the blood, and in the brain. It
communicates the peculiar flavour of meat to soups. In the opinion of Fourcroy, the
brown crust of roasted meat consists of it.
1943. The soft parts of animals are constituted of these four substances, which also enter
into the composition of the hard parts and of the fluids. They are readily distinguishable
from one another. Extractive alone is soluble in alcohol ; gelatine is insoluble in cold,
but soluble in hot, water ; albumen is soluble in cold, and insoluble in hot, water ; the
fibrin is equally insoluble in hot and cold water. They are variously mixed or united ;
and as they consist of some elementary principles, chiefly carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and
azote, it is probable that they are in many cases changed, the one into the other, by the
living principle ; a transmutation which the chemist has succeeded in accomplishing, and
which may soon be of advantage in the arts. The proportion of carbon appears to be
least in gelatine and greatest in fibrin.
1 944. Mucus occurs in a liquid state in the animal economy, as a protecting covering
to different organs. It necessarily differs in its" qualities, according to the purposes it is
destined to serve. In the nose, it defends the organ of smell from the drying influence of
the air ; in the bladder, it protects the interior from the contact of the acid of the urine ;
while it preserves the gall-bladder from the action of alkaline bile. It does not contain
any suspended particles like the blood, but is homogeneous. {Dr. Young, Annals of Phil.,
vol. ii. p. 117.) When inspissated, it constitutes, in the opinion of some, the basis of the
epidermis, horns, nails, and feathers. But the difficulty of obtaining it in a pure state, and
the discordant characters assigned to it by different chemists, prevent us from reposing
confidence in the accuracy of the analysis of those substances, of which it is considered
as forming an essential ingredient.
1 945. Urea is a substance obtained by evaporation and trituration from the urine of
the Mammalia when in a state of health. In the human subject it is less abundant
after a meal, and nearly disappears in the disease called diabetes, and in affections of
the liver.
1946. Sugar exists in ronsiderable abundance in milk, and in the urine of persons
labouring under diabetes. In the latter fluid, it is to be considered as a morbid secretion
of the kidneys, occupying the natural situation of the urea. In milk, however, it exists
as a constituent principle, and may readily be obtained by the following process : evapo-
rate fresh whey to the consistence of honey, dissolve it in water, clarify with the whites of
eggs, and again evaporate to the consistence of syrup. On cooling, white cubical crystals
will be obtained, but less sweet than vegetable sugar.
1947. Oils vary greatly as to colour, consistence, smell, and other characters. They
possess, however, in common, the properties of the fixed oils, in being liquid, either
naturally or when exposed to a gentle heat, insoluble in water and alcohol, leaving a
greasy stain upon paper, and being highly combustible. They are distinguished as
spermaceti, ambergris, fat, and common oils.
1948. Spermaceti constitutes the principal part of the brain of the whale, and is freed from the oil which
accompanies it by draining and squeezing, and afterwards by the employment of an alkaline lie, which
saponifies the remainder. It is then washed in water, cut into thin pieces with a wooden knife, and
exposed to the air to dry. It is used in medicine and candlemaking.
1949. Amhcrnris is found in the intestines of the spermaceti whale, and in those only which are in a
sickly state. It appears to be the excrement, altered by a long retention in the intestines, and therefore
scarcely merits a place among the natural ingredients of the animal system. • Upon being voided by the
animal, it floats on the surface of the sea, and has been found in various quarters of the globe. It usually
has the beaks of cuttle-fish adhering to it. It is employed in small quantities by druggists and perfumers.
1950. Fat consists of two substances, suet and oil. It is usually purified by separating the vessels and
membranes which adhere to it, by repeatedly washing with cold water, and afterwards melting it, along
with boiling water.
1951. Tallow is the fat of ruminating animals, and is hard and brittle ; while the fat of the hog, called
lard, is soft and semifluid. Its uses, as an article of food, in the making of candles, hard soap, and oint-
ments, and to diminish friction, are well known.
1952. The properties of oils depend in a great degree on the mode of preparation, with the exception of
the odour, which arises from the kind of animal from which the oil has been derived. Spermaceti oil is
considered as the thinnest of the animal oils, and the fittest for burning in lamps. It is obtained from the
spermaceti, by draining and pressure. Train oil is procured by melting the blubber, or external layer of
fat, found underneath the skin of different kinds of whales and seals. From the process employed, it
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292 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
contains, besides the oil, gelatine, albumen, and other animal matters, which render it thick, dark-
coloured, and disposed to become rancid. Fish oil is sometimes extracted from the entire fish (as the
sprat, pilchard, and Iicrring, when they occur in too great quantities to be salted), by boiling in water,
and skimming off the oil, as it appears on the surface. In general, however, the oil is obtained from the
livers of lish, in which it is lodged in cells.
1 953. The acids found in animals consist of various proportions of carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen, and azote. Some of them are peculiar to tlie animal kingdom, and others exist
in equal abundance in plants. ♦
1954. The uric or lithic acid abounds in urine, and appears to be a production of the kidneys. The lactic
acid is common in the animal fluids. The amniotic acid has been found in the uterus of a cow. The
Jbrmtc acid is procured by distilling ants. Tlie benzoic, oxalic, acetic, and 7nalic acids are common both
to plants and animals, but seldom occur in the latter.
1 955. These elements, by combining in different proportions, exhibit a great variety
of separate substances. The earthy salts are likewise abundant ; and when they occur in
a separate state, they strengthen the albuminous framework, and form the skeleton, giving
stability to the body, and acting as levers to the muscles. The alkaline salts occur in the
greatest abundance in the secreted fluids.
1956. The Jluids consist of those juices which are obtained from our food and drink,
such as the chyle, and are termed crude of the blood, or jirepared from the crude fluids, and
destined to communicate to every part of the body the nourishment which it requires ;
and of those fluids which are separated from the blood, in the course of circulation, such
as the bile, and termed secreted fluids. These are all contained in appropriate vessels,
and are subject to motion and change.
1957. The solids are derived from the fluids, and are usually divided into the soft and
hard. The soft solids consist chiefly of what is termed animal matter, of combinations
of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and azote. They consist of fibres, which are usually
grouped into faggots ; of plates, which, crossing one another in various directions, give
rise to cellular structure, or of a uniform pulpy mass.
1958. The fibrous texture may be observed in all the muscles, tendons, and ligaments, and in the bones
of many animals, especially before birth. These fibres, however minutely divided, do not appear to be
hollow, like those of the vegetable kingdom.
1959. The cellular texture is universally distributed in the form of membranes, which invest every
organ, the bundles of fibres in every muscle, and, by forming tubes with the addition of the fibrous
texture, constitute the containing vessels. The substance gives form to all the different parts, and is
that particular portion which is first formed, and whigh constitutes the frame on and within which the
other materials of the system are deposited. It readily expands by the increase of its contents ; and,
with equal ease, contracts, when the distending cause is removed.
1960. The pulpy texture is confined to the brain and nerves, the liver, kidneys, and other secreting
organs of the system. Its composition appears to the eye homogenous, and its form is regulated by its
cellular envelope.
1961. These soft solids alone are capable of possessing the faculty of sensation. By their aid, the nervous
energy is exerted on the different parts of the body ; and, through them, the impressions of external objects
are received.
1962. The hard solids consist either of cartilage, which resembles, in its qualities, coagulated albumen ;
or of bone, formed by various combinations of earthy salts. They are destitute of sensation, and are
chiefly employed in defending the system from injury, giving it the requisite stability, and assisting the
muscles in the execution of their movements.
1963. The proportion between the solids and fluids is not only remarkably different in different species,
but in the same species, in the various stages of growth.
Chap. IV.
Animal Physiology ; the Digestive, Circulating, and Reproductive Functions of Animals.
Sect. I. Of the Digestive System,
1964. The instinct of animals for food presides over the organs of the stomach.
Hunger is felt when the stomach is empty ; it is promoted by exercise, cold air applied
to the skin, and cold, acid, or astringent fluids introduced into the stomach. Inactivity,
warm covering, the attention diverted, and warm fluids, have a tendency to allay the
sensation.
1 965. Thirst is accompanied with a sensation of dryness in the mouth. This dryness
may be occasioned by excessive expenditure of the fluids, in consequence of the diyness
or saltness of the food which has been swallowed ; or to their deficiency, from the state
of the organs.
1966. Both hunger and thirst, besides being greatly influenced by habit, exhibit very
remarkable peculiarities, according to the species and tribes of animals.
1 967. Those which live on the spoils of the animal kingdom are said to be carnivorous,
when they feed on flesh ; piscivorous, when they subsist on fishes ; and insectivorous,
when they prey on insects. Again, those animals which are phytivorous, or subsist on
the products of the vegetable kingdom, are either granivorous and feed on seeds ;
graminivorous, pasturing on grass ; or herbivorous, browsing on twigs and shrubs.
I
Buox II. ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY. 293
19G8. Besides those SJtbsfances which animals make use of as food, water is likewise employed as drink,
and as the vehicle of nutritious matter. Salt is necessarily mixed with the drink of the inhabitants of
the ocean, and is relished by man and many other animals. Other inorganic substances are likewise
employed for a variety of purposes. Many savages make use of steatite and clay along with their food.
The common earthworm swallows the soil, from which, in its passage through the intestines, it extracts
its nourishment.
1969. /« some cases, substances are swallowed for other purposes than nourishment. Stones are retained
in the stomach of birds to assist in triturating the grain. The wolf is said to satisfy his hunger by filling
his stomach with mud.
Sect. II. Of the Circulating System.
1970. The food being reduced to a pultaceous mass, and mixed with a variety of secreted
fluids, by means of the digestive organs, is in this state denominated chyme. This mix-
ture exhibits a chemical constitution nearly approaching that of blood, into which it is
destined to be converted, by the separation of the useless from the useful part. This is
eftectcd by certain vessels called lacteals, which absorb the nutritious part of the chyme,
and convey it to a particular receptacle. Another set of absorbents, the IjTnphatics,
take up all the substances which have been ejected from the circulation, and which are
no longer necessary in the particular organs, and communicate their contents to the store
already provided by the lacteals. The veins receive the altered blood from the extremities
of the arteries or the glands, in which they terminate, and proceed with it towards the
lungs, to be again aerated. In tlieir progress they obtain the collected fluid of the other
absorbents, and, in the lungs, again prepare the whole for the use of the system. Thus,
during the continuance of life, the arteries supply the materials by which the system is
invigorated and enlarged, and oppose that tendency to decay, produced by the influence
of external objects. The process continues during the whole of life, new matter is daily
added, wliile part of the old and useless is abstracted. The addition is greatest in early
life, the abstraction is greatest in old age.
1971. This continued systeyn of addition and subtraction has led some to conclude, that a change in tlic
corjioreal identity of the body takes place repeatedly during the continuance of life ; that none of the
particles of which it consisted in youth remain in its composition in old age. Some have considered the
change effected every three, others every seven, years. This opinion, however, is rendered doubtful by
many well known facts. Letters marked on the skin by a variety of substances frequently last for life.
There are some diseases, such as small-pox and measles, of which the constitution is only once susceptible;
but it is observed to be liable to the attack of these diseases at every period of human life.
Sect. III. Of the Reproductive System of Animals.
1972. Ariimals are reprodxiced in consequence of the functions of certain organs, with
the exception of some of the very lowest in the scale. In tliose animals which possess
peculiar organs for .ne preparation of the germ or ovum, some are androgynous (man-
woman), and either have the sexual organs incorporated, and capable of generating
without assistance, or the sexual organs are distinct, and the union of two individuals is
necessary for impregnation : others have the sexual organs separate, and on different
individuals. The young of such animals are either nourislied at first by the store of
food in the egg, or by the circulating juices of the mother. Those species in which the
former arrangement prevails are termed oviparous, while the term viviparous is restricted
to the latter.
1973. In all animals it is the business of the female to prepare the ovum or germ, and
bring it to maturity. For this purpose, the germ is produced in the ovarium, farther
perfected in the uterus or matrix, and finally expelled from the system through the
vagina. The oflUce of the male is to impregnate tlie germ by means of the spermatic
fluid. This fluid is secreted in the testicles, transmitted by the spermatic ducts, and
finally conveyed by the external organ to its ultimate destination.
1 974. Among the viviparous animals, the reproductive organs present many points of
resemblance, and appear to be constructed according to a common model. It is other-
wise with the sexual organs of the oviparous tribes. These exhibit such remarkable
differences in form and structure that it is impossible to collect them into natural groups,
or assign to them characters which they have in common.
1975. The manner in xvhich the eggs of birds are impregnated by the male has not been
satisfactorily determined. With the exception of the cicatricula, a female bird, in the absence
of the male, can produce an egg. Tlie conjunction of the sexes, however, is necessary
for the impregnation of the egg, and the effect is produced previous to the exclusion,
1976. In mayiy kinds of fishes and reptiles, the yolks, after being furnished with their
glair, are ejected from the body of the female, and the impregnating fluid from the male
is afterwards poured over them. Impregnation can be effected readily in such cases, by
the artificial application of the spermatic fluid.
1 977. Impregnation in insects appears to take place while the eggs pass a reservoir
containing the sperm, situated near the termination of the oviduct in the volva.
1978. The most simple mode of hatching is effected by the situation in which the eggs are placed by the
mother, after or during their exclusion. In this mode a place is usually selected where the eggs will be
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294 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
exposed to a suitable and uniform temperature, and where a convenient supply of food may be easily
obtained for the young animals. Such arrangements prevail in the insect tribe.
1979. In the second mode, the mother, aided in some cases by the sire, forms a nest, in which she
deposits her eggs, and, sitting upon them, aids their hatching by the heat of her body. Birds in general
hatch their young in this m*nner.
1980. In the third mode, the eggs are retained in the uterus, without any connection, however, by
circulating vessels, until the period when they are ready to be hatched, when egg and young are expelled
at the same time. This takes place in some sharks and MoUusca. The animals which exercise this last
kind of incubation are termed ovoviviparous. In the i?&na p-ipa, the eggs are deposited in a bag on the
back, where they are hatched, and where the young animals reside for some time after birth. Some
animals, as the aphis, are oviparous at one season, and ovo> iparous at another.
1981. The young, after being hatched, are, in many cases, independent of their parent, and do not stand
«0 need of any assistance : they are born in the midst of plenty, and have organs adapted to the supply of
heir wants. Thus, many insects are hatched on, or within the very leaves which they are afterwards to
levour. In other cases, the young are able to follow their parents, and receive from them a supply of
-ippropriate food ; or, if unable to follow, their parents bring their food to the nests.
1982. The changes which the young of oviparous animals undergo in passing from infancy to maturity
have long attracted the notice of the inquisitive observer. The &%% of the frog is hatched in the water,
and the young animal spends in that element a part of its youth. While there it is furnished with a tail
and external bronchias ; both of which are absorbed, and disappear, when it becomes an inhabitant of the
land. The infancy of the butterfly is spent in the caterpillar state, with organs of motion and mastication
which are peculiar to that period. It is destined to endure a second hatching, by becoming enveloped in a
covering, and suffering a transformation of parts previously to appearing in its state of maturity. These
metamorphoses of oviparous animals present an almost infinite variety of degrees of change, differing in
character according to the tribes or genera.
1983. In birds, it is well known that one sexual union suffices for the production of impregnated eggs
during the period of laying. This is a case somewhat analogous to those quadrupeds which produce
several young at a birth with one impregnation, differing however, in the circumstance that the eggs are
not all produced at the same time, although they are afterwards hatched by the same incubation. In the
Aphides, or plant-lice, as they are called, one impregnation not only renders fertile the eggs of the
individual, but the animals produced from these, and the eggs of those again, unto the ninth generation.
1 984. Androgynous animals are of two kinds ; those where impregnation takes place
by the mutual application of the sexual organs of two individuals ; and those where the
hermaphroditism is complete. The Mollusca exhibit examples of both kinds.
1 985. Gemmiparotis animals are exemplified in the .Hydra or fresh-water polypus, and
other zoophytes.
1 986. Hybridous animals. In the accomplishment of the important purpose of ge-
neration, it is observed, that, in the season of desire, individuals of a particular species are
drawn together by mutual sympathy, and excited to action by a common propensity.
The produce of a conjunction between individuals of the same species partakes of the
characters common to the species, and exhibits in due time the characteristic marks of
puberty and fertility. In a natural state, the selective attribute of the procreative instinct
unerringly guides the individuals of a species towards each other, and a preventive
aversion turns them with disgust from those of another kind. In a domesticated state,
where numerous instincts are suppressed, and where others are fostered to excess, in-
dividuals belonging to different species are sometimes known to lay aside their natural
aversion, and to unite in the business of propagation. Instances of this kind occur
among quadrupeds, birds, and fishes, among viviparous and oviparous animals, where
impregnation takes place within, as well as when it is effected without, the body. The
product of such an unnatural union is termed a hybridous animal. The following cir-
cumstances appear to be connected with hybridous productions: —
1987. The parents must belong to the same natural genus or family. There are no exceptions to this
law. Where the species differ greatly in manners and structure, no constraints or habits of domestication
will force the unnatural union. On the other hand, sexual union sometimes takes place among indivi-
duals of nearly related species. Thus, among quadrupeds, the mule is the produce of the union of the
horse and the ass. The jackall and the wolf both breed with the dog. Among birds, the canary and
goldfinch breed together, the Muscovy and common duck, and the pheasant and hen. Among fishes,
the carp has been known to breed with the tench, the crusian, and even the trout. {Phil. Trans., 1/71,
p. 318.)
1988. The parents must be in a confined or domesticated state. In all those hybridous productions which
have yet been obtained, there is no example of individuals of one species giving a sexual preference to
those of another. Among quadrupeds and birds, those individuals of different species which have united,
have been confined and excluded from all intercourse with those of their own kind. In the case of
hybridous fishes, the ponds in which they have been produced have been small and overstocked, and no
natural proportion observed between the males and females of the different kinds. As the impregnating
fluid, in such situations, is spread over the eggs after exclusion, a portion of it belonging to one species
may have come in contact with the unimpregnated eggs of another species, by the accidental movements
of the water, and not in consequence of any unnatural effort. In all cases of this unnatural union among
birds or quadrupeds, a considerable degree of aversion is always exhibited, a circumstance which never
occurs among individuals of the same species.
1989. The hybridous products are barren. The peculiar circumstances which arp required to bring
about a sexual union between individuals of different species sufficiently account for the total absence of
hybridous productions in a wild state ; and, as if to prevent even in a domesticated state the introduction
and extension of spurious breeds, such hybridous animals, though in many cases disposed to sexual union,
are incapable of breeding. There are, indeed, some statements which render it probable that hybrid
animals have procreated with perfect ones; at the same time there are few which are above suspicion.
Book 11. ANIMAL PATHOLOGY. ^^^
Chap. V.
Animal Pathology ; or the Duration, Diseases, and Casualties of Animal Life.
1990. Each sjjecies of animal is destined, in the absence of disease and accidents, to
enjoy existence during a particidar period. In no species, however, is this term absolutely
limited, as we find some individuals outliving others, by a considerable fraction of their
whole lifetime. In order to find the ordinary duration of life of any species, therefore,
we must take the average of the lives of a number of individuals, and rest satisfied with'
the approximation to truth which can thus be obtained. There is little resemblance in
respect of longevity between the different classes, or even species, of animals. There is no
peculiar structure, by which long-lived species may be distinguished from those that are
short-lived. Many species whose structure is complicated live but for a few years, as
the rabbit ; while some of the testaceous Mollusca, with more simple organisation, have
a more extended existence. If longevity is not influenced by structure, neither is it
modified by the size of the species. While the horse, greatly larger than the dog, lives
to twice its age, man enjoys an existence three times longer than the former,
1991. The circumstances which regulate the term of existence in different species ex-
hibit so many peculiarities, corresponding to each, that it is difficiUt to offer any general
observations on the subject. Health is precarious, and the origin of diseases generally
involved in obscurity. The condition of the organs of respiration and digestion,
however, appears so intimately connected with the comfortable continuance of life, and
the attainment of old age, that existence may be said to depend on the due exercise of
the functions which they perform. Whether animals have their blood aerated by means
of lungs or gills, they require a regular supply of oxygen gas : but as tliis gas is exten-
sively consumed in the process of combustion, putrefaction, vegetation, and respiration,
there is occasionally a deficiency in particular places for the supply of animal life. lu
general, wliere there is a deficiency of oxygen, there is also a quantity of carbonic acid or
carburetted hydrogen present. These gases not only injure the system by occupying the
place of the oxygen which is required, but exercise on many species a deleterious influ-
ence. To these circumstances may be referred the difficulty of preserving many fishes
and aquatic Mollusca in glass jars or small ponds ; as a great deal of the oxygen in the air
contained in the water is necessarily consumed by the germination and growth of the
aquatic Cryptogamia, and the respiration of the infusory Animalcula. In all cases, when
the air of the atmosphere, or that which the water contains, is impregnated with noxious
particles, many individuals of a particular species, living in the same district, suffer at
the same time. The disease which is thus at first endemic or local, may, by being con-
tagious, extend its ravages to other districts.
1992. The enclemlcal and epidemical diseases which attack horses, sheep, and cows, obtain in this
country the name of murrain, sometimes also that of the distemper. The general term, however, for the
pestilential diseases with which these and other animals are infected, is Epizboty {epi, amongst, zoon,
an animal).
1993. The ravages which have been committed among the domesticated animals, at various times, in
Em-ope, by epixboties, have been detailed by a variety of authors. Horses, sheep, cows, swine, poultry,
fish, have all been subject to such attacks ; and it has frequently happened, that the circumstances which
have produced the disease in one species have likewise exercised a similar influence over others. That
these diseases arise from the deranged functions of the respiratory organs, is rendered probable by the
circumstance that numerous individuals, and even species, are affected at the same time j and this opinion
is strengthened, when the rapidity with which they spread is taken into consideration.
1994. Many diseases, which greatly contribute to shorten life, take their rise from circum.stances con-
nected with the organs of digestion. Noxious food is frequently consumed by mistake, particularly by
domesticated animals. When cows, which have been confined to the house during the winter season,
and fed with straw, are turned out to the pastures in the spring, they eat indiscriminately every plant
presented to them, and frequently fall victims to their imprudence. It is otherwise with animals in a
wild state, whose instincts guard them from the common noxious substances of their ordinary situation.
The shortening of life, in consequence of the derangement of the digestive organs, is chiefly produced by
a scarcity of food. When the supply is not sufficient to nourish the body, it becomes. lean, the fat being
absorbed to supply the deficiency ; feebleness is speedily exhibited, the cutaneous and intestinal animals
rapidly multiply, and, in conjunction, accelerate the downfal of the system.
1 995. The power of fasting, or of surviving without food, possessed by some animals,
is astonishingly great. An eagle has been known to live five weeks without food ; a
badger a month ; a dog thirty- six days ; a toad fourteen months, and a beetle three years.
This power of outliving scarcity for a time, is of signal use to many animals, whose food
cannot be readily obtained ; as is the case with beasts of prey and rapacious birds. But
this faculty does not belong to such exclusively : wild pigeons have survived twelve
dajs, an antelope twenty days, and a land tortoise eighteen months. Such fasting,
however, is detrimental to the system, and can only be considered as one of those sin-
gular resources which may be employed in cases where, without it, life would speedily
be extinguished. In situations where animals are deprived of their accustomed food,
they frequently avoid the effects of starvation, by devouring substances to which their
U 4
296 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Paht II.
digestive organs are not adapted. Pigeons can be brought to feed on flesh, and hawks
on bread. Sheep, when accidentally overwhelmed with snow, have been known to eat
the wool off each other's backs.
1996. The various diseases to which animals are subject tend greatly to shorten the
period of their existence. With the methods of cure employed by dlHerent species we
are but little acquainted. Few accurate observations appear to have been made on the
subject. Dogs frequently effect a cure of their sores by licking them. They eat grass
to excite vomiting, and probably to cleanse their intestines from obstructions or worms,
by its mechanical effects. Many land animals promote their health by bathing, others
by rolling themselves in the dust. By the last operation, they probably get rid of the
parasitical insects with which they are infested.
1997. But independentli/ of scarciti/, or disease, comparatively few animals live to the
ordinary term of natural death. There is a wasteful war every wl>ere raging in the
animal kingdom. Tribe is divided against tribe, and species against species, and neu-
trality is nowhere respected. Those which are preyed upon have certain means which
they employ to avoid the foe ; but the rapacious are likewise qualified for the pursuit.
The exercise of the feelings of benevolence may induce us to confine our attention to
the former, and adore tliat goodness which gives shelter to the defenceless, and pro-
tection to the weak, while we may be disposed to turn precipitately from viewing the
latter, lest we discover marks of cruelty, where we wished to contemplate nothing but
kindness. But we should recollect, that, to the lower animals, destitute as they are of
the means of attending to the aged or diseased, sudden death is a merciful substitute for
the lingering tortures of starvation.
Chap. VI.
On the Distribution of Animals.
1998. On a superficial view, vegetables seem more abundant than animals : so contrary,
however, is this to fact, that the species of animals, when compared with those of plants,
may be considered in the proportion of 10 to 1. Hence it follows that botany, when
compared with zoology, is a very limited study : plants, when considered in relation
to insects alone, bear no proportion in the number of the species. The phanerogamous
plants of Britain have been estimated in round numl>ers at 1 500, while the insects that
have already been discovered in this country (and probably many hundreds still remain
unknown) amount to 10,000, wliich is more than six insects to one plant. It is there-
foi-e obvious that the knowledge acquired on the geographical distribution of animals, in
comparison with what is known of plants, is slight and unsatisfactory: it is likewise
attended with difficulties inseparable from the nature of beings so numerous and diver-
sified, and which will always render it comparatively imperfect. It rarely happens that
a single specimen of a plant is found isolated ; the botanist can therefore immediately
arrive at certain conclusions : if he is in a mountainous country, he is enabled to trace,
•without much difficulty, the lowest and the highest elevation at which a particular species
is found ; and the nature of the soil, which may be considered the food of the plant, is at
once known. But these advantages do not attend the zoologist : his business is with
beings perpetually moving upon the earth, or hid in the depths of ocean, performing
numerous functions in secret ; while of the marine tribes he can never hope to be
acquainted with more than a very insignificant portion. The following observations
must therefore be considered as merely an outline of those general laws which seem to
regulate the geography of animals.
1999. The distribution of animals 07i the face of the globe must be considered under two
heads, general and particular. The first relates to families or groups inhabiting par-
ticular zones, and to others by which they are represented in another hemisphere. The
second refers to the local distribution of the animals of any particular country, or to that
of individual species. It is to the general distribution of groups, as a celebrated writer
has well observed, that the philosophic zoologist should first direct his attention, rather
than to the locality of species. By studying nature in her higher groups, we discover
that certain functions are developed under different forms, and we begin to discern
something of the great plan of providence in the creation of animals, and arrive at
general results, which must be for ever hid from those who limit their views to the
habitations of species, or to the local distribution of animals.
2000. Animals, like plants, are generally found to be distributed in zones. Fabricius,
in speaking of insects, divides the globe into eight climates, which he denominates the
Indian, Egyptian, southern, Mediterranean, northern, oriental, occidental, and alpine.
In the first he includes the tropics ; in the second, the northern region immediately
adjacent ; in the third, the southern ; in the fourth, the countries bordering on the Medi-
Book II. DISTRIBUTION OF ANIxMALS. 297
terranean Sea, including also Armenia and Media; in the fifth, the northern part of
Europe, interjacent between Lapland and Paris ; in the sixth, the northern part of Asia,
where the cold in winter is intense ; in the seventh. North America, Japan, and China ;
and in the eighth, all those mountains whose summits are covered with eternal snow. It
is, however, easy to perceive, that this, though a very ingenious, is a very artificial theory :
the divisions are vague and arbitrary, and we know that animals of one country differ
essentially from those of another, although both may enjoy the same degree of tempera-
ture. M. Latreille has therefore attempted a more definite theory. His two primary
divisions are the arctic and antarctic climates, according to their situation above or below
the equinoctial line; and taking twelve degrees of latitude for each climate, he subdivides
the whole into twelve. Beginning at 84° N.L., he has seven arctic climates : viz. the
polar, subpolar, superior, intermediate, supratropical, tropical, and equatorial : but his
antarctic climates, as no land has been discovered below 60° S.L., amount only to five,
beginning with the equatorial, and terminating with the superior. He proposes also a
further division of subclimates, by means of certain meridian lines ; separating thus the
old world from the new, and subdividing the former into two great portions ; an eastern,
beginning with India ; and a western, terminating with Persia. He proposes, further,
that each climate should be considered as having 24° of longitude and 12° of latitude.
This system certainly approximates more to what we see in nature than that proposed
by Fabricius ; yet Mr. Kirby observes with truth, that the division of the globe into
climates by equivalent parallels and meridians wears the appearance of an artificial and
arbitrary system, rather than of one according to nature.
2001. Mr. Swainson considers that the geographic distribution of animals is intimately
connected witli the limits of those grand and obvious sections into which the globe is
divided ; and that in proportion to the geographical proximity df one continent to
another, so will be either the proportional identity or the analogy of their respective
animals. He considers Europe, Asia, and Africa as agreeing more particularly in pos-
sessing certain animals in common, which seem excluded altogether from America and
Australia ; both of which are not only isolated in situation, but their animals have a
decided difference of form and habit from those of the three continents of the old world.
He considers that the animal geography of Asia is connected with that of Australia by the
intervention of Borneo, New Guinea, and the neighbouring isles ; while that of America
unites with Europe towards the polar regions. These five great types or divisions will,
of course, present certain affinities or analogies dependent upon other causes, arising
from temperature, food, and locality. (Sivainsons AISS.)
2002. Vertebrated animals have a udder range than invertebrated animals, thus resem-
bling man, who is spread over the whole earth : the dog and the crow are found wild in
almost every climate ; the swallow traverses, in a few days, from the temperate to the
torrid zone ; and numerous other birds annually perform long migrations. Next to
these, insects, above all the other Invertebrktae, enjoy the widest range ; the house fly of
America and of Europe are precisely the sjime ; and Mr. Swainson has observed in Brazil
vast flocks of butterflies, which annually migrate from the interior towards the coast.
2003 Murine animals have, in general, a wider range than those strictly terrestrial.
This may probably originate in their being more independent of the effects of tem-
perature. It is remarkable, that, with the exception of the crow and two or three others,
the land birds of America differ entirely from those of Europe, yet that nearly all our
aquatic species are found both in the new world and in the southern coasts of Africa.
2004. Subordinate to the Jive geographic groups already noticed, temperature may be
considered the jirincipal regulator of the station of animals ; it has likewise a remarkable
influence on their clothing. Many quadrupeds, inhabiting the colder regions, appear in
their natural colours during summer, but become white in winter. The same change
takes place in the plumage of several land birds ; but is not observable in insects, or the
other invertebrate groups. Temperature has likewise a great influence on the size and
colour of animals. The (Sphinx convolvuli of Europe is found also in India, but of a
much smaller size and more distinctly coloured : this is usually the effect of heat upon
animals whose chief range is in temperate latitudes. On those which may be con-
sidered intertropical, a greater degree of heat not only increases the brilliancy of their
colours, but adds to their size. There are many birds and insects common both to
central Brazil and Cayenne ; but from the greater heat of the latter country, the
specimens are always larger and their plumage more beautiful. Temperature likewise
affects the clothing of animals in respect both to quality and quantity. This is more par-
ticularly observed in such domesticated animals as have been transplanted from their
natural climates. The covering of swine in warm countries consists of bristles of the
same form and texture, thinly dispersed ; while the same animals in colder climates have
an additional coating of fine frizzled wool next the skin, over which the long bristly hairs
project. This difference is very remarkable in the swine of northern Europe and
those of tropical America, the latter appearing almost naked : it may be observed in a less
298 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Pakt II.
degree in those of the south of England and the north of Scotland. Similar appearances
present themselves among the sheep of warm and cold countries : the fleece of those of
England consists entirely of wool, while the sheep of Shetland and Iceland possess a
fleece, containing, besides the wool, a number of long hairs, which give it an appearance
of being very coarse.
2005. The particular or local distribution of animals is affected by various causes which
have little influence on their geographic distribution. Thus the purely insectivorous
birds of the family Sylviadfe feed on all kinds of small insects, without regard to any
particular species; yet the Sylviadse of America and those of Europe are each
characterised by a peculiarity of structure which invariably designates the continent to
which they belong. The wryneck is represented in America by the Oxyrhynchus cris-
tatus Swains. {Zoo/. III. i. p. 149.) ; yet neither of these birds are found to inhabit all
parts of their respective continents : their range, on the contrary, is regulated by tem-
perature, food, and other circumstances connected with local distribution. {Swuinson's
MSS.)
2006- From temperature originate all the causes which affect local distribution^ namely,
food, situation, and migration. Were the climate of this country as unchanging as that
of Brazil, the insects which now have only a single brood in the year miglit then produce
several, and the swallow would no longer be obliged to quit us as now, for food in other
climates, as soon as our insect season was at an end. Migration and torpidity are
equally the effect of temperature ; the first depends upon the effect which the changes of
the seasons produce in the abundance or scarcity of food, whether animal or vegetable ;
the latter is a state of inaction during which the necessity for daily nourishment is
suspended*
2007. The miration of birds and of Jish is more extensive than that of quadrupeds.
The birds of the Polar regions migrate to Britain during severe winters ; while those of
Africa come to us, in that season when the southern heats are most intense ; but the same
species which is migratory in one country is in some cases stationary in another. It is
stated that the liimet is migratory in Greenland, but that it is stationary in Britain.
2008. The torpidity or hybernation of animals is evidently designed to suspend the
necessity of taking food during the winter ; althaugh in some cases a small stock of
provisions is laid up, most probably to serve for nourishment previously to entire torpidity
taking place. Several quadrupeds are subject to this partial suspension of life, as the
do'rmouse, hedgehog, bat, marmot, &c. It is said that birds have sometimes been found
in a similar state ; but this is very questionable. Among insects, on the contrary,
torpidity is very common, and a large proportion, when undergoing transformation, pass
a considerable part of their lives in this state.
2009. Situation has an extensive influence on the local distribution of a7iimals, although
it has little on the geographical distribution of groups. Air, earth, and water have their
distinct inhabitants, ich are again restricted to certain situations in their respective
elements. The higher regions of the air are frequented by the eagle and falcon tribes ;
the middle by the air-feeding birds ; and the lower by insects which merely jump, or just
fly above the ground. The different situations on land, as mountains, plains, woods,
marshes, and even sandy deserts, are each peopled by distinct races of beings, whose
subsistence is sought for and furnished in peculiar spots. Thus the range of any par-
ticular species is seldom or never continuous, or uninterrupted to its confines ; but is
rather dependent upon local causes, quite unconnected with geographic division. Water
is either the total oi* the partial residence of animals innumerable ; but here situation has
an equal influence ; the deeps and the shallows of the ocean, its exposed or sheltered
shores, its sandy, rocky, or muddy bottoms, are each the resort of different beings,
widely distinct from those residing in the streams, lakes, rivers, and estuaries of fresh
waters. It is principally among insects that we find the perfect animal inhabiting a
situation different from that which was essential to its existence in an imperfect state.
The larvae of the May-fly, known to the vulgar by the name of case-womfi (Trichopteraa
Kirby), and of all the Libellula2 live entirely in the water, preying upon other aquatic
insects ; but as soon as the period of transformation arrives, they crawl on the
plants, just above the surface, and bursting the skin, become winged insects, which im-
mediately commence an uninterrupted war upon others in their new element. The larva
of the well known ^ph^mera is likewise aquatic, and spends nearly all its life in water ;
but the perfect insect is without jaws, mounts into the air, and seems born but to flutter
and die. Many of the Coleoptera pass the first period of their existence entirely un-
derground, others in the trunks of trees ; and others again in putrid substances ;
situations very different from those which they frequent when arrived at maturity.
Lepidopterous insects, after emerging from the eggs, undergo three changes, all of which
are in situations totally opposite. In the larva state they reach their full dimensions
by feeding upon the leaves of vegetables ; they.next pass into pupa?, and become torpid
Book II. ECONOMICAL USES OF ANIMALS. 299
either above or beneath the surface of the ground ; from which they emerge, and again
become inhabitants of eartli and air as perfect winged insects.
2010. The rapacity of carnivorous animals has been considered by some writers to have
had a considerable efl'ect on the distribution and even on the extinction of otliers ; but no
instance has yet been brought forward in support of this argument, nor does history
furnish us with any proof of such having been the case. The fossil remains of those
stupendous carnivorous animals which have been discovered of late years, and which
existed in the antediluvian world, might have suggested this idea as probable, and that
the destruction among a host of smaller animals which would alone have satisfied the
hunger of a brood of lizards (like the Plesiosaurus) forty feet long and six feet high,
would soon have extirpated whole tribes ; but it must not be forgotten that these gigantic
animals belonged to a different creation from that which now covers the earth ; and that
neither in Africa nor in India, where the present races of carnivorous animals are most
abundant, has any change or sensible diminution taken place in the proportion of those
upon which they principally feed.
2011. Man alone has exercised^ in various ways, a poweiful influence on animals, and on
their distribution : these changes, however, are purely artificial ; they have caused the
total or partial extinction of some species, and the extension and domestication of others.
Against many, hostile to his interests, man carries on a war of extermination, which, as
population spreads, is at length effected in particular countries. The wolf, once so
abundant in Britain that their heads were received as tribute by our Saxon kings, has for
centuries been extirpated from our forests; and a progressive decrease is continually
going on among the wild animals, not only of Europe, but of North America. Others,
inoffensive in their habits, but valued as food, have been driven from our island. The
eyret and crane, as Biitish birds, are no longer known ; while the great bustard, which
may be called the ostrich of Europe, is now rarely seen ; and in all probability (unless
its name should be inserted in the game laws), will be totally lost to us in a few years.
In like manner that extraordinary bird the dodo (which was the ostrich of Asia) has
not been seen for more than a century, and may possibly be no longer in existence.
The benefits that have resulted, on the other hand, from the extension and domestication
of useful animals are suflBciently known. All the various breeds of our domestic cock
have originated from the forests of India, which have likewise furnished Europe with
the pheasant and the peacock ; the pintado or guinea fowl is of African origin ; the
horse and domestic ox were unknown in the new world before its discovery by the
Spaniards ; and the vast island of Australia has been supplied with all its domestic
animals from Europe. The turkey is of American origin; and, although nearly
extinct in its native forests, is domesticated all over the world. There are doubtless many
other animals that might be domesticated, either for use or pleasure ; but in a country
like this, so variable in its climate, and where land is so valuable, it is much to be feared
the necessary experiments will not be made.
2012. The local distribution of British animals, however interesting, is too confined a
subject to lead to any general or important conclusions regarding the geographic dis-
tribution of animals. It is, however, an enquiry that merits attention ; and although no
one has yet expressly written upon the subject, the observations of White, Montague, and
several others will furnish a great deal of valuable information. In arranging the
British fauna, all such birds as have been seen apparently as wanderers, and only at long
intervals of time, should be excluded, or at least distinctly noticed as accidental visitors ;
but to introduce the peacock, the domestic cock, and the turkey, into a natural history of
British birds, as some have done, is a manifest absurdity; for upon this principle we
should include the canary, the gold and silver pheasant, and all other exotic birds which
may have accidentally bred in our aviaries.
Chap. VI L
Of the Economical Uses of Ajiimals.
2013. On the importance of animals in the arts, as labourers, and as furnishing food,
clothing, medicine, and materials for various manufactures, it is needless to enlarge.
2014. As labourers the quadrupeds alone are employed ; of these the most generally
useful in this country are the horse, the ox, and the ass. The excellent carriage roads
through most parts of Europe have superseded the necessity, in a great measure, of beasts
of burden, although in the mountainous parts of Spain and Italy, and nearly throughout
the whole of Sicily, mules alone are employed to convey goods and produce. Such
likewise is the case throughout Mexico and Brazil. The camel in Northern Africa, and
300 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
the elephant in Asia, are no less essential to internal commerce. In the south of Italy,
and in the European settlements in Africa, the ox alone is used in drawing carts and
waggons, and in all other agricultural operations.
201.5. As articles of food man employs animals belonging to every class, from the
quadruped to the zoophyte. In some cases he makes choice of a part only of an animal,
in other cases he devours the whole. He kills and dresses some animals, while he
swallows others in a live state. The taste of man exhibits still more remarkable differ-
ences of a rational kind. The animals which are eagerly sought after by one tribe, are
neglected or despised by another. Even those which are prized by the same tribe in one
age, are rejected by their descendants in another. Thus the seals and porpoises, which,
a few centuries ago, were eaten in Britain, and were presented at the feasts of kings, are
now rejected by the poorest of the people.
2016. Those quadrupeds and birds which feed on grass or grain are generally preferred by man to those
which subsist on flesh or fish. Even in the same animal, the flesh is not always of the same colour and
flavour, when compelled to subsist on different kinds of food. The feeding of black cattle with barley
straw has always the effect of giving to their fat a yellow colour. Ducks fed on grain have flesh very
different in flavour from those which feed on fish. The particular odour of the fat of some animals seems
to pass into the system unchanged, and, by its presence, furnishes us with an indication of the food which
has been used. No animals have yet been discovered whose flesh is poisonous, although some few among
the fishes and the moll6sca are deleterious to the human constitution at particular seasons.
2017. The use of skins, as articles of dress, is nearly coeval with our race. With the
progress of civilisation, the fur itself is used, or the feathers, after having been subjected
to a variety of tedious and frequently complicated processes. Besides the hair of quad-
rupeds, and the feathers of birds, used as clothing, a variety of products of the animal
kingdom, as bone, shells, pearls, and corals, are employed as ornaments of dress, in all
countries, however different in their degree of civilisation.
2018. Medicine. The more efficient products of the mineral kingdom have in the
progress of the medical art in a great measure superseded the milder remedies furnished
by animals and vegetables. The blister-fly, however, still remains without a rival ; and
the leech is often resorted to, when the lancet can be of no avail.
2019. The arts. The increase of the wants of civilised life calls for fresh exertions to
supply them, and the animal kingdom still continues to furnish a copious source of
materials for the arts. Each class presents its own peculiar offering, and the stores
which yet remain to be investigated appear inexhaustible.
Chap. VIII. ,
Principles of improving the Domestic Animals used in Agriculture.
2020. The animals in use in British agriculture are few, and chiefly the horse, ox,
sheep, swine, goat, and domestic fowls. The first is used solely as a labouring animal,
and the rest chiefly as furnishing food. In applying the general principles of physiology
to these animals with a view to their improvement for the use of man, we shall consider
in succession the principles of breeding, rearing, and feeding.
Sect. I. Objects to be kept in Vieiv in the Improvement of Breeds.
2021. The great object of the husbandman, in every case, is to obtain the most valuable
returns from his raw produce ; to prefer that kind of live stock, and .that breed of any
kind, which will pay him best for the food the animal consumes. The value to which
the animal itself may be ultimately brought, is quite a distinct and inferior consideration.
(Gen. Rep. Scot., c. xiv.)
2022. To improve the ^nrm rather than to enlarge the size, in almost every case, ought to
be the grand object of improvement. Size must ever be determined by the abundance
or scarcity of food, and every attempt to enlarge it beyond that standard must prove un-
successful, and, for a time, destructive to the thriving of the animals, and the interest of
their owners. It is certain that animals, too large or too small, will alike approach to
that profitable size which is best adapted to their pastures ; but the large animal becomes
unhealthy, and degenerates in form, and in all its valuable properties ; whereas the small
one, while it increases in size, improves in every respect. (Gen. Rep. Scot-^ c. xiv.)
Sect. II. Of the Means of improving the Breed of Animals.
2023. By improvement of a breed is to be understood the producing such an alteration
in shape or description, as shall render the animal better fitted for the labours he has to
perform ; better fitted for becoming fat ; or for producing milk, wool, eggs, feathers, or
particular qualities of these. The fundamental principle of this amelioration is the pro-
Book II. IMPROVING THE BREED OF ANIMALS. 301
per selection of parents. Three theories have obtained notice on this subject ; the first
in favour of breeding from individuals of the same parentage, called the in-and-in system :
the second in favour of breeding from individuals of two different offsprings or varieties,
called the system of cross breeding ; and the third in favour of breeding from animals of
the same variety, but of different parentage, which may be called breeding in the line, or
in the same race. As is usual in such cases, none of these theories is exclusively cor-
rect, at least as far as respects agricultural improvement ; for, as it will afterwards appear,
the principles on which a selection for breeding so as to improve the carcass of the animal
depends, will lead occasionally to either mode. Breeding in the same line, however, is
the system at present adopted by what are considered the best breeders.
2024. The size, form, and general properties of the inferior animals in a state of nature
may be always traced to the influence of soil and climate. Abundance of food, though
of a coarse quality, will produce an enlargement of size in an animal which has been
compelled to travel much for a scanty supply. Early maturity is also promoted by the
same abundance ; and if the food is of a better quality, and obtained without fatigue, a
tendency to fatten at an early age will be gradually superinduced, and combined with a
tameness and docility of temper, a general improvement of form, and a diminished
proportion of oflal ; but at the same time such animals will not be capable of enduring
the fatigue and privations to which the less fortunate natives of the mountains of Scot-
land and Wales are habituated from their earliest age.
2025. Hardiness of constitution is one of the most desirable properties of live stock, for
districts producing only a very scanty supply of food for winter.
2026. A barren and inountainous surface and rigorous climate not only prohibit any considerable
improvement in the quantity and quality of its produce, but at the same time prescribe to the husbandman
the kind of stock which he must employ for consuming that produce. His cattle and sheep must be in a
great measure the creatures of his own mountains and of his own climate. He cannot avail himself of the
scientific principles which have so eminently improved the live stock of rich pastures. The most esteemed
breeds of England, instead of returning a greater quantity of meat for their foi-", could not subsist at all
upon the mountains of the north. The first object of the Highland farmer is tv^ select animals that will
live and thrive upon his pastures. Of two breeds nearly equally hardy, he will no doubt prefer the cattle
that will give the most valuable carcass, and the sheep that will return the most money in wool and
carcass. He has seldom any considerable extent of land which would fatten any breed ; and, if he had,
there is no market for it within his reach. With his live stock, as with his crops, he must be determined
by his situation ; and he would judge very ill, if. he should lay aside his oats and big (native barley) for
the more valuable but precarious crops of wheat and barley.
2027. Early maturity is a most valuable property in all sorts of live stock. With
regard to those animals which are fed for their carcasses, it is of peculiar importance that
they should become fat at an early age, because they not only sooner return the price of
their food with the profits of the feeder, but in general also a greater value for their
consumption than slow-feeding animals. A propensity to fatten at an early age is a sure
proof that an animal will fatten speedily at any after period of its life.
2028. Tameness and docility of temper are desirable properties in most of the domesti-
cated animals. The.se are also in some degree incompatible with the character of the
live stock of mountainous districts, merely because they are necessarily subjected to a
very slight degree of domestication, and must search for their food over a great extent of
country. When they are reared in more favourable situations, plentifully supplied with
food, and more frequently under the superintendence of man, their native wildness is in
a great measure subdued. The same treatment which induces early maturity will
gradually effect this change.
2029. The quality ofthejlesh, the proportion which the fine and course parts bear to each
other, and the weight of both to that of the offal, constitute the com/arative value of two
animals of equal weight, destined to be the food of man. The fir-t of these properties
seems to be determined by the breed and food ; the second by the .^brm and proportions
of the animal ; and the third by all these and its degree of fatness. The flesh of well-
formed small animals, both of cattle and sheep, is well known to be finer grained, of a
better flavour, more intermixed with fat, and to afford a richer gravy than that of large
animals, and it brings a higher price accordingly in all the principal markets of the
island.
2030. The desirable properties of animals are different, according to the purposes to
which they are applied. The principal productions of live stock are meat, milk, labour,
and wool. A breed of cattle equally well adapted to the butcher, the dairy-maid, and
the plough or cart, is nowhere to be found. So far as experience enables us to judge,
these properties appear to be inconsistent with one another, and to belong to animals of
different forms and proportions. It must be evident, that a description of a well formed
animal for fattening will not apply to any of the diflferent varieties of horses. And with
regard to .sheep, there is reason to suspect that veiy fine wool cannot be produced by
such as have the greatest propensity to fatten, and will return the most meat for the food
they consume.
2031. The chief object of most breeders of cattle and sheep is their carcass. If a demand
for dairy produce, for the labour of oxen, or for fine wool, should hereafter make it hi»
902 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
interest to give a preference to any of these commodities, the form and proportions which
he studies to obtain, with a view to the greatest produce of animal food, may probably
require to be somewhat varied. In the mean time, it is only necessary in this place to
notice the shapes which indicate a propensity to fatten in the shortest time, and with the
least consumption of food, and to lay the fat on the most valuable parts of the carcass.
2032. The head should be fine, clean, and smalL
2033. The collar full at the breast and shoulders, and tapering gradually to where the neck and head
join.
2034. The breast broad, and well advanced before the legs.
2035. The shoulders wide and full, joining to the collar forward, and the chine backward, so as to leave
no hollow in either place.
2036. The back, from the shoulders to the tail, broad, flat, and nearly level
2037. The chest full and deep ; the ribs rising from the back in a circular form.
2038. The breadth of the back, and circxUar form of a deep chest, are always considered as essential
requisites. A flat-ribbed chest, however deep, and large bones, are invariably marks of a slow-feeding
animal
2039. By a slight touch of the Jingers, a good judge of cattle knows immediately whether
an animal will readily make fat or not, and in which part it will be the fattest. The
sensation is different from that of softness, being mellow and kindly. This skill, how-
ever, is only to be acquired by practice, and the feeling can scarcely be expressed in
words. There are several other indications of a propensity to fatten, which, though
perhaps not strictly essential, are yet very generally found to accompany it ; such as thin
ears, hides, and pelts, and small, fine, and straight bones in the legs. Horns are to be
chiefly regarded as a criterion for distinguishing one breed from another. A variety of
minor circumstances are attended to by skilful breeders, in selecting animals for propa-
gating, to which an unexperienced spectator would attach no importance whatever.
2040. A breed may be said to be improved, when some desirable property, which it did
not possess before, has been imparted to it, and also when its defects have been removed,
or diminished, and its valuable properties enhanced. Improvement, in its more extensive
application to the live stock of a country, may also be said to be effected, when, by a total
or partial change of live stock, the value of the natural produce of the soil is augmented,
and a greater quantity of human food and other desirable commodities obtained from it.
Whatever may be the merit of that skilful management which is necessary to the form-
ation of a valuable breed, a considerable degree of the same kind of merit may be justly
claimed by those, who have introduced and established it in situations where its
advantages had never been contemplated, and in which, indeed, the obstacles to its
success might have appeared almost insurmountable. The whole of the preceding part
of this section is taken from the General Report of Scotland, and is understood to contain
the sentiments of the best breeders of that countiy.
2041. That the breed of animals is improved by the largest males is a very general
opinion ; but this opinion, according to some, is the reverse of the truth, and has done
considerable mischief. The great object of breeding, by whatever mode, is the improve-
ment of form ; and experience has proved that this has only been produced in an eminent
degree in those instances in which the females were larger than in the usual proportion
of females to males ; and that it has generally failed where the males were disproportion-
ably large. {Culleys Introdtiction.) Tlie following epitome of the science of breeding
is by the late eminent surgeon, Henry Cline, who practised it extensively on his own
farm at Southgate. We present it chiefly because it is the work of an eminent and very
scientific man, and because it is almost the only systematic view of the subject produced
by a man of science. It is proper at the same time to state that though it is approved
and defended by Dr. Coventry at Edinburgh (Remarks on Live Stock. Pamph. 8vo.
1806.), it has been, and we believe is now, disapproved of by some eminent practical
breeders. {Farm. Mag. vol. viii. p. 5.) Mr. Cline's system, however, is translated into
most of the continental languages, and has lately been illustrated by M. de Dombasle
in France, and M. Hazzi in Bavaria, and others.
2042. The external form of domestic animals has been much studied, and the pro-
portions are well ascertained. But the external form is an indication only of internal
structure. Tlie principles of improving it must, therefore, be founded on a knowledge
of the structure and use of internal parts.
2043. The lungs are of the first importance. It is on their size and soundness that the strength and
health of animals principally depend The power of converting food into nourishment is in proportion to
their size. An animal with large lungs is capable of converting a given quantity of food into more
nourishment than one with smaller lungs ; and therefore has a greater aptitude to fatten.
2044. The chest, according to its external form and size, indicates the size of the lungs. Tiie form ot
the chest should approach to the figure of a cone, having its apex situated between the shoulders, and its
base towards the loins. Its capacity depends on its form more than on the extent of its circumference ;
for where the girth is equal in two animals, one may have much larger lungs than the other. A circle
contains more than an ellipsis of equal circumference .: and in proportion as the ellipsis deviates from the
circle, it contains less. A deep chest, therefore, is not capacious unless it is proportionably broad.
2045. The pelvis is the cavity formed by the junction of the haunch bones with the hone of the rump.
It is essential that this cavity should be large in the female, that she may be enabled to bring forth her
young with less difficulty. When this cavity is small, the life of the mother and her offspring is cndan-
gered. The size of the pelvis is chiefly indicated by the width of the hips, and the breadth of the waist.
Book II. IMPROVING THE BREED OF ANIMALS. 303
which is the space between the thighs. The breadth of the loins is always in proportion to that of the
chest and pelvis.
2046. The head should be small, by which the birth is facilitated. Its smallness affords other advantages,
and generally indicates that the animal is of a good breed. Horns are useless to domestic animals, ana
they are often a cause of accidents. It is not difficult to breed animals without them. The breeders of
horned cattle and horned sheep sustain a loss more extensive than they may conceive ; for it is not the
horns alone, but also much bone in the skulls of such animals to support their horns, for which the butcher
pays nothing ; and besides this, there is an additional quantity of ligament and muscle in the neck, which
is of small value. The skull of a ram, with its horns, weighed five times more than a skull which was
hornless. Both these skulls were taken from sheep of the same age, each being four years old. The great
difference in weight depended chiefly on the horns, for the lower jaws were nearly equal ; one weighing
seven ounces, and the other six ounces and three quarters, which proves that the natural size of the head
was the same in both, independent of the horns and the thickness of bone which supports them. In
horned animals tlie skull is extremely thick. In a hornless animal it is much thinner, especially in that
part where tlie horns usually grow. To those who have reflected on the subject, it may appear of little
consequence whether sheep and cattle have horns ; but on a moderate calculation it will be found, that
the loss in farming stock, and also in the diminution of animal food, is very considerable, from the pro-
ductions of horns and their appendages. A mode of breeding which would prevent the production of
these, would afford a considerable profit in an increase of meat, wool, and other valuable parts.
'2047. The length qf the neck should be proportioned to the height of the animal, that it may collect its
food with ease.
2048. The muscles, and the tendons which are their appendages, should be large ; by which an animal
is enabled to travel with greater facility.
2049. The hones, when large, are commonly considered an indication of strength ; but strength does not
depend on the size of the bones, but on that of the muscles. Many animals with large bones are weak,
their muscles being .small. Animals which have been imperfectly nourished during growth have their
bones disproportionately large. If such deficiency of nourishment originated from a constitutional defect,
which is the most frequent cause, they remain weak during life. Large bones, therefore, generally indi-
cate an imperfection in the organs of nutrition.
2050. To obtain the most improved form, continues Mr. Cline, the two modes of breeding
described as the in-and-in and crossing modes have been practised. The first mode may-
be the better practice, when a particular variety approaches perfection in form ; especially
for those who may not be acquainted with the principles on which improvement depends.
When the male is much larger than the female, the offspring is generally of an imperfect
form. If the female be proportionately larger than the male, the offspring is of an im-
proved form. For instance, if a well-formed large ram be put to ewes proportionately
smaller, the lambs will not be so well shaped as their parents ; but if a small ram be put
to larger ewes, the lambs will be of an improved form. The proper method of improving
the form of animals consists in selecting a well-formed female, proportionately larger
than the male. The improvement depends on this principle, that the power of the female
to supply her offspring with nourishment is in proportion to her size, and to the power
of nourishing herself from the excellence of her constitution. The size of the foetus is
generally in pfoportion to that of the male parent ; and, therefore, when the female parent
is disproportionately small, the quantity of nourishment is deficient, arid her offspring has
all the disproportions of a starveling. But when the female, from her size and good con-
stitution, is more than adequate to the nourishment of a foetus of a smaller male than herself,
the growth must be proportionately greater. The larger female has also a larger quantity
of milk, and her offspring is more abundantly supplied with nourishment after birth.
2051. Abundant novrhhment is necessary to produce the most perfect formed animal, from the
period of its existence until its growth is complete. As already observed, the power to prepare the
greatest quantity of nourishment from a given quantity of food, depends principally on the magnitude of
the lungs, to which the organs of digestion are subservient. To obtain animals with large lungs, crossing
is the most expeditious method ; because well-formed females may be selected from a variety of large
size to be put to a well-formed male of a variety that is rather smaller. By such a mode of crossing, the
lungs and heart become proportionately larger, in consequence of a peculiarity in the circulation of the
foetus, which causes a larger proportion of the blood, under such circumstances, to be distributed to the
lungs, than to the other parts of the body ; and as the shape and size of the chest depend upon that of
the lungs, hence arises that remarkably large chest, which is produced by crossing with females that
are larger than the males. The practice, according to this principle of improvement, however, ought
to be limited ; for it may be carried to such an extent, that tho bulk of the body might be so dispropor-
tioned to the size of the limbs as to prevent the animal from moving with sufficient facility. In animals
where activity is required, this practice should not be extended so far as in those which are intended for
the food of man.
2052. The characters of animals, or the external appearances by which the varieties of
the same species are distinguished, are observed in the offspring ; but those of the male
parent more frequently predominate. Thus in the breeding of horned animals there are
many varieties of sheep and some of cattle which are hornless. If a hornless ram be
put to horned ewes, almo.st all the lambs will be hornless ; partaking of the character of
the male more than of the female parent. In some counties, as Norfolk, Wiltshire, and
Dorsetshire, most of the sheep have horns. In Norfolk the horns may be got rid of by
crossing with Ryeland rams ; which would also improve the form of the chest and the
quality of the wool. In Wiltshire and Dorsetshire, the same improvements might be
made by crossing the sheep with South Down rams. An offspring without horns, or
rarely producing horns, might be obtained from the Devonsliire cattle, by crossing with
hornless bulls of the Galloway breed ; which would also improve the form of the chest,
in which the Devonshire cattle are often deficient.
2053. Examples of the good effects of crossing may be found in the improved breeds of horses and
swine in England. The great improvement of the breed of horses arose from crossing with the dimi-
nutive stallions. Barbs and Arabians : and the introduction of Flanders mares into this country was the
304 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
source of improvement in the br ed of cart-horses. The form of the swine has been greatly improved by
crossing with the small Chinese boar.
205i. Examples of the bad effects ofa'ossing the breed are more numerous. When it became the fashion
in London to drive large bay horses, the farmers in Yorkshire put their mares to mucli larger stallions
than usual, and thus did infinite mischief to their breed, by producing a race of small-chested, long-legged,
large-boned, wortliless animals. A similar project was adopted in Normandy, to enlarge the breed of
horses there, by the use of stallions from Holstein ; and, in consequence, the best breed of horses in France
would have been spoiled had not the farmers discovered their mistake in time, by observing the oflspring
much inferior in form to that of the native stallions. Some graziers in the Isle of Sheppy conceived that
they could improve their sheep by large Lincolnshire rams ; the produce of which, however, was much
inferior in theshape of the carcass, and the quality of the wool ; and the flocks were greatly impaired by this
attempt to improve them. Attempts to improve the animals of a country by any plan of crossing should
be made with the greatest caution ; for by a mistaken practice, extensively pursued, irreparable mischief
may be done. In any country where a particular race of animals has continued for centuries, it may be
presumed that their constitution is adapted to the food and climate.
2055. The pliancy of the animal economy is such, that an animal will gradually
accommodate itself to great vicissitudes in climate, and alterations in food ; and by de-
grees undergo great changes in constitution ; but these changes can be effected only by
degrees, and may often require a great number of successive generations for their accom-
plishment. It may be proper to improve the form of a native race, but at the same time
it may be very injudicious to attempt to enlarge their size ; for the size of animals is
commonly adapted to the soil and climate which they inhabit. Where produce is nutri-
tive and abundant, the animals are large, having grown proportionately to the quantity of
food which, for generations, they have been accustomed to obtain. Where the produce is
scanty, the animals are small, being proportioned to the quantity of food which they were
able to procure. Of these contrasts the sheep of Lincolnshire and of Wales are examples.
The sheep of Lincolnshire would starve on the mountains of Wales.
2056. Crossing the breed of animals m.ay be attended with bad effects in various ways,
and that even when adopted in the beginning on a good principle. For instance, suppose
some larger ewes than those of the native breed were taken to the mountains of Wales,
and put to the rams of that country, if these foreign ewes were fed in proportion to their
size, their lambs would be of an improved form, and larger in size than the native
animals ; but the males produced by this cross, though of a good form, would be dispro-
portionate in size to the native ewes ; and, therefore, if permitted to mix with them,
would be productive of a starveling, ill-formed progeny. Thus a cross, which at first
was an improvement, would, by giving occasion to a contrary cross, ultimately prejudice
the breed. The general mistake in crossing has arisen from an attempt to increase the
size of a native race of animals ; being a fruitless effort to counteract the laws of nature.
No attempt to enlarge the size of animals by any mode of breeding will ever succeed
without a corresponding change in the quantity and quality of their food, and their
means of procuring it without much fatigue. The climate also requires attention. An
improved short horn could never arrive at perfection on the scanty and coarse fare, and
severe climate, of the Highlands of Scotland. Size, in fact, is a very subordinate con-
sideration. The great object, as observed above (§ 2021.), is to obtain the greatest
possible return for the food consumed ; and it is only where both the quantity and
quality are in great abundance, that large animals, if of a good description, may be
preferred to small ones.
2057. The Arabian horses are, in general, the most perfect in the world; which
probably has arisen from great care in selection, and also from being unmixed with any
variety of the same species ; the males, therefore, have never been disproportioned in size
to the females.
2058. The native horses of India are small, but well proportioned, and good of their
kind. With the intention of increasing their size, the India company have adopted a
plan of sending large stallions to India. If these stallions should be extensively used,
a disproportioned race must be the result, and a valuable breed of horses may be
irretrievably spoiled.
2059. From theory, from practice, and from extensive observation, the last more to be
depended on than either, " it is reasonable," Cline continues, " to form this conclusion :
it is wrong to enlarge a native breed of animals, for in proportion to their increase of size,
they become worse in form, less hardy, and more liable to disease." {Communications to
the B. of Ag., vol. iv. p. 446.)
2060. The above opinions may be considered as supported by the most eminent
practical breeders, as Bakewell, Culley, Somerville, Parry, and others ; and by most
theorists, as Coventry, Darwin, Hunt, Young, &c. T. A. Knight writes in the Com-
munications to the Board of Agriculture in favour of cross-breeding, as do Pitt and others
in the County Surveys, but mostly from very limited experience. Sir J. S. Sebright, in
a letter addressed to Sir Joseph Banks, on improving the breed of domestic animals, 1809,
has taken the opposite side of the question ; but the meaning he attaches to the term
breeding in-and-in is so limited, as to render it a very different sort of breeding from that
practised by Messrs. Bakewell and Culley, which has been generally so named and recom-
mended by Cline and others, who favour, rather than otherwise, the in-and-in system.
Book II. IMPROVING THE BREED OF ANIMALS. 305
He says, " Magnell's fox-hounds are quoted as an instance of the success of breeding
in-and-in ; but upon speaking to that gentleman upon the subject, 1 found that he diil
not attach the meaning that I do to the term in-and-in. He said that he frequently bred
from the father and the daughter, and the mother and the son. This is not what I
consider as breeding in-and-in ; for the daughter is only half of the same blood as the
father, and will probably partake, in a great degree, of the properties of the mother.
Magnell sometimes bred from brother and sister ; this is certainly what may be called a
little close : but should they both be very good, and, particularly, should the same defects
not predominate in both, but the perfections of the one promise to correct in the produce
the imperfections of the other, I do not think it objectionable : much farther than this
the system of breeding from the same family cannot, in my opinion, be pursued with
safety." (p. 10.) John Hunt, surgeon at Loughborough, a friend of Bakewell and
Darwin, in a reply to Sir J. S. Sebright's pamphlet, entitled Agricultural Memoirs, ^c
1812, justly observes, that as Sir John has given no definition of tlie term in-and-in,
from what may be gathered from the above extract he seems to have been as near as
possible of the same mind as Bakewell, whose practice, it is on all sides allowed, was
" to put together tiiose animals which were most perfect in shape, without regard to
affinity in blood." This, in fact, is the general practice in all the best breeding districts,
and especially in Leicestershire and Northumberland, and may properly be termed
breeding in the line.
2061. George CuUey, a Northumberland farmer of great practice in breeding and feeding, in his Observ-
ations on Live Stock, not only concurs in this principle as far as respects quadrupeds, but considers it to
hold good in the feathered tribe, and, in short, in animals of every kind. His conclusion is, " That of all
animals, of whatever kind, those which have the smallest, cleanest, finest bones, are in general the best
proportioned, and covered with the best and finest grained meat." — " I believe," he adds, " they are also
the hardiest, healthiest, and most inclinable to feed; able to bear the most fatigue while living, and worth
the most per lb. when dead." {Observations, 222.)
2062. Cross-breeding, under judicious management, might probably be often employed
to correct the faults of particular breeds, or to impart to them new qualities. " Were I,"
says Sir J. S. Sebright, " to define what is called the art of breeding, I should say, that
it consisted in the selection of males and females, intended to breed together, in reference
to each other's merits and defects. It is not always by putting the best male to the best
female, that the best produce will be obtained ; for should they both have a tendency to
the same defect, although in ever so slight a degree, it will in general preponderate so
much in the produce, as to render it of little value. A breed of animals may be said to
be improved, when any desired quality has been increased by art, beyond what that
quality was in the same breed in a state of nature. The swiftness of the race-horse, the
propensity to fatten in cattle, and the fine wool in sheep, are improvements which have
been made in particular varieties of the species to which those animals belong. What
has been produced by art must be continued by the same means ; for the most improved
breeds will soon return to a state of nature, or perhaps defects will arise, which did not
exist when the breed was in its natural state, unless the greatest attention be paid to the
selection of the individuals who are to breed together.
2063. We must observe the smallest tendency to imperfection in our stock, the moment it
appears, so as to be able to counteract it, before it becomes a defect ; as a rope-dancer,
to preserve his equilibrium, must correct the balance, before it is gone too far, and then
not by such a motion as will incline it too much to the opposite side. The breeder's
success will depend entirely upon the degree in which he may happen to possess this par-
ticular talent.
2064. Regard should not only be j'aid to the qualities apparent in animals selected for
breeding, but to those which have prevailed in the race from which they are descended,
as they will always show themselves, sooner or later, in the progeny : it is for this reason
that we should not breed from an animal, however excellent, unless we can ascertain it
to be what is called well bred; that is, descended from a race of ancestors, who have,
through several generations, possessed in a high degree the properties which it is our
object to obtain. The offspring of some animals is very unlike themselves ; it is, there-
fore, a good precaution, to try the young males with a few females, the quality of whose
produce has been already ascertained : by this means we shall know the sort of stock they
get, and the descrijition of females to which they are the best adapted. If a breed cannot
be improved, or even continued in the degree of perfection at which it has already arrived,
but by breeding from individuals so selected as to correct each other's defects, and by a
judicious combination of their different properties (a position that will not be denied),
it follows that animals must degenerate, by being long bred from the same family,
without the intermixture of any other blood, or from being what is technically called
bred in-and-in."
2065. Bakewell and CuUey say, " like begets like," therefore breed from the best. Of this, says Sir
J. S. Sebright, there can be no doubt ; " but it is to be proved how long the same family, bred in-and-in,
will continue to be the best." Breeding^ in the line appears more consonant to what takes place in nature
than either breeding from very near relationship or crossing one race with another; but, arguing from
306 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part 11.
analogy, the result of certain experiments, made by T. A. Knight on the vegetable kingdom, seems to
justify us in concluding that occasional crossing may become not only advantageous, but even necessary
for the purpose of correcting defects. Nevertheless, as the last mentioned writer and Cline observe, it can
only be safely resorted to by skilful and experienced breeders. (See the Rev. H. Berry, in Brit. Farm.
Mag. vols. ii. & iii.)
Sect. III. Of the General Principles of rearing^ managing^ and feeding Domestic
Animals.
2066. Immediately after the birth (f every animal, even of such as are domesticated, the
rudiments of its education, as well as its bodily nourishment, are necessarily given by the
mother. For this purpose the latter should, during her pregnancy, have been duly
protected against all extremes of temperature, well provided with shade and shelter, and
abundantly supplied with food and water. When the period of gestation arrives, she
should, in general, also be separated from the rest of the flock or herd, and by whatever
means the case may demand, kept comfortable and tranquil.
2067. After the- birth, the first interference on the part of man should be, that of
supplying the mother with food of a light and delicate quality, compared with that which
she had been in the habit of using, and also of administering the same description of food
to the offspring, as far as it may by its nature be able to use it. The gentlest treatment
should accompany these operations; and the opportunity taken of familiarisiug both parent
and offspring with man, by gently caressing them, or at least by familiar treatment on
the part of the attendant.
2068. As the animals increase in size and strength, they should have abundance of air,
exercise, and" food, according to their natures ; and whatever is attempted by man in the
way of taming or teaching should be conducted on mild and conciliating principles,
rather than on those of harshness and compulsion. Caresses, or familiar treatment,
should generally be accompanied by small supplies of food, at least at first, as an
inducement to render the animal submissive to them ; afterwards habit will, even in the
inferior creation, render the familiarities of man agreeable to them for their own sake ;
but even then, to keep up this feeling, small portions of select food should frequently
be employed as a reward. By contrasting this method with that of taming oi* teaching
animals by fear or compulsion, the advantages of the former mode will be evident.
2069. Interest is the grand mover of the lower anitnals as well as of man. In taming by fear all the
interest which the animal has is the avoiding of an evil ; in taming by caresses and food it is the attain-
ment of enjoyment. The most extraordinary results are recorded as having been obtained by the mild
mode, with almost every species of animal on which it has been tried : to this may be advantageously
joined, in the more powerful animals, hunger and fatigue. " The breeder Bakewell, Surgeon Hunt
informs us, at an advanced period of life, not only conquered a vicious restive horse, but, without the
assistance of either grooms or jockeys, taught this horse to obey his verbal orders with as great attention
as the most accomplished animal that was ever educated at Astley's school. Bakewell was accustomed to
say, that his horse could do every thing but speak. The method which he took to conquer this vicious
animal was never told, even to "his own domestics. He ordered his own saddle and bridle to be put
on this horse, which at that time was thought to be ungovernal^le, when he was. prepared for a journey of
two or three hundred miles ; and, that no one might be witness to the contest, he led the horse till he was
beyond the reach of observation. How far he walked, or in what manner this great business was
accomplished, was never known; but, when he returned from his journey, the horse was as gentle as a
lamb, and would obey his master's verbal orders on all occasions. When what are called irrational
animals are taught such strict obedience to the comm:ind of a superior order, it is in general supposed to
be the eft'ect of fear ; but Bakewell never made use of either whip or spur. When on horseback he had
a strong walking-stick in his hand, which he made the most use of when on foot ; he always rode with a
slack rein, which he frequently let lie upon the horse's neck, and so great was his objection to spurs, that
he never wore them. It was his opinion that all such animals might be conquered by gentle means ; and,
such was his knowledge of animal nature, that he seldom failed in his opinion, whether his attention was
directed to the body or the mind." {Agr. Mem., p. 127.)
2070. The purposes for ivhich animals are fed or nourished are for promoting their
enlargement or growth ; for fitting them for labour ; for the increase of certain animal
products ; or for fattening them for slaughter as human food. We shall confine our
remarks to the last purpose as being the most important, and as necessarily including
much of wliat belongs to the three others. In the fattening of cattle the following points
require to be attended to : abundance of proper food, a proper degree of heat, protection
against extremes of weather, good air and water, moderate exercise, tranquillity, clean-
liness, comfort, and health.
2071. Food, though it must be supplied in abundance, ought not to be given to
satiety. Intervals of resting and exercise must be allowed according to circumstances.
Even animals grazing on a rich pasture have been found to food faster when removed
from it once a day, and either folded or put in an inferior pasture for two or three
hours. Stall-fed cattle and swine will have their flesh improved in flavour by being
turned out into a yard or field once a day ; and many find that they feed better, and
produce better-flavoured meat, when kept loose under warm sheds or hammels, one or
two in a division, a practice now very general in Berwickshire. (See Hammel.)
Coarser food may be first given to feeding animals; and, as they acquire flesh, that
which is of more solid and substantial quality. In general it may be observed, that if
the digestive powers of the animal are in a sound state, the more food he eats the sooner
will the desired result be obtained ; a very moderate quantity beyond sufllciency con-
Book II. REARING, &c. DOMESTIC ANIMALS. S07
stitutes abundance ; but, by withholding this additional quantity, an animal, especially
if young, may go on eating for several years, without ever attaining to fatness. Properly
treated, a well fed ox, of moderate size, will fatten on a rich pasture in from four to six
months ; and, in stalls or covered pens, with green or steamed food, in a shorter period.
207-2. In 7/oung, growing animals the powers of digestion are so great that they require
less rich food than such as are of mature age ; for the same reason, also, they require more
exercise. If rich food is supplied in liberal quantities, and exercise withheld, diseases
are generated, the first of which may be excessive fatness ; growth is impeded by very
rich food, for experience shows that the coarsest-fed animals have uniformly the largest
bones. Common sense wall suggest the propriety of preferring a medium course between
very rich and very poor nutriment.
2073. Mastication and cooking. Unless food be thoroughly deprived of its vegetative
powers before it enters the stomach, the whole nourishment winch it is capable of
affording cannot be derived from it. In the case of the leaves and stalks of vegetables,
this is in general effected by mastication ; but it requires some care to accomplish it in
the case of grains. Hence the advantage of mixing corn given to horses or cattle with
chaff or chopped straw ; and hence it is supposed by some, that the instinct which fowls
have to swallow small stones is intended by nature for the same object. But the most
effectual mode of destroying the living principle is by the appHcation of heat; and if
vegetable food of every kind could be steamed or boiled before it was given to animals
(at least in winter, and for fattening for the shambles, or feeding for milk), it is
rendered probable, by analogy and experiment, that much more nourishment would be
derived from it.
2074. Salt, it appears, from various experiments, may be advantageously given to
most animals in very small quantities ; it acts as a whet to the appetite, promotes the
secretion of bile, and, in general, is favourable to health and activity. In this way only
can it be considered as preventing or curing diseases ; unless perhaps in the case of
worms, to which all saline and bitter substances are known to be injurious. -^
2075. That degree of heat which is natural to animals in their original country, or
has become so by habit and the breeding for successive generations in a cold climate, is
necessary to their wellbeing ; and a somewhat increased degree in the cold months, or
diminished degree in such as are oppressively warm, is advantageous in the fattening
process. Where a sufficient degree of warmth to promote the ordinary circulation of the
blood is not produced by the natural climate, or by exercise, it must be supplied by an
artificial climate. Houses and sheds are the obvious resources both for this purpose, and
for protection from extremes of weather. Cold rains and northerly winds are highly
injurious, by depriving the external surface of the body of caloric, more rapidly than it
can be supplied from within by respiration, and the action of the stomach ; and also by
contracting the pores of the skin, so as to impede circulation. When an animal happens
to shed its covering, whether of hair, wool, or feathers, at such inclement seasons, the
effects on its general health are highly injurious. The excessive heats of summer, by
expanding all the parts of the animal frame, occasion a degree of lassitude, and want of
energy, even in the stomach and intestines ; and while the animal eats and digests less
food than usual, a greater waste than usual takes place by perspiration. Nature has
provided trees, rocks, caverns, hills, and waters, to moderate these extremes of heat and
weather ; and man imitates them by hovels, sheds, and other buildings, according to
particular circumstances.
2076. Good air and ivater it may seem unnecessary to insist on ; but cattle and horses,
and even poultry, pent up in close buildings, where there are no facilities for a change of
the atmosphere, often suffer on this account. A slight degree of fever is produced at
first, and, after a time, when the habit of the animal becomes reconciled to such a state,
a retarded circulation, and general decay or diminution of the vital energies, take place.
2077. Water ought to be soft and pure, as being a better solvent than such as is hard and charged with
earthy particles. It ought to be of a moderate temperature, under that of the open air in hot weather,
and exceeding it in winter. Deep wells afford this difference. In particular cases, as in those of animals
in a suckling state or milked by man, warmed water has been found advantageous. Meals, or other liglit
rich matters, are sometimes mixed with it ; but it does not clearly appear, except in the last case, that
liquid food is so generally advantageous for fattening animals, as that which being equally rich is solid.
Some judgment is requisite as to the time most proper for giving water to animals. In general, it does
not appear necessary to supply it immediately after eating, tor animals in a natural state, or pasturing in
a field, generally lie down after filling themselves, and after the process of digestion seems to have gone
on for some time, they go in quest of water. Perhaps the immediate dilution of food, after being taken
into the stomach, with water, may, at the same time, weaken the digestive powers, by diluting the gastric
juice. At all events, the free use of water at any time, but especially during meals, is found to weaken
digestion in the human species. As animals of every kind become reconciled to any habit, not ultimately
injurious to health, perhaps for housed animals a stated quantity of water, given an hour, or an hour and
a half after what may be called their meals, may be the best mode.
2078. Moderate exercise ought not to be dispensed with, where the flavour of animal
produce is any object ; it is known to promote circulation, perspiration, and digestion,
and by consequence to invigorate the appetite. Care must be taken, however, not to
carry exercise to that point where it becomes a labour instead of a recreation. In some
X 2
308 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
cases, as in feeding swine and poultry, fatness is hastened by promoting sleep, and
preventing motion rather than encouraging it : but such animals cannot be considered
healthy- fed ; in fact, their fatness is most commonly the result of disease.
2079. TranquUlittf is an obvious requisite, for where the passions of brutes are called
into action, by whatever means, their influence on their bodies is often as great as in the
human species. Hence the use of castration, complete or partial separation, shading
from too much light, protection from insects, dogs, and otlier annoying animals, and
from the too frequent intrusion of man.
2080. Cleanliness is favourable to health, by promoting perspiration and circulation.
Animals in a wild state attend to this part of their economy themselves ; but, in pro-
portion as they are cultivated, or brought under the control of man, this becomes out
of their power ; and to insure their subserviency to his wishes, this ])art of culture, as
well as others, must be supplied by art. Combing and brushing stall-fed cattle and
cows are known to contribute materially to health ; though washing sheep with a view to
cleaning the wool often has a contrary effect, from the length of time the wool requires
to dry. This often brings on colds, and aggravates the liver complaint, so incident to
these animals. Bathing or steeping the feet of stalled animals occasionally in warm
water would no doubt contribute to their health. Bathing swine two or three times a
week in hot water, as in that used for boiling or steaming food, has been found a real
advantage.
2081. Comfort. An animal may be well fed, lodged, and cleaned, without being
comfortable in every respect ; and in brutes, as well as men, want of comfort operates on
the digestive powers. If the surface of a stall, in which an ox or a horse stands, deviates
much from a level, he will be continually uneasy ; and he will be uneasy during night,
if its surface is rough, or if a proper bed of litter is not prepared every evening for him
to repose on. The form of racks and mangers is often less commodious than it might
be. A hay rack which projects forward is bad ; because the animal in drawing out the
hay is teased with the hay seeds falling into its eyes or ears ; and this form, it may be
added, is apt to cause the breath of the animal to ascend through its food, which must
after a time render it nauseous. For this reason hay should lie as short a time as possible
in lofts, but when practicable be given direct from the rick. Poultry of different kinds
are often crowded together, without any regard to the comfort of the particular kinds by
attending to their peculiarities, such as a smooth or soft floor for the web feet of the duck
tribe, or the proper size of roosting sticks for the grasping-toed feet of the other tribes.
Even the crowing of the cock must cause some degree of irritation, and consequently
impede health and fattening by disturbing the repose of quiet fowls, such as the turkey or
goose. Various other instances will occur to a reflecting mind ; and surely it must be a
duty as agreeable as it is conducive to our own interest, to promote as much as possible
the comfort of those animals whose lives are shortly to be sacrificed for ours.
2082. Health. A good state of health will, in general, be the result of the mode of
feeding and treatment which we have described ; but in proportion as our treatment,
either of ourselves or other animals, is refined and artificial, in the same proportion
are the functions of nature liable to derangement or interruption from atmospherical
changes, and various accidental causes. When this takes place, recourse must be had to
art for relief. This is an obvious, natural, and reasonable practice ; though some
eontend that as every disease is only an effort of nature to relieve the being from some
evil, it ought to be left to itself. To treat animals when in health artificially, and the
ijioment when they become diseased to abandon them to nature, is a proposition so incon-
gruous and absurd, that one would suppose it would be rejected by the common sense
of mankind. There are, however, some solitary instances of medical men having
adopted this opinion ; but the melancholy result of their acting on it in the human
species, as well as its utter rejection by all rational professors, and men in general, has
reduced it to its intrinsic value. There may be much of quackery in medicine ; and
unquestionably there is a great deal in the art, as applied to the brute creation by common
practitioners : but to reject the medical art altogether, becomes, on the other hand, a
species of quackery just as despicable as the other, and not less dangerous ; for it
cannot be much better for ^ patient to be left to die through neglect than to be killed by
.overmuch care.
2083. Farrieri/, as applied to cattle and sheep, is a department of medicine in which
perhaps greater ignorance prevails than in any other. The subject, as applied to horses,
has, since the establishment of veterinary schools in this country, and in France, become
better understood ; but the pupils from these establishments are so thinly scattered, that
as Laurence (veterinary surgeon, and author of a Treatise on Horses) observes, it were
desirable that country surgeons should in their different localities give instructions to the
empirical local practitioners in tlie country, and to intelligent bailifts ; and that gentle-
raen of property might have such a sense of their own interest as to call in a surgeon in
all cases of the least difficulty. All that we can here do is to repeat our advice of
Book II. FEEDING FOR EXTRAORDINARY PURPOSES. 309
studying the art of prevention rather than of cure ; to suggest that, in general, an analogy
subsists between the constitution and diseases of the human and brute creation ; to avoid
recipes and specific cures, rarely to bleed animals, unless by regular advice ; and to
confine as much as possible tlie operations of cow-doctors and smiths to giving warm
drinks, gentle purges, and clysters, which can seldom do any harm. Proprietors who
can aflford to employ intelligent bailiffs, or rather who give such men considerable salaries,
should ascertain previously to hiring them, by means of general questions, or by reference
to a professor, whether they know any thing of the subject. By thus creating a demand
for this species of knowledge, it would soon be produced in abundance.
Sect. IV. Of Feeding for Extraordinary Purposes.
2084. The extraordinary purposes of feeding may comprehend, promoting the growth,
maturity, or obesity of particular parts of the body ; promoting the produce of milk or
eggs ; or, fitting an animal for hard labour or long journeys, fasting, and other pri-
vations.
2085. Feeding for extraordinary purposes, such as promoting the growth of the liver
in geese; the heart in turkeys; producing excessively fat poultry, &c., seems to us
utterly unjustifiable on principles of humanity, and unworthy of enlightened men. The
practice of pulling out the animal's eyes, nailing it to the spot, and cramming or forcing
the food down its throat, is surely as repugnant to good taste and feeling, as the food so
produced must be tasteless and unwholesome. Putting out the eyes of certain singing
birds to improve their voice, and some practices in the rearing of game cocks, and fancy
pigeons (at least the first two) seem equally reprehensible.
2086. The fattening of fowls for the London market is a considerable branch of rural economy in some
convenient situations. " They are put up in a dark place, and crammed vi'xth a paste made of barley meal,
mutton suet, and some treacle or coarse sugar, mixed with milk, and are found to be completely ripe in a
fortnight If kept longer, the fever that is induced by this continued state of repletion renders them red
and unsaleable, and frequently kills them." {Agrictiltural Report of Berkshire, hy William Mavor, LL.D.
8vo. London, 1813.) But fowls brought to this state of artificial obesity are never so well flavoured in
the flesh, and probably not so salubrious as those of the same species fattened in a more natural way. The
great secret of having fine pullets is cleanliness, and high keeping with the best corn.
2087. The process followed in different parts of France to enlarge the lir^er is described
at length by SonninL (Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle, art. Oie.) The
object is to cause the whole vital forces to be deteraiined towards this part of the animal,
by giving it a kind of hepatic cachexy. In Alsace, the individual buys a lean goose,
which he shuts up in a small box, so tight that it cannot turn in it. The back part of
the bottom is furnished with a wide grating of rods, for the passage of the dung. In the
fore part there is a hole for the head, and below it a small trough is kept always full of
water, in which some pieces of wood charcoal are left to steep. A bushel of maize is
enough to feed it during a month, at the end of which time the goose is suflSciently
fattened. A thirtieth part is soaked in water each night, and crammed down its throat
next day, morning and evening. The rest of the time it drinks and guzzles in the water.
Towards the 22d day, they mix with the maize some poppy oil, and, at the end of the
month, it is known by a lump of fat under each wing, or rather by the difficulty of
breathing, that it is time to kill it, otherwise it will die of fat. The liver is then found
weighing one or two pounds, and, besides, the animal is excellent for the table, and
furnishes, during its roasting, from three to five pounds of fat, which is used in the
cooking of vegetables. Of six geese, there are commonly only four (and these are the
youngest) which answer the expectation of the fattener. They are kept in a cellar, or
cool place with little light. The temperature most favourable for fattening is between
30° and 40° Fahrenheit, so that it is only practised during the latter part of the autumn,
the winter, and the early part of spring. The process was examined in detail by us at
Strasbourg in October 1828, and will be found noticed in tlie account of the tour which
we made in that year, in the 5th volume of the Gardener's Maganne.
2088. The Romati epicures, who prized the livers of geese, had already observed, that
darkness was favourable to this practice ; no doubt, because it prevents all distraction,
and directs the whole powers towards the digestive organs. The want of motion, and
the difficulty of respiration, may be also taken into consideration ; the first from its
diminishing the waste of the system, and both from their retarding the circulation in the
vena portarum, of which the blood ought to become hydrogenated, in proportion as its
carbon unites itself to the oxygen which that liquid absorbs. This favours the formation
of the oily juice, which, after having filled the cellular system of the body, enters into the
biliary system and substance of the liver, and gives it that fatness and size which is
so delightful to the palates of true gourmands. The liver thus only becomes enlarged
consecutively, and the difficulty of respiration does not appear till the end, when its size
prevents the action of the lungs. Among a hundred fatteners, there are scarcely two
who adopt the practice of putting out the eyes qf the geese, and even these do not resort
to this barbarous practice till a day or two before they are killed ; and, therefore, the
X 3
310 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
geese of Alsace, which are free from these cruel operations, acquire a prodigious fatness,
which may be called an oleaginous dropsy, the effect of a general atony of the absorbents,
caused by want of exercise, combined with succulent food crammed down their throats,
and in an under-oxygenated atmosphere. (JEncyc. Brit. Sup., art. Food.)
2089. Earli/ lamb. As an instance of both breeding and feeding for extraordinary
purposes, we may mention the practice of those farmers who furnish the tables of the
wealthy with lamb, at almost every season of the year, by selecting certain breeds of
sheep, such as the Dorsetshire, which lamb very early, or by treating them in such a way
as to cause the female to come in heat at an unnatural time. In this way, lamb is pro-
cured as an article of luxury, as early as November and December ; and, on the contrary,
by keeping the ewe on a cold and poor hilly pasture, the lambing season is retarded, and
lamb furnished in September and October.
2090. Feeding for promoting the produce of milk or eggs. That which in plants or
animals is produced for particular purposes in nature may, by certain modes of treat-
ment, be rendered, for a time, a habit in the plant or animal, without reference to
its natural end. Thus in many cases annual plants may be rendered perennial by
continually pinching off their flowers as they appear ; and animals which give milk or lay
eggs may be made to produce both for a much longer time than is natural to them, by
creating a demand in their constitutions for these articles, by frequent and regular milk-
ings, and by taking away every egg as soon as produced ; and then, by appropriate food,
furnishing the constitution with the means of supplying this demand, by rich liquid food,
in the case of milking animals, and by dry, stimulating, and nourishing food, in the case
of poultry.
2091. Feeding to ft animals for hard labour or long journeys. It seems agreed on,
that dry rich food is the best for this purpose ; and that very much depends on rubbing,
cleaning, and warmth, in the intervals between labour and rest, in order to maintain
something of the increased circulation ; and, in short, to lessen the influence of the
transition from the one to the other. The quantity of water given should never be con-
siderable ; at least in cold countries and seasons. (See Horse, in Contents or Index.)
Sect. V. Of the Modes of killing Animals.
2092. The mode of killing animals has considerable effect on the flesh of the animal.
Most of those slaughtered for food are either bled to death, or are bled profusely imme-
diately after being deprived of life in some other way. The common mode of killing
cattle in this kingdom is, by striking them on the forehead with a pole-axe, and then
cutting their throats to bleed them. But this method is cruel, and not free from danger.
The animal is not always brought down by the first blow, and the repetition is difficult
and uncertain ; and, if the animal be not very well secured, accidents may happen.
Lord Somerville {General Survey of the Agriculture of Shropshire, by Joseph Plymley, M.A.,
8vo. London, 1803, p. 243.) therefore endeavoured to introduce the method of pithing
or laying cattle, by dividing the spinal marrow above the origin of the phrenic nerves,
as is commonly practised in Barbary, Spain, Portugal, Jamaica, and in some parts of
England ; and Jackson says, that the " best method of killing a bullock is by thrusting
a sharp-pointed knife into the spinal marrow, when the bullock will immediately fall
without any struggle, then cut the arteries about the heart." (Refections 07i the Commerce
of the Mediterranean, by John Jackson, Esq. F. S. A., 8vo. London, 1804, p. 91.)
Although the operation of pithing is not so difficult but that it may, with some practice,
be performed with tolerable/ certainty ; and although Lord Somerville took a man with
him to Portugal to be instructed in the method, and made it a condition that the prize
cattle at his exhibitions should be pithed instead of being knocked down, still pithing is
not becoming general in Britain. This may be partly owing to prejudice ; but we have
been told that the flesh of the cattle killed in this way in Portugal is very dark, and be-
comes soon putrid, probably from the animal not bleeding well, in consequence of the
action of the heart being interrupted before the vessels of the neck are divided. It there-
fore seems preferable to bleed the animal to death directly, as is practised by the Jew
butchers.
2093. Du Gardes observations on pithing deserve attention. This gentleman, a
surgeon of the Shrewsbury Infirmary, after mature consideration, is against the practice,
as causing more pain than it is intended to avoid. He says, " Pain and action are
so generally joined, that we measure the degree of pain by the loudness of the cries, and
violence of the consequent exertion ; and therefore conclude, on seeing two animals killed,
that .the one which makes scarcely a struggle, tliough it may continue to breathe, suffers
less than that which is more violently convulsed, and struggles till life is exhausted. It
appears, however, that there may be acute pain without exertion, perhaps as certainly as
there is action without pain ; even distortions that at the first glance would seem to pro-
ceed from pain, are not always really accoimpanied with sensation. To constitute pain
there must be a communication between the injured organ and the brain."
Book III. MINERAL KINGDOM AND THE ATMOSPHERE. 311
2094. In the old method of slaughtering, a concussion of the brain takes place, and therefore the power of
feehng is destroyed. The animal drops, and although convulsions take place generally longer and more
violent than when the spinal marrow is divided, yet there is, I think, reason to believe that the animal
suffers less pain. The immediate consequence of the blow is the dilatation of the pupil of ttie eye, without
any expression of consciousness or fear on the approach of the hand.
2095. From all these circumstances, Du Gard concludes that the nctv method of slaughtering cattle is more
painful than the old. The puncture of the medulla spinalis does not destroy feeling, though it renders the
body quiescent, and in this state the animal both endures pain at the punctured part, and suffers, as it were,
a second death, from the pain and faintness from loss of blood in cutting the throat, which is practised in
both methods. Sir Everard Home, in a valuable paper {Shrew. Rep., p. 250.) has suggested a mode of per-
forming the operation, which would answer completely, could we be sure of having operators sufficiently
skilful ; but we may the less regret the difficulty of getting new modes established when we thus see the
superiority of an old custom under very improbable circumstances ; and if well meaning reformers wanted
any additional motives to care and circumspection, a very forcible one is furnished in the instance of the
time and trouble taken to introduce this operation, which, as it has been hitherto practised, is the very
reverse of what was intended.
2096. Jewish modes. The Mosaic law so strictly prohibits the eating of blood, that
the Talmud contains a body of regulations concerning the killing of animals ; and the
Jews, as a point of religion, will not eat the flesh of any animal not killed by a butcher
of their own persuasion. Their method is to tie all the four feet of the animal together,
bring it to the ground, and, turning its head back, to cut the throat at once down to the
bone, with a long, very sharp, but not pointed knife, dividing all the large vessels of the
neck. In this way the blood is discharged quickly and completely. Tlie effect is indeed
said to be so obvious, that some Christians will eat no meat but what has been killed by
a Jew butcher. Calves, pigs, sheep, and lambs, are all killed by dividing at once the
large vessels of the neck.
2097. Animals which are killed by accident, as by being drowned, hanged, or frozen, or
by a fall, or ravenous animal, are not absolutely unwholesome. Indeed, they only differ
from those killed methodically in not being bled, which is also the case with animals that
are snared, and with those killed by hounds. Animals which die a natural death should
never be eaten, as it is an undeniable instance of disease, and even death to the consumer
being the consequence.
2098. Animals frequentli/ undergo some preparation before they are killed. They are
commonly kept without food for some time, as if killed with full stomachs their flesh is
considered not to keep well. Oxen are commonly made to fast for two or three days,
smaller animals for a day ; but it is evident that the practice must not be carried too far,
as the opposite effect will be produced by the animal falling off or getting feverish.
Dr. Lister has stated that nothing contributes more to the whiteness and tenderness of
the flesh of calves than often bleeding them, by which the colouring matter of the blood
is exhausted, and nothing but colourless serum remains. A much more cruel method of
preparation for slaughter used to be practised, though now much less frequently, in
regard to the bull. By some ancient municipal laws, no butcher was allowed to expose
any bull beef for sale unless it had been previously baited. The reason of this regulation
probably was, that baiting had the effect of rendering the flesh or muscular fibre much
more tender ; for it is a universal law of the animal economy that, when animals have
undergone excessive fatigue immediately before death, or have suffered from a lingering
death, their flesh, though it becomes sooner rigid, also becomes sooner tender than when
suddenly deprived of life in a state of health. The flesh of hunted animals also is soon
tender and soon spoils {Reckerches de Physiologie et de Chimie Pathologiqne, par P. N.
Nysten. 8vo. Paris, 1811) ; and it is upon this principle only, that the quality of pig's
flesh could be improved by the horrid cruelty, said to be practised by the Germans, of
whipping the animal to death.
BOOK IIL
OF THE STUDY OF THE MINERAL KINGDOM AND THE ATMOSPHERE, WITH REFERENCE
TO AGRICULTURE.
2099. The nature of the vegetable and animal kingdom having undergone discussion,
the next step in the study of the science of agriculture is to enquire into the composition
and nature of material bodies, and the laws of their changes. The earthy matters which
compose the surface of the globe, the air and light of the atmosphere, the water precipi-
tated from it, the heat and cold produced by the alternation of day and night, and by
chemical composition and resolution, include all the elements concerned in vegetation.
These elements have all been casually brought into notice in the study of the vegetable
kingdom ; but we shall now examine more minutely their properties, in as far as they
are connected with cultivation. To study them completely, reference must be had
to systems of chemistry and natural philosophy, of which those of Dr. Thomson
{System of Chemistry) and Dr. Young (Lectures on Natural Philosophy) may be especially
recommended,
X 4
312 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
Chap. I.
Of' Earths and Soils.
2100. Earths are the productions of the rocks which are exposed on the surface of the
globe, and soils are earths mived with more or less of the decomposed organised matter
afforded by dead plants and animals. Earths and soils, therefore, must be as various as
the rocks which produce them ; and hence to understand their nature and formation it is
necessary to begin by considering the geological structure of the territorial surface, and
the manner in which earths and soils are produced. We shall next consider in succession
the Nomenclature, Quality, Use, and Improvement of Soils.
Sect. I, Of jthe- Geological Structure of the Globe and the Formation of Earths and SoUs.
2101. The crust of our earth, when examined, will be found to be composed of
various stony bodies, differing in their structure and composition. Some of these are
arranged in strata of greater or less regularity, and more or less inclined to the horizon ;
others show no marks of stratification, but constitute large mountain masses, without
any definite shape, or fill up fissures in other rocks, forming veins. Some rocks show an
evident compound or aggregated structure ; others appear, to the naked eye, of a uniform
texture : some stony bodies contain undoubted remains of animals and vegetables, which
chiefly belong to species of organised beings no longer known to exist in a living state ;
other rocks are always destitute of every trace of organised remains. These peculiarities
have given rise to different classifications of rocks. One sect of geologists divide rocks
into simple and compound ; and again subdivide these classes according as the structure
of the rock is compact, granular, slaty, porphyritic, or amygdaloidal. The greatest number
of geologists, however, are not satisfied with that arrangement, but have ventured to
speculate on the relative age or era of the formation of the different kinds of rock. The
data on which they proceed are, chiefly, the presence or absence of organic remains, and
the superposition of one kind of rocky bed on another. All geologists are agreed in con-
sidering stratified rocks as arranged and deposited by the agency of water, and therefore
the relative age of such rocks may be generally inferred from their relative position ; but
philosophers differ both with regard to the origin and era of the unstratified rocks, and
also of the minerals which occupy veins. It is not our business here to enter into this
discussion, but we shall content ourselves by a slight sketch of the most generally received
arrangement of rocks, which, though it involves theoretic considerations, is convenient to
the student of mineralogy. The crust of our globe may be considered as composed of
five series of rocks : primitive, transition, floetz, alluvial, and volcanic.
2102. Primitive rocks. These, from the absence of organic remains, are conceived to
have been deposited, in their present situation, before the creation of animals, and, from
most usually lying below other rocks, are supposed to be the most ancient. Of these the
chief species are granite (including syenite), gneiss, mica slate (including talc slate), clay
slate, primitive limestone, primitive trap, serpentine, quqrtz rock, and some kinds of
porphyry.
2103. Rocks of transition. In these a few organic remains occur, but neither fre-
quently nor in large quantity. They are supposed to have obtained their present form
during the transition of the surface of the earth from a chaotic to a habitable state. The
principal members of this series are greyivacke, one kind of limestone, and occasionally
most of the rocks of the first series.
2104. Floetz rocks are so named from their generally occurring in nearly horizontal
strata. They were formerly termed secondary, in contradistinction to the primitive
series, and they constitute the terrain secondaire of the French geologists. The principal
rocks of this class are sandstone or freestone, wliich appears to be of different ages, though
comprehended still in the floetz series ; limestone (including alpine limestone, magnesian
limestone, oolite, chalk, gypsum, and the calcareous beds of the Paris basin), coal, and the
accompanying rocks of our great coal-fields ; trap rocks, including basalt, wacke, and the
great body of kindred rocks, which often form the summits of considerable hills.
2105. Alluvial deposits, chiefly consisting of beds of clay, sand, gravel, and some
cemented rocks. The first three formations appear to be universally distributed over the
globe, and are supposed to owe their formation to causes acting before the land had yet
appeared above the waves. The alluvial formations are conceived to be produced by the
action of water on the rocks already mentioned.
2106. Volcanic rocks. Of this series different kinds of lava, scoria, puzzuolana, &c.,
are undoubted members ; and most geologists now include in it certain varieties of trap,
trachyte, obsidian, and pumice ; while others are disposed to consider all trap rocks, and
even granite, as the products of either recent or ancient volcanic fire, acting under the
Book III. CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS. 31S
mollifying circumstance of pressure. All the members of these formations are not
every where to be found : sometimes one or more species of rock may be wanting in
the series ; but a skilful geologist can generally detect a wonderful degree of regularity
in the superposition of strata, which, to an unpractised eye, present only a mass of
confusion.
2107. The relative situation of these rocks in Britain is as follows : The primitive rocks
are usually observed constituting a portion of the most elevated parts of the surface of the
earth ; the rocks of transition usually form the less elevated ridges ; the floetz rocks, with
alluvial matter, generally constitute the bases of plains, or of an undulated country. The
two latter formations constitute by far the greatest portion of England and the low parts
of Scotland : the mountains of Cumberland and Wales are chiefly composed of rocks
of transition, while Cornwall and the Highlands of Scotland have generally a basis of
primitive rocks, over which some rocks of the transition series are occasionally super-
imposed.
2108. The original authorities for the geological distribution of English strata are
Smithes Map and Sections ; Greenovgh's Map ; Coneyheare' s and Phillips^s Geology of
England ; Sedgewicke's. papers in the Geological Transactions ; Webster s Isle of Wight, &c.
These are all authorities of weight with mineralogists.
2109. Tlie surface earthy or that which forms the outer coating of the dry parts of the
globe, is formed by the detritus, or worn otF parts of rocks and rocky substances. For
in some places, as in chasms and vacuities between rocky layers or masses, earth occupies
many feet in depth ; and in others, as on the summits of chalk hills or granite mountains,
it hardly covers the surface.
2110. Earths are therefore variously composed, according to the rocks or strata which have supplied their
particles. Sometimes they are chiefly formed from slate-rocks, as in blue clays ; at other times from
sandstone, as in silicious soils ; and mostly of a mixture of clayey, slaty, and limestone rocks, blended in
proportions as various as their situations. Such we may suppose to have been the state of the surface of
the dry part of the globe immediately after the last disruption of its crust ; but in process of time the decay
of vegetables and animals forms additions to the outer surface of the earths, and constitute what are called
soils ; the difference between which and earths is, that the former always contain a portion of vegetable
or animal matter.
2111 The manner in which rocks are converted into soils. Sir H. Davy observes {Elem. of Agric. Chem.,
188.), may be easily conceived by referring to the instance of soft granite, or porcelain granite. This
substance consists of three ingredients, quartz, feldspar, and mica. The quartz is almost puresilicious
earth in a crystalline form. The feldspar and mica are very compounded substances; both contain silica,
alumina, and oxide of iron ; in the feldspar there is usually lime and potassa ; in the mica, lime and
magnesia. When a granite rock of this kind has been long exposed to the influence of air and water, the
lime and the potassa contained in its constituent parts are acted upon by water or carbonic acid ; and the
oxide of iron, which is almost always in its least oxidised state, tends to combine with more oxygen : the
consequence is, that the feldspar decomposes, and likewise tlie mica ; but the first the most rapidly.
The feldspar, which is as it were the cement of the stone, forms a fine clay : the mica, partially decom-
posed, mixes with it as sand ; and the undecomposed quartz appears as gravel, or sand of diflferent degrees
of fineness. As soon as the smallest layer of earth is formed on the surface of a rock, the seeds of lichens,
mosses, and other imperfect vegetables which are constantly floating in the atmosphere, and which have
made it their resting-place, begin to vegetate ; their death, decomposition, and decay, afford a certain
quantity of organisable matter, which mixes with the earthy materials of the rock ; in this improved soil
more perfect plants are capable of subsisting ; these in their turn absorb nourishment from water and the
atmosphere; and, after perishing, afford new materials to those already provided : the decomposition of
the rock still continues ; and at length, by such slow and gradual processes, a soil is formed in which even
forest trees can fix their roots, and which is fitted to reward the labours of the cultivator.
2112. The formation of peaty soils is produced from very opposite causes, and it is interesting to
contemplate how the same effect may be produced by different means, and the earth which supplies almost
all our wants may become barren alike from the excessive application of art, or the utter neglect of it.
Continual pulverisation, and cropping, without manuring, will certainly produce a hungry barren soil ;
and the total neglect of fertile tracts will, from their accumulated vegetable products, produce peat soils
and bogs. Where successive generations of vegetables have grown upon a soil. Sir H. Davy observes,
unless part of their produce has been carried oil' by man, or consumed by animals, the vegetable matter
increases in such a proportion, that the soil approaches to a peat in its nature : and if in a situation where
it can receive water from a higher district, it becomes spongy and permeated with that fluid, and is gene-
rally rendered incapable of supporting the nobler classes of vegetables.
2113. Spurious peaty soil. Lakes and pools are sometimes filled up by the accumulation of the remains
of aquatic plants ; and in this case a sort of spurious peat is formed. The fermentation in these cases,
however, seems to be of a different kind. Much more gaseous matter is evolved ; and the neighbourhood
of morasses, in which aquatic vegetables decompose, is usually aguish and unhealthy; whilst that of the
true peat, or peat formed on soils originally dry, is always salubrious.
2114. Soils may generally he distinguished from mere masses of earth by their friable
texture and dark colour, and by the presence of some vegetable fibre or carl)onaceous
matter. In uncultivated grounds, soils occupy only a few inches in depth on the sur-
face, unless in crevices, where they have been washed in by rains ; and in cultivated soils
their depth is generally the same as that to which the implements used in cultivation
have penetrated.
2115. Much has been written on soUs, and, till lately, to very little purpose. All the
Roman authors on husbandry treated the subject at length ; and in modern times, in this
country, copious philosophical discourses on soils were published by Bacon, Evelyn,
Bradley, and others ; but it may be truly said, that in no department of cultivation was
ever so much written of which so little use could be made by practical men.
314 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Pakt II.
Sect. II. Classification and Nomenclature of Soils.
2116. Systematic order and an agreed nomenclature are as necessary in the study of
soils as in that of plants or animals. The number of provincial terms for soils which
have found their way into the books on cultivation is one reason why so little use can be
made of their directions.
2117. A correct classification of soils may be founded on the presence or absence of
organic and inorganic matter in their basis. This will foraa two grand classes, viz.
primitive soils, or those composed entirely of Inorganic matter, and secondary soils, or
those composed of organic and inorganic matter in mixtures. These classes may be
subdivided into orders founded on the presence or absence of saline, metallic, and car-
bonic matter. The orders may be subdivided into genera founded on the prevailing
earths, salts, metals, or carbon ; the genera into species founded on their different
mixtures ; the species into varieties founded on colour, or texture ; and sub-varieties
founded on moisture, dryness, richness, lightness, &c.
2118. In naming the genera of soils, the finst thing is to discover the prevailing earth
or earths ; either the simple earths, as clay, lime, sand, or the particular rocks from which
the soil has been produced, as granite, basalt, &c. When one earth prevails, the generic
name should be taken from that earth, as clayey soil, calcareous soil, &c. ; when two
prevail to all appearance equally, then their names must be conjoined in naming the
genus, as clay and sand, lime and clay, basalt and. sand, &c. The great thing is pre-
cision in applying the terms. Thus, as Sir H. Davy has observed, the term sandy soil
should never be applied to any soil that does not contain at least seven eighths of sand ;
sandy soils which effervesce with acids should be distinguished by the name of calcareous
sandy soil, to distinguish them from those that are silicious. The term clayey soil should
not be applied to any land which contains less than one sixth of impalpable earthy matter,
not considerably effervescing with acids ; the word loam should be limited to soils, con-
taining at least one third of impalpable earthy matter, copiously effervescing with acids.
A soil to be considered as peaty, ought to contain at least one half of vegetable matter.
In cases where the earthy part of a soil evidently consists of the decomposed matter of
one particular rock, a name derived from the rock may with propriety be applied to it.
Thus, if a fine red earth be found immediately above decomposing basalt, it may be de-
nominated basaltic soil. If fragments of quartz and mica be found abundant in the
materials of the soil, which is often the case, it may be denominated granitic soil ; and the
same principles may be applied to other like instances. In general, the soils, the
materials of which are the most various and heterogeneous, are those called alluvial, or
which have been formed from the depositions of rivers ; and these deposits may be de-
signated as silicious, calcareous, or argillaceous ; and in some cases the terai saline may
be added as a specific distinction, applicable, for example, at the embouchure of rivers,
where their alluvial remains are overflown by the sea.
2119. In naming the species of soils, greater nicety is required to determine distinctions
than in naming the genera ; and there is also some difficulty in applying or devising
proper terms. The species are always determined by the mixture of matters, and never
by the colour or texture of that mixture which belongs to the nomenclature of varieties.
Thus a clayey soil with sand is a sandy clay, this is the name of the species ; if the mass
is yellow, and it is thought worth while to notice that circumstance, then it is a yellow
sandy clay, which express at once the genus, species, and variety. A soil containing
equal parts of clay, lime, and sand, would, as a generic term, be called clay, lime, and
sand ; if it contained no other mixture in considerable quantity, the term entire might
be added as a specific distinction ; and if notice was to be taken of its colour or degree of
comminution, it might be termed a brown, a fine, a coarse, a stiff, or a free entire clay,
lime, and sand.
21 '20. The following Table enumerates the more common genera, species, and varieties
of soils. The application of the terms will be understood by every cultivator, though to
attempt to describe the soils either chemically or empirically (as by sight, smell, or touch),
would be a useless waste of time. From a very little experience in the field or garden,
more may be gained in the study of soils, than from a volume of such descriptions. This
Table corresponds with the nomenclature adopted in the agricultural establishments of
Fellenberg at Hofwyl in Switzerland, and of Professor Thaer at Moegelin in Prussia,
with the nomenclature employed by Professor Thouin in his lectures at Paris, and in
general with that of all the Continental professors. It is therefore very desirable that it
should become as generally adopted as that of the Linnean system of nomenclature
in botany. The principle of the Table may be extended so as to include any other soil
whatever.
Book III.
OF THE QUALITIES OF SOILS.
S15
Clay
' Earths alone
rClay
•Earths and
organic re-
Earths and
organic re-
mains,
with
metals,
salts, and
, rocks.
Clay
Granite
Basalt
Schist
Species,
Entire
Entire
r Pemigineous
i Cupreous
<• Saline
Ferrugineous
, Cupreous
C Saline
Ferrugineous
Cupreous
Saline
Loamy
Peaty
Mouldy
Limy
^ Sandy
Clayey
Loamy
Sandy
Peaty
Mouldy
Clayey
{
Limy
Peaty
Mouldy - - -
^ Ferrugineous, loamy, &c.
Ferrugineous, limy,' &c.
Ferrugineous, sandy, &c.
Ferrugineous, peaty, &c.
FerTugineous,mouldy,&c.
Cujircous, loamy, &c.
Saline, loamy, &c.
Cinerous, loamy, &c.
^ Ferrugineous, loamy. Sec.
I Ferrugineous, sandy, &c.
I Cupreous, loamy, &c.
J Cupreoas, sandv, &c.
i Saline, loamy, &c.
I Saline, sandy, &c.
I Cinereous, loamy, &c.
*- Cinereous, limy, &c.
f- Ferrugineous, loamy, &c.
I Ferrugineous, limy, &c.
I Cupreous, loamy, &c.
J (Cupreous, limy, &c.
] Saline, loamy, &c.
I Saline, limy, kc.
I Cinereous, lo'imy, &c.
^ Cinereous, limy,"&c.
{Ferrugineous, &c.
Quartzose, &c-
r Ferrugineous, &c.
i Columnar, &c.
C Whinstonc, &c.
r Ferrugineous, &c.
■J Micaceous, &c.
C Chlorite, &c.
f Ferrugineous, &c.
N Calcareous, &c.
■J Argillaceous, &c.
C Cupreous, &c.
/-Chalky, &c.
Marble, &c.
Shelly, he. .
Magnesian, &c.
Sulphuric, &c.
Ferrugineous, &c.
Cupreous, &c.
Argillaceous, &c.
^ Silicious, &c.
rSlav, &c.
J Pyritic, &c.
I Stony, &c.
t- Woody, &c. - -
Variett/.
Sttb-Vdruly
f Moist.
Dry.
Black - - . - H
Rich.
Poor.
L Sterile.
Red
Moist, drj-, &c.
Yellow -
Moi,t,dry, &c.
Coarse
Moist, dry, &c.
Fine
Moist, dry, &c.
Black, red, yellow, coarse, fine, &c.
Moist, dry, rich, &c.
BIack,red, yellow, coarse,fine, &c.
Meist, dry. &c.
Black, red, yellow, coarse, fine, &c.
Moist, dry, &c.
Black, red, &c. - -
Moist, dry, &c.
Black, red, &c. - . - .
Moist, dry, &c.
Black, red
Moist, dry, &c.
Black, red
Moist, dr., &c.
Black, red, yellow, coarse, fine, &c.
Moist, dry, rich, &c.
Black, red,yellow, coarse, fine,&c.
Moist, dry, rich, &c.
Black
Moist.
Black
Moist, dry, &c.
Black, red, yellow, &c.
Moist, dry, &c.
Black, red, yellow, &c.
Moist.
Black -
Moist.
Black . ...
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black, red, yellow, &c.
Moist, dry.
Black
Moist.
Black . . - •
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black . . . -
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black - - . -
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black . - - -
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black . - . -
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black • - . -
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black ....
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black - . - .
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black ...
Moist.
Black . ...
Moist.
Black . - . .
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black ....
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black - ....
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black ...
Moist.
Black . ...
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black ....
Moist.
Black ....
Moist.
Black . ...
Moist.
Black - ...
Moibt.
Black, red, yellow, &c.
Moist, dry, &c.
Black
Moist.
Black, red, yeUow, &c. .
Moist, drv, &c.
Black . .
Moist. ■
Black . . . .
Moist.
Black, red, yellow, &c.
Moist, &c.
Black . -
MoUt.
Black
Moist.
Black, &c.
Moist, &c.
Black
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black, red, &c.
M.ist,dry,&c.
Black .
Mo.s;.
Black - . . .
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black . ...
Moist.
Black . ...
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Black . . , .
Moist.
Black ....
Moist.
Black, red, yellow, &c.
Moist, dry, rich, &c
Black . . . .
Moist!
Black . - . .
Moist.
Black
Moist.
Sect. III. Of discovering the Qualities of Soils.
2121. The value of soils to the cultivator is discoverable botanically, chemically, and
mechanically ; that is, by the plants that grow on them naturally ; by chemical analysis ;
and by their sensible qualities of roughness, smoothness, taste, smell, and fracture.
SuBsECT. 1. Of discovering the Qualities of Soils hy means of the Plants ivhich grow
on them.
2122. Plants are the most certain indicators of the nature of a soil ; for while no prac-
tical cultivator would engage with land of which he knew only the results of a chemical
analysis, or examined by the sight and touch a few bushels which were brought to him,
yet every gardener or farmer, who knew the sort of plants it produced, would be at once
able to decide as to its value for cultivation.
2123. The leading soils for the cultivator are the clayey, calcareous, sandy, ferrugineous,
peaty, saline, moist or aquatic, and dry. The following are the plants by which such
soils are distinguished in most parts of Europe : —
2124. Argillaceous. Common coltsfoot (Tussilago jParfara) ; goose tansy (Potentilla
Anserina), silvery (arg^ntea), and creeping (reptans) ; yellow meadow rue (Thalictrum
316 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
fl^vuiii) ; Carex, many species; Juncus, various species ; tuberous bitter vetch (O'robus
tuberosus); greater bird's-foot trefoil (iotus major), and small-horned (corniculatus) ;
officinal soap wort (Saponaria officinahs) : but the Tussilago Parfara is a certain and
universal sign of an argillaceous soil, and is the chief plant found on the alum grounds
of Britain, France, and Italy.
2125. Calcareous. Spiked speedwell {Veronica spickta), little bedstraw (Galium
pusillum), officinal gromwell ( Lithosp^rmum officinale) and purjile-blue (purpuro-
caeriileum), clustered bell-flower (Campanula glomerata), hybrid prismatocarpus (Pris-
matocirpus hybridus), YOunA-headed rampion (Phyteiima orbiculkrej, lychnitis mullein
( Fierbascum Z^ychnitis), wayfaring tree ( Fiburnum Lantkna), common berberry {Bcrberis
vulgaris), common dwarf sun rose ( Helianthemum vulgare), covimon pulsatilla anemone
(Anemone Pulsatilla); white vine, virgin's bower, or traveller's joy (Clematis VitAlba),
cultivated saintfoin (Onobrychis sativa),
2126. SUicious. Three-leaved speedwell {Veronica triphyllosj and vernal (vema),
Italian viper's bugloss (^'chium italicum), smooth rupture-wort (Herniaria glabra)
and hairy hirsiita), English catchfly (Silene anglica) and other species, red sandwort
(Arenaria riibra), &c., corn-field spurrey (Sp6rgula arv^nsis), hybrid poppy (Papaver
hybridum), Argemone, &c.
2127. Ferrugineous. Common sorrel (liumex Acetosa) and sheep's sorrel (Aceto-
sella).
2128. Peaty. Bilberry (FSaccinium Myrtillus), bleaberry (uliginosum), cranberry
(Oxycoccus palustris) heath, (£rica) 4 sp., avA-shaped spurrey (Spergula subulkta),
officinal septfoil (Tormentilla officinalis).
2129. Saline. Glasswort (Salic6rnia) 4 species, marine wrackgrass (Zostera marina),
sea ruppia (Ruppia maritima), sea lung-wort (Pulmonaria maritima), Soldanella bear-
bind (Calyst^gia Soldanella), whorled knotgrass (Jllecebrum verticillatum), sea goose-
foot (Chenopodium maritimum) and shrubby (fruticosum) , kali saltwort (Salsola Kali),
yvhoA-leaved honey wort (jSison verticillatum), marine sandwort (Arenaria manna), &c.,
fringed orache (^'triplex laciniata).
2130. Aquatic. Marsh marigold (CAltha palustris), common mare's-tail (/fippilris
vulgaris), common butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris), European water-horehound (Ly co-
pus europaeMs), dioecious valerian ( Valeriana dioica), marsh violet ( rlola palustris),
Valerandi's brookweed (femolus Valeriind?), marsh thysselinum (Thysselinum palustre),
square-stalked epilobium (Epilobium tetragonum), willow lythrum (JLythrum Salicaria),
tongue-leaved crowfoot (Ranunculus Lingua) and spearwort (Flammula).
2131. Very dry. Red sandwort (Arenaria rubra), sheep's sorrel (IJvimex Acetosella),
wild thyme (Thymus S'erpyllum), common acynos (y^'cynos vulgaris), field trefoil ( Tri-
folium arv^nse).
2132. These plants are not absolutely to be depended on, however, even in Britain;
and in other countries they are sometimes found in soils directly opposite. Still, the
cultivated saintfoin (Onobrychis sativa) is almost always an indication of a calcareous soil ;
the common coltsfoot (7\issilago pArfara), of blue clay; the red sandwort (Arenaria
rubra), of poor sand; and the sheep's sorrel (i?umex Acetosella), of the presence of
iron, or of peat The common reed ( Phragmites commiinis) and the amphibious poly-
gonum (Polygonum amphibium) grow on alluvial soils, which yield excellent crops if
properly drained; but where the corn horse-tail (JS'quisetum arv^nse) grows freely,
it indicates a cold and retentive subsoil. The corn-field pimpernel (^^nagallis arv^nsis),
the corn-field madder (Sherardm arv^nsis), the corn-field gromwell (iithosp^rmum
arvense), and the salad lamb's lettuce ( Valerianella olitoria), grow on cultivated lands,
where the soil is a strong black loam on a dry bottom ; when such a soil is wet, the
clown's all-heal (S'tachys palustris) makes its appearance. A light sandy soil is known
by the presence of the purple archangel (ikmium purpureum) ; the shepherd's purse
(Caps^lla bur^a pastoris). If the parsley piert {Alchemilla A'phanes) is found, the soil
is rather unproductive ; if the corn-field spurrey ( Spergula arv^nsis) grows very thick,
the ground has likely been rendered too fine by the harrow ; the common ragwort
(5en6cio Jacobee^a), and the cornfield cirsium (Cirsium arvense), grow indiscriminately
on light and strong loams, but always indicate a fertile soil. The wall draba (Z)raba
muralis) and the annual knawel (Sclerdnthus annuus) grow on soils that are diy, sandy,
and poor in the extreine. The spiny rest-harrow ( Ononis spinosa) is often found on
dry pasture, and where the soil is incumbent on rotten rock. The aquatic, peaty, and
saline soils are almost every where indicated by their appropriate plants ; a proof, as we
have before stated, that the climate and natural irrigation of plants have much more
influence on their habits than mere soil. ( Gnlpine's Compendium ,- Flora Brit. ; Loudon's
Hortus Brit.; Kent's Hints; Farmers' Mag. Feb. 1819; and the Quarterly Journal of
Agric. for Aug. 1828.)
Book III. ANALYSIS OF SOILS. :U7
SuBSECT. 2. Of discovering the Qualities of Soils hy Chemical Analysis.
2133. Chemical analysis is m,uch too nice an operation for general purposes. It is not
likely that many practical cultivators will ever be able to conduct the analytic process
with sufficient accuracy, to enable them to depend on the result : but, still, such a know-
ledge of chemisti-y as shall enable the cultivator to understand the nature of the process
and its results, when made and presented to liim by others, is calculated to be highly
useful, and ought to be acquired by every man whose object is to join theoretical to
practical knowledge. If it so happens that he can perform the operations of analysis
himself, so much the better, as far as that point is concerned ; but, on the whole, such
knowledge and adroitness are not to be expected from men who have so many other
points demanding their attention, and who will, therefore, effect their purpose much
better by collecting proper specimens of the soils to be studied, and sending them for
analysis to a respectable operative chemist.
2134. In selecting specitnens, where the general nature of the soil of a field is to be
ascertained, portions of it should be taken from different places, two or three inches below
the surface, and examined as to the similarity of their properties. It sometimes happens,
that upon plains, the whole of the upper stratum of the land is of the same kind, and in
this case, one analysis will be sufficient : but in valleys, and near the beds of rivers, there
are very great difierences, and it now and then occurs that one part of a field is calcareous,
and another part silicious ; and in this case, and in analogous cases, the portions dif-
ferent from each other should be separately submitted to experiment. Soils, when
collected, if they cannot be immediately examined, should be preserved in phials quite
filled with them, and closed with ground glass stoppers. The quantity of soil most
convenient for a perfect analysis is from two to four hundred grains. It should be col-
lected in dry weather, and exposed to the atmosphere till it becomes dry to the touch.
2135. 2 he soil best suited for culture, according to the analysis of Bergman, contains
four parts of clay, three of sand, two of calcareous earth, and one of magnesia ; and,
according to the analysis of Fourcroy and Hassenfratz, 9216 parts of fertile soil con-
tained 305 parts of carbon, together with 279 parts of oil j of which, according to the
calculations of Lavoisier, 220 parts may be regarded as carbon : so that the whole of the
carbon contained in the soil in question may be estimated at about 525 parts, exclusive
of the roots of vegetables, or to about one sixteenth of its weight. Young observed that
equal weights of different soils, when dried and reduced to powder, yielded l)y distillation
quantities of air somewhat corresponding to the ratio of their values. The air was a
mixture of fixed and inflammable airs, probably derived from tlie decomposition of water,
either by the chemical affinities of the ingredients of the soil, or by the process of vege-
tation, while the carbonic acid or fixed air may be absorbed from the atmosphere, or
produced by living vegetables under certain circumstances. The following is the ana-
lysis of a fertile soil, as occurring in the neighbourhood of Bristol : — In 400 grains,
there were of water, 52 ; silicious sand, 240 ; vegetable fibre, 5 ; vegetable extract, 3 ;
alumine, 48; magnesia, 2; oxide of iron, 14; calcareous earth, 30; loss, 6. But
Kirwan has shown in his Geologicnl Essays, that the fertility of a soil depends in a great
measure upon its capacity for retaining water ; and if so, soils containing the same ingre-
dients must be also equally fertile, all other circumstances being the same, though it is
plain that their actual fertility will depend ultimately upon the quantity of rain that falls,
because the quantity suited to a wet soil cannot be the same that is suited to a dry soil ;
and hence it often happens that the ingredients of the soil do not correspond to the
character of the climate. Silica exists in the soil under the modification of sand, and
alumine under the modification of clay ; but the one or the other is often to be met with
in excess or defect. Soils in which the sand preponderates retain the least moisture, and
soils in which the clay preponderates retain the most ; the former are dry soils, the latter
are wet soils : but it may happen that neither of them is sufficiently favourable to
culture ; in which case, their peculiar defect or excess must be supplied or retrenched
before they can be brought to a state of fertility.
2136. Use of the remit of analysui. In the present state of chemical science. Dr. Ure
observes, no certain system can be devised for the improvement of lands, independent of
experiment ; but there are few cases in which the labour of analytical trials will not be
amply repaid by the certainty with which they denote the best methods of melioration ;
and this will particularly happen, when the defect of composition is found in the propor-
tions of the primitive earths. In supplying organic matter, a temporary food only is
provided for plant?, which is in all cases exhausted by means of a certain number of
crops ; but when a soil is rendered of the best possible constitution and texture, with
regard to its earthy parts, its fertility may be considered as permanently established. It
becomes capable of attracting a very large portion of vegetable nourishment from the
atmosphere, and of producing its crops with comparatively little labour and expense.
{Diet, of Chefu., art. SoU.)
318 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
SuBSECT. 3. Of discovering the Qualities of a Soil mechanically and empiricalli/.
2137. The phi/sical properties o£ soils, and some of their most important constituents
relatively to the cultivator, may be ascertained to a certain extent by various and very
simple means.
2138. The specific gravity of a soil, or the relation of its weight to that of water, may
be ascertained by introducing into a phial, which will contain a known quantity of water,
equal volumes of water and of soil, and this may be easily done by pouring in water till
it is half full, and then adding the soil tillthe fluid rises to the mouth ; the difference
between the weight of the soil and that of the water will give the result. Thus if the
bottle contains four hundred grains of water, and gains two hundred grains when half
filled with water and half with soil, the specific gravity of the soil will be 2, that is, it
will be twice as heavy as water, and if it gained one hundred and sixty-five grains,
its specific gravity would be 182,5, water being 1000.
2139. The presence of clay and sand in any soil is known, the first by its tenacity, the
other by its roughness to the touch, and by scratching glass when rubbed on it.
2140. The presence of calcareous matter in soil may be ascertained by simply pouring
any acid on it, and observing if it effervesces freely. Muriatic acid is the best for this
purpose. Calcareous soils, magnesian soils, and clays, are, for the most part, softer to
the touch than arenaceous soils. To ascertain the quantity of calcareous earth present,
dry soil thoroughly, and weigh 100 grains of it, which gradually add to one drachm of
muriatic acid diluted with two drachms of water in a phial poised in a balance : the loss
of weight will indicate the escape of carbonic acid, which will be 44 per cent of the
quantity of calcareous earth in the soil.
2141. The presence of organised matter in any soil may be ascertained very satisfactorily
by weighing it after being thoroughly dried ; then subjecting it to a red heat and weighing
it again, the weight last found will be the proportion of organic matter and carbonic acid
gas, if there should have been any. The same object may also be attained by ascertaining
the specific gravity of the soil, but with less accuracy.
2142. The presence if metallic oxides in a soil may generally be known by their colour.
Ferrugineous soils are red or yellow ; cupreous soils, interspersed with greenish
streaks, ivc Cupreous impregnations of soils are rare ; and the usual green matter in
such soils as the green sand of English geologists, appears to be coloured by iron, which
is almost the only metallic impregnation in considerable quantity in any soil.
2143. The presence of salt, sulphur, coal. Sec, may be known by the absence or
peculiarity of vegetation, as well as by colour, and the appearance of the water of such
soils. Saline soils may be distinguished by the taste ; sulphureous soils by their smell
when thrown on a hot iron ; and the presence of coal by its fragments, which will be
left after the soluble matters are removed by water and muriatic acid.
2144. 21ie capacity of a soil for retaining water may be thus ascertained. An equal
portion of two soils, perfectly dry, may be introduced into two tall glass cylindrical vessels
{fig. 203.), in the middle of each of which a glass tube has been _^^^ 203 -^--
previously placed. The soils should be put into each in the ^' ^ '^
same manner, not compressed very hard, but so as to receive a'
solidity approaching to that which they possessed when first ob-
tained for trial. If, after this preparation, a quantity of water
be poured into the glass tubes, it will subside ; and the capillary
attraction of the soils will conduct it up the cylinders towards
the tops of the vessels. That which conducts it most rapidly, provided it does not rise
from the weight of the incumbent column of water in the tube, may be pronounced to
be the better soil. (Grisent/iwaite.)
Sect. IV. Of the Uses of the Soil to Vegetables.
2145. Soils afford to plants a fixed abode and medium of nourishment. Earths, exclu-
sively of organised matter and water, are allowed by most physiologists to be of no other
use to plants than that of supporting them, or furnishing a medium by which they may
fix themselves to the globe. But earths and organic matter, that is, soils, afford at once
support and food.
2146. The pure earths merely act as mechanical and indirect chemical ai^ents in the soil.
The earths all appear to be metallic bases united to oxygen : these oxides have not been
completely decomposed ; but there is no reason to suppose that their earthy bases are con-
vertible into the elements of organised compounds, that is, into carbon, hydrogen, and azote.
Plants have been inade to grow in given quantities of earth. They consume very small
portions only ; and what is lost may be accounted for by the quantities found in their ashes ;
that is to say, it has not been converted into any new products. The carbonic acid
united to lime or magnesia, if any stronger acid happens to be formed in the soil during
the fermentation of vegetable matter, which will disengage it from the earths, may be
Book III. USES OF THE SOIL TO VEGETABLES. 319
decomposed ; but the earths themselves cannot be supposed convertible into other sub-
stances, by any process taking place in the soil. In all cases the ashes of plants contain
some of the earths of the soil in which they grow ; but these earths, as has been ascer-
tained from the ashes afforded by different plants, never equal more than one fiftieth of
the weight of tlie plant consumed. If they be considered as necessary to the vegetable,
it is as giving hardness and firmness to its organisation. Thus, it has been mentioned
that wheat, oats, and many of the hollow-stalked grasses, have an epidermis principally
of silicious earth ; the use of which seems to be to strengthen them, and defend them
from the attacks of insects and parasitical plants.
2147. The true nourishment of plants is water aud decomposing organic matter;
both these exist only in soils, not in pure earths : but the earthy parts of the soils are
useful in retaining water, so as to supply it in the proper proportions to the roots of
the vegetables, and they are likewise efficacious in producing the proper distribution of
the animal or vegetable matter. When equally mixed with it they prevent it from
decomposing too rapidly ; and by their means the soluble parts are supplied in proper
proportions.
2148. The soil is necessary to the existence of plants, both as affording them nourishment,
and enabling them to fix themselves in such a manner as to obey those laws by which
their radicles are kept below the surface, and their leaves exposed to the free atmosphere.
As the systems of roots, branches, and leaves are very different in different vegetables, so
they flourish most in different soils : plants which have bulbous roots require a looser
and a lighter soil than such as have fibrous roots ; plants possessing only short fibrous
radicles demand a firmer soil than such as have tap-roots or extensive lateral roots.
2H9. The constituent ]>arts of the soil, ivhich give tenacity and coherence, are the finely
divided matters; and they possess the power of giving those qualities in the highest
degree when they contain much alumina. A small quantity of finely divided matter is
sufficient to fit a soil for the production of turnips and barley ; and a tolerable crop of
turnips has been produced on a soil containing 11 parts out of 12 of sand. A much
greater proportion of sand, however, always produces absolute sterility. The soil of
Bagshot heath, which is entirely devoid of vegetable covering, contains less than one twen-
tieth of finely divided matter : 400 parts of it, which had been heated red, afforded 380
parts of coarse silicious sand ; 9 parts of fine silicious sand, and 1 1 parts of impalpable
matter, which was a mixture of fenugihous clay with carbonate of lime. Vegetable or
animal matters, when finely divided, not only give coherence, but likewise softness and
penetrability ; but neither they nor any other part of the soil must be in too great propor-
tion ; and a soil is unproductive if it consists entirely of impalpable matters. Pure alumina
or silica, pure carbonate of lime or carbonate of magnesia, are incapable of supporting
healthy vegetation ; and no soil is fertile that contains as much as 19 parts out of 20 of
any of these constituents.
2150. A certain degree of friability or looseners of texture is also required in soils, in
order that the operations of culture may be easily conducted ; that moisture may have
free access to the fibres of the roots, that heat may be readily conveyed to them, and that
evaporation may proceed without obstruction. These are commonly attained by the
presence of sand. As alumina possesses all the properties of adhesiveness in an eminent
degree, and silcx those of friability, it is obvious that a mixtui-e of these two eaiths, in
suitable proportions, would furnish every thing wanted to form the most perfect soil, as to
water and the operations of culture. In a soil so compounded, water will be presented
to the roots by capillary attraction. It will be suspended in it, in the same manner as it
is suspended in a sponge, not in a state of aggregation, but of minute division, so that
every part may be said to be moist, but not wet. (^Grisenthwaite.)
2151. The water chemically combined amongst the elements of soils, unless in the case
of the decomposition of animal or vegetable substances, cannot be absorbed by the roots of
plants ; but that adhering to the parts of the soil is in constant use in vegetation. Indeed,
there are few mixtures of the earths found in soils which contain any chemically combined
water ; water is expelled from the earth by most substances which combine with them.
Thus, if a combination of lime and water be exposed to carbonic acid, the carbonic acid
takes the place of water ; and compounds of alumina and silica, or other compounds of
the earths, do not chemically unite with water ; and soils, as it has been stated, are formed
either by earthy carbonates, or compounds of the pure earths and metallic oxides. When
saline substances exist in soils, they may be united with water both chemically and me-
chanically ; but they are always in too small a quantity to influence materially the rela-
tions of the soil to water.
2152. The power of the soil to absorb water by capillary attraction depjends in great mea-
sure upon the state of division of its parts ; the more divided they are, the greater is their
absorbent power. The different constituent parts of soils likewise appear to act, even by
cohesive attraction, with different degrees of energy. Thus vegetable substances seem to
be more absorbent than animal substances ; animal substances more so than compounds
of alumina and silica ; and compounds of alumina and silica more absorbent than car-
320 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut II.
bonates of lime and magnesia : these difFerences may, however, possibly depend upon the
differences in their state of division, and upon the surface exposed.
2153. The power of soil to absorb water from air is much connected with fertility. When
this power is great, the plant is supplied with moisture in dry seasons ; and the effect of
evaporation in the day is counteracted by the absorption of aqueous vapour from the atmo-
sphere, by the interior parts of the soil during the day, and by both the exterior and in-
terior during the night. The stiff clays approaching to pipe-clays in their nature, which
take up the greatest quantity of water when it is poured upon them in a fluid form, are
not the soils which absorb most moisture from the atmosphere in dry weather. They
cake, and present only a small surface to the air ; and the vegetation on them is gene-
rally burnt up almost as readily as on sands. The soils most efficient in supplying the
plant with water by atmospheric absorption are those in which there is a due mixture
of sand, finely divided clay, and carbonate of lime, with some animal or vegetable
matter, and which are so loose and light as to be freely permeable by the atmosphere.
With respect to this quality, carbonate of lime, and animal and vegetable matter, are of
great use in soils; they give absorbent power to the soil, without giving it likewise
tenacity; sand, which also destroys tenacity, on the contrary, gives little absorbent
power. The absorbent power of soils, with respect to atmospheric moisture, is always
greatest in the most fertile; so that it affords one method of judging of the productive-
ness of land.
2154. Examples of the absorbent powers of soils. 1000 parts of a celebrated soil from
Onniston, in East Lothian, which contained more than half its weight of finely divided
matter, of which 1 1 parts were carbonate of lime, and 9 parts vegetable matter, when
dried at 212°, gained in an hour, by exposure to air saturated with moisture, at a
temperature of 62°, 1 8 grains. 1 000 parts of a very fertile soil from the banks of the
river Parret, in Somersetshire, under the same circumstances, gained 16 grains. 1000
parts of a soil from Mersea, in Essex, gained 13 grains. 1000 grains of a fine sand,
from Essex, gained 11 grains. 1000 of a coarse sand gained only 8 grains. 1000 of a
soil from Bagshot Heath gained only 3 grains.
2155. The absoi-bent porvers of soils ought to vary with the climate in which they are
situated. The absorption of moisture ought to be much greater in warm or dry countries,
than in cold and moist ones ; and the quantity of clay, or vegetable, or animal matter in
soils greater. Soils also on declivities ought to be more absorbent than in plains or in the
bottoms of valleys. Their productiveness likewise is influenced by the nature of the sub-
soil, or the stratum on which they rest. When soils are immediately situated upon a bed
of rock or stone, they are much sooner rendered dry by evaporation than where the sub-
soil is of clay or marl ; and a prime cause of the great fertility of the land in the moist
climate of Ireland, is the proximity of the rocky strata to the soil. A clayey sub-soil
will sometimes be of material advantage to a sandy soil ; and in this case it will retain
moisture in such a manner as to be capable of supplying that lost by the earth above, in
consequence of evaporation or the consumption of it by plants. A sandy or gravelly
sub-soil often corrects the imperfections of too great a degree of absorbent power in the
true soil. In calcareous countries, where the surface is a species of marl, the soil is often
found only a few inches above the limestone ; and its fertility is not impaired by the
proximity of the rock ; though in a less absorbent soil, this situation would occasion
barrenness ; and the sandstone and limestone hills in Derbyshire and North Wales may
be easily distinguished at a distance, in summer, by the different tints of the vegetation.
The grass on the sandstone hills usually appears brown and burnt up ; that on the lime-
stone hills flourishing and green. There is a considerable difference between the sandy
soils of the east and west coasts of Scotland. All along the west coast from the Solway
Frith to the Clyde, such soils are more productive than soils of a similar quality on the
east coast, under the same circumstances of management. The extensive culture of
potatoes for instance, and the succession of corn crops in Dumfriesshire and Galloway,
would soon reduce to a state of sterility much of the best sandy soils of Roxburghshire
and the Lothians.
2156. In a Ttioist climate where the quantity of rain which falls annually equals from 40
to 60 inches, as in Lancashire, Cornwall, and some parts of Ireland, a silicious sandy soil
is much more productive than in dry districts ; and in such situations wheat and beans
will require a less coherent and absorbent soil than in drier situations ; and plants having
bulbous roots will flourish in a soil containing as much as 14 parts out of 15 of sand.
Even the exhausting powers of crops will be influenced by like circumstances. In cases
where plants cannot absorb sufficient moisture, they must take up more manure ; and
in Ireland, Cornwall, and the western Highlands of Scotland, com will exhaust less
than in dry inland situations. Oats, particularly, in dry climates, are impoverishing in a
much higher degree than in moist ones.
2157. Mani/ soils are popularly distinguished as cold or hot ; and the distinction, though
at first view it may appear to be founded on prejudice, is really just. Some soils ar©
Book III. USES OF THE SOIL TO VEGETABLES. 321
much more Jieatcd by the rays of the sun, all other circumstances being equal, than otliers;
and soils brought to the same degree of heat cool in different times, i. e. some cool much
faster than others. This property has been very little attended to in a philosophical point
of view ; yet it is of the highest importance in culture. In general, soils wliich consist
principally of a stiff white clay are with difficulty heated ; and, being usually very moist,
they retain their heat but for a short time. Clialks are similar in one respect, the difficulty
with which they are heated; but, being drier, they retain their heat longer, less being
consumed in causing the evaporation of their moisture. A black soil, containing much
soft vegetable matter, is most heated by the sun and air ; and the coloured soils, and the
soils containing much carbonaceous or ferruginous matter, exposed under equal circum-
stances to the sun, acquire a much higher temperature than pale soils.
21 58. When soils are perfectly dry, those which most readily become heated by the solar rays
likewise cool most rapidly ; but the darkest-coloured dry soil (that which contains abund-
ance of animal or vegetable matter, substances which most facilitate the diminution of
temperature), when heated to the same degree, provided it be within the common limits
of the effect of solar heat, will cool more slowly than a wet pale soil entirely composed
of earthy matter. Sir H. Davy " found that a rich black mould, which contained nearly
one fourth of vegetable matter, had its temperature increased in an hour from 65° to 88®
by exposure to sunshine ; whilst a chalk soil was heated only to 69° under the same cir-
cumstances : but the mould removed into the shade, where the temperature was 62°,
lost, in half an hour, 15°; whereas the chalk, under the same circumstances, had lost
only 4°. We may also refer to the influence of black earth in melting snow, as prac-
tised empirically on the Alps, and tried philosophically by Franklin and Saussure.
The latter placed on the top of the high Alpine mountain Cramont a box b'ned with
black cloth, with the side next the sun closed by three panes of glass at a little distance
apart the one from the other, and found the thermometer rise thirty degrees in two hours,
froni the concentration of the sun's rays. {Agriculture appliquee, ^c. torn. i. 82. ) A
brown fertile soil and a cold barren clay were each artificially heated to 88°, having been
previously dried, they were then exposed in a temperature of 57° ; in half an hour the
dark soil was found to have lost 9° of heat, the clay had lost only 6°. An equal portion
of the clay containing moisture, after being heated to 88°, was exposed in a temperature
of 55° ; in less than a quarter of an hour it was found to have cooled to the temperature
of the room. The soils in all these experiments were placed in small tin-plate trays, two
inches square, and half an inch in depth ; and the temperature was ascertained by a
delicate thermometer. Thus the temperature of the surface, when bare and exposed to the
rays of the sun, affords at least one indication of the degree of its fertility ; and the ther-
mometer may be sometimes a useful instrument to the purchaser or improver of lands."
2159. The moisture in the soil and sub-soil materially affects their temperature, and pre-
vents, as in the case of constantly saturated aquatic soils, their ever attaining to any great
degree either of heat or cold. The same observation will apply to moist peaty soils, or
peat-bogs.
2160. Chemical agency of soils. Besides these uses of soils, which may be considered
mechanical, there is. Sir H. Davy observes, another agency between soils and organisable
matters, which may be regarded as chemical in its nature. The earths, and even the
earthy carbonates, have a certain degree of chemical attraction for many of the princi-
ples of vegetable and animal substances. This is easily exemplified in the instance of
alumina and oil ; if an acid solution of alumina be mixed with a solution of soap, which
consists of oily matter and potassa, the oil and the alumina will unite and form a white
powder, which will sink to the bottom of the fluid. The extract from decomposing
vegetable matter, when boiled with pipe-clay or chalk, forms a combination by which the
vegetable matter is rendered more difficult of decomposition and of solution. Pure
silica and silicious sands have little action of this kind ; and the soils which contain the
most alumina and carbonate of lime are those which act with the greatest chemical energy
in preserving manures. Such soils merit the appellation, which is commonly given to
them, of rich soils ; for the vegetable nourishment is long preserved in them, unless
taken up by the organs of plants. Silicious sands, on the contrary, deserve the term
hungry, which is commonly appHed to them ; for the vegetable and animal matters they
contain, not being attracted by the earthy constituent parts of the soil, are more liable to
be decomposed by the action of the atmosphere, or carried off from them by water. In
most of the black and brown rich vegetable moulds, the earths seem to be in combination
with a peculiar extractive matter, afforded during the decomposition of vegetables ; this is
slowly taken up or attracted from the earths by water, and appears to constitute a prime
cause of the fertility of the soil.
2161. Thus all soils are useful to plants, as affording them a fixed abode and a range
for their roots to spread in search of food ; but some are much more so than others, as
better adapted by their constituent parts, climate, inclination of surface, and sub-soil,
for attracting and supplying food.
Y
322 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
Sect. V. Of the Improvement of Soils.
2162. Soils may be rendered more Jit for answering the purposes of vegetation by pul-
verisation, by consolidation, by exposure to the atmosphere, by an alteration of their
constituent parts, by changing their condition in respect to water, by changing their
position in respect to atmospherical influence, and by a change in the kinds of plants
cultivated. All these improvements are independent of the application of manures.
SuBSECT. 1. Pulverisation.
2163. The mechanical division of the parts of soils is a very obvious improvement, and
applicable to all in proportion to their adhesive texture. Even a free silicious soil will,
if left untouched, become too compact for the proper admission of air, rain, and heat,
and for the free growth of the fibres ; and strong upland clays, not submitted to the
plough or the spade, Avill, in a few years, be found in the possession of fibrous-rooted
perennial grasses, which form a clothing on their surface, or strong tap-rooted trees, as
the oak, which force their way through the interior of the mass. Annuals and ramen-
taceous-rooted herbaceous plants cannot penetrate into such soils.
2164. The first object of pidverisation is give scope to the roots of vegetables, for with-
out abundance of roots no plant will become vigorous, whatever may be the richness of
the soil in which it is placed. The fibres of the roots, as we have seen (1538.), take up
the extract of the soil by intro-susception ; the quantity taken up, therefore, will not
depend alone on the quantity in the soil, but on the number of absorbing fibres. The
more the soil is pulverised, the more these fibres are increased, the more extract is ab-
sorbed, and the more vigorous does the plant become. Pulverisation, therefore, is not
only advantageous previously to planting or sowing, but also during the progress of vege-
tation, when applied in the intervals between the plants. In the latter case it operates also
in the way of pruning, and by cutting off or shortening tlie extending fibres, causes them
to branch out numerous others, by which the mouths or pores of the plants are greatly
increased, and such food as is in the soil has the better chance of being sought after, and
taken up by them. Tull and Du Hamel relate various experiments which decidedly
prove that, ccBteris paribus, the multiplication of the fibres is as the inter-pulverisation ;
but the strength of the vegetable, in consequence of this multiplication of fibres, must
depend a good deal on the quantity of food or of extract within their reach. The root of
a willow tree, as we have seen (1590.), has the fibres prodigiously increased by coming in
contact with the water in a river, and so have various other aquatic plants, as alder, mint,
iysimkchia thyrsiflora, C^lla palustris, ffinanthe fistulosa, &c. ; but their herbage is
proportionally increased unless the water be impregnated with organised remains.
2165. Pulverisation increases the capillary attraction, or sponge-like property, of soils,
by which their humidity is rendered more uniform. It is evident this capillary
attraction must be greatest where the particles of the earth are finely divided; for gravels
and sands hardly retain water at all, while clays, not opened by pulverisation or other
means, either do not absorb water, or when, by long action, it is absorbed, they retain
too much. Water is not only necessary as such to the growth of plants, but it is
essential to the production of extract from the vegetable matters which they contain ; and
unless the soil, by pulverisation or otherwise, is so constituted as to retain the quantity
of water requisite to produce this extract, the addition of manures will be in vain.
Manure is useless to vegetation till it becomes soluble in water, and it would remain
useless in a state of solution, if it so abounded as wholly to exclude air, for then the
fibres or mouths, unable to perform their functions, would soon decay and rot oflP.
Pulverisation, in a warm season, is of great advantage in admitting the nightly dews to
the roots of plants. Chaptal, in his Agriculture appliquee a Chimie, relates the great
benefit he found from the practice, in this respect, to his corn crops ; and shows of what
importance it is in the culture of vineyards in France.
2166. The temperature of a soil is greatly promoted by pulverisation. Earths, Grisen-
thwaite observes, are also among the worst conductors of heat with which we are
acquainted, and consequently it would be a considerable time before the gradually
increasing temperature of spring could communicate its genial warmth to the roots of
vegetables, if their lower strata were not heated by some other means. To remove this
defect, which always belongs to a close compact soil, it is necessary to have the land
open, that there may be a free ingress of the warm air and tepid rains of spring.
2167. Pvlverisation contributes to the increase of vegetable food. Water is known to be
a condenser and solvent of carbonic acid gas, which, when the land is open, can be
immediately carried to the roots of vegetables, and contribute to their growth ; but if the
land be close, and the water lie on or near its surface, then the carbonic acid gas, which
always exists in the atmosphere and is carried down by rains, will soon be dissipated.
An open soil is also most suitable for eflPecting those changes in the manure itself, which
are equally necessary to ths preparation of such food. Animal and vegetable substances,
Book III. IMPROVEMENT OF SOILS. 323
exposed to the alternate action of heat, moisture, light, and air, undergo spontaneous
decompositions, which would not otherwise take place.
2168. By means of pulverisation a portion of atmospheric air is buried in the soil. This
air, so' confined, is decomposed by the moisture retained in the earthy matters.
Ammonia is formed by the union of the hydrogen of the water with the nitrogen of the
atmosphere ; and nitre, by the union of oxygen and nitrogen ; the oxygen may also unite
with the carbon contained in the soil, and form carbonic acid gas, and carburetted .
hydrogen. Heat is given o\it during these processes, and " hence," as Dr. Darwin remarks
(Fhi/tologia, sect. xii. 1.), " the great propriety of cropping lands immediately after they
have been comminuted and turned over ; and this tlie more especially, if manure has
been added at the same time, as the process of fermentation will go on faster when the
soil is loose, and the interstices filled with air, than afterwards, when it becomes com-
pressed with its own gravity, the relaxing influence of rains, and the repletion of the
partial vacuums formed by the decomposition of the enclosed air. The advantage of the
heat thus obtained in exciting vegetation, whether in a seed or root, especially in spring,
when the soil is cold, must be very considerable."
2169. IVie great advantages of pulvcnsation deceived Tidl, who fancied that no other
assistances were required in the well-management of the business of husbandry. A
knowledge of chemistry, in its present improved state, would have enabled him to discover
that the pulverisation of the soil was of no other benefit to the plants that grow in it than
as it " increased the number of their fibrous roots or mouths by which they imbibe their
food, facilitated the more speedy and perfect preparation of this food, and conducted the
food so prepared more regularly to their roots." Of this food itself it did not produce
one particle.
2170. The depth of pulverisation, Sir H. Davy observes, " must depend upon the nature
of the soil, and of the subsoil. In rich clayey soils it can scarcely be too deep ; and even
in sands, unless the subsoil contains some principles noxious to vegetables, deep
comminution should be practised. When the roots are deep, they are less liable to be
injured either by excessive rain or drought ; the radicles are shot forth into every part of
the soil ; and the space from which the nourishment is derived is more considerable than
when the seed is superficially inserted in the soil."
2171. Pulverisation should, in all cases, be accompanied with the admixture of the parts
of soils by turning them over. It is difficult, indeed, to pulverise without effecting this
end, at least by the implements in common use ; but, if it could be effected, it would be
injurious, because the difference of gravity between the organised matters and the earths
has a constant tendency to separate them, and stirring a soil only with forks or pronged
implements, such as cultivators, would, in a short time, leave the surface of the soil too
light and spongy, and the lower part too compact and earthy.
SuBSECT. 2. Of the Improvement of Soils by Compression.
2172. Mechanical consolidation vdll improve some soils, such as spongy peats and light
dusty sands. It is but a limited source of improvement, but still it deserves to be
noticed.
2173. Tlie proper degree of adhesiveness is best given to loose soils by the addition of
earthy matters ; but mere rolling and treading are not to be altogether rejected. To be
benefited by rolling a soil must be dry, and the operation must not be carried too far.
A peat-bog drained and rolled will sooner become covered with grasses than one equally
well drained and left to itself. Drifting sands may be well rolled when wet, and by
repeating the process after rains they will in time acquire a surface of grass or herbage.
Every agriculturist knows the advantages of rolling light soils after sowing, or even
treading them with sheep. Gardeners also tread in seeds on certain soils.
SuBSECT. 3. Of the Improvement of Soils by Aeration or Fallowing.
2174. Soils are benefited by the free admission of the weather to their interior parts. This
is generally considered as one of the advantages of fallowing, and its use in gardening is
experienced in compost heaps, and in winter and summer ridging. The precise advantages,
however, of exposure to the air, independently of the concurrent influence of water,
heat, and the other effects mentioned as attendant on pulverisation, do not seem at present
to be correctly ascertained. It is allowed that carbonic acid gas may be absorbed by
calcareous earths, and Dr. Thomson considers that the earths alone may thus probably
administer food to plants ; but Sir H. Davy seems to consider mere exposure to the
atmosphere of no benefit to soils whatever. " It has been supposed by some writers," he
says, " that certain principles necessary to fertility are derived from the atmosphere, which
are exhausted by a succession of crops, and that these are again supplied during tlie
repose of the land, and the exposure of the pulverised soil to the influence of the air ; but
tliis in truth is not the case. The earths commonly found in soils cannot be combined
Y 2
324 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
with more oxygen ; none of them unite to azote ; and such of them as are capable of
attracting carbonic acid, are always saturated with it in those soils on which the practice
of fallowing is adopted."
2175. Aeration and repose, or summer fallow. " The vague ancient opinion of the use
of nitre, and of nitrous salts in vegetation," Sir H. Davy says, " seems to have been one
of the principal speculative reasons for the defence of summer fallows. Nitrous salts are
produced during the exposure of soils containing vegetable and animal remains, and in
greatest abundance in hot weather ; but it is probably by the combination of the azote
from these remains with oxygen in the atmosphere that the acid is formed ; and at the
expense of an element which otherwise would have formed ammonia ; the compounds of
which are much more efficacious than the nitrous compounds in assisting vegetation."
It is proper to observe that this reason is more speculative than experimental, and seems
influenced, in some degree, by the opinion adopted by the author, that fallows are of little
use in husbandry. One obvious advantage of aeration in summer, or a summer fallow,
is, that the soil may thus be heated by the sun to a degree which it never could be if
partially covered with the foliage of even the mdest drilled crops. For this purpose, if
the soil is laid up in large lumps, it is evident it will receive more heat by exposing a
greater surface to the atmosphere, and it will retain this heat for a period of unexpected
duration, from the circumstance of the lumps reflecting back the rays of heat radiated by
each other. A clayey soil, in this way, it is said (^Farmer s Magazine, 1815), may be
heated to 120", which may in some degree alter its absorbent powers as to water, and
contribute materially to the destruction of vegetable fibre, insects, and their eggs. By
the aeration of lands in whiter, minute mechanical division is obtained by the freezing of
the water in the soil ; for, as water in the solid state occupies more space than when fluid,
the particles of earthy matters and of decomposing stones are thus rent asunder, and
crumble down in a fine mould. Rough stony soils will thus receive an accession to their
finer soil every winter. Soils which have been soured, sodden, or baked by the tread of
cattle, or by other means, in wet weather, are more speedily sweetened, as the expression
is, by exposure to the sun during the hottest weather of summer, than by exposure to the
frost of winter ; but in summer it is contended that the drying influence of the sun and
air exhausts the soil of its vegetable matter to such an extent as to counteract the good
effects of extreme heating by the sun. Those who maintain this doctrine contend that
the only use of a summer f.illo^v is to admit of freeing the soil of root- weeds.
2176. Agricultural experience Jias fully proved that fallows are the only means by which
stiff clays in moist climates cs*.n be effectually cleared of weeds. Supposing therefore
that no other advantage whatever was obtained, that no nutritive matter was imbibed
from the atmosphere, and the soil was neither chemically nor mechanically benefited by
aeration, this benefit alone, the effectual eradication of weeds, is sufficient to justify the
use of fallows on such soils. >
2177. Many of the objections to fallows have arisen in consequence of the parties not
previously agreeing as to what a summer fallow is. In England generally, or at least
formerly, a fallow was a portion of land left a year without culture or cropping, unless
being once or twice ploughed can be denominated the former, and an abundant growth
of coarse grasses and weeds can constitute the latter. ThQJacheres of the French are the
same thing. In Scotland, and in the best -cultivated districts, a summer fallow is a
portion of land begun to be cultivated after the crop is removed in autumn, and is fre-
quently, as need requires, ploughed, harrowed, and otherwise comminuted, and freed
from stones, weeds, inequalities, &c., till the autumnal seed-time of the following year :
it is thus for twelve months in a state of constant tillage and movement. The result .is,
that the land is thoroughly freed from roots of weeds ; from many seeds of weeds, which
are thus made to genninate, and are then destroyed ; and from many eggs of insects which
are thus hatched, but being without plants to nourish them in their larva state, speedily
die. The land is also thoroughly pulverised, and the top, bottom, and middle mixed
together ; stones are picked out, inequalities unfavourable to surface drainage removed
or lessened, and various other useful objects attained. Such a fallow can no more be
compared with what usually passes under that name, than the plough of Virgil (112.)
•with that of Small.
2178. That fallows of the common kind are much more universal than is necessary,
there can be little doubt ; but there can be as little doubt that fallows such as we have
described are much less frequent than they should be, and that wherever they are prac-
tised, the agriculturist's produce and profits will be found far superior to where they
are omitted : turnip soils are of course to be excepted, because the preparation for that
crop, on light soils, effects the same purpose in eight months, that the fallow does in
twelve.
2179. The origin of fallows is commonly traced to the idea, that land naturally requires rest as well as
animals : but a want of hands first, and afterwards a want of manure, are much more likely causes. Men
must very early have observed, from what took place in the spots they cultivated as gardens, that pul-
B-OK III. ALTERATION OF THE PARTS OF THE SOIL. 32.5
verisation and manure would insure perpetual crops on the same soil ; but they must at the same time
have felt, that they had neither the requisite labourers to bestow the cultivation, nor cattle to produce the
manure. Hence they would find it easier to break up one piece of fresh ground after another, and after
they had gone a round in this way, as extensive as their limits or other circumstances permitted, they
would return to where they began. As their limits became circumscribed by the increase of population,
or other causes, they would return the oftener, till at last, when property became more rigidly defined, and
more valuable, they would return at short intervals regularly. Then it was that the necessity and
advantage of working fallows would be felt, and the practice become systematise^ as at the present day,
and from the earliest records in civilised countries. The practice of fallowing in Italy, during the time of
the Romans (128.), differed in nothing from that of the same country, and of the rest of Europe, at the
present day : and if we trace field culture among savage and semibarbarous nations, and gradually through
such as are more wealthy and refined, we shall find the fallow in all its gradations, from breaking up at
random, to the triennial, quintennial, and septennial operation^ of the best British farmers.
SuBSECT. 4. Alteration of the constituent Parts of Soils.
2180. The constituent parts of soils may be altered by the addition or subtraction of in-
gredients in which they are deficient or superabound, and by the chemical change of some
constituent part or parts by the action of fire.
2181. hi ascertaining the composition uf faulty soils, urith a view to their improvement by
adding to their constituent parts, any particular ingredient which is the cause of their
unproductiveness should be particularly attended to ; if possible, they should be com-
pared with fertile soils in the same neighbourhood, and in similar situations, as the
difference of the composition may, in many cases, indicate the most proper methods of
improvement. If, on washing a sterile soil, it is found to contain the salts of iron, or
any acid matter, it may be ameliorated by the application of quicklime. A soil of good
apparent texture, containing sulphate of iron, will be sterile ; but the obvious remedy is
a top-dressing with lime, which converts the sulphate into manure. If there be an excess
of calcareous matter in the soil, it may be improved by tlie application of sand or clay.
Soils too abundant in sand are benefited by the use of clay, or marl, or vegetable matter.
Light sands are often benefited by a dressing of peat, and peats by a dressing of sand ;
though the former is in its nature but a temporary improvement. When peats are acid,
or contain ferruginous salts, calcareous matter is absolutely necessary in bringing them
into cultivation. The best natural soils are those of which the materials have been
derived from different strata, which have been minutely divided by air and water, and are
intimately blended together ; and in improving soils artificially, the cultivator cannot do
better than imitate the processes of nature. The materials necessary for the purpose are
seldom far distant ; coarse sand is often found inunediately on chalk, and beds of sand
and gravel are common below clay. The labour of improving the texture or constitution
of the soil is repaid by great permanent advantages ; less manure is required, and its
fertility insured ; and capital laid out in this way secures for ever the productiveness, and
consequently the value, of the land.
2182. The removal of superabundant ingredients in soils may sometimes be one of the
simplest and most effectual means of their improvement. It occasionally happens that
the surface of a well proportioned soil is thickly covered with peat, with drifted sand,
with gravel, or with small stones. Extensive examples of the former occur in Stirling-
shire, and of the latter in Norfolk. In such cases, a simple and effectual mode of im-
provement consists in removing the superincumbent strata, and cultivating that below.
This can seldom be put in practice on a large scale, with such heavy materials as gravel
or stones ; but some hundreds of acres of rich alluvial soil, deeply covered by peat, have
been bared and cultivated in Blair- Drummond moss in Stirlingshire; an operation com-
menced by the celebrated Lord Kaimes {Gen. Rep. of Scot., App. v. 5.), copied by his
neighbours, and continued by his and their successors. The moss is floated off by
streams of water, which empty themselves in the Firth of Forth. In this river, by the
winds and tides, it is cast on shore in the bays and recesses, impregnated with salt ; and
here it engenders vegetation on the encroaching surfaces of sand and gravel. Coatings
of sand or gravel can seldom be removed on a scale of sufficient extent for agriculture,
but have, in some instances, for the purposes of gardening. Sometimes this improve-
ment may be effected by trenching down the surface, and raising up a stratum of better
earth.
2183. The moss of Kincardine or Blair- Drummond is situated in the parish of that name not far from
Stirling, and contains upwards of 2000 acres, 1500 of which belong to the estate of Blair-Drummond. It
lies upon a bed of clay, which is a continuation of the rich alluvial soil which forms the flat vales called
Carses of Stirling and Falkirk. This vale or plain had been covered with trees, which appear to have
been felled by the Romans, and this, by stagnating the water, ended in producing the moss. This moss
consists of three different strata : the first, black and heavy, appears to have been formed of bent grass and
fallen trees ; the second is composed principally of Sphiignura paKistre, and is brown and of an elastic
texture ; the third is about a foot thick, and consists of heath and a little bent grass. In general these
three strata occupy to the depth of seven feet. Lord Kaimes took possession of this moss in 1766, and,
soon after, conceived the idea of floating off" the moss into the Firth of Forth, and exposing the alluvial
soil for corn culture. After various experiments, which, however interesting, it would occupy too much
room to detail, the following may be given as the result.
2184. Manner of floating off the moss. A stream of water sufficient to turn a common corn-mill will
carry off" as much moss as twenty men can throw into it, provided they be stationed at the distance of 100
yards from each other. The first step is to make in the clay, alongside of the moss, a drain to convey the
Y 3
326
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
water ; and, for this operation, the Carse clay below the moss is peculiarly favourable, being perfectly free
from stones and all other extraneous substances ; and at the same time, when moist, as slippery as soap,
so that not only is it easily dug, but its lubricity greatly facilitates the progress of the water when loaded
with moss. The dimensions proper for the drain are found to be, two feet for the breadth, and the same
for the depth. If smaller, it could not conveniently receive the spadefuls of moss ; if larger, the water
would escape, leaving the moss behind. The drain has an inclination of one foot in a hundred yards : the
more regularly this inclination is observed throughout, the less will the moss be liable to obstructions in
its progress with the water. The drain being formed, the operator marks off to a convenient extent, along,
side of it, a section of moss ten feet broad ; the greatest distance from whicli he can heave his spadeful
into the drain. This he repeatedly does, till the entire moss be removed down to the clay. He then digs
a new drain at the foot of the moss bank, turns the water into it, and proceeds as before, leaving the moss
to pursue its course into the river Forth ; upon the fortunate situation of which, happily forming for
several miles the southern boundary of the estate, without the interposition of any other property,
depended in some measure the very existence of the whole operations.
2185. When the moss is entirely removed, the clay is found to be incumbered with the roots of different
sorts of trees, often very large, remaining in it as they grew : their trunks also are frequently found lying
beside them, as has been already observed. All these the tenants remove, often with great labour. In
the course of their operations they purposely leave a few inches of moss upon the clay. This, in spring,
when the season is favourable, they reduce to ashes, which in a great measure insures the first crop.
The ground thus cleared is turned over, where the dryness admits, with a plough ; and, where too soft,
with a spade. A month's exposure to the 3un, wind, and frost, reduces the clay to such a state as fits it
for the seed in Marcli and April. A crop of oats is the first produce, which seldom fails of being plentiful,
yielding from eight to ten bolls after one. {Farm. Mag., vol. xviii.)
2186. To procure water for floating off the tnoss was found to be the greatest difficulty ; but it was readily
overcome by Mr. Whitworth, an erament engineer, and Mr. George Meikle, of Alloa, a skilful millwright,
the son of the well known inventor of the thrashing-machine. (799.) Mr. Meikle gave a model of a wheel
of his own and his father's invention, of an entirely new construction. This wheel is so exceedingly
simple, and acts in a manner so easy, natural, and uniform, that a common observer is apt to undervalue
the invention ; but persons skilled in mechanics view machinery with a very different eye, for to them
simplicity is the first recommendation a machine can possess. Accordingly, upon seeing the model set
to work, Mr. Whitworth, with that candour and liberality of mind which generally accompany genius
and knowledge, not only gave it the greatest praise, but fleclared that, for the purpose required, it was
superior to what had been recommended by himself, and advised it to be adopted without hesitation.
{Farm. Mag., vol. xviii.)
2187. The water-wheel at Blair-Drummond is twenty-eight feet in diameter and ten feet broad. It is
driven by water operating on the float-boards, in the same way as an ordinary mill-wheel. At the
extremities of the radii, or arms, of the wheel, immediately within the float-boards and circumference, is
fixed a double row of buckets, as they have been called, borrowing a word from the Persian wheel, to
which this part of the present machine has no resemblance, which are more like a section of Louvre
boards, or Venetian blinds, or a set of scales, opening upwards when at the bottom of the circumference,
and downwards when at the top. These receive two streams of water, which are poured into them
within the circumference, when below, which water they discharge when they ascend, and are inverted
by the revolution of the wheel into a trough or cistern so placed as to receive it above. By this means a
level is gained of 17 feet, which is sufficient to make the water rmi to the surface of the moss. Tlie water
is conveyed from the cistern of the wheel to the moss for ;?54 yards below ground, in wooden pipes hooped
with iron, 18 inches in diameter within ; and afterwards rises from the pipes into an open aqueduct above
1400 yards in length, and elevated from eight to ten feet above the level of the adjacent grounds.
2188. The wheel makes nearly four revolutions in a minute, in which time it discharges into the cistern
40 hogsheads of water, and it is capable of lifting no less than GO hogsheads in a minute; but the pipes
will not admit such a quantity of water, nor would it be safe or expedient to drive the machine with a
force sufficient to raise so great a quantity. It is probable that the first idea of this machine was derived
from the Persian wheel ; but its superiority in many respects is so conspicuous as to entitle it to little less
praise than the first invention. {Farm. Mag., vol xviii.) The wheel was completed and at work in October
1827, and the total expense exceeded 1000/. It has been twice rebuilt. The tenants voluntarily agreed to
pay interest on whatever sum it might cost ; but their generous landlord relieved them at once from their
engagement.
2189. The details of the Blair-Drummond wheel {fig. 204 ) are thus given in the very copious and inter-
esting account in the Fartner's Magazine, vol. xviii,, from which the present is extracted. Fig. 204. a, is
a sluice through which is admitted the water that moves the wheel ; b b, two sluices through which is
admitted the water raised by the wheel ; c c c, a part of one of two wooden troughs and an aperture in the
Book III. ALTERATION OF THE PARTS OF THE SOIL.
327
wall, through which the above
water is conveyed into the buc-
kets ; the other trough is hid by
two stone walls that support the
wheel ; d (id, buckets, of which
80 are arranged on each side of
the arms of the wheel, in all 160 ;
e e e, a cistern, into which the
water raised by the buckets is
discharged ; ///, wooden barrel
pipes, through which the water
descends from the cistern under
ground.
2190. T/ie cistern of the Blair-
Drummond tvheel, as seen from
above {fig. 205.), shows the two
troughs into which the buckets
empty themselves {gg) ; the space
through which the water flows to
the barrel pipes (// in fig. 204.)
{h) ; the place where the arms of
the wheel move (i), and where the float boards and buckets descend (A). The buckets are filled from
two side troughs {fig. 206. /), which communicate
with the head of water which drives the wheel, as
seen at e in fig. 204. {Farm. Mag., vol. xviii.)
2191. Incineration. The chemical changes
which can be effected in soils by inciner-
ation are considerable. This practice was
known to the Romans, is more or less in use
in most parts of Europe, is mentioned as an
approved practice by our oldest agricultural
writers, and has lately excited some degree
of attention from the successful experiments
of different cultivators. (Fartner's Magazine,
1810 to 1815, and Farmers Journal, 1814
to 1821 )
2 J 92. T/ie theory of burning soils is thus
given by Sir H. Davy. It rests, he says,
entirely on chemical doctrines. The bases of all common soils are mixtures of the pri-
mitive earths and oxide of iron ; and these earths have a certain degree of attraction for
each other. To regard this attraction in its proper point of view, it is only necessary to
consider the composition of any common silicious stone. Feldspar, for instance, contains
silicious, aluminous, and calcareous earths, fixed alkali, and oxide of iron, which exist in
one compound, in consequence of their chemical attractions for each other. Let this
stone be ground into impalpable powder, it then becomes a substance like clay ; if the
powder is heated very strongly, it fuses, and on cooling forms a coherent mass similar to
the original stone ; the parts separated by mechanical division adhere again in conse-
quence of chemical attraction. If the powder be heated less strongly, the paiticles only
superficially combine with each other, and form a gritty mass, which, when broken into
pieces, has the characters of sand. If the power of the powdered feldspar to absorb
water from the atmosphere before and after the application of the heat is estimated, it is
found much less in the latter case. The same effect takes place when the powder
of other silicious or aluminous stones is made the subject of experiment ; and two equal
portions of basalt ground into impalpable powder, of which one half had been strongly
ignited, and the other exposed only to a temperature equal to that of boiling water,
gained very different weights in the same time when exposed to air. In four hours the
one had gained only two grains, whilst the other had gained seven grains. When clay
or tenacious soils are burnt, the effect is of the same kind ; they are brought nearer to a
state analogous to that of sands. In the manufacture of bricks the general principle is
well illustrated ; if a piece of dried brick earth be applied to the tongue, it will adhere to
it very strongly, in consequence of its power to absorb water ; but after it has been burnt,
there will be scarcely a sensible adhesion.
21 93. The advantages of burning are, that it renders the soil less compact, less tenacious,
and less retentive of moisture ; and when properly applied, may convert a matter wliich
was stiff, damp, and, in consequence, cold, into one powdery, dry, and warm, and much
more proper as a bed for vegetable life.
2194. The great objection made by speculative chemists to paring and burning is, that
it destroys vegetable and animal matter, or the manure in soil : but in cases in which the
texture of its earthy ingredients is permanently improved, there is more than a compen-
sation for this temporary disadvantage ; and in some soils where there is an excess of inert
vegetable matter, the destruction of it must be beneficial ; and the carbonaceous matter
remaining in the ashes may be more useful to the crop than the vegetable fibre from
which it was produced.
2195. Three specimens of ashes from different lands which had undergone paring and
Y 4
328 SCIENCE OF ^AGRICULTURE. Part II.
burning were examined by chemical analysis. The first was from a chalk soil, and 200
grains contained 80 of carbonate of lime, 1 1 gypsum, 9 charcoal, 1 5 oxide of iron,
3 saline matter, sulphate of potash, muriate of magnesia, with a minute quantity of
vegetable alkali ; the remainder alumina and silica. Sujipose 2660 bushels to be the
common produce of an acre of ground, then, according to this calculation, they would
give 172,900 lbs., containing carbonate of lime 69,160 lbs., gypsum 9509'5., oxide of
iron 12,967"5., saline matter 2593'5., charcoal 7780'5. In this instance there was un-
doubtedly a very considerable quantity of matter capable of being active as manure
produced in the operation of burning. The charcoal very finely divided, and exposed
on a large surface, must be gradually converted into carbonic acid; and gypsum and
oxide of iron seem to produce the very best effects when applied to lands containing an
excess of carbonate of lime. The second specimen was from a soil near Coleorton, in
Leicestershire, containing only 4 per cent of carbonate of lime, and consisting of three
fourths light silicious sand, and about one fourth clay. This had been turf before burn-
ing, and 100 parts of the ashes gave 6 parts charcoal, 3 muriate of soda and sulphate of
potash, with a trace of vegetable alkali, 9 oxide of iron, and the remainder the earths. In
this instance, as in the other, finely divided charcoal was found, the solubility of which
would be increased by the presence of the alkali. The third instance was that of a stiff '
clay, from Mount's Bay, Cornwall. This land had been brought into cultivation from a
heath, by burning, about ten years before : but having been neglected, furze was spring-
ing up in different parts of it, which gave rise to the second paring and burning. 100
parts of the ashes contained 8 parts of charcoal, 2 of saline matter, principally common
salt, with a little vegetable alkali, 7 oxide of iron, 2 carbonate of lime, the remainder
alumina and silica. Here the quantity of charcoal was greater than in the other instances.
The salt was probably owing to the vicinity of the sea, it being but two miles off. In
this land there was ceitainly an excess of dead vegetable fibre, as well as unprofitable
living vegetable matter.
21 96. Causes of the effects of burning soil. Many obscure causes have been refen-ed
to for the purpose of explaining the effects of paring and burning ; but they may be
referred entirely to the diminution of the coherence and tenacity of clays, and to
the destruction of inert and useless vegetable matter, and its conversion into a manure.
Dr. Darwin, in his Phytologia, has supposed that clay, during torrefaction, may absorb
some nutritive principles from the atmosphere which afterwards may be supplied to
plants ; but the earths are pure metallic oxides, saturated with oxygen ; and the tendency
of burning is to expel any other volatile principles which they may contain in combin-
ation. If the oxide of iron in soils is not saturated with oxygen, torrefaction tends to
produce its further union with this principle ; and hence, in burning, the colour of cjay
changes to red. The oxide of iron, containing its full proportion of oxygen, has less
attraction for acids than any other oxide^ and is consequently less likely to be dissolved by
any fluid acids in the soil ; and it appears in this state to act in the same manner as the
earths. A very ingenious author, Naismith {Elements of Agr.\ supposes that the oxide
of iron, when combined with carbonic acid, is poisonous to plants ; and that one use of
torrefaction is to expel the carbonic acid from it ; but the carbonate of iron is not soluble
in water, and is a very inert substance ; and a luxuriant crop of cresses has been raised
in a soil composed of one fifth carbonate of iron, and four fifths carbonate of lime.
Carbonate of iron abounds in some of the most fertile soils in England, particularly the
red hop soil ; and there is no theoretical ground for supposing that carbonic acid, which
is an essential food of plants, should, in any of its combinations, be poisonous to them ;
and it is known that lime and magnesia are both noxious to vegetation, unless combined
with this principle.
2197. The soils improved by burning are all such as contain too much dead vegetable
fibi-e, and which consequently lose from one third to one half their weight by inciner-
ation ; and all such as contain their earthy constituents in an impalpable state of division,
i. e. the stiff clays and marls, are improved by burning : but in coarse sands, or rich
soils containing a just mixture of the earths, and in all cases in which the texture is
sufficiently loose, or the organisable matter sufficiently soluble, the process of torrefaction
cannot be useful.
2198. All poor sUidous sands are injured by burning. Young, in his Essay on Ma-
nures, states " that he found burning injure sand ; and the operation is never performed
by good cultivators upon silicious sandy soils, after they have once been brought into
cultivation."
SuBSECT. 5. Changing the Condition of Lands in respect to Water.
2199. The water of the soil ivhere superabundant may be uithdrawn, and when deficient
supplied .• these operations with water are independent of its supply as a manure, or as
affording the stimulus of heat or cold.
2200. Stagnant water may he considered as injurious to all the useful classes of plants,
Book III. CHxVNGING THE CONDITION OF LANDS. 329
by obstructing perspiration and intro-susception, and thus diseasing their roots and sub-
merged parts. Where the surface-soil is properly constituted, and rests on a subsoil
moderately porous, both will hold water by capillary attraction, and what is not so
retained will sink into the interior strata by its gravity; but where the subsoil is retentive,
it will resist, or not admit with sufficient rapidity, the percolation of water to the strata
below, which accumulating in the surface-soil till its proportion becomes excessive as a
component part, not only carries off the extractive matter, but diseases the plants.
Hence the origin of surface-draining, that is, laying land in ridges or beds, or intersecting
it with small open gutters.
2201. Sp-ings. Where the upper stratum is porous in some places, and retentive in
others, and on a retentive base, the water, in its progress along the porous bed or layer,
will be interrupted by the retentive places in a great variety of ways, and there accumu-
lating will burst through the upper surface in the form of springs, which are more
injurious than surface-water, as being colder, and generally permanent in their operation.
Hence the origin of under-draining in all its varieties of collecting, extracting, and con-
veying water.
2202. The water of rivers may become injurious to lands on their banks, by too
frequently overflowing their surface. In this case the stream may be included by
mounds of earth or other materials impervious to water : and thus aquatic soils rendered
dry and fit for useful herbage and aration. The same may be said of lands occasionally
overflown by the sea. Hence the origin of embanking, an art carried to a great extent
in Holland and Italy. (See SineatorCs Posthumous Works; Sigismondi, Agr. Tosc. ; liac-
colta (lei Autori die trattano deW Aque ; and our article Embankment, in Supp. Encyc.
Brit. 1819.)
2203. Irrigation. Plants cannot live without water, any more than they can prosper
in soils where it is superabundant ; and it is therefore supplied by art on a large scale,
either by surface or subterraneous irrigation. In both practices the important points are
to imitate nature in producing motion, and in applying the water in the mornings or
evenings, or under a clouded sky, and also at moderate intervals. The effects of water
constantly employed would, in most cases, be such as attend stagnated water, aquatic soils,
or land-springs ; and employed in hot sunshine, or after violent heats, it may check
evaporation and destroy life, exactly as it happens to those who may have bathed in cold
spring water after long and violent exercise in a hot day. [Phytologia, xv. 3. 5.)
2204. In surface irrigation the water is conveyed in a system of open channels, which
require to be most numerous in such grounds as are under drilled annual crops, and least
so in such as are sown in breadths, beds, or ridges, under perennial crops. This mode
of watering has existed from time immemorial. The children of Israel are represented
as sowing their seed and " watering it wdth their foot;" that is, as Calmet explains it,
raising the water from the Nile by a machine worked by the feet, from which it was
conducted in such channels as we have been describing. It is general in the south of
France and Italy ; but less required in Britain.
2205. The Persian wheel, or Norza, an oriental invention of great power and of the most remote
antiquity, was introduced into Spain by the Moors, and is yet extensively used in the southern and eastern
provinces of that kingdom. It consists of a series of earthen jars attached to an endless rope passing over
a vertical drum put into motion by a trundle and cog horizontal wheel, which last is usually turned
by one bullock or more.
2206. Subterraneous irrigation may be effected by a system of drains or covered gutters
in the subsoil, which, proceeding from a main conduit or other supply, can be charged
with water at pleasure. For grounds under the culture of annual plants, this mode
would be more convenient, and for all others more economical, as to the use of water,
than surface irrigation. Where the under-stratum is gravelly, and rests on a retentive
stratum, this mode of watering may take place without drains, as it may also on perfectly
flat lands, by filling to the brim, and keeping full for several days, surrounding trenches ;
but the beds or fields between the trenches must not be of great extent. This practice is
used in Lombardy on the alluvial lands near the embouchures of the Po. In Lincoln-
shire the same mode is practised by shutting up the flood gates of the mouths of
the great drains in the dry seasons, and thus damming up the water through all the
ramifications of the drainage from the sea to their source. This was first suggested by
G. Rennie and Sir Joseph Banks, after the drainage round Boston, completed about
1810. A similar plan, on a smaller scale, had been practised in Scotland, where deep
mosses had been drained and cultivated on the surface, but where, in summer, vegetation
failed from deficiency of moisture. It was first adopted by J. Smith (See Essay on the
Improvement of Peat-moss, 1795) on a farm in Ayrshire, and has subsequently been
brought into notice by J. Johnston, the first delineator and professor of Elkington's
system of draining.
2207. Flooding and warping are modes of irrigation, the former for manuring grass
lands, and the latter for enriching the surface of arable lands ; while both at the same
time gradually raise up the surface of the soil. Irrigation with a view to conveying
:'^30 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
adflitions to the soil has long l)oen practised, and is an evident imitation of the overflowing
of alluvial lands, whether in meadow or aration. In the former case it is called irrigation
or flooding, and in the latter warping. Warping is used chiefly as a mode of enriching
the soil by an increase of the alluvial depositions, or warp of rivers, during winter, where
the surface is not under crop, and is common on the banks of the Ouse.
2208. The Italian process called colmata {fullness) is nothing more than a variety of the British process
called warping. In the Val di Chiana in Tuscany, fields which are too low are raised and fertilised by the
process called colmata, which is done in the following manner : — The field i.s surrounded by an embank-
ment to confine the water ; the dike of the rivulet is broken down so as to admit the muddy water of the
high floods; the Chiana itself is too powerful a body of water to be used for this purpose, it is only the
streams that flow into the Chiana that are used. This water is allowed to settle and deposit its mud on
the field. The water is then let oflf into the river at the lower end of the field by a discharging course
called scolo, and, in French, canal d' ecimlement. The water-course which conducts the water from a
river, either to a fall for irrigation, or to a mill, is called gora. In this manner a field will be raised five
and a half, and sometimes seven and a half feet, in ten years. If the dike is broken down to the bottom,
the field will be raised the same height in seven years'; but then, in this case, gravel is also carried in
along with the mud. In a field of twenty-five acres, which had been six years under the process of colmata,
in which the dike was broken down to within three feet of the bottom, the process was seen to be so far
advanced that only another year was requisite for its completion. The floods in this instance had been
much charged with soil. The water which comes off cultivated land completes the process sooner than
that which comes off hill and woodlands. Almost the whole of the Val di Chiana has been raised by the
process of colmata.
2209. A proprietor whose field is not adjacent to a stream may conduct the stream through the inter-
vening lands of another proprietor on paying the damage he occasions. The process of colmata is
expensive, because the ground is unproductive during the seven or eight years that the process lasts ; but
this is soon repaid with great profit by the fertility of the newly deposited soil.
2210. By the gravel ivhich the rivers carry and deposit their bed is much raised above the level of the
adjoining fields ; so that, in order to carry off the rain water from the fields, drains are formed which
pass in arched conduits under the embanked rivers, and go into larger drains which pass to the lowest
part of the plain near Arezzo, and there enter the Chiana.
2211. The soil in the Val di Chiana is generally the same to the depth of six feet from the surface, and
under that is gravel or sand. After the completion of the process of colmata, the expense of which is
always repaid with profit, the ground is cultivated for five years on the proprietor's own account ; and the
produce during these five years repays the expense of the process of colmata with profit. The first two
years it is sown with Indian corn (granturco), and sometimes hemp, the soil being then too strong for
wheat. The next three it is sown with wheat, without any manure. The produce of wheat in this highly
fertile state of the soil is twenty from one, whilst in the usual state of the ground the return of wheat is
from twelve to fourteen from one. After this the field is let out in the ordinary way to the farmers, the
contadini. {Farm. Mag., vol. xxi.)
2212. The rationale of irrigation is thus given by Sir H. Davy: — " In general, in
nature, the operation of water is to bring earthy substances into an extreme state of
division : but in the artificial watering of meadows, the beneficial eflfects depend upon
many different causes, soine chemical, some mechanical. Water is absolutely essential
to vegetation ; and when land has been covered by water in the winter, or in the begin-
ning of spring, the moisture which has penetrated deep into the soil, and even the subsoil,
becomes a source of nourishment to the roots of the plants in the summer, and prevents
those bad effects which often happen in lands in their natural state, from a long con-
tinuance of dry weather. When the water used in irrigation has flowed over a calcareous
country, it is generally found impregnated with carbonate of lime ; and in this state it
tends, in many instances, to ameliorate the soil. Common river water also generally
contains a certain portion of organisable matter, which is much greater after rains than
at other times; or which exists in the largest quantity when the stream rises in a
cultivated country. Even in cases where the water used for flooding is pure, and free
from animal or vegetable substances, it acts by causing a more equable diffusion of
nutritive matter existing in the land ; and in very cold seasons it preserves the tender
roots and leaves of the grass from being affected by frost. Water is of greater specific
gravity at 42° Fahrenheit, than at 32", the freezing point ; and hence, in a meadow
irrigated in winter, the water immediately in contact with the grass is rarely below 40°,
a degree of temperature not at all prejudicial to the living organs of plants. In 1804, in
the month of March, the temperature in a water meadow near Hungerford was
examined by a very delicate thermometer. The temperature of the air at seven in the
morning was 29°. The water was frozen above the grass. The temperature of the soil
below the water in which the roots of the grass were fixed, was 43^^." Water may also
operate usefully in warm seasons by moderating temperature, and thus retarding the
over-rapid progress of vegetation. The consequence of this retardation will be greater
magnitude and improved texture of the grosser parts of plants, a more perfect and
ample developement of their finer parts, and, above all, an increase in the size of their
fruits and seeds. We apprehend this to be one of the principal uses of flooding rice-
grounds in the East; for it is ascertained that the rice-plant will perfect its seeds in
Europe, and even in this country, without any water beyond what is furnished by the
weather, and the natural moisture of a well constituted soil. It may also be noticed that
one variety of rice grows on the declivities of hills without artificial irrigation ; as in St.
Domingo and in certain parts of India. " In general, those waters which breed the best
fish are the best fitted for watering meadows ; but most of the benefits of irrigation may
be derived from any kind of water. It is, however, a general principle, that waters con-
taining ferruginous impregnation, though possessed of fertilising effects when applied to
Boo.-. III. ROTATION OF CROPS. 831
a calcareous soil, are injurious on soils which do not effervesce with acids ; and that cal-
careous waters, which are known by the earthy deposit they afford when boiled, are of
most use on silicious soils, or other soils containing no remarkable quantity of carbonate
of lime."
SuBSECT. 6. Changing the Condition of Lands, in respect to Atmospherical Injiuence.
'2213. The influence of the weather on soils may be affected by changing the position
of their surface and by sheltering or shading.
2214. Changing the condition of lands, as to solar influence, is but a limited means of
improvement; but is capable of being turned to some account in gardening. It is*
effected by altering the position of their surface, so as that surface may be more or less
at a right angle to the plane of the sun's rays, according as heat or cold is to be increased
or diminished. The influence of the sun's rays upon any plane are demonstrated to be
as their number and perpendicularity to that plane, the effects of the atmosphere being
excepted. Hence one advantage of ridging lands, provided the ridges run north and
south ; for on such surfaces the rays of the morning sun will take eflect sooner on the
east side, and those of the afternoon will remain longer in operation on tJie west side ;
whilst at mid-day his elevation will compensate, in some degree, for the obliquity of his
rays to both sides of the ridge. In culture, on a small scale, ridges or sloping beds for
winter-crops may be made south-east and north-west, with their slope to the south, at an
angle of forty degrees, and as steep on the north side as the mass can be got to stand ;
and on the south slope of such ridge, cceteris paiibus, it is evident much earlier crops
may be produced than on level ground. The north side, however, vdll be lost during
this early cropping ; but as early crops are soon gathered, the whole can be laid level in
time for a main crop. Hence all the advantage of grounds sloping to the south south-
east, or south-west, in point of precocity, and of those sloping to the north for lateness and
diminished evaporation. Another advantage of such surfaces is, that they dry sooner
after rains, whether by the operation of natural or artificial drainage ; or, in the case of
sloping to the south, by evaporation.
2215. Shelter, whether by walls, hedges, strips of plantation, or trees scattered over
the surface, may be considered, generally, as increasing or preserving heat, and lessening
evaporation from the soil. But if the current of air should be of a higher temperature
than the earth, screens against wind will prevent the earth from being so soon heated ;
and from the increased evaporation arising from so great a multiplication of vegetable
surface by the trees, more cold will be produced after rains, and the atmosphere kept in
a more moist state, than in grounds perfectly naked. When the temperature of a
current of air is lower than that of the earths, screens will prevent its can-ying off so
much heat ; but more especially scattered trees, the tops of which will be chiefly cooled
whilst the under surfaces of their lower branches reflect back the rays of heat as they
radiate from the surface of the soil. Heat, in its transmission from one body to another,
follows the same laws as light ; and, therefore, the temperature of the surface in a forest
will, in winter, be considerably higher than that of a similarly constituted soil exposed
to the full influence of the weatlier. The early flowering of plants, in woods and hedges,
is a proof of this : but as such soils cannot be so easily heated in summer, and are cooled
like others after the sinking in of rains, or the melting of snows, the effect of the reflec-
tion as to the whole year is nearly neutralised, and the average temperature of the year of
such soils and situations will probably be found not greater than that of open lands.
2216. Shading the ground, whether by umbrageous trees, spreading plants, or cover-
ing it with tiles, slates, moss, litter, or other materials, has a tendency to exclude atmo-
spherical heat and retain moisture. Shading dry loose soils, by covering them with litter,
slates, or tiles, laid round the roots of plants, is found very beneficial.
SuBSECT. 7. Rotation of Crops.
2217. Growing different crops in succession is a practice which every cultivator knows
to be highly advantageous, though its beneficial influence has not yet been fully accounted
for by chemists. The most general theory is, that though all plants will live on the same
food, as the chemical constituents of their roots and leaves are nearly the same, yet that
many species require particular substances to bring their seeds or fruits to perfection, as
the analysis of these seeds or fruits often afford substances different from those which
constitute the body of the plant. A sort of rotation may be said to take place in
nature, for perennial herbaceous plants have a tendency to extend their circumference,
and rot and decay at their centre, where others of a different kind spring up and succeed
them. This is more especially the case with travelling roots, as in mint, strawberry,
creeping crowfoot, &c.
2218. The rationale of rotation is thus given by Sir H. Davy : — " It is a great advan-
tage in the convertible system of cultivation, that the whole of the manure is employed ;
and that those parts of it which are not fitted for one crop, remain as nourishment for
another. Thus, if the turnip is the first in the order of succession, this crop, manured
S32 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
with recent dung, immediately finds sufficient soluble matter foi* its nourishment; and
the heat produced in fermentation assists the germination of the seed and the growth of
the plant. If, after turnips, barley with grass-seeds is sown, then the land, having been
little exhausted by the turnip crop, affords the soluble parts of the decomposing manure
to the grain. The grasses, rye-grass, and clover remain, which derive a small part only
of their organised matter from the soil, and probably consume the gypsum in the manure
which would be useless to other crops : these plants, likewise, by their large systems of
leaves, absorb a considerable quantity of nourishment from the atmosphere, or probably
retain the nutritive qualities in the soil, for a covering of slates or any other covering
would have nearly tlie same effect ; and when ploughed in at the end of two years, the
decay of their roots and leaves affords manure for the wheat crop ; and at this period of
the course, the woody fibre of the famci-yard manure, which contains the phosphate
of lime, and the other difficultly soluble parts, is broken down : and as soon as the most
exhausting crop is taken, recent manure is again applied. Peas and beans, in all
instances, seem well adapted to prepare ground for wheat ; and in some rich lands
they are raised in alternate crops for years together. Peas and beans contain a small
quantity of a matter analagous to albumen ; but it seems that the azote, which forms a
constituent part of this matter, is derived from the atmosphere. The dry bean-leaf, when
burnt, yields a smell approaching to that of decomposing animal matter ; and in its de-
cay in the soil, may furnish principles capable of becoming a part of the gluten in wheat.
Though the general composition of plants is very analogous, yet the specific difference in
the products of many of them, prove that they must derive different materials from the
soil ; and though the vegetables having the smallest system of leaves will proportionably
most exhaust the soil of common nutritive matter, yet particular vegetables, when their
produce is carried off, will require peculiar principles to be supplied to the land in which
they grow. Strawberries and potatoes at first produce luxuriantly in virgin mould,
recently turned up from pasture ; but in a few years they degenerate, and require a fresh
soil. Lands, in a course of years, often cease to afford good cultivated grasses ; they
become (as it is popularly said) tired of them ; and one of the probable reasons for this
is, the exhaustion of the gypsum contained in the soil." — " Experience," Mr. Main, the
editor of the British Farmer s Magazine, observes, " has proved that land, whatever may
belts quality, should not be sown with clover at shorter intervals than five years."
2219. The power of vegetables to exhaust the soU of the principles necessary to their
growth, is remarkably exemplified in certain funguses. Mushrooms are said never to
rise in two successive seasons on the same spot ; and the production of the phenomena
called fairy rings has been ascribed by Dr. WoUastontothepower of the peculiar fungus
which forms it, to exhaust the soil of the nutriment necessary for the growth of the
species. The consequence is, that the ring annually extends ; for no seeds will grow
where their parents grew before them, and the interior part of the circle has been ex-
hausted by preceding crops; but where the fungus has died, nourishment is supplied for
grass, which usually rises within the circle, coarse, and of a dark green colour.
2220. A rotation is unnecessary, according to Grisenthwaite ; and, in a strict chemical
sense, what he asserts cannot be denied. His theory is a refinement on the common
idea of the uses of a rotation stated above ; but by giving some details of the constituent
parts of certain grains and certain manures, he has presented it in a more clear and
striking point of view than has hitherto been done. To apply the theory in every case,
the constituent parts of all manures and of all plants ( I st, their roots and leaves, and
2dly, their seeds, fruits, or grains) must be known. In respect to manures this is the
case, and it may be said to be in a great degree the case as to the most useful agri-
cultural plants ; but the same cannot be said of garden productions in general, which
are very numerous ; though no branch of culture can show the advantage of a rota-
tion of crops more than horticulture, in the practice of which it is found that grounds
become tired of particular crops, notwithstanding that manures are applied at pleasure.
If the precise effects of a rotation were ascertained, and the ingredients peculiarly neces-
sary to every species pointed out, nothing could be more interesting than the results of
experimental trials ; and whoever shall point out a simple and economical mode by which
the potato may be grown successively in the same soil, and produce annually, the effects
of climate being excepted, as dry and well flavoured tubers, or nearly so, as they generally
produce the first and second years on a new soil, will confer a real benefit on society.
That wheat may be grown many years on the same soil by the use of animal manures,
or such as contain gluten, Grisenthwaite's theory would justify us in believing; and it
ought to be fairly tried by such cultivators as Coke and Curwen. Till this is done in
the face of the whole agricultural world, and the produce of every crop, and all the par-
ticulars of its culture, accurately reported on annually, the possibility of the thing may
be assented to from the premises, but will not be acted on ; and, in fact, even the best
agricultural chemists do not consider that we are sufficiently advanced in that branch of
the science to draw any conclusion, a priori, very much at vaiiance with general opinion
Book III. MANURES. 3.S3
and experience. It should always be kept in mind, that it is one thing to produce a
crop, and a different thing to grow crops with profit.
2221. The principles of rotations of crops are thus laid down by Yvart and Ch. Pictet
{^Cours complel cC Agriculture, articles Assolement, and Succession de Culture j and Traiii
des Assolemens. Paris, 8vo) : —
The^rs^ principle, or fundamental point, is, that every plant exhausts the soil.
The second, that all plants do not exhaust the soil equally.
The third, that plants of different kinds do not exhaust the soil in the same manner.
The fourth, that all plants do not restore to the soil the same quantity, nor the same quality of
manure.
The fifth, that all plants are not equally favourable to the growth of weeds.
2222. The folloiving consequences are drawn from these fundamental principles : —
First. However well a soil may be prepared, it cannot long nourish crops of the same kind in succes-
sion, without becoming exhausted.
Second. Every crop impoverishes a soil more or less, as more or less is restored to the soil by the plant
cultivated.
Third. Perpendicular-rooting plants, and such as root horizontally, ought to succeed each other.
Fourth. Plants of the same kind should not return too frequently in a rotation.
Fifth. Two plants favourable to the growth of weeds, ought not to succeed each other.
Sixth. Such plants as eminently exhaust the soil, as the grains and oil plants, should only be sown when
the land is in good heart.
Seventh. In proportion as a soil is found to exhaust itself by successive crops, plants which are least ex-
hausting ought to be cultivated.
2223. Influence of rotations in destroying insects. Olivier, member of the Institute of
France, has described all the insects, chiefly Tipulaa and Jlfuscae, which live upon the
collar or crown of the roots of the cereal grasses, and he has shown that they multiply
themselves without end, when the same soil presents the same crop for several years in
succession, or even crops of analogous species. But when a crop intervenes on which
these insects cannot live, as beans or turnips after wheat or oats, then the whole race of
these insects perish from the field, for want of proper nourishment for their larvae.
(Mem. de la Societe Roi/ale et Centrale d'Agr. de Paris, vol. vii.)
Chap. II.
Of Manures.
2224. Every species of matter capable of promoting the growth of vegetables may be con-
sidered as manure. On examining the constituents of vegetables, we shall find that they
are composed of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen, or azote, with a small propor-
tion of saline bodies. It is evident, therefore, that the substances employed as manure
should also be composed of these elements, for, unless they are, there will be a deficiency
in some of the elements in the vegetable itself; and it is probable that such deficiency
may prevent the formation of those substances within it, for which its peculiar organisa-
tion is contrived, and upon which its healthy existence depends. The elementary bodies
above enumerated are all contained in animal, and the first three in vegetable, matters.
Sometimes, though very seldom, vegetables contain a small quantity of nitrogen. As
certain salts are also constantly found to be present in heal.thy living vegetables, manures
or vegetable food may, consequently, be distinguished into animal, vegetable, and saline.
Kirwan, Dundonald, Darwin, and Davy, who produced the first chemical treatises on
soils, were also the first to treat chemically of manures. Of these, the latest in the order
of time is Sir H. Davy, from whose highly satisfactory work we shall extract the greater
part of this chapter.
Sect. I. Of Manures of Animal and Vegetable Origin.
2225. Decaying animal and vegetable substances constitute by far the most important
class of manures, or vegetable food, and may be considered as to the theory of their
operation, their specific kinds, and their preservation and application in practice.
SuBSECT. 1. Tlie Theory of the Operation of Manures of Animal and Vegetable Origin.
2226. The rationale of organic manures is very satisfactorily given by Sir H. Davy,
who, after having proved that no solid substances can enter in that state into the plant,
explains the manner in which nourishment is derived from vegetable and animal sub-
stances.
2227. Vegetable and animal substances deposited in the soil, as it is shown by universal
experience, are consumed during the process of vegetation ; and they can only nourish
the plant by affording solid matters capable of being dissolved by water, or gaseous siib-
stances capable of being absorbed by the fluids in the leaves of vegetables ; but such parts of
them as are rendered gaseous, and pass into the atmosphere, must produce a compara-
854 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
tively small effect, for gases soon become diffused through the mass of the surrounding
air. The great object, therefore, in the application of manure should be to make it af-
ford as much soluble matter as possible to the roots of the plant ; and that in a slow and
gradual manner, so that it may be entirely consumed in forming its sap and organised
parts.
2228. Mucilaginous, gelatinous, saccharine, oily, and extractive fluids, carbonic acid, and
water, are substances that in their unchanged states contain almost all the principles ne-
cessary for the life of plants ; but there are few cases in which they can be applied
as manures in their pure forms ; and vegetable manures, in general, contain a great ex-
cess of fibrous and insoluble matter, which must imdergo chemical change, before it can
become the food of plants.
2229. The nature of the changes on these substances ; of the causes which occasion them,
and which accelerate or retard them ; and of the products they afford, have been scienti-
fically stated and explained by our great agricultural chemist. If any fresh vegetable matter
which contains sugar, mucilage, starch, or other of the vegetable compounds soluble in
water, be moistened, and exposed to air, at a temperature from 55° to 80°, oxygen will
soon be absorbed, and carbonic acid formed ; heat will l>e produced, and elastic fluids,
principally carbonic acid, gaseous oxide of carbon, and hydro-carbonate will be evolved ;
a dark-coloured liquid, of a slightly sour or bitter taste, will likewise be formed ; and if
the process be suffered to continue for a time sufficiently long, notliing solid will remain,
except earthy and saline matter, coloured black by charcoal. The dark-coloured fluid
formed in the fermentation always, contains acetic acid ; and when albumen or gluten
exists in the vegetable substance, it likewise contains volatile alkali. In proportion as
there is more gluten, albumen, or matters soluble in water, in the vegetable substances
exposed to fermentation, so in proportion, all other circumstances being equal, will the
process be more rapid. Pure woody fibre alone undergoes a change very slowly ; but
its texture is broken down, and it is easily resolved into new aliments, when mixed with
substances more liable to change, containing more oxygen and hydrogen. Volatile and
fixed oils, resins, and wax, are more susceptible of change than woody fibre, when
exposed to air and water ; but much less liable than the other vegetable compounds ; and
even the most inflammable substances, by the absorption of oxygen, become gradually
soluble in water. Animal matters in general are more liable to decompose than vege-
table substances ; oxygen is absorbed and carbonic acid and ammonia formed in the
process of their putrefaction. They produce fetid, compound, elastic fluids, and like-
wise azote : they afford dark-coloured acid and oily fluids, and leave a residuum of salts
and earths mixed with carbonaceous matter.
22S0. The principal animal substances which constitute their different parts, or which
are found in their blood, their secretions, or their excrements, are gelatine, fibrine,
mucus, fatty or oily matter, albumen, urea, uric acid, and other acid, saline, and earthy
matters.
2231. General treatment of organic manures. Whenever manures consist principally
of matter soluble in water, it is evident that their fermentation or putrefaction should be
prevented as much as possible ; and the only cases in which these processes can be useful,
are when the manure consists principally of vegetable or animal fibre. The circum-
stances necessary for the putrefaction of animal substances are similar to those required
for the fermentation of vegetable substances ; a temperature above the freezing point, the
presence of water, and the presence of oxygen, at least in the first stage of the process.
To prevent manures from decomposing, they should be preserved dry, defended from the
contact ■ of air, and kept as cool as possible. Salt and alcohol appear to owe their
powers of preserving animal and vegetable substances to their attraction for water, by
which they prevent its decomposing action, and likewise to their excluding air.
SuBSECT. 2. Oftlie different Species of Manures of Animal and Vegetable Origin.
2232. The properties and nature of the manures in common use should be known to
every cultivator : for as different manures contain different proportions of the elements
necessary to vegetation, so they require a different treatment to enable them to produce
their full effects in culture.
2233. All green succulent plants contain saccharine or mucilaginous matter, with woody
fibre, and readily ferment. They cannot, therefore, if intended for manure, be used too
soon after their death. Hence the advantage of digging or ploughing in green crops,
whether natural or sown on purpose ; they must not, however, be turned in too deep,
otherwise, as Mrs. Ibbetson has shown [Philos. Mag. 1816), fermentation will be pre-
vented by compression and exclusion of air. Green crops should be ploughed in, if it
be possible, when in flower, or at the time the flower is beginning to appear ; for it is at
this period that they contain the largest quantity of easily soluble matter, and that their
leaves are most active in forming nutritive matter. Green crops, pond-weeds, or the
parings of hedges or ditches, reqixire no preparation to fit them for manure, nor does any
Book III. SPECIES OF MANURES. 335
kind of fresh vegetable matter. The decomposition slowly proceeds beneath the soil ;
the soluble matters are gradually dissolved ; and the slight fermentation which goes on,
checked by the want of a free communication of air, tends to render the woody fibre
soluble without occasioning the rapid dissipation of elastic matter. When old pastures
are broken up and made arable, not only has the soil been enriched by the death and
slow decay of the plants which have left soluble matters in the soil, but the leaves and
roots of the grasses living at the time, and occupying so large a part of the surface,
afford saccharine, mucilaginous, and extractive matters, which become immediately the
food of the crop, and, from their gradual decomposition, aflford a supply for successive
years,
2234. Rape-cake, which is used with great success as manure, contains a large quantity
of mucilage, some albuminous matter, and a small quantity of oil. This manure should
be used recent, and kept as dry as possible before it is applied. It forms an excellent
dressing for turnip crops ; and is most economically applied by being thrown into the
soil at the same time with the seed.
2235. Malt-dust consists chiefly of the infant radicle separated from the grain. Sir
H. Davy never made any experiment upon this manure; but had great reason to suppose
that it must contain saccharine matter, and this substance will account for its powerful
effects. Like rape-cake, it should be used as dry as possible, and its fermentation
prevented.
2236. Li7iseed-cake is too valuable as a food for cattle to be much employed as a
manure. The water in which flax and hemp are steeped, for the purpose of obtaining
the pure vegetable fibre, has considerable fertilising powers. It appears to contain a
substance analogous to albumen, and likewise much vegetable extractive matter. It
putrefies very readily. By the watering process, a certain degree of fermentation is
absolutely necessary to obtain the flax and hemp in a proper state ; the water to which
they have been exposed should therefore be used as a manure as soon as the vegetable
fibre is removed from it : but as flax is generally watered in deep ponds, and sometimes
even in streams, it is but seldom that the water is sufficiently impregnated with extrac-
tive matter to be worth applying to agricultural purposes.
2237. Sea-weeds, consisting of different species of i^uci, A'\g3i, and Confervee, are much
used as a manure on the sea-coasts of Britain and Ireland. In the Orkney Islands the
i^ucus digitatus is preferred, on account of its greater substance. When driven on shore
by the winter storms or the gales of spring, it is collected and laid on the land, into
which it is then ploughed. In summer it is burnt, with other i^uci, into kelp. It is a
powerful fertiliser, but its benefits do not extend beyond one or at most two seasons.
By digesting the common i^iicus, which is the sea-weed usually most abundant on the
coast, in boiling water, one eighth of a gelatinous substance will be obtained, with
characters similar to mucilage. A quantity distilled gave nearly four fifths of its weight
of water, but no ammonia ; the water had an empyreumatic and slightly sour taste ; the
ashes contained sea salt, corbonate of soda, and carbonaceous matter. The gaseous
matter afforded was small in quantity, principally carbonic acid, and gaseous oxide of
carbon, with a little hydro-carbonate. This manure is transient in its effects, and does
not last for more than a single crop ; which is easily accounted for from the large quantity
of water, or the elements of water, which it contains. It decays without producing heat
when exposed to the atmosphere, and seems, as it were, to melt down and dissolve away.
A large heap has been entirely destroyed in less than two years, nothing remaining but
a little black fibrous matter. Some of the firmest part of a JF^cus was suffered to remain in
a close jar, containing atmospheric air, for a fortnight : in this time it had become very
much shrivelled ; the sides of the jar were lined with dew. The air examined was found
to have lost oxygen, and to contain carbonic acid gas. Sea-weed is sometimes suffered
to ferment before it is used ; but this process seems wholly unnecessary, for there is no
fibrous matter rendered soluble in the process, and a part of the manure is lost. The
best cultivators use it as fresh as it can be procured; and the practical results of this
mode of applying it are exactly conformable to the theory of its operation. The
carbonic acid formed by its incipient fermentation must be partly dissolved by the water
set free in the same process ; and thus become capable of absorption by the roots of
plants. The effects of the sea-weed, as manure, must principally depend upon this
carbonic acid, and upon the soluble mucilage the weed contains. Some ioicus which
had fermented so as to have lost about half its weight, afforded less than one twelfth of
mucilaginous matter ; from which it may be fairly concluded that some of this substance
is destroyed in fermentation.
2238. Dry straw of wheat, oats, barley, beans, and peas, spoiled hay, or any similar
kind of dry vegetable matter, is, in all cases, useful manure. In general, such sub-
stances are made to ferment before they are employed, though Sir Humphrey Davy
states " it may be doubted whether the practice should be indiscriminately adopted.
From 400 grains of dry barley-straw eight grains of matter soluble in water were
336 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
obtained, which had a brown colour, and tasted like mucilage. From 400 grains of
wheaten-straw were obtained five grains of a similar substance. There can be no doubt
that the straw of different crops, immediately ploughed into tlie ground, affords nourish-
ment to plants; but there is an objection to this method of using straw, from the
difficulty of burying long straw, and from its rendering the husbandry foul. When straw
is made to ferment, it becomes a more manageable manure ; but there is likewise, on the
whole, a great loss of nutritive matter. More manure is perhaps supplied for a single
crop ; but the land is less improved than it would be, supposing the whole of the
vegetable matter could be finely divided and mixed with the soil. It is usual to carry
straw that can be employed for no other purpose to the dunghill, to ferment and
decompose ; but it is worth experiment, whether it may not be more economically
applied when chopped small by a proper machine, and kept dry till it be ploughed-in for
the use of a crop. In this case, though it would decompose much more slowly, and
produce less effect at first, yet its influence would be much more lasting."
2239. Sir Humphrey Davy's opinion as to the application of farm-yard manure is in several points
directly at variance with the experience of farmers. There may often be an error in allowing such
manure to reach too high a degree of fermentation and putrefaction before it is applied to the soil; but in
no case has it ever been found advantageous to apply it before tlie process of fermentation has actually
begun. As to its fermenting after being spread upon the soil and ploughed down, it must be evident,
upon a little reflection, either that no sensible fermentation would take place at all, unless the quantity
were very large, or that its gases would be speedily exhaled through the loose covering of earth, and lost
in the atmosphere. Mr. Coke of Holkham's practice, which has been so often referred to in support of
the use of long or fresh dung, is in fact not different from that of the best turnip-land farmers of Scotland.
Mr. Blaikie, his steward, a native of Roxburghshire, prepares his farm-yard manure for turnips in what
are called pyes or camps in much the same way, and the dung undergoes much the same degree of
fermentation in them as is done with the square or oblong dunghills of the turnip counties of Scot-
land {C.)
2240. Mere woody Jibre seems to be the only vegetable matter that requires fermenta-
tion to render it nutritive to plants. Tanners' spent bark is a substance of this kind.
A. Young, in his excellent Essay on Manure, states " that spent bark seemed rather to
injure than assist vegetation ;" which he attributes to the astringent matter that it contains.
But, in fact, it is freed from all soluble substances, by the operation of water in the tan-
pit ; and, if injurious to vegetation, the effect is probably owing to its agency upon water,
or to its mechanical effects. It is a substance very absorbent and retentive of moisture,
and yet not penetrable by the roots of plants.
2241. Inert peaty matter is a substance of the same kind. It remains for years ex-
posed to water and air without undergoing change, and in this state yields little or no
nourishment to plants. Woody fibre will not ferment, unless some substances are mixed
with it which act the same part as the mucilage, sugar, and extractive or albuminous
matters with which it is usually kssociated in herbs and succulent vegetables. Lord
Meadowbank has judiciously recommended a mixture of common farm-yard dung for
the purpose of bringing peat into fermentation : any putrescible or fermentable substance
will answer the end ; and the more a substance heats, and the more readily it ferments,
the better will it be fitted for the purpose. Lord Meadowbank states, that one part of
dung is sufficient to bring three or four parts of peat into a state in which it is fitted to
be applied to land ; but, of course, the quantity must vary according to the nature of the
dung and of the peat. In cases in which some living vegetables are mixed with the
peat, the fermentation will be more readily effected.
2242. Tanners' spent bark, shavings of wood, and saw-dust, will probably require as
much dung to bring them into fermentation as the worst kind of peat. Woody fibre
may be likewise prepared, so as to become a manure, by the action of lime. It is evident,
from the analysis of woody fibre by Guy Lussac and Th^nard (which sliows that it
consists principally of the elements of water and carbon, the carbon being in larger
quantities than in the other vegetable compounds), that any process which tends to abstract
carbonaceous matter from it must bring it nearer in composition to the soluble principles ;
and this is done in fermentation by the absorption of oxygen and production of carbonic
acid ; and a similar effect, it will be shown, is produced by lime.
2243. Wood-ashes, imperfectly formed, that is, wood-ashes containing much charcoal,
are said to have been used with success as a manure. A part of their effects may be
owing to the slow and gradual consumption of the charcoal, which seems capable, under
other circumstances than those of actual combustion, of absorbing oxygen, so as to become
carbonic acid. In April 1 803, some well burnt charcoal was enclosed by Sir H. Davy
in a tube, which was half filled with pure water and half with common air, and then
hermetically sealed. The tube was opened under pure water, in the spring of 1 804, at
a time when the atmospheric temperature and pressure were nearly the same as at the
commencement of the experiment. Some water rushed in ; and, on analysing a little
air, which was expelled from the tube by the agency of heat, it was found to contain
only seven per cent of oxygen. The water in the tube, when mixed with lime-water,
produced a copious precipitate ; so that carbonic acid had evidently been formed and
dissolved by the water. '
Book III. SPECIES OF MANURES. 337
2244. Manures from animal substances^ in general, require no chemical preparation to
fit them for the soil. The great object of the farmer is to blend them with the earthy-
constituents in a proper state of division, and to prevent their too rapid decomposition.
2245. The entire parts of the muscles of land animals are not commonly used as manure,
though there are many cases in which such an application might be easily made. Horses,
dogs, sheep, deer, and other quadrupeds that have died accidentally or of disease, after
their skins are separated, are often suffered to remain exposed to the air, or immersed in
water till they are destroyed by birds or beasts of prey, or entirely decomposed ; and, in
this case, most of their organised matter is lost for the land in which they lie, and a con-
siderable portion of it employed in giving off noxious gases to the atmosphere. By
covering dead animals with five or six times their bulk of soil, mixed with one part of
lime, and suffering them to remain for a few months, their decomposition would im-
pregnate the soil with soluble matter, so as to render it an excellent manure ; and by
mixing a little fresh quicklime with it at the time of its removal, the disagreeable effluvia
would be in a great measure destroyed, and it might be applied to crops in the same waj'
as any other manure.
2246. Fish forms a powerful manure, in whatever state it is applied ; but it cannot be
ploughed in too fresh, though the quantity should be limited. A. Young records an
experiment, in which herrings spread over a field, and ploughed in for wheat, produced
so rank a crop, that it was entirely laid before harvest. The refuse pilchards in Corn-
wall are used throughout the county as a manure, with excellent effects. They are
usually mixed with sand or soil, and sometimes with sea weed, to prevent them from
raising too luxuriant a crop. The effects are perceived for several years. In the fens
of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk, the little fishes called sticklebacks are
caught in the shallow waters in such quantities, that they form a great article of manure
in the land bordering on the fens. It is easy to explain the operation of fish as a ma-
nure. The skin is principally gelatine, which, from its slight state of cohesion, is readily-
soluble in water ; fat or oil is always found in fishes, either under the skin or in some of
the viscera ; and their fibrous matter contains all the essential elements of vegetable
substances.
2247. Amongst oily substances, blubber has been employed as a manure. It is most
useful when mixed vnth clay, sand, or any common soil, so as to expose a large surface
to the air, the oxygen of which produces soluble matter from it. Lord Somerville used
blubber with great success at his farm in Surrey. It was made into a heap with soil,
and retained its powers of fertilising for several successive years. The carbon and
hydrogen abounding in oily substances fully account for their eflPects ; and their dura-
bility is easily explained from the gradual manner in which tliey change by the action of
air and water.
2248. Bones are much used as a manure in various parts of England, and especially
in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. They are also used in Scotland wherever they can be
got, and a knowledge of their great value is spreading rapidly over the Continent. After
being broken, and boiled for grease, they are sold to the farmer. The more divided they
are, the more powerful are their effects. The expense of grinding them in a mill is
amply repaid by the increase of their fertilising powers ; and in the state of powder
they are used in the drill husbandry, and delivered with the seed in the same
manner as rape-cake. Bone-dust and bone-shavings, the refuse of the turning manu-
facture, may be advantageously employed in the same way. The basis of bone is con-
stituted by earthy salts, principally phosphate of lime, with some carbonate of lime and
phosphate of magnesia ; the easily decomposable substances in bone are fat, gelatine,
and cartilage, wliich seems of the same nature as coagulated albumen. According to
the analysis of Fourcroy and Vauquelin, ox-bones are composed of decomposable animal
matter 51, phosphate of lime 37-7, carbonate of lime 10, phosphate of magnesia 1*3;
total ICO. To apply bone manure with effect, it is essential that the soil be dry.
2249. Horn is a still more powerful manure than bone, as it contains a larger quantity
of decomposable animal matter. From 500 grains of ox-horn, Hatchett obtained only
1 "5 grains of earthy residuum, and not quite half of this was phosphate of lime. The
shavings or turnings of horn form an excellent manure, though they are not sufficiently
abundant to be in common use. The animal matter in them seems to be of the nature
of coagulated albumen, and it is slowly rendered soluble by the action of water. The
earthy, matter in horn, and still more that in bones, prevents the too rapid decomposition
of the animal matter, and renders it very durable in its effects.
2250 Hair, woollen rags, and feathers, are all analogous in composition, and princi-
pally consist of a substance similar to albumen united to gelatine. This is shown by the
ingenious researches of Hatchett. The theory of their operation is similar to that of
bone and horn shavings.
2251. The refuse of the different manufactures of skin and leather forms very useful
manures ; such as currier's shavings, furrier's clippings, and the offals of the tan-yard
Z
338 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
and of the glue-manufactory. The gelatine contained in every kind of skin is in a state
fitted for its gradual solution or decomposition ; and when buried in the soil, it lasts for
a considerable time, and constantly affords a supply of nutritive matter to the plants in its
neighbourhood.
2252. Blood contains certain quantities of all the principles found in other animal sub-
stances, and is consequently a very good manure. It has been already stated that it
contains fibrine ; it likewise contains albumen ; the red particles in it, which have been
supposed by many foreign chemists to be coloured by iron in a particular state of combin-
ation with oxygen and acid matter, Brande considers as formed of a peculiar animal
substance containing very little iron. The scum taken from the boilers of the sugar-
bakers, which is used as manure, principally consists of bullocks' blood which has been
employed for the purpose of separating the impurities of common brown sugar, by
m^eans of the coagulation of its albuminous matter by the heat of the boiler.
2253. The different species of corals, corallines, and sponges must be considered as sub-
stances of animal origin. From the analysis of Hatchett, it appears that all these
substances contain considerable quantities of a matter analogous to coagulated albumen ;
the sponges afford likewise gelatine. According to Merat Guillot, white coral contains
equal parts of animal matter and carbonate of lime ; red coral 46 "5 of animal matter,
and 53*5 of carbonate of lime; articulated coralline 51 of animal matter, and 49 of
carbonate of lime. These substances are never used as manure in this country, except
in cases when they are accidentally mixed with sea-weed ; but it is probable that the
corallines might be advantageously employed, as they are found in considerable quantity
on the rocks, and bottoms of the rocky pools on many parts of our coast, where the land
gradually declines towards the sea ; and they might be detached by hoes, and collected
without much trouble. On many parts of the Scottish coast, banks of shells have been
deposited by the sea, and are applied with great advantage, both as a substitute for lime
and in improving the mechanical texture of the clay soils within their reach.
2254. Amongst excrenientitious animal substances used as manures, urine is the one
upon which the greatest number of chemical experiments have been made, and the
nature of which is best understood. The urine of the cow contains, according to the
experiments of Brande : water 65 ; phosphate of lime 3 ; muriates of potassa and am-
monia 1 5 ; sulphate of potassa 6 ; carbonates, potassa, and ammonia 4 ; urea 4.
2255. The urine of the horse, according to Fourcroy and Vauquelin, contains, of car-
bonate of lime 1 1, carbonate of soda 9, benzoate of soda 24, muriate of potassa 9, urea 7,
water and mucilage 940. In addition to these substances, Brande found in it phosphate
of lime. The urine of the ass, the camel, the rabbit, and domestic fowls, have been
submitted to different experiments, and their constitution has been found similar. In
the urine of the rabbit, in addition to most of the ingredients above mentioned, Vau-
quelin detected gelatine ; and the same chemist discovered uric acid in the urine of do-
mestic fowls. Human urine contains a greater variety of constituents than any other
species examined. Urea, uric acid, and another acid similar to it in nature called
rosacic acid, acetic acid, albumen, gelatine, a resinous matter, and various salts are found
in it. The human urine differs in composition, according to the state of the body, and
the nature of the food and drink made use of. In many cases of disease there is a much
larger quantity of gelatine and albumen than usual in the urine, and in diabetes it con-
tains sugar. It is probable that the urine of the same animal must likewise differ
according to the different nature of the food and drink used ; and this will account for
discordances in some of the analyses that have been published on the subject. Urine is
very liable to change, and to undergo the putrefactive process ; and that of carnivorous
animals more rapidly than that of graminivorous animals. In proportion as there is more
gelatine or albumen in urine, so in proportion does it putrefy more quickly. The species
of urine which contain most albumen, gelatine, and urea, are the best as manures ; and
all urine contains the essential elements of vegetables in a state of solution. During the
putrefaction of urine the greatest part of the soluble animal matter that it contains is
destroyed : it should consequently be used as fresh as possible ; but if not mixed with
solid matter, it should be diluted with water, as, when pure, it contains too large a quan-
tity of animal matter to form a proper fluid nourishment for absorption by the roots of
plants.
2256. Putrid urine abounds in ammoniacal salts ; and though less active than fresh
urine, is a very powerful manure. According to a recent analysis published by Berze-
lius, 1(X)0 parts of urine are composed of, water 933; urea SO'l ; uric acid 1 ; muriate
of ammonia, free lactic acid, lactate of ammonia, and animal matter 17 '14. The
remainder different salts, phosphates, sulphates, and muriates.
2257. Dung of birds. Amongst excrenientitious solid substances used as manures, one
of the most powerful is the dung of birds that feed on animal food, particularly the dung of
sea-birds. The guano, which is used to a great extent in South America, and which is
the manure that fertilises the sterile plains of Peru, is a production of this kind. It exists
Book III. SPECIES OF MANURES. 339
abundantly, as we are informed by Humboldt, on the small islands in the South Sea, at
Chinche, Ilo, Iza, and Arica. Fifty vessels are laden with it annually at Chinche, each of
which carries from 1500 to 2000 cubical feet. It is used as a manure only in very
small quantities ; and particularly for crops of maize. Some experiments were made on
specimens of guano in 1 805. It appeared as a fine brown powder ; it blackened by heat,
and gave off strong ammoniacal fumes ; treated with nitric acid, it afforded uric acid.
In 1806, Fourcroy and Vauquelin published an elaborate analysis of guano. They
state that it contains a fourth part of its weight of uric acid, partly saturated with am-
monia, and partly with potassa ; some phosphoric acid combined with the bases, and
likewise with lime ; small quantities of sulphate and muriate of potassa ; a little fatty
mattet ; and some quartzose sand. It is easy to explain its fertilising properties : from
its coinposition it might be supposed to be a very powerful manure. It requires water
for the solution of its soluble matter, to enable it to produce its full beneficial effect on crops.
2258. The dung of sea-birds has never been much used as a manure in this country ;
but it is probable that even the soil of the small islands on our coast much frequented by
them would fertilise. Some dung of sea-birds, brought from a rock on the coast of
Merionethshire, produced a powerful, but transient, effect on grass. The rains in our
climate must tend very much to injure this species of manure, where it is exposed to
them soon after its deposition ; but it may probably be found in great perfection in
caverns or clefts in rocks haunted by cormorants and gulls. Some recent cormorants'
dung, when examined, had not at all the appearance of guano ; it was of a greyish-
white colour ; had a very fetid smell, like that of putrid animal matter ; when acted
on by quicklime, it gave abundance of ammonia ; treated with nitric acid, it yielded
uric acid.
2259. Night soil, it is well known, is a veiy powerful manure, and very liable to
decompose. It differs in composition ; but always abounds in substances composed of
carbon, hydrogen, azote, and oxygen. From the analysis of Berzelius, it appears that a
part of it is always soluble in water ; and in whatever state it is used, whether recent or
fermented, it supplies abundance of food to plants. The disagreeable smell of night-
soil may be destroyed by mixing it with quicklime ; and if exposed to the atmosphere
in thin layers, strewed over with quicklime in fine weather, it speedily dries, is easily
pulverised, and in this state may be used in the same manner as rape-cake, and
delivered into the furrow with the seed. The Chinese, who have more practical know-
ledge of the use and application of manures than any other people existing, mix their
night-soil with one third of its weight of fat marl, make it into cakes, and dry it by
exposure to the sun. These cakes, we are informed by the French missionaries, have no
disagreeable smell, and form a common article of commerce of the empire. The earth,
by its absorbent powers, probably prevents, to a certain extant, the action of moisture
upon the dung, and likewise defends it from the effects of air. Desiccated night-soil, in
a state of powder, forms an article of internal commerce in France, and is known under
the name of poudrelte ; in London it is mixed with quicklime, and sold in cakes under
the name of " desiccated night-soil."
2260. Pigeon s dung comes next in order, as to fertilising power. 100 grains,
digested in hot water for some hours, produced 23 grains of soluble matter; which
afforded abundance of carbonate of' ammonia by distillation, and left carbonaceous
matter, saline matter principally common salt, and carbonate of lime, as a residuum.
Pigeons' dung, when moist, readily ferments, and after fermentation contains less
soluble matter than before ; from 100 parts of fermented pigeons' dung, only eight parts
of soluble matter were obtained, which gave proportionably less carbonate of ammonia in
distillation than recent pigeons' dung. It is evident that this manure should be applied
as new as possible ; and, when dry, it may be employed in the same manner as the other
manures capable of being pulverised. The soil in woods, where great flocks of wood-
pigeons roost, is often highly impregnated with their dung, and, it cannot be doubted,
would form a valuable manure. Such soil will often yield ammonia when distilled with
lime. In the winter, likewise, it usually contains abundance of vegetable matter, the
remains of decayed leaves ; and the dung tends to bring the vegetable matter into a state
of solution. Manuring with pigeons' dung was, and still is, in great esteem in Persia.
226 1 . The dung of domestic fowls approaches very nearly in its nature to pigeons' dung.
Uric acid is common to it and the dung of birds of every kind. It gives carbonate of
ammonia by distillation, and immediately yields soluble matter to water. It is very
liable to ferment. The dung of fowls is employed, in common with that of pigeons, by
tanners, to bring on a slight degree of putrefaction in skins that are to be used for making
soft leather. For this purpose the dung is diffused , through water, in which state it
rapidly undergoes putrefaction, and brings on a similar change in the skin. The ex-
crements of dogs are employed by the tanner with similar effects. In all cases, the
contents of the grainer, as the pit is called in which soft skins are prepared by dung,
must form a very useful manure.
Z 2
S40 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
2262. Rabbits* dung has never been analysed. It is used with great success as a
manure by some farmers, who find it profitable to keep rabbits in such a manner as to
preserve their dung. It is laid on as fresh as possible, and is found better the less
it has fermented.
2263. The dung of cattle, oxen, and cows has been chemically examined by Einhof
and Thaer. They found that it contained matter soluble in water ; and that it gave in
fermentation nearly the same products as vegetable substances, absorbing oxygen, and
producing carbonic acid gas.
2264. The recent dung of sheep and of deer affords, when long boiled in water, soluble
matters which equal from two to three per cent of their weight. These soluble sub-
stances, procured by solution and evaporation, when examined, contain a very small
quantity of matter analogous to animal mucus ; and are principally composed of a bitter
extract, soluble both in water and in alcohol. They give ammoniacal fumes by distil-
lation, and appear to differ very little in composition. Some blades of grass were
watered for several successive days with a solution of these extracts ; they evidently
became greener in consequence, and grew more vigorously than grass in other respects
under the same circumstances. The part of the dung of cattle, sheep, and deer, not
soluble in water, appears to be mere woody fibre, and precisely analogous to the residuum
of those vegetables that form their food after they have been deprived of all their soluble
materials.
2265. The dung of horses gives a brown fluid, and this, when evaporated, yields a bitter
extract, which affords ammoniacal fumes more copiously than that from the dung of
oxen.
2266. In the treatment of the pure dung of cattle, sheep, and horses, there seems no
reason why it should be made to feruient except in the soil, like the other pure dungs ;
or, if suffered to ferment, it should be only in a very slight degree. The grass, in the
neighbourhood of recently voided dung, is always coarse and dark green ; some persons
have attributed this to a noxious quality in unfermenting dung ; but it seems to be rather
the result of an excess of food furnished to the plants.
2267. Street and road dung and the sweepings of houses may be all regarded as com-
posite manures ; the constitution of them is necessarily various, as they are derived from
a number of different substances. These manures are usually applied without being
fermented.
2268. Soot, which is principally formed from the combustion of pit-coal or coal gene-
rally, contains likewise substances derived from animal matters. This is a very powerful
manure. It affords ammoniacal salts by distillation, and yields a brown extract to hot
water, of a bitter taste. It likewise contains an empyreumatic oil. Its great basis is
charcoal, in a state in which it is capable of being rendered soluble by the action of
oxygen and water. This manure is well fitted to be used in the dry state thrown into
the ground with the seed, and requires no preparation.
2269. Liquid Manure. — The farmers of German Switzerland give the name of guile, in
French lizier, to the liquid manure obtained from their stalls and stables, and collected
into underground pits or reservoirs, in which it is allowed to ferment in a mucous or slimy
state. The manner of collecting it adopted by the agriculturists of Zurich is as follows : —
The floor on which the cattle are stalled is formed of boards, with an inclination of four
inches from the head to the hinder part of the animal, whose excrements fall into a
gutter behind, in the manner usual in English cow-houses : the depth of this gutter is
15 inches, its width 10 inches. It should be so formed as to be capable of receiving, at
pleasure, water to be supplied by a reservoir near it ; it communicates with five pits by
holes, which are opened for the passage of the slime, or closed as occasion requires. The
pits or reservoirs of manure are covered over with a floor of boarding, placed a little
below that- on which the animals stand. This covering is important as facilitating the
fermei>4ation. The pits or reservoirs are made in masonry, well cemented, and should be
bottomed in clay, well beaten, in order to avoid infiltration. They should be five, in
order that the liquid may not be disturbed during the fermentation, which lasts about four
weeks. Their dimensions should be calculated according to the number of animals the
stable holds, so that each may be filled in a week. But whether full or not, the pit must
be closed at the week's end, in order to maintain the regularity of the system of empty-
ing. The reservoirs are emptied by means of portable pumps. In the evening the
keeper of the stables lets a proper quantity of water into the gutter ; and on returning to
the stable in the morning, he carefully mixes with the water the excrement that has fallen
into it, breaking up the more compact parts, so as to form of the whole an equal and
flowing liquid. On the perfect manner in which this process is performed the quality of
the manure mainly depends. The liquid ought neither to be thick, for then the ferment-
ation would be difficult ; nor too thin, for in that case it would not contain sufficient
nutritive matter. When the mixture is made, it is allowed to run off into the pit beneath,
and the stable-keeper again lets water into the trench. During the day, whenever
Book III. MANAGEMENT OF MANURES. 341
he comes into the stable, he sweeps whatever excrement may be found under the
cattle into the trench, which may be emptied as often as the liquid it contains is found
to be of a due thickness. The best proportion of the mixture is three fourths of water to
one fourth of excrement, if the cattle be fed on corn ; if in a course of fattening, one fifth
of excrement to four fifths of water will be sufficient. (^Bull. du Comite (VAgri. de
la Soc des Arts de Geneve. ) This mode of increasing the manure produced by stalled
cattle and cows is in general use in Holland and the Netherlands ; and we have seen
it practised in France at Trappe and Grignion near Versailles, at Roville near Nancy, at
Ebersberg, and Schleissheim near Munich, and at Hohenheim and Weil near Stuttgard.
We would strongly recommend the practice to the British farmer, and not to the farmer
only, but to every cottager who keeps a cow or pig ; nay, to the cottager who is without
these comforts, but who has a garden, in which he could turn the great accession of
manure so acquired to due account. Let him sink five tubs or large earthen vessels in
the ground, and let the contents of the portable receiver of his water-closet, all the water
used for washing in the house, soap-suds, slops, and fermentable offals of every descrip-
tion during a week be carried, and poured into one of these tubs; and if not full on the
Saturday night, let it be filled up with water of any kind, well stirred up, the lid
replaced, and the whole left for a week. Begin on the Monday morning with another
tub, and when after five weeks the whole five are filled, empty the first at the roots
of a growing crop, and refill. Or use two larger tubs, and continue filling one for
a month ; then begin the other, and at the end of a month empty the first ; and so on.
(Gard. Mag. vol. v. p. 549.)
SuBSECT. 3. Of the Fermenting, Preserving, and Applying of Manures of Animal and
Vegetable Origin.
2270. On the management of organic manures depends much of their value as food to
plants. The great mass of manures procured by tlie cultivator are a mixture of animal
and vegetable matters, and the great source of supply is the farm or stable-yard. Here
the excrementitious matter of horses, cattle, swine, and poultry, is mixed with straw,
haulm, chaff, and various kinds of litter. To what degree should this be fermented
before it is applied to the soil ? and how can it best be preserved when not immediately
wanted ?
2271. A slight incipient fermentation is undoubtedly of use in the dunghill ; for, by
means of it, a disposition is brought on in the woody fibre to decay and dissolve, when
it is carried to the land, or ploughed into the soil ; and woody fibre is always in great
excess in the refuse of the farm. Too great a degree of fermentation is, however, very
prejudicial to the composite manure in the dunghill : it is better that there should be no
fermentation at all before the manure is used, than that it should be carried too far.
The excess of fermentation tends to the destruction and dissipation of the most useful
part of the manure ; and the ultimate results of this process are like those of combus-
tion. It is a common practice amongst farmers to suffer the farm-yard dung to ferment
till the fibrous texture of the vegetable matter is entirely broken down ; and till the
manure becomes perfectly cold, and so soft as to be easily cut by the spade. Inde-
pendently of the general theoretical views unfavourable to this practice, founded upon
the nature and composition of vegetable substances, there are many arguments and facts
which show that it is prejudicial to the interests of the farmer.
2272. During the violent fermentation which is necessary for reducing farm-yard
manure to the state in which it is called short muck, not only a large quantity of fluid, but
likewise of gaseous matter, is lost ; so much so, that the dung is reduced one half, or two
thirds in weight : the principal elastic matter disengaged is carbonic acid with some am-
monia ; and both these, if retained by the moisture in the soil, as has been stated before,
are capable of becoming a useful nourishment of plants. In October, 1808, Sir H.
Davy filled a large retort, capable of containing three pints of water, with some hot
fermenting manure, consisting principally of the litter and dung of cattle ; he adapted
a small receiver to the retort, and connected the whole with a mercurial pneumatic
apparatus, so as to collect the condensible and elastic fluids which might rise from the
dung. The receiver soon became lined with dew, and drops began in a few hours to
trickle down the sides of it. Elastic fluid likewise was generated ; in three days thirty-
five cubical inches had been formed, which, when analysed, were found to contain
twenty-one cubical inches of carbonic acid; the remainder was hydrocarbonate mixed
with some azote, probably no more than existed in the common air in the receiver. The
fluid matter collected in the receiver at the same time amounted to nearly half an ounce ;
it had a saline taste and a disagreeable smell, and contained some acetate and carbonate
of ammonia. Finding such products given off from fermenting litter, he introduced
the beak of another retort, filled with similar dung, very hot at the time, into the soil
amongst the roots of some grass in the border of a garden. In less than a week a very
distinct effect was produced on the grass ; upon the spot exposed to the influence of the
Z 3
342 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
matter disengaged in fermentation, it grew with much more luxuriance than the grass in
any other part of the garden. — Besides the dissipation of gaseous matter, when ferment-
ation is pushed to the extreme, there is another disadvantage in the loss of heat, which,
if excited in the soil, is usefid in promoting the germination of the seed, and in assisting
the plant in the first stage of its growth, when it is most feeble and most liable to disease ;
and the fermentation of manure in the soil must be particularly favourable to the wheat
crop, in preserving a genial temperature beneath the surface late in autumn and during
winter. Again, it is a general principle in chemistry, that, in all cases of decomposition,
substances combine much more readily at the moment of their disengagement, than after
they have been perfectly formed. Now, in fermentation beneath the soil, the fluid matter
produced is applied instantly, even whilst it is warm, to the organs of the plant, and
consequently is more likely to be efficient, than that from manure which has gone through
the process, and of which all the principles have entered into new combinations.
2273. Checkmg fermentation by covering. " There are reasons sufiiciently strong,"
Grisenthwaite observes, " to discourage the practice of allowing dung heaps to ferment
and rot without interruption. It appears that public opinion has slowly adopted the
decisions of chemical reasoning, and dung-pies, as they are called, have been formed with
a view to save what was before lost; a stratum of mould, sustaining the heap, being
placed to receive the fluid parts, and a covering of mould being applied to prevent the
dissipation of the aerial or gaseous products. These purposes and contrivances, unfor-
tunately, like many of the other operations of husbandry, were not directed by scientific
knowledge. To cover is so commonly believed to confine, that there is no wonder that
the practical cultivator adopted it in this instance from such a consideration ; but it is in
vain ; the elasticity of the gases generated is such as no covering whatever could pos-
sibly confine. If it were perfectly compact, it could only preserve as much carbonic
acid as is equal to the volume or bulk of air within it ; a quantity too inconsiderable to
be regarded, could it even be saved : but every particle of it must be disengaged, and
lost, when the covering is removed."
2274. Checking fermentation by ivatering is sometimes recommended; but this prac-
tice is inconsistent with just chemical views. It may cool the dung for a short time; but
moisture, as before stated, is a principal agent in all processes of decomposition. Dry
fibrous matter will never ferment. Water is as necessary as air to the process ; and to
supply it to fermenting dung, is to supply an agent which will hasten its decay. In all
cases when dung is fermenting, there are simple tests by which the rapidity of the pro-
cess, and consequently the injury done, may be discovered. If a thermometer, plunged
into the dung, does not rise to above one hundred degrees of Fahrenheit, there is little
danger of much aeriform matter flying off. If the temperature is higher, the dung
should be immediately spread abroad. When a piece of paper, moistened in muriatic
acid, held over the steams arising from a dunghill, gives dense fumes, it is a certain test
that the decomposition is going too far ; for this indicates that volatile alkali is dis-
2275. In favour of the application of farm-yard dung in a recent state, a great variety of
arguments may be found in the writings of scientific agriculturists ; but the practice of
the best farmers, both in Scotland and in the Netherlands and other parts of the Conti-
nent, is against the theory.
2276. Fartn-yard manure in Scotland is never laid on the ground without being more or less prepared.
For turnips it is regularly removed from the fold or stable yard before the middle or end of April. It is
then laid up in a regular heap on a secluded spot of ground, generally in one corner of the field, not much
exposed to wind, or liable to be flooded by water. The height of the heap should seldom be less than from
4 to 4| feet, and its breadth, for the convenience of being turned over when necessary, and on other
accounts, may be about two thirds of its length, sufficiently broad at least to admit two carts or more to be
loaded at a time, as may be necessary ; and great care should be taken, not to put either horse or
cart upon it, which is easily avoided, by backing the cart to the pile, and laying tlie dung compactly
together with a dung fork. It is not unusual to cover the dunghill with a coat of earth or moss, which
keeps in the moisture, and prevents the sun and wind from doing injury, by evaporating those fluid sub-
stances, which arise from a valuable part of the dung. Dung, when managed in this manner, generally
ferments very rapidly ; but if it is discovered to be in a backward state, it is turned over about the first of
May, when the weather becomes %varm ; and the better it is shaken about and mixed, the sooner will the
object in view be accomplished. {Gen. Rep. Scot. vol. ii.) For wheat crops sown on fallow in autumn, or
for beans, potatoes, or other crops sown or planted in spring, the farm or fold yard manure is carried out at
different times, during the preceding summer and winter, and formed into large dunghills in the fields
where they are to be used. These dunghills are turned once or twice, and moistened by watering, or
covered by earth or moss, so as to accelerate or retard the fermentation, according to the period when the
material may be wanted for use. The test of their fitness for this purpose is that degree of tenderness
which admits of the easy separation of the littery parts when a dung fork is inserted and a forkful
taken up.
2277. The doctrine of the proper application of manures from organised substances,
offers an illustration of an important part of the economy of nature, and of the happy
order in which it is arranged. The death and decay of animal substances tend to
resolve organised forms into chemical constituents ; and the pernicious effluvia disen-
gaged in the process seem to point out the propriety of burying them in the soil, where
they are fitted to become the food of vegetables. The fermentation and putrefaction of
Book III. OPERATION OF MINERAL MANURES. 343
organised soibstances in the free atmosphere are noxious processes ; beneath the surface
of the ground, they are salutary operations. In this case the food of olants is prepared
where it can be used ; and that which would offend the senses and injure the health, if
exposed, is converted by gradual processes into forms of beauty and of usefulness ; the
fetid gas is rendered a constituent of the aroma of the flower, and what might be poison
becomes nourishment to animals and to man.
2278. To preserve dung for any time, the situation in which it is kept is of importance.
It should, if possible, be defended from the sun. To preserve it under sheds would be
of great use ; or to make the site of a dungliill on the north side of a wall. The floor
on which the dung is heaped should, if possible, be paved with flat stones ; and there
should be a little inclination from each side towards the centre, in which there should be
drains connected with a small well, furnished with a pump, by which any fluid matter
may be collected for the use of the land. It too often happens that a dense mucilaginous
and extractive fluid is suffered to drain away from the dunghill, so as to be entirely lost
to the farm.
Sect. II. Of Manures of Mineral Origin*
2279. Earthy and saline manures are probably of more recent invention, and doubtless
of more uncertain use, than those of animal and vegetable origin. The conversion into
original forms of matter which has belonged to living structures, is a process that can be
easily understood ; but it is more difficult to follow those operations by which earthy and
saline matters are consolidated in the fibre of plants, and by which they are made subser-
vient to their functions. These are capable of being materially elucidated by modern
chemistry ; and shall here be considered as to the theory of their operation and as to their
specific kinds.
SuBSECT. 1. Theory of the Operation of Mineral Manures.
2280. Saline and calcareous substances form the principal fossil manures. Much has
been written on lime and common salt, both in the way of speculation and reasoning
from facts, which, from want of chemical knowledge, has turned to no useful account,
and cultivators till very lately contented themselves with stating that these substances
acted as stimuli to the soil, something like condiments to the digestive organs of animals.
Even chemists themselves are not yet unanimous in all their opinions ; but still the result
of their enquiries will be found of great benefit to the scientific cultivator.
2281. Various opinions eydst as to the rationale of the operation of mineral manures.
*' Some enquirers," Sir H. Davy observes, " adopting that sublime generalisation of the
ancient philosophers, that matter is the same in essence, and that the different substances,
considered as elements by chemists, are merely different arrangements of the same inde-
structible particles, have endeavoured to prove, that all the varieties of the principles
found in plants, may be formed from the substances in the atmosphere ; and that vege-
table life is a process in which bodies, that the analytical philosopher is unable to change
or to form, are constantly composed and decomposed. But the general results of expe-
riments are very much opposed to the idea of the composition of the earths, by plants,
from any of the elements found in the atmosphere, or in water, and there are
various facts contradictory to the idea." Jacquin states, that the ashes of glass- wort
(SalsolajSoda), when it grows in inland situations, afford the vegetable alkali ; when it
grows on the sea-shore, where compounds which afford the fossil or marine alkali are
more abundant, it yields that substance. Du Hamel found that plants which usually
grow on the sea-shore made small progress when planted in soils containing little com-
mon salt. The sun-flower, when growing in lands containing no nitre, does not afford
that substance ; though when watered by a solution of nitre it yields nitre abundantly.
The tables of De Saussure show that the ashes of plants are similar in constitution to the
soils in which they have vegetated. "De Saussure made plants grow in solutions of dif-
ferent salts ; and he ascertained that, in all cases, certain portions of the salts were
absorbed by the plants, and found unaltered in their organs. Even animals do not
appear to possess the power of forming the alkaline and earthy substances. Dr. Fordyce
found that when canary birds, at the time they were laying eggs, were deprived of access
to carbonate of lime, their eggs had soft shells ; and if there is any process for which
nature may be conceived most likely to supply resources of this kind, it is that connected
with the reproduction of the species.
2282. It seems a fair conclusion, as the evidence on the subject now stands, that the dif-
ferent earths and saline substances found in the organs of plants, are supplied by the soils
in which they grow ; and in no cases composed by new arrangements of the elements in
air or water. What may be our ultimate view of the laws of chemistry, or how far our
ideas of elementary principles may be simplified, it is impossible to say. We can only
reason from facts. We cannot imitate the powers of composition belonging to vegetable
structures ; but at least we can understand them : and as far as our researches have gone,
Z 4
344 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
it appears that in vegetation compound forms are uniformly produced from simple ones ;
and the elements in the soil, the atmosphere, and the earth absorbed and made parts of
beautiful and diversified structures. The views which have been just developed lead to
correct ideas of the operation of those manures which are not necessarily the result of
decayed organised bodies, and which are not composed of different proportions of carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, and azote. They must produce their effect, either by becoming a
constituent part of the plant, or by acting upon its more essential food, so as to render it
more fitted for the purposes of vegetable life.
SuBSECT. 2. Of the different Species of Mineral Manures.
2283. Alkaline earths, or alkalies and their combinations, which are found unmixed with
the remains of any organised beings, are the only substances which can with propriety be
called fossil manures. The only alkaline earths which have been hitherto applied in this
way are lime and magnesia ; though potassa and soda, the two fixed alkalies, are both
used to a limited extent in certain of their chemical compounds.
2284. The most common form in which lime is found on the surface of the earth, is in a
state of combination with carbonic acid or fixed air. If a piece of limestone or chalk be
thrown into a fluid acid, there will be an effervescence. This is owing to the escape of
the carbonic acid gas. The lime becomes dissolved in the liquor. When limestone is
strongly heated, the carbonic acid gas is expelled, and then nothing remains but the pure
alkaline earth ; in this case there is a loss of weight ; and if the fire has been very high,
it approaches to one half the weight of the stone ; but in common cases, limestones, if
well dried before burning, do not lose much more than 35 to 40 per cent, or from seven
to eight parts out of twenty,
2285. When burnt lime is exposed to the atmosphere, in a certain time it becomes mild,
and is the same substance as that precipitated from lime-water ; it is combined with car-
bonic acid gas. Quicklime, when first made, is caustic and burning to the tongue,
renders vegetable blues green, and is soluble in water ; but when combined with carbonic
acid, it loses all these properties, its solubility, and its taste : it regains its power of effer-
vescing, and becomes the same chemical substance as chalk or limestone. Very few
limestones or chalks consist entirely of lime and carbonic acid. The statuarj' marbles,
or certain of the rhomboidal spars, are almost the only pure species ; and the different
properties of limestones, both as manures and cements, depend upon the nature of the in-
gredient mixed in the limestone ; for the true calcareous element, the carbonate of lime,
is uniformly the same in nature, properties, and effects, and consists of one proportion of
carbonic acid 41 -4, and one of lime 55. When a limestone does not copiously effervesce
in acids, and is sufficiently hard to scratch glass, it contains silicious, and probably
aluminous earth ; when it is deep brown or red, or strongly coloured of any of the
shades of brown or yellow, it contains oxide of iron ; when it is not sufficiently hard
to scratch glass, but effervesces slowly, and makes the acid in which it effervesces milky,
it contains magnesia ; and when it is black, and emits a fetid smell if rubbed, it contains
coaly or bituminous matter. Before any opinion can be formed of the manner in which
the diflPerent ingredients in limestones modify their properties, it will be necessary to con-
sider the operation of pure lime as a manure.
2286. Quicklime, in its pure state, whether in powder or dissolved in water, is injurious
to plants. In several instances grass has been killed by watering it with lime-water.
But lime, in its state of combination with carbonic acid, is a useful ingredient in soils.
Calcareous earth is found in the ashes of the greater number of plants ; and exposed
to the air, lime cannot long continue caustic, for the reasons that were just now assigned,
but soon becomes united to carbonic acid. When newly burnt lime is exposed to air, it
soon falls into powder : in this case it is called slacked liine ; and the same effect is
immediately produced by throwing water upon it, when it heats violently, and the water
disappears. Slacked lime is merely a combination of lime, with about one third of its
weight of water ; i. e. fifty-five parts of lime absorb seventeen parts of water ; and
in this case it is composed of a definite proportion of water, and is called by chemists
hydrate of lime ; and when hydrate of lime becomes carbonate of lime by long exposure
to air, the water is expelled, and the carbonic acid gas takes its place. When lime,
whether freshly burnt or slacked, is mixed with any moist fibrous vegetable matter, there
is a strong action between the lime and the vegetable matter, and they form a kind
of compost together, of which a part is usually soluble in water. By this kind of oper-
ation, lime renders matter which was before comparatively inert, nutritive ; and as
charcoal and oxygen abound in all vegetable matters, it becomes at the same time con-
verted into carbonate of lime.
2287. Mild lime, powdered limestone, marls, or chalks, have no action of this kind
upon vegetable matter ; they prevent the too rapid decomposition of substances already
dissolved ; but they have no tendency to form soluble matters. It is obvious from these
circumstances, that the operations of quicklime, and marl, or chalk, depend upon prin-
Book III. SPECIES OF MINERAL MANURES. S45
ciples altogether different. Quicklime, in being applied to land, tends to bring any hard
vegetable matter that it contains into a state of more rapid decomposition and solution,
so as to render it a proper food for plants. Chalk, marl, or carbonate of Ume, will
only improve the texture of the soil, or its relation to absorption ; it acts merely as one
of its earthy ingredients. Chalk has been recommended as a substance calculated
to correct the sourness of land. It would surely have been a wise practice to have
previously ascertained the certainty of this existence of acid, and to have determined its
nature, in order that it might be effectually removed. The fact really is, that no soil was
ever yet found to contain any notable quantity of uncombined acid. The acetic and
carbonic acids are the only two that are likely to be generated by any spontaneous
decomposition of animal or vegetable bodies, and neither of these has any fixity when
exposed to the air. Chalk having no power of acting on animal and vegetable sub-
stances, can be no otherwise serviceable to land than as it alters its texture. Quicklime,
when it becomes mild, operates in the same manner as chalk; but in the act of becoming
mild, it prepares soluble out of insoluble matter. Bouillon la Grange says that gelatine
oxygenised becomes insoluble, and vegetable extract we know becomes so from the same
cause J now lime has the property of attracting oxygen, and, consequently, of restoring
the property of solubility to those substances which have been deprived of it, from a com-
bination with oxygen. Hence the uses of lime on peat lands, and on all soils containing
an excess of vegetable insoluble matter. ( Grisenthwaite. )
2288. Marli and even shell sand, have been known to act chemically on peat bogs, and
to produce astonishing benefits. True and genuine peat bogs contain a considerable
quantity of an acid which has some affinity to gcdlic acid, and often yield phosphoric acid
to analysis. It appears to be thesg acids which confer on peat earth its highly antiseptic
qualities, and prevent the complete decay of woody fibre in such situations. When either
true marl or shell sand is laid as a manure in such soils, a rapid decomposition of the vege-
table matter takes place, owing to the calcareous matter uniting with the acid which
before impregnated the woody fibre ; and such land soon becomes very productive, pro-
bably also because the carbonic acid of the marl and shell sand is applied to the growth
of living vegetables as it is gradually disengaged by the union of these acids with
the lime. {T. S. T.)
2289. Efeci of lime on wheat crops. When lime is employed upon land where
any quantity of animal matter is present, it occasions the evolution of a quantity of
ammonia, which may, perhaps, be imbibed by the leaves of plants, and afterwards undergo
some change so as to form gluten. It is upon this circumstance that the operation of
lime in the preparation for wheat crops depends ; and its efiicacy in fertilising peat, and
ia bringing into a state of cultivation all soils abounding in hard roots, dry fibres, or inert
vegetable matter.
2290. General principles for applying lime. The solution of the question whether
quicklime ought to be appued to a soil, depends upon the quantity of inert vegetable
matter that it contains. The solution of the question, whether marl, mild lime, or
powdered limestone ought to be applied, depends upon the quantity of calcareous matter
already in the soil. All soils which do not effervesce with acids are improved by mild
lime, and ultimately by quicklime ; and sands more than clays. When a soil, deficient
in calcareous matter, contains much soluble vegetable manure, the application of quick-
lime should always be avoided, as it either tends to decompose the soluble matters by
uniting to their carbon and oxygen so as to become mild lime, or it combines with the
soluble matters, and forms compounds having less attraction for water than the pure
vegetable substance. The case is the same with respect to most animal manures ; but
the operation of the lime is different in different cases, and depends upon the nature of
the animal matter. Lime forms a kind of insoluble soap wdth oily matters, and then
gradually decomposes them by separating from them oxygen and carbon. It combines
likewise with the animal acids, and probably assists their decomposition by abstracting
carbonaceous matter from them combined with oxygen ; and consequently it must render
them less nutritive. It tends to diminish, likewise, the nutritive powers of albumen from
the same causes; and always destroys, to a certain extent, the efficacy of animal manures,
either by combining with certain of their elements, or by giving to them new arrange-
ments. Lime should never be applied with animal manures, unless they are too rich, or
for the purpose of preventing noxious effluvia. It is injurious when mixed with any
common dung, and tends to render the extractive matter insoluble. According tc
Chaptal (Chimie appliquee, ^c. i. 153.), lime forms insoluble composts with almost all
animal and vegetable substances that are soft, and thus destroys their fermentative pro-
perties. Such compounds, however, exposed to the continued action of the air, alter in
course of time ; the lime becomes carbonate ; the animal or vegetable matters decompose
by degrees, and furnish new products as vegetable nourishment. In this view, Ume
presents two great advantages for the nutrition of plants ; the first, that of disposing
certain insoluble bodies to form soluble compounds ; the second, that of prolonging the
346 SCIENCE OF AGP.ICULTURE. Part II.
action and nutritive qualities of substances, beyond the term during which they would be
retained if these substances were not made to enter into combination with lime. Thus
tlie nutritive qualities of blood, as it exists in the compound of lime and blood known as
sugarbaker's scum, are moderated, prolonged, and given out by degrees ; blood alone,
applied directly to the roots of plants, will destroy ihem with few or no exceptions.
2291. Litne promotes fermentntion- In those cases in which fermentation is useful to
produce nutriment from vegetable substances, lime is always efficacious. Some moist
spent tanners' bark was mixed with one fifth of its weight of quicklime, and suiFered
to remain in a close vessel for three months ; the lime had become coloured, and was
effervescent : when water was boiled upon the mixture, it gained a tint of fawn-colour,
and by evaporation furnished a fawn-coloured powder, which must have consisted of
lime united to vegetable matter, for it burnt when strongly heated, and left a residuum
of mild lime.
2292. Different kinds of limestones have different effects. The limestones containing
alumina and silica are less fitted for the purposes of manure than pure limestones ; but
the lime formed from them has no noxious quality. Such stones are less efficacious,
merely because they furnish a smaller quantity of quicklime. There is very seldom
any considerable portion of coaly matter in bituminous limestones ; never as much as
five parts in 100 ; but such limestones make very good lime. The carbonaceous matter
can do no injury to the land, and may, under certain circumstances, become a food of
the plant.
2293. The subject of the application of the magnesian limestone is one of great interest.
It had been long known to farmers in the neighbourhood of Doncaster, that lime made
from a certain limestone, when applied to the land, often injured the crops considerably.
Tennant, in making a series of experiments upon this peculiar calcareous substance,
found that it contained magnesia ; and on ntiixing some calcined magnesia with soil,
in which he sowed different seeds, he found that they either died or vegetated in a
very imperfect manner, and the plants were never healthy. With great justice and
ingenuity he referred the bad effects of the peculiar limestone to the magnesian earth
it contains.
2294. Magnesian limestone is used with good effect in some cases. Magnesia has a
much weaker attraction for carbonic acid than lime, and will remain in the state of
caustic or calcined magnesia for many months, though exposed to the air ; and, as long as
any caustic lime remains, the magnesia cannot be combined with carbonic acid, for lime
instantly attracts carbonic acid from magnesia. When a magnesian limestone is burnt,
the magnesia is deprived of carl)onic acid much sooner than the lime ; and, if there is not
much vegetable or animal matter in the soil to supply by its decomposition carbonic acid,
the magnesia will remain for a long while in the caustic state, in which state it acts as a
poison to certain vegetables ; and that more magnesian lime may be used upon rich
soils, seems to be owing to the circumstance, that the decomposition of the manure in
them supplies carbonic acid. Magnesia in its mild state, i. e. fully combined with car-
bonic acid, seems to be always a useful constituent of soils. Carbonate of magnesia
(procured by boiling the solution of magnesia in supercarbonate of potassa) was thrown
upon grass, and upon growing wheat and barley, so as to render the surface white, but
the vegetation was not injured in the slightest degree ; and one of the most fertile
parts of Cornwall, the Lizard, is a district in which the soil contains mild magnesian
earth. It is obvious, from what has been said, tliat lime from the magnesian limestone
may be applied in large quantities to peats; and that where lands have been injured
by the application of too large a quantity of magnesian lime, peat will be a proper and
efficient remedy.
2295. A simple test of magnesia in a limestone is its slight effervescence with acids, and
its rendering diluted nitric acid, or aqua fortis, milky. From the analysis of Tennant, it
appears to contain from 20*3 to 22*5 magnesia ; 29*5 to 31*7 lime ; 47*2 carbonic acid ;
0*8 clay and oxide of iron. Magnesian limestones are usually of a brown or pale yellow
colour. They are found in Somersetshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Shropshire,
Durham, and Yorkshire ; and in many parts of Ireland, particularly near Belfast. In
general, when limestones are not magnesian, their purity will be indicated by their loss
of weight in burning ; the more they lose, the larger is the quantity of calcareous
matter they contain. The magnesian limestones contain more carbonic acid than the
common limestones ; and I have found all of them lose more than half their weight by
calcination.
2296. Gypsum. Besides being used in the forms of lime and carbonate of lime, cal-
careous matter is applied for the purposes of agriculture in other combinations. One of
these bodies is gypsum or sulphate of lime. This substance consists of sulphuric acid
(the same body that exists combined with water in oil of vitriol) and lime ; and when
dry it is composed of 55 parts of lime and 15 parts of sulphuric acid. Common gypsum
or selenite, such as that found at Shotover Hill, near Oxford, contains, besides sul-
Book III. SPECIES OF MINERAL MANURES. 847
pliunc acid and lime, a considerable qviantity of v/ater ; and its composition may be
thus expressed : sulphuric acid one proportion 75 ; lime one proportion 55 ; water two
proportions 34.
2297. The nature of gj/psum is easily demonstrated : if oil of vitriol be added to
quicklime, there is a violent heat produced ; when the mixture is ignited, water is given
off", and gypsum alone is the result, if the acid has been used in sufficient quantity ; and
gypsum mixed with quicklime, if the quantity has been deficient. Gypsum, free from
water, is sometimes found in nature, when it is called anhydrous selenite ; it is distin-
guished from common gypsum by giving off no water when heated. When gypsum, free
from water, or deprived of water by heat, is made into a paste with water, it rapidly sets
by combining with that fluid. Plaster of Paris is powdered dry gypsum, and its pro-
perty as a cement, and its use in making casts, depend upon its solidifying a certain
quantity of water, and making with it a coherent mass. Gypsum is soluble in about 500
times its weight of cold water, and is more soluble in hot water ; so that when water has
been boiled in contact with gypsum, crystals of this substance are deposited as the water
cools. Gypsum is easily distinguished by its properties of affording precipitates to
solutions of oxalates and of barytic salts. It has been much used in America, where
it was first introduced by Franklin on his return from Paris, where he had been much
struck with its effects. He sowed the words. This has been sown with gypsum, on a
field of lucern, near Washington ; the effects astonished every passenger, and the use
of the manure quickly became general, and signally efficacious. It has been advan-
tageously used in Kent, but in most counties of England it has failed, though tried in
various ways, and upon different crops.
2298. Very discordant notioiis have been formed as to the mode of operation of gypsum,.
It has been supposed by some persons to act by its power of attracting moisture from the
air ; but this agency must be comparatively insignificant. When combined with waterj
it retains that fluid too powerfully to yield it to the roots of the plant, and its adhesive
attraction for moisture is inconsiderable ; the small quantity in which it is used likewise
is a circumstance hostile to this idea. It has been erroneously said, that gypsum assists
the putrefaction of animal substances, and the decomposition of manure.
2299. The ashes of saintfoiii, clover, and rye-grass, afford considerable quantities of
gypsum ; and the substance probably is intimately combined as a necessary part of their
woody fibre. If this be allowed, it is easy to explain the reason why it operates in such
small quantities ; for the whole of a clover crop, or saintfoin crop, on an acre, according
to estimation, would afford by incineration only three or four bushels of gypsum. The
reason why gj'psum is not generally efficacious, is probably because most cultivated soils
contain it in sufficient quantities for the use of the grasses. In the common course of ,
cultivation, gypsum is furnished in the manure ; for it is contained in stable dung, and in
the dung of all cattle fed on grass : and it is not taken up in com crops, or crops of peas
and beans, and in very small quantities in turnip crops ; but where lands are exclusively
devoted to pasturage and hay, it will be continually consumed. Should these statements
be confirmed by future enquiries, a practical inference of some value may be derived from
them. It is possible, that lands which have ceased to bear good crops of clover or artificial
grasses, may be restored by being manured with gypsum. This substance is found in
Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Somersetshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, &c., and requires
only pulverisation for its preparation.
2300. Upon the use of sulphate of iron, or green vitriol, which is a salt produced
from peat in Bedfordshire, some very interesting documents have been produced by
Dr. Pearson ; and there is little doubt that the peat salt and the vitriolic water acted
chiefly by producing gypsum. The soils on which both are efficacious are calcareous ;
and sulphate of iron is decomposed by the carbonate of lime in such soils. The sul-
phate of iron consists of sulphuric acid and oxide of iron, and is an acid and a very
soluble salt ; when a solution of it is mixed with carbonate of lime, the sulphuric acid
quits the oxide of iron to unite to the lime, and the compounds produced are insipid and
comparatively insoluble.
2301 . Vitriolic impregnations in soils where there is no calcareous matter are injurious ;
but it is probably in consequence of their supplying an excess of ferruginous matter
to the sap. Oxide of iron, in small quantities, forms a useful part of soils ; it is found
in the ashes of plants, and probably is hurtful only in its acid combinations. The ashes
of all peats do not afford gypsum. In general, when a recent peat-ash emits a strong
smell, resembling that of rotten eggs when acted upon by vinegar, it will furnish
gypsum. There is a curious agency of iron in soils which may here be mentioned. Soils
containing iron at a minimum of oxidation decompose carbonic acid : the oleaginous
parts of manures, by converting the brown oxide, which occurs in every soil, into that
with a minimum of oxygen, form a substance capable of aiding the nutrition of plants,
by affording them carbon from carbonic acid. ( T. )
2302. Phosphate of lime is a combination of phosphoric acid and lime, one proportion
348 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. I-art II.
of each. It is a compound insoluble in pure water, but soluble in water containing any
acid matter. It forms the greatest part of calcined bones. It exists in most excremen-
titious substances, and is found both in the straw and grain of wheat, barley, oats, and
rye, and likewise in beans, peas, and tares. It exists in some places in these islands
native, but only in very small quantities. Phosphate of lime is generally conveyed to the
land in the composition of other manure, and it is probably necessary to com crops and
other white crops.
2303. Bone-ashes calcined and ground to powder will probably be found useful
on arable lands containing much vegetable matter, and may perhaps enable soft peats to
produce wheat ; but the powdered bone in an uncalcined state is much to be preferred in
all cases when it can be procured.
2304. The saline compounds of magnesia will require very little discussion with regard
to their uses as manures. In combination with sulphuric acid, magnesia forms a soluble
salt. This substance, it is stated by some enquirers, has been found of use as a manure ;
but it is not found in nature in sufficient abundance, nor is it capable of being
made by art sufficiently cheap to be of useful application in the common course of
husbandry.
2305. Wood-ashes consist principally of the vegetable alkali united to carbonic acid j
and as this alkali is found in almost all plants, it is not difficult to conceive that it may
form an essential part of their organs. The general tendency of the alkalies is to give
solubility to vegetable matters ; and in this way they may render carbonaceous and other
substances capable of being taken up by the tubes in the radical fibres of plants. Vege-
table alkali likewise has a strong attraction for water, and even in small quantities
may tend to give a due degree of moisture to the soil, or to other manures ; though this
operation, from the small quantities used or existing in the soil, can be only of a
secondary kind.
2306. The mineral alkali or soda is found in the ashes of sea-weed, and may be pro-
cured by certain chemical agencies from common salt. Common salt consists of the
metal named sodium, combined with chlorine ; and pure soda consists of the same metal
united to oxygen. When water is present, which can afford oxygen to the sodium, soda
may be obtained in several modes from salt. The same reasoning will apply to the
operation of the pure mineral alkali, or the carbonated alkali, as to that of the vegetable
alkali ; and when common salt acts as a manure, it is probably by entering into the
composition of the plant in the same manner as gypsum, phosphate of lime, and the
alkalies. Sir John Pringle has stated, that salt in small quantities assists the decomposi-
tion of animal and vegetable matter. This circumstance may render it useful in certain
soils. Common salt, likewise, is offensive to insects. In small quantities it is sometimes
a useful manure, and it is probable that its efficacy depends upon many combined causes.
Some persons have argued against the employment of salt ; because, when used in
large quantities, it either does no good, or renders the ground sterile ; but this is a
very unfair mode of reasoning. That salt in large quantities rendered land barren,
was known long before any records of agricultural science existed. We read in the
Scriptures, that Abimelech took the city of Shechem, " and beat down the city, and sowed
it with salt ;" that the soil might be for ever unfruitful. Virgil reprobates a salt
soil ; and Pliny, though he recommends giving salt to cattle, yet affirms, that when
strewed over land it renders it barren. But these are not arguments against a proper
application of it. Refuse salt in Cornwall, which, however, likewise contains some of
the oil and exuviae of fish, has long been known as an admirable manure ; and the
Cheshire farmers contend for the benefit of the peculiar produce of their county. It is
not unlikely, that the same causes as those which act in modifying the operation of gyp-
sum influence the effects of salt. Most lands in th's island, particularly those near the
sea, probably contain a sufficient quantity of salt for all the purposes of vegetation ; and
in such cases the supply of it to the soil will not only be useless, but may be injurious.
In great storms the spray of the sea has been carried more than fifty miles from
the shore ; so that from this source salt must be often supplied to tlie soil. Salt is
found in almost all sandstone rocks, and it must exist in the soil derived from these rocks.
It is a constituent likewise of almost every kind of animal and vegetable manure. A va-
riety of curious and often contradictory experiments on this subject will be found in The
Gardener s Magazine, vols. ii. and iii.
2307. Other compounds. Besides these compounds of the alkaline earths and alkalies,
many others have been recommended for the purposes of increasing vegetation ; such are
nitre, or the nitrous acid combined with potassa. Sir Kenelm Digby states that he made
barley grow very luxuriantly by watering it with a very weak solution of nitre ; but he is
too speculative a writer to awaken confidence in his results. This substance consists of
one proportion of azote, six of oxygen, and one of potassium ; and it is not unlikely
that it may furnish azote to form albumen or gluten in those plants which contain
them ; but the nitrous salts are too valuable for other purposes to be used as manures.
Book III. HEAT AND LIGHT. 349
Dr. Home states that sulphate of potassa, which was just now mentioned as found in the
ashes of some peats, is a useful manure : but Naismith (^Elements of Agriculture, p. 78.)
questions his results ; and quotes experiments hostile to his opinions, and, as he conceives,
unfavourable to the efficacy of any species of saline manure. Much of the discordance of
the evidence relating to the efficacy of saline substances depends upon the circumstance
of their having "been used in different proportions, and, in general, in quantities much
too large.
2308. Solutions of saline substances were used twice a week, in the quantity of
two ounces, on spots of grass and corn, sufficiently remote from each other to prevent any
interference of results. The substances tried were bi-carbonate, sulphate, acetate, nitrate,
and muriate of potassa ; sulphate of soda ; and sulphate, nitrate, muriate, and carbonate
of ammonia. It was found, that, in all cases when the quantity of the salt equalled one
thirtieth part of the weight of the water, the effects were injurious ; but least so in the
instance of the carbonate, sulphate, and muriate of ammonia. When the quantities of the
salts were one three-hundredth part of the solution, the effects were different. The plants
watered with the solutions of the sulphates grew just in the same manner as similar plants
watered with rain-water. Those acted on by the solution of nitre, acetate, and carbonate
of potass, and muriate of ammonia, grew rather better. Those treated with the solution
of carbonate of ammonia grew most luxuriantly of all. This last result is what might be
expected, for carbonate of ammonia consists of carbon, hydrogen, azote, and oxygen.
There was, however, another result which was not anticipated ; the plants watered with
solution of nitrate of ammonia did not grow better than those watered with rain-water. The
solution reddened litmus paper ; and probably the free acid exerted a prejudicial effect,
and interfered with the result.
2309. Soot doubtless owes part of its efficacy to the ammoniacal salts it contains. The
liquor produced by tlie distillation of coal contains carbonate and acetate of ammonia, and
is said to be a very good manure.
2310. Soapers" waste has been recommended as a manure, and it has been supposed
that its efficacy depended upon the different saline matters it contains ; but their quantity
is very minute indeed, and its principal ingredients are mild lime and quicklime. In
the soapers' waste, from the best manufactories, there is scarcely a trace of alkali. Lime,
moistened with sea-water, affords more of this substance, and is said to have been used in
some cases with more benefit than common lime.
23 11. The result of Sir H. Davy^s discussion as to the extent of the effects of saline sub-
stances on vegetation is, that except the ammoniacal compounds, or the compounds con-
taining nitric, acetic, and carbonic acid, none of them can afford by their decomposition
any of the common principles of vegetation, viz. carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The
alkaline sulphates and the earthy muriates are so seldom found in plants, or are found in
such minute quantities, that it can never be an object to apply them to the soil. The
earthy and alkaline substances seem never to be formed in vegetation ; and there is every
reason to believe that they are never decomposed ; for, after being absorbed, they are
found in the ashes. The metallic bases of them cannot exist in contact with aqueous
fluids ; and these metallic bases, like other metals, have not as yet been resolved into any
other forms of matter by artificial processes ; they combine readily with other elements,
but they remain indestructible, and can be traced undiminished in quantity through their
diversified combinations.
Chap. II L
Of the Agency of Heca, Light, Electricity, and Water, in Vegetable Culture.
2312. The particular agency of heat, light, and water, in vegetation and culture, has
been so frequently illustrated, that it only remains to give a general idea of their natures,
and to offer some remarks on electricity.
Sect. I. Of Heat and Light.
2313. The heat of the sun is the cause of growth, and its light the cause of maturity, in
the vegetable kingdom. This is universally acknowledged : animals will live without
light or vnth very little ; but no plants whatever can exist for any time without the pre-
sence of this element. The agency of electricity in vegetation is less known.
23 1 4. Two opinions are current respecting the nature of heat. By some philosophers it
is conceived to be a peculiar subtile fluid, of which the particles repel each other, but
have a strong attraction for the particles of other matter : by others it is considered as a
motion or vibration of the particles of matter, which is supposed to differ in velocity in
350 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
different cases, and thus to produce the different degrees of temperature. "Whatever
decision be ultimately made respecting these opinions, it is certain that there is matter
moving in the space between us and the heavenly bodies capable of communicating heat ;
the motions of which are rectilineal : thus the solar rays produce heat in acting on the
surface of the earth. The beautiful experiments of Dr. Herschel have shown that there
are rays transmitted from the sun which do not illuminate, and which yet produce more
heat than the visible rays ; and Ritter and Dr. WoUaston have shown that there are other
invisible rays distinguished by their chemical effects.
2S15. Heat is radiated by the sun to the earth, and if suffered to accumulate. Dr.
Wells observes, would quickly destroy the present constitution of our globe. This evil
is prevented by the radiation of heat from the earth to the heavens, during the night, when
it receives from them little or no heat in return. But through the wise economy of means,
which is witnessed in all the operations of nature, the prevention of this evil is made the
source of great positive good ; for the surface of the earth, having thus become colder
than the neighbouring air, condenses a part of the watery vapour of the atmosphere into
dew, the utility of which is too manifest to require elucidation. This fluid appears chiefly
where it is most wanted, on herbage and low plants, avoiding, in great measure, rocks,
bare earth, and considerable masses of water. Its production, too, tends to prevent the
injury that might arise from its own cause ; since the precipitation of water, upon the
tender parts of plants, must in them lessen the cold which occasions it. The prevention,
either wholly or in part, of cold, from radiation, in substances on the ground, by the
interposition of any solid body between them and the sky, arises in the following man-
ner : the lower body radiates its heat upwards, as if no other intervened between it and
the sky ; but the loss, which it hence suffers, is more or less compensated by what is radi-
ated to it, from the body above, the under surface of which possesses always the same,
or very nearly the same temperature as the air. The manner in which clouds prevent, or
occasion to be srnall, the appearance of a cold at night, upon the surface of the earth, is
by radiating heat to the earth, in return for that which they intercept in its progress from
the earth towards the heavens. For although, upon the sky becoming suddenly cloudy
during a calm night, a naked thermometer, suspended in the air, commonly rises 2 or 3
degrees, little of this rise is to be attributed to the heat evolved by the condensation of
watery vapour in the atmosphere ; for the heat so extricated must soon be dissipated,
whereas the effect of greatly lessening, or preventing altogether, the appearance of a
superior cold on the earth to that of the air, will be produced by a cloudy sky, during
the whole of a long night.
23 1 6. Dense clouds, near the earth, rejlect back the heat they receive from it by radiation.
But similar dense clouds, if very high, though they equally intercept the communication
of the earth with the sky, yet being, from their elevated situation, colder than the earth,
will radiate to it less heat than they receive from it, and may, consequently, admit of
bodies on its surface becoming several degrees colder than the air. Islands, and parts of
continents close to the sea, being, by their situations, subject to a cloudy sky, will, from
the smaller quantity of heat lost by them through radiation to the heavens, at night, in
addition to the reasons commonly assigned, be less cold in winter than countries con-
siderably distant from any ocean. But the chief cause why islands, and the coasts of
the ocean, are more temperate than continents and inland situations is, that the tem-
perature of the ocean a little from the surface, and where not cooled by contact with ice,
is very uniformly about 54° Fahr. in all latitudes. The ocean is the great equaliser of
heat. (T.)
2317. Fogs, like clouds, will arrest heat, which is radiated upwards by the earth, and if
they are very dense, and of considerable perpendicular extent, may remit to it as much as
they receive. Fogs do not, in any instance, furnish a real exception to the general rule,
that whatever exists in the atmosphere, caj)able of stopping or impeding the passage of
radiant heat, will prevent or lessen the appearance at night of a cold on the surface of
the earth, greater than that of the neighbouring air. Tlie water deposited upon the
earth, during a fog at night, may sometimes be derived from two different sources, one
of which is a precipitation of moisture from a considerable part of the atmosphere, in
consequence of its general cold ; the other, a real formation of dew, from the condens-
ation, by means of the superficial cold of the ground, of the moisture of that portion of
the air which comes in contact with it. In such a state of things, all bodies will
become moist, but those especially which most readily attract dew in clear weather.
2318. When bodies become cold by radiation, the degree of effect observed must depend,
not only on their radiating power, but in part also on the greater or less ease with which
they can derive heat, by conduction, from warmer substances in contact with them.
Bodies, exposed in a clear night to the sky, must radiate as much heat to it during the
prevalence of wind, as they would do if the air were altogether still. But in the former
case, little or no cold will be observed upon .them above that of the atmosphere, as the
frequent application of warm air must quickly return a heat equal, or nearly so, to that
Book III. HEAT AND LIGHT. 351
which they had lost by radiation. A slight agitation of the air is sufficient to produce
some effect of this kind ; though, as has already been said, such an agitation, when the
air is very pregnant with moisture, will render greater the quantity of dew ; one requisite
for a considerable production of this fluid being more increased by it, than another is
diminished.
2319. It has been remarked that the hurtful effects of cold occur chiefly in hollow places.
If this be restricted to what happens on the serene and calm nights, two reasons from
different sources are to be assigned for it. The first is, that the air being stiller in such
a situation, than in any other, the cold, from radiation, in the bodies contained in it,
will be less diminished by renewed applications of warmer air ; the second, that from the
longer continuance of the same air in contact with the ground, in depressed places than
in otliers, less dew will be deposited, and therefore less heat extricated during its
formation.
2320. An observation closely connected with the preceding, namely, that, in clear and
still nights, frosts are less severe upon the hills, than in the neighbouring plains, has excited
more attention, chiefly from its contradicting what is commonly regarded an established
fact, that the cold of the atmosphere always increases with the distance from the earth.
But on the contrary the fact is certain, that, in very clear and still nights, the air near to
the earth is colder than that which is more distant from it, to the height of at least 220
feet, this being the greatest to which experiments relate. If then a hill be supposed to
rise from a plain to the height of 220 feet, having upon its summit a small flat surface
covered with grass ; and if the atmosphere, during a calm and serene night, be admitted
to be 10° warmer there than it is near the surface of the low grounds, which is a less
difference than what sometimes occurs in such circumstances, it is manifest that, should
both the grass upon the hill, and that upon the plain, acquire a cold of 10° by radiation,
the former will, notwithstanding, be 10° warmer than the latter. Hence also the tops
of trees are sometimes found dry when the grass on the ground's surface has been found
covered with dew.
2321. A very slight covering will exclude muck cold. I had often, observes Dr. Wells,
in the pride of half knowledge, smiled at the means frequently employed by gardeners,
to protect tender plants from cold, as it appeared to me impossible that a thin mat, or
any such flimsy substance, could prevent them from attaining the temperature of the
atmosphere, by which alone I thought them liable to be injured. But, when I had
learned that bodies on the surface of the earth become, during a still and serene night,
colder than the atmosphere, by radiating their heat to the heavens, I perceived imme-
diately a just reason for the practice, which I had before deemed useless. Being desirous,
however, of acquiring some precise information on this subject, I fixed, perpendicularly,
in the earth of a grass-plot, four small sticks, and over their upper extremities, which,
were six inches above the grass, and formed the corners of a square, the sides of
which were two feet long, drew tightly a very thin cambric handkerchief. In this dis-
position of things, therefore, nothing existed to prevent the free passage of air from the
exposed grass, to that which was sheltered, except the four small sticks, and there was
no substance to radiate heat downwards to the latter grass, except the cambric handker-
chief. The temperature of the grass, which was thus shielded from the sky, was, upon
many nights afterwards, examined by me, and was always found higher than that of
neighbouring grass, which was uncovered, if this was colder than the air. "When the
difference in temperature, between the air several feet above the ground and the un-
sheltered grass did not exceed 5°, the sheltered grass was about as warm as the air. If
that difference, however, exceeded 5°, the air was found to be somewhat warmer than
the sheltered grass. Thus, upon one night, when fully exposed grass was 11° colder
than the air, the latter was 3° warmer than the sheltered grass ; and the same difference
existed on another night, when the air was 14° warmer than the exposed grass. One
reason for this difference, no doubt, was that the air, which passed from the exposed grass,
by which it had been very much cooled, to that under the handkerchief, had deprived the
latter of part of its heat ; another, that the handkerchief, from being made colder than the
atmosphere by the radiation of its upper surface to the heavens, would remit somewhat
less heat to the grass beneath, than what it received from that substance. But still, as
the sheltered grass, notwithstanding these drawbacks, was upon one night, as may be
collected from the preceding relation, 8°, and upon another 11°, warmer than grass
fully exposed to the sky, a sufficient reason was now obtained for the utility of a very
slight shelter to plants, in averting or lessening injury from cold, on a still and serene
night.
2322. The covering has most effect when placed at a little distance above the plants or
objects to be sheltered. A difference in temperature, of some magnitude, was always
observed on still and serene nights, between bodies sheltered from the sky by substances
touching them, and similar bodies, which were sheltered by a substance a little above
them. I found, for example, upon one night, that the warmth of grass, sheltered by a
352 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
cambric handkerchief raised a few inches in the air, was 3° greater than that of a neigh-
bouring piece of grass which was sheltered by a similar handkerchief actually in contact
with it. On another night the difference between the temperatures of two portions of
grass, shielded in the same manner as the two above mentioned from t^e influence of
the sky, was 4°. Possibly, continues Dr. Wells, experience has long ago taught gar-
deners the superior advantage of defending tender vegetables, from the cold of clear and
calm nights, by means of substances not directly touching them ; though I do not
recollect ever having seen any contrivance for keeping mats, or such like bodies, at a
distance from the plants which they were meant to protect.
2323. Heat produced by walls. Walls, Dr. Wells observes, as far as warmth is con-
cerned, are regarded as useful, during a cold night, to the plants which touch them, or
are near to them, only in two ways ; first, by the mechanical shelter which they afford
against cold winds, and secondly, by giving out the heat which they had acquired during
the day. It appearing to me, however, that, on clear and calm nights, those on which
plants frequently receive much injury from cold, walls must be beneficial in a third way,
namely, by preventing, in part, the loss of heat, which the plants would sustain from
radiation, if they were fully exposed to the sky ; the following experiment was made
for the purpose of determining the justness of this opinion. A cambric handkerchief
having been placed, by means of two upright sticks, perpendicularly to a grass-plot, and
at right angles to the course of the air, a thermometer was laid upon the grass close
to the lower edge of the handkerchief, on its windward side. The thermometer thus
situated was several nights compared with another lying on the same grass-plot, but
on a part of it fully exposed to the sky. On two of these nights, the air being
clear and calm, the grass close to the handkerchief was found to be 4° warmer than
the fully exposed grass. On a third, the difference was 6°. An analogous fact is
mentioned by Gersten, who says that a horizontal surface is more abundantly dewed
than one which is perpendicular to the ground.
2324. Heat from a covering of snow. The covering of snow, the same author observes,
which countries in high latitudes enjoy during the winter, has been very commonly
thought to be beneficial to vegetable substances on the surface of the earth, as far
as their temperature is concerned, solely by protecting them from the cold of the
atmosphere. But were this supposition just, the advantage of the covering would be
greatly circumscribed ; since the upper parts of trees and of tall shrubs are still exposed
to the influence of the air. Another reason, however, is furnished for its usefulness, by
what has been said above ; w^hich is, that it prevents the occurrence of the cold,
which bodies on the earth acquire, in addition to that of the atmosphere, by the radiation
of their heat to the heavens during still and clear nights. The cause, indeed, of this
additional cold does not constantly operate ; but its presence, during only a few hours,
might effectually destroy plants which now pass unhurt through the winter. Again,
as things are, while low vegetable productions are prevented, by their covering of snow,
from becoming colder than the atmosphere in consequence of their own radiation,
the parts of trees and tall shrubs, which rise above the snow, are little affected by cold
from this cause ; for their uttermost twigs, now that they are destitute of leaves, are much
smaller than the thermometers suspended by me in the air, which in this situation very
seldom became more than 2° colder than the atmosphere. The larger branches, too,
which, if fully exposed to the sky, would become colder than the extreme parts, are, in
a great degree, sheltered by them ; and, in the last place, the trunks are sheltered both by
the smaller and larger parts, not to mention that the trunks must derive heat, by
conduction through the roots, from the earth kept warm by the snow. In a similar way
is partly to be explained the manner in which a layer of earth or straw preserves vege-
table matters in our own fields from the injurious effects of cold in winter. {^Essay on
Dew.)
2325. The nature of light is totally unknown ; the light which proceeds from the sun
seems to be composed of three distinct substances. Scheele discovered that a glass mirror
held before the fire reflected the rays of light, but not the rays of caloric ; but when
a metallic mirror was placed in the same situation, both heat and light were reflected.
The mirror of glass became hot in a short time, but no change of temperature took place
on the metallic mirror. This experiment shows that the glass mirror absorbed the rays
of caloric, and reflected those of light ; while the metallic mirror, suffering no change of
temperature, reflected both. If a glass plate be held before a burning body, the
rays of light are not sensibly interrupted, but the rays of caloric are intercepted ; for no
sensible heat is observed on the opposite side of the glass ; but when the glass has reached
a proper degree of temperature, the rays of caloric are transmitted with the same facility
as those of light; and thus the rays of light and caloric may be separated. But
the curious experiments of Dr. Herschel have clearly proved that the invisible
rays which are emitted by the sun have the greatest heating power. In those
experiments, the different coloured rays were thrown on the bulb of a very delicate ther-
Book III. ELECTRICITY. — WATER. 353
mometer, and their heating power was observed. The heating power of the violet, green,
and red rays were found to be to each other as the following numbers : — Violet, 16-0 ;
Green 22*4; Red, 55*0. Tlie heating power of the most refrangible rays was least,
and this power increases as the refrangibility diminishes. The red ray, therefore, has
the greatest heating power, and the violet, which is the most refrangible, the least. The
illuminating power, it has been already observed, is greatest in the middle of the
spectrum, and it diminishes towards both extremities ; but the heating power, which
is least at the violet end, increases from that to the red extremity ; and when the thermo-
meter was placed beyond the limit of the red ray, it rose still higher than in the red ray,
which has the greatest heating power in the spectrum. The heating power of these invi-
sible rays was greatest at the distance of half an inch beyond the red ray, but it was sen-
sible at the distance of one inch and a half.
2326. The influence of the different solar rays on vegetation has not yet been studied;
but it is certain that the rays exercise an influence independent of the heat they produce.
Thus plants kept in darkness, but supplied with heat, air, and moisture, grow for a short
time, but they never gain their natural colours ; their leaves are white and pale, and their
juices watery and peculiarly saccharine ; according to Knight they merely expend the
sap previously generated under the influence of light. (Notes to Sir H. Davys Agr.
Chem. p. 402.)
Sect. II. Of Electricity.
2327. Electrical changes are constantly taking place in nature, on the surface of the
earth, and in the atmosphere ; but as yet the eflf^ects of this power on vegetation have not
been correctly estimated. It has been shown by experiments made by means of the vol-
taic battery, that compound bodies in general are capable of being decomposed by elec-
trical powers; and it is probable that the various electrical phenomena occurring
in our system, must influence both the germination of seeds and the growth of plants. It
has been found that corn sprouted much more rapidly in water positively electrified by
the voltaic instrument, than in water negatively electrified ; and experiments made upon
the atmosphere show that clouds are usually negative ; and, as when a cloud is in
one state of electricity, the surface of the earth beneath is brought into the opposite state,
it is probable that in common cases the surface of the earth is positive. A similar experi-
ment is related by Dr. Darwin. [Phytologia, sect. xiii. 2, 3.)
2328. Respecting the nature of electricity different opinions are entertained amongst
scientific men. By some, the phenomena are conceived to depend upon a single subtile
fl:uid in excess in the bodies said to be positively electrified, and in deficiency in the
bodies said to be negatively electrified ; a second class suppose the effects to be produced
by two different fluids, called by them the vitreous fluid and the resinous fluid ; and
others regard them as affections or motions of matter, or an exhibition of attractive powers
similar to those which produce chemical combination and decomposition, but usually
exerting their action on^masses.
2329. A profitable application of electricity, Dr. Darwin observes, to promote thr*
growth of plants is not yet discovered ; it is nevertheless probable, that, in dry seasons,
the erection of numerous metallic points on the surface of the ground, but a few feet
high, might in the night time contribute to precipitate the dew by facilitating the
passage of electricity from the air into the earth ; and that an erection of such points
higher in the air by means of wires wrapped round tall rods, like angling rods, or
elevated on buildings, might frequently precipitate showers from the higher parts of the
atmosphere. Such points erected in gardens might promote a quicker vegetation of the
plants in their vicinity, by supplying them more abundantly with the electric ether.
{Phytologia, xiii. 4.) J. Williams {Climate of Great Britain, 348-), enlarging on this idea,
proposes to erect large electrical machines, to be driven by wind, over the general face oi
the country, for the purpose of improving the climate, and especially for lessening thai
superabundant moisture which he contends is yearly increasing from the increased eva-
porating surface, produced by the vegetation of improved culture, and especially from
the increase of pastures, hedges, and ornamental plantations.
Sect. III. Of Water.
2330. Water is a compound of oxygen and hydrogen gas, though primarily reckoned a
simple or elementary substance. " If the metal called potassium be exposed in a glass
tube to a small quantity of water, it will act upon it with great violence ; elastic fluid will
be disengaged, which will be found to be hydrogen ; and the same effects will be
produced upon the potassium, as if it had absorbed a small quantity of oxygen ; and the
hydrogen disengaged, and the oxygen added to the potassium, are in weight as 2 to 15 ;
and if two in volume of hydrogen, and one in volume of oxygen, which have the weights
of 2 and 1 5, be introduced into a close vessel, and an electrical spark passed through
them, they will inflame and condense into 17 parts of pure water."
A a
354 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
2331. Water is absolutely necessary to the economy of vegetation in its elastic and fluid
states ; and it is not devoid of use even in its solid form. Snovv^ and ice are bad con-
ductors of heat ; and w^hen the ground is covered with snow, or the surface of the soil or
of water is frozen, the roots or bulbs of the plants beneath are protected by the congealed
water from the influence of the atmosphere, the temperature of which, in northern win-
ters, is usually very much below the freezing point ; and this water becomes the first
nourishment of the plant in early spring. The expansion of water during its con-
gelation, at which time its volume increases one twelfth, and its contraction of bulk
during a thaw, tend to pulverise the soil, to separate its parts from each other, and
to make it more permeable to the influence of the air.
Chap. IV.
Of the Agency of the Atmosphere in Vegetation^
2332. The aerial medium which envelopes the earth may be studied chemically and phy-
sically : the first study respects the elements of which the atmosphere is composed ; and
the second their action in a state of combination, and as influenced by various causes, or
those phenomena which constitute the weather.
Sect. I. Of the Elements of the Atmosphere.
2333. Water, carbonic acid gas, oxygen, and azote, are the principal substances compos-
ing the atmosphere ; but more minute enquiries respecting their nature and agencies are
necessary to affbrd correct views of its uses in vegetation.
2334. That water exists in the atmosphere is easily proved. If some of the salt, called
muriate of lime, which has been just heated red, be exposed to the air, even in the driest
and coldest weather, it will increase in weight, and become moist ; and in a certain time
will be converted into a fluid. If put into a retort and heated, it will yield pure water ;
will gradually recover its pristine state, and, if heated red, its former weight : so that it
is evident that the water united to it was derived from the air. That it existed in the
air in an invisible and elastic form, is proved by the circumstances, that if a given
quantity of air be exposed to the salt, its volume and weight will diminish, provided the
experiment be correctly made.
2335. The quantity of water which exists in air, as vapour, varies with the temperature.
In proportion as the weather is hotter, the quantity is greater. At 50° of Fahrenheit,
air contains about jg of its volume of vapour ; and, as the specific gravity of vapour is to
that of air nearly as 10 to 15, this is about ^ of its weight. At 100°, supposing that
there is a free communication with water, it contains about -{^ part in volume, or ^ in
weight. It is the condensation of vapour, by diminution of the temperature of the atmo-
sphere, which is probably the principal cause of the formation of clouds, and of the
deposition of dew, mist, snow, or hail.
2336. The power of diff'erent substances to absorb aqueous vapour from the atmosphere
by cohesive attraction has been already referred to. The leaves of living plants appear
to act upon this vapour in its elastic form, and to absorb it. Some vegetables increase
in weight from this cause, when suspended in the atmosphere and unconnected with the
soil ; such are the house-leek, and different species of the aloe. In very intense heats,
and when the soil is dry, the life of plants seems to be preserved by the absorbent
power of their leaves ; and it is a beautiful circumstance in the economy of nature,
that aqueous vapour is most abundant in the atmosphere when it is most needed for the
purposes of life ; and that when other sources of its supply are cut off, this is most
copious.
2337. The existence of carbonic acid gas in the atmosphere is proved by the following
process : if a solution of lime and water be exposed to the air, a pellicle will speedily
form upon it, and a solid matter will gradually fall to the bottom of the water, and in a
certain time the water will become tasteless ; this is owing to the combination of the lime
which was dissolved in the water with carbonic acid gas, which existed in the atmosphere,
as may be proved by collecting the film and the solid matter, and igniting them
strongly in a little tube of platina or iron ; they will give out carbonic acid gas, and
will become quicklime, which, added to the same water, will again bring it to the state
of lime-water. ^
2338. The quantity of carbonic acid gas in the atmosphere is very small. It is not easy
to determine it with precision, and it must differ in different situations ; but where there is
a free circulation of air, it is probably never more than one 500th, nor less than one 800th,
of the volume of air. Carbonic acid gas is nearly one third heavier than the other elastic
parts of the atmosphere in their mixed state j hence, at first view, it might be supposed
Book III. THE ATMOSPHERE. 355
that it would be most abundant in the lower regions of the atmosphere; but unless it has
been immediately produced at the surface of the earth in some chemical process, this does
not seem to be the case ; elastic fluids of diiferent specific gravities have a tendency to
equable mixture by a species of attraction, and the different parts of the atmosphere are
constantly agitated and blended together by winds or other causes. De Saussure found
lime-water precipitated on Mount Blanc, the highest point of land in Europe ; and car-
bonic acid gas has been always found, apparently in due proportion, in the air brought
down from great heights in the atmosphere by aeronautic adventurers.
2S39. The principal consumption of the carbonic acid in the atmosphere seems to be in
affording nourishment to plants ; and some of them appear to be supplied with carbon
chiefly from this source.
2340. The formation of carbonic acid gas takes place during fermentation, combustion,
putrefaction, respiration, and a number of operations taking place upon the surface of the
eartli ; and there is no other extensive operation known in nature, by which it can be
destroyed but by vegetation.
2341. Oxygen and azote are the remaining constituents of the atmosphere. After a
given portion of common air has been deprived of aqueous vapour and carbonic acid gas,
it appears little altered in its properties ; it remains a compound of oxygen and azote,
which supports combustion and animal life. There are many modes of separating these
two gases from each other. A simple one is by burning phosphorus in a confined
volume of air ; this absorbs the oxygen and leaves the azote ; and 100 parts in volume
of air, in which phosphorus has been burnt, yield 79 parts of azote ; and by mixing this
azote with 21 parts of fresh oxygen gas artificially procured, a substance having the
original characters of air is produced. To procure pure oxygen from air, quicksilver may
be kept heated in it, at about 600°, till it becomes a red powder ; this powder, when
ignited, will be restored to the state of quicksilver by giving off oxygen.
2342. Oxygen is necessary to some functions of vegetables ; but its great importance in
nature is its relation to the economy of animals It is absolutely necessary to their life.
Atmospheric air taken into the lungs of animals, or passed in solution in water through
the gills of fishes, loses oxygen ; and for the oxygen lost, about an equal volume of car-
bonic acid appears.
2343. The effects of azote in vegetation are not distinctly known. As it is found in some
of the products of vegetation, it may be absorbed by certain plants from the atmosphere.
It prevents the action of oxygen from being too energetic, and serves as a medium
in which the more essential parts of the air act ; nor is tliis circumstance unconformable
to the analogy of nature ; for the elements most abundant on the solid surface of the
globe are not those which are the most essential to the existence of the living beings
belonging to it.
2344. The action of the atmosphere on plants differs at different periods of their growth,
and varies with the various stages of the developement and decay of their organs. If a
healthy seed be moistened and exposed to air at a temperature not below 45°, it soon
germinates, and shoots forth a plume, which rises upwards, and a radicle which descends.
If the air be confined, it is found that in the process of germination the oxygen, or a part
of it, is absorbed. The azote remains unaltered ; no carbonic acid is taken away from
the air ; on the contrary, some is added. Seeds are incapable of germinating, except
when oxygen is present. In the exhausted receiver of the air-pump, in pure azote, or
in pure carbonic acid, when moistened they swell, but do not vegetate ; and if kept in
these gases, lose their living powers, and undergo putrefaction. If a seed be examined
before germination, it will be found more or less insipid, at least not sweet; but after
germination it is always sweet. Its coagulated mucilage, or starch, is converted into
sugar in the process ; a substance difficult of solution is changed into one easily soluble ;
and the sugar carried through the cells or vessels of the cotyledons is the nourishment of
the infant plant. The absorption of oxygen by the seed in germination has been com-
pared to its absorption in producing the evolution of foetal life in the egg ; but this
analogy is only remote. All animals, from the most to the least perfect classes, require
a supply of oxygen. From the moment the heart begins to pulsate till it ceases to beat,
the aeration of the blood is constant, and the function of respiration invariable : carbonic
acid is given off in the process; but the chemical change produced in the blood is
unknown ; nor is there any reason to suppose the formation of any substance similar to
sugar. It is evident, that in all cases of semination, the seeds should be sown so as to be
fully exposed to the influence of the air ; and one cause of the unproductiveness of cold
clayey adhesive soils is, that the seed is coated with matter impermeable to air. In sandy
soils the earth is always sufficiently penetrable by the atmosphere ; but in clayey soils
there can scarcely be too great a mechanical division of parts. Any seed not fully
supplied with air, always produces a weak and diseased plant. We have already seen
that carbon is added to plants from the air by the process of vegetation in sunshine ; and
oxygen is added to the atmosphere at the same time. It is worthy of remark that the
A a 2
356
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
Latitude.
Places.
Range of the Barometer.
Greatest.
Annual.
0" C
Peru - - -
0 20
22 !i3
Calcutta - -
0 77
33 65
Cape Town -
0 89
40 55
Naples - • -
1 00
51 8
Dover - - .
2 47
1 SO
53 13
Middlewich .
3 00
1 94
53 23
Liverpool . -
2 89
1 96
59 56
Petersburgh -
3 45
absence of light is necessary to tKe formation of sugar in the germination of seeds ; and
its presence to the production of sugar in fruits. The following is the late Dr. Murray's
ingenious explanation of these remarkable facts. The seed consists chiefly of farinaceous
matter, which requires oxygen to convert it into sugar. Now living vegetables appear to
absorb oxygen in the dark : unripe fruits usually contain an acid, that is, have an excess
of oxygen ; and light is favourable to the evolution of oxygen from living plants. {T.)
2345. Those changes in the atmosphere which constitute the most important meteorological
phenomena may be classed under five distinct heads ; the alterations that occur in the
weight of the atmosphere ; those that take place in its temperature ; the changes produced
in its quantity by evaporation and rain ; the excessive agitation to which it is frequently
subject ; and the phenomena arising from electric and other causes, which at particular
times occasion or attend the precipitations and agitations alluded to. All the above
phenomena prove to demonstration that constant changes take place, the consequences of
new combinations and decompositions rapidly following each other.
2346. With respect to the changes in the weight of the atmosphere, it is generally known
that the instrument called the barometer shows the weight of a body of air immediately
above it, extending to the extreme boundary of the atmosphere, and the base of which is
equal to that of the mercury contained within it. As the level of the sea is the lowest
point of observation, the column of air over a barometer placed at that level is the longest
that can be obtained.
2347. The variations of the barometer between the tropics are very trifling ; they increase gradually as
the latitude advances towards the poles, till in the end it amounts to two or three inches. The following
Table will explain this gradual increase : —
2348. The range of the barometer is considerably
less in North America than in the corresponding
latitudes of Europe, particularly in Virginia, where
it never exceeds Tl. The range is more considerable
at the level of the sea than on mountains; and in the
same degree of latitude it is in the inverse ratio of
the height of the place above the level of the sea
Cotte composed a table, which has been published in
the Journal de Physique, from which it appears
extremely probable, that the barometer has an in-
variable tendency to rise between the morning and
(he evening, and that this impulse is most con-
siderable from two in the afternoon till nine at night,
when the greatest elevation is accomplished ; but the
elevation at nine differs from that at two by four twelfths, while that of two varies from the elevation of
the morning only by one twelfth, and that in particular climates the greatest elevation is at two o'clock.
The observations of Cotte confirm those of Luke Howard; and from them it is concluded, that the
barometer is influenced by some depressing cause at new and full moon, and that some other makes it
rise at the quarters. This coincidence is most considerable in fair and calm weather ; the depression in
the interval between the quarters and conjunctions amounts to one tenth of an inch, and the rise from
the conjunctions to the quarters is to the same amount. The range of this instrument is found to be
greater in winter than in summer ; for instance, the mean at York, during the months from October to
March inclusive, in the year 1774, was 1-42, and in the six summer months 1"016.
2349. The more serene and settled the weather, the higher the barometer ranges : calm weather, with a
tendency to rain, depresses it ; high winds have a similar effect on it ; and the greatest elevation occurs
with easterly and northerly winds ; but the south produces a directly contrary effect.
2350. The variations in the temperature of the air in any particular place, exclusive of
the differences of seasons and climates, are very considerable. These changes cannot be
produced by heat derived from the sun, as its rays concentrated have no kind of effect on
air ; these, however, heat the surface of our globe, from which heat is communicated to
the immediate atmosphere ; it is through this fact that the temperature is highest where
the place is so situated as to receive with most effect the rays of the sun, and that it
varies in each region with the season ; it is also the cause why it decreases in proportion
to the height of the air above the surface of the earth. The most perpendicular rays
falling on the globe at the equator, there its heat is the greatest, and that heat decreases
gradually to the poles, of course the temperature of the air is in exact unison ; from this
it appears that the air acquires the greatest degree of warmth at the equator, whence it
becomes insensibly cooler till we arrive at the poles; in the same manner the air
immediately above the equator cools gradually. Though the temperature sinks as it
approaches the pole, and is highest at the equator, yet as it varies continually with the
seasons, it is impossible to form an accurate idea of the progression without forming a
mean temperature for a year, from that of the temperature of every degree of latitude for
every day of the year, which may be accomplished by adding together the whole of the
observations and dividing by their number, when the quotient will be the mean tem-
perature for the year. The " diminution," says Dr. Thomson, " from the pole to the
equator takes place in arithmetical progression ; or to speak more properly, the annual
temperature of all the latitudes are arithmetical means between the mean annual tem-
perature of the equator and the pole ; and, as far as heat depends on the action of solar
rays, that of each month is as the mean altitude of the sun, or rather as the sine of the
sun's altitude. Later observations, however, have shown that all the formulae for cal-
culating the mean temperatures of diflferent latitudes, which are founded on Mayer's
Book III. THE ATMOSPHERE. 357
Empirical Equation, though tolerably accurate in the Northern Atlantic Ocean, to
latitude 60°, are totally irreconcileable with observations in very high latitudes ; and on
the meridians, from 70° to 90° W. and E. of London. The results of late arctic
voyages, and of Russian travels, have been satisfactorily shewn, by Dr. Brewster {Edin.
Phil. Tr.), to prove the existence cf tivo meridians of greatest cold in the northern
hemisphere ; and the mean temperature of particular countries varies, not only according
to the parallels of latitude, but also according to their proximity to these two cold
meridians. ( T. )
2351. Inconsiderable seas, in temperate and cold climates, are colder in winter and
warmer in summer than the main ocean, as they are necessarily under the influence of
natural operations from the land. Thus the Gulf of Bothnia is generally frozen in
winter, but the water is sometimes heated in the summer to 70°, a state which the
opposite part of the Atlantic never acquires ; the Gennan Sea is five degrees warmer in
summer than the Atlantic, and more than three colder in winter ; the Mediterranean is
almost throughout warmer both in winter and summer, which therefore causes the Atlantic
to flow into it; and the Black Sea, being colder than the Mediterranean, flows into the
latter.
2352. The eastern parts of North America, as it appears from meteorological tables, have a much colder
air than the opposite European coast, and fall short of the standard by about ten or twelve degrees.
There are several causes which produce this considerable difference. The greatest elevation in North
America is between the 40th and 50th degree of north latitude, and the 100th and 110th of longitude west
from London ; and there the most considerable rivers have their origin. The height alone will partly
explain why this tract is colder than it would otherwise be ; but there are other causes, and those are
most extensive forests, and large swamps and morasses, all of which exclude heat from the earth, and
consequently prevent it from ameliorating the rigour of winter. Many extensive lakes lie to the east, and
Hudson's Bay more to the north ; a chain of mountains extends on the south of the latter, and those
equally prevent the accumulation of heat; besides, this bay is bounded on the east by the mountainous
country of Labrador, and has many islands; from all which circumstances arise the lowness of the
temperature, and the piercing cold of the north-west winds. The annual decrease of the forests for the
purpose of clearing the ground, and the consumption for building and fuel, is supposed to have occasioned
a considerable decrease of cold in the winter; and if this should be the result, much will yet be done
towards bringing the temperature of the European and American continents to something like a level,
2353. Continents have a colder atmosphere than islands situated in the same degree of
latitude ; and countries lying to the windward of the superior classes of mountains, or
forests, are wanner than those which are to the leeward. Earth always possessing a
certain degree of moisture, has a greater capacity to receive and retail! heat than sand
or stones, the latter therefore are heated and cooled witli more rapidity : it is from
this circumstance that the intense heats of Africa and Arabia, and the cold of Terra del
Fuego, are derived. The temperature of growing vegetables changes very gradually;
but there is a considerable evaporation from them : if those exist in great numbers, and
congregated, or in forests, their foliage preventing the rays of the sun from reaching the
earth, it is perfectly natural that the immediate atmosphere must be greatly affected by the
ascent of chilled vapours.
2354. Our next object is the ascent and descent of water: the principal appearances of
this element are vapour, clouds, dew, rain, frost, hail, snow, and ice.
2355. Vapour is water rarefied by heat, in consequence of which, becoming lighter than
the atmosphere, it is raised considerably above the surface of the earth, and afterwards by
a partial condensation forms clouds. It differs from exhalation, which is properly a
dispersion of dry particles from a body. When water is heated to 212° it boils, and is
rapidly converted into steam ; and the same change takes place in much lower
temperatures ; but in that case the evaporation is slower, and the elasticity of the steam
is smaller. As a very considerable proportion of the earth's surface is covered with water,
and as this water is constantly evaporating and mixing with the atmosphere in the state
of vapour, a precise determination of the rate of evaporation must be of very great im-
portance in meteorology. Evaporation is confined entirely to the surface of the water ;
hence it is, in all cases, proportional to the surface of the water exposed to the atmosphere.
Much more vapour of course rises in maritime countries or those interspersed with lakes,
than in inland countries. Much more vapour rises during hot weather than during
cold : hence the quantity evaporated depends in some measure upon temperature. The
quantity of vapour which rises from water, even when the temperature is the same, varies
according to circumstances. It is least of all in calm weather, greater when a breeze
blows, and greatest of all with a strong wind. From experiments, it appears, that
the quantity of vapour raised annually at Manchester is equal to about 25 inches of
rain. If to this we add five inches for the dew, with Dalton, it will make the annual
evaporation 30 inches. Now, if we consider the situation of England, and the greater
quantity of vapour raised from water, it will not surely be considered as too great an
allowance, if we estimate the mean annual evaporation over the whole surface of the
globe at 35 inches.
2356. A cloud is a mass of vapour, more or less opaque, formed and sustained at
considerable height in the atmosphere, probably by the joint agencies of heat and
Aa 3
558
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
electricitv. Tliy first suceossful attempt to arrange the diversified forms of clouds, under
a few general modifications, was made by Luke Howard, Esq. We shall give here a
brief account of his ingenious classification.
2357. The simple modifications are thus named and defined: — 1. Cirrus, pai-allel,
flexuous, or diverging fibres, extensible in any or in all directions {fig. 207. a) ;
207
/
2. Cumulus, convex or conical heaps, increasing upwards from a horizontal base (b) ;
S. Stratus, a widely-extended, continuous, horizontal sheet, increasing from below (c).
2358. The intermediate modifications which require to be noticed are, 4. Cirro-cumulus,
small, well defined, roundish masses, in close horizontal arrangement (d) ; 5. Cirro-
stratus, horizontal, or slightly inclined masses, attenuated towards a part or the whole of
their circumference, bent downward or undulated, separate, or in groups consisting of
small clouds having these characters (e).
2359. llie compoinid modifications are, 6. Cumulo-stratus, or twain cloud ; the cirro-
stratus, blended with the cumulus, and either appearing intermixed with the heaps of the
latter, or superadding a wide-spread structure to its base [f) ; 7. Cumulo-cirro-stratus,
or Nimbus ; the rain-cloud, a cloud or system of clouds frqm which rain is falling. It
is a hoiizontal sheet, above which the cirrus spreads, while the cumulus enters it laterally
and from beneath {g, g) ; 8. The Fall Cloud, resting apparently on the surface of the
ground (Ji).
Book III. THE ATMOSPHERE. 359
2360. The cirrus appears to have the least density, the greatest elevation, the greatest variety of extent
and direction, and to appear earliest in serene weather, being indicatetl by a few threads pencilled on the
sky. Before storms they appear lower and denser, and usually in the quarter opposite to that from which
the storm arises. Steady high winds are also preceded and attended by cirrous streaks, running quite
across the sky in the direction they blow in.
2361. The cumulus has the densest structure, is formed in the lower atmosphere, and moves along with
the current next the earth. A small irregular spot first appears, and is, as it were, the nucleus on which
they increase. The lower surface continues irregularly plane, while the upper rises into conical or hemi-
spherical heaps ; which may afterwards continue long nearly of the same bulk, or rapidly rise into moun-
tains. They will begin, in fair weather, to form some hours after sunrise, arrive at their maximum in
the hottest part of the afternoon, then go on diminishing, and totally disperse about sunset. Previously
to rain the cumulus increases rapidly, appears lower in the atmosphere, and with its surface full of loose
fleeces or protuberances. The formation of large cumuli to leeward in a strong wind, indicates the ap-
proach of a calm with rain. When they do not disappear or subside about sunset, but continue to rise,
thunder is to be expected in the night.
2362. The stratus has a mean degree of density, and is the lowest of clouds, its inferior surface commonly
resting on the earth in water. This is properly the cloud of night, appearing about sunset. It compre-
hends all those creeping mists which in calm weather ascend in spreading sheets (like an inundation of
water) from the bottoms of valleys, and the surfaces of lakes and rivers. On the return of the sun, the
level surface of this cloud begins to put on the appearance of cumulus, the whole at the same time separat-
ing from tlie ground. The continuity is next destroyed, and the cloud ascends and evaporates, or passes
oft' with the appearance of the nascent cumulus. This has long been experienced as a prognostic of fair
weather.
2363. Transition of forms. The cirrus having continued for some time increasing or stationary, usually
passes either to the cirro-cumulus or the cirro-stratus, at the same time descending to a lower station in
the atmosphere. This modification forms a very beautiful sky, and is frequently in summer an attendant
on warm and dry weather. The cirro-stratus, when seen in the distance, frequently gives the idea of
shoals of fish. It precedes wind and rain ; is seen in the intervals of storms ; and sometimes alternates
with the cirro-cumulus in the same cloud, when the different evolutions form a curious spectacle. A
judgment may be formed of the weather likely to ensue by observing which modification prevails at last.
The solar and lunar haloes, as well as the parhelion and paraselene (mock sun and mock moon), prognostics
of foul weather, are occasioned by this cloud. The cumulo-stratus precedes, and the nimbus accom-
panies rain.
2364. Dew is the moisture insensibly deposited from the atmosphere on the surface of
the earth. This moisture is precipitated by the cold of the body on which it appears, and
will be more or less abundant, not in proportion to the coldness of that body, but in pro-
portion to the existing state of the air in regard to moisture. It is commonly supposed
that the formation of dew produces cold, but like every other precipitation of water from
the atmosphere, it must eventually produce heat.
2365. Phenomena of dew. Aristotle justly remarked, that dew appears only on calm and clear nights.
Dr. Wells shows, that very little is ever deposited in opposite circumstances ; and that little only when the
clouds are very high. It is never seen on nights both cloudy and windy ; and if in the course of the night
the weather, from being serene, should become dark and stormy, dew which has been deposited will disap-
pear. In calm weather, if the sky be partially covered with clouds, more dew will appear than if it were
entirely uncovered. Dew probably begins in the country to appear upon grass in places shaded from the
sun, during clear and calm weather, soon after the heat of the atmosphere has declined, and continues to
be deposited through the whole night, and for a little after sunrise. Its quantity will depend in some
measure on the proportion of moisture in the atmosphere, and is consequently greater after rain than after
a long tract of dry weather ; and in Europe, with southerly and westerly winds, than with those which
blow from the north and the east. The direction of the sea determines this relation of the winds to dew ;
for in Egypt, dew is scarcely ever observed except while the northerly or Etesian winds prevail. Hence
also dew is generally more abundant in spring and autumn than in summer. It is always very copious
on those clear nights which are followed by misty mornings, which show the air to be loaded with
moisture ; and a clear morning following a cloudy night determines a plentiful deposition of the retained
vapour. When warmth of atmosphere is compatible with clearness, as is the case in southern latitudes,
though seldom in our country, the dew becomes much more copious, because the air then contains more
moisture. Dew continues to form with increased copiousness as the night advances, from the increased
refrigeration of the ground.
2366. Cause of dew. Dew, according to Aristotle, is a species of rain, formed in the lower atmosphere,
in consequence of its moisture being condensed by the cold of the night into minute drops. Opinions of
this kind, says Dr. Wells, are still entertained by many persons, among whom is the very ingenious Pro-
fessor Leslie. [Relat. of Heat and Moisture, p. 37. and 132.) A fact, however, first taken notice of by
Garstin, who published his Treatise on Dew in 1773, proves them to be erroneous ; for he found that bodies
alittle elevated in the air often become moist with dew, while similar bodies, lying on the ground, remain
dry, though necessarily, from their position, as liable to be wetted, by whatever falls from the heavens, as '
the former. The above notion is perfectly refuted by the fact, that metallic surfaces exposed to the air in
a horizontal position remain dry, while every thing around them is covered with dew. After a long
period of drought, when the air was very still and the sky serene. Dr. Wells exposed to the sky,
28 minutes before sunset, previously weighed parcels of wool and swandown, upon a smooth, unpainted,
and perfectly dry fir table, 5 feet long, 3 broad, and nearly 3 in height, which had been placed, an hour
before, in the sunshine, in a large level grassfield. The wool, 12 minutes after sunset, was found to be
14° colder than the air, and to have acquired no weight. The swandown, the quantity of which was much
greater than that of the wool, was at the same time 13° colder than the air, and was also without any ad-
ditional weight. In 20 minutes more the swandown was 14^° colder than the neighbouring air, and was
still without any increase of its weight. At the same time the grass was 15° colder than the air four feet
above the ground. Dr. Wells, by a copious induction of facts derived from observation and experiment,
establishes the proposition, that bodies become colder than the neighbouring air before they are dewed.
The cold therefore, which Dr. Wilson and M. Six conjectured to be the effect of dew, now appears to be
its cause. But what makes the terrestrial surface colder than the atmosphere ? The radiation or
projection of heat into free space. Now the researches of Professor Leslie and Count Rumford have de-
monstrated that different bodies project heat with very different degrees of force. In the operation of
this principle therefore, conjoined with the power of a concave mirror of cloud, or any other awning, to
reflect or throw down again those caloric emanations which would be dissipated in a clear sky, we shall
find a solution of the most mysterious phenomena of dew.
2367. Rain. Luke Howard, who may be considered as our most accurate scientific
meteorologist, is inclined to think that rain is in almost every instance the result of the
electrical action of clouds upon each other.
A a 4
.%'0
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Pakt If.
2368. Phenomena of rain. Rain never descends till the transparency of the air ceases, and the invisible
Tapours liecome vesicular, when clouds form, and at length the drops fall : clouds, instead of forming
gradually at once throughout all parts of the horizon, generate in a particular spot, and imperceptibly in-
crease till the whole expanse is obscured.
2369. The cause of rain is thus accounted for by Hutton and Dalton. If two masses
of air of unequal temperatures are, when saturated with vapour, intermixed by the
ordinary currents of the winds, a precipitation ensues. If the masses are under satu-
ration, then less precipitation takes place, or none at all, according to the degree. Also
the warmer the air, the greater is the quantity of vapour precipitated in like circumstances.
Hence the reason why rains are heavier in summer than in winter, and in warm countries
than in cold.
2370. The quantity a/^ rainy taken at an annual mean, is the greatest at the equator, and
it lessens gradually to the poles ; at which there are fewer days of rain, the number in-
creasing in proportion to the distance from them. From north latitude 1 2^ to 43*^ the
mean number of rainy days is 78 ; from 43° to 46 '^ the mean number is 103 ; from 46°
to 50°, 134; and from 51° to 60°, 161. Winter often produces a greater number of
rainy days than summer, though the quantity of rain is more considerable in the latter
than in the former season ; at Petersburgh rain and snow fall on an average 84 days of
the winter, and the quantity amounts to about five inches ; on the contrary, the summer
produces eleven inches in about the same number of days. Mountainous districts are
subject to great falls of rain ; among the Andes particularly, it rains almost incessantly,
. while the flat country of Egypt is consumed by endless drought. Dalton estimates the
quantity of rain falling in England at 3 1 inches. The mean annual quantity of rain for
the whole globe is 34 inches.
2371. The cause why less rainfalls in the first six months of the year than in the last six
months is thus explained. The whole quantity of water in the atmosphere in January
is usually about three inches, as appears from the dew point, which is then about 32° ;
now the force of vapours of that temperature is 0*2 of an inch of mercury, which is equal
to 2*8 or three inches of water. The dew point in July is usually about 58° or 59°, cor-
responding to 0'5 of an inch of mercury, which is equal to seven inches of water. Thus
it is evident that, in the latter month, the atmosphere contains four inches of water more
than in the former month. Hence, supposing the usual intermixture of currents of air
in both the intervening periods to be the same, the rain ought to be four inches less in
the former period of the year than the average, and four inches more in the latter period,
making a difference of eight inches between the two periods, which nearly accords with
the preceding observations,
2372. The mean monthly and annual quantities of rain at various places, deduced from
the average for many years, by Dalton, is given in the following Table j —
B
li
1-
1=
li
li
=2
ii
il
li
II
Inch.
Inch.
Inch.
Inc?i.
Inch.
Inch.
Inch.
Inch.
Fr. In.
Fr. In.
ItKh.
January .
2-310
2-m
2-196
3-461
5-2P9
3-095
1-595
1-464
1-228
2-477
2-530
February -
2-568
1-847
1-652
2 995
5-126
2-837
1741
1-2"H)
1-232
1-700
2-295
March . -
2-098
1-523
1S22
1-753
3-151
2164
1-184
1-172
1-J90
1-927
1-748
April - -
2-010
2-104
2-078
2180
2-986
2-017
0-979
1-279
1-185
2-686
1-950
May - -
2-895
2-573
2-118
2-460
3-480
2-568
1-641
1-636
1-767
2-931
2-407
June - -
2-502
2-816
2-286
2-512
£-722
2-974
1-343
1-738
1-697
2-562
2-315
July - -
3-697
3-663
3-006
4-140
4-959
3-256
2-303
2-418
1-800
1-882
3-115
August
3-665
3-311
2-435
4-581
5-089
3-199
2-746
1-807
1-900
2 347
3-103
September
3-281
3-6.54
2-289
3-751
4-874
4-350
1-617
1-842
1-.550
4-140
3-135
October .
3-922
3-724
3-079
4-151
5-439
4-143
2-297
2-092
1-780
4-741
3-537
November
3-360
3-441
2-634
3-775
4-785
3-174
1-904
2-222
1-720
4-187
3-120
December -
3-832
3-288
2-5&9
3-955
6-084
3-142
1-981
1-736
1-600
2-397
3-058
36-140
34-121
27-664
39-714
53-944
36-919
21-331
20-686
18-649
33-977
2373. Frost, being derived from the atmosphere, naturally proceeds from the upper parts
of bodies downwards ; so the longer a frost is continued, the thicker the ice becomes
upon the water in ponds, and the deeper into the earth the ground is frozen. In about
16 or 17 days' frost, Boyle found it had penetrated 14 inches into the ground. At
Moscow, in a hard season, the frost will penetrate two feet deep into the ground ; and
Captain James found it penetrated 10 feet deep in Charlton Island, and the water in the
same island was frozen to the depth of six feet. Scheffer assures us, that in Sweden the
frost pierces two cubits (a Swedish ell) into the earth, turning what moisture is found
there into a whitish substance like ice ; and into standing water three ells or more. The
same author also mentions sudden cracks or rifts in the ice of the lakes of Sweden, nine
or ten feet deep, and many leagues long ; the rupture being made with a noise not less
Book III. OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 361
loud than if many guns were discharged together. By such means, however, the fishes
are furnished with air, so that they are rarely found dead.
2374. The history of frosts furnishes very extraordinary facts. The trees are often scorched and burnt up,
as with the most excessive heat, in consequence of the separation of water from the air, which is therefore
very drying. In the great frost in 1683, the trunks of oak, ash, wahiut, and other trees, were miserably
split and cleft, so that they might be seen through, and the cracks often attended with dreadful noises like
the explosion of fire-arms.
2375. Hail is generally defined as frozen rain ; it differs from it in that the hailstones
for the most part are not formed of single pieces of ice, but of many little spherules
agglutinated together ; neither are those spherules all of the same consistence ; some of
them being hard and solid, like perfect ice ; others soft, and mostly like snow hardened
by a severe frost. Hailstone has sometimes a kind of core of this soft matter ; but more
frequently the core is solid and hard, while the outside is formed of a softer matter.
Hailstones assume various figures, being sometimes round, at other times pyramidal,
crenated, angular, thin or flat, and sometimes stellated with six radii, like the small
crystals of snow. Natural historians furnish us with various accounts of surprising
showers of hail, in which the hailstones were of extraordinary magnitude.
2376. Snow is formed by the freezing of the vapours in the atmosphere. It differs
from hail and hoar frost, in being as it were crystallised, while they are not. As the flakes
fall down through the atmosphere, they are continually joined by more of these radiated
spicula, and they increase in bulk like the drops of rain or hailstones. The lightness of
snow, although it is firm ice, is owing to the excess of its surface in comparison with the
matter contained under it : as gold itself may be extended in surface till it will ride
upon the least breath of air. The whiteness of snow is owing to the small particles
into which it is divided ; for ice when pounded will become equally white.
2377. Snow is of great use to the vegetable kingdom. Were we to judge from appearance
only, we might imagine, that, so far from being useful to the earth, the cold humidity of
snow would be detrimental to vegetation : but the experience of all ages asserts the con-
trary. Snow, particularly in those northern regions where the ground is covered with it
for several months, fructifies the earth, by guarding the corn or other vegetables from
the intenser cold of the air, and especially from the cold piercing winds. It has been
a vulgar opinion, very generally received, that snow fertilises the land on which it falls
more than rain, in consequence of the nitrous salts which it is supposed to acquire
by freezing: but it appears from the experiments of Margraaf, in the year 1731, that
the chemical difference between rain and snow-water is exceedingly small ; that the
latter contains a somewhat less proportion of earth than the former ; but neither of
them contains either earth, or any kind of salt, in any quantity which can be sensibly
efficacious in promoting vegetation. The peculiar agency of snow as a fertiliser, in
preference to rain, may be ascribed to its furnishing a covering to the roots of vegetables,
by which they are guarded from the influence of the atmospherical cold, and the
internal heat of the earth is prevented from escaping. Different vegetables are able to
preserve life under different degrees of cold, but all of them perish when the cold which
reaches their roots is extreme. Providence has, therefore, in the coldest climates, pro-
vided a covering of snow for the roots of vegetables, by which they are protected from
the influence of the atmospherical cold. The snow keeps in the internal heat of the
earth, which surrounds the roots of vegetables, and defends them from the cold of the
atmosphere.
2378. Ice is water in the solid state, during which the temperature remains constant,
being 32 degrees of the scale of Fahrenheit. Ice is considerably lighter than water,
namely, about one eighth part ; and this increase of dimensions is acquired with prodi-
gious force, sufficient to burst the strongest iron vessels, and even pieces of artillery.
Congelation takes place much more suddenly than the opposite process of liquefaction ;
and of course, the same quantity of heat must be more rapidly extricated in freezing than
it is absorbed in thawing ; the heat thus extricated being disposed to fly off in all direc-
tions, and little of it being retained by the neighbouring bodies, more heat is lost than
is gained by the alternation : so that where ice has once been formed, its production is
in this manner redoubled.
2379. The northern ice extends during summer about 9° from the pole ; the southern
18° or 20°; in some parts even 30°; and floating ice has occasionally been found in
both hemispheres as far as 40° from the poles, and sometimes, as it has been said, even in
latitude 41° or 42°. Between 54° and 60° south latitude, the snow lies on the ground,
at the sea-side, throughout the summer. The line of perpetual congelation is three miles
above the surface at the equator, where the mean heat is 84° ; at Teneriffe, in latitude
28°, two miles ; in the latitude of London, a little more than a mile ; and in latitude 80°
north, only 1 250 feet. At the pole, according to the analogy deduced by Kirwan, from
Mayer's Formula, and which is not however found to agree very exactly with what takes
place, from a comparison of various observations, the mean temperature should be 31°.
S62 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
In London the mean temperature is 50° ; at Rome and at Montpellier, a little more than
60° ; in the island of Madeira, 70° ; and in Jamaica, 80°.
2380. JFind. Were it not for this agitation of the air, putrid effluvia arising from the
habitations of man, and from vegetable substances, besides the exhalations from water,
would soon render it unfit for respiration, and a general mortality would be the conse-
quence. The prevailing winds of our own country, which were ascertained by order of
the Royal Society of London, at London, are,
Days.
. 18
. 16
The westerly winds blow more upon an average in each month of the year than any other,
particularly in July and August ; the north-east wind prevails during January, March,
April, May, and June, and is most unfrequent in February, July, September, and
December ; the north-west occurring more frequently from November to March, and
less so in September and October than in any other months.
2381. Near Glasgow, the average is stated as follows : —
Winds.
Bays.
Winds.
Days.
Winds
South-west
112
West .
- 53
South
North-east
58
South-eas
- 32
North
North.west - 50
East
- 26
Winds.
Days.
1 Winds.
Days.
South.west
- 174
North-east
. 104
North-west
40
1 South-east
47
2382. In Ireland, the prevailing winds are the west and south-west.
2383. The different degrees of motion of tvind next excite our attention ; and it seems
almost superfluous to observe, that it varies in gradation from the mildest zephyr, which
plays upon the leaves of plants, gently undulating them, to the furious tempest, calcu-
lated to inspire horror in the breast of the most callous. It is also a remarkable fact, that
violent currents of air pass along, as it were, within a line, without sensibly agitating that
beyond them. An instance of the fury of the wind being bounded " by a line" occurs
in the hurricane of America ; where its devastating course is often accurately marked in
the forests for a great extent in one direction.
2384. Causes of wind. There are many circumstances attending the operations of the
air, which we term wind, which serve for a basis for well-founded conjectures, and
those, united to the result of daily observation, render the explanation of its phenomena
tolerably satisfactory.
2385. It must be clear to the most common capacity, that as the rays of the sun descend perpendicularly
on the surface of the earth under the torrid zone, that part of it puist receive a greater proportion of heat
than those parts where they fall obliquely ; the heat thus acquired communicates to the air, which it
rarefies, and causes to ascend, and the vacuum occasioned by this operation is immediately filled by the
chill air from the north and south. The diurnal motion of the earth gradually lessens to the poles from
the equator, at which point it moves at the rate of fifteen geographical miles in a minute, and this motion
is communicated to the atmosphere in the same degree ; but if part of the atmosphere were conveyed
instantaneously to the equator from latitude 30°, it would not directly acquire the equatorial velocity ;
consequently, the ridges of the earth must meet it, and give it the appearance of an east wind. The effect
is similar upon the cold air proceeding from the north and south, and this similarity must be admitted to
extend to each place particularly heated by the beams of the sun. The moon, being a large body situated
comparatively near the earth, is known to affect the atmosphere ; and this, and the continual shifting of
the point of the earth's surface over which the sun is vertical, to the west, are given as the causes of the
tides and of the trade winds. The moon's revolutions, by pressing the atmosphere upon the sea, cause
the flux and reflux which we call tides ; it cannot, therefore, be doubted, that some of the winds we
experience are caused by the moon's motion.
2386. The regular motion of the atmosphere, known by the name of land and sea breezes, may be
explained by the effects of rarefaction : the air heated over the land rises up, because rarefied, and its place
is supplied by the cooler air which flows in from the sea ; this produces the sea breeze; at sunset, the
equilibrium is first restored ; but as the earth cools faster by radiation than the water, the air over it
becomes cooler than that over the sea, especially if there be mountains in the vicinity ; the air over the
land then displaces the light air from the sea, and thus the land breeze is formed. Granting that the
attraction of the moon and the diurnal movement of the sun affect our atmosphere, there cannot be a
doubt but a westward motion of the air must prevail within the boundaries of the trade-winds, the con-
sequence of which is an easterly current on each side: from this, then, it proceeds that south-west winds
are so frequent in the western parts of Europe, and over the Atlantic Ocean. Kirwan attributes our
constant south-west winds, particularly during winter, to an opposite current prevailing between the coast
of Malabar and the Moluccas at the same period : this, he adds, must be supplied from regions close to
the pole, which must be recruited in its turn from the countries to the south of it, in the western parts of
our hemisphere.
2387. The variable winds cannot be so readily accounted for ; yet it is evident, that though they seem
the effect of capricious causes, they depend upon a regular system, arranged by the great Author of
nature. That accurate and successful observer of part of his works, the celebrated Franklin, discovered
in 1740, that winds originate at the precise points towards which they blow. This philosopher had hoped
to observe an eclipse of the moon at Philadelphia, but was prevented by a north-east storm, that commenced
at seven in the evening. This he afterwards found did not occur at Boston till eleven ; and upon enquirj',
he had reason to suppose, it passed to the north-east at the rate of about 100 miles an hour. The manner
in which he accounts for this retrograde proceeding is so satisfactory, that we shall give it in his own
words, particularly as his assertions are supported by recent observations, both in America and Scotland.
He argued thus : — "I suppose a long canal of water, stopped at the end by a gate. The water is at rest
till the gate is opened ; then it begins to move out through the gate, and the water next the gate is put in
motion and moves on towards the gate ; and so on successively, till the water at the head of the canal is in
motion, which it is last of all. In this case all the water moves indeed towards the gate ; but the suc-
cessive times of beginning the motion are in the contrary way, viz. from the gate back to the head of the
canaL Thus to produce a north-east storm, I suppose some great rarefaction of the air in or near the
Gulf of Mexico ; the air rising thence has its place supplied by the next more northern, cooler, and
therefore denser and heavier air j a successive current is formed, to which our coast and inland mountains
Book III. OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 363
give a north-east direction." According to the observations made by Captain Cook, the north-east winds
prevail in the Northern Pacific Ocean during the same spring months they do with us, from which facts
it appears the cold air from America and the north of Europe flows at that season into the Pacific and
Atlantic Oceans.
2388. Other descriptions of winds may arise from a variety of causes. The atmosphere has been ascer-
tained to be composed of air, vapour, and carbonic acid and water ; and as it is well known that these fre-
quently change their aerial form, and combine with different substances, and the reverse, consequently
partial winds and accumulations must continually occur, which occasion winds of diflerent degrees of
violence, continuance, and direction.
2389. The principal electrical phenomena of the atmosphere are thunder and lightning.
2390. Thunder is the noise occasioned by the explosion of a flash of lightning passing
through the air : or it is that noise which is excited by a sudden explosion of electrical
clouds, vt'hich are therefore called thunder-clouds.
2391. The rattling, in the noise of thunder, which makes it seem as if it passed through arches, is pro-
bably owing to the sound being excited among clouds hanging over one another, between which the
agitated air passes irregularly.
2392. The explosion, if high in the air and remote from us, will do no mischief, but when near, it may ;
and it has, in a thousand instances, destroyed trees, animals, &c. This proximity, or small distance, may
be estimated nearly by the interval of time between seeing the flash of lightning and hearing the report
of the thunder, reckoning the distance after the rate of 1142 feet to a second of time, or Sf seconds to the
mile. Dr. Wallis observes, that commonly the difference between the two is about seven seconds, which,
at the rate above-mentioned, gives the distance almost two miles : but sometimes it comes in a second or
two, which argues the explosion very near to us, and even among us; and in such cases, the doctor
assures us, he has sometimes foretold the mischiefs that happened.
2393. Sensoti of thunder. Although in this country thunder may happen at any time of the year, yet the
months of July and August are those in which it may almost certainly be expected. Its devastations are
of very uncertain continuance ; sometimes only a few peals will be heard at any jjarticular place during
the whole season ; at other times the storm will return, at intervals of three or four days, for a month, six
weeks, or even longer ; not that we have violent thunder in this country directly vertical in any one place
so frequently in any year, but in many seasons it will be perceptible that thunder-clouds are formed in the
neighbourhood, even at these short iiitervals. Hence it appears, that during this particular period, there
must be some natural cause operating for the production of this phenomenon, which does not take place at
other times. This cannot be the mere heat of the weather, for we have often a long tract of hot weather
without any thunder; and besides, though not common, thunder is sometimes heard in the winter also.
As therefore the heat of the weather is common to the whole summer, whether there is thunder or not,
we must look for the causes of it in those phenomena, whatever they are, which are peculiar to the months
of July, August, and the beginning of September. Now it is generally observed, that from the month of
April, an east or south-east wind generally takes place, and continues with little interruption till towards
the end of June. At that time, sometimes sooner and sometimes later, a westerly wind takes place ; but
as the causes producing the east wind are not removed, the latter opposes the west wind with its whole
force. At the place of meeting, there are naturally a most vehement pressure of the atmosphere, and fric-
tion of its parts against one another ; a calm ensues, and the vapours brought by both winds begin to collect
and form dark clouds, which can have little motion either way, because they are pressed almost equally
on all sides. For the most part, however, the west wind prevails, and what little motion the clouds have
is towards the east : whence, the common remark in this country, that " thunder-clouds move against
the wind." But this is by no means universally true : for if the west wind happens to be excited by any
temporary cause before the natural period when it should take place, the east wind will very frequently
get the better of it ; and the clouds, even although thunder is produced, will move westward. Yet in
either case, the motion is so slow, that the most superficial observers cannot help taking notice of a con-
siderable resistance in the atmosphere.
2394. Thunderbolts. When lightning acts with extraordinary violence, and breaks or shatters any
thing, it is called a thunderbolt, which the vulgar, to fit it for such effects, suppose to be a hard body,
and even a stone. But that we need not have recourse to a hard solid body to account for the effects
commonly attributed to the thunderbolt, will be evident to any one who considers those of gunpowder,
and the several chemical fulminating powders, but more especially the astonishing powers of electricity,
when only collected and employed by human art, and much more when directed and exercised in the course
of nature. When we consider the known effects of electrical explosions, and those produced by lightning,
we shall be at no loss to account for the extraordinary operations vulgarly ascribed to thunderbolts. As
stones and bricks struck by lightning are often found in a vitrified state, we may reasonably suppose, with
Beccaria, that some stones in the earth, having been struck in this manner, gave occasion to the vulgar
opinion of the thunderbolt.
2395. Thunder-clouds are those clouds which are in a state fit for producing lightning and thunder. The
first appearance of a thunder-storm, which usually happens when there is little or no wind, is one dense
cloud, or more, increasing very fast in size, and rising into the higher regions of the air. The lower sur-
face is black, and nearly level ; but the upper finely arched, and well defined. Many of these clouds oflen
seem piled upon one another, all arched in the same manner; but they are continually uniting, swelling,
and extending their arches. At the time of the rising of this cloud, the atmosphere is commonly full of
a great many separate clouds, which are motionless, and of odd whimsical shapes ; all these, upon the
appearance of the thunder-cloud, draw towards it, and become more uniform in their shapes as they
approach ; till, coming very near the thunder-cloud, their limbs mutually stretch towards one another,
and they immediately coalesce into one uniform mass. Sometimes the thunder-cloud will swell, and
increase veryfast, without the conjunction of any adscititious clouds; the vapours in the atmosphere
forming themselves into clouds whenever it passes. Some of the adscititious- clouds appear like white
fringes, at the skirts of the thunder-cloud, or under the body of it ; but they keep continually growing
darker and darker, as they approach to unite with it. When the thunder-cloud is grown to a great size,
its lower surface is often ragged, particular parts being detached towards the earth, but still connected
with the rest. Sometimes the lower surface swells into various large protuberances, bending uniformly
downward ; and sometimes one whole side of the cloud will have an inclination to the earth, and the
extremity of it will nearly touch the ground. When the eye is under the thunder-cloud, after it is grown
large and well formed, it is seen to sink lower, and to darken prodigiously ; at the same time that a number
of small adscititious clouds (the origin of which can never be perceived) are seen in a rapid motion, driving
about in very uncertain directions under it. While these clouds are agitated with the most rapid motions,
the rain commonly falls in the greatest plenty ; and if the agitation be exceedingly great, it commonly
hails.
2396. Lightning. While the thunder-cloud is swelling, and extending its branches
over a large tract of country, the lightning is seen to dart from one part of it to another,
and often to illuminate its whole mass. When the cloud has acquired a sufficient
extent, the lightning strikes between the cloud and the earth, in two opposite places ; the
path of the lightning lying through the whole body of the cloud and its branches. The
364 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
longer this lightning continues, the less dense does the cloud become, and the less dark
its appearance ; till at length it breaks in different places, and shows a clear sky. Those
thunder-clouds are said to be sometimes in a positive as well as a negative state of
electricity. The electricity continues longer of the same kind, in proportion as the
thunder-cloud is simple and uniform in its direction ; but when the lightning changes
its place, there commonly happens a change in the electricity of the atmosphere over which
the clouds passed. It changes suddenly after a very violent flash of lightning ; but
gradually when the lightning is moderate, and the progress of the thunder-cloud slow.
2397 Lightning is an electrical explosion or phenomenon. Flashes of lightning are usually seen in
broad and undefined masses ; when their path appears angular or zigzag, they are reckoned most
dangerous. They strike the highest and most pointed objects in preference to others, as hills, trees, spires,
masts of ships, &c. ; so all pointed conductors receive and throw off the electric fluid more readily than
those that are terminated by flat surfaces. Lightning is observed to take and follow the readiest and best
conductor ; and the same is the case with electricity in the discharge of the Leyden phial ; whence it is
inferred, that in a thunder-storm it would be safer to have one's clothe": wet than dry. Lightning burns,
dissolves metals, rends some bodies, sometimes strikes persons blind, destroys animal life, deprives magnets
of their virtue, or reverses their poles ; and all these are well known properties of electricity.
2398. With regard to places of safety in times of thunder and lightning. Dr. Franklin's advice is to sit
in the middle of a room, provided it be not under a metal lustre suspended by a chain, sitting on one chair,
and laying the feet on another. It is still better, he says, to bring two or three mattresses or beds into the
middle of the room, and folding them double, to place the chairs upon them ; for as they are not so good
conductors as the walls, the lightning will not be so likely to pass through them. But the safest place of all
is in a hammock hung by silken cords, at an equal distance from all the sides of the room. Dr. Priestley
observes, that the place of most perfect safety must be the cellar, and especially the middle of it ; for when
a person is lower than the surface of the earth, the lightning must strike it before it can possibly reach him.
In the fields, the place of safety is within a few yards of a tree, but not quite near it. Beccaria cautions
persons not always to trust too much to the neighbourhood of a higher or better conductor than their own
body, since he has repeatedly found that the lightning by no means descends in one undivided track, but
that bodies of various kinds conduct their share of it at the same time, in proportion to their quantity and
3ody, since he has repeatedly found that the lightning by no means descends in one undivided track, but
that bodies of varic
conducting power.
Sect. II. Of the Means of Prognosticating the Weather.
2399. The study of atmospherical changes has, in all ages, been more or less attended to
by men engaged in the culture of vegetables, or the pasturage of animals ; and we,
in this country, are surprised at the degree of perfection to which the ancients attained in
this knowledge : but it ought to be recollected, that the study of the weather in
the countries occupied by the ancients, as Egypt, Greece, Italy, and the continent
of Europe, is a very different thing from its study in an island situated like ours. It is
easy to foretell weather in countries where tnonths pass away without rain or clouds, and
where some weeks together, at stated periods, are as certainly seasons of rain or snow. It
may be asserted with truth, that there is a greater variety of weather in London in
one week, than in Rome, Moscow, or Petersburg!! in three months. It is not, there-
fore, entirely a proof of our degeneracy, or the influence of our artificial mode of living,
that we cannot predict the weather with such certainty as the ancients ; but a cir-
cumstance rather to be accounted for from the peculiarities of our situation.
2400. A variable climate, such as ours, admits of being studied, both generally and lo-
cally ; but it is a study which requires habits of observation and reflection like all other
studies ; and to be brought to any useful degree of perfection must be attended to, not as
it coi;nmonly is, as a thing by chance,, and which every body knows, or is tit for, but as a
serious undertaking. The weather may be foretold from natural data, artificial data, and
from precedent.
2401. The natural data for this study are, 1. The vegetable kingdom ; many plants
shutting or opening their flowers, contracting or expanding their parts, &c. on ap-
proaching changes in the humidity or temperature of the atmosphere : 2. The animal
kingdom ; most of those familiar to us exhibiting signs on approaching changes, of which
those by cattle and sheep are more especially remarkable ; and hence shepherds are gene-
rally, of all others, the most correct in their estimate of weather : 3. The mineral king-
dom ; stones, earths, metals, salts, and water of particular sorts, often showing indications
of approaching changes : 4. Appearances of the atmosphere, the moon, the general cha-
racter of seasons, &c. The characters of clouds, the prevalence of particular winds, and
other signs are very commonly attended to.
2402. The influence of the moon on the weather has, in all ages, been believed by the
generality of mankind : the same opinion was embraced by the ancient philosophers ; and
several eminent philosophers of later times have thought the opinion not unworthy
of notice. Although the moon only acts (as far at least as we can ascertain) on the waters
of the ocean by producing tides, it is nevertheless highly probable, according to the ob-
servations of Lambert, Toaldo, and Cotte, that in consequence of the lunar influence,
great variations do take place in the atmosphere, and consequently in the weather. The
following principles will show the grounds and reasons for their embracing the received
notions on this interesting topic : —
2403. There are ten situatioiis in the moon's orbit when she must particularly exert her influence on the
atmosphere ; and when, consequently, changes of the weather most readily take place. These are, —
1st, The new, and 2d, The/ull moon, when she exerts her influence in conjunction with, or m opposition
to, the sun.
Book III. OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 365
3d and 4th, The quadratures, or those aspects of the moon when she is 90° distant from the sun ; or
when she is in the middle point of her orbit, between the points of conjunction and opposition, namely,
in the first and third quarters.
5th, The perigee, and 6th, The apogee, or those points of the moon's orbit, in which she is at the least
and greatest distance from the earth.
7th and 8th, The two passages of the moon over the equator, oneof which Toaldocalls the moon's ascewrf-
ing, and the other the moon's descending, equinox ; or the two lunistices, as De la Lande terms them.
9th, The boreal lunistice, when the moon approaches as near as she can in each lunation (or period
between one new moon and another) to our zenith (that point in the horizon which is directly over
our heads\
10th, The austral lunistice, when she is at the greatest distance from our zenith, for the action of the
moon varies greatly according to her obliquity. With these ten points Toaldo compared a table of forty-
eight years' observations ; the result is, that the probabilities, that the weather will change at a certain
period of the moon, are in the following proportions : New moon, 6 to 1. First quarter, 5 to 2. Full moon,
5 to 2. Last quarter, .5 to 4. Perigee, 7 to 1. Apogee, 4 to 1. Ascending equinox, 13 to 4. Northern
lunistice, 11 to 4. Descending equinox, 11 to 4. Southern lunistice, 3 to 1.
2404 That the new moon ivill bring ivith it a change of weather is in the doctrine of chances as 6 to 1,
Each situation of the moon alters that state of the atmosphere which has been occasioned by thepreceding
one : and it seldom happens that any change in the weather takes place without a change in the lunar
situations. These situations are combmed, on account of the inequality of their revolutions, and the
greatest effect is produced by the union of the syzigies, or the conjunction and opposition of a planet with
the sun, with the apsides, or points in the orbits of planets, in which they are at the greatest and least
distance from the sun or earth. The proportions of their powers to produce variations are as follows : — New
moon coinciding with the perigee, 33 to 1. Ditto, with the apogee, 7 to 1. Full moon coinciding with the
perigee, 10 to 1. Ditto, with the apogee, 8 to 1. The combination of these situations generally occasions
storms and tempests : and this perturbing power will always have the greater effect, the nearer these com-
bined situations are to the moon's passage over the equator, particularly in the months of March aqd
September. At the new and full moons, in the months of March and September, and even at the solstices,
especially the winter solstice, the atmosphere assumes a certain character, by which it is distinguished for
three and sometimes six months. The new moons which produce no change in the weather are those
that happen at a distance from the apsides. As it is perfectly true that each situation of the moon alters
that state of the atmosphere which has been produced by another, it is also observed, that many
situations of the moon are favourable to good and others to bad weather.
2405. The situations of the moon favourable to bad weather are the perigee, new and full moon, passage
of the equator, and the northern lunistice. Those belonging to the former are, the apogee, quadratures,
and the southern lunistice. Changes of the weather seldom take place on the very days of the moon's
situations, but either precede or follow them. It has been found by observation, that the changes
affected by the lunar situations in the six winter months precede, and in the six summer months follow
them,
2406. The octants. Besides the lunar situations to which the above observations refer, attention must
be paid also to the fourth day before new and full moon, which days are called the octants. At these times
the weather is inclined to changes ; and it may be easily seen, that these will follow at the next lunar
situation. Virgil calls this fourth day a very sure prophet. If on that day the horns of the moon are clear
and well defined, good weather may be expected ; but if they are dull, and not clearly marked on
the edges, it is a sign that bad weather will ensue. When the weather remains unchanged on the fourth,
fifth, and sixth day of the moon, we may conjecture that it will continue so till full moon, even sometimes
till the next new moon ; and in that case the lunar situations have only a very weak effect. Many
observers of nature have also remarked, that the approach of the lunar situations is somewhat critical for
the sick. According to Dr. Herschel, the nearer the time of the moon's entrance at full, change,
or quarters, is to midnight (that is within two hours before and after midnight), the more fair the weather
is in summer, but the nearer to noon the less fair. Also, the moon's entrance, at full, change, or quarters,
during six of the afternoon hours, viz. from four to ten, may be followed by fair weather ; but this is
mostly dependent on the wind. The same entrance during all the hours after midnight, except the first
two, is unfavourable to fair weather ; the like, nearly, may be observed in winter.
2407. The artificial data are the barometer, hygrometer, rain-gauge, and ther-
mometer.
2408. By means of the barometer, Taylor observes, we are enabled to regain, in some
degree at least, that foreknowledge of the weather, which the ancients unquestionably did
possess ; though we know not the data on which they founded their conclusions. Chaptal
considers that the value of the barometer, as an indicator of the approaching weather, is
greater than that of the lunar knowledge of the most experienced countryman, and
indeed of all other means put together. {Agriculture appliquee a Chimie, ^c) We shall
therefore annex such rules as have hitherto been found most useful in ascertaining the
changes of the weather by means of the barometer.
2409. The rising (rfthe mercury presages, in general, fair weather; and its falling foul
weather, as rain, snow, high winds, and storms.
2410. The sudden falling of the mercury foretells thunder, in very hot weather, especially if the wind
is south.
2411. The rising in winter indicates frost: and in frosty weather, if <he mercury falls three or four
divisions, there will follow a thaw : but if it rises in a continued frost, snow may be expected.
2412. When foul weather happens soon after the falling of the mercury it will not be of long duration j
nor are we to expect a continuance of fair weather, when it soon succeeds the rising of the quick-
silver.
2413. If, in foul weather, the m,ercury rises considerably, and continues rising for two or three days
before the foul weather is over, a continuance of fair weather may be expected to follow.
2414. In fair weather, when the mercury falls much and low, and continues falling for two or three days
before rain comes, much wet must be expected, and probably high winds.
2415. The unsettled motion of the mercury indicates changeable weather.
2416. Respecting the words engraved on the register plate of the barometer,\t Taa-Y he
observed, that their exact correspondence with the state of the weather cannot be strictly
relied upon, though they will in general agree with it as to the mercury rising and falling.
The engraved words are to be regarded only as indicating probable consequences of the
varying pressure of the atmosphere. The barometer, in fact, only shows the pressure of
the aerial column ; and the precipitation of rain, or the agitations of the atmosphere are
merely events which experience has shown usually to accompany the sinking of the mer-
366 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
curial column, but are not necessarily connected with fluctuations of pressure. The
words deserve to be particularly noticed when the mercury removes from " changeable "
upwards; as those on the lower part should be adverted to, when the mercury
falls from "changeable" downwards. In other cases, they are of no use: for, as
its rising in any part forebodes a tendency to fair, and its falling to foul, weather, it fol-
lows that, though it descend in the tube from settled to fair, it may nevertheless
be attended with a little rain, and when it rises from the words " much rain " to " rain "
it shows only an inclination to become fair, though the wet weather may still continue in
a less considerable degree than it was when the mercury began to rise. But if the mer-
cury, after having fallen to " much rain," should ascend to " changeable," it foretells fair
weather, though of a shorter continuance than if the mercury had risen still higher;
and so, on the contrary, if the mercury stood at " fair " and descends to " change-
able," it announces foul weather, though not of so long continuance as if it had fallen
lower,
iJ417. Concaviit/ of the surface of the mercury. Persons who have occasion to travel
much in the winter, and who are doubtful whether it will rain or not, may easily ascer-
tain this point by the following observation : — A few hours before he departs, let the
traveller notice the mercury in the upper part of the tube of the barometer ; if rain
is about to fall, it will be indented, or concave ; if otherwise, convex or protuberant.
2418. Barometer in sjjr'uig. Towards the end of March, or more generally in the
beginning of April, the barometer sinks very low with bad weather ; after which it
seldom falls lower than 29 degrees 5 minutes till the latter end of September or October,
when tlie quicksilver falls again low with stormy winds, for then the winter constitution
of the air takes place. From October to April, the great falls of the barometer are from
29 degrees 5 minutes to 28 degrees 5 minutes, and sometimes lower ; whereas, during
the summer constitution of the air, the quicksilver seldom falls lower than 29 degrees 5
minutes. It therefore follows that a fall of one tenth of an inch, during the summer,
is as sure an indication of rain, as a fall of between two and three tenths is in the
winter.
2419. The hygrometer is of various sorts, but cord, fiddle-string, and most of the sub-
stances commonly used, become sensibly less and less accurate, so as at length not to
undergo any visible alteration from the different states of the air, in regard to dryness or
moisture. The most common of all barometers is that formed of the beard of the wild
oat, ^vena fatua.
2420. A sponge makes a good hygrometer on this account, as being less liable to be changed by use than
cord. To prepare the sponge, first wash it in water, and when dry wash it again in water wherein sal
ammoniac or salt of tartar has been dissolved ; and let it dry again. Now, if the air becomes moist, the
sponge will grow heavier; and if dry, it will become lighter.
2421. Oil of vitriol is found to grow sensibly lighter or heavier in proportion to the less or greater
quantity of moisture it imbibes from the air. The alteration is so great, that it has been known to change
its weight from three drachms to nine. The other acid oils, or, as they are usually called, spirits, or oil
of tartar per deliquium, may be substituted for the oil of vitriol.
2422. Steel-yard hygrometer. In order to make a hygrometer with those bodies which acquire or lose
weight in the air, place such a substance in a scale on the end of a steel-yard, with a counterpoise which
shall keep it in equilibrio in fair weather; the other end of the steel-yard, rising or falling, and iwinting
to a graduated index, will show the changes.
2423. Line and plummet. If aline be made of good well dried whipcord, and a plummet be fixed to
the end of it, and the whole be hung against a wainscot, and a line be drawn under it, exactly where the
plummet reaches, in very moderate weather it will be found to rise above such line, and to sink below it
when the weather is likely to become fair. 208
2424. The hair hygrometer of Saussure, and the whalebone hygrometer, originally ^ ^.^^
invented by De Luc, are esteemed two of the best now in use. ^-^^\__//^
2425. The best and, indeed, only perfect hygrometer is that of professor Leslie. It con-
sists of a siphon tube, with a ball blown at each end {fig. 208.), and filled with air.
A coloured liquid fills one leg of the siphon; the ball on the opposite limb, smoothly
coated with tissue paper, is the evaporating surface ; this is kept perpetually moist by
means of a thread passing from a jar with water as high as the instrument to the
covered ball. The cold produced by evaporation causes the air in that ball to contract,
and the coloured liquid is forced into that stem by the elasticity of the air included
in the naked ball. This rise is exactly proportional to the dryness of the air. (T".)
2426. The rain-gauge, pluviometer, or hyetometer, is a machine for measuring the
quantity of rain that falls.
2427. A hollow cylinder forms one of the best-constructed rain-gauges; it
has within it a cork ball attached to a wooden stem {jig. 209.), which passes
through a small opening at the top, on which is placed a large funnel. When
this instrument is placed in the open air in a free place, the rain that falls within
the circumference of the funnel will run down into the tube and cause the cork
to float ; and the quantity of water in the tube may be seen by the height to
which the stem of the float is raised. The stem of the float is so graduated as to
show by its divisions the number of perpendicular inches of water which fell on
the surface of the earth since the last observation. After every observation the
209 cylinder must be emptied.
Book III. OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 367
2428. ui copper funnel forms another very simple rain-gauge : the area of the opening
must be exactly ten square inches. Let this funnel be fixed in a bottle, and the quantity
of rain caught is ascertained by multiplying the weight in ounces by 173, which gives
the depth in inches and parts of an inch.
2429. In Jixing these gauges, care must be taken that the rain may have free access
to them ; hence the tops of buildings are usually the best places, though some
conceive that the nearer the rain-gauge is placed to the ground the more rain it will
collect.
2430. In order to compare the quantities of rain collected in pluviometers at different
places, the instruments should be fixed at the same heights above the ground in all such
places ; because, at diflferent heights, the quantities are always different, even at the same
place.
2431. Thermometer. As the weight of the atmosphere is measured by the barometer,
so the thermometer shows the variations in the temperature of the weather ; for every
change of the weather is attended with a change in the temperature of the air, which a
thermometer placed in the open air will point out, sometimes before any alteration is
perceived in the barometer.
2432. The scales of different therinometers are as follows : — In P'ahrenheit's the freezing point is 32
degrees, and the boiling point 2l2 degrees. In Reaumur's the freezing point is 0, and the boiling point
80 degrees. In the centigrade thermometer, which is generally used in France, and is the same as that
of Celsius, which is the thermometer of Sweden, the freezing point is 0, and the boiling point 100 degrees.
As a rule for comparing or reducing these scales, it may be stated, that 1 degree of Reaumur's scale con-
tains 2^ degrees of Fahrenheit, and to convert the degrees of the one to the other, the rule is to multiply
by 9, divide by 84, and add 32. One degree of the centigrade scale is equal to one degree and eight tenths
of Fahrenheit ; and the jule here is to multiply by 9, divide by 5, and add 32. Any of these thermometers
may be proved by immersing it in pounded ice for the freezing point, and in boiling water for the boiling
point, and if the space between thes6 points is equally divided, the thermometer is correct.
2433. The study of the weather from precedent, affords useful hints as to the character
of approaching seasons. From observing the general character of seasons for a long
period, certain general results may be deduced. On this principle, Kir wan, on com-
paring a number of observations taken in England from 1677 (Trans. Ir. Acad. v. 20.) to
1789, a period of 112 years, found :
That when there has been no storm before or after the vernal equinox, the ensuing summer is generally
dry, at least five times in six.
That when a storm happens from an easterly point, either on the 19th, 20th, or 21st of May, the succeed-
ing summer is generally dry, at least four times in five.
That when a storm arises on the 25th, 26lh, or 27th of March, and not before, in any point, the succeed-
ing summer is generally dry, four times in five.
If there be a storm at S. W. or W. S. W. on the 19th, 20th, 21st* or 22d of March, the succeeding sum-
mer is generally wet, five times in six.
In this country winters and springs, if dry, are most commonly cold ; iftnoist, warm : on the contrary,
dry summers and autumns are usually hot, and moist summers cold ; so that, if we know the moistness
or dryness of a season, we can form a tolerably accurate judgment of its temperature. In this country
also, it generally rains less in March than in November, in the proportion at a medium of 7 to 12. It
generally rains less in April than October, in the proportion of 1 to 2 nearly at a medium. It generally
rains less in May than September; the chances that it does so are at least 4 to 3; but, when it rains
plentifully in May, as 18 inches or more, it generally rains but little in September; and when it rains
one inch, or less, in May, it rains plentifully in September.
2434. The probabilities of particular seasons being followed by others have been calculated
by Kirwan ; and although his rules chiefly relate to the climate of Ireland, yet as there
exists but little difference between that island and Great Britain, in the general appear-
ance of the seasons, we shall mention some of his conclusions.
In forty-one years there were 6 wet springs, 22 dry, and 13 variable; 20 wet summers, 16 dry, and
5 variable; 11 wet autumns, 11 dry, and 19 variable.
2435. A season is accounted wet, when it contains two wet months. In general, the
quantity of rain, which fall in dry seasons, is less than five inches, in wet seasons more ;
variable seasons are those, in which there fall between 30 lbs. and 36 lbs., a pound being
equal to '157639 of an inch.
2436. January is the coldest month in every latitude ; and July is the warmest month
in all latitudes above 48 degrees : in lower latitudes, August is generally the warmest.
The difference between the hottest and coldest months increases in proportion to the
distance from the equator. Every habitable latitude enjoys a mean heat of 60 degrees for
at least two months ; which heat is necessary for the production of com.
Sect. III. Of the Climate of Britain.
2437. The climate of the British isles, relatively to others in the same latitude, is tem-
perate, humid, and variable. The moderation of its temperature and its humidity are
owing to our being surrounded by water, which being less affected by the sun than the
earth, imbibes less heat in summer, and, from its fluidity, is less easily cooled in winter.
As the sea on our coast never freezes, its temperature must always be above 33° or
34 ; and hence, when air from the polar regions at a much lower temperature passes
over It, that air must be in some degree heated by the radiation from the water. On the
other hand, in summer, the warm currents of air from the south necessarily give out
368 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
part of their heat in passing over a surface so much lower in temperature. The vari-
able nature of our climate is chiefly owing to the unequal breadths of watery surface
which surround us ; on one side, a channel of a few leagues in breadth ; on the other,
the Atlantic Ocean. The temperature of the British seas rarely descends below 53°
or 54^.
24r38. The British climate varies materially within itself: some districts are dry, as the
east ; others moist, as the west coast ; in the northern extremity, dry, cold, and windy ;
in the south, warm and moist. Even in moist districts some spots are excessively dry,
as part of Wigtonshire, from the influence of the Isle of Man in warding off the
watery clouds of the Atlantic ; and, in dry districts, some spots are moist, from the
influence of high mountains in attracting and condensing clouds charged with watery
vapour. The mean temperature of London equals 50° 36 ; that of Edinburgh equals
47*^ 84' ; and the probable mean temperature of all Britain will equal 48°. The usual
range of the barometer is within three inches. The mean annual rain is probably about
32 inches. The climate is variable, and subject to sudden alternations of heat and cold,
which are supposed to render pulmonary complaints common with us : but on the whole
it is healthy, and the moisture of our clouded atmosphere clothes our fields with a lasting
verdure unknown to the more favoured regions of Southern Europe. (T.)
2439. The deterioration of the British diiyiate is an idea entertained by some ; but
whether in regard to general regularity, temperature, moisture, or wind, the alleged
changes are unsupported by satisfactory proofs. It is not improbable but the humidity
of our climate, as Williams alleges {Climate of Britain, &c. 1816), has of late years
been increased by the increase of evaporating surface, produced by the multiplicity of
hedges and plantations ; a surface covered with leaves being found to evaporate con-
sideral^ly more than a naked surface. If the humidity of the climate were greater
before the drainage of morasses and the eradication of forests for agricultural purposes, a
comparative return to the same state, by artificial planting and irrigation, must have a
tendency to produce the same results. However, it will be long before the irrigation of
lands is carried to such a degree as to produce the insalubrious effects of undrained
morasses ; and as to our woods and hedges, we must console ourselves with the beauty
and the shelter which they produce, for the increase of vapour supposed to proceed from
them.
BOOK IV.
OF THE MECHANICAL AGENTS EMPLOYED IN AGRICULTURE.
2440. Having taken a view of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, as supplying the
subjects of agricultural improvement, and of the mineral kingdom, manures, and the
weather, as the natural agents of their growth and culture ; our next course is to examine
the mechanical agents, or implements, machines, and buildings employed in agricultural
operations. In a rude state of husbandry few implements are required besides the plough
and the cart, and few buildings besides the stable and the barn. The ground is ploughed
and the seed thrown in and covered with a bush ; at harvest it is cut down and carted to
the barn ; and the three grand operations of the farmer are sowing, reaping, and thresh-
ing : but in our improved state of society, where all the science of mechanics as well as
of chemistry is made to bear on agriculture, the implements, machines, and buildings
become numerous, and equally so the operations. So numerous are the former, indeed,
that the theoretical enquirer is often puzzled in making a selection. The whole of the
most improved agriculture, however, may be, and in fact is, carried on with a very
limited variety both of implements and buildings. Intricate and complicated machines
are not adapted for a rustic art like agriculture, and a great variety are not required for
one, the operations of which are so simple as almost to be universally understood and
practised. In our enumeration we shall include a number that we do not consider of
much consequence ; but we shall always distinguish between the essential, and such as
are comparatively objects of superfluous ingenuity and expense. We shall adopt the
order of Implements of Manual Labour, Implements or Machines impelled by Quadrupeds
or other Powers, Structures, and Buildings. We shall give a considerable variety, net
altogether on account of their individual excellence, but to assist the mechanical reader
in inventing for himself.
Book IV. IMPLEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. VS9
Chap. I.
Of the Implements of Manual Labour used in Agriculture.
2441. Though the most important implements of agriculture are drawn or put in
action by beasts of labour, yet a few, which cannot be dispensed with, are used by man
alone. These may be arranged as tools, or simple implements for performing operations
on the soil ; instruments for performing operations on plants or animals, or for other more
delicate operations ; utensils for the deportation of materials ; and hand machines for
various purposes.
Sect. I. Tools used in Agriculture.
2442. The lever is an inflexible straight bar of iron or wood, employed in connection
with a prop or fulcrum, on which it is supported. There are three kinds, but the most
common is that in which the fulcrum is between the power and the weight. Its use in
the removal of large stones or other heavy bodies is well known, and the advantage of its
application depends on the distance of the power from the fulcrum, and the proximity of
the weight.
2443. The pick or mattock consists of two parts: the handle, which ought to be
formed of sound ash timber or oak, such as is obtained from the root or butt end of a
middle-aged tree ; and the head, which should be formed of the best iron and pointed
with steel. The handle ought to be perfectly cylindrical, as in using it one hand slides
along it from the end next the operator towards the head. There are several varieties :
the first the pick, with the ends of the head pointed, used for loosening hard ground,
gravel, &c. ; the second, the pick-axe, with the ends wedge-shaped in reverse positions,
used in digging up trees ; the third, the grubber, for grubbing up heath or small brush-
wood ; and there are also the road pick, and some others.
2444. The spade consists of two parts, the handle of ash, generally about two feet nine
inches long, and the blade of plate iron. The blade consists of two parts, the plate which
cuts and carries the soil, and the tre.ad, which is a piece of strong iron fixed on the upper
edge of the blade, to receive the impulse of the foot of the operator. There are several
varieties: 1. with a curved outUne to the extremity of the blade, by which it may be
made to enter a stiff soil with less exertion on the part of the digger ; 2. with a perfor-
ated blade, which in adhesive soils frees itself better from earth in the using ; 3. with a
sub-semicylindrical blade, which enters a stiff soil easier than the common form, is much
stronger as a lever, and also frees itself well from the spitful of earth ^ this variety is what
canal diggers chiefly use, and is called by them a grafting tool. There are other varie-
ties and subvarieties used in draining, and for particular purposes ; which will be noticed
at the proper place. Elwell's spades, from the manner in which tliey are manufactured,
for which Mr. E. has a patent, are said to be mxich stronger than any others.
2445. The Flemish spade (fig. 210.) has a long handle, in some cases 6 or 8 feet, but no tread for the foot
of the operator. The long handle forming a very powerful lever, when the soil is easily penetrated it may
be dug with greater ease with tiiis spade than with any of the forms in common use, and carts may be
210
filled with earth, and earth thrown to a greater distance by this implement for the same reason. Add to
this, that in no manner of using the Flemish spade, is the operator required to stoop as mixch as with the
English one. {Gard. Mag. vol. ii.)
2446. The shovel differs from the spade in being made with a broader and thinner
blade ; its use being to lift, rather than to cut and separate. There are several varieties,
differing in the form and magnitude of the blade. One variety, the barn shovel, has the
blade generally of wood, sometimes edged with iron.
2447. The turf-spade consists of a cordate or scutiform blade, joined to a handle by a
kneed or bent iron shank. It is used for cutting turf from pastures, and in removing
ant-hills and other inequalities. A thin section is first removed, then the protuberance
of earth is taken out and the section replaced,
which, cut thin, and especially on the edges,
readily refits ; and the operation is finished with
gentle pressure by the foot, back of the spade,
or roller. One variety, {fig. 2 11 .) has one edge
turned up, and is preferable where the turfs are
to be cut square-edged and somewhat thick.
^ 2448. The fork is of. several kinds ; the dung-fork for working in littery dung, con
asting of a handle like that of the shovel, and three or more prongs instead of a blade ;
he hay or pitch-fork, for working with sheaves of corn or straw or hay, consisting of a
Bb
370
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
long handle and two prongs ; and the wooden fork, consisting of a shoot of willow, ash,
or other young tree or sapling, forked at the extremity, barked and formed into a rude
fork, sometimes used in hay-making and similar operations. The prongs of forks to
take up loose materials should be made square ; those for sheaves or more compact mat-
ters or very littery dung ^vill work easiest when the prongs are round.
2449. The rake used in agriculture is of two kinds, the hay~rake and the corn-rake.
Both consist of a handle and head set with teeth ; in the corn-rake these are generally of
iron. The garden-rake is sometimes used for covering small seeds.
2450. The hay-rake is usually made of willow, that it may be light and easy to work ;
and the teetli should be short, otherwise they are apt to pull up the stubble or roots of
the grass in raking. Sometimes the teeth are made to screw into the head, and fasten
with nuts, which prevents their dropping out in dry seasons.
2451. The corn-rake {fig. 212.) is of different
dimensions and constructions in different counties.
In general the length of the rake is about four feet;
and the teeth of iron about four inches long, and
set from one to two inches apart. Young {Report
of Norfolk) mentions one of these dimensions 212
which had two wheels of nine inches' diameter for
the purpose of rendering it easier to draw : the
wheels were so fixed that the teeth might be kept
in any posture at the will of the holder. It was used both for hay and corn, and
answered the purpose well.
2452. In East Lothian a cm-n-rake has been tried, which, according to Somerville {Survey, &e."), has been
found to answer much better than the common corn-rake. In this, the length of the head is from ten
to fifteen feet, and the handle about seven feet, with a piece
of wood across the end of it, by which it is drawn by two
men. The teeth are of wood or iron ; the last are the best,
as well as the most durable, and are a little bent forward at
the point, which gives them the power of retaining and
carrying the ears along with them much better than they
would otherwise do. To make clean work, especially if the
ridges are rounded, the field is raked across ; in that way
every thing is taken up ; but when it is preferred to draw
the rake in the direction of the ridges, it may be consider-
ably improved by cutting the head into two or three lengths
(fig. 213.), and joining them with hinges, which will allow
it to bend and accommodate itself to the curvature of the
ridges. The advantage of this kind of rake has been foimd
considerable, even in cases where every possible attention
has been paid to the cutting of the crop.
2453. The stubble, or dew, rake, is merely a coarser sort of corn rake.
214
2454. The daisy-rake {fig. 214.) has teeth sharpened
on both edges like lancets, and is used for raking or
tearing off the flower heads or buds of daisies and other
plants in grass lawns.
2455. The drill rake is a large-headed rake, in which
the teeth are triangular in section, like small coulters;
and they are set at six or twelve inches' distance, according to circumstances. The
implement is used to draw drills across beds or ridges, for sovnng field crops of small seeds
or roots, such as onions, early turnips, carrots, &c., or for planting saffron or Indian corn.
2456. The dung-drag, or dung-hack, is a two or three-pronged implement, with a long
handle, for drawing the dung out of carts in different portions. The form of the prongs
should be flat.
2457. The earth-hack resembles a large hoe, and is used for emptying loads of earth
or lime, or other pulverulent matters, in the same manner as the dung- drag is used for
emptying dung ; it is sometimes also used as a hoe, and for scraping
and cleaning.
2458. The hand-hoe commonly used in agriculture is of two kinds :
that with an entire, and that with a perforated, blade. The latter variety
is preferable for thinning crops or destroying weeds, as it does not collect
the soil and the weeds together in heaps ; but where earthing up is
the object, the common square blade is the best. The breadth of the
blade may vary from two to twelve inches, according to the adhesiveness
or looseness of the soil, or the distance to which the plants are to be
thinned. An improvement for hoes to be used in stirring stiff soils,
consists in forming the blade with a prong or prongs on the opposite
side of the broad blade {fig. 215.), which can be used in very stiff
places to loosen the earth, by the operator's merely altering the position
of the handle. The blades of all hoes enter the soil easier when curved
than when straight, the wedge in the former case being narrower.
2459. Various improvements in hoes have been attempted by agriculturists. One with a triangular blade
215
Book IV.
IMPLEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE.
S^n Aj'^An
has been recommended as adapted to thin either at a greater or less distance, according to the depth it is
thrust into the soil. Lord Somerville recommends the forked tool (Jig. 215. a.) or heavy hoe, used in the
vineyards on the Continent ; but it is an implement more ^^ ,
oppressive to the cultivator than a spade, as it requires him ^fa f) n " ^ " f •
to stoop very low. Ducket, jun. recommends a treble ' — n 1/ i
(b) for thinning ; another of a different description (c)
making drills by drawing ; one for making them by striking
in a line, in order to form a trench for dung and potatoes /^e?:;^^--^ C ^J^C'
(/) ; one for forming a drill in the common way {e) ; and, ^\^ --^::::^^^^A^^ g
lastly, one for hoeing both sides of a drill at once (c?). It is \ \ ""^ i£^^ F-J "
said that by this last tool two acres of barley may be hoed \ t*^ ^^^ \1
in a day, and that it makes good work among oats or wheat : ^ v^r ^
but such hoeing, even on the slightest soils, can be little ^
more than a mere scraping of the surface ; and though the weeds may be cut, yet this is only one object
of hoeing.
217 A 2460. The Dutch hoe is more frequently used in gardening than in
agriculture ; but, as it may sometimes be found preferable to the spade or
dew-hoe, in cutting the weeds at the roots of young hedges and trees,
where it is not desirable to stir the soil more than an inch deep, we shall
introduce a figure of the most improved form [Jig. 217.)
2461. The thrust hoe (Jig. 218.) is an improvement on
the Dutch hoe. (Gard. Mag. vol. i. p. 343.)
2462. The Spa7iish hoe (Jig. 219.) may be usefully employed on some
occasions in stirring the soil among potatoes, where roots and weeds are
abundant. To render stooping unnecessary,
it should have a long handle. ( Gard. Mag.
vol. ii. p. 65.)
2463. The hoe-Jork may be used as the
Spanish hoe, and is most valuable where the roots of couch-
grass abound. ( Gard. Mag. vol. ii. )
2464. The scraper may be described as a broad hoe, of
treble the usual size and strength, used in cleaning roads
or court-yards, and sometimes in cleaning grassy surfaces.
One with the ends of the blade turned inwards an inch or
two is found more effective in scraping the mud or dust
from roads.
2465. Of weeding-tools used in agriculture there are three or four kinds ; one with a
long handle and fulcrum to the blade, for digging docks and other tap-rooted plants from
pastures ; a common spud or spadelet for cutting smaller weeds in hedges or standing
corn ; a thistle-spud for cutting and rooting out thistles in pastures ; besides short-handled
weeders of different kinds, to be used in hand-weeding young and delicate broad-cast
crops, as onions, &c. in stiff soils.
2466. Baker s thistle extirpator {Jig. 220. ) is an effective impxement where that weed
220
219
^
abounds. It consists of a handle about four feet six inches long (a), claws between
which the thistle is received {b), a fulcrum over which the purchase is obtained for
extracting the root (c), and an iron rod or bar upon which the foot is placed to thrust the
claws into the ground (r/). In case the root of the thistle breaks while the operator is
endeavouring to extract it, there is a curved blade, which has a sharp end like a chisel (e),
which is thrust into the ground, in order to cut off the underground stem, some inches
below the surface, and thus prevent or retard the re-
appearance of the weed.
2467. Weediiig-pincers, or thistle-drawers {Jig. 221.
o, h) are sometimes used for pulling thistles out of
hedges and from among standing com : the handles
are about two feet six inches long, and the blades
faced with plate iron made rough by cross channels
or indentations. There is a variety of this implement
called tiie Havre pincers {b), which is used in France
both for pulling thistles and other weeds, and for
taking tench and eels from the ponds. {Thouin.)
2468. The besoms used in farming are commonly
small faggots with handles, formed of birch spray, for
the stables and cattle-houses, and of broom, heath, straw, &c. for the barns.
2469. The straw-rope-twister, or twisting-crook {Jig. 222.) is used for twisting straw
ropes, and consists of a stick or rod from two to three feet long, and frcwn one inch to
Bb 2
372
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
222
cx
D
two inches in diameter, either naturally or artificially
crooked. At one end is a ring, through which a cord is
passed, and the implement tied to the waist ; at the other
is a notch, on winch the commencement of the rope is
made. An improved tool of this sort {fig. 223. ) is now used by the best farmers ; it is held
under the left arm, and turned with the right hand.
2470. The polato-dibber is exclusively used in
planting potatoes in fine moulds ; but dialling is a
mode generally to be preferred, as providing a
better bed and a closer covering to the sets.
2471. The common dibber used in agriculture has several teeth or dibbles proceeding
from a head, which, having a handle, is pressed into the ground, and forms several holes
c;;:^ CT, ^* ""ce, according to the number of dibbles, and these are regidated by the
hardness of the soil. In strong clays the common garden dibber, shod with
iron, is often used.
2472, The double-dibber {Jig. 224.) is chiefly used in Norfolk and Suffolk,
for dibbling wheat ; but the more enlightened agriculturists of the present
day consider that the pressing plough effects the same object, that of making
a firm bed for the seed, more effectually and at less expense.
247.3. Coggings dibbling machine consists of a box fixed on wheels, to which
are attached two conical dibbling irons, and the whole is to be moved forward
by the foot of the operator. {Newton's Journal, vol. ii. p. 88. } It appears
to us much too intricate ever to come into use ; nor do we see the necessity
of dibbling by manual labour at all, since we have the pressing plough,
which is allowed to be preferable for wheat, and various drill machines, which
are at least as good as the hand dibble, for beans.
. 2474. The Jlail is a well known implement for beating out corn, now happily going
out of use in the most improved districts, as it would go every where, were the value of
the hand-threshing machine generally known.
2475. The essential agrictUtural tools are the pick, spade, shovel, dung and hay-fork,
hay -rake, common hand- hoe, rope-twister, and besom.
Sect. II. Instruments.
2476. The instruments used in agriculture may be classed as the executive and the
scientific ; the former are used in executing, the latter chiefly in designing and laying
out, operations.
SuBSECT. 1. Instruments of Labour.
2477. The instruments of labour peculiar to agriculture are few, and chiefly the scythe,
reaping-hook, and hay-knife ; but there are some others common to agriculture and
gardening, which are occasionally used, and they also shall be enumerated.
2478. The scythe is of three kinds : one for cutting grass or herbage crops for hay,
which consists of a thin steel blade attached at right angles to a handle of six or eight feet
long ; the second for cutting corn, to which what is called a cradle is attached j the
third is of smaller dimensions, and is exclusively used for cutting com ; it is called the
Hainault scythe.
2479. The Hainault scythe {fig. 225.) has a wooden handle an inch and a quarter in diameter, and is held
in the mower's right hand by the bent part (a, b) about five inches long. The
straight part of the handle (c) is from 16 to 22 inches long, according to the
height of the mower. There is a leathern loop (6) through which the fore
finger is passed, and there is a knob (o) at the extremity, which would pre-
vent the hand slipping off, if the loop should break, or the finger slip out of
it. The blade (d) is about 2 feet long, and 2f inches broad at the middle.
The handle is attached to the blade in such a manner as that its plane makes
an angle with that of the latter, by which means the mower is able to cut a
little upwards, but almost close to the ground, without stooping, while the
handle inclines to the horizon about 60 or 70 degrees. The line of the
crooked part of the handle {a, b), if produced, would nearly pass through the
point of the blade, which thus gives the means of controlling that point j
whilst the fore finger in the loop commands the heel (e). Along with the
scythe a light staff (/, g), terminating in an iron hook (A), is used by the
mower. With the scythe in his right hand, he holds the hook in his left by
the middle, the curved part of it over the scythe in a similar position to its
blade, and above it, their points being exactly over each other. In working,
the mower moves both together, making the hook to pass behind the straw bi^
at about the middle of its height, to separate and press it slightly down
towards the left hand, while the blade follows with a motion from right to
left, to cut oflF the straw at from two to four inches above the ground. A
great advantage of this implement is, that the operator is not required to
stoop, by which his strength is less exhausted, and he is said to cut double
the quantity of corn which can be cut in the same time with the reaping,
hook, and with less loss of straw. The Highland Society of Scotland made
extraordinary exertions to introduce this instrument among the farmers of that country, in 1825, and>
through the assistance of the Chevalier Masclet, then the French consul at Edinburgh, and two young
Flemings, brought over by the Highland Society, which accompanied this excellent man in a tour through
the country, it succeeded in making a great many trials. The general result, as communicated in the
Book IV.
IMPLEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE.
373
I
Society's Report of December, 1825, is, that by the use of this instrument, as compared with the sickle,
in the cutting of wheat, there is a saving, at an average of the different statements given, of 26 per cent.
Notwithstanding this circumstance, however, the Hainault scythe has been very little used since in
Scotland, partly, no doubt, owing to the difficulty of overcoming established prejudices ; partly, also,
because any workman whose frame has been accustomed to use one description of instrument, must begin
by undergoing a good deal of bodily suffering and loss of labour before he can so far master another, so
very different as the Hainault scythe is from the sickle, as to do the same
quantity of work with the one as with the other; but principally, we suspect,
because the instrument has, if any, no great advantage over the scythe hook.
Young persons alone are to be expected to learn the use of difficult instru-
ments, and bring them finally into general reputation. The editor of the
Highland Society's Transactions, in speaking of this Report (vol. vii. p. 249.),
says that, considering its favourable nature, *' a somewhat different result
might have been anticipated than has really occurred. But, although three
years have elapsed since these experiments with the Hainault scythe were
made, the instrument itself has nowhere come into general use. That it is
an important and useful mode of reaping cannot be reasonably disputed ; but
we ought not, perhaps, to anticipate any important change in harvest-work
until that great era (we hope not very remote) when the acquisition of a
horsc-machine, applicable to all ordinary circumstances, shall secure our
crops, and sweep every prejudice before it." Still, as there will always be
small farmers and cottagers who cannot afford to have reaping machines, we
226 think it highly desirable that the Hainault scythe should have further trials,
and we earnestly recommend it to our friends in America and Australia.
2480. The cradle- scythe is variously constructed: sometimes
the cradle or receptacle into which the com is gathered is of net-
work {Jig. 226. )j and at other times it consists of woven laths or
wicker-work. (See § 405.)
2481. The reaping-hook is a curved blade of steel, fixed in a
short wooden handle ; it is of two kinds ; one serrated like a fine
saw, which is used in cutting corn by handfuls, and is called a
sickle hook ; the other smooth and sharp like a scythe,
which is used to hack the corn over in the peculiar manner
called bagging, and is called a cutting hook. The most
improved form (Jig. 227.) has a kneed handle. //" 227
2482. The smooth reaping-hook, or, as it is called in East Lothian, the scythe-hook, was first introduced
into the West and South-west of Scotland, probably from Ireland, and has now spread over most of the
lowlands. It is considered much preferable to the common reaping-hook in our best corn counties. (See
Farm. Mag., vol. xxiii. p. 55.) Where the crop is very thin and short, it requires some attention to make
clean work, and in such cases the teethed hook, or Hutton's improved reaping-hook, may do it better ;
but, upon all ordinary good and strong crops, the scythe-hook is by far the better implement, the reaper,
with equal ease to himself, cutting down a third or fourth more than with the old teethed hook. The
impression of some of the best Scotch farmers is, that a labourer will do as much work with it as with
the Hainault scythe, and cut the straw almost if not altogether as close to the ground.
2483. Hutton's improved reaping-hook is serrated from the point through half its length like a sickle,
and the remainder is smooth and sharp. The advantage is, that the straws are not cut in entering the
hook, as is the case where the point is of the cutting kind, by which means fewer drop and are lost. With
sickles reapers invariably make cleaner work than with the hooks for the above reason ; with hooks
the straws are cut with less labour. {Trans. Sac. Arts, vol. xxviii.)
2484. The hay-knije consists of a straight blade, set at light angles to a short wooden
handle ; botli of considerable strength. It is used for cutting hay or straw when con-
solidated in the rick or stack. An improvement of this instrument has been proposed,
which consists in forming the blade like that of a common spade, sharp at the edges, by
which the operator will cut downwards instead of obliquely, and not being obliged to
stoop, will effect the same work with far less trouble.
2485. Tlie wool-shears are formed wholly of iron or steel, and worked with one hand.
2486. The hedge-shears are of different kinds ; that
■- called the averruncator is to be preferred for cutting
off large shoots, as it makes a clean draw-cut like a
knife. Shears, however, are not used in dressing
/^ I ""^^ hedges by the best agriculturists.
^ t^ 2487. The thatching-knife consists of a blade similar
to that of a scythe, inserted in a wooden handle like
that of a reaping-hook. For thatching with reeds,
heath, or any rough and rigid thatch, the blade has a
handle affixed to each end to enable the operator to
work it with both hands.
2488. The stack-borer consists of two parts, a cut-
ting screw or blade {Jig. 228. a), and a drawing
screw (6). Both are worked by cross handles in the
usual manner (c). In using this instrument, which
is of great importance where hay has acquired a dan-
gerous degree of heat, first cut away the loose hay
where the borer is intended to be applied, therein
insert the point of the borer, and by means of the cross
handle turn it round till the stack is pierced either
quite through, or to a sufficient depth ; then withdraw the cutter, and, by means of the
Bb 3
228
i
374
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
drawing screw repeatedly applied, take out the plug of hay which has been detached.
If, however, the hay be in a moist, heating state, it will occasionally coil round the
cutter in proportion as it is pierced, and impede its action. In such cases, the drawing
screw must be slipped over the rod of the cutter, and must be applied from time to time,
to draw out the hay, in proportion as it is detached from the mass. {Newton^ s Journal^
vol. V. p. 308.)
2489. The hedge-hill is of various kinds. The scimitar {Jig. 229. a) has a handle four
tSirv.
i^
^(r=^
18-171/ d
280
\
V
feet long, bent a little out of the direction of the blade in order to admit the free action
of the operator's arm while standing by the side of a hedge and cutting upwards. The
axe (6) is used for cutting strong boughs or small trees ; the bill-hook (c) for fag-
goting, and stopping gaps in hedges; the dress-hook
(rf) for cutting the twigs in very young hedges, and for
dressing faggots ; and the bill-hook (e) for lopping
branches close at hand. A chisel with a handle eight
or ten feet long is used for cutting off branches eighteen
or twenty feet from the operator, and is of considerable
use in pruning forest trees in plantations or hedges, and
also fruit trees in orchards.
2490. The axSy saw, wedges and hammers, of different
kinds and sizes, are used in agriculture, in felling trees,
cutting them up, preparing fuel, driving nails, &c. ; but
these and other instruments common to various arts need
not be described.
2491. The scorer (Jig. 230.) is a well known instru-
ment used by woodmen in marking numbers on timber
trees.
2492. The line and reel is occasionally wanted for the
manual operations of agriculture, and should be pro-
cured rather stronger and with a longer line than those
used in gardens.
2493. The potato set scoop is of two kinds ;
one a hollow semiglobe, (Jig. 231. a), and
the other (6) a section of that figure. They
are only used when potatoes are very scarce,
as in ordinary cases the larger the set the
more strength and rapidity of growth in the
young plant.
2494. The Edinburgh potato-scoop {fig. 232.) is by far the best, and indeed the only one deserving of use.
'he handle (o) has a round stem which passes through a piece of metal (d), and has there a semicircular
■ ^^ knife or cutter {e) fixed to it. This cut.
2St2 c , -^-— _ _ *^ ^^^N~~"~~^.^ ter is sharp on both edges, and turns
r on a pivot fitted in a piece of brass
formed out of a piece of plate {b, c).
This plate forms a shield to hold the
instrument firm upon the potato, by
placing the thumb of the left hand
upon it, and pressing the point in
which the cutter is fixed into the
tuber. Then by turning the handle
half round with the right hand, the semicircular knife cuts out a set, which is a segment of a small
sphere (e,/, g). The only attention necessary in the use of this instrument is, to place it upon the potato,
■with the eye or bud in the centre of the diameter of the semicircle of the knife when laid flat on the tuber
The advantages of this scoop, besides that it is very quick in its operation, is that the pieces being aU
exactly of one size, that is about an inch in diameter, may be planted by a bean-barrow or drill machine,
with much less labour and more accuracy than by the hand.
2495. The essential inslrtiments of labour are the scythe, reaping-hook, hay-knife, wool-
shears, Hedge-bill, axe, saw, hammer, and line and reel.
The!
Book IV.
IMPLEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE.
375
SuBSECT. 2. Instruments of Science.
2496. Scientific instruments are not much required in agriculture ; the principal are for
levelling, boring, and measuring.
2497. The level is frequently required in agriculture, for arranging surfaces for irri-
gation, tracing strata in order to cut off springs, well-making, and a variety of other
purposes. The simplest form is the common road or mason's level, and the most com-
plete the spirit level, with a telescope and compass, such as is used by land-surveyors ; but
when operations of only moderate extent are to be performed, very convenient and
economical substitutes, and if used with care, equally accurate instruments, may be
found in Parker's level, the road or common level, water level, the triangular and the
square level.
2498. Parker s level (Jig. 233.) consists of two
cylindrical receivers of about five eighths of an
inch in interior diameter, and full three inches
high each, for holding quicksilver, fixed at right
angles upon a wooden stand, and about eighteen
inches asunder. A small groove is cut lengthwise
233
lillHIIillMIIIIM'ilWIIIIIiliiWIlilllli f!Mi:'H1.«!ll,.MII!llll|i|l«liTO
in the stand, and closely covered over, through which channel a communication is
effected between the two cylinders ; and consequently the surfaces of the quicksilver in
the cylinders must be on a level with each other. The two floats are equal to each other
as to weight and length, and the surfaces (about five eighths of an inch in diameter)
which rest on the quicksilver in each cylinder ; and consequently the tops of the floats
must also be on a level with each other. The different parts of the level are closely
fitted, and the whole rendered portable by screwing up the floats into the caps of their
respective cylinders. About three minute grooves are cut in the lower, or hemispherical
ends of the floats, through which the quicksilver rises upon a slight pressure of the floats,
and falls back again under the floats as soon as the pressure is taken off. The tops of the
cylinders are a little concave, for saving any particles of quicksilver which may lodge in
the screws, when the instrument has been shaken in the carriage. Constructed and sold
by Mr. Appleton of Drury Lane, London, turner : price 14s. each ; staff with cords and
pulleys, 8s., and three legs five feet high, 4s.
2499. The common level (Jig. 234.) is in general use among masons and bricklayers,
234
and for the purposes of road-making and irrigation it is furnished with plates of iron with
adjusting screws, for the purpose of determining the slopes of surfaces.
2500. The water-level is that which shows the horizontal line by means of a surface of
water or other fluid ; founded on this principle, that water always places itself level or
horizontal. The most simple level of this kind is made of a long wooden trough or
canal, which being equally filled with water, its surface shows the line of level. It is also
made with two cups, fitted to the two ends of a straight tube, about an inch in diameter,
and three or four feet long, by means of which the water communicates from the one cup
to the other, and this pipe being movable on its stand by means of a ball and socket,
when the two cups shew equally full of water, their two surfaces mark the line of level.
It may also be made with two short cylinders of glass, three or four inches long, fastened
at each extremity of the pipe with wax or mastic. The pipe is filled with common or
coloured water, which shows itself through the cylinders, by means of which the line of
level is determined ; the height of the water with respect to the centre of the earth being
always the same in both cylinders. This level is very simple and commodious for level-
ling small distances.
2501. The American or triangular level {Jig.235. a) is formed of two pieces of thin wood joined by a cross bar,
the whole in the form of the letter A. The manner of using it is simply thus : At the place from which the
level is to be taken, drive a wooden peg into the ground, close in to the top, upon which one of the legs of the
frame or A may rest ; then bringing round the other leg till it touch the ground, there drive in a second peg,
turning round the other leg as before ; and where it touches the ground again, drive in another peg, and so
on along the whole line to be levelled. Thus, with very little trouble, and with as much accuracy as with the
finest spirit-level, may the course of a drain be easily ascertained. But as it is necessary that a drain
should have sufficient declivity to allow the water to run freely, it will be requisite, in taking the level,
B b 4
376
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
to regulate the direction of the line accordingly. Half an inch fall, in the length of the frame, will be
sufficient. For this purpose, it will be expedient to have, besides a number of wooden pegs, one iron pin
with mches and halves marked regularly upon the sides of it from the top downwards. After having driven
in the first wooden peg at the point whence you mean to conduct the drain, and having rested the one
leg of the frame upon it, turn round the other till it be level with the first peg ; there put in the iron pin,
so that this leg of the frame may rest on the top of it, when level ; then drive in a wooden peg so far as
tiiat the top of it may be half an inch lower than that of the iron pin. Place the leg of the frame again
upon this second peg, turn it round to a level, putting in the iron pin till the top of it he equal with the
foot of the frame ; then drive in another wooden peg close by the side of it, till the top of the wooden one
be half an inch lower than that of the iron pin. Proceed in this manner as far as you mean to carry the
drain, which will have the same degree of declivity all the way along. When made on a smaller scale,
it is useful in ascertaining the proper descent along the bottom of a drain, while the workmen are laying
it ; but when made for this purpose, the cross-bar must be fixed to the bottom of the legs, so that the A
becomes a A, or delta.
2502. The square level (Jig. 235. 6), is made of several pieces ; the usual length
generally five feet and a half, and the
height four feet, or four feet and a half.
It may be either used like the water level,
or the American level. According to
Marshal, it has been found " preferable
to any level now in use, as being equally
accurate in ascertaining the relative
heights of distant objects, as in minutely
tracing step by step the required line of
communication, so as to give every part
of it an equal and uniform descent."
2503. The object staff' {jig. 235. c) is used with the water or square level: for either
it should be exactly of the same height as the level ; the cross piece at top should be a
foot or more in length, and three inches broad, painted white on one side for opposing to
dark objects, and black on the other for opposing to such as are white.
2504. The levelling staff is composed of two pieces (Jig. 235. d, h, and e, e), which slide
on each other : they are each of about five feet in length, so as to form, when fully extended,
a rod of ten feet. They have a line of feet graduated into hundredth parts. The
index (/) slides firmly on them ; and is moved up or down (by signal) by the attendant
who carries the staff, till the observer finds it coincide with the intersecting wires of his
telescope. Its height on the staff, of course, marks the difference of the level. It has
two horizontal and parallel black stripes, which at considerable distances are of use to
direct the eye more readily to the fiducial edge (g).
2505. The measuring- chain, measuring-rod, pocket-rule, poles for setting out straight
lines, stakes for driving in at fixed points, and a variety of other instruments, and their
appendages, are occasionally required by the agriculturist who lays out estates, or effects
territorial improvements : but these, not being strictly agricultural implements, do not
require to be described.
2506. The odometer {odos, a way, and meireo, to measure) is a very ingenious instrument, invented in
1821 by Mr. Hunter, of Thurston in Scotland, who has given the following description of it to the Highland
Society. The wheel a {fig. 236.) is made of light iron, and measures two yards in circumference, being
divided by six spokes into feet. One spoke must _ „
be painted white. The handle is divided at c, like — ^ •• -^3"
a fork, and embraces each end of the axis by its
elasticity. Through the axis is a hole into which
the end A of the way-wiser fits, and is held fast by
a nut d. The way-wiser {fig. 237.) consists of a
frame fg ; / being hollow to receive a perpetual
screw h, a part of which is visible near the index m.
At the other end of the screw is a nut i, which
keeps it in its place. The screw turns two brass
concentric cogged wheels k and I ; k conceals the
scale of I, except where a piece is cut out, leaving an ^
index at the beginning of the scale of k, and which
in the drawing points to 78 of/. The scale of k is
numbered towards the left, and that of Z to the right.
The wheel k has 100 cogs or teeth, and 1 101 ; conse-
quently, as the same endless screw turns both
wheels, it is evident, that when k has made a com-
plete revolution of 100 teeth, I will also have made a
revolution of 100 teeth ; and the index of A will point
to 1 of /, because I has 101 teeth. After a second
revolution it will point to 2, and so on ; the number
it points to marking the number of revolutions ; each revolution showing 100 turns of the iron wheel
a. Accordingly, a measures 6 feet, or 1 turn ; k 100 times 6 feet, or 600 feet, or 1 revolution ; and 1 101
times 600 feet, or 60,600 feet, equal to nearly 1I| English miles, the range of the instrument : 88 turn?
of this wheel make a mile. It is advisable always to commence with the way-wiser set at 0 or zero ; to
do this, take out the screw in the centre, when the brass wheels k and I can both be set at zero, and
the screw replaced. Set the wheel a upon the ground with the white spoke undermost, and fix the way.
wiser into the wheel by means of the nut d, always observing to put it on the left side, as shown in the
plate at e. At any period of measuring you can tell exactly how far you have gone, and proceed without
again setting the way-wiser at 0. Suppose, as in the figure, the spoke No. 2 at the ground, the index
m pointing at 26 of k, and the index of k pointing at 78 of Ij then the distance measured is 7826 turns
of a and two feet; and as a measures two yards, 7826 x 2 = 151652 yards, to wTiich add the two feet
In reading off, particular care must be taken always to read the large figures (viz. those on the wheel / )
first, and afterwards to add the small figures (viz. those on the wheel k) ; and, if the figures on k amount to
Cook IV.
INSTRUMENTS OF SCIENCE.
377
less than 10, a 0 must be prefixed, so that k shall always show two figures ; for instance, I being at 46
and k at 4, the sum is 4604. The easiest way to guard against error is to read 46 and add the word hun-
m
«iied ; thus, forty-six hundred and four, and not four thousand six hundred and four. It is hardly
necessary to point out the advantage of having such an instrument. No country gentleman, who takes
the smallest charge of his own affairs, should be without one ; as, by merely walking from one end to
tlie otlier of any road, hedge, wall, ditch, &c. with the odometer (which is not more troublesome than
a walking stick), he can tell the length of it much more correctly than by a measuring chain, which, to
say the least of it, requires two honest men, one at each end, and who must be both paid for their trouble ;
whereas the gentleman himself, whose honesty cannot be doubted, as he is not likely to cheat himself,
can, at no expense, measure with this instrument at least four times as quickly as those with the
chain, who have it a!so in their power to mismeasure, if I may use the expression, six inches every
time a peg is put into the ground ; but its principal uses are to check measurements already made, and
to measure off the size of any proposed improvements, such as plantations, gardens, &c. {Trans. H. Soc.^
vol. vi. p. 603.)
2507. Good's improved instruments for boring the earth for water, draining, and other
purposes, may now be considered as having superseded all others, and we shall shortly
describe them.
2508. The auger {fig. 238. a) is to be connected by the screw-head to the length of rods by which
the boring is carried on. This auger is for boring in soft clay or sand ; it is
cylindrical, and has a slit or opening from end to end, and a bit or cutting-
piece at bottom. When the earth is loose, or wet, an auger of the same form
is to be employed, but with the slit or opening reduced in width, or even
without a slit or opening. A similar auger is used for cutting through chalk,
but the point or bit at bottom should then project lower, and for that pur.
pose some of these cylindrical augers are made with moveable bits, to be
attached by screws, which is extremely desirable in grinding them to cutting
edges.
2509. The hollow conical auger {b), for boring loose sandy soils, has a spiral
cutting edge coiled round it, which, as it turns, causes the loose soil to ascend
up the inclined plane and deposit itself in the hollow within.
2510. The hollow cylinder or tube (c), with a foot valve, and a bucket to be
raised by a rod or cord attached at top, is a pumping tool for the purpose of
getting up waterandsand that
would not rise by the auger.
When this cylinder is lowered
to the bottom of the bore, the
bucket is lifted up by the rod
and cord, and descends again
by its own gravity, having a
valve in the bucket, opening
upwards like other lift pumps,
which at every stroke raises
a quantity of water and sand
in the cylinder equal to the stroke, the ascent and descent
of the bucket being limited by a guide-piece at the top of
the cyhnder, and two small nobs upon the rod, which stop
agamst the cross-guide.
2511. jTAe tool for getting up broken rods (d) consists of a
rod with a small cylindrical piece at bottom, which the broken
rod slips through when it is lowered, and a small catch with
a knife-edge, acted upon by a back-spring. In rising, the
tool takes hold of the broken rod, and thereby enables the
workmen at top to draw it up.
2j12. Another tool for the same purpose {fig. 239. e) is
like a pair of tongs ; it is intended to be slidden down
the bore, in order that the broken rod may pass between
the two catches, which, pressed by back springs, will, when
drawn up, take fast hold of the broken rod.
2513. The tool for widening the hole (/) is to be connected,
like all the others, to the end of the length of rods passed
down the bore ; this tool has two cutting pieces extending
sides at bottom, by which, as the tool is turned
on the
round in the bore, the earth is pulled away.
2514. The chisel or punch-pipe {g) has a projecting piece to be used for penetrating through stone. This
chisel is by rising and falling made to peck the stone and pulverise it, the small middle part breaking it
away first, and afterwards thebroad part coming into action. Another chisel, or punching-tool (A), is twisted
on its cutting edge, and is used for breaking away a greater portion of the stone.
2515. A lifting tool {i) is used when it happens that an auger breaks in the hole. On one side of this
tool a curved piece is attached, for the purpose of a guide to conduct it past the cylindrical auger j
878
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
and at the end of the other side is a hook, which taking hold of the bottom edge of the aueer enables it
to be drawn up.
2516. The triangular claiv {fig. 240. k) is used when loose stones lie at the bottom of the hole, which are
too large to be brought up by the cylindrical auger, and cannot be con-
veniently broken. The internal notches of this instrument take hold ^ 240
of the stone, and as the tool rises it brings them up. For raising broken H
rods a tool (/) is sometimes employed, which has an angular claw that
slips under the shoulder of the rod, and holds it fast while drawing up.
(Newton's Journal, vol viii. d. 247 J
mal, vol viii. p. 247.)
2517. Other tools connected with the subject of boring
for water, also invented by Mr. Good, will be described
when the operation of boring is treated of, in Part III.
Book III. Chap. III. (See Contents.)
2518. Busby's borer for quicksand (Jig. 241.) consists
of a tube called a sludger, from five to six feet in length, made of plate iron, with a
241 ^^^^^ ^* ^t^ lower extremity, made partly of iron and partly of leather, which
works upon an an iron hinge, and a hole at the top (a) through which it is emptied.
In boring through quicksands a metal pipe is inserted into the borehole, and the
^^ sand is withdrawn from it by the sludger, which, by means of the valve at its
lower end, acts as a pump. A second metal pipe is added to the first, and so on
to any depth. (Trans. High. Soc vol. vi. p. 611.) 242
2519. The peat-borer (Jig. 242.) is a larger sort of borer, employed in
peaty soils that are boggy, for the purpose of removing wetness. It
has been used with advantage in some peat-mosses in Lancashire, by
Eccleston.
2520. T/ie blasting auger, timber measure, and other scientific instru-
ments, not in general use in agriculture, will be best described in treating
of the departments in which they are applied.
2521. The only essential scientific instrument is the common level,
which may be wanted to level drains and water furrows, adjust the sur-
face of roads, &c.
Sect. III. Utensils used in Agriculture.
2522. The principal agricultural utensils are sieves, baskets, corn-measures,
and sacks.
2523. Sieves are textures of basketwork, wire, gut, or hair, stretched on a broad
wooden hoop. Sometimes, also, they are formed of skins or plate iron pierced
with holes, and so stretched. They are used for separating corn, or other seed,
from dust or other extraneous matters. There are different varieties for wheat,
beans, oats, rape-seed, &c.
2524. The corn-screen (Jig. 243.) consists of a
hopper (a), with a sliding board (b) for giving more
or less feed ; slips of wood (c c) fixed on pivots to
prevent the grain from passing too quickly down ;
and the screen, wliich is composed of parallel
wires (d).
2525. Baskets are made of wickerwork, of different
shapes, but generally forming some section of a globose
figure : they vary much in size ; those in most general
244 use in agriculture are from twenty inches to two feet in diameter,
and are used for carrying roots, chaff, cut straw, &c., from one place
to another in the farmery. A very good substitute for a basket for
filling sacks (Jig. 244.), formed of iron, is in use in Nottingham-
shire, Lincolnshire, and other counties. (Gard. Mag. vol. v. p. 674.)
2526. The seed-carrier or seed-basket (Jig. 245.) is sometimes made 245
of thin veneers of wood, bent into an irregular oval, with a hollow to fit
the seedsman's side, and a strap to pass over his head, and rest on his
shoulder. In some places, a linen bag of a shape adapted to be borne by
the right shoulder, and to suspend the seed under the left arm, is used for
the same purpose.
2527. The feeding tub or trough may be of any shape and size ; it is used for giving
short or liquid food to swine, sheep, and other live stock.
2528. The pail is used for cari7ing water, or other liquid food.
2529. The turnip tray is a shallow movable trough or box, used to prevent waste when
sheep are fed upon turnips.
2530. The com bin, or com chest, for containing oats or other grain for horses, may be
an oblong box of any convenient size. Sometimes it is placed in the loft over the
stable, and the corn is drawn out by a hopper below ; but for a farm stable this is needless
IJ
Book IV.
HAND MACHINES.
379
trouble : there it is commonly placed in the broad passage behind the horses, or in any
spare corner. It should be stout, and have good hinges, and a safe lock and key.
2531. The flexible tuSe, for relieving cattle that are hoven or choked, consists of a
strong leathern tube about four feet long and about half an inch in diameter, with a
leaden nozzle pierced with holes at the insertion end. It
should be kept in every farmery. There is a similar one,
on a smaller scale, for sheep, which should be kept by all
shepherds. Both will be found figured and described in
Part III. Book VII.
2532. Jones s kiln-dnjing apparatus {Jig. 246. section)
consists of two concentric cylinders about six feet in dia-
meter, and is from the bottom to the top of its cones twelve
feet high. The outer cylinder may either be perforated with
small holes, or made of wire gauze. In the centre of the
inner cylinder aie a fire-place and chimney. The grain to
be dried is admitted between the cylinders through a hopper
at top, and distributing itself round the internal cone, it is
discharged through a spout into a sack or receiver. In
passing the grain becomes heated, and the moisture eva-
porates, and passes oflf through the perforations of the ex-
terior cylinder. (Neivton's Journal, vol. vii. p. 214.)
2533. Corn measures consist of the lippie, peck, and
bushel, with the strike or rolling pin to pass over the surface,
and determine their fulness. The local measures of every
country are numerous; the imperial bushel is now the
standard corn-measure of the three kingdoms.
2534. Corn sack or bags are strong hempen bags, calcu-
lated to hold four bushels ; and in Scotland four firlots.
2535. Other utensils, as those of the dairy, poultry, and
cider-house, will be described in their appropriate places.
2536. The essential agricultural uteiisUs are the sieve,
basket, seed-carrier, tub, pail, corn chest, flexible tube, corn
measure, and corn sack.
Sect. IV. Hand Machines used in Agriculture.
Agricultural hand machines are generally portable ; some are exclusively put in
253
action by man, as the wheel-barrow
horses, water, or other powers.
and others, as the straw-cutter, sometimes by
2538. The common ladder is the simplest of
manual machines, and is in constant use for forming
and thatching ricks, and for other purposes; with
or without the use of trestles and scaffolding.
2539. The wheel-barrow is of three kinds : —
the new ground work barrow {Jig. 247.) used in
moving earth or stones; the dung barrow {Jig. 248.) for the farmyard; and the corn
barrow {Jig. 249.) for conveying corn from the stackyard to the barn. The body of
the latter (6) may 249
be made to separate
from the frame and
wheel, and by
means of levers (a)
to be carried like
the hand-barrow.
2540. Barrows
for hay and straw
may be variously
constmcted, and near towns (Jigs. 250, 251.) may be used for wheeling light packages.
2541. The sack-barrow is a two-handed lever of the first kind, the fulcrum of which
380
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
is a pair of low wheels : it is a convenient machine for moving sacks in a granary or barn
floor, from one point to another.
2542. The Normandy wheel-barrow ( Jig. 252.) is said to be exceedingly useful on a
farm. The handles or trams (n a) are nearly
fifteen feet in length, by which, when loaded,
nearly all the weight is thrown on the axle,
so tliat the man has almost nothing to carry,
and has only to push. He is thus saved
from being bent down while at work, and
consequently from acquiring a habit of stoop-
ing. A shoulder strap (6) is commonly used
by the operator. (Morel Vind^, and Gard,
Mag. vol. vi. )
2543. The truck (Jig. 253.) is a machine of the barrow kind for conveying compact
heavy weights, such as stones, metals, &c.
2544. The hand-barrow is of different
kinds (Jigs. 254, 255, "256.), and is in fre-
quent use in various departments of agricul-
ture, where the soil is soft, or the surface
uneven. Its bottom should be close and strong
for carrying stones ; but may be light and open for dung or corn.
2545. The winnowing machine, originally introduced from Holland to East Lothian
by Mr. James M^le of Saltoun, father to Mr. Andrew Meikle, the inventor of the
254
255
256
threshing machine (799.), is in use for cleaning corn in most of the improved
districts. There are different forms, but the best are those founded on the Meikle or
Berwickshire winnower, which, instead of
one screen, has a set of sieves put in
motion by the machine, by which means
the corn comes out, in most cases, ready
to be meted up in sacks. A highly-
improved form of this machine, and the
most perfect, we believe, at present in
use (Jig. 257.) is manufactured by Weir
and Co. of London.
2546. The hand threshing-machine
{Jig, 258.) is worked by two men and
one woman, and is sometimes used for
threshing the com of a small farm, or
for threshing clover or other small seeds.
The advantage consists chiefly in the
completeness in which the grain is separated from the straw; there is no saving of
human labour, unless the power of horses or water is applied.
2547. IVie potato cleaner is a hollow or per-
forated cylinder or barrel, with a wooden axle
through its long diameter, and a handle at one
end, by which it is turned like a barrel churn.
A hinged board forms an opening for putting in
and taking out the potatoes, which fastens with
an iron hasp and staple. It is filled 'one third
with potatoes or other roots, and then placed in
a cistern of water, by means of a crane or other-
wise. In this state, being two thirds immersed
in the water, and one third full of potatoes, it is
turned round a few times, when the latter are
found cleaned, and the barrel is lifted out by the
crane, emptied, filled, and replaced.
2548. A locomotive steam threshing-machine, capable of propelling itself and a man,
has been constructed in the county of Northumberland. It is intended for the small
fanners, as it can be moved from one farm to another, and thus enable them to tluesh
258
Book IV.
HAND IvI AClliNES.
ijsi
out their corn expeditiously and perfectly clean. The steam engine is not intended to
be confined to threshing, as, by particular arrange-
ments, it may be applied to the drawing of waggons,
pumping of water, breaking of stones, &c.
2549. The maize-sheller (Jig. 259.) is composed
of a thin vertical wheel covered with iron on one
side, made rough by punctures ; which wheel works
in a trough, and separates the grains from the
stalks by rubbing. The ears or spikes of corn are
thrown in by hand one at a time ; and while the
separated grains pass through a funnel below, the
naked stalk is brought up at the end of the wheel
opposite to that at which it was put in. The wheel
may either be made rough on both sides, or on one
side, according to the quantity of work required to be done, and the force to be applied*
2550. Mariott's improved maize separator (Jig. 260.) is the most perfect machine
of this kind at present in use ; it has not hitherto been much used in England, but a
good many have been exported to America and the colonies. A machine for the same
purpose, by Cobbett, will be figured and described in Part III. Book VI.
2551. ul hand flour-mill (Jlg» 261.), for grinding Indian com, consists of one wheel
and pinion, a fixed French burstone, and a similar stone in motion over it. The corn
passes through a hopper in the usual manner, and comes out from the stones fit for the
bolting machine. The hand flour-mill is chiefly used for Indian com ; but it will also
grind wheat and other
corns into meals of tole-
rable fineness. It re-
quires two men to work
it, and the price in Lon-
don is from ten to six-
teen guineas.
2552, A hand bolting-
machine {Jig. 262. ), con-
sists of a half cylinder of
wire with cross brushes
(a), enclosed in a box (6)
about four feet long by
twenty in ches on the sides.
It may be considered a
necessary appendage to
the hand flour-mill, and costs in London from three to five guineas.
382
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IL
2553. The furze-bruiser {fig. 263.) is an in-
genious and most useful machine where furze is
either grown or found naturally. The shoots are
bruised and cut into short lengths by hammers
wliich operate like those in the mills for hammering
iron. When the material is not sufficiently bruised,
it is afterwards passed between rollers.
2554. The bone-breaking machine (fig. 264.)
consists of two rollers grooved and indented, and
with pinions on their ends, by which they may be
moved either by animals, water, or steam power.
The surfaces of the rollers are filled with indent-
ations and strong teeth, v/hich penetrate and break
the bones to pieces. This is accomplished by
employing separate cast-iron wheels placed side by side upon an axis, to compose the
rollers ; the wheels have coarse teeth similar to those of a saw or ratchet wheel ; each
wheel of the lower roller is an inch thick ; and
they are placed at distances of an inch and a half
asunder, having circles of hard wood or iron
placed between them, which are two inches less
in diameter. The bones should be supplied rather
gradually to the machine at first, to avoid choking
it, and the rollers should then be adjusted to a
considerable distance asunder ; but when the bones
have once passed through in this way, the rollers
are screwed closer by screws placed for that pur-
pose, and the fragments ground a second time.
The pinions (a a) must have deep cogs to enable
them to take deep hold of each other, when the
rollers are set only half an inch distant to grind
fine, and without the cogs being liable to slip
when the centres are separated so far as to leave
a space of one inch or one inch and a quarter
between the rollers, for the passage of the large
bones the first time. The rollers will act most
effectually, if the different wheels are fixed upon their axles in such a position that
the teeth will not correspond or form lines parallel to the axes, and then no piece of
bone can escape without being broken by some of the teeth. The bones which have
passed through the rollers slide down an inclined board, and collect at the bottom in a
large heap. When all the stock of bones are thus coarsely broken, a labourer takes them
up in a shovel and throws them again to the hopper to be ground a second time. (Supp.
to Encyc. Brit. Art. Agr. ) In a modification of this machine to be impelled by horse
power, manufactured by Weir of London {fig. 265.), the bones, after passing through
the rollers, are conducted by the hopper (a) into a revolving screen (6), which is driven
by a bevel wheel [c) working into a pinion on the screen shaft (rf, e).
2555. The oil-cake bruiser is composed of two rollers ground and toothed like the
rollers of the bone-mill, but it is on a smaller scale so as to be worked by one
man. The object is to bruise the oil-cake to a dust or powder. Below the rollers
is a screen for separating the grosser pieces which are set apart for feeding cattle, and
I5jox IV.
HAND MACHINES.
383
the finer material or dust is reserved for sheep or for manure. Price in London from
8 to 11 guineas.
2556. A stone-breaking machine impelled by steam may be constructed of two fluted
rollers, placed side by side, about an inch apart, and turning different ways. The stones
are put into a kind of hopper above, and pushed down with a rake, affording a regular
supply to the roller. It is worked by one of Kay and Routledge's rotatory engines, of
one-horse power, and will completely break a ton of hard pebbles in about six or eight
minutes. (^Newton's Journal, vol. vi. p. 152.)
2557. The root-breaker or bruiser i Jig. 266.) is composed of two widely fluted rollers,
placed under a hopper, turned by two men. It is used for breaking or bruising
potatoes, turnips, carrots, or other raw roots, into small or moderate sized pieces,
before giving them to cattle or horses. The same implement may be set so close by
means of two screws, as to serve for a whin-bruiser, or for breaking beans or corn of
any kind.
266
'^^Cid
2558. The corn-bruising machine (Jig. 267.) is contrived for the purpose of bruising
or kibbling different sorts of grain, pulse, &c. as well as grinding malt. It is a simple
implement, constructed with two iron rollers of different diameters, turned true on their
axles or spindles, each roller having a cog or tooth wheel.. A roller with grooves is
fixed under the hopper, to receive the grain from the hopper, and lay it on the two rollers.
To one of the rollers is fixed a fly-wheel. The machine is made to be worked by hand,
or any other power. The upper wood frame is made to slide, and is regulated by a
screw, according to the size of tlie grain, and will bruise it more or less as may be
required.
2559. The potato four-mill (Jig. 268.
consists of a cylinder (a) covered with tin-
plates pierced with holes, so as to leave
a rough surface, in the same manner as the
graters used for nutmegs, &c., but the holes
in this are larger. This cylinder is situate
beneath a hopper (6), into which the potatoes
are thrown, and thence admitted into a kind
of trough (c), when they are forced against
the cylinder, which, as it revolves, grinds the "
potatoes to a pulp. Motion is given to the
machine by a handle fixed upon the end of
the axis of the grating cylinder (a), and on
the opposite extremity of this axis is a fly-
wheel (rf) to regulate and equalise the
movement. The potatoes, when put into
the hopper, press by their weight upon the
top of the cylinder, and, as it revolves, they
are in part grated away. On one side of the lower part of the hopper is an opening,
closed or opened more or less, at pleasure, by a slider (e) ; and the degree of opening
which this has, regulates the passage of the potatoes from the hopper into the trough (c).
This is as wide as the length of the cylinder, and has a concave board (/) fitted into it.
384
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
ir.
which slides backwards and forwards by the action of levers (g), fixed to an axis extended
across the frame of the machine : a lever (h) is fixed upon this axis, causing a weight
which acts upon the board (/} by means of the levers, to force or press forward the
potatoes contained in the trough
(c) against the cylinder, and com-
plete the grating of them into a
pulp. The tin-plate covering the
cylinder is of course pierced from
the inside outwards, and the bur
or rough edge, left round each
hole, forms an excellent rasping
surface.
2560. The chaff-cutter is used
for cutting hay or straw into frag-
ments not larger than chaff, to
facilitate its consumption by cattle.
There are numerous forms ; one
of the best is that of Weir {Jig.
269.), which is so formed, that in
case of its being accidentally
broken, it may be repaired by any
common mechanic. The pressure
of the straw is also capable of being regulated with great facility.
2561. The hay-binding machine is an invention by Beckway for weighing and binding
straw or hay. [Jig. 272. ) It is a very ingenious apparatus, and may be useful to retail
farmers in the neighbourhood of
large towns. The apparatus,
with every implement necessary
to be used in cutting, weighing,
and binding, may be packed
together so as to form a wheel-
barrow. {Jig. 270.) When un-
packed {Jig. 272.), the wlieel is
taken out, and the bottom of the
barrow (a) turned upside down
upon the ground as a platform.
(Jig. 271.) The standard (6),
is then set up in the sockets of the underside of the barrow. The frame (c) is then
unfolded, and the axis of the steelyard or scalebeam (d), placed upon the staitdard as a
fulcrum, supporting the frame (c) at the
short end, and at the long end the coun-
terpoising weight is suspended by a
chain, and adjusted to the graduations
upon the steelyard agreeably to the quan-
tity of hay to be weighed. The bed of
the frame (c) is then fastened down to
the platform by means of the lever which held the wheel in the barrow. Two haybands
are then placed between the hooks {e e), and extended along the bed of the frame (c).
The truss of hay is then laid upon the bed
of the frame (c), as shown by dotted lines,
and the fever or latch underneath withdrawn,
so as to allow the scale-beam to oscillate.
The proper quantity or weight of hay being
adjusted, the truss is bound round with the
haybands, which were placed under it.
This truss being removed, the same process
is followed in weighing and binding every
other truss, which is done without the
smallest delay or inconvenience ; when the
whole «iuantity required is bound up, the
apparatus is dismounted and packed toge-
ther in five minutes, Qsjig'. 270. The re-
spective implements, such as the knife, fork,
pin, and every part of the machine, fitting
together upon the barrow so as to secure
the whole, are bound round by the chain and
weight, and tightly packed for conveyance. [Newton^s Journal, vol. i. p. 136.)
Book IV.
HAND MACHINES.
385
274
2562. The rope-twisting machine {Jig. 273.), is a small
wheel, the prolonged axle or spindle of which terminates in a
hook, on which the rope is commenced. It is commonly
fixed to a portable stand; but is sometimes attached to a
threshing-machine. It is used for twisting ropes of straw, hay,
or rushes, for tying on the thatch of ricks, and other similar
purposes. It is also used to form very thick ropes for forming
straw drains.
2563. The draught-machine, or dynamometer, is a contri-
vance invented for the purpose of ascertaining the force or
power of draught, in drawing ploughs, &c. Finlayson's {Jig.
274.) is reckoned one of the best varieties for agricultural
purposes.
2564. Mare's draught-machine is a spring coiled within a cylindrical case, having a
dial-plate marked with numbers like that of a clock, and so contrived that a hand moves
with the motion of the spring, and points to the numbers in proportion as
the force is exerted : for instance, when the draught equals one cwt. over
a pulley, the hand points to figure 1 ; when the draught is equal to two
cwt. it points to figure 2, and so on. Till this very useful machine was
invented, it was exceedingly difficult to compare the draught of different
ploughs, as there was no rule to judge by, but the exertions of the horses
as apparent to the eye ; a very undecisive mode of ascertaining their force.
2565. JBrabj/'s draught-machine (Jig. 275.), consists of two strong steel
plates, joined at the ends, and forming a spheroidal opening between them.
In using it, one end (o) Is hooktd on the muzzle of the plough or other implement,
and to the other (b) the
irr^^ \ "^3))tt draught trees are at-
"^ tached. An indicator
(c) points out the power
275 / ^ applied, in cwts. It is
evident that Braby's
macliine and Finlay-
son's act on the same
principle, and that the
latter, being more simple in the construction, must
be a more accurate indicator, and less liable to go
out of order.
2566. The weighing-cage (Jig. 276.) is a contri- $:^^ 9.7G
vance made in the form of a sort of open box or cage, by which any small aninral,
as a pig, sheep, calf, &c. may be very easily and expeditiously weighed, and with
sufficient accuracy for the farmer's purpose. It is constructed on the principle of the
common steelyard, with a strong wooden frame and steel centres, in which the pivots of
the lever are hung ; and upon the short side of the lever is suspended a coop, surrounded
by strong network, in which the animal intended to be weighed is placed. The point
of suspension is connected with the coop
by means of two curved iron rods, which
at the same time form the head of it ; a
common scale being hung on the longer
side of the lever.
2567. The cattle - xveighing machine
is a contrivance of the steelyard kind,
for the purpose of weighing cattle and
other animals alive. A machine of this
sort is of importance in the grazing and
fattening systems,
where they are
277
J ^carried to any con-
$^siderable extent,
in ascertaining the
progress made by
the animals, and showing hov/ they pay for the use of any par-
ticular kind of food, or what power it has in promoting the fattening
process. Weir's variety {Jig. 277.) is by far the simplest and most
economical of these machines.
2568. The weighing-machine for sacks {fig. 278.) is a convenient
piece of barn-furniture on the steelyard principle, and so com-
mon as to require no description.
C c
27«
386
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II
2569. A potato-weighing machine {^fig. 279. )> of a very complete description, has
been invented by Mr. John Smith, of Edinburgh, and is figured in the Highland
Societi/'s Transactions, vol. vii. pi. iii. It
is on the principle of the steelyard, and
chiefly intended for weighing grain, flour,
potatoes, or any other commodity usually
put into a bag for carriage or keep. The
machine is portable, of easy use, and not
liable to go out of order.
2570. Ruthven's farmer's steelyard {Jig.
280.) is well adapted for weighing and
readily discharging bulky commodities. It
consists of a longer and shorter beam, with
a moveable weight, to be shifted along the
former, and a scale suspended to the latter.
The longer arm, from its extremity, being
confined within a limited range, obviates
the inconvenience of jerks and long vibra-
tions, while an index upon it points out the
required weight, by a counterpoise being
slid backwards and forwards, till the point
has been found when it acts as an equiva-
lent. By turning a keeper fixed to the scale, one end of it is opened, turning on
a cylindrical hinge at the top, and the con-
tents speedily discharged. These balances
may be made of any size required, either
to suit the purposes of the farm, or the
household. Their simplicity secures them
equally against expense of manufacture,
and the risk of going wrong when in use.
One weight only is required, the value
of which, as a counterpoise, depends on its
distance from the centre of motion ; and it
is so confined upon the long arm, that, though it has a perfectly free motion over
all its length, it cannot escape at either extremity, and consequently can never be
lost, which is a great recommendation to the instrument. The simple manner in which
one of the ends of the tin-plate scale opens up round a- wire hinge is also very ingenious,
and no less calculated to render the steelyard useful when weighing flour, grain, seeds,
and such commodities. (High. S. Trans.)
2571. The turnip-slicer is of different forms; the old machine works by hand, like a
straw-cutter of the original construction ; but a better one consists of a hopper and knives,
fixed upon a flywheel. (Jig. 281.) The turnips press
against the knife by their own weight, and a man turning
the wheel will cut a bushel in a minute. Gardener's
turnip-slicer is a highly improved form of this machine.
2572. The turnip-chopper (Jig. 282. ) is perhaps a more
useful implement than the turnip-slicer. It is first made
like the common nine-inch garden hoe, forming an oblong
square, with an eye to receive the handle, and from the
centre of the first hoe, another hoe crosses it at right
angles. On the reverse is a two-pronged fork, for the
purpose of pulling up the turnips. The turnip being
pulled out of the ground by the prongs, or the angles
of the hoe, is immediately struck with it aljout the
centre, which divides it into four; and if these four
pieces are not small enough, the stroke is repeated upon
each of the pieces until they are sufficiently reduced.
The two stoutish prongs on the back or reverse part of
the hoe, proceeding from the neck of the eye, besides their use in pulling up the turnips
2g2 with expedition, increase the weight of
the hoe, which is in its favour, by
lessening the force necessary to split
the roots.
2573. Of hand-drilling and dibbling
machines, and especially of the former,
there are a great many kinds, of various
degrees of merit. The sort to be re-
281
Book IV.
HAND MACHINES.
,387
commended in any particular case will depend on the texture of the soil ; one which
would answer w 11 in a soft soil or sand might not succeed in a stony or loamy soil.
As the fashions of drills are continually changing, we advise intending purchasers to
describe their soil and kind of culture, as whether raised or flat drilling, &c., to a
respectable implement-maker, and try the kind he recommends. In the mean time we
submit a few of the established forms.
2574. The bean or potato dibbling
machine (Jig. 283.) consists of a single
wheel, set with dibber points, which S
may be placed wider or closer at
pleasure. It is pushed along by one
man, and succeeds on friable soils, but
cannot be depended on when the sur-
face is rough or tenacious. Potato sets
to be planted after this machine should
be cut with the improved scoop (2494.).
2575. The common hand drill-barrow (Jig. 284.) consists of a frame and wheel
somewhat similar to that of a common
barrow, with a hopper attached to con-
tain the seed. It is used for the pur-
pose of sowing horse-beans, turnips, and
similar seeds, upon small ridges. In
using it, the labourer for the most part
wheels it before him, the seed being
afterwards covered by means of a slight
harrow, or sometimes by a shallow
furrow.
2576. The broadcast hand-drill (Jig. 285.) is chiefly used for sowing clover or other
small seeds, with or without grass seeds. The operation, however, is much more fre-
quently performed by hand. Broadcast sowing by machinery drawn by horses or cattle,
however, may be advantageously adopted on farms of the largest size, and where the
soil is uniform in surface, in moisture, and in richness.
2577. Coggins's dibbling-machine (Jig. 286.) was invented in 1827, and appears very
ingeniously contrived. The Me-
chanism is to be worked by the foot
of the operator. The machine runs
on wheels, and there are two conical
dibbling irons, one larger than the
other. These are ranged in a line
with the delivering funnel of the
drill, and at such distances apart as
may be considered proper for dis-
charging the seeds. A hopper (a)
contains the seed, and such earthy
materials as bone dust, or other
manure in powder, as may be found
necessary to deposit with the seed.
There is a funnel (b) through which
the seeds and manure are passed ;
and the conical dil)bling iron (c) is
worked by a handle (d). This dib-
bling iron and its handle are con-
nected by two levers, of which the ^•^
lower (e) hangs to the axle of the ^
principal running wheel, and has at its front extremity a small cone (/), intended as a
marker. There is an upper lever (g) which works the axle (h) of the cylinder, within
C c 2
388
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
the hopper which deh'vers the seed. The foot of the operator is strapped to the lever,
and by its pressure forces the dibbling iron into the ground. The inventor says that tvFO
machines may be used at the same time by the same man, one foot being strapped to
each. (Newto7i's Journal, vol. ii. new series, p. 89.)
2578. The turnip barrow-drill sows a single row at a time ; but is of diflScult manage-
ment on the tops of ridges : for
this purpose, it is desirable to
have two wheels, one to go on
each side of the ridge. An im-
proved variety of this machine
(Jig. 287.) has a barrel of water
(a) attached, which, by means
of a tube, is dropped among the
seed in the tract made by the
coulter. This very useful appendage may be added to any drill-machine, whether
worked by manual or animal labour.
2579. The hand turnip-roller {fig- 288.) is used for rolling raised drills or ridges
previously to and after sowing turnip-seed by a hand-
drill. The use of such a roller leaves the ridges in
a much better form for receiving the seed than a com-
mon cylindrical roller; and after the seed is sown,
when this roller is again used, the surface is left in
the fittest state for retaining moisture, and for com-
mencing the hoeing and thinning operations.
2580. DoxaCs machiyie for assisting human power
(fig. 289.) consists in a certain arrangement of levers
and pulleys, by means of which the weight as well as
muscular strength of the labourer is intended to be
brought into action, and hence to render liis necessary
exertions less laborious and fatiguing. Supposing the
apparatus as applied to a pump ; then (a) and (b) will
represent two ^89
levers, their ful-
crums or pivots being in the standard (c c).
These levers are connected together by a cord or
chain (d d) passing over a pulley (e). To the
lever (a) the cord (/) is attached, which is also
connected to the upper lever (g) ; this upper lever
moving upon a fulcrum in the standard (c), works
the pump rod (h). In order to put this apparatus
in action, a man is to be seated on a transverse bar
or rail (i), shown by dots near the end of the lever
(a). The feet of this man are to rest upon the bottom lever (b), and by his alternately
sitting upon the lever (a), and standing upon the lever (b), they are by the chain or cord (d)
brought into the situation shown by the dotted lines ; and hence the lever (g) is raised and
lowered for the purpose of working the pump. A weight is placed upon the lever (a), and
made to slide, for the purpose of regulating the machinery and balancing the weight of
the water or other matter raised. I5y these means it is evident, that a man can exert a
greater power, in proportion to the fatigue occasioned, than would be effected by the
usual methods, such as turning a winch or moving a lever with the arms, &c. (Newton's
Journal, vol. iii. p. 77.)
2581 . Other machines for particular departments, will be noticed in their proper places
and some will
be wanted which
are not peculiar
to agriculture,
such as rat-traps
(figs. 290. and
291.), mouse and
mole-traps (Jig. 292.), a fowling piece
for shooting birds, scares for deterring
birds, and similar contrivances.
2582. The grindstone (fig. 293.) is a
hand-machine that cannot be dispensed
with in a farmery. The most improved
sort has a cast-iron frame, which any
290
291
U
292
Iff
a
person wishing to grind an instrument on may turn for himself, by operating with his foot
Book IV.
SWING PLOUGHS.
389
on a treadle (a). This frame can be adjusted to a small or a large grindstone,
or altered as the stone wears out, by
the construction of the support for the
gudgeon (6) ; a loose shield of sheet-
iron (c) is used to protect the operator
from the water thrown off by the
wheel when in motion. (Gard. Mag.
vol. V.)
2583. The esseiitial hand-machines
are the ladder, wheel and hand-barrows,
winnowing machine, chaff-cutter, and
turnip barrow-drill.
Chap. II.
Of Agricultural Implements and Machines drawn by Beasts of Labour.
2584. The fundamental implements of agriculture are the plough, the harrow, and the
cart : these are common to every country in the slightest degree civilised ; sufficiently
rude in construction in most countries, and only very lately brought to a high degree of
perfection in Britain. Dr. Anderson {Recreations in Agriculture, S(c.), writing in 1802,
observes, " that there are no sorts of implements that admit of greater improvement than
those of husbandry, on the principle of diminishing weight without in any degree abating
their strength." Since that very recent period, great improvements have taken place in
almost every agricultural implement, from the plough to the threshing-machine ; and
though these have not yet found their way into general use, especially in England, they
may be procured at the public manufactories of the capitals of the three kingdoms with
no trouble. It is incredible what benefits would result to agriculture if proper ploughs
and threshing-machines were generally adopted ; and if the scuffler or cultivator, of which
Wilkie's seems to be the most improved form, were applied in suitable soils, and under
proper circumstances ; not to mention one and two horse carts, improved harrows, and
the best winnowing machines. But the ignorance and antipathy to innovation of the
majority of farmers in almost every country, the backwardness of labourers to learn new
practices, and the expense of the implements, are drawbacks which necessarily require
time to overcome. It may also be observed, that, in the progress of improvement, many
innovations which have been made have turned out of no account, or even worse than
useless ; and this being observed by the sagacious countryman confirms him in his rooted
aversion from novelty and change. — In our selection, we shall pass over a great variety
of forms, the knowledge of which we consider of no use, unless it were to guard against
them, and shall chiefly confine ourselves to such as are in use at the present time by the
best farmers of the best cultivated districts. These we shall arrange as tillage imple-
ments, sowing and planting implements, reaping machines, threshing machines, and
machines of deportation.
Sect. I. Tillage Implements and Machines.
2585. The tillage implements of agriculture comprise ploughs with and without wheels,
and pronged implements of various descriptions, as grubbers, cultivators, harrows,
rollers, &c. We shall take them in the order of swing ploughs, wheel ploughs, pronged
implements, harrows, rollers, &e.
SuBSECT. 1. Swing Ploughs, or such as are constructed without Wheels.
2586. The plough, being the fundamental implement of agriculture, is common to all
ages and countries, and its primitive form is almost every where the same. The forms
used by the Greeks and Romans (see Part I. Book I. Chap. 1 and 2.) seem to have
spread over Europe, and undergone no change till probably about the 16th century,
when they began to he improved by the Dutch and Flemish. In the 17th century the
plough underwent further improvement in England ; and it was greatly improved in that
following, in Scotland. There are now a great variety of excellent forms, the best of
which, for general purposes, is universally allowed to be what is called in England
the Scotch plough, and in Scotland the improved Scotch plough. In speaking of the
C c 3
390 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
implement we shall adopt the latter term, because the unimproved Scotch plough differs
little from some old forms of the implement common to Europe from the time of the
Romans. As the operation of ploughing, like many other operations in practical
husbandry, must often vary in the manner of its being performed, it is evident that no
one particular sort of plough can be superior to all others, in every season, and under
every variety of soil or inclination of surface. The Scotch plough, however, and the
variations of which it is susceptible, render it by far the most universal tillage imple-
ment hitherto invented or used.
2587. Ploughs are of two kinds : those fitted up with wheels, and called wheel ploughs ;
and those without wheels, called swing ploughs. The latter are the lightest of draught, but
require an experienced and attentive ploughman to use them ; the former work with greater
steadiness, and require much less skill in the manager: some sorts, indeed, do not require
holding at all, excepting at entering in, and turning on and off the work at tlie ends of
the ridges. On the whole, taking ploughmen as they are, and ploughs as they are gene-
rally constructed, it will be found, that a district ploughed with wheel ploughs will show
greater neatness of work than one ploughed with swing ploughs : but, on the other hand,
taking a district where the improved form of swing ploughs is generally adopted, the
ploughmen will be found superior workmen, and the work performed in a better manner,
and with less expense of labour, than in the case of wheel ploughs. Northumberland in
this respect may be compared with Warwickshire.
2588. In the construction of ploughs, whatever be the sort used, there are a few gene-
ral principles that ought invariably to be attended to ; such as the giving the throat and
breast, or that part which enters, perforates, and breaks up the ground, that sort of long,
narrow, clean, tapering, sharpened form that affords the least resistance in passing
through the land ; and to the mould-board, that kind of hollowed-out and twisted form,
which not only tends to lessen friction, but also to contribute greatly to the perfect turn-
ing over of the furrow-slice. The beam and muzzle should likewise be so contrived, as
that the moving power, or team, may be attached in the most advantageous line of draught.
This is particularly necessary where a number of animals are employed together, in order
that the draught of the whole may coincide.
2589. The construction of an improved Scotch suing plough is thus given mathemati-
cally by Bailey of Chillingham, in his Essai/ on the Construction of the Plough on Ma-
thematical Priyiciples, 1795. It had been previously aimed at by Small of Berwickshire,
and subsequently by Vetch of Inchbonney, near Jedburgh, {Highland Soc Trans, vol. iv.
p. 243.), and more recently and completely in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture for
February, 1829. Whoever wishes thoroughly to understand the construction of the
plough, and the principles of its operation, are recommended to the last-mentioned very
excellent paper, which is too long to be given here, and which would lose half its value
by being abridged.
2590. Land, when properly ploughed, Bailey observes, must be removed from a hori-
zontal position, and twisted over to a certain angle, so that it may be left in that inclining
state, one furrow leaning upon another, till the whole field be completely ploughed. The
depth and w idth of the furrows which is most approved of by farmers, and commonly to
be met with in the best-ploughed fields, are in the proportion of two to three ; or, if the
furrow be two deep, it must be three wide, and left at an angle of 45 to 46 degrees.
2591. Vario^is forms have been given to the different parts of the plough, by ingenious
persons, according to their different fancies, in order to diminish the weight of the
draught, and to turn over the furrow, and leave it in its proper position, without tearing
or breaking it.
2592. To have the line of draught at right angles to the horses' shoulders is of great
importance in the formation of a plough ; a circumstance of which the greatest part of
the plough-makers are totally ignorant, although it is well known to every one that has
the least knowledge of mechanics. If we take the angle that the horses' shoulders
make with a perpendicular from the horizon, and continue another line at right angles
to it, or parallel to the draught chain ; the length of this line from the horse's shoulders
to where it meets or crosses the coulter, at half the depth of the furrow, will be thirteen
feet two inches for ordinary sized horses.
2593. Length of beam. If the plough be properly made, the line of draught should
pass through the middle hole of the plough bridle at the point of the beam. This
requires the beam to be seven feet long, to give it a proper height at the bridle.
2594. Left side plane. That part of the plough next the solid land should be made
a perfect plane, and, run parallel to the line of draught ; whereas some of the common
ploughs are completely twisted in that part, and deviate more than two inches from the
line of draught ; this throws the plough to the left, and causes the hinder part of the
mould-board to press hard against the furrow, and crush and break it, besides increasing
the labour of the cattle.
2595. The position of the coulter must not deviate much from an angle of 45 degrees :
Book IV. SWING PLOUGHS. 391
for, if we make it more oblique, it causes the plough to choke up with stubble and
grass roots, by throwing them up against the beam ; and, if less oblique, it is apt to drive
the stones or other obstacles before it, and make it heavier to draw.
2596. The movld-board, for all free soils, and for working fallows, is generally most
effective when it has a considerable concavity ; but for breaking up clover leys, pasture,
or any firm surface, and also for clayey soils, it is found to clean itself better and make
neater work when it approaches nearer to a plane, and in very stiff clays, is formed with
a concave surface. The lower edge of the mould-board, on the most improved forms,
is in a separate piece, which, when it wears, can be taken off and renewed. The tech-
nical name of tliis slip of iron is the weat ing piece.
2597. The materials with which ploughs are constructed is, generally, wood for the
beam and handles, cast-iron for the head, side-plates, mould-board, and sole, and wrought
iron for the share, coulter, and muzzle. But of late years, in consequence of the dear-
ness of timber, and the cheapness of iron, they have been constructed wholly of the latter
material, and with considerable advantage in point of strength and durability, and some
also in point of convenience. Among the conveniences may be mentioned, the facility
which they afford of bending the left handle to the right of the straight line (see
Jig. 29.3. a), first introduced by Mr. Wilkie of Uddingston, (who, if not the inventor, may
certainly be considered the greatest improver of iron ploughs,) by which means the
ploughman is permitted to walk with ease in the bottom of the furrow. The stilts or
handles may also be joined to the body of the plough, in such a way as to admit of
taking off and packing for a foreign country, or raising or lowering the points of the
handles according to the size of the ploughman, as in Weatherley's plough.
2598. Of swing ploughs, by far the best is the implement known in England as the
Scotch plough. It is almost the only plough used in Scotland, and throughout a con-
siderable part of England ; it is drawn with less power than wheel ploughs, at least,
those of the old construction, the friction not being so great ; and it probably admits of
greater variations in regard to tlie breadth and depth of the furrow-slice. It is usually
drawn by two horses abreast in common tillage j but for ploughing between the rows
of the drill culture, a smaller one drawn by one horse is commonly employed. A plough
of the swing kind, having a mould-board on each side, is also used both in forming
narrow ridges for turnips and potatoes, and in laying up the earth to the roots of the
plants, after the intervals have been cleaned and pulverised by the horse and hand-hoe.
This plough is sometimes made in such a manner, that the mould-board may be shifted
from one side to the other when working on hilly grounds ; by which means the fur-
rows are all laid in the same direction. This will be found described as the turn-urresi
plough.
2599. Swing ploughs, similar to the Scotch plough, have been long known in England.
In TAlythe's Improver Improved (edit. 1652), we have engravings of several ploughs;
and what he calls the " plain plough" does not seem to differ much in its principal
parts froin the one now in use. Amos, in an Essay on Agricultural Machines, says, that
a person named Lum.mis (whom he is mistaken in calling a Scotchman, see Maxwell's
Practical Husbandman, p. 191.) " first attempted its construction upon mathematical
principles, which he learned in Holland ; but having obtained a patent for the making
and vending of this plough, he withheld the knowledge of these principles from the public.
However, one Pashley, plough-wright to Sir Charles Turner of Kirkleathem, having a
knowledge of those principles, constructed upon them a vast number of ploughs. After-
wards his son established a manufactoiy for the making of them at Rotherham. Hence
they obtained the name of the Rotherham plough ; but in Scotland they were called the
Dutch or patent plough." "At length the Americans, having obtained a knowledge
of those principles, either from Britain or Holland, claimed the priority of the invention j
in consequence of which. President Jefferson, of the United States, presented the prin-
ciples for the construction of a mould-board, first to the Institute of France, and next to
the Board of Agriculture in England, as a wonderful discovery in mathematics." {Com-
munications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. vi. p. 437. ) According to another writer,
the Rotherham plough was first constructed in Yorkshire, in 1720, about ten years before
Lummis's improvements. (Survey of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Sup. Encyc. Brit.
art. Agr. ) We have seen it stated somewhere, that one of the first valuable alterations
on the swing plough, of the variety formerly used in Scotland, was made by Lady Stewart
of Goodtrees, near Edinburgh, grandmother to the Earl of Buchan. She invented what
is called the Rutherglen plough, at one time much used in the west of Scotland.
2600. The Scotch plough was little known in Scotland till about the year 1764,
when Small's method of constructing it began to excite attention. (SmaWs Treatise on
Ploughs and Wheel Carriages, 1784; and Lord Kaimes's Gentleman Farmer). This inge-
nious mechanic formed the mould-board upon distinct and intelligible principles, and
afterwards made it of cast-iron. His appendage of a chain has been since laid aside.
It has been disputed, whether he took the Rotherham, or the old Scotch plough, for the
Cc 4
392
SCIENCE aF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
basis of his improvements. The swing plough has been since varied a little, in some
parts of Scotland, from Small's form, for the purpose of adapting it more completely to
particular situations and circumstances. Since 1810, this plough has been very generally
made entirely of iron. In Northumberland the mould-board is made less concave than
in Berwickshire, and in Berwickshire it is even less concave than in Small's plough. Dif-
ferent degrees of concavity in the mould-board suit different soils ; soft and sandy soil
requires most, and a loamy or clayey soil least, concavity. The following are the prin-
cipal varieties of the improved Scotch plough at present in use in the most improved
districts of the north, and among scientific farmers in all countries.
2601. Smciirs plough. The mould-board is more concave than in most other varieties,
and this may be considered its characteristic as compared with these varieties. It is
sometimes drawn by a chain proceeding from the muzzle to the head, in order to lessen
the strain on the draught-beam, and in that case it is called Small's chain plough.
It is commonly made of Wood and iion (fig. 294. a, as seen from the right side, b
from above), l&ut also entirely ofjjoni "^
y -\^ 294 ^!^'^,.
m^
2602. The NorthumberUuid j)lough, and the Dertvickshire plough, are very nearly the
sgipie implement; differing from Small's plouglx in having the mould-board less concave.
! " 2603. Wilkies swing
plough, the best iron 295
swing plough in Scot- ^
land, (Jig. 295. a, as Jjir^i:-^
seen from above, b the Ij
left side) is formed en-
tirely of iron except the
points of the handles.
Its characteristic, in
point of form, is a
longer mould-board
with a greater twist in
it, the object of which
is, to reverse the fur- •[^^
row more completely '^^^^^^
in light or highly pul-
verised soils.
2604. Finlayson's irbtf pt(fa^^^'fi^^§^ 299.) are, as he informs us {^British
Farmer, p. 9.), constructed in imitation of those of Wilkie, but with improvements and
modifications adapted for particular circumstances.
2605. The heath or self -cleaning plough, or rid plough, (Jigs. 296, 297.), is formed with
the beam so curved vertically (% 296.), qr divided and curved horizontally (fig. 297.),
as to leave no resting place for stubble, heath, or other vegetable matter, at the top of
the coulter, where in rough grounds, with ploughs of the ordinary construction, it gets
entangled and stops the work.
2606. Finlat/son's Kentish skeleton self-cleaning plough (fig. 298. ) is intended as a sub-
stitute for the common Kentish turn-wrest plough. " The soil, in great part of Kent,
is of a peculiarly adhesive clay. When this soil is between the wet and dry, it adheres
Boor IV.
SWING PLOUGHS.
393
to the body of the plough like glue, by which the draught is increased probably double
or treble." By substituting three or four iron rods for the mould-board, the soil is pre-
vented from adhering, while the operation of ploughing is at the same time performed
in an equally perfect manner with two horses as with four. This is accounted for " by
tlie whole surface of this plough not being more than one third or one fourth the surface
of other ploughs." In like manner, when it is necessary to dig or trench very strong
clayey soil between the wet and the dry, the operation is performed with much greater
ease by a two-pronged fork. It is important to agriculturists to know the opinion and
experience of a man of so much science and extensive practice as the late Mr. Finlayson,
who says, " from my own experience I have no hesitation in saying that the most adhe-
sive land may, with ease, be ploughed by the skeleton plough, and one pair of good
horses." {British Farmery p. 165.)
2607. Finlayson s line plough [Jig. 299.) is characterised by a rod (a), which proceeds
299
from the sheath of the plough to the muzzle, which is put on when the plough is drawn
by horses in a line — a very disadvantageous manner, but yet common in many parts^ of
England.
394
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
2608. The SomervUle swing plough is known by its mould-board, a part of which
is rendered moveable by hinges ; the advantage of this is, that the furrow can be laid
more or less flat at pleasure. " Mould-boards," Lord Somerville observes, " formed to
lay furrows in ley, so as to give the most soil to harrows, cannot be of that form best
calculated to make good work in stirring earths ; more especially the last, which ought
to be thrown up in small seams, as it were, that the seed may be duly buried. It has
hitherto held necessary to rip off the plate for this purpose, and drive in wedges, by
which the mould-plate must be injured. From the trouble attending this operation, it
has generally been omitted, and the land, of course, imperfectly worked. But tliis
inconvenience may be remedied, and the mould-board be adjusted with great facility
and expedition, by the following means : — When the mould-board is formed, and its
plate fitted as usual, let the hind part be cut off, and again connected with the fixed part of
mould-board by means of flat hinges, or of thin flexible plates of tempered steel, or of
hard hammered iron, so as to admit of that part being set to have different inclinations
with the fixed part of the mould-board : by means of a screw passing from the inside
through the lower parts of the handle of the plough, opposite the back of this moveable
piece, the screw may be made to keep it at any desired degree of inclination, according
to the nature of the work to be performed." — This plough, however, has been but little
used, and does not seem to meet the approbation of the best cultivators.
2609. Turn-ivrest swing ploughs are such as admit of removing the mould-board
from one side to another at the end of each furrow, for the purpose of throwing the
earth removed always to one side. Their principal use is in ploughing across steep
declivities, in order that the furrow slice may always be thrown down. Wherever it is
practicable, however, it is best to plough obliquely up and down such declivities ; because
the other practice soon renders the soil too rich and deep at bottom, and too thin and
poor at top.
2610. Gray's turn-wrest swing plough (Jig. 300.) is one of the most scientific imple-
ments of the kind. The
beam, head, and sheath, must
always be placed in the di- ^
rection of a line passing along
their middle ; and the two
handles must be placed equi-
distant on each side of that
line. There are two mould-
boards and two coulters, and
a mould-board is produced on either side, at pleasure, by movdng the lever (a) between
the plough handles from the one side to the other. The line of draught can be shifted
with equal ease and expedition, and at the same time one of the coulters raised up clear
of the land, and placed along the side of the beam, whilst the other is put down, and
placed in a proper position for cutting off the furrow-slice from the furrow ground. All
this is performed at once, without the ploughman's changing his position, by means of
two levers (b, c, and d, o). We have already noticed (2597.) the mode in which the
double-moulding or earthing-up swing plough may be rendered a turn-wrest plough, of
a less perfect kind.
2611. Weatherleys moveable stilt plough {fig. 301.) is characterised by certain joints in
the stilts {a a), which admit
of raising or lowering the
handles at pleasure, so as to
suit the height of the plough- ^^<::^~^ ^"---^' v-- ^r^^c^-'-^ a
man. They also admit of ^^^^»^:;^^^I3^^^^»\$n^
taking off the stilts for the ^-^^ " 1/^
convenience of packing.
These joints are the invention of Weatherley, a Northumbrian agriculturist in the
service of Prince Esterhazy. The plough is manufactured by Weir of London, who
commonly adds to it the improved draught tackle (6).
2612. The ribbing plough is any of the above implements on a smaller scale, to be used
for the operation of ribbing, or laying leys or stubbles in small ridges.
2613. Bucket's sUm-coidter plough {fig. 302.) is said to be a valuable implement,
though not much in use. By it the
ground may be opened to any depth
in separate horizontal portions of
earth ; and, as (he weeds or grassy
surface are turned down in the first
operation, and covered by fresh earth
or mould from beneath, a larger
proportion of nourishment is supposed to be provided for the crop, while at the same
301
Book IV.
SWING PLOUGHS.
395
time it is rendered more clean, and the inconvenience of the roots of the grasses or other
plants wildly got rid of. It requires a strong team in the heavier sorts of soils, but this
is in some degree counterbalanced by the circumstance of one such ploughing being
mostly sufficient for the crop. It is, says a late theorist, consequently evident that, con-
sidering the number of ploughings generally given in the ordinary way of preparing
lands for a crop of barley or turnips, and under the fallowing system for wheat, and the
labour and expense in the latter case, in raking, picking, and burning weeds, the advan-
tages of this plough are probably greater than is generally supposed. It has also ad-
vantages in another point of view, which is, that the soil is increased in depth, and the
parts of it so loosened and broken down that the fibrous roots of the crops strike and
extend themselves more readily in it, and of course are better fed and supported. In thin
and sandy soils it is more particularly useful, because it cuts off all which is on the surface,
at the depth of an inch or an inch and a half, in order to its being laid in a state of decay,
for a future crop ; by which an increased depth of soil is given to every subsequent course
of crops, which often acts as a support, to keep up manures near the surface, as their
running through such soils too quickly is a disadvantage. It is also capable of being
made use of without a skim-coulter as a common plough.
2614. A skim-coulter may be added to any other plough, and may be useful in turning down green crops
and long dung, as well as in trench ploughing. But in most instances it is thought a preferable plan,
where the soil is to be stirred to an unusual depth, to make two common swing-ploughs follow each other
in the same track ; the one before taking a shallow furrow, and the other going deeper, and throwing up
a new furrow upon the former.
2615. The double share plough is distinguished by having one share fixed directly over
the other. It is made use of in some of the southern districts, with advantage, in putting
in one crop immediately after ploughing down another ; as by it a narrow shallow furrow
is removed from the surface, and another from below placed upon it, to such depth as
may be thought most proper, — it being capable of acting to ten inches or more. In this
manner many sorts of crops, such as rye and other green crops that have much height of
stem, may be turned down without the inconvenience of any of the parts sticking out
through the seams of the furrow slices, by which the farmer has a clean surface of mould
for the reception of the grain.
2616. The mining plough, or trenching plough, is sometimes employed for the purpose
of loosening the soil to a great depth, without bringing it up to the surface ; a mode of
operation which is particularly useful for various sorts of tap-rooted plants, as well as for
extirpating the roots of such weeds as strike deep into the ground. For these purposes
it may be employed in the bottom of the furrow after the common plough. It is con-
structed in a very strong manner, having a share but no mould-board. The share raises
the earth in the bottom of the furrow, and, passing on under what it has raised, leaves
the soil where it was found, but in a loosened state.
2617. Somerville' s double-furrow plough (Jig' 303.) is obviously advantageous in per-
303
forming more labour in a given time, with a certain strength of team, than other sorts of
ploughs, as producing two furrows at a time. It has been found useful on the lighter
sorts of land where the ridges are straight and wide, though some think it more confined
in its work than those of the single kind. The saving of the labour of one person, and
doing nearly double the work with but little more strength in the team, in the same time,
recommend it for those districts where four-horse teams are in use. This plough has
been brought to its present degree of perfection by Lord Somerville, especially by the
introduction of the moveable plates already mentioned (2607.), at the extremities of the
mould-board, as in His Lordship's single plough. But, as observed by an excellent
authority, " with all the improvements made by Lord Somerville, it can never come into
competition, for general purposes, with the present single-furrow ploughs." Lord S.
admits, that it would be no object to invade the system already established in well
cultivated counties ; though, where large teams are employed, with a driver besides the
ploughman, it would certainly be a matter of importance to use this plough, at least, on
light friable soils. '* Their horses," he says, " will not feel the difference between their
396
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
own single furrow, working one acre, and the well constructed two-furrow plough, with two
acres per day ; here is no system deranged, and double work done." (Comm. B. A. vol. ii.)
This plough is also of particular value for ploughing up and down steeps. (See 2627.)
2618. The Argyleshire plough differs from Small's, or any single swing plough, in
having no coulter fixed in the beam, but, in lieu of this, a fin or knife rising from the
left side of the share, which serves the purpose of slicing off the furrow as well as the
coulter. This fin or feather must be placed at the same angle as the coulter, and should
terminate in a lance-like shape, in order to furnish the least obstruction to stubble, weeds,
or stones. This plough is not liable to be choked by stubble, or thrown out by catching
small stones between the points of the coulter and sock. It is found particularly useful
in taking the earth away from the sides of a drill crop ; as its broad upright feather,
which operates as a coulter, completely shields the plants from all risk of earth falling on
them from the left side of the plough, while, at the same time, the ploughman ascertains
to a certainty, that the part of the plough below ground approaches no nearer to the roots
of the plants than the upper part does to their leaves ; so that he can bring the plough to
slice off the earth close in upon their sides, if necessary, In point of draught it is pre-
cisely the same as the common plough.
2619. The double mould-boarded j)lough is a kind of plough often used with advantage
in clearing out furrows, in setting potatoes, cabbages, and other similar crops, and in
earthing up such as are planted in wide rows. Those whose mould-boards move on
hinges, and may be set wide or narrow at pleasure, are the most convenient. A variety [
of tliis plough, made by Weir of London, admits of removing the mould-boards, and
fixing in curved coulters and hoes, for cleaning between drilled turnips and similar
crops.
2620. The binot is almost the same thing as the double mould-boarded plough, and
the one is commonly sold for the other, with no loss to the purchaser. It has two
mould-boards, one on each side of the beam. It is used in some soils in forming a ribbed
or ridged bed for wheat or other grains ; by which means, when the grain is sown over
the ribs or ridgelets in the broadcast manner, as it falls for the most part into the fur-
rows, or is harrowed into them, it comes up in rows. It is also used in earthing up
crops; and sometimes, in Flanders, but never by the best cultivators in ^j,gland, in
giving the first furrow to stubbles.
2621. The marking plough is used in straightening and regulating the distance of
ridges where the drill system is practised. Any plough with a rod fixed at right angles
to the beam, and a short piece depending from this rod, will trace a line parallel to the
furrow drawn by the plough, which line will serve for a guide as to the width of
ridges, &c.
2622. Clymers plough {Jig. 304.) is a recent modification of the implement,
formed entirely of iron, and chiefly re- g^^ 304
markable for the absence of the coulter,
or rather its attachment to the breast, and
for the share, mould board, and other parts
which move under ground, being com-
posed of distinct pieces of cast-iron. This
is considered as cheaper to commence with
and easier to repair, because any one part
may be renewed of the same material
without deranging the rest ; whereas renewing or repairing wrought-iron shares, mould-
boards, or coulters, is found in many districts both difficult and expensive. It has never
come into use.
2623. Stothard's plough is characterised by a perforated mould-board. The holes may
be in any form or dimensions ; and their object is to allow the air to pass through, and
thereby prevent the adhesion of wet earth, which it is contended adheres in ordinary
plbtighs with such a degree of tenacity as greatly to increase the friction, and diminish
th^ speed of the horses. (Newton s Journal, vol. ii. p. 335.)
^$^4. Morton's trenching plough (Jig. 305.) has two bodies (ab), the one working four
Book IV.
WHEEL PLOUGHS.
397
or six inches deeper than the other. The first (a) cuts or pares off" the surface to the
required depth, say five inches, and turns it over into the furrow, ten or twelve inches
deep, made by the main body. The second body generally works from ten to twelve
inches deep, but might be made to work to the depth of thirteen or fifteen inches ; upon
its mould-board is fonned an inclined plane, extending from the back part of the feather
of the sock or share (c) to the back part of the mould-board (d), where it terminates
about six inches above the level of the sole (e). This inclined plane raises the soil from
the bottom of the furrow, and turns it over on the top of that which has been laid in the
bottom of the previous
furrow by the body (a)
going before.
26^5. Gladstone's water-
furrowing plough ( Jigs.
306. and 307.) is used for
cleaning out the furrows of
anew-sown field, when the
nature of the soil, or the
inclination of the surface,
requires extraordinary at-
tention to leading off the
rain water. The beam (a),
handles (6), and sole (c),
of this plough are form-
ed in the usual manner
of double mould-board ploughs. The sole is five inches square, for the purpose of
forming a square bottom to the furrow. The two mould-boards (d) are loose, so as to
rise and fall witli the depth or shallov/ness of the furrow, being fastened only by the
centre pin (e) to the upright (f ). The mould-boards, or wings, as they are called, are
kept extended by a piece of iron (g) ; and this piece of iron has a number of holes in it,
so that, by means of a pin (h) it may be raised or lowered at pleasure, according to the
depth of the water furrow. The mould-boards are made of wood. Any old plough may
be converted into one of this description for a few sliillings.
2626. Draining ploughs are of various kinds, but none of them are of much use ; the
work can always be done better, and generally cheaper, by manual labour. As most of
these ploughs have wheels, we have included the whole of them in next subsection.
307
SuBSECT. 2. Wheel Ploughs.
2627. Wheel ploughs are of two kinds : those, and which are by far the most common,
where the wheel or wheels are introduced for the purpose of regulating the depth of the
furrow, and rendering the implement more steady to hold ; and those where the wheel is
introduced for the purpose of lessening the friction of the sole or share. This last
description of wheel plough is scarcely known, but it promises great advantages. The
former is of unknown antiquity, having been used by the Romans.
2628. Ploughs loith ivheels for regulation and steadiness vary considerably in their con-
struction in different places, according to the nature of soils and other circumstances ;
but in every form, and in all situations, they probably require less skill in the plough-
man. Wheels seem, indeed, to have formed an addition to ploughs, in consequence of
the want of experience in ploughmen ; and in all sorts of soil, but more particularly in
those which are of a stony and stubborn quality, they afford great assistance to such
ploughmen, enabling them to perform their work with greater regularity in respect to
depth, and with much more neatness in regard to equality of surface. From the friction
caused by the wheels, they are generally considered as giving much greater resistance,
and consequently demand more strength in the team that is employed ; and, besides, are
more expensive in their construction, and more liable to be put out of order, as well as
more apt to be disturbed in their progress by clods, stones, and other inequalities that
may be on the surface of the ground, than those of the swing kind. It is also observed,
*' that with ivheel ploughs workmen are apt to set the points of their shares too low, so as
by their inclined direction to occasion a heavy pressure on the wheel, which must pro-
ceed horizontally :" the effect of this struggle is an increased weight of draught, infinitely
beyond what could be supposed : for which reason, the wheel is to be considered as of no
importance in setting a plough for work ; but passing lightly over the surface, it will be
of material aid in breaking up old leys, or ground where flints, rocks, or roots of trees
occur, and in correcting the depression of the share from any sudden obstruction, as well
as in bringing it quickly into work again, wl.en thrown out towards the surface. (Com-
munications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 419.)
3 98
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
2629. The improved Scotch plough, with one or sometimes two wheels (Jig. 308.), fixed
near to the end of the beam, without any carriage, goes very light, and is very useful ;
such alterations as are necessary requiring very little time or trouble. Where two wheels
are employed, the plough does very well without a holder on a good tilth or light sward,
where there are few stones, except at the setting in and turning out. Wheel ploughs
should, however, probably be seldom had recourse to by the experienced ploughman,
though they may be more convenient and more manageable for those who are not per-
fectly informed in that important and useful art.
2630. The Beverston plough (Jig. 309.) was once considered a good wheel plough. It
has its principle of draught given it
in a very effective manner by an in-
genious contrivance of iron work, in
which, according to Lord Somerville,
" the point of draught is perpendi-
cularly above the point of traction,
or the throat or breast where the share
fits on."
2631. The Kentish and Herefordshire wheel ploughs are extraordinary clumsy imple-
ments of very heavy draught, and making, especially the former, very indifferent work.
They were figured by Blythe in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and seem to
have received no improvement since. The Kentish plough is generally made with a
turn-wrest, in order always to turn land downwards in ploughino- a hill ; but this as
Lord Somerville remarks, soon renders the summit of the hill or the upper side of the
field, where such a practice is persisted in, destitute of soil. A much better mode is to
plough up and down the steep, or diagonally across it. In either case the double mould-
board plough, invented by His Lordship, is of singular use, as one furrow only need be
taken in going up and two in coming down.
2632. The Norfolk wheel plough (Jig. 310.) has a clumsy appearance, from the great
bulk of its wheels and their carriage ;
but in light friable soils it does its
work with neatness, and requires only
a small power of draught.
2633. Ploughs with wheels for
diminvihing friction are of compara-
tively recent date. Morton, of Leith
walk, in 1813, conceived the idea of
introducing into the body of the plough a wheel about 15 inches in diameter, to act as
the sole, and made several exhibitions of a plough so constructed before the Dalkeith
Farming Society. (Gard. Mag. vol. v.) Wilkie, of Uddingston, brought forward a
similar plough in 1814, and Plenty, of London, in 1815. Liston, of Edinburgh, a few
years afterwards, brought forward a plough on the same principle ; but it never came
into use. Plenty's friction wheel plough has been occasionally used in England. It has
two wheels under the beam, and one behind the sole ; and, while the same plough with
two wheels requires a power of 4 cwt., those with a third or friction wheel, as Mr. Plenty
informs us, require only a draught of 3f^ cwt.
2634. Wilkie' s single horse wheel plough (Jig. 311.) was invented by the late Mr. Wil-
kie, and described by him in the Farmer s Magazine for November, 1814. It has the
Book IV. WHEEL PLOUGHS. 399
wheel (d) placed behind the sole, which, besides considerably reducing the weight
of draught, is found
to give a degree of '^^^^^^^vN.
steadiness seldom ex- >N.
ceeded in the use of N^-^
the common plough, ^>^\^ ^<-— — »,. ^v,^--^- ^ ...
except when quite ^ "T^--^^^^'^
new, or recently re- ^""^vT^^^J y^x \\ ^^''-''
paired with a new \SqI/~^^N^\^G^^^
sock and sole-shoe. ^^ i^T^'-y— ^^^^v^
At that period, when ejg. ^
the back end of the
sole is quite full and square, the common plough (when well constructed) goes as well as can
be wished for ; but, by the great friction of the sole, the back end of it soon becomes convex,
and, consequently, the plough loses the steady support of the extremity of the heel ; or,
in other words, in proportion as the sole becomes more convex, the fulcrum of the lever
is extended considerably forward, so as to be too near the centre of gravity. When that
is the case, the least obstruction at the point of the share hrows the plough out of the
ground. In order to remedy or counteract that tendency, the ploughman is obliged to
raise the point of draught at the end of the beam ; but this expedient, although it gives
the plough more hold by the point of the share, is attended with another inconvenience
fully as bad as the former ; for, when the point of the share meets with an obstruction as
before noticed, the heel of the plough is raised, on account of the point of draught being
fixed above the direct line of traction. Thus, the common plough, when the sole becomes
convex, is made to go very unsteadily, and often requires the utmost attention and exertions
of the ploughman to direct it. What is stated above, however, can only apply to the
common plough when out of order by the sole becoming convex.
2635. Placing the wheel. In order to understand in what manner the wheel ought to be placed so as
to reduce the friction, it may be necessary to remark that one of the first properties of a plough is to
be constructed in such a manner as to swim fair on the sole. This depends principally on the form of
the sole, and position or inclination of the point of the sock, together with the point of draught at the
end of the beam {a). If these are properly adjusted, the pressure or friction of the sole will be uniform
from the point of the share (6) to the back end of the heel [d) ; or, in other words, the friction will be
balanced between these two points by means of the beam {a) acting as a lever, the heel (d) being the
fulcrum, and a point over the share (c) the centre of gravity.
2636. The centre of gravity or of resistance will be extended nearer to the point of the share (5), in
proportion as the soil has acquired a greater degree of cohesion ; as in old pasture ground, or strong
clays. But, wherever the point of resistance meets, it is evident that the point of draught at the end
of the beam must be placed so as to balance the friction of the sole between its extreme points {b and a).
Viewing the machine, therefore (with regard to the friction of the sole), merely as a sledge carrying a
considerable weight, by which it is pressed equally to the bottom of the furrow at the extreme points
[b and rf), it is clear that, by substituting a wheel at the one point (d), the one half of the friction of
the sole will be thrown on the wheel. The draught is reduced by the wheel from forty to sixty-
six pounds, or from one seventh to one fifth (two hundred and eighty pounds being the power of
one horse.)
2637. Wilkies improved friction-wheel plough for two horses (Jig- 312.) was invented by
the late Mr. Wilkie in 1825, and is manufactured by his son at Uddingston, near
Glasgow. We consider this as by far the most perfect implement of the plough kind
that has hitherto been produced. The wheel («) is placed so as to incline from the
perpendicular, at an angle
^12 .^^^^^--» of about 30 degrees ; and,
following in the angle of
the furrow cut by the coul-
ter and share, it ensures a
greater degree of steadiness
in the motion of the plough
than when rolling only on
the bottom of the furrow.
The sock or share is of cast-iron, which is a great saving both in first cost and repairs ;
costing only one shilling, and ploughing at an average upwards of ten acres. Only the
coulter requires to be taken to the smithy, the share being renewed by the ploughman at
pleasure. The wheel, which is of cast-iron, will last many years. The draught of this
plough has been proved at a public ploughing match, in 1829, to be fully 30 per cent less
than that of the common scoring plough of the most improved form. The price is also
lower than that of any iron plough now in use. Mr. W. has lately made some of these
ploughs with a piece of mechanism attached to the wheel, by the revolution of which,
the quantity of ground passed over by the plough maybe indicated. (Gard. Mag.
vol. V.)
2638. The paring wheel plough is of various forms, though it is an implement seldom
required. It is used for paring the surface of old grass lands, or leys on clay
soil, where the turf is to be burned. A variety in use in the fen districts (^5. 313.),
400
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
a broad flat share which
313
ha,s a wheel (a) which cuts the turf, instead of a coulter ;
raises it, with a sharp fin or turned-up
part at the extremity (c), which cuts
the turf on that side, thus turning it
over in slices about a foot broad and
two inches deep. There is a foot (6)
from the forepart of the beam, which
serves to prevent the share from going
too deep.
2639. Clarke s draining plough {fig.
314.) was found to answer well in
meadow ground near Belford in Northumberland, but could not be drawn in stiff clay
'^ 314 with the force of eight horses.
2640. Gray^s draining plough (Jig.
_ 315.) seems one of the best. The beam
^"* is strongly fortified with iron, and is
always kept at a proper distance from
the surface of the ground, and also the
depth of the drain regulated by two wheels (« a) which turn on an iron axle, and
roll upon the surface on
each side of the drain.
The middle coulter Is made
to cut perjjendu niarly ;
consequently, the sii'e coul-
ters will cut the two sides of
the drain at an equal slope.
When this machine is at
work, the earth of the
drain is cut in the middle
by the foremost coulter,
and on each side by the
other two coulters. Then
the sharp point of the share
will cut up that earth
from its bed, and, as the
machine advances, it must
ascend on the surface of
the inclined plane ; at the same time, the fore-ends of the mould-boards, following
in the track of the middle coulter, will divide the slice of earth, as it rises, into
two equal parts, turning these parts gradually to each side ; and, as the back-ends of the
mould-boards extend farther than the breadth of the drain above, the portion of earth so
raised will be placed upon the firm ground, leaving the drain quite open. The frame
into which the axle is fixed may easily be either raised up or depressed, as the drain is to
be cut deep or shallow ; and the two outside coulters can easily be placed more or less
oblique, so as to cut the sides of the drain at a greater or less slope, as may be found
necessary. {Gray's Implements, ^c. 4to.)
2641. Morton's draining plough {fig- 316.) has three coulters (a a b), two mould-
boards (c c), and one share (d). The mould-boards have an inclined plane, formed upon
jr>
each (t' e), which rises from the share backwards to such a height above the level of the
sole as the drain is required to be made deep. The middle coulter separates the soil to
be lifted into two parts, and each part is raised to the surface by the inclined planes on
the mould-boards. The usual dimensions of the drain so formed are 10 or 12 inches
deep, 8 or 9 inches wide at bottom, and 14 or 15 inches wide at top ; but the construction
may be adapted to a smaller or a larger drain, or for cleaning out drains already made.
Book IV.
WHEEL PLOUGHS.
401
317
2642. The gutter plozigh {Jig. 317) is made use of for forming gutter drains in grass
lands, where the soil is of a retentive
nature. The power of six horses
is required in drawing it for the
first time ; but four horses are
found sufficient for opening the old
gutters.
2643. The mole plough {fig. 318.)
was invented by Adam Scott, and
improved by Lumbert of -Gloucester-
shire. It is said to be an implement which, in ductile soils and situations, as in pleasure-
318 cs/> grounds, and where much regard is
had to tlie surface-appearance of the
land, may be of considerable benefit
in forming temporary drains. .It
makes a drain without opening the
surface any more than merely for the
passage of a thin couUer, the mark
1 . t> •lo H- r";:j.v.-.-j.- . of which soon disappears: it is chiefly
employed in such grass-lands as have a declination of surface, and where there are not
naany obstructions to contend with; but some think it may be used in other kinds of
land, as on tunyp-grounds that are too wet for the. slieep to feed them off, or where, on
account of the wetness, the seed cannot be put into the earth. With this plough the
drains should be made at the distance of ten or fifteen feet in straight lines, and also
contrived so as to discharge themselves into one large open furrow, or grip, at tlie bottonx
of the field. As it requires greats strength tq^^draw this implement, it can only be used
where a good team is kept. _ Ii„_i^-^"^ /, ,= ;ii.i C ,^ ^vM ;i'^(\ rf
2644. Lumbert not only brought this plough to its present shape ; bw^r finding j^^ft,
surface greatly injured by the feet of so many horses as were found necessary to draw it,,,
he invented a piece of machinery (fig. 319.), consistuig of a windlass, frame, and auchpr.
-jilJ
■nit ')(1j (It
by which it is worked by the labour of four men. Young, and other members of thfei
Board of Agriculture, expressed themselves greatly enamoured of this plan j but it is
obviously too complicate and expensive for general U^e.
2645. A siibsequent improvement, by Lumbert, consisted itithfeajdditittrt6f a gin-v^e^l-'
and lever, by which the machine was worked by one horse walkahg round it, as in a
common horse-inill ; and this last form has again been improved by the late mechanist.
Weir, of Oxford-street, London, by the addition of a vertical cylinder, which winds up
the chain without any attention from the driver. Weir has also simplified and
strengthened this machine in other respects; so that Iiis modification of it (fi^* 320.) is.
-4' loj jii»I>un ^t*T
at present, by far the best. Still we think it an implement that very seidjm
caa be profitajjiy used c that this may be the case, the surface of the field
Dd
402 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
must have a natural drainage, by lying in one even slope or slopes ; it must be in pasture ;
and the soil must be of uniform consistency, and free from stones. But even where
these favourable circumstances combine, we think two swing ploughs, with finless shares,
following in the same track, would effect the same object sufficiently well for all agricul-
tural purposes; and for drains in ornamental grounds, no machine will ever equal
manual labour.
2646. The Duke of Bndgewnters draining plough (Jig. 321.) is used for making open
drains of a small size (c), regular shape, and from five to nine inches deep. Tlie
share (a) has a coulter (6) fixed to it, projecting upwards, to cut one side of the drain,
and another coulter (rf) fixed to the beam and also to the share at its lowest end. The
turf which is thus cut out passes between the coulter (d) and the mould-board (e?), and
is thus lifted clearly out of the trench. The depth of the drain is regulated by the wheels
at the fore end of the beam (/). This plough is drawn by four or six horses.
2647. Various draining ploughs have been invented and tried by Arbuthnot, Makie,
M'Dougal, Green, Pearson, and others. Pearson's will be afterwards figured and described.
2648. The pressing plough is properly a roller, and will be found noticed among
machines of that class.
2649. The only essential plough to be selected from these three sections is the improved
Scotch swing plough, with or without one or two wheels, according to circumstances ;
and with the mould-board, share, and coulter, set to suit different soils, as flinty, chalky,
&c. ; or soils in different states of culture, as old turf, heath, steep banks, ley, &c.
SuBSECT. 3. Tillage Implements, known as Scarifiers, Scufflers, Cultivators, and Grubbers.
2650. The use of pronged implements, as substitutes for the plough, is of compaiatively
recent date. They differ from the plough in stin-ing the soil without reversing its
surface or altering its form, unless, indeed, they in some cases tend to even or level
inequalities ; they act both as the plough and harrow at the same time, and on suitable
soils, and at proper seasons, much more labour is effected with less expense of men and
cattle. Wherever, therefore, lands require to be stirred for any purpose except that of
reversing the surface, or laying them into beds or ridges, recourse may be had to pronged
tillage implements, such as we are about to describe.
26^1. In estimating the value of pronged tillage implements. General Beatson [New System of Cultivation,
1820) applies the principle of lessening power and employing time. He says, if we apply the principle of
petty operations to any stift" land, by taking that depth of furrow which can easily be ploughed with two
horses, and repeat the operation (or plough the land a second time), we shall arrive at the end proposed,
that is, the same depth cf ploughing, with absolutely less exertion of animal strength than if we were to
plough the same depth with four horses at one operation.
26;J2 This may be illustrated by supposing the resistances to the plough to be in proportion to the
squares of the depth of the land. If so, and we are to plough at once with four horses, six inches deep,
the resistance at that depth would be 6 x 6 ^ 36 : but if with the same four horses, using two at a time,
we plough the same depth of six inches at two operations, taking only three inches at each, then the
square of the first depth is 9, and the square of the second, 9; making 18 for the total resistance, or the
power expended by the two horses, in ploughing six inches deep, at two operations.
2653. A farther illmtration may be made by supposing the same four horses, which had ploughed at
once six inches deep, and had overcome the resistance of 6 x 6 := 36, applied, separately, to four light
ploughs, or other implements, and to plough only l^ inch deep at a time, and to go over the same land
four times. In this case the sum of all the resistances to be overcome, or the animal force expended, in
these repeated ploughings, would be no more than 9 instead of 36 ; because the square of 1^ = 2^, which,
multiplied by the four ploughings, gives 9, or only one fourth of the power expended in ploughing at once
six inches deep. Hence it appears, that in ploughing six inches deep, with four horses, each horse exerts
a force = 9 ; whereas in taking only 1| inch deep, the force he exerts is not more than 2^.
2654. Farther, supposing that a horse exerts, in drawing a plough, a force of 160 pounds, it is evident,
if four horses are ploughing six inches deep, the total force exerted will be 640 pounds, or 160 pounds by
each ; but if they be required to plough one inch and a half deep at a time, then the total force expended
by the four horses will be only 160 pounds, or iO pounds by each horse.
265.5. Application. This leads General B. to the principle on which his small scarifiers are constructed.
" They have," he says, " four hoe-tines in the hind bar, and I will suppose that there are four harrow-
tines (instead of three) in the front bar, so that each scarifier may be considered as four small ploughs,
with four shares and four coulters. If we suppose one horse attached to this implement, and that the
force he exerts is 160 pounds, it is obvious that in scarifying to the depth of one inch and a half, he will
exert these 160 pounds upon the four pairs of tines, or a force of 40 pounds upon each pair. But, in fact,
the force required to draw the scarifier will be considerably less than to draw any form of plough, because
the hoe, or share-tines, being much thinner and sharper than a ploughshare and mould-board, will of
course meet with much less resistance in stirring the soil" General B. goes on to relate some experiments
by which he considers he has " clearly proved that the least expensive method of preparing the land for
wheat, after tares, beans, peas, or clover, is simply by using the scarifiers." This we conceive is carrying
Book IV.
SCARIFIERS AND GRUBBERS.
403
the use of the scarifier much too far. We think it is a sufficient illustration of its value that it may be
used in stirring lands on which potatoes or turnips have grown, or that has been ploughed in autumn or
during winter, so that a crop may be sown in spring without farther use of the plough. In working
fallows, and preparing for turnips and potatoes, it may save two or three furrows. {Supp. Ency. Brit, art
Agr. and Farm. Mag.)
2656. Wilkies parailel adjusting brake, or cultivator {Jig' 322.), appears to us decidedly
the most perfect implement of this description. The prongs of such implements,
mechanically considered, are bent levers {Jig. 323.), of which the fulcrum is at a, the
power at b, and the weight , ^
or resistance at c. The im- ^,^^^ a ^^^ X^ S)
provement of Mr. Wilkie X^^-^^j -: y^y^ lf^
consists in adopting a curve
(d b)y for the resisting part
of the lever, and thus bringing into action the principle of tension, instead of mere
resistance to fracture in the resisting part of the lever. {Gard. Mag. vol. v. p, 655.)
The parallel movement has the advantage of instantaneously adjusting the implement to
any depth that may be required. Besides the ordinary purposes of a cultivator, this brake
or harrow may serve the other tillage purposes following : — 1. By attaching tines with
triangular feet, it makes a scarifier ; or, in place of tines, one large triangular blade
suspended from each of its extremities or angles. 2. By substituting cutting wheels in
place of tines, it is converted into a sward cutter. 3. From its extreme accuracy of
adjustment it will make an excellent diill, or libbing machine, and may be made to sow
at the same time. And 4. and finally, if steam is destined ever to supersede the labour
of horses in drawing the plotigh, this machine, from its peculiar formation and mode of
management, will afford the greatest facility for trying the experiment, as it may be made
to take a number of furrows at once.
2657. FinlaysorCs self-cleaning cultivator, or harrow (Jig. 324.), is formed of iron, and.
according to the inventor, has the following advantages : — 1 . From the position in which
the tines are fixed, their points (a a a a a) hanging nearly on a parallel to the surface of
the land, it follows, that this implement is drawn with the least possible waste of power.
2. From the curved form of the tines, all stubble, couch, &c. that the tines may encounter
in their progress through the soil, is brought to the surface, and rolled up to the face of
the tines ; when it loses its hold, and is thrown off (at b b b b b), always relieving itself
from being choked, however wet or foul the land. 3. The mode by which this harrow
can be so easily adjusted to work at any depth required, renders it of great value ; this is
done as quick as thought by moving the regulator (c) upwards or downwards between
the lateral spring (de) ; and by each movement upwards into the openings (J'g h i k),
the fore tines (1 1 1 1) will be allowed to enter the soil about an inch and a half deeper by
each movement into the different spaces, until the regulator is thrown up to (e), when
the harrow is given its greatest power, and will then be working at the depth of eight or
nine inches. Also the axletree of the hind wheels is moved betwixt o and p, a space of
Dd 2
404
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
seven or eight inches, by a screw through the axletree, which is turned by a small handle
(g), so that the hind part of the harrow, by this simple mode, is also regulated to the
depth at which it is found necessary to work. 4. When tlie harrow is drawn to the head
or foot lands, the regulator is pressed down to d, and the fore wheel (w) is then allowed
to pass under the fore bar (?i), by which the nose of the harrow is lifted, and the points
of the fore tines {1 1 1 1) will then be taken two or three inches out of the soil, which affords
the means of turning the harrow with the greatest facility. 5. Being made of malleable
iron, its durability may be said to be endless ; whereas, if made of wood, the prime cost
would be entirely lost at the end of every five or six years. Lastly, the mode of working
is so easy, that any boy of ten or twelve years of age is perfectly qualified to manage it.
Next to Wilkie's brake, we consider this the most valuable of pronged implements, and
tliink that, like Wilkie's implement, it might be substituted for the plough, after drilled
green or root crops, on light soils generally. Some account of the astonishing powers of
the implement, as exemplified in breaking up Hyde Park, London, in 1826, will be found
in the Gardener's Magazine, vol. ii. p. 250.
2658. Weir*s improved cultivator {Jig. 325.) is a very effective implement of this kind,
326 ^T-'-T^^^' ^^^:'
^
— * »• 3.
i
'^
•
.^—^
1
-= f^
i
-
.
i-^
<-*-•
■K
with nine coulters or prongs. It may be set to go more or less deep by raising or
lowering both the fore and hind wheels.
2659. The Scotch cultivator or grubber (Jig. 326.) was formerly considered one of the
best implements of this kind, as a substitute
for the plough ; but it has since been super-
seded by Finlayson's self-cleaning harrow.
It consists of two strong rectangular frames,
the one including the other, and nine bars
mortised into the inner one, with eleven
coulters or prongs with triangular, sharp-
edged, dipping feet, four cast-iron wheels,
and two handles. All the cutters are fixed
in these bars, except two which are placed
in the side beams of the outer frame, and
may be set to go more or less deep by means
of pins and wedges. It works as deep as
the plough has gone ; and by the reclined
position of the coulters, brings to the surface all the weed roots that lurk in the soil.
^_ Beans and peas have been sovra in
^=^- '^ ^ spring on the winter furrow, after beng
stirred by the grubber ; and barley also
after turnips, without fmy ploughing
at all. This implement is made of
different sizes, and may be worked either
by four or by two horses, and one man.
2660. Parkinson's cultivator (Jig.
327. ) has been found a very useful im-
plement, both for stirring and cleaning
land. Its inventor recommends that
where the land is foul from couch, sods, or any other cause, the number of teeth or hoes
should be reduced to five or seven ; two or three being placed in the fore bull, and four
in the hindermost j increasing them to nine as the land becomes in a fine condition.
Book IV.
HORSE HOES.
405
9661. The chain hy which this cultivator or scarijier is drawn, enables the person that
holds it to work it better, than if it were drawn by a beam like a plough, and occasions
also less draught by the power being nearer to the claws ; the machine goes more freely
than it would if some of the claws were in the fore bull, the sole use of that bull being to
draw by. When the scarifier was made in a triangular form, and with the same number
of claws, it was apt to go on its head, or by raising the hindmost claws out of the ground
to work frequently at one corner only. The claws are formed at the bottom with a point,
so as to push a stone out of the way before the broad part can meet with any obstruction,
which makes the machine cut with much greater ease. As to their width at the foot,
they may be made to cut all the land more clearly than a plough if required, where
tliistles, fern, &c. grow, and the claw is so formed by its crooked direction as to raise
every obstruction to the top, rock excepted
2662. Hal/ward's cultivator (Jig. 328
328.) or, as it is called, extirpator,
or scalp plough, is used on land
already ploughed. Its hoes or
scalps are intended to pierce about
two inches at each operation ; so '
that by repeatedly passing it over
the surface, the land will be stirred
as deep as the plough has gone.
2663. Beatsons cultivator (Jig. 329.) is recommended by the inventor for its lightness:
it is intended, as before observed (2650.), to effect
by reiterated application what is done by the
large Scotch cultivator at once ; by which means a
saving of power is obtained, but with a loss of time,
as is usual in all similar cases.
2664. The only essential tillage implement of the
2)ro7ig kind is Wilkie's brake, which, taking it alto-
gether, we consider to be one of the most perfect implements ever invented. The next
is Finlayson's harrow, also a most excellent implement. The other cultivators and brakes
are so far inferior, that they may be considered as reduced to historical merit ; and we
have therefore retained them chiefly for the purpose of showing the progress which has
been made in this department of agricultural mechanism.
SuBSECT. 4. Tillage Implements of the Hoe Kind.
2665. Of horse hoes there is a great variety, almost eveiy implement-maker having
his favourite form. They are useful for stimng the soil in the intervals between rowed
crops, especially turnips, potatoes, and beans. Respecting the construction of horse hoes
it may be observed that soils of different textures will require to be hoed with shares of
different forms, according to their hardness, or mixture of stones, flints, or gravel. The
number of hoes also in hard soils requires to be diminished ; in the case of a stony clay,
one hoe or flat share, with or without one or two coulters or prongs, will often be all that
can be made to enter the ground. In using these implements, the operator should
always consider whether he will produce most benefit by merely cutting over or rooting
up the weeds, or by stirring the soil ; because the hoe suited for the one purpose is by no
means well adapted for the other. In the former case flat shares are to be preferred,
but pointed, that they may enter the soil easily ; in the latter, coulters or prongs, as in the
cultivators, are much more eflTective, as they will enter the soil and stir it to a considerable
depth, thus greatly benefiting the plants by the admission of air, heat, dews, and rain,
and by rendering it more permeable by the roots.
2666. JVUkie's horse hoe and drill harroio (fg. 330.), is a very superior implement,
intended to be introduced between the drills as soon as the plants appear above ground.
406
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
and the operation is repeated at intervals till the crop is thoroughly cleaned. The
centre hoe is stationary, and the right and left expand and contract in the same manner
as in the horse hoe. The depth is regulated by the wheel at the point of the beam, and
may be varied from one to six inches. The hoes cut the bottom of the space between
the drills completely, while the harrow following, pulverises the soil, and rakes out the
weeds. Should circumstances require, the wings of the harrow may be taken off, and
the hoes only used ; or the hoes displaced, and the harrow only employed. This imple-
ment was invented by the late Mr. Wilkie of Uddingston, near Glasgow, in 1820, and
is the first instance of the cyCxOid form being adopted in hoes or prongs. Afterwards
Mr. Finlayson applied this form to his harrow; and subsequently Mr. Wilkie, junioi, of
Uddingston, to his admirable brake (2655.)
2667. Finlayson s self-cleaning horse hoe and drill harrow {Jig. 331.) is an excellent
implement, and as a harrow is preferable to that of Wilkie (2665.), from whose imple-
ment it diiBfers chiefly in being more a harrow than a hoe, and in every prong being
calculated for cleaning itself.
2668. Wilkie s horse hoe and drill plough is considered an effective implement. The
mould-boards are taken off when used as a horse hoe, and the hoes taken oft' and the
mould-boards replaced when earthing up the crops ; thus combining, in one implement,
a complete horse hoe and double mould-board plough. A good horse hoe being the
principal object in the construction of this implement, the method of fixing the hoes
claimed particular attention, in order to combine lightness with strength and firmness,
and admit, at the same time, of being set at different degrees of width and depth, all of
which are accomplished on an improved principle. The wheel at the point of the beam
regulates the depth ; the right and left hoes are hinged, at the back end, to the handles
of the plough, while by moving on the circular cross bar, on which they are fastened
with wedges, they may be set to any width, from about twelve to nearly twenty-four
inches.
2669. Weirs expanding horse hoe bears a considerable resemblance to Wilkie's imple-
ment. It has circular coulters, hoe-tines, and a double mould-board. When used for
earthing up potatoes, the mould-boards and coulter are put on ; when used as a hoe, the
cui-ved coulters are put in the expanding bar according to the width between the rows.
2670. Blakie's inverted horse hoe {Jig. 332.) consists of a line of coulters set in a beam,
and this beam attached to
the axle of a pair of com-
mon wheels. It hoes seve- t=:;;~0^ 332
ral rows at once, and instead
of being straight the coulters
are all curved or kneed, and
set back to back so as to
include a row between each
pair. The advantage of the
kneed or bent form of the
lower part of the coulter is,
that the soil is pared off in a
sloping direction from the
plants, which are thus not
so liable to be choked up
with earth, as by a broad hoe
or share ; or to have their roots so much exposed to the air as by cutting perpendicularly
oown close to the row, by a common coulter. It is chiefly adapted for drilled corn, and
tnen It works several rows : in turnips it may work one or two according to the soil ; in
all cases where the width between the rows admits, the agricultor should be more anxious
Book IV.
HORSE HOES.
407
to stir the soil to a good depth than to skim over a great extent of surface, merely cutting
over the weeds. ^^
•2671. The Scotch horse hoe '^'^
(Jig. 333.) has three hoes or
shares, and is drawn by a single
horse. By means of the wheel
it can be set to go to any depth ;
and in hard surfaces, one share
or more can be taken out, and
coulters or bent prongs, as in
the cultivator (Jig. 325.), sub-
stituted.
2672. The Northumberland
horse hoe (see Report, ^c- p.
43.) is of a triangular form,
and contains three coulters and
three hoes, or six hoes, accord-
ing to the state of the soil. In hoeing between drills of turnips, the two side coulters
are used of a curved form. A hoe of the same kind is sometimes attached to a small
roller, and employed between rows of wheat and barley,
334
from nine to twelve inches
distant; it is also used in
place of a cultivator, in pre-
paring bcan-stubbles for
wheat in autumn, and in
pulverising lands for barley
in spring.
2673. Henry's improved
scarifier (,fig. 334.) is astrong
light implement, which may
be set to any width, and in
foot soils will be found ef-
fective.
2674. Anios^s expanding horse hoe and harrow (Jig. 335.) is said to be much used
in Lincolnshire. The hoe is constructed with expanding shares (a a), which can be
set to different distances, as it may be required, within the limits of twelve and thirty
inches. The harrow which is attached to it is found advantageous in clearing lands
from successive crops of weeds, as well as in
bringing them to a proper state for the purpose of
cropping ; serving in this respect as a cultivator.
2675. Jlie hoe and castor wheel (Jig. 336.) is
said to enable the holder to guide the shares more
correctly between narrow rows of corn drilled
on a flat surface. It is not often required, and
must be unnecessary if the rows have been cor-
rectly sown.
438
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
3.'J7
2676. The thistle hoe or hoc scijthe {Jig. 337.) is an invention by Amos. " It is used,"
he says, *' for the purpose of cutting over thistles, and other injurious weeds in pasture
lands. In the execution of the ^
work it not only greatly re-
duces the expense, but executes
it in a much closer manner
than the common scythe. One
man and a horse are said to
be capable of cutting over
twenty acres in a day. The
leading share (a) is made of
cast steel, in the form of an
isosceles triangle, whose equal
sides are fourteen inches long,
and its base twelve inches ;
it is about one eighth of an
inch thick in the middle,
tapering to a very fine edge on
the outsides ; and the scythes
(6 66; are fixed to four pieces
of ash wood, three inches
square, and two feet four
inches long. These scythes
are three feet long from point
to point, four inches broad at
the widest part, and made of cast steel. The agriculture, where such a machine as this
is wanted, must surely be of a very rude and imperfect kind ; for even supposing the
machine to cut over the thistles, that operation cannot be so effectual as cutting them
under the collar by hand with the spade or spud.
2677. The only essential implements of this class are those of Wilkie and Finlayson.
Sect. II. Machines for Sowing and Flanting.
2678. Machines for sowing or planting in rows are very various, and often too compli-
cated. Harte says, the first drill machine was invented by a German, and presented to
the court of Spain in 1647 ; but it appears, from a communication to the Board of
Agriculture, that a sort of rude diill or drill plough has been in use in India from time
immemorial. Their use is to deposit the seed in equidistant rows, on a flat surface ; on
the top of a narrow ridge ; in the interval between two ridges ; or in the bottom of a
common furrow. Corn, when drilled, is usually sown in the first of these ways ; turnips
in the second ; and peas and beans in the third and fourth. The practice of drilling corn
does not, however, seem to be gaining ground ; and even where it is found of advantage
to have the plants rise in parallel rows, this is sometimes done by means of what is called
ribbing, a process more convenient in many cases than sowing with a drilling machine.
2679. Of com diills, Cooke's improved drill and horse hoe (fg. 338.), though not the
most fashionable, is one of the most useful
implements of this kind on light dry soils, on
even surfaces, and in dry climates. It has been
much used in Norfolk and Suffolk, and many
other parts of England. The advantages of this
machine are said to consist, — 1. In the wheels
being so large that the machine can travel on
any road without trouble or danger of breaking ;
also from the farm to the field, &c. without
taking to pieces. 2. In the coulter-beam (a),
with all the coulters moving with great ease,
on the principle of the pentagraph, to the right
or left, so as to counteract the irregularity of
the horses* draught, by which means the drills may be made straight ; and, where lands
or ridges are made four and a half, or nine and a half feet wide, the horse may always
go in the furrow, without setting a foot on the land, either in drilling or horse hoeing.
3. In the seed supplying itself regularly, without any attention, from the upper to the
lower boxes, as it is distributed. 4. In lifting the pin on the coulter-beam to a hook on
the axis of the wheels, by which means the coulters are kept out of the ground, at the end
of the land, without the least labour or fatigue to the person who attends the machine.
5. In going up or down steep hills, in the seed-box being elevated or depressed
accordingly, so vs to render the distribution of the seed regular; and the seed being
Book IV.
DRILL MACHINES.
409
covered by a lid, and thus screened from wind or rain. Tlie same machine is easily
transformed into a cultivator, horse hoe if-g. 339.), scarifier, or grubber, all which
operations it performs exceedingly vv^ell ;
and by substituting a corn-rake, stubble-
rake, or quitch-rake, for the beam of
coulters, or hoes (a), it will rake coni-stub-
bles, or clean lands of root weeds. When
corn is to be sown in rows, and the intervals
hoed or stirred, we scarcely know a machine
superior to this one ; and from being long in
a course of manufacture, few can be made
so cheap. But these advantages, though
considerable in the process of drilling, are
nothing, when compared with those which
arise from the use of the horse hoe ; with
which from eight to ten acres of land may
be hoed in one day, with one man, a boy,
and one horse, at a trifling expense, in a style
far superior to, and more effectual than, any hand-hoeing whatever; also at times and
seasons when it is impossible for the hand-hoe to be used at all.
2680. 27ie Norfolk drill, or improved lever drill {fg- 340.), is a corn drill on a larger
scale than Cooke's, as it sows a breadth of nine feet at once : it is chiefly used in the light
soils of Norfolk and Suffolk as being more expeditious than Cooke's, but it also costs
about double the sum.
2681. Cooke's three-row com drill is the large machine in a diminutive form, and is
exceedingly convenient for small demesne farmc where great neatness is attended to. It
can be used as a cultivator, hoe, rake, &c., like the other.
2682. Morton's improved grain drill-machine [Jig' 341.) is decidedly the simplest and
best of corn drills. In
tliis machine three
hoppers are included
in one box, the seed
escaping out of all the
three by the revolution
of three seed cylin-
ders upon one axle ;
. and drills of different
• breadths are produced
simply by the shifting
of a nut, that fixes a
screw moving in a
groove in the undcr-frarae, by which the distance betw een the two outside conductors and
410
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
the central cne (which is fixed) can be varied from nine to ten or eleven inches ; and that
the two small wheels may always be at the same distances respectively as the conductors,
there are two washers (hollow cylinders), an inch in breadth, on the axle-arms of each,
which may be transferred either to the outside or inside of the wheels, so as to make their
distances from the outside conductors nine, ten, or eleven inches respectively also.
The small wheels may be raised or depressed, so as to alter the depth at which the seed
shall be deposited, by the action of a wedge, which retains the upright part of the axle
in any one of a number of notches, which are made similarly in both, and which are
caught by an iron plate on the upper side of the arms which carry the axles. This
machine may be still farther improved by increasing the number of conductors to five
instead of three ; the latter number giving too light work to the horses. {Highland Soc.
Trans, vol. vii.)
2683. Of bean dri'ls there are three kinds, all equally good : one for sowing in prepared
drills or after the plough, which is pushed by manual labour, and has been already
described (2574.) : one attached to a light plough, which draws a furrow in prepared soil,
and sows a row at the same time
{Jig. 342.); and one which can be
fixed between the handles of any
common plough for the same purpose.
The former has a wheel (a) to re-
gulate the depth of the furrow, and a
lever (6, to throw the drill out of gear
on turning at the ends of the ridges.
It is a useful and very effective im-
plement ; though a skilful plough-
man will effect the same object by a
drill placed between the handles of a common swing plough.
2684. Weirs expanding bean drill to sow four rotvs is aflSxed to a pair of wheels and
axle, in the manner of Cooke's drill. The axle which passes through the drill boxes has
four movable brushes and cylinders, by which means any widths, within that of the axle,
can be given. Where ground is prepared and ribbed, and where there is not a Cooke's
drill on the premises, this machine may be resorted to with convenience.
2685. The block-plovgh drill is an equiangular triangular block, 30 inches to a side,
with cast-iron scuffler teeth and wooden blocks slipped over them. A field being ribbed
or laid up in ridgelets with this implement, is next sown broadcast with wheat and
bush-harrowed, by which the grain rises in rows, as accurately as if sown with the drill.
{Farm. Mag. vol. xxiii. p. 406.)
2686. Machines for dibbling beans, impelled by manual 1 bour, have been already noticed
(2574.). A horse dibbling machine {Jig. 343. ) has been invented, though very little used,
and being rather complicated in its movements, it will require considerable simplification
before it can be recommended. A heavy cast-iron roller, with protruding angular rings,
might form drills for the beans, and, probably, some machine of this sort might distri-
bute them singly or nearly so, and at regular distances : but the best cultivators prefer
sowing in drills, more thickly than in dibbling, in order to admit of a wide interval for
Book IV.
DRILL MACHINES.
411
culture, so as not only to clean the surface as between dibbled rows, but to stir and
work the soil, and produce a sort of semi-fallow.
2687. Of turnip drUls, the
best, when this root is cultivat-
ed on a large scale, is the im-
proved Northumberland drill.
(Jig. 344. ) The roller(a) which
goes before the seed has two
concavities, and thus leaves the
two ridgelets in the very best
form for the seed ; after these
are sown, two light rollers (6 b)
follow and cover them. It is
drawn by one horse, sows two
rows at once, and seldom goes
out of repair.
2688. Common's (sometimes
French's) turnip drill (fig. 345.) is
generally considered one of the best.
Common was a cartwright at Den-
wick, near Alnwick, and received a
medal Irom the Society of Arts, and
twenty guineas from the Highland
Society, for his invention, in 1818.
He made the machine of wood ; but
iron being found so much more suit-
able and durable, the manufacture
of Common's drills fell into the
hands of blacksmiths, and chiefly of
French of Alnwick, from which cir-
cumstance it is frequently known
by that maker's name. The machine
is easily put in and out of gear by
means of a lever (a) ; and since it has
become the fashion to sow pulverised manure with turnip seed, two hoppers {b b) have been added for
that purpose. The seed and ma-
nure, when deposited in the gutter
traced by the coulters (c c) are co-
vered by two small flat rollers, as in
the common Northumberland drill.
Common's machine is not yet per-
fect ; the seed is not measured out
with suflicient accuracy, and it
stands too high from the ground,
gets top heavy, and on hill sides
does not sow the seed in the middle
of the drill furrow : it is best made
with two wheels, which steadies it
in all situations ; the funnels, being
still attached to the guards of the
concave shifting rollers, deposit the
seed with much more neatness and
accuracy. {J. C. It. near Alnivick.)
2689. The Northujyiberland
(me-row turnip drill (Jig. 346.)
has two wheels which run in the hollows on each side of the drill or ridgelet to be sown ;
by which means the sower
is enabled to keep the row
exactly in the centre of the
drill. The ridgelets are pre-
viously rolled, either by a
common or concave roller ;
the latter being preferable :
and as the horse goes in
the furrow at one side of the
drill to be sown, of course
he draws from one side of
the draught-bar of the bar-
row. A small roller fol-
lows, and covers and presses
in the seed. A recent im-
provement in this machine
is the addition of a hopper (a) for pulverised manure, over which a barrel of water might
easily be suspended, if deemed requisite.
2690. Weirs manuring one-row turnip drill (Jig. 347.) is a remarkable improvement
on the Northumberland implement. It has a manure hopper (a) and a seed hopper (b),
the same as the other j but the manure, in place of being dropped along with the seed,
345
412
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
is deposited in a deep gutter made by a coulter (c) which goes before ; this manure is
covered by a pronged coulter (d) which follows the other ; next comes the coulter
which forms the gutter for the seed (e). The
seed is thus deposited about one inch above the
manure. One roller of the concave kind goes
before the machine, and another light one of the
common kind follows after it : or, without at-
tached rollers, the drill may be affixed to one side
of the common roller behind, which roller may
prepare one drill and cover the seed sown on
another each course.
2691. The dnll roller is so contrived as to form regular small incisions or drills in the
ground, at proper depths for the seed. It is merely a common roller, mostly of iron,
about seven feet long, about which are put cutting-wheels of cast iron, that turn round
the common cylinder, each independently of the others, which cylinder generally weighs
about a ton. It is drawn by three or four horses abreast, and driven by a man elevated
beliind them ; the cutting-wheels, being movable, may be fixed at any distance, by means
of washers ; but the most common and favourite distance is four to six inches. It is
said to have been found effectually productive of the principal benefits which have been
derived from the operation of drill ploughs, or the practice of dibbling and setting the
corn by hand, with the great advantage of saving both time and expense ; as by the use
of this simple machine, one man may sow and cover five or six acres of corn in one day,
using for the purpose three horses, on account of its weight. It was at first chiefly used
on clover or other grass leys on the first ploughing, but may be as properly employed on
land which has been three or four times ploughed. The mode of working it is this : —
" A clover ley or other ground being ploughed, which the cultivator intends for
setting or dibbling with wheat, the roller is drawn across the furrows, and cuts
the whole field into little drills, four inches asunder ; the seed is then sown broad-
cast in the common quantity, and the land bush-harrowed ; by which means the
seed is deposited at one equal depth, as in drilling, and that depth a better one than in
setting, and the crop rises free from the furrow-seams, which are the ill effects of common
broadcast sowing, at least on a ley ploughed once." To us this machine, so much
praised by some writers, seems merely an ingenious mode of increasing the expenses of
culture. By the use of a plough, such as Small's, that will cut a square furrow, no machine
of this sort can possibly become necessary. The land when ploughed will be left in
little drills, and being sown broadcast, the seed will come up as if it had been drill -
rolled or ribbed. It is admitted, however, that the pressure of the roller may be
useful in soft lands, and may, possibly, keep down tlie wire-worm. For this purpose
we have the pressing plough. (27 1 5. )
2692. The drill-watering machine (Jig. 348.) is an implement of recent invention by
John Young, a surgeon, in Edinburgh. It is used for watering turnips and other drill
crops in dry seasons ; and promises to be a valuable assistant to the amateur agricul-
turist, in dry seasons or situations, or where it is an important object to secure a crop.
It has been much approved of by the Highland Society of Scotland and the Dalkeith
Book IV.
HARROWS.
413
Farmtrs' Society. (See Farm. Mag. vol. xxi. p. 1.) The macliine consists of a barrel,
which is mounted upon a cart frame, and discharges water from a ball stop-cock having
four mouths (a) communicating by means of a leathern hose with four horizontal tubes
{h b h b), shut up at the end by a screw (c), which admits of the tube being cleaned.
The tubes are placed parallel with the diills, two between the wheels of the cart, and one
on the outside of each wheel ; the distance of the tubes, and their height from the surface,
are regulated by hooks and chains ; and the water is discharged in small streams, through
twenty projecting apertures in the under part of the tubes. The tubes are suspended by
chains to the hooks in an iron rod secured to the fore and back part of the frame of the
cart. The mouth of the funnel on the top of the barrel is covered with a wire-cloth, to
prevent any thing getting in to clog the apertures. The quantity of water let out by the
apertures being less than what is received into the tubes, the tubes are always full ; by
which a regular discharge is kept up from all the apertures at the same time. As the
machine advances, the stream which falls from the first aperture upon the plants is
followed up by successive streams from all the apertures in the tube ; therefore each plant
must receive the discharge from twenty apertures.
2693. Estimate of its operation. — Supposing the barrel to contain 200 gallons, and the tubes to be five
feet long, the diameter of the tubes three eighths of an inch, and the diameter of the apertures in the
tubes one sixteenth of an inch, 200 gallons will be discharged from 80 such apertures in two hours
one third. The diameter of the mouths of the stop-cock must be equal to the diameter of the tubes. The
horse, going at the rate of 2^ miles in one hour, in two hours and twenty minutes will go 5 miles five-
sixths. The distance between four drills is 6 feet 9 inches; therefore, if we suppose a parallelogram to
be 6 feet 9 inches broad, and 5 miles five sixths long, the area of this parallelogram will be 4 acres 3 roods
le perches, which will be watered by 200 gallons in two hours and twenty minutes : and in one hour
will be watered 2 acres 727 perches, supposing the water to flow uniformly; but the quantity given out
upon the drills must be regulated by the progressive movement of the machine.
2694'. In construction it is neither complicated nor expensive : it may be erected upon the frame of a
cart used for other purposes in husbandry ; and the barrel and apparatus may be furnished for about six
pounds sterling, supposing the stop-cock and connecting-screws to be made of brass, and the tubes of
copper or tin. This machine may be used for other purposes ; such as the application of urine as a
manure, or of a solution of muriate of soda, which has been proposed for some crops.
2695. The best drill machines are French's and Weir's for turnips, Morton's for corn,
and the drill attached to a plough (2686.) for beans.
Sect. III. Harrows or Pronged Im,plements for scratching the Surface Soil, for
covering the Seed, and for other purposes.
2696. The harrow is an implement of equal antiquity vnth the plough, and has of late
years undergone so much improvement as to have originated that class of pronged imple-
ments known as cultivators, grubbers, &c. The original uses of the harrow seem to have
been chiefly three : that of reducing or comminuting soil already stirred or ploughed ;
tearing root weeds out of such soil ; and covering sown seeds. We shall confine our-
selves in this section to these three uses. For the purpose of stirring the soil to the
depth of eight or ten inches and tearing up weeds, no
harrow is preferable to that of Finlayson, or Wilkie, in
which the tines or prongs are of the cycloidal form. For
the purpose of breaking and pulverising the surface of
soils, straight prongs, and such as present by breadth or
position greater resistance when drawn through the soil,
are preferred. It is generally considered that prongs
whose horizontal section, a few inches above the point,
is a square or a parallelogram (fg. 349.) are best
adapted for the attrition to which they are subject in
being moved forward in a direction parallel to their
349
414
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
350
diagonals, and for resisting the lateral or shaking motion occasioned by encountering
obstacles. (Quart. Jour. Agr. vol. ii. p. 555.) The principal parts of harrows are
generally made of wood ; but they are frequently also constructed entirely of iron.
2697. The Berwickshire harrow (^fig. 350. ) is the most perfect implement of the kind in
general use. It consists of two parts joined to-
gether by iron rods, having hasps and hooks.
Each part consists of four bars of wood technically
termed bulls, and connected together by an equal
number of cross bars of smaller dimensions mor-
tised through them. The former of these bars
may be 2^ inches in width by 3 inches in depth,
and the latter 2 inches in width by 1 inch in depth.
The longer bars are inclined at a certain angle to the
smaller, so as to form the figure of a rhomboid, and
they have inserted into them the teeth at equal dis-
tances from each other. This inclination of the
longer bars is made to be such, that perpendicu-
lars from each of the teeth, falling upon a line
drawn at right angles to the line of the harrow's motion, shall divide the space between each
bar into equal parts j so that the various teeth, when the instrument is moved forward, shall
equally indent the surface of the ground over which they pass. (Quart. Jour. Agr.)
2698. The angular-sided hinged harrow (Jig. 351.) is one of the best implements of
351 .-n.— 1
the kind, as it both operates on the groimd with great regularity, and is less liable to
ride or be deranged in turning, than the common, or the rhomboidal harrow.
2699. The grass seed rhomboidal harroiu (Jig. 352.), is nothing more than the Ber-
wickshire harrow on a smaller scale. It is used chiefly for harrowing in clover and
grass seeds when sown among corn crops, or even alone.
352
353
2700. The common bra/ce (Jig. 353.) is merely a harrow of the common kind^ of
Book IV.
HARROWS.
415
greater weight and dimensions than necessary for ordinary soils. Its use is to reduce the
stronger clays, at a time when they are too obdurate to be impressed with the teeth of
the common harrow. The levelling brake, or grubber, is generally considered the
preferable implement for this purpose.
2701. The brake, grubber, or levelling harrow ( fig- 354.), is a valuable implement on
strong clayey soils. It consists of two frames, the
one triangular and the other oblong. By means of
the handles, the oblong part of this brake can either
be raised up or depressed ; so that when the ground
is cut in small pieces by the teeth of the triangular
harrow, then the oblong harrow following, its teeth,
being pressed down into the high parts, carry or
drag part of the soil off' from the heights ; and,
when they are raised up by the handles, leave that
soil in the hollow or low parts. By this means, the
ground is brought nearly to one plain surface,
whether that surface be horizontal or sloping.
Sometimes it may be found necessary to place a
greater number of teeth in the oblong part of the
brake, so that they may be nearer to one another,
and perform the operation more effectually. The
teeth are made sharp or thin on the fore edge, for
cutting ; broad and thick on the back, for strength ;
and tapering, from a little below the bulls to their
joints.
2702. Morton's revolving brake harrow {Jig. 355.)
is a very powerful implement in strong clayey soils
infested with couch. When the implement is to be
moved from one field to another, the large wheels
may be brought forward (n), to support the tines
from the ground, while the hind axle and the rake are supported by a castor or truck-
wheel (6). In most soils, four horses and a driver and holder are necessriry to work
this instrument ;. which, however, no good farmer will ever require the aid of, unless it
be when entering upon land which has been allowed to run wild, or clay of an extraor-
dinary degree of tenacity. We have seen it extensively and advantageously used, on
the latter description of soil, by Mr. Dickson of Kidbrook farm, Blackheath, Surrey.
{Gard. Mng. vol. iv. p. 186.)
2703. As substitutes for the last two implements, may be mentioned Finlayson's
harrow (2657.), Wilkie's brake (2656.), and Kirkwood's improved grubber, which will
be afterwarc s figured and described, the invention being only made public while the
present sheet is passing through the press (February 15.). Bartlett's cultivator. Brown's
cross-cutting machine, the Sythney scarifier, and the spiky roller, noticed in next section,
are used for a part of the purposes of the last two implements.
416
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Pap.t it.
2704. Grays seed-harrow for wet weather {Jig. 356.) promises to be useful in certain
situations, as in a tenacious re-
tentive soil and moist climate.
The sowing of wheat, under
existing circumstances, is one
of the most important branches
of the corn farmer's labour. In
some backward seasons, it is
almost impossible to get wheat
\ land haJTowed according to the
common method, especially
' land that has been reduced by
summer fallow, without sub-
jecting it to poaching from the
horses, which is not only un-
favourable to the soil, but also
occasions a great waste of seed.
Hence it often happens, that a
less quantity of grain is got
sown than was intended, or is
requisite for the supply of the market. The beam (a) to which the haiTOWs are attached
admits of being made shorter or longer as the width of the ridge requires ; the shafts
have freedom to turn round either to the right hand or to the left, and the teeth of the
I harrows are placed square in the bulls, so that
they can be drawn from either end at plea-
sure. The wheels {fig. 357.) may be from
three to four feet in diameter if made on
purpose ; but for the professional farmer it
will be sufficient to borrow a pair from a one-
horse cart.
2705. The bush harrow {Jig. 358.) is used for harrowing grass lands to disperse
roughnesses and decaying matter ; and it is also sometimes used for covering grass or
clover seeds. Small rigid branches of spray are interwoven in a frame, consisting of
three or more cross bars, fixed into two end-pieces in such a manner as to be very
rough and bushy underneath. To the extremities of the frame before are some-
times attached two wheels, about twelve inches in diameter, upon which it moves ;
sometimes, however, wheels are not employed, but the whole rough surface is applied to,
and dragged on, the ground.
2706. The onli/ essential implement of the harrow kind is the Berwickshire harrow.
(Jig. 350.)
Sect. IV. Rollers.
2707. The roller is constructed of wood, stone, or cast iron, according to convenience
or the purposes for which it is to be used. For tillage lands, the roller is used to break
the lumps of earth, and in some cases to press in and firm the ground about newly sown
seed ; on grass lands it is used to compress and smooth the surface, and render it better
adapted for mowing. It has been matter of dispute whether rollers with large or small
diameters have the advantage in point of effect upon the land. In constructing heavy
rollers, they should not have too great a diameter, whatever the material be of which
they are formed, as the pressure is diminished where the implement is of very large size,
by its resting on too much surface at once, except an addition of weight in proportion
be made. By having the roller made small, when loaded to the same weight, a much
greater effect will be produced, and a considerable saving of expense be made in the
construction of the implement. The common length of rollers is five or six feet, and
the ordinary diameter from fifteen to thirty inches ; but those employed for flattening
Book IV.
ROLLERS.
417
one-bout ridges, in order to prepare them for drilling turnips upon, are commonly shorter,
and of much less diameter. Large rollers should have double shafts, in order that they
may be drawn by two horses abreast ; and such as are employed for arable lands should
have a scraper attached to them. Strong frames are also necessary for rollers, so that
359 8 1! proper weights may be put upon them ; and open
boxes or carts {Jig. 359.) placed upon them may
' sometimes be requisite, in order to contain any addi-
tional weight that may be thought proper, as well as
to receive stones or other matters that may be picked
up from the ground. Pieces of wood or stone, as
heavy as a man can lift, are the most suitable substances for loading these implements
with, where they have not the advantage of boxes for receiving loads.
2708. The parted cast-iron roller was invented to remedy the inconvenience expe-
rienced in the use of the common implement, in turning at the ends of ridges or other
places, where, from the roller not moving upon its axis, but being drawn along the sur-
face of the ground, it is liable to bear it up, and make depressions before the cylinder
comes again into the direct line of draught ; and at the same time it is not brought round
without great exertion in the teams. The cylinder, in two pieces {jig. 362. a a),
obviates this inconvenience, by enabling the two parts to turn round on their own axis,
the one forward, and the other in a retrograde direction.
2709. The spiky or compound roller is occasionally employed in working fallows, or
preparing stiff bean-land for wheat. In stiff clay-ground, when ploughed dry, or which
has been much trod upon, the furrow-slice will rise in large lumps, or hard clods,
which the harrow cannot break so as to cover the seed in a proper manner. In this
state of the ground, the rollers commonly used have little effect in breaking these hard
clods. Indeed, the seed is often buried in the ground, by the clods being pressed down
upon it by the weight of the roller. To remedy this, the spike-roller has been employed,
and found very useful ; but a roller can be made, which, perhaps, may answer the pur-
pose better than the spike one. This roller is formed from a piece of hard wood, of a
cylindrical form, on which are placed several rows of sharp-pointed darts, made either of
forged iron, or cast metal. These darts, by striking the hard clods in a sloping direction,
cut or split them into small pieces ; and, by this means, they must be more easily
pulverised by the harrow.
2710. Bartlett's cultivator (Jigs. 360. and 361.) is an implement of the roller kind,
said to be useful in preparing wet land for tillage in Cornwall. It consists of a roller
composed of 13 tHin iron plates, each fastened to a circular block of wood of four
361
inches in thickness, and nine inches in diameter, and bound
round with iron. Both blocks (a) and plates (i) are
movable on an iron axle ; and though Mr. Bartlet, the
inventor, has adopted a diameter of nine inches for the
blocks, and fifteen inches for the plates, yet these dimensions
may be increased or diminished at pleasure. The frame
in which the roller is inserted has a bar, on which are
fixed scrapers of iron, which keep the roller continually
clean. {Gard. Mag. vol. v.)
2711. The roller and water box (Jig. 362.) is sometimes used for watering spring
E e
418 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
crops, or clovers, with liquid manure, previously rolling tliera. It has the advauta-re of
^^
^57
a more perfect machine, in the holes being easily cleaned when choked up with the
thickened water.
2712. The furrow-roller {fig. 363.) is con-
trived for the purpose of rolling the furrows in
steep hilly situations, and other places where the
common roller cannot be employed.
2713. The Norfolk drUl-roller, and the ridge
and furrow concave or scalloped roller attached to
certain turnip-diills, have already been depicted.
(2680. and 2688.)
2714. The pressing plough is a term erroneously applied to a machine of the roller
kind (fg. 364.) It generally
consists of two cast-iron wheels,
for the purpose of impressing
two small seed gutters or drills
on the furrow slices turned
over by the common plough,
and a third wheel for running
in the bottom of the furrow
for the purpose of keeping the machine steady. The wheels are kept clean by scrapers.
(Jig. 365. ) This implement is used in breaking up clover leys for wheat ; two ploughs
follow each other ; and after them one horse, walking in the fur-
row, drags the pressing plough. The advantages are said to be
a firm bed for the seed, by vi^hich it is not liable to be thrown
^>v I v*^ out i" the winter season, and not so liable to be attacked by the
\X^;^ grub and wire worm ; and the rising of the plants in rows, by
which means they may be hoed or harrowed between.
2715. Brown's cross^cutting machine {fg. 366.) is used for cross-cutting the furrows
of rough, mossy, and heathy land, in
order to reduce the soil to a state fit
for receiving the seed. It consists
of a series of parallel iron plates, or
blades as they may be termed, fixed
in a frame-work of wood, by the
weight of which, and the pressure on
the shafts by the driver, they are
forced into the ground. The frame
consists of oak ; and the main beams
are 4 feet long, 6 inches deep, and
5 inches broad, with cross bars of
proportional strength. The handles
are 6§ feet long. The blades are
of good foreign iron, 4 feet 3 inches
365
Book IV.
LEVELLING MACHINES.
419
long, 3 1 inches broad, and five eighths of an inch thick at the back. The curves of the
blades are formed to a circle of 40 inches diameter. (High. Soc. Trans, vol. vii.)
2716. The Sithney.scarijier, or hash, consists of a cylinder with many circular cutters,
or a number of circular cutters connected together upon one axi.s, which is intended to
pass over the ground, for the purpose of scarifying or cutting the surface of grass land,
perpendicularly, to the depth of a few inches, and to any required degree of fineness.
By means of this scarifier, or hash, the roots of old grass may be effectually destroyed
without the labour of ploughing, which is calculated to enable the farmer to graze the
land much longer, previously to breaking it up for wheat or turnip tillage. The
apparatus is proposed to be connected to the hinder part of an ordinary cart ; or the axis
of the cylinder, or circular cutters, may be supported by two iron arms, attached to the
axletree with a pair of common carriage wheels. When this machine is used for
renewing lawns or grass land, it will then be necessary to fix above the cutters a box
containing grass seed ; which box must be perforated with small holes, one hole being
exactly over every cutter, so that the seed may fall immediately into the furrow produced
by the cutter. (Newton's Journal, vol. i. p. 250.)
2717. The only essential roller for general purposes is the parted cast-iron roller, with
a scraper and box over {Jig. 359.).
Sect. V. Machines for laying Land even, and other occasional or anomalous Tillage
Machines.
2718. Various, machines for agricultural purposes are occasionally brought into notice
by amateur cultivators, and some even by the professional farmer. It forms, indeed, the
privilege and the characteristic of wealth and intelligence, to procure to be made what-
ever particular circumstances may require, in every department of the mechanical agents
of culture. We shall only notice a few, and that chiefly for the purpose (rf showing the
resources of the present age.
2719. Of machines for laying land level two may be noticed: in the first and best
(fig. 367.), the horses are harnessed to a
pole (a), which is joined to an axle having
a pair of low wheels (b c). Into this
axletree are mortised two long side-pieces
(rf), terminating in handles {e e). Some-
what inclined to these long or upper side
pieces, shorter lower ones are joined by
cross pieces, and connected by strong
side-boards. The machine has no bot-
tom ; its back part (/ ) is strongly attached to an axle {fig. 368. g), and to the bottom
of this the scraper part (/j) is firmly screwed. The front ends of the slide irons {fig,
367. m), turning up, pass easily through mortises in the
upper side-pieces (rf), where, by means of pins, the in-
clination of the slide irons and of the back board can be
adjusted within narrow limits, according to the nature of
the soil to be levelled and the mass of earth previously-
loosened by ploughing. This earth the back board is
intended to collect and force before it, until the machine
arrives at the place where it is intended to be deposited.
Here, by lifting up the hinder part of the machine by its
handles {e e), the contents are left on the ground, and
the machine proceeds to a fresh hillock, {Supp. EncycU
Brit. i. 25.)
2720. The Flemish levelling machine {fig. 369.) may
be considered as a shovel, on a large scale, to be drawn by
a pair of horses ; it collects earth at the pleasure of the
holder, who contrives to make the horses turn over the
shovel and empty the contents by merely letting go the handle (a), and recovering it by
369
means of a cord (6), when emptied, as already described. (508.)
2721. The levelling harroiu (2701.) is adequate to all ordinary purposes.
E e 2
420
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
Sect. VI. Machines for reaping and gathering the Crop.
2722. The horse machines of liaytime and harvest are chiefly the horse rakes, the hay
tedder, and the reaping machine.
SuBSECT. 1. Horse Rakes and Haymaking Machines.
2723. Baking machines are not in very general use ; but, w^here com is movv^n, they
are successfully employed in drawing together the scattered stalks, and are also of great
use in haymaking. The saving in both cases consists in the substitution of animal for
manual labour.
2724. The common or Norfolk horse rake {fig. 370.) is employed for barley and oat
crops, and also for hay. One man, and a horse
driven by means of a line or rein, are capable of
clearing from twenty to thirty acres in a moderate
day's work ; the grain being deposited in regular
rows or lines across the field, by simply lifting up
the tool and dropping it from the teeth, without
the horse being stopped.
2725. The horse stubble-rake is a large heavy
kind of horse rake, having strong iron teeth,
fourteen or fifteen inches in length, placed at five
or six inches from each other, and a beam four
inches square, and eight or ten feet in length. In drawing it two horses are sometimes
made use of, by which it is capable of clearing a considerable quantity of stubble in a
short time. In general, however, it is much better economy to cut the stubble as a part
of the straw.
2726. The couch-grass rake diflfers little from the last, and is employed in fallowing
very foul lands, to collect the couch-grass or other root weeds. It may be observed,
however, that where a good system of cultivation is followed, no root weeds will ever
obtain such an ascendency in the soil as to render an implement of this kind requisite.
2727. Weirs improved hay or com rake {fg^ 371.) is adjusted by wheels, and is readily
put in and out of gear by means of the handles (a a) and bent iron stays {b b). It Is
drawn by one horse in shafts (c), and is a very effective implement.
2728. The hay-tedding machine {fig. 372.), invented about 1800, by Salmon of
Woburn, has been found a very useful implement, especially in making natural or
meadow hay, which requires to be much more frequently turned, and more thinly spread
out, than hay from clover and rye grass. It consists of an axle and pair of wheels, the
axle forming the shaft of an open cylindrical frame, formed by arms proceeding from it,
from the extremities of which bars are stretched, set with iron prongs, pointing outwards,
and about six inches long, and curved. There is a crank by which this cylinder of prongs
is raised from the ground, when the machine is going to, and returning from, the field;
Book IV.
RAKES AND REAPING MACHINES.
421-
or when it is not wanted to operate. It is drawn by one horse, and, on the whole,
answers as a tedding machine perfectly. In the neighbourhood of London, where
374
meadow hay is so extensively made, it is found to produce a great saving of labour, and
is now coming into very general use.
2729. Tlie hay swoop or sweep {Jig. 373.) is an implement for drawing or sweeping
;57 a accumulations of hay to the cart or rick, or to any larger
accumulations. Sometimes a rope is merely put round
the heap, especially if it has been a few days in the cock,
or piled up ; but the most general hay swoop consists of
two curved pieces of wood, six or eight feet long, joined
by upright piece!, so as to form something like the back
of a chair. To the four corners of this, ropes are attached,
which meet in the hook of a one-horse whipple-tree (a).
"^27 30. Snowden's leaf-collecting machine is for the purpose of collecting dead leaves from
lawns, parks, and pleasure-grounds, and has been employed in the King's grounds at
Hampton Court. The apparatus consists of a large cylindrical tub, about five feet in
diameter, and seven feet long, which swings upon an axle, and is open at top, in order
to receive the leaves as they are collected. The collectors are hollow iron scoops, or
scrapers, attached to bars, extending across the machine from two iron hoops, wliich
work round the cylindrical receiver, and, as they revolve, scrape the ground, collect the
leaves together, lift them up, and turn them over into the tub. The collectors or scoops
(Jt"^' 374.) are made of many distinct pieces, set in rows,
with springs behind each, by which any part of the scraper
is enabled to give way, should it come in contact with a
stone, in a manner similar to the rake bars of a haymaking
machine. The hoops carrying the scrapers are lowered
and adjusted to meet the ground, by having their pivots
supported in a lever attached to the carriage, upon which it
is adjusted by means of a circular rack and pinion. The
~-^2Laii->— '•" ' - scrapers are carried round as the carriage moves forward, by
ineans of a spur-wheel, upon the nave of one of the carriage wheels, which works into
a cog wheel upon the axis of the scraper- frame. This apparatus is designed, beside
cleaning parks and lawns of dead leaves, to remove snow from the walks, to scrape and
clean roads, and for several other useful purposes. {Newton s Journal, vol. i. p. 203. )
SuBSECT. 2. Reaping Machines.
2731. Though reaping machines, as we have seen (133.), are as old as the time of
the Romans, one of an effective description is yet a desideratum in agriculture ; unless
tlie recent invention of the Rev. Patrick Bell can be considered as supplying that
desideratum. The high price of manual labour during harvest, and the universal desire
in civilised society of abridging every description of labour, will doubtless call forth such
a reaping machine as may be employed in all ordinary situations ; and this is, perhaps, all
that can be desired or expected. Corn laid down, or twisted and matted by wind and
rain, or growing among trees, or on very irregular surfaces, or steep sides of hills, will
probably ever require to be reaped by hand. But independently of the high price of
labour, despatch, as an al)le author observes {Supjy. Encyc. Bnl. i. 118.), is a matter of
great importance in such a climate as that of IJritain. In reaping corn at the precise
period of its maturity, the advantages of despatch are incalculable, especially in those
districts where the diJIiculty of procuring hands, even at enormous wages, aggravates the
danger from the instability of the season. It cannot, therefore, fail to be interesting,
and we hope it may be also useful, to record some of the more remarkable attempts that
Jiave been made towaids an invention so eminently calculated to forward this most
important operation.
Ee 3
422
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
2732. The first attempt at a reaping machine, so far as we have learned, was made by Boyce, who
obtained a patent for a reaping machine early in the present century. This machine was placed in a two-
wheeled carriage, somewhat resembling a common cart, but the wheels were fixed upon the axle, so that
it revolved along with them. A cog-wheel, within the carriage, turned a smaller one at the upper end of
an inclined axis, and at the lower end of this was a larger wheel, which gave a rapid motion to a pinion
fixed upon a vertical axis in the forepart of the carriage, and rather on one side, so tliat it went before
one of the wheels of the carriage. The vertical spindle descended to within a few inches of the surface
of the ground, and had there a number of scythes fixed upon it horizontally. This machine, when wheeled
along, would, by the rapid revolution of its scythes, cut down a i)ortion of the corn growing upon the
ground over which it passed ; but having no provision for gathering up the corn in parcels and laying it in
proper heaps, it was wholly unsuited to the purpose.
2733. An improvement on this attempt was made by Plucknet, an agricultural impiement-maker of
London, some years afterwards. The principal alteration he made was in substituting for the scythes a
circular steel plate, made very sharp at the edge, and notched at the upper side like a sickle. This plate
acted in the same manner as a very fine toothed saw, and was found to cut the corn much better than the
scythes of the original machine.
2734. A machine, invented by Gladstone of Castle Douglas, in the stewartry of Kircudbright, operated
upon nearly the same principles with Plucknet's ; but Gladstone made his work much better by
introducing a circular table, with strong wooden teeth notched below, all around, which was fixed
immediately over the cutter and parallel to it. The use of these teeth was to collect the corn, and retain
it till it was operated on by the circular cutter. The corn, when cut, was received upon this table ; and,
when a sufficient quantity was collected, taken away by a rake or sweeper, and laid upon the ground
beneath the machine, in separate parcels. To this machine was added a small circular wheel of wood,
covered with emery, which, being always kept in contact with the great cutter at the back part, or
opposite side to that where the cutting was performed, kept it constantly ground to a sharp edge.
2735. Salmon of Woburn made the next attempt: and his invention, it is said, promised better than those
we have mentioned. It was constructed upon a totally diflerent principle, as it cut the corn by means of
shears ; and it was provided with a very complete apparatus for laying it down in parcels as it was cut.
2736. The next machine {fig. 315.), and one of great ingenuity and promise, is that constructed by
Smith, of the Deanston Cotton Works, Perthshire. Smith's perseverance, his successive improvements,
and ingenious yet simple contrivances for remedying defects, afforded strong grounds to hope that he
would ultimately succeed in rendering his machine a most valuable acquisition to agriculturists; but
various circumstances have prevented Mr. Smith from perfecting his invention. He made the first trial
of his machine upon a small scale, during the harvest of 1811. It was then wrought by two men. Ir>
1812 he constructed one upon a larger scale, to be wrought by a horse ; but, though he cut down several
acres of oats and barley with considerable ease, it was found that when met by an acclivity the horse could
not move the machine with pro])er effect. In 1813 he made a more successful attempt, with an improved
machine, worked by one man and two horses ; and (1814) it was still farther improved by an additional
apparatus, tending to regulate the application of the cutter when working on an uneven surface. This
ingenious machine has been again tried, in September 1815, and with much success. A Scotch acre (1^
acre English) of beans was cut down with ease in an hour and a quarter. The trials made with it on
wheat, though not extensive, were satisfactory ; and in reaping oats, the corn was laid down in the
most regular manner. The cutter of this machine is circular, and operates horizontally ; it is appended
to a drum connected with the forepart of the machine, its blade projecting some inches beyond the peri-
phery of the lower end of the drum ; and the machine is so constructed as to communicate, in moving
forward, a rapid rotatory motion to this drum and cutter, by which the stalks are cut, and, falling upon
the drum, are carried round and thrown off in regular rows. This most ingenious piece of machinery
will cut about an English acre per hour, during which time the cutter requires to be four times sharpened
with a common scythe stone. The expense of this machine is estimated at from thirty to thirty-five
pounds. If properly managed it may last for many years ; only requiring a new cutter every two or
three years, a repair which cannot cost much. This promising invention, which attracted a good deal
of notice a few years ago, remains, it is believed, as it was then, in a state not calculated for extensive
use. Mr. Smith's large concerns in the cotton manufacture may have prevented him from continuing his
experiments ; and it is understood that the time he has already devoted to it has been without sufficient
remuneration or encouragement.
2737, Bell's Reaping machine {figs 376. and 377.) is the most recent as well as the most perfect inven-
tion of this description. The frame-work of this machine (a a) may be made lighter or stronger accord-
ing to circumstances ; b b and c c are four wheels upon which it is mounted, of whatever form it is
made ; b d have their spokes at right angles to their naves, and are 3^ feet diameter. For neatness'
sake the naves are made of cast-iron ; the wheels are from five to six inches broad at the rims, and
are surrounded with a slight hoop of iron. Were they made narrower in the rims, when the ground
was soft they would both cut it, and drag, without giving motion to the connected parts of the ma-
chinery. The small wheels (c c), which support the front of the frame, are (like the large ones b b)
made of wood : they are fourteen inches in diameter, and six inches broad at the rims, with a very slight
hoop of iron round them. Their axles, which are of iron, are screwed to the frame, and are about \\
Book IV.
REAPING MACHINES.
42
The Eev. Patrick Bell invenit ; the Rev. M. Cruickshanks del.
E e 4
4^M SCIENCE OF AGRICULfURE. Part II.
inches in {Uaractcr. The wheels are placed as near the front of the frame as possible, the reason for
whicli will api)ear when the general d3scrii)tion of the machine is given. The wheels bb are connected
with the main axle (n), in such a manner as that they may turn upon it, similarly to a carriage-wheel,
witliout moving the axle with them ; or they can be fixed to it at pleasure, so as to turn it round with
them as occasion requires. For this purpose, the holes in the naves are circular ; and of course so much
of the axle as passes through them is round. There are cross flenges, cast upon the nave, which catch
hold of the coupling box e when the machinery is to be moved, and are disengaged from it by the handle
F, when the machine is going, without moving the machinery. In the engraving, this part of the apparatus
is entirely concealed at one of the wheels, except a small portion of the handle at a. The other coupling
box is but faintly represented at e. The handle f has a joint in it, which is fixed to the other half of it,
which passes through the frame of the machine, and terminates with the handle H ; so that both coupling
boxes can be managed by the driver, standing at n, although they are on opposite sides of the frame.
The main axle (d) is 3| feet long between the shoulders, and eight inches from the shoulders to the coupling
box : the frame of the machine is four feet broad, by seven feet long. Fixed upon the main axle (d) is the
beveled wheel (i) of sixty teeth, part of which is seen in the engraving. This beveled wheel moves two
pinions of ten teeth each. These pinions are concealed in the plate by the frame of the machine : one of
them turns the crank-rod (k), and the other gives motion to the coupling wheels (l l) upon the top of the
frame. The crank-rod (k) being thus put in motion as the machine moves forward, the crank m, which
gives motion to the cutters, revolves with a uniform and steady motion, n is a coupling strap of iron,
which connects the crank (m) and the movable bar (o o) together, which is kept in its place by means of
the sliding hooks (p p) working in the brass sockets (qq) which are screwed upon the strong iron supports
(R R.) It is obvious that as the crank (m) revolves, it will, by pulling the connecting rod (n), give a perpetual
motion backwards and forwards to the movable bar (o o). In order that there may be as little friction as
possible to the movable bar (o o) there are two friction pulleys fixed to the iron supports (r r), upon which
the movable bar (o o) rests. These are not seen in the plate, as they are placed immediately below the bar ;
but to any person who considers the thing attentively, they must be readily understood. They are of
the greatest consequence, as the back parts of the cutters wholly rest upon the movable bar (o o) ; and from
tlie spring which each cutter must necessarily have, the pressure upon it is very considerable. With
respect to the cutters, it may here be remarked that the greater body of them is made of iron, edged
with the best steel, hardened as much as they will bear, without breaking out into chips when the
machine is in operation. The cutter-bar (that is, the bar upon which the cutters are screwed) is strongly
screwed upon the extremities of the supports (r r), and is six feet long, by three inches broad, and three
fourths of an inch thick. The lower or fixed cutters (s s s) are made triangular, of solid iron, edged v, ith
steel, as before mentioned : they are fifteen inches long from the point to the extremity, four inches
broad at the base, and nearly one fourth of an inch thick : they are steeled only to the front of the bar,
thus leaving a steeled edge of about one foot. In the middle of the base of the cutter there is a hole
pierced, half an inch in diameter, and a corresponding one in the bar where it is to be placed. The hole
in the bar is screwed ; and, in fixing a cutter, a bolt is passed through the hole in the base, and screwed
tightly down into the bar. To prevent a cutter from shifting its place, there are other two small holes
pierced, one on each side of the half-inch hole in the base, and corresponding ones in the centre of the
bar : these holes are one fourth of an inch in diameter. Into he holes in the bar there are two iron
pins firmly riveted below, and left one eighth of an inch above the bar, made to fit neatly into the holes
in the cutters, although with a sufficiency of looseness to allow the cutter to be taken easily off when the
bolt in the middle is screwed out By this means, when the bolt in the middle is screwed down, a firm
and unalterable position is insured to the under cutter. The upper cutters (u u,) &c., like the under ones,
are made of goo<l iron, edged with steel as far back as the hole where the bolts upon which they turn
pass through. They are three inches broad where the hole is pierced ; and, behind the cutter-bar, as is
seen in the plate, they are bent down about two inches, to allow the rollers and canvass to operate, as shall
be afterwards described. After being continued horizontally about three inches, they are again bent up,
and their extremities placed above the movable bar. They are made about 13J inches long from the point
to the hole, and about 7| inches from the hole to the extremity backwards. Both upper and under
cutters are sharpened on both sides, similarly to a pair of scissors ; the under ones, of course, upon the
upper side, and the upper ones upon the lower side ; thus forming, when the cutters are screwed to
their places, a perpetual cutter upon that principle. The bolts upon which the upper or movable cutters
work are half an inch in diameter, and are screwed to the bar through a hole of corresponding breadth :
they are made to go through the bar about half an inch, upon which a nut is screwed, to prevent the bolts
from unscrewing, which they would otherwise do, from the moving of the cutters ; w hich would allow the
edges of the cutters to separate, and of course the machine would get deranged, and would not operate.
'J'he points of the under or fixed cutters are six inches separate ; of course the holes in the bar, by which
they are fixed, are six inches apart The bolts of the upper or movable cutters are intermediate, that is,
three inches from the others ; so that the cutter-bar is bored from end to end with holes half an inch in
diameter, and three inches distant. The small holes, with the pins which prevent the fixed cutters from
shirting their places, are each 1| inch from the large holes; so that the bar, before the cutters are
screwed upon it, is pierced first with a small hole, then a large one, then two small ones, then a large
one, then two small ones, &c., as may be understood from the plate; each hole If inch apart. The
back parts of the movable cutters, as was already mentioned, rest upon the movable bar ; and on each
side of every cutter there is an iron pin, of one fourth of an inch in diameter, riveted into the movable
bar. By means of these pins, it is easily seen, from the consideration of the plate, that, as the
movable bar is pushed backwards and forwards by the crank (m) upon the friction pulleys below it,
the movable cutters will have a perpetual motion backwards and forwards. Under the heads of the
bolts, which fasten the movable cutters, and the cutters themselves, there is placed a washer of
brass, to diminish the friction as much as possible; and, for the admission of oil, there are two
small holes pierced in the head of each bolt There are twelve movable cutters, and thirteen
fixed ones, with intervals of six inches between the points of the latter; so that the breadth of
the machine is exactly six feet: but this breadth, from the principle of the machine, may be
either increased or diminished, according to the nature of the farm upon which the machine is intended
to operate. Upon a perfectly level farm the machine might be made broader ; but upon a farm of sloping
or uneven surface, one of six feet in breadth will be found lo be work enough for two horses.
As it was before stated, the beveled wheel (i) gives motion to the coupling wheels (l l) of 18 teeth each ;
these move the horizontal shalt v, and the wheel w, which is fixed to the end of it. The whee w has 36
teeth ; and pinion x, which it turns, and which is fixed upon the gudgeon of the roller y, has 18 teeth.
This part, however, is misrepresented in the drawing, which was taken from a model which had the
rollers turned by coupling wheels, as shown in the plate. The one roller (\) turns the othei ^z),by the
pitch-chains {a a), the chief use of which is to keep the sheet of canvass from changing its place by the revolu-
tion of the rollers. The canvass, from its gravity, would slip down upon the rollers as the machine moved
forward ; and it would twist upon them, by the unequal pressure to which it is exposed by the cut corn
pressing unequally upon it : to prevent these derangements, there are loops fixed to the canvass, which
are made fast to the links of the chain, about six inches apart ; and there being an equal number of links
in both the upper and lower chains, and an equal number of teeth in the four pulleys upon which they
vork, the canvass revolves uniformly, without being in the least deranged by the many casualties to
which it is exposed, b is the pole to which the horses are yoked: it is made of wood, and is firmly fixed
to the cross rails uj^n the top of the frame : its length is ten feet from its extremity to the frame of the
machine, cc are the swingletrees by which the horses are yoked : they are yoked similarly to horses in a
carriage, so as both to draw forward, or push backward, at pleasure. Their heads, of course, are towards
Buck IV.
REAPIMG MACHINES.
425
(K^'.
//( !
T/ic Rev. Patrick Bell invenit ; the Rev. James Cruich$hanJc$ del
426 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part It.
the machine ; and, in appearance, they push the machine before them, but, in reality, they are drawing
the same as in the plough, disa small rod of wood, or helm, which the driver holds in his right hand, by
the pulling of which to him, or pushing it from him, he conducts the machine straight forward. The
dotted lines in the plate are a continuation of the pole with the swingletrees and helm attached. The
machine is turned, at the end of the ridge, by the following contrivance : — The two wheels <?<?, in the body
of the machine, are joined to the lever / by an upright movable axle. These wheels are similar to the two
(c c) on the front of the frame : they have a strong iron axle, which is made so long as to let the wheels
conveniently turn between the crank-rod (k) and the frame of the machine. In order that this piece of the
apparatus may be used with advantage, the beveled wheel i is not placed upon the middle of the main
axle (d), but about one foot from the end of it, as is seen in the engraving. This throws the crank-rod (k)
nearer the side of the machine, thus leaving plenty of space for the turning apparatus. In the middle of
the horizontal axle of the wheels e e there is an upright standard of iron, suthciently strong, and firmly
joined to the horizontal axle. This upright standard or axle passes through the middle of the lever /
(which is of wood, and, at this part, about five inches square), about twenty inches from the end of it.
Upon the top of the upright standard there is placed a segment of a wheel («), with the teeth on the lower
side, which is worked by a small pinion of six teeth upon the end of the Todg. This pinion is not
seen in the engraving, as it is completely concealed by the segment i. The rod g, and the small pinion
upon it, are turned round by the handle h ; the pinion moves the segment i, which, being firmly fixed to
the upright standard, turns the small wheels e e either way. When the machine is cutting, the wheels ee
are put parallel to the cutters j and in this position they assist the machine in passing a furrow, without
allowing the cutters to come m contact with the opposite side of it. But when the machine is to be
turned round, they are turned, with an angle to the path of the machine, by the handle h ; and the rod
g being fixed in that position by a screw near the handle, the lever is then pressed down, and fixed with
a catch to the frame of the machine. In pressing down the lever /, the small wheels ee, which before
were about two inches from the ground, are pressed to the earth, about two or three inches below the
natural level of the machine. Of course, the two front wheels (c c) are lifted two or three inches from the
ground, and the cutters considerably more, thus insuring them from accident while turning round. The
machine now rests upon the two large wheels b b, and the two small ones ee of the lever; and the two
front wheels (c c) go for nothing, as they do not touch the ground. But the axle of the small wheels e e
being placed with an angle to the main axle (d) of the large wheels b b, the machine will naturally turn
round upon the horses being moved slowly forward : of course, the greater the angle formed by the two
axles, the less space will the machine require to turn upon. In turning the machine, however, attention
must always be given to disengage the large wheels b b from the main axle (d) : this is done by shifting
the coupling boxes ee by means of the handles h h. The apparatus //, or collector, is placed exactly
above the cutters : it is 2| feet in diameter, made of wood, as slight as may be. The supports k k, in
the original machine, were made of iron ; but now the two side-beams of the machine are made of a piece
of wood, with a natural cast upon it, similar to the beam of a plough, but rising with a much greater angle,
as near the form of the iron supports in the plate as possible, and continued horizontally till their points
are exactly above the movable bar oo. The points p p are made of iron, bent as in the plate, to allow the
collector (/ /) to turn round. At qqqq are strong iron screws, working in nuts placed in the wooden part
of the supports, which serve the double purpose of uniting the iron part to the wood, and allowing it to
be drawn forward, or pushed backward, as occasion may be, by either shifting to another hole, or, which
is better, by long slips in the middle of the bar. Long corn requires the collector to be placed forward,
and short corn requires it to be taken back. At o o are two perpendicular rods, which slip in holes in the
points of the supports ; by the moving of which, upwards or downwards, the collector (/ /,) which turns in
sockets in the lower ends of these rods, is lowered, or heightened, according to the length of the corn to
be cut The rods are fixed in their places by screws in the end of the supports. The collector is turned by
a cross belt, or chain, passing over the two pulleys tn n. A piece of slight canvass is put round the rollers
Y z, fixed to the chains a a, as before described. The lower ends of the rollers have a shield of plate iron
round their gudgeons, to prevent the cut corn from warping, which it does effectually. The bushes of the
roller z are made to shift by screws, to tighten the chains a little, to prevent them from slipping the pulleys,
as they lengthen a little by using, especially when new. Fig. 376 is a representation of the machine in
full operation. About six or eight yards of the field require to be cut at the ends to allow the maciiine
to turn without injuring the corn, which may be done by the machine itself If the corn is standing
nearly upright, a convenient number of ridges may be taken in and cut by going round them ; but if the
corn is standing, and the field free from deep furrows, it may be cut by going round and round it til! it
is finished in the middle. One man, as seen in the plate, is sufficient to manage the whole operation. The
cutting, collecting, and laying are the three principal parts of this machine, which have been all, more or
less, explained in the general description given above. But as they are particular, a few words on each of
these heads may still be necessary, that the machine may be completely understood in all its bearings. First,
then, with regard to the cutting : it is desirable that the machine should do her work, and nothing more.
If the motion of the cutters were too slow, she would not clear the ground ; and if it were too quick, there
would be a useless expenditure of power and machinery. Let it be remembered that the large outer wheels
B B are 3| feet in diameter ; that the beveled wheel i has sixty teeth ; and that the crank-rod pinion has ten ;
and that the cutters have twelve inches of a cutting edge. The diameter of the wheels b b being S* feet or
forty-two inches, their circumferences are ISlMeVS inches; every revolution of them will pass over
nearly 132 inches of the ground's surface ; but there being ten teeth in the crank-rod pinion, and sixty in
the beveled wheel i, every revolution of the wheels bb will turn the crank-pinion six times, and, of course,
the crank as often. But every turn of the crank-pinion gives two cuts, and each stroke of the cutters
clears twelve inches of the ground, because they have twelve inches of a cutting edge : therefore, one
revolution of the wheels bb gives twelve strokes of the cutters, and clears twelve times twelve, or 144
inches of the surface of the ground. But one revolution of bb passes only over 132 inches of surface;
therefore, the cutters are calculated to cut, in one revolution of bb, twelve inches more than enough,
that is, one inch each stroke. This, however, is perhaps nothing more than is advisable to calculate
upon, making allowances for the operation of the machinery, the partial dragging of the wheels, &c. &c.
Secondly, the collector (//) must not move too slowly, lest it should retard the corn from falling upon the
canvass ; and it must not move too quickly, lest it should shake ripe grain. As before stated, it is 2| feet
in diameter, that is, 94 2477 inches in circumference. But one revolution of B b passes over 132 inches of
surface ; therefore, that the collector (/ 1) may just touch the corn, without bringing it back, or retarding
it from naturally falling back, it must make 14 revolution for every one that bb makes Since there are
six arms in //, every arm will touch the standing corn at equal distances of 15'7 inches. The pulley m
makes six revolutions for one that bb makes : it is six inches in diameter, and the pulley n, upon the axle
of II, is nine inches ; therefore m revolves V5 times fbr once that n turns round, and the collector {II) re-
volves four times for once that the large wheels b b revolve. But 4 x 94"2477 = 37699 inches, the space
passed through by the circumference of the collector, while the machine moves forward only 132 ; the
difference of which is 244 99, the space that the collector passes over more than the machine, during one
revolution of bb. Therefore, every inch of the corn is brought back 1-.54 inch nearly, by the collector,
which is sufficient to insure its falling backwards upon the canvass ; and yet it touches the corn so gently,
that it is impossible that it can injure it in the smallest degree. A quicker and a slower motion, however,
is advisable ; which is easily given, by having two or three sheaves upon the pulleys ni and n ; and then,
by shifting the belt, a different motion is produced. With regard to the canvass, it is necessary that it
should revolve as much as the ground passed over by the machine ; that is, while the wheels b b make one
revolution, or pass over 132 inches of the surface, 132 inches at least of canvass should pass over the rollers.
w, as before stated, has thirty.six teeth, and x eighteen, so that the roller y will give two revolutions for
Book IV.
REAPING MACHINES.
4^7
one of w. But w revolves six times for one revolution of the wheels b b : hence the roller y will revolve
twelve times for every revolution of b b. The diameter of the rollers is four inches ; their circumferences,
therefore, are nearly 12-56 inches, twelve revolutions of which will give 15072 inches. As before stated,
one revolution of b b gives only 132 inches, wherefore there is a preponderance of motion, on the side of
the canvass, of 1872 inches for every revolution of bb. This velocity is necessary to insure the canvass
of clearing itself in all cases ; and, with a smart velocity, the cut corn is laid down with a greater angle to
the path of the machine. It may here be observed, that it is often found convenient to have the canvass
to lay down the corn on either side of the machine, according to the direction from which the wind is
blowing. This may be done with a double wheel at x, with a handle in the usual method employed for
reversing the motion of the rollers of the threshing machine. It were desirable, too, if possible, to have
the canvass besmeared with a drying oil or gum, or some other substance which would prevent it from
contracting with moisture ; as the slightest shower, or dew of a morning, contracts it so much, as to ren.
der the implement useless until the corn is perfectly dry.
27.38. An estimate of the probable value of Bell's reaping machine may be formed from the reports signed
by numerous practical farmers, who were spectators to different trials made in 1828 and 1829. In Sep-
tember, 1828, the machine was tried at Powrie, in the county of Forfar, before between forty and fifty
landed proprietors and practical agriculturists, who signed a declaration, stating " that the machine cut
down a breadth of five feet at once, was moved by a single horse, and attended by from six to eight
persons to tie up the corn ; and that the field was reaped by this force at the rate of an imperial acre per
hour." {Gard. Mair. voL v. p. 600.) In September, 1829, the machine was tried at Monckie in Forfar-
shire, in the presence of a still greater number of persons, who attest that it cut, in half an hour, nearly
half an English acre of a very heavy crop of oats, which were lodged, thrown about by the wind, and
exceedingly difficult to harvest. It was tried in a number of other places in Forfarshire, Perthshire, and
Fifeshire, and the general conviction appears to be, that it will soon come into as general use among
farmers as the threshing machine. {Gard. Mag. vol. vi.) The price is, at present, between 30/. and 351. ;
but if it were once in general use, probably the cost might be lowered ; but even that price would
be saved out of the usual sum paid for manual labour, during only one harvest , by an extensive farmer.
Few men deserve better of his country, and indeed, of every civilised country where agriculture is
practised, than Mr. Bell ; for surely that invention must ultimately be of great benefit to men and
women, which enables them to do by horses, oxen, or steam, that which they have hitherto done by a
most severe description of manual labour, rendered doubly oppressive by the season of the year in which
it must necessarily be perfomied.
2739. A mac/line for reaping, and at the same time sheaving corn, was invented in the year 1822, by
Mr. Henry Ogle, school-master at Rennington, near Alnwick, Northumberland. In 1823, Messrs.
Brown, iron founders in Alnwick, advertised that they would furnish machines of this sort complete
for sheaving corn at the beginning of harvest. No farmer however could be found who would go to the
expense. The operation of the machine was satisfactory, and it was estimated to cut fourteen acres per
day. An engraving and description of it will be found in the Mechanic's Magazine, vol. v. p. 50. In
the same work (vol. i. p. 145.) will be found an engraving of a mowing machine invented by Jeremiah
Baily, of Chester County, United States, about 1821, and said to answer well, and to have been exten.
sively used. Whoever contemplates further improvements in this description of machinery, would do
well to begin by making himself master of all the foregoing inventions.
*?740. Gladstone s machine for reaping beans (Jig' 378.) has been used in several parts
of Scotland with complete
1^
success. The framework
of this machine is the
same as that of a com-
mon plough. To this
is added the knife fa),
which is a plate of steel,
screwed to a piece of
wood, to keep it from
bending up and down ;
this wood being screwed
to the framework. There
is a wheel {b) to keep the
knife when in motion in a
horizontal position. The
cutting edge of the knife
(c) has teeth, or serrature^
on the upper side (d) ;
the under side (e) is flat.
One horse and a man will cut with this machine from four to fi . acres a day, with ease,
and perform the work as perfectly as by manual labour.
2741. ji machine for reaping the heads or seed-pods of clover (jig. 379.), where the
.'^'79 ^K n. y? y^ ''Second growth of that crop is left to stand for seed, lias
been used in some parts of Norfolk and Suffolk. It
consists of a comb, the teeth of which are lance-shaped,
very sharp, and set close. This comb is affixed horizon-
tally to the fore part of the bottom of an open box or
barrow, which is drawn by one horse and guided by a
man, who empties the barrow in regular lines across
the field by means of an implement (a), which serves also to clean the teetli.
2742. A machine for mowing clover hay has frequently been attempted, but not yet
perfected. One by Plucknet, of the Blackfriars Road, London, succeeded tolerably,
but never came into use : it consisted of circular knives put into rapid motion, and tlie
cut stalks guided to one side by a revolving cradle, like that attached to corn scythes.
(2480.) It never came into use.
428 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II
Sect. VII. Machines of Deportation.
2743. The carriage or conveyance machines of agriculture are chiefly carts and waggons,
and their several varieties.
SuBSECT. 1. Carts.
2744. Carts, like other implements, vary in their forms and modes of construction,
according to the nature and situation of the roads, and many other local circumstances ;
but, for the purposes of farming, those of the single-horse kind are in general the most
advantageous and useful. The advantages of single-horse carts. Lord R. Seymour
observes {Ann. Jg. xxvii.), are universally admitted, wherever they have been attentively
compared with carriages of any other description. A horse, when he acts singly, will do
half as much more work as when he acts in conjunction with another ; that is to say,
that two horses will, separately,, do as much work as three conjunctively : this arises, in
the first place, from the single horse being so near the load he draws ; and, in the next
place, from the point or line of draught being so much below his breast, it being usual
to make the wheels of single-horse carts low. A horse harnessed singly has nothing but
his load to contend with ; whereas, when he draws in conjunction with another, he is
generally embarrassed by some difference of rate, the horse behind or before him moving
quicker or slower than himself; he is likewise frequently inconvenienced by the greater
or less height of his neighbour : these considerations give a decided advantage to the
single-horse cart. The very great ease with which a low cart is filled may be added ; as
a man may load it, wdth the help of a long-handled shovel or fork, by means of his hands
only ; whereas, in order to fill a higher cart, not only tlie man's back, but his arms and
whole person must be exerted. To the use of single horses in draught there can be no
objection, unless it be the supposed necessity of additional drivers created by it : the fact
however is, that it has no such effect; for horses once in the habit of going singly, will
follow each other as uniformly and as steadily as they do when harnessed together ; and
accordingly we see, on the most frequented roads in Ireland, men conducting three, four,
or five, single-horse carts each, without any inconvenience to the passengers : such,
likewise, is the case where lime and coal are generally carried upon pack-horses. In
some of the northern counties of Biitain also, one man manages two or three, and
sometimes more, one-horse carts.
2745. Carts drawn hy one horse, or by two horses, says a writer whose authority is
unquestionable (Supp. Ency. Brit.), are the only farm carriages of some of the best
cultivated counties, and no other are ever used in Scotland. Their load depends upon
the strength of the horses, and nature of the roads ; but, in every case, it is asserted that
a given number of horses will draw a great deal more, according to some one third more,
in single-horse carts than in waggons. Two-horse carts are still the most common
among farmers in Scotland ; but those drawn by one horse, two of which are always
driven by one man, are unquestionably preferable for most purposes. The carriers of
the west of Scotland usually load from a ton to a ton and a half, on a single-horse cart,
and no where does it carry less than 1 2 cwt. if the roads are tolerable,
2746. Wheels, such as are broad, with conical or convex rims, are common in England;
in Scotland the wheels are generally narrow, though broader ones are beginning to be
introduced. Those used for the common, or two-horse, carts, are usually about 4^ feet
high, and mounted on iron axles. The advantages of broad cylindrical wheels have been
illustrated with much force and ingenuity in several late publications. {Communications
to the Board of Agriculture, vol. ii. and vol. vii. part i.)
2747. Large wheels to carts, drays, ^c. will, besides greatly increasing the facility of
draught, tend to lessen the number of accidents to which all two-wheeled carriages are
liable, from the shaft-horse falling down. To render this more evident, let us first
examine fg. 380., which is a rude sketch of a cart constructed in the usual manner,
and supposed to be loaded with bricks, stone, sand,
or other heavy material. While thus loaded, and
the horse is in an erect position, the centre of
gravity (g) is almost directly over the axletree, in
which state the body of the cart is nearly balanced,
or only pressed upon the back of the horse with a
force equal to a few pounds' weight. But the horse
is supposed to have fallen : the consequence is, that
the centre of gravity is thrown much more forward ; the body of the cart and its load
becomes divided by the line a b, perpendicular to the axletree, into two very unequal
parts, c and d ; the whole of the increased portion (c) in front of the line acting as a
weight upon the horse, and only partly counterbalanced by the diminished portion {d)
behind the line. It frequently happens that this increased weight, so suddenly thrown
upon the shafts, snaps them short oft"; and, at all times, tends to prevent the horse from
rising until part of the load is removed. By adopting the larger wheels, and the bent
l^OOK IV.
CARTS.
429
axle {Jig. 381.) the cart, &c. becomes much less liable to such accidents, because the
centre of gravity (^g) and the centre of suspension
(the axle) are brought much nearer together ; the
former being placed nearly over the latter, at a small
distance only from it. A horse falling with a loaded
cart so constructed, will experience but little increase
of weight upon him while down : the cart will be
divided as before, by the line a b, into two parts ; but it
will be observed, these portions differ but little in
their respective magnitudes. The centre of gravity (g) will be thrown forward, but
in a very trifling degree. In carts, &c. it will almost always happen that the centre of
gravity will be above the point of suspension (the axle) ; but in gigs, &c. the body may be
placed so low that the centre of gravity may fall below that point, when the body will
jilways maintain an erect (i.- e. a horizontal) position, and, should the horse fall down,
wdll operate to lift him up again. A gig so constructed would be almost beyond the
possibility of those serious, and frequently fatal, accidents, which occur from the falling
of the horse. {W. ]3addeley,jun. in Mech. Mag. vol. xii. p. 204.)
2748. The power of wheels has no dependence on the height of the wheels, or the length of their spokes,
but depends wholly on the power of draught that is joined to their axles, and to the forward motion, or
the progress of the carriage. If the carriage were placed upon skates completely polished, and upon
smooth ice, it would be drawn by as little power as if it were placed upon wheels. The use of wheels
is to lessen the resistance to the carriage by friction, or rubbing upon the ground, or upon the floor upon
which the carriage is to be moved ; that resistance is least of all when the ground is hard and smooth,
such as a rail-road of iron ; it increases upon soft and upon rough ground ; and it increases still more
when the carriage must be drawn up an ascent, according to the steepness of the ascent, because the
power of draught must be able to lift the carriage, it may be said, step by step, up the ascent ; and when
the ascent is soft or rough, more power of draught is necessary. When the wheels are dished they plough
the soft ground, and grind the rough ground, and thereby they increase the power of resistance, and require
more power of draught to overcome the absurdity of their own form ; and thus they cause the continual
shaking of the joints of the carriage, and the wearing of the iron and of the wood of which it has been
made. Narrow wheels are drawn rather more easily through small loose stones ; but, upon every other
kind of ground, broad wheels that are rollers are drawn more easily, or with less power, and the benefit of
them to the roads is greater according to their greater breadth. High broad wheels do not sink so deep
into soft ground as low wheels do ; but, if the low wheels be made broader, the benefit obtained will be in
proportion to the additional breadth. The axles of high wheels turn seldomer round, or the wheels turn
seldomer round the axles, which is an advantage; but high wheels must be weightier than low wheels,
which is a disadvantage. High wheels are useful to carry great stones, or great trees, under the axles ;
and loads of every kind, alive as well as dead, ought to be hung as low as possible. And every load ought
to be hung, or to be placed, upon springs, which will allow the carriage to be lighter; and the lower it Is
hung, or placed, it will be so much safer from overturns, there will be less shaking, and less power of
draught will be required. {Sir Alex. Gordoii, in Farm. Mag. vol. xx. p. 130.)
2749. The construction of wheels has been much improved by the introduction of cast-iron naves or
stocks These stocks are found particularly suitable for warm
climates, and scarcely any others are exported. Messrs. Mor-
ton, of Leith Walk, have renewed the spokes in them after
they have been in use twenty years, and found the stocks as
good as when new. {Gard. Mag. vol. vi.) In England wrought-
iron spokes have been employed, which are found to succeed
perfectly, and, from their durability, will, in the end, be found
cheaper than wood.
2750. Jones's improved iron wheels (Jig- 382.) are
formed wholly of cast and wrought iron. The
felly, or periphery of the wheel (a), is made of
cast iron, with conical holes on the outside, con-
tracting towards the centre, through which the
spokes, made of iron rods, are to be passed, and
secured in the box, or nave (6), near the centre
of the wheel, by nuts screwed on to the reverse end
of the rods, by which means they are drawn tight.
(Newton s Journal, vol. i. 2d Series, p. 154.)
2751. A great improvement in the construction of
axles for carriages, carts, and waggons, has been
made by George Burges, Esq. M. A. of Cambridge. Instead of one circle moving
within another, as in all common axles ; or one circle moving within another, this other
having grooves for retaining oil in the manner of the
patent axles ; Mr. Burges's axle is a circle (Jig. 383.
a) moving within six points, formed by six equal
convex segments, which hold oil in their angles (b) :
the friction is thus reduced to a minimum in theory ;
and with case-hardened iron, and abundance of oil, we
should think it could not be otherwise in practice.
Mr. Burges has had the axles of his own carriage
constructed in this way for some years. ( Gard. Mag.
vol. V.)
2752. The Scotch one-horse coup cart is used either
without or with (Jig. 384.) a frame for the purpose of
430
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part 1 1.
building on a greater load of hay, straw, or corn in the sheaf. This frame is held on by
no fastening, but remains in its place from being fitted to the exact width of the body of
the cart. On drawing out an iron pin, the fore part of the body rises up from the shafts,
while the other end sinks, and allows the load, whether of dung, earth, or stones in the
close cart, or of hay, or sheaves of corn, on the cart and frame, to fall to the ground.
2753. The Scotch corn cart {Jig. 385.) consists of open framework, with a boarded
i~^ — . , bottom, and is used solely for the
purpose of carting hay, corn in the
sheaf, or similar materials. It is
light, cheap in construction, and
contains a bulky load, which, being
lower and more extended than a
load on a coup cart with a frame,
is less likely to be overturned.
2754. The Scotch two-horse cart
differs little from the one-horse
cart, except in being larger. To
prove the inferiority of double to single horse carts, Gray observes, " that whatever
greater part of the load is placed before the centre of gravity, which is always in the axle,
must rest constantly on the horse that is in the shafts. In going down hill this burden
must be considerably increased, especially if the load be high above the centre of the
axle, or the descent steep ; and the additional burden upon the shaft-horse is always in
proportion to these two causes united. But there is another disadvantage ; for, unless
the line of the draught of the foremost horse be exactly in the line from the hook of his
collar to the centre of the axle (which is hardly possible), he will perpetually be pulling
down the hindmost horse, or, in other words, wall be giving him more weight to carry.
For, as the traces of the foremost horse are generally fixed upon the shafts, this throws
his line of draught at a considerable angle above the centre of the axle ; from which it is
evident, that although the road be ever so level, yet in every double or two-horse cart,
the foremost horse must either not draw at all, or must bring additional weight upon the
horse in the shafts, which weight will always be in proportion to the force with which
the trace-horse di-aws, and the largeness of the angle which the line of his draught makes
with the line from the hook of his collar to the centre of the axle. Besides, unless the
driver be more careful than ordinary, and keep the trace-horse to his duty, the other one
has not only this great weight to carry, but also the whole load to draw. The angle is
increased considerably when the trace-horse is of a lower size than the one in the shafts,
which may frequently happen ; and, by this means, a still greater burden is laid upon
the back of the horse employed in the shafts.
2755. Improved two-horse carts. (Jig. 386.) It may be suggested to those who arc
fond of employing two-horse carts^ that, in order to adjust the traces of the fore-horse
Book IV.
CARTS.
431-
with as little injury as possible to the one behind, and by this means make both their
powers coincide, two iron frames are fixed into the axle, in each of which is placed a
sheeve or whorl. Upon these sheeves pass a rope or chain (a). In the outside of each
shaft is fixed a long iron staple ; and on each staple is placed an iron slider (ft), having
liberty to shift either forward or backward ; the chain from the collar of the shaft-horse
is hooked into the eye of the slider ; and the chain or rope, by which the foremost horse
draws, passing from his collar (c), round on the sheeve at the axle, is hooked into the
other eye of the slider. By this means the two horses are so connected, that, if the one
shall relax, immediately the exertion of the other horse presses the collar hard upon his
shoulders, so that he must either exert himself or be pulled backwards. Thus the
exertions of the two horses are united, so as to form one power applied to the cart, in
place of two powers working generally against one another, which must be the case in
the common way of attaching two horses to a cart. But, by this way of yoking, the shaft-
horse receives no additional burden from the exertion of the trace-horse, as they both
di-aw from one point, which is the centre of the axle, to the hooks of their respective
collars, by which their powers must nearly coincide. If this coincidence does not take
place, it is evident that the two horses will, to a certain degree, be pulling against one
another, which must be extremely distressing to each in his turn, especially to the one in
the shafts. The same principle, as will afterwards appear, has been employed in yoking
horses to threshing machines.
2756. The corn cart has a longer body than the close cart, and the sides and ends are
cpen, and support two rails along each. It is made to fit the axle and wheels of the close
c^.rt, and is chiefly used in haytime and harvest, when it is supposed to admit of laying
on a larger load of sheaves or hay than the cart and frame.
2757. Lord SomervUle's drag-cart (Jig. 387.) is constructed with a contrivance for
387
checking or regulating the rapidity of its motion in going down hills or other declivities.
The method for adjusting the position of the centre of gravity of the load, and to prevent
its pressing too much on the cattle in going down hill, is by a toothed rack, screwed to
the front of the cart, and worked by a pinion and handle (a) immediately connected with
the pole. By means of this pinion and rack the front of the carriage is elevated more or
less, in proportion to the declivity of the hill, by which means the weight of the load is
made to bear more on the axis, and less on the necks of the oxen. A friction drag (A)
is made to press more or less on the side of the wheel, according to the steepness of the
descent ; the one end of it is connected with the tail of the cart by a small chain, and the
other end to the front, by means of a toothed rack, which catches on a staple in the front
of the cart, by which the pressure of the friction-bar may be regulated at the discretion
of the driver : the notches or teeth in this rack, it is observed, should be as close to each
other as circumstances will permit.
2758. The advantages of the friction-drag, and other contrivances, are said to be, 1st, The method, which
IS equally simple and expeditious, of adjusting the centre of gravity of the load, so as to have a proper
bearing on the horses or cattle, in going down hill. 2dly, The method of applying friction to the side of
the wheel, to regulate the motion of the carriage in going down hill (instead of locking the wheels), the
advantages of which method appear to be as follow : namely, first, the pressure and degree of friction may,
with great expedition, be adjusted to the steepness of the declivity, so that the carriage will neither press
forward, nor require much exertion to make it follow the cattle ; secondly, the friction is so applied to the
wheel, that a given pressure will have twice the effect in retarding the progress that it would have if
immediately applied to the body of the carriage, or to the axis : and, by applying the friction on both sides
of the wheel, the risk of heating and destroying the friction-bar is much less than if the same degree of
friction were applied in one place. StUy, This apparatus is so conveniently placed, that it can be instantly
applied or adjusted, without stopping the carriage, or exposing the driver to the same danger as in locking
a wheel. And, 4thly, This contrivance will assume yet a greater importance when applied to both the
hind wheels of waggons, by which means the resistance may always be proportioned to the steepness of
the descent, the tearing up of the road prevented, the unnecessary exertion of the cattle in drawing the
locked carriage down hill avoided, the danger to which the driver is sometimes exposed in locking the
waggon-wheel totally evaded, and the time now lost in locking and unlocking the wheel saved to the
proprietor.
422
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE
Part II.
2759. Rapson's stop drag ft
88
carriages going down hill (Jigs. 388, 389, and 390.) con-
iH'J sists of five or more
^-r^i^^^Z^ /?^ \\ // "SX pieces of wood,
¥ 1 <X\ //\^ \i)l ayy\\ " united on the out-
side by a strong
jointed iron hoop ;
the wood pressing
upon the nave of
the wheel. The
first, a fixed pivot
(a), from the hoop,
is fixed to the under
side of the frame of
the cart ; from the
other extremity of
the hoop of the
brake proceeds a
bar (6), which slides
through the plate
or socket (c) fixed
to the side of the cart frame ; a vertical perforation is made through the bar (6),
just behind the plate, to receive the pin (d), which is likewise chained to the shaft : this
pin, so placed, prevents any force applied to the chain from tightening the brake on the
nave of the wheel. Fig. 389. represents the interior of a wheel on level ground, the
nave surrounded by the brake, which, by its own gravity, is hanging loose, leaving the
wheel perfectly free. Fig. 390. shows a wheel on a declivity, the chain drawn tight by
the pressure of the breeching on the horse ; the brake, of course, closely surrounding
the nave, and forming an effectual drag. Fig. 391. is a bird's-eye view of the whole
apparatus, exhibiting the framing of the cart, the
shafts, wheels, and brakes; the chains also are
shown, passing from the bars on each side, each
round a horizontal pulley on the shaft, and
attached to the ends of the breeching. Thus it is
evident that, when a cart, furnished with this
drag, is going down hill, the load, pressing the
breeching against the horses, draws the brake
tight by means of the chain, and produces a
friction on the nave proportioned, in some measure,
to the declivity. When backing upon level ground, by inserting the pin (Jig. 388. d)
through the bars of the brakes, the wheels will be kept free. This drag is to be applied
to the naves of the carriage wheels, with a chain attached, fastened to the breeching of
the horse, and a small pin on each side of the shaft is to go into the hole of the bar of
the drag. If one of the pins be taken out, one wheel will be dragged and the other not.
By leaving out both pins, the two wheels are dragged in going down hill, by the
breeching bearing against the horse. The wheels will revolve round on a level road, and
in going up hill undrag themselves. When the wheels are braced, two or three tons' weight
have very little pressure on the horse in going down hill. If two loaded carts should
meet on a narrow hill, by unhooking the drag-chain from the breeching, and hooking it
to the tub-chain (back chain), the horse can be put back with the greatest ease and safety.
When the horse is put back against the hill, the two pins must be put in the bars of the
drags. The drag consists of a wooden brake, applied round the nave of each wheel, in
pieces which are encircled and connected by a jointed iron plate. The small bar attached
to one end of this brake slides freely through a corresponding hole in a plate fixed at
right angles to the shaft : a hole is drilled through this sliding bar, for the purpose of
admitting a pin or forelock, chained to the shaft. To each end of the breeching is
attached a chain, which, passing through a horizontal sheeve, or pulley, on the upper
surface of each shaft, is ultimately fixed to the bar of the drag. While the bolts or fore-
locks remain in the holes behind the perforated plate before mentioned, it is evident the
brake cannot tighten upon or drag the wheel ; but, on either of those pins being
removed, the wheels become immovable." (Smith's Mechanic, vol. ii. p. 322.)
2760. Kneebone's drag for two-wheeled carriages (Jig. 392.) is composed of a piece of
wrought iron, curved to the exact form of the circumference of the wheel, with a chain,
to be fastened to the near shaft, to keep the drag properly under the wheel. When
the drag is out of use it may be hung on hooks, at the under part of the tail of the
cart. The weight of this drag is usually from sixty to eighty pounds. " This simple
contrivance has never failed to be effectual in retarding carts, or any two-wheeled car-
riages, while descending hills, taking off the great burden from the shaft horse, and
Book IV.
WAGGONS.
4S3
392
permitting the carriage to descend with the greatest ease and safety in the most moun-
tainous countrj'. It may be applied to any kind of
road, and is not subject to the inconvenience of lock-
ing poles, which, on rough roads, among loose stones
or deep ruts, are very apt to overturn carts by the
sudden resistance they meet with. Deep ruts, or
loose stones, have not been found to lessen the ad-
vantages of this drag." (Smith's Compend. of Practical
Inventions, p. 322.)
2761. The improved quarry cart has a bend in its iron axle, which brings it within
fourteen inches of the ground, although moving on wheels more than five feet high. ' In
the ease with which it is drawn, loaded, and unloaded, it is superior to the common cart
in the proportion of seven to three.
2762. The three-wheeled cart is a low machine, on wheels about two feet in diameter,
the third wheel placed in the middle before, and generally of smaller size than the two
others. It is used for conveying earth or gravel to short distances, as in canal and road
making ; and for these purposes it is a most valuable machine, and in very general use.
SuBSECT. 2. Waggons.
2763. Waggons constructed in different forms, and of various dimensions, are made
use of in different districts of the kingdom ; and for the most part without much
attention to the nature of the roads, or of the articles which are to be conveyed by them ;
being, in general, heavy, clumsy, and inconvenient. Waggons require much more
power in the draught than carts, and are far from being so handy and convenient, which
is certainly an objection to them, though they carry a much greater load. There can be
no doubt that more work may be done in any particular time, with the same number of
horses, by carts than by waggons, in the general run of husbandry business, especially
where the distance is small between loading and unloading. Waggons may perhaps be
the most proper sort of conveyances for different sorts of heavy loads to a considerable
distance ; but for home business, especially harvest, and other field work which requires
to be speedily performed, carts seem decidedly preferable.
2764. Waggons, though they may possess some advantages over carts in long journeys,
and when fully loaded, the editor of The Farmer's Magazine observes, are now admitted
to be much less convenient for the general purposes of a farm, and particularly on
occasions which require great despatch, as in harvesting the crop.
2765. On the loading of waggons much of the value depends. " A waggon or other carriage, on four
wheels of equal diameter, is of Tighter draught than those in common use, having the fore pair of wheels
of less diameter than the hind ; but if the load be placed on the fore and hind wheels in the same
proportion that their diameters bear to one another, nearly all the advantages of having wheels of equal
diameter will be obtained. This proportioning of the load cannot at all times be effected in carriages of
303 the ordinary description, even if wished; because the body of the
vehicle must be equally filled with the goods to be removed, or a great
loss of room would occur." iJV. Baddeley, in Mech. Mag. vol. xii.
p. 173.)
2766. The Bistribution of the load between the wheels, so as to render
the difference in their size a matter of no importance, may be effected
by adopting a plan recommended by Baddeley, before quoted. In a sketch
of a waggon, which this engineer has given in the Mechanics' Magazine
{Jig. 393.), the hinder wheels are unusually large, and are so situated
as to carry four fifths of the weight when the body is fully loaded : with
less than a full load they may be made to carry the whole weight, by
placing it over them. To admit of such large wheels being used the axle is bent, as will be better seen by
referring to^^^. 394., which is a section of the hinder portion of the carriage ; it will also be seen that
this part of the carriage is supported by three springs, two only being used
in the fore part. Simple as this arrangement may at first sight appear, it
will be found to possess a great superiority over waggons of the usual
construction. The ease with which great roofs may be transported upon
wheels- of large dimensions has been a long and well established fact ; but,
at the same time, it is one of which the builders of carriages have never so
fully availed themselves as they should have done. In passing over a rough
or unevenly paved road (such as yet abound in many parts of our metro-
polis), a small wheel sinks into every little hollow, and the axle, if noticed,
would be found to describe a line almost as curved and irregular as the
surface of the road. A large wheel on the same road would partake but slightly of its inequalities, and
the line described by the axle would be found to deviate but little fVom a straight line; indeed, with a
wheel sufficiently large, the axle would describe a perfectly straight line. In the latter case the friction,
and consequently the draught, would be little more than if the carriage ran upon a rail-road ; the larger,
therefore, we use the wheels, the nearer we approach this favourable point of effect By the application
of the bent axle {jfig. 394.), large wheels, so highly necessary in these cases, might be employed WitnOMt
raising the body of the carriage. ( W. Baddeley, jun. in Mech. Mag. vol. xii. p. 174.)
2767. The Gloucestershire waggon, according to Marshal, is the best in England. By
means of a crooked side-rail, bending archwise over the hind wheel, the bodies or frames
of them are kept low, without the diameter of the wheels being much lessened. The
bodies are likewise made wide in proportion to their shallowness, and the wheels run six
inches wider than those of most other waggons, whereby advantages in carrying top*
Ff
434
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
loads are evidently obtained. Rudge, in his survey of the above district, says, that in
many districts, waggons are the principal carriages employed in getting in the hay, and
are either full-bedded, or with three-quarter beds. Tlie former have the advantage of a
greater length . of bed, but are not so convenient for turning ; the latter, though
diminished in size, have the convenience of locking the fore wheels, and turning in
almost as narrow a compass as a chaise, in consequence of the bed being hollowed out
on each side near the middle, to admit the exterior part or felloes of the fore wheels.
Both waggons are capable of carrying nearly the same weight ; though the former, being
deeper in the bed, is somewhat better adapted for the carnage of heavy articles, such as
bags of corn, &c. For the purpose of harvesting, or carrying hay and straw, their length
and width are increased by light ladders before and behind, and of similar contrivances
called " rathes," the whole length of the sides. The ladders are put on and taken off at
pleasure, in both kinds, but the side additions are generally fixed, except in the strait-
headed, which are in use on the western side of the Severn ; in these they are made
removable, so as to leave the bed quite naked.
2768. The Berkshire waggon {Jig- 395.) is constructed on a simple and convenient
principle, not having the usual height or weight of other waggons, while it possesses
sufficient strength, and is easy in
the draught. An improvement
suggested is, that of leaving the
space sufficiently deep in the
body or bed for the fore wheels
to lock round in the shortest
curve ; as, in the present manner
of its construction, a great deal
.of time is lost in turning at the ends of the swarths, in carrying hay, and on many other
occasions. In this way the inconvenience may be removed, without doing the smallest
injury to the symmetry or strength of the carriage.
2769. The Norfolk cart and waggon is formed by adding a pair of fore wheels and shafts
to a common cart, connected by a pole from axle to axle. It is said to be light, cheap,
and convenient, and capable of carrying nearly as much hay or straw as the Berkshire
waggon.
2770. Rood's patent waggon (Jig.396. ) is a contrivance whereby the same carriage may,
in a few minutes, be changed by the driver into two complete tip-carts of the common
dimensions, and applicable to all the uses of carts in general, or into one waggon, so
complete, that a narrow inspection is necessary to distinguish it from a common waggon.
The carts have a contrivance (a a) to render them more safe and easy to the horse in
going down a hill, and have movable side-ladders (6 6), which will be found of great use
in carrying corn, bark, &c. It may be constructed with perfect facility by the wheel-
wrights of any county ; its shape and particular dimensions can be suited to the wishes
of the owner, or to the local fashion of his neighbourhood. The result of considerable
experience and enquiries enables its inventor to state, that it may, in any county, be
completed . for about five pounds more than the cost of two common carts. It must,
however, be admitted to be somewhat more clumsy than a common waggon.
2771. Gordon's one-horse waggon (Jig. 397.) is a very scientifically designed machine.
The wheels are cylindrical, and of the breadth of six inches. The draught is by what is
called a draught spring. {Jig. 398.) " By these draught springs, *' the inventor says,
** a carriage will be put into motion by little more than half of the power that would
be necessary without them, and the benefit will continue during all the time that the
carriage may be continued in motion ; but the benefit will be lessened as the speed of
Book IV.
THRESHING MACHINES.
435
the carriage may be increased, the projectile or forward force being increasod in aid
397 IT^=^:^=iB^se^==x=3s^^ <*f^*- Tugs,
which are
the greatest
cause of the
restiveness of
horses, are
prevented by
these springs,
and jolts are
very much
lessened; and
carriages and
horses will not be so soon worn out ; and the motion of carriages will be much easier."
When several beasts are employed to draw any carriage, each should be attached by one
of these springs. The advantage is said to be obtained by the
spring being squeezed together, in some degree, before the
carriage can be set in motion ; and the exertion of the spring
to expand itself pulls the carriage with so much force, which
is added to the force exerted by the beast. Sir Alexander
Gordon, the inventor, is said to have employed carriages of
this sort himself, but they have never come into general use.
Messrs. Morton of Leith Walk perfectly understand their
construction, and their details are recorded in the Farmer's
Magazine, vols. xvii. and xx.
2772. Light waggons draivn by one horse are recommended
for general use where roads are hard and smooth, and not
hilly. Mr. Stuart Menteath uses them at Closeburn in
Dumfriesshire, and frequently draws from a ton and a half to
two tons in a waggon weighing not more than nine cwt.
drawn by one horse.
Sect. VIII. Machines for threshing and otherwise preparing
Com for Market.
2773. Threshing and preparatory machines include threshing
and winnowing machines, and awn and smut machines.
Thresliing machines are common in every part of Scotland, on
farms where the extent of tillage-land requires two or more ploughs ; and they are every
year spreading more extensively in England and Ireland. They are worked by horses,
water, wind, and, of late, by steam ; and their powers and dimensions are adapted to the
various sizes of farms. Water is by far the best power ; but, as a supply cannot be
obtained in many situations, and as wind and steam require too much expense for most
farms, horses are employed more generally than any other. Where windmills are
erected, it is found necessary to add such machinery as may allow them to be worked by
horses, occasionally, in very calm weather ; and the use of steam must be confined, for
the most part, to the coal districts.
2774. The operation of separating the grain from the straw was long performed by the flail, to the
manifest injury of both the farmer and the community ; for though in some cases the work was tolerably
well performed, yet in a great majority of instances it was otherwise. A quantity, perhaps equal to the
average of the seed sown, was lost even in the best cases: but, where the allowance to the thresher was either
a proportion of the produce, known by the name of lot, generally a twenty-fifth part; or, when he was
paid in money, at so much per boll; the temptation to do the work in a slovenly manner was so great, that
a quantity, perhaps double what was required for seed, was lost upon many farms; — an evil that did not
escape the notice of intelligent men, by several of whom attempts were made to invent something that
would do the work more perfectly ; this, therefore, seems to have led to the construction and use of this
valuable machine.
2775. Tfie first threshing-machine, as before observed (795.), was invented by Menzies, brother to the
then sheriff-depute of East Lothian ; the machinery was driven by a water-wheel, which put in motion a
number of flails, of the same kind with those used in threshing by the hand. Trials made with these
machines were so far satisfactory, that a great deal of work was done in a given time ; but, owing to the
velocity required to do the work perfectly, they soon broke, and the invention fell into disgrace.
277(3. Another attempt, some time in the year 1758, was made by a farmer in the parish of Dumblane
in Perthshire. His machine was constructed upon principles similar to the flax-mill, having an upright
shaft with four arms enclosed in a cylinder, three and a half feet in height and eight in diameter, within
which the shaft and its arms were turned with considerable velocity by a water-wheel. The sheaves,
being presented by the hand, were let down from the top upon the arms, by which the grain was beat out,
and, together with the straw, descended through an opening in the floor, where they were separated by
riddles and fanners, also turned by the water-wheel.
2777. A third attempt, about twenty years after, was made by Elderton, near Alnwick, and Smart, at
Wark, both nearly about the same time. Their machine was so constructed as to act by rubbing, in place
of beating out the grain. The sheaves were carried between an indented drum, about six feet in
diameter, and a number of rollers of the same description ranged around it, towards which they were
pressed by springs, in such a way as to rub out the grain when the drum was turned round. Upon trial,
this machine was also found ineffectual, as along with its doing very little work in a given time, it bruised
the grain, and so materially hurt its appearance as to lessen its value considerably in the market.
Ff 2
4^6 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part H,
2778. The machine, in its then imperfect state, was seen by the late Sir Francis Kinloch, Bart, of
Gilmerton, a gentleman well acquainted with mechanics, and who had paid much attention to country
affairs : it occurred to him that the machine might be rendered more perfect by enclosing the drum in a
fluted cover, and fixing on the outside of it four fluted pieces of wood, capable of being raised a little from
the circumference by springs^ in such a way as to press against the fluted cover, and to rub out the grain
as the sheaves passed between them ; but, after repeated trials, it was found to bruise the grain nearly as
much as the model from which it was copied. In that state it remained for some time, and was afterwards
sent by Sir Francis to a very worthy and ingenious character, Meikle of Know Mill, in his neighbourhood,
a millwright by profession, who had for a very considerable time employed his thoughts upon the same
subject. After much consideration, and several trials, it appeared to Meikle that the purpose of separating
the grain from the straw might be accomplished upon a principle different from any that had hitherto
been attempted, namely, by skutches acting upon the sheeves by their velocity, and beating out the grain,
in place of pressing or rubbing it out ; accordingly a model was constructed at Know Mill, in which the
grain was beat out by the drum, to which it was presented through two plain feeding. rollers, which were
afterwards altered for fluted ones. The first machine on a large scale, executed upon this principle, was
done by a son of Meikles, for Stein of Kilbagie, in the year 1786, which, when finished, performed the
work to the satisfaction of all parties, and established Meikle's principle of beating out the corn as superior
to all others. This superiority it still maintains, and is likely ever to do so.
2779. Many improvements have been made on these machines since their introduction. One of the most
useful of these, perhaps, is the method of delivering the straw, after it has been separated from the corn
by the circular rake, to what is called a travelling-shaker, which carries it to the straw-barn. This shaker,
which revolves like the endless web used in cotton and other machinery, is composed of small rods, placed
so near as to prevent the straw from falling through, while any thrashed corn that may not have been
formerly separated, drops from it in its progress, instead of falling along with it, where it would be trodden
down and lost.
2780. Improved mode of yoking the horses. It is well known that the work of horses in threshing-mills
is unusually severe, if continued for any length of time; that they sometimes draw unequally; that they,
as well as the machine itself, are much injured by sudden jerks and strains, which are almost unavoidable ;
and that, from this irregularity in the impelling power, it requires much care in the man who presents
the corn to the rollers, to prevent bad threshing. It is therefore highly desirable that the labour should
be equalised among the horses, and the movements of the machine rendered as steady as po.ssible. A
method of yoking the horses in such a manner as compels each of them to take his proper share of the
labour has accordingly been lately introduced, and the necessary apparatus, which is neither complicated
nor expensive, can be added to any machine worked by animal power. {Farmer's Magazine, vol. xiii.
p. 279. ; § 275+. and 2786. and Jigs. 386. 399. and 400.)
2781.. Winnowing tnachines added. All well constructed threshing mills have one winnowing machine,
which separates the chaff" from the corn before it reaches the ground ; and a second sometimes receives
it from the first, and gives it out ready for market, or nearly so. If the height of the building does not
admit of this last addition, a separate winnowing machine, when the mill is of great power, is driven by
a belt from it. In either of these ways there is a considerable saving of manual labour.
2782. Advantages of threshing machines. With a powerful water-mill, the editor of The Farmer's
Magazine observes, it cannot be doubted, that corn is threshed and dressed at no more expense than
must he incurred for dressing alone, when threshetl with the flail. Besides, the corn is more completely
detached from the straw ; and, by being threshed expeditiously, a good deal of it may be preserved in a
bad season which would have spoiled in a stack. The great advantage of transferring forty or fifty
q^uarters of grain in a few hours, and under the eye of the owner, from tire yard to the granary or market,
is of itself sufficient to recommend this invaluable machine, even though there were no saving of expense.
2783. The specific advantages resulting from the use of the tlireshing macliine are thus stated in The
Code of Agriculture : 1. From the superiority of this mode, one twentieth part more corn is gained from
the same quantity of straw than by the old-fashioned method. 2. The work is done more expeditiously.
3. Pilfering is avoided. 4. The grain is less subject to injury. .'5. Seed corn can be procured without
difficulty from the new crops, for those to be sown. 6. The market may be supplied with grain more
quickly in times of scarcity. 7. The straw, softened by the mill, is more useful for feeding cattle. 8. If
a stack of corn be heated it may be threshed in a day, and the grain, if kiln-dried, will be preserved, and
rendered fit for use. 9. The threshing-mill lessens the injury from smutty grain, the balls of smut not
being broken, as when beaten by the flail ; and, 10. By the same machine the grain may be separated
from the chaff" and small seeds, as well as from the straw. Before the invention of threshing-mills farm-
servants and labourers endured much drudgery ; the large corn farmer sustained much damage from bad
threshing ; and had much trouble, vexation, and loss, from careless and wicked servants ; but now, since
the introduction of this valuable machine, all his difficulties, in these respects, are obviated.
2784. The advantage that might be derived by the public, were threshing mills used in every case, for
separating corn from the straw, is thus estimated by Brown of Markle : — ,
one twentieth part of the produce, or in quarters.
The number of acres producing grain in Great
Britain, at 8,000,000
The average produce in quarters, at 3 qrs. per acre,
at - - 24,000,000
The increased quantity of grnin produced by
threshing-mills, instead of using the flail, at
1,200,000
The value of that increased quantity, at 40*. per
quarter L2,400,000
The saving in the expense of labour, at 1*. per
quarter ... . - . . il, 200,000
2785. A variety of threshing machines have been made in England, both on the
rubbing and beating, or scutching, principle, and some combining both modes ; but none
have been found to answer tlie purpose of separating the grain from the straw so well as
those of Meikle, which is the kind exclusively used in Scotland and the north of
England.
2786. Meikle's two-horse threshing machine, with the new-invented yoking apparatus
(Jig. 399. and 400.), is the smallest size of horse engine which is made. From tlie
lim])ers, or hanging pieces (a), by which the cattle draw when working this machine,
proceed the chains or ropes to which the horses are yoked, these chains or ropes being
united by an iron frame, placed upon a lever, having liberty to turn on a bolt; one
end of each of two single ropes is fixed to this iron frame, and upon their other ends
are fixed small blocks ; in each of which is placed a running sheeve, and over these
sheeves pass double ropes or chains. One liorse is yoked to these chains at the one arm,
and one at the other arm, so that the chains or ropes by which they draw, being con-
nected by the blocks, and the sheeves having liberty to move either way, if one of the
horses relaxes, immediately the other presses the collar to his shoulders. For instance,
W the horse yoked to the chains at one arm (Jig. 400. a) were to relax, then the one yoked
at the other (6) would instantly take up his rope, and puU the collar haid to his shoulders.
Book IV.
THRESHING MACHINES.
437
so that the lazy horse must either exert himself or be drawn backward, until the hooks,
to which he is yoked, rest on the limbers. Thus each horse spurs up his fellow, they being
3i.9
C^\j\
]^^
both connected by the ropes and sheev€s ; their exertions are united, so as to form one
power applied to the machine, instead of two powers, independent of one another. By this
400
means the draught will always press the collars equally upon tlie horses' shoulders, and,
though they are working in a circle, yet the strains of the draught must press fairly, or
equally, on their shoulders, without twisting their bodies to either side. This advantage
cannot be obtained in the common way of yoking horses in a threshing machine, unless the
draught-chains on each side of the horse be made in exact proportion in length to the
diameter of the circle in which he walks, or the chain next to the centre of the v/alk be made
a little shorter than the one farthest from it, w hich is often neglected ; but in this way of
yoking the horses, the strain of the draught will naturally press equally on his shoulders
when pulling, which of course must be less severe on the animal when walking in a circle.
2787. The advantages of this method of yoking horses to a threshing machine, which was
invented by Walter Samuel, blacksmith at Niddry, in the county of Linlithgow, have
been fully ascertained by experience, and acknowledged by the most intelligent farmers
in Scotland. They are as follows : —
Ist, The very great comparative ease obtained for the cattle, in this the heaviest part of their work.
This, without doubt, is a real saving of labour ; for it is no exaggeration to affirm, that five horses, yoked
by this apparatus to a threshing machine, will perform with equal ease the labour of six horses, of equal
strength and weight, yoked in the common way, each horse being independent of the rest.
2dly, A very great saving results in the tear and wear of the machine, from the regularity and uni-
Ff 3
438
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
formity of- the movement This will be acknowledged by any judge of the subject who witnesses the
performance. The sudden jerks and strains that generally take place in the usual way, are found to be
quite removed ; the machinery moving with the same kind of uniformity as if driven by water. In conse-
quence of which the work is better performed, and that in a very perceptible degree.
Meikle's water threshing-machine (fig
2788. Meikle's water threshins-machine (fit:. 401.) is the preferable engine, when a
supply of water can be
obtained. The main axle
or shaft (a), upon which is
\/f\ j fixed the water-wheel (6),
has placed upon its cir-
ciimferencecast-metal seg-
ments (c), the teeth of
which turn the pinion
which is fastened on the
axle of the threshing-
drum ; the platform, on
which the unthreshed corn
is spread, joins the fee(C
ing rollers, that conduct
the corn forward to the
j^j\^ ~ threshers ; next the thresh-
ing-drum is the straw-shaker, driven by a leathern belt, passing over a sheeve, fixed on
an iron spindle connected with the axle of the water-wheel and the sheeve on the axle
of the shaker.
2789. Meikle's threshing viachine to be driven by water or by four horses (Jig. 402.), is
a powerful and convenient engine, as advantage may be taken of water when it is
IX- ■'^^-
abundant, and in dry seasons horses can be applied. To this machine the improvea
apparatus for yoking the horses is appended, and by the simple operation of varying the
positions of the pinions on the common shaft (a), which communicates with the water and
horse- wheel (b, c), threshing may be carried on without interruption, either with the water
or the horses separately ; or a small quantity of water may be applied to assist the horses
at any time, when a sufficient supply of water cannot be obtained to impel the machine
alone.
2790. Meikle's threshing machine to be driven either by wind or six horses {Gray,
PI. XII.) is a powerful but costly erection. On large corn farms, however, it will
answer to erect such machines ; and there are frequent instances in Berwickshire and
Northumberland, of farmers incurring that expense on the security of twenty-one years'
leases. The machinery of the wind power of this machine is fitted up with a small
van to turn the large ones to face the wind, and with the machinery necessary to
roll on or off the sails according to its increase or diminution ; by which means the
naturally unsteady power of wind is rendered as regular as that of horses or water.
The threshing part of this machine contains the usual apparatus, and also a complete
set of fanners and screens for cleaning the com. To the board upon which the
unthreshed grain is spread, and introduced between the feeding rollers, succeeds the
drum, with the threshers, or beaters, fixed upon the extremity of its arms; then the
shaker, that receives the straw from the threshing drum, and conveys it to the second
shaker, by which it is thrown down a sloping searce, either on the low floor, or upon a
sparred rack, which moves on rollers, turned by the machine, and by this means is con-
veyed into the straw-shed, or else into the barn yard. One searce is placed below the
threshing-drum ; and, while the drum's circular motion throws out the straw into the
straw-shaker which conveys it to the second shaker, the chaff and grain pass at the same
Book IV.
THRESHING MACHINES.
439
time down through a scarce or sparred rack into the hopper, which conveys it into the
fanners. By the fanners the corn is separated from the chaff, the clean grain running
out at the opening, and the chaff or any light refuse blowing out at the end by the
rapid motion of the fans, which are driven by a band or rope from a sheeve placed upon
the axle of the thresliing-drum, and passing over the sheeve fixed upon the pivot of
the fans.
2791. Meikle' a threshing machine to be impelled by steam is the same arrangement of
interior machinery, with a steam engine outside of the barn connected by a shaft in the
manner of the wind and water machines.
2792. Portable threshing-machines, to be fixed in any bam, or in the open field, for
threshing the crops of small farms, or for other purposes of convenience, are differently
contrived. Except the hand machine, already described (§ 2546.), all of them work by
horses, and generally by one, or at most two. The most complete have a large frame of
separating beams, into which the gudgeons of the larger wheels work, and which retains
the whole of the machinery in place. In general there are no fanners ; but sometimes a
winnowing machine is driven by a rope from the threshing machinery. Such machines
are considerably more expensive, in proportion to their power, than fixed machines ; they
are, therefore, not much used, and indeed their place might often be profitably supplied
by the hand machine. Portable threshing machines are very common in Suffolk. It is
not unusual in that county, for an industrious labourer who may have saved 30/. or 40/.
to own one, which is moved from place to place on two wheels, and worked, when fixed,
by three or four horses. The horses and other labourers are supplied by the farmer ;
and tlie owner of the machine acts as feeder. The quantity threshed is from fifteen to
twenty quarters a day. Reaping machines, and steam ploughing-machines, will probably
in a few years be owned, and let out for hire in a similar manner.
2793. Weir's portable two-horse power threshing machine is one of the best in England.
The corn is threshed on Meikle's skutching principle, and is sometimes supplied by fluted
rollers, and sometimes introduced through a hopper directly over the drum ; a mode which
is found not to break the straw so much as the common mode.
2794. Lester s portable threshing-machine received the straw without the intervention
of rollers, and separated the corn entirely by rubbing. It was an ingenious, but very im-
perfect, machine, and never came into use.
2795. Forrest of ShifnaVs portable threshing machines have been employed in several
parts of Warwickshire, Shropshire, and the adjoining counties. It combines the rubbing
and skutching methods, but does not perform either perfectly. Meikle's machines, in
fact, can alone be depended on, for completely separating the grain from the straw ; though
some others may render the straw less ineligible for thatch, or for gratifying the present
taste in litter of the London grooms.
2796. The smut machine (Jig. 403.) is the invention of Hall, late of Ewel in Surrey,
403 now of the Prairie in the United States. It re-
sembles that used for dressing flour, and consists
of a cylinder perforated with small lioles, in the
inside of which are a number of brushes, which
are driven round with great rapidity. The wheat
infected with smut is put into the cylinder by a
hopper (rt), and the constant friction occasioned
by the rapid motion of the brushes (b) eflTectually
separates the smutty grain, which is driven out by
the holes of the cylinder. Hall finds that it re-
quires much more power to clean wheat by this
machine, than to dress flour. A machine on this
construction might be a very useful appendage
to every threshing machine, for the purpose of
effectually cleaning all wheat intended for seed,
or such wheat, meant for the market, as had a
_ - great proportion of smut in it. {^Slevenson^s Sur-
^■^""^ rey, p. 141.)
2797. MitcheWs hummelling machim (/i'. 404.) is the invention of a millwright of
that name in the neighbourhood of Elgin, and it has been very generally added to
threshing machines, in the barley districts of Scotland, for the purpose of separating the
awns from the grains of barley. It operates on the scutching principle, and is composed
of a scutcher consisting of a spindle, at the top of which is fixed a wheel for putting it in
motion, and between this wheel and its lower extremity three tier of scutching arms (a) ;
each scutcher is composed of two pieces forming a cross {b), and bevelled at the edges to
prevent them from cutting the barley in the operation of hummelling (c). The scutcher
revolves in a cylinder {d), into which the barley passes through a spout (e e) from a hopper
placed over the machine. The cylinder may either be of wood or cast iron, and the frame-
Ff 4
440
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
work which supports it (/) may be of either, or of both of these metals. {Farm. Ma<.
vol. xiii.)
404
^^
406
405
2798. To take the awns from barley where a threshing machine is %ised, a notched spar,
lined on one side with plate iron, and just the length of the rollers, is fixed by a screw
bolt at each end of the inside of the cover of the drum, about the middle of it, so
that the edge of the notched stick is about one eighth of an inch from the arms of the
drum as it goes round. Two minutes are sufficient to put it on, when its operation is
wanted, which is, when putting through the barley the second time ; and it is as easily
taken off. It rubs off the awns completely.
2799. A cheap method of hummelling barley, where a threshing machine is in use, con-
sists in having a second cover for the drum lined with tin, having small holes perforated
in it in the manner of a grater, and the rough side externally. The grain being sepa-
rated from the straw in the ordinary way,
the grated cover is to be substituted for the
common one, and the grain passed through
a second time. This mode is said to succeed
as well as any other. {Farm. Mag. vol. xiii.
p. 443.)
2800. Hand hummelling machines {fgs.
405. and 406.) are in use in Lincolnshire
and other parts of England, where barley
is much cultivated, and where threshing
machines are little in use. {Gard. Mag. ,
vol. V.)
Sect. IX. Mechanical and other fixed Apparatus, for the Preparation of Food for Cattle,
and for grinding Manure.
280 1 . The principal food-jneparing contrivances are, the steamer, boiler, roaster, breaker
or bruiser, and grinder.
2802. An apparatus for steaming food for cattle, the editor of The Farmer's Magazine
observes, should be considered a necessary appendage to every arable and dairy farm of
a moderate size. The advantage of preparing different sorts of roots, as well as even
grain, chaff, and hay, by means of steaming apparatus, for the nourishment of cattle,
begins now to be generally understood. It has been long known that many sorts of r^ts,
and particularly the potato, become much more valuable by undergoing this sort of pre-
paration ; and it is equally well known that when thus prepared they have been employed
alone as a substitute for hay, and with cut chaflfi both for hay and corn, in the feeding of
horses, as well as of other animals. To a farmer who keeps many horses or cattle, or
even swine or poultiy, the practice of boiling their food in steam is so great a saving and
advantage, that it deserves the most particular attention. Though potatoes have often been
given raw to both horses and cattle, they are found to be infinitely preferable when cooked
by -steam, as they are rendered thereby much drier and more nutritive, and better than
when boiled in water ; this has been long since shown by the experiments of Wakefield of
Liverpool, who, in order to ascertain it, fed some of his horses on steamed and some on
raw potatoes, and soon found the horses fed on the steamed potatoes had greatly the, advan-
tage in every respect. Those on the steamed potatoes looked perfectly smooth and sleek,
Book IV.
STEAMING APPARATUS.
441
while the others were quite rough. Eccleston also found them useful instead of com ;
and the extensive and accurate trials of Curwen have placed the utility and advantage of
them in this way beyond all dispute. Curwen has found that in their preparation in this
way the waste of the potato is about one eighteenth part, and that straw when given along
with them answers as well as hay, as the horses keep their condition and do iJbkeij; work
equally well. ]
2803. A steaming apimratus on a grand scale has been erected at Workington, by
Curwen, of which an accurate ground plan and section, with a copious description,
are given in The Complete Farmer. One erected by the Duke of Portland, chiefly for
steaming hay, will be afterwards described.
2804. An economical steaming and washing machine has been described by Grey, in his
Implements of Husbandry, ^c The parts of this machine are few and simple ; the
potatoes are washed, and emptied into a large chest to drip ; and when a suflScient quan-
tity is washed, this chest, by a motion of the crane, empties itself into a steaming-box,
placed almost immediately over the boiler ; by which means a large quantity of potatoes
or other materials are steamed at once. The chief advantage attending the use of this
simple steaming apparatus, he says, consists in saving manual labour in lifting on and off
the tubs for holding the potatoes, or other materials to be steamed ; also in lessening the
expense of erection, and repairs of leaden or copper pipes, turn-cocks, &c. Its superiority
over one with a number of steaming-tubs, especially in a large operation, will be at once
perceived by those who have paid attention to the subject. The steaming boiler may be
made of any approved form, and of a size proportioned to the steaming-box, with a
furnace of that construction which affords the greatest quantity of heat to the boiler
with the smallest waste of fuel. Tlie steaming-box may be made either of cast-metal
plates, enclosed in a wooden frame, or of stout planks, well joined, and firmly fixed
together. It has been found by experience, that a box, eight feet in length, five feet
wide, and three feet deep, will serve for cooking, in the space of one hour, with the
attendance of one person, a sufficient quantity of potatoes to feed fifty ordinary horses,
allowing each horse thirty-two pounds weight per day. The boiler and steaming-box,
however, ought to be made of a size in proportion to the number of cattle to be fed, or
the quantity of materials to be steamed ; both boiler and steaming-box may be made
of any form and proportion that will best answer the intended purpose, with the least
expense.
2805. A steaming-ma chine, on a simple and
economical plan (Jig. 407.), consists of a
> boiler, and wooden chest or box placed over
or near it. The box may be of any size, and
so placed as to be supplied and emptied by
means of wheel or hand barrows in the
easiest manner, either by the end or top, or
both, being made to open. If the box is
made eight feet by five, and three deep, it will
hold as many potatoes as will feed fifty cows
for twenty-four hours, and these may be
steamed in an hour. (i^. il/ag. vol. xviii. p. 74.)
2806. BoUers or boUing machines are only had recourse to m the case of very small
establishments. By means of fixed boilers, or boilers suspended by cranes, on the Lodi
dairy principles (270.), roots may be boiled, and chaff", weak corn, and other barn refuse,
rendered more palatable and nutritive to cattle. Hay tea also may be made, which is
a salutary and nutritive drink for horses or cattle when unwell, or for calving cows.
Food for swine and poultry may also be prepared in this way : or water boiled and
salted to half prepare chaff" and culmiferous plants for animals.
2807. A baking or roasting oven has been recommended for preparing the potato by
Pierrepoint (Comm. Board of Agr. vol. iv.), which he states to be attended with superior
advantages; but as, independently of other considerations, the use of such an oven must
be limited to potatoes, a steaming-machine, which will prepare any sort of food, is un-
doubtedly preferable for general purposes. Many speculative plans of this sort, however
ingenious, chiefly deserve notice as beacons to be avoided, or to prevent their being invented
and described a second time. . -
2808. A machine for pounding limestone (fg. 408.) is in use m some parts ot the
country where unburnt chalk, Umestone, or limestone gravel, is used as a manure. 1 his
machine may be worked by steam, wind, water, or the power of horses. It consists ot a
beam (a) working on a wheel (6), and raising and lowering a cone of cast iron (c). Ihe
base of this cone, which may be a circle of from two to six feet in diameter, according to
the power of the machinery, and the size and hardness of the material to be broken,
should be studded with knobs or protuberances about two inches long, of a diamond
shape, terminating in a blunt point, and about five inches in circumference at the
407
442
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
bottom. The stones to be broken are laid on a circular basement, founded at some
depth below the surface, the foundation of which is
prepared in the following manner : — "A stratum
is formed of clay, well tempered, and mixed with a
proportion of burnt limestone, powdered without
being slacked, and forge ashes beat very small.
When this is properly dried, a bed of sand, about
eighteen inches in thickness, should be laid above
it, and paved with common paving stones of the
kind used for streets : this, after being well beat
down, should be covered with another bed of
sand of the same thickness, which should be
paved in the same manner, and afterwards well
beat down. The foundation of the building
should be, at least, six feet below the common
surface ; which will allow eighteen inches for
the clay, thirty-six inches for the two beds of sand, and eighteen inches for the two
courses of pavement. The circumference should consist entirely of hewn stone, at least
the uppermost three feet of it ; the stones of which should be strongly batted together
with iron, and secured on the outside with numerous wooden posts driven into the earth,
and different courses of pavement, extending at least six feet all round, carefully laid,
and well beat down. A floor prepared in this manner, if it is not used too soon, will
resist any force that can be let fall upon it. The limestone laid into it should not be
too small, and should have a light bedding of sand in the soil to give it stability."
{Farm. Mag. vol. iii. )
2809. A stone-heiving machine to be impelled by steam has lately been invented by
Mr. James Milne of Edinburgh. It is said to save an immensity of manual labour,
and to be competent to the execution of the finest mouldings. (Scotsman, Oct. 28.
1829.)
2810. Low" s Machine for raising large stones (Jig. 409.) is a powerful engine. An
iron plug is driven into the stone, and
^^^ retained there by its elasticity. The
machine " is placed over the stone to be
raised, by extending the posts on each
side, and then the windlass is attached.
Of the stone to be thus raised, however
large it be, it is enough to see the smallest
part appear above the surface of the
ground. At this part, let a workman,
with a mallet, and the common steel-
boring chisel of masons, make a small
circular hole, about two inches deep, and
as peipendicular as possible. This chisel
should be of such a size as to make the
hole about a sixteenth part of an inch less in diameter than the plug itself, so that a
stroke or two of a hammer may be necessary to drive the iron home. When the latter
is thus driven an inch, more or less, into the stone, it is attached to the block, and the
ropes are tightened by turning the winch. Nothing more is now requisite than to set as
many persons as may be required to work the windlass ; and, strange as it will seem,
with no other fastening than this simple plug, the heaviest mass will be torn up through
every opposing obstacle." {Quar. Jour. Agr. vol. i. p. 208.)
Chap. III.
Edifices in use in Agriculture.
2811. A variety of huU dings are necessary for carrying on the business of field cul-
ture ; the nature and construction of which must obviously be different, according to the
kind of farm for which they are intended. Suitable buildings, the editor of The Farmer s
Magazine observes, are scarcely less necessary to the husbandman than implements and
machinery ; and might, without much impropriety, be classed along with them, and
considered as one great stationary machine, operating more or less on every branch of
labour and produce. There is nothing which marks more decidedly the state of agricul-
ture in any district, than the plan and execution of these buildings.
Book IV. BUILDINGS FOR LIVE STOCK. 443
2812. In erecting a farmery, the first thing that deserves notice is its situation,
both in regard to the other parts of the farm, and the convenience of the buildings them-
selves. In general, it must be of importance on arable farms, that the buildings should
be set down at nearly an equal distance from the extremities ; or so situate, that the access
from all the different fields should be easy, and the distance from those most remote, no
greater than the size of the farm renders unavoidable. The advantages of such a posi-
tion in saving labour are too obvious to require illustration ; and yet this matter is not
near so much attended to as its importance deserves. In some cases, however, it is
advisable to depart from this general rule; of which one of the most obvious is, where
the command of water for a threshing-mill, or other purposes, can be better secured in
another quarter of the farm.
28 1 3. The form most generally approved for a set of offices is a square, or rather a
rectangular parallelogram ; the houses being arranged on the north, east, and west sides,
and the south side fenced by a stone wall, to which low buildings, for calves, pigs, poultry,
&c. are sometimes attached. The space thus enclosed is usually allotted to young cattle :
these have access to the sheds on one or two sides, and are kept separate, according to
their size or age, by one partition-wall or more. The farmer's dwelling-house stands at
a short distance from the offices, and frequently commands a view of the inside of the
square ; and cottages for servants and labourers are placed on some convenient spot, not
far from the other buildings.
28 14. The different buildings required for the occupation of land are chiefly those devoted
to live stock, as the stable, cov/-house, cattle sheds, &c. ; those used as repositories or
for conducting operations, as the cart-shed, barn, &c. ; and human habitations, or
cottages and farm-houses. After noticing the separate construction of these edifices, we
shall exemplify their combination in different descriptions of farmeries.
Sect. I. Buildings for Live Stock.
2815. Buildings for agricidtural live stock are the stable, cow-house, cattle-houses and
cattle-sheds, sheep-houses, pigsties, poultry-houses, rabbitry, pigeonry, and bee-house.
2816. T'he stable is an important building in most farmeries j it is in general placed
in the west side of the square, with its doors and windows opening to the east. Nothing
conduces more to the health of horses than good and wholesome air. The situation of
the stable should always be on firm, dry, and hard ground, that in winter the horse may
go out and come in clean ; and, where possible, be built rather on an ascent, that the
urine and other liquid matters may be easily conveyed away by means of drains for the
purpose. As there is no animal that delights more in cleanliness than the horse, or that
more dislikes bad smells, care should be taken that there be no hen-roost, hogsties, or
necessary houses near the place where the stable is to built. The swallowing of feathers,
w bich is very apt to happen, when hen-roosts are near, often proves injurious to horses.
The walls of a stable ought to be of brick rather than stone, and should be made of a
moderate thickness, two bricks or a brick and a half at least, or the walls may be built
hollow, not only for economy, but for the sake of warmth in the winter, and to keep
out the heat in the summer. The windows should be proportioned in number to the
extent, and made on the east or north side of the building, that the north wind may be
let in to cool the stables in the summer, and the rising sun all the year round, especially
in winter. They should either be sashed or have large casements for the sake of letting
in air enough ; and there should always be close wooden shutters, turning on bolts, that
the light may be shut out at pleasure. Many pave the whole stable with stone, but that
part which the horse is to lie on is often boarded with oak planks, which should be laid
as even as possible, and cross-wise rather than length-wise ; and there should be several
holes bored through them to receive the urine and carry it off underneath the floor by
gutters into one common receptacle. The ground behind should be raised to a level with
the planks, and be paved with small pebbles. There are mostly two rings placed on
each side of the manger, or stall, for the reins of the horse's halter to run through, and
a logger is to be fixed to the ends of these, sufficient to poise them perpendicularly, but
not so heavy as to tire the horse, or to hinder him from eating ; the best place for him to
eat his corn in, is a drawer or locker, which need not be large, so that it may be taken
out at pleasure to clean it, by which means the common dirtiness of a fixed manger may
be avoided. Many people are against having a rack in their stables ; they give the horse
his hay in a trough bin, formed of boards with an open bottom.
2817. A lopy stable is recommended by White (Treatise on Veter. Med. p. 1.), fifteen
or twenty but never less than twelve feet high, with an opening in the ceiling for venti-
lation. The floor he prefers is brick or limestone, inclining not more from the manger
to the gutter than an inch in a yard. Some litter, he says, should always be allowed for
a horse to stale upon, which should be swept away as often as is necessary. This, with
a pail or two of water thrown upon the floor, and swept off while the horse is at exercise,
will keep the stable perfectly clean, and free from offensive smells.
444
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
2818. TTie depth of a stable should never be less than twenty feet, nor the height less tl>an twelve. The
width of a stall should not be less than six feet clear. But when there is sufficient room, it is a much
better plan to allow each horse a space of ten or twelve feet, where he may be loose and exercise himself
a little. This will be an effectual means of preventing swollen heels, and a great relief to horses that are
worked hard. With respect to the rack and manger. White prefers the former on the ground, rising
three feet high, eighteen inches deep from front to back, and four feet long. The manger, eighteen inches
deep, eighteen inches from front to back, and five feet in length. The rack he prefers being closed in
front, though some farmers prefer it open, alleging that horses when lying down will thus be enabled to
eat if they choose. A close-fronted rack, however, is better adapted for saving hay. The back part of
the rack should be an inclined plane made of wood ; should be gradually sloped towards the front ; and
should terminate about two feet down. Such a rack will hold more hay than ever ought to be put before
one horse. The advantages of this rack are numerous : in the first place, the hay is easily put into it,
and it renders a hay loft over the stable unnecessary; which ought to be an inducement to the builder
to make the stable as lofty as it ought to be, to obtain proper ventilation. All the hay that is put
into this manger will be eaten ; but in the common rack it is well known that a large portion of the
hay is often pulled down upon the litter, and trodden upon, whereby a considerable quantity is often
wasted. It prevents the hay-seeds or dust from falling upon the horse, or into his eyes ; and what is of
considerable importance, though seldom attended to, there will be an inducement to the horse-keeper to
give the horse hay in small quantities at a time, and frequently, from the little trouble which attends
putting it into the rack. The saving in hay that may be effected by the use of this rack is so apparent,
that it need not be dwelt upon. A great saving also may be made in oats, by so fastening the horse's head
during the time of feeding, that he cannot throw any of them out of the manger. This kind of rack and
manger, from being boarded up in front, will effectually prevent the litter from being kept constantly
under the horse's head and eyes, by which he is compelled to breathe the vapours which arise from it.
It will also prevent him from getting his head under the manger, as sometimes happens, by which means,
not unfrequently, the poll evil is produced. The length of the halter should be only four feet from the head-
stall to the ring through which it passes : this will admit of his lying down with ease, and that is all which
is required. The ring should be placed close to that side where the manger is, and not in the centre of
the stall. The side of the stall should be sufficiently high and deep to prevent horses from biting and
kicking each other. When the common rack and manger are preferred, the rack-staves should be
perpendicular, and brought nearly down to the manger, and this may easily be done without the necessity
of a hay-loft, and the manger may be made deep and wide as described.
2819. T/i€ window of the stable should be at the south-east end, and the door at the opposite end. The
window should be as high as the ceiling will admit of, and in size proportioned to that of the stable. In
one of twelve feet high, it need not come down more than four feet, and it will then be eight feet from
the ground, and out of the way of being broken. 'I'he frame of the window should be moveable upon a
pivot in the centre, and opened by means of a cord running over a pulley in the ceiling, and fastened by
means of another cord. With a window of this kind, in a stable of three or four horses, no other ventilation
will be required : a person never need be solicitous about finding openings for the air to enter, where
there is sufficient room above, and means for it to escape. A stable thus constructed will be found
conducive to the health and comfort of horses, and will afford an inducement to the horse-keeper to
attend to every little circumstance which may contribute to cleanliness. He will not allow the smallest
bit of dung to remain swept up at one end of the stable, as it commonly is. The pails should be kept
outside, and not standing about the stable as they usually are. If it is necessary to take ofi' the chill
from water, it is much better, and more easily done, by the addition of a little hot water, than by suffering
it to stand in the stable; and while the horses are at exercise, the litter should be all turned out to dry,
and the brick floor well washed or swept out. A little fresh straw may then be placed for the horses to
stale upon. Litter thus dried during the day will serve again as well as fresh straw for the bottom of the
bed, and be perfectly free from smell. The litter necessary to be kept under a horse that he may stale
with comfort, and without splashing himself, is not considerable, and may be changed once a day. A
great saving may be made in litter by turning it out, and drying it as described ; and a shed built adjoining
a stable would afford a place for doing this at all times, and might serve also to exercise and clean a horse
in during wet weatlier.
2820. Neither dogs, fowls, nor goats, should ever be permitted to enter a stable ; and dung should be kept
at a distance from it. A good contrivance in cleaning horses is, to have two straps, one on each side of
the stall, about one yard from the head of it. By these the horse may be fastened during the time he is
cleaned, by which he will be effectually prevented from biting the manger or the horse-keeper; and being
kept back in the stall, the man will be better able to clean the front of his fore legs, chest, and neck, and
be able to move round him. This is better than strapping him to the rack.
2821. Farm stables in Scotland, the editor of The Partner's Magazine observes, are constructed in
such a manner, that all the horses stand in a line with their heads towards the same side-wall, instead of
standing in two lines, fronting opposite walls, as formerly. Those lately erected are at least sixteen feet
wide within walls, and sometimes eighteen, and the width of each stall upon the length of the stable
is commonly five feet. To save a little room, stalls of nine feet are sometimes made to hold two
horses ; and in that case, the manger and
41 Q 111 the width of the stall are divided into
"' ■ ■ equal parts by what is called a half tre-
vice, or a partition about half the depth
of that which separates one stall from
another. By this contrivance, each horse
indeed eats his food by himself; but the
expense of single stalls is more than com-
pensated by the greater ease, security,
and comfort of the horses. The trevices
or partitions which divide the stalls, are
of deals two inches thick, and about five
feet high ; but, at the headsof thehorses,
the partition rises to the height of seven
feet (fig. 410. a), and the length of the
stall is usually from seven to eight feet.
In many cases the end stall has a door
or frame of boards to fit in between it and the back wall [b), in order to enclose food of any kind, a sick
horse, a foal, or mare and foal, &c.
2822. The manger (c) is generally continued the whole length of the stable. It is about nine inches
deep, twelve inches wide at the top, and nine at the bottom, all inside measure, and is placed about two
feet four inches from the ground. Staples or rings are fixed on the breast of the manger, to which the
horses are tied.
2823. The rack for holding their hay or straw, is also commonly continued the whole length of the
stable. It is formed of upright spars (rf), connected by cross-rails at each end, and from two to two and
a half feet in height The rack is placed on the wall, about one foot and a half above the manger, the
bottom almost close to the wall, and the top projecting outwards, but the best plan is to place it upright
(c, d, a,). The spars are sometimes made round, and sunk into the cross-rails, and sometimes square.
In a few stables lately built, the round spars turn on a pivot, which facilitates the horse's access to
Book IV.
BUILDINGS FOR LIVE STOCK.
445
the hay, without requiring the interstices to be so wide as to permit him to draw it out in too large
quantities.
2824. Immediately above the racks is an opening in the hay-loft, through which the racks are filled.
When it is thought necessary, this may be closed by boards moving on hinges.
2825. The racks in some of the best stables occupy one of the angles between the wall and trevices, and
form the quadrant of a circle. The spars are perpendicular, and wider placed than in the hanging racks.
The hay-seed falls into a box below, instead of being dropped on the ground, or incommoding the eyes
and ears of the horses.
2826. Behind the horses, and about nine feet from the front wall, is a gutter, havmg a gentle declivity to
the straw-yard or urine-pit. Allowing about a foot for this, there will remain a width of eight feet to
the back wall, if the stable be eighteen feet wide; a part of which, close to the wall, is occupied with
corn-chests and places for harness.
2827. With a view to save both the hay and the seed, it is an advantage to have the haystacks so near
the stable as to admit of the hay being thrown at once upon the loft. In some stables there is no loft,
and the hay is stored in a separate apartment
2828. The stable floor is, for the most part, paved with undressed stones ; but in some instances, the
space from the gutter to the back is laid with flags of freestone.
2829. Horse-hammels, or small sheds, with yards to each, have been used as stables in a few instances,
and with great success in Berwickshire. Each shed holds two horses, with a niche for their harness : to
each shed there is an open straw-yard, of small size, with a water trough, and a gate large enough to
admit a cart to take out the dung. John Herriot, of Ladykirk, has long used these buildings for his
horses with great success. He has lost none by death for a number of years, and they seldom have colds
or any other disease. His horses lie in these open hammels in winter ; and it is remarked, that in frosty
weather, when snow is falling, and lying on the ground, the animals do not go under cover, but prefer
to lie out, with their backs and sides covered with snow. It is well known, that if a horse is kept out in
winter, he will have no grease, nor swelled legs, and perhaps few other diseases. These hammels seem
to have all these advantages, at the same time that they protect the animal from damp, and prevent his
back from being kept wet by heavy or long continued rains. Every farmer who keeps a large stock of
horses, occasionally loses one by inflammation, brought on by coughs and colds ; but the horses of the
farmer alluded to become aged, and he has not had occasion to purchase a young horse for several years.
{Husb. of Scot. i. 26.) Sufl!blk cart horses lie out during night throughout the whole year; they are not
exempt from grease, but they are probably more healthy than horses in general are.
2830. Cattle-sheds are used either for lodging milch cows, or for feeding cattle for the
butcher. The principal requisites in buildings of this description are, to be capable
of being well aired ; to be so constructed as to require the least possible labour in
feeding the cattle and clearing away the dung ; and the stalls to be so formed as to
keep the cattle as dry and clean as possible, with sufficient drains to carry away, and
reservoirs to collect, the urine and dung. There are three ways in which the cattle are
placed : first, in a row towards one of the side walls ; secondly, in two rows, either
fronting each other, with a passage between, or with their heads towards both side walls ;
and, thirdly, across, or upon the width of the house, in successive rows, with intervening
passages for feeding and removing the dung. In the first mode, it is usual to have
openings in the walls, through which the cattle are supplied with turnips; otherwise they
must necessarily be served from behind, with much inconvenience both to the cattle-feeder
and the cattle themselves. The plan that is most approved, and now becoming general
when new buildings are erected, is to fix the stakes to which the cattle are tied about
two and a half or three feet from the wall, which allows the cattle-man, without going
among them, to fill their troughs successively from his wheelbarrow or basket, with
much ease and expedition. It is also a considerable improvement to keep the cattle
separate, by partitions between every two. This will, in a great measure, prevent accidents,
and secure the quiet animals from being injured by the vicious ; for in these double
stalls, each may be tied up to a stake placed near the partition, so as to be at some dis-
tance from his neighbours ; and it is easy to lodge together such as are alike in size and in
temper. The width of such stalls should not be less than seven feet and a half, and the
depth must be regulated by the size of the cattle.
2831. Catile-hammels {fig. 411.) The practice of feeding cattle in small sheds and straw-yards, or what
are called hammels in Berwickshire, deserves to be noticed with
approbation, when saving of expense is not a paramount object
Two cows are usually kept together, and go loose ; in which way
they are thought by some to thrive better than when tied to a
stake, and, at the same time, feed more at their ease than when
a number are kept together as in the common straw-yards. All
that is necessary is, is to run partition walls across the sheds and
yards of the farmers ; or if these are allotted to rearing stock, one
side of the square, separated by a cart-way from the straw-yards,
may be appropriated to these hammels. In the usual manage-
ment of a row of cattle hammels in Berwickshire, there is one
hammel (o 6> at one end used as a temporary repository for roots
and straw for the cattle ; then each hammel consists of the open
yard {d a), and the covered part (c) : the entrance door, of which
there is only one to each hammel, is in the wall of the yard (/),
and on each side of it are two troughs {e, e) for food, and a crib
^ . . ._ for hay or straw, and for cut clover or other herbage in summer.
2832. HarWs cow-house at Glasgow contained one hundred cows. " /too^ "P0"^^7"jf^,^"^''
which was divided into three apartments : the middle one for the manure ; that at one end for potatoes
and other roots to be used as food : and in the other, cows not givmg milk were kept 1 he dung
wasro?ped?nto the centre division through apertures in the g^^^'^V/'^^^fh.^vSl.f indTh^/.^n^
in diameter, covered with cast-iron plates. Sometimes a cart was brought into the cellar, and the dung
at once dropped into it, and carted away. The covers had finger-holes lor lifting them up, and the dung
was drawn along the grooves into them by a broad hoe or scraper fitted to the groove. It was often
found necessary to mix ashes with the dung, to render it of a fit consistence for being carted away. The
second division of the vaults was fitted up for the process of fattening ; darkness and quiet being considered
favourable circumstances. In the third division, roots were efiectuaUy preserved from frost At one end
::m:BKMHBfH:M
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
rI'i?t?fT;Kf k'!,^ tank was formed, fifty feet long, sixteen feet wide, and six deep, with its surface on a
level with the bottom of the cellar ; it was arched over, and had a man-hole for cleaning out the sSiiment
412 ^^iJiTii^ four feet in diameter : into this tank the whole
of the urine was conducted, after being filtered
through the urine gutters into spouts beneath it
reaching the whole length of the house. Each
filter consisted of a vessel covered with a plate
of cast iron, pierced with small holes, the sur-
face of the plate being on a level with the sur-
face of the gutter : the use of the vessel under
it is to receive the sediment, for which purpose
it is made four inches wider than the cover, and
in this extra width the water runs over into the
cast-iron spout by which it is conducted to the
ank : it enters the tank by a division surrounded
by boards pierced with holes, so as to filter it a
second time, in order that the water may be
pumped up with greater ease. This water was
sold to the gardeners and others, at from I*, to
Is. 6d. per hundred gallons. The roof was sup.
ported in the midale by cast iron pillars (&} ;
there were no ceilings, but the slates were hung
to the quarterings of the rafters on pins, with a good lap ; this being found warm enough in the coldest
weather, and favourable for ventilation in the hottest : there were also windows in the roof, both for light
and ventilation. The heat was generally kept to 60° or 6i'^. The passages (c) were paved, and five feet
wide, and two inches and a half higher in the middle than at the side.
2833. The floor on which the cows stood in Hurley's cow-house " was raised six inches above the pas-
sages ; this not only showed the cows to greater advantage, but kept them dry and clean : and two and a
half feet of the floor next to the trough were made of composition, similar to what is commonly used in
making barn floors ; because the principal weight of the cows being upon their fore feet, and as in lying
down the whole weight is upon their knees, it was obviously desirable to have that part of the stall as
smooth and soft as possible ; indeed, it is conceived that joints and flooring would be the best for that
purpose, were it not for the expense. The back part of the stall was of hewn stone, and for about eighteen
inches towards the groove there was an inclination of about half an inch, to let the water go off'; and
these eighteen inches wereof stript ashlar transversed, the strips being about an inch separate ; this pre-
vented the feet of the cows from slipping. In all cow-houses, perhaps, the front part of the stall should be
rather lower than the back part, since it would enable the cattle to lie easier; and, besides this, they
would not be apt to slip their calf Cows which put out their calf bed, or have a tendency to slip their
calf, should have a straw mat laid below their hind quarters. The bottom of the feeding troughs was on
a level with the floor of the stalls ; both edges were of hewn stone, the outer one next the passage was
three inches above the bottom of the trough, and the other six inches higher ; they were four inches and
a half thick, and rounded to a semicircle ; the trough was one foot three inches wide, and six feet four
inches long." {Harleian Dairy System, p. 24.)
2834. The standing room for the cows in the Harleian dairy, that is, the space between the feeding trough
[d) and gutter (a), was from six to seven feet ; the latter dimension being for the larger cows. The
breadth allowed for a cow was from three feet to three feet six inches; two cows standing together be-
tween wooden partitions as in stables {c). Each cow is fixed to a stake nine inches from the partitions,
and six inches from the feeding trough ; the stakes are two and inches a half in diameter, and the cows
are fixed to them by chains and swivels fixed to rings. " The chains were three feet seven inches long,
consisting of twenty-one links, viz., three on one side of the swivel, and eighteen on the other; the short
end of the chain had a hook for joining the chain, with a broad point of an oval shape, which was more
easily hooked and unhooked, and answered the purpose better than the common mode used in dogs'
chains." The hecks, or racks for the hay, are three'feet two inches long, by one foot ten inches deep, framed
with deal, and filled up with one horizontal and ten perpendicular iron rods a quarter of an inch in
diameter. These hecks are hung with window cord, which passes over pulleys, so that they can be raised
by a wheel and pinion at pleasure, so as to be above the heads of the cows, when they are eating green
food from the feeding gutter. Mr. Harley considers it of importance that each cow should not only be
kept clean by combing and brushing, but, by the chain system of fastening, should have the liberty of
licking its own skin and that of its fellow. {Harleian Dairy System, p. 28.)
2835. Calf-pens, or calf-stages, are common additions to cow-houses, where the feeding
of calves for the butcher is an object of pursuit. The principal thing to be observed in
413 _ the construction of calf-pens is the laying of the floor,
which should be made of laths or spars about two inches
broad, laid at the distance of an inch from each other,
upon joists, so as to make the floor about ten or twelve
inches from the ground, as the situation will admit
(Jig. 413.) This not only keeps them quite dry, by
allowing all the moisture to pass immediately away, but
has the advantage of admitting fresh air below the bedding, and thereby preventing that
unwholesome disagreeable smell too often found among calves ; for it is to be understood,
that this place below the floor ia) should frequently be cleaned, as well as the floor itself
whenever it becomes wet or dirty ; but it is not right to allow the litter to increase to a
great thickness, otherwise the moisture will not so easily pass through. Calf-pens are,
however, too often made without this sparred floor, and the fresh litter always laid on the
old till the calves are removed, which is a slovenly practice, and not by any means to be
recommended. Stalls, or divisions, are too often neglected in calf-pens. Partitions,
about three feet high, of thin deal nailed on small posts, might be so contrived as to be
movable at pleasure, to increase or diminish the stall, if necessary, according to the age
and size of the calf. If it be thought unnecessary to make the partitions movable, there
might be a small round trough, in a circular frame, fixed in the corner of each pen, for
holding the milk, and a door in the next adjoining corner. A small slight rack for hold-
ing a little hay, placed at the upper part of the pen, might also be useful. The troughs
should be round, that the calves may not hurt themselves upon them, which they might
probably do on the angles if they were square. The advantages of this kind of calf-pens
Hook IV.
BUILDINGS FOR LIVE STOCK.
447
sre, that the calves are all kept separate in a small compass, and cannot hurt each other,
as the stronger ones sometimes do the weaker when confined promiscuously, and their
food may be much more easily and equally distributed.
2836. The calf-pens in Gloucestershire, Marshal observes, are of an admirable construction ; extremely
simple, yet singularly well adapted to the object. Young calves, fattening calves more especially, require
to be kept narrowly confined : quietness is, in a degree, essential to their thriving. A loose pen, or a
long halter, gives freedom to their natural fears, and a loose to their playfulness. Cleanliness, and a due
degree of warmth, are likewise requisite in the right management of calves. A pen which holds seven,
or occasionally eight, calves, is of the following description: — The house, or roomstead, in which it is
placed, measures twelve feet by eight : four feet of its width are occupied by the stage, and one foot
by a trough placed on its front ; leaving three feet as a gangway, into the middle of which the door
opens. The floor of the stage is formed of laths, about two inches square, lying the long way of the
stage, and one inch asunder. The front fence is of staves, an inch and a half in diameter, nine
inches from middle to middle, and three feet high ; entered at the bottom into the front bearer of
the floor (from which cross-joists pass into the back wall), and steadied at the top by a rail ; which, as well
as the bottom piece, is entered at each end into the end wall. The holes in the upper rail are wide enough
to permit the staves to be lifted up and taken out, to give admission to the calves ; one of which is fastened
to every second stave, by means of two rings of iron joined by a swivel ; one ring playing upon the stave,
the other receiving a broad leathern collar buckled round the neck of the calf. The trough is for
barley-meal, chalk, &c. and to rest the pails on. Two calves drink out of one pail, putting their heads
through between the staves. The height of the floor of the stage from the floor of the room is about one
foot. It is thought to be wrong to hang it higher, lest, by the wind drawing under it, the calves should be
too cold in severe weather : this, however, might be easily prevented by litter or long strawy dung thrust
beneath it. It is observable, that these stages are fit oiily for calves which are fed with the pail, not for
calves which suck the cow.
2837. Hogsties, for the breeding or fattening of swine, are mostly built in a simple
manner, requiring only warm dry places for the swine to lie in, with small areas before,
and troughs to hold their food. They are generally constructed with shed-roofs, and
seldom above six or seven feet wide, with height in proportion. In order that they may
be convenient, they should be at no great distance from the house ; and the less they
are connected with the other farm-buildings the better. In some cases, it might be of
utility to have them connected with the scullery, in such a way as that all sorts of refuse
articles might be readily conveyed to them by pipes or other contrivances. When at a
distance, they should be so placed as that the servants need not enter the farm-yard in
feeding them. It is a circumstance of vast advantage in the economy of labour, as well
as of food, to have them conveniently situated and built. Though swine are generally,
perhaps from a too partial view of their habits, considered as filthy animals, there are nc
animals which delight more in a clean and comfortable place to lie down in, and none
that cleanliness has a better effect upon with respect to their thriving and feeding. In order
to keep them dry, a sufficient slope must be given, not only to the inside places where they
are to lie, but to the outside areas, with proper drains to carry off all moisture. The
outsides should also be a little elevated, and have steps up from the areas of at least five
or six inches in height. Hogsties should likewise have several divisions, to keep the
different sorts of swine separate ; nor should a great many ever be allowed to go together ;
for it is found that they feed better in small numbers and of equal size, than when many
of unequal sizes are put together. Proper divisions must, therefore, be made : some for
swine when with the boar ; others for brood swine, and for them to farrow in ; for
weaning the pigs, for keeping the store pigs, for fattening, &c. When convenient, the
areas should be pretty large ; and where it can be had, it is of great use to have water
conveyed to them, as it serves many useful purposes.
2838. Every sty should have a rubbing-post. " Having occasion," says Marshal, " to shift two hogs out
of a sty without one, into another with a post, accidentally put up to support the roof, he had a full
opportunity of observing its use. The animals, when they went in, were dirty, with broken ragged coats,
and with dull heavy countenances. In a few days, they cleared away their coats, cleaned their skins,
and became sleeky haired ; the enjoyments of the post were discernible even in their looks, in their live-
liness, and apparent contentment. It is not probable, that any animal should thrive while afflicted with
pain or uneasiness. Graziers suffer single trees to grow, or put up dead posts in the ground, for their
cattle to rub themselves against ; yet it is probable that a rubbing-post has never been placed intentionally
in a sty ; though, perhaps, for a two-fold reason, rubbing is most requisite to swine." In farm- yards the
piggeries and poultry.houses generally occupy the south side of the area, in low buildings, which may be
overlooked from the farmer's dwelling-house. They should open behind into the straw- yards or dung-
heap, to allow the hogs and fowls to pick up the corn left on the
straw, or what turnips, clover, or other matters are refused by the
cattle. They should have openings outwards, that the pigs may
be let out to range round the farmery at convenient times ; and
that the poultry may have ingress and egress from that side as well
as the other.
2839. The pig-house at Har ley's dairy establishment [fig. 414.)
consisted of a number of sties separated from each other by
a nine-inch wall : each sty consisted of two apartments ; one
for exercise, which was open above (a), and the other for feeding
in, which was covered (A) ; and a third, also covered, for sleeping
in (c). The threshold of the opening to the sleeping apartment
was formed by a cast-iron trough kept full of water {d}, through
which the pigs being obligetl to pass when they went to sleep, it is
said their feet were washed, and their litter kept clean. The water
in these troughs was supplied by a pipe at one end, and each
separate tank had a waste pipe. The floor of the sleeping place
was a few inches higher than that of the feeding apartment; and
the floor of the latter, and also of the open area, were inclined
towards the middle (e), under which was a sewer with filtering plates for the urine to pass through j
and at the end of the sewer a tank (/) received the whole, {Harleian Dairy System, p. 122.)
448
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
2840. Poultry-houses are generally slight structures for rearing and feeding domestic
fowls. Beatson (^Conu to the Board of Agr. vol. i.) is of opinion, that poultry ought
always to be confined, but not in a close, dark, diminutive hovel, as is often the
case; they should have a spacious airy place, properly constructed for them. Some
people are of opinion, that each sort of poultry should be kept by itself. This,
however, is not, he says, absolutely necessary ; for all sorts may be kept promiscuously
together, provided they have a place sufficiently large to accommodate them conve-
niently, and proper divisions and nests for each kind to retire to separately, wliich they
will naturally do of themselves. Wakefield of Liverpool keeps a large stock of tur-
keys, geese, hens, and ducks, all in the same place : and although young turkeys are
in general considered so difficult to bring up, he rears great numbers of them in this
manner every season, with little or no trouble. For this purpose he has about three
quarters, or nearly a whole acre, enclosed with a fence only six or seven feet high, formed
of slabs set on end, or any thinnings of fir or other trees split and put close together.
They are fastened by a rail near the top and another near the bottom, and are pointed
sharp, which he supposes prevents the poultry flying over ; for they never attempt it,
although so low. Within this fence are places slightly constructed (but well secured
from wet) for each sort of poultry ; also a pond or stream of water running through it.
These poultry are fed almost entirely with steamed potatoes, and thrive astonishingly well.
The quantity of dung made in this poultry-place is also an object worth attention : and
when it is cleaned out, a thin paring of the surface is at the same time taken off, which
makes a valuable compost for the purpose of manure. But for keeping poultry upon a
small scale, it is only necessary to have a small shed or slight building, formed in some
warm, sheltered, sunny situation (if near the kitchen or other place where a constant fire
is kept so much the better), with proper divisions, boxes, baskets, or other contrivances,
for the different sorts of birds, and for their laying and incubation.
2841. Where a few poultry, taking their chance at the barn-door, are kept by the farmer for the
convenience of eggs, and to supply the table when a fowl is wanted, no particular attention is requisite;
but as, in some situations, they may pay well for more food and closer attention, other circumstances
may be noticed. " The poultry-house should," Young says, " contain an apartment for the general
stock to roost in, another for setting, a third for fattening, and a fourth for food. If the scale is large,
there should be a fifth, for plucking and keeping feathers. If a woman is kept purposely to attend them,
she should have her cottage contiguous, that the smoke of her chimney may play into the roosting and
setting rooms ; poultry never thriving so well as in warmth and smoke ; an observation as old as
Columella, and strongly confirmed by the quantity bred in the smoky cabins of Ireland. For setting
both turkeys and hens, nests should be made in lockers that have lids with hinges, to confine them if
necessary, or two or three will,'* he says, " in sitting, crowd into the same nest. All must have access
to a gravelled yard, and to grass for range, and the building should be near the farm- yard, and have
clear water near. Great attention should be paid to cleanliness and whitewashing, not for appearance,
but to destroy vermin."
2842. The interior arrangement of a poultry -house for a farm- yard is generally very simple, and consists
of little more than a number of spars reaching across the building at different heights, or at the same
height, with a gangway or ladder attached, for
the fowls to ascend : but where comfort and
cleanliness are studied, a preferable mode is to
form a sloping stage of spars {Jig. 415. a, b) for
the poultry to sit on ; beneath this stage may
be two ranges of boxes for nests (c, c) ; the roof
(d) should have a ceiling to keep the whole
warm in winter, and the door (e) should be
nearly as high as the ceiling for ventilation,
and should have a small opening with a shutter
at bottom, which, where there is no danger
from dogs or foxes, may be left open at all
times to admit of the poultry going in and out
at pleasure, and especially for their early egress
during summer. The spars on which the
. . ^ clawed birds are to roost should not be round
and smooth, but roundish and roughish, like the branch of a tree. The floor must be dry, and kept clean
for the web-footed kinds.
2843. The rabbUry is a building of rare occurrence in agriculture, and where it is
required differs little from the piggery ; consisting of a yard for exercise and receivmg
food, and a covered close apartment, connected, for repose, sleep, and the mothers _and
young. In the latter are generally boxes a foot or more high and wide, and divided
into compartments of two or more cubic feet for the rabbits to retire into, and bring
forth their young. Where young rabbits are fed for the market, the mother and
offspring are generally confined to hutches, which are boxes a little larger than the
common breeding boxes, and kept in a separate apartment. In treating of the rabbit
(Part III.), these and other contrivances for the culture of this animal will be brought
into notice. ... ■,
2844. Ttie pigeonry is a structure not more frequent than the rabbitry, being scarcely
admissible in professional agriculture, except in grazing districts, where the bu-ds
have not so direct an opportunity of injuring corn. Sometimes they are made an
ornamental appendage to a proprietor's farmery, or to a sheep-house m a park {Jig.
416.), or other detached building; and sometimes a wooden structure, raised from
the ground on one post or more, is formed on purpose for their abode. Whatever may
Book IV.
BUILDINGS AS REPOSITORIES.
i49
be the external form, the interior arrangement consists of a series of boxes or cavities,
formed in or against the wall, generally about a foot high and deep, and two feet or less
long : one half of the front is left open as an entrance, and the other is closed to protect
the female during incubation. (See Pigeon, Part III.)
-illi
2845. I'he apiary is a building or structure seldom wanted, except to protect hives
from thieves ; then a niche or recess in a wall, to be secured in front by two or more
iron bars, is a simple and effectual mode. Sometimes apiaries are made ornamental
{Jig. 417.), but the best bee-masters set little value on such structures, and prefer keeping
their bees detached in single hives, for sufficient reasons. These hives may be chained to
fixed jstools in Huish's manner. (See Bee, Part IV.)
Sect. II. Buildings as Repositories, and for performing in-door Operations.
2846. Buildings for dead stock and crop occupy a considerable portion of the farmery,
and include the barn, granary, straw and root-houses, cart-sheds, tool-house, harness-
room, and, when farming is conducted on a very extensive scale, the smiths' and carpenters'
work-rooms.
2847. Tlie com-bam, or building in which corn is contained, threshed, and cleaned,
has undergone considerable change in form and dimensions in modern times. Foraierly
it was in many cases made so large as to contain
at once all the corn grown on a farm ; and in
most cases it was so ample as to contain a great
portion of it. But since the mode of forming
small corn stacks became more general, and also
the introduction of threshing machines, this de-
scription of building is made much smaller.
The barn, especially where the com is to be
threshed by a machine, is best placed on the
north side of the farmery, as being most central
for the supply of the straw-yards, as well as the
stables and cattle-sheds. In this situation it has
also the best effect in an architectural and pic-
turesque point of view. (^g. 418.) Suppose an
octagonal form chosen for a farmery, with the
barn (I), straw-room and granary over (2), and
mill-shed (3), to the north ; then on the left of
the barn may be the stable for work-horses (4),
and riding-horse stable (5), cattle-house (6),
cow-house (7), sick horse (8), sick cow (9), cat-
tle-sheds (10), cart-shed (11), boiling and steam-
ing house (12), root-house (13), chaff and other
stores for steaming, or mechanics' work-shop
(14), piggeries (15), poultry-house and rabbitry
(16). The yard may be divided in two by a wall
running north and south, with a pump, well, or
other supply of water in the centre (17). The
rick-yard (27) should be to the north of such a
fermery, for easy conveyance to the bam : the
main entrance (28) should be from the south,
opposite the dwelling-house ; side entrances (26)
should lead to different parts of the farm and to
the main roads of the country, and there should
be ponds (25) for washing the horses' feet and
for the poultry. The same accommodations
may be arrangea in a square or circular outline.
(7i^.419. and 420.)
Gg
450
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
419
1. Bam
2. Show-room
3. Mill-shed
4. Common sta-
ble
6. Bidini^-horse
stable
6. Ox-feeding
house
7. Cow-house
8. Hospital stable
9. Root and
steaming
house
10. Cattle-sheds
11. Cart- shed
12. Carpenter's
shed
13. Smith's forge
14. Tool-house
i 15. Piijgeries
16. Poultry
17. Well and cis-
tern
18. Farmer's kit-
chen
ID. Common par-
lour
20. Business room
21. Entrance.
a. Com-bam
b. Straw end
c. Mill-shed
d. Common stable
e. Riding- horse
stable
/.•Hospital
e. Cattle-shed
h. Cart-shed
». Piggeries
J. Poultry
it. Piggeries
I. Tool-house
m. Carjienter
n. Smith
o. Cattle-sheds
p. Root-house
q. Cow-house
r. Ox-feeding
house
«. Washing-pond
t. Side-roa^
u. Entrance to
rick-yard
V. Pond
m. Side road
X. Main entrance
2848. The English corn-barn, in which a large quantity of corn in the straw is to be contained, and
threshed out with flails, may either be constructed on wooden frames covered with planks of oak, or be
built of brick or stone, whichever the country affords in the greatest plenty; and in either case there
should be such vent-holes, or openings in their sides or walls, as to afford free admittance to the air, in
order to prevent the mouldiness that would otherwise, from the least dampness, lodge in thei grain. The
gable-ends are probably best of brick or stone, on account of greater solidity ; the whole may be roofed
with thatch or tiles, as either can be more conveniently procured. It should have two large folding-doors
facing each other, one in each side of the building, for the convenience of carrying in or out a large load
of corn in sheaves ; and these doors should be of the same breadth with the threshing-floor, to afford the
more light and air; the former for the threshers, and the latter for winnowing. Over the threshing-
floor, and a little above the reach of the flail, poles are often laid across from one beam to another, to
form a kind of upper-floor, upon which the thresher may throw the straw or haulm, to make an immediate
clearing, till he has time to stow it properly elsewhere: and on the outside, over the great doors, it is
sometimes convenient to have a large pent-house, made to project sufficiently to cover a load of corn or
hay, in case a sudden storm should come on before it can be housed ; and also to shelter the poultry in
the farm-yard in great heat or bad weather. It was formerly the custom in countries that abounded in
corn to have separate barns for wheat; for spring-corn, such as barley and oats ; and'for peas, tares, lintels,
clover, saintfoin, &c. ; but wj^re the grain can be stacked, the heavy expense of so many buildings of
this kind may be avoided. Un no description of farm buildings has so much needless expense been
incurred as on barns. The most ostentatious in England are those on Coke's estate in Norfolk ; they are
built of fine white brick, so large and unscientifically constructed that they cannot be filled with corn
from the fear of bursting the side walls.
2849. The threshing-Jloor, or space on which the grain is threshed out by the flail, is an
important object in the English barn. It is for the most part made in the middle of the
building ; but may be laid down in any other part, if more convenient, and should always
be so formed as to be perfectly close, firm, and strong. In constructing these kinds of
floors, various sorts of materials are employed, such as compositions of dijBTerent earthy
kinds, stones, lumps, bricks, and wood. The last substance, when properly laid and put
together, is probably the best and most secure from damp. When made of wood, they
are sometimes so contrived as to be movable at pleasure, which is a great convenience in
many cases : they are made of different dimensions, but from twelve to fourteen by
eighteen or twenty feet are in general proper sizes for most purposes.
Book IV. BUILDINGS AS REPOSITORIES. 451
2850. Threshing-floors in Gloucestershire, Marshal observes, are of a good size, when ftrom 12 to 14 by
18 to 20 feet. The best are of oak, some of stone ; but a species of earthen floor, which is made there, is
thought to be superior to floors of stone, or any other material, except sound oak-plank. The superior
excellency of these floors is owing in part to the materials of which tliey are formed, and in part to the
method of making them. In order to this, in some places, the surface of the intended threshing-place
is dug away to the depth of about six inches, and the earth thus taken out, when of a proper kind, after
being well cleared of stones, is mixed with the strongest clay that can be procured, and with tiie dung of
cattle. This mixture is then worked together with water, till it is of the consistence of stiff mortar,
and the compost thus made is spread as smooth as possible with a trowel, upon the spot from which the
earth was taken. As it cracks in drying, it must be frequently beaten down with great force ; or rolled
with a heavy roller until all the crevices are filled up : and this must be continued till it is quite solid,
hard, dry, smooth, and firm.
2851. Boarded threshing-floors, made of sound, thick, well seasoned planks of oak, are excellent for
service, will last a long time, and may be converted into good floorings for rooms, by planing them down,
after they aro become too uneven for the purpose originally intended.
28.52. Earthen threshing-floors should not be advised, except where good materials can be procured,
and the making of them be performed in the most perfect manner, which, as we have noticed (2850.) is
only the case in particular instances and districts^
2853. Brick floors, when well laid down, may, in some cases, make a tolerable floor for many purposes,
but on account of their not only attracting, but retaining, moisture, they are not to be recommended
where grain of any kind is to continue much upon them.
2854. Jn constructing wooden floors the most usual mode is that of nailing the planks, or boards of
which they are composed, after their edges have been shot true, and well fitted and jointed, close down to
wooden joists or sleepers, firmly placed and secured upon the ground, or other place for the purpose. But
in the midland districts, instead of the planks being nailed down to sleepers in the ordinary way, the floor
is first laid with bricks, and the planks spread over these, with no other confinement than that of being
'• dowled " together, that is, ploughed and tongued, and their ends let into sills or walls, placed in the
usual way, on each side of the floor. By this method of putting down the planks, provided the brick-
work is left truly level, vermin cannot have a hiding-place beneath them ; and a communication of damp
air being effectually prevented, floors thus laid are found to wear better than those laid upon sleepers. Lt
is observable that the planks, for this method of laying, ought to be thoroughly seasoned. It is evident,
however, that where barn-floors can be made hollow, they must be much better for the purpose of
threshing upon, than such as are either placed on brick-work, or the ground. From their greater
pliability and elasticity in threshing upon, the grain is of course threshed out with more ease, certainty,
and despatch.
2855. The threshing-mill ham is not restricted to any size ; but it answers best when the
ground-plan is a parallelogram, the width from twenty to thirty feet, according to the size of
the machinery, and the height from fifteen to twenty feet, in order to allow one winnowing
machine, or even two, to be placed under the threshing part of the machinery. The bam
in this case is in three distinct divisions : the first, for the unthreshed corn, should be of
such a size as to contain an ordinary stack, and, if possible, it should be so contrived as to
be entered by a loaded cart ; which, whether the corn be threshed as carried in, or be laid
up for future operations, is a great saving of labour. The second division contains the
machinery and the corn floor, and should be enclosed with boards so as to be locked up
when not in use. The third division is the straw-barn, which should be so large as to
admit of keeping separately a considerable quantity of different kinds of straw, accessible
for fodder and for litter.
2856. The hay-barn is commonly constructed of timber, and sometimes is open on the
south or east, or even on all sides. In Middlesex, there are many hay-bams capable of
holding from thirty to fifty, and some even one hundred, loads of hay. They are found to
be extremely useful and convenient during a catching and unsettled hay-harvest, and also
at other seasons of the year. In wet and windy weather, they afford an opportunity of
cutting, weighing, and binding hay ; none of which operations could, at such a time, be
performed out of doors. Most farmers agree that hay may be put together earlier, even
by a day, in a barn, than it would be safe to do in a stack. They advise, however, that
the sides of the mow should be raked or pulled clear of the quartering of the barn ; and,
when thus managed, tliey are of opinion that the hay will be as good in the barn as in tlie
stack. In the driest seasons, barns are a saving ; and, in wet seasons, the ready assistance
which they afford, in speedily securing the hay, has been known to make a difference in
price of twenty shillings per load. Many persons, on the other hand, think hay is more
apt to heat in a barn than in the open air ; and that they present no advantages which
may not be obtained by the canvass stack-cover. If they do not possess considerable
advantages, then the loss must be great, as the erection of such barns is a heavy
expense.
2857. The granary, in barns with threshing machines, is sometimes formed immediately
above the floor on which the machine works ; which, among other advantages, admits of
raising the com to it directly from the ground-floor, either by the threshing-mill itself, or a
common windlass easily worked by one man. When it is to be taken out and carried
to market, it may be lowered down upon carts, with the utmost facility and despatch-
There is evidently no greater expense incurred by this arrangement : for the same floor
and height of side walls that must be added to the barn, are required in whatever
situation the granary may be ; and it possesses several advantages. Owing to its being
higher than the adjacent buildings, there is a freer circulation of air, and less danger
of pilfering, or of destruction by vermin; the corn may be deposited in it as it is
dressed, without being exposed to the weather, while the saving of labour is in most
cases considerable.
Gg 2
452 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
2^58. The consh-uction of the agricultural granai-y has in it nothing particular ; being, in fact, only a
well ventilated room,'where corn is seldom kept more than a month or two, and generally in sacks.
2859. A detached granary often forms a part of farmeries on a small scale : they should be built with
firmness, and well secured from the entrance of vermin. In order to effect the latter purpose, they
should be raised, by means of stone pillars, about eighteen inches or two feet, and have a frame of
some durable wood, with quarterings of timber, so placed as th;it they may be filled up closely with
brickbats, and the inside made secure by being lined with thin boards nailed firmly to the different pieces
of quartering. The floors must be made firm, close, and even : the outside may also be covered with
boarding, if it be thought necessary, and the roof well tiled. There may be different floors or stories,
according to the room required.
2860. Of commercial corn granaries, some of the most extensive are in Dantzic. They are seven,
eight, or nine stories high, having a funnel in the midst of every floor, to let down the corn from one
to another. They are built so securely, that, though every way surrounded with water, the corn con-
tracts no damp, and the vessels have the convenience of coming up to the walls for their lading. The
Russians in the interior of the empire preserve their corn in subterranean granaries, of the figure of a
sugar-loaf, wide below, and narrow at top ; the sides are well plastered, and the top covered with stones.
They are very careful to have the corn well dried before it is laid into these store-houses, and often dry it
by means of ovens, their autumn being too short to effect it sufficiently.
2861. A granary to preserve corn for many years should be a dry cellar, deeply covered with earth;
and, after the corn is put in, hermetically sealed to exclude heat, air, and moisture, and preclude the
possibility of the grain vegetating, or of the existence of insects or vermin, or the hatching of their eggs.
(See 1834.)
2862. The root-house is used for storing up or depositing potatoes, turnips, carrots,
cabbages, or other roots or tops for the winter feed of cattle. It should always join the
cattle-sheds, and communicate with them by an inner door that opens into the feeder's
walk by the heads of the cattle. The entrance door ought to be so large as to adirdt a
loaded cart. These houses are essentially necessary wherever there are a number of cows,
or other sorts of cattle, to be supported on roots of the carrot, parsnep, turnip, and potato
kinds, as well as for cabbages ; as without them it would not only be inconvenient, but in
many cases in severe weather impossible, to provide them for the daily supply of such
stock. Cabbages should not, however, be kept long in houses, as they are very apt to
take on the putrid fermentation, and become useless. The master should be careful
that the yard man constantly keeps such places perfectly clean and sweet, in order that
the roots may contract no bad smell, as cattle are in many cases extremely nice in their
feeding, and when once disgusted with any sort of food, seldom, take to it again in a
proper manner.
2863. 7'he steaming-house should be placed next the root-houses, for obvious reasons ;
and have an inner .floor communicating with it in a line with the door of the feeder's
walk.
2864. The straw-house or straw-shed, when there is one distinct from the barn, should
be placed at the end of the cattle-sheds, opposite to the root-house, and like it should
have a cart entrance, and an inner door communicating with the feeder's walk. Straw,
however, is often stacked, in preference to placing it in a straw-house, especially when
large quantities of corn are threshed at one time.
2865. Cart-sheds, or lodges for the shelter and protection of carts or waggons, and
other large implements, are generally built close on
three sides, with the fourth open, and the roof sup-
ported with posts or pillars. Sometimes they are open
on all sides (jig. 421. ) ; but this admits too much wind,
which carries moisture with it in the cold seasons of the
year, and dries up and shrinks wooden articles in sum-
mer. Their situation in the square should be apart
|^--~^ from the buildings for live stock, and also from the
^^^ barn, straw, and root houses : generally the first part
of the east or west side on entering is devoted to the purpose of cart-sheds and
tool-houses.
2866. The tool-house is used for keeping the smaller implements used in manual
labour in the fields, as spades, rakes, forks, &c. It is essential that this apartment be dry
and free from damps ; and, when convenient, it should have a loft for the better pre-
servation of sacks, cordage, sowing sheets, baskets, spare harness, &c.
2867. Some other buildings, besides those of this and the preceding section, will be
wanted in most farm-yards of any extent, as stables for young horses, riding-horses, an
hospital stable, &c. Particular descriptions of farms also require appropriate buildings,
as dairies, cheese-rooms, hop-kilns, and wood-lofts, which will be considered in treating
of dairy farms, hop culture, the management of sheep, &c.
2868. Sleeping-rooms for single men should be made over the stable, and for the feeder
or cow-keeper over the cattle-sheds, that they may hear any accident which takes place
among the horses or cattle during the night, and be at hand to remedy it.
2869. A smithy, and carpenter s work-room, sometimes form part of the buildings on a
large farm. Instead of going to a distance to the residence of these necessary mechanics,
arrangements are made with them to attend at stated periods, or when sent for, by which
a saving both of time and money is effected. Sometimes these buildings are set down at
a little distance from the square, to prevent danger from fire, and lessen the expense of
Book IV.
FARM-HOUSES.
453
insurance. The fixtures, as the anvil, bellows, bench, vice, lathe, &c. and some of the
larger tools, belong to the farmer, but the others the mechanics bring with them. A
small stock of iron, steel, and timber is kept, to be in readiness ; and also the cast-iron
work of ploughs, carts, &c., and sometimes the smaller pinions, and other parts of the
threshing machines.
Sect. III. The Farmer s Dwelling-house.
2870. The dwelling-house of the farmer is generally detached from the farmery on the
south side, and separated from it by a road, grass-plat, garden, or pond, or all of these,
according to circumstances. In size and accommodations it ought to be proportioned to
the capital requisite for the farm ; that is, it ought to be on a par with the houses of other
members of society of similar property and income. In design it ought to be simple and
unostentatious, utility and convenience being its recommendatory beauties. At the same
time, as observed in the Code of Agriculture, " every landlord of taste, in fixing on the
site and plan of a new farm-house and offices, ought certainly not to overlook the
embellishment of the country. " How much of the beauty of a country, and of the ideas
of the comfort and happiness of its inhabitants, depends on the appearance of its farm-
houses and cottages, every traveller is aware ; and every agriculturist who has travelled
through the British Isles can recognise at once a well cultivated district by the forms of
the farm-yards, and the position of the farmer's dwelling-house. The difference between
the best and worst cultivated English counties in this respect is sufficiently striking ; and
the ideas of wealth, comfort, order, and scientific agriculture, which the farmeries and
cottages of Northumberland and Berwickshire excite in the mind, are totally unfelt in
passing through even Hertfordshire and Essex ; where the scattered straggling hovels of
all sizes and shapes, the monstrous barns, and ricketty shapeless farm-houses, indicate a
low state of culture, and an ignorant tasteless set of occupiers. Even in Norfolk and
Suffolk the want of symmetry in the farmeries of opulent farmers is every where
conspicuous ; and the want of taste and decorum in setting the dwelling-houses among
dung heaps and urine ponds no less so.
2871. In selecting a few examples of farm-houses, the first we shall notice is that of the
smallest size, where the farmer keeps no servant and cultivates only a few acres. The
ground plan of such a house {fig. 422.) should contain an entry (a); kitchen (6);
dairy and pantry (c) ; parlour (d) ; light closet off the parlour as a store-room, or for a
bed (e) ; tool-house (/ ) ; stair, and cellar under {g) ; water-closet, and poultry-house
over (/i) ; there are three bed-rooms in the ^^
roof, and one garret. The dimensions may
be varied at pleasure ; but twelve feet square
is the least dimension that can be given to
the kitchen and parlours.
2872. A farm-house of the smallest size (fig. 423.), where the poultry and tool houses
are in the farm-yard, but where the farmer keeps only one servant, and works and lives
with him, may contain an entrance and stair (a) ; kitchen, closet, and oven (b) ; back-
kitchen (c) ; dairy (rf) ; parlour (e) ; bedroom (/) ; with three bedrooms and a
Gg 3
454
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
garret up-stairs, and a cellar under. The arrangement of this ground plan is excellent,
with the single exception of the situation of the fireplaces, which in no cottage or small
dwelling-house ought to be in the outside wall. A few of such farm-houses and tenants
should be found in all parts of the country, if for no other reason than to preserve the grada-
tion from the labourer to the professional farmer, and from the cottage to the farm-house.
2873. A farm-house larger than the preceding [Jig. 424.), and for a farmer and his
family rather in a better style, may contain a principal entrance and lobby (a) ; parlour
{b) ; closets (c) ; store-room for meal, cheese, &c. yd) ; lumber room for small imple-
ments [e) ; beer cellar (/) ; pantry {y) ; dairy (Ji) ; staircase (i) ; kitchen, with an oven
under the stairs, and a boiler on the other side of the fireplace (A) ; coals or wood, and
back entry {1} ; pigsty, with a small opening towards the kitchen for throwing in dish-
water, offal, &c. (m) ; and poultry-house («) ; with two garret bedrooms over the wings;
two good bedrooms and a closet up stairs, and a gai-ret in the roof.
2874. A farm-house of the second lower scale {fig. 425. )» executed at Burleigh in
Rutlandshire, contains a principal entry (a) ; parlour (6) ; kitchen (c) ; stair {d) ; dairy
{e) ; pantry (/) ; cellar [g) ; and cheese-room {h). The three latter are attached to the
back part of the house by a continuation downwards of the same roof. By making their
ceilings only seven and a half or eight feet high, some small bedrooms may be got above
them, having a few steps down from the floor of the front rooms, or a few steps up from
the first landing-place. The back door of the kitchen enters into a brewhouse and
washhouse, the fireplace and copper being behind the kitchen vent. Beyond this
brewhouse is a place for holding fire-wood, &c., in the back wall of which are openings
to feed the swine. In the kitchen is an oven ; and below the grate a very good con-
trivance for baking occasionally, but principally used for keeping the servants' meat
warm ; it consists of a cast-iron plate, and door like an oven. The chamber-floor is
divided into two rooms forwards, and two small ones backwards.
2875. Farmer's dwelling-houses, containing more accommodation and comfort, and
displaying appropriate taste and expression of design, will be found in a succeeding
section, where farmeries are treated of, and also where we treat of laying out farms.
(Part ill.)
Sect. IV. Cottages for Farm Servants.
2876. Cottages for labourers are necessary appendages to every fanri or landed estate,
and no improvement is found to answer the purpose better than building these on a
comfortable and commodious plan. In the southern counties of the island, where the
farmer's labourer is supposed to change his master once a year, or oftener, the whole
business of cottages is commonly left to accident ; but in the north a certain number of
married servant's are kept on every farm, and a fixed place near the farmery is appointed
^OOK iV.
FARM-COTTAGES.
^55
for their situation. These habitations are in the tenure of the farmer, in common with
the other buildings of the farm ; and whenever a married servant changes his master he
changes his habitation.
2877. T/ie accommodation former li/ considered suitable for farm labourers consisted of two rooms. That
on the ground floor not being less than twelve feet square, with a sleeping-room of the same size over, and
sometimes on the same floor. But this is justly deemed too small for an ordinary labourer's family.
" Humanity," Beatson observes, " shudders at the idea of an industrious labourer, with a wife and
perhaps five or six children, being obliged to live, or rather exist, in a wretched, damp, gloomy room, of
ten or twelve feet square, and that room without a floor; but common decency must revolt at considering,
that over this wretched apartment there is only one chamber to hold all the miserable beds of this
miserable family. And yet instances of this kind, to our shame be it spoken, occur in every country
village. How can we expect our labourers or their families to be healthy ; or that their daughters, from
whom we are to take our future female domestics, should be cleanly, modest, or even decent, in such
wretched habitations ?"
2878. The accommodation tvhich the smallest cottage ought to have, according to Waistell, is a kitchen,
washhouse, and closet, or pantry, with two bedrooms. A parlour is almost useless. The kitchen, being
freed from the business of washing and baking, may always be kept decent for the family to live in ; and
a decent kitchen is greatly preferable to a disorderly parlour ; and a parlour that is not used oftener,
perhaps, than two or three times a year, will seldom be kept in order. Every cottager who has a family
of children at home, ought, for decency's sake, to have two bedrooms ; and if the children are of both
sexes he ought to have three. For the purpose of thoroughly airing and sweetening the bedrogms there
ought to be windows to all the rooms. ( WaistelVs Designs, &c. p. 81.) " If the rooms of a cbttage be
built too low, or in any other respect upon a bad plan, the inconveniences arising from these circumstances
will, in ail probability, have to be endured by its successive occupants as long as the materials of which it
is composed will last. If, therefore, the welfare of the inhabitants of such dwellings be considered, it
is highly important that any circumstances which would thus entail the want. of comfort should be avoided ;
and it must be gratifying to those who erect durable and efficient cottages, in healthy situations, with
gardens attached, to contemplate on what industry, what cleanliness, what happiness, and, in short, what
great and lasting improvement in the condition and habits of this class of their fellow-beings, they may, as
they have it in their power, by a little attention, so easily and so beneficially to themselves effect. " {lb. p. 84.)
2879. Cottages for farm servants, it is observed by the able author of the article Agriculture, in the
Supplement to the Encyc. Britannica, " are usually set down in a line, at not an inconvenient distance
from the farm-yard. Each of them contains two apartments with fireplaces, and garret sleeping-rooms
over. Adjoining is commonly a cow-house, hogsty, shed for fuel, necessary, a small garden, and some-
times other appendages of comfort and enjoyment. As an example of the minimum of modern accom-
modation, we may refer to
AOQ a B two cottages on a farm in
" * Berwickshire, as described in
the report of that county.
They contain each a kitchen
{Jig. 426. a), small parlour
and store-room (6), with two
good bedrooms over, and a
dairy under the staircase. —
There is a garden behind (c),
a place for a calf or pigs, or
T
i
i for fuel {d), water-closet {e),
i and dung-heap ( / ). The
i labourer's cows, in this case,
j are kept at the farmery,
■' along with those of the far-
mer. It is proper to observe, however, that this is more the beau id>!al of the cottage of a farm servant in
Scotland than the reality. With the exception of some cottages that have been recently built by Englishmen
who have become possessed of property in Scotland, such as the Marquess of Stafford, Earl Gwydir, &c. the
dwellings of the labouring classes are a disgrace to the country. It is any thing but creditable, both to the
landed proprietors and the farmers, that whilethe houses of both have been greatly improved in comfort
and appearance within the last thirty years, scarcely any improvement has taken place in the dwellings of
their servants. Even in East Lothian, Berwickshire, and other counties, generally considered the most
improved in Scotland, scarcely any alteration has taken place for the better within our remembrance.
One cause, no doubt, of this want of comfort, and the appearance of enjoyment in Scottish cottages, is
owing to the ignorance of the cottager of many of the colnforts which are enjoyed by the same class in
other countries, and more particularly in England, Holland, and the South of Germany. This applies
particularly to tradesmen cottagers, or what may be called independent occupiers ; but with respect to all
those cottagers who are the hired servants of owners or occupiers of land, the blame belongs wholly to
the owners and occupiers, and may be traced to their want of sympathy for their fellow-men, as well as a
want of an enlightened view of their own interests. " Could the rich
Waistell remarks, " but consider
themselves interested in the ap-
pearance of their tenants and
labourers, and hold the improve-
ment of the cottage and cottage
garden, and its inhabitants, as an
essential part of the improvement
of their grounds j they would thus
make their seats appear the growth
of plenty diffused, and not the
solitary instance of wealth in the
midst of wretchedness, at once its
neighbour and its reproach,"
( WaistelVs Designs, &c. p. 9.)
2880. A double ploughman's
cottage and cow-house {Jig. 427.)
may be thus arranged. Both may
contain a kitchen (a) with an oven,
and there may be a smdll p'aflour
or store-room (6), a dairy and
pantry (c), with two bedrooms
over. Detached may be a pigsty
(d), water-closet {e), place for fuel
^x^X (/), and cow-house ig), with
'^ imillil I gardens adjoining, dung-heap,
porch, step-up, &c. as in the other
place.
456
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part It
$881. WaistelVs double cottage for labourers {fig. 428.) contains, for each cottage, a khoilh twelve feet
•quare (a), and a washhouse (o), pantry (c), and place for fuel under the stairs (d), covered with a lean-
4':>« _r:r' *° °^ penthouse roof, six feet wide in the clear. The entrance is made
'*-» e.^^ immediately into the kitchen ; but in exposed or cold situations, and espe.
I cially where fuel is dear, a porch should be either taken off the inside of the
_J kitchen or added to the outside ; or a temporary screen or curtain might be
p used in cold weather. On one side of the kitchen fire there is a cupboard.
The washhouse and pantry floor may be made two steps lower than the
kitchen, and the floor over them about two feet lower than the floor over
the kitchen; thus there will be room for small beds within the lean-to.
The kitchens are seven feet six inches high, and the bedrooms over may
be made eight feet high by putting the ceiling joists two feet above the
wall-plate. The ceiling-joists may be so many collar-beams to the rafters,
which will greatly strengthen the roof. The fireplaces and flues are in the
division. walls. In this position the greatest advantage is derived from the
heat, and thus, in small cottages, the chambers would not require, except
in sicknesses, any fires. Two cottages, having the same accommodations,
cannot, perhaps, be built at less expense upon any other plan.
2882. WaistelVs design for a double cottage with offlces \fig. 429.) contains
" porches {a a), kitchens (6 b) twelve feet by thirteen feet ; and the back
kitchen, or washhouse (c), which may be oh the same level, is six feet by
seven feet. The pantry (d), which may be sunk one step, is partly under
^ the stairs (e). In the porch is a cupboard to contain the labourer's tools,
T-rr::^ and beyond the porch is a small room for fuel(/). At each end of the
■' building are three doors : the first opens into the vault {g), the second into
the place for ashes, or dust {h), and the third into the hogsty (?), over which is a roost for poultry.
The hollow or cavity in the wall between the stairs, &c. and pigsty (A) is to prevent any soakings or
disagreeable smell being perceptible in the house. The
chamber-floors being of equal dimensions with the
ground-floors, each cottager will have two bedrooms.
One room may be made somewhat larger than the other ;
the larger for the parents and the smaller for the chil-
dren. The bedrooms being partly within the roof, a
higher elevation would improve the appearance, and
render it more wholesome, and will be preferred by
those with whom the additional expense is of less con-
sideration than the health and improvement of their
cottagers. Lofty bedrooms are highly conducive to
health." {U'aisiell's Designs, &c. p. S'Z.)
2883. Waistell's double cottage with cow-house {fig.
430.) contains " kitchens (a) fourteen feet by twelve feet ;
the back kitchens (6) are eleven feet by seven feet ; and
at one end there may be a closet under the stairs for a
pantry (c). There are also boilers and ovens, projecting
from the back of the house ; but where the cottagers do
not make their own bread, or where they eat oat-bread,
ovens will not be required. The entrances are through
porches (d) in the low buildings, beyond which, as in the
last example, is a place for fuel {e), and at the back of
this last is the dairy (/), with the door from the kitchen.
The situation of some conveniences on a plan may
sometimes appear too conspicuous ; but, as at least a
garden, however small, is supposeti to be attached to
every labourer's cottage, the judicious planting of a few evergreen shrubs will give all the privacy required.
The doors to the cow-house (gr) are at the back ; and convenient places for collectipg manure {h) may be
matie in the corners
430 t=3 against the sides of the
hogsties (»■). Every
thing convertible into
manure ought to be
gathered into these
yards. By collecting
manures, and pre-
paring them with
judgment, ground of
an inferior quality
may be continued in
a profitable and pro-
gres.^ive state of im-
provement, until it
has acquired a high
degree of fertility.
Small tenants should
not only be provided
with convenient yards
for compost dunghills,
but should also have
pointed out to them,
by the proprietors or
agents of estates, the
various fertilising sul).
stances which lie
within their reach ;
' ' ' I I 1 and also be informed
which of them will make the most valuable dressings for grounds of the nature of those which they
respectively occupy ; and such attention to their interests must be gratifying to them. The chamber-floor
over the kitchens may be divided : small rooms, about six feet wide, with windows above the low buildings,
would serve for bedrooms for daughters ; the larger rooms for the parents, and the rooms over the back-
Kitchens for the sons. Should these conveniences not be suflScient, small bedrooms may be added at each
end, over the entrance, dairy, &c. ; or, with a little addition in the elevation of the walls above the ceiling
of the chambers, tolerable rooms may be formed in the roof Cottages for manufacturers will require larger
rooms, as for looms, &c. If the occupiers of adjoining tenements keep horses, they may unite their teams
when a stronger draught than two horses is required for ploughing, or any other work," {Waistell's
Designs, &c. p. 83.)
Boo:c IV. FARM-COTTAGES. 457
2884. In regard to the construction of cottages much information may be obtained
from a work entitled A Senes of Plans for Cottages, by J. Wood of Bath. This author
lays down the following seven principles as the means of obviating the inconveniences to
winch cottages, as usually built, are liable.
2885. The cottage should be dry and healthy. This is effected by keeping the floor sixteen or eighteen
inches above the natural ground ; by building it clear of banks, on an open spot of ground, that has a
declivity or fall from the building ; by having the rooms not less than eight feet high, — a height that will
keep them airy and healthy ; and by avoiding having chambers in the roof.
2886. They should be war7n, cheerful, and comfortable. In order to attain these points, the walls should
be of a sufficient thickness (if of stone, not less than sixteen inches; if of brick, at least a brick and a half)
to keep out the cold of the winter, or the excessive heat of the summer. The entrance should be screened,
that the room, on opening the door, may not be exposed to the open air. The rooms should receive their
ligiit from the east, or the south, or from any point betwixt the east and the south : for, if they receive
their light from the north, they will be cold and cheerless ; if from the west, they will be so heated by the
summer's afternoon sun, as to become comfortless to the poor labourer, after a hard day's work : whereas,
on the contrary, receiving the light from the east or the south, they will be always warm and cheerful.
So like the feelings of men in a higher sphere are those of the poor cottager, that if his habitation be warm,
cheerful, and comfortable, he will return to it with gladness, and abide in it with pleasure.
2887. They should be rendered convenient, by having a porch or shed, to screen the entrance, and to hold
the labourer's tools ; by having a shed to serve as a pantry, and store-place for fuel ; by having a privy for
cleanliness and decency's sake ; by a proper disposition of the windows, doors, and chimneys ; by having
the stairs, where there is an upper floor, not less than three feet wide, the rise or height not more than
eight inches, and the tread or breadth not less than nine inches ; and, lastly, by proportioning the size of
the cottage to the family that is to inhabit it : there should be one lodging-room for the parents, another
for the female, and a third for the male children. It is melancholy, he says, to see a man and his wife,
and sometimes half a dozen children, crowded together in the same room, nay, often in the same bed; the
horror is still heightened, and the inconveniency increased, at the time the woman is in child-bed, or in
case of illness, or of death ; indeed, whilst the children are young, under nine years of age, there is not
that offence to decency if they sleep in the same room with their parents, or if the boys and girls sleep
together, but after that age they should be kept apart.
2888. Cottages should not be more than twelve feet wide in the clear, that being the greatest width that
it would be prudent to venture the rafters of the roof, with the collar-pieces only, without danger of
spreading the walls ; and, by using collar-pieces, there can be fifteen inches in height of the roof thrown
into the upper chambers, which will render dormar-windows useless.
28S-9. Cottages should be altoays built in pairs, either at a little distance from one another, or close
adjoining, so as to appear one building, that the inhabitants may be of assistance to each other, in case of
sickness, or any other accident.
2890. For economy, cottages should be built strong, and with the best of materials, and these materials
well put together ; the mortar must be well tempered and mixed, and lime not spared ; hollow walls bring
on decay, and harbour vermin ; and bad sappy timber soon reduces the cottage to a ruinous state.
Although cottages need not be fine, yet they should be regular ; regularity will render them ornaments to
the country, intead of their being, as at present, disagreeable objects.
2891. A piece of ground should be allotted to every cottage, proportionable to its size ; the cottage should
be built in the vicinity of a spring of water —a circumstance to be attended to j and if there be no spring,
let there be a well.
2892. On the foregoing seven principles he recommends all cottages to be built. They
may be divided into four classes or degrees : first, cottages with one room ; secondly",
cottages with two rooms ; thirdly, cottages with three rooms ; and, fourthly, cottages
with four rooms : plans of each of which, having great merit in their distribution, may
be seen in his very able work.
2893. An economical mode of constructing the walls of brick-built cottages is described
by Dearn, in a Tract on Hollow Walls (London, 1821). These walls are only nine
inches wide, and built hollow, by laying the courses alternately lengthwise on edge, and
crosswise on the broad face. Another description of hollow walls has been invented by
Silverlock of Chichester, and used by him in building garden walls (See Encyc. of Gar-
dening), in which all the bricks are laid on edge, but alternately along and across the
wall ; or, in bricklayers' language, header and stretcher. Either of these modes suits
very well for cottages of one" stoiy ; and if well plastered inside the house, they will be
warmer and drier than solid walls even of fourteen inches' thickness. Hollow walls of
any height may be biiilt by Tayihg the bricks flatwise, and jointng the outer and inner
four-inch, or single brick, walls, by cross bricks at moderate distances.
2894. Mud walls, hu\\t in the French . manner, or en pis.6, are recommended by
Beatson, Crocker, and others, and also " walls composed of soft mire and straw ;" but
these last we consider, with Wood, as the reverse of economical in the
end, and totally unfit for our climate and degree of civilisation.
2895. An economical mode of forming staircases to cottages, is de-
scribed by Beatson, and has been adopted in a few places. Its merit
consists in occupying exactly half the room which is required for
stairs on the ordinary plan. This is effected by dividing every step into
two parts {fig' 431 a and b], and making one part double the height
of another. In ascending such a stair the left foot is set on the left
step (a), and the right foot on the right step (6), alternately to the top
of the stair. It is therefore clear, that as the steps for the right and for
the left foot are in the same line, and although neither foot rises each
time higher than seven inches and a half above the other, yet every time
that one foot is moved, it rises fifteen inches higher than it was before.
a I Suppose in a stair of tliis kind, that each tread or breadth for the foot
is nine inches, and that each rise of the one foot above the other is seven inches
458
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
and a half ; consequently, as each foot rises the height of two steps, or fifteen inches,
every time it is moved, it is plain that six steps of this kind will rise as high as
twelve in the common way, and will require only one half the size of a hatch or opening
in the floor above, that would be required for those twelve steps as usually constructed.
This will be of considerable advantage, where much is required to be made of little
room, and will of course give more space to the chambers above ; but it has the disad-
vantage of being disagreeable, and even dangerous to descend, especially for pregnant
women and yoiing children.
2896. Of what are called ornamental cottages for labourers, we shall say little. Utility
is a beauty of itself, but there are higher degrees of that sentiment excited by the appear-
ance of convenience and abundance ; by the evidence of design or intelligence in the
contriver as displayed in the elevation and general effect, and by classical, imitative, or
picturesque forms in the masses and details. The great evil, however, is, that these
ornamental cottages, as generally constructed, are felt by the occupiers to be very uncom-
fortable habitations ; every thing being sacrificed by the designer to external appearance.
This is in the very worst taste, and has, in most parts of the country, brought ornamental
cottages into ridicule. Utility, therefore, is the main consideration, and nothing ought to
be considered as ornamental that is at all at
432
d
svL
variance with this property.
H^J?^
433
2897. As an example of a cottage ornamented in
the least degree {Jig. 432.) we submit a specimen in
the gothic style, by Holland. It contains an entrance
lobby, and stair («), kitchen (b), small parlour and
store-room (c), cowhouse (rf), pigsty {e), poultry,
house (/), and water-closet (g). Over the kitchen is
a bedroom with a fireplace, and another communi.
eating with it over the cowhouse.
A cottage ornamented in the second degree (Jig. 433.) contains an entrance and lobby (a), kitchen
(b), stair (c), parlour, or store-room (rf), back
>"^ J kitchen (e), cowhouse (/), and water-clo.set
(g), with two good bedrooms over the centre
the building, and two garrets over the
wings.
2899. A double ornamental cottage, erected
Lord Penrhyn, in Wales {Jig. 434.), contains
porch, lobby, and stair (a), kitchen and living
room ib), parlour (c), with cellars and pantry
0 1 1 fi under, and to each house two bedrooms over.
It must be confessed, however, that this cottage
is more ornamental than convenient.
2900. A double ornamental cottage, with lat-
ticed windows {fig. 4.35.), built in HertTordshire, on a very dry soil, coritains, on the ground floor, the
kitchen and living room (a), pantry (6), and small light closets {c), with a stair up to two good bedrooms
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above, and down to a dairy, cellar, fuel-room, and other conveniences beneath. It is placed in a neat
garden, with piggery, bee- house, poultry, dung-pit, water-closet, covered seat or bower, pump-well, and
other appendages to each cottage.
2901. A variety of other plans of cottages vnW be found connected with the plans of
farmeries, and in our Topography of Agriculture, (Part IV.)
Book IV. STACK-YARD, DUNG- YARD, &c. 459
Sect. V. Stack-yard, Dung-yard, and other Enclosures immediately connected uith
Farm Buildings.
2902. The diff'erent appendages which are common to farm buildings are the dung-yards,
pits and reservoirs, the rick-yard, the straw-yard, the poultry-yard, drying-yard, garden,
orchard, and cottage-yards. Tliese necessarily vary much, according to situation and
other circumstances, but all of them are more or less essential to a complete farmery.
2903. The dung-yard and pit is placed in almost every case in the centre of the main
yard. A pavement, or causeway, ought to be carried round the yard, next to the houses,
of nine or fifteen feet in width, according to the scale of the whole : the remaining part
of the yard should either be enclosed with a wall with various doors to admit cattle, carts,
and wheel-barrows, or, on a small scale, it may be entirely open. From this space the
earth should be excavated so as to form a hollow deepest at the centre, or at the lower
end if the original surface was not level ; and from the lowest part of this hollow should
be conducted a drain to a reservoir for liquid manure. The bottom of this excavation,
or dung basin, ought to be rendered hard, to resist the impression of cart wheels in
removing the dung, and impervious to moisture, to prevent absorption.
2904. For these purposes, it may be either paved, the stones being set on a layer of clay ; or what will
generally answer equally well, it may be covered with a thick coat of gravel or chalk, if it can be got, and
then well rolled ; mixing some loam with the gravel, if it is found not to consolidate readily. To prevent,
as much as possible, a superfluity of rain-water from mixing with the dung and diluting its drainings, all
external surface-water should be prevented from entering the farm-yard by means of drains, open or
covered ; and that which collects on the inner slopes of the roofs, should, in every case, be carried off by
gutters. Such is the opinion of most agriculturists as to the situation of the farm-yard, dung-hill, and
reservoir ; but, in addition to these requisites, it is now very properly considered as equally important
that there be urine-pits, either open or covered.
2905. The iirinariuvi, or tirine-pit, is constructed in or near to the stables and cattle-
sheds, for the immediate reception of the drainage of these buildings unmixed with rain-
water. It is found from experience that a very considerable addition of the richest kind
of manure is thus obtained on every arable farm. At the same time it is proper to
observe, that no benefit, but a loss, will arise, if the urine is so completely drained from
the straw as to leave it too dry for fermentation. Where there are no stall-fed cattle,
an able author {Supp. Enc Brit. i. 121.) is of opinion there will be no more urine than
what will be required for converting the straw into manure. Where cattle are fed at
the stake, however, he considers a reservoir as essential. Allan, of Craigcrook near Edin-
burgh, recommends that there should be two, in order that as soon as one is full, it should
remain in that state till the urine becomes putrid before it is taken away. The urine is
either applied to the land in its liquid state, or mixed with peat, earth, &c. The
reservoirs may be either vaults of masonry, or wells : in either case, the hole for the
pump should be suflSciently large to admit a man to clean out the sediment when
it accumulates. A very desirable plan seems to be, to have these vaults, or wells, chiefly
within the cattle-house, as in Flanders, but partly also without, to admit room for the
pump-hole, close by the wall on the inside of the surrounding paved road. It is need-
less to add, that such constructions ought to be made water-tight by the use of some
cement, or by puddling with clay outside of the masonry.
2906. The stack-yard, or enclosure within which corn, hay, &c., are stacked, is placed
exterior to that side of the building which contains the barn. Stack-yards should always
be suflBciently spacious and airy, having a firm dry bottom ; and some advise them to be
ridged up, to prevent the accumulation of surface-water ; as by raising the ridges pretty
well in the middle, and covering the places where the stacks are to be built, either with
rough stones, with a mixture of gravel, or with pavement in the same manner as streets,
much advantage would be gained at little expense : but a much better method is to have
them raised considerably above the surface, and placed upon pillars of wood or stone,
with a covering of wood round the circumference, and beams laid across. The enclosing
of stack-yards should be well performed, either by means of walls or palings, or better
with a sunk fence ; as in this way the stacks will have the full benefit of the air from top
to bottom, — a circumstance of no small moment, since it is often fojind, especially in wet
seasons, whore the fence of the stack-yards is only a low wall, that the whole of the stacks
are damaged or spoiled as high up as the wall reaches, while the upper part is perfectly safe.
Should any addition be required to the sunk fence, a railing upon the top may be quite
sufficient. This fully shows the vast advantage of having stack-yards suflBciently airy.
The proper arrangement of the stands, for their being removed to the threshing-mill, is
also a matter of much consequence, in the economy of the work that is to be performed
in them.
2907. A stack-yard, arranged on principles peculiarly well planned and judicious, has been formed by
Mitchell, of Balquharn near Alloa. His stacks are divided into regular rows, and there is a road on each
side of every double row, besides a road round the whole yard. This plan is attended with the following
advantages : 1st, by these parallel road/, there is a greater degree of ventilation ; 2dly, he can remove any
stack he pleases, as necessity or markets may require; 3dly, in the hurry of harvest there is no confusion
or loss of time, whatever may be the number of men or horses employed ; and 4thly, by having the rows
and the stacks regularly numbered, there is no difficulty in ascertaining what each field of the farm
produces.
4^
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
2908. Corn-stands are requisite fixtures of the stack-yard : they are basements of
timber or masonry, or sometimes of iron, on which to build the stack, and their object is
to keep the lower part of the stack dry, and
exclude vermin. The usual mode of con-
structing stands is to place a stout frame of
timber on upright stones, two feet high, and
having projecting caps of flat stones. They
are also constructed wholly of stone, with
circular or polygonal walls (Jig. 436 a, b},
built to the same height as in the former
case, in a rather slanting manner outwards, and covered on the tops with copings of oak-
planking or flat stones, which project over the edges several inches, and in that way
prevent the ascent of rats and mice to the stacks. In both these modes, pieces of timber
are placed as a frame in the middle to support the grain upon, and generally a cone of
spars in the centre, to form a column of air in the heart of the corn. Some suppose the
first of these sorts of corn-stands to be the best for general purposes, as being more easily
as well as more cheaply constructed, and at the same time permitting the air to enter and
circulate with more freedom underneath, in the bottom
of the stand, which is of much advantage. It is obvious
that the form of these stands or basements must vary
according to that in which the stacks are to be made,
which is different in different districts. But wherever
the threshing machine is introduced, the circular base,
as producing a stack of a moderate size, with other
advantages, is generally preferred. But cast-iron stands
(Jig. 437.) with or without funnels, are now found
preferable in point of economy, and admit of stacking
the com somewhat earlier. The pillars of these stands
are three feet high, and weigh half a cwt. each. A
stack requires seven pillars, besides the framing, which
may either be made of poles or young trees. In the
wet climate of Clackmannanshire, wheat has been stacked
in five days, beans in eighty and barley and oats in
ten days, and sometimes earlier. No vermin can find their way into these stacks to
consume the grain, and the straw is better preserved. The cone or triangle keeps up a
circulation of air, and prevents heating or other damage. (Gen. Bej). of Scotland, vol. iv.
jipp. p. 379.)
2909. WaistelVs circular rick. stand {fig. 428.) is twelve feet eight inches in diameter. It consists of two
concentric circular walls, the outer twenty and the inner eighteen
inches thick ; the outer wall covered with flagstones, which project
four inches over it, to prevent rats and mice from getting up into
the rick. The space between the two walls is twenty inches wide;
across this space are laid hedgestakes, which are sufficiently long to
support the rick, so that no large bearers are wanted, nor other
strong and expensive bearers of any kind. The outer wall is twenty
inches high, to the top of the projecting flags ; at about half its
height, four grates of cast iron, about six inches square and half an
inch thick, are placed in openings left through the external walls,
at equal distances from each other to admit air. The bars of the
grates are a quarter of an inch broad, and a quarter of an inch dis-
tant from each other, which is sufficiently close to prevent the
entrance of mice. Stands thus constructed are considered, by those
who have tried them, to be less expensive and more effective than
on any other plan that has been yet invented. The air that passes
through these four grates, and through the openings in the internal
walls, will circulate freely under the rick ; and if a chimney be
carried up the middle of the rick to its top, the current of air that
will pass up through it will carry off the heat and moisture, which
might otherwise injure, and even spoil, such corn as was rather too
moist when carried. {Waistcll's Designs, &c. p. 101.)
2910. Bay-stands, according to some, may be formed
in the same manner as those for corn, only it is seldom
necessary to have them made of such expensive materials.
A simple frame of wood is mostly sufficient, with proper bearers laid across for the
support of the stack ; and these stands are much better than loose pieces of wood laid
across at the bottom, and filled in with brush or faggot wood, on which ricks are com-
monly built. Earthy floors or foundations should never be thought of for this purpose,
as tlie dampness must injure a considerable part of the hay at the bottom ; but where
faggots are not scarce, and the ground on which the hay-stack is built is rather elevated,
no stand can ever become necessary.
2911. The stack-funnel fausse or boss (Jig. 439. a.) as it is called in the north,
whether the itand be of wood, iron, or stone, may be formed of a few poles placed on a
438
Book IV.
FARMERIES.
461
433
rrrrt
circular, square, or angular base, having a few
short spars nailed across, or a straw rope wrap-
ped round.
2912. The stack-cover is a cloth or canvass
covering, for suspending over stacks during the
time of their being built to protect them from
rain. A simple implement of this sort has
long been in use in Kent; but it has been
improved on by Sir Joseph Banks, so as to
become more manageable, though someM'hat
more costly. It consists of two long upright
poles fixed into two cart wheels: a rope,
managed by blocks and tackle, connects tlie
poles at top, and supports, raises, or lowers the
canvass roof in the usual manner of managing
tents and sails. Its construction and use will
be afterwards more particularly described.
2913. The straw-yard is a term applied to
enclosures in or about the farmyard, in which
cattle are turned in loose to eat straw. In
most cases this enclosure occupies the centre
of the farm-yard, and includes the dung-basin, or it is a subdivision of the yard;
but in some cases enclosures and sheds are erected exterior to the farmyard, and near
the straw and root house. The great object in arranging straw-yards of this description,
is to provide a sufficient extent of sheds open to the south for cover to the cattle in severe
weather, and high fences or sheds on the east or west sides, according to their position
with relation to the main yard, for shelter.
2914. The poultry-yard in most cases may be a very small enclosure, as the poultry of
common farmeries should be allowed to range over the straw-yards and most parts of the
premises, to pick up what cannot be got at by swine.
2915. A tradesman's yard or small enclosure is often appended to the smith's and
cai-penter's shops, as well to contain timber as iiT^plements in want of repair, &c.
2916. A kitchen-garden is an essential appendage to the dwelling-house. Its situation
should be apart from the farmery, so as not to interfere with it, or be injured by the
blowing in of straws, &c. The size of the garden will, of course, depend somewhat on
that of the house and farm ; but as a small farmer with a large family will require as
many or more vegetables than one of a higher class, there can be no impropriety in the
garden being large. As potatoes and turnips, and sometimes other vegetables, may be
had of better quality from the field, some abatement of size may be allowed on this
account. In general, the garden need not be under a fourth of an acre, nor exceed twice
that quantity. The best fence is a wall, and next a close oak paling ; but if neither of
these can be had, a thorn hedge will answer, though it harbours vermin, and its roots
always rob a portion of the accompanying border. The best form is a parallelogram,
lying cast and west, which may be intersected by walks, so as to divide it into four or
six other parallelograms, with a surrounding border as broad as the enclosure fence is
high.
2917. An orchard may either be regularly formed on an allotted space ; or fruit trees
may be scattered over a lawn or piece of grass ground which may surround the ^louse.
In a convenient part of this orchard, posts should be fixed to form a drying ground,
unless the drying is performed by heated air or steam in the house.
2918. I'he gardens appended to the labourers' cottages may contain from one eighth to one
sixth of an acre. Their situation should always adjoin the house ; but whether they
should surround it or enclose it on one pr more of its sides, must depend on the position
of the cowhouse belonging to each cottage. In some cases, and perhaps it is the best
plan, these cowhouses form a range by themselves, in a small field devoted to their
use, and situate behind the row of cottages.
Sect. VI. Union of the different Farm Buildings and Enclosures in a Farmery.
2919. Infixing the arrangement of a set of farm buildings, the first things, according to
Beatson, to be taken into consideration, after choosing the situation, are the nature and
produce of the farm. From these may be judged the different kinds of accommodation
that will be necessary. For example, every farm must have, first, a dwelling- house ;
secondly, a barn suitable to the extent of arable land in the farm, either with or without
a threshing-mill, but always with one, if possible, and so placed as to go by water, if
a supply can be had ; thirdly, stables, the dimensions of which must be determined
according to the number of horses necessary for the farm ; fourthly, cowhouses, or
462 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
feeding-houses, or both, according to the number of cows and cattle ; and so on, till
the whole accommodations, and their dimensions, are fixed upon. Having ascertained
these, and the situation for building on being also settled, the ground must be carefully
and attentively viewed ; and if not very even, the different levels must be observed, and
the best way of conducting all the necessary drains, and carrying off all superfluous
moisture ; and also the best situations for dung and urine-pits, or reservoirs, wliich will,
in a great degree, ascertain at once where the cattle-houses and stables should be. These
being fixed on, the barn should be as near them as possible, for the convenience of
carrying straw to the cattle ; and the barn-yard should be contiguous to the bam.
These main points being determined on, the others will easily be found ; always observing
this rule, to consider what is the nature of the work to be done about each office, and
then the easiest and least laborious way to perform that work, so far as it is connected with
other offices. In case this should not be sufficiently explicit, suppose, by way of illus-
tration, the situation of a feeding-house is to be considered of. The nature of the work
to be performed here is, bringing food and litter to the cattle, and taking away their
dung. The place from which the greatest part perhaps of their food and all their litter
comes, is the barn ; therefore the feeding-house should be as near the barn as possible.
If turnips or other roots, or cabbages, make a part of their food, the most commodious
way of giving these must be determined on ; whether by having a root-house adjoining
the cattle-house, and that filled occasionally, or by having a place to lay them down in,
near the head of the stall, from which they are thrown in at holes left in the walls for
that purpose. The easiest method of clearing away the dung must also be considered,
and the distance from the main dung-pit and urine reservoir. The same general rule
being observed in determining on the site of all the other offices or accommodations,
together with a careful examination of the ground to be occupied (upon wliich the
arrangement of the offices in a great measure should depend), any person conversant in
rural affairs, who attends to these particulars, and can lay down liis ideas in a drawing,
may easily direct the planning and building of a very commodious set of offices. With
respect to the site of the dwelling-house, it may be remarked, that, although the middle
of a regular front is in some points of view the most pleasing, and in many situations
perhaps the best, yet, unless the ground and other circumstances in every respect favour
such a disposition, it should not invariably be adhered to ; for it may often happen that
a much better situation for the dwelling-house may be obtained at a little distance from
the offices, a pleasing uniformity be observed in them at the same time, and the house be
more healthy and agreeable. In some cases, and for some kinds of farms, it may be
particularly necessary to have the house so placed, in respect to the offices and farm-yard,
as to admit of their being constantly inspected, and the labour that is to be performed in
them attended to and overlooked.
2920. Farm buildingfi in the colder latitudes of Europe and America are most advan-
tageously combined together under one roof, and on a square or parallelogram ground
plan. The saving in the first erection, and in all future repairs, is very considerable ;
and not less so the saving of heat during the severe weather of winter. In such
countries open straw-yards for cattle are not wanted ; for in summer these are either in
the fields, or stall-fed, and in winter both cattle and sheep are kept almost always in the
house. In Britain, however, where the winters are mild, and where it is the custom to
keep cattle loose in the straw-yards, it is found desirable to distribute the buildings
around such yards, for the sake of shelter to the cattle : but in the case of sheep farms,
or where all the cattle kept are stall-fed, there seems no reason why the greater part of
the buildings of a farmery might not be included in a cube with a single roof.
2921. Wahtell considers a " parallelogram, the most ample and least expensive form for the arrangement
of farm buildings ; if any other form be adopted, more of both materials and labour will be required."
Much the best publication on the subject of farm buildings is that of Mr. Waistell, entitled Designs
for Agricultural Buildings. London. 4to. 1827. It ought to be consulted by every proprietor intending
to erect or alter farm buildings. According to this author, a farmery ought neither to be situated on a
hill nor on a dead flat, but, if possible, on gently waving grounds on a southern declivity. At all events
the spot should be dry, and of easy access ; — dry, that it may be warm and easily kept clean ; easy of
access and central, to facilitate carrying home the crops, and out the manure, and for general despatch
of business. It should not be far removed from a public road, and should, if possible, command a view
of the greatest part of the farm. The site to be built on should be level, or made so, or nearly so,
declining in preference to the south. Drainage must be got, or a deep cesspool formed lor the house ;
and a urine pit for the farm-yard. A gravelly soil, on the banks of a quick-running stream, is one of
the healthiest of situations ; while a rich and marshy soil is the reverse, and peculiarly unwholesome.
Plenty of gooti water is desirable ; and if that cannot be got otherwise, it must be obtained by a mooe
which never fails — "by putting spouts round all the buildings, to collect the rain-water which falls
upon them into one, two, or more tanks : by this last means a sufficient supply of water has been
collected from the roof of a cottage to answer every purpose of the family during the driest season,
while other cottagers in the neighbourhood, having only ponds, had to travel miles for water. Ponds
naving a large surface exposed to the sun and air, soon lose a great proportion of water by evaporation ;
the water in a covered tank is not liable to this loss, and will keep quite clean, and, if properly ventilated,
will always be sweet. The quantity of water that falls annually upon every hundred superficial feet
or square of building, is about 1,400 imperial gallons. Besides the water collected from the buildings
feeing useful, the buildings themselves will be benefited by the spouts, as the walls and their foundations
will be kept much drier, and will last longer than they would do if all the water from the roofs
were sufTered to fall upon them." The manner of constructing tanks will be found in Part III. Book II L
Book IV. FARMERIES. 463
Chap. III. Sec. III. The aspect, or principal front of the house, and that side of the farm-yard which
is least sheltered by buildings, sliould generally face the south. " As the wind rarely blows from the
south-east, and as our most constant and most violent winds are from the south-west, it would seem that
one point to the east of south will generally be the best aspect." The north-east corner being the coldest,
is the best for the dairy. Open cattle-sheds should face the sun. The farmhouse should be at a little
distance southward from the middle of the south side of the farm-yard. 'J'he living room and the
master's bedroom should look into the farm-yard for the sake of looking after the servants, and seeing
that no accident happens to the live stock. The rule for the distance of the dwelling-house from the
south wall of the farm-yard, is the length of the house's shadow at noon on the shortest day. " In the
latitude of London, the length of shadows on a horizontal plane when the sun is in the meridian, on
the shortest day, is about equal to 3% times the height of objects. On the 23d of November and lyth of
January, they are equal to three times the height The back of a farmhouse in front of the yard
ought not, therefore, to be placed much nearer to the north side of the farm-yard, than four times
the height of the house." It is essentially necessary for the health of the inhabitants, that the house
should be separated from the farm-yard, which is generally covered with dung, by an open, naked, and
dry court.yard ; since nothing is more injurious to health than putrid etSuvia of every kind : besides,
bad smells, it is well known, " lessen the products of butter dairies, by preventing a complete separation
of the cream from the milk." Hog and poultry houses should be near the kitchen and the brewhouse,
but not so near as to oflend by their smell. The barn and threshing-machine .^liould in general be
placed on the north side ot the yard ; the granary over the straw-room ; the stables, cowhouses, and
cart-sheds, on the east and west ; and the open sheds on the north side, so as tn face the south.
292i2. The form and proportion of farm building are ably treated of by the same author. The more a
building deviates from a square, the more will it require to enclose a given area. The area of a building
twenty feet square, is four times as large as that of one ten feet square, and it only requires twice the
length of wall to surround it. Hence large-roomed houses cost less proportional expense than small-
roomed ones. " Utility, durability, and economy, are best obtained by adhering strictly to simplicity of
form, and building with good materials. Let the buildings be quadrangular, as nearly square as other
circumstances will allow, and roofed at one span. Avoid lead gutters, and such projections as bow
windows, dormar windows, &c. These are not only expensive to construct and keep in repair, but are
often the cause of much damage to other parts by the overflowing of water, particularly after snow.
The increase of the size of farm-houses is not required to be in the same ratio as the extent of the
farms j that is, the dwelling-house for a Small farm must be proportionably larger, and consequently
will cost more, in proportion, than one for a large farm. The cost of cattle-sheds, cow-houses, and
stables, will be nearly in the same ratio as the sizes of the farms, provided the lands be of the same
quality, and in like situations." One window will generally be found sufficient for every room in a farm,
house; unless where two would admit of looking over a greater part of the farm; every window ought to be
made to ojjen at top and bottom, for the purpose of ventilation ; and the top ought to be as near the
ceiling as possible for that purpose, and because the upper half of a window always admits most light
All rooms should be high, because the floor and ceiling cost the same, whether the walls are high or low.
In all new buildings, bedrooms, in addition to the chimney for the fire, should have a small flue, say six
inches square, carried up from the top of the loom in any convenient situation, for the purpose of
ventilation; cellars, and even stables and cowhouses, should be ventilated in this way. This has been
done by many gentlemen in their stables, because, as our author remarks, " the health of servants is
often less attended to than the health of cattle." Farmers and their families frequently suflTer in their
health, without knowing the reason, from the pernicious eflliivia of the following articles : — "Oil, oil
colours, impure wool, sweaty saddles, soap, tallow, fat, fresh meat whether raw or dressed, wet clothes,
and other wet articles ; by foul linen, washing, drying, and ironing ; by the fumes from charcoal fires,
which are extremely pernicious, and frequently fatal ; by green plants and flowers, however fragrant;
and by saffron and hops; which last articles. Dr. Wallich says, have also sometimes proved fatal."
The floors of all dwelling-houses ought to be raised above the surface, not less than eighteen inches
on a damp soil, nor nine inches on the driest. No external walls to dwelling-houses should be less than
a brick and a half in thickness, unless cemented on the outside, or built with Roman cement
2923. The conveniences of farmhouses and detached offices are arranged by Waistell
under seven classes as follows :—
2924. 1st Class. Back kitchen, bacon-room, bakehouse, brewhouse, cider-house, kitchen, and washhouse.
Two rooms generally serve for all these purposes in farmhouses of the smallest size ; but the bakehouse
and the brewhouse should always be in attached buildings, as the vapour arising from both baking and
brewing is very injurious to health. Bacon is best kept in a closet with a dratt through it
2925. 2d Class. Cellar, potato-place, carrot. store, &c. When inider the kitchen they should be arched
over ; when sunk only a few steps, the walls should be built hollow, and a bank of earth raised
against them.
29ii6. 3d Class. Chambers or bedrooms. Such as are in the roof should be lighted from the gables,
dormars being expensive. The men-servants' bedroom ought not to be up the same stairs as the
bedrooms for the family.
2927. 4th Class. Cheese-press house, cheese-ruom, dairy, dairy -scullery, and shed. These ought all to
be connected. " A milk-room, sunk three feet within the ground, and a sloping bank raised against its
walls externally, to the height of three feet, with the earth dug out of it, will be found nearly as cool in
summer and warm in winter as a cellar, but more convenient to occupy, as four or five steps to descend
into it will be sufficient" The milk-house should never be used as apantry, because the smells incident
to the latter prevents the cream from rising. A rill of water through a dairy carries heat to it in winter,
and from it in summer.
2928. 5th Class. Parlour, counting-house, pantry, and store-room. If the two latter apartments are
attached, instead of being within the house, so much the better, on account of the pernicious efiluvia
which proceed from them.
2929. 6th Class. Court-yard, chaise-house, privy, ash-pit, and tool-house. A tank may be built in the
court-yard for the hogwasli, and it ought to have oak covers, like the water-tank. The cesspool of the
privy ought to be lined with Roman cement, and its walls ought either to be hollow, or of double
thickness. " When a drain is required, it should have a trap ; from the underside of the seat, a trunk
or flue should be constructed to carry ofl", above the roof, any smell that may arise : if, however, the
cesspool be airtight, so that no air maybe admitted below the seat, which always ought to have a cover,
the air would then be stagnant, and the smell not likely to ascend. The tool-house may also, in some
cases; serve for the chee.se-press house, and also for dry pigs' food."
2930. 7th Class. Coal-house, fuel-house, wood-house, arid wood or coal yard. In some places the wood
is stacked and thatched.
2931. The out-offices of farm buildings are arranged by the same author in eleven
classes, as follows : —
2932. 1st Class. Barn, straiv-room, and threshing-machine. A comparatively small barn will suffice
where there is a threshing-machine. Parallelogram barns {fig. 4+0.\ and barns with porches [fig.
441. \ are much more expensive in proportion to their capacity than square barns (^^g'. 442.) On the
same principle, as we have already mentioned, if all the buildings of the farmery were arranged under
one roof, the same accommodations would be obtained at much less expense ; but among other disadvan-
^"^ SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
tages there would be no eheltered yards for catUe, unless walls were built on purpose, which would mate.
440 rially lessen the saving by combination
n
u
44J 29'33. 2d Class. Granary. Ventilation, dryness,
and security from vermin, are essential objects.
442 293i. M Class. Fold-yards, cattle-sheds, cattle-
troughs, hogs'. troughs, hogs'-court, &c. The
1 openings in front of sheds should be at least
I seven feet high. Horses and cows ought to be
kept separate, and the different kinds, strength,
and ages, by themselves. In many situations the
warmth of cattle-yards might be increased by
surrounding plantations. The middle of fold,
yards should be hollowed out, and the moisture
should either be conveyed away to a proper
tank, or there may be a tank built immediately
under the hollow. " In some cases, a stream of
water may be conveyed through the farm-yard ;
when this is the case, below the place where the cattle drink, it may have conveyed into it the over,
flowings and drainings of the yards and offices, after they have been filtered through the earth and peat,
and, thus enriched, be conducted to adjoining meadows, and as much ground watered with it as it is
capable of flooding."
2935. 4th Class. Cow-house, feeding-house or shed, f odder ing-bay, bulLhouse, calf. house, hay. room, store
or turnip room, turnip-cistern, and place for sick cattle. No cow or feeding house should be built without
a passage or foddering-bay at the heads of the cattle ; if that be wanting, it not only takes more time to
feed the cattle and clean their troughs, but also their food, when passing behind them, is liable to be soiled
by their dung ; this renders it highly disgusting to them, which is the cause of much waste." When the
cattle stand in rows across the building, one foddering-bay may serve two rows ; it should have a gate at
each end, and if a stream of water is at hand, it may have a sunk cistern for washing the turnips. Stalls
for containing two cattle of the largest size should be seven feet wide and twelve feet long. By double
foddering-bays and the rows of cattle across the house, more room is got under the same roof, and the
cattle are fed with greater facility.
2936. 5th Class. Stable, stable-court, hay and chaff room, loose box or house, and harness-room. The width
of each stall should be from five to six feet ; short partitions between stalls from three feet six inches to
four feet ; long partitions eight feet. Boxes for single horses should be eight feet wide and twelve feet
long. Recesses may often be made in the walls to contain forks and other stable implements, harness,
and to lessen the projection of corn-bins. The height from the floor to the ceiling should in no case be
less than eight feet. Lofts over stables are bad places for both hay and corn, from the breath of the
animals and the effluvia of the dung. For draught horses a stable open to the roof is best ; for saddle
horses one ceiled over at nine feet, if properly ventilated, is preferable, as they require to be kept warmer.
Small openings should be made at the bottoms of the doors, and at the tops of the walls, with shutters,
80 as to admit of ventilation when the larger windows cannot be opened. Stables should be exceedingly
well paved, because when the urine does not run off, it generates a variety of diseases.
2937. 6th Glass. The cart.shed or waggon-hovel, plough and hari'ow place, and wool.room. The height
should be at least seven feet, and the granary may frequently be built over.
2938. 7th Class. Hogsties, hen.roosts, boiling.house, duck-house, goose. house, hogs' food.house, hogs' food-
tank, pigeon-house, poultry.yard, and turkey-house. The hogsties should be so placed as to be of easy
access from the kitchen, and at the same time not to prove offensive to either the house or the stables by
their smell. The height may be three or four feet, and the hen-roosts may be placed over them ; the
boiler for preparing their food, the food-tank, the duck-house, and the goose-house near them. The
pigeon-house may be placed over any building ; but if the water collected from the roofs be used for
culinary purposes, pigeons ought not to be kept.
2939. 8th Class. Brining-room for wheat, and slaughter-house. One building will serve both these
purposes, and it should be paved with flat paving-stones.
2940. 9th Class. Sheep-house. A square of twenty feet on the side will contain thirty sheep ; the
walls should be ten feet high ; this gives \S^ feet surface to each sheep. The doors ought to be always
open, and there ought to be a fold-yard, so that the sheep may go out and in at pleasure.
29H. lUth Class. Forge, tool-house, workshop, priuy, &c. The forge ought to be apart on account of
the danger of fire ; the carpenter's workshop ought to have folding doors to admit a cart or waggon.
In large farmeries then ought to be a small yard distinct and apart from the fold-yards and rick-yards,
for the purpose of the forge, workshop, implements requiring repair, and stock of timber and other
materials. In all farmeries there ought to be two privies ; one for the women-servants near the house,
and one for the men near the stables : there ought also to be two water-closets, one in the dwelling-house
for the mistress and her female children and friends; and the other within the house, or adjoining it, for
the master and his friends.
2942. 11th Class. Men's lodge, meal-chest, and potato house. Where single men are kept, they are
sometimes lodged in the farmery, and supplied with meal, milk, and potatoes. They should have
a large, light, and well ventilated room for cooking and living in, with bedchambers over, and iron
bedsteads. The practice of sleeping in lofts over horses is highly injurious to health.
2943. The materials and construction of ogricuUural buildings are next treated of by
Waistell, in a manner at once highly scientific and practical.
2944. Mortar. Bad mortar is the main cause of the decay of all our modern buildings, from the cottage
to the palace. Roman cement should be used in foundations, in exterior jointing, and frequently even
in plastering in the interior, in different proportions, according to circumstances which it is unnecessary
to suggest to the builder. Avoid salt or brackish water and sea sand ; slack the lime while it is yet hot
from the kiln, make it into mortar immediately, and use it if possible the same day. This applies to all
kinds of lime to be used in building. All lime or mortar to be mixed with Roman cement, ought to be
used instantly afterwards ; if not used in five minutes it will set and become useless. Mortar to be used
with hair as plaster may be kept some time ; but no advantage is gained from this in point of strength, but
the contrary.
2945. Walls Foundations should vary in thickness according to the compressibility of the ground, the
height to which they are to be built, and the weight they may have to support Under wide doors or
windows, inverted arches springing from the adjoining piers are found useful, by equalising compression.
Walls should diminish in thickness as they rise. Windows and door frames in external walls should
always be placed in reveals, and every window should have a silL Where anything is to be fixed to
walls, a piece of wood in size and shape like a brick or stone should be built in, having the end even with
the surface of the wall. In walls built of brick or small stones, templets, or plates of timber, stone, or
cast iron, should be laid under the ends of all timber bearings on the walls to spread the load. In topping
all walls exposed to the weather, set the last course in Roman cement.
2946. Timber. Stiff woods, as the oak and fir, are better for floors than stronger and more elastic
timbers, like the ash, which bends with less weight than these woods. The strength and stiffhess of a
joist depend more on its depth than its breadth ; a fact too little attended to by many country cari)enters.
Book J V.
FARMERIES.
465
2947. Rw^s. High roofs are necessary for tempestuous climates, the better to shoot off the rains and
snows ; but a high roof, having a larger surface than a smaller one, requires timber of a greater scantling,
to make it equally able to resist high winds ; roofs, therefore, should be made sufficiently high for the
climate and kind of covering, and no higher. " A roof whose height is one half the span, will have one
fourth more surface than if it were made one fourth the span. In general one third of the span or width
of a roof, is the lowest extremity that is advisable where tile>, either plain or pan-tiles, are to be used.
Plain tiles should be laid dry, and afterwards plast( red wholly over, tiles and laths together, with coarse
hair mortar. This is considered a great improvement over the commoner modes, of laying tiles in plaster
or in straw. Roofs for pan-tiles in exposed situations should be somewhat higher in pitch than in shel-
tered places. Roofs for gray or stone slates should be strong in proportion to the great weight of these
materials. Roofs for straw, ling, chips, reeds, &c. should ris.- half their width. Roofs of these materials
have many disadvantages, and among others, that of rendering the water which falls on them unfit for
culinary nurposes." {Wa'stelVs Designs for Agrkultural Buildings, p. 78 )
2P48. For a grazing farm in a ??ii unt linous coun,ry, the following plan {fig. 443.) is given by WaistelL
*' The interior consists of a fold- yard for the cattle, auu a court. yard, to keep the cattle, pigs, &c. fronr the(
house, which is placed on the east side. On the ground plan of the house are the kitchen, back
kitchen, parlour, dairy, and pantry. Both the kitchen and back kitchen overlook the yards, &c. The
other window to the kitchen, and also the parlour window, are supposed to overlook the farm. In the
back kitchen are shown the situation of the copper or boiler, pump, and sink. The dairy is sunk five
steps, for the sake of coolness in summer, and warmth in winter ; and the way the benches or shelves
may be placed, is shown. The pantry, which is down the same steps leading from the back kitchen to
the dairy, is under the stairs to the chamber-floor. Under the parlour is the cellar. A part of the
cellar may be partitioried off for a store-room for potatoes, &c. There are, on the first floor, four
chambers, and over them two garrets in the roof, lighted from the ends of the house. The chamber
over the dairy may be used for the men-servants' bedroom ; or, should that not be required, as it will be
lofty, it may be used as a store-room. Next the house, on the nortli, is a stable for four horses. A
saddle closet might be conveniently formed in the corner of the stable, at the back of the kitchen fire-
place, where the saddles, &c., would always be kept dry. At the other end of the stable, a recess is
formed for the corn-bin, near the window. The horses, in passing to and from the stable, through the
court-yard, do not mix with or disturb the cattle in the fold-yard. The gate to the court- yard i§ placed
as far as possible from the house; and posts and rails, or chains, may be placed, as shown by the ,
single line, to keep the horses from, and to protect children at, the door. A tank for the hogwash may
be made in the corner formed by the house and stable. The situation for it is shown by the dotted circle.
Arranged along the north sides of the yards are the chaff-room next the stable, various offices, open
shed, and calf-house. The shed is open to the south, and may be used for cattle, and a part of it for
a cart. The space within the roof of either the shed or stable, may be appropriated as repositories for
such tools and implements as are only occasionally in use, as hay-rakes, ladders, &c. To a part of the
space in the roof of the shed (which may be enclosed), an opening, or door, may be left from the place
for fuel. The hen-roost may be in the roof, over the place for ashes, &c. On the west side of the
fold-yard are the barn and cow-house; and, as on the farm for which this design is proposed, little corn
is grown, the barn may occasionally be used as a store-room for turnips ; for this reason, there is a door
from it to the foddering-bay. The cow-house contains standings for sixteen head of cattle, eight on
each side of the gangway ; a feeding-house for the like number of cattle arranged in a single row, with
a foddering-bay at their heads, would require one sixth more area, and one fourth more wall. Over
the cow-house is a straw-room, which may occasionally be filled with unthreshed grain. The ridges of
the roofs of the barn and cow-house are of the same height, but the side walls of the cow-house are
about three feet lower than the side walls of the barn. On the wall, between the fold- yard and court-
yard, is placed a large water-trough for the cattle in the yard, and for the stable horses. The hogsty is
in the corner next the cow-house; and in the opposite corner, a court for the store pigs is formed by
the post and rail to keep oft' the cattle ; and there the trough for the pigs is placed. The wide door to
the barn is made next the fold-yard; but, in some situations, it may be more convenient on the
outside ; for, when the fold-yard is filled with manure, access with a loaded cart to the barn, that
way, may be difficult." {fVaisteU's Designs, &c. p. 86.) The following is a recapitulation : a, kitchen;
*, parlour: c, back kitchen ; rf, dairy ; e, pantry; /, court-yard; g, tank for the hogwash; fi, four-
horse stable; », chaff-room ; k, ashes ; /, fuel ; m, shed ; n, fold-yard ; o, calf-house ; />, barn ; g, house
for 16 cattle ; r, hogsty and hog-yard ; s, water-cistern ; t, hogs'-court ; «, enclosed area in front of the
house; v, hog-troughs.
Hh
466
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
2949. For a small arable and grazing farm, Waistell's farm-house and outbuildings
(Jig, 444.) are as follows: — The house is on the west side, with a porch in front.
Over the pantry may be a convenient store-room. " The barn is forty feet long and
eighteen feet wide. The cow-house will contain twelve cattle, and there is a loft over
it, which may be used for a store of straw, or unthreshed grain. The approach is sup-
posed to be from the east, and the cart-lodge, which is additional, is so placed that it
must always be passed as the horses go to the stable ; and the granary over it is conve-
niently near the barn. A roost for hens may be made over the pigsty adjoining the
cart-lodge ; and under the steps to the granary, and at the inner part behind the carts,
the ploughs and harrows may be placed." The following is an enumeration of the
details : a, parlour ; 6, kitchen ; c, back kitchen ; d, dairy ; e, pantry ; f, open shed ;
g, coals ; h, kitchen-court ; i, tools ; k, ashes ; /, harness room ; m, five-horse stable ;
71, hay and chaff house ; o, calf-house ; p, stable-court ; q, cattle-sheds ; r, fold-yards ;
s, hogs'-court ; t, barn ; u, stalls for twelve cattle or cows, with foddering-bay in the
centre ; v, cart-lodge with granary over ; x, hogsty ; y, hog-yard ; 2, cisterns and
hogs' troughs.
2950., The particidar requisites of a farm-stead, Marshall observes, " are as various as
the intentions of farms. A sheep-farm, a grazing-farm, a hay-farm, a dairy-farm, and
one under mixed cultivation, may require different situations, and different arrange-
ments of yards and buildings. On a farm of the last species, which may be considered
as the ordinary farm of this kingdom, the principal requisites are, shelter, water, an
area or site sufficiently flat for yards and buildings ; wdth meadow land below it, to
receive the washings of the yards ; as well as sound pasturage grounds above it for a
grass-yard and paddocks j with private roads nearly on a level, to the principal arable
lands; and with suitable outlets to the nearest or best markets." The first of which,
xvhen wanting in the desired situation, may in time be supplied by plantations and
mound-fences ; and where there is not a natural supply of water, a well, water-cellar, or
artificial rill may, he says, furnish it.
2951. For a farm under mixed husbandry, the particulars to be arranged, according
to Marshall, may be thus enumerated : — 1 . A suite of buildings, adapted to the
intended plan of management, as a dwelling-house, barns, stables, cattle-sheds, cart-
shed. 2 A spacious yard, common to the buildings, and containing a receptacle 01
stall-manure, whether arising from stables, cattle-sheds, hogsties, or other buildings ;
together wth separate folds, or straw-yards, furnished with appropriate sheds, for par-
Book IV.
FARMERIES.
467
ticular stock, in places where such are required. 3. A reservoir, or catchpool, situated
on the lower side of the buildings and yards, to receive their washings, and collect them
in a body for the purpose of irrigating the lands below them. 4. A corn-yard, conve-
nient to the barns ; and a hay-yard contiguous to the cow or fatting-sheds. 5. A gar-
den and fruit-ground near the house. 6. A spacious grass-yard or green, embracing
the whole or principal part of the conveniences ; as an occasional receptacle for stock of
every kind ; as a common pasture for swine, and a range for poultry ; as a security to
the fields from stock straying out of the inner yards ; and as an ante-field or lobby, out
of which the home-grounds and driftways may be conveniently entered. In respect to
the distribution or management of these different objects, he remarks, that in order to
make it with good effect, great caution, study, and patience are required, that the most
may be made of given circumstances. " An accurate delineation of the site which is
fixed on, requires," says he, " to be drawn out on a scale ; the plannist studying the
subject alternately upon the paper and on the ground to be laid out ; continuing to
sketch and correct his plan, until he has not a doubt left upon his mind ; and then to
mark out the whole upon the ground, in a conspicuous and permanent manner, before
the foundation of any particular building be attempted to be laid. It may," he thinks,
" be naturally conceived by a per-on who has not turned his attention to this subject,
that there must be some simple, obvious, and fixed plan to proceed upon. But seeing
the endless variety in the mere dwelling-places of men, it is not to be wondered at, if a
still greater variety of plans should take place where so many appurtenances are required,
and these on sites so infinitely various ; nor that men's opinions and practices should
differ so much on the subject, that on a given site, no two practical men, it is more than
probable, would make the same aiTangement. " There are, however, he says, " certain
principles which no artist ought to lose sight of in laying out " such buildings and con-
veniences. " The barns, the stables, and the granajy^, should be under the eye, —
should be readily seen from the dwelling-house j" and " the prevailing idea, at present,
is, that the several buildings ought to form a regular figure, and enclose an area or
farm-yard, either as a fold for loose cattle, or, where the stalling of cattle is practised,
as a receptacle for dung, and the most prevailing figure is the square. But this form
is, he thinks, more defective than the oval or circle, the angles being too sharp, and the
corners too deep. Besides, the roadway, necessary to be carried round a farm-yard in
order to have a free and easy passage between the different buildings, is inconveniently
lengthened or made at greater expense. The view of the whole yard and buildings
Irom the house on one side of it, is likewise more confined." He had formerly sug-
gested the plan of a polygon, or many-
sided figure, or an irregular semi-octagon,
with the dwelling-house and stables on the
largest side, having ranges of cattle-stalls
Oi laaaauaa opposite: but he has since formed one on
^ '^ — I i|J^ the complete octagon (Jig. 445.), the
j~ . / [^43^ dwelling-house (a) being on one side, and
- tr * I lauaaaaa | the entrance gateway and granary oppo-
site, the remaining six sides being occu-
pied by stables and cattle-sheds (c, d), and
other outbuildings (e), a barn and thresh-
ing machine (/), with a broad- way (g)
dipping gently from the buildings, and
surrounding a wide shallow dung-basin (h),
which occupy the rest of the area of the yard.
Externally is a basin (?) for the drainings of the yard ; and grass enclosures for calves,
poultry, and fruit-trees, and rick-yard. This is given as a hint to those engaged in
laying out and directing buildings of this sort, which they may adapt to the particular
nature of the site of such erections.
2952. An example of the arrangement of a small farm-house and offices (Jig. 446.) is
given by Beatson, which he considers as very convenient. At the north-west corner is
the barn (a), with a water threshing-mill ; and a straw-house (6), being a continuation
of the barn above, for holding a quantitj^of straw after it is threshed, or hay, that it may
be at hand to give to the cattle in the feeding-house below. The upper part of this
straw-house may consist of pillars to support the roof, with a space of about eight
feet between them, whereby a good deal of building will be saved. In the floor
should be hatches, at convenient distances, to put down the straw to the cattle below.
A court for the dunghill (c) has a door to it from the feeding-house, and a large
entry at the other end to admit carts to take away the dung : on the outside of
this should be a urine-pit, in the most convenient place, according to the form of the
ground. A cow-house (d) has a door also to the dung-court ; and a calf-pen (e), with
a rail across to keep in the calves, even though the doors are all open, adjoins. There
H h 2
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
are a stable, with a harness-room, and a place for keeping corn (/) ; a root-house {•'),
over which, or over the barn, may be a
granary; a shed for carts (h) ; a place for
keeping large implements, as ploughs and
harrows (?) ; for keeping smaller imple-
ments, as spades, shovels, rakes, forks,
&c., and for the reception of old iron and
many other useful things that might
otherwise be lost or thrown away (k) ; a
pond for washing the horses' feet (/),
which slopes down from each extremity
towards the middle, where it is deepest,
that the horses may easily go in at one
end, and come out at the other, with a
rail at each end, to prevent their going in
during frost, or when not wanted to go in ;
a pump, with a trough for the horses or
cattle to drink out of, especially while
other water is frozen, or when the water
in the pond is dirty (m) ; but, if it can
be contrived so that the water which drives
the mill may run through this pond, it
will be preferable, as being at all times
clean and wholesome. One material
advantage of this arrangement, Beatson
remarks, is, that the fodder consumed
upon the farm goes progressively forward from the barn-yard through the cattle-houses
to the dunghill, without the unnecessary labour generally occasioned by carrying it
backwards and forwards : for it comes from the barn-yard into the barn, where it is
threshed ; it is then put in the straw-house, and given to the cattle immediately below ;
and, after passing through them, it is thrown into the dung-court. A rick of straw or
hay, built behind the stable or cow-house, or in a shed contiguous to either, with proper
conveniences, wiU have the same progressive course to the dunghill : for, it will be
observed, the communication from these is equally easy from without or within ; the rail
across the calf-pen being intended chiefly to keep in the calves, while the doors on each
side are open, during the conveyance of the dung that way from the stable to the dung-
hill.
2953. The ground plan of the dwelling-house to this farmery (w) has a dairy, pantry,
and various conveniences behind for keeping swine, poultry, coals, &c. The stair to the
upper chambers rises from either side to the same landing-place ; from which are a few
steps up to the chamber-floor.
2954. A convenient Berwickshire farmery (Jig. 447.) has the following accommoda-
'^
&)
447
■R- f^
/
\
xdvJ? ^
fl
1 1
R 1
1 irt°nnn°
- -n-
-a
•a-n
h
JIN PlL
5M Mt
0
I
i^j]
Wi/
ZX L
irnd
tions : a smith's workshop detached from the court-yard (a) ; straw-rooms {h) % bam
Book IV.
FARMERIES.
469
with threshing-machine driven by water (c) ; cattle-sheds (d) ; root-rooms and implements,
or if preferred, hammels (e) ; stable (/) ; fatting cattle (g) ; cart-shed (h) ; cattle-sheds
for feeding (i) ; riding-horse (k) ; tools (/) ; single men's room or bailiff (m). ,
2955. As an example of a commodious arrangement for an arable farm managed for a gen-
1 leman farmer by his superintendant, both resident at the farm {fig. 448.),we give the follow-
ing details. The original design will be found in the accomit of the Marquess of Stafford's
448
tn::!
COJ
-£)-
■^
D
a
n^
d ^ %
improvements by Mr. Loch ; a work which, as it contains a great number of valuable
plans and elevations, all of which have been executed, may be profitably consulted by
every landed proprietor who contemplates either buildings or repairs, and by every
architect, builder, or surveyor, whose practice is at all connected with agriculture or the
country. The dwelling-house of the master contains two good sitting-rooms on the
parlour floor ; three bed-rooms on the first floor, and attics over them, and over the cellar
two kitchen offices. The farmery consists of a cart-shed (a) ; stable {b) ; riding-horse (c);
bam (d) ; mill-shed (e) ; cattle-shed (/) ; steaming-place (g) ; root-house (/«) ; cow-
house (i) ; fatting cattle (k) ; intendant's house (/, m, n) ; piggeries (o). The intendant's
house is situated about three times its height distant from the south side of the piggeries
(o o), so that nothing unpleasant or inconvenient may be experienced either from the
noise or the smell of the pigs, or from the general efiluvia of the farmyard. This house,
like every other built by the Marquess of Stafford, whether for his tenants, cottagers, or
servants, exhibits a reasonable attention to the comforts of the occupants, and to the
improvements of the age in domestic economy and architecture. In this respect, the
Marquess, unlike some other extensive landed proprietors, cannot be considered as in
arrear of the ^ge in which he lives.
Hh 3
470
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Tart II.
2956. As a commodious and very complete design, we give the following. The dwell-
ing-house contains two parlours {Jig. 449. a, b) ; kitchen (c) ; dairy (rf) ; pantry (e) ;
dining-parlour (f) ; bedrooms (g, h) ; cellars (i). The farmery consists of cart-sheds
44Q
13.
nnoiii
<^
^- y
k^
and granary over (a) ; riding-horse stable (b) ; common stable (c) ; stalled cattle (d) ;
places for tools and other articles of the cattle attendant (e) ; entrance from the spacious
root or turnip shed (/) ; straw (g) ; threshing-machine and water-wheel (h) ; granaiies
and straw-lofts over (g, I, m) ; tools and sundries (i) ; smith's shop (j) ; carpenter's (k) ;
yard for pigs and sties (n) ; place for straw and turnips (o) ; open yards with sheds for
wintering cattle (»), and exterior passage (q). The different elevations of this design
here given are on too small a scale to be adequately judged of by a general observer;
but whoever has paid a moderate degree of attention to architectural lines and forms
will foresee the good effect of the ranges of arcades and pillars, the far-projecting roofs,
and the general symmetry and regularity, as far as the requisite attention to fitness for the
end in view will admit. We regret we cannot render justice to the author of this design
by mentioning his name, and we have even forgotten whether we copied it from the
General Report of the Agrictdtural State of Scotland ; The HtLsbandry of Scotland ; Loch's
Imj)roveinents of the Marquess of Stafford ; or one of tlie County Reports.
Book IV
FARMERIES.
471
2957. An example of a very complete farmery, with a threshing-machine driven by steam,
to be farmed by a bailiff' for the proprietor, we give that of the Dayhouse in Staffordshire.
( fig. 450. ) The lands contain nearly 500 acres of mixed soil, and the buildings, besides
i
ao
IIBI
mm
P "tl
i V~
L_. I
\^
v-i
XF=y
□
H
^
y
°rf
~D
U
-f
y
a
Ul
3
W^
t^
^A
<j\
□
V\
h
a
n — 1
Hi 133
the bailiff's house, which consists of a parlour (a), family room (i), brewhouse (c),
kitchen (rf), pantry (e), milk-house (y), bedrooms (g), attics (/i).
2958. TV^e farmery contains the following accommodations. Men-servants' day-
rooms (a) ; sleeping ditto, above (i) ; hackney stable (c) j shed for implements (rf) ;
cart-horse stables (e) ; hay-loft (/) ; tool-house (g) ; barn and steam-engine (A) ; feeding
and cow-tyings (i) ; turnip-house (J) ; great granary and hay-room {]i), which room is
used for the annual agricultural dinner given by Lord Stafford ; small granarv (/) j corn-
loft (m) J straw-lofts (n. '<\ • ^'"'ities, and hen-houses over (p).
H h 4
472
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
II.
2959. WabteWs funn-house and outbuildings of the largest dimensions (Jigs. 451, 452.)
exhibit a very complete arrangement, and his mode of giving isometrical perspective
451
views of such buildings ought tube adopted by every arcnitect (see Chap. III. Subsect. 3.).
The farm-house of this design contains a kitchen (a), parlour (6), business-room (c), living-
room (d), pantry (e), dairy (/), store-room (g), and brewhouse (A). Adjoining are a
place for hogs' food (i), for wood {k), for coals (/), for dust and ashes (m) ; a chaise-
house (n), cart-lodge (o), and tool-house (p). The west side of the quadrangle contams
five pigmies (1), a calf-house (2), bay for four cattle (3), store and foddering-bay (4),
bay for four cattle (5), the same bays repeated (6, 7, 8, 9) ; a place for a cislern for
Book IV FENCES USED IN AGRICULTURE. 473
washing turnips (10), a bull- house (11), cattle-sheds (12), a gangway from the straw-
room (13), straw-room (14), threshing-machine (15), clean corn room (16), unthreshed
corn (17), horse-track (18), loose box (19), chaff' and hay room (20), stable for six
horses (21), harness-room (22), another stable for six horses (23), saddle-room (24). In
the open area are, the horse court-yard (25), three fold-yards (26), the stable-court (27),
two cisterns for the fold-yard (28), four hogs'-courts, with feeding cisterns (29), and two
tanks for hogwash (30). " On the east side of this design is supposed to be a road,
from which there is an entrance to a garden in the front of the house ; and from this
road a gate is also supposed to open into the rick-yard, which is at the back of the cattle-
shed, and north end of the barn ; through tliis, to the houses on the west side, pass the
carts with turnips and other provender for the cattle."
Chap. IV.
Fences used in Agriculture.
2960. Fences, next to implements, machinery, and suitable buildings, are in most
situations " indispensable to the profitable management of arable land. They are not
only necessary to protect the crops from the live stock of the farm, but often contribute,
in no small degree, by the shelter they afford, to augment and improve the produce
itself. On all arable farms, on which cattle and sheep are pastured, the ease, security,
and comfort, which good fences give, both to the owner and the animals themselves, are
too evident to require particular notice. And as there are few tracts so rich as to admit
of crops being carried off" the land for a succession of years, without the intervention of
green crops consumed where they grow, fences, of some description or other, can very
rarely be dispensed with, even in the most fertile and highly improved districts." The
same able author complains of the general mismanagement of this branch of husbandry,
by which means fences not only often become comparatively useless, but even injurious
by the space they occupy and the weeds they shelter. This, he says, " is particularly
the case with thorn hedges, which are too often planted in soils where they can never, by
any management, be expected to become a sufficient fence ; and which, even when planted
on suitable soils, are in many cases so much neglected when young, as ever afterwards
to be a nuisance, instead of being an ornamental, permanent, and impenetrable barrier,
which with proper training they might have formed in a few years." {Sup. Encyc.
Brit. art. Agr. ) Fences may be considered in regard to their emplacement or situation,
and their form or kind.
Sect. I. Situation or Emplacement of Fences.
2961. Tlie emplacement or disposition offences on a farm or an estate will depend on
the purposes for which they are made. In laying out an estate, their disposition will
depend on the natural surface and situation of roads ; water- courses; on the lands to be
planted with trees ; and on a variety of other considerations which will come under
reviLu in the succeeding part of this work. The situation of fences on a farm depends
on a great variety of circumstances, as the extent of the farm ; its climate ; whether
pasture, arable, or mixed; on tlie inequalities of the surface; on the nature of the soil;
on the supply of water ; and on the course of husbandry to be followed.
2962. In determining the subdivisions of an arable faryn, the excellent author above
quoted observes, " whatever may be the kind of fence which it is thought advisable to
adopt, we would recommend that particular attention be paid to the course of crops
which the quality of the soil points out as the most advantageous ; and that upon all
farms, not below a medium size, there should be twice the number of enclosures that
there are divisions or breaks in the course. Thus, if a six years' rotation be thought the
most profitable, there should be twelve enclosures, two of which are always under the
same crop. One very obvious advantage in this arrangement is, that it tends greatly to
equalise labour, and, with a little attention, may contribute much to equalise the produce
also. On large farms, where all the land under turnips and clover, for instance, is near
the extremity of the grounds, or at a considerable distance from the buildings, supposed
to be set down near the centre, it is clear that the labour of supplying the house and
straw-yard stock with these crops, as well as the carriage of the manure to the field, is
much greater than if the fields were so arranged as that the half of each of these crops
should be nearer the oflfices : but by means of two fields for each crop in the rotation, it
is quite easy to connect together one field near the houses with another at a distance, and
thus to have a supply at hand for the home stock, while the distant crops may be
consumed on the ground. The same equalisation of labour must be perceived in the
cultivation of the corrt-fields, and in harvesting the crops. The time lost in travelling to
some of the fields, when working by the plough, is of itself a matter of some consequence
474 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut II.
on large farms. But the advantages of this arrangement are not confined to the equal-
isation and economy of labour ; it may also, in a great measure, render the annual produce
uniform and equable, notwithstanding a considerable diversity in the quality of the soil.
A field of an inferior soil may be connected vi^ith one that is naturally rich ; and in the
consumption of the green crops, as w^ell as in the allow^ance of manure, the poor land
may be gradually brought nearer, in the quantity and quality of its produce, to the rich,
without any injury to the latter. Thus a field under turnips may be so fertile that it
would be destructive to the succeeding corn crops to consume the whole or the greater
part on the ground ; while another may be naturally so poor, or so deficient in tenacity,
as to make it inexpedient to spare any part for consumption elsewhere. By connecting
these two under the same crop, by carrying from the one what turnips are wanted for the
feeding-houses and straw- yards, and eating the whole crop of the other on the ground
with siieep, the ensuing crop of corn will not be over-luxuriant in growth on the
former, while the latter will seldom fail to yield abundantly. The same plan will also
be advantageous in the case of other crops. Hay or green clover may be taken from
the richer field, and the poorer one depastured ; and on the one wheat may succeed both
turnips and clover, while the more gentle crops of barley and oats are appropriated to the
less fertile field. These observations are particularly applicable to turnip soils, of such
a quality as not to require more than one year's pasturage, and which are therefore
cultivated with corn and green crops alternately ; but the same principle may be extended
to clay lands, and such as require to be depastured two or more years in succession.
2963. Where hedges are emploi/ed as fences, it is of importance that the ditches be
drawn in such a direction as to serve the pur^joses of drains, and also that they may
receive the water from the covered drains that may be required in the fields contiguous.
According to the greater or less convenience of the line of the fence in this respect, the
expense of draining may be considerably diminished or increased.
Sect. II. Different Kinds of Fences.
2964. Fences, in regard to kind, may be arranged as live fences, dead fences, and
mixed kinds ; but there are four elementary species which are the foundation of all the
others ; the hedge, the ditch, the wall, and the paling. The hedge, when formed of the
whitethorn or blackthorn, of the plum or crab, or of the holly, is the cheapest, most dura-
ble, and the handsomest of all fences on a good deep soil : the ditch is the best on low, flat,
wet lands requiring much drainage ; the wall is the best for farming purposes in almost
all cases whatever ; and the paling, whether fixed or temporary (as of hurdles), is the
most convenient as a nurse-fence to hedges for immediate or temporary use, and for
fencing in parks and scenery where an air of lightness and freedom is a desirable object.
From these simple or fundamental fences, a variety of compound ones may be formed.
We shall consider them in the order of ditch or drain fences, hedge fences, compound
hedge fences, paling fences, and wall fences.
SuBSECT. 1. Ditch or Drain Fences.
2965. Ditch fences, in their simple and original state, were considered rather in the
light of open drains than as fences. In a variety of instances, ditches are made for this
purpose only, where there is no intention whatever to enclose the field. They are, bow-
ever, sometimes meant as a fence, but, in such cases, they are made very deep and wide ;
and the earth taken out of them is sometimes formed into a bank, the height of which,
when added to the depth of the ditch, forms a tolerable barrier. In general, however,
the ditch is of greatest value when used in conjunction vnth other fences.
2966 The for?n of ditches is various : some of them being of a uniform width both at top and bottom ;
others are wide above, and have a gradual slope downwards ; a third kind have one side sloping and the
other perpendicular. For whatever purpose the ditch is meant, the sloping form is by much the best ; as
it not only costs less money in the digging, but is at the same time niuch more durable, and has a neater
appearance. Where open ditches are indispensably necessary for the drainage of the field, the sloping
ditch is preferable to every other, as the sides are not liable to tumble in, or be undermined or excavated
by the current of water, when properly executed. The slope should be considerable : perhaps never less
than three, nor more than six, times the width at top that it is at bottom ^ ^^ . ,a *»,«
2967 The simple ditch, with a bank of earth, consists merely of a ditch sloping gradually towards the
bottom ; the earth taken out of it being formed into a bank on one side, leaving a scarcement, or projecting
spree, of six or eight inches, on the side where the bank is formed, to prevent the earth from tumbling in
^"^S!' 2Vi"6««A 0/ Sr/A, ivith an upright facing of turves, and a dope behind, is a very common sort of
fencrand in some situations extremely useful ; in making folds, for instance, for the confinement of
sheep or cattle. It is also valuable on the sides of highways, for defending the adjoining grounds, and for
lavhie off clumps or belts of planting in the middle or corners of arable fields, for enclosing stack-yards
laying on cmmps or oe ^^v » ^^^ ^^ ^he front of the bank is made of a very steep slope with
453 the turf pared off from the surface of the sloping ditch, and the mound at the back
with the earth taken out of it. „ ^ , j ^. ..
2969 The ha-ha, or sunk fence, is calculated chiefly for fields that require no
shelter and where a uniform unbroken prospect is an object, as is the case in
gardens and extensive lawns ; but in all situations where shelter is wanted, the
sunk fence ought to be avoided, unless a hedge is planted upon the top ot it
Sometimes a medium between the sunk and raised fence i^fig. 453.) is adopted,
which makes both a durable and unobtrusive barrier.
Book IV.
HEDGE FENCES.
475
454
2970. The double ditch, with a bank between {Jig. 454), is not often used, unless in cases where it is
meant either to plant hedges or trees on the bank between the ditches. Considered as a fence, either with
or without a hedge, it has an advantage over the single ditch, as the earth
taken out of the two ditches, when properly laid up, will form a bank of a
somewhat formidable appearance, which cattle will not very readily
attempt to break over. For the purposes of open drainage it is well
adapted, especially by the sides of highways, where the lands have a
considerable declivity towards the road; the ditch next the field, by
receiving the water on that side, prevents it from overflowing and washing the road, — a circumstance
which very frequently happens in such situations ; while the ditch on the side next the road, by receiving
and carrying off the moisture that falls upon it, and which would otherwise lodge there and destroy it,
keeps it constantly dry and in good repair. Where double ditches are made in the immediate vicinity ot
high grounds, or on the sides of highways, care should be taken to prevent the water from the furrows or
side drains from running into the main ditch at right angles. Where this is neglected, much trouble and
inconvenience arise ; as when the water comes from a height, during heavy rains, in a straight line into
the ditch, it presses with accelerated force against the sides of it; and if the soil is of a loose incoherent
nature, the bank will be undermined and washed away in many places. To prevent this, nothing more is
requisite than to alter the direction of the furrows, or small side ditches, at a few yards' distance from
their opening into the main ditch.
'J971. The double ditch and hedge is now general in many parts of Britain, especially upon what are
termed cold lands ; from an idea, that a single row of plants would not grow sufficiently strong or thick
to form a proper fence. The advocates for this fence
455 /^ farther allege, that in addition to the two rows of plants
forming a more sufficient fence, an opportunity is
afforded of planting a row or rows of trees on the mid-
dle of the bank. {fig. 455.) This fence is liable to
many objections : the expense of forming the ditches,
the hedge-plants made use of, and the ground occupied
thereby being double what is requisite in a single ditch
and hedge. From twelve to eighteen or twenty feet is
the least that is required for a double ditch and hedge :
this space, in the circumference of a large field, is so
considerable, that upon a farm of 500 acres, divided into
fifteen enclosures, the fences alone would occupy above
forty acres. By throwing up a bank in the middle, the
whole of the nourishment, not only of both hedges, but
also of the row of trees, is confined solely to that space,
which, from its being insulated by the ditches, and elevated so much above the common surface, not only
curtails the nourishment of the hedges and row of trees, but exposes them to all the injuries arising from
drought, frost, &c. The idea of two rows of plants making a better fence than one is certainly no good
reason for such an unnecessary waste of land and money ; as, in almost every instance, where the plants
are properly adapted to the soil and climate, one row will be found quite sufficient; but, if it should be
preferred to have two rows, the purpose will be answered equally well with a single ditch, or even
without a ditch at alL
SuBSECT. 2. Hedge Fences.
2972. Hedge fences are of two kinds ; either such as are made up of dead materials,
45g or such as are formed of living plants of some sort or
other.
jNV:M'/lhW!/ivv,\>\i;,„,v,/> 2973. Dead hedges (fg. 456.) are made with the
prunings of trees, or the tops of old thorn or other
hedges that have been cut down ; and are principally
intended for temporary purposes, such as the pro-
tection of young hedges till they have acquired a suf-
ficient degree of strength to render them fencible
without any other assistance. For this purpose the dead hedge is well adapted, and
lasts so long as to enable the live fence to grow up and complete the enclosure. In
many cases, however, dead hedges are had recourse to as the sole fence, and where there
is no intention of planting quicks, or any other hedge. From their very perishable,
nature, however, they are found to be exceedingly expensive ; so much so, mdeed, that,
after the first or second year, they cannot be kept in repair at a less expense than from
a fifth to a tenth part of the value of the land, and sometimes more. When dead
hedges are meant for the protection of young live fences, if the quick fence is planted
upon the common surface, the dead hedge is made in a trench or furrow immediately
behind it, in such a way as to prevent the sheep or cattle grazing in the enclosed field
from injuring it. Where the quick fence, however, is planted upon the side of a ditch,
the dead hedge is for the most part made on the top of the mound formed by the earth
taken out of the ditch : these are called plain dead hedges, being made by cutting the
thorns or brush- wood, of which they consist, into certain lengths, and putting them into
the earth. We call them plain, in opposition to other descriptions of dead hedges where
more art is used ; such as the dead hedge with upright stakes wattled, and the common
plaited hedge bound together at the top with willows.
2974. A dead hedge is made in the following manner :—" A hcdgerand an assistant are necessary for this
business. The man cuts the stems of the thorns about three feet long, with the cutting-bill or axe, as their
strength may require, and he lays one cut piece above another, to form a bundle, taking care to add some
of the small twigs to each bundle to thicken their appearance ; and he then compresses the whole with his
foot, so that the bundle may stick together. He thus makes and prepares several bundles in readiness.
The hedger takes his spade, and, fixing on the part which the line of dead hedge is to occupy, he turns up
a spadeful of the earth, as whole as possible, as if he were digging a piece of ground of the breadth of the
spade. After he has laid this spadeful of earth, so as a bundle of thorns may lean against it in an inclining
position, the man hands him one of the bundles over the breasted hedge with a fork. The butt-end of the
bundle goes into the spade-furrow, and leans from him against the spadeful which he has placed. The
^76 SCIENCE OF A'GRICULTURE. Part U.
hedger then lifts another spadeful, and places it upon the root of the bundle, and presses it firmly down
with his foot, which should be fortified with a clog. He suits the inclination of the dead fence to the
quarter whence the heaviest winds prevail, as is invariably done in choosing the position of the stake and
rise. In this manner they proceed to form the whole line of dead hedge. As the fence proceeds, the
hedger cuts all twigs that have a straggling appearance, with the bill, towards the fence, to give a neatness
and finish to the work. This sort of dead hedge maybe placed behind the thorns of a newly planted
hedge, much nearer than a paling, as from the breadth of its top, and the sharpness of its spines, no beast
can with impunity reach over it, to bite the twigs of the young hedge." {Quar. Jour. Agr. vol. i.
p. 618.)
2975. In respect to live hedges, they are made either entirely with one kind of plants, or a mixture of
different kinds ; and for that purpose almost every tree or shrub known in Britain is either wholly or in
part employed. The success of every attempt made to rear good fences will be found ultimately to depend
on the plants being suited to the soil and climate, the preparation of the soil, the time and mode of plant-
ing, the age of the plants, their size, the dressing or pruning of the tops and roots before planting, weed-
ing, hoeing, pruning, and after-management
2976. The proper choice of hedge plants is of the first importance. Many failures in
this part of the business might be enumerated ; especially in the more elevated situations,
where great labour and expense have been employed to raise hedges of hawthorn, which,
after many years' care and attention, were found totally unfit for such inclement regions.
In such situations, experience has now suflSciently proved that good fences can be
reared in a short time with beech, birch, larch, and the Huntingdon willow : hedges of
these kuids ought, therefore, to be the only ones used in hilly countries, or upon cold
wet soils ; the first three upon the diy soils, and the last, with the addition of poplars,
upon such as are wet or marshy. In the low country, however, and in the less elevated
parts of the uplands, the whitethorn will be found the best upon all the dry, or mode-
rately dry, parts of the soil ; especially the different kinds of loamy, sandy, or gravelly
lands : upon cold wet-bottomed soils, however, beech, crab, birch, poplar, willow, and
alder, may be used with advantage. The birch, poplar, alder, and Huntingdon willow,
are peculiarly calculated for the coldest, wettest, and most marshy parts ; while beech,
crab, &c. will be found to answer best upon the stiff clays. Hazel, sweet-briar, moun-
tain-ash, and indeed all the kinds of forest-trees that are at present known to delight in
dry soils, may also be successfully employed for making hedges in the low lands ; but
whichever of these is used, it should, if possible, be without mixture. It is seldom that
any soil, however good, will be found equally favourable to the growth of plants opposite
in their natures ; this circumstance alone will render their growth unequal, and of course
make the fence faulty and defective. These defects in the fence, and inequalities in the
growth of the plants, will increase with time, become every day more apparent, and be
every day more sensibly felt ; as the plants which have thus acquired the ascendancy
will continue to keep it, and not only shade the weaker ones, and prevent them from
enjoying the influence of the sun and air, but also deprive them of nourishment. Inde-
pendently of these considerations, there is another, it is observed, of equal, perhaps
greater, moment, that requires to be mentioned ; allowdng the soil to be equally favour-
able to the growth of the whole plants of which the mixture consists, there are certain
plants which ai-e highly inimical to the growth of others, when planted in their
immediate vicinity ; ivy and honeysuckle, for instance, when mixed with thorns, or other
plants ' in a hedge, never fail to destroy such of the hedge-plants as they fasten upon ;
indeed moss, which is known to be one of the worst enemies to all hedges, is not more
dangerous nor more certainly ruinous : even the different kinds of sweet-briar, virgin's
bower, brambles, briony, cleavers, &c. have the same effect ; and in the end never fail
to produce a gap in that part of the hedge where they grow, by smothering the other
plants. In general the common hawthorn (Cratae*gus Oxyacantha) is the best British,
and we might even say European, hedge plant. The black or sloe thorn (Prunus spi-
nosa) is perhaps next in excellence, as far as the strength and durability of the fence is
concerned ; but unfortunately it throws up suckers in such abundance, as to encroach
rapidly on the adjoining surface. The common hawthorn, like all plants raised from
seed, produces innumerable varieties : some of these are much more abundantly furnished
with prickles, and some grow much faster than others ; and it might be desirable to save
the seeds of fast-growing prickly individuals in preference to those of such as are less
prickly or of slower growth. The smoothest, however, may be considered prickly enough
for all ordinary purposes. Like all the ligneous plants of the natural order to which it
belongs (iJosaceae), the thorn grows readily from cuttings of the roots.
2977. .The preparation of the soil for hedges is one of those points intimately connected
with, and, indeed, essential to their success. Except in a very few instances, however
poor the soil may be, or however strong the cohesion of its parts, no attempt is made
either to break that cohesion by tillage, or improve its quality by enriching or alterative
manures : the young plants being for the most part laid upon the old surface, which has
perhaps never been opened by the labour of man, and their roots covered with the earth
taken out of the ditch, consisting very often of the poorest and coldest clay, or of earths
loaded with iron or other metallic impregnations. To those who have considered the
matter with the smallest attention, the fate of such a hedge will not appear doubtful :
the surface upon which the plants are laid will be so hard and impervious to the roots, as
Book IV. HEDGE FENCES. 477
to preclude the possibility of their penetrating it ; of course, their only chance of either
extending themselves, or procuring nourishment, is by spreading out between the surface
and the mound made by the earth taken out of the ditch, or by striking up into the
mound, where, though the soil will be sufficiently open to admit of this, the roots, in
place of finding an establishment in a situation friendly to their growth, will very often
be either starved or poisoned. :,
2978. With respect to the age at which hedge plants ought to be used, it is very common,
especially where young hedges are made with thorns, to plant them of one, two, or three
years old, seldom exceeding this last age. Plants of this description, when put into the
earth at a proper season of the year, upon land well prepared, if they are afterwards
carefully kept clean, and the earth soft and loose, by regular weeding and digging,
seldom fail to make good fences ; such young plants, however, are, it is observed, long
in a state of infancy, and require great nursing and the most complete protection to
bring them to perfection, and are liable to be either much hurt or totally destroyed by
many accidents that would produce little or no effect upon older and stronger plants.
Much time might be saved in the rearing of hedges, and the fences be much more perfect
and useful, if older plants were employed for that purpose. Three years old is certainly
the youngest that should be planted, and if they are even six or seven years old, so much
the better : the prevailing idea that plants of that age will not thrive if transplanted, is
totally unfounded. Thorns of six or seven years old, in place of being po thicker than
a common straw, will be at a medium more than an inch in circumference : we leave
those who are judges to determine how far a plant of this last description will be
superior to one of two years old, and how much sooner it will answer the purposes of a
fence.
2979. In respect to the size of thorns or other hedge plants, it may be necessary to observe, that, when
the plants are once obtained, they should be separated into sorts, according to their size and apparent
strength, picking out the largest first, and so on downwards. This will be attended with several very
material advantages, which those who have made observations on the subject will very readily under-
stand. Plants of the same size and strength, when planted together, keep pace with each other ; no one
of them takes from the earth more than its own share of nourishment, of course the growth of the whole
is regular and uniform j and the hedge, when arrived at a certain age, becomes a substantial efficient fence,
of an equal height throughout, and free from gaps : whereas, when no pains have been taken in assorting
the plants, and they are planted promiscuously, great and small, strong ana weak, the consequence is, that
the strongest plants very soon outgrow such as are weaker, and not only overtop them, but also deprive
them of that nourishment which they so much require ; as the hedge advances in age, the evil becomes
greater, innumerable gaps appearing throughout the whole line of the fence, and small stunted plants
interspersed with others remarkable for their strength and luxuriance.
2980. This assorting qf hedge plants has a farther advantage ; namely, that of putting it in the power of
the person who plants the hedge to put down the large, strong, healthy plants upon the poorest part of the
line of the fence, and to set such as are smaller and weaker upon the richer and more fertile parts. He
has it also in his power, by a more careful preparation of the soil, and bestowing a greater proportion of
manure upon the spaces where the small plants are set, to give them that nourishment and assistance
which they require, and which would very soon enable them to form a fence equal to the part occupied
by the strongest plants.
2981. In regard to the dressing and pruning of hedge plants before they are put into
the earth, there is perhaps no part of the system of managing them, or forest trees, more
hurtful and defective than that now pursued in the common nurseries. It is a very
common practice with nurserymen, in the spring, when they wish to clear their ground
for other purposes, to take up great quantities of thorns and other hedge plants, and
after pruning the tops, and cutting off nearly the whole of the roots, to tie them up in
bundles, and lay these bundles in heaps till they are called for. In this mutilated state
they often remain for many weeks, vnth the mangled roots naked and unprotected,
exposed to every inclemency of the weather, before they are sold. In place of this
treatment, the defects of which are so obvious, and the consequences resulting from it so
hurtful, no hedge plants should be lifted out of the nursery-ground till the day, or at
most a few days, before that on which they are to be replanted ; and in place of the severe
pruning and dressing already mentioned, every root, even to the smallest fibre, should be
carefully preserved, and the use of the knife confined entirely to the necessary curtailing
of the tops. Where this care is taken, and the plants are put into the ground at a pro-
per season, they will suffer no kind of check, and when the spring arrives will grow
luxuriantly and with vigour.
2982. In the after-management of the hedge, complete weeding, loosening, and laying
new earth to the roots, for the first three or four years, are indispensable requisites : for what-
ever pains may have been previously taken in dunging and summer-fallowing the soil,
unless it be properly attended to and kept clean afterwards, this dunging and summer-
fallow, in place of being useful, will prove hurtful to the fence ; as the manure and
tillage, by enriching and opening the soil, will encourage and promote the growth
of weeds ; which, under such peculiarly fortunate circumstances, will become so luxuriant
as either to destroy the hedge, or materially injure its growth, unless they be kept down
by frequent and complete cleanings. In loosening the earth about the roots of hedges,
whether old or young, it will be of advantage, if there is soil enough to lay up a few
inches of it to the roots ; this frequently done, encourages them to push out branches near
478 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut If.
the bottom, which prevent them from growing thin and open,— a fault to which, if due
pains are not taken, almost all hedges are liable.
2983. On the pruning and after-management of hedges will depend a very considerable
part of their beauty and future value. There is, perhaps, no part of the subject upon
which a greater contrariety of opinion at present prevails, than the age at which the prun-
ing of hedges ought to commence, the manner of that pruning, or the season of the year
at which it may be given with the greatest possible advantage and the least risk : the prac-
tice with some is, to prune, from the first year, not only the lateral branches, but the tops
also ; they give as a reason, that cutting off the extremities of the shoots contributes to the
thickening of tlie hedge, by making them push out a great number of new ones. The
fallacy of this argument, and the mischief with which the practice is attended, we shall
afterwards have occasion to notice. As to the manner of pruning, and the form of the
hedge, these seem, with many, to be matters of indifference ; no attention being paid to
dressing them in such a way as to have them broad at bottom, and tapering gradually
towards the top : many of them being of one width from top to bottom, and not a few
much heavier and broader above than they are below, it is obvious that such hedges can
neither look well nor be useful.
2984. The season at which they are trimmed is in many instances an improper one ; for, in place of
choosing the time when the plants are least in danger of suffering from an eflFusion of their juices,
which is either at a late period in the autumn, very early in the spring, or about midsummer, the
pruning is given late in the spring season, when the sap is flowing : the check and injury they must
receive from having the whole of their extremities cut off at this period may easily be conceived. In
speaking of the treatment of hedge plants before they are put into the ground, notice has been taken of
the necessity of preserving the roots as much as possible, and at the same time shortening the tops : the
latter operation has two good effects ; by curtailing the top and branches, the roots have less to nourish ;
and by leaving only two or three inches of the top above ground, in place of growing up with a single
stem, it sends out two or three ; and as these strike out from the plant so near the earth, each of
them has the same effect, and strengthens the hedge as much as the original stem would have
done by itself, with this addition, that, in place of one prop or support, the hedge will have three
or four.
2985. After this first pruning, however, no hedge should be touched, or at least very gently, for
some years : from inattention to this circumstance, and from the injudicious application of the knife
or shears at an early period, many young hedges are rendered useless, which, under different treat-
ment would have made excellent fences, with half the trouble required to destroy them. The practice
of cutting over the tops yearly, which is done with a view to render the hedge thicker and more
perfect, is one of those mistakes which we would naturally have supposed common sense and observ-
ation would have sooner corrected ; the effect produced being, in almost every instance, the very
reverse of what was intended. Shortening the main stem of a thorn or any other plant makes it
throw out a number of small stems immediately at the place where it has been cut ; and if this
operation is repeated once or twice a year, every one of these is again subdivided, as it were, by sending
out more branches : thus in a course of years, during which the hedge makes very small progress
upwards, if it be examined, instead of being found to consist of strong vigorous plants, with a goo I
main trunk, each reaching from top to bottom of the hedge, and a sufficient number of lateral branches
throughout the whole length of it, it will be found, by such repeated cuttings, in the same stunted
situation as certain young trees and shrubs that are frequently cropped by sheep or cattle. From the
repeated crops of young shoots which the tops send out after every clipping, and the great quantity of
nourishment necessary to support such additional numbers, the lateral shoots at the bottom, upon the
strength and number of which the value of the hedge in a great measure depends, are stinted in their
growth, and soon die ; the hedge, of course, becomes open and naked at the bottom, and consequently
useless as a fence.
2986. From the first year of planting, till the hedge has risen to the heighth of five or six
feet, the main stems ought to be left untouched, and the pruning confined solely to the side
branches, leaving those next the root pretty long, and gradually tapering towards the
top : this pruning of the side branches will make them send out many new shoots
from their extremities, which, by repeated trimmings, will become so thick as to fill
up every interstice from top to bottom of the hedge ; while the main stems, by being
left untouched, continue their growth upward, till they arrive at the necessary height,
when they may have their extremities cut off with perfect safety. When a hedge
has attained the wished-for height, all that is requisite afterwards is cutting the sides
regular vdth a hedge-bill, preserving it pretty broad at bottom, and drawing it gradu-
ally to a point at top ; this form of a hedge is pleasant to the eye, is well calculated
to stand the weather, and becomes every year stronger and thicker. A hedge of this
sort in full leaf has the appearance of a solid wall ; and, when viewed after the
leaves are shed, presents to the eye a set of massy growing piles, so strong and
formidable as to bid defiance to any attempts that may be made to break through
them. . \
2987. In the management of old hedges, the above directions and observations ap-
ply, with strict propriety, only to such as have been regularly attended to from the
time of their being planted ; as there are, however, innumerable hedges in the king-
dom, which, by being neglected, have grown up to a great height, have become open
and naked below, and bushy and unmanageable at top, it is of consequence to point
out the means of reducing such hedges to a moderate scale, and rendering them use-
ful. This purpose can only be effected by cutting thevi down, and procuring from
their stumps a growth of new shoots, which, with proper management, will soon make
a perfect fence. If the fields enclosed by such hedges are alternately in pasture and
tillage, the period most proper for cutting them down is when the field is to be
Book IV. HEDGE FENCES. 479
ploughed. Under a corn-crop, tlie confinement of the stock is no longer an object ;
and by the time the field is again brought under pasture, the hedge, if properly
treated, will have acquired strength enough to become a good fence. This operation
is performed in several ways.
2988. In the first method qf cutting over old hedges, the plants are cut over about a yard above the surface
{fig. 457.). and the hedge is left in that state without any other pains being taken with it; if it has
A en originally been good, and the plants thick enough at bottom, this
kind of cutting will answer the purpose perfectly well, and in a few
years the hedge will, with proper dressing, become both a neat and a
useful fence. But in this mode, when there has been a deficiency of
plants, and the hedge is cut over in the manner above mentioned,
innumerable gaps will appear, which, without some art, it will be
impossible to fill up. Tt has also this farther disadvantage, that if
either horses or cattle attempt to leap into, or out of, the enclosure,
•T'''<ec'!ira'"V>)™MWM™w(yMV"iinw(«raj)i *^^ sharp points of the stakes are apt to run into their bellies : this
C^^M^^^0^^^^^^^^^ accordingly often happens, and many valuable horses and cattle are
<S^S6.-,^^=^^*^^?5='-- — • killed or greatly injured by such means.
2989. A preferable mode of cutting down old hedges is, to cut a fourth part of the plants over, to the
. -Q height which the fence is intended to be
^^° made; another fourth about six inches
high ; and to bend down and warp the
remainder with the upright stems, ffig.
458.) This method very eflTectually cures
the gaps and openness below, and with
l i/'i in ^ i i J^ la jCJJL-IT slight attention soon makes a good
2990. A third way of cutting over old hedges is that of cutting them close by the surface : this practice,
when the plants are numerous, and there are no gaps in the hedge, answers very well ; but when there is
a deficiency of plants in any part of the hedge, the want will be very apparent. This last mode, though
much inferior to the one immediately preceding, is nevertheless greatly preferable to that first described,
a* the young shoots sent out from the stumps, by being so near the ground, will in some measure remedy
the defects occasioned by the want of original plants; whereas, when the old plants are cut at the distance
of about a yard or four feet above the surface, the young shoots produced by the cutting will be so high,
as to leave the hedge open at the bottom.
2991. The last method of cutting down old hedges, and which is yet but very little practised, is first to
cut them down even with the surface, and afterwards to cover the stumps completely over, with the earth
taken out of the ditch, or from the road-side. When this is carefully done, it is asserted that every single
stump sends out a great number of young vigorous shoots, each of which, by branching out from below
the surface, sends out roots, and acquires an establishment for itself ; by this means the bottom of the
hedge becomes so thick, that neither sheep, cattle, nor indeed any animal, can break through it
2992. In whichever qf these ways the hedge is cut down, the directions formerly given
for the management of young hedges should be strictly attended to. As soon as the
young shoots have made some progress, the side branches should be trimmed, and the
hedge put into a proper shape, preserving it broad and full at bottom, and tapering
gradually towards the top. The same caution is also to be observed vdth regard to the
upriglit shoots, none of which should be shortened till the hedge has attained the wished-
for height. It is surprising what close beautiful fences are raised in this way in a few
years, from the stumps of some overgrown useless hedges ; which, at the same time
with their being naked below, and of course faulty as fences, occupied four times the
space they ought to have done, to the great loss both of the proprietor and farmer.
2993. Filling up gaps in hedges. When young hedges are planted, if the plants made
use of are of a nature suited to the soil, the hedge may be kept free from gaps with very
little trouble ; for that puqoose it is, however, necessary, about the end of the first
autumn after the hedge has been planted, to examine it carefully throughout its whole
extent, take out such plants as are either in a decaying sickly state or those that are
actually dead, and fill up the spaces they occupied with the strongest and most vigorous
ones that can be found : where this care is taken for the first two or three years, there
will be no defects in the hedge, which will be uniformly thick and strong throughout.
Thus far of young hedges ; but when old hedges are meant to be cut down, that have
many gaps or open spaces in them, so wide as to prevent the possibility of the young
shoots filling them up, some expedient must be had recourse to, in order to render the
fence complete. This purpose may be answered in different ways ; the easiest and
indeed the most common method is, for the hedger, when he comes to a place where any
of the plants are wanting, to take one of the strongest plants next to it, and after giving
it a gentle stroke with the hedge-bill, to bend it across the opening, and entwine it with
the thorns on the opposite side ; indeed, as has been already stated, some have a custom
of cutting down only a fourth part of the stems, and warping the remainder with these,
which appear like stakes driven into the earth. Where the hedge is shortened to within
three or four feet of the ground, both of these methods answer pretty well, and the
openings, which would otherwise have been left, are in some degree filled up ; but when
the old hedge is cut close to the earth, other methods of supplying the defects become
necessary. One very simple, and at the same time very effectual mode is, first to dig the
ground pretty deep with a spade, and afterwards to take two of the strongest plants pur-
posely left uncut, one from each side of the opening, and removing the earth from their
roots so as to loosen them and admit of their being bent down, to lay them close to the earth
in the opening ; they should then be fastened down vdth wooden hooks or pins, and
480 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
entirely covered throughout the whole of their length with earth. Where this is pro-
perly executed, the plants so laid down send up a great number of young shoots, which
very soon fill up the vacancy : where it is practised upon a hedge that is cut over close
by the surface, no other care is requisite ; but when it is done with hedges that are cut
at three or four feet above it, there will be a necessity for placing a temporary paling in
the gap, to protect the young shoots from injury till they acquire a sufficient degree of
strength. In cases of emergency the stronger roots of thorns and crabs will, if their
extremities are brought up to the surface and then cut over an inch above it, throw up
vigorous shoots and fill up gaps.
2994. To tnend the defects of an old hedge with success, two things are absolutely
necessary : the first is, that the whole of the roots of the old plants, which extend them-
selves into the opening, be entirely cut off; the next, that the hedge shall be cut down
close to the earth, for at least a yard or more on each side of it. ^fiy cutting away the
roots Vvhich extend themselves into the opening, the young plants are prevented from
being robbed of their nourishment; and cutting doAvn the old ones, for a little distance
onieach side, keeps them from being shaded, and allows them to enjoy the full benefit of
the light and air : cutting down so much of the old hedge, no doubt, \-enders the opening
larger, and of course requires more paling' to supply the defect ; but this extra expense
will be more than compensated by the success with which it will be attended. In many
instances, these vacancies are filled up with dead wood ; indeed it is a common practice,
after a hedge is dressed, to cram the greatest part of the prunings into these spaces, and
under the bottom of the hedge, where it is any way open or Jiaked. The most perverse
imagination could hardly suppose any thing more absurd ; for, if it is the wish of the
owner that the plants on each side should send out new branches to fill up the openings,
the purpose is completely defeated by cramming them full of dead brush-wood, which not
only excludes light and air, and prevents the extension of the branches, but, from the
violence and injury that is committed in thrusting in dead thorns, the plants are often
materially hurt ; and when this brush- wood decays, the opening, in place of being
diminished, is considerably enlarged : the mischief is the same where they are thrust
under the hedge, — a practice which, when continued, never fails to render it naked at
bottom. The use of stones for mending hedges is equally absiu-d and pernicious.
2995. In every operation of this kind, where old hedges are either cut over or bent
down, the ground on each side, as soon as circumstances will admit of it, should be
coinpletely dug, cleared of weeds, and the earth laid up to the roots of the plants. It
is surprising what numerous and luxuriant shoots the stumps send out, when managed
in this way : while, on the contrary, when these necessary operations are neglected, fewer
shoots proceed from the old trunks ; and, of these few, a consideral)le proportion are
choked and destroyed by the weeds and other rubbish in the bottom of the hedge.
SuBSECT. 3. Compound Hedge Fences.
2996. The single hedge and ditch, with or without paling, differs a little in different situ-
ations : the ditch varies in aepth and width ; the thorns are for the most part placed upon
the common surface, upon what is termed a scarcement, or projection of six or seven
inches, on which they lean, and which serves as a kind of bed when they are cleaned,
ana prevents th6 earth from the part of the bank above from sliding down into the ditch.
Some object to this scarcement, alleging that it increases the difficulty of cleaning the
hedge, and increases the growth of weeds ; both of which statements are correct : but to
couht'erbaiance them, it is alleged, and vdth truth as far as we have been able to observe,
that the scarcement mode retains the soil better about the roots of the plants. It is a
practice in some parts of Norfolk, in planting hedges in this way, to coat the face of the
bank and the projection with loamy earth from the bottom of the ditch made into puddle.
This acts for a year or two like a coa,t of plaster, and prevents the seeds of weeds, which
may be in the soil under it, from germinating. It also retains moisture; but the
difficulty is to meet with a clay or loam that, when puddled and thus applied, will not
cr*ck with the summer's drought and winter's frost. Some have applied common lime
plaster for the same purpose; others road stuff; and some plant in the face of a wall of
stones, or bricks, or between tiles.
2997. Stephens's mode of forming and planting the single hedge and ditch differs some-
what from the general practice: it is given at length in the Quarterly Journal of
Agriculture ; and as it is most valuable from the minutiae of its details, and their suitable-
ness to all countries where thorn hedges are grown, we shall here transcribe all its
impoi-tant features.
2998. Implements. " Let three poles, made of dry fir to prevent their warping, be provided, of about
an inch and a half in diameter, and from eight to ten feet in length. Let one end of them be shod with
iron ; and let them be painted at top with white and scarlet colours, as these colours are best dis..
criminated by their brightness and contrast in a dull day. Three poles will serve to run any line straight
upon a level piece of ground ; but as irregularities in the ground will often occur, it will be necessary, in
order to surmount them, to have two or three poles more. A strong nail of iron at one end of a stout
Book IV.
COMPOUND HEDGE FENCES.
48!
4.79
line at least seventy yards long, and a strong iron frtn at the other end of it, will be necessary. A rule of
wood six feet long, divided into feet and inches, to measure the breadth of the ditch ; and a piece of wood
fastened at right angles to one end of it, to serve, when measuring the breadth of the ditch, to mark it off
square from the line. A plane-table, by which to set off the lines of hedges parallel to each other, where
that is required ; and an iron measuring-chain, with which to mark equal lengths on the parallel lines
aiross the fields by which the parallelism of the lines of hedge is determined, and to measure the whole
work when executed, will be found very useful. A few painted pins of wood, with hooked heads, to direct
the line of the hedge in a curve, must also be provided. Three men equally matched carry on the work
^z;^ to most advantage ; and each must be provided with a spade, a hand
pick to pick the sides, and a ditcher's shovel (Jig. 459.), to shovel the
bottom of the ditch, and beat the face of the hedge-bank; a foot-
pick 0?^. 460.), to raise the boulder stones that may appear in the sub-
soil, will complete the whole implements necessary for the work. The
shovel is one foot broad and one foot long, tapering to a point, with a
shaft twenty-eight inches long. Tlie foot-pick stands three feet nine
inches high. The tramp (Jig. 4flO. a\ which is movable, and can be
placed to suit the foot of the workman, is placed about sixteen inches
from the point, which tapers, and is inclined forward. The iron is three
fourths of an inch at the eye through which the handle passes, and is
an inch and a quarter at the tramp where it is stoutest and thickest
The plane-table is useful for squaring the land, when it is to be ridged
up. The poles are always used for marking off the breadth of the ridges,
and the line and chain will be of service in marking off and measuring
drains.
2999. Plants. The plant that is universally used for thorn-hedges li
the whitethorn, hawthorn, or maythorn (Crataegus Oxyacantha).
Thorns ought never to be planted in a hedge, till they have been transplanted at least two years from the
seed-bed, when they will have generally acquired a girth of one inch, and about fifteen inches of length,
the stem from root to branch being about six inches. As thorns are always planted too thick in nursery
beds, in order to save room and draw them up quicker, I wouW advise their being got from the nursery at
that age, the year before they are intended to be planted as a fence, and planted out in lines of ample space
in any garden or spare piece of ground where the soil is deep and free. By this process the stems will
acquire a cleaner bark and greater strength, and the roots will be covered with an additional number of
fibres ; the constant effect of transplanting being to cause the production of numerous short fibrous roots.
The freedom and celerity with which the plants will grow after this preparatory process, will amply repay
the additional trouble and expense. But whether they be kept another year in the ground before they are
planted or not, they should be immediately loosened out of the bundles of 200, in which they are sent from
the nursery, and laid out in rows on the earth, in a convenient dry part of the field, and the earth well
heaped about them to prevent the fibres being injured by the frost.
oOOO. Preparation cf tke ground. It were unreasonable to suppose that hedges will grow luxuriantly,
a;nd soon become fences, if the ground on which they are to grow be not previously prepared for their
reception. If they are to be planted on land that has been under the usual rotation of cropping on the
fanri, no further preparation is necessary as to fallowing and cleaning it. If the line of hedge runs along
or parallel to the ridges, the best period to commence planting in the rotation, is when the lea-ground is
to be broken up for oats, as lea-ground makes the firmest hedge-bank, and no protecting fence will be
required on that side till the field is again laid down to grass. But should the line of hedge run across
the ridges, at whatever angle to them, the furrows will have to be made up to the level of the crown of the
ridges, and the unequal shrinking of the earth in them will cause the beautifully continued line of hedge
to be unequally depressed at the furrows ; and much trouble, and, of course, expense, will be thereby in-
curred, in making drains to let off the water in each furrow through the hedge-bank, should the ground
slope to the back of it In such circumstances, I would advise the delay of planting at that time, and to
wait till the land is fallowed and laid down again to grass, when the space for the line of hedge can be
raised up longitudinally to the breadth required ; theground on each side of this hedge-ridge then forming
the head-ridges of their respective fields. The delay thus advised on this particular line of hedge, need
not cause any delay in the period of fencing the whole farm ; for a line in another field, which is to be
broken up from lea, and along the line of which the hedge is to be run, may be taken in the mean time, as
it is certainly not essential to the well-being of the hedges, that the fencing of a farm be begun on one side
of it, and carried successively through every adjoining field It is much better to fence a farm by fields
which are ready for the work, taken promiscuously, than to run the risk of crossing furrows with a hedge-
bank, wiiich, from the nature of ridges, will inevitably intercept surface-water, the injurious effects of
which will soon appear upon the growth of the young hedge, in the shape of mildew and fog. Should an
old turf-wall, or the site of one, cross a line of hedge, every particle of the old turf must be removed, and
fresh earth from the field, or elsewhere, brought in its place ; for no kind of treatment will render, for a
great length of time, the soil of an old turf- wall congenial to the growth of thorn plants. Indeed, so im-
pressed am I with the truth of this opinion, from sheer experience, that, should the line of hedge coincide
with the line of an old turf-wall, I would advise that the line of hedge be bent so much as to avoid it, or,
what is better, and better looking, that the whole line of hedge be put so much in advance or arrear of
the originally intended line, as to avoid the turf-wall altogether. Whether the sterility of the soil from
old turf-walls arises from its excessive dryness and pulverisation, I do not know ; but such soil is no
sooner manured or limed, than the moles immediately commence their operations, and turn the whole of
it inside out. It is known that manure will not combine intimately with soil in such a state, and perhaps
its confined heat in the dusty soil may encourage the hatching of the larva of insects, in quest of which,
as food, the moles, — " that mining race," as Covvper calls them, — set so earnestly to work.
3001. Division of the line of hedge. Lines of hedge passing through cultivated land, in a north and south
direction, should run in straight lines, and parallel to each other, by which means all short ridges unequal in
length, and the ploughing of which consumes much time, will be avoided in every fieldof the farm, except
461
those which are at its extreme end ; and lines of hedge, which are drawn
east and west, on the crest of undulating ground, on which situations hedges
form the most effective shelter, should also run straight : and, where these
two lines intersect each other, and where, of course, the corners of four fields
will meet, a space should be rounded off, and planted for ornament and
additional shelter, at little sacrifice of ground, {fig. 461.) Some may
object to the formality of such things, but they look well, and, as a shelter,
they are invaluable in exposed situations, where only they should be made.
Formality, however, can never be out of keeping any where, ki so artificial
a thing as a cultivated farm. Lines of hedges which lie in an cast and west
direction need not necessarily be made straight or parallel to one another, at
least the same strong reason, to save time in work, docs not ai)ply to them,
as to those which are parallel to the ridges, which are invariably made to run
north and south, for reasons well known to farmers. Indeed, in case of a
hollow piece of ground, parallelism in fencing is impracticable, as the hedge-
ditch must foUow the "devious course" of the hollowed line of declivity.
Should a hedge be desired to fence round a rough, moory, or rocky part in a field, or along the edge of
a moor or plantation, let it be planted on the cultivated ground only ; the yieldmg up of the good
I i
4S2 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
piece of ground will be soon repaid in value, by the quick growth of the hedge into a fence and shelter.
On the other liand, if it be necessary to run a line of hedge through a moor, or waste piece of ground, let
the ground be, in the first place, pitted in the line of hedge ; and if it is discovered that the sward grows
upon a loamy soil, of whatever tenacity, to the depth of a spit of the spade, thorns may safely be planted
upon it, with a prospect of their becoming a fence. Should the soil be very thin and ferruginous, but the
subsoil, to the ticpt!) of two feet, of a fully better quality than the soil, then a space, comprehending the
breadth of hedge, bank, and ditch, must be trenched over to abouteighteen inches deep, and the soil fallowed
next season with potatoes, well manured and cleaned. The crop of potatoes will, most probably, repay the
expense of the trenching and dung. If the dung be not sufficiently rotted by the potato crop, owing to
the state of the weather, rather take a crop of oats after it, than run the risk of planting the thorns among
undecomposed manure.
3(X)2. Planting the hedge. If a line of fence is to be straight, let the poles be in as straight a line as
possible from one end of the line to the other. Should the ground be quite plain, this can be done
with great accuracy; but, should an elevation or a hollow, however small it may be, intervene, great care
is necessary to preserve the straightness of the line, as, without it, the fence may be made to advance
upon the true line in the hollow, and recede from it on the elevation. There is an instrument used by
surveyors, which guides them in these difficulties; but without it, poles thickly set will perfectly well
preserve the proper direction. In case any evil-disposed persons should shift the poles during the night, it is
a goofl precautionary measure to drive stout short pins into the ground at the side of the poles, to serve
aa marks. Having set the x>oles so as to please the eye, take then the reel and cord, and, fastening
its pin firmly into the ground at that end of the line of fence where you wish to begin, run out the
cord to its full length, except a small piece, which should be twisted round the shank of the reel.
Be sure you guide the cord exactly along the bottoms of the poles, and, should any obstacle be in the
way of it, such as twigs, tufts of grass, stems of plants, stones, &c. remove it with the spade, then draw
the cord with considerable force till it has stretched out as far as it can, and then fasten the reel firmly into
the ground. As the least obstruction on the ground will cause the cord to deviate from the right line,
lift it up about three feet high in the middle, keeping it close by the sides of the poles, and let it fall down
suddenly to the ground, when, it is probable, it may lie as straight as practicable. Place a rather heavy
stone here and there upon the cord, to prevent it changing its position, and then take a spade, and cut, or,
as it is technically said, " rut" the line of hedge-bed behind the cord, with your face toward the ditch,
taking care not to cut the cord with the spade. Take then the rule, and, with its cross-head, set off the
breadth of the ditch at right angles from the rutted line four and a half feet, first at both ends, ar.d then
here and there, and mark the intermediate places with pins, which will serve to check any remarkable
deviation at either end ; and stretch the cord along this line in the same manner as on the other, and rut it
also with your face to the ditch. Remove any intermediate poles along the lines in question, and the
ditch is thus marked out ready for the forming of the thorn-bed. When about to form the bed for the
thorns, that end of the line must be chosen for commencing the work, which best suits the hand of the
workman. The rule is, that with whichever foot he tramps, or with whichever hand he grasps the shank oi
the spade, it is that which is farthest from the thorn-bed. If he tramps with the left foot, his right hand
will hold the eye of the spade, and will ofcourse be next the hedge, and vice versa. Raise now a sod
along the marked line of the thorns, five or six inches thick, and broader than the spade, and lay it over
on its back, grass to grass, along the edge of the marked line ; beat it down with the back of the spade ;
pare its nearest edge, as if it were a continuation of the inclination of the side of the ditch, and beat it
also, and smooth it ; then pare away the upper face of the inverted sod, keeping its edge next you
(which should be cut sharp with the spade) the highest, and sloping the back of the sod down towards the
back of the hedge. Place another similar sod quite close to the end of that now placed ; use it in the
same manner ; and continue so with the rest, going backwards, so as to see your finished work before you,
and taking care to connect all the sods together as neatly as if they were only one. While the principal
labourer, or hedger, as we shall call him, is doing this part of the work, the other two should be stripping
the sods from the surface of the whole ditch, and throwing them immediately behind the inverted sod, or
thorn-bed, as it is called. The sod first raised and inverted, and which is meant for the bed of the
^Q2 . ^^c thorns, should be taken up as entire as possible; but the more
comminuted the others are, the better for vegetation. This con-
vertical
• ditch with
lerted (6), and
the turfy mould thrown off the surface of the ditch (c).
3003. Preparing of the thorns to plant. The thorn-plants {fig. 463.), as they are taken out of the layer,
with their top and root and fibres on, must be prepared for planting by
cutting off the tops {fig. 464.). To accomplish this, take the plant,
and, grasping it firmly in the left hand, immediately above the root, cut
^g ^the stem through above your hand with a sharp knife, giving the cut an
inclination upwards, towards the top of the plant, and the cut thus made
will be about five inches from the root. Cut away the long part of the
tap root, and any of the diseased or injured parts of the roots and fibres.
46S '^^AV^^t-*-- I^ury or burn the tops which are cut off, as they are very troublesome in
sheep's wool ; but if they are not completely covered up with earth, they
will vegetate. Take great care in a frosty day to cover up the prepared
roots in earth, as frosted roots will not vegetate In such a day, take
but a few at a time out of the layer, and as soon as these are cut ready
for planting, relay them immediately in the earth. In frosty weather, avoid planting in the
afternoon, as you will probably not have time to cover the plants with a sufficient quantity
of earth on the thorn-bed, to resist the effects of frost. Indeed, in such weather, when the
ground is becoming hard, leave off the work altogether, not only on account of the unfitness of the earth
for work under such circumstances, but of the chilliness of the frosted earth probably injuring the fibres.
On the other hand, in dry weather in spring, when the hedge is to be planted on dry land, put the root*
of the prepared plants in a puddle of earth and water, in a shady place, for some hours before laying them
on the thorn-bed, and their vegetative powers will be much accelerated. All the men assist at the pre-
paring of the plants, as it is rather a cold and tedious work. When the plants are quite ready, lay them
firmly, by giving them a squeeze on the thorn-bed, the stem inclining upwards, and projecting about a
quarter of an inch at farthest beyond the face of the bed, and the root lying^toward the heap of mould
behind ; and place them from one another, at a distance varying from four to eight inches ; the former
distance being adapted to weak land, and the latter to a soil in good heart. While the two men are lay.
ing the plants, let the hedger, with his spade, shovel up, from the surface of the ditch next the thorn-bed,
all the fine mould earth which had been left after the ditch had been divested of its turf; and inverting
his spade dexterously, place this earth on the bed above the stems of the plants, which will then be kept
firmly in their places. The two men having accomplished laying the thorns, which should never exceed
by one span a distance which all the men can have time to cover with earth thickly before the usual
time of quitting work, let them take their spades, and dig and shovel up all the black mould which remains
in the ditch, and throw it upon the roots and stems, till a sort of level bank of earth is formed over the
laid plants. As the hedger will have finished his part of the work first, and while the other two are
employed at clearing the ditch of the mould earth, let him step upon this bank of earth with his face ta
the ditch, and compress it firmly and equally with his feet, as far as the plants extend. By the time this
proccis is finished, all the mould will have been taken off the ditch. When this quantity of earth is laid
O ert -4 ctimuiiiiuieu lut; uiiit-rs are, iiie uuuer lor vegeiauoii. i.
,1 y/m'-^ fg /^^^K>Yff|\';|'v ducts us to the end of the first part of the work, a
^N0!vK.r^^m7riJ^§KW^M^ section of which {fig. 462.) represents the surface of the dil
' '■'"'/ff^^p^^lWmWi''"'" . the sod removed !,«)> the sod in its new position inverted
Book IV. COMPOUND HEDGE FENCES, 48.5
upon the thorns, they are in safety from the frost : but it is not safe at any time in ft-osty weather to leave
them, for even one night, with less earth ; for the plants may not only be frosted in that time, but the
earth may be put in such a state by the frost as to be unfit for working the next day ; and should the frost
afterwards continue so hard as to prevent working altogether, the plant thuj letl; exposed will inevitably
perish. The plants may be laid another length or two of the cord, if the weather appear favourable, and
the plants be quite safe, before any more of the ditch be removed, as the last operation on the ditch and
bank will be more uniform, and look better when a considerable length of it is finished at the same time,
than when joinings are visible at short intervals ; but in frosty or very wet weather, the sooner a piece of
it is finished, the better it is for the labourers and the work itself. This concludes the second part of our
•work, and its effects are represented by the annexed figure ( 4fi5.), exhibiting the laid plant (a) and
the trodden part of the earth (i). When the work has proceeded
465 ^"^ to this length, the other implements come unto use. If the sub-
stratum of the ditch be a tenacious or ductile clay, without any
admixture of small stones, the spade should be used for remov-
si!\v jx X A \vit- '"o it> ^s no picking is generally necessary in such circumstances;
^It^i^N^"*'" -=■*' especially if there be any water in the ditch : but if it consists of
hard clay, ramified with small veins of sand, and intermixed with
numberless small stones,— which composition fornis a very common
subsoil, — picking is absolutely necessary, and in such matter the spade alone cannot be made to work
with effect. Let, then, one of the men with the foot-pick loosen the substratum, as deep as he can
reach for the tramp, going backwards, and leaving the loosened material before him. Let another
take his spade, and dig up what has iDcen loosened, and throw it upon the top of the mould above
the thorns, taking care to place the soil so thrown up continuous with the face of the bank, and hav-
ing at the same time regard to its inclination tackwards. Throw some also to the back part of the
bank, so as to cover the whole black mould, and endeavour to make the shape of the bank quite
uniform all along, the right management of which devolves upon this labourer, and upon which much
of the beauty of the v/ork depends. He must go backwards upon the loosened soil, and pare down
the side of the ditch next his right hand, which in this case will be the opposite one from the hedge.
If there is more earth at one place of the ditch than another, which will happen where there are
inequalities in the ground, the surplus soil should rather be thrown to the back of the bank, than the
top of the latter be made higher at one place than another; or it could be wheeled away to a spot on
which a deficiency of the soil is apprehended. Let the hedger follow with the ditcher's shovel, and
throw up all the mould-soil which has been lefl by the men before him, going forward upon his work,
face to face with the other man, and leaving the ditch behind him completely finished He will take
care to throw the soil rather full on the face of the bank, even though some of it should trickle down
again into the ditch ; rejecting all the larger stones that may come in his way, and beating with the
back of the shovel the whole face of the bank, and smoothing it downwards from its top, to as far as
the black mould is seen down the side of the ditch, giving the whole of it a uniform inclination up-
wards and backwards, as if the side of the ditch were produced. If going over the ditch once in this
manner finishes the work, the soil will have been in a friable and easily worked state, but in hard sub-
strata this cannot be the case. The hand-pick is almost always required to raise four or five inches
more of the bottom of the ditch, in the accomplishment of which, the same process as to the arrange-
ment of the men, and the kind of work to each, will have to be gone through as described above. In
this case, when the picking is proceeding, the hedger must again tread down the top of the bank, before
throwing up more soil. ^ This description proves the necessity of projecting the thorn-plants but a very
short way out of the bank, as the necessary beating process on its face would otherwise wound them. The
beating is absolutely necessary, too, in order to produce a skin, as it were, on the face of the bank, which
will prevent the frost from abrading and trickling down all the fine mould-soil with which its whole face
is covered, down to the firm earth of the substratum in the ditch. This covering of clay, and the poorer
it is the better for the purpose, is, fortunately, extremely inimical to the vegetation of small seeds, which
would otherwise take root upon the mould, grow up, and either create great trouble to eradicate them, or
injure the vegetation of the young hedge. Instead of permitting the plants to project too far out, I would
prefer their being nearly buried in the bank, so that the young sprouts had to be relieved in the manner
afterwards described, but, in most cases, the force of vegetation itself would easily accomplish this. The
state of the work will appear thus in the annexed figure (466.). While the two men are preparing the rut and
cord, &c. to begin another sketch
466 /^ of it, let the hedger take theshovel,
and push back from the top of the 467
bank three or four inches of its
crest, or more or less if necessary,
m order to make the intended top "^^^^ i*^^^^^^^^^^''
parallel along with the line of ^Wlx__-<^p^^^^
thorns, and let him beat the top
gently in a rounded form, as in figure 467. ; which last touch finishes
the whole process of planting thorns.
3004. Dimensions of the ditch. The rule observed for the depth of ditch is half its breadth, and the breadth
of bottom about one sixth of it ; so that when the breadth is four and one half feet, as we have supposed,
the depth will be two feet three inches below the surface of the original ground. The hedge-bank is always
broader than the ditch, and, in this case, will be five feet; and, of course, the perpendicular height of
the hedge.bank, especially after the crest has been rounded and beaten down, will be something less
than the depth of the ditch. These are, in general, very desirable dimensions for a hedge d;tch and
bank, when no constant run of water has to be accommodated ; but should a stream of water run along
the ditch, though in winter only, the ditch should be made proportionally capacious ; for, if not so made
at first, the force of water will soon make it so for itself, and probably endanger the thorn-bed. Should
the quantity of earth thrown out to accommodate the water make the hedge-bank too high, part of it
should be shovelled back, as it is not desirable to load the young thorns too heavily with a superincum-
bent load of earth, so as to exclude the action of the air from the roots.
3005. Averting obstacles. Hitherto all our work has been quite smooth ; no obstacles have presented
themselves to frustrate our designs: but these will be met with sometimes, and we must, therefore, be
prepared to avert their injurious effects. These obstacles generally consist of large stones, unequal
ground, and surface-water. Landfast stones are often found in such substrata as we have been describing,
and when they can, they ought to be removed, and the foot-pick will be found a most efficient lever for
that purpose. Some stones are so large and amorphous, that it is impossible to remove them without
the assistance of gunpowder ; but blasting isolated masses of rock, whose structure is unknown to ignorant
men, is a dangerous business. If they lie across the ditch, it must be taken round them, and its sides so
sloped and pared as to permit water to flow round them without obstruction. If they lie under the thorn-
bed, and there is plenty of mould over them, they will do no harm to the thorns ; but should the mould
be thin over them, an additional thickness of sod must be placed, to form the thorn-bed above them,
though this should cause an elevation there above the general line of hedge. With regard to inequality
of surface, where the general dip of the ground is in one continued direction in the line of hedge, and yet
the undulations on its surface are so deep as that water could not run in the bottom of the ditch in the
general dip of the ground, but would collect in the hollows, were its bottom made parallel to these undu-
lations, the elevated part of these inequalities must be cut deeper, and the hollows less deep, than usual,
so that a common level may be obtained by the bottom of the ditch, to give egress to the water. A sort
I i 2
484 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
of compromise must thus be made between the heights and hollows in the bottom of the ditch, though
the hne of thorn-bed must still be placed on the natural surface of the undulations, and will therefore
partake of their inequalities. When such a compromise is necessary, the superabundant earth thrown
out of the deep parts must be wheeled away to the shallow parts, to equalise the dimensions of the
hedge-bank. Should any hollow part be so deep as that the heights next it cannot possibly be cut
down so as to let the water flow away on either side, a drain must be made from the hollowest point
in the bottom of the ditch, down an inclining hollow or plain ground in the adjoining field, to some
ditch or drain already existing in it at a lower level. These undulations will cause another evil, that
is, the collection in their hollows of stagnant surface-water behind the hedge-banks. The only effectual
method of getting quit of this evil, and it is fortunately a simple one, is the building of drains under
the hedge-bed, opening into the ditch ; and whatever number of hollows there are, and almost however
small, there must be the same number of drains. As these drains must be formed completely under the
black mould, and at only a little elevation above the level of the bottom of the ditch, they can be
conveniently built only after the ditch has been entirely dug out ; and for this purpose, that part of the
hedge-bed which lies over these drains must be left undone till the drains are built, and finished afterwards.
A little taste and dexterity in the hedger, who should, of course, be a good spademan, will fill up these
gaps in the hedge-bank with neatness. If the hedge is to be planted along the side of a road, especially of
an ornamental road, and where a hollow in the road has been filled up to make the whole a continuous
level, the hedge-bed should also be brought up to the same level, with earth or turf, as may be most
^go I expedient ; but still the thorn-plants, here as
• ■ •— ^ ^ eliewhere, must be laid among mould. The
annexed figure (468.) will give an idea of
the work to be performed in such inequalities
of ground, and of the position of the drains:
it indicates the line of hedge-bed, with un.
dulations (a a) ; the top of hedge-bank paral-
lel to the bed (* b) j the bottom of ditch (c c),
made to slope, to let the water run down
to the leading drain (e) ; and the small drains {d d d) under the hedge-bed, to convey away the surface,
water from behind the hedge-bank.
3006. Marking off parallel lines of hedges. Thus one whole line of hedge may be planted, and all the
probable obstacles to its right accomplishment may be anticipated. Let us now surmount another
difficulty — the marking off another line parallel to the first. Take the rule with the cross-head, and
measure from the thorn-bed already made, across its ditch, a distance so as to leave a scarcement of one
foot in breadth on the edge of the ditch, that is, in the present case, six feet from the thorn-bed. Any
distance from the hedge-bed will, of course, answer the purpose intended, but I have taken the above,
that the scarcement necessary for the preservation of the edge of the ditch might be indicated. Set off
other two such distances at about one hundred yards from each other, place poles in the three points,
and adjust their accuracy to one another. Make these measurements at such a place of the line of hedge,
as from it you may have a view of the places at which you wish to plant the new parallel line. Erect the
plane-table midway between two of the poles, and fix the eye-sights so as through them you may see one
of the poles in one direction, and the other two in another direction. This is the base line. Fix the
other eye-sights so as by looking through them you may see the place of the new line as clearly as the
field of vision will permit, and mark the angle of observation. This angle may be of any degree ; but the
nearer it is to the right angle, the more certainly will the breadth of the field be set off, so as to contain
its exact complement of ridges of a given breadth. Cause one of the men to fix a pole in the line of
observation where he will be most distinctly seen. Fix other poles along this line, so appropriately, that
how unequal soever the ground may be, the right line may be kept From the stalk of the plane-table
measure by the chain, along the line of poles, the distance necessary for the proposed breadth of the
field. If your line of poles is at, or nearly at, right angles to the furrows of the ridges of the field, the
breadth of the field may be conveniently marked off, so as to contain a given number of ridges of a given
breadth. It is necessary to attend to this, as a half ridge left at the side of the field would be inconvenient.
Fix this point by a pole. Remove then the plane-table to between the other two poles, the middle pole
being common to both stations ; adjust it to them without changing the relative positions of the eye-sights,
and, of course, the angle of observation ; and, in the same manner, measure another line from the stalk
of the plane-table, which will, of course, be parallel to the first across the field, of exactly the same length,
and mark it also with another pole. Fix a third pole at a specified distance, on the line passing through
these two last placed poles, and measure from it across the field to a point on the scarcement of the ditch,
at a distance from the stalk of the plane-table, where last placed, exactly corresponding to the specified
distance mentioned above; and if this third line, which may be considered as the line of proof by trial
and error, agree exactly with the length of the other two lines severally measured across the field, your
observations and operations have been correct. Lut, should the error be considerable, as of one yard, it
must be found out by another trial, and corrected.
3007. Forming hedges in curved lines. All these observations apply to hedges in straight lines; but
where irregularly curved lines are to be formed, they can be made by the poles above, but must be judged of
by the eye, so that a pleasing sweep maybe ihade according to the nature of the ground, and which would
not offend the taste of the most fastidious, and the curves drawn conformably to the ploughing of the
adjoining land ; for if this latter consideration is not attended to, land may be lost for utility in tillage
in the depths of the curves. But poles set, in the first place, to guide the outlines of the sweeps,
and the spaces between them filled up by the cord distended over the hooked-headed pins, with curves
which please the eye, will generally accomplish all that can be done in this way, where geometrical curves
cannot be introduced. The rutting of the breadth of the ditch must follow the cord in its curved position,
and the sod for the thorn-bed must also take the sweep of the curves; but great care is necessary in
making the curved sides of the ditch parallel to one another, for if the cross-headed rule is not held
at right angles to the line of the thorns, at whatever spot the measurement is taken, the breadth of the
ditch will vary considerably in different places. There is no error into which the labourers will fall
more easily than into this, as they will most probably measure, without thinking of the consequences,
across the ditch at any angle ; and this is an error of such magnitude, that, if not rectified in time,
it will not only rob parts of the hedge-bank of some of its essential covering, but twist the ditch out
of the parallelism of its sides.
3008. Season of planting. Thorns may be planted anytime from October to April, when the weather is
neither very frosty nor very wet. The autumnal season is upon the whole preferable, as the plants are
then ready to push forward in the earliest spring ; the months of January and February are also excellent
for the purpose, but in most seasons March and April are rather late, particularly in a dry soil, in which
young thorns suffer very much from drought. A southern and western aspect should always be preferred,
if possible, for thorn hedges.
3009. Arguments for and against a scarcement. All the writers which I have perused on the plantmg
of hedges, recommend a scarcement of nine or ten inches in breadth to be left in front of the thorn
plants ; and Lord Kames, in The Gentleman Farmer, who is the most minute writer on the planting of
thorn hedges, though not nearly minute enough, gives a reason for doing this, which no other writer
condescends to do ; and his reason is, that it keeps the moisture about the thorns : and, indeed, he carries
his notions of the necessity of moisture to such a length, as to recommend the plants being placed parallel,
instead of square, to the ditch. At page 277, he says, " Instead of laying the thorns fronting the ditch,
would it not do better to lay them parallel to the ditch, covering the roots with three or four inches of the
Book IV.
COMPOUND HEDGE FENCES.
485
best earth, which would make a hollow between the plants and the sloping bank? This hollow would
Intercept any drops of rain that fall on the bank to sink gradually among the roots. If this be not a
better position for a thorn, it must be of a singular constitution." He thinks that the face of the mound
being beaten down solid, it will be made impervious to water ; and at the same time recommends it to be
made as upright as possible, for a safeguard to the young plants, — a position well adapted to throw off
water. He thinks there is no good reason for thorns being laid sloping in the ground, as they might as
well be planted, like all other plants, upright, when, he thinks, they would sooner become a fence; and,
indeed, suggests that thorns six feet high might be planted in this way. He also recommends the plants
being placed one inch projecting from the face of the bank. In the method of planting hedges so fully
described above, the scarcement is dispensed with, for this sufficient reason — that it would become a
receptacle, a perfect hot-bed, for weeds; and if very great vigilance and trouble were not exercised in
keeping them down, they would inevitably choke the young plants. Along the sides of public roads these
scarcements are frequently made footpaths by idle peojile. The facing of the bank must be beaten down, to
prevent the frost abrading the earth of the substratum,which had been put up to hinder the growth of weeds,
and all the beating that can be given to it, will never make it entirely impervious to rain ; besides, there
is no need of rain entering them, when the back of the bank is composed of loose earth, through which it
can easily percolate to the roots immediately below. Nor can such a mound, whatever be its shape, be
any protection to the young thorns from any beast, either from behind or before ; its main use being to
admit the ditch being made of a sufficient size to carry off water, to affijrd the hedge roots a covering
against drought, and to envelop the black mould which surrounds the roots with a covering of sterile
earth, which is itself inimical to vegetation, and which, at the same time, tends to check the ardour of
vegetation in the black mould. Thorns will, no doubt, grow in an upright position as well as in a sloping
one ; but the latter position is the most convenient for planting with mound and ditch, and in this position
the whole stem is converted into root. The transplanting of old thorns to any great extent is, I fear, a
hopeless task ; besides.where are they to be obtained in quantities sufficient to fence a farm ? The projecting
of the thorn-plants from the face of the bank is a bad plan ; as they are not only hable to be wounded in the
working up of the face of the mound, by the rolling down of the earth and stones, and by the process of
beating and smoothing, but when steins spring up from their extremities, and the wind tosses them
about, the tops exert a lever power on the root, and loosen it in the soil. Hence, when a thorn-hedge is
examined in the first year of its growth, particularly in the autumn, when the stems are strong and leafy,
and the winds prevail, it is often observed, that all those plants, which have been accidently left projecting
farther out than the others, have worked an upright oblong hole about them in the earth, whereas all
those which have been left even with the face of the bank, or been relieved from some fettering earth,
by the force of vegetation, or the hand, are quite firmly imbedded in the earth ; a state, without doubt,
much preferable to the other.
3010. Management of the ditch and thorn-hedge. The implements necessary for the proper manage-
ment of hedges are : — A common Dutch hoe, 7 inches broad and 5 feet long, for cleaning {Jig. 469. a).
A hedge-spade, 5 or 6 inches
469 ry ^"^^ ^* tJis mouth, and about
, I ^ ^^^* ^ inches long altogether,
" e for cleaning (6). A hooked-
b 1 vn headed stick, for freeing the
earth from the points of the
sets (c). A switching-bill, blade
9 inches long, and 1^ inch
broad; shaft 2 feet 3 inches
long, and weighing altogether
about 2| pounds (d). A breast-
ing.knife, which resembles the
switching-bill, but considerably
stronger, and of course heavier.
A cutting-bill, blade 7 inches
long and 2| inches broad;
shaft 2f feet long, and weighing
J. I ^^ altogether about 6 pounds [e).
I I A light axe, weighing about
_1. J.' 3 pounds, and a shaft 3G inches
Iong(/).
3011. Releasing the buds on the points oj the sets. The first attentioh which a young hedge requires is
to release those buds which may have been prevented by the tenacity of the clayey earth from pushing
out, and this is done cither by the finger or a small piece of stick ; but great care must be taken that
none of the sprouts be broken ofF in the work. The force of vegetation will generally accomplish all that
,i»'required ; but in some cases assistance is beneficial, to the plant.
3012. Cleaning. If the hedge has been planted in the autumn, the grass between the inverted sod and
the original surface will have decayed so much, as to create little trouble in the early part of the season
in clearing away grass. Indeed, both the hedge and bank will not be injured by those plants that may
have sprung up from the seed, as they will rather ward off the effects of frost during winter. If they
are, however, likely to scatter their own seed, it would be prudent to remove them before that time.
Should the hedge have been planted in the spring, the vernal influence will keep alive the grass under
the inverted sod, and it will grow rapidly, so that it may be necessary to clear it away about midsummer
at least, in order that the luxuriance of its growth may be checked. The seam between the inverted
sod and the original ground is the only very troublesome place of the hedge-bank to keep clear of
weeds, but even that is six inches below the thorn-bed ; and if the ground had been properly cleaned
of quickens, couch-grass, and knot-grass, before the hedge was planted, which it ought undoubtedly to
have been, the other kinds of weeds which will spring up will be easily got rid of. Couch-grass, when
it gets entangled about the roots of a young hedge, injures its growth very much, and it is, in such a
situation, quite impossible ever after to get quit of it altogether. When cleaning is to be performed, it is
done in the following manner : — Let the hedger, — for one man is now only necessary, — take the weeding-
spade, and hold it in a horizontal position with both hands, the right hand upon the handle. Let him
stand in the bottom of the ditch, with his face towards the hedge, and begin to cut away the grass
under the line of hedge, with horizontal strokes of the spade, making progress up the ditch with his
left side foremost Let a woman place herself upon the top of the bank, with her face also towards
the hedge ; and taking the Dutch hoe, with her right hand upon the handle, work with it on the top
and face of the bank behind the hedge, and there nimbly and dexterously, by a peculiar twitch given to
the hoe by the wrist, eradicate the weeds, and raise as little of the earth as possible. She progresses on
the top of the bank with her right side foremost. One or two women, according to the quantity of weeds,
follow with the crooked sticks ; and, stooping in the ditch, pull out the loosened weeds from between
the thorns, and all that may be growing where the wecding-spade and Dutch hoe cannot enter. In
this manner the cleaning process is carried on with great despatch. The man has by far the severest
work to do, but even he will move on rapidly if the grass is not allowed to be too old before it is cleared
away. After all, it is very seldom that a hedge requires to be so thoroughly cleaned in the first season ;
b\it in the second year it is absolutely necessary to be very vigilant in cleaning early in spring, before
vegetation is much advanced. If weeding is delayed till the roots of the weeds take firm hold of the
ground, the displacing of them bears away a great deal of earth from the face of the bank. There is no
li 3
u
486
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
470
specific time of the season to clean a hedge, but the safe rule is always to clean it before the weeds in
the least envelop it. The most common weeds which infest hedges in loamy ground are, the tussilago,
way thistle, corn sow-thistle, common docks, sorrel, ribwort, groundsel, hedge A'etch (a trailing plant
very like the vetch, but with a bright yellow pea-blossom), bindweed, sticking-grass, cow-clover, wild
mustard, chickweed, dead-nettle, rest-harrow, great white ox-eye, corn poppy, white lychnis, blae-
wort, and several of the grasses. The tussilago, rest-harrow, ox-eye, and docks, are most difficult to
eradicate ; the bindweed, sticking-grass, vetch, and the yellow.flowering trailing plant, interlace the
branches of the thorns, and are exceedingly difficult to eradicate ; and if there be but a single fibre ot
the wild mustard attaching the plant to the ground, it will grow again with vigour.
3013. Pruning. A hedge will hardly require pruning in the first year of its growth ; but should it
grow very luxuriantly, it is very proper to cut off the upper part of the tops of all overgrown plants,
as it is very desirable for the well-being of a hedge that all the plants grow alike, and that no plant by
its overgrowth overshadow its neighbours. On examining those luxuriant plants, they will be found
to be of that variety to which I have given the preference. Any branch that may be straggling much in
front, may also be curbed. The use of the bill at this period of growth arises more from a precautionary
feeling of preventing injury from weight of snow, than from any necessity that exists to check the
growth of the plant In the second winter, however, the lateral branches which have shot over the
ditch should be twitched off, leaving those behind toward the bank luitouched, and the tops should
be so cut off as to make them all of the same height. The stroke of the switching-bill should be made
upwards, and not across the top of the hedge. If switching is neglected this winter, the least load
of snow, which will easily lie upon the straggling branches, will inevitably crush the tops and lateral
branches down ; and, instead of being cut off, they will be forcibly broken off, — a kind of pruning which
cannot be too much deprecated One season, in the second year of a hedge, a piece of it was left
unswitched for want of time, and not for experiment ; and that part was so completely crushed down
by the snow, that in the spring it was obliged to be cut down to the ground by the pruning-knife ;
whereas that part which had been switched sustained very little injury, the sharp vertical points
piercing through the snow when it was subsiding, which is the time it does the damage. Now, however,
(which is five years after the accident), that part which was cut down by the pruning-knife is by far
the strongest part, both in girth of stem and height of fence. This fact tends to countenance the free
use of the knife on hedges, though few would perhaps have the courage to cut down a fine thriving
young hedge. It is certainly undeniable that a thorn plant is very tenacious of life ; and this tenacity is
exhibited in no way more remarkably, than in the hedge conforming its shape to the will of the hedger.
In this manner, let him continue to cut away part of the tender shoots
on the top, and switch the lateral branches upwards in a sloping
direction towards the top, so that the former shall present a uniform
row of pointed spikes, till the hedge is six feet high, beyond which
height he cannot use the bill to advantage. There is nothing done
to the hedge behind. After it has acquired this height, the top
should get leave to grow upwards, till the whole hedge shall be ten or
twelve feet high, the lateral wood being still cut away to prevent
the top overshadowing and baring the root of the hedge. The object
of thus allowing the top to grow up, is to increase the girth, and
consequently the strength of the stem below, otherwise it will con-
tinue puny for a long tima Indeed, if a hedge is not allowed to
grow up at all, it will shoot out determinately in a lateral direction
to a great extent, and then occupy a greater breadth of ground than
will be convenient or profitable. The annexed figure (470.) will
illustrate the appearance of the hedge when the top should be allowed
to grow up.
3014. Water -tabling. When the grass below the thorn-bed, and the weeds on the face of the bank, have
been cleaned away, at least once, if not twice, in a season, and if the ground is loamy, it is probable that,
during the course of four or five years of such work, the soil may have mouldered away, and left part of
the root that was embedded in the bank exposed. Such will undoubtedly be the state of things in any kind
of soil, in the course of time ; and its effects on the root of the hedge thus exposed, will be the same as
pointed out before, in regard to the effects producetl by leaving the young plants projecting from the face
of the bank; but if such an evil be concomitant with the necessary process of cleaning, how much more
must it be aggravated in the case, when the plants are left, at first, projecting from the face of the bank ?
Eut, happily, there is a remedy for this evil, which, if allowed to remain any length of time, would injure
the hedge materially ; and that is, by the simple process of
water-tabling. The annexed figure (471) will show the
effects which weeding has upon the roots of thorns, in which
the dotted line shows the state in which the bank and ditch
came from the hands of the workman. The following figure
( 472.) will show the process of water-tabling. One man
could do this work, but two men will carry it on more expe-
ditiously, in proportion to the number. Let the hedger take
a spade, and make a notch three inches deep in the side of
the ditch, about a foot below the thorns (a), and then pare
away all the loose earth from that notch up to the thorn root.
In tnc mean time the other man raises sods from the bottom of the ditch, choosing the best parts of it fdr
them, nine inches broad and four inches thick, and of a convenient length. The hedger takes these sods
and puts them on their edge upon the notch (a), with the grass
side outwards, and beats them to the bank with the back of the
spade, making the upper edge of them level with the spade by
paring and beating. The reason that the grass side is put out-
wards is, that these sods may adhere to the bank ; whereas, if
thev were put with the grass side inwards, the frost of the en.
suing winter, getting between them and the bank, would cause
them to slide down ; and there need be no apprehension of the
grass, though placed outwards, growing up so as to injnre the
hedge ; for by that time the latter will have acquired such a
thicket of branches and foliage as to smother all weeds. This
sod is called the " set-sod." The other man must also raise other
sods, about six inches broad and four inches deep, and of a con-
venient length The hedger then takes them and inverts them, with the grass side downwards, upon the
upper edge of the sod (6), and beats them even with it, and pushes them quite in contact, and belo\v the
roots (c1 This sod is called the" table." The reason for inverting its grass side downwards is obvious,
liS its grass would spring up immediately among the roots of the thorns. The other man at intervals ot
leisure if he have any, or both together, may then shovel up all the fine mouldery earth they can get,
and throw it between the stems, and form the sloping bank (rf) on the upper side of the roots. It more
earth has been worn away than of the thickness the sods can be raised, the space must be nlled up with
earth before inserting the sod (as between the dotted line aed, and the sod b). Water-tabling thorns,
when the earth has been worn away by weeding from their roots, renovates their growth, so that the
process of engrossing the stems proceeds after it with great rapidity, re-establishes their hold on tne bank.
471
472
Book IV.
COMPOUND HEDGE FENCES.
487
473
so that no wind can shake the plant to injure its roots ; and the growth of the numerous twigs from the
branches is so encouraged, that weeds ever afterwards can do little injury to the plants themselves.
When thorns are planted on a scarcement, no water-tabling is
required, because it prevents the mouldering away of the earth ;
but such scarcements are nurseries for weeds, and it is impossible
to clean a hedge thoroughly where they exist, — to " deracinate
such savagery." Earth, to be sure, from the bottom of the ditch,
can be thrown upon the scarcement, to smother the weeds upon
them; but the accumulation of earth there must be limited to
the height of the thorn roots, and upon this earth weeds can, of
course, grow as luxuriantly as upon the scarcement itself. In
short, in such a situation, weeds cannot be eradicated. They can
be cut over like mown grass, but their roots will ever be ready to
spring up afresh in favourable weather. A figure of a thorn
hedge, planted on a scarcement, will at once show the incon-
veniency of such a construction for the eradicating of weeds [fig. 473.).
3015. Protecting fence. Lord Kames says, " The hedge is tenced from cattle on the one side by the
ditch ; but it is necessary that it be fenced on both sides. The ordinary method of a paling is no sufficient
fence against cattle ; the most gentle make it a rubbing-post, and the vicious break it down wantonly
with their horns. The only effectual remedy is expensive; but betteir no fence than one that is imper-
fect. The remedy is two ditches and two hedges, with a high mound of earth between them." "We are
left to infer from this, that a paling is no protection to a hedge ; two ditches and a mound of earth are.
Other writers nearly hold tlie same opinion. It is astonishing to see persons who pretend to know the
practice of husbandry, assert that hedge-ditches, or a mound, or a ditch of almost any dimensions, will
protect a young hedge from the depredation of cattle and sheep. If such notions at all prevail among
proprietors and farmers, it is no wonder that those hedges are so often seen in a ruinous state. If a
good paling is not a sufficient fence against cattle and sheep, it is not a ditch or two, nor a mound, that
will prevent them committing depredations. If " two ditches" are to be fenced, they will require as
much paling as a single hedge before and behind, besides the additional quantity of ground occupied by
fencing. If gaps cannot be prevented in hedges but by double rows of thorns, their owners must be
negligent hedgers indeed. As to making a rubbing-post of a pahng, rubbing-posts ought to be erected
in every pasture field, and then neither the " gentle " nor the " vicious " cattle will ever have occasion
to use a paling, which is at least a very inconvenient " rubbing-post." The truth is, a fence, of whatever
nature it may be, is absolutely necessary on both sides of a young thorn hedge, if that hedge separates
fields that are to be pastured; and what that fence may be made of depends, of course, on the nature
of the materials which are most easily obtained for the purpose.
3016. Protecting hy a paling. If tall-grown Scots pine of eight inches diameter, or weedings of larch
plantations, can be procured at no great distance, or grow upon the property that is to be inclosed, better
materials for temporary fencings need not be wished. The Scots pine of the above size will cut up into six
deals, besides the outside slabs, and divide again up the middle for rails of perhaps twenty-four feet long ;
or twice up the middle, at right angles, for stakes, which should be sawn across, and pointed, four and a
half feet in length. These stakes should be driven at least one foot from the edge of the ditch, by a
mallet, into holes formed by the foot-pick, at a distance from one another not exceeding five or six feet,
fifteen inches into the ground, and which will make the fence stand three feet three inches high. Two
of the rails are sufficient for fencing cattle, but three are necessary to keep in sheep. To give additional
strength to the fence, the rails should be placed on the face of the stakes next the field, and made to pass
474 each other's ends, so that all the ends of the three rails
r^ jT, 5 n should not be nailed on the same stake ; nor should the
" " ■• root or thick end of the rails be nailed together, even after
being thinned by the adze, but top and bottom ends sailed
together alternately; as this plan equalises the weight of
i-Tr fffr' *^'^ '"^^^^ upon the stakes. The upper rail should be at the
J , A-. ^
1 1 ^^
fli height of the stakes : the upper edge of the lowest one
MLL^ nin " - - - -
line inches, and that of the middle one twenty-two inches,
from the ground, as the best arrangement as a fence for
sheep [fig. 474.). The best nails for such a purpose are called
Tr~] " stout paling-nails," three to three and a half inches long,
. 'Wl made in Scotland ; for it seems the nails manufactured in
the sister kingr'om are not in good repute here. A similar fence may be erected on the sides of the bank
-w
-WT
behind the hedge ; but it is necessary to keep in remembrance, that it should be placed clear of the hedge-
mound altogether. There is a temptation to place it upon the hedge-mound, as more space is given to the
plough, and shorter stakes will there make an equally high fence; but when a fence is placed so near a
young hedge as on any part of the mound, cattle, and particularly horses, after they have eaten their fill
of grass, and on Sunday, when they are idle, will reach over, and bite off the tops of it, as if delighting in
mischief, to the serious injury of the young hedge.
3017. Protecting by stake and rice {Jig. 475.). When trees are felled, or bought by a proprietor for the
construction of paling to fence young
475
hedges, the top stems and branches may
be made available to the same purpose,
in " stake and rice." The branches
should all be cut off the tops of the
trees, and their stems, if large enough,
converted into stakes of the above di-
mensions ; but as these will not suffice
altogether, other stakes must be sawn
from the bole of the tree. These stakes
should be driven into the ground in the
same manner, and at the same distance, as recommended for paling. Take then the branches, and place
their butt-end on the ground, and warp the upper parts backwards and forwards round the alternate stakes,
and give them an inclining position upwards, towards the tops of the stakes. This inclination must lie
away in the direction in which the heaviest winds will blow; for instance, if the fence runs north and
south, the inclination must be to the south, as the north winds are the most severe; and for the same
reason, an inclination to the east will avoid the heavy south-west winds. A strong wind acting against
the tops, is apt to ruffle and bend them back. A single rail nailed at the top of the stakes, completes this
mode of fencing. I may remark, that any brushwood, provided it is so long as to reach from stake to
stake, will serve this purpose as well as the tops of trees ; at least a mixture of them is excellent. Such a
fence requires fewer nails, and less good wood, than a regular paling, and is therefore cheaper, and it will
stand an equal length of time; and, indeed, the stakes have less strain upon them, in this mode, than the
other, as they have not the weight of the materials to bear, and the warping of the branches around them
protects them from many accidents to which paling is liable; such as people trespassing over them,
swingle-trees of ploughs rubbing upon them and catching hold of them, and the like. This is an excellent
fence for sheep, affording them shelter from the sweepiijg blast behind its matted texture ; and, for this
purpose, it is generally placed on the north and west sides of fields — the quarters from which the greatest
winds prevail. There is one, and only one, greater objection to it than paling— that being close in it» con-
^^88 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
SSe u/waf '^ *° ^"^^^ ™^''' '"^'^ ^'^^ ^ ^'^^*^ *^^" « P^""^' ^^^o^gJ^ the '^'^' of ^^hich the drift
thSe^iefwhfch^I^shSr^^^^^ ""^''M-^f;*^^;) y^^"^^ ^'^ ^"^*e^ "^«^^ of fencing voung
luuf u.iieages, wnicn J shall mention, and it is adapted to situations where there is plenty of turf and littll
476 /J wood. It is to build a turf.wall, that will stand three and
a half feet high, after the sods have consolidated, to support
the hedge-bank behind the thorns. This wall is built like
masonry, with heavy sods, with the grass sides downward
and finished at top with one sod nine inches broad, with its
grassy surface uppermost. The face of the wall should be
built with an inclination backwards towards the top, in order
that the grass may grow so luxuriantly upon it, as to protect,
it from injury, and strengthen the sods. A short stake, with
a single rail of paling at top, is all the fencing the hedge
requires from this side, till it can protect itself. Such a style
offence is well adapted to large fields of perpetual pasture, in
exposed situations, and forms an excellent shelter to cattle
and sheepi Cattle, however, will box with their heads against
such a wall, sometimes only in sport, after they are satisfied with grass ; but more likely in hot weather,
when insects sting and startle them. The two former kinds offences should be put up, only when the
adjoining fields to the hedges are to be pastured with stock, and on whichever side the hedge may first
require them. If the hedge has been planted when the lea ground was broken up, the fourth year is the
soonest that will see the return of grass in the rotation of cropping; but, should the grass be cut for hay
or soiling, and the field be intended to lie only one year in grass, it will be unnecessary to incur the
expense of a regular paling for the eating dowo of the aftermath, as hurdles for cattle, and nets for sheep,
will serve the purpose of a fence for so short a time. The turf-wall, however, must be built at the time
the hedge is planted. When the fields are pastured in the second rotation, and if the paling has been
erected in the first, which will always be the case when the grass is to lie more than one year, it will be
fidvisable to drive here and there, at the weakest parts, stakes in an inclined position, into the side of the
ditch next the paling, and to nail their head* against the upright stakes of the paling, to act as spurs to
support the stakes against any violence. The rails will yet be quite fresh, though the stakes are apt to
break over at the ground, in consequence of their being exposed, at that part, to the alternate effects
of wet and drought, — effects which are injurious to every kind of wood. If this precaution be adopted,
the same paling will last to the commencement of a rotation, in which the hedge will be able to defend
itself. The paling will stand, with this assistance, which is not expensive, from the fourth to the twelfth
▼ear of the age of the hedge, that is, eight years. But should the paling be completely useless before the
hedge can defend itself, and if the latter has been planted in some very unfavourable situation this may
be tlie case, a few stakes driven on the top of the bank behind the hedge, with a single rail nailed at the
top, will secure the hedge from all danger. Cattle will not attempt to pass through the hedge on the ditch
side, on account of this rail above their heads ; and, from the other side they will be deterred, by the
depth of the ditch, from leaping over it ; nor will horses browse readily on so old a hedge. As to sheep,
they will not attempt it on either side ; and, if they are the only kind of stock that is pastured in the fields,
even such a rail is not absolutely necessary for thero.
3019; Gates and gate-posts in /ledges. Gate-posts, which are to support the gates through which an
entrance is effected into any fields, should be placed in the line of the quick hedge, and not in that of the
paling, which is only a temporary fence. Charring, by fire, the part of these gate-posts which is to be
sunk in the ground, and about a foot above it, will be found a preservative against rot for a long time;
and even the common stakes of the paling might be treated in the same manner, by those who do not
grudge a little more expense to insure greater security. In passing over a hedge-ditch to a gateway in a
field, it will be necessary to build a small square drain in the bottom of the ditch, in length equal to the
breadth of the gateway, that is, ten feet ; and the stones of the drain should be covered with other stones,
broken small, like road metal, in order to form a firm road in and out of the field, at a place which is,'Tn
general, dreadfully cut up in winter, especially to a turnip field, to the great grievance of men, horses,
tackle, and gates j and also to allow the water in the ditch to flow away without interruption.
3020. The management of hedges, after they have arrived at maturity, is often as difficult a task, a& the
training of the young hedge to maturity. If we judge of its difficulty, by the woful manner in which vye
see old hedges managed throughout the country, we might conclude that a thorn is so obdurate a planj.
that it is almost impossible to make it subservient to the purposes of a field fence, and that that man woufd
confer a signal benefit on his country, who could discover another kind of plant more susceptible of the
fostering care of man : and yet we would ask, and as we have already stated. What hardy plant is so
obedient to our will as thorns ? The very miserably contorted state in which we daily see thorn-hedges
is strong evidence of their pliancy, and of the obduracy of their proprietors in k'etping them, in such a
state. If such effects are the offspring of ignorance, how is it that occupiers of laud will permit ignorance
to mismanage that which is so essential to the comfort and well-being ot their stock, and, through tlvem,
their own pirofit ? And how is it, that if they, or their servants, are ignorant of so necessary an operation,
they do not apparently use the requisite means of acquiring a better knowledge of it ? It is not that
experience has yet to teach such knowledge ; for I believe that, in certain districts of Scotland, the
management of thorn-hedges is as well understood, and as successfully practised an operation, as any other
in husbandry, in which farmers and their servants take pride to excel. It is not, that it is so abstruse a
subject, as that the difficulty of acquiring it cannot be overcome, or that it can only be acquired by the
learned ; for even a hedger, a common peasant, can understand the principles of hedge planting and
management as clearly as any learned maa These principles are exceedingly simple ; for what is the
main purpose of planting a hedge ? Surely to confine stock within the boundaries of a field, and to save
the trouble and expense of keeping a person to herd them constantly. If they can he confined, that
trouble may, of course, be dispensed with. How, then, can they be best confined ? Not by large bur-
headed, bare-stemmed thorns, between which sheep and young cattle could easily creep, and snow crush
down ; but by plants, the management of which has encouraged nature to envelop their stems with
matted branches, and twigs, and leaves, all forming so close a thicket of a pyramidal shape, as to obstruct
the transmission of the solar ray, or even to avert the insinuating intrusion of the zephyr. The mystery
is here disclosed ; for, to get a good fence, all that is necessary is to cut the thorns so as they may be kept
thick near the ground ; for grow they will just as you please, and grow they will whenever they are cut
But will cutting them over three feet above the ground, encourage the growth of small branches and twigs
below that height ? Will cutting branches, and plashing them two feet above the ground, fill up gaps
below the plashes ? Will permitting them to grow up as trees with heavy heads, the invariable tendency of
which in other trees which are deciduous is, by their shade, to prune off the small branches on the trunks,
and kill or curb the growth of weaker neighbouring trees, be the most proper method to encourage the
growth of twigs around their base, where alone they can be used as a fence? Impossible. Indeed the
very terms of these questions, and they are borrowed from the practice of those around us, show the
absurdity of such a practice. But not only are old hedges thus abused; young ones, which would thrive
much better, and become a fence much sooner, if let alone altogether, are often hacked and cut over
about eighteen inches from the ground, at which height a bush of weak stems grows up, the shade of
which destroys the young twigs, and strips the stems quite bare. Nay, the cutting process is performed
with the view, one would suppose, to destroy the plant, which it would inevitably do, were the thorn
not pliant in its growth, and very tenacious of life ; for, instead of the strokes of the bill being made
Book IV. COMPOUND HEDGE FENCES. 489
upwards, which would leave the standing and growing stem clean cut, they are made downwards, by
which the part of the stem which is taken away is cut clean, but the part whicli is left growing
IS hacked and spht into many rents. As to weeding, it is seldom thought of till the hedge is almost
choked to death ; but, indeed, the common practice which so much prevails, of leaving a broad scarce-
ment before the thorn-bed, renders weeding so irksome, laborious, and frequent a task, that one may
cease to wonder hat farmers will not incur the expense of it, though proprietors ought, rather than
ruin their fences. It is easier, however, to train up a hedge from infancv, in the proper manner (a
truth which many parents, as well as hedge planters, have bitterly experienced), than to renovate it
into a superlatively good fence after it has been mismanaged ; but even that difficulty is not insur-
mountable to those who will observe with common eyes, and be guided by common sense.
3021. Cutting down or breasting over an old top-heavy hedge, (fig. 'ill.) When the hedge, which we
left to grow some time ago, gets heavy in the top, and begins to affect the density of the foliage at
the roots, and by which period the stems be-
low will have acquired considerable strength,
it should be cut down with the breasting-bill,
in a sloping direction upwards, from the root
in the face of the bank, to the back of the hedge
on its top. This figure will illustrate the effect
of this operation. The hedger stands on the
face of the ditch, at the root of the hedge, with
his right hand to it. He carries the bill in his
'right hand, and his left is covered with a glove
of stout leather. After he has cleared away all
the small twigs about the main stem, that the
cutting process may not be in the least obstruct-
ed, he holds the bill with its edge inclined up-
wards, and gives tlie stem a cut upwards with
the whole length and swing of his right arm, a
stroke in a direction not unlike cut four in sword exercise, but much stronger. His left hand, the left
arm being half stretched out, is ready to receive the back of the bill, in order to steady it for a repeated
stroke ; and as the main stems are the thickest, they may require repeated blows before they are cut
through ; and even it may be necessary to give a cut downwards on the end of the stem that is cutting
away, tl)at a wedge-shaped piece of wood may be removed, in order to allow the upward blows to take
more effect. If the main stems are strong, the cutting-bill should be used for them, and the breasting
one for the lighter stems. If the man is left-handed, he, of course, goes in an opposite direction to that
mentioned above. It is absolutely necessary to make the blows cut upwards, and not downwards, as parti-
cularly and properly insisted on by Mr. Blaikie, in his little work On Hedges^hose sentiments on that
subject, I shall here transcribe : — " A moment's reflection," he says, " will show that it is impossible for
an edgetool to pass through a piece of timber, without causing a severe pressure against one or both of
the sides of the wood, because the tool occupies space. The teeth of a saw drag the chips out of the cut,
and give the space requisite for the tool to pass, but an edgetool can only pass by pressure In cutting
the stem of a bush or young tree which is growing upright, if the blow is struck down, nearly the whole
pressure falls on the stub (the growing stem), which is thereby shattered to pieces, while the stem cut off
IS left sound ; but when the blow is struck up (as it always should be), the effect is reversed, the slab is
then left sound and smooth (cut clean), and the stem cut off is shattered ;" and when this practice obtains,
•'the wet does not penetrate through the stub into the crown of the roots, canker is not encouraged, and
the young shoots grow up strong and healthy, and able to contend against the vicissitudes of the weather.
The branches which grow out of the stem, many of them, not being thick, will be cut through by a
dexterous cutter at one stroke. These cuts across the stems are not made in the plane of the line of the
hedge, but at so considerable an angle with it, that they will not be seen, if viewed from the direction in
which the hedger proceeds, but they will almost face the spectator in the opposite direction. When this
operation is performed by a man who is dexterous in the use of the bill, there is nothing in hedging, that
looks liker a nice piece of art, than this way of cutting down a hedge, not even that of its original plant,
ing. As the branches of a hedge interlace, the stems, as they are cut off, do not fall down like a tree.
The hedger has to pull the end of the stem, that has been cut off, towards him with the bill, in order
to seize it by the left hand, which having done, he pulls asunder the tops with the assistance of the bill,
and lets the whole branch fall gently out of his hand, on the opposite side of the ditch to that on which he
stands.
3022. Season of performing the operation. It should be kept in remembrance that this operation must
not be performed during a hard frost. I once saw a very fine hedge breasted over, and that part, which
had been cut down during a hard frost, did not send out a stem next summer exceeding four inches in
length, whereas the parts of the hedge cut by the same hedger in fresh weather, pushed up strong and
healthy stems three feet high. It was remarked at the time the hedge was being cut down, in frosty
weather, that the stroke of the bill made a peculiarly ringing sound on the stems, and that they were
more brittle, more easily split and cut over, than in fresh weather. Notwithstanding these peGuliar
symptoms, no suspicions of an injurious effect were entertained at the time. After such an operation in
seasonable weather, it is astonishing how luxurious a growth of stems is generally developed. This kind
of young hedge is switched and trained in the same manner as described above for newly planted hedges,
till it comes to maturity. The hedge should be cut down when the field next the ditch is to be broken up
out of lea, as the young hedge will be a fence by the time the field is again in grass. As the field behind
the hedge will not likely be in the same part of the rotation as the other, it will be necessary to employ
the cut thorns as a dead hedge on the mound. If the hedge cut down was strong, the dead fence will not
require all the thorns, a part of which maybe taken away for other purposes, or a similar purpose in
another place. A dead hedge is made in the manner described,
3023. After-management of a breasted over hedge. If, in the course of years, when this hedge has
arrived at maturity, it is found that the stems are so gross that few twigs grow from them, and that the
bottom of it is too open as a fence for sheep, it will be necessary to cut the whole down within a few
inches of the ground, with the axe or cutting-bill, according to the strength of the stem. If the cutting,
bill is used, it is managed like the breasting-bill, and at times with both hands ; but if the axe, then the
hedger stands with his face in an opposite direction to the bent cutting one; that is, he keeps his left
hand next the hedge, and using the long-handled but light axe, with both hands, he cuts the thick
stems in a sloping direction upwards. It may, in the first instance, be necessary to cut away the small
branches with the bill, which may interfere with the action of the axe, or injure his hands ; for, in this
process, which requires strength and dexterity, gloves are not convenient pieces of dress. He pulls the
thorns asunder, after they are cut, and deposits them on the same side of the ditch as when they were
breasted over ; and it is just as absolutely necessary now as before, to leave the growing stem clean cut.
Cutting with the axe is a very laborious operation at all times, but particularly when cutting down old
thick-stemmed thorn hedges. Old thorns are sometimes so bulky and heavy, that it is necessary to drag
them away with horses, instead of attempting to put them on carts. Both after this and the other
process of cutting, the ground around all the roots should be thoroughly cleared of all weeds, and it
would even be advisable to water-table the hedge, and to throw the shovellings of the ditch ui>on the face
of the mound. But should water-tabling not be necessary, there can be no doubt that the ditch will
require scouring; and there cannot be a more favourable opportunity for the work being done, than when
the hedge is cut down, amongst the stpms of which tlie shovelluigs of the ditch can be deposited.
490 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTUUE. Part II
5024. Rectifying the old age of a thorn hedge improperly treated in its youth. In this operation much
care and judgment are required. It is found that in ordinary-sized gaps, which exist between the old
stems of a thorn, young plants will not easily take root and thrive. This effect is produced, partly by tiie
shadowing of the stems which grow quickly out of the old stem and overtop the young plant, and
partly by the want of nourishment from the earth, the juices of which have been extracted already by the
older tenants. To remedy such defects, plashing has been resorted to, and when that has been judiciously
done, by laying the plashes near the ground, a small gap may be filled up for some time. But I agree
perfectly with the following observations of Lord Kames on the nature of plashing in general : —
5025. " Plashing an old hedge," says his Lordship, " an ordinary practice in England, makes indeed a
good interim fence, but at the long run is destructive to the plants; and accordingly there is scarce to be
met with a complete good hedge where plashing has been long practised. A cat is said among the vulgar
to have nine lives. Is it their opinion that a thorn, like a cat, may be cut and slashed at without
suffering by it ? A thorn is a tree of long life. If, instead of being massacred by plashing, it were raised
and dressed in the way here described, it would continue a firm hedge, perhaps, for five hundred years."
This merits attention. If plashing really be practised, and such an old practice cannot be easily forsaken,
it may be necessary to remind the operator to cut the stem no deeper in than necessary to bend it down
with considerable difficulty, as near the ground as possible ; for jilashing at a great height above the
ground defeats its own object, namely, that of filling up gaps below. Keep the end of the plash down,
either by inserting it under a hooked branch of a neighbouring thorn, or by a hooked stick driven into
the ground ; and push a bit of wedge-shaped stick into the cut, to assist in preventing the plash from
starting up. Stuff then some worked up clay into the cut, and thus close it up from the effects of wet
and drought.
3026. Laying an old hedge. It will be a much better practice to renew the earth in the gaps with fresh
soil, mixed with dung and lime, in the first year after the hedge has been cut down, and then in the
second year to take a stem from each side of the gap which has shot up from the old stem, and lay them
in the soil so prepared, as gardeners lay carnations and roses, by fastening them down to the earth with
pins. These layers will strike root, and grow up as young plants; and when they have acquired sufficient
strength, they then can of course be cut away from the parent stem. When the gaps extend many yards
between the old stems, and when of course it would not be practicable to fill up all the space with such
layers, the old earth between them must be completely taken out, and new and fresh soil, prepared as
above, substituted in its place, and young plants must be laid on a thorn-bed, and the whole work of
repair carried on and finished in the same manner as described in the original planting. In training these
renewed plants, it will be necessary to check the growth of the old stems, and encourage that of the
young plants, tid both have acquired the same length, when both may be treated alike. An old gateway
may be beat up in this manner; but if still to be used on emergencies, a dead fence of thorns will protect
the gap for a great length of time. In repairing hedges, of whatever age, it ought to be kept in
remembrance, that a hedge ought never to be planted on the top of a mound thrown up from the ditch.
It has, indeed, the advantage of an imposing situation ; but being planted in bad soil, and destitute of
moisture, it cannot thrive : it is at best dwarfish, and frequently decays and dies. {Stephens of Bahnadies
in Quar. Jour. Agr., vol. il p. 621.)
3027. The hedge and bank consists of a hedge planted upon the plain surface, with a
bank or mound of earth raised behind it by way of protection.
3028. T/ie hedge in the face of a hank differs from the former, principally in having
the hedge in the front of the bank considerably above the common surface, in place
of having it at the bottom.
3029. The Devonshire fence is a sort of hedge and bank, as it consists of an earthen
mound, seven feet wide at bottom, five feet in height, and four feet broad at top, upon
the middle of which a row of quicks is planted ; and on each side, at two feet distant,
a row of willow-stakes, of about an inch in diameter each, and from eighteen inches
to two feet long, is stuck in, sloping a little outwards : these stakes soon take root,
and form a kind of live fence for the preservation of the quicks in the middle. This
fence nearly resembles the hedge on the top of a bank, and is equally expensive in
the erection : the formation of the bank deprives the adjoining surface of its best soil,
and the plants made use of are liable to every injury that can possibly arise from
drought, frost, and gradual decay or crumbling down of the mound. The addition
of the willows to this fence is certainly a disadvantage ; if the quicks require pro-
tection, dead wood is equal to every purpose that could be wished or expected, and
at the same time possesses the additional advantage of requiring no nourishment, and
having no foliage to shade the thorns or other plants.
3030. In the liedge wUh posts and rails, the railings are employed for the protection
of hedges, as well those that are planted upon the plain surface, as for the hedge and
ditch united. The addition of a paling is, however, more immediately necessary in
cases where the hedge is planted upon the plain surface, especially when the fields so
enclosed are in pasture.
3031. The hedge and dead hedge is a fence that consists of a row of quicks or
other hedge-plants, set either upon the plain surface, or in the face of a ditch or
bank. The dead hedge answers a double purpose, namely, that of protecting the
young plants from the injuries they may receive from cattle or the inclemency of the
weather, and at the same time forming a temporary enclosure which lasts till the
hedge is grown up. n i -i
3032. The hedge and wall fence is of two kinds, namely, a coarse open wall, built
of loose stones, on the top of the bank formed by the earth taken out of the ditch ;
and when hedges are planted upon the plain surface, a thin and low wall regularly
built alongside answers the double purpose of sheltering and encouraging the growth
of the plants while they are in a weak tender state, and afterwards prevents the pos-
sibility of the hedge becoming open below. Where gardens are entirely, or in part,
surrounded by hedges, and in the enclosing of fields by the sides of highways, espe-
cially in the vicinity of great towns, where dogs and other destructive vermin are apt
Book IV. COMPOUND HEDGE-FENCES. 491
to creep into the enclosures, and annoy the stock, the law wall forms a valuable addi-
tion to the fence.
3033. The hedge in the middle or in th&face of a wall is executed in the following
manner : — The face of the bank is first cut down with a spade, not quite perpendicularly,
but nearly so ; a facing of stone is then begun at the bottom, and carried up regularly,
in the manner that stone-walls are generally built: when it is raised about eighteen
inches, or two feet high, according to circumstances, the space between the wall and the
bank is filled up with good earth, well broken and mixed with lime or compost: the
thorns are laid upon this earth in such a manner, as that at least four inches of the root
and stem shall rest upon the earth, and the extremity of the top shall project beyond the
wall. When the plants are thus regularly laid, the roots are covered with earth, and
the bvulding of the wall continued upwards, filling up the space between the wall and
the bank gradually, as the wall advances upwards : when completed the wall is finished
with a coping of sod, or stone and lime. When the plants begin to vegetate, the young
shoots appear in the face of the wall, rising in a perpendicular manner. Tliis sort of
fence is much in use in some of the western counties of Scotland, and wherever there is
plenty of stones ; it is a good and cheap method, especially where wood for rails or
paling cannot be got readily. (C.)
3034. The hedge and ditch, with row of trees, differs from those which have been
described only in having a row of trees planted in the line of the fence along with the
hedge. The advocates for this practice say, that, by planting rows of trees in the direc-
tion of the fence, the country is at once sheltered, beautified, and improved ; and that the
interest of the proprietor is ultimately promoted by the increasing value of the timber
raised in these hedgerows. It is also said, that such trees produce more branches for
stack-wood, knees for ship-builders, and bark for the tanners, and they sell at a higher
price per load, than trees grown in woods and groves. Besides, close pruning hedgerow
trees to the height of twelve or fifteen feet, prevents their damaging the hedge ; the
shelter which they afford is favourable to the vegetation both of grass and corn ; it also
tends to produce an equable temperature in the climate, which is favourable both to the
production of, and greater perfection and beauty in, animals, and of longevity to man.
Though the practice of planting hedgerows of trees is very common, though its advo-
cates are numerous, and though these arguments are urged in its favour, yet the objections
are also entitled to very serious consideration. When trees are planted in the line of a
fence, if that fence is a hedge, the plants of which it consists will not only be deprived of
a great part of their nourishment by the trees, but will also be greatly injured by the shade
they occasion, and the drop that falls from them during wet weather : upon this point
little reasoning is necessary ; for, if we appeal to facts, we shall find that no good hedge
is to be met with where there is a row of trees planted along with it. The mischief is
not, however, confined solely to hedges ; the effects are equally bad, perhaps worse,
where the fence is a stone- wall ; for though in this case the shade or drop of the trees is
hardly if at all felt, yet, when they have attained a certain height, the working and
straining of the roots during liigh winds is such, that the foundations of the wall are
shaken and destroyed ; accordingly, wherever large trees are found growing near stone
walls, the fence is cracked and shaken by every gale of wind, is perpetually falling into
large gaps, and costs ten times the expense to keep it in repair that would otherwise be
required if no trees were near it. Admitting, however, that the trees in hedgerows were
no way prejudicial to the fence, which we have already shown is by no means the case,
another argument may be successfully used against the practice. It is seldom, indeed,
that trees planted in hedgerows arrive at any great size ; on the contrary, they are
generally low and stunted : and while they occasion a visible loss by the mischief they
do the fence, their utmost worth, when they come to be sold, will seldom be found ade-
quate to the loss and inconvenience they have occasioned.
3035. Stephens is decidedly inimical to planting trees in hedges. It is quite impossible, he says, even
with the greatest care imaginable, to rear thorns to a good fence under forest-trees ; even trees growing
on the top of the mound of a double hedge, abstract the moisture from the earth and injure the foliage of
both the hedges ; and though it may be probable that the two hedges may not be gapped by the trees in
places exactly opposite, the injury the individual hedge suffers cannot be remedied under the over-
shadowing poison. Lord Karnes makes the following judicious remarks on planting hedgerow trees : — " To
plant trees in the line of the hedge, or within a few feet of it, ought to be absolutely prohibited as a per-
nicious practice ; it is amazing that people should fall into this error, when they ought to know that
there never was a good thorn hedge with trees in it : and how should it be otherwise ? An oak, a beech, or
an elm, grows faster than a thorn; when suffered to grow in the midst of a thorn hedge, it spreads its
roots every where, and robs the thorns of their nourishment. Nor is this all : the tree overshadowing the
thorns keeps the sun and air from them ; at the same time, no tree takes worse with being overshadowed
than a thorn. Hedgerow trees certainly give a closely fenced appearance to a country, and at a distance
look not unlike trees in an orchard : but they are at best formal ; the trees in them, though they may be
very hardy, and yield strong, tough timber, never attain to great size, and are often distorted in shape by
the force of the winds, which bend them to their will ; and when their baneful effects on the hedges and
crops are considered, it is astonishing to see their cultivation so prevalent. It may be ungracious treat-
ment, now that they are planted and growing, to root out every one of them without delay; but they may
be treated as annuitants whose consummation maybe devoutly wished for, and whose places will not bo
replenished by similar occupants. Plantations, and clumps, and belts of trees, afford better shelter than
single rows; and when they can be judiciously planted, in situations where little use can be made of tl)e
4Q2 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
ground for culture — and there Is no iiroperty without many such situations upon H— and in other situa-
tions where they would screen fields from the prevailing winds, they not only become useful timber, but
ornamental objects in the landscape,— objects which fill the eye, rivet the attention, and are vastly more
tastetul than any single row of stunted trees can be." (Quar. Jour. Agr. vol. i. p. 623.)
3036. The hedge and ditch, or hedge and ivall, with belt of planting, in exposed situations,
is strikingly useful and ornamental, while upon low grounds it is not only unnecessary,
but in some instances absolutely hurtful. For instance, in deep and broad valleys
surrounded by hills, and sheltered from severe blasts, belts of planting are not only
unnecessary, but even hurtful and ruinous by the ground they occupy, which could
certainly be employed to greater advantage, and the original expense of enclosing and
planting saved.
3037. The hedge and ditch, or wall, with the corners planted, is employed upon some
estates instead of the belt of planting. According to some, it has a good effect upon
the scenery of the country, and answers the purpose of general shelter extremely well : it
is, however, greatly inferior to the belt of planting, for the purpose of sheltering particular
fields ; but as in every field there is a space in each angle that cannot be ploughed, by
planting these spaces, which would otherwise be left waste, many valuable trees are raised
with little expense, and with scarce any waste of land.
3038. The furze fence may be had recourse to with advantage whenever such plants
are found to grow vigorously in a soil. Fences of this sort are mostly made upon mounds
or banks of earth, by sowing the seed of the plant. Sometimes the bank is only sloped
on one side, but at others on both ; in the former case the front is perpendicular, and
faced with turf or stone. From these fences being raised so considerably above the
common surface, they are very liable to injury from frosts and other causes in severe
winters. In all cases where they are clipped or cut once a year, or once in every two
years, the clippings may be bruised and given to horses or cattle, who are fond of them,
and are found to thrive and fatten on this food.
SuBSECT. 4. Paling Fences.
8039. Paling fences are only to be considered in a secondary light; for, of whatever
wood they are made, however substantially they may be executed, or in whatever situation
they are placed, their decay commences the instant they are erected. Where permanent
use therefore is required, palings ought never to be adopted ; but for ornament in pleasure-
grounds, or for the protection of young thorns, they are highly valuable. In all cases
where either dead hedges or palings are used, the decay and ultimate loss of the fence is
©wing to that part of it which is let into the ground being rotted by the moisture. Where
dead hedges are planted, it is no easy matter to provide a remedy against this evil; as
the 'stems are- so numerous, that, to give each of them a preparation that would completely
defend it from the effects of moisture would be attended with an expense equal to, if not
greater than, the value of the fence. Where palings, however, are used, especially the
most expensive and substantial kind of them, and such as are meant both for duration
and ornament, it is desirable to prepare the standards, or upright parts that are placed in
the earth, in svich a maimer as will enable them to resist the moisture for many years. In
the south of England, the post is always more bulky at the lower end than the upper,
and is fixed in the ground by digging a hole, placing it therein, shovelling the soil in, and
ramming it round the post till it be firmly fixed. It has been a practice from time
immemorial, to burn or char that part of the standards or palings iatended to be set or
driven into the earth : the reason assigned for this practice was, that the fire hardened the
parts thus subjected to it, and, by rendering them impervious to moisture, made them more
durable than they would have been without such operation. But the best defence at
present known against the effects of the weather is the bark of the tree. This covering
it has from nature, and is possessed of every requisite, being impregnated with oil, resin,
and other matters, which secure it completely, not only against moisture, but other
injuries arising from the operation of air, light, heat, &c. ; of this we have strong proofs
by observing what happens where, by cutting off a branch or otherwise, the bark of any
tree is destroyed. If the surface laid bare by the wound is considerable, that part of the
body exposed by it begins immediately to decay, and continues to waste, unless some
covering be made use of to supply the place of the bark ; for that purpose nothing has yet
been found so effectual as a coat either of boiled oil, or of oil-paint, which, by completely
excluding both air and moisture, not only preserves the tree from rotting, but also prevents
it from bleeding and wasting itself by an effusion of juices from the wound. When
trees are cut down and sawn into planks, whether for palings or any other purpose, and
are afterwards exposed to the weather, the same thing happens that we have mentioned
as taking place with the grovdng tree when deprived of its bark, but in a much greater
degree, as the whole surface is then without a covering. To prevent this decay, the same
remedy should be applied, viz, painting the whole of the wood, or otherwise filling the
pores vnXh oil, in such a manner as to prevent the entrance of moisture. There are now
coarse oil-paints sold of all colom's, so cheap as to enable persons erecting palings, or
Book IV. PALING FENCES. 493
other works of wood, to paint them at a small expense. Other very good remedies are
to be had at a moderate price, as the pyrolignous acid fr.'^*m gasworks, which, if the points
of the standards that are to be driven into the earth are dipped into it while the liquor is
boiling hot, will preserve them from the bad effects of moisture for a very long time.
Previously to the dipping, they should be properly sharpened, and that part which is
to enter the ground, or even the entire post if convenient, moderately charred or burnt.
Common tar, melted pitch, or gas liquor, may also be successfully employed for the
purpose of defending the extremities of the upright parts of paling from moisture;
linseed and train oils may also be used with success ; the great object being to fill
the pores completely with some unctuous or greasy matter, or contract them by partial
charring, so as to prevent the admission of moisture. The posts should be completely dry
before they are dipped in any of these preparations : for if they are either made of green
wood, or have imbibed much moisture, or after being dipped are exposed either to the heat
of the sun or to a severe frost, the moisture will become so much expanded thereby, as to
burst through, and bring off the paint or other coating ; whereas, when they are made of
well seasoned wood, and are at the same time perfectly dry, and the pitch, oil, or varnish
boiling hot, it readily enters the pores, and, by filling them completely, prevents the access
of moisture, and consequently the injurious effects produced by it.
3040. The simple nailed paling consists of upright posts, driven or set into the earth at
certain distances, and crossed in three, four, or more places, with pieces of wood in a
horizontal direction. This paling is for the most part made of coarse sawn wood, with-
out any dressing.
304 1 . The jointed horizontal paling consists of massy square poles, driven or set into the
earth at regular distances, through which mortices or openings are cut for the reception
of the extremities of the horizontal pieces which traverse them.
3042. The upright lath paling is made by driving or setting a number of strong piles
into the earth at regular distances, and crossing these at top and bottom with horizontal
pieces of equal strength ; upon these last are nailed, at from six to twelve inches' distance,
a number of squai-e pieces of sawn wood, of the shape and size of the laths used for the
roofs of tiled houses. This sort of paling, when properly executed, looks very well, and,
notwithstanding its apparent slightness, if well supported by props or rests at regular
intervals, lasts a long time. Where there are plantations of young firs in the neighbour-
hood, laths may be had at a trifling expense.
3043. The horizontal paling of young firs, or the weedings of other young trees, may be
had recourse to with advantage upon estates with extensive woods, or surrounded with
belts of thriving plants ; the thinnings of such woods or belts being highly valuable for;
making palings, especially when the plantation consists chiefly of firs. The palings of
young firs are of two kinds, either horizontal or upright. The horizontal resembles the
jointed dressed paling already described, and the upright is similar to the lath paling.
3044. The chain horizontal fence is made by fixing a number of strong square piles
into the earth at regular distances, in the direction in whichjhe fence is to run ; each of
these piles has three strong staples or iron hooks driven into it on each side, one near
the top, one within eighteen inches of the bottom, and one in the middle ; to these staples
or hooks chains are fastened and stretched horizontally, in the same manner as the piigffes
of wood are in a common horizontal wooden fence. When it is meapt tha* tli^ fefli;?
should be laid open for any temporary purpose, hooks are driven jato the posts iri^place
of staples, and the chains hung upon them ; but where this is not wanted, the staples will
be found the most secure method. In some cases the upright part of this fence, in place'
of wooden piles, such as have been described, consists of neat pillars of mason-work or
cast iron.
3045. The rope fence is nearly the same as the former, that is, it consists of upright
posts, driven into the earth at regular distances, with holes bored through them for the
passage of the ropes ; in general there are three, and in some cases four, courses of ropes.
This can only be used for confining cattle or horses ; for sheep it will be found quite
incompetent ; for stretching across rivers, or pieces of water, like the chain fence, the
rope fence will be useful.
3046. The movable wooden fence, flake, or hurdle. This has hitherto been principally
employed in cases where sheep or cattle are fed with turnips in the field, to separate a
certain portion of their food at a time ; in that way hurdles are extremely useful, as the
sheep or cattle, by having a given quantity of food allotted them at once, eat it clean up
vidthout any loss, which they would not do if allowed to ranged at large over the whole
field. There are, however, many other purposes to which hurdles may be applied with
equal advantage. In the subdivision of gentlemen's parks, in order to subject them to a
course of aration, no fence is so suitable as the hurdle, which may be taken up and set
down at pleasure, and in a short time. This circumstance being generally known, these
fences never convey the idea of impassable barriers ; and, not being very common, they
are never considered vulgar Were it not for their expense, they would be far preferable
494
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
to common fences, in districts that do not require shelter ; because they occupy less space
than hedges or walls, and do not, by attracting cattle, cause their manure to be unequally
distributed j nor do they harbour birds or insects.
a.
_J
1
f
1
1
Ij"
""T
47H 5
_T1
■ li - 11 ■'-■ '11 11
II
If
II II ll II
ij '
— U
479
X
.
"^c
^z
11
te
\x
\
/i
XI
M
>^
3(H7. Ornamental wooden hurdles {fig. 478. and 479 .) may sometimes be formed at less expense of
material than the common sort, because they admit of being made strong by working up short pieces of
wood. Those which are highest {^Jig. 478. a b) may be made of
oak, and six feet high, so as to be a fence for cattle ; others {fig.
479.) may be made of the common prunings and thinnings of
young plantations. In general it is an improvement in the con-
struction of hurdles to make the two sides so as to answer either
as bottom or top ifig.'^^Q.); by which means, if a leg is broken
off, it is only necessary to turn the hurdle upside down, and
we have still a perfect hurdle. For this purpose make the heads
eighteen inches or two feet longer than usual, and sharpen both
ends {fig. 480.) ; then the side pieces should be always double,
one on each side of the rails, and should shut in at their ends
on the heads and the centre piece, that their bearings may be
equally strong and firm whichever end is even uppermost. {Gard,
Mag. vol. iv.)
3048. Iron hurdles (fig. 481.) are found a very elegant and durable fence, though more
than double the expense of wood. For park o
lawn fences they aie admirably adapted; but
occupy rather too much capital for a commer-
cial farmer.
3049. The willow, or wattled, fence is made
by driving a number of piles of any of the
kinds of willow or poplar, about half the thick-
ness of a man's wrist, into the earth, in the
direction of the fence, and at the distance of
about eighteen inches from each other. They
are then twisted, or bound together along the
top with small twigs of willow or poplar (Jig.
482.). This kind of fence has some ad-
antages peculiar to itself j it not only forms a cheap and neat paling, but if it is done
either about the end of autumn or early in the
spring, with willows or poplars recently cut down,
the upright parts or stakes will take root, grow,
and send out a number of lateral branches ; and,
if pains are taken in the following autumn to twist
and interweave these branches properly, a perma-
nent and almost impenetrable fence may be formed
in two or three years. For the enclosing of
marshy lands, or for completing any enclosure, where a part of the line in which the
483 fence ought to run is so wet as to be unfit for the growth of
thorns, or the building of a wall, the willow paling will be
found an excellent contrivance, and the use of it will render
many enclosures complete that could not otherwise have
been formed. Sometimes stakes are used of a kind which
do not take root and grow, in which case this form still
makes a verv neat and efficient temporary fence. (Jig. 483.)
4S1
ll^
Book IV.
PALING FENCES.
495
3050. The paling of growing trees, or rails nailed to growing posts, is made by planting
beech, larch, or other trees, in the direction of the fence, at about a yard distant from
each other, more or less, as may be thought necessary : these trees should be pro-
tected by a common dead paling, till they are ten or twelve feet high, when they
should be cut down to six feet, and warped or bound together with willows at top and
in the middle ; cutting off the tops will have the effect of making them push out a
great number of lateral branches, which, if properly warped and interwoven with the
upright part of the trees in the manner described for the willow fence, vnl\ both have
a beautiful effect, and will at the same time form a fine fence, which, in place of
deep decaying, will grow stronger with time, and may with very little trouble be kept
in perfect repair for a great length of time.
3051. The upright and horizontal shingle fences are chiefly made of firs, coarsely sawn
into deals of from half an inch to an inch tliick, and of different breadths according to
the diameter of the tree. Pretty strong square piles are driven or set into the earth,
and the deals nailed horizontally upon them, in such a manner that the under edge
of the uppermost deal shall project or lap over the upper edge of the one immediately
below it ; the fence, when finished in this manner, will have nearly the same appearance
as the bottom of a boat or cutter. An upright fence is made by fixing perpendicular
posts in the earth, nailing three pieces of wood horizontally, and covering these with
shingles placed perpendicularly ; in this case the shingles are not above three inches
broad, and the extremittes of each are pointed at the top.
3052. The warped paling fence consists of pieces of wood driven into the earth, bent
down in different directions, and their tops fastened together ; this fence resembles the
chevaux-de-frise, with only this difference, that, in place of leaving the points standing
up, as is the case with that part of fortification, they are bent down and tied together.
When made of dead wood, this fence is equally perishable with others of the same
description j but when made of growing plants, it will be found very lasting.
3053. The light, open, paling fence, with thorns, or the branches of trees wove in {fig. 484. ),
differs from the common paling fence already described,
only in being warped either with thorns, or the branches
of trees. When properly done, it forms at once a very
complete fence; but, like all fences made with dead
wood, it will be found very perishable, and will require
many repaii's. It has, however, one advantage, viz.
that, when properly executed, it is proof against the
484
entrance of animals of any kind
3054. Primitive paling fences
485 ^^
formed without nails or ties of any sort, by
<\w> ^\V^ inserting the pales or stakes
in the ground in different di-
rections {fig' 485.), and by
using forked or hooked stakes.
They are chiefly desirable in
forest or park scenery for
maintaining a particular cha-
racter, and for separating horses, deer, &c. Such fences sometimes occur in Poland,
Hungary, &c. ; but in a civilised country they are to be considered more in the light of
effect than of practical utility.
3055. Park fences of iron are the most eflScient and elegant, {fig. 486. and 487.) Light
cast-iron posts, with rails or round iron rods, five eighths of an inch in diameter, to the
height of four feet, and, a foot higher, on the bent extremity of the posts, a chain
instead of a rod [jig. 486.), are found to form a barrier against any description of the
486
^*ooo,^-«.
larger quadrupeds kept in British parks, as horses, wild cattle, buffaloes, deer, &c.
Painted green, or even vnth the paint called blue anticorrosion (ground glass and oil
cliiefly), or coated over with the pyrolignous liquor from the gasworks, such fences are
not obtrusive, and less liale to suggest ideas of limitation, confinement, restraint, &c.,
than walls or pales. Silarly characterised fences may be composed of connected
hurdles {fig. 487), which are valuable, and probably the cheapest of all fences in
496
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
dividing rich and extensive pastures, such as a park let out to a farmer for several years'
grazing. For poultry, or for excluding hares, raljbits, &c. the lower part of such fences
is covered with a wire netting. (Jig. 488.)
SuBSECT. 5. Wall Fences.
3056. Wall fences are constructed of different sorts of materials, and are of various
kinds. They are for the most part good fences, though some of them, as those of the
earthy kinds, are not by any means durable, and therefore should not be formed where
better sorts can be used. In the construction of walls, it is essential that the stones be
either taken from a quarry, or consist of the largest land-stones broken in such a manner
as to have a good flat surface, in order that they may bind well ; that they be built by
masons, and well pinned ; that they have as dry and deep a foundation as possible, in
order to guard against frosts, &c. ; that they be made wide at the bottom, and tapering
upwards to about the breadth of ten inches, when the coping is to be applied ; that the
coping consist of materials that cannot be readily overturned or removed, as, upon the
manner in which it is finished, much of the future value and durability of the wall will
be found to depend.
3057. Dry stone waUs are of three kinds : those constructed of round stones gathered
from the fields, and coped vpith turves ; of quarried stones, upon which some pains have
been bestowed to put them into proper shape ; and the Galloway dike, so denominated
rom its being originally used in that country.
3058. The wall or dike made with round or land-stones, by labourers, and covered with a coping of turf,
is a very indiflTerent fence. In most instances, it is not only very ill constructed as to shape, being of one
uniform thickness from top to bottom, but the stones, from their round figure, do not present a sufficient
surface to each other to bind and give stability to the building. This fence has long been known, and is
still very common in the remote parts of the country, upon estates where the first rude essay is made in
the way of improvement, and where masons cannot readily be had. In such situations it has a two-fold
benefit; the surface is cleared of many stones that would otherwise have presented a considerable
obstacle to its cultivation, and the field is at the same time enclosed : but, though these objects are accom-
plished for a time, their benefit is not permanent, as the wall is perpetually tumbling down ; even the
cattle rubbing against it make considerable gaps in many places; and in that way, great trouble and
expense are annually required to keep it in repair.
489 3059. The ivall in which the stones are quarried {fig. 489.), and
put together by skilful masons, broad at bottom, tapering gra-
dually upwards, and finished at top with a substantial coping,
has a very neat appearance, and has been known to last thirty
and even forty years without repairs. A good foundation is
highly essential in the construction of this fence ; from nine to
twelve inches is the smallest depth that it should be below the
common surface, especially if the soil is open and porous ; and
the largest and heaviest stones should always be laid undermost.
The best dikes of this kind are now built solid from bottom to top, and coped with stones resting upon
others projecting beyond the width of the dike. (C.) „,,. ^^,^^• • • n «, i ^i
^ 400 3060. The Galloway dike or wall ifigA90.) IS prmcipaMy employed
for enclosing high grounds that are depastured with sheep, for the
confining of which it seems well calculated. From two feet to two
and a half, at the bottom, it is built in a regular compact manner
with dry stones, in every respect the same as a dry stone wall with
a broad base, tapering gradually upwards : the building is then
levelled with a course of flat stones, resembling a coping, in such a
manner as that these flags or flat stones shall project two or three
inches over the wall on each side. Above these flat stones is laid a
course of rugged round ones, placed upon each other in a way
secure enough to give stability to the building, but at the same
time so open as to leave a considerable vacuity between each ; by which means a free passage is afforded
to the light and wind which blows through them with a violent whistling noise. This rough open part
of he building is generally raised three fe%t above the regular part of it, f ^.JjJ^ly ^fPf^^^PX^tha
it terminates m a top of about nine inches broad, every course ot the rough stones being smaller than that
mSiately beneath it Its tottering appearance is so well calculated to prevent sheep, cattle, or other
Lnimals S annroachinff it that it is seldom indeed that any attempt is made to leap over it. This
cSStanc^, tCher wfth t^ with which the stones are procured, in most of the situations where
the Galloway dike is used, renders it a valuable fence.
Book IV. WALL FENCES. 497
306 1 . Stone and lime walls, in order to be durable, should have a good foundation, deep
enough to prevent them from being hurt by frosts, veith a broad base, tapering gradually
upwards. This fence, when properly executed, is, next to hedges, the most durable :
it is, however, very expensive ; and its superiority over the dry stone-wall is so trifling
in point of durability, as to render the latter the more eligible, being much cheaper, and
answering every purpose of a fence equally well. For the building of this wall, stones
taken from the quarry are to be preferred to the common land-stones ; for though a
mason may be able to remedy, in some measure, the inequality of surface in land-stones,
by mixing plenty of lime with them, yet experience proves that walls made with such
stones, notwithstanding every care on the part of the builder, are much less perfect, and
last a much shorter time, than where quarried stones are employed. This, like every
other stone fence, should be secured at the top with a substantial coping. Stone fences
of every description not only form complete enclosures at once, and by that means allow
the proprietor to enter into immediate possession of , every advantage that can arise from
the enclosing of his fields, but, by the little room they occupy, a considerable portion of
land is saved. - • - ~ -"" : , ' ^
3062. In the constrwfSttSh^wTinsqf'sfdhes and clay, thH (lay is used like lin*;^, and is meant to answer
the same purpose. It requires slender observation to convftice intelligent persons, that a wall made with
such materials in the ordinary way cannot be a durable oYie; for if the clay made use of in building the
fence has been very moist, the summer's heat will dry it so much as to leave considerable chasms in the
building: these chasms must necessarily deprive many of the stones of that support which they require,
and in tnat way endanger the building. This, however, is not the only inconvenience with which this
kind of wall is attended ; the effect of the summer's sun upon the clay parches it so completely, that when
the wet weather commences about the end of autumn, it absorbs the moisture like a sponge, and if it is
overtaken by frost while in that state, the fabric swells, bursts, and tumbles down.
306.3. Walls of stone and claj/, dashed with lime, differ in no respect from that described, except in the
harling or dashing tliat is given them. Where that operation is well performed, and at a proper season of
the year, the coating of lime, by preventing the entrance of moisture, will add greatly to the durability as
well as beauty of the wall ; so much so, indeed, that some fences made in this way, where the clay was
properly tempered, and did not contain too much moisture, and where a harling or dashing of lime was
afterwards given, have been known to last nearly as long as walls made entirely with stone and lime.
3064. The dry stone wall, lipped with lime, differs from the ordinary dry stone wall, in having about two
or three inches' of it on each side lipped with lime, which gives it the appearance of being built entirely
with stone and lime. Where the external appearance of a fence is an object, something is gained by this
practice; in point of real duration, however, it seems to possess very little advantage over the common
dry stone. wall, which, when properly executed, lasts equally long.
3065. Dry stone walls, lipped and harled, are much the same, nothing more being added than a harling
or dashing of lime after the other work is finished : this addition is to be cohsidered merely as an improve-
ment upon tlieir appearance, and not as contributing to increase their utility, or render them more durable
as fences.
3066. Dry stone imlls, pinned and harled, are much the same : the mason only carefully pins or fills
up.allthe interstices'rfithe building with small stones, after they have been built in the ordinary way,
and afterwards dashes or harls them over with lime. The pinning, by filling up every vacant space, and
affording complete support to the stones in every part of the surface, adds considerably to the durability of
the bullding.'and the harling afterwards gives tiie whole a finished substantial appearance, which renders
them at once agreeable to the eye, and lasting as fences.
3067. The dry stone wall, with a light paling upon the top, is sometimes made, and for particular purposes
answers well, and has a handsome appearance when well executed.
3068. Brick ti)fl//s are seldom had recourse to for ordinary enclosures, except in situations where stones are
extremely scarce (as is the case in some counties), and for pleasure-grounds, and for park or garden walls.
In Nottinghamshire, we have observed brick walls of open work, in the manner of the walls of Mac-
Phail's dungpits ; but the zigzag brick wall we should think preferable as a field wall. (See Enc. of Gard.
and Gard. Mag. vol. v. p. 678.)
3069. Frame walls are constructed in the following manner ; — A frame of deal boards,
of a width and height proportioned to that of the intended fence, is placed upon the line
in which it is intended to be made, a proper foundation having been previously dug ;
the frame is then filled with stones of all sorts, gathered principally from the adjoining
fields : when the frame is filled to the top with such stones, a quantity of liquid mortar
is poured in amongst them, sufficient to fill up every interstice ; the whole is suffered to
remain in that state till it is supposed that the mortar has acquired a suitable degree oi
firmness to give stability to the building, which in summer, when the weather is warnr
and dry, will not require above a day or two. The frame is tlien removed, and placed
a little farther on in the same line, in such a manner as that one end of it shall join
immediately with that part of the work from which it had been removed. In this way
the line of fence is gradually completed, which, when the lime is of good quality and
well mixed with sharp sand, and the proper pains taken to incorporate it with the stones,
presents a smooth uniform surface, and will doubtless form a substantial and durable
fence.
3070. Turf iralls are met with in almost every upland or hilly district throughout
Britain, and for temporary purposes are found very useful. In a variety of instances
this sort of fence is used for enclosing fields, and is practised for that purpose to a very
considerable extent; in others, however, it is used for the formation of folds, pens, or
other places of confinement for cattle during the night. In general, the fence is made
with turf only, pared off from the adjoining surface, and used without any mixture of
earth ; in other cases, the wall consists of a facing of turf on each side, while the space
between is filled up with loose earth. For a fold, this fence answers extremely well ;
but for enclosing a field, or indeed any other purpose where durability is required, it
Kk
498 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
should never be used, as from the moment it is finished its decay commences, and
pains or attention will be able to keep it in repair after it has stood two or three years.
3071. Stone and turf walls are also very common in many situations, where better and
more durable ones could be made at equal, perhaps less, expense. In many instances,
however, they are employed from necessity, where lime is either very dear, or not
obtainable at any price.
3072. Mud walls, with a mixture of straw, were formerly frequent in many places, not only for surround-
ing small enclosures and stack-yards, but also for the walls of farm-houses and offices, and for subdividing
houses into different apartments. When either the outside walls, or the inside divisions of a house,
are to be made of these materials, the custom is, to take a small quantity of straw, and incorporate it
with a sufficient proportion of clay; the straw in this case answers the same purpose as hair in lime-
plaster. When a sufficient number of small masses are made, the work is begun by laying a stratum at
the bottom of the intended wall ; this being done, and the different pieces firmly kneaded or worked
together with the hand, a flat deal board is applied on each side, which, being properly pressed and rubbed
against the building in a horizontal direction, not only serves to consolidate the work, but gives it a degree
of smoothness and uniformity; successive strata are added, till the wall is raised to the intended height,
care being taken to taper it gradually upwards. Walls made in this way, if properly constructed, will
last for many years; and, if dashed or harled with lime at a proper season of the year, will have an
appearance no way inferior to such as are made with stone and lime ; along with this addition to their
appearance, the hariing or dashing with lime, if properly done, will, by preventing the access of moisture,
render them much more durable.
3073. Rammed earth, or en pise, lualls are very common in France, both as fences and
walls for buildings. They have been described at great length in the Communications
to the Board of Agriculture, and in other works, and tried in various parts of this country
with tolerable success, though they are by no means suited either to our moist climate, or
degree of civilisation. In constructing them the earth is previously pounded, in order to
crumble any stones therein ; clay is added in a small quantity, about one eighth part.
It is all beaten and mixed up together by repeated blows with a mallet about ten inches
broad, ten or fifteen inches long, and two inches thick. The earth being thus pre-
pared, and slightly wetted, the foundation of the wall is dug. This is laid with stone ;
and, when it is about one foot high above the surface of the ground, planks are arranged
on each side, and the space between filled with the earth intended for the wall, which
is strongly beaten. This method is continued successively, till the wall is completed.
3074. Stamped earth walls are the invention of Francois Cointeraux. Earth prepared
|a^ j\^ in the same manner as for rammed walls, is put into a mould or
K^ 1^^ box of any size, generally that of the proposed wall's thickness in
"Bw — ."''^™^ width, one or two feet long, and about one foot high. {fig. 491. a)
^BH The mould is a strong oaken or iron box, and the earth being
^[Jl placed in it, is compressed either by the action of a press acted on
by a lever or screw, or a stamping-engine similar to the pile-driver
^gj 1. °^ great forge-hammer. The stone, or solid body of earth (6),
' thus acquired, is then used in the same way as common hewn stone,
and either bedded or merely jointed with lime-mortar ; it is then
washed or harled, both for effect and duration. Various machines
for forming bricks and stones for the ordinary purposes of building
J fence walls, and sheds, and other buildings of one story high, may be
found in the eighth and ninth volumes of the Mechanic s Magazine.
Chap. V.
Gates and Bridges appropriate to Agriculture.
3075. The gate may be considered as a movable part of a fence, or as a frame of
timber, or iron, readily moved, and calculated to give a convenient inlet and outlet to
enclosures. Gates may be considered in regard to the principles of their construction
and fixing ; the materials of which they are made j and their different kinds.
3076. With respect to construction, the great object is to combine strength with light-
ness. The absolute strength of materials depends on their hardness and tenacity. A
gate, therefore, consisting of one solid plate of wood or iron, would seem to require most
force to break or tear it in pieces : but this would not be consistent with lightness and
economy, and in the use of such a gate it would be found to open and shut with more
difficulty than one less strong. The skeleton of a plate of wood or iron is, therefore,
resorted to by the employment of slips or bars, disposed and joined together on mechanical
principles. These principles, applied to carpentry, direct the use of what are called ties
and strutts, in the judicious composition of which, as far as construction is concerned,
consists the whole art of carpentry. A tie {fig. 492. a) is a bar, or piece of timber, so
placed in a structure as to resist a drawing or twisting power ; a strutt {b) is one so placed
as to resist weight, or whatever has a tendency to press or crush. The horizontal bars of
Book IV. GATES APPROPRIATE TO AGRICULTURE.
49
492
a gate are all ties; the diagonal and perpendicular ones strutts. On the judicious
combination of these ties and strutts depends the absolute strength of the gate ; and
on their lightness, and on the general foim of the gate, depends its adaptation for
opening and shutting by means of hinges.
3077. The construction of a gate best adapted for openijig and shutting is next to be
considered. All gates, after being hung, have from their gravitation a tendency to
deviate from their original position, to sink at the head or falling post, and thus no
longer to open and shut freely. If the construction and hanging of the gate were
perfect, this could not possibly take place ; but as the least degree of laxity in truss-
ing the gate, or want of firmness in fixing the post in the ground, will occasion, after
frequent use, a sensible depression at the head, it becomes requisite either to guard
against it as much as possible in the first construction, or to have a provision in
the design of the upper hinge {jig. 493.) for rectifying the deviations as thev take
place.
3078. In order to understand the construction best calculated to resist depression, suppose a gate hung,
and resting on its heel (Jig. 492.c) acting as a strutt, and maintained thereby its upper hinge (rf) acting as
a tie, then the bottom rail of the gate considered as
representing the whole, becomes a lever of the second
kind, in which the prop is at one end (c), the power at
the other {g), and the weight placed between them in
the line of the centre of gravity of the gate {i). Now,
as two equal forces, to hold each other in equilibrium,
must act in the same direction, it follows that the
power acting at the end of the lever [g) will have
most influence when exerted at right angles to it in
the line {g e) ; but as this cannot be accomplished in
a gate where the power must be applied obliquely, it
follows, that a large angle becomes requisite ; that the
greater the angle, the greater the power, or, in other
words, the less the strain on the construction of the
gate, or the less the tendency to sink at the head.
The half of the right angle (c e g) seems a reasonable
limit, by which, if the power requisite to hold the
weight in equilibrium, when acting at a right angle,
be as the side of a square of the length of the
lower bar of the gate {g c), then the power requisite
to effect the same end, when acting at an angle of 45
degrees, is as the diagonal to this square {g h). By
changing the square to a parallelogram, the rela-
tive proportions will still be the same, and the advantages and disadvantages will be rendered more
obvious.
S079. Waistell and Parker have paid great attention to the construction of gates for many years.
More than fifty years ago, Waistell circulated among his friends plans for ornamental gates with semi-
oval and semicircular braces, and such gates {fig. 496.) have now become general. Parker has directed
his principal attention to the hangings and fastenings of gates ; and his forms of latches, hinges, itc, e3
well as his turnpike-gates {fig. 495.), are also very general.
3080. The construction of the gate is thus given by Waistell. The head {fig. 493. a) and heel (6) are to
493
.riiKM
A
be formed of oak, and the bars and braces of foreign fir. " If inferior materials are used, they may be
made a little thicker, but the breadth should remain the same.
The heel of the gate to be about . - -
The head of ditto
The top rail, or bar, vertical piece
Ditto horizontal piece
The bottom bar -..,...
. The other four bars, and the four braces - -
The dimensions in column under A are taken on the face of the gate ; those in the column under B are
ttiken in the direction of its thickness. Narrow and thick bars, when braced as in this design, are stronger
than broad and thin ones, containing the same quantity of timber, and they also oppose a less surface to the
Kk 2
A
B
3A
2
3A
by
2f
2-
1-
1-
6
Sk
H
"^
H
500
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II
494
winA The two points in the heel of the gate, to which the thimbles are fastened, may be considered u
firm or fixed points. From these points, viz. 1 and 2, {fig. 494.) two braces proceed to 4 and 3 in the middle d
the bottom and top bars, and being there secured, these become fixed points, and from these two points, viz,
4 and 3, two braces proceed to 5 and 6, fixing those iwints. The gate is thus doubly braced, viz. from the
top of the heel to the top of the head, by means of the braces 1, 4, and 4, 5 ; and from the bottom of tha
heel to the bottom of the head, by means of the braces, 2, 3, and 3, 6. On each side of the gate are twa
braces, and those parallel to each other. The brace proceeding from the bottom of the heel of the gate,
and that which is parallel to it, as also the bottom bar, are all strained in the way of compression ; and
the brace proceeding from the top of the heel, and the other brace which is parallel to it, and also the top
bar, are all strained in the way of extension. The strains in this gate being none of them transverse, but
all longitudinal, it would support a vast weight at its head, without having its form altered. All the
braces serve the double purpose of keeping the gate in its due form, and of shortening the bearings of the
bars, and strengthening them. Few gates have less timber in their braces, and, perhaps, in no other way
can a gate be so firmly braced with so small a quantity of timber. At 3, 4, 7, and 8, two braces and a bar
of the gate are firmly screwed together, by mieaits bTirOn pTris and screw-nuts. At the other points, where
only one brace crosses a bar, common gate-nails are used. To resist the pressure of heavy cattle, a bar, or
board, about six inches broad and one inch and a quarter thick, should be laid with its broad side upon the
top bar (see section at C), and fixed thereto by means of the ends of the braces in the middle, and by the
head and heel of the gate at the two ends of it. This board wilF, in tjlis position, resist about the same hori-
zontal pressure as a thick top bar three inches and a half sqirat'e', although it coritaThs little more than half the
timber. It is necessary that the lower bars of a field or fold gate should be sufficiently close to prevent
pigs, lambs, &c. from getting through ; but the distances between the upper bars should be greater, that
it may be constructed without either unnecessary wood or weight. In order, therefore, to arrange the
bars so that the increase of their distances may be uniform, the following rule may be serviceable : — " The
height between the bottom bar and the top bar being given, the position of the. other four bars, or for any
other number of bars, may be found j thus, suppose a b the given height, to which the width of an inter-
mediate bar is added, one half on the
top bar, and the other Jialf on the hot-
torn bar. One bar must always be
exactly in the middle between these
two, as at c, to which the braces, at
their crossing, are to be bolted. In
this design another bar is required
between a and c, and two bars be-
tween c and 6; that is, the whole
distance, a b, is to be divided into five
parts, in a regular progression to each
other. Draw any line, a d, and from
o, set off, of any length, five equal
divisions ; from the second division
draw a line through c, in the direc-
tion e, and from the fifth division
draw a line through b, also in the
direction e, where the two lines will
cross; then from the division 1, 3,
and 4, draw other lines to e, the point last found, and where these lines cross, the line a b will be the
position of the centres of the breadth of the other bars. From the centre of each bar, thus found, mark
offhalf the length of each mortice, and whether the rails be of the same width as the mortices, or tenoned
with an equal shoulder on their upper and lower edges, they will be all in a regular progression ; or, in
numbers, if the distance a 6 be divided into 110 equal parts ;
The First distance from B will be 16 of those parts ")
Second . - - - 18 - - - } 55 1
Third 21 - - - - J J- 110
Fourth - - . . 25 - - . ■) cc \
Fifth 30 - ... i ^-'
The progressive differences between the distances being 2, 3, 4, and 5, the three first being equal to the
two last, and the whole equal to one hundred and ten. But if adjusted in the proportion of the followmg
numbers, the whole height A B, being divided into thirty equal parts, the bars at the bottom of the
gate will be a little closer :
The First distance 4")
Second 5t 15
6)
S,i
ds:. ^ i..
^■^TTi
3
Third ..'.-..-
Fourth 71
8J
}
15 J
SO
Fifth
These numbers have one as a common difference. If these rails have shoulders, and are pinned so as to
draw them close to the head and heel, they will be better than without shoulders. The pins should not
be exactly in the middle of the breadth of the head and heel, but nearer the inner edge, that the piece of
wood between the pin-hole and the end of the rails may not be so liable to split out.
3081. " On the hanging of gates. When gates are hung to open one way only, their heels and heads
generally rest against the hanging and falling post, and are about six inches longer than the opening ; but
when they are hung according to this design, gates may be made one foot shorter, or six inches less than
the opening ; and, consequently, they are lighter, stronger, and less expensive. The heel may be three
inches and a half from the hanging-post, and the head two inches and a half from the falling post. When
the two hooks in the hanging-post are placed in the same perpendicular line, a gate, like a door, will rest
in any position to which it may be opened; but in order that a gate may shut itself when thrown open,
the hook must not be in the same perpendicular line, and the farther they are out of it, the greater will be
the force with which the gate will close. The following is a method of fixing the hooks and eyes, or
thimbles, to answer this purpose : — Supposing the hanging-post to be set perpendicular, and that one side
or face of the gate is intended to be in a line with one side of the posts, as shown in the engraving, t'le
centre of the upper hook may be two inches and a half from the inside, and one inch from the face of the
post. The centre of the eye, or thimble, for the upper hook, may be one inch from the heel, and one inch
frofn the face of the gate. The centre of the lower hook may be an inch and a half from the inside, and
half an inch from the face of the post. The eye for the lower hook may be two inches from the heel, and half
an inch from the face, of the gate. The best way of fixing the hooks to wooden posts, is to have shoulders
to keep them at the proper distance, and a screw and nut on the end which is to go into the post, to which
they should be tightly screwed. The eyes should have straps to go on each side of the heel, and along
the bottom and top rails of the gate. The straps for the bottom eye may be about six inches long, with
two holes for bolts ; one of the bolts to go through the middle of the heel, and the other through the bottom
rail and brace. The straps to the top eye may be nine inches long, with three holes for bolts. Blocks
being fitted in between the straps and the bars, the nuts are then screwed on the bolts. Eyes of this
description, which answered very well, have been made of cast iron ; the pins and screws of the hooks
were oi wrought iron, the other part cast The position of a plane passing through the centre of each hook,
is shown in the engraving {fig 494), by the dotted line A B on the plan. If the gate was opened to B, it
Book IV. GATES APPROPRIATE TO AGRICULTURE.
501
would be at its highest elevation, and would have a tendency to fall either way until it arrives at A, when
the head will be at its lowest descent If the gate be shut, the spur and catch prevent the head from fall-
ing to its lowest position ; but the tendency it has to fall to A, is designed to assist in keeping the gate
closed. The iron-work of the gate ought at least to be painted. If the whole of the gate be painted, the
appearance is greatly improved ; and if, when painted, the wood be quite dry, it will be likely to last
longer. Gates, in close situations under trees, although painted, will sooner decay than gates not painted,
in open and more exposed grounds ; and this circumstance has, perhaps, induced some persons to conclude
that the paint, instead of the situation under trees, was injurious to the gates."
3082. Parker's compensation hinge for gates which are much in v-se {Jig. 495.) is an excellent corrective
to their falling ;
all that is neces-
sary, when the
gate sinks at the
head, is to screw
it up by the nut
(n) till it regains
its original posi-
tion. For road
and farm - yard
gates the hinges
are valuable parts
of the construc-
tion.
3083. A gate
should be so hung
as to have two
falls; one to the
hanging-post, to
make it catch,
and the other to a point at right angle with the gateway, so as to keep it ftiUy open. To effect this pur-
pose, having set the post perpendicular, let a plumb-line be drawn upon it : on this line, at a proper height,
place the hook, so that it may project three inches and a half from the face of the post; and at a con-
venient distance below this place the lower hook an inch and a half to one side of the perpendicular line,
and projecting two inches from the face of the post ; then place the top loop or eye two inches from the
face of the hanging style, and the bottom loop three inches and a half: thus hung, the gate will have a
tendency to shut in every position. A gate so hung will have a tendency to shut in every position:
because if the weight of the gate be represented by a diagonal line from the heel to the head, this, by the
resolution of forces, is resolvable into other two lines, one perpendicular, and the other horizontal ; the
former representing that part of the weight which presses in a perpendicular position, and the latter that
part of the weight which presses in a horizontal direction, and gives the gate a tendency to shut.
(Northumb. Rep. 63.)
3084. Gales are generally constructed of timber, and whatever kind may be used it is
essential that it be well seasoned, as, without attention in this respect, they are soon de-
ranged in their structure by the heat of the sun : they should also be well and correctly
put together. Oak is undoubtedly the best sort of wood for the purpose, where dura-
bility is the object ; though some of the lighter kinds of woods, as deal, willow, &c. will
often last a great length of time, as, from their lightness, they are not so apt to destroy
themselves. The lighter gates are made towards the head or opening part the better,
provided they are sufiiciently strong for the purpose they are to serve ; and on this
account the top bars may, in many cases, as where horses are to be kept, be left con-
siderably stronger than the others. If this is not done, they are liable to be broken by
the animals rubbing their necks upon them, except where they are made very high.
Gates are generally made eight and a half or nine feet in width, and from five to six
feet in height ; the bars being three or four feet broad, and five or six in number. In
particular instances a smaller bar is introduced between the two lower ones, in order to
prevent small animals getting through.
3085. Iron, both hammered and cast metal, has long been in use for ornamental gates
(Jig. 496. ), and has lately come into use in some districts for field gates. Their eligibility
must depend on their price and durability with relation to wood. At the ordinary prices
of wrought iron and oak, they will be found of doubtful economy ; cast-iron gates are
too heavy, and too liable to be broken, for agricultural purposes,
5086, Theposts or jyillars to which gates are attached should, in all convenient cases,
be formed of stone ; as this material, when hewn and properly constructed, will last for
ages. When formed of wood, oak and larch are the best sorts. The latter, where suit-.
Kk 3
502
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II,
"^
TT
9
able, should be used without removing the bark, which has been found to add greatly
to their durability. In some places it is customary to plant trees for gate-posts, ana
after they have attained a certain size and thickness, to cut them over about ten fet^
above the surface : where the trees thrive, they form the most durable of all gate-posts
in many instances, however, they fail, and much trouble is necessary to repair the
defect. Where the posts are made of dead timber, they should always be strong, and the
wood well prepared : that part which is let into the earth should also be defended, by
dipping it in coarse oil, or giving it a coat of pyrolignous liquor ; and all that is above
ground exposed to the action of the weather, should be well covered with one or two
good coats of oil-paint. The expense of this preparation is but trifling, wliile the benefit
is very great.
3087. The substance cf a gate-post, according to Parker, should be from eight to ten inches square, or for
very heavy gates a foot square would not be too large. If made of still larger size, it is better. The
steadiness of a gate-post, he says, depends in a great measure upon the depth to which it is set in the
ground, which ought to be nearly equal to its height. Five or six feet are, in general, fully suificient :
but the posts may be kept in their places by a strong frame-work pla-ced under the ground, extending
between the posts.
497 3088. The fastenings of gates, it is observed by Parker (Essay,
p^ , -. &c. 1816.), are as various as the blacksmiths who construct them.
'^ The subject occupied his attention in connection with the hanging of
gates, and he has introduced various improved forms. One of the
most secure (fig. 497.) is a spring-latch (a), opened by a lever (b)
which works in a groove in the upper bar of the gate, and therefore
cannot be rubbed open by cattle, wliile, by means of a knob at tlie
end of the lever, and rising up against the top of the upright bar (c),
so that cattle cannot touch it, it is very easily opened by persons on
horseback with or without a stick or whip.
8089. A simple, economical, and effective spring-latch consists of a bolt {fig. 498 a.), which is loose, and
plays freely in two morticed openings in the
4QQ ,-- upright bars, and is kept in place by a spring
^^° -^OQ '^ (6). The gate may be shut from either side,
when the bar, striking against the projection
(c) on the falling-post, is pushed back, till,
arriving at the mortice (e), the spring (6)
forces it in, and the gate is shut securely.
Such a gate is easily opened by a rider. This
is a good latch for the common field gates of
a farm.
3090. For gates of an ornamental kind, Par-
ker says, he does not know a better latch
than the crooked lever [fig. 499.) now in com-
mon use.
3091. T?ie reversed latch {fig. 500.) is one of the latest improvements in this department, and is par-
ticularly suitable for the gates ui a
gentleman's park. On the edge of
the head of the gate a pin {a) is
screwed ; and on the falling post a
plate containing two latches (6 c) turn-
ing on pivots. Whichever way the
gate is opened, if left to shut itself, or
if shut by force, it easily passes within
the one latch, and is retained between
that and the other. Taking it alto-
gether, this is one of the cheapest and
best field-gate latches. Where a gate
opens onlj on one side, the latch plate
may be made of one half the size, and
with only one of the latches, according
to the side on which the gate opens.
A contrivance of this sort is in use at
some of the pleasure-ground gates at Bretton Hall, near
Barnsley, Yorkshire, and is found very efficacious and satis-
factory There are also some very handsome iron gates at
that residence, which, with the latch stopper alluded to,
will be found figured and described in the Gardener's Maga-
a;iwe, vols. vi. and vii.
3092. Gates are of different kinds (Jigs. 501. and 502.), accordmg to the particular
-^ -^ custom of the district ; but the
principal sorts made use of
are, the swing gate, the fold-
ing gate, the slip-bar gate,
and the wicket and turn-about
gate.
3093. The improved swing gate
of the northern counties is well
adapted for agricultural purposes.
There is a projection on the fore-
oart of the hanging style, which
rises nine inches, and on which the lower end of the diagonal bar, P=^\«;"f "PJJ'f .o'be'a' veVvSng a^^^^
a diagonal bar through which the three middle horizontal bars pass, IV'/?"u'^underftood amonl the
durable gate, and its construction, hanging, and principle of operation, are .veil understood among tne
country carpenters and hedgers of those parts.
500
i
502
-— f-tel
^. 1
i
fe,
Book IV. GATES APPROPRIATE TO AGRICULTURE.
503
^ r*
3094. In Parker's improved swing gate, the diagonal bar rising from the lower part of the heel of the
gate meets the middle of the rail, and the two upright bars are placed at proper distances between the
_ middle and the head of the gate:
I « 503 |— ^ these cross bars must, he thinks,
=jt I assist very much in keeping the
gate together; but what is most
to be guarded against is its sink-
ing at the head, to prevent which
this gate is, he says, well con-
trived.
3095. Menteath'sfield-gate {Jig.
503.) is a very light and strong
form, and at the same time not
expensive. When the head sinks,
it is raised by the simple opera-
tion of applying a larger washer
between the key- wedge, which
retains the hook of the upper
part of the heel («), and the hang-
ing-post. The fastening latch is
Gates of this description are
protected from the rubbing of cattle by a recess in the falling.post (i)
generally made in Scotland of pine or fir timber, or
what is called foreign plank or deal. Mr. Menteath
has the good fortune to possess on his own estates
extensive plantations of pine planted by himself, and
already affording an ample supply lor gates and other
purposes. We have already adverted to his mode of
rendering this timber more durable by steeping it in
lime-water; the same process will also render it less
liable to warp when applied to the construction of
gates. In England, when gates are to be painted or
tarred, they are generally made of pine or fir; when
not to be painted, of oak.
3096. Hunter of T/itirston's economical field-gate
(fig. 504.) is said to be very light and durable. The
hanging-post is held in its place by one or two coarse
props of wood (c), and when it can be got, by a large
stone (6). The inventor gives the following "
Advantages.
" This makes the gate as light as possible, with-
out diminishing its strength ; and, by bending, it
will save the risk of breaking, like the reed in the
fable.
" This causes it to fall back on the hedge when
open, so that a cart cannot strike it.
" This gate will not rot at the hinges.
" It will either open or shut of itself, except when
three quarters open ; and, if the point should
droop, the upper hinge will take it up ; and it pre-
vents the joining of the upper bar at the head of
the heel (c) from separating.
" The gate being ten feet by four, this is probably
the best angle for a diagonal ; and it hardly requires
a nail to keep it in its place." {Quart. Journ. Agr.
vol. ii.)
The improved park-gate {fig. 505.) deserves to be more generally adopted, particularly in the fields
Description and
" With the exception of a small spar for Iambs, all
parts of the above gate taper regularly from four
inches to three inches in breadth, and from one
and a quarter to three quarters in thickness, but
any other proportions may be adopted.
" It is not placed between the posts, but on the
face of the hanging-post.
" The hinges are not near any joinings of the
wood.
" Each part of the under hinge is one inch and a
half longer than the upper ; and the upper shortens
by means of a screw and nut.
" The gate is divided into four parts, of which the
diagonal embraces two."
505
near gentlemen's houses, where there is much inter-
course. Much of the excellence of this gate depends
on the manner in which it is hung, and the following
imi)roved mode of hanging is given in the Quarterly
Journal of Agriculture. " The upper hinge {a a),
fixed on the topmost bar of the gate, is formed with
a band or crook in the common manner, and is re-
ceived into the socket of the hinge {b), which may
either be fixed in the post by lead, or continued through
it, and fixed with a screw-nut. The advantages of
forming the upper hinge to move in a socket are, 1,
That, while space is given it to play, it is firmly sup.
ported in its place ; 2. That the means are aflbrded
of causing it to move smoothly at all times, by pouring
a little oil into the socket. The lower hinge is
formed on the principle of affording two pivots, or
points of support, to the lower part of the gate. It
consists of two iron plates, placed horizontally at the
distance from each other of three eighths of an inch,
the upper of which {d) is fixed to the post, and the
lower (c) to the gate. From the underside of the
upper plate project two cylindrical knobs of iron,
placed perpendicularly. These are received into
the upper plate c, so that the gate rests upon
the two upright pieces of iron as pivots. The gate, when shut, has thus three distinct points of
support, namely, the socket of the upper hinge, and the two lower pivots, the former of which is thus
placed at the vertex, and the latter at the base of an isosceles triangle. From this construction, it results
that the gate is only in a state of equilibrium when, being shut, it rests on both the lower pivots, and that,
when opened, it must tend to regain its former position. The more distant from the lower points of sup-
port the socket is placed, the more firmly is the gate retained in its place, and prevented from trailing on
the ground : and the more distant from each other these two points are, the more strongly does the gate
Kk 4
504
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
tend to regain that perpendicular position in which alone it is in a state of equilibrium. The upper hinge
should, therefore, be placed on the highest bar of the gate. The distance between the centres of the two
cylindrical knobs of iron (on d) may be 5 inches, which will be found sufficient to give a strong impetus
to the gate to shut itself. The power of a gate to shut itself, in all cases, is a certain advantage, even
where fields are in a course of constant cultivation, and a very obvious advantage where they are kept
chiefly in grass. There is no providing, in ordinary cases, against the carelessness of persons, who will
rather leave a gate open than undergo the little labour required to shut it. There is an apparent ob-
jection, indeed, to this species of gate, which is, that each time a cart or waggon passes, the gate must
not only be opened, but held open until the carriage has passed. The inconvenience, however, from this
is not so great in practice as might be supposed. It is very tare that farm horses will not obey the voice of
the driver, and pass while he holds the gate open with his hind. Where the gate must be kept constantly
open, as when there is a leading of com or hay from tlie fieW, or of manure to it^ it can either be propped
back by a stone, or removed from the hinges, and laid aside till wanted ; or ill inconvenience of this
nature may be obviated effectually, by sinking a stone in the ground, and fixing to it a simple hook or
latch, to which the gate may be attached when opened.
3098.' ^^heJatcfy pfMgate of this kind must be made to open with as little force as possible. To this end,
the sprii^g (e), two feet in length, is fixed nearly at right. angles to the piece of iron (/), which passes
through^the-head of th6 gbte, and is attached to the handle by a joint or hinge fixed to the handle (a-),
while tte handle itself !«. aftached to the back of the head by a similar joint. The notch in the hori-
zontal plateTlor the rectepjEion of the spring, must be in the plane of a perpendicular from the upper
liinge.'*
3099. The dimensions of this gate axe as follow: — "There are five horizontal, one diagonal, and four
upright bars. The hindmost of the latter, or, as it is generally called, the heel, is 4 inches by 3,
and the foremost, or head, 3 inches square. Into these are mortised the extremities of the hori-
zontal bars. The uj^jrights, or braces, consist of pieces of plank nailed to one side of the gate, 3
inches by li The diagonal, from the lower end of the head to the upper end of the heel, is of the same
dimettsioiw; and is nailed to the opposite side of the gate. The heel rises a foot above the upper bar,
the other uprights 6 inches above it, a^d all of them project about 4 inches below the lower bar, which
again is 6 inches from the ground. The horizontal bars taper from the heel to the head, being 2%
inches square at their junction with the former, and 2^ inches at their junction with the latter. They
may be bevelled a little at top. The length of the gate, including the breadth of the head and heel,
is 9 feet ; the height over the bars 3 feet 9 inches ; the distance between the heel and the pillar ."> inches ;
and between the head and the pillar 3 inches. The plate for receiving the spring of the latch is 11 inches
in hprizontal breadth." ,,
( 3ldO. The best species of post or pillar " is a single stone of granite, greenstone, or any of the harder rocks.
In this case, instead of fixing the bands of the hinges into the stone, by running them in v/ith lead, they
f>uld be carried through to the opposite side, and fixed by a bolt or screw-nut When wood is used for
5ts, any Coarse kind, whether fir or hard wood, which is unfit for other useful purposes, may be employed,
f the gate itself, the best Memel timber only should be used. Spruce is liable to break, and larch to
warp ; and Scotch pine, it is well known, when exposed to the weather, is one of the least durable of the
pine tribe. All the mortises of the gate, and the parts at which the uprights and diagonal cross tiie bars,
should be carefully coated with White lead ; and wh^n the parts of the gate are joined together, the whole
should afterwards receive two coats of paint. Gates of Memel wood, constructed on these principles, and
with these precautions, havel)een known to last for thirty years, without repair, or tending to trail upon
the ground. Expense in all 2^. 75." {Quar. Jour. Agr. vol. \. -p. 19.1.)
3101. The tresseKbar gate (fig. 506.) consists of
two bars, one hung py a few links to each gate-post,
and in the middle of the opening, where the bars
meet, they are supported by two legs, like a tressel,
and may be padlocked, or fastened by a pin and
a few links, &c. In the promenade at Florence
such gates are made use of to close the larger car-
riage openings.
3102. The slip-bar gate is, perhaps, the most
durable of any, especially where the gate-posts are
of stone, with proper t^)eni.ngs left for the reception
of the bars. The only objection that can possibly
be made to the slip-bar gate is the trouble of open-
ing and "shuttilig, ■w^16B,\ when servants or others are passing through it in a nurry, occasions its being
frequently left open. 'In other respects, it is preferable to every other description of gate, both in the
original cost, and greater durability. It is to be noticed, however, that upon the verge of a farm or
(6Stal!««,*<^edlMly wh«re it is bounded by a high road, the slip-bar gate will not answer, as it does not
A'drnit of being locked or secured in tlie same way as other gates ; but in the interior of a farm of estate,
it 'Ofill: be found the cheapest sort of gate.
I SIOS. The chained slip-bar gate, though more expensive, is not liable to the same objections as the last
Here the bars are connected by a chain down the middle of the gate, and therefore, if one bar is padlocked
to the post, none of them can be moved till that one is unlocked.
,3104. The turn-about, or wicket-gate, is only used in cases where there is a necessity for leaving an entry
for the people employed to pass backwards and forwards. This purpose it answers
very well, and at the same time keeps the field completely enclosed, as it requires
no trouble to shut it in the time of passing.
3105. The double, or folding gate (jig. 507.), is considered by some to be much more
durable than those of the swing kind; because the bars, from being only half the
lengitb, render the joints of the gate not so liable to be broken, ot the hinges to be
hurt by straining. On the other hand, such gates require more time and
attention in the opening and shutting, and the latter operation is troublesome
to perform, when both halves have fallen at the head. These gates are not,
therefore, in such general use in agriculture as the swing kind; but they are
_ _ CTTOmon as gates to parks, and other scenes of dignity and ornament.
^iOS^r Clarke's window-sash gate {fig. 508.) is a recent invention, which may be of use in some cases,
especially in farm-yards. It is suspended by two weights, and opens aud shuts exactly on the principle
of the window-sash. The weights may be of stone or cast iron, and the pulleys are of iron and nine
inches in diameter. It was applied in the first instance to a cattle-court; but has since been erected in
difftrent situations. Its advantages the inventor considers to be the following : — It is easy to open (6), or
shdl {a) ; remains in whatever situation it is placed ; is not liable to be beaten to pieces by the action of the
wind r shuts always perfectly close, whatever be the height of the straw or dung in the court or gateway ;
a cart may be driven quite close on either side before opening ; is perfectly out of the way when fully
open, and not liable to shut on what is passing ; the gate bottom not liable to decay by being immersed
in the dung, as is commonly the case with cattle-court gates ; not liable to go out of order ; may be
erected in a hollow place, where a swinging gate could not open either outwardly or inwardly ; and is
likely to be more durable than ordinary gates. A small gate of this description {fig. 509.) is said, by
I..asteyrie {Col. de Machines, Sfc.) to have been long in use by the Dutch.
iU
Book IV.
GATES, STILES, AND BRIDGES.
505
509
3107. Parker's sympathe'ic park-gate {fig. 510,) is an ingenious contrivance, by which, on the approa( h
of a carriage, the gate opens apparently by its own voUtion, and closes again after the carriage has passtil
through, without any apparent cause. The manner in which this extraordinary effect is intended to be pii»>.
duced io by small plates let into the ground at short distances from the gate, and when the carriage wheets
rollover them, they are made to descend like a weighing machine, and to act upon certain levers concealr«l
in a trunk under the road, by means of which a toothed wheel is made to revolve, and to turn a toothec^
pinion affixed to the swinging-post or axle of the gate, and hence to throw it open or close it. {Newtoh'i
Journal, vol. xiv. p. 225.) In an agricultural point of view, this gate is of no use ; but as a curiosity it is
worth noticing, and perhaps in the drives or ridings in somt pleasure-grounds and parks it might be worth
executing. In England it might save the tax on a groom, and in America and Australia it might be as
good as a helper, which, for such aids as opening gates are not very easy to be found.
3108. SlUes are contrivances for man to pass over or through fences, without the risk
of even permitting the larger quadrupeds to accompany or follow lum. There are many
forms perfectly well known every where : as by steps over a wall ; by a zig-zag passage,
formed by stakes, through a hedge or paling ; a turning-bar or turnstile, &c.
3IC9. The stile of falling bars {fig. SIX.) is chiefly used in pleasure-grounds, or between paddocks;
511
^
t consists of bars, light at one end {a) and heavy at the other (6), with concealed joints or pivots, in an
"P"8;ntpost (c) placed nearer one end of the bars than the other. Then, while the weight of the short
ends of the bars keeps them in a fencible position, a slight pressure on the other end will form a oassaee
(d) which any one may easily step across. f «»i5
3110. Bridges arc frequently required on estates and farms, for crossing ditches and
water-courses. They are gener«-11y large stone conduits or barrel-drains j or in the case
506 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
of large streams, arches of masonry. In the case of small drains, wooden pipes or
boarded tubes are sometimes resorted to, and even earthen pipes have been used ; but
masonry should generally have the preference.
BOOK V.
OF THE OPERATIONS OF AGRICULTURE.
3111. The operations of agriculture are effected under the direction of man, and by
means of the mechanical agents, or implements and buildings, which have passed in
review in the preceding book. They are either performed directly on plants or animals,
which may be considered the objects of agriculture ; or on the soil and climate, which
are the natural agents of growth and culture. They may be arranged as manual labours
and operations, operations with beasts of labour, and mixed operations.
Chap. I.
Manual Labours and Operations.
3112. The labours and operations of any art can seldom be described with great
advantage. Whoever wishes to acquire them should resort at once to the scene of
practice : no description, however minute, will teach a man to dig, plough, or mow,
equal to a few hours' trial in the field, though a knowledge of the mechanical principles
on which the implements and the human machine act in sucl^ operations, will aftbrd
some assistance in acquiring them, and in performing them with ease. Our observations
shall chiefly be directed to these parts of the subject, and to the most suitable weather
and other circumstances for the performance of the different field labours of the manual
kind. We shall arrange these as manual labours common to all arts ; manual operations
on the soil ; and mixed manual operations, or such as are performed on the soil, plants,
and animals, together or connectedly.
Sect. I. Mechanical Operalions common to all Arts of Manual Labour.
3113. All the operations which man performs ivith implements or machines are, as far as
his own person is concerned, reducible to lifting, carrying, drawing, and thrusting.
Man himself, considered as an engine, derives his power from alteration in the position
of the centre of gravity, and he applies it chiefly by his hands, arms, and legs acting as
levers of the third kind.
3114. Lifting is performed by first stooping, or lowering the centre of gravity, and at
the same time throwing it to one side. The object being then laid hold of by the hands,
the body is raised, and the centre of gravity, in being restored to its true position, acts as
a counterbalancing weight to the weight to be raised. The weight retained by the hand
is now raised a certain height, never exceeding half that of the man ; if to be raised
higher, recourse is had to muscular strength, or the power of the arms to act as levers.
3115. Carrying. To carry a thing is merely to walk with jv^reater weight than
before, and walking is performed by a series of alternate derangements and adjustments
of the centre of gravity, slow or rapid, as the person may walk or run. According to
Delolme, the most advantageous weight for a man of common size to carry horizontally is
112 lbs. ; or, if he returns unladen, 135 lbs.
3116. Drawing. In this operation, the upper part of the body is thrown forward, so
as to act as a power to counterbalance or lift up the body or weight to be moved ; and
by joining to this lifting motion the operation of walking, the weight is at once lifted up
and drawn along. This compound operation is exemplified in a horse, when straining
at a draught in a plough or cart: he first lowers his chest, than raises it, and lastly
steps forward. When drawing at ease, the lifting motion is scarcely distinguishable
from the progressive one.
3117. Pushing, or thrusting, is performed exactly on the same principles as drawing,
and differs from it chiefly in the kind of implement or machine which requires to be
employed ; all machines which are to be pushed requiring to be attached to the animal
machine by parts acting by their rigidity ; whereas those to be drawn may be attached by
. parts acting by their tenacity merely.
3118. Wheeling is a mode of carrying materials in which the weight is divided between
the axle of the wheel and the arms of the operator. The arms or shafts of the barrow
thus become levers of the second kind, in which the power is at one end, the fulcrum
Book V. LABOURS OF THE SIMPLEST KIND. 507
at the other, and the weight between them. The weight is carried or moved on by the
continual change of the fulcrum with the turning of the wheel ; and this turning is
produced by the operator throwing forward his centre of gravity so as to push against
the wheel by means of the movable axle, &c. The chief obstacles to wheeling are the
roughness or softness of the surface to be wheeled on. Where this is firm, there wheel-
ing will be best performed, with the greater part of the load resting on the axle ; but
where soft and deep, the centre of gravity should be nearest the operator, who will find it
easier to carry than to overcome excessive friction. Dry weather is obviously preferable
for this operation. " With wheelbarrows," Dr. Young observes, " men will do half as
much more work as with hods."
3119. All these operations may be varied in quantity, either by a variation in the
weight or gravity of the man, or moving power ; or by a variation in the time or rapidity
of his motions. Thus a heavy man may, in one movement, lift a weight ten times
greater than can be done by one of less weight ; but a light man may, by increasing the
time of performance, lift the same weight at ten times. A man, who in digging can
apply with his feet five cwt. of his weight towards pushing the wedge or blade of the
spade into the soil, has an apparent advantage over a lighter man who can only apply
three cwt. of mere gravity for that purpose ; but yet the latter may equal the former, by
accompanying his power, or foot, with a proportionate increase of motion. The power
in this last case is said to be obtained by the momentum, or quantity of matter in a body
multiplied by the velocity with which it is moved. Power, therefore, we thus ascertain,
is obtained by matter and motion jointly, and what may be deficient in the one, inay be
made up by excess in the other. Thus, a small light workman may (though with more
animal exertion) produce as much work as a larger or heavier man : for if we suppose
the quantity of matter in the large man to be thirty, and his motion at the rate of two,
then if the quantity of matter in the small man be twenty, and his motion at the rate of
three, he will produce an equal effect with the large man. As small human machines,
or men, are generally c«istructed of finer materials, or ntiore healthy and animated, than
large ones, the small man performs his rapid motions with nearly as great ease to himself
as the heavy man moves his ponderous weight ; so that in point of final result they are
very nearly on a par.
Sect. II. Agricultural Labours of the simplest Kind.
3120. The manual labours of the field are, next to the general labours enumerated,
among the simplest required of the human operator, demanding, in addition to health
and strength, but little skill in their performance.
3121. Breaking sto7ies is an easy labour, requiring very little skill, and no great degree
of strength. The stones are previously reduced in the quarrying, or otherwise, to sizes
at which they can be broken by one blow or more of an iron-headed hammer. In general
they are broken on the plane on which the operator stands, but the blow has more effect
when the stone is raised about eighteen inches ; and, for small stones, the most work will
be done when they are broken on a table nearly as high as a man's middle, which is now
the practice under the direction of the best road-makers.
3122. Picking. The pick is a blunt wedge, with a lever attached to it nearly at right
angles ; and the operation of picking consists in driving in the wedge so as to produce
fracture, and then causing it to operate as a compound lever by the first lever or handle,
so as to eflfect separation, and thus break up and loosen hard, compact, or stony soils. It
is also used to loosen stones or roots ; and the pick-axe is used to cut the latter. For
breaking and pulverising the soil, the most favourable conditions are, that the earth should
be moderately moist, to facilitate the entrance of the pick, but in tenacious soils not so
much so as to impede fracture and separation.
3123. Digging. The spade is a thin wedge, with a lever attached in the same plane,
and the operation of digging consists in thrusting in the wedge by the momentum (or
weight and motion) of the operator, which effects fracture ; a movement of the lever
or handle next effects separation, whilst the operator, by stooping and rising again, lifts
up the spitful or section of earth on the blade or wedge of the spade, which, when so
raised, is dropped in a reversed position, and at a short distance from the unbroken
ground. The separation between the dug and undug ground is called the trench or
furrow ; and when a piece of ground is to be dug, a furrow is first opened at that end of
it where the work is to commence, and the earth carried to that end where it is to termi-
nate, where it serves to close the furrow. In digging, regard must be had to maintain
a uniform depth throughout ; to reverse the position of each spitful, so that what was
before surface may now be buried ; to break and comminute every part, where pul-
verisation is the leading object; to preserve each spitful as entire as possible, and
place it separated or isolated as much as can be effected, where aeration is the ob-
ject ; to mix in manures regularly, where they are added ; to bury weeds not likely
to rise again, and to remove others, and all extraneous matters, as stones, &c., in
508
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
every case. For all these purposes a deep open trench is requisite ; and, that this may
not be diminished in width and depth in the course of the operation, it must never
be increased in length. If allowed to become crooked by irregular advances in the
digging, it is thus increased in length, and necessarily diminished in capacity, unless,
indeed, the dug ground is allowed to assume an uneven surface, which is an equally
great fault. Digging for pulverisation, and mixing in manures, is best performed in dry
weather ; but for the purposes of aeration, a degree of moisture and tenacity in the soil is
more favourable for laying it up in lumps or entire pieces. The usual length of the
blade of the spade is from ten inches to a foot ; but as it is always inserted somewhat
obliquely, the depth of pulverisation attained by simple digging seldom exceeds nine
inchejf, and in breaking up firm grounds it is seldom so much.
3124. Shovelling is merely the lifting part of digging, and the shovel, being broader
than the spade, is used to lift up fragments separated by that implement or the pick.
3125. Marking with the line is an operation preparatory to some others^ and consists in
stretching and fixing the line or cord along the surface, by means of its attached pins or
stakes, in the, direction or position desired, and cutting a slight continuous notch, mark,
or ?Jit,, in the ground, along its edgej with the spade. . i
3126. Trenching h a mode of pulverising and mixing the soil, (>rk)f pulverising and
changing its surface, to any greater depth .than can be done by the spadie alone. For
trj^flching with a view to ; pulverising and changing the surfaice, a trench is formed like
the furrow in digging, -but twice or tlu-ee times as wide and deep ; the plbt^or'piece to be
trenched is o^^ext marked off with the line into parallel strips of this width ; and, begin-
ning at one of tliese, the operator digs or picks the surface stratum, and throws it irt the
bottom of the trench. Having completed with the shovel the removal of file surface
stratum, a second^ and a third, or fourth, according to the depth of the soil and other
ci|"(;uins|a^ces> i^re rtemoved in the same way ; and thus, when the operation is completed,
the position of the diflferent strata is exactly the tever^e of what it was before. In
trenpbing with a view to mixture and pulverisation (fig. 512.)^ all that is necessary is
to^open, at one corner of the plot, a trench or excatation of the desired depth, three or
fcfur feet broad, and six or eight feet long. Then proceed to fill this excavation from
one end by working out a similar one. In this way proceed across the piece to be
trenched, and then return, and so on in parallel courses to the end of the-^lot, observing
th^ttXJ^ ^^^ or po^fion .Qjf the raoy^d soil iui.tlie.jtrfinch must- always -bS that of" a slope,
inr.order that- whatever is thrown there rhay be iftSxed, anctnot deposited in regular4Siyers
asi^in the other' case. To effect this most completely, the operator should always stand
in the bottom of the trench, and first picking down and mixing the materials, from the
solid side (a), should next take them up with a ghovel, or thro>y ^he^i qn tlip slope or
^K?^M^iT°''^o^^!^& keeping a distinct spac^ of twr<^.grjtl^^^,/^t;i)^t^^^n ,^p,g^
tJ9d -jjIei «tt >o r'is'^'^ ■
d ii\!i..tn<
• nof 6 90rf t 1
Fqf want of attention to tJiis, in trenching new soils for plantations, or other purposes,
it may be truly said that half the benefit derivable from the operation is lost. In general
in trenching, those points which were mentioned imder digging, such as turning, breiak-
ing, dunging, &c. required to be attended to, and sometimes an additional object — ^thatof
producing a level from an irregular surface — is desired. In this case double care if
rei^uisite, to avoid forming subterraneous basins or hollows, which might retain water ir
the substratum, at the bottom of the moved soil, and also to mix inferior vnth better soil,
&c- where it becomes requisite to penetrate into depositions of inferior earthy matters.
The removal of large stones, rocks, or roots, from ground trenched for the first time, will
be treated of under Improvement of Lands lying waste. (Book III. Chap. IV.)
q3127. Ridging is a mode of finishing the surface, appli<;able either to dug or trenched
gi^ounds, which, when so finished, are called Tidge*dug or ridge-trenched.- Inste«td of
being formed witbjaniey&n surface, ridged grounds vai^ finished in ridges or close ranges
of parallel elevations, whose sections are nearly equilateral triangles. Hence, supposing
the triangles to touch : at their bases, two thirds more surface will be exposed to the
influence of the atmosphere and tlie weather, than in even 'surfaces.
3128. Forking. The fork is composed of two or three separate, parallel, and uniform
wedges, joined so as to form one general blade, which is acted on like the spade, by means
of a shoulder or hilt for *hrusting it into the matters to be forked, and a lever or handle
Book V LABOURS OF THE SIMPLEST KIND. 509
for separating and lifting them. Forking is used for two purposes ; for pulverising the
soil among growing crops,and for moving vegetable substances, such as faggots of wood,
sheaves of corn, hay, manure, &c. In the iirst case the operation is similar to digging,
the only difference being that pulverisation is more attended to than reversing the surface ;
in, the other, the fork separates diiefly by drawing and lifting ; hence, for this purpose, a
round-pyonged or (dung) fork produces least friction during the discharge of the forkful
and, reinsertion, and a broad-pronged fork separates and lifts the soil more readily. ' Dry
weather is essentially requisite in forking soils, and most desirable for spreading manures,
but dunghills may be turned during rain with no great injury. '
3129. Dragging out dung or earth is performed by the dung-drag, and is Adopted in
the case of distributing dung from a cart in regular portions or little heaps over a field.
When lime in a state of pulverisation, earth, or sand, is to be distributed in the same way,
a scraper, or large hoe is used j and sometimes, for want of these, the duiig-dr&g, aided by
the spa,4'P pr conamon hoe. ' • ,
SlSp. Iland-hoeing is performed by drawing or thrusting the wedge or blade' df the
draw or thrust hoe along the surface of the soil, so as to cut Weeds at or under the
surface, and slightly to pulverise the soil. It is used for four purposes, sometimes
together, but in general separately : first, to loosen weeds or thin out plants, so that those
Jioed up may die for want of nourishment, or be gathered or raked off, for which pur-
pose either the thrust or draw hoe may be used ; the second, to stir the soil, and for this
purpose, when no weeds require killing, the pronged hoe is preferable, as being thrust
deeper with less force, and as less likely to cut the roots of plants ; the third is to draw
up or accumulate soil about the stems of plants, for which purpose a hoe with a large
i)lade or shovel will produce most effect ; and the fourth is to form a hollow gutter 6i
4i?U in which to sow or insert the seeds of plants, for which a large or small draw-ho^
may be used, according to the size of the seeds to \ii
buried. The use of the hoe for any of the above piir^
poses requires dry weather.
3131. Hoeing between rows of crops is somtimes performed by
what is called a hoe-plough, which is a small plough having a
share with double fins, drawn by one man, and pushed by
another. It is in use in India, and is sold in London under the
name of the Indian hoe-plough, but it is more for the exercise'
of amateurs on free soils than for useful culture. In this way
a master may exercise both himself and his valet, and clear his
potatoes or turnip crop at the same time. The Dutch have a
..e v^.Ureo*.' < -xr- ^ ^'^^ ^•^^- ^^^-^ which is drawn and pushed at the same time*:
'"*'?*, '," ",' ' } '^ N-.-^^ for the purpose of cleaning walks, os scraping turf or mud from:
-^<,//UbiU0iic loJfi fxji . roads or court-yards. , ' . . ,
'^ SlW.' ^antZ-raWno Misperformed by drawing through the surface of the soil, or over
it, a series of small . equidistant wedges or teeth, either with a view to minute pul-
verisation, or to collecting herbage, straw, leaves, stones, or such other matters as do
not pass through the interstices of the teeth of the rake. The teeth of the rake being
placed nearly at right angles to the. handle, it follows that the lower the handle is
held in performing the operatjion, the deeper /will be the pulverisation, wh^ that is
th0 object ; and, on the contrary, * that the higher it is held, the interstices being
lessened, the fewer extraneous matters will pass through the teeth. The angle at
which the handle of the rake is held must therefore depend on the object in view;
the medium is forty-five degrees. For all raking, dry weather is essentially requisite ;
and, for raking hay, the angle whiijh the ^handle of the rake makes with the ground's
surface ought to be fifty degrees. /
3133. Scraping may be described as the drawing of a large broad blunt hoe along
the^surface,, fot thfi purpose of collecting ioose eicreraentitious or other useless cHr \t&
jurious matters firom, roads* yar^ or from grassy surfaces to be rolled or mown. The
Dutch hoe (^. 513.) is a good road and lawn scraper.
1 3134. Sweeping h a mode of scraping with a bundle of flestible rods, twigs^ or wires,
which enters better into the hollows of irregular surfaces, and performs the operation
of cleaning more effectually. In agriculture it is used in bams and in stables, though
shovelling is generally sufficient for the common stable and ox-house. >£ •"u'^'Tf*
3135. Screening, or sifting, earth or gravel, is an operation performed with the gtslVeK.*
sieve or earth screen, for separating the coarser from the finer particles. The materialjT
require to be dry, well broken, and then thrown loosely on the upper part of the screenj'^
which, being a grated inclined plane, in sliding down it, the smaller matters drop
through while the large ones pass on and accumulate at the bottom. In sifting, the
same effect is more completely, but more laboriously, produced, by giving the sieve a
circular motion with the arms.
3136. Gathering is a very simple operation, generally performed by women and
children, as in taWng up potatoes or other roots, or picking up stones, weeds, or other
matters considered injurious to the surface on which they lie or grow.
3137. Cleaning roots or other matters is generally performed by washing, and, on
510 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
a large scale, by the root-washing machine, which has aheady been described, together
with the mode of using it. ^
3138. Variotis manual labours and operations might be added ; such as slicing turnips •
chopping them with the chopping-hoe (2572.) in the fields; cutting straw or hay into
chafF; bruising beans or other grain, or whins, or thistles, between rollers ; pushino- a
drill-barrow, &c. ; all which require only bodily exertion, with very little skill, betng
performed by the aid of machines, which, in describing, we have also indicated the mode
of working. (2537. to 2583.)
Sect. III. Agricultural Operations with Plants.
3139. Agricultural operations with the vegetable kingdom rank higher than those with the
soil or machines, as requiring not only strength, but some of them a considerable deo-ree
of skill. *'
3140. Weeding, however simple an operation, requires a certain degree of botanical
skill to know what to weed or extract. These are such plants as it is not desired to cul-
tivate. The operation is performed in various ways : by the hand simply ; by the hand,
aided by a broad-pointed knife, or a bit of iron hoop ; by the hand, aided by gloves
tipped with iron ; by pincers, as in weeding tall weeds from growing corn, or close-
hedges, or out of water ; and by the aid of forks, spuds, or other weeding-tools. In
weeding, it is essential that the weeder know at sight the plants to be left from such as
are to be removed, which in agriculture is generally a matter of no difficulty, as, how-
ever numerous the weeds, the cultivated plants are but few. In weeding ferns, thistles,
nettles, &c. from pasture lands, it has been found that breaking or bruising them over
renders the roots much less liable to spring again the same season, than cutting or even
pulling them up. For this sort of weeding the pincers seem well adapted.
3141. Thinning or reducing the number of plants on any surface is sometimes per-
formed by hand, but most generally with the hoe. Thinning, to be perfectly performed,
ought to leave the plants at regular distances ; but as this can seldom be done, owing to
the irregularity with which seeds come up, whether sown in drills or broadcast, an
attempt to compensate the irregularity is made by a similar irregularity in the distances
allowed between the plants at such places. Thus, if turnips in rows are to be thinned
out to nine inches' distance in the row, and a blank of eighteen inches or two feet occurs,
the last two plants on each side of the blank maybe left at half the usual distance, or less,
by which means each plant having ample room on one side, they will grow nearly as large
as if left at the usual distance. The same principle is to be attended to in thinning
broadcast crops, or trees in a plantation. Thinning may be perfomaed in moist weather ;
but dryness is greatly to be preferred, especially where the hoe is used.
3142. Planting is the operation of inserting plants in the soil with a view to their
growth, and the term is also applied to the insertion of seeds, roots, or bulbs, when these
are inserted singly.
3143. Planting, as applied to seeds and tubers, as beans, potatoes, &c. is most frequently
performed in drills, but sometimes also by making separate holes with the dibber. In
either case, the seeds or sets are deposited singly at regular distances, and covered by raking
or harrowing, with or without pressure, according to the greater or less looseness of the soil,
and to its dryness or moisture. In general, planting seeds or tubers in drills, or in single
openings made by a draw-hoe or spade, is greatly preferable to planting with the dibber ;
because, in the latter case, the earth can seldom be placed in close and somewhat firm
contact with the seed or set, — a circumstance essential to its speedy germination and
vigorous future growth.
3144. Planting, as applied to plants already originated, is commonly termed trans-
planting. Transplanting may be considered as involving four things : first, the pre-
paration of the soil to which the plant is to be removed ; secondly, the removal of the
plant ; thirdly, its preparation ; and, fourthly, its insertion in the prepared soil. Pre-
paration of the soil implies, in all cases, stirring, comminution, and mixing ; and some-
times the addition of manure or compost, according to the nature of the soil and plants
to be inserted. The removal of the plant is generally effected by loosening the earth
around it, and then drawing it out of the soil with the hand ; in all cases avoiding, as
much as possible, to break or bruise, or otherwise injure, the roots. In the case of small
seedling plants, merely inserting the spade, and raising the portion of earth in which they
grow, will suffice ; but, in removing large plants, it is necessary to dig a trench round,
or on one side of, the plant. In some cases, the plant may be lifted with a ball or mass
of earth, containing all or great part of its roots ; and in others, as in the case of large
shrubs or trees, it may be necessary to open the soil around them a year previously to
their removal, and cut the larger roots at a certain distance from the plant, in order that
they may throw out fibres to enable them to support the operation of transplantation. By
two years' previous preparation, and the use of a machine to be afterwards described, very
large trees of such kinds as stole may be removed ; but resinous trees seldom succeed.
Book V. OPERATIONS WITH PLANTS, 511
3145. The preparation of the plant consists in pruning its roots and top, or shoots.
In the smallest seedlings, such as cabbage-plants and thorns, all that is necessary is
to shorten a little the tap or main root ; but in seedlings of trees two or three years old,
or in transplanted or large trees, several of the side shoots will require to be shortened,
and also the roots, always proportioning what is taken oft' the top or shoots, to what has
been taken from the root, that the latter may be duly fitted to support the former.
3146. The insertion of the removed plant in the prepared soil is performed by making
an excavation suitable to the size of the plant's root, inserting it therein, filling up the
interstices with fine earth, and then compressing the whole by the hand, dibber, foot, or,
what is best, by abundant watering. Plants should not be inserted deeper in the soil than
they were before removal ; they should be placed upright, and the same side should be
turned towards the sun as before ; the fibrous roots should be distributed equally round
the stem among the mould or finer soil ; and the most difficult and important part of the
whole is to compress the earth about the roots without crowding them or injuring them
by bruises. The only effectual way of attaining this end is, after carefully spreading
the fibres, and distributing them as equally as possible among the mould, to give
abundant waterings, holding the vessel from which the water is poured as high as pos-
sible, so as to consolidate the earth by that means, rather than by compression with
the foot. On an extensive scale, however, this cannot be done, and in planting seed-
lings or cuttings it is not required, as these have few and short fibres, and may be
firmed sufficiently by the planting instrument or the foot. It should never be for-
gotten that, in all planting, it is an essential point to have the earth firmly compressed
to the roots, and especially to the lower parts or extremities. Any one may be con-
vinced of this, by planting one cabbage loosely, and compressing the root of another
well with the dibber at the lower part ; or, instead of a cabbage, try a cutting, say
of gooseberry, elder, or vine : both no doubt will grow, but the growth of the plant
or cutting compressed at the lower extremity will be incomparably more vigorous than
that of the other.
3147. Watering becomes requisite for various purposes: as aliment to plants in a
growing state ; as support to newly transplanted plants ; for keeping under insects ;
and keeping clean the leaves of vegetables. One general rule must be ever kept in
mind during the employment of water ; that is, never to water the top or leaves of a
plant when the sun shines. A moment's reflection will convince any one that this rule
is agreeable to the laws of nature, for during rain the sun's rays are intercepted by a
screen of fog or clouds. All artificial watering, therefore, should be carried on in the
evening, or early in the morning, unless it be confined to watering the roots ; in which
case, transplanted plants, and others in a growing state, may be watered at any time ; and,
if they are shaded from the sun, they may also be watered over their tops.
3148. Solving is the operation of dispersing seeds over the surface of the soil, with a
view to their future vegetation and growth. Where seeds are deposited singly, they are
said to be planted, as in the case of dibbling wheat or beans ; where they are dropped in
numbers together, they are said to be sown. When dropped in numbers together in a
line, they are said to be drilled or sown in a row ; and when scattered over the general
surface by the hand, they are said to be sown broadcast.
3149. 1)1 broadcast-sowing, the operator being furnished vnih a basket (fg- 525.), or
sheetful of seed hanging on his left side, takes out a handful with his right hand, and
disperses it by a horizontal and rather rising movement of the arm to the extent of a
semicircle, gradually opening his hand at the same time. The most usual practice,
when land is laid up in ridges of equal breadth, and not too wide, as five or six yards,
is that of dispersing the seed regularly over each land or ridge, in once walking round ;
the seedsman, by different casts of the hand, sowing one half in going, and the other in
returning. In doing this, it is the custom of some seedsmen to fill the hand from the
basket or bag, which they carry along Vvath them, as they make one step forward, and
disperse the seed in the time of performing the next ; while others scatter the seed, or
make their casts, as they are termed by farmers, in advancing each step. It is evident,
therefore, that, in accomplishing this business with regularity and exactness, there is con-
siderable difficulty, the proper knowledge and habit of which can only be acquired
by experience. It is consequently of importance for the cultivator to perform the opera-
tion himself, or to be careful in selecting such persons as are conversant with the business,
as he may otherwise incur much unnecessary expense in the waste of seed, and run con-
siderable risk in respect of his crops.
3150. Sawing. The saw is a conjoined series of uniform wedges, which, when drawn
or thrust in succession across a branch or trunk, gradually wear it through. In perform-
ing the operation, the regularity of the pressure and motion are chiefly to be attended
to. In green or live shoots, the double-toothed saw lessens the friction on the sides
of the plate, by opening a large channel for its motion. Where parts are detached from
living trees, the living section ought generally to be smoothed over with a knife, chisel,
12
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Pakt IL
or file ; and a previous precaution in large trees is to cut a notch in the lower part
of the branch immediately under and in the line of the section, in order to prevent any
accident to the bark, w^hen the amputated part falls off. Sawing is a coarser mode
of cutting, mowing, or shaving ; or a finer mode of raking, in which the teeth follow all
in one line.
3151. Cutting is performed by means of a very sharp wedge, and either by drawing
this through obliquely or across the body to be cut, as in using the knife; or by
pressing or striking the axe or hedge-bill obliquely into the body, first on one side
of an imaginary line of section, and then on the other, so as to work out a trench
across the branch or trunk, and so effect its separation. The axe, in gardening, is chiefly
used in felling trees, and for separating their trunks, branches, and roots, into parts.
The knife is extensively used for small trees, and the hedge-bill and chisel for those of
larger size. In amputating with the knife, one operation or draw-cut ought generally
to be sufficient to separate the parts ; and this ought to be made with the knife suf-
ficiently sharp, and the motion so quick as to produce a clean smooth section, with the
bark uninjured.
3152. Every draui-cut produces a smooth section, and a fractured or bruised section ; and one essential
part of cutting living vegetables, is to take care that the fractured section be on the part amputated.
Another desirable object is, that the section of the living or remaining part should be so inclined {fig.
514. a), as not to lodge water or overflowing sap, and so far turned to the ground (d), or to the north, as
not to be struck by the direct rays of the sun. To accomplish both these purposes, as well as to make
sure of having the fractured section on the part amputated, the general practice is to cut from below, or
from the under edge of the branch or shoot, unless the position of the leading bud occasions a deviation
from the rule (6). The cuts should also be made, in all shoots of not more than three or four years old,
within from one fourth to half an inch, or a little more, of the bud intended to take the lead ; when this
is not done, and half an inch or more of shoot is left without a bud (c and e), the consequence is, the stump
dies back to the bud in the course of the season {g), and if not carefully cut off (/), will end in a decaying
orifice both unsightly and injurious. The bud selected for a leader ought always to be a leaf-bud, and in
general the plane of the section ought to be parallel to the angle which the bud makes with the stem (d).
Exceptions occur in the case of plants with much pith {h), as the vine, elder, &c., in ci.tting the year-old
shoots of which, an inch or more ought to be left, as these always die back a few lines ; and thus the leading
bud might be injured, if this precaution were not taken. In pruning roots, the same principle, as far as
applicable, ought to be attended to ; the trunk or stem, when cut over, ought to be sloped to the north (i),
and the lateral roots cut so as the section may be on the under side (A), and therefore less likely to rot than
when the cut faces the surface of the ground (/), or is bruised by neglecting to form the smooth section on
the attached extremity.
3153. In like manner, when pruning a large tree, the section of amputation ought to be made so oblique
as to throw off the lain ; as generally as possible, it should be turned from the sun, and rather downwards
than upwards, in order to shield it from heat and cracking; and, whenever it can be done, it should be
made near a branch, shoot, or bud, which may take the lead in the room of that cut off, and thus, by
keeping the principle of life in action at the section, speedily heal up the wound.
3154. In cutting with the chisel, the blade is applied below the branch to be amputated, so as to rest on
the trunk or main branch, and a quick blow with a mallet is given to the handle of the chisel by the
operator or his assistant. If this does not effect a separation, it is to be repeated. In forest-pruning it is
often advantageous to make one cut with the chisel on the under side of the branch, and then saw it
through with the forest-saw from the upper.
3155. Clipping is an imperfect mode of cutting, adapted for expedition, and for small
shoots. The separation is effected by bruising or crushing along with cutting, and, in
consequence, both sections are fractured. In agriculture, it is chiefly applied for keep-
ing hedges in shape; but the hedge-knife, which operates by clean rapid draw-cuts
given always from below, is generally preferable, as not crushing the live ends of the
amputated shoots. The new pruning-shears and the averruncator, it is to be observed,
by producing cuts much more like the draw-cuts of knives, are greatly to be preferred
to the common hedge-shears.
3156. The best seasons for satving, cutting, or clipping living trees, are early in spring
and in midsummer. Early in autumn, trees are apt to bleed ; later, and in winter, the
section is liable to injury from the weather : but trfees pruned early in spring remain only
a short period before they begin to heal ; and in those pruned at midsummer, wounds
heal immediately. There are, however, exceptions as to spring-pruning in evergreens,
cherries, and other gummiferous trees ; and summer-pruning is but ill adapted for forest-
work or trees in crowded scenery.
Book V. OPERATIONS WITH PLANTS. 513
3157. Splilting is an operation generally performed on roots of trees remaining in the
soil for the purpose of facilitating their eradication. The wedge, in its simplest form,
and of iron, is driven in by a hammer or mallet, till it produces fracture and separation,
when the parts are removed as detached, &c.
3158. Pruning, or the amputation of part of a plant with th6 knife, or other instru-
ment, is practised for various purposes, but chiefly on trees, and more especially on those
of the fruit-bearing kinds. Of two adjoining and equal-sized branches of the same tree,
if the one be cut off, that remaining will profit by the sap which would have nourished
the other, and both the leaves and the fruits which it may produce will exceed their
natural size. If part of a branch be cut oft' which would have carried a number of fruits,
those which remain will set, or fix, better, and become larger. On the observation of
these facts is founded the whole theory of pruning ; which, though, like many other
practices of culture, it cannot be said to exist very obviously in Hature, is yet' the most
essential of all operations for the culture of fruit produced on trt'es.' ' ' ' ^' ' ' *|
3159. The objects of pruning ma.y he xeAnceA to the following: promoting growth arid bulk • lessening
bulk ; modifying form ; adjusting the stem and branches to the roots ; renewal of decayed plants or trees ;
and removal or cure of diseases.
3160. Pruning for promoting the growth and bulk of a tree is the simplest object of prunlngr, arid is that
species which is chiefly employed by nursery-men with young trees of every d*cription. Thef att is to cut
ott' all the weak lateral slioots, that the portion of sap destined for their nourishment may be thrmvn into
the strong ones. In some cases, besides cutting offthe weak shoots, the strong ones are shortened, in order
to produce three or four scoots instead of srffe. In general, mere bulk being the object, upr^t^shoots are
encouraged rather than lateral ones ; except in the case of trees trained on walls, wh^^r^iSjoots are
encouraged at all angles, from the horizontal to the peq)endicular, but more especially at tii^paedium
of 4) degrees. In old trees,'this object is grieatly promoted by the removal, with the proper inst»Bments,
of the dead outer bark. -- '- ' ^^
3161. Pruning for lessening the bulk ofiTtetfee is also chiefly confined to nursery practice; as ne<»5fery
to keep i8i6old trees portable. It consists in little more than wjiat ii technically called heading dowh;
that is, cutting ofFtfte leading shoots within an iQfih or two of the main »tegnjjesvi.nfr, iu some oases, *©me
of thelowfsr lateral shoots. Calais taken to cut tS^^gafbud, and to ch6os^Wm'ffmfi^vaQ:^^j^ga(^ml^ey
upper, or utjder buds of the shoot^.as the succeeding^ear's shoots may be wanted, in radiatedTmeslrom
the stem, or ui oblique lines in somV places to fill up vacaig^cies. It is evident that this unnatural operation
persisted in for a few-years must render the tree knotty ^fl unsightly ; and in stone-fruits, at least, it is
apt to geoerate''i0anker and gum.
5162. ptmmi^J^r modifying the farm (if the tre-e embraces the management of the plant from the time
ov'itScigi^^l^gSiWon'^fAn rearing trees? pfertted for. tiinber, it is desiraWett»*tfcW»r^b* timber produced,
as n*flcn as possible, into long compact masses; and hence pruning, is employed to remove the side
liranches, and encourage the growth of the bole or stem. Where this o^l^ration is begun when the tree*
are young, it is easily performed every two or three years, and the progress of the trees under it is most
satisfactory; when, however, it is delayed till they have attained a timber size, it is^ ia flllCaseS, much
less cohdueiveto the debited erid, and sometimes may prove injurious. Itis safer, in. aiioh<ca^esj*o Shorten
or lessen the'size of lateral branches, rather than to cut them off close by the stem, as.thfi»laarga.!iraunds
produced by the latter practice either do. not cicatrize at all, or not till the central part ia rotton, and'has
contaminated the timber of thfe trunk. In all cases, a moderate number of small branches, to betakett'off
as they grow large, are to be left on the trunk, to facilitate the circulation of the sup and juices. Where
timber-trees are planted for shelter or shade, unless intermixed with shrubs or copse, it i$ evident pruning
must be directed to clothing them from the summit to the ground with side branches. ,Ini aYcnacs,:and
hedgerow trees, it is generally desirable that the lowest branches should be a considerable distance from
the ground; in trees intended to conceal objects, as many branches sh<)uld be left a^ possible; and'in
others, which conceal distant objects desired to be seen, or injure or conceal near objects^ the fbrtniniiiAt
be modified accordingly. In all these cases, the superfluous parts ar^ to be cut off' with a clean; section,
near a bud or shoot if a branch is shortened, or close to the trunk if it is entirely removed; the oBjpet
being to facilitate cicatrization. '"
'3163. Pruning for adjusting the stem andbranches to the roots is almost solely applicable to transplanted
trees, in which it is an essential operation, and should be performed in general in the interval between
removal and replajiting, when the plant is entirely out of ttie groun<i. Supposing only the extremities of
the fibres broken off, as is the case with very small plants and seedlings, then no part of the top will
require to be removed ; but if the roots have been broken or bruised in any of their main branches or
ramiiic^ions, then the pruner, estimating the quantity of root of which the plant is deprived by the
sections of fracture and other circumstances, peculiar and general, will be able to form a notion of what
was the bulk of the whole roots before the tree was disturbed. Then he may state the {^ue&tion of lessen,
ing the top to adjust it to the roots, thus : — as the whole quantity of roots which the tree had before
removal is to the whole quantity of branches which it now has, so is the quantity of roots which it now
has to the quantity of top which it ought to have. In selecting the shoots to be removed, regard must be
had to the ultimate character the tree is to assume, whether a standard, or trained fruit-tree, or orna.
mental bush. In general, bearing- wood and weak shoots should be removed, and the stronger lateral and
upright shoots, witii leaf or shoot-eyes, left.
3164. Pruning for renewal oj the head is performed by cutting over the stem a little way, say its'own
thickness above the collar, or the surface of the ground. This practice applies to old ozier-beds, coppice
woods, and to young forest-trees. Sometimes also it is performed on old or ill-thriving fruit-trees which
are heade(l.down to the top of their stems. This operation is performed with the saw, and better after
scarification, as in cutting off" the broken limb of an animal. The live section should be snioothed with
the chisel or knife, covered with the bark, and coated over with grafting-clay, or any convenient com.
PQsition, which will resist drought and rain foir.ajear. Those who are advocates for pruning when the
sAf is dormant, will not of course be able to perform the oper^tio^^of sq^rification, and covering the section
with bark. , ij
3165. Pruning for curing diseases has acquired much celebrity since the time of Forsyth, whose
amputations and scarifications for the canker, together with the plaster or composition which he
employed to protect the wounds from air, are treated of at large in his Treatise on FruH-Trees. Almost
all vegetable diseases either have their origin in the weakness of the individlial, or induce a degree of
weakjiess; hence to amputate a part of a diseased tree, is to strengthen thte remaining part, because the
rdots remaining of the same force, the same quantity of sap will be thrown upwards as when the head and
branches were entire. If the disease is constitutional, or in the system, this practice may probably, in
some cases, communicate to the tree so much strength as to enable it to throw it off"; if it be local, t!he
amputation of the part will at once remove the disease, and strengthen the tree. "■>'
3166. Mowing is the'operaition of cutting down corn^vgJfa^^attdQtlKr iierbage crops,
vvitli the scythe. It requires great force in the operator, and also a twisting motion of
L 1
514 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
the body which brings almost every muscle into action, and is in short one of the most
severe of agricultural labours. The chief art consists in cutting the crop as close to the
surface of the ground as possible, and perfectly level, pointing the swaths well out so as
to leave scarcely any ridges under tliem. In the mowing of grain crops, scythes shorter
in the blade than the common ones, and to which either a cradle or two twigs of ozicr
put semicircular-wise into holes made in the handles near the blades, in such a manner
that one semicircle intersects the other, are made use of. Commonly, in mowing barley,
oats, or other grain, the corn is on the right hand of the workman ; but M. de Lisle
adopted something like the Hainauit method of mowing wheat (2479.), in which the
corn was at his left hand : he mowed it inwards, bearing the corn he cuts on his scythe,
till it comes to that which is standing, against which it gently leans. After every
mower a gatherer follows, who may be a lad, or a woman. Tlie gatherer keeps witliin
five or six feet of the mower, and being provided either with a hook or stick about two
feet long, gathers up the corn, making it into parcels, and laying it gently on the
ground ; this must be done with speed, as another mower immediately follows, and to
every mower there is a particular gatherer. To do this work properly, the mower
should fonn but one track with his feet, advancing in a posture nearly as if he was going
to fence, one foot chasing the other. In this manner the standing corn is mowed ; and
the workman should take care to have the wind at his left, as it bears the corn tovvards
the scythe, and causes it to be cut nearer the ground. When wheat is bent, the work-
man takes the corn as it presents itself to him, which has the same effect as if the wind
was at his left side. When it is laid, it is more troublesome to the gatherer, because
the cut corn is apt to be mixed with that which is standing ; but a good mower takes
the advantage of the wind, and cuts it against the way it is laid. No particular direc-
tions can be given for corn that is lodged and entangled, unless it be to take it as it is
inclined, as if the wind were on the back of the mower
3167. The usual method of mowing grain is the same as for grass, the scythe only
having a cradle or bow fixed upon the heel of the handle. (Jig. 226.) In the " prac-
tice of most districts, the scythe is swung horizontally or nearly level, leaving the
stubble of almost an even height ; or if it rise on either side, forming what are called
swath-balks : the butts of the swaths are suffered to rest upon them, the heads or ears of
the corn falling into the hollow or close mown part of the preceding swath width. They
are of course liable, in a wet season, not only to receive an undue portion of rain water,
but to be fouled with the splashings of heavy showers. But in the Kentish practice,
which is said to excel those of other districts, the position of the swaths is different.
Here, the heads of the corn rest on the top of the swath-balk, provincially the beever,
which is left of extraordinary height, as ten to fifteen inches ; so that the wind has a free
circulation beneath the swaths. The workman, in performing this judicious operation,
proceeds with liis right foot forward, entering the point of his scythe with a downward
stroke, and raising it as abruptly out, bringing the handle round to the left until it forms
nearly a right angle with the line of the swath, carrying the corn in the cradle three or
four feet behind the place where it grew, lifting it high, and letting it fall on the beever
behind liis left foot, and in the position above described. The disadvantages of this
method are, the loss of some sti-aw, the incvimbrance arising from the length of stubble,
and a little additional labour ; but in a district where cattle are not numerous, the loss
of straw is not felt, and in any country the principle of laying the heads instead of
the butts of the corn upon the swath-balk, whether left liigh or low, might be well
adopted."
3168. In the cutting of grass crops for the purpose of being converted into hay, it is.
necessary that they be in the most suitable states of growth and maturity for affording
the best and most nutritious fodder. With this view tliey should neither be cut at too
early a period, nor suffered to stand too long ; as in the former case there will be consider-
able loss in the drying, from the produce being in so soft and green a condition, and in
the latter from a large proportion of the nourishing properties being expended. Grass,
before it becomes in full flower, while the rich saccharine juice is in part retained at the
joints of the flower-stems, is in the most proper condition for being cut down, as at that
period it must contain the largest proportion of nutritious matter ; but in proportion as
the flowers expand and the seeds ripen, tlie juice is taken up to constitute the meal or
starch of the seed lobes, and is thus either dispersed upon the land, or fed upon by birds ;
the grass stems with their leaves being left in a similar situation to that of the straw of
ripened grain. But there are other circumstances, besides those of ripeness, to be
attended to in determining the period of cutting crops of grass, as in some cases when
they are thick upon the ground the bottom parts become of a yellow colour before
the flowering fully takes place : under such circumstances it will often be the most
advisable practice to mow as soon as the v/eather will possibly admit ; for if this be
neglected, there will be great danger of its rotting, or at any rate of its acquiring a
disagreeable flavour, and of becoming of but little value. Whei-e grass is very tall, as 1%
Book V. OPERATIONS WITH PLANTS. 515
often the case in moist meadows, it is liable to fall down and lodge, by which the same
effects are produced.
3169. In cutting rouen or second crops of grass, more attention will be requisite than
in the first, as the crops are mostly much lighter and more difficult to cut, the scythe
being apt to rise and slip through the grass without cutting it fairly, except when in the
hands of an expert workman. Crops of this sort should always be cut as much as
possible when the dew is upon them, and as soon as ever there is a tolerable growth ;
as, by waiting, the season is constantly getting more unfavourable for making them
into hay ; and when not well made, this hay is of little or no value. When the grass
has been decided to be in the proper condition for being cut down, a set of mowers
proportioned to the extent of the crop should be immediately provided. In some
districts, it is the custom to pay these labourers by the day, but a better and more
general practice is to let the work at a certain price by the acre. The extent or propor-
tion of ground that can be mown in any given space of time must obviously vary much
according to the nature of the ground, the fulness of the crop, and the goodness of the
workman ; but in general an acre is supposed a full day's work for an expert mower.
3170. The mowing of weeds and coarse tussocks of grass in pasture should take place
before they come into flower, or at all events before they ripen their seed. Bruising or
clipping with a sort of blunt wooden shears is considered preferable for ferns, thistles,
and nettles (3140.), as they are said not to spring up again the same season, which they
are apt to do if cut over with the clean cut of the scythe.
3171. The mowing of weeds in rivers and ponds is done in the usual way from a boat,
in which the operator stands, and is rowed forward by another as required. Sometimes
scythe-blades are tied or rivetted together, and worked by means of ropes like a saw from
one shore to the other ; but the first mode is generally reckoned the best, even in public
canals, and is unquestionably so in agriculture.
3172. T/ie Hainault mowing is a process which is exclusively applicable to com crops ;
it has been long practised in Flanders, and though various attempts have been made at
different times and places to introduce it to this country, and notwithstanding the great
advantages promised, it is still little known. We have already described the implement,
and the mode of using it, and suggested reasons for its not being more generally
employed. (2479.) The breadths of corn cut at every stroke, are carried forward by
the joint operation of the blade and the hook, and collected at the left hand of the mower,
where he leaves them standing almost erect, but leaning to the left against the standing
corn. When as much is cut as will make a sheaf, the movv^er turns to the left so as to
face the standing corn, introduces his hook behind the middle of the leaning parcels, and
at the same time the scythe points near the bottom ; then mowing sideways to the left,
returning over the ground he has mown, he draws and collects the cut corn, still by means
of the hook and scythe preserving the erect position of the straw, to the place where the
last collecting operation ended j then wheeling round to the left, with the hook still
embracing tlie middle of the whole cut corn, he stops the motion of the scythe, whilst the
hook still moves forward to the left, so as to overset the corn and lay it evenly along on the
stubble, with the ears towards the right, ready for the binder. In oversetting the col-
lected com he uses his left foot if necessary. The mower now advances to the front,
aiid commences the cuts for a new sheaf as before, always working towards the standing
corn and not from it
3173. Reaping is the operation of cutting corn with the hook or sickle, the former
called provincially bagging, the latter shearing or reaping. The operation of reaping is
most general in the northern counties. The com is cut in handfuls with the sickle
(2481.), and these are immediately deposited upon bands, formed by twisting together a
few of the stalks of the corn at the ends next the ears, and afterwards bound up into
sheaves, in order to their being set up into shocks or hattocks. The method is in most
instances adopted with the wheat and rye crops in every part of the island, as it is difficult
to cut without much loss from the shedding of the grain ; and, in addition, it is of great
advantage to have these sorts of crops bound up regularly into sheaves, the straw being
much better.
8174. In bagging, the operator hooks up the com towards him, and then lays it on
bands as in reaping. By this mode corn is cut lower than by reaping with the sickle,
but rather more straws drop urdess great care is taken.
3175. Sheaving and shocking, or, as termed in the north, binding and stoolting, are
operations performed for the most part immediately after the corn is cut. In binding
it is tied up in sheaves or bundles by the bands already mentioned ; and in shocking or
stooking, the sheaves are set on end in pairs leaning against each other, and covered or
otherwise by what are called heading sheaves, laid on the upright ones so as to cover and
protect the ears from the weather, and act as a roof to the shock or stook. The number
of sheaves brought together in a stook, and even the modes of placing them, vary in dif-
Ll 2
516 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. P^rt II.
ferent districts. The operation is perfonned with most care and neatness in the wet
climates of the north.
3176. Gaiting, or gaitning, as it is called in Northumberland, is an operation of much
nicety in the performance, and in a damp climate of great consequence in its results.
In the upland parts of Northumberland, it is performed in the following manner with
the crops of oats, frequently with those of barley, and sometimes with those of wheat : —
The gaitner follows immediately after about eight or nine sheaves have been cut and laid
down ; the corn being laid into the band near the tops or spikes of the corn, he seizes
the ends of the band with each hand, brings the gaitning (sheaf) up to the left knee, gives
the band a slight and peculiar twist, and then sets the sheaf up singly ; but in doing so
he gives it a half turn round, which makes the skirts fly out and gives it exactly the ap-
pearance of the straw cover of a bee-hive ; if properly done, the band should be so loose
that the master can thrust his hand easily through the middle. The utility of this prac-
tice is that no rain can lodge, and the corn therefore never sprouts unless the band has
been tied too tight ; it also wins [dries] and is fit for the stack sooner. Gaitned sheaves
are not good to keep standing in stormy weather ; some, therefore, now set three gaitned
sheaves together, which keeps them up ; they are always sound before they are carted to
the stack, but frequently they are not stooked. (J. C, R. near Alnwick.)
3177. An improved method of setting up sheaves of corn is thus described. Take a
stake about twice the height of a sheaf, and drive it six inches into the ground at its
thicker end, in an upright position, and around this place eight sheaves in the usual
manner ; two more sheaves are then to be bound together at the straw end, and being
inverted, are to be thrust down on the top of the stake, so that it shall pass up into the
centre of the bound part, and their lower ends being then spread out so as to cover the lower
sheaves will protect them from wet in the manner of a hood sheaf. ( Gard. Mag. vol. v. ).
3178. In the reajring of grain crops, whether the sickle, hook, or scythe is employed for
the purpose, there is much difference in the height at which the crops are cut in different
places. In some it is the practice to have the business performed in as close a manner as
possible ; while in others a stubble of eight, ten, and fifteen inches or more is left.
These different practices have their advocates ; one party supposing that the work pro-
ceeds more slowly where it is executed in so close a manner, while the other contends
that the contrary is the case. But as the stubble which is left is not only useless to the
land, but in many cases very troublesome in its succeeding culture, being frequently
under the necessity of being removed, it v/ould seem to be the best as well as cheapest
practice, to have the business constantly executed in a close manner. By this means the
agriculturist will not only have more litter at command for the bedding of his yards,
stalls, and other places, and consequently an increase of manure, but with much less
waste of grain, and at the same time be freed from the trouble and expense of removing
the stubble. It has, indeed, been fully shown, by a careful trial, made with the view
of ascertaining the difference between high and low reaping, that the advantage is con-
siderably in favour of the latter.
3179. The sickle and the scythe in reaping grain crops have each their advantages and
disadvantages. In the first maimer, the crops are deposited with more regularity and
exactness, and consequently bound into sheaves with greater facility and despatch.
Besides, in many cases, less loss is incurred by the shedding of the grain in the time the
work is performing; but the labour is executed with greater diflJiculty and trouble.
Reaping by the scythe possesses the superiority of being more expeditious, and of being
performed to any degree of closeness that may be required ; while it has the evident
disadvantage of leaving the cut grain in a more irregular and uneven situation, by which
it is rendered less fit for being bound up into sheaves, which in many cases is an incon-
venience of great consequence. Anotlier objection is, that the ears not being so regulaily
presented to the rollers of the threshing-mill, the threshing is not done so perfectly.
When the grain has attained a high degree of ripeness, there may, likewise, be great loss
sustained, by its being shed during the operation, in this way of reaping or cutting the
crop. Where this method is practised, it is, however, not unfrequently bound into
sheaves, though the more common custom is to let it remain in the rows or swaths till fit
for being put into the stack. It is generally the practice to cut it inwards against the
crop on which it rests. In the other case, it is cut in the manner of grass for hay.
It is obvious, therefore, that where operators are procured with difiiculty, this mode of
reaping is the most advisable ; while, under the contrary circumstances, the former may be
had recourse to with more advantage, as the work may be executed in a neater and
more exact way.
3180. Reaping, whatever mode be adopted, is often let hy the acre to persons that go
about for harvest work, and it may, in many cases, be best performed in this manner ; but
great attention should be paid by the cultivator to see that the grain is cut and bound up
in a proper method, and that the work is not performed in improper weather. The
prices vary according to the nature of the crops, the season, and other circumstances. In
BookV. mixed operations by manual labour. 517
Forfarshire, and in some other parts of the north of Scotland, reaping is performed by
the threave, which consists of twenty-four sheaves. By this practice it is the interest of
the reapers to cut as close as possible, because they know, that the lower ends of the
stalks fill the sheaf better than the upper parts.
3181. Pulling is a mode of taking a crop applicable chiefly to flax and hemp. These
are pulled in handfuls, the earth beat and sliaken from their roots, and after the handfuls
have lain a day or more separately, they are collected together and tied in bundles. In
the case of hemp, it being a dioecious plant, the male stalks are pulled some weeks before
the others. Dry weather is preferable for the operation.
3182. Digging up or forking up is occasionally resorted to for taking crops of roots,
as potatoes, carrots, &c. In performing this operation, the principal thing is to avoid
cutting or bruising the joots with the spade or fork, and to separate the roots from the soil
by first lifting up the spitful and then throwing it down in such a way as to break and
scatter it, and bring to light the roots or tubers. When crops of this sort are planted
in rows, they are frequently raised by a plough, the coulter being withdrawn.
Sect. IV. Mixed Operations performed by Manual Labo%ir.
3183. The mixed agricultural operations differ little from the last as to the skill or
strength required in the operator : they are chiefly ropemaking, thatching, turning
straw or hay, drawing or sorting straw, flail-threshing, hedging and ditching, weigh-
ing, measuring, stack-building, sheep-shearing, paring and burning turf, burning clay,
and forming compost soils or manures.
3184. Straw rope making is an operation which requires two persons when performed
in the usual manner with a crook. {Jig. 222.) In this case the person who forms the rope
is stationary, and the twister moves from him backwards the length of the rope ; but if
the crook is turned by machinery, as, for example, by a movement from a threshing
machine, or by a detached machine turned by hand {Jig. 223.), then the person who
forms the rope moves backwards as he lets out the material to be twisted. These sorts of
ropes are commonly made of oat or rye straw ; but they are also formed of coarse hay or
rushes, long moss, ferns, &c. In all cases the material requires to be moistened and
thoroughly mixed together before it is made use of by the ropemaker.
3185. Thatching is the operation of covering the roofs of buildings, stacks, &c. with
some sort of thatch. It is an art that requires considerable care, attention, and practice,
to perform it in a proper manner. Before this business is begun, it is necessary that
the materials, of whatever kind they may be, should undergo some preparation. With
articles of the straw kind the usual method is this : the substances, after being well
moistened with water, are drawn out in handfuls perfectly straight and even, into regular
lengths, and the short straw separated from them, leaving them placed in convenient
bundles to be carried to the thatcher by the person who has the serving of him.
3186. The application of thatch to stacks of hay or corn is performed by different
methods, according to the nature of the materials employed. Where long straw is made
use of, the operator or workman usually begins at the eaves or bottom of the roof, deposit-
ing it in handfuls in regular breadths till he reaches the top, the different handfuls
being so placed endwise as to overlap each other, the upper ends being constantly
pushed a little into the bottom parts of the sheaves. In this manner he gradually
proceeds, breadth after breadth, till the whole of the roof is covered, which is usually
done to the thickness of about four or five inches. In order to retain the thatch in its
place, short sharp-pointed sticks are sometimes thrust in, in a slanting direction up-
wards, and sometimes small sticks sharpened at the ends are bent and thrust in along
the top parts and sides : but as the water is apt to follow the course of the sticks, it is a
better practice to make use of ropes of twisted straw for this purpose. In some cases
these are applied only round the bottom parts of the roof and the sides ; while in others,
515 which is a much better and more secure method, they are applied in such
a manner over the whole stacks, as to form a sort of net or lozenge work
of nine or twelve inches in width in the meshes {fg. 515.), the ends
being well fastened either to the sides of the stack under the eaves, or to
a rope carried round in that situation on purpose to fasten them to. This
method of tying on the thatch should always be had recourse to where
the stackyards are greatly exposed to the effects of wind, as without
such precautions much injury and loss may frequently be sustained
by the fanner. It is in common use in Northumberland and north-
wards.
3187. In the application of stubble as a thatch for ricks, it is mostly put on by sticking
one of its ends into the roof of the stack in a regular and exact manner, so that it may
stand very close and thick ; when the other, with such loose straws as may occur, is to
be cut over or pared off with the thatching knife, or a very sharp tool for the purpose, so
LI 3
518 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part IL
as to form a neat and impenetrable thatch, having the appearance of a newly thatched
^IQ r house- roof (Jig. 516.) j the whole being well secured in its place by
short pegs made for the purpose, somewhat in the same way as in the
other stacks.
3188. IVie time of commencing the thatching of hny and corn stacks in
England is generally delayed until they have fully settled, as under
the contrary circumstance it is sure to rise into ridges afterwards, and
by that means admit the water to pass down into them, and of course
do much injury to the corn or hay. In Scotland, the stacks are
covered with all convenient speed after being built, and a great deal of loss is sometimes
sustained, when they are left uncovered even for a few days. When the stack subsides,
it is only necessary to tighten the ropes, or, in some instances, a part of the ropes are left
to be applied, when this subsidence takes place.
3189. In thatching the roofs of houses or other buildings with any of the sorts of straw,
the same rules are in some respects to be followed, only the materials are to be laid on to a
considerable thickness, and be more firmly secured. They are applied in regular narrow
slips, or what in some districts are termed gangs or courses, from the eaves of the building
to the ridges, the ladder being moved forward as the work proceeds. The thatch is
secured by short sharpened sticks thrust in where necessary ; and bended sticks sharpened
at each end are sometimes made use of near the ridges, being thrust in at each end. In
finisliing the work, the thatcher employs an iron-toothed rake, with which the whole
is raked over from the top to the bottom, so as to render it completely smooth and even,
and take away all the short straws.
3190. The method of thatching with reed, according to Marshall, who seems to have
paid much attention to the subject, in his account of The Rural Economy of Norfolk, is
.fiis : " No laths being made use of, in laying it a little of the longest and stoutest of
the reed is scattered irregularly across the naked spars, as a foundation to lay the main
coat upon : this partial gauze-like covering is called the fenking.
3191. On this fleaking the main covering is laid, and fastened down to the spars by means of long rods
(provincially, sways) laid across the middle of tiie reed, and tied to the spars with rope yarn, or with
bramble bonds, which formerly were much in use, but w/iich are now nearly laid aside, especially for
new roofs.
3192. Reed is not laid on in longitudinal courses, in the manner that straw thatch is usually put on, nor
are the whole eaves set at once. The workman begins at the lower corner of the roof, on his right hand,
for instance, and keeps an irregular diagonal line or face, until he reach the upper corner to his left, a nar-
row eaves-board being nailed across the feet of the spars, and some fleaking scattered on ; the thatcher
begins to ' set his eaves,' by laying a coat of reed, eight or ten inches thick, with the heads resting upon
the fleaking, and the butts upon the eaves-board. He then lays on his sway (a rod rather thicker than
a large withy), about six or eight inches from the lower points' of the reeds ; whilst his assistant, on the
inside, runs a needle, threaded with rope yarn, close to the spar ; and in this case, close to the upper
edge of the eaves-board. The thatcher draws it through on one side of the sway, and enters it again
on the contrary side, both of the sway and of the spar : the assistant draws it through, unthreads it,
and with the two ends of the yarn makes a knot round the spar, thereby drawing the sway, and con-
sequently the reed, right down to the roof; whilst the thatcher above, beating the sway and pressing it
down, assists in making the work the firmer. The assistant having made good the knot below, he pro-
ceeds with another length of thread to the next spar, and so on till the sway be bound down the whole
length ; namely, eight or ten feet. This being done, ' another stratum of reed is laid on upon the first,
so as to make the entire coat eighteen or twenty inches thick at the butts j and another sway laid along,
and bound down, about twelve inches above the first'
3193. The eaves are adjusted and formed, not square with the spars, but nearly horizontal ; nor are they
formed by cutting; but by 'driving' them with a * legget,' a tool made of a board eight or nine inches
square, with a handle two feet long, fixed upon the back of it, obliquely, in the manner of the tool used
by gardeners in beating turf The face of the legget is set with large-headed nails, to render it rough, and
make it lay hold of the butts of the reeds. Then another layer of reed is laid on, and bound down by
another sway, somewhat shorter than the last, and placed eighteen or twenty inches above it ; and above
this another, and another, continuing to shorten the sways until they be brought off to nothing, and
a triangular corner of thatching formed. After this, the sways are used their whole length, whatever it
happens to be, until the workman arrives at the finishing corner. By proceeding in this irregular manner,
seams between the courses are prevented, and unnecessary shifting of ladders avoided.
3194. The face of the roof is formed and adjusted like the eaves, by driving the reed with the legget ;
which operation, if performed by a good workman, not only gives the roof a beautiful polished surface, but
at the same time fastens the reed, which being thickest towards the butts, becomes like a tapering pin, the
tighter the farther it is driven.
3195. Finishing the ridge of the roof. In the case of reed running from four to six or eight feet long, the
heads meet at the ridge of the roof, whilst the butts are still at a distance from each other. For this rea-
son, as well as for that of the wear being less towards the ridge, the shortest (which is generally the worst)
reed is saved for the upper part of the roof But even supposing the uppermost courses to be only four
feet long, and that the heads (belonging to the two sides) be interwoven in some degree with each other,
the butts will still remain six or seven feet asunder; and the ridge of the roof consequently be left in
a great measure exposed to the weather. In order to remedy this inconvenience, and to give a finish to
the ridges, a cap (provincially, a roof) of straw is set on in a masterly, but in an expensive, manner. In
this operation, the workman begins, it is observed, by bringing the roof to an angle, with straw laid
lengthwise upon the ridge, in the manner in which a rick is topped up ; and to render it firm, to keep it in
its place, and to prevent the wind from blowing it offer ruffling it, he pegs it down slightly with * double
broaches;' namely, cleft twigs, two feet long and as thick as the finger, sharpened at both ends, bent
double, and perhaps barbed by partial chops on the sides, to make them hold in the better after
being thrust down. This done, the workman lays a coat of straight straw, six or eight inches thick
across the ridge, beginning on either side at the uppermost butts of the reed, and finishing with straight
handfuls evenly across the top of the ridge. Having laid a length of about four feet in this manner,
he proceeds to fasten it firmly down, so as to render it proof against wind and rain. This is done by
laying a ' brochen ligger'' (a quarter-cleft rod as thick as the finger, and four feet in length) along the
middle of the ridge, pegging it down at every four inches with a double broach, which is thrust down with
Book V. MIXED OPERATIONS BY MANUAL LABOUR. 519
the hands, and afterwards driven with the legget, or with a mallet used for this purpose. The middle
ligger being firmly laid, the thatcher smooths down the straw with a rake and his hands, about eight
or nine inches on one side, and at six inches from the first lays another ligger, and pegs it down with a
similar number of double broaches, thus proceeding to smooth the straw, and to fasten on liggers at every
six inches, until he reach the bottom of the cap. One side finished, the other is treated in tlie same man-
ner; and the first length being completed, another and another length is laid, and finished as the first,
until the other end of the ridge be reached. He then cuts off the tails of the straw square and neatly
with a pair of shears, level with the uppermost butts of the reed, above which the cap (or most properly
the roqflet) shows an eaves of about six inches thick; and, lastly, he sw^eeps the sides of the main roof
with a bough of holly; when the work is completed."
3196. Trussing straw 07' hat/ is the operation of binding it in bundles for more con-
venient deportation. In trussing bay from a rick, it is cut into cubic masses with the
hay-knife (2484.), and tied by a hay rope passing once across each of its sides. If the
trusses are intended for the London market, they are weighed with a steelyard, and each
truss of old stacked hay must weigh 56 pounds, and of new hay, during June, July, and
August, 60 pounds. We have described a very convenient machine for the operation of
trussing. (2561.)
3197. Siraiv is commonly trussed by tying it into bundles by a band of a handful of
straws, or a short rope across the middle of the bundle, or by a particular mode of
twisting and turning back the two straggling ends of a loose armful of straw, and tying
these ends in the middle. This mode, more easily practised than described, is termed in
the north bottling or windling. When wheat-straw or any other sort is to be trussed for
thatch, it is first drawn into regular lengths, leaving out the refuse, as already alluded to
under thatching. In London, the straw sold for litter is always required to be trussed
in this manner, and each truss is required to weigh 56 pounds.
3198. Threshing by the Jlail is still a very general practice in most of the southern
counties, though all intelligent men agree that it is more expensive and less effectual
than threshing by a machine. Even on the smallest-sized farms, where a horse machine
would be too expensive, either the hand machine or portable machine (2546. ) might be
employed. Besides threshing cleaner, and that too in a manner independently of the care
of the operators, the work is performed withcfUt the aid of expensive threshing floors,
goes on rapidly, is a more agreeable description of labour for servants, employs women
and children, and, finally, exposes the corn to less risk of pilfering.
3199. In the Jlail mode of threshing, the produce is constantly exposed to the depredations of the persons
employed in executing the business, which is a great objection, and in many cases this mode proves a source
of great loss to the farmer, as he cannot by any means prevent the impositions to which it renders him
liable. It has been observed by Middleton, in his Survey of Middlesex, that " where threshers are
employed by tl^o day, they frequently do not perform half the work that ought to be done in the time, nor
even that in a jiorfectly clean manner ;" and that if" it be executed by the quarter, or by the truss, the
freest corn is threshed out, and the rest left in the ear." The same thing takes place in a greater or less
degree in every other mode that can be devised for having the work performed by the hand ; and it is
consequently only by the general introduction and use of the threshing machine that the property and
interest of the farmer can be fully secured, and work be executed with a proper degree of economy.
3200. In respect to the mode of threshing corn by the flail, it i^ the practice in some districts for only one
person to be employed upon a floor, yet as two can thresh together with equal if not greater expedition and
dispatch, it must be a disadvantageous mode; but where more than two labourers thresh together, which
is sometimes-the case, there must be frequent interruptions, and a consequent loss of tiine. The flail
or tool by which this sort of business is performed should be well adapted to the size and strength of
the person who makes use of it, as, when disproportionately heavy in that part which acts upon the grain,
it much sooner fatigues the labourer, without any advantage being gained in the beating out of the
grain. The best method of attaching the different parts of the implement together is probably by
means of caps and thongs of good tough leather. Iron is, however, sometimes employed. In threshing
most sorts of corn, but particularly wheat, the operators should wear thin light shoes, in order to avoid
bruising the grains as much as possible In the execution of the work, when the corn is bound into
sheaves, it is usual for the threshers to begin at the ear-ends, and proceed regularly to the others, then
turning the sheaves in a quick manner by means of the flail, to proceed in the same way with the other
side, thus finishing the work.
3201. The quantify of corn that a labourer will thresh with the flail in any given period of time, must
depend on the nature of the grain, the freeness with which it threshes, and the exertions of the labourer ;
in general it may be of wheat, from one to one and a half quarter; of barley, from one and a half to two
quarters ; and of oats mostly about two in the day. The exertions of labourers in this sort of work in
the northern districts of the kingdom are, however, much greater than in those of the south ; of course a
much larger proportion of labour must be performed. In some places it is the practice to thresh by the
measure of grain, as the bushel, quarter, &c. ; while in others it is done by the threave of twenty.four
sheaves, and in some by the day. In whatever way the agricultor has this sort of business performed,
there is always much necessity for his constant inspection, in order to prevent the frauds and impositions
that are too frequently practised upon him by the persons engaged in the execution of it.
3202. The practice of whipping out grain is resorted to in some districts with wheat,
when the straw is much wanted for thatch. The operator takes a handful, and strikes
the ears repeatedly against a stone, the edge of a board, or the face of a strong wattled
hurdle, till the corn is separated.
3203. Burning out, a mode formerly practised in the Highlands of Scotland, and not
yet obsolete, may be noticed here. It is to burn the straw with the corn in it, instead
of subjecting it to the flail. This has been described in several of the County Reports,
particularly in Walker's Hebrides and Macdonald's Report of the Western Islands. The
corn is thus not only separated from the straw but sufficiently dried or parched to
grind without being sent to the kiln. It is a bad practice, as the straw is lost, and
consequently the soil, for want of manure, must soon become barren.
LI 4
520 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
3204. Rippling is the operation of separating the boles or seed-pods of flax and hemp
* by striking in the manner of whipping, or more commonly by drawing them through
an implement of the comb kind, constructed with several upright triangular prongs set
near together in a strong piece of wood.
3205. Hedging and ditching, the operation of making and mending fences and open
water-courses of the different kinds already enumerated, consists of the combined
application of digging, shovelUng, cutting, clipping, and faggoting, described in this
section and the two foregoing.
3206. Faggoting is a term applied to the dressing or binding of the prunings or
superfluous branches and spray of hedges. The bundles are made of different sizes in
different parts of the country, and in the same place according to the purpose to which
they are to be applied. They are tied with willow, hazel, or some other pliable wood,
twisted before application.
3207. Stacking wood for fuel occurs in the practice of common agriculture when
hedges and pollard trees or tree-roots are stocked or dug up. The wood, whether roots
or trunk, is cut into lengths of from eighteen inches to two feet with a saw, then split
with iron wedges into pieces of not more than an inch and a half, or two inches in
diameter, and built into an oblong stack generally three feet broad and high, and six
feet long.
3208. Stacking wood for burning, stemng for tar or pyrolignous acid, charring, and
similar purposes, are peculiar to forest culture, and will be treated of in the proper place.
(See Part III. or Index.)
3209. Paring and burning is the process of paring off* the surface of lands in a
state of grass, in order to prepare them for arable culture by means of fire. In the
method of performing the process there is some slight difference in different districts,
and an attention to the nature of the lands is as necessary as in other husbandry oper-
ations. It would seem that some soils, as those of the more clayey and heavy kinds,
would be most benefited by having the fire as much as possible in contact with the whole
of their superficial parts, without being carried too far, as by that means they may be
rendered more proper for the reception of the roots of vegetables after being slightly
ploughed, as well as more suitable for supplying nourishment to them ; while in others,
as those of the more light and thin description, it might be most advantageous merely
to consume the thin paring of sward after being piled up for the purpose, without per-
mitting the fire to exert its influence upon the mould or soil immediately below, as in
this way there would not probably be so much danger of injuring the staple by destroy-
ing the vegetable matters contained in such soils. Of course, in the first of these modes
of burning the sward, the sods or parings should be piled up as little as possible into
heaps, the advantage of a suitable season being taken to apply the fire to them in the
state in which they lie or are set at first after being cut up, or after a few only have been
placed together, as in some instances where they are, immediately after being cut, set on
edge to dry, and placed in serpentine directions in order to prevent them from falling
over. In the latter cases they should be formed or built up into little circular heaps or
piles, sonlewhat in the form and size of the little cocks made in hay-fields, the sods
being placed the grass-side downwards, in order to admit air ; but the openings
both at the bottoms and tops, after they have been fully set on fire by some combustible
substance, such as straw, &c., are to be closed up, and those in other parts covered by an
addition of sods, so that the combustion may proceed in a slov/ smothering manner, as
practised in the making of charcoal. When the whole of the earth in each of the piles
has been acted upon by the fire, the heaps may be suffered to extinguish themselves by
slowly burning out.
5210. A variety of this operation, called skirting or peat-burning, is practised in Devonshire and Corn-
wall, for breaking up and preparing grass lands for the reception of fallow crops. A part of the sward or
surface is alternately left unturned, upon which the next thin furrow slice is constantly turned, so that
the swards of each come in contact, by which means the putrefactive fermentation is speedily excited, and
the greatest part of the grassy vegetable matter converted into manure. What ultimately remains
undcstroyed being, after repeated cross-cuttings with the plough and harrowings, collected into small
heaps and burnt, the ashes are then spread evenly over the land.
3211. With respect to the implements used in parinn;, different kinds are made use of in different parts
of the island : that which was the most employed in the infancy of the art, was a kind of curved mattock
or adze, about seven or eight inches in length, and five or six in breadth ; and which, from its shape,
would appear to have been better adapted for cutting up the roots of brushwood, furze, broom, or other
coarse shrubs, than for paring off the surface of a field free from such incumbrances. Where the sod is
pared off by manual labour, the ordinary breast-spade, in some places called the breast-plough, and in
Scotland the flaughter-spade, is mostly employed. In working the tool, the labourer generally cuts the sods
at about an inch or an inch and a half thick, and from ten to twelve inches broad; and when the spade
has run under the sod to the length of about three feet, he throws it off, by turning the instrument to one
side; and proceeds in the same way, cutting and throwing over the sods, the whole length of the ridge.
In this way of performing the operation, the labourers, by following each other with a slice of the sward
or surface of the land, accomplish the business with much ease, and in an expeditious manner.
3212. In the fenny districts, on the eastern coasts, where paring and burning is practised on a large
scale, the horse paring-plough is used, made of different constructions, according to the circumstances of
the ground to be pared. These ploughs are calculated for paring off the sward or sod of such grounds
as are leyel, and where neither stones, brush-wood, ant-hills, nor other impediments obstruct their
Book V. MIXED OPERATIONS BY MANUAL LABOUR. .521
progress ; but where such obstacles present themselves, the breast-spade, or the common team,plough
with a small alteration of the share, will be found preferable, both in respect to the extent of ground that
can be pared, and the superior manner in which the work in such cases can be performed. Ploughs, from
their great expedition and regularity of performing the business, should always be made use of where the
nature and situation of the land will admit them, in preference to such tools as require manual labour.
3213. In some of the western counties, the common plough only is used. There tlie old grass fields,
when it is proposed to burn the sward, are rib or slob furrowed about the beginning of winter; and
being again cross-ploughed the following spring, the sods are collected and managed in the manner
mentioned in speaking of skirting. In those cases, the plough has, however, a wing turned up on the
furrow side of the ploughshare, by which the furrow is cut any breadth required.
3214. The season for paring and burning is in April, May, and June : the particular period must, how-
ever, always depend much on the state of the weather and the nature of the crop. When the east
winds prevail, in February and March, this sort of business may sometimes be carried on. But for
accomplishing the work with the greatest dispatch, and also with the least trouble and expense, a dry
season is obviously the best. The prudent cultivator should not embark in the undertaking, unless there
is a reasonable probability of his accomplishing it while the weather keeps dry and favourable. In the
more northern districts, the latter end of May or the beginning of June, when the hurry of the spring
seed-time is over and a number of hands can be most easily procured, may, upon tlie whole, be considered
the best and most convenient season ; as at this period the green vegetable products are in their most
succulent state, and of course may probably afford more saline matter : but, in the more southern counties,
either a much earlier season must be taken, or the interval between the hay season and the harvest time
must be fixed upon; the latter of which is, on the principle just stated, evidently the best, where the
extent cf grourid to be burnt is not too large. In other seasons it would frequently be impossible to
procure a sufficient number of hands for performing the business. In bringing waste lands into cultiva-
tion, where an extensive tract of ground is to undergo this process, the autumn may, in many cases,
affbrd a convenient opportunity for the operation. A good deal depends on the crops that are to be sown
after paring and burning. When rape or turnips are to be cultivated, the end of May or the beginning of
June will be the most proper time; but if barley or oats are to be sown, the paring and burning must be
completed as early in spring as the nature of the season will admit : and when lands are pared and
burned as a preparation for a crop of wheat, July, or even the beginning of August, may, in favourable
seasons, answer ; but it is better to have the ground ready sooner if possible,
3215. In respect to the depth to ivhich lands of different qualities ma i/ be pared with the most advantage,
it is obvious that, as it can hardly be proper to pare light thin-stapled soils to the same depths as those of
the more deep and heavy kinds, it should, in some degree, be regulated by their particular nature, and
their difference in depth and heaviness. Boys, who is in the habit of breaking up thin chalky soils, and
such as have been in tillage, in this way, observes, that in Kent, where the method of paring most in use
is with down-shares or breast-ploughs, they take off' turf as thick as the nature of the soil will admit, from
half an inch to two inches; the thicker the better, provided there is a sufficient portion of vegetable
matter contained within them to make them burn well. The most usual depths of paring are from about
one inch to three.
3216. In regard to burning, when the season is not very wet, the turves will commonly be sufficiently
aried in about a fortnight or three weeks, even without being turned ; but in rainy weather they require
a longer time, and must be turned more than once to prevent their striking out roots and shoots, which
might hinder them from burning.
3217. Spreading the ashes. As soon as the turves have fully undergone the process of burning, and are
reduced to the state of ashes and a powdery earthy matter, the whole should, as soon as possible, be
spread out over the land in as regular and equal a manner as the nature of the work will admit of; for,
without great attention in this respect, great inequality in the crops may take place; besides, the soil will
be made lighter in some places than in others, which may be disadvantageous in the same way. The
spreading, where it can by any means be accomplished, should always be performed before any rain falls ;
as, where this point is not attended to, a great loss may be sustained by the saline matters being carried
down in a state of solution, and their beneficial effects in a great measure lost before the crops are in a
condition to receive them. In order to secure the full influence of the ashes, the land is frequently
slightly ploughed over immediately after the ashes are spread out; and it is stated by Donaldson, that
those who are more than ordinarily attentive in this respect, only rib or slob furrow the field, so that the
ashes after burning may be covered up with the greater expedition and dispatch. By this mode, how-
ever, they probably cannot be so equally mixed with the soil as by that of ploughing the whole field with
a very slight furrow, so as just to cover them.
3218. The expense of the operation of paring and burning will vary according to the nature and situation
of the land, the method in which it is performed, and the customs of the district in regard to the price of
labour. On the thin sort of chalky soils it is stated by Boys, that the expense for paring at a moderate
thickness, where the land is not very flinty, is about equal to four or five ploughings.
3219. The operation of drying mid burning clay for manure is in several respects similar
to that of paring and burning the verdant surface. The practice of burning clay has at
various times been pursued with energy and success, and at other times has fallen into
neglect. The oldest book in which it is mentioned, is prebably The Country Gentle-
man's Companion, by Stephen Switzer, Gardener, London, 1 732. In that work it is
stated that the Earl of Halifax was the inventor of this useful improvement; and that
it was much practised in Sussex. There are engravings of two kilns for burning clay,
one adopted in England, and the other in Scotland ; where it is said to have been ascer-
tained, that lands reduced by tillage to poverty, would produce an excellent crop of
turnips, if the ground were ploughed two or three times, and clay ashes spread over it.
In the same work, there are several letters, written in the years 1730 and 1731, stating
that the plan of burning clay had answered in several parts of England ; and accounts
were received from Scotland, that upon experiment it had answered better than either
lime or dung, but was found too expensive. The practice is described at length
in Ellis's Practical Fariner, or Hei-tfordshire Husbandman, 1732. In 1786, James
Arbuthnot of Peterhead tried several successful experiments with burning clay, and
various others have since been made in different parts of the empire. In 1814, the
practice was revived and written on by Craig of Cally, near Dumfries, and soon after by
General Beatson, near Tunbridge ; by Curwen, Burrows, and several correspondents of
agricultural journals. In Ireland, it would appear, the practice prevails in several
places, and Craig says he adopted it from seeing its effects there. The result of the
whole is, that the benefits of this mode of manuring have been greatly exaggerated ;
522 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
though they certainly appear to be considerable on clayey soils. Alton {Farmer s Mag.
vol. xxii. p. 423.) compares this rage for burning clay, which existed in 1815, to the
florin mania of a few years' prior date. In 1822, he found few of the advocates for these
improvements disposed to say much on the subject, and saw very few clay-kilns smoking.
" To give my ultimatum upon this subject," he says, " I regret that the discoverers of
florin grass, and of the effects of burnt clay, have so far overrated their value. Both are
useful and proper to be attended to ; — the grass to be raised on patches of marshy
ground, and used as green food to cattle in winter ; and the burnt earth as a corrector of
tlie mechanical arrangement of a stubborn clay soil ; and I have no doul)t, but if they
had been only recommended for those valuable purposes, they would have been brought
into more general use than they yet are, or will be, till the prejudices against them,
arising from the disappointment of expectations raised high by too flattering descriptions,
are removed."
3220. The action of burnt clay on the soil is thus described by the same author : — " It must be obvious to
every person who has paid attention to the subject, that when clay or other earth is burnt into ashes hke
brick. dust, it will not (unless acids are applied to it) return again to its former state of clay, but will
remain in the granulated state of ashes or friable mould, to which it was reduced by the operation of
burning. An admixture of that kind with a strong adhesive clay must evidently operate as a powerful
manure, by changing the mechanical arrangement of the latter, and rendering it more friable ; giving
greater facility to the percolation of redundant moisture, and to the spreading of the roots of vegetables
in quest of food. The application of as much water, sand, or any similar substance, would have exactly
the same effect, in opening and keeping open the pores of an adhesive clay soil, and converting it into the
quality of loam. Besides this, which would be a permanent improvement upon the staple or texture of
every clay soil, burnt clay or torrefied earth may sometimes acquire, in that operation, a small quantity of
soot or carbonic matter, that may, in favourable circumstances, operate for one season as a manure, or as
a stimulus, to a small extent, to the growth of vegetables. This at least may be the case, if the clay or
earth burnt shall abound with vegetable matter, and if the burning is conducted in such a smothered way,
as to prevent the smoke or vegetable matter from escaping. But as it is the subsoil that is recommended,
and seems to be generally used for burning, it is impossible any considerable quantity of vegetable matter
can be found in it.
3221. The calcareous matter in the soil, it is saif', will be calcined and formed into lime by the operation
of burning; but I am disposed to consider this argument as far more plausible than solid. Calcareous
matter is no doubt found, on chemical analysis, to a certain extent in some soils ; perhaps some per-
ceptible portion of it may be found in every soil : but it is seldom or never found in any soil, to such an
extent as to be of much use as a manure to other land. Even where the soil is impregnated with a large
portion of calcareous matter, if it is not in the form of limestone, but minutely mixed with it, the burn-
ing cannot either increase or much alter the lime. If it is in the form of stones, however small, or in
what is called limestone gravel, there is little chance of its being calcined in the operation of burning the
clay ; it would go through that ordeal unaltered. Any change, therefore, that can be made upon the
small portion of calcareous matter in the soil by burning in the manner directed, can scarcely have any
perceptible effect, when that matter is applied as manure to other soils. And though it is possible that
some qualities in particular soils, unfavourable to vegetation, may be corrected by burning, and that in
some other instances the fire may render the clay more nutritive to plants (though I have not been able
to trace this, or even to conjecture how it can happen), yet I am much disposed to believe, that its effect
as a mechanical mixture in opening the pores of the soil, is the chief improvement that can be derived
from the application of burnt clay as a manure. If it has any other effect, it must be from the soot or
carbonic matter collected during the operation of burning ; or perhaps it may acquire, by the torrefaction,
something of a stimulating quality, that may for a short time promote the growth of particular plants :
but these qualities can only be to a small extent, and continue to act for a very limited period." {Far.
Mag. xxii. 422.)
3222. The action oj burnt c/ay, according to a writer in The Farmer'' s Journal, is at least three-fold, and
may be manifold. It opens the texture of stubborn clays, gives a drain to tlie water, spiracles to the air,
and affords to the roots facility of penetrating. Clay ashes burnt from turves, containing an admixture
of vegetable matter, consist, in some small proportion, of vegetable alkali or potass, a salt which is known
to be a good manure. It also, in most cases, happens that a stiff cold clay is impregnated with pyrites, a
compound of sulphuric acid and iron. Although the chemical attraction between these two bodies is so
strong, that it is one of the most difficult operations in the arts totally to free iron from sulphur, yet a very
moderate heat sublimes a large portion of the sulphur. The iron is then left at liberty to re-absorb a
portion of the redundant sulphuric acid, which too generally is found in these soils, and thereby sweetens
the land ; and it is probable that the bright red or crimson calx of iron, which gives colouring to the
ashes when over-burnt, is beneficial to vegetation in the present case, insomuch as it is, of itself, one of
the happiest aids to fertility, as exemplified in the red marl strata and red sand strata throughout the
kingdom. The evolution and recombination of diflerent gases, no doubt, materially affect the question;
but it is reserved for accurate chemical observers to give us an account of the processes which take place
in this respect. Curwen notices that clay ashes do no benefit as a top-dressing on grass, which is in part
to be explained by reason that the ashes, when spread on the surface of the grass, cannot exert mechanical
action on the soil in the ways enumerated. Neither can the calx of iron come so immediately in contact
with the particles of the soil, for the production of any chemical effect, as it would do if the ashes were
ploughed in. In short, like many other manures which are laid on the surface, unless it contains some-
thing soluble which may be washed into the ground by rains, it does very little good ; and the feeble
proportion of vegetable alkali is probably the only soluble matter the ashes contain. However sanguine
may be the admirers of burnt clay, all experience confirms that the most beneficial clay ashes are those
which are burnt from the greatest proportion of rich old turf, ancient banks, roots of bushes, and other
vegetable matters ; and, I conceive, the value of mere powdered pottery (for such it is) may easily be
overrated. {Far. Journ. 1819.)
3223. The common method of burning clay is to make an oblong enclosure, of the
dimensions of a small house (say 15 feet by 10) of green turf sods, raised to the height
of 3^ or 4 feet. In the inside of this enclosure, air-pipes are drawn diagonally, which
communicate with holes left at each corner of the exterior wall. These pipes are formed
of sods put on edge, and the space between these as wide only as another sod can easily
cover. In each of the four spaces left between the air-pipes and the outer wall, a fire is
kindled with wood and dry turf, and then the whole of the inside of the enclosure or
kiln filled with dry turf, which is very soon on fire ; and on the top of that, when well
jkindled, is thrown the clay, in small quantities at a time, and repeated as often as necc*
Book V. MIXED OPERATIONS BY MANUAL LABOUL
523
sary, which must be regulated by the intensity of the burning. The air-pipes are of use
only at first, because, if the fire burn with tolerable keenness, the sods forming the pipes
will soon be reduced to ashes. The pipe on the weather side of the kiln only is left open,
the mouths of the other three being stopped up, and not opened except the wind should
veer about. As the inside of the enclosure or kiln begins to be filled up with clay, the
outer wall must be raised in height, always taking care to have it at least fifteen inches
higher than the top of the clay, for the purpose of keeping the wind from acting on the
fire. When the fire burns through the outer wall, which it often does, and particularly
when the top is overloaded with clay, the breach must be stopped up immediately, which
can only be effectually done by building another sod wall from the foundation, opposite to
it, and the sods that formed that part of the first wall are soon reduced to ashes. The wall
can be raised as high as may be convenient to throw on the clay, and the kiln may be
increased to any size, by forming a new wall when the previous one is burnt through.
3224. The principal art in burning consists in having the outer wall made quite close and impervious
to the external air, and taking care to have the top always lightly, but completely, covered with clay ;
because if the external air should come in contact with the fire, either on the top of the kiln, or by means
of its bursting through the sides, the fire will be very soon extinguished. In short, the kilns require to
be attended nearly as closely as charcoal pits. Clay is much more easily burnt than either moss or loam ; —
it does not undergo any alteration in its shape, and on that account allows the fire and smoke to get up
easily between the lumps ; whereas moss and loam, by crumbling down, are very apt to smother the fire,
unless carefully attended to. No rule can be laid down for regulating the size of the lumps of clay thrown
on the kiln, as that must depend on the state of the fire ; but every lump has been found completely burnt
on opening the kiln, when some of them were thrown on larger than my head. Clay, no doubt, burns
more readily if it be dug up and dried for a day or two before it be thrown on the kiln ; but this operation
is not necessary, as it will burn though thrown on quite wet. Atter a kiln is fairly set a going, no coal or
wood, or any sort of combustible, is necessary, the wet clay burning of itself ; and it can only be extinguished
by intention, or the carelessness of the operator, — the vicissitudes of the weather having hardly any eflfect
on the fire, if properly attended to. It may, perhaps, be necessary to mention, that when the kiln is burning
with great keenness, a stranger to the operation may be apt to think that the fire is extinguished. If,
therefore, any person, either through impatience, or too great curiosity, should insist on looking into the
interior of the kiln, he will certainly retard, and may possibly extinguish the fire ; for, as before men-
tioned, the chief art consists in keeping out the external air from the fire. Where there is abundance of
clay, and no great quantity of green turf, it would, perhaps, be best to burn the clay in draw-kilns, the
same as lime.
322,5. Jn i7nproved method of burning clay has been adopted by Colonel Dickson, at Hexham, and by
other gentlemen in Northumberland. Instead of building a kiln,' gratings or arches of cast iron are used
to form a vault or funnel for the fuel, and over this funnel the clay is built. The grated arches are made
about two feet and a half long, two feet diameter, and about fourteen
inches high. One grating is to be filled with brushwood, stubble, or
any other cheap fuel, and the clay, as it is dug, built upon it to a
convenient height, leaving small vacancies, or boring holes, to allow
the heat to penetrate to the middle and outer parts of the clay.
T When a suflficient quantity is built upon the first grating, another
is added at either end, or at both, filled with similar fuel, and the clay
built upon them as before. This process is continued until 10, 12, or
a greater number, of the gratings have been used, when one end
is built up or covered with clay, and at the other, under the last
grating, a fire is made of coals or faggot wood. The end at which
the fire is made should face the wind if possible, and if the process
has been properly conducted the clay will be effectually burnt. By
commencing with a centre grating in the form of a cross {fig. 5\1.),
the workman may build from four ends in the place of two ; this
contrivance will afford a facility in the work, and have a draft of
wind at two entrances.
3226. The advantage of this mode of burning clay is the saving of
cartage, as the clay mav be always burned where it is dug.
3227. Burning clay and surface soil by lime, without fuel, has been practised by Curwen {Farm Mag.
vol xvi p 11 12 ) in the following manner .-—Mounds of seven yards ui length, and three and a half ni
breadth, are kindled with seventy-two Winchester bushels of lime. First, a layer of dry sods or parings,
on which a quantity of lime is spread, mixing sods with it, then a covering of eight inches of sods, on
which the other half of the lime is spread, and covered a foot thick; the height of the mound being
about a yard. In twenty-four hours it will take fire. The lime should be immediately from the kiln.
It is better to suffer it to ignite itself, than to effect it by the operation of water. When the fire is fairly
kindled, fresh sods must be applied. Mr. Curwen recommends obtaining a sufficient body of ashes before
any clay is put on the mounds. The fire naturally rises to the top. It takes less time, and does more
work, to draw down the ashes from the top, and not to suffer it to rise above six feet. The former practice
of burning in kilns was more expensive, did much less work, and, in many instances, calcined the ashes,
and rendered them of no value. ^ ^ . ,t^ ,r,/MN ^ xt. x ct ..u
3228. Use of pyrites in burning clay. A Vfritet m The Farmer's Journal {Dec. \mV), asserts that '^ the
greater part of many beds of cold clay contain in them a substance,,or ingredient, which is in itself, to a
great degree, combustible, as known to every brick-burner. This probably is, in most cases, the sulphur
of the pyrites contained in the clay ; but be it what it may, it prevails to such a degree that a very small
quantity of fuel is sufl[icient to burn a very large body of clay. It is only requisite to have sufficient fuel
to set fire to the heap at first, so as to raise a body of heat ; and, for the rest, the clay will neariy burn of
itself, being judiciously arranged round and upon the burning centre. The ashes are in the best state
when they have been exposed only to a moderate heat ; namely, to a heat not only far below what will
produce vitrification, but even so low as not to produce a permanent red colour : the black ashes, or dirty
red, and brownish red, being made superior in value to bright red ashes, that is, to well-burnt bricks.
The heat is moderated chiefly by the judicious application of the crumbs and mouldering fragments of
clay or soil, so as to prevent the draft of the air through the apertures between the large clods or tufts
from being too free. A very small admixture of vegetable fuel suffices to keep up the fire.
.^229. The application of burnt clay as a manure is the same as that of lime ; it is
spread over fallows or lands in preparation for turnips, at the rate of from thirty to fifty
loads or upwards per acre. A few years ago this practice made considerable noise, but
at present it has fallen into disrepute.
524 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
3230. The general vianual operations common to British agriculture being now de-
scribed, a variety of operations peculiar to particular departments, such as boring for water,
puddling to retain water, building drains, &c. which belong to draining ; and barking
timber, burning charcoal, distilling pyrolignous acid, which belong to planting ; will be
found under these departments.
Chap. II.
Agricultural Operations requiring the Aid of Labouring Cattle.
3231. Operations requhing the aid of labouring cattle are in a peculiar manner entitled
to the appellation of agricultural. Almost all the operations described in the former
chapter, may be performed by common country labourers ; but those we are now to
enter on, are exclusively performed by farm servants. They may be classed as operations
for the use and management of live stock, labours on the soil, and compound operations.
Sect. I. Operations for the Care of Live Stock.
3232. Herding, or tending of cattle, as an operation, is the simplest which is connected
with domestic animals. It consists in conducting them to a certain pasturage ; keeping
them within the prescribed limits ; preventing them from injuring one another ; observing
if any are diseased, and the like. It is commonly performed with the aid of the dog,
and by boys or girls for a small herd or flock, and aged or elderly men for larger herds.
In modern times, the place of the cow and cattle herd is generally supplied by fences ;
but where large flocks of sheep are kept, it is still necessary to have a shepherd ; not, in
many cases, so much to keep the flock together and in its proper place, as to watch the
progress of their growth, the approaches of disease, parturition, &c. In almost all cases,
mild and gentle treatment ought to be made the sine qua non of the herdsman's conduct.
The duties of the shepherd, who has the general care of either a flock or herd, are various
and important, and, to be duly executed, imply no inconsiderable degree of physiological
and veterinary knowledge. See Part III. Book VII. The Economy of Live Stock.
3233. Cleaning cattle is the operation of rubbing, brushing, combing, and washing
their bodies, and picking their feet. The legs of cattle, when soiled by labour, are com-
monly washed by walking them two or three times through a pond, formed on purpose
in or near to farmeries. As soon as they are put in the stable and unharnessed, the legs,
and such parts as are wetted, should be powerfully rubbed with dry straw, so as to dry
the hair ; and the same process should be applied to the rest of the body, if they have been
in a state of copious perspiration. At the same time their feet should be picked, and their
hoofs freed from any earth or small stones which may have lodged under the shoe, or in
the case of labouring oxen between the hoofs. Combing and brushing can only be per-
formed when the hair and skin are perfectly dry, and in farmeries is generally done in
the morning when they are first fed, and in the evening when last fed. In general, it
may be considered as experimentally decided, that cleaning cattle of every description,
cows and oxen as well as horses, contributes much to their health as well as to their beauty.
If swine were cleaned as regularly as horses, there can be no doubt they would be equally
benefited by it. Some amateurs have their feeding swine regularly cleaned ; but the
greater part of professional agriculturists content themselves with fixing one or more rub-
bing posts in each sty, with frequent renewing of the litter.
3234. Feeding, or supplying food to cattle, is an operation which, like every other,
however simple or humble, requires attention and a principle of action. Food ought to
be given at stated times, in such quantities as to satisfy but not to glut the animals, and
varied in quality so as to keep appetite alive. Water ought to be regularly supplied
according to the kind of food, the state of the animal, and the season of the year. Cattle,
that are fed in part on green food or roots, will require less water than those fed on dry
hay, straw, or corn ; and cattle that have been at work and perspiring, will require more
water than such as have been idle or at pasture. In summer, cattle fed on dry food
obviously require more water than in winter, owing to the increased perspiration. ■ The
case of sick animals must be regulated by the nature of their disease, or directed by the
veterinary surgeon. In treating of agricultural animals (Part III.), we shall give the
diseases, and treatment of each.
3235. The harnessing of cattle requires attention, first, that the harness be in complete
order ; and, secondly, that it fit the parts of the animal to which it is applied. Collars
and saddles are the leading articles, and when they gall or in any way incommode the
animal, they are ruinous to his comfort, and soon render him unfit for labour. Even
when they fit properly, an improper mode of fixing the collar-blades (hames), and tying
the girth of the saddle, may greatly annoy the animal, and render him restive during the
whole period he is in yoke.
Book V. OPERATIONS FOR THE CARE OF LIVE STOCK. 525
3236. The yoking of draught animals requires still more attention than harnessing them.
To know when an animal is properly yoked, or placed in proper circumstances to per-
form the kind of labour assigned to him, it is necessary to have clear ideas as to the kind
of power to be exerted by the animal, whether drawing, carrying, pusMng, or two or
all of these. The horse and ox draw from their shoulders, caiTy from their back, and push
with their breech. The point of resistance in all weights, or objects to be dragged or
pushed along the ground's surface, lies below the centre of gravity ; and in all cases of
drawing, a line from this point of resistance to the collar of the animal should form a
right angle with the plane of the collar-bone. Hence the necessity of allowing the plough
chains from the back of the animal to hang freely, so as to form a straight line from
the collar-blades through the muzzle of tJie plough to the point of resistance. Hence, also,
the advantage of yoking two horses in a cart by means of the endless rope or chain already
described. (2755.) In yoking animals where the labour is principally carrying a weight,
as in carting, great care is retjuisite that the weight be not oppressive, and that the sus-
pending chain move freely in the groove of the saddle, so as to produce a perfect equipoise.
Various opinions are entertained as to the weight which a horse can carry with or without
drawing at the same time. According to the practice of experienced carters, if a one-
horse cart is loaded with 20 cwt., 5 cwt., but not more, may be allowed to rest on the
back of the horse by means of the traces, chain, and saddle. This is meant to apply
where the roads are level ; in going up or down hill, to admit of the same proportion of
weight, the traces, or shafts, or the bearing chain, must be lowered or raised according
to circumstances. Yoking animals to push only is a case that seldom or never occurs ;
but it will be useful to mention, that, as the line of the breech of animals is nearly per-
pendicular to the horizon, and the principle being that the line of exertion should be at
right angles to the exerting surface, so the direction of pushing or backing, as it is
commonly called, may be a horizontal line, or a line parallel to the surface on which the
animal stands.
3237. The hours of consecutive labour to which animals are subjected form a matter
which deserves consideration. The advantage of short stages in drawing heavy loads
has been proved by Mr. Stuart Menteath of Closeburn : this gentleman, who is pro-
prietor of one of the richest coal fields in the island, both as to quantity and quality, has
very successfully employed horse power to the drawing of heavy loads, by dividing the
roads into short stages. Before this expedient was resorted to, each horse could travel
the distance of only 18 miles, and return with a load of 24 cwt. thrice a week ; that is
to say, the aggregate of the labour of each horse amounted to 3 tons 2 cwt. weekly : but
by dividing that distance into 4 stages of 4^ miles each, 4 horses can make 3 trips daily,
and draw a load of 33 cwt. each trip, or very nearly 5 tons daily, or 30 tons weekly.
Hence, according to this method, the aggregate of the labour of each horse amounts to
about 7 tons weekly. Suppose 16 horses are employed ; instead of making them travel
18 miles one day, and return with a load the following, the more advantageous plan is
to arrange them in 4 divisions, and make each division travel only 4§ miles in succession :
were this distance divided into six stages, the load might be proportionally increased,
with less fatigue to the horses ; for it will invariably be found that the most profitable
mode of applying the labour of horses, is to vary their muscular action, and revive its
tone by short and frequent intervals of repose. Were stone rail-tracks laid down on the
pulls between Sheriff Hall and Edinburgh, and the above plan adopted with waggons
not exceeding 1 1 cwt. similar to those used by Mr. Stuart Menteath, the inhabitants
might be supplied with coal at a cheaper rate than by any other existing mode of con-
veyance. Mr. Stuart Menteath considers the same principle equally applicable to
ploughing ; instead of 2 yokings, as at present, of 4 hours each, were 3 yokings of 2i
hours each substituted, the horses would be less exhausted, and more work accomplished.
(Scotsman, Jan. 6. 1830.)
3238. The labour of a horse in a dap , according to Professor Leslie, is commonly reckoned equal to that
of five men ; but he works only 8 hours, while a man easily continues his exertions for 10 hours. Horses
likewise display much greater force in carrying than in pulling ; and yet an active walker will beat them
on a long journey : their power of traction seldom exceeds 144 lbs., but they are capable of carrying more
than six times as much weight. The pack-horses in the West Riding of Yorkshire are accustomed to
transport loads of 420 lb. over a hilly country ; hut in many parts of England, the mill-horses will carry
the enormous burthen of 910 lbs. to a short distance. The action of a horse is greatly reduced by the
duration of his task ; though not encumbered at all with any load or draught, he would be completely
exhausted, perhaps, by a continued motion for 20 hours in a day. Though a horse might start with a cele-
rity of 16 miles, this would be reduced in 4 hours to lOJ, and in 8 hours to Sf. Hence the great advan-
tages resulting from short stages, lately adopted for the rapid conveyance of the mail (Elements of
Natural Philosophy.)
Sect. II. Labours with Cattle on the Soil.
3239. Ploughing is justly considered the most important of agricultural operations, as
on the manner in which this is performed depends the facility of executing all succeeding
operations on the same piece of land. The plough acts as a wedge, separating a portion
of the soil, and turning it over at the same time. If this wedge were properly constructed,
526 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part TI.
and if the soil presented everywhere the same resistance to it, it would require no holding,
but would maintain its position when drawn along by the cattle ; but as the least inequality
of surface or tenacity, or the additional resistance of a root or stone, destroys the equili-
brium of the forces acting against the wedge, the presence of the holder or ploughman
becomes necessary to adjust its position. In two-wheeled ploughs, however, this is done
in a great measure by the wheels, but not so rapidly as by the instantaneous movement
of the holder on the ends of the handles acting as levers. The manual operation of hold-
ing the plough in a proper position, and directing the horses or cattle which draw it at
the same time, is only to be acquired by experience : when once attained, it is perhaps the
most agreeable and healthy of agricultural exercises ; the body being kept upright, the
arms and legs brought into action, and also the eye and the mind, to keep the furrow
straight and of regular width and depth, and the voice to speak to the horses. It is
almost needless to mention that the art of drawing a straight furrow with a plough in
which the horses are yoked in pairs, consists in keeping each of the horses a small distance
apart, so as to see forward between them ; and next to fix the eye on two or more objects
beyond the land to be ploughed,' and keep these objects and the coulter or muzzle of the
plough always in one line. By far the best practical directions for ploughing have been
given by the author of the article Agriculture in the Supplement to the Encyclopcedia Brit.t
which we shall quote at length.
3210. Three different points require particular attention in ploughing : 1. The breadth of the slice to be
cut ; 2. its depth ; and 3. the degree in which it is to be turned over ; — which last circumstance depends
both upon the construction of the plough, particularly the mould-board, and the care of the ploughman.
3241. The breadth and depth of the furrow-slice are regulated by judiciously placing the draught on the
nozzle or bridle of the plough ; setting it so as to go more or less deep, and to take more or less land or
breadth of slice, according as may be desired. In general the plough is so regulated that, if left to itself,
and merely kept from falling over, it would cut a little broader and a little deeper than is required. The
coulter is also placed with some inclination towards the left or land side, and the point of the sock or share
has a slight tendency downwards.
3242. The degree to which the furrow-slice turns over is in a great measure determined by the proportion
between its breadth and depth, which for general purposes is usually as three is to two; or when the
furrow is nine inches broad, it ought to be six inches in depth. When the slice is cut in this proportion,
it will be nearly half turned over, or recline at an angle of forty or forty-five degrees ; and a field so
ploughed will have its ridges longitudinally ribbed into angular drills or ridgelets. Hut if the slice is much
broader in proportion to its depth, it will be almost completely overturned, or left nearly flat, with its
original surface downwards, and each successive slice will be somewhat overlapped by that which was
turned over immediately before it. And finally, when the depth materially exceeds the width, each
furrow-slice will fall over on its side, leaving all the original surface bare, and only laid somewhat ob-
liquely to the horizon.
3243. Ploughing with the breadth and depth nearly in the proportion of three to two is best adapted for
laying up stubble land after harvest, when it is to remain during winter exposed to the mellowing influ-
ence of frost, preparatory to fallow or turnips.
3244. The shalloto furrow ofccmsiderdble width, as five inches in depth by eight or nine wide, is under,
stood to answer best for breaking up old leys j because it covers up the grass turf, and does not bury the
manured soil.
3245. Ploughing with the depth of the furrow considerably exceeding the width is a most unprofitable and
uselessly slow operation, which ought seldom or never to be adopted.
3246. The most generally useful breadth of afurrow-slice is from eight to ten inches, and the depth,
which ought to be seldom less than four inches, cannot often exceed six or eight inches, except in soils
uncommonly thick and fertile. When it is necessary to go deeper, as for carrots and some other deejj-
rooted plants, a trench-ploughing may be given by means of a second plough following in the same furrow.
3247. Shallow ploughing ought always to be adopted after turnips are eaten on the ground, that the
manure may not be buried too deep ; and also in covering lime, especially if the ground has been pul-
verised by fallowing, because it naturally tends to sink in the soil. In ploughing down farm-yard dung, it
is commonly neccssarv to go rather deep, that no part of the manure may be left exposed to the atmosphere.
In the first ploughing for fallows or green crops, it is advisable to work as deep as possible ; and no great
danger is to be apprehended, though a small portion of the subsoil be at that time brought to the surface.
3248. Thefurrow-slices are generally distributed into beds varying in breadth according to circumstances ;
these are called ridges or lands, and are divided from one another by gutters or open furrows. These last
serve as guides to the hand and eye of the sower, to the reapers, and also for the application of manures in
a regular manner. In soils of a strong or retentive nature, or which have wet close subsoils, these furrows
serve likewise as drains for carrying off the surface water ; and being cleared out, after the land is sown and
harrowed, have the name of water furrows. In wet lands, furrows are sometimes drawn or dug across the
ridges, for the purpose of carrying off the surface water from hollows ; these are called cross water-furrows.
3249. Ridges are not only different in breadth, but are raised more or less in the middle, on different
§oils. On clayey retentive soils, the great point to be attended to is the discharge of superfluous water.
But narrow ridges or stitches, of from three to five feet, are not approved of in some of the best cultivated
counties. In these a breadth of fifteen or eighteen feet, the land raised by two gatherings of the plough,
is most commonly adopted for such soils ; such ridges being thought more convenient for manuruig, sow-
ing, harrowing, and reaping, than narrower ones ; and the water is drained off quite as effectually.
32r!0. Ridges, on dry porous turnip soils, may be formed much broader ; and, were it not for their use
in directing the laboiirers, may be, and sometimes are, dispensed with altogether. They are often thirty
or thirty-six feet broad, which in Scotland are called band-win ridges, because reaped by a band of shearers,
commonly six, served by one binder. If it be wished to obliterate the intermediate furrows, this may be
done by casting up a narrow ridgelet or single bout-drill between the broad ridges, which is afterwards
levelled by the harrows.
3251. The mode of forming ridges straight and of uniform breadth is as follows : —Let us suppose a held
perfectly level, that is intended to be laid off into ridges of any determinable breadth. The best ploughman
belonging to the farm conducts the operation, with the aid of three or more poles shod with iron, in
the following manner : The first thing is to mark off the head ridges, on which the horses turn in plough-
ing, which should in general be of an equal breadth from the bounding lines of the field, if these lines are
not very crooked or irregular. The next operation, assuming one straight side of the field, or a line that
has been made straight, as the proper direction of the ridges, is to measure off from it, with one of the
poles (all of them of a certain length, or expressing specific measures), half the intended breadth of the
ridge if it is to be gathered, or one breadth and a half if to be ploughed flat; and there the ploughman
sets up a pole as a direction for the plough to enter. On a line with this, and at some distance, he plants
a second pole, and then in the same manner a third, fourth, &c., as the irregularity of the surface may
Book V. LABOURS WITH CATTLE ON THE SOIL. 527
render necessary, though three must always be employed, — the last of them at the end of the intended
ridge, and the whole in one straight line. He then enters the plough at the first ])oIe, keeping the line of
poles exactly between his horses, and ploughs down all the poles successively ; halting his horses at each,
and replacing it at so many feet distant as the ridges are to be broad ; so that when he reaches the end of
the ridge, all his poles are again set up in a new line parallel to the first. He returns, however, along his
former track, correcting any deviations, and throwing a shallow furrow on the side opposite to his former
one. These furrows, when reversed, form the crown of the ridge, and direct the ploughmen who are to
follow. The same operations are carried on until the whole field is marked out. This is called feiring in
Scotland, and striking or draiuing out the furrows in England. It is surprising with what accuracy these
lines are drawn by skilful ploughmen.
3252. Another method has been adopted for the same purpose, which promises to be useful with less
experienced workmen. A stout lath or pole, exactly equal in length to the breadth of the intended ridge,
is fixed to the plough, at right angles to the line of the draught, one end of which is placed across the
handles exactly opposite the coulter, while the other end projects towards the left hand of the plough-
man, and is preserved in its place by a rope passing from it to the collar of the near side horse. At the
outer end of the lath, a coulter or harrow tine is fixed perpendicularly, which makes a trace or mark on
the ground as the plough moves onwards, exactly parallel to the line'of draught. By tliis device, when
the plough IS feiring the crown of one ridge, the marker traces the line on which the next ridge is to be
feired. {General Report of Scotland, vol. i. p. 3.54.)
3253. The direction and length of ridges are points which must evidently be regulated by the nature of
the surface and the size of the field. Short angular ridges, called butts or short work, which are often
necessary in a field with irregular boundaries, are always attended with a considerable loss of time, and
ought to" be avoided as much as possible.
3254. In ploughing steep land it is advisable to give the ridges an inclination towards the right hand at
the top, by which, in going up the acclivity, the furrow falls more readily from the plough, and with less
fatigue to the horses. Another advantage of forming ridges in a slanting direction on such land is, that
tlie soil is not so apt to be washed down from the higher ground, as if the ridges were laid at right angles.
Wherever circumstances will permit, the best direction, however, is due north and south, by which the
grain on both sides of the ridge enjoys nearly equal advantages from tlie influence of the sun.
S25.5. .Rji&iw^, a kind of imperfect ploughing, was formerly common on land intended for barley, and
was executed soon after harvest, as a preparation for the spring ploughings. A similar operation is still
in use in some places, after land has been pulverised by clean ploughings, and is ready for receiving the
seed. By this method only half the land is stirred, the furrow being laid over quite flat, and covering an
equal space of the level surface. But, except in the latter instance, where corn is meant to grown in
parallel lines, and where it is used as a substitute for a drill-machine, ribbing is highly objectionable, and
has become almost obsolete.
3256. Land thus formed into ridges is afterwards cultivated without marking out the ridges
anew, until the inter-furrows have been obliterated by a fallow or fallow crop. This is done
by one or other of the following modes of ploughing ; — 1. If the soil be dry, and the
land has been ploughed flat, the ridges are split out in such a way, that the space which
the crown of the old ridge occupied is now allotted to the open furrow between the new
ones. This is technically called croivn and furrow ploughing. 2. When the soil is
naturally rather wet, or if the ridges have been raised a little by former ploughings, the
form of the old ridges, and the situation of the inter-furrows, are preserved by what is
called casting, that is, the furrows of each ridge are all laid in one direction, while those
of the next adjoining ridges are turned the contraiy way ; two ridges being always
ploughed together. 3. It is commonly necessary to raise the ridges on soils very tena-
cious of moisture, by what is called gathering, which is done by the plough going round
the ridge, beginning at the crown and raising all the furrow-slices inwards. 4. This last
operation, when it is wished .to give the land a level surface, as in fallowing, is reversed
by turning all the furrow slices outwards ; beginning at the inter-furrows, and leaving
an open furrow on the crown of each ridge. In order to bring the land into as level a
state as possible, the same mode of ploughing or casting, as it is called, may be repeated
as often as necessaiy.
3257. With resjoect to ploughing relatively to time, in the strongest lands, a pair of
good horses ought to plough three quarters of an acre in nine hours ; but upon the same
land, after the first ploughing, on friable soils, one acre, or an acre and a quarter, is a
common day's work. Throughout the year, an acre a day may be considered as a full
average, on soils of a medium consistency. The whole series of furrows on an English
statute acre, supposing each to be nine inches broad, would extend to 19,360 yards; and
adding 12 yards to every 220 for the ground travelled over in turning, the whole work,
of an acre may be estimated at 20,416 yards, or 11 miles and nearly 5 furlongs.
3258. In ploughing relatively to season, it is well known that clayey or tenacious soils
should never be ploughed when wet; and that it is almost equally improper to allow them
to become too diy, especially if a crop is to be sown without a second ploughing. The
state in which such lands should be ploughed is that which is commonly indicated by the
phrase, " between the v»'et and the dry," — while the ground is slightly moist, mellow,
and the least cohesive.
3259. The season best for ploughing the first time, for fallow or green crops, is imme-
diately after harvest, or after wheat-sowing is finished ; and when this land has been
gone over, the old tough swards, if there be any, are next turned up. The reasons
for ploughing so early are sufficiently obvious ; as the frosts of winter render the soil
more friable for the spring operations, and assist in destroying the weed roots. In
some places, however, the first ploughing for fallow is still delayed till after the spring
seed-time. On extraordinary occasions land may be ploughed in the night as well as in
the day, by hanging lanterns to the horses' collars. This, it is said, is sometimes done in
East Lothian, during a hurried seed-time. {Far7n. Mag. vol. ix. p. 55.)
528 • SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
3260. The cultivator, grubber, scvffler, scarifiers, and such like implements (2650.), are
used to lessen the number of ploughings in tallows or light free soils. Their operation
differs from that of the plough in not reversing the surface, and therefore they can never,
as some have proposed, become a substitute for that implement in all cases. Still the
grubber is a valuable implement. William Lester, late of Northampton, who is said
first to have invented an implement of this kind, declares himself confident that one man,
a boy, and six horses, will move as much land in a day, and as effectually, as six ploughs ;
meaning land in a fallow state, that has been previously ploughed. We have elsewhere
pointed out the mode of using this description of tillage implements (2650.), one great
advantage of which is, that they may be used by the unskilful, and even by operators who
cannot guide a plough. As soon as steam shall be employed as a moving power in this
department of agriculture, implements of this kind, and especially Finlayson's harrow
(2657.) and Wilkie's brake (2656.), will come into very general use.
3261. The operation of harrowing is intended both to drag out weeds and to cover the
seeds when sown. It is obvious that implements of different sizes are not only necessary,
but even that these implements should be worked in different ways, according to the
strength and condition of the soil on which they are employed, and the nature of the
work to be executed. When employed to reduce a strong obdurate soil, not more than
two of the old or common sort should be yoked together, because they are apt to
ride and tumble upon each other, and thus impede the work, and execute it imperfectly.
It may also be remarked, that on rough soils harrows ought to be driven as fast as the
horses can walk ; because their effect is in direct proportion to the degree of velocity
with which they are driven. In ordinary cases, and in every case where harrowing is
meant for covering the seeds, and the common implement in use, three harrows are the
best yoke, because they fill up the ground more effectually, and leave fewer vacancies,
than when a smaller number is
518 \ o^^To — 7 employed: the improved forms,
calculated to cover the breadth
of two or more of the old
harrows by one frame . {Jig.
518.), are only calculated for
flat ridges, or for working dry
lands in which ridging is not
requisite.
3262. The harrow-mans at-
tention, at the seed process, should
be constantly directed to prevent
these implements from riding
upon each other, and to keep
them clear of every impediment,
from stones, lumps of earth, or
clods, and quickens or grass
roots ; for any of these prevent
the implement from working
with perfection, and causes a mark or trail upon the surface, always unpleasing to the
eye, and generally detrimental to the vegetation of the seed.
,3263. Harrowing is usually given in (liferent directions ; first in length, then across,
and finally in length, as at first. Careful agricultors study, in the finishing part of the
process, to have the harrows drawn in a straight line, without suffering the horses to go
in a zigzag manner, and are also attentive that the horses enter fairly upon the ridge,
without making a curve at the outset. In some instances, an excess of harrowing has
been found very prejudicial to the succeeding crop ; but it is always necessary to give so
much as to break the furrow, and level the surface, otherwise the operation is imperfectly
performed.
3264. Horse-hoeing is the operation of stirring the ground between rows of vegetables,
by means of implements of the hoe, coulter, or pronged kind, drawn by horses. Who-
ever can guide a plough, will find no difficulty in managing any implement used for
stirring ground. The easiest kinds are those which have few hoes, or coulters, or shares,
and a wheel in front ; and the easiest circumstances, wide intervals between the rows, and
a loose friable soil. Wherever soil is hard, rough, and rounded, as in the case of high-
raised ridges, there should not be more than three prongs or shares in the implement,
because more than three points can never touch a curved surface, and be in one plane ;
and if not in one plane, they will never work steadily, equally, and agreeably.
3265. Turnip hoeing of every kind is accordingly exceedingly easy ; but stirring the
earth between rows of beans on a strong clay soil in a time of drought, is proportionally
difficult, and sometimes, when the ground rises in large lumps, dangerous for the plants.
In stirring the soil between rows of beans, cabbages, or other plants, on strong or loamy
Book V. LABOURS WITH CATTLE ON THE SOIL. 529
soils, a small plough often answers better than any of the pronged or coultered imple-
ments, at least for the first and last operations of bean culture. Dr. Anderson, indeed^
affirms with great truth, that nearly all the various operations of horse-hoeing may be
executed by the common swing-plough, in an equally effectual manner as by any of the
hoe-ploughs usually made use of.
3266. Drilling, or the deposition of seed in rows by means of a drill machine, is
an operation that requires considerable care in the performance. The points that require
particular attention are keeping the rows straight and at equal distances throughout their
length, depositing the seed at a proper depth, and delivering the seed in proper quantity
according to its kind and the nature of the soil. For these purposes the ground must
have been previously well prepared by ploughings and harrowings, except in the parti-
cular case of drilling beans with one furrow. This operation is generally performed in
the course of ploughing, either by a person pushing forward a bean-drill barrow, or by
attaching a hopper and wheel, with the necessary apparatus, to the plough itself. The
mode of regulating the depth of the drill, and the quantity of seed delivered, must
depend on the kind of drill used, and only requires attention in the holder. In drilling
turnips the land is most generally made up into ridgelets twenty-seven or thirty inches centre
from centre, by a single bout (go about), or return, of the common plough. The North-
umberland machine, which sows two rows at once, is then drawn over them by one horse
walking between the ridges without a driver, the holder at once performing that operation
and keeping the machine steady on the tops of the drills. One of the two rollers of this
machine smooths the tops of the ridges before the seed is deposited, and the other
follows and compresses the soil and covers the seed.
3267. In drilling corn several rows are sown at once, and great care is requisite to keep
the machine steady and in a straight line : for most soils two horses and a driver are
required for this purpose ; the driver aiding in filling the hopper with seed, &c.
3268. In all cases of drilling it must be recollected that the principal intention of the
operation is to admit of horse-hoeing the crop afterwards ; hence the necessity of straight
rows and uniform distances ; and hence also the advantage of burying the manure under
the drill or row, that it may not be exposed to the air in after-working.
3269. RoUi7ig is the operation of drawing a roller over the surface of the ground with
the view of breaking down the clods, rendering it more compact, and bringing it even
and level ; or it may be limited to smoothing and consolidating the surface. It is prac-
tised both upon the tillage and grass lands, and is of much utility in both sorts of
husbandry. In the former case it is made use of for the purpose of breaking down and
reducing the cloddy and lumpy parts of the soil in preparing it for the reception of crops,
and in rendering light soils more firm, even, and solid, after the seed is put in. It is
likewise found beneficial to the young crops in the early spring, in various instances. In
order to perform this operation in the most complete and effectual manner a roller of
considerable weight is necessary ; and in order as much as possible to prevent the ground
from being injured by the feet of the animals that draw it, as may frequently be the case
where they follow each other in the same track, it is the best practice to have them yoked
double, as by that means there will be less treading on the same portion of surface.
Where two horses are sufficient to execute the work, more should never be made use of;
but if a third should be found necessary, it may be attached as a leader in the middle
before the other two : a greater number of horses can seldom or never be of any material
advantage in this sort of work. It is necessary to see that every part of the surface
receives the due impression of the implement, and that the head lands are not injured by
the turnings. On lands where the work is regularly performed, it will seldom be requisite
to pass more than once in a place, but in other cases it may often be done more frequently
with benefit, and in particular cases a more frequent repetition of the operation is abso-
lutely requisite, in order to bring the ground into a proper state.
3270. In rolling grass lands it is necessary to attend in a particular manner to the
season, as it cannot be performed with advantage either when the surface is in too dry or
too moist a condition. In these* cases the work of rolling may be advantageously per-
formed at different seasons, as in the beginning of the autumn, and in the commence-
ment of the year, or very early spring months ; but the latter is the most common
period. In the drier descriptions of land it may frequently be performed, in the most
beneficial manner, after the land has been rendered a little soft by a moderate fall of
rain ; but in those of the contrary sort it may be necessary to wait till the superabundant
moisture be so much dried up, as to admit the animals employed in drawing the machine
without subjecting the surface of the ground to poaching or other injury, while the process
is going on. The rolling of watered meadows, it has been remarked by Boswell, should
be executed towards the latter end of February or beginning of the following month,
after the land has been left in a dry state for a week or ten days. The work should be
performed along the panes, going up one side of the trenches and down the other ; and
in the case of rolling the common hay lands, it is a good mode to proceed up one side of
M m
530 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
the field and down the other, somewhat in a similar manner, as by that means the work
may be the most completely executed. , ,
3271. Horse-raking, or the collecting bi^ the sckttfered straWs df 6brn or hay crops by
the rake, is an operation of little Wt 6r'tr6vible lA' the e'xectiti6n. Thfe proper imple-
ment being employed, it is generally drawn by one liorse, conducted by a man, who walks
behind, and, when tlie rake fills, lifts it up without stopping the horse, and always
at the same place, so as to deposit the raking? in regular rows across the field. The
same mode is followed whether in raking hay, corn, stubble, or weeds from fallow
grounds. , , i . r
327 2l^Xiriymd^ carfs^^ ^d imggons, though tlie easiest of all operations, is very fre-
quently shaWKdly'*per?ornicd by servants. Almost every body knows this ; and it is
humiliating to consider that we are considered the most inhuman nation in Europe in
our treatment of horses. In most other countries these animals, and even oxen, are
taught to obey the word of the driver ; but in Britain he requires both halter or rein,
and a whip ; and in most parts of England the slightest movement from right to left is
indicated to the animal by the latter implement. Driving is more esjDecially neglected,
or wretchedly performed, near large towns, and especially round London, where little or
no attention is paid to avoiding the ruts ; choosing the best i>art of the road ; going in a
direct line ; altering the position of the load (by means of the back chain or the construc-
tion of the cart where that admits of it) in going up or down hill ; or seeing whether
both horses (where two are used) draw equally. The reverse of this conduct ought to
be that of a careful and humane driver, who, being first certain that his cattle are pro-
perly yoked, and his load fairly adjusted so as to be neitlier too heavy nor too light for
the wheel or shaft horse, will see that they proceed along the best part of the road in a
straight line, avoiding the ruts when deep or unequal; that all tlie horses draw equally
as far as practicable; that proper care and timely precautions be taken to avoid other
machines meeting or passing ; and that no sudden motion or jerk of the horses be required
on any occasion. In dividing the road where it is steep or in a bad state, the horses ought
to be drawn aside gradually, and gradually led on again ; it being easier to descend or
ascend either a good or bad convex road obliquely, than at an acute angle. Lastly, servants
ought on no account to be allowed to ride on laden carts or waggons, especially he
former ; or to walk at a distance from them either before or behind. There are many
other points which require attending to in this department of agriculture ; such as not
striking animals on the head or legs, nor kicking them, nor using a pole or handle of
any implement that may be at hand, in administering chastisement ; but these must be
let\ to the care and discretion of masters, whose interest it' is to be most vigilant in
watching those who are engaged in this department. ti Aw > >*«i " •
S273. One mode of lessening the evils of careless driving and inhumanity to animals consists in employing
chiefly married servants, and, as is generally the case, letting each have the exclusive care and working of
one pair of horses. Such men are steadier, and remain much longer in their situations, than jingle men,
and are therefore more likely to feel an interest in the welfare and good condition, of their horses, as well
asin the good opinion of their employer. '
3274. Driving cattle in a threshing-machine required particular care before the ingenious
invention, described § 2155., to equalise the draught of the different animals ; where this
jniventipn is applied;^ it requires little ,mor^|han calling tasuc^^^ tiie.cattl^, as have
k'i^^den^i^^or^Hf m,^^^^ o^iu'a.'dof9 "^ni4lq'Uof^«'^dJ bVu'o-. - ■
i'k^t. lit:" Xdhiuh (MOpeMlions 'A'^ frop\''perjti}'iiie^iki^t^^^^^^^
3275. Labours with the crop chiefly comprise stacking and housing!." - : • < » , .
3276. Stacking is the operation of builddng or piling lap unthreshed corn^ hay, straw, or
other dried crops, in convenient forms, and so as to admit of their bding thatched aa»
a defence from the weather. Stacks are of various forms and dimensions, according to
circumstances; in some districts they are formed square or oblong, both for hay and
corn; but where threshing-machines are in use, the circular base with cylindrical body,
diverging a little at the eaves, and a conical top, k decidedly preferred, as being more
convenient in size and form, and better adapted for early stacking in wet seasons than any
other. For hay the form of the stack is a matter of less consequence ; the long square or
oblong shapes are perhaps the most safe- and convenient, especially when inot too broad,
as they are the most Suitable to cut froch; in trussing hay for s^le. ' .nt)/^ in ),1 i;
3277. In respect to the sizes of corn-stacks of the square soft, they ofieotirse'l'afy greatly
according to circumstances ; but they should never be'made too large, as there is'a great
deal more risk in securing and getting in the grain from them; and from their being built
at different times, they do not settle altogether in so perfect a manner, or resist the effects
of the weather and keep the grain so well, as those of less dimensions that can be com-
pleted at once : and, in addition, they are less convenient in the threshing out, especially
M here the fiail is employed. The chief advantages they possess, are those of taking some-
thing less in thatch and labour in covering them.
Book V. L& Jlfril^ N^iVh ^THE ' C RO P. 53 1
3278. The proper she of the jiay-stach ^^oulil probably Tje qiffereht in some degree
according to the state and nature of the hay ; but a middling size is perhaps the best, say
from twenty to thirty loads of about one ton each, as there are inconveniences in both
small and large stacks, the foiTner having too much outside, while the latter are liable to
take on too much heat, and at the same time permit less moisture to be preserved in the
hay. In small stacks the bellying forms with very narrow bottoms have often much ad-
vantage, and are in some districts termed sheep-stacks, probably from the slovenly prac-
tice of sheep having been permitted to feed at them.
,,82,79. In building every description of stack, the stem or body should be so formed as
to swell gradually outwards, quite up to the part termed the eaves ; as by this method it
is more perfectly secured against the entrance of moisture, and at tlie same time requires
a less space of stand to rest upon ; and, when the building of them is well performed,
they have equal solidity, and stand in as firm a manner.
3280. The stein should contain about two thiidg, and the roof one third, of tlie whole stack. If it be
built on a frame, the stem should contain less and the roof more ; if on a bottom, the reverse, 'llie corners
of the stem should not be built too sharp, but should be carried up ratherifoundishj by Avhitii ihe sides
will look fuller, and the swell given by the pressure, will be inore perceptible. ,^,,,
3281. The ends of the roof should have a gentle projection, answerable to the stem ; and the sides should
be carried up rather convex, than flat or x^onCave. Perhaps' a' roof gently convex' shoots off 'the rains
better than any other. • • ' n
3282. Where corn is stacked that has not been sheaved, and in building hay-stijcks, it is
the usual practice to have a number of persons upon the stacks "the corn or -bay being
forked up and deposited on the different sides all round in a sunilar tnethod.; iafter this,
other parcels are laid all round on the inside of these, so as to bind themes in- a secure
manner from slipping outwards; the operator proceeding in .the same imaoruer till the
whole of the middle spade is perfectly filled up : when he begins another coui'se in the
same method, and goes on in this mode, with course after course, till he has raised the
whole of the stem ; when he begins to take in for the roof, in a very gradual manner, in
every succeeding course, until the whole is brought to a ridge or point according to the
manner in which the stack is formed. But for the pui-pose that tiie roofs may throw off
the water in a more perfect and efl^ectual manner, they should be made soas'to have a
slight degree of fulness or swell about the middle of them^ and not beimadediat, as is
too frequently the practice with indifferent builders of stacks^ , ; - .
3283. In stacking where the corn is bound into sheaves, there is seldom more than one
person employed in managing the work of building the stack, except in cases where the
dimensions are very considerable ; in which cases it is found necessary to have a boy to
receive the sheaves from the pitcher, and hand them to the man who builds the stack.
In executing the work, it is of the utmost importance that the centre of the stack be con-
stantly kept in a somewhat raised state above the sides, as the sheaves have, thus a
sloping direction outwards, by which the entrance of moisture is more effectually guarded
against and prevented. To accomplish this in the most perfect manner, the %yorkman
begins in the middle of the stand or staddle, setting the sheaves together so that they
may incline a little against each other, placing the rest in successive rows against them
till he comes to the outside, when he carries a course of sheaves quite round, in a more
sloping manner than in the preceding courses. The bottom of the stack, being formed
in this way, it is afterwards usual to begin at the outside, and advance m ith different
courses round the whole, placing each course a little withiti the other, so as to bind
them in an exact and careful manner, till the stacker comes to the middle. All the
different courses are to be laid on in a similar manner until the whok of the stem is
raised and completed ; when the last outside row of sheaves is, in most cases, placed a very
little more out than tlie others, in order to form a sort of projection for the eavfts, that
the water maybe thrown off' more eflfectually. But in cases where the steins ■ of the
stacks are formed so as to project outwards in the manner alreadynotxcedy thisimay be
omitted without any bad consequences, as the water will be thrown off" easily ■without
touching the waste of the stack. The roof is to be formed by placing the shBar^es gra-
dually a little more in and in, in evcrj' course, until it comes to a ridge or point, according
to the form of the stack, as has been already observed. But in forming and constructing
this part of the stack, great care should constantly be taken to give the ear-ends of the
sheaves a sufficiently sloping direction upwards, in torder that they may be the better
secured from M-etness ; and to the outside should be given a rounded form, in the manner
that has been already noticed. /.; ;\-vo-.> \o 6V».i -
3284. ^funnel or chimney h frequently fQraied(-«Efo krfitl in- circular stacks, especially
in wet districts, in order to prevent their taking on too" miich heat : where these funnels
are not formed with the basement of timber, iron, or masonry, as already shown (2908.),
they are produced by tying a sheaf up in a very tight manner, and placing it in the
middle on tlie foumlation of the stack, pulling it up occasionally as the building of the
stack proceeds all roimd it. In setting wp ricks in bad harvests, it is a practice in some
places, particularly with barley crops, to have three or four pretty large poles tied together,
by winding straw ropes round them, set up in the middle, round which the stacks are then
IM m 2
5S2
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
built. But except the stacks are large, or the grain when put into them in an imperfect
condition, such openings are quite unnecessary.
3285. The stacking of hay requires much care and attention in the person employed
for the purpose, though less than that of building corn-stacks. There should constantly
be a proper stand or foundation, somewhat raised by wood or other materials, prepared
for placing the stacks upon ; but nothing of the coping kind is here necessary. In the
business of stacking hay, the work should be constantly performed, as much as possible,
while the sun is upon the hay, as considerable advantage is thus gained in its quality :
and it is necessary to have a stacker that has been accustomed to the business, and a
proper number of persons to help upon the stack, in order that it may be well spread out
and trodden down.
3286. The building of hay-stacks should be conducted much in the same way as the
building of stacks of loose grain (3282.) ; the middle of the stack being always well kept
up a little higher than the sides, and the sides and ends well bound in by the proper ap-
plication of the successive portions of hay as the work advances ; and during which it is
a good way, where there are plenty of hands, to have the sides and ends properly pulled
into form, as by this means much after-labour is prevented. It is likewise of advantage,
that the hay should be well shaken and broken from the lumps, during the operation of
stacking. The form in which the stacks are built is not of much consequence ; but, if
large, and made in the square form, it is better not to have them too broad, or of too
great width, as by this means they are less apt to heat. With the intention of preventing
too much heat, sometimes in building hay-stacks, as well as those of the grain kind,
holes, pipes, and chimneys, are left in the middle, that the excessive heat may be dis-
charged ; but there is often injury sustained by them, from their attracting too much
moisture.
3287. The hay-stacks of Middlesex, it is observed by Middkton, are more neatly formed
and better secured than any where else. At every vacant time, while the stack is carry-
ing up, the men are employed in pulling it with their hands into a proper shape ; and
about a week after it is finished the whole roof is properly thatched, and then secured
from receiving any damage from the wind, by means of a straw rope extending along
the eaves, up the ends, and near the ridge. The ends of the thatch are afterwards cut
evenly below the eaves of the stack, just of sufficient length for the rain water to drip
quite clear off the hay. When the stack happens to be placed in a situation which may
be suspected of being too damp in the vdnter, a trench of about six or eight inches deep
is dug round, and nearly close to it, which serves to convey all the water from the spot,
and renders it perfectly dry and secure.
3288. The stack guard (fig. 519.), or covering of canvass, is employed in some dis-
tricts to protect the stack while building in a wet season. In Kent and Surrey, the half
a
519
worn sails of ships are made use of for this purpose, though in most parts of the north
a covering of loose «if,raw or hay is found sufficient in ordinary cases ; but where, from
a continued rain, the ctnck is penetrated some way down, a part is removed on recom-
mencing, and dried before being replaced. It is observed by Marshal, that a sail-cloth
thrown over and immediately upon the hay of a stack in full heat, is liable to do more
injury by increasing the heat, and at the same time checking the ascent of the steam, than
service in shooting off rain water. The improved method of spreading the cloth he de-
scribes as follows: two tall poles (a, a) are inserted firmly in two cart wheels {b,b),
which are laid flat upon the ground at each end of the stack, and loaded with stones to
increase their stability. Another pole of the same kind, and somewhat longer than the
stack, is furnished at each end with an iron ring or hoop, large enough to admit the up-
right poles and to pass freely upon them. Near the head of each of the standaids is a
Book V. SCIENTIFIC OPERATIONS. 533
pulley (c, c), over which a rope is passed from the ring or end of the horizontal pole, by
which it is easily raised or lowered to suit the given height of the stack. A cloth being
now thrown over the horizontal pole, and its lower margins loaded with weights, a com-
plete roof is formed and neatly fitted to the stack, whether it be high or low, wide or
narrow ; the eaves being always adjusted to the wall plate, or upper part of the stem of
the stack ; thus effectually shooting oft" rain water, while the internal moisture or steam
escapes freely at either end as the wind may happen to blow. This contrivance is readily
put up or taken away ; the poles being light, are easily moved from stack to stack, or laid
up for another season, and the wheels are readily removed or returned to their axles.
On the whole, it answers as a good substitute for the improved construction brought
into use by Sir Joseph Banks, and is much less expensive. This construction, instead of
the ring running on the poles, has blocks and tackle (c, c), and instead of weights to dis-
tend the cloth, ropes (</, d) are used to tighten it and keep it detached from the sides of
tlie stack, so as to admit a more free circulation of air.
3289. A stacking stage (Jig. 520.), or scaffold, has been contrived for finishing the
cpQ upper parts of high stacks, but it can seldom be requi-
site when a judicious size of stack is adopted. This
stage, which consists of a frame (a) and a movable
platform (b), easily understood and constructed, is set
against the stack, when it becomes so high that it is
inconvenient to pitch on to it from the cross plank of a
waggon. The platform is commonly fixed by means
of the chain pins and holes, about fourteen feet from
the ground, which is about the height of a waggon
load of hay. Were it fixed lower, it would be of no
use ; and were it fixed much higher, it would be found
too high for a man to pitch on to, when the waggon should have become nearly empty.
3290. The term housing is chiefly applied to crops of the root kind, as potatoes,
carrots, turnips, &c. Potatoes being gathered in dry weather are preserved by being
laid up in heaps, secured from rain and frost more particularly, and from the weather
generally, whether dry, moist, cold, or hot. The mode of doing this in some places is
to form them into heaps on the surface of the soil, covering them with a thick layer of
straw, and on that another of earth. Sometimes also, where the soil is dry, they are
buried in pits and similarly covered ; but, for common agricultural purposes, by much
the best mode is to lay them up in a house, securing them from all extremes of weather
by a covering of straw. By this mode they are much more easily got at when a portion
is wanted, than by any other in use.
3291 . Li housing carrots, and Sivedish or yeUow turnips^ the same modes may be adopted
as for potatoes ; but in housing white turnips, as they are apt to rot when heaped up, the
best mode is to spread them thinly on any surface covered from the rain, but freely ex-
posed to the circulation of air. This mode, it must be evident, can only be adopted to a
limited extent, and, indeed, is only resorted to as a precautionary measure during winter,
when frosts, snows, or continued rains, might interrupt the lifting and carting from the
fields of the usual supplies for feeding stock.
3292. Various modes of housing and preserving these and other roots, will be treated of
as each particular crop comes into notice in a succeeding Book (VI.).
Chap. III.
Scientific Operations, aiid Operations of Order and general Management.
3293. All the operations which have hitherto been described require to be practically
known to every farm servant or operative agriculturist ; the few about to be described
belong more particularly to the superintendent or master ; they may be arranged as
scientific operations, and operations of order and management.
Sect. I. Scientific Operations required of the Agriculturist.
3294. The scientific operations required of the agriculturist are chiefly the measuring
surfaces, measuring solids, taking the levels of surfaces, dividing lands ; and valuing lands,
timber, leases, and farming stock. A knowledge of the more common practices of sur-
veying, measuring, and the calculation of annuities, may be considered as essential to every
agriculturist, whether farmer, land agent, or proprietor, who is desirous of having clear
ideas on the subject of letting labour, hiring or letting farms, or purchasing estates.
Such knowledge is not to be expected in detail in this work, but must be prociu-ed from
the ordinary school and annuity books, and is indeed implied in a regular education.
Mm 3
534 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. I>.\ht i..
All we propose here is to direct the reader's attention to the most important points of the
art of surveying, and lay down the leading principles of valuing agricultural property.
Si^i'iS(f;cjri. ' Measuring relatwehj to JtgnciiUiiire-i -h^-^'J^ ■- ,t. ..t, ,,
3295. The measuring of land, or other objects, comprises tlirce distinct operations ^ vtiri'
taking the dimensions of any tract or piece of ground, delincafing or laying down tlie'
same in a map or draught, and calculating the area or superficial contents. Tlie dim'eil'
sions on a small scale ave bust tiUcen by rods of wood, but in all ordinary and extensi^^4'
cases by a chaiii of iron, being less likely to contract or expand by changes of temper-
ature than cord lines or tap<is. In measuring a simple figure, such as a square field,
nothing more is necessary than to take the length and breadth, which multiplied together
give the superficial area ; but as few fields are square, or even right angled, it becomes
necessary to adopt some ginding line or form within the field, and from that line or
form to measure to the different angles, so as to be able, from the dimensions taken, either
to calculate the contents at once, or to lay down the form of the field on paper, according
to a certain sCale, or proportion to its real size, and from that to take dimensions anc(
calculate the contents. The simplest and most accurate mode of ascertaining the contents
of all irregular figures is by throwing them into triangles ; and tliis also is the most accu-
rate mode of measuring and protracting a whole landed estate, however large. In short,
a triangle is the form universally adopted, whether in surveying a single field, or a whpl«
kingdom. To find tlie contents of a triangle, every body knows that it is only necessary
to multiply half the pei-pendiculai* into the base. These two principles, properly under.-
stood, form the) fottn<iati.0n of measuring, protracting, and estimating the contents,.^!'
territorial and all other surfaces. In surveying hilly lands, an allowance is made bqth
in protracting them> and calculating their contents,, wei,ll known Xo surveyors, an.,d not
necessary to be entered into here. ,. , •jj'.iiir;!, ,-, .- i ■'» ..r ,■ ■ ri'iu
3296. In mensvring sofM bodies, the rule is to " find the area of one end, and multiply
that by the length." This rule is of universal application, whether to land, as in ex-
cavating or removing protuberances ; to ricks of corn ; heaps of dung ; timber ; or wat^r.
The area of one end, or of one surface, whether the end, side, top, or bottom, is found
exactly on the samis principles as in ascertaining the superficial contents of land; andi^t'
the figure diminishes in the course of its length, as the tpp (pf .jE^,^If:^,oa[' j^(^^ *WB^ 9^^
tree, the mean length or half is taken as a multiplier. • .,t-<-u,r ) ■•• ,■• i h.s,,,
3297. Measuring objects hy the eye, though a mode that can never be depended on o^
the foundation for any important calculation or transaction, yet should be constantly
practised by young men, for tlie sake of gaining habits of attention, and acquiring ideas
as to number and quantity at first sight. Tiic principle on which this sort of eye measure-
ment is acquired, is that of ascertaining the actual dimension of some near object, and
applying it as a measure to all the others seen beyond it. Thus, if a man is seen standing
by a post or a tree at a distance, taking the height of the man at five and a half or six
feet ; apply the figure of the man to the tree, and find how many applications will reacli
its top ; that number cnultiplied by the ordinary height of a man, will of course be a
near approximation to its height. Again, supposing this tree one in a row or avenue,
then to estimate the length of the avenue, measure the third or fourth tree by the man, and
measure by the saTnes means the distance of that tree from the first, then state the question
thus : As the difference between the height of the first and fourth tree is to the horizontal
distance between them ; sdis the difference between the first and last tree of the avenue,
to the length of the Jlvenue. In this way, the length and breadth of a field may be
estimated by observing- the height ocf the hedge at the nearest side, and the apparent height
at the farthest points. The breadth of ridges and tlieir number, teams at work, or cattle
grazing, or accidental passengers, are all objects of known dimensions, which may be
made use of in this way of estii^aticg th(^ coateAt^ ,qf .lands^, I^n rjtjgard to houses, the
doors, and windows, and size of bricks, stones, boards, tiles, &c. are obvious and certain
guides. ' ' ^ .f<^
3298. The recollection of suifacesdhd of country is a matter of eonsiderahle interest to
every one, but especially to the agriculturist. The most effectual mode of impressing
scenery on the memory is by the study and practice of sketching landscape. In addition
to this, it will be useful to pay attention to the natural surface and productions, as kind of
tree or crop, hills, valleys, flats, lakes, rills, &c. ; also to the distant scenery, as whether
flat, hilly, cultivated, wast^, woody, or watery ; what processes are going on; what the
style of houses, dress, &c. ^ ^garing attended to- these details, the next and the most im-
portant aid to the memoiy is toi recollect what portion of coiuitry already known to us it
most resembles. " '■^-^ ^ — -
3299. In endeavouring to recollect -the stirface find ohjects composing an entire estate, some
leading central object, as the house, should be fixed on, and the bearings of other objects
relative to it ascertained in idea. Then, either by going over the estate, or by a favourable
position on the house-top or some ollW''eiiiiHeViceV the'^irtline^bf^^ the^fiijlds^^or' oth
Book V.
TAKING THE LEVELS OF SURFACES.
535
scenery nearest the house, may be taken down or remembered, and also the distant
scenery, or that exterior to the estate. In riding through a country which It is desired to
recollect, a sketch should be made in imagination of the road and the leading objects
adjoining ; another of what may be called the objects in the middle distance ; and, finally,
one of the farthest distance. If, instead of the imagination, a memorandum book were
used, and the sketches accompanied with notes, the country examined would be firmly
impressed on the memory. In tlus way temporary militarymapsdre' formed by the
engineers of the army in a few hours, and with astonishing accuracy.'^ " ;.- .n
SuBSECT. 2. Takhig tlte Levels ofSurfaceS'
3300. Levelling, or the operation of taking the levels of surfaces, is of essential use in
agriculture, for ascertaining the practicability of bringing water to particular points in
order to drive machinery ; for irrigation ; for roads led along the sides of hills ; for
drainages, and various other purposes. There are few works on the earth's surface more
useful, grand, and agreeable, than a road ascending, passing over, and descending a
range of steep irregular mountains, but everywhere of the same and. of a convenient
slope ; next to this is a candl passing* tltrodgh iani iJregular country, yet every where on
the same level. ■■■ '' ■'^'''! -•■•.■■;■'■* ii.q i;r'.i'i .m ■ /.r>.'-:;,^
3301. Two or more places cvre said td y on (t true level, when they are equally distant
from the centre of the earth. Also, one place is higher than another, or out of level with
it, when it is farther from the centre of the earth ; and ^ line equally distant from that
centre in all its points, is called the line of true leveU ' Hence, because the earth is round,
that line must be a curve, and make a paat of the ieaarth's circunaference, or at least be
parallel to it, or concentrical with it. ' •' ■ •' i
3302. The line of sight giveii by^thd^rp^ation of levelling h a tangent, or a right line
perpendicular to the semidiameter of the earth at the point of contact, rising always
higher above the-trtte Htie <>f leV^l; ttife farther the distance is, which is called the apparent
line of level, the difference of which' iS' always ij^faalitOKth^ueiXcess of the secant of the arch
of distance above the radius of the earthi' - '.ii <>* ; -^ojit'. ><! r;" if i ■. . , .
3303. The toinninn 7neth6ds of levelling 'iirQ sufficient for c6nveying water to small dis-
tances, &c. ; but in more extensive operations, as in levelling for canals, which are to con-
vey water to the distance of many miles j and such like, the difference between the true
and the apparent level must be taken iAto'the acoouhtj which is equal to the square of
the distance betvt'^en the 'pfacesi' 'divided by the diameter of the earth, and consequently
it is always proportional to the square of th6i disfancfe;. or* from -calculation almost eight
inches, for the height of the apparent above the'^eillevel rat a distance of one mile.
Thus, by proportioning the excesses in altitude according to the squares of the distances,
tables showing the height of the apparent above the true level for every hundred yards
of distance on the one hand, and for every mile on the other, have been constructed.
(See Dr. Button's Matheynatical Dictionari/, art. Level.) f' : i- , t
3304. The operation of levelling is performed by placing pol6S dr staves at different parts
or points from which the levels are to be takert, i^'ith persons to raise or lower them,
according to circumstances, when the levelling instrument is properly applied and
adjusted. In describing the more common levels used in agriculture (2497.), we have
also given soihfe account of the mode of using them for common purposes. Their use,
as well as that of the different kinds of spirit-levels, will be better acquired by a few
hours' practice" with a survoyoi' than by any number of words : and indeed in practice,
whenever any very importarit point or series of levels' is to be taken, it will commonly be
found better "to call it\ the aid Of a land surveyor than to Jbe tit the expense of implements
to be seldom uSed, and mth which errors ndght easily be tnade by- a very skilful person
not accustomed to their frequent use. ''^(.'1'' ''f~ 'la; ,i^i'.j r -^i ,■
3305. Levelling to produce an eveti^'BtS* {f^ 38i?y)/'aaaii!road-making, whether that
521
line be straight or curved in direction, can only be determined on an irregular surface by
measuring down from an elevated level line (a), or from level lines in parallel directions,
Mm 4
536
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
and so transferring the points by horizontal levels to the proper line. Straight rods are
the ready means of measuring down, and the points must be marked by hillocks or hol-
lows (b), or by smooth-headed stakes driven into the surface, and protruding above, or
sunk under it, according to the obstructions.
3306. Lines of uniform declivity or acclivity {fig. 521. e, e, e) are readily formed on the
same principle. In this and the former case, the common level and the borning pieces
(a and d), with measuring-rods and stakes, are all the instruments required.
SuBSECT. 3. Division and laying out of Lands.
3307. The division of lands is one of the most important and not the least difficult
parts of the land surveyor's art. In intricate cases, as in the subdivision of large estates
or commons, the professional surveyor will generally be resorted to ; but it is essen-
tial for the land-steward and proprietor, and even for the farmer, or professional
cultivator, to know the general principles on which this business is founded. We
shall therefore shortly develope these principles from Dr, Hutton's valuable Dictionary,
and next otFer some general rules of our own for ordinary cases of dividing and laying
out lines.
3308. In the division of commons, after the whole is surveyed and cast up, and the
proper quantities to be allowed for roads, &c. deducted, divide the net quantity remain-
ing ainong the several proprietors, by the rule of fellowship, in proportion to the real
value of their estates, and you will thereby obtain their proportional quantities of the
land. But as this division supposes the land, which is to be divided, to be all of an
equal goodness, you must observe, that if the part in which any one's share is to be
marked off be better or worse than the general mean quality of the land, then you must
diminish or augment the quantity of his share in the same proportion.
3309. Or divide the ground among the claimants in the direct ratio of the value of
their claims, and the inverse ratio of the quality of the ground allotted to each : that
is, in proportion to the quotients arising from the division of the value of each person's
estate, by the number which expresses the quality of the ground in his share.
3310. But these regular methods cannot always be put in practice; so that, in the
division of commons, the usual way is to measure separately all the land that is of
different values, and add into two sums the contents and the values; then the value
of every claimant's share is found by dividing the whole value among them in pro-
portion to their estates ; and lastly, a quantity is laid out for each person, that shall be
of the value of his share before found.
3311. It is required to divide any given quantity of ground, or its value, into any given
7iumber of parts, and in 2froportion to any given number. — Rule. Divide the given
piece, or its value, as in the rule of fellowship, by dividing the whole content or value
by the sum of the numbers expressing the proportions of the several shares, and mul-
tiplying the quotient severally by the said proportional numbers for the respective shares
required, when the land is all of the same quality. But if the shares be of different
qualities, then divide the numbers expressing the proportions or values of the shares, by
the numbers which express the qualities of the land in each share ; and use the quotients
instead of the former proportional numbers.
Ex. 1. If the total value of a common be 2500;. it is required to deter,
mine the values of the shares of the three claimants A, B, C, whose
estates are of these values, 10,000/., 15,000/., and 25,000/. The estates
being in proportion as the numbers 2, 3, 5, whose sum is 10, we shall have
2,500-^10=250; which being severally multiplied by 2, 3, 5, the products
500, 750, 1250, are the values of the shares required.
Ex. 2. It is required to divide 300 acres of land among A, B, C, D, E,
F, G, and H, whose claims upon it are respectively in proportion as the
numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, 20. The sum of these proportional numbers
is 64 ; by which dividing 300, the quotient is 4 ac. 2 r. 30 p. ; which being
multiplied by each of the numbers, 1, 2, 3, 5, &c. we obtain for the several
shares as annexed.
It is required to divide 780 acres among A, B, and C, whose estates are 1,000/., 3,000/., and
522 4,000/. a year; the ground in their shares being worth 5, 8, and 10
" shillings the acre respectively. Here their claims are as 1, 3, 4 : and
the qualities of their land are as 5, 8, 10 ; therefore their quantities
must be as one fifth, three eighths, two fifths; or by reduction, as
i, 15, 16. Now the sum of these numbers is 39 ; by which dividing the
780 acres, the quotient is 20 ; which being multiplied severally by the
three numbers 8, 15, 16, the three products are 160, 300, 320, for the
shares of A, B, C, respectively,
3312. To cut off from a plan a given number of acreSj
^c. by a line drawn from any point in the side of it. —
Rule. Let a {fig. 522.) be the given point in the
plan, from which a line is to be drawn cutting off suppose
5 ac. 2 r. 14 p. Draw a b cutting off the part ab c as near
as can be judged equal to the quantity proposed ; and let
the true quantity of a h c, when calculated, be only 4 ac.
Ac.
R.
P.
A= 4
2
30
B= 9
1
20
C= 14
0
10
D= 23
1
30
E= 37
2
00
F= 46
3
20
G= 70
1
10
H= 93
3
00
Sum = 300
0
00
Ex.3.
Book V,
DIVIDING AND LAYING OUT LANDS.
537
3 r. 20 p. which is less than 5 ac. 2 r. 14 p. the true quantity, by 0 ac. 2 r. 34 p. or
71,250 square links. Then measure a b, which suppose = 1,234 links, and divide
71,250 by 617, the half of it; and the quotient, 115 links, will be the altitude of the
triangle to be added, and whose base is a, b. Therefore, if upon the centre b, with the
radius 115, an arc be described, and a line be drawn parallel to a, b, touching the arc,
and cutting b, dind; and if a, d be drawn, it will be the line cutting off the required
quantity a, d, c, a. On the other hand, if the first piece had been too much, then d
must have been set below b. In this manner, the several shares of commons to be
divided, may be laid down upon the plan, and transferred thence to the ground itself.
331 3. The simplest mode of dividing lands, and that by which the agriculturist will make
fewest errors, is by trial and correction. Thus, supposing a piece of unenclosed land of
irregular shape to contain thirty-eight acres and a half, and it is desired to lay it out in
three fields, each of the same extent. Take a plan of the field, and lay it down on paper;
divide it into three parts as near as possible by the eye : then ascertain the contents of
one of the outside divisions, which will be either somewhat too little or too much. Sup-
pose it too little by half a rood ; then, as the length of the straight line of the division is
1000 links, and 1000 links in length and 100 in breadth make an acre, and as half a
rood is the eighth of an acre, it follows that by extending the line the eighth part of 100
links, or 12-4 links at both ends, or 24-8 links at one end, the requisite quantity will be
added. Then go through the same operation with the projected field on the other
extreme of the plot ; and this being corrected, the middle field must necessarily be of the
exact contents of each of the two others : but to prove the whole, this field also may be
tried in the same manner.
3314. In dividing afield with a view to sowing different crops in certain proportions:
say, for example, one acre and a half of common turnips, one acre of Swedish turnips,
three quarters of an acre of potatoes, and five acres of peas. Suppose the field a
parallelogram or nearly so; then first ascertain the length of the ridges, and next state the
question thus : — Such a length being given, required the breadth to give a fourth of an
acre — that being the smallest fraction in the proportions to be laid out; then, if the
length of the ridges be ten chains, the breadth requisite to give a quarter of an acre will
be 25 links ; consequently, a breadth of five times that space will be required for the
common turnips ; four times for the Swedish turnips ; three times for the potatoes ; and
twenty times for the peas.
3315. In all more intricate cases, first lay down the plan of the space to be divided on
paper, to a large scale, say a chain to an inch ; then cover the paper with lines, drawn
so as to form squares, each square containing a certain number of feet and yards, or say
a pole each ; then on these squares adjust the figure, whatever it may be : thus, sup-
posing it desired to lay out a thicket of trees on the face of a hill, the outline of which
shall resemble the outline of the profile of a horse, dog, or say a human head, and yet
shall contain only one acre : lay down the outline of the horse or head on a large scale,
and divide it into squares ; then by trial and correction ascertain what each square must
necessarily contain. Say that there are 130 entire squares and 40 parts of squares,
making up in all 160 squares ; each of these squares must of course contain exactly one
pole, or 625 links, and their sides the square root of that number, or 25 links. From
these data it is easy to lay down the figure with perfect accuracy.
3316. The laying out lines on lands, for the purposes of roads, fences, &c. requires to
be well understood by the agriculturist. On a plain surface, the business of tracing
straight lines is effected by a series of poles, so placed that the one nearest the eye con-
ceals all the rest. Where a straight line is to be indicated among objects or inequalities
not more than fifteen or twenty feet high, its plan or track on the earth {a, b,fig. 523.)
523
538 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
may be found by the use of poles a few feet higher than the elevation of the obstruct
tions, the director being placed on a step-ladder, or other elevation, at one end. Where
this method cannot be adopted on account of the height of the inequalities, the line must
either be formed along the summits of these inequalities, which may be done if they are
houses, hills, or trees ; or parallel lines (c, d, e) formed where practicable, and the main
line found by off-sets {f, g, h) from those collateral lines at such places as are suitable.
A third method, but one not always perfectly accxn-ate, is to take a plan of the field 'or
scene of operations, and on this to set out the proposed line; then, by ascertaining its
bearings and distances relatively to the obstructions, It may be transferred from the paper
to the ground. In carrying straight lines through woods, lanterns have l)een used ; but
a much more eon-ect method is to elevate poles above the surface of the wood.
3317. Continwjus lines may always be made perfectly straight, however irregtilar the
surface, by following the same parallel as indicated by points of the compass, or by the
shadow of the operator during sunshine. If the needle does not move, or the shadow of
the spectator be always projected at the same angle to his course, the direction in which
he walks, in either case^.m-ust be straight. The mode of forming right lines in such
circumstances being understood, the formation of right-lined figures is merely a repetitidn
of the process, uniting each side by the required angle. - • " ' - ' '■ - ■
3318. Curved lines on irregular surfaces are in generdJ'6'i!ilj''to b^^Jfeldj^dowrt byi*he
previous establishment of straight lines ; first, leading straight lines, and next secdndiiry
straight lines, which shall form skeletons to the curves. A second mode, and, on a large
scale, by much the most certain, is to find the leading points of the curves, by trian-
gles from a known base or known bases; but as both modes are rare, they need hotibfc
enlarged OB, ,^,^,,„ ,,,„ ,,,,,^ ^ „, ^ > , i : ■■ -".'-i-
■> '^'^i£' ^\i^g^4v^si£stimating Weighty ^9weKi^aind,Qmn(Uieij^jr,., /ypf, .3 ,
3319. Ascertaining the loeight of objects is a part of agricultural knowledge, no leSs
necessary than that of measuring their superficial or solid contents. In all ordinary
cases, as of grain, roots, bundles of straw, bushels of lime. Sec, this is best done by
a common, steelyard, suspended from a beam or a triangle of three posts. Cart dr
waggon loads are weighed on those well-known platforms sunk in the ground at toll
gates ; or sonaetimes by steelyards on a very large scale. Cattle are weighed by machiriies
of a particular kind, which have been already described (2566. to 2568.). The weigh-
ing of cattle and grain chiefly concerns the farmer; and is of consequence, in the fifst
case, to ascextaiu the progress of fattening animals, or the weight of those ready for tfie
butcher; and,i in the second, to detemtiine the quantity of flbtir^thatinaV be bfbdu<icU[
from a given quantity of grain, ; " ^ ;^ ^* .^ <^^ J';;!/'^^'^ •;' ^'''"^'
3320. Estimating the quantity of power requisite to draw any t^ptHniti^"'oVWkc1iihk^\&
performed by the intervention of the draught machine already described (2563.), betw^eVi
the power and the implement. It would not be difficult to construct all agricultutal
implements widi a fixed draught-macliine and index, which would at all times, when
they were at work, shew the amount of power employed in moving them; but such an
arrangement vvould be of little use. " ■
3321. Estimating the quantity of work which servants and cattle ought to perfonnin
a given time, is aai art that ought to be familiar to every agriculturist. In general ;iio
absolute rule can be laid down, because so much depends on soils, roads, cattle, arid
other circumstances ; but in every particular case, the rate or market price of labour per
day being given, and the quantity of work ascertained which a man can fairly perform
in a certain time, a rate per yard, pole, or acre, or per solid quantity if materials are to
be moved, can easily be determined on. A farmer should know by memory the number
of ridges. or of single furrows, or bouts, which it requires to make an acre on every field
of his farm. This will aid him in every operation that requires to be performed on these
fields, the quantity of manure, seed, ploughings, harrowings, hoeings, mowing, reaping,
raking, &Ci ; as well as in estimating the produce, whether corn, hay, roots, or the nuin-
ber of cattle or sheep tliat may be grazed there for any given time.
3322. Rood work, ditching, liedgingy draining, trenching, ^c ought to be subjected' to
similar calculations, so as if possible to let out all work, not perfonned with the master's
own men jand cattle, by contract or quantity, instead of by time. As spade work is
nearly the same in most parts of the country, certain general rules have been laid down
by canal contractors and others, which, though seldom strictly followed up, it rci'a.y
be useful to know. Thus in moving ground, as in digging a drain or the found-
ations of a building, if the soil is soft, and no other tool than the spade is necessary,
a man will throw up a cubic yard of 27 solid feet in an hour, or 10 cubic yards
in a day. But if picking or hacking be necessary, an additional man will be required ;
and very strong gravel will require two. The rates, of a . cubic yard, depending thus
upon each circumstance, will be in the ratio tof the arithmetical numbers 1, 2, 3. If, there-
fore, the wages of a labourer be 25. 6d. per day, the price of a yard will be 3d. for
Book V. VALUING LAiiUUR AND MATERIALS. 539
cutting only, 6d. for cutting and hacking, and 9(1. when two hackers are necessary. In
sandy ground, when wheeling is requisite, three men will be required to remove 30 cubic
yards in a day, to the distance of 20 yards, two filling and one wheeling ; but to remove "
the same quantity in a day, tx> a greater distaucej an additional man will be required for/
every 20 yards. -.r, ,:,ui,., !,,„-not {', ,b ,o) ?oai( ■ ,'^^J^
3323. To find tlw price, of rerm^gmifi'fm'fis^^,^^^^^^ io any given distance:^ ^
Divide the distance in yards by 20, which gives the number of wheelers ; add the tv^o'
cutters to the quotient, and you will have the whole number employed; multiply the
sum by the daily wages of a labourer, and the produce will be the price of 30 cubic
yards. Then, as 30 cubic yards is to tlie whole number, so is the price of 30 cubic yards
to the cost of the whole. Example. — What will it cost to remove 2,750 cubic yards
to the distance of 1 20 yards, a man's wages being three shillings per day ? First, 1 20 -r-
20 = (), the number of wheelers; then + 2 fillers = 8 men employed, which, at three
shillings per day, gives twenty-four shilhngs as th^^^r^ce of 30 cul^ic yards ; then S!,0*i^°
24 :: 2,750 and 24 x 2,750 -^ 30 = 110/. ''\, .' ,^ ./ '^^^"J
' -'' '' "' '■ V aril
SuBSECT. 5. Estimating the Value of Agricultural Labour and Materials, Rents and Tillage^^
3324. Estimating the value ofivork done is a necessary part of agricultural knowled^^^"*
and is founded upon the price of labour and the time of performance. The price of
labour is every where determined by the operations of the public, and therefore in any
given case can seldom admit of much difference of opinion. In a theoretical view of the
subject the proper wages for a labourer in England has been considered, for ages, to be
a peck of wheat ; and tliat of a horse the amount of his keep, expenses of a year's shoeing,
and ten per cent, on his value or cost price at a fair age, added together, and divided by
the number of days such horse is supposed to work in a year : this brings the valtie of
the day's work of a hoirse to something more than once and a half the value of the day's
work of a man ; . so that supposing a labourer's wages two shillings per day, a man and
a pair of horses would be worth eight shillings per day. This, however, it must be iac-
knowledged, is a calculation not always to be depended on, as local circumstances cti^-
tinually intervene to alter tlie proportions. In all cases of valuing labour, therefore, -iffi
that the valuator can do is to ascertain the local price, dnd to estimate from Ms Ofvt^if
experience the time requisite to perform the work. jv£w
3325. /?t estimating the value of lahoiir and materhds, considerable difficulty occufS'iri'
some departments of agriculture. Tims, in valuing fallows and sown Crops it Is bfteh'
a nice point to determine satisfactorily the value of the manure or other dressings ; and
ill valuing the tillages, or the condition of the arable lands of an out-going tenant, regard
must be had not only to the actual number of ploughings a field may have been subject^
to the preceding or current year, but to the position which the state of that field holds m
the rotation, and to the value which may still be in the soil from manures or limings given
to former crops. Supposing a field fallowed, limed, and dunged in the year 1820, alid
that when it fell to be valued in the spring of the year 1 824, it was drilled with beans on
one furrow, it would be no adequate compensation for the tenant to be paid for one
ploughing, the beans, and the drilling; the fallow, the dung, and especially the' lime
given in 1820, must be considered as extending their influence even to this crop, and
therefore an allowance ought to be, and generally is, made for these three articles, besides
the mere value of the labour and seed. What this alldwance should be it does hot seem
easy to determine : land valuers and appraisers have ceii:ain rules which they go upon^
which are known to few but themselves, but which, having ourselves been initiated in
the business, we know to differ considerably in different parts of the country. Some
calculate that the value of dung extends to the fourth year, and declines in a geometrical
ratio, or in the proportion 1, 2, 4, 8; others limit its effects to three years. Lime is
allowed in some places to produce effects for three years only, and in others, especially on
new lands, for twelve and fourteen years; and its value is generally supposed to decline
in the proportion of 1, 2, 3, &c. Naked fallow is generally considered as of beneficial
influence for five years, where it occurs every seven or eight years, and shorter periods in
proportion. A crop sown on a single furrow after a drilled crop which has been manured,
is considered as partaking of the manure or other dressings according to the extent to
which these have been given, and generally in the same ratio as in manured fallows, r
3326. In estimating the value of materials alone, the fii-st thing is to ascertain their
quantity, and the next their market price. Thus, in the case of heaps of manure, the
cubic contents must first be found, by finding the area of the base of the heap, and its
mean depth, and multiplying the one into the other ; next, the quality of the material
must be examined, and the expense of purchasing it in the nearest town or source of
purchase, with the addition of the expense of carriage to the spot where it lies. Ricks,
whether of straw or hay, are valued in a similar manner. Crops in a growing state aare
valued according to what they have cost, including tillage, manures, seed, rent, taxes,
and other outgpings, ajid ten per ceriti on the butlay of capital v.<aopsaiii«ed.at mafu-
540 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
rity are valued according to their quantity and quality, deducting the expenses of reap-
ing, threshing, &c. In coal countries an allowance is made for thorn-hedges which
lave been newly cut ; but the reverse is the case where fuel is scarce, an allowance
being made according to the quantity of brush or lop on the hedge. The lop of pollards,
and prunings of hedgerow trees to a certain height, are generally valued to the tenant ;
out a better mode is for the landlord to take the timber trees entirely under his own
management.
3327. In valuing live stock, a variety of circumstances require to be taken into con-
sideration. The value of all young animals may be considered as prospective ; the chief
value of others depends on their breeds ; of some, on accident or fashion ; and of fed
animals on their actual value to the butcher. Draught cattle may be valued on an ab-
stract principle, derived from the probable value of their lives and labour ; but in general
nothing is to be depended on but a knowledge of the market price, and this ought to be
familiar to every valuator.
3328. In valuing buildings, regard must be had to their absolute use as such, and to
their effect on the value of surrounding property. In the case of buildings merely
useful as farmeries, it will sometimes happen that more buildings are erected than the
most approved mode of husbandry requires, as in the case of large barns and granaries,
ornamental pigeon-houses, &c. : these can be valued on no other principle than that of
the value of the materials, supposing them taken down ; and, in regard to an in-coming
tenant, they are to be considered as a drawback, rather than as of any value.
3329. In valuing orchards, hop-grounds, osier plantations, and similar crops, it is usual,
for the first two or three years after planting, to allow only the cost, rent, all outgoings,
and ten per cent, on their amount ; but afterwards, the trees and plants having taken
•with the soil, and promising abundant crops, they are valued prospectively in the mode
in which we shall next describe as applied to young plantations of timber-trees.
3330. In valuing young plantations, when they are only of two or three years' growth,
it is usual to proceed as in valuing orchards ; but afterwards, when their growth is be-
coming rapid, and the fences in a sufficient state, the plantation is valued prospectively
in the following manner : — The contents being known, and the number of healthy young
trees per acre ascertained, then their value at any distant period, not exceeding twenty
or twenty-five years, is estimated ; and whatever sum that estimate amounts to, the pre-
sent value of that sum will give an idea of the value of the plantation, allowing liberally
for accidents to the trees, and other unforeseen circumstances. Thus, suppose a plant-
ation of oaks, intended as copse, or actually established as such, to have grown four
years, its present value would be next to nothing ; but if arrived at its twentieth year,
it would fetch fifty pounds per acre. Then the question is, required the present value
of fifty pounds due sixteen years hence, the market price of money being five per cent. ?
and this, according to any of the modern annuity tables (say Bayley's 4to. 1808. tab. iv.),
is 22Z. 18s. This principle is applicable to all kind of valuing by anticipation ; and there
is no other mode of valuing applicable to young plantations.
3331. In valuing saleable trees, their number per acre, or their total number, being
ascertained, an average value must be made of each tree, according to its worth as fuel,
timber, fence- wood, bark for the tan-pit, and other particulars, due allowance being made
at the same time for the expenses of felling, cutting up, sorting, carriage, &c. The
usual practice in this case, as well as in the valuation of copse-woods, will be given in
treating of wood-lands in the succeeding Part of this work.
3332. In valuing fields for rent, regard must be had to their soil and subsoil, as of the
greatest importance ; next, to their aspect, form, length, and style of ridges ; and, lastly,
as to the sort of crops or rotation which may be followed on them, and their state of cul-
ture. Supposing the valuator to decide in his own mind as to the rotation, his next
business is to calculate the expense and produce of the whole course ; and after deduct-
ing all expenses whatever, and ten per cent, per annum on the capital employed, the
balance may be considered as the rack-rent which such a field may afford.
3333. In valuing a farm for rent, each field must be valued separately in the manner
above stated, and a particular rent per acre determined for each field, from which an ave-
rage rent can be made out for the whole fai-m. In some cases it is customary to value
the farm buildings, dwellings, yards, gardens, &c. ; but when that is done, a sum in pro-
portion to their value is deducted from the supposed profits as household and other ex-
penses, so that no advantage is gained by it. It is by means of those buildings, threshing
machine, and other conveniences, that so much can be paid for each field ; and therefore
to pay for the buildings, and pay also for their advantages, would be unjust. It must be
further obvious, that a great variety of other considerations must be taken into account
before even the value of a single field can be ascertained, such as distance from markets,
roads, parochial and country towns, price of labour, &c. But after all, it is seldom that
land is taken or let on such valuations ; rent, like price of every kind, depending more
on the quantity of land in the market, and the number of tenants in want of farms, than
Book V. VALUING RENTS AND TILLAGES. 541
on the real value of land. This, indeed, often tends to the ruin of farmers, by obliging
them to give higher rents than the land can bear j but the same thing takes place in every
other trade or profession.
3334. The amount of the rent of lands is commonly determined in money alone; but
owing to the fluctuations in the value of this commodity, rents are in some places made
payable partly in money, and partly in corn (or beef or wool in some cases), or in money,
and the money value of a certain quantity of produce per acre. In some cases the money
value of the produce is detei-mined by its price in the district for the current or preceding
year ; and in other cases by an average of the money price for the preceding three, five,
or seven years. This plan has, within the last seven years, been adopted in many parts
of Scotland, and been generally approved of, both by landlords and tenants. There is no
plan that will in every year be perfectly equitable ; and for this reason many consider the
money rent as on the whole the simplest and best, as it certainly is that which occasions
least trouble to all parties.
3335. The valuation of leases well deserves the study of the culturist, and especially
of the farmer, who may often wish or find an opportunity of purchasing a renewal of his
lease, or have occasion to dispose of an improved rent, or, in other words, sub-let his farm
at a profit. It is customary, in many parts of the kingdom, for landlords to compound
with their tenants, by accepting a sum of money paid down in place of advancing the
rent at the expiration of a former or a current lease. To be able to point out the exact
amount of the sum to be paid in any transaction of this nature, according to the annual
profit, and the number of years for which the lease is to be granted, must obviously be
particularly useful. The valuation of church leases and of college lands is of not less
importance, as these for the most part are let on twenty-one years' leases, renewable for
seven years longer at the end of every seven years ; or on leases for lives, every life being
renewable as it drops, for a certain sum to be determined according to the age of the life
to be put in, and the value of the lands.
3336. Tlie principle on which all calculations as to the value of leases are made, is as
follows : — A sum being fixed on, which is considered or agreed on as the worth or profit
which the tenant has in the lease, and the time which the lease has to run or for which it
is to be renewed being agreed on, then the purchaser of the lease or of the renewal pays
down to the seller the present value of an annuity equal to the profit or worth, reckoning
money at its market price, or at what is called legal interest. Thus, should it be suitable
to the convenience of both parties to renew a lease of twenty-one years, of which only one
year had expired, the tenant ought to pay the landlord 7s. 2rf. for every pound of profit
he has in the lease. Should it be asked how the tenant is to pay the landlord only Is. 2d.
out of each pound that he had of profit in the one year that has elapsed, it is answered,
that the landlord had no right to receive the 7s. 2d. until the expiration of twenty years,
which is the number the lease has yet to run ; and that this sum of 7s. 2d. laid out at com-
pound interest, at 5 per cent., payable yearly, would, at the end of twenty years, amount
exactly to 11. ; so that the landlord has received just the amount of what he was entitled
to, and no more.
3337. Or, as the most customary period at which to renew, during the currency of a lease
of twenty-one years, is when seven years have elapsed, then the exact sum that ought to
be paid for adding seven years will be 21. 18s. 5d. for every \l. of annual profit, because
21. 18s. 5d. laid out at compound interest, will, in twenty-one years, the length of lease
obtained by paying it, amount exactly to 11., the profit that would have accrued to the
landlord during the seven years of renewal.
3338. The method of determining all questions as to the renewal of leases, sale of profits
on sub-leases, &c. is easily learned from the common books of arithmetic ; and the value
of lives from tables composed from a long series of observations in different places, as at
London, Northampton, &c. But practical men can seldom have recourse to so tedious
a method as calculating for themselves, by which, for want of daily practice, serious errors
might be made. They therefore have recourse to published tables on the subject, by
which the most intricate questions of this kind may be solved by the humblest individual
who can add and subtract, in a few minutes. The tables in most repute at present are,
Bailey^ s Tables for the Purchasing and Renewing of Leases, 1807; Clarke's JEnquiry into
the Nature and Value of Leasehold Property and Life Annuities, with many Tables,! 806 ;
and there is a useful pocket compendium entitled. Tables for the Purchasing of Estatesy
Leases, Annuities, and the Renewing of Leases, byW. Inwood, London, 1811. There is
a recent work on The Valuation of Rents and Tillages, by J. S. Bayldon, which is the
best of its kind extant.
3339. The questions following, and others of similar importance to agriculturists, and
indeed to all men of property, may be answered from these tables.
Question. What sum must be paid down for a lease for twenty-one years to make five per cent, and get
back the principal ?
Answer. Twelve yea«s niid three quarters' purchase of the annual rent.
542 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II.
,jC«cWhat sum pugh^tobe paid for a lease granted on a single life aged thirty, to make four per cent and
get back the principal? , t, i,
^ X Fbiirteeivyears and three quarters' purchase of the clear annual rent. ' """ ' "
Q. What sum ought to be paid for a lease held on two lives of twenty and fiii«yiyfeirt}'^l ^terminable
on the death of either, to pay five per cent, and get back the principal ? ao," iVn'iv i^-j i'
A. Ten years' purchase. , -a
> Q. What sum ought to be paid for a lease held like the last on two lives ofttmi'f^ iM^forty years, but
jto contijiue during the existence of either of the lives, to pay five per cent and get back ttie principal ?
A. Sixteen years' purchase.
Q. What sum or fine ought a tenant to give for the renewal of four years lapsed in his lease often years,
in order to make seven jjer cent interest of his moneyand get back the principal!*
A. Two years and a quarters' purchase of the annual value or clear profit which he makes of the
holding.
Q. A farmer is offered a lease during the life of a person aged thirty years, to what term Certain is that
considered equivalent ?
A. Twenty. one years.
*iQ. Ill a 'lease held originally on three lives, but of which one is dropped, the ages of the lives in pos-
session being forty and sixty; what sum ought the tenant to i>ay for passing in a new life, aged fifteen, in
order to make five per cent interest ami return the principal?
' A. Tliree years and a quarter of the clear improved rent or profit which he has in the lease.
V Q. A. has an estate in land and houses let for 105/. per annum. He wishes to sell the reversion of this
rent after the death of his father aged sixty-five years, his wife aged forty-one, and himself aged forty.three ;
required the smii that must be paid by the purchaser ?
'■A. The father's life is worth ten years; the wife's twenty ; and his own eighteen years ; say twenty-
one years ; as the probable period at which the property will fall to the purchaser of the reversion. Then
the value to the latter is the present value of an annuity of 105/. a year, due twenty-one years hence. This,
calculating interest at 5/. per centals 761/., 5j., and at 4/, per c^t 115q/. . . ,
3340. /» Me wirfuoiibw .o^i/S^^fcofe ifeTHtea'^W'bjt?^^
he ascertained by a minute exatninattion of every 'pari; of i^e estate^' and' of every
internal and extei-nal circumstance aifecting it. An estate may be neglected, or un-
derlet on short or long leases, or overlet by means of bonuses, or favourable conditions
given to the tenants ; or it may be burdened' by parochial taxes : these, and a number
of other circumstances, require to be taken into consideration in determining its annual
value. The annual value is often different from the annual produce ; and therefore, in
imking a calculation of the sum to be pa;id'f6r ari estate, th6'difference between them
forms an essential part of the data. Thus, an estate of the annual value of 100/. may
be let oji a lease of wluch fpurteen years and a half were unexpired for 80i;in which
9^e there must b^ |dedupt?d from the price the^^^M^scnti value of an annuity erf 20/. for
fourteen years and a half. Thus, if twenty-five years' purchase or 2500/. was the price
agreed on, there must be deducted 200/.
3341. rjn determining I he siim to be paidfoi; estates in perpetuity there are no guides of
univeisal-^applicatiori but the state' iof the inarket and public opinion. Hoxvever, a sort
of abstract principle lias been laid dotvn as applicable to tliis country, which it may be
vferth while to notice. T<^. Kent,' a" land agent of much experience, says [Hints to
Gentlemefi of Landed Propertij, &c., 179'3, p. 266.), "the want of a criterion to determine
the prite of estate^ creates doubt, .and doubt impedes the transfer; any thing, therefore,
that can ajdthe purpose of passing estates frojn one person to Unotlicr with tlie greater
facility7"*niiiy°tJsS" properly inti-oduced here." Suppose then tliat the gradual scale, by
way of an outline, be taken up tlius : — When tlie funds stand pretty steady at four per
<;ent. the standard of mortgages may be considered at four and a half : the- fee simple
pri the nett return of land ought then to be current at three ; copyholds of inher(itance
upon a fine certain, at three and a half; copyholds, with a fine at the will of the.lord, at
^our. This general rule is short, and may be registered in the mind of every m.an of
business. At the same time Kent states, that " nineteen times out of twenty, estates
^re bouglit and sold upon round numbers." l
,, 3342. In making calculations of the value of estates, the following rules deserve notice ;-
In order to know the nui^rber of years' purchase that ought to be given for an etitate in
perpetuity, according to the several rates of interest which the purchaser may wish to
inake of his money, it is only necessary to divide 100 by the rate of interest required,
and the quotient will show tlie number of years' purchase that ought to be given.
. 3343. JFith respect to the value of freehold estates, or the gross 5uw wliich ought to be
paid for the same, Bailey observes, we may either multiply the number of years' purcJiase,
found as above, by the annual rent of the estate, or we may "multiply the annual rent
of the estate by 100, and divide the product by the rale of interest which we propose to
rnake of our money; the quotient will be the sum required." For example, the sum
vyhich ought to be paid for a freehold estate of the clear rent of 90/. per aimum, so that
the purchaser may make 4 per cent, interest of his money, is found either by multiplying
25 by 90, which gives 2250/. for the sum required ; or by multiplying 90 by 100, which
produces 9000, and then dividing this product by 4, which gives 2250/. as before. The
first way is the most expeditious, where the number of years' puixliase is an even quan-
tity ; but the latter will be found the most ready, where the number of years' purchase is
a fractional quantity, or is not precisely known. Thus, tlie gross sum which ought to be
paid for a freehold estate of the clear rent of 150/. per aimum, in order tliat the purchaser
may make 7 per cent, interest, oj^ his, iponev. is found by multiplying 150 by 100, which
Book V.
PLANS AND MAPS OF P:STATES.
54;J
produces 15,000, and then dividing this product 'fepfT/iPdlidh' gl*teS 2149R 17¥i 2d. for the
sum required : now if, in answering this question, we had begun by finding the number
of years', purchase which ought to have been given for the same, tlie process would have
been rendei"ed much more tedious and intricate.
3344, In order tojindthe clear annual rent which a freehold ought to produce, so as to
allow the purchaser a given rate of interest for his money, we must " multiply the gross
sum paid for the same, by the given rate of interest, and then divide the product by 100 ;
the quotient of which will be the annual rent required:" thus, if a person gives 5940/.
for a freehold estate, and he ^vishes to itiake C^ per cent, interest of his money, then
5940 multiplied by Q-5, will produce 3?,6 10, which, divided by 100, will quote 386'1,
or 386/. 2s., for the clear aM7iwa/re/i^ required. Lastly,
3345. The rate of intere$t allowed to the jmrchaser of q. freehold, is much more readily
and ipore exactly ascertained than in the case of leases for terms, as we have nothing more
to do here than to "multiply the clear annual rent of the estate by 100, and then divide
the, product by the sum paid for the estate ; tlie quotient will be the rate of interest
required: " thus, if a person gives 2000/. for a freehold estate, of the clear rent' of 85/.
per annum, then 85, multiplied by 100, will produce 8500, wliich, divided by 2o60j will
quote 4" S5, or 4| per cent, for tlie rate of i7Uerest required. '
. 3346. The valuation of mines and minerals is not a matter of triuch difficulty, when it
extends merely to quarries of stone, lime, chalk, gravel, or other bodies " open to the day,"
or worked from the surface. If tlie quantity is indefinite, then the annual iiacome
afforded forms the ground-work ; if it is limited, tlien the joint consideration of the>quan-
tity, and the probable time the current demand may take to exhaust it. The valuation
of inetallic mines belongs to a distinct class of professors known as mineral surveyors, and
is a matter foreign from agriculture, .whicb leeeafiaeaxitseMito tiie eeirth^S'Surfeoe, or at
least to the epidermis of its upper crustw' old r ngilct od ot oiiupsT .?.'>-iimi?cn,]'yn^ t'n^-
Sj|BSECT, 6, professional Routine of Land Svrvei/ors, Jppr^ats^i ennfinJ^ivkif^ffii^ injxtakmg
,, up their rians and liepoits., ■ \(< Itt; Lnitnj.-'.':' r,.. •••
fi 8347. For porlrayhig rural olyects various modes have been adopted by land surveyors :
trees aie sometimes shown by small crosses or ciphers, triangles or dots (Jig. 524. a); by
«* -«- ifAs. R24*^^^ b'jJoubab ad icum oiaxl* <no i
eninnotoL (^ rioiid
JjUnrnmilli^ici^
jutj iijo't Jj»- /bi,.]'' /iVjTqTiaiTt^ hi\u\ odt rioilW — • i^udt qu n^»lBl 'xl ,j>nilliJO ne it.
«iq<ttbictilar Bhe ii^tiresfewdng the^ 'eit^lbtfW i1\e''b¥3imWim^^!'Wl^&^(lSi^\n 'the
place of the trunk (6 and d) ; by the same, with tlie addition of a shadow, taken when the
sun is south or south-west, and his elevation exactly 45°, by which the points of the com-
pass are readily ascertained throughout the plan, and the shape of the head, and the height
of tlie tree, exhibited (e) ; sometimes an elevation or profile of the tree is given, either in
foliage (f), or to show the form of the trunk and branches (g), or merely to give a rude
idea of a tree (c). Hedgerows, whether with or without trees, are either shown in
elevation or profile (A), or in vertical profile or birdseye view {i\ They may be
delineated either in skeleton or foliage. Buildings may be shown either in general plan
(k), detailed plan (/), vertical profile of the roof (?7i), elevation (n), perspective view (b) ;
or a plan may be given (p), and a diagonal elevation {q) taken and placed opposite the
plati in the margin of the map. A pictorial surveyor, who understands perspective, and
is desirous of conveying a correct idea of the subject he is to measure and delineate,
will readily find expedients for attaining success.
3348. In protracting elevations and depressions on paper, the simplest way is to introduce
sections; in dotted or otherwise distinguisiied lines, to prevent their being mistaken for
surface-lines ; or in wavy surfaces, figures may be introduced, thus ^ or ^, to denote their
elfeVation above, or depression below, some piece of water or other surface fixed on as a
ntediiitn. Some excellent observations on this subject will be found in Major Lehm9,n's
Topographical Plan-Drawing, as translated by Lieutenant Sibern (oblong fol. Lorid.
1822), wiiich, it is to be hoped, will soon be appropriated in the popular books on
land-survej-ing, and adopted in practice.
3349. Where it is in conteinplution to form canals, or other reservoirs or pieces of
water, the elevations and depressions or levels must be taken and recorded either by
sections or arithmetically with the greatest accuracy ; and, in some cases, sections may
544
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
require to be taken, to show particular trees, buildings, the depth of water, or other
objects. {Jig. 525.)
wm/mmmii'iiiii/jimmm
3350. With respect to the elevations and shapes of hills and mountains, they are only t
be measured correctly by the quadrant and theodolite in the hands of regular land-
surveyors. Their shape and dimensions are laid down in maps in the same manner
as those of smaller deviations from the flat surface. Inaccessible dimensions of height,
as of trees or buildings, are obtained by the quadrant, or by relative comparisons of
shadows ; of depth, as of water or wells, by rods ; of breadth or length, by finding the
two angles of a triangle whose base shall be in one extremity of the distance, and apex
in the other. These, and many other equally simple problems in trigonometry, need not
be enlarged on, because they must be supposed to form a part of general education.
3351. In portraying the general surface of land estates, different modes have been
adopted by modern land-surveyors. The first we shall mention is the old mode of giving
what may be called the ground-lines only ; as of roads, fences, water-courses, situations
of buildings and trees, {fg. 526.) This mode has no other pretension than that of
accuracy of dimensions, and can give few ideas to. a stranger who has not seen the pro-
perty, beside those of its contents and general outline.
526 527
r-
3S52. In the second, elevations of the objects are added to these Hues ; but which, in
crowded parts, tend much to obscure them. (Jig. 527.) This mode is perhaps the best
calculated of any to give common observers a general notion of an estate ; more especially
if ably executed. Very frequently, however, this mode is attempted by artists ignorant
of the first principles of drawing, optics, or perspective, and without taste. The Ger-
mans who, in general, are far better topographical draughtsmen than any other people,
excel in this manner, and contrive, by joining to it Lehman's mode of shading the sur-
face, to produce pictorial plans of extraordinary accuracy and beauty. The most
perfect artist in this style who has ever appeared in England is Mr. Hornor, whose
work on the subject will be afterwards referred to. Were landed proprietors aware
that their estates could be mapped in this manner almost as cheaply as by the ordinary
mode, they would not rest satisfied with the meagre delineations generally made out.
3353. In the third, a vertical profile, or geometrical birdseye view, that is, a birds-
eye view in which all the objects are laid down to a scale, is presented. In this the upper
surface of every object is seen exactly as it would appear to an eye considerably elevated
above it, and looking centrally down on it. {fig. 528.) This mode, properly executed,
is calculated to give a more accurate idea of the furniture or surface-objects of an estate
than any other ; and if the declivities be correctly indicated, and the shade of the hollows
and eminences be laid on with reference to some medium elevation, referred to or
illustrated by sections taken in the direction of indicated lines (a h), it will give an
equally correct idea of the variations of the ground. In short, it is the best mode for
most purposes, and is now coming into general use.
Bjok V.
PLANS AND MAPS OF ESTATES.
528
545
3354. yl very complete method of giving the plan of an estate, is to adopt the profile
manner, and include such a portion of the plans of the adjoining estates or country, as
shall be contained within a circle of moderate extent {Jig. 529.), the centre of which may
529
be the centre of tlie demesne lands, family mansion, or prospect tower. Around a map
so formed, the distant scenery, as seen from the roof of the house, or prospect tower, may
form a panoramic circumference, or margin of prospects {Jig. 529.). In all these modes,
N n
546 SCIENCE OF AGllICULTUllE. Part II.
dimensions and contents are given or obtainable along with effect; in all those which
follow, effect or general appearance only is obtained.
3355. The natural hirdseye view is intended to give a general idea of the external ap-
pearance of an estate. In this the eye of the spectator is supposed to be considerably
elevated above the centre of the estate, and all the objects are portrayed exactly as they
would appear to him in that situation ; largest in the centre, and gradually diminishing
to the circumference of the circle of vision. In such a delineation, parts of other ad-
joining estates may often require to be included, in order to complete the circle ; but these
are necessary to the general idea, and can easily be distinguished from the principal pro-
perty by minute marks on the delineation.
3356. In the jmnoj-amic view, the delineator supposes himself placed on an eminence,
as the roof of the mansion where central, and looking round on all that he sees on every
side. Where there is a prominent hill, or where the mansion is on an eminence, this
is a very desirable mode of giving a general idea of a demesne, and by the aid of hori-
zontal lines, and lines converging to them from the centre of vision, some idea may be
had, on flat surfaces at least, of the relative heights and distances of objects.
3357. A simple mode is to give a general view, or distant prospect, of the estate or its
principal parts {Jig. 530.), as seen from some elevated conspicuous hill, building, or
object near it ; or if the estate, as is frequently the case, is situated on the side of a
hill, or range of hills, a position on the plain or flat grounds opposite to it will be
suflficient.
530
3358. For the delinealion of maps, the most desirable material in point of durability is
parchment ; but where there is a chance of alterations being made on the estate, as in the
lines of roads, fences, streams, &c., it is better to delineate on paper, as the correspond-
ing alterations can be made on the map with greater ease. Such colours as are stains,
and do not wash out, are proper for maps and plans on parchment ; but where alterations
may require to be made, or where shadow, or any thing like picturesque effect is to be
attempted, water colours alone must be used. To delineate estates and plans of every
kind in a beautiful and expressive manner, much depends on having the very best in-
struments and colours, and in knowing how to use them The sight of good models is
also an important matter, and for this we may refer to Horner's elegant work. The
Art of delineating Estates, 1813; and the very scientific work of Lehman, already
mentioned.
3359. In the writing or printing on maps great want of taste is often displayed. No
principle can be more obvious than that the naine of a thing, or the ornaments of an
object, should not be made more conspicuous than the thing or object itself. Yet this
rule is constantly violated in plans of estates, by the large ornamental writing or print
interspersed in and around them ; conspicuous blazonry of the name of the estate and
its owner at some corner, and of the compass and scale in others. All these adjuncts
should be kept in due subordination to the main delineation.
3360. Models of very mountainous estates will be found preferable to any description
of maps or views, for giving a correct idea of them. Such models might be formed in
plaster of Paris, wax, or various other materials, and coloured after nature. We con-
structed such models in 1805 (See Farm. Mag. vol. vi. p. 126.) ; and Mr. Taylor of
London has recently constructed them, both for the purpose of surface improvements
and mineralogical examination. (See Gard. Mag. vol. v. p. 213.)
3361. Reference books are essential accompaniments to maps or models, and are of
various kinds. Sometimes they merely contain the names ancl contents of the fields or
other parts or divisions, with the state of culture or condition in which they aie ; in
other cases the soil and subsoil are described ; but in the most complete cases each fanii is
Book V.
PLANS AND MAPS OF ESTATES.
547
described, together with the history of its occupation or improvement under the following
or similar heads : — Name, parish, extent, boundaries, when first enclosed, how let and
managed hitherto, to whom and for how much let at present, description of the farmery
and house, contents, fences, trees, ponds, soil, subsoil, surface, expense, &c. of each field ;
number of timber trees on the farm, copse woods, and various matters. In addition to
such a description as the above, some add in the reference book a separate map of each
farm, which renders the whole very comprehensive ; and as nothing canbe more interest-
ing than the contemplation of a man's own property on all sides, and in every possible
bearing, these books are generally valued above all others by country gentlemen.
3362. The valuations of farmbig stock, tillage, and leases, being of temporary use, are
made out with little form. In most cases, the value of particular articles is not given,
but only an enumeration of them, and the sum total. The valuators have the separate
values in their private memorandum books ; and in cases where two valuators are em-
ployed, one on each side, if an umpire is obliged to be called in, in consequence of dis-
agreement, then the parties have reference to their notes. In some cases of valuations by
two parties, the umpire, being appointed beforehand, accompanies the valuators, hears their
discussion on each article as it comes under review, and decides any difference that may
occur as they go on. This is considered the best mode, and is that generally adopted in
the case of valuations made by order of the Court of Chancery.
3363. In making vp valuations for purchasing or selling estates, a report is generally
required to accompany the valuation, stating the ground on which it is made. Such a
report embraces a great variety of objects according to the nature and extent of the
property, and ought to be drawn up in a clear and systematic manner, with such a table
of contents and an index as may render it of easy reference.
3364. In delineating buildings for agricultural purposes, the ordinary plans, elevations,
and sections, of architects and surveyors, should always be given, for the purpose of
forming estimates and working plans. But for the purpose of enabling the proprietor,
or other person not sufficiently acquainted with pictorial effect on paper, to form a due
estimate from any drawing of the effect it will have when executed, we recommend
models or isometrical views. The latter, in our opinion, ought to be in universal use
among architects.
3365, " Isometrical perspective is a term given recently, by Professor Parish of Cambridge, to a projection
531
made in rays parallel to the diagonal of a cube upon a plane perpendicular thereto. This is a comprehen-
sive and useful method of exhibiting the several parts of a homestead, and any person moderately
acquainted with drawing, if they make the attempt, will find it extremely easy to perform ; nothing more
Nn 2
548 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut II.
being required than to divide a circle into six equal parts, which may be done with the radius ; and draw
the hexagon and three radii, one radius to every other angle, to represent a cube (^ff. 531.). All the
vertical or plumb lines in any design are then to be drawn parallel to a bj all those in tlie direction, say
north and south, parallel to ac ; and all those at right angles, or perpendicular to the last, or in the direction
east and west, parallel toa d : and the several heights, lengths, and breadths, being taken from a scale of
equal parts, and set off, and lines drawn in these three directions, the projection is produced. The posi-
tion ot any point, or the direction of any other line, may be found, by finding where the first would fall
upon any plane parallel to either of the three sides of the cube, and where the latter, if produced, would
cross any lines in the three directions." {WaisteWs Designs, SfC. p. 91.) The elevation which this mode
of drawing produces is highly explanatory and expressive {fig. 531.)
Sect. II. Operations of Order and Management.
3366. The business of agrictdtiire, whether in the management of extensive estates or the
culture of single farms, requires to be conducted in an orderly and systematic manner. For
this purpose a certain establisliment of operators, a certain style of books of accounts, and
great attention in all commercial transactions, may be considered the fundamental requisites.
3367. The establishment of co-operators and servants must depend on the extent of the
subject of management. An extensive landed estate, which, in addition to farming
lands, contains woods, quarries, mills, mines, waters, manorial rights, game, and villages,
will require a series of subordinate managers ; but in general a steward as a head
manager, a steward's clerk or assistant, and in some cases a local steward, are all the
managers requisite ; the subordinate care of quarries, woods, game, &c., being performed
by a quarryman, forester, gamekeeper, or by common servants of tried fidelity.
3368. The gradation of operators required on farms depends on their size. When-
ever the master does not labour himself, a foreman or operator having some charge is
requisite ; and in very extensive cases, where there is a considerable extent of grazing
ground as well as tillage lands, a head ploughman and a head herdsman will be found
advantageous. There should also be a confidential labourer, or headman of all tvork, to
superintend and accompany women and children in their operations, as in hoeing, weed-
ing, planting potatoes, &c. The grand point to be aimed at by the steward of an
extensive estate, and the occupier of a large farm, is to hit on the proper number of sub-
managers ; and to assign each his distinct province, so that the one may never interfere
with the other. Having attained this, the next thing is to keep the whole machine in
regular action ; to keep every man, from the lowest operator to the highest, strictly to his
duty. All operators ought to be adequately remunerated ; and it is better in general to
pay a liberal price and require vigilant, skilfid, and active exertion, than to cheapen
labour, and so encourage indolence and bad execution. For the lower class of labourers,
especially such as are hired by the year, it will often be necessary to attend as well to the
food they eat, as to their constancy at work. In the case of farm servants, for example,
it will generally be found preferable to board and lodge single men, than to substitute a
sum of money, which they will in many cases either save or spend otherwise than so as to
strengthen their bodies. Where labour is done by the job, all that is requisite is to see
that it is done well, and according to agreement ; and this, as we have a^'-eady observed,
is the best mode wherever it can be adopted.
3369. Orderly conduct in the tower classes of workmen is a point to which we would
wLsh particularly to direct tlie attention of the bailiff' and farmer. Regularity in their
hours ; neatness and cleanness in their dress ; punctuality in cleaning and putting away
in the proper places their implements ot labour or harness ; humanity to working and
other animals ; decency in general deportment and conversation, and ambition to
excel in their particular department. Neatness and order, whether on an estate, a farm,
a stable, a dwelling-house, or in a man's dress and manner, foiTn an index to every
tiling else. Estates and farms where these qualities prevail, are always well-managed
and cultivated ; a neat and clean stable is a sure sign of well-conditioned horses, and of
economical feeding ; a dwelling-house, with neatness around and within, is an index of
comfort and peace ; and a decently dressed and well behaved man or woman is sure to
be approved in every station.
3370. The necessity of order and neatness we are most anxious to impress on the
minds of all descriptions of masters and managers. Order, it has been well observed, is
" Heaven's first law." It is, indeed, the end of all law : without it, nothing worth
having is to be attained in life, even by the most fertile in resources ; and with it, much
m.ay be accomplished with very slender means. A mind incapable of an orderly and
regular disposition of its ideas or intentions will display a man confused and disorderly
in his actions ; he will begin them without a specific object in view ; continue them at
random, or from habit, without knowing well why, till some accident or discordant
result puts an end to his present progress, unmans him for life, or awakens reflection.
But a well-ordered mind considers, arranges, and systematises ideas before attempting to
realise them ; weighs well the end in view ; considers the fitness of the means for attain-
ing that end, and the best mode of employing these means. To every man who has the
regulation and disposal of a number of servants, this mode of orderly arrangement is
essentially necessary in order to reap the full effects of their labours ; and to no man is it
Book V. ORDER AND MANAGEMENT. 549
of more importance than to the agriculturist, whose cares are so various, and the success
of whose operations, always connected with and dependent on living beings, depends so
much on their being performed at the fitting moment.
3371. Propriehj relates to what is fitting and suitable for particular circumstances ; it
is the natural result of an orderly mind, and may be said to include that part of order
which directs the choice and adaptation of means to ends, and of ideas and objects to
cases and situations. It belongs to order for a master to allow workmen proper periods
for rest and refreshment ; propriety dictates the time and duration of these periods ; and
prudence suggests the wisdom of departing as little as possible from established practices.
Decorum is the refinement of propriety.
3372. Neatness, as opposed to slovenliness, is well understood ; it consists in having
every thing where it ought to be ; and in attending to the decorum of finishing operations,
and to minute things in general.
3373. As maxims of order and neatness which ought to be continually present to the
minds both of masters and servants, we submit the following : —
3374. Perform every operation in the proper season. The natural, and therefore the
best, indications for the operations of sowing and reaping, transplanting, &c. are given by
the plants themselves, or by the progress of the season as indicated by other plants.
There are artificial calendars, or remembrancers, the use of which is to remind the
master of the leading crops and operations of culture and management throughout the
years ; but, even if such books were made as perfect as their nature admits of, still they
are only calculated to aid the memory, not to supply the place of a watchful and vigilant
eye, and habits of attention, observation, reflection, and decision. Unless a steward or
fai-mcr has tliese, either naturally, or partly from nature and partly from cultivation, in
a. considerable degree, he will be but little better than a common labourer, as to general
management and culture.
3375. Perform every operation in the best manner. This is to be acquired in part by
practice, and partly also by reflection.
3376. Complete every part of an operation ns you proceed. This is an essential point in
field^perations ; and though it cannot always be attended to, partly from the nature of
the operation, partly from weather, &c., yet the judicious farmer or bailiflf will keep it
in view as much as possible.
3377. Finish one job before you begin another. This advice is trite, but it is of great
importance ; and there are few cases where it cannot be attended to.
3378. In leaving off working at any job, leave your work and tools in an orderly manner.
3379. Attend strictly to the hours of commencing labour, and equally so to those of leaving
off, unless extraordinary exertion is required.
3380. Whenever extraordinary exertions are required, extraordinary indulgences or
rewards must he given as compensatioiis.
3381. A regular system of accounts is an obvious part of order and correctness; and it
is equally obvious that the extent to which this must be carried will depend on the subject
of management. In the case of extensive landed estates, the regular set of books usual
in mercantile concerns becomes requisite, with the addition of some, as a forest-book,
time-book, &c. rendered necessary by particular departments of the subject. On small
farms, on the other hand, some memorandum-books, a cash-book, and a ledger, are all
that will be found necessary. Our business here is to give the form of the time-book,
which is or maybe common to every department of agriculture and scale of management,
though most necessary for bailiffs, where a number of day labourers are employed on
improvements. In giving the practice of the different branches of agriculture, the books
peculiar to eacli will be described. There is nothing, indeed, that should be more
strenuously pressed upon the attention of farmers, than the importance of a good system
of keeping their accounts, in which they are, generally speaking, very deficient.
3382. The time-book is a large folio volume, ruled so as to read across both pages,
with columns titled as in the specimen annexed. In this the bailiff' or master inserts the
name of every hand ; and the time in days, or proportions of a day, which each person
under his care has been at work, and the particular work he or she has been engaged in.
At the end of each week the bailiff or master sums up the time from the preceding Saturday
or Monday, to the Friday or Saturday inclusive ; the sum due or to be advanced to each
man is put in one column, and when the man receive/ it he writes the word received in
the column before it, and signs his name as a receipt in the succeeding column. The
time-book, therefore, will show what every man has been engaged in during every hour
in the year for which he has been paid, and it will also contain receipts for every sum,
however trifling, which has been paid by the bailiff" for rural labour. In short, it would
be diflncult to contrive a book more satisfactory for both master and servant than the
time-book, as it prevents, as far as can well be done, the latter from deceiving either him-
self or his employer, and rei^ains an authentic indisputable record of work done, and
of vouchers for money paid during the whole period of the bailiff''s services.
N n 8
550
SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part XL Book V.
3384. In commercial
dealings the agriculturist
requires to be parti-
cularly vigilant, because
the nature of his occu-
pation and pursuits have
not that tendency to
sharpen his bargaining
faculties vi'hich is given
by a life of trade or
manufacture. The pur-
chase of an estate is so
weighty a transaction,
that few men trust to
their own judgment as to
value, and legal advice is
always taken as to the
validity of the title,&c. ;
but stewards, in dealing
with timber merchants,
workers of quarries, gra-
vel dealers, brick-makers,
and others, require to be
ever on their guard. The
farmer and bailiff requii e
particular caution as to
marketing, which is an
important business, and
not to be excelled in but
after long experience in
attending fairs and mar-
kets; learning the various
devices of sellers to de-
ceive the purchaser, or
enhance the price of their
goods ; and of buyers to
depreciate what is ex-
posed to sale. To far-
mers who deal chiefly in
live stock, marketing is
by far the most difficult
and important part of
their business. There
are salesmen or brokers,
indeed, for transacting
business in behalf of far-
mers, as there are agents
for effecting transfers
of landed property ; but
in neither case is it safe
to trust entirely to their
judgment and probity.
Personal experience in
this, as in every depart-
ment of his art, is what
ought to be aimed at by
every agriculturist. Be-
sides the professional ad-
vantages to the farmer
of marketing for him-
self, the intercourse with
society which this ine-
vitably produces contri-
butes to his general im-
provement as a man and
a citizen.
rAuiJIl. Book I. PRACTICE OF AGllICULTLUE. 551
PART III.
AGRICULTURE AS PRACTISED IN BRITAIN.
31^85. In the first Part of this work we have endeavoured to give a concise view of
the actual state of agriculture in every country, with a view to interest the reader in the
subject, and prepare him for entering in detail on the elementary principles of the art. In
the second Part, these principles and elementary departments of agricultural knowledge
have been developed in successive views of the nature of vegetables, animals, and soils,
and the mechanism and science of agricultural implements and operations. As far as
these elementary principles go, they are applicable to the agriculture of every part of the
world, with the motlifications required by different physical and geographical circum-
stances ; but as such an application is not required, in a work designed principally for
this country, we limit this part of our work to the agriculture of Britain, in its most im-
proved mode of practice. In the extensive sense in which we have applied the term
Agriculture, this will include, 1st, the valuation, purchase, and transfer of landed pro-
perty ; 2d, its laying out, or aiTangement ; 3d, its improvement ; and 4th, its manage-
ment ; 5th, the luring and stocking of farms ; 6'th, the culture of farm lands ; and 7th,
the economy of live stock and the dairy.
BOOK I.
OF THE VALUATION, PURCHASE, AND TRANSFER OF LANDED PROPEKTV.
S386. Oil the existence ofproj^erty depends all human imjrrovement. Personal property
is the first acquirement of man ; but scarcely any progress is made in civilization till
property in land is established and rendered secure. Landed property, indeed, is the
basis on which every other material property is founded, and the origin from which it has
sprung. The landed estates of Britain, as a species of property, may be considered in
regard to tenure, valuation, and transfer.
Chap. L
The different Kinds and Tenures of Landed Property in the British Isles.
3387. Js landed property is somewhat different as to tenure in the three kingdoms, wc
shall notice the leading features in each separately.
Sect. I. The Kinds of Landed Property, and its different Tenures, in England.
3388. Territorial property in England, Marshal observes, aptly separates into two
principal divisions ; — namely, into possessory property, or the actual possession of the
lands and their appurtenances ; and into abstract rights arising out of them.
3389. Possessory property comprises the soil or land itself; the minerals and fossils
it covers ; the waters annexed to it ; the wood and herbage it produces ; and the build-
ings, fences, &c. thereon erected.
3390. Abstract rights are, seigniorial, as chief rents, &c. ; manorial, as quit-rents,
fines, &c. ; prescriptive, as common rights ; predial, as tithes ; parochial, as taxes.
3391. Advoxvson and parliameiitary interest might be added, as they are not unfre- >
quently attached to landed property.
3392. Possessory property is further liable to analysk, ana to more particular distinc-
tions.
3393. Freehold. If lands are held unconditionally, and in full possession, without any
other superior than the constitution and laws of the country, they are tervaQ^ freehold ;
a term which admits of still further distinctions.
3394. Feefarmhold. If they are liable to regular and fixed annual payments, beneath
their rental value, and without being liable to fine, heriot, or forfeiture, they are feefarm-
hold, or other inferior holding.
N n 4
552 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
3395. Copyhold. If they are held of a superior, as part of a royalty, honour, or manor,
and are liable to fines, or other outgoings, on account of deaths, transfers, or other cir-
cumstances, they are copyhold ; and are also subject to the ancient customs of the royalty,
honour, or manor, of which they are respectively a part.
3396. Leasehold. If they are held by special agreement for a definite term, whether
of lives or years, they are leasehold ; which admits of various distinctions ; namely.
Long leasehold, as for a thousand jears.
Lt/e leasehold, with a fine certain, or under certain limitations, on renewal
Ltfe leasehold, with an uncertain fine, payable to a proprietor or other superior, who has merely
reserved a conventional rent ; tlie tenant having paid down a sum of money to obtain the lease and the
right of alienation, agreeably to the practice of the west of England.
Life leasehold, with an uncertain tine, payable to a proprietor, who receives the full rent of the land,
at the time of granting the lease; the lessor having a power of alienation, according to the practice of
Wales and some parts of England.
Leasehold for an ordinary term (as for less than a hundred years), with the power of alienation.
3397. Tenure is the general term for these several holds, or rights of possession. Even
the lowest of them gives a sort of temporary property in the land, which is thereby
rendered liable to bargain and sale as property. That species of holding which is given
by a lease, \vithout the power of alienation or transfer, being merely the right of occupancy,
will be classed among other holdings of a similar nature, in treating of leases and tenancy.
(See Book II.)
3398. Legal possession of landed property is gained, by grant, as from the crown ; by
prescription, or long usage ; by descent, as from an ancestor ; by deed of gift, or settlement ;
by the testameiit of the deceased owner ; hy forfeiture, as to a mortgagee ; by purchase,
either entered on a court roll, or ratified by a deed of conveyance.
3399. The title. Through whatever legal channel possession is obtained, the tradition,
record, or deed, that witnesses the fact, gives the title of the possessor ; by which he is
enabled to hold his lands, and legally to convey them to another. Such is the tenure of
lands in England.
Sect. II. The Kinds and Teyuires of Landed Property in Scotland.
3400. The kinds of landed property in Scotland are the same as in England, except that
manorial rights apart from the right to the soil are unknown.
3401. The tenure of lands in Scotland differs very little from the English tenures.
All lands are either held allodially, that is, independently of any superior ; or they are held
by feudal tenures, by which all lands are considered theoretically as belonging to the
crown. The different descriptions of these are termed feu-holding, blanch-holding,
burgage, and mortmain. There are also some local tenures, as that of Udal, Loch-
maben, &c.
3402. Feu-holding. The most ancient feudal tenure in Scotland was by military
service ; for all vassals were at first obliged, by the nature of their grant, to serve the
superior in war, in such manner, and as often, as his occasions called for it. This species
of holding, which was known under the name of luard-holding, is now abolished (by
20 Geo. 3. c. 50.), and requires no farther explanation.
3403. Blanch-holding. Where the vassal, in place of feu-duties and personal services
as above described, only pays a small duty to the superior, in full of all demands, and
merely as an acknowledgment of his right, whether in money, as a penny Scotch, or in
some other article, as a pair of gilt spurs, a pound of wax, &c., it is called blanch-holding.
This tenure deviates, more than any other, from the original nature of feus ; but next
to feu, it has now become the most general species of holding. The payments are entirely
illusory, being never demanded.
3404. Bur gage-holding is a tenure by which royal burghs hold of the sovereign the
houses and lands that lie within the limits described in their several charters of erection.
The proprietor of the burgage lands is liable to pay the municipal taxes ; but all the
political rights are vested in the magistracy, or town-council of the burgh. It is very
limited in its extent.
3405. Mortmain is described by Erskine as the tenure by which any feudal subjects
are held, which have been granted in donation to churches, monasteries, or other cor-
porations, for religious, charitable, or public uses. Strictly speaking, the only lands now
held in mortmain, are a few bursaries belonging to the universities, the tenure having
been declared superstitious, and the other lands held by it given to the crown. Lands
now destined for charitable purposes are vested in trustees, and held by feu or blanch.
Sect. III. The Kinds and Tenures of Landed Property in Ireland.
3406. The kinds of landed property in Ireland are limited to freehold and leasehold ;
there are no manorial rights apart from the soil as in England, nor feudal rights or hold-
ings as in Scotland.
3407. The tenure of lands in Ireland is very simple. It is in general derived from
grants made by the crown on the payment of a certain quit-rent received by the excise
Book I. VALUATION OF LANDED PROPERTY. 553
collector of the district. Tlus is the fundamental tenure, and the only other is leases
granted by such proprietors ; some of these leases are for ever, or on lives renewable
for ever on payment of a certain fine for the insertion of a new life when one drops,
or for leases of 999 years, and almost every variety of term with and without lives
between that and twenty-one years. There are no feudal tenures in Ireland ; the only
abstract right being that of tithes and parochial or other taxes. (See WakeJieldCs
Account of Ireland. )
Chap. II.
Valuation of Landed Property.
3408. When lands are valued with a view to sale or purchase, the tenure is the first sub-
ject of attention. The nature of the tenure often occasions some diflSculty in ascertaining
its value ; but by ascertaining the value of the fee-simple, or freehold tenure, the value
of inferior holdings may be found by known rules of calculation, the principal of which
we have already noticed. (3340. )
3409. The fee-simple value of lands is liable to fluctuation from general causes ; and is
likewise affected, and in much higher degree, by local circumstances. Lands of the
selfsame quality are of fivefold value, in one situation, comparatively with what they are
worth in another : not merely, though principally, on account of the rental value, or
the current price they will let for, to tenants, in different situations ; but through other
less permanent causes ; — as the quantity of land at market, and the number and value
of purchasers, in a given district ; as well as the temporary spirit which prevails in it,
with respect to the possession of landed property, at the period of sale ; — circumstances
that are worthy of attention, from a purchaser whose views are not confined to any
particular spot.
3410. The usual method of coming at the fee-simple value of land is to ascertain its fair
rental value, or price by the year, and to multiply this by the number of years' pur-
chase which the existing demand for land will bear, in the given situation, at the
time of sale.
3411. The number of years'' purchase, or the ratio between the rent and the sale
value of lands, varies greatly, as from twenty to forty, twenty-five to thirty being the
more ordinaiy numbers. Thus, a parcel of land, whose fair rental value is one hundred
pounds, is, in common cases, worth from two thousand five hundred to three thousand
pounds.
3412. But the real rental value, which is the only firm groundwork to proceed upon,
whether in the purchase or the management of landed property, cannot easily be ob-
tained. Speaking generally of the lands of England, it is what very few men are able
to set down. It is true, that, in every district, and almost every township, there are men
who tolerably well know the rate at which the lands of their respective neighbourhoods
are usually let. But interchange them, reciprocally, into each other's districts, and their
errors would be egregious, for reasons already suggested. Nor can a mere provincialist,
especially in a district which is unenlightened by modern improvements, be aware of
the value, even of his own farm, under the best course of management of which it may
be capable : nor can he see, through the double veil of ignorance and prejudice, the
more permanent improvements that may be made upon it, so evidently as one who has
a more general knowledge of rural subjects, and is in the habit of detecting and pro-
secuting such improvements. Yet it very materially concerns an intending purchaser, in
these improving times, to know, before he make his last offer for an estate, whether it is
or is not capable of being improved beyond its existing value ; and what, if any, is the
probable amount of improvement : for he is else liable to lose a valuable purchase,
through his being out-bidden by a better-informed candidate. These facts being evident,
it follows, that before an offer be made, especially for a large purchase, it is no more
than common prudence, in a man who is not himself a judge, to call in twofold assistance:
a provincial valuer, to estimate its fair market price to the tenants of the neighbourhood
in which it lies ; and a man of more general knowledge, to check his valuation, and to
estimate the improvements of which the lands are evidently capable.
3413. The leading particulars which affect the value of an estate, and which require to
be considered in its estimation, are quantity, quality, situation, state, outgoings, and ab-
stract rights.
3414. The quantiU/ of the land is the groundwork of the estimate ; though it has little
weight in the scale of valuation. The fee-simple value of an acre of land may be less
than twenty shillings, or it may be more than a hundred pounds. Nevertheless, it is
on the quantity the rental value is calculated ; and it is usual for the seller to exhibit a
554 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
" particular " of the estate on sale ; showing, or which ought to show, not only the
aggregate quantity, but the number of acres that each piece or parcel contains ; and
ought, most particularly, to specify the distinct quantities of the lands of different quali-
ties, in order that their several rental values may, with greater accuracy and ease, be
ascertained.
3415. The intrinsic quality of the land is another essential basis of calculation. But
even this, in a general view of the value of lands throughout the kingdom, is often of
secondary consideration ; for, in many cases, their values are given by situation, rather
than by soil and substrata. In some cases, as has been already said, the value of the
situation may be fivefold that of the intrinsic value of the land. This excessive influence
of situation, however, is limited in its effects, and is chiefly confined to the environs of
towns, and other extraordinary markets for produce : a great majority of the lands of
England owe their values less to situation than to intrinsic quality ; and to come at this,
with sufficient accuracy, is the most requisite, and, at the same time, the most diflScult
part of valuation, as it depends almost wholly on extemporary judgment, exercised on
the frequently few data which rise to the eye in passing over the field of estimation. It
is almost needless, therefore, to observe, that, to acquire the degree of judgment necessary
to this critical task, it is requisite to know the productiveness of lands of different appear-
ances : a species of knowledge which scarcely any thing but mature practice, in the
cultivation of lands of different qualities, can suflSciently teach ; though long habit may
do much, in ordinary cases, towards hitting off" the value of lands, without an extensive
knowledge of the practice of agriculture. There are, however, cases in which we find
both of these qualifications insufficient to give an accuracy of judgment, even among
provincial valuers ; and a man who ventures to step forward as a universal valuist,
should either have an extraordinary talent for his line of profession, or should, after
a suitable initiation, have had great experience in rural concerns in various parts of the
kingdom.
3416. On situation, the value of lands, aggregately considered, depends less, than on
intrinsic quality; though, without doubt, situation has great influence. Thus, land
whose intrinsic quality renders it, in an ordinary situation, worth twenty shillings an
acre, would not, in some districts, be worth more than fifteen shillings ; while in others
it would bear to be estimated at twenty-five shillings, or a higher rent, to a farmer on a
large scale, and away from the immediate environs of a town, or any populous district
of manufacture ; for reasons that will appear in examining the diflferent particulars of
situation.
3117. In the temperature of situation, whether it is given by elevation, aspect, or exposure, we find a
powerful influence, which is capable of altering exceedingly the value of lands. The same soil and sub-
soil, which we not unfrequently see on exposed mountains, and hanging to the north, and which in that
situation are not worth more than five shillings an acre, would, if situated in a sheltered vale district, and
lying well to the sun, be worth twenty shillings, or a greater rent. Even on climate, something consider,
able depends. In the south of England, harvest is generally a month earlier than in the northern pro-
vinces ; though it is not regulated exactly by the climate or latitude of places, a circumstance that requires
to be attend^ to by those who estimate the value of estates ; for an early harvest is not only advan-
tageous in itself, but it gives time to till the ground, or to take an autumnal crop, which are advantages
that a late harvest will not so well admit of. And another kind of temperature of situation has still more
influence on the value of lands; namely, the moistness of the atmosphere. A moist situation not only
gives an uncertain and often a late harvest, but renders it difficult and hazardous, as too frequently ex-
perienced on the western coasts of this island.
3418. Even m ^Ae<Mrrto/w?/ace we find exercise for the judgment. Lands lying with too steep or too flat
surfaces, especially retentive arable lands, are of less value than those which are gently shelving, so as to
give a sufficient current to surface water, without their being difficult to cultivate. Steep-lying lands are
not only troublesome and expensive, under the operations of tillage, but in carrying on manures and
getting off the produce. Lands lying with an easy descent, or on a gently billowy surface, may be worth
more by many pounds an acre, purchase money, than others of the same intrinsic quality, hanging on
a steep.
3419. A supply of water for domestic purposes, for the uses of live stock, and for the purpose of
irrigation, is another consideration of some weight in valuing an estate. There are situations in which a
copious stream of calcareous water would enhance the fee-simple value of a large estate some thousand
pounds.
3420. A sufficient supply of manure, whether dung, lime, marl, or other melioration, at a moderate price,
and within a moderate distance of land carriage, materially adds to the intrinsic value of lands.
3421. The established practice of the country in which an estate lies, is capable of enhancing or depressing
the value of it exceedingly. Even the single point of practice of ploughing light and loamy lands with two
oxen, or two active horses, instead of four heavy ones, is capable of making a difference on good land,
which is kept alternately in herbage and corn crops, of five to ten shillings an acre a year ; or ten pounds
an acre purchase money.
3422. The price of labour is another regulator of the marketable price of land in a given district. It is
always right, however, to compare this with the habits of exertion and industry which prevail among farm
workmen, before the net amount of labour can be safely set down.
3423. The price of living, or expense of housekeeping prevalent among farmers, has its share of influence
on the value of lands. In the more recluse parts of the north of England, farmers and their servants are
fed, clothed, and accommodated, at nearly half the expense of those of a similar degree in many parts of
the more central and southern provinces. It is not here intended to intimate how husbandmen, their
servants, and labourers, ought to live. As they are the most valuable members of the community, they
are well entitled to such enjoyments as are compatible with care and labour. All that is meant, in stating
this fact, is to convey a hint to the purchasers of estates. For, in a country where frugality prevails, lands
of a given quality will ever bear a higher rent than they will where a more profuse style of living has
gained a footing. Kent is higher, in proportion to the gross produce, on the small farms in Ireland, and
(he west of Scotland, than in other parts of the united kingdom ; and yet the landlord is seldom a gainer,
Book I. VALUATION OF LANDED PROPERTY. 555
as such rents are not so regularly paid, and the tenant, having no reserve of capital, is in bad seasons often
unable to pay any rent at all.
3424. The spirit of improvement, or the prejudice against it, which prevails in a district of sale, is a cir-
cumstance of some value to a purchaser : for if the former is in a progressive state, especially if it is still
in the earlier stages of its progress, a rapid increase of rent may, with a degree of certainty, be expected ;
whereas, under the leaden influence of the latter, half a century may pass away, before the golden chariot
of improvement can be profitably put in motion.
3425. In markets, more than in any other circumtances, we are to look for the existing value of lands.
Their influence is not confined to towns and populous places of manufacture : for in ports, and on quays,
whether of inlets, estuaries, rivers, or canals, markets are met half way ; even by good roads, their distance
from the farm-yard may be said to be shortened.
3426. In this detail of the particulars of situation, wdth respect to the value of landed
property, we perceive the attentions requisite to be employed by a valuer v^^ho is called
upon to act in a country that is new to him. A provincialist, or even a professional
valuer, who acts in a district, the existing value of whose lands he is sufficiently ac-
quainted with, determines, at sight and according to the best of his judgment, on their
respective values : for he knows, or ought to know, their current prices ; what such
and such lands let for in that neighbourhood ; what he and his neighbours give, or
would give, for lands of the same quaUty and state, ■without adverting to the particular
circumstances of situation (they being given, in the established current prices which
have arisen out of these circumstances) ; resting his judgment solely on the intrinsic
quality and existing state of each field or parcel as it passes under his eye. But l^tj
his skill be what it may, in a country in which he has acquired a habit of valuing
lands, he will, in a distant district, the current market prices of whose lands may
be ten, twenty, or fifty per cent, above or below those which he has been accustom ecjl.
to put upon lands of the same intrinsic qualities and existing states, find himself at a^,,
loss, until he has learnt the current prices of the country, or has well weighed the cir-iil^
cumstances of situation ; to which, in every case, he must necessarily attend, before he ^
can determine their value under an improved practice, or venture to lay down general;^
rules for their improvement.
3427. The existing state of lands, or the manner in which they lie, at the time of sale,
is the next class of circumstances which influences their marketable value. j s>ri c
3428. Their state with respect to enclosure is a matter of great consideration. Open lands, thougli Vhdny
appropriated, and lying well together, are of much less value, except for a sheep walk or a rabbit warrert,
than the same land would be in a state of suitable enclosure. If they are disjointed and intermixed in a state
of common field, or common meadow, their value may be reduced one third. If the common fields or
meadows are what is termed Lammas land, and become common as soon as the crops are oflf*, the depression
of value may be set down at one half of what they would be worth, in well fenced enclosures, and unen-i'
cumbered with that ancient custom. Again, the difference in value between lands which lie in a detached
state, and those of the same quality that lie in a compact form, is considerable. The disadvantages of a-
scattered estate are similar to those of a scattered farm. Even the single point of a want of convenient<»a
access to detached fields and parcels is, on a farm, a serious eviL And it is on the value of farms that the- ;
value of an estate is to be calculated. J 5 i
3429. The state of the roads, whether public or private, within an estate, and from it to the neighbouring! <
markets, or places of delivery of produce, is an object of consideration to a purchaser. J^-
3430. The state of the watercourses, or shores and ditches, within and below an estate, requires to be ex-< »
amined into ; as the expense of improvement or reparation will be more or less, according to their existing o:-
state at the time of purchase ; or, perhaps, by reason of natural causes, or through the obstinacy of a;f.1
neighbour, and the defectiveness of the present laws of the country in this respect, the requisite improve^ ^j
ment cannot be effected at any expense. " <'
3431. The state of drainage of lands that lie out of the way of floods or collected water requires to benar
taken into consideration ; for although the art of draining is now pretty well understood, it cannot beJvj
practised, on a large scale, without much cost
3432. The state of the lands, as to tillage and manure, is entitled to more regard than is generally paido^
to it, in valuing them. But even to a purchaser, and still more to a tenant for a term, their state, iwv^
these respects, demands a share of attention. Lands that are in a high state of tillage and conditioniO''
so as to be able to throw out a succession of full crops, may be worth five pounds of purchase moneyti
an acre more than those of the same properties, which are exhausted by repeated crops, and lie in af ^
useless state of foulness, from which they cannot be raised, but at a great expense of manure and
tillage.
3433. The state, as to grass or arable, is better understood, and generally more attended to. Lands
in a state of profitable herbage, and which have lain long so, are not only valuable, as bearing a
high rent while they remain in that state; but after the herbage has begun to decline, will seldom fail
to throw out a valuable succession of corn crops. Hence, the length of time which lands, under
valuation, have lain in a state of herbage, especially if they have been kept in pasturage, is a matter of
enquiry and estimation.
3434. Lastly, the state of farm buildings and fences is a thing of serious consideration. BuildingSyri-J
yards, and enclosures, that are much let down, and gone to decay for want of timely reparation, incur a-' -
very great expense to raise them again to their proper state. And, when great accuracy of valuation' ■
is called for, as when the purchase value of an estate is left to reference, and when the tenants are not
bound, or if bound are not able, to put them in the required state, it becomes requisite to estimate the
expense which each farm, in that predicament, will require to put it in sufficient repair, so as to
bring the whole into a suitable state of occupation. And the same principle of valuation holds good in
ordinary purchases.
3435. Deductions, encumbrances, and outgoings, are leases, tithes, taxes, fixed payments j
repairs, and risks. ^
3436. Leases. In considering the nature of leasehold tenures, it appears that, by a
long lease, the fee-simple value of an estate may be, in effect, annihilated. Even a lease
for lives, with a mere conventional rent, may reduce it to nearly one tliird of its fee-
sample value ; and every other kind of lease, if the rent payable be not equal to the
556 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
fair rental value at the time of sale, is an encumbrance, even to a purchaser who has no
other object in vievs^ than that of securing his property on land, and receiving interest,
in rent, for the money laid out. If personal convenience be immediately wanted, or im-
provements required to be made, a lease, though the tenant pay a full rent, becomes an
obstacle to the purchase.
3437. Tithes. If in valuing lands they are considered as tithe free, the tithe, or modus,
if any, requires to be deducted as an encumbrance ; and seeing the great variation in the
values of tithes and moduses, accoi'ding to customs and plans of occupation, it is the
plainest way of proceeding, to value all lands as free of tithe, and afterward to make
an allowance for whatever they may be estimated to be worth : an allowance which, in
some cases, as on corn-land estates, forms a considerable portion of the fee-simple value
of the lands ; while on grass-land estates, especially such as are pastured by cattle, this
encumbrance, so galling to the corn grower, is in great part avoided.
3438. Taxes. Although it may be called the custom of England for proprietors to
pay the land tax, and the occupier all other taxes, yet this is not the universal practice.
Nor is it, in valuing an estate on sale, and to be let at will, a matter to be enquired
into. The annual amount of the payable taxes and other outgoings is the fact to be
ascertained : for whosoever discharges them, they come as a burthen upon the gross
value of the lands, out of which they are payable ; for if a tenant pays them, his rent is,
or ought to be, estimated and fixed accordingly. If, however, an estate on sale is
already let under lease for a term to come, it is highly requisite to ascertain what parts
of the annual .outgoings and repairs are discharged by the tenants, and what the pro-
prietor will be liable to, during the term to run. The land tax, where it still ,exists, is
extremely uncertain as to its value, and the poor tax is equally variable in different
situations. The church, highway, and county rates are, taking them on a par of years,
less liable to local uncertainty, and are consequently less entitled to enquiry from a
valuist.
3439. Fixed pat/ments, or rent charges, such as chief rents, quit rents, annuities, en-
dowments, schoolmasters' salaries, charitable donations, &c. to which an estate is liable ;
also
3440. Repairs of public works, buildings, roads, &c. incumbent on the estate on sale,
are subjects of enquiry and estimation ; as well as the ordinary repairs above noticed.
And, moreover,
3441. The hazard, or risk, which naturally or fortuitously attends the lands under
valuation, as that of their being liable to be inundated in summer, or to be torn away
by floods at any season, is entitled to mature consideration : for, although these evils
may generally be remedied by river breaks and embankments, the erecting of these is
mostly attended with great expense ; and the estimated value of this becomes, of course,
a fair deduction.
3442. Appurtenant to an expensive estate, there are generally/ other valuable considerations,
besides the purchase value of the lands. These are,
3443. Minerals and fossils, whether metals, fuels, calcareosities, or grosser earths.
3444. Waters, whether they are valuable for fisheries, decoys, mills, domestic purposes,
or the irrigation of lands.
3445. Timber, of woods and hedgerows.
3446. Buildings that are not let with the farms, but which bear rent, independent of
the lands ; yet which, when scattered over an estate, may well be considered as belonging
to landed property.
3447. The estimated value of evident improvements.
3448. Tlie abstract rights which arise out of appropriated lands, or their appurte-
nances ; as
3449. The right of commonage, which is generally of some value even vphen commons lie open, and may
be of more when they shall be enclosed ; provided the cost of enclosure do not turn out to be more than
the extra value of the appropriated lands, above that of the common right in their open state.
3450. The right of seigniority to fee-farm rents, or other chief rents, payable to the possessor of the
lands on sale, out of the lands of other proprietors. These rents, though small, are of certain value in
themselves; and the idea of superiority which they convey to some men's minds may be worth more
than the pecuniary value ; which, indeed, where the sums are very small (as is often the case), is much
lowered by the expense of collecting them: besides the trouble, vexation, private quarrels, and lawsuits
they are liable to excite, when, through neglect, they are half forgotten, and the vassal is willing to catch
at the circumstance, to try to get rid of the teazing and humiliating encumbrance. This, however, may
serve to account for their having been handed down with reverential care, through a succession of ages ;
until, in many instances, even their origin, and much more the circumstances attending it, are difficult or
impossible to trace. But, surely, a man of a liberal turn of mind, who has no interest in legal contests,
and who prefers solid gold to a trinket, would not hesitate to collect these scattered wrecks of property,
and to convert them to a more civilised, rational, and profitable purpose. On the other hand, any man of
an independent spirit would pay more than a fair price — would pay liberally — to be exonerated from so
base a burthen. Tf, however, a vassal's chains sit easy upon him, let him wear them. What is here meant
to be intimated is, that he ought to have, in liberality, if not in law, a fair opportunity of throwing
them off.
3451. The rights of feudality, or manorial rights, are at present, if not in their origin, very different
from those last mentioned. In the day of their establishment, they appear to have been founded in wisdom
and a degree of political necessity ; and, by the correcting hand of time, they arrived at a high degree of
Book I. PURCHASE OF LANDED PROPERTY. 557
political perfection. The simple and easy mode of transferring property, which the feudal system esta-
blished, was well adapted to the illiterate age in which it had its rise. Even in these lettered days, and
among the ruins of feudal rights, the copy of a court-roll is considered as the clearest title a man can have
to his possession ! what a hint is this to modern legislators! The value of feudal rights is to be estimated
by the quit rents, fines, heriots, escheats, and amerciaments, which long custom and a train of circum-
stances have attached to the given court ; and besides what relates to the appropriated lands of the manor,
the lord has a profit arising from the commonable lands (if any lie within it), as lord of the soil, which
cannot be broken without his permission. Hence the fossils and minerals, which it covers, belong to him;
as well as the timber which grows upon the waste, and the waters that are annexed to it. He is moreover,
in ordinary cases, lord of the game which inhabits or strays upon this manor. This, however, being a
right of pleasure, rather than of profit, has no fixed standard of estimation.
3452. The right of tithe, when attached to an estate, is the most desirable of abstract
rights arising out of landed property : for, as far as the right extends (whether to a
lay rectory, or a vicarial improprietorship), the lands which it covers become, in effect,
tithe free ; as every judicious proprietor incorporates the rents of the tithe with those of
the lands out of which it is payable, thus (if the right, as it generally is, be rectorial)
freeing them wholly from the encumbrance of tithes, as a tax on improvements, and
as an obstacle to the growth of corn. The value of tithes, as has been intimated, is so
various, that nothing but local information can enable a valuist to estimate them with
sufficient truth.
3453. The right of advowson, or the privilege of appointing a pastor to propagate
religion and morality upon an estate^ properly enough belongs to its possessor ; as no
other individual is so intimately concerned in the moral conduct of its inhabitants.
3454. The right of representation or election, or the appointment (in whole or in part)
of a legislator to assist in promoting good order in the nation at large, equally belongs
to the owner of territorial surface.
Chap. III.
Purchase or Transfer of Landed Property.
3455. In bargaining for an estate there are two methods in use ; the one by public bid-
dings, and the other by private treaty. In either a certain degree of caution is requisite ;
and in both an accurate valuation is the best safeguard.
3456. Among the preliminaries of purchase by private contract, the particulars which
may be required to be furnished by a seller are first to be enumerated. These are ; the
quantities of the several pieces of the lands on sale, together with the maps, or rough
drafts, of the same : the tenure under which they are holden : some assurance as to the
title of the seller, and his right of alienation : the tenancy under which the several farms
are let ; and, if on lives, the ages of the nominees ; if for a term of years, the number
unexpired ; if at will, the notices (if any) which the tenants have had.
3457. An abstract of the covenants under which they are let} particularly of those
which relate to taxes and repairs, to the expenditure of produce, to the ploughing of grass
lands, &c.
3458. The existing rents and profits receivable i whether for tenanted lands, appurte-
nances, or abstract rights ; with the estimated value of the demesne, and the woodlands
in hand ; together with the estimated value of the timber growing upon the estate on
sale, as well as of the minerals and fossils which it may contain : the outgoings to which
the estate is liable : the proposed time of the delivery of possession : the price, and the
mode of payment expected.
3459. The particulars of instruction to be given to a survepor, or other valuer, of an
estate to be purchased, may next be particularised ; it will be right, however, to premise,
that much, in this respect, depends on the probability of purchasing, and on the time
allowed for making the estimate.
3460. In cases of sale by public auction, where there can be no certainty as to purchase,
and where the time for valuation is limited, a rough estimate of each farm, and a general
idea of the value of the timber and other appurtenances, may be all that can be prudently
ascertained.
3461. But, in a sale by private contract, where the refusal of an estate is granted, and
time allowed for deliberate survey, a more minute investigation may be proper, especially
when there is every reason to believe that a bargain will take place. For the same report
will not only serve as a guide to the purchase, but will become a valuable foundation on
which to ground the future management of the estate. For these, and other reasons, a
purchase by private contract is most to be desired, by a gentleman who is not in the
habit of personally attending public sales, and is unacquainted with the business of
auction rooms.
3462. The particulars to be required from a surveyor, or surveyors, are principally
these : the rental value of each field or parcel of land, with the state in which it lies, as
to arable, meadow, pasture, or woodland ; the value of the timber and other appur-
558 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
tenances ; the characteristic, and the state of management, of each farm or tenement,
with the eligibility of its occupier, together with the state ot repair of buildings, gates,
fences, watercourses, and roads ; the amount of the encumbrances and outgoings ; and,
lastly^ the probable value of the improvements of which the estate may appear to be
capable, whether by ordinary or extraordinary means.
3463. The subjects of treaty after these particulars of information are procured are few.
ThjB two statements having been duly compared, so that no misunderstanding can take
place between the parties, the price, with the times and mode of payment, are the prin-
cipal matters of agreement. A clear understanding respecting the custody of title deeds,
and the expenses of conveyance, require, however, to be enumerated among the preli-
minaries of purchase.
3464. The btisiness of negotiation is best carried on by letters, which become vouchers
of facts. Whatever is done by interview requires to be reduced to writing, and to be
read by, or to, the parties, before they separate, that no possibility of misconception may
arise; and, added to these precautions, it is proper, in large purchases, and when
abstracts of intricate title deeds are to be made out and examined, that a legal contract,
or memorandum of agreement, should be entered into, for the mutual satisfaction and
surety of the parties.
3465. This coiilract, and the deed of conveyance (namely, the instrument which is
legally to transfer the property from the seller to the purchaser), may be said to conclude
and ratify the business of purchase ; and in this part of it legal assistance is essentially
necessary, to examine existing deeds, and see that the seller has a legal right and clear
title to the land, and a legal power to dispose of it, as well as to draw up or examine
the fresh deed of conveyance, and see that it is sufficient to transfer the property, legally
and adequately, to the purchaser.
3466. The preservation of titles may be adverted to before dismissing this subject. In
Scotland, deeds of conveyance and other deeds are registered in one magnificent build-
ing, whose internal economy is as admirably adapted to its design, as its outward form is
beautiful : and, in England, there are two counties (Yorkshire and Middlesex) which
are termed register counties ; in which abstracts of deeds are preserved, and so arranged
as to be readily referred to. Hence, in cases where the original deeds are destroyed
or lost, these registered abstracts are sufficient evidences of their having existed, and
capable of securing the titles of estates to their rightful owners ; and, are moreover
valuable, in preventing fraudulent practices, particularly respecting mortgages. Never-
tlieless, the other counties of England remain, from reign to reign, destitute of these
advantages.
-Ml fPTfiJiJO Iv^fhnt;].
t»ri:r ffsrlJ sTOncT i^juj , xa jJ^j
rifc >^tmbTB//vB''' 'jjii ii9'1o «;i th BOOK II.
OF THE |[,^TIN|d/OUT, OR GENERAL ARRANGEMENT, OF LANDED ESTATES.
3467. The laying out of an extensive landed estate embraces a variety of subjects, and
requires extensive information and enlarged views of political, agricultural, and even of
moral improvement. In new countries, such as America, where an estate is laid out
from a state of nature, this is more particularly the case ; but the observation will also
apply to many parts of th« British Isles, where estates, long since appropriated, require
re-arrangement and improvement. -
3468. Among the diff'erent objects of attention in laying out or re-arranging a landed
estate, one of the first is its consolidation, or the rounding off or simplifying the outline
so that the whole may be brought into a compact form. This envie de s'arrondir seems
to have existed, and the proximity and intermixture of property to have been felt as an
evil by landed proprietors, in all ages. Ahab desired the field of Naboth, because it
was near to his house; and Marvel, the attorney (Massingers New Way to pay Old
Debts, ^c.) advised his client to " hedge in the manor of Master Frugal," because
says he, " his land, lying in the midst of yours, is a foul blemish."
3469. In consolidating property in Britain, an equally desirable object is the appro-
priation of commonable lands ; which, in England, can only be effected under the autho-
rity of a special act of the legislature, but is accomplished with less difficulty in Scot-
land, and is rarely necessary in Ireland. It is believed, indeed, that there are now no
commons in Scotland, unless, perhaps, one or two belonging to the crown or the church,
which cannot be divided by the general law, but must be done either by consent of
parties or a special act of parliament. (C.)
3470. The arrangement of the interior of an estate naturally follows the determination
of the ring-fence, and the complete possession of all that is within. Here the first thing
Book II. CONSOLIDATING PROPERTY. 559
will probably be to determine the demesne lands, or site of the proprietor's residence,
and the extent of territory he means to attach to it and retain in his own occupation.
Then follows the intersection of the estate with roads, and probably a canal ; the choice
or detei-roination of the sites for towns, villages, manufactories, and mines, mineral
quarries, or lisheries, if such exist naturally. Lastly, the grounds to be planted being
determined on, the remaining part of the property will consist of the lands to be let out
for cultivation by farmers, or other tenants of the soil. In conformity with this view of
the subject, we shall consider, in succession, the consolidating of estates, the appropriating
of commonable lands, the choice of demesne, road-making, canal-making, the establish-
ment of villages and manufactories, the working of mines and quarries, the establish-
ment of fisheries, the formation of plantations, the planting of orchards, and the laying
out of farms and farm-lands.
Chap. 1. .^ iirnbnp-touTSin ^.
Consolidating detached Property.
3471. The advantages of a compact estate over one whose lands He scattered and inter-
mixed with other men's properties are evident. The management, whether of detached
farms as parts of an estate, or scattered fields as parts of a farm, is conducted wdth
inconveniency : beside the unpleasant altercations to which intermixed lands are liable
to give rise. The different methods of compressing landed property into the required
state are by exchange, by purchase, and by sale.
3472. Where the lands of two proprietors lie intermixed with each other, an amicable
exchange is the most eligible ; and were it not for the childish piques aria petty
jealousies which so frequently take root between neighbouring proprietors (and are
cherished perhaps by their officious friends), lands of this description could not long
exist ; the evil, in almost any case, being easily removed. Each party having chosen
one, or, in extensive concerns, two referees; and the two or four so chosen, having
named a third or fifth, the required commission is formed ; and bonds of arbitration
being signed, the commissioners proceed, as under an act of appropriation of common-
able lands, to assign each proprietor his rightful share, in the most profitable situation
which the given circumstances will permit. This mode of proceeding might be adopted
by the most distant parties, or the most inveterate enemies ; and, doubtlessly, with
advantage to the property and peace of mind of each. «^
3473. Where an estate or a farm is disjointed by the intermediate lands of others, it is
not only pleasurable to be possessed of them, but profitable to purchase them, even at a
higher price than they are intrinsically worth j consequently at much more than their
value, as detached lands, to their proprietor. Yet such is often the waywardness and
ill-judged policy of the holders of lands so situated, that they will rather continue to
hold them with disadvantage, than sell them at a fair price. An equitable way of deter-
mining a matter of this sort is, to ascertain the value of the lands to the holder as
detached lands, and likewise their value to the candidate as intermixed lands ; and to
let the mean between the two values be the selling price. By this method, both parties
become actual and equal gainers. If the possessor of such lands should lie in wait for
an exorbitant offer, the most efficient mode of proceeding is to offer a high number of
years' purchase on their fair rental value, indifferently considered, in the situation in
which they lie, and to propose to settle such rental value by arbitration. This is a sort
of offer which every honest man can readily understand ; and, if the holder has any
character to lose in his neighbourhood, he cannot refuse it ; if he has not, a calculation
of the difference between the rent he is receiving and the interest of the money offered,
consequently of the annual loss which he is sustaining by not accepting the offer, vrill,
sooner or later, bring him to a sense, if not of his duty as a member of society, at least
of his own interest.
3474. It is, in general, right management to dispose of the detached parts of an estate,
and to add to the main body. The whole is then more easily superintended, and ma-
naged at less expense ; while small properties, if suitable steps be taken, and proper
seasons of disposal caught, will generally fetch more than larger parcels, of equal rental
value, timely and judiciously purchased.
3475. Ill selling, as in purchasing, estates, two methods present themselves. They may
be sold by auction or by private contract. To raise a sum of money expeditiously, the
former may be the most eligible, though attended with more expense and more notoriety
than the latter, which, for the purpose under view, and when expedition is not neces-
sary, vrill generally, if properly conducted, be found preferable. To conduct a sale of
detached lands with judgment and reputation, the first step is to have them deliberately
56a PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
valued by at least two men of character and ability, and to divide them into parcels or
lots, according to situation, and so as to render them of superior value to adjacent pro-
prietors. Then fix upon each parcel such value as it is fairly worth to the owner of th&
lands with which it is naturally united ; and give him the refusal of it. Such parcels as
are not disposed of in this way, may either lie open to private contract, or be sold by
public auction, the motive for selling being, in every case, openly declared. It is to be
remarked, however, that for a sale by auction, a fresh arrangeinent of lots will be
required, the principle of allotment being in this case the reverse of the former. At an
auction, a certain degree of competition is requisite to raise the article on sale to its full
value ; and it is no more than common prudence in the seller to make up his lots in such
a manner as will bring together the greatest number of competitors.
Chap. II.
Appropriating Commonable Lands.
3476. Commonable lands, or such as lie intermixed, or are occupied in common by the
inhabitants according to certain laws and customs, may be considered in regard to their
origin and kinds, and their appropriation or division.
Sect. I. Origin and d^erent Kinds of Commonable Lands,
3477. A very few centuries ago, nearly the whole of the lands of Britain lay in an open,
and more or less in a commonable, state, (See Fitzherbert on the Statute Extenta Manorii.)
Each parish, or township (at least in the more central and northern districts), comprised
different descriptions of lands ; having been subjected, during successive ages, to specified
modes of occupancy, under ancient and strict regulations, which time had converted to
law. These parochial arrangements, however, varied somewhat in different districts ;
but, in the more central and greater part of the kingdom, not widely ; and the following
statement may serve to convey a general idea of the whole of what may be termed com-
mon-field tow^nships, throughout England : —
3478. Each parish, or township, was considered as one common farm j though the
tenantry were numerous. ( See aJso Blackstone^s Commentaries, art. Tithing of Toivnsh. )
Round the village in which the tenants resided lay a few small enclosures, or grass
yards, for rearing calves, and as baiting and nursery grounds for other farm stock.
This was the common farmstead, or homestall, which was generally placed as near
the centre of the more culturable lands of the parish or township as water and shelter
would permit.
3479. Bound the homestall lay a suite of arable fields, including the deepest and
soundest of the lower grounds, situated out of water's way, for raising corn and
pulse, as well as to produce fodder and litter for cattle and horses in the winter
season ; and, in the lowest situation, as in the water-formed base of a rivered valley, or
in swampy dips, shooting up among the arable lands, lay an extent of meadow grounds,
or ings, to afibrd a supply of hay, for cow s and w orking stock, in the winter and spring
months.
3480. On the outskirts of the arable lands, where the soil was adapted to the pasturage of
cattle ; or on the springy slope of hills less adapted to cultivation ; or in the fenny bases
of valleys wiiich were too wet, or gravelly lands thrown up by water which were too dry,
to produce an annual supply of hay with sufficient certainty; one or more stinted pastures,
or hams, were laid out for milking cows, working cattle, or other stock which required
superior pasturage in summer.
3481. The bleakest, worst-soiled, and most distant lands of the township, were left in their
native wild state, for timber and fuel, and for a common pasture, or suite of pastures, for
the more ordinary stock of the township, whether horses, rearing cattle, sheep, or swine,
without any other stint or restriction than what the arable and meadow lands indirectly
gave ; every joint tenant or occupier of the township having the nominal privilege of
keeping as much live stock on these common pastures, in summer, as the appropriated
lands he occupied would maintain in winter.
3482. The appropriated lands of each township were laid out with equal good sense and
propriety. That each occupier might have his proportionate share of lands of different
qualities, and lying in different situations, the arable lands, more particularly, were divided
into numerous parcels of sizes, doubtless, according to the size of the given township, and
the number and rank of the occupiers.
3483. The whole was subjected to the same plan of management, and conducted as
one common farm ; for which purpose the arable lands were divided into compartments,
or " fields," of nearly equal size, and generally three in number, to receive, in constant
Bock II. APPROPRIATING LANDS. 561
rotation, the triennial sxiccession of fallow, wheat (or rye), and spring crops (as barley,
oats, beans, and peas) : thus adopting and promoting a system of husbandry, which,
howsoever improper it has become in these more enlightened days, was well adapted to the
state of ignorance and vassalage of feudal times. When each parish or township had its
sole proprietor, the occupiers being at once his tenants and his soldiers, or meaner vassals,
the lands were, of course, liable to be more or less deserted by their occupiers, and left to
the feebleness of the young, the aged, and the weaker sex : but the whole township
being, in this manner, thrown into one System, the care and management of the live stock,
at least, would be easier and better than they would have been under any other arrange-
ment ; and, at all times, tlie manager of the estate was better enabled to detect bad hus-
bandry, and enforce that which was more profitable to the tenants and the estate, by hav-
ing the whole spread under the eye at once, than he would have been had the lands been
distributed in detached unenclosed farmlets, besides avoiding the expense of enclosure.
Another advantage arose from this more social arrangement, in barbarous times ; — the
tenants, by being concentrated in villages, were not only best situated to defend each
other from predatory attacks, but were called out by their lord, with greater readiness,
in cases of emergency. Therefore, absurd as the common-field system is, in almost
every particular, at this day, it was admirably suited to the circumstances of the times
in which it originated ; the plan having been conceived in wisdom, and executed with
extraordinary accuracy, as appears in numberless instances, even at this distance of time.
3484. Uninhabited tracts or forests. In different parts of Britain there were, and still
are, extensive tracts of land, some of them of a valuable quality, lying nearly in a state
of wild nature, which were never inhabited unless by freebooters and homebred savages.
These unirihabited tracts are styled forests ; and, heretofore, many or most of them have
been attached to the crown; and some of them are still under royal patronage.
Whether they were originally set out for royal pastime merely ; or whether the timber
which stood on them was of peculiar value ; or whether, at the time of laying out town-
ships, those tracts were impenetrable woods inhabited by wild beasts, and, when these
had been destroyed, or suflSciently overcome to render them objects of diversion, were
taken under the protection of the crown ; is not, perhaps, well ascertained. There were
also tracts of that description in different parts of England, but which appear, evidently,
to have been enclosed from a state of woodland or common pasture ; though it is pos-
sible they may have been nominally attached to neighbouring parishes. Of this descrip-
tion, principally, are the Wealds of Kent and Sussex, and many other old enclosed lands,
in different parts of the kingdom, whose fields or enclosures are of irregular shapes, and
their fences crooked. These woodland districts are, like the forest lands, divided into
manors, which have not an intimate connection or correspondence with parishes or town-
ships ; — a further evidence that they were in a wild state when the feudal organisation
took place.
3485. In the western extreme (f the island, the common-Jield system has never, j)er-
haps, been adoj)ted; it has certainly never been prevalent, as in the more central parts of
England. There, a very different usage would seem to have been early established, and
to have continued to the present time, when lords of manors have the privilege of letting
off the lands of common pastures to be broken up for corn, the tenant being restricted
to two crops, after which the land is thrown open again to pasturage ; and it is at least
probable, that the lands of that country have been cleared from wood, and brought into
a state of cultivation, through similar means. At present, they are judiciously laid out,
in farms of different sizes, with square straight-lined enclosures, and with detached farm-
steads situated within their areas; the villages being generally small and mean — the mere
residences of labourers. Circumstances these are, which strongly evince that the com-
mon-field system never took place in this part of the island, as it did in the more central
parts of England. Ireland, also, has been enclosed (though not fenced) from time
immemorial.
3486. The feudal organisation, having lost its original basis, has itself been mouldering
away, more particularly during the last century. A great majority of the appropriated
common-field lands and commons have been partially or wholly enclosed ; either by
piecemeal, each proprietor enclosing his own slip, — a very inconvenient mode of enclosure ;
or by general consent, the whole of the proprietors agreeing to commit their lands to the
care and judgment of arbiters, or commissioners, who, restoring the fields to their original
entirety, reparcelled them out in a manner more convenient to the several proprietors,
and laid each man's portion, which had consisted of numberless narrow slips, in one or
more well shaped grounds.
5487. In England this requires to be effected by a separate act of parliament for each enclosure. In
these acts commissioners are named, or directed to be chosen by the proprietors, who, according to certain
instructions in the act or law, and the general principles of equity, divide the township among all who have
an interest in it. It appears by the statute books, that from the year 1774 to the year 1813, no fewer than
two thousand six hundred and thirty-two acts of enclosure have been passed ; the average in the first
twenty years being thirty-seven, and in the last twenty years ninety-four.
Oo
562 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
3488. In Scotland a general bill of enclosure was passed by the parliament in 1695, and in consequence
of it the whole country has for nearly a century past been in distinct possessions. In Ireland, as we have
already remarked, no enclosure act became necessary, and the country is considered as suffering from the
long continued minute division of landed property.
3489. As a contrast to the general eagerness for enclosing, it may be useful to present the moderate, and
in our opinion judicious, observations of Loch, to whom it appears very doubtful how far the indiscriminate
enclosure of commons, arising out of the high nominal prices of grain, has been in every instance of ad-
vantage to the nation. Many of them, he says, certainly, could never pay the expense of obtaining the act,
of the commissioners' fees, of the construction of the fences, and of bringing the land into cultivation.
In this respect there has been a dead loss of capital to the country. It is conceived that it is not carrying
this feehng too far, to regret the destruction of some of those beautiful and picturesque forests and chases
which once surrounded London, and to hope that this may go no further. It may even be permitted,
perhaps, to include within this regret as a national loss, the destruction of Windsor forest, the most appro-
priate accompaniment of the noblest royal residence in Europe. The preservation of some of these chases
is as essential to the poorer classes of the metropolis as to the rich. To the former they afford health,
exercise, and amusement ; in the latter they produce and cherish that love of the country, and of rural
sports, so important in a constitutional point of view. They nourish that feeling for, and knowledge of,
the beauties of nature (freed from the love of gain as connected with the productions of the soil), which
enlarge our understandings, and exalt every better sentiment of the heart — encouraging the practice of the
social virtues, and checking those more selfish habits which the general distribution of great wealth is too apt
to engender. There cannot be a doubt, that not only for these reasons would the abstaining from some of
these enclosures have been beneficial, but, in an economical point of view, itwould'have been most
advantageous to the nation. In how many ways could not the capital, thus lost, have been beneficially
applied both for the individual and the country ! How much a richer man would the land-owner
have been, if he had saved much of this expense, and permitted a more liberal importalion of foreign
corn! How much better would it have been for the country! In this, as in every other instance, it
might be demonstrated, that that which would have been best for one, would have been so for all,
and that the same system must always benefit equally the English landlord, tenant, merchant, manu-
facturer, and artisan. {Marquess qf Stajfford's Improveynents, S(c.)
Sect. II. General Principles of appropriating and dividing Commonable Lands.
3490. There are few lands in Britain unappropriated, except in England, and these
may be classed as forest lands, and other extensive wastes, on which several manors, or
adjacent townships, have a right of common pasturage; commonable lands of distinct
townships or manors, whose appropriated lands are wholly enclosed, and in a state of
mixed cultivation ; commonable lands of townships, whose arable fields, &c. are
partially enclosed ; and commonable lands of townships, whose arable fields remain
wholly open.
3491 The principles on which the appropriation of those lands requires to be conducted
are thus laid down by Marshal. By an established principle of the general law or con-
stitution of the country, immemorial custom establishes right. Hence the original rights
and regulations respecting the lands under view are not now the proper subjects of
investigation ; nor are the changes that may have taken place during a succession of
centuries, from the origin of forests and townships to the latest time which is no longer
within memory, objects of enquiry; but, solely, the acquired rights which exist in a given
case at the time of appropriation, and which would continue to exist were it not to take
place. The possessor of a cottage which has enjoyed, from time immemorial and without
interruption, the liberty of pasturage, though such cottage were originally an encroach-
ment of a freebooter or an outlaw, has indisputably as legal a claim to a proportionate
share of the commonable lands, as the possessor of the demesne lands of the manor has,
merely as such, although they may have descended from father to son from the time of
their severalty ; for it is evidently on the estimated values of the respective rights which
exist, and which can be rightfully exercised in time to come, and on these alone, that a
just and equitable distribution can be effected.
3492. But before the distribution of commonable lands among the owners of common
pasturage can take place, the more abstract rights which belong to commons require to
be estimated, and the just claims of their possessors to be satisfied. These are principally
manorial rights, and the rights of tithes.
3493. Manorial claims are to be regulated by the particular advantages which the lord
of a given manor enjoys, and which he will continue to enjoy while the commons remain
open and unappropriated ; whether they arise from mines, quarries, water, timber, alien
tenants, fuel, estover, pannage, or game. His claim as guardian of the soil that is pro-
ductive of pasturage only is, in most cases, merely honorary ; and it remains with par-
liament to fix the proportional share of the lands to be appropriated, which he shall be
entitled to as an equivalent for such honorary claim.
3494. But in the case of thriving timber standing on the property, the claim of the lord
of the manor in right of the soil is more substantial ; for out of this he has in effect a real
yearly income, equal to the annually increasing value of the timber ; — a species of advan-
tage which, if the commons remain open and unappropriated, he vdll of course continue
to enjoy so long as the timber continues to increase in value. His claim, therefore, in
this respect, depends on the quantity of timber and its state of growth, taken jointly.
Young thriving timber not only affords an annual increase of value at present, but will
continue its benefits for many years to come, if it be suffered to remain undisturbed on
the soil ; and its ovvTier, doubtless, has a prospective claim on the soil which supports it
during the estimated period of its future increase ; whereas dotards and stimted trees,
Book II. DIVIDING COMMONABLE LANDS. 563
which afford no increase of value, do not entitle their owner to any share of the soil they
stand upon. All that the lord has a right to claim appears to be limited to the trees
themselves or their intrinsic value.
3495. The claims of tithe owners, aggregately considered, are more complex and obscure.
In cases where the great and small tithes are united, and in which the tithe of wool and
lambs, and that of grain, roots, and herbage, belong to the same owner, it may seem to
be reasonable that he should have the option of receiving land of equal value to the
existing value of the tithes, or of taking the chance of their value, in the state of culti-
vation. But seeing the evil tendency of corn tithes, and the impropriety of laying on so
harmful a burthen, as they are now become, upon lands that have never borne it, there
can be Uttle risk in saying that it would be at least politic in parliament to prevent it.
Besides, it stands part of the statute law, that lands which have never been under tillage
shall not pay tithes during the first seven years of their cultivation ; during which time
the incumbent's income might, by leaving the tithe to take its course, be materially
abridged, and his circumstances thereby be rendered distressful. On the whole, there-
fore, it appears to be proper in this case, that the law to be enacted should instruct com-
missioners to set out lands equal to the existing value of the tithes at the time of appro-
priation ; and where much corn land shall be appropriated, to set out a farther quantity
equal to the estimated reversion of their extra value (if any arise in the estimate), seven
years after the appropriation shall have taken place.
3496. Again, in cases in which the tithe of lambs and wool, and the tithe of com, ^c. belong
to separate owners, the line of rectitude and strict justice to all parties appears to be still
more difficult to be drawn. The former is clearly entitled to land, or a money payment
equal to his loss of tithe ; but the right of the latter is less obvious. To cut him oft*
entirely from any share of the lands, and likewise from any share of tithes to arise from
them after they shall have been appropriated, may seem unjust ; he may be a lay rector,
and may have lately purchased the tithes, or a clerical rector who has recently bought the
advowson, under the expectation of an enclosure. On the other hand, it appears to be
hard, that the proprietors of the parish should first give up land for the tithe of wool and
lambs which will no longer exist, and then be liable to a corn tithe on the same lands,
after they shall have bestowed on them great expense in clearing and cultivation. In-
deed, the injustice of such a measure is evident. A middle way, therefore, requires to
be sought ; and it will be difficult, perhaps, to find one which has more justice in it than
that which is proposed for the first case. Thus, after the value of the lamb and wool
tithe, &c. has been ascertained, and land set out as a satisfaction for it, estimate the value
of the corn tithe, &c. seven years after the time of appropriation ; and set out a further
quantity for the reversion of the extra value (if any) of the latter over the former, and
thus free the lands entirely from this obstacle to their improvement.
3497. If any other abstract claim on the lands to be appropriated be fairly made out,
or any alien right (as that of a non-parishioner, or extra-manorial occupier, who has
acquired, by ancient grant or by prescription, the privilege of depasturing them) be
fully proved, its value requires to be accurately estimated, and land to be assigned in its
stead.
3498. The remainder of the unstinted commons of a given township or manor belong
to the owners of its common-right lands and houses ; but in what proportion, it may be
difficult to determine with mathematical precision. Nevertheless, by adhering strictly to
the general principle, on which alone an equitable appropriation can be conducted, —
namely, that of determining each man's share by the benefit which he has a right to
receive at the time of appropriation, and which he might continue to receive were it not
to take place, — truth and justice may be sufficiently approached.
3499. One of the first steps toward an equitable distribution of unstinted commons
is to ascertain the common-right houses, and to distinguish them from those which have no
right of commonage ; and which, therefore, can have no claim to any share of the lands
of the unstinted commons, further than in the right of the lands they stand upon. By
an ancient and pretty generally received, though somewhat vague, idea respecting the
rights of commonage, the occupier of every common-right house has the privilege of
depasturing as many cattle, sheep, or other live stock, on the common in summer
(provided, it must be understood, that it is large enough to permit every occupier
to exercise this right), as the grounds he occupies within the township or manor can
properly maintain in winter ; and no one can exceed that proportion ; for the surplus
of the pasturage, if any, belongs to the lord of the soil. (See Fitzherbert and Black-
stone. )
3;00. Under this regulation, the appropriated lands of a common-field township, which
are not occupied jointly with a common-right house, may be said to be deprived, during
the time they are so occupied, of their right of commonage ; and in some of the private
bills of enclosure, which have been suffered to pass through parliament, the lands which
happened to be in this state of occupancy, at the time of passing the bills, were deprived
O o 2
,564 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Pakx III.
of their interest in the common lands for ever ; notwithstanding, perhaps, they had a
few years preceding this accidental circumstance an undoubted right to their portion of
them, — a right which, a few weeks or a few days afterward, might have reverted to them,
without the smallest taint by the temporary alienation. If any of the appropriated lands
of a township or manor have been estranged from its commons, during time immemorial ;
have never been occupied jointly with a common-right house, or in any way enjoyed, of
right, the common pasturage within memory ; they may with some reason be said to have
lost their right, and be excluded from a participation.
3501. By this ancient and in a degree essential usage, common-right houses have a clear
right to the lands of the commons, superior to that of the ground they stand upon ;
especially if they rightfully enjoy a privilege of partaking of the fuel and pannage (as
acorns, masts, &c.) they afford, for these properly belong to the houses, not to the lands :
and still more especially, if they are conveniently situated for enjoying the several benefits
which the commons afford in their wild state. And whatever a common-right house is
worth, merely as such ; that is to say, whatever it will let or sell for, over and above a
noncommon-right house of the same intrinsic value ; it certainly ought to participate in
the distribution, according to such extra value.
3502. The true proportionate shares of the common-right lands are to be ascertained on
the same principle ; for although the ancient regulation respecting common-rights may
continue in force, while the commons remain open and unappropriated, it would be
found troublesome or unmanageable as a rule to their just appropriation. There are few,
if any, commons (of common-field townships at least) that now afford pasturage in summer
for aU the stock which the appropriated lands are capable of maintaining in winter ; so
that their several proportions only could be used : and these proportions may be calculated
with much greater certainty and despatch on the respective rental values of the lands,
than on the more vague and troublesome estimation of the quantities of stock they
would winter, which, indeed, would be best calculated by the rental value of the land.
Consequently, in adopting this as the basis of calculation, the ancient rule is, in effect,
complied with. {Blackstone, book iii. c. xvi. sect. 2.)
3503. But although each common-right occupier has a right to stock in proportion to the
productiveness or rental value of his appropriated lands, every one could not do this with
equal profit, and of course could not receive equal benefit. Lands situated on the side
of a common are much more beneficial in this respect, than lands which Ue a mile or two
from it, with bad roads between them ; and it is the real advantage which an occupier
can fairly receive, that is the true guide in the partition, which consequently ought to be
conducted, not on the rental value of the land, abstractly considered, but on this and its
situation with respect to the commonable lands jointly. In other words, it is the rental
values of the common-right lands while the commons remain open, not what they will
become after the commons are enclosed, which I conceive to be the proper groundwork
of appropriation.
3504. In cases where commonable lands are wholly attached to manors, and not common
to the parish or township in which they are situated, as in forests and woodland districts,
the selfsame principle of distribution is applicable. The remainder of the commons
(after the owners of abstract rights have been satisfied) belong to the com.mon-right lands
and houses ; no matter whether such lands and houses belong to copyhold tenants
exclusively, or to copyholders and freeholders jointly, provided the immemorial custom
of the manor make no distinction in their respective rights ; the well established customs
of manors being in all cases rules of conduct, and unerring guides to commissioners.
Here may be said to end the greater difficulties as to the principles of appropriation :
the rest is merely technical ; the works of admeasvu-ement, estimate, and calculation, —
operations that are familiar to professional men in every district, and want nothing but
application and integrity to render them sufficiently complete.
3505. The technical routine of the business of conducting an enclosure is as follows : —
The act being passed, and two or more commissioner named, these commissioners meet
on a certain day at a certain place within the township or parish, having previously given
public notice of their intention. The chief business of that day is the fixing of a land
surveyor and an attorney to the commission. At a second meeting the commissioners,
surveyor, attorney, and some of the principal proprietors or their agents, attend and make
a general perambulation of the tovsoiship, in order to point out to the surveyor the different
properties, vrith their limits, &c. The surveyor now proceeds to make a correct map of
the whole. This done, the commissioners, attended by the surveyor, proceed to value
each separate lot or piece ; and having done this, they next advertise different meetings for
the purposes of hearing the rights of townsmen, &c. Next they set about dividing the
lands according to these rights, reserving proper roads for footpaths, quarries, gravel-pits,
wells, springs, &c. for public purposes. When this is done, and set out on the ground,
contractors are next employed to carry the whole into execution, the expense of which
and also of the commission is generally paid by the sale of a part of the lands.
Book II. CHOICE OF DEMESNE LANDS. 565
Chap. III.
Choice of the Demesne or Site for the Proprietor s Besidence.
3506. The most desirable situation for the mansion of the oumer of a landea estate will,
in almost every case, be somewhere near its centre. The advantage of being at an equal
distance from every part of the boundaries ; of having as much as possible on every side
that which we can call our own ; of not being overlooked by near neighbours ; and of
reposing as it were in the bosom of our own tenantry, cottagers, cattle, and woods ; are
obvious, and felt by every one. There may be instances where, from a public road
passing through the centre of an estate, or of a town or village there situated, or mining
works carried on, and similar circuinstances, it may not be desirable to form a central
residence ; but such cases are not common, and, in laying out an estate newly appro-
priated, or re-arranging an old one, may always or very generally be avoided. It may
happen, however, that an estate may be so extensive, or its surface so hilly or mountainous,
tliat a central situation may be dispensed with for other advantages. When an estate is
situated near an extensive lake, at the foot of high mountains, or includes an extent of
sea-shore, it will generally be found preferable, in point of effect and enjoyment, to
place the mansion near these interesting features. Proximity to the sea, though it be
on the margin of our estate, can never be offensive ; for if the ocean does not belong to
us, neither does it belong to any one else : nearly the same thing may be said of an im-
mense lake, which at least is for the greatest part devoid of visible appropriation, and
the same thing may often be observed of rivers and mountains, especially if the latter ^re
of a savage, or wooded character.
3507. Various other circumstances must also be taken into view, in fixing on the situ-
ation of a mansion and demesne ; such as its healthfulness, prospects, exposure, water,
the nature of the soil, and the extent of territory.
3508. To be healthr/, a situation should in almost all cases be somewhat elevated above
the adjoining surface ; and though this cannot be the case with respect to the whole of
the demesne lands, it should at least apply to the spot intended for the dwelling-house.
Even a level situation is objectionable in point of health, because, when the usual
plantations have grown up round the house, they tend to stagnate the air and generate
moisture, and thus deteroriate the atmosphere to their own height, which generally equals
or exceeds that of the house. Besides, a flat situation can never have views of much
beauty, and can only be interesting from the plants or other objects immediately under
the eye, and the elevated grounds or hills, if any, in the extreme distance. On an ele-
vated situation, even though surrounded by trees higher than the house, the frequent and
varying winds will always prevent the stagnation of the air, and sweep away the moisture
accumulated from the evaporation of so many leaves.
3509. The nature of the soil requires to be attended to, even with a view to health.
On a level, a gravelly or sandy soil is generally more apt to generate damp in the lower
jiarts of a house, than a clayey soil ; but on an eminence gravel has not this objection :
in the former case, the water lodged in the stratum of gravel finds its way from all
sides to the excavation made for the foundations of the house ; in the latter, the declivity
on every side carries it away. Clay not too adhesive, chalk, and rock, are the best
surfaces to build on in a flat : on an elevated situation any soil will do ; but chalk, rock,
or gravel, is to be preferred.
3510. The prospects from the immediate site of the mansion, and from those parts of
the adjoining grounds which will be laid out as pleasure-ground, or recreative walks,
demand some consideration. Such prospects should consist of what painters call middle
and third distances, bold, distinct, and interesting ; the fore-ground, or first distance, being
formed by the artificial sceneiy of the pleasure-ground. Noble features in prospects
are, rivers, lakes, or mountains : interesting ones are, churches or their spires, bridges,
aqueducts, ruins of ancient castles or abbeys, water-mills, distant towns or cities, distant
canals, and sometimes roads, &c. : pleasing rural objects are, picturesque cottages, neat
faiTneries, field barns, and sometimes distant windmills; for objects offensive, when
near, often become valuable features at a distance. Something depends on the state of
civilisation of the country, and its general character ; the sight of a road, sea-port,
canal, or even a neighbouring mansic n, would be preferred to most others in many parts
of Ireland, Russia, or America.
3511. The ex]wsure with regard to the sun and the prevailing winds of a country,
also requires attention. It was the c>;stom of former times, in the choice of domestic
situations, to let comfort and convenience prevail over every other consideration. Thus
the ancient baronial castles were built on the summits of hills, in times when defence
and security suggested the necessity of placing them there, and difficulty of access was
a recommendation : but when this necessity no longer existed (as mankind are always apt
to fly from one extreme to the other"), houses were universally erected in the lowest situ-
O o 3
5G6
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
ations; with a probable design to avoid those inconveniences to which lofty positions had
been subject j hence the frequent sites of many large mansions, and particularly abbeys
and monasteries, the residence of persons who were willing to sacrifice the beauty of
prospect for the more solid and permanent advantages of habitable convenience ; amongst
which, shelter from wind, and a supply of water for store fishponds, were predominant
considerations. {Enquiry, ^c. by Repton, p. 83.) In hilly countries, or in any country
where the surface is varied, the choice is neither made in the bottoms (jig. ,532. a) nor on
d
^ ■■-•■—
the summits of hills (c), but generally on knolls, or on the south or south-east side of
considerable eminences {b), upon an elevated platform, either natural or raised by art
from the earth of the foundations ; and the rising grounds behind (rf) are planted both
for effect and shelter.
3512. The proximity of water is essential to the comfort of every country residence.
Where there are none in springs or surface streams, it may, indeed, be collected from the
roofs of buildings and otherwise, and filtered, and preserved sweet and cool in tanks
underground ; but supplies obtained in this way are precarious and expensive, and the
water is inferior to that obtained from the soil by contiguous wells, or from a distance
by pipes or drains. Water is also extensively required in country residences for the use
of gardeners, sometimes for fishponds ; at a moderate distance, and on a lower level,
it is always desirable in considerable quantity for the purpose of forming artificial lakes,
or river-like reservoirs. Few home features are finer than where the house is situated
on a knoll which slopes down on two or more sides to one encircling piece of water.
{Jig. 533.)
533
3513. The nature of the soil is a consideration inferior to the others, because all bad
soils are susceptible of great improvement ; but, still, it should be taken into consider-
ation along with other objects. A soil retentive of surface water, such as some clayey
and soft peaty soils, is the worst, as it is always unpleasant to walk on after rains, and
easily poached by cattle and horses. Such soils also require more expense in drainage
and roads, and are much less suitable for garden and farm culture, than firmer soils,
and such as are naturally friable or dry.
3514. The subsoil is sometimes of more importance than the soil; for the former in
general can only be improved by draining, and subsoils differ materially in their sus-
ceptibility of this improvement. A bad subsoil is an effectual barrier to the thriving of
timber trees ; and as these constitute the finest ornament of every country seat, the im-
portance of choosing a subsoil either naturally congenial to them, or capable of being
rendered so by art, is suflSciently obvious.
Book II. FROMATION OF ROADS. 567
35 1 5. Where the surface-soil is dry and poor, but on a dry subsoil, and all other cir-
cumstances are favourable, it may often be desirable for a proprietor to fix on such a
situation for his demesne ; because such a surface is probably among the least valuable
as farm lands, because land to be laid out as a park is not required to be rich, and because
it will not be difficult to ameliorate all that part wanted as farm and garden ground.
3516. The extent that should be kept as a demesne is more easily determined than any
of the foregoing points. The general wealth of the proprietor, and his style of living, are
here the leading guides. The extent of the demesne may bear very different relations to
the extent of the estate ; because the proprietor may have other estates and other sources
of wealth. He may have chosen a small estate, on which to fix his residence, from its
local advantages ; or he may prefer a small demesne on a large estate, from his style of
life and the habits of his establishment.
3517. The park, in general, occupies much the largest part of the demesne lands. In
a civilised and populous closely cultivated country, like Britain, nothing can be more
noble than a large forest-like park surrounding the mansion. In partially cultivated
countries, or open field countries, it is less imposing ; and in countries scarcely appro-
priated and but thinly distributed with spots of culture, the park becomes a less noble
feature, and less a mark of wealth and distinction than a well-hedged and regularly
cropped farm.
3518. The apparent extent of a park depends much less on its contents in acres, than on
the inequalities of its surface, the disposition of its woods and waters, and the conceal-
ment or unobtrusiveness of its boundaries. An extensive flat, surrounded by a belt, and
interspersed with clumps, may be great, but can hardly be felt as grand or interesting
by any but the owner : the acres it occupies will be guessed at by hundreds, and the
estimate will generally be found to fall short of the reality. On the other hand, a hilly
park, ingeniously wooded, with a piece or pieces of water, and probably rocks, bridges, and
other objects, will appear to a stranger of much greater extent than it really is, and sets
rational estimate at defiance : such a park is certainly much more grand and picturesque
than one of mere " bulk without spirit vast."
3519. The home or demesne farm and farmery will be regulated in extent and style of
cultivation by the wants and wishes of the proprietor. It is sometimes a determinate
space in the least picturesque part of the demesne ; and sometimes, the greater part of
the park is brought in succession under the plough and the sickle.
3520. The kitchen garden is the next and only remaining large feature in the demesne :
it is generally placed near the house and stable offices, so as to have a convenient and
unobtrusive communication with the kitchen court, and the livery-stable dung heap.
3521. T'he pleasure-ground, or lawn and shrubbery, often surrovmds the house, offices,
and kitchen-garden ; and sometimes embraces them only on two or three sides.
3522. The details of all these and other parts of the demesne belong to landscape-
gardening and architecture, and require no further notice in this work. (See Encyc. of
Gard. part iii. book iv. )
Chap. IV.
Formation and Management of Roads.
3523. The advantages of good roads are so obvious and so generally acknowledged, as to
need no comment. Roads, canals, and navigable rivers, have been justly called the veins
and arteries of a country, through which all improvements flow. The Romans, aware
of their importance, both in a military and civil point of view, constructed them from
Rome to the utmost extent of their empire. With the dismemberment of that empire,
the roads became neglected, and continued so during the dark ages. In modern times
attention was first paid to them on a large scale by the government of France, in the
seventeenth century ; and in England in the beginning of the century following. About
the middle of the eighteenth century, considerable expense had been incurred in road-
making, in several districts, and the expenses of toll-gates began to be felt as oppressive.
This produced jin Enquiry into the State of the Public Roads, by the Rev. H. Homer, &c.
1767, which may be considered as the origin of scientific research on the art of road-
making in England.
3524. In Scotland, the first turnpike act, as we have seen (771.), was passed in 1750;
since which period existing public roads have been improved, and many new ones forrned :
but the great impulse there was given, after the act for abolishing heritable jurisdictions,
by the money advanced by government, and the able military engineers sent from England
to conduct the roads in the Highlands. The appearance in Britain, about this time, of
a new order of professional men, under the name of civil engineers, also contributed to
the same effect.
O o 4
568 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
3525. In Ireland, very little attention was paid to the art of road-making before the
establishment of the Dublin Society ; but the subject was treated of in the early volumes
of their Transactions, and some useful instructions there given, as it is generally under-
stood, by R. L. Edgeworth ; and the surface as well as substrata of that country being
singularly favourable for road-making, the art soon began to make considerable progress.
This was greatly owing to the exertions of Edgeworth, well known as a scientific engineer,
and as the author of a tract on roads published in 1810.
3526. The extraordinary increase of toll duties in England, having been felt as a very
heavy burthen by the landed interest during the last twenty years, has drawn the attention
of various persons to the subject of roads, and given rise to important improvements,
both in laying them out, and in forming and repairing them. By far the most useful of
these may be considered the mode of fonning practised since 1816, by L. M'Adam of
Bristol ; for which its author was rewarded by parliament. That mode is now, with more
or less variation, adopted in a considerable number of districts in the three kingdoms, and,
together with the attention and emulation it excites, promises to effect an entire revolution
in the state of the public roads every where. At the same time it is but candid to state,
ynth Paterson of Montrose, author of two tracts (1819 and 1822) on the subject, that in
many districts a considerable improvement had taken place, previously to the time of
M'Adam, in the state of the roads, simply from a greater attention being made to keep
them dry by under-drainage, to break the stones small, and constantly to obliterate the
ruts.
8527. But M' Adam's plan of making roads promises to be valuable as a substitute for
pavement or causeways in towns ; at the same time its value, as compared with the most
improved methods of paving, cannot be considered as finally determined.
3528. In the following view of the present state of knowledge as to roads we shall avoid
entirely that part of the subject which relates to national or parochial management, and
confine ourselves to the kinds, the direction or line, the form, the miterials, the execu-
tion, and the repairs.
Sect. I. Different Kinds of Roads^
3529. Though all roads agree in being tracks of passage from one point to another, yet
they differ in their magnitude, construction, andf other modes of adaptation for that pur-
pose. Most good roads consist of two parts ; one " metalled " or coated with stones for
^34 a Ajji t^is use of carriages and horses
(fg. 534. a) ; another of common
earth or soil, as a border to the
metalled part (b), or for the use of
pedestrians ; and probably a footpath for the latter (c). Several kinds of roads are distin-
guished by the relative proportions of these two parts ; but some also are characterised
by other circumstances.
3530. National roads, or highways, are such as communicate between the capital
cities and sea-ports ot a, country, and are those of the greatest magnitude. In Britain,
the metalled part of such roads, where they are most frequented, as within a few miles of
large towns, is from 30 to 50 and even to 60 feet wide, with footways on each side of
12 feet wide or upwards, and in no case is the metalled part of the road narrower than
20 feet; that width being requisite to admit of one loaded waggon passing another.
Many or most of these narrower national roads are without footpaths, and often want a
sufficient bordefing of earth road, or footpath.
3531. Parochial roads may be considered as secondary highways, deriving their name
from the circumstance of being made and supported by the parish in which they are
situated ; whereas the others are the work of government, or of the counties in which they
are situated, and are supported by tolls levied on carriages and animals passing over them.
3532. Lanes are parish or private roads, generally narrow, and often either not me-
talled at all, or very imperfectly so ; sometimes they are called drift-ways, but that term
is more properly applied to the green or unraetalled space which nins parallel to any
made road, for tlie passage of flocks and herds.
3533. Estate roads arc such as are made by landed proprietors on their own territory,
for the purpose of intercommunication and connection with public roads.
3534. A farm-road is either one which leads to a farmery, from a public road, or which
leads from the farmery to different parts of the farm. Such roads are never narrower
than 16 feet, to admit of two carriages passing each other; but they are often only half
metalled, presenting a tui-f road for summer, dry weather, and for empty carnages and
foot passengers, and a metalled or winter road for winter and loaded carriages. In a
road from a highway to a farmery, it may often be advisable to place the metalled road in
the middle, and keej) the earth road at each side, on account of admitting the sun and
air more readily to the metalled road ; but in roads within a farm, it is found a great
convenience in carting out manure or bringing home produce, for the loaded carts to have
Book II.
KINDS OF ROADS.
569
uninterrupted possession of the metalled road, and the others of the earth road. In
many cases, farm roads of this description are only metalled in the horse tracks
(Jig. 535. a) and wheel ruts
(i c), which, on dry firm-
bottomed land, and with care-
ful preservation, is found to
answer very well.
3535. Open farm roads,
WMMWMEMM////i§)flJIIIIW!IJJJlJllffK Jflll^'^'' Beatson observes, should be,
as much as possible, placed
on the headlands of the fields ; that is, the portion of land adjacent to the hedge, on which
the plough is turned ; and every opportunity should be taken of placing gates, so that either
536 side of a hedge may be used as a road {fig. 536.), to
avoid driving over a field in tillage. This may be
. easily effected by a few gates being placed in the line
'of the headland or nearly so, and not too near each
-hedge or to each other, so that a waggon may easily
drive through them on the right or left, as the cx-ops
may require ; a few hurdles (a) may guard each
field in grain alternately, and will furnish a useful
fold or enclosure to detain sheep, colts, &c.
3536. Horse roads are paths for the transit of
; single horses with a rider, or a back load : tliey are
commonly of earth, and from six to ten feet wide :
the statute width is eight feet.
3537. Footpaths are tracks for pedestrians ; some-
times metalled to the width of three or four feet ;
but often of the natural surface.
3538. Paved roads are of three kinds : those with
small stones, or causeways, which are m.ost common ;
those with large blocks of stone, or what is called
ashlar pavement ; and those with sections of timber
trees. The first, though almost peculiar to towns, yet form the whole of the metalled
road in some cases of country roads ; and in others a space of ten or twelve feet in the
middle, or at each side, is causewayed for the use of the heavier carriages. Broad stones
are sometimes used for covering part of a road, destined for the greatest part of the traf-
fic, or for forming wheel tracks. In the latter case they are always squared or regularly
jointed, but in the former the most irregular fonns may be used. Timber causewaying is
only used in entrance courts to town mansions, for the sake of avoiding the noise made
by the wheels of carriages and horses' feet on stone ; or on suspension bridges, for the
sake of lightness. For these purposes timber paving is excellent, and lasts for a very
long time. On the Continent, fir timber is used for this sort of paving ; but oak or
larch would, no doubt, last longer.
3539. Street roads with stpne tracks {Jig. 537.) have been proposed by Mr. Stevenson,
a distinguished engineer,
These tracks may either be laid in connection with common
537
or rubble causeway (a), or with common road metal (6). Mr. Stevenson proposes to
lay these stone tracks ujion a firm foundation, if not throughout the whole extent to
570 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part 111.
our principal roads, at least upon all their acclivities which exceed a greater rise than at
the rate of 1 perpendicular to 26 horizontal feet ; — an undulating line of road which
obliges the carrier, in most instances, to modify his load to one half of what his horse
can take along the more level parts. It is likewise proposed, that the leading streets of
all towns and villages situate upon the principal highways should be laid with these
stone tracks. The traveller would then glide smoothly along, instead of being accom-
panied with a thundering noise and jolting motion most unpleasant to himself and the
inhabitants of the respective places through which he passes.
3540. The advantages of stone tracks in roads " cannot be better exemplified than by noticing an experi-
ment made in presence of some of the Directors of the Forth and Clyde Canal Company, upon a set of
cast-iron tracks, laid upon an acclivity rising at the rate of about 1 in 15 to Port Dundas, near Glasgow.
Here one horse actually drew up a load of three tons on a cart weighing nine cwt. In this case, the horse
proceeded up hill without much apparent difficulty till he reacheti the top, and was about to enter on the
common causeway, when he could proceed no further, although the road had now become level. The
carters frequenting this road agree that their horses had formerly greater difficulty in taking up twenty-
four cwt. on the causew^ay, than was now experienced with three tons. How great, therefore, must be the
beneficial effects of such an immense acquisition of power, as even the partial introduction of wheel-tracks
is calculated to afford to the traffic of the country !"
3541. Mr. Stuart Menteath of Closebiirn " has had single-horse waggons with four wheels applied to the
ordinary purposes of his estate. These waggons are constructed upon the principle of those of Switzerland ;
they are ten cwt. on which a horse, weighing about eleven cwt., takes a load of thirty cwt. between Edin-
burgh and Closeburn, a distance of sixty-six miles. This gentleman, whose knowledge in such matters is
extensive, estimates, that if wheel-tracks were laid upon the principal acclivities of the road, as above
recommended, his horses could work with a load of about two tons." {Stevenson's Plan for Track Roads.
Edin. 4to. 1826, p. 4.)
3542. Planked roads are formed over morasses ; or in particular cases by laying down
a flooring of flanks, on which carriages pass for temporary purposes. A permanent kind
of road of this description has been made by weaving (or wattling) an endless hurdle of
the breadth of the road, and covering it with a coating of gravel or broken stones. The
advantage of this mode is, that the road may be made on a bog before the substratum
dries, and even if it is so soft as not to bear a man. By the time the hurdle rots, the
base will be consolidated and fit to bear any thing.
3543. Rail roads are roads exclusively for the use of carriages, and are characterised by
a rail, commonly of iron, but sometimes of wood or stone, laid along the track of each
wheel, in order to produce the effect of a perfectly even surface. There is also a recent
invention of this kind, named a suspension railway, which, under particular circumstances,
promises very considerable advantages. In general the carriages for such roads have
their wheels low, and of a particular construction to fit the rails ; but in some cases the
rails have grooves for the use of common narrow wheels. Such roads are almost ex-
clusively in use at coal and other great mineral works ; but it has lately been proposed
to introduce them as side roads to the more public highways, for the purpose of loco-
motive steam-engines, and it seems highly probable that this may be done before long on
several of our main roads. (See Sect. V.)
Sect. II. Line of Direction, or laying out of Roads.
3544. Before carriages of burthen were in use, little more was required than a path upon
hard ground, that would bear horses. All marshy grounds were therefore shunned ; the
fords of rivers were resorted to, and the inequality or circuit of the road was of much less
consequence, that when carriages, instead of pack-horses, began to be employed. When
carriages were first employed, they probably were light and narrow, and did not require to
have roads of any considerable breadth or firmness ; and when roads had once been thus
traced, indolence and habit prevented any great exertions to lay them out in better lines,
or to repair them in any manner beyond what present convenience absolutely required.
When heavier carriages and greater traffic made wider and stronger roads iiecessary, the
ancient track was pursued : ignorance and want of concert in the proprietors of the
ground, and, above all, the want of some general effective superintending power, conti-
nued this wretched practice. {Edgeworth on Roads, p. 3.) At length turnpikes were es-
tablished, and laws passed investing magistrates with authority to alter established lines, so
that now the chief obstacle to the improvement of the lines of public roads is the expense.
3545. In laying out roads, a variety of circumstances require to be taken into consi-
deration ; but the principal are evidently their line or direction, and its inclination to the
horizon.
3546. The most perfect line, according to Marshal, is that which is straight and level.
But this is to be drawn in a country only which is perfectly flat, and where no obstruc-
tions lie in the way ; —joint circumstances that rarely happen. Where the face of the
country, between two points or places to be connected by a road, is nearly but not quite
level, by reason of gentle swells which rise between them, a straight line may be perfect,
— may be the most eligible under these circumstances : but where the intervening
country is broken into hill and dale, or if one ridge of hill only intervenes, a straight
line of carriage road is seldom compatible witli perfection. In this case, which is
nearly general, the best skill of the surveyor lies in tracing the midway between the
Book II. DIRECTION OF llOADS. 571
straight and the level line. The line of perfection, for agricultural purposes, is to
be calculated by the time and exertion, jointly considered, which are required to
convey a given burthen, with a given power of draught, from station to station. On great
public roads, where expedition is a principal object, time alone may be taken as a good
criterion.
3547. According to Stevenson, " although in road-making the line of direction must
always be subordinate to the line of draught, yet the former is notwithstanding of
importance, both as it regards the safety of the traveller, and the trackage of the load.
Independently of the numerous accidents which occur from the sudden collision of
carriages travelling at speed upon a tortuous line of road, it were even better to go up a
moderate acclivity, than to introduce numerous turns, which, to a certain extent, are not
less detrimental to the effective power of the horse, than the uphill draught. Every
turn in the road, which ultimately amounts to a right angle, does, in effect, suppose the
carriage to have been brought from a state of motion to a state of rest, and from rest to
motion again. Turns in a road, where they are unavoidable, ought to be formed on
curves of as large a radius as the situation will admit. There ought, in laying out a
road, to be a kind of compensating balance between the lines of direction and draught ;
and wherever weighty reasons occur for varying the diiect line, such as an acclivity to be
avoided, more proper soil to be obtained, the avoiding of valuable property, or the
including of a village or town, — where such motives present themselves, the judgment
of the engineer will, of course, be exercised in varying the line of direction." {Ed. Enc.
art. Roads.)
3548. A regular method ofjinding out the true line of road between two stations, where
a blank is given, and where there is no other obstruction than what the surface of the
ground to be got over presents, is to ascertain, and mark at proper distances, the straight
line, which is the only certain guide to the surveyor. If the straight line be found to
be ineligible, each mark becomes a rallying point, in searching on either side of it for a
better. If two lines of equal facility, and nearly of equal distance from the straiglit line,
present themselves, accurate measurements are to determine the choice. If one of the
best two lines which the intervening country affords is found to be easier, the other
shorter, the ascent and the distance are to be jointly considered ; the exertion and the
time required are to be duly weighed.
3549. The nature of the ground, the source of materials, and the comparative exjiense of
forming the road, by two doubtful lines, as well as their comparative exposure, are also
to be taken into consideration. Although, in some places, Paterson observes, it may be
of little consequence, either to the traveller or to the public in general, which way the
bendings are turned, provided the level is nearly obtained, yet a great deal may depend
upon those turns or bendings for the real benefit and advantage of the road. In bend-
ing it one way, you may have no metals that will stand any fatigue, unless at a great
distance and expense ; while, in turning it the other way, you may have metals of the
very best quality in the immediate vicinity. In the one way, too, you may be led over
ground of a wet bottom, where, even with twelve or fourteen inches deep of metals, there
would be difficulty in keeping a good road ; while, in the other, you may have such a dry
bottom, that the road would be much easier upheld with seven or eight inches of metals.
So that the track that may appear most eligible to the eye, at first sight, may not always
be the one that should be adopted. " A combination of all the requisites I have already
mentioned should be studied, as far as possible; and where these cannot be found all to
unite, the one possessing the most of these advantages, and subject to no other material
objection, should, of course, be adopted." (Treatise on Roads, p. 19.)
3550. Roads, Edgeworth observes, should be laid out as nearly as may be in a straight
line; but, to follow with this view the mathematical axiom, that a straight line is the
shortest that can be drawn between two points, will not succeed in making the most
commodious roads : hills must be avoided, towns must be resorted to, and the sudden
bends of rivers must be shunned. All these circumstances must be attended to ; there-
fore a perfectly straight road cannot often be found of any great length. It may, perhaps,
appear surprising, that there is but little difference in the length between a road that has
a gentle bend, and one that is in a perfectly straight line. A road ten miles long, and
perfectly straight, can scarcely be found any where ; but if such a road could be found, and
if it were curved, so as to prevent the eye from seeing further than a quarter of a mile of
it, in any one place, the whole road would not be lengthened more than one hundred
and fifty yards. It is not proposed to make serpentine roads merely for the entertain-
ment of travellers ; but it is intended to point out, that a strict adherence to a straight
line is of much less consequence than is usually supposed ; and that it will be frequently
advantageous to deviate from the direct line, to avoid inequalities of ground. It is
obvious, that, where the arc described by a road going over a hill, is greater than that
which is described by going round it, the circuit is preferable ; but it is not known to
every overseer, that within certain limits it will be less laborious to go round the hill,
572 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part TIL
though the circuit should be much greater than that which would be made in crossing
the hill. Where a hill has an ascent of no more than one foot in thirty, the thirtieth part
of the whole weight of the carriage, of the load, and of the horses, must be lifted up,
whilst they advance thirty feet. In doing this, one thirtieth part of the whole load con-
tinually resists the horses' draught ; and in drawing a waggon of six tons' weight, a
resistance equal to the usual force of two horses must be exerted.
3551. A perfectly level road is not cdioays the best for every species of draught. Slight
and short alternations of rising and falling ground are serviceable to horses moving
swiftly ; the horses have time to rest their lungs, and different muscles : and of this
experienced drivers know well how to take advantage. Marshal concurs in this opinion,
and also Walker, Telford, and most engineers ; and Paterson considers that it would not
be proper to line a road upon a perfect level, even to the length of one mile together,
although it could be quite easily obtained. It is a fact, he says, well known to most
people, at least every driver of loaded carriages knows by experience, that where a horse,
dragging a load over a long stretch of road, quite level, will be exhausted with fatigue,
the same length of a road, having here a gentle acclivity, and there a declivity, will not
fatigue the animal so much. This is easily accounted for. On a road quite level, the
draught is always the same, without any relaxation : but on a gentle ascent, one of
his powers is called into exercise ; on the descent, another of his powers is called
into action, and he rests from the exercise of the former. Thus are his different mus-
cular powers moderately exercised, one after another ; and this variety has not the same
tendency to fatigue. A perfectly level road, both with respect to its direction and
its breadth, is always dirty in wet weather ; because the rain water can neither run off to
the side of the road, nor along the ruts. Such roads, therefore, as are level in their line
of direction, should always have a fall from the middle to the sides, and should be kept
as much as possible free from ruts.
3552. According to Stevenson, and we believe to all the most scientific road engineers, a level straight
road is decidedly the best. He says, " in an uphill draught, a carriage may be conceived as in the state of
being continually lifted by increments proportional to its rise or progress upon the road. Every one knows
that on a stage of twelve "miles the post-boy generally saves, as it is termed, at least half an hour upon the
level road, because on it he never requires to slacken his pace as in going uphill. Now, if he, or his com-
pany, would agree to take the same time to the level road that they are obliged to do upon the undulating
one, the post-master would find no difficulty in determining which side of the argument was in favour of
his cattle. With regard to the fatigues or ease of the horse, Mr. Stevenson upon one occasion submitted
the subject to the consideration of a medical friend (Dr. John Barclay of Edinburgh, no less eminent for
his knowledge, than successful as a teacher of the science of comparative anatomy), when the Doctor made
the following answer : — ' My acquaintance with the muscles by no means enables me to explain how a horse
should be more fatigued by travelling on a road uniformly level, than by travelling over a like space upon
one that crosses heights and hollows ; but it is demonstrably a false idea, that muscles can alternately rest
and come into motion in cases of this kind. The daily practice of ascending heights, it has been said,
gives the animal wind, and enlarges his chest. It may also, with equal truth, be affirmed, that many horses
lose their wind under this sort of training, and irrecoverably suffer ftom imprudent attempts to induce
such a habit' In short, the Doctor ascribes ' much to prejudice originating with the man, continually in
quest of variety, rather than the horse, who, consulting only his own ease, seems quite unconscious of
Hogarth's Line of Beauty.' " {Report on the Edinburgh Railway.)
3553. A dry foundation, and clearing the road from water, are two important objects
which, according to Walker (Minutes of Evidence before a Committee of the House of
Commons, 1819.), ought to be kept in \iew in lining out roads. " For obtaining the first
of these objects, it is essential that the line for the road be taken so that the foundation
can be kept dry, either by avoiding low ground, by raising the surface of the road above
the level of the ground on each side of it, or by drawing off the water by means of side
drains. TTie other object, viz. that of clearing the road of water, is best secured by
selecting a course for the road which is not horizontally level, so that the surface of the
road may, in its longitudinal section, form in some degree an inclined plane ; and when
this cannot be obtained, owing to the extreme flatness of the country, an artificial incli-
nation may generally be made. When a road is so formed, every wheel-track that is
made, being in the line of the inclination, becomes a channel for carrying off the water
much more effectually than can be done by a curvature in the cross section or rise in the
middle of the road, without the danger or other disadvantages which necessarily attend
the rounding of a road much in the middle. I consider a fall of about one inch and a
half in ten feet to be a minimum in this case, if it is attainable without a great deal of
extra expense.
3554. The ascent of hills, it is observed by Marshal, is the most diflBcult part of laying
out roads. According to theory, he says, an inclined plane of easy ascent is proper ;
but as the moving power on this plane is " neither purely mechanical, nor in a sufficient
degree rational, but an inegular compound of these two qualities, the nature and habits
of this power " require a varied inclined plane, or one not a uniform descent, but with
levels or other proper places for rests. According to the road act, the ascent or descent
should not exceed the rate or proportion of one foot in height to thirty-five feet of
the length thereof, if the same be practicable, without causing a great increase of
distance.
Book II. DIRECTION OF ROADS. 573
3555. As precedents for roads through hilly countries, Telford (Minutes before the Committee of the
House of Co7nmons, Sfc. 1819.), refers to those which he has lately made through the most difficult and pre-
cipitous districts of North Wales. " The longitudinal inclinations are in general less than one in thirty ;
in one instance for a considerable distance there was no avoiding one in twenty-two, and in another, for
about two hundred yards, one in seventeen; but in these two cases, the surface of the road-way being
made peculiarly smooth and hard, no inconvenience is experienced by wheeled carriages. On flat ground
the breadth of the road-way is thirty-two feet ; where there is side cutting not exceeding three feet, the
breadth is twenty-eight ; and along any steep ground and precipices it is twenty-two; all clear within the
fences : the sides are protected by stone walls, breast and retaining walls and parapets ; great pains have
been bestowed on the cross drains, also the draining of the ground, and likewise in constructing firm and
substantial foundations for the metalled part of the roadway."
355V\ The road between Capel Cerig and Lord Penrhyn's slate quarries may also be adduced as an
example of a very perfect enclosed plane in which the ascent is .accurately divided on the whole spaca
3357. Cutting through low hills to obtain a level is recommended by some, who, as Paterson observes,
will argue, " that where the hill of ascent is not very long, it is better, in that case, to cut through it in a
straight line, and embank over the hollow ground on each side, than to wind along the foot of it. This,
however, should only be done where the cutting is very little indeed, and an embankment absolutely
necessary. Few people, except those who are well acquainted with the subject, are aware of the great
expense of cutting and embanking; and the more anyone becomes acquainted with road-making, the
more, it may be presumed, will he endeavour to avoid those levels on the straight line that are obtained
only by cutting and embanking, and will either follow the level on the curved line round the hill, or,
where this is impracticable, will ascend the hill, and go over it by various windings, avoiding always abrupt
or sudden turnings." {Treatise, Sfc. p. 15.)
3558. All crossings, intersections, and abuttings of roads, should be made at right angles,
for the obvious purpose of facilitating the turning from one road to the other, or the more
speedily crossing. Where roads cross each other obliquely, or where one road abuts on
another at an acute angle, turning in or crossing can only be conveniently performed in
one direction.
3559. In laying out a road over a hill or mountain of angular figure and considerable
height, much practicfcl skill, as well as science, is requisite. In order to preserve a
moderate inclination, or such a one as will admit of the descent of carriages without
locking their wheels, a much longer line will be required than the arc of the mountain.
In reaching the summit or highest part to be passed over, the line must be extended by
winding or zig-zagging it along the sides, so as never to exceed the maximum degree of
steepness. This may occasion a very awkward appearance in a ground plan, but it is
unavoidable in immense works. If a hill, 50 feet in perpendicular height (Jig. 538. ),
has an arc (a, h, c), or would require 150 feet of road (a, h,c) to go over its summit in
a straight line ; then to pass over the same hill, on a road rising at the rate of two inches
in six feet (the slope of the Simplon road), would require a length of 600 feet. If this
length were extended in a straight line (rf, h, e) on each side, it would require an
enormous mound, and an immense expense ; but by being conducted in a winding
direction {h), up the hill on one side, and down the other, the same end is gained at a
moderate cost. Such works show the wonderful power and ingenuity of man ; and
perhaps no example exists where this power is so strikingly displayed in road-making as
in the case of the Simplon.
3560. In laying out a road towardi a river, stream, ravine, or any place requiring a
bridge or embankment, an obvious advantage results from approaching them at right
angles ; and the same will apply in regard to any part requiring tunnelling or crossing
by an aqueduct, &c.
3561. In tracing out winding railroads, or such carriage roads as are only to be
metalled in the horse track and paths of the wheels, some management is necessary in the
case of quick bends. Where the line is straight, the horse path ought to be exactly in
the middle between the wheel tracks ; but, where the road winds, and most especially
at a quick bend, the horse track ought ever to incline toward the outer side of the curve,
by which the wheels will be uniformly kept on the middles of the supports prepared for
them. Hence, it is advisable to dig the trench for the horse path (fig. 535. a) first ; and
to draw a carriage for which the road is intended, with the horses walking in this middle
trench : thus marking out, by the impressions of the wheels, the preqise middle lines of
the outer trenches, in every part of the road, from end to end, , ., , . f.m
3562. The directions of roads through an extensive estate carinot be determined p;|
without having in contemplation the other fundamental improvements, such as the
situations of villages, farmeries, mills, or other objects ; and these artificial improvements
must be taken in connection with the natural surface, soil, materials, waters, &c., the
probable system of agrici.'ture that will be pursued, and the external intercourse. A
hilly country under aration,, will evidently require more roads than if chiefly under
574 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
pasture ; and, indeed, other circumstances the same, a country abounding in hills and
valleys requires many more roads than one of a more even surface. The roads in such
a country are also more expensive, on account of the bridges, and extra work at their
abutments. On an estate composed of gentle hills chiefly intended for arable or con-
vertible husbandry, the best situation for the roads will generally be found about half way
between the bottoms and highest surfaces. By this means the labour of carting up the
produce from the fields below the road, and carting up the dung to the fields above it, is
evidently much less than if the road were either entirely on the highest ground or the
lowest. Bridges over the brooks or open ditches necessary for drainage in valleys, are
also rendered less frequent.
3563. Accurate sections of the rises and falls of the natural surface on which a road is
to be formed should always be taken before the line is finally determined on. As the
figure of an exact section of this sort, on any ordinary scale, would convey no data
sufficiently accurate for execution, it is usual to adopt one scale for the length, and
another for the rises and falls of the road, and to mark the latter with the dimensions as
taken on the survey.
Sect. III. Form and Materials of Roads.
3564. On the structure and composition of roads, men of science and practical road-
makers are much more divided than on their laying out. The subject is of itself of
greater importance in old countries, because it more frequently occurs that a road is to
be enlarged or renewed, tlian that a new line is to be devised. We shall first lay down
the fundamental principles of the formation, and wear of roads ; and next treat of forming
them, and of the different kinds of road materials.
SuBSECT. 1. Formation of Roads, and of their Wear or Injury.
3565. A road may be defined a path of transit on the earth's surface, for men, animals,
and machines ; of suflScient width for the given traffic ; of sufficient strength and
solidity for tlie given weight ; of sufficient smoothness to offer no impediment ; and of as
great durability as possible.
3566. The width is obviously determinable by the nature and extent of the traffic :
every road should be made sufficiently broad to admit two of the largest sized carriages
which are in use in the country or district to pass each other ; and highways, and roads
near towns, should be made wider in proportion to their use. The maximum and minimum
can only be determined by experience : sixty feet is the common and legal width of a
turnpike-road in Britain, and tliis includes the footpath.
3567. The strength of a road depends on the nature of the material of which it is
formed, and of the basis on which it is placed. A plate of iron or stone of the road's
width placed on a compact dry soil would compi-ise every thing in j)oint of strength ; but
as it is impracticable to employ plates of iron or stone of such a size to any extent, recourse
is had to a stratum of small stones or gravel. The great art, therefore, is so to prepare
this stratum, and place it on the basis of the road, as that the effect may come as near as
possible to a solid plate of material. To accomplish this, the stones or gravel should be
broken into small angular fragments, and after being laid down of such a thickness as
experience has determined to be of sufficient strength and durability, the whole should be
so powerfully compressed by a roller as to render it one compact body, capable of re-
sisting the impression of the feet of animals and the wheels of carriages in a great degree,
and impermeable by surface water. But the base of the road may not always be firm
and compact ; in this case it is to be rendered so by drainage, artificial pressure, and per-
haps in some cases by other means.
3568. In cases of a wet or soft foundation, where from the nature of the soil and the pressure of the
springs lying on a higher level, as on the great north road, near Highgate, draining has been found
ineffectual in drying the foundation of the road ; the same object has been attained by laying down, and
joining by cement, blocks composed of course gravel and Roman cement. The water is thus prevented
from, oozing up, and a foundation formed, at once firm, durable, and dry. This invention, with many
others in modern road-making, belongs to Mr. Telford. {Newton's Journal, vol ii. p. 28.)
3569. The durability of a road, as far as it depends on the original formation, will be
in proportion to the solidity of its basis, the hardness of the material of which the surface-
stratum is formed, its thickness, and the size and form of the stones which compose it.
The form and size of the stones which compose the surface-stratum have a powerful
influence on a road's durability. If their form is roundish, it is evident they will not
bind into a compact stratum ; if they are large, whether the form be round or angular, the
stratum cannot be solid ; and if they are of mixed sizes and shapes, though a very strong
and solid stratum may be formed at first, yet the wheels of carriages and the feet of
animals operating with unequal effect on the small and large stones would soon derange
the solidity of the stratum to a certain depth, and, consequently, by admitting rain and
frost to penetrate into it, accelerate its decay. A constant state of moisture, even without
any derangement of surface, contributes to the wearing of roads by friction : hence
Book II.
WEAR OF ROADS.
575
one requisite to durability is a free exposure to the sun and air, by keeping low the side
fences ; and another is keeping a road clear of mud and dust — the first of which acts as a
spunge in retaining water, and the second increases the draught of animals, and of course
their action on the road. Both the strength and the durability of a road will be greater
when the plate or surface-stratum of metals is flat or nearly so, than when it is rounded on
the upper surface : first, because no animal can stand upright on such a road with a
regular bearing on the soles of its feet ; and, secondly, because no wheeled carriage can
have a regular bearing, except on the middle or crown of the road. The consequence
of both these states is the breaking of the surface of the plate into holes from the edges
of horses' feet, or ruts from the plough-like effect of wheels on the lower side of the road,
or the reiterated operation of those which pass along the centre.
3570. The smoothness of a road depends on the size of the stones, and on their com-
pression either by original rolling or the continued pressure of wheels. The continued
smoothness of a road during its wear depends on small stones being used in every
part of the stratum ; for if the lower part of it, as is generally the case in the old style
of forming roads, consists of larger stones, as soon as it is penetrated by wheels or water
from above, these stones will work up and produce a road full of holes and covered with
loose stones.
3571. The wear or decay of roads takes place in consequence of the friction, leverage,
pressure, grinding, and incision of animals and machines, and the various effects of
water and the weather. •
3572. Friction will in time wear down the most durable and smooth material. Its
effects are more rapid when aided by water, which insinuates itself among the particles
of the surfaces of earthy bodies, and, being then compressed by the weight of feet or
wheels, ruptures or wears them. Even when not compressed by wheels or other weights,
the action of frost, by expanding water, produces the same effect. This any one may
prove, by soaking a soft brick in water and exposing it to a sevei-e frost. A road in a
state of perfect diyness is, under the action of wheels, as liable to be injured in its solidity,
as when too wet ; because it loses its elastic tenacity under the pressure, and becomes
broken into a loose superstratum. This is the greatest advantage of watering roads, as
proved by the experience of trustees, and shown in their annual accounts of expenses ;
besides the comfort to travellers, of laying the dust, for which alone watering was first
thought necessary.
3573. The leverage of the feet of animals has a tendency to depress one part of the sur-
face and raise up another. The line which forms
the sole of every animal's foot may be considered
as a lever of the second kind, in which the fulcrum
is at the one extremity [fig. 539. a), the power at
the other (6), and the weight between them (c).
Hence the injury done to the road, even if formed
on the best construction, will be as the pressure
yy on the fulcrum : this amounts to from the half to
the whole of the weight of bipeds and their loads,
and from a fourth to a half of that of quadrupeds. But if the stones of the road are
large, that is, if they are more than two inches in breadth, the horse's foot acts as a com-
pound lever, and, by depressing one end of the stones and raising the other, deranges the
surface of the stratum, and renders it a receptacle for water, mud, or dust.
3574. The leverage of wheels is of a nature to be less injurious to roads than that
of the feet of animals, because the
540 fulcrum {fg. 540. a), is continually
changing its position : but if the stones
of the road are large, then the wheel
acts as a compound lever, raising up
the one end (6), and depressing the
other {n], of every stone it passes
over ; and in this case becomes more
injurious on a bad road than the feet
of loaded animals. The reiterated
/ operation of this effect, by wheels fol-
lowing in the same track, soon destroys
badly constructed roads.
3575. Such being the effect of leverage, and especially of compound leverage^ in wearing
roadSf it becomes of the first importance to ascertain that size and shape of stone on
which its effects will be least ; that is to say, how short a compound lever may be made
use of consistently with other advantages. This must in general be a matter of experience,
and chiefly depends on the hardness of the stone. The size must always be suflSciently
large, and the shape sufficiently angular, to form, when embedded, a compact, hard, and
576 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
immovable stratum ; and the smaller the size the better, provided that object be obtained.
One inch in diameter may be considered the medium size.
3576. The mere pressure of bodies on a smooth road does little mischief; and hence
the advantage of perfectly cylindrical wheels, and a road as nearly level as practicable.
But if the surface of the road is rough, the pressure both of cylindrical wheels and the
feet of animals may do mischief, by forcing down a loose stone among others of dif-
ferent sizes, and thus loosening the latter and raising the largest to the surface. Where
a road, however, is composed of materials of small size, and the surface is clean and dry,
the advantage derived from the pressure of cylindrical wheels acting as rollers will, it is
probable, always be greater than the injury sustained from their friction.
3577. Chinking is produced by the twisting motion of the feet of horses or other
animals when pulling hard or carrying a heavy weight, and by the twisting, dragging, or
sliding of wheels from whatever cause. The grinding of wheels. Fry observes, " may
in every case be defined to be the effect produced on any substance interposed between
two bodies, one of which has a sliding motion, yet so firmly confined or pressed between'
them, that the moving body cannot slide over the interposed substance ; but, in conse-
quence of the pressure, the interposed substance, adhering firmly both to the fixed and
to the moving body, is necessarily lacerated or torn asunder, and reduced to atoms.
This is the process in corn-mills, in drug-mills, and in every other mill, properly so
called. I remember," he adds, " frequently when a boy, to have trodden with one heel
on a piece of soft brick, or of dry old mortar, which was firm enough to bear the weight
of my body, uninjured ; but, on giving my body a swing round vnth my other foot, 1
have instantly reduced it to powder. The action in this case is very obvious ; the
weight of my body confined the piece of brick firmly to the ground ; my heel was also
pressed by the same weight firmly upon the brick ; one part of the brick therefore re-
maining confined to the ground, and the other part being carried round by my heel, the
brick of course was torn asunder and reduced to powder. This I conceive is a simple
elucidation of the difference between pressing and grinding ; and this is the difference
of the effects on the materials of our roads, produced by the use of upright cylindrical
wheels, which act only by pressure; by the use of conical wheels, which, by their constant
twist, act also by grinding ; and by very convex roads, by which means the wheels of all
carriages, except such as occupy the crown of the road, whether cylindrical or other-
wise, act in the same twisting, sliding, and grinding manner." (06s. on Roads, <^c.
1819.)
3578. By the incision of objects passing along roads, we allude to the dividing operation
of wheels, which, independently of their effect as moving levers, act also as moving
wedges, or perhaps, more properly, as endless saws, in forming ruts or deepening such
as are already made. Flat roads, so as to produce less temptation to follow in the middle
track, watchful repair, and broad wheels, are the mitigators of this description of wear.
3579. Water is one of the most serious causes of the wear of roads. As we have
already observed (3572.), it acts, aided by pressure, like gunpowder, in rending the sur-
face of bodies. Frozen, it acts exactly in the same manner ; and when it has penetrated
deeply into a stratum of materials, a thaw produces their entire derangement. Mud is
formed in consequence of the presence of water and dust or earth, and acts as a sponge
to retain it, and perpetuate its bad effects. A well composed and thoroughly com-
pressed substratum will not imbibe water, unless it rests in ruts or other hollous. To
form such a stratum, therefore, and obliterate all hollows as soon as they appear, and to
remove mud and dust, are the palliatives of this mode of wear. On such a road heavy
showers may do good, by washing away the earthy particles, dung, and other injurious
earthy or vegetable matters.
3580. Wind is mostly a favourable agent to roads, by drying them and blowing off the
lighter dust ; but in some cases, in very exposed situations, it has been known to blow
the dust into heaps, and sometimes to carry off larger particles than could be spared.
The last evil is fortunately rare ; the other only requires the removal of the accumulated
heaps of dust.
SuBSECT. 2. M^ Adam's Theory and Practice of Road-making.
3581. M^Adam, agrees with other engineers, that a good road may be considered as
an artificial flooring, forming a strong, solid, smooth-surfaced stratum, sufficiently flat
to admit of carriages standing upright on any part of it, capable of carrying a great
weight, and presenting no impediment to the animals or machines which pass along it.
In forming this flooring, M' Adam has gone one step beyond his predecessors, in breaking
the stone to a smaller size than was before practised, and in forming the entire stratum
of this small-sized stone. By the former practice a basement of large stones is first
laid ; then stones a degree smaller ; and, lastly, the least size on the surface. It is in this
point of making use of one small size of stones throughout the stratum, that the origin-
ality of M' Adam's plan consists, unless we add also his assertion, " that all the roads in
Book II. M'ADAM'S ROADS. 577
the kingdom may be made smooth and solid in an equal degree, and to continue so at
all seasons of the year." It is doubted by some, whether this would be the case in the
northern districts at the breaking up of frosts, and especially in the case of roads not
much in use, and consequently consisting of a stratum less consolidated, and more pene-
trable by water. M'Adam, probably, has much frequented public roads in view. " The
durability of these," he says, " will, of course, depend on the strength of the materials of
which they may be composed ; but they will all be good while they last, and the only
question that can arise respecting the kind of materials is one of duration and expense,
but never of the immediate condition of the roads." (^Remarks on Roads, ^c. p. 11.)
The following observation of Marshal is worthy of remark, as tending to confirm, to a
certain extent, the doctrine of M'Adam : — " It may seem needless to repeat, that the
surface of a road which is formed of well broken stones, binding gravel, or other firmly
cohesive materials, and which is much used, presently becomes repellant of the water
which falls upon it ; no matter as to the basis on which they are deposited, provided it
is sound and firm enough to support them."
3582. ]\P Adam's theory of road-making may be comprised in the following quotation
from his Report to the Board of Agriculture (vol. vi. p. 46.) : — " Roads can never be
rendered perfectly secure until the following principles be fully understood, admitted,
and acted upon : namely, that it is the native soil which really supports the weight of
traffic ; that while it is preserved in a dry state it will carry any weight without sinking,
and that it does, in fact, carry the road and the carriages also ; that this native soil must
previously be made quite dry, and a covering impenetrable to rain must then be placed
over it to preserve it in that dry state ; that the thickness of a road should only be regu-
lated by the quantity of material necessary to form such impervious covering, and never
by any reference to its own power of carrying weight. There are some exceptions to
this rule ; a road of good naturally binding gravel may be laid on a sub-bed of bog earth,
which, from its tenacity, will carry all kinds of carriages for many years. "
3583. The erroneous opinion so long acted upon, and so tenaciously adhered to, that by
placing a large quantity of stone under the roads, a remedy will be found for the sinking
into wet clay or other soft soils ; or, in other words, that a road may be made sufficiently
strong, artificially, to carry heavy carriages, though the subsoil be in a wet state, and by
such means to avert the inconveniences of the natural soil receiving water from rain or
other causes ; has produced most of the defects of the roads of Great Britain. At one
time M'Adam had formed the opinion that this practice was only a useless expense j but
experience has convinced him that it is likewise positively injurious.
3584. If strata of stone of various sizes be placed as a road, it is well known to every
skilful and observant road-maker, that the largest stones will constantly work up by the
shaking and pressure of the traffic ; and that the only mode of keeping the stones of a
road from motion is, to use materials of a uniform size from the bottom. In roads made
upon large stones as a foundation, the perpetual motion, or change of the position of the
materials, keeps open many apertures, through which the water passes.
3585. Roads placed upon a hard bottom, it has also been found, wear away more
quickly than those which are placed upon a soft soil. This has been apparent upon
roads where motives of economy or other causes have prevented the road being lifted to
the bottom at once ; the wear has always been found to diminish, as soon as it was pos-
sible to remove the hard foundation. It is a known fact, that a road lasts much longer
over a morass than when made over rock. The evidence produced before the committee of
the House of Commons showed the comparison on the road between Bristol and Bridge-
water to be as five to seven in favour of the wearing on the morass, where the road is laid
on the naked surface of the soil, against a part of the same road made over rocky ground.
3586. The common practice, on the formation of a new road, is, to dig a trench below
the surface of the ground adjoining, and in this trench to deposit a quantity of large
stones ; after this, a second quantity of stone, broken smaller, generally to about seven
or eight pounds' weight : these previous beds of stone are called the bottoming of the
road, and are of various thickness, according to the caprice of the maker, and generally
in proportion to the sum of money placed at his disposal. On some new roads, made
in Scotland in the summer of 1819, the thickness exceeded three feet. That which is
properly called the road is then placed on the bottoming, by putting large quantities of
broken stone or gravel, generally a foot or eighteen inches thick, at once upon it. Were
the materials of which the road itself is composed properly selected, prepared, and laid,
some of the inconveniences of this system might be avoided ; but in the careless way in
which this service is generally performed, the road is as open as a sieve to receive water,
which, penetrating through the whole mass, is received and retained in the trench, whence
the road is liable to give way in all changes of weather. A road formed on such prin-
ciples has never effectually answered the purpose which the road-maker should con-
stantly have in view ; namely, to make a secure level flooring, over wliich carriages may
pass with safety and equal expedition at all seasons of the year.
578 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
3587. An art^cial road in Britain is only required to obviate the inconvenience of a
very unsettled climate. Water, with alternate frost and thaw, are the evils to be guarded
against ; consequently, nothing can be more erroneous than providing a reservoir for
water under the road, and giving facility to the water to pass through the road into this
trench, where it is acted upon by frost to the destruction of the road. As no artificial
road can ever be made so good and so useful as the natural soil in a dry state, it is only
necessary to procure and preserve this dry state of so much ground as is intended to be
occupied by a road.
3588. The first operation in making a road should be the reverse of digging a trench.
The road should not be sunk below, but rather raised above, the ordinary level of the
adjacent ground ; care should at any rate be taken, that there be a sufficient fall to take
off the water, so that it should always be some inches below the level of the ground upon
which the road is intended to be placed : this must be done, either by making drains to
lower ground ; or if that be not practicable, from the nature of the country, then the soil
upon which the road is proposed to be laid must be raised by addition, so as to be some
inches above the level of the water.
3589. Having secured the soil from under-water, the road-maker is next to secure it from
rain water, by a solid road made of clean dry stone or flint, so selected, prepared, and
laid, as to be perfectly impervious to water; and this cannot be effected unless the
greatest care be taken that no earth, clay, chalk, or other matter, that will hold or conduct
water, be mixed with the broken stone ; which must be so prepared and laid, as to unite
with its own angles into a firm, compact, impenetrable body.
3590. The thickness of such road is immaterial, as to its strength for carrying weight;
this object is already obtained by providing a dry surface, over which the road is to be
placed as a covering or roof, to preserve it in that state ; experience having shown, that
if water passes through a road, and fills the native soil, the road, whatever may be its
thickness, loses its support, and goes to pieces. In consequence of an alteration in the
line of the turnpike road, near Rownham Ferry, in the parish of Ashton, near Bristol, it
has been necessary to remove the old road. This road was lifted and re-laid very skilfully
in 1 806 ; since which time it has been in contemplation to change the line, and conse-
quently it has been suffered to wear very thin. At present it is not above three inches
thick in most places, and in none more than four : yet on removing the road, it was
found that no water had penetrated, nor had the frost affected it during the winter pre-
ceding, and the natural earth beneath the road was found perfectly dry.
3591. Several new roads have been constructed on this principle within the last three
years. Part of the great north road from London, by Hoddesdon, in Hertfordshire ;
two pieces of road on Durdham Down, and at Rownham Ferry, near Bristol ; with
several private roads in the eastern part of Sussex. None of these roads exceed six
inches in thickness ; and although that on the great north road is subjected to a very
heavy traffic (being only fifteen miles distant from London), it has not given way, nor
was it affected by the late severe winter (1819-20), when the roads between that and
London became impassable, by breaking up to the bottom, and the mail and other coaches
were obliged to reach London by circuitous routes. It is worthy of observation, that
these bad roads cost more money per mile for their annual repair, than the original making
of this useful new road.
3592. Improvement of roads, continues M' Adam, "upon the principle I have endeavoured
to explain, has been rapidly extended during the last four years. It has been carried into
effect on various roads, and with every variety of material, in seventeen different counties.
These roads being so constructed as to exclude water, consequently none of them broke
up during the late severe winter (1819-20); there was no interruption to travelling, nor
any additional expense by the post-office in conveying the mails over them, to the extent
of upwards of one thousand miles of road."
3593. On M' Adam's theory the only practical road-maker who has published his opi-
nion is Paterson of Montrose. He says {Letters and Communications, ^c. 1822.),
" These certainly ought to be considered as the grand first principles of road-making."
He commends M'Adam's reasoning on these principles ; but objects, as we think with
reason, to his drainage of three or four inches, as being insufficient. He adds, however,
that though he considers M'Adam's system as erroneous and defective in draining and
preparing the road for the materials, yet, in regard to the materials themselves, the method
of preparing and putting them on, and keeping the road free from ruts by constant at-
tention, has his entire approbation. These principles, however, he adds, " are not new ;
but have been acted upon before. In regard to small breaking, he certainly has had the
merit of carrying that mode to greater extent than any other individual that I have heard
of; and the beneficial effects arising from it have consequently been more extensively
seen and experienced." {Letters on Road-making, p. 49.)
Book II. ROADS OF VARIOUS ENGINEERS. 579
SuBSECT. 3. Road-making, as treated of and practised by varunji.s eminent Engineers and
Surveyors.
3594. Tlie sul^ect of forming a road may be considered as to breadth, drainage, fences,
base of the hard materials or artificial stratum, upper line of the stratum, composition of
the stratum, size of the materials, laying, and compressing.
3595. With respect to breadth, the site of every public road, according to Marshal,
ought to be suflBciently ample to admit of its division into three travelable lines : namely,
1. A middle road of hard materials, for carriages and horses in winter and wet seasons ;
2. A soft road, formed with the natural materials of the site, to be used in dry weather,
to save the unnecessary wear of the hard road, and to favour the feet of travelling animals,
as well as for the safety, ease, and pleasantness of travelling in the summer season ; and
3. A commodious path, for the use of foot passengers, at all seasons. There are few
roads, even in the environs of populous towns, so public as to require a hard road of
more than two statute poles (thirty-three feet) in breadth ; and every public road ought,
under ordinary circumstances, to have a line which is travelable at any season, and of
ample width to permit two carriages to pass each other with freedom and safety. This
ample width let us set down at one statute pole. In deep clayey districts, where hard
materials are difficult to be procured, a single road, of half a pole in breadth, with dila-
tions at proper distances, to let carriages pass each other, may, in many recluse situations,
be advisable.
3596. Seventy feet in width seems to be considered by Farey, Walker, Telford, and
most engineers, as sufficient near the largest towns ; and in the case of the metropolis and
some others, they consider that ten or twenty feet in width may be paved. The London
Commercial road, executed under the direction of Walker, is seventj' feet wide ; ten
feet on each side are occupied as footpaths, twenty feet in the centre are paved for heavy
carriages, and there are fifteen feet of gravel road at each side for light carriages and
saddle horses. This road has been executed for sixteen years, and has given the greatest
satisfaction ; but Walker thinks that considerable improvement would be found from
paving the sides of a road, upon which the heavy traffic is great in both directions, and
leaving the middle for light carriages. The carmen or drivers, walking upon the foot-
paths or sides of the road, would then be close to their horses, without interrupting or
being in danger of accidents from light carriages, which is the case when they are driving
upon the middle of the road ; and the unpaved part being in the middle or highest part
of the road, would be more easily kept in good repair. But unless the heavy traffic in
both directions is great, one width, say ten or twelve feet, if very well paved, will be
found sufficient ; and in this case, tlie paving ought to be in the middle of the road.
The width of many of the present roads is, besides, such, that ten or twelve feet can be
spared for paving, while twice that width would leave too little for the gravelled part.
Although the first cost of paving is so great, he does not think that any other plan can
be adopted so good and so cheap in those places where the materials got in the neigh-
bourhood are not sufficient for supporting the roads. A coating of whinstone is, for
instance, more durable than the gravel with which the roads round London are made
and repaired, but much less so than paving ; although the freight and carriage of the
whinstone, and of the paving stones, which form the principal items of the expense,
are nearly the same.
3597. Roads ought to be wide and strong, Edgeworth observes, in proportion to their
vicinity to great towns, mines, or manufactories. As they approach the capital, they
should be wider and stronger than elsewhere. When a number of roads leading to a
great city combine and fall into one, the road from that junction should be proportion-
ably solid and capacious. Near the capital, the width of roads is however often restricted
by buildings, that cannot with propriety be suddenly removed ; but every opportunity for
removing these buildings, and for widening the road, should be attended to, and no
future buildings or encroachments should be allowed. And, though in some cases it
appears reasonable to permit the erection of new buildings, and the making new plant-
ations, nearer than thirty feet from the centre of a road, upon condition that security
should be given to the public for the constant preservation of the road that is thus
injured ; it is, however, far safer to prohibit what is injurious to public convenience, than
to compromise with individuals : cases of private hardship may and must occur, but it is
part of the true glory of Britain that there exists no exemption in our laws in favour of
the rich.
3598. Proportioning the breadth of roads to the traffic for which they may be employed
is not sufficiently attended to. In remote places, where there is but little traffic, the
waste of ground, occasioned by superfluous width of roads, is an error of considerable
magnitude. There are many places where roads of twenty feet in breadth would suit
the public convenience, as well as if they were twice as broad. Now it is clear, that if a
road is one pole or perch wider than is necessary, there is a waste of 320 perches in a
Pp 2
580 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
mile, equal to two acres of ground, which, at the rate of three pounds per acre, would,
if the road had been once well made, keep half a mile of such road as is here alluded to
in good repair.
3599. The breadth of the road and the width of the metals, according to Paterson,
should depend on circumstances different from the former. For a few miles in the
vicinity of such cities as London or Edinburgh, the most proper breadth at which a road
should be formed, is properly from sixty to seventy feet, and the metals from tvventy-five
to thirty-five feet. While in the neighbourhood of such towns as Newcastle or Perth,
it will be sufficient that it be formed forty feet broad, and that the width of the metals be
about eighteen or twenty feet. These are the breadths presumed to be the most eligible
in such situations. But rules cannot be given to suit every situation : the breadth ought
to be regulated according to the extent of the run of commerce, or traffic, upon the
road. As a general rule, however, for public roads over the different counties of Great
Britain, he " should suppose the following might, in most cases, be adopted. Take, for
instance, the road betwixt Edinburgh and Glasgow, or betwixt Edinburgh and Aber-
deen by the way of Dundee. These roads are formed in general from thirty-five
to forty feet wide ; and the breadth of the metals is from fourteen to sixteen feet, for the
most part. Such roads as these would be found to answer very well, in general, over
the kingdom." A breadth sufficient for the general purposes of country travellings
according to M'Adam, is sixteen feet of solid materials, with six feet on each side
formed of slighter materials. The Bristol roads, he says, are made with stone about the
width of sixteen feet.
3600. The increased breadth which is now given to our public roads, according to
Stevenson, independently of the safety and convenience of the traffic, is favourable
to the more speedy drying of the road by evaporation, and is calculated to rend«-
less injurious the rising growth of the hedgerows, and the ultimate erection of-
buildings along the line. " The highways or great lines of road should, in no
instance, be formed of a less breadth than forty feet, and the metal bed not less than
eighteen feet broad, with at least one footpath of five feet in breadth along the side ;
especially within a few miles of all towns and villages. It would be difficult to
give any scale of breadths for public roads, the local circumstances of which vary so
much. But, without presuming to be fastidious, we notice, that, within six or eight
miles of all large cities or towns, the approaches should not be formed at less than sixty
feet between the fences. In such situations the whole breadth should be metalled,
or laid with broken stones. In tlie vicinity of towns of about 50,000 inhabitants, the
breadth should be at least fifty feet between the fences, and be in like manner metalled
from side to side. Where the population does not exceed 30,000, the statutory breadth
of forty feet may be adopted, the metalling being still continued of the whole breadth,
with paved side-drains. At intermediate distances, where it is not thought advisable to
have the metal of a greater breadth than eighteen feet, the compartments between
the metal bed and the side-drains may be laid with gravel or chips of stone to the depth
of not less than half the thickness of the central part of the road. In the vicinity of
London, and the capitals of Dublin and Edinburgh, and other great towns, as Glasgow,
Manchester, Liverpool, &c. it would be desirable that the principal approaches were at
least seventy feet in breadth, fully metalled between the side-drains, which ought to
be neatly formed, and paved, and the roads provided with a footpath on each side."
{Ed. Encyc. art. Roads.)
3601. Narrow roads, it is judiciously observed by Fry, are almost always in bad con-
dition, which is to be accounted for from tlie circumstance of every carriage being
obliged to go in the same ruts ; and as each rut is generally only six inches wide, one foot
of the road only is worn by the wheels instead of the whole breadth of it; which would
be the case if the road were of a proper width, and if it were well constructed. If a
road be laid out, from twenty to thirty feet wide, so flat as that a carriage may stand nearly
upright on every part of it, and if moderate care be taken by the surveyor to prevent the
first formation of ruts, such a road will be worn by the wheels nearly alike on every part
of it : provided also that the ground on each side, for at least four or five feet, be mode-
rately flat, so as not to excite fear in the drivers of carriages ; but if there be deep
ditches close to the sides of the road, or if the circumjacent land fall off very abruptly
to the depth of two or three feet, whereby fear of approaching the edges would operate
on the minds of the drivers, every driver will instinctively avoid the danger on either
hand ; and a road so circumstanced will, in spite of any care of the surveyor, inevitably
be worn into ruts in the middle. There is a remarkable instance of this kind in a piece
of road on Durdliam Down, near Bristol. This road is a causeway over a piece of soft
ground ; and although it is from twenty to twenty-five feet wide, yet, as the ground falls
away abruptly on both sides of it, it has been found impossible, for more than twenty
years past, to his knowledge, to prevent deep ruts being formed along the middle of it ;
notwithstanding the Down itself consists of hard limestone, and the other roads upon
Book II. ROADS OF VARIOUS ENGINEERS. 581
consolidated as to form a solid body, and to be impervious to water. Bushes, however/
the Down are as fine and even as any roads in England. Were this piece of road
widened out on each side, in an easy slope of about five feet, by rubbish of any kind,
and by the scrapings of the road itself, whereby the instinctive operation of fear of
approaching the sides of the present road would be obviated, that piece of road would be
found to wear as fairly as the other roads on the same Down.
3602. In regard to the drainage of roads, Marshal directs to examine the site in every
part, to ascertain whether offensive waters lodge beneath it, or quicksands, and land springs,
which break out in a wet season. If defects of this kind be found, effectual drains are
to be run up to them, from the ditches or outer side drains of the site.
3603. When roads run through marshy groundy Edgeworth observes, " the substratum
must be laid dry by proper drainage ; and where the road is liable, from the flatness of
the country, to be at times under water, the expense of raising it above the water must
be submitted to in the first instance. All drains for carrying off water should be under
the road, or at the field-side of the fences, and these drains should be kept open by con-
stant attention, and should be made wide at the outlet."
3604. The method of draining which Paterson has found the most effective is thus
de.scribed : — " Before the materials are put on, run a drain along the middle of the road,
all the way, from two to three feet deep ; then fill it with stones up to the surface, mak-
ing those at bottom of a pretty good size, and those at the top fully as small as the road
materials. And, in order that the quantity of stones used for the said drain may be as
little as possible, and every way to save expense, it may be made as narrow as it can
possibly be dug. From this leading drain make a branch here and there, to convey off
the water to the canals on the sides of the road." This mode of draining he has found,
from experience, to be so beneficial, that a road so drained would be better and more
durable with eight inches, than it would otherwise be with twelve inches of materials ;
and not only so, but that on such a road there would be a saving on the incident^
repairs, ever afterwards, of about one half of the labour, and at least one third of the
material.
3605. All moisture from under the road materials must be carried off by such drains.
Then, if the materials are properly broken, they will become so firm and solid that little
or no water will get through them ; and if it should, this drain would carry it away.
So that, under any view of it, tlie utility of these drains must be very apparent ; but v/hen
we consider that, to have the ground under the road materials perfectly dry is to insure
a good road, these drains become indispensably necessary, and the expense is a mere trifle.
There are two miles of road, which were made on this plan under Paterson's directions,
which have stood all the winter rains without injury, and which promise to make one of
the finest roads in the kingdom. There is another road of ten miles, that he has lately
planned, for the greater part of which he has specified two such drains, running parallel
to each other, and five feet apart ; and he would even recommend three or four parallel
drains where there is a great breadth of metals, except where the road is formed over dry
sand or open gravel. Although the effect of such drains will be at all times beneficial
to the road ; in time of a thaw, after there have been a few weeks of frost, it will be
peculiarly so. In frost, the surface of the road, though wet before, becomes dry, the
water being absorbed by the road, or otherwise condensed by the frost ; but no sooner
is this succeeded by a thaw, than the absorbed or condensed water again makes its
appearance all over the surface of the road. This is the time that these drains are so
peculiarlr/ beneficial.
3606. Where such drains are wanting, the road, on the return of a thaw, throws up to
the surface all the water it had imbibed ; and in many places, the materials, swelling up,
become quite loose and open. This is a natural consequence, where the material is not
thick, and vv^here the soil under the road is not perfectly dry ; but where a road is dried
in the way described, it will be uniformly seen, that the water, instead of spewing out on
the return of ^ thaw, is sucked in by the drains, so leaving the surface of the road quite
dry. It may be observed, that at such times, the places of the road where a few roods
of such drain had been introduced, presented to the eye, at a quarter of a mile distant,
quite a contrast to the other parts of the road : the one opaque and dry, from the moisture
being sucked in ; the other all wet and glistering, ^-om its being thrown out to the surface.
{Paterson s Letters, ^c 44. 48. 84.)
3607. Thorough drainage, Stevenson observes, " should pervade the whole system of
the formation of roads. The smaller drains, connected immediately with the road, must
vary in their number, direction, and description, according to the judgment of the
engineer. They consist of what are technically termed box and rumbling drains ; the
former of which are built, and the latter consist of a stratum of rubble stones, simply
thrown into an excavation made for their reception, through which the moisture is
allowed to percolate. Where the road is to be made through a boggy or marshy soil,
which is generally pretty level, the opportunities for drainage are less obvious; nor
Pp 3
583 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
is this so material, as ground of this description is capable of containing a great quantity
of water without endangering the flooding of the road. In such situations it also
fortunately happens that land is seldom of much value, and therefore, in making a road
through a morass, a much greater breadth should be included between the lateral drains
than where the ground has an undulating surface. Attention should also be paid to cut
the ditches of a moderate depth, as the tenacity of such soils depends upon their being
kept in a somewhat moist state. If a section of such ground be exposed to the sun and
air, by deep side cutting, it soon pulverises, and loses its elasticity, when the level of the
road falls, and its surface gets into disorder. The drainage of a road should rather be
made across than in a lateral direction, as being less apt to be injured by the traffic upon
it. " ( Ed. Encyc. art. Roads. )
3608. Tlie side drains Telford and Walker recommend to be, in every instance, on the
field side of the fence. In cases, Telford observes, where a road is made upon ground
where there are many springs, it is absolutely necessary to make a number of under and
cross drains to collect the water and conduct it into the side drains, which should always be
made on the field side of the fences. The orifices of these cross drains should be neatly
and substantially finished in masonry.
3609. The surface-drains, or water-tables, should be made a few inches lower than the
side of the road, and of the common width of a spade at the bottom, and they should have
frequent cross drains under the path and fence, back into the outer side drain.
3610. Water-tables across the road become requisite in some cases, as in flat roads on
a steep slope. These should always be made at right angles to the road, with their sides
gently sloping, to occasion as little obstruction to carriages as possible. In some few
cases, where roads are liable to floods, or are deficient in drainage, these surface-tables
may require to be made of a considerable breadth, and paved ; in this case Greig {App. to
Strictures on Road Police, p. 219.) directs to lay six feet at the bottom of it flat, and
twelve feet on each side to rise at the rate of one inch in the foot, which will make the
depth one foot ; and from the size, no carriage will feel any jerk or shake in passing it.
The pavement should be made of hammered stones, of nearly equal depth, each stone
from nine to twelve inches long on the surface, and four to eight inches broad, and nine
inches to a foot deep ; the under-side to be flat in the under-face, and not of an irregular
or angular undcr-surface, as in that case it would not be solid.
361 1 . Bridges and embankments, of different degrees of magnitude, are required in all
lines of road of any length or variety of surface. The subject of large bridges we leave
to the engineers, no department of their art having attained higher perfection ; of which
the wonderful erections by Telford, in almost everj- mountainous district in Britain, may
be referred to as proofs. We confine ourselves entirely to such stone arches as may be
designed by road-surveyors, and built by country masons. In many cases, cast-iron
might be substituted for stone with economy and advantage as to waterway ; but tliough
the principle of constructing both cast and wrought iron bridges is perfectly simple, the
execution, and especially the putting up, requires more skill, and are attended with much
more risk than the erection of either stone or timber bridges.
3612. One low arch is in general the most desirable description of common road-
bridge. But most of the country bridges, as Clarke observes, consist of several small,
high, semicircular arches : where there is a single arch, the stream passes without inter-
ruption ; if there are two or three in the same situation, the space through which the
water is to pass is necessarily contracted by the width of the piers. Ice, and large bodies
carried down by floods, frequently stop up the small arches, and the accumulated water
carries away the bridge ; but if such accidents should not happen, the constant currents
rushing against those piers wash out the mortar, loosen the stones, and very soon under-
mine the work, if not extremely well put together, which is seldom the case. Unless
the river or stream is narrow, or the banks very high, a semicircle is an inconvenient
shape for an arch; it has been adopted on account of the insufficiency of the abut-
ments, and because the pressure is more perpendicular ; but scientific engineers, in all
countries, now construct their bridges vrith wide openings, and make the arches either
semi-ellipses, or segments of large circles — so that the space above the highest floods is
comparatively little, and the ascent over the bridge inconsiderable. In country bridges
in Ireland, Clarke continues, the foundations are invariably, and often intentionally,
defective: the mason considers himself an honest man, if his bridge lasts seven years;
whereas, from the durability of materials in that country, it ought to endure for ages.
Whatever is under water is out of sight, and is generally composed of loose stones,
thrown promiscuously together, on which the masonry is erected, and all the pains
and expense are bestowed on the cut-waters and wings, when the heaviest stones, and
those accurately jointed, ought to be laid in the foundations. The greatest attention
should be paid to the quality of the materials : the stones should be large, and laid
in level courses, in the best mortar, composed of sharp sand, free from loam, and quick-
lime, accurately mixed together; the coping of the parapet is generally so, sliglit, that it is
Book II. ROADS OF VARIOUS ENGINEERS. 583
broken down as soon as built, and the entire parapet quickly follows; — it ought to be
of large heavy stones, roughly hammered, and there should be substantial quoins at
the ends of the parapets with an immovable stone over them.
3613. Arches not exceeding eight feet span may be semicircular; tunnels not exceeding
eighteen inches wide may be covered with strong flags, and either flagged or paved
under, and there ought to be across either end a deep long stone, sunk below the siuface
of the current, and under the walls, to prevent the water from undermining the work ;
if the stones are square and heavy, those small conduits may be built without mortar,
except at the ends.
3614. In building tunnels or arches across a road in a flow-bog, great pains must be taken
with the foundation, or the whole structure will inevitably sink : the building of those
should be deferred as long as possible, till the peat has subsided, and has obtained a
tolerable consistence ; then make an opening equal to the whole work, and sink it eigh-
teen inches below the intended bottom of the arch, or gullet ; collect a quantity of black-
thorn bushes, and tie them in faggots of the same size ; place these in regular courses in
the direction of the road, and lay across them a platform of strong plank three inches
thick, the whole lenglli and width of the intended mason work ; on this build your arch,
and make an allowance in the height of the abutments for sinking. Wherever walls are
necessary to support banks, and prevent their crumbling down upon the road, if large
even stones can be procured, they will not require any mortar ; when mortar is used, there
ought to be a great many apertures in the work to give vent to the water, otherwise the
pent-up moisture from behind will push out the wall. In many cases, where embank-
ments can be made of earth and sods, they are to be preferred to masonry, which is ex-
tremely expensive at the commencement, and very perishable ; for mortar soon loses its
cementing quality, when exposed alternately to frost and damp.
3615. Draining the site of a road on ajlotv-bog, according to Clarke, is a tedious oper-
ation, and often requires some years. A single drain at each side will not be sufficient,
as the water from the adjacent moss would fill it up as fast as it was made. Lay out the
road here sixty feet wide, which will allow for the banks when the whole shall be finished ;
make a drain at each side six feet wide, and at a distance of fifteen or twenty feet more,
parallel drains of the same width. If the interval between the parallel drains be after-
wards cut away regularly for fuel, it will tend still to the condensation of the moss.
36 1€. Open drains, in the case of ground liable to sink or to moulder down by frost, ought
to be made very much sloped on the sides, especially the side next the road, otherwise,
after repeated scouring out, the road will be found to have sunk at the sides; — a very
common case, and highly injurious in the case of narrow roads. Whenever this tendency
to sink is observed, it should be made up by the scrapings of the road, or by other mate-
rials. Roads made over bogs and artificial mounds are particularly liable to sink at the
sides, which should be immediately counteracted to prevent the bad consequences.
3617. Fences along the sides of roads are essential in all enclosed countries; and all
engineers and road-makers agree that they should never be allowed to rise of a greater
height than what is necessary for a fence. To give free admission to the sun and air by
keeping the fences low. Marshal considers as providing an unexpensive, yet most accurate,
method of cleaning roads — incomparably more so than washing or scraping. The legis-
lature, Edgeworth observes, has limited, in several instances, the height of hedges to five
feet ; but this limitation is neglected or evaded. Even were it strictly adhered to, it
would not be sufficient for narrow roads : the hedges would be still too high ; for it is
the sweeping power of the wind which carries off dust in dry weather, and which takes
up moisture in wet. In fact, roads become dry by evaporation ; and when they are ex-
posed to the sun and wind, the effect of heat and ventilation is more powerful than any
surface drainage that could be accomplished.
3618. Walker observes, that the advantage of having the hedge next the road consists in its
greater safety to the traveller, particularly if a ditch of any considerable depth is necessary,
and in the hedge being supported in its growth from the ground under the road, without
drawing upon the farmer's side of the ditch.
3619. IVie fences, Telford observes, form a very material and important subject, with
regard to the perfection of roads ; they should in no instance be more than five feet in
height above the centre of the road, and all trees which stand within twenty yards from
the centre of it ought to be removed. I am sure that twenty per cent, of the expense of
improving and repairing roads is incurred by the improper state of the fences and trees
along the sides of it, on the sunny side more particularly : this must be evident to any
person who will notice the state of a road which is much shaded by high fences and trees,
compared to the other parts of the road which are exposed to tlie sun and air. My
observations with regard to fences and trees apply when the road is on the same level as
the adjacent fields: but in many cases, on the most frequented roads of England, more
stuff has been removed from time to time than was put on ; the surface of the road is
consequently sunk into a trough or channel from three to six feet below the surface of
Pp 4
584 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
the fields on each side : here all attempts at drainage, or even common repairs, seem
to be quite out of the question, and by much the most judicious and economical mode
will be to remove the whole road into the field which is on the sunny side of it.
(JExam. before the House of Commons, ^c. )
3620. In the junction qjf roads, whether of a by-road with a principal road, or of two
by or principal roads, their respective levels ought, if possible, to be the same, and the
materials ought to be rather broader than usual at the point of turning. In like manner
the communication of fields by gates ought to be carefully managed, so as not to injure
the public road, the footpath, the water-table, or the inner drain. All gates should open
inwards to the fields, and not to the road.
3621. That plantations of trees should not be made close to roads, all are agreed. What
the distance ought to be must depend on the elevation of the country, the soil and sub-
soil, the breadth of the road, its direction, whether the plantation is to be made on the
north or south side of the road, its thickness, kind of tree, &c. An elevated situation is
always more exposed to the wind than a level or hollow ; and a dry soil and subsoil will
always, other circumstances being the same, have a favourable effect on the roads which
pass over them. A broad road, and a road winding in its direction, have chances of the
direct influence of the sun and wind, according to the width of the former and obliquity
of the latter ; a road running north and south, though planted closely on both sides, will
enjoy the sun during a part of every day in the year ; one running east and west, planted
on the south side with trees forty feet high, will enjoy no sun but through the interstices of
the branches during the three winter months. Supposing the average height of the sun
from ten to two o'clock during these three months to be 20 degrees, then a tree forty
feet high will throw a shadow evei-y day during that period, upwards of 1 00 feet long,
which may show that no plantation should be made nearer the south sides of roads than
80 or 100 feet. On the north-east and north-west sides, they may be nearer, accord-
ing to the elevation and natural tendency to dryness of the site, and also taking into
consideration whether the trees are evergreens, and with or without underwood. The
least injurious trees are single rows trained to high stems, properly pruned in, or
foreshortened.
3622. The preparation of the base of a road, for the reception of the metals or hard
materials, is a matter of primary importance. Marshal, Edgeworth, and some other
vsTiters, with almost all practical men, seem to have entertained much less enlightened
notions on this subject than M'Adam.
3623. Marshal's preparation consists in striking off the protuberances, and filling up
the hollow parts ; the footpath and the higher side of the soft road being raised with the
earth which is required to be taken off* the bed of the hard road, whose base or founda-
tion ought to be formed with peculiar care. Every part is required to be firm and sound,
dry earth, or hard materials, being rammed into every hollow and yielding part. In a
dry situation, as across a gravelly or stony height, little more, he says, is required, than
to remove the surface mould, and lay bare the rock or bed of gravel beneath it ; and
then to give the indurate base a round or a shelving form, as the lying of the ground
may require. In this way, a travelable road may be made, and kept up, at one tenth of
the expense incurred by the ordinary practice in this case ; which is to gather up the
surface-soil into a ridge, and, on this soft spongy bed, to lay, coat after coat, some hard
materials, fetched perhaps from a distance.
3624. A soft bed is now found by far the best; and M'Adam has proved, in the case of
part of the road between Bridgewater and Cross, that a stratum of hard materials covering
a morass will last longer than a similar stratum laid on rock : indeed, it may be questioned
whether a properly made road on a bog, which yields by its elasticity, will not last longer
than one on a firm surface. We have been told by a gentleman of some experience in
road-making, that in Ireland this is actually found to be the case. " Precisely," as Fry
observes, " for the same cause that a stone placed upon a woolpack would bear a greater
pressure before it would be broken, than it would if placed on an anvil." {Essay on Wheel
Carriages, ^c. App. 129.)
3625. Covering the base of an unsound road with faggots, branches, furze, or heath, is
recommended by Edgeworth. Flat stones, he adds, if they can be had, should then be
laid over the faggots, and upon them stones of six or seven pounds' weight, and, lastly, a
coat of eight or ten inches of pounded stone. If the practicability of consolidating a mass
of stones each of six or eight ounces' weight and under, so as to act as one plate or floor-
ing, be admitted, then the faggots and flat stones must at least be useless, and the stones
of six or seven pounds' weight injurious ; because, whenever the upper stratum had worn
down a few inches, some of these stones, and eventually the greater number, would be
worked up to the surface, and the road destroyed, or put in a state to require lifting,
breaking, and relaying.
3626. A basement of trees, bavins, or bushes, is made use of by Walker when the ground
is very soft. They carry off the water previously to the materials of the road being so
Book IL ROADS OF VARIOUS ENGINEERS. 585
should not be used, unless they are so low as always to be completely moist. When
they are dry and excluded from the air they decay in a very few years, and produce a
sinking in place of preserving the road : a thickness of hard chalk has been recommended
for the same purpose ; the chalk, mixing with the gravel or stones, becomes concreted,
and presents a larger surface to the pressure. It is alleged on the other hand, that
chalk is one of the worst materials for roads, as it absorbs water, which, when frozen,
never fails to break up the road.
3627. The base of the road is constructed by Telford and Stevenson of an elliptical form ;
if it is upon clay or other elastic substance which would retain water, Telford would
recommend to cover the whole bottom of the road with surface soil; in cases where
the natural shape of the ground admits, he would not remove the original surface;
and, where there are inequalities, he would fill them up with surface soil, so as to cut off
all connection with clay.
3628. Informing the basis of a road on a flow-bog, Clarke directs to strip the heathy
sods (tussocks) off the whole surface of the side-drains, and place them with tlie heath
uppermost on the space intended for the road ; or if a sufficiency of brushwood or furze
can be procured, it will answer still better. Proceed to let off the water at the lowest ends
of the drains, leaving an open channel in the middle of each. After the water has run off
for some time, throw off another spit ; and repeat this operation month after month, till
the space for the road becomes compact and dry ; and be sure to keep it in that state by
cleaning the drains frequently. There should be eight or ten inches of tough clay laid
over the tussocks or brushwood, which will be greatly the better of being consolidated by
rollers. This part of the road may be left rather higher in the centre than the other
parts, to allow for settling. There is no situation where it is more difficult to make a
good road than through a flow-bog ; but, if once made well, it is the most permanent of
all roads, and, from its elasticity, the most easy to horses.
3629. In forming the basis of a road on thin moor, the whole of the peat should be
removed from the space on which the road is to be made ; for, if allowed to remain
between the hard subsoil and the small stones, the weight of carriages would press down
the latter, force up the black peat through them, and totally spoil the road : this happens
only where there is a thin, soft, peaty stratum between two hard bodies ; for in deep bog,
the elasticity of the foundation yields to the superficial pressure, and contributes to the
durability of the materials : after this has been so removed, the surface, when formed
and drained, will be ready for the road materials.
3630. In forming the base or metal-bed, Paterson observes, " it is common to cut it to
the exact breadth and depth of the metals, and to make it quite flat in the bottom, or level
from the one side of the metals to the other. Supposing this metal-bed to be formed
fourteen feet broad, and nine inches deep, on a breadth of fourteen feet, the metals
would require to be about three inches higher in the middle than on the sides. In this
case, then, they would be nine inches deep on the sides, and twelve on the middle ; and
as it is evident that the middle of the road, where the metals are deepest, is not sub-
jected to so much waste from the tread of the horses' feet, as that nearer the sides is
from the grinding of the wheels, this is, therefore, a waste of metals on the middle of the
road. But this is not the greatest evil of which 1 complain : the metal-bed being cut
into the solid ground, anAflat in the middle, and having the earth on each side about
nine inches higher than it, — this, upon any other ground than that of dry sand or gravel,
forms a bed for retaining the water, as well as for holding the metals, which often deluges
the middle of the road with mud or gutters, when it might be prevented. I would
therefore propose, that a metal-bed of fourteen feet broad should, instead of being level,
have a rise in the middle of at least four inches, which will make a declivity from the middle
to each side of nearly two inches in the yard. Then, supposing the surface of the metals
to have the same shape as mentioned above, viz. three inches higher on the middle than
on the edges, the metals on the sides will be the same depth as formerly mentioned,
namely, nine inches ; but instead of twelve inches on the middle, they will then only be
seven inches deep, which makes a saving of five inches. This saving of five inches on the
middle, or two inches and a half on the whole breadth of the metals, is very considerable ;
but this is not the only benefit arising from this mode of procedure. The metal-bed, having
a slope from the middle to each side of the road, so far from retaining the water, runs it
off from the middle ; and this will be of more service in keeping the road in good order
ever afterwards, than if you were to put three or four inches more of additional depth to
the metals on the common plan. This appears to me to cany so much of common sense
on the face of it, that I am surprised it has not long ere this time been generally adopted."
Here Paterson seems to infer that water may, or rather does, penetrate the stratum of
metal to the base, which, in properly made roads, will at least not often be the case.
The argument of a saving in materials is quite suflScient to justify him and Telford in
adopting the elliptical form for a basis.
3631. A soft base is always preferred by M'Adam, who drains effectually, and puts no
586 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
intervening material between the metals and the earth, even if it were a bog, " provided
it admitted a man to walk over it." (Examination, ^c 1819.) The Somersetshire
morass is so extremely soft, he says, " that when you ride in a carriage along the road,
you see the water tremble in the ditches on each side ; and after there has been a slight
frost, the vibration of the water from the carriage on the road will be so great as to break
the young ice. I never use large stones on the bottom of a road ; I would not put a
large stone in any part ,of it, nor faggots, nor any material larger than will weigh six
ounces. If a road be made smooth and solid, it will be one mass, and the effect of the
substratum, whether clay or sand, can never be felt in effect by carriages going over the
road ; because a road well made unites itself in a body like a piece of timber or a board."
3632. An instructive proof of the preference given by M'Adam to a soft base is derived
from a case which occuiTed near Montrose. This case was sent to him by Paterson in
the following report :— " This road," says the reporter, " for about a mile, goes over a bank
of sea-beach, many feet in depth, and all round stones from two to five or six inches in
diameter. Always as the stones above three inches work up, and make their appearance
on the surface, they are taken off to the side of the road, and broken to the ordinary size.
This has been done several times every year for many years back, but the road always
continues loose and open as ever." The answer of M'Adam was, — " The road you have
sent me a report of is novel in its situation, but very far from hopeless. The sea-beach,
of which it is wholly composed, should be picked ; that is to say, the large-sized pebbles
should be carefully removed from the surface, and carried to the side of the road, and
there broken, not to what your surveyor calls my size, which is six ounces, but smaller,
say to three or four ounces. And / must also warn you, that any round stone, when
broken in half so as to form a hemisphere, is nearly as unmanageable, and as little likely
to consolidate in a road, as one left quite round ; therefore, with regard to weight, your
stones must be taken so as to form as many angles as possible. No large pebble must
be left in sight upon the bottom of the road, otherwise they will work up through the
broken stones of which your road will be composed ; but having prepared a surface upon
which to place your road, by removing the large-sized pebbles (I mean all above six
ounces^ and evenly covering the surface with sand soil or other soft matter, lay on your
properly broken stones." Paterson entirely concurs with M'Adam in regard to the ad-
vantage of a soft base, adding, in his last publication (Letters, ^c 1822.), " although the
ground under the materials can never be too dry, the materials never unite so firmly when
placed upon a hard rock or upon gravel, as they do upon earth, moss, or sand. There
should always, therefore, be a few inches of the one or the other of these put under the
road, as a bed for the materials, where it is on a rocky or gravelly bottom."
3633. When the basis consists partly of firm, and partly of loose, materials, or moved
earth, some nicety is required to determine the allowance for the sinking of the latter ; and,
indeed, roads, under such circumstances, cannot often be finished out of hand. Some
judicious directions on this subject are given by Paterson. " When a road," he observes,
" is formed along the side of a hill or sloping bank, the earth that is produced from the
side-cutting makes up a part of the breadth of the road ; so that the road is formed, partly
on the solid ground, and partly on the embankment. All new-made-up earths or em-
bankments subside a little, whatever be the nature or quality of the stuff of which they
are composed : for which reason, that part of the breadth of the road, that is formed upon
the embankment, should be raised a little higher than the solid ground. No precise rule
can be given to ascertain exactly how much the different kinds of earths, clays, gravel,
&c. will subside ; but the following has been found so near to the truth, in most cases,
that it may with safety be admitted as a general rule. At all places where there are em-
bankments, whether over hollow ground, or along the side of a sloping bank, for every
foot that these embankments or mounds are raised in height, one inch may be allowed for
subsiding. So that if an embankment, or the outer edge of a road formed from the side-
cutting, requires, for instance, six feet deep of forced earth to bring it to the level required,
in that case it should be made six inches higher ; namely, six feet six inches upon the
newly made up ground ; and it will be found, in general, to be about six months, from
the time that the embankment has been made, until it has become properly consolidated."
3634. Where the bottom is naturally wet and spongy, Stevenson observes, it is well to
ram it with chips of stone, or with rubbish somewhat freed from earthy particles. It is
extremely desirable, in every situation, that the road-metal should be broken to a imiform
size, so as to form a compact body throughout. But, as the preparation of the small
metal suitable for the surface of a road is expensive, it will, in many situations, be found
advisable to lay a stratum or course of hand-laid stones, of from five to seven inches
in depth, with their broadest ends placed downwards, and the whole built compactly
together, upon the prepared bed or soil.
3635. The materials of the road may be considered in regard to their nature or kind,
the proper size and weight, the outline of their upper surface, and the mode of laying
them on and consolidating them.
Book II. ROADS OF VARIOUS ENGINEERS. 587
3636. Stone is universally allowed to be the best kind of material for roads ; and granite,
trap, or flint, the best species of stone ; next in order are some sorts of limestone, and hard
sandstone. Soft claystone is the worst. Limestone is the principal material in Wiltshire,
Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, and Ireland ; granite and trap in the north of England
and Scotland ; slatestone in Nortli Wales ; sandstone pebbles in Shropshire and Stafford-
shire ; flint in Essex, Sussex, and part of Kent ; and gravel in Middlesex and Surrey.
« The stones used for the metals of any road," Paterson observes, " should always be
the hardest and most durable that the place or neighbourhood can afford. But this dura-
bility will be found in a great measure to depend on the dryness of the road. Freestone,
of a moderate hardness, such as mineralogists would term No. 6., *that would with
difl[iculty yield to the knife,' will make a very good road on a dry sloping bank, exposed
to the sun and air, or even on a level surface that has a dry gravelly bottom. Nay, even
seven or eight inches deep of such metals, on such situations, will make a better road
than twelve inches of the best metals where the bottom is constantly damp, and will
actually surpass them in point of durability. This, however, is not meant to give a pre-
ference to those metals, but merely to show the great difference there is betwixt a wet
and a dry bottom ; and that such metals will answer very well in the situations above
described. Still it must be held as a general rule, to take the best and hardest metals the
neighbourhood can afford, as formerly mentioned."
36'37. But the hardest metals will not always be found the most durable ; and here it may
be remarked, as another general rule, with some exceptions, that the harder they are to
break, the greater their durability. Some stones, for instance, as hard as No. 9. of mine-
ralogists, " such as would give a few feeble sparks with steel," are so free that they will
fly under the stroke of a hammer like so many pieces of glass. These, although very hard,
being of a quality so free and brittle, will grind down by the wheels rather easily, and in
time of rains will be formed into mud ; while, on the other hand, there are stones not
harder than No. 7. that are so tough, that there is great difficulty in breaking them.
Yet these latter, although two degrees softer, will absolutely last longer than the former,
on any road whatever.
3638. Flints reduced to a small size, and mixed with chalk, make an excellent road
in dry weather ; but chalk being very absorbent of water, they become slippery and soft
in moist weather, and are much affected by frost.
3639. JFhinstone, M'Adam and all road engineers agree in considering the most
durable of all materials ; and, wherever it is well and judiciously applied, the roads are
comparatively good and cheap. Fry, however, has uniformly observed, in various parts
of England, that where limestone is used, the roads are the best ; and this superiority is
not in his opinion owing merely to the hardness of this substance, but also to its adhesive
or cementing property : how otherwise, he says, are we to account for the firmness and
solidity of the roads around Bristol, that are made of white limestone. Fall mentions
dewstone, which abounds in Nottinghamshire and other counties of the North, as equally
durable with whinstone. {Every Man his own Road-maker, p. 8.)
3640. Gravel is of two kinds ; that obtained from pits, and that from the beds of rivers.
Gravel is generally silicious and hard ; otherwise, indeed, it would have been worn down
to sand, in undergoing the operation with has rendered it gravel. This material is chiefly
used on the roads round London : it is often found, Paterson observes, " to answer
very well in point of durability. But such kind of gravel, being composed chiefly of
hard sand, and smooth, little, round stones, does not so easily bind together, and seldom
makes a very firm road. On the other hand, stones that are broken have so many sides,
that they readily lock into one another ; whereas the small round gravel keeps rolling and
shifting about by every motion of the wheels. All road metals, therefore, should be
of stones as large as to require breaking before they are used. The roads on which
gravel will be found to answer best, are those which are neither too wet nor too dry. I
have seen a road made with such materials, not only easily rutted in time of the winter
rains, but the same road, in the drought of summer, became as loose as ashes, and was
then, also, very easily rutted ; while betwixt these extremes it answered exceedingly well.
Upon the whole, it would be improper to use gravel for any turnpike or public road, where
stones can be got that require to come under the hammer." [Treatise, ^c. p. 31.)
364 1 . The gravel of which roads are usually firmed is mixed with a large portion of clay ;
and the component parts of gravel are round, and want the angular points of contact by
which broken stone unites and forms a solid body : the loose state of the roads near
London is a consequence of this quality in the material, and of the entire neglect or
ignorance of the method of amending it.
3642. Gravel is the jvorst material for making roads subject to great traffic. Telford,
on being asked his opinion of it by the road committee, replied, " I am of opinion that
the materials in the whole valley or plain round London being entirely silicious, or flints,
and easily ground to dust, are very improper. This must be evident to every person who
travels near London in any direction." In this opinion M'Adam concurs.
588 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. PAai III.
S643. Artificial materials for roads are sometimes had recourse to, when stone or
gravel is not to be procured, and sometimes used because unfit for any thing else.
They are chiefly the scoria of founderies, dross, cinders, &c., to which may be added
burnt clay ; the last a very perishable material. It is burned in clamps like bricks,
and differs from them in being in irregular masses, and in not having been previously
worked.
3644. Chambers's substitute for road metals, or for gravel in gardening, is nothing more than vitrified
clay, loam, marl, or any other earth that will not fall to powder or burn to lime. The material is intended
to be burnt in a temporary kiln, to be erected by the side of the road about to be made or repaired ; the
earth may be taken from the side drains. The kilns are to be of about six yards in width, and of any
length : a stratum of dried earth is to be laid about two feet in thickness, between two layers of com-
bustibles, so as to turn to a vitrified state the greater portion of the earth so enclosed. The principal part
of the contents of the kiln will then be in lumps, which are to be separated from the dust or powder ; and
such vegetable matter as produces alkali may be burnt with the other materials, to assist the vitrification :
salt, barilla, potash, or soap-ashes also, if they can be procured at a small expense, maybe employed for the
same purpose. The dust unavoidably produced, or remaining from the above described burning of clay,
&c having been separated from the vitrified matter, is first employed to damp or extinguish the fire, and
afterwards, though not applicable to road-making, becomes a valuable material, and may be appropriated
for dressing land. {Newton's Journal, voL i. p. 35^.)
3645. The preparation of materials relates chiefly to their proper size or weight, and
cleaning from earthy matters.
3646. Breaking the materials evenly is a point, Marshal observes, on which very much
depends ; for by doing this, the wear of the road becomes regular. Where the heads
of large stones rise above the general surface, they become obstacles to carriages, and
stumbling-blocks to horses : beside their tending, by the jolting motion which they give
to carriages, to indent the surface on either side of them ; and thus to increase the rough-
ness, and hasten the decay of the road.
3647. The proper size of road stones requires much latitude. Not only the intended
use of the road, but the nature of the material, is to be considered. A road for broad-
wheeled carriages of burthen only, may be made of larger stones than one for narrow
wheels ; and hard stones require to be broken- smaller than those which more readily
wear down and form a travelable surface. For when once the surface of the materials
becomes united and cemented together, and its rock-like texture established, the stones
that are crushed, and the smaller fragments which are splintered off", in wear, serve to
encrust and bind together the stratum of stones which lie next in succession beneath :
especially if proper attention be paid to the irregularities of wear, and to bring back the
surface, wherever it is requisite, to its original evenness of convexity ; so that it may, in
every part, act as an arch, and may be able to resist, with the greatest firmness, the
weight with which it may be impressed.
3G48. In forming and repairing roads with stones of large size, a considerable share of
the expense arises ffom the labour of reducing the materials ; and, in consequence, the
smaller they are broken, the greater becomes the expense. This, on ordinary occasions,
is a serious consideration. Hence, in constructing and repairing common roads, it is
advisable, — instead of reducing the surface stones to small fragments, with the hammer,
at a great cost, — to cover them with materials that are already reduced ; as the rubbish
of stone quarries, soft stones or gravel, or the scrapings of the road to be repaired.
Such cementing materials being washed and worked down, by rains, and the action of
carriages and the feet of travelling animals, among the surface stones, assist much in
binding and fixing them in a firm crust, and in making the road immediately passable by
horses and light carriages ; most particularly, if the whole be compressed and united
together, by a heavy roller (suitable to the purpose) repeatedly passed over the surface.
Such is Marshal's opinion ; how much it differs from M'Adam's and Paterson's cannot
but be remarked by the reader.
3649. The size of stoties^pref erred hy Edgeworth is not specifically mentioned ; but on
bogs he would lay stones of six or seven pounds' weight : he elsewhere observes that no
stones larger than an inch and a half in diameter should be left on the surface of the road.
3650. The size which Walker approves of he has not given in very definite terms ;
and his observation as to the foundation acting by an arch is, in our opinion, erroneous.
He says, •' Where whin or other stone is to be used, the size of the pieces into which
it is broken should decrease as we approach the surface • — the superficial coating not ex-
ceeding a cube from one inch to one inch and a half. If the foundation is bad, breaking
the bottom stone into small pieces is expensive and injurious, upon the principle I have
above described, and also for the same reason that an arch formed of whole bricks, or of
deep stones, is to be preferred to one of the same materials broken into smaller pieces ;
for in some counties the materials will admit of the foundation of the road being con-
sidered as of the nature of a flat arch, as well as of being supported by the strata directly
under it."
3651. The size of metals, according to Paterson, should be diflferent for the upper and
under surfaces of roads ; and both should be regulated according to the situation of the
road, and the nature of the ground over which it is formed, " Such small broken
Book II. ROADS OF VARIOUS ENGINEERS 589
metals as are most proper for a road formed on a sloping bank, or on a very dry bottom,
would be quite improper for a road that is perfectly level, and is much subjected to
dampness. In the former case, even six or eight inches deep of such metals will make a
good road ; but in the latter case, twelve or fourteen inches will be found inadequate.
In the former case, too, the metals should be of such a size as may fill and pass through
a ring from two to two inches and a half in diameter ; and in the latter case, they should
not be under three inches ; as under that size I have never found them to make a durable
road in such situations. Every road that has more than eight inches deep of metals,
should have the half of these in the bottom broken considerably larger than those on the
top. If the road, however, has a dry hard bottom, there is not so much need for this ;
but if the bottom is soft and wet, it is of the greatest service in making a firm road, and
preventing the metals from sinking : and the softer the bottom, the larger, of course,
they should be." But it is to be remarked, that the same author in his Letters, ^c.
published three years afterwards, says, " In my former treatise I proposed, where the
bottom was soft, to have the under course of stones a little larger than those at top.
This I have seen o$ service, in several cases : but my mode of draining, which should
never be neglected, supersedes this entirely.
3652. The criterion of size adopted by M'Adam is six ounces, or under, for every part
of the stratum.
3653. The size approved of by Clarke is not defined, but it should, he says, be small.
" The common practice is to lay a stratum of stones nearly the size of a man's head, as a
foundation, and to cover them with two or three inches of smaller ones ; but, from ex-
perience and observation, I am decidedly of opinion, that all the stones should be small,
and as nearly as possible of the same size : for, though a road made as above described
may be very good at first, the wheels of carriages will grind the small stones to powder,
the large ones will then rise to the surface, and the road will become intolerably rough,
and though frequently repaired with new materials, the same cause will produce a simi-
lar effect ; whereas, if all the stones are small, and nearly of the same size, they will
soon be cemented into one solid mass, and will be worn evenly to the last, so that no
repairs will ever be necessary, but the addition of a few broken stones occasionally."
{Obs. on Roads, p. 11.)
3654. Infixing upon the size of the top metal, Stevenson observes, " the more hard and
tough its nature is, the smaller it may be broken ; it being an object of main importance
to have the metal ' well assembled,' as the road-makers express it, or broken of a uni-
form size. In almost every county there is a variation in the quality of the rock, and
also in the size to which it is broken. Roads have latterly been made under a specifica-
tion as to the weight of the pieces, varj'ing from six to eight ounces. Formerly it was
not uncommon to have them specified, of the size of a ' hen's egg,' or even of a * man's
fist.' By reference to weight, the road-maker's operations became more precise; but
regard should also be had to the specific gravity of the materials, which differs con-
siderably. For example, granite may be taken at twelve cubic feet in the ton, and whin-
stone (the greenstone, basalt, and clinkstone of mineralogists) is often met with of similar
weight. Compact limestone and flint are about fourteen, and quartzy sandstone about
fifteen feet to the ton. Perhaps the most convenient and uniform te-t for the size of
road metal is a ring measuring two inches and a half diameter in the void. When the
metal is thus broken, and the road carefully treated, its surface soon becomes smooth
and compact, without requiring the addition of blinding, or filling up the interstices
with gravel, which, if used, should be free of earthy particles. But this addition is hardly
necessary, where there is much traffic, as the rough and angular sides of the metal soon
lock into each other, and form a smooth surface." {Ed. Encyc. art. Roads.)
3655. The mode of preparing gravel is nearly the same by all the best road engineers,
who agree with Telford, that it ought to be completely cleansed of every particle of clay
or earthy substance, and its different sizes ought to be selected and arranged by means
of riddling or washing. In the use of the ridder, the particles of earth or clay adhere
so much to the stones, that it frequently requires to be exposed to the sun, air, and frost,
for several months, and then riddled over again. In this gravel, the stones are of dif-
ferent sizes and different shapes ; all those that are round ought to be broken with a small
hammer. Some attempt to attain the same end sooner by washing ; but this is both a
more expensive and less effectual mode than that of taking advantage of the weather.
3656. The mode of breaking stones recommended by Edgeworth, is by persons sitting,
and using small hammers. A hard stone should be used as an anvil, and the stone to
be broken may be advantageously held in a forked stick. Attempts were made some
years ago to break limestone for roads, by the force of horses, wind, and water. Stampers,
shod with iron, and raised by proper mill-work, were employed ; they were let fall upon
blocks of whinstone. These mills were found profitable for breaking limestone to
powder, as a manure, where fuel was scarce, but they crushed the stone to dust rather
than to fragments ; if lighter stampers were employed, they frequently failed to break
590
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
the stone. Feeding the mill was also found difRcult and dangerous. This unsuccessful
attempt should not discourage mechanists from further trials. Stones previously broken
to the size of five or six inches, might be thrown upon a strong circular horizontal
grating, made of cast iron. The stones might be forced downwards through this
grating by an iron rammer or a sledge ; they would thus be broken to fragments that
could not exceed a certain size, and that would not be reduced to powder.
3657. The manner of breaking, according to Telford, is of great importance. More
depends, he says, on the weight, shape, and manner of using hammers, than any one can
conceive who has not had much experience in road-making ; the difference in managing
this operation being not less than ten per cent. ; and is, besides, of equal importance
towards the perfection of the road. The size and weight of the hammer he would ap-
portion to the size and weight of the stones ; and the stones should be broken upon the
heap, not on the ground. It must be evident that using round stones, instead of broken
ones, will be the means of deranging the position of those near them, and of grinding
them to pieces.
3658. According to M'Adam, the only method of breaking stones, both for effect and
economy, is by persons sitting : the stones are to be placed in small heaps ; and women,
boys, or old men past hard labour, must
sit down with small hammers and break
them, so as none shall exceed six ounces
in weight.
3659. In Nottinghamshire, and part
of Yorkshire, a very convenient portable
machine is employed for the breaking
of small land and waterworn stones.
The diameter of the stones to be broken
according to the mode in question
should not exceed five or six inches :
they are placed on a table of a tri-
angular shape {fg, 541.), boarded on
three sides like a dressing-table, but
open at the narrow end, which is placed
next and in front of the operator, who
sits on a stool {b) or stands as he may
clioosc, and has a block between him and the point of the table (a), the top of which is
542 about six inches lower than the top of the table. By means of an iron ring
fixed into a handle of wood {fig. 542.), he draws from the table as many of
the stones as the ring will enclose on the block, and then breaks them while
still enclosed in the ring, which is held by his left hand. When this is
done, then, with another motion of his left hand, he draws them in the ring
off the block till they form a heap at one
side, or he at once drops them into the hand-
barrow measure {fig. 543.) To prevent any
fragments from getting to his face, he puts
on a wire guard or veil {fig- 544.), which
may be tied by a ribbon round his head, or
suspended from his hat. The same hand-barrow, which serves as a cubic yard measure,
serves to carry the stones to any distance. The price paid is so
much a yard. In some places, the breaking apparatus consists of
three separate parts, the table, the block, and the stool : in others, the
whole is combined in one machine, furnished with a wheel {f,g.541.c),
which serves as one foot Avhen the machine is stationary, and handles
(rf) ; and which admits of moving it from place to place, as easy as
a common wheelbarrow. All that is wanted to render this appa-
ratus complete, is a portable shelter or shed, which might be formed
entirely of plate-iron, to move on three wheels ; or a slight iron
frame on three wheels, to be covered with reed frames or straw
matting. The shelter should be formed so as not only to protect
from perpendicular rain or sun, but from side winds and drifting
snows or rains. ( Gard. Mag. vol. v. )
3660. Boulder stones, according to Fall, " are broken with a hammer upon a block made
of cast iron. The hammer should weigh about three pounds and a half or four pounds,
with two flat faces of about an inch and a quarter in diameter, and a handle similar to
a blacksmith's hammer. The cast-iron block must be six or seven inches square, and
three inches and a half in thickness, and let into a piece of coarse solid wood, about
thirteen or fourteen inches square, and seven or eight inches thick. The block, when
used, is to be placed firmly upon the ground, with a kind of trough so fixed that the
Book II. ROADS OF VARIOUS ENGINEERS. 591
pebbles may, with ease, be brought on the block with a ring. The ring should be about
five or six inches in diameter, an inch and a half in breadth, and a little thicker than
hoop-iron, with a short handle to it : tliis instrument is used for confining the stones on
the block, while going through their operation. The trough has four feet to support it,
two of which (those nearest to the breakers) are no longer than what is necessary to allow
the stones to come upon the block : the other two are placed at a little distance from the
block, and should be somewhat longer, in order that the far end of the trough may be
higher, say four or five inches ; by which means the person who breaks the stones will,
with ease, pull them up on the block ; and, as he must always be in a sitting posture,
it is requisite that he should get all the advantage over them he can. The trough is, in
form, like a washing tub, except that the end next the block is much narrower than
the other, and left open ; at the bottom of it —the end next the block — should be fixed a
grate, to let through the dirt or sand which is shovelled up with them when put into the
trough. It will sometimes be of great advantage to gravel, when clay, earth, or other
matter, adheres to it ; for, by constantly removing it about, and being frequently ex-
posed to frost, wet and dry weather, the dirt becomes tender and moulders into pieces,
which the grate will readily separate, without any hinderance to the breaker or waste in
the stone. A blacksmith's anvil is the best block ; and a box or trough, made as just
described, must be framed so as to agree with it." (FalPs Surveyor's Guide.)
3661. Breaking by machinery. On a new line of road, between Bury and Bolton, in
Lancashire, a rotatory steam-engine is attached to a machine similar to a stone-mill, but
considerably stronger, which breaks the stones to cover the road at the astonishing rate
of seventy or eighty tons in ten hours. The engine is movable on wheels, so that it can
be removed to any part of the road without being taken to pieces. {London Journal of
the Arts, ^c. Sept. 1822.)
3662. M' Adam's criterion for size is weight. On being asked by the road com-
missioners to mention the dimensions, he stated, that there was very little difference in
the weight of the stones used in road-making. " I did imagine," he says, " that a dif-
ference existed ; but having weighed six ounces of different substances, I am confident
there is little difference in appearance, and none in effect : I think that none ought to
exceed six ounces ; I hold six ounces to be the maximum size. If you made the road
of all six- ounce stones, it would be a rough road ; but it is impossible but that the greater
part of the stones must be made under that size." — " Do you find a measure or ring
through which the stones will pass, a good method of regulating their size ? " — " That is
a very good way ; but I always make my surveyors carry a pair of scales and a six-ounce
weight in their pocket, and when they come to a heap of stones, they weigh one or two
of the largest, and if they are reasonably about the weight, they will do ; it is impossible
to make them come exactly to it."
3663. With respect to the size of stones, Paterson disapproves of six ounces being
made the maximum, as proposed by M'Adam. " I find," says he, " there are many
under the weight that are yet of a very improper shape and size ; even from three to
four inches between the extreme points. Besides, scales for weighing are not so portable
nor convenient as gauging-rings for the size. The ring I generally use is two inches
and a half in diameter ; and the stones should be broken so that the largest may pass,
in any direction, through it. On this plan you have the materials smaller, more equal,
and more square in shape, than on his plan. An inexperienced person, on the first view
of it, may think otherwise ; but it is a fact, that taking my ring as a gauge, you will
not have five stones ift a thousand that will exceed four ounces in weight, and none of
improper shape or dimensions : while on Mr. M'Adam's plan you will have more than
twenty in a thousand that will not pass longitudinally, even through a three-inch ring.
It is now nearly three years since I first heard of his standard weight. During that
time I have had people both working to it, and also to my ring-gauge ; but 1 have
uniformly found that mine are so much smaller, that they cost about a fifth more in
breaking than his. Upon the whole, then, I would recommend the ring as every way
preferable to the scales : and I have no doubt that it would be an improvement even to
reduce the ring a little, where the ground under the road is completely dried by the
method I have described."
3664. With respect to the depth of metats, Marshal mentions twelve inches: but
Edgeworth considers an average of nine inches as sufficient for any road on a good
basis ; and two thirds of the quantity, he says, will make an excellent road at a distance
from any great town.
3665. The depth of materials, according to Walker, depends so much upon the soil
and the nature of the materials themselves, that it is impossible to lay down any general
rules for them. The thickness ought to be such that the greatest weight will not affect
more than the surface of the shell ; and it is for this purpose chiefly, that thickness is
required, in order to spread the weight which comes upon a small part only of the road
over a large portion of the foundation.
592
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
3666. The depth of solid materials recommended by M'Adam is one of ten inches, which
he thinks equal to carry any thing when well consolidated, and whether on a soft or hard
substratum ; he should prefer a soft one. (Examinations, ^c 1819.)
3667. IVie depth of metals, according to Pater son, should be regulated according to
their quality, the situation of the road, and the nature of its basis. On the generality of
turnpike roads it should be made from ten to twelve inches ; and upheld afterwards at
the depth of nine or ten inches. Yet, in some situations, even six or eight inches will
make a much better road than twelve or fourteen in other situations.
3668. The depth, according to Stevenson, must depend a good deal on the quality of
the rock, but it should seldom be less than eight inches in all those parts of the road on
which carriage wheels may be supposed to pass. Towards the verge, it may be less.
(^Ed. Encyc. art. Boads.)
3669. With respect to the shape of the surface of the metals, almost all road-makers
agree that it should be convex, but they differ a little in the degree of convexity. It is
also allowed by most of them that on roads up ascents, the surface of the metals may be
flat, bevelled, or somewhat inclined to one side. Concave roads are not here taken into
account, as they require a different general plan, and may be considered as not resorted
to in preference, but from accidental circumstances.
•^3670. Concave ruads {fig. 545.) were recommended, and to a certain extent adopted, by the celebrated
Bakewell of Dishley. Practically considered, such a road is in effect nothing more than a flat road with
a gutter in the middle, instead of a gutter at each side.
545
3671. The proper convexity of a wet-iveather road, according to Marshal, is to be
regulated by a variety of circumstances ; as, first, by the materials of which it is to be
formed : soft materials are most liable to be worn into ruts and hollows, and require to
be laid up with a quicker descent for rain-water than hard materials, which require less
elevation or rotundity of surface ; and least of all a firm even pavement. Secondly, a
convex road in the face of a steep is to be laid up higher, with a given material, than
one on more level ground, on which rain-water has no other tendency than to the sides :
whereas, in the face of a steep, it may have an equal or greater tendency along the line
of the road, and is liable to be caught by the slightest impressions of wheels ; and thus
to wear channels, as may too often be seen, from the top to the bottom of the hill.
Even where the surface of the road is perfectly smooth, it may have twice the distance
to run, before it reaches the outer margin, that it has on a level. And, thirdly, the
degree of convexity is to be determined, in part, by the width of the road ; the mate-
rials and descent being equal. A wide road requires to be formed with a greater side-
ways descent than a narrower one ; which more readily frees itself from rain-v/ater,
inasmuch as the distance is shorter from the crown to the outskirts of the road. Nor is
freeing a road from rain-water the only object to be kept in view, with regard to its
convexity. The ease and safety of carriages, and particularly those of burthen, whose
loads, being of light materials, are laid up high, require to be consulted. A carriage moves
most freely, and with the least exertion of draught, when the load lies evenly upon the
wheels on each side. In proportion as the weight is thrown on one side, or the other,
the resistance is increased ; especially on a road which is liable to impression. Hence
an inconveniency of a highly convex road in the face of a steep, and hence the utility
of breaks in long ascents.
3672. It is evident that every part of a road should be equally and duly convex, — should
be equally safe and easy for carriages of every description, — otherwise it becomes more
partially worn ; the more level parts only are used, the steeper being in a degree useless.
Hence a road of even and due convexity is not only easy and safe, but may be formed
of a narrower width, than one whose steep sides are neither easy nor safe to be travelled,
and whose crown only is in use. On measuring different passages of roads which
appeared to lie in the most desirable form, Marshal found that their convexity, or the
elevation of the crown or middle of the road above the base line, in roads of twenty feet
in width, was about ten inches ; namely, one inch in every foot on each side : and he
is of opinion that this result may be taken as a general guide in forming roads ; this
middle degree of convexity being liable to be altered, according to the width of the road,
the nature of the materials, and other circumstances.
3673. A whole barrel or convex road cannot easily be kept up in a narrow site, as in
the case of narrow lanes. If raised, it presently wears into a middle track and two
wheel-ruts, with foul drains on each side of them, and becomes, in wet weather, a dirty
trough, which is unfit for either carriages or horses, and in which a foot passenger has
not where to set his foot. But if such a lane be thrown into a shelving form, resembling
Book II. ROADS OF VARIOUS ENGINEERS. 593
half a barrelled or convex road, a greater width of travelable road for carriages and
horses will be obtained; ruts will not be so liable to be formed; the whole of the water
of rains will be thrown to one side, while the other will afford a comfortable walking
path, at all seasons. It is to be remarked, that when water in a wet season is apt to ooze
out of the banks on the upper side of the lane, a narrow channel is to be cut, to prevent
its overilowing the road ; or, in forming the bed of the road, the inclination may in
some cases be reversed, so as to throw the drain on that side of the lane whence the
spring water issues : thus the same drain will serve for the spring and the rain waters.
3674. Semi-convex roadc are applicable not only to narrow lanes, but to the sides of hills,
where the road, as it generally ought, is conducted sidelong (not directly) up the slope.
By this form of the road, the whole of the water which falls upon it will be got rid of
without inconvenience or expense ; and the bed of the road for this purpose may be
made narrower than for a full convex road, — a circumstance which in some cases may
become a saving of much expense. The upper side of a road in this form being nearly
level, and firm to the foot of the steep, would be chosen by ascending carriages, while the
lower side would acquire a looseness of surface, and be used by laden carriages going
downward ; while a raised footpath on the lower margin would be a secure guard, and
a relief to the apprehensions of timorous travellers.
3675. The convexity of a road, according to Edgeworth, need be no more than what will
prevent it from being worn hollow before it can be conveniently repaired ; and he very
judiciously assigns as a reason, that no lateral inclination of the ground, consistent with
the safety of carriages, would empty a rut of three inches deep. So far from this being
the case, whoever attends to the fact will find, that, even down a moderate slope, where
any dirt remains upon the road, the water will be obstructed. Even if there are no ruts
on a road, the mud and sludge will not run down a slope even of two degrees, which is
tlie utmost inclination that should be permitted on a mail-coach road.
3676. The degree of convexity preferred by Benjamin and John Farey is one of twelve
inches in a road fifty-five feet wide ; but to attain this shape when the road is worn
down, in first forming there should be a rise in the centre of sixteen or eighteen
inches.
3677. The coiwexity preferred by Telford is no more than is just suflScient to permit the
water to pass from the centre towards the sides of the road ; the declivity may increase
towards the sides, and the general section form a very flat ellipsis, so that the side
should (upon a road of about thirty feet in width) be nine inches below the surface
in the middle.
3678. The degree of convexity proposed by Clarke, a young Irish road-sui-veyor, is still
less than that of Telford. Were it not absolutely necessary, he says, to let the rain-water
run olf quickly, the best shape for a road would be a flat surface, and, therefore, the
nearer we can approach to that form the better ; for, if the road is- much elevated in the
centre, wheel carriages will all run in the middle, and, of course, very soon wear that part
into deep ruts; and if they arc then forced to go upon the sides, almost the whole weight
will press upon the lower wheel, which will, of course, sink deeper, and occasion a dis-
tressing resistance to the shoulder of the horse at that side : therefore, as before observed,
the flatter a road can be made, consistently with a moderate fall for the rain-water to
escape, the more convenient and durable it will be ; for a road should be as hard and as
smooth as possible. An idea of a perfect road may be formed from a frozen canal, where
flatness, smoothness, and hardness, are combined : in imitation of such a surface railways
were invented, and fully illustrate the principles assumed. Roads cannot be made so as
fully to attain those perfections: but we should always have them in our view; for the
nearer we approach to such a standard, the less will be the friction, and the greater the
facility of draught. On a site of sixty-three feet he forms a metalled road of thirty-four
feet, with a rise of nine inches in the middle; a six-feet path at one side ; and a ditch and
bank at each side, occupying ten feet six inches, (fg' 546.)
516
■JA-
3679. The degree of convexity preferred by Walker is just a sufficient rise towards the
middle, to incline the water to the sides ; and in place of making the whole width the
section of one curve, to fonn it by two straight lines, forming inclined planes, and
joined by a curve towards the middle. " I have seen," he says, " ridges formed in what I
Qq
594 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
thought well-farmed land, much after what I would recommend for the form of a road.
The object of forming the land into ridges, raised a little in the middle, is the same as
that of raising the middle of a road, to prevent the water from settling upon it ; and what
is sufficient for the ploughed land, is certainly enough for a road. If the road is of good
stone, four to five inches rise in ten feet is sufficient ; gravel and other inferior material
will allow a little more. This shape not only assists the water to pass from the centre
towards the sides, but greatly contributes to the drying of the road, by allowing the action
of the sun and air to produce a great degree of evaporation. Surveyors ought to use a
level in giving roads a proper shape, in order that the surface may be of one uniform
curvature, without the smallest deviation, in any one spot, from the prescribed line of the
cross section."
3680. The degree of convexity preferred by M^Adam is less than that approved of by any
of the road-engineers mentioned, unless perhaps Edgeworth. "I consider," he says,
" that a road should be as flat as possible, without regard to allowing the water to run off
at all, because a carriage ought to stand upright in travelling as much as possible. I have
generally made roads three inches higher in the centre than I have at the sides, when they
are eighteen feet wide ; if the road be smooth and well made, the water will run off very
easily in such a slope. When a road is made flat, people will not follow the middle of
It as they do when it is made extremely convex, which is the only place where a carriage
can run upright, by which means three furrows are made by the horses and the wheels,
and the water continually stands there: and I think that more water actually stands upon
a very convex road, than one which is reasonably flat."
3681. If a road be high and convex in the middle, Fry observes, no care of the surveyor
can prevent the formation of a pair of ruts along the ridge of the road -. from an
instinctive operation of fear every driver will take this track, as being the only part of
the road where his carriage can stand upright ; and even if it be not so convex as to
excite fear, yet the inconvenience of travelling on a sloping road will always produce the
same effect.
3682. The convexity recommended by Paterson on the level ground, where the bottom
is dry, should be from one inch to one inch and a half in the yard. From this, the de-
clivity, may increase even to three inches in the yard, just in proportion as the ground
increases in wetness ; but beyond that declivity it would probably be improper to carry it
in any instance. If the bottom, however, is dry sand or gravel, the convexity should be
very little indeed. But in all cases, whether wet or dry, a road formed on sloping
ground, should be very nearly level from side to side. The reasons are obvious. In the
first place, it is well known that carriages running quickly over a hill, are more easily
overturned than on level ground ; it would therefore be dangerous, in this respect alone,
were the road to have much slope on the sides. In the next place, as the great end in
giving it the convex shape is to run off the water and prevent it from lodging, this is
not so necessary on a road formed upon sloping ground, as there the water will not lodge
so as to injure it. In his second work (Letters, ^c) Paterson observes of the above
directions, " In my treatise respecting the form of the road, I proposed the slope from
the edges of the materials, to the side ditches, to be from an inch to an inch and a half
iu the yard, where dry ; and to increase the slope a little, where wet. But by adopting
those drains under the road, no greater slope will be required, in any situation, than an
inch to the yard.
3683. The convexity recommended by Stevenson is, where the road passes through a level
track of country, an ellipsis, " falling from the centre to the verges on either side, at a rate
not exceeding an inch and a half perpendicular to a yard horizontal. (Jig. 547. ) But
when an acclivity in the line of draught occurs, where carriages are in the greatest
danger of being upset, the surface of the road should be kept flat, or with a fall not
exceeding three quarters of an inch to the yard, to take the water gently off toward the
sides, and prevent it, during heavy rains, from rutting the road in a lateral direction."
(Ed. Encyc. art. Roads.)
3684. With respect to the order and mode of laying out the materials, there is some dif-
ference of opinion. Some begin with the largest, and finish with the very smallest, or
with gravel ; some lay on thfe whole at once, and others in two or more strata, and so on.
That such a mode of depositing materials could never make a good road is evident,
for the reasons given by M'Adam and Clarke : the larger stones would soon rise to the
surface, and roll about loose on it; the strata, being thus broken up, would admit and
Book II. ROADS OF VARIOUS ENGINEERS. 595
retain water, which, by the traffic of the road, would render the substratum, in all such
places, a mass of mud ; and the whole would become bad in proportion to the traffic, the
subsoil, and the climate. Marshal is equally wrong in his directions for forming farm-
roads, by filling the wheel-tracks with hard materials. In depositing these, he says, the
largest and roughest are to be thrown to the bottoms of the wheel-trenches, as found-
ations for the hardest, which ought to receive the immediate pressure of the wheels, the
softest and finest being disposed of in the horse-track. It is evident the continual action
of the wheels in tlie same rut, aided by the water which must infallibly lodge there,
would soon work up the larger and rougher stones, and render the traction more oppres-
sive than if no metals had ever been laid there.
3685. Telford* s mode of disposing of the materials of roads is as follows : — Where a
road has no solid and dry foundation, it must be constructed anew. Upon the eighteen
centre feet of it stones must be put, forming a layer seven inches deep. Soft stones will
answer, or cinders, particularly where sand is prevalent. These bottoming stones must
be carefully set by hand, with the broadest end down, in the form of a close neat pave-
ment ; the cavities should be filled with stone chips, to make all level and firm, and
no stone should be more than five inches broad on its face. Over its bottoming of stones
or cinders, six inches of stones, of a proper quality, broken of a size that will, in their
largest dimensions, pass through a ring of two and a half inches' diameter, must be laid.
The six feet of the road, on each side of the eighteen centre feet (making thirty feet),
when formed of a proper shape, may be covered with six inches of good clean gravel, or
small stone chips.
3686. No covering or mixture of any sort is added to the material by Edgeivorth, except
clean angular gravel, that may insert itself between the interstices of the stones ; but no
more should be used than what will thus sink to a level with the surface. If the whole
were covered with gravel, it would be impossible to discover the defects of the road, till
it might be too late. No stones larger than an inch and a half in diameter should be suf-
fered to remain on the road ; where much inaccuracy in this respect is suspected, an iron
ring may be employed as a gauge. In all cases, after the road has been covered with
stones, it should be carefully examined, and every stone that is too large should be picked
off to be broken smaller.
3687. The preference generally given to gravel, Paterson considers to be greater than it
deserves, and that the earth obtained from the sides of the road, free of expense, will not
only barely answer the purpose, but in most cases equally well ; and that on a perfectly
dry bottom, it is questionable whether it should not even be preferred to gravel. It is in
winter only, and on wet ground, that I consider gravel entitled to any preference what-
ever. ( Treatise, <^c. p. 43. )
3688. The mode of laying on gravel, according to Walker, "is to lay it on as it comes
from the pit, except the upper foot, or eighteen inches or so, which is screened :
but in all cases, whether the material is gravel or hard stone, the interstices between the
pieces should be filled up solid with smaller pieces, and the finishing made by a thin
covering of very small pieces, or road-sand or rubbish ; for those interstices must be filled
up before the road becomes solid, either in this way or by a portion of the materials of
the road being ground down, which last mode occasions a waste of the material, and
keeps the road unnecessarily heavy and loose. In the original making or effectually
repairing of a road, it is, I think, best that the whole of the proposed thickness be laid on
at once, for the sake of the road as well as of the traveller ; the materials of the road then
form a more solid compact mass than when they are laid in thin strata at different times,
for the same reason that a deep arch of uniform materials is preferable to a number of
separate rings." Laying on a stratum of unsifted gravel, under a sifted stratum, is
rather at variance with the doctrine of " a deep arch of uniform materials ; " and
it seems to us, that when a stratum of properly broken stones are to be powerfully
rolled, the previous filling up of their interstices with very small matters might
counteract the effect of rolling, in squeezing the angular stones into the angular
interstices.
3689. The mode of laying on gravel by M'Adam is that of scattering with a shovel,
and never emptying down cart or barrow-loads on the middle of the roadway, as is
generally practised. He completes the stratum Ijy three separate layers ; leaving the
first to be consolidated by wheels, and in some cases a heavy roller, before he lays on
the second ; and the second, in like manner, before he lays on the last.
3690- ji covering from four to Jive inches thick, according to Fry, forms a bed or mass,
which is proof against the severe crush of heavy wheels ; while in the case of a very thin
covering, the stones lying bare upon a hard road, and receiving in this unprotected
state the stroke of every wheel that passes over them, like the thin covering on a mill-
bed, they are quickly reduced to powder, and disappear. Stones in a thick bed are
protected from the immediate destructive grind ; while stones that are thinly laid on are
instantly reduced to powder, either by pressure or grinding.
Qq 2
596
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
PaltIIJ.
3691 . Telford, in filling broken stones, and also in scattering them on the road, makes
use of a pronged shovel, fourteen inches square,
which may be universally recommended for this
purpose {Jig. 548. d). His large hammer (a),
small one (6), and gauge for the size of the broken
stone (c), are in very general use, as well as
the pronged shovel. Hammers may be made
of cast iron, where the stones to be broken are
about their own weight ; the best shape is a
narrow oval : the advantage of using cast iron
is its cheapness. {Farm. Mag. xxii. 159.)
3692. Telford's level, for adjusting the de-
clivity of roads from the middle to the sides
{Jig' 549.), is also a very complete implement
of the kind.
-^-=-^
T-=^ /^
Sj.
548
en
;
6
ii'
a
d
\
L
549
3693. The mode of depositing materials by Paterson is as follows : — " Bottom
metals should be broken on the road. When they are thus broken, they are, by the
force of the hammer, firmly bedded into the bottom, and are so closely and compactly
beaten together, that they become like pavement. In this state they are not only
less liable to sink, but they form a much better bed for the top metals than when they
are thrown loosely on. And besides this, when they are put on in a loose manner,
as is frequently done, the mud more readily works up through the metals in time
of rains, and makes a disagreeable road : the top metals also are easily beaten down,
by the horses' feet and the carriages, through the bottom stones, when loose and
open ; so that the small metals frequently get undermost, and the large ones make
their appearance at the surface, very much to the injury of the road. Taking all these
circumstances, therefore, into consideration, it is of the greatest importance that the
bottom metals should not only be much larger in size, but that they also be broken on
the road." Tliis may be considered as at variance with several parts of Paterson's second
publication. Letters, ^c The road being drained and prepared for the materials, he
then directs (p. 80.) to put them on in the following manner: — " M* Adam's mode of
putting them on, in coats of three or four inches, though good in particular instances,
will not do as a universal rule. If the bottom is wet, and the weather rainy, the earth
will poach and work up through the materials, in spite of all the attention and care that
can be bestowed. I would, therefore, recommend in such cases to put on the first
course from five to six inches thick. But then to leave these materials to consolidate,
or rather to move and shift about by the wheels ; and then to be levelled by the rakes,
alternately, according to M' Adam's plan, wears away the corners of the stones, by which
means they do not unite together and make such a firm road. There were upwards of
two miles of road made under my directions lately, on which I caused a course of about
six inches to be put. But before opening it to the public, I got a heavy stone roller to
ply upon it for four days. This beat and firmed the materials so much, that the wheels
of the carriages made little impression upon it. Of course the materials retained their
angular points more than in rolling and shifting by every carriage- wheel that passed ;
and there was less labour in raking and levelling the road. This plan, which carries reason
on the face of it, I would strongly recommend. As to M« Adam's plan of putting on the
materials in shovelfuls, it is certainly good. I used to prohibit putting them on with
carts (as in that case you never have the small and the great properly mixed together),
and generally put them on with wheelbarrows : but even this does not mix them quite
so well as scattering them with the shovel j and as it is of considerable importance to
nave them well mixed, I would by all means recommend the mode best calculated for
that purpose."
3694. Rolling newly laid on metals is generally approved of. The roller used should
not be less than four or five feet in diameter ; a smaller size, especially in the use of
gravel, being apt to drag and force the loose materials before it. Some have attempted
to keep roads in order by occasionally harrowing and then rolling them ; but the best
lloGK II. PAVED ROADS. .'597
judges are of opinion with John Farey {Evidence, ^c. 1819.), that a roller cannot be be-
neficially used upon a road at any other times but after new coating it with materials, or
after a frost, or when the sticking of materials to the wheels may have loosened up the
stratum.
3695. Beatson's new theory of roads, as given in vol. i. of the Communications to the
Board of Agriculture, is as follows : — Water percolates through porous strata, and is re-
tained by compact strata. Whatever may be the form of the surface, therefore, if there
is a porous stratum underneath, the surface will be generally dry. When a new road is
to be formed, reduce the natural surface so as the lines of a section of it may meet in an
angle or ridge in the middle of the road (Jig. 550. a), having a slope from thence of
/r^-^ 550
about an inch in a foot. The road being thus formed, must be allowed to harden and
settle for some time, and then covered to a level, by a stratum (6 b) sufficiently porous
to admit water to pass through it ; small drains (c c) being formed at the sides, to lead
the water from the gutters [d d), into the open ditches {e e). Over this is to be laid
the coat of hard materials if), which need not be more than 6 or 7 inches in thickness,
of stones broken very small, or of the best gravel : it is then to be rolled with a roller,
which admits of being loaded, so as to render the surface harder and harder by degrees.
The advantages of this construction, Mr. Beatson tells us, are, every part of the road
being equally commodious for carriages, and very little repair required. These advan-
tages, however, are by no means obvious.
Sect. IV. Paved Roads.
3696. Causeways and pavements are chiefly made use of in towns, and may therefore
be considered as belonging more to architecture than to agriculture. But as it is the
opinion of some of the first engineers, that pavements might be introduced with advantage
on the public roads for some distance from the larger towns, we shall shortly consider
this subject with reference to that object. Paving, as applied to roads, is therefore to be
considered as a substitute for a part or the whole of the metalled part of the road, and
not as occupying every part of its width or site, as in the case of streets.
3697. For roads near capital or great commercial towns, paving, according to Edgeworth,
is the only certain method yet known that gives sufficient hardness, smoothness, and
permanency. B. and J. Farey are of the same opinion, and the latter considers it
would be proper to pave the sides of all the principal entrances into London. Walker,
who was the engineer of the Commercial Road, ten feet of the centre of which is paved
with granite, and has given great satisfaction for upwards of 1 6 years, is a great advocate
for paving. " The advantage," he says, " of paving part of a road where the traffic is
great, and the materials for making roads bad or expensive, is not confined to improving
the conveyance for heavy goods and reducing the horses' labour ; but as the paving is
always preferred for heavy carriages, the sides of a road are left for light caiTiages, and
are kept in much better repair than otherwise they could possibly be. It is not overstating
the advantage of the paving, but rather otherwise, to say, that, taking the year through,
two horses will do more work, with the same labour to themselves, upon a paved road, than
three upon a good gravelled road ; if the traffic upon the gravel road is at all considerable,
and if the effect of this, in point of expense, is brought into figures, the saving of the
expense of carriage will be found to be very great when compared with the cost of the
paving. If the annual tonngge upon the Commercial Road is taken at 250,000 tons, and
at the rate of only 35. per ton from the docks, it could not upon a gravelled road be done
under 4^. 6d., say however 45., or I5. per ton difference, making a saving of 12,500/., or
nearly the whole expense of the paving in one year. The introduction of paving, there-
fore, would, in many cases, be productive of great advantage, by improving the gravel
road, reducing the expense of repairs, and causing a saving of horses' labour much be-
yond what there is any idea of."
3698. Telford considers that it would be of advantage to pave a part of the centre of
great public roads ; and in conformity with this principle, when forming a gravel road,
he lays eight or ten feet of it in the centre with stones.
_ 3699. The parts of the road most desirable to be paved, according to B. Farey, are the
sides. " If the centre were paved," he says, " the light carnages would be much an-
Qq 3
598
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
noyed ; when the gravel road was good on the sides, the heavy carriages would go there,
and the light carriages would be driven on the stones from the sides again : if the centre
were paved, the carters would be obliged to walk on that road to manage their horses, and
would be considerably annoyed by carriages, horsemen, &c. passing; but if the sides of
that road were paved, the carters would be enabled to walk on the footpath, and to
manage their horses without annoyance."
S700. Paving the sides is also preferred by J. Farey, " but not the middle, as has been
done on the Commercial Road, the Borough Road and others. My reasons for prefer-
ring the sides being paved are, that it is next to impossible to compel the carters to keep
upon the pavement in the middle of the road ; in too many instances, the fear of
damage, from the swift going carriages, occasions them either to draw their carts close to
the sides, and walk upon the footpaths, or, what is worse, to leave tlieir horses in the
middle, beyond a train of carriages. The sides being paved would enable one of those
trains of carriages to enter London on one side of the road, and go out of it on the other,
without many occasions to turn out of their tracks : which circumstance of keeping nearly
to the same tracks, upon a well-paved road, would not be prejudicial ; but on a road
formed of gravel is entirely ruinous."
3701. Walker also prefers paving the sides, though in the case of the Commercial Road
he paved the centre, as already described (3699.).
3702. Stevenson, as we have seen (3539.), is an advocate for wheel-tracks of stone,
as greatly lessening the draught of heavy carriages in the country, and especially in ac-
clivities, and avoiding the irksome noise and jolting motion of causeways in town.
Specimens of these tracts have been laid down in Glasgow, and they may be seen in
various towns in Italy. " The stones of the tracks recommended by Mr Stevenson, are of
a cubical form (Jig- 551.), measuring only from 6 to 8 inches in the length way of the
track, and 12 to 14 inches in depth, 18 inches in breadth at the base, and twelve inches
on the top or wheel-track. The stones are therefore proportionate in all their dimen-
" ''* ""d S.iii. sions; for, unless they contain a mass of matter
corresponding to their length, they will be found
to want strength and stability. It would hardly
be possible to keep slender stone rails in their
places, and hence the chief benefit of a connected
railway would be lost. On the other hand,
very large materials are difficult to be got, and
are also more expensive in carriage and in workmanship than stones of a smaller size.
I'he Italian wheel-tracks are composed of stones 2 feet in breadth, and of various lengths.
To lessen the risk of horses falling, these broad stones are kept in a rough state, by
occasionally cutting grooves with a pick-axe upon their upper surface." (Edin. Encyc
art Roads.)
3703. Mathews also has proposed a plan for a stone railway ; he proposes that the
stones should be in pieces measuring 4 feet 2 inches in length, 1 1 inches in breadth at
the top, 14 inches at the base, and 10
inches in depth. He has various modes
of connecting these stones -. by a mortice
and tenon joint (Jig. 552.), bevelled so as
to prevent the joint from sinking; by a
bevelled joint in which the ends of the two
rails are made to rest on a centre or inter-
vening block {Jig. 553.) ; and with bevelled
and grooved joints, so as to prevent lateral
derangement, as well as sinking, (fig. 554. )
The manner of placing stones on these dif-
ferent methods together, of securing them
by a row of rubble causeway stones on each
side, and preserving the horsepath between,
may be easily conceived, (^g. 555.) Mr.
Mathews intended these railways for all the
principal highways in the kingdom ; but
the expense of the plan was one of its chief
objections. It has been alleged also, that unless the cubic contents of these blocks bore a
greater proportion to their length, they would be deranged by the pressure of very heavy
carriages. (Ed. Encyc. art. Roads.)
3704. Paving the whole or any part of a road is entirely disapproved of by M'Jdam.
" The measure," he says, " of substituting pavements, for convenient and useful roads,
is a kind of desperate remedy, to which ignorance has liad recourse." The badness or
scarcity of materials cannot be considered a reasonable excuse, because the same quan-
tity of stone required for paving is fully sufficient to make any excellent road any wliere;
I.e.
Book II.
PAVED ROADS
599
555
and it must be evident that road materials of the best quality may be procured at less cost
than paving stone. The very bad quality of the gravel round London, combined with
want of skill and exertion, either to obviate its defects, or to procure a better material,
has induced several of the small trusts, leading from that city, to have recourse to the plan
of paving their roads, as far as their means will admit. Instead of applying their ample
funds to obtain good materials for the roads, they have imported stone from Scotland,
and have paved their roads, at an expense ten times greater than that of the excellent
roads lately made on some of the adjoining trusts. Very few of these pavements have
been so laid as to keep in good order for any length of time, so that a very heavy expense
has been incurred without any beneficial result; and it is to be lamented that this wasteful
and ineffectual mode is upon the increase in the neighbourhood of London.
3705. The practice of jmving roads has also been adopted in places where the same
motive cannot be adduced : in Lavicashire, almost all the roads are paved at an enormous
cost, and are, in consequence, proverbially bad. At Edinburgh, where they have the
best and cheapest materials in the kingdom, the want of science to construct good roads
has led the trustees to adopt the expedient of paving to a considerable extent ; and at an
expense hardly credible, when compared with what would have been the cost of roads on
the best principles.
3706. The advantages of good roads, when compared with pavements, are universally ac-
knowledged ; the extension of pavement is therefore to be deprecated as an actual evil,
besides the greatness of the expense. Pavements are particularly inconvenient and dan-
gerous on steep ascents, such as the ascent to bridges, &c. A veiy striking example of
this may be observed on the London end of Blackfriars bridge, where heavy loads are
drawn up with great difficulty, and where more horses fall and receive injury than in any
other place in the kingdom. The pavement in such places should be lifted, and con-
verted into a good road, which may be done with the same stone at an expense not
exceeding \0d. per square yard. This road would be more lasting than the pavement,
and, when out of order, may be repaired at less than one tenth of the expense which
relaying the pavement would require. This measure has been adopted with great
success, and considerable saving of expense, in the suburbs of Bristol, where the
pavements were taken up, and converted into good roads, about three years ago.
The same thing has lately been successfully adopted on Westminster and Blackfriars
bridges.
8707. In preparing for laying down pavements, the first thing to be attended to,
Edgeworth observes, is the foundation. This mujt be made of strong and uniform
materials, well rammed together, and accurately formed to correspond with the figure of
the superincumbent pavement. This has no where been more effectually accomplished,
than in some late pavement in Dublin. Major Taylor, who is at the head of the Paving
Board, before he began to pave a street, first made it a good gravel-road, and left it to be
beaten down by carriages for several months ; it then became a fit foundation for a good
pavement. The Romans, in preparing for pavement, laid a substratum of masonry, in
some cases two or more feet thick, and never less than a foot or eighteen inches, This
mode is adopted in one or two cases near St. Petersburgh, and might be advantageously
used in this country, were not the expense an objection. Planking, broad stones, iron
plates, slates, tiles, and brickwork, have also been proposed in this country ; but a con-
solidated stratum of broken stone of ten inches in thickness is perhaps the simplest and
best preparation, especially for the sides of roads. A substratum of sand is sure to
be deranged after the first rains.
3708. The kinds of stone used in paving are chiefly granite, whinstone or trap,
Qq 4
600 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
Guernsey or other pebbles, or water-worn granitic or trapstones. Walker prefers the
granite of Guernsey to that of Aberdeen.
3709. The size of the sto7ies used in road pavements is commonly from five to seven
inches long, from four to six inches broad, and from six to eight inches deep. Walker
prefers stones nine inches deep ; and Telford is of opinion that the general shape of the
stones at present used for paving, and the mode of distributing them, are very imperfect ;
the lower part of the stones being of a triangular wedge-like shape, which, instead of
enabling them to resist the weights which come upon them, easily penetrate into the
substratum : the stones are also broken of an unequal size. The remedies for these
defects are obvious : they should be as nearly as possible of a cubical form, the lower bed
having an equal surface with the upper face ; they should be selected as nearly as possible
of an equal size, and they should never be of unequal length on the face. In quarrying
and preparing the stones there would certainly be an additional expense in the prepara-
tion, because there would be more work required in the dressing, and many stones
must be rejected which are now used ; but the additional expense would be very well
bestowed.
37 10. In laying down the stones, each stone, according to Edgeworth, should bear
broadly and firmly on its base ; and the whole should be rammed repeatedly, to make the
joints close ; the upper and lower sides of the stones should be as near each other as pos-
sible, but they should not touch each other laterally, except near the top and bottom,
leaving a hollow in the middle of their depth, to receive gravel, which will serve to hold
them together. This method of paving may be easily executed by common workmen,
who may throw in gravel between the stones as they are laid down. It may be easily
conceived, that if a grain of gravel inserts into holes that are in stones opposite to each
other, it will dowel them together. It will be useful to cover a newly made pavement
with gravel, which will preserve the fresh pavement for some time from the irregular
pressure of wheels, till the whole is consolidated. The stones should be of equal hard-
ness, or the soft ones will be worn down into hollows. In every species of paving,
no stones should be left higher or lower than the rest ; for a wheel descending from
a higher stone will, by repeated blows, sink or break the lower stone upon which
it falls.
8711. Tlie requisites for laying down the stones and forming a good pavement are,
according to Walker, to have the stones properly squared and shaped, not as wedges,
but merely as rectangular prisms; to sort them into classes according to their sizes, so as
to prevent unequal sinking, which is always the effect of stones, or rows of stones, of
unequal sizes being mixed together ; to have a foundation properly consolidated before
the road is begun to be paved ; to have the stones laid with a close joint, the courses
being kept at right angles from the direction of the sides, and in perfectly straight lines ;
the joints carefully broken, that is, so that the joint between two stones in any one course
shall not be in a line with or opposite to a joint in any of the two courses adjoining.
After the stones are laid they are to be well rammed, and such of the stones as ap-
pear to be rammed loose should be taken out and replaced by others; after this the joints
are to be filled with fine gravel, and, if it can be done conveniently, the stability of the
work will be increased by well watering at night the part that has been done during the
day, and ramming it over again next morning. The surface of the pavement is then to
be covered with an inch or so of fine gravel, that the joints may be always kept full, and
that the wheels may not come in contact with the stones while they are at all loose in their
places. Attention to these points will very much increase both the smoothness and the
durability of the paving. He has found great advantage from filling up, or, as it is
called, grouting the joints with lime water, which finds its way into the gravel between
and under the stones, and forms the whole into a solid concreted mass. The purpose
served by the lime might also be effectually answered hy mixing a little of the borings or
chippings of iron, or small scraps of iron hoop, with the gravel used in filling up the
joints of the paving. The water would very soon create an oxide of iron, and form the
gravel into a species of rock. He has seen a piece of rusty hoop taken from under water,
to which the gravel had so connected itself, for four or five inches round the hoop, as
not to be separated without a smart below of a hammer ; and the cast-iron pipes which
are laid in moist gravel soon exhibit the same tendency.
8712. As substitutes for paving stones, plates of cast iron moulded into the form of the
surface of a pavement of different sizes {fg. 558. c, d, e) have been tried ; but on the
whole they are not considered as likely to succeed. They are very hot in summer, and more
slippery than stone in winter; but what is most against them is, that the water finds its
way beneath them and softens the substratum. This, at any time of the year, tends
directly to produce holes by the leverage of wheels and the feet of animals (3573.) ; but
after a severe frost the effects are ruinous. At all events, this description of pavement
does not appear so well adapted for the sides or middle of public roads as that of granite
stones prepared in Telfoid's manner (3700.).
Book II.
PAVED ROADS.
601
-^y /
i
/ / '£''^'9
h/ / ^
llfc::: ,, .
JW
ks of stone, arid also of timber, have been proposed to be laid in iron boxes ;
of the granite blocks laid down in Fleet-street does not warrant the ex-
37 13. Various improvements in laying jjavcments have recently been devised, such as
laying the stones dry on clay ; using square stones, or stones equally wide at bottom as
556 at top ; using stones alternately wider at bottom and top,
and joining them with cement \jig. 556.); paving on plates
of iron, wood, or stone, or on a mass of masonry, &c. If
pavements in towns did not require to be frequently lifted
on account of sewers, and water and gas pipes, paving in
this manner on a solid foundation would certainly be the
best mode ; but as things are, and even probably if pavements did not require to
be frequently lifted, M' Adam's roads are found greatly preferable for all broad streets,
and where care is taken to keep them clean and in complete repair. In Britain, at
least, they will probably soon supersede all common pavements, and all other descriptions
of common roads.
3714. Large blocks of granite {jig. 557. ) have been substituted for common-sized paving
stones ; each block is two or more feet square, nine inches deep,
and channelled on the surface in imitation of common-sized
paving stones. These are found to answer much better than
the cast-iron plates ; but they are liable to the same objection
as to leverage; are difficult to replace properly; and as the
raised pannels between the grooves will in time wear down
to the level of the grooves, they cannot be considered so
durable as common square stones, which, after all, appear
the best for general purposes, and, at all events, for paving the middle or sides of
highways.
3715. Block-
hut the effect
pectation of any advantage from either of Uiese modes. Where nothing but light car-
riages pass over a road, no material is more agreeable than blocks of wood set endways,
as is done in many parts of Russia and Germany ; and this mode of paving may, there-
fore, be considered very suitable for private court-yards, or stable-yards in country resi-
dences. {Newton's Journal, vol. vii. p. 197.)
3716. The defects of common pavement, and the theory of its trear, are thus given by
Edgeworth. " Stones, in a common pavement, are usually somewhat oval, from five to
seven inclies long, and from four to six inches broad. They
are laid in parallel rows on the road {fg. 558. c, d), or alter-
^^^ ^s/y nately (a, b), as bricks are laid in a wall. On the first sort
^^f^y of pavement, wheels slip from the round tops of the stones
y/^A %^ into the joints between, and soon wear away the edges of
the stones, and their own iron tire. By degrees, channels
are thus formed between some of the stones, and in time the
pavement is ruined.
3717. On the second sort of pavement (a), b, where the
stones are placed alternately, to prevent the injurj' to which
the former method is liable, the wheel {f) sliding sideways,
makes a channel between two stones, and is then obliged
to mount from the groove which it has made, to the top of
the stone opposite to it ; when it has attained this situation,
the wheel may slide sideways, or may go forwards over the
top of the stone, till it drops into the interstice between the two next stones. By con-
tinual wearing, these ruts become so wide and deep, that the wheel does not touch the
stones on either side, nor does it reach the ground between them, but it bounds from
one stone to the other, thus jolting the carriage in every direction. Tliis method is not
at present in use.
3718. In the pavements last described, the stones are but of a small size ; but if flat
stones of twelve or fourteen inches long {e) are well laid, wheels are not liable to slide
into the joints ; and if such stones are laid with their longest sides crossing the road,
they are less liable to injury ; but still narrow wheels sometimes fall into the joints
between the largest stones, and having in time worn away their own edges, and those of
the stones, they will act like wedges, and will displace the stones. No pavement, of the
best stone that could be procured, can long resist this action of a narrow wheel. And
the only effectual means of preserving pavements is, to increase the breadth of all wheels
to at least three inches. Were no wheels narrower, a cheap and durable pavement might
be made of flat stones, not more than three inches square, provided tliey were eight or
nine inches deep, to give them reciprocally lateral support ; for the tire of such broad
wheels could never sink between the joints of the stones." {Edgeworth.)
3719. Various improved methods of paving have been lately brought into notice.
About 1811 or 1812, we suggested the idea of i)lacing the stones on a foundation
602 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III,
559 of flag-stones or cast-iron plates on
a bed of mortar. (Jig. 559. ) When
tliis mode is adopted in the streets of
cities, tlie gas and water pipes (a)
may be placed in drains, covered
with large blocks of granite (6),
channelled on the surface to prevent
horses from slipping. Access to the
pipes might be had by simply lifting
these stones, without disturbing any
other part of the pavement {Gard.
Mag. vol. V. p. 79.)
3720. George Amg/it luis suggested the idea of placing the paving stones with the broadest
surface undermost, on a Macadamized foundation ; and some streets in the metropolis
have been so pavetl. The improvement has been found considerable ; but as the rain-
water sinks to the Macadamized stratum, and cannot run oft' through it for want of
drains, the mud still works up to the surface. With adequate under-drainage, or with
the stones so compact as that the surface-water would run off" instead of running through,
this plan would be one of the most perfect which has been suggested.
37'21. Coionet Maciroiie recommends pressure, " which may be applied in three different
stages of the work : first, to harden the ground previously to laying tlie stones ; secondly,
to fix and depress them when laid ; thirdly, to equalise and perfect a pavement after it
has been some time in use, by applying the pressure only on the protuberant parts. The
machine he proposes for the above purpose is similar to a pile-driver of the smaller kind ;
the weight being drawn up by a rope passing over a single pulley-wheel at the top of
the slide shafts, and terminating on tlie other side in a cluster of sin.iller ropes or cords,
one for each of the six, eight, or ten men employed to work the u.achine." (Hints to
Pavioursy 8vo. 1826.)
3723. Lieutenant Broum suggests *' that, after the foundation has been formed in the
necessary shape, and the surface rolled or rammed hard, the paving stones, dressed so
as to fit close together, should be laid or set in a thick coat of good mortar, and the joints
grouted with cement ; the whole mass would thus become a scJid bodj, and the rain would
be effectually prevented from penetrating to tlie foundation, which would remain dry
and firm in the position in which it was originally placed. By bedding the stone in
mortar, properly />/actfrf in the situation in which it is to remain, then grouting the joint,
and allowing it to set hard, without afienvanls ramming or disturbing it, the pavement
will remain immovable and water-tight, until fairly worn out, and save all the expense of
an artificial foundation of Macadamized stones or other matter. A grand objection to
a Macadamized pavement, in this and every cold climate is, that a severe frost setting in
after wet, does incalculable injurs-, owing to its porous state ; now, as no water can
penetrate beneath the surface of this pavement, if properly made, this serious fault is ob-
viated." {Quttr. Jour. Science, Jan. 18S0.).
Sect. V. Milestones, Guide-posts, and ToU-gates.
3793. MHe%tones of the most improved kind are generally formed of durable stone,
« cast iron. They ought to have two faces {Jig. 560.) ; one to contain the distance
from the metropolis of the country to the stone, and the distance from that stone to the
next market town, and village or place ; and the other the distance from the extremity
of tlie road to the stone, and from the stone to the next market town, and village or
place, in proceeding to the metropolis. On a face on the apex of the stone may be the
name of the county and hundred, and on the base, the name of the township, parisli,
and hamlet or village. In some countries of the Continent, as in Wirtemburg and Bava-
ria, a small open area of 10 or 12 feet in diameter is preserved round the milestones;
a bench of stone or turf forms a semicircle, in the radius of which is the milestone, and
immediately beyond the bench a row of ornamental trees or shrubs. In several places,
every milestone is formed in three steps, the lowest 2 feet 6 inches, the next 3 feet 6
inches, and the last or top of the milestone 4 feet 6 inches. The use of these steps is, to
enable people of diflferent heights, travelling alone, and carrying burthens on their backs
or heads, to set down these burthens rest themselves on the l>enches, and resume the
burthens without assistance. In England such an arranjrement is unnecessary ; but
^•arious plans have been suggested for rendering milestones interesting: names of
benefactors to mankind who lived near ; dates of remarkable events ; monuments, tombs,
statues, small burial places, cottages, alehouses, &c. Sec. See Gard. Mag. vol. v.) We
should prefer a cottage or a burial place at every milestone, because, as the majority of
travellers are on horses or in carriages, they can have little time to peruse milestones ;
but the cottage might afTord protection to the foot traveller, and a glance at the burial
Book I J
MILESTONES, GUIDE-POSTS, AND TOLL-GATES.
603
place would afford
matter of reflec-
tion to all. " It
has been sug-
gested to us that
milestones might
be made larger,
in the form of an
obelisk or sarco-
phagus, on the
model of an an-
cient classical or
other building, or
in other forms ;
and that there
might be in-
scribed on them
the names and
dates of events
which took place,
or of great men
who lived, in the
neighbourhood ;
and that, in ad-
dition to these,
there might be
inscribed on each
milestone, or
structure serving
the same end,
maxims of con-
duct, or funda-
mental principles of science. Thus, on some roads,
the milestones might exhibit sculptured reliefs, re-
presenting a historical series, either of events in the
history of that part of the country, in the life of
some eminent character who had lived there, in the
progress of discovery in some art or science of the
human mind generally, or in general historj-. If
all the proprietors on a line of road were agreed, a
group of exotic trees and shrubs might be planted
as a back ground to a small area, which miglit con-
tain the milestone ; and by limiting every group to
one genus of timber tree, and one or two fruit trees,
considerable variety would be produced, and the botanical interest of the road kept up
for many miles. Small burial-grounds round milestones would, we think, be unobjec-
tionable ; and, indeed, we do not think they could be better placed : and tombstones
there, or any where along the road-side, would attain their end more effectually than
in churchyards, and, at any rate, would be what is called classical ; which is an excel-
lence to be aimed at, and which is beneficial in a certain stage of progress, but too often,
in architecture and in sculpture for example, an impediment to improvement, by being
considered the highest degree of excellence. Some one has proposed to build cottages
as milestones, and to that plan and to various others we have no objection, to a certain
extent ; the danger being the production of sameness, by adopting the same plan every
where." (Gard. Mag. vol. v. p. 117.)
3724. Guide-posls. Wherever one road branches from another there ought to be a
guide-post ; and it is not a little remarkable that in this improving age, when eveiy
street and lane in towns is so carefully named, that so little has been done in the streets
and lanes of the country. The posts which bear the names ought, where the expense
is not an insuperable object, to be of iron, on account of its durability. Swaine proposes
to have the posts hollow cylinders of cast iron, and the letters to be also of iron, with
the space between them open, " so that the light may be seen through them ; by which
means the characters of this hand-post will be legible at night, by viewing them against
the sky, unless it should be exceedingly dark. Tlie direction of the road is denoted by
the manner of disposing the letters : thus, in a guide-post between London and Windsor
i.fiS' 56L a), the letters of the word London are reversed, to denote that the direction of
London is to the left hand ; tlie word Windsor in the line beneath is not reversed,
604
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Taut lil.
as that town must be understood to lie to the right hand : the number of miles to each
place is shown by figures placed beneath each word. The same object may also be
effected in the more obvious manner in general use [Jig. 561. b).
561
msmmm
mMvym"^.
iHWiwiiippillMii
3725. Toll-gates and gate-houses have also partaken of the improvement of the age.
The form and hanging of the gates. have been scientifically treated of by Parker, \\iio
may be considered as having arrived at a high degree of practical excellence. For his
general principles, and the details of his compensation hinge for turnpike-gates, see
§ 3081, 3082.), and his valuable Essay on Hanging Gates, &c., ed. 3., 1826.
3726. Gate or toll-houses have been materially improved, both in point of internal
comfort, and as objects of taste. Some of those in the neighbourhood of London are
elegant objects. As an example we shall select that at Edgeware. (fig. 562.) Oa
the summit of the cupola of this house there was originally a lamp with three burners
and three separate reflectors. Two of the reflectors directed the light along the road in
opposite directions, to show what might be coming or departing on either hand ; the third
reflector threw the light directly across the road, and down on the gate, for the purposes
Bock II. PilESf:ilVATION AND REPAIR OF ROADS. 605
of the gate-keeper and those passing through. After this light had remained between
two and three years, it was taken down, as being too brilliant and as having frightened
some horses ; but it might surely have been softened, so as to be retained. Where
there are two gates, as in various examples, a lamp post is very properly placed between
them, which thus answers all the purposes of the cupola and triple lamp at Edgeware.
Sect. VI. Preservation and Repair of Roads.
3727. The preservation of a road depends in a great measure on the description of ma-
chines and animals which pass over it, and on keeping it dry and free from dust and mud.
The repair of a road should commence immediately after it is finished, and consists in
obliterating ruts the moment they appear, filling up any hollows, breaking any loose
stones, and correcting any other defect. After cleaning and this sort of repair have gone
on hand in hand for a longer or shorter period, according to the nature of the materials
and traffic on the road, a thorough repair or surface-renewal, by a coating of metal of
three or more inches in thickness over the whole of the road, may be required.
3728. To preserve a road, by improving the wheel carriages which pass over it, all agree
that the wheels should be made broader than they usually are, and cylindrical ; that
carts with two horses abreast are less injurious than such as are di-awn by two horses in
a line ; and that it would be an advantage to have the axletrccs of different lengths.
3729. Edgeworth, upon a careful examination, concludes that the system of rolling
roads by very broad wheels should be abandoned ; and that such a breadth only should be
insisted upon, and such restrictions made as to loading, as will prevent the materials of
the road from being ground to powder, or from being cut into ruts. With this view the
wheels of carriages of burthen should have felloes six inches broad, and no more than one
ton should be carried upon each wheel.
3730. Fareij is of opinion, that six-inch cylindrical wheels, or under, are the most
practicable and useful, provided the projecting nails are most rigidly prohibited, which
can never be done but by a penalty per nail upon the wheelers who put in those nails,
and upon the drivers of the carriages who use such roughly-nailed wheels.
3731. Telford thinks that no waggon or cart wheel ought to be of less breadth than
four inches, and that in general no carriage ought to be allowed to carry more than at
the rate of one ton per wheel : " when it exceeds that weight," he says, " the best
materials for road-making must be deranged and ground to pieces."
3732. Palerson is a warm advocate for broad wheels. " If the wheels were used
double the breadth that they are at present," he says, " they would act as rollers upon
the i 'orials, binding them together; and consequently the surface would remain always
smooui and free from ruts, and the waste or decay would, of course, be exceedingly
little." All broad wheels, however, should be constructed diflferently from those that are in
>63 /^^\ common use {fig. 563. a). Those in common use,
whether broad or narrow, aie generally dished (as it
is called) on the outside, and the ends of the axle-
tree bent a little downwards. This causes the
wheels to run vrider above than below; and the
reason, I believe, for adopting this plan was to
allow people to increase the breadth of their car-
riages, and yet the wheels to run in the same track.
Upon this plan, the edges of the wheel, to run flat
upon the road, must be of a conical shape, the outer edge being of a less diameter than
the inner one. Any bad effect arising from this is, indeed, very little felt from the
narrow wheels ; but as they increase in breadth, the evil increases in the same proportion.
" A conical wheel," says Edgeworth, " if moved forwards by the axletree, must partly
roll and partly slide on the ground, for the smaller circumference could not advance in
one revolution as far as the larger. Suppose," says he, " the larger revolution sixteen
feet, and the smaller thirteen feet, the outer part must slide three feet, while the carriage
advances sixteen, i. e. it must slide neai-ly one fifth of the space through which the car-
riage advances, — thus, if loaded with ten tons, the horses would have two tons to drag,
as if that part of the weight were placed on a sledge." The same thing has been ably
and beautifully demonstrated by Gumming [Essay on the Principles of Wheels and Wheel
Carriages, Sec), and is very easily illustrated : take, for instance, the frv strum of a cone,
or a sugar loaf from which you have broken off a little bit at the point ; then set this a
rolling upon a table, and instead of going straight forwards it will describe a circle ; and
if you will put a pin or axletree right through the centre of it, and upon that axle cause
it to move straight forwards, the smaller diameter must slide instead of rolling. It is
evident, therefore, that the rims of the wheels ought to be of a cylindrical form (6).
Edgeworth states, in relation to this, that, from the testimony given to the committee
of parliament, cylindrical wheels and straight axletrees have been unequivocally pre-
ferred by every person of science and judgment.
606 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
3733. Farey finds the Whitechapel road more injured by broad wheels than any other,
owing to these wheels being barrelled and conical, and not running flat, and the middle
tier projecting above the others, with rough nails.
3734. Cumming has proved experimentally before the committee of 1808, that when
the rim of a wheel is made truly cylindrical, so as to have an equal bearing on its whole
breadth, the resistance to its progress on a smooth road is not increased by increasing its
breadth. With regard to the immense saving that would accrue to the nation, Jessop,
in his report, says, " I may venture to assert, that by the exclusive adoption of cylin-
drical broad wheels and flat roads, tliere would be a saving of one horse in four, of
sfeventy-five per cent, in repairs of roads, fifty per cent, in the wear of tire ; and that the
wheels with spokes alternately inclined would be equally strong with conical ones, and
wear twice as long as wheels do now on the present roads." But, over and above the
preference due to such wheels, in respect of public roads, they are no less preferable when
applied to purposes of husbandry. Besides the great resistance to the draught occasioned
by the sinking of the narrow wheels on soft land, every farmer knows what injury is fre-
quently done to subsequent crops by such poaching and cutting up of the land. But
this is not all. Many a field of beautiful pasture, when subjected to the destroying
operation of the narrow wheels, is very much injured, both in respect of the appearance
and of the crop, which would be entirely prevented by using broad wheels. Thus it has
been stated, with regard to the introduction of the use of broad wheels, that the saving
on the incidental repairs of the road would be immense ; that the roads would uniformly
retain a smooth and even surface, which would greatly contribute to the comfort of the
traveller and the ease of the draught; that in husbandry also the advantages would be great ;
in short, that, in every point of view, the benefits which would be derived in consequence
would be paramount to every thing that could be urged in favour of the narrow wheels.
3735. M^Adam thinks a waggon wheel of six inches in breadth, if standing fairly on
the road with any weight whatever, would do very little material injury to a road well
made, and perfectly smooth. The injury done to roads is by these immense weights
striking against materials ; and, in the present mode of shaping the wheels, they drive the
materials before them, instead of passing over them. If a carriage passes fairly over a
smooth surface, he says, it cannot hurt the road, but must rather be an advantage to it,
upon the principle of the roller. On being asked, " Are you not of opinion that the
immense weights carried by the broad-wheeled waggons, even by their perpendicular
pressure, do injury by crushing the materials ?" he answered, " On a new-made road the
crush would do mischief, but on a consolidated old road the mere perpendicular pressure
does not do any. But there is a great deal of injury done by the conical form of the
broad wheels, which operate like sledging instead of turning fairly. There is a sixteen-
inch wheel waggon, which comes out of Bristol, that does more injury to our roads, than
all the travelling of the day besides."
3736. With regard to regulating the weight to be carried on wheels, Farey judiciously
observes, that though it is not easy to state any one scale which would be generally appli-
cable for each breadth of wheels below six inches, there should be a rate fixed, which
would apply to ordinary or gate tolls ; and at the weighing machines additional or what
may be called machine tolls should be levied upon all carriages which exceeded the
weight, to be regulated in an increasing scale for each breadth of wheel, so as very greatly
to discourage, but not ruinously to prohibit the occasional carrying of large weights upon
any wheels.
3737. Axletrees of different lengths have been proposed by some engineers with a view
to preserving the roads. On this subject Paterson observes, " At present the axles of
all kinds of carriages are made to one length, so that their wheels all run at the same
width, and in the same track, than which nothing could be more fitly devised for the
destruction of the roads. I would, therefore, propose, that the length of the axletrees
should be so varied, that the wheels of the lighter description of carriages should run
two inches narrower than the present track ; and that the axles for the more weighty
carriages should be increased in length, so that their wheels should run from one to four
inches beyond the present track. I would also propose, that mails, and other heavy
coaches, should be so constructed, that the hind wheels should follow, either two inches
within, or two inches outside, the track of the fore wheels, as might be considered most
proper. Were the axletrees of all kinds of carriages to be of various lengths, as here
proposed, we should have no rutted roads. The stones now displaced by the wheels of
one carriage, would be replaced again by the next carriage that came up, having its axle
of a different length ; and in the same manner would the hind wheels repair the injury
done by the fore wheels of a carriage. If this plan were to be acted upon all over the
kingdom, it is evident that it would have a very beneficial effect on the roads ; and if it
should be found thus to contribute to keeping the roads smooth and even, it is also
evident that it must contribute, in the same proportion, to the comfort of travellers of
every description, and also to the ease of the beast of draught."
Book If. PRESERVATION AND REPAIR OF ROADS. 607
3738. J. Farey is of opinion that varying the length of axles, so as to prevent their
running in the same track, w^ould be very beneficial. This he particularly stated to the
Board of Agriculture, with an example of the tolls over a new^ road in Derbyshire,
which are regulated according to the length of the axle.
3739. The division of weight has been proposed by Fry as a means of preserving roads :
that is to say, the division of the power, which any carriage may possess, to crush or
destroy the materials of the roads ; and the division of the power, which any carriage
may possess, to resist the power of the horses drawing such carriage. " A man can break
an ordinary stick, an inch in diameter, across his knee ; but if he tied ten of these sticks
together, he could not break them if he tried ten times, nor if he tried a thousand times ;
although, by these thousand efforts, he might have broken a thousand such sticks sepa-
rately. A stone might be of such a size and texture that a strong man with a large
hammer might break it into pieces at one blow ; while a boy with a small hammer,
striking it with one tenth part of the force, might strike it a thousand times, applying in
the whole one hundred times the power upon it that the man would have done, without
producing the same effect. So it is with the pressure of wheels on the materials of the
roads. Suppose a stone, the size of a man's fist, to be detached on a firm part of the
road, and a waggon-wheel, pressing with the weight of two tons, were to pass over it,
the consequence would be that it would crush it to powder. But suppose these two
tons to be distributed into forty wheelbarrows, of one hundred weight each, and they
were to pass over over it succession, the only effect likely to be produced would be a
trifling rounding of its corners ; nor would probably five hundred such wheelbarrows,
of twenty-five tons, crush the stone so completely as the single waggon-wheel. Nor do I
think that five hundred gig or one-horse chaise wheels, of four hundred weight each, in
all one hundred tons, would so completely destroy the cohesion of the stone, as the single
crush of the heavy wheel. Conceiving, therefore, that the destructive effect of pressure
on the roads increases, from the lowest weights to the highest, in a very rapidly increasing
ratio, I think that all reasonable ingenuity should be exercised, so to construct our car-
riages, as for each wheel to press the road with the least possible weight that the public
convenience will allow."
3740. A great weight in one rolling mass {Jig. 564.), Fry continues, " has a tendency
to disturb the entire bed of the road, whether it be on a six-inch wheel or on one of
sixteen inches, and whether on conical {Jig. 563. a) or on cylindrical wheels (Ji^. 563. b).
Under all these considerations, I am satisfied that the only grand desideratum, on behalf
both of the roads and the horses, is light pressure; and therefore any dependence
on breadth of wheels, as a security against the destructive effects of pressure, is in
my opinion fallacious. I wish here to be understood as applying these remarks upon a
supposition that wheels were made upon the most philosophical construction ; that is to
say, perfectly cylindrical {Jig. 563. b) ; and that they stood perfectly upright or vertical.
The present system of broad wheels I consider a system of mere mockery."
3741. Fry proposes to attain his principle of the dmsi'on of power by the adoption of light one-horse
waggons with six or eight wheels ; which in our opinion are of very questionable advantage, all things
considered, compared to one-horse carts, to carry one ton, and four-wheel waggons to carry four tons.
" One-horse waggons " he says, " fully embrace the principle; and the labour of the horses would be
much more efttcienlly applied than at present. If light one-horse waggons were constructed, to weigh
eight hundred weight" each, and these were charged with a load of sixteen hundred weight each, a good
ordinary cart-horse would travel England over with such a load ; drawing just as much net weight as the
ten horses in a heavy waggon take each in gross weight ; and the roads would never have a pressure, on
one point, exceeding six hundred weight. The only objection to surh carriages that I see is, that each
must be attended by a man. [There is no reason for this ; in Scotland one man always drives two single-
horse carts ] But, were they adopted, roads would last, I will not say ten times as long, I think they
would last a hundred times as long, as they now do. Carriages so constructed ought therefore to pass at
the lo%vest possible rate of toll. The next mode is by the use of carriages with six or eight wheels. About
twenty years ago there were several stage-coaches constructed in this manner. Two eight-wheel coaches
plied some years between Bath and Bristol ; and they were so constructed that each wheel supported
its share of the load, carrying its proportion, and no more, over every obstruction : the consequence was,
that when a wheel passed over a stone two inches high, the middle part of the carriage rising only an
eighth part of two inches, or one quarter of an inch, they were perhaps the easiest coaches to passengers
that ever were sat in. They had, however, one defect in their construction ; which was, that the two
hmder axles being fixed, whenever the coach varied from a straight line on the road, the hindermost pair
of wheels must have been dragged sideways. How the six-wheel coaches were circumstanced in this
respect, I had no opportunity of observing."
608
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
S742. Double shafts have been proposed by Edgeworth, Morton, and some others, as
likely to divide the traction of draught cattle. B. Farey considers single shafts in
waggons very injurious; the horses follow in one track, in the centre of the carriage;
and the wheels also follow each other in their tracks, and cut ruts. If there were double
shafts, they would naturally avoid former wheel tracks, which would be less injurious
to the road.
3743. J. Farey concurs \n opinion with his brother, and thinks that Sbmfe'abbtentent of tolls might be
made to those carriages which now generally use single shafts, like the farmers' carts and waggons, on
their adopting double shafts, so that all their horses may draw in pairs ; this being applicable even to three-
horse carts, as far as the two foremost are concerned. Stage-coaches, for the reasons here alluded to, as
they all draw in pairs, and very seldom follow in any previous and deep rut, do far less damage to the roads
than otherwise would happen ; their springs also, and swiftness of motion, contributing, very materially,
to lessening their wear of the road.
3744. Roads are generally repaired by manual labour', but various machines have been
contrived for this purpose. The snow-plough is a well known implement, consisting
simply of two boards placed on edge in the form of two sides of a triangle, and drawn
by a hook attached to the apex. The common harrow, followed by the common roller,
has been used for levelling roads broken up by ruts, and a studded roller has also
been lately invented for this purpose.
5Q5 ^.fr^^ 3745. Harriott's road
harrow {fig. 565.) has
been used in some places,
for dragging over roads
when much out of repair,
to replace the stones or
gravel dist urbed by wh eel
carriages. " A man, a
boy, and two horses, will
do three miles in length
in one day; completely
harrowing down the
quarters, and drawing
the stones together,
which, by means of the
mould-boards, are drop,
ped into the ruts far bet-
ter than a man can stub
them in "
3746. To prevent the formation qfruts in roads, and for use in lanes and unmetalled farm roads, Beatson
-. suggests the idea of placing a roller between
5&0 ^ the other wheels {fig. 566.), and so strongly
secured to the axle tree, as to be able to sup-
port the whole weight in the cart when neces-
sary. This roller he proposes to call a pro-
tector, and he thinks it will be much more
easily drawn than two wheels running in
deep ruts. {Com. to B. of Ag. vol i. p. 154).
3747. The cleaning of roads is
effected by scraping, sw'eeping, water-
ing, and washing.
3748. Scraping is an operation uni-
versally necessary to keep roads clean,
by the removal of mud in wet weather,
dust in a very dry season, and snow in
winter. It has been performed by
machinery ; and on a well made road,
this mode might be attended with a considerable saving of labour. Were the scraping
board edged with a brush of wires, or even of birch spray, the work, even on a road some-
what irregular, might be done to great perfection. Both in scraping and sweeping, care
should be taken as soon as possible to dispose of the mud or dust, either in making
or keeping up tHe sides of the road or fence mounds, or in such other way as circum-
stances may direct. Hand scrapers are commonly made with iron< plates ;^la)Uta> piece
of board is considered less likely to raise the surface of the road.
to naifigi-fo'.
3749. The scraping machine {fig. 567.) is the invention of John BoaSe, Esq., and cbnsists of an oblong
frame of iron, supported on three wheels, two of which are common carriage- wheels, about three feet jn
diameter, working on an axle fixed to the frame ; the third is a small cast-iron one, placed under the
centre of the front bar of the frame. Below the fVame, and obliquely to it, is placed the flexible scraper,
Book II. PRESERVATION AND REPAIR OF ROADS.
609
consisting of a number of plates of sheet-iron, arranged in a line, and connected to each other by small
bolts. On tho back of each plate is bolted a piece of iron, in the shape of the letter T inverted : the stem
of this iron is continued to the upper end of the plate, and then bent forward in a horizontal direction to
a shaft (secured to the frame) parallel to the scraper, at the distance of about eighteen inches from it,
to which it is joined. By this arrangement, when the machine is moved forward, the shaft draws after it
the series of plates forming the scraper, which being attached to each other by joints, or bolts acting as
such, each plate has sufficient freedom of action to adapt itself to the inequalities of the surface. Springs,
equal in number to the plates, are fixed to the shaft, by which any degree of pressure required can be
given to the scraper. As the machine proceeds, a portion of road, equal in width to the quadrilateral
figure of which the scraper forms the diagonal, is cleared ; and the mud or dirt, as fast as it coUectSj is
slid ofFby the oblique surface of the scraper, and finally left in a line on the ofF-side of the machine. This
process is commenced near the centre of the road; and the machine, having gone a convenient distance
in a straight line, is turned and brought back on the other side of the centre, removing the dirt in
an opposite direction. For the next course the machine is brought to the side where it first acted, and
removes the dirt from a hke portion of ground, and with it the line formed by the preceding course. This
is continued until the scrapings are brought to the side of the road. The manager is enabled to lift the
8Ci-aper, by turning a wooden roller fixed above it, and attached to each plate by a corresponding chain. This
is done in order to pass over parts of roads recently repaired ; and, when going to work or returning, the
plates arc kept in this elevated positioii by a ratchet and catch at the end of the roller. A curved scraper
is attached to the back part of the frame at the ofF-corner, to be used only during the last course of the
machine, for the purjiose of collecting the scrapings into heaps ready for removal. This machine, drawn
by two horses, and attended by one man, will clean five miles of road, twenty-four feet wide, in eight
hours. Two additional men will be required to throw the scrapings off the road, and clear the water-
courses. The same work would require twenty-five men per diem, with scrapers, according to the present
method. {Gard. Mag. vol v.)
3750. Sweeping, as a mode of cleaning roads, is chiefly applicable to pavements, to side
railways, whether of stone or iron, and to footpaths. On country roads, sweeping
might be required to keep the paved or rail-laid parts, where such existed, free from
small stones or gravel, which the feet of cattle, &c. might scatter over it from the
metalled part.
3751. The swcepin/:; machine (Jig. 568.), also the invention of Mr. Boase, has a frame similar to that of
the scraper, supported in front by two common wheels about four feet in diameter, and behind by two
small iron wheels with vertical axles, one under each corner. Within the frame, and diagonal to it, is
the cylinder of brooms, consisting of five rows of heath, each row secured between two boards by screws,
and attached to an axle by radiating arms of cast-iron. This receives a rotatory motion from the carriage
wheels, by means of a bevelled tooth wheel fixed on their axletree, working in another half its size on
the axle of the brooms. When the machine is drawn forward, the brooms are thus made to revolve twice
to each revolution of the carriage wheels, and in an opposite direction to them. The brooms are regulated
80 as to bear more or less on the ground, acc(»ding to the state of the dirt ; and, as the heath wears shorter,
they can readily be drawn out from the centre, in order to preserve a proper bearing. The dirt is removed
from the space over which the brooms pass to the right or off-side of the machine. Like the scraper, the
work is commenced near the centre of the road or stieet, and carried on in a similar manner. When this
machine is wanted to proceed without sweeping, tlie larger bevelled tooth wheel is drawn out of gear
by a lever for that purpose. The brooms are covered and the frame enclosed by oil-cloth, to prevent
any splashing or dirt trom escaping beyond the machine. This machine, with the same power and
attendants as the scraping machine, is capable of cleaning three miles, twienty feet wide, daily. {Gard.
Mag. vol. v.)
3752. Watering, where applied to roads, is more for the sake of laying the dust than
of cleaning or preserving them. Some consider it injurious. B. Farey considers that water-
ing the Whitechapel-road in summer, and especially before May and after August, is
very injurious, by separating the stones, owing to the softening of the loam, and so
making the road spongy and loo.se. In winter, however, he waters, and for the following
reasons : — " After the most careful sifting of the gravel, a small quantity of loamy dirt
will unavoidably still adhere to the stones ; and this loam, together with a glutinous
matter which accximulates in the summer from the dung and urine of the cattle (which
accumulation the summer watering has a tendency to increase), occasions the wheels to
Btick to the materials, in certain states of the road, in spring and autumn, when it
Rr
610
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE
Part III.
is between wet and dry, particularly in heavy foggy weather, and after a frost ; by which
sticking of the wheels, the Whitechapel-road is often, in a short time, dreadfully torn and
loosened up ; and it is for remedying this evil that I have, for more than eight years
past, occasionally watered the road in winter. As soon as the sticking and tearing up of
the materials is observed to have commenced, several water-carts are employed upon
these parts of the road, to wet the loamy and glutinous matters so much, that they will
no longer adhere to the tire of the wheels, and to allow the wheels and feet of the horses
force down and again fasten the gravel-stones: the traffic, in the course of four to
twenty-four hours after watering, forms such a sludge on the surface, as can be easily
raked off by wooden scrapers, which is performed as quickly as possible ; after which the
road is hard and smooth. The advantages of this practice of occasional winter watering
have been great ; and it might, I am of opinion, be adopted with like advantages on the
other entrances into London, or wherever else the traffic is great, and the gravel-stones
are at times observed to be torn up by the sticking of the wheels.
3753. One of the best constructed watering ban-els {Jig. 569.) is that used on the
Uxbridge-road, in which the water is delivered with the greatest regularity from a cast
iron trough (a), so as to cover a space of nine feet in width. The water is turned
off and on by a lever at the fore-end of the barrel (6) in the usual manner.
3754. Washing orjlooding roads, with a view to cleaning them, has been proposed by
Jessop and some other engineers ; but it is evidently a mode that can only be adopted
in particular situations, and the advantages which it would have over clean scraping does
not appear.
3755. Rolling, as a mode of preserving roads, is recommended by various writers on
the subject ; and appears to be useful on some roads after being loosened by frost. In
general, however, it is chiefly applicable after repairs, such as filling in ruts or laying on
a coat of new materials. Rolling has also been employed to consolidate snow on roads :
it is said to indurate the snow so much, that it becomes a smooth hard body on which
the wheels of carriages make but little impression, and the materials of the road are pre-
served. When a thaw happens, the whole of the snow is scraped off by snow-ploughs
or scrapers, and not being allowed to melt on the metals, they are said to remain un-
loosened. This plan is said to be general in America, and appears to have been tried,
in one instance, in the north of Scotland, with success.
3756. A road roller should be of large diameter, perhaps not less than five feet : to
facilitate its turning, it may be made in three lengths ; and the only material is cast iron,
with a large wooden box over.
3757. Biddle's machine for repairing roads {fig. 570.) consists of three cylindrical rollers, mounted upon
axles, in a frame, to be drawn by one or more horses. The rollers are placed obliquely, side by side,
but running in parallel positions ; their axes receding a little behind each other : these rollers are
intended to pass over the surface of the road, for the purpose of pressing the broken stones, gravel,
and other materials, close together, so as to produce a solid or compact road with a smooth surface. In the
front of the rollers a long scraper is placed, crossing the frame obliquely, for the purpose of collecting up
and conducting away the mud, and the slush, to the side of the road ; and at the back part of the apparatus,
there is a perlorated cylinder, intended to take up the softer, or muddy parts of the road, and deposit
Book II. PRESERVATION AND REPAIR OF ROADS.
6i:
it in a swinging box within. Fig. 570. is a view of the machine, or apparatus, as seen on the top; aat^
^ are the three cylin-
O _ ders lor pressing the
loose stones of the
road together. As
the apparatus is
drawn along, these
cylinders revolve
upon tlieir axles,
which are mounted
in the frame bbb.
There is a small
guide roller, or
wheel in front of
the frame to which
tlie shafts are at-
tached, and by
which the appara-
tus may be turned
round, or guided in
a curved course;
r/(f is a thin plate
of iron placed ob-
liquely across the
maclune, in front
of the rollers ; it is
attached to the
framing by rods and
screws, and is thereby made adjustable to any height, so as to scrape the surface of the road evenly. The
foremost end of the scraper is curved, for the purpose of preventing the escape of the mud, which, being
collected as the machine advances, runs along the inclined surface of the scraper, and is conducted to
the side of the road. Thus the mud is proposed to be scraped off the surface as the apparatus advances ,
and the materials of the road compressed and hardened by the traversing of the rollers. It may be added,
that in order to increase the pressure of the rollers, a box, to be affixed to the framework, is proposed to
be placed over the rollers, which may carry stones, or other heavy materials, that might be used in making
or repairing of the road. Under some circumstances, tlie patentee proposes to adapt to the apparatus the
auxiliary cylinder e, which is made to revolve upon its axle as it rolls along the road, and is attached to
the former by a frame //: this cylinder {e) is perforated all over its surface with holes, or slots; and when
it passes along the road, the mud, which is conducted to it by the scraper g^ g, presses through these holes,
or slots, to the interior. Fig. 571. is a side view of this cylindrical roller (e) attached to the frame//"; within
this cylindrical roller the box h is suspended, swinging upon pivots ; and as the roller goes round, the
brush I removes the mud from the cylinder, and causes it to fall into the box below. When the box ia
filled with mud, it may be discharged through the door A:. {'Newton's JowncU, vol. xiii. p. 27.)
3758. Marshal, on the subject of repairing roads, observes, that the best service of the
surveyor is to keep their surfaces smooth and even, so that rain-water may find a free
and ready passage to its proper drain. Ruts and hollow parts are to be filled up, level
or even with the general surface, as often as they are formed. This attention is more
especially requisite to a new-made road, whose bed and foundation are not yet fully con-
firmed. But in every case, and at all times, a solicitous regard is due to this most im-
portant, yet most neglected, part of road-surveying. Much expense of materials and
labour may thereby be saved, and the great end of road-making be fully obtained ;
namely, that of rendering the road, in all seasons, easy, safe, and pleasant to the
traveller.
3759. To keep a road in repair, Edgeworth observes, it will for some time require the
attention of the maker : ruts will be continually formed in tlie loose materials ; these
must be sedulously filled up, and a small sprinkling of river gravel should be added.
All stones larger than the rest should be removed and broken smaller, and no pains should
be spared to render the whole as compact and smooth as possible. At a moderate dis-
tance from the capital, if no wheels of a smaller breadth than six inches, and if no greater
ioad than one ton on each wheel, be permitted to pass on it, a road will last a long time,
and may be kept in constant repair at a moderate yearly expense.
3760. The repair of a rood which has been well made, or after it has been put into a
good state of repair, Paterson observes, requires attention more than expense. " No
more metals ought to be used for the incidental repair of that road ever afterwards, than
are just equivalent to the decay of the road. And in order that the decay of the old,
and of course the supply of new, metals may be as little as possible, it is of the greatest
consequence that the road never be allowed to get rutted ; for, besides the unpleasant-
ness of sucli a road to the traveller, it is a fact not generally thought upon, that the
lateral rubbing of the wheels into the ruts will wear and grind down more than double
the metals that would be destroyed on a smooth road, where the only friction of the
wheels is that of rolling over the metals. Besides, when a road is much rutted, it not
only retains tlie water, and consumes a greater quantity of metals (as has been noticed) ;
but the rubbing and jolting of the wheels into the ruts wears down the iron of tlie
wheels, fatigues the beast of draught, and also wears harness, Sec, much sooner than
when the road is smooth. All these, and much more, are the bad effects of a rutted
road. Having premised thus much, I shall next advert to the method to be adopted in
order to keep the road free from ruts, at as little expense and labour, and with as few
metals, as possible."
R r 2
612 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
3761. 7/1 order to prevent any road from getting rutted, it is indispensable that it be kept free from water
by under-drainage. No r©ad, Faterson continues, " that has any tendency to rut, should be, for many days
together, from under the eye of one who has a general charge, and who is ready to withdraw a workman
to this or that part, as need may require,
3762. So soon as newly put on metals begin to shift by the wheels, or form into ruts, they should be imme-
diately replaced, every little ridge broken down, and every rut, hole, or inequality, filled up ; and the
road kept in proper shape until the metals become bound and consolidated together. When the road is
attended to in this manner, it has the effect, too, of subjecting the whole of the metals to an equal fatigue.
Every time that a little new^ metals are put on to fill up any hollow parts of the road, those parts being
then, from the new metals, a little rougher than the rest of the road, the horses naturally avoid travelling
on them for a while at first, until they have become a little smoother, or until the other parts begin to
get rutted. This shifting upon the road wears down the metals equally, and prevents those regular tracks
of the horse and of the wheels which would otherwise be the consequence. By adopting this method, it
will be found that less labour and fewer metals will be required in the course of the year, and tlie road will
always be in good order. But, on the other hand, to allow the road to get rutted, and then to fill these
ruts with new metals every time they get into this state, as is frequently done, raises the track of the
wheels, leaving hollow the track of the horse, and so gives the road a concave, instead of a convex, shape in
the middle: this retains thewater, and injures the road very much. The same thing occurs again, and the
same process is repeated ; and in this way the most extravagant quantity of metals may be put on, and yet
the road never be in good order."
3763. For the repair of an old road, the following directions are given by M* Adam, in
\\h Report ff the ConuaitLee,^c. of ISll, coxrecie(}i\\(xyiQ\Qr to lSl9v—-
S76i. " No addition of materials is to be brought upon a road, unless in any part it be found that there is
not a quantity of clean stone equal to ten inches in thickness.
3765. The stone already on the road \& to be loosened up and broken, so as no piece shall exceed six
ounces in weight. The road Is then to be laid as flat as possible; a rise of three inches from the centre
to the side is sufficient for a road thirty feet wide. The stones, when loosened in the road, are to bs
gathered off' by means of a strong heavy fake, with teetli two ^nd a half inches in length, to the side of the
road, and there broken ; and on n,d account are stones tobq broken on the road.
3766. When the great stones have been removed, and none left in the road exceeding six ounces, the road
is to be put in shape, and a rake employed to smooth the surface, which will at the same time bring to the
surface tlie remaining stone, and will allow the dirt to go down.
3767. JVhen the road is so prepared, the stone that has been broken by the side of the road is then to be
carefully spread on it : this is rather a nice operation, and the future quality of the road will greatly de-
pend on the manner in which it is performed. The stone must not be laid on in shovelfuls, but scattered
over the surface, one shovelful following another, and spreading over a considerable space.
37(58. Only a small space of road should be lifted at once ; five men in a gang should be set to lift it all
across ; two men should continue to pick up and rake off the large stones, and to form the road for
receiving the broken stone; the other three should break stones; the broken stone to be laid on as soon
as the piece of road is prepared to receive it, and another piece to be broken up ; two or three yards at one
lift are enough. The proportioning of the work among the five men must of course be regulated by the
nature of the road ; when thorn are many very large stones, the three breakers may not be able to keep
pace with the two men employed in lifting and forming, and when there are few large stones the contrary
may be the case ; of all this the surveyor must judge and direct. But to lift and relay a road, even if the
materials should have been originally too large, would in many cases be highly unprofitable. The road
between Cirencester and Bath is made of stone too large in size, but it is of so friable a nature that in lifting
it becomes sand ; in this case I recommended cutting down the high places, keeping the surface smooth,
and gradually wearing out the materials now in the road, and then replacing them with some stone of a
better quality properly prepared. A part of the road in the Bath district is in like manner thade of free-
stone, which it would be unprofitable to lift.
3769. At Egham in Surrey it was necessary to remove the whole road, to separate the sjnall portion of
valuable materials from the mass of soft matter of which it was principally composed, which was removed
at considerable expense, before a road could be again made upon the site.
3770. Other cases of several kinds have occurred, where a different method must be adopted, but which it
is impossible to specify, and which must be met by the practical skill of the officer whose duty it may be
to superintend the repair of a road, and who must constantly recur to general principles. These principles
are uniform, however much circumstances may differ, and they must form the guide by which his judg-
ment must be always directed. When additional stone is wanted on a road that has cohsohdated by use,
the old hardened surface of the road is to be loosened with a pick, in order to make the fresh materials
unite with the old.
377 1. Ruts, Carriages, whatever be the construction of their wheels, will make ruts in a new-made road
until it consolidates, however well the materials may be prepared, or however judiciously applied ; there-
fore a careful person must attend for some time after the road is opened for use, to rake in the tracks
m«de by wheels.
3772. The tools to be used are, strong picks, but short from the handle to the point, for lifting the road ;
small hammers of about one pound weight in the head, the face the size of a new shilling, well steeled,
with a short handle; rakes with wooden heads, ten inches in length, and iron teeth about two inches and
a half in length, very strong, for raking out the large stones where the road is broken up, and for keeping
the road smooth after being relaid, and while it is consolidating; very light broad-mouthed shovels, to
spread the broken stone and to form the road
3773. Every road is to be made of broken stone, without mixture of earth, clay, chalk, or any other matter
that will imbibe water and be affected with frost : nothir>g is to be laid on the clean stone on pretence of
binding; broken stone will combineby its acute angles into a smooth solid surface that cannot be affected
by vicissitudes of weather, or displaced by the action of wheels, which will pass over it without a jolt, and
consequently without injury." < ,y '
3774. Telford's directions for repairing roads drf&r little from his instructions for
forming roads, already quoted.
3775. Where a road has no solid and dry foundation, he breaks it up, lays bare the soil, drains it, and
bottoms with soft stones or cinders, — the former set by hand with the broadest end down, in the form of
a neat pavement (_jfig. 572.) ; over this foundation he, as usual, lays on six inches of stones broken so as
^ to pass through a ring tv/o inches and a half in diame.
572 ter, &c.
3776. Where a road has some foundation, but an im-
perfect one, or is hollow in the middle, all the large
stones appearing on the surface of it must be raised and
broken ; the eighteen centre feet of it must be so treated,
and then covered with a coating of broken stones, suf-
ficient to give it a proper shape, and to make it solid and hard. ,, w i j
3777. Where a road already has a good foundation, and also a good shape, no materials should Xx laid
upon it, but for the purpose of fiUing ruts and hoUow places, in thin layers, as soon as they appear. Sstones
Book II. RAILROADS. 613
broken small, as above describeil, being angular, will fasten together. In this way a road, when once well
made may be preserved in constant repair at a small expense.
3778. Partial wctalling. Where the breadth of that part of a road, which alone has been formed of
hard materials, and over which the carriages commonly pass, is less than eighteen feet, it must be widened
with layers of broken stones to that breadth, first digging away the earth, and forming a bed for them with
pavement and broken stones at least ten inches deep. Near large towns the whole breadth of the road-
w^ay should be covered with broken stones.
3779. All labour by day tcages ought, as far as possible, to be discontinued in repairing roads. The
surveyors should make out specifications of the work of every kind that is to be performed in a given
time. This should be let to contractors; and the surveyors should take care to see it completed according
to the specifications, before it is paid for. Attention to this rule is most essential, as in many cases not
less than tv/o thirds of the money usually expended in day labour is wasted.
3780. The best seasons for repairing roads are generally considered to be autumn and
spring, when the weather is moist rather than otherwise.
3781. Ji. Farey prefers layitig on gravel Khen the road is in a moist state, immediately after the road has
had a scraping, in consequence of there being upon the surface of the road a small quantity of dirty matter
and broken gravel, which then form a sort of cement for the gravel to fix in.
3782. Walker considers the best season for repairing roads to be the spring or very early in the summer,
when the weather is likely neither to be very wet nor dry ; for both of these extremes prevent the mate-
rials from consolidating, and therefore cause waste, and at the same time either a heavy or a dusty road :
but if done at the time he has recommended, the roads are left in good state for the summer, and become
consolidated and hard to resist the work of the ensuing winter.
3783. The seasons for repairing preferred by Paterson are also spring and autumn. " Although it is
proper," he says, " at all times of the year, to put on a little metals whenever any hole makes its appear-
ance, yet in the drought of summer this will seldom be necessary. In summer, the roads are less liable
to cut ; but if, at some places, a little fresh metals may be necessary, no more should be put on than are
barely suflficient to bring those holes to the level of the rest of the road. Metals that are put on in the
drought of summer do not soon bind together. Until such timfe as there is rain sufiicient to cause them
to bindj they will keep shifting and rolling about, and make a very unpleasant road to travel on. The
most'^Jrt'oi)er times of the ^ear to put on any quantity of metals are about the months of October and April,
as they always bind best when the road is neither too wet nor too dry. When they are put on about the
month of October, they become firm before winter ; and with a little constant attention, the road will be
easily kept in good order until the spring : and if it has been the case that the road has not been sufficiently
attended to during the winter, and that it has got into a bad state towards the spring, by putting on fresh
metals about the month of April, sufficient to bring it ihto smooth surface order, it will be very easily kept
in this good state throughout the summer."
3784. M'Adam, on being asked, " Would you prefer repairing old roads in dry weather or in wet
weather?" answers -.y'lri Wet weather always; I alyrajs prefer mending a road in weather not
very dry." ''"'' ' "'
' ' ■ Sect. VII. Jtailroads.
3785. Tiaihvays or tromroads are not intended to be considered here as connected
with mines, canals, or other works which come directly under the province of the
higher branches of engineering ; but merely as substitutes for the whole or a part of
the metalled surface of common roads. The necessity of an expeditious and cheap
mode of conveying coals from the pits to tlje ships had, as early as the year 1676, intro-
duced the use of wooden railways for the waggons to move upon between the Tyne
river and some of the principal pits ; and these by degrees became extended to a great
number of other coal-works. • They were first solely employed for transporting coals to
a moderate distance from the pits, to the places where they could be shipped, being
universally made of wood. By degrees they were, however, carried to a farther extent ;
the scarcity of wood, and the expense of their repairs, suggested tlie idea of employing
iron for the purposes of improving these roads. At the first, flat roads of bar iron were
nailed upon the original wooden rails, or, as they were technically called, sleepers j and
this, though an expensive process, was found to be a great improvement. But the wood
on which these rested being liable to rot and give way, some imperfect attempts were
made to make them of cast iron ; but tliese were found to be liable to many objections,
until the business was taken in hand by Outram, an engineer at Butterly Hall, Derby-
shire, who contrived, at the same time, so far to diminish the expense, and improve the
strength of the road, as to bring them to a degree of perfection that no one who has
not seen them can easily conceive could have been. done. Tlu's having jbeen carried
into execution in a few cases, and found to answer, has been improved upon and sim-
plified by practice, till it is noW brought tp'siich a state of perfection as to have given
proofs that it admits of being carried .uaucli beyond the limits, of what was for many
years conceived to be possible, and to afford demonstrative evicle^^ce that it may be in
future employed to a wider, extent/ Still, to which no limits can be. at present assigned or
foreseen. • • ■'
3786. Railwaj/s are (f three -Jcinds} ft^atfed^ed^ and suspension railways. The flat
railway is composed of pieces of timber, four br five' inches' square, called rails; or of
pieces of cast iron, of about four inches in breadth, and one or more inches in thickness,
according to tlie weight they are to carry. The edge rail is formed of pieces of cast or
wrought iron (the lattcfr is ' now generally preferred), with a ledge or flanch rising at
right angles in the inner side of the rail. The flat rails are generally laid on pieces of
timber called sleepers, and the edge rails on solid blocks of stone, from nine to twelve
inches in thickness. The suspension rail consists of a line of vertical edge, elevated on
posts ; across this line tlie load is placed, like the panniers on the back of a horse, by a
suitable contrivance for diminishing friction, and adjusting the weight so as it may be
Rr 3
614 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut III.
equally balanced on both sides. As we have before observed, this subject belongs more
properly to engineering than to agriculture, and therefore we shall confine ourselves to
railroads, as substitutes for, or as connected with, common country roads. {Trans.
Higlil. Soc. vol. vi.)
3787. In countries, the surfaces of which are rugged, or where it is difficult to obtain
water for lockage, where the weight of the articles of the produce is great in comparison
with their bulk, and where they are mostly to be conveyed from a higher to a lower
level — in these cases, Telford observes, iron railways are, in general, preferable to canal
navigation.
3788. On a railway well constructed, and laid with a declivity of fifty-five feet in a mile,
it is supposed that one horse v^dll readily take down waggons containing from twelve to
fifteen tons, and bring back the same waggons witli four tons in them. Tliis declivity,
therefore, suits well, when the imports are only one fourth part of what is to be exported.
If the empty waggons only are to be brought back, the declivity may be made greater ;
or an additional horse applied on the returning journey will balance the increase of de-
clivity. If the length of the railway were to be considered, it may, it is supposed, with-
out much inconvenience, be varied from being level to a declivity of one inch in a yard ;
and by dividing the whole distance into separate stages, and providing the number of
horses suitable for each portion of railway, according to the distance and degree of de-
clivity, the whole operation may be carried on witli regularity and despatch.
3789. Railivays may be laid out so as to suit the surface of very irregular countries, at a
comparatively moderate expense. A railway may be constructed in a much more ex-
peditious manner than a navigable canal ; it may be introduced into many districts where
canals are wholly inapplicable ; and in case of any change in the working of mines,
pits, or manufactories, the rails may be taken up, and laid down again in new situations,
at no very great expense or trouble.
3790. The whole load to be drawn by one horse upon railivays was at first put into one
waggon ; but now, when the load is so much augmented, it has been found eligible to
divide it into many parts, so tliat no one waggon shall carry more than one or two tons ;
by this method the weight is so divided, that the pressure is never so great upon one
point as to be in danger of too much
crushing tlie road ; the carriages can be
made much more limber and light in all
their parts {fig. 573.), and they are much
more easily moved, and more manageable
in all respects, than they otherwise would
have been. And another advantage of
this arrangement, which deserves to be
particularly adverted to, is, that it admits
of shifting the carriages, so as to leave a load, as it were, in parcels at different places
where they may be required, without trouble or expense. This, when it comes to be
fully understood and carried into practice, will be a convenience of inestimable value ;
a thing that has been always wanted, and never yet has been found, though it has been
diligently sought for.
3791. Of the advantage of railways a striking proof is given by Anderson {Recre-
ations, ^c), in the case of one formed by Wilkes near Loughborough. Its extent was
about five miles, and it led from a coal-mine to a market. He found it so fully to
answer his expectations after it was finished, that he communicated to the Society of
Arts an account of some trials he had made of it, requesting that such of the members
of that respectable institution as were desirous of information on that head would do
him the honour to witness some experiments that he wished to make upon it for the in-
formation of the pubUc. A committee of the members was accordingly deputed for that
purpose, and before them he showed that a moderate-sized horse, of about twenty pounds
value, could draw upon it with ease down hill (the descent being one foot in a hundred)
thirty-two tons, and without much difficulty forty-three, and seven tons up hill, inde-
pendent of the carriages. The doctor concludes from these facts, that upon a perfect
level a horse could draw with ease from ten to twenty tons. It is observed that Wilkes's
railway, on which the experiments were made, was, from local circumstances, laid upon
wooden sleepers, and is not so perfect as those done upon stone. But it is added, that
twenty tons constitute the load which such a horse could draw with ease, travelling at
the usual waggon rate, in boats upon a canal ; so that the number of horses required in
this way will not be much, if at all, greater than on a canal. Certain advantages attach
to this mode of conveyance, which do not so well apply to a canal, and vice versa ; but
it is not his intention to draw a parallel between tliese two modes of conveyance. Nobody
can entertain any doubt, he thinks, about the utility of canals where they are easily
practicable. He only wishes to point out this as an eligible mode of conveyance, where
canals cannot be conveniently adopted.
■•j^^ Lu-- U-^
Book II. RAILROADS. 615
• 3792. In forming and coyistructing railways, the best line the country affords should
be traced out, having regard to the direction of the caniage of articles, or trade to be
expected ; and if such trade be both ways in nearly equal quantities, a line as nearly
horizontally level as possible should be chosen. If the trade is all in one direction, as is
generally the case between mines and navigation, then the most desirable line is one with
a gentle gradual descent, such as shall make it not greater labour for the horses employed
to draw the loaded waggons down, than the empty ones back ; and this will be found to
be the case on a railway descending about one foot vertical in one hundred feet horizontal :
or, if the railway and carriages are of the very best construction, the descent vertical may
be to the length horizontal as 1 to 50, wL^re there is little or no upgate loading. In
cases between mines and navigations, the descents will often be found greater than could
be wished. On a railway on the improved plan, where the descent is more than as 1 to
50, six or eight waggons, loaded with thirty or forty hundred weight each, will have such
a tendency to run downwards, as would require great labour of one horse to check and
regulate, unless that tendency were checked by sledging some of the wheels. On such,
and steeper roads, iron slippers are applied, one or more to a gang of waggons, as occa-
sion may require. Each slipper being chained to the side of one of the waggons, and,
being put under the wheel, forms a sledge. Where the descent is very great, steep
inclined planes, with machinery, may be adopted so as to render the other parts of the
railway easy. On such inclined planes the descending loaded waggons being applied to
raise the ascending empty, or partly loaded ones, the necessity of sledging the wheels is
avoided, and the labour of the horse greatly reduced and lessened. {Fulton.)
3793. In order to obtain the desired levels, gentle descents, or steep inclined planes, and
to avoid sharp turns and circuitous tracks, it will often be found prudent to cross valleys
by bridges and embankments, and to cut through ridges of land ; and, in very rugged
countries, short tunnels may sometimes be necessary. The line of railway being fixed,
and the plans and sections by which the same is to be executed being settled, the ground
for the whole must be formed and effectually drained. The breadth of the bed for a
single railway should be, in general, four yards ; arid for a double one six yards, exclu-
sive of the fences, side drains, and ramparts.
3794. The bed of mad being tlms formed to the proper inclination, and the embankments
and works thereof made firm, the surface must be covered with a bed of stones broken
small, or good gravel, six inches in thickness or depth. On this bed must be laid
the sleepers, or blocks to fasten the rails upon. These should be of stone, in all places
where it can be obtained in blocks of suflficient size. They should be not less than eight,
nor more than twelve, inches in thickness ; and of such breadth (circular, square, or trian-
gular) as shall make them 150 lbs. or 200 lbs. weight each. Their shape is not material,
so as they have a flat bottom to rest upon, and a small portion of their upper surface level,
to form a firm bed for the end of the rails. In the centre of each block should be drilled
a hole, an inch and a half in diameter, and six inches in depth, to receive an octagonal plug
of dry oak five inches in length : for it should not reach the bottom of the hole ; nor
should it be larger than so as to put in easily, and without much driving ; for if too
tight fitted, it might, when wet, burst the stone. These plugs are each to receive an iron
spike, or large nail, with a flat point and long head, adapted to fit the counter-sunk notches
in the ends of two rails, and thereby to fasten them down in the proper position or
situation in which they are to lie.
3795. With regard to the rails, they should be of the stoutest cast-iron, one yard in
length each, formed with a flanch on the inner edge, about two inches and a half high at
the ends, and three and a half in the centre ; and shaped in the best manner to give
strength to the rails, and keep the wheels in their track. The soles of the rails, for
general purposes, should not, he thinks, be less than four inches broad; and the
thickness proportioned to the work they are intended for. On railways for heavy
burthens, great use, and long duration, the rails should be very stout, weighing 40 lbs.,
or in some cases nearly half a hundred weight, each. For railways of less consequence,
less weight of metal will do ; but it will not be prudent to use them of less than 30 lbs.
weight each, in any situation exposed to breakage above ground. But it is observed
that in mines, and other works under ground, where very small carriages only can be
employed, very light rails are used, forming what are called tramroads, on a system
introduced by Carr; and these kinds of light railways have been much used above ground
in Shropshire, and other counties where coals and other minerals are obtained.
3796. Infixing the blocks and rails, great attention is required to make them firm.
No earth or soft materials should l)e used between the blocks and the bed of small
stones or gravel, on which the rails must all be fixed by an iron gauge, to keep the
sides at a regular distance, or parallel to each other. The best width of road, for general
purposes, is four feet two inches between the flanches of the rails ; the wliecls of the
carriages running in tracks about four feet six inches asunder. Rails of particular
forms are necessary, where roads branch out from or intersect each other, and where
Rr 4
616
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
carriage roads cross the railways ; and, at turnings of the railways, great care is required
to make thein perfectly easy. The rails of the side forming the inner part of the curve
should be fixed a little lower than the other; and the rails should be set a little under
the gauge, so as to bring the sides nearer together than in the straight parts : these
deviations in level and width to be in proportion to the sharpness of the curve. The
blocks and rails being fixed and spiked fast, nothing more remains to be done than to fill
the horse-path, or space between the blocks, witli good gravel, or other proper materials;
a little of which must also be put on the outside of the blocks, to keep them in their proper
places. This gravel should always be kept below the surface of the rails on which the
wheels are to run, to keep the tracks of the wheels free from dirt and obstructions. The
form of the rails must be such as will free them from dirt if the gravelling is kept below
their level.
3797. The for motion of edge railways, on the middle or sides ofjmblic roads, has been re-
commended by Dr. Anderson, Fulton, Edgeworth, Middleton, Stevenson, Mathews, Baird,
and others. A flat railway, with the rail ten or twelve inches broad, we conceive, might be
laid down along the sides of a road with advantage. It would require a rib below pf sufficient
strength to bear waggons of any weight. This strength would be communicated partly
by the mass of material, but chiefly by the rib {fig. 574. a, a), resting on a bed of bricks
or masonry below {b). Such a railroad might be used by any description, of carriage,
: ' ' ,: 574 ' /",.: ' ,
light or heavy. But the best description of railroad for the sides of a highway is pro-
bably some of those formed of blocks of stone, already described. Stone railways of this
sort appear to have been suggested by Le Large {Machines Approivvees, vol. iii.) in
France ; and afterwards by Mathews {Committee Examinations, May 1808.) in England,
but they have never been fairly tried. The best specimen we have seen is in a street in
Milan, where it is not so necessary, the whole breadth being very well paved.
,. ij^,<« V..I, ,.u \(i 'iti oraO'' ijf
^ff 1 .'• II r '1 *■ d .sintiTjrft .bit-
Formation of Canals* ' ' ' "
JCttAP-t.
3798, Though tlie subject of canals is not included in that of agriculture, yet it is so
intimately connected with territorial improvement, that it would be improper in a work
of this description to pass it over. Canals of any extent aro never the work of an indi-
vidual ; they are always formed by public bodies, constituted and empowered by public
acts : but it is of importance to individuals to know the bort of effect which a canal
passing through their property may have, both on its appearance and value ; not merely
as a medium of conveyance, but as a source of population, of water for irrigation or
mills, or the use of stock, and even as an object of. ornament. For this purpose we
shall submit some remarks on the utility of canals, the choice of lines, the powers
granted to canal companies, and the mode of execution.
' , *''^i§JW3x',', f. l fJ.tUtty ^and Risf of Navigable Canals. _
3799. Good roads, canals, and navigable rivers. Dr. Smith observes ( Wealth of Nations,
i. 229. ), by diminishing the expense of carriage, put the remote parts of the country
more nearly upon a level with those in the neighbourhood of large towns ; and on that
account they are the greatest of all improvements. They encourage the cultivation of the
remote parts, which must always be the most extensive circle of the country. They are
advantageous to towns, by breaking down the monopoly of the country in its neighbour-
hood ; and they are advantageous to all parts of the country, for though they introduce
some rival commodities into the old markets, they open many new markets to its produce.
*' All canals," says an intelligent writer on this subject (See Phillips's General History of
Inland Navigation, Introd.), " may be considered as so many roads of a certain kind, on
■which one horse will draw as much as thirty horses on ordinary turnpike roads, or on
which one man alone will transport as many goods as three men and eighteen horses
usually do on common roads The public would be great gainers were they to lay out
upon the making of every mile of a canal twenty times as much as they expend upon
a raila of turnpike road ; but a mile of canal is often made at a less expense than
Book II. CANALS. 617
the mile of turnpike ; consequently there is a great inducement to multiply the number
of canals."
3800. General argtiments in favour of canals are superseded by the rapidly improving and thriving state
of the several cities, towns, and villages, and of the agriculture also, near to most of the canals of the
kingdom ; the immense number of mines of coal, iron, limestone, &c., and great works of every kind,
to which they have been conducted, and to which a large portion of them owe their rise, are their best
recommendation. In short, it may be concluded, that no canal can be completed and brought into use,
bat tlie inhabitants and the agriculture of the district will shortly feel great benefit from it, whatever may
be the result to the proprietors.
3801. The great advantages of canals as means of transport result from the weight which may be moved
along by a small power. The velocity with which boats can be drawn along a canal is confined within
very narrow limits, owing, as Edgeworth has observed, to the nature of the resistance to which they
are exposed; this resistance increasing in a geometrical proportion, as the squares of the velocity with
which the moving bpdy is impelled : whereas, on roads or railways, an increase of velocity requires only
an arithmetical increase of power. Or, in other words, to draw a boat with ten times a given velocity,
would require a hundred times as much power as was requisite to draw it with that given velocity ;
wliereas, to dra\y ? carriage on a road or railway with ten times a given velocity, would require only
ten times the given power. For this reason, however advantageous canals may have been found, for
transporting hedvy loads, they will be found upon trial inferior to roads in promoting expedition.
3802. Canals appear to have been first inade in Egypt. Though less attended to
by the Romans than roads, yet they formed some in this country near Lincoln and
Peterborough.'^
3803. China is remarkable for its canals, and there are said to be many in Hindostan, though we believe
they are principally for the purpose of irrigation. In Russia there are some, and several in Sweden ;
one or two in Denmark ; some in Germany ; and a great many in Holland The canal of Burgundy
in France was commenced under Henry IV. ; and that of Languedoc finished by Riquet, the Brindley
of France, under Louis XIV. Some attempts have been made to form canals in the hilly country
of Spain ; and a great many excellent ones are executed in America.
3804. Navigable ca7ials in Britcfin took their rise between 17.^5 and 1760, by the Sankey Brook Com-
pany in Lancashire ; but the great impulse was siven by the duke of Bridgewater about 17.^7, wlien he
first commenced, under the direction of BriricUey, the canal between his c6al-works at Worsley and
Salford. The dukewf Bridgewater has, in consequence, not improperly been called the father of canals
in England ; while his engineer, Brindley, by his masterly performances on the duke of Bridgewater's
canal, altered and extended as the scheme thereof was by the three subsequent acts of parliament, has
secured to himself, and will, it should seem, (from a comparison of the great features and minutije
of execution in this the first canal, v/ith most others in this country, even of the latest construction,)
long continue to hold that rank among the English engineers, to which Riquet seems entitled among
foreigners.
3805. Since the duke of Bridgewater's time, the extension of canals in the British Isles has been rapid.
A number of scientific engineers have arisen, of whom we need only mention Smeaton, Rennie, and Tel-
ford, and point to the Caledonian canal
Sect. II. Of discovering the most eligible Route Jor a Line of Canal.
3806. Thefrst object, when the idea of a canal is determined on by a few landed pro-
prietors, is the choice of a skilful and experienced engineer. Such an artist should
undoubtedly possess a considerable degree of mathematical knowledge. Calculations,
of which some are of the most abstruse and laborious kind, will frequently occur ; and
he should, therefore, be well acquainted with the principles on which all calculations are
founded, and by which they are to be rightly applied in practice. An engineer should
also have studied the elements of most or all of the sciences immediately connected with
his profession ; and he should particularly excel in an acquaintance with the various
branches of mechanics, both theoretical and practical. His knowledge should compre-
hend whatever has' been written or done by otlier engineers ; and he should have inform-
ation in every department of his business, from an accurate examination of the most
considerable works tliat have been executed, under all the various circumstances that are
likely to occur. It is necessary that he should be a ready and correct, if not a finished,
draughtsman. He should also be conversant with the general principles of trade and
commerce ; with the various operations and improvements in agriculture ; with the
interests and connection of the different owners and occupiers of land, houses, mills, &c. ;
and with all the general laws and decisions of courts pertaining to the objects connected
with his profession. By an extensive acquaintance with the disposition, inclination, and
thickness of the various strata which compose the soil or land of the British Islands, he
will be able to avoid many errors incident to those who are destitute of this knowledge.
As the last, though not the least, of these qualifications of an engineer, which we shall
enumerate, he should be a man of strict integrity.
3807. A proper engineer being fixed upon, the adventurers should not tie him down too closely by
restrictions as to time; but allow him leisure to consider, digest, and revise, again and again, thediflPerent
projects and ways, which will, in most instances, naturally present themselves to him in an extensive and
thorough investigation. The engineer should be allowed to choose and employ the most competent
assistants, and to call in and occasionally to consult the opinions of eminent or practical men, as land-
surveyors, agents of the neighbouring landed property, the principal and most expert commercial men of
the district who are best acquainted with its trade and wants, any eminent miners, &c. &c. ; and such
men the engineer should be authorised liberally, and at once, to remunerate for their services and intelli-
gence. Previously to the beginning of any minute surveyor system of levelling, the engineer ought to
visit all the objects within the district under consideration, and endeavour to make a just estimate and
preserve memorandums of them ; as of the trade and importance of all the towns likely to be affected by
the undertaking ; of all mines of coal, iron, &c., quarries of limestone, freestone, slate, &c., or the situation
where such can be found ; of all the manufactorips of heavy and cumbrous goods, and other extensive
works ; and generally of every thing likely to furnish tonnage for a canal. The most eligible route for a
canal being settled in the engineer's mind, he will then proceed to make a rough calculation of the quan-
tity of goods of each kind which may be expected to pass upon the line in a given time; he will also
618 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
examine all the canals and rivers with which the proposed canal Is to connect, and ascertain the widths
and depths thereof, the sizes of their locks, and of the vessels usually navigating them.
3808. Th€ dimensions, number, and kind of locks or inclined planes, length of levels, &c., may now be
determined on, and how far railways or branch canals or roads may be connected with the main line.
Many engineers, and especially Fulton, have warmly advocated the formation of small canals. On this
subject Chapman, a most judicious artist, observes, " that the system of small canals is particularly eligible
in all countries where limestone, coal, iron ore, lead, and other ponderous articles, not liable to damage
from being wet, or not likely to be stolen, are the objects chiefly to be attended to ; and where the declivity
of the country runs transversely to the course of the canal, which will generally be the case along the sides
of mountains, at an elevation above the regular ground at their feet. In those situations, the great falls
or inclined planes may be made at the forks of rivers, so that the upper levels may branch up both the
vales, and thus give the most extended communication. A situation suited for those canals will often
be found in countries that are not absolutely mountainous, but where the ground regularly declines to-
wards the vales or large rivers."
3809. A rough section of the proposed line will enable the engineer to see the places of the heights, and
breadths of the various summits, or ranges of high land, that are to be passed, and whether any two or
more adjacent ones can be connected by a long summit level, without deserting any considerable town or
point of trade, which will diminish the difficulties of supplying the canal with water ; as every such junction
of summits preserves the water of two lockages, besides presenting so many more points at which the
canal can be supplied with water from springs and rivulets above its level, or where, in less favourable
situations, the same can be collected in a lower level, to be pumped up. From one end of the proposed
summit level it will be right now to proceed with the survey, tracing the level accurately, and marking
the same by pegs or stakes, that will last for some time, and be known by the surveyor, who is to follow
and make a plan of the line ; the levels being frequently transferred to what are called bench marks, upon
the trunk of a tree, a large post, or a building, the same being noted so particularly in the field or survey
book, that they may be readily found for years afterwards. We suppose the engineers, by this time, to
have settled the rise that each lock should have, according to the dimensions adopted for the canal, the
probable supply of water on the summit, and other circumstances ; the summit level will be traced as above,
till the proper place occurs for making a fall of two or more locks, at about 100 yards, or a little more from
each other ; and the places of these falls being marked, the level is again to be pursued and traced from
the bottom of them, and marked out as before, till the opportunity occurs for another pair or more of locks,
or till some obstacle, as a gentleman's park, houses, gardens, orchards, mills, roads, &c. present themselves
at a distance ; when it will be proper, after transferring the level arrived at to a proper and permanent mark,
to proceed forwards, and to examine and well consider the different ways and levels, if more than one
present themselves, by which the obstacle can be passed. From the most confined part of the course for
the canal, owing to the obstacle, it will be right to level back, till the former work is met, and to determine
the most eligible mode of bringing the two levels together, upon the principles before stated; if they can
be applied, either by adding another lock, or taking one from any of the sets which had been before
marked out, as occasion may require, and marking out the new levels thereby occasioned : the line be-
tween the summit and the first obstacle, or confined part of the course, being thus adjusted, a new point of
departure is to be taken from such obstacle, and the level pursued as before, till the fall for a pair or more
locks can be gained, at the proper distance from each other. In this way, the patience, perseverance, and
abilities of the engineer must be exercised, until a practicable line of some length is obtained, and staked
out; when the assistant land-surveyor must follow, and make a correct and particular plan of the line of
the several proposed locks, embankments, tunnels, &c. upon the same, and of the several fields, or pieces
of land through which it passes, or that come within 100 or 150 yards of it in any part : it will likewise be
the business of the surveyor to ascertain, with the utmost care, the boundary of every parish and town-
ship; what county each is in ; the proper names of the owners and occupiers of every piece of land in
each, however small, upon or within that distance of the line, with reference to the same upon his plan ;
and to describe correctly all public and private roads and paths that cross or intersect the line, and to and
from what places they lead ; the course of all brooks or streams of water, and particularly such as lead to,
and contribute to the supply of, any mill : the situation of the houses and towns upon the line, or within
some miles of it, should also be determined ; the nearer they are the greater accuracy will be necessary.
A complete plan of the line, and all the projected collateral cuts, feeders, reservoirs, &c. being finished,
the engineer will enter on a most careful revisal of the whole scheme, with this plan in his hand ; on which
all the places where culverts or drains will be required are to be marked, as also the proper places for the
bridges, and the necessary alterations of the roads and paths, which will be cut oft' by the canal, so that the
public may not be inconvenienced and turned long distances round about, and still, that as few bridges as
possible, and those in the least expensive places, may be erected. In some instances new channels will
require to be cut for brooks and water-courses, to a considerable extent, in order to save culverts, or bring
them to the most desirable spots. For proper security against accidentitl errors, the whole of the levelling
should now be gone over again, and the several bench marks compared, and renewed with the utmost
care by the engineer's assistants, while he is proceeding with the necessary enquiries and calculations for
an estimate of the whole expense of the undertaking.
3810. The supplying of a canal with water, in a great number of instances, occasions no inconsiderable
share of the whole expense, either in the first cost of mills or streams of water ; in land for, and labour in
constructing, reservoirs, engines to pump water, &c. ; or annually, ever afterwards, in the fuel for, and
repairing of, engines ; hire of water from mills in dry seasons, &c. : this subject should, therefore, employ
the most sedulous attention of the engineer, to make the most economical use of what streams he finds, to
procure other supplies of water at the least expense, and above all, to secure abundance. The dimensions
and heights of the locks, and breadth of the canal, being settled, an accurate calculation should be made
of the quantity of water required to fill a lock ; and, with the largest probable number of boats that
will pass in a day, of the quantity required daily in every part of the canal : this, with a due allowance
for the evaporation, from the surface of the whole canal and its reservoirs, and for the soakage that will
take place into the banks, however well they are constructed, will show the number of locks full of water
that will be required, from the dififerent sources.
3811. In estimating the expense of all such works, it will be necessary to have the
lengths and solid contents of the several embankments, and the distance from which the
stuff or soil must be fetched for the same ; the lengths and dimensions of all the deep
cuttings, and the distance to which the stuff must be removed ; the lengths of the tun-
nels, and number and depths of the several shafts or tunnel pits ; the lengths or head-
ings of soughs that will be wanted to drain the tunnelling work : these, and all the
great variety of other works, some of which we have ali'cady mentioned and others we
shall have occasion to mention in the sequel, being particularly stated, and prices affixed
to each species of work and kind of material (which prices ought not to be below the
current prices of the best articles at the time, and due allowance shoidd also be made for
the advance of prices which will take place during the progress of the work) ; the total
nrobable expense, with a due allowance for contingencies, will be thus obtained, on which
Book II. CANALS. 619
the engineer will prepare his general report and estimate, to be laid, with tlie plan,
before a meeting of the adventurers or proposed proprietors.
Sect. III. Powers granted to Canal Companies by Government.
3812. As a canal must pass through a great variety of private property y and necessarily
affect different individuals in very opposite ways, considerable powers are requisite to
carry it into execution. Tlie first steps to attain these are the appointment of a solicitor,
and an application to parliament for an act of incorporation and regulation.
3813. A canal bill contains numerous clauses ; but the following may be considered
the most general heads : —
^e^/af/oH5 as to raising money by shares or other. Removing the surface.soU, and clamping it, for
wise. the purpose of being again laid on the surface of the
Election of committees, and general meetings of exterior banks of the canal ; or fur other pur-
proprietor& poses.
Enactments relative to purchasing lands, &c. Forvting watering places for cattle or irrigation.
Poivers for erecting wharfs, and enforcing certain Regulations as to mills, S(c.
equitable rates of wharfage. Power to make by-laws.
Tolls, or rates of tonnage, with exemptions, if any. Form of conveying land to the canal company.
Fixing mile-stones, for regulating distances and Regulations as to depositing plans of the canal,
tonnage. and making variations from them, &c.
3814. The act of parliament for a canal being passed, and therein the time and place
for the first meeting of the subscribers or proprietors thereof being fixed; the first
business of sucli meeting will be the election of a general committee of management,
consisting of the most independent, respectable, and generally informed persons among
the proprietors. The committee of management will then proceed to elect a chairman
and subordinate oflScers ; to fix upon their place of meeting, and to arrange the order of
their business.
3815. A resident engineer and land-surveyor and valuer should now be fixed on, and pro-
bably also a local or select committee: auditors of accounts will be appointed, and salaries
determined. The chief engineer will now revise the line, and divide it into different
parts, assigning names to each for convenient reference. Of these distinct parts, or divi-
sions, a separate account of the expenses should be strictly kept by the resident engineer ;
the overseers, or counters, as they are generally called, that the engineer is to recommend
or employ upon the works ; and by the office clerks, in a ledger, with proper heads for
each length of canal, set of locks, tunnel, embankment, deep cutting, reservoir, aqueduct,
or other great work, that may form a separate division : such particular and divided
accounts of the works will prove of the most essential service to the committee, and to all
others concerned, in informing and maturing their judgment on the actual or probable
expense of every different kind of work ; and will enable the committee to explain to the
proprietors how great, and sometimes unavoidable, as well as unexpected, expenses may
be incurred.
3816. Such lands as are wanted should now be treated for by the land-surveyor, and
the purchase and conveyance concluded with the approbation of the committee, and the
aid of the solicitor, with or without the aid of the sheriff and a jury, as the case may re-
quire. In general, the ground for reservoirs and locks ought to be the first purchased,
to permit the embankments and masonry to be proceeded with.
Sect. IV. Execution of the Works.
3817. The first operation of execution is the setting out of the work by the resident engi-
neer and surveyor. He will accurately trace and indicate the levels of each pound
or level reach of the canal, marking them with stakes, and comparing his work with
the bench marks ; he will also make two or more of the men who assist him perfectly
acquainted with the position of the stakes, to provide against their derangement by cattle
or from other causes.
3818. The calculations for excavation form the next part of execution. The great desi-
deratum in canal-digging is, that the stuff dug from one part of the work shall, with the
least labour of moving, exactly supply or form the banks that are to be raised in another,
so that, on the completion of the work, no spoil banks, or banks of useless soil, shall
remain, nor any ground be unnecessarily rendered useless by excavations or pits.
38 1 9. Six different cases will be found frequently to occur in the cutting or forming of
a canal. In each case the towing-bank (fig. 575. a) is wider than the off-bank (6) ;
575 .^, ^
and, in all, the sides slope one foot and a half for one foot in depth, that being found the
least slope which can be given.
C20 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
' 3820. Where there is deep cutting on me side (c), or both {d, e), a bench or berm (d, e) is provided to
retain and prevent the loose earth that may moulder down from the upper bank from falling into the canal
I he banks are usually made one foot higher than the water is intended to stand in them.
3821. In level cutting (Jig. 5~5. a, b), the height of the canal should be so contrived, that in any cross
section the sum of the areas of the made banks {a, b) should just equal that of the area of the section of
excavation («).
3822. In side.li/ing ground (Jig. 515. c, and fig. 576./), the same object may be attained with a little extra
calculation j and in all other cases (g, h), tlie engineer will show the perfection of his skill in so conducting
576
the line, that every embankment shall have deep cutting at both, or at least at one of its ends, to furnish
the extra stuff" with least expense in moving it; in like manner, every deep cutting (d, e) should have
embankments at one or both of its ends, to receive the extra stuff".
3823. Before cutting out the lock-spit^ or small trench between the several slope holes,
as a guide to the men who are to dig, the engineer ought to cause holes to be dug in the
line of the canal, near every second or third level peg, or oftener, if the soil be variable,
in order to prove the soil to a greater depth, by two or three feet, than the cutting of the
canal is to extend ; and each of these the engineer ought carefully to inspect, in order
to determine what puddling or lining will be necessary ; and what will be the difil-
culties of digging, owing to the hardness of the stuff, or to water that must be pumped
out, &c. ; all which circumstances, as well as the extra distance that any part of the stuff
may require to be moved, must be well considered before the work can be let to the
contractors.
3824. The puddling or lining of the canal, to make it hold water, is a matter of the
greatest importance, and we shall consider five cases that are likely to occur or present
themselves in the search into the soil that is to be dug, by sinking holes as above
mentioned. The first case we suppose to be that in which the whole is clay, loam, or
other water-tight stuflP; all soils that will hold water, and not let it soak or percolate
freely through them, are called water-tight. Our second case is that in which the
whole cutting will be in sand, gravel, loose or open rock, or any other matters that will
let water easily through them, and such are called porous soils or stuffs. The third
case, we suppose to have a thin stratum of water-tight stuff on the surface, and to have
porous stuff for a. considerable depth below. The fourth case may have porous stuff near
the surface, and water-tight stuff at the bottom of the canal. The fifth case is that
where water-tight stuff appears on the surface ; and below this a stratum of porous stuff,
but having again water-tight stuff at no great distance below the intended bottom of the
canal. The new-raised banks are always to be considered as porous stuff, as, indeed,
they will always prove at first, and in a great portion of soils they would ever remain so,
unless either puddling or lining were applied ; all ground that has been dug or disturbed,
must also be considered as porous. It should also be remarked, that any kind of soil
which is perforated much by worms or other insects, should, in canal-digging, be consi-
dered as porous stuff.
3825. Puddle is not, as some have attempted to describe it, a kind of thin earth mortar, spread on places
intended to be secured, and suff'ered to be quite dry before another coat of it is applied ; but it is a mass of
earth reduced to a semifluid state by working and chopping it about with a spade, while water, just in the
proper quantity, is applied until the mass is rendered homogeneous, and so much condensed that water
afterwards cannot pass through it, or but very slowly.
3826. The best puddling stuff \& rather a lightish loam, with a mixture of course sand or fine gravel in
it ; very strong clay is unfit for it, on account of the great quantity of water which it will hold, and its
disposition to shrink and crack as this escapes ; vegetable mould, or top soil, is very improper, on account
of the roots and other matters liable to decay, and leave cavities in it ; but more on account of the tempt-
ation that these aft'ord to worms and moles to work into it, in search of their food. Where puddlin"' stuff'
is not to be met with, containing a due mixture of sharp sand, or rough small gravel stones, it is not
unusual to procure such to mix with the loam, to prevent moles and rats from working in it; but no stones
larger than about the size of musket bullets ought to be admitted.
3827. That the principal operation qAjsi^rfrf/wg' consists in consolidating the mas-v is evident from the
great condensation that takes place ; it is not an uncommon case, where a ditch is dug, apparentlj in firm
soil, that though great quantities of water are added during the operation, yet the soil which has been dug
cut will not, when properly worked as puddle, fill up more than two thirds of the ditch. It should seem,
also, that puddle is rendered by that operation capable of holding a certain proportion of water with great
obstinacy, and that it is more fit to hold than transmit water. It is so far from true, that puddle ought
to be suff'ered to get quite dry, that it entirely spoils when by exposure to the air it is too rnuch dried ;
and many canalswhich have remained unfilled with water during a summer, after their puddling or lining
has been done, have thereby become very leaky, owing to the cracks in the puddle-ditches or lining. One
of the first Carfes of an engineer, when beginning to cut a canal, is to discover whether good puddling stuff"
is plentiful; andj ii it is not, it nxust be diligently sought for, and carefully wheeled out or reserved
wherever any is found in the digging; or, perhaps, it must be procured at considerable distances from the
line, and brought to it in carts. It has happened in some stone brash or loose rocky soils, that all pudtUing
stuff' for several miles of the line required to be brought to it; but even this expense, serious as it may be,
ought not to induce the imitating of those, who have left miles of such banks without puddling, and have
made a winter canal, but one which no stream of water that is to 'oe procured can keep full in the summer
months. It is usual in canal acts to insert a clause, for the security of the landowners, to require the
company to cause all the banks that need it to be secured by puddling, to prevent damage to the land
below by leakage ; and it would have been well for all parties, in many instances, if this clause had been
enforced.
Book II. CANALS. 621>
3828. If we compare our first, fourth, and fifth cases (3824), we shall find in all of them a water-tight
stratum, as the basis ; and the practice in these cases is to make a wall of puddle, called a puddle-ditch, or
puddle-gutter, within the bank of the canal : these puddle-gutters are usually about three feet wide, and
should enter about a foot into the water-tight stuff", on which they are always to be begun ; and they
should be carried up as the work proceeds, to the height of the top water-line, or a few inches higher.
Our second and third cases (3824) evidently will not admit of the above mode, because we have no water-
tight stratum on which to begin a puddle-gutter, as a bottom : in these cases, therefore, it is usual to apply
a lining of puddle to the sides and bottom of the canal
3829. History of puddling. It appears that the Dutch have been in the habit of
making mud ditches to secure the banks of their canals and embankments, from time
immemorial ; and that operations similar to our puddling have been long known on the
Continent, but it is not clear at what period it was introduced into this country. We
think that the fens in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, in which so many works have at
different times been executed by Dutchmen, are the most likely places in which to
search for early evidence of its use. We cannot think that Brindley was the first who
ever used it in this country, although we might admit that the Bridgewater canal was
the first in which it was systematically employed as at the present day.
3830. Adjustment of materials. Canals set out with the ^care that we have recom-
mended, will always have the proper quantity of stuff" to allow for: the settlement of
the banks ; since the united sections of the loose banks will always equal the section of
excavation in the same settled or consolidated state in which it was before the digging
conunenced. The slopes of made banks, it is to be observed, on account of their settling,
should be steeper in the first instance than they are ultimately required to be.
3831. The letting of the cutting of certain lengths of the canal to contractors, who will-
employ a number of navigators under them, in digging and puddling the canal, is the
next business.
3832. It is usual to let the work at a certain price per cubic yard of digging, and to pay for the puddling
or lining either at a certain p. ice per cubic yard or per yard run of the canal. The engineer ought to
inform himself thoroughly of the difficulties and facilities which attend the work he is about to let, and
to draw up a short but explicit contract to be signed by the contractor. The prices allowed ought to be
fair and liberal, according to the circumstances, so that the contractor may have no pretence, on account
of low prices, to slight his work, particularly the puddling ; and they ought in every instance to be strictly
looked at\er, and made to undo and renew immediately any work that may be foimd improperly per-
formed. We recommend it to the engineer to keep a strict account, by means of his overseers or counters,
of the time of all the men employed upon the works ; distinguishing particularly the number upon each
v/ork, and whether employed under the company by the day, or upon the work let to contractors. These
particulars are most essential towards knowing what money ought to be advanced to the contractor during
the progress of his job, and towards informing and maturing the judgment of the engineer, with regard to
the length of time that a certain number of men will be in performing any future work he may have to
direct A calculation should also be made of the day-work in every instance, and compared with the con-
tract price, by which alone a correct judgment can be formed of the proper prices at which work ought
afterwards to be let, so that the labourers may receive wages proportionate to their exertions, and the
contractor be amply paid for his time, skill, and superintendence; and yet economy, and the interest of
the company, be duly consulted.
3833. Barroivs and ivheeling planks, horsing-blocks, and other implements, are generally found by the
company; and it is usual to consider twenty to twenty-five yards a stage of wheeling, and to fix a price
per cubic yard according to the number of stages that the soil is to moved. Where this distance exceeds
100 yards, it will rarely be eligible to perform it by wheel-barrows ; therefore runs of plank with an
easy descent, if the same is practicable, should be laid, for large two- wheeled barrows or trucks to be used
thereon.
3834. Where the line of a canal is to cross an extensive stratu?n of valuable brick earth, or one of good
gravel for making roads, it will often be advisable, especially if the line can be thereby rendered more
direct, when setting out the canal, to cut pretty deep into such materials, and even quite through the
gravel, if the same is practicable ; for although considerable expense will in the first instance be incurred
in digging and in damage done for spoil banks, yet such materials as good brick earth and gravel will, in
almost every instance, find a market as soon as the canal is opened. Such a situation may prove of essen-
tial service to the trade of the canal, by enabling the adjoining proprietors to work the whole thickness of
their brick earth, gravel, or other useful matters, with but little detriment to the surface of the ground,
and without being annoyed by water ; this the canal, instead of losing water by preserving a high level
through porous stuff", would, it is probable, catch in very considerable quantities. In districts where stone
and gravel for making and repairing roads are scarce, it will be proper to pay the labourers certain rates
per cubic yard for all the stones or gravel that may be collected by them during the work, and stacked in
proper places. These will form resources for making the towing-path, and for making good the landing
or ascent to the several bridges, and the several pieces of new road that the engineer will have to form
near to the canal bridges. The lock banks, and all wharfs and landing places, should also be covered with
good gravel, to render them safe and convenient for use. If good gravel can in places be intersected in
deep cuttings, much of the above expense, as well as that of cartage, may be saved, by an early use of
dirt boats in the bottom of the canal.
3835. How important and various the duties of the resident engineers are, must have
struck every reader ; but it would be much more apparent, could we enter into the sub-
ject of reservoirs, feeders, aqueducts, embankments, culverts, safety gates, weirs, tunnels,
deep cuttings, locks, substitutes for locks, inclined planes, railways, bridges, towing-
paths, fences, drains, boats, towing or moving boats and trams, cranes and implements ;
but these, as less important for our purpose, we must leave the reader to study in the
works of Philips, Fulton, Chapman, Plymley, Badeslade, Kindersly, Anderson, Telford,
and from the article Canal, in the three principal Encyclopaedias.
629 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
Chap. VI.
Improvement of Estates hy the Establishment of Mills, Manufactories, Villages,
Markets, ^c.
3836. Connected with the laying out of roads and canals, is the establishment of different
scenes of mam factorial industry. The forced introduction of these will be attended with
little benefit ; but where the natural and political circumstances are favourable, the im-
provement is of the greatest consequence, by retaining on the same estate, as it were, the
profits of the grower, the manufacturer, and to a certain extent of the consumer.
3837. The establishment of mills and manufactories to be impelled by water, neces-
sarily depends on the abundance and situation of that material ; and it should be well
considered beforehand, whether the water might not be as well employed in irrigation,
or how far irrigation will be hindered by the establishment of a mill. In the state of
society in which water corn-mills were first erected, they were doubtlessly considered as
blessings to the country. There were then no flour manufactories : and it was more
convenient for the inhabitants to carry their corn to a neighbouring mill, than to grind
it less effectually, by hand, at home. Hence, the privileges and immunities of manorial
mills. To secure so great a comfort, every tenant of a manor would willingly agree to
send his com to be ground at the lord's mill ; and, perhaps, was further obliged to stipu-
late to pay toll for the whole of his growth ; though it were sent out of the manor unground.
3838. In Scotland, this impolitic, and now absurd, custom was only lately given up : till when no farmer
dared to send his corn to market, until he had delivered a proportional quantity to the proprietor or the
occupier of the mill to which he was thirled, or had previously stipulated to pay him thirlage for what he
might send away ; this arbitrary regulation operating, like tithes, to decrease the growth of corn.
3839. In England and Ireland, however, no restriction of this sort at present exists : but, in the remote
parts of the north of England, there are mills which claim (or lately claimed) the exclusive right of grind,
ing the whole of the corn which the inhabitants of the respective parishes or manors required to be ground
for their own use, suffering none to be sent out of the parish for the purpose of grinding. In the more
western counties, where grist mills are still the schoolsof parochial scandal, something of this sort remains,
and is piously preserved in modern leases : but, in the kingdom at large, grist mills are now going fast
into disuse. Even working people purchase flour, instead of corn ; and, whether in a private or a public
light, this is an eligible practice. They can purchase a sort which is suited to their circumstances, and
they know the quality and the quantity of what they carry home ; whereas, in the proverbial rascality
of grist millers, they have no certainty as to either : besides, in a flour mill there is no waste ; every
particle may be said to be converted to its proper use.
3840. /f valuable property belonging to modern flour manufactories, is their not requiring every brook
and rivulet of the kingdom to work them. In Norfolk, a great share of the wheat grown in that com
county is manufactured into flour by the means of windmills : and such are modern inventions, that neither
wind nor water is any longer necessary to the due manufacture of flour ; the steam engine affording,
if not the most eligible, at least the most constant and equable power.
3841. The most eligible kinds of water-mills are, the tide-mill and the current mill : the former placed in
creeks, inlets, bays, estuaries, or tide rivers; and the latter in the current of a river. There are many
situations. Marshal observes, in which these species of mills may be erected with profit to proprietors, and
the community ; and without any injury to the landed property, or the agricultural produce of the country.
He is of opinion that numerous river mills existing in different parts of the country are unnecessary to th«
present state of society.
3842. Grist mills may be still required in some remote situations : but, seeing the number of flour mills
which are now dispersed over almost every part of the kingdom, seeing also the present facility of carriage
by land and water, and seeing, at the same time, the serious injuries which river mills entail on agricul-
ture. Marshal recommends land proprietors to reduce their number, as fast as local circumstances will allow.
3843. Tlve inducement to establish manufactories depends on a variety of circum-
stances, as well as on a supply of water. Among these may be mentioned the price of
labour, convenience for carriage, export or import, existence of the raw material at or near
the spot, as in the case of iron works, potteries, &c. In England, while t*he poor laws
exist, the establishment of any concern that brings together a large mass of population
will always be attended with a considerable risk to land-owners ; though it is a certain
mode, in the first instance, of raising the price of land, and giving a general stimulus to
every description of industry.
3844. A populous manufactory, even while it flourishes, according to Marshal, operates mischievously
in an agricultural district by propagating habits of extravagance and immorality among the lower order of
tenantry, as well as by rendering farm labourers and servants dissatisfied with their condition in life ; and
the more it flourishes, and the higher wages it pays, the more mischievous it becomes in this respect.
Lands bear a rental value in proportion to the rate of living in the district in which they lie ; so that while
a temporary advantage is reaped, by an increased price of market produce, the foundation of a permanent
disadvantage is laid ; and, whenever the manufactory declines, the lands of its neighbourhood have not
only its vices and extravagances entailed upon them, but have the vicious, extravagant, helpless manu-
facturers themselves to maintain. This accumulation of evils, however, belongs particularly to that
description of manufacture which draws numbers together in one place ; where diseases of the body and
the mind are jointly propagated ; and where no other means of support is taught than that of some parti-
cular branch or branchlet of manufacture. But all these evils, belonging to the first introduction of
manufactures on a great scale, will be cured with the progress of education and refinement among the
operative manufacturers : it is already improved in comparison with what it was in Marshal's time.
3845. Cottages. Wherever cottages for any class of men are built, whether singly or
congregated, they ought never to be veithout an eighth or a fourth of an acre of garden
ground. It is observed in the The Code of Agriculture, that " where a labourer or country
tradesman has only a cottage to protect him from the inclemency of the weather, he can-
not have the same attachment to his dwelling, as if he had some land annexed to it ;
nor is such a state of the labourer so beneficial to the community. When a labourer
has a garden, his children learn to dig and weed, and in that spanner some of their
Book II.
MILLS, COTTAGES, VILLAGES, &c.
623
time is employed in useful industry. If lie is possessed of a cow, they are taught
early in life the necessity of taking care of cattle, and acquire some knowledge of
their treatment. But where there is neither a garden to cultivate, nor any cows kept,
they are not likely to acquire either industrious or honest habits. So strongly were
these ideas formerly prevalent, that, by the 43d of Elizabeth, no cottage could be built on
any waste without having four acres attached to it. This is in general too much. If
the quantity were reduced to half an acre for a garden, and if no person could gain a set-
tlement who was not a native, or, if a stranger, who did not fairly rent in the same parish
a house and land worth twenty, instead of ten pounds per annum, both the poor and the
public would thence derive very essential benefit."
S846. The most advantageous system for keeping a cottage cow is that adopted in grazing districts,
where a cottager has a sufficient quantity of enclosed land in grass, to enable him to keep one or two cows
both summer and winter, grazing the one half, and mowing the other, alternately. Nothing tends more
materially to teach the poor honesty, than allowing them to have property. Feeling how intensely they
would deprecate all infringement upon it, they are less likely to make depredations upon that of others ;
and this will produce more honesty among them than the best delivered precepts can instil. By the culti-
vation of a small spot of land, a cottager not only acquires ideas of property, but is enabled to supply
himself with that variety of food, as fresh vegetables in summer and roots in winter, which comfort and
health require. If he should fortunately be able to keep bees in his garden, and if its surplus produce
should also enable him to rear, and still more to fatten, a hog, his situation would be much ameliorated.
But if, in addition to all these advantages, he can keep a cow, the industrious cottager cannot be placed in
a more comfortable situation. Goats have recently been recommended {British Farmer's Magazine, vol,
lii.) as a substitute for a cow, as being more easily kept, costing less at first, and producing milk the greater
part of the year. The chief difficulty of introducmg them is the want of sufficient enclosures, as no
animal is more inimical to shrubby vegetation of any kind. Some useful hints on the subject of cottagers,
and the means by which they may be enabled to keep a cow, will be found in Cobbett's Cottage Economy,
though his statements are in many cases highly exaggerated.
38+7. Cottages and villages necessarily result from manufactories, as well as from extensive mines,
quirries, or harbours. A few cottages will necessarily be scattered over every estate, to supply day
labourers and some description of country tradesmen. Villages are seldom, in modern times, created by
an agricultural population ; it being found so much more convenient for every farm to have a certain
number of cottages attached to it.
3848. A village may be created any where, by giving extraordinary encouragement to
the first settlers ; but unless there be a local demand for their labour, or they can engage
in somemanufacture, the want of comfortable subsistence will soon throw the whole into
a state of decay. Fishing villages, and such as are established at coal and lime works, are
perhaps the most thriving and permanent in the kingdom. Some fine example of fishing
villages, recently established, occur on the Marquess of Stafford's estates in Sutherland.
3849. Informing the plan of a totcn or village, the first thing, if there is a river or other means of com-
munication by water, is to fix on a projier situation for a quay or harbour ; and next, at no great distance
from it, on an open space as a market. Round the latter ought to be arranged the public buildings, as the
post-office, excise or custom-house, police-office, the principal inn and the principal shops. Near the har-
bour ought to be placed the warehouses and other depositaries for goods; in a retired part of the town the
school; and out of town on an eminence (if convenient) the church and the cemetery of garden of burial.
There ought to be a field or open space, as a public recreation ground for children, volunteers or troops
exercising, races, washing and drying clothes on certain days, &c. Public shambles ought to be formed
in a retired and concealed spot, so should public necessaries. Proper pipes, wells, or other sources of
good water, with the requisite sewers and drainage should also be provided. Buckets, to be used in case
of fire, ought to be kept at the market-house.
577
634
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
S850. The village of Bridekirk on the Annan, in Dumfrieshire (^^. 577.). was begun in 1800, by Gen.
Dirom, and is thus described by him in the survey of the county : — " It is situated at a part of the river
which affords falls and power capable of turning any weight of machinery ; and 1 have had it in view to
give encouragement to manufacturers, to whom such a situation is an important object. A woollen manu-
factory (a) upon a large scale, and the most approved plan, has been established there for ten years, and is
gradually increasing its machinery. In this village there are already, in the course of that time, about
two hundred and fifty industrious inhabitants, and it has every appearance of a further rapid increase.
On the opposite side of the river a situation is fixed on for corn-mills (i), where a complete set has been
built upon the best construction, including wheat and barley mills. Half of the water there is reserved for
any other works, and is likely to be let for a mill for dressing and for spinning flax, and for machinery
required in bleaching, there being at the foot of the mill-race a holme of six acres (c), well calculated for
a bleach field ; and I propose to let part of it for such a manufactory.
a&al. " The lots for building and gardens in the village, each consisting of from nine to ten falls of ground,
are granted in perpetuity at the rate of six pounds the Enghsh acre, either upon leases for 999 years, or
feu-rights, as the settlers choose ; the former being generally preferred, as being the holding or title
attended with least expense. This rent would of itself be no object when the waste of ground in streets
and enclosures is considered ; but the great advantage to be derived from such an establishment is, the
increased vaiue that lands acquire from having a number of industrious people settled in the heart of an
estate. Each person who feus a house-stead is obliged to build with stone and lime, according to a regular
plan ; and a common entry is left between every two lots for access to their offices, which are built imme-
diately behind their houses; and the whole of the buildings are covered with slate. The feuers are also
bound to make a common sewer through their property when required; to pave ten feet in front of their
houses, between them and the street ; and to pay at the rate of a penny per fall yearly, according to the
extent of their lots, to form a fund for keeping the streets and roads in repair, and for making small im-
provements. No person is allowed to sell liquor of any kind without my permission ; nor can any shop
or chandlery, tannery, or other work, that might be considered as a nuisance, be set up or built, unless in
places allotted for these purposes; and to prevent all interference on the part of the feuers, 1 reserve to
myself full liberty to make such alterations as may appear tome or my successors to be proper in the plan
of the village. These regulations are the best security against having vagabonds in such a place, as none
but industrious people can afford to build or rent such houses."
5852. A new village sea-port in Devonshire was formed by Sir Lawrence Palk, in the northernmost part
of Torbay. A new pier, projected south-westwardly from the eastern cliff, affords complete protection to
shipping from the south-east winds. The regularity of the buildings lately raised for the accommodation
of company resorting liither for the convenience of sea-bathing, adds neatness and beauty to the wild and
picturesque scenery of its natural situation ; and, from the size of the vessels the harbour is now capable
of protecting whilst they receive and discharge their cargoes, there are well-grounded expectations that
this place will become of some maritime consequence on a future day. A plan of this sea-port {fig. 578.)
578
is given in the Devon Survey, and is described as containing a pier (1), quay (2), harbour (3), ware-
houses (4\ inn and garden (5), stables (6), strand (7), cove for building ships and timber yard (8), beacon
(9), cove for bathing machines (10), new carriage-way to the park (11), terrace (12), the park (13), plant-
ation (14), road to Torwood (15), road from Newton, &a (16), meadows (17), circus in the park (18).
Chap. VII.
Of Mines, Quarries, Pits, and Metalliferous Bodies.
3853. Against mines, as a species of property, considerable prejudice has long existed,
from the variation of their produce, and the uncertainty of their extent and duration.
Modern discoveries in geology, hov/ever, have thrown great light on the subject of mining,
and introduced into the art a degree of certainty not before Contemplated. In proof of
Book II. MINES, QUARRIES, PITS, &c. 625
tliis, we may instance coal and limestone: of these minerals, tradition asserts the existence
in various parts of the island, where from the strata on the surface the modern geologist
well knows it is impossible.
3854. Among the various mineral substances found in quantity in Britain, the chief are
coal, lime, building and other stone, gravel, clay, fuller's earth, marl, &c. among the
earths ; salt, among saline substances ; and lead, copper, and tin, among the metals.
Cobalt, manganese, and some other metals and earths, are found in some places, but in
small quantities. No saline or metalliferous bodies ought to be sought for, or attempted
to be worked, but with the advice and assistance of an experienced and skilful mineral
surveyor ; nothing being more common than for proprietors to be induced by local re-
ports or traditions to fancy their lands contain coal, lead, or some other valuable subter-
raneous product, and to incur great expense in making abortive trials. To ascertain the
nature and value of the minerals of an estate of any magnitude, or of one of small size
hut of pecuHar exterior organisation, it will always be worth while for the proprietor to
have a mineral survey, map, and description, made out by a professional man.
3855. Coal is at present perhaps the most valuable British mineral ; because, among
other reasons, it docs not appear to be worked in any other country in such quantity as
to lessen by importation the home produce. There are three species of coal, the brown,
the black, and tlie uninflammable. To the first belongs the Bovey coal or bitumenised
wood, found chiefly at Bovey, near Exeter; to the second the slate coal, which includes
the pit and sea-coal, and all the kinds in common use, and also the canal coal, which
occurs only occasionally in the coal pits of Newcastle, Ayrshire, and Wigan in Lanca-
shire; to the third belong the ;^lflc,enny cpal, and Welsh culm, or stone coal, which burn
to ashes witliout flaming. . r
3856. The indicatwns of coal are different in different coal districts. In gencralthe surface is argilla-
ceous or slaty, and limestone commonly forms an accompanying stratum. In some collieries near New-
castle, however, limestone is Wanting; but whinstone, sandstone, and others of secondary formation, are
present in a great variety of forms.
3S57. The discovery of coal is made by boring, and that operation is generally performed in coal districts
as a guide for sinking new shafts. Ky this means the owners procure most essential data on which to
proceed, being informed beforehand of the nature of the earth, minerals, and waters, through which they
have to pass; and knowing, to an inch or so, how deep the coal lies, as well as the quality and thickness
of the stratum bored. It is confessedly of the first importance, either to the inhabitants of a district in
general, or to the owners of-the soil in particular', to be able to detect and work such veins of coal as may
exist under their soil; and hence we find, on enquiry in the neighbourhood, that almost every common,
moor, heath, or piece of bad land, in parts where coals are scarce, have at one time or other been reported
by ignorant coal-finders to contain coal. How many times, for instance, have ■oiii' grandmotliers, aiid nurses,
repeating their stories-, told us, that plenty of coals might be dug at such and such a plnce, if governme'ht
had not prohibited their being dug, for encouraging the nursery for seamen, &c. ? Farey's enquiries,- au<J
those of Smith, have brought to light hundreds of instances, where borings and sinkings for coals have'
been undertaken on advice in situations ki tire southern and eastern parts of England ;, attendijd with
heavy and sometimes almost ruinous expenses to the parties, though a source of profit to the pretended
coal-finders. These attempts a very slight degree of geological knowjedjre would have shown to be vain.
3858. Tlie coalfields of Britain v/iW belfound scientifically described ill OntlCiies of Geology, by Conyheare
z.ndVhi\ii^s, a.nd alio m IjoAeivcirs Geology. -^ --•<-= ,-;» .r~^
3859. Limestone, dialk, aiul Imilding or other stone, are fotjiid iii strata either on or
near the surface. At a great depth it is seldom found worth while to work them.
When stones of any kind are procured by uncovering the earth and then working them
out, they are said to be quarried ; but when a pit or shaft is sunk, and the materials are
procured by working under ground, they are said to be mined.
3860. Gravel, chalk, clay, marl,' and other loose matters, when \\OT\ieA from the surface, are said to
be worked from a j)it, and hence the terms stone, quarry, gravel, clay, or marl pit. Little knowledge of
geology is- in general required for the discovery of gravel or marl; but, still, even a little would be found
of the greatest advantage. ^ . ,
3861. The'irorking (f qnnrries Vs a simple operation, and one depolidil^g more on strength than skill.
In quarrying sandstone, consisting of regular layers, the work is performedchiefly by means of the pick,
the wedge, tha Jliamn|pr, and the pinch or lever; recourse being seldom Rad to the more violent and
irregular effects of gunpowder. But for many kinds of limestone, and for greenstone and basalt, blasting
with gunpowder is always resorted to ; and some of the rocks called primitive, such as |;ranite, gneiss, and
sienite, could scarcely be torn asunder by any other means.
3862. The burning of lime may be considered as belonging to the subject of quarrying. This operation
is performed in what are called draw kilns, or perpetual kilns. These should always be close to or near
the quarry, and either situated at a bank, or furnished with a ramp or inclined plane of earth for carting
up the coal and lime to the top of the kiln. Lime-kilns may be built either of stone or brick ; but the
latter, as being better adapted to stand excessive degrees of heat, is considered preferable. The external
form of such kilns is sometimes cylindrical, but more generally square. The inside should be formed in
the shape of a hogshead, or of an egg opened a little at both ends and set on the smallest ; being small in
circumference at the bottom, gradually wider towards the middle, and then contracting again towards the
top. In kilns constructed in this way, it is observed^'ewer coals are necessary, in consequence of the
great degree of reverberation which is created, above that which takes place in kilns formed in the shape
of a sugar-loaf reversed. Near the bottom, in large kilns, two or more apertures are made ; these are
small at the inside of the kiln, but are sloped wider, both at the sides and the top, as they extend towards
tJie outside of the building. The uses of these apertures are for admitting the air necessary for supplying
the fire, and also for permitting the labourers to approach with a drag and shovel to draw out the calcined
lime. From the bottom of the kiln within, in some cases, a small building called a horse is raised in the
form of a wedge, and so constructed as to accelerate the operation of drawing out the burned limestone,
by forcing it to fall into the aiiertures which have been mentioned above. In other kilns of this kind, ia
place of ihis building there is an iron gate near the bottom, which comes close to the inside wall, except at .
the apertures where the lime is dra%vn out. When the kiln is to be filled, a parcel of furze or faggot*'
is laid at the bottom, ever tliis a layer of coals, then a layer of limestone (which is previously broken inta .
liieces, about the size of a man's fist), and so on alternately, ending with a layer of coals, which is some-
S s
62(3
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
times, though seldom, covered with sods or turf, in order to keep the heat as intense as possible. The fire
is then lighted in the apertures ; and when the limestone towards the bottom is completely calcined, the
fuel being considerably exhausted, the limestone at the top subsides. The labourers then put in an addi-
tion of limestone and coal at the top, and draw out at bottom as much as they find thoroughly burned;
and thus go on, till any quantity required be calcined. When limestone is burned with coals, from two
bushels and a half to three and a half of calcined 1 mestone are produced for every bushel of coal used.
_ Lime will, in all cases, be most economically burned
(£■ 579 by fuel which produces little or no smoke ; because
the necessary mixture of the fuel with the broken
limestone renders it impossible to bring it in contact
with a red heat, which may ignite the smoke. Dry
fuel must also, in all cases, be more advantageous
than moist fuel, because in the latter case a certain
quantity of heat is lost in expelling the moisture in
the form of vapour or smoke.
3863. Booker's limekiln {fig. 579.) is the best of all
forms that have hitherto been brought into notice for
burning lime with coke or other dry smokeless fuel.
The kiln of this description at Closeburn is built on
the side of a bank ; it is circular within, thirty-two
feet high from the furnace, three feet in diameter
top and bottom, and seven feet in diameter at
eighteen feet from the bottom ; it has cast-iron doors
to the fuel-chamber {fig. 580. a) and roj-j
ash-pit (Z)), and a cast-iron cap or cover ^
{fig. 579. c, d.), which turns on a pivot,
and rests on a curb-ring fixed on tlie
top of the masonry of the kiln (rf).
The use of this cover is to prevent the
escape of more heat than is necessary
to keep the fuel burning, for which i
last purpose the cover has only an ''
opening at top {d), twelve inches in
diameter. The principal advantage of
this construction is, that very little heat is lost, and
that lime may be burned with almost as little fuel
in winter as in summer. Another advantage, and
one of considerable importance in a country sale,
where a kiln is not worked sometimes for two or
three days together, is, that by closing the orifice
(rf) at top, and the furnace doors {fig. 580. a b) below,
the fire may be kept alive for four or five days. In
the ordinary descriptions of kilns without covers,
the fire is usually extinguished in twenty-four
hours, especially in the winter season. In Booker's
kiln, one measure of coke will burn four measures
of limestone. The fuel for the lime-kihis at Close ,
burn is brought from a distance of twenty- five miles,
and it is found that one third of the expense of car-
riage is saved by coking it at the coal-pits. A mea-
sure of this coke burns as much lime as the same
measure of coal ; as when coal is used in the lime-
kiln it may be said to be coked before it has much
effect on the limestone. One of Booker's kilns,
when coke is used, yields nearly three fourths of its
contents of well burned lime every day.
When lime is to be burnetl with coal or smoky fuel, a form
S864. Menteath or Closeburn coal lime-kiln.
581
584
582
4t...
invented by me has been adopted
at Closeburn, which, from a very
extensive experience, I have proved
to be much superior to those in com-
mon use. This kiln, which may be
designated the Closeburn coal lime-
kiln {fig. 581.), is built in a similar
situation to the other. It is oval in
ground plan, both at top {fig. 582.),
cQo and bottom
^^•* {fig. 583.),
with doors
to the fuel-
chamber and
ash-pit {fig.
581. e/), and
an arched
cover to the
top {fig. 584:
g), which
moves on
small wheels,
is drawn off
and on by windlasses {h h) and has
two small openings serving as chim-
neys for the exit of the smoke (/ i).
The height of the kiln is thirty-five
feet : the short diameter at the fuel-
chamber is twenty-two inches {fig..
583.) ; at the height of twenty feet
the short diameter has gradual'y ex-
tended to five feet {fi^. 581.), and
this dimension is contmued to the-
top, where the oval is nine feet by
five feet {fig. 582.). As the fuel-
chamber to this kiln is very broad in proportion to its depth, three iseparate doors or openings become
/^
jrio
!
I
Book II.
LIME-KILNS.
627
585 ^ ^ necessary (^^.585.) as well as advantageous, for more speedily
and easily drawing out the lime. In some cases, instead of a
movable cover, a permanent roof of masonry {fig. 586.) may be
adopted. This roof should have proper openings to admit the
supply of lime and fuel, and those may be closed by sliding shut-
ters or hinged doors ; while, in the roof, there should be a chim-
ney for the escape of the smoke. It will readily be understood,
that the use of a cover, whether fixed or movable, is chiefly to
retain the heat; but where the cover is a fixed structure, and
sufficiently large, something will be gained by placing the fuel
and limestones there, to be dried and heated before they are
thrown into the kiln. Three fifths of the contents of the Close-
burn oval kiln may be drawn out everyday, and when it is closed
at top and bottom, the fire will not go out for five or six days.
3885. Subsequent improvements by Mr. Menteath are thus
detailed in a letter to us from that gentleman, dated Feb. 28.
1830. — I now employ kilns of an egg shape, and also oval ; the
oval-shaped kilns are divided by arches across the kiln, descend-
ing four feet from the top ; the object of the arches across the
kilns is to prevent the sides of (he kiln falling in or contracting,
and also to enable you to form circular openings for feeding in
the stone and coal at the mouth of th e kiln. Upon this plan, a kiln
of any length might be constructed with numerous round
mouths. In the model of the kiln lately sent to the Highland
Society, Booker's conical cover may be seen revolving upon an
iron ring placed upon the circular mouth, and having placed a
lid to the cover, I am enabled to prevent the escape of heat at
the top, and by cast-iron doors at the bottom the air is pre-
vented from passing through the kiln : so that by these precau-
tions the lime-burner can regulate the heat and prevent its escape
for several days, when the fire would be extinguished at this
season in the course of 24 hours. This is an object of great im-
portance, as it enables you to burn lime as well, and with as
small a quantity of fuel, in the winter as the summer season, and
to supply the farmer with as well burned lime, at any time of
the year, which cannot be done in the common construction of
kilns, open both at top and bottom. When coke is employed for
burning lime during the day, small coal should be used in the
evening, in order to prevent as much as possible the escape or
waste of heat during the night, from the rapid circulation of
air through the limestone in the kiln where coke is the fuel
made use of for its calcination : a kiln in which coke is the fuel
employed will yield near a third more burnt lime in a given time
than when coal is the fuel, so that coke may be used occasionally,
when a greater quantity of lime is required in a certain time, than usual, as it is well known to lime-
burners that the process of burning is done most economically when the kiln is in full action, so as
almost constantly to have a column
of fire from the bottom to the top
of the kiln, with as short intervals
as possible in working the kiln.
Having found that limestone is apt
to be vitrified during the process of
calcination, during stormy weather,
from the increased circulation of
air through the kiln, which adds
much to the heat derived from the
fuel employed, and which experi-
enced lime-burners would nave
diminished, could they be aware
at all times of an occurrence of
this kind. From having experi-
ence of the bad effects of too great
a circulation without properly pro.
viding against it, I have reason to
believe, that having a power to
throw in at pleasure an additional
quantity of air into the bottom of
a lime-kiln, that a considerable
saving of fuel necessary for the cal-
cination of lime would take place, and another object would be gained, that of cooling the limestone in
the bottom of the kiln, which frequently retards the drawing out of the burnt limestone for some hours,
or until the limestone is so cold as not to burn the wooden structure of carts.
3866. In working a kiln iviih narrow circular mouths, the stone and coal should be carefully measured,
so that the workmen can proportion the fuel employed to the quantity of stones ; and it is obvious, that
the quantity of coal to be used must depend upon its relative quality, and the "2™"^^^ of the stone to De
burnt. If this measure were adopted in kilns of any construction, the lime sheUs would be found better
3867. Two furnace doors are employed at the bottom of the kilns ; the upper one for letting through
the burnt shells [or stones] , which allows at all times thorough ingress of air into the oot^om ^t the Kiin,
and facilitates the drawing out of the lime, as it takes off the pressure of the stone from top to uo"om of
the kiln. The lower door is for drawing out the lime ashes, which is a clear gam to the lime-burner.
In the long oval kiln, which admits of being made of any length, the eyes or fire-places are oppos te to
each other, upon the two sides, which admits of a kiln being made ten or twelve feet wide f«_ootU)m,
and enables the lime-burner to supply a very great demand from the kiln daily. (C. Cr. btuart jatnteain.)
SS 2
628
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Pari III.
587
3868. Heathorn's combination of a lime-kiln and coke oven {fig. 587.) has for its object to prepare quick.
lime and coke in the same kiln by a
single operation ; and the arrange,
ments to effect it are at once so simple
and so complete, as seemingly to pre-
clude the capability of any material
improvement. The economy of the
process is likewise carried to the
greatest possible degree ; for that
portion of the coal which is separated
from it to form coke is, by its com.
bustion, rendered subservient to the
burning of the limestone; and the
coke, owing to its increased bulk,
being nearly, if not quite, as valuable
as coal in the market, the expense of
burning is very much reduced. This
kiln and oven are raised on a flat
surface, the lime being raised by
means of a jib and crane, though, like
other kilns, it might be placed on the
side of a bank for supply in the usual
manner. The kiln is now, and has
for some time past been, in full oper-
ation, at the patentee's lime-works at
Maidstone. In districts where coal
is dear, this will probably be found a
valuable improvement; but with
some descriptions of coal it is im-
practicable, and in all cases the labour
will be considerably increased. The
side walls of this kiln {a a) are four
feet thick ; the iron bars at the bot-
tom {bb) are drawn out when the
kiln is to be emptied. The limestone
is raised in a box (rf), by means of a
jib and crane (e) ; when raised, the
jib is swung round, and the lime-box
tilted, by which the whole contents
are thrown down the shaft. The
coke ovens (//) may be two, or a
greater or less number, according to
the magnitude of the works. They
are supplied with coal through iron
doors, which doors have a long and
narrow horizontal opening in the
upper part of them, to admit sufficient
atmospheric air to produce combus-
tion in the inflammable part of the
coal ; the flames thus produced pass
into the lime shaft, and the flues (gf;)
are prevented from interfering with
each other by a partition wall (A).
When the kiln is charged, the open-
ings in front and beneath the iron
bars (?■/■) are closed, as are certain
openings made in the shaft (/r), and
in the coke ovens {I), at convenient
distances, for tlie purpose of intro-
ducing iron bars as pokers, to acceler-
ate the process. "When the coal is
reduced to coke, it is taken dut by a
long-handled iron hoe. {Reg. of Arts
and Sci. vol. iv. p. 290.)
3869. A Yorkshire lime.kiln, (said to be a very good one), for burning lime with coal or coke, is thus
described in the Mechanics' Magazine .-— " Bottom part, where the lime is drawn out, a circle of about
eighteen inches diameter, and widening gradually upwards (in the shape of an inverted cone, with the apex
cut off") to about one half or one third of the whole depth, and then the remainder carried up perfectly
cylindrical to the top ; the diameter of the cylinder being about one third of the whole depth. In fixing
6n a place to build such a kiln, the side of a hill, near the rock to be burnt into lime, is always preferred.
The workmen begin by excavating a large hole in the place where it is to be erected, of sufficient dimen-
sions to bury the back part of it in the ground. In building up the kiln, there are two walls carried up ;
the space betwixt them is filled with small rubble, to keep in the heat, and next to the inner wall the
kiln has a lining, about a foot or half a yard in width, of a slaty gritstone that will stand heat well. When
the lining wants repairs or renewing, the wall behind it keeps the rest of the materials from falling in.
(Gflirrf. Mag. vol. ii. p. 402.)
. 3870. Burning lime in heaps. Wliere fuel is abundant, lime may be burned in heaps, as in charring
iffOoA, or in clumps like bricks. The fuel is intermixed, and the whole covered with turf or mud, in which
a few holes are pierced to admit the passage of the smoke.
' 3871. Machines for pounding limestone have been erected, but the effect of the powder so obtained,
both as a manure and for cement, is so much inferior to that of burnt lime, that they have long since been
generally laid aside.
3872. Salt is procured from rocks, springs, and from the sea. In Chester, parti-
cularly in the neighbourhood of North wich, the salt works are very extensive. Great
quantities are got in the solid form, but not sufficiently pure for use. In this state it is
conveyed from the mines to the Cheshire side of the river, nearly opposite to Liverpool.
It is at this place dissolved in the sea-water, from which it is afterwards separated by
evaporation and crystallisation. There are also in the same district salt works, at which
the salt called Cheshire salt is extracted from brine. These works are described very
intelligibly by Dr. Holland, in The Report of Agriculture for the County of Cheshire.
Book II. MARINE FISHERIES. 629
Considerable salt-works are carried on in Scotland, and in the northern counties of
England on the sea-coast, by the evaporation of sea tvflter. At Lymington, in Hampshire,
the sea-water is evaporated to one sixth of the whole by the action of the sun and air.
The works in which the sea water is heightened into brine are called sun-works, or out-
works. These are constructed on a flat down or oozy beach, within a mole, which is
raised, if necessary, to keep out the sea ; there is a large reservoir, or feeding pond,
communicating with the sea by a sluice, and adjoining to this reservoir a long trench,
parallel to which there are several square ponds, called brine pots, in which the water is
evaporated to a strong brine, and afterwards it undergoes an artificial evaporation and
purification in boilers.
3873. The metalliferous ores or stones should never be sought after, but in consequence
of the best advice and most mature consideration. " Few," Marshal observes, <' have
made fortunes by mines, and many have been ruined by them." Should a man of large
landed property discover a productive mine on his estate, he offers him " two words of
advice. The first is, not to work it himself. A gentleman among miners is a pigeon
to be plucked. Rather let the man who finds himself involved in such a predicament
adopt the Cornish practice, and stipulate to take a proportional part of the ore whicli may
be raised : according to the productiveness of the mine, and the expense of working it,
jointly calculated. Tlie other is, not to break in upon the principal, or gross sum,
which arises from a mine. If the estate is encumbered, remove the encumbrance :
if not, increase its size, or, in any other prudent way, secure the interest of tlie gross
produce of tlie mine, and thus defy the evil effects of its failure ; for no mine is
inexhaustible.'"
Chap. VIII.
Establishment of Fisheries.
3874. Fisheries may be arranged as marine, river, lake, and pond fisheries ; the first
being of the greatest importance to this and every country.
Sect. I. Marine Fisheries.
3875. The importance of improving the marine fslieries to an insular country, like
liritain, is suflficiently obvious. By their augmenting the quantity of food, there would
necessarily result a reduction in the prices of all the necessaries of life ; the condition of
the labouring poor, the artificers, . and tradespeople, would as necessarily be improved :
they would not only be the means of rearing and supporting a bold and hardy race of
men for the defence of the sea-coast, but also of creating a nursery of excellent seamen
for the navy in time of war, and of giving them employment when peace may render
their further services unnecessary. If the fisheries flourished to that extent of which they
appear to be capable, every seaport town and little village on the coasts, or on the
banks of the creeks and inlets, would become a nursery of seamen. It was thus in
Holland, ^\here the national and natural advantages were very inferior to those of Great
Britain ; for it is well observed, in the report of the Downs Society, that Holland does
not produce timber, iron, or salt, all of which are essential to fisheries, and all the
natural produce of Great Britain ; tliat Holland has no herrings on her own coast, while
the coasts of our island abound with them and other fish, at different and at all seasons
of the year, so that there are few, if any, months in which shoals of this fish in particular
are not found on some part of our shores ; and that her population is under 3,000,000,
while ours amounts to about 1 8,000,000, giving to our fishermen six times the consump-
tion of a home market that the Dutch have. With all the impediments to an extended
use of fish in the home market, and notwithstanding the established character which the
Dutch fish have always borne among foreign nations, it is consoling to find that the
British fisheries are generally in a progressive state of improvement, and more particularly
that most important of all their branches, the herring fishery.
i5876. T/ic rapid progress of the herring fishery shows that there is no art or mystery in the catching
and curing of herrings that the English cannot accompUsh as well as the Dutch, which is further proved
by the successful experiment made by the Downs Society of fishermen ; in the report of whose proceed,
ings it is stated, that herrings had been taken within the Cinque Ports of a quality so nearly rcsembhng
the deep sea fish, that they were cured and sold as the best Dutch herrings. The progressive increase
of the herring fishery is confined to Scotland ; the quantity brought under the inspection of the officers
in England amounts not to one twenty-second part of the whole, while the flourishing little town of
Wick alone furnishes nearly one fifth. But the most extraordinary increase is that which has taken
place in the neighbouring county of Sutherland. Till a few years past, the people of this county were
contented to hire themselves as fishermen to the adventurers of Wick. In 1814, they attempted, with
the aid and encouragement of the Marquis of Stafford, a fishery on their own account, and the mouth of
the Helmsdale was fixed upon as the station. A storehouse and curinghouse were here erected ; the boats
■were manned by the people brought from the mountains and the interior of the country. Every thing
Ss 3 •
690 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
was new to them in the employment in which they were about to engage. The fishing commenced on the
2t)th of July, and ended on the 3rd of September, 1814 ; and the four boats won respectively lOV. 3s., 83/. 8*.,
96/. 8s., and 148/. 3s. They were manned by four men each, so that they made, on an average, rather
more than 27/. a man. In 1815, the number of boats employed amounted to fifty, almost entirely manned
by Sutherland men ; and the number of barrels caught and repacked exceeded 4,000, chiefly gutted. In
1817, this fishery gave employment to about 3,000 tenants, 17 coopers, and 130 women. In 1818, 70
coopers, 520 women, 700 men, 140 boats; and, in the present year (1819), the quantity caught and cured
at Helmsdale amounts to no less than 22,876 barrels, besides upwards of 100,000 cod and ling. While
the herring fishery is making these rapid strides in the Highlands of Scotland, the ancient town of North
Yarmouth, which owes its existence to the herring fishery, and in the time of Edward III. had an act
usually called *' The statute of herrings," passed in its favour, for the regulation of its herring fair, now
exhibits only the small number of 1039 barrels. — See an Essay on the Migration and Food of the
Herring, by J. F. Denovan, Esq., in the Farmer's Magazine (vol xxvi. p. 135.) See also art. Salmon, in
Part III. Book VII.
3877. The cod or white fishery, including haddocks, whitings, ling, skate, halibut, flounders, &c. may
be reckoned next in importance to the herring fishery. The whole extent of sea, from the neighbourhood
of the Orkney and Shetland islands to Iceland on the one hand, and to the coast of Norway on the other,
and along the eastern and western shores of Scotland to the Flemish banks on the east, and the coast of
Ireland on the west, may be considered as one great fishing domain, over which the different species of
the cod genus are most plentifully dispersed ; as are also turbot, skates, soles, haddocks, and whitings.
These fish, which constitute collectively what is usually called the white fishery, surround, as it were,
the whole of North Britain, and give to that portion of the united kingdom advantages which its southern
neighbours cannot boast of.
3878. The turbot fishery \s, perhaps, that alone in which neither the Scotch nor the English are as
successful as the Dutch. The turbot fishery begins about the end of March, when the Dutch fishermen
assemble a few leagues to the south of Schevcling. As the warm weather approaches, the fish gradually
advance to the northward, and during the months of April and May, are found in great shoals on the
bank called the Broad Fourteens. Early in June, they have proceeded to the banks which surround the
small island of Hehgoland, off the mouth of the Elbe, where the fishery continues to the middle of August,
when it terminates for the year. The mode of taking turbot is as follows : — At the beginning of the season,
the drag net is used, which, being drawn along the banks, brings up various kinds of flat fish, as soles,
plaice, thornbacks, and turbots ; but, when the weather has driven the fish into deeper water, and upon
banks of a rougher surface, where the drag net is no longer practicable, the fishermen have then recourse
to the hook and line. Each line extends from one to nearly three miles in length, and is armed with six,
seven, or eight hundred hooks, fixed to at a distance of several yards from each other. To keep these*
long lines properly stretched, and prevent their being carried away by the tide, heavy masses of lead ia
some places, and small anchors in others, are attached to them. The hooks are baited with the common
smelt, and a small fish resembling the eel, called the gore bill. Though very considerable quantities of
this fish are now taken in various parts of our own coasts, from the Orkneys to the Land's 'End, yet a
preference is given, in the London market, to those caught by the Dutch, who are supposed to have
drawn not less than 80,000/. a year for the supply of this market alone ; and the Danes from 12,000/. to
15,000/. a year, for sauce to this luxury of the table, extracted from about one million of lobsters, taken
on the rocky shores of Norway ; though our own shores are, in many parts, plentifully supplied with this
marine insect, equal in g(?bdness to those in Norway.
3879. The mackerel fishery is chxeRycdixned on off the coast of Suffolk and other southern counties;
the season generally lasts about six weeks in May and June, and during which time fish to the value of
10,000/. or upwards, are caught off Sufltblk alone. {County Report.)
3880. Soles, gurnets, John dories, the red mullet, and other species, are also caught oflP the southern
coasts ; and when the catch is greater than can be disposed of, they are salted and dried.
3881. The stickleback is caught in immense quantities in the Lynn river about once in seven years,
and is purchased for manure at the rate of 6d. or 8(/. a bushel.
3882 The pilchard fishery is carried on extensively on the coast of Cornwall. Enormous multitudes
of those fish are taken on the coast of Devonshire as well as Cornwall, between the months of July and
September inclusive, when the whole line of coast presents a scene of bustle and activity. The fish for
foreign export and winter consumption are laid upon shore in large stacks or piles, with layers of salt
between each row ; here they are suflTered to lie for twenty or thirty days, during which time a vast
discharge of pickle mixed with blood and oil takes place, all of which is carefully caught in pits and
preserved for manure, which is eagerly purchased by the farmer and carried away in casks. It is said
that every pilchard will dress and richly manure one square foot of ground. The fish are then carefully
washed with sea water, dried, and packed in hogsheads, in which state they are sent abroad. The average
value of pilchards taken in one year in Cornwall is supposed to be from 50,000/. to 60,600/.
3883. Lobsters, crabs, cravfish, shrimps, prawns, Sfc. are caught generally on the south and east coast,
but especially on the south and in the Channel. The Scilly Islands and the Land's End abound in
lobsters, and crabs are to be found on most parts of the British shores.
3884. The oyster is to be found on most of the rocky shallows on the east and south coasts of Britain and
Ireland. The most remarkable circumstance attending this fishery is the feeding or nursing of the
oysters, which is almost exclusively practised in Essex. It has been tried, it is said, in the mouths of the
Seine and some other rivers of France, without success. The oysters are brought from the coast of
Hampshire, Dorset, and other maritime counties, even as far as Scotland, and laid in the beds or layir.gs in
the creeks adjoining those rivers. The number of vessels immediately employed in the dredging for oysters
are about 200, from twelve to forty or fifty tons burden each, employing from 400 to 500 men and boys.
The quantity of oysters bred and taken in Essex, and consumed annually, mostly in London, is supposed
to amount to 14,000 or 15,000 bushels.
Sect. II. River LakC) and other Inland Fisheiies.
3885. The only inland fisliery of any importance is that of the salmon. Salmon fisheries,
Marshal observes, are " copious and constant sources of human food ; they rank next to
agriculture. They have, indeed, one advantage over every other internal produce : their
increase does not lessen other articles of human sustenance. The salmon does not prey
on the produce of the soil, nor does it ow^e its size and nutritive qualities to the destruc-
tion of its compatriot tribes. It leaves its native river at an early state of growth ; and,
going even naturalists knew not where, returns of ample size, and rich in human
nourishment; exposing itself in the narrowest streams, as if nature intended it as a
special boon to man. In every stage of savageness and civilisation, the salmon must
have been considered as a valuable benefaction to this country." This fish being rarely
caught, except in estuaries or rivers, may be considered, in a great degree, as private
property ; and it may therefore be presumed that the fishery is conducted to the greatest
possible extent and advantage. From the extremity of the Highlands, and from the
Book II. INLAND FISHERIES. 631
Orkney and Shetland Islands, these fish are sent up to the London market in ice ; and
when the season is at its height, and the catch more than can be taken off hand fresh,
they are then salted, pickled, or dried, for winter consumption at home, and for the
foreign markets. Perhaps the fishery of the Tweed is the first in point of the quantity
caught, which is sometimes quite astonishing, several hundreds being taken at a single
draught of the net.
3886. The salmon as they are caught are packed in ice, and sent away in vessels well
known under the name of Berwick smacks. Formerly it was all pickled and kitted, after
being boiled, and sent to London under tlie name of Newcastle salmon ; but the present
mode has so raised the value of the fish, as nearly to have banished this article of food
from tlie inhabitants in the environs of the fishery, except as an expensive luxury. Within
memory, salted salmon formed a material article of economy in all the farm-houses of
the vale of Tweed, insomuch that in-door servants often bargained that they should
not be obliged to take more than two weekly meals of salmon. It could then be bought
at 2s. the stone, of nineteen pounds' weight ; it is now never below 12s., often 36s., and
sometimes two guineas.
3887. Jliih respect to the impt-ovement (^ salmon fisheries, admitting that the individiial fish which are
bred in any river instinctively return to the same from the sea, the most obvious means of increase in any
particular river is that of suffering a sufficient number of grown salmon to go up to the spawning grounds ;
protecting them while there, and guarding the infant shoals in their passage thence to the ocean. Even
admitting that those which are bred within the British Islands, and escape the perils that await them,
return to these islands, it is surely a matter of some importance, viewed in a public light, to increase and
protect the breed. It is a well ascertained fact, that salmon pass up toward the spawning grounds of
different rivers at different seasons or times of the year ; consequently, no one day in the year can be
properly fixed by law to give them free passage up rivers in general. Perhaps every river of the island
should have its particular day of liberation, which ought to be some weeks before the known close of the
spawning season in a given river.
j8.S8. In a dry season, and for want of flood water to assist them in their extraordinary efforts to gain
the higher branchlets of i river, the salmon will spawn in its lower deeper parts. But here, it is probable,
few of their progeny escape the voracity offish of prey, which inhabit deep waters. While, in theshal-
low pebbly streams, at the heads of which they delight to lay their spawn, the infant shoal is free from
danger; and it is for this security, no doubt, that the instinct of the parents leads them to the greatest
attainable height, at the peril of their own lives. Thus far, as to the protection of the parents, and their
infant spawnlings ; it now remains to guard these from their native streamlets to the sea.
o8S9. The enemies of young salmon are fish of prey, as the pike, and trouts of size ; both of which ought
to be considered as vermin, in rivers down which samlets are wont to pass.
3890. I'he heron is another destructive enemy of young salmon, especially in the higher branches of
rivers ; yet we see these common destroyers nursed up in heronries. But more wisely might the cormo-
rant be propagated and protected. The heron is tenfold more destructive of fresh-water fish, than is the
cormorant
3891. The otter is a well known enemy to fish, but more so to grown salmon than to their young.
3892. The angler is a species of vermin which is much more injurious than the otter to young salmon ;
during minor floods, when the young " fry " are attempting to make their escape downward to the sea,
the angler counts his victims by the score ; and might boast of carrying home, in his wicker basket, a boat
load of salmon. The net fisher is still more mischievous. But most of all the miller, who takes them in
his mill traps, by the bushel, or the sack, at once.
3893. The porpoise, the most audacious marine animal of prey in northern latitudes, is said to be a great
devourer of salmon and other fish on the sea-coast, and in narrow seas and estuaries. It is asserted by
tliose who have had opportunities of ascertaining the fact, that they not only destroy salmon in the nar-
row seas, and open estuaries, but that they have been seen guarding the mouth of a river, in the salmon
season, and destroying them in numbers, as they attempted to enter. If these are facts, it might be worth
while for the proprietors of fisheries, or perhaps government, to offer rewards for catching this animal, and
thus lessen their number, on the same principles as wolves were extirpated. The author of The British
Naturalist affirms, from his own experience, that the seal is very easily rendered as docile and affectionate
as the dog, and that it might be rendered as useful to man in fishing, as the dog is in shooting and
hunting.
3894. If by wise regulations, Jorined into a law, the present supply of salmon could be doubled, the ad-
vantage to the community would be of some imjwrtance. "When we see the great disparity of the supply,
between the rivers of the north, and those of the south, of this island, it might not be extravagant to
imagine, that the supply from the rivers of England might be made five or ten times what it is at present
One of the first steps towards regulations of this nature is to endeavour to ascertain the causes of this
disparity, and to profit by such a.s can be subjected to human foresight and control. Accurate exa-
minations of the Tay, the Tweed, the Trent, and the Thames, would, perhaps, be found adequate to thij
purpose.
3895. There are various modes of taking salmon, some of which may be mentioned ;
though it is foreign from our plan to enter into the art of fishing, which is practised by a
distinct class of men, created, as it may be said, more by circumstances than regular
apprenticeship or study. The situations in which salmon first attract the particular
attention of fishermen, are narrow seas, estuaries, or mouths of rivers ; in which they
remain some time, more or less, probably, according to their states of forwardness with
respect to spawning ; and in which various devices are practised to take them.
3896. In the wide estnary of Solway Frith, which separates Cumberland and Dumfriesshire, several
ingenious methods are practised, two of which are entitled to particular notice here. Besides the open
channels worn by the Esk, the Eden, and other rivers and brooks that empty themselves into this com-
mon estuary, the sands, which compose its base and are left dry at low water, are formed into ridges and
valleys, by the tides and tempestuous weather. The lower ends of these valleys, or false chaimels, are
wide and deep, opening downward towards the sea ; their upper ends grow narrower and shallower,
terminating in points, at the tops of the sand-banks. As the tide flows upward, the salmon, either in
search of food, or the channel of the river to which they are destined, enter these valleys or « lakes : " but
finding, on the turn of the tide, that their passage farther upward is stopped, they naturally return with
it into deep water ; where they remain until the next tide. The manorial proprietors of these sand-banks
having discovered this fact have, from time immemorial, run lines of nets, during the fishing season,
across the lower ends of these lakes or valleys, half a mile, or more, perhaps, in width ; the nets being
Ss4
03« PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
suspended in such a manner, that they are lifted from the ground by the current of the tide in flowing
upward ; so that the fish find no difficulty in passing beneath them into the lake : but, on the tide's turn-
ing, their lower edges fall down close to the sand, and effectually prevent the salmon from retreat-
ing. They are, in consequence, left dry, or in shallow water, and are easily to be taken, by hundreds, per-
haps, at once.
3897. The other remarkable method, which is practised in the Frith of Solway, is founded on a well-
known habit of salmon, when they first make the land, and enter into narrow seas and estuaries, to keep
much along the shore: no matter whether to hit, with greater certainty, their native rivers; to rub off
the yennin with which, in general, they are more or less infested, when they return from the ocean ; or
to seek for food. This method of taking salmon, if not a modern invention, has recently been raised to
its present degree of perfection, by an enterprising salmon fisher and farmer in the neighbourhood of
Annan ; who has turned it to great profit At a short distance below the mouth of the river Annan, he
has run out a long line of tall net-fence, several hundred yards in length, and somewhat obliquely from the
line of the shore, with which it makes an acute angle, and closes in with it, at the upper end : thus form-
ing, in effect, an artificial lake; one side of which is the beach, the other the net fence. The lower end
is ingeniously guarded, with nets of a more trap like construction than those which are in use for natural
lakes ; in which fish are found to lie more quietly, until the turn of the tide. In this immense trap, great
quantities, not of salmon only, but of cod, ling, soles, and other white fish are taken. Marshal knows no
place in the island where sea fishing, for salmon, can be studied with so much profit as on the shores of
Annandale.
3898. River fishing for salmon is chiefly done with the seine, or long draught net, the construction and
use of which are universally known. In rivers liable to frequent and great changes of depth and strength
of current, by reason of tides and floods, it is desirable to have nets of different textures, as well as of
different depths : as, one of the construction best adapted to the ordinary state of the water, and to the
size of the fish that frequent it (salmon peels, trouts, mullets, and other small-sized fish are, in some rivers,
commonly taken with salmon) ; and another with more depth, and wider meshes, to be used during high
water and strong currents, when the larger salmon do not fail to hasten upward : and the same strength
of hands which is able to draw a close net on it, can work a deeper one with wider meshes. In wide
rivers, with flat shores, a variety of nets are required of different lengths as well as depths, to suit every
height and width of the water.
38'J9. In rivers, traps are set for salmon. The most common device of this kind is the weir, or salmon
leap; namely, a tall dam run across the river, with a sluice at one end of it, through which the principal
part, or the whole, of the river at low water, is suffered to pass with a strong current; and in this sluice
the trap is set
39!)0. The construction ofsabnon weirs. Marshal conceives to be, in all cases, dangerous, and in many
highly injurious to the propagation of salmon : and although it would be altogether improper to demolish
those which long custom has sanctioned, yet he is of opinion that it would be equally improper to suffer
more to be erected; at least, until somejudiciousregulations are made respecting them ; regulations which
cannot be delayed without injury to the public.
3901. It now oidy remains to speak of poaching, or the illegal taking of grown salmon.
There are already severe penalties inflicted for this crime ; which, compared with that of
destroying young salmon, might, in a public light, be deemed venial, the latter deserving
tenfold punishment : for the grown salmon taken in season by poachers becomes so
much wholesome food ; there is no waste of human sustenance by the practice. Never^
theless, as theft, the crime is great, and ought to be punishable as such. As an improve-
ment of the present law. Marshal proposes to make the receiver, in this as in other cases
of theft, equally punishable with the thief. If poachers Avere not encouraged by pur-
chasers of stolen salmon, the practice would not be followed.
3902. Lake fisheries are of small extent, and are chiefly confined to one or two moun-
tainous districts ; and, even there, unless where char or trout abound, as in Keswick and
Lochlomond, their value is small, and their improvements few. The Lochfine fishery
is to be considered as marine, it being in fact an inlet of the sea.
3903. Pool-fs/iing is, in most parts, peculiar to the seats of men of fortune, and the
country residences of minor gentlemen. Surrey and Berkshire are, perhaps, the only
districts in which fish-pools are viewed as an object of rural economy. On every side
of the metropolis, something of this kind is observable. But it is on the south side, in
adjoining parts of Surrey and Sussex, where tlie practice of fish-breeding may be said to
be established. There fish-pools have been, and still arc, formed with the view of letting
them to dealers in carp and other pond fish ; or of stocking them and disposing of the
produce as an article of farm stock. In a general view of the kingdom, fish-pools can
scarcely be considered as an object worthy of consideration, in the innprovement of landed
estates : yet there are situations in which they may be formed with profit ; as in the dips
and. hollows of extremely bad ground ; especially if waters which are genial to any of the
species of pond-fish happen to pass through them, or can be profitably led to them.
Even where the water which can be commanded is of an inferior quality, a profitable
breeding-pool may be formed to stock ponds of a more fattening nature. Feeding and
fattening fish for market is commonly practised in China, and no doubt might be prac-
tised in England, with the same ease as fattening pigs. In China, boiled rice, mixed up
with the blood of animals, kitchen wash, or any greasy rich fluid of animal oflfal, is the
food with which they are fed once or twice a day : they fatten quickly and profitably.
3904. The craufish, though most delicious eating, and a native of England, neither
abounds in sufficient quantities to be brought to market nor is reared by individuals. It
requires warm rich marshy lands, and a calcareous soil.
3905. The leech is an amphibious animal of the Mollusca order, common about some
of the lakes in the north of England, as Keswick. Fonnerly considerable quantities
used to be packed up and sent to London, and other places ; but the market is now chiefly
supplied from the Continent.
JJooK II. SOILS FOR TREES. J6J3
Chap. IX.
Plantations and JVoodlands.
3936. Without trees, a landed estate may be very profitable, on account of its mines,
waters, and farm lands ; but it will be without the noblest characteristic of territorial
surface. It may possess the beauty of utility in a high degree, and especially to the
owner ; but it will not be much adirured by the public, nor contribute greatly to the
ornament of the country — for what is a landscape without wood ? It is not meant,
however, that plantations of trees should be made on estates for the sake of ornament ;
on the contrary, none need ever be made which shall not be at the same time useful, either
from the products of the trees individually, or their collective influence on surrounding
objects.
.'5907. Trees have been planted and cherished in all countiies, and from the earliest ages;
but the foi-mation of artificial plantations chiefly with a view to profit appears to have
been first practised in Britain, about the end of the sixteenth century, when the
insufficiency of the natural forests, which had hitherto supplied civilised society in Eng-
land with timber and fuel, rendered planting a matter of necessity and profit. In the
century succeeding, the improved practice of agriculture created a demand for hedges,
and strips for shelter ; and the fashion of removing from castles in towns and villages to
isolated dwellings surrounded by verdant scenery, led to the extensive employment of
trees both as objects of distinction and value. For these combined purposes, planting is
now universally practised on most descriptions of territorial surface, for objects principally
relating to utility ; and, in all parks and grounds surrounding country residences, for the
joint purposes of utility and beauty. It has often been suggested, that an agreement
might be made between landlord and tenant, under which it would be the tenant's interest
to plant trees upon suitable parts of his farm, of little value for other purposes, and to
protect them wlien planted. This would not only promote the interests of both, but add
mucli to the ornament of the country. We cannot but regret that some such plan is not
devised and generally adopted.
.^908. Woodlands are lands covered with wood by nature, and exist more or less on
most extensive estates. Sometimes it is found desirable partially or wholly to remove
them, and employ the soil in the growth of grass or corn ; at other times, their character
is changed by art, from coppice or fuel woods, consisting of growths cut down periodically,
to trees left to attain maturity for timber.
.'3909. In our view of the subject of trees, we shall include some remarks on improving
and managing woodlands, which might have been referred to the two following books ;
but, for the sake of unity, we prefer treating of every part of the subject together. The
ornamental part of planting we consider as wholly belonging to gardening, and indeed
the subject of timber trees may be considered as equally one of gardening and of agricul-
ture, being the link by which they are inseparably connected. For a more extended view
of the subject, therefore, we refer to our Enci/clopcedia of Gardening, and Enci/clopcedia
of Plants : in the former will be found all that relates to the culture of trees collectively ;
in the latter, all that relates to their botanical character, history, uses, height, native country,
and other subjects, with their individual propagation, soil, and culture. We shall here
confine ourselves to the soils and situations proper for planting, the trees suitable for
particular soils and situations, the operations of forming and managing artificial plant-
ations, and the management of natural woods.
Sect. I. Soils and Situations which may be most profitably employed in Timber
Plantation.
5910. As a general principle of guidance in planting, it may be laid down, tliat lands fit
for the purposes of aration should not be covered with wood. Where particular pur-
poses are to be obtained, as shelter, fencing, connection, concealment, or some other
object, portions of such lands may require to be wooded ; but, in regard to profit, these
portions will generally be less productive than if they were kept under grass or corn. The
profits of planting do not depend on the absolute quantity of timber pioduced, but on
that quantity relatively to the value of the soil for agricultural purposes. Suppose a
piece of ground to let at 205- per acre, for pasture or aration, to be planted at an expense
of only 10/. per acre ; then, in order to return the rent, and 51. percent, for the money
expended, it ought to yield 30s. a year ; but as the returns are not yearly, but say at the
end of every fifteen years, when the whole may be cut down as a copse, then, the amount
of 30s. per annum, at 51. per cent, compound interest, being 32Z. 8s., every fall of copse
made at the interval of fifteen years ought to produce that sum per acre clear of all ex-
penses. Hence, with a view to profit from the fall of timber, or copse wood, no situation
capablr of much agricultural improvement should be planted.
«94
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
S911. The Jittest situations for planting extensively are hilly, mountainous, and rocky
surfaces; where both climate and surface preclude the hope of ever introducing the
plough ; and where the shelter afforded by a breadth of wood will improve the adjoining
farm lands, and the appearance of the country. Extensive moors and gravelly or sandy
soils may often also be more profitably occupied by timber trees than by any other crop,
especially near a seaport, collieries, mines, or any other source of local demand.
391 2. On all hilly and irregular surfaces various situations will be indicated by the lines
of fences, roads, the situations of buildings, ponds, streams, &c., where a few trees, or a
strip, or mass, or row, may be put in with advantage. We would not, however, advise
the uniform mode of planting recommended by Pitt in his Survey of Staffordshire, and in
The Code of Agriculture ; that of always having a round clump in the point of intersection of
the fences of fields. This we conceive to be one of the most certain modes ever suggested
of deforming the surface of a eoun<;ry by planting ; the natural character of the surface
would be counteracted by it, and neither variety nor grandeur substituted ; but a mono-
tony of appearance almost as dull and appalling as a total want of wood.
3913. Near all buildings a. few trees may in general be introduced ; carefully however
avoiding gardens and rick-yards, or shading low buildings. In general fewest trees
should be planted on the south-east side of cottages ; and most on their north-west side ;
farms and farm buildings in very exposed situations {fg. 588.), and also lines of cottages,
may be surrounded or planted on the exposed side by considerable masses.
3914. Wherever shelter or shade is required, plantations are of the first consequence,
whether as masses, strips, rows, groups, or scattered trees ; all these modes may occa^
sionally be resorted to with advantage even in farm lands.
3915. Wherever a soil cannot by any ordinary process be rendered fit for com or grass, and
will bear trees, it may be planted, as the only, or perhaps the best, mode of turning it to
profit. There are some tracts of thin stony or gravelly surfaces covered with moss, or
very scantily with heath, and a few coarse grasses, which will pay for no improvement
whatever, except sowing with the seeds of trees and bushes. These growing up will,
after a series of years, form a vegetable soil on the surface. The larch, Scotch pine, birch,
and a species of rough moorland willow (^alix) are the only woody plants fit for such soils.
Those who have subjected to the plough old woodland. Sir Henry Steuart remarks, well
know how " inconceivably even the poorest soils are meliorated by the droppings of trees,
and particularly of the larch, for any considerable length of time, and the rich coat of
vegetable mould which is thereby accumulated on the original surface." It would ap-
pear indeed, that on certain surfaces the growth and decay of forests are the means
adopted by nature for preparing the soil for the culture of corn ; as on certain other
soils, a stock of nutritive matter is created by peat moss, or marsh, as on the barest
rocks, the rudiments of a soil are formed by the growth and decay of lichens.
3916. Wherever trees will pay better than any other crop, they will of course be planted.
This does not occur often, but occasionally in the case of willows for baskets and hoops,
which are often the most profitable crop on moist deep rich lands ; and ash for hoops and
crate ware, on drier, but at the same time deep and good, soils.
Sect. II. T7'ees suitable for different SoUs, Situations, and Climates.
39 1 7. Every species of tree will grow in any soil, provided it be rendered sufficiently dry ;
but every tree, to bring its timber to the highest degree of perfection, requires to be
planted in a particular description of soil, situation, and climate. The effects of soils
on trees are very different, according to the kind of tree and the situation. A
rich soil and low situation will cause some trees, as the larch and common pine,
to grow so fast that their timber will be fit for little else than fuel ; and the oak, elm,
&c., planted in a very elevated situation, whatever be the nature of the soil, will never
attain a timber size. In general, as to soils, it may be observed that such as promote
rapid growth, render the timber produced less durable, and the contrary; that such soils
as are of the same quality for a considerable depth are best adapted, other circumstances
being alike, for ramose-rooted trees, as the oak, chestnut, elm, ash, and most hard- wooded
trees ; and that such soils as are thin, are only fit for spreading or horizontal-rooted trees,
as the pine and fir tribe.
Book II.
FORMING PLANTATIONS.
635
3918. A natural succession in the kind of tree has been found to take place where
natural forests have been destroyed. Evelyn noticed that, at Wooton, where goodly
oaks grew and were cut down by his grandfather 100 years before, beech succeeded,
and that, when his brother had extirpated the beech, birch rose up. (Gard. Mag. vol. iii.
p. 351.) In D wight's Travels in New England, a number of instances are given, in
^ome of which the pine and fir tribe were succeeded by deciduous trees, and in others
the reverse. Soulange-Bodin also, and some other French and German writers, have
observed the same thing to take place on the continent of Europe, and use the fact as an
argument for the introduction of exotic trees to succeed the natives. r
3919. A table of soils and the trees suitable to them, which maybe of some use, is given
in The Agricultural Survey of Kent. It indicates the trees which grow naturally oh' a
variety of soils and subsoils ; and, next, the sorts which yield most profit on such soils.
^ Surface Soil.
Subsoil.
Common Growth. Planted Growth.
Uses of
Heavy and gravel-
ly loams.
Sandy loams.
Flinty strong loam.
Gravelly and sandy
loams.
Gravelly, sandy,
and flinty loams.
Flinty, dry, poor
gravelly loams.
Flinty and gravelly
loams.
Ditto.
Lightish black
loam.
Flinty gravelly
loams.
Chalky, flinty, gra-
velly loam.
Gravelly loam.
Gravelly and
chalky loams.
Gravelly loam.
Ditto.
Sandy gravel
Stone, shatter, and
gravelly loam.
Stone, shatter, and
gravelly loam.
Gravelly loam.
Sandy loam.
Sandy loam and
stone shatter.
Gravelly loam and
stone shatter.
Ditto.
Gravelly and sandy
loam.
Gravelly loam
flinty.
Wet spongy land.
Drier ditto.
Light sandy loam.
Light gravelly
loam.
Heavy loam with
chalk.
Heavy loam.
Heavy loam.
Gravelly loam.
Heavy, gravelly,
flinty loam.
Chalk at two feet
depth with gra-
velly loam.
Clialk 4 feet with
doop gravelly
loam.
With a few flints,
but nearly as
♦bove.
Dry sandy gravel.
Strong loam with
flints.
Chalk, with some
gravelly loam.
Heavy flinty and
poor loam.
Gravelly loam with
chalk.
Ditto.
Gravelly loam and
heavy loam.
Gravelly and sandy
loam.
Strong loam with
ragstone.
Gravelly loam with
some stona
Gravelly loam with
some stones.
Gravelly loam.
Gravelly loam with
ragstone.
Deep loam, heavy
clay and gravel
Gravelly loam.
Strong clay and
loam.
Gravel with clay
and some flint.
Moist and boggy
earth.
Ditto more dry.
Dry gravelly earth.
With dry gravel.
Birch, hornbeam,
oak, ash, hazel,
beech, &c.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ash, beech, oakj
hazel, &c.
Ash, beech, horn-
beam, and oak.
Beech, oak, &c.
Ash, oak, hazel,
&c.
Oak, hazel, beech;
and ash.
Birch, elm, ash.
Oak, ash, beech,
&c.
Ditto.
Oak, ash, hazel,
and beech.
Oak, ash, &c.
Ash, oak, & beech.
Ditto.
Ditto, Scotch pine.
Oak, hazel, birch,
&c.
Oak, birch, aspen,
hazel, and ash.
Oak.
Birch, oak, horn-
beam, &c.
Oak, beech, birch,
hazel, ash.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Oak, and ditto.
Scrubby oak, hazel,
&c.
Alder, willow.
Poplar,
Mountain ash, ash.
Ash,
Oak, ash, chestnut,
willow, lime, wal-
nut.
Elm, beech, Wey-
mouth pine, com-
mon spruce.
Willow and chest-
nut.
Chestnut, ash.
Ash, beech, larch,
&c.
Beech, larch, &c.
Ash, larch, &c.
Chestnut, ash, and
willow.
Ash, elm, &c.
Ash, &c.
Ditta
Ash, oak, &c.
Ash and chestnut
Oak, larch.
Scotch pine.
Larch, chestnut,
&c.
Birch, oak, &c.
Ash, chestnut, and
willow.
Chestnut.
Chestnut, &c.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ash, larch, &c.
Oak, ash.
Alder, osier, wil-
low, &c.
White poplar, wil-
low.
Scotch pine, silver
fir.
Sycamora
Timber, hop-poles,
cordwood, hurdles,
bavins for bakers,
and lime-works.
Ditto.
Timber, fencing-
poles, and as above.
Hop- poles, fencing-
poles, and all as
above.
Timber, fencing,
hop-poles, cord-
wood tor charcoal,
bavins, &c.
Cord«ood, bavins,
and hop-poles.
Cordwood, hop-
poles, bavins,
stakes, ethers, &c.
Hop-poles, fencing
poles, stakes, cord-
wood, &c.
Varioiis uses in
husbandry,
Poles, bavins, cord-
wood, &c.
Ditto.
Common produce
a few poles, cord-
wood, bavins, &c,
plantation many
poles, and the
above,
Poles, cordwood,
&c.
Ditto,
The same,
Poles, stakes,
ethers, &c. &c.
Oaken tillers,
small timber poles,
&c.
Fencing-poles, hop.
poles, cordwood,
&c.
Hop -poles, fence
poles, &c.
Fence poles, hop-
poles, &c.
Ditto.
Ditto,
Ditto.
Poles, fire-wood,
&c. as above.
Timber and ditto.
Hurdles, hop-poles,
&c.
Hop-poles, &c.
Hop-poles.
Timber-turnery,
&c.
€36
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
3920. IFitli respect to climate, the trees which grow nearest the regions of perpetual
snow are the birch, common pine, white beam, larch, mountain ash, and eldet. A
warmer zone is required for- the sycamore and hornbeam ; and still more for the beech,
ash, elm, and maple. The exotic pines and firs prefer dry sheltered dingles and ravines,
not far up the sides of hills ; and the oak, chestnut, lime, poplai-s, tree willows, and a
variety of American trees, will not thrive at any great elevation above the sea. The
hardiest shore trees are the sycamore, beech, and elder ; but on sheltered shores, or such
as ar6 little subject to the sea-breeze, pines, firs, and most sorts of trees will thrive..
3921. The sort qf product desired from planting, as whether shelter, eflfect, or timber, copse, bark, fuel,
&c. and what kinds of each, must be, in most cases, more attended to than the soil, and in many cases
even than the situation. The thriving of trees and plants of every kind, indeed, depends much more on
the quantity of available soil, and its state in respect to water and climate, than on its constituent princi-
ples. Moderately sheltered and on a dry subsoil, it signifies little, as far as growth is concerned, whether the
surface strata be a clayey, sandy, or calcareous loam : all the principal trees will thrive nearly equally well
in any of tliese, so circumstanced ; but no tree whatever in these or in any soil saturated with water, and
in ableak exposed site. The durability of the timber of different trees, produced under such circumstances,
will also be very diflferent. For durability, as already observed, it seems essential that every species of tree
should be planted in its natural soil, situation, and climate. For hedge-row timber, those kinds which
grow with lofty stems, which draw their nourishment from the subsoil, and do least injury by their shade,
are to be preferred. These, according to Blaikie, are oaks, narrow-leaved elm, and black Italian poplar ;
beech, ash, pines, and firs, he says, are ruinous to fences, and otherwise injurious to farmers. {On
Hedges imd Hedgerow Timber , p. 10.)
rx.x'' ,^iii iinittjjlLj /r
Sect. III. Forjnms, Plantations.
3922. The formation of plantations includes the enclosing, the preparation of the soil,
and the motle of planting or sowing.
3923. The enclosing of 2)lantations is too essential a part of their formation to require
enlarghig on. In all tliose of small extent, as hedges and strips^ it is the principal part
of the expense ; but to plant in these forms, or in any other, without enclosing, would be
merely a waste of labour and property. The sole object of fencing being to exclude the
domestic quadrupeds, it is obvious, that whatever in the given situation is calculated to
eftect this at the least expense, the first cost and future repairs or management being taken
into consideration, must be the best. Where stones abound on the spot, a wall is the
best and cheapest of all fences as such ; but, in the great majority of cases, recourse is
obliged to be had to a verdant fence of some sort, and generally to one of hawthorn.
This being itself a plantation, requires to be defended by some temporary barrier, till it
arrives at maturity ; and here the remark just made will again apply, that whatever tempo-
rary barrier is found cheapest in the given situation will be the best. Hedge fences are
in general accompanied by an open drain, which, besides acting in its proper capacity,
fumislies at its formation a quantity of soil to increase the nutriment of the hedge plants ;
an excavation
{fig. 589. fl),
and an eleva-
tion (/), to aid
in the form-
ation of a tem-
porary fence.
A hedge enclosing a plantation requires only to be guarded on the exterior side; and of
the various ways in which this is done, the following may be reckoned among the best
and most generally applicable : — an open drain and paling, or line of posts and rails ;
the plants inserted in a facing of stone, backed by the earth of the drain {b), an excellent
mode, as the plants generally thrive, and almost never require cleaning from weeds ; an
open drain and paling, and the hedge on the top of the elevation (c) ; no open drain,
but, the soil being a loam, the surface-turves fonned into a narrow ridge, to serve as a
paling, a temporary hedge of furze sown on its summit, and the permanent hedge of
tliorn or holly within (eZ); and an open drain, but on the inside, the exterior being
protected by a steep bank sown with furze {e). The first of these modes is the most
general, the second the best, and the fourth the cheapest, where timber is not abundant.
Separation fences are commonly formed in the first, second, or third manner, but with
a paling on both sides. (See Fences, Part II. Book IV.)
3924. In the preparation of the soil for planting, draining is the first operation. What-
ever may be the nature of the soil, if the plants are intended to thrive, the subsoil ought
to be rendered dry. Large open drains may be used, where the ground is not to undergo
much preparation ; but where it is to be fallowed or trenched, under-drains become re-
quisite. It is true they will in time be choaked up by the roots of the trees ; but by tliat
period, as no more culture will be required, they may be opened and left open. Many
situations, as steep sides of hills and rocky irregular surfaces, do not admit of preparing
the soil by comminution previously to planting ; but wherever that can be done, either by
trenching, digging, or a year's subjection to the plough, it will be found amply to repay
Book II. FORMING PLANTATIONS. 637.
the trouble. This is more especially reguisite for strips for shelter,, or hedge-rows, as the
quick growth of the plants in these cases is a matter of the utmost consequence. The
general mode of planting hedges by the side of an open drain renders preparation for
them, in many cases, less necessary; but for strips of trees, wherever it is practicable,,
and there is at the same time no danger of tlie soil being washed away by rains or thaw;s,
as in some chalky hilly districts, or blown about by the wind, as in some parts of Korfoll^^
and other sandy tracts, jireparation by a year's fallow, or by trenching two spits deep^^
cannot be omitted without real loss, by retarding the attainment of the object desired^,"
Mr. Withers of Norfolk not only prepares poor light land by paring, and burning, and
trenching, but even spreads on it marl and fannyard dung, as for a common agri-
cultural crop ; and at the same time keeps the surface perfectly free from weeds by hoeing
till the young trees have completely covered the ground. The progress that they make
under this treatment is so extremely rapid, as apparently to justify, in an economical jyqint
of view, the extraordinary expenses that attend it. In three years, even oaks and other
usually slow-growing forest trees have covered the land, making shoots of three feet in
a season, and throwing out roots well qualified, by their number and length, to derive
from the subsoil abundant nourishment,- in proportion as the surface becomes exhausted.
{Trans. Soc. for Encour. Jrts, -vol. xlv.) Cobbett {The Woodlands, 8vo. 1825.) recon;-
mends trenching the gi-ound two feet deep at the least, keeping the old soil still at the.
top, unless there is plenty of manure, when, he says, the top soil may be laid in the
bottom of the trench. There are instances stated, of promising oak plantations, from
acorns dibbed into soil altogether unimproved, and of plantations of Scotch pine raised by
merely scattering the seeds, without covering, on a heath or common, and excluding cattle
{General Report of Scotland, ii. 269.) ; but these are rare cases, and the time required,,
and the instances of failure, are not mentioned. The practice is obviously too rude to
be recommended as one of art. The best situations for planting, without any other culture
but inserting the seeds or plants, are surfaces partially covered "with low woody growths,
as broom, furze, &c. " The ground which is covered, or rather half covered, witli
juniper and heath," says Buftbn, " is already a wood half made." Gordon, Emmericii,
Hayes, Speechly, Marshall, Cruikshank, and others, have shown that the most effectual
method of raising oak plantations is by sowing patches of 3 or 4 acorns on dug spots,
as far distant from one another as is to be the distance of the trees when half grown-
The intermediate spaces, if not covered with furze, broom, or native copse, are to be
planted with birch, larch, spruce, or Scotch pine. (See § 3923.)
3925. A controversy on the subject of the preparation of the soil previously to planting,
has lately arisen between Sir Henry Steuart, Sir Walter Scott, Mr. Withers, Mr. Bil-
lington, and others, which it might be deemed improper to pass over here without notice.
Scott contends, that preparing the soil accelerates the growth of the tree for a few years
only, and, in as far as it has that effect, renders the timber of a less durable quality.
Stuart admits the rapidity of the growth of timber on soils which have been prepared,
but seems to allow, with Scott, that the timber will be less durable. W^ithers and Bil-
lington assert, that the preparation of the soil accelerates tlie growth of timber without
impairing its durability ; and the former has cited some experiments to show that 02^,
which has grown on good soils and rapidly, has proved stronger than oak which had
grown on worse soils slowly. The result of general experience, or what may be called
the common sense of gardeners and foresters on this subject, seems to be this : — Pre^
paration of the soil greatly increases the rapidity of the growth of trees, and it has not
been found to lessen the strength of the timber produced ; on the contrary, oak, ash,
willow, and poplar, when freely, or rapidly rather than slowly grown, seem to produce
stronger timber, than when slowly and stintedly grown on poor soils. But strength and
durability are properties that depend on different qualities of organisation, and it is gene-
rally considered that slowly-grown timber is the most durable. We have, ourselves, no
doubt of the fact, and more especially in the case of the resinous timbers. We have seen
both larch and Scotch pine of a timber size, which had been rapidly grown in rich soil,
and which, when cut down, had begun to decay in the heart. We would not, however,
on that account cease to prepare the soil for resinous trees, as much as for the other kinds,
where practicable ; but we would take care to plant resinous trees only on poor soils.
W"e have reason to believe that these opinions on the preparation of the soil for trees,
and the durability and strength of timber, are those of the practical men of the present
day of greatest science and experience ; such, for example, as Sang, -Gome, Main, Bil-
lington, and Cruikshank; and therefore we consider them as more especially entitled to
attention in a work like the present.
3926. Whether extensive plantations should be sown or planted Is a question about which
planters are at variance. Miller says, transplanted oaks will never arrive at the size of
those raised where they are to remain from the acorn. {Diet. Quercus.) Marshal pre-
fers sowing where the ground can be cultivated with the plough. {Plant, and Rur. Orn.
i. 123.) Evelyn, Emmerich, and Speechly, are of the same opinion ; Pontey and Nicol
638 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part ill.
practise planting, but offer no arguments against sowing where circumstances are suit-
able. Sang says, " It is an opinion very generally entertained, that planted timber can
never, in any case, be equal in durability and value to tliat which is sown. We certainly
feel ourselves inclined to support this opinion, although we readily admit that the matter
has not been so fully established, from experiment, as to amount to positive proof. But
although we have not met with decided evidence, to enable us to determine on the com-
parative excellence of timber raised from seeds, without being replanted, over such as
has been raised from replanted trees, we are left in no doubt as to the preference, in re-
spect of growth, of those trees which are sown, over such as are planted." (^Plant. Kal.
43.) He particularly prefers this mode for raising extensive tracts of the Scotch pine
and larch (p. 430.), and is decidedly of opinion, <' that every kind of forest tree will suc-
ceed better by being reared from seeds in the place where it is to grow to maturity, than
by being raised in any nursery whatever, and thence transplanted into the forest."
(p. 344.) Dr. Yule (Caled. Hort. Mem. ii.), in a long paper on trees, strongly recom-
mends sowing where the trees are finally to remain. " It is," says he, " a well ascer-
tained fact, that seedlings allowed to remain in their original station, will, in a few
seasons, far overtop the common nursed plants several years older."
3967. The opinion of Dr. Yule seems to be founded on the idea that the tap-root is of great importance
to grown up trees, and that when this is once cut offby transplanting, the plant has not a power of re-
newing it. That the tap-root is of the utmost consequence for the first three or four years, perhaps for a
longer period, is obvious, from the economy of nature at that age of the plant ; but that it can be of no
great consequence to full-grown trees, appears highly probable from the fact, that when such trees are
cut down, the tap-root is seldom to be distinguished from the others. The opinion that young plants
have not the power of renewing their tap-root, will, we believe, be found inconsistent with fact ; and we
may appeal to nurserymen, who raise the oak and horse-chestnut from seed. It is customary when these
are sown in drills, to cut off their tap-roots without removing the plants at the end of tlie second year's
growth, and when, at the end of the third or fourth year, they are taken up, they will be found to have
acquired other tap-roots, not indeed so strong as the first would have been had they remained, but suf-
ficient to establish the fact of the power of renewal. We may also refer to the experiment recorded by
Forsyth, which at once proves that trees have a power of renewing their tap-roots, and the great ad-
vantages from cutting down trees after two or three years' planting. Forsyth " transplanted a bed of
oak- plants, cutting the tap roots near to some of the side-roots or fibres springing from them. In the
second year after, he headed one half of the plants down, and left the other half to nature. In the first
season, those headed down made shoots six feet long and upwards, and completely covered the head of
the old stem, leaving only a faint cicatrix, and produced new tap-roots upwards of two feet and a half
long. That half of the plants that were not headed, were not one fourth the size of the others. One of
the former is now eighteen feet high, and fifteen inches in circumference, at six inches from the ground :
one of the largest of the latter measures only five feet and a half in height, and three inches and three
quarters in circumference, at six inches from the ground." {Tr. on Fruit Trees, 4to. edit. 144.) The pine
and fir tribes receive most check by transplanting ; and when removed at the age of four or five years,
they seldom arrive at trees afterwards ; those we should, on most occasions, prefer to sow, especially ui)on
mountainous tracts. But for all trees which stole, and in tolerable soils and situations, planting strong
l)lants, and cutting them down two or three years afterwards, will, we think, all circumstances considered,
be found preferable to sowing. If we made an exception, it would be for the oak in poor soils, which we
would raise from the acorn in Cruikshank's manner. Sir Henry Steuart {Planter's Guide, 2d edit. p. 423.)
concurs in this opinion, with respect to deciduous trees, and considers that as the pine and fir tribes receive
" the greatest check from transplanting ; and as, when planted at four and five years old, they do not
readily grow to timber, it is clear that they should always be sowed, or at least planted, very young, in
high and cold regions."
S928. On the subject of disposing the plants in plantations, there are different opinions ;
'some advising rows, others quincunx, but the greater number planting irregularly.
According to Marshal, " the preference to be given to the row, or the random culture,
rests in some measure upon the nature and situation of the land to be stocked with
plants. Against steep hangs, where the plough cannot be conveniently used in cleaning
and cultivating the interspaces, during the infancy of the wood, either method may be
adopted ; and if plants are to be put in, the quincunx manner will be found preferable to
any. But in more level situations, we cannot allow any liberty of choice : the drill or
row manner is undoubtedly the most eligible." {Plant, and Bur. Orn. p. 123.) Pontey
considers it of much less consequence than most people imagine, whether trees are
planted regularly or irregularly, as in either case the whole of the soil will be occupied
by the roots and the surface by the shoots. Sang and Nicol only plant in rows where
culture with the horse-hoe is to be adopted. In sowing for woods and copses, the former
places the patches six feet asunder and in the quincunx order. " It has been demon-
strated {Farmer's Mag. vol. vii. p. 409.), that the closest order in which it is possible to
place a number of points upon a plain surface, not nearer than a given distance from each
other, is in the angles of hexagons with a plant in the centre of each hexagon." Hence
it is argued, that this order of trees is the most economical; as the same quantity of
ground will contain a greater quantity of trees, by 15 percent, when planted in this
form than in any other. {Gen. Rep. ii. 287.) It is almost needless to observe, that
hedge plants should be placed at regular distances in the lines, and also the trees, when
those are introduced in hedges. Osier plantations, and all such as like them require the
soil to be dug every year, or every two years, during their existence, should also be
planted in regular rows.
3929. The distances at which the plants are placed must depend on different circum-
stances, but chiefly on the situation and soil.
Book IL FORMING PLANTATIONS. 639
3930. Planting thick, according to Nicol, is the safer side to err on, because a number of plants will fail,
and the superfluous ones can be easily removed by thinning. For bleak situations, he observes, from
thirty to forty inches is a good medium, varying the distance according to circumstances. For less exposed
situations, and where the soil is above six inches in depth, he recommends a distance of from four to five
feet. For belts, clumps, and strips of a diameter of about one hundred feet ; the margin to be planted
about the distance of two feet, and the interior at three feet. In sheltered situations of a deep good soil,
he recommends a distance of six feet and no more. (Pract. Plant.)
3931. According to Sang, " the distances at which hard-timber trees ought to be planted are from six to
ten feet, according to the quality of the soil, and the exposed or sheltered situation. When the first four
oaks are planted, supposing them at right angles, and at nine feet apart, the interstices will fall to be filled
up with five nurses, tlie whole standing at four feet and a half asunder. When sixteen oaks are planted,
there will necessarily be thirty-three nurses planted ; and when thirty-six oaks are planted, eighty-five
nurses; but when a hundred principal trees are planted in tliis manner, in a square of ten on the side,
there will be two hundred and sixty-one nurse-plants required. The English acre would require five hun-
dred and thirty-six oaks, and one thousand six hundred and ten nurses." {Plant. Kal. 16.3.) Pontey
says, " in general cases, a distance of four feet is cerUinly close enough ; as at that space the trees may
all remain till they become saleable as rails, spars," &c.
3932. The number of plants ivhich mnjj he planted on a statute acre =160 rods, or poles,
= 4840 yards = 43560 feet, is as follows : —
Feet apart No. of Plants,
1 43,560
1| .• 19,360
2
19,360
7
10,890
8
6,9(39
9
4,»10
10
3,556
11
2,722 .
12
2,151
, 13
1,742
14
Feet apart.
6 1,210
r Plants.
Fc6t apart. No. of Plants.
,210
15 ^ 193
889
16 170
680
17 ...150
537
18 134
43i5
19 120
360
20 108
302
25 ..^,.,...«^,....,,.«,, m „
257
30 ;,_.^.,.,,.,,,..„^,j 4^ , .
222,
3933. The size of the plants depends jointly on the site and the kind of tree ; it is
universally alloveed that none of the resinous tribe succeed well when removed at more
than two years' growth ; but if the soil is of tolerable qu.ality, prepared by digging or sum-
mer pitting, and the site not bleak, plants of such hard woods as stole may be used whose
stems are an inch or more in diameter.
S934. Nicol is of opinion, " That, generally, trees three, or at most four, years old from the seed, ami
which are from twelve to twenty-four inches high, will, in any situation or soil, outgrow those of any size
under eight or ten feet, within the seventh year." {Pract. Plant. 130.)
3935. Sang observes, " the size of plants for exclusive plantations must, in some measure, depend on
their kinds ; but it may be said, gencrallv, that the plants being transplanted, they should be from a foot
to eighteen inches in height, stiff" in the stem and well rooted. Plants for this purpose should seldom be
more than three years from the seed ; indeed never, if they have been raised in good soil. Many of them
may be sufficiently large at two years from the seed ; and, if so, are to be preferred to those of a greater
age, as they will consequently be more vigorous and healthy. The larch, if properly treated, will be very
fit for planting out at two years of age. A healthy seedling being removed from the seed-bed at the end
of the first year, into good ground, will, by the end of the second, be a fitter plant for the forest, than one
nursed a second year. The next best plant for the purpose is that which has stood two years in the seed-
bed, and has been transplanted for one season. This is supposing it to have risen a weakly plant ; for, if
the larch rise strong from the seed the first season, it should never stand a second in the seed-bed. The
ash, the elm, and the sycamore, one year from the seed, nursed in good soil for a second season, will often
prove sufficiently strong plants. If they be weakly, they may stand two years in the seed-bed ; and then,
being nursed one season in good soil, will be very fit for planting out in the forest. The oak, the beech,
and the chestnut, if raised in rich soil, and well furnished with roots at the end of the first year, and having
been nursed in rows for two years, will be very fit to be planted out : but if they be allowed to stand two
years in the seed-bed, and be planted one year in good ground, they will be still better, and the roots will
be found well feathered with fine small fibres. The silver fir and common spruce should stand two years
in the seed-bed. If transplanted into very good soil, they may be fit for being planted out at the end of
the first year ; but, more generally, they require two years in the lines. The Scots pine should also stand
for two years in the seed-bed, and should be nursed in good ground for one year ; at the end of which
they will be much fitter for being planted, than if they were allowed to stand a second year in the lines.
They are very generally taken at once from the seed-bed ; and, in land bare of heath or herbage, they
succeed pretty well ; nevertheless, we would prefer them one year nursed. The above are the hardy and
most useful forest trees ; and from the observations made, whatever respects the age or size of other kinds
may easily be inferred." {Plant. Kal. 158.)
3936. According to Pontey, " the best general rule is, to proportion the size of the plants to the good-
ness of the soil j the best of the latter requiring the largest of the former. Still, on bleak exposures, this
rule will not hold good, as there the plants should never be large, for otherwise the greater part would fail
from the circumstance of wind-waving, and, of those that succeeded, few, if any, would make much pro-
gress for several years ; pines and firs of a foot, and deciduous trees of eighteen inches, are large enough
for such places. As in extensive planting, soils which are good and well sheltered but seldom occur, the
most useful sizes of plants, for general purposes, will be pines and firs of a foot, and deciduous trees of
eighteen inches, \x>ih transplanted. None but good-rooted plants will succeed on a bad soil, while on a
good one, sheltered, none but very bad-rooted plants will fail. A large plant never has so good a root, in
proportion to its size, as a small one ; and hence we see the propriety of using such on good soils only.
Small plants lose but few of their roots in removal ; therefore, though planted in very moderate-sized
holes of pulverised earth, they soon find the means of making roots, in proportion to their heads. It
should never be forgotten, that, in being removed, a plant of two feet loses a greater proportion of its roots
than a tree of one, and one of three feet a greater proportion than one of two, and so on, in proportion to
its former strength and height; and thus, the larger the plants, so much greater is the degree of languor
or weakness into which they are thrown by the operation of transplanting." {Prof. Plant. 161.)
3937. The seasons for planting are autumn and spring :, the former, when the soil and
situation are moderately good, and the plants large ; and the latter, for bleak situations.
Necessity, however, is more frequently the guide here than choice, and in extensive
designs the operation is generally performed in all moderately dry open weather from
October to April inclusive. " In an extensive plantation," Sang observes, " it will
hardly happen but there will be a variety of soil, some parts moist and heavy, and others
dry and light. The lightest parts may be planted in December or January ; and the
640 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
more moist, or damp parts, in February or March. It must be observed, however, that
if the ground be not in a proper case for planting, the operation had better be delayed.
The plants will be injured, either by being committed to the ground when it is in a sour
and wet, or in a dry parched, state. At a time when the soil is neither wet nor dry,
the operation of planting is most successfully performed. The mould does not then ad-
here to the spade, nor does it run in ; it divides well, and is made to intermingle with the
fibres of the plants with little trouble ; and in treading and setting the plant upright, the
soil is not worked into mortar, which it necessarily must be, if in a wet state, evidently to
the great detriment of the plants. It is therefore improper to plant on a retentive soil in
the time of rain, or even perhaps for sOme days afterwards, or after a fall of snow, until
it has f»)r some days disappeared. Whereas, in a dry absorbent soil, it may be proper to
plant in the time of gentle showers, immediately after heavy rains, or as soon as the snow
is dissolved." {Plant. Kcd. 157.)
' 3938. Ponteij is a decided advocate for autumn preparation of the soil, and spring planting. " Autumn
planting," he says, " is advisable only in few cases, while spring planting may properly apply to all."
. 3939. According to Sang, the proper time for planting the pine and fir tribes, and all evergreens, is
April, or even the first fortnight in May. " Attention should be paid, that no greater number of plants
be lifted from the nursery than can be conveniently planted on the same day. Damp weather is the best.
When very dry, and the plants rise destitute of earth at their roots, their roots should be dipped in mud
(puddle) so as to be coated over by it. In all cases, care should be taken not to shake off any adhering
earth from plants at the time of planting." {Plant. Kal. 341.)
3940. J pjiddlefor trees is made by mixing water with any soil rather tenacious, so intimately as to
form a complete puddle, so thick that when the plants are dii>ped into it, enough may remain upon the
roots to cover them. The process of puddling is certainly simple, and its expense too trifling to deserve
notice : its effects, however, in retaining, if not attracting, moisture are such that, by means of it, late
planting is rendered abundantly more safe than it otherwise would be. It is an old invention, and hence
it is truly astonishing that it is not more frequently practised. If people were to adopt it generally in
spring planting, Pontey believes the prejudice in favour of autumn practice would soon be done away.
{^Prof. Plant. 167.)
3941. Cobhett prefers spring planting. " It is a great error," he says, " to suppose that you gain time
by autumnal or winter planting. You do, indeed, see the buds come out a little more early in the spring ;
but it is theeffect at the end, and not at the beginning, of the summer, at which you ought to look. If you
plant in the autumn or winter, the plants get hlotvn about for several months, and, in very wet weather,
their stems work a sort of hole round themselves ; and thus the root itself is shaken ; and if left thus, they
will, by March, be generally leaning on one side, with the hole open on the other side ; and when the
harsh winds of March come upon the long-time battered ground, it will present a surface nearly as hard
as a road. In such a case, the ground ought to be dug or spaded up between the trees in March or in
April ; for nothing can thrive well in ground thus baked, however good the ground may be in its nature."
{The Woodlands, '^i.)
3942. Pruning previously to planting. If the plants have been brought from a distance, and the
fibrous roots are dried up, they should all be cut off, because, like the leaves of a tree which has been taken
up in the growing state and become withered, they have lost their vitality. The larger fibres, which are
only dead at the points, should be shortened. The tap-root, also, should be shortenec*, perhaps in most
cases two thirds of its length. Cobbett observes, and with truth, as far as our experience goes, that if
the longest tap-roots " were put into the ground at full length with an iron bar, they would be sure to
die all the way nearly up to the top." {Woodlands, 68.) Many trees, however, have no tap-roots, and
these only require attention to the fibres. When the plants are newly taken up from the seed-bed, or
nursery lines, they may be planted without cutting off the fibres ; because these will retain their vitality
uninjured.
3943. The operation of inserting the plants in the soil is performed in various ways ;
the most general mode, and that recommended by Marshal and Nicol, is pitting ; in
which two persons are employed, one to operate on the soil vdth the spade, and the other
to insert the plant and hold it till the earth is put round it, and then press down the soil
with the foot. Where the plants are three feet high or upwards, this is the best mode ;
but for smaller plants modes have been adopted in which one person i)erforms the whole
operation. This method of planting by pitting is what Withers calls the Scotch system,
but which Sir Henry Steuart has shown {Planter'' s Guide, 2d edit. p. 468.) is not peculiar
to Scotland, but is common in every country where trees are cultivated.
3944. Sang describes five kinds of manual operation employed by him in planting, and
in part in sowing trees : by pitting ; by slitting simply, or by cross or T slitting ; by the dia-
mond dibber ; by the planting-mattock ; and by the planter or ground adze. In filling an
area with plants, he first plants those intended as the final trees, and afterwards the nurses ;
or one set of operators plant the former, while another follow with the latter, unless the
time for removing the nurses, as in the case of evergreen pines and firs, should be later
than that for planting the principals. " The plants, if brought from a distance, should be
shoughed, i. e. earthed in ; or they may be supplied daily from the nursery, as circumstances
direct. All the people employed ought to be provided with thick aprons, in which to
lap up the plants, the spadesmen, as well as the boys or girls; the latter being supplied
by the former as occasion may require. All of them should regularly fill their aprons
at one time, to prevent any of the plants being too long retained in any of the planters'
aprons. One man cannot possibly set a plant so well with the spade, unless in the case of
luying, as two people can ; nor, supposing him to do it as well, can he plant half as
many in the same space of time as two can. A boy ten years of age is equal, as a
holder, to the best man on the field, and can be generally had for less than half
the money. Hence this method is not only the best, but the least expensive." {Plant.
Kal. 167.)
Book II.
FORMING PLANTATIONS.
G41
3945. By pitting. " Tlie pit having been dug for several months, the surface will therefore be en-
crusted by the rains, or probably covered v;ith weeds. The man first strikes the spade downwards to the
bottom^ two or three times, in order to loosen the soil ; then poaches it as if mixing mortar for the
builder ; he next lifts out a spadeful of the earth, or, if necessary, two spadefuls, so as to make room for
all the fibres, without their being anywise crowded together ; he then chops the rotten turf remaining in
the bottom, and levels the whole. The boy now places the plant perfectly upright, an inch deeper than
when it stood in the nursery, and holds it firm in tnat position. The man trindles in the mould gently;
the boy gently moves the plant, not from side to side, but upwards and downwards, until tlie fibres be
covered. The man then fills in all the remaining mould ; and immediately proceeds to chop and poach
the next pit, leaving the boy to set the plant upright, and to tread the mould about it. This in stiff" wet
soil he does lightly ; but in sandy or gravelly soil he continues to tread until the soil no longer retains tlie
impression of his foot. The man has by this time got the pit ready for the next plant, the boy is al*:o
ready with it in his hand, and in this manner the oper.ition goes on. On very steep hangs which have
been pitted, the following rule ought to be ol>sei-vcd in planting : — To place the plant in the angle formed
by the acclivity and surface of the pit ; and in finishing, to raise the outer margin of the pit highest,
whereby the plant will be made to stand as if on level ground, and the moisture be retained in the hollow
of the angle, evidently to its advantage." (Plant. Knl. 167.)
3946. Sir Uenry Steuart states that the pitting system, as already practised by most nations, though by
some ignorantly and erroneously designated the Scotch method, if duly regulated by science, must be the
best method for the planting of waste lands, or, in general, for large designs of wood, where the quality
of timber is the main object; although particular spots, in all extensive woodlands, might be advantageously
trenched and manured under peculiar circumstances. {Planter's Guide, 2d edit. p. 479.)
3947. The slit method, either simply or by the T method, is not recommended by Sang ; but necessity
may justify its adoption occasionally. " We would not recommend planting by the slit, unless where
there is no more soil than is absolutely occupied by the fibres of the herbage which grows on the place.
Except on turf, it cannot be performed ; nor should it be practised, if the turf- be found three or four
inches thick. By pitting in summer, turf is capable of being converted into a proper mould in tlie space
of a few months ; and the expense of pitting, especially in small plantations, can never counterbalance
the risk of success in the eyes of an ardent planter. The most proper time to perform the operation of
slitting in the plants is when the surface is in a moist state. On all steeps the plant should be placed
towards the declivitv, that the moisture may fall to its roots; that is to say, in planting, the spadesman
should stand highest, and the boy lowest on the bank, by which arrangement the plant will be inserted
at the lower angle of the slit." {Plant. Kal. 170.)
3918. Planting with the diainond dibber, he says, " is the cheapest and most expeditious planting of
any we yet know, in cases where the soil is a sand or gravel, and the surface bare of herbage. The plate
of the dibber {Jig.590. a) is made of good steel, and is four inches and a half broad where the iron handle
is welded to it ; each of the other t»vo sides of the triangle is five inches long ; the thickness of the plate
is one fifth part of an inch, made thinner from the middle to the sides, till the edges become sharj). The
length of the iron handle is seven inches, and so strong as not to bend in working, which will require
six eighths of an inch square. The iron handle is furnished with a turned hilt, like the handle of a large
gimlet, both in its form and manner of being fixed on. The planter is furnished with a planting-bag,
tied round his waist, in which he carries the plants. A stroke is given with the dibber, a little aslant,
the point lying inwards ; the handle of the dibber is then drawn towards the person, while its plate
remains within the ground : by this means a vacuity is formed between the back of the dibber and the
ground, into which the planter, with his other hand, introduces the loots of the seedling plants, being
careful to put them fully to the bottom of the opening : he then pulls out the dibber, so as not to displace
them, and gives the eased turf a smart stroke with the heel ; and thus is the plant completely firmed.
The greatest error the planter with this instrument can run into, is the imperfect introduction of the
roots. Green or unpractised hands are apt to double the roots, or sometimes to lay them across the
opening, instead of putting them straight down, as above directed. A careful man, however, will
become, if not a speeiiy, at least a good planter in one day ; and it is of more importance that he be sure
than quick. A careless or slovenly person should never be allowed to handle a dibl'.er of this kind."
3949. Planting with the planting-mattock {fig. 590. b) is resorted to in rocky or other spots where pitting
is impracticable. " The helve or handle
590 ^^ is three feet six inches long ; the mouth
''"" is five inches broad, and is made sharp j
the length from it to the eye, or helve,
is sixteen inches ; and it is used to pare
off the sward, heath, or other brush that
may happen to be in the way, ])reviously
to easing the soil with the other end.
The small end tapers from the eye, and
terminates in a point, and is seventeen
inches long." By this instrumeiit the
surface is skimmed off" for six or eight
inthes in diameter, and with the pick-
end dug down six or eight inches deep,
bringing up any loose stones to the sur-
face ; by which means a place will be
prepared tor the reception of the plant,
little inferior to a pit. This instrument
may be used in many cases, when the plants to be planted arc of small size, such as one-year larcli seed-
lings, one vear nursed ; or two-year Scots pines, one year nursed ; and the expense is much less than by
the spade." {Plant. Kal. 38.5.)
S9.")0. Planting with the forest-planter or ground adze {fig. 590. c). " The helve is sixteen inches long,
the mouth is four inches and a half broad, and the length of the head is fourteen inches. The instrument
is used in planting hilly ground, previously prepared by the hand-mattock. '1 he person who performs the
work carries the plants in a close apron ; digs out the earth sufficiently to hold the roots of the j)Iant ; and
sets and firms it without help from another : it is only useful when small plants are used, and in hilly or
rocky situations." {Plant. Kal. pref xxiv.)
3951. PonteT/ prefers planting hi/ pitting, in general cases, the holes being made
during the preceding summer or winter, sufficiently large, but not so deep into a reten-
tive subsoil as to render them a receptacle for water. When the plants have been
brought from a distance, he strongly recommends puddling them previously to planting ;
if they seem very much dried, it would be still better to lay them in the ground for eight
or ten days, giving them\a good soaking of water every second or third day, in order to
restore their vegetable jxiwers ; for it well deserves notice, that a degree of moisture in
soil sufficient to support a plant recently or immediately taken from the nursery, would,
in the case of dry ones, prove so far insufficient, that most of them would die in'it. The
T t
642 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
puddling here recommended may also be of great service in all cases of late planting
where small plants are used : Pontey's method is (after puddling) to tie them in bundles
of two or three hundreds each ; and thus send them, by a cart-load at once, to their
destination ; where, being set upright close to each other, and a little straw carefully
applied to their outsides, such bundles may remain without damage in a sheltered situa-
tion for any reasonable time necessary to plant them. Where loose soil happens to be
convenient, that should be substituted in the place of straw.
3952. Pontey's methods of planting are in general the same as those of Sang : he uses
a mattock and planter of similar shape ; and also a two or three pronged instrument, which
we have elsewhere denominated the planters hack. (Encyc. of Garci. § 1 305. ) " This in-
strument," he says, " has been introduced of late years as an improvement on the mattock
and planter, being better adapted to soils full of roots, stones, &c. ; it is likewise
easier to work, as it penetrates to an equal depth with a stroke less violent than the for-
mer : it is also less subject to be clogged up by a wet or tenacious soil. The length of
the prongs should be about eight inches, and the distances between them, when with three
prongs, one and a half, and with two prongs, about two inches : the two-pronged hack
should be made somewhat stronger than the other, it being chiefly intended for very
stony lands, or whei;e the soil wants breaking, in order to separate it from the herbage,
&c. These tools are chiefly applicable to plants of any size up to about two feet, or such
as are generally used for great designs, and they are used as substitutes for the spade, in
the following maimer : — The planter being provided with a basket holding the plants re-
quired (the holes being supposed prepared, and the earth left in them), he takes a tree in
one hand, and the tool in the other, which he strikes into the hole, and then pulls the
earth towards him, so as to make a hole large enough to hold all its roots ; he then puts
in the plant with the other, and pushes the earth to its roots with the back of the planter ;
after which, he fixes the plant, and levels the soil at the same instant with his foot, so
that the operation is performed by one person, with a degree of neatness and expedition
which no one can attain to who uses the spade. It is known to all planters, that but few
labourers ever leam to plant well and expeditiously in the common method, without an
assistant ; this method, however, requires neither help nor dexterity, as any labourer of
common sagacity, or boy of fifteen, or even a woman, may learn to perform it well in less
than half an hour. The facility with which these tools will break clods, clear the holes
of stones, or separate the soil from herbage, the roots of heath, &c. (the former being
previously mellowed by the frost), may be easily imagined." {Prof. Plant. 173.) The
adoption of a small mattock for inserting plants, we recollect to have seen recommended in
a tract on planting in the Highlands, by M'Laurin, a nurseryman, published at Edinburgh
upwards of twenty years ago.
3953. An expeditious mode of slit-planting is described in the General Report of Scot-
land, as having been practised for many years on the duke of Montrose's estate.
It is as follows : " The operator, with his spade, makes three cuts, twelve or fifteen
inches long, crossing each other in the centre, at an angle of sixty degrees, the whole
591 having the form of a star. (fg. 591.) He inserts his spade across one
of the rays (a), a few inches from the centre, and on the side next
himself; then bending the handle towards himself, and alm.ost to the
ground, the earth opening in fissures from the centre in the direction
of the cuts which had been made, he, at the same instant, inserts his
plant at the point where the spade intersected the ray (a), pushing it
forward to the centre, and assisting the roots in rambling through the
fissures. He then lets down the earth by removing his spade, having pressed it into
a compact state with his heel ; the operation is finished by adding a little earth, with the
grass side down, completely covering the fissures, for the purpose of retaining the
moisture at the root and likewise as a top-dressing, which greatly encourages the plant
to push fresh roots between the swards." (Vol. ii. p. 283.)
3954. The transplantation of large trees is a subject more properly belonging to
landscape-gardening than to agriculture ; but it may not be improper shortly to notice
the principles of the practice in this place. As the stability of a large tree depends in a
great measure on its ramose roots extending themselves on every side, as a base to the super-
structure, so, in preparing the tree for removal, these roots should be cut at as great a
distance from the stem as can conveniently be accomplished. As the nourishment
drawn up by a tree depends on the number of its fibrous roots, it is desirable, a year or
two before removal, to concentrate these fibres, by limiting their production to such
ramose roots as can be removed with the tree. Cut a circular trench, therefore, round
the tree to be removed, at a greater or less distance, according to the size of the tree,
and the exposure in which it is to be planted. Remove the earth from this trench,
and also a good part of that which covers the roots which remain between the trench
and the trunk. Substitute well pulverised rich soil ; or mix the better part of what
was taken out of the trench and off the surface with rich soil ; replace it, and press the
Book II.
FORMING PLANTATIONS.
643
M'hole firmly down. Let the tree remain two years, or three if very
remove it, and carefully plant it where it is finally to remain.
39;';5. SirHent-t/Steuart, who has liad much experi-
ence in removing large trees, and who thinks that
he has discovered a new theory or principle for doing
so, recommends that no branches should be pruned
from the head ; and that to prevent the tree from
being blown over by the wind, its position rela-
tively to the prevailing wind of the locality should
be reversed. The principle of not reducing the
head in the same proportion as the roots may
be reduced, was hinted at by Miller, but has been
first systematically defended by SirHenry Steuart
Experienced planters agree, that nothing ought
to be cut from the head of a beech tree vv hen it
is removed ; but they do not seem willing to con-
cede to Sir Henry's theory, so far as it respects
most other ramose trees. We are inclined to
think that he may be right with respect to resinous
trees, the beech, and perhaps one or two others ;
but that, as a general principle, whether in young
trees or old, the top must be lightened more or
less in proportion to the roots. When the tree
has made a stock of fresh roots, and become
firmly established in the soil, if an extraordinary
exertion in its growth be then wanted, it may
either be cut in or pruned severely, or cut down
to the ground ; and in either case, if it be a tree
that stools, it will throw out vigorous shoots.
3956. The principle of reversmg the position of
the tree relatively to the wind, appears to be good ;
since, the broader the base of the head of the
tree relatively to its height, the more obliquely
will it receive the impulse of the wind. Those
trees are fittest for being transplanted, which
have grown in free open situations ^ because in
them the bark is thick and coarse to resist the
cold J the stems stout and short, and the head
extensive with the lower branches spreading, to
resist the wind.
3957. The machine for transplanting large trees
adopted by Sir Henry Steuart, is an improvement
of one which has been very long in general use.
It consists of a pole {fig. 592. a a) 15 feet long,
attached to an axle and a pair of wheels, on
which is placed a block (6), which may be of
any convenient height, with a pillow (c), and
two rings for attaching the draught chains {d).
It is easy to conceive the application of this
pole, axle, and wheels, to a large tree, and its
removal by men or horses to its intended desti-
nation {Jig. 59)). {^Planter's Guide, sect. viii. 2d
edit.)
large, and then
592
Tt 2
644 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
Sect. IV. Mixture of Trees in Plantations.
3958. The object of mixing trees in plantations is threefold : that of sheltering the
weaker but ultimately more valuable kinds by the stronger and hardier ; that of drawing
as much profit from the soil as possible ; and that of producing variety of appearance.
3959. With respect to shelter, many situations are so exposed, that it is extremely diffi-
cult to rear trees without some mode of protecting them from the cold winds of spring
during their early growth. This is sometimes done by walls, the extent of whose influ-
ence, however, is but very limited ; by thick planting ; or by planting the more hardy
and rapid-growing species, to nurse up and protect such as are more tender, but ultimately
more valuable. The proportion of nurses to principals is increased according to the
bleakness of the site : Pontey says, " Both authors and planters are in the habit of err-
ing egregiously, in regard to the proportion of principals and nurses, as they generally
use as many or more of the former than the latter, though it is very easy to show, that
they ought to use three times as many of the latter as the former. For instance, when
trees are planted at four feet apart, each occupies a surface of sixteen feet ; of course,
four of them will occupy sixty-four, or a square of eight feet ; and, therefore, if we
plant three nurses to one principal tree, all the former might be displaced gradually, and
the latter would still stand only eight feet apart."
39f>0. Nurse plants should, in every possible case, be such as are most valued at an early period of
growth. The larch and sprilce fir should be used liberally, in every case where they will grow freely ; still
it is not intended they should exclude all others, more particularly the birch, which has most of the
properties of a good nurse, such as numerous branches and quick growth, on any tolerable soil or
situation. It is not, however, like the others, a wood of general application, [Profitable Planter, p. 113.)
Sang also adopts the proportion of three nurses to one principal, and employs chiefly the resinous tribe,
and looks to them for reimbursement till the hard timber has attained to a foot in diameter, under
which size hard timber is seldom of much value. His principals are planted at from six to ten feet
apart, according to the soil and situation. [Plant. Kal. p. 166.)
S961. In procuring shelter, much depends on the mode of commencing and continuing plantations on
bleak sites. Sang, who has had extensive experience in this part of planting, observes, that " every
plain, and most tiekls and situations for planting in this country, have what may be called a windward
side, which is more exposed to the destructive blast than any other. It is of great importance to be
apprised of this circumstance, and to be able to fix upon the most exposed side of the proposed forest
plantation. Fix, then, upon the wind-ward side of the space which is to be converted into a forest, mark
off a horizontal stripe or belt, at least a hundred yards in breadth. Let this portion of ground be
planted thick, say at the distance of thirty inches, or at the most three feet, with a mixture of larch,
sycamore, and elder, in equal quantities or nearly so, if the soil be adapted for rearing these ; but if
it be better adapted for Scots pines, then let it be planted with them at the distances prescribed for
the above mixture. We have no other kinds that will thrive better, or rise more quickly in bleak
situations, than those just mentioned. When the trees in this belt or zone have risen to the height
of two feet, such hard-wood trees as are intended ultimately to fill the ground should be introduced,
at the distance of eight or ten feet from each other, as circumstances may admit. At this period
or perhaps a year or two afterwards, according to the bleak or exposed situation of the grounds,
let another parallel belt or zone, of nearly equal breadth, be added to the one already so far grown
up, and so on, till the whole grounds be covered. It is not easy here to determine on the exact
breadth of the subsequent belt or zones; this matter must be regulated by the degree of exposure of
the grounds, bv the shelter afforded by the zone previously planted, and by such like circumstances."
[Plant. Kal. p 29.)
3962. In situations exposed to the sea breeze a similar plan may be successfully followed, and aided
in effect by beginning with a wall ; the first zone having reached the height of the wall, plant a second,
a third, and fourth, and so on till you cover the whole tract to be wooded. In this way the plantations
on the east coast of Mid Lothian, round Gosford House, were reared ; in Sang's manner, the mountains
of Blair and Dunkeld were clothed ; and examples, we are informed, might be drawn from the Orkney
and Shetland Islands.
3963. The practice of mixing trees, with a view to drawing as much nourishment from
the soil as possible, and giving, as it used to be said, more chances of success, was till
very lately generally approved of. Marshal advises mixing the ash with the oak ; be-
cause the latter draws its nourishment chiefly from the subsoil, and the former from the
surface. Nicol is an advocate for indiscriminate mixture {Practical Planter, •^. 11.),
and Pontey says, " Both reason and experience will fully warrant the conclusion, that
the greatest possible quantity of timber is to be obtained by planting mixtures." {Prof.
Planter, p. 119.) " We are clearly of opinion," says Sang, ," that the best method is
to plant each sort in distinct masses or groups, provided the situation and quality of the
soil be properly kept in view. There has hitherto been too much random work carried
on with respect to the mixture of different kinds. A longer practice, and more ex-
perience, will discover better methods in any science. That of planting is now widely
extended, and improvements in all its branches are introduced. We, therefore, having
a better knowledge of soils, perhaps, than our forefathers had, can with greater certainty
assign to each tree its proper station. We can, perhaps, at sight, decide that here the
oak will grow to perfection, there the ash, and here again the beech ; and the same with
respect to the others. If, however, there happen to be a piece of land of such a quality,
that it maybe said to be equally adapted for the oak, the walnut, or the Spanish chestnut,
it will be proper to place such in it, in a mixed way, as the principals ; because each
sort will extract its own proper nourishment, and will have an enlarged range of pastur-
age for its roots, and consequently may make better timber trees. "
Book II. INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON TREES. 645
3964. Cobbett, who, though by no means a scientific cultivator, has in general very sound practical views
is decidedly in favour of planting in masses ; and would have all the trees not only of one and the same
sort, but of the same size and height {IVoodlands, § 85.)
3965. By indiscriminately ruixing different kinds of hard wood plants in a plantation, there is hardly a
doubt that the ground will be fully cropped with one kind or other ; yet it very often happens, in cases
when the soil is evidently well adapted to the most valuable sorts, as the oak perhaps, that there is hardly
one oak in the ground for a hundred that ought to have been planted. We have known this imperfection
in several instances severely felt. It not unfrequently happens, too, that even what oaks or other hard-
wood trees are to be met with, are overtopped by less valuable kinds, or perhaps such, all things considered,
as hardly deserve a place. Such evils may be prevented by planting with attention to the soil, and iq
distinct masses. In these masses are insured a full crop, by being properly nursed for a time with kinds
more hardy, or which afford more shelter than such hard-wood plants. There is no rule by which to fix
the size or extent of any of these masses. Indeed, the more various they are made in size, the better will
they, when grown up, please the eye of a person of taste. They may be extended from one acre to fifty
or a hundred acres, according to the circumstances of soil and situation : their shapes will accordingly be
as various as their dimensions. In the same manner ought all the resinous kinds to be planted, which
are intended for timber trees ; nor should these be intermixed with any other sort, but be in distinct
masses by themselves. The massing of larch, the pine, and the fir of all sorts, is the least laborious and
surest means of growing good, straight, and clean timber. It is by planting or rather by sowing them in
masses, by placing them thick, by a timely pruning and gradual thinning, tliat we can with certainty
attain this object. {Plant. Knl. 162 and 166.) Our opinion is in perfect consonance with that of Sang,
and for the same reasons ; and we may add, as an additional one, that in the most vigorous natural forests
one species of tree will generally be found occupying almost exclusively one soil and situation, while, in
forests less vigorous, on inferior and watery soils, mixtures of sorts are more prevalent. This may be
observed by comparing New Forest with the natural woods round Lochlomond, and it is very strikingly
exemplified in the great forests of Poland and Russia.
3966. JFith respect to the appearance of variety, supposed to be produced by mixing a
number of species of trees together in the same plantation, we deny that variety is pro-
duced. Wherever there is variety, there must be some marked feature in one place,
to distinguish it from another ; but in a mixed plantation the appearance is every where
the same ; and ten square yards at any one part of it will give nearly the same number
and kinds of trees as ten square yards at any other part. " There is more variety,''
Repton observes, " in passing from a grove of oaks to a grove of firs, tlian in passing
through a wood composed of a hundred different species, as they are usually mixed
together. By this indiscriminate mixture of every kind of tree in planting, all variety
is destroyed by the excess of variety, whether it is adopted in belts, clumps, or more
extensive masses. For example, if ten clumps be composed of ten different sorts of
trees in each, they become so many things exactly similar ; but if each clump consists
of the same sort of tree, they become ten different things, of which one may hereafter
furnish a group of oaks, another of elms, another of chestnuts or of thorns, &c. In like
manner, in the modem belt, the recurrence and monotony of the same mixture of trees
of all the different kinds, through a long drive, make it the more tedious, in proportion
as it is long. In part of the drive at Woburn, evergreens alone prevail, which is a cir-
cumstance of grandeur, of variety, of novelty, and, I may add, of winter comfort, that I
never saw adopted in any other place, on so magnificent a scale. The contrast of "passing
from a wood of deciduous trees to a wood of evergreens must be felt by the most heed-
less observer ; and the same sort of pleasure, though in a weaker degree, would be felt, in
the course of a drive, if the trees of different kinds were collected in small groups or
masses by themselves, instead of being blended indiscriminately." {Enguiri/ into Changes
of Taste, ^c p. 23.)
3967. Sir William Chambers and Price agree in recommending the imitation of natural forests in the
arrangement of the species. In these, Nature disseminates her plants by scattering their seeds, and the
offspring rise round the parent in masses or breadths, depending on a variety of circumstances, but chiefly
on the facility which these seeds afford for being carried to a distance by the wind, the rain, and by birds
or other animals. At last that species which had enjoyed a maximum of natural advantages is found to
prevail as far as this maximum extended, stretching along in masses and irregular portions of surface,
till, circumstances changing in favour of some other species, that takes the precedence in its turn. In
this way it will be generally found, that the number of species, and the extent and style of the masses in
which they prevail, bear a strict analogy to the changes of soil and surface; and this holds good, not only
with respect to trees and shrubs, but to plants, grasses, and even mosses.
Sect. V. Culture of Plantations.
3968. A tree, when once planted, most men consider to be done tvith ; though, as every
one knows, the progress and products of trees, like those of other plants, may be greatly
increased or modified by cultivating the soil, by pruning, and by thinning. Before pro-
ceeding to these subjects, we shall submit some remarks on the influence of culture on
the progress of the growth of trees, and on the strength and durability of timber.
SuBSECT. 1 . General Influence of Culture on Trees.
3969. The e feet of culture on herbaceous vegetables is so great, as always to cliange
their appearance, and often, in a considerable degree, to alter their nature. The common
culinary vegetables, and cultivated grasses, assume so different an appearance in our
fields and gardens, from what they do in a state of wild nature, that even a botanist
might easily be deceived in regard to the species. The same general laws operate upon
the whole kingdom of vegetables ; and thence it is plain, that the effects of culture on
trees, though different in degree, must be analogous in their nature. ( Treatise on Country
T t 3
646 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
Resid. vol. ii.) In the same manner, the absence of culture, or the removing of the
vegetable to a colder climate and a worse soil, tends to contract or consolidate the parts
of the plant. (Planter's Guide.)
3970. The effect of culture on looody plants is similar to that on culinary vegetables and
cultivated grasses ; but the law operates of course less rapidly, owing to the less rapid
growth of trees, from the lowest bush to the oak of the forest. In all of these, the cul-
ture of the soil tends to accelerate vegetation, and, by consequence, to expand the fibre
of the wood. It necessarily renders it softer, less solid, and more liable to suffer by the
action of the elements.
3971. The effect of culture on the ligneous plants in common use in planting and gar-
dening is readily exemplified. Every forester is aware how much easier it is to cut over
thorns or furze trained in hedges, than such as grow naturally wild, and are exempt
from culture. Gardeners experience the same thing in pruning or cutting ov* fruit
trees, or shrubs ; and the difference in the texture of the raspberry, in its wild and in its
cultivated state, is as remarkable ; for, although the stem, in the latter case, is nearly
double the thickness to which it attains in the former, it is much more easily cut. On
comparing the common crab, the father of our orchards, with the cultivated apple, the
greater softness of the wood of tlie latter will be found not less striking to every arbori-
culturist. The common oak in Italy and Spain, where it grows faster than in Britain,
is ascertained to be of shorter duration in those countries. In the same way, the oak in
the highland mountains of Scotland or Wales is of a much harder and closer grain,
and therefore more durable, than what is found in England ; though on such mountains
it seldom rises to the fifth part or less of the English tree. Every carpenter in Scotland
knows the extraordinary difference between the durability of Highland oak, and oak
usually imported from England, for the spokes of wheels. Every extensive timber dealer
is aware of the superior hardness of oak raised in Cumberland and Yorkshire, over that
of Monmouthshire and Herefordshire ; and such a dealer, in selecting trees in the same
woods in any district, will always give the preference to oak of slow growth, and found
on cold and clayey soils, and to ash on rocky cliffs, which he knows to be the soils
and climates natural to both. If he take a cubic foot of park-oak, and another of forest-
oak, and weigh the one against the other, (or if he do the like with ash and elm of the
same descriptions,) the latter will uniformly turn out the heavier of the two. The Scotch
pine does not stand longer than forty or fifty years on the rich and fertile land in both
England and Scotland, where it is often planted, and where it rushes up with extraordi-
nary rapidity. In the northern districts of Scotland, on the other hand, the difference
between park pine and Highland pine is universally known and admitted, and the supe-
riority of the latter is proved by its existence in buildings of great antiquity, where it is
still found in a sound state; a difference which can be ascribed to no other cause than
the mountainous situations (that is, the natural state) in which the former timber is pro-
duced, and where, the trees being of slower growth, the wood is consequently of a harder
texture. A friend of Sir Henry Steuart's felled some larch trees, which had grown nearly
fifty years in a deep rich loam, close to some cottages and cabbage gardens. The wood
w^as soft and porous, and of no duration ; it was even found to burn as tolerable fire-
wood, which larch of superior quality is never known to do. (Tr. on Coun. Res., and
Planter's Guide.)
3972. The general effect of pruning is to increase the quantity of timber produce.
The particular manner in which it does this is by directing the greater part of the sap,
which generally spreads itself in side-branches, into the principal stem. This must
consequently enlarge that stem in a more than ordinary degree, by increasing the annual
circles of the wood. Now, if the tree be in a worse soil and climate than those which
are natural to it, this will be of some advantage, as the extra increase of timber will still
be of a quality not inferior to what would take place in its natural state ; or, in other
words, it will correspond with that degree of quality and quantity of timber, which the
nature and species of the tree admit of being produced. If the tree be in its natural
state, the annual increase of timber, occasioned by pruning, must necessarily injure its
quality, in a degree corresponding with the increased quantity. If the tree be in a better
climate and soil than that which is natural to it, and, at the same time, the annual increase
of wood be promoted by pruning, it is evident that such wood must be of a very different
quality from that produced in its natural state (that is, very inferior). Whatever, there-
fore, tends to increase the wood in a greater degree than what is natural to the species,
when in its natural state, must injure the quality of the timber. Pruning tends to increase
this in a considerable degree, and, therefore, it must be a pernicious practice, in as far as
it is used in these cases. Pruning is not here considered in regard to eradicating dis-
eases, preventing injuries, or increasing the natural character and tendency of trees : for
those purposes it is of great advantage. Mr. Knight has shown, in a very striking
manner, that timber is produced, or rather, that the alburnum or sapwood is rendered
ligneous, by the motion of the tree, during the descent of the true (or proper) sap. It
Book II. CULTURE OF THE SOIL AMONG TREES. 647
is also sufficiently known to all who have attended to the physiology of vegetables, and
is greatly confirmed by some experiments laid before the Royal Society {^Phil. Trans.
1803, 1804), that the solid texture of the wood greatly depends upon the quantity of sap
which must necessarily descend, and also on the slowness of its descent. Now, both
these requisites are materially increased by side branches, which retain a large quantity
of sap, and by their junction with the stem occasion a contraction, and twisted direction
of the vessels, which obstructs the progress of the (proper) juice. That this is true, in
fact, is well known to those accustomed to make wine from maple and birch trees ; for
in this business it is found, that those trees which have fewest side branches bleed more
freely than the others, but during a much shorter space of time. These hints, therefore,
afford additional evidence against pruning, and particularly against pruning fir-trees ;
which, as Mr. Knight justly observes, have larger vessels than the others, a»d, therefore,
when in an improved soil and climate, side branches, for the purposes above mentioned,
are essentially necessary to them, if solid, resinous, and durable timber be the object in
view. (Sir Henry Steuart's Planters Guide, p. 444.)
3973. Sir Henry Steuart, concurring in these facts and observations, deduces the fol-
lowing practical conclusions respecting the influence of culture : —
SUli. First; that all timber trees thrive best, and produce wood of the best quality, when growing in
soils and climates most natural to the species. It should, therefore, be the anxious study of the planter,
to ascertain and become well acquainted with these, and to raise trees, as much as possible, in such soils
and climates.
3975. Secondly ; that trees may be said to be in their natural state, when they have sprung up fortui.
tously, and propagated themselves without aid from man, whether it be in aboriginal forests, ancient
woodlands, commons, or the like. 1 hat in such trees, whatever tends to increase the wood, in a greater
degree than accords with the species when in its natural state, must injure the quality of the timber.
3976. Thirdly; that whatever tends to increase the growth of trees, tends to expand their vegetable
fibre. That when that takes place, or when the annual circles of the wood are soft, and longer than the
general annual increase of the tree should warrant, then the timber must be less hard and dense, and
more liable to suffer from the action of the elements.
3977. Fourthly ; that a certain slowness of growth is essentially necessary to the closeness of texture
and durability of all timber, but especially of the oak ; and that, whenever the growth of that wood is
unduly accelerated by culture of the soil (such as by trenching and manuring), or by undue superiority
of climate, it will be injured in quality in the precise ratio in which those agents have been employed
3978. Fifthly ; that, as it is extremely important for the success of trees, to possess a certain degree of
vigour in the outset, or to be what is technically called, " well set off," the aid of culture is not in every
case to be precluded, by a consideration of the general rule. That if trees be in a soil and climate worse
than those that are natural to them, then culture will be of some advantage ; as the extra increase of
wood will be of a quality not inferior to what, in its natural state, it would obtain ; or, in other words, it
will correspond v/ith that degree of quality and quantity of timber, which the nature of the species admits
of being obtained : but culture in this case must be applied with cautious discrimination, and a sound
judgment. That, on the other hand, if trees be in a better soil and climate than are natural to them,
and, at the same time, that the annual increase of wood be promoted by culture (as already said), it will
be a decided disadvantage, and deteriorate the wood. In the same way, if trees be in their natural state,
the annual increase of timber, obtained by culture, will injure its quality, in a degree corresponding with
the increased quantity.
3979. Sixthly ; that such appears to be a correct, though a condensed view of the operation of those
general laws respecting growth, which govern the whole vegetable kingdom, and especially of their
effects on woody plants, and of the salutary restraints, which science dictates to be laid on artificial
culture, of which pruning, as well as manuring, forms a constituent part, as has been explained above,
at so much length. That it is by a diligent study of the peculiar habits of trees, and the characters of
soils, illustrated and regulated by facts drawn from general experience, that rash or ignorant systems of
arboriculture are to be best corrected, and science brought most beneficially to bear on general practice."
(Piantcj's Guide, i'd edit. p. 478.)
SuBSECT. 2. Culture of the Soil among Trees.
3980. IFith respect to the culture of the soil, it is evident, that young plantations should
be kept clear of such weeds as have a tendency to smother the plants ; and though this
is not likely to take place on heaths and barren sites, yet even these should be looked
over once or twice during summer, and at least those weeds removed which are con-
spicuously injurious. In grounds which have been prepared previously to planting,
weeding, hoeing by hand or by the horse hoe, and digging or ploughing (the two latter
rarely), become necessary according to circumstances. The hoeings are performed in
summer to destroy weeds, and render the soil pervious to the weather ; the ploughing
and diggings in winter are for the same purpose, and sometimes to prepare the soil for
spring crops. Tliese, both Pontey and Sang allow, may be occasionally introduced
among newly planted trees ; though it must not be forgotten that, relatively to the trees,
the plants composing such crops are weeds, and some of them, as the potato, weeds of
the most exhausting kind. Sang uses a hoe of larger size than usual. {Jig. 590. d.) In
preparing lands for sowing woods, Sang ploughs in manure, sows in rows six feet apart,
by which he is enabled to crop the ground between with low-growing early potatoes,
turnips, and lettuce ; but not with young trees as a sort of nursery, as they prove more
scourging crops than esculent vegetables ; nor with grain, as not admitting of culture,
and being too exhausting for the soil. Marshal, and some other authors, however,
approve of sowing the tree seeds with a crop of grain, and hoeing up the stubble and
weeds when the crop is removed.
3981. Pontey observes, " that wherever preparing the soil for planting is thought
necessary, that of cultivating it for some years afterwards will generally be thought the
Tt 4
648 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
same ; slight crops of potatoes with sliort tops, or turnips, may be admitted into such
plantations with advantage for two or three years, as they create a necessity for annually
digging or stirring the surface, and tend very materially to accelerate the growth of the
plants. It may be objected, that such crops must impoverish the soil, and no doubt
such is the fact, so far as common vegetables are concerned : but as to the production of
wood, its support depends, in a great measure, on a different species of nutriment ; and
hence, I could never observe, that such cropping damaged it materially." (Profit,
Plant, p. 153.)
3982. Osier plantations, for baskets, willows, and hoops, require digging and cleaning
during the whole course of their existence ; and so do hedgerows to a certain extent,
and some ornamental plantations.
^SuBSECT. 3. FUling up of Blanks or Failures in Plantations.
3983. TheJUliiig up of blanks is one of the first operations that occurs on the culture
of plantations, next to the general culture of the soil, and the care of the external fences.
According to Sang, « a forest plantation, either in the mass form or ordinary mix-
ture, should remain several years after planting, before filling up the vacancies, by the
death of the hard-wood plants, takes place. Hard- wood plants, in the first year, and even
sometimes in the second year, after planting, die down quite to the surface of the ground,
and are apparently dead, while their roots, and the wood immediately above them, are
quite fresh, and capable of producing very vigorous shoots, which they frequently do
produce, if allowed to stand in their places. If a tree, such as that above alluded to, be
taken out the first or second year after planting, and the place filled up with a fresh plant
of the same kind, what happened to the former may probably happen to the latter ; and
so the period of raising a plant on the spot may be protracted to a great length of time ;
or it is possible this object may never be gained.
39S4. The filing tip of the hard-ivood kinds in a plantation which has been planted
after trenching or summer fallow, and which has been kept clean by the hoe, may be done
with safety at an earlier period than under the foregoing circumstances ; because the
trees, in the present case, have greater encouragement to grow vigorously after planting,
and may be more easily ascertained to be entirely dead, than where the natural herbage
is allowed to grow among them.
3985. But the filing up of larches and pines may take place the first spring after the
plantation has been made; because such of these trees as have died are more easily
dii^tinguished. In many cases where a larch or pine loses its top, either by dying down,
or the biting of hares or rabbits, the most vigorous lateral branch is elected by nature to
fcupply the deficiency, which by degrees assumes the character of an original top. Pines,
and larches, therefore, which have fresh lateral branches, are not to be displaced, althougli
they have lost their tops. Indeed, no tree in the forest, or other plantation, ought to be
removed until there be no hope of its recovery.
3986. If the filing up of plantations be left undone (ill the trees have risen toffteen or
twenty feet iii height, their roots are spread far abroad, and their tops occupy a con.,
siderable space. The introduction of two or three plants, from a foot to three feet iu
height, at a particular deficient place, can never, in the above circumstances^ be attended
with any advantage. Such plants may, indeed, become bushes, and may answer well
enough in the character of underwood, but they will for ever remain unfit for any other
purpose. It is highly improper then, to commence filling up hard-wood plantations
before the third year after planting ; or to protract it beyond the fifth or the sixth. March
is the proper season for this operation. (Plant. Kal. 295.)
SuBSECT. 4. Pruning and Heading down Trees in Plantations.
3987. Pruning is the most important operation of tree culture, since on it, in almost
every case, depends the ultimate value, and in most cases the actual bulk, of timber pro-
duced. For pruning, as for most other practical purposes, the division of trees into
resinous or frondose-branched trees, and into non-resinous or branchy-headed sorts, is of
use. The main object in pruning frondose-branched trees is to produce a trunk with
clean bark and sound timber ; that in pruning branchy-stemmed trees is principally to
direct the ligneous matter of the tree into the main stem or trunk, and also to produce a
clean stem and sound timber, as in the other case. The branches of frondose trees, unless
in extraordinary cases, never acquire a timber size, but rot off from the bottom upwards,
as the tree advances in height and age ; and, therefore, whether prvmed or not, the
quantity of timber in the form of trunk is the same. The branches of the other division
of trees, however, when left to spread out on every side, often acquire a timber-like
size ; and as tiie ligneous matter they contain is in general far from being so valuable
as when produced in the form of a straight stem, the loss by not pruning off their side
branches or preventing them from acquiring a timber-like size is evident. On the other
hand, when they are broken off by accident, or rot off by being crowded together, the
Book II. PRUNING TREES. 649
timber of the truiik, though in these cases increased in quantity, is rendered knotty and
rotten in quality.
3988. Pruning frondose or resinous trees is one of the greatest errors in the modern
system of forest management. The branches of the different species of pines, and of the
cedar of Lebanon, never attain a timber size, if growing in a moderately thick plant-
ation ; those of the iir tribe never under any circumstances. Provided pines and cedars,
therefore, are planted moderately thick, no loss in point of timber can ever be sustained
by omitting altogether to prune them ; and in this respect the fir tribe, whether thick
or thin on the ground, may be left to themselves. The important question is, how does
the rotting off of the branches affect the timber in the trunk of the tree ? Certainly no
pine or fir timber can be sounder or better than that which is brought from the native
forests of the north of Europe, and from America, where no pruning is ever given. The
rotting off of the frondose branches, therefore, cannot be injurious in these countries.
The next question is, can it be proved to be injurious in this country ? We are not aware
that it has, and do not believe that it can. The rotting off of the branch of a resinous
tree is a very different process from the rotting off of a branch of a ramose-headed tree.
This fact may be verified by observing what takes place in pine or fir woods, and by
inspecting the interior of foreign pine or fir, cut up into planks. In the rotting off of
side branches of deciduous trees, we find, that the principal part where decay operates,
at least in all the soft woods, and even in the oak when it is young, is the heart ; but
in the rotting off' of the side branches of resinous trees, we shall find them decaying
chiefly on the outside, and wearing down the stump of the fallen branch in the form of
a cone. On examining the sections of sound foreign deal, we shall find that the knots
of the side branches always terminate in cones when the section is made vertically. This
is a fact well known to every carpenter ; and it is also known to a great many, that
British pine and fir timber that has been pruned, has invariably a rotten space at every
knot. The same thing is observable to a certain extent in the natural decay of the side
branches of all trees. When the decay is natural, it commences at the circumference,
and wears down the stump, till it ends in a small hard cone, which is buried in the
increasing circumference of the tree, and is never found injurious to the timber ; when
the decay is artificial, or in consequence of excessive pruning, that is, suddenly exposing
a large section to the action of the atmosphere, the bark protects the circumference, and
the decay goes on in the centre, so as to end in forming an inverted cone of rotten
matter, which serves as a funnel to conduct moisture to the trunk, and thereby render it
rotten also. The conclusion which we draw from these facts is, that the pine and fir
tribe should scarcely be pruned at all, and that no branches of ramose trees should be
cut off close to the stem of a larger size than what may be healed over in one or at most
two seasons. We agree with Cruickshank, therefore, when he says, " It would appear
that the pruning of firs [the pine and fir tribe], supposing it harmless, can yet be pro-
ductive of no positive good."
3989. Cruicksha7ik, Poniey, and Saiig, agree that the great object of pruning is to protect the leader or
main stem or shoot from the rivalship of the side branches, in order that as much of the nourishment
drawn from the soil may be employed in the formation of straight timber, and as little in the formation
of branches and spray, as is consistent with the economy of vegetation. Without tlie agency of the
leaves, the moisture absorbed from the soil could no more nourish a plant than the food taken into the
stomach would nourish an animal without the process of digestion. The branches bearing the leaves are
therefore just as necessary to the welfare of the tree as the roots. By taking away too many of the
branches, only a small part of the fluid imbibed will be elaborated ; by leaving the branches too thick
and crowded, the leaves may be less perfect, and less fit for performing their office, than they otherwise
would be. Exposure of a part of the branches to the light and air may therefore be a sufficient reason
for thinning them, independently of increasing the trunk. *' How," asks Cruickshank, " are we to
know the exact number of branches that may be removed with safety in any given circumstances ? Never,
it is answered, displace any which have not already got, or seem in immediate danger of getting, the
upper hand of the leader. These will be known by their equalling or approaching the leader in size ; or,
to speak less ambiguously, by their being of the same, or nearly of the same, girth at the place where
they spring from the stem, as the stein itself is at their length from its top." In proceeding according to
this plan, the pruner is not to regard, in the smallest degree, the part of the stem on which a shoot is
situated. If it is too large, it must be displaced, should it be in the highest part of the tree : if it is not
too large, it must remain, though it be close to the ground.
•' But iiow will this method, the reader may be ready to ask, ever produce a clean stem ? By repeating
the pruning, it is answered, as often as the growth of the branches may make the operation necessary.
Suppose, the first time a tree undergoes the process, that the branches removed are a considerable distance
from the ground, and that there are several smaller ones left growing farther down the stem : these last
will gradually increase in size, till they, too, must be lopped off, and thus the stem will be in the end as
effectually cleared, though more gradually, and consistently with the health of the tree, as by the absurd
method represented above.
" If any branches that were left at a former pruning low on the stem, appear at the next repetition of
the process not to have increased in size, we may safely conclude that they have had no influence on the
tree either good or bad ; and as it would be in vain to leave them with the hope that they will any longer
assist in the elaboration of the sap, they should be removed, as unsightly objects which it is no longer
useful to preserve." {Practical Planter, p. 168.)
3990. Billington considers the leaves and branches of trees as of the greatest importance : he thinks
every timber tree ought to have the trunk clothed with branches throughout ; but these branches he
would shorten in such a way that they should never engross any material part of the timber of the tree.
To accomplish this, it is necessary to commence pruning when the trees are young, by which means the
great bulk of the timber produced will be deposited in the main stem or trunk. This is what he calls
preventive pruning. {Gard. Mag. vol, vi.) A similar system had been recommended by Mr. Blaikiq of
650
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
Holkham, under the name of foreshortening, and is advocated by Sir Henry Steuart, under that of ter-
minal pruning.
3991. Most erroneous opinions on the subject of pruning resinous trees have been pro-
pagated by Salmon, the experienced manager of the late Duke of Bedford, Pontey, forest-
pruner to the same duke, and others of less note. Sang, on the other hand, argues against
excessive pruning of the resinous tribe of trees as injurious to the health of the tree and the
soundness of its timber. Elles, also, a gardener of scientific acquirements, and extensive
experience in England, his native country, and in Scotland and Ireland, would never
prune the pine and fir tribe at all, unless when very young, and when the side shoots
could be pinched off with the finger and the thumb. At a more advanced age, if com-
pelled by circumstances to prune, he would only shorten* the extremities of the fronds.
Of two trees, pines, firs, cedars, or larches, the one pruned and the other unpruned,
there will be found, he says, most timber in the trunk of the unpruned one, while the
branches are so much in addition to the value of the tree. He excepts, of course, those
cases in which frondose branches take a ramose character, in consequence of the tree
standing alone, as is frequently the case with the cedar of Lebanon, and sometimes with
the TScotch pine.
3992. Our own opinion with respect to pruning the resinous trees is in accord with
that of Elles and Cruickshank ; and as to hard and soft wooded leaf trees, we think
Cruickshank's practice and rule unexceptionable. We would prune the last description
of trees much less than is generally done, and leave the pine and fir tribe in a great
measure to nature, taking care, however, to thin betimes and occasionally from infancy
till the maturity of the trees. We have no doubt of this, that when the larch and Scotch
pine trees planted in the end of the last century, and severely pruned for the first twenty
or twenty-five years of the present, shall come to be cut down and sawn up, their timber
will be found full of faults, and of very little value, compared with timber of the same
sorts from natural and unpruned woods, foreign and domestic.
3993. With respect to the manner ofpnining, Sang observes, ** Where straight timber
is the object, both classes in their infancy should be feathered from the bottom upwards,
keeping the tops light and spiral, something
resembling a young larch (Jig. 594. a). The
proportion of their tops should be gradually
diminished, year by year, till about their
twentieth year, when they should occupy
about a third part of the height of the plant ;
that is, if the tree be thirty feet high, the top
should be ten feet (6). In all cases in prun-
ing off the branches, the utmost care must be
taken not to leave any stumps sticking out,
but cut them into the quick. It is only by
this means that clean timber can be procured
for the joiner ; or slightly stemmed trees to
please the eye. It is a very general practice
to leave snags or stumps (c) ; before the bole
can be enlarged sufficiently to cover these,
many years must elapse ; the stumps in the
mean time become rotten ; and the conse-
quence is, timber which, when sawn up (rf),
is only fit for fuel."
3994. The general seasons of priming are
winter and spring, and for the gean or wild cherry midsummer, as it is found to
gum very much at any other season. Pontey says, " As to the proper seasons of
pruning, there is only one difficulty; and that is, discovering the wrong one, or the
particular time that trees will bleed. Only two trees have been found which bleed
uniformly at certain seasons, namely, the sycamore and fir, which bleed as soon as
the sap begins to move." There is, however, one season for pruning unquestionably
preferable to all others, as far as the welfare of the tree, and the soundness of its
future timber, is concerned. It is well known to physiologists and observing gardeners,
that when the sap is returning, wounds heal with the greatest rapidity. Hence, in
all plants which are difficult to strike from cuttings, the gardener makes choice of the
point of a shoot in that particular stage of maturation when the sap is returning ; that
is, when the base of the shoot is beginning to assume a ligneous character. This, in
hardy trees, is uniformly a week or a fortnight after midsummer, and it will be found
that the wounds made by cutting off branches at that season, or any time within three
weeks after midsummer, will, in the course of four or five weeks, be partly covered with
a callosity proceeding from the lips of the wound. Wounds made by cutting branches
ofi' the same trees, five weeks after midsummer, will remain without the slightest indi-
Book II. PRUNING TREES. 651
cation of healing at the edges till the following spring ; and if the tree is delicate, or the
winter severe, they will then he in a worse condition than if they had not been pruned
at all ; the lips of the wounds will have begun to decay. The only seeming contradiction
to this general law in trees is where what are called second growths are produced, as in
the oak and some other trees, and in such cases there is of course a second returning
sap, for the same reason that there was at first. (Gard. Mag. vol. vi. p. 94.)
S995. In spring pru7iintr, desist when bleeding takes place. As a general rule, Pontey thinks " summer
preferable to winter pruning ; because, in proportion as wounds are made early they heal so much more
in the same season." {Forest Primer, 236.) Sang suspends pruning from the end of February to the
middle of July, but carries it on during every other month of the year; pruning the wild cherry, or any
other tree very apt to gum, only in July and August. {Plant. Kal. 268.)
3996. With respect to the implements to be used. Sang observes, " In every case where
the knife is capable of lopping oft' the branch in question, namely, in the pruning of
infant plants, it is the only instrument necessary. All other branches should be taken off"
by the saw, A hatchet, or a chisel, should never be used. Every wound on the stem or
bole should be quite into the quick, that is, to the level and depth of the bark ; nor
should the least protuberance be left. The branch to be lopped off" by the saw should,
in all cases, be notched or slightly cut on the under side, in order to prevent the bark
from being torn in the fall ; and when the branch has been removed, the edges of the
wound, if anywise ragged, should be pared smooth with the knife. If the tree be vigorous,
nature will soon cover the wound with the bark, without the addition of any plaster to
exclude the air. In the shortening of a strong branch, the position of which is pretty
upright, it should be observed to draw the saw obliquely across it, in such a manner a.s
that the face of the wound shall be incapable of retaining moisture ; and afterwards to
smooth the edges of the bark with a knife." {Plant. Kal. 181.) In every case where
the branches are too large for the knife, Pontey prefers the saw, as the best and most
expeditious instrument ; and one, the use of which is more easily acquired by a labourer
than that of either the bill or axe. In " large work " he uses the common carpenter's
saw ; for smaller branches, one with somewhat finer teeth, with the plate of steel, about
twenty inches long.
3997. The pruning of all deciduous trees should be begun at the top, or at least those branches which
are to be removed thence should never be lost sight of " Having fixed upon what may be deemed the
best shoot for a leader, or that by which the stem is most evidently to be elongated and enlarged, every
other branch on the plant should be rendered subservient to it, either by removing them instantly, or by
shortening them. Where a plant has branched into two or more rival stems, and there are no other very
strong branches upon it, nothing more is required than simply to lop off the weakest clean by the bole,
leaving only the strongest and most promising shoot. If three or four shoots or branches be contending
for the ascendency, they should, in like manner, be lopped off, leaving only the most promising. If any
of the branches wiiich have been left farther down on the bole of the plant at former prunings have become
very strong, or have extended their extremities far, they should either be taken clean oft' by the bole, or
be shortened at a proper distance from it, observing always to shorten at a lateral twig of considerable
length. It is of importa^ice that the tree be equally poised; and, therefore, if it have stronger branches
on the one side than on the other, they should either be removed or be shortened. Thus, a properly
trained tree, under twenty feet in height, should appear light and spiral, from within a yard or two of
the ground to the upper extremity, its stem being furnislied with a moderate number of twigs and
small branches, in order to detain the sap, and circulate it more equally througli the plant.
3998 The subsequent prunings of trees of this size, standing in a close plantation, will require much
less attention ; all that is wanted will consist in keeping their leading shoots single. From the want of
air, their lateral branches will not be allowed to extend, but will remain as twigs upon the stem. These,
however, frequently become dead branches ; and if such were allowed to remain at all on the trees, they
would infallibly produce blemishes calculated greatly to diminish the value of the timber : hence the im-
propriety of allowing any branch to die on the bole of a tree; indeed, all branches should be removed
when they are alive ; such a method, to our knowledge, being the only sure one to make good timber.
From these circumstances, an annual pruning, or at least an annual examination, of all forests is neces-
sary. {Plant. Kal.)
^99. Heading down such non-resinous trees as stole, we have already stated to be an important oper-
ation. After the trees have been three or four years planted. Sang directs, that " such as have not begun
to grow freely should be headed down to within three or four inches of the ground. The cut must be
made with the pruning-knife in a sloping direction, with one effort Great care should be taken not to
bend over the tree in the act of cutting. By so bending, the root may be split, a thing which too often
happens. The operation should be performed in March, and not at an earlier period of the season, because
the woujided part might receive much injury from the severe weather in January and February, and
the expected shoot be thereby prevented from rising so strong and vigorous." {Plant. Kal. 297.) Buffbn,
in a Memorial on the Culture of Woods, presented to the French government in 1742, says he has repeated
this experiment so often, that he considers it as the most useful practice he knows in the culture of
woods.
4000. For the purpose of producing bends for ship.timber, various mo<les of pruning have been proposed,
as such bends always fetch the highest price. According to Pontey, " little is hazarded by saying, that if
plenty of long, clean, straight, Iree-grown trees could be got, steaming and a screw ai)paratus would
form bends."
4001. Monteith, a timber valuator of great experience, and in extensive practice, says, the value of the
oak, the broad-leaved elm, and Spanish chestnut, depends a good deal on their being crooked, as they are
all used in ship building. He says he has seen trees successfully trained into crooked shapes of great
value, in the following manner : — " If you have an oak, elm, or chestnut, that has two stems, as it were,
striving for the superiority, lop or prune off the straightest stem ; and if a tree that is not likely to be of
such value be standing on that side to which the stem left seems to incline to a horizontal position, take
away the tree, and tiius give the other every chance of growing horizontally. At this time it will be
necessary to take away a few of the perpendicular shoots oft' the horizontal branch ; and, indeed, if these
branches, which is sometimes the case in such trees, seem to contend, take away most of them ; but if
they do not, it is better at this time not to prune over much, except the crooked shoots on the horizontal
branch, till they arrive at the height of fifteen or even twenty feet. By this time it will be easily seen
65^2 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
what kind of tree it is likely to form; and, if it inclines to grow crooked, lighten a little the top of the
tree, by taking off* a few of the crooked branches on the straighter side, allowing all the branches to
remain on the side to which the tree inclines to crook, to give it more weight, and to draw most of the
juice or sap that way, and it will naturally incline more to the crook ; at the same time clearing away any
other tree on the crooked side, that may be apt, with the wind, to whip the side of the tree to which it
inclines to crook. Also taking away such trees of less value as may prevent it from spreading out to the
one side more than to the other." He adds, " I have myself tried the experiment with several oak trees
at about twelve feet high, that were a little inclined to crook, and that had also a main branch inclined to
a horizontal position. In the course of less than twenty years, I had the pleasure of seeing some of these
very trees grow so very crooked that the branch would v/ork in with the main stem or body of the tree,
to a complete knee or square, which is the most valuable of all trees ;,and, as ten trees of crooked oak are
required for one straight one, it is of the most essential consequence to have crooked oak trees ; and, besides,
an oak tree, properly crooked, that will answer for a large knee (say the main branch, to be fit to work
in with the botly or trunk of the tree without much waste of wood), is nearly double in value to the same
number of feet of a straight tree; and, indeed, knees of oak are extremely scarce, and difficult to be got."
4002. Pontey " knows of no way by which bends of tolerable scantlings (knees excepted) can be pro-
duced with certainty and little trouble, but from a side branch kept in a bent position by the branches of
another tree or trees overhanging its stem." {Forest Pruner, 174.)
4003. Coppice ivoods, in so far as grown from poles or bark, require pruning on the
same principle as timber trees, in order to modify the ligneous matter into stem, and
produce clean bark. In as far as they are grown for fence wood, fuel, or besom spray,
no pruning is required.
4004. Osier holts require the laterals to be pinched off the shoots intended for hoops ;
those of the basket-maker seldom produce any. The stools, also, require to be kept free
fiom dead wood, and stinted knotted protuberances.
4005. Hedges require side pruning, or switching, from their first planting, so as gra-
dually to mould them into " the wedge shape, tapering from bottom to top on both sides
equally, till they meet in a point at the top. Two feet at bottom is a sufficient breadth
for a five feet hedge ; a greater or less height should have the bottom wider or narrower,
accordingly. In dressing young hedges, either of the deciduous or evergreen kinds,
the sides only should be cut till the hedge arrives at the proposed height, unless it be
necessary, for the sake of shelter, to cut their tops over, in order to make the hedges
thicker of branches. Such cutting of the upright shoots, however, is not of any great
use in this respect ; because every hawthorn hedge sends out a number of side slioots,
which, if encouraged, by keeping the top wedge-shaped as above, will make it abun-
dantly thick." (Sang, 44'7.) In pruning hedges, some use shears; but the hedge-
bill is the most proper instrument, producing a smooth unfractured section, not so apt
to throw out a number of small useless shoots which generally follow the crushing cut
of the sheers.
4006. Hedge-row trees require to be pruned to a tall, clean, erect stem, as at once
producing more timber, and doing least injury io the ground under their drip and
shade.
4007. Trees in strips for shelter, or screens for concealment^ ought to be furnished with
branches, from the bottom upwards; unless undergrowth supply this deficiency. - Where
this is not the case, care should be had that the trees be pruned into conical shapes, so
as that tlie lower branches may be as little as possible excluded from the influence of
the weather by the upper ones.
4008. Trees for shade, where shelter from winds is not wanting, should be pruned to
ample spreading heads with naked stems ; the stem should be of such a height that the
sun's rays, at midday, in midsummer, may not fall within some yards of the base of the
trunk ; thus leaving under the trees, as well as on their shady side, a space for the repose
of men or cattle.
SuBSECT. 5. Thinning young Plantations-
4009. 71ie properly thinning out of plantations, Sang observes, " is a matter of the
first importance in their culture. However much attention be paid to the article of
pruning, if the plantation be left too thick, it will be inevitably ruined. A circulation
of air, neither too great nor too small, is essential to the welfare of the whole. This
should not be wanting at any period of the growth of the plantation ; but in cases where
it has been prevented by neglect, it should not be admitted all at once, or suddenly.
Opening a plantation too much at once, is a sure way to destroy its health and vigour.
In thinning, the consideration which should, in all cases predominate, is to cut for the
good of the timber left, disregarding the value of the thinnings. For, if we have it in
our choice to leave a good, and take away a bad plant or kind, and if it be necessary
that one of the two should fall, the only question should be, by leaving which of them
shall we do most justice to the laudable intention of raising excellent and full-sized timber
for the benefit of ourselves and of posterity ? The worst tree should never be left, but
with the view of filling up an accidental vacancy."
4010. Sabnoriy from observations on the most orderly and thriving plantations at Woburn, deduces the
following rule for thinning : — " Keep the distance of the trees from each other equal to one-fifth of their
Jieight. In the application of this rule for thinning, it is evident that each individual tree can never be
uiailc to comply; for the original distance (even if [)lantcd in the most regular order) will allow only of
Book II. THINNING YOUNG PLANTATIONS. 653
certain modifications, by taking out every other tree, and so on ; but even if the obtaining of such
equal distance were practicable, experience would show that another way should be preferred, of which
the eye must be the judge, by taking out such trees as are least thriving, stand nearest another good
tree, &c. &c. ; at the same time keeping in view the rule prescribed. By measuring a chain square, or
any quantity of land, and counting the trees thereon ; then trying the height of two or three trees in that
quarter, and taking one fifth of such for the distance, it would be readily seen how many trees should
be contained in the piece measured : or the practice may more simply be regulated by taking the distance
of eight or ten trees added together, the average of which should be equal to a fifth of the height of the
trees." {Sfnith's Mechanics, vol. ii. p. 358.)
4011. In thinning mixed plantations, the removing of the nurses is the first object
which generally claims attention. This, however, should be cautiously performed ; other-
wise the intention of nursing might, after all, be thwarted. If the situation be much
exposed, it will be prudent to retain more nurses, although the plantation itself be rather
crowded, than where the situation is sheltered. In no cases, however, should the nurses
be suffered to overtop or whip the plants intended for a timber crop ; and for this reason,
in bleak situations, and when perhaps particular nurse plants can hardly be spared,
it may be sometimes necessary to prune off the branches from one side entirely. At
subsequent thinnings, such pruned or disfigured plants are first to be removed ; and then
those which, from their situation, may best be dispensed with.
4012. At tvhnt period of the age of the plantation the nurses are to be removed, cannot easily be deter-
mined ; and, indeed, if the nurses chiefly consist of larches, it may with propriety be said, that they
should never be totally removed, while any of the other kinds remain. For, besides that this plant is
admirably calculated to compose part of a beautiful mixture, it is excelled by few kinds, perhaps by
none, as a timber tree. But when the nurses consist of inferior kinds, such as the mountain ash or Scots
pine, they should generally be all moved by the time the plantation arrives at the height of fifteen or
twenty feet, in order that the timber trees may not, by their means, be drawn up too weak and slender.
4013. Before this time it may probably be necessary to thin ovt a part of the other kinds. The least
valuable, and the least thriving plants, should first be condemned, provided their removal occasion no
blank or chasm ; but where this would happen, they should be allowed to stand till the next or other
subsequent revision.
4014. At what distance of time this revision should take place cannot easily be determined ; as the mat-
ter must very much depend on the circumstances of soil, shelter, and the state of health the plants may
be in. In general the third season after will be soon enough ; and if the plantation be from thirty to
forty years old, and in a thriving state, it will require to be revised again, in most cases within seven
years. But one invariable rule ought to prevail in all cases, and in all situations, to allow no plant to
overtop or whip another. Respect should be had to the distance of the tops, not to the distance of the
roots, of the trees : for some kinds require more head room than others ; and all trees do not rise per-
pendicular to their roots, even on the most level or- sheltered ground.
4015. With respect to the final distance to which trees, standing in a mixed plantation, should be
thiimed, it is hardly possible to prescribe fixed rules ; circumstances of health, vigour, the spreading
nature of the tree, and the like, must determine. Whether the trees are to be suffered to stand till
full grown, which of tlie kinds the soil seems best fitted for; whether the ground be flat or elevated ;
and whether the situation is exposed or sheltered, are all circumstances which must influence the
determination of the ultimate distance at which tjje trees are to stand. It may, however, be said, in
general, that if trees be allowed a certain distance, of from twenty-five to thirty feet, according to their
kinds and manner of growth, they will have room to become larger timber.
4016. Pontey shows, that forty feet distances are necessary (or only about twenty-seven to the acre) to
the unassisted growth of large oak trees, owing to the flat, spreading, and close form of their heads ; but
that the properly trained, open, high, and conical heads of such trees will admit of their standing at
twenty-five feet distances, or about seventy trees on the acre, and of the most profitable kind. What
an inducement to pruning and management! {Farey''s Derbyshire, voL i. p. 28!'.)
4017. Plantations of Scots pine, if the plants have been put in at three, or three and
a half, feet apart, will require little care until the trees be ten or twelve feet high. It is
necessary to keep such plantations thick in the early part of their growth, in order that the
trees may tower the faster, and push fewer and weaker side branches. Indeed, a pine and
a soft wood plantation should be kept thicker at any period of its growth, than plantations
consisting of hard wood and nurses already mentioned ; and it may sometimes be proper to
prune up certain nurse plants, as hinted at above (401 1.), for nurses in a mixed plantation.
Those pruned-up ti-ees are of course to be reckoned temporary plants, and are afterwards
to be the first thinned out; next to these, all plants which have lost their leaders by acci-
dent, should be condemned ; because such will never regain them so far as afterwards to
become stately timber ; provided that the removal of these mutilated trees cause no ma-
terial blank in the plantation. Care should be taken to prevent whipping ; nor should
the plantation be thinned too much at one time, lest havock be made by prevailing
winds ; an evil which many, through inadvertency, have thus incurred. This precaution
seems the more necessary, inasmuch as Scots pines, intended for useful large timber, are
presumed never to be planted except in exposed situations and thin soils. At forty
years of age, a good medium distance for the trees may be about fifteen feet every way.
It may be worthy of remark, that after a certain period, perhaps by the time that the
plantation arrives at the age of fifty or sixty years, it will be proper to thin more
freely, in order to harden the timber ; and that then this may done with less risk of
danger, from tlie strength the trees will have acquired, than at an earlier period ; but still
it should be done gradually.
4018. Plantations of sprnce and silver firs, intended for large useful timber, should
l)e kept much in the manner above stated, both in their infancy and middle age. As
already remarked, planting and keeping them as thick as is consistent with their health
are the best means of producing tall, straight, clean stems, and valuable timber. When
planted for screens or for ornament, they require a different treatment. " To larch
654 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
plantations, the above observations will also apply, and indeed they are applicable to
plantations of all kinds of resinous trees.
4019. The exposed margin of all t/oung plantations should be kept thicker than the in-
terior. The extent to which this rule should be carried must be regulated according to
the degree of exposure of the situation, the age of the plants, the tenderness of the kinds,
and other circumstances."
4020. The pj'oper season for thinning is autumn, or very early in the spring, where
the trees are to be taken up by the root and replanted elsewhere ; winter for thinning
for timber and fuel : but such trees as are valuable for their barks should be left un-
touched till the sap rises in April or May.
4021. Copse-woods require thinning when young, like other plantations, and when once
established the stools require to be gone over the second year after cutting, and all
superfluous suckers and shoots removed. This operation should be repeated annually,
or every two or three years, in connection with pruning, till within three or four years
of the general fall of the crop.
Sect. VI. Improvement of Neglected Plantations.
4022. Neglected and mismanaged plantations will include the greater number in Bri-
tain. The artificial strips and masses have generally never been thinned or pruned ;
and the natural woods, or copse-woods, have for the most part been improperly thinned
or cut over. It is often a difficult matter to know what to make of such cases, and
always a work of considerable time. " Trees," Sang observes, " however hardy their
natures may be, which have been reared in a thick plantation, and consequently have
been very much sheltered, have their natures so far changed, that, if they be suddenly
exposed to a circulation of air, which, under different circumstances, would have been
salubrious and useful to them, they will become sickly and die. Hence the necessity
of admitting the air to circulate freely among trees in a thick plantation, only gradually,
and with great caution." This precaution is particularly necessary in thinning plant-
ations of Scotch pine. Trees which have been screened by each other for forty or
fifty years, cannot bear the loss of their near neighbours.
4023. A plantation which has become close and crowded, having been neglected from
the time of planting till perhaps its twentieth year, should only have some of the
smallest and most unsightly plants removed ; one, perhaps in every six or eight, in the
first season ; in the following season, a like number may be removed ; and in two or three
years afterwards, it should be gone over again ; and so on till it be sufficiently thinned.
It will, be proper to commence the thinning at the interior of the plantations, leaving
the skirts thicker till the last ; indeed, the thinning of the skirts of such a plantation
should be protracted to a great length of time. With thinning, pruning to a certain
extent should also be carried on. " If the plantation," Sang observes, " consists of pines
and firs, all the rotten stumps, decayed branches, and the like, must be cut off" close by
the bole. It will be needful, however, to be cautious not to inflict too many wounds
upon the tree in one season ; the removing of these, therefore, should be the work of
two or three years, rather than endanger the health of the plantation. After the removal
of these from the boles of the firs and larches, proceed every two or three years, but with
a sparing hand, to displace one or perhaps two tiers of the lowermost live branches, as
circumstances may direct, being careful to cut close by the trunk, as above noticed. In
a plantation of hard wood, under the above circumstances, the trees left for the ultimate
crop are not to be pruned so much at first as might otherwise be required ; only one or
two of their competing branches are to be taken away, and even these with caution. If
it be judged too much for the first operation to remove them entirely, they may be
shortened, to prevent the progress of the competition ; and the remaining parts may be
removed in the following season ; at which time, as before observed, they must be cut
close by the bole. {Plant. Kal. 467.) We cannot agree to that part of these directions
which respects the removal of " perhaps two tiers of the lowermost live branches ;" but,
paying great deference to the opinion of Mr. Sang, we have judged it right, in a work
of this nature, to lay it before our readers, and allow them to judge for themselves.
4024. The operation of thinning and pruning, thickening or filling up, or renewing portions that
cannot be profitably recovered, should thus go on, year after year, as appearances may direct, on the
general principles of tree culture ; and for this purpose, the attentive observation and reflection of a
judicious manager will be worth more than directions which must be given with so much latitude.
4025. Pontey has noticed various errors in Kennedy's Treatise on Planting, and even in Sang's Kalen.
dar, on the simple subject of distances, which have originated in their giving directions for anticipated
cases which had never come within their experience. " Most people," he says, " take it for granted,
that if trees stand three feet apart, they have only to take out the half to make the distances six feet,
though, to do that, they must take down three times as many as they leave. By the same rule, moet
people would suppose that twelve feet distance was only the double of six ; but the square of the latter
is only thirty-six, while that of the former is one hundred and forty-four, or four times the latter ; so
that, to bring six feet distances to twelve, three trees must be removed for every one left." {Profitable
Planter, 256 ; and Forest Pruner, '21.)
Book IT.
TREATMENT OF INJURED TREES.
655
4026. Copse-woods are sometimes improved by turning them into woods, which requires
nothing more than a judicious selection and reservation of
the strongest of those shoots which proceed from tlie stools,
and which spring more immediately from the collar. But a
greater improvement of copse-woods consists in cutting over
the overgrown and protuberant stools by the surface of the
soil (Jig. 595. a, b, c, d), which has been found by Mon-
teith completely to regenerate them. The operation is
performed with a saw, in a slanting direction, and the
young shoots, being properly thinned and pruned, soon
establish themselves securely on the circumference of large
^^''^"^^^^^^^^^ and perhaps rotten-hearted roots. (Forester's Guide, 60.)
4027. Neglected hedge-row timber may be improved by pruning according to its age.
Blaikie recommends what he calls foreshortening, or cutting-in, as the best method
yy- both for young and old hedge -row
l^t , I/, . . . \ 1 1^1 1' , timber. " This operation is per-
formed by shortening the overlux-
uriant side-branches (Jig. 596. a),
but not to cut them to a stump,
as in snag-pruning ; on the con-
trary, the extremity only of the
branch should be cut off, and the
amputation effected immediately
above where an auxiliary side-
shoot springs from the branch on
which the operation is to be per-
formed (h) ; this may be at the
distance of two, four, or any other
number of feet from the stem of
the tree ; and suppose the auxiliary branch which is left (when the top of the branch is
cut off) is also over-luxuriant, or looks unsightly, it should also be shortened at its
sub-auxiliary branch, in the same manner as before described. The branches of trees,
pruned in this manner, are always kept within due bounds ; they do not extend over
the adjoining land, to the injury of the occupier, at least not until the stem of the tree
rises to a height (out of the reach of pruning , when the top branches can do compara-
tively little injury to the land. By adopting this system of pruning, the bad effects of
close pruning on old trees, and snag-pruning on young ones, will be avoided, the country
will be ornamented, and the community at large, as well as individuals, benefited."
Sect. VII. Treatment of Injured and Diseased Trees.
4028. With respect to wounds, bruises, casualties, and defects of trees, such small wounds
as are required to be made by judicious pruning, easily heal up of themselves ; large
wounds, by amputation of branches above six inches in diameter, should, if possible,
never be made. Even wounds of six inches diameter or under will heal more quickly
by the application of any material that excludes the air and preserves the wood from
corruption ; and we agree with Sang in recommending coal-tar, or the liquor produced
from coals in manufacturing gas. It is, however, less favourable to the progress of the
bark over the wound than a coating of clay or cow- dung covered with moss to keep it
moist. Pontey recommends putty and two coats of paint over it. In case the wood,
at a bruised or amputated place, has by neglect become already corrupted, the rotten or
dead wood is to be pared out quite into the quick, and the wound is then to be dressed
with tar or clay, covered with a piece of mat, sacking, or moss. A wound, hollowed out
as above, may at first appear an unsightly blemish ; but, in subsequent years, nature
will lay the coats of wood under the new-formed bark thicker at that place ; and pro-
bably may, in time, fill it up to be even with the general surface of the tree.
4029. All fractures, by whatever means produced, are to be managed as the circum-
stances of the case require. If a large branch be broken over at the middle of its
length, it should be sawn clear off close by the lateral which is nearest to the bole of the
tree : but if there is no lateral, or branch capable to carry forward the growth, cut the
main or fractured branch in quite to the bole. In both cases, treat the wound as above
recommended.
4030. Interior rotting, arising from the dampness of the soil, cannot, by the art of man,
be cured ; though it might have been prevented by timely draining. The hearts of trees
frequently rot, where there is no excess of moisture, and especially of such as have been
produced from old roots left in the ground by a previous felling. Such roots, when in
good ground, send up very great shoots, with few leaves in proportion to their size ; from
656 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
the absence of a profusion of these, properly to concoct the juices so abundantly sup-
plied by the roots, the fibre of the wood is loose and imperfect ; the next season will
produce more leaves in proportion to the supply of juices, yet not a sufficient number
for making timber ; several years may pass before this event will arrive : this crude and
ill-digested timber, disposed to premature decay, is the foundation over which subsequent
coatings of wood are laid : yet, however perfect these may be, they do not prevent the
progress of decomposition going on in the interior. Nature thus teaches how necessary
numerous leaves are to the preparation of the solid wood: the cotyledons and subsequent
leaves of a one-year old tree are a thousand times greater, compared with its solid con-
tents, than are the leaves to the solid contents of the first year's shoots from roots like
the above. Sang.
4031. Shakes often arise from the weight and multiplicity of top branches, and might
have been prevented by timely pruning. Shakes or rents in the boles of trees, however,
often happen where there is no excess of tops. Sometimes the rain, running down from
the branches, wets one part of the bole, while the rest is comparatively dry. If this cir-
cumstance is succeeded by an intense frost, before the wetted side becomes dry, the bole
may be rent for a length, and perhaps to the depth of the core. Shakes or rents, like
the above, are difficult to cure. The best method of helping them is to trace out their
upper extremity, caulk it up with oakum, and pitch it over, to prevent the rain descend-
ing that v/ay in future. {Sa?ig.)
4032. In cases of holloivness, Pontey recommends probing to the bottom, letting out
the water, if any, with an auger, drying the cavity with a cloth, filling it with dry sand,
plugging it with wood and oakum, and then painting it over.
4033. Stems or branches decorticated by lightning or otherwise, if the soft wood is not
much injured, will heal over and become covered with bark ; and this the more certainly
and rapidly if the air be excluded by a coating of adhesive matter, as cow-dung and quick-
lime, or by tying on moss or bandages of mat or cloth. Pontey gives an instance in
which such treatment was successful in the case of an apple tree. {Primer, 230.) We
have witnessed it on an extensive scale on the trunk of a pear tree ; and we are informed,
on the best authority, of other cases now under progress, in the government garden of
the Luxembourg, at Paris.
4034. Withered or decayed tops may arise from age and incipient decay ; but also, as
Pontey states, from improper pruning, or the want of it. We often see it from the im-
proper pruning of elms, wliich, after having been close pruned to their summits for many
years, are left entirely to nature ; in that case they branch out luxuriantly below, and the
top withers. By neglecting to thin out the branches on the stems of non-resinous trees
the same effect may be produced.
4035. Stunted bushy tops, on very tall naked stems, show a deficiency of nourishment,
from these circumstances ; and those on short stems from defects of the soil. Obliquely
placed misshapen heads, in detached trees, commonly proceed from the same causes and
from want of shelter. Stinted growth, both in tops and stems, is also produced by ivy,
and by lichens, mosses, mistletoe, and other parasites. Ivy compresses the bark, and
precludes its expansion, as well as excludes air and moisture, by which the outer bark
becomes rigid and corky. — Happily, both men and trees will live a long time under the
influence both of deformity and disease.
4036. Excessive exudations of gum and resins are peculiar to resinous and some other
trees when over-pruned, or pruned at improper times. Mildew, honeydew, and blight,
three popular names applied to the effects of certain insects of the A^phis kind, attack the
oak, beech, poplar, and many trees : all that can be said is, if proper regimen has been
regularly attended to, trees will overcome these and all other enemies.
4037. Insects and vermin. Almost every tree has its particular insect of the Hemipte-
rous and Dipterous families, and many of the Coleoptera are common to all. The foliage
of the small-leaved elm of hedges is often almost entirely destroyed in the early part of
the season by TenthredinidiB ; and those of the larch and Scotch pine have suffered ma-
terially in some seasons from aphides. The A^his laricea L. (Eriosoma of Leach) in-
creased to an alarming extent, from 1800 to 1802, on the larch, on account of three dry
seasons following each other ; but, though it retarded their growth, it ultimately de-
stroyed very few trees. Sang says, he has known it since 1785 ; that it dirties more than
injures the tree, and is now (1819) thought little of. Indeed, almost every species of
tree has been known to have suffered in some one season or more, and in particular dis-
tricts, from insects ; for which, on so large a scale, there seems to be no applicable remedy,
but patiently waiting till their excess, or the increase of other vermin their natural enemies,
or a change of seasons, causes them to disappear. Trees properly cultivated and managed
generally overcome such enemies. The hare is well known to be injurious to young-
trees, and especially to laburnums, by gnawing off their bark. Coating their stems with
dung and urine, fresh from the cow-house, is said to be an effectual remedy. It may be
put on with a brush to tlie height of two feet; a barrow-load will suflice for a hundred
Book II.
PRODUCTS OF TREES.
657
trees, with steiTis of three or four inches in diameter ; and its virtue, after being laid on,
endures at least two years. {Bull, in Cold. Hort. Mem. iv. 190.)
Sect. VIII. Products of Trees, and their Preparation for Use or Sale.
4038. The ordinary products of trees made use of in the arts are leaves, prunings or
spray, thinnings, seeds, flexible shoots, bark, branches, roots, and trunks. Trees also
afford sap for wine and sugar, and extract for dyeing ; but these products are of too
accidental or refined a nature for our present purpose.
4039. The brush-wood or sprat/ of trees may be turned into charcoal, substituted for
thatch in roofing cottages, used as common fuel, formed into fences, or distilled for
pyrolignous acid. Some sorts, also, as the spray of the oak, the willow, the birch,
the mountain ash, and others, may be used in tanning. In a green state with the
leaves on, the spray of the elm, the poplar, the lime, and others, may be used in feeding
cattle ; or the spray may be dried like hay, and stacked for that purpose, as in Sweden ; or
it may be rotted for manure. The spray of all trees not resinous may be used in
the distillation of pyrolignous acid. This acid is much used in calico-printing works ;
and, according to Monteith, sold in 1819, in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, at from
]/. 2s. to 11. 10s. per ton. The distillation is carried on in a cast or malleable iron
toiler (Jig. 597.), which should be from five to seven feet long, three feet wide, and
say four feet deep from the top of the arch, built with fire-brick. The wood is split
or round, not more than three inches square in thickness, and of any length, so as to
go into the boiler at the door. When full, the boiler door (b) is properly secured, to
keep in the steam ; then the fire is put to it in the furnace below, and the liquid comes
off in the pipe above (rf), which is condensed in a worm, in a stand (e) filled with
cold water, by a spout (f), and empties itself, first into a gutter below (g), and from that
it is let into barrels, or any other vessel ; and thus the liquid is prepared. One English
ton weight of any wood, or refuse of oak, will make upwards of eighty gallons of the
liquid. There is also a quantity of tar extracted, which may be useful in ship-building.
(Gard. Mag. vol. ii.)
4040. The thinnings, when not beyond a suitable age, and taken up properly, and at
a proper season, may be planted in other situations, or as single trees and groups ; or they
may be used as hoops, hop-poles, poles for garden training, for fencing, for props in
collieries ; and for a great variety of purposes ; those of which the bark is useful for
tanning should not be cut down or rooted up till May, but the others at any time during
winter. It is common to sort them into lots, according to their kind or size ; and to faggot
up the spray for fuel, besom stuff, or for distilling for bleachers' liquid.
4041. The seeds of trees in general cannot be considered of much use beyond that of
continuing the species. The seeds of the oak, beech, and sweet chestnut, however, are
valuable for feeding swine, and where they abound may either be swept together after they
drop, and carried away and preserved dry in lofts or cellars for that purpose ; or, if other
circumstances are favourable, swine may be driven under the trees to collect them.
These and other seeds, as the haw and holly, are eaten by deer. The seeds of the trees
mentioned, and of all the resinous tribe, are in general demand by the nurserymen, for
the purposes of propagation ; and the seeds of almost all other trees and shrubs are in
limited or occasional demand : they may also be collected for private sowing. Tree
seeds generally ripen late in the season, and are to be collected in the end of autumn or
U u
658 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
beginning of winter, with the exception of a few, such as the elm, poplar, willow, and one
or two others, which ripen their seeds in May and June.
4042. In osier grounds, willows produce flexible shoots, and, whether intended for the
basket-maker or cooper, should not be cut till the second season after planting, in order
to strengthen the stools : but by the third autumn the crop will be fit for the' basket-
maker ; and in the fourth, plantations intended for the cooper (hoops requiring the growth
of two years) will be ready. The seasons for cutting are November and March ; after
the former period the wounds are apt to be injured by frost, and after the latter the sap
is too far advanced ; some is lost by bleeding, and the buds are developed too suddenly
to admit of proper strength in the shoots. The cut should be made within three buds of
the point whence the shoot issued, in a sloping direction, and the section on the under-
side. In cutting hoop-willows, the swell at the bottom of the shoot only should be left,
that being furnished with abundance of buds for future growth. After being cut, the
hoops are trimmed from any side-shoots, and tied up in bundles of a hundred, of six
scores each, which, in 1820, sold for from four shillings to five shillings a bundle. The
willows are sorted into three sizes and tied in bundles two feet in circumference, vdthin
a foot of the lower ends. When to be peeled, they are immediately after cutting set on
their thick ends in standing water, a few inches deep, and there they remain till the sap
ascends freely, which is commonly by the end of the succeeding May. " The apparatus
for peeling is simply two round rods of iron, nearly half an inch thick, sixteen inches
long, and tapering a little upwards, welded together at the one end which is sharpened,
so as that it may be easily thrust down into the ground. When thus placed in a piece of
firm ground, the peeler sits doAvn opposite to it, and takes the willow in the right hand
by the small end, and puts a foot or more of the great end into the instrument, tlie prongs
of which he presses together with the left hand, and with the right draws the willow
towards him ; by which operation the bark will at once be separated from the wood :
the small end is then treated in the same manner, and the peeling is completed. Good
willows, peeled in the above manner, have been sold, for some seasons past, at from
six shillings and sixpence to seven shillings the bundle of four feet in circumference.
After being peeled, they will keep in good condition for a long time, till a proper
market be found."
4043. Copse-woods are generally cut over when the shoots of the stools have attained
from three to five inches' diameter at their bases ; some grown chiefly for hop-poles,
and ware or stuflP for crates, hampers, or wattled hurdles, are cut over earlier ; and
others, where small timber for fencing and other country purposes is wanted, are
left later. In some parts of Herefordshire, where the oak grows with great rapidity,
copse-woods are cut over every twelve years ; in the highlands of Scotland, where it
grows much more slowly, the time varies from twenty to twenty-five or thirty years.
** The bark is there considered as having arrived at its utmost perfection and at its
highest value, at the age of between twenty and thirty years : under that age, its virtues
are weak ; above it, the bark becomes coarse, and loses its sap. Another important
reason for cutting down oak coppice-wood about the above period is suggested in the
Stirlingshire Report, p. 218. ; namely, *that it is a fact established by experience, that it
will not renew itself, if it remains uncut beyond the space of about forty years.' "
(Gen. Rep. of Scotland, 218.) Where there is a considerable tract of copse-wood, it is
common to divide it into portions, in number according to the period of cutting. These
are to be cut in rotation, so that, when the last portion is cut over, the first is again ready
for cutting.
4044. The seasons for aitting the kinds of trees whose barks are not made use of, are winter and early in
spring; but the oak and other trees which are peeled, are left till the middle of April or May. Birch
and larch woods will peel nearly a month earlier than the oak. Should there be no frost, birch and larch
may be peeled about the beginning of April ; but the birch is commonly allowed to stand till July,
and the peeling of it is commenced after that of the oak has been completed. The reason is, there is
an outer skin upon birch-bark which requires to be taken off, as it is of no use to the tanner, and
renders that part which is of use more difficult to be ground; ;the month of July is the only time at
which the two barks can be separated with ease, as at this, tin* the juice or sap has made its circu-
lation through the tree and bark, and this circumstanfefe renders the separation more easy. From the
beginning of May to the njiddle of July is the usual time for barking the oak. The earlier in the
spring this operation is performed on the oak, both for the growth if a natural wood, and for the
bark, the better. When the sap has begun to rise, the bark will easily be detached from the wood,
and it ought then to be taken off without loss of time ; and, if the whole could be taken off before
the leaf is completely developed, the bark would be better. After the sap has arisen to the leaf and
new growth, the bark becomes'more dry, and requires more beating to separate it from the wood : and
when what is called the black sap is descending the tree, the bark taken off is black, and loses its
original colour; at this time also the bark begins to throw off a scurf, more especially young bark
without much cork on it; this outer skin having less of the proper sap or juice, and being much drier
when taken off, will weigh less, and consequently will not be so valuable. If possible, oaks should
be barked by the middle of June, as every ton of bark taken off after the first of July will be deficient
two cwt. per ton, compared with the same quantity taken off in May or early in June.
4045. The termination of cutting is generally fixed for the fifteenth day of July, and after this date
there should not be a single stool of oak wood cut that is intended for the growth : and as soon as possible
after the fifteenth, the whole of the wood and bark should be carried away, that the young growths
may not be disturbed or injured, as at this time they will have made considerable progress ; at any
rate, there should neither be wood nor b.irk remaining within the new cut hag after the first of August ;
Book II.
PRODUCTS OF TREES.
659
nor should cither horse or cart be permitted to enter it after that period ; for, after the beginning of
August, oaks make what is termed a Lammas growth, and the future prosperity and health of the coppice
in a great measure depend on the first year's growth, as far as regards form and vigour of the shoots.
{Forester's Guide, 69.)
4046. The best tnode of cutting is evidently that of using a saw, and cutting the shoots over in a slanting
direction close by the surface. When the stool, after having been cut several times, has acquired con-
siderable diameter, it is customary in the midland counties. Marshal states, to hollow it out in the centre,
from a notion that^ by rotting away the central roots, the circumferential stems will grow more vigor-
ously, and become as it were separate plants. This is in fact the case in very old copses. For several
cuttings, however, it must evidently be the safer policy to keep the stool highest in the middle to throw
off" the rain, and preserve it sound.
4047. Montcith says, " It will be found, upon experiment, perfectly evident, that stools dressed down
to the surface of the ground (taking care always not to loosen the bark from the root, or allow it to
be peeled off in the smallest degree below the earth, but rounded down level to it) will send forth the
most vigorous shoots, and stand the weather, and be the stoutest and best throughout the age of the
coppice." {Forester's Guide, 61.) From the late season at which the trees to be barked are generally
cut, they often receive considerable injury, both from that circumstance, and the manner in which the
operation is performed. Monteith appears to us to have furnished the best directions for executing
the work in a safe manner. He first sends a iierson furnished with an instrument with a sharp cutting
edge {Jie. 598. a) through the copse, whose business is, "to trample down the long grass or foggage all
round the root, and then to make a circular incision into the bark so deep as to reach the wood, at
about an inch above the surface of the earth : thus the bark when taken off, will injure no part of that
which is below the circular incision."
4048. T/ie root qf the tree being thus pj-epared, the cutters ought to proceed to their part of the work,
not with an axe, however, as is most generally recommended, but with a saw ; because, in cutting with
the axe, unless the root of the tree be so small in diameter as to be severed in one or two strokes at most,
the axe loosens the root to such a degree, that it not only loses the present year's growth, but often fails alto-
gether to grow. Therefore, if the diameter of the root be six inches, or upwards, it should always be cut
with a cross-cut saw, entering the saw about half an inch above where the circular incision has been
made into the bark, if a small tree; but if the tree be ten or twelve, or more inches in diameter, the
saw ought to be entered two inches above it.
4049. There are two advantages to be derived from cutting with the saw : it has no tendency to loosen
the root of the tree, but leaves it in such a condition as to be more easily and properly dressetl ; it also
saves a portion of the wood that would otherwise be destroyed by the axe. On no pretence should oaks
of six inches' diameter be cut with an axe, but always witli a saw. Having cut through the tree with
a saw, take a 'sharp adze, and round the edges of the stool or root, going close down to the surface
of the earth, taking with the adze, both bark and wood, sloping it up towards the centre of the stool,
taking particular care always that the bark and wood both slope alike, as if they formed one solid
body, being sure always that the bark be not detached from tl)e root. An objection has been made
to this mode of cutting with the saw, as taking up too much time ; but 1 have found that two men
with a cross-cut saw, kept in good order, will cut as much as two men will with an axe. {Forester's
Gvide, 5S.)
4050. In the operation of barldng trees, " the barkers are each furnished with light short-ha'.ided
mallets, marie of hard wood, about eight or nine inches long, three inclics square at the face, and the
other end sharpened like a wedge, in order the more easily to make an incision in the bark, which is
done all along the side of the tree which happens to be uppermost, in a straight line : and as two barkers
are generally employed at one tree, it is proper, that whilst the one is employed in making an incision
with the mallet, as above, the other being furnished with the barking-bill {fig. 598. a), cuts tlie bark
across the tree, in
lengths of from two
feet six inches to
three feet. Having
thus made the in-
cision in the bark,
both ways, the bark-
ers being also each
furnished with peel-
ing irons of different
sorts {h, c, d, e) ; if
the tree or piece of
timber to be barked
is such as the two
barkers can easily
lift one end of it,
this is placed on two pieces of wood three feet long, and called horses ; these are about the thickness of a
paling-stake, and have a forked end on each about six inches long, the other end being sharpened to.go
into the ground ; two of these horses are placed in a triangular form against one another, one end of the
piece to be peeled being raised on the horses, the two barkers standing opposite to each other, and enter,
ing the peeling-irons into the incision made by the mallet, and pressing the iron downwards between the
bark and the timber. In this way it will be found very easy to take the bark off in one whole piece round
the tree ; and, if possible, let these pieces be as long as the incisions made in the bark. In some cases,
where there is not much sap, the bark may require a little beating with the square end of the mallet,
to cause it to separate easily from the wood ; but the less beating with the mallet the better, as it has a
tendency to blacken the bark in the inside or fleshy part of it, so that, when the tanner sees it, he sup-
poses it to be damaged, and undervalues it. Thebranches of the tree being previously all lopped off with
the axe, the jKjrsons, in number according to the extent of the work, with the bill smooth all the branches,
cutting them in lengths of from two feet six inches to three feet, down as small as one inch in circum-
ference. The barkers, principally women, are each provided with a smooth hard stone of about six or
eight pounds' weight, beside which they sit down, and having collected a quantity of saplings, branches,
or twigs, they hold the piece on the stone with one hand, and with the mallet in the other, they beat it
till the bark be split from the wood, from the one end to the other, and taking it off all the length of the
piece, if possible, then lay it regularly aside, till a bundle of considerable size is formed."
4051. Btying the bark. The point most particularly to be observed in this art is, putting the bark up
to dry ; which is done by setting it upon what are called the lofts or ranges. These are erected by taking
forked pieces of the loppings, called horses, the one three feet long, the other two feet six inches, and
driving them about four inches into the ground, opposite one another, about two feet asunder in the
breadth, and as much betwixt them lengthways as will admit long small pieces of wood to be put upon
them, and as many of these must be put together as will hold the bark of every day's peeling. These
ought to be erected in as dry and elevated a spot as can be found in the margin of the wood, or better on
its outside. The bark being carried and laid on this loft, with the thick ends of it all laid to the high side
•of the range, and the small bark laid on to the thickness of about six inches ; and the bark taken off the
largest of the wood laid reguUirly on the top, which serves for a covering, and the lofts or ranges having
a declivity of about six inches, the rain will run off them readily, and if properly put up in this manner,
they will keep out a great deal of rain A fter it has lain in this state for three days, if the weather is good
Uu 2
660 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
and dry, it ought to be all turned over, and the Bmall bark spread out, so as not to allow it to sit together,
which, if much pressed, it is apt to do ; and if it does so with the natural sap in it, it has a chance of
moulding, which is extremely hurtful to the bark, and both lessens it in weight and in value. After
the bark has stood on the ranges about eight or ten days, if the weather be good, it may either be put
into a house or a shed, or if intended to be put up into a stack it may now be done. A stack of bark
ought never to exceed eight feet in width, and twelve or fifteen feet in height, raised in the middle
like a haystack. If it is to stand any length of time in the stack, it ought to be thatched, and in that
state may remain all winter. The greatest care ought to be taken to preserve the colour of the inner
parts of the bark, because the colour of it is generally looked to as a principal criterion of its value.
Before being put into the stack, the natural sap ought to be dried out of it, in order to prevent its
fermenting ; because, if a fermentation takes place in one part of the stack, it generally <?oes through and
spoils the whole. The same mode of treatment will do for all kinds of bark as well as li e oak : but the
birch has an outer or shreddy skin upon it, that is rejected by the tanner, and, as already observed, must
be peeled ofF.
4052. Chopping the bark. " When the bark is rpady for the tanner, it has to undergo the work of
chopping, which is done by driving in two or more stakes into the ground, with a fork on the upper end
of each, leaving them about two feet six inches from the ground, and laying a long small piece of wood
across between the two, where a number of people stand, and the bark is carried and laid down behind
them, which they take up in their hands and lay on the cross tree, and then, with a sharp whittle or
bill in the other hand, they cut it into small pieces, about three inches in length : when this is done, it is
trampled into bags, which hold about two hundred weight each, and in these bags it is weighed when
sold by the ton, in tons, hundred weights, quarters, and pounds, and in the above manner delivered to
the merchant or tanner." (Forester's Guide, 199.)
4053. The disbarked timber is prepaied for sale by being sorted into straight poles of the largest size,
stakes and other pieces fit for palings, faggots, fuel, &c. The unbarked wood is similarly sorted, and
affords, where there is much hazel or ash, cord wood or bundles of clean shoots for making packing
crates, hampers, &c , poles for hops, larger poles for fences, rails, paling-stakes, stakes and shoots for
hurdles, besom stuff", spray for distillation, and a variety of other objects, according to the local demand,
or the opportunity of supplying a distant market by land-carriage. The brush or spray of non-resinous
trees is called in some places ton- wood, and is used for distilling the pyrolignous acid used in bleachfields
and calico print-works. " When wood of this description is sent to Glasgow, where there are extensive
works for the purpose of distilling it, it sells readily at from 11. 2s. to 1/. 10s. per ton ; but when there
are large cuttings, particularly of young woods, it is worth while to erect boilers near the wood to distil
it, as these boilers can be erected at no great expense, and in this case the liquid is easily carried in
casks to where it is consumed, at less expense than the rough timber could be ; of course it will pay
much better. Small wood of this description is also used for charcoal : but in distilling it, there is part
of it made into charcoal, which will supply the demand of that article, so that it is by far the most
profitable way, when there is any great quantity to dispose of, to erect boilers and distil it ; unless where
the local situation of the wood will admit of its being shipped at a small expense, and carried to where
the works mentioned are carried on. All kinds of non-resinous woods will give the extract in question ;
but oak, ash, Spanish chestnut, and birch, are the best." {Forester's Guide, 155.) Where the oak grows
slowly, as in the Highlands, the but-ends of the poles are used for spokes for chaise wheels. " Long
spokes are from thirty to thirty-two inches long by three inches and a half broad, and one inch and a half
thick, and the short ones for the same purpose, from twenty-two to twenty-four inches long, and the
same sizes otherwise. Cart-wheel spokes, from twenty-six to twenty-eight inches long, four inches
broad by two inches tlyck. These are the sizes they require to stand when rough blocked from the ax&
Small wood, when sold for this purpose, brought, in 1820, 25. a cubic foot, measured down to three inches
square." {Monteith.)
4054. In some cases copse-woods are sown with grass-seeds, and pastured by sheep, horses, and cattle.
Some admit the animals the fifth year after the last cutting ; others, not till the eighth : but Monteith
thinks this should never be done till the fifteenth year. If the ground is properly covered with
trees, it can seldom be advantageous to admit any species of stock, unless during a month or two
in winter.
4055. Pollard-trees, which may be considered in most cases as injurious deformities,
are lopped at stated periods like copse-woods ; and the lop, whether to be barked or other-
wise, is to be treated in all respects like that of copse.
4056. The period at which trees are felled, for the sake of their timber, is determined
by various causes. By maturity of growth, or where the annual increase is so trifling as
to render their standing no longer worth while in point of profit ; when wanted for pri-
vate use or sale ; or when defects in the tree, or new arrangements in its situation, point
out the necessity of its removal. " A timbered estate," Marshal observes, " should fre-
quently be gone over by some person of judgment ; who, let the price and demand for
timber be what they may, ought to mark every tree which wears the appearance of decay.
If the demand be brisk, and the price high, he ought to go two steps farther, and mark
not only such as are full-grown, but such also as are near perfection." In trees, as in
the human species, there are three stages, youth, manhood, and old age. In the period
of youth, the growth is rapid j in manhood, that growth is matured j and in old age,
it begins to decay.
4057. The most profitable season for felling timber is at what may thus be termed the beginning of man-
hood. After that time, though the tree may appear sound and healthy, its annual increase is so little, that
it would be more profitable to cut it down and replant. The number of years that a tree may stand, before
it arrives at this period, must vary in different soils and situations ; but the period itself may easily be
ascertained by the annual shoots, the state of the bark, and by taking the circumference of the tree at the
same place for two or three successive seasons, and comparing the difference. In the view of profiting
from timber produce, it is of great consequence to cut down plantations at maturity. Many trees will
stand half, others a whole century, after they are full-grown, appear quite healthy, and at the same time
make little or no increase of timber. But there are particular cases, arising from the nature and state of
the markets, where it may even be more profitable to cut timber before it is arrived at a full growth,
{Treat, on Countr. Res. ii. 577.)
4058. Preparations for felling. It has been strongly recommended to disbark trees a year or more
before they are taken down, in consequence of the result of certain experiments commenced by Buffbn
in 1737. In May of that year, he disbarked three oak trees, forty feet in height, where they stood. In
the course of three years they died, and, on cutting them down, the outer wood was found hard and dry,
and the internal wood moist and softer. After trying its strength, &c., he concludes that " timber which
has been disbarked and dried while standing, will weigh heavier, and prove stronger, than timber cut in
its bark." Bosc and other French authors (in Cours Compl. d'Agr. &c. art Aubier, Bois, Quercus, &c.)
strongly recommeftd this practice, which is followed in some places on the Continent, and in this country
Book II. PRODUCTS OF TREES. 661
with the oak and larch ; but not, as far as we have learned, with any other tree. Monteith finds it by
far the most efficient way of seasoning larch tinber. He barked some trees in spring, and did not cut
them down till autumn, and others stood in the peeled state for two years. After various and extensive
trials, he is "decidedly of opinion, that the larch treated in this way at thirty years of age will be found
equally durable with a tree cut down at the age of fifty years, and treated in the ordinary way." (Forester's
Guide, 152.)
4059. As the dry rot (Merulius lachrymans Schum.) is found to arise in a great measure from want of
seasoning, or at least to proceed with the greatest rapidity in timber not well seasoned, this practice seems
to deserve adoption in that point of view. {Encyc. Brit. Suppl. art Dry Rot.) In some parts of the north
of Europe, the trees are divested of their bark for a foot or two feet in height from the ground a year or
more previous to that on which they are to be felled. We saw this done in Poland and Lithuania ; but,
though we made diligent enquiry there and in Sweden, we could not learn distinctly the extent to which
it was practised in the latter country and Norway. It is occasionally practised in Poland, for the ostensible
purpose of hardening the soft wood : but also accompanied by a deep incision made for the purpose of
extracting tar ; a practice evidently injurious to the timber, and therefore generally, in these countries,
kept out of view. When trees stand close together, a very obvious preparation for felling is lightening
the tops of such branches aswould, in falling, do injury to the trees that are to be left, or to other ad-
joining objects.
4060. The season qf felling is commonly winter, for timber not to be disbarked ; but some, for the re-
sinous tribe, recommend summer, as being the season in which it is generally felled in the north of Europe
and in the Alps. But the summer season is there adopted from necessity, as in winter the woods are so
filled up with snow that felling is hardly practicable. As the timber of these countries is generally squared
for the market, the soft wood is chiefly removed j so that the season of felling does not seem to them to be
of much consequence. Besides, the timber is never so full of sap in summer as it is in spring and autumn,
and therefore, next to midwinter, midsummer may be the best time for felling all kinds of timber trees.
Where the trees are disbarked at the base a year or more before felling, the soft wood will be partially
hardened ; but this practice is by no means general in the North.
4061. Knovales, in a recent work on preserving the British navy, and on dry rot, &c., after collecting the
opinions of all the ancient and modern authors who have written on felling timber, concludes that the
common notion that trees felled in winter contain less of sap or of the vegetable juices, than those cut
down at any other season of the year, is not true ; and that the method of barking standing trees in spring,
and not felling them till the succeeding winter, has not in anyway realised the expectations formed of the
plan. After describing all the modes that have been adopted for seasoning timber, he concludes that the
best is to •' keep it in air, neither very dry nor very moist ; and to protect it from the sun and rain by a
roof raised sufficiently high over it, so as to prevent, by this and other means, a rapid rush of air." [In-
quiry into the Means qf preserving the British Navyjfrom Dry Rot, 8fc. by Knowles, Sec. to the Com. of
Surveyors, chap, iii.)
4062. The operation of felling is performed either by digging an excavation round the stem, and cutting
the roots at two or three feet in distance from it, or by cutting over the stem at the surface. By the former
mode the root is obtained for use, and the ground more effectually cleared and prepared for the roots of
adjoining trees, or whatever crop is to follow. Where the tree is intended to stole, which can very seldom
be advisable in the case of cutting full-grown timber, or where there is some nicety requisite in taking it
down, so as not to injure other trees or adjoining objects, it is cut or sawn over, and the root, if to be re-
moved, dug out afterwards. " In cutting large trees, in order to make the tree fall the way required,
enter the cross-cut saw on that side of the tree it is intended to fall, and cut it about a third part through ;
then enter the saw at the other side, and when it is cut so far as to admit a wedge, place the wedge exactly
opposite the way you want the tree to fall, and keep driving it slowly till the tree is nearly cut through."
(Monteith.) The tree, being felled, is next divested of its branches, which are sorted into fence wood,
fuel, ton-wood, &c., according to the kind of tree ; and the trunk is generally preserved as entire as pos-
sible for the purchaser. Sometimes it is cut in two, and the root-cut, or but-end, being the most valuable,
sold for one class of purposes at a higher price, and the top-cuts for others somewhat lower.
4063. The seasoning of timber consists in evaporating the fluid matter or sap by the natural warmth of
the atmosphere, with the precaution of screening the timber both from the direct action of the sun and
wind, otherwise it cracks, and receives much injury. As this process proceeds slowly and irregularly when
conducted in the ordinary way, Mr. Langton has discovered a new method of seasoning timber, consisting
in the removal of the greater part of the atmospheric pressure, and the application of artificial heat, by
which the time necessary to season green timber, and render it fit for use, is only about twice as many
weeks as the ordinary process requires years. In this process the power of an air-pump is added to draw
the sap out of the interior of the wood ; and the tendency of the fluid to the outside being thus increased,
a higher temperature than that of the atmosphere can be applied, with less risk of causing the timber to
split ; consequently the process may be completed in less time, and a few trials will show the best relation
between the time and heat for the different kinds of wood. The late Mr. Tredgold's opinion being asked,
he gave it as decidedly in favour of Mr. Langton 's process; and timber is now completely seasoned by
Mr. Langton in eight or ten weeks after the tree is cut down. {Newton's Journal, vol. i. 2d series, p. 144.)
4064. Seasoning timber by steeping. " Some remarkable facts respecting the durability that may be
given to timber by artificial means have been observed at Closeburn. The proprietor of that estate has,
for thirty years, been in the constant practice of soaking all fir and larch timber, after it is sawed into
planks, in a pond or cistern of water strongly impregnated with lime. In consequence of this soaking, the
saccharine matter in the wood, on which the worm is believed to live, is either altogether changed, or
completely destroyed. Scotch fir-wood, employed in roofing houses, and other indoor work, treated in
this manner, has stood in such situations for thirty years, sound, and without the vestige of a worm. In
a very few years fir-timber so employed, without such preparation, would be eaten through by that
insect" [Menteith of Closeburn, in Edin. New Fhil. Journ. June, 1828.)
4065. The roots of trees are the last product we shall mention. These should, in
almost every case, be effectually eradicated ; to aid in which, in the case of very large
roots, splitting by wedges, rifting by gunpowder, tearing up by the hydrostatic press, or
by a common lever, may be resorted to. Some compact ash or oak roots are occasion-
ally in demand by smiths, leather-cutters, and others ; but, in general, roots should be
reduced to pieces not exceeding three feet long, and six inches in diameter, and put up
in stacks not less than three feet eyery way, but commonly containing two cubic yards.
These, when dry, are sold for fuel, or reduced to charcoal on the spot. In eradicating
and stacking up coppice-woods, it is common to allow a certain sum per stack, and
something for every acre of ground cleared; if there are no trees to bark, allowances
are also made for the poles, faggots, &c., so that no part of the operation is performed
by day work.
4066. The umal method of charring wood is as follows : — The wood being collected
near the place intended for the operation, and cut into billets, generally about three feet
Uu 3
663 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
in length, the pits or stacks are usually formed in this manner ; — A spot adapted to the
purpose, of from about fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, of a conical form, is selected,
and after being properly levelled, a large billet of wood, split across at one end, and
pointed at the other, is fixed in the centre of the area, with its pointed extremity in the
earth, and two pieces of wood, inserted through the clefts of the other end, forming four
right angles ; against these cross-pieces, four other billets of wood are placed, one end
on the ground, and the other leaning against the angles. A number of large and straight
billets are afterwards laid on the ground, to form a floor, each being, as it were, the
radius of the circular area ; on this floor, a proper quantity of brush or small wood is
strewed, to fill up the interstices, when the floor will be complete : and in order to keep
the billets in the same position in which they were first arranged, pegs or stumps are
driven into the ground, in the circumference of the circle, about a foot distant from one
another ; upon this floor a stage is built, with billets set upon one end, somewhat in-
clining towards the central billet, and on the tops of these another floor is laid, in a
horizontal direction, but of shorter billets, as the whole is intended, when finished, to
form a cone. The pile is then coated over with turf, and the surface generally plastered
with a mixture of earth and charcoal dust.
4067. Previously to the operation of setting fire to the pile, the central billet in the
upper stage is drawn out, and pieces of dry combustible wood substituted in its place,
to which the fire is applied. Great attention is necessary during the process, in the
proper management of the fire, and in immediately covering up the apertures through
which the flame obtrudes itself, until the operation be concluded, which is generally
effected in the space of two or three days, according to circumstances. When the char-
coal is thought to be sufficiently burnt, which is easily known from the appearance of
the smoke, and the flames no longer issuing with impetuosity through the vents, all the
apertures are to be closed up very carefully, with a mixture of earth and charcoal dust,
which, by excluding all access of the external air, prevents the coal from being any
further consumed, and the fire goes out of itself. In this condition it is suffered to
remain, till the whole is sufficiently cooled ; when the cover is removed, and the charcoal
is taken away. If the whole process is skilfully managed, the coals will exactly retain
the figure of the pieces of wood : some are said to have been so dexterous as to char an
arrow without altering even the figure of the feather. {EncyC Brit. vol. v. art. Charcoal.)
4068. The method of charring wood, for the making of gunpowder, according to an improved system,
adopted not many years ago, is however a much more costly operation, though the expense attending it
is amply compensated by the superior excellence of the article when manufactured. . It is done in iron
cylinders, and in so complete a manner, that every particle of the wood is charred. The oily or tarry
matter is also preserved, and may, so far as the quantity goes, be made use of instead of foreign tar or
pitch. This mode of charring wood for making gunpowder is carried to the greatest perfection near
Petworth in Sussex, and there is a manufacture of a similar nature near Chester. {Gen. Rep. for Scot.
land, vol ii. p. 342.)
Sect. IX. Estimating the Value of Plantations and their Products, and exposing them to Sale.
4069. The valuation of timber forms a distinct profession, and can only be acquired by
continued observation and experience : like other valuations of property, it depends on
a great variety of considerations, some of a general, but the greater part of a local
nature. We have already offered some remarks on valuing young plantations, as a
part of what may be called the inherent value of landed estates (3330.), and shall here
confine ourselves to the valuation of saleable trees.
4070. In valuing saleable trees of any kind, their number per acre or their total number
by enumeration being ascertained, and the kinds and sizes classed, then each class is to
be estimated according to its worth as timber, fence- wood, fuel, bark, &c.
4071. In a coppice ivood tvhich cannot readily he measured, " the readiest method of counting the stools
is, to cause two men to take a line, say about a hundred feet long or more, and pass it round as many of
the stools as it wiH enclose, the one man standing while the other moves round a new number of stools:
then count always the stools betwixt the two lines, causing the one man to move while the other stands
still, and so on alternately. The valuator at the same time taking care to average every twenty stools
as they go on, before losing sight of the counted stools. This way, too, is a very speedy and sure method
of counting the number of trees in any plantation."
4072. Or the stools of a coppice wood may be counted and averaged " by two men going parallel to each
other, and the person valuing going betwixt them; the two men putting up marks with moss, or pieces
of white paper, on a branch of the stools ; the one man always going back by the last laid marks, and the
valuator always counting and averaging the stools betwixt the newly laid and the late made marks;
counting and averaging the stools always as the men go on, taking only twenty, or even ten stools
at a time. To those who have been in the practice of doing this frequentlv, it will be found very
easy, and will be done very speedilj', and with a very considerable degree of accuracy. The proper
method of learning to do this correctly is, when a person cuts an oak wood for the first time (or, even
were the work repeated several times) ; he should then, in order to make himself perfectly acquainted
with ascertaining the quantity of bark that a stool, or even the stump of a stool, will produce, go before
the peelers, and select a stool or stem ; after having examined it narrowly, he supposes it to produce a
certain quantity of bark, and marks this down in his memorandum book. He then causes a person to
peel it by itself, dry it, and carefully tie it up and weigh it, and compare it with the weight he supposed
it would produce, and he will at once see how far his calculation approaches the truth. A stem of oak,
from a natural stool, suppose it to measure in girth two inches, by seven feet long, will contain two solid
inches, and one third of an inch, according to the measurement of Hoppus, This stem or shoot will pro-
duce two pounds two ounces of bark. Again, a stem or shoot of natural oak, measuring four inches in
Book II.
VALUING PLANTATIONS.
66:i
girth, by nine feet in length, will be found to contain one solid foot of wood, and will produce thirteen
pounds and a half of bark." {Forester's Guide, 170.)
4073. When growing trees are valued, an allowance is made from their cubic contents
for the bark. The rule given by Monteith is, " When the girth or circumference is any
thing from twelve inches up to twenty-four inches, then deduct two inches ; from
twenty-four to thirty-six, three inches ; from thirty-six to forty-eight, four inches ; from
forty-eight to seventy-two, five inches; and above seventy-two, six inches. These
deductions," he says, " will be found to answer in almost all trees ; unless in such as
are very old, and have rough and corky barks, or barks covered with moss, when an
extra allowance is to be made." {Foresters Guide, 180.)
4074. In valuing measurable oak-trees, many persons proceed on the data that every
cubic foot of timber will produce a stone (sixteen pounds) of bark. " This," Monteith
says, " is not always correct ;" and he states the following facts from his own expe-
rience, with a view to assist beginners in ascertaining the quantity of bark from different
trees. " An oak-tree, about forty years old, measured down to four inches and a half as
the side of the square, and weigliing only the bark peeled off the timber that is measured,
without including the bark of the spray, &c., every foot of measured timber will
produce from nine to eleven pounds of bark. An oak-tree of eighty years old, weighing
only the bark peeled off' the measurable timber, as above, every foot will produce from
ten to thirteen pounds of bark. Every foot of large birch timber, peeled as above, will
produce fourteen pounds of bark. Every foot of mountain-ash, as above, will produce
eleven pounds and a half of bark. Every foot of the willow, unless a very old one,
will produce from nine to eleven pounds of bark. Every foot of larch fir, not exceeding
thirty years old, will produce from seven to nine pounds of bark. The bark of trees,
particularly the oak, is peeled off, every branch and shoot, down as small as an inch in
circumference." (Foresters Guide, 189.)
4075. To facilitate the measuring of standing timber, various ingenious instruments and machines have
been invented, by Monteith, Gorrie, Rogers, and others. Perhaps the most generally useful is Broad's
callipers {Jg. 599), This instrument is composed of two thin pieces of deal about thirteen feet long, with
a brass limb or index {a), on which are engraven figures denoting the quarter girth in feet and inches.
Raising the instrument, the index end {a) is taken hold of, and the other applied to that part of the trunk
where the girth is to be taken, opening it so wide as just to touch at the same time both sides of it, keeping
the graduated index uppermost, on which the quarter girth will be shown, allowing one inch in thirteen
600
for the bark. For taking the height of
a tree, rods of deal or bamboo, seven
feet long, made so as to fit into ferules
at the end of each other, tapering as in
a fishing-rod, may be used. Fiveof them
with feet marked on them would enable
a man quickly to measure the height of
a trunk of more than forty feet as he
would reach above seven feet. Mon-
teith's machine being described in the
Encyclojksdia of Gardening (2d edit.
) 6970), and Gorrie's in the Gard. Mag.
(vol. ii. p. 9.), we shall here confine our-
selves to the invention of Mr. Rogers.
4076. Rogers's dendrometer {Jig. 600)
consists of a tripod stand, and a machine
for taking angles horizontally as well as
vertically. An upright stem arises from
the top plate, at the end of which is a
ball, with a hole perforated through it, to
receive the horizontal stem of the in-
strument ; b c may be called the base
limb of the instrument, which is to be
placed in a truly horizontal position,
and adjusted by the suspended level (d).
The limb (e) rises on a joint at c, and
slides upon a vertical arch (/) which is
graduated. At the joint (c) there is an
eye-piece, through which the surveyor
looks along the side of the bar (i) to a
small point, or rising edge, at the end of
the bar ; the part of the tree cut by this
line of observation will, if the instru-
ment is properly adjusted, be perfectly
horizontal with the eye-piece. An eye-
piece is also placed at c, on the upper
664 PRACTICE QF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
side of the rising limb, for the purpose of looking along this limb to a point or rising edge (e) in its
extremity. The surveyor elevates this limb, until that part of the tree intended to be noticed is exactly
cut by the line of observation, and the angle subtended between that and the horizontal is shown upon
the vertical arch (/). It is here to be remarked, that the graduations upon the arch (/) are not angles
of altitude, but marks or graduations answering to feet and inches of a tangent line, extending from the
horizontal point upwards, taken at a given distance from the tree; consequently, there are two or more
jfows of divisions, answering to the several distances at which the instrument may be planted. Twenty,
four feet and forty-eight feet are proposed distances, and the graduations upon the arch (/) are made
accordingly. For lofty trees, the longer distance is to be used ; but for shorter trees, the distance of twenty-
four feet will be sufficient. The horizontal angles which are to determine the diameter of the trunk, at
the several points of observation, are ascertained by the limb ig), which slides laterally upon an arch or
graduated plate (A) divided ut»on the same' jirinciples as the arch (/). The limbs (6) or (e) being fixed, so as
to coincide with one side of the trunk, the limb {g) is then moved until it coincides with the other side of
the trunk, and the angle subtended between the two shows, by the graduated plate (A), the diameter in feet
and inches of the triink at the points of observation. The length of the trunk, and its diameter in the
several parts, being thus ascertained by the improved instrument, recourse must then be had to tables, cal-
culations, or the ordinary sliding rule, for the purpose of obtaining from these admeasurements, the solid
content of timber in each portion of the tree. There are adjusting screws, and circular racks and pinions
for moving the limbs of the instrument, and altering their position, as circumstances may require ; and
when crooked arras, or bent parts of the trunk present themselves, the instrument may be turned upon
its pin, in the baU at t)ie top of th^ stem (a), and used in an inclined position. {Newton^s Jour, vol ix.
p. 360.) ' , , t ,
4077. The jrric^ of timber, like that of every other article in general use, varies with
the supply and demand, and is easily ascertained from the timber-merchants at the
different sea-ports^ as is that of bark, charcoal, and fire- wood, from the tanners and
coal-merchants.
4078. The usual modes of disposing of timber trees are, selling the trees standing,
by auction, by receiving written proposals, or by bargain and sale ; 2d, cutting
down the trees, and selling them in the rough, by either of these methods ; 3d, con-
verting the fallen trees; that is, cutting them up into the planks or pieces to which
they are best adapted, or which are most eligible in the given situation. The first method
seems the best, especially on a large scale, and also for the disposal of copse wood or
osier crops.
C^AF. X.
■ t i jil -f 1 Formation, and Management of Orchards.
■ '» ■»(' y^'-^Mi. ■ f "."■''■' ■ ' -
4079. Thcfor^iation of orchards is to be considered among the permanent improve-
ments, of an estate ; and should be kept in view in its first arrangement or laying out. No
temporary occupier could afford to plant an orchard without extraordinary encouragement
from his landlord. Orchards in this respect may be ranked with timber plantations,
and both subjects together agre? in belonging equally to agriculture and gardening.
Orchards have doubtless existed in Britain for many ages as appendages to wealthy
religious eistablishments ; but, as objects of farming or field culture, they do not appear
to have been adopted till about the beginning of the seventeenth century. (Lawson.)
They were then introduced by Lord Scudamore in Herefordshire, in which county, and
in such parts, of those adjoining as exhibit a red marly soil, are the best farm orchards in
England. The chief produce of these orchards is cider and perry ; but as these liquors
are not in very gener^ demand in this country, ajid are confessedly less wholesome and
nourishing than malt liquors, their formation cannot be carried to any great extent.
It seems desirable, however, that orchards of moderate size should be as generally intro-
duced as possibly ; a^ the use of the fruit in pies, tarts, and sauces would add considerably
to the comforts of the lower classes. Besides, there are some situations, as steep sheltered
banks of good soil, which cannot be so profitably employed in any other branch of hus-
bandry. The subject of orchards may be considered in regard to soil and situation, sorts
of trees, planting, culture, and the manufacture or disposal of the produce.
Sect. I. Soils and Situations most suitable for Orchards,
4080. The sites of all the best apple orchards, and all the chief cider districts, have been
discovered by W. Smith to be on the same stratum of red marl which stretches across
the island from Dorsetshire to Yorkshire. Fruit of no kind, indeed, can be raised with
much success on a soil that does not contain in its composition a portion of calcareous
matter : though apple trees will thrive well on any description of clay which has a dry
bottom, and pears and plums on any dry-bottomed soil whatever.
■4081. The most desirable aspect is unquestionably a somewhat elevated and naturally
sheltered declivity, open to the south and south-east ; but, as the author of The Hereford-
shire Survey remarks, orch^-ds are now found " in every aspect, and on soil of every
quality, and under every culture." The most approved site, he says, is that which is
open to the south-east, and sheltered in other points, but particularly in that opposite.
Cook II. SORTS OF TREES, AND MANNER OF PLANTING. 665
Much however depends on the character of the winds of a country ; for in some parts
of the island, the west, and in others the east or north wind, is the most injurious to
vegetation.
4082. The soil which in Herefordshire is considered best adapted to most kinds of
apples is a deep and rich loam when under the culture of the plough ; on this, the
trees grow with the greatest luxuriance, and produce the richest fruit. Some trees
however, the stire and the golden pippins in particular, form exceptions to this general
rule, and flourish most in hot shallow soils on a lime or sandstone. The best sorts of
pear-trees also prefer the rich loam, but inferior kinds will even flourish where the soil
will scarcely produce herbage. An orchard is generally raised with most success and at
least expense in a hop-yard, the ground under this culture being always well tilled and
manured, as well as fenced against every kind of enemy.
4083. The soils and situations devoted to farm orchards in Scotland are steep clayey
banks sheltered from the more violent and injurious winds; and in whatever part of that
country such situations occur, they can scarcely be more profitably employed. Fruit
trees of the apple, pear, and cherry kind, especially of the hardier and tall vigorous-
growing varieties, might be introduced in the hedge-rows of dry and moderately sheltered
grass-lands in most parts of the British Isles. By thus rendering these fruits universal,
there would be a considerable accession of enjoyment to the lower classes, and less tempt-
ation to break into gardens and orchards.
4084. The commercial situation most desirable for an orchard is, of course, near a
market town, or near a ready conveyance to one ; because though the making of cider
affords a profit, yet the fruit sold for culinary or table use yields a much more consi-
derable one. In The Gloucestershire Report it is stated that the fruit, which would fetch
8/. 165. unground, would only bring in cider 3/. 15s.
Sect. II. Sorts of Trees, and Manner of Planting.
4085. The most generally useful fruit that can be grown in farm orchards is the apple ;
next the pear ; then the plum for tarts or wine ; and to these may be added the cherry,
filbert, walnut, chestnut, and elder. In the cider countries, v\'liere the climate is more
certain than in some others, it is customary to plant but a few good sorts ; and not to
mix above one or two sorts together in making cider : in the northern disti'icts, on the
contrary, it is a maxim to plant a considerable number of different sorts, both of those
which blossom early and late ; because, should the blossom of one variety be destroyed
by a frosty wind, that of another may escape. In cold districts, it is advisable to plant
orchards in sheltered hollows, exposed to the sun, and to plant thick : but in the warmer
southern counties, many descriptions of cider and perry fruits may be grown to perfection
in the hedge-rows, or as cultured trees in permanent pastures. The fittest trees for such
purposes are those which grow tall, with upright shoots, and which bear fruit of a small
size ; such as the Siberian pippin apple, and squash teinton pear : such trees shade the
hedges or pastures less than the spreading kinds, and their fruit, being small, is less likely
to be blown down by high winds.
4086. The most approved sorts qf cider apples we have enumerated and partially described
in the accompanying table (4089). It will be particularly observed that some of the
sorts form much more handsome trees than others, and should therefore be preferred for
hedge-rows, and indeed in all cases where the quality of the fruit is not objectionable.
Some also have smaller-sized fruit than others, and these are to be preferred for situations
exposed to much wind.
4087. The colours qf good cider fruit are red and yellow ; the colour to be avoided is
green, as affording a liquor of the harshest and generally of the poorest quality. The
pulp should be yellow, and the taste rich and somewhat astringent. Apples of a small
size are always, if equal in quality, to be preferred to those of a larger, in order that
the rind and kernel, which contain the aromatic part, may be the more easily crushed
with the pulp.
4088. The sorts qf baking apples most suitable for orchards are the calvilles, of which
there are several varieties, including the Hawthornden for early use; the reinettes,
pearmains, and Northern greening for autumn use, and the russets and Padley's pippin
for winter and spring. Many other sorts might be named, but an inspection of the
fruit markets will prove that these are the best ; and further details belong to books
on gardening. Whoever intends to plant an orchard will do well to describe the soil,
situation, climate, and object in view, to the nearest resident gardener or nurseryman
of science and great experience ; because the nomenclature of fruits is at present too
uncertain to justify any one in trusting entirely to a selection of names taken from books.
Ronalds of Brentford, Gibbs of Ampthill and Old Brompton, and Pearson of Chilwell,
near Nottingham, are very extensive growers of apple trees for sale, and have paid great
attention to the merits of the different sorts.
666
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
II
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Book II.
PLANTING ORCHARDS.
667
4090. The dessert apples jU fm- orchards are the rathripes or Margarets for earliest use;
the juneating, pomeroy, summer pearmain, and Kentish codling for summer use ; the
golden, Downton, and other pippins, especially the ribston pippin, with the nonpareil
and other small russets, for autumn, winter, and spring use. The following list is given
by Nicol as including a fit collection both of kitchen and dessert apples for a private
orchard ; those marked thus * being preferable : —
Ribston pippin, *oslin ditto, *Bogar ditto, * Kentish ditto, ditto, summer greening, winter ditto, * Yorkshire greening,
* royal codling, * Kentish ditto, * Carlisle ditto, * royal russet, * margil (very good), Margaret apple (good), * white Haw-
Wheeler's ditto, * royal pearmain, *Loan's ditto (good"),*golden thornden, * Norfolk beaufin (good), strawberry, * poise-
reinette, * Kentish ditto (good), * grey Leadington, scarlet mouth (very good).
very austere, hardy free-growing tree. Squash teinton. Pom.
Her. 1. 13., Forsyth, p. 144., fruit very austere, upright tree,
and great bearer.
4091. The most approved sorts of cider pears are the following
Barland, Pom. Her. t. 27., Forsyth, p. 143., fruit very 1. 11., Forsyth, p. 144., largetree. Rough cap, Forsyth,
austere, hardy upright tree. Holmore, Pom. Her. t. 20., For-
syth, p. 144., upright tree. Huftcap, Pom. Her. t. 24., Forsvth,
p. 144., fruit austere, large, hardy trees. Oldfield, Pom. Her.
4092. In choosing pears for planting in orchards, the description of the plant is a
matter of very considerable importance, as pear trees attain a much greater age and size
than apples. In our opinion the planting of pears in hedge-rows ought to be more
encouraged than the planting of apples, as they are calculated, when dried, to be used
in soups ; or, when stewed green, to afford a light and agreeable nourishment ; and","
perry is at least a more wholesome and exhilarating liquor to most coustitutionswj
than cider.
4093. The baking and dessert j)ears fit for orchards, according to Nicol, are the
following : —
* Scot's ditto, musk robin (good), saffron, * hanging leaf (very
good), the pound pear, cadillac, warden (for baking).
*.Jargonelle, Crawford or lammas, * camock or Drummond,
*grey achan, swan's egg, *moorfowrs egg, *yair, * golden
knap (good), Longueville, * summer bergamot, * autumn ditto.
4094. Gorrie {Gard. Mag. vol iv. p. 11.) recommends the Benvie {fig. 601. a). Golden Knap (6),
601
Elcho (c), Busked Lady (d), and Pow Meg (e), as handsome trees. But where high-flavoured fruit is
the object, and the chmate is not unfavourable, the Beurres, the Bergamots, and other new French
and Flemish sorts, should be preferred. The following sorts will succeed as standards in the neigh-
bourhood of London. Their time of ripening is indicated, and also their qualities : very good (v. g.) ;
good (g.) ; and moderate (m.).
Jtdtj. * Muscat Robert (m.), gros muscat, (g.)
Aug. Epine verte d'dte (g.), * Jargonelle, (v. g.)
Autumn. * Bergamote silvange (g.), *beurrd rouge (g.),
baurr^ vert, (g.)
Sept. *Bergamote paysanne (v.g.), rousselet de Rheims. (v.g.)
Fondante d'Havay (v. g.).
Sipl. and Oct. Fondante d'Havay (v.g.), *bon chrtJtien
d'dl^. (g.)
Ort. Fon
Oct. and Nov. * Beurrd Spcrice (v. g.),
tine, (v.g.)
Nov. Beurre Capiaumont (v. g.), beurr^ crapaud (v. g.),
beurrd d'Afflighem (v.g.), Marie Louise (v.g.), * Napoleon
(v.g.), *Urbaniste. fv.g.)
Dec. BearrC diel (v.g.), pastorale (g.), * present de Ma-
ines. (v. g.
Fondante de Brest (v.g.), ^pine d'hiver. (g.)
■ " ■ " ' " Marie Chris-
Winter. Josephine (v. g.), poire Canning, (v.g.)
Dec. and Jan. *Gloux morceaux (v.g.), Roide Rome, (g.)
Jan. Bezi Vaat (v.g.), * Louise Bonne, (g.)
Jan. and Feb. * Passe Colmar (v.g.), * Passe Colmar grit,
ditPr^cel. (v.g.) '^
Feb. and March. Orange d'hiver (m.), I'incommunicable. (m.)
March. Duchesse de Mats, (g.)
March and April. Gros Roraain (m.), *bergamote de Faques
(m.), *beurr6 ranee, (v.g.)
April. Fondante Batave (g.), la favorite, (g.)
April aitd May. Muscat Allemand (m.), bezi de Caissoy. (g.)
May and June. * Bergamote de Pentecote (g.), Ilame-
Uer. (m.)
4095. The best sorts of baking plums are the following
Damson, buUace, muscle, winesour, and magnum bonum.
Of these the damson is by far the best, and next the winesour.
which thrives only on a calcareous soil, and grows wild in
abundance in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
4096. Hie following are excellent dessert plums for an orchard : —
* Green gage, Orleans, * damask (black, good), white perdri- ditto, or imperial, *drap d'or (yellow, good). Of these the
gon, *blue ditto, blue gage, * white magnum bonum, red green gage, Orleans, and damask are much the best.
4097. Gibbs of Brompton gives the following select list of orchard fruits from his
own experience : —
Summer Table Apples. Early Margaret, red Astrachan,
osUn, Mason's early, Kerry, yellow Ingestrie, Carter's seedling,
Thorle, red JJuarenden, early Ampthill pippin.
Summer Kitchen Apples. Keswick codlin, Maulden codlin.
Carte's monster, French codlin, yellow harvest, HoUandbury,
Autumn TaUe Applet. Ribston, Margall, court pendu,
Downton, Newtown Spitzenburg, English peach apple,
Feame's pippin, Wyken, Gravenstein, Ross nonpareil, pomnr.e
de neige.
Autumn Kitchen Apples. Alexander, Howbury pippin,
Hawthomden, Duchess of Oldenburgh, Nelson, dominie,
Blenheim orange, Dutch and French codlins (good for autumn
as well as summer use).
Winter and Spring Table Apples. Scailet nonpareil, old
ess PRA^CTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
nonpareil, old golden pippin, Newton pippin, Whealer's rus- beurre, Marie Louise, Napoleon, beurr^ Spence, sans pippin,
set, nonpareil russet, (ribb's pippin, court oi Wick, Lemon poire Anana.
greening of very good ouality, Cooper's russet, Sjkehouse Autumn preserve and baking Pears. Chaumontylle, reine de
russet, American seek no filrther, golden Harvey. poire, Scotch Comuck, black achan, EMnghaft, Aston-town.
Winter and Spring Kitchen Apples. French crab, Norfolk Winter and Spring; Table Pears. St. Germain, beurr^
beautin, Norfolk Paradise, paywell, winter queen, winter dTiiver, poire Braddick dliiver, poire d'Auch, bon chr^tien
greening, \orkslure greening, royal russet, beauty of Kent, d'hiver, beigamote d'hiver, Venus d'hiver, beurr^ ranee,
white Leadmgton, Fullwood's apple, lemon pippin, skinless winter verte longue, btrgamote de Paque, Van Mons, pr&ent
pippin, marmalade pippin, winter pearmain. de Malines, bon Malinoise, Dillen.
Cider Apples. lledstreak Somerset, redstreak Devon, Winter and Spring baking and preserve Pears, Cadillac,
redstreak late white Parson's, coccagee, Dufflin, woodcock, black pear of Worcester, Uvedales St. Germain, orange
Styre, Downton, Solebury cider app!e, Kingston black, d'niver, rousselet gros, merveille.
Somerset sweeting. Perry Pears. Aston-town, achan red, achan green, swan's
Summer Table Pears. Citron des qarines, jargonelle, sum- egg, Windsor, grey beurr^, orange bergamot.
mer bon chr<!tien, early bergamot, Julien archiduc d'6t^. Cherries. Couronne, black heart, black eagle, Elton, bige-
green chisel, I^ammas. reau, white heart.
Summer baking and preserve Pears. Windsor, Edelcrantz, Plums. Orleans, green gage, winesour. Cooper's large red,
swan's throat, Crawford, lemon. bonum magnum, Coe's golden drop.
Autumn Table Pears. Gansel's bergamot, Cresanne, brown
4098. Ronalds of Brentford, who is perhaps better acquainted with English apples
than any other individual, recommends the following sorts : —
Summer Table Apples. Hicks's fancy. Bell's fine scarlet, red pippin, brandy apple, Robinson's pippin, new scarlet nonpareil,
Quarenden, peach apple, la fameuse, summer oslin, summer Fem"s pippin, Pedley's pippin, Crofton pippin, nutmeg cockle
golden pippin. Duchess of Oldenburgh, Kerry pippin. pippin, Wykin pippin, russet pearmain. Parry's pearmain.
Summer baking Apples. Nonesuch, Spring-grove, Manks new green nonpareil, new golden pippin, tulip apple, court
codlin, Hawthomden, fine striped General Arabin, Wormsley pendu plat rubra, golden Worcester, Dredge's golden pippin,
pippin, Carlisle codlin, early Julian, early spice apple. Winter baking Apples. Large russet, transparent, golden
Autumn Table Apples. Margil, Downton pippin, Keddle- russet, French crab, MinshuU crab, Norfolk paradise, French
stone pippin, Franklin's golden pippin, Delaware, aromatic pippin, London pippin, new scarlet pearmain. Kirk's fame,
russet, summer nonpareil, grange apple. Duke of Wellington, Yorkshire greening, Kymer, Deeping
Autumn baking Apples. HoUandbury, beauty of Kent, Sa- pippin, pound apple (American).
lopian apple, golden burr, Russian apple. Emperor Alexander, Cider Apples. Bitter sweet, Siberian Hervey, Foxley apple,
Carlisle codlin, Gravenstein, yellow bow (American). coccagee, Pyrus (unique, Tartarian crab), Siberian bitter
Winter Table Apples. Nonpareil, Morris's russet, Bringwood sweet crab, transparent crab. Deeping pippin, Downton pippin,
pippin. King George, Sykehouse, Court Wyke pippin, Christie's Brentford crab, Girdler's large striped.
4099. Pearson of Chilwell recommends the following apples as very select : —
For early Dessert, the Egglestone summering, Waterloo Manks codlin, American summering, and Hawthomden.
pippin, and Perfect's juneating. For middle Season, the Bur- For middle Season, Greenup's pippin, malster, and Barton
gin, Lord Lennox, Pike's pearmain, and Blenheim orange. free-bearer. For long Keeping, Caldwell, Normanton wonder.
For late Keeping, WoUaton pippin, Bess Pool, Keddlestone and northern greening. All the foregoing will do well as dwarfs
pippin, and Hsirtford's russet. For Kitchen Uae, earhj, the on Paradise stocks. {Gard. Mag. yol. yi.)
4100. The cultivation of the plum appears to us deserving of more encouragement than
it generally meets with. Not only does the fruit make excellent pies and tarts, but it
may be kept in large quantities, so as to be ready for that purpose at any period of the
year. They also make a sort of wine, and with other fruits and ingredients form one
of the best substitutes for port. The damson, bullace, and some other varieties, will
grow and bear very high-flavoured fruit in hedges where the soil is dry below and not
too thin. The fruit of the sloe is, for wine-making, superior to that of the plum, and
nearly as good for tarts.
4101. The cherry is of more limited culture than any of the foregoing fruits ; because
chiefly used for eating, and not being of a nature to keep. Near large towns they may
be cultivated to a certain extent. In Kent and Hertfordshire are the cherry orchards
which afford the chief supplies for the London market. The sorts are chiefly the caroon,
small black or Kentish, the May-duke, and the morello ; but Holman's duke, the
black heart, and the large gean, will do well in orchards.
4102. The walnut and Spanish chestnut may be advantageously planted on the outskirts
of orchards to shelter them, and a few of them in hedge-rows where the climate is likely
to ripen their fruit. The chestnut can hardly be considered as ripening north of London,
or the walnut north of Newcastle. Both trees, however, may be planted for their timber
in moderately sheltered situations, in most parts of the British Isles.
4103. The elder is not beneath notice as an orchard tree. It need seldom be planted
as a standard ; but in unpruned hedges on a soft, deep, and rather rich soil, it yields
great quantities of fruit, which is readily manufactured into a sort of wine esteemed by
many persons when warmed, and forms a comfortable evening draught for the cottager.
No tree requires less care : it propagates readily by cuttings or seeds, and requires little
or no pruning ; but, though it will grow in any soil whatever, it will produce no fruit
worth mentioning on any but one tolerably deep and rich, and must be cut down when
it begins to show indications of age.
4104. The fUbert, currant, gooseberry, raspberry, and some other fruits, are cultivated
extensively near large towns ; but the treatment they require renders them in our opinion
unfit for farm orchards.
4105. In choosing trees for orchards, standards, sufficiently tall to admit of horses and
cattle grazing under them, should always be preferred. Maiden plants, or such as are
oidy two years from the bud or graft, are the most certain of success ; the apples being
worked on crab, the pears on wilding, and the cherries on gean stocks. The common
baking plums need not be grafted at all, but the better sorts should either be grafted or
budded on damson stems. Where budded or grafted chestnuts and walnuts can be got,
they should always be preferred as coming much sooner into bearing. The former may
be had from the Devonshire nurseries, and some public gardeners about London are now
attempting to inarch and bud the walnut.
4106. With resiyect to the distance at which orchard trees may be planted, every thing
will depend on the use which is intended to be made of the ground. Where the soil is
Book II. CULTIVATION OF FARM ORCHARDS. 669
to be pastured or dug, they may be planted in quincunx and close : but where it is to
be ploughed, they should either be planted in rows with sufficient space between for one
broad ridge, or two ordinary ones ; or they should be planted in squares to admit of
ploughing both east and west, and north and south.
4107. The Herefordshire orchardists recommend that the rows should extend from north to south, as
in that direction each part of every tree will receive the most equal portions of light and heat. The
distance between each row, as well as the space between each tree, sliould depend on the situation and
soil. Where the former is high and exposed, the trees should be closely planted to afford each other
protection J and where the latter is poor and shallow, their growth will of course be less luxuriant, and
they will consequently require less room. But in low and sheltered situations, and in deep and rich soils,
wider intervals should be allowed. In the former instances, twelve yards between each row, and six
between each tree, are sufficient; in the latter, twenty-four yards between each row, and eight between
each tree, will not be too much.
4108. As a general guide with regard to distance, Nicol states the extreme limits at which apple and
pear trees should stand, in a properly planted and close orchard, as from thirty to forty feet, less or
more, according to the quality of the soil, taking, as the medium, thirty-six feet. In a poor soil and a
bleak exposure, where the trees may not be expected to grow very freely, thirty feet are sufficient j
whereas in good soil, and a sheltered situation, forty may not be too much. Cherries and plums may be
planted at from twetity-four to thirty-six feet, according to soil and situation, as above, taking as a me-
dium, thirty feet for the ultimate distance at which they are to stand clear of one another. But it would
be advisable, in the first instance, to plant four trees for one that is intended ultimately to remain,
planting the proper kinds at the above distances first, and then temporary plants between them each
way. These temporary plants should be of the free-growing sorts that begin to bear early ; such as the
nonesuch and Hawthorndcn apples, the May-duke cherry, and the Crawford and yair pears; or any
.others known to produce fruit sooner after planting. These should be considered and be treated as
temporary plants from the beginning, and must give place to the principal trees as they advance in
growth, by being pruned away bit by bit, and at last stubbed up entirely. In bleak situations, if forest
and other hardy trees be planted among the fruit trees, it may not be necessary to plant so many (if any)
temporary fruit trees; or these may chiefly consist of the hardier sorts, such as the Hawthornden apple,
the May-duke and morello cherries, and the Scotch geans, which produce fruit the soonest.
4109. In the operation of planting, great care ought to be taken not to insert the plants
deeper in the soil than they were before removal. This is a very common error in every
description of tree planting ; and in retentive soils is ruinous to the tree. Sir C. M.
Burrel recommends, as a useful practice, in wet soils, or where the substratuni is not
suited to the apple or the pear, to plant the trees on hillocks of easy ascent, as for instance
one foot higher in the centre than the level of the field, and sloping gradually to that level
for three or four feet every way from the centre. By this practice, the roots will naturally
follow the good surface earth ; whereas, if they are planted in holes, the roots are apt to
shoot into the prejudicial subsoil, to the eventual injury of the plants by canker and other
diseases. When trees are thus planted on small hillocks, the under-drains may pass
between the rows with greater utility.
Sect. III. Cultivation of Farm Orchards.
4110. The trees being carefully planted, ivatered, and tied to tall strong stakes, require
little more than common attention for several years. Every autumn or spring they
should be looked over, and all cross irregular shoots made during the preceding summer
cut out, suckers (if any) removed from their roots, and side growths cleared from their
stems.
4111. The object in pruning young trees, Nicol observes, is to form a proper head.
Generally speaking, the shoots may be pruned in proportion to their lengths, cutting clean
away such as cross one another, and fanning the tree out towards the extremities on all
sides ; thereby keeping it equally poised, and fit to resist the effects of high winds. When
it is wished to throw a young tree into a bearing state, which should not be thought of,
however, sooner than the third or fourth year after planting, the leading branches should
be very little shortened, and the lower or side branches not at all ; nor should the knife
be used, unless to cut out such shoots as cross one another.
41 12. After an orchard-tree is come into bearing, Abercrombie says, continue at the time
of winter pruning either every year, or every two, three, or four years, as an occasion is
perceived, to cut out unproductive wood, crowded spray, and decayed parts. Also
reduce long and outrunning ramblers and low stragglers, cutting them to some good
lateral that grows within its Umits. Where fruit-spurs are too numerous, then cut the
strongest and most unsightly. Also keep the tree pretty open in the middle. If it be
necessary to take off large branches from aged trees, use a chisel or saw, and afterwards
smooth the wound with a sharp knife. In case old wood is to be cut down to young
shoots springing below, to make the separation in summer will be of more advantage to
those young shoots, though it is not a common practice, on account of the liability of
many stone-fruit bearers to exude gum, when a large branch is lopped in the growing
season. Observe to keep the stem clear from all lateral shoots, and eradicate all suckers
from the root.
4113. On aged trees that have run into a confusion of shoots and branches, and whose
, spurs have become clustered and crowded, the saw and the knife may be exercised with
freedom, observing to cut clean away all useless spray, rotten stumps, and the like useless
excrescences. Thin out the spurs moderately to let the air circulate freely among the
670 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
leaves and fruit in the summer season, and to admit the rays of the sun, so as to give the
fruit colour and flavour.
4114. In pruning the apple tree and all other standard trees, Knight observes, the points
of the external branches should be every where rendered thin and pervious to the light,
so that the internal parts of the tree may not be wholly shaded by the external parts : the
light should penetrate deeply into the tree on every side ; but not any where through it.
When the pruner has judiciously executed his work, every part of the tree, internal as
well as external, will be productive of fruit ; and the internal part, in unfavourable seasons,
will rather receive protection than injury from the external. A tree thus pruned will not
only produce much more fruit, but will also be able to support a much heavier load of it,
without danger of being broken : for any given weight will depress the branch, not simply
in proportion to its quantity, but in the compound proportion of its quantity and of its
horizontal distance from the point of suspension, by a mode of action similar to that of the
weight on the beam of the steel-yard ; and hence a hundred and fifty pounds, suspended
at one foot in distance from the trunk, will depress the branch which supports it no more
than ten pounds, at fifteen feet in distance, would do. Every tree will, therefore, support
a larger weight of fruit without danger of being broken, in proportion as the parts of such
weight are made to approach nearer to its centre.
4 11 5. Where a tree is stunted, or the head ill-shaped, from being originally badly pruned
or barren, from having overborne itself, or from constitutional weakness, the most expedi-
tious remedy is to head down the plant to within three, four, or five eyes (or inches, if an
old tree), of the top of the stem, in order to furnish it with a new head. The recovery of
a languishing tree, if not too old, will be further promoted by taking it up at the same
time, and pruning the roots ; for as, on the one hand, the depriving too luxuriant a tree
of part even of its sound healthy roots will moderate its vigour ; so, on the other, to relieve a
stunted or sickly tree of cankered or decayed roots, to prune the extremities of sound
roots, and especially to shorten the dangling tap-roots of a plant affected by a bad sub-
soil, are, in connection with heading down, or very short pruning, the renovation of the
soil, and draining, the most availing remedies that can be tried.
4116. A tree often becomes stunted from an accumulation of Ttioss, which affects the
functions of the bark, and renders the tree unfruitful. This evil is to be removed by
scraping the stems and branches of an old tree ; and on a young tree a hard brush will
effect the purpose. Wherever the bark is decayed or cracked, Abercrombie and Forsyth
direct its removal. Lyon, of Edinburgh, has lately carried this practice to so great a
length as even to recommend the removal of part of the bark of young trees. Practical
men, in general, however, confine the operation to cracked bark, which nature seems to
attempt throwing off; and the effect in rendering the tree more fruitful and luxuriant is
acknowledged by Neill in his Account of Scottish Gardening and Orchards, and by different
writers in The London and Caledonian Horticultural Transactions.
4117. The other diseases to which orchard trees are subject are chiefly the canker, gum,
mildew, and blight, which, as we have already observed, are rather to be prevented by
such culture as will induce a healthy state, than to be remedied by topical applications.
Too much lime, Sir H. Davy thinks, may bring on the canker, and if so, the replacing a
part of such soil with alluvial or vegetable earth would be of service. The gum, it is
said, may be constitutional, arising from offensive matter in the soil ; or local, arising from
external injury. In the former case, improve the soil ; in the latter, apply the knife. The
mildew, it is observed by T. A. Knight and Abercrombie, " may be easily subdued at its
appearance, by scattering flour of sulphur upon the infected parts." As this disease is now
generally considered the growth of parasitical fungi, the above remedy is likely to succeed.
For caterpillars and other insects in spring, Forsyth recommends burning rotten wood,
weeds, potato-hulm, wet straw, &c., on tlie windward side of th^ trees when they are in
blossom. He also recommends washing the stems and branches of all orchard trees with
a mixture of ''fresh cow-dung tvith urine and soap-suds, as a whitewasher would wash
the ceiling or walls of a room." The promised advantages are, destruction of insects
and " fine bark ;" more especially, he adds^ " when you see it necessary to take all the
outer bark off."
4118. With the Herefordshire orchardists pruning is not in general use ; the most ap-
proved method is that of rendering thin and pervious to the light the points of the external
branches, so that the internal branches of the tree may not be wholly shaded by the external
parts. Large branches should rarely or never be amputated. The instrument generally
used for the purpose of pruning is a strong flat chisel, fixed to a handle six feet or more
in length, having a sharp edge on one of its sides and a hook on the other. (JShight's
Treatise on the Apple and Pear. )
4119. T/ie culture of the soil among orchard trees is always attended with advantage;
though it can so seldom be properly conducted in farm orchards, that in most cases it is
better to lay them down with grass seeds for pasture. To plough between the trees and
take com crops, even if manure is regularly given, cannot be any great advantage, unless
Book 11. GATHERING AND KEEPING ORCHARD FRUITS. 671
a radius of six or eight feet is left round each tree. If such a space is left, and yearly-
dug but not cropped, the trees will thrive well ; and a ridge between each two rows may
be sown with corn. The greater number of orchards in Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are under pasture ; but the most productive are those trees grown in hop grounds.
In Kent, in some instances, the interspaces of young orchards are occupied by hops, in
others by filberts, and in grown orchards the latter are sometimes seen. Some old
orchards are likewise in permanent sward, others under arable or garden crops, and some
in saintfoin, while others are in lucern. In all cases where the subsoil is moist, or other-
wise unfavourable, the ground of an orchard should neither be dug nor ploughed, in order
not to prevent the roots from spreading themselves immediately under the surface. The
effect of repeatedly stirring the surface to six or eight inches or more in depth is to cause
the roots to descend. In all soils, this descent, by furnishing them more abundantly with
moisture, tends to prolong the growth, and prevent the ripening of the wood and the
formation of blossom buds ; but, in the case of noxious subsoils, it brings on canker and
other diseases. This is the reason why standard fruit-trees in kitchen gardens are gene-
rally less productive than in grass orchards ; the productive trees in certain hop-grounds
in Kent and other counties may seem an exception ; but they are not so, the subsoil in
these cases being good and dry.
Sect. IV. Gathering and Keeping of Orchard Fruit.
4120. The gathering of orchard fruit, and especially apples, should be performed in
such a manner as not to damage the branches, or break off the fruit spurs or buds. Too
frequently the fruit is allowed to drop, or it is beat and bruised by shaking the tree and
using long poles, &c. Nicol directs that it should never be allowed to drop of itself, nor
should it be shaken down, but should be pulled by the hand. This may be thought too
troublesome a method ; but every body knows that bruised fruit will not keep, nor will it
bring a full price. The expense of gathering, therefore, may be more than defrayed, if
carefully done, by saving the fruit from blemish.
4121. With regard to the keeping of kernel fruits, the old practice, which is recommended
by Marshal and Forsyth, commences with sweating, though Nicol and other modern
gardeners omit this process. It is evident from the general practice of both commercial
and private gardeners, that sweating fruit is not essential to its keeping, though some
persons continue to allege that, in consequence of that operation, it keeps better. Marshal,
the author of An Introduction to Gardening, observes, that those fruits which con-
tinue long for use should be suffered to hang late, even to November, if the frost will
permit; for they must be well ripened or they will shrink. Lay them in heaps till they
have sweated a few diays, when they must be wiped dry. Let them then lie singly, or at
least thinly, for about a fortnight, and be again wiped, and immediately packed in boxes
and hampers, lined with double or treble sheets of paper. Place them gently in, and
cover them close, so as to keep air out as much as possible. Preserve them from frost
through the winter : never use hay for the purpose. Kernel fruits and nuts keep no
where better than when mixed and covered with sand in a dry cool cellar, in the manner
of potatoes. Buried in pits well protected from moisture, russets have been found to
keep perfectly fresh a year from the time of their being gathered. The keeping of cider
fruits is not approved of, it being found best to crush them after they have been thinly
spread for a few days on a dry boarded floor. Many of the Herefordshire growers carry
them direct from the tree to the crushing-mill.
Sect. V. Mamfacture of Cider and Perry.
4122. Cider is commonly manufactured hy the grower of the fruit, though it would cer-
tainly be better for the public if it were made a distinct branch of business like brewing
or distilling. " The true way to have excellent cider," Marshal observes, " is to dispose
of the fruit to professional cider makers. The principal part of the prime cider sold in
London and elsewhere is manufactured by professional men ; by men who make a
business of manufacturing and rectifying cider, even as distillers, rectifiers of spirit, and
brewers follow their businesses or professions, and like them too conduct their operations,
more or less, on scientific principles." {Rev. of Agr. Rep. vol. ii. p. 294.) It is allowed
on all hands that the operation is performed in a most slovenly manner by the farmer,
and that it is very difficult to procure this liquor in good quality. The operation of
cider-making is as simple as that of wine-making or brewing, and will be perfectly un-
derstood from the follovdng directions, chiefly drawn from the treatises of Crocker and
Knight ; so that any person possessing an orchard, or a few hedge-row fruit trees, may
make a supply for his own use. The first business consists of gathering and preparing
the fruit ; the second, of grinding and pressing ; and the last, of fermenting and bottling.
4123. Ingathering cider apples, care should be taken that they are thoroughly ripe
before they are taken from the tree ; otherwise the cider will be of a rough, harsh taste,
in spite of all the endeavours of the operator. It is observed by Crocker, in his tract
672 PRACTICi; PF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
on The Art ofMaJniig and Managing Cider, tliat the most certain indications of the ripe-
ness of apples are the fragrance of their smell, and their spontaneously dropping from
the trees^ ' When they are in this stat^ of maturity, in a dry day, the limbs may, be
says, be slightly shaken, and partly disburdened of their golden store ; thus taking such
apples only as are ripe, and leaving the unripe longej^ on the trees, that they may also
acquire a due degree of maturity. It may not, h^ thinks, be amiss to make three gatlier-
in^of^the crop, keeping each by itself. The latter gathering, as well as wind-»falis,
cari, however, only be employed in making inferio;: cider : the prime cider must be drawn
Ifrom the former gatherings. ' ^ ! ,. , \ -
]4i24. On the proper mixture of fruits, or, rather on th^ proper separation, the merit
pr^cider wjll always greatly depend. Those whose rinds and pulp are tinged with
green, or red without any mixture of yellow, as that colour will disappear in ^the first
stages of fermentation, should be carefully kept apart from such as are yellow, or yellow
intermixed with red. The latter kinds, which should jremain on the trees till ripe
enoUgh to fall without being much shake^i, are alone capable of making fine cider.
Each kind should be collected separately, as noticed above, and kept till it becomes
perfectly mellow. For this purpose, in the common practice of the country, they are
placed in heaps often inches or a foot thick, and exposed to the sun, air, and rain, not
being ever covered, except in very severe frosts. The sti-pngth and flavour of the future
liquor are increased by keeping the fruit under cover some time before it is ground ;
but unless a situation can be afforded it, in which it is exposed to a free current of air,
and where it can be spread very thin, it is apt to contract an unpleasant smell, which
will much affect the cider produced from it. Few farms are provided with proper
landings , for this purpose on a large scale, and the improvement of the liquor will not
nearly pay the expense of erecting them. . It may reasonably be supposed, that much
water is absorbed by the fruit in a rainy season ; but the quantity of juice yielded by
any; given quantity of fruit will be found to diminish as it becomes more mellow, even
in very wet weather, provided it be ground when thoroughly dry. The advantages there-
fore, of covering the fruit will probably be much less than may at first sight be expected.
No criterion appears to be known, by which the most proper point of maturity in the
fruit can be ascertained with accuracy ; but it improves as long as it continues to ac-
quire a deeper shade of yellpw. Each heap should be examined prior to its being
ground, and any decayed or green fruit carefully taken away. The expense of this
will be very small, and will be amply repaid by the excellence of the liquor, and the ease
with which too great a degree of fermentation maybe prevented. (Crocker.) In Ireland
a mixture of every sort of apple is considered as producing the best cider. A propor-
tion of crabs is always admitted. " The taste, in consequence, is very sour, and less
sweet than English cider : but this is matter of fancy ; and, a relish for rough cider once
acquired, the sweet kind loses much of its attractions. Owing to a considerable admixture
of crabs, the Irish cider is always more sour than the English, and this is a quality,
vyrhen not too predominant, for which it is valued by the natives." {Lardners Cyc.
Jipm. Econ.)
" 4125. Ingiinding, the fruit should be so reduced that the rind and kernel should be
iscarcely discernible. In such a complete mixture it seems probable that new elective
attractions will be exerted, and compounds formed which did not exist previously to
the fruit being placed under the roller. The process of slow grinding, with free access
of air, gives the cider good, qualities it did not possess before, probably by the absorption
oi, oxygen. To procure very fine cider, the fruit should be ground and pressed im-'
perfectly, and the pulp spread as thin as possible, exposed to the air, and frequently
turned during twenty-four hours, to obtain as large an absorption of air as possible.
TJ^ pulp should be ground again, and the liquor formerly expressed added, by which
the liquor will acquire an increase of strength and richness. {Lardner's Cyclo. DotH'
Econ.)
4126. Whether the pommage should, immedialely after grinding, be conveyed to the press,
tl^ere to be formed into a kind of cake, or what is called the cheese ; or whether it should
remain some time in that state before pressing, ciderists have not agreed. Some say it
should be pressed immediately after grinding ; others conceive it best to suflPer it to
rran^n in the grinding trough, or in vats employed for the purpose, for twenty-four
hpiurs, or even two days, that it may acquire not only a redness of colour, but also that
it may form an extract with the rind and kernels. Both extremes are, Crocker thinks,
witong. There is an analogy, he says, between the making of cider from apples, and
wijie. from grapes ; and the method which the wine-maker pursues ought to be followed
by the cider-maker. When the pulp of the grapes has lain some time in the vats, the
viptager thrusts his hand into the pulp, and takes some from the middle of the mass ;
and when he perceives, by the smell, that the luscious sweetness is gone off, and that his
nose is affected with a slight piquancy, he immediately carries it to the press, and by a
light pressure expresses his prime juice; In like manner should the tiderist determine
Book II. MANUFACTURE OF CIDER AND PERRY. 673
the time when his pulp should be carried to the press. If he carried it immediately from
the mill to the press, he might lose some small advantage which may be expected from
the rind and kernels, and his liquor might be of lower colour than he may wish. If he
suffer it to remain too long unpressed, he will find to his cost that the acetous ferment-
ation will come on before the vinous is perfected, especially in the early part of the cider-
making season. He will generally find that his pulp is in a fit state for pressing in
about twelve or sixteen hours. If he must of necessity keep it in that state longer, he
will find a sensible heat therein, which will engender a' premature fermentation ; and
he must not delay turning it over, thereby to expose the middle of the mass to the, in-
fluence of the atmosphere. Knight's opinion is, however, that it should remain twenty-
four hours before it is taken to the press ; and in this o'pinion the author of the Art of
Cider Making, in Lardners Cyclopcedia, Domestic Economy, vol. i. also concurs.
4127. The pom7}iage being carried to the press, and a square cake or cheese made of it,
by placing very clean sweet straw or reed between the various layers of iwnimage ; or
by putting the same into the hair-cloths, and placing them one on another. It is of
importance that the straw or weed be sweet, and perfectly free from any fustiness, lest
the cider be impregnated therewith. Particular care ought also to be taken to keep
hair-cloths sweet, by frequently washing and drying, or the ill effects of their acidity
will be communicated to the cider. To this cake or cheese, after standing awhile, a
slight pressure is at first to be given, which must be gradually increased until all the
must or juice is expressed ; after which, this juice must be strained through a coarse
hair sieve, to keep back its gross feculences, and be put into proper vessels. These
vessels may be either open vats or close casks ; but as, in the time of a plentiful crop
of apples, a number of open vats may by the eiderist be considered an incumbrance in
his cider-rooms, they should be generally carried immediately from the press to the
cask. Thus far, says Crocker, cider-making is a mere manual operation, performed with
very little skill in the operator ; but here it is that the great art of making good cider
commences ; nature soon begins to work a wonderful change in this foul-looking, turbid,
fulsome, and unwholesome fluid; and, by the process of fermentation alone, converts it;
into a wliolesome, vinous, salubrious, heart-cheering beverage.
4128. Fermentation is an internal motion of the parts of a fermentable body. This
motion, in the present case, is always accompanied with an evident ebullition, the bub-
bles rising to the surface, and there forming a scum, or soft and spongy crust, over the
whole liquor. This crust is frequently raised and broken by the air as it disengages
itself from the liquor, and forces its way through it. This effect continues whilst the
fermentation is brisk, but at last gradually ceases. The liquor now appears tolerably
clear to the eye, and has a piquant vinous sharpness upon the tongue. If in this state
the least hissing noise be heard in the fermenting liquor, the room is too warm, and
atmospheric air must be let in at the doors and at the windows. Now, continues
Crocker, is the critical moment which the eiderist must not lose sight of; for, if he
would have a strong, generous, and pleasant liquor, all further sensible fermentation
must be stopped. This is best done by racking off the pure part into open vessels,
which must be placed in a more cool situation for a day or two ; after which it may
again be barrelled, and placed in some moderately cool situation for the winter. The
Herefordshire cider-farmers, after the cider has perfected its vinous fermentation, place
their casks of cider in open sheds throughout the winter ; and, when the spring advances,
give the last racking, and then cellar it. In racking, it is advisable that the stream from
the racking-cock be small, and that the receiving-tub be but a small depth below the
cock, lest, by exciting a violent motion of the parts of the liquor, another fermentation
be brought up. The feculence of the cider maybe strained through a filtering-bag, and
placed among the second-rate ciders ; but by no means should it be returned to the
prime cider. In this situation the cider will, in course of time, by a sort of insensible
fermentation, not only drop the remainder of its gross lees, but will become transparent,
highly vinous, and fragrant.
4129. According to Knight, after the fermentation has ceased, andtlie liquor is become
clear and bright, it should instantly be drawn off, and not suffered on any account again
to mingle with its lees ; for these possess much the same propei'ties as yeast, and would
inevitably bring on a second fermentation. The best criterion to judge of the proper
moment to rack off will be the brightness of the liquor ; and this is always attended with
external marks, which serve as guides to the cider-maker. The discharge of fixed air,
which always attends the progress of fermentation, has entirely ceased ; and a thick crust,
formed of fragn^ents of the reduced pulp, raised by the buoyant air it contains, is col-
lected on the surface. The clear liquor being drawn off into another cask, the lees are
put into small bags, similar to those used for jellies : through these whatever liquor the
lees contain gradually filtrates, becoming perfectly bright ; and it is then returned to that
in the cask, in which it has the effect, in some measure, of preventing a second ferment-
ation. It appears to have undergone a considerable change in the process of filtration.
X X
674 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
Its colour is remarkably deep, its taste harsh and flat, and it has a strong tendency to
become acetous ; probably by haying given out fixed and absorbed vital air. Should it
become acetous, which it -will frequently do in forty-eight hours, it must not on any
account be put into the cask. If the cider, after being racked off, remains bright and
quiet, nothing more is to be done to it till the succeeding spring; but if a scum collects
on the surface, it must immediately be racked off' into another cask, as this w^ould pro-
duce bad effects if suffered to sink. If a disposition to ferment with violence again
appears, it will be necessary to rack off* from one cask to another, as often as a hissing
noise is heard. The strength of cider is much reduced by being frequently racked off";
but this arises only from a larger portion of sugar remaining unchanged, which adds to
the sweetness at the expense of the other quality. The juice of those fruits which pro-
duce very strong ciders often remains muddy during the whole winter, and much atten-
tion must frequently be paid to prevent an excess of fermentation.
4130. The casks, into which the liquor is put whenever racked off", should always have
been thoroughly scalded, and dried again ; and each should want several gallons of being
fuU, to expose a larger surface to the air.
4131. The above precautions neglected by the ciderist, the inevitable consequence will be
this : — Another fermentation will quickly succeed, and convert the fine vinous liquor he
was possessed of into a sort of vinegar ; and all the art he is master of will never restore it
to its former richness and purity. When the acetous fermentation has been suffered to
come on, the following attempts may be made to prevent the ill effects of it from running
to their full extent : — A bottle of French brandy, half a gallon of spirit extracted from
the lees of cider, or a pailful of old cider, poured into the hogshead soon after the
acetous fermentation is begun : but no wonder if all these should fail, if the cider be
still continued in a close warm cellar. To give effect to either, it is necessary that the
liquor be as much exposed to a cooler air as conveniently may be, and that for a con-
siderable length of time. By such means it is possible fermentation may, in a great
measure, be repressed : and if a cask of prime cider cannot thence be obtained, a
cask of tolerable second-rate kind may. These remedies are innocent : but if the
farmer or cider-merchant attempt to cover the accident, occasioned by negligence or
inattention, by applying any preparation of lead, let him reflect, that he is about to
commit an absolute and unqualified murder on those whose lot it may be to drink his
poisonous draught.
4132. Stumming, which signifies the fuming of a cask with burning sulphur, may some-
times be advantageous. It is thus performed : — Take a stripe of canvas cloth, about twelve
inches long and two broad ; let it be dipped into melted brimstone : when this match is
dry, let it be lighted, and suspended from the bung of a cask (in which there are a few
gallons of cider) until it be burnt out. The cask must remain stopped for an hour or
more, and be then rolled to and fro, to incorporate the fumes of the match with the cider ;
after which it may be filled. If the stumming be designed only to suppress some slight
improper fermentation, the brimstone match is suflBcient ; but if it be required to give
any additional flavour to the cider, some powdered ginger, cloves, cinnamon, &c. may
be strewed on the match when it is made. The burning of these ingredients with the
sulphur will convey somewhat of their fragrance to the whole cade of cider ; but to do
it to the best advantage, it must be performed as soon as the vinous fermentation is
fully perfected.
4133. Cider is generally in the best state to be put into the bottle at two years old, where
it will soon become brisk and sparkling ; and if it possesses much richness, it will remain
with scarcely any sensible change during twenty or thirty years, or as long as the cork
duly performs its office.
4134. In making cider for the common use of the farm-house, few of the foregoing rules
are attended to. The flavour of the liquor is here a secondary consideration with the
farmer, whose first object must be to obtain a large quantity at a small expense. The
apples are usually ground as soon as they become moderately ripe : and the juice is either
racked off'at once as soon as it becomes bright, or more frequently conveyed from the press
immediately to the cellar. A violent fermentation soon commences, and continues until
nearly the whole of the saccharine part is decomposed. The casks are filled up and
stopped early in the succeeding spring, and no further attention is either paid or re-
quired. The liquor thus prepared may be kept from two to five or six years in the cask,
according to its strength. It is generally harsh and rough, but rarely acetous ; and
in this state, it is usually supposed to be preferred by the farmers and peasantry. When
it has become extremely thin and harsh by excess of fermentation, the addition of a small
quantity of bruised wheat, or slices of toasted bread, or any other farinaceous substance,
will much diminish its disposition to become sour.
4135. Madeira Cider. Take new cider from the press, mix it with honey till it bears an egg, boil it
gently for a quarter of an hour, but not in an iron pot ; take olF the scum as it rises, let it cool, then
barrel it, without filling the vessel quite full : bottle it off in March. In six weeks afterwards, it will
be ripe for use, and as strong as Madeira. The longer it is afterwards kept, the better. {Mech. Mag.)
Book II.
MACHINERY FOR CIDER MAKING.
675
4136. Pein-i/ Is manufactured on exactly the same principles as cider. The pears
should not be quite ripe, and the admixture of some wildings will add much to tlie
sprightliness of the taste. " It is thought by some to resemble champagne more than
gooseberry wine does ; and it is said, when of the best quality, to have been at times
sold instead of champagne." (Lardners Cyc. Dom. Econ.)
4137. The produce of cider or perry by the acre can only be guessed at, by first ascer-
taining the number of trees. From an orchard of trees in full bearing, half a hogshead
of cider may, in seasons ordinarily favourable, be expected from the fruit of each tree. As
the number of trees on the acre varies from ten to forty, the quantity of cider must vary
in the same proportion, that is, from five to twenty hogsheads. Pear-trees, in equally
good bearing, yield fully one third more liquor ; therefore, although the liquor extracted
from pears sells at a lower price than that produced from apples, yet the value by the
acre, when the number of trees is the same, is nearly on a par.
Sect. VI. Machinery and Utensils necessary for Cider-making.
4138. The machinery of the common ciderist includes the mill-hoi(se, mill, press, cloth,
vat, and cask, with their appurtenances.
4139. Marshal, in The Rural Economy of Glovcestershire, remarks, that a mill-house,
on an orchard-farm, is as necessary as a bam. It is generally one end of an out-build-
ing, or perhaps an open shed, under which straw or small implements are occasionally
laid up. The smallest dimensions, to render it any way convenient, are twenty-four feet
by twenty ; a floor thrown over it, at seven feet high ; a door in the middle of the
front, and a window opposite ; with the mill on one side, the press on the other side, of the
window, as much room being left in front, towards the door, for fruit and utensils, as the
nature of the mill and the press will allow. The utensils belonging to a mill-house are
few : the fruit is brought in carts or baskets, and the liquor carried out in pails.
4140. Of the common cider-mill there are several varieties, formed on the principles of the bark-
mills of tanners. The circle enclosed by the trough is in Devonshire generally in one division (Jig. 602.), and
is sometimes divided into compartments for containing different varieties of the same fruit. (Jig. 603.) The
size of the runner varies from two and a half to four and a half feet in diameter, and from nine to twelve
inches in thickness ; which in general is equal, like
fina ^,ss^iS»\~ zz -^^s---^ that of a grindstone, not varying, like that of a mill-
ouo _^ti'nmm. W. -==S!La!wuiiiBSSs>. stone : the weight one or tw*j tons. The bottom of
the chace is somewhat wider than the runner, that
this may run freely. The inner side rises perpen-
dicularly, but the outer side spreads, so as to make
the top of the trough some six or eight inches wider
than the bottom, to give freedom to the runner, and
|,^ room to scatter in the fruit, stir it up while grinding,
~ and take out the ground matter. The depth is nine
or ten inches. The outer rim of the trough is three
or four inches wide ; and the diameter of the inner circle, which the trough circumscribes, from
four and a half to five feet, according to the size of the mill. This is sometimes raised by a table of
thick plank fixed upon the stone, with a curb of wood, lessening to an angle, fixed upon the circumference
of the trough, making the whole depth of the trough about equal to its width at the bottom. This lessens
the quantity of the stone; and the plank upon the centre answers other purposes. The entire bed of a
middle-sized mill is about nine feet ; some are ten, and some few twelve, in diameter ; the whole being
composed of two, three, or four stones, cramped together as one ; and worked, or at least finished, alter
they are cramped together. The best stones are raised in the Forest of Dean : they are mostly a dark-
reddish gritstone (non-calcareous), working with sufficient freedom, yet sufficiently hard for this intention.
The bed of the mill is formed, and the trough partly hollowed, at the quarry, leaving a few inches at the
edge of each stone uncut out, as a bond to prevent its breaking in carriage. Much depends on the quality
of the stone. It ought not to be calcareous, in whole or in part, as the acid of the liquor would corrode
it. Some of the Herefordshire stones have calcareous pebbles in them, which being of course dissolved
leave holes in the stone. Nor should it be such as will communicate a disagreeable tinge to the liquor,
A clean-grained grindstone grit is the fittest for the purpose.
4141. The runner, as it has been seen {jig. 602), is moved by means of an axle passing through the
centre, with a long arm, reaching without the bed of the mill, for a horse to draw by ; and with a short
one passing to an upright swivel, turning upon a pivot, in the centre of the stone, and steadied at the
top, by entering a bearing of the floor above. An iron bolt, with a large head, passes through an eye in
the lower part of the swivel, into the end of the inner arm of the axis. Thus the requisite double motion
is obtained, and the stone kept perfectly upright (which it ought to be) with great simplicity, and without
stress to any part of the machine. This is the ordinary method of hanging the runner. There is a more
complex way of doing it, but Marshal says he sees no advantage arising from it. There are some mills,
it seems, with two runners, one opposite the other. On the inner arm of the axis, about a foot from the
Xx 2
676 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
runner, is fixed (or ought to be, though it i3 frequently wanting) a cogged wheel working in a circle of
cogs, fixed upon the bed of the mill.
4142. The diameter qf the wheel is determined by the height of the axis above the bed of the mill ; the
diameter of the ring of cogs, by the distance of the wheel from the centre of motion. The use of cog
wheels is to prevent the runner from sliding, to which it is liable when the mill is full ; the matter, when
nearly ground, rising up in a body before the stone. Besides, by assisting the rotatory motion of tlie
stone, it renders the work more easy to the horse. These wheels require to be made with great exact-
ness; and in a country where carpenters are unaccustomed to them, a millwright should be employed in
fixing them. The mill is placed so as to leave a horse-path, about three feet wide, between the bed
and the walls ; so that a moderately sized mill, with its horse-path, takes up a space of fourteen or fifteen
feet every way.
414a A cider-mUl in use in the south of France {fig. 604.) is worked on a circular platform of boards,
and instead of stone the wheel or conical roller {a) is of
cast-iron. The fruit is spread thinly over the platform,
and the roller moved round by one man or a woman.
From the roller's covering more breadth than the narrow
bark wheels in use in England, more fruit is crushed iu
a short time by this sort of mill than would at first
sight be supposed
4144. An eligible description of mUl, where cider is
only made for private use, consists of a pair of fluted
rollers working into each other. These rollers are of
cast-iron, hollow, about nine inches in diameter, with
flutes or teeth, about an inch wide, and nearly as much
deep. In general they are worked by hand, two men
working against each other. Between these the fruit
passes twice ; the rollers being first set wide to break
it into fragments, and afterwards closer to reduce
the fragments and the seeds, the bruising of the latter being of essential use in making high-
flavoured cider.
4145. The apple-mill is an iron machine. Where iron-mills have been tried, this metal has been found
to be soluble in the acid of apples, to which it communicates a brown colour and an unpleasant taste.
No combination has been ascertained to take place between this acid and lead ; but as the calx of this
metal readily dissolves in, and communicates an extremely poisonous quality to, the acetous juice of the
apple, it should never be suffered to come into contact with the fruit or liquor. {Knight on the Apple and
Pear.) In Ireland the cider-mill is composed of two horizontal wooden cylinders, covered with studs of
iron hke an organ barrel. These work into each other and crush the apples, which are afterwards beat
in a vessel with wooden pestles.
4146. The cider-press in Herefordshire is a modification of the common screw-press. In Ireland the
press bears a considerable resemblance to the common wine-presses of France, that being effected by a
long lever which in England is effected by a screw. It will save some subsequent trouble if, in pressing
out the juice, the action of the press be applied gradually, and very slowly increased. In this way the
juices, at first running muddy, will at length come off perfectly transparent, {Lardner's Cyclo. Dom. Econ)
4147. Cider cloths are used for containing the pommage in order to its being pressed.
They are usually made of common hair-cloth ; but such as is rather close in its texture
is the best. The size is generally about four feet square ; and they hold about tw^o or
three bushels, or as much as the mill can grind at once : and these are heaped over each
other till the press is full. The larger presses will hold from eight to fifteen bags, vi'hich
yield from one to two hundred gallons of liquor, according to the largeness of what is
termed the cheese. To perform the work neatly, it is necessary to have two sets of these
bags : for they clog and fur in pressing, and consequently become unfit for use till they
have been washed and dried ; so that, while this is doing, either the press must stand
still or another set be ready to employ it. But some, instead of hair bags, lay long
straw under the ponamage, the ends of which they turn up over it; then cover the
pommage entirely with fresh clean straw, upon which they spread another layer of
pommage, and so on alternately, till the press is full. Either of the methods will do ;
but those who are desirous of doing the work in the neatest and best manner generally
use bags.
4148. Tlte cider-vat is a vessel made for the purpose of receiving the pommage, or the
cider before it is racked off into the cask. Vessels of this kind should be made of wood,
as where lead is employed it is liable to be corroded by the malic acid.
4149. Cider casks, when new, though the wood be ever so well seasoned, are apt to
give a disagreeable relish, unless due caution he used before-hand. Frequent scalding
witli hot water, into which some handfuls of salt have been first thrown, or with water
in which some of the pommage has been boiled, and washing afterwards with cider, are
the usual remedies against this evil, and seldom fail of removing it effectually. Of old
casks, beer-vessels are the worst, as they always spoil cider ; and, in return, cider-casks
infallibly spoil beer. Wine and brandy casks do very well, provided the tartar adhering
to their sides be carefully scraped off, and they are well scalded.
Chap. XL
Laying out qf Farm and other Culturable Lands,
4150. The farming lands of an estate are in general the grand source of its annual
rental. The demesne lands are chiefly for enjoyment ; the roads afford no direct in-
come; the villages, manufactories, commonly the mines and fisheries, and often also
Book II. SIZE OF FARMS. 677
the woods, yield no income of consequence ; but there remain the lands to be let out to
the professional farmer, market-gardener, nufser^man, and cottagers : from these the
landlord generally derives his principal return for the capital laid out on the estate.
Having therefore disposed of all the other parts of the territory, it remains only to
arrange the farming or culturable lands in farms of different characters and sizes, in
cottage lands, gardens, or orchard grounds : these may be considered in regard to their
extent and arrangement.
Sect. I. Extent or Size of Farm and Cottage Lands.
' 4151. T/ie proper size of farms, or of land to be let in any way, must necessarily be
that which best suits the markets : not altogether the market of the moment, for there
may be a run for large or for small farms j but the market on an average of years,
times, and circumstances. i^i!t
4152. The enlargement or diminution off arms can proceeoonly for a time, and to a limited
extent. '1 he interest of the landlord, which gave the first impulse, is ever vigilant to check
its progress, when it is attempted to carry the measure beyond due bounds. It is in this
that the security of the public consists, if it were ever possible that the public interest
should be endangered by the enlargement of farms. Accordingly, in most of our coun-
ties, a few tenants, of superior knowledge and capital, have been seen to hold consider-
able tracts of land, which, after a few years, were divided into a number of separate
farms. The practice of these men is a lesson to their neighbours ; and their success never
fails to bring forward, at the expiration of their leases, a number of competitors. When-
ever skill and capital come to be generally diffused, there can be few instances of very
large farms, if a fair competition be permitted. No individual, whatever may be his
fortune and abilities, can then pay so high a rent for several farms, each of them of such
a size as to give full room for the use of machinery, and other economical arrangements,
as can be got from separate tenants. The impossibility of exercising that vigilant super-
intendence, which is so indispensable in agricultural concerns, cannot long be compen-
sated by any advantages which a great farmer may possess. His operations cannot be
brought together to one spot, like those of the manufacturer ; the materials on which he
works are seldom in the same state for a few days, and his instruments, animated and
mechanical, are exposed to a great many accidents, which his judgment and experience
must be called forth instantly to repair.
4153. If we examine the various sizes of farms in those districts where the most perfect
freedom exists, and the best management prevails, we shall find them determined, with
few exceptions, by the degree of superintendence which they require. Hence, pastoral
farms are the largest ; next, such as are composed both of grazing and tillage lands ;
then such rich soils as carry cultivated crops every year j and, finally, the farms near
large towns, where the grower of corn gradually gives way to the market gardener, cul-
tivating his little spot by manual labour. The hills of the south of Scotland are distri-
buted into farms of the first class ; the counties of Berwick and Roxburgh into those
of the second ; and the smaller farms of the Lothians and of the Carse of Gowrie,
where there seems to be no want of capital for the management of large farms, are a
sufficient proof of the general principle which determines the size of farms. {Sup.
Encyc. Brit. art. Agr.)
Sect. II. Laying out Farms and Farmeries.
4154. The arrangement of farms naturally divides itself into whatever relates to the
farmery or home-stall, and what relates to the arrangement of the fields, roads, fences,
and water-courses. In a country like Britain, long under cultivation, it is but seldom
that these can be brought completely under the control of the improver; but cases
occur where this n»ay be done without restraint, as in the enclosure of large commons ;
and in Ireland and the highlands of Scotland the opportunities are frequent.
SuBSECT. 1. Situation and ArrangemerU of the Farmery,
4155. The general principles of designing farmeries and cottages having been already
treated of: we have in this place chiefly to apply them to particular cases. Though
the majority of farms may be described as of mixed culture, yet there are a number
which are almost exclusively devoted to pasture, as mountain farms ; to meadow culture,
as irrigated or overflown lands, lands in particular situations, as in fenny districts, and
those situated on the borders of some description of rivers : there are others in which
peculiar crops are chiefly raised, as in the case of the hop and seed farms of Kent, Essex,
and Surrey. All these require a somewhat diflferent kind and extent of accommodation
in the farm buildings.
4156. The requisites for a farmery common to most characters of farms are, a central
situation, neither too high nor too low, shelter, water, exposure to the south or south-
Xx 3
filS PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
east, in preference to other points ; a level or flat area of sufficient extent for the build-
ings, yaids, and gardens ; grass-land sufficient for one small enclosure or more ; and
suitable outlets to the different parts of the farm, and to public roads and markets.
4157. Some of these requisites may be supplied by art, as shelter, by plantations ; water,
by wells and ponds ; a flat, by levelling ; and grass- lands, by culture : the direction of
the roads depends entirely on the designer. But in some cases the situation of the
farmery cannot be rendered central, as it frequently happens in the fenny districts of
Cambridgeshire, where danger might be incurred from extraordinary floods ; and in the
case of mountainous sheep farms, where a central situation might be so elevated as to
be deprived of most of the other requisites. Still, even in these cases, the general re-
quisites ought to be attained as far as practicable ; and there are degrees of attaiimaent, as
to a central situation, to be arrived at even among fens and mountains.
4158. Excellent examples of different descriptio7is of farmeries are to be found in Ber-
wicksliire, Northumberland, East Lothian, and on the Marquis of Stafford's estates in
Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Sutherland. Besides a great number of cottages and
farmeries of different descriptions, thirty-seven new farmeries have been erected by the
Marquis of Stafford in Shropshire alone. Loch, Lord Stafford's agent, in describing these
{Account of Improvements on the M. of Stafford'' s Estates, ^c), states, that "much attention
and consideration have been given to the plans of these buildings, with the view of com-
bining as many advantages as possible, and of arranging the different parts in such a
way as to save the time of the tenant and his people, and in order that their extent
might be reduced to the least size practicable, securing at the same time the accommo-
dation required. The most approved plans in both ends of the island were consulted,
and a gradual improvement has been made on them. The latter ones combine the ad-
vantages of the Englisli and Scotch buildings, avoiding, it is hoped, their respective
defects. To almost every one of these homesteads is attached a threshing machine,
constructed on the best principles: wherever water could be obtained, that has been
made use of as the impelling power ; and, of late, some of the moi-e extensive farms
have been provided with steam-engines for that purpose."
4159. In selecting a few of these examples, the first we shall mention is that of Sidera,
or Cider Hall, in Sutherland, erected in 1818. The soil of this farm is of a light and
excellent quality, particularly suited to the Norfolk rotation of husbandry, which is
followed by Rule, the new tenant, a native of the county of Roxburgh. The house and
homestead cost 2200Z. It is built, in the most sufficient manner, of stone and lime,
and covered with Easdale slate, from the west coast of Scotland. In the garden, which
is an old one, there are some of the finest holly trees to be met with any where, with
several ajiple, pear, and gean, or small black cherry, trees, of so considerable a size as to
show that there is nothing in the climate to prevent the growth of even the more delicate
kinds of timber, if not exposed to the sea breeze.
4160. The accommodations of the house axe, on the ground floor, a parlour, lobby, and
staircase, family room, pantry, and kitchen ; behind may be an open yard, and in front a
flower-garden ; the chamber story, a bedroom and bedcloset, two bedrooms, maid servant's
room, and bedroom. The offices contain a cart-house, stable, tool-house, threshing-
mill, and straw-house, horse-course, cattle-sheds, dairy, calf-pen, cow-byre, feeding-byre,
boothy (i. e. booth or lodge) for ploughmen ; pigsties, and poultry above ; paved way,
and cattle-yards.
4161. As an example of a Northu mberland farmery for a farm of from 400 to 500 acres,
we have recourse to The General Report of Scotland. The accommodations are as
follows : — In the dwelling-house are the entrance, stairs to chambers and cellars, and
lobby, dining-room, pantry, coal-closet, parlour, business-room, kitchen, back-kitchen,
dairy, store-room, poultry, farm-servants' kitchen, boiling-house, root-house, riding-horse
stable. In the economical buildings are a cart-shed, straw-barn, and granary over ;
corn-bams, hinds, byre for three cows, byre for ten cows, with feeding passage in the
centre ; calf-house, loose-horse place, stable, feeding sheds for cattle, with feeding
passage along the centre; pigs, dung-places, straw-yards, cart-shed, and open court.
The aspect of the house is south, and the garden and orchard are in front of it.
4162. As an example of a vei^ complete farmery for a turnip and barley soil, we give
that of Fearn (fig. 605.), erected by the Marquis of Stafford in the parish of Escall
Magna, in Shropshire, in 1820. The farm contains 460 acres of turnip soil; and the
farmery the following accommodations, including a threshing machine driven by steam.
In the house are two parlours (a, a), family-room (6), brew-house, two stories (c) ; pantry
(d), milk-house (e), kitchen (y), bedrooms (g), menservants' bedroom (A). In the
court offices a hackney-stable (i), stair under cover (A-), waggon-shed and granary over
(/), tool-house (m), cow-house (n), places for turnips and straw (o, p), steam-engine (q),
barn (r), straw or other cattle-food (s), stall-fed cattle (^), stables («), turnip-houses (v),
piggeries, poultry, tools, and necessaiy (w), cattle-sheds to each yard (x).
Book II.
ARRANGEMENT OF FARMERIES.
679
..^
605
n □
n° n n
i^
c
D
a
d
D
I
u t; r
^TTE TITE dUI-J L-u
\.
4163. A, an example of a farmery to be managed by a baxlvff, we give that of Ske^o,
also in Sutherland. The farm consists of 450 acres, the greater part taken from a
heathery waste. It contains a suitable house for the gneve or bailitF, and attached to
the office is a threshing machine, combining a com or meal-miU. Its accommodations
Xx 4
680
l^fe^AWttte- d¥' A^GTlRtCUI-TURE.
PartIII^
^
BJl
ami
a
are, a chafF-house, corn-rooms, threshing-juill, with water-wheel and straw-house;
oattle^eds,. poult?y-h««ses, and ^gery ; stabte*, t>yres, cart-shed, cattle-shed, dairy,
meal-house, lodge for ploughmen, paved way, and cattle-yards.
fj 4164. As an example of a small farmery in the counti/ of Stafford, we select that of
a 606 I 7^ Knollwall. {jig. 606.") The extent is 104
p- 1 ^^'^''^Sj. acres ; the' soil is strong and rather wet, and
there are some water and other meadows.
The house and ynrd-buildings are of brick
and tile, and their accommodations are, a
kitchen (a), a brew-house (h), parlour (c), sit-
ting-room (d), pantry (e), milk-house (/),
court-yard open (g), coals (A), hackney-
stable (i), turkey-house (^), pigsties (/), wag-
gon-horse stable (wi), corn-bay (71), barn (0),
straw-bay (p), cow-tyings(y), fodder-bins, (r),
calf-houses {s), and waggon-shed, graJiary
over, connected with bam («).
4165. A&. an example of a middle-sized
farmery on a clayey soil, we may refer to that
of Newstead, in Staffordshire. This farm
contains 314 acres, and the tenant, For4, is
said to be an example to the whole country.
The accommodations of the farmery are, irtthe
dwelling-house, an outer kitchen, and kitchen,
master's room, brew-house, dairy, pantry,
parlour, bedrooms, cheese-room, attics. In
the court a shed for waggons, with granary over, hackney stable, waggon-horse stable,
cattle-sheds, turnip-houses, fodder^house,, straw-bays, threshing-mill with water-wheel,
corn-bay, tool-house, workshop, bay for.unthreshed corn, small granary, and pigsties.
4166. As an example of an economical farmery for a farm of 50 or 60 acres, we copy
from The General Report of Scotland. The accommodations are : — in the house, a
kitchen, parlour, store-room, pantry, with three bedrooms, and a light closet over ; closet,
milk-room, and scullery. In the economical buildings are, a stable with a loose stall,
byre for ten cow^ cattle-shed, barn, cart-shed, with granary over ; pigsties and cattle-
yard. This appears one of the most compact and eligible plans for the farmeries of
arable fangis under 100 acres. ^ ^ .Jt. ■ ^'■
4167. Ais an improved BeruicksMft farmery, vre submit aripther specimen -fromVTAe
general Re/>ort. Its accommodations are calculated for a farm of 600^ acres, and consist,
iri'the dwelling-house range, of a porch, lobby, dining-room, parlour, kitchen, scullery,
eoal-place, .st9r^-room, dairy, pantry, business- room, poultry, steaming-house, bailiff's
room. The'economical buildings contain a riding-horse stable, tool-house, cart-shed,
with granary over ; corn-barn, straw-barn, feeding-house for 36 head of cattle, root-
house, byre^ for cows, calf-pens, stable for"' ten horses, pigs, with yard and troughs, cattle-
sheds, dung-basin, and urinaiium under ; cattle-yards, cart-road paved, rick-yard, mill
track, open court, lawn, garden, and orchard.
4168. A farmery for a turnip soil of from 600 to 900 acres, from the same work,
deserves consideration as a very complete specimen of arrangement. Omitting the
farm-house, the economical buildings contain a stable, cow-house, servants' cow, root-
house, young horses' stable, straw-barn, corn-barn, stable, cart-shed, place for pickling
wheat, killing sheep, or other odd jobs ; feeding-house, carpenter's workshop, pigs, geese,
common poultry, turkeys, pigs, cattle-sheds, dung and straw courts, with urinariums in
the centre of each, paved cart-road round, open court between the yard and dwellingi-
house, rick-yard, paddocks of old pasture, ponds for drinking and washing the horses'
legs.
4169. The accommodations for a farm-house, suitable to such a design and to the
style of life which the person who can occupy such a farm is entitled to enjoy, are as
follows : — In the parlour story there is a lobby, with staircase to chambers and cellars,
drawing-room, bedroom, a family work-room, dining-room, business-room, kitchen,
barrack-room or manservant's room, store-room, dairy, &c. On the first floor are two
best bedrooms, two other bedrooms, bed-closets, another closet, and a water-closet ; over
are servants' rooms.
4170. As a farmery for an arable farm near London of 350 acres (fg. 607.), we shall
give as an example one erected (with some variations) in the county of Middlesex, in
1810. It is to be observed, that in Middlesex farming a great object is hay, especially
meadow hay, for the London market, which gives rise to the covered spaces for loaded
carts (x) ; it being the custom to load the carts at night, place them imder cover, and yoke
and go «n H»e road early the following morning. The accommodations of this farmery
r.ooK 11.
AU^ANGEMENT OJF FARMERIES.
607
681
r,
\
ig
^J5
-
-
i£
J
are, in the dwelling-house, a lobby and stair (a), dining-room (6), drawing-room and
green-house (c), a housekeeper's room, nursery or butler's pantry ((/), dairy (e), kitchen
(jT), back kitchen and brew-house (^), gig-house or coach-house (A), small stable (i),
harness-room and stair to men's room and hay-loft (^). In the economical buildings
are a granary (/), pigs (w), carts or odd articles (??), water-closet (o), poultry (;>), litter
for tlie stable (y), stable for twelve horses (r), chaft-rocm (5% litter (<), room for cutting
hay into chaff («), places for horse food, or straw, hay, &c. {v\ cattle-sheds («>)> open
colonade for loaded hay-carts (x), straw end of barn fy), corn-floor (2), unthreshed com
and corn-floor (^), machine (1), mill course (2), cows (3), cow-food (4), calves (5),
bailiff's house (6), implements (7), wood-house, coals, &c. (8), kitchen-court to master's
house (9), garden (10), poultry-yard (11), bailiff's garden (12), lawn, shrubbery, and
sheep-walk (13), pond (14), rickyard (15), stack-stands (16), urinarium (17).
4171. In the elevations of this farmery {Jig. 608.), some attention has been paid to
effect, by intermingling trees, chiefly oaks, with thorns and honeysuckles.
608
682
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE,
Pakt III.
4172. An anomcdous design of a farmery for a hay-farm {fig. 609.), calculated for
effect and for inspection from the sitting-room {a, a), contains the following economical
buildings : — A poultry-house with granary over (a), a chaise-house with men's room
over (6), rabbits (c), tools (rf), carts (e), open sheds for carts or other implements (/),
sick horse or cow, &c. (g), pigs {h), stable (f), calves {k), cows (/), open passage lighted
from above and pump (m), saddle-horse, &c. (n), straw (o), chaff-cutting room (jo),
hand-threshing-machine {q), unthreshed corn (r), loaded carts of hay (5, t), hay-ricks
with roof movable on wheels to protect the hay while binding (w), ponds {v), lawn (w),
yard (x). Sitting in the circular room (a, a), the master may look down the light passage
which has a wire door, and along the oblique front of the buildings, and see every door
that is opened. He may also, as appears by the elevation {fig. 610.) see the men binding
hay under the movable covers.
610
Book II.
ARRANGEMENT OF FARMERIES.
611
68$
Kv:y::
^^^
J
^.Mjtguy
i_-*^-fl_
._mrf
4173. jin anomalous design/era com and stall-feeding farm {Jig. 611.), in which the
stacks are built on the tops of tlie stables, cattle, and cart-sheds (a), may be noticed, as
pleasing in effect, but
612
iB[BPinTT
not likely to be so use-
ful as the more simple
plans. The hay, roots,
and straw, are stacked
in the central circle (6),
and very readily sup-
plied to the stable (c),
cow-stalls (d), or feed-
ing-yards (c). The
threshing-machine (/) is
driven by water, which
is supplied by a circuit-
ous route (g), from the
pond near the house (A).
The elevation {fig. 612.)
has a good effect when
684
PRACTICE, OF AGRIClJLT'y^E.
Book II.
all the stacks are in their places, and untouched ; but as they are removed to the barn the
appearance of the flat-roofed sheds will |io^ be so consonant to established notions of
beauty and neatness. ^^^ -"^ "^"^-^ 5*,^^^.
4174. A farmery for a ^ddow-farm of 2 SO acres near* London (^flg. 613.)> may be
arranged as follows : ^l^e house may contain a porch, lobby, and stair to chambers and
cellars («), parlour {b), bedroom or study (c), pantry (d), kitchen (e), lumber-room [f),
business-room (g), back kitchen (Ji), coal cellar and maid's room over (i), wood-house
{k), yard and pump (Z), pigs (m), chaise (n), poultry (o), tools and roots, &c. (/>), two
stalls, and a saddle and harness place (^), harrows and large implements, &c. (r),
bailiff's house or men's lodge (5), cows (t), chaff-cutting room, and granary over (?*),
straw-barn {p), corn-floor (w), uilthreshed corn [x), stable and stall for litter {y), loaded
or eihpty carts and implements (z), watering-trough (^), rick-stands (1), bailiff's garden
(2)',' toaster's' garden (3), lawn (4), paddock of old grass (5).
'VllS. Art anomdloiis design for a turnip-farm of 500 acres (fg^ 615) contains a'
dw'^llrng-house (o), on an eminence commanding not only the farmery (b), but great
part of the farm. It is surrounded by the ricks for shelter (c), and by a pond (rf), which
drives the tHreshirig-machirie (e), and forms a foreground to the distant scenery. There
are a large feeding-shed (/), a bailiff's house and garden (g), and the other usuar ac-
commodations. The elevation of the feeding-sheds and end of the barn looking towards
the house is simple and riot inelegant, (fg. 614.) -Farmeries of this sort are not sub-
JdddL_
mitted as examples for general imitation, but merely as"sources of ideas to such as have
the' designing of this species of rural buildings, for employers who have a taste for design
and for originality, and who can afford to gratify that taste. It is a poor business, and
one which never can procure much applause, when a proprietor of wealth and cultivated
mind erects for his own use the same sort of farmery, or, indeed, of any other buildings,
as the tenants who support him. In East Lothian, Berwickshire, Northumberland, and
on the Marquis of Stafford's estates both in England and Scotland, are some noble
examples of substantial, commodious, and even elegant farmeries. (See Gen. Rep. of
Scotland,' arid' Loch's Imj). oil the Marq. ofStafordHs Estates, 4:c. 8vo. 1819.)
Bi)b^ri:
^Atri^^d out coT^Mii:
685
SuBSECT. 2. Laying out Cottages.
Cottage buildings include a variety of habitations,
4176. Cottage buildings include a variety of habitations, from th^ faxxn-hovsfi ^owvhsr
wards. On a large estate there will be cottages for tradesmen and mechanics, with and, ,
without fields and gardens ; others for market- gardeners and nurserymen, surrounded by
gardens and orchards ; for operative manufacturers ; for day-labourers ; and, on the
farm lands near the farmeries, for ploughmen and herdsmen. The extent of ground ,
which ought to accompany these cottages must be determined entirely by the demand nq
the regular labourer and ploughman require the least; and the gardener andtradesmaiji^li
who keep a horse or horses and cow, the most.
616
}l
iOH;
El
Jg .inf>xr
4177. A cottage Jit for a tradesman, metv,.>
chanic, or bailiff, given in The General Ucport
of Scotland, contains the following accommo-
dations : — A porch, lobby, living-room, two
closets with beds, pantry and dairy, fuel and
lumber-place, pig, and garden. The ciwv is
kept at the farmery, if for a bailiff ,• the poultry
over the fuel-place, and the bees on stands, in
the open garden.
4178. A double cottage of only one floor {fig^u:i,
616.) contains in each, the kitchen (a), witl^.,,
oven (6), pantry and dairy (c), lobby (d), two .>,
bedrooms {e, e), entrance door (/), frontau-
court-yard \g), pigs (Ji), necessaries (i). Thfta
gardens are at each end, ^nd the cows supr^*.
posed to be kept at the farmery. ^ ,o
4179. A cottage on a smaller scale contain^^.,
the entrance and stair, parlour and bedrooixv .;
Q86
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
with two good bedrooms over. Behind the main body of the house is a lean-to, con-
taining the kitchen with dairy and pantry, brewing, fuel, and lumber-place. The usual
appendages are detached.
4180. A double cottage for two married ploughmen, given in The General Rejmrt of
Scotland, contains a porch, and stair to bedrooms, living-room, pantry and dairy, back
kitchen, cow or pig-house, gardens, and two good bedrooms to each.
4181. A labourers cottage with cow-
-^-^house and piggery {fig. 617.), as com-
^'^ monly constructed in the south of Scot-
' land, is thus arranged : — The cow-housf
(o) and piggery (c) are in a lean-to.
The dwelling contains, on the ground
floor, an entrance and stair to bed-gar-
ret (b), large kitchen and living-room
{e), dairy and pantry (rf), coal and wood
(g), necessary [h).
4182. A good mechanic s cottage {fig.
618.) is thus arranged; —Parlour (o),
kitchen (6), closet (c), dairy and pantry
(d), closet to parlour (e), tool-house (/),
poultry (g), back entrance to the kitchen
and fuel-place {h), back entrance to house
and stair (i) ; over are two good bedrooms,
behind is a small court-yard, and the gar-
den surrounds the whole.
4183. Where cottages are erected as pic-
turesque objects, various external forms and
styles of design may be adopted, and at the
same time the requisite degree of comfort
preserved within. Three may be grouped
together {fig. 619.) and each have the usual
accommodation of kitchen (a) and par-
lour (b), with the usual closets and garret bedrooms. For cottages of upper servants,
on the demesne lands of proprietors, Gothic elevations {fig. 620.), Chinese, Swiss, and
Italian {fig. 621.), and every other va-
riety, may be adopted.
619
Ai^p.^. s JO /T 20 2S ja/ee/
c U ^i
Book II. LAYING OUT THE FARM LANDS. 687
4184. For entrance lodges there are many elegant designs by Gandy, Roberton, Pap-
worth, and others ; some simple and modern, and others in imitation of the elder styles
of building.
4185. A very simple entrance lodge of one story {Jig. 621.) may contain a kitchen (a),
parlour and bed-room opening into it (6), pantry (c), and closet (rf). Towards the road
there may either be a bow projection or porch. Detached, in the garden, and concealed
by trees and shrubs, may be the usual appendages to comfortable cottages.
SuBSECT. 3. Laying out the Farm Lands.
4186. In arranging farm lands, the principal considerations are the size and shape of
the fields, and the next the access to them and to the farmery by proper roads.
4187. The form and size of fields have too often been determined without much
regard to the size of the farm, the exposure, and the equability of the soil. This is the
more to be regretted in the case of live fences, which ought to endure for a long course
of years, and which cannot be eradicated without considerable expense. In The Code
of Agricidture it is observed, that when a whole farm is divided into fields of various
sizes, it is difficult to form a plan so as to suit a regular rotation of crops, or to keep
very accurate accounts. Whereas, by having the fields in general of a large size, the
whole strength of a farm and the whole attention of the farmer are directed to one
point ; while an emulation is excited among the ploughmen, when they are thus placed
in circumstances which admit their work to be compared. Some small fields are
certainly convenient on any farm, for grazing and other purposes to be afterwards
explained. On elevated situations, also, the shelter derived from small enclosures is
of use.
4188. A number of small enclosures, irregularly shaped, surrounded with trees or high hedges, in corn
farms, and more especially in corn lands situated in a flat country where shelter is unnecessary, is exceed-
ingly injurious to the farmer. Besides the original expense of making the enclosures, the injury done to
the crops of grain, produced by the want of a free circulation of air, and the harbour afforded to num-
bers of small birds; the very site of numerous hedges, with their attendant ditches, and the uncultivated
slips of land on both sides of them, consume a much larger proportion of arable land than is commonly
imagined. Hedges, especially if accompanied by rows of trees, greatly exhaust the ground of its fertility,
nourish weeds, the seeds of which may be widely disseminated, and, by the exclusion of air, the har-
vesting of the crop is carried on more slowly. Even upon meadow land, small enclosures encircled by
hedges are injurious, as they prevent the circulation of air for making or drying the hay. Small en-
closures, with high hedges and trees, are also extremely injurious to the roads in their neighbourhood.
4189. fVith fields of a considerable size less ground is wasted, and fewer fences are to uphold. The
crops of grain, being more exposed to wind, can be harvested earlier, and they suffer less from damp
seasons. Small enclosures in pasture are more productive in winter, being better sheltered ; but in
summer the larger and more open the enclosures are the better; for in hot weather both cattle and sheep
always resort to the most airy places. It is easier, also, when they are in pasture, to obtain a supply of
water in large fields than in small ones : indeed, fields are sometimes so small, that it is very difficult to
procure an adequate supply of water even in winter. But the conclusive argument in favour of large
arable fields is this, that where fields are small, much time and labour are wasted by short turnings ; and
it is now ascertained, " that if fields are of a regular shape, and the ridges of a proper length, five
ploughs may do as much work as six ploughs in fields of a small size and of an irregular shape ; while
every other branch of labour (such as dungixig, sowing, harrowing, reaping, and carrying in the harvest,)
can be executed, though not altogether, yet nearly, in the same proportion." {Husb. of Scot. vol. i.
p. 41. and Sup. Encyc. Brit. art. Agr.)
4190. The circumstances on which the size of fields ought to depend are, the extent of
the farm in which they are situated, the nature of the soil and subsoil, the rotations
adopted, the inclination of the ground, its being in pasturage or otherwise, and the
nature of the climate. (Code.)
4191. Extent of the farm. The size of fields ought certainly, in some measure, to depend upon the
extent of the possession. In small farms near towns, from six to twelve acres may be sufficient ; but
where farms are of a considerable extent, fields from twenty to even fifty acres, and, in some particular
cases, as high as sixty, may be used to advantage. In general, however, even on large farms, when
permitted by local circumstances, fields of a medium size, as from fifteen to twenty-five English acres,
are recommended by competent judges
4192. Soil and subsoil. In dividing a farm into fields, the nature of the soil and subsoil ought to be
kept in view. Where the soil is various, it would be proper to separate the light from the heavy. They
are not only better calculated for different crops and different rotations, but are naturally adapted to be
cultivated at different seasons. It is unfortunate, therefore, to have soils of a heterogeneous nature
mingled in the same field. But where this partially takes place, for instance, where there is only an
acre or two of light soil to ten or twenty of strong soil, let the following plan be adopted : — At any
slack time, either in summer or winter, more especially when the field is under fallow, employ two
carts and horses with four fillers, to cover the acre or two of light soil, with the strong soil contiguous,
and the soil in the field will then become more uniform. In fields where light soils predominate, the
plan might be reversed. This plan, though at first expensive, is attended with such advantages that,
whenever it is necessary and practicable, it ought to be carried into effect.
4193. The rotation adopted. It may be considered as a good general rule, to divide a farm according
to the course of crops pursued in it; that is to say, a farm with a rotation of six crops should have six
fields, or twelve, according to circumstances. It is proper to have a whole field, if the soil be uniform,
under one crop ; and every farmer of experience knows the comfort of having the produce of the farm
as equal every year as the soil and season will admit of
4194. Inclination of the ground. It is, however, evident that the size of the fields must in some
respects depend on the flatness or the hilly shape of the ground. Even on dry land, if there be a rise on
the ground, from fifteen to twenty chains is sufficient length ; for if the ridge be longer, the horsea
become much fatigued if compelled to plough a strong furrow up-hill beyond that length in one direc-
tion. This objection, however, to large fields, may in some measure be obviated, by giving the ridges
and furrows in such fields as are on the sides of a hill, such an obliquity as may diminish the difficulties
of the ascent
688 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Pakt III.
419.'). Pasturage. Where the systems of grazing and tillage alternately is followed (more especially
where the fields are piastured for two or three years in succession), it is convenient to have the fields of
ft-om twenty to perhaps thirty English acres. The farmer is thus enabled to divide his stock, which he
cannot well do with larger fields. The cattle or sheep remain more quiet than if a greater number were
collected together, and less grass is destroyed by treading. When such a field has been pastured for
some time, the stock should be removed to another, till the grass in the former has renewed, and is fit
for being eaten. Such a size also, in general, suits graziers better than larger ones, and consequently
fiields of this extent, when in pasture, generally let for more rent.
419o. Climate. The last circumstance to be considered, in determining the proper size of fields, is the
nature of the climate. In dry and cold climates, small enclosures are desirable on account of shelter ;
whereas, in wet countries, the fields under culture cannot be too open and airy, for the purpose of dry-
ing the ground, of bringing forward and ripening the grain, and of enabling the farmer more easily to
secure it during an unfavourable harvest, by having a free circulation of air. But, though on large farms
fields should in general be formed on an extensive scale, yet there is a convenience in having a few smaller
fields near the farm-house for keeping the family cows; for turning out young horses, mares, and foals;
for raising a great variety of vegetables ; and for trying experiments on a small scale, which may after,
wards be extended, if they shall be found to answer. When enclosures are too large for particular pur-
poses, and where no small fields, as above recommended, have been prepared, large fields may be sub-
divided by sheep-hurdles, a sort of portable fence well known to every turnip-grower. In this way, great
advantage may be derived from the constant use of land that would otherwise have been occupied by
stationary fences; and the expense of subdivisions, which, on a large farm, would necessarily have been
numerous, is thereby avoided. This fence is perfectly effectual against sheep, though it is not so well cal-
culated for stronger animals.
4197. The shape of fields may be either square or oblong.
4198. Square fields. The advantage of having the fences in straight lines, and the fields, when largo, of
a square torm, is unquestionable, as the ploughing of them under this arrangement can be carried on witli
much greater despatch. Some farmers, whose fields are of a waving or uneven shape, and who enclose
with hedge and ditch, carry their fence through the hollows, or best .soil, with a view of raising a good
hedge ; thus often sacrificing, for the sake of the fence, the form of their field. A straight line, however,
is preferable, even though it should be necessary to take some particular pains to enrich the soil for tiie
hedge, where it is thin and poor, on any elevation. By means of the square form, an opportunity is
afforded of ploughing in every direction, when necessary ;' and less time is lost in carrying on all the oper-
ations of husbandry in a field of that form than of any other. When the waving form is necessary to secure
proper water runs, plantations may be so disposed as to reduce the fields to squares or oblongs, and the
fences to straight lines. Rectangular fields have another advantage, that in fields of that shape it may
be known whether the ploughmen have performed their duty, the quantity of work done being easily cal-
culated, from the length and breadth of a certain number of ridges.
4199. Oblong fields. When fields are small, an oblong shape should be preferred, that the ploughings
may be dispatched with as few turnings as possible. This form has also other advantages : the fields are
more easily subdivided, and water can in almost every case be got, by making proper ponds in the meeting
or joining of three or four fields, whose gutters or ditches will convey water to the ponds. In turnip soils,
where the shape is oblong, it is easier to divide the turnips with nets or hurdles, for the convenience of
feeding them off with sheep. If the ridges are too long, and the field dry and level, the length may be re-
duced by making cross head-lands, or head-ridges, at any place that may be considered the fittest by the
occupier. {Code qf Agr. 152 to 157.)
4200. Hedge-row trees are very generally objected to by agriculturists. Notwithstand-
ing the garden-like appearance which they give to the landscape, " it seems to be agreed
by the most intelligent agriculturists that they are extremely hurtful to the fence, and for
some distance to the crops on each side ; and it is evident, that in many instances the high-
ways, on the sides of which they often stand, suffer greatly from their shade. It has there-
fore been doubted whether such trees be profitable to the proprietor, or beneficial to the
public ; to the farmer they are almost in every case injurious, to a degree beyond what is
commonly imagined." (Supp. to Encyc. Brit. art. Agr.)
4201. The opinion qf Loch, a well informed and unprejudiced improver of landed property, is of an
opposite description. He says : " There is no change in the rural economy of England more to be regretted,
than the neglect which is now shown to the cultivation and growth of hedge-row timber. The injury
which it does to the cultivation of the land is much exaggerated, especially if a proper selection of trees is
made ; but even the growth of the ash, so formidable to agriculturists, might be defended, on the ground
that without it the best implements employed in tiie cultivation of the soil could not be made. It is well
known that good hedge-row timber is by far the most valuable both for naval and domestic purposes ; its
superior foulness rendering it equally valuable to the ship. builder and to the ploughwright. The value
which it is of in affording shelter is also material : besides, the raising of grain is not the only purpose of
Iife,_ or the only matter to be attended to, nor the only ol>ject worthy of attention. The purposes of war and
of national glory, the protection and the extension of our commerce, the construction and repair of build-
ings, and even the enjoyment arising from the rich and beautiful effect produced by such decoration and
ornament, are all objects of material importance to the well-being and constitution of a highlv cultivated
state of society. Even upon the more narrow basis of individual utility, this practice might be defended
and recommended ; for it is not useless to consider how many families and estates have been preserved,
when pressed by temporary diflSculties (from which none are exempted), by a fall of hedge-row timber.
One of the best legacies which a great proprietor can leave his country and his family, is an estate well
stocked with such trees." Believing, as we do, that there can be no real and permanent beauty that is
inconsistent with utility, we prefer, for arable lands, hedges wholly without timber trees. In pasture lands
we would rather see the trees in scattered groups than in the hedges ; because so placed they are only injuri-
ous to the pasture ; whereas in the hedge they are injurious to that and the pasture also.
4202. The gates of fields should in most cases be placed in the middle of that side of
the field which is nearest the road, because, in carting home produce, or in carting out
manure, the labour of carting is less on a road than on the soft ground of the field, and
because such carting always more or less injures this ground ; a part of it along the head-
lands being necessarily subjected to repetition in the same track ; and not in an angle, or
at one corner, unless particular circumstances point out this as the preferable mode.
Some contend that the gates of fields should be placed in or near the corner next to the
road or homestead ; but our objection to this arrangement is, that, in carting out manure,
or carting home the crop, the headland is liable to be much more severely injured by cart
ruts than when the gate is in the middle.
Book II.
LAYING OUT THE* FARM LANDS.
689
■e i. fj.) -r 'i
4203v The drainage and water-coutses, if aHy, on fairm lands, recftiire td'be.atlended, to
ill laying out the fences, so as if possible to make the ditches of the latter serve as open
drains; also, when opportunity offers, for conveying streams to be used in irrigation, or
for driving machinery. The fences and road? will, to, ^, cerMl|, .^xteifilti^e guided by the
course of such streain or streams. . , -^i-^'j'-^',^' '■^ ..■'<■. )\^' ■ \i< i'<j<-
4204. Js ail example of laying out farin lands frmi u netolt/ enclosed common, We
submit the case of a flat surface, a strong retentive clay soil, a moist climate, a situation
distant from markets, with no other object in view than that of making as much of the
lands as possible. '
, 42,0?^,>i;?i(f/*? /fo^ Uigff^* a) passes the farm, and the farmery is approached by a private road (i).
- * ' The size of the farm deemed
proper is 350 acres; the most
profitable mode of occupation
is, 180 in arable, and the re-
mainder in pasture. The arable
subjected to a rotation of 1st,
beans drilled, or naked fallow
dunged; 2d, wheat ; 3d, clover
and rye-grass, fed off or mown
for soiling cattle; 4th, wheat
or oats, if the clover was mown,
dunged. l"he grass-land* are
supposed to be wholly fed off,
chielly with cattle, but also
with ten cows, for butter and
breeding, and a few slieep.
4206. The buildings [e) are
placed in the centre of the farm,
and contain stabling for four
work-horses, and open sheds for
eight oxen ; 130 feet of sheds
for thirty fatting cattle; a barn,
with threshing-machine im-
IHjlled by wind ; houses for ten
cows, and other conveniences
in proportion. There is a
kitchen-garden, orchard, riok-
yard, and two paddocks (rf,J^„)»
adjoining the farmery.
4207. The grass.Jields {g),con-
tain only ten acres each, to
admit of the great advantage of
shifting the stock from one to
another. They are most distant
from the farmery, because re-
quiring least cartage : and, some
of them being in the lowest part
of the farm, they may be irri-
gated. Trees are avoided ,in
the fences, as injurious in flat
surfaces and adhesive soils. For
the purposes of shading cattle,
one or two might be planted in
the angles of the field; but a
temporary shed of the rudest
and slightest materials, and
easiest taken down, removed,
'^M reconstructed, is preferable, as calculated to distribute the manure produced by the cattle when at
4208. The arable lands {h) are preserved in the centre, to save carting to and from the farmery ; at^d
the enclosures are four times the size of the grass-fields, each shift forming one large enclosure, containing
four fields, divided only by open ditches for carrying off the surface water. The two small central fields
shown under aration, are supposed alternately in turnips, potatoes, cabbages, &c. for cows, &c. and wheat.
The paddocks and closes are for calves or colts, ,
4209. The chief, and almost sole, products of this farm will be wheat and beef : the
former best worth sending to a distant market ; the latter easily transported, to any dig*
tance ; and both staple commodities.
4210. With respect to roads, sometimes a farm is situated on both sides of a highwaj^
in which case all the fields may be made to open into it, either directly or through an inter*
vening field. Hence no private road is wanting, excepting a few yards to reach the farmer^.
But when, as is most generally the case, the lands are situated at a distance from a great
road, and approached by a lane or by-road, then from that by-road a private road is re"
,quired to the farmery, and a lane or lanes from it so contrived as to touch at most of the
.fields of the farm. In wet and clayey soils, these lanes must be formed of durable mate-
rials ; but in dry soils, provided attention be paid to fill in the cart ruts as they are formed
(by the leading out of dung, or home of corn), with small stones, gravel or even earth, the
lane may remain green ; and, being depastured by sheep or cattle, will not be altogether
lost. It is essentially necessary to make a piece of road at the gate of every enclosure,
that being the spot which is most frequently in use. Without this precaution, it oft^i
becomes a mire where corn is thrown down and spoiled in harvest, or, if it is attempted
*'^i ^^°H>^?» iW"^^ *^6 gate-posts and neighbouring feiite 4H:e -of^n sdaiEriaged. ^€&mmi^
mcatiom to the Board of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 25L)fj.i > .. m n »)<?)* >fi» * irtw mt^ aJis^
Yy
690 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
4211. With good private roads a farmer will perform his operations at much less expense ; the labour of
the horses will be much easier ; a greater quantity or weight of grain and other articles may be more ex-
peditiously carried over them ; manure can be more easily conveyed to the fields ; the harvest can be
carried on more rapidly ; and wear and tear of every description will be greatly reduced. {Code of Agri-
culture, p. 15&)
BOOK III.
OF IMPROVING THE CULTURABLE LANDS OF AN ESTATE.
4212. Having completed the general arrangement of an estate, the next thing is to
improve the condition of that part of it destined to be let out to tenants, which, as already
observed, constitutes the chief source of income. The farm lands being enclosed and
subdivided, and the fanneries and cottages built in their proper situations, in many cases
no other improvements are wanted on the soil than such as are given by the tenant in
the ordinary course of culture. But there are also numerous cases, in which improve-
ments are required which could not be expected from an occupier having only a temporary
interest in his possession; and these form the present subject of discussion. Such
improvements are designated by agriculturists permanent, as conferring an increased
purchasable value on the property, in opposition to improvements by a temporary
occupier, the benefits of which are intended to be reaped during his lease. The latter
class of improvements includes fallows, liming, marling, manuring, improved rotations,
and others of greater expense, according to the length of lease, rent, and encouragement
given by the landlord ; the former, which we are now about to discuss, includes draining,
embanking, irrigating, bringing waste lands into cultivation, and improving the condition
of lands already in a state of culture.
Chap. I.
Draining Watery Lands.
4213. Draining is one of those means of improvement, respecting the utility of whicli
agriculturists are unanimous in opinion. Though practised by the Romans (143.), and
in all probability in some cases by the religious fraternities of the dark ages, it was not
till after the middle of the last century that its importance began to be fully understood
in Britain ; and that some individuals, and chiefly Dr. Anderson and Elkington, began
to practise it on new principles. About the same time, the study of geology became more
general, and this circumstance led to the establishment of the art on scientific principles.
The public attention was first excited by the practice of Elkington, a farmer and self-
taught professor of the art of draining in Warwickshire and the adjoining counties. On
the practice of this artist most of the future improvements have been founded ; and they
have been ably embodied in the account of his practice by Johnston, from whose work
we shall draw the principal materials of this section, borrowing also from the writings
of Dr. Anderson, Marshal, Smith, Farey, Stephens, and some others on the same
subject, and from the sixth and seventh volumes of the Highland Society's Transactions.
After submitting some general remarks on the natural causes of wetness in lands, we sliall
consider in succession the drainage of boggy lands, hilly lands, mixed soils, retentive soils,
and mines and quarries ; and then the kinds of drains, and draining materials.
Sect. I. Natural Causes of Wetness in Lands, and the general Theory of Draining. ..
4214. The successful practice of draining in a great measure depends on a proper
"knowledge of the structure of the earth's upper crust, that is, of the various strata of which
it is composed, as well as of their relative degrees of porosity, or capability of admitting or
rejecting the passage of water through them, and likewise of the modes in which water is
formed, and conducted from the high or hilly situations to the low or level grounds. In
whatever way the hills or elevations that present themselves on the surface of the globe
were originally formed, it has been clearly shown, by sinking large pits, and digging
into them, that they are mostly composed of materials lying in a stratified order, and in
oblique or slanting directions downwards. Some of these strata, from their nature and
properties, are capable of admitting water to percolate or pass through them ; while others
do not allow it any passage, but force it to run or filtrate along their surfaces without
penetrating them in any degree, and in that way conduct it to the more level grounds
below. There it becomes obstructed or dammed up by meeting with impervious materials
of some kind or other, by which it is readily forced up into the superincumbent layers
where they happen to be open and porous, soon rendeiing them too wet for the purposes
Book III. THEORY OF DRAINING. 691
of agricultixre ; but where they are of a more tenacious and impenetrable quality, they
only become gradually softened by the stagnant water below them ; by which the surface
of the ground is, however, rendered equally moist and swampy, though somewhat more
slowly than in the former case. It may also be observed, that some of the strata which
constitute such hilly or mountainous tracts are found to be continued with much greater
regularity than others ; those which are placed nearest to the surface, at the inferior parts
of such hills or elevations, being mostly broken or interrupted before they reach the tops
or higher parts of them ; while those which lie deeper, or below them at the bottom, show
themselves in these elevated situations. Thus, that stratum which may lie the third or
fourth, or still deeper, at the commenceinent of the valley may form the uppermost layer
on the summits of hills or mountainous elevations. This arrangement or distribution of
the different strata may have been produced partly by the circumstances attending the
original elevation of such mountainous regions, and partly from the materials of the
original exterior strata being dissolved and carried down into the valleys by successive
rains and other causes, and thus leaving such as were immediately below them in an ex-
posed and superficial state in these elevated situations. {Darwi?i's Phytologia, p. 258.)
4215. These elevated strata frequently prove the means of rendering the grounds below
wet and swampy ; for the general moisture of the atmosphere being condensed in much
greater quantities in such elevated situations, the water thus formed, as well as that
which falls in rain and sinks through the superficial porous materials, readily insinuates
itself, and thus passes along between the first and second or still more inferior strata
which compose the sides of such elevations, until its descent is retarded or totally
obstructed by some impenetrable substance, such as clay : it there becomes dammed up,
and ultimately forced to filtrate slowly over it, or to rise to some part of the surface, and
constitute, according to the particular circumstances of the case, different watery appear-
ances in the grounds below. These appearances are, oozing springs, bogs, swamps, or
morasses, weeping rocks from the water slowly issuing in various places, or a large
spring or rivulet from the union of small currents beneath the ground. This is obvious
from the sudden disappearance of moisture on some parts of lands, while it stagnates, or
remains till removed by the effects of evaporation, on others ; as well as from the force
of springs being stronger in wet than in dry weather, breaking out frequently after the
land has been impregnated with much moisture in higher situations, and as the season
becomes drier ceasing to flow, except at the lowest outlets. The force of springs, or
proportion of water which they send forth, depends likewise, in a great measure, on the
extent of the high ground on which the moisture is received and detained, furnishing
extensive reservoirs or collections of water, by which they become more amply and
regularly supplied. On this account, what are termed bog-springs, or such as rise in
valleys and low grounds, are considerably stronger and more regular in their discharge,
than such as burst forth on the more elevated situations or the sides of eminences.
{Johnston s Account of Elkington^s Mode of Draining Land, p. 15.)
4216. The waters condensed on elevated regions are sometimes found to descend, for a
very considerable distance, among the porous substances between the different conducting
layers of clayey or other materials, before they break out or show themselves in the
grounds below ; but they are more frequently found to proceed from the contiguous
elevations into the low grounds that immediately surround them.
4217. The nature of the stratum of materials on which the water descending from hills has^
to proceed must considerably influence its course, as well as the effects which it may
produce on such lands as lie below, and into which it must pass. Where the stratum is
of the clayey, stiff marly, or impervious rocky kind, and not interrupted or broken by
any other materials of a more porous quality, the water may pass on to a much greater
distance, than where the stratum has been frequently broken and filled up with loose
porous materials, in which it will be detained, and of course rise up to the surface.
4218. These sorts of strata extend to very different depths in different situations and
districts, as it has been frequently noticed in the digging of pits, and the sinking of deep
wells, and other subterraneous cavities. The clayey strata are, however, in general
found to be more superficial than those of the compact, tenacious, marly kind, or even
those of a firm, uninterrupted, rocky nature, and seldom of such a great thickness ; they
have, nevertheless, been observed to vary greatly in this respect, being met with in some
places of a considerable thickness, while in others they scarcely exceed a few inches.
4219. The intervening porous substances, or strata, where clay prevails, are found, for
the most part, to be of either a gravelly or loose rocky nature. Stiff marly strata, which
approach much to the quality of clay, though in some instances they may present them-
selves near the surface, in general lie concealed at considerable depths under the true
clayey strata, and other layers of earthy or other materials ; they have been discovered
of various thicknesses, from eight or ten feet to considerably more than a hundred.
(Danvin's Phytologia, p. 259.) The intervening materials, where strata of this nature
predominate, are most commonly of the more sandy kinds ; possessing various degrees
Yy 2
692 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
of induration, so as in some cases to become perfectly hard and rocky, but with frequent
breaks or fissures passing through them. The loose, friable, marly strata are capable of
absorbing water, and of admitting it to filtrate and pass through them.
4220. Thus the valleys and more level grounds must constantly be liable to be overcharged
with moisture, and to become, in consequence, spouty, boggy, or of the nature of a morass,
accordingly as they may be circumstanced in respect to their situation, the nature of their
soils, or the materials by which the water is obstructed and detained in or upon them.
4221. Where lands have a sufficient degree of elevation to admit of any over-proportion
of moisture readily passing away, and where the soils of them are of such a uniform
sandy or gravelly and uninterrupted texture, as to allow water to percolate and pass
through them with facility, they can be little inconvenienced by water coming upon or
into them, as it must of necessity be quickly conveyed away into the adjacent rivers or
small runlets in their vicinity.
4222. But where grounds are in a great measure fiat, and without such degrees of ele-
vation as may be sufficient to permit those over-proportions of moisture that may have
come upon them from the higher and more elevated grounds to pass^readily away and be
carried off, and where the soils of the lands are composed or constituted of such materials
as are liable to admit and retain the excesses of moisture ; they must be exposed to much
injury and inconvenience from the retention and stagnation of such quantities of water.
Such lands consequently require artificial means to drain and render them capable of
aflfording good crops, whether of grain or grass.
4223. Lands of valleys and other low places, as well as, in some cases, the level tracts
on the sides or borders of large rivers and of the sea, must also frequently be subject to
great injury and inconvenience from their imbibing and retaining the water that may be
thus forced to flow up into or upon them, either through the different conducting strata
from the hills and mountainous elevations in the neighbourhood, or the porous materials
of the soils. In these ways they may be rendered swampy, and have bogs or morasses
produced in them in proportion to the predominancy of the materials by which the water
is absorbed and dammed up, and the peculiarity of the situation of the lands in respect
to the means of conveying it away.
4224. To perform properly the business of draining, attention should not only be
paid to the discrimination of the differences in regard to the situation of the lands, or
what is commonly denominated drainage level ; but also to the nature, distribution, and
depth of the materials that constitute the soils or more superficial parts of them, as upon
each of these some variety, in respect to the effects arising from water retained in them,
may depend.
4225. The general origin of that wetness of land which it is the object of under^ draining
to remove, *' will be found to be the existence of water in substrata of sand, gravel, open
rock, or other porous substances, which either lead to the surface, or, having no natural
outlet, become filled or saturated, while the pressure of more water coming from a
higher source, forces that which is in the lower part of the stratum upwards through the
superior strata to the surface ; thus occasioning either bursts and springs, or a general
oozing through the soil. The object in under-daining, therefore, is not to catch the surface-
water, but that which flows through their inferior strata ; and, for this purpose, it is
necessary to make a sufficient channel, either at the lower parts of the porous stratum,
or in such part of it as may most conveniently carry off the water, so as the pressure
referred to may be relieved, or the water intercepted before it reaches the surface. It
must always be kept in mind, then, that under-draining and surface-draining are oper-
ations essentially distinct ; and every care must be used in practice not to blend them in
the execution. If svurface- water be allowed to get into covered drains, the sand and mud
which it will carry into these subterraneous channels will soon choke them up, and occa^
sion bursts, creating, as may be conceived, new swamps ; while the expense of taking
up and relaying the under-drains will be veiy great, and the execution imperfect, the
sides being found never to stand a second time so well as when first formed." {^Highland
Society's Trans, vol. vii. p. 218.)
4226. Wetness of land, so far as it respects agriculture, and is an object of draining,
may generally depend on the two following causes : first, on the water which is formed
and collected on or in the hills or higher grounds, filtrating and sliding doM'n among
some of the different beds of porous materials that lie immediately upon the impervious
strata, forming springs below and flowing over the surface, or stagnating underneath it ;
and, secondly, on rain or other water becoming stagnant on the surface, from the retentive
nature of the soil or surface materials, and the particular nature of the situation of the
ground. The particular wetness which shows itself in different situations, in the forms
of bogs, swamps, and morasses, for the most part proceeds from the first of these causes ;
but that superficial wetness which takes place in the stiff, tenacious, clayey soils, with
little inclination of surface, generally originates from the latter.
4227. The viost cei'iain and iixf^itious method of draining, in such cases, is that of
Book III.
DRAINING BOGS.
693
intercepting the descent of the water or spring, and thereby totally removing the cause
of wetness. This may be done where the depth of the superficial strata, and conse-
quently of the spring, is not great ; by making horizontal drains {Jig. 624. a) of consi-
derable length across the declivities of the hills, about where the low grounds of the
valleys begin to form, and connecting these with others (b) made for tlie purpose of con-
veying the water thus collected into the brooks or runlets (c) that may be near. Where
the spring has naturally formed itself an outlet, it may frequently only be necessary to
bore into it {e), or render it larger, and of more depth ; which, by affording the water a
more free and open passage, may evacuate and bring it off more quickly, or sink it to a
level so greatly below that of the surface of the soil, as to prevent it from flowing into
or over it.
4228. JFhere the uppermost stratum is so extremely thick as not to be easily penetrated,
or where the springs, formed by the water passing from the higher grounds, may be con-
fined beneath the third or fourth strata of the materials that form the declivities of hills
or elevated grounds, and by this means lie too deep to be penetrated to by the cutting of
a ditch, or even by boring (Darmn's Phytologia, p. 263.) ; the common mode of cutting
a great number of drains to the depth of five, six, or more feet, across the wet morassy
grounds, and afterwards covering them in such a manner as that the water may suffer no
interruption in passing away through them, may be practised with advantage, as much
of the prejudicial excess of moisture may by this means be collected and carried away,
though not so completely as by fully cutting off the spring,
4229. As water is sometimes found iipon thin layers of clay, which have underneath
them sand, stone, or other porous or fissured strata, to a considerable depth ; by per-
forating these thin layers of clay in different places, the water which flows along them
may frequently be let down into the open porous materials that lie below them, and the
surface land be thus completely drained.
4230. Where morasses a7id other kinds of wetnesses are formed in such low places and
hollows as are considerably below the beds of the neighbouring rivers, they may, pro-
bably, in many instances, be effectually drained by arresting the water as it passes down
into them from the higher grounds, by means of deep drains cut into the sides of such
hills and rising grounds, and, after collecting it into them, conveying it away by pipes,
or other contrivances, at such high levels above the wet lands as may be necessary : or
where the water that produces the mischief can, by means of drains, cut in the wet
ground itself, be so collected as to be capable of being raised by means of machinery, it
may in that way be removed from the land.
4231. The drainage of lands that lie below the level of the sea can only be effected by
the public, and by means of locks erected for the purpose of preventing the entrance of
the tides, and by windmills and other expensive kinds of machinery constructed for the
purpose of raising the stagnant water.
4232. The superficial ivetness of lands, which arises from the stiff retentive nature of
the materials that constitute the soils and the particular circumstances of their situations,
is to be removed in most cases by means of hollow surface drains, judiciously formed,
either by the spade or plough, and filled up with suitable materials where the lands are
under the grass system ; and by these means and the proper construction of ridges and
furrows where they are in a state of arable cultivation.
4233. Having thus explained the manner m which soils are rendered too wet for the
purposes of agriculture, and shown the principles on which the over-proportions of mois-
ture may, under different circumstances, be the most effectually removed, we shall pro-
ceed to the practical methods which are to be made use of in accomplishing the business
in each case.
Sect. 1 1. The Methods of Draining Boggy Land.
4234. In the drainage of wet or boggy grounds, arising from springs of water beneath
them, a great variety of circumstances are necessary to be kept in view. Lands of this
Yy y
694
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
description, or such as are of a marshy and boggy nature, from the detention of water
beneath the spongy surface materials of which they are composed, and its being absorbed
and forx^ed up into them, are constantly kept in such states of wetness as are highly im-
proper for the purpose of producing advantageous crops of any kind. They are, there-
fore, on this account, as well as from their occupying very extensive tracts in many districts,
and being, when properly reclaimed, of considerable value, objects of great interest and
importance to the attentive agricultor. Wet grounds of these kinds may be arranged
under three distinct heads : first, such as may be readily known by the springs rising out
of the adjacent more elevated ground, in an exact or regular line along the higher side
of the wet surface ; secondly, those in which the numerous springs that show themselves
are not kept to an exact or regular line of direction along the higher or more elevated
parts of the land, but break forth promiscuously throughout the whole surface, and par-
ticularly towards the inferior parts {Jig. 625. a), constituting shaking quags in every
direction, that have an elastic feel under the feet, on which the lightest animals can
scarcely tread without danger, and which, for the most part, show themselves by the
luxuriance and verdure of the grass about them ; and, thirdly, that sort of wet land, from
the oozing of springs, which is neither of such great extent, nor in the nature of the soil
so peati/ as the other two, and to which the term bog cannot be strictly applied, but which
in respect to the modes of draining is the same. {Johnston's Account ofElkingtons Mode
oy Draining Land, p. 19.)
■4235. In order to direct the proper mode cf cutting the drains or trenches in draining
lands of this sort, it will be necessary for the draining engineer to make himself perfectly
acquainted with the nature and disposition of the strata composing the higher grounds,
and the connection which they have with that which is to be rendered dry. This may
in general be accomplished by means of levelling aiid carefully attending to what has
been already observed respecting the formation of hills and elevated grounds, and by in-
specting the beds of rivers, the edges of banks that have been wrought through, and such
pits and quarries as may have been dug near to the land. Rushes, alder-bushes, and other
coarse aquatic plants, may also, in some instances, serve as guides in this business ; but
they should not be too implicitly depended on, as they may be caused by the stagnation
of rain-water upon the surface, without any spring being present. The line of springs
being ascertained, and also some knowledge of the substrata being acquired, a line of
drain {Jig. 625. b, b) should be marked out above or below them, according to the nature
of the strata, and excavated to such a depth as will intercept the water in the porous
strata before it rises to the surface. The effect of such drains will often be greatly
heightened by boring holes (c) in their bottom with the auger. Where the impervious
stratum {Jig. 626. a), that lies immediately beneath the porous (6), has a slanting direction
through a hill or rising bank, the surface of the low lands will, in general, be spongy,
wet, and covered with rushes on every side (c). In this case, which is not unfrequent,
a ditch or drain (d), properly cut on one side of the hill or rising ground, may remove
Book III. DRAINING BOGS. 693
the wetness from both. But where the impervious stratum dips or declines more to one
side of the hill or elevation than the other, the water will be directed to the more de-
pressed side of that stratum ; the effect of which will be, that one side of such rising
ground will be wet and spongy, while the other is quite free from wetness.
4236. Where water issues forth on the surface at more places than one, it is necessary to
determine which is the real or principal spring, and that from which the other outlets are
fed ; as by removing the source, the others must of course be rendered dry. When on
the declivity or slanting surface of the elevated ground from which the springs break
forth, they are observed to burst out at different levels according to the difference of the
wetness of the season, and where those that are the lowest down continue to run, while
the higher ones are dry, it is, in general, a certain indication that the whole are connected,
and proceed from the same source ; and consequently that the line of the drain should be
made along the level of the lowermost one, which, if properly executed, must keep all
the others dry. But if the drain were made along the line of the highest of the outlets,
or places where the water breaks forth, without being sufficiently deep to reach the level
of those below, the overflowings of the spring would merely be carried away, and the
wetness proceeding from that cause be removed ; while the main spring, still continuing
to run, would render the land below the level of the bottom of the drain still preju-
dicially wet, from its discharging itself lower down over the surface of the ground.
This, Johnston states, was the custom, until Elkington showed the absurdity of the
practice of drainers beginning to cut their trenches wherever the highest springs showed
themselves between the wet and the dry ground, which not being of a depth sufficient to
arrest and take away the whole of the water, others of a similar kind were under the
necessity of being formed at different distances, to the very bottom of the declivity :
these being afterwards in a great measure filled with loose stones, merely conveyed away
portions of surface water, without touching the spring, the great or principal cause of
the wetness. The effects of drains formed in this manner he asserts to be that of ren-
dering the surface of the land in some degree drier, so long as they continue to run with
freedom ; but as they are liable soon to be obstructed and filled up by sand or other
materials, the water is often forced out in different places and directions, and thus
renders the land as wet as before, if not wetter. In addition to this, it is a more diffi-
cult task to drain the ground a second time in a proper method, from the natural appear-
ance of the ground being so much changed, and the bursts of the old drains, as well as
the greater difficulty of ascertaining the real situation of the springs.
4237. It may somethnes happen, however, that where the highest are the strongest outlets,
they may be the main or leading springs ; those which show themselves lower down in the
land being merely formed by the water of the main spring overflowing, and finding itself
a passage into the earth through an opening in the surface, or through the porous materials
of the soil near to the surface, and being obstructed somewhat further down in the
ground by some impervious stratum. This circumstance must, therefore, it is observed,
be fully ascertained before the lines for the ditches or drains are marked out.
4238. In cases where the banks or rising grounds are formed in an irregular manner
(Jig. 627.), and, from the nature of the situation, or the force of the water underneath,
627 springs abound round the bases of
^^^^^^ the protuberances, the ditches made
! ''PI I R ^il If i LIS ' (ll^S^'^K^? tf Jl^ ^°^ *^® purpose of draining should
i|r'llf|ftirJfrlll^liw always be carried up to a much
f f '¥ wll^iiffif' I Mdmai^-i 1 ^^s^^^ ^^"^^^ ^" *^^ ^^^^ ®*" *^^ ^^^
"'J J.iri Uf\B^*^'^* 4» fi 1 ^ JVlBliHiittik&j.. A vated ground than that in which the
water or wetness appears; as far
even as to the firm unchanged land.
By this means the water of the
spring may be cut off, and the
ground completely drained ; which
would not be the case if the trench
or drain were formed on the line
of the loose materials lower down,
where the water oozes out, which is
liable to mislead the operator in
forming the conducting trench, or
that which is to convey the water
from the cross-drain on the level
of the spring to the outlet or opening by which it is discharged. But where the main or
principal spring comes out of a perpendicular or very steep bank, at a great height above
the level of the outlet into which it may discharge itself by means of a dram, it will
neither be necessary nor of any utility to form a deep trench, or make a covered drain,
all the way from such outlet up to it; as from the steepness of the descent the water
Y V 4
696
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
would be liable, when the drain was thus cut, from the thin strata of sand and other
loose materials, always found in such cases, to insinuate itself under the bricks, stones,
or other substances of which the drain was formed ; to undermine and force them up by
the strength of the current, or probably, in some instances, block the drain up by the
loose sand or other matters, which may be forced away and carried down by it. In
situations of this kind, Johnston observes, it is always the best way to begin just so far
down the bank or declivity as, by cutting in a level, the drain may be six or seven feet
below the level of the spring ; or of such a depth as may be requisite to bring down the
water to a level suitable to convey it away without its rising to the surface, and injuring
the lands around it. The rest of the drain, whether it be made in a straight or oblique
direction, need not be deep, and may, in many instances, be left quite open ; it should,
however, be carefully secured from the treading of cattle, and, where the land is under
an arable system of cultivation, also from the plough. Where it is covered, the depth of
about two feet may be sufficient. There will not, in such drains, be any necessity for
the use of the auger in any part of them.
•4239. Where there is a difficulty in ascertaining the line of the spring, and consequently
that of the cross-drain, either from its not showing itself on the surface, or from there
not being any apparent outlet, it may, generally, be met with in carrying up the con-
ducting drain for conveying away the water. As soon as the operator discovers the spring,
he need not proceed any further, but form the cross-drain on the level thus discovered to
such a distance on each side of the tail, or terminating part, of the strata, of whatever sort,
that contains the water, as the nature of the land, in regard to situation or other circum-
stances, may demand. Where, in foraiing a cross-drain, the line indicated by the spirit or
other level is found to be in some places below that of the spring, and where, in boring
in this direction, water is not found to follow, it will be necessary to make short diains
or cuts of the same depth with the cross-drain, from it quite up to the source of the
spring ; for, if the drain be cut below the line of the spring, the possibility of reaching
it by means of an auger is lost, as where the under stratum is clay, and there is no under
water, the use of the auger cannot be effectual ; and if it be made above the line of the
spring, it will be requisite to cut and bore much deeper, in order to reach it, the ground
being in general higher in that part : besides, the portion of porous stratum below the
drain may contain a sufficient quantity of water to render the land wet, and that may
readuy get down undemeatli the trench, between the holes formed by boring, and break
out lower down.
4240. In situations where the extent of bog in the valley between two banks or eminences
is so narrow and limited as that the stratum of rock, sand, or other materials, that contains
the water, may unite below the clay at such a depth as to be readily reached by the auger
(Jtg. 628. a), it will seldom be necessary to have more than one trench up the middle.
i^^
well perforated with holes (b) by means of the auger, cross or branching drains being
unnecessary in such cases. For notwithstanding the springs, that render the land in-
juriously wet in these cases, burst out of the banks or eminences on every side, for the
most part nearly on the same level, the reservoir from which they proceed may be dis-
covered in the middle of the valley, by penetrating with the auger through the layer of
clay that confines and forces the water to rise up and ooze out round the superior edge of
it, where it forms a union with the high porous ground. From the drain being made
in the hollowest part of the land, and the porous stratum containing the water being then
bored into, it is obvious that, the ditch or drain thus formed being so much lower than the
ordinary outlet of the springs, the pressure of water above that level, which is the bottom
of the drain, must be such as to force that which is under the drain or trench through the
holes made by tlie auger, and in many instances, until a considerable quantity of the
Book III. DRAINING BOGS. 697
water is evacuated, make it rise to a greater height tlian the level of its natural outlet.
The effect of which must be, that the water forming the spring, having found by these
means a fresh and more easy passage, will quickly relinquish its former openings, and
thus be prevented from running over and injuring the ground that previously lay lower
down than it.
4241. But in swamps or bogs that are extensive and very wet, other drains or cuts than
such as convey off the springs must be made ; as, notwithstanding the higher springs
which chiefly cause the wetness may be intercepted, there may be lower veins of sand,
gravel, or other porous materials, from which the water must likewise be drawn off. In
cases of this nature, where the land is to be divided into enclosures, the ditches may be
formed in such directions as to pass through and carry off collections of water of this
kind, as well as those that may be retained in the hollows and depressions on the surface
of the land. There are in many places very extensive tracts of ground that are rendered
wet, and become full of rushes and other coarse plants, from causes of such a nature as
cannot be obviated by the making of either open or covered drains, however numerous
they may be. Lands in this situation are frequently termed holms, and mostly lie on the
sides of such rivers and brooks as, from the frequency of their changing and altering their
courses between their opposite banks, leave depositions of sand, gravel, and other porous
materials, by which land is formed, that readily admits the water to filtrate and pass
through it to the level of the last-formed channels, and which preserves it constantly in
such a state of moisture and wetness, as to render it productive of nothing but rushes and
other aquatic plants ; and if a pit or ditch be made in lands under these circumstances,
it quickly fills with water to the same level as that in the watercourse. This effect is,
however, more liable to be produced, as well as more complete, where the current of the
W'ater is slow, and its surface nearly equal with that of the land, than where its descent
is rapid. Under such circumstances, while the river or brook remains at the ordinary
height, no advantage can be gained, whatever number of drains be formed, or in what-
ever direction they may be made. The chief or only means of removing the wetness of
land proceeding from this cause is, that of enlarging and sinking the bed of the stream,
where it can be effected at a reasonable expense : where there is only one stream, and it
is very winding or serpentine in its course, much may howevgr be effected by cutting
through the different points of land, and rendering the course more straight, and thereby
less liable to obstruct the passage of the water. But in cases where there are more than
one, that should always be made the channel of conveyance for draining the neighbour-
ing land, which is the lowest in respect to situation, and the most open and straight in its
course. It may likewise, in particular instances, be advantageous to stop up and divert
the waters of the others into such main channels, as by such means alone they may often
be rendered deeper, and more free from obstruction : the materials removed from them
may serve to embank and raise up the sides to a greater height, as while the water can
rise higher than the outlets of the drains, and flow backwards into them, it must render
the land as wet as it was before they were formed, and the expense of cutting them to
be thrown away.
4242. The collected rain-water, becoviing stagnant on a retentive body of clay, or some
other impervious material, as it can have no outlet of the natural kind, causes such lands
to become soft and spongy, thus forming bogs of a very confined kind. As such bogs
are often situated very greatly below the ground that surrounds them, the opening of a
main drain, or conductor, to convey off the water collected by smaller drains, would be
attended, in many instances, with an expense greater than could be compensated by the
land after it had been drained. The thickness of the impervious stratmn that retains and
keeps up the water in such cases is often so great, that though the stratum below be of a
porous and open nature, such as sand, rock, or gravel, the water cannot of itself penetrate
or find a passage from the one into the other ; consequently, by its continued stagnation
above, all the different coarse vegetable productions that have for a great length of time
been produced on its surface, and probably the upper part of the soil itself, are formed
into a mass or body of peat earth, equal in softness to that of any bog originating from
water confined below, and less productive, and which is only capable of sustaining the
weight of cattle in very dry seasons, when the wind and sun have exhaled and dried up a
great part of its surface moisture j but even then it is incapable of admitting the plough
upon it.
- 4243. As these kinds of bogs differ materially in their origin from those which have been already noticed,
their drainage must of course be accomplished in a different way. The following method of proceeding
is recommended as perhaps the least expensive : — In the middle, or most depending part of the ground,
the first drain (Jig. 629. a), may be cut, into which all the others should be made to lead ; the number
and direction of which must be regulated by the extent of the bog. They should be cut through the
peat, or moist spongy upper soil, to the surface of the clay, or other retentive stratum of materials, which
must then be perforated or bored through in order to let the water down into the pervious stratum below,
by which it may be absorbed and taken up. The same effect might be produced by digging one large
well, or pit, in the middle or lowest part of the bog, through into the porous stratum below, and connect-
ij)g the other drains with it, as by such a method the trouble and expense of boring along the drains would
698
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IIL
be saved. In these cases, when xlrains are made, they should always be cut as narrow as it is possible to
make them, and, after the holes have been formed
in them by boring, filled up with loose stones to within
about a foot and a half of the surface, which space
may be made up by a portion of the earth that had
been taken out, putting in turf with the green side
to the stones before the earth is thrown in. Ey this
means the water and prejudicial moisture of the peat,
or upper soil, may be taken away by the drains, and
pass off through the holes that have been formed in
their bottoms. But where pits are employed, these
should only be filled with small stones to the level of
the bottom of the drain, the filling being performed
as soon as possible after they are formed. {Ander-
son's Treatise on Draining, p. 88.) Where there is a
chalky stratum below, after taking it out, the flints
contained in it may be made use of in this way with
much advantage ; and where the drains can be carried
into quarries, where the stone is much fissured no-
thing more will be necessary. Where land of this
sort is afterwards to be ploughed, great attention
should he given to the forming of the ridges and
giving them a regular descent towards the main
dram, which will contribute greatly to tho assistance of the others in conveying off heavy falls of rain-
water when they occur.
4244. But a necessary precaution previously to any attempt to drain lands of this kind in the way that
has been described, is to ascertain whether the porous stratum under the clay be dry, and capable of
receiving the water when let down into it ; or already so loaded with moisture itself, as, instead of receiving
more from above, to force up a large quantity to the
surface, and thus increase the evil it was intended to
remove. This may be the case in many instances, and
the substratum contain water which affords no appear-
ances of wetness on the surface, at the place, on
account of the compact body of clay that is placed over
it, but which, from its being connected with some
spring that is higher, may flow up when an opening or
passage is given it, either by means of a pit or the
auger. In this way a greater quantity of water might
be brought to the surface, which, from its being con-
fined by the surrounding banks, would render the
ground much more wet than before, and in particular
situations produce very great degrees of wetness.
When the surrounding high ground declines lower
than the bog, though it may be at a considerable dis-
tance, by the aid of the level, and the appearance of
the surface, the nature of the stratum underneath
may, in some degree, be ascertained j and, notwith-
standing it may already contain water, a drain may be
formed into it to carry off that water, and what may
likewise be let down into it from the retentive stratum
that lies above it. It must be confessed, however,
that cases where surface water can be let down through
a retentive stratum to a porous one that will actually
carry it off, are very rare. When these occur, it is
chiefly iii limestone or coal districts, where the surface
is hilly or rugged {fig. 630.), and more calculated for
the pursuits of the mineralogist than those of the agricultor.
Sect, III. Drai7iing Hilly Lands.
4245. Draining hilly lands is not in general attended with great expense, as the drains
need seldom be covered or fijled up, only in such places as may be sufficient for passages
for the animals to cross by : ana though, where the depth of the trench does not come
to the water confined below, it may be necessary to perforate lower, there need not be
any fear that the holes will fill up, even where the drain is left open ; as the impetuosity
of the water itself will remove any sand or mud that may fall into them, where much
flood or surface water does not get in. Small openings may, however, be made along
the upper side of the trench, in order the more effectually to secure them against any
obstructions ; and in these the perforations may be made, leaving the mouth of the holes
about six inches higher than the bottom of the drain, which will be without the reach of
the water that may be collected during the time of heavy rains.
4246. One of the greatest improvements of the hilly sheep.pastures of Holland has been eflfected by
drainage, while the expense is comparatively small. The depth and width of the small ones are only
those of the spade. They are usually carried across the face of the hills in a slightly inclined direction,
so as to avoid the injury of too rapid a descent after heavy rains ; and these small cuts open into a few
larger, formed with due regard to the same principle ; the whole at last, for an extent of several hundred
acres, being led into one still larger, which discharges itself into the nearest rivulet. Improvements of
this kind are, perhaps, of greater benefit to the individual proprietors of land who undertake them than
any other.
4247. The sides or declivities of many hills, from the irregularity of the disposition of
the strata that compose them, are often covered with alternate portions or patches of wet
and dry ground. By the general appearance of the surface and the vegetable products
that are grown upon it, the nature and direction of the internal strata may frequently
be ascertained with so much certainty as to determine the line or direction of a drain
without the necessity of examining below the surface of the land. As the ease or difficulty
Book III. DRAINING MIXED SOILS. 699
of draining such grounds depends solely on the position of the different strata of which
the hill or elevation may be formed, and upon the erect or slanting direction of the rock,
or other retentive body in which the water is contained ; where the rock has a slanting or
horizontal inclination, the whole of the different springs or outlets, that show themselves
on the surface, may originate from or be connected with the same collection or body of
water, and may be all drained and dried up by cutting off", or letting out, the main body
of water, by which they are supplied, at the inferior part of the reservoir, or that part
where the water would of its own accord readily run off" if it were not confined beneath
an impervious covering of clay or some other material.
4248. But in cases where the rock lies in an erect or perpendicular Jbrm, and contains
only partial collections of water, in some of the more open cracks or fissures of the stone,
which discharge themselves at various openings or outlets that have not the least coimec-
tion with each other, it would be an idle and fruitless endeavour to attempt the cutting of
them off" by means of one drain {Jig. 631. a), or by boring into any one of them in
^ particular, without cutting a
drain into each (o, b, c). In
this case it is more advisable
to make the main drain wholly
in the clay, with small cuts
made up to each outlet, than
along the place where the
springs burst out ; as in that
line of direction it would be
too much in the rock, and consequently be extremely difficult to cut, on account of the
nature and disposition of the stone. When the water passing out on the line of the
springs can be found by the auger in the main drain, at the point of junction, it will
be the more completely cut off"; but where this is not practicable, the depth of the
small cuts may reduce it to such a level as will prevent its flowing over and injuring the
surface of the land below it.
4249. In such hills as are constituted of alternate strata of rock, sand, and clay, the
surface of the last may frequently be wet and swamp, while that of the sand is dry,
and capable of producing good crops of grass ; in all such cases, in order to drain the
land completely, as many cuts will be necessary as there may happen to be divisions of
wet and dry soil. The summit, or most elevated part of such hills, being mostly formed
of loose porous materials, the rain and other water descends through it till its passage
becomes obstructed by some impervious bed or stratum, such as clay, when it is forced
up to the surface, and runs or oozes over the obstructing stratum ; after having
overflowed the upper clay surface, it is immediately absorbed and taken up by the suc-
ceeding porous one, and, sinking into it in the same way as before, passes out again at
the lower side, rendering the surface of the next clayey bed prejudicially wet, as it had
done that of the first. In this way the same spring may affect all the other strata of the
same kind, from the highest part down the whole of the declivity, and produce in the
bason, or hollow at the bottom, a lake or bog, should there not happen to be a passage
or opening to take away the water. In order effectually to drain hills of this kind, it
will be most advisable to begin by forming a trench along the upper side of the upper-
most rushy soil, by which means the highest spring may be cut off"; but as the rain and
other water that may come upon the next portion of porous soil may sink down through
it to the lowest part, and produce another spring, a second cut must be made in that
part, to prevent the water from aflTecting the surface of the succeeding clayey bed.
Similar cuts must be formed so far down the declivity as the same springs continue in
the same way to injure the land, and in some cases a suflRciency of water may probably
be obtained to irrigate the land below, or for some other useful purpose.
Sect. IV. Methods of draining Mixed Soils,
4250. Where the soil is of a mired and varied nature, but the most prevailing parts of
the clayey kind, the business of draining is considerably more tedious and difficult than
where the superficial and internal parts have greater regularity. In such lands, as the
collections of water are completely separated by the intervening beds of clay, each
becomes so much increased in the time of heavy rains, as to rise to the level of the sur-
rounding surface ; when the water, finding a free passage, as it would over the edges of
a bowl, overflows and saturates the surface of that bed of clay, rendering it so wet and
sour that its produce becomes annually more scanty, and the soil itself more sterile and
unproductive.
4251. From the sand-beds (Jig. 632. a, a, a) in such cases having no communication
with each other, it must evidently require as many drains (b, b, b) as there are beds of this
kind, in order fully to draw off the water from each of them. A drain or trench is
therefore recommended to be cut from the nearest and lowest part of the field intended
7C0
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
to be drained (c), up to the
highest and most distant sand-
bank (rf), in such a line of
direction as, if possible, to
pass through some of the in-
termediate sand-beds, and pre-
vent the labour and expense
of making longer cuts on the
sides, which would otherwise
*l'?*:;?^"" be requisite.
4252. Where the different beds of sand and clay are of less extent, and lie together with
greater regularity, they can be drained in a more easy manner with less cutting, and of
course at less expense. Below the layers or beds of sand and clay that lie, in this
manner, alternately together, and nearly parallel to each other, is generally a body
of impervious clay, which keeps u]) the water contained in the sand, which sand being
constantly full, the adjacent clay is thereby rendered moist, and in wet seasons the water
runs or trickles over it. As in these cases, the principal under-stratum of clay is rarely
laore than four or five feet below the surface, it is advisable to cut a drain (Jig, 633. a)
to that depth through the middle of the field, if it have a descent from both sides ; but
if it decline all to one side, the drain must be made on that side (b), as the water will
more readily discharge itself into it ; and, unless the field be of great extent, and have
ir.ore than one depression or hollow in it, one drain may be quite sufficient for the pur-
pose, as by crossing the different beds that retain the water, it must take it off from each.
4253. J[ principal difficulty in draining ground of this nature, and which renders it
634 impracticable by one drain, is when the direc-
tion of the alternate layers, or beds of clay and
sand, lies across the declivity of the land (Jig.
634. a, a), so that one drain can be of no other
service than that of conveying away the water
after it has passed over the different strata, and
would naturally stagnate in the lowest part of
the field, if there were no other passage for it.
Where the land lies in this way, which is fre-
quently the case, it will therefore be necessary,
besides the drain in the lowest part (b), to have
others cut up from it in a slanting direction
across the declivity (c, c), which, by crossing
the different veins, or narrow strata of sand
(d, d, d), may be capable of drawing the water
from each of them.
4254. Informing tlie drains in these cases, it
is recommended that, after laying the bottom in the manner of a sough, or in the way of
a triangle, it be filled some way up with small stones, tough sods with the green side
downwards being placed upon them before the mould is filled in. But where stones
cannot be readily procured, faggots may be employed, the under part of the drain being
laid, or coupled, with stones, so as to form a channel for the conveyance of the water that
may sink through the faggots, and for the purpose of rendering them more durable ; as,
Avhere the water cannot get freely off, which is generally the case where there is not an
open passage made of some solid material, it must, by its stagnation, soon destroy the
faggots, and choke up the drain.
4255. The estate of Spottiswoode in Berwickshire affords an interesting example of successful drainage of
mixed soil and strata. It was begun in 1815, under the direction of Mr. Stephens, an eminent draining
engineer, and author of a useful work on the subject [The Practical Irrigator, S;c., Edin. 8vo. 1829) ;
and eighteen miles and a half of drains, some parts of which were thirteen feet deep, but the medium depth
of which was from five to seven feet, had, in 1820, rendered between five and six hundred acres of land
most valuable, which had been before of little value.
4256. The grounds to be drained at Spottiswoode " consisted of a soil of various depth, under which
commonly lay a stratum of clay from two to three feet deep, then a thin bed of sandy or gravelly substance,
of a foot deep, or more, containing water ; after that another bed of clay, of two or more feet deep ; and
lastly, a bed of sand, gravel, or slaty rock, containing the larger quantity of water. Upon reaching the
Boon III.
DRAINING MIXED SOILS.
701
lower of these porous strata, the water disappeared in the upper one : and hence generally the expediency of
not stopping at the first, but of working down till the main stratum was reached. Several instances occurred
where tlie strata lay too deep to be reached by a drain ; in which cases it was deemed necessary to sink
wells or pits at certain distances along the line of the drain, from ten to eighteen feet deep, or more, in
order to reach the open strata, so that the water, rising through the wells to the bottom of the drains, might
be conveyed away without reaching the surface. It was never thought sutficient to have reached the first
seam containing water, unless it were at the depth of four feet or more, and evidently appeared to be that
containing the main body of water which occasioned the wetness of the surface." {Trans. Highl. Soc.)-
4257. The first operation in the process of draining " was to ascertain the depth and nature of the
strata in which the water was contained, and the overHowing of which, where no outlet existed, produced,
as was before remarked, either springs or bursts of water, or a general oozing. Along the line of these
springs, or in the upper part of the wet ground, pits were sunk in various places. The place of each
being marked out, a man was sent to dig each pit, breaking the ground nearly in the direction of the
intended drain, six feet long and three feet wide, which is sufficient space to allow a man, or sometimes
two, to work freely. The earth was then thrown to the lowest side, and well off" from the pit, to prevent
the sides from breaking in : these pits were made to the depth of five or six feet, or to a greater depth if
necessary, according to the nature of the ground, or until the bed of sand, gravel, or rock, which contained
the water, was reached. Sometimes it became necessary, after having gone as deep as a man could work,
and wlien no water appeared, to bore down with boring-rods, in order to ascertain at what depth the stra-
tum containing the water lay. In some instances, where the surface was wet from a general oozing, and
no regular spring appeared, it became necessary to go down to the depth of thirteen feet, when, in break-
ing through a thin cake of freestone, not above an inch in thickness, the water burst up, and filled the pit
to the brim in the following morning. This species of examination prevents the working at random in
laying out the lines of drains, affords data for judging of the depth and dimensions to which they should be
formed; and, by giving a knowledge of the substances to be dug through, enables one to enter into con-
tracts with the workmen with greater certainty." {Trans. Highl. Soc.)
4258. A general idea being thus obtained of the ground to be drained, and men employed to sink the pit.<!,
the next operation is to mark out these lines on the ground. In doing this, a hand sketch (fig. 625.)
indicating the direction of the drains and
their depth will be found useful. " On
the ground, the lines may be marked in
various ways. When the land is in grass,
a plough may be made to follow the di-
rector, as he walks deliberately along his
intended line, a man leading the horses by
the head, if necessary, and walking be-
tween them. If it is inconvenient to use a
plough, the lines may be marked by pins,
or small pits, a spade's breadth square,
made at convenient distances, by cutting
out a turf clean by four cuts of a spade,
and laying it upside down at the side of the
hole, in the line of the drain." The drains were next dug out, and formed; some of them three feet
wide at the top, six feet deep, and two feet wide at bottom, and others of diflf'erent widths and depths, but
generally in the same proportion. The following are Mr. Stephens's directions for building : —
4259. The side walls of the drain, supposing it to be six feet deep, and two feet wide at bottom, " must
be well built with dry stone, all laid on the proper bed (and not set up edgeway.s), nine inches thick by six
inches high, forming an aperture of six inches square, the covers for which must be sufficiently strong to
sustain the pressure of the incumbent weight of stone and earth; and should project, at least, three
inches over the inside of each side wall, — two feet of stone must be well packed above the cover of the
aperture. The first foot of stone above the cover of the aperture may be put into the drains from three
to four pounds weight, the upper part must be broken as small as common road-metal, and should be made
^ quite smooth or level, so that every part of the drains may have an equal
^ depth or thickness of stone. A thin covering of straw should be laid
^ on the top of the broken stones, to prevent the loose earth from falling
through the aperture of the drains. The drains may be then filled with
earth, nine inches above the natural level of the surface of the ground.
Wells must be sunk along the lowest side of the lines of drains, in every
place where the above mentioned depth of six feet does not reach the porous
bed that contains water. These wells may be made from five to six feet
square, or sufficiently wide to allow a person to work with freedom ; and
must be sunk through the impervious strata into the pervious stratum of
sand, gravel, or rock, where the water flows freely. The wells may then be
filled with small clean stones, thrown in promiscuously, till the stones in the
wells come in contact with the stones in the drains. The upper part of the
wells above the level of the stones in the drains may be filled with earth."
^ _. {fig. 636.) {Trans. Highl. Soc. vol \u. p. 222.)
4260. The stones of which the drains at the bottom of the conduit are to be built, and with which the
drain is afterwards to be filled to the depth of two feet or more, as is shown above, should be laid down on
the upper side of the line, as near to it as possible, that they may be the more easily handed in. They are
laid on the upper side, for the convenience of throwing out the earth on the lower side. It is very desirable
that the stones should be, if possible, laid down before the drain is begun to be dug, as it is often neces-
sary to build and fill it as fast as it is dug, to prevent the sides from falling in, which, when it occurs,
occasions a very great deal of extra work, and the drains themselves are never so well constructed. Ihis
most frequently happens in ground under tillage, the sides being more tender than when in grass, where
the turf IS the means of preserving the sides from the pressure of the earth thrown out, and of the stones
laid down When the sides are evidently likely to fall in before the drain can be built, they may be kept
up for a time by a board laid flat to each side of the drain near the top, and cross sticks put m to keep the
boards asunder. Circumstances frequently occur, which prevent the stones from being laid down before-
hand and they are then brought forward as the work of cutting the drain is going on. Under the eye ot an
intelligent and attentive director, this may be done without danger : but, even then, unforeseen occurrences
sometimes prevent the possibility of getting the materials forward for several days ; and if any rainy wea-
ther intervene, and the drains are in a clayey soil, there is a certainty of slips and falls, occasioning much
extra labour, and requiring, in consequence of the additional breadth of the drain, a much larger quantity
of stones to fill the opening. Where a piece of drain seems likely to fall in, it should always, it possible
be built and filled before night, or the sides kept asunder by means of boards, as before mentioned.'*
(Trans. Highl. Soc. vol. vii.)
4261. Drains may be dug, and, when built, the earth may be filled in by contract
work ; but in general day work is to be preferred. " The conduit is built in the
bottom of the drain by a confidential person, either a mason, or any other workman
636
702 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
who, by practice, is equally competent ; this person always working at daily wages, to
prevent him from having any interest in hurrying over this most important part of the
operation. "
4262. The drains may be cut only " two feet wide, with the sides perfectly perpen-
dicular, provided that, from the tenacity or hardness of the substances dug through, the
sides will stand till the stones are put in. It is usual, however, to break the ground
somewhat wider at the top, and so to give it a slight slope to the bottom. The
work of cutting is always done by contract at so much per rood or yard, and se-
veral labourers generally join in making one drain, and arrange the work among
themselves. The casting or cutting, it is scarcely necessary to observe, is always
commenced by the workmen at the lower end, and worked upwards to the higher
ground, and never downwards. They usually begin by working about two feet
deep in the first instance, several roods in length, then going over the ground again,
deepening it to four or five feet, and afterwards going over it the last time, and
finishing the bottom, by making it perfectly level and ready for the mason to build
the conduit in the bottom. The bottom must, for this purpose, be completely two
feet wide, though, when free-stone is employed, the width may be less." (Trans.
Highl. Soc.)
4263. In building the drain, " the mason has an assistant, generally a female, at
the top, who hands him the stones he requires. He begins with small flat stones
to build the wall on each side of the bottom of the drain, nine inches broad, and
six inches high, so as to leave six inches for the conduit in the middle. This he
does roughly, but in such a manner that the stones shall be laid solidly on one
another. When the ground at the bottom is solid, either dry gravel, or clay, or
rock, the mason's foot, with his ordinary clog or shoe, standing in the centre, is
the measure of the width of the conduit. When the land is inclined to be wet
and soft, a plank six inches broad is used for him to stand upon. When the bot-
tom is a wet spongy clay, or sand of the nature of a quicksand, or veiy soft, it
is often necessary to flag the bottom of the conduit with very thin stones or slates."
{Trans. Highl Soc vol. vii.)
■4264. When a perfect quagmire has been met with, " which has happened chiefly in
red clay, the faster the wet clay has been thrown out, the faster it has boiled up from
below. In these cases, it has been found necessary to lay planks on the bottom of the
drain, and build upon them. But this will very seldom be necessary where proper pre-
cautions are used. On first meeting with quagmires of this kind, attempts were
made to dig them out ; for which purpose a strong wooden frame was made, large enough
for four men to work in with freedom, composed of different pieces, so that the workmen
might add to the sides of the frame as they worked downwards. Notwithstanding
the frame's being made very strong, the pressure became so great, that the sides came
together, and stopped the operation. The consequence was, that, after great labour and
active exertion in taking out large quantities of wet clay, which thus continued to boil
up (but the very taking out of which undermined the banks from beneath), the sides of
the drain fell in masses, and made great gaps, which increased the longer the work was
carried on. In these circumstances, it became necessary to use jjlanks to build the con-
duit, and to fill in the stones as fast as possible, by employing a great number of persons
at once. The weight of these superincumbent stones then kept the planks and conduit
at their proper place, so much so that the worst of these parts never exhibited any
symptom of imperfection, though made ten years ago. On all occasions afterwards,
however, when any of these quagmires were found, the process of taking out the bottom
of the drain was followed, yard by yard, by flagging the bottom, building the conduit,
covering it, and filling the stones over it ; and in this way the quagmire was prevented,
by the immediate pressure from above, from boiling up. It never failed to be seen that
the longer these operations were delayed, the softer and more intractable the interior of
the drain became. After building the side walls for a yard or two in length, the
mason, according to circumstances, cleans out the conduit with a narrow hoe, and then
covers it with such large broad stones as he can procure, from fifteen inches in length to
two feet, being the utmost width of the drain itself. These are handed down carefully
to him by his attendant ; and, after he has laid three or four of them, he takes smaller
flat stones, as the larger are always uneven at the edges, and covers every interstice ; and
afterwards, with similar stones, packs carefully the ends of the covers, before finishing
any particular portion of the work so as to prevent them from shifting ; and still further
to cover every hole through which any thing might be carried into the conduit, he has
a rolled up wisp of straw which he puts in the mouth of the conduit, which allows the
water to pass out, but prevents mud and sand from getting in. His attendant then
throws the remainder of the stones in promiscuously to the depth of two feet, or some-
times more, if the materials are plentiful, and particularly where there are two seams con-
Book HI.
DRAINING RETENTIVE SOILS.
703
637
^^
taining water ; for in this case it is gene-
rally desirable to raise the stones above the
level of the bottom of the upper seam, so
as to convey away any water which may
remain in it, to the conduit beneath
{Jig. 637. a, sand or gravel ; b, clay) ;
and it was a circumstance very generally
observed in the course of operations, that
where the upper stratum containing water
was only a few feet in depth or thickness,
another open stratum was generally found
a few feet deeper.
4265. Stones. When the stones to be used are only brought forward at the time of
cutting the drain, the carts are often run back to the edge of it, and the stones, after the
conduit is built, tumbled straight out of the cart into the drain ; but, in this case, it is
necessary to take care that the sides of the drain be not injured by the cart-wheels or
otherwise, lest the earth should fall into the drains, and so through the intervals of the
stones. A part of the stones for filling were recommended by Mr. Stephens to be broken
like large road metal. This, however, is very expensive, and was found by experience
not to be necessary, though usually large stones should be broken. When the stones
are small, that is, ten or twelve ounces, it is as well ; but no inconvenience has been
found from the constant use of stones of a much larger and very unequal size. When
a sufficient quantity of stones has been thrown in, the mason levels them at the top,
filling up the intervals of larger stones with smaller ones, so as to make the top of them
level. If the sod which has been cut off the surface of the drain is sufficiently solid, it
should be laid carefully by itself on the upper edge of the drain at the side of the stones.
It should again be laid with its grassy side undermost, on the top of the stones, as a
covering, to prevent the earth from getting down amongst them. If the sods are not
sufficiently coherent or plentiful to cover the whole completely, old coarse hay, or straw,
or heath, may be used as a substitute. When all this is completely dpne, the earth is
shovelled in upon the top, until the drain is full. It is then heaped up, somewhat after
the manner of a grave, to allow for the earth's subsiding to the level of the surface. It
is a circumstance deserving of notice, that, in digging the trial-pits, the earth taken out
is in most cases insufficient to fill them again, if allowed to lie open for any time ; so
that, in fact, contrary to what would be naturally inferred, the earth must become more
compact by being removed.
4266. Repairs. When the drain is thus completed, it is still necessary, and parti-
cularly when the land is under tillage, carefully to inspect it from time to time, and to
see that no surface-water finds its way into it. If any hole is found, it ought to be im-
mediately stopped up, as a channel of this kind will sometimes very speedily carry
enough of mud into a conduit to choke it entirely, and spoil the drain. Under-
draining, it will be kept in mind, will not supersede the necessity of surface-drains,
where these are necessary to carry off water stagnant upon the ground. Besides the
danger to drains by the flowing in of surface-water, there are other sources of injury
which must be guarded against by a vigilant care. Animals, by burrowing in the
earth, or finding their way from any course in the conduit, are sometimes apt to injure
it, and cause the earth to crumble in ; but a more frequent source of injury is from
vegetable substances, as roots of trees, and particularly of the ash. As an instance of
this, there happened, on this property, to be an ash tree growing near a drain, the fibres
of which took possession of the conduit, and so obstructed the passage of the water, as
to produce a new swamp, in consequence of which it became necessary to lift the ma-
terials of the drain, and form it anew. It is often very difficult to eradicate certain
plants, whose long and creeping roots get intervened in the interstices of the conduit.
The advance of those larger animals which enter the conduits for safety, or in pursuit
of prey, may be prevented by an iron grating at the outlet, {^Trans. Highl. Soc.
vol. vii.)
Sect. V. Methods of draining Retentive Soils.
4267. The mode of draining retentive soils is materially different from that which
has been described above. Many tracts of level land are injured by the stagnation
of a superabundant quantity of water in the upper parts of the surface materials, which
does not rise up into them from any reservoirs or springs below. The removal of the
wetness in these cases may, for the most part, l)e effected witliout any very heavy expense.
From the upper or surface soil, in such cases, being constituted of a loose porous stratum
of materials, to the depth of from two to four or five feet, and having a stiff retentive
body of clay underneath it, any water that may come upon the surface, from heavy rains,
or other causes, readily filtrates and sinks down through it, until it reaches the obstruct-
Y04
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
ing body of clay ; the consequence of which is, that the porous open soil above is so
filled and saturated with water, as to be of little utility for producing crops of either
grain or grass. Land thus situated is frequently said by farmers to be wet-bottomed.
In order to remove this kind of wetness, it seldom requires more than a few drains, made
according to the situation and extent of the field, of such a' depth as to pass a few inches
into the clay, between which and the under surface of the porous earth above there will
obviously be the greatest stagnation, and consequently the largest collection of water,
especially where it does not become much visible on the surface. In these cases there is
no necessity for having recourse to the boring instrument, as there is no water to be dis-
charged from below.
4268. IFfien the Jield to he drained has only a slight declination, or slope, from the sides
towards the middle, one drain cut through the porous superficial materials into the clay,
in the lowest part of the ground (fig. 638. a), may be sufficient to bring off the whole of the
water detained in the porous soil. This effect may likewise be greatly promoted, by laying
out and forming the ridges so as to accord with the direction of the land, and by the use
of the plough or spade in removing obstructions, and deepening the furrows. In such
638 situations, where the drain has been formed
■a-r,-?^«->«-T«^. 1 1 «i ■ g-" ■ m^t^iu,, ■ ..Xrrr<r«f^^<*'m^,^ ^ in this manner, the water will flow into it
I through the porous surface materials, as
i- well as if a number of small trenches were
i
f*
I^
^
^
^ cut from it to each side, as is the practice
J; in Essex and some other parts of the coun-
^ try ; but which is often an unnecessary
J; labour and expense. The drain made in the
^ hollow may frequently serve as a division of
the field (a), in which case it may be open ;
but In other circumstances it may be more proper to have it covered.
4269. Where afield of this description has more than one hollow in its surface (Jig. 639.
a, b), it will obviously be requisite to have more than one main drain ; but when it is nearly
level, or only inclines slightly to one side, a trench or drain along the lowest part, and
639
the ridges and furrows formed accordingly, may be sufficient for effecting its drainage.
There may, however, be cases, as where a field is large and very flat, in which some side-
cuts from the principal drain may be necessary, which must be made a little into the
clay, and as narrow as they can be wrought, and then filled up with stones or other suit-
able materials.
4270. What is called the Essex method of draining in ploughed springy lands, where the
surface soil is tenacious, is described by Kent, and consists in substituting small under-
drains (Jig. 640. a) for open furrows ; or in some cases having a small under-drain beneath
640
(6) every other or every third furrow. These drains lead to side or fence ditches (c),
where they discharge themselves.
4271. Where the clay constitutes the surface, and the porous body is underneath, the in-
jurious stagnant water cannot possibly get off, without the assistance of drains formed
for the purpose. Soils of this nature are drained with diflficuky, and require a much
greater number of trenches or cuts than those of any other kind, as they must be marked
out and disposed in such a way as to collect and convey the water every where from the
svuface j because it can only force itself off into them from above, being prevented from
Book III,
DRAINING MINES, QUARRIES, LAKES, &c.
705
sinking in through the clay, as in soils of a contrary kind. Where tho-e happen to be
hollows or irregularities in the surface of the land, water may often be observed to con-
tinue standing in them, at a distance of but a few feet from the drain. In draining such
lands, it will always be necessary, in the first place, to make a large or conducting drain
at the lowest part, or the end of the field, for the purpose of receiving and conveying away
the water collected by the smaller collateral cuts which it may be necessary to make on
each side of it. Where it suits for the purpose of dividing the land, this principal drain
may be better open than covered, as by that means the mouths or outlets of the diflferent
small drains that come into it may be conveniently examined, and cleared out when
necessary.
4272. The construction of the ridges in such soils, so that they may accord with the
declivity, is a matter which must be carefully kept in view. They should in all such
cases have a degree of elevation or roundness in the middle, sufficient to afford the water
a ready fall into the furrows, which likewise should have such a depth and fall as may
take it quickly into the drains. The ridges, besides being well laid up, should have
small open drains formed in a slanting direction across them, in such a manner as to
form communications with one another, and with the furrows ; by which means they
are made to perform the office of drains ; the water coming upon the ridges being thus
readily conveyed into the furrows, along which it proceeds till impeded in its course by
the rising of the ground or other cause ; it then passes through the open cross-drains into
others where the descent is greater, and is ultimately conveyed off into the ditch, or other
passage, at the bottom of the enclosure. The elevation of the ridges should probably,
too, be made greater for the winter than the summer crops, a^ there raiust be much more
injurious moisture at the former than the latter season. This may be easily accomplished
at the time of ploughing the land. Some useful observations on this description of
drainage will be found in Marshal's work on Landed Property, and in Dr. Anderson's
Treatise on Draining.
Sect. VI. Methods of draining Mines, Quarries, Pits, Ponds, and Lakes.
4273. Where pits, mines, or quarries, happen to be formed at the bottom of declivities,
and are inconvenienced or wholly obstructed, either in the digging or working, by the
water contained in them, it may be possible, in many cases, to prevent its coming into
such mines or pits, by cutting or boring into the lower parts of the porous strata
(fig. 641. a). In order to accomplish this object, it will be necessary to ascertain if any
porous stratum presents itself higher up the elevation than the place where the mine or
pit is formed, that may conduct the water it contains to the porous body below it ; as by
cutting into such stratum, where discovered, much of the water may be drawn off and
prevented from passing down. But notwithstanding the water from above may be cut
off in this way, a quantity sufficient to inconvenience the working of the mine or pit
may still filtrate from the sides of the porous bed, even though it may incline in the
direction of the lower ground. When this is the case, it may, however, be readily taken
away at some place in the bed. To accomplish this, and thereby obviate the efjects of
the water, the termination of the porous stratum (fig. 641. a) below the pit must be
ascertained ; and where there is any mark of a natural outlet at the place, a large drain
should be formed, in order to permit the water to flow off with more expedition. Where,
however, there is a thick bed of some impervious substance, such as clay, placed upon
Z z
, :^ jP^- -.j^::>^:^:^%^;A:--£;-^^g'
70G PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
the temiination of the porous material, the drain need only be cut a little way into that,
as by boring through the rest a sufficient passage may be given to discharge the water.
In this way, the draining of such grounds as lie above or near to mines or pits may be
of great advantage.
4274. Where a quarry or other pit to be dried (Jig. 642, a) is situated above a porous
stratum, whether
642 .,-/''^'\f""''!::::^:^s^^==es^'"';»-'''''^^^ of rock or gra-
vel, it may some-
times be drained
by boring into
the latter (6).
In this way dif-
ferent chalk pits
and lime quar-
ries have been
drained in Kent and Hertfordshire. (See the Reports of these Counties.) In marl-pits
also, which, from the nature of their situation, mostly require much cutting through some
part of their sides, in order to remove the water that prevents their being wrought, the
mode of letting the water down by means of pits dug tlu-ough the upholding stratum
below the bed of marl into the porous materials underneath, might be economically
practised. In such cases, the number of the pits must be proportioned to the space
occupied by the marl ; and when they are required to be of such depths as to be liable
to give way, they should be built up, or nearly filled with loose stones, so as to admit the
water to pass off, such lateral drains as are necessaiy communicating with them. In
some situations of the pits, as where the bank slopes lower on the contrary side than the
level of the water, an easier mode may be practised ; such as by forming a drain in it,
and then perforating with a horizontal boring-instrument into the terminating part of the
stratum that holds the water ; thereby removing and keeping it below the level of the
marl. In addition to these, in some cases, as where the water of such pits proceeds from
springs in the high grounds above them, it may be useful to intercept and convey it away
before it reaches the marl-pits.
4275. The drainage or drying tip of lakes or ponds comes occasionally within the
practice of the drainer, especially in countries with an irregular surface. There are,
perhaps, few natural lakes indeed, the surface of the water of which might not be very
considerably lowered, by deepening their natural outlets, the consequence of which would
be, in many cases, a very considerable accession of generally rich land round their mar-
gins, a better drainage for the surrounding country, and an improved climate. Much,
it is said, might be done in this way in Ireland; but there can be" no doubt that in every
country in the world a great deal may be done. In flat countries nearly on a level vath
the sea, like Holland and parts of the counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon, the
water will in general require to be raised by machinery ; but in by far the greater number
of cases, deepening the natural outlet will be found amply sufficient.
4276. Bar Loch, in the county of Renfrew, was reduced in size by drainage and embanking, in 1814, at
an expense of nearly 10,000/., which has since returned 13 per cent, per annum ; 280 acres have been laid
dry upwards of 200 of which have been since under crop. A very interesting account of this drainage
will be found in the Highland Society's Transactions, vol. vii. p. 375.
4277. Sleam-engines have lately been employed, both in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, as substitutes
for the very uncertain power of wind, to raise the water from the low lands, and deliver it into the drains
and rivers by means of scoop wheels working like a grinding-stone in its trough. Wheat and other corns
have thus been sown on lands never before ploughed. The improvement indeed is one of the greatest
that has taken place in fenny countries, since they were first attempted to be drained and embanked.
(Mech. Mag. vol. v. p. 179. and Gard. Mag. vols. iv. and v.)
Sect. VII. Formation of Drains, and Materials used inJUling them.
4278. Drains sfiould be formed with as much truth and exactness as possible : such
labourers as are not dexterous in using their tools seldom make them well. The most
general method of performing this sort of work is by admeasurement, at so much a rod,
or a score of rods, wliich necessarily induces the workmen to do as much as they possibly
can : they should, therefore, be frequently inspected, to see that they keep to the proper
and required depth, that the earth taken out be laid in such a manner as not to fall down
again into the drains in time of filling them, and that the surface mould be kept on one
side free from the clayey or other material of the inferior stratum.
4279. When there is any declivity in the ground, drains should be made in a slanting
direction across it, instead of the old method of conducting them according to the nature
or inclination of the slope. By attending to the former mode of cutting the drains, the
wetness is not only more effectually removed, but, by allowing the water to pass away
in an easy current, they are rendered less liable to be choked, or, as it is frequently
termed, blown up, by which artificial oozings of water are sometimes formed in sucJi
places. But where grounds are either quite or nearly level, it has long been a general
practice to cut the drains at the different distances of about sixteen, twenty-four, and
Book III.
FORMATION OF DRAINS.
707
thirty-two feet from each other, across the fields from the different ditches, according to
the circumstances of the lands ; or, indeed, where the drains, either from some slight
imevenness of the surface, or other causes, can only be made to flow at one end, to
avoid cutting them further on one side than where the ditch is capable of taking away
the wetness. In cases where the declivities of a piece of ground are various, and have
different inclinations, the drainer should constantly attend to them, and direct the lines
of his drains in such a manner as that they may cross the higher sides of the different
declivities in a slanting direction.
4280. The depth of drains must depend upon the nature of the soils, the positions of
the land, and a great variety of other more trifling circumstances. It was formerly the
custom to make them three or four feet in depth, but by modern drainers the most
general depth is two and a half to three feet. As the main drains have more water to
convey away, and are generally of greater length than the lateral ones, they should always
be cut somewhat deeper ; and where the materials of the soils are porous, the deeper
they are cut, the more extensively they act in lowering the wetness of the land : when,
however, the operator reaches any material through which the moisture cannot pass, it
will be useless to dig the trench to a greater depth. If it be clay, by going a few inches
into it, a more safe passage for the moisture may however be secured. It must notwith-
standing be invariably attended to, that the depth of the drains be such as that the
treading of heavy cattle may not displace, or in any way injure, the materials employed
in constructing or filling them. It may be noticed too, where the horses in ploughing
tread in the bottom of the furrow, at the depth of four inches or more below the surface,
that, if eight or ten be allowed for the materials with which the drains are filled, when
the depth of the trenches does not exceed twenty-four inches, there will only be nine
or ten inches of earth for the support of the horses when ploughing. Where the earth
has been stirred, such a depth must undoubtedly be too little, and this in some measure
proves that drains of such a depth are not sufficient. By cutting them down to the
depth of two feet and a half in the stiffer ; oils, they will seldom be penetrated to, or
have too great a depth ; and in the pervious ones a still greater depth is highly useful,
and constantly to be practised.
4281. Cutting the drains as narrow as possible, which has of late been much practised,
is of importance, as it causes a considerable saving of the matters employed in filling
them up, whether wood or straw ; but in cases where bricks or stones are used, this
cannot be so much attended to ; however, a greater width than about a foot is seldom
necessary, provided the stones be coupled at the bottom, or thrown in in a mixed way ;
nor more than sixteen inches where laid in the manner of a sough or cliannel. But of
whatever depth the materials may be, the earth or mould by which they are covered up
should not be less in depth than a foot ; in arable lands it should be more.
4282. The different sorts of drains in use may be classed in two divisions ; drains of
conveyance {Jig. 643. a, b,) alone, and drains of conveyance and collection jointly. (Jig.
643. c,d.) In the former, all that is neces-
sary is a channel or passage for the water, of
sufficient dimensions, which may be formed
by pipes of different kinds, arched or barrel
drains (6), and box or walled drains (a). The
construction of the latter requires not only
an opening for conveying the water, but a
superincumbent or surrounding stratum (e,f, )
of sufficient porosity to permit and induce
all latent water to find its way to the channel
of conveyance. The most complete drain of
conveyance is a large pipe of metal, masonry,
or brick- work; and the most complete col-
lecting drain, one formed of a channel built
on the sides, and covered with flat stones, mth
superstratum of round stones or splinters, diminishing to the size of gravel as they rise
645 to the surface, and there covered with the
common soil. As the best constructions,
however, are not always practicable, the fol-
lowing are a few of the leading sorts adapted
for- different situations.
4283 For drains of conveyance, there are the walled
or box drain [fig. 643. a), the barrel drain (6), the
•walled or the triangular drain (c), and arched drain.
4284. Drains of collection are formed of stone, brick,
gravel,cinders,wood, spray,straw, turf, and earth alone.
4285. The boxed and rubble drain {fig. 644.) has been
already described as a drain of conveyance and col-
Z z 2
708
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
lection. The common rubble drain is formed of rough land-stones of any sort, broken so as not to exceed two
or three inches in diameter. No good drainer uses stones six or eight inches in diameter in any part of
a rubble drain, least of all at the bottom. The pohit kept in view is to use such small stones at the bot-
torn as may allow the water a great many channels ; so that, if a few should become impermeable, there
should be many others remaining. The nearer the bottom of a drain of this kind approaches to the cha-
646
W^[^
4287. On the Marquis of Stafford's estate,
exertions of the tenants seem to merit such a reward.
racter of a natural bed of gravel, the more certain
will be the free passage of the water. Gravel or ashes
should be laid on the top of the stones, on these a thin
layer of straw or haulm of any kind, and the remainder
filled up with the surface soil.
4286. The brick drain is formed in a great variety,
of ways, either with common bricks and bats in
imitation of the boxed and rubble, or rubble drain ;
or with bricks made on purpose, of which there is
great variety, (fig. 646. a to k.) Draining tiles, to be
used with effect as collecting drains, should generally
be covered a foot in depth or more with stones or
gravel. But if the land to be drained be in grass,
laying the sod over the tile is sufficient : if the land
be not in grass, and be loose in texture, a little straw
may be profitably laid over the tile, to prevent the soil
from running in. The pantile {d) is the best for
general purposes, but ought not to have holes at top ;
but sometimes such holes are made. In very loose
soils, plain tiles are wanted to place the draining tiles
on : in other soils, old broken pieces of plain tiles
are sufficient for the ends to rest on. Sometimes,
even at depths of six feet, these tiles, though of five
inches in the clear, will be entirely blocked up by the
fibrous roots of trees, especially of the black poplar.
A variety of this tile, of a more ample capacity, has
lately been brought into use in Lincolnshire. [Jig.
647.) The best draining tiles in England are manu-
factured at the Staffi)rdshire potteries ; and Peake, of
Tunstall, maybe named as eminent in this line.
{Gard. Mag. vols. v. and vi.)
an allowance of draining tiles is made, wherever the
reward. In order to secure the drains being properly
filled up with stones above the tiles, the tenant is obliged to drive a sufficient quantity of stones or cinders
from the furnaces, and lay them on the ground, previously to an order being made for the delivery of the
tiles. Without attending to this important circumstance, much draining would be thrown away. The
park at Trentham is a complete illustration of this remark. The draining of this spot was conducted under
the direction of Elkington. The wetness with which these lands are affected does not arise from any line
of springs bursting out from the upper grounds, to which that gentleman's system of deep drains could
be applied ; but is occasioned almost entirely by the retentive nature of the subsoil, and by its being in-
termixed with small basins of sand, which lie detached and unconnected with each other, in the bed of
clay. To cure this species of wetness, a number of small drains, well filled up, with one cut into each of
these beds of sand, is necessary. In pursuance of this plan, a great part of the park at Trentham has been
lately drained over again, by making a number of small shallow drains, about fifteen feet asunder, in some
instances above the old ones, taking particular care to fill them up as well as possible, and not to permit
any clay to be laid over the stones. This has proved effectual." {Loch.)
4288. The gravel or cinder drain is seldom made deep, though, if the materials be large, they may be
made of any size. In general they are used in grass lands ; the section of the drain being an acute-angled
triangle, and the materials being filled in, the smallest uppermost, nearly to the ground's surface.
4289. The wood drain is of various kinds. A very sufficient and durable construction consists of poles
648 or young fir-trees stripped of their branches and laid in the bottom of the drain
lengthways. They are then covered with the branches and spray. Another form
is that of filling the drain with faggot- wood with some straw over. A variety of this
mode {fig. 648.) is formed by first setting in cross stakes to prevent the faggots from
sinking ; but they are of no great use, and often occasion such drains to fail sooner
than common faggot drains, by the greater vacuity they leave after the wood is rotten.
In some varieties of this drain the brushwood is first laid down alongside the drain,
and formed by willow or other ties into an endless cable of ten or twelve inches in
diameter, and then rolled in ; which is said to form an excellent drain with the least
quantity of materials, and to last a longer time than any of the modes above men.
tioned. Some cut the brushwood into lengths of three or four feet, and place them
in a sloping direction with the root end of the branch in the bottom of the drain ;
others throw in the branches at random, with little preparation, and cover them with
spray, straw, or rushes, and finally the surface soil
4290. The spray drain is generally, like the gravel drain, of small size, and formed,
like it, with an acute-angled bottom. In general, the spray is trod firmly in ; though
in some cases it is previously formed into a cable, as in the brush-wood drain.
Drains of this sort are much in use in grass lands, and when the spray of larch wood,
heath, or ling can be got, they are of great durability.
4291. The straw drain, when reeds, rushes, and bean straw are used, is sometimes made like the spray
649 VMUVT-'^ vm})Mimm»>mw>. drain, by pressing the loose material down,
^^'^'^^''^ f^^5^^/K{^^ ^j. forming a cable; but in general the
■* straw is twisted into ropes as big as a man's
leg, by the aid of a machine (2562.) , and three
or more of these {fig. 649. a) laid in the
bottom of a triangular drain, with or with-
out the protection of three turves {h).
Where some sorts of moss, as Sphagnum
or Lycopbdium, can be got, these drains
are of unknown durability. Drains formed
in this manner, through tough and reten.
tive clays, will be found, in a short time
after the work is finished, to have formed
over the straw with which the drain was
filled, an arch of sufficient strength to sup-
port the incumbent weight of the soil and
the casual traffic of the field. In twelve or
eighteen months it may be observed that the straw, being of one uniform substance, is all rotted and carried
away, leaving a clear pipe through the land in every drain. The passage of the water into these drains
Book III.
FORMATION OF DRAINS.
709
653
may be much facilitated by a due attention to filling them with the most friable and porous parts of the
surface the field may afford.
4292. The turf drain (Jigs. 650. and 651.), may be made of any convenient depth, but it must be at least
the breadth of a turf at bottom. The drain being
dug out as if it were to be filled with stones or any
ordinary material ; the operator next, with a spade
three inches wide, digs a narrow channel along its
centre (a), clearing it out with the draining scoop ;
and over this the turves {b) are laid without any
other preparation, or any thing put over them but
the earth that was excavated. This is found to
be a very cheap, and, considering the materials, a
surprisingly durable method of draining ; answer,
ing, in pasture-fields especially, all the purposes
that the farmer can expect to derive from drains
constructed with more labour, and at a much
greater expense. They are said to last frequently
twenty years and upwards : but the period which
it can be supposed they will continue to prove
effectual, must depend on the nature of the soil and
the current of water.
4293. The wedge or triangular sod drain [Ji^.
652.) is thus made : — When the line of drain is
marked out, a sod is cut in the form of a wedge,
the grass side being the narrowest, and the sods
being from twelve to eighteen inches in length.
The drain is then cut to the depth required, but is contracted to a very narrow bottom. The sods are
then set in with the grass side downwards, and pressed as far
as they will go. As the figure of the drain does not suffer
them to go to the bottom, a cavity is left which serves as a
watercourse; and the space above is filled with the earth
thrown out. The work is performed by means of three
spades of diflTerent sizes. The first may be a common spade
of moderate breadth, with which the surface clay may be
taken off" to the depth of eight or ten inches, or not quite so
much, if the clay be very strong. The breadth of the drain,
at top, may be from a foot to fifteen inches ; but it never
should be less than a foot, as it is an advantage that the sides
should have a considerable slope ; and the two sides should
slope as equally as possible. Another workman follows the
first, with a spade six inches broad at the top, and becoming
narrower towards the point, where it should not exceed four
inches, {fig. 653. a.) The length of the plate of this second
spade should be fourteen inches, and with it a foot or four-
teen inches in depth can easily be gained. A third workman,
and he should be the most expert, succeeds the second, and
his spade should be four inches broad at top, only two inches
broad at the point, and fourteen or fifteen inches in
length (6). With this spade a good workman can take out
at least fifteen inches of clay. A sort of hoe or scoop, made
of a plate of iron, formed nearly into the shape of a half
cylinder of two inches diameter, and a foot or fourteen inches
long, and fastened, at an acute angle of perhaps 70°, to a
long wooden handle (c), is now employed to scrape out the
bottom of the drain, and remove any small pieces of clay
that may have fallen into it. The grassy side of the turf
being turned undermost, they are put down into the drain,
the workman standing upon them after they are put in, and
pressing them down with his whole weight till they are
firmly wedged between the sloping sides of the drain. The
ends of the turfs being cut somewhat obliquely, they overlap
each other a little ; and by this means, although there is
sufficient opening for the surface water to get down, nothing
else can. The open space, below the turf, ought to be five
or six inches in depth, three inches wide at top, and an inch
and a half or two inches at bottom. {Trans. Highl. Soc.
vol vi. p. 571.)
4294. The hollow furrow dram is only used in sheep-pastures. Wherever the water is apt to stagnate,
a deep furrow is turned up with a stout plough {fig. 654.a). After this, a man with a spade pares off^ the
loose soil from the inverted sod, and scatters it over the
field, or casts it into hollow places. The sod, thus pared,
and brought to the thickness of about three inches, is
/////, restored to its original situation, with the grassy side
'"''• uppermost, as if no furrow had been made {b). A pipe
or opening two or three inches deep is thus formed
beneath it, in the bottom of the furrow, sufficient to
discharge a considerable quantity of surface water, which
readily sinks into it. These furrows, indeed, are easily
choaked up by any pressure, or by the growth of the
PI/I////////////'//// roots of the grass ; but they are also easily restored, and
If //////////// no surface is lost by means of them.
4295. The earth drain, called also the clay-pipe draittf
is better calculated for the purpose of an aqueduct, or
conveyance of water, than for drying the soil. A drain
is dug to the necessary depth, narrow at bottom, in
which is laid a smooth tree or cylindrical piece of wood, ten or twelve feet long, six inches in diameter at
the one end, and five at the other, having a ring fastened in the thickest end. After strewing a little
sand upon the upper side of the tree, the clay or toughest part of the contents of the trench is
first thrown in upon it, and then the remainder, which is trod firmly down. By means of the ring
and a rope through it, the tree is drawn out to within a foot or two of the small or hinder end, and the
same operation repeated. A gentleman who has tried this experiment says, this clay pipe has conducted
a small rill of water a considerable way under ground for more than twenty years, without any sign
of failing.
Z z 3
710
PllACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
655
4S96. Jffpe drains of turf arc sometimes formed where the surface soil is a strong day, as it is only
turves from such a surface that are sutficiently
durable. A semicylindrical spade [fig.Qii^.a) is
used to dig the turves, the ground-plan of which [V)
presents a series of semicircles or half pipes. The
drain (c) being dug out to the proper depth, one turf
is laid in the bottom (rf), and another being placed
over it [e), completes the pipe. The same sort of
pipe drain has been formed out of solid beds of clay,
and has served for a time to convey water. As col-
lecting drains, of course, they can be of little or no
Hannay, an ingenious farmer in Wigtonshire,
mode for the purpose of conveying
through running sand, in which only a pipe
'"" last for a moderate time. After a number
e clay turves were found efiective in con-
veying away the water, and preventing the running
away of the sandy sides of the drain.
4297. Pearson's method of pipc-draim'ng will be
found described at length in the Transactions of the
Society of Arts, vol. xlvii. for 18L'9. The ground is
first opened by a plough, with what is called a
horn-share. {Jig. (558.) With four horses and the
horn-share {a), a furrow nine or ten inches deep
by ten inches is taken out. The horns are then
removed, the coulters [jb b) added, and eight horses
attached. This cuts the soil to an additional depth
of ten inches (c), and it is immediately removed with narrow spades, and larger and smaller draining
scoops, {fgs. 653. c, and 6nl. «, b.) A second pair of coulters cuts the soil to the depth required, which
is also taken out by tlie scoops. The total depth is now about twenty-six inches, the width at top
ten inches, and at bottom about one inch. A slide {fig. 657. a) is then dropped to the bottom of the drain.
commencing at its lowest level, so as to work up hill. A windlass {b) is next placed at the full length of
the rope, which is attached to the slide. Clay is next rammed firmly down on the slide with a heavy
rammer to the depth of three or four inches, and the slide is next pulled forward, leaving a cylindrical
drain of three or four inches in diameter, according to the diameter of the slide. {Trans. Soc. Arts, vol,
xlvii. p. SO.)
4298. A mode of turf-draining in vse in Cheshire is as follows : — The surface of the ground where the
drain is intended to be cut, is marked out in parallelograms about the size of bricks on one side
{fig. 658. n), and that opposite is left of the width of a common sod ; i. e. nine inches wide. These
sods are taken out at a spade's depth, and laid carefully by the side of the drain for covers. The sods
(«), resembling bricks in their size and shape, are then dug, and laid carefully on the same side as
the sods intended for covers. The drain is then sunk to its proper depth, and the stuff taken out is
thrown to the other side. The bottom is levelled with proper draught for the water, and set with the
sods like bricks (a), two in height on each side (c) ; these are covered with the larger sods set ob-
liquely {h), the grass side of each sod being turned downwards. {Ag}-'. Rep. of Cheshire, 214.)
4299. The mole drain {fig. 659.) is formed by the draining-plough of that name already described (2643.)
with the manner of using it. It is chiefly useful in pasture-lands, and especially in such as have some
declivity, or are formed into ridges.
4300. The wheel drain is a very ingenious invention, described in The Agricultural Report of the County
of Essex. It consists of a draining-wheel of cast-iron, that weighs about 4 cwt. It is four feet in diameter ;
the cutting-edge or extremity of the circumference of the wheel is half an inch thick, and increases in
Book hi.
FORMATION OF DRAINS.
711
thickness towards the centre. At fifteen inches deep it will cut a drain half an inch wide at the bottom,
and four inches wide at the top The wheel is so placed in a frame, that it may be loaded at pleasure,
and made to operate to a greater or less depth, according to the resistance made by the ground. It is
used in winter when the soil is so*t; and che wheel tracks are either immediately filled with straw ropes,
and lightly covered over with earth, or they are left to crack wider and deeper till the ensuing summer;
after which the fissures are filled with ropes' of straw or of twisted twigs, and hghtly covered with the most
porous earth that is at hand. Thus, upon grass or ley lands, hollow drains, which answer extremely well,
are formed at a trifling expense. It is said that twelve acres may be fully gone over with this draining-
wheel in one day, so as to make cuts at all necessary distances.
658
1
1 1 1 1 i 1 1
1
1
i .1
1
i i
1
a
''"mkfu-i-'"'
660
CCCCCCC<'
\
1 \
4301. Surface-gutters made by cart-wheels have been used by Middleton, on meadows in Surrey. To
the felly of a common cart-wheel [Jig. 660. a), is added a piece of wood, the section of which is a truncated
triangle (6), and on this is fixed a piece of iron completing the triangle (c). The cart is loaded and driven
so i s the prepared wheel may run in the furrow ; or, if there are no furrows, both wheels may be prepared,
and the loaded cart drawn by two horses, may be led over the whole field, forming parallel gutters, four
or five feet distant. The advantage of this mode of surface draining is, that the herbage is only pressed
down, not destroyed, and rises up again in spring. The operation, for that reason, requires to be renewed
every winter. It certainly seems a barbarous mode, but it may have answered better than one who has
never seen it practised might he led to imagine.
4302. In forming small drains, chiefly for retentive soils, the common plough has been used in many
places, and with some advantage. The method practised by Young, as described in The Annals of Agri-
culture, is this : — When he has marked the drains in a field usually a rod asunder, he draws two furrows
with a common plough, leaving a baulk betwixt them about fifteen inches wide ; then with a strong
double-breasted plough, made on purpose, he splits that baulk, and leaves a clean furrow fourteen or
fifteen inches below the surface ; but where the depth of soil requires it, by a second ploughing he sinks
it to eighteen or twenty inches : it is then ready for the land-ditching spade, with which he digs, fifteen
inches deep, a drain as narrow as possible. But the method followed by some farmers, who do not possess
ploughs made on purpose for the work, is this — With their common plough, drawn by four or five horses,
and usually stirring about four or five inches deep, they turn a double furrow, throwing the earth on each
side, and leaving a baulk in the middle. This baulk they raise by a second bout, in the same manner :
then they go in the open furrow twice, with their common double-breast plough, getting what depth
they can. After this they shovel out all the loose mould and inequalities to the breadth of about a foot ;
and thus having gained a clear open furrow, the depth varying according to the soil and ploughs, but
usually about eight or nine inches, they dig one spit with a draining spade sixteen inches deep, thus gain-
ing in the whole twenty-four or twenty-six inches. But as this depth is seldom sufficient, when necessary
they throw out another, or even two other spits, which makes the whole depth from thirty to forty inches.
4303. The best season for marking out and forming drains is the spring or beginning
of summer ; because then the land springs, being still in vigour, are more easily
discovered and traced than at a later period. When the ground is soft on the surface, it
is a useful precaution, after the line is indicated, to cart on the materials for filling before
digging the drain, as the weight of the carriages and horses is apt to press in the sides.
In the case of straw, turf, or earth drains, where the ground is of a firm texture, this
precaution does not apply. In filling drains, the earth should always be raised some-
what above the general surface, to make allowance for sinking.
4304. The duration of drains must necessarily depend on the nature of the materials
with which they are filled, and in some measure on the quality of the soil, as certain
species of land have the power of preserving wood or other perishable materials much
longer than others. Stones last till accidental causes impede the flowing of the water,
and may last for ever. Wood perishes in certain periods, but it does not follow that the
drains should stop ; if the earth arches, the water will necessarily continue to flow, which
is found to be the case when wood, straw, and stubble are rotten and gone. Drains that
have been filled with bushes and straw, both which were rotten, have been observed to
run well forty years after making.
4305. The expense of drains ^vill of course vary with the soil, depth, price of labour,
&c. ; and these circumstances are so different in different districts, and even in different
parishes, that it accounts for the various reports of writers on the subject. Those farmers
who are most solicitous to have the work well performed, contract with men only for
digging and leaving clean, in order that the filling may be done by men paid by the day,
Z z 4
712
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Fart III.
as a greater security that it should be executed with all possible care. Whatever may be
the expense and trouble incurred in draining, it may be safely asserted that, if the work
is judiciously contrived and properly executed, no kind of outlay will prove so beneficial
to the cultivator.
4306. The enemies of drains, according to Marshal, are moles, field mice, and the roots
of trees : the first two may be kept under by traps or other devices ; but the last enemy
is not easily guarded against, except in the laying out of the drain, which should always,
if possible, be kept distant from trees or woody plants of any description.
Sect. VIII. Of the Implements peculiar to Draining.
4307. The tools peculiar to draining are chiefly of the spade kind :
instruments of different kinds.
there are also boring
4308. The draining-scoop {fig. 661. a, b, c,) is a crooked kind of tool made use of in some cases for
clearing out the loose materials from tlie bottoms of drains. It is formed of different sizes and breadths,
according to the drains, and in working is drawn or pushed along
the bottom.
4309. The draining shovel (<f) is another sort of implement
employed for the same purpose as the above. It Is made with a
crooked handle, and the edge of the shovel part is turned up, in
order to prevent the materials from falling off.
4310. The draining sod knife (e) is an implement made use of
with great benefit in scoring or cutting out the sward in forming
drains.
4311. Draining spades (/, g, h,) are made of diflferent breadths,
so as to follow each other, and cut the drains narrow at the
bottoms. An upper and pointed draining spade (g) is in general
use, and a wooden one {h) is employed in peat soils.
1- TffJ^^^ H ( U tlc;^'*^ 4312. The draining straw-twisting engine is a ma-
r 7 \|l/ tlW 1^/ / ^^^^6 of very simple construction, already described
\ / \' ^Jr 1 I \\lJv / (2562.), and capable of being readily removed, con-
VJ/ Ml / y trived for the purpose of twisting straw into ropes for
the filling of drains.
4313. A variety of boring implements, including Good's and the peat-borer, have been
already described. (2507. to 2519.)
4314. The common draining auger {fig. 662.) consists of four parts, the shell or wimble, the chisel, the
rod, and the handle The auger shell, or
662 _ wimble (e), as it is variously called, for exca-
vating the earth or strata through which it
passes, is generally from two and a half to
three and a half inches in diameter; the
hollow part of it one foot four inches in
length, and constructed nearly in the shape
of the wimble used by carpenters, only the
sides of the shell come closer to one another.
The rods {a) are made in separate pieces of
four feet long each, that screw into each
other to any assignable length, one after
another, as the depth of the hole requires.
The size above the auger is about an inch
square, unless at the joints, where, for the
«ake of strength, they are a quarter of an inch more. There is also a chisel and punch (5), adapted for
screwing on in going through hard gravel, or other stony substances, to accelerate the passage of the
auger, which could not otherwise perforate such bodies. The punch is often used, when the auger is not
applied, to prick or open the sand or gravel, and give a more easy issue to the water. The chisel is an inch
and a half or two inches broad at the point, and made very sharp for cutting stone ; and the punch an inch
square, like the other part of the rods, with the point sharpened also. There is a shifting handle of
wood (rf), fastened by means of two iron wedges affixed to it, for the purpose of turning round the rods in
boring ; and also two iron keys (/, c), for screwing and unscrewing the rods, and for assisting the handle
when the soil is very stiff", and more than two men required to turn it.
4315 To judge when to make use of the borer is a difficult part of the business of draining. Some have
been led into a mistaken notion, both as to the manner of using it and the purpose for which it is applied.
They think that if, by boring indiscriminately through the ground to be drained, water is found near
enough the surface to be reached by the depth of the drain, the proper direction for it is along these holes
where water has been found ; and thus they make it the first implement to be used. The contrary is the
case ; and the auger should never be used till, after the drain is cut ; and then for the purpose of per-
forating any retentive or impervious stratum, lying between the bottom of the drain and the reservoir
or strata containing the spring. Thus does it greatly lessen the trouble and expense that would other-
wise be requisite in cutting the trench to a depth which, in many instances, the level of the outlet will
not admit
4316. The manner of using it is simply thus : — In working it, two, or rather three men are necessary.
Two, standing above, one on each side of the drain, turn the auger round bymeansof the wooden handles,
and when it is full they draw it out; and the man in the bottom of the trench clears out the earth, assists
in pulling it out, and directing it into the hole, and he can also assist in turning with the iron handle or
key, when the depth and length of rods require additional force to perform the operation. The workmen
should be cautious, in boring, not to go deeper at a time, without drawing, than the exact length of the
shell ; otherwise the earth, clay, or sand through which it is boring, after the shell is full, make* it very
difficult to pull out. For this purpose the exact length of the shell should be regularly marked on the
rods, from the bottom upwards. Two flat boards, with a hole cut into the side of one of them, and laid
side by side across the drain, are very useful for directing the rods perpendicularly in going down, for
keeping them steady in boring, and for the men to stand on when performing the operatios.
4317. The horizontal auger {fig. 663.) is another boring instrument employed in particular cases. It
was invented by Halford, of Hathern, in Leicestershire, but is little used. The advantages of it are, in
some cases, considerable, by lessening the expense of cutting, and performing the work in a much shorter
time. Where a drain or water-course has to pass under a bank, rpad, hedge, wall, rivulet of water, or for
Book III.
EMBANKING.
713
drying marl-pits, &c., it may be used to advantage in excavating a sufficient passage for the water, without
opening a trent-h. In laying leaden pipes lor the conveyance of water, it is also useful in making a hole
in which the pipe may be laid, without opening a cut on purpose. For tapping springs, or finding water at
the bottom of a hill, either for the supply of a house, or for draining the ground, it may likewise be used
with success ; as the water of the spring, when hit on, will flow more easily and in greater abundance
through a horizontal or level, than through a perpendicular outlet.
4318. The manner of tising it is this : —Suppose a lake or pond of water, surrounded with high banks, to
be emptied, if the ground declines lower on the opposite side, find the level of the bank where the per-
foration is to be made. There smooth the surface of the ground so as to place the frame nearly level with
the auger, pointing a little upwards. It requires two men to turn the handles at top (a), in order to work
it; and when the auger or shell is full, the rods are drawn back by reversing the lower handle (i). Other
rods are added at the joint when the distance requires them. In boring through a bank of the hardest clay,
two men will work through from thirty to forty feet in a day, provided there is no interruption from hard
stones, which will require the chisel to be fixed on in place of the shell, and longer time to work through.
If the length to be bored through is considerable, or longer than the whole length of the rods, a pit
must be sunk upon the line, down to the hole, for placing the frame when removed, and the operation
carried on as before.
Chap. II.
Embanking and otherwise protecting Lands from the Overfloiving or Encroachment of
Rivers or the Sea.
4319. Lands adjoining rivers or the sea are frequently liable to be overflowed or
washed away, or to be injured by the courses of rivers being changed during great floods.
These evils are guarded against by embankments and piers ; or by these constructions
joined to deepening or straightening the courses of rivers, and we shall therefore treat
in succession of embankments and of improving the courses of rivers.
Sect. I. Embanking Lands from Rivers or the Sea.
4320. The great value of alluvial soil to the agriculturist no doubt gave rise to the
invention of banks, or other barriers, to protect soils from the overflowing of their accom-
panying rivers. The civilised nations of the highest antiquity were chiefly inhabitants of
valleys and alluvial plains ; the soil, moisture, and warmth of which, by enlarging the com-
ponent parts and ameliorating the fruits of the vegetable kingdom, afforded to man better
nourishment at less labour than could be obtained in hilly districts. The country of Para-
dise and around Babylon was flat, and the soil saponaceous clay, occasionally overflowed
by the Euphrates. The inhabited part of Egypt was also entirely of this description. His-
torians inform us that embankments were first used by the Babylonians and Egyptians,
very little by the Greeks, and a good deal by the Romans, who embanked the Tiber near
Rome, and the Po for many stadia from its embouchure. The latter is perhaps one of
the most singular cases of embankment in the world.
4321. The oldest embankment in England is that of Romney Marsh ; as to the origin of
which, Dugdale remarks, "there is no testimony left to us from any record or historian."
{History of Embanking and Draining.) It is conjectured to have been the work of the
Romans, as well as the banks on each side of the Thames, for several miles above
London, which protect from floods and spring tides several thousand acres of the richest
garden ground in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. The commencement of modern
embankments in England took place about the middle of the seventeenth century, under
Cromwell. In the space of a few years previous to 1651, 425,000 acres of fens, mo-
rasses, or overflowed muddy lands, were recovered in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire,
Hampshire, and Kent ; and let at from 2s. 6d. to 30s. an acre. {Harte's Essays, p. 54^
2d edit.) Vermuyden, a Fleming by birth, and a colonel of horse under Cromwell,
wlio had served in Germany during the thirty years' war, was the principal undertaker of
these works. Some farther details of the history of embanking will be found in tU
714 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part 111.
Repertory of Patent Inventions, for January, 1826, and in the JSulletin des Sciences Agri-
coles, for November, 1827.
4322. Very little has been wiitten on the subject of embankments, as a separate branch of
art, by British authors. Dugdale's work is entirely historical and topographical. But
the writings of Smeaton, Young, Gregory, &c., contain the general principles on which
is founded the art of embanking, and every other operation connected with water ; and
Beatson, fin Communication to Board of Agriculture,) Dr. Anderson, Marshal, and some
others, have written on the practice of the art. The works of this sort constructed in our
own times vnll be found described in the Agricidtural Reports of the maritime counties,
especially of Lincolnshire, by Arthur Young. We shall first submit some general
remarks on the principles of designing embankments, and next describe the principal
kinds of banks, with their application.
SuBSECT. 1. General Principles of designing Embankments.
4323. The theory of embanking. Marshal observes, is beautifully simple. The outward
waters having been resisted by a line of embankment, and having receded, those that have
collected internally arc enabled, by their own v.cight, to open a valve placed in the foot
of the bank, and effect their escape : thus securing the embanked lands from inundation,
though beset on every side with water.
4324. The pressure of still ivater against the sides of the vessel containing it being as its
depth, it folloAVS, that a bank of any material whatever, impervious to water, whose section
is a right-angled triangle, and the height of whose perpendicular side is equal to that of
the water it is to dam in, will balance or resist this water, whatever may be the breadth
of the surface of the latter ; and therefore that, as far as width or extent is concerned, it
is just as easy to exclude the Atlantic Ocean as a pond or a river of a few yards in Avidth.
4325. Embankments may be considered in regard to their situation, direction, con-
struction, and materials.
if^Se. The situation of the bank should be such that its base may not be unnecessarily exposed to the im-
mediate action of the waves or the current ; and where the quantity of water is limited, as in the case of
land.floods in a particular river, the more room it has to spread, the less height and strength the bank will
require ; and the power of the current will be proportionably lessened. It is to be recollected, however,
in all cases where the channel of tiie water is liable to be warped or filled up by sulliage, that the narrower
the space is, in which the water is confined, the stronger will be its current, and the less silt will, in ordi-
nary cases, be deposited.
4327. The direction of embankment should be free from sharp angles, so as to occasion the least possible
resistance to the current, whether of a land-flood or the tide.
432,S In the construction or form of the bank there are certain principles to be observed. Its height and
strength ought ever to be proportioned to the depth and the pressure of water which it will have to sustain ;
and, to increase its firmness, the inner face should lean towards it, as a buttress. But it is on the construc-
tion of the outer face its strength, firmness, and durability principally depend. This ought to be made
sloping, to a degree of fiatness ; for the twofold purpose of preventing resistance and taking off the weight
of water. In difficult cases, the outer surface may form an angle with a perpendicular line of 45 to 60
degrees, according to the force to be guarded against, and the materials to be employed.
4329. The materials of the body of the bank (as well as of the inner face), where the foundation is sound
and firm, and the bank can be carried up at a proper season, without great molestation from the water,
may generally be the natural soil of the lands to be embanked ; and, where merely the weight of stagnant
or slowly moving water is to be guarded against, the outer slope may be of the same material. But where
force, whether of waves or a strong current, will act immediately upon the bank, its outer face ought to
be made proof against it ; and its base should be particularly guarded, to prevent its being undermined ;
the most mischievous and irreparable disaster of embankments. Hence, when the foundation is not
sufficiently firm, piles, timber, and masonry may be required, to ensure success ; and no man ought to
begin a work of this nature without attentively guarding it against every probability of miscarriage.
4330. A system ofdrabis and floodgates is requisite for the purpose of freeing the em-
banked lands from internal waters.
4331. In designing and setting out the main drain, or discharging channel, on the outside of the embank,
ment, there are points which require particular attention. The situation of the outfall, or mouth, with
respect to the current of the water into which it opens, is of considerable importance It ought to be such
that the current of the water received will not warp up the channel of the drain ; but such, on the con-
trary, as will tend to clear the mouth and keep the channel free. If it were not to preserve the requisite
character of an elementary work, it might be deemed unnecessary to add, that the mouth of the discharging
drain should be situated as low beneath the floodgate of the embankment as given circumstances and a
prudent expenditure will allow ; in order that, by inducing a sufficient current, the floodgate, as well as
the mouth of the channel, may become free from obstructions. Against the open sea, or a wide estuary,
where there is no disgorging channel, but where the waves reach the foot of the embankment, two flood-
gates maybe required : one on the outer side, to sustain the force of the waves, and prevent their blowing
up the inner works ; the other within, to secure the passage the more effectually. The outer gate in this
case is liable to be lifted with the agitation of the waves, and thereby to admit much water ; but the inner
valve, being in an undisturbed situation, effectually stops its progress.
4332. Where the discharge is made immediately behind a shifting beach, and especially where the flood-
gate is necessarily placed level with or beneath the general surface of the gravel bank, through which the
waters have been wont to force a channel, the valve is liable to be buried, and the channel to be closed up
by every spring tide, and by every gale of wind which sets in upon it ; and cannot be kept free but by
unceasing labour and expense. In an obstinate case of this kind on Lord Cawdor's estate, in Pembroke-
shire, the discharging floodgate is defended by a covered channel, carried out through the lineor ndge of
beach into the sea ; being made strong enough to sustain the weight of the heaviest breakers. This, it is
true, has been effected at a great exi^ense, but nevertheless, the improvement being of considerable mag-
nitude, with great profit. In every case where an external valve is required, and where it is liable to be
' silted up, or loaded with sand or gravel, great attention to the outward channel is necessary, or some
defence must be constructed ; for the floodgate, when loaded, cuts offaU communication between the pent
up waters and the materials that impound them. They cannot, by loosening the obstructing matter, as
Book III. EMBANKMENTS. 715
nature would otherwise direct them, force their way through it ; nor, by surmounting it, can they wear
down a channel, and thus set themselves at liberty.
4333. In ordinary cases, the outer floodgate may be guarded by a pile fence or jetty, run out from the
foot of the embankment, across the known drift of the beach j and in such a manner as not to interrupt
the outfall channel of the water; the gravel, &c. which such a safeguard may accumulate, being removed
from time to time as occasion may require.
4.j'34. The best construction of the flood-gate for the uses now under consideration is the common valve,
hingeing at the top, swinging outward and falling into a rabbeted frame. In forming and hanging a
floodgate of this construction, there are a few particulars worthy of attention. It should be made of
seasoned wood, and ought to be double ; the boards or planks of which it is formed being made to cross
each other, to prevent its casting. It should fall truly, and fit neatly within a surrounding rabbet (to
lessen the power of the waves to lift it) ; but not so closely or tight as to stick when swelled by moisture.
To prevent this, as well as to give it additional tightness, its edges should not be square, but should bevel
somewhat inward in the manner ot a bung; the rabbet in the frame being made to answer it. In
fixing the frame, i^ ought to be suffered to lean or batter inward; in which position the door will shut
closer, and be less liable to the action of the waves in an exposed situation than it would if it were hung
perpendicularly. It ought not, however, to lie so flat or heavy as to prevent the free escape of the
mternal waters. The floodgates or self-acting sluices, at Bar Loch embankment fall against a flat
surface, (yfg. 664.) A writer in the Perth Miscellany states, (vol. i. p. 41.)
664 that many of the tunnels in the embankments of the Tay have only
_ _ wooden valves with iron hinges, and a lid of lead or iron nailed on for
•Jl weight to keep them down. These, he says, are not to be depended on,
' ,', and he has accordingly had some tunnels made of two inch plank with the
\ end cut at an angle of 4.)° for the valve, and placed on a slope of 8 inches
\ in 18 feet, the water being discharged on a broad piece of pavement. He
I had an iron plate " cast the exact size of the mouth of the tunnel, and
I '..- i^l"-,^ about half an inch thick, with holes drilled two inches apart, and three-
fourths from the edge of the plate, for riveting a piece of saddler's leather,
or shoemaker's brown sole, which extended at least two inches beyond the plate, and covered the whole
end of the tunnel, the upper end of the leather nailed to the wood serving as hinges, and the edges of
the mouth previously lined with the same material. Thus the strength of the tide never raises the
valves, and completely prevents the water from getting in." (p. 42.)
4335. The internal waters which rise within or fall upon the area of the embanked lands, are to be
collected by a main drain, continued upward from the floodgate ; and furnished with branches to spread
over every part of the field of improvement, so as to draw the water from every dip and hollow place as
it collects, and thus free the surface effectually from stagnant water ; saving such only as may be wanted
for the use of pasturing stock.
4336. If alien waters have a natural and accustomed channel through the embanked area, it may be
found necessary to raise a suitable bank at a proper distance on each side of the stream, in order to
prevent its overflowing the area in time of floods. Where it is found that an outlet cannot be had low
enough to free the area entirely from surface water, it is requisite (though no alien waters intrude)
to form an embanked channel or reservoir, to gain the required outfall; and to throw the waters which
lodge on the lower grounds into this receptacle, by a draining mill, of which there are a great variety of
constructions.
4337. An embanked channel, if the banks are raised high enough, or are placed wide
enough asunder so as to contain a sufficient body of water, may have a further use,
which, in some cases, may be of the highest importance to an improvement of this nature.
For, by the help of folding floodgates, such as are commonly seen in use for the locks of
navigable canals, placed at the lower end of this canal or reservoir, a body of water may
be collected and rapidly discharged ; by which easy means, not only the channel of the
outer drain, but its mouth, if judiciously contracted, may from time to time be cleared
from obstructions. Where alien waters of a good quality pass through the field of im-
provement, an embanked channel may be profitably applied in watering the lands ; and
where alien waters, which have not a natural or fortuitous passage through it can be
commanded, and conducted to it at a moderate expense, they may prove highly beneficial,
for either or both of these purposes.
SuBSECT. 2. Different Descriptions of Banks in general Use for excluding Waters.
4338. Mounds or banks for excluding rivers or the sea are generally formed of earth, but
sometimes also of masonry and even of wood. Embankments of common earth are
sufficient for resisting occasional floods : if this earth be loose, the bank will require to
be spread out at the base, at the rate of one foot and a half or two feet horizontal for
every foot in height ; that is to say, a bank of loose earth three feet high will require to
be nine feet or twelve feet broad. If the earth to be made use of is a compact clay, or if
turf of a solid and compact body can be procured, the slope of the bank may be much
steeper, according to its height and the depth of water which may be expected to press
against it.
4339. The earthen wall (Jig. 665.) is the simplest description of embankment, and is
frequently erected by temporary occupiers of
lands on the general principle of enclosing and
subdividing, which is sometimes made a condi-
tion of tenure between the landlord and tenant.
This wall applies to lands occasionally, but
rarely, overflowed or inundated ; and is set out
in a direction generally parallel to the river or
shore. Its base is commenced on the sur-
face, from two to five feet wide, regularly built
of turf on the outsides, with the grassy sides underneath. The middle of the wall is
filled up with loose earth. The wall is carried up with the sides bevelled towards the
716
I»RACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
666
centre, so as to finish in a ^vidth of one foot or eighteen inches, at five or six feet in height.
Collaterally with such walls, and at the distance of three or four feet, a small open drain is
formed, as well to collect the surface water of the grounds within, as that which in tinie
of floods will necessarily ooze through a wall of this construction. The water so col-
lected is let through the wall by tubes, or tunnels of boards, with a valve opening out-
wards on their exterior extremity. When the flow of water from without approaches, it
shuts the valve, which remains in this state till the flood subsides, when, the height of the
water within being greater than that without, it presses open the valve and escape!?.
Walls and valves of this kind are common enough in the drier parts of the fenny districts
of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.
4340. The earthen mound (Jig. 666.) is the most general description of embankment,
and, as it is executed at considerable
expense, is only undertaken by such
as have a permanent interest in the
soil. This barrier applies to sea
lands overflowed by every spring
tide, and to alluvial plains inundated by every flood. It is set out in a direction parallel
to the shore, and to the general turns of the river, but not to its minute windings ; and
it is placed farther from or nearer to the latter, according to the quantity of water in time
of floods, the rapidity of the current from the declivity of the bed, the straight course of
the stream, and the intended height of the bank. Ihe two sides of such a mound are
generally formed in different slopes. That towards the land is always the most abrupt,
but can never be secure if more so than 45'-' ; that towards the water varies from 45° to
15° ; the power of the bank to resist the weight of the water, as well as to break its force
when in motion, being inversely as its steepness. The power of water to lessen the
gravity of bodies, or in other words, to loosen the surfaces over which they flow or stand,
is also lessened in a ratio somewhat similar.
4341. TTie formation of the earthen mound consists merely In taking earth from the general surface of
the ground to be protected, or from a collateral excavation, distant at least the width of the mound from
its base line, and neaping it up in the desired form. The surface is then in general cases covered with
turf, well rolled in order to bind it to the loose earth. The earth of such mounds is generally wheeled
in barrows ; but sometimes it is led in carts placed on a wooden roller instead of wheels, which, with the
treading of the horses, serves in some degree to consolidate the bank.
4342. The excavation serves the same purposes as the open drain in the earthen wall ; and similarly
constructed sluices or valves are introduced on a larger scale. Sometimes, also, the interior water is
drawn ofFby windmills, and thrown over the mound into the river. This is very common in Hunting-
donshire, and might be greatly improved on by employing steam engines for entire districts, one of which,
of a ten horse power, would do the work of twenty mills, and this in calm weather, when the latter
cannot move.
4343. Embankments of this description are the most universal of any, and their sections vary from a scalene
triangle of ten feet in base, and three feet in height, as on the Forth near Stirling, and the Thames at
Fulham, to a base of 100 feet, and a height often feet, as in the great bank of the Ouse, near Wisbeach.
The great rivers of Germany and Holland are embanked in this way, when so far from the sea as to be
out of the reach of the tide; as the Vistula at Marienwerder, the banks of which, near Dantzic, are
above fifteen feet in height ; the Oder, the Elbe, &c. All these banks are closely covered in every part
with a grassy surface, and sometimes ornamented with rows of trees.
4344. Near the sea, where such banks are washed by every tide when the course of the wind is towards
the shore, and by all land floods and spring-tides, grass is only to be found on and near their summits.
The rest of the bank is bare, and to preserve it from the action of waves, currents, and the stones,
pieces of wood, and other foreign matters which they carry with them, the surface is covered with gravel,
reeds, or straw kept down by pieces of wood ; faggots, wicker hurdles, nets of straw ropes, straw ropes
laid side by side and fastened, or handfuls of straw fixed in the ground with a dibber [Neale's Travels
in Germany, SfC. chap, i.), or any other contrivance, according to the situation, to prevent the washing
away of the bank. It is common to attribute to these coverings the power of breaking the force of the
waves ; but this power depends, as we have already stated, on the slope of the bank and its smoothness ;
and the use of the surface covering, and of the constant attention required to remove all obstacles which
may be left on it by floods and tides, is to prevent the loosening power of the water from wearing
it into holes. For this purpose, a sheet of canvas or straw-netting is as good, whilst it lasts, as a covering
of plate iron or stone pavement
4345. All banks whatever require to be constantly watched in time of floods or spring-tides, m order to
remove every object, except sand or mud, which may be left by the water. Such objects, put in motion
by the water, in a short time wear out large holes. These holes, presenting abrupt points to the stream,
act as obstructions, soon become much larger, and if not immediately filled up. turfed over, and the turfs
„ _^ > Ug^ ' ' \^ pinned down, or the new turfs ren.
""' v^ i-i^^ X deredbysomeother means not easily
softened and raised up by the water,
will end in a breach of the bank.
A similar effect is produced by a
surface formed of unequal degrees
of hardness and durability. The
banks of this description in Holland,
at Cuxhaven, and along the coast of
Lincolnshire, are regularly watched
throughout the year; the surface
protection is repaired whenever it
goes out of repair ; as is the body of
the bank in the summer season.
4346. The mound with pud-
dle wail. (Jig. 667.) It gene-
• — -_- -^ -.^ rally happens that the earth of
such banks is alluvial, and their foundation of the same description ; but there are some
a
Book III.
EMBANKMENTS.
717
cases where the basis is sand, silt, or gravel ; or a mud or black earth, as in some parts of
Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, which does not easily become so compact. Here it is
common, before beginning the bank, to bring up from the solid substratum (a) what is
called a puddle-ditch, or section of clay in the centre of the highest part of the mound in the
direction of its length, and of three or five feet wide, according to the depth of the stratum
of silt (6), and the intended height of the bank (c). When the clay of this puddle-ditch
is well worked, either by men's feet or clay rammers, the bank will be perfectly imper-
vious to water, and if against a mild stream or shore, need not contain such an accumu-
lation of earth as where the imperviousness of the bank to water depends chiefly on the
mass of materials. As already observed, the important point to attend to in this variety
of mound is, to found the section, or wall of clay, so deeply as to be in contact with a
stratum (a), either by induration, or its argillaceous nature, impervious to water. In
the drainage of the Bar Loch in the county of Renfrew, considerable difl[iculty was expe-
rienced in some places in getting to the bottom of the sandy subsoil, so as to bring up the
668 puddle wall from the retentive stratum. Such
was the difficulty in some cases, that the puddle
could not be carried up perpendicularly, but a
)ww.M,j ^!mmmmmm////////////7yy/y7,^y^7//,/ m P"'^'^^^ ^'^ being raised within the bank, as
Vj^^^^^g^m^^^^^^^^m^^m. ^^^^ ^^ ^^ natural surface, it was joined hori-
---.-'. -.••..!:^^».4r..i,-,^i.*.-., — .V „,..,.-',... ,.; jrontally to another puddle wall in the body of
the bank. {fi^. 668.)
4347. Puddling is often found defective, owing to the imperfect working of the materials. Many think
that when clay is used, if it be worked into the consistence of dough, it is sufficient ; but this is a mistake :
it should be slaked and so decomposed by the labour of proper tools and treading, and so completely satu-
rated with water, that the whole mass becomes one uniform and homogeneous body, and almost fluid.
4348. Mounds -with reversed slopes. In some cases of embanking rivers, as where they
pass through parks, it is desirable to conceal, as much as possible, the appearance of a
bank from the protected grounds. Hence the mound is simply reversed, the steepest
side being placed next the water. It is proper to observe, that such banks are not so
strong, by the difference of the weight of the triangle of water which would rest on the
prolonged slope, were it placed next the river, and are more liable to be deranged in
surface in proportion to the difference of the slopes, the water acting for a longer period
on every part of the slope.
4349. Mound faced with stones. This is the same species of mound, with a slope
next the water of forty-five or fifty degrees, paved or causewayed with stones or timber.
In Holland tliis pavement or causeway is often formed of planking or bricks ; but in
England generally with stones, and the mortar used is either some cement which will
set under water, or, what is better, plants of moss firmly rammed between them. The
objections to such banks are their expense, and tlieir liability to be undermined invisibly
by the admission of the water through crevices, &c. They are, therefore, chiefly used where
there is little room, or where it is desirable to narrow and deepen the course of a river.
4350. The bank formed with piles, brushwood, and stones, is occasionally used for pro-
tecting moving sands, or directing the course of streams flowing through a sandy shore. A
dikeor hank for the latter purpose (/g. 669.) has been erected on theriver Don in Aberdeen-
shire. It consists of piles or poles,
being the thinnings of plantation
of Scotch pine and larch, driven six
feet into the sand (a a a) : the
spaces between these piles (6 b) are
filled in with furze or other spray
or small branches ; and on the top
of them, are wedged- in stones to
keep them down. On the side of this row of piles next the river, stones (c) from
50lbs. to half a ton weight each, are precipitated from a punt, until they form a bank of
an angle of nearly 45°. On the outside of this bank and piles, the sand (rf) gradually
drifts up, and forms a bank, which, being planted vrith ^rundo arenaria and other grasses,
gradually becomes covered with verdure. (Highland Sac. Trans, vol. vii. p. 91.)
4351. Mound protected by a wicker hedge. This is a Dutch practice, and, where
appearance is no object, has the advantage of not requiring watching. Wicker-work,
however, subjected to the strain of waves, will be obviously less durable, than where
it lies flat on the ground, and can only decay chemically. This wicker hedge is some-
times a series of hurdles supported by posts and studs ; but generally in Britain it is a
dead hedge or row of stakes, wattled or wrought with bushes presenting their spray to
the sea or river. Besides placing such a hedge before a bank, others are sometimes
placed in parallel rows on its surface ; the object of which is to entrap sand, shells, and
soa weeds, to increase the mass of mound, or to collect shells for the puipose of carrying
away as manure.
718 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
4352. The sea wall (Jig. 670. ) is an embankment formed to protect abrupt and eartliy
shores or banks of rivers, and consists of a wall, vary-
ing in thickness, and in the inclination of its surface,
according to the required height, and other circum-
stances. Belidor, in his Traite de Hydraulique, has given
the exact curve which the section of such a wall ought
to have (fl, b), in order to resist loose earth, and which
is somewhat greater than where the earth behind the
wall is supposed to be chiefly firm. Some fine exam-
ples of such walls, for other purposes, occur in the
Caledonian Canal ; and perhaps the finest in the world are the granite walls which
embank the Neva at Petersburgh, the construction of which may serve as an example of a
river cased with stone on a foundation of soft bog earth.
4353. Embankments for fixing drifdng-sands, shells, or mud. In several tracts of
coast, the sea at ordinary tides barely covers a surface of sand ; and these sands, in dry
weather, during high winds, are drifted and blown about in all directions. Great part of
the north shores of the Solway Frith, of Lancaster Bay, and of the coast of Norfolk, is
of this description. Young, in his Tarme7''s Letters, informs us, that a considerable
part of the county of Norfolk was drift sand, and even as far inland as Brandon in Suffolk,
before the introduction of the turnip culture j and Harte (Essay I.) states that some of
what is now the richest land in Holland, was, about the middle of the sixteenth centuiy,
of this description. The suggestion of any mode, therefore, by which, at a moderate
expense, such tracts could be fixed, and covered with vegetation, must be deemed worthy
of notice. The mode which nature herself employs is as follows : After the tides and
wind liave raised a marginal steep of land as high as high water-mark, it becomes by
degrees covered with vegetation, and chiefly by the £'lymus arenarius, Triticumjunceum,
various species of Juncus, and sometimes by the Galium verum. With the exception of
the first of these plants (the leaves and stalks of which are manufactured into mats and
ropes in Anglesea, and the grain of which is sometimes ground and used as meal in
Ireland), they are of no other use than for fixing the sands, which, being composed in great
part of the debris of shells, expand as they decay, and contribute to raising the surface still
higher, when the fibrous roots of good grasses soo"' destroy the others. The ^rundo
arenaria is planted in Holland for the purpose of binding sands, and was extensively
introduced into the Highlands of Scotland for the same purpose, by Macleod of Harris,
in 1819. {Trans. Highl. Soc vol. vi. p. 265.)
4354. To assist nature infixing drift-sands, it is only necessary to transplant the £lymus, which is to be
had in abundance on almost every sandy coast in Britain ; and as it would be liable to be blown away
with the sands, if merely inserted" in the common way, it seems advisable to tie the plants to the upper
ends of willow or elder rods, of two or three feet in length, and to insert these in the sand, by which means
there is the double chance of the grass growing, and the truncheon taking root. The elder v.ill grow ex-
posed to the sea breeze, and no plant throws out so many and such vigorous roots in proportion to its shoots.
4j55. The mode by which such sands were fixed in Hollaruf was by the formation of wicker-work embank-
ments, and by sticking in the sands branches of trees, bushes, furze, &c. in all directions. These obstructed
the motion of the sands, and collected masses of sand, shells, or mud, and sea-weeds around them, which
were immediately planted with some description of creeping grass ; or, what was more frequent, covered
with a thin coating of clay, or alluvial earth, and sown with clover. Though the most certain and least
expensive mode of gaining such lands is undoubtedly that of seconding the efforts of nature, by inserting
bushes and planting the ^'lymus in this way ; yet it may sometimes be desirable to make a grand effort
to protect an extensive surface, by forming a bank of branches, which might, in a single or several tides,
be filled with sand and shells. It is evident, that such a bank might be constructed in various ways ;
but that which would be most certain of remaining firm, and effecting the purpose, would be one regu-
larly constructed of framed timber, the section of which would resemble a trussed roof; each truss being
joined in the direction of the bank by rafters, and the whole inside and surface stuck full of branche.s.
To retain it firm, piles would require to be driven into the sand, to the upper parts of which would be
attached the trusses. The height of such a barrier would require to be several feet above that of the
highest spring-tides j and the more its width at base exceeded the proportion of that of an equilateral
triangle the better.
4356. A mode suited to a le.is extensive scale of operation, is to intersect a sandy shore in all directions,
with common dead or wicker-work hedges, formed by first driving a row of stakes six or eight feet
into the ground, leaving their tops three or four feet above it, and then weaving among these stakes,
branches of trees, or the tops of hedges The Dutch are said to weave straw ropes in this way, and
thereby to collect mud in the manner oi warping. This mode, being little expensive, seems to deserve a
trial in favourable situations ; and in so doing, it must not be forgotten, that much depends on the
immediate management of the surface, after it is in some degree fixed. In an extensive trial of this sort
at present in progress on the west coast of Scotland, under an English gentleman, seeds and roots are
baked in a mixture of loam, dung, and gravel, and then formed into masses, and scattered over a
sandy surface. These, from their weight, will not, it is thought, be moved by the water or the wind ; but,
becoming more or less covered with sand, the mass will be kept moist, and the seeds and roots will grow,
and, fixing themselves in the soil, will in time cover the surface with verdure. The experiment is in-
genious, and we hope will be crowned with success.
4357. Embankments of cast iron have been proposed to be constructed by Deeble, a
civil engineer of London. He proposes to combine a series of caissons, made of cast
iron, in ranges, agreeable to the required form of the intended embankment. The
caissons are to be fastened together by dovetails, and, being hollow, are, when fixed in
their intended situations, to be filled with stones and other materials, making them up
solid. {Neivton's Journal, vol. ii. p. 202. )
Book III.
GUARDING RIVER BANKS.
19
Sect. II. Guarding the Banks and otherwise improving the Courses of Rivers and
Streams.
4358. The subject of guarding the banks of rivers is of considerable interest to the
propiietors of lands situated in hilly districts, where, in the valleys and on the hill sides,
the streams often produce ravages on the banks, and sometimes change their courses.
4359. The natural licence of rivers, INIarshal observes, is not only destructive of
landed property, frequently of lands of tlie first quality ; but is often the cause of dis-.
putes, and not unfrequently of legal contentions, between neighbouring proprietors. A
river is the most unfortunate boundary line of an estate. Even as a fence, unless where
the water is unfordable, a river, or rapid brook, which is liable to high floods, is the
most tormenting and inefficient. Proprietors have therefore a double interest in ac-
commodating each other, as circumstances may require, with the lands of river banks,
so as to be able to fix permanent boundary lines between theii properties. When the
owners of estates cannot, by reason of entails or settlements, or will not for less cogent
reasons accommodate each other, they have a line to tread which they cannot deviate
from with prudence, much less with rectitude ; namely, that of cautiously guarding
their own lands, without injuring those of their neighbours ; for a lawsuit may cost
ten times the value of the sand banks and islets of gravel to be gained by dexterity of
management.
4360. The operations for improving rivers have for their object that of preventing
them from injuring their banks, of accelerating their motion, and of lessening the space
of ground which they occupy, or altering their site. These purposes are effected by piers
or guerdes for altering the direction of the current ; works for protecting the banks j and
by changing or deepening the river's course.
4361. Hie pinnciples on which these operations are founded are chiefly two ; first, that
water, like every other body when it impinges on any surface, is reflected from it at a
similar angle to that at which it approached it ; and, secondly, that the current of water,
other circumstances alike, is as the slope of the surface on which it runs. On the first
of these principles is founded the application of piers for reflecting currents ; and on
the second, that of straightening rivers, by which more slope is obtained in a given
length of stream, and of course greater rapidity of motion obtained.
SuBSECT. 1. Guarding River Banks.
4362. A common cause of injury to the banks of rivers is produced during floods. A
tree or brancli carried down by a stream, and deposited, or accidentally fixed or retained,
in its banks, will repel that part of the stream which strikes against it, and the impulse
(counteracted more or less by the general current) wiU direct a substream against the
opposite bank. The effect of this continual action against one point of the opposite
bank is, to wear out a hole or breach ; and immediately above this breach it is customary
to place a protecting pier to receive the impulse of the substream, and reverberate it to
the middle of the general stream. But if this pier is not placed very obliquely to the
substream, as well as to the general stream, it will prove injurious to the opposite bank
by dii ecting a subcurrent there as great as the first ; and, indeed, it is next to impossible
to avoid this ; so much so, that Smeaton, in almost every instance in which he was con-
sulted in cases of this sort, recommended removing the obstacle where that could be done,
and then throwing loose stones into the breach.
436S. Injwies by floods, according to Marshal, are to be remedied in two ways ;
the one is to sheath the injured banks of the bays {fig. 671. a, b, c) with such materials
"wmmmm.
as will resist the circuitous current ; and let the river remain in its crooked state. The
other, to erect piers (rf), to parry off the force of the current from the bank, and direct it
forward ; with the twofold intention of preventing further mischief, and of bringing back
the course of the river to its former state of straightness. It is to be observed, that the
operation of guarding the immediate bank.of asharp river bend, against a heavy current
meeting with great resistance, by sheathing it with stones, is generally a work of much
720
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
difficulty and expense, even where materials can be easily procured : while that of divert-
ing the current by a pier may frequently be accomplished at a comparatively small
cost J and its eftect be rendered infinitely more salutary and permanent. For it is plain
that, if the accidental obstruction mentioned had been timely removed, no bad effect
would have ensued: and the river would have continued its direct course. Or if, through
neglect, it had been suffered to remain awhile, until its mischief was discoverable ; even
then, if it had been moved from its station to the opposite side of the river, and placed
in the part affected, this small counterpoise might have recovered the balance of the cur-
rent, and directed it into its wonted channel ; and, in almost any case, by judiciously
placing, in a similar manner, a pier or other obstruction proportioned to the magnitude
of the power to be counteracted, the like effect may be produced.
4364. In the use of piers great caution is requisite, for a very little reflection will
show that they are more likely to increase than to remedy the evil they are intended to
cure. We have seen the injurious effects of such piers on the Tay and the Dee ; and on
a part of the Jed near Crailing they are so numerous, that the stream is, to use a familiar
phrase, bandied about like a foot-baU, from one shore to the other ; behind every pier an
eddy is formed, and if the stream does not strike the pier exactly, a breach in the bank takes
place. Many of these piers have, in consequence, been taken down. The use of such piers
can only be justified where the obstruction, from ill-neighbourhood or some such cause,
cannot be removed from the opposite bank ; or where, as is sometimes the case, it arises
from an island of sand or gravel thrown out by the river near its middle, which, however
absurd it may appear, the interested parties cannot agree as to who may remove. The
case of buildings also being in danger may justify such a pier for immediate protection ;
but if such breaches are taken in time, a few loads of loose stones dropped in the breach,
as recommended by Smeaton, will effect a remedy without the risk of incurring or
occasioning a greater evil.
4365. In the construction of piers, attention is required to secure the foundation, either by first throwing
in a quantity of loose stones, which the water will in a great measure dispose of so as to form a flat
surface ; or by the use of piles either under, or in single or double rows around, those parts of its base
in contact with the river, {fig. 672. «.) The elevation (A), where the current is not required to act with
gr£at violence on the opposite shore, ought to be bevelled back on all sides exposed to the water, tow-irds
the middle of the structure (c). In the most important cases stones are the only fit materials, and these
should be regularly jointed and laid in cement according to the best practice of masonry. But, in
general, a case of wicker work, of the proper shape, may be filled in with loose stones, some earth,
together with the roots of such plants as Tussilago Petasites, ^'lymus arenarius, Galium, &c. These
will form a barrier of considerable durability for some years, and probably till the evil is so far subdued
that, when the wicker case decays, its contents will have sufficiently consolidated to eflTect the object
without further care. If not, the wicker case may be renewed. In ordinary cases, a mere wicker hedge
projecting into the water will effect the object without further trouble.
4366. T/ie slieath, or land-guard of loose stones, which Marshal recommends, and
which, in effect, is the mode already mentioned (4362.) as preferred by Smeaton, is
applicable to the following cases : — First, where the river, in the part required to be
bent, is confined, by rocks or otherwise, to an unalterable channel, as it frequently is
in subalpine situations j and, secondly, where a deep pool occurs in that part, at low
Book III.
CHANGING THE COURSES OF RIVERS.
721
water, so as to render it difficult to get a proper foundation for a pier. Where the
foot of the injured bank is covered with a pool at low water, shelve off the brink of
the bank, and shoot down loose stones from the top of it ; suffering them to foi-m their
own slope, in the action of falling, and by the operation of succeeding floods : continuing
to pour them down, until the bank be secured, at least from minor floods, and then slope
back the upper part, to give freedom to floods of greater magnitude.
4367. When the channel of a rapid river is narrow, and the banks undermined and washed away by
the torrents, what Marshal terms the land-guard is to be used.
4368. Informing a land-guard for this purpose, he says, the foundation should be laid pretty deep, to
guard against any accidental scoopings from the floods. The wall ought to be carried up dry, or with-
out mortar, the stones being laid witli their ends outward, their inner ends pointing to the same centre,
like those of an arch, and to be backed with gravel, or earth, rammed in firmly behind, as the facing is
carried up. The coping or uppermost course of the stones is to he securely bound, with thick tough
sods (8 or 10 inches deep\ whose surfaces, when beaten down, ouglit to lie even with that of the stone,
work ; and similar sods require to be laid, with a gently rising slope, until they unite smoothly with the
natural turf of the land to be defended ; so that the waters of floods, when they rise above the stonework,
may have no abruptness to lay hold of, but may pass away smoothly over the surface of the land, as they
commonly do over smooth greensward, without injury. Finally, the stones are to be beaten forcibly into
the bank, with a rammer, a mallet, or a small battering-ram, adapted to the purpose ; thus rendering the
whole compact and firm, to resist the current. AVliere vacancies or fissures still appear, long splinters
of stone are to be driven in, as wedges, to increase the firmness, and prevent the current from tearing out
an unguarded stone. It follows, of course, that the largest and longest of the stones ought to be used
where the greatest resistance is known to be required.
4369. The repairs of a bulwark of this sort, like every other species of river fence, require to be
attended to from time to time, especially after great floods. If the foundation be laid bare, it requires to
be re-covered with rough gravel, or with stones thrown loosely against it If any of the facing stones be
displaced or loosened, they are to be wedged in afresh, or their place supplied by others. Or, if the turf
which binds them at the top be disturbed, the torn part should be cut out square, and be firmly and
completely filled up with fresh turves.
SuBSECT. 2. Ckangiiig the Courses of Rivers, deepenuig their Beds, or raising their Watert
to a higher Level-
4370. A river whose course is in a straight line, or nearly so, hardly ever makes any en-
croachment on its banks, except perhaps very large rivers, when they rise above their usual
level, either by an increase in their own waters, or from their flow being in some degree
interrupted by the tides. Hence, whenever a river is narrow in its channel and winds
considerably, any mischief it commonly occasions may be prevented by deepening and
straightening the course of the stream. {Code of Agr. p. 319.)
4371. The alteration of the course of a river or brook is attended with difficulty and
expense, according to the particular circumstances. In a simple case, in which one
straight cut only is required, the principal difficulty, and that which requires the best skill
of the artist, lies in directing the current of the first flood, out of the old into the new
channel : but if a bend of the old channel can be made use of, tliis difficulty may be said
to vanish. The mouth of the new cut receives the current with a straight course ; con-
sequently, if it be made of sufficient capacity, the river, in a flood, can have no propensity
left towards its old channel : and the loose materials which rise in forming the mouth of
the new cut, will generally be sufficient to turn the stream at low water into it. But
if a suitable bend cannot be approached by the new cut, a directing pier will be required
to bend the flood current, and give it a straightforward course into the new channel : a
watertight dam being formed between the point of the pier and the firm bank of the new
channel to prevent the water from regaining its wonted course. . , ,
ASI 2. An entirely neiv bed or _ 673
channel, however, is much to
be preferred where it can be
obtained: for in an altered
course, when the stream passes
alternately through new soil
and through a part of its old
bed, its action on surfaces
which are so diflferent in re-
gard to induration ends, if
great care is not taken, in
holes and gulleys in the new
bank, which require to be con-
stantly filled up vnth loose
stones thrown in, and left to
be fixed by the pressure and
motion of the water. In the
case of a river passing near a house {fg. 673.) this is sometimes of great importance.
4373. Cutting the new channel is merely a work of manual labour ; being attended with no other diffi-
culty than what may arise from the expense, which will depend on the size of the river, the nature of
the ground to be cut through, and the value of labour in the given district It is mostly to be ascertained
with sufficient accuracy by previous calculations. (See 3323.)
4374. The sixe qf the new cut, on account of its greater depth, may be small, compared with that of the
3 A
722
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
Raising rivers to a higher level.
674
old channel For the current of floods, by carrying off the earthy particles with which they come in
contact, will soon enlarge it. It is nevertheless right to give ample room in the new channel, lest the
first flood should prove high, and, by bursting its bounds, force its way back to its former course.
4375. A netv river course requires to be carefully attended to, during a few years after it is opened, to
see that its channel preserves its straightness, and that no breaches are made or threatened in its banks.
Considering the uncertainty of extraordinary floods, it cannot be said to be out of danger in less than
three years : hence it becomes prudent, when a work of this nature is contracted for, or undertaken to
be done by measurement at an estimated price or prices previously agreed upon (as it generally ought),
that the undertaker should agree to preserve the straightness of the channel, and uphold its banks during
that or some other time fixed upon ; and to deliver them up, at the end of the term, in the state and
condition specified in the contract.
4376. A case of straightening the course of a river is given in The Code of Agriculture. The waters,
which in their crooked course were formerly almost stagnated, now run at the ordinary rate of the
declivity given them. They never overflow their banks. Cattle can now pasture upon those grounds in
which they would formerly have been swamped. The surface of the water being now in general four,
and sometimes six feet below that of the adjacent fields, this cut serves as a general drain to the whole
valley ; so that three hundred acres of meadow may be converted into arable land ; sixty acres of moss
may be improved into meadow ; and five hundred acres of arable land are rendered of double their
former value, (p. 319.)
4377. Raising rivers to a higher level. As rivers and streams may require to be
deepened for the purpose of drainage,
so may their waters require to be
raised for the purpose of irrigation,
impelling machinery, or producing
cascades or waterfalls for the purpose
of ornament. Dams or wears for
this purpose should be constructed
so as to form a segment of a circle
across the bed of the stream, with the
convex side pointing up the stream,
and the ends abutting against a na-
tural or artificial bank (Jig. 674.) By
this construction, the force of the
water, however great, will be effectually resisted, and the structure remains secure. The
greater the slope towards the upper side, the better, but the lower side should be nearly
perpendicular, that the water may fall over it without coming in contact with the face
of the building. {Jig. 675.)
675 The wall (a) should be
built of regularly hewn
stone, as should the abut-
ments (6); next the wall
there should be a mass of
clay as a puddle (c), and
above that gravel or earthy
matter of any kind to a considerable slope (d). Beneath the dam a considerable por-
tion ought to be paved (e). ( Gen. Rep. Scot. vol. ii. p. 669. )
4378. Heads, or banks of earth, for the confinement of water in artificial lakes or
ponds, are often constructed at great expense, and, not being properly formed, often break
out, and occasion considerable damage. The error in their construction is commonly
owing to the want of breadth at the base in proportion to their height, and their not
having a sufficient slope towards the water, nor a proper section of puddle in the
centre. (Ibid.)
4379. Heads of loose stones of a large size (Jig. 676.) may be had recourse to in slow
running rivers not subject to
g7g high floods, and where there is
such a superabundance of water
that no loss is sustained by the
quantity which flows through
the stones. Where it is re-
quired to retain the whole of
the water, a puddle bank should be carried up the middle of the dam. (Ibid.)
Chap. III.
Irrigation, or the Improvement ofCultvrable Lands and Farmeries by the m^ans of Water.
4380. The improvement of lands by water is of three kinds : — irrigation, or the appli-
cation of water to the surface of the soil, and especially of grass lands, as a species of
culture ; warping, or the covering of the soil with water to receive a deposition of earthy
matter ; and the procuring or preserving of water by wells, reservoirs, and other means,
for the use of farmeries, live stock in the fields, or the domestic purposes of the farmer or
cottager.
Book III. IRRIGATION.
723
Sect. I. Irrigation, or the Prejmration of the Surface of Lands fur the profitabk
Application of Water.
438 1 . Irrigation in its different forms may be considered an operation of culture as
well as of permanent improvement. It is accordingly in many cases effected by tenants,
but always, as in the case of improving wastes, in consequence of extraordinary encou-
ragement from the landlord, by long leases, money advanced, or other advantages.
4382. The ajyplication of water to the surface of lands for the purpose of promoting
vegetation has been practised, as we have seen [141.), from the earliest ages in warm coun-
tries. Solomon made him gardens, and orchards, and pools of water to water therewith
the wood that bringeth forth the trees. (Ecclesiastes.) The art was taught by nature in
the overflowing of the Nile and other rivers. Water is an essential article for the cul-
ture both of the cereal and pasture grasses, and indeed of most herbaceous crops, in all
the tropical climates, and even in a great degree in the South of Europe. In the greater
part of Italy and Spain, few crops are raised without being irrigated ; and even in the
south of France, potatoes, maize, madder, and sometimes vines, and orange trees, (as at
Hieres,) have water applied to their roots, by furrows and other gutters and trenches
formed on the surface. The system of watering grass lands was revived in Italy in the
ninth centuiy, and seems to have been practised in a few places in Britain from the
time of the Romans ; there being meadows near Salisbury which have been irrigated
from time immemorial. In 1610, the public attention was called to it by Rowland
Vaughan, in a work entitled, " Most improved and long experienced Water Works ; con- '
taining the manner of summer and winter drowning of meadow and pasture, by the
advantage of the least river, brook, fount, or water mill adjacent ; thereby to make those
grounds (especially if they be dry) more fertile ten for one."
4383. Irrigation informer times, and in all countries, however imperfect, was probably
much more frequent than it is now. In light and gravelly tracts of country, the greatest
difl[iculty in farming was to procure a suflficient supply of fodder for their cattle in winter.
Meadows were therefore indispensable, and to increase the crop of hay, watering in a dry
spring, and immediately (in dry summers) after the first crop was off, was constantly
followed. Since the practice of sowing artificial grasses, and the introduction of the
turnip husbandry, the custom of watering has been in such situations given up ; not only
because it has become less necessary than it was heretofore, but because watered meadow
hay is of inferior quality as well as value in the market. It is nevertheless true that the
herbage of very coarse boggy meadows is improved, and that of cold meagre soils is
accelerated and increased by it.
4384. Bnt the principal scientific efforts in watering lands have been made during the
latter end of the last and beginning of the present century, in consequence of a treatise
on the subject by George Boswell, published in 1780, and various others by the Rev.
Thomas Wright, of Auld, in Northamptonshire, which appeared from 1789 to 1810.
The practice, however, has been chiefly confined to England, there being a sort of
national prejudice, as Loch has observed {Improvements on the Stafford Estates, ^c),
against the practice in Scotland, though its beneficial effects may be seen as far north as
Sutherland, where rills on the sides of brown heathy mountains never fail to destroy the
heath plants within their reach, and these are succeeded by a verdant surface of grasses.
A valuable treatise on the subject of irrigation in Scotland, by Dr. Singer, will be found
in The Ge^ieral Report of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 610. In England the best examples of
watering are to be found in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. In our view of this subject,
we shall first consider the soils and situations suitable for irrigation, and next the different
modes of effecting it, known as flooding, irrigating, warping, irrigation on arable lands,
and subterraneous irrigation.
SuBSECT. 1. Soils and Situations suitable for Watering.
4385. The theory of the operation of water on lands we have already developed. It
appears to act as a medium of conveying food, as a stimulus, as a consolidater of mossy
soils, as a destroyer of some descriptions of weeds or useless plants, and as the cause of
warmth at one season, and of a refreshing coolness at another. From these circum-
stances, and also from what we observe in nature, there appears to be no soil or situation,
nor any climate, in which watering grass-lands may not be of service ; since the banks of
streams between mountains of every description of rock, and in every temperature from
that of Lapland to the equator, are found to produce the richest grass. One circum-
stance alone seems common to all situations, which is, that the lands must be drained
either naturally or by art. The flat surfaces on every brook or river, after being covered
with water during floods, are speedily dried when they subside, by the retiring of the
waters to their channel.
4386. The most proper soils for being watered are all those which are of a sandy or
gravelly friable nature, as the improvement is not only immediate, but the effects more
3 A 2
724 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE Part III.
powerful than on other descriptions of land. There are also some strong adhesive sour
wet lands, such as are common in the vicinity of large rivers, which are also capable of
being improved by watering ; but the beneficial effects are not in such cases so soon pro-
duced as on the first sorts, nor is the process so advantageous to the farmer, on account
of the very great expense to which he must, in many cases, be put by previous draining.
There are some other lands, as those which contain coarse vegetable productions, as
heath, ling, rushes, &c. which may likewise be much improved by watering. It must
be kept constantly in mind, in attempting this sort of improvement, that, the more tena-
cious the soil is, the greater should be the command of water for effecting the purpose ;
as a stream, capable of watering fifteen or twenty acres of light dry land, would be found
to be beneficial in but a small degree when applied to watering half the same quantity of
cold clayey ground such as in its natural state abounds with coarse plants. On all soils
of the latter kind a considerable body of water for the purpose of floating them is required
to produce much benefit, and where a suflScient quantity cannot be procured, this mode of
improvement will seldom answer the farmer's intention or be advantageous in the result.
4387. Smith, an experienced irrigator, supposes that " there are only a few soils to which irrigation may
not be advantageously applied : his experience, he says, has determined, that the wettest land maybe
greatly improved by it, and also that it is equally beneficial to that which is dry." {Obs. on Irrigation,
8[c.) But, as many persons unacquainted with the nature of irrigation maybe more inclined to the latter
supposition than the former, he explains the reason of wet land being as capable of improvement from
"ry. It is, that, in the construction of all '
care must be taken to render them perfectly dry when the business of floating shall terminate ;' and that
flooding as that which is completely dry. It is, that, in the construction of all water meadows, particular
the season for floating is in the winter and not in the summer, which those who are unacquainted with
the process have too generally supposed. All peat bogs are certainly of vegetable origin, and those vege-
tables are all aquatic. It follows that the same water which has produced the vegetables of the bog would,
under due management upon the surface, produce such grasses, or other vegetables, as are usually grown
by the farmer ; and he has hitherto had reason to think that this may be considered as a general rule for
determining the situation of any experiments with water. The lands that permit of this sort of improve-
ment with the most success are such as lie in low situations on the borders of brooks, streams, or rivers, or
in sloping directions on the sides of hills.
4388. Tlie purity of the water to he used in irrigation is supposed by some to be
a matter of the first importance ; but it is now fully proved, by the accurate experi-
ments of an able chemist, and by the extraordinary growth of grasses in Pristley meadow,
in Bedfordshire, that ferruginous waters are friendly to vegetation, when properly applied.
(Smith's Observations on Irrigation, p. 28.) Lead or copper never does good, and it is well
known, that waters of that description, after they have been brought into fields, by levels
cut at a considerable expense, have again been diverted, and suffered to flow in their original
channels. Waters impregnated with the juices that flow from peat-mosses, are consi-
sidered by many not worth applying to the soil. It is objected to them, that they are
soon frozen, that they convey no material nutriment, and that they are commonly loaded
with such antiseptic substances as, instead of promoting, will retard vegetation. (Dr.
Si7iger's Treatise, p. 579.) It is urged, on the other hand, that a want of suflficient slope
in the meadow, or of proper management in regard to the water, may have occasioned
the disappointments experienced in some cases, when bog-waters have been applied.
{Derbyshire Report, vol. ii. p. 463.)
4389. The advantages of tvatering lands must, in a material degree, depend on the
climate. It is evident that the benefit to be derived from this process in Sweden, for
example, where the summers are short, must be greatly inferior to what it is in Lom-
bardy, where grass grows all the year ; and that in Perthshire, where grass ceases to grow
for at least three and often four months in the year, it must be much less than in Glouces-
tershire or Ireland, where its growth is not interrupted above a month or six weeks, and
sometimes not at all : most grasses vegetating in a temperature of 33 or 34 degrees.
Still, however, as the most luxuriant pastures are found on lands naturally watered, both
in Sweden and Perthshire, it would appear worth while to imitate nature in cold as well as
in warm countries. According to many writers on the subject, the benefits attending
watering in England are immense. In Davis's Survey of Wiltshire, it is calculated that
2000 acres of water meadow will, on a moderate estimate, produce, in four or five yeais,
10,000 tons of manure, and will keep in permanent fertility 400 acres per annum of
arable land.
4390. Watering poor land, especially if of a gravelly nature, is stated in The Code of Agriculture to be
by far the easiest, cheapest, and most certain mode of improving it. " Land, when once improved by
irrigation, is put in a state of perpetual fertility, without any occasion for manure, or trouble of weeding,
or any other material expense. It becomes so productive, as to yitld the largest bulk of hay, besides
abundance of the very best support for ewes and lambs in the spring, and for cows and other cattle in the
autumn of everv year. In favourable situations, it produces very early grass in the spring, when it is
doubly valuable'; and not only is the land thus rendered fertile, without having any occasion for manure,
but it produces food for animals, which is converted into manure, to be used on other lands, thus augment-
ing, in a compound proportion, that great source of fertility." Were these advantages more generally
known, or more fully appreciated, a large proportion of the kingdom might become like South Cerney, m
Gloucestershire, where every spring, or rivulet, however insignificant, is made subservient to the purpose
of irrigation, fertilising, in proportion to its size, either a small quantity or a large tract of land. (.Glouces-
tershire Report, p. 280.)
4391. Irrigation by liquid manure may occasionally be practised in the neighbourhood
of towns and cities to the greatest advantage. In the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, we
Be
III.
IMPLEMENTS OF IRRIGATION.
725
are informed by Stephens, upwards of 200 acres are so irrigated from the principal com-
mon sewer, and that, although the formation of these meadows is irregular, and the
management very imperfect, the effects of the water are astonishing : they produce
crops of grass not to be equalled, being cut from four to six times a year, and the grass
given green to milch cows.
SuBSECT. 2. Implements made Use of in Watering Lands; and the Terms of Art
peculiar to such Operations.
4392. The principal instruments made use of in the preparation of lands for watering
are the following : —
4393. The level, of which different descriptions have already been given, is necessarily employed
to take the level of the land at a distance, compared with the part of the river, &c. whence it is
intended to bring the water, to know whether it can or cannot be made to float the part intended
to be watered. Bringing the water after them to work by is found very useful in undertakings
of this nature, especially when on a large scale, though the workmen too frequently dispense
with it. In drawing a main,
^70 they begin at the head, and
' work deep enough to have the
water to follow them ; and in
drawing a tail drain, they begin
at the lower end of it, and work
upwards, to let the water come
after them. The level should,
however, be made use of, as
being more certain and correct.
Brown, an experienced irriga-
tor in the west of England, re-
commends a level (Jig. 677. a),
which when not in use may be
closed (b) like a walking-stick.
There is also a compass level
ifig-GIS.), which may be used
in the same way.
4394. A line and reel, and a breast-plough, or turf spade (fig. 211.), are likewise absolutely necessary.
The use of the two former are well known ; but as the line is mostly used in the wet, it should for this
purpose be larger and stronger than those employed in gardening. The turf spade should be of the best
description, being principally employed in cutting turfs for the sides of the channels.
4395. The spades made use of m this sort of work (fig. 679.) should have the stems considerably more
crooked than those of any other kind; the bit ^
being of iron, about a foot wide in the middle, 68O
terminating in a point ; a thick ridge running
perpendicularly down themiddle, from thestem
almost to the point ; the edges on both sides
should be drawn very thin, and as they are
obliged to be kept very sharp, they should be
often ground and whetted. This necessarily
wears them away, and they soon become nar-
row; they are then used for the narrow trenches
and drains, whilst new ones are used for the
wider. From the stems being made crooked,
the workmen, standing in the working position
in the bottom of the trench or drain, are en-
abled to make it quite smooth and even.
Shovels of different forms [fig. 680. a, b), and
a scoop for lifting water (c), are also requisite.
4396. The crescent (fig. 679. b) is a tool made
like the gardener's edging iron, only much
larger, having the form of a crescent, being very thin and well steeled, with a stem about three feet long,
and a cross handle to bear upon. It is used for tracing out the sides of the mains, trenches, drains, &c.
4397. The turf knife (Jig. 681.) has a cimeter-like blade, with a tread for the foot (a)
and a bent handle (b) : it is used for the same purpose as the crescent, and by some
11 preferred.
" 4398. Wheelbarrows also become necessary to remove the clods to flat places: they
may be open, without sides or hinder parts.
4399. Handbarrows are likewise sometimes made use of where the ground is too
soft to admit of wheelbarrows, and where clods require to be removed during the time
the meadow is under water.
4400. Three-wheeled carts, 4-c. are necessary, when large quantities of earth are to
be removed, particularly when it is carried to some distance.
4401. Scythes, of different sorts (fig. 682. a, b), are required to mow the weeds and
grass, when the water is running in the trenches, drains, &c. The crooks (b) should be
made light, and have long stems, to reach wherever the water is so deep that the work-
men cannot work in it.
4402. Besides these,/or*s (c), and long four or five tined hacks, are requisite to pull out the roots of
the sedge, rushes, reeds, &c. which grow in the large mains and drains.
682
3 A 3
726
PRACTICE OF AGIIICULTUIIE.
Part III.
4*03. Slout large waterproc^ boots, having tops so as to draw up half the length of the thigh, are
indispensable; they must be large enough to admit a quantity of hay to be stuffed down all round the
legs, and be kept well tallowed, to resist tlie running water for a length of time.
4404. The terms 7nade use of are various : —
4405. A wear is an erection across a river, brook, rivulet, main, &c., made often of timber only, some-
times of bricks, or stones and timber, with from two to eight or ten thoroughs (openings) to let the water
through, according to the breadth of the stream. Its height is always equal to the depth of the stream
compared with the adjacent land. Its use is, when the hatches are all in their proper places, to stop the
whole current, that the water may rise high enough to overflow the banks, and spread over the adjoining
land ; or, by stopping the water in its natural course, to turn it through mains cut for conveying it another
way, to water some distant lands.
4406. A sluice {fig. GS3. a, b) is made exactly as a wear, only it has but one thorough ; for if there are
more than one, it becomes a wear.
683
4407. A trunk is a covered sluice, being a necessary construction in all cases where two streams of
water are to cross each other, to serve as a bridge for that stream which is to pass over or under the
other.
4408. A carriage is a sort of small wooden or brick aqueduct, built open, for the purpose of carrying
one stream over another, and is the most expensive conveyance belonging to the business of watering.
4409. A drain sluice, or drain trunk, signifies such as are placed in the lowest part of a main, as near
to the head as a drain can be formed, and situated low enough to drain the main, &c. It is placed with
the mouth at the bottom of the main, being let down into tlie bank ; and from its other end a drain is
cut to communicate with the nearest trench-drain. It is a contrivance to carry off the leakage through
the hatches when they are shut down, to convey the water to other grounds, or to repair the main, &c.
4410. Hatches {fig. 683. c) are floodgates, variously constructed A particular kind, which has about
a foot to take off, so as to permit the water to flow over that much of the hatch where it appears to bo
useful in irrigation, has been employed, but is not found to answer. They are best when made whole.
They may be made of any timber, but oak and elm are the best.
4411. Head main is a term used to signify a ditch drawn from the river, rivulet, &c. to convey the water
out of its usual current to water the lands laid out for that purpose, through the means of lesser mains
and trenches. The head main is drawn of various breadths and depths, according to the quantity of land
to be watered, to the length, or to the fall or descent of the land it is cut through. Smaller mains are
frequently taken out of the head main, at, or nearly at, right angles, to which they are usually cut. They
are much smaller than the head main, and this constitutes the only diftbrence. The use of both the
large and small mains is to feed with water the various trenches which branch out into all parts of the
meadow. These smaller mains are by some called carriages, but improperly, for it is confounding them
with the open trunk, called by that name, as seen above.
4412. The trench is a narrow shallow ditch, for conveying the water out of the mains to float the land.
It ought always to be drawn in a straight line from angle to angle, with as few turnings as possible. It
is never made deep, but the width is in proportion to the length it runs, and the breadth of the pane
between it and the trench drain. It narrows gradually to the lower end.
4113. The trench drain is cut parallel to the trench, and as deep, when necessary, as the tail drain water
will admit. It ought always to be cut, if possible, so as to come down to a firm stratum of sand, gravel,
or clay : if the latter, a spade's depth into it will be of great advantage. Its use is to carry away the water
immediately after it has run over the panes from the trench. It need not be drawn up to the head of the
land, by five, six, or more yards, according to the nature of the soil. Its form is the reverse of the
trench, being narrower at the head, or upper part, and gradually wider, till it comes to the lower end
and empties itself into the tail drain.
4414. The tail drain is a receptacle for all the water that nms out of the other drains, not so situated
as to empty themselves into the river ; and therefore it should run nearly at right angles with the
trenches, but, in general it is drawn in the lowest part of the ground, and used to convey the water out
of the meadow where there is the greatest descent. This is generally found in one.of the fence ditches j
for which reason a fence ditch is mostly used, at once fencing the meadow and draining it.
4415. A pane of ground is that part of the meadow which lies between the trench and the trench drain,
and is the part on which the grass grows that is mown for hay : it is watered by the trenches, and
drained by the trench drains, consequently there is one on each side of every trench.
4416. A way pane is that part of the ground which, in a properly watered meadow, lies on that side of
a main where no trenches are taken out. It is watered the whole length of the main over its banks, and
a drain runs parallel with the main to drain the way pane. Its use is to afford a road for conveying the
hay out of the meadows, and prevent the teams from crossing all the trenches.
4417. A bend is a stoppage made in various parts of those trenches which have a quick descent. It is
formed by leaving a narrow slip of greensward across the trench, where the bend is intended to be, cutting
occasionally a wedge-shaped piece out of the middle of it. Its use is to check the water, and force it over
the trench into the panes ; for if it were not for those bends, it would run rapidly on in the trench, with-
out flowing over the land as it passed along. The great art of watering meadows consists in giving to
every part of each pane an equal quantity of water.
4418. A gutter is a small groove cut out from the tails of those trenches, where the panes run longer at
one corner than the other. Its use is to carry the water to the extreme point of the pane. Those panes
which are intersected by the trench and tail drains meeting in an obtuse angle, want the assistance of
these gutters to convey the water to the longest side ; and when, from insuflicient levelling, some parts
of the panes lie higher than they ought, a gutter is drawn from the trench over that high ground,
which otherwise Avould not be overflowed. Without this precaution, unless the flats were filled up
(which ought always to be done when materials can be had), the water would not rise upon it : and
after the watering season was past, those places would appear rusty and brown, v/hilst a rich verdure
would overspread the others ; at hay-time, also, the grass m those places would be scarce high enough
Book III. IRRIGATION OF GRASS LANDS. 727
for the scythe to touch it, whilst that around them, which had been properly watered, would from its
luxuriance lie down. Though this method of treating such places is mentioned, their existence ought
always to be reprobated ; for every inequality in water meadows should either be levelled down or filled
up. Here the irrigator's skill is shown, in bringing the water over those places to which it could not rise
of itself, and in carrying it off from others where it would otherwise stagnate.
4419. Catch dram is a term sometimes applied to a method made use of to irrigate the land when the
water is scarce, and the method is this : when a meadow is pretty long, and has a quick descent, the water
is made to run swiftly down a drain or drains, in which it is stopped at different distances so as to spread
it over the adjoining surface. (Seejig. 686. p. 728.)
4420. The bed of a river, main, trench, &c., is the bottom of it.
4421. Po7id means water standing upon the land, or in the tail drain, trench drains, &c., so as to injure
the ground near them ; and is occasioned sometimes by the flats not having been properly filled up ;
and at other times, when, a ware being shut close, to water some high ground above it, the water
is thrown back upon the ground contiguous. In this case the lesser evil, whichever it is, must be
borne with.
4422. A tu7-n of water means so much land in a meadow as can be watered at one time. It is done
by shutting down the hatches in all those wears wliere the water is intended to be kept out, and
opening those that are to let the water through. The quantity of land to be watered by one turn
, must vary with the size of the river, main, &c. as well as with the plenty or scarcity of water.
4423. The head of a meadoin is that part into which the river, main, &c. first enters ; and the tail of a
meadow is that part out of which the river, &c. last passes.
4424. The upper side of a main, or trench, is that side which (when the main or trench is drawn at, or
nearly at, right angles with the river, &c.) fronts the part whence the river entered. Consequently the
lower side is the reverse.
4125. The upper pane in a meadow is that pane which lies upon the upper side of the main, or trench,
drawn at right angles with the river : that is, when the river, &c. runs north and south, entering at the
north, and the mains and trenches are drawn east and west, all those panes which lie on the north side
of the main, &c. are called the upper panes, those on the south side are called the lower. But it may be
noticed, that where the mains, trenches, &c. run parallel with the river, the panes on either side are not
distinguished from each other.
4426. Meadoivs are of two sorts : flowing, calculated for a flat country ; and catch-work,
for sloping grounds.
44.7. Floiving 7neadows. Where the ground is flat, the soil is formed into beds, or broad ridges, like
those met with at bleachfields. They are commonly from 30 to 40 feet wide, and nine or ten poles in
length ; as, in such situations, the great object is, when once brought on, to be able to carry off the
water quickly. Hence it is necessary to throw up the land in high ridges, with drains between them.
More of the fiiilures in irrigation arise from the ridges not being sufficiently high, and the slopes not being
sufficiently steep, than from any other cause. {Code.)
4428. Catch-ioork meadows. It is difficult to give an intelligible written description of the mode of
making these meadows. To be properly understood, the operation must be seen. It may, however, in
general be remarked, that the system is calculated for sloping grounds, and that, after the water is brought
from the original stream, into a new cut, it is stopped at the end, on as high a level as the case admits of,
by which means it is made to fill the trench, and run over at the side, flooding the land below. But as
the water would soon cease to run equally, and would wash the land out in gutters, it has been found
necessary to cut small parallel trenches, at the distance of from 20 to .SO feet, to catch the water again
(hence the name originated), and the same plan of spreading or diffusing is continued, until the water
reaches the main drain at the bottom of the meadow. It is a great advantage attending the catch,
work system, that it is not only less expensive, but the same quantity of water will do much more
work. {Code.)
SuBSECT. 3. Preparation of Surfaces for Irrigation.
4429. Artificial irrigation, Smith observes, is produced by diverting the water of a
brook out of its accustomed channel (where there is a fall) in such a manner that, the new
watercourse being kept nearly level, the space between the old and new channel may be
floated ; the water being brought upon the land by the new channel and taken away by
the old one. Thus a constant discharge and succession of water is maintained, without
such an accumulation as would make it appear bright upon the land, or without such a
deficiency as would leave any part of it not perfectly floating ; for the art of irrigation
may be most properly called floating, not soaking nor drowning. Soaking the soil,
similar to the effects produced from a shower of rain, is not sufficient for the general pur-
poses of irrigation, nor will damming up water, and keeping it stagnant upon the surface,
like that in a pond, or on the fens, produce the desired effect.
4430. Stagnating water on land may properly be called drowning, because it drowns or
covers all the grass, thereby rendering the plants beneath it in some degree aquatic, or
the herljage disposed to make such a change ; whereas the herbage of a water meadow
should, by the construction and good management of the latter, enjoy the full benefits of
both the elements of air and water. Practice has proved that there is no better method
of doing this than by keeping water passing over the surface of the land with a brisk
current ; not so brisk as to wash away the soil, and yet in sufficient quantity to cover and
nourish the roots, but not too much to hide the shoots of the grasses : hence appears the
nicety of adjusting the quantity of water ; and hence it also appears, that one main drain
to bring the water on the upper side of the mead, and another on the lower side to take
it away, will not be adequate to all the purposes of such an accurate regulation. If the
space between the upper channel or main feeder and the lower one or main drain, should
therefore be wider than is proper for the good adjustment of the water, that is, so that every
part of the space shall have enough water passing over it and no part too much, then that
space must be divided into smaller spaces by intermediate drains, which shall catch and
re-distribute the water. As the water is brought by the main feeder upon the higher
3 A 4
728 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
ade of a piece of ground which slopes towards the main drain, and down which sloping
surface the water will run very readily, it does not, to persons unacquainted with irri-
gation, at first sight appear necessary to make such a number of intermediate catch
drains ; but it is proved by experience, that, however regular the slope of ground may
appear to the eye, tlie water will find a number of irregularities, forcing itself into gut-
ters or channels, and defeating the purposes of irrigation ; in the hollow places by excess,
and in high ones by the want of water. Hence the water, which was scattered over the
surface of the first space, being all collected in the catch drain, may by the skill of the
floater be let out upon those parts of tlie bed below which appear to need the most
assistance.
4431. Tlie work should always be well formed at first in all cases of improvements of
this nature. Temporary means of making dams and hatches to divert the water out of
its usual channel may, says Smith, suffice to try an experiment, or for a tenant who
has but a short term in the grounds to be irrigated ; but every land-owner who enters
upon such work in this temporary manner sadly mistakes his own interest : indeed, it is
frequently more difficult to repair than to renew upon large streams, when the foundations
are often destroyed by the force of the water. The same principle holds good upon
small streams, and even in the drains and feeders of a water meadow. Wherever
the channels are so constructed as to make a fall, or much increase the rapidity of the
stream, it is constantly disposed to wear away the sides of its channel, or undermine a
dam. To repair these defects, land must be dug away and wasted each time it is re-
placed, with the loss of labour. The consequent ill management of the water renders it
more advisable, and perhaps cheaper, to make all such works of masonry. When works
are well done at first, the owner ever finds much pleasure in viewing them ; and even the
labourers feel much more interested in their good management.
4432. The expenses of making a water meadow are not easily estimated. Much depends on the original
state of the ground, the size and fall of the streams to be used, the cost of hatches, and length of the
main feeders which may be necessary for diverting the water out of its original channel, and even upon
the charge for levelling land, which differs materially. Some soils are much harder and more difficult
to move than others, and, in certain situations, building materials are very scarce and dear. This last
circumstance must make a considerable variation in the price of the hatches, where the stream is
large It is also impossible to tell, with any degree of certainty, what proporiion these expenses
should bear to the quantity of land irrigated, for some situations will require much more masonry
than others.
4433. Before entering upon the execution of a water meadow, it is necessary to consider
fidly, whether the stream of w^ater to be made use of will admit of a temporary wear or
dam to be formed across it, so as to keep the water up to a proper level for covering the
land without flooding or injuring other adjoining grounds ; or if the water be in its na-
tural state sufficiently high witJiout a wear or dam ; or can be made so by taking it from
the stream higher up more towards its source ; and by the conductor keeping it up nearly
to its level till it comes upon the meadow or other ground : and still further, whether the
water can be dravsTj off the meadow or other groimd in as rapid a manner as it is brought
on. Having, in addition to these, an attention to all such other difficulties and obstruc-
tions as may present themselves, from the lands being in lease, through which it may bo
necessary to cut or form the mains or grand carriers, from the water being necessary
for turning mills, from the rivers or brooks not being wholly at the command of the
irrigator, and from small necks of land intervening so as to prevent the work from
being performed to the greatest advantage, the operator may be in a situation to com-
mence his operations.
4434. In order to have an equal distrilnition and prevent waste. Smith states, that no
part of a meadow, either in catch-work or beds, should be so formed as to be floated
directly from the main feeder ; but all the main feeders should be kept high enough to
discharge the water into the small feeders with considerable velocity and through a
narrow opening. The motion of water is truly mechanical : it requires a great deal of
ingenuity, and a perfect knowledge of lines and levels, to make it move over the ground
in a proper manner. No two pieces of land being exactly alike, renders it still more
difficult to set out a water meadow ; but even if the figure of two pieces be alike, the
inequalities of surface will probably vary. Each meadow, therefore, requires a different
design, unless the landowner makes up his mind to the heavy expenses of paring off banks,
and filling up such hollows as may be necessary to reduce it to some regular method ;
the construction to be varied according to the nature of the ground. This constitutes
the difference between the water meadows of Berkshire and Devonshire. Those of the
latter are upon small streams carried round the sides of the hills, and are chiefly catch-
work ; those of the former, being near large rivers and boggy ground, are thrown up
into ridges to create a brisk motion in the water, and also for the essential purpose of
draining off all superfluous moisture, which might be injurious to the grasses when
shut up for feeding or mowing- Where there is much floating to be done with a little
water, or rather where the great fall of a small stream will admit of its being carried
over a vast quantity of ground and used several times, it is desirable to employ it in such
Book III.
IRRIGATION OF GRASS LANDS.
729
a way as tliat the earthy particles it may contain may be deposited as equally as possible
over the whole surface to be irrigated. But it is to be observed, that this mode of applying
M'ater must not be exhibited as a perfect model. If it should answer the purpose of a
coat of manure, upon such an extent of ground, it is all that can be expected, and will
amply repay the expense. Losing fall is wasting water.
4435. The drains of a water meadow require no greater declivity than is necessary to carry the water
from the surface : therefore the water ought to be collected and used again at every three feet of the fall,
if it be not catch-work. It is sometimes difficult to do this in bed-work meads ; but where the upper part
of the meadow is catch-work or in level beds, and the lower part not too much elevated, it may be done.
By collecting and using the water again in the same piece of ground before it falls into the brook, a
set of hatches is saved ; and it is not necessary to be very particular about getting the upper part into
high ridges, since that part of the meadow which is near the hatches generally becomes the best, and
the lower end of the field, being often the wettest or most boggy in its original state, requires to be
thrown up the highest. If the land is of a dry absorbent nature before floating, it is not necessary that
it should be thrown up into high beds, but merely as much inclined as will give the water a current.
4436. Inclined planes are absolutely necessary for the purpose of irrigation. To form these between
straight and parallel lines, it is necessary to dig away land where it is too high, and move it to those
places where it is too low, to make such a uniformity of surface. The new-made ground will of course
settle in hollows proportioned to the depth of loose matter which has been recently put together, but
this settlement will not take place until the new soil has been completely soaked and dried again;
therefore these defects cannot be remedied before the second or third year of watering : it will there-
fore require more skill to manage a water meadow for the first three or four years, than afterwards.
4437. Properly to construct a water meadow is much more difficult than is commonly
imagined. It is no easy task to give an irregidar surface that regular yet various figure
which shall be fit for the overflowing of water. It is very necessary for the operator to
have just ideas of levels, lines, and angles ; a knowledge of superficial forms will not be
sufficient; accurate notions of solid geometry (obtained from theory or practice) are
absolutely necessary to put such a surface into the form proper for the reception of
water, without the trouble and expense of doing much of the work twice over. {Obs.
071 Irrigation, ^c.)
4438. As an example of irrigating a meadow from both sides of a river, we take the following case from
Boswell's treatise. From the upper part of
the grounds, two main drains (Jig. 684. a, a)
are formed at right angles to the river, one
running north, the other south, across the
meadow, to within about six yards of the fence
ditches which surround it (b) and are used for
tail drains : by means of these fence ditches
the water is discharged into the river. A
wear erected across the river forces the
water into either of the main drains, which
is done by shutting the other wear close.
When there is not water enough, or it is not
convenient to water both parts of the mea-
dow at once, by shutting close one of the
, wears, the current is forced into that main
^ whose wear is open, thence to be conveyed
through the trenches over the panes, to water
that side of the meadow ; then by shutting
that, and opening the other, the opposite main
is filled, and by means of the trenches that
side of the meadow is watered in the same
manner ; and lastly, by shutting them both,
and opening the river wear, the water flows
in its usual course, and the land on both sides
is laid dry. From the main drains {a, a) the
water flows along the highest part, or crowns of the ridges in the trenches (c), and is carried off" to the
tail drains by the trench drains (rf).
4439. As an example of an irregtUar surface watered from one side of a river, we shall have recourse
to the same author. There is a wear
(Jig. 685. e) erected across the river,
and another across the head-main (a),
from which proceed three main and
branch trenches {g, g, g, and /, /),
which water the whole meadow.
There is a tail drain {b) for carrying
off" the whole of the water by means
of the drain trenches [d, d). The
water, having thus passed over the
field, is returned to the river by the
tail drain already mentioned. When
it is desired to withhold the water, the
wear of the head main {a) is shut, and
that of the river {e) opened. It will
be observed, that in this design there
are branch trenches (/,/), and vari-
ous gutters {h, h), taken out of the
ends of some of the trenches, to carry
the water to the longest corner of the
panes, and sometimes taken out of
different parts of the trenches, to water
some little irregularities in the panes,
which, without such assistance, would
not have any water upon them. There
is a sluice (t) erected at the end of one of the small mains, to force the water into the branch trench
adjoining {/), that being the highest ground.
684
a
d
. ._ ... i
^^^^
730
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
4H0. A vr-ry complete piece of irrigation{fig. 686.) was formed for the Duke of Bedford, by Smith at
Pristley. Tlie water is supphed from a brook (a), to a main feeder, with various ramifications (6, b) ; the
surface is formed into ridges (c, c), over which the water flows, and is carried off by the drains in their
furrows (d, d), to the main drains {e, e), and to the brook at different places (/, /). Tfiere are bridges
(g) over the main feeders, small arches over the main dischargfing drains (/0,and three hatches («).
4441. As an example qf catch-work watering, we may refer to a case {Jig. 687.)> given in a recent work
by John Brown. (Treatise on Irrigation, 1817.) In this the field of operations being on the steep side of a
hill, a main carrier is led from the sluice [a), directly across the declivity [b), and lateral feeders (c) taken
out from it at regular distances. These feeders have stops of turf, at regular distances [d], by which
means the water is dispersed. After watering a space of from twenty to forty feet in breadth, it "is again
collected by the small drains in the furrows, and returned lower down to another feeder. The advan-
tage of this method, Browne observes, " relates more materially to the sides of hills, and to porous .soils
that are by some thought incapable of being watered. The chief point is to get the water to the highest
level possible; and in case the soil be porous, one main carrier only will require puddling, in order to
prevent the water from sinking away : when that is done, no difficulty whatever is found in taking it in
small streams vertically, or directly down the slope (c\ and putting stops (rf) to arrest its progress occa-
sionally, which will throw it on each side; and when those stops are placed one above another, it will
have the effect of spreading the water on the land, somewhat similar to a fan when extended. The
stops need only be sods or turfs, one laid lengthways in the gutter, and one across it, which may be raised
or lowered according to the declivity : these sods or turfs will require probably a small wooden peg to
fasten them at first ; and by the time the land requires a second watering, the roots of the grass will have
sufficiently fastened them ; and they need not be removed, unless occasionally for the purpose of watering
any separate part below, when the stream may be too small to water the whole piece at once ; and the
small cuts for conveying the water will be less expensive in cleaning, not being so liable to choke np as
Book III. IRRIGATION OF GRASS LANDS. 731
those carried on what is termed horizontal or level gutters. In some places in Essex, it is the practice to
irrigate during winter by means of the water of occasional floods. Sometimes this water is obtained from
the ditches along the sides of the roads, and from the drainages of villages j and in these cases is more or
less enriched by earthy materials.
4+42. As an example of the benefit of flooding, we refer to Loch Ken, in Kircudbrightshirc, the most
striking instance known in Great Britain of advantage being derived from the inundations of a lake.
At the head of that beautiful piece of water, there is a fiat of about 'J4() statute acres, whidi is rendered,
by flooding, one of the richest spots in Scotland. Many acres in it produce at the rate of three tons of
hay each, and some parts of it have been cropped with grain for twenty-Hve years in succession, without
any manure, except what it receives from the inundations it experiences. These, however, leave behind
tliem a variety of enriching substances. {Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. iv. p. 260.)
444'3. Floating npivards. The ancient and now obsolete practice of flooding, or, as
it v>'as tei-mcd, of floating upwards, was practised in various parts of the kingdom. For
tJiat purpose, the water was penned, in times of flood.s, by means of a dam or floodgate
across the bottom of the meadow or flat to be watered. The waters were not suffered
to remain long upon the land, but wei-e let off as soon as it was judged that they had
deposited their sediment. The benefit arising from this method of using floodwaters, it
is said, was considerable; but when the improved mode of irrigation by floating ridges
was introduced, and found more advantageous, the other was discontinued. (Marshal's
Midland Counties, Minute 27.)
4444. Watering land by machinevT/. If the land be put in a proper form for irrigation,
and supplied with a good stream at proper seasons, there can be no difference from the
method of getting it on the surface ; and if all other circumstances are equally favour-
able, the same fertility may be expected from water thrown up by a drain-mill, as from
that which runs from a brook. {Smith's Observations on Water Meadows, &c. p. 93.)
A cheap and effectual power for raising water in sufficient quantities to flow about ten
acres at a time, would be an invaluable acquisition ; for a productive water meadow is
probably the true mark of perfection in the management of a farm. {Middlesex Report,
p. 322.)
4445. Sea water. Smith suggests the idea of employing machinery to raise not only
fi-esh but even sea water for irrigation. (Obsei-vatio7is, ^t. 87.) It is well known how
much all kinds of stock are improved by salt marshes, and how beneficial to them is a
moderate quantity of saline matter. There are many parts of the kingdom where, by
the aid of machinery, these advantages might be obtained at a moderate expense.
{Code.)
4446. The expense of irrigation varies according to the nature of the work. Where
the catch- work system is practicable, in favourable situations, the forming may be done
as low as ten shillings per acre. This fact is, in many cases, decisively in favour of this
natural and simple mode, which requires also much less water, and often answers fully
as well as flat flooding. (General Beport, vol. ii. p. 598.) The expense of bed-work,
as it is called, is, however, considerable. If the ground to be flooded be smooth on its
surface, or in regular ridges, and if the water can easily be brought to the meadow, with
a temporary wear, supposing the extent to be almost twenty acres, it may be done at from
51. to 10/. per acre : but if the land be of large extent, with an irregular surface ; if
a large conductor and a proper wear shall be required, with hatches both in it and also
in the feeders ; and if the aid of a professional person, to lay out and oversee the work,
be necessary (which is generally the case), the expense will vary from 10/. to 20/. per
acre. {General Report, vol. ii. p. 598.) Nay, in Wiltshire, where they are anxious to
have their meadows formed in the most perfect manner, with that regularity which the
nice adjustment of water demands, the expense per acre has amounted to 40/. {Smith's
Observations on Tn-igation, p. 56.)
4447. Objections to iri'igation have been made on the supposition that it renders a
country unhealthy ; but as the water is continually kept in motion, this is not likely to
be the case, and indeed is found not to be so in Gloucestershire, Lombardy, and other
places where it is extensively practised. It is also thought that though the produce may
be increased, it becomes in a few years of so coarse a nature, mixed with rushes and
water plants, that cattle frequently refuse to eat it^ and when they do, their appearance
proclaims that it is far from being of a nutritious quality. {Rutland Report, p. 114.)
But this objection is never applicable to meadows skilfully made and properly managed ;
and whenever the grasses are coarse, if intended for hay, they should be cut earlier.
Rushes and water plants are proofs that the meadow lies too flat and is ill managed.
{Code.)
4448. The principal impediments to irrigatio7i are the claims of different individuals on
one stream, as millers, canal owners, &c. ; the intermixture of property and interests ;
and the existence in some cases of adverse leases.
4449. The formation and arrangement of surfaces for irrigation, however simple in
principle, is in practice one of the most difficult operations of agricultural improvement.
Whoever, therefore, contemplates extensive and intricate works of this kind will find it
desirable to call in the assistance of a professor and contractor of reputation. In Glou-
cestershire there are a class of men known as " floodcrs," who have under them a com-
732 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
pany of men accustomed to every part of the work, and who accompany their chief to
execute works in any part of the country.
Sect. II. Warping, or the Improvement of Land by muddy Water.
4450. Warping is a mode of fertilising lands by depositing a coat of mud on their
surface. This may be practised on the borders of large rivers and estuaries into which
sea tides flow, or where floods are frequent; provided, however, that in either case the
waters contain alluvial matters in a state of suspension. According to the best inform-
ation that can be obtained (Marshal, in R. Econ. of York., 1788. Bay, West Riding Re-
port, p. 171.), warping was first practised on the banks of the Humber, by one Barker,
a small farmer at RawclifF, between 1730 and 1740: it was afterwards extended by
Richard Jennings, of Arrain, near Howden, in 1 743 ; but, till about the year 1 753, it
was not attempted by any other person. It was first brought into notice by Marshal,
in 1788, and subsequently in the Report of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and is now
practised by various proprietors and farmers on the Humber, the Trent, and other rivers.
It has been long practised in Italy in a manner something different from that employed
in this country. It may be considered as of Egyptian origin.
4451. The theory of warping is thus given by Arthur Young : —
44'52. The water of the tides that come up the Trent, Ouse, Dun, and other rivers which empty them-
selves into the great estuary of the Humber, is muddy to an excess ; insomuch that in summer, if a
cyhndrical glass, twelve or fifteen inches long, be filled with them, it will presently deposit an inch, and
sometimes more, of what is called warp. Where this warp comes from is a dispute : the Humber, at its
mouth, is clear water ; and no floods in the countries washed by the warp rivers bring it, but, on the con-
trary, do much mischief by spoiling the warp. In the very driest seasons and longest droughts, it is best
and most plentiful. The improvement is perfectly simple, and consists in nothing more than letting in
the tide at high water, to deposit the warp, and permitting it to run off again as the tide falls : this is the
aim and effect : but to render it efficacious, the water must be at command, to keep it out and let it in at
pleasure ; so that there must not only be a cut or canal made to join the river, but a sluice at the mouth
to open or shut, as wanted : and, that the water may be of a proper depth on the land to be warped, and
also prevented from flowing over contiguous lands, whether cultivated or not, banks are rai.sed around the
fields to be warped, from three or four to six or seven feet high, according to circumstances. Thus, if the
tract be large, the canal which takes the water, and which, as in irrigation, might be called the grand
carrier, may be made several miles long : it has been tried as far as four, so as to warp the lands on each
side the whole way, and lateral cuts made in any direction for the same purpose; observing, however,
that the effect lessens as you recede from the river ; that is, it demands longer time to deposit warp enough
for producing benefit.
4453. The effect of warping is very different from that of irrigation : for it is not the
water that works the effect, but the mud ; so that in floods and in winter the business
ceases ; and it is not the object to manure the soil, but to create it. The nature of the
land intended to be warped is not of the smallest consequence : bog, clay, sand, and
peat, are alike eligible ; as the warp raises it in one summer from six to sixteen inches
thick, and in the hollows or low places, two, three, or four feet, so as to leave the whole
.piece level. Thus a soil of any depth you please is formed, which consists of mud of a
vast fertility, though containing not much besides sand and gravel.
4454. The method of executing the work is described in the following manner by Lord
Hawke, in The Agricultural Survey of the West Riding of Yorkshire: —
4455. The land to be warped must be banked round against the river. The banks are made of the earth
taken on the spot from the land : they must slope six feet ; that is, three feet on each side of the top or
crown of the bank, for every foot perpendicular of rise : their top or crown is broader or narrower, accord-
ing to the impetuosity of the tide, and the weight and quantity of water; and it extends from two feet to
twelve : their height is regulated by the height to which the spring tides flow, so as to exclude or let them
in at pleasure. In these banks, there are more or fewer openings, according to the size of the ground to
be warped, and to the choice of the occupier ; but in general they have only two sluices ; one called the
floodgate, to admit, the other, called the clough, to let off, the water gently : these are enough for ten or
fifteen acres. When the spring tide begins to ebb, the floodgate is opened to admit the tide, the clough
having been previously shut by the weight of the water brought up the river by the flow of the tide. As
the tide ebbs down the river, the weight or pressure of water being taken from the outside of the clough
next the river, the tide water that has been previously admitted by the floodgate opens the clough again,
and discharges itself slowly but completely through it. The doughs are walled on each side, and so con-
structed as to let the water run off, between the ebb of the tide admitted and the flow of the next ; and
to this point particular attention is paid. The floodgates are placed so high as only to let in the spring
tides when opened : they aie placed above the level of the common tides. Willows are also occasionally
planted on the front of the banks, to break the force of the tides, and defend the banks by raising the front
of them with warp thus collected and accumulated ; but these willows must never be planted on the banks,
as they would destroy them by giving the winds power to shake them.
4456. The season for warping begins in the montli of July, and continues during the
summer ; and as this sort of business can only be performed at that season, every occasion
of having it executed should be embraced, by having the work in perfect repair, that
every tide may be made to produce its full effect. With regard to the advantage of doing
this work in the summer months, it may be remarked that at these times the lands not
only become the soonest dry, a circumstance which must always fully take place before
the process of cultivation can be carried on ; but the tides are less mixed with fresh water,
in which condition they are constantly found the most effectual.
4457. The expense of this mode ofimproviiig lands must differ much in different cases,
according as the circumstances of situation and distance vary ; but it can seldom exceed
Book III. IRRIGATION OF ARABLE LANDS. 733
121. or 151. the acre, according to Young, and in most instances it must be greatly below
such estimates.
4458. That no estimate can be made without viewing the situation of the lands to be warped, and the
course and distance it will be necessary to carry the warp to such lands, is remarkfed by Day, in the Agri.
cultural Survey of the same district. 1st, The situation of the lands must be considered ; 2d, The quantity
of land the same drains and doughs will be sufficient to warp ; 3d, The expense of building the doughs,
cutting the drains, embanking the lands, &c. An estimate of these expenses being made, it will then be
necessary to know the number of acres such doughs and drains will warp, before any estimate can be
made ; as the greater the quantity of land the same doughs and drains will warp, the lighter the expense
will be per acre. In Day's opinion, there is a great deal of land in the country capable of being warped
at so small an expense as from 4/. to 8/. per acre, which is nothing in comparison to the advantages which
arise from it. He has known land raised in value by warping, from 51. to upwards of 40/. and 50/. per
acre. The greatest advantages arise upon the worst land, and the more porous the soil the better, as the
wet filters through, and it sooner becomes fit for use. The advantages of warping are very great ; as,
after lands have been properly warped, they are so enriched thereby that they will bring very large crops
for several years afterwards without any manure; and, when it is necessary, the lands might be warped
again, at a very trifling expense, by opening the old drains, and would bring crops in succession for many
years, with very little or no tillage at all, if the lands were kept free from quick grass and other weeds,
which must be the case in all properly managed lands ; besides, the drains which are made for the pur-
pose of warping are the best drains that can be constructed for draining the lands at the time they are not
used for warping, which is another very great advantage in low lands.
4459. The best mode of cultivating new-warped land must depend principally on the
nature of the warp and of the subsoil. In the Code of Agriculture it is recommended to
sow it with clover, and to let it lie under that crop for two years, in order that it may be
brought into a state fit for corn. Even though fallowed, it does not answer to sow land
with wheat immediately after it is warped ; but after white or red clover for two years,
a good crop of wheat may generally be relied on. Nor is it proper, when land is warped,
to plant it with potatoes, or to sow it with flax, being at first of too cold a nature ; though,
if the land be not too strong for potatoes, these crops may answer, after it has been for
two or three years in cultivation. In the quality of warped land, there are most essential
differences ; some will be very strong, and in the same field some will be very friable.
The land nearest the drain is in general the lightest, owing to the quantity of sand that
is deposited as soon as the water enters the field : the land farthest from the drain is in
general the best. The produce of warped land varies much, but in general it may be
stated as abundant. {Code, 315)
SuBSECT. 1 . Irrigation of Arable Lands, and Subterraneous Irrigation.
4460. The irrigation of arable lands is universal in warm countries, and even in the
south of France and Italy. The land is laid into narrow beds, between which the
water is introduced in furrows during the growth of the crop, and absorbed by the soil.
In other cases the crop is grown in drills, and the water introduced in the furrow be-
tween each row. In this mode of irrigation no collecting drains are required, as the
whole of the water laid on is absorbed by the soil. The principal expense of the opera-
tion is that of preparing the lands by throwing the surface into a proper level or levels.
The main or carrier is conducted to the higher part of the field, and the rest is easy.
A particular description of the practice, as carried on in Tuscany, is given by Sigismondi.
{Agr. de la Toscane.) Some account also of the practice in Italy and the East Indies
will be found in our outline of the agriculture of these countries. (267 and 921.) In
the General Report of Scotland, vol. iii. p. 361. it is stated, that a field of waste land, which
had been flooded during winter with stagnant water, was thus, without manure, rendered
capable of yielding a good crop of oats ; but this is more of the nature of warping than
of that description of irrigation which is practised in warm countries on arable lands,
during the growth of the crop.
4461. Subterraneous irrigation appears to have been first practised in Lombardy, and
first treated of by Professor Thouin. (Annales du Musee, &c.) It consists in saturating
a soil with water from below, instead of from the surface, and is effected by surround-
ing a piece of ground by an open drain or main, and intersecting it by covered
drains communicating with this main. If the field is on a level, as in most cases where
the practice is adopted in Lombardy, nothing is more necessary than to fill the main, and
keep it full till the lands have been sufficiently soaked ; but if it lies on a slope, then the
lower ends of the drains must be closely stopped, and the water admitted only into the
main on the upper side : this main must be kept full till the land is soaked, when the
mouths of the lower drains may be opened to carry off the superfluous water. The
practice is applicable either to pasture or arable lands.
4462. In Britain, subterraneous irrigation has been applied in a vwy simple manner
to drained bogs and morasses, and to fen lands. All that is necessary is to build a
sluice in the lower part of the main drain where it quits the drained grounds, and in
dry weather to shut dowTi this sluice, so as to dam up the water and throw it back into
all the minor open drains, and also into the covered drains. This plan has been adopted
with success, first, as we believe, by Smith, of Swineridge Muir, in Ayrshire, and subse-
quently by Johnston, in the case of several bog drainages executed by him in Scotland,
734 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut III.
It is also practised in Lincolnshire, where it was introduced by the advic« of the late
engineer Rennie, after the completion of a public drainage at Boston.
Sect. III. Artificial Means of Procuring V/ater firr the Use of I Ave Stock.
4463. Water is supplied by nature in most parts of the British isles, and retained with
little art both at farmeries and in fields. There are exceptions, however, in different
districts, and especially in chalky soils, gravels, and some upland clays. In these cases
water is procured for cattle by some of tlie following means : — By conducting a stream
from a distant source, as in a work of irrigation ; by collecting rain-water from roads,
ditches, or sloping surfaces, in artificial ponds, or reservoirs ; by collecting it from the
roofs of buildings, and preserving it in covered cisterns ; by sinking a well, or a pipe,
either in the field or the farm-yard ; and by artificial springs.
4464. An artificial stream will in most cases be found too expensive an operation to
be undertaken for the supply of drinking-water for live stock ; but this purpose may
frequently be combined with that of watering lands or driving machinery. In the
North Riding of Yorkshire, there is a tract extending for many miles entirely destitute
of water, except what flows along the bottoms of the deep valleys by which it is in-
tersected; and little relief could consequently be afforded, by streams thus distantly and
inconveniently situated, to the inhabitants of the uplands, or their cattle. About the
year 1 770, a person of the name of Ford devised the means of watering this district,
by means of rills brought from the springs that break out at the foot of the still loftier
moorland hills that run parallel to, and to the north of, this tract, in some instances at
the distance of about ten miles. The springs he collected into one channel, which he
carried, in a winding direction, about the intervening space, according to its level, and
along the sides of the valleys, until he gained the summit of the arid country which he
wished to supply with water ; and when this was accomplished, the water was easily
conveyed to the places desired, and also to the ponds in all the fields, over a considerable
tract of ground.
4465. Collecting rain-water from roads, ^c. in ponds or drinking pools. Formerly, it
is probable, something of this art was practised throughout the kingdom : most villages,
and many old farmsteads, have drinking pools for stock, which appear to have been
formed or assisted by art. In strong-land grazing districts, pits have evidently been
dug, to catch the rain-water fortuitously collected by furrows and ditches, or by land-
springs. On the chalk hills of the southern counties, the art has been long esta-
blished, and continued down to the present time.
4466. An improved practice was introduced on the wolds or chalk hills of Yorkshire bv Robert Gardner,
of Kilham, which gained an establishment towards the end of the last century, and has spread rapidly
over the adjacent heights, with great profit to the country. In every dry.land situation, it may be
practised with high advantage to an estate, and is well entitled to attention.
4467. The mode of constructing these collecting ponds is described in 7Vte Atmals of Agriculture (vol. vi.),
and illustrated by a section, {fig. 688.) The ground plan is circular, and generally forty or fifty feet in
^Qo diameter, and the excavation is not made
"°° deeper in the centre than five feet. This
excavation being cleared out, a layer of
clay [a, b, c) sufficiently moistened, is to
be carefully beaten and trod down into a
compact and solid body of about the
thickness of a foot. Upon this a layer of
quicklime, of one inch or upwards in
thickness, is finely and uniformly spread. Next is another layer of clay of about one foot in thickness {d),
which is to be trodden and rammed down as the former. Upon this are spread stones or coarse gravel
(e), of such thickness as may prevent the pond receiving any injury from the treading of cattle, which
would otherwise break through the body of the clay and lime, and by so doing let out the water. After
this, the pond will remain five feet deep and forty-five feet in diameter ; the size they are usually made.
4468. Brick-clay is by no means required for the ponds; any earth sufficiently tenacious to bear
beating into a solid compact body, though not approaching to a pure clay, will answer the purpose very
well.
4469. The preferable situation to mahe the pond is a little valley, or at the bottom of a declivity, or
near a high road, in which situation a stream of water may be brought into it after sudden showers or
thaws, the object being to get it filled as sool as possible after it is made, that the sun and winds may not
crack the clay. If it is not likely to be filled soon, some straw or litter must be spread over it; but in
general, after it is once filled, the rains that fall in the course of the year will keep it full, no water being
lost otherwise than by evaporation and the consumption of cattle.
4470. The v^hole excellence of the pond depends upon the lime : care must be taken to spread it regularly
and uniformly over the surface of the lower bed of clay. It is well known that ponds made of clay alone,
however good its quality, and whatever care may be bestowed in the execution, will frequently not hold
water : these, with the above precautions, rarely fail. By what means the lime prevents the loss of water
is not exactly known : one of these two is probably the cause : either the lime sets like terrace into a
body impervious to water; or its causticity prevents the worms in dry weather from penetrating through
the clay in search of the water : certain, however, it is, that, with lime thus applied, ponds may be made
in sand, however porous, or on rocks, however open, in neither of which situations are they to be depended
upon when made with clay alone. On this mode of making ponds for the use of live stock, there are
several circumstances of the process more fully detailed in The Rural Economy of Yorkshire.
4471. In constructing ponds in loamy soils, all that is necessary is to coat the bottom over with clay or
loam to the depth of eighteen inches or two feet, and then to puddle or work this well with water till it
becomes a homogeneous layer impenetrable to that element. If clay or loamy earth cannot be obtained,
any earth not very much inclined to sand may be substituted, but it will re<^uire more labour in puddling.
ECCK III.
WATER FOR LIVE STOCK.
735
On dayey soils very little more is necessary than smoothing the surface of the excavation, and perhaps
watering it and beating it to a smooth surface with rammers. The pond being now formed the next
operation is to coat it over with coarse gravel to the depth of at least eighteen inches ; or what is pre-
ferable, chalk and flints with gravel; or, best of all, to causeway or pave it. It is also very desirable
to pave or gravel the sur-
face for the breadth of at
least two yards round the
pond, in order to prevent
the cattle from poaching it
when they come to drink.
4472. On clayey soils an
economical mode of form,
ing ponds is often adopted,
where gravel or stone for
paving is scarce. It consists
in employing the horse-shoe
form as the ground plan of
the excavation, and cutting
all the sides steep, or at an
angle of 45 or 50 degrees,
except the part answering
to the heel of the shoe {fig.
689 «), which is well gravel-
led or paved, as the only en-
trance for the cattle. The ex-
cavated earth serves to raise
the high side of the pond (AJ,
^_ which is generally guarded
) c^^^^ :>^^— ~r^-^~^^^^^3 / '^^^^^^^^^^^^^^-^^ ^^ ^ fence, or a few trees.
L ""^^^P^V'ii'y. ^..^^^^^r^ I "^^^^^^^^-^^^^ The disadvantage of such
"'^'^~^^" ■■"^^'•' ■•^^^ ^ ponds is, that one is re-
quired for every field, or at
least for every two fields;
whereas a pond sloped on all sides may supply four fields, or even a greater number, {fig. 690.)
4473. The Gloucestershire ponds are made either of a square or a circular shape, and generally so situ-
ated as to furnish a supply to four fields, {fig. 690.) Three layers
of clay, free from the smallest stone or gravel, are so worked in
as to form an impenetrable cement. The whole is afterwards
covered with sand, and finished with pavement. {Gloucestershire
Report, p. 31.)
4474. The Derbyshire artificial mcers, or cattle ponds, are made
in their dry rocky pastures, with great success. Having selected
a low situation for the purpose, they form an excavation ten or
twenty yards across, and spread over the whole a layer, about five
inches thick, of refuse slaked liiireand coal cinders; then they
spread, trample, and ram down a stratum of well tempered clay,
about four inches tiiick ; and upon this they spread a second bed
of clay, in a similar manner, of the same thickness ; the whole
of the bottom and edges of the meer is then paved with rubble
stones ; and small rubble stones, several inches thick, are spread
upon the pavement. {Derbyshire Report, vol. i. p. 494.)
4475. The situation of field ponds, where practicable, should be
at the intersection of fences, so that one may serve as many fields
as possible. This, however, cannot be the best situation in every case, because it may happen that water
cannot there be collected. At the same time a low situation is not always desirable, because it may be so
circumstanced that too much dirty water may run into it during rains.
4476. Trees are frequently planted round ponds, and with seeming propriety, as their effect is beautiful,
and they shade the v, ater from the direct influence of the sun during summer ; but in autumn their leaves
certainly tend to render the water impure for a time. As most leaves are of an astringent quality, perhaps
there may be no injury sustained by cattle from drinking such water at first ; but after some time the
leaves begin to decay, and occasion a sort of fermentation, which, tiU it subsides in the beginning of frosty
weather, renders the water somewhat unhealthy and very unsightly. Leaves therefore ought to be drawn
off with long open rakes as they fall from the trees.
4477. Wells, where no better method of procuring water can be devised, may be re-
sorted to, both for fields and fanneries ; but the great objection to them is the labour
required to pump up or otherwise raise the water, and the consequent risk of neglect.
Before proceeding to dig a well, it ought first to be determined on whether a mere
reservoir for the water which oozes out of the surface soil is desired or obtainable, or a
perpetual spring. If the former is the object in view, a depth of fifteen or twenty feet
may probably suffice, though this cannot be expected to afford a constant supply, unless
a watery vein or spring is hit on : if the latter, the depth may be very various, there being
instances of 300 and 500 feet having been cut through before a permanent supply of water
was found. {Middlesex, Surrey, and Hampshire Reports- )
4478. The art of welLdigging is generally carried on by persons who devote themselves exclusively to
that department. The site being fixed on, the ground-plan is a circle, generally of not more than six or
eight feet in diameter : the digger then works down by means of a small short-handled spade, and a small
implement of the pick-axe kind ; the earthy materials being drawn up in buckets by the hand or a wind-
lass, fixed over the opening for the purpose. Where persons conversant with this sort of business are
employed, they usually manage the whole of the work, bricking round the sides with great facility and
readiness ; but in other cases it will be necessary to have a bricklayer to execute this part of the business.
4479. Sieitiing. There are two methods of building the stone or brick within the well, which is called
thesteining. In one of these a circular ring is formed, of the same diameter as the intended well; and
the timber of which it is composed is of the size of the brick-courses with which the well is to be hned.
The lower edge of this circle is made sharp, and shod with iron, so that it has a tendency to cut into the
ground ; this circular curb is placed flat upon the ground, and the bricks are built upon it to a considerable
height, like a circular wall. I'he well-digger gets within this circle, and digs away the earth at the
bottom ; the weight of the wall then forces the kirb and the brickwork with which it is loaded to descend
into the earth, and as fast as the earth is removed it sinks deeper, the circular brick wall being increased
or raised at top as fast as it sinks down ; but when it gets very deep, it will sink no longer, particularly if
736
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Paut II]
it passes through soft strata ; in this case, a second kirb of a smaller size is gometimes begun within the
first. When a kirb will not sink from the softness of the strata, or when it is required to stop out water,
the bricks or stones must be laid one by one at the bottom of the work, taking care that the work is not
left unsupported in such a manner as to let the bricks fall as they are laid : this is called under-pinnmg.
4480. Noxious air. Well-diggers experience sometimes great difficulty from a noxious air which tills
the well, and suffocates them if they breathe it. The usual mode of clearing wells of noxious air is, by
means of a large pair of bellows, and a long leathern pipe, which is hung down into the well to the bottom
and fresh air forced down by working the bellows.
4481. The use of the auger is common in well-digging, both in ascertaining before commencement the
nature of the strata to be dug into, and also in course of digging for the same purpose ; and because, by
boring in the bottom of a well to a considerable depth, the spring is sometimes hit upon, and digging ren-
dered no longer necessary.
4482. The use of the borer alone maij procure an adequate supply of water in particular situations. This
mode appears to have been long resorted to in this and other countries. From what we have already
stated as to the disposition of strata, the conditions requisite for its success will be readily conceived ;
viz. watery strata connected with others on a higher level : the pressure of the water contained in the
higher parts of such strata on that in the lower will readily force up the latter through any orifice, how-
ever small. All that is necessary, therefore, is to bore down to the stratum containing the water, and,
having completed the bore, to insert a pipe, which may either be left to overflow into a cistern, or it may
terminate in a pump. In many cases, water may be found in this way, and yet not in sufficient quantity
and force to rise to the surface ; in such cases a well may be sunk to a certain depth, and the auger-hole
made, and the pipe inserted in it in the bottom of the well From the bottom it may be pumped up to
the surface by any of the usual modes.
4483. As an example of well-digging combined with boring, we give that of a well dug at a brewery at
Chelsea, Middlesex, in 1793. The situation was within 20 or 30 feet of the edge of the Thames, and the
depth 394 feet, mostly through a blue clay or marl. At the depth of nearly fifty feet a quantity of loose
coal, twelve inches in thickness, was discovered : and a little sand and gravel was found about the same
depth. The well-digger usually bored about ten, fifteen, or twenty feet at a time lower than his work as
he went on ; and on the last boring, when the rod was about fifteen feet below the bottom of the well, the
man felt, as the first signal of water, a rolling motion, something Uke the gentle motion of a coach passing
over pavement : upon his continuing to bore, the water presently pushed its way by the side of the auger
with great force, scarcely allowing him time to withdraw the borer, put that and his other tools into the
bucket, and be drawn up to the top of the well. The water soon rose to the height of two hundred feet.
4484. In a case which occurred in digging a well at Dr. Darwin's, near Derby, the water rose so much
higher than the surface of the ground, that, by confining it in a tube, he raised it to the upper part of the
house. (Eees's Cyclopcedia, art Well, and Derbyshire Eep.)
4485. The process of boring the earth for spring water has of late been practised, with
great success, in various parts of England, chiefly by a person named Goode, of Hunt-
ingdon. In the neighbourhood of London, many fountains of pure spi'ing-water have
lately been obtained by these means. We may particularly name those at Tottenham,
Middlesex, and Mitcham, Surrey, both of which afford a continuous and abundant flow
of water, at one time equal to about eight gallons per minute, but now reduced to a much
smaller quantity, in consequence of the great number of holes that have been bored into
the supplying strata.
4486. The operation qf boring for water {fig. 691.) is thus performed : —The situation of the intended well
being determined on, a circular hole is
generally dug in the ground, about six
or eight feet deep, and five or six feet
wide. In the centre of this hole, the
boring is carried on by two workmen,
assisted by a labourer above, {fig. 691.)
The implements used may either be
those of Goode, already described
(§ 2507.) as the best, or any other in-
struments in repute. For variety's
sake, we shall here describe the pro-
cess by the instruments formerly in
most general use about London.
The handle {fig.mi.a) having a fe-
male screw in the bottom of its iron
shank, a wooden bar or rail passing
through the socket of the shank, and
a ring at top, is the general agent, to
which all the boring implements are
to be attached. A chisel {b) is
first employed, and connected to this
handle by its screw at top. If the
ground is tolerably soft, the weight
of the two workmen, bearing upon
the cross-bar and occasionally forcing
it round, wiU soon cause the chisel to
penetrate ; but if the ground is hard
or strong, the workmen strike the
chisel down with repeated blows, so
as to pick their way, often changing
their situation by walking round,
which breaks the stone, or other
hard substances, that may happen
to obstruct its progress.
4487. The labour is very con-
siderably reduced by means of
an elastic wooden pole placed
horizontally over the well, from which a chain is brought down, and attached to the
ring of the handle. This pole is usually made fast at one end as a fulcrum, by being
set into a heap of heavy loose stones ; at the other end the labourer gives it a slight up
and down vibrating motion, corresponding to the beating motion of the workmen below,
Book III.
^ATER FOR LIVE STOCK.
737
by which means the elasticity of the pole in rising lifts the handle and picker, and
thereby very considerably diminishes the labour of the workmen.
4488. inien the hole has been thus opened by a chisel, as far as its length would
permit, the chisel is withdrawn, and a sort of cylindrical auger (c) attached to the
handle (a), for the pur-
692 pose of drawing up the
dirt or broken stones,
which have been disturbed
by the chisel. A section
of this auger (rf) shows the
internal valve. The auger
being introduced into the
hole, and turned round by
the workmen, the dirt or
broken stones will pass
through the aperture at
bottom (shown at e), and
fill the cylinder, which is
then drawn up, and dis-
charged at the top of the
auger, the valve prevent-
ing its escape at bottom.
4489. In order to pene-
trate deeper into the ground,
an iron rod (f) is now to
be attached to the chisel
(b), by screwing on to its
upper end, and the rod is
also fastened to the han-
dle (a), by screwing into
its socket. The chisel, having thus become lengthened by the addition of the rod, is
again introduced into the hole, and the operation of picking or forcing it down is car-
ried on by the workmen as before. When the ground has been thus perforated, as far
as the chisel and its rod will reach, they must be withdrawn, in order again to introduce
the auger (c), to collect and bring up the rubbish, which is done by attaching it to the
iron rod, in place of the chisel. Thus, as the hole becomes deepened, other lengths of
iron rods are added, by connecting them together (/and g when joined form h). The
necessity of frequently withdrawing the rods from Uie hole, in order to collect the mud,
stones, or rubbish, and the great friction produced by the rubbing of the tools against
its sides, as well as the lengths of rods augmenting in the progress of the operation,
sometimes to the extent of several hundred feet, render it extremely inconvenient, if not
impossible, to raise them by hand. A tripedal standard is therefore generally constructed,
by three scaffolding poles tied together, over the hole (Jig. 691.), from the centre of
Hiich a wheel and axle, or a pair of pulley blocks, are suspended, for the piirpose of
hauling up the rods, and from which hangs a forked hook (i). This forked hook is to
be brought down under the shoulder, near the top of each rod, and made fast to it by
passing a pin through two little holes in the claws. The rods are thus drawn up, about
seven feet at a time, which is the usual distance between each joint, and at every haul a
fork (k) is laid horizontally over the hole, with the shoulders of the lower rod resting
between its claws, by which means the rods are prevented from sinking down into the
hole again, while the upper length is unscrewed and removed. In attaching and de-
taching these lengths of rod, a wrench (/) is employed, by which they are turned round,
and the screws forced up to their firm bearing.
4490. The boring is sometimes performed for the first sixty or a hundred feet, by a
chisel of two and a half inches wide, and cleared out by a gouge of two and a quarter
diameter, and then the hole is widened by another tool (m). This is merely a chisel,
four inches vride, but with a guide (») put on at its lower part, for the purpose of keep-
ing it in a perpendicular direction ; the lower part is not intended to pick, but to pass
down the hole previously made, while the sides of the chisel operate in enlarging the
hole to four inches. The process, however, is generally performed at one operation, by
a chisel four inches wide (6), and a gouge of three inches and three quarters (c).
4491. Placing and displacing the lengths of rod is done every time that the auger is
required to be introduced or mthdrawn ; and it is obvious that this must of itself be ex-
tremely troublesome, independently of the labour of boring ; but yet the operation pro-
ceeds, when no unpropitious circumstances attend it, with a facility almost incredible.
Sometimes, however, rocks intercept the way, which require great labour to penetrate,
but this is always effected by picking, which slowly pulverises the stone. The most
3 B
738
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
unpleasant circumstance attendant upon this business is, the occasional breaking of a
rod in the hole, which sometimes creates a delay of many days, and an incalculably
labour in drawing up the lower portion.
4492. JVhen the water is obtained in such quantities and of such quality as may be
required, the hole is dressed or finished by passing down it the diamond chisel (o) : this
is to make the side smooth previously to putting in the pipe. This chisel is attached to
rods, and to the handle, as before described ; and in its descent the workmen continually
walk round, by which the hole is made smooth and cylindrical. In the progress of the
boring, frequent veins of water are passed through ; but as these are small streams, and
perhaps impregnated with mineral substances, the operation is carried on until an
aperture is made into a main spring, which will flow up to the surface of the earth.
This must, of course, depend upon the level of its source, which, if in a neighbouring
hill, will frequently cause the water to rise up and produce a continued fountain. But
if the altitude of the distant spring happens to be below the level of the surface of the
ground where the boring is effected, it sometimes happens that a well of considerable
capacity is obliged to be dug down to that level, in order to form a reservoir, into which
the water may flow, and from which it must be raised by a pump : while, in the former
instance, a continued fountain may be obtained. Hence, it will always be a matter of
doubt, in level countries, whether water can be procured which would flow near to or
over the surface : if this cannot be effected, the process of boring will be of little or no
advantage, except as an experiment to ascertain the fact.
4493. In order to keep the strata pure and uncontaminated with mineral springs, the
hole is cased for a considerable depth with a metallic pipe, about a quarter of an inch
smaller than the bore. This is generally made of tin (though sometimes of copper or
\[| lead), in convenient lengths ; and as each length is let down, it is held by a
g^ l^r shoulder resting in a fork, while another length is soldered to it, by which
^■^-m^ means a continued pipe is carried through the bore as far as may be found
i necessary, to exclude land-springs, and to prevent loose earth or sand from
^^ falling in and choking the aperture. {Newton^ s Journal, vol. vi. p. 146.)
J 4494. The manner of forcing down lengths of cast-iron pipe, after the bore is
formed, is this : — The pipe (fg. 693. a) has a socket in its upper end, in which a
693 block of wood (6) is inserted. From this block a rod (c) extends up- 694
I wards, upon which a weight (rf) slides. To the weight (rf) cords are
I attached, reaching to the top of the bore, where the workman
' ternately raises the weight and lets it fall, which, by striking upon the
block (6), beats down the pipe by a succession of strokes ; and when
one length of pipe has by these means been forced down, another
length is introduced into the socket of the former. Another tool for
the same purpose (fg. 694.) is formed like an acorn, the point of the
acorn strikes against the edge of the pipe, and by that means it is
forced down the bore.
4495. Wrought-iron, copjyer, tin, and lead pipes, are occasionally used for lining the
bore ; and as these are subject to bends and bruises, it is necessaiy to introduce tools
gg^ ^ for the purpose of straightening their sides. One of these
tools {fig. 695. a) is a bow, and is to be passed down the
inside of the pipe, in order to press out any dents. Another
tool for the same purpose (b) is a double bow, and may be
turned round in the pipe for the purpose of straightening it
all the way down. A pair of clams (c) is used for turning
the pipe round in the hole while driving.
4496. In raising pipes, it is necessary to introduce a tool
to the inside of the pipe, by which it will be ggg
held fast. The pine-apple stool for this pur-
pose (d) has its surface cut like a rasp, which
passes easily down into the pipe, but catches as
it is drawn up, and by that means brings the
pipe with it. There is a spear for the same
purpose {fig. 696) which easily enters the pipe
by springing; at the ends of its prongs there
are forks which stick into the metal as it is
drawn up, and thereby raise it.
4497. Mr. Goode suggests the employment of
long baskets with valves opening upward in
their bottoms, for the purpose of drawing water from these
wells when the water will not flow over the surface ; also
lift-pumps, vnth a succession of buckets, for the same pur-
pose. {Newton's Journal, vol, viii. p. 249.)
Book III.
WATER FOR LIVE STOCK.
r39
4498. Mommon has invettted a new apparatus for guiding the operation of boring, which
seems very ingenious ; but we are not aware that it has yet been adopted in practice.
Engravings, accompanied by a copious descrii)tion, will be found in the Mechanics^
Magazine, vol. iv. ; in which work are also various other articles on the same subject.
4499. Of the various modes of raising water from deep wells, the pump is the most convenient, and the
^ver and bucket the most simple. When a constant supply is wanted from a very deep well, machinery
"".) may be erected over it, and driven by an old horse or ass. While one bucket is filling, the
other is emptying. In order to effect the filling of the bucket, the handle (6), which is of iron, is attached
by iron swivel rivets, on whicli it readily turns, below the centre of gravity of the bucket (c). In order
that it may empty itself, a horizontal handle (rf) is attached, which, when the filled bucket attains a certain
height, is caught by a hook {e) fixed in the trough which conveys away the water raised (/). The horse
or ass may be made to work in this machine without the attendance of a man, by the following training:
— Attach a bell to the lever of draught [h) ; use eye-blinders to prevent the animal from seeing whether
or not any one is in attendance, and from becoming giddy by going constantly round. Put the animal in
motion, and the bell will not stop ringing till he stops. The moment he stops, and the bell ceases to ring,
apply the whip severely. Continue to do this every time the animal stops, till the two hours' labour are
completed ; then unyoke and feed. After one or two hours, or whatever period may be deemed necessary
for rest and refreshment, yoke again, and proceed as before Go on in this way for two days, and the
terror of receiving chastisement when the bell ceases to ring, will have frightened the animal into a habit
of working two hours at a time without attendance. This mode is practised successfully in France,
Italy, and Spain. {Qmrs, Sic. Ait. Puit a Roue.)
4500. Pumps are of various kinds, as the lifting-pump; the forcing-pump, for very deep wells; the
suction pump ; and the rotatory pump, a recent invention for such as do not exceed thirty-three feet in
depth, and of which there are several varieties, but by far the best is that by Siebe. A good pump for
urine pits or reservoirs, where the water is not to be raised above twenty-eight or thirty feet, is that of
Robertson Buchanan, author of A Treatise on Heating by Steam, &c. ; because this pump will raise
drainings of dunghills, the contents of cesspools, privies, &c., or even water thickened by mud, sand, or
gravel. " The points in which it differs from the common pump, and by which it excels it, are, that it
discharges the water below the piston, and has its valves lying near each other. The advantages of this
arrangement are : — that the sand or other matter which may be in the water is discharged without in-
juring the barrel or the piston-leathers ; so that, besides avoiding unnecessary tear and wear, the power of
the pump is preserved, and it is not apt to be diminished or destroyed in moments of extraordinary exertion,
as is often the case with the common and chain pumps : that the valves are not confined to any particular
dimensions, but may be made capable of discharging every thing that can rise in the suction-piece without
danger of being choked ; and that if, upon any occasion, there should happen to be an obstruction in the
valves, they are both within the reach of a person's hand, and may be cleared at once, without the di.«junc-
tion of any part of the pump. It is a simple and durable pump, and may be made either of metal or wood, at
a moderate expense." Where clear water only is to be raised, Aust's (of Hoxton) curvilinear pump is pre-
ferable to the common sort. The advantages depend on the curvilinear form of the barrel, which allows,
and indeed obliges, the rod, the handle, and
the lever on which it works, to be all in one
piece. Hence simplicity, cheapness, precision
of action, more water discharged in propor-
tion to the diameter of the barrel, and less
fi-equent repairs. {.Repertory of Arts, 3a.n.
1821.) Perkins' square-barrelled pump is a
powerful engine {London Journal, &c.) ; but
this and other contrivances for raising water,
though promising advantages, cannot often
be made available by the improver, from their
not having come into general use.
4501. Siebe's rotatory pump (Jig. 698.) ap-
pears to us by far the best of modern improve-
ments on this machine. It is used for drawing,
raising, and forcing all fluids and liquids, and
may be worked by manual labour, steam, or any
other power. By the rotation of a roller (a)
having paddles or pistons (6) a vacuum is pro-
ducedwithin the barrel (c), and in consequence
the water flows up the rising trunk (d) through
the space into the barrel, and as the paddles
go round they force the water through an
opening, which conducts it wherever it may
be wanted, and by that means produces a con-
tinual stream without an air vessel. It is evi-
dent that this pump may, by an ascending
tube (e), and a cock on the horizontal spout
(/), be used as a common pump, or a forcing
90.)
pump at pleasure.
{Neivton^s Journal, vol. ii. 2d series, p
3 B 2
HO
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IlL
4502. An old but ingenious mode of raising wafer from a well to the upper part of a house (fig. 699.)
is sometimes adopted on the Continent. A post
O, _^ goo is fixed close to the well ; this is connected with
''^ the opening in the upper part of the house, where
the water is to be introduced, by a fixed cord (a).
Gn this cord a wooden collar (6) is placed, and
slides freely from one end to the other : the bucket
rope is put through a hole in the collar, and over a
pulley in the window in the upper part of the house,
. AL and thus the bucket is first raised perpendicularly
O y^^ from the water in the well till it comes in con-
tract with the collar, when, the power being con-
tinued, the collar slides along the fixed rope till it
reaches the operator at the window. (Last Col. de
Machines, &c.)
4503. Artificial springs. Marshal seeing
the formation of natural springs, and ob-
serving the effect of subsoil drains, and
being, at the same time, aware of an ob-
jection to roof water, which, though more
wholesome, is seldom so well tasted a&
spring water ; was led to the idea of form-
ing artificial land springs, to supply farm-
steads with water, in dry situations. He
proposes arresting the rain-water that ha&
filtered through the soil of a grass ground
situated on the upper side of the buildings,
in covered drains, clayed and dished at
the bottom, and partially filled with peb-
bles or other open materials : thus con-
~ veying it into a well or cistern, in the
manner of roof water : and by this means uniting, it is probable, the palatableness of
spring water with the wholesomeness of that which is collected immediately from the
atmosphere.
4504. Water for common farm-yard and domestic purposes may be obtained in most
situations, by collecting that which falls on the roofs of the farmery and dwelling-house.
This is done by a system of gutters and pipes, which, for the farmery, may lead to a
cistern or tank under ground ; and for the family, that from the roof of the dwelling-
house may be conducted to a tub. According to Waistell, a sufficient supply of water
has been collected from the roof of a cottage to answer every purpose of the family during
the dryest season, by preserving the water so collected in a tank. The quantity of
water that falls annually upon every hundred superficial feet, or square of build-
ing, is about 1400 gallons. Before using the water so collected, it should be filtered ;
and it seems very desirable that it should undergo this operation before it enters the
tank.
4505. The operation of filtering may be performed in various ways : —
4506. A very sitnple mode is by having two casks two or three feet high, and of any convenient widt&
{fig. 7U0.) One of these casks (a) may receive the water from the roof, or from any other supply ; the
other (fi) should have a false bottom (c) perforated with holes and covered
with flannel ; on this flat bottomed equal quantities of sand and charcoal
maybe laid to the depth of twelve or fourteen inches, and covered with
another false bottom similar to the first {d) ; the remainder of the cask will
contain the filtered water, which may either be drawn off as wanted by
a cock {e), or allowed to pass into an underground tank by the same
means. The grosser impurities will always be deposited at the bottom of
the filtering tank (A), and these may be drawn off at pleasure by a cock
(/), placed immediately above the bottom of the barrel. The sand and
charcoal may also be freed from any impurities which they may contract,
by first allowing both barrels to be quite full, and then turning the bottom
cock (/), in consequence of which the filtered water will descend through
the filter and clear it. The advantage of having two barrels for the pur-
pose of filtering the water from a roof is partly to retain a larger quantity,
on the supposition that there is not a reservoir or tank under ground, and partly to admit of supplying
the first barrel, from ponds or other sources, in seasons when the roof is unproductive. Where the water
is to be preserved in a tank under ground, only one barrel {b) is necessary, the pipe from the roof (g) pro-
ceeding, in that case, at once to the bottom of the filtering barrel, and entering where, in the case of two
barrels, the junction-pipe {h) enters. In all cases of preserving water, whether filtered or unfiltered, it is
of great importance to preserve a steady and a low temperature, and for this purpose an underground
reservoir is highly desirable.
4507. The best form for a tank, according to Waistell, is a circular plan ; tlie bottom in the form of a
flat dome reversed, and the top also domical, with an opening left in the centre of sufficient size to admit
a man to clean it out occasionally. " The top of this opening should be a little above the surface of the
ground, and should be covered with an oak flap, with several holes bored in it for ventilation: or the
cover may be an iron grating, horizontal, and a little elevated, or conical These tanks may be constructed
of various dimensions: the depth and width should be nearly equal ; a hole should also be left for the
service-pipe, or that which conveys the water into the tank, and also for the pipe for the pump, if the
■water be drawn out by that means. The water may be filtered previously to its entering the tank ; the
hole for the service-pipe ought, therefore, to be near the top, and on that side most convenient for the
filtering chamber j this may be about four feet in diameter, and three feet deep : across this, about twelve
Book III.
IMPROVEMENT OF WASTES.
741
inches from the side next the tank {fig. 701.) a slate partition
from the top to within about six inches from the bottom, should
be fixed ; at the bottom of the box should be put clean coarse
fiand or pounded charcoal, about a foot in thickness. The pipe or
opening from the filter to the reservoir should be of ample dimen-
sions, and be made at about eighteen or twenty inches from the
bottom, in the small division or space behind the slate (6). Above
tlvis opening, and in any part most convenient [w), in the large
division of the filter, should be an opening or drain to carry off the
water when the tank is full. This filter should also have a cover,
that it may be cleaned out, and fresh sand or other purifiers put in
as often as may be found requisite. Of course the water as it comes
from the roof is to be first conveyed into the large division of the
filtering chamber, on the opposite side to the slate partition (c),
and passing through the sand it rises in the small division purified,
when it is fit to pass into tlie tank. If there are two or more of
these filtering chambers, or if they are of greater depth, the water may be passed through the greater
quantity of sand, &c. in them, and be still more purified. Both the tanks and the filters should be water,
tight : if constructed of brick, the iinier course may be built with Roman cement, and afterwards the
whole of the inside covered with a coat of about three quarters of an inch thick. Water, from drains
formed in the ground for the purpose of collecting it for domestic purposes, may be purified, by passing it
through a sand filter previously to its entering the tank or reservoir. Sponge and flannel may also l;e
used as filters. In constructing tanks of the above description, care must be taken to have the earth
to have the earth closely filled around the brick- work, and to allow sufficient time for the work to get
properly settled, previously to admitting any great weight of water." {Agricultural Buildings, p. 15.)
4508. Filtering water on a large scale may be effected by emptying one pond into another on a lower
level, through a conduit of any kind filled with gravel, sand, and charcoal.
4509. A filtering apj)arcUus for salt water has been invented, but we are unable to say how far it has
succeeded : it, at any rate, will succeed well with fresh water,
and, we have no doubt, to a certain extent also with that
of the sea. F/g. 702. a a is a cylindrical vessel of wood, or any
other suitable material, which is lined on the inside with
cement as far as the filterer extends ; b is the bottom of the
filterer, formed with a grating, which is supported by the
rame of a stool ; c is a pipe extending from the under
part of a cask (rf), containing the salt water, and which pipa
opens to the lower part of the vessel a a below the filterer.
Over the grating (6) there are placed several thicknesses of
woven horse-hair, or a quantity of wool, and above this the
vessel is filled with sand. On the top of the sand there is a
plate (e) like a piston pressing upon the sand and keeping it
compact, the plate being held down by a screw (/). Ihe
salt water thus delivered from the cask (d) by the pipe (c),
fills the lower part of the vessel {a), and by the superincum.
bent pressure of the column descending from the cask, the
water is forced upwards through the mass of sand, and runs
off at the cock {g) in a purified state. There are man holes
(A, h) for the purpose of getting access to the interior when
it is required to remove the sand or other matters, and the
internal surface of the filterer is rendered rough in order to
prevent the water from sliding up the sides of the vessel,
instead of passing through the sand. {Newton's Journal,
vol. i. 2d series, p. 158.)
4510. T/ie distillation of palatable water at sea has been
effected by P. Nicole, of Dieppe, by simply causing the steam
arising from boiling sea water in a still to pass through a
stratum of coarsely powdered charcoal, in its way to the con-
denser, or worm-tub. {Mechanics' Magazine, vol. iv. p. 280.)
4511. Water cisterns, formed of blue slate, or Yorkshire
laving-stones, are much better than those made of wood, and lined with lead. {Waistell's Agricultural
buildings, p. 15.)
Chap. IV.
Improvement cf Lands lying Waste, so as to fit them for Farm-Cxdture,
4512. Of waste lands, many descriptions are best improved by planting, and therefore
are to be considered as disposed of in that way in the laying out or arrangement of an
estate ; but there are others which may be more profitably occupied as farm-lands, and it
is the preparing or bringing of these into a state of culture, which is the business of the
present chapter. Such lands may be classed as mountainous or hilly grounds, rocky or
stony surfaces, moors, bogs, or peat-mosses, marshes, woody wastes or wealds, warrens
or downs, and sea-shores or beaches. In the improvement of these, many of the oper-
ations are such as are performed by temporary occupiers or farmers ; but, as in this case
such occupiers have always extraordinary encouragement from the landlords, eitlier in
the shape of a low rent, of money advanced, of long leases, or of all of these ; we consider
it preferable to treat of them as permanent, or fundamental improvements, than to con-
sider them as parts of farm-culture. The delusive prospects of profit, from the improve-
ment of wastes, held out by speculative men, have an unhappy tendency to produce dis-
appointment in rash and sanguine adventurers, and ultimately to discourage such attempts
as, with judicious attention to economy, would, in all probability, be attended with great
success. Those who are conversant with the publications that have lately appeared on
this subject must be aware with what caution the alleged results of most of these writers
3 B 3
742 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
ought to be examined ; and how different has been the experience of those who have
ventured to put their schemes in practice, from what they had been ltd to anticipate.
{Gen. Rep. Scot.)
Sect. I. Mountainous and hilly Grounds and their Improvement.
45 1 3. The upper parts of mountains may be considered as among the least improvable
parts of the earth's surface, from the impossibility of ever ameliorating their climate.
" The highest peaks and ridges are mostly naked granite, slate, or volcanic productions.
Their more elevated sides, and the tops of those of moderate height, are usually covered
by a thin soil, producing a short dry herbage, which is frequently mixed with a dwarf,
or stunted heath. Where the soil is not injured by moisture, these are best calculated
for sheep. When the height of mountains exceed 800 feet of elevation above the level
pf the sea, unless covered either with natural woods or artificial plantations, they can only
be profitably used in pasture." {Code-)
4514. The hills, or lands less elevated than mountains, have, in general, a deeper and
moister soil, and produce a more luxuriant herbage, but of a coarse quality ; hence they
are better adapted for small hardy cattle. Though the summits of hills are generally
unfit for raising grain, yet the plough is gradually ascending along their sloping sides,
and within the last thirty years many thousand acres in such situations have been re-
claimed in tlie United Kingdom.
4515. Steep lands along the sides of rivers and small streams are often inaccessible to
the plough, and unfit for tillage. The more rugged of these are well calculated for
woods or coppice ; while those in more favourable situations and climates may be con-
verted into orchards. {Code of Agr. 161.)
Sect. II. Rocky or Stony Surfaces.
4516. Rocky and stony lands are common in the valleys of a hilly or mountainous
country, and sometimes, as in Aberdeenshire, they cover immense tracts of flat surface.
4517. When rocks protrude from the surface here and there in fragments of a few tons,
and it is considered desirable to render the field or scene fit for aration, the only mode is
to rend them asunder by gunpowder, and then carry off the fragments for walls, drains,
roads, or buildings; or, if they are not wanted for these or any other purpose, to bury
them so deep in the ground as to be out of the reach of the plough. But where rocks
rise in considerable masses of several poles in diameter, it will generally be found pre-
ferable to enclose and plant them. Clefts and crevices are found in all rocks which
have been long exposed to the air and weather, and in these may be inserted young
plants, or seeds, or both. Such masses being enclosed by rough stone walls^ formed from
the more detached fragments, or from loose stones, will grow up and be at once highly
ornamental and useful as shelter. It is true they will interrupt the progress of the
plough in a straight line, but not more so than the rock if left in a state of nature. When
a rocky surface is not intended to be ploughed, all that is necessary is to remove as many
of the solitary rocks as possible, and either enclose and plant the rest, or cover them with
earth.
4518. The stones which impede the improvement of land are either loose, thrown up
when the land is trenched, or ploughed ; or fixed in the earth, and not to be removed
without much labour and expense.
4519. Loose stones may often be converted into use for the purpose of forming covered drains, of con-
structing walls or fences, or of making and repairing the roads on the farm or in the neighbourhood ; and,
on these accounts, are sometimes worth the trouble of collecting. They may be removed, with the least
inconvenience, when the land is fallowed. Where loose stones are of a moderate size, they are sometimes
found advantageous rather than detrimental, as in the stone-brash soils of Somersetshire and other dis-
tricts. They prevent evaporation, and thus preserve moisture in the soil. Hence the old remark, that
farmers have been induced to bring back again to their corn-fields those very stones they have been in-
duced to carry off. {Code.)
4520. Whei-e stones are large and fixed in the earth, if they appear above the surface, they should be
removed before the ploughing of the waste commences ; but where they are concealed under the surface,
various modes to get rid of them have been adopted. In some parts of Yorkshire, the whole surface is
gone over with sharp prongs, which, at the distance of every twelve or fourteen inches, are thrust into
the ground to the depth of about a foot, to ascertain where stones are to be met with. The spot is marked
by a twig, and the stones are removed before the land is ploughed. Sometimes the plough is used without
such previous examination, and the place marked where stones are encountered, that they may be taken
away ; and sometimes, in order to discover and remove such stones, the land is trenched by the spade
{Comfnunications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 253.)
4521. Stones above the surface may be avoided by the ploughman, though not without loss of ground;
but stones under the surface are often not discovered till the plough is drawn against them, and perhaps
broken, by which a day's work is sometimes lost. A wooden bolt, however, to unite the horse-trees to the
chain of the plough, may prevent mischief by giving way. Clearing the ground from stones not only pre-
vents such mischiefs, but is attended with actual profit. When removed, they may be used for various
purposes, and are often less expensive than if dug, or purchased at a quarry. Tlie soil round a large stone
is likewise, in general, the best in the field, and is bought at a low rate by the expense of taking out the
stone, as the plough has thus access to all the land around it. In stony land the plough must proceed
Blowly, and cannot perform half so much work as it ought to do ; but, after such impediments have been
removed, the field may be ploughed with the usual facility and cheapness, and in a much more perfect
manner. It frequently happens, that when working stony land, more expense is incurred in one season
by the breaking of ploughs, besides the injury done to the horses and harness, than would cure the evil.
(Gen. Rep. of Scot vol. iii. p. 25fi; Kaimes's Gent. Farinn-, p. 58.)
Book III.
IMPROVEMENT OF ROCKY SURFACES.
-743
704
4522. There are various modes of getting rid of stones. These are generally of such a
size as to admit of being conveyed away in carts or other vehicles calculated for the
purpose. Some ingenious artificers have constructed machines for raising them, when
large. On some occasions, pits have been dug close to large stones, and the latter have
been turned into the former, at such
a depth as to lie out of the reach of
the plough : but it is frequently
necessary to reduce their size by
the force of gunpowder before they
can be removed. Loose stones are
commonly moved by levers, and
rolled on a sledge ; but sometimes
they are raised by a block and
tackle attached to a triangle with
a pair of callipers to hold the stone
(Jig. 703.) The stone may also
be raised by boring a hole in it
obliquely and then inserting an iron bolt with an eye (fg. 704.), which, though loose,
will yet serve to raise the stone in a perpendicular direction.
4523. Richardson's machine for raising large stones {Jig. 1Q5.) ronsists of a frame- work supporting a five-
'7r»<? /»>. ^°^^ tackle, with blocks ten inches in dia.
706 ff^ meter, and a roller seven inches in diame-
ter turned by two long iron levers. A hole
is made in the stone to be raised by means
of the tool well known to masons as a
jumper; in this hole a simple plug may be
driven tightly ; or a compound plug {fig.
706.) may be introduced ; or, what is sim-
plest, the hole may be made obliquely.
{Smith's Compendium of Practical Inven-
tions.)
4524. The mode of bursting or rending
rocks or stones by gunpowder is a simple
though dangerous operation. When a hole
is to be made in a rock for the purpose of
blasting with gunpowder, the prudent work
man considers the nature of the rock, and
the inclination or dip of the strata, if it is
not a detached fragment, and from these
determides the calibre, and the depth and
direction of the bore or recipient for the
gunpowder. According to circumstances,
the diameter of the hole varies from half
an inch to two inches and a half, the depth
from a few inches to many feet, and the
direction varies to all the angles from the
perpendicular to the horizontal. The im-
plements for the performance of this ope-
ration are rude, and so extremely simple
and familiar as hardly to require description ; and the whole operation of boring and blasting rocks is so
easily performed, that, in the space of a few weeks, an intelligent labourer may become an expert quarrier.
A writer in the Mechanics' Magazine has proposed to increase the effect of the gunpowder, by widening
the lower extremity of the bore, and this he thinks may be efiTected, after the bore is made of the proper
ength, by introducing an instrument with a jointed extremity which would work obliquely.
4525. The cpcration of ramming
frequently gives rise to accidents ;
but a recent improvement, that of
using a wadding of loose sand, or of
any earthy matter in a dry state,
answers all the purposes of the firmest
ramming or wadding. It has been
used for upwards of ten years at Lord
Elgin's extensive mining operations
at Charlestown in Fifeshire, and also
in removing immense bodies of rock
from the Calton hill at Edinburgh, by
Stevenson,an eminent engineer,whose
article on the subject of blasting, in
the Sup. to the Encyc. Brit, deserves
the attention of such as use the pro-
cess in working quarries or clearing
rocky or stony grounds.
4526 Dr. Byce of Aberdeen has
communicated to Dr. Brewster's
Journal an account of a cheap and
effectual method of blasting granite
rock, which deserves the particular
attention of the owners and workers
of quarries. It is beautifully scien-
tific, and may be summed up under
the three following heads : viz. 1. To
ignite the gunpowder at the bottom
of the charge, by means of sulphuric
acid, charcoal, and sulphur. 2. To
take advantage of the propelling power
3 B 4
744
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
of gunpowder, as is done with a cannon ball, only, instead of a spherical ball, to employ one of a conical
form {fig. 707.), by which the full effect of the wedge is given in every direction at the lower part of the
charge, but particularly downwards 3. And, in the last place, to add to the effect of the whole, to
insure a fourth part of the depth of the bore at the bottom (b) to be free from the gunpowder ; so that,
when inflamation ensues, a red heat may be communicated to the air in the lower chamber,' whereby
it will be expanded to such a degree as to have the power of at least one hundred times the atmospheric
pressure, and thereby give this additional momentum to the explosive power of the gunpowder. (Dr.
Brewster's Edin. Journ. Oct. 1826. p. 343., and Gard. Mag. vol. ii. p. 467.)
4527. The Assa?nei>e close the mouth of the hole by driving in with a mallet a stout wooden plug some
inches in length, through which a touch-hole is bored. Between the powder and the lower part of the
plug, an interval of several inches is left. The communication is perfected by means of a tin tube filled
with powder, and passing through the centre of the plug. {Monthly Magazine.)
Sect. III. Improving Woody Wastes or Wealds.
4:52B. With surfaces partially covered with bushes and stumps of trees, ferns, &c., the
obvious improvement is to grub them up, and subject the land to cultivation according
to its nature.
4529. The growth of large trees is a sign that the soil is naturally fertile. It must also
have been enriched by the quantity of leaves which in the course of ages have fallen and
rotted upon the surface. Such are the beneficial effects of this process, that after the
trees have been cut down, the soil has often been kept under crops of grain, for a number
of years without interruption or any addition of manure : but land thus treated ulti-
mately becomes so much reduced by great exhaustion, that it will not bear a crop worth
the expense of seed and labour. [Comm. to the Board of Agr., vol. ii. p. 257.) It is
evident, however, that this deterioration entirely proceeds from the improvident manage-
ment previously adopted. In reclaiming such wastes, the branches of the felled trees,
are generally collected and burnt ; and the ashes, either in whole or in part, are spread
on the ground, by which the fertility of the soil is excited. Indeed, where there is no
demand for timber on the spot, nor the means of conveyance to any advantageous
market, the whole wood is burnt, and the ashes applied as manure.
4530. Much coppice land has been grubbed up in various parts of England, and brought into tillage.
Sometimes woods are grubbed for pasture merely. In that case the ground should be as little broken as
possible, because the surface of the land, owing to the dead wood and leaves rotting time out of mind upon
it, is much better than the mould below. It soon gets into good pasture as grass land, without the sowing
of any seed. {Comin. to the Board of Agr. vol. iv. p. 42.) But by far the most eligible mode of converting
woodland into arable is merely to cut down the trees, and to leave the land in a state of grass until the
roots have decayed, cutting down with the scythe from time to time any young shoots that may arise.
The roots in this way, instead of being a cause of anxiety and expense, as they generally are, become a
source of improvement ; and a grassy surface is prepared for the operation of sod burning. {Marshal's
Yorkshire, vol i. p. 316.)
4531. Natural woods and plantations have been successfully grubbed up in Scotland. In the lower
Torwood in Stirlingshire, many acres of natural coppice were cleared ; and the land is now become as
valuable as any in the neighbourhood. {Stirlingshire i port, p. 213.) On the banks of the Clyde and the
Avon, coppices have been cut down, and the land, after being drained, cultivated, and manured, has been
converted into productive orchards. In Perthshire, also, several thousand acres of plantations have been
rooted out, the soil, subjected to the plough, converted into good arable land, and profitably employed in
tillage. {Perthshire Report, p. 329.)
4532. For pulling up or rending asunder the roots of large trees, various machines and contrivances have
been invented. Clearing away the earth and splitting with wedges constitute the usual mode ; but blasting
is also, as in the case of rocks and stones, occasionally resorted to. For this purpose a new instrument,
called the blastins-screw {fig. 708.), has been
o lately applied with considerable success to the
rending or splitting of large trees and logs of
timber. It consists of a screw (a), an auger
{b, c), and charging-piece (rf). The screw is
wrought into an auger-hole, bored in the
centre of the timber : here the charge of
powder is inserted, and the orifice of the hole
m the log is then shut up or closed with the
screw, when a match or piece of cord, pre-
pared with saltpetre, is introduced into a small
hole {a), left in the screw for this purpose, by
which the powder is ignited. The application
of this screw to the purjioses of blasting is not
very obviously necessary ; because, from what
we have seen (4525.), it would appear that the
auger-hole, being charged with powder and
sand, would answer every purpose. One great
objection to the process of blasting applied to
the rending of timber is, the irregular and
uncertain direction of the fracture, by which great waste is sometimes occasioned. It may, however, be
necessary to resort to this mode of breaking up large trees, when cut down and left in inaccessible situa-
tions, where a great force of men nnd implements cannot easily be procured or applied ; and certainly it
is one of the most effectual modes of tearing their stools or roots in pieces. (Sup, Encyc. Brit, art.
Blasting.)
4533. Land covered ivith furze, broom, and other shrubs, is generally well adapted for
cultivation. The furze, or whin (f/lex europaea), will grow in a dense clay soil; and
where found in a thriving state, every species of grain, roots, and grasses, may be cul-
tivated with advantage. The broom, on the other hand, prefers a dry, gravelly, or sandy
soil, such as is adapted for the culture of turnips. A large proportion of the arable land,
in the richest districts of England and Scotland, was originajly covered by these two
plants ; and vast tracts still remain in that state, which might be profitably brought
Boo II. IMPROVEMENT OF MOORS. 745
under cultivation. For this purpose, the shrubs ought to be cut down, the ground
trenched, or the plants rooted out by a strong plough, drawn by four or six horses, and
the roots and shrubs (if not wanted for other purposes), burnt in heaps, and the ashes
spread equally over the surface. (^Com. to the Board of Agr. vol. ii. p. 260.) In many
places, shrubs and brushwood may be sold for more than the expense of rooting them out.
When coal is not abundant, and limestone or chalk can be had, the furze should be em-
ployed in burning the lime used in carrying on the improvement. ( Oxfordshire Report,
p. 232.) It requires constant attention, however, to prevent such plants from again
getting possession of the ground, when restored to pasture. This can best be effected,
by ploughing up the land occasionally, taking a few crops of potatoes, turnips, or tares
in rows, and restoring it to be depastured by sheep. In moist weather, also, the young
plants should be pulled up and destroyed. (Code.)
4534. Fern (Fteris and Osmunda.) is a very troublesome weed to extirpate, as, in many
soils, it sends down its roots into the under stratum, beyond the reach of the deepest
ploughing ; but it is a sign of the goodness of any soil where it grows to a large size.
June and July are the best seasons for destroying it ; the plants are then full of sap, and
should be frequently cut. They are not, however, easily subdued, often appearing after
a rotation of seven years, including a fallow, and sometimes requiring another rotation,
and t-epeated cutting, before their final disappearance can be effected. Lime in its
caustic state is peculiarly hostile to fern ; at the same time, tliis weed can hardly be com-
pletely eradicated but by frequent cultivation, and by green crops assisted by the hoe.
(Oxfordshire Report, pp. 234. 240.)
4535. The heath (Enca) is a hardy plant, palatable and nutritious to sheep; and
under its protection coarse grasses are often produced. When young, or in flower, it
may be cut and converted into an inferior species of wnter provision for stock ; but
where it can be obtained, it is desirable to have grass in its stead. For this purpose, the
land may in some cases be flooded, and in others the heath may be burned, and the
land kept free from stock for eighteen months ; in consequence of either of these modes,
many new grasses will spring up, from the destruction of the heath, and the enrich-
ing quality of the deposit from the water or the ashes. The improvement is very
great ; more especially if the land be drained, and lime or compost applied. ( Gen.
Rep. of Scut. vol. ii. p. 359.) But if the land be too soon depastured, the grasses being
weak and tender, the sheep or cattle will pull them up with their roots, and will mate-
rially injure the pasture. (Statistical Jcconnt of Scotland, vol. iv. p. 465.) Where it is
proposed to cultivate the land for arable crops, the lime applied should be in a finely
powdered state, highly caustic, and as equally spread as possible. {Com. to the B. of
Agr. vol. ii. p. 264.) Lime in a caustic state is an excellent top dressing for heath. It
is astonishing to see white clover spring up, after lime has been some time applied, on
spots where not a green leaf could be detected before.
4536. Paring and burning is a speedy and effectual mode of bringing a surface covered
with coarse herbage into a state of culture. Some have recommended making a com-
post of the pared surface, with lime ; or building folds or earthen walls of the sods, which,
by the action of the atmosphere, become friable and fertile ; but these processes are slower
and not so effectual as paring and burning. In coarse rough pastures, ant-hills fre-
quently abound, which are effectually destroyed by paring and burning. {Code.)
Sect. IV. Moors and their Improvements,
4537. Moorlands are of various descriptions. Sometimes they are in low and mild
situations, where the upper soil is thin or scantily supplied with vegetable mould, and
where the bottom or under-stratum is impervious and barren : these, in general, may be
reclaimed with more or less advantage, according to the proximity of manure or markets,
and of other means of improvement. Sometimes, on the contrary, they are in situations
much elevated above the level of the sea ; where the surface is covered with heath and other
coarse plants, and frequently encumbered with stones : such moors are seldom worth the
expense of cultivation, and from their height are only calculated for woods or pasturage.
4538. Moors not placed in high or bleak situations, where the surface is close-swarded,
or covered with plants, and where the subsoil is naturally either not altogether wet, or
capable of being made sufficiently dry at a moderate expense, may not only be reclaimed,
but can often be highly improved by the common operations of farm culture, by paring
and burning, by fallow and liming, or by trenching or deep ploughing.
4539. Fast improvements on different sorts of momy land3 have been made in Yorkshire where there are
immense tracts of moors. It is stated in The Agricultural Report of the North Riding of Yorkshire, that
an improvement was made upon Lockton Moor, on a quantity of land of about seventy acre;;, which would
not let for more than 1*. per acre before it was enclosed. Of this forty-eight acres were pared and burnt,
and sown with rajie, except about an acre sown with rve; the produce about sixty quarters. The rye
grew very strong, and in height not less than six feet, and was sold, while standing, for five guineas the
acre. The land was only once ploughed, otherwise the crop of rape would probably have been much
better. One hundred and twenty chaldrons (each thirty-two bushels) of lime were ploughed into the
V4Q PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
field ; which, for want of more frequent ploughing, was probably not of the service it otherwise might
have been. Part of the land was afterwards sown down with oats and grass seeds ; the former of which
afforded but a moderate crop, the latter a very good one, and has since produced two loads, 120 stones
each, per acre. The seeds sown were rye-grass, rib-grass, white clover, and trefoil ; of these, the first
succeeded amazingly, the others not so well ; potatoes throve very well; turnips not equal to them. A
farm-house has been built upon it, which now, ahig with five acres more of the same kind of land, is let
on lease at thirty pounds per annum. The soil consisted, in general, of benty peat, upon red gritstone,
with a mixture of clay upon limestone ; this last is, in some places, at a considerable depth, in others,
sufficiently near the surface for lime to be burnt on the premises.
4540. FinlaysorCs rid-plough (§ 2605.) has been found a valuable implement in
breaking up heath and moorlands, in Scotland.
Sect. V. Peat Mosses, Bogs, and Morasses, and their Improvement.
4541. Mossy and boggy surfaces occupy a very considerable portion of the British
Isles. In Ireland alone there are of flat red bog, capable of being converted to the
general purposes of agriculture, 1,576,000 acres ; and of peat soil, covering mountains,
capable of being improved for pasture, or beneficially applied to the purposes of plant-
ation, 1,255,000 acres, making together nearly three millions of acres. Mossy lands,
whether on mountains or plains, are of two kinds : the one black and solid ; the other
spongy, containing a great quantity of water, with a proportion of fibrous materials.
4542. Black mosses, though formerly considered irreclaimable, are now found capable
of great melioration. By cultivation, they may be completely changed in their quality
and appearance ; and, from a peaty, become a soft vegetable earth of great fertility.
They may be converted into pasture ; or, after being thoroughly drained, thriving plant-
ations may be raised upon them ; or, under judicious management, they will produce
crops of grain and roots ; or, they may be formed into ntieadow-land of considerable
value.
4543. Flow, fluid, or spongy masses, abound in various parts of the British Isles. Such
mosses are sometimes from ten to twenty feet deep, and even more, but the average may
be stated at from four to eight. In high situations, their improvement is attended with
so much expense, and the returns are so scanty, that it is advisable to leave them in their
original state ; but where advantageously situated, it is now proved that they may be
profitably converted into arable land, or valuable meadow. If they are not too high
above the level of the sea, arable crops may be successfully cultivated. Potatoes, and
other green crops, where manure can be obtained, may likewise be raised on them vnth
advantage.
4544. Peat is certainly a production capable of administering to the support of many valuable kinds of
plants : but to effect this purpose, it must be reduced to such a state, either by the application of fire, or
the influence of putrefaction, as may prepare it for their nourishment. In either of these ways, peat may
be changed into a soil fit for the production of grass, of herbs, or of roots. The application of a proper
quantity of lime, chalk, or marl, prepares it equally well for the production of corn. {Code.)
4545. The fundamental improvement of all peat soils is drainage, which alone will in a few years change
a boggy to a grassy surface. After being drained, the surface may be covered with earthy materials,
pared and burned, fallowed, dug, trenched, or rolled. The celebrated Duke of Bridgewater covered a
part of Chatmoss with the refuse of coal-pits, a mixture of earths and stones of different qualities and
sizes, which were brought in barges out of the interior of a mountain ; and, by compressing the surface,
enabled it to bear pasturing stock. Its fertility was promoted by the vegetable mould of the morass, which
presently rose and mixed with the heavier materials which were spread upon it, {Marshal on Landed
Property, p. 46.)
4546. The fenny grounds of Huntingdonshire are in some cases improved by applying marl to the sur-
face. Where that substance is mixed with the fen soil, the finer grasses flourish beyond what they do on
the fen soil unmixed ; and when the mixed soil is ploughed, and sown with any sort of grain, the calca.
reous earth renders the crops less apt to fall down, the produce is greater, and the grain of better quality
than on any other part of the land. {Huntingdonshire Report, p. 301.)
4547. Covering the surface cfpeat bogs with earth has been practised in several parts of Scotland. Clay,
sand, gravel, shells, and sea ooze, two or three inches thick, or more, have been used ; and land, originally
of no value, has thus been rendered worth from 21. to 3/. and even 4/. per acre. The horses upon this
land must either be equipped with wooden clogs, or the work performed in frosty weather, when the
surface of the moss is hard. Coarse obdurate clay (provincially till) is peculiarly calculated for this pro-
cess ; as, when it is blended with peat and some calcareous matter, it contains all the properties of a fertile
soil. {Clydesdale Report, p. 150, note.) This is certainly an expensive method of improving land, unless
the substance to be laid upon it is within 500 yards' distance ; but where it can properly be done, the moss
thus obtains solidity, and after it has been supplied with calcareous earth, it may be cultivated, like other
soils, in a rotation of white and green crops. In the neighbourhood of populous towns, where the
rent of land is high, the covering substance may be conveyed from a greater distance than 500 yards.
{Code.)
4548. Rolling peaty surfaces has been found to improve them. The greatest defect of soft soils is, that
the drought easily penetrates them, and they become too open. The roller is an antidote to that evil, and
the expense is the only thing that ought to set bounds to the practice of this operation. It also tends to
destroy those worms, grubs, and insects, with which light and fenny land is apt to be infested. The roller
for such soils ought not to be heavy, nor of a narrow diameter. If it is weighty, and the diameter small,
it sinks too much where the pressure falls, which causes the soft moss to rise
before and behind the roller, and thus, instead of consolidating, it rends the soil.
A gentle pressure consolidates moss, but too much weight has a contrary effect.
A roller for moss ought therefore to be formed of wood, the cylinder about four
feet diameter, and mounted to be drawn by two or three men. Three small
rollers working in one frame, {fig. 709.), have sometimes been so drawn. When
horses are employed, they ought to have clogs or pattens, if likely to sink. The
oftener the rolling is performed, on spongy soils as long as the crops of corn or
grass will admit of it, the better, and the more certain is the result.
Book III. IMPROVING MARSHES. 747
4549. An exlensivt tract of mois in the county qf Lancaster strfcta, and other plants, whose matted roots are almost Im-
has been recently improved by the celebrated Roscoe of Liver- perishable. The moss being thus brought to a tolerably dry
pool, in a very spirited and skilful manner. Chatmoss in that and level surface, I then plough it in a regular furrow sii
county is well known ; its length is about six miles, its greatest inches deep- and as soon as possible after it is thus turned up, X
breadth about three miles, and its depth may be estimated set upon it the necessary quantity of marl, not less than two
from ten to upwards of thirty feet. It is entirely composed of hundred cubic yards to the acre. As the marl begins to crum-
the substance well known by the name of peat, being an aggre- ble and fall with the sun or fVost, it is spread over the land
§ate of vegetable matter, disorganised and inert, but {^reserved with considerable exactness, after which I put in a crop as
y certain causes from putrefaction. On the surface it is light early as possible, sometimes by the plough, and at others with
and fibrous, but becomes more dense below. On cutting to a the horse-scuffle or scarifier, according to the nattire of the
considerable depth, it is found to be black, compact, and crop, adding, for the first crop, a quantity of manure, which I
heavy, and in many respects resembling coal. There is not bringdown the navigable river Irwell, to the borders of the
throughout the whole moss the least intermixture of sand, moss, setting on about twenty tons to the acre. Moss land thus
gravel, or other material, the entire substance being a pure treated may not only be advantageously crojiped the Jirtt year
vegetable. About 1796 or 1797, Roscoe began to improve with green crops, as potatoes, turnips, &c. but with any kind
TraflTord moss, a tract of three hundred acres, lying two miles of grain ; and as wheat has, of late, paid better to the farmer
east of Chatmoss ; and his operations on it seem to have been than any other, I have hitherto chiefly relied ujion it, as my
so successful as to encourage him to proceed with Chatmoss. first crop, for reimbursing the expense."
In the improvement of the latter, he found it unnecessary to 4552. The expense of the several ploughings, with the bum-
incur so heavy an expense for drainage as he had done in the ing, sowing, and harrowing, and of the marl and manure, but
former. From observing that where the moss had been dug exclusive of the seed, and also of the previous drainage and
for peat, the water had drawn towards it from a distance of general charges, amounts to 18/. 5i. per acre; and in 1812, on
fif^y to a hundred yards, he conceived that if each drain had to one piece of land thus improved, Roscoe had twenty bushels cif
draw the water only twenty-five yards, they would, within a wheat, then worth a guinea per bushel, and on another piece
reasonable time, undoubtedly answer the purpose. The whole eighteen bushels ; but these were the best crops upon the moss,
rfthe moss was therefore laid out on the following plan : — " Both !inie and marl are generally to be found within a rea-
4550. A main road, Roscoe states, " was first carried nearly sonable distance ; and the preference given to either of them
from east to west, through the whole extent of my portion of will much depend upon the facility of obtaining it. The
the moss. This road is about three miles long and thirty-six quantity of lime necessary for the purpose is so small, in pro-
feet wide; it is bounded on each side by a main drain, seven portion to that of marl, that, where the distance is great, and
feet wide and six feet deep, from which the water is conveyed, the carriage high, it is more advisable to make use of it ; but
by a considerable fall, to the river. From these two main where marl is upon the spot, or can be obtained in sufficient
drains, other drains diverge, at fifly yards' distance from each quantity at a reasonable expense, it appears to be preferable."
other, and extend from each side of the road to the utmost Roscoe is thoroughly convinced, after a great many different
limits of the moss. Thus, each field contains fifty yards in trials, that all temporizing expedients arefallacious; and " that
front to the road, and is of an indefinite length, according as the the best method or improving moss land is At; the application of
boundary of the moss varies. These field-drains are four feet a calcareous substance, in sujfident quantity to convert the moss
wide at the top, ona foot at the bottom, and four feet and a half into a soil, and hy the occasional use of animal or other extraneous
deep. They are kept carefully open, and, as far as my exjieri- manures, such as the course of cultivation, and the nature of
cnce hitherto goes, I believe they will sufficiently drain the the crops, may be fmnd to require.
moss, without having recourse to underdraining, which I have 4553. Roscoe's contrivance for conveying on the marl seems
never mad" use of at Chatmoss, except in a very few instances, peculiar. It would not be practicable, he observes, to effect
when, from the lowness of the surface, the water could not the marling at so cheap a rate, (10/. per acre,) were it not for
readily be gotten off without open channels, which might ob- the assistance of an iron road or railway, laid upon boards or
struct the plough." sleepers, and moveable at pleasure. Along this road the marl
455 1 . The cultivation qfthe moss then proceeds in the following is conveyed in waggons with small iron wheels, each drawn by
manner: — " After setting fire to the heath and herbage on one man. These waggons, by taking out a pin, turn their
the moss, and burning it down as far as practicable, I plough a lading out on either side ; they carry about 15 cv.t. each, being
thin sod or furrow, with a very sharp horse-plough, which I as much as could heretofore be conveyed over the moss by a
bum in small heaps and dissipate : considering it of little use cart with a driver emd two horses.
but to destroy the tough sods of the Erio'phorum, A'irdus
4554. An anomalous mode of treating peat bogs was invented and practised by the late Lord Kaimes,
which may be applicable in a few cases. This singular mode can be adopted only where there is a com-
mand of water, and where the subjacent clay is of a most fertile quality, or consists of alluvial soil. A
stream of water is brought into the moss, into which the spongy upper stratum is first thrown, and after-
wards the heavier moss, in small quantities at a time ; the whole is then conveyed by the stream into the
neighbouring river, and thence to the sea. The moss thus got rid of, in the instance of Blair Drummond,
in Perthshire, was, on an average, about seven feet deep. Much ingenuity was displayed in constructing
the machinery, to supply water for removing the moss, previously to the improvement of the rich soil
below. It required both the genius and the perseverance of Lord Kaimes to complete this scheme ; but
by this singular mode of improvement, about 1000 English acres have been already cleared, a population of
above 900 inhabitants furnished with the means of subsistence, and an extensive district, where only snipes
and moorfowl were formerly maintained, is now converted, as if by magic, into a rich and fertile carse,or
tract of alluvial soil. {Code.) In The General Report of Scotland, Appendix, vol. ii. p. 38., and at p. 326
of this work, will be found a detailed account of this improvement.
4555. Moss has been converted into manure by fermentation with stable dung, and with this article
joined with whale oil. In the Highland Soc. Trans., vol. vii., an account is given (p. 147.) of several ex-
periments of this kind by W. Bell, Esq. : — A layer of moss a foot thick was formed after the material was
tolerably dry, in the month of June ; above this a layer of stable dung was placed, at least twice the thick-
ness of that of moss ; next followed another layer of moss thicker than the first j on this last layer a ton
of coarse whale oil was poured, and the whole was completely covered up with moss. In ten days the
whole mass came freely into heat ; in about eight weeks it was turned, and continued to ferment freely;
in a few weeks afterwards the whole mass resembled black garden mould. Out of twenty-five cubic
yards of stable dung, and one ton of oil, two hundred and sixty cubic yards of compost were pro-
duced.
4556. Peat may be charred and rendered fit to be used like charcoal in cookery and other domestic pur-
poses, in the same way as wood or coal is charred, and in much less time. For ordinary purposes, it is
charred by some families on the kitchen fire, thus : — Take a dozen or fifteen peats, and put them upon the
top of the kitchen fire, upon edge : they will soon draw up the coal fire, and become red in a short time :
after being turned about once or twice, and done with smoking, they are charred, and may be removed to
the stoves: if more char is wanted, put on another supply of peat, as before mentioned. By following
this plan, you keep up the kitchen fire, and have at the same time, with very little trouble, a supply of the
best charred peat, perfectly free of smoke; and the vapour is by no means so noxious as charcoal made
from wood. Peats charred in this way may be used in a chafer, in any room, or even in a nursery, with-
out any danger arising from the vapour. It would also be found very fit for the warming of beds ; and
much better than live coals, which are in general used full of sulphur, and smell all over the house.
{Farm. Mag. vol. xvii.)
Sect. VI. Marshes and their Improvement.
4557. A tract of land on the borders of the sea or of a large river is called a marsh:
it differs from the fen, bog, and morass, in consisting of a firmer and better soil,
and in being occasionally flooded. Marshes are generally divided into fresh-water
marshes and salt-water marshes ; the latter sometimes called saltings or ings : fresh-
water marshes differ from meadows, in being generally soaked with water from the sub-
soils or springs.
4558. Fresh-water marshes are often found interspersed with arable land, where springs
rise, and redundant water has not been carried off; and may be improved by a course ot
ditching, draining, and ploughing. Where large inland marshes are almost constantly
748 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
covered with water, or the soil is extremely wet, they may be drained, as large districts in
the fens of Lincolnshire have been, and made highly valuable. The object, in that case,
is, by embankments, draining, and other means of improvement, to convert these marshes
into pasture or meadow, or even arable lands ; and where such improvements cannot be
accomplished, the most useful woody aquatics, as willows, osiers, &c., may be grown with
advantage.
4559. Romney marsh is one of the most extensive and fertile fresh-water marshes in
Britain. It contains nearly 24,000 acres; besides which Walland marsh and Dinge
marsh, which are comprised within the walls, contain, the former 12,000, and the latter
8,000 acres. Boys informs us that " the internal regulations of these marshes are com-
mitted to the superintendence of expenditors. These are appointed by the Commissioners
of Sewers, and are to take care that the repairs of the walls are maintained in due order,
and that the costs attending the same be levied on each tenant according to the number
of acres occupied by him ; for which purpose they are to cause assessments to be made
out, with the names of the occupiers, and the rateable proportions to be borne by them
respectively ; and these rates, which must be confirmed by the commissioners, are termed
scots ; and that when any occupier refuses to pay his scot, the expenditors can obtain a
warrant from the commissioners, empov/ering them to distrain for the same, as for any
other tax." These marshes are both appropriated to the purposes of breeding and
feeding.
4560. Salt water marshes are subject to be overflowed at every spring tide, and at other
times, when, from the violence of the wind or the impetuosity of the tide, the water flows
beyond its usual limits. Their goodness is in a great measure analogous to the fertility
of the adjoining marshes ; and their extent differs according to the situation. Embank-
ments, as it is remarked in The Code of Agriculture, are perhaps the only means by which
they can be effectually improved, especially when they are deficient in pasture. How-
ever, where pasture abounds, they are in some cases more valuable than arable lands, the
pasture operating as a medicine upon diseased cattle.
4561. Marshes on the Thames. In The Jgricultural Survey of Kent it is asserted, that
great profit is made by the renters of marshes bordering on the Thames, in the neigh-
bourhood of London, from the grazing of horses, the pasture being deservedly accounted
salubrious to that useful animal. Such horses as have been worn down by hard travel,
or long afflicted with the farcy, lameness, &c., have frequently been restored to their
pristine health and vigour, by a few months' run in the marshes, especially on the salt-
ings ; but as every piece of marsh land in some measure participates of this saline dis-
position, so do they all of them possess, in a comparative degree, the virtues above
mentioned, and for this reason the Londoners are happy to procure a run for their
horses, at 4s. or 5s. per week. Another method practised by the graziers in the vicinity
of London is, to purchase sheep or bullocks in Smithfield at a hanging market, which,
being turned into the marshes, in the lapse of a few weeks are not only much improved
in flesh, but go off at a time when the markets, being less crowded, have considerably
advanced in price ; and thus a twofold gain is made from this traffic. Many of the
wealthy butchers of the metropolis are possessed of a tract of this marsh land, and,
having from their constant attendance at Smithfield, a perfect knowledge of the rise and
fall in the markets, they are consequently enabled to judge with certainty when will be
the proper time to buy in their stock, and at what period to dispose of them.
4562. In various districts of the island situated on the borders of the sea, or near the
mouths of large rivers, there are many very extensive tracts of this description of land,
which by proper drainage and enclosure may be rendered highly valuable and productive.
This is particularly the case in Somersetshire and Lincolnshire. In the former of these
counties, vast improvements have, according to Billingsley, as stated in his able Survey,
been effected by the cutting of ditches, for the purpose of dividing the property, and the
deepening of the general outlets to discharge the superfluous water. Many thousand
acres which were formerly overflowed for months together, and consequently of little or
no value, are now become fine grazing and dairy lands.
Sect. VII. Downs and other Shore Lands.
4563. Downs are those undulating smooth surfaces covered with close and fine turf
met with in some districts on the sea-shore ; the soil is sometimes sandy, and at other
times clay or loam. In inland situations there are also down lands, as in Wiltshire,
Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire ; in the latter two counties they are called wolds.
4564. Sa?idy downs on the sea-shore are often more valuable in their natural state
than after cultivation. In a state of nature they frequently afford good pasture for sheep
and rabbits, and at other times produce grasses that may be used as food for cattle, or as
litter. But the great object should be to raise plants which contribute to fix these soils,
and to prevent them from being drifted by the winds, which often occasion incalculable
Book III.
. IMPROVING FARMERIES.
749
mischief. The most suitable plants for the purpose are, the ^'lymus arenarius, Juncus
arenflrius, ^rundo Donax, Ononis spinosa, Galium verum, Tussilago Petasites, and a
variety of other creeping-rooted plants and grasses. Of woody plants, the elder is
one of the best for resisting the sea breeze, and requires only to be inserted in the
sand in large truncheons. Where the sands on sea-shores are mixed with shells,
and not very liable to drift, if they can be sheltered by fences or an embankment,
and sown with white clover, it will be found both an economical and profitable
improvement.
4565. The drifUsands of the outer Hebrides have in some places been consolidated and covered with verd-
ure by " square pieces of turf, cut from solid sward, and laid upon
the drifting surface, in steep places nearer to each other, and in less
inclined places at a greater distance : on very rapid declivities the turfs
are placed in contiguity. These turfs, although separated by intervals
of a foot or so of sand, are not liable to be buried, except in very ex-
posed places." {Qiiar. Jour. Agr. vol. i. p. 715.) N. Macleod, Esq. of
Harris, has reclaimed and brought into useful permanent pasture
above 120 acres of useless drifting sand, by planting it with Axtindo
arenkria {fig. 710.) in 1819. The operation is performed in September,
by cutting the plants " about two inches below the surface with a
small thin-edged spade, with a short handle, which a man can use in
his right hand, at the same time taking hold of the grass with his left;
other persons carrying it to the blowing-sand to be planted in a hole, or
rather a cut, made in the sand, about eight or nine inches deep, (and
deeper where the sand is very open and much exposed,) by a large
narrow-pointed spade. A handful of .4rundo arenkria, or bent grass,
was put into each of these cuts, which were about twelve inches dis-
tant, more or less, according to the exposure of the situation. When
properly fixed in the blowing-sand, the roots begin to grow and spread
under the surface, in the course of a month after planting. This grass
is relished by cattle in summer, but it is ofgreater value, by preserv-
ingito!! the ground for wintering cattle : it would be injudicious to cut
it, because it will stand the winter better than any other grass, and is
seldom covered with snow. Neither wind, rain, nor frost will destroy it;
but the old grass naturally decays towards the latter end of spring and
the beginning of summer, as the new crop grows. White and red clover
will grow spontaneously among this grass in the course of a few years,
provided it is well secured. {Traiis. Highl. Hoc. vol. vi. p. 265.)
4566. Poor sandy soils in inland districts are not unfre-
quently stocked with rabbits. When the productions of ara-
ble lands are high, it is found worth while to break up these
warrens and cultivate corn and turnips ; but it frequently happens that, taking the requi-
site outlay of capital, and tiie expenses and risk into consideration, they do not pay so
well as when stocked with rabbits. Such lands are generally well adapted for plant-
711 ing; but in this, as in every other case
^here there is a choice, circumstances must
I' direct what line of improvement is to be
adopted.
4567 Shores and sea beaches of gravel and
shingle, without either soil or vegetation, are
perhaps the mostunimproveable spots of any;
but something may be done with them by
burying the roots of the arenarious grasses
along with a little clay or loamy earth. Of
these, the best is the ^rundo arenkria and
jB'lymus arenarius {Jig. 711. a), already
mentioned; and E. geniculatus (6) and
sibiricus (c) would probably succeed equally
well. The last grows on the sandy wastes
of Siberia, and the preceding is found on
the shores of Britain.
Chap. V.
Improvement of Lands already in a State ofCidture.
4568. A profitable application of many of the practices recommended in the chapters of
this and the foregoing Book may be made to many estates which have been long under
cultivation. It is certain, indeed, that the majority of those who study our work will
have that object more in view than the laying out or improvement of estates ab origine.
Few are the estates in Britain in which the farm lands do not admit of increased value.
750 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part IlL
by rectifying the shape of fields, adjusting their size, improving the fences, draining the
soil, or adding to the shelter ; and few are the farmeries that may not be rendered more
commodious. "Of this, we shall give a few examples, after we have stated the general
principles and modes of proceeding.
Sect. I. General Principles and Modes of Procedure, in improving Estates already more
or less improved^.
4569. The groundwork of improvement, on which a practical man may tread with safety
and full effect, is an accurate delineation of the existing state, together with a faithful
estimate of the present value, of the lands, and other particulars of an estate to be im-
proved. A general map of the appropriated lands, readily exhibiting the several farms
and fields as they lie, and showing the existing watercourses, embankments, fences, and
buildings ; the woodlands, standing waters, morasses, and moory grounds ; the known
mines and quarries ; together vdth the commonable lands (if any) belonging to the estate,
forms a comprehensive and useful subject of study to the practical improver. It is to
him, what the map of a country is to a traveller, or a sea-chart to a navigator. If an
estate is large, a faithful delineation of it will enable him in a few hours to set out with
advantages, respecting the connections and dependencies of the whole and its several parts,
which, were he deprived of such scientific assistance, as many days, weeks, or months
could not furnish. If on the same plan appear the rental value of each field or parcel
of land, and the annual produce of each mine, quarry, woodland, and productive water,
in its present state, the preparatory information which science is capable of supplying
may be considered as complete ; and it remains with the artist to study with persevering
attention the subject itself, in order to discover the species of improvements of which it
is susceptible, and the suitable means of carrying them into effect.
4570. The species of improvements incident to landed property are numerous. They
may, however, be classed under the following heads : — the improvement of the outline,
and general consolidation of an estate by purchase, sale, or exchange : the improvement
of the roads ; of the mines and minerals ; of the towns, villages, mills, and manufacto-
ries ; of the waters ; of the woods and plantations ; and of the farmeries and farm lands.
This last subject is the most common, and to it we shall devote the succeeding section.
To discuss the other species of improvement, as applied to old estates, would necessarily
include so much of what has already passed in review in the foregoing Book, as to be
wearisome to the reader.
Sect. II. Improvement of Farmeries and Farm Lands,
4571. Farm lands are of more or less value according to the means of occupying them.
Arable lands in particular require buildings and other conveniences proportioned to the
size of a farm. We frequently see tenants curbed in their operations, and incurring a
waste of produce, through the want of sufficient homestalls. On the other hand, we
sometimes observe a prodigality of expenditure on farm buildings ; thus not only sinking
money unnecessarily, but incurring unnecessary expenses in subsequent repairs, by ex-
tending homesteads beyond the sizes of farms. In some cases, therefore, it will be
found necessary to curtail the extent of farm buildings, as large barns ; in others to
enlarge the yards, and in many to add and re-arrange the whole. The subject there-
fore may be considered in regard to design and execution ; but as we have already
treated fully on laying out new farmeries, we shall here offer only a few general remarks
as to alterations.
4572. In improving the plan of a farmery, the given intention is first to be maturely
considered, and the several requisites to be carefully ascertained. The given site is next
to be delineated, so as to show the existing buildings, yards, roadways, and entrances ;
and then, by maturely studying the plan alternately with the site itself, the improver is
to endeavour to trace out the most suitable alterations ; all the while keeping in view the
perfection of arrangement, the situation and value of the existing buildings, and the ex-
penses of alteration ; reconsidering the subject repeatedly, until the judgment be fully
satisfied. It is much easier to plan and erect a new farmstead, than to improve one which is
already erected. The former requires science and ingenuity only ; the latter good sense
and judgment also.
4573. In executing improvements on old farmeries, some difficulty occurs as to the in-
corporation of new and old materials. If the situation and plan are likely to be of per-
manent approval, the new erections may be made in the most substantial manner ;
keeping it in view that the old, which are repaired at the time, may afterwards be wholly
renewed. But if the repairs and improvements are not to extend further than the
duration of a lease, or till, by the expiration of various leases, some general plan of
improvement can be determined on, then old materials may be used, or less permanent
structures may be erected.
Book III.
IMPROVING FARM LANDS.
751
4374. As an example of adding part of a newly-enclosed common-field to a small anciently enclosed grass.
719 /arm (yJ^. 712.), we give.
' •^ ' the following case :
4575. The farmery (a)
and ancient enclosedfields
(6), are separated from
the common field by a
road, and bounded on the
other side by a lake. The
soil is a soft black earth
on a gravelly subsoil,
the surface a gentle slope
towards the lake. The
farm-house is supposed to
be already placed in this
ancient part ; and the ob-
jeet in view is to unite a
large portion of the com-
mon field, when enclosed,
to each ancient farm, so
as to get a fair rent for the
lands at the least expense.
The soil of this common
field is a light poor sand,
with nearly a flat surface.
The circumstances of the
country are favourable to
large farms, the climate
is dry, and the situation
such as to require shelter.
The number of acres to
be enclosed and added to
this farm is 1200. These
will be most advantage,
ously cultivated in six
shifts of, 1, turnips (c) ;
2, barley (rf); 3, artificial
grasses (e) ; 4 and 5, the
same (/, g) ; 6, wheat or
oats (h). Each shift is
proposed to be separated
by a plantation for shelter,
and no inferior divisions
are made. In two of
the plantations are field-
barns, sheds, &c. where
the corn grown on one-
half of the arable lands is
threshed by a moveable
threshing-machine, and
the straw consumed by
cattle. There are cottages
at each of these barns for
labourers to attend to the stock, &c. The ridges in each of the breaks or shifts are supposed to extend
their whole length ; or they may be ploughed as if the whole break were only one ridge, by which means
not a moment is lost in turning at the ends, &c. Hereford or Devon oxen are supposed the beasts of
labour on this farm.
4576. In place of the above rotation, wheat may be added after the second year of arti-
flcial grasses, and one shift kept entirely under saintfoin. This saintfoin division must
of course be changed every sixth or seventh year. However, if a proper mixture of
artificial grasses is sown, such as red, white, and yellow clover, rib-grass, burnet, saint-
foin, timothy, cocksfoot, rye-grass, and soft-grass, the produce will be superior to that
from either saintfoin or lucern alone, on a soil such as this, or even perhaps on any soil.
Every agriculturist of observation must be aware that the efforts of annual and biennial
plants are powerful for a few years at first, and that they uniformly produce a greater
bulk than perennials : the latter seem to compensate for this temporary bulk by a steady
durable produce.
4577. The old pasture near the house is supposed to be irrigated from the upper part
of the lake, by a cut passing near the house. These pastures are particularly advan-
tageous for early lambs, milch cows, &c. and for stock in general in seasons of great
drought.
^ 4578. Correcting the outlines of fields is one of the most obvious sources of ameliora-
tion on many, perhaps on most, estates. The advantages of proper sized and shaped
enclosures have been fully pointed out, when treating of laying out farm lands, and in
altering existing fences the same principles must be steadily kept in view ; for though,
unless by a total eradication of all the existing fences, every requisite may not be attain-
able, yet such a number may be gained as amply to compensate for the expense. In
altering the shape and size of fields, besides the advantages resulting from the improve-
ment in form, it will generally be found that a number of culturable acres may be added
to the farm in proportion to the crookedness and width of the fences. Better drainage
and roads will also be obtained, and where ornament is an object, a park-like appearance
may be produced by leaving a single trees as part of what may have stood in the eradi-
cated hedge-rows.
752
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
4579. As an example qf improving the shape and size of fields, we shall refer to a farm of 350 acres,
situated in Middlesex, {fig. 713.) In this case, the fields were larger than usual, but the fences were in
many parts from ten to fifteen yards in width, more resembling strips of copse wood than fences, as they
contained hazel, dogwood, black and white thorns, wild roses, brambles, and a variety of native shrubs.
The lines of these fences were so ill calculated for carrying oflf the surface-water, that in one half of the
fields there were open gutters for the discharge of the water collected in the hedge-row ditches.
4580. In the centre of one field (25), for example, above an acre was rendered waste by the water from
other fields (19, 20, and 21), which water, it is curious to remark, might, if led over the same acre agree-
ably to the principles of irrigation, have produced annually at least two loads and a half of good hay, in
place of annually rendering the produce of this acre unmarketable. The water of some fields (as 16, 18,
and part of 19,) ran in a diagonal direction through another (15), two acres of which might have been irri-
gated by it to advantage.
4581. In the farm, when altered {fig. 714.), the fields are more uniform in shape and size ; their sides
are parallel, and better adapted for ploughing the lands in straight ridges. All the surface-water is
r^.. 714
carried oflfby the open fence drains. Access is had to every field by the shortest possible road from the
farmery. Only two-thirds of the number of gates formerly required are requisite. Fifty acres are ren-
dered useful which were formerly lost, or pernicious, by occupying space for which rent was paid, ^J^^'^y
harbouring insects and noxious weeds ; and as much rich vegetable earth is obtained from the old hedge
banks as, spread abroad in every direction, may be said to manure at least ten acres. The whole is more
open and healthful ; and, from the number of single trees thrown into the fields, more elegant, and bear-
ing a greater resemblance to a park. A part near the house (1, 2, 3) is in permanent pasture, and the rest
(4,5, 6, &c.) under a course of fallow, wheat, clover, beans, and wheat. ,
Book III.
SHELTERING FARM LANDS.
753
4582. As an example of altering the fields and consolidating a farm, we submit the case of a meadow-
farm, with the arable lands in acommon field state, {fig. 715.) By an act of enclosure, these scattered
arable lands (a) were exchanged for others adjoining the meadow grounds {fig. 716. 6), and the Avhole ren-
dered more compact and commodious. This farm, being intersected by a public lane, affords an example
in which no private roads are wanted. The size and shape of the fields were improved, and the broad
fences reduced as in the preceding case, and attended with the same advantages in an agricultural point
of view.
4583. Birf though in altering broad fences there areobvious and
Indisputable advantages to the farmer, yet, as justly observed by
I-ocli, irain is not every thing. " The fences on the Marquess
of Stafford's estates," he says, " were liable to the same objec-
tion which is applicable to a great proportion of the counties of
England. They are not composed of quick, at least but in a
scanty degree ; they for tlie most part consist of bushes, growing
from the stump of every sort of forest-tree, intermixed with
ture alone were the occupation of life. But as they give great
protection, when they thrive, to the game, they become an im-
portant object of preservation, inasmuch as every tiling must
be of consequence which contributes to the sport, and has the
effect of retaining the gentry of England much upon their
estates. For this reason, it may occasionally be proper to con-
sider of the best way to preserve these hedges at the least
expense, in place of substituting more perfect ones in their
stead ; nor should one object exclusively be attended to in the
agricultural inuirovements of so great and so wealthy a country."
Such are Mr. Loch's ideas on game and hedges.
hazel, birch, hornbeam, maple, alder, willow, &c. They are
planted on high and dry mounds, and thus are subject to con-
stant decay. "They occupy too much ground, provided agricul-
4584. When farm-lands are exposed to high winds, insterspersing them with strips or
masses of plantation is attended with obviously important advantages. Not only are
such lands rendered more congenial to the growth of grass, and corn, and the health of
pasturing animals, but the local climate is improved. The fact, that the climate may be
thus improved, has, in very many instances, been sufficiently established. It is, indeed,
astonishing how much better cattle thrive in fields even but moderately sheltered than
they do in an open exposed country. In the breeding of cattle, a sheltered farm, or a
sheltered corner in a farm, is a thing much prized ; and, in instances where fields are
taken by the season for the purpose of fattening,, those most sheltered never fail to bring
the highest rents, provided the soil is equal to that of the neighbouring fields which are
not sheltered by trees. If we enquire into the cause, we shall find, that it does not alto-
gether depend on an early rise of grass, on account of the shelter afforded to the lands
by the plantations ; but likewise that cattle, which have it in their power, in cold
seasons, to indulge in the kindly shelter afforded them by the trees, feed better ; because
their bodies are not pierced by the keen winds of spring and autumn, neither is the
tender grass destroyed by the frosty blasts of March and April. (Plant. Kal. p. 121.)
4585. The operation of skreen plantations, in exposed situations, Marshal observes, is not merely that
of giving shelter to the animals lodging immediately beneath them ; but likewise that of breaking the
uniform current of the wind, — shattering the cutting blasts, and throwing them into eddies; thus
meliorating the air to some distance from them. Living trees communicate a degree of actual warmth
to the air which envelopes them. Where there is life there is warmth, not only in animal but in
vegetable nature. The severest frost rarely affects the sap of trees. Hence it appears, that trees and
shrubs properly disposed, in a bleak situation, tend to improve the lands so situated, in a threefold way,
for the purposes of agriculture ; namely, by giving shelter to stock ; by breaking the currents of winds;
and by communicating a degree of warmth or softness to the air, in calmer weather.
4586. The proper disposal of skreen plantations for this purpose is in lines across the most offensive
winds, and in situations best calculated to break their force. Placed across valleys, dips, or more open
plains, in bleak exposures, they may be of singular use; also on the ridges, as well as on the points and
hangs, of hills.
3 C
754
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
45^7. The width of skreen plantations ought generally to be regulated by the value of the land for
agricultural uses, and the advantages of the situation for the sale and delivery of timber. In ordinary
cases, from two to four statute poles may be considered as an eligible width.
4588. The form of plantations for shelter, however, will not in every case be that of a stripe or belt of
uniform width. In hilly, rocky, and other situations, different forms will suggest themselves, according
to the situation and the bbjects'in view. In rocky abrupt sites {Jig. 717.) the plantation will consist of a
717
number of masses {a, b, c), of forms determined by the rocks and precipices, among which some of the
most valuable pasture may be left as glades {d, e), for use, effect, and for the sake of game. Strips and
hedges for sheltering, or separating arable lands, should be formed as much as possible in straight and
parallel lines, in order not to increase the expense of tillage by short and irregular turnings. Straight
parallel strips, on irregular surfaces, have a more varied appearance at a distance, than strips ever so
much varied on a flat surface ; for, in the former case, the outline against the sky is varied as much as
that on the earth. In extensive hilly pastures, in which it is often desirable to produce shelter, and at
the same time to plant only the most rocky and unproductive spots, the forms may be of the most irre-
gular description ; and by planting chiefly on the eminences and slopes {Jig. 718.), shelter will be most
Yjg effectually produced, the pasture improved, the least valu-
able ground rendered proiiuctive in copse or timber, and the
greatest richness and picturesque beauty conferred on the
landscape. There are some fine examples of this in the
hilly districts of Fifeshire: there, on many estates where
nothing was sought for but profit and shelter, the greatest
beauty has been produced ; and the picturesque tourist now
passes through glades and valleys, pastured by well-fed cattle
and sheep, enlivened by rocks, "thickets, hanging-woods, and
occasional rills and lakes. Fifty years ago scarcely a tree
was to be seen, and only the most inferior descriptions of
live stock.
4589. The species of woody plants best adapted for shelter,
are the rapid-growing and evergreen trees, as the Scotch
pine ; and such as are at the same time clothed with branches
from the ground upwards, as the spruce fir, are the best of
all trees for shelter, unless the situation is very elevated.
Among the deciduous trees, the fast-growing branchy sorts
are most desirable, as the larch, birch, poplar, willow ; in
very elevated situations, the birch, mountain-ash, and Scotch
pine; exposed to the sea breeze, the elder and sycamore.
To maintain a branchy leafy screen from the ground up-
wards, intermix tree and shrubs which stole; or such as
grow under the shade and drip of others, as the holly, hazel,
dog-wood, box, yew, &c. To produce shelter, and yet admit
of the growth of grass below the trees, prune any sort to
single stems, and use chiefly deciduous sorts.
45tX). ^n bleak and barren situations. Marshal observes,
the larch will generally be found the most profitable, as
timber ; but, being deciduous, it does not in winter, when
its services are most wanted, afford as much skelter as the
common pine. A skreen, to shelter live stock, should be
close at the bottom, otherwise it is injurious rather than
beneficial; not only the blast acquiring additional current, but snow being liable to be blown through,
and to be lodged in drifts on the leeward side, to the annoyance and danger of sheep that have repaired
to it for shelter. A larch plantation margined with spruce firs, and these headed at twelve or fifteen
feet high, would afford the required shelter for a length of years. The firs, or pines, thus treated, would
be induced to throw out lateral boughs, and feather to the ground : while the larches, in their more
advanced state of growth, would, by permitting the winter's winds to pass through the upper parts of the
skreen, break the current and mellow the blast.
4591. In mo7e genial situations, the beech, by retaining its leaves in winter, especially while it is young,
forms a valuable skreen. If the outer margins were kept in a state of coppice wood, and cut alternately,
and the middle ranks suffered to rise as timber trees, the triple purpose of skreen plantations might be
attained in an eminent degree, and almost in peri>etuity.
4.592. In deep-soiled vale districts, which not unfrequently want shelter, skreens of oak might be
managed in a similar way. Hollies, or other hardy evergreens, planted as underwood, in groves of
either of the above descriptions, would, if suitable situations were assigned them, assist much in this
intention.
4593. A tall impervious fence is, for the purpose of shelter to pasturing stock, nearly equal to a depth of
coppice wood, and infinitely preferable to an open grove of timber trees ; beside its additional use as a
fence. There appears one species of fence which is peculiarly adapted to this purpose. This is the
coppice mound hedge of Devonshire and South Wales; namely, a high wide bank or mound of earth,
planted with coppice woods. This becomes, immediately on its erection, a shelter and a guard to
pasture grounds.
4591. The method of forming fences of thU kind is to carry up
a stratum of earth, between two sod facings, " battering," or
leaning somewhat inward, to the required heipht ; and to plant
on the top the roots and lower stems of coppice plants, ga-
thered in woods or on waste grounds ; or nursery plants adapted
to the given situation. If the mound be carried to a full height,
as iive or six feet, and about that width at the top, and this be
planted with .strong plants, with stems cut off about two feet
above the roots (in the usual practice of Devonshire), a suf-
ficient fence is thus immediately formed against ordinary stock.
But if the bank be lower, or if nursery plants be put in, a slight
guard run along the outer brink on either side, and leaning
outv/ard over the face of the mound, is required (especially
against sheep) until the plants get up. If a hedge of this kind
be raised as a plantation fence (especially on the lower side of a
slope), the outer side only requires to be faced with sods ; the
hedge plants being set in a rough shelving bank, on the inn^
side.
III.
SHELTERING FARM LANDS.
755
4595. The species of hedge woods, proper for mound fences, and the oak are the ordinary plants of hedpe mounds. The
de]iends entirely on the soil and situation. On mounds of bad willow tribe have a quality which recommends them, in situ-
soil, in a bleak situation, the fiirze alone affords much shelter, ations where they will floxirish ; they grow freely from cuttings,
and a good fence. The sides being kept pruned, so as to show or truncheons set in the ground ; whes eas, to secure the growth
a close firm face rising above the top of the bank, it is a secure of ordinary coppice woods, rooted plants are required. The
barrier, even agaii«t the wilder breeds of Welsh sheep. The rock-willow (SMix ckprea) will grow in high and dry situ-
beech is commonly planted in high exposed situations ; and in ations.
places more genial to the growth of wood, the hazel, the ash,
4596. On thin-soiled stony surfaces, tall mounds are difficult to raise ; and there stone walls are not only
built at a small expense, but are convenient receptacles for the stones with which the soil is encumbered.
But a stone wall, unless it be carried up to an inordinate height, at a great expense, is useless as a skreen ;
and may be said to be dangerous as such, in a bleak exposed situation, for as soon as the drifting snow has
reached the top of the wall, on the windward side, it pours over it, and inevitably buries the sheep which
may be seeking for shelter on the leeward side. Hence, in a situation where shelter is required, it is
necessary that a stone fence .should be backed with a skreen plantation.
4597. To plant trees for shade may in some cases be requisite for agricultural purposes. Where this is
the case, close plantations are seldom desirable, a free circulation of air being necessary to coolness ;
therefore trees with lofty stems, and large heads pruned to single stems, are preferable : the oak, elm,
chestnut, and beech, for thick shade ; the plane, acacia, and poplar, for shade of a lighter degree.
4598. An cxaiyiple of sheltering a hill farm by plantation, and at the same time improving the shape and
size of fields, shall next be given. No farming subject affords better opportunities of introducing hedge-
rows, and strips of planting, than hill-farms. The one under consideration {fig. 719.) is a small estate
farmed by its owner : it consists of nearly 370 acres ; and is situated in an elevated, picturesque part of a
central English county. The soil is partly a flinty loam or chalk, and partly a strong rich soil, incum-
bent on clay. The fields are very irregular, bounded by strips of timber and copse. By the alterations
and additions proposed ijig. T20.), all the most hilly and distant spots will be kept in permanent pasture;
and the exposed and abrupt places, angles, &c. planted chiefly with oaks for copse, and beech for timber
and shelter.
4599. On hill farms in Scotland, where shelter cannot be given to grass and stock by plantations, small
circular inclosures have been adopted for that purpose. The diameter of these circles is from 10 to 30
3 C 2
756 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
feel, the height of the wall six or eight feot, and a conical roof is placed on them, and covered with turf;
but many inclosures of this kind are formed without roofs. They are called in Selkirkshire stells, and
were brought into notice, in 1822, by Captain, now Lord Napier, in his Treatise on Store Farming, a work
to which we shall have recourse in a subsequent section.
Chap. VI.
Execution of Improvements.
4600. The mode in which improvements are executed is a point of very considerable im-
portance, and may materially aifect their success as well as their expense. We shall first
consider the different modes of execution, and next offer some general cautions to be kept
in view in undertaking extensive works.
Sect. T. Different Modes of procxiring the Execution of Improvements on Estates.
4601. The necessary preliminary to the execution of an improvement, is a calculation of
the advantages to arise from it, and an estimate of the expense of carrying it into effect.
If the former, taken in their full extent, do not exceed the latter, the proposed alteration
cannot, in a private view, be considered as an improvement. The next point to be ascer-
tained is the practicability, under the given circumstances of a case, of executing the plan
under consideration. There are three things essential to the due execution of an im-
provement. 1st, an undertaker, or a person of skill, leisure, and activity, to direct the
undertaking ; 2d, men and animals with wluch to prosecute the work ; 3d, money, or
other means of answering the required expenditure. A deficiency in any one of these
may, by frustrating a well-planned work after its cominencement, be the cause not only
of its failure, but of time, money, and credit being lost. — Improvements may be exe-
cuted by the proprietor, either directly ; gradually, by economical arrangements ; or
temotely, to a certain extent, by moral and intellectual means.
4602. To execute improvements directly, all that is necessary is to employ a steward
or manager of adequate abilities and integrity, and supply him with the requisite
plans, men, and money. This will generally be found the best mode of forming new
roads, new plantations, opening new quarries or mineral pits, altering the course of
waters, and all such creations or alterations as are not included in the improvement
of farm lands.
4603. To procure the gradual execution of improvements on farm lands, various arrange-
ments may be made with the tenants ; for example, by granting long leases ; letting them
find the requisites of improvement, and take the advantages during their terms ; by granting
shorter leases, with a covenant of remuneration for the remainder of such improvements
as they have made, at the time of quitting ; by granting leases, at a low rent, for the first
years of the term, to give the tenants time and ability to improve at their own expense ;
by advancing money to tenants at will, or, which is the same, making allowances of rent
for specified improvements, to be executed by them under the inspection and control of
the manager, they paying interest for the money advanced or allowed ; by employing
workmen on tenanted farms ; the tenants in like manner paying interest on the money
expended. The usual interest, till lately, was six per cent. ; thus estimating the value
of the improvement at sixteen years' purchase.
4604. The 7noral and intellectual means of improving farm lands consists, as Marshal
has observed, in enlightening the minds of tenants. Though this mode is but of slow
operation, and respects improvements in modes of culture, rather than such as require
great outlay ; yet it deserves notice in this place, as necessary to second the eflbrts of the
landlord.
4605. Farmers, as moral and intellectual agents, may be divided into reading men, and illiterate beings :
the first class derive hints for improvement from books ; but the second can only, if at all, derive benefit
from example.
4606. With respect to improving farmers bj/ books, — agricultural newspapers, magazines, and county
surveys, are probably what would be read with most eagerness ; and as s\ich works abound in statements
of what actually has taken place in different situations, by farmers like themselves, perhaps they are the
most likely to stimulate to exertion. Historical relations of the agriculture of other countries are also
generally interesting to agriculturists ; and though no great professional benefit is to be derived from
them, yet they tend to enlarge and liberalise the mind, and promote a taste for knowledge. Under these
circumstances, it may be worthy of consideration whether an agricultural library might not be established
in the steward's office, on very extensive estates, for the use of tenants and all other persons belonging to
the estate who chose to read from it. Itinerating libraries for the use both of farmers and their servants,
or, indeed, of whoever chooses to use them, have for some time been established, and extensivelj used in
East Lothian, and they are gradually being adopted in other counties both in Scotland and England.
{Gard. Mag. vol. ii. p. 376.)
4607. The establishment of schools for the children of the lower class of tenants, and of cottagers of
every description, is an obvious and important source of moral and intellectual improvement ; and con.
sidering it as decided by experience and the most competent judges, that the education of the lower
classes will tend greatly to their amelioration and the benefit of society at large, we are of opinion that,
wherever they are not already established, they should be introduced. Working schools, somewhat in
the German manner, both for boys and girls, would also be a material improvement in such districts as
are behind in a taste for cleanliness, fireside comforts, cookery, and dress.
Book III. EXECUTION OF IMPROVEMENTS. 757
4608. Examples as stimuli to improvement may be exhibited in various ways : by letting a farm to a
tenant of superior energy, or from a more improved district ; by exhibiting improved implements and
operations on one particular farm ; by an itinerant ploughman of abilities, accompanied by a smith and
carpenter, and with some implements, to go round the estate and instruct each tenant on his own farm;
and finally, and perhaps preferably, by inducing every farmer to make a tour into some other district
once a vear.
4t)09. In addition to these modes, appropriate as we consider for two different classes of tenants, Marshal
suggests the following as calculated to insure a spirit of imjtrovement among all farmers not of sufficient
energy and intelligence. They are to be adopted in various ways, by a proprietor, or by the manager of
an estate, who has a knowledge of rural affairs, and who possesses the good will and confidence of its
tenantry.
4610 By personal attention alone much is to be done. By reviewing an estate, once or twice a year;
by conversing with each tenant in looking over his farm ; and by duly noticing the instances of good
management which rise to the eye, and condemning those which are bad ; vanity and fear, two powerful
stimulants of the human mind, will be roused, and an emulation be created among superior managers ;
while shame will scarcely fail to bring up the more deserving of the inferior ranks. If, after repeated
exhortations, an irreclaimable sloven be discharged as such, and his farm given to another, professedly
for his superior qualifications as a husbandman, an alarm will presently be spread over the estate, and
none, but those who deserve to be discharged, will long remain in the field of bad management.
4611. Even by conversation, well directed, something may be done. If, instead of, on the one hand,
collecting tenants to the audit, as sheep to the shearing, and sending them away, as sheep that are shorn ;
or, on the other, providing for them a sumptuous entertainment, and committing them to their fate in a
state of intoxication ; a repast suited to their conditions and habits of life were set before them ; and,
after this, the conversation bent towards agriculture, by distributing presents to superior managers, and
specifying the particulars of excellence for which the rewards or acknowledgments were severally be-
stowed ; a spirit of emulation could not fail to arise among the higher classes ; while the minds of the
lower order of tenants, and of the whole, would be stimulated and improved by the conversation.
4612. By encouraging leading men in different parts of a large estate, men who are looked up to by
ordinary tenants ; by holding out these as patterns to the rest ; by furnishing them with the means of
improving their breeds of stock ; by supplying them with superior varieties of crops, and with imple-
ments of improved constructions : and, in recluse and backward districts, much may be done by tempting
good husbandmen, and expert workmen, from districts of a kindred nature, but under a belter system of
cultivation, to settle upon an estate.
4613. By an erperimental farm, to try new breeds of stock, new crops, new implements, new operations,
and new plans of management; such as ordinary tenants ought not to attempt, before they have seen
them tried. To this important end, let the demesne lands of a large estate, or a sufficient portion of
them, be appropriated to a nursery of improvements, for the use of the estate ; to be professedly held out
as such, and be constantly open to the tenants ; more particularly to the exemplary practitioners, the
leading men of the estate, just mentioned ; who, alone, can introduce improvements among the lower
classes of an ignorant and prejudiced tenantry : it is in vain for a proprietor to attempt it. On the
contrary, the attempt seldom fails to alarm, disgust, and prevent the growth of spontaneous improve-
ments.
4614. Under the present plan of demesne farming, the tenants see expensive works going forward, which
they know they cannot copy, and hear of extraordinary profits, by particular articles, which they are cer-
tain cannot be obtained by any regular course of business. They therefore conclude that the whole is
mere deception, to gain a pretext for raising the rents of their farms above their value. Whereas, if the
demesne lands were held out, as trial grounds, for their immediate benefit, and conducted, as such, in
a manner intelligible to them, they would not fail to visit tliem. Instead of large proprietors attempting
to rival the meanest of their tenants, in farming for pecuniary profit, which, on a fair calculation, they
rarely, if ever, obtain ; let their views in agriculture be })rofessedly and effectually directed toward the
pecuniary advantages of their tenants ; for from these alone can their own arise, in any degree that is
entitled to the attentions of men of fortune. Instead of boasting of the price of a bullock, or the produce
of a field, let it be the pride of liim who possesses an extent of landed property, to speak of the flourish,
ing condition of his estates at large, the number of superior managers that he can count upon them, and
the value of the improvements which he has been the happy means of diffusing among them. Leave it to
professional men, to veomanry and the higher class of tenants, to carry on the improvements, and incor-
porate them with established practices ; to prosecute pecuniary agriculture in a superior manner, and set
examples to inferior tenantry. This is strictly their province ; and their highest and best view in life.
It has been through this order of men, chiefly or wholly, that valuable improvements in agriculture have
been brought into practice, and rendered of general use.
4615. The possessor of an extent qf territmy has higher objects in view, and a more elevated station to fill.
As a superior member of society, it may be said, he has still higher views than those of aggrandising his
own income. But how can a man of fortune fill what may well be termed his legitimate station in life,
with higher advantage to his country, than by promoting the prosperity of his share of its territory ; by
rendering not one field, or one farm, but every farm upon it productive ? This is, indeed, being faithfully
at his post : and it is a good office in society, which is the more incumbent upon him, as no other man oh
earth can of right perform it, valuable as it is to the public.
Sect. II. General Cautions on the Subject of executing Improvements.
4616. No work can be irrudently commenced until the plan be fully matured, not in
idea only, but in diagrams, and in models, if the subject requires them ; in order that
every bearing and every hinge may be sufficiently foreknown : the site of improvement
being reverted to, again and again, with the draught or the model in hand, until the judg-
ment be satisfied and the mind be inspired with confidence. If a proprietor have not
yet acquired sufficient judgment within himself, let him consult some one man, or one
council of men, in whose knowledge and judgment he can confide ; and thus fix a rally-
ing point. Having brought his plan to a degree of maturity, in this private manner, he
may then venture to publish it ; and endeavour to improve it, by the advice of its friends,
and the animadversions of its enemies.
4617. If a proprietor wants judgment himself, and a friend to supply it, let him not
attempt the more difficult works of improvement. Yet how often we see, both in public
and private life, men engaged in arduous undertakings, embarked on the wide ocean of
usiness, without rudder or compass to guide them, depending on^ casual information,
o help them on their way ! They are consequently ever of opinion with the last persons
iiey converse with. Such men's decisions and operations are always wrong : and for
3 C 3
758 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
an obvious reason. They consult those who are best able to inform them, first ; and re-
ceive their last impressions from those who are least capable to give them. Men who
have neither judgment in themselves, nor any standard of practice to rally at, are liable
to be led astray by the plausible schemes of theorists, the greater part of whom know
nothing of the practical part of business, and who, by their calculations, both of expense
in the outlay and of profit in the return, deceive both themselves and their friends or em-
ployers : some also may have sinister designs in view ; though we believe the errors of
speculative men are in most cases owing to their being endowed with more imagination
than judgment.
46 1 8. The execution of the different improvements of which an estate has been found
susceptible being determined on, it is always advisable to begin with one which is ob-
vious ; which may be effected with the greatest certainty ; which will repay most amply
the expenses of carrying it into effect ; or which leads to other improvements, as em-
bankment, drainage, &c. To attempt a doubtful project, while plans which are obvious
and certain remain unexecuted ; to try experiments before the list of known improve-
ments has been gone through ; is seldom to be recommended, though it might sometimes
turn out to be right.
4619. ^11 rural operations are more or less public, and as it were performed on a stage ;
and spectators fail not to criticise. If an experiment should prove abortive, or a pro-
posed improvement turn out to be false, the ardour of the improver will be liable to be
damped, his people to be discontented (as partaking in the discredit), and the expecting
public around him to be disappointed. A few miscarriages, in the outset, might frustrate
the best intentions and the most profitable schemes. But if, by prosecuting plain and
certain improvements, a man once gain his own confidence, as well as that of the
people about him, he may then venture to explore less beaten paths ; and this he will
be able to do with greater caution, and more probability of success, by the experience
already gained; this being a further motive for pursuing the line of conduct here
suggested.
4620. ^11 works of improvement should be executed with vigour. Many falter in the
midst of well-planned works, either, through the want of foresight or of business-like
exertion ; in consequence, the money already expended lies dead, and the works are in-
jured by the delay. Some works, as embankments and drainages, may be ruined by the
slightest neglect or relaxation ; and, indeed, as Marshal observes, we see, in every depart-
ment of the kingdom, these and other works deserted, and left to moulder into nuisances
or disreputable eyesores.
4621. In carrying on a work, execute every thing substantia Hi/, and in a workman-like
7)ianner. Too often a false economy leads to the subversion of this principle. To save
a few pounds in the first cost, materials of an inferior quality are laid in, or a quantity
used insuflficient to give the required substance and strength to the work. By eitlier of
these imprudences, its duration is abridged ; and the eventual loss, by repairs and re-
newal, may be ten times greater than the sum injudiciously saved in the original erection.
Nevertheless, to increase the evil of these ill-judged savings, inferior workmen are em-
ployed ; or sufficient workmen at inferior prices, at which they cannot afford to make
good work, nor can a superintendent urge them to make it under such circumstances.
Consequently the work is ill performed, its duration is still more abridged, and a further
loss is incurred by injudicious saving.
4622. There are cases in which temporary works only are required. A lease-tenant, for
instance, wants to make an improvement which will last as long as his lease, without
caring about its further duration. In such a case, it may be well-judged frugality and
admissible " cleverness in business," to work up cheap materials in a cheap way : but it
seldom can be right in the proprietor of a hereditary estate, whose interest in it may be
said to be perpetual, to proceed in the same manner. His best policy is to take favour-
able opportunities of laying in good materials at moderate prices ; to use them wlien
duly seasoned ; and to employ good workmen at such prices as cannot furnish an excuse
for bad workmanship, and will warrant him to enforce good.
4623. Accomplish one work before another is commenced. A work may be considered
as accomplished when the chief difficulties are sunnounted, and the chief cost expended;
and, till this is the case, it cannot be prudent to embark in another. By avoiding em-
barrassments, the execution of improvements becomes a present pleasure, as well as a
source of future profit ; no half-finished works are left as monuments of disgrace to an
estate and its owmer ; no time nor interest of money is lost ; every work is brought into
action and profit as it is finished ; and if, as it frequently will happen with the most
prudent calculators, the estimated sum has been exceeded, due time may be taken to let
the fund of improvement accumulate, so as to enable it to discharge the arrear, and to fur-
nish, as wanted, the estimated sums requisite for the succeeding work.
Book IV. MANAGEMENT OF LANDED PROPERTY. 759
BOOK IV.
MAKAGEMENT OF LANDED PROPERTT.
4624. The management of an extensive landed estate, like tliat of every otlier great pro-
perty, is a business both of talent and integrity. In former times, when every proprietor
may be said to have cultivated the whole of his agricultural territory, it constituted his
whole occupation, when not engaged in war; or required a host of managers, if he- was
a man of the first rank. On the continent, and especially in Russia and Hungary,
where estates are of enormous extent, and wholly farmed by the proprietor, the largest
estates, as we have seen (621.), are managed by a court of directors, and an executive
department, with a numerous body of superintendent officers, artists, and artisans. A
better system is now adopted in this country, in consequence of the creation of profes-
sional farmers, who, taking large portions of territory from the owner for a certain num-
ber of years at a fixed rent, and on certain stipulations for mutual security, occasion little
more trouble to the proprietor, during that period, than receiving payments. Hence it "
is that the management of estates in Britain, though important, is a more simple busi-
ness than in any other country.
4625. IVhere there are only tenanted holdings, the business of management is very-
simple ; where there are woodlands, it requires a person to look after that department ;
and where there are waters, quarries, and mines, a greater number of subordinate
officers are requisite. But what often occasions most expense, and at the same time is
attended with the least profit, is the management of the abstract rights belonging to an
estate ; such as manorial rights, quit-rents, and other feudal or antiquated trifles or
absurdities, which require courts to be holden, and lawyers and other officers to be called
in to assist. The only British author who has digested the business of managing
estates into a regular system is Marshal, and we shall follow him in considering this
subject : — 1st, as to the superintendents on the executive establishment of an estate;
and, 2dly, as to the general business of management.
Chap. I.
Superintendents, or Executive Establishment of an Estate.
4626. Though every man who cannot manage his own estate in all important matters,
deserves to lose it, yet, as extensive proprietors generally have their properties situated in
diflPerent parts of the country, and have, besides, public duties to attend to, certain sub-
ordinate managers become necessary. In The Code of Agricultxire it is stated, that no
individual having a large estate is equal to the task of managing it, unless he is in the
prime of life, dedicates his whole time to the business, and gives up every other occupa-
tion. It is there stated to have been found expedient, by the proprietor of an estate of
great extent, to nominate two or three commissioners to assist him in its mauagement.
Under the superintendence of such commissioners, it is said, the affairs of a great pro-
perty would be as well conducted as on the best managed small or moderate-sized
estates ; while the duties of the proprietor would principally be to carry the exercise of
true benevolence into effect, which would consist in softening severe decisions ; or in
granting those marks of approbation and reward which, when bestowed by the proprietor
himself, are the most likely to produce beneficial consequences. {Code, ^c. App. 58.)
Such may be the case on a few estates in the British isles not yet brought into a regular
system of improvement, and about to be remodelled, of which a grand example occurs
in the immense property of the JMarquess of Stafford ; but, in the great majority of cases,
to each estate a manager of qualifications suited to its extent and duties, and a general
receiver and controller in the capital or metropolis (if the proprietor and his banker can-
not effect these duties between them) are all that is requisite. We shall first offer a
few remarks on the qualifications and duties of managers, and next on the place of busi-
ness and its requisites.
Sect. I. Steward or Manager of an Estate, and his Assistants.
4627. The head manager of an estate ought unquestionably to be the proprietor him-
self, or his representative, if a minor or otherwise incompetent. Next to the proprietor
is his acting man of business, with proper assistants ; together with such professional
men as advisers as the circumstances of business may render necessaiy. A tenanted
estate differs widely from other species of property ; as giving power and authority over
persons as well as things. It has, therefore, a dignity and a set of duties attached to it,
3 C 4
760 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
which are peculiar to itself. A man who receives ten thousand pounds a year from the
public funds, for instance, is an insulated being, compared with him who receives the
same income from landed property, and who is one of society's best members, provided
his affairs are judiciously conducted. On the contrary, if, regardless of tlie dignity and
the duties of his station, he lives but to dissipate his income, leaving the government of
his estates and their inhabitants to those whose interest and honour are unconcerned in
their welfare, or to those whose best interests lie in their derangement, he becomes at
once an enemy to himself, to his family, and to the community. As unpardonable it
would be in the possessor of a kingdom to be ignorant of state affairs, and unmindful of
the ministers who reside about his court ; or in the commanding officer of a regiment to
be a stranger to his men, a priest to his parishioners, or a shepherd to his flock ; as for
the possessor of a tenanted estate to be ignorant of territorial concerns, and a stranger to
his lands and their occupiers.
4628. Though it be an essential part of the duty of a man of fortune to be intimately
acquainted with his own qff'airs, it does not follow that he should be absorbed in them, and
neglect his duties as a superior member of society. In all matters of government and
command, subordination is essential to good order and success. A commander in chief
does not act as pioneer, nor does a naval commander reef his sails, or heave his anchor.
Each has his subordinate officers to convey his commands, and men to execute them.
But it is essentially necessary that the former should be well acquainted with military,
the latter with naval, affairs. Every heir apparent, therefore, to a large landed property,
should be regularly, or at least more or less, bred up in the knowledge of rural affairs,
so as to fill with honour and profit the high station he has in view. But if the possessor
of an estate has not been fortunately initiated in the knowledge which belongs to his
station, the task of acquiring it is far from great.
4629. On a large estate we generally find a resident manager, a land steward, a man who
has some knowledge of what is termed country business, and who acts under the control
of his employer, or of a confidential friend, who is more conversant in rural concerns ;
or perhaps of a law agent, who knows less of them ; or such residing steward, espe-
cially of a detached estate which lies at some distance from the residence of its proprietor,
acts without control. In the last case, if he is a man of judgment, it is fortunate both
for the landlord and tenant : but, on the contrary, if such possessory manager wants
those requisite qualifications, the consequence becomes mischievous to the lands, their
occupiers, their proprietors, and the community.
4630. The requisite acquirements of an acting manager, according to Marshal, are, a
knowledge of agriculture, surveying, planting, some knowledge of mechanics, natural
history, and skill in accounts. Agriculture is the only firm foundation on which the
other required attainments can be securely reposed. It is not more essentially valuable
in the superintendence than in the improvement of an estate. It is difficult to become
an accurate judge of the value of lands without a practical knowledge of their uses ; nor
can any man without it properly appreciate the management of occupiers, much less
assist them in correcting their errors, and improving their practice.
4631. Land-surveying is a requisite qualification. Not so much, however, for the purpose of measuring
and mapping an estate at large, as for checking and correcting the works of professional men, as well as
•to assist in laying out its lands to advantage.
4632. Planting, and the management of woodlands, are acquirements that cannot be dispensed with.
Nor should his knowledge and attention be confined to the surface of the estate entrusted to his care ; he
ought to have some acquaintance with natural history, chemistry, and experimental philosophy, to enable
him to form just notions on the subject of the subterrene productions which it may contain.
46 53. Some knowledge of mechanics, and other sciences that are requisite to tlie business of an engineer,
may be highly useful in prosecuting the improvements incident to landed property.
4634. A competent knowledge of rural architecture, the doctrine of the strength of materials, and the
superintendence of artificers, may be said to be of daily use.
46 55. A thorough knowledge of accounts is essentially requisite to the manager of a landed estate.
4636. He should be a man of good character, of upright principles, and conciliatory manners ; to set
an example of good conduct to the tenants, and to become their common counsellor and peace-maker, in
those trifling disputes which never fail to arise among the occupiers of adjoining land ; and which too
frequently bring on serious quarrels and lawsuits, that end in the ruin, not only of themselves, but of the
tenements they occupy. A proprietor has, therefore, an interest in checking such disputes in the bud ;
and no man can do this with so much effect as a manager in whom they have a proper confidence, and
who possesses a due share of popularity on the estate.
4637. The acting manager requires certain assistants on a large estate ; especially if it
lies in detached and scattered parts. Those in general use are a ground officer and
clerk.
4638. A land-reeve, Woodward, or ground officer, is required on each district or depart-
ment of a large estate ; to attend not only to the woods and hedge-timber, but to the
state of the fences, gates, buildings, private roads, driftways, and watercourses ; also to
the stocking of commons (if any), and encroachments of every kind; as well as to pre-
vent or detect waste and spoil in general, whether by the tenants of the estate, or others ;
and to report the same to the manager.
4639. The ojjice-clerk, book-keeper, or under steward, is employed to form registers,
Book IV. LAND STEWARD'S OFFICE. 761
make out rentals, &c. and keep the accounts of the estate ; as well as to assist the man-
ager in his more active employments ; also to act as his substitute in case of sickness, or
absence ; and to become his successor in the event of his death, or other termination of
his stewardship.
4640. A law assistant, solicitor, or attorney, may next be considered as requisite to
the good management of a landed estate. For although much is to be done by judicious
regulations, and the timely interposition and advice of a resident manager, such are the
frailties of human nature, that, in a state of civilised society, and of property, legal
assistance will sometimes be necessary. The error of country gentlemen consists, not in
employing lawyers, but in committing the management of their landed estates to them.
Tlie employment of law agents as land stewards, however, is not without some reason.
Farmers are not for the most part sufficiently skilled in accounts for taking the charge of
a large estate ; and such of them as are capable, are commonly men of capital, and
would not exchange their situation for the less independent one of a land steward. The
division of labour, in the case of large estates, is not without its use, and is recognised
in practice. A law agent collects the rents and keeps the accounts, often on a very small
salary; and in questions of a practical nature, such as the valuation of new leases, the
modes of cropping, &c. he advises with a surveyor or land valuer. After all, however,
a well chosen land-steward to reside upon the estate, and to consult, when necessary,
with a lawyer, must be the best plan, even though his salary be higher than that of the
law agent, who commonly acts for several proprietors, does not reside on any of their
estates, and very likely, as we think, cannot do them justice.
4641. In the feudal system, under which every manor court was a court of law, we
may perceive the origin of law land-stewards. It is allowed by the best agricultural
writers in Europe (Chateauvieux, Thaer, Thouin, Mathieu de Dombasle, Sigismondi,
Jovellanos, Young, Marshal, Brown, Coventry, &c.), that these men hy their rigid ad-
herence to precedent in the clauses of leases, have contributed most materially to retard the
progress of agricultural improvement.
4642. The land-surveyor is another professional man, whom the superintendent of an
estate may want to call in occasionally. Not merely to measure and map the whole or
parts of the estate, but to assist in matters of arbitration, and the amicable settlement of
disputes ; or to act himself, as valuer or referee.
Sect. II. Land Steward's Place of Business, and what belongs to it.
4643. A manager's place of business may be considered in regard to its situation,
accommodations, and ajipropriate professional furniture.
4644., llie situation of the place of business should be under the roof of the proprietor's
principal residence ; round which, and in its neighbourhood, some considerable parts of
his estates may be supposed (as they ever ought) to lie. If a large bulk of his property
lie at too great a distance for tenants to attend at the principal office, and if on this he
has a secondary residence, an inferior office is there required for such detached part.
And it may be laid down as a rule, in the management of landed property, Marshal ob-
serves, that every distant part of an estate ought to have a place upon it (be it ever so
humble) in which its possessor may spend a few days comfortably ; to diffuse over it a
spirit of good order and emulation. He has known the most neglected and almost
savage spot, such as are many landed estates in Ireland, reclaimed and put in a train of
improvement by this easy method.
4645. The accommodations requisite for a principal office are, a commodious business
room, a small ante-room ; and a safe-keep, or strong room, fire proof, for the more valu-
able documents.
4646. The pn-ofessional furniture with which an office of this description requires to be
supplied are maps, rental-books, books of valuation, register, legal papers, and some
others.
4617. A general map of the whole estate on a large scale is an obvious requisite ; and portable separate
maps, with accompanying registers and other descriptive particulars, are useful in proportion as improve-
ments may be in contemplation.
4648. Books of valuation are essential, especially where there are numerous small holdings on short
terms. In these registers are contained the number, name, admeasurement, and estimated value of each
field, and of every parcel of land, as well as of each cottage or other building not being part of a farm-
stead, on the several distinct parts or districts of the estate. The.valuations being inserted in columns, as
they arise, whether by general surveys, or incidentally, headed with the names of their respective valuers,
so that whenever a "farm is to be relet, these columns may be consulted, and its real value fixed in a
resurvey with the greater exactness.
4649. A general register of timber trees, copsewood, and yoking plantations is particularly wanted where
there is mucli hedgerow timber. Marshal directs to specify in this register the number of timber trees in
each wood, grove, hedgerow, and area, with the species, number, and admeasurement of each tree. He
also recommends separate pocketbooks, containing the particulars of each division, or of a number of
contiguous divisions, for the occasional use of the manager and woodreeve.
4650. Contracts, agreements, accounts, letters on business, and other documents, should be intelligibly
endorsed, dated or numbered, and arranged so as to be easily referred to. A book of abstracts, or heads
of papers of greater importance, sliould be made out to be referred to on ordinary occasions, and likewise
762 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
to serve as an index to the originals, which require a more secure repository than a common business,
room.
4651. Legal documents, such as title deeds, legal decisions, awards of arbitration, counterparts of leases,
securities, cash, bills, passed accounts, &c., as being the most important objects, should be carefully depo-
sited in the safety-chest or strong room.
4652. Portable registers of the tenanted lands, in convenient pocket volumes, with maps on a small scale
heading every farm, are, according to Marshal, who seems to have looked upon tenants as placed in a state
of continual hostility with their landlords, a most invaluable description of books both for the manager and
lys employer. Two opposite pages being appropriated to each farm with its map, the following information
should be given : —
Name of the farm and its number of acres. The eligibility of the plan and circumstances of
The name of the tenant and the existing rent. the farm.
The tenancy ; if on lease, the term of expiring. The eligibility of the occupier.
Any extraordinary covenant of the lease. The eligibility of the present rent.
The number of cottages let with the farm. The state of the buildings, fences, and gates.
The number of timber trees growing on it. roads, and watercourses.
The number of orchard trees growing on it. The state of cultivation, and condition of the live
stock.
4653 Adct, among other things, the following, viz. : —
The repairs more immediately wanted. With any other incident or occurrence respect-
The improvements of whicn the whole is suscep- ing the farm or its occupier, that requires to l)e
tible. remembered; and with references to the books
The agreements entered into with the tenant. and papers which may pertain to the several parti-
The permissions granted him. culars; thus having at one view a complete abstract
The injunctions delivered to him. of the history and present state of every farm, to-
With a hint as to his personal character, and the gether with the particulars of attention which each
number and general character of his family. will require.
4654. The trouble of forming an abstract of this kind, or of renewing it when filled, or in order to adapt
it to the varying circumstances of the several farms, is inconsiderable, compared with its uses, which are
not only obvious in theory, but are fully established in practice. On returning to an estate, after twelve
months' absence, Marshal has generally found, that, by consulting a register of this sort, and, through its
means, making systematic enquiries respecting the incidents that have occurred on the several farms
during his absence; he, in this summary way, and before he entered upon a fresh view, became better
acquainted not only with the general interests, but with the more ordinary business, of the estate, than
the acting manager, who had constantly resided upon it, without such a remembrancer. This abstract
or remembrancer, he says, ought not to comprehend tenanted farms only ; but should comprise woodland?,
quarries, the demesne, &c. in hand ; as well as the more important improvements going on : each of which
ought to have its separate folio assigned it. To a proprietor, or his confidential friend, who only goes
over his estate occasionally, such an intelligent companion is essentially serviceable. He cannot profit-
ably direct, nor safely advise with, an acting manager, or other agent or officer of the estate, until he has
consulted so infallible an oracle. The utility of such a register, while a proprietor is absent from his
estate, if he can be said to be so, with such a faithful mirror in his possession, is too obvious to require
explanation.
465.5. Among the instruments necessary for a manager'' s office, may be included those requisite for sur-
veying, mapping, levelling, measuring timber, and every description of country work, together with
boring machines, draught measurers, weighing scales, some chemical tests, models, and such other articles
as may be required or rendered useful by particular circumstances.
4656. An agricultural library may be considered an essential requisite ; including works on rural archi-
tecture, the prices and measuring of work, and other lluctuating matters ; and one of the best encyclo-
pedias of universal knowledge. We have already suggested an important use to which such a library
might be apphed.
46.57. Such an establishment and place of business as has been described, we agree with
Marshal in thinking, many will consider as in some degree superfluous or extravagant.
In many cases we admit it would be so ; but it is impossible to determine what things
can be done without, unless a particular case were given. Such a minute register of
farms, for example, would be quite ridiculous on an estate in East Lothian, where
tenants are of sufficient wealth and respectability of manners to be treated as men ; and
not watched and schooled like those which Marshal seems generally tq have in view. As
tenants of land become enlightened, they will be very differently treated from what in
many places they are at present. As a proof of this, we have only to compare one dis-
trict of country with another. In East Lothian, Berwickshire, and some other parts of
Scotland, the farmers are as intelligent as their landlords ; and the transactions wliich
take place between them resemble the transactions which take place between one mer-
cantile man and another. In districts where the tenant has little capital, and where he
is sunk in ignorance, he ranks with the labourer, and occupies his farm by a sort of suf-
ferance. It is a pity that the ignorance and seclusion of such men do not admit of their
comparing their state with that of others possessing no greater capital, but more know-
ledge and skill : it is a pity, we say, for the sake of their children, whom they might
thus be induced to educate.
Chap. II.
Duties of Managers of Estates.
4658. The various duties of the manager, or the proprietor, of a landed estate, may be
considered under the heads of general business, business with tenants, and auditing
accounts.
Book IV. LAND STEWARDSHIP. 763
Sect. I. General Principles of Business considered relatively to Land -Stewardship.
4659. The first and most general pri?iciple, in this and every other department of
business, is to embrace readily the several matters as they occur ; and not to put them
off from time to time, until they accumulate, and render the task difficult and irksome.
The only artifice, it may be said, w^hich a man of character can w^ell employ in business
is that of endeavouring to render it pleasurable ; and, by meeting it cheerfully, as it
rises, or as it becomes ripe for despatch, this desirable end will generally be attained :
for, in that state a man not only enters upon it with pleasure himself, but he will gene-
rally find his opponent in the same temper of mind. Whereas, through delay, misun-
derstandings, idle tales, and groundless surmises are liable to intervene ; the minds of
both to be soured ; a distant coolness to take place between them ; and a barrier to be
raised, which, though altogether imaginary, nothing but the mystic wand of the law may
be able to remove.
4660. There are three distinct methods of conducting budness. The first is that in
which the parties meet, with fair intentions, to find out the point of equity, and there to
close. In the second, they enter upon business, guarded with cunning, and armed with
trick and artifice, as gamblers draw round a table, to take every advantage, fair or other-
wise, which they can effect with impunity. The last method lies in the courts of law
and equity.
4661. A business founded on honourable intentions is the only one in which a man of honour can volun-
tarily appear. Here honest men come, as indifferent persons, to arbitrate the matter in reference. In
every settlement between man and man, there is a point of equity and right, which all good men are
desirous to find ; and when men of liberal minds fortunately meet and join in the search, it is seldom
difficult to be discovered. Should some little difference of opinion arise, let them call in an umpire to
decide between them ; or leave the whole to the decision of three capable and disinterested men.
4662. A man of strict integrity may become entangled in business with a man qf looser principles. In
this case, it behoves him to be upon his guard; but still to enter into the negotiation with temper and
civiUty. There is even a politeness in affairs of business which cannot be departed from on any occasion.
Interruptions and schisms frequently arise, especially between men who are of keen sensibility, and who
(though passably honest) are tenacious of their own interests, from mere matter of punctilio. The mind
of either being once soured by neglect, or ruffled by disrespectful behaviour, the smooth path of peaceful
negotiation is broken up, a spirit of warfare is roused, and advantages are taken, or attempted, which
calm reason would not have suggested. Hence, when men of unequal degree are brought together in
business, it is incumbent on the superior to set the example of liberality and civility of demeanour.
4663. In extreme cases there is no resource but the law ; and here the most that an honest man can do
is to procure, without loss of time, the best advice ; and to spare no exertion or useful expense in bringing
the dangerous and tormenting business to a speedy conclusion. Not only is a man's property endangered,
while it is tossed on the troubled sea of the law ; but his time and attention are led astray, and his peace
of mind is liable to be broken in upon, thus deranging his ordinary concerns, and disturbing the stream
of life. How much legal disputation might be prevented by a timely attention to business !
4664. In forming connections in business, select the man who has a character to lose.
This principle should be invariably acted on : for if a man of established good cha-
racter be properly treated, and determinately closed in with in case he demur or swerve
from the right line of conduct, he will not forfeit his good name by doing a disreputable
action ; and must therefore come forward to the point of equity and justice.
Sect. II. Management of Tenants.
4665. The general treatment of tenants and cottagers may be considered as the most
important part of every land-steward's occupation : it includes the mode and conditions
of letting lands, and the time and manner of receiving rents. The idea of a landlord
or his agents managing his tenants does certainly on the face of it appear an absurdity.
The tenant is not more obliged to the landlord than the landlord is to the tenant ; and
therefore both parties being on an equality in point of obligation, the one ought not to
require or have the power to manage the other. This power is given, liowever, by the
ignorance of one of the parties, and the existing monopoly in favour of the other ; and
till these are done away with, by education and political changes, the ignorant part of
farmers will always be managed by their landlords.
SuBSECT. 1. Proper Treatment of Tenants.
4666. On every large hereditary estate, there are established customs and usages, to which
the proprietor and the occupiers consider themselves mutually amenable, though no legal
contracts may subsist between them. Even where imperfect leases, or other legal
agreements exist, still there is generally much left for custom and usage to determine.
Though some of these may be improper, yet they ought to be strictly observed by its
superintendent, until better can be placed in their stead ; not merely on the score of
moral justice, but, in the same observance, to set an example of integrity and good faith
to the tenants. If a superintendent imprudently break tlirough a custom or a covenant,
what can he say to a tenant who follows his example ?
4667. A manager ought to set an example to the tenants under his care of liberality
and kindness. This is more especially applicable to the case of cottagers and others who
rent sinall holdings. There are numberless small favours which he can bestow upon
them without loss, and many with eventual advantage to the estate. A spirited improv-
764 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Pam III.
ing tenant should be refused nothing that he can reasonably ask ; should have favours
voluntraily conferred upon him, not merely as a rew^ard for the services which he indivi-
dually is rendering the estate, but to induce its other tenants to follow his example, and
to make known to the whole that their conduct is observed, and distinctions made
between good and bad managers.
4668. Estates, like men, have their good and bad characters. No skilful farmer who
has a capital to lose, will take up his residence on an estate of known bad character.
On the contrary, when once an estate has acquired the character of good faith and proper
treatment of its tenantry, men of money and spirit will ever be anxious to gain a footing
there. Besides, the character of an estate will ever involve that of its possessor : and,
setting income at naught, it surely behoves a man of property to pay some attention to
the character of his estates ; for what can well add more to the permanent respectability
of a family of rank or fortune, than having its estates occupied by a wealthy and respect-
able tenantry ?
4669. In a state of civilised society and property, one of the great arts of life is to teach
character and interest to go hand in hand, and on ordinary occasions to endeavour to turn
every incident, as it fortuitously occurs, to their mutual advantage. If a tenant of
capital and an improving spirit be found upon an estate, give him due encouragement,
for the purposes already explained. On the contrary, if another is found to possess re-
fractory habits, to swerve from his engagements, or to injure the lands in his occupation,
it is but common prudence to take the first legal and fair opportunity of dismissing him,
and supplying his place with another who is better qualiQed to fill it ; not more with a
view of rescuing his particular farm from further injury, and of making an example of
him in terror to others of similar habits, than to preserve and heighten the character of
the estate.
4670. These remarks may he considered as applicable chiefly to small tenants, or such
as from ignorance and want of leases may be considered in a state of bondage. It
ought never to be in the power of a landlord to make " an example of a tenant in terror
to others;" it is enough if this power be left to the laws. A tenant who rents a farm
on certain conditions, and fulfils them, is, in point of obligation, on an equality with his
landlord ; neither is obliged to the other : and while the one does not require those acts
of kindness and liberality which Marshal inculcates, the other is not entitled to that
submission and slavish deference so common among tenants at will, and indeed most
others in England. It is justly observed by Brown {Treat, on Rur. Aff. ) that the moral
excitement, or degree of encouragement, given to the tenant for improving the ground
put under his occupation, is regulated entirely by the terms or conditions of the lease
under which he holds possession. If the conditions be liberal and judicious, and accom-
modated to the soil and situation cf the land thereby demised to the tenant, all that is
obligatory upon the proprietor is faithfully discharged. But when matters are otherwise,
when the tenant possesses under a short lease, when the covenants or obligations are
severe in the first instance and ultimately of little avail towards forwarding improve-
ment, it may reasonably be inferred that the connection is improperly constituted, and
that little benefit will thence follow either to the public or to the parties concerned.
The proper view of a lease is, that it is merely a mercantile transaction reduced to
writing, in which both parties are on an equal footing.
SuBSECT. 2. Business of letting Farms.
4671. There are three methods of letting a farm: putting it up to public auction, and
taking the highest bidder for a tenant ; receiving written proposals, and accepting the
highest offer; and asking more rent for it than it is worth, haggling with different chap-
men, and closing with him who promises to give the most money, without regard to his
eligibility as a tenant. After a variety of obvious remarks. Marshal concludes, that
" seeing in every situation, there is at all times a fair rental value, or market price of
lands, as of their products, there appears to be only one rational, and eventually pro-
fitable, method of letting a farm ; and this is, to fix the rent, and choose the tenant. In
the choice of a tenant every body knows the requisite qualifications to be, capital, skill,
industry, and character. The respective advantages of these qualities are amply
developed in The Treatise on Landed Property.
SuBSECT. 3. Different Species of Tenancy.
4672. The different holdings in use in Britain are at will, from year to year, for a term
of years, or for a life or lives.
4673. The tenant holding at will, or until the customary notice be given by either party to the other, is
without any legal contract, or written agreement ; the only tie between the owner and the occupier being
the custom of the estate or of the country in which it lies, and the common law of the land. 'I'his may
be considered as the simple holding which succeeded the feudal or copyhold tenure j but which is now
fast going into disuse.
4674!. Holding from year to year, luider a written agreement, with specified covenants, is "a more modern
Book IV. SPECIES OF TENANCY. 765
usage, and becoming more and more prevalent in some parts of England, and among small tenants, even
where leases for a term of years were formerly granted.
4675. Leases for a term of years, as seven, fourteen, twenty-one, or a greater number of years, certain ;
but without the power of assignment, unless with the consent of the lessor.
4676. Leases far lives ; as, one, two, three, or more, without the power of assignment. In Britain, life
leases of this description are now rarely granted. In Wales and Ireland they are still prevalent ; the rent
being there settled according to the value of the land at the time of letting ; as on granting a lease for a
term. In the western extreme of England, what are termed life leases are still common: but they are
rather pledges for money taken up, or deeds of sale for lives, than leases ; for nearly the whole of the esti.
mated sale value of the ,land, during the life term, is paid down at the time of purchase, the seller
reserving only a quit rent', or annual acknowledgment.
4677. A lease for a term of years, or for two or more lives, can alone be favourable for
the progress of agriculture. A farmer holding at will, or from year to year, may plough,
sow, and reap ; but he will, if a prudent man, be veiy careful not to make improvements,
well knowing that the first effect would be a rise of rent or a notice to quit. Leases for
a single life have the great disadvantage of uncertainty in duration, both as to landlord
and tenant ; and though the latter may insure a certain suin on his life for the benefit of
his family, yet it were better that he should lay out that money in improving the farm.
Leases on lives, renewable, are for all purposes of culture as good as freehold ; but they
have this disadvantage to a tenant, that they require a considerable part of his capital paid
down, and a further draught on his capital on the falling in of any of the lives. Even
the first of these payments would embarrass the great majority of professional farmers,
and disable them from bestowing proper cultivation on the soil ; but to a farmer with a
surplus capital no description of lease can be better, as he lays out his surplus capital at
the market rate of interest, and is, as it were, his own annuitant. To the landlord such
leases cannot be advantageous ; because, there being fewer who can compete for them,
lands let on these conditions do not fetch their full price.
4678. The fundamental principle on which both the duration and conditions of leases
are established is evidently this : — A agrees to lend to B a certain article for his use for
an equivalent in money ; but such is the nature of this article, that, in order to use it
with advantage, B must possess it during a considerable time : he, therefore, requires a
security from A to that effect ; and A on his part requires a security from B that he
will return the article at least in as good condition as when it was lent to him. The term
of years for which the article is to be lent, and the precautions taken to insure its return
without deterioration, are founded on experience, and vary according to the peculiar cir-
cumstances of lender and borrower. In general, however, this is obvious, that where
the period of lending is not sufficient for profitable use, or the conditions required for
ensuring the lender an undeteriorated return of the article unreasonable, the value of the
loan or rent will be proportionably diminished. {Stip. Enc. Brit. art. Agr. )
4679. In recurring to what actually exists in the best cultivated districts, we shall quote
the excellent observations of an experienced farmer and approved public writer: — " The
general principle which should regulate the connection between landlord and tenant seems
to be, that while the farm ought to be restored to the owner at the expiration of the tenant's
interest, at least without deterioration, the tenant should be encouraged to render it as
productive as possible during his possession. In both of these views, a lease for a term
of years is scarcely less necessary for the landlord than for the tenant ; and so much is the
public interested in this measure, that it has been proposed by intelligent men, to impose
a penal tax on the rent of lands held by tenants at will.
4680. That the value of the property is enhanced by the security which such a lease confers on the tenant
will be put beyond all doubt, if the rents of two estates for half a century back are compared ; the one
occupied by tenants at will, and the other by tenants on leases for a moderate term, and where the soil
and situation are nearly alike in every respect. If the comparison be made between two tracts originally
very different in point of value, the advantages of leases will be still more striking ; while that which is
held by tenants at will remains nearly stationary, the other is gradually, yet effectually, improved, under
the security of leases, by the tenants' capital ; and, in no long period, the latter takes the lead of the
former, both in the amount of the revenue which it yields to the proprietor, and in the quantity of pro-
duce which it furnishes for the general consumption. The higher rents and greater produce of some
parts of Scotland than of many of the English counties, where the soil, climate, and markets are much
more favourable, must be ascribed to the almost universal practice of holding on leases in the former
country, in a much greater degree than to any of the causes which have been frequently assigned. Less
than a century ago, what are now the best cultivated districts of Scotland were very far behind the greater
part of England ; and, indeed, had made very little progress from the time of the feudal system. It is not
fifty years since the farmers of Scotland were in the practice of going to learn of their southern neighbours
an art, which was then very imperfectly known in their own country. But in several parts of Lngland
there has been little or no improvement since, while the southern counties of Scotland have uniformly
advanced ; and at present exhibit very generally, a happy contrast to their condition in the middle of the
last century.
4681. 7n respect to farmers themselves, it cannot be necessary to point out the advantages of leases. It
maybe true, that, under the security of the honour of an English landlord, tenants at will have been con-
tinued in possession from generation to generation, and acquired wealth which he has never, like the
landholders of some other countries, attempted to wrest from them. But there are few individuals in any
rank of life, who continue for a length of time to sacrifice their just claims on the altar of pure generosity.
Something is almost always expected in return. A portion of revenue in this case is exchanged for
power, and that power is displayed not only in the habitual degradation of the tenantry, but in the control
over them, which the landlord never fails to exert at the election of members of parliament, and on all
other political emergencies. No prudent man will ever invest his fortune in the improvement of another
person's property, unless, from the length of his lease, he has a reasonable prospect of being reimbursed
166 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
with profit ; and the servility which holding atwill necessarily exacts is altogether incompatible with that
spirit of enterprise which belongs to an enlightened and independent mind.
4682. Every measure which has a tendency to fetter the productive powers of the soil, must deeply
affect the pulilic at lar^e, as well as depress one of the largest and most valuable classes. It is clearly
their interest, that corn and other provisions should be supplied in abundance, and the people of England
may justly complain of the want of leases, as one of the principal causes which check the improvement
of their own territory.
4683. What ought to be the term of a lease can only be determined by a reference to the circumstances
of each particular case. Lands naturally rich, or such as have already been brought to a high degree of
fertility, requiring no great investment of capital, and returning all or nearly all the necessary outlay
within the year, may be advantageously held upon short leases, such as perhaps give time for two, or
at most three of the rotations or courses of crops to which the quality of the soil is best adapted. The
practice of England in this respect is extremely various, almost every term, from twenty years down-
wards, being found in different parts of it. In Scotland, by far the most common period is nineteen years,
to which it was formerly the practice, in some places, to add the life of the tenant. In that country, even
when it is thought expedient to agree for a much longer terra, this is still expressed in periods of nineteen
years, a sort of mysterious cycle, which seems to be no less a favourite with the courts of law than with
landholders and farmers. Yet this term is somewhat inconvenient, as it can never correspond with any
number of the recognised rotations of arable land.
4684. A lease for twenty years, it has been maintained by several writers, is not sufficient to reimburse
a tenant for any considerable improvements, and landholders have often been urged to agree to a much
longer term, which, it is alleged, would be not less for their own interest than for that of the tenant. This
is a question which our limits do not permit us to discuss ; but, after viewing it in different lights, assisted
by the experience of long leases in different parts of Scotland, we cannot help expressing some doubts of their
utility, even in so far only as it regards the parties themselves ; and we are decidedly of opinion, that a
greater produce will be brought to market, from any given extent of land held on successive leases of
twenty years, for half a century, than if held on one lease of that duration, whether the term be specified,
or indefinite as is the case of a lease for life. As a general mode of tenure, leases for lives seem to
us particularly objectionable.
4:685. The great advantages of a lease are so well known in Scotland, that one of her best agricultural
writers, himself a landed proprietor, has suggested a method of conferring on it the character of perpetuity,
to such an extent as, he thinks, would give ample security to the tenant for every profitable improve-
ment, without preventing the landlord from resuming possession upon equitable terms, at the expiration
of every specified period. But the author of this plan (Lord Kaimes), inhis ardent wishes for the advance,
ment of agriculture, at that time in a very backward state in his native country, seems to have overlooked
the difficulties that stood in the way of its adoption ; and the great advance in the price of produce, and
consequently in the rate of rents, since his lordship wrote, have long since put an end to the discussion
which his proposal excited. For a form of a lease on his plan, the reader may consult Bell's Treatise on
Leases s and the objections to the plan itself are shortly stated in the supplement to the sixth edition of
The Gentleman Farmer, recently published.
4686. Long leases granted upon condition qf receiving an advance of rent at the end of a certain number
of years have been granted : but covenants of this kind, meant to apply to the circumstances of a distant
period, cannot possibly be framed in such a manner as to do equal justice to both parties ; and it ought not
to be concealed, that, in every case of a very long lease, the chances are rather more unfavourable to the land-
holder than to the farmer. If the price of produce shall continue to rise as it has done, till very lately,
for the last forty years, no improvements which a tenant can be expected to execute will compensate the
landlord's loss ; and if, on the other hand, prices shall decline, the capital of most tenants must be
exhausted in a few years, and the lands will necessarily revert to the proprietor, as has been the case of
late in many instances. Hence a landholder, in agreeing to a long lease, can hardly ever assure himself
that the obligations on the part of the tenant will be fully discharged throughout its whole term, while
the obligations he incurs himself may always be easily enforced. He runs the risk of great loss from a
depreciation of money, but can look forward to very little benefit from a depreciation of produce, except
for a few years at most. Of this advantage a generous man would seldom avail himself; and, indeed,
in most instances, the advantage must be only imaginary, for it would be over-balanced by the de-
terioration of his property." {Sup. Encyc. Brit. art. Agr.)
4687. There are various objections made to leases of nineteen or twenty-one years. Some of these are
of a feudal and aristocratical nature ; such as the independence it gives the tenants, who may become
purse-proud and saucy under the nose of their landlord, &c. A greater objection has arisen from
the depreciation of British currency during the last ten years of the eighteenth, and first ten of the
nineteenth centuries. Various schemes have been suggested to counteract this evil ; but the whole of
them are liable to objections, and it may be doubted if it admits of any remedy, except a compromise
between the parties.
SuBSECT. 4. Rent and Covenants of a Lease.
4688. To avert the evils of fixed money rents, and long leases, both to landlords and
tenants, the best mode known at present is the old plan of corn rents. This plan was
first revived in 1811, by a pamphlet published in Cupar, which attracted considerable
attention, and has led to the adoption in various parts of Scotland, of a mixed mode of
paying rents, partly in corn or the price of corn, and partly in money. In hilly districts,
wool, or the price of wool for an average of years, is sometimes fixed on instead of com.
We shall quote from the same intelligent writer on the duration of leases, his sentiments
on corn rents, and subjoin his observations on covenants.
4689. Though the most equitable 7node of determining the rent of lands on lease, would be to make it
rise and fall with the price of corn ; yet a rent paid in corn is liable to serious objections, and can
seldom be advisable in a commercial country. It necessarily bears hardest on a tenant when he least able
to discharge it. In very bad seasons, his crop may be so scanty, as scarcely to return seed and the expenses
of cultivation, and the share which he ought to receive himself, as the profits of his capital, as well as the
quantity allotted to the landlord, may not exist at all. Though, in this case, if he pays a money rent, his
loss may be considerable, it may be twice or three times greater if the rent is to be paid in corn, or
according to the high price of such seasons. In less favourable years, which often occur in the variable
climate of Britain, a corn rent would, in numerous instances, absorb nearly the whole free or disposable
produce, as it is by no means uncommon to find the gross produce of even good land reduced from twenty
to fifty per cent, below an average in particular seasons. And it ought to be considered, in regard to the
landlord himself, that his income would thus be doubled or trebled, at a time when all other classes were
suffering from scarcity and consequent dearth ; while, in times of plenty and cheapness, he might find it
difficult to make his expenses correspond with the great diminution of his receipts. It is of much im-
portance to both parties, that the amount of the rent should vary as little as possible from any unforeseen
causes, though tenants in general would be perhaps the most injured by such fluctuations.
Book IV. RENTS AND COVENANTS OF LEASES. 767
4690. To obviate these and other objections to a com rent, and to do equal justice at all times to both
landlord and tenant, a plan has been lately suggested for converting the corn into money, adopting for its
price, not the price of the year for which the rent is payable, but the average price of a certain
number of years. The rent, according to this plan, may be calculated every year, by omitting the first
year of the series, and adding a new one ; or, it may continue the same for a certain number of years,
and then be fixed according to a new average. Let us suppose the lease to be for twenty-one years,
the average agreed on being seven years, and the first year's rent, that is, the price of so many quarters of
corn, will be calculated from the average price of the crop of that year, and of the six years preceding.
If it be meant to take a new average for the second and every succeeding year's rent, all that is necessary
is, to strike off the first of these seven years, adding the year for which the rent is payable, and so on
during all the years of the lease. But this labour, slight as it is, may be dispensed with, by continuing the
rent without variation for the first seven years of the lease according to the average price of the seven
years immediately preceding its commencement, and, at the end of this period, fixing a new rent,
according to the average price of the seven years just expired, to continue for the next seven years.
Thus, in the course of twenty-one years, the rent would be calculated only three times ; and for whatever
quantity of corn the parties had agreed, the money payments would be equal to the average price of four-
teen years of the lease itself, and of the seven years preceding it ; and the price of the last seven years of
the old lease would determine the rent during tlie first seven years of the new one.
4691. The landlord and tenant could not suffer, it has been thought, either from bad seasons, or any
change in the value of the currency, should such a lease as this be extended to several periods of twenty-
one years. The quantity of corn to be taken as rent, is the only point that would require to be settled at
the commencement of each of those periods ; and though this would no doubt be greater or less, according
to the state of the lands at the time, yet it may be expected, that in the twenty-one years preceding, all
the tenant's judicious expenditure had been fully replaced. Instead of the twofold difficulty in fixing a
rent for a long lease, arising from uncertainty as to the quantity of produce, which must depend on
the state of improvement, and still more, perhaps, from the variations in the price of that produce ; the
latter objection is entirely removed by this plan ; and in all cases where land is already brought to a high
degree of fertility, the question about the quantity of produce may likewise be dispensed with.
4692. If the cm-n-rent planbe applied to leases of nineteen or twenty-one years, the inconvenience result-
ing from uncertainty as to the amount of rent, as well as other difficulties which must necessarily attend
it, would be as great, perhaps, as any advantages which it holds out to either of the parties. If it be said
that a rent, determined by a seven years' average, could not suddenly nor materially alter, this is at once
to admit the inutility of the contrivance. The first thing which must strike every practical man is, that
corn is not the only produce of a farm, and in most parts of Britain, perhaps not the principal source from
which rent is paid ; and there is no authentic record of the prices of butcher meat, wool, cheese, butter,
and other articles in every county to refer to, as there is of corn. This is not the place to enquire whether
the price of corn regulates the price of all the other products of land, in a country whose statute books
are full of duties, bounties, drawbacks, &c., to say nothing of its internal regulations ; but it is sufficiently
evident that, if corn does possess this power, its price operates too slowly on that of other products to serve
as a just criterion for determining rent on a lease of this duration. Besides, in the progress of agriculture,
new species or varieties of the cerealia themselves are established even in so short a period as twenty-one
years, the prices of which may be very different from that of the corn specified in the lease. What
security for a full rent, for instance, would it give to a landlord, to make the rent payable according to the
price of barley, when the tenant might find it more for his interest to cultivate some of the varieties of
summer wheat, lately brought from the Continent ? or, according to the price of a particular variety of
oats, when, within a few years, we have seen all the old varieties superseded, throughout extensive dis-
tricts, by the introduction of a new one, the potato-oat, which may not be more permanent than those
that preceded it ? There can be no impropriety, indeed, in adopting this plan, for ascertaining the rent
of land kept always in tillage; but it would be idle to expect any important benefits from it, during such
a lease as we have mentioned.
4693. The corn-rent plan, in the case of much longer leases, will no doubt diminish the evils which we
think are inseparable from them, but it cannot possibly reach some of the most considerable. Its utmost
effect is to secure to the landholder a rent which shall in all time to comejje an adequate rent, according
to the state of the lands and the mode of cultivation known at the date of the lease. But it can make no
provision that will apply to the enlargement of the gross produce from the future improvement of the
lands themselves, or of the disposable produce from the invention of machinery and other plans for econo-
mising labour. And the objections just stated, in reference to a lease of twenty-one years, evidently
apply much more forcibly to one of two or three times that length. Old corn-rents, though much higher
at present than old money-rents, are seldom or never so high as the rents that could now be paid on a
lease of twenty-one years. But, independently of these considerations, which more immediately bear
upon the interests of the parties themselves ; one insuperable objection to all such leases is, that they
partake too much of the nature of entails, and depart too far from that commercial character which is
most favourable to the investment of capital, and consequently to the greatest increase of land pro-
duce.
4694. The most recent opinions on this subject axe in favour of a money rent, or of a rent formed partly
from the average prices of produce, and partly of money, but somewhat complicated in its arrangement,
and therefore not likely to come into general use. There seems, indeed, no essential reason why rents in
agriculture should not be regulated on the same general principle as rents in commerce ; and were it not
for the extraordinary fluctuation that has taken place in the currency of the country within the last forty
years, it is more than probable no such alteration of principle would ever have been thought of. The
reader who wishes to enter more at length into this subject, may consult the most recent works on poli-
tical economy, and especially M'Culloch's Principles. He will also find a paper on the subject, of some
practical value, in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. i. p. 809. and vol. ii. p. 126.
4695. Mr. M'Culloch, in the second edition of his Principles of Political Economy, with reference to
corn rents, observes, that the disturbing effects of changes in the value of money are averted, at the same
time that the effect of those which occur in the cost of producing corn are mitigated. This plan, he adds,
is, however, defective, inasmuch as it obliges the tenant to pay more than the fair value of his farm in
scarce years ; while, on the other hand, it has the effect of improperly reducing the landlord's rents in
years of unusual plenty. A simple device has, however, been fallen upon, which has gone far to reduce
these defects : this consists in fixing a maximum and a minimum price, it being declared in the lease
that the produce to be paid to the landlord shall be converted into money, according to the current prices
of the year ; but that, to whatever extent prices may rise above the maximum price fixed in the lease,
the landlord shall have no claim for such excess of price. By means of this check, the tenant is prevented
from paying any great excess of rent in scarce years. And to prevent, on the other hand, the rent from
being improperly reduced in very plentiful years, a minimum price is agreed on by the parties ; and it is
stipulated that, to whatever extent prices may sink below this limit, the landlord shall be entitled to re-
ceive this minimum price for the fixed quantity of produce payable to him. This plan has been intro-
duced into some of the best cultivated districts in the empire, particularly East Lothian and Berwickshire ;
and the experience of the estates in which it has been adopted shows that it is as effectual as can well
be desired, for the protection of the just rights of both parties, and for securing the progress of agri-
culture.
4696. The terms of payment of rent differ a little in different districts and countries. Rents, in Scotland,
are paid either previously to the first crop being reaped, when they are caWedi fore-rents ; or they are paid
768 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
subsequently to the reaping, when they are termed back-rents. In England, it is believed that, with a few
exceptions in the border counties, back-rents are not in use. The effect of these rents is, to afford a long
credit to the tenant ; it is assumed that his means of paying any year's yent are chiefly derived from the
sale of the crop of that year, and hence he is allowed to reap and sell the crop, in order to pay the rent :
thus, if he enters at Whitsunday, 1829, and at separation of crop 1829 from ihe ground, his first year's crop
is that of 1830, and his first year's payment is usually made at Martinmas 1830, and Whitsunday 183).
Were he to pay what is termed fore-rent, his first term's payment would be at Martinmas 1829, and his
second at Whitsunday 1830 ; thus completing his first year's rent before his crop had been reaped.
Wherever custom has established the system of back-rents, it should not be disturbed ; by means of the
credit afforded, tenants are enabled to take land with a smaller capital, and to expend those funds in the
improvement of the farm, of which they must otherwise have been deprived. It must be thus attended
with one or other of two advantages to the landlord ; first, by bringing farms more within the reacli of the
funds of takers, it excites greater competition ; or, secondly, it leaves a fund in hand to the lessee, for
the immediate cultivation of his land. In Scotland this system is attended with no hazard, since landlords
have always, in that country, a security, by means of their legal rights of hypothec, on the crop of the tenant.
In the case of farms merely pastoral, indeed, the landlord's claims will not be well secured, because a tenant
removing at Whitsunday will have left no crop behind to answer for the rent : in farms of this nature,
accordingly, rents are stipulated to be paid in advance. {Quar. Jour. Agr. vol. ii. p. 134.)
4697. A lease for a tertn of years is not, in all cases, a sufficient encouragement to spirited cultivation ;
its covenants in respect to the management of the lands may be injudicious ; the tenant may be so strictly
confined to a particular mode of culture, or a particular course of crops, as not to be able to avail himself
of the beneficial discoveries which a progressive state of agriculture never fails to introduce. Or, on the
other hand, though this is much more rare, the tenant may be left so entirely at liberty, that either the
necessity of his circumstances, during the currency of the lease, or his interest towards its expiration, may
lead him to exhaust the soil, instead of rendering it more productive. When a lease therefore is either
redundant, or deficient in this respect, where it either permits the lands to be deteriorated, or prevents
their improvement ; the connection between landlord and tenant is formed upon other views, and regu-
lated by some other principle, than the general one on which we think it should be founded.
4698. Restrictive covenants are always necessary to the security of the lavidlord, notwithstanding the
high authority of Dr. Smith to the contrary, and in some cases beneficial to the tenant. Their expediency
cannot well be questioned in those parts of the country where an improved system of agriculture has made
little progress. A landholder, assisted by the advice of men experienced in framing these covenants, can-
not adopt any easier or less offensive plan for the improvement of his property, and the ultimate advan-
tages of his tenantry. Even in the best cultivated^ districts, while farms continue to be let to the highest
responsible offerers, a few restrictive covenants cannot be dispensed with. The supposed interest of the
tenant is too feeble a security for correct management, even during the earlier part of a lease; and in the
latter part of it, it is thought to be his interest, in most cases, to exhaust the soil as much as possible, not
only for the sake of immediate profit, but frequently in order to deter competitors, and thus to obtain a
renewal of his lease at a rent somewhat less than thelands would otherwise bring. {Sup. Encyc. Brit. art.
Agr.) In England the tenant is generally bound down by a mass of cumbrous and useless covenants, not
only depriving him of the power of exercising all judgment, but often tying him to a course at variance
with the interest of both the contracting parties. A few simple, but precise stipulations, will, for the
most part, be sufficient to restrain the lessee from an injurious course of cultivation, and supersede the
necessity of those vexatious covenants which are often too heedlessly imposed upon him. {Quar. Jour.
Agr. vol. I p. 798.)
4699. iVith tenants at will, and such as hold on short leases, restrictive covenants are more necessary
than with tenants on leases of nineteen or twenty years ; but in many instances, they are too numerous
and complicated, and sometimes even inconsistent with the best courses of modern husbandry. The
great error lies, in prescribing rules by which a tenant is positively required to act, not in prohibiting
such practices and such crops as experience has not sanctioned. The improved knowledge, and the
liberality of the age, have now expunged the most objectionable of these covenants ; and throughout
whole counties, almost the only restriction in reference to the course of crops is, that the tenant shall not
take two culmiferous crops, ripening their seeds in close succession. This single stipulation, combined
with the obligation to consume the straw upon the farm, and to apply to it all the manure made from its
produce, is sufficient not only to protect the land from exhaustion, but to insure, in a great measure, its
regular cultivation ; for half the (arm, at least, must, in this case, be always under either fallow or green
crops The only other necessary covenant, when the soil is naturally too weak for carrying annual crops
without intermission, is, that a certain portion of the land shall be always in grass. According to the ex-
tent of this, will be the interval between the succession of corn crops on the same fields ; if it be agreed that
half the farm, for instance, shall always be under grass, there can be only two crops of corn from the same
field in six years. In this case, not more than two sixths being in corn, one sixth in green crops or fallow,
and three sixths in clover or grasses, it becomes almost impossible to exhaust any soil at all fitted for
tillage. Tliere are few indeed that do not gradually become more fertile under this course of cropping.
It is sufficiently evident, that other covenants are necessary in particular circumstances ; such as permis-
sion to dispose of straw, hay, and other crops from which manure is made, when a quantity of manure
equal to what they would have furnished is got from other places ; and a prohibition against converting
rich old grazing lands or meadows into corn lands. In this place we speak only of general rules, such as
are applicable to, perhaps, nine tenths of all the arable land of Britain, and such as are actually observed
in our best cultivated counties.
4700. For the last four years of a lease, the same covenants are generally sufficient, only they require
to be applied with more precision. Instead of taking for granted, that the proportion of the farm thafc
cannot be under corn, will be properly cultivated, from the tenant's regard to his own interest, it becomes
necessary to take him bound to this effect in express terms ; the object generallybeing to enable the tenant,
upon a new lease, to carry on the cultivation of the lands, as if the former lease had not terminated.
What these additional stipulations should be, must depend in part on the season of the year at which the
new lease commences, and in part on the course of crops best adapted to the soil, and the particular cir-
cumstances of every farm.
4701. With respect to the form of a lease, as no one form would suit every district, nothing specific can
belaid down with advantage. The lawyers of every estate have particular forms, and it is easy for them,
in concert with the proprietor or manager, to obliterate useless or injurious restrictions, and substitute
such as may be deemed best for the estate, or in harmony v/ith the progress of the age. {Sup. Encyc.
Brit. art. Agr.)
SuBSECT. 5. Receiving Rents.
4702. The business of receiving the rents and profits of a layided estate, simple as it
may seem, is subject to analysis, and entitled to consideration. Indeed, on large pro-
perties, on which not farm rents only, but various other profits, are to be received, as
cottage rents, tithe compositions, chief rents, and, perhaps, quit rents of copyhold lands ;
the business becomes so complex as to require to be methodised and simplified, in order
to obtain the requisite facility and despatch. This is generally best effected by appointing
Book IV. RECEIVER'S ACCOUNTS. 769
distinct days, or distinct parts of the day, for each receipt, so that the ditrercnt tenants
and suitors may know their hours of attendance.
4703. IVie business of holding manor courts depends on whether they are held of right,
or merely by custom. If the copyhold tenure is so far worn out in any manor, that there
are not two ancient or feudal tenants remaining within it, the court has lost its legal
power ; it cannot by right take cognizance of crimes, nor enforce amerciaments. Never-,
theless, manorial courts have their uses, in regulating farm roads, driftways, and water-
courses, and in preventing nuisances of different kinds within a manor ; and it is generally
right to preserve the custom of holding them for these purposes.
4704. Where copyhold courts remain in force, and where legal forms are to be observed,
a law " steward of the manor " is proper to hold them. It is not necessary, however,
that courts of this kind should interfere with the receipt of farm rents ; or that a business
of this nature should in any way clash with the general receivership of the estate. Em-
ploy an attorney to hold courts, as a surveyor to arbitrate disputes, or an engineer to plan
works of improvement.
4705. The propriety of having Jtxed days for receiving the rents of farms is evident;
and some consideration is required to determine on the season of the year for holding
them, so as not to oblige the farmer to forced sales of his produce. In England and
Ireland, farm rents are generally due at Lady-day and Michaelmas, and in Scotland at
Candlemas and Lammas. But the proper times of paying them depend on the market-
able produce of an estate, and on the season of the year at which it goes in common
course, and with the best advantage, to market. A tenant should never be forced to sell
his produce with disadvantage ; nor, when he has received his money for it, ought he
to be at a loss for an opportunity of discharging his debt to his landlord. On corn-farm
estates, or those whose lands are kept in a state of mixed cultivation, which comprise
the great mass of farm lands in this kingdom, Michaelmas may be considered as one of
the worst times of the year, at which to call upon tenants for their rents. It is at the
close (or, in the northern provinces, perhaps at the height) of harvest, when the farmers'
pockets are drained by extra labour, and when they have not yet had time to thresh out
their crops to replenish them ; nor is the summer's grass at that season yet consumed,
nor off-going stock, perhaps, yet ready for market. In Norfolk, Marshal found the
end of February, or beginning of March, a very fit time to pay the half year's rent due
at Michaelmas ; and June for paying those due at Ladyday. In some districts of the
north it used to be the custom not to demand the first half year's rent, till the tenant was
a year in his farm, by which means he had the use during his lease of nearly a year's
rent in addition to his actual capital. But farmers there being now considered as
possessed of more wealth than formerly, the first half year's rent of the lease is paid
nine months after possession, and the last half year's rent of the term on or immediately
before its expiration.
4706. The proj)er days for receiving rents are to be determined by the local circum-
stances of an estate and the district in which it lies ; more especially by the fairs of the
neighbourhood at that season, and by other stated times at which the tenants are accus-
tomed, in conformity with the practice of the country, to receive for their dairy produce
or other articles delivered in to dealers ; and should be fixed immediately after these
days of embursement.
4707. On the subject of arrears, a good deal has been said by Marshal ; but it is one
of those which may very safely be left to the good sense and discretion of the proprietor
or his manager.
Sect. III. Keeping and Auditing Accounts.
4708. Clearness and brevity constitute the excellence of accounts, and these excel-
lencies are only to be obtained by simplicity of method. Where lands lie in detached
estates so as to require different receivers, a separate account is necessarily required for
each receivership ; but to preserve this simplicity and clearness, it is necessary that the
several sets should be in precisely the same form.
4709. The groundwork of the accounts peculiar to a landed estate is the rent-roll :
from this receiving rentals are to be taken, and with these and the miscellaneous
receipts and disbursements incident to the estate, an account current is to be annually
made out.
4710. In the receiving rental the particulars which a receiver wants to see at one view,
when receiving the rents of an estate under judicious management, where rents are
regularly received, and where occupiers pay taxes and do ordinary repairs, are few ; the
name of the farm, the name of the tenant, and the amount of his half year's rent, only
are required : but upon an estate, on which arrears are suffered to remain, and on which
matters of account are liable to take place, a greater number of particulars are necessary ;
as the name of the farm, of the tenant, his arrears, his half year's rent, any other charge
.■? D
770 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
against him, any allowance to be made him, and the nett sum receivable, leaving a
blank for the sum received and another for the arrear left.
47 11. Accounts current are required to be delivered in annually by the acting manager,
who ought generally to be the receiver. If the current receipts and disbursements are
numerous, as where extensive improvements are going on, and woods, mines, quarries, &c.,
in hand, such accounts may be given in monthly, which will show the progress of the
several concerns, and simplify the business at the end of the year.
4712. On the best managed estates it is usual, besides the books which have been
mentioned, to keep a ledger ; opening separate accounts for farm lands, woods, mines,
quarries, waters, houses and their appurtenances, public works, &c. : and where a pro-
prietor has several detached estates, besides such accounts being kept on each, one master
ledger contains accounts for the whole property. This, indeed, is nothing but an ob-
vious application of mercantile book-keeping to territorial property, the advantages of
which cannot but be as great in the one case as in the other.
4713. In auditing estate accounts, the rent accounts are to be checked with the arrears
of the preceding year; the column of rents with the rent-roll, corrected up to the last
term of entry in order to comprise the fresh lettings ; and the columns of account vdth
the particulars, those of allowances being signed by the respective tenants.
4714. The monthly accounts of receipts and disbursements^ as well as the annual pay-
ments, are to be compared with vouchers. The receipts are checked by deeds of sale,
contracts, and other written agreements, the awards of referees, or the estimates of sur-
veyors, the market prices of produce, &c. ; the receiver, in every case, identifying the
person from whom each sum was received. Each disbursement requires a direct and
sufficient voucher, endorsed and numbered, with a corresponding number affixed to the
charge in the account, so that they may be readily compared.
4715. Tlie most essential part of the office of an auditor is that of entering into the
merits of each receipt and payment ; and considering whether the charges correspond
with the purposes for which they are made ; and whether the several sums received are
adequate to the respective matters disposed of; by these means detecting, and thence-
forward preventing, imposition and connivance. This, however, is an office which no
bne but a proprietor, or other person, who has been conversant with the transactions that
have taken place upon the estate, and who has a competent knowledge of rural concerns,
can properly perform. It may therefore be right to repeat, that if a proprietor has not yet
acquired a competent knowledge of his own territorial concerns, to form an adequate
judgment of the different entries in his manager's account, he should call in the assistance
of those who are conversant in rural affairs, to enable him to judge of any particular parts
that may seem to require it ; and should not set his hand to an account which he does
not clearly understand, nor authorise another to sign it, who may have less knowledge
than himself of its merits.
BOOK V.
SELECTION, HIRIKG, AND STOCKING OF FARMS.
4716. Farms or lands let out to men who cultivate it as a business or profession exist in
all highly civilised countries. Sometimes the farmer or tenant pays to the proprietor or
landlord a proportion of the produce, determined yearly, or as the crops ripen ; and
sometimes he pays a fixed quantity of produce, or labour, or money, or part of each of
these. In Britain, where farming, as a profession, is carried to a higher degree of per-
fection than in any other country, the connection between landlord and tenant is regularly
defined by particular agreements and general laws ; and the latter, on entering on a farai,
engages to pay a fixed sum for its use for a certain number of years. This sum is fixed
according to the estimated value of the land ; but being fixed, and for a certain time,
it admits of no abatement in proportion to the quantity or value of the produce, as in the
proportional or metayer system general in most countries (265. and 596.); and hence
the necessity of a farmer maturely considering every circumstance connected with a farm
before he becomes its tenant. The subjects of consideration form the business of this
Book, and naturally divide themselves into such as relate to the farm, to the farmer, and
to the landlord. Some of the subjects, being treated of in the preceding Book, will be
but slightly noticed, though, as connected with the object of the present, they could not be
altogether omitted.
Book V. CLIMATE OF FARM LANDS. 771
Chap. L
Circumstances of a Farm necessary to be considered by a jiroposed Tenants
4717. Whoever intends to become n professional or rent-paying farmed' will, in searching
for a farm, find it necessary to attend to a great variety of considerations. Those of the
greatest importance may be included under climate, soil, and subsoil, character of sur-
face, topographical position, extent, buildings, roads, fields, tenure, rent, and outgoings.
In The Code of Agriculture, a more valuable collection of facts as to these points is brought
together than in any other work, and from it, therefore, we shall select the greater part of
the following sections.
Sect. I. Climate, in respect to farming Lands.
47 1 8. The climate of a farm is one of the circumstances over which human art has
less control than over any other ; and a farmer who has but a temporary interest in his
possession may be considered as incapable of exercising any influence over it. He may
improve the soil and subsoil by draining and culture ; and the buildings, roads, and
fences by additions and alterations ; but it is for the landlord to attempt improving the
climate by planting, and for a future generation to enjoy the effects.
47 1 9. Sufficient attention, it is said in The Code of Agriculture, " is rarely paid by the
farmer to the nature of the climate in which his operations are carried on. Unless the
system he adopts be calculated for the weather his crops are likely to experience, every
exertion will often terminate in disappointment. The system that is proper for warm
and dry situations is not suitable for cold and wet ones ; and in a bleak and backward
climate, the nature of the soil ought not only to be attended to, but the utmost care
ought to be paid to the early sowing of the earliest varieties of seed. Even the species
of stock to be bred or kept on a farm should, in a great measure, be regulated by the
climate. Hence, this is a subject which the diligent farmer will invariably study with
the greatest solicitude. Climate and soil, Curwen justly remarks, are, above all other
considerations, those which the farmer ought constantly to keep in view." {Rejyort to the
Workington Society.)
4720. I7i considering the climate of a country, the following points are of peculiar im-
portance : — Its general character, and the means of its improvement ; its local heat ; the
light it furnishes ; the quantity of its moisture ; the prevailing vrinds ; its position,
whether maritime or inland ; the regularity of the seasons ; the phenomena to which it is
liable ; the productions best suited to it ; the expenses it may occasion in cultivation ;
and its suitableness for the introduction of exotic plants and animals.
4721. The general character of a climate not only depends on position or latitude, but likewise on the
elevation of a country above the level of the sea ; its general aspect; the vicinity to mountains, forests,
bogs, marshes, lakes, and seas ; the nature of the soil and subsoil, and the power which the former pos-
sesses of retaining heat and moisture; the direction of the winds; the length of time the sun continues
above the horizon ; the difference of temperature between the day and the night; and the extent of dry
surface in the neighbourhood. The result of these particulars combined form what may be called the
general character of climate. Some of the causes of an unfavourable climate cannot be remedied by
any human effort ; in other cases, art may effect much ; but that art is generally such as the farmer can
seldom undertake, unless with a very long lease. Ameliorations of this sort, therefore, belong to the
landlord.
4722. The importance of heat, as a stimulus to vegetation, cannot be doubted. It is at a certain degree
of heat that vegetation commences, and it becomes nearly stationary when the temperature falls below it.
There are, comparatively speaking, but few plants calculated for very cold countries, and these are seldom
valuable ; whereas, in warm and temperate regions, the variety is great, and their value unquestionable.
Indeed, such is the effect of cold, that, while the thermometer is below forty degrees of heat, the strongest
plants become torpid, and remain in that state while it continues. Revived by the warmth of spring, and
strengthened by the heat of summer, they acquire fresh life and vigour, and are thus better enabled lo
withstand the rigours of the succeeding winter.
47y.S. An increased temperature, when not carried to excess, will augment the quantity of nutritive
matter in a plant, or improve the quality of fruit grown under its influence. Thus, English barley, of
equal weight, is more valuable than the Scotch, because, from growing in a warmer climate, and enjoying
the advantage of a greater quantity of heat and light, it is more fully ripened. It thence acquires more
saccharine matter, and produces a greater quantity of spirits, or of malt liquor. It is also proved, by the
experiments of Sir Humphry Davy, that wheat, ripened in a more regular and warmer clime, contains
more of that valuable article called gluten, than (he same species of grain when raised in England.
4724. The average heat of the year is not, however, of so much importance to the growth of plants, as
its duration, and its steadiness at a certain degree, during the season when the grain is ripening. This
gives the uniform climates of the Continent a great advantage over our variable seasons, in the production
of the more delicate sorts of fruit ; which, in this island, are often injured by the frosts in spring, and
seldom ripen in a northern climate, where the greatest summer heat is both unsteady and of short
duration.
4725. The quantity of solar light which a climate furnishes, is likewise an important object of enquiry.
Light is essential to increase the proportion of starch or farina ; to complete the formation of oils in
plants ; and to give to fruits their proper colour and flavour. It has also the efffect of augmenting
saccharine matter, insomuch that those sugar-canes which are exposed to the sun have more of that
important ingredient than when they grow under shade. Nor ought the observation to be omitted, that
darkness and light have effects directly opposite upon vegetables. Darkness favours the length of the
growth, by keeping up the pliancy of their parts ; light consolidates them, and stops growth, by favouring
maturation. Hence, in the northernmost regions, plants go through all their stages of growth at a time
when the sun no longer quits the horizon ; and the light, of which they thus experience the unremitting
effect, hardens them before they have time to lengthen. Their growth is therefore quick, but of short
duration. They are robust, but undersized. {Mirbel.) It has been remarked also, that a soil, not reten-
3 D 2
772 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
tive, will be more productive in a wet climate than in a dry one. Hence, in the western coasts of England,
as in Lancashire, where the quantity of rain that falls annually varies from forty to sixty inclies, a siliceous
sandy soil is much more productive than the same species of soil in the eastern districts, where seldom
more than from twenty-five to thirty-five inches of rain fall in a year. In wet climates, also, even wheat
and beans will require a less coherent and absorbent soil than in drier situations. At the same time,
weather moderately dry is the most favourable to a great produce of corn j and the blossoms of wheat, in
particular, set best if no rain falls in the flowering season.
472G. The importance of moisture to vegetation is obvious to every one. Water constitutes a large pro-
portion of every plant, and is the vehicle of the food of plants held in solution. Hence, without so essential
an ingredient, they must either become stunted in their growth or perish. In dry weather, when vege-
tation seems at a stand, no sooner do showers of rain fall, than a rapid growth of every kind of herbage
immediately succeeds, even on poor dry soils, where otherwise, however well manured, vegetation would
make but slow progress.
4727. The quantity of rain that falls annually in any country is a very inferior consideration, when
compared with that of the general and equable distribution of that quantity throughout the several days
and months of the year. A great quantity, at the same time, is rather hurtful than beneficial ; whereas
those moderate, but golden showers, which regularly fall on a soil calculated to receive them, are real
sources of fertility. It is by this that the character of a climate, whether wet or dry, is chiefly deter-
mined, and the operations of agriculture are principally influenced.
4728. The utility of a moist atmosphere, ivith a view to vegetation, is, in some respects, j)eculiarly re-
markable. Thus, in wet climates, as on the western coasts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, crops of
grain and potatoes are found to exhaust ihe soil less than in dry situations. Oats in particular are im-
poverishing in a greater degree in dry climates, than in moist ones ; and in the former, should be sown
much earlier than in the latter.
4729. The disadvantages of a wet climate to a farmer, more especially if accompanied with a retentive
soil, are very great. It is calculated, that in the richest district in Scotland, the Carse of Gowrie, there
are only about twenty weeks in the year fit for ploughing; whereas in several parts of England, they
have thirty weeks, and in many cases more, during which this essential operation can be performed.
Hence ploughing must be much more expensive in the one case than in the other.
4730. The season of the year in which rain abounds is likewise of much importance. An excess is pre-
judicial in any season, but is peculiarly so in autumn, when it often lodges the grain by its violence, or by
its long continuance prevents the corn from being properly harvested. The hopes of the husbandman
are thus blasted, and the fruits of his toil and industry are frequently diminished, and sometimes entirely
lost.
4731. Hews have a great effect in furnishing plants with moisture ; and, indeed, without their aid,
vegetation, in warm and dry climates, could not go on. Even in temperate regions dews are beneficial.
In Guernsey, on the coast of Normandy, the autumnal dews are singularly heavy, so much so that, in the
middle of a hot day, the dew-drops are not quite exhaled from the grass. From this moisture the after-
grass receives great benefit. Dr. Hales estimated the quantity of dew that falls in one year at three and
a half inches ; Dalton, at nearly five inches. In this matter, however, it is not easy to be correct.
4732. The prevailing winds have a great influence on the character of a climate, and a powerful effect
on vegetation. When they pass over a large expanse of water, they are usually of a warmer or higher
temperature in winter, than those which blow over high lands ; more especially if sucli come from
countries covered with snow. Hence the east and north-east winds, which have passed over the coldest
regions of Europe, are much colder than the west and south-west winds, which blow over the Atlantic
Ocean, and they oftener occasion blights. The former are comparatively drier, unless when accompanied'
by those thick mists, called haars, arising from the copious evaporation of the German Ocean. The latter
are loaded with the vapours of the Atlantic, and often, from excess of moisture, are rendered prejudicial.
The strength of the prevailing winds, or the violence with which they act, more especially during harvest,
ought likewise to be considered. If they are very violent, they are apt to affect the crops, and of course
it becomes an object to suit the produce to them ; and to form fences, enclosures, and plantations accord-
ingly.
4733. A maritime position occasions a more equal temperature in a climate. Where a great body of land
is exposed to the heating rays of the sun, the air becomes much warmer than it would if resting upon a
small body of land, contiguous to, or surrounded by, the ocean. On the other hand, as the sea always
preserves nearly the same temperature, and, except in the most northern regions, is never frozen, it com-
municates warmth, in the cold seasons of the year, to the air passing over it, which had been cooled in its
passage over continents covered with ice and snow. Hence islands are more temperate than continents.
It appears?, indeed, that the thermometer has not so great a range on the sea coast, as in the more inland
parts of Great Britain, even at an elevation of 400 feet above the level of the sea. Of the influence of
proximity to the sea many proofs might be brought forward. It is in consequence of this circumstance,
that the city of Moscow, which is situated somewhat farther south than Edinburgh, experiences winters
much more severe. Another effect of a maritime position is, that strong winds which blow from the sea
are sometimes accompanied by salt spray or vapour, which is injurious to crops of grain, and the leaves of
trees ; but when it comes in moderation, those saline particles, with which the westerly winds are loaded,
contribute to the verdure of the fields in pasture.
4734. The nature of the inland position is also of much importance. The relative position of the neigh-
bouring hills occasions a material difference of climate, exposing some districts to great severity of weather,
and, by protecting others from that disadvantage, greatly promoting their fertility.
4735. In many countries the seasons are regular. In others, as in Great Britain, they are extremely
variable, and often change, in the space of a few hours, from dry to moist, from hot to cold, from clear to
cloudy, and from a pleaGant serenity to all the violence of a tempest. But such irregularities of climate,
however uncomfortable, are often favourable to vegetation, and compensated by the advantages they pro-
duce. It is not in countries where the seasons of heat and cold, wind and rain, are periodical, or where
the greatest regularity of climate takes place, that mankind are the most healthy or vigorous, or the useful
productions of the soil most perfect. Perhaps a sameness of climate, as well as of other things, is prejudi-
cial rather than useful. Where a climate is inconstant, the air is refined and purified by the Irequent
changes it undergoes ; and the disadvantages which originate from that source are often counteracted,
or at least essentially mitigated, by judicious management, and persevering exertions.
4736. The climate of a country is likewise affected by atmospherical and natural phenomena ; by earth-
quakes, volcanos, violent thunder storms, lightning, hail storms in summer, early frosts, whirlwinds
and hurricanes, water-spouts, and by that atmospheric appearance, known under the name of the
aurora borealis, so frequently to be seen in northern, and sometimes even in southern, regions ; but these
phenomena, for the most part only occasional, sometimes prevent greater calamities, and, in this country,
are rarely attended with permanent evils.
4737. Frosts late in spring are highly injurious to the blossoms of fruit trees ; and autumnal frosts creep
along the banks of rivers, destroying the corn in the flowering season, and blasting the stems of potatoes
in low situations. Winter frosts are ultimately rather favourable to vegetation ; and snow, particularly
when it covers the ground for some time, and gradually melts away.
4738. The size, and, in many cases, the value, of the productions of a country, depend upon its climate, by
whose influence their growth may either be advanced or retarded. The same species of tree, which, in a
temperate climate, will rise to a great height, and swell to an immense size, in an exposed situation will
remain small and stunted. By a favourable climate, also, the most barren spots, which in a cold country
Book V. SOIL OF FARM LANDS. 773
imist remain completely waste, in a warm one may be rendered productive. Thus, where the climate is
adapted to the culture of the vine, rocks, which in Great Britain, and in colder countries, would in
general be of little or no worth, in the southern provinces of France may yield as much in valuable pro-
duce as the cultivated land in their neighbourhood. The real excellence of a climate, however, depends
on its yielding, in perfection and abundance, the necessaries of life, or those which constitute the principal
articles of food for man, and for the domestic animals kept for his use. In this point of view, a meadow
is much more productive, and in some respects more valuable, than either a vineyard or a grove of oranges ;
though the one may be situated in a cold and variable climate, and the other in a country celebrated both
for its regularity and warmth of temperature.
47.39. Even the nature of the articles raised depends upon the climate. Thus, in many elevated parts,
both of England and Scotland, wheat cannot be grown to advantage, and in some of the high-lying dis-
tricts of the latter, it has never been attempted. In several of the northern counties, it has been found
necessary to sow, instead of the two-rowed barley, the inferior sort called bear or big ; and oats, from the
hardy quality of the grain, are found to be a more certain and more profitable species of corn than any
other; while in humid districts peas or beans cannot be safely cultivated, from the periodical wetness of
the autumn. On the whole, without great attention to the nature of the climate, no profitable system
can be laid down by any occupier of land.
4740. Aji inferior climate greatly augmenls the expenses of cultivation ; because a number of horses are
required for labour during the short period of the year, when the weather will admit of it, which, at other
seasons, are a useless burden ujxjn the farm. When to this are joined an uneven surface and an inferior
quality of soil, arable land is of little value, and yields but a trifling rent.
47 H. Exotic plants or animals can only be naturalised in climates with success by paying attention to
that whence they were brought, and by endeavouring either to render the one as similar to the other as
circumstances will admit of, or to counteract, by judicious management, the deficiencies of the new one.
4742. In order to ascertain the nature of a climate, the farmer, in modem times, has many advantages
which his predecessors wished for in vain. The progress of science has given rise to many new instru-
ments, which ascertain natural phenomena with a considerable degree of accuracy. It may still be proper
to study the appearance of the heavens, and not to, despise old proverbs, which often contain much local
truth ; but the vane now points out the quarters whence ihe winds blow, with all their variations ; the
barometer often enables us to foretel the state of the weather that may be expected ; the thermometer
ascertains the degree of heat ; the hygrometer, the degree of moisture ; the pluviometer, or rain-gauge,
the quantity of rain that has fallen during any given period ; and, by keeping exact registers of all these
particulars, much useful information may be derived. The influence of different degrees of temperature
and humidity, occurring at different times, may likewise be observed, by comparing the leafing, flower,
ing, and after-progress of the most common sorts of trees and plants, in different seasons, with the period
when the several crops of grain are sown and reaped each year.
Sect. II. Soil in respect to farming Lands.
4743. The necessity of paying atteyition to the nature and qvality of the soil need not
l>e dwelt upon. By ascertaining the qualities it possesses, or by removing its defects,
the profits of a farmer may be greatly increased. He must, in general, regulate his
measures accordingly, in regard to the rent he is to offer ; the capital he is to lay out ;
the stock he is to keep ; the crops he is to raise ; and the improvements he is to execute.
Indeed, such is the importance of the soil, and the necessity of adapting his system to its
peculiar properties, that no general system of cultivation can be laid down, unless all the
circumstances regarding the nature and situation of the soil and subsoil be known ; and
such is the force of habit, that it rarely happens that a farmer who has been long accus-
tomed to one species of soil will be equally successful in the management of another.
From inattention to the nature of soils, many foolish, fruitless, and expensive attempts
have been made to introduce different kinds of plants, not at all suited to them ; and
manures have often been improperly applied. This ignorance has hkewise prevented
many from employing the means of improvement, though the expense was trifling, and
within their reach. From ignorance also of the means calculated for the proper culti-
vation of < the different soils, many unsuccessful and pernicious practices have been
adopted. Soils may be considered under the following general heads : — Sandy ; gra-
velly ; clayey ; stoney ; chalky ; peaty ; alluvial ; and loamy, or that species of arti-
ficial soil into which the others are generally brought by the effects of manure, and
of earthy applications, in the course of long cultivation.
4744. Though sandy soils are not naturally valuable, yet being easily cultivated, and well calculated for
sheep, that most profitable species of stock, they are often farmed with considerable advantage ; and when
of a good quality, and under a regular course of husbandry, they are invaluable. They are easily worked,
;;nd at all seasons ; they are cultivated at a moderate expense ; are not so liable to injury from the vicis-
situdes of the weather; and in general they are deep and retentive of moisture, which secures excellent
crops even in the driest summers. The crops raised on sandy soils are numerous, such as turnips, potatoes,
carrots, barley, rye, buck- wheat, peas, clover, saintfoin, and other grasses. This species of soil, in general,
has not strength enough for the production of Swedish turnips, beans, wheat, flax, or hemp, in any degree
of perfection, without much improvement in its texture, the addition of great quantities of enriching ma-
nure, and the most skilful management. In Norfolk and Suffolk it is found, that poor sandy soils, unfit
for any other purpose, will, under saintfoin, produce, after the first year, about two tons per- acre of
excellent hay, for several years ; with an after-grass, extremely valuable for weaning and keeping lambs.
How much more beneficial than any crops of grain that such soils usually yield! {Young's Kalend. 123.)
4745. The fertility qf sandy soils is in proportion to the quantity of rain that falls, combined with the
frequency of its recurrence. As a proof of this, in the rainy climate of Turin, the most prolific soil has
from seventy -seven to eighty per cent, of siliceous earth, and from nine to fourteen of calcareous ; whereas
in the neighbourhootl of Paris, where there is much less rain, the silex is only in the proportion of from
twenty-six to fifty per cent, in the most fertile parts.
4746. Gravelly soils differ materially from saniiy, both in their texture and modes of management. They
are frequently composed of small soft stones, sometimes of flinty ones ; but they often contain granite,
limestone, and other rocky substances, partially, but not very minutely decomposed. Gravel, being more
porous than even sand, is generally a poor, and what is called, a hungry soil, more especially when the
parts of which it consists are hard in substance, and rounded in form. Gravelly soils are easily exhausted ;
for the animal and vegetable matters they contain, not being thoroughly incorporated with the earthy
constituent parts of the soil (which are seldom sufficiently abundant for that purpose), are more liable to
be decomposed by the action of the atmosphere, and carried off by water.
3D 3
774 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
4747. A gravelly soil, free ftrom stagnant water, gives such an additional warmth to the climate, that
vegetation is nearly a fortnight earlier than where other soils predominate. About Dartford and Black,
heath, in Kent, such soils produce early green peas, winter tares, rye, autumnal peas, and occasionally
wheat, in great perfection.
4748. Gravelly soils, m a toet climate, answer well for potatoes ; in Cornwall, in a sheltered situation,
with a command of sea-sand, and of sea-weed, they raise two crops of potatoes in the same year.
4749. Poor gravelly soils full of springs, and those sulphureous, are very unfriendly to vegetation j and
are better calculated for wood than for arable culture.
4750. The stony, shaley, or stone-brash soils of Gloucestershire, and the midlaiid counties of England,
are much mixed with small stones, but have more frequently sand, or clay, or calf.-areous loam, in their
composition than gravelly soils, and are therefore generally preferable.
4751. A clayey soil is often of so adhesive a nature that it wiU hold water like a dish. In a dry summer,
the plough turns it up in great clods, scarcely to be broken or separated by the heaviest roller. It requires,
therefore, much labour to put it in a state fit for producing either corn or grass, and it can only be culti-
vated when in a particular state, and in favourable weather. Though it will yield great crops under a
pro|)er system of management, yet, being cultivated at a heavy expense, requiring stronger instruments
and stouter horses, it is seldom that much profit is obtained, unless when occupied by a judicious and
attentive farmer. The best management of clay soils is that of the Lothians. There they are found
well calculated for growing crops of beans, wheat, oats, clover, and winter tares : but are not adapted for
barley, unless immediately after a fallow; nor for potatoes, unless under very peculiar management. In
regard to turnips, they do not usually thrive so well in clays, as in soils which are more free and open :
but it is now ascertained, that the Swedish, and above all the yellow, turnip may be raised in them with
advantage ; that the quality is superior ; that if they are taken up early, the soil is not injured ; and that
there is no difficulty in preserving them. Clays become good meadow-lands, and answer well for hay, or
soiling, when in grass; but from their aptitude to be poached, they are, in general, unfit to be fed by
heavy cattle in wet weather. In dry seasons the after-grass may be used to feed neat cattle till October,
and sheep till March. A stifT clay, when not cold or wet, with a strong marl under it, is preferred in
Cheshire and Derbyshire for the dairy.
4752. On reclaimed peat-bo"S, oats, rye, beans, potatoes, turnips, carrots, cole-seed, and wliite and red
clover, may be cultivated. Wheat and barley have succeeded on such lands, after they have been supplied
with abundance of calcareous earth ; and the florin grass (^gn'istis stolonifera) seems likewise to be well
adapted to that description of soil in a warm climate. In Leicestershire, and other counties, they have
great tracts of meadow-land ; these are, in many instances, the sites of lakes filled up, and the soil is com-
posed of peat and sediment; the peat originally formed by aquatic vegetation, and the sediment brought
down by rains and streams from the upland. This soil is admirably calculated for grass.
4753. The fens in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and several other districts in England, consist of peat
and sediment.
4754. Chalky soils principally consist of calcareous matter mixed with various substances, in greater or
less proportions. Where clayey or earthy substances are to be found in such soils in considerable quanti-
ties, the composition is heavy and productive ; where sand or gravel abounds, it is slight, and rather
imfertile. The crops chiefly cultivated on chalky soils are peas, turnips, barley, clover, and wheat ; and,
however much the soil is exhausted, it will produce saintfoin.
4755. Chalky soils are in general fitter fur tillage than for grazing j for, without the plough, the pecu-
liar advantages derived from this soil by saintfoin could not be obtained. The plough, however, ought not
to extend to those fine chalky downs ("called ewe leases in Dorsetshire), which, by a very attentive man-
agement during a number of years, have been brought to a considerable degree of fertility as grazing land,
and which are so useful to sheep in the winter season. A chalky soil that has been in tillage permits
water to pass through it so freely in winter, and is so pervious to the sun's rays in summer, that it is the
work of an age to make it a good pasture of natural grasses, more especially when the chalk lies near the
surface. Hence, in the western counties of England, several thousands of acres of this soil, though not
ploughed for thirty years, have scarcely any grass of tolerable quality upon them, and are literally worth
nothing. Such soils ought to be laid dawn with saintfoin.
4756. Alluvial soils are of two sorts ; one derived from the sediment of fresh, and the other from that
of salt water. Along the sides of rivers, and other considerable streams, water-formed soils are to be met
with, consisting of the decomposed matter of decayed vegetables, with the sediment of streams. They
are in general deep and fertile, and not apt to beinjured by rain, as they usually lie on a bed of open
gravel. They are commonly employed as meadows, from the hazard of crops of grain being injured or
carried off by floods.
4757. Alluvial soils, arising from the operations of salt water, called salt marshes in England, carses in
Scotland, and polders in Holland and Flanders, are composed of the finest parts of natural clay, washed
off' by running water, and deposited on flat ground, on the shores of estuaries, where they are formed by
the reflux of the tide, and enriched with marine productions. They generally have a rich level surface,
and being deep in the staple, they are well adapted for the culture of the most valuable crops. Hence
wheat, barley, oats, and clover are all of them productive on this species of soil ; which is likewise pecu-
liarly well calculated for beans, as the t.ap root pushes vigorously tlirough it, and finds its nourishment at
a great depth. From the great mass of excellent soil, the fertility of these tracts is nearly inexhaustible ;
but, from their low and damp situations, they are not easily managed. Lime, in considerable quantities,
js found to answer well upon this species of soil.
4758. The term loamy soil is applied to such as are moderately cohesive, less tenacious than clay, and
more so than sand. Loams are the most desirable of all soils to occupy. They are friable ; can in general
be cultivated at almost any season of the year ; are ploughed with greater facility, and less strength than
clay ; bear better the vicissitudes of the seasons; and seldom require any change in the rotation adopted.
Above all, they are peculiarly well adapted for the convertible husbandry ; for they can be changed, not
only without injury, but generally with benefit, from grass to tillage, and from tillage to grass.
4759. As to the comparative valtie of soil) it has been justly remarked, that too much
can hardly be paid for a good soil, and that even a low rent will not make a poor one
profitable. The labour of cultivating a rich and a poor soil is nearly the same ; while
tlie latter requires more manure, and consequently is more expensive. Poor soils, at the
same time, may have such a command of lasting manures, as lime or marl, or even of
temporary sorts, like sea-weed, or the refuse of fish, as may render them profitable to
cultivate. It is a wise maxim in husbandry, that the soil, like the cattle by which it is
cultivated, should always be kept up in good condition, and never suffered to fall below
the work it may be expected to perform.
Sect. III. Subsoil relatively to the Choice of a Farm.
4760. On the nature of the understratum depends much of the value of the surface
soil. On various accounts its properties merit particular attention. By examining the
Book V. ELEVATION OF FARM LANDS. 775
subsoil, information may be obtained in regard to the soil itself; for the materials of the
latter are often similar to those which enter largely into the composition of the former,
though the substances in the soil are necessarily altered, by various mixtures, in the
course of cultivation. The subsoil may be of use to the soil, by supplying its defi-
ciencies and correcting its defects. The hazard and expense of cultivating the surface
are often considerably augmented by defects in the under-stratum, but which, in some
cases, may be remedied. Disorders in the roots of plants are generally owing to a wet
or noxious subsoil. Subsoils are retentive or porous.
4761. Retentive subsoils consist of clay, or marl, or of stone beds of variou* kinds. A retentive clayey
subsoil is in general found to be highly injurious. The surface soil is soaked with water, is ploughed with
difficulty, and is usually in a bad condition for the exertion of its vegetative powers, until the cold slug-
gish moisture of the winter be exhaled. By the water being retained in the upper soil, the putrefactive
process is interrupted, and manures are restrained from operating, consequently the plants make but
little progress. Hence, its grain is of inferior quality, and when in grass its herbage is coarse.
4762. A stony subsoil, when in a position approaching to the horizontal, is in general prejudicial, and,
if the surface-soil be thin, usually occasions barrenness, unless the rock should be limestone j and then
the soil, though thin, can easily be converted into healthy pastures, and, in favourable seasons, will feed a
heavy stock. They will also produce good crops of corn, though subject to the wire-worm.
also produce good crops of corn, though subject to the wire-worm.
4763. A porous subsoil is uniformly attended with this advantage, that by its means all superfluous
moisture may be absorbed. Below clay, and all the variety of loams, an open subsoil is particularly
desirable. It is favourable to all the operations of husbandry; it tends to correct the imperfections of
too great a degree of absorbent power in the soil above ; it promotes the beneficial effects of manures ; it
contributes to the preservation and growth of the seeds ; and ensures the future prosperity of the plants.
Hence it is, that a thinner soil, witli a favourable subsoil, will produce better crops than a more fertile
one incumbent on wet clay, or on cold and non-absorbent rock. Lands whose substratum consists of
clean gravel or sand can bear little sun, owing to their not having the capacity of retaining moisture, and
their generally possessing only a shallow surface of vegetable mould. In England this soil was formerly
called rye-land, being more generally cropped with that species of grain than any other. When such
soils are cultivated for barley, they should be sown early and thick, with seed soaked forty-eight hours in
water or in the exudation from a dung-heap. Thus its simultaneous germination and its simultaneous
ripening may be secured.
Sect. IV. Elevation of Lands relatively to Fanning.
4764. The elevation of lands above the level of the sea has a material influence on the
kind and quality of their produce. Land in the same parallel of latitude, other circum-
stance being nearly similai", is always more valuable in proportion to the comparative
lowness of its situation.
4765. In the higher districts the herbage is less succulent and nourishing, and the
reproduction slower when the land is in grass; while the grain is less plump, runs more
to straw, is less perfectly ripened, and the harvest is also later when the produce is
corn. It has been calculated that in Great Britain sixty yards of elevation in the land
are equal to a degree of latitude ; or, in other v.'ords, that sixty yards perpendicularly
higher, are, in respect of climate, equal to a degree more to the north. In considering
the crops to be raised in any particular farm, attention ought therefore to be paid to its
height above the level of the sea, as well as to its latitude. In latitude 54° and 55°, an
elevation of 500 feet above that level is the greatest height at which wheat can be cul-
tivated with any probable chance of profit ; and even there the grain will prove very
light, and will often be a month later in ripening than if sown at the foot of the hills.
4766. T/i€ usual maximum of elevation may be reckoned between 600 and 800 feet for the more common
sorts of grain ; and in backward seasons the produce will be of small value, and sometimes will yield
nothing but straw. It is proper, at the same time, to remark, that in the second class of mountains in
the county of Wicklow, in Ireland, where no other grain is considered to be a safe crop, rye is cultivated
with success. "Where the soil is calcareous, however, as on the Gloucestershire and Yorkshire wolds,
from the superior warmth of that species of soil, compared to cold clays or peat, barley grows in great
perfection at an elevation of 800 feet above the level of the sea. Some experiments have been made to
raise corn crops, at even a higher elevation, on the celebrated mountain Skiddaw, in Cumberland, but
unsuccessfully.
4767. The greatest height at which corn will grour, in the more remote parts of Scotland, so as to yield
any profit to the husbandman, is stated to be at 500 feet above the level of the sea. At the same time
corn has been produced, in other districts of that country, at still higher elevations, in particular at the
following places : —
Feet above the Level Feet above the Levtt
qfthe Sea. qfthe Sea,
Parish of Hume, in Roxburghshire - 600 Doubruch, in Braemar, Aberdeenshire 1294
Upper Ward of Lanarkshire - - 760 Lead.hills, in Lanarkshire - - - 1564
4768. These and other instances of land being cultivated on high elevations, however, are merely small
spots, richly manured, and, after all, producing nothing but crops of inferior barley and oats, and seldom
fully ripe or successfully harvested. It is chiefly where the soil is sandy or gravelly, that corn will answer
in Scotland on such elevated situations ; and even then, only when the seasons are propitious, and when
there are local advantages, favourable to warmth and shelter, in the situation of the lands.
Sect. V. Character of Surface in regard to farming Lands-
4769. A hilly irregular surface, whether at a high or low elevation above the sea, is
unfavourable to farming. The labour of ploughing, carrying home produce, and carrying
out manure, is greatly increased ; while the soil on the summit of steep hills, mounts, or
declivities, is unavoidably deteriorated. On the sides of slopes the finer parts of the clay
and mould are washed away, while the sand and gravel remain. Hence the soil in such
3 D 4
776 rilACTlCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
districts often wants a proper degree of tenacity for supporting corn crops. A great
part of the manure that is applied in such situations is likewise soon lost. From
various causes, also, they are colder than the plains.
4770. Many extensive countries have no perceptible rise. These have their advantages
from uniformity of soil, where it is rich. In other districts, the surface is of a waving
description, an inequality which contributes much to the ornament of the country, by
the agreeable relief which the eye constantly meets with in the change of objects ; while
the universal declivity which prevails more or less in every field is favourable to the cul-
ture of the land, by allowing a ready descent to any water with which the surface may
be encumbered.
Sect. VI. Aspect in regard to farming Lands.
4771. Aspect, in hilly or mountainous districts, is an important subject of attention to
the farmer ; more especially where the climate is unfavourable. It is proved in a variety
of instances, both in the central highlands of Scotland, and in other parts of the king-
dom, that where the aspect of a hill is towards the north, the soil is more fertile than
when it lies with a southern exposure. This is attributed to the variations from frost to
thaw in the spring months, which are greater in a southern than in a northern aspect.
Hence, while the soil to the nortli remains locked fast, and secured from waste, the
other is loosened by the sun, and carried off by showers falling in the intervals of thaw.
4772. Soils which face the south are more liable to have their substance carried away by
heavy rains, which are generally impelled from the south and south-west. But though
the soil to the north often produces the heaviest crops of grass and hay, yet from pos-
sessing a more genial climate, and from the earlier and more powerful action of the
sun, both corn and grass are harvested earlier on land which has a southern than on
that which has a northern aspect ; and superiority of quality thus compensates for any
inferiority ii\,the quantity of the produce.
Sect. VII. Situation of Farm Lands in regard to Markets.
4773. JS^o farming can go on without markets. TJie system of farming to be adopted
on any particular farm, and the expense attending it, must materially depend on its situ-
ation in regard to markets ; to the facility with which its produce can be conveyed,
where a contiguous market is wanting ; to vicinity to manure, to fuel, and to water.
4774. The advantages resulting from vicinity to a market, or to a large town, by which that is insured,
are very great. Some crops, as those of potatoes, turnips, and clover, are frequently sold on the ground,
without any farther trouble or expense to the farmer ; and great quantities of manure may be purchased
at a moderate expense. In such situations also there is a ready sale for every article the farm can
produce ; and the articles sold are not only brought to market at a small expense, but the payment is im-
mediate. For all these reasons, it is contended, and apparently with justice, that the neighbourhood of a
capital is the most profitable spot to farm in, notwithstanding the high rent of land, and the great expense
of labour.
4775. Where mxirkets are not at hand, the farmer ought to take into consideration what articles will
best suit those at a distance to which his produce must be sent. In such a situation, unless there are
facilities for the conveyance of so bulky an article as corn by good roads, or by water-carriage, it is ad-
visable, instead of cultivating grain, to attend either to the dairy husbandry, or to the breeding of stock
which can be fattened in other districts where good markets are more numerous. This plan, by whicli
the dairy, the breeding, and the fattening of stock, are made distinct professions, is highly beneficial to
the country at large. Stock can be reared cheaper in remote districts than where land is dear and labour
high. Onthe other hand, the purchaser of lean stock avoids the expense and risk of breeding great
numbers of animals. His attention is not distracted by a multiplicity of objects ; he can alter his system
from cattle to sheep, or from sheep to cattle, as is likely to be most profitable ; his business is simplified,
iind the capital he lays out is speedily returned. The division of professions between breeding and
feeding (though they may be united in circumstances peculiarly favourable), is on the whole a most im-
portant link in the progress of agricultural prosperity.
. 4776. In regard to facility qf conveyance, the state of public roads, bridges, iron rail-ways, canals, rivers
rendered navigable, and harbours, deserves the consideration of the farmer, and will most materially
influence the value of produce.
4777. The situation of the farm in regard to manures, for an easy access to lime, chalk, marl, sea- weed,
&c. is of essential advantage to cultivation. The price at which these articles can be purchased, their
quality, their distance, and expense of conveyance, are likewise of importance. Farms, for example,
possessing the advantage of sea- weed contiguous and in abundance, can pay from fifteen to twenty per
cent, more rent per acre than otherwise could be afforded.
4778. Vicinity to fuel in the cold and moist regions of Europe are important considerations to the farmer.
In the same county, even in England, the diflference of expense is often material. In the Hebrides, from
the moistness of the climate, the expense of fuel is reckoned equal to a third part of the rent of the land ;
and farmers who pay, in some cases, 150/. per annum, would give 200/. if the landlord would supply them
and their servants with fuel.
4779. Where a fanner is under the necessity of using peat, from the labour attending the cutting,
spreading, drying, and conveying it from a distance, several weeks of his horses and servants are devoted
to that sole purpose; and much valuable time is lost, which ought to have been employed in the culti-
vation of his farm. It has been well remarked, that many farmers, to save five guineas on coal, often
expend twenty, in thus misapplying the labour of their horses.
4780. Where wood is used, it occupies a great deal of ground that might often be cultivated to advan-
tage, and it is not of a lasting quality. Coal is preferable, for general purposes, to every other species of
fuel ; and besides its domestic application, its superiority for burning lime, that imjKjrtant source of
fertility, or calcareous clay, also of much value to the farmer, is an object of great moment. The tenant,
therefore, who resides in the neighbourhood of coal, more especially if limestone or calcareous substances
are at no great distance, farms at less expense, can afford to pay a higher rent, and may derive more profit
from the land he cultivates, than if in these respects he were differently circumstanced.
Book V. EXTENT, TENURE, AND RENT OF FARM LANDS. 777
Sect. VIII. Extent of Land suitable for a Farm.
4781. The extent of ground which a farmer proposes to occupy dema7ids due consideration.
If it be beyond his capital to cultivate or improve, he can derive no profit by taking it.
On the other hand, a small occupation may not be worthy of his attention.
4782. Farms as to size 7nay be divided into three sorts : small farms under 100 acres ;
moderate-sized fanns, from 100 to 200 acres ; large farms, from 200 to 1000 acres, and
upwards, of land fit for cultivation. The expense of labour is now so great, and the rent
of land so high, that the profits of a small farm are not sufficient, with the utmost
frugality, or even parsimony, to maintain a family with comfort.
4783. Moderate-sixed farms are well calculated for the dairy system, for the neighbourhood of large
towns, and where capital is not abundant. There are few trades in which a small capital can be employed
to a greater advantage than in a dairy farm, yet there is no branch of agriculture where such constant and
unremitting attention is required. That is not to be expected from hired servants ; but it is in the power
of the wife and daughters of the farmer to perform, or at any rate to superintend, the whole business, and
without their aid it cannot be rendered productive.
4784. Moderate-sixed farms are general in the neighbourhood of towns. This necessarily results from
the high rents paid in such situations ; the shortness of the leases usually granted of land near towns;
and the necessity the farmer is under of selling, in small quantities, the articles produced on his farm.
On this subject it has been remarked, that farmers in the vicinity of large towns resemble retail shop-
keepers, whose attention must be directed to small objects, by which a great deal of money is got, the
greater part of which would be lost, without the most unremitting attention. The farmer at a distance
from markets, who cultivates on a great scale, may be compared, on the other hand, to a wholesale trader,
who, as his profits are less, requires a greater extent of land, for the purpose both of engaging his atten-
tion, and of enabling him to support that station of life in which he is placed. There is this difference
also between farmers in the neighbourhood of towns, and those who reside at a distance from them, that
the former find it more profitable to sell their produce, even such bulky articles as turnips, potatoes,
clover, hay, and straw, than to fatten cattle for the butcher ; and they are enabled to do so, without injury
to their farms, as they can procure dung in return.
478.3. Farms of the largest size differ in respect to the capital required. A mountain breeding farm of
5000 acres will not require more to stock it than an arable farm of 500 acres, and much less expense of
labour to carry it on. In all cases the safe side for the farmer to lean to, is to prefer a farm rather under
than exceeding his capital : and let him consider well beforehand whether he is going to commence a
retail farmer for daily markets, or a manufacturer of produce on a large and ample scale ; for the spirit,
attention, and style of living of the one differs materially from that of the other. — The subject of this
section and the two following having been treated in a general way as between landlord and tenant in the
preceding chapter, will be here only briefly noticed as on the part of the tenant
Sect. IX. Tenure on which Lands are held for Farming.
4786. Perpetual tenures, or absolute property in land, can never come into considera-
tion with a farmer looking out for a farm. A proprietor cultivating his own property
cannot, in correct language, be said to be a farmer ; for to constitute the latter an essential
requisite is the payment of rent.
4787. The leases on which lands are let for farming are for various terms, and with very different cove-
nants. The shortest lease is from year to year, which, unless in the case of grass lands in the highest
order, and of the richest quality, or under some other very peculiar circumstances, no prudent man, whose
object was to make the most of his skill and capital, would accept of. Even leases for seven or ten years
are too short for general purposes ; a period of fourteen or fifteen years seems to be the shortest for arable
lands, so as to admit of the tenant paying a full rent ; but fourteen years, when the lands to be entered on
are in bad condition, are too few, and twenty-one years much better for the true interests of both i)arties.
In farming, however, as in every other occupation where there are more skill and capital in want of em-
ployment than can find subjects to work on, farms will be taken under circumstances, both in regard to
leases and rent, that are highly unfavourable to the farmer ; and if they do not end in his ruin will keep
him always poor, and probably not only pay less interest for his capital than any other way in which he
could have employed it, but also infringe on its amount. The rapid depreciation of currency which took
I)lace in Britain during the wars against the French deceived many farmers, and flattered them for a time
with the gradual rise of markets year after year. However high land might be taken at the commence-
ment of a lease, it was always considered a consolation that it would be a bargain by the time it was half
done ; and that the farmer's fortune would be made during the last few years of its endurance. When
the currency of Britain was permitted to find its level with that of other countries, the delusion ceased,
and the majority of farmers were partially or wholly ruined.
4788. In regard to the covenants of a lease, it is necessary that there should be such in everyone as shall
protect both landlord and tenant. Certain general covenants in regard to repairs, renewals if necessary,
timber, minerals, entry and exit crops, are common to all leases. Regulations as to manure are required
where hay and straw, and other crops, are sold not to be consumed on the farm. Water meadows, rich
old grass lands, copse woods, hop grounds, orchards, &c. require special covenants. Fewest covenants are
required for a mountain breeding farm j and in all cases there should be a clause entitling the tenant to
an appeal, &c., and a hearing from the landlord, and perhaps a jury of landlords or agents and farmers,
against covenants as to cropping, repair, or renewals, which may, from extraordinary circumstances, press
particularly heavy on the tenant.
4789. The power of the landlord to grant a lease, with liberal conditions, may in some cases be required
to be ascertained by the tenant ; and in Scotland, where it is illegal to sublet a farm unless a clause to that
effect has been inserted in the original lease, a farmer may cease to be the master of his own property,
unless he has taken care to see that clause inserted. In England, for the most part, subletting a farm is
no more prohibited than subletting a dwelling-house or a shop. When the laws of countries shall come
to be founded on equity, this will be the case every where. At present they almost every where lean to
the side of tjie powerful party, the landlord. In the progress of things it could not be otherwise.
Sect. X. Rent.
4790. T'he rent of land, in a general point of view, must always depend on a variety
of circumstances ; as the wealth of the country ; its population ; the price of produce ;
the amount of public and other burdens ; the distance from markets ; the means of con-
veyance ; the competition among farmers ; and other less important considerations : but
the rent of any particular farm must be I'cgulatcd by the nature of the soil ; the duration
778 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Pari III.
of the tenure, and the covenants contained in the lease ; the capital to be invested by the
farmer in its culture ; and the expenses to which he is liable.
4791. The rent of poor land cannot possibly be the same as in the case of fertile lands. The labour of
ploughing, harrowing, sowing, &c., when the land is in cultivation, is nearly the same, and yet the produce
is greatly inferior, not only in quantity, but in quality. Indeed, where the produce is inconsiderable, or
the quality much inferior, the whole, or nearly the whole, may be swallowed up by the expense of labour,
and no rent whatever can be afforded, more especially in adverse seasons.
4792. The duration of the tenure must have a considerable effect in fixing the rent. No fanner can
afford to pay the same sum for land on a short as if he held it on a long lease. The covenants, also,
which are in fact a species of rent, must influence the money payments.
4793. Rent must a/so depend on the capital invested in the cultivation of the farm. Thus, if a farmer
can lay out only 4/. of capital per acre, he may not be able to afford for it a higher rent than lO*. per
acre ; if he lays out 11. he may pay 14s. j and with a capital of 10/. per acre, he may be enabled to pay \Ss.
or 2()s. of rent,
4794. The proportion of produce which should be paid as rent, is a question that has long been
considered as abstruse, mysterious, and very difficult to resolve. Some have supposed that one fifth
was a reasonable proportion, while others contend for a fourth, or even a third part of the produce
of arable land. But all former calculations on this subject are rendered fallacious by the effects of
modern improvements. The rent ought certainly to depend upon the amount of the disposable produce;
and that produce in grain is greatly augmented, both by a diminution of the consumption on the farm,
effected by improved implements, and a more correct arrangement of labour, and likewise a better culti-
vation of the land in tillage. Hence, while the pricL> of wheat has greatly advanced during the last
twenty years, above the average price of the preceding twenty, the rent of land has not only risen, but in
a higher proportion. More grain, and that of a better quality, has been produced on the same extent of
land, and a greater amount of disposable surplus has gone to market. Out of this surplus disposable pro-
duce, it is evident that the rent must be paid. But it is difficult to divide its amount between the landlord
and tenant, as so much depends upon the seasons, and on the prices of the different articles which the
farm produces. In bad seasons also, every deficiency of produce, in the acres set apart for supjiortiiig
home population, must be made up from the disposable surplus ; nor is it possible to apply the same rules
to all situations, soils, and climates, in all the various districts of an extensive country. It may be
proper, however, to give some general idea of the proportion of produce paid as rent in Scotland and in
England.
4795. In Scotland, the following table states what is considered to be a fair proportion, where the land
is cultivated. One of the most scientific agricultural writers, and, at the same time, one who has had
much experience in farming, informs us that " this table is a statement of Sir John Sinclair, who wishes
to subject every thing to petty regulation ; and that there is no such proportion recognised in Scotland :" —
Per acre.
Where land produces 10/. 10s. per acre per annum, one third, or . - .£S W. 0
Where land produces 6/. 12s. per acre per annum, one fourth, or - - - 1 13 0
Where land produces only U. 5s. per acre per annum, one fifth, or - - - 0 17 0
4796. In regard to grazing farms, they are let on principles totally different from the arable; namely,
according to the quantity of stock they can maintain ; and as they are not liable to the same expense of
management, both the landlord and the tenant receive larger shares of the produce than in the case of
arable farms.
4797. In England, the tenant is allowed, on arable land, what is considered to be one moiety of the
surplus, after defraying the expenses of cultivation, the taxes to which he is liable, and every other out-
going. Hay land requires much less of his attention ; and for this he only obtains one third of the surplus.
But the profits of grazing depending much on superior judgment in buying and selling stock, as well as
skill in preventing or curing tiieir diseases, the grazier is entitled to a share of the surplus, luUy equal to
that of his landlord. It has been contended, as a general principle, that as both the expense of cultivating
land, and the value of its produce, are infinitely various, a farmer ought to calculate what profit he can
make on his whole farm, without entering into details : it being of little consequence to him whether he
pays at the rate of 10/. or lOs. per acre, provided he makes an adequate interest on the capital invested.
That is certainly a fair criterion on which a tenant may calculate what he ought to offer; but a landlord,
in estimating the rent he ought to insist on, will necessarily take into his consideration the produce that
his land is capable of yielding, and what'proportion of it, or of its value, at a fair average, he has reason to
expect, under all the circumstances of the case.
4798. Tithe. In Scotland there is no tithe. In England, compositions for tithes are computed as six is
to twenty-two ; so is the composition for tithe to the rent : so that land averaging 10/. 10s. per acre would,
according to Sir John Sinclair's calculation, be charged for
Rent - - . . - £2 n Ik
Composition for tithe - . - . 19 4|
£3 11 0
4799. What the profits are to which a farmer is entitled, is a question much disputed. The proper
answer is simply this : — The common profits of capital invested in other commercial undertakings. As
the subject, however, will bear talking about, let us hear what is said in the Code on this subject. On the
one hand it is contended, that the produce of land is of such universal and absolute necessity to the
existence of mankind, that it is not reasonable it should yield to him who raises it more than a fair profit.
On the other hand it is urged, that a farmer is entitled to be fully recompensed for the application of a
considerable capital, exposed to the uncertainty of the seasons, when it is managed with economy, and
conducted with industry and skill ; and it has also been observed, that it is seldom more money is got by
farming than an adequate interest for the capital invested. This is owing to competition, the articles
produced being in numberless hands, who must bring them to market ; and necessity, the goods of the
farmer being in general of a perishable nature, on the sale of which he depends for the payments he has
to make, and the subsistence of his family. To prove how moderate the profits of farming in general are,
it appears from the most careful enquiries, that on arable farms they rarely exceed from ten to fifteen per
cent, on the capital invested, which is little enough, considering that few employments are more subject
to casualties than farming, or require more uniform attention. Some arable farmers, possessed of supe-
rior skill and energy, and who have got leases on reasonable terms, may clear from fifteen to twenty per
cent. ; while others, v/ho are deficient in these qualities, or pay too high rents, frequently become in-
solvent. Certain it is, that the great majority of farmers merely contrive to live and bring up their
families ; adding little or nothing to their capital, but that nominal addition which takes place in conse-
quence of the depreciation of the currency.
4800. In grazing farms the case is different; as they are attended with less expense of labour, and pro-
duce articles of a more luxurious description, for which a higher price will be given. Hence, in such
farms, fifteen per cent, and upwards is not unusual. Besides, the grazier is more of a trader than the
mere arable farmer ; is frequently buying as well as selling stock ; and sometimes makes money by judi-
cious speculations, though occasionally, from a sudden fall of stock, his losses are considerable. The
grazier who breeds superior stock, and thence incurs great expense, is caitainly well entitled to more
than common profit for his skill and attention.
Book V. TAXES, ETC., AFFECTING THE FARMER. 779
4801. For the mode in ivhich rent should be paid, and ike icr?ns of payment, we refer to the succeeding
Book.
Sect. XI. Taxes and other Burdens which affect the Farmer.
4802. Farmers are subjected to the payment of various taxes besides the rent paid to the
landlord; some of them imposed for local purposes, and others for the general expenses
of the state. The real amount of such burdens every careful tenant ought accurately
to know before he bargains for liis lease. They may be classed under the following
heads : parochial, national, and miscellaneous.
4803. Parochial taxes are for the support of the clergyman, for the maintenance of the poor, and, in
Scotland, for providing a parochial .schoolmaster. The mode of supporting the clergy in England, by
paying them a tenth part of the produce of tlie land in kind, is higMy injurious to agriculture, and a bar
to improvement. It is a great bar to improvement, because an improving farmer, one more enlightened
or more spirited than his neighbours, would pay more tithe by means of his outlay and his exertions, but
it is not certain that he would likewise receive more profit. The produce would be more, but the expense
would be greater. Nothing can be more obnoxious than a law by which, when a person expends a large
sum, either in reclaiming wastes, or augmenting the fertility of land already cultivated, he should be
under the necessity of yielding up one tenth of its produce to a person who has been liable to no share of
the expense, who has run none of the risk, and who has sustained none of the labour attending the
improvement. A commutation of tithe, therefore, instead of its being exacted in kind, would be one of
the greatest benefits that could be conferred on agriculture ; and there is not the lea>t difficulty in effect-
ing it, by giving to the tithe-owner either a proportion of the land, or by converting the tithe into a
perpetual corn rent. Both these plans have been adopted in a variety of cases, by local acts in England,
and they ought now to be enforced as a general system.
4804. A7i assesstnent fur the maintenance of the poor is. another parochial burden, which is annually
increasing, and which, if not speedily regulated upon proper principles, will inevitably absorb a very large
proportion of rent in England. Indeed, there are instances where, between the years 1815 and 182i?, it
has absorbed the whole. This tax is the most dangerous of all for the farmer, on account of its fluctu-
ation ; and, indeed, it may be said that it never falls, but continually rises. During infancy, in sickness,
and in old age, assistance may be necessary; but, as Malthus justly observes, the poor;4aws hold out
support to the vicious and idle, at the expense of the prudent and the industrious. These payments
also destroy the spirit of independence, and those ideas of honest pride which stimulate a man to use his
utmost exertions in support of himself and his family ; and, on its present footing, the boon is administered
by the parish officers with caution and reluctance, and received by the poor with dissatisfaction and
ingratitude.
480.'5. The tithes and the poor-rates are charges upon the land, and in fact come from the landlord's
pocket rather than from the tenant's; but in their operation are often oppressive to the tenant, by rising
in the course of the lease much higher than they were at the commencement; and as a farmer's rent is
always considered by the overseer to be his income, he is charged on that ; while the tradesman, who
realises three times the amount, is only charged to the poor on the amount of rent of his house.
4806. In Scotland, the poor are in general maintuined hy voluntary contributions ; but when these are
not found to be sufficient, the proprietors of the parish, with the clergyman and vestry, or kirk-session, are
directed to make a list of the indigent persons in the parish, and then to impose an assessment for their
relief, one half to be paid by the proprietors, and the other half by the tenantry.
48^1. The national burdens in general, as the duties on houses and windows, and other assessed taxes,
or assessments for the support of militia-men's wives and families, for the conveyance of vagrants, or the
prosecution of felons, fall no heavier upon the farmer than upon other classes of the community.
4808. There are various miscellajieous burdens affecting the farmer, as statute assessments for bridges,
which are of such public utility, that moderate rates for their maintenance, properly applied, cannot be
objected to: statute labour on the highways; constable dues, which are seldom of much moment;
charges of the churchwardens, including the repairs of the church ; and in some populous parishes, there
is sometimes a burial-ground tax. All tliese are paid by the occui)iers. In some places, also, there is a
sewer tax, chargeable on the landlords, where it is not otherwise settled by express contract.
4809. The vexations to which farmers in England are subjected, from various uncertain burdens, operate
as a premium to Scottish agriculture. It is ingeniously and justly remarked, that physical circumstances
are much more favourable to agriculture in England than in her sister country ; but these advantages are
counteracted by the accumulation of moral evils, which might be removed if the legislature were to bestow
on matters connected with the internal improvement of the country, and the means for promoting it, a
portion of that attention which it' so ftvquently gives to the amelioration or improvement of our foreign
possessions. It ought to have been the business of the late Board of Agriculture to endeavour to prevail
on the legislature to relieve agriculture from its moral and political evils ; but, instead of this, they set
about procuring and distributing statistical and professional information, comparatively of very inferior
utility ; and after receiving from government nearly 50,000/., or, for any thing we know, more, left agricul-
ture where they found it. Even in the particular line which the Board adopted, Marshall was a much
more effectual instrument of agricultural improvement.
Sect, XII. Other rarliciilars requiring a Farmer's Attention, with a View to the
Renting of Land.
4810. A variety of miscellaneous particulars require consideration before a prudent farmer
will finally resolve to undertake the cultivation of a farm ; as, the nature of the property
on which the farm is situated ; in particular, whether the estate is entailed, and to what
extent the possessor of the estate is authorised to grant a lease ; the character of the
landlord, and, in case of his decease, that of his family, and of those whom they are likely
to consult ; the real condition of the farm in regard to the enclosures, drainage, build-
ings, &c. ; the crops it has usually produced, and the manner in which it has been
managed for some years preceding ; the general state of the district, in regard to the price
of labour, and the expense of living ; the character of its inhabitants, in particular of the
neighbouring fanners and labourers, and whether they are likely to promote or to dis-
courage a spirit of improvement ; the probability of subletting to advantage in case of
not liking the situation, of finding a better bargain, or of death. The chances of settling
one's family ; as of marrying daughters, or of sons' making good marriages. The social
state of the farmers, or those that would be considered one's neighbours ; the number and
780 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III,
tone of clergy, and lawyers ; the game, and the chances of disputes concerning it j the
morals of the serving class ; schools, places of worship, &c. It is evident, that in hardly
any one instance can all the circumstances above enumerated be favourably combined.
But the active and intelligent farmer will not be discouraged by the obstacles he may
have to surmount ; but will strenuously endeavour, by exertion, industry, and persever-
ance, to overcome the difficulties he must unavoidably encounter. These ai-e vague
generalities, and may be thought too commonplace for a work of this description ; but
the young farmer on the look-out for a farm may not be the worse for having his memory
refreshed by them.
Chap. II.
Considerations respecting Himself, which a Farmer ought to keep in view in selecting and
hiring a Farm.
4811. Whoever inte7ids to embrace farming as a profession, will be less likely to meet
with disappointment, if he previously examines a little into liis own disposition and
talents ; and weighs his expectations against ordinary results. Nor is it less essential
that he should estimate justly the extent to which his capital may be adequate, and keep
regular accounts.
Sect. I. Personal Character and Expectations of a professional Farmer.
4812. Every one loho proposes to farm ivith success, Professor Thaer observes, ought to
unite energy and activity, to reflection, to experience, and to all necessary knowledge.
It is true, he says, farming has long been considered as an occupation fit for a young
man incapable for any other, and such have sometimes succeeded ; but this has always
been chiefly owing to a fortunate concurrence of circumstances, which it is not now very
easy to meet with.
4813. The practice of agriculture consists of an infinite number df particular operations, each of wliich
appears easy in itself, but is often for that very reason the more difficult to execute to the precise extent
required ; one operation so often interferes with another. To regulate them according to the given time
and strength, and in such a way that none is neglected, or causes the neglect of others, requires at once a
great deal of attention and act- vity, without inquietude ; of promptitude without precipitation j of general
views, and yet with an extreme attention to details.
4814. To casualties and accidents no business is so much exposed as farming; and therefore, to enjoy an
ordinary degree of happiness. Professor Thaer considers it essential that the farmer possess a certain
tranquillity of mind. This, he says, may either be the result of a naturally phlegmatic habit of body, or of
elevated views in religion or philosophy. These will enable him to bear with every misfortune arising
from adverse seasons, or the death of live stock ; and only permit him to regret accidents which result
from his own neglect.
4<S15. T/ie ejcpcctations of profit and happiness which a young farmer has formed ought to be well
weighed against the profits and happiness of farmers in general. However superior a farmer may con.
sider his own talents and abilities, he may rest assured there are a number as skilful and adroit as
himself, and just as likely to realise extraordinary advantages. Let none therefore engage in farming,
tliinking to make more money than other farmers similarly circumstanced with himself. If from a happy
concurrence of circumstances he is more than usually successful, so much the better, and let him consider
it as partly owing' to good fortune as well as good farming ; but never let him set out on the supposition of
gaining extraordinary advantages with only ordinary means.
4816. The profits of farming, are much exaggerated by people in general ; but it maybe asserted as an
unquestionable fact, that no capital affords less profit than that employed in farming, except that sunk in
landed property. This is the natural result both of the universality of the business and of its nature.
Fanning is every where practised, and every one thinks he may easily become a farmer ; hence high rents,
which necessarily lessen the profits on capital. From the nature of farming, the capital employed is re-
turned seldom. A tradesman may lay out and return his capital several times a year ; but a farmer can
never, generally speaking, grow more than one crop per annum. Suppose he succeeds in raising the best
possible crops in his given circumstances, still his profits have an absolute limit : for if an ordinary crop be
as five, and the best that can be grown be as seven, all that the most fortunate concurrence of circum.
stances will give is not great, and is easily foreseen. It is hardly possible for a farmer, paying the market
price for his land, to make much more than a living for himself and family. Those few who have ex-
ceeded this, will be found to have had leases at low rents; indulgent landlords; to have profited by
accidental rises in the market, or depreciation of currency ; or to have become dealers in com and cattle;
and rarely indeed to have realised any thing considerable by mere good culture of a farm at the market
price. Very different is the case of a" tradesman, who, with the properties which w^e have mentioned as
requisite for a good farmer, seldom fails of realising an independency.
4M7. Many persons, chagi-'med ivith a city life, or tireA of their profession, fancy they will find profit
and happiness by retiring to the country and commencing farming. Independently of the pecuniary
losses attending such a change, none is more certain of being attended with disappointment to the
generality of men. The activity required, and the privations that must be endured, are too painful to be
submitted to ; whilst the dull uniformity of a farmer's life to one accustomed to the bustle of cities, be-
comes intolerable to such as do not find resources in their fire-sides, their own minds, or, as Professor
Thaer observes, in the study of nature.
4818. The most likely persons to engage in farming with success are the sons of farmers,
or such others as have been regularly brought up to the practice of every part of agri-
culture. They must also have an inclination for the profession, as well as a competent
understanding of its theory or principles. Books are to be found every where, from
which the science of the art is to be obtained ; and there are eminent farmers in the
improved districts who take apprentices as pupils.
4819. In The Husbandry of Scotland, the case is mentioned of Walker, of Mellendcan, an eminent
Book V. CAPITAL OF THE FARMER. 781
farmer of Roxburghshire, renting about 28o6 acres of arable land, and distinguished for his skill in agri-
culture, who takes young men under him as apprentices, and these, instead of receiving wages, have
uniformly paid him ten pounds each. Some of th«m remain with him two years, but the greater number
only one. They eat in his kitchen, where they have always plenty of plain wholesome food. He takes
none who are above living in that way, or who will not put their hands to every thing going forward on
the farm. He has sometimes been offered ten times the above sum, to take in young gentlemen to eat
and associate with his own family ; but that he has uniformly declined. These young men have an
opportunity of attending to every operation of husbandry, as practised on Walker's farm; and are taught
to nold the plough, to sow, to build stacks, &c.
Sect. 1 1. Capital required by the Farmer.
4820. The hnportance of capital in every branch of industry is universally acknow-
ledged, and in none is it more requisite than in farming. When there is any deficiency
in that important particular, the farmer cannot derive an adequate profit from his exer-
tions, as he would necessarily be frequently obliged to dispose of his crops for less than
their value, to procure ready money ; and it would restrain him from making advan-
tageous purchases, when even the most favourable opportunities occurred. An indus-
trious, frugal, and intelligent farmer, who is punctual in his payments, and hence in
good credit, will strive with many difficulties, and get on with less money than a man
of a different character. But if he has not sufficient live stock to work his lands in
the best manner, as well as to raise a sufficient quantity of manure ; nor money to
purchase the articles required for the farm; he must, under ordinary circumstances,
live in a state of penury and hard labour ; and the first unfavourable season, or other
incidental misfortune, wdll probably sink him under the weight of his accumulated
burdens. Farmers are too generally disposed to engage in larger farms than they have
capital to stock and cultivate. This is a great error ; for it makes many a person
poor upon a large farm, who might live in comfort and acquire property upon one of
less extent. No tenant can be secure without a surplus at command, not only for
defraying the common expenses of labour, but those which may happen from any un-
expected circumstance. When a farmer farms within his capital, he is enabled to cm-
brace every favourable opportunity of buying when prices are low, and of selling when
they are high.
4821. The amount of capital required must depend upon a variety of circumstances ;
as whether it is necessary for the farmer to expend any sum in the erection, or in the
repair, of his farm-house and offices ; what sum an in-coming tenant has to pay to his
predecessor, for the straw of the crop, the dung left upon the farm, and other articles
of similar nature ; the condition of the farm at the commencement of the lease, and
whether any sums must be laid out in drainage, enclosure, irrigation, levelling ridges,
&c. ; whether it is necessary to purchase lime, or other extraneous manures, and to
what extent ; on the period of entry, and the time at which the rent becomes payable,
as this is sometimes exacted before there is any return from the lands, out of the actual
produce of which it ought to be paid ; and, lastly, on its being a grazing or an arable
farm, or a mixture of both.
4822. In pasture districts, the common mode of estimating the amount of capital necessary is according
to the amount of the rent ; and it is calculated that, in ordinary pastures, every farmer ought to have at
his command from three to five times the rent he has agreed to pay. But in the more fertile grazing
districts, carrying stock worth from 20/. to 30/. and even upwards, per acre (as is the case in many
parts of England), five rents are evidently insufficient. "When prices are high, ten rents will frequently
be required by those who breed superior stock, and enter with spirit into that new field of speculation
and enterprise.
4823. The capital required hy an arable farmer varies, according to circumstances, from 5/. to 10/. or even
IS/, per acre. An ignorant, timid, and penurious farmer lays out the least sum he can possibly contrive ;
and consequently he obtains the smallest produce or profit from his farm. The profit, however, will
always increase, when accompanied by spirit and industry, in proportion to the capital employed, if
judiciously expended. At the same time, attention and economy cannot be dispensed with. It is
ill-judged to purchase a horse at forty guineas, if one worth thirty can execute the labour of the farm ;
or to lay out sums unnecessarily upon expensive harness, loaded with useless ornaments. Prudent far-
mers also, who have not a large capital at command, when they commence business, often purchase
some horses still fit for labour, though past their prime, and some breeding mares, or colts; and in
five or six years, they are fully supplied with good stock, and can sometimes sell their old horses
without much loss. In every case, such shifts must be resorted to, where there is any deficiency
of capital.
4824. A mixture of arable and grass farming is, on the whole, the most profitable method of farming.
Independently of the advantages to be derived from the alternate husbandry (which are always consi-
derable"!, the chances of profit are much more numerous from a varied system than where one object is
exclusively followed. Where this mixed mode of farming is practised, the farmer will frequently rely
on the I urchase of lean stock, instead of breeding his own ; and derives great advantage from the
quickness with which capital thus employed is returned. But, in that case, much must depend upon
judicious felection. In general it may be said, that to stock a turnip-land arable farm, will require, at
this time (1830), 5/. or 6/. and a clay-land farm from It. or 8/. per acre, according to circumstances.
4825. Hits capital is necessarily divided into two parts. The one is partly expended on implements, or
stock of a more or less perishable nature, and partly vested in the soil ; for this the farmer is entitled to
a certain annual gain, adequate to replace, within a given number of years, the sum thus laid out. The
other is employed in defraying the charges of labour, &c. as they occur throughout the year; the whole
of which, with the interest, should be replaced by the yearly produce. These two branches of expense on
a farm are the first to be attended to, both in order of time, and in magnitude of amount.
78^2 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Tart III.
Chaf. III.
Choice of Stock for a Farm.
4826. The stocking of a farm may be considered as including live stock, implements,
servants, and seed. A considerable portion of a farmer's capital is employed in manures,
tillages, labour, &c. ; but a farm being once engaged, the above are the only descriptions
of stock which admit of a choice.
Sect. I. Choice of Live Stock.
4827. The animals required by a farmer are of two kinds ; such as are employed to
assist in labour ; and such as are used to convert the produce of the farm into food, or
other disposable commodities.
SuBSECT. 1. Live Stock for the Purposes of Labour.
4828. The animals of labour used in British farming are exclusively the horse and the
ox. Much difference of opinion formerly prevailed, as to which of these two animals
should be preferred ; and the preference has generally been given by speculative writers
to the ox, and by practical farmers to the horse. Lord Kaimes in the last century, and
Lord Somerville in the present, may be considered the principal advocates for the ox.
To their arguments, and to all otliers, the following objections have been stated by the
able author of the supplement to the 6th edition of The Gentleman Farmer ; and they
may be considered as conveying the sentiments, and according with the practice, of all
the best informed and most extensive British farmers.
4829. The first objection to oxen is, that they are unfit for the various labours of modern husbandry, —
for travelling on hard roads in particular, — for all distant carriages, — and generally for every kind of
work which requires despatch : and what sort of work often docs not in this variable climate ? A great
part of a farmer's work is indeed carried on at home ; and it may still be thought that this may be done
by oxen, while one or more horse teams are employed in carrying the produce to market, and bringing
home manure and fuel. But it is unnecessary to appeal to the author of The Wealth of Nations, to prove
the impracticability of this division of labour, unless upon very large farms ; and even on these the
advantages of such an arrangement are at best extremely problematical. The different kinds of farm,
work do not proceed at tlie same time j but every season, and even every change of weather, demands
the farmer's attention to some -particular employment, rather than to others. When his teams are
capable of performing every sort of work, he brings them all to bear for a time upon the most important
labours of every season ; and when that is despatched, or interrupted by unfavourable weather, the less
urgent branches are speedily executed by the same means. This is one cause, more important perhaps
than any other, why oxen have ceased to be employed ; for even ploughing, which they can perform
better than any other kind of work, is scarcely ever going forward all the year ; and for some months in
winter, the weather often prevents it altogether.
4830. Another objection is, that an ox team capable of performing the work of two horses, even such
kind of work as they can perform, consumes the produce of considerably more land than the horses. If
this be the case, it is of no great importance, either to the farmer or the community, whether the land be
under oats, or under herbage and roots. The only circumstance to be attended to here is, the carcase of
the ox: the value of this, in stating the consumption of produce, must be added to the value of his
labour. He consumes, from his birth till he goes to the shambles, the produce of a certain number of acres
of land ; the return he makes for this is so much beef, and so many years' labour. The consumption of
produce must therefore be divided between these two articles. To find the share that should be allotted
to each, the first thing is to ascertain how many acres of grass and roots would produce the same weight
of beef from an ox, bred and reared for beef alone, and slaughtered at three or four years old. What
remains has been consumed in producing labour. The next thing is to compare this consumption with
that of tiic horse, which produces nothing but labour. By this simple test, the question, viewing it upon
a broad national ground, must evidently be determined. Every one may easily make such a calculation
suited to the circumstances of his farm ; none that could be oft'ered would apply to every situation. But
it will be found, tliat if even three oxen were able to do the work of two horses, the advantages in this
point of view would still be on the side of the horses ; and the first objection applies with undiminished
force besides.
4831. The money-price of the horse and ox, it is evident, is merely a temporary and incidental circum-
stance, which depends upon the demand. A work ox may be got for less than half the price of a horse,
because there is little or no demand for working oxen ; while the demand for horses by manufactures,
commerce, pleasure, and war, enhances the price of farm-horses, as well as of the food they consume.
Those who wish to see horses banished from all sorts of agricultural labour, would do well to consider
where they are to be reared for the numerous wants of the other classes of society. Besides, if two oxen
must be kept for doing the work of one horse, it ought to be foreseen, that though beef may be more
abundant than at present, there will be a corresponding deficiency in the production of mutton and wool.
A greater portion of the arable land of the country must be withdrawn from yielding the food of man
directly, and kept under cattle crops, which, however necessary to a certain extent for preserving the
fertility of the soil, do not return human food, on a comparison with corn crops, in so great a proportion
as that of one to six from any given extent of land of the same quality.
4832. The demand for oxen is confined almost every where to the shambles ; and by the
improvements of modern husbandry, they are brought to a state of profitable maturity at
an early age. No difference in price at setting to work, — no increase of weight while
working, — no saving on the value of the food consumed, can ever make it the interest
of tillage farmers generally to keep oxen as formerly, till they are eight or ten years old.
They judiciously obtain the two products from different kinds of animals, each of them
from the kind which is best fitted by nature to afford it, — the labour from the horse,
and the beef alone from the ox. And though the price of the horse is almost wholly
sunk at last, during the period of his labour he has been paying a part of it every year
to a fund, which, before his usual term expires, becomes sufficiently large to indemnify
his owner. The ox, on the other hand, is changed three or four times during the same
Book V. CHOICE OF LIVE STOCK. 78S
period ; and cacli of them gives nearly as large a carcase for the food of man as if his
days had been unprofitably prolonged in executing labour, from which he has been gra-
dually exempted in Britain, in France, and in other countries, very nearly in proportion
to the progress of correct systems of husbandry.
4833. The description of horse which a farmer ought to choose will depend chiefly on
the soil of the farm, and partly also on the quantity of road- work. Stiff lands require
obviously a heavier and more powerful breed than such as are liglit and hilly. In the
latter case, two of the best breeds are the Clevelands and Clydesdale, or some local cross
witli these breeds. In general, it is not advisable to procure horses from a climate ma-
terially different from that where they are to remain ; and therefore, for various reasons,
a prudent farmer will look out for the best in his neighbourhood. Often, however, he is
obliged to take the stock of his predecessor ; and this he can only get rid of or improve
to his mind by degrees. The farm-horses in most parts of England are much too cum-
brous and heavy, and are more fitted for drawing heavy drays or waggons in towns than
for the quick step required in the operations of agriculture.
4834. The objections of Davis of Lonsleat to the using of large heavy-heeled horses, in preference to the
smart, tlie active, and the really useful breeds, merit particular attention. In some situations, the steep,
ness of the hills and the heaviness of the soil require more than ordinary strength ; but, in such cases, he
maintains that it would be better to add to the number of horses than to increase their size. Great horses
not only cost proportionably more at first than small ones, but require much more food, and of a better
quality, to keep up their flesh. The Wiltshire carter also takes a pride in keeping them as fat as possible ;
and their food (which is generally barley) is given without stint. In many instances, indeed, the expense
of keeping a fine team of horses amounts nearly to the rent of the farm on which they are worked. They
are purchased young when two years' old colts, and sold at five or six years of age for the London drays
and waggons. The expense of their maintenance is very seldom counterbalanced by the difference of
price, more especially as such horses are gently worked when young, that they may attain their full size
and beauty. In ploughing light soils, the strength of a dray-horse is not wanted ; and in heavy soils, the
weight of the animal does injury to the land.
SuBSECT. 2. Choice of Live Stock for the Purposes of breeding or feedings
4835. The most desirable properties of live stock destined for food are considered in The
Code of Agriculture, in respect to size, form, a tendency to grow, early maturity, hardi-
ness of constitution, prolific properties, quality of flesh, a disposition to fatten, and light-
ness of offal.
4836. The bulk of an animal was the sole criterion of its value before the improvements introduced by
Bakewell ; and if a great size could be obtained, more regard was paid to the price the animal ultimately
fetched than to the cost of its food. Of late, since breeders began to calculate with more precision, small
or moderate-sized animals have been generally preferred, for the following reasons : —
4837. Small-sized animals are more easily kept, they thrive on shorter herbage, they collect food where
a large animal could hardly exist, and thence are more profitable. Their meat is finer grained, produces
richer gravy, has often a superior flavour, and is commonly more nicely marbled, or veined with fat,
especially when they have been fed for two years. Large animals are not so well calculated for general
consumption as the moderate- sized, particularly in hot weather ; large animals poach pastures more than
small ones ; they are not so active, require more rest, collect their food with more labour, and will only
consume the nicer and more delicate sorts of plants. Small cows of the true dairy breeds give propor-
tionably more milk than large ones. Small cattle may be fattened solely on grass of even moderate
quality ; whereas the large require the richest pastures, or to be stall-fed, the expense of which exhausts
the profit of the farmer. It is much easier to procure well-shaped and kindly-feeding stock of a small
size than of a large one. Small-sized cattle may be kept by many persons who cannot afford either to
purchase or to maintain large ones, and their loss, if any accident should happen to them, can be more
easily borne. The small-sized sell better ; for a butcher, from a conviction that, in proportion to their
respective dimensions, there is a greater superficies of valuable parts in a small than a large animal, will
give more money for two oxen of twelve stone each per quarter than for one of twenty-four stone.
4838. In favour of the large-sized it is, on the other hand, contended, that without debating whether from
their birth till they are slaughtered the large or the small one eats most for its size, yet on the whole the
large one will pay the grazier or the farmer who fattens him as well for his food ; that though some large
oxen are coarse-grained, yet where attention is paid to the breed (as is the case with the Herefordshire),
the large ox is as dehcate'food as the small one ; that if the smali-sized are better calculated for the con-
sumption of private families, of villages, or of small towns, yet that large cattle are fitter for the markets
of great towns, and in particular of the metropolis ; that were the flesh of the small-sized ox better when
fresh, yet the meat of the large-sized is unquestionably more calculated for salting, a most essential object
in a maritime and commercial country, — for the thicker the beef, the better it will retain its juices when
salted, and the fitter it is for long voyages ; that the hide of the large ox is of very great consequence in
various manufactures ; that large stock are in general distinguished by a greater quietness of disposition ;
that where the pastures are good, cattle and sheep will increase in size, without any particular attention
on the part of the breeder ; large animals are therefore naturally the proper stock for such pastures ; that
the art of fattening cattle, and even sheep, with oil cake, being much improved and extended, the advan-
tage of that practice would be of less consequence, unless large oxen were bred, as small oxen can be
fattened with grass and turnips as well as oil-cake ; and, lastly, that large oxen are better calculated for
working than small ones, two large oxen being equal to four small ones in the plough or the cart
4839. Such are the arguments generally mate use of on both sides of the question ; from which it appears
that much must depend upon pastures, taste, mode of consumption, markets, &c. and that both sides have
their advantages. The intelligent breeder, however, (unless his pastures are of a nature peculiarly fore,
insj,) will naturally prefer a moderate size in the stock he rears. Davis of Longleat, one of the aolest
agriculturists England has produced, has given some useful observations on the subject of size. He
laments that the attempts which have been made to improve the breeds of cows, horses, and sheep, have
proceeded too much upon the principle of enlarging the size of the animal ; whereas, in general, the only
real improvement has been made in the pig, and that was by reducing its size, and introducing a kind that
will live hardier, and come to greater perfection at an earlier age.
4840. Though it is extremely desirable to bring the shape of cattle to as much perfection as possible, yet
profit and utility ought not to be sacrificed for mere beauty which may please the eye, but will not fill the
pocket ; and which, depending much upon caprice, must be often changing. In regard to form, the most
experienced breeders seem to concur in the following particulars : —That the form or shape should be
compact, so that no part of the animal should be disproportion ed to the other parts, and the whole should
784 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paiit III.
be distinguished by a general fulness and rotundity of shape ; that the chest should be broad, for no
animal whoso chest is narrow can easily be made fat ; that the carcase should be deep and straight ; that
the belly should be of a moderate size; for when it is more capacious than common in young animals, it
shows a diseased state, and in older ones it is considered a proof that the animal will not return in flesh,
in milk, or in labour, the value of the extra quantity of food which it consumes; that the legs should be
short, for the long-limbed individuals of the same family or race are found to be the least hardy, and the
most difficult to rear or to fatten ; and that the head, the bones, and other parts of inferior value, should be
as small as is consistent with strength, and with the other properties which the animal ought to possess.
In animals bred for the shambles, the form must likewise be such as to contain the greatest possible pro-
portion of the finer, compared with the coarser and less valuable parts of the animal. This, by selection,
may be attained, and thus the wishes of the consumer may be gratified. As to the broad loins, and full
hips, which are considered as a point of excellence in particular breeds, it is evident that the old narrow
and thin make required improvement; but the alteration is now carried to a faulty excess, and often
occasions great difficulty and danger in calving.
4841. The form ofanmials has fortunately attracted the attention of an eminent surgeon, Henry Cline,
Esq. of London, whose doctrines we have already laid down at length, and the substance of which is : —
That the external form is only an indication of the internal structure; that the lungs of an animal form
the first object to be attended to, for on their size and soundness the health and strength of an animal
principally depend; that the external indications of the size of the lungs are the form and size of the
chest, and its breadth in particular; that the head should be small, as by this the birth is facilitated ; as
it affords other advantages in feeding, &c., and as it generally indicates that the animal is of a good breed ;
that the length of the neck should be in proportion to the size of the animal, that it may collect its food
with ease ; and that the muscles and tendons should be large, by which an animal is enabled to travel
with greater facility. It was formerly the practice to estimate the value of animals by the size of their
bones. A large bone was considered to be a great merit ; and a fine-boned animal always implied great
size. It is now known that this doctrine was carried too far. The strength of the animal does not depend
upon the bones, but on the muscles ; and when the bones are disproportionably large, it indicates, in
Cline's opinion, an imperfection in the organs of nutrition. Bakewell strongly insisted on the advantage
of small bones ; and the celebrated John Hunter declared, that small bones were generally attended with
corpulence in all the subjects he had an opportunity of examining. A small bone, however, being heavier
and more substantial, requires as much nourishment as a hollow one with a larger circumference.
4Si:2.Among the qualities for which thorough-bred cattle and sheep are distinguished, that of being gowl
growers, and having a good length of frame, is- not the least essential. The meaning of which is, that the
animal should not only be of a strong and healthy constitution, but speedily should grow to a proper size.
As specimens of rapid growth, a steer of three years old, when well fed, will weigh from 80 to 90 or 100
stone, 141b. to the stone ; and a two-year old Leicester wedder, from 25 to 281b. per quarter, immediately
after his second fleece is taken from him. Animals having the property of growing, are usually straight
in their back and belly ; their shoulders well thrown back, and their belly rather light than otherwise. At
the same time, a gauntness and paucity of intestines should be guarded against, as a most material defect,
indicating a very unthriving animal. Beinpr too light of bone, as it is termed, is also a great fault. A good
grower, or hardy animal, has always a middling-sized bone. A bull distinguished for getting good growers
is inestimable ; but one whose progeny takes an unnatural or gigantic size ought to be avoided.
4843. Arriving soon at perfection, not only in point of growth or size, but in respect of fatness, is a mate-
rial object for the farmer, as his profit must in a great measure depend upon it. Where animals, bred for
the carcase merely, become fat at an early age, they not only return sooner the price of their footl, with
profit to the feeder, but in general, also, a greater value for their consumption, than slow-feeding animals.
This desirable property greatly depends on a mild and docile disposition ; and as this docility of temper is
much owing to the manner in which the animal is brought up, attention to inure them early to be familiar
cannot be too much recommended. A tamed breed also has other advantages. It is not so apt to injure
fences, or to break into adjacent fields ; consequently it is less liable to accidents, and can be reared, sup.
ported, and fattened at less expense. The property of early maturity, in a populous country, where the
consumption of meat is great, is extremely beneficial to the public, as it evidently tends to furnish greater
supplies to the market ; and this propensity to fatten at an early age is a sure proof that an animal will
fatten speedily at a later period of his life.
4844. The possession of a hardy and healthy constitution, is, in the wilder and bleaker parts of a country,
a most valuable property in stock. Where the surface is barren, and the climate rigorous, it is essential
that the stock bred and maintained there should be able to endure the severities and vicissitudes of the
weather, as well as scarcity of food, hard work, or any other circumstance in its treatment that might
subject a more delicate breed to injury. In this respect, different kinds of stock greatly vary ; and it is a
matter of much consequence to select, for different situations, cattle with constitutions suitable to the place
where they are to be kept. It is a popular belief, that dark colours are indications of hardiness. In moun-
tain breeds of cattle, a rough pile is reckoned a desirable property, more especially when they are
to be kept out all winter: it enables them to face the storm, instead of shrinking from it Hardy breeds
are exempted from various diseases, such as having yellow fat, and being blackfleshed, defects so injurious
to stock.
4845. The prolific quality of a breed is a matter deserving attention. The females of some breeds both
bear more frequently than usual, and also have frequently more than one at a birth. This property runs
more strikingly in sub-varieties, or individual families ; and though partly owing to something m the
habits of animals, and partly to their previous good or bad treatment, yet in some degree seems to depend
upon the seasons, some years being more distinguished for twins than others. In breeding, not only the
number, but the sex of the offspring, in some cases, seems to depend upon the female parent. Two cows
produced fourteen females each in fifteen years, though the bull was changed every year : it is singular,
that when they produced a bull calf, it was in the same year. Under similar circumstances, a great
number of males have been produced by the same cow in succession, but not to the same extent.
4846. By the quality of their flesh, breeds are likewise distinguished. In some kinds it is coarse, hard,
and fibrous; in others of a finer grain or texture. In some breeds, also, the flavour of the meat is supe-
rior ; the gravy they produce, instead of being white and insipid, is high coloured, well flavoured, and
rich ; and the fat is intermixed among the fibres of the muscles, giving the meat a streaked, or marbled
appearance. Breeds whose flesh have these properties are peculiarly valuable. Hence two animals ot
nearly the same degree of fatness and weight, and who could be fed at nearly the same expense to the hus-
bandman, will sell at very different prices, merely from the Known character of their meat.
4847. A disposition to fatten is a great object in animals destined for the shambles. Some animals pos-
sess this property during the whole progress of their lives, while in others it only takes place at a more
advanced period, when they have attained their full growth, and are furnished at the same time with a
suitable supply of food. There are in this respect other distinctions r most sorts of cattle and sheep, which
have been bred in hilly countries, will become fat on lowland pastures, on which the more refined breeds
would barely live ; some animals take on fat very quickly, when the proper food has been supplied, and
some individuals have been found, even in the same breed, 'which have, in a given time, consumed the least
proportional weight of the same kind of food, yet have become fat at the quickest rate. Even in the liurnan
race, with little food, some will grow immoderately corpulent. It is probably from internal conformation
that this property of rapid fattening is derived. ^ ^ r *i
4848. The advantages and disadvantages of fattening cattle and sheep, at least to the extent frequently
practised at present, are points that have of late attracted much public attention. But any controversy
Book V CHOICE OF IMPLEMENTS. 785
on that subject can only arise from want of proper discrimination. Fat meat is unquestionably more
nourishing than lean, though to digest this oily matter there are required, on account of its difficult
solubility, a good bile, much saliva, and a strong stomach ; consequently none, except those who are in
the most vigorous state of health, or who are employed in hard labour, can properly digest it. Though
fat meat, however, is unfit for general consumption, yet experiments in the art of fattening animals are
likely to promote useful discoveries ; and though, in the course of trying a number of experiments, errors
and excesses maybe committed, yet on the whole advantage may be derived from the knowledge thus to
be obtained. As the bone also gains but little in the fatting animal, and the other offal becomes propor-
tionably less, as the animal becomes more fat, the public has not sustained much loss by over-fatted ani.
mals. To kill even hogs till they are thoroughly fat, is exceeding bad economy. An ox or cow, though
the httle flesh it has may be of good quality, yet presents, when lean, little but skin and bone; and if
slaughtered in that state, would neither indemnify the owner for the expense of breeding and maintaining
it, nor benefit the public. A coarse and heavy-fleshed ox, which would require a very long time and
much good food to fatten, may be slaughtered with most advantage while rather lean. It is not, however,
so much the extent of fat, as the want of a sufficient quantity of lean flesh, of which the consumer com-
plains ; for it cannot be doubted, that the lean flesh of a fat animal is better in quality, and contains
more nourishment, than the flesh of a lean animaL
4849. Handling well. The graziers and butchers in various parts of the kingdom have recourse to
feeling the skin, or cellular membrane, for ascertaining a disposition to fatten ; and since Bakewell
directed the public attention so much to breeding, that practice has become more generally known.
Handling cannot easily be defined, and can only be learned by experience. The skin and flesh of cattle,
when handled, should feel soft to the touch, somewhat resembling that of a mole, but with a little more
resistance to the finger. A soft and mellow skin must be more pliable, and more easily stretched out, to
receive any extraordinary quantity of fat and muscle, than a thick or tough one. The rigid-skinned
animal must, therefore, always be the most difficult to fatten. In a good sheep, the skin is not only soft
and mellow, but in some degree elastic. Neither cattle nor sheep can be reckoned good, whatever their
shapes may be, unless they are first-rate handlers. The improved short-horned breed, besides their mel-
lowness of skin, are likewise distinguished by softness and silkiness of hair.
48;;0. Lightness of offal. An animal solely bred for the shambles should have as little offal, or parts of
inferior value, as possible (consistently with the health of the animal), and consequently a greater propor-
tion of meat applicable as food for man. This, therefore, the skilful farmer will also keep in view in
selecting his species of stock. {Code, S[c.)
4851. The Rev. Henri/ Berry, who has paid much attention to the subject of breeding
and feeding cattle, and written several valuable papers on the subject in the British
Fai'mers Magazine, seems to prefer for general purposes the improved short-horns.
" These cattle," he says, " at three years old, are equal to Hereford cattle at four years
old ; and they are bred from cows which prove much more profitable for the dairy than
the Herefords," At the same time, he admits that the Hereford cattle are excellent to
purchase with a view to fattening, because in a lean state at four years old they will of
course not bear an increased price in proportion to the increased time required to
render one of them equal to a short-horn of three years. For breeders, therefore,
he decidedly recommends the short-horns; and he has given an interesting history
of this breed of cattle for the last eighty years, the period which has elapsed since
it attracted attention. It was imported from Holland to the banks of the Tees;
or, at least, it is the result of a cross between the breed so imported and the native
breed of that district. {Improved Short- Horns, &c. By Ihe Rev. Henry Berry. 2d edit.
1830.)
Sect. II. Choice of Agricultural Implements, Seeds, and Plants.
4852. The variety and excellence of agricultural implements is so great, that the prudent
farmer, in regard to these, as well as in evei-y other branch of his art, must study economy.
He should not incur an unnecessary expense in buying them, or in purchasing more
than are essentially requisite, and can be profitably used. This maxim ought to be more
especially attended to by young improvers, who are often tempted, under the specious
idea of diminishing labour and saving expense, to buy a superfluous quantity of imple-
ments, which they afterwards find are of little use. (Coventry's Disc. p. 47.) It is
remarked by an intelligent author on matters of husbandry, that a great diversity of
implements, as they are more rarely used, prove in general a source of vexation and dis-
appointment, rather than of satisfaction, to the farmer.
4853. The different implernents required by the farmer are : those of tillage ; for drilling or sowing
corn ; for reaping corn ; for harvesting corn ; for threshing and cleaning corn ; for mowing and harvest-
ing hay ; of conveyance ; for draining ; for harnessing stock ; for rolling land ; for the dairy ; and, for
miscellaneous purposes.
4854. In purchasing implements, the following rules are to be observed : they should be simple in their
construction, both that their uses may be more easily understood, and that any common workman may
be able to repair them when they get out of order ; the materials should be of a durable nature, that the
labour may be less liable to interruption from their accidental failure ; their form should be firm and
compact, that they may not be injured by jolts and shaking; and that they may be more safely worked
by country labourers, who are but little accustomed to the use of delicate tools. In the larger machines,
symmetry and lightness of shape ought to be particularly attended to : for a heavy carriage, like a grea/'
horse, is worn out by its own weight, nearly as much as by what he carries. The wood should be cut up
and placed in a position the best calculated to resist pressure ; and mortises, so likely to weaken the
wood, should, as much as possible, be avoided ; at the same time, implements should be made as light as
is consistent with the strength that is necessary. Their price should be such, that farmers in moderate
circumstances can afford to buy them ; yet for the sake of a low price, the judicious fanner will not pur-
chase articles either of a flimsy fabric or a faulty form ; and implements ought to be suited to the nature
of the country, whether hilly or level, and more especially to the quality of the soil ; for those which are
calculated for light land will not answer equally well in soils that are heavy and adhesive, {Code.)
4855. In the choice (f seed com, regard must be had to procure it from a suitable soil
and climate, and of a suitable variety. A change from one soil to another of a dlfierent
3 E
78^ PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
quality, is generally found advantageous ; but this is not always the case as to climate.
Thus, some of the varieties of oats, as the Angus oat, which answers well in most parts
of Scotland, is found not to fill in the ear, but to shrivel up after blossoming, in the south
of England. In like manner, the woolly-chaffed white wheats of Essex and Kent rot in
the ear when grown in the moist climate of Lancashire. In settling on a farm in a
country with which the farmer is little acquainted, he will often find it advisable to select
the best seed he can find in the neighbourhood, and probably to resift it and free it from
the seeds of weeds and imperfect grains. Particular care is requisite in selecting the
seed of the bean and pea, us no crop depends more on the variety being suited to the soil
and climate. Thus, on hot gravelly soils in the south, the late grey pea would produce
little haulm and no pulse ; but the early varieties, or the pearl pea, will produce a fair
proportion of both.
4856. The only small seeds the farmer has to sow on a large scale, are the clovers,
grasses, the different varieties of turnip, and probably the mangold wurzel and carrot.
No expense or trouble should be spared to procure the best turnip seed ; as if that is
either mixed by impregnation with other varieties of the jBrdssica tribe, or has been
raised from a degenerate small-rooted parentage, the progeny will never come to any
size. The same may be said of carrot or mangold seed, raised from small misshapen
roots. Even rape seed should be raised from the strongest and largest rooted plants, as
these always produce a stronger progeny.
4857. The selection and propagation of improved aericultural seeds has till lately beefn very little
attended to. But the subject has been taken up by Mr. Sinclair of New Cross, Mr. Shirreffof Mungos
Wells, Mr. Gorrie of Rait, and others ; and we have little doubt some greatly improved varieties of our
more useful field plants will be the result. Mr. Shirreff mentions {Quar. Jour. Ag. vol. i. p. 3GG.), that the
variety of the Swedish turnip cultivated in East Lothian had, by judicious selection of the roots from
which seed was saved, been improved in nutritious value upwards of 300 per cent. "Potatoes and
Swedish turnip," Mr. Shirreff says, "appear to be susceptible of farther improvement by judicious selec-
tion, as well as the different grains so long cultivated in this country, and which, in almost every instance,
have become spurious. But whatever may be the degree of improvement of which the agricultural pro-
duce of the country is susceptible, by the propagation of genuine seeds of the best varieties of plants, one
remarkable feature of such an improvement is, that it could be carried into effect without any additional
investment of capital, or destruction of that already employed. It would require, in the first instance,
only a slight degree of observation amongst practical farmers to select the best varieties, and afterwards
a small exercise of patience in their propagation. The whole increase of produce obtained by such means
would go to support the unagricultural part of the population ; it would, in the first instance, be clear
gain to the occupiers, and ultimately to the owners of land. The difference of produce, arising from
sowing the seed of a good and a bad variety of a plant, is so great, that it does not seem inconsistent with
probability to state, that the gross agricultural produce of the country might be augmented, in the course
of a few years, through the agency of improved seeds, to the amount of seven per cent. ; and as the
farmer's home consumption of produce, by such means, would be increased nearly ten per cent, what an
enormous fund this forms for maintaining the unagricultural part of the population, and augmenting the
income of landholders !
4858. The facility of propagating genuine seeds, will become manifest from a statement of my practice.
In the spring of 1823, a vigorous wheat-plant, near the centre of a field, was marked out, which produced
63 ears, that yielded 2473 grains. These were dibbled in the autumn of the same year ; the produce of
the second and third seasons sown broadcast in the ordinary way ; and the fourth harvest put me in pos-
session of nearly forty quarters of sound grain. In the spring oJf this year, I planted a fine purple-top
Swedish turnip, that yielded (exclusively of the seeds picked by birds, and those lost in threshing and
cleaning the produce,) 100,296 grains, a number capable of furnishing plants for upwards of five imperial
acres. One-tenth of an acre was sown with the produce, in the end of July, for a seed crop, part of
which it is in contemplation to sow for the same purpose in July 1829. In short, if the produce of the
turnip in question had been carefully cultivated to the utmost extent, the third year's produce of seed
would have more than supplied the demand of Great Britain for a season.
4859. Plants and animals are both organic bodies, from the germs of whose fecundating organs proceed
new races, which yield crops ; and thus an extensive view of improving agriculture through the agency
of genuine seeds embraces the propagation of live stock. Now, however important the propagation of
live stock may be, when considered by itself, yet, when viewed in connection with our agricultural
system, embracing the cultivation and improvement of the herbage which support animals, as well as
those plants, parts of which form the ingredients of human sustenance, it becomes less imposing. The
analogy subsisting between animal and vegetable life is known and acknowledged ; and it may be stated,
that the union of the male and female organs of different varieties of a plant, under favourable circum.
stances, produces a new race, which partakes of the qualities of both parents, and which is termed a
hybrid. Now, hybrid varieties of agricultural plants, when suffered to intermingle with the original
kind, disseminate their influence around them like cross-bred animals, unrestrained in their intercourse
with the general herd, till the character of the stock becomes changed, and consequently deteriorated or
improved. In either case, propagation from the best variety alone would be attended with good effects.
The principles of propagating vegetable and animal life are nearly the same ; but the propagation of
vegetables must exceed that of animals in importance, as much as the vegetable produce of the country
surpasses that of animals. Indeed animals may justly be considered mere machines for converting our
inferior herbage into nutriment of a different description ; grasses and roots are the raw materials,
butcher's meat the manufactured commodity."
4860. The importance of attending to varieties of cultivated plants has been ably pointed out by
Mr. Bishop, at once a scientific botanist and an experienced practical gardener. " By means of
varieties," he says, " the produce of our gardens and fields are not only increased in a tenfold degree,
but the quality of the produce is improved in a still greater proportion. In them we perceive the
labour and assiduity of man triumphing over the sterility of unassisted nature, and succeeding in
giving birth to a race of beings calculated to supply his wants in a manner that original species never
could have done. The difference between varieties that have sprung from the same species fits them
for different purposes, and for different soils, situations, and climates. Some, by reason of their
robust natures, are winter vegetables; and others, by being early, are spring vegetables; while
some are in perfection in summer, and others in autumn. The fruit produced by some »s fit to
eat when pulled off the tree ; while the fruit of others is valuable by reason of its keeping till that
season, when Nature rests to recruit her strength. Thus, in edible plants and fruits, we are supplied
with an agreeable change throughout the year, from a difference in varieties that have sprung
from the same species. In che earlier ages of the world, no idea could have been entertained of the
Book V. CHOICE OF SEEDS AND PLANTS. TS7
excellence some varieties have attained over tneir originals. Who, upon viewing the wild cabbage that
grows along our sea-coast, would ever imagine that cauliflower or broccoli would have been produced by
the same ? Or who would expect the well-formed apple of a pound's weight from the verjuice plant in
our hedges? Many instances might be noticed of original species that are scarcely fit to be eaten by the
beasts of the field, the varieties of which afford a nutritious and wholesome food for man. Upon com-
paring the original variety of the £)aiicus Carbta, the Pastinkca sativa, and some others indigenous to our
climate, with their varieties produced by culture, we are struck with their great inferiority, and cannot
help reflecting on the hapless condition of that hungry savage who first taught us their use ; for nothing
short of the greatest privation could ever have led to that discovery. Indeed, nothing is more obvious,
upon comparing original species with their varieties produced by culture, than that we, by means of the
latter, enjoy a vegetable food far preferable to that of our forefathers ; a circumstance from which it may
be inferred that posterity is destined to enjoy a better than that which we do now. For although it i»
reasonable to believe that there exists a degree of excellence attainable by varieties over the species
whence they have sprung, yet as that degi-ee is unknown, and as it is probably beyond the power of man,
of cultivation, or of time, to determine the same, we are justified in regarding it as progressive, and in con-
sidering tlie production of a good variety as the sign or harbinger of a better.
4861. The power of distinguishing varieties, and of forming some idea of their worth at sight, is an
attainment much to be desired, because valuable varieties may sometimes appear to those who have it
not in their power to prove them by trial ; and if they have, the probability is, that the means to be em-
ployed require more care, time, and attention than they are disposed to bestow on plants the merits of
which are doubtful : whereas, were such persons capable of forming an estimate of the worth of varieties
from their appearance, then would they use means for their preservation, whenever their appearance wag
found to indicate superiority. 'I'hat this is an attainment of considerable importance, will be readily
allowed j yet, that it, in some cases, requires the most strict attention, appears from the circumstance of
varieties being oftentimes valuable, though not conspicuously so. Let ug suppose, for instance, that in a
field of wheat there exists a plant, a new variety, having two more fertile joints in its spike, and equal to
the surrounding wheat in every other respect : a man accustomed to make the most minute observations,
would scarcely observe such a variety, unless otherwise distinguished by some peculiar badge ; nor would
any but a person versed in plants know that it was of superior value if placed before him. How many
varieties answering this description may have existed and escaped observation, which, had they been
observed, and carefully treated, would have proved an invaluable acquisition to the community ! The
number of fertile joints in the spike of the wheat generally cultivated, varies from eighteen to twenty-
two ; and the inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland amount to nearly the same number of millions :
therefore, as the wheat produced in those islands has been of late years sufficient, or nearly sufficient, to
supply the inhabitants thereof with bread, it is evident that a variety with two additional fertile joints,
and equal in other respects to the varieties at present in cultivation, would, when it became an object of
general culture, afford a supply of bread to at least two millions of souls, without even another acre being
brought into cultivation, or one additional drop of sweat from the brow of the husbandman.
4862. The same varieties are not repeatedly produced by culture ; if they were, there would not exist that
necessity for strict observation and skill on the part of observers ; because, if a variety were lost or
destroyed, we might look forward to its re-appearance: or did we possess the power of producing varieties,
and of producing them late or early, tall or dwarf, sweet or sour, or just as we might wish to have them,
then might we plead an excuse for inattention. But experience shows, that when a variety is lost, it is
for ever lost ; and the slightest reflection cannot fail of convincing us, that our power of producing them
is most limited. Indeed, our knowledge only enables us to produce those of the intermediate kind j
while varieties that confer extension or excellence are as likely to be produced from the seed sown and
treated by the humble labourer as from that sown and treated by the ablest horticulturist, the most
skilful botanist, or most profound philosopher of the age. From these remarks it is obvious, that the
benefits mankind derive from the varieties produced by culture are numerous and important, and
that the dis.overy of those of merit is an object highly deserving of our attention." {Bishop's Causal
Botany.)
4863. The varieties of wheat and barley in general cultivationy Mr. Gorrie observes, are " not nu-
mcrous; but were a part of that attention paid to the production of new and improved varieties
of field-beans, peas, oats, barley, and wheat, which is now almost wasted on live stock, the same success
might follow, and varieties of each of these useful species of grain might lie found as far surpassing those
now in cultivation as the modern breeds of horses and cattle surpass those of former days. 'I'o effect
this, a simple process only is necessary. When any two varieties are intended to be used in ' crossing,'
it is necessary that they should be sown at such periods as may render them likely to flower at the same
time ; and we would recommend that such plants should be sown or transplanted into flower-pots, par-
ticularly the variety to be used as i\\e female breeder. The parts of fructification of all the Cereklia tribe
are composed of a stigma, or fringed substance, which crowns the embryo grain ; three anthers or male
parts, which have cither a purple or yellow colour; and firm, small, round, or rather longish cylindrical
knobs, with a hollow line longitudinally along the middle, on the side farthest from the filament which
supports these anthers. Allowing that there are six plants, say of wheat, in a pot to be impregnated, let
the variety possessing the greatest proportion of desirable qualities be selected for the viale, from a
field or otherwise, and, before the anthers appear outside the glume, let the chaff be opened by a slight
touch of the forefinger ; cut off the anthers of all the ears growing on the plants in the pot, and then take
the male parts of the variety wished to be ijnproved, which have been newly out of the chaff, and, before
the farina is all dissipated, touch the stigma of all the embryo grains whence the anthers have been
previously removed, gently, with newly burst anthers, till the stigma is partially covered with the dust or
pollen ; keep the plants at a distance from the fields where grain of the same sort is coming in the flower,
till the flowering season is fairly over, then, to prevent sparrows or other birds from picking the
impregnated grains, plunge the pots to the brims in a field of the same kind of grain. Save every
seed, and sow them carefully next season ; if the process has been properly performed, there may be
many varieties even from one ear ; the best should be marked, and the produce of each stalk worthy of
notice kept, and propagated distinctly by itself. If all the farmers in a district were to submit five or six
plants only to such process, we might soon have hundreds of new varieties, and it is certainly within
the limits of probability to expect a few varieties superior to any now in cultivation." [Perth Miscellany,
vol. i. p. 17.)
4864. Grain, seeds, and roots intended for reproduction are not required to have come to the same
degree of maturity on the plant, as when intended for meal or other products to be consumed as food.
The cause of this has never been satisfactorily explained ; all that is alleged being the conjecture, that
the cotyledons of the seed are better fitted for entering the vessels of the minute plant, when they are not of
such a farinaceous nature, as when these cotyledons are more mattire. " That^rain not perfectly matured
is fully qualified for seed, is evident from places situated near rivers or lakes, where the grain in some
seasons is subject to be what the people who cultivate such situations term blasted or mildewed. This
happens in autumn, before the grain is matured, and is probably caused by fogs or damps which arise
from the water. This blast discolours the straw, and renders it so friable that it will hardly bind itself;
the grain never receives any more nourishment, is shrivelled and light, and soon assumes a ripe appearance,
and so small a quantity of farinaceous matter will be contained in the grains, that a sheaf, afler being reaped,
will feel as light in the hand as if it had been previously threshed ; and yet, for as bad as it appears, it is
commonly taken for seed, and never fails to give a luxuriant crop, provided it escape the following
autumn." (Ibid.)
3 E 2
788 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
4865. Of the plants which the farmer has to choose for stock, the chief is the potato ;
and every one knows, that no circumstances in the soil, climate, or culture will compen-
sate for planting a bad sort. The potato requires a climate rather humid than otherwise,
and rather moderate and equable in temperature than hot : hence the best crops are
found in Lancashire, Dumfriesshire, and Ayrshire in Britain, and in Ireland, where the
climate is every where moist. Excellently flavoured potatoes are also grown on mossy
lands in most parts of the country. The prudent farmer will be particularly careful in
choosing this description of plant stock, and also in changing it frequently, so as to en-
sure prolificacy and flavour. The general result of experience is decidedly in favour of
unripe tubers for the purpose of propagation. A number of important papers on this
subject will be found in the first and second volumes of the Gardener s Magazine, all
confirmatory of the advantages of selecting tubers which are immature.
Sect. III. Choice of Servants.
4866. On the moral and professional character of his servants much of the comfort of
the farmer depends ; and every one who has farmed near large towns, and at a distance
from them, knows how great the difference is in every description of labourers. The
servants required in farmeries are, the bailiff or head ploughman, common ploughmen,
shepherds, labourers of all-work, herdsmen, and women. Sometimes apprentices and
pupils are taken ; but their labour is not often to be much depended on.
4867. J[ bailiff^ is required only in the largest description of farms, occupied by a pro-
fessional farmer ; and is not often required to act as market-man. In general young
men are preferred, who look forward to higher situations, as gentlemen's bailiffs or land
stewards. Most farmers require only a head ploughman, who works the best pair of
horses, and takes the lead of, and sets the example to, the other ploughmen in every
description of work.
4868. Ploughmen should, if possible, be yearly servants, and reside upon the farm ; if
married, cottages should be provided for them. Weekly or occasional ploughmen are
found comparatively unsteady ; they are continually wandering from one master to an-
other, and are very precarious supports of a tillage farm : for they may quit their service
at the most inconvenient time, unless bribed by higher wages ; and the farmer may thus
lose the benefit of the finest part of the season. Where ploughmen and day labourers,
however, are married, they are more to be depended upon than unmarried domestic
servants, more especially when the labourer has a family, which ties him down to regular
industry.
4869. The mode of hiring servants at what are called public statutes, so general in
many parts of England, is justly reprobated as having a tendency to vitiate their minds,
enabling them to get places without reference to character, exposing good servants to be
corrupted by the bad, promoting dissipation, and causing a cessation of country business
for some days, and an awkwardness in it for some time afterwards. When hiring ser-
vants, it would be extremely important, if possible, to get rid of any injurious perquisites,
which are often prejudicial to the interests of the master, without being of any advantage
to the servant. For instance, in Yorkshire and in other districts it is a custom to give
farm servants liquor both morning and evening, whatever is the nature and urgency of
the work. Nothing can be more absurd than permitting a ploughman to stop for half
an hour in a winter day to drink ale, while his horses are neglected and shivering with
cold.
4870. The following plan of maintaining the hinds or ploughmen in the best cultivated
districts in Scotland, is found by experience to be greatly superior to any other mode
hitherto adopted.
4871. Proper houses are built for the farm servants contiguous to every farmstead. This gives them an
opportunity of settling in life, and greatly tends to promote their future welfare. Thus also the farmer
has his people at all times within reach for carrying on his business.
4872. The farm servants, when married, receive the greater part of their wages in the produce of the
soil, which gives them an interest in the prosperity of the concern in which they are employed, and in a
manner obliges them to eat and drink comfortably ; while young men often starve themselves in order to
save money for drinking or clothes, in either of which cases they are deficient in the requisite animal
strength. "At least under this mode of payment they are certain of being supplied with the necessaries of
life, and a rise of prices does not affect them ; whereas, when their wages are paid in money, they are
exposed to many temptations of spending it which their circumstances can ill afford, and during a rise of
prices they are sometimes reduced to considerable difficulties. From the adoption of an opposite system,
habits of sobriety and economy, so conspicuous among the farm servants of Scotland, and the advantages
of which cannot be too highly appreciated, have arisen and still prevail in these districts.
4873. A most important branch of this system is, that almost eve^-y married man has a cow of a mode-
rate size kept for him by the farmer all the year round. This is a boon of great utility to his family. The
prospect of enjoying this advantage has an excellent effect upon the morals of young unmarried servants,
who in general make it a point to lay up as much of their yearly wages as will enable them to purchase a
cow and furniture for a house when they enter into the married state. These savings, under different cir-
cumstances, would most probably have been spent in dissipation.
4874. They have also several other perquisites, as a piece of ground for potatoes and flax (about one-
eighth part of an acre for each) ; liberty to keep a pig, half a dozen hens, and bees ; their fuel is carried
home to them ; they receive a small" allowance in money per journey when sent from home with corn, or
for coals or lime ; and during the harvest they are maintained by the farmer, that they may be always at
hand.
Book V. KEEPING ACCOUNTS. 789
4875. There are nowhere to be met with more active, respectable, and conscientious servants than those
who are kept according to this syste7n. There is hardly an instance of their soliciting relief from the
public. They rear numerous families, who are trained to industry and knowledge in the operations of
agriculture, and whose assistance in weeding the crops, &c. is of considerable service to the farmer.
They become attached to the farm, take an interest in its prosperity, and seldom think of removing from
it Under this system every great farm is a species of little colony, of which the farmer is the resident
governor. Nor, on the whole, can there be a more gratifying spectacle than to see a large estate under the
direction of an intelligent landlord, or of an agent competent to the task of managing it to advantage ;
where the farms are of a proper size ; where they are occupied by industrious and skilful tenants, anxious
tp promote, in consequence of the leases they enjoy, the improvement of the land in their possession ; and
where the cultivation is carried on by a number of married servants enjoying a fair competence and rear-
ing large families, sufficient not only to replace themselves, but also, from their surplus population, to
supply the demand and even the waste of the other industrious classes of the community. Such a system,
there is reason to believe, is brought to a higher degree of perfection and carried to a greater extent in
the more improved districts of Scotland than perhaps in any other country in Europe. {Code, 8fc.)
4876. A shepherd is of course only requisite on sheep farms ; and no description of
farm servant is required to be so steady and attentive. At the lambing season much of
the farmer's property is in his hands, and depends on his unwearied exertions early and
late. Such servants should be well paid and comfortably treated.
4877. The labourers required on a farm are few ; in general, one for field operations,
as hedge and ditch work, roads, the garden, cleaning out furrows, &c. ; and another for
attending to the cattle, pigs, and straw-yard, killing sheep and pigs when required, &c.
will be sufficient. Both will assist in harvest, hay-time, threshing, filling dung, &c.
These men are much better servants when married and hired by the year, than when
accidental day labourers.
4878. The female servants required in a farmery are casual, as haymakers, turnip
hoers, &c. ; or yearly, as house, dairy, and poultry maids. Much depends on the steadi-
ness of the first class ; and it is in general better to select them from the families of the
married servants, by which means their conduct and conversation is observable by their
parents and relations. A skilful dairy-maid is a most valuable servant, and it is well
when the cattle-keeper is her husband ; both may live in the fanner's house (provided
they have no children), and the man may act as groom to tlie master's horse and chaise,
and assist in brewing, butchery, &c. In the cheese districts, men often milk the cows,
and manage the whole process of the dairy ; but females are surely much better calcu-
lated for a business of so domestic a nature, and where so much depends on cleanliness.
4879. Farmers apprentices are not common, but parish boys are so disposed of in
some parts of the west of England, and might be so generally. They are said to make
the best and steadiest servants ; and indeed the remaining in one situation, and under
one good master for a fixed period, say not less than three years, must have a great
tendency to fix the character and morals of youth in every line or condition of life.
4880. Apprentices intended for farmers are generally young men who have received a tolerable education
beforehand, and have attained to manhood or nearly so. These pay a premium, and are regularly in-
structed in the operations of farming. We have already alluded to the example of Walker, who considers
such apprentices, notwithstanding the care required to instruct them, rather useful than otherwise.
{Uusb. of Scot. vol. ii. p. 106.)
4881. To train ploughmen to habits of activity and diligence is of great importance. In
some districts they are proverbial for the slowness of their step, which they teach their
horses ; whereas these animals, if accustomed to it, would move with as much ease to
themselves in a quick as in a slow pace. Hence their ploughs seldom go above two
miles in an hour, and sometimes even less ; whereas, where the soil is light and sandy,
they might go at the rate of three miles and a half. Farmers are greater sufferers than
they imagine by this habitual indolence of their workmen, which extends from the plough
to all their other employments, for it makes a very important difference in the expense of
labour. {Code.)
Chap. IV.
General Management of a Farm.
4882. Tlie importance of an orderly systematicniode of managing every concern is suf-
ficiently obvious. The points which chiefly demand a farmer's attention are the accounts
of money transactions, the management of servants, and the regulation of labours.
Sect. I. JTeepiyig Accounts.
4883. It is a maxim of the Dutch, that " no one is ever ruined tvho keeps good ac-
counts," which are said in The Code of Agncidture to be not so common among farmers
as they ought to be ; persons employed in other professions being generally much more
attentive and correct. Among gentlemen farmers there is often a systematic regularity
in all their proceedings, and their pages of debtor and creditor, of expense and profit, are
as strictly kept as those of any banking-house in the metropolis. But with the gene-
rality of fanners the case is widely different. It rarely happens that books are kept by
3 E :3
790
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
1\V11T III.
them in a minute and regular manner ; and the accounts of a farmer, occupying even a
large estate, and consequently employing a great capital, are seldom deeined of sufficient
importance to merit a share of attention equal to that bestowed by a tradesman on a con-
ceni of not one-twentieth part of the value. There is certainly some difficulty in keeping
accurate accounts respecting the profit and loss of so uncertain and compUcated a busi-
ness as the one carried on by the farmer, which depends so much on the weather, the
state of the markets, and other circumstances not under his control ; but the great bulk
of farming transactions is settled at the moment ; that is to say, the article is delivered
and the money instantly paid ; so that little more is necessary than to record these
properly. In regard to the expenses laid out on the farm, an accurate account of them
is perfectly practicable, and ought to be regularly attended to by every prudent and in-
dustrious occupier.
4884. To record pecuniary transactio7is is not the only object to be attended to in the accounts of a
farmer. It is necessary to have an annual account of the live stock, and of their value at the time; of the
quantity of hay unconsumed ; of the grain in store or in the stack-yard ; and of the implements and other
articles in which the capital is invested. An account, detailing the expense and return of each field,
according to its productive contents, is likewise wanted, without which it is impossible to calculate the
advantage of different rotations, the most beneficial mode of managing the farm, or the improvements of
which it is susceptible. Besides the obvious advantages of enabling a man to understand his own affairs,
and to avoid being cheated, it has a moral effect upon the farmer of the greatest consequence, hov/ever
8mall his dealings may be. Experience shows that men situated like small farmers (who are their own
masters, and yet have very little capital to manage or lose,) are very apt to contrat-t habits of irregularity,
procrastination, and indolence. They persuade themselves that a thing may be as well done to-morrow
as to-day, and the result is, that the thing is not done till it is too late, and then ha.'^tily and imperfectly.
Now nothing can be conceived better adapted to check this disposition than a determination to keep re-
gular accounts. The very consciousness that a man has to make entries in his books of every thing that
he does, keeps his attention alive to what he is to do ; and the act of making those entries is the best
oossible training to produce active and pains-taking habits.
4885. Trotter's method of farm book-keeping. A very original, concise, and accurate mode of keeping
farm accounts has been invented by Alexander Trotter, Esq. of Dreghorn. Though the merits of this
mode seem to be acknowledged by all who understand it, yet they do not appear to be of that nature to
bring it into general use. This, however, may depend partly, or even wholly, on the ignorance or preju-
dices of those for whom it is intended, and on the unfitness of farm managers for such regular and mul-
tiplied entries of all their transactions as this system requires. We regret that Mr. Trotter's method has
not attracted more notice from scientific farmers. We would recommend to them his " Method of Farm
Book-keeping, &a exemplified by the Forms and Accounts actually practised by the Author in the ma-
nagement of his Farm at Colinton, near Edinburgh. Edin. 8vo. 1825." The books and forms of Mr.
■.'"rotter's Method may be got by applying at Messrs. Kirtons', stationers. No. 1. Portland-street, London;
or at Mr. Abraham Thomson's, bookbinder, Old Fishmarket, Edinburgh.
4886. The accoujits of gentlemen farmers, or of the bailiffs they employ, it is said in The Code, cannot be
too minute ; but in regard to rent-paying farmers the great objects are to have them short and distinct.
For this purpose a journal for business transactions, such as purchases, sales, agreements, hirings, and
other real or prospective arrangements, a cash-book and a ledger will, in our opinion, be sufficient, with
the aid of memorandum books. But for greater accuracy, or rather for more curious farmers, the fol-
lowing models are given in The Code of Agriculture. The gentleman farmer and bailiff will find various
descriptions of " Farmer's account books " among the booksellers. One in very general use is Harding's
Farmer's Account Book.
4887.
Weekly Journal of Transactions, from
Monday.
State of Weather. |
Bar. Ther.
Wind. Rain.
!
i
Tuesday.
Wednes.
1
Thursday.
1
1
Friday.
1
Saturday.
i
1
Sunday.
4888. Weekly State of Labour, from
to
Names of Men and Horses.
Mon.
Tues.
Wed.
Thurs.
Frid.
Satur.
No. of Days.
Rate per Day.
Total.
Daily Labourers -
L.
d.
Farm Servants -
Horses ...
Taskwork - - -
Work by Tradesmen -
Book V.
4889.
FORMS OF ACCOUNT.
Cash Account.
791
Dr. Caih received. |
Cathpaid. Cr. |
When
received.
Of whom
received.
On what
account
received.
Amount.
When paid.
To whom
paia.
On what
account paid.
Amount.
Total
received.
L.
s.
d.
L.
s.
d.
AHiclesfrom the Farm co,i5umed {Amount of).
When.
By whom.
What
Articles.
i.».rf.
Total paid .
4890.
Management of Arable Land.
1
1
i
PREPARING.
When
begun.
Ploughing, Harrowing, Rolling.
Manure.
SoTving Seed, 1
i
■s
o
1
i
!
Amount.
t
1
1
Amount.
i
i
g Amount.
L.
s.
d.
i
L.
s.
d.
L.
s.
d.
4891.
Management of Pasture Land.
1
i
1
How many Head of Cattle fed.
Produce of Hay, S(C.
~l
i
6
1
1
1
1
5
Amount.
When
beg\m.
■8
1
Amount paid.
1
■8
1
At per Load.
Amount.
Posted to
FoUo,
L.
s.
d.
L.
s.
d.
L.
s.
d.
L.
s.
d.
3 E 4
792
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
4892.
Management of Woodland.
i
>
"S
o
1
Quantity qf Bark.
Vndermuod.
Timber Sold. i
t
IS.
•s
6
z,
k
<
Amount.
p
Amount.
Cost
Cutting
down.
i
i
Amount.
1
t c
Amount.
Ill
1
L.
>.
d.
L.
1.
d.
£.
«.
d.
L.
d.
L.
1.
d.
4893.
Account of Crops.
Wheat
Barley -
Oats -
Hay
Potatoes - -
Threshed. Bought. Sold. Sown. Consumed. \\'here, and by AVTieresown. Ground.
whom consumed.
4894.
Dairy Account of Milk, Butter, and Cheese.
i
Milked - - -
Made into Butter 7
and Cheese - J
Consumed -
SundayJ
Mon.
Tues.
Wed.
Thurs.
Frid.
Sat.
Total Price.
Amount. 1
Qts.
Pts.
Qts.
PU.
Qts.
Pts.
Qts.
Pts.
Qts.
Pts.
QU.
Pts.
Qts.
Pts.
d.
L.
».
d.
Made - -
Sold ... -
Consumed -
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
1
Made -
Sold .
Consumod -
Book V.
4895.
FORMS OF ACCOUNTS.
Stock Account.
793
Increate and Decrease of Live Stock.
What Part qfthe Farm occupied iw the Cattle. 1
Description.
Increase by
Decrease by
i
Date
sent in.
When
taken
out.
Number and
Description
of Cattle.
No. of Nature of
No.
Pur.
chase.
n
1 ! ^
the
Field.
in the
Field.
Rams
ri,
Ewes
Spaniards
g
S
Wethers
R. Lambs
Spaniards
E. Lambs
Ditto
-
Bulls - , - -
Cows
_2
Oxen - . .
a
Heifers
B. Calves -
-
C. Calves
-
Boars
»
Sows - - . -
s
Barrows ...
Pigs ....
-
Horses - . -
e
Mares -
X
Colts
Turkeys
Poults
m
Fowls ....
•e
Chickens
Geese - ...
c
Goslings
C
Ducks .
g
Ducklings
Pigeons ...
Eggs . .
4896. These forms may be useful, by directing the attention of farmers to the parti-
culars of which they should keep an accurate record ; but as to any particular system
of accounts applicable to farmers a good deal of delusion seems to prevail, as if the
established modes in general use among mercantile men would not answer. In
fact, there is no correct mode of keeping accounts but by the principles of double entry.
4897. The account books for a common farmer may be, a cash-book for all receipts and
payments, specifying each ; a ledger for accounts with dealers and tradesmen ; and a stock
book for taking, once a year, an inventory and valuation of stock, crop, manures, tillages,
and every thing that a tenant could dispose of or be paid for on quitting his farm.
Farming may be carried on with the greatest accuracy and safety, as to money matters,
by means of the above books, and a few pocket memorandum books for labourers' time,
jobs, &c. With the exception of a time-book, such as we have before described (3383), we
should never require more, even from a proprietor's bailiff; many of whom the nine
forms just given (4887) would only puzzle, and some we have known them lead to the
greatest errors and confusion. Munro's Guide to Farm Book-keeping (Edin. 12mo.
1821) may be recommended to the practical farmer; but no form of books, or mode
of procedure will enable a farmer to know whether he is losing or gaining but that of
taking stock.
4898. A form for a cattle stock account has been recommended by Sir Patrick Murray,
of which it may be useful to present a specimen. This form, Sir Patrick observes, has
been kept at his estate of Ochtertyre, in Perthshire, for twenty-two years, and found per-
fectly adapted to the purpose in view ; being sufficiently simple in form to be under-
stood by every farm manager, and sufficiently comprehensive in particulars to embrace
all the requisite details. They may be either made up quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly.
Sir Patrick adopts the half-yearly mode.
794
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
0.0;
Si 2
£ o- o-
S PQ X «
o o 6 d o d 6 « ^ « ^ « 5
e^ > ta .2 o o,
3030 23 322
£ -a -o
3 2=5
If!
^3
&H
05rHrHrH0<I>CS^ t--00 0)0
ir> ■* W M O)
Book V. MANAGEMENT OF SERVANTS. 795
Sect. II. Management of Servants.
4900. Informer times, farm servants lived at the same table with their masters, and
that is still the practice in those districts where the farms are small. On moderate-sized,
and on large farms, they are usually sent to a separate table j but of late a custom has been
introduced of putting them on board-wages. This is a most pernicious practice ; which
often leads them to the ale-house, corrupts their morals, and injures their health. It is a
better plan, with a view of lessening trouble, to board them with the bailiff; but it is still
more desirable for the farmer to have them under his own eye, that he may attend to
their moral conduct. He will find much more useful assistance from the decent and
the orderly than from the idle and the profligate.
4901. The best mode of mayiagiiig yearly married servants, whether ploughmen or
labourers, we conceive to be that already referred to (4870) as practised in Northumberland,
and other northern counties. Marshal {Review of Bailey's Northumberland) calls it a
remain of feudal times ; but certainly, if it be so, it appears one of those remains which
should be carefully preserved. We may challenge the empire to produce servants and
farm operations equal to those where this system is adopted. The great excellence of the
system consists on its being founded in the comfort of the servant.
4902. The permanent labourers on a farm ought to be treated in the same manner as
the ploughmen ; and indeed it is much to be wished, for the sake both of humanity and
morality, that all married labourers, who live in the country, should have gardens attached
to their cottages, if not a cow kept, and a pig and fowls, in the manner of the Scottish
ploughmen. Some valuable observations on this subject will be found in The Husbandry
of Scotland.
4903. Temporary labourers, or such as are engaged for hay-making, reaping, turnip-
hoeing, &c. are for the most part beyond the control of the farmer, as to their living and
lodging. It is a good practice, however, where hay-making and reaping are performed
by the day, to feed the operators, and to lodge on the premises such of them as have not
homes in the neighbourhood ; providing them with a dry loft and warm blankets. Piece
or job-work, however, is now becoming so very general, in all farm operations performed
by occasional labourers, that attention to these particulars becomes unnecessary, and the
farmer's chief business is to see that the work be properly done.
4904. A day's work of a country labourer, is ten hours during the spring, summer,
and autumn quarters. Farmers, however, are not at all uniform in their hours of
working during these periods. Some begin at five o'clock, rest three hours at mid-
day, during the more violent heat of the sun, and fill up their day's work by beginning
again at one o'clock, and ending at six in the evening. Others begin, at six, and end
at six, allowing half an hour at breakfast, and an hour at dinner. But although these
are the ordinary hours, both for servants and labourers, during the more busy sea-
sons of the year, yet neither of them will scruple to work either sooner or later, when
occasion requires. In regard to the winter months, the hours of labour are from the
dawn of morning, as long as it is light, with the allowance of about half an hour at mid-
day for dinner.
4905. That the rate of labour must in a great measure depend upon the price of grain,
is a general principle. In England, the value of a peck of wheat, and in Scotland, of a
peck of oatmeal (being the principal articles of subsistence of the lower orders of the
people in the two countries), were long accounted an equivalent to the daily pay of a
labourer. In both countries, however, the price of potatoes has, of late years, had a
considerable influence on the rate of labour ; and in England, the effects of the poor
laws have tended to keep down that rate below the increased price of provisions, and
thus have deranged the natural progress of things. It has been ascertained, that a
man, his wife, and from tv.o to three children, if wheat is their habitual food, will
require ten gallons weekly. When they live on bread, hard-working people ought to
have the best kind, as that will furnish the most nutrition. How, then, could a
labourer and his family exist upon wages of from 6s. to 95. per week, when wheat is
from 8s. to lOs. or 12s. per bushel? The difference is compensated by the poor-rates,
a most exceptionable mode of making up the deficiency ; for labour would otherwise
have found its own level, and the labourer wpuld have obtained the price of a bushel and
a half of wheat weekly.
4906. In Scotland, the rate of labour has increased beyond the price of provisions. Prior to 1792, the
average price of a peck of oatmeal was Is. \d., and the average price of a day's labour in suvnmer Is. l|d,
which nearly corresponded with the principle above stated: but the average pi ice of a peck of oatmeal
in 1810 was Is. 3frf., whilst the average price of a day's labour was Is. lOJrf. ; which shows, in a most satis-
factory manner, the very great improvement that has taken place in the lot of the labouring classes in
that part of the United Kingdom. {Gen. Rep. vol. iii. p. 262.)
4907. The practice of giving labourers grain, SfC. at a cheap rate was adopted by George III., who car-
ried on farming operations to a considerable extent, allowing his labourers flour at a fixed price, whatever
wheat might sell for. This benevolent system has been practised by several gentlemen farmers, some of
whom have allowed bread, and others a daily quantity of milk, at moderate prices. The same system is
general in several of the western counties, as in Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall, where the labourers have
a standing supply of bread-corn j of wheat at 6s, and of barley at 3s. per bushel. In some of the midland
796 l^RACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Pakt III
counties the day- wages are regulated by the price of the best wheaten bread : thus the price of a half.
peck loaf forms the day-wages for out-of-door farm servants. Of late years this rule has been departed
from in favour of the labourers : thus, when bread is at 1*. 8d. the half-peck, then wages are Is. lOrf. ; and
when at 2s., the wages are 2s. id.
4908. Most descriptions of country labour, performed without the aid of horses, may
be let by the job. Farey, in his excellent Report of Derbyshire, informs us, that besides
all ordinary labour, the late John Billingsley, of Ashwick Grove, in Somersetshire, let
his ploughing, harrowing, rolling, sowing, turning of corn when cut, hay-making, &c.
by the acre ; from which he found great advantages, even where his own oxen and liorses
were used by the takers of the work. Whether we regard despatch, economy, perfec-
tion of rural works, or the bettering of the condition of the labourers therein, nothing
will contribute so much to all these as a general system of letting works at fair and
truly apportioned prices, according to the degree of labour and skill required in each
kind of work. Few persons have doubted that despatch and economy are attainable by
this method ; but those who have indolently or improperly gone about the letting of their
labour, have unifonnly complained of its being slovenly done, and of the proneness of
the men to cheat when so employed. Such frauds are to be expected in all modes of
employment, and can only be counteracted, or made to disappear, by competent
knowledge and due vigilance in the employer, or his agents and foremen, who ought
to study and understand the time and degree of exertion and skill, as well as the
best methods, in all their minutise, of performing the various works they have to
let. At first sight these might seem to be very difficult and unattainable qualifications
in farmers' bailiffs or foremen, but it is nevertheless certain, that a proper system and
perseverance will soon overcome these difficulties. One of the first requisites is, the
keeping of accurate and methodical day-accounts of all men employed; and, on the
measuring up and calculating of every job of work, to register how much has been earned
per day, and never to attempt abatement of the amount, should this even greatly exceed
the ordinary day's pay of the country; but let this experience gained operate in fixing
the price of the next job of the same work, in order to lessen the earnings by degrees, of
fully competent and industrious men, to \\ox\\ times the ordinary wages when working
by the day.
4909. Form the men into s?nall gatigs, according to their abilities and industry, and always set the best
gang about any new kind of work, or one whose prices want regulating : encourage tliese by liberal prices
at first, gradually lowering them ; and by degrees introduce the other gangs to work with or near
them at the same kind of work. On the discovery of any material slight of or deceptions in the work,
at the time of measuring it, more than their proportionate values should be deducted for them,^
and a separate job made to one of the best gangs of men, for completing or altering it : by which means
shame is made to operate, with loss of earnings, in favour of greater skill, attention, and honesty in
future. When the necessity occurs of employing even the best men by the day, let the periods be as
short as possible, and the prices considerably below job earnings ; and contrive, by the offer of a desirable
job to follow, to make it their interest and wish to despatch the work that is necessary to be done by the
day, in order to get again to piece-work. The men being thus induced to study and contrive the
readiest and best methods of performing every part of their labour, and of expending their time, the work
will unquestionably be better done than by the thoughtless drones who usually work by the day. And
that these are the true methods of bettering the condition of the labourers, Malthus has al>ly shown in
theory ; and all those who have adopted and persevered in them have seen the same in practice. {Farcy's
Derbyshire, vol. iii. 192.)
Sect. III. Arrangejnent of Farm Labour.
4910. The importance of order and system we have already insisted on (3370), and the
subject can hardly be too often repeated. To conduct an extensive farm well is not a
matter of trivial moment, or one to the management of which every man is competent.
Much may be effected by capital, skill, and industry ; but even these will not always
ensure success without judicious arrangement. With it, a farm furnishes an uninter-
rupted succession of useful labour during all the seasons of the year ; and the most is
made that circumstances will admit of, by regularly employing the labouring persons and
cattle, at such works as are likely to be the most profitable. Under such a system it is
hardly to be credited how little time is lost, either of the men or horses, in the course
of a whole year. This is a great object ; for each horse may be estimated at three
shillings per day, and each man at two shillings. Every day, therefore, in which a
man and horse are unemployed occasions the loss of at least five shillings to the
husbandman.
49 11. As the foundation of a proper arraiigement, it is necessary to have a plan of the
farm, or at least a list of the fields or parcels of land into which it is divided, describing
their productive extent, the quality of the soil, the preceding crops, the cultivation given
to each, and the species and quantity of manure they have severally received. The
future treatment of each field, for a succession of years, may then be resolved on with more
probability of success. With the assistance of such a statement, every autumn an
arrangement of crops for the ensuing year ought to be made out ; classing the fields or
pieces of land, according to the purposes for which they are respectively intended. The
number of acres allotted for arable land, meadow, or pasture, will thus be ascertained.
It will not then be difficult to discover what number of horses and labourers will be
Book V. DOMESTIC M^vNAGEMENT. 797
required during the season for the fields in culture, nor the live stock that will be neces-
sary for the pasture land. The works of summer and harvest will likewise be foreseen,
and proper hands engaged in due time to perform them.
4912. A farmer should have constantly in view a judicious rotation of crops, according
to the nature and quality of his soil, and should arrange the quantity and succession of
labour accordingly. Team labour, when frost and bad weather do not intervene, should
be arranged for some months ; and hand labour, for some weeks, according to the season
of the year. " A general memorandum list of business to be done," may therefore he
useful, that nothing may escape the memory, and that the most requisite work may be
brought forward first, if suitable to the state of the weather. In this way the labour
will go on regularly, and without confusion ; while, by a proper attention, either a dis-
tribution of labour, or an occasional consolidation of it, may be applied to every part of
the farm.
4913. As general rules, connected with the arrangement, and the successful manage-
ment of a farm, the following are particularly to be recommended : —
4914. The farmer ought to rise early, and see that others do so. In the winter season breakfast should
be taken by candle-light, for by this means an hour is gained which many farmers indolently lose; though
six hours in a week are nearly equal to the working part of a winter day. This is a material object, where
a number of servants are employed. It is also particularly necessary for farmers to insist on the punctual
performance of their orders.
4915. The whole farm should be regularly inspected, and not only every field examined, but every beast
seen, at least once a day, either by the occupier, or by some intelligent servant.
4916. In a considerable farm, it is of the utmost consequence to have servants specially appropriated
for each of the tnost important departments of labour; for there is often a great loss of time, where i)er-
sons are frequently changing their employments. Besides, where the division of labour is introduced,
work is executed not only more expeditiously, but also much better, in consequence of the same hands
being constantly employed in one particular department For that purpose, the ploughmen ought never
to be employed in manual labour, but regularly kept at work with their horses, when the weather will
admit of it.
4917. To arrange the operation qf ploughing, according to the soils cultivated, is an object of essential
importance. On many farms there are fields which are soon rendered unfit to be ploughed, either by
much rain or by severe drought. In such cases, the prudent farmer, before the wet season commences,
should plough such land as in the greatest danger of being injured by too much wet ; and before the dry
period of the year sets in, he should till such land as in the greatest danger of being rendered unfit for
ploughing by too much drought. The season between seed-time and winter may be well occupied in
working soils intended to be sown with beans, oats, barley, and other spring crops. On farms where
these rules are attended to there is always some land in a proper condition to be ploughed, or to be
worked by the improved harrows or grubbers ; and there is never any necessity either for delaying the
work, or performing it improperly.
4918. Every means should be thought of to diminish labour, or to increase its power. For instance, by
proper arrangement, five horses may do as much labour as six perform, according to the usual mode of
employing them. One horse may be employed in carting turnips during winter, or in other necessary
farm-work at other seasons, without the necessity of reducing the number of ploughs, "When driving
dung from the farm-yard, three carts may be used, one always filling in the yard, another going to the
field, and a third returning ; the leading horse of the empty cart ought then to be unyoked, and put to
the full one. In the same manner, while one pair of horses are preparing the land for sowing turnips,
the other three horses may be employed in carrying the dung to the land, either with two or three carts,
as the situation of the ground may happen to require. By extending the same management to other farm
operations, a considerable saving of labour may be effected.
4919. Previously to engaging in a work, whether of ordinary practice, or of intended improvement,
the best consideration of which the farmer is capable ought to be given to it, till he is satisfied that it
is advisable for him to attempt it. When begun, he ought to proceed in it with much attention and
perseverance, until he has given it a fair trial. It is a main object, in carrying on improvements, not to
attempt too much at once ; and never to begin a work without a probability of being able to finish it in
due season.
4920. By the adoption of these rules, every farmer will be master of his time, so that every
thing required to be done will be performed at the proper moment, and not delayed
till the season and opportunity have been lost. The impediments arising from bad wea-
ther, sick servants, or the occasional and necessary absence of the master, will, in that
case, be of little consequence, nor will they embarrass the operations to be carried on ;
and the occupier will not be prevented from attending to even the smallest concerns con-
nected with his business, on the aggregate of which his prosperity depends.
Sect. IV. Domestic Management and personal Expenses.
4921. On domestic affairs a hint may suflSce. Young farmers beginning house-
keeping, like most others in similar circumstances, are apt to sink too great a proportion
of their capital in furniture, and furnishing riding-horses, carriages, &c. ; and some-
times to live up to, or even beyond, their income. We do not mean that farmers should
not live as well as other men of the same property ; but merely that all beginners should
live within their income. Even in the marketing expenses care is requisite ; and the
prudent farmer will do well, every penny or sixpence he lays out, to reckon up in his
mind what that sum per day would amount to in a year. The amount will often
astonish him, and lead to economy and, where practicable, retrenchment. Saving, as
Franklin has inculcated, is the only certain way of accumulating money.
4922. In regard to housekeeping, it is observed in The Code of Agriculture, that the
safest plan is, not to suffer it to exceed a certain sum for bought articles weekly. An
annual sum should be allotted for clothing, and the personal expenses of the farmer, his
798 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
wife and children, which ought not to be exceeded. The whole allotted expense should
be considerably within the probable receipts ; and, if possible, one eighth of the income
annually received should be laid up for contingencies, or expended in extra improve-
ments on the farm.
BOOK VI.
CULTURE OF FARM LANDS.
4923. The business of farming consists of the culture of vegetables, and the treatment
or culture of animals ; in practice these are generally carried on together, but may be
more conveniently treated of apart. In this Book, therefore, we confine ourselves to the
culture of vegetable, and shall consider in succession the general processes of culture ;
the culture of corn and pulse ; of roots and leaves ; of herbage plants ; of grasses ; and
of manufactorial plants.
Chap. I.
General Processes common to Farm Lands.
4924. Among general processes, those which merit particular notice in this place are,
the rotation of crops, the working of fallows, and the management of manures. The
theory of these processes has been already given in treating of soils and manures
(Part II. Book III.) ; and it therefore only remains to detail their application to
practice under different circumstances.
Sect. I. Rotation of Crops suitable to different Descriptions of Soils.
4925. The proper distribution of crops, and a plan for their succession, is one of the first
subjects to which a farmer newly entered on a farm requires to direct his attention.
The kind of crops to be raised are determined in a great measure by the climate, soil,
and demand, and the quantity of each by the value, demand, and the adjustment of farm
labour.
4926. In the adjustment of farm labour, the great art is to divide it as equally as pos-
sible throughout the year. Thus it would not answer in any situation to sow exclusively
autumn crops, as wheat or rye ; nor only spring corns, as oats or barley ; for by so doing
all the labour of seed-time would come on at once, and the same of harvest work, while
the rest of the year there would be little to do on the farm. But by sowing a portion
of each of these and other crops, the labour both of seed-time and harvest is divided and
rendered easier, and is more likely to be done well and in season. But this point is so
obvious as not to require elucidation.
4927. The succession or rotation of crops is a point on which the profits of the farmer
depend more than on any other. It is remarked by Arthur Young, that agricultural
writers, previously to the middle of the eighteenth century, paid little or no attention to
it. They recite, he says, courses good, bad, and execrable in the same tone, as matters
not open to praise or censure, and unconnected with any principles that could throw light
on the arrangement of fields. The first writer who assigned due importance to the subject
of rotations seems to have been the Rev. Adam Dickson, in his Treatise on Agriculture,
published in Edinburgh in 1777 ; and soon afterwards Lord Kaimes, in his Gentleman
Farmer, illustrates the importance of the subject : both writers were probably led to it
by observing the effects of the Norfolk husbandry, then beginning to be introduced to
Berwickshire. But whatever may have been the little attention paid to this subject by
former writers, the importance of the subject of rotations, and the rule founded on the
principles already laid down, that culmiferous crops ripening their seeds should not be
repeated without the intervention of pulse, roots, herbage, or fallow, is now " recognised
in the practice and writings of all judicious cultivators, more generally perhaps than any
other." (^Edit. of Fanner's Mag.)
4928. The system of rotations is adapted for every soil, though no particular rotation can be given for
any one soil which will answer in all cases ; as something depends on climate, and something also on the
kind of produce for which there is the greatest market demand. But wherever the system of rotations is
followed, and the several processes of labour which belong to it properly executed, land will rarely get into
a foul and exhausted state, or at least, if foul and exhausted under a judicious rotation, " matters would
be much worse were any other system followed."
4929. The particular crops which enter into a system of rotation must obviously be such as are suited to
the soil and climate, thougn, as the experienced author so often quoted observes, " they will be somewhat
varied by local circumstances, such as the proximity of towns and villages, where there is a greater de-
mand for turnips, potatos, hay, &c. than in thinly peopled districts. In general, beans and clover, with
rye-grass, are interposed between corn crops on clayey soils ; and turnips, potatoes, and clover with rye-
grass on dry loams and sands, or what are technically known by the name of turnip soils. A variety of
Book VI. ROTATION OF CROPS. 799
other plants, such as peas, tares, cabbages, and carrots, occupy a part, though commonly but a small part,
of that division of a farm which is allotted to green crops. This order of succession is called the system of
alternate husbandry ; and on rich soils, or such as have access to abundance of putrescent manure, it is
certainly the most productive of all others, both for food for man and for the inferior animals. One half
of a farm is in this course always under some of the different species of cereal grasses, and the other half
under pulse, roots, cultivated herbage, or plain fallow.
4930. But the greater part of the arable land of Britain cannot be maintained in a fertile state under
this management; and sandy soils, even though highly manured, sOon become too incohesive under a
course of constant tillage. It therefore becomes necessary to leave that division or break that carries cul-
tivated herbage to be pastured for two years or more, according to the degree of its consistency and fer.
lility J and all the fields of a farm are treated thus in their turn if they require it. This is called the
system of convertible husbandry, a regular change being constantly going on from aration to pasturage,
and vice versa.
4931. Not to repeat the same kind of crop at too short intervals, is another rule with regard to the suc-
cession of crops. Whatever may be the cause, whether it is to be sought for in the nature of the soil or
of the plants themselves, experience clearly proves the advantages of introducing a diversity of species
into every course of cropping. When land is pastureil several years before it is brought again under the
plough, there may be less need for adhering steadily to this rule ; but the degeneracy of wheat and other
corn crops recurring upon the same land every second year for a long period, has been very generally ac-
knowledged. It is the same with what are called green crops ; beans and peas, potatos, turnips, and in
an especial manner red clover, become all of them much less productive, and much more liable to disease,
when they come into the course, upon the same land, every second, third, or fourth year. But what the
interval ought to be has not yet been ascertained, and, from the great number of years that experiments
must be continued to give any certain result, probably cannot be determined until the component parts of
soils, and particularly the sort of vegetable nourishment which each species of plant extracts from the
soil, have been more fully investigated.
4932. A change qf variety as well as of the species, and even of the plants of the same variety, is found
to be attended with advantage j and in the latter case, or a change of seed, the species and variety being
the same, the practice is almost universal. It is well known, that of two parcels of wheat,'for instance, as
much alike in quality as possible, the one which had grown on a soil differing much from that on which
it is to be sown, will yield a better produce than the other that grew in the same or a similar soil and cli-
mate. The farmers of Scotland accordingly find that wheat from the south, even though it be not, as it
usually is, better than their own, is a very advantageous change ; and oats and other grain brought from
a clayey to a sandy soil, other things being equal, are more productive than such as have grown on sandy
soil {Supp. Encyc. Brit. art. Agr. 144.)
4933. The following are examples of rotations suited to different soils, as given in Brown's
excellent Treatise on Rural Affairs. The basis of every rotation, he says, " we hold to
be either a bare summer fallow, or a fallow on which drilled turnips are cultivated, and
its conclusion to be with the crops taken in the year preceding a return of falloAv or drilled
turnips, when of course a new rotation commences.
4934. Rotation for strong deep lands. According to this rotation, wh^t and drilled beans are the crops
to be cultivated, though clover and rye-grass may be taken for one year in place of beans, should such a
variety be viewed as more eligible. The rotation begins with summer fallow, because it is only on strong
deep lands that it can be profitably practised ; and it may go on for any length of time, or so long as the
land can be kept clean, though it ought to stop the moment that the land gets into a contrary condition. A
considerable quantity of manure is required to go on successfully ; perhaps dung should be given to each
bean crop; and if this crop is drilled and attentively horse-hoed, the rotation may turn out to be one of
the most profitable that can be exercised.
4935. Rotation for loams and clays. Where it may not be advisable to carry the first rotation into
execution, a different one can be practised, according to which labour will be more divided, and the usual
grains more generally cultivated j for instance, the following, which used to be common in East Lo-
thian : —
1. Fallow, with dung. 4. Barley. 7. Beans drilled and horse-hoed.
2. Wheat. 5. Clover and rye-grass. 8. Wheat.
3. Beans, drilled and horse-hoed. 6. Oats or wheat.
This rotation is excellently calculated to insure an abundant return through the whole of it, provided
dung is bestowed upon the clover stubble. Without this supply the rotation would be crippled, and
inferior crops of course produced in the concluding years.
4936. Rotation for clays and loams of an inferior description. This rotation is calculated for soils of an
inferior description to those already treated of.
1. Fallow, with dung. 3. Clover and rye-grass. 5. Beans, drilled and horse-hoed.
2. Wheat. 4. Oats. 6. Wheat
According to this rotation, also in use in East Lothian, the rules of good husbandry are studiously practised ;
while the sequence is obviously calculated to keep the land in good order, and in such a condition as to
ensure crops of the greatest value. If manure is bestowed either upon the clover-stubble or before the
beans are sown, the rotation is one of the best that can be devised for the soils mentioned.
4937. Rotation for thin clays. On thin clays gentle husbandry is indispensably necessary, otherwise the
soil may be exhausted, and the produce unequal to the expense of cultivation. Soils of this description will
not improve much while under grass ; but unless an additional stock of manure can be procured, there is
a necessity of refreshing them in that way, even though the produce should in the mean time be compa-
ratively of small value. The following rotation is not an improper one :
1. Fallow, with dung. 3. Grass pastured, but not too early eaten. 5. Grass.
2. Wheat 4. Grass. 6. Oats.
This rotation may be shortened or lengthened, according to circumstances, but should never extend
further in point of ploughing than when dung can be given to the fallow-break. This is the keystone of
the whole; and if neglected the rotation is rendered useless.
4938. Rotation for peat earth soils. These are not friendly to wheat, unless aided by a quantity of cal-
careous matter. Taking them in a general point of view, it is not advisable to cultivate wheat, but a
crop of oats may almost be depended upon, provided the previous management has been judiciously exe-
cuted. If the subsoil of peat earth lands is retentive of moisture, the process ought to commence with a
bare summer fallow ; but if such are incumbent on free and open bottoms, a crop of turnips may be sub-
stituted for fallow ; according to which method, the surface will get a body which naturally it did not
possess. Grass on such soils must always occupy a great space of every rotation, because physical cir-
cumstances render regular cropping utterly impracticable.
1. Fallow, or turnips with dung. quantity of perennial rye- circumstances permit the land to
2 Oats of an early variety. grass. be broken up, when oats are to be
i. Clover, and a considerable 4. Pasture for several years, till repeated.
800 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
4939. Rotation for light soils. These are easily managed, though to procure a full return of the profit
which they are capable of yielding, requires generally as much attention as is necessary in the manage,
ment of those of a stronger description. Upon light soils, a bare summer fallow is seldom called for, as
cleanliness may be preserved by growing turnips, and other leguminous articles. Grass also is of emi-
nent advantage upon such soils, often yielding a greater profit than what is afforded by culmiferous
crops.
1. Turnips. 3. Clover and rye-grass.
2. Spring wheat, or barley. 4. Oats or wheat.
This is a fashionable rotation; but it may be doubted whether a continuance of it for any considerable
period is advisable, because both turnips and clover are found to fall off when repeated so often as once in
four years. Common red clover will not grow every four years, unless gypsum be restored to the land.
Perhaps the rotation would be greatly improved were it extended to eight years, whilst the ground, by such
an extension, would be kept fresh and constantly in good condition. As, for instance, were seeds for pas-
tare sown in the second year, the ground kept three years under grass, broke up for oats in the sixth year,
drilled with beans and peas in the seventh, and sown with wheat in the eighth ; the rotation would then
be complete, because it included every branch of husbandry, and admitted a variety in management gene-
rally agreeable to the soil, and always favourable to the interest of cultivators. The rotation may also con.
sist of six crops, were the land kept only one year in grass, though few situations admit of so much
cropping^ unless additional manure is witliin reach.
4940. Rotation for sandy soils. These, when properly manured, are well adapted to turnips, though it
rarely happens that wheat can be cultivated on them with advantage, unless they are dressed with alluvial
compost, marl, clay, or some such substances as will give a body or strength to them, which they do not
naturally possess. Barley, oats, and rye, the latter especially, are, however, sure crops on sands, and in
favourable seasons will return greater profit than can be obtained from wheat
1. Turnips well manured consumed on the ground. 3. Clover and rye-grass.
2. Barley sown with clover and rye-grass. 4. Wheat, rye, or oats.
By keeping the land three years in grass, the rotation would be extended to six years, a measure highly
advisable."
4941. These examples are sufficient to illustrate the subject of improved rotations;
but as the best general schemes may be sometimes momentarily deviated from with ad-
vantage, the same able author adds, that " cross cropping, in some cases, may perhaps
be justifiable in practice ; as, for instance, we have seen wheat taken after oats with great
success, when these oats had followed a clover crop on rich soil ; but, after all, as a ge-
neral measure, that mode of cropping cannot be recommended. We have heard of
another rotation, which comes almost under the like predicament," though, as the test of
experience has not yet been applied, a decisive opinion cannot be pronounced upon its
merits. This rotation begins with a bare fallow, and is carried on with wheat, grass for
one year or more, oats, and wheat, where it ends. Its supporters maintain that beans
are an uncertain crop, and cultivated at great expense ; and that in no other way will
corn, in equal quantity and of equal value, be cultivated at so little expense as according
to the plan mentioned. That the expense of cultivation is much lessened, we acknow-
ledge, because no more than seven ploughings are given through the whole rotation ;
but whether the crops will be of equal value, and whether the ground will be preserved
in equally good condition, are points which remain to be ascertained by experience."
{^Brown on Rural Affairs.)
4942. As a general guide to devising rotations on clay soils, it may be observed, that
winter or autumn sown crops are to be preferred to such as are put in in spring. Spring
ploughing on such soils is a hazardous business, and not to be practised where it can
possibly be avoided. Except in the case of drilled beans, there is not th^slightest
necessity for ploughing clays in the spring months ; but as land intended to carry beans
ought to be early ploughed, so that the benefit of frost may be obtained, and a* the seed
furrow is an ebb one, rarely exceeding four inches in deepness, the hazard of spring
ploughing for this article is not of much consequence. Ploughing with a view to clean
soils of the description under consideration has little effect, unless given in the summer
months. This renders summer fallow indispensably necessary ; and without this radical
process, none of the heavy and wet soils can be suitably managed, or preserved in a good
condition.
4943. To adopt a judicious rotation of cropping for every soil, requires a degree of
judgment in the farmer, which can only be gathered from observation and experience.
The old rotations were calculated to wear out the soil, and to render it unproductive.
To take wheat, barley, and oats in succession, a practice very common thirty years ago,
was sufficient to impoverish the best of land, while it put little into the pockets of the
farmer ; but the modern rotations, such as those which we have described, are founded
on principles which ensure a full return from the soil, without lessening its value, or im-
poverishing its condition. Much depends, however, upon the manner in which the
different processes are executed ; for the best arranged rotation may be of no avail, if the
processes belonging to it are imperfectly and unseasonably executed. fSee 2221.)
The best farmers in the northern counties now avoid over-cropping or treating land in
any way so as to exhaust its powers, as the greatest of all evils.
Sect. II. The working of Fallows.
4944. The practice of fallowing, as we have seen in our historical view of Greek and
Roman agriculture, has existed from the earliest ages ; and the theory of its beneficial
Book VI. FALLOWING. 801
effects \vc have endeavoured to explain. (2175.) The Romans with their agiiculture in-
troduced fallows in every part of Europe ; and two crops, succeeded either by a year's
fallow, or by leaving the land to rest for two or more years, became the rotation on all
soils and under all circumstances. This mode of cultivating arable land is still the most
universal in Europe, and was prevalent in Britain till the middle of the last century ; but
fis a crop was lost every year they occurred, a powerful aversion from naked fallows arose
about that time, and called forth numerous attempts to show that they were unnecessary,
and consequently an immense public loss. This anti- fallowing mania, as it has been called,
was chiefly supported by Arthur Young, Nathaniel Kent, and others, members or cor-
respondents of the Board of Agriculture : it was at its greatest height about the beginning
of the present century, but has now spent its force ; and after exhausting all the argu-
ments on both sides, as an able author has observed, " the practice does not appear to
give way, but rather to extend."
4945. The expediency or inexpediency of pulverising and cleaning the soil by a barefalloWt
is a question that can be determined only by experience, and not by argument. No rea-
sons, however ingenious, for the omission of this practice, can bring conviction to the
mind of a farmer, who, in spite of all his exertions, finds, at the end of six or eight years,
that his land is full of weeds, sour, and comparatively unproductive. Drilled and horse-
hoad green crops, though cultivated with advantage on almost every soil are probably n
general unprofitable as a substitute for fallow, and after a time altogether inefficient.
It is not because turnips, cabbages, &c. will not grow in such soils, that a fallow is re-
sorted to, but because, taking a course of yeai-s, the value of the successive crops is found
to be so much greater, even though an unproductive year is interposed, as to induce a
preference to fallowing. Horse-hoed crops, of beans in particular, postpone the recur-
rence of fallow, but in few situations can ever exclude it altogether. On the other hand,
the instances that have been adduced, of a profitable succession of crops on soils of this
description, without the intervention of a fallow, are so well authenticated, that it would
be extremely rash to assert that it can in no case be dispensed with on clay soils. In-
stances of this kind are to be found in several parts of Young's Annals of Agricul-
ture; and a very notable one, on Greg's farm of Coles, in Hertfordshire, is accurately
detailed in the sixth volume of The Communications to the Board of Agriculture.
4946. The principal causes of this extramdinaj-y difference among men of great experience, may probably
be found in the quality of the soil, or in the nature of the climate, or in both. Nothing is more vague
than the names by which soils are known in diflerent districts, (ireg's farm, in particular, though the
soil is denominated " heavy arable land," and " very heavy land," is found so suitable to turnips, that a
sixth part of it is always under that crop, and these are consumed on the ground by sheep; a system of
management which every farmer must know to be altogether impracticable on the wet tenacious clays of
other districts. It may indeed be laid down as a criterion for determining the question, that wherever this
management can be profitably adopted, fallow, as a regular branch of the course, must be not less absurd
than it is injurious, both to the cultivator and to the public. It is probable, therefore, that, in debating
this point, the opposite parties are not agreed about the quality of the soil ; and, in particular, about its
property of absorbing and retaining moisture, so diflerent in soils that in common language have the same
denomination.
4947. Another cause of difference must be found in the climate. It is well known that a great deal more
rain falls on the west than on the east coast of Britain; and that between the northern and southern
counties there is at least a month or six weeks' difference in the maturation of the crops. Though the
soil, therefore, be as nearly as possible similar in quality and surface, the period in which it is accessible to
agricultural operations must vary accordingly. Thus, in the south-eastern counties of the island, where
the crops may be all cut down, and almost all carried home by the end of August, much may be done
in cleansing and pulverising the soil, during the months of September and October, while the farmers of
the north are exclusively employed in harvest work, which is frequently not finished by the beginning
of November. In some districts in the south of England, wheat is rarely sown before December ; whereas
in the north, and still more in Scotland, if it cannot be got completed by the end of October, it must com-
monly be delayed till spring, or oats or barley be taken in place of wheat. It does not then seem of any
utility to enter farther into this controversy, which every skilful cultivator must determine for himself.
All the crops, and all the modes of management which have been proposed as substitutes for fallow, are
well known to such men, and would unquestionably have been generally adopted long ago, if, upon a
careful consideration of the advantages and disadvantages on both sides, a bare fallow was found to be un-
profitable in a course of years. The reader who wishes to examine the question fully may consult, among
many others, the following: — Young's Annals of Agriculture, and his writings generally; Hunter's
Georgical Essays ; Dickson's Practical Agriculture ; Sir H. Davy's Agricultural Chemistry; The
Agricultural Chemistry of Chaptal; Brown's Treatise on Eural Affairs j The County Reports; The Ge-
neral Report of Scotland, and the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 90.
4948. The importance of naked fallows has been ably pointed out by a writer in the work last referred
to. " In order," he says, " to show more forcibly the difficulty of cleaning heavy lands for green croijs,
let us take a review of the time of the year in which these crops should be sown. In clay lands,
beans must be sown in March at latest, and before that period of the year no one can pretend to
clean land at all. Finding it impossible to use them as a fallow crop, they are sown without dung on
that part of the rotation which is penultimate to bare fallow. On light lands, beans will not carry
much straw without manure, and their utility as a crop in the rotation is, of course, thereby much
decreased on such soils ; and if they are to be sown as a fallow crop with dung on the land that is
to be appropriated to fallow, they give much less time for the preparatory cleaning of the land than
turnips, as they must be sown at latest in April. On all kinds of soil potatoes must be planted by
April ; and the same obser^'ations will, therefore, ajiply to them as to beans as a cleaner of the land. It
is only from their great value as human food, and from their inability to grow without dung, that they
are planted as a fallow crop ; because it is impracticable to keep land clean, and much more so to make
it clean, under a potato fallow. Thus there is difficulty in cleaning land, without summer fallow, with
beans and potatoes on every kind of soil in any spring, however favourable; and it is quite impossible to
do 30 in a wet one. There is also difficulty in cleaning strong clay land even by turnip-time in May; and
3 F
802 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
the greatest facility which a farmer possesses of cleaning his land or keeping it clean^ under a green crop,
is by a turnip one, on a light soil resting on an open bottom, in a dry season. This last instance amounts,
in fact, to all the boasted possibility of keeping land clean by green crops, without the assistance of bare
fallow. But even this substitution is only an approxhiiation to cleanliness ; for every one knows, who has
farmed light soils for a series of rotations, whatever his practice may be, that even the turnip crop cannot
be raised on them for an indefinite period without the land getting foul with root- weeds, such as quicks
and knot grass ; and no better mode of extirpating these formidable robbers of the artificial nourishment
of the cultivated crops, than by bare fallowing, has yet been discovered. They are the rooks of the soil.
Indeed, the practice of the best farmers of light land, however great their desire to curtail the extent of
bare fallow may be, is to have a portion of the land under fallow, though the extent of it may no doubt be
limited by the want of manure, from a desire to keep their land clean ; and this is accomplished 6y
summer fallowing that portion of it which had carried potatoes in the preceding rotation, and raising the
potatoes and turnips on that part which had been previously thoroughly cleaned by summer fallowing.
This is a good practice, not only as a means of keeping land clean, but as following out that system of
alternate husbandry of white and green crops, which has, by abolishing a succession of white crops with
their scourging effects, tended more than any other to render the soil of these islands all alike fertile.
But will summer fallow keep land clean? Undoubtedly it will, if proi)erly performed. It gives the op-
portunity of working land in June and July, when every crop should be in the ground, and when thesun
is so powerful, and the atmosphere so warm and dry, as to kill every plant that has not a hold of the
ground. The process already described, of ploughing, harrowing, and rolling, according to the state of
the ground, is admirably adapted for cutting the matted land in pieces, for shaking the detached lumps of
earth asunder, and for bruising to powder every hardened ball of earth into which the fibres or roots of
weeds might penetrate ; and the hand-picking carries off every bit of weed which might possess any latent
vegetative power. Land that cannot be cleaned under such favourable circumstances as to season, must be
excessively foul, the season very wet and cold, or the fallowing process conducted with great slovenliness.
It must be confessed, that fallowing is too often worked very negligently. It is thought by some, that
the land can be cleaned at any time before seed-time in autumn ; and other things of less importance too
often attract the attention from the more important fallow ; that weeds, though they do grow, can be
easily ploughed down, and that the ploughing of them down assists to manure the land. Such thoughts
too often prevail over better knowledge ; and they furnish a strong argument in favour of increasing,
rather than of diminishing, the means of cleanliness. But such thoughts display, in their effects, great
negligence and ignorance : negligence, in permitting any weeds to cover the land, particularly the root-
growing ones, by which the strength of the soil is exhausted, and in losing the most favourable part of
the season to accomplish their destruction ; and ignorance, in thinking that weeds ploughed down
afford nourishment to the soil, when that soil has been exhausting itself in bearing the crop of weeds.
These are facts which are known to every practical farmer, and the nature of which presses upon him
a conviction of the necessity of summer fallowing more strongly than all the arguments that can be most
speciously drawn, by analogy, from the practice of other arts. Reasoning from analogy is feeble when
opposed to experience. Gardeners, no doubt, raise crops every year from the same piece of ground ; but
their practice is not quite analogous to that of the husbandman. They apply a great quantity of manure
to the soil, and they permit few or no plants to run to seed, the bringing of which to perfection, in the
cereal crops, constitutes the great exhaustion to the soil. Gardeners, however, do something like fal-
lowing their ground at stated periods, as every three or four years they dig the ground a double spit of
the spade in depth, and lay it up in winter to the frost; and they reserve alternate pieces of ground for
the support of late crops ; all which practices approach nearly to our ideas of summer fallowing." {Quar.
Jour. Ag. vol ii. p. 105.)
4949. Fallows unnecessary on friable soils. However necessary the periodical recurrence of fallow may
oe on retentive clays, its warmest advocates do not recommend it on turnip soils, or on any friable loams
incumbent on a porous subsoil ; nor is it in any case necessary every third year, according to the practice
of some districts. On the best cultivated lands it seldom returns oftener than once in six or eight years ;
and in favourable situations for obtaining an extra supply of manure, it may be advantageously dispensed
with for a still longer period. {Suppl. to Encyc. Brit. art. Agr.)
4950. The operation offalloidng, as commonly practised in England, is, in usefulness
and effect, very different from what it ought to be. In mo.st places the first furrow is
not given till the spring, or even till the month of May or June ; or, if it is given earlier,
the second is not given till after midsummer, and on the third the wheat is sown. Land
may rest under this system of management ; but to clean it from weeds, to pulverise it, or
to give it the benefits of aeration and heat, is impossible. The farmer in some cases pur-
posely delays ploughing his fallows, for the sake of the scanty bite the couch and weeds
afford to his sheep ; and for the same reason, having ploughed once, he delays the second
ploughing. It is not to be wondered at, that under such a system, the theoretical agri-
culturist should have taken a rooted aversion from what are thus erroneously termed
fallows. The practice of the best farmers of the northern counties is very different, and
that practice we shall here detail.
4951. A proper fallow invariably commences after harvest ; the land intended to be fallowed getting
one ploughing, which ought to be as deep as the soil will admit, even though a little of the till or subsoil is
brought up. This both tends to deepen the cultivated, or manured, soil, as the fresh accession of hitherto
uncultivated earth becomes afterwards incorporated with the former manured soil, and greatly facilitates
the separation of the roots of weeds during the ensuing fallow process, by detaching them completely
from any connection with the fast subsoil. This autumnal ploughing, usually called the winter furrow,
promotes the rotting of stubble and weeds ; and, if not accomplished towards the end of harvest, must be
given in the winter months, or as early in the spring as possible. In giving this first ploughing, the old
ridges should be gathered up, if practicable, as in that state they are kept dry during the winter months ;
but it is not uncommon to split them out or divide them, especially if the land had been previously highly
gathered, so that each original ridge of land is divided into two half ridges. Sometimes, when the land is
easily laid dry, the furrows of the old ridges are made the crowns of the new ones, or the land is ploughed
in the way technically called crown-and-ftcrrow. In other instances, two ridges are ploughed together,
by what is called casting, which has been already described. After the field is ploughed, all the inter-
furrows, and those of the headlands, are carefully opened up by the plough, and are afterwards gone over
effectually by a labourer with a spade, to remove all obstructions, and to open up the water furrows into
the fence ditches, wherever that seems necessary, that all moisture may have a ready exit. In everyplace
where water is expected to lodge, such as dishes, or hollow places in the field, cross or obhque furrows
are drawn by the plough, and their intersections carefully opened into each other by the spade. Where-
ever it appears necessary, cross cuts are also made through the head ridges into the ditches with a spade,
and every possible attention is exerted, that no water may stagnate in any part of the field.
4952. As soon as the spring seed-time is over, the fallow land is again ploughed end-long. If formerly
split, it is now ridged up ; if formerly laid up in gathered ridges, it is split or cloven down. It is then
Book VI.
MANAGEMENT OF MANURES.
803
cross-ploughed ; and after lying till sufficiently dry to admit the harrows, it is harrowed and rolled re-
peatedly, and every particleof the vivacious roots of weeds brought up to view, carefully gathered by hand
into heaps, and either burnt on the field, or carted off to the compost heap. The fallow is then ridged up,
which places it in a safe condition in the event of bad weather, and exposes a new surface to the harrows
and roller ; after which the weeds are again gathered by hand, but a previous harrowing is necessary. It
is afterwards ploughed, harrowed, rolled, and gathered as often as it may be necessary to reduce it into line
tilth, and completely to eradicate all root- weeds. Between these successive operations, repeated crops of
seedling weeds are brought into vegetation, and destroyed. The larvae likewise of various insects, together
with an infinite variety of the seeds of weeds, are exposed to be devoured by birds, which are then the
farmer's best friends, though often proscribed as his bitterest enemies.
4953. The use erf the harrow and roller in the fallow process,
has been condemned by some writers on husbandry, who allege
that frequent ploughing is all that is necessary to "destroy root-
weeds, Dv the baking or drying of the clods in the sun and
wind ; but experience has ascertained, that frequently turning
over the ground, Uiou^h absolutely necessary while the fallow
process is going on, can never eradicate couch-grass or other
root-weeds. In all clay soils, the ground turns up in lumps or
clods, which the severest drought will not penetrate so sulH-
ciently as to kill the included roots. When the land is again
ploughed, these lumps are turned over and no more, and the
action of the plough serves in no degree to reduce them, or at
least very iraperceplibly. Jt may lie added, that these lumps
likewise enclose innumerable seeds of weeds, which cannot
vegetate unless brought under the influence of the sun and air
near the surface. The diligent use, therefore, of the harrow
and roller, followed by careful hand-picking, is indispensably
necessary to the perfection of a fdllo* process. (General Re-
pott of Scotland, vol. iv. p. 419.)
4964. The working of fallows by the grubber, is an important
modern improvement. We have already described several of
these implemenu, and shall here introduce one which has been
made public since the first five hundred pages of this work were
printed.
4955. KirkwooiTs improved grubber ( fig. 721.) has this pecu-
liar advantage, that " the whole of the body of the instrument,
and of course all the teeth, can be raised out of the ground at
pleasure, and even while the machine is in motion ; which is
extremely convenient, not only in turning at the head ridges.
but whenever an obstruction is met with in the ground, arising
firom rocky, retentive, or other impenetrable soils- In such of
these as would completely interrupt the progress of the ordinary
instrument, this proceeds with ease, by merely being lifted
more or less over them. The operation is performed bv the
driver bearing with his weight on the guiding handles of the
grubber ; and this pressure is made to raise the whole machine
y a very skilful application of mechanical power. The pres-
sure on the guiding handles (al, it will be observed, turns the
whole handle round the axle of the hind wheels (b b), as round
a fulcrum, so that the handle then becomes a lever, on the
shorter extremity of which the frame of the teeth rests. It is
evident, therefore, that by bearing on the handle which forms
the long end of the lever, the shorter end must be raised, and
along with it the hinder part of the teeth-frame, and, of course,
the teeth also. But there is still another contrivance, by which
the force is made to act at the same time on the forepart of the
frame, and to raise it likewise. This is done by a long rod
(</ e), which is attached at the extremity to afulcrum (d), raised
on the handle frame, and at the other "to the one end of a bent
lever (efg), which turns on the axle of the fore wheel as a
centre, and at an intermediate point carries the fore end of the
teeth frame. WTiile the handle, therefore, is depressed, and
raises the hinder part of this frame, it at the same time pulls
the rod, turns the front lever round the axle of the fore wheel,
and by this means elevates the teeth before as well as behind.
{Highl. Soc. Trans, vol.
simple,
p. 132
495il When effectually reduced to fine tilth, and thoroughly cleaned from roots and weeds, the fallow is
ploughed end-long into gathered ridges or lands, usually fifteen or eighteen feet broad. If the seed is to
be drilled, tlie lands'or ridges are made of such widths as may suit the construction of the particular drill,
machine to be employed. If the seed is to be sown by hand, the lands or ridges are commonly formed into
what are called single or double cast ridges ; the first of four paces or steps, and the latter of eight steps in
width. These widths are found the most convenient for a one-handed sower. An expert sower can,
however, measure his handful to almost any width ; but the above long experience has made the standard.
After the land has been once gathered by a deep furrow, proportioned to the depth of the culti-
vated soil, the manure is laid on, and evenly spread over the surface, whether muck, lime, marl, or com-
post. A second gathering is now given by the plough ; and this being generally the furrow upon which
the seed is sown, great care is used to plough as equally as possible. After the seed is sown and the land
thoroughly harrowed, all the inter-furrows, furrows of the headlands, and oblique or gaw furrows, are
carefully oi)ened up by the plough, and cleared out by the spade, as already mentioned, respecting the first
or winter ploughing.
4957. The expense of fallowing may appear, from what has been said, to be very con-
siderable, when land has been allowed to become stocked with weeds ; but if it be kept
under regular management, corn alternating with drilled pulse or green crops, the sub-
sequent returns of fallow will not require near so much labour. In common cases,
from four to six ploughings are generally given, with harrowing and rolling between,
as may be found necessary ; and, as we have already noticed, the cultivator may be
employed to diminish this heavy expense. But it must be considered, that upon the
manner in which the fallow operations are conducted, depend not only the ensuing
wheat crop, but in a great measure all the crops of the rotation. (Supp. to Encyc, Brit.
art. Jgr. 128.)
Sect. III. General Management of Manures.
4958. The manures of animal, vegetable, or mineral origin have been already described,
and their operation explained. (2224.) But a very few of these substances can be ob-
tained by farmers in general ; whose standard resources are farm-yard dung and lime,
and composts of these with earth. It is on the management of these that we propose to
deliver the practice of the best British farmers.
3 F 2
804 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
SuBSECT, 1. Management of Farm-7/ard Dung.
4959 The basis of farm-yard dimg is straw, to which is added, in its progress through
the farm-yard, the excrementitious substances of live stock. From every ton of dry straw,
about three tons of farm-yard dung may be obtained, if the after-management be properly
conducted ; and, as the weight of straw per acre runs from one ton to one and a half,
about four tons of dung, on an average of the different crops, may be produced from the
straw of every acre under corn. {Husbandry of Scotland, vol. ii.) Hence (it maybe
noticed) the great importance of cutting corn as low as possible ; a few inches at the root
of the stalk weighing more than double the same length at the ear.
4960. The conversion qf straw into farm yard dung in the farmery, is thus effected : — The straw is served
out to cattle and horses in the houses and fold- yards, either as provender or litter, and commonly for both
purposes ; turnips in winter, and green clover in summer, are given to the stock both in the houses and
yards : on this food the animals pass a great deal of urine, and afford the means of converting the straw
into a richer manure than if it were eaten alone. All the dung from the houses, as they are cleaned out,
is regularly spread over the yards in which young cattle are left loose, where litter is usually allowed in
great abundance; or over the dunghill itself, if there is one at hand. This renders the quality of the
whole mass more uniform ; and the horse-dung, which is of a hot nature, promotes the decomposition
of the woody fibres of the straw.
4961. The preparation oftlie contents of the farvi-yard for laying on the land, is by turning it over ; or,
what is preferable, carting it out to a dunghill. The operation of carting out is usually performed during
the frosts of winter : it is then taken to the field in which it is to be employed, and neatly built in dunghills
of a square form, three or four feet high, and of such a length and breadth as circumstances may require.
What is laid up in this manner early in winter, is commonly sufficiently prepared for turnips in June ;
but if not carried from the straw-yards till spring, it is necessary to turn it once or oftener, for the purpose
of accelerating the decomposition of the strawy part of the mass. When dung is applied to fallows in July
or August, preparatively to autumn-sown wheat, a much less degree of putrefaction will sutRce than for
turnips: a clay soil, on which alone fallows should ever be resorted to, not requiring dung so much rotted
as a finely pulverised turnip soil ; and besides, as tho wheat docs not need all the benefit of the dung for
some time, the woody fibre is gradually broken down in the course of the winter, and the nourishment of
the plants continued till spring, or later, when its effects are most beneficial.
49()2. Management of stable dung. There is a most valual)le paper on this subject by Lord Meadow-
bank, in the second volume of the Com. to the Board of Agr. " His lordship has ever found, that, instead
of dung being the richest manure when completely fermented, it should, if possible, be laid on when very
imjierfectly fermented, but nevertheless when the process is going on at such a rate as that it must con-
tinue after mixture with the soil till it is completed. Every gardener knows, that the dung used in hot-
beds has little effect in comparison of fresh dung; and every farmer knows, that a dunghill, which has by
any accident been kept for years, is of little more value than so much very rich earth. Every person of
attention, too, must have remarked the great effects which ensue from turning over a dunghill recently
before using it, and that composts operate most powerfully, if used when sensibly hot, from the activity of
the fermentation which the recent mixture of the ingredients has occasioned, and when, consequently,
that process is very far from being completed." As farm dunghills are formed by degrees, it is desirable
to retard the fermentation of that which is first made, or to retain it in a state of fermentation, " so slow
or imperfect, that it may suffer little till after being turned over with the later made dung, it forms one
powerfully fermenting mass ; and that then it should be put into the soil, when the process is so far ad-
vanced that it will be completed, when, at the same time, little loss of substance has yet been suffered, and
when what volatile matter is afterwards extricated will diffuse itself through the soil In these circum-
stances, every thing is lodged in the soil that the dung can yield, either in point of mass or activity ; and
at the same time it is in a state when most likely to act as a powerful ferment, for promoting the putre-
faction of the decayed vegetables lying inert in the soil. I certainly, therefore, approve of the preserva-
tion of dunghills from much sun and much wind, as well as from that redundancy of moisture which is
apt to overflow and wash away the manure : but I think the pressure which the feet of animals give
them, especially of the lighter sort, does good, and prevents that violent fermentation which wastes the
substance, and, in my opinion, exhausts the fertilising powers of dung. This pressure contributes to pre-
serve it fresh till the time of employing it as a manure calls for putting it altogether, and at once, into that
highly active state of putrefaction, which, though no doubt checked by its distribution in the soil, is suffi-
cient to ensure a gradual and complete dissolution and diffusion of its substance. Unless, therefore,
dung is to be used for composts, it appears to me clearly advantageous to get the dung into the soil as
early as possible ; it is always wasting somewhat, when kept out of it : but when put into the soil in a
proper state, there is the utmost reason to think that what is extricated goes all to fertilise. Give me
leave to add, that I do not believe much is lost by dissolution in rain water. I could never discovei any
thing of the kind in the water of the furrows of a field properly manured and ploughed. The case, every
person knows, is quite different in fields recently limed or dressed with ashes ; but I am apt to think, that
the volatile and soluble parts of common dunghills have some attraction with the substance of soils, that
prevents their escape. We know that common loam extracts the noisome smell of the woollen cloths
used for intercepting the coarser oils that accompany spirits distilled from the sugar-cane, which scarce
^ny detergent besides can obtain from it ; and garden loam, impregnated as it must be with fermented
dung, is certainly not easily deprived of its fertility by the washing of rain. I must also observe, that I
take one of the great advantages derived from using dung with composts to be, the arresting and preserv-
ing the fertilising matter which escapes in the putrefactive fermentation ; and another to be, that dung
there operates as a ferment, to putrefy substances not sufficiently disposed to putrefy with activity of
themselves. You will observe, that this coincides exactly with the effects I have attributed to it upon soil,
and affords a very useful corollary with respect to the substances t© be used in top-dressings, which are
not to be covered with soil ; viz. that if fermenting or putrefying substances are used, the process should
have been completed, or nearly so, in a combination that has received the full benefit of it : that it is a
great waste to spread common dung on grass, without having first mixed it with sand, loam, or other
matter in which it has been dissolved and fixed ; so that when spread on the ground, the loss, which
would otherwise arise from fermentation and evaporation, is avoided; and that, if such a compost is
used at the time when the plants are in a growing state, and in a way to cover it soon, it is by far the most
advantageous method of laying it on." {Comm. B. Agr. vol. ii. p. 387.)
4963. Tlie iiushandman of Brabant is careful that his manure should never become parched and dried
up, by which means all the volatile salts would evaporate. He lays his dung, as often as possible, close
to his stables and cow-houses, and sheltered from the sun. If this cannot be avoided, he contrives to lay
it under some large tree, to partake of the shade of its boughs. As a receptacle for their dung, they
generally dig a pit, five or six feet deep, with sufficient dimensions for the necessary deposit, from the
month of March till harvest is over. The more opulent farmers are not satisfied with merely digging such
a pit : they further pave and line it with bricks, that the earth should not absorb any of its parts ; but that
the thick matter should remain plunged in a mass of stale, increased further by rain. The stables and
cow-houses are paved and sloped in such a manner as to communicate with a drain, which conveys all
Book VI. MANAGEMENT OF LIME AS A MANURE. 805
the stale of their cattle towards the dung pit, which, by this contrivance, it keeps constantly supplying."
{Comm. B. Agr. vol. ii.)
4964. In the application of farm-yard dung to land under tillage, particular attention
is paid to the cleanness of the soil ; and to use it at a time when, from the pulverisation
of the ground, it may be most intimately mixed with it. The most common time
of manuring with farm-yard dung is, therefore, either towards the conclusion of the
fallowing operations, or immediately before the sowing of fallow crops. If no dung
can be procured but what is made from the produce of the farm, it will seldom be
possible to allow more than ten or twelve tons to every acre, when the land is managed
under a regular course of white and green crops ; and it is thought more advantageous
to repeat this dose at short intervals, than to give a larger quantity at once, and at a more
distant period in proportion. (General Mejiort of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 517.) Farm-yard
dung, it is well known, is greatly reduced in value by being exposed to the atmosphere
in small heaps, previously to being spread, and still more after being spread. Its rich
juices are exhaled by the sun, or washed away by the rains, and the residuum is com-
paratively worthless. This is in an especial manner the case with Jong fresh dung, the
far greater part of which consists of wet straw in an entire state. All careful farmers,
accordingly, spread and cover in their dung with the plough, as soon as possible after it
is brought on the land.
4965. The use of fresh dung is decidedly opposite to tiie practice of the best farmers of turnip soils ; its
inutility, or rather injurious effects, from its opening the soil too much, is a matter of experience with
every one who cultivates drilled turnips on a large scale. As the whole farm-yard dung, on such land, is
applied to the turnip crop, it must necessarily happen that it should be laid on in different stages of putre-
faction ; and what is made very late in spring, often after a very slight fermentation, or none at all. The
experience of the effect of recent dung is accordingly very general, and the result, in almost every case,
is, that the growth of the young plants is slow; that they remain long in a feeble and doubtful state; and
that they seldom, in ordinary seasons, become a full crop, even though twice the quantity that is given of
short muck has been allowed. On the other hand, when the manure is considerably decomposed, the
effects are immediate, the plants rise vigorously, and soon put forth their rough leaf, after which the
beetle or fly does not seize on them ; and in a few weeks, the leaves become so large, that the plants pro-
bably draw the greatest part of their nourishment from the atmosphere. Though it were true, therefore,
that more nutritive matter is given out by a certain quantity of dung, applied in a recent state, and
allowed to decompose gradually in the soil, than if applied after undergoing fermentation and putrefac-
tion, the objection arising from the slowness of its operation would, in many instances, be an insuperable
one with farmers. But there seems reason to doubt if fresh strawy manure would ferment much in the
soil, after being spread out in so small a quantity as has been already mentioned ; and also if, in the
warm dry weather of summer, the shallow covering of earth given by the plough would not permit the
gaseous matters to escape to a much greater amount than if fermentation had been completed in a well-
built covered dunghill.
496S. Another great objection to the use offi-esh farm-yard dung is, that the seeds and roots of those
plants with which it commonly abounds spring up luxuriantly on the land ; and this evil nothing but a
considerable degree of fermentation can obviate. The mass of materials consists of the straw of various
crops, some of the grains of which, after all the care that can be taken, will adhere to the straw ; of the
dung of different animals voided, as is often the case with horses fed on oats, with the grain in an entire
state ; and of the roots, stems, and seeds of the weeds that had grown among the straw, clover, and hay,
and such as had been brought to the houses and fold- yards with the turnips and other roots given to live
stock.
4967. The degree of decornposition to which farm-yard dung should arrive, before it can be deemed a pro-
fitable manure, must depend on the texture of the soil, the nature of the plants, and the time of its
application. In general, clayey soils, as more tenacious of moisture, and more benefited by being ren-
dered incohesive and porous, may receive manure less decomposed than well pulverised turnip soils
require. Some plants, too, seem to thrive better with fresh dung than others, potatoes in particular ; but
all the small-seeded plants, such as turnips, clover, carrots, &c. which are extremely tender in the early
stage of their growth, require to be pushed forward into luxuriant vegetation with the least possible
delay, by means of short dung.
4968. The season when manure is applied, is also a material circumstance. In spring
and summer, whether used for corn or green crops, the object is to produce an imme-
diate effect, and it should therefore be more completely decomposed than may be neces-
sary when laid on in autumn for a crop whose condition will be almost stationary for
many months. {Sup. Ency. Brit. art. yigr, )
4969. The quantity of putrescent manure requisite for each acre of land during each
year is estimated, by Professor Coventry, at five tons per acre annually. That quantity
being supplied, not annually, but in quantities of twenty tons per acre every four years,
or twenty-five tons per acre every five years. {Q.ua'r' Jour. Agr. vol. ii. p. 335.)
SuBSECT. 2. Lime, and its Management as a Manure.
4970. Li7ne is by far the most important of the fossil manures; and, indeed, it may be
asserted, that no soil will ever be fit for much which does not contain a proportion of
this earth, either naturally or by artificial application. Next to farm-yard dung, lime is
in most general use as a manure, though it is one of a quite different character ; and when
judiciously applied, and the land laid to pasture, or cultivated for white and green crops
alternately, with an adequate allowance of putrescent manure, its effects are much
more lasting, and, in many instances, still more beneficial, than those of farm-yard dung.
Fossil manures. Sir H. Davy observes, must produce their effect, either by becoming
a constituent part of the plant, or by acting upon its more essential food, so as to render
it more fitted for the purposes of vegetable life. It is, perliaps, in the former of these
3 F 3
806 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
ways that wheat and some other plants are brought to perfection, after lime has been
applied, upon land that would not bring them to maturity by the most liberal use of dung
alone. This being an established fact may be considered one of the greatest importance
to all cultivators.
4971. IVith regard to ike quantity of lime that ought to be applied to diferent soils, it is
much to be regretted that Sir Humphry Davy has not thought proper to enter fully
into the subject. Clays, it is well known, require a larger quantity than sands or dry
loams. It has been applied accordingly in almost every quantity from 100 to 500
bushels or upwards per acre. About 160 bushels are generally considered a full dress-
ing for lighter soils, and 80 or 100 bushels more for heavy cohesive soils. One of the
greatest advantages arising from the use of lime on gravelly or sandy soils, is its power
of absorbing moisture from the air, which is in the highest degree useful to the crops in
dry summers.
4972. In the application of lime to arable land, there are some general rules commonly
attended to by diligent farmers, which we shall give nearly in the words of a recent
publication.
1. As the effects of lime greatly depend on its intimate admixture with the surface soil, it is essential
to have it in a powdery state at the time it is applied.
2. Lime having a tendency to sink in the soil, it should be ploughed in with a shallow furrow.
3. Lime may either be applied to grass land, or to land in preparation for green crops or summer fallow,
with almost equal advantage ; but, in general, the latter mode of application is to be preferred.
4. Lime ought not to be applied a second time to moory soils, unless mixed up as a compost, after which
the land should be immediately laid down to grass.
5. Upon fresh land, the effect of lime is much superior to that of dung. The ground, likewise, more
especially where it is of a strong nature, is more easily wrought ; in some instances, it is said, the saving
of labour would be sufficient to induce a farmer to lime his land, were no greater benefit derived from the
application than the opportunity thereby gained of working it in a more perfect manner. {General Report
of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 5o6.)
4973. In liming for improving hilly land, ivith a view to pastiire, a much smaller quan-
tity has been found to produce permanent and highly beneficial effects, when kept as
much as possible near the surface, by being merely harrowed in with the seeds, after a
fallow or green crop, instead of being buried by the plough.
4974. The successful practice of one of the most eminent farmers in Britain cannot be too generally
known in a matter of so great importance to farmers of such land, especially when lime must be brought from
a great distance, as was the case in the instance to which we are about to allude. " A few years after 1754,"
says Dawson, " having a considerable extent of outfield land in fallow, which I wished to lime previously
to its being laid down to pasture, and finding that I could not obtain a sufficient quantity of lime for the
whole in proper time, I was induced, from observing the effects of fine loam upon the surface of similar
soil, even when covered with bent, to try a small quantity of lime on the surface of this fallow, instead
of a larger quantity ploughed down in the usual manner. Accordingly, in the autumn, about twenty
acres of it were well harrowed, and then about fifty-six Winchester bushels only of unslacked lime were,
after being slacked, carefully spread upon each English acre, and immediately well harrowed in. As
many pieces of the lime, which had not been fully slacked at first, were gradually reduced to powder by
the dews and moisture of the earth, to mix these with the soil, the land was again well harrowed in three
or four days thereafter. This land was sown in the spring with oats, with white and red clover ^nd rye-
grass seeds, and well harrowed, without being ploughed again. The crop of oats was good ; the plants
of grass sufficiently numerous and healthy ; and they formed a very fine pasture, which continued good
until ploughed some years after for corn. About twelve years afterwards, I took a lease of the hilly farm
of Grubbet ; many parts of which, though of an earthy mould tolerably deep, were too steep and elevated
to be kept in tillage. As these lands had been much exhausted by cropping, and were full of couch-grass,
to destroy that and procure a cover of fine grass, I fallowed them, and laid on the same quantity of lime
per acre, then harrowed, and sowed oats and grass seeds in the spring exactly as in the last-mentioned
experiment. The oats were a full crop, and the plants of grass abundant. Several of these fields have
beeifnow above thirty years in pasture, and are still producing white clover, and other fine grasses ; no
bent or fog has yet appeared upon them. It deserves particular notice, that more than treble the quantity
of lime was laid upon fields adjoining, of a similar soil, but which being fitter for occasional tillage, upon
them the lime was ploughed in. These fields were also sown with oats and grass seeds. The latter throve
well, and gave a fine pasture the first year ; but afterwards the bent spread so fast, that, in three years,
there was more of it than of the finer grasses."
4975. The conclusions which Dawson draws from his extensive practice in the use of
lime and dung, deserve the attention of all cultivators of similar land.
1. That animal dung dropped upon coarse benty pastures, produces little or no improvement upon
them; and that, even when sheep or cattle are confined to a small space, as in the case of folding, their
dung ceases to produce any beneficial effect, after a few years, whether the land is continued in pasture,
or brought under the plough.
2. That even when land of this description is well fallowed and dunged, but not limed, though the dung
augments the produce of the subsequent crop of grain, and of grass also for two or three years, that there-
after its effects are no longer discernible either upon the one or the other.
3. That when this land is limed, if the lime is kept upon the surface of the soil, or well mixed with it,
and then laid down to pasture, the finer grasses continue in possession of the soil, even in elevated and
exposed situations, for a great many years, to the exclusion of bent and moss. In the case of Grubbet
hills, it was observed, that more than thirty years have now elapsed. Besides this, the dung of the ani-
mals pastured upon such land adds every year to the luxuriance, improves the quality of the pasture, and
augments the productive powers of the soil when afterwards ploughed for grain ; thus producing, upon a
benty outfield soil, effects similar to what are experienced when rich infield lands have been long in
pasture, and thereby more and more enriched.
4 That when a large quantity of lime is laid on such land, and ploughed down deep, the same effects
will not be produced, whether in respect to the permanent fineness of the pasture, its gradual ameliora-
tion by the dung of the animals pastured on it, or its fertility when afterwards in tillage. On the con-
trary, unless the surface is fully mixed with lime, the coarse grasses will in a few years regain possession
of the soil, and the dung thereafter deposited by cattle will not enrich the land for subsequent tillage.
Lastly. It also appears from what has been stated, that the four.shift husbandry is only proper for very
rich land, or in situations where there is a full command of dung. That by far the greatest part of the
land of this country requires to be continued in grass two, three, four, or more years, according to its
Book VI. COMPOSTS AND OTHER MANURES. 807
natural poverty ; that the objection made to tliis, viz that the coarse grasses in a few years usurp pos-
session of the soil, must be owing to the surface soil not being sufficiently mixed with lime, the lime
having been covered too deep by the plough. {Farmer's Magazine, vol. xiii. p. 69.)
Sect. IV. Composts and other Manures.
4976. Mixing farm-yard dung, in a state of fermentation, with earth, in which there is
much inert vegetable matter, — as the banks of old ditches, or what is collected from the
sides of lanes, &c., — will bring this inert, dead matter, consisting of the roots of decayed
grasses and other plants, into a state of putridity and solubility, and prepare it for
nourishing the crops or plants it may be applied to, in the very manner it acts on peat.
Dung, however, mixed with earth, taken from rich arable fields which have been long
cultivated and manured, can have no effect as manure to other land that the same earth
and dung would not produce applied separately ; because there is generally no inert
matter in this description of earth to be rendered soluble.
4977. Mixing dung, earth, and qidck-Ume together, can never be advisable ; because
quick-lime will render some of the most valuable parts of the dung insoluble. (See 2290.)
It will depend on the nature of soil or earth, whether even quick-lime only should be
mixed with it to form compost. If there be much inert vegetable matter in the earth,
the quick-lime will prepare it for becoming food for the plants it may be applied to ; but
if rich earth be taken from arable fields, the bottoms of dung-pits, or, in fact, if any soil
full of soluble matter be used, the quick-lime will decompose parts of this soluble matter,
combine with other parts, and render the whole mass less nourisliing as manure to plants
or crops than before the quick -lime was applied to it. Making composts, then, of rich
soil of this description, with dung or lime, mixed or separate, is evidently, to say no
more of it, a waste of time and labour. The mixture of earths of this description with
dung produces no alteration in the component parts of the earth, where there is no inert
vegetable substances to be acted on ; and the mixture of earth full of soluble matter vvith
dung and quick-lime, in a mass together, has the worst effects, the quick-lime decora-
posing and uniting with the soluble matter of the earth, as well as that of the dung ;
thus rendering both, in every case, less efficient as manures, than if applied separately
from the quick-lime, and even the quick-lime itself inferior as manure for certain soils,
than if it had never been mixed with the dung and earth at all. {Farmer s Magazine^
vol. XV. p, 351.)
4978. Mixing dung in a state of fermentation with peat, or forming what in Scotland
are called Meadowbank middens (2241.), is a successful mode of increasing the quantity
of putrescent manure. The peat, being dug and partially dried, may either be carted
into the farm-yard and spread over the cattle court, there to remain till tlie whole is
carted out and laid upon a dunghill to ferment; or it may be mixed up with the farm-
yard dung as carted out. If care be taken to watch the fermenting process, as the
fire of a clay-kiln is watched^ a few loads of dung may be made to rot many loads of
peat. Adding lime to such composts does not in the least promote fermentation,
while it renders the most valuable parts of the mass insoluble. Adding sand, ashes,
or earth, will, by tending to consolidate the mass, considerably impede the progress of
fermentation.
4979. Bone manure. Crushed bones were first introduced to Lincolnshire and York-
shire, about 1800, by a bone merchant at Hull; and the effect has been, according to a
writer in the British Farmers Magazine, vol. iii. p. 207., to raise wild unenclosed sheep-
walks from 2s. 6d. or 5s. to lOs. 6d. or 20^. an acre. The quantity at present laid on
is 12 bushels per acre drilled in, in the form of dust, with turnip seed. The turnips are
fed off with sheep, and succeeded by a corn crop, and by two crops of grass. It seems
to be generally admitted, that bone dust is not beneficial on wet retentive soils, as con-
tinued moisture prevents decomposition ; but in all descriptions of dry soils it never fails
of success. On the poor soil, or chalk or lime-stone of the woolds of Lincolnshire and
Yorkshire, the turnip crops are said to equal those of any part of England ; and the barley,
though coarse, to produce a greater quantity of saccharine matter than even the brightest
Norfolk samples. (Brit. Farm. Mag. vol. iii. p. 208.)
4980. The Doncaster Agricultural Association appointed a committee, in 1828, to make enquiries, and
report the result of them, on the use and advantages of bones as a manure. The report is full of interest,
and highly satisfactory as to the great value of this species. The following is a summary of deductions
from the details collected : —
1. That on dry sands, lime-stone, chalk, light loams, and peat, bones form a very highly valuable ma-
nure ; they may be laid on grass with great good effect j and, on arable lands, they may be laid on fallow
for turnips, or used for any of the subsequent crops.
2. That the best method of using them, when broad-cast, is previously to mix them up with earth, dung,
or other manures, and let them lie to ferment.
3. That if used alone, they may either be drilled with the seed or sown broad-cast
4. That bones which have undergone the process of fermentation are decidedly superior to those which
have not done so.
5. That the quantity should be about 25 bushels of dust, or 40 bushels of large, increasing the quantity
if the land be impoverished.
6. That upon clays and heavy loams, it does not yet appear that bones will answer.
3 F 4
808 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut III.
4981. Salt, nitre, and other manures have been already treated of in Part II. at sufficient
length. It is clear that both salt and nitre may be advantageously used in many cases.
Nitre continues to be a good deal used in Hertfordshire, on vv'hich it is sown at the rate
of 1^ cwt. per acre. It has been tried at this rate in Scotland to wheat and to grass,
and the effect is said to have been wonderful. Salt has been extensively used with almost
every crop at different rates, from 20 to 40 bushels per acre ; and it appears in many, if
not in most, cases to have proved useful. (Qwar. Jour. Agr, vol. i. p. 208., and Higkl.
Soc. Trans, vol. i. p. 147.)
Chap. II.
Ctdlure of the Cereal Grasses.
4982. The corn crops cultivated in Britain are, wheat, rye, barley, and oats. Other
culmiferous plants, as the maize, millet, and rice, have been tried with partial success in
warm districts, but they have no chance of ever becoming general in our climate. The
best description of the different species and varieties of Cercalia cultivated in Europe
will be found in Metzger's Europceische Cerealien in Botanischer und LanduirthschaftUcher
liinsLcht, ^c. Heidelberg, 1824. Folio, 20 plates. The plates are exceedingly well exe-
cuted ; and there are popular as well as scientific descriptions, with synonyms in all the
European languages.
4983. On the culture of culmiferous plants, a few general remarks may be of use to the
young farmer. Culmiferous plants, particularly wheat and rye, like most others, have two
sets of roots. The first originate with the germination of the grain, are always under
the soil, and are called the seminal roots ; the second spring from the first joint which is
formed near the surface of the soil, and from that joint strike down into the soil ; these
are called the coronal roots. The coronal roots appear chiefly intended for drawing
nourislnnent from the soil ; and, as Professor Martyn has observed, are judiciously placed
for this purpose, the richest part of all soils being on or near the surface. These fibres
are of larger diameter, more succulent, and never so long as the seminal. From these
facts, as to the roots of culmiferous plants, some important hints may be derived regarding
their culture. The use of stirring the surface in spring to facilitate the extension of the
coronal roots, is obvious ; the immediate effect of a top-dressing is also apparent, and
also that manures may be ploughed in too deep to give the full amount of their bene-
ficial effects to corn crops or grasses. Sageret, a scientific French agriculturist, proved
experimentally, that wdiere any of the grains or grasses are etiolated immediately after
germination, by growing too rapidly, or by being sown too thick or in too warm a sea-
son, the first joint from which the coronal or nourishing roots spring is raised above the
ground, and in consequence either throws out no roots at all, or so few as to nourish it
imperfectly ; in which case it either dies before it comes into flower, or before the seed is
matured. {Mem. de la Soc. Ag. de Seine, torn, ii.)
4984. Whether com ought to be sown broadcast or in drills, is a question which has
given rise to considerable discussion. The cultivation in rows of such plants as admit
of intertillage during the summer months,, is known to supersede the use of a summer
fallow on lighter soils. " In truth, the row culture of certain green crops is one of
the greatest improvements of modern agriculture, and should be extended by every
effort of instruction and example. By no other means yet known to us can so large
a produce be raised from land under constant tillage, so beneficial a rotation of crops
be adopted, or so great an economy be practised in the application of manures. But,
while the advantages are thus apparent with regard to the application of this species
of culture to our preparatory green crops, it does in no degree follow that advantages
equally great will result from its application to our crops of white corn. The analogy,
as it regards the nature of the plants which form the subject of cultivation, does not hold.
The cereal grains send forth numerous shoots or suckers, and the goodness of the crop
mainly depends on the vigour and number of the shoots which they send forth. The
other kind of crops do not, generally speaking, tiller like wheat, barley, or oats, but rise
from one stem. Reasoning from these principles, we should infer that the former class
of plants should be cultivated in that manner in which they are best suited to summer
tillage ; that is, in rows : the latter in that manner in which the seed is most equally de-
posited in the upper stratum of the soil, which is in broadcast. The opinions, however,
of intelligent agriculturists are not agreed as to the superiority in practice of the broad-
cast over the row system, even as it relates to the cereal grains. The farmer of Nor-
folk, or of the light soils of Sussex, will contend as strenuously for the superiority of the
row system as the farmer of East Lothian for tlie broadcast system ; and each may be
right as it regards the application of the principle to the circumstances of his own
situation. The question which is to be settled, however, is, — Which of the^wo systems
Book VI.
CULTURE OF THE CEREAL GRASSES.
809
is to be regarded as the rule in husbandry, and which the exception ? Now, — independ-
ently of the circumstances just adverted to, and judging only from the greater extent to
which the broad-cast system is carried on in the country ; from the fact of the row system
having declined in favour in districts where it had once been most extensively practised ;
and from its having recently ceased to make progress in general practice, — we should be
inclined to hold that, with respect to the cereal grains, the rule of agriculture is the
broad-cast system, and the exception the row system. The cases falling under the
exception may be, and doubtless are, very numerous and important. There are many
light soils in which the seeds require to be deposited at a considerable and equal depth,
and this the drill-machine effects better than sowing on the surface ; and there are many
thin cold clays which tend to throw out the plants, the best remedy for which is thought
to be deep sowing."
49S5. The sowing ofccyrn from the hand, " however, is known to be attended with some uncertainty ;
boing dependent for the accuracy of the execution upon the skill and attention of the sowers. The regu-
larity of the work is alsoafFected by winds; and, unfortunately, the means rarely exist of detecting the
degree of inaccuracy in the work until too late to correct it." As a remedy for these inconveniences, we
have already described a broad-cast hand drill (2576.), and shall here introduce a horse machine for the
same purpose {Jig. 122 a. b.), that has been
for some years employed in " the agricul-
ture of Northumberland, North Durham,
and some of the southern counties of Scot-
land, for sowing broad-cast. As it regards
economy alone, little perhaps is effected by
the employment of this machine: its recom-
mendations are the regularity and certainty
with which it performs the work, and the
^^^^ rendering of the execution independent of
I ,. ^>- -^ unskilfulness or want of care in the ope-
jator." (Qwar. Jour. Agr. vol. ii. p. 250.)
h-^-
„ if
11
-@
i —
[
f
-4
]
m
¥ — N ;r
17- 1
^ — iii—
ii
j j
■■ n\
'= A man and a horse with this machine will sow between 25 and SO acres in a day. The regular manner
in which the seed is disseminated renders less seed necessary than in the common method of sowing by
the hand. Besides the advantages arising from a saving of seed, the greater regularity, as it regards their
distance from each other, with which the plants spring up, generally renders the crop superior to that
sown in the other way. The machine has been described as adapted to the sowing of the common sort9
of grain, but it is equally well calculated for sowing the cultivated grasses." (,Quar. Jour. Agr. vol. il
p. 254.)
4986. The preservation of corn after it is threshed and cleaned is generally effected in
granaries, where the grain is kept well ventilated by passing it frequently from one floor
to another, or through winnowing machines.
4987. It has been proposed and attempted in France to preserve it in pits or dry cells at an equal tem-
perature, and included from the atmosphere ; but the experiments now going on for this purpose, more
810 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
especially by M. Ternaux at St. Ouen, near Paris, are not yet sufficiently matured to enable us to lay any
useful result before the public. That corn has been so preserved in former ages, and that to a considerable
extent, is beyond a doubt; and it is equally certain that in the interior of Africa, among the Caft'res and
other nations^ as well as in the south of Russia, in Turkey, and in Egypt, the practice is still employed on
a small scale. It may be doubted, we think, whether, with the present population of Europe, it could ever
be generally adopted.
4988. Preservation of corn in siloes. Some account of the opening of a siloe was lately read to the
Agricultural Society of Paris. " The place consisted of an icehouse, and the grain when put in was of
the finest appearance, perfectly dried, and in excellent condition. Tlie door had been hermetically sealed ;
and yet, when opened, a considerable thickness of the mass of corn was found destroyed by weevils, the
latter being in such quantity as to occasion an elevated temperature. As part of the same corn had been
perfectly well preserved in other siloes, the cause of this deterioration was sought for, and a hole was
found in the lower part which had been made by mice, and which, by admitting air in sufficient quantity,
had allowed the weevils originally in the corn to live, and increase their numbers to the degree mentioned.
After some observations upon experiments which showed that, insects could live for a very long time in
vitiated air, a committee was named to ascertain the requisite state of the air, and the circumstances
connected in the enquiry with the preservation of grain in these repositories. At another meeting of the
society, M. Hachette described the method proposed by M. Clement to prevent the destruction of corn by
weevils. It is founded upon a fact observed by him, that these insects cannot live in an atmosphere which
contains less than a certain proportion of moisture. He therefore proposes that the corn should be subject
to a continued ventilation of air dried by passing over quick-lime or chloride of calcium. All the weevils
originally in the corn would thus be quickly destroyed." {liecueil Industriel, vol. xii. p. 208.)
4989. The preservation of corn in the north of Russia may deserve notice more as matter of curiosity,
and for supplying ideas on the subject, than for imitation. The corn is dried in small ovens or chambers,
which communicate with a larger chamber or oven by small tubes that enter the smaller chambers at the
top. The oven is then filled with straw closely pressed, which is lighted and left to consume during the
night. Next morning the corn is taken from the smaller chambers, the smoke from the ovens having
passed into them and perfectly dried it. This practice has several advantages : the corn is lighter to move,
and is kept much easier, without requiring to be constantly turned, being preserved from vermin by the
smoky taste communicated to it by the straw, which does not quit it until it has passed through the mill.
The corn intended to be kept for any length of time is put into pits, in shape like a bottle, sufficiently high
for a man to stand erect in, which are dug in elevated places with a clayey soil. When they are dug a
fire is lighted for four and twenty hours, which forms a hard crust round the pit. The interior is lined
with the bark of the birch tree, fastened with wooden nails. Some straw is then put at the bottom, upon
which the corn is placed, and more straw at the top, the mouth of the pit being then closed with a wisp of
straw in the form of a cone. Each pit contains from twenty-five to one hundred tchetverts, and the grain
in them will keep for twenty years without being injured. {Biblioth. Univer. de Geneve.)
4990. The uses to which the straiv of corn may be applied are various. Besides food
for cattle, litter for animals, thatch, &c., it is bleached and plaited into ribands for forming
hats, and bleached, dyed of different colours, split, and glued to flat surfaces, so as to
form various works useful and ornamental. Paper is also made from straw ; and the
same pulp which forms the paper may be moulded into all the forms given to papier
mach^, medallion portraits, embossed works, &c. Whoever wishes to enter into the de-
tails of the great variety of articles that may be manufactured from straw, shovdd consult
the Diclionnaire Technologique, art. Faille ; or an abridged translation of a part of the
article in Gill's Technological Bepository, vol. vi. new series, p. 228.
4291. The diseases jyeculiar to the cereal grasses have been included in the diseases
common to vegetables in general. (1671.) They are chiefly the smut, the rust, the
mildew, and the ergot ; and we shall notice them more at length under the different spe-
cies of corn which are most subject to suffer from them.
4992. The practice of reaping corn before it is perfectly ripe originated in France, and
has lately been recommended by M. Cadet de Vaux.
4993. Corn reaped eight days before the usual tirne, this author says, has the grain fuller, larger, finer,
and better calculated to resist the attacks of the weevil An equal quantity of the corn thus reaped, with
corn reaped at the period of maturity, gave more bread, and of a better quality. The proper time for
reaping is that when the grain, on being pressed between the fingers, has a doughy appearance like the
crumb of bread just hot from the oven, when pressed in the same manner. This does not seem to agree
altogether with the experience of some agriculturists in the Carse of Gowrie, Perthshire, where oats in.
tended to be made into meal are always found to yield most when allowed to stand as long as possible.
Corn for seed, however, it is acknowledged by the same agriculturists, will answer the purpose perfectly
though cut before fully matured. {Perth Miscellany, vol. i. p. 41.) If the doctrine of Cadet de Vaux be
confined to wheat, it may be perhaps considered as confirmed by the following passage from Waistell : —
*' It is well known," he observes, " that wheat produces the most flour and the sweetest bread when
threshed out before it has been stacked ; and as all corn is more or less injured in both these respects, ac-
cordingly as it is more or less heated in the rick, it would be highly desirable totally to prevent its heating
or becoming musty, in the ricks. In wet harvests it is sometimes impossible to get corn sufficiently dried ;
and we see that even in hot and dry harvests, such as that of 1819, a great deal of corn is sometimes spoiled
in the ricks : we should, therefore, be extremely cautious to have corn well dried in the field, the ricks
made of a moderate size, and raised off the ground, to admit the air to circulate under them, with chim-
neys to allow a current of air to pass upwards through them, to carry off the hot and musty air from the
centre of the rick, which, without such a chimney, has its tendency to heat four-fold greater than one
with a chimney. Chimneys being easily made, and so beneficial, it were to be wished that they were in
general use." {Waistell's Designs for Agr. Buildings, p. 101.)
4994. For seed coi~n, it not only appears that unripe grair
grain is preferable, but even that mildewed wheat
and oats answer perfectly. Mr.S. Taylor, the editor of the Country Times, and formerly an extensive
farmer, has been in the practice of sowing from 100 to 130 acres of wheat annually for 20 years and up-
wards. " The seed was invariably chosen, not from the best and plumpest, but the thinnest and most
mildewed seed." He has seen the most beautiful samples of wheat produced from seed of the most
ordinary description. [Country Times, March 22. 1830.) In Perthshire, the same is stated with respect to
oats. {Perth Miscellany, vol i. p. 41.)
4995. The methods of reaping corn are various. The most general mode is by the
sickle, already described (2482. and 248S.) ; the scythe is also used, more especially
for barley and oats; and a reaping machine (2737.) is beginning to be used in some
parts of Scotland; in which country an effectual bean-reaping machine (2740.) was
Book VL
WHEAT.
811
in use many years ago. A method of mowing corn much practised in the county
of Durham, and possibly Yorkshire, has lately been introduced into Northumberland,
but does not appear to make much progress, the low priced Irish reapers doing the work
so much more neatly and with less waste, though it costs more money to the owner.
The scythe has a cradle similar to that described (405.) ; it is handled and used differ-
ently from the bow and grass scythes, and has only one short handle or " nib " on the
" sued," or long handle, for the right hand ; the left grasps the " sued " with the palm
upwards : this enables the mower, who generally mows " from the corn," to bring the
back of the scythe and cradle to the ground, and leave the cut corn in a beautiful state
for being put into sheaves. A good workman can do two, and some three acres a day :
they charge about 5s. per acre for mowing, binding, and stooking (shocking) : this prac-
tice may be advantageously followed wherever the crop is not stricken down by rains,
particularly barley crops. (C'. near Alniiick, in Gard. Mag. vol. vi.)
4996. Frosted corn, like frosted seeds of any sort, may be detected by dissection and
comparison with unfrosted corn. By frosted corn is to be understood corn that has been
frozen on the plant before it was perfectly ripe, in consequence of which the germ of
the future plant or vital part of the seed is deprived of its vitality by the expansion
produced by the freezing of its watery parts.
4997. Frosted oats. The oat being one of the latest corns, and a corn of cold rather than of warm
countries, is more liable to be frozen than any other ; but fortunately, also, frozen oats are more easily
detected than either frozen wheat or barley. The Rev. James Farquharson, who has paid much attention
to this subject, and written an elaborate article on it in the Farmer's Mngazine (vol. xix.), observes, that
every kernel, when stripped of the husk, will be found to exhibit the appearance of a groove on one side.
If the bottom of the groove has a smooth clear translucent appearance from end to end ; if it is not
much shrunk into the substance of the kernel; and if the kernel splits with difficulty in its direction,
then we may pronounce the vital part of the seed to be free from injury by frost. If, on the contrary,
there is a black speck seen in the groove at the root end of the kernel ; if the groove cuts deep into the
kernel, so that it may be split in that direction ; and if, when the kernel is so split, the blackness, accom-
panied with a rotten scaly appearance, is seen extending from end to end at the bottom of the groove,
then the vital part or future plant mav be pronounced entirely luifit for being used as seed.
4998. Frosted barley. The nature of the injury that ripening barley suffers from frost is similar to that
suffered by oats. The husk of barley, like tliat of oats, consists of two unequal parts; the small part
covering the groove of the kernel. In sound grain, when dry, the hull is firmly attached to the kernel ;
but in frosted grain the small part of the hull becomes loose, and feels soft on being pressed ; and if, in
such grain, this part of the hull is stripped away, a blackness and rottenness, resembling that in frosted
oats, will be seen in the bottom of the groove. In frosted barley the husk becomes loose all round tlie
root end ; but, as this is a circumstance that is occasionally observed likewise in barley that was never
exposed to frost, it certainly sometimes arises from other causes, — perhaps from wet ; and this, unless the
grain has germinated, does not render it unfit for seed or malting. The only sure mark of damage from
frost is the blackness and rottenness in the bottom of the groove.
4999. Frosted ivhcat. Upon an attentive inspection of wheat that has been exposed to the frost, it will
be observed that in a large proportion of grains there is a rotten scaly appearance where the embryo of
the plant is attached to the cotyledon or mealy part of the grain ; that the groove is much deeper than in
wheat that was saved before the frost; and that the grains are easily split in its direction. From this it
is inferred that wheat, in its ripening stage, suffers from frost an injury of the same nature with that sus-
tained by oats and barley. {Farm. Mag. vol. xix.)
5000. Tlie nutritive products of the plants to be treated of in this section, are thus given
by Sir H. Davy.
Systematic Names.
English Names.
The quantity analysed, of each sort 1000
WTiole
quantity
^soluble
or nutri-
Mucilage
or starch.
Saccha-
rine mat-
ter or
Gluten or
albumen.
Extract,
or matttr
rtnder- d
insoluble
during
parts.
tive mat-
ter.
sugar.
the opera-
tion.
7'riticum hybernum
Middlesex wheat, average crop
955
765
,
190
aistivum
Spring wheat ...
Mildewed wheat of 1806 -
940
700
240
210
178
_
32
Blighted wheat of 1804
650
520
130
Thick-skinned Sicilian wheat of 1810
^55
725
230
Thin-skinned Sicilian wheat of 1810
961
722
239
Wheat from Poland -
950
750
__
200
North American wheat
955
730
2^5
//6rdeum vulgare
Norfolk barley .
920
790
70
60
Avena. satlva
Oats from Scotland
743
641
15
87
5ecaie cerekle
Rye from Yorkshire -
792
645
38
109
Sect. I. Wheat Tnticum L.. ; Tridndria Digi/niaLi., and Graminece J. Fromenty
Fr. ; Weitzen, Ger. ; Grano, Ital. ; and Trigo, Span.
5001. IHieat is hy far the most important of the cereal grasses, the flour made from its
grains or seeds, from the quantity of gluten they contain, making the best bread in the
world. A greater proportion of mankind are nourished by rice than by wheat, but
there is no grain which comes near wheat in its qualities for bread-making. Rice
and maize are comparatively unfit for it, and oats, barley, and rye but imperfectly
adapted. Rye, however, comes nearer to wheat in its bread-making qualities than any
other grain.
5002. Of what country wheat is a native, is totally unknown; it has been supposed
indigenous to Asia and Africa, and unquestionably it is more likely to belong to these
819
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part 111.
parts of the world than any other ; but all that can be advanced on this subject is con-
jecture. Wheat, with the exception it is said of some parts of the southern coast of
Africa, is cultivated in every part of the temperate and torrid zones, and in some places
as high as 2000 feet above the level of the sea. It has been grown from time imme-
morial in Britain, but in few places at a greater elevation than 600 feet. Of course
the elevation to which any plant can be cultivated always depends on the latitude of
£he situation.
5003. Species and varieties. {Jig- 723.) Botanists reckon seven species of Triticum,
wliich are or may be cultivated for their grains, besides many varieties and subvaritties
of tliose in common culture. The species or subspecies are,
1. Triticum EEstivum, Summer wheat or spring wheat (o).
2. liyWmum, Lammas wheat (i).
3. compiSsitum, Egyptian wheat (c).
4. tiirgiclum. Turgid wheat (d)
6 Triticum polonicum, Polish wheat (e).
6. Sp^/te, Spelt wheat (/).
7. monocdccumj One-grained wheat (g).
The first, second, fourth, and fifth sorts are by many botanists considered as only
varieties, and it it is doubtful whether the third and sixth may not be the samo ; the
seventh has all the marks of a distinct species, but it is very questionable whether, if
much cultivated, it would always continue to produce one row of grains.
5004. The spring or summer wheat (n), Bli de Mars, Fr., is distinguished from that generally sown, by
its narrower ears, longer beards, smaller grains, and shorter and more slender straw, and also by its-
inability to endure our winters. It is commonly sown in April, or even so late as May. It was known to
Parkinson in 1666, but has never been much cultivated, except in Lincolnshire. It'was tried and given
up in Northumberland and Mid Lothian, and also in some counties near London. M.:ny varieties of
summer wheat were transmitted a few years ago to the president of the Board of Agriculture from the
Agricultural Society of Paris, for the purpose of experiment, and were divided among several distinguished
agriculturists, {Comm. to the Board of Agr., vol. vii. p, 1 !.) ; but there has not yet been time for establishing
their comparative merits, or their adaptation to the climate of Britain. Summer, or, as it is often called,
spring, wheat has however been long and extensively cultivated in some parts of England, particularly in
Lincolnshire; and it is probable m.ay be found a valuable crop in the southern counties ; but the trials
that have been made in the north, do not seem to entitle it to a preference over winter wheat sown in
spring, or even oats or barley, in that climate.
5005. 0/ the winter or common wheat (b), Froment blanc, Fr., there are a great number of varieties.
Professor Martyn, in Miller's Dictionary, has described forty-nine sorts, and Professor Thaer speaks of a
hundred, but affirms that those who describe them know nothing about them, and in all probability
include one sort under different names. All the varieties may be reduced to two, the white, and the
brown or red grained. As subvarieties, there are the bearded and beardless, the woolly-chaffed, and thin
or hairy chafffed, both of the reds and whites. To these some add another variety, which is the spring-
sowing common wheat. It is stated by those who maintain that this variety exists, that through long
sowing the progeny, after a number of generations, acquires a habit of coming earlier into blossom than
seed from winter-sown grain. This we think very likely, but are not aware that the variety is distinctly
known by any recognisable marks in the plants. The red or brown wheats are universally considered
more hardy than the white, but as yielding an inferior flour : the woolly-white is supposed to yield the
best flour ; but woolly-chaffed wheats are considered more liable to the mildew than any other.
5006. The Egyptian, or many-spiked wheat (c), Ble de miracle ou de Sfnyrne, Fr., the turgid grey
pollard or duck-bill wheat (d), and the Polish wheat (e), may, for all agricultural purposes, be considered
only varieties of the common winter wheat. They are cultivated in a few places in England, and seeds of
them may be procured from the pubhc botanic gardens ; but they are in little estimation.
5007. Spelt wheat (/), the Epautre of the French, is known by its stout straw, which is almost solid,
and by its strong pikes, with chaff partially awned, the awns long and stiff. The chaff adheres so closely
to the grain as not to be separated without great difficulty. This grain, as we have seen, is a good deal
sown in the south of Europe. In France it is sown in spring, on land too coarse for common wheat, and
it ripens in July and August. It is the principal wheat sown in Suabia and the north of Switzerland;
and is a good deal sown in Spain. The grain is light, and yields but little flour ; but it is said to contain
a larger portion of gluten than common wheat, and for that reason is recommended as superior to any
other in pastry and confectionary. It is not cultivated in Britain.
5008. The one-grained wheat (g). Petit epautre, Fr., is known by its small thin spike, and single row of
grains; the leaves and straw are remarkably small, but very hard ; and the plants tiller very much. It is
chiefly cultivated in the mountainous parts of Switzerland, where its straw, like that of the former species,
is much used for thatching. The grain makes a brown light bread ; but its great excellence, according
to Villars, is for gruel.
Book VI. WHEAT. 813
5009. To procure new varieties of wheats, the ordinary mode is to select from a field
a spike or spikes from the sanie stalk, wliich has the qualities sought for ; such as larger
grains, thinner chaff, stiflcr straw, a tendency to earliness or lateness, &c. ; and picking
out the best grains from this ear or ears, to sow them in suitable soil in an open airy
part of a garden. When the produce is ripe, select the best ears, and from these the
best grains, and sow these, and so on till a bushel or more is obtained, which may their
be sown in a field apart from any other wheat. In this way, many of the varieties of
our common winter wheat have been obtained ; as the hedge- wheat which was reared
from the produce of a stalk found growing in a hedge in Sussex, by one Wood, about
1790. Other varieties have assumed their distinctive marks from having been long
cultivated on the same soil and climate, and take local names, as the Hertfordshire red,
Essex white, &c.
5010. Marshall, (Yorkshire) mentions a case in which a man of accurate observation, having in a piece
of wheat perceived a plant of uncommon strength and luxuriance, diffusing its branches on every side,
and setting its closely-surrounding neighbours at defiance, marked it ; and at harvest removed it sepa.
rately. The produce was 15 ears, yielding 60-1 grains of a strong-bodied liver-coloured wheat, differing, in
general appearance, from every other variety he had seen. The chaff was smooth, without awns, and of
the colour of the grain ; the straws stout and reedy. These 604 grains were planted singly, nine inches
asunder, filling about 40 square yards of ground, on a clover stubble, the remainder of the ground being
sown with wheat in the ordinary way ; by which means extraordinary trouble and destruction by birds
were avoided. The produce was two gallons and a half, weighing SO^lbs. of prime grain for seed, besides
some pounds for seconds. One grain produced SB ears, yielding 1235 grains ; so that the second year's pro-
duce was sufficient to plant an acre of ground. What deters farmers from improvements of this nature is
probably the mischievousness of birds; from which at harvest it is scarcely possible to preserve a small
patch of corn, especially in a garden or other ground situated near a habitation ; but by carrying on the
improvement in a field of corn of the same nature, that inconvenience is got rid of In this situation,
however, the botanist will be apprehensive of danger from the floral farina of the surrounding crop.
But from what observations Marshall has made he is of opinion his fears will be groundless. No evil of
this kind occurred, though the cultivation of the above variety was carried on among white wheat.
5011. But the most systematic mode of procuring new varieties, is by crossing two sorts, as in breeding;
that is, by impregnating the female organs of the blossoms of one ear with the fecundating matter or
pollen of the male organs of the blossom of another variety of a different quality. Thus, supposing a
farmer was in the habit of cultivating a very good variety, which he wished to render somewhat earlier,
let him procure in the blossoming season, from a very early soil, some spikes of an early sort just coming
into blossom ; and let him put the ends of these in water, and set them in the shade so as to retard their
fully blossoming till the plants he has destined to become the females come into flower. Then let him cut
out all the male organs of the latter, before they have advanced so far as to impregnate the stigma; and,
having done this, let him dust the stigma with the blossoming ears of the early or male parent. The
impregnated stalks must then be kept apart from other wheats that the progeny may be true. When the
grains ripen, let him sow the best; and from the produce, when ripe, select the earliest and finest spikes
for seed. Let him sow these, and repeat the choice till he procures a bushel or two of seed. This oper-
ation has been successfully performed by T. A. Knight (1633) ; and though it maybe reckoned too delicate
for farmers in general, it will be looked on by the philosophical agriculturist as not improbably leading to
results as important as those which have attended the practice in the case of garden fruits and flowers.
The scientific farmer may consult on this subject Bishop's Causal Botany already referred to, the
Gardener's Magazine, and Saggio Botanico Georgico intorno l'hibrtdis?no delle Plante, by Billardi. Pavia,
1809.
5012. The propagation of wheat l>y transplanting may be employed to expedite the progress of cultivat-
ing a new variety of ascertained excellence. To show what may be gained in time by this mode, we shall
quote from The Philosophical Transactions an account of an experiment made by C. Miller, son of the
celebrated gardener of that name, in 1766. On the 2d of June, Miller sowed some grains of the common
red wheat; and on the 8th of August, a single plant was taken up and separated into 18 parts, and each
part planted separately. These plants having pushed out several side shoots, by about the middle of
September, some of them were then taken up and divided, and the rest of them between that time and
the middle of October. This second division produced 67 plants. These plants remained through the
•winter, and another division of them, made about the middle of March and the 12th of April^ produced
500 plants. They were then divided no further, but permitted to remain. The plants were, m general,
stronger than any of the wheat in the fields. Some of them produced upwards of 100 ears from a single
root Many of the eai's measured seven inches in length, and contained between 60 and 70 grains. The
whole number of ears which, by the process above mentioned, were produced from one grain of wheat,
was 21,109, which yielded three pecks and three quarters of clean corn, the weight of which was 471bs.
7 ounces ; and, from a calculation made by counting the number of grains in an ounce, the whole number
of grains was about 386,840. By this account we find, that there was only one general division of the
plants made in the spring. Had a second been made. Miller thinks the number of plants would have
amounted to 2C00 instead of 500, and the produce thereby much enlarged.
5013. In making a choice from all the species and varieties yvhicli we have named, the
thin-skinned white wheats are preferred by all the best British farmers whose soil and
climate are suitable for this grain, and for sowing in autumn. In late situations, and
less favourable soils and climates, the red varieties are generally made choice of; and
these are also generally preferred for sowing in spring. Red wheats, however, are con-
sidered as at least fifteen per cent, less valuable than the white varieties. No subvariety
ever continues very long in vogue ; nor is it fitting that it should, as degeneracy soon
takes place, and another and better is sought for as a successor. Hence the only re-
commendation we can give, as to the choice of subvarieties, is, to select the best from
among those in use by the best farmers in the given situation, or nearest well-cultivated
district.
.5014. The soils best adapted for the cvlture of wheat, are rich clays and heavy loams ;
but these are not by any means the only description of soils on which it is cultivated.
Before the introduction of turnips and clover, all soils but little cohesive were thought
unfit for wheat ; but, even on sandy soils, it is now grown extensively, and with much
advantage, after either of these crops. The greater part of the wheat crop throughout
814 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
Britain, however, is probably still sown upon fallowed land. When it succeeds turnips
consumed on the ground, or clover cut for hay or soiling, it is commonly sown after one
ploughing. In Scotland, when wheat is to be sown after clover upon heavier soils, or
after grass of two or more years, the land is ploughed twice or thrice, or receives what is
called a rag fallow. In Norfolk and Suffolk, wheat is seldom sown after fallow or
turnips ; but the farmer there thinks himself almost sure of a good wheat crop after a
good clover crop. One ploughing oidy is required, and the seed is dibbled in the flag,
as they call it ; that is, on the turned-over surface or furrow slice.
5015. On rich clays, wheat may be cultivated almost every second year, provided due care is taken to
keep the land clean, and in good condition. A summer fallow once in four, six, or eight years, according
to seasons and circumstances, is, however, necessary ; and manure should either be applied on that fallow
for the first crop of wheat, or, what some people think preferable, should be laid on the wheat-stubble for
a crop of drilled beans, which ensures the succeeding crop of wheat. If the first crop of beans has been
completely cleaned, there is no difiiculty in repeating, and even in extending the course; and the crops
will be little inferior to those gained at the beginning of the rotation, provided manure has been bestowed
to each crop of beans. In this way, when the ground is fallowed every fourth year, two crops of wheat
and one of beans are gained from manuring once ; when fallowed every sixth year, three crops of wheat
and two of beans are gained from manuring twice ; and, when fallowed every eighth year, four crops of
wheat and three of beans from manuring thrice. In the first-mentioned shift, less manure is bestowed
than in either of the others; and, if the soil is of good quality, it will support itself: whereas, in the
shifts of six and eight, unless foreign manure be procure^i, it rarely ha])pens that they can go on success-
fully for any length of time, without abstracting dung from other parts of the farm on which they are
practised. (Brotun's Tr. on Rural Affairs.)
5016. In cultivating wheat on thin clays, the rotations just mentioned are inapplicable. A six-course
shift of a different kind has, however, been successfully followed by many people ; but it requires every
branch of the work to be well executed. 1st, a summer fallow, dunged at the rate of twelve or fourteen
double loads per acre ; 2d, wheat ; 3d, grass ; 4th, oats ; 5th, peas and beans drilled ; 6th, wheat. If
manure can be given in the middle of the shift, every one of the crops may be expected good ; but if that
is withheld, there will necessarily be a proportionable falling off in the two last crops. Husbandmen
must, however, regulate their practice according to their means, though it deserves to be remarked, that,
if greater attention were paid to tiie collecting of materials which ultimately are converted into manure,
many deficiencies in the article would be fully supplied. {Brovm.)
5U17. Excellent wheat may be groivn on light soils, with the exception of soft sands. Such soils,
however, are not constitutionally disposed to the growth of that grain; nor will they, under any manage-
ment, bear such a frequent repetition of it as those already mentioned. Summer fallow on them may
safely be dispensed with; because a crop of turnips, which admits every branch of the cleaning process
to be more perfectly executed than even a naked or bare fallow does, may be profitably substituted.
"Wheat here comes in with propriety after turnips, though, in general cases, it must be sown in the spring
months, unless the turnips are stored ; in which case it may be sown in November, or it may be sown
after clover, for the fourth crop of the rotation ; or in the sixth year, as a way-going crop, after drilled
peas and beans, if the rotation is extended to that length. But, take it any way, it is scarcely possible to
raise wheat as extensively upon light soils, even where they are of the richest quality, as is practicable
upon clays ; nor wiU a crop of equal bulk upon the one, return so much produce in grain as may be got
from the other. To enlarge upon this point would only serve to prove what few husbandmen will dispute,
though it may be added, that, on thin sands, wheat ought not to be ventured, unless they are either com-
pletely clayed or marled ; as it is only with the help of these auxiliaries that such a soil can gain stamina
capable of producing wheat with any degree of success. {Brown.)
5018. The culture of the soil intended for wheat varies according to its nature, and the
preceding and following crops.
5019. On soils really calculated for wheat, though in different degrees, summer fallow is the first and
leading step to gain a good crop or crops of that grain. The first furrow should be given before winter,
or so early as other operations upon the farm will admit ; and every attention should be used to go in as
deep as possible ; for it rarely happens that any of the succee;iing furrows exceed the first one in that
respect. The number of after-plough ings must be regulated by the condition of the ground and the state
of the weather ; but, in general, it may be observed, that ploughing in length and across, alternately, is
the way by which the ground will be most completely cut, and the intention of fallowing accomplished.
It has been argued, that harrowing clay soils, when summer-fallowed, is prejudicial to the wheat crop ;
but without discussing this point (such a discussion being unnecessary), it may merely be stated, that, in
a dry season, it is almost impracticable to reduce real clays, or to work them too small ; and that, even in
a wet one, supposing they are made surface-smooth, they will, when ploughed up again, consolidate into
clods or big lumps after forty-eight hours' drought, and become nearly as obdurate as ever. It is only on
thin soils, which have a mixture of peat earth, and are incumbent on a bottom impervious to water, that
damage is at any time sustained by over-harrowing. Such are generally of a weak texture, and may be
broken down with facility by the roller and harrow. If caught by much rain before the pores are in
some measure closed, the moisture is greedily absorbed ; and being prevented from going downwards by
the hardness of the subsoil, the whole surface becomes a kind of mortar or paste, unless previously well
ridged up ; which, to a certain extent, prevents the consequences from being dangerous. These evils,
however, must be submitted to by the possessors of such soils, if they want to have them sufl^iciently fal-
lowed and prepared in a proper manner; for, without reducing them, couch-grass, and especially moss,
with which they are commonly stored, cannot be eradicated. If they are reduced in the early part of the
season, the danger is small ; but to break them down in the latter part ought always to be avoided, unless
called for by imperious necessity.
5020. When ivheat is sown after beans it rarely happens, in this northern climate, that more than one
ploughing can be successfully bestowed. Before this is given, it is advantageous to cross-harrow the land,
which levels the drills, and permits the ploughing process to be executed with precision. Almost in
every case the ridges should be gathered up, so that the furrows may be well cleared out, and the plants
preserved from injury during the inclement winter season. Clover land should be neatly ploughed, and
well laid over, so that the roots of the grasses may be buried and destroyed; for it frequently happens
that crops of wheat, after clover and rye-grass, are greatly injured by inattention to the ploughing process.
In short, sowing wheat after clover on clayey soils in Scotland may be considered as the most hazardous
way in which that grain can be cultivated. {Brown's Tr. on EuralJJfairs.)
5021. The manures best calculated for wheat, are allowed by all agricultural chemists
to be animal matters and lime. The former has a direct influence in supplying that
essential constituent to wheaten flour, gluten ; and the latter azote and lime, both
actually found in the straw of wheat. At all events, it is certain that wheat will not
Book VI. WHEAT. 815
thrive on any soil which does not contain lime. In this Sir H. Davy, Chaptal, Pro-
fessor Thaer, and Grisenthwaite fully agree.
5022. A more abundant supply of manure is generally required for wheat than for any other grain.
Professor Thaer says it absorbs more nourishment from tlie soil than any of the corn tribe ; and he cal-
culates (hypothetically, as he allows,) that for every 100 parts of nutriment in a soil sown with this grain,
40 will be carried off" by the crop. \Principes Uaisonnes, torn. iv. art. Froment.) At the same time, too
large a dose of manure on land in good tilth is very apt to cause the crop to lodge ; and hence some people
think it improper to dung rich clays or loams when fallowed, and choose rather to reserve that restorative
till the succeeding season, when they are prepared for a crop of drilled beans. Delaying the manuiing
process for a year is attended with many advantages ; because good land, fully wrought, contains such a
principle of action within itself, as often causes the first wheat crop to be lodged before it is filled ; under
which circumstance, the produce is diminished both in quantity and quality. The delay in manuring is,
however, attended with disadvantages ; because, when dung is kept back till the end of autumn or be-
ginning of winter, to be laid on the stubbles, the weather is often so wet that it cannot be carted on
without subjecting the land to injury from poaching, whilst the labour in laying it on is also increased. On
thin clays, or even upon soils of the other description not in high condition, there cin be no doubt but
that the end of summer, and upon summer fallow, is the most proper time for manuring, though it will
be fuund, that an improvident expenditure of dung on such occasions ought always to be steadily avoided.
{Brown.)
5()23. fVhere manure is abundant, it is stated by some that wheat alternating with a green crop, or
indeed any corn crop and a green crop, may be grown alternately for an indefinite time. [Farm. Mag.
vol. xxiii. p. 298.) It is alleged by others, that this doctrine is not supported by experience. Constant
tillage, they say, wears out the best soils, and the grain degenerates in quality, if not in quantity too.
Instances, however, are given in The Co77imunications to the Board of Agriculture of potatoes and wheat
having been grown alternately on the same soil for a number of years, and very good crops produced. It
may be useful to know that the thing is not impossible.
5024. The climate required to bring wheat to perfection must be such as affords a dry
and warm season for the blossoming of the ear, and the ripening of the grain. Wheat
will endure a great deal of cold during winter, if sown in a dry or well drained soil ; and
if it be covered with snow. Hence it is that wheat is sown as far north as Petersburgh
and in Sweden. Moderately moist weather before the flowering season, and after the
grain is set or formed, is favourable to wheat; but continued heavy rains after the flowering
season produce the smut. The dry frosty winds of February and March, and even
of April in some districts, are more injurious to the wheats of Britain than any other
description of weather. Hoar frosts, when the plant is in the ear, produce blights ; and
mildews often result from or follow sultry winds and fogs. Cold, in the blossoming and
ripening season in July, even unaccompanied by wind or rain, produces an inferior grain,
greatly deficient in gluten ; and heat the contrary. The most valuable wheat of Europe,
in this respect, is that of Sicily ; which Sir H. Davy found to contain much more gluten
than the best wheat of Britain.
5025. The season for solving wheat on clays is generally the latter end of autumn ; on
early turnip soils it is sown after clover or turnips, at almost every period from the
beginning of September till the middle of March ; but the far greater part is sown in
September and October. For summer 'wheat, in the southern districts. May is suf-
ficiently early, but in the north, the last fortnight of April is thought a more eligible
seed-time. In the cultivation of spring-sown winter wheat, it is of importance to
use the produce of spring- sown grain as seed, as the crop of such grain ripens about a
fortnight earlier than when the produce of the same wheat winter-sown is employed as
spring seed. {Encijc- Brit. art. Agr.)
5026. Seed wheat is prejmred for souring by the process called pickling. According to
Brown ( Treatise on Rural Affairs, art. Wheat), this process is indispensably necessary on
every soil ; otherwise smut, to a greater or less extent, will, in nine cases out of ten,
assuredly follow.
5027. Though almost all practical farmers are agreed as to the necessity of pickling, yet they are not so
unanimous as to the modus operandi of the process, and the article which is best calculated to answer the
intended purpose. Stale urine may be considered the safest and surest pickle ; and where it can be obtained
in a sufficient quantity, it is commonly resorted to. The mode of using it does not, however, seem to be
agreed upon ; for, while one party contends that the grain ought to be steeped in the urine, another party
considers it sufficient to sprinkle the urine upon it. Some, again, are advocates for thoroughly steeping
the grain in a pickle made of salt and water, sufficiently strong to buoy up a fresh egg. But whatever
difference of opinion there may be as to the kind of pickle that ought to be used, and the mode of using it,
all admit the utility of mixing the wetted seed with hot lime, fresh slaked ; and this, in one point of view,
is absolutely necessary, so that the seed may be equally distributed. It may be remarked, that experience
justifies the utility of all these modes, provided they are attentively carried into execution. There is some
danger from the first ; for if the seed steeped in urine is not immediately sown, it will infallibly lose its
vegetative power. The second, viz. sprinkling the urine on the seed, seems to be the safest, if performed
by an attentive hand ; whilst the last may do equally well, if such a quantity of salt be incorporated with
the water as to render it of sufficient strength. It may also be remarked, that this last mode is oftener
accompanied with smut, owing no doubt to a deficiency of strength in the pickle ; whereas a single head
with smut is rarely discovered when urine has been used.
5028. An improved mode of preparing wheat for solving has recently been adopted in the south of Scot-
land, and followed with great success. It is thus described : — " Take four vessels, two of them smaller than
the other two, the former with wire bottoms, and of a size to contain about a bushel of wheat, the latter
large enough to hold the smaller within them. Fill one of the large tubs with water, and putting the
wheat in the small one, immerse it in the water, and stir and skim ofF the grains that float above, and
renew the water as often as is necessary, till it comes off almost quite clean. Then raise the small vessel
in which the wheat is contained, and repeat the process with it in the other large tub, which is to be filled
with stale urine ; and in the mean time wash more wheat in the water tub. When abundance of water is
at hand, this operation is by no means tedious ; and the wheat is much more effectually cleansed from all
impurities, and freed more completely from weak and unhealthy grainsand seeds of weeds, than can be
816 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
done by the winnowing machine. When thoroughly washed and skimmed, let it drain a little, then
empty it on a clean floor or in the cart that is to take it to the field, and sift quick-lime upon it, turning
it over and mixing it with a shovel till it be suificiently dry for sowing." (Supp. E. Brit. art. Agr.)
5029. The quantity of seed necessarily depends both on the time of sowing and the
state of the land ; land sown early requiring less than the same land when sown in
winter or spring ; and poor land being at all times allowed more seed than rich.
The quantity accordingly varies from two bushels, or less, to three, and sometimes even
to four, bushels per English statute acre. Winter wheat, when sown in spring, ought
always to have a liberal allowance, as the plants have not time to tiller much without
unduly retarding their maturation. {Supp. &c.) Upon well prepared lands, if the seed
is distributed equally, it can scarcely be sown too thin ; perhaps two bushels per acre
are sufficient ; for the heaviest crops at autumn are rarely those which show the most
vigorous appearance through the winter months. Bean stubbles require more seed than
summer fallows ; because the roughness of their surface prevents such an equal dis-
tribution J and clover layers ought to be still thicker sown than bean stubbles. Thin
sowing in spring ought not to be practised, otherwise the crop will be late, and imper-
fectly ripened. (Brown.)
5030. The modes of sowing wheat are either broad-cast, drilling, ribbing, or dibbling.
The first mode is by far the most general, more especially in the north of England and
Scotland, and the seed is for the most part covered by the harrows. No more harrowing,
Brown observes, should be given to fields that have been fallowed than what is necessary
to cover the seed, and level the surface sufficiently. Ground which is to lie in a broken-
down state through the winter, suffers severely when an excessive harrowing is given,
especially if it is incumbent on a close bottom ; though as to the quantity necessary none
can give an opinion except those who are present.
5031. Ploughing in. Many farmers allege that wheat which is harrowed in is apt to be thrown out in
spring; or if not thrown out at that season, that it does not tiller well, and that the stalks are apt to
dwindle away and fall down in the flowering season. It is certain that this is the case in many parts of
England ; and the cause assigned by the northern farmers is the defective manner in which the land is
ploughed, by which there is not sufficient covering for the seed. To guard against these evils it is a very
general practice in most of the southern counties, when wheat is sown broad-cast, to plough it in with a
shallow furrow. This is done even after beans and on clover leys, and is a favourite practice on very
opposite soils, as in Norfolk and Middlesex.
5032. Drilling, however, is extensively practised in some districts, and is becoming more general on lands
infested with the seeds of annual weeds, especially when sown in spring. A machine which sows at three
different intervals, according to the judgment of the farmer, of twelve, ten and a half, or nine inches, is
much approved of in the northern districts. It deposits six, seven, or eight rows at once, according to its
adjustment to one or other of these intervals, and the work is done with ease and accuracy when the ridges
are previously laid out of such a breadth (twelve feet and a half) as to be sown by one bout ; the machine
going along one side of such a ridge, and returning on the other, and its direction being guided by one of its
wheels, which thus always runs in the open furrow between the ridges. If the ten and a half inch interval
be adopted, and it is the most common one in that country, the machine sows seven rows at once, or fourteen
rows on a ridge of twelve feet and a half. But the space between the rows varies in some parts still more
than this machine admits of; it ought not, however, to be so narrow as to prevent hand-hoeing, even after
the crop has made considerable progress in growth ; and it cannot advantageously be so wide as to admit
the use of any effective horse-hoe.
5033. Ribbing is a 7node of sowing cotmnon in some places, by which a drill machine is dispensed with,
though the same purpose is nearly answered. This we have already adverted to in the section on tillage.
The seed is scattered with the hand in the usual broad-cast manner, but as it necessarily falls for the most
part in the furrows between the ribs, the crop rises in straight parallel rows, as if it had been sown by a
drill machine ; after sowing, the ribs are levelled by harrowing across them. This plan has nearly all the
advantages of drilling in, as far as it regards exposure to the rays of the sun, and the circulation of air
among the plants ; but as some plants must always rise between the rows, it is not quite so proper when
hoeing is required. {Sup. E. Brit.)
.6034. The dibbling of wheat is practised in some parts of Norfolk. The furrow is laid over flat, and a row
of holes is made along the middle of each by a man who uses a dibber in each hand. A middling work-
man will make four holes in a second. One dibbler is sufficient for three droppers; whence one man and
three children are called a set. The dibbler carries on three flags or turned furrows ; going on some yards
uplbn one of the outside furrows, and returning upon the other, after which he takes the middle one ; and
thus keeps his three droppers constantly employed ; and at the same time is in no danger of filling up the
holes with his feet. The droppers put two or three grains of wheat into each hole; but much time and
patience is necessary to teach them to perform the business properly and quickly. An expert dibbler will
hole half an acre in a day ; though one third of an acre is usually reckoned a good day's work. The seed
is covered by means of a bush harrow; and from one bushel to six pecks is the usiial quantity for an
acre. Notwithstanding the advantages of saving seed, as well as some others which are generally reckoned
undeniable, it is asserted by some very judicious farmers, that dibbling of wheat on the whole is not really
a profitable practice. It is particularly said to be productive of weeds, unless dibbled very thick : which,
indeed, may probably be the case, as the weeds are thus allowed a greater space to vegetate in. Marshall
is of opinion, that the dibbling of wheat appears to be peculiarly adapted to deep rich soils, on which three
or four pecks dibbled early may spread sufficiently for a full crop; whereas light, weak, shallow soils,
which have lain two or three years, and have become grassy, require an additional quantity of seed, and
consequently an addition of labour, otherwise the plants are not able to reach each other, and the grasses
of course find their way up between them, by which means the crop is injured, and the soil rendered
foul. It is alleged, that if a single grain of good size and sound could be dropped in each hole and no more,
there might be an advantage in dibbling, where it could be accomplished at a moderate rate ; but where
two or three grains are put in each hole, and often six or eight, the source of profit is diminished or
destroyed by twofold means ; first, by using too much seed ; and secondly, because three or four grains
springing out of one hole will not make such a strong plant or stool as one sound grain. In answer to these
remarks, we are informed, that an inquisitive farmer himself dibbled a great many holes, and dropped
carefully one, two, three, &c. to ten grains of wheat in each hole. He carefully gathered the wheat, and
put the produce of all the one grain holes, and of the two grain holes, and of the three, and so on to the
ten, apart : on cleaning the ten portions, those holes which had three; four, arid five grains were decidedly
the heaviest produce; and he reasonably concluded that three, four, and five grains were the properest
number to drop into each hole. To attempt dibbling either wheat or beans by hand on a large scale, we
Book VI. WHEAT. 817
consider quite unsuitable to the present improved state of agriculture ; but it may sometimes happen,
that on rich loamy land, especially in a showery season, there may be no other way of getting in the
50S5. The after-culture of wheat, or culture of the growing crop, depends on tlie
manner in which it has been sown.
S036. When wheat is sown broad-cast, the subsequent culture must generally be confined to harrowing,
tolling, hand-weeding, or hand-hoeing with a pronged hoe. As grass seeds are fre<iuently sown in spring
on winter-sown wheat, the harrows and roller are employed to loosen the soil, and cover the seeds. .Hut
these operations, to a certain extent, and at the proper season, are found beneficial to the wheat crop
itself, and are sometimes performed even when grass seeds are not to be sown. One or two courses of
harrowing penetrate the crust which is formed on tenacious soils, and operate like hand-hoeing in raising
a fresh mould to the stems of the young plants. Rolling in spring ought never to be omitted on dry porous
soils, which afe frequently left in so loose a state by the winter frosts, that the roots quit the soil and
perish ; and, if the land is rough and cloddy, the roller has a still more beneficial ettect than the harrows
in pulverising the inert masses, and extending the pasture of the plants. Hand-weeding, so far as to cut
down thistles and other long weeds, is never neglected by careful farmers ; but the previous culture ought
to leave as little as possible of this work to be done when the crop is growing. {Supp.)
5()j7. When wheat has- been drilled, ribbed, or dibbled, the intervals may be hoed or stirred either by
hand-hoes, common or pronged, or by horse-hoes or drill harrows In general, the drill used at sowing
will, by the ciianges it admits of in its double character of drill and horse-hoe, be the best to use for hoeing
or stirring; or if a single drill should liave been* used, the expanding horse-hoe, or Wilkie's brake
harrow, may be successfully adopted. The operation of hoeing or stirring should generally be performed
in March, and need not be rept'ated. When grass-seeds are to be sown among the wheat, the hoeing is
an excellent mode of covering them. Weeding the rows should not be neglected, nor delayed later than
the beginning of June.
5038. Where wheats rise too thin in some places, and too thick in others, whether in rows or broad-cast,
the practice of transplanting from the latter to the former has been recommended. This is saia to be
practised occasionally in Essex and Norfolk, and the time is the end of March. To be attended with
success the soil must be in a good state, and the blanks to which the plants are to be transplanted must
be stirred up with a trowel or small two-pronged fork. Under such circumstances we have no doubt of
the plan being attended with success ; but we are certain that without stirring the soil, the operation will
not pay for the expense. Blanks are sometimes filled up by sowing summer wheat, dibbling beans, &c.
but these are obviously bad modes; abetter is either to stir the soil well, by the hand pronghoe, and
encourage the tillering of the plants, or to stir the soil and then transplant.
5039. Top-dressing wheat crops has been recommended in cases where the land is not in a sufficient
state of fertility or preparation to bring the crops to perfection. Substances of both the solid and fluid
kinds have been made use of for this purpose ; the first consist chiefly of the dung of different sorts
of birds, after being brought into a powdery state, bone-dust, soot, peat ashes, and various saline matters.
The latter are principally the drainings of dunghills and similar liquid materials. The former should be
thinly sown over the crop with as much evenness as possible, as early in the spring as horses can be ad-
mitted upon the land without injury ; and if it can be done when the weather is inclined to be moist, it is
the better, a roller may then be passed over the crop with advantage. Where the latter substances are
made use of, care should always be taken that the plants be not injured by having too large a quantity
applied to them. In this practice the expense should be a primary consideration, and small trials first
made where dungs have not been used. The proper season for performing the business is the beginning
of February. <i'*^'
504(). When wheat appears too forward and luxuriant, it is sometimes eatydown in April with sheep or
even with horses, but this requires great judgment to be effected without injuring the crop.
5041. In harvesting wheat, the best fanners both of Britain and the continent agree,
that it ought to be cut before it becomes dead ripe. When this is the case, the loss is
considerable, both in the field and stack-yard; and the grain, according to Professor
Thaer, produces a less white flour.
5042. In ascertaiiiing the proper state. Brown observes, it is neces.oary to discriminate betwixt the
ripeness of the straw, and the ripeness of the grain ; for, in some seasons, the straw dries upwards ;
under which circumsUnce, a Held, to the eye, may appear to be completely fit for the sickle, when, in
reality, the grain is imperfectly consolidated, and perhaps not much removed from a milky state.
Though it is obvious that, under such circumstances, no further benefit can be conveyed from the root,
and that nourishment is withheld the moment that the roots die ; yet it does not follow, that grain so
circumstanced should be immediately cut : because, after that operation is performed, it is in a great
measure necessarily deprived of every benefit from the sun and air, both of which have greater influence
in bringing it to maturity, so long as it remains on foot, than when cut down, whether laid on the ground
or bound up in sheaves. The state of the weatlier at the time also deserves notice ; for, in moist, or even
variable weather, every kind of grain, when cut prematurely, is more exposed to damage than when com-
pletely ripened. All these things will be studied by the skilful husbandman, who will also take into con-
sideration the dangers which may follow, were he to permit his wheat crop to remain uncut till completely
ripened. The danger from wind will not be lost sight of, especially if the season of the equinox v.p-
prodches ; even the quantity dropped in the field, and in the stack-yard, when wheat is over-ripe, is 4.n
object of consideration. Taking all these things into view, it seems prudent to have wheat cut before
it is fully rii)e, as less damage will be sustained from acting in this way than by adopting a contrary
practice.
5043. The mode of reaping wheat is almost universally by the sickle. "When cut, it is
usually tied up in sheaves, which it is better to make so small as to be done by bands the
length of the straw, than so thick as to require two lengths to be joined for bands. The
sheaves are set up in shocks or stooks, each containing in all twelve, or, if the straw be long,
fourteen sheaves. In the latter case, two rows of six sheaves are made to stand in such a
manner as to be in contact at the top, though in order to admit the circulation of air they
are placed at some distance below : along this line, two sheaves more are placed as a
covering, the corn end of both being towards the extremities of the line. In a few days
of good weather the crop is ready for the barn or stack-yard. In the stack-yard it is.
built either in oblong or circular stacks, sometimes on ftames supported with pillars to-
prevent the access of vermin, and to secure the bottom from dampness ; and as soon,
afterwards as possible the stacks are neatly thatched. When the harvest weather is so
wet as to render it diflicult to prevent the stacks from heating, it has been the practice
to make funnels through them, a large one in a central and perpendicidar direction,
3 G
S18 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
and small lateral ones to communicate with it. In the best cultivated counties the use
of large barns for holding the crop is disapproved of, not only on account of the ex-
pense, but because corn keeps better, or is less exposed to damage of any kind, in a well-
built stack.
5044. The threshing of wheat, before machines for that purpose were introduced, was
an arduous and difficult task. The expense was very considerable; whilst the severity of
the labour almost exceeded the power of the strongest man, especially in unfavourable
seasons, when the grain adhered pertinaciously to the ear, and could not, without diffi-
culty, be completely loosened and removed. In such seasons, expense was the smallest
consideration which influenced the husbandman ; it was the quantity of grain unavoid-
ably lost which occupied his attention ; and, as it appeared difficult to find out a remedy,
most people considered it as an evil which could scarcely be avoided. In short, the loss
was great in almost every case, but greater with wheat than any other grain. Every
thing of tliis nature, however, may be prevented, now that threshing machines are
introduced, provided the feeder is careful, and proportions the quantity on the board to
the strength of the impelling power. Wheat, in fact, is now the cleanest threshed grain ;
because the length of the straw allows it to be properly beat out before it passes the
machine, which sometimes is not the case with short oats and barley. If horses are used
as the impelling power, thin feeding is necessary, otherwise the animals may be injured ;
but where wind or water is employed, the business of threshing is executed speedily,
completely, and economically. (Brown.)
50i5. In perfor7ning the operation, one man feeds the grain in the straw into the machine, and is assisted
by two half-grown lads, or young women, one of whom pitches or carries the sheaves from the bay close to
the threshing-stage, while the other opens the bands of every sheaf, and lays the sheaves successively on
a small table close by the feeder, who spreads them evenly on the feeding stage, that they may be drawn
in successively by the fluted rollers, to undergo the operation of threshing. In the opposite end of the
barn or straw-house, into which the rakes or shakers deliver the clean-threshed straw, one man forks up
the straw from the floor to the stratt>-7)iou\ and two lads, or young women, build it and tread it down. In
a threshing-machine, worked by water or wind, this is the whole expense of hand labour in the threshing
part of the operation, and, as a powerful machine can easily thresh from two to three hundred bushels of
grain in a working day of nine hours, the expense is exceedingly small indeed. Assuming two hundred
and fifty bushels as an average of the wcwrk of these people for one day, and their wages to be nine shillings,
the expense does not amount to one halfpenny for each bushel of grain. Even reducing the quantity of
grain threshed to one hundred and fifty bushels, the easy work of a good machine of inferior size and
power, the expense does not exceed three farthings the bushel. But the whole of this must not be
charged against the threshing only, the grain being half-dressed at the same time, by passing through one
winnowing-machine, wliich is always attached to a complete threshing-mill ; and where a second can be
conveniently connected with it, as is commonly the case if the mill is of considerable power, the corn
comes down nearly ready for market : so that the threshing, dressing, and building of the straw, with the
use of a powerful water-mill, will scarcely cost more than dressing alone when the flail is employed j after
every reasonable allowance for the interest of money, and the tear and wear of the machine.
5046. fVhen grain is threshed ivith a machine worked by horses, the expense is necessarily and consider,
ably enhanced. One capable of effecting the larger quantity of work, already calculated on, will require
eight good horses, and a man to drive them, wl.o may perhaps require the aiJ of a boy. The value of
the work of eight horses for a day cannot be less than forty shillings, and the wages of the driver may be
called two shillings and sixpence. Hence the total expense of threshing two hundred and fifty bushels
will amount to 2/. 2j. &d. ; or about two-pence per bushel, when the wages of the attendants are added ;
still leaving a considerable difference in favour of threshing by the machine, in preference to the flail.
Were it even ascertained that the expense of threshing by horses and by the flail is nearly the same,
horse-mills are to be recommended on other accounts j such as better threshing, expedition, little risk of
pilfering, &c.
5047. The produce of wheat must of course vary, according to the soil, climate, cul-
ture, and kind grown. Professor Thaer says, that in general it gives double the weight
of straw that it does of grain ; on elevated grounds something less ; and on low grounds
something more. The yield of grain in some seasons has been under twenty, while in
others it is upwards of thirty bushels the acre, the soil and culture being in every respect
the same. The average produce of Britain has been estimated at three, three and a half,
and four quarters ; and one of the largest crops ever heard of, at ten quarters, and the
least at one quarter and a half. The proportion which the corn bears to the straw, in
Middlesex, is eleven and a half bushels to a load of thirty-six trusses of thirty-six pounds
each, or eleven and a half cwt. ; no great deviation from Professor Thaer's general esti-
mate, a bushel of wheat weighing about 60 or 6 1 pounds.
5048. To judge of a sample of wheat, examine by the eye if the grain is perfectly fed
or full, plump and bright, and if there is any adulteration proceeding from sprouted
grains, smut, or the seeds of weeds ; and by the smell, if there is any improper impreg-
nation, and if it has been too much heated in the mow or upon the kiln ; and finally, by
the feel, to decide if the grain is sufficiently dry, as when much loaded with moisture it
is improper for the uses of the miller and baker. In cases where a sample handles
coarse, rough, and does not slip readily in the hand, it may be concluded not to be in a
condition either for grinding or laying up for keeping. When melilot and wild chamo-
mile abound among the wheat crop, are reaped with it, and undergo fermentation in the
rick, the grain will have the flavour of these strong smelling plants. To detect this in
the sample, hold the grain close in the hand, moisten it with the breath, and then smell
or taste it. This is the practice at Ampthill and other markets in Bedfordshire.
Boo:; VI. WHEAT. 819
5049. The yield of wheat mjlour is, on an average, thirteen pounds of flour to fourteen
pounds of grain. In the chemical analysis of wheat, Sir Humphrey Davy found that
one hundred parts of good full-grained wheat, sown in autumn, yield of starch seventy-
seven, and of gluten nineteen ; one hundi-ed parts of wheat, sown in spring, seventy of
starch, and twenty-four of gluten. American wheats he found to contain more gluten
than the British ; and, in general, the wheat of warm climates to abound more in gluten
and in insoluble parts, and to be of greater specific gravity, harder, and more difficult to
grind.
5050. The uses of wheat in the baking, culinary, and confectionary arts are well known.
It is also used for making starcli, by steeping the grain and then beating it in hempen
bags. The mucilage is thus mixed with the water, produces the acetous fermentation,
and the weak acid thus formed renders the mucilage white. After settling, the precipi-
tate is repeatedly washed, and then moulded into square cakes and kiln-dried. In
drying, the cakes separate into flakes, as in the starch of the shops. Starch is soluble
in hot water, but not in cold ; and hence, when ground down, it makes an excellent
hair powder. Its constituents are: carbon, 43*55 ; oxygen, 49*68 ; and hydrogen,
6*77 = 100.
5051. The uses of wheat straw are various and well known. As fodder it is, according
to Professor Thaer, the most nourishing of any; and it makes the best thatch: it is
generally preferred fon litter, though rye and barley straw are softer: it is used for
making bee-hives, horse collars, mattresses, huts, boxes, baskets, and all kinds of what
is called Dunstable work ; for the cider press ; and, among other things, for burning, to
procure potash from the ashes. The straw of wheat from dry chalky lands is manufac-
tured into hats for both men and women. For this purpose, the middle part of the tube,
above the last joint, is taken ; and, being cut into a length of eight or ten inches, is split
in tw^o. These splits are then plaited, by females and children, into various kinds of
plait or ribands, from half an inch to an inch broad: these, when sewed together according
to fancy or fashion, form different descriptions of ladies' bonnets, and the commoner plait
and coarser straw of men's hats. The hats are whitened by being placed in the vapour
of sulphur. Leghorn hats are made from the straw of a bearded variety of wheat, which
some have confounded with rye. It is cultivated on the poorest sandy soils in the
neighbourhood of the Arno, between Leghorn and Florence, expressly for this manu-
facture. It is of humble growth, and not above eighteen inches high ; is pulled up
when green, and bleached white by spreading and watering on the gravelly banks of the
Arno. The straws are not split ; but in other respects the manufacture into ribands is
the same as at Dunstable in England and in the Orkney Islands.
5052. T/ie Leghorn manvfacture of wheat straw into the well-known hats has lately been enquired into,
and detailed in several publications. The variety of wheat cultivated in Tuscany for this purpose is
known as xhc grano maixuulo, or marxolano, a variety of summer wheat with long bearded ears. It is
cultivated on the sandy hills on both sides of the valley of the Arno. The seed is sown in March, very
thick, and pulled when the ear is fully shot, but before the grain is formed. It is then 18 inches high, if
the crop is good ; it is bleached as we do flax, and afterwards tied up in bundles in the same manner, and
carried home, to have tlie part between the ear and the first fruit in the stalk selected, that being the
only part usfd. {Gard. Mag. vol. v. p. 70.)
5053. To obtain the whiteness so much prized, the straw is smoked with sulphur previously to being
worked ; the plait is also smoked ; and, lastly, the hat. About Sienna the process is simply a little sul-
phur set on fire in the bottom of a large chest, bunches of the straw being placed on long hazel rods
across, and the lid shut down. Elsewhere the articles are described as being placed in a small close room,
in which a chafing dish of sulphur is placed, and set fire to. Sometimes the operation requires to be done
twice before it succeeds.
5054. The straw for use is classed or stapled like our wool. Children or inferior hands work the coarse
thick straw, while good hands work the fine only. Whether fine or coarse, it is only the part on which
the spike grows that is made use of; and it is always the same plait, consisting of thirteen straws, which
is worked. In the fine plait there is a very great waste of str?w, as they reject all that is in the least
too thick, and they cut ofFa considerable part of the straw when it comes near the flower-spike. Fine
plait is not accounted good unless very much drawn together ; for which end it is worked very wet. The
bunches of straw are always put into a small jar, filled with cold water, which stands beside the worker.
After being smoked and pressed, the plait is made up into hats by women, who do nothing else ; it is not
put together by edges, nor overlapped. On the operation of pressing, a great deal depends : there are
only two good machines for that purpose in the country. Such is the practice for procuring the hat
straw : what they sow for seed is in other ground : not one fourth of the seed is used,* and the grain is
allowed to come to maturity in the usual way. It is said to be a capital wheat for vermicelli, macaroni,
&c., and also for making into bread. {Gard. Mag. vol. v. p. 71.)
5055. The introduction of the grano marzuolo into Britain has been tried, but not attended with success.
Messrs. J. and A. Muir, after various trials, found the straw of rye preferable.
5ii56 The tuode of plaiting is asfollo7>is : — The straws being picked, and put into separate bundles, ac-
cording to their quality, let thirteen of them be taken and tied firmly together by the seed ends; attach
them to any thing, such as the back of a chair, to keep them steady ; then take hold of the loose end of
the bundle, putting six straws into the one hand, and seven into the other. Take the outermost, and with
it cross over two ; then carry it behind the next two ; and lastly, before the remaining two ; after which
lay the straw into the other parcel of six. The first parcel of six being now made seven, take the outer-
most straw of it, and carry it across the bundle, by two, as in the former case, laying at last this seventh
straw into the outer parcel as before. It will be understood by this, that the outermost straw of each
parct!l is always made the acting straw, and that, in the progress of the operation, each of the straws of
both parcels is thus employed in its turn.
50.")7. As the work goes on, it will be necessary now and then to join in new straws, Seeing any one
needing to be renewed, watch until it becomes the acting straw ; and, when it is to be laid into the other
parcel, after performing its round, lay it up over the piece of plait, instead of putting it into the
.3G 2
820
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
parcel as formerly, and in place of it lay in a new straw, which is then to be used exactly as if it
were the old one.
5058. IJhy chance, in workin^f, any of the straws should brealc, a thing which can scarcely hap{>en with
winle-straes to any but the outermost straw, and to it only through want of attention, it may be reme-
died without any more trouble than putting in a new one in its place ; and though the outside of the plait
with the old and new straw should exhibit the appearance of a broken loop, yet, in the knitting up of
the work, it can easily be so managed that the defect shall be entirely concealed.
5059. The knitting need not be begun till as much of the plait is made as may be supposed sufficient to
form a hat, as an entire hat of any desired shape may be made up of a single piece of plait. About 70 or
80 yards will be sufficient to make a lady's hat.
5060. Outside and inside of the hat. In joining in new straws during the plaiting, the ends of the new
and old having been kept on ihe upper side of the plait, this will therefore be made the inside of the hat.
After twisting and turning the plait a little, to make it form the round piece for the top, the plait will be
found to lie with the one side to the other, like the teeth of two saws turned to each other; and then so
to unite these two opposite sides that they may present the appearance of one piece, begin to sew by
putting the needle in through the sort of stitch or loop on the outside of the plait, inserting the needle
from below. Take the stitch of the opposite piece in exactly the same way, and, after four or five stitches
of each side are taken on the thread, draw it up tightly, so that the stitches of both may be brought firmly
the one beside the other. In this manner, in the course of the operation, it will soon be seen that the
place where the seam is can scarcely be discovered from the rest of the plait.
5061. To seu) the croivn of the hat so that it may be quite plain, every stitch of the one side must not be
taken with every one of the other, but every second or third only of one of the sides, till the work get
on a little.
5062. The blocking of a hat may be done with any round piece of smooth stick that will fill it. After
the hat is well steeped, and put on the block, it may be made quite smooth by beating it gently with a
hammer. {Quar. Jour. Ag. vol. i. p. 294.)
5063. The diseases of ivheat are the rust, smut, or black mildew, the latter including
what is vulgarly called blight. These have been already treated of in our view of the
vegetable economy, and we shall merely offer a few practical observations on the smut
and mildew.
5064. The proximate cause of smut, in whatever manner the smut may be transmitted from the seed
pickle in the ground to the ear, it seems certain, is in general the infection of the seed by the dust of the
smut-ball, which B. de Jussieu first conjectured to be Lycoperdon globbsum, and which M, Prevost ascer.
tained to be a microscopic vegetable of some sort ; and that though the most careful washing, even
with the application of caustics, may not in every case insure against smut, yet if the seed be prepared in
the way already mentioned, the disease will never prevail to such a degree as to aflfect materially the value
of the crop. This is all that cultivators need to know, and all, perhaps, in the present state of science,
that can be known, of the cause and prevention of smut. See an article at length on this subject in the
British Farmer^ s Magazine, vol. iii. p. 17 P.
5065. Mildew is a much more destructive distemper than smut; and, as it is probably occasioned by a
peculiar state of the atmosphere during the periods of flowering and ripening, A is likely to baffle all
attempts at prevention. The prevalence of heavy fogs or mist, drizzling rains, and sudden changes in
the temperature, have been assigned as the causes of mildew ; and as it has been found that open airy
exposures are much less affected than low sheltered lands, in years when mildew prevails most generally,
the disorder may perhaps be somewhat diminished by drilling, which admits a freer circulation of air.
Spring or summer wheat is less liable to mildew than the winter species, though it does not always escape.
Minute parasitical Fi'mgi, Puccini<r Gr&minis {Enc. of Plants), are commonly detected on the straw of
mildewed wheat ; and there cannot be the least doubt that the barberry bush, and probably several other
shrubs on which these Fungi abound, have a powerful influence in communicating the disease to a certain
distance. [Sir Joseph Bankes on Mildew, and Com. to the B. of Agr. vol. vii.)
5066. The ivheat fly has, of late years, been one of the greatest enemies to the wheat crop in Scotland.
In North America this insect, or "one of the same family, has been known for many years, more espe-
cially in New England ; and its alarming ravages are depicted from time to time in the newspapers, under
the name of the Hessian fly. In the modern nomenclature, the Rev. W. Kirby informs us that the wheat
fly, formerly the Tipula tritici Lin., is now the Cecidomyia trilici {fig. 724. a), and the Hessian fly the
C. destructor {b). The wheat fly generally makes its
appearance about the end of June; and, according to
the observations of Mr. Shivref!', they exist throughout
a peiiod of thirty-nine days. The hue of the fly is
orange, the wings transparent, and changing colour
according to the light in which they are viewed. It
lays it* eggs within the glumes of the florets, in clusters
varying in number from two to ten, or even fifteen ; and
thelarvaD feed upon the grain. " They are produced from
the eggs in the course of eight or ten days: they are at
first perfectly transparent, and assume a yellow colour in
a few days afterwards. They travel not from one floret
to another, and forty-seven have been numbered in one.
Occasionally there are found in the same floret larva^
and a grain, which is generally shrivelled, as if de-
prived of nourishment ; and although the pollen may
furnish the larva; with food in the first instance, they
soon crowd around the lower part of the germen, and
there, in all probability, subsist on the matter destined
to form the grain." {Mag. Nat. Hist, vol ii. p. 450.) The
larvte are preyed on by the Ceraphron destructor,
an ichneumon flv, which deposits its eggs in the body
of the larvae of the wheat fly; and this is the only check hitherto discovered for preventing the total
destruction of the wheat crops attacked by the Cecidomyia. Mr. ShirrefF, .^peaking of this ichneumon,
savs " I could not determine if it actually deposits its eggs in the maggot's body ; but there can be no
doubt however, of the ichneumon piercing the maggots with a sting ; and, from stinging the same maggot
repeatedly, it is probable the fly delights to destroy the maggots, as well as to deposit eggs m their bodies.
The earwig, also, devours the maggots as food. {Brit. Farm. Mag. vol. iii p. 493.) Mr^ Gorr.e estimates
the loss sustained by the farming interest in the Carse of Gowrie district alone by the wheat fly, at 20,000/.
in 1827, at 30,000/. in 1828, and at 36,000/. in 18£9. {Perth Miscellany, vol. i. p. 42.) The same writer in May
1830 thus depicts the prospect of the wheat crop in the Carseof Cowrie :—" The Cecidomyia are still alive
in fo'rmidable legions. That the flies will this season be in as great plenty as ever, is now quite certain ; that
they will lay their eggs on no other plant than those of the wheat genus, is also true ; the only chance of
escape is in the time the pup;E appear the Ry state. Should this sunny weather bring them forward
within a fortnight or three weeks from this date, the greater part will have perished before the wheat is
Book VI.
RYE.
821
in the ear ; or should the earing take place before the flies appear, then only the late or spring-sown
wheats will suffer : but these appear slender chances. We know the history and habits of the insect
too well to believe that either mist, or rain, or dew, or drought, will either forward or retard their opera-
tions, if the main body appear about the time the wheat comes in the ear. In addition to that vile gnat,
our neighbours in the Lothians are threatened with a no less formidable invader in the A'scius pumila-
rius, which, as we are informed on respectable authority, have already commenced their depredations,
and are thinning the wheat plants rather liberally in that quarter. It, like the Hessian fly in
America, attacks the under joints, which become habitations for the young larvse. As far as our
observation extends, this pest has not yet reached us in noticeable numbers." {Country Times, May 17.
1830.)
5067. The culture of summer wheat differs from that of winter or spring-sown wititer
wheat, in its requiring a more minutely pulverised and rather richer soil. It need not
be sown sooner than April, and it advances so rapidly to maturity that it hardly affords
time for hoeing (if sown in rows), or harrowing and rolling. When grass or clover seeds
are sown on the same ground, they are sown immediately after the wheat, and harrowed
in with a light harrow or rolled in. In this respect, and indeed in all others, the prepa-
ration of the soil and sowing of this grain are the same as for barley.
5068. The produce of summer wheat, both in grain and straw, is considerably less than
that of winter wheat : the straw is only fit for litter or inferior fodder ; the flour produced
by the grain is rather coarser and darker than that of common wheat. Of course this
sort of wheat cannot, as already observed, be recommended for general culture.
Sect. II. Rye. — Secdle ceredle L. ; l^ridndria Digynia L., and GraminecB J. Seigle,
Fr. ; Rogon, Ger. ; Segak, Ital. ; and Centeno, Span. (Jig. 725. )
5069. Rye, according to some, is a native of Crete ; but it is very doubtful whether
any country can be now ascertained to be its native soil. It has
been cultivated from time immemorial, and is considered as coming
nearer in its properties to wheat than any other grain. It is more
common than wheat on most parts of the continent, being a more
certain crop, and one which requires less culture and manure. It is
•the bread corn of Germany and Russia. In Britain it is now very
little grown, being no longer a bread corn, and therefore of less
value to the former than barley, oats, or peas. Many consider it the
most impoveiishing of all corn crops.
5070. The varieties of rye are not above two, known as winter and
spring rye : but there is so little difference between them that spring
rye sown along with winter rye can hardly be distinguished from it.
5071. The soU for rye may be inferior to that chosen for wheat:
it will grow in dry sandy soils, and produce a tolerable crop ; and, on
the whole, it may be considered as preferring sands to clays. The
preparation of the soil should be the same as for wheat. According
to Professor Thaer, rye abstracts 30 parts in 100 of the nutriment
contained in the soil on which it is grown.
5072. The climate for rye may be colder than for wheat ; but it is rather more injured
by rains during winter, and equally injured by moist weather during the flowering
season.
5073. Rye is sown either in autumn or spring, and either broad-cast or in drills : two
bushels and a half is the usual alloAvance when it is sown broad-cast. As it vegetates
more slowly than wheat, it should be sown when the soil is dry ; a wet soil being apt to
rot the grain before it has completely germinated. No pickling or other preparation is
given.
5074. The after cultvre, harvesting, and threshing are the same as for wheat ; and the
produce in grain is, under similar circumstances, equal in bulk ; but in straw it is greater
in rye than in any other grain. Sir H. Davy found, in 1000 parts of rye, 61 parts of
starch and five parts of gluten. Professor Thaer says rye is the most nourishing grain
next to wheat. It contains an aromatic substance, which appears to adhere more par-
ticularly to the husk, since the agreeable taste and smell peculiar to rye bread are not
found in that which is made from rye flour that has passed through a very fine bolting-
cloth ; while tlie fragrance may be restored by a decoction of rye bran in the warm water
used to make the dough. This substance, Thaer says, seems to facilitate digestion, and
has an action particularly refreshing and fortifying on the animal frame.
5075. The use of rye is chiefly for bread, especially for gingerbread. It is also used
in the distilleries ; and the straw is used for the same purposes as that of wheat, except
that it is useless as fodder. Some prefer it for thatching and litter, and also for collar-
making ; it is also employed in Dunstable work. Tanners are said to use it in some
districts.
5076. Rye is sometimes sown as a green crop, with a view of affording some keep for
sheep early in the spring, and also for being ploughed in as manure ; but that husbandry
3 G 3
822 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
must be bad or unfortunate which requires recourse to either mode. In some districts
it is customary to sow the head hmds of wheat fields with rye, which is said to keep
poultry from penetrating to the wheat.
5077. The manufacture of rye straw into plait for hats is a new application, for which the public arc
indebted to Messrs. J. and A. Muir of Greenock, manufacturers of straw hats in imitation of those of
Leghorn. Messrs. Muir had previously tried rye grass, crested dog's-tail grass, sweet-scented vernal grass,
and the straw of wheat, raised both from British and foreign seed, without success. At last the idea of
employing rye straw was suggested to them ; and they now send annually to their establishment in the
Orkney Islands (founded by an English gentleman about 1820) *' from 40 to 45 bolls, which arc sown on
about twelve English acres of sandy soil, manured with sea- weed. Several acres of heath for bleaching
the straw, and water for steeping it, are required in the neighbourhood of the rye fields. The rye is cut
when the seed is beginning to form ; and it is necessary to attend to the precise time, for ten days too early
or too late produce a considerable diflference in the look of the straw. When the rye is cut, women are
employed to tie it at the lower extremity in handfuls ; it is then put into boxes, and covered with boiling
water, in which it remains for half an hour. After this it is spread out upon the heath in a fan form, and
turned twice daily, until the bleaching, which takes about ten days, is completed. If exposed to much
rain while bleaching, the straw is injured in colour, and rendered very liable to take mildew. It is of great
importance to have the crop well housed." — '* The seed of the rye is sown in April, in mossy ground,
recently rendered arable ; and if the season is at all fiivourable, it comes into flower in July, when it is cut
down. The whole stem is then immersed in boiling water, in a trough made for the purpose, and re-
mains in this state for two hours. When taken out, it is spread upon a grass field, and exposed to the
sun, till it is properly bleached, which requires from two to four days, according to the weather. When
bleached, the stalk is divided into separate parts at each joint, and put up into bundles by the lengths.
In this manner, the bundles lie in a proper place till wanted by the plaiters. This last process is done
chiefly by old people, who are unable for the finer work, or by those pupils who have only lately joined
the manufactory. {Trans. Highl. Sac. vol. vii. pp. 283. and 289.) The mode of plaiting has' been already
described. (§5056.)
5078. Ri/e is less subject to disease than most other grain, and is even sown among wheat
and round wheat fields from an idea that it will keep off blight and mildew as well as
poultry.
5079. The spur or ergot of rye is by some considered as a fungus, a species of Sclerotium, somewhat
analogous to that which produces the smut. It is not peculiar to rye, but it is very seldom found on any
other gramineous plant. " It is a production of the seeds; is long, horny, and cartilaginous; and is
sometimes straight, at others curved ; sometimes it is found more than two inches in length. The re-
semblance of this substance to cocks' spurs has given it the name by which it is distmguished. On
breaking a spurred seed, you find within it a substance of a dull white colour adhering to the violet skin
that surrounds it. Rye thus attacked cannot germinate. M. Tessier remarked that the most rainy years
were the most productive of this disease ; that the soils on which most spurred rye grew were most moist ;
that high grounds were nearly free from them, unless when the furrows prevented the water from running
freely off, while the lower parts of the same field produced more than the upper parts." {Brit. Farm,
Mag. vol. iii. p. 302.) In France a disease, called the chronic or dry gangrene, has been produced by eating
ergot. This disease is also known in Switzerland, where it was observed that most animals refused to eat
diseased rye, or rye affected with the cockspur, as it is called. l"he Royal Society of Medicine at Paris
employed M. Tessier, a distinguished agricultural writer and man of science, to go into the countries
where the dry gangrene prevailed, and collect a sufficient quantity of the ergot or cockspur rye for expe-
riments. The result confirmed the opinion of those who attributed the disease to the cause assigned.
" France afforded, also, a simple explanation of the fact that persons might live for a considerable time
upon rye affected with the cockspur, without suffering any sensible injury from its use; since, in all the
animals upon which it was tried experimentally, a given quantity was required to produce the specific
effect ; and they suggested the only measure, that of separating the diseased from the sound rye, which
could prevent so great a national calamity as that which has been so often produced by its use." The
spurred rye occasionally occurs in this country, but tiiere are no instances recorded of its producing any
such effects as it is said to do in France ; but in the Philosophical Transactions Dr. W^ollaston has nar-
rated several cases in which dry gangrene was produced in one family by partaking of damaged wheat ;
and nearly the same effects were produced in a family in Wiltshire by the LMium temulentum entering
largely into the coT>.*)Osition of bread. {Sh-phenson and Churchill's Med. Bot. art. JSecale.) M. Lagasca
states that tlie ergot is covered with a thin pellicle and filled with a grey powder. It is collected in Spain
by women and children, who wade in the fields of standing rye for the purpose, and with their utmost
vigilance can obtain it but in very small quantities, in consequence of which it sells high as an article of
the materia medica. {Brit. Farm. Mag. vol iii. p. 158.) Medicinally it is used in uterine diseases.
Sect. III. Barley. — Hord^wm L. ; Triandria Digynia Li., and Gram i77ea; J. L'Orge,
Fr. ; Gerste, Ger. ; Orzo, Ital. ; Byg, Dan. and Swed. ; and Cebada, Span.
5080. Barley, though less calculated for a bread corn than rye, may be considered as
next in value to wheat in Britain. Of what country it is a native is unknown. Some
assio-n it to Tartary, others to Siberia, and even Scotland has been mentioned. It has
been cultivated from the earliest antiquity, and was much in use among the Romans,
both as food for soldiers and horses. In Sweden and Lapland it is more cultivated than
any other grain, on account of its requiring to be so short a period in the soil ; some-
times not longer than six weeks, and seldom more than seven or seven and a half. In
Soain and Sicily they have two crops a year on the same soil : one is sown in autumn
and ripens in May, and the other is sown in May and reaped in autumn. In Britain
barley is a tender grain, and easily hurt in any of the stages of its growth, particularly at
seed time : a heavy shower of rain will then almost ruin a crop on the best prepared
land • and ' in all the after processes greater pains and attention are required to insure
success than in the case of other grains. The harvest process is difficult, and often
attended with danger ; even the threshing of it is not easily executed with machines,
because the corn generally adheres to the grain, and renders separation from the straw a
troublesome task.
Book VI.
BARLEY.
823
5081. Species and varieties. {Jig. 726.) There are six species and subspecies of
this grain in cultivation besides varieties. These are, —
1 . Hiirdeum ' _
2. coeliistr, Siberian barley.
3. heuistichon. Winter barley (4).
4. Hdrdeum dfstichon. Common or long-eared barley (c).
5, dfstichon nudum. Naked liarlev.
6.
Zeocriton, Sprat or battledore (rf).
The second and fifth sorts are allow^ed to be subspecies or varieties of the first and fourth,
and indead there can be little doubt that the whole do not constitute more than one species.
A\ \\V\I I /.I
726
5082. The springbarley or early barley (a), Orge carree, Sucn'on de priniemps, Fr., is distinguished by its
double row of beards or awns standing erect, and its thin husk, which renders it favourable for malting.
This is the sort principally cultivated in the southern and eastern districts of both England and Scotland,
and of wliich the farmers make two sorts, viz. the common, and the rath-ripe barley : but these two sorts
are in reality the same ; for the rath-ripe is only an alteration of the common barley, occasioned by being
long cultivated upon warm gravelly soils. The seed of this, when sown on cold or strong land, will, the
first year, ripen near a fortnight Earlier than the seed taken from strong land, and therefore the farmers
in the vales generally purchase their seed-barley from the warm or gravelly lands ; for, when preserved
in the vales two or three years, it becomes full as late in ripening as the common barley of their own
product : on the other hand, the farmers on warm lands are also obliged to procure their seed-barley from
the strong lands, otherwise their grain would degenerate in bulk or fulness, which by this change is pre-
vented.
5083. The Siberian barley, Orge cdlesie, Fr., and Himmel gerste, Ger., is a variety of early barley with
broader leaves, and reckoned more productive than the other. It is much grown in the north of Europe,
and was introduced to this country in 1768, but is believed to be now lost or merged in the parent species.
5084. Winter barley, lute barley, or square barley ib), Orge carree d'hiver, Escourgeon, Fr., has the gi'ains
disposed in four or in six rows, large and thick skinned. It is chiefly cultivated in the north of England
and in Scotland, on account of its hardiness j but from the thickness of its rind it is ill adapted for malting,
and is going out of use.
5085. Bigg, Injg, or barley big, is a variety of winter barley known by always having six rows of grains,
by the grains being smaller and the rind thicker, and by its being earlier than the parent variety. Pro-
fessor Martyn says, he has frequently counted forty-two grains on one ear of bigg, when common or long-
eared barley had only twenty-two.
5086. Coinmon or long-eared barley (c), is known by its very long spike or ear, flatted transversely,
greater in breadth than thickness, with chaff ending in an awn sixteen times the length of the grain.
This sort is cultivated in many parts of England and Scotland j though some object to it because the ears
being long and heavy they think it apt to lodge.
5087. Naked barley, or wheat barley, Orge nue a deux rangs, Fr., is known by the grain separating easily
from the chaff, and is by some considered as nothing else than spelt wheat, which it greatly resembles. It
does not appear to be cultivated at present in any part of Britain.
5088. Sprat, or battledore barley (rf), Orge eventail, Orge-riz, Fr., is known by its low stature, coarse
straw, short broad ears, and long awns. The long awns and closeness of the ears protect it better from
birds than most other sorts, but as the straw is scanty and of little use it is not much cultivated.
.5089. Besides these sorts there are some local varieties, as Thanet barley. Putney barley, &c. which are
merely names given to the varieties common in those places. The Thanet is the winter, and the Putney
the sprat barley.
5090. New varieties may be procured by selection or crossing, as in the case of wheat.
(5009.)
5091. In choosing a sort of barter/ for cultivation, regard must be had to the soil and
climate. The hardiest may be considered the winter barley, and the earliest, and perhaps
the best, is the spring barley. The long-eared is also a much esteemed variety.
5092. In choosing from any particular variety, the best grain for sowing is that which is free from
blackness at the tail, and is of a pale lively yellow colour, intermixed with a bright whitish cast; and if
the rind be a little shrivelled, it is so much the better, as it shows that it has sweated in the mow, and is
a sure indication that its coat is thin. The husk of thick-rinded barley being too stiff to shrink, will lie
smooth and hollow, even when the flour has shrunk from it within. The necessity of a change of seed
from time to time, by sowing that of the growth of a different soil, as it has been observed, is in no
instance more evident than in the culture of this grain, which otherwise becomes coarser and coarser
every year. But in this, as well in all other grain, the utmost care should be taken that the seed is full
bodied.
5093. The best soil for barleij is a light rich loam, finely pulverised. It will neither
grow well on a sandy or soft soil, nor on strong clays, such as are suitable for wheat.
5094. The preparation of the soil is sometimes by a naked fallow, but generally by a
turnip fallow ; sometimes it is taken after peas and beans, but rarely by good farmers
either after wheat or oats, unless under special circumstances.
3 G 4
824 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
5095. jyken sown after turnips it is generally taken with one furrow, which is given as fast as the
turnips are consumed, the ground thus receiving much benefit from spring frosts. But often two or more
furrows are necessary for the fields last consumed ; because, when a spring drought sets in, the surface,
Irom being poaclied by the removal or consumption of the crop, gets so hardened as to render a greater
quantity of ploughing, harrowing, and rolling necessary than would otherwise be called for. When sown
after beans and peas, one winter and one spring ploughing are usually bestowed ; but, when after wheat
or oats, three ploiighings are necessary, so that the ground may be put in proper condition. These
operations are very ticklish in a wet and backward season, and rarely in that case is the grower paid for the
expense of his labour. Where land is in such a situation as to require three ploughings before it can be seeded
with barley, it is better to summer fallov/ it at once, than to run the risks which seldom fail to accompany
a quantity of spring labour. If the weather be dry, moisture is lost during the different processes, and an
imperfect germination necessarily follows : if it bo wet, the benefit of ploughing is lost, and all the evils
of a wet seed-time are sustained by the future crop. {Brown.)
5096. To whatever crop barley succeeds, the harrow and roller, when the plough alone is insufficient,
should be employed in reducing the soil to a considerable degree of fineness. In most cases more than
one earth is given ; though, after a winter furrow, the grubber may be used in spring instead of the
plough. After turnips, eaten on the ground by sheep, the land, being consolidated by their treading,
sometimes receives two ploughings ; but, if only one, it should be well harrowed and rolled ; and it is often
finished by harrowing after the roller, especially if grass-seeds be sown, which are covered by this last
harrowing. Barley is sometimes sown on tiie first ploughing, and covered by a second shallow ploughing.
As it is found of great importance, with a view to speedy and equal vegetation, ihc.X. the ground should be
fresh and moist, barley is generally sown upon what is termed hot-fur, that is, as soon as possible after it
is turned up by the plough
5097. Manure can seldom be given with advantage to a crop that occupies the soil so
short a period as barley, and therefore it generally is sown on land which has been en-
riched for a preceding crop.
5098. The climate in which barley deliglits is warm and dry. There are instances of
a crop being sown and ripened without having enjoyed a single shower of rain ; but
gentle showers from the time it is sown till it begins to shoot into the ear, are favourable ;
while heavy rains at any period, and especially immediately after sowing, or during the
blossoming, ripening, and reaping seasons, are highly injurious.
5099. The best season for sowing barley is considered to be from the beginning of
April to the middle of May ; but bigg may be sown either in autumn to stand the winter,
or as late as the first week of June. In England, the winter or four-rowed barley is
frequently sown in autumn, and stands the most severe winters. With respect to the
lateness at which bigg and summer barley may be sown, much depends on the sort of
weather which occurs during the first three weeks after sowing,
5100. When barley is sown late it is sometimes steeped in common water to promote its germination ; but
it is seldom pickled or otherwise prepared. The advantages of steeping are, procuring an equal germination,
and consequently ripening, and getting the start of weeds. The following directions are given for per-
forming the operation : — First, take out about one-third of the contents of the sacks of seed barley or
bear to allow for the swelling of the grain ; lay the sacks with the grain to steep in clean water ; let it be
covered with it for at least twenty-four hours; when the ground is very dry, and no likelihood of rain for
two or three days, it is better to lie thirty-six hours. Sow the grain wet from steeping without any
addition. The seed will scatter well as clean water has no tenacity ; only the sower must put in a fourth
or a third more seed in bulk than is usual of dry grain, as the grain is swelled in that proportion. Harrow
it in as quickly as possible after it is sown ; and, though not necessary, give it the benefit of a fresh furrow
if convenient. You may expect it up in a fortnight at farthest. {Broivn.)
5101 . The quantity of seed is different in different cases, according to the quality of the
soil and other circumstances. Upon very rich lands, eight pecks per acre are sometimes
sown ; twelve is very common ; and upon poor land, more is sometimes given.
5102. Whether the practice of giving so small a quantify of seed to the best lands is advantageous or the
reverse, seems a disputed point amongthe best farmers. That there is a saving of grain there can be nodoubt ;
and that the bulk may be as great as if more seed had been sown, there can be as little question. Little
argument, however, is necessary to prove that thin sowing of barlev must be attended with considerable
disadvantage ; for if the early part of the season be dry, the plants will not only be stinted in their growth,
but will not send out offsets ; and if rain afterwards fall, an occurrence that must take place some time
during the summer, often at a later period of it, the plants begin to stool, and send out a number of
voung shoots. These young shoots, unless under very favourable circumstances, cannot be exjiected to
iirrive at maturity ; or if their ripening be waited for, there will be a great risk of losing the early part of
the crop, a circumstance that frequently happens. In almost every instance an unequal sample is pro-
duced, and the grain is for the most part of an inferior quality. By good judges, it is thought preferable
to sow a quantity of seed sufficient to ensure a full crop, without depending on its sending out offsets :
indeed, where that is done, few offsets are produced, the crop grows and ripens equally, and the grain is
unifornily good. {Bi-own on Rural Ajfbirs.) ♦
5103. The modes of souring barley are either broad-cast, or in rows by the drill or
ribbing. The broad-cast mode is almost universally adopted; unless in lands much
infested with annual weeds, where drilling and hand-hoeing, and in particular cases
horse-hoeing, may be employed with advantage.
5104. The only culture which barley requires while in a growing state, is hoeing and
weeding if in rows, and weeding alone if broad-cast. Sometimes barley is rolled to com-
press a soft soil and exclude the drought, and when very thick it may be first harrowed
and then rolled. Grass seeds and clover are sown with the grain before the last
harrowing, when the broad-cast mode is adopted ; and immediately before hoeing,
when the'barley is in rows. The former is much the best mode for insuring a strong
plant of clover.
5105. Eating down barley, which from winter or very early sowing is over-luxuriant, is practised in
some districts^, but it is alleged that mowing is much better than feeding it ; because the scythe takes ott
only the rank tops, but the sheep feed upon all indifTercntly ; nor should they even, m any case, be lelt
Book VI. BARLEY. 825
upon it too long, because, being particularly fond of the sweet end of the stalk next the root, they bite so
close as to injure the future growth of the plant
5106. Barley is tipe when the red roan, as the farmers term it, meaning a reddish
colour on tlie ear, is gone off; or when the ears droop, and fall, as it were, double against
the straw, and the stalks have lost their verdure ; but in the latter case it is too ripe.
5107. In the harvesting of barley more care is requisite than in taking any of the other
white crops, even in the best of seasons ; and in bad years it is often found very difficult
to save it. Owing to the brittleness of the straw, after it has reached a certain period
it must be cut down ; as, when it is suffered to stand longer, much loss is sustained by
the breaking of the heads. On that account it is cut at a time when the grain is soft,
and the straw retains a great proportion of its natural juices, consequently requires a long
time in the field before either the grain is hardened or the straw sufficiently dry. When
put into the stack sooner it is apt to heat, and much loss is frequently sustained.
5108. Barley is genernUy cut dotvn in England with the cradle scythe, and either tied up or carted home
loose after lying in the swath some days to dry It is not apt to shed ; but in wet weather it will be likely
to spout or grow musty ; and therefore every fair day after rain it should be shaken up and turned : and
when it is tolerably dry, let it be made up into shocks ; but be careful never to house it till thoroughly dry,
lest it mow-burn, which will make it malt worse than if it had spired in the field. It is remarked by Lisle,
tliat i>oor thin barley should be cut a little sooner than if the same plants were strong and vigorous ; as the
straw, when the plants are full ripe, in such cases will not stand against the scythe. In this situation,
barley in particular should lie in swath till it is thoroughly dry. Some of his barley, which lay out in
swath five or six days in very fine weather, though both blighted and edge-grown, grew plump, and ac-
quired very near as good a colour as the best. He reckons short scythes the best for mowing lodged or
crumpled corn, because they miss the fewest plants; and observes, that a bow upon the scythe, which
carries away the swath before it, is preferable to a cradle, the fingers of which would be pulled to pieces
by the entangled corn, in drawing back the scythe. In Scotland and Ireland it is generally reaped with
the sickle, bound in sheaves, and set up in shocks.,
5109. In stacking barley many farmers make an opening in the stack from top to
bottom. This opening is generally made by placing a large bundle of straw in the
centre of the stack, when the building commences, and in proportion as it rises the straw
is drawn upwards, leaving a liollow behind ; which, if one or two openings are left in the
side of the stack near the bottom, insures so complete a circulation of air, as not only to
prevent heating, but to preserve the grain from becoming musty.
51 10. The threshing and dressing of barley require more labour than those of any other
grain, on account of the difficulty of separating the awns from the ears. For this pur-
pose some threshing machines are furnished with what is called a hummelling machine,
already described (2799.) : and where this is wanting, it is customary to put the grain,
accompanied with a portion of threshed straw, a second time through the machine.
Where barley has been mown, the whole of the straw requires to be twice threshed, in-
dependently of the necessity of getting rid of the awns.
5111. The produce of barley, taking the average of England and the south of Scotland,
Donaldson considers, might be rated at thirty-two bushels; but when Wales and the
north of Scotland are included, where, owing to the imperfect modes of culture still prac-
tised, the crops are very indifferent, the general average over the whole will not probably
exceed twenty-eight bushels the acre. Middleton states it as varying in England from
fifteen to seventy-five bushels per acre. The average produce of the county of Middle-
sex, he says, is about four quarters of corn and two loads of straw per acre.
5112. 2%e uses of barley are various. In Wales, Westmorland, Cumberland, and in
the north, as well as in several parts of the west of Scotland, the bread used by the great
body of the inhabitants is made chiefly from barley. Large quantities of the barley cul-
tivated in England are converted into beer, ale, porter, and what is called British spirits,
as English gin, English brandy, &c. The remainder, beyond what is necessary for seed,
is made into meal, and partly consumed in bread by the inhabitants of the above-men-
tioned districts, and partly employed for the purpose of fattening black cattle, hogs, and
poultry. There is a much greater share of the Scotch barley consumed in distillation,
in proportion to the quantity cultivated, than of the English. Exclusive of what is
used for seed, the Scotch barley is either converted into beer or ale ; or made into pot-
barley, or into meal, for the use of the inhabitants in the more remote and less cultivated
parts of the kingdom ; or, lastly, into whisky. In The Report of Middlesex it is stated,
that much of the most ordinary barley is given to poultry : the rest is sold to the malt-
sters, except so much as is reserved for seed.
51 IS. But malt is the great purpose to xvhich barley is applied in Britain. To understand the process of
malting, it may be necessary to observe that the cotyledons of a seed, before a voung plant is produced, are
changed by the heat and moisture of the earth into sugar and mucilage. Malting grain is only an artificial
mode of effecting this by steeping the grain in water and fermenting it in heaps, and the arresting of its
progress towards forming a plant by kiln drying, in order to take advantage of the sugar in distillation for
spirit or fermentation for beer. The grain of barley contains starch and sugar ; and the chemical consti-
tuents of both these ingredients are very nearly alike. In the process of malting, a portion of the starch is
converted into sugar, so that the total quantity of sugar, and consequently the source of spirit, is increased
by the transformation.
5114. To choose a proper sample of barley for vialling, observe the directions given for choosing seed
barley. (.'KJ91.)
826
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
5115. O/jOo/.ftar/fy there are two sorts, pearl and Scotch; both are produced by grinding off the husk,
and the pearl barley is produced by carrying the operation so far as to produce roundness in the kernel.
It is used in soups, gruels, and medicinal drinks.
5116. Barley meal is ground like oatmeal or flour ; the coarser sort, with the bran, is used for fattening
live stock, especially pigs and poultry ; but fine bolted barley flour, made into a thin pottage or pudding,
and spread out in tiiick cakes, and toasted on a hot plate of metal, forms a light breakfast bread, much
esteemed in some i>arts of Scotland. It is served in a recent state, hot, and spread with butter and honey,
and eaten in several folds. Two parts of barley flour, one of wheat flour, and one of rye, are said to make
a light and very agreeable loaf of bread.
5117. The produce of barley injlour is I2lbs. to 14lbs. of grain. Sir H. Davy found
1000 parts of barley meaJ to afford 920 parts of soluble or nutritious matter ; viz. 790 of
mucilage or starch, 70 of sugar, and 60 of gluten.
5118. Barley straw is chiefly used for litter and packing ; it is unfit for thatch or rope-
making, and of little value as fodder.
5119. The diseases of barley are few, and chiefly smut, but of quite a different species
from that which affects the wheat, and one which it is found cannot be prevented by
pickling and liming.
Sect. IV. The Oat. — A vena sativa L. ; Tridndria Digynia L., and Graminece J.
UAooine, Fr. ; Haber, Ger. ; Vena, Ital. ; and Avena, Span.
5120. The oat is a very useful grain, and more peculiarly adapted for northern climates
than either wheat, rye, or barley. Its native country is unknown, unless the wild oat be
considered as the parent species, which is highly probable. The culture of the oat in
France is chiefly confined to latitudes nortli of Paris. It is scarcely known in the south
of France, Spain, or Italy ; and in tropical countries its culture is not attended to. In
Britain it has long been very generally cultivated, formerly as a bread corn, but now
chiefly as horse-food. Of all the grain this is the easiest of culture, growing in any soil
that admits of ploughing and harrowing.
5121. 2'he varieties of oats are more numerous than those- of the other grains, and
some of them are very distinctly marked. The principal are as follows : —
5122. The white oat or common oat {Jig. 727. a), Avoine blanche, Fr., in most general cultivation both in
England and Scotland, and known by its white husk and
1?1 >v RS^ lifflkXk kernel.
' - ' jTI^ l\m\ IfiWK 512o. The black oat, Avoine a grappe noir, Fr., known by
its black husk ; cultivated on poor soils, in the north of
Etigland and Scotland.
512+. The red oat, known by its brownish red husk,
thinner and more flexible stem, and firmly attached grains.
It is early, sufTers little from winds, meals well, and suits
windy situations and late climates. It is understood to have
originated in Peebleshire, on the estate of Magbie-hill, by
which name it is sometimes known.
512.5. The Poland ont, known by its thick white husk,
awnless chafT, solitary grains, short white kernel, and short
stiff straw. It requires a dry warm soil, but is very prolific,
n'l \f ^y- J(«g3^^>i>l'i f -~-.^'^\V -a^ (II Vit^^'fi'l-^^ black Poland oat is one of the best varieties ; it some-
//| \^^'l^^^^riy ^"^^ 1^1 ' inVwl k^m times weighs. 50lbs. per bushel. It is, however, very liable to
w/ 1^ xH^VVVi ik=J\\\ \\V f /ir\ul/rll%' be shed by the wind after it begins to ripen ; it requires a
f \\ x\lM4^\^VU^ /(>^.H Ml^ fine dry tilth.
" ' 5126. rAffwztoMrf or DK/c//oflr^, has plump, thin-skinned,
white grains, mostly double, and the large one sometimes
awned. It has longer straw than the Poland, but in other
respects resembles it
5127. The potato oat has large, plump, rather thick-
skinned, white grains, double and treble, with longer straw
than either of the last two sorts. It is almost the only oat
now raised on land in a good state of cultivation in the
north of England and south of Scotland, and usually brings
a higher price in the London market than any othtr variety. It was discovered growing in a field of
potatoes in Cumberland, in 1788; and from the produce of the single stalk which there sprung up by
accident, probably from the manure, has been produced the stock now in general cultivation.
5128. The Georgian oat, is a large, grained, remarkably prolific variety introduced from Georgia, by R.
Barclay, Esq. of Bury Hill, to Britain and the north of Europe. On rich soil in good tilth, Mr. Barclay
finds it vield more grain per acre than the potato oat or any variety whatever.
5129. The Siberian or Tatarian oat (b), is considered by some as a distinct species. The grains are
black or brown, thin and small, and turned mostly to one side of the panicle; and the straw is coarse and
reedy. It is little cultivated in England, but found very suitable for the poor soils and exposed situations
on the sides of the Dublin and Wicklow hills.
5130. A variety called the winter oat, Avoine d'hiver, Fr., has lately come into notice in some parts of
England, but we have not been able to ascertain its origin. Mr. Bennett of Chaxhill, near Gloucester,
sows two bushels per acre in October ; finds the plants very luxuriant at Christmas, tillering like wheat : he
depastures them with ewes and lambs all the spring, and then shuts them up, and reaps an ample crop early
in August. The grain is rather longer than that of the white oat, and the colour rather lighter than that of
the black oat ; Mr. Bennett received the seed from a friend in Monmouthshire, who he conjectures
received it from Bristol, so that it is probably a recent importation. {Country Times, Feb. 8th, and Cor.
with Mr. Bennett.) .
5131. There are other varieties, as Church's oat, the Angus oat, the dun oat, &c., but they are either too
local or obsolete to require particular notice. In the oat, as in other plants extensively cultivated, new
varieties will always be taking the place of old ones.
5132. To procure new varieties adopt the mode by selection, by which, as it appears
above, the potato and red oat were brought forward ; or proceed systematically by cross
impregnation, as directed for raising new varieties of wheat. Degeneracy, Brown
^
Book VI. OATS. 827
observes, has taken place to a certain extent in the potato oat ; but it is presumed that
the consequences might be removed with ease, were first principles returned to. To
make a selection of the strongest ears, which carried the purest grain, is not a difficult
business j and were this selection attended to by half a dozen farmers in a district, it is
obvious, that the breed, or variety, might be preserved pure and uncontaminated. If
slovenly farmers were not provided with good seed, it would be their own fault ; since,
if they would not take the trouble to select and breed for their own use, they might
always be provided by those who were either better qualified for making the selection, or
were more attentive to the interests of agriculture. (Broum.) Some of the Northum-
berland farmers have been at the pains to select the grains, instead of the ears, after
being threshed. The best seeds are picked out by hand by women.
5133. In choosing a sort from among the varieties described, the potato and Poland
are the best for lowlands, and the red oat for uplands and late climates in a state of
good cultivation. For inferior soils the white or common oat, and for the poorest of all
the black oat, may be adopted.
5134. The soil for oats may be any kind whatever, from the stiffest clays to moss or
bog, provided it be laid sufficiently dry. The most tenacious clays, and meagre gravels
and sands, where scarcely any useful seed-bearing plant, except buck-wheat, could be
grown, will produce a crop of oats if ploughed at a proper season, and the seed judi-
ciously sown and covered.
5135. The preparation of the soil for oats is less than for any other grain. It is almost
always the first crop on newly broke-up lands ; and as it prospers best on a soil not too
finely pulverised, it is commonly sown on one earth. In regular rotations, oats are
chiefly sown after grass ; sometimes upon land not rich enough for wheat, tliat had been
previously summer-fallowed, or had carried turnips ; after barley, and rarely after wheat,
unless cross-cropping, from particular circumstances, becomes a necessary evil. One
ploughing is generally given to the grass-lands, usually in the month of January, so that
the benefit of frost may be gained, and the land sufficiently mellowed for receiving the
harrow. In some cases a spring furrow is given when oats succeed wheat or barley,
especially wlien grass- seeds are to accompany the crop. The best oats, both in quantity
and quality, are always those which succeed grass ; indeed, no kind of grain seems better
qualified by nature for foraging upon grass-land than oats ; as a full crop is usually
obtained in the first instance, and the land left in good order for succeeding ones. (Tr.
071 Rural Affairs.)
5136. The climate for oats should be cool and moist ; when dry and warm, the panicles
are so dried and contracted that they cease to convey sufficient nourishment to the ears,
which thus never become plump, but thick husked, long awned, and unproductive in
meal. This is very often the case with the oats in Scotland in a very dry year, and very
common in the south of England in most years.
5137. The season of sowing oats is from the last week in February to the end of April.
About the middle of March is preferred by the best farmers. No preparation is ever
given to the seed ; but it should be plump, fresh, and free from the seeds of weeds.
Common oats sown in autumn are generally killed during winter, the plant being in this
respect more tender than wheat, rye, or barley bigg. In some parts of Ireland, and
especially in the county of Dublin, the Friezland oat is sown in autumn ; and the
advantage is they ripen nearly a month sooner than those sown in spring, an important
object in a moist climate.
5138. IVie quantity of seed, where oats are sown broad-cast, is usually from four to six
bushels to the acre. Land sown with potato oats requires less seed, in point of measure,
thaYi when any of the other sorts is used : first, because this variety tillers better than any
other ; and next, because having no awn, a greater number of grains are contained in a
bushel.
5139. The mode of soidng oats is almost universally broad-cast; but where they are
sown after turnips, or on other well pulverised soils, some adopt the row culture.
5140. The after-culture depends on the mode of sowing, but seldom consists of more
than weeding before the flower-stalks begin to shoot up.
5141. In harvesting oats in England, they are generally cut down with the scythe, and
carried loose to the barn or stack ; but in tlie northern districts, and where threshing
machines are used, whether mown, or, what is most usual, reaped with the sickle,
they are tied in sheaves to facilitate the process of threshing. Oats are ready for
the scythe or sickle when the grain becomes hard, and the straw yellowish. They
should generally be cut before they are dead ripe, to prevent the shedding of the grain,
and to increase the value of the straw as fodder. They rarely get much damage when
under the harvest process, except from high winds, or from shedding, when opened out
after being thoroughly wetted. The early varieties are much more liable to these losses
than the late ones ; because the grain parts more easily from the straw, — an evil to which
the best of grain is at all times subject. Early oats, however, may be 'cut a little before
828
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
^IJll
■
i ' J
fS^,
dead ripe, which, to a certain extent, lessens the danger to wliicli they are exposed from high
Avinds ; and if the sheaves are made small, the danger from shedding after rains is con-
siderably lessened, because they are thus sooner ready for the stack. Under every manage-
ment, however, a greater quantity of early oats will be lost during the harvest process than
of the late ones ; because the latter adhere firmly to the straw, and consequently do not drop
so easily as the former. {Brown.) In harvesting oats in wet seasons, the practice of
gaiting the sheaves (3176.) is generally adopted. In Sweden, in most seasons, the oat
crop is dried on frames or poles (704.) ; and in Russia, not only oats, but barley and rye,
are kiln-dried in the straw.
5142. Kiln-drying oats and other corns in the straw has been found necessary, and is very generally
Eractised through the north of Russia, Livonia, Courland, and Lithuania, being the last operation of
arvest for preserving all kinds of corns, peas, beans, and buck-wheat. They are dried in the fields as
much as can be; but, when bought home, they are kiln-dried, and are then ready to be either threshed
out immediately, or put up in barns, without any danger of either corn or straw becoming musty or
rottirg. The common practice of the boors is, during winter, to thresh out by degrees, as in this country,
their oats and barley, in order to have straw fresh for their cattle, such straw being their only provender.
The process of kiln-drying by no means prevents the germination of the grain when used for seed, while
it not only preserves the grain and straw but improves their taste and salubrity. It enables Russia to
export large quantities of rye and wheat, with less risk of damage to the grain than is incurred by other
nations of the north of Europe.
5143. The kiln {Jig. 728.) in general
and established use throughout Rus-
sia, for tlie purpose of drying corn
in the straw, is heated commonly by
fires of wood. It is a simple and
cheaply erected structure, the walls
eight feet high, and fifteen feet square
within. At this height there are
two strong cross-beams («), to support
the small timbers, laid over them as
ribs. The corn stands in sheaves
above these ribs (b), closely set up,
the band ends of the sheaves down,
and the corn or grain ends up : the walls then rise above the ribs about five or six feet more, the kiln being
closed by a simple ceiling of cross joists at tliis height, covered with thin turf Any cheap and ordinary
roof answers to cover the whole. The fire-place is constructed so as to throw back the ascending spark ;
a small porch (c), directly opposite to the fire-place, prevents violent blasts of wind, and covers from rain
the fuel and the attendant. About 300 sheaves (twenty-five stooks) of corn are dried at one time. It is
put on in the evening, and left on the kiln through the night, after the wood has been burned into char-
coal, and the door above the fire-place closed. At one end of the kiln there is frequently an open shed or
barn (d), for convenience in bringing corn to, or taking it from, the kiln.
5144. The produce of oats is generally considered greater and of better quality in the
northern than in the southern counties ; and the reasons are obviously that, in the former,
more attention is paid to their culture, and the climate is more favourable for the matur-
ation of the grain. Ten quarters an acre is reckoned a good crop in the north, but the
produce is often twelve and thirteen quarters, and the straw from two to three and a half
loads per acre.
5145. The produce of oats in meal amounts to Bibs, for 14 lbs. of corn. Sir H. Davy
found 100 parts of oats afford 59 parts of starch, six of gluten, and two of saccharine
matter.
5 146. The Tise of oats in the north, in Ireland, and in some parts of Yorkshire and
Derbyshire, is partly for meal and partly for horse-food. In the south it is almost en-
tirely for horse-food, poultry, and groats for gruel. It is occasionally malted and used
in distillation. The fine powder which is produced by husking the corn, or making grist,
forms the sowens of the Scotch (the flummery of the Irish), an agreeable light and whole-
some supper dish.
5147. The diseases of the oat are few. Sometimes it is found attacked by the smut;
l)ut the more common injury sustained by oats is from wire-wonns, or larvae of insects
which generally abound in lands newly broken-up from turf. One of the most certain
modes of avoiding these is, by not ploughing the ground, especially if old turf, till
immediately before sowing. By this means the insect is turned down, and before it can
work its way to the surface (if ever it does) the corn is beyond its reach. In this way
gardeners destroy and retard the progress of the gooseberry caterpillar by digging under
the bushes ; for it is found that the eggs and larvae of insects, like seeds and bulbs, when
buried too deep in the ground, have their progress retarded, or their vital principle
destroyed. In late harvests, more especially in the northern parts of the island, the oat
is liable to be frosted and rendered unfit for seed before being harvested. There is no
remedy for such an accident; but we have shown (4997.) how it may be detected, so as
not to disappoint the sower of such grain. {Encyc of Gard. 466.3.)
Sect. V. Cereal Grasses cidtivnted in Europe, some of which might be tried in
Uritain.
5148. The cereal grasses which the climate of Britain does not readily admit of cultivat-
ing, are the maize, Canary corn, millet, and rice.
Book VI.
MAIZE, OR INDIAN CORN.
829
SuBSECT. 1. Maize, or Indian Corn. — Zea Mays L. ; Monce^cia Tridndria L., and
GraminecB J. Le Mais, or Ble de Turquie, Fr. ; der Mays, Germ. ; Gran turco, Ital. ;
and Maiz, Span.
5149. The maize is the noblest looking of the cereal grasses. It is considered to be
a native of South America, to have been cultivated in Mexico and Peru from time im-
memorial, to have been introduced to Europe about the beginning of the 16th century,
and to England in 1 562. It is at present cultivated in almost every part of the universe
where the summer temperature equals or exceeds that common to latitude 45°, and even
to 48^. In France, in Arthui Young's time (1787), the principal country of the maize
was to the south of a line drawn from Bordeaux to Strasbourg, in lat. 48° 35' ; but it
is at present cultivated as far north as Nancy, which is in latitude 49°, — a fact which
shows that this grain is taking a wider range of temperature. " It flourishes on the
western continent from about the 40th degree of southern to higher than the 45th degree
of northern latitude. It is extensively produced in Africa and in Asia ; on all the shore*
of the MediteiTanean, in Spain, Italy, part of France, and the countries of the Levant,
it is the food in most common use. Of the cultivated Cerealia, indeed, it is that which,
next to the rice, supplies food to the greatest number of the human race ; and it rnay be
held to be the most valuable gift of the new world to the old." (Qvar. Jour. Ag. i. 485.)
In England it has been cultivated for upwards of a century, in nursery gardens in the
neighbourhood of the metropolis, for the curious purpose of supplying seedsmen in all
parts of the island with ears of the corn to ornament their shop windows : it has also
been grown in the kitchen gardens of some individuals who have lived in America, for
the purpose of using the ears in a green state : it has been tried also in the fields, and
more especially in 1828 and 1829, in consequence of the public attention being called ta
the subject by Mr. Cobbett. ♦
5150. As a bread corn it cannot be greatly commended ; the ear is highly productive of flour, but that
flour is deficient in gluten, and cannot be made into bread without a large admixture of the flour of wheat.
For fattening cattle and poultry of every description it is found excellent, and its culture in Europe can
only be recommended with a view to this object
5151. Varieties. Like other plants which have been long in cultivation in various countries, there are
numerous varie- 730
ties of the maize.
^ According to I>a-
gasca,therearel30
varieties known in
Spain. That grown
in the warmer
parts of America
is called the
large yellow, 'Mais
jaune, grand, Fr.
^<:^~~^7-^ ^ .^-x \/^=z:-^^ VJ'S^ '^fig-r29.) There,
j^ ^^^SV^ TXxi'*^/ ^^^^^^^^'JtN which diflfers from
the other only in
the colour of the
skin of the grain :
both have very
large and hand-
some ears ( fig.
730.) There is the
large yellow flint, '
the large white
flint, the sweet
corn, the jjcarl
corn, the maize
quarantine, ripen-
ing in forty days,
and the Egyptian
or chicken corn,
Mais k poulet, le
plus petit etle plus
prt?coce, of Vil-
morin's catalogue.
There is also what
is called Cobbett's
corn {fig. 7,-31.),
which seems to be
nothingmorethan ■
the Mais quaran-
taine. The tv/o
last varieties have small handsome cars {figs. 7S2. and
733.), and can hardly be distinguished from each
other. All these sorts have been tried together in
the same field, and the Egyptian or chicken corn
found decidedly the most early, and the Maize
quarantaine, forty days' corn, or Cobbett's corn, next.
These two sorts, therefore, alone deserve culture
in this country. The Zea Curagita, the Valparaiso
corn, is a distinct species, to" which a sort of
religious reputation is attached, on account of the
grains, when roasted, splitting regularly into the
form of a cress.
sso
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Paut III.
5152. Soil
732
733
loamy soil, which will grow good wheat, tobacco, or potatoes, will
grow the strongest
plants ; but the corn
on such plants will be
much less likely to
ripen than that pro-
duced on a dry, warm,
sandy, or calcareous
soil. It must be ob-
vious, from what has
been before advanced,
that there are few, if
any, parts of Britain
north of York where
the climate will be at
all suitable to this
grain.
5153. Culture. This
grain is almost every
where sown or planted
in rows, placed at such
a width as to admit of
horse-hoeing the in-
tervals. When til is is
practised, as the grain
contains very little
gluten, the crop may
be considered as a
good preparation for
wheat in very rich
soils ; it accordingly
precedes that grain in
the best cultivated
parts of North Ame-
rica; but we question if
it would be advisable
to follow this practice
in old cultivated coun-
tries, notwithstanding
that maize and wheat
differ so much in re-
gard to gluten.
ni'A. The preparation qf the soil may be the same as for a crop of
barley, according to Cobbett ; but we should say, the same as for a
crop of turnips on the raised ridglet or Northumberland system.
5155. Sowing. The quantity of seed required is from one bushel
to three bushels per acre. In Long Island, near New York, the time of
sowing is from the lOth to the 20th of May; in France, from the 15th of April to the 15th of May ; in
England, from tlie 15th of April to the 20tn of the same month, according to Cobbett ; but we have no
doubt that, in situations where the earliest varieties will succeed at all, they will succeed if sown a week ,
or ten days later. The grain will retain its vegetative powers for at least six years. {Gard. Mag.
vol. vi. p. 44 k)
5156. The mode of planting the corn in America is by drawing shallow drills, commonly three or four feet
distant from each other, and dropping the seeds by hand, at eight inches apart, in the row. This distance
is evidently too great for the early dwarf varieties; and we think three furrows, or twenty-seven inches, the
ordinary width between rows of potatoes and turnips, much more suitable. We should decidedly prefer
dibbling, either by hand or by a machine, to opening a drill and depositing the seeds. In several places in
France the seeds are sown broad-cast and harrowed in, and the after-culture consists in hand-hoeing
between them. By sowing on raised drills the horse-hoeing system may be applied as effectually as in the
culture of turnips or beans. Cobbett recommends intervals between the rows of five feet, and the plants
at six inches' distance in the row, with a view to admit a superior degree of tillage between, with a view
to the wheat crop. He also describes the mode of planting in hills. The situations of these hills having
been marked out by a light plough, or even by trailing a log of wood, first in lines five feet apart in one
direction, and next in lines in the opposite direction at right angles to the former, so as to leave the sur-
face in squares, the planter takes a hoe, and at every intersection of the lines makes a little hole about an
inch and a half deep, and about six inches in diameter, and in this hole five or six seeds are regularly dis-
tributed, and covered over with fine earth to the depth of an inch and a half It is evident that by this
mode of planting the ground may be very thoroughly worked during the growth of the crop ; but it is
evident also that it could only be adopted in this country on dry soils, that would admit of being kept
during spring and autumn without water furrows.
5157. Transplanting maize may be adopted on a small scale, the advantages of which are that the
ground may be better prepared before planting, and that the crop may be made to come in in succession
with one which has stood in the ground during winter. The plants may be raised in a hotbed, and pro-
tected by mats ; or they may be raised in a warm border of dry rich soil, covered with straw or straw
mats during nights til! the common ash, the mulberry, or the walnut are in leaf: they may then be care-
fully raised and transferred to the field, with a small portion of earth attached to each, planted with a
spade or trowel, and watered unless it should happen to rain.
5158. The after culture, according to Cobbett, commences with scaring away birds and destroying slugs,
and afterwards in removing weeds and stirring the soil. The plants will be one foot and a half high in
July ; and no one at that season, Cobbett says, need be afraid of tearing about the roots with the plough as
much as he will. One thing is certain, he "says, that if the ground between the rows be not ploughed at
all, there will be no crop at all. The last process with the plough is earthing up, which is said to be useful
for two purposes : first, to keep the plants steady, in case of very rough winds ; and, second, to give it a
fresh stock of roots. " Leave a corn-plant with nothing but flat hoeing, and without earthing up, and you
will see all around its roots coming out just above the ground, and going immediately down into the
ground."
5159. Topping the plants. The male and female blossoms being on different parts of the plant, have
given rise to this operation. The male flowers are always situated on the top o/ summit of the stem, and
the female flowers below, near the bottom. " The flowers at the top having performed their function, and
deposited the pollen on the stigma beneath, become no longer necessary to the plant ; and they, accord-
ingly, with all the elevated part of the stem which supports them, may be wholly removed. This process
is termed topping by the Americans, and is delayed until the blades or leaves may be also stripped off
Book VI.
MAIZE, OR INDIAN CORN.
£31
without injury. The period for performing this is denoted by the state of forwardness or" the vegetation.
♦ The time for topping is, when you, upon stripping the husks, open a little at the tops of the ears, find the
grains of the corn to be hard, — not hard enougii to grind, nor dry, — but hard enough to resist the strong
pressure of tlie thumb nail. A second criterion is, all the farina having completely quitted the tassel, and
the tassel being completely dead and dry. A third is, the perfect deadness of the ends of the silk ; where,
instead of the bright green that appeared before, hanging gracefully down, like the beard of an extra-
ordinarily cunning and blasjiheming Jew, you will perceive it to be a little contemptible bunch of withered .
up and brown-looking stuff When all these signs appear, the top and the blades have performed their
otKce, and the sooner they are taken away the better ; because, after this, they do no good, and only serve
to retard the ripening of the ears by the exclusion which they cause to the sun and the wind.' The tops
and leaves being removed, they are laid in bunches in the intervals, suffered to dry, and then carried away
and stacked. This part of the produce, we are told, is now a precious deposit for the winter : • it is liable
to no inconvenience to which hay is not liable ; and weight for weight, and weather for weather, an acre
of corn tops and blades will give more nutriment to cattle.' They are reserved by the American farmers
as food for their horses and oxen in spring; they are given to race horses and other delicate and highly
prized animals. They are cut into chaff, and then mixed with barley and rye. Mr. Cobbett has stated
this part of the produce to be more valuable than a crop of hay ; but he has not given us data, either as
regards the weight of the crop, or the quantity of the animals it will feed, to enable us to judge of the
correctness of his opinion. In France and southern Europe, these parts of the plant are, in like manner,
used for fodder ; but we are not aware that they are held in any thing like such high estimation as a crop
of hay is with us." {Treatise Ofi Cobbett's Corn, and Quar. Journ. Agr. vol. i. p. 502.)
5160. Harvesting. The season of harvesting is generally October and November. In America, the
ears are slipped or broken from the stem by the hand, and are carried directly to the barn-floor to undergo
the process of husking. The buskers, who are generally women and children, are seated around or along-
side of a large heap of ears ; they have baskets placed before them ; they strip off the husks, fling them
behind them, and throw the ears into a basket. These baskets as filled, are carried to the granary, or
corn-crib, as it is called in America. It may be two feet wide at the bottom, five feet high up the sides to
the eaves, and five feet across at the top. It is open or grated at the bottom, with spars at the sides, has
a weather-tight roof, and is raised from the ground by posts surrounded with tin as a protection against
rats and mice. The husks form an excellent material for stuffing mattresses, and are used for this purpose
in America and on the continent of Europe. I'he now almost leafless stalks which remain in the fields
in America are frequently burnt, but on the continent are used as litter for cattle running loose in the
farmyard. The ears remain in the granary till they are wanted for shelling, or separating the grains from
the receptacle. On tlie continent the ears are cut or broken from the stems as in America, and on a large
scale are preserved in small open granaries, such as have been descri'oed ; but more frequently they are
hung up unhusked under the projecting eaves of all manner of buildings, and remain there till wanted
for liusking and shelling.
5161. Shelling or threshing. This, Cobbett tells us, is done in America by scraping or rasping the ears
734
upon a piece of iron, fixed across a tub, into
which the grains fall. The iron is commonly a
bayonet. In this country there are machines
of different kinds [fig. 7:34. and § 2550.), which
perform the operation of shelling' witli great
rapidity; but whoever has a threshing machine
might, by setting the rollers and drum some-
what wider than usual, dispense with manual
labour, both in the operations of husking and
shelling ; and indeed we see no reason why the
crop should not be harvested like a crop of
drilled beans, with Gladstone's bean reaper
(2740.), and sheaved, shocked, stacked, and
threshed, like any other grain.
5162. Produce. In America and Australia,
the produce in corn is from fifty to seventy
bushels to the acre ; on the continent it is gene-
rally between fifty and sixty ; and the produce in
this country, as it appears by some experiments
recorded in the Ga7tt. Mag. vol. vi. p. 60 to 67-,
would probably be similar, notwithstandipg the
circumstance of Mr. Cobbett, Mr. Moore of
Sandy, in Bedfordshire, and some others, having
raised on small sjjots at the rate of 100 bushels
per acre and upwards. The produce in straw in
America and warm countries, where the tallest
sorts can be grown, is considerable ; but in this country, where only the dwarfest sorts could be cultivated
with success, it would not equal that of a crop of oats or barley.
5163. The application of this crop, according to C cbbett, is various and important : " pig- feeding, sheep-
feeding, oxen and cow. feeding, poultry-feeding, horse-feeding, and man-feeding;" to which we may add
fish, carp being fed with maize in France. For " man-feeding" it is only made use of in America
till the farmer can afibrd to grow wheat ; and on the continent it is only used as a bread corn by the
poorest of the people. The wretched inhabitants of the southern part of the Neapolitan territory live
chiefly on maize ; as those of some mountainous districts in the north of Italy live on bread made from
chestnuts, or buck-wheat. The most important purpose to which the corn uncrushed can be applied in
Europe, appears to us to be the feeding of poultry. All the fat geese noted for their large livers in the
noith-wcst of France and south-cast of Germany are fed with maize, the grains unbroken; and the
smaller poultry in these countries are also chiefly fed with this corn, broken or ground into meal.
5164 Turkey feeiling, according to Cobbett, is one of the m order to have a fat turkey, or even a really fat fowl, we are
conijielled to resort to cramming. If the farmer's wife have a
dozen of these, there .she sits (for she can trust nobody else to do
it), with a leathern apron before her, or rather upon her, with
balls of barley -mtal rolled into r.n oblong foim, and with a
lowl of warm milk, or with some greasy water, taking one
tu; key cut of tl-.e coop at a time upon htr lap, forcing its mouth
opn with her left Ijand, putting in the balls with her right,
and stroking with her fingers the outside of the neck to make
them deicetid into the craw, every now and then pouring down
a spoonful of the warm liquid, upon the princftile that good
victuals deserve good drink. There she sits, if she has two
dozen of these animals to cram, two good hours at least.
Sometimes they reject the food, and flutter about, and splash
the woman wi'th the contents of the bowl. It is always a dis-
agreeable, troublesome, and nasty job ; it takes up a great deal
ot time ; and yet these things cannot be made sufficiently fat
without this operation, in which, I dare say, iiO,000 wom.ei.
are at this very moment (eight o'clock in the morning) en-
gaped, in the counties of Nori'olk ard SufTolk. If all Ihe&e
women cculd be lrouf,ht together, and were to hear me say
many purjjoses to which the com may be apjilied in this coun-
try : — " We killed, last spring, one single pullet, not of a large
breed, out of which we took loose fat weigning three tfuartert vf
a pouml. We fatUnfd most perfectly and finely ten turkeys in
the same manner ; and as to geese and ducks, which fat still
easier than either of the former, they will gtt fat in this manner
in a short spaci- of time. If you wish to have fresh egftS in
winter, jou need resort to no stieping of barley in b er or in
wine, or to giving the hens hempsecd, or the seed of nettles,
as the French do; nor to make such a fuss abotit keeping the
hens warm : give them plenty of com, n:lwle, and you will
have fresh eggs all the winter long. To the very litt'e chickens,
or very yourg turkeys, you must give some in a cracked state ;
but they very soon take' it down whole; and, large as it is, the
sparrows will eat it as fast as the fowls; and, if you be much
infested wi.h them, and do not wish to have a numerous and
early breed of them next spring, you must feed the poultry
close to the door, or stand by them during the meal, which,
however, is conveniently short ; for the grain is so large that
their craws are filled in a minute. It is vei-y well 1 nown that.
832
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Paht III.
lod bless you. Sir ; you are the best friend (the inventor of
tea and sugar excepted) that ever administered "to the comfort
of womankind.' Well, then, this 1 do for them now ; let their
husbands raise some Cobliett's corn, the leathern aprons may be
converted into spatterdashes for them, the warm milk or
greasy water may be given to young pigs, the bowl may be
converted into a porringer for a boy to eat porridge out of, the
coops, well broken up by the pole of the axe, may go to light
the fire, and the four hours saved morning and evening may
be employed in spinning and preparing the stuff to make shirts
and shifts, and sheets, or, which makes less noise, in knitting
stockings for the whole family." (Qtuir. Jour. Agr. vol. i.
p. 507.)
5165. In com7non with other grain, maize may be fermented, so as to produce beer ; or distilled from, so
as to produce spirits ; the straw containing a good deal of saccharine matter that also might be ex-
tracted.
5166. The green ears of maize are applied to various purposes. In the neighbourhood of Paris, before
the male blossom has expanded, the female is gathered and pickled, in the manner of cucumbers ; and this
is practised to some extent by the French and Germans. When the grain has arrived at its milky state,
the ears are then gathered for the purpose of boiling or roasting. In America they are roasted on or be-
fore hot embers, and eaten with salt and butter. Boiled, they are not quite so delicate ; but are still very
good, especially if boiled with fat pork. The ears are generally Ht for these purposes during the month of
September, and a large field may afford soft ears for six weeks.
5167. The meal ofmaixe, besides being given to the smaller poultry, is also used for fattening swine, old
sheep which have lost part of their teeth, and for feeding old horses which cannot grind the ears whole.
Of a finer quality it is given to negroes, and eaten by various persons in America, in the form of porridge,
puddings, and cakes. In this country, the Rev. Henry Berry of Pensham House, Worcestershire, has
found maize meal, purchased from Liverpool, superior to oatmeal in maintaining the condition of his
hounds. {Country Times, March 2'-'d, 1830.) The meal of maize, made into paste, and fried with fat
bacon, is the ordinary food of the peasants of great part of the Brabant. It serves them likewise for fatten-
ing their fowl, of which they feed great quantities for the markets of the rest of Brabant and of Holland.
{Co7?im. Board of Agr.)
5168. Diseases and enemies. The Phalae'^na forScklis TAn. is said to deposit its eggs in the stems of the
plant, and the larvae which these produce eat out its interior, so as to weaken the strength of the spikes.
There are also three species of smut, Urhdo Pers., which are parasitic on the maize, and destroy the
grain by reducing it to a black powder. One species is peculiar to the fiower, attacks it before it arrives at
maturity, and finishes by leaving it in a state of black powder. The French writers recommend washing
and pickUng in the same manner as for wheat. The stalks and leaves, being very sweet, are greedily
sought for by field rats, mice, and other enemies. In the granary, the maize, like other grains, is attacked
by different species of weevil, this insect produces serious injury in America, but is not very likely to
be troublesome in this country.
SiTBSECT. 2. Canary Corn. — Vhdlaris canariSnsis L. ; Tridndria Digynia L., and Gra-
mine<^ J. Mpiste de Canaire, Fr. ; Kanariengras, Gcr. ; Falari, Ital. ; and Alpistcy
Span. {Jig. 735.)
5 1 69. T/ie Canary grass is an annual, with a culm from a foot to eighteen inches in
height, and lively green leaves almost half an inch in width. The seeds are thickly
set in a subovate panicle or spike. It is a native of the Canary Islands ; but now
naturalised in several parts of England, and on the Continent. It flowers from June to
August, and ripens its seeds from September to October. It has
long been cultivated in the Isle of Thanet, and a few other places
in Kent and Essex : it is there considered an uncertain crop, both
on account of the seasons, it being the latest of all the grasses in
ripening its seeds, and of the fluctuation of prices.
5170. T/ie c?/7/Mre of the Canary grass consists in pulverising a
loamy soil in good heart, or manuring it if worn out ; though every
judicious farmer tries to avoid giving manure to a corn crop unless
after a naked fallow. The seeds are sown in rows at about a foot
apart, generally by the ribbing process : the season the month of
February, and the quantity of seed four or five gallons per acre.
The after-culture consists in repeated hoeings and weedings.
5171. IVie reaping process seldom commences before the end of
September. The culm being leafy, and the seed difficult to separate
from the chaff, it requires to lie in handfuls for a week or more, and to
remain more than that time in the field after being tied up in sheaves.
In the Isle of Thanet it is cut with a hook, provincially called a
tivibU and a hink ; by which it is laid in lumps, or wads, of about a
sheaf each. The seed clings remarkably to the husk ; and, in order
to detach it, the crop is left a long time on the ground, to receive
moisture sufficient to loosen the enveloping chaff, otherwise it would
be hardly possible to thresh out the seed. The wads are turned
from time to time, to have the full benefit of the rains and sun.
5172. The common produce of Canary grass is from thirty to
thirty-four bushels per acre ; but under the best management in the
Isle of Thanet it is often fifty bushels per acre.
51 73. The use of the seed is chiefly as food for Canary and other cage and aviary birds.
The chaff is superior to that of every other culmiferous plant for horse-food, and the straw,
though short, is also very nutritive.
SuBSECT. 3. The Millets. — Fdnicum and Sorghum L. ; Tridndria Digynia and Poly-
gdmia Mojuecia L. and Grammes J. Panis and Sorgho, Fr. ; Panick and Hirse,
Gcr. ; Panico and Sageno or Sorgo, Ital. ; and Alcandia, Span.
5174. Of the mi/let there are three distinct genera : tlie Polish millet (Digitkria), culti-
vated in Poland ; the common millet (Pdnicum), or panic grass, cultivated in Germany,
Book VI.
MILLET.
833
and sometimes in this country ; and the great or Indian millet (^olcus), cultivated in
India, Italy, and America.
5175. Of the common millet there are three species : SetSiria germanica {fig. 736. a), a native of tlie south
of Europe ; the P. wjiliaceum (6), a native of the
East Indies; and the SetJiria italica (c), also of
Indian origin.
5176. The German millet [Moha de Hongrie,. Fr. ;
S. germinica, a) rises with a jointed reed-like stalk,
about three feet high, and about the size of the com-
mon reed, with a leaf at each joint a loot and a half
long, and about an inch broad at the base where
broadest, ending in an acute point, rough to the
touch, embracing the stalk at the base, and turning
downwards about half the length. The stalks are
terminated by compact spikes, about the thickness
of a man's finger at bottom, growing taper towards
the top, eight or nine inches long, and closely set
with small roundish grain. It is annual, and perishes
soon alter the seeds are ripe. There are three va-
rieties of it, the yellow, white, and purple grained.
It was formerly cultivated for bread in some of the
northern countries.
5177. The common or cultivated millet {Millet com.
mun, Fr. ; Panicum wzilikceum, b) rises with a reed-
like channelled stalk, from three to four feet high ;
at every joint there is one reed-like leaf, joined on
the top of the sheath, which embraces and covers that joint of the stalk below the leaf, and is clothed
with soft hairs ; the leaf has none, but has several small longitudinal furrows running parallel to the
midrib. The stalk is terminated by a large loose panicle hanging on one side. Of this species there are
two varieties, the brown and the yellow ; the latter of which was formerly in cultivation, and is now some-
738
times sown for feeding poultry, and as a sub-
stitute for rice.
5178. The Italian millet {Panis d'Ttalie ; Millet
d grappe, Fr. ; Set^ria italica, c) rises with a
reed-like stalk, nearly four feet high, and much
y««- thicker than that of the preceding; the leaves
^ are also broader. The spikes are a foot long,
and twice the thicknessof those of the common
millet, but not so compact, being composed of
several roundish clustered spikes ; the grain is
also larger. There are two or three varieties of
this, differing only in the colour of the grain. It
is frequently cultivated in Italy (whence its tri-
vial name), and other warm countries. It is a
native of both Indies, and of Cochin China.
5179. The Polish millet, or manna grass of
the Germans (DigitJlria sanguinalis, formerly
Pinicum sanguinalis, ^/;'. 737.), is a low decum.
bent, annual plant, seldom rising above nine
inches or a foot high, with hairy leaves and
slender panicles. It tillers much, and forms a
close tuft, spreading and rooting at the joints.
It is a native of England but not common. It
grows in abundance in Poland, and is some-
times cultivated, the seeds being used like
those of the other millets as a substitute for rice
or sago.
5180. The great or Indian millet (/folcus
Sdrghum L., Sorghum vulgkre, W. en. fig. 738. Sorgho, gios millet d'ltalie, Fr. ; Sorgsamen, Ger. ;
Sagina, Ital. ; and Mclcea, Span.) has a stem which rises five or six feet high, is strong, reedy, and like
those of the maize, but smaller. The leaves are long and broad, having a deep furrow through the
centre, where the midrib is depressed in the upper surface, and is very prominent below. The leaves are
two feet and a half long, and two inches broad in the middle, embracing the stalks with their
base. The flowers come out in large panicles at the top of the stalks, resembling, at first appear-
ance, the male spikes of the Turkey wheat; these are succeeded by large roundish seeds, which are
wrapped round with the chaff. This grain is a native of India, where it is much used to feed poultry,
and is frequently sent to Europe for the same purpose. It is much cultivated in Arabia, and most parts
of Asia Minor ; and has been introduced into Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and some parts of Germany, also
into China, Cochin China, and the West Indies, where it grows commonly five or six feet high, or
more, and being esteemed a hearty food for labourers, is called negro Guinea corn. Its long awns or
bristles defend it from the birds. In England, the autumns are seldom dry and warm enough to ripen
the seed well in the field. In Arabia it is called dora or durra ; the flour is very white, and they make
good bread of it, or rather cakes, about two inches in thickness. The bread which they make of it in
some parts of Italy is dark and coarse. In Tuscany it is used chiefly for feeding poultry and pigeons;
sometimes for swine, kine, and horses. Cssalpinus says, that cattle fed on the green herb are apt to swell
and die, but thrive on it when dried. They make brushes and brooms of its stalks in Italv, which Ray
observed in the shops at Venice, and which are sent to this country. Of this species there are two distinct
varieties; one distinguished by black, and the other by red, husked seeds, besides subvarieties.
5181. The only sorts of millet which can be cultivated with success in this country are the
German, cultivated, and the Polish sorts. According to Professor Thaer, the cultivated
is to be preferred, as having the largest grain.
5182. The soil for the millet should be warm, sandy, rich, and well pulverised to a good
depth. The seed is sown in May, very thin, and not deeply covered. In the course of
its growth no plant. Professor Thaer observes, is more improved by stirring the soil, after
which it grows astonishingly fast, and smothers all weeds.
518S. In harvesting the millet, great care is requisite not to shed the seed; and as it
ripens rather unequally, it would be an advantjige (o cut off the spikes as they ripen, as
3 II
«fil
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
III.
in reaping maize. No grain is easier to thresh, or to free from its husk by the mill. It
is used instead of rice, and in Germany bears about the same price. It produces a great
bulk of straw, which is much esteemed as fodder.
5184. IVie great Indian millet will grow in this country to the height of five or six
feet ; but will not ripen its seeds, or even flower, if the season is not dry and warm. If
its culture is attempted, it should be raised in a hotbed and transplanted.
SuBSECT. 4. Ricet and some other Cereal Grdmina.
5185. The rice (Oryza sativa, j?g. 739.) has been tried in this country, and, if sown
" very early, would probably ripen its seeds. The hill variety, which
does not require watering, would probably succeed best. But there is
no inducement to cultivate this and other grains or seeds when tliey
can be imported at so low a rate. We merely introduce them to
record the resources of British agriculture in case of necessity.
5186. The Zizdnia aqudtica [jig. 740.) might be cultivated on the
margin of ponds for its seeds, which . >
much resemble those of Polish millet. v\
It is exceedingly prolific, grows in great
luxuriance, and produces abundance of
bland farinaceous seeds, in all the shallow
streams of the dreary wilderness in north-
west America, between the Canadian lakes
and the hilly range which divides Canada
from the country on the Northern Pacific
Ocean. Its seeds contribute essentially
to the support of the wandering tribes of
Indians, and feed immense flocks of wild
swans, geese, and other water fowl, which
resort there for the purpose of breeding.
Productive as is this excellent plant, and
habituated to an ungenial climate, and to
situations which refuse all culture, it is
surprising, says Pinkerton (Geog. vol. iii. p. 330.), that the
European settlers in the more northern parts of America
have as yet taken no pains to cultivate and improve a vegetable production which seems
intended by nature to become, at some future period, the bread corn of the north,
5187. The Gli/ceria Jlidtans resembles the Zizania, and the seeds are used in Germany
like those of Polish millet. Various species of PAnicum, J^ordeum, and ^romus afford
tolerable supplies of edible seeds.
5188, The buck-wheat (Polygonum Fagopyrum ; Biz, Fr. ; Reiss, Ger. ; Riso, Ital. ;
Arroz, Span. ) is vulgarly considered as a grain ; but not being a bread-corn grass, we
have classed it among manufactorial plants. (Chap. VIII. Sect. IV.)
Chap. III.
Culture of Leguminous Field-Plants, the Seeds of which are used as Food for Man or
Cattle.
5189. The seeds of the cultivated legumes are considered to be the most nutritive of
vegetable substances grown in temperate climates. They contain a large proportion of
matter analogous to animal substances, having when dry the appearance of glue, and being
as nourishing as gluten. To the healthy workman this substance supplies the place of
animal food ; and Von Thaer states, that in Germany neither sailors nor land labourers
are content unless they receive a meal of legumes at least twice a week. The straw or
haulm, he says, cut before it is dead ripe, is more nourishing than that of any of the cereal
grasses. But leguminous plants are not only more than all others nourishing to man
and animals, but even to vegetables they may be said to supply food ; since they 'are not
only known to be less exhausting to the soil than most other plants, but some of them,
and more especially the lupine, have been ploughed in green as manure from the earliest
times. Many scientific agriculturists consider a luxuriant crop of peas or tares as
nourishing the soil by stagnating carbonic acid gas on its surface ; which corresponds
with the universal opinion of their being equal to a fallow, and with the value set on
them in rotation, as already explained. (4939.) Two reasons may be given for the cir-
cumstance of peas and tares not exhausting the land so much as other crops : first, because
they form a complete shade for the ground ; and next, because they drop so many of the
Book VI.
THE PEA.
835
leaves upon the surface. The legumes cultivated in British farming are, the pea, bean,
tare, and vetch, to which might be added the lentil, kidneybean, and chick pea.
5190. The nulrilive products of these plants are thus given by Sir H. Davy, Einhoff,
and Thaer : —
Systematic Name.
English Name.
In 100 Parts.
Whole quan-
tity of soluble
or nutritive
matter.
Mucilage or
starch.
Saccharine
matter, or
sugar.
Gluten or
albumen.
Extract, or
matter rendered
insoluble during
evaporation.
Pisum sativum
Ficia Fkha.
sativa - .
^'rvum Lens -
Phas^olus vulgJlris -
Dry peas
Common bean
Tares .
I.entils . .
Kidneybean -
574
570
65
71
89
501
. 426
36
39
67
22
35
103
29
32
22
16
41
Sect.
I. The Pea. -
Les Pois, Fr.
741
- Visum sativum L. ; Diadclphia Decandna L., and Leguminbsce 3 .
Erhe, Ger. ; Piscello, Ital. ; and Pesoles, Span. (Jig. 741.)
5191. The ])ea is the most esteemed legume in field culti-
vation, both for its seed and haulm. It is supposed to be a
native of the south of Europe, and was cultivated by the
Greeks and Romans. In this country it has been grown
from time immemorial : but its culture appears to have
diminished since the more general introduction of herbage,
plants, and roots ; and the pea, except near large towns for
gathering green, and in a few places for boiling, has given
way to the bean, or to a mixture of peas and beans.
There are various inducements, however, to the cultiva-
tion of peas in dry warm soils near large towns. When
the crop is good and gathered green, few pay better : the
payment is always in cash, and comes into the pocket of
the farmer in time to meet the exigencies of the hay, and
sometimes even of the corn, harvest. The ground, after
the peas have been removed, is readily prepared for turnips,
which also pay well as a retail crop near towns ; and the
haulm is good fodder.
5192. The varieties of the pea are numerous; but they
may be divided into two classes : those grown for the ripened seed, and those grown for
gathering in a green state. The culture of the latter is chiefly near large towns, and
may be considered as in part belonging to gardening rather than agriculture. There has
lately a new sort of pea been brought into notice about Banbury in Oxfordshire. It is.
called the " nimble hog pea." It appears to be a grey variety of the early frame, as it
has single flowers, and is fit to cut about the end of June, notwithstanding it must not be
sown earlier than the middle of April. On the excellent land about Banbury the pro-
duce is four quarters to the acre, and turnips sowed on the stubble are up and sometimes
hoed out before the regular turnip crop !
5193. The grey varieties {Poisgris, Pois-agnearr, Bisaille, Fr.) are, the early grey, the late grey, and the
purple grey ; to which some add the Marlborough grey, and horn grey.
5194. The white varieties {Pois blanc, Fr.) grown in fields are the pearl, early Charlton, golden hotspur,
the common white or Suffolk, and other Suffolk varieties.
5195. New varieties of the pea are readily procured by selection or impregnation, of which a striking
example given by Knight has been already referred to. (1632.)
51 96. In the choice of sorts, where it is desired to grow grey peas for the sake of the
seeds or corn, the early variety is to be preferred in late situations, and the late variety in
early ones ; but when it is intended to grow them chiefly for covering the ground and for
the haulm, then the late varieties claim the preference, and especially the purple grey.
Of white peas, to be grown for gathering green, the Charlton is the earliest, and the pearl
or common Suffolk the most prolific. When white peas are grown for boilers, that is for
splitting, the pearl and SuflTolk are also the best sorts.
5197. To have recourse to early sorts is supposed by some to be of considerable importance in the economy
of a farm, when the nature of the soil is suitable, as by such means the crops may in many cases be cut
and secured while there is leisure, before the commencement of the wheat harvest; and that where the
nature of the soil is dry and warm, and the pea crop of a sufficiently forward kind, it may be easy to obtain
a crop of turnips from the same land in the same year, as has been suggested above. But in this view it is
the best practice to put in the crops in the row method, and keep them perfectly clean by means of atten-
tive hand and horse hoeing ; as in that way the land will be in such a state of preparation for the turnips,
as only to require a slight ploughing, which may be done as fast as the pea crop is removed, and the turnip
seed may be drilled in as quickly as possible upon the newly turned up earth. In some particular districts
a third crop is even put into the same land, the turnips being sold oft" in the autumn, and coleworts sub-
stituted for the purpose of greens in the following spring. This, according to Middleton, is the practice in
3 H 2
836 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
gome places in Middlesex. But it is obviously a method of cultivation that can only be attempted on the
warm and fertile kinds of turnip soil, and where the pea crops are early j on the cold heavy and wet
descriptions of land it is obviously impracticable, and wholly improper.
5198. The soil best suited for peas is a dry calcareous sand ; it should be in good tilth,
not too rich nor dunged along with the crop. In Norfolk and Suffolk peas are often
sown on clover leys after one furrow, or after corn crops on two furrows, one given in
autumn, and the other early in spring.
5199. The climate required by the pea is dry and not over warm, for which reason, as
the seasons in this country are very often moist and sometimes exceedingly dry and hot
in June and July, the pea is one of the most uncertain of field crops.
5200. The season of sowing must differ considerably according to the intentions of the
cultivator.
5201. For podding early to be sold green, they should be sown at different times, from January to the
end of March, beginning with the driest and most reduced sorts of land ; and with this intention in some
southern counties they are sown in the autumn. For the general crops from February to April, as soon
as the lands can be brought into proper order, is the proper season ; the grey sorts being employed in the
early sowings, and the white sorts in the later. Young says, that where these crops cannot be sown in
February, they should always be completed in the following month. It is observed by the same writer, that,
in sowing after a single furrow, the white boiling pea, of many sorts and under various names, is more
tender than the greys and various kinds of hog peas ; but he has many times put them into the ground in
February, and, though very smart frosts followed, they received no injury. He has uniformly found, that
the earlier they were sown the better. There is also a particular motive for being as early as possible ; that
is, to get them off in time for turnips. This is most profitable husbandry, and should never be neglected
in dry and warm soils and situations. If they are sown in this month, and a right sort chosen, they will
be off the land in June, so that turnips may follow at the common time of sowing that crop.
5202. Steeping the seed in water is sometimes practised in late sowings.
5203. llie quantity of seed must be different in different cases and circumstances, and
according to the time and manner in which the crop is put into the ground ; but, in
general, it may be from two and a half to three bushels, the early sowings having the
largest proportion of seed. In planting every furrow slice. Young says, two bushels and
a half constitute the usual proportion ; but, when drilled at greater distances, six or seven
pecks will answer.
5204. The most common mode of sowing peas is broad-cast ; but the advantages of the
row culture in the case of a crop so early committed to the soil must be obvious.
5205. Tfie best farmers always sow peas in drills either after the plough, the seed being deposited com-
monly in every second or third furrow ; or, if the land is in a pulverised state, by drawing drills with a
machine or by ribbing. In Norfolk and Suffolk peas are generally dibbled on the back of the furrow,
sometimes one and sometimes two rows on each ; but dibbling in no manner appears to us so well suited
for a farmer's purpose as the drill. In Kent, where immense quantities of peas are grown, both for
gathering green and for selling ripe to the seedsmen, they are generally sown in rows from eighteen inches
to three feet asunder, according to the kind, and well cultivated between. Peas laid a foot below the sur-
face will vegetate ; but the most approved depth is six inches in light soil, and four inches in clay soil, for
which reason they ought to be sown under furrow when the ploughing is delayed till spring. Of all grain,
beans excepted, they are the least in danger of being buried.
5206. The after culture given to peas is that of hoeing, either by hand or horse.
Where the method of hand-culture prevails, it is the general custom to have recourse to
two hoeings ; the first when the plants are about two or three inches in height, and again
just before the period in which they come into blossom. In this way the vigorous
vegetation of the young crop is secured, and a fresh supply of nourishment afforded for
the setting of the pods and the filling of the peas. At the latter of these operations the
rows should be laid down, and the earth well placed up to them, the weeds being pre-
viously extirpated by hand labour. It has been stated, that in some parts of Kent, where
this sort of crop is much grown, it is the practice, when the distance of the roys will
permit, to prevent the vegetation of weeds, and forward the growth of pea crops, by
occasionally horse-hoeing, and the use of the brake-harrow, the mould being laid up to
the roots of the plants at the last operation by fixing a piece of wood to the harrow.
This should, however, only be laid up on one side, the peas being always placed up to
that which is the most fully exposed to the effects of the sun.
5207. In harvesting the ripened pea considerable care is requisite, both on account of
the seed and haulm.
5208. When pea crops become ripe they wither and turn brown in the haulm or straw, and the
pods begin to open. In this state they should be cut immediately, in order that the loss sustained
by their shedding may be as little as possible. It is observed that in the late or general crops, after
they are reaped or rather cut up by means of a hook, it is the usual practice to put them up into small
heaps, termed wads, which are formed by setting small parcels against each other, in order that they may
be more perfectly dried both in the seed and stem, and be kept from being injured by the moisture of the
ground. But, in the early crops, the haulm is hooked up into loose open heaps, which, as soon as they
are perfectly dry, are removed from the ground and put into stacks for the feeding of animals, which are
said to thrive nearly as well on it as on hay. When intended for horses, the best method would seem to
be that of having them cut into chaff and mixed with their other food. Young says, that forward white
peas will be fit to cut early in July ; if the crop is very great they must be hooked ; but if small, or only
middling, mowing will be sufficient The stalks and leaves of peas being very succulent, they should be
taken good care of in wet weather : the tufts, called wads or heaps, should be turned, or they will receive
damage. White peas should always be perfectly dry before they are housed, or they will sell but in-
differently ; as the brightness and plumpness of the grain are considered more in them than in hog peas at
market The straw also, if well harvested, is very good fodder for all sorts of cattle and for sheep j but if
it receives much wet, or if the heaps are not turned, it can be used only to litter the farmyard with. It
i« the practice in some districts to remove the haulm, aa soon as it has been cut up by hooks constructed
Book VI. THE PEA. 837
with sharp edges for the purpose, to every fifth ridge, or even into an adjoining grass field, in order that
it may be the better cured for use as cattle-food, and at the same time allow of the land being immediately
prepared for the succeeding crop. When wet weather happens whilst the peas lie in wads, it occasions a
considerable loss, many of them being shed in the field, and of those that remain a great part will be so
considerably injured as to render the sample of little value. This inability in peas to resist a wet harvest,
together with the great uncertainty throughout their growth, and the frequently inadequate return in
proportion to the length of haulm, has discouragetl many farmers from sowing so large a portion of this
pulse as of other grain ; though on light lands which are in tolerable heart, the profit, in a good year, is
far from inconsiderable.
5209. In gathering green peas for the market, it is frequently a practice with the large
cultivators of early green-pea crops in the neighbourhood of London to dispose of them,
by the acre, to inferior persons, who procure the podders ; but the smaller farmers, for the
most part, provide this description of people themselves, who generally apply at the
proper season.
5210. The business of picking or podding the peas is usually performed by the labourers at a fixed price
for the sack of four heaped bushels. The number of these labourers is generally in the proportion of about
four to the acre, the labour proceeding on the Sundays as well as other days. It is sometimes the custom
to pick the crops over twice, after which the rest are suffered to stand till they become ripe, for the purpose
of seed. This, however, mostly arises from the want of pickers, as it is considered a loss, from the peas
being less profitable in their ripe state than when green. Besides, they are often improper for the purpose
of seed, as being the worst part of the crop. It is therefore better to have them clear picked when hands
can be procured. After this they are loaded into carts, and sent off at suitable times, according to the
distance of the situation, so as to be delivered to the salesmen in the different markets from about three to
five o'clock in the morning. In many cases in other parts, the early gatherings are, however, sent to the
markets in half-bushel sieves, and are frequently disposed of at the high price of five shiUings the sieve;
but at the after periods they are usually conveyed in sacks of a narrow form, made for the purpose, which
contain about three bushels each, which, in the more early parts of the season, often fetch twelve or
fourteen shillings the sack, but afterwards mostly decline considerably; in some seasons so much as
scarcely to repay the expenses. This sort of crop affords the most profit in such pea seasons as are inclined
to be cool, as under such circumstances the peas are most retarded in their maturation or ripening, and of
course the markets kept from being overabundantly supplied.
52 11. The threshing of peas requires le.ss labour than that of any other crop. Where
the haulm is to be preserved entire it is best done by hand ; as the threshing machine is
apt to reduce it to chaff'. But where the fodder of peas is to be given immediately to
horses on the spot, the breaking of it is no disadvantage.
5212. The produce of the pea in ripened seeds is supposed by some to be from three
and a half to four quarters the acre ; others, however, as Donaldson, imagine the average
of any two crops togetlier not more than about twelve bushels ; and that on the whole, if
the value of the produce be merely attended to, it may be considered as a less profitable
crop than most others. But as a means of ameliorating and improving the soil at the
same time, it is esteemed of great value.
5213. With respect to the produce in green peas in the husk, the average of the early crops in Middlesex
is supposed to be from about twenty-five to thirty sacks the acre, which, selling at from eight to eighteen
shillings the sack, afford about eighteen pounds the acre. The author of The Synopsis of Husbandry,
however, states the produce about Dartford, in the county of Kent, at about forty sacks the acre, though,
he says, fifty have sometimes been gathered from that space of land.
5214. The produce of peas in straw is very uncertain, depending so much on the sort and the season : in
general it is much more bulky than that of the cereal grasses ; but may be compressed into very little
room.
5215. The pj-oduce of peas in flour is as 3 to 2 of the bulk in grain, and husked and split for soups as 4 to
2. A thousand parts of pea flour afforded Sir H. Davy 574 parts of nutritive or soluble matter; viz. 501 of
mucilage or vegetable animal matter, 22 of sugar, 35 of gluten, and 16 of extract or matter rendered
insoluble during the operation.
5216. The use of peas for soups, puddings, and other culinary purposes, is well known.
5217. In some places porridge, brose, and bread are made of pea- flour, and reckoned very wholesome
and substantial. In Stirlingshire it is customary to give pea or bean biscuits to horses, as a refreshment,
while in the yoke. The portion of peas not consumed as human food is mostly appropriated to the fatten-
ing of hogs and other domestic animals; and, in particular instances, supplies the place of beans, as the
provender of labouring horses; but care should be taken, when used in this way, that they are sufficiently
dry, as, when given in the green state, they are said to produce the gripes, and other bowel complaints, in
those animals. Bannister, after observing that the haulm is a very wholesome food for cattle of every
kind, says, there is generally a considerable demand for peas of every denomination in the market, the
uses to which they may be applied being so many and so various. The boilers, or yellow peas, always go
off briskly ; and the hog-peas usually sell for 6d. or Is. per quarter more than beans. For feeding swine the
pea is much better adapted than the bean, it having been demonstrated by experience, that hogs fat more
kindly when fed with this grain than with beans ; and, what is not easy to be accounted for, the flesh of
swine which have been fed on peas, it is said, will swell in boiling, and be well tasted ; whilst the flesh of
the bean-fed hog will shrink in the pot, the fat will boil out, and the meat be less delicate in flavour. It
has, therefore, now become a practice with those farmers who are curious in their pork, to feed their hogs
on peas and barley-meal ; and if they have no peas of their own growth, they rather choose to be at the
expense of buying them, than suffer their hogs to eat beans. Nay, so far, says he, do some of them carry
their prejudice in this particular, as to reject the grey i>eas for this use, as bearing too near an affinity to
the bean, and therefore reserve their growths of white peas solely for hog-fatting.
5218. In boiling split peas, some samples, without reference to variety, fall or moulder down freely into
pulp, while others continue to maintain their form. The former are called boilers. This property of
boiling depends on the soil ; stiff land, or sandy land, that has been limed or marled, or to which gypsum
has been applied, produces peas that will not melt in boiling, no matter what the variety may be. The
same effect is produced on beans, on kidneybeans in the pod, and indeed on the seeds and pods of all
leguminous plants ; this family having a great tendency to absorb gypsum from the soil. To counteract
this fault in the boiling, it is only necessary to throw into the water a small quantity of subcarbonate of
soda. {Bull, de Sci. Agr. Feb. IS28.)
5219. Pea straw cut green and dried is reckoned as nourishing as hay, and is con-
sidered excellent for sheep.
3 II 3
838 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
5220. In the saving of any jyarticular sorts of peas for seed, they should be carefully
looked over while in flower, in order to draw out all such plants as are not of the right
kind ; as there will always be, in every sort, some roguish plants, which, if left to mix,
will cause degeneration. As many rows as may be thought sufficient to furnish the
desired quantity of seed should then be marked out, and left till their pods turn brown,
and begin, to split, when they should immediately be gathered up, with the haulm ; and
if the farmer has not room to stack them till winter, they may be threshed out as soon as
tliey are dry, and put up in sacks for use : but particular care should be taken not to let
them remain too long abroad after they are ripe ; as wet would rot them ; and heat, after
a shower of rain, makes their pods burst in such a manner that the greater part of their
seeds would be lost.
5221. The diseases of peas are few, and chiefly the worm in the pod and the fly on the
leaves and flower. They are also liable to be mildewed or blighted. None of these
evils, however, are very common ; and there is no known way of preventing them but by
judicious culture. Late sown peas are particularly liable to be injured by the mildew
and A'^phis ; and should either of these attack the plant before the pods are filled, they
invariably fail. In 1826 almost all the crops of peas were destroyed by the A'phides,
so that they were mown for the haulm only.
Sect. II. The Bean. — \icia ¥aba L. ; Diadilphia Decandria L., and Leguminosee J.
Feverole, Fr. ; Bohn, Ger. ; Fava, Ital. ; and Alverjanas, Span.
5222. The bean is a valuable field plant, as affording food for live stock, and in part
for man. It is said to be a native of Egypt ; but, like other long domesticated plants,
its origin is very uncertain. It has been cultivated in Europe and Asia time out of
mind. Beans have been long known in Britain ; but it is only of late years that they
were extensively cultivated upon general soils, being formerly considered as adapted only
to rich and moist clays. At that time they were all sown according to the broad-cast
system ; in which way, instead of benefiting the ground, they were of incalculable detri-
ment. Weeds got away at the outset, and in dry seasons often ruined the crop ; whilst
in every season the grass or perennial weeds which happened to be in the ground in-
creased in strength and in quantity, the openness of the bean crop at bottom allowing
them to thrive without interruption.
5223. The drilling of beans with a small mixture of peas is now become a general
practice in every well cultivated district of the north, more particularly in those where
soil and climate permit the practice to be successfully executed. In this way not only
heavy crops are raised, but, what is of great importance, the ground is kept constantly in
good order, provided suitable attention is bestowed upon the cleaning process. This is
generally carried on by horse-hoeing the crop at different times, so long as the lioe can
be used without doing damage ; and in this way an able auxiliary is brought forward to
the assistance of summer fallow, whereby less stress need be laid upon that radical process
than otherwise would be indispensably necessary. {^Brown. )
5224. The varieties of the bean may be included under two general heads, — the white
or garden beans, and the grey or field beans.
5220. Of the white or garden beans {Feve de marais, Fr.) sown in the fields, tlie mazagan and long-pod
are almost the only sorts. Of the grey beans, that known as the horse bean, the small or ticks, and the
prolific or Heligoland, are the chief sorts. New varieties are procured in the same manner as in other
plants. A variety is in use in some parts of Lincolnshire, called the winter bean [Feverole d'kiver, Fr.).
It is planted in October in the usual manner, and is ready to harvest in the last week in July or the first
week in August. They are said to have been introduced from the Continent in 182.5. We have lately
seen a field of this beaii at the Oaks Farm, near Woking, in Surrey, which was planted in October 18-'9,
and in full bloom May 12tli following. This circumstance, after so severe a winter, is a proof to us that
this is a most valuable variety. {Gard. Mag. vol. vi.)
5226. In the choice of sorts, tick beans are supposed by some farmers to be more pro-
ductive than horse-beans ; but the latter grow higher in the stem, and produce a more
stagnated state of the air, or smother the land moi-e, consequently are the most suitable
for the stronger sorts of soil ; and Young remarks, that " the common little horse-bean
has the advantage of all others in being more generally inarketable ; for in certain
situations it is not always easy to dispose of ticks, Windsors, long-pods, and various
other large sorts. They also grow higher, shade the ground in summer more from the
sun, and yield a larger quantity of straw, which makes excellent manure. But some of
the other sorts are generally supposed to yield larger products. In purchasing beans for
seed, care should be taken to choose such as are hard and bright, without being shrivelled
in their appearance."
5227. The best soils for beans are clays and strong loams. On such soils they generally
succeed wheat or oats, but sometimes also clover leys. Turnip soils or sands aie by no
means proper for them.
5228. In the preparation of the soil much depends on the nature of the land and the state of the weather;
for as beans must be sown early in the spring, it is sometimes impossible to give it all the labour which a
careful farmer would wish to bestow. It must also be regulated in some measure by the manner of
Book VI. THE BEAN. 839
sowing. In all cases it ought to be ploughed with a deep furrow after harvest or early in winter ; and as
two ploughings in spring are highly advantageous, the winter furrow may be given in the direction of the
former ridges, in which way the land is sooner dry in spring than if it had been ploughed across. The
second ploughing is to be given across the ridges, as early in spring as the ground is sufficiently dry; and
the third furrow either forms the drills or receives the seed. {Supp. E. Brit. art. Agr.)
5229. Brown, one of the best bean-growers in Britain, gives the following directions: — The furrow
ought to be given early in winter, and as deep as possible, that the earth may be sufficiently loosened and
room afforded for the roots of the plant to search for the requisite nourishment. This first furrow is
usually given across the field, which is the best method when only one spring furrow is intended ; bi't as
it is now ascertained that two spring furrows are highly advantageous, perhaps the one in winter ought
to be given in length, which lays the ground in a better situation for resisting the rains, and renders it
sooner dry in spring, than can be the case when ploughed across. On the supposition that three furrows
are to be given, one in winter and two in spring, the following is the most eligible preparation : — The
land being ploughed in length as early in winter as is practicable, and the cross gutter and headland furrows
sufficiently dug out, take the second furrow across the first as soon as the ground is dry enough in spring
to undergo the operation ; water-furrow it immediately, and dig again the cross gutter and headland
furrows, otherwise the benefit of the second furrow may be lost. This being done, leave the field for some
days till it is sufficiently dry, when a cast of the harrows becomes necessary, so that the surface may be
levelled ; then enter with the ploughs and form the drills. {Treatise on Rural A^ffairs.)
52.30. Manure is frequently applied to the bean crop, especially if it succeeds wheat. By some, dung is
spread on the stubble previously to the winter ploughing ; but this cannot always be done in a satisfactory
manner, at least in the northern parts of the island, unless during frost, when it may lie long exposed to
the weather before it can be turned down by the plough. The most desirable mode, therefore, is to lay
the manure into drills immediately before the beans are sown. {Supp. S(C.)
5231. The best way, according to Brown, is to apply the dung on the stubble before the winter furrow
is given, which greatly facilitates the after process. Used in this way, a fore stock must be in hand ; but
where the farmer is not so well provided, spring dunging becomes necessary, though evidently of less
advantage. At that season it may either be put into the drills before the seed is sown, or spread upon
the surface and ploughed down, according to the nature of the drilling process which is meant to be
adopted. Land dunged to beans, if duly hoed, is always in high order for carrying a crop of wheat in
succession. Perhaps better wheat, both in respect of quantity and quality, may be cultivated in this way
than in any other mode of sowing.
5232. The climate most favourable to the bean is one neither very dry nor very moist ;
the first brings on the fly, and the last prevents the setting of the blossoms. In general,
however, a dry summer is most favourable to the production of seed, and moist weather
to the growth of the haulm.
5233. The time of sowing beans is as early as possible after the severity of winter is
over; in the south, sometimes in January, but ne^er later than the end of March, as the
ripening of the crop and its safe harvesting would otherwise be very precarious in this
climate. Bannister thinks that the proper time for planting beans in Kent is towards
the latter end of January or early in the following month ; though this business may be
continued with advantage till the middle or latter end of March, if the weather should
prevent their being got in at an earlier season : but in general it is best to embrace the
first opportunity of sowing them after Candlemas, as they often miscarry when the season
is procrastinated beyond that time, especially if a dry summer should succeed.
5234. The mode of sowing is almost always in rows. Though still sown broad-cast
in several places, and sometimes dibbled, they are for the most part drilled by judicious
cultivators, or deposited after the plough in every furrow, or only in every second or third
furrow. In the latter method the crop rises in rows, at regular intervals of nine, eighteen,
or twenty-seven inches, and the hand-hoe ought invariably to be employed ; but it is
only where the widest interval is adopted that the horse-hoe can be used with much
eflPect in their subsequent culture.
52'1'>. There are two modes of drilling beans. In one of these the lands or ridges are divided by the
plough into ridgelets or one bout stitches, at intervals of about twenty-seven inches. If dung is to be
applied, the seed ought to be first deposited, as it is found inconvenient to run the drill-machine after-
wards. The dung may then be drawn out from the carts in small heaps, one row of heaps serving for
three or five ridgelets, and it is evenly spread and equally divided among them in a way that will be more
minutely described when treating of the culture of turnips. The ridgelets are next split out or reversed,
either by means of the common plough or one with two mould-boards, by which means lx)th the seed and
the manure are perfectly covered. When beans are sown by the other method, in the bottom of a com-
mon furrow, the dung must be previously spread over the surf.ice of the winter or spring ploughing.
Three ploughs then start in succession, one immediately behind another; and a drill harrow either follows
the third plough or is attached to it, by which the beans are sown in every third furrow, or at from twenty-
four to twenty-seven inches asunder, according to the breadth of the furrow-slice.
52.36. Arwther ajrfyroved way of sounng beans, when dung is applied at seed-time, is to spread the dung
and to plough it down with a strong furrow ; after this shallow furrows are drawn, into which the seed is
deposited by the drill-machine. Whichever of these modes of sowing is followed, the whole field must
be carefully laid dry, by means of channels formed by the plough, and when necessary by the shovel j for
neither then nor at any former period should water be allowed to stagnate on the land.
5237. The dibbling of beans is considered by Arthur Young as an excellent method
when well performed ; but the grand objection to it is the difficulty of getting it well done.
52.38. When dibbling Incomes the common husbandry of a district, the workmen find that great earnings
are to be made by it, and this is much too apt to make them careless and eager to earn still more ; and if
a very minute attention is not paid to them by the constant attendance of the farmer, they strike the
holes so shallow that the first peck of a rook's bill takes the seed, and acres may be destroyed if the
breed of those birds be encouraged. Boys are employed for weeks together to keep the fields, but all
works that depend on bovs are horribly neglected, and thus the farmer suffers materially; however, if
the seed is deposited two and a half or (better) three inches deep, it is not so easily eradicated. In some
districts, as Middlesex, Surrey, &c., the method is to plant this pulse in rows struck out by a line, by
which a great saving is made in the article of seed, a circumstance which is thought to compensate for
the extraordinary charge of this mode of husbandry ; and thus far it may be fairly acknowledged that the
method of planting beans by the dibber is greatly to be preferred to that of sowing the seed at random.
The economy of this agricultural process is thus explained : — The rows are marked out one foot asunder,
3 H 4
840 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
and the seed planted in holes made two inches apart : the lines are stretched across the lands, which are
formed about six feet over; so that when one row is planted, the sticks to which the line is fastened are
moved by a regular measurement to the distance required, and the same method pursued till the field is
completed. The usual price for this work is ninepence per peck, and the allowance two bushels per acre.
Great confidence must necessarily be reposed in the people who transact the business of planting beans
by the dibber ; for, if inclined to fraud, they have it in their power to deceive their employer, by throwing
a great part of the seed into the hedge ; by which means their daily profits are considerably enhanced, their
own labour spared, and every discovery effectually precluded till the appearance of the crop. Then, in.
deed, the frequent chasms in the rows will give sufificient indications of the fraud ; but by this time perhaps
the villainous authors of the mischief may have escaped all possibility of detection, by having conveyed
themselves from the scene of their iniquity.
5239. The quantity of seed allowed is very different in the southern and northern
parts of Britain : in the former, even when the rows are narrow, only two bushels or
two bushels and a half; but in Scotland, seldom less than four bushels to the English
statute acre, even when sown in ridgelets twenty-seven inches distant, and a bushel more
when sown broad-cast. When beans are sown or planted thick, the top pods only fill
to the number of three, and four, and half a dozen ; when thin, the plants will pod and
fill to the bottom. Both in the broad-cast and drill husbandry, it is common to mix a
small quantity of peas along with beans. This mixture improves both the quantity and
quality of the straw for fodder, and the pea straw is useful for binding up the sheaves in
harvest.
5240. The after culture of the bean crop commences with harrowing just befoi'e the
young plants reach the surface. When sown in rows, in either of the modes already
mentioned, the harrows are employed about ten or twelve days after ; and, being driven
across the ridgelets, the land is laid completely level for the subsequent operations, and
the annual weeds destroyed.
5241. After the beans have made some growth, sooner or later, according to the state of the soil with
regard to" weeds, the horse-hoe is employed in the intervals between the rows ; and followed by the hand-
hoe for the purpose of cutting down such weeds as the horse-hoe cannot reach ; all the weeds, that grow
among the beans beyond the reach of either hoe, should be pulled up with the hand. The same operations
are repeated as often as the condition of the land, in regard to cleanness, may require.
5242. Before the introduction of the horse-lwe, which merely stirs the soil, and cuts up the weeds, a com-
mon small plough, drawn by one horse, was used in working between the rows, and is still necessary
where root-weeds abound. This plough goes one bout, or up and down in each interval, turning the earth
from the beans, and forming a ridgelet in the middle ; then hand-hoes are immediately employed ; and,
after some time, a second hand-hoeing succeeds, to destroy any fresh growth of weeds. The same plough,
with an additional mould board, finally splits open the intermediate ridgelet, and lays up the earth to the
roots of the beans on each side. The benefit ol laying up the earth in this manner, however, is alleged to
be counterbalanced by the trouble which it occasions in harvest, when it is difficult to get the reapers to
cut low enough ; and it may be properly dispensed with, unless the soil is very wet and level.
5243. In moist ivarm seasons, this grain hardly ever ripens effectually ; and it is exceedingly difficult
to get the straw into a proper condition for the stack. In such cases, it has been found of advantage to
switch off the succulent tops with an old scythe blade set in a wooden handle, with which one man can
easily top dress two acres a day. This operation, it is said, will occasion the crop to be ready for reap-
ing a fortnight earlier, and also, perhaps, a week sooner ready for the stack-yard after being reaped.
5244. Before reaping beans the grain ought to be tolerably well ripened, otherwise the
quality is impaired, whilst a long time is required to put the straw in such a condition as
to be preserved in the stack. In an early harvest, or where the crop is not weighty, it is
an easy matter to get beans sufficiently ripened ; but, in a late harvest, and in every one
where the crop takes on a second growth, it is scarcely practicable to get them thoroughly
ripened for the sickle. Under these circumstances, it is unnecessary to let beans stand
uncut after the end of September, or the first of October ; because any benefit that can
be gained afterwards, is not to be compared with the disadvantages that accompany a late
wheat seed-time.
5245. Beans arc usually cut with the sicJfle, and tied in sheaves, either with straw ropes, or with ropes
made from peas sown along with them. It is proper to let the sheaves lie untied several days, so that the
winning process m.iy be hastened, and, when tied, to set them up on end, in order that full benefit from
the air may be obtained, and the grain kept off the ground. (Brown.)
5-246. Beans are sometimes mown, and, in a few instances, even pulled up by the roots. They should in
every case be cut as near the ground as possible, for the sake of the straw, which is of considerable value
as fodder, and because the best pods are often placed on the stems near the roots. They are then left for
a few days to wither, and afterwards bound and set up in shocks to dry, but without any head sheaves.
[Supp. Sfc.)
5247. Beans are stacked either in the round or oblong manner; and it is always
proper, in the northern counties at least, if the stack is large, to construct one funnel or
more to allow a free circulation of air.
5248. The threshing of beans is nearly as easy as that of peas. Threshing them by
a machine may be considered advantageous as breaking the coarser ends of the straw,
and separating the earth from their root-ends, or roots, if they have been reaped by pulling.
5249. The produce of beans, when proper management is exercised, and where diseases
have not occurred, is generally from twenty-five to thirty-five bushels per acre. Donaldson
says, that a crop of beans, taking the island at large, may be supposed to vary from six-
teen to forty bushels, but that a good average crop cannot be reckoned to exceed twenty.
In Middlesex, Middleton tells us, that bean-crops vary from ten to eighty bushels per
acre. They are rendered a very precarious crop by the ravages of myriads of small black
insects of the A^phis kind. The lady-birds (Coccinella) are supposed to feed on them,
as they are observed to be much Jiniong them. Foot says, the average produce is from
Book VI. THE TARE. 841
three and a half to four quarters per acre. In Kent, A. Young thinks, they probably
exceed four quarters ; but in Suffolk, he should not estimate them at more than three ;
yet five or six are not uncommon.
5250. TJie produce in haulm, in moist seasons, is very bulky.
5251. In the application of beans, the grain in Scotland is sometimes made into meal,
the finer for bread, and the coarser for swine ; but beans are for the most part applied to
the purpose of feeding horses, hogs, and other domestic animals. In the county, of
Middlesex, all are given to horses, except what are preserved for seed, and such as are
podded while green, and sent to the London markets. When pigs are fed with beans,
it is observed that the meat becomes so hard as to make very ordinary pork, but good
bacon. It is also supposed that the mealmen grind many horse-beans among wheat to
be manufactured into bread.
52.'52. The fiour of beans is more nutritive than that of oats, as it appears in the fattening of hogs ;
whence, according to the respective prices of these two articles, Dr. Darwin suspects that peas and beans
generally supply a cheaper provender for horses than oats, as well as for other domestic animals. But as
the flour of peas and beans is more oily, he believes, than that of oats, it may in general be somewhat
more difficult of digestion ; hence, when a horse has taken a stomachful of peas and beans alone, he may
be less active for an hour or two, as his strength will be more employed in the digestion of them than
when he has taken a stomachful of oats. A German physician gave to two dogs, which had been kept a
day fasting, a large quantity of flesh food ; and then taking one of them into the fields, hunted him with
great activity for three or four hours, and left the other by the fire. An emetic was then given to each of
them ; and the food of the sleeping dog was found perfectly digested, whilst that of the hunted one had
undergone but little alteration. Hence it may, he says, be found advisable to mix bran of wheat with
the peas and beans, a food of less nutriment, but of easier digestion ; or to let the horses eat before or
after them the coarse tussocks of sour grass, which remain in moist pastuVes in the winter ; or, lastly, to
mix finely cut straw with them. It is observed in the fifth volume of The Bath Papers, that it has been
found by repeated experience, that beans are a much more hearty and profitable food for horses than
oats. Being out of old oats the two last springs, the writer substituted horse-beans in their stead. In the
room of a sack of oats with chaff, he ordered them a bushel of beans with chaff, to serve the same time.
It very soon appeared the beans were superior to the oats, from the life, spirit, and sleekness of the horses.
.5253. Bea7i straw, when mixed with peas, Brown considers as aflibrding almost as much nourishment
when pro)x;rly harvested as is gained from hay of ordinary quality ; when it is well got the horses are
fonder of it than of pea straw. It should either be given when newly threshed, or else stacked up and
compressed by treading or coverings, as the air is found materially to affect both its flavour and nutritive
quality.
5254. The produce of beans in meal is, like that of peas, more in proportion to the
grain than in any of the cereal grasses. A bushel of beans is supposed to yield fourteen
pounds more of flour than a bushel of oats, and a bushel of peas eighteen pounds more,
or, according to some, twenty pounds. A thousand parts of bean flour were found, by
Sir H. Davy, to yield 570 parts of nutritive matter, of which 426 were mucilage or
starch, 103 gluten, and 41 extract, or matter rendered insoluble during the process.
5255. The diseases of beans are, the rust, mildew, black fly or Aphides, and in conse-
quence the honey dews.
515&. A'phides, ivhen they live on beans, are of a dirty bluish-black colour, similar to those on the elder
and cherry. The larvffi of the CoccineHa septempunctata, as well as the perfect insects, devour the
A^piiis. Several of the small summer birds, viz. largest willow- wren, middle, and smallest wren, white-
throat, lesser white-throat, black-cap, and Dartford warbler, also live on them. The A'phides of beans are
brought on by very dry weather: they are most prevalent on the summits of the plants; and some have
attemj>ted to mitigate the evil by cutting oflTthe tops. In general, however, the disease is without remedy,
either preventive or positive. In extreme cases they destroy the leaves, stalks, and fruit; and when
this is foreseen, the best thing the farmer can do is to mow the crop or plough it down, and prepare the
land for wheat or otherwise, according to the rotation.
Sect. III. The Tare. — Yicia salha L. ; Diadelphia Decandria L., and Leguminosts J.
Vesce commun de printemps et d'hiver, Fr. ; Wicke, Ger. ; Loglio, Ital. ; and Arveja, Sp.
5257. The tare, vetch, or fitch ( nciasativa,/g. 742.), has been cultivated for its stem
742 and leaves from time immemorial. It is considered as a
native plant, and is found wild also in China and Japan.
Ray, in 1686, informs us, that the common tare or vetch
was then sown almost all over Europe ; that it was chiefly
used in England, mixed with peas and oats, to feed horses :
but that it was sometimes sown separately for soiling
cattle, and was reputed to cause milch cows to yield much
milk. The tare. Brown observes, is of hardy growth, and,
when sown upon rich land, will return a large supply of
green fodder for the consumption of horses, or for fattening
cattle.
5258. The varieties of tares are chiefly two, the winter
and spring tare; both have local names, as gore vetch,
rath ripe vetch, &c. Some consider them as distinct species,
but this is doubtful.
52.'59. As the result of an experiment tried for two years at Bury, In
Suffolk, Professor Martyn observes, that there appears a material
difference in the constitution, if we may so call it, of the two tares in
question. Not to say any thing of a trifling difference in the colour
and size of their seeds, the only visible mark of distinction seems to be
a disparity in the first leaves of the upright stalks, which in the spring
842 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
tare are elliptic, and rounded or notched at the end, but in the winter tare linear and drawn to a point
The leaves on the branches which afterwards issue below, and in time form the bulk of the plants, are the
same in both vetches. But, whatever the difference may be, it is evident that the seeds of the two sorts
ought to be kept separate ; since each sown out of its proper season is found not to prosper.
5260. New varieties of tare may be obtained by the usual means ; and it is thought that some of the
numerous species of this plant, which are natives of Europe, might be cultivated with advantage. The
French cultivate a variety which they call Vesce blanche, or Lentilledu Canada, J^icia satlva alba. They
include also among their forage vetches Ficia angustifblia, Crdcca, FseMo-Crticca, bi<5nnis, sfepium, and
liitea. The Ticia narbon^nsis and serratif61ia are cultivated in Germany. Dr. Anderson has recom-
mended the y. s^pium ; and a writer in The Bath Agriciilturnl Transactions, the V. Crdcca. Some species
of L&thyrus, 0 robus, and E rvum might probably also be tried with success.
5261. In choosing between the spring and winter tare, every thing must depend on the intention of the
crop. If the object is to have early feed, the winter variety is undoubtedly to be preferred ; but where the
land is foul and requires to be two or three times ploughed in spring, or where a late crop is desired, or a
crop for seed, then the spring variety will generally deserve the preference.
5262. The soil preferred by the tare is a clay, but they will grow in any rich soil not
over dry. In a moist climate, the haulm grows so luxuriant as to rot at bottom ; and
in one over dry it is deficient in length. A dry season, however, is on the whole more
favourable than a raoist one, as this crop soon covers the surface.
5263. The preparation of the soil seldom consists of more than one ploughing, if for autumn sowing ;
and of a winter and spring ploughing, when to be sown in spring. If in the latter case the land is very
foul, several ploujjhiiigs are given, or one ploughing and several stirrings with the cultivator In
general, tares succeed some of the corn crops. In England manure is sometimes given either with a
view to eating them off early, and following with a crop of turnips, or to enriching the soil for a crop
of wheat.
5264. The time of sowing depends on the kind of tare, and the purpose in view.
5265. The winter variety is sown in September and October ; and the first sowing in spring ought to be
as early as the season will permit. If they are to be cut green for soiling throughout the summer and
autumn, which is the most advantageous method of consuming them, successive sowings should follow
till the end of May. Summer tares, when meant for seed. Brown observes, ought to be sown early,
'• otherwise the return will be imperfect ; but when for green food, any time betwixt the first of April
and the latter end of May will answer well, provided crops in succession, from the first to the last-men-
tioned period, be regularly cultivated. Instances are not wanting of a full crop being obtained even
when the seed was sown so late as the middle of June, though sowing so late is a practice not to be
recommended. In Middlesex, the winter sowings are commenced about the beginning of August: in
the northern counties no winter.sowings are made, as the tare there will not endure the severity of
that season.
52G6. The mode of sowing tares is mostly broad-cast, which should be performed as
evenly as possible over the surface of well-prepared land ; the seeds being afterwards
covered in by proper harrowing, in order to prevent their being picked up by birds, and
ensure their perfect vegetation and growth. It has been suggested, however, that, in
rich clean soil, it is probable the row-method would succeed well with this sort of crop,
which, as Marshal states, is the practice in some of the southern districts of the island.
After the seed is sown, and the land carefully harrowed, a light roller ought to be drawn
across, so that the surface may be smoothed, and the scythe permitted to work without
interruption. It is proper also to guard the field for several days against the depreda-
tions of pigeons, who are remarkably fond of tares, and will pick up a great part of the
seed, unless constantly watched.
5267. The quantity of seed to an acre is from two and,a half to three and a half bushels,
according to the time of sowing, and to whether they are to be consumed green or left to
stand for a crop.
5268. When tares are intended for seed, less seed is required than when they are grown for soiling or
for drying the haulm. A writer in The Farmer's Magazine (vol. i.) has suggested, that the most pro-
ductive method of sowing this crop, when intended for seed, is to mix them amongst beans when drilled,
at the rate of one firlot of tares to one boll of beans. From trials made it is ascertained, it is said, that
the quality of the tares is vastly improved by being blended with beans, as, by clinging to the latter, they
are kept from the ground, and' enjoy the full benefit of the sun for ripening them in a perfect manner ;
and they are in this way much easier harvested than when sown by themselves. They answer, at the
same time, for bands to tie the principal crop ; and the produce may, on an average of seasons, be con-
sidered as at least double. A little rye sown with winter tares, and a few oats with the spring sort, not
only serve to support the weak creeping stems of the tares, but add to the bulk of the crop by growing up
through the interstices
5269. In the choice of the seed it is hardly possible to distinguish the grain of the winter from that of
the spring variety : the former is alleged to be rather smaller and lighter coloured ; but the only reliance
must be on the honesty of the vendor. Plump seed, and a sample free from the seeds of weeds, will of
course be selected, whatever be the variety.
5270. The after culture given to tares consists merely in pulling out the larger weeds,
unless they are in rows, in which case the horse or hand hoe is applied ; or intended for
seed, in which case weeding must be more particularly executed.
5271. I7i reaping tares for soiliyig they ought always to be cut with the scythe, as the
sickle, by breaking asunder the stalks, and tearing up a number by the roots, renders the
second crop of little value. When mown early, they will in a moist season produce three
mowings, but generally two. In reaping tares for seed, they may be either mown or taken
with the sickle, and treated like peas in drying, stacking, and threshing.
5272. Tares are eaten off the ground in some places by different kinds of live stock,
particularly by sheep ; and as the winter-sown variety comes early in spring, the value
of this rich food is then very considerable. The waste, however, in this way, even
Book VI. VARIOUS LEGUMES. 843
though the sheep are confined in hui'dles, must be great ; and still greater when consumed
by horses or cattle.
5273. Tare crops are sometimes made into hay, in which case more attention is found
necessary than in those of most of the artificial grasses, as wet is more injurious to them,
and they require more sun and air ; but in other respects they demand the same cautious
management, in order to preserve the foliage from being lost. The time for cutting for
this purpose is, according to the author of The Synopsis of Husbandry, when the blossoms
have declined and they begin to fall and lie flat. When well made, the hay is of the best
and most nutritious quality.
5274. The produce of tares cut green is, according to Middleton, ten or twelve tons per
acre, which is a large crop ; and when made into hay about three tons per acre, which
shows the disadvantage of making these crops into hay. It is found that the spring tare-
crops are lighter, and most liable to be injured by a dry season.
5^275. The produce in seed is likewise found to be considerable, being by some stated
at from three to six sacks ; but in other instances forty bushels, or more, have been
obtained from the acre.
5276. In the application of tares they are found to be a hearty and most nourishing food
for all sorts of cattle.
5277. Cows give more butter when fed with this plant than with any other food whatsoever. Horses
thrive better upon tares than they do upon clover and rye-grass ; and the same remark is applicable to the
fattening of cattle, which feed faster upon this article of green fodder than upon any kind of grass or
esculent with which we are acquainted. Danger often arises from their eating too much, especially when
podded ; as colics, and other stomach disorders, are apt to be produced by the excessive loads which they
devour. Perhaps a great quantity of fixed air is contained in this vegetable; and as heavy crops are rarely
dry at the root when cut, it is not to be wondered that accidents often happen, when the animal is indulged
with the unrestrained consumption of them. Were oat straw mixed with the tares in the racks or stalls
in which they are deposited, it is probable that fewer accidents would follow, though this assistant is only
required when the tares are wet, foul, or over succulent. If the plants are cut green, and given to live
stock, either on the field or in the fold-yards, there is, perhaps, no green crop of greater value, nor any
better calculated to give a succession of herbage from May to November. The winter-sown tare, in a
favourable climate, is ready for cutting before clover. The first spring-crop comes in after the clover must
be all consumed or made into hay ; and the successive spring sowings give a produce more nourishing for
the larger animals tlian the aftermath of clover, and may afford green food at least a month longer. In
the county of Sussex, Young observes, " tare crops are of such use and importance that not one tenth of
the stock could be maintained without them ; horses, cows, sheep, hogs, all feed upon them ; hogs are
soiled upon them wiliiout any other food. This plant maintains more stock than any other plant whatso-
ever. Upon one acre Davis maintained four horses in much better condition than upon five acres of
grass. Upon eight acres he has kept twelve horses and five cows for three months without any other
food ; no artificial food whatever is equal to this excellent plant." This statement must be coupled with
the usual produce of turnips in Sussex, 10 or 15 tons per acre : hence the supposed superiority of tares to
every other green crop. Tares cut green, Professor Thaer observes, draw no nourishment from the soil
whatever ; while made into hay, they afford a fodder preferred by cattle to pea straw, and more nutritive
than hay or any other herbage.
5278. The use of the grain of tares is generally for reproduction ; but they are also given to pigeons, by
which they are highly relished, and it is thought they would form a very good food for poultry. In
Germany they are given to horses, cows, sheep, and swine.
5279. The diseases of tares are so few as to be of no consequence. A crop is some-
times, but rarely, lost by mildew.
Sect. IV. Various Legumes which might be cultivated in British Farming.
5280. The lentil, kidneybean, and chick pea are grown both in France and Germany,
as field plants, for their seeds, which are used as food. They are by no means likely
to become articles of general culture in Britain ; but it is worth while to know that they
may be cultivated here instead of being imported, and also that they form very excellent
articles of human subsistence.
5281. The lentil is the E'rvum L6ns L. ; Lentillon, Fr. ; Lentxen, Ger. ; and Leniiccia, Ital. (fig. 743.)
It is a legume of the greatest antiquity, being in esteem in Esau's
time, and much prized in Eastern countries ever since. In Egypt
and Syria, they are parched in a frying-pan and sold in the shops, and
considered by the natives as the best food for those who undertake
long journeys. The lentil is considered a native of France, but has
been known in England from the earliest agricultural records. In
Gerarde's time they were sown like tares, their haulm given to
cattle, and the seed to pigeons, and used in meagre soups.
5282. There are three varieties of lentils cultivated in France and
Germany : the small brown, which is the lightest-flavoured, and the
best for haricots and soups ; tlie yellowish, which is a little larger,
and the next best; and the lentil of Provence, which is almost as
large as a pea, with luxuriant straw, and more fit to be cultivated as
a tare than as food for man. The French have also a winter lentil,
Lentillon d'hiver s and they cultivate the E'rvum ^rvilia, Lentille
Erse on Ervillier, and the E. mon&nthos, Len a une Jleur, Jarosse
d'Auvergne. The Spanish lentil, — Gesse cultive'e, Lentille d'Espagne,
Fr. , Lenteja, Span., — is the Lathyrus sativus. {fig. 744.) It is some-
times grown in gardens in this country, and occasionally in the fields
in France. The lentil of Canada, Lentille du Canada, Fr., is the
ficia pisiformis Lin. (fig. 745.) Ffcia i^rvflia Willd., E'rvum tetraspt^rmum Lin., and E. hirsiitum Lin.,
are also cultivated in some places as lentils ; and indeed the seeds of all the tribe ^'I'ciffi {Encyclopcedia of
Plants, p. 1066.) may be eaten by man.
5283 . A dry, ivarni, sandy soil is requisite for the lentil ; it is sown rather later than the pea, at the rate
of a bushel or a bushel and a half to the acre ; in other respects its culture and harvesting are the same.
844
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Pakt 111.
aiid It ripens sooner. The lentil. Young observes, is a crop not uncommon about Chesterford in Essex
where they sow a bushel an acre on one ploughing in the beginning or middle of March. It is there
the custom to make hay of them, or seed them for cutting into chaflf for trough-mtat for sheep and
horses, and they sow them on both heavy and dry soils. It is, however, added, that the whole country
IS of a calcareous nature. It is likewise stated, that attention should be paid not to water liorses soon
after eating this sort of food, as they are apt to hove them. They are asserted to be cultivated for the
same purpose in Oxfordshire, and probably in other districts.
5284.. The produce of ti e lentil in grain is about a fourth less than that of the tare ; and in straw it is not
a third as much, the plants seldom growing above one foot and a half high. The straw is, however, very
delicate and nourishing, and preferred for lambs and calves; and the grain on the Continent sells at nearly
double the price of peas. Ein- ""
hoff' obtained from 3840 parts
of lentils, 1260 parts of starch,
and 1433 of a matter analogous
to animal matter.
5285. The use of the lentil on
the Continent is very general,
both in soups and dressed with
a butter sauce as haricot. They
are imported from Hamburgh,
and sold in London for the
same purpose.
5286. The chick pea (Pais,
chiche Gauance, Fr. ; Clcer
arietlnum, fig. 52.), grows
naturally in the south of
Europe, and is cultivated there
for the same purposes as the
lentil, but it is too delicate
for field culture in this coun-
try.
5237. The kidneybean (Phasfeolus vulgaris L. ; Haricot, Fr. ; Schminlchohne, Ger. ; and Fagiuolo, Ital.)
IS a native of India, but ripens readily in dry summers in most parts of Britain. Its culture has been
hitherto confined to gardens; but it might be grown equally well in dry, warm, rich, and sheltered soils,
being grown in the fields of Geriuany, Switzerland, and in similar climates. The sort generally used for
this purpose is the small dwarf white ; the ground is prepared by several
stirrings, and the seed is dibbled in rows eighteen inches or two feet
asunder in the beginning of May. The ground is hoed and weeded
during the sumj»er, and the crop is ripe in August. It is usually
harvested by pigling up the plants, which, being dried, are stacked or
threshed. The haulm is of little bulk or use, but the seed is used in
making the esteemed French dish called haricot, which it is desirable
the cottagers of this country should be made acquainted with. There
is, perhaps, no other vegetable dish so cheap and easily cooked, and at
the same time so agreeable and nourishing. The beans are boiled and
then mixed with a little salt butter or other fat, and a little milk or
water and flour. From 3840 parts of kidneybean, EinhofF obtained 1805
parts of matter analogous to starch, 851 of vegeto-animal matter, and
799 parts of mucilage. Haricots and lentils are much used in all
Catholic countries during Lent and maigre days, as they, from their
peculiar constituents, form so excellent a substitute for animal food.
During the prevalence of the Roman religion in this country, they were
probably much more generally used than at present ; as reformations
are often carried farther than is necessary, possibly lentils may have
been left off by Protestants, lest the use of them should be considered
a symptom of popery.
5288. The white lupine (Lvpin blanc, Fr. ; Zuplnus albus L.,fi§. 746.)
was cultivated by the Romans as a legume, and is still occasionally
grown in Italy and France. The seeds were formerly, and are sometimes
now, used as food ; but more generally the whole plant is mown and
given as herbage to cattle, and sometimes the crop is ploughed down cS
manure.
Chap. IV.
Plants cultivated for their Hoots or Leaves in a recent State as Food for Man or Cattle.
5289. Plants cultivated for their roots or leaves are various, and most of them are
adapted both for human food and that of domestic animals ; but some are chiefly or
entirely grown for the nurture of live stock. The plants which we include under this
head, are the potato, turnip, carrot, parsnep, beet, cabbage tribe, lettuce, and chiccory.
The culture of roots may be considered a branch of farming almost entirely of modern
origin, and more peculiarly British than any other department. Turnips were culti-
vated by the Romans, and in modem times brought into notice as objects of field cul-
ture in the last century ; l)ut they were most imperfectly managed, and of very little
utility in agriculture till their culture was undertaken by the British farmer. The
potato, carrot, and paisnep were also first cultivated in the fields of this country. Fri-
able or light soil, suptn-ior pulveinsation and manuring, the row-method, and careful
after-culture, are essential to the maturation of the plants to be treated of in this
Chapter; and hence the importance of such crops as preparations for those of the
bread corns.
Book VI. THE POTATO.
5290. T'he nutritive products of these plants are thus given by Sir H. Davy :
845
i
Systematic Name.
English Name.
In 1000 Parts.
Whole
quantity of
soluble or
nutritive
matter.
Mucilage
or
starch.
Saccharine
matter or
suRar.
Gluten
or
albumen.
Extract, or
matter ren-
dered inso-
luble during
evaporation.
Solknum tuberosum - 'Potato - - f
^^tavulg^is - - Red beet -
clcla - - ;MangoId wurtzel
^rassica ^Jlpa - - [Common turnip -
var. rutabaga Swedish turnip -
Dai'icus Carota - - Carrot
Pastin&ca satlva - - Parsnep
^assica oler^cea - - Cabbage -
From 260
to 200.
148
136
42
64
98
99
73
From 200
to 155.
14
13
7
9
3
9
41
From 20
to 15.
121
119
34
51
95
90
24
From 40
to 30.
13
4
1
2
8
2
Sect. I. Tlie Potato. — Soldman tuberosum L. ; Pentandria Monogynia L., and
Solanece J. Pomme de Terre, Fr. ; Cartoffel, Ger. ; Tartvffio or Porno di Terra, Ital. j
and Batata, Span.
5291. The potalo is ascertained to be a native of South America, having been found
wild both in Buenos Ayres and in Chili ; though Humboldt was very doubtful if that
could be proved : he admits, however, that it is naturalised there in some situations.
Sir J. Banks (Hort. Trans, vol. i. p. 8.) considers that the potato was first brought into
Europe from the mountainous parts of South America, in the neighbourhood of Quito,
where they were called papas, to Spain, in the early part of the sixteenth century. From
Spain, where they were called batlatas, they appear to have found their way first to Italy,
where they received the same name with the truffle, taratovfli. The potato was received
by Clusius, at Vienna, in 1588, from the governor of Mons, in Hainault, who had pro-
cured it the year before from one of the attendants of the Pope's legate, under the name
of taratovfio, and learned from him that it was then in use in Italy. In Germany it
received the name of cartoffel, and spread rapidly even in Clusius's time.
5292. To England the potato zvas brought from Virginia by the colonists sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh
in 1584, who returned in July 1586, and " probably," according to Sir Joseph Banks, " brought with them
the potato." Thomas Herriot, in a report on the country, published in De Bry's Collectmi qf Voyages,
(vol. i. p. 17.), describes a plant called openank (not openawfc, as in the Hort. Trans.), with " roots as large
as a walnut, and others much larger ; they grow in damp soil, many hanging together, as if fixed on
ropes ; they are good food, either boiled or roasted." Gerarde, in his Herbal, published in 1597, gives a
figure of the potato, under the name of the potato of Virginia, whence, he says, he received the roots;
and this apjiellation it appears to have retained, in order to distinguish it from the battatas, or sweet potato
(Convolvulus Batatas), till the year J640, if not longer. " The sweet potato," Sir Joseph Banks obser%'es,
" was used in England as a delicacy long before the introduction of our potatoes : it was imported in con-
siderable quantities from Spain and the Canaries, and was supposed to possess the power of restoring
decayed vigour. The kissing comfits of FalstafF, and other confections of similar imaginary qualities,
with which our ancestors were duped, were principally made of these and of eringo roots."
5293. The potato was first planted by Sir Walter Raleigh, on his estate of Youghall, near Cork, and,
Gough says, was " cherished and cultivated for food" in that country before its value was known in
England; for, though they were soon carried over from Ireland into Lancashire, Gerarde, who had this
plant in his garden in 1597, under the name of Batthta virginikna, recommends the roots to be eaten as a
delicate dish, not as common food. Parkinson mentions, that the tubers were sometimes roasted, and
steeped in sack and sugar, or baked with marrow and spices, and even preserved and candied by the
comfit-makers. There is a tradition among the peasantry in the county of Galway, that the potato was
introduced there previous to its being known in any other part of Ireland, owing to a vessel with some of
the roots on board having been wrecked on their coast, and a few of the roots having been roasted by
children who found them, they were so much approved of, as to induce the planting of the remainder.
5294. For encouraging the cultivation of potatoes, with the view of preventing famine, the Royal Society
took some measures in 1633. Still, however, although their utility as an article of food was better known,
no high character was bestowed on them. In books of gardening, published towards the end of the seven,
leenth century, a hundred years after their introduction, they are spoken of rather slightingly. " They
are much used in Ireland and America as bread," says one author, " and may be propagated with advan-
tage to poor people." — " I do not hear that it hath been essayed," are the words of another, " whether
they may not be propagated in great quantities, for food for swine or other cattle." Even the enlightened
Evelyn seems to have entertained a prejudice againt them : " Plant potatoes," he says, writing in 1699,
" in your worst ground. Take them up in November for winter spending ; there will enough remain for
a stock, though ever so exactly gathered." But the use of potatoes gradually spread, as their excellent
qualities became better understood. It was near the middle of the eighteenth century, however, before
they were generally known over the country : since that time they have been most extensively cultivated.
In 1796, it was found that, in the county of Essex alone, about 1700 acres were planted with potatoes for
the supply of the London market. This must form, no doubt, the principal supply ; but many fields of
potatoes are to be seen in the other counties bordering on the capital, and many ship-loads are annually
imported from a distance. In every county in England, it is now more or less an object of field culture.
5295. Potatoes, as an article of human food, are, next to wheat, of the greatest im-
portance in the eye of the political economist.
5296. From no other crop that can be cultivated will the public derive so much food as from this valu-
able esculent ; and it admits of demonstration, that an acre of potatoes will feed double the number of
people that can be fed from an acre of wheat. Potatoes are also a nourishing and healthy food, relished
by almost every palate; and it is believed there is hardly a dinner served up for six months in the year
without them, in any part of the kingdom. Notwithstanding all these things, and they are of great" im-
portance in one point of view, we are doubtful whether potatoes can be placed so high in the scale as
846 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
Tliey require a great deal of manure, while, generally speaking, little is returned by them ; they are a
bulky unhandy article, troublesome in the lifting and carrying processes, and interfering with the seed
season of wheat, the most important one to him; and, from particular circumstances, they cannot be
vended unless when raised in the vicinity of large towns : hence they are in most respects an unprofitable
article. To the farmer, the real criterion is the profit which potatoes will return in feeding beasts ; and
here, we apprehend, the result will altogether be in favour of turnip^, and rutabaga, as the most profitable
articles for that purpose.
5297. What is called the yam, or Surinam potato, was formerly considered of importance to the farmer,
as an assistant to his turnip crop, or rather a succedaneum, which is of material benefit when turnips are
consumed ; but as this variety cannot be used as human food, the extension of its culture cannot be
recommended. By cultivating any of the good eating sorts for the use of cattle, a succedaneum may be
had for the human species in years of scarcity.
5298. The value of potatoes as afalloiv crop, and as an article of food for cattle com-
pared with turnips and cabbages for the same purposes, Marshal observes, may be con-
sidered thus : —
5299. Potatoes are more nutritious ; and, in the opinion of those who have used them, fatten cattle
much quicker than either turnips or cabbages. Potatoes, too, being secured from the severities of winter,
are a more certain article of fatting than turnips or cabbages ; both of which are liable to perish under
an alternation of frost and thaw ; and the turnip, more particularly, is locked up, or rendered more diffi-
cult to be coine at, during a continuance of snow or frost. Turnips and cabbages, if they out- weather the
severities of winter, occui)y the soil in the spring when it should be prepared for the succeeding crop ;
while potatoes, if properly laid up, are a food which may be continued without inconveniency until the
cattle be finished, or the grass has acquired the requisite bite for finishing them in the field. On the other
hand, potatoes are a disagreeal)le crop to cultivate: the planting is a tedious dirty business ; and taking
them up may be called the filthiest work of husbandry, especially in a wet autumn. A powerful argu-
ment for the extensive culture of potatoes as food for live stock is, that in seasons of scarcity they can be
adopted as human food. Here, as in many other points, the opinion of Marshal and other Ej)glish agricul-
turists is rather at variance with that of the Northumberland and Berwickshire cultivators. In Berwick-
shire and Roxburghshire, a crop of potatoes is often taken before turnips, by means of which the land is
restored to a fertile state.
5300. The varieties of the potato are innumerable : they differ in theii leaves and bulk
of haulm ; in the colour of the skin of the tubers ; in the colour of the interior com-
pared with that of the skin ; in the time of ripening ; in being farinaceous, glutinous, or
watery ; in tasting agreeably or disagreeably ; in cooking readily or tediously ; in the
length of the subterraneous stolones to which the tubers are attached ; in blossoming
or not blossoming ; and, finally, in the soil which they prefer.
5301. The earliest varieties of the potato are chiefly cultivated in gardens, and therefore we shall only
notice such early sorts as are grown in the fields. These are —
The early kidney. The nonsuch. The early shaw, and The early champion.
The last is the most generally cultivated round London ; it is very prolific, hardy, and mealy. Early
varieties, with local names, are cultivated near most large towns, especially Manchester, Liverpool, Glas-
gow, Edinburgh, and the metropolis.
5302. The late field varieties in most repute are —
The red-nosed kidney. Black skin, white interior, and good.
Large kidney. Purple, very mealy, productive, and keeps well.
Breadfruit, raised in 1810, from seed, and esteemed one of R«d apple, mealy," keeps the longest of any.
the best field potatoes, being white, mealy, well tasted. Tartan, or purple and white skinned, an esteemed Scotch
and prolific. potato, prolitic, mealy, exceedingly well tasted, and keeps
Lancashire pink eye, good. well.
5303. The varieties grown exclusively as food for live stock are —
The yam or Surinam potato ; large, red and white skinned. The ox noble ; large, yellow without and within, very prolific,
and the interior veined with red ; flavour disagreeable, and not fit to eat.
not such as to admit of its being used as human food. It The late champion ; large and prolific, white skinned, and may
succeeds best on heavy lands. be used as human food.
530i. New varieties of potatoes are procured with the greatest ea.se. The following directions are given
in a useful work on this plant : — Pluck off the apples when the stalk has ceased to vegetate and is drying up.
The seed being then fully ripe, break the apple in a hair sieve, wash the pulp clean from the seeds, and
dry them in the sun ; then sow the seed in beds in March, and take the potatoes up in October. I'hey
will attain the size of nutmegs, or at most be no larger than walnuts. Select the fairest and best, and keep
them secure from frost by thoroughly drying, and intermixing, and covering them with sifted wood or
coal-ashes. Plant them in April following, at the distance of fifteen inches asunder; and when the plant
is two inches high, hill them with fresh earth. This may be done several times, constantly taking care to
keep them clean from weeds. Observe when the stalks decay ; some will be found decaying much sooner
than others ; these are the early kinds, but those that decay last are the sorts which come late. Take
them up in rotation as they ripen, and let the produce of each potato be kept separate till the next year.
Such as come early may be tried as soon as they are taken up, by dressing one or two : should they be
approved, the remainder may be preserved ; but those which are late should not be tried before January
or February, for it will be found that the late kind of potatoes, newly raised, are very soft, and cut like
soap, until they have been hoarded a certain time, when they become mealy. Under each stalk you may
expect to find a gallon of potatoes ; those planted the third year may, perhaps, produce two sacks ; and
their increase afterwards will be very considerably greater. Thus it takes full three years to form an ade-
quate judgment of potatoes raised from seed ; and, after all, if one in ten succeed so as to be worth pre-
serving, it is as much as can be reasonably expected. In general, the produce of the seed will resemble
the parent stock ; but red varieties will give both white and red offspring, and among the offspring of
kidneys will be found round-shaped tubers. One great advantage of raising varieties from seed is alleged
to be the invigoration of the vegetative principle.
530,5. Some of the earlier sorts of potatoes do not blossom, and consequently do not, under ordinary
management, produce seeds. To procure blossoms and seeds from these, it is necessary, from time to
time, during the early part of the summer, to remove the earth from the roots of the plants, and pick off
the tubers or potatoes as they begin to form. By thus preventing the strength of the plant from being
employed in forming tubers at the root, it will flow into the leaves and herbage, and produce blossoms and
apples. Knight, the president of the Horticultural Society, by adopting this practice, succeeded in pro-
curing seeds from some sorts of potatoes which had never before produced blossoms ; and from these
seeds he raised excellent varieties, some hardy and less early, others small and very early. He farther
impregnated the blo.ssoms produced by these early potatoes with other sorts, some early and some late (in
the way in which graziers cross the breeds of cattle to improve the offspring), and he succeeded in producing
varieties, more early than late sorts, and more hardy and prolific than any early potatoes he had seen.
Book VI. THE POTATO. 647
These he cultivated in his fields, deeming them preferable to all other sorts as admitting of later plant-
ing and earlier removal ; and this practice he justly considered as highly favourable to the succeeding crop
of wheat.
5306. In choosing a sort or sorts of potatoes from the numerous varieties which are to be found every
where, perhaps the best way is, for the selector to procure samples and taste them, and to fix on what
best pleases his palate. The shaw is one of the best early potatoes for general field culture; and the
kidney and bread-fruit are good sorts to come in in succession. The Lancashire pink is also an excellent
potato ; and we have never in any part of the British Isles tasted a potato equal in mealiness and flavour to
this variety, as cultivated round JPrescot, near Liverpool. The red apple and tartan are of undoubted pre-
ference as late or long keeping potatoes. The yam is decidedly the best potato for stock, and will produce
from twelve to fifteen tons per acre.
5307. The soil in which the potato thrives best is a light loam, neither too dry nor too
moist, but if rich, it is so mucli the better. They may, how^ever, be grown well on many
other sorts of lands, especially those of the mossy, moory, and similar kinds, where they
are free from stagnant moisture, and have had their parts well broken down by culture,
and a reasonable portion of manure added. The best-flavoured table potatoes are almost
always produced from a newly broken up pasture ground not manured ; or from any new
soil, as the site of a grubbed up copse or hedge, or the site of old buildings or roads.
Repeated on the same soil tliey very generally lose their flavour. The yam produces the
largest crops on a loamy and rather strong soil, though it will grow well on any that is
deeply ploughed and well manured.
5308. In preparing the soil for potatoes, it is of much importance to free it as completely as possible from
root weeds, which cannot be so well extirpated afterwards, as in the culture of turnips, and some other
drilled crops, both because the horse-hoe must be excluded altogether at a time when vegetation is still
vigorous, and because at no period of their growth is it safe to work so near the plants, especially after
they have made some progress in growth. It is the earlier time of planting, and of finishing the after-
culture, that renders potatoes a very indifferent substitute for fallow, and in this respect in no degree com-
parable to turnips. For this reason, as well as on account of the great quantity of manure required, their
small value at a distance from large towns, and the great expense of transporting so bulky a commodity,
the culture of potatoes is by no means extensive in the best managed districts. Unless inthe immediate
vicinity of such towns, or in very populous manufacturing counties, potatoes do not constitute a regular
rotation crop, though they are raised almost every where to the extent required for the consumption of
the farmer and his servants, and, in some cases, for occasionally feeding horses and cattle, particularly late
in spring. The first ploughing is given soon after harvest, and a second, and commonly a third, early in
spring; the land is then laid up uito ridgelets, from twenty-seven to thirty inches broad, as for turnips,
and manured in the same manner.
5309. The best mamne Jor the potato appears to be littery farmyard dung ; and the best mode of apply-
ing it, immediately under the potato sets. Any manure, however, may be applied, and no plant will bear
a larger dose of it, or thrive in coarser or less prepared manure : even dry straw, rushes, or spray of trees,
may be made use of with success. It is alleged, however, that recent horse manure, salt, and soapers'
ashes, have a tendency to give potatoes a rank taste, and to render them scabby.
5310. The best climate for the potato is one rather moist than dry, and temperate or
cool, rather than hot. Hence the excellence of ^he Irish potatoes, which grow in a dry^,
loamy, calcareous soil, and moist and temperate climate : and hence, also, the inferiority
of the potatoes of France, Spain, and Italy, and even Germany. In short, the potato
is grown nowhere in the world to the same degree of perfection as in Ireland and Lanca-
shire, and not even in the south of England so well as in Scotland, and the north and
western counties : all which is, in our opinion, clearly attributable to the climate.
5311. The season for planting potatoes in the fields, depends much on the soil and
climate. Where these are very dry, as they always ought to be for an early crop, the sets
are usually put in the ground in March or earlier ; but for a full crop of potatoes, April
is the best time for planting. Potatoes, indeed, are often planted in the end of May,
and sometimes even in June ; but the crops, although often as abundant, are neither so
mellow nor mature as when the sets are planted in April, or in the first eight or ten
days of May. For seed, however, they are preferable.
5312. la preparing the sets of potatoes, some cultivators recommend large sets, others
small potatoes entire, and some large potatoes entire. Others, on the ground of experi-
ence, are equally strenuous in support of small cuttings, sprouts, shoots, or even only the
eyes or buds. With all these different sorts of sets, good crops are stated to have been
raised, though tolerable-sized cuttings of pretty large potatoes, with two or three good eyes
or buds in each, are probably to be preferred.
5313. Independently of the increased expense of the seed, it is never a good practice to make use of whole
potatoes as sets. The best cultivators in Ireland and Scotland invariably cut the largest and best potatoes
into sets, rejecting, in the case of kidney potatoes, the root or mealy end as having no bud, and the top or
watery end as having too many. No objection is made to two or even three buds on each set, though one
is considered sufficient. A very slight exercise of common sense might have saved the advocates for
shoots, scooped out eyes, &c., their experiments and arguments; it being evident, as Brown has observed,
to every one with any practical knowledge of the nature of vegetables, that the strength of the stem at
the outset depends in direct proportion upon the vigour and power of the set. The set, therefore, ought
to be large, rarely smaller than the fourth part of the potato ; and if the potato is of small size, one half of
it may be profitably used : at all events, rather err in giving over-large sets, than in making them too
small ; because by the first error no great loss can be sustained ; whereas, by the other, a feeble and late
crop may be the consequence. It is ascertained beyond doubt in Lancashire, Cheshire, and other counties
m the north and west of England, that sets taken from the top or watery end of the potato, planted at the
same time with sets taken at the root or mealy end, will ripen their tubers a fortnight sooner. It is ascer-
tained also, and accounted for on the same general principle, that the plants raised from unripe tubers
are both vigorous and more early than such as are raised from tubers perfectly ripe. (See Gard. Mrrg.yolii.)
5314. Sets should always be cut some days before planting, that the wounds may dry up : but no harm
will result from performing this operation several weeks or months beforehand, provided tne sets are not
exposed too much to the drought so as to deprive them of their natural moisture.
848 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut III.
5315. The quantity of sets depends on the size of the potatoes ; in general, where the sets are sufficiently
large, from eight to ten cwt. will be required for an acre : more than ten for yams, and fewer than eight cwt.
for the early nonsuch and ash-leaved.
5316. The modes of planting the potato are various.
5317. Where spade culture is employed, they are very frequently planted on beds (provincially lazy-beds),
of four or six feet wide, with a trench or gutter of a foot or eighteen inches in width between, which
supplies soil for earthing up the potatoes. This is the rudest mode of planting and cultivating potatoes,
and unworthy of being imitated either on a farm or in a garden. The next mode is planting on a plain
surface, either with or without manure, according to the state of the soil. Here the sets are placed in
rows, with a distance of from eighteen inches to two feet and a half between the rows according to the
kind of potato, and from four to nine inches in the rows. In planting, a hole for each set is made by a
man with a spade, while a woman or boy drops the set, and the earth is replaced ; or the potato dibber is
used, and the ground afterwards slightly harrowed. Another mode of planting on a plain surface, when
the soil is inclined to be dry, is in some cases practised, which is, after the land has been brought into a
proper condition by ploughing over twice or oftener and well harrowed, to spread the manure regularly
over the whole surface, the sets being planted in every third furrow, and the dung with the fine earth
turned upon them by the next furrow of the plough. In this way the manure is however placed upon the
sets, which has on experiment been fully shown to be injurious to the produce. Besides, from the whole,
of the surface of the ground being covered with dung, a considerably larger proportion must be requisite
than when deposited only in the drills, and of course the crop cannot be cultivated to advantage in
that respect.
5318. In planting the potato on sward land, after it has been prepared by the use of a plough that just
pares off the surface and deposits it in the furrow, it is advised by Somerville to place the sets upon the
inverted sod, and cover them with the loose mould from below by means of a common plough ; or the
trench plough may be used with perhaps more advantage ; but a better method is that of paring and
burning. In some cases the practice is, however, to turn down the turf with or without manure, and
then to put in the sets by a dibble ; though the former is probably the better practice, as the turfy mate-
rial on which the sets are put soon begins to decay, and the purpose of a manure is in some measure
answered by it. It is a plan that may be adopted with advantage where manure is scarce, as in bringing
waste and other coarse grass lands into the state of preparation for grain crops.
5319. A mode of planting potatoes and at the sa??ie time trenching the land, is practised in Lancashire,
and in some districts in the north-east of Scotland. The farmer liaving carried the dung, and laid it on
the field in heaps, at proper distances, the operation is performed by the manufacturers and people who
rent the field, and in the following manner : — Across the end of the ridge a trench is formed, about
three feet wide, and from ten to fourteen inches deep, according to the depth and quality of the subsoil.
That being done, a second trench of the same breadth is marked off, and the surface-soil, to the depth of
six or eight inches, is thrown into the bottom of tlie former trench, over which a sufficient quantity of
dung being laid, the potatoes are planted at the distance of eight or ten inches from each other, and then
as much earth is taken from the bottom of the second trench as is necessary for covering the potato sets,
and making up the first trench to its former level Thus the field being completely trenched, well
manured, and kept thoroughly clean by repeated hand-hoeings, must not only produce an abundant
crop of potatoes, but must also be in high condition for receiving whatever kind of seed may be after-
wards sown.
5320. The mode of planting potatoes practised by the best farmers of the northern districts, is in
drills formed by the plough in the same manner as in preparing the land for turnips. The soil is laid up
into ridgelets from twenty-seven to thirty inches broad, the manure is distributed between them, and
on this manure the sets are placed from four to eight inches asunder : they are then covered by reversing
the ridgelets.
5321. The planting of early potatoes is carried to a very high degree of perfection in Lancashire. It is
stated in The Lancashire Agricultural Report, in respect to the raising of seed potatoes, that upon the
same ground from which a crop has already been taken, the early seed-potatoes are in some places after-
wards planted; which, after being got up about November, are immediately cut up into sets, and pre-
served in oat husks or saw-dust, where they remain till March, when they are planted, after having had one
sprout taken off, which is also planted. The sprouts are of a length suflScient to appear above ground in the
space of a week. But the most approved method is, to cut the sets, and put them on a room-floor, where a
strong current of air can be introduced at pleasure, the sets laid thinner, as about two layers in depth,
and covered with the like materials (chaffer saw-dust) about two inches thick : this screens them from
the winter frosts, and keeps them moderately warm, causing them to vegetate ; but at the same time
admits air to strengthen them, and harden their shoots, which the cultivators improve by opening the
doors and windows on every opportunity aflfbrded by mild soft weather. They frequently examine them ;
and when the shoots are sprung an inch and a half, or two inches, they carefully remove one half of their
covering, with a wooden rake, or with the hands, taking care not to disturb or break the shoots. Light
is requisite, as well as air, to strengthen and establish the shoots ; on which account a green-house has the
advantage of a room, but a room answers very well with a good window or two in it, and if to the sun still
better. In this manner they suffer them to remain till the planting season, giving them all the air possible
by the doors and windows, when it can be done with safety from frost : by this method the shoots at the
top become green, leaves are sprung, and are moderately hardy. They then plant them in rows, in the
usual method, with a setting-stick ; and carefully fill up the cavities made by the setting-stick; by this
method they are enabled to bear a little frost without injury. The earliest potato is the superfine wliite
kidney ; from this sort, upon the same ground, have been raised four crops, having sets from the repo-
sitory ready to put in as soon as the others were taken up ; and a fifth crop is sometimes raised from the
same lands, the same year, of transplanted winter lettuce. The first crop had the advantage of a covering
in frosty nights. It is remarked that this useful information was communicated by J. Blundell, Ormslurk,
and has hitherto been known only among a very few farmers
5322. In the western parts of Lancachire the early potato is cultivated in the fields in warm situations,
and brought to market in the end of May and during June. The chief sorts there grown for this purpose
are, the lady's finger, or early Rufford kidney, and the early round potato. The cultivators, aware that
the buds from the root and top end of the tuber germinate at different periods, assort their sets in the
following manner: — The sets near the top end {fig. 747. a) are found to come to maturity a fortnight
earlier than those at the root end {d) ; and these, therefore, form two classes of sets
for an earlier and a later crop. The sets from the middle {b, c,) are put together
for an intermediate crop. The sets are planted in the month of March or beginning
of April, in drills of twenty-four drills in twenty yards, in the following manner : —
After the drills are formed {fig. 748. a), loose earth is brushed with a spade or
harrowed down, to the depth of six inches, in the interval between them (6) ;
dung is then placed over this loose earth, to the depth of four or five inches (c);
the potato sets of the earliest degree {fig. 747. a) are then laid on the manure,
at four or five inckes apart, for the early crop ; and sets of the second degree
{fig. 747. b.), at from six to eight inches apart, for later crops ; and so on. The
sets for the early crop are then covered with a spade, to the depth of two inches,
and subsequently covered, at two or three different times, to the depth of about
five inches. The second and third crops are usually covered with the plough.
Book VI.
THE POTATO.
849
748
Some lay the iwtatoes intended for plants early in the year, before they are wantetl to be cut, loose and
separate in straw, or on warm boarded floors ; and others put
them on flakes or frames, in warm situations near the fire, for
the same purpose, in order that they may sprout j and when so
sprouted to the length of half an inch or an inch, they are then
carefully cut as described, assorted, and planted. {Gard. Mag.
vol. i. p. 407.)
5323. In the north qf Lancashire the potatoes are removed
from their winter quarters in the last week of January, and
spread out on a floor or placed on shelves in a room where a
fire is kept, or in an upper room of a warm house. On the 2d
of February they are covered with a blanket or woollen cloth for
about four weeks, which is then taken off' in ortler to harden the
sprouts. Towards the latter end of March the sprouts will be
found about two inches long, and, if they are carefully set, the
potatoes will be ready in seven or eight weeks afterwards. Some
bring the sets forward by spreading them out and slightly cover-
ing them with light mould under the stage or on the shelves of
a greenhouse, or in a cucumber frame, or in a loft over a stable
or cow-house. (Gard. Mag. vol. ii. p. 48.)
5324. In Denbighshire the early potatoes cultivated are the Foxley, the Nelson, and the Rufford kidney.
Potatoes intended for sets the following year are taken up before they are ripe, just when the outer skin
peels off", and before the stalk or stem begins to wither ; they are then laid upon a gravel walk, or any dry
surface fully exposed to the sun : they remain in that situation for a month or six weeks, when they
become quite green and soft, as if roasted, and often much shrivelled ; they are then put away in a cellar
or pit, where they will remain dry, and neither invaded by frost nor much heat. In February they are
examined, and every eye being then generally found full of long sprouts, they are fit to be planted. The
tubers are therefore cut, seldom into more than two sets, viz. the eye or top part, which is planted by itself,
and found to come a fortnight earlier; and the root or bottom part, which succeed them. (Gard. Mag.
vol. ii. p. 172.)
5325. In gardens in the south of England potatoes are planted in a warm border from the first week
of October, till the latter end of November. They are placed nine or ten inches under the surface, and
well covered with dung. About the latter end of March they begin to appear above the surface, when
the ground is deeply hacked with a mattock, and made very loose about the plants ; then in a fortnight
or three. weeks move the surface again, but the plants need not be earthed up unless they are very much
exposed to the wind, when a little may be drawn about them to keep them steady. By this method fine
ash-leaved kidney potatoes may be gathered by the 12th or 15th of May, even in situations not very
favourable for early crops, and nearly three weeks earlier than they can be gathered from sets planted in
the same situation in the latter end of February ; and if ordinary care is taken in planting, no danger
need be apprehended from the frost (Gard. Mag. vol. vi. p. 59.) Every farmer knows that, among the
corn raised after a crop of potatoes, potato plants will be found which can only have sprung from tubers
preserved there all the winter, in consequence of having been buried by the plough deeper than the frost
could reach. It is evident, therefore, that this garden mode of raising a crop of early potatoes might be
adopted in the field, more especially where the soil was dry ; but the success would depend entirely on the
deep pronging or grubbing of the soil between the rows early in spring. This might be done to the same
degree of perfection as in the garden by the excellent implements of Wilkie or Kirkwood. (2656. and
4955.)
5326. In Cornwall early potatoes are planted in October, spring up a few weeks afterwards, are ready
before the autumnal frost stops their growth, and the soil being covered with litter to exclude the frost,
they are begun to be used about the end of December, and continue in use till May, when they are sue-
ceeded by the spring planted crops. Of late years Covent Garden market has received supplies of early
potatoes from Cornwall, treated in the above manner. (Gard. Mag. vols. ii. v. vi.) Early potatoes, when
they first come through the ground, are liable to be injured by spring frosts ; but there is an easy and
effectual remedy to every cultivator who will take the trouble — and that is to water them, so as to thaw
off" the frost before sunrise. In Ayrshire, where even late potatoes are liable to this injury, acres are
sometimes so watered on a single farm; all the hands being called to business by the break of day, and
the water being sprinkled on the young sprouts, from vessels of any sort, by means of a handful of straw.
A garden-pot and rose would of course answer better.
5327. The after culture of potatoes consists in harrowing, hoeing, weeding, and
earthing up.
5328. All potatoes require to be earthed up, that is, to have at least one inch in depth of earth heaped on
their roots, and extending six or eight inches round their stem. The reason of this is, that the tubers do
not, projierly speaking, grow under the soil, but rather on, or just partially bedded in, its surface. A
coating of earth, therefore, is found, by preserving a congenial moisture, greatly to promote their growth
and magnitude, as well as to improve their quality, by preventing the potatoes from becoming green on
the side next the hght. The earth may be thrown up from the trenches between the beds by the spade ;
or, where the potatoes are planted in rows, the operation may be performed with a small plough, drawn
by one horse, or by the hoe. In Scotland, where the potato is extensively cultivated by the farmer, as
food for cattle as well as man, the plough is universally used. In Ireland, where the bed, or lazy-bed,
manner is adopted, the earth is thrown up from the intervening trenches. The hoe is generally used by
market-gardeners.
5329. The after-culture, where potatoes are planted in ridgelets, as above described (5319.), commences
when the plants begin to rise above the surface. They are then harrowed across, and afterwards the
horse hoe, or small hoeing plough, and the hand-hoe are repeatedly employed in the intervals, and be-
tween the plants, as long as the progress of the crop will permit, or the state of the soil may require. The
earth is then gathered once, or oftener, from the middle of the intervals towards the roots of the plants,
after which any weeds that may be left must be drawn out by hand ; for when the radicles have extended
far in search of food, and the young roots begin to form, neither the horse nor hand-hoe can be admitted
without injury.
5330. The after-culture adopted in some parts of Devonshire is somewhat singular, and deserves to be
noticed. The sets are there generally cut with three eyes, and deposited at the depth of three inches
with the spade or dibber : when the first shoot is three inches high, prepare a harrow with thorns inter,
woven between the tines, and harrow the ground over till all the weeds are destroyed, and not a shoot of
the potatoes left It may seem strange that such an apparent destruction of a crop should cause an
increase ; but it may be affirmed as an incontestable fact, that by this means the produce becomes more
abundant The reason appears to be this : although three eyes are left to a piece of potato, one always
vegetates before the others, and the first shoot is always single ; that being broken off", there is for the
present a cessation of vegetation. The other eyes then begin to vegetate, and there appear fresh shoots
from the broken eye ; so that the vegetation is trebled, the earth made loose, and the lateral shoots more
freely expanded. If these hints are observed, the produce of potatoes, it is said, will exceed a fifth of the
crop obtained by the usual mode of cultivation.
3 I
850
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Pakt III.
5331. The culture of potatoes in the district of Kintyre is thus given by an intelligent writer in the
Transactions of the Highland Society.
5332. The land is generally ploughed as early in spring as possible, and that at least twice. In cases
where the two plougnings do not sufficiently pulverise the ground, it receives a third, and after every
ploughing is well harrowed. The greatest attention ought always to be given to these preparatory
operations.
5333. The ground being now prepared, and the season for planting arrived, drills are made for receiving
the seed with the common plough ; these are drawn about two feet asunder, and three inches in depth.
The first seven of them are all drawn from one end of the field, the plough returning out of work from the
other end, in order to afford time and room for the operation of putting in the seed, and also the dung,
where this last operation is rendered necessary. By the time the ploughman has drawn three of these
shallow drills or furrows, the persons in charge of the seed begin to plant the first of them, laying each
plant at a distance of from nine to ten inches ; these are followed by others who put the dung on the top
of it, in the case already mentioned, where the manure is to be put into the drill. The ploughman, having
completed seven of these drills, may now proceed to return, by ploughing to the depth of seven inches
between the first and second drills, so as to cover the seed in the first. He then opens another of the
shallow drills of three inches, at the distance of two feet, as before mentioned, from the last which he had
made, being the seventh ; and returning back, he makes another of the seven inch deep furrows between
the second and third rows of seed, which covers the second : returning, he opens another seed-drill; and
back again a deep one, between the third and fourth rows of seed, which covers the third row j and so on
from each end of the field. In this manner the drilling and planting will proceed, without any interrup-
tion or interference tlie one with the other, the plough having at first attained a sufficient distance from
the planters to have always a drill open before they can overtake it. The great advantage of placing the
seed so much nearer the surface than the deeper furrow alongside of it is, that it is more eflfectually pre-
served from the bad eifects of wet or damp, consequently less liable to be injured by frost, and it springs
sooner.
5334. In this state thejield is allowed to remain from a fortnight to three weeks, when it is cross harrowed
to a perfect level. Afterwards, as soon as the drills can be distinguished by the potatoes shooting above
the ground, the plough is again applied, and the drills are formed as before ; but in doing so, the plough is
taken as close as possible to the plant upon both sides ; on one side the plough is lightly put in, but on the
other it is inserted as deep as possible, throwing the soil over on its neighbouring row of seed, filling up
the vacuum which the plough had previously left at it, and forming at the same time a ridge, as it was
originally, on the top of the plant. What is thus ploughed in the forenoon is cross harrowed com-
pletely level during the same afternoon. The great advantage which I apprehend to be derived from this
process is the loosening of the soil, destroying the weeds, and the saving of hand-hoeing. I am satisfied,
from my own particular experience and observation, that this mode of treating the young growth of
the potato is far preferable to any other I have seen practised, either here or elsewhere, however forbid-
ding the rough usage thus given to the young plant may appear to one inexperienced in this particular
mode of cultivating it
5335. As soon as the weeds begin to appear, the plough is again introduced, which, in the idiom of
this country, is called " taking from the potatoes," which is done by running pretty close to the plant on
both sides, so that a slight ridge is thrown up between the line of plants; and in this situation they remain
for eight days, when the plant is " put to " by again applying tlie plough between the rows, and separating
the earth composing the middle ridge above mentioned, towards the plant on each side, but without cover-
ing it. After this, the process of " putting to" of earth is continued as the plant grows, and takes place
at least twice, until the stems are so high that a single horse going among them may seriously injure
them. The " putting to " will now be understood as a deeper insertion of the plough in the middle of
the drill. The whole of the labour of i)loughing, drilling, " taking from," and "putting to " the potatoes,
as above described, is performed with the common plough." {Highl. Soc. Trans, vol. viii. p. 68.)
5336. The field culture of the potato in Argyleshire is thus given by an experienced cultivator in the
Gardener's Magazine. The manure is sometimes applied to the field during winter and ploughed in, or
it is by the better economists reserved till the field is drilled for planting. When the first plan is adopted,
another ploughing is given across the field, which is then planted, the plough going one bout along the fur-
row of which the set is placed, and then covered by the return of the plough. The best way is to prepare
the field in the same way as for turnips, and place the dung in the drill, and the set on it (fig. 7+9. «), and
_ >Q then cover them up by clearing down the ridgelet, and
/'*y .^ n tG^ forming others (b) : a fortnight or so afterwards, the
whole field is harrowed across (c). As soon as the
plants have so f.ir sprouted as that the drill can safely
be traced from end to end (rf), then the whole field is
drilled again, as at first, with a very strong furrow (e),
and then the harrows are set immediately to work after
the plough has finished drilling, and the field is levelled
again (/). Any one that is unacquainted with the
system would supjwse the crop ruined, but it is far
otherwise. The after-culture is no way different from
the common practice of paring away the earth, drill
harrowing, and earthing up, as in other countries. It
is advisable only to pare or earth, as the case may be,
one side of the drill at each turn; as, by this means,
the operations are sooner performed at the time, the
earth can be more frequently stirred, and at the same
expense. The charm of this system consists in the
additional drilling up and harrowing down ; by this
harrowing, all the larger clods are thrown to the fur-
row, where they are fully pulverised by the drill
harrow and after culture, and all the weeds are so
effectually drawn from between the plants that there
is no use of hand-hoeing The expense may be cal-
culated at less than a third of hand-hoeing, from the
effect and expedition ; of course, dry weather is the
time for the second drilling and cross harrowing to be
performed. {Gard. Mag. vol. ii. p. 316.)
5337. Pinchingoff the whole of the potato blossoms is a part of after-culture not unworthy the attention
of the farmer. This may at first sight appear too minute a matter to enter into the economy of farm
management. But when it is considered that the seed is the essential part of every plant, and that to
which the ultimate efforts of nature are always directed, it will be allowed that an important part of the
nourishment of every vegetable must be devoted to this purpose. In the case of the potato, every person
knows that the weight of the potato-apples, grown by a single plant, is very considerable. Now we have
seen (5304.) that apples may be produced instead of tubers in early potatoes ; whence it may justly be in-
ferred, that more tubers may be produced in late ones by preventing the growth of the apples. Such was
the reasoning of Knight ; and, by repeatedly making the experiment, he came to this conclusion, that in
ordinary cases of field culture, by pinching off the blossoms of late crops of potatoes, more than one ton
Book VI. THE POTATO. 851
per acre of additional tubers will be produced. The experiments are related in the second volume of
The Horticultural Transactions, and the practice is similar to one common among the growers of bulbous
roots in Holland, as alluded to by Dr. Darwin, who also recommends its application to the potato. A
woman or boy will crop the blossoms from an acre of potatoes in a day, or even in less time, when the
crop is not excessively luxuriant
5338. The tak'mg of the crop of potatoes on a small scale is generally performed with
the spade or three-pronged fork ; but under judicious farm management, and the row
culture, by the common plough.
5339. The cotdter is removed and the plough goes first along one side of all the ridgelets of a ridge, or
any convenient breadth, and then, when the potatoes so brought to view are gathered by women placed at
proper distances, it returns and goes along the other side. When the land is somewhat moist, or of a
tenacious quality, the furrow-slice does not give out the roots freely, and a harrow which follows the
plough is commonly employed to break it and separate them from the mould. Various contrivances have
been resorted to for this purpose. A circular harrow or break, of very recent invention, to be attached to
the plough, has been found to answer the purpose well, and to effect a considerable saving of labour. A
machine for taking up and collecting potatoes is said to have been invented by Mr. Michael Barry of
Swords near Dublin ; but though we have written to that gentleman, we have been unable to procure a
description or drawing of his invention.
5340. A mode qf taking part of a crop suited to cottagers and others, especially in years of scarcity,
deserves to be mentioned. Having ascertained that some of the tubers have attained an eatable size, go
along the rows and loosen the earth about each plant with a blunt stick, taking two or three of the largest
tubers from each and returning the earth carefully. By keeping the edge of the blunt spatula or spade
perpendicular to the main stem of the plant, the flat side will be parallel to the radiating roots, by which
means they will be comparatively little injured. By this means both an early supply, and the advantage
of two crops, maybe obtained ; for the tubers which remain will increase in size, having now the nourish*
ment destined to complete the growth of those removed.
5341. Potatoes intended for seed should be taken up a fortnight or three weeks before being fully ripe,
for reasons that have been given in treating of early potatoes, and will be recurred to in treating of the
diseases of this plant. The ill shaped, small, bruised, or diseased tubers should be laid aside, and the
fairest and best dried in the sun, spread on a cellar or loft floor, and covered with ashes, or chaff of suf-
ficient thickness to keep out the frost. In this state they may remain till wanted for cutting. Some
persons in Ireland plant potatoes from which they intend to procure sets extremely late, namely, the first
week in July. The produce consequently never attains the same degree of size or ripeness as that of an
earlier planted crop.
5342. Potatoes are stored and preserved in houses, cellars, pits, pies, and camps. What-
ever mode is adopted, it is essential that the tubers be perfectly dry, otherwise they are
certain of rotting, and a few rotten potatoes will contaminate a whole mass.
5343. The most effectual mode, and that which is generally adopted, consists in putting them into close
houses, and covering them well up with dry straw. In some parts of Scotland it is a common practice to
dig pits in the potato-field, when the soil is dry and light, and, putting in potatoes to the depth of three or
four feet, to lay a little dry straw over them, and then cover them up with earth, so deep that no frosts can
affect them. Another method, which is practised in England as well as Scotland, is to put them together
in heaps, and cover them up with straw, in the manner of preserving turnips, with this addition, that the
heajjs are afterwards well covered with earth, and so closely packed together as to exclude frost. The
farmers in Lancashire in the course of taking them up sort and separate their potatoes according to their
sizes, and are particularly careful to throw aside all those that are spoiled before raising, or that are cut in
the taking up. This is a very necessary and proper precaution (although by no means generally attended
to), as the crop must have a much better chance for keeping, than when diseased or cut potatoes are stored
up with it. It is also of great advantage to have the work performed in a dry season, as the potatoes
seldom keep well when taken up wet, or when placed in any sort of repository for keeping while in that
state.
5344. Potato pies, as they are called, are recommended by Young as the best mode in which potatoes
can be stored. A trench, one foot deep and six wide, is dug, and the earth cleanly shovelled out, and laid on
one side, and on the bottom of the trench is laid over them a bedding of straw. One-horse carts shoot down
the potatoes into the trench ; and women pile them up about three feet high, in the shapeof a house roof.
Straw is then carefully laid over them six or eight inches thick, and covered with earth a foot thick, neatly
smoothed by flat strokes of the spade. In this method he never lost any by the severest frosts ; but in
cases of its freezing with uncommon severity, another coat of straw over all gives absolute security.
These pies when opened should each be quite cleared, or they are liable to depredation. To receive one
at a time, besides also being at first filled for immediate use, he has a house that holds about 700 bushels,
formed of posts from fir plantations with wattled sides, against which is laid a layer of straw, and against
the sides exteriorly earth six feet thick at the bottom and eighteen inches at top ; the roof flat, with a stack
of beans upon it This he has found frost-tight The beans keep out the weather, he says, and yet admit
any steam which rises from the roots, which, if it did not escape, would rot them.
5345. Several other modes of preserving potatoes are in use in different places. In Rutlandshire,
Marshal says, the method of laying up potatoes is universally that of camping them ; a method somewhat
similar to the above, but which requires to be described. Camps are shallow pits, filled and ridged up as
a roof with potatoes ; which are covered up with the excavated mould of the pit This is a happy mean,
lie thinks, between burying them in deep pits and laying them upon the surface. Camps are of various
sizes ; being too frequently made in a long square form like a corn-rick, and of a size proportioned to the
quantity to be laid up. It has, however, been found by experience, that when the quantity is large, they
are liable to heat and spoil ; much damage having sometimes been sustained by this imprudence. Ex-
perienced campers hold that a camp should not be more than three feet wide; four feet are perhaps as
wide as it can be made with propriety, proportioning the length to the quantity; or, if this is very large,
forming a range of short ones by the side of each other. The usual depth is a foot The bottom of the
trench being bedded with dry straw, the potatoes are deposited, ridging them up as in measuring them
with a bushel. On each side of the roof long wheat straw is laid, neatly and evenly, as thatch ; and over
this the mould raised out of the trench is evenly spread; making the surface firm and smooth with the
back of the spade. A coat of coal ashes is sometimes spread over the mould, as a still better guard against
frost. It is needless to observe that a camp should have a dry situation ; and that the roots ought to be
deposited in as dry a state as possible. These camps are tapped at the end, some bavins, or a quantity of
loose straw, being thrust close in the open end, as a bung or safeguard. As it is a matter of the highest
importance to preserve this root without spoiling during the whole year, it has been suggested, that the
best method yet discovered for keeping potatoes sound for the longest period, is to spread them on a dry
floor early in the spring, and to rub off the eyes occasionally, as they appear to have a tendency to push
out ; by using these precautions, Donaldson has frequently seen potatoes kept in good condition till the
month of June.
5346. In Canada and Russia the potato is preserved in boxes in houses or cellars, heated when necessary
to a temperature one or two degrees above the freezing point by stoves. (Farm. Mag. vol. xx. p. 449.)
3 I 2
852 PllACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Pakt III.
5'347. To keep potatoes any length of time, the most effectual way is to place them in thin layers on a
platform suspended in an ice cellar. There the temperature being always below that of active vegetation,
they will not sprout ; while not being above one or two degrees below the freezing point, the tubers will not
be frost bitten. Another mode is to scoop out the eyes with a very small scoop, and keep the roots buried
in earth. A third mode is to destroy the vital principle by kiln-drying, steaming, or scalding. A fourth
mode is to bury them so deep in dry soil that no change of temperature will reach them, and consequently,
being without air, they will remain upwards of a year without vegetating.
5348. The produce of the potato varies from five to eight, and sometimes ten or twelve
tons per acre ; the greatest produce is from the yam, which has been known to produce
twelve tons or 480 bushels per acre. The haulm is of no use but as manure, and is
sometimes burned for that purpose, being slow of rotting.
5349. The most important application of the potato crop is as human food ; on this it is
unnecessary to enlarge.
5350. Einhofffoujid mealy potatoes to contain twenty-four per cent, of their weight of nutritive matter,
and rye seventy parts : consequently, sixty-four and a half measures of potatoes atford the same nourish-
ment as twenty-four measures of rye. A thousand parts of potato yielded to Sir H. Davy from 200 to 260
parts of nutritive matter, of which from 155 to 200 were mucilage or starch, fifteen to twenty sugar, and
thirty to forty gluten. Now, supposing an acre of potatoes to weigh nine tons, and one of wheat one ton,
which is about the usual proportion ; then as 1000 parts of wheat afford 950 nutritive parts, and 1000 of
potato say 230, the quantity of nutritive matter afforded by an acre of wheat and potatoes will be nearly as
nine to four ; so that an acre of potatoes will supply more than double the quantity of human food afforded
by an acre of wheat. The potato is perhaps the only root grown in Britain which maybe eaten everyday
in the year without satiating the palate, and the same thing can only be said of the West India yam and
bread fruit They are, therefore, the only substitute that can be used for bread with any degree of success ;
and indeed they often enter largely into the composition of the best loaf bread without at all injuring either
its nutritive qualities or flavour. {Edhi. Encyc. art. Baking.) In the answer by Dr. Tissot to M. Linquet,
the former objects to the constant use of potatoes as food, not because they are pernicious to the body, but
because they hurt the faculties of the mind. He owns that those who eat maize, potatoes, or even millet,
may grow tall and acquire a large size; but doubts if any such ever produced a literary work of merit. It
does not, however, by any means appear that the very general use of potatoes in our own country has at all
impaired either the health of body or vigour of mind of its inhabitants.
5351. The manufacture of potato flour is carried on to a considerable extent in the neighbourhood of
Paris, and the flour is sold at a price considerably higher than that of wheat, for the use of confectioners
and for bakers who prepare the finer sorts of bread. The potatoes are washed and grated, and the starch
separated from the pulp so obtained by filtration; it is dried on shelves in a room heated by a flue, and
afterwards broken on a floor by passing a cast iron roller over it. It is then passed througli a bolting
machine aftd put up in sacks for sale. The most complete manufactory in the neighbourhood of Paris in
1829 was that of M. Delisle at Bondy. {Gard. Mag. vol. vi.) Most of the operations there are performed
by a steam engine attended by children. It is reported by the Count de Chabrol, in his Statistical Account
of Paris, that 40,000 tons of potatoes are annually manufactured into flour within a circle of eight leagues
around that city.
5352. The quantity of farina which potatoes produce varies not only according to the species, but accord,
ing to the period when the extraction takes place. The variations produced by this last cause are nearly
as follows : — Two hundred and forty pounds of potatoes produce of farina, or potato flour, in
August, from 23 to 25 pounds. March from 45 to 38 pounds.
Sept 32 ... 38 April 38 ... 28
Oct 32 ... 40 May 28 ... 20
Nov 38 ...45
The extraction of the farina should be discontinued at the period when the potatoes begin to grow, the
farina being destroyed by germination. Red potatoes produce a smaller quantity of farina. Those which
are blue on the outside give little, but it is of good quality ; the white, which is often tinged with red in
the interior, is the least proper for this extraction. The best of all is that which has a yellow tint, as its
farina is of very good quality, and abundant. (Hygie de BruxeUes.)
SS.'iS. Potato flour is made into bread in a very simple manner. Its adhesive tendency does not admit of
baking or kneading unmixed with meal or wheaten flour ; but it may be made into cakes in the following
manner: — A small wooden frame nearly square is laid on a flat pan like a frying-pan; this frame is
grooved, and so constructed, that, by means of a presser or lid introduced into the groove, the cake is at
once fashioned according to the dimensions of the mould. The frame containing the farina may be almost
immediately withdrawn after the mould is formed upon the pan ; because, from the consistency imparted
to the incipient cake by the heat, it will speedily admit of being safely handled. It must not, however, be
fired too hastily, otherwise it is apt to become unpleasantly hard and unfit for mastication. This pre-
cautionary measure being observed, it will be found, that, where thoroughly ready, the bread of potato
flour, even unaided by any foreign ingredient, will eat very palatably. It might thus, from time to time,
be soaked for puddings, like the tapioca ; or it might be used like the cassada-cake, which in appearance
and quality it so much resembles ; that is, when well buttered and toasted, it will make an excellent
breakfast appendage. {Quar. Journ. Agr. vol. ii. p. 69.)
5354. The meal of potatoes maybe preserved for years closely packed in barrels, or unground in the form
of slices ; these slices having been previously cooked or dried by steam, as originally suggested by Forsyth,
of Edinburgh. {Encyc. Brit.) Some German philosophers have also proposed to freeze the potato, by
which the feculent matter is separated from the starch, and the latter being then dried and compressed,
may be preserved for any length of time, or exported with ease to any distance. {Annalen des Ackerbauest
vol. iii. s. 389.)
Boiio. The manufacture of tapioca from potatoes is thus given in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.
The potatoes selected are thoroughly washed, after which they are grated in a machine constructed for
the purpose. The parts thus reduced or grated fall into a vessel placed underneath. From this vessel
they are removed, and strained into a tub. On the juice being well expressed for the first time, the fibrous
matter is set apart, and cold clean water is thrown over them. These fibres are again put through the
same strainer, till the whole of the substance is collected, when they are finally cast aside. On this being
done, the contents of the tub, now in a state of mucilage or starch, are allowed to settle. A reasonable
interval being suffered to elapse, the old water is poured gently off, and fresh water supplied. After this
process of fining and washing, the blanched matter is passed through a smaller strainer.
5356. The offals are separated. The starch becomes now much whiter; still fresh water is abundantly
dashed over it. When by frequent ablution the surface of this vegetable mass is rendered quite smootn
and clean, it is filtrated a third and last time.
5357. The strainer now used is of very fine texture, so that no improper or accidental admixture may
interfere As soon as the starch, thus purified, has firmly subsided, it is spread on a board, and exposed
to the open air. The damp speedily evaporates, on which it is, as a security for cleanliness, put through a
sieve.
Book VI.
THE POTATO.
853
5358. A large circular pan is now procured, and set upon the fire. The farina is gradual! v put into the
pan, tiU what is conceived to be sufficient for one cooking be supplied. As the natural tendency of the
farina, in a warm state, is to adhere to the pan, great care is requisite in constantly turning and stirring
it. This is effectually done with a broad flat piece of wood, having a long handle to prevent inconvenience
from the heat. A temperature of 150° Fahrenheit suits best for perfecting the tapioca. When the farina
becomes quite hard, dry, and gritty, it is then ready, and may be taken off the fire. (Quar. Journ. At'r.
vol. ii. p. 68.)
5359. The ordinary economical applications of the potato, next to those of the culinary and baking arts,
are in starch-making and the distillery. Starch is readily made from the scraped and washed tubers cut
into small pieces and steeped in w ater ; and a spirit is distilled from mashed potatoes, fermented so as to
change a portion of the starch into sugar. In general it is found that three and a half bushels of potatoes
afiord the same quantity of spirit as one of malt.
5360. Potash may be extracted from potato leaves and stalks by the following process : — Cut off the
stalks when the flowers begin to fall, as that is the period of their greatest vigour ; leave them on the
ground eight or ten days to dry, cart them to a hole dug in the earth about five feet square and two feet
deep, and then burn them, keeping the ashes red-hot as long as possible. Afterwards take out the ashes,
pour boiling water on them, and tlien evaporate the water. " There remains after the evaporation a dry
saline reddish substance, known in commerce under the name of salin ; the more the ashes are boiled, the
greyer, and the more valuable the salin becomes. The salin must be calcined in a very hot oven, until
the whole mass presents a uniform reddish brown. In cooling it remains dry, and in fragments bluish
within, and white on the surface; in which state it takes the name of potash." {^Smith's Mechanic,
vol. ii. p. 381.)
5361. Among extraordinary applications of the potato, may be mentioned cleaning
woollens, and making wine and ardent spirit.
5362. Cleaning ivoollens. The refuse of potatoes used in making starch when taken from the sieve,
possesses the property of cleansing woollen cloths, without hurting their colour; and the water decanted
from the starch powder is excellent for cleansing silks, without the smallest injury to the colour.
53ti3. If'inc, of a good quality, may be made from frosted potatoes, if not so much frosted as to have
become sort and watery. The jjotatoes must be crushed or bruised with a mallet, or put into a cider
press. A bushel must have ten gallons of water, prepared by boiling it, mixed with half a pound of hops
and half a pound of common white ginger. This water, after having boiled for about half an hour, must
be poured uj)on the bruised potatoes, into a tub or vessel suited to the quantity to be made. After stand-
ing in this mixed state for three days, yest must be added to ferment the liquor. When the fermentation
has subsided, the liquor must be drawn off, as fine as possible, into a cask, adding half a pound of raw
sugar for every gallon. After it has remained in the cask for three months, it will be ready for use.
5364 Ardent spirit. Potatoes that have been injured by the frost produce a much greater quantity of
spirit, and of a much finer quality, than those that are fresh; they require a proportion of malt- wash to
promote the fermentation. About one fourth part of malt-worts, or wash, ought to be fermented at least
six hours before the potato- wasli is joined to it ; otherwise the potato. wash, having an aptitude to ferment
will be ripe for the still before the malt- wash is ready; hence the effect will be, to generate an acid which
renders the spirit coarse, and, when diluted with water, of a milky or bluish colour. When the spirit is
strong, the acid is held in solution ; but appears as above, when diluted with water. (Fartner's Mae
vol. xvii. p. 325.) ^'
5365. In the application of potatoes as food for live stock, they are often joined with hay,
straw, chaft', and other similar matters, and have been found useful in many eases, espe-
cially in the later winter months, as food for horses, cows, and other sorts of live stock.
With these substances, and in combination with others, as bean or barley-meal and pol-
lard, they are used in the fattening of neat cattle, sheep, and hogs.
5366. Potatoes are much more nutritive when boiled ; they were formerly cooked in this way, but are
now very generally steamed, especially in the north. The practice has been carried to the greatest extent
by Curwen in feeding horses. He gives to each horse, daily, a stone and a half of potatoes mixed with a
tenth of cut straw. One hundred and twenty stones of potatoes require two and a quarter bushels of
coals to steam them. An acre of potatoes, he considers, goes as far in this way as four of hay. Von Thaer
found them, when given to live stock, produce more manure than any other food : 100 lbs. of potatoes
producing G& lbs. of manure of the very best description. 'I'he baking of potatoes in an oven has also been
tried with success. {Comm. Board of Agriculture, vol. iv.); but the process seems too expensive. Pota-
toes should not be given raw to animals of any description, except, perhaps, when hogs are let in to root
and pick up what may have escaped notice in the field. Washing was formerly a disagreeable and tedious
business, but is now rendered an easy matter, whether on a large or small scale, by the use of the washing
machine.
5.j67. Machines for washing potatoes are numerous, and in addition to that already described, we shall
here notice two other forms. One of the simplest is a trough {fig. 750. a, b) containing a hollow cylinder
750 (c) with a handle {d), which is made fast to
the axis which passes through the cylinder.
" A number of the spars (which run longi.
tudinally) are so constructed as to form a
kind of door, which is made fast by two
Tmch-pins at each end of the cylinder. The
vessel being charged with potatoes, and the
trough filled with water, all that is necessary
for the purpose of cleaning is only to turn
the handle of the machine." A machine for
washing potatoes by Mr. John Lawson, of
Elgin, consists of a wooden or iron trough,
with a movable bottom above the fixed one,
composed of spars three quarters of an inch
apart. The potatoes are laid over the mov-
able ribbed bottom, and water being admitted
at one end by a cock, they are are moved
backwards and forwards by a wooden hoe, till
they are clean, when the dirty water which
has collected between the two bottoms is let
off by another cock at the opposite end. {Brit. Farm. Mag. vol. ii.)
5368. The boiling of potatoes, though a simple operation, is in many districts not performed in the best
manner. The following is the Lancashire method : — Set them on the fire in cold water ; when boiled,
pour off the water completely, add a little salt, and dry them well on the fire. Another method : — Choose
your potatoes of equal size, and put them into a saucepan, or pot without a lid, with no more water than
is sufficient to cover them ; more would only spoil them, as the potatoes themselves, on being boiled, yield
a considerable portion of water. By being boiled in a vessel without a lid, they do not crack, and all waste
Ii I .3
854 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
is prevented. After the water is come nearly to boil, pour it off, and replace the hot by cold water, into
which throw a good portion of salt. The cold water sends the heat from the surface to the heart of the
potato, and makes it mealy. Like all other vegetables, they are improved by being boiled with salt, which
ought not, therefore, to be spared. {Mech. Mag. L 13.)
5369. Frosted potatoes may be applied to various useful purposes, for food by thawing
in cold water, or being pared, then thawed, and boiled with a little salt. Salt, or salt-
petre, chaff, or bruised oats, boiled with tliem, will render them fit food for cattle, swine,
poultry, &c. Starch, and paste for weavers, bookbinders, and shoemakers, may be made
from them when too sweet to be rendered palatable, and also an ardent spirit, from
hydrometer proof to 10 per cent over proof.
5370. The diseases of the potato are chiefly the scab, the worm, and curl.
5371. The scab, or ulcerated surface of the tubers, has never been satisfactorily accounted for ; some
attributing it to the ammonia of horse dung, others to alkali, and some to the use of coal ashes. Change
of seed, and of ground, are the only resources known at present for this malady. The worm and grub
both attack the tuber, and the same preventive is recommended. The only serious du;ease of the potato
is the curl, and this is now ascertained to be produced by the too great concentration of the sap in the
tuber ; and this concentration, or thickening, is prevented by early taking up. This discovery was first
made by the farmers near Edinburgh, who observed that seed potatoes procured from the moors, or
elevated cold ground, in the internal parts of the country, never suffered from the curl and it conse-
quently became a practice, every three or four years, to procure a change of seed from these districts.
On enquiry, it was found, that the potatoes in these upland grounds continued in a growing state till the
haulm was blackened by the first frosts of October. They were then taken up, when, of course, they
could not be ripe. Subsequent experiments, which will be found detailed in The Fai-tner's Magaxine, and
Caledonian and London Horticultural Transactions, have firmly established the fact, that the curl is pre-
vented by using unripe seed ; therefore the farmer ought to select his seed stock a fortnight or three weeks
before he takes up the general crop, as already recommended. It is also a safe practice frequently to
change the seed, and also to change the variety.
5372. Shirreff, an ingenious speculator and practical agriculturist, is of opinion that there are only
two causes for the curled disorder in potatoes. The first is excessive seed-bearing, that is, carrying great
quantities of plums or apples ; from the effects of which, if the plant be not too far advanced in life, it
may recover for a time, by removing it to a shady or upland situation. The s cond cause is lime or old
age, which never fails ultimately to bring the curled or shrivelled disorder, followed by death, on the
whole animal and vegetable kingdoms. An old decaying oak is an instance of the curled or shrivelled
state of trees from age, as is " the lean and slippered pantaloon " of the curled disorder from old age in
the human species. An apple tree, again, that has carried extraordinary crops of fruit within a few years,
is often in the state of a potato curled from excessive apple-bearing ; so is a hart, or a buck, immediately
after the rutting season. Both the tree and animals will recover their health and vigour for a time, unless
they are too old, or have gone to the very greatest and last extremity in seed-bearing and venery, in which
cases the effects will be the same as those of time, viz. death. It is not then to over-ripening "the tubers
that the curled disorder in potatoes is to be attributed, but to time and seed-bearing ; that is, carrying great
quantities of plums or apples.
Sect. II. The Turnip. — "Brdssica Rojoa L. ; Tetradynamia Siliquosa L., and Cruci-
ferce J. Rave, Fr. ; Riibe, Ger. ; Rapa, Ital. ; and Nabo, Span.
5373. The turnip is a native of Britain, but in its wild state it is not to be recognised
by ordinary observers from wild mustard. It was cultivated as food for cattle by the
Ilomans ; and has been sown for the sa7)ie purpose in the fields of Germany and the Low
Countries from time immemorial.
5374. jyhen they were introduced in this country, as afield plant, is unknown : but it is probable turnips
would be found in some gardens of convents from the time of the Romans ; and it is certain that they
were in field culture before the middle of the seventeenth century, though then, and for a long time after-
wards, in a very inferior and ineffectual manner. It has been stated that turnips were introduced from
Hanover in George I.'s time; but so far from this having been the case, George II. caused an abstract of
the Norfolk system of turnip husbandry to be drawn up for the use of his subjects in Hanover. {CarnpheU's
Polit. Survey, &c. vol. iii. p. 80.) The introduction of improved turnip culture into the husbandry of
Britain, Brown observes, " occasioned one of those revolutions in rural art which are constantly occurring
among husbandmen ; and, though the revolution came on with slow and gradual steps, yet it may now be
viewed as completely and thoroughly established. Before the introduction of thia root, it was impossible
to cultivate light soils successfully, or to devise suitable rotations for cropping them with advantage. It
was likewise a difficult task to support live-stock through the winter and spring months ; and as for feed-
ing and preparing cattle and sheep for market during these inclement seasons, the practice was hardly
thought of, and still more rarely attempted, unless where a full stock of hay was provided, which only
happened in very few instances. The benefits derived from turnip husbandry are, therefore, of great
magnitude. Light soils are now cultivated with profit and facility ; abundance of food is provided for
man and beast ; the earth is turned to the uses for which it is physically calculated ; and, by being suitably
cleaned with this preparatory crop, a bed is provided for grass seeds, wherein they flourish and prosper
with greater vigour than after any other preparation." {Treatise on Rural Affairs.)
5375. Turnips and clover, it is elsewhere observed, " are the two main pillars of the
best courses of British husbandry ; they have contributed more to preserve and augment
the fertility of the soil for producing grain, to enlarge and improve our breeds of cattle
and sheep, and to afford a regular supply of butcher's meat all the year, than any other
crops ; and they will probably be long found vastly superior, for extensive cultivation, to
any of the rivals which have often been opposed to them in particular situations.
Though turnips were long cultivated in Norfolk before they were known in the northern
counties, yet it is an undoubted fact that their culture was first brought to perfection in
Roxburghshire, Berwickshire, and Northumberland, and chiefly through the exertions of
Dawson, of Frogden, in the first named county, and of Culley, in the latter.
537A Drilling turnips, as well as other crops, evidently originated with Tull, whose first work. Specimen
of a Work on Horse-hoeing Husbandry, appeared in 1731. It appears that Craig, of Arbigland, in Dum-
frieshirc, began to drill turnips about 1745 ; and next we find Philip Howard, of Corby, drilling in 1755;
and Pringle, drilling " from hints taken from Tuil's book," in J7.'56 or 1757. William Dawson, who was
well acquainted with the turnip culture in England, having been purposely sent to reside in those districts
Book VI. THE TURNIP. 855
for six or seven years, where the best cultivation was pursued, with an intention not only of seeing, but
of making himself master of, the manual operations, and of the minutice in the practice, was convinced of
the superiority of Pringle's mode over every other he had seen, either in Norfolk or elsewhere ; and in
1762, when he entered on Frogmore Farm, near Kelso, in Roxburghire, he immediately adopted the
practice upon a large scale, to the amount of 100 acres yearly. Though none of Pringle's neighbours
followed the example, yet no sooner did Dawson, an actual or rent-paying farmer, adopt the same system,
than it was immediately followed, not only by several farmers in his vicinity, but by those very farmers
adjoining Pringle, whose crops they had seen, for ten or twelve years, so much superior to their own : the
practice in a few years became general. Drilling turnips was first introduced to the county of Northum-
berland, about the year 1780.
5377. The varieties of turnip grown by fanners may be arranged as whites and
yellows.
5378. Of white turnips, by far the best and most generally cultivated is the globe ; but there are also the
green-topped, having tne bulb tinged greenish ; and purple-topped, with the bulb reddish : which, though
they do not produce so large a crop as the globe or oval, stand the winter better, and the red-topped, it is
said, will keep till February. The pudding, or tankard turnip, has a white bulb which rises from eight to
twelve inches high, standing almost wholly above ground. It is less prolific than any of the others, and
more liable to be attacked by frost.
5379. Of 1/ellow turnips, there axe the field or Aberdeen yellow, which is more hardy than the globe,
and answers well for succeeding that variety in spring; and the rutabaga, or Swedish turnip, which
may be preserved for consumption till June. The Siberian turnip has a bulb and a branchy top, but
both of inferior quality. It is a hybrid between a white rutabaga and field cabbage, or between rape and
cabbage.
5380. New varieties are obtained by selection and by counter impregnation ; but in either case the
greatest care is requisite to keep the plants at least a furlong from any others of the brassica tribe likely to
flower at the same time, otherwise the progeny will certainly be hybridised.
5381. T/ie choice of sorts may be considered as limited to the white, globe, yellow, and Swedish, according
as early, middling, or late supplies are wanted. No other varieties are grown by the best farmers.
5382. In the choice of seed the farmer must rely on the integrity of the seed-dealer,
as it is impossible to discover from the grains whether they will turn out true to their
kinds.
5383. Turnip-seed requires to be frequently changed ; and the best is generally procured from Norfolk
and Northumberland. The Norfolk seed, Forsyth observes, is sent to most parts of the kingdom, and even
to Ireland: but after two years it degenerates; so that those who wish to have turnips in perfection
should procure it fresh every year from Norwich, and they will find their account in so doing : for, from its
known reputation, many of the London seedsmen sell, under that character, seed raised in the vicinity of
the metropolis, which is much inferior in quality.
5384. Turnip-seed of any age will grow, if it has been carefully preserved ; that which is new, comes up
first, and therefore it is not a bad plan to mix new and old together, as a means of securing a braird against
drought or the fly. Whether plants from new or old seed are most secure from the depredations of the
fly, is perhaps a question which cannot be easily determined, even by experiments ; for concomitant cir-
cumstances are frequently so much more operative and powerful as to render the difference between them,
if there be any, imperceptible. It is, however, known to every practical man, that new seed vegetates
several days before the old, and more vigorously ; and it is equally well known that the healthy and vigor-
ous plants escape the fly, when the stinted and sickly seldom or never escape it. Hence it would seem,
that new seed, cceteris paribus, is more secure from the fly than old.
5385. The soil for turnips should always be of a light description. In favourable
seasons very good crops may be raised on any soil ; but from the difficulty of removing
them, and the injury which the soil must sustain either in that operation, or in eating
them on the spot with sheep, they never on such soils can be considered as beneficial to
the farmer. Turnips cannot be advantageously cultivated on wet tenacious soils, but
are grown on all comparatively dry soils under all the variations of our climate. On dry
loams, and all soils of a looser texture, managed according to the best courses of cropping,
they enter into the rotation to the extent of a fourth, a sixth, or an eighth part of the
land in tillage ; and even on clayey soils they are frequently cultivated, though on a
smaller scale, to be eaten by cattle, for the purpose of augmenting and enriching the
manure, into which the straw of corn is converted.
5386. The climate most desirable for the turnip is cool and temperate. This was long
ago noticed by Pliny, and it is so obvious on the Continent that it admits of no dispute.
Von Thaer observes that the turnips grown on the fields of Germany seldom exceed half
a pound in weight, and that all his care could not raise one beyond fourteen pounds. In
France and Italy they are still less. A rapid climate is equally disadvantageous to the
turnip ; and they are accordingly found of no size in Russia, Sweden, and many parts
of North America. Even turnips grown in the southern counties of England, in the
same excellent manner as in Northumberland, never equal the size of those grown in the
latter county, or further north, or in Ireland.
5387. The field culture of turnips is effected either by sowing the seed of the plant
from the hand on a fiat surface, or by depositing it on the tops of little ridges. In the
best cultivated districts, the latter method is universally practised and approved of,
chiefly for these reasons : — 1 . By this method the land may be more easily and
perfectly cleaned during the growth of the plants ; the width of the rows affording the
means of better tilling the intervals. 2. The plants can be more cheaply and quickly
hand-hoed, the process being so simple as to be taught to young persons in a few hours j
whereas when the plants are not regularly disposed in rows, a considerable degree of ex-
perience and time are requisite. 3. The manure may be more perfectly covered, and
by being applied in a more effectual manner to the roots of the plants, a smaller quantity
will suffice. And lastly, the turnips maybe kept drier, and crops of tliexn in conse-
3 14
856
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
querice raised on land so wet as otherwise to be incapable of yielding a return of any
value. "We shall give their culture from an excellent paper in the Quarterly Journal of
Agriculture, vol. i., from which also this paragraph is quoted.
5388. Preparation of the land. The land intendetl for the turnip crop is ploughed in autumn, after
the preceding crop of grain has been reaped. If the soil be not of a very dry nature, the land is formed
into ridges of fifteen feet or more, and care is taken that no water shall stagnate on the ground. In this
condition the land remains during the winter ; and it is ploughed again in spring as soon as the ground is
sufficiently dry for that purpose, and as soon as the other labour of the farm will allow : this second
ploughing is generally made in a direction to cross the previous one. The land is then repeatedly grubbed
and harrowed in various directions, for the purpose of pulverising it, and of dragging to the surface, and
disengaging all weeds and roots ; to assist in which process the aid of the roller is frequently requisite;
the loots and weeds disengaged are ihen gathered with care, and either burnt in little heaps on the ground,
or removed away to a larger heap, to be mixed with quick-lime and other substances, to form a compost for
the succeeding year ; at the same time such stones as impede the tillage may be removed : after this the
land is again ploughed, and generally, as before, in a direction crossing the last furrows ; and the same
process of harrowing, rolling, and collecting the disengaged weeds, is repeated. The earth is once more
ploughed, and again the same operations are resorted to ; after which the land is usually in a fit state to
be formed into ridges or drills. Should this not be so, the operations of ploughing, harrowing, and gather-
ing of weeds must be repeated, and that until the land is cleared of all injurious roots, and reduced to a
loose or friable state. The perfect preparation of the ground in this stage of its culture, is of very great
importance to the future crop.
5389. Forming the ridges. After the preparation described, the land is foi-med into little ridges or
ridgelets, either by the common plough, or by a plough with two mould-boards, formed for that purpose.
The first of these is to be preferred when the method of performing the work is once pointed out in the
fields. The ridges are formed with a sharp top, as a transverse section [fig. 751.) will show. The distance
751
of these ridgelets may be from twenty-seven to thirty inches, measuring from top to top. This interval is
necessary to allow of the horse -hoe tilling the intervals, in the manner to be afterwards described, and to
admit a sufficient circulation of air between the rows of the plants.
5390. Manna- of applying the manure. The chief manure applied to this crop is farmyard dung, or
that which is produced by the consumption of the straw and other produce of the farm. This manure
ought to be well rotted, and to that end either turned over in the court-yard some weeks previously to its
being used, or carried out in winter to the fields intended for the turnips, and there laid in one or more large
heaps. If the carts are not suffered to go upon these heaps, the putrefactive process will proceed with
greater quickness. When the ridgelets are formed in the manner described, tJie dung is filled into carts
drawn by one horse, and transported quickly to the land. The manner of applying it is this : —The horse
with the loaded cart walks in the interval of the ridges, so that a wheel of the'cart shall go in each of the
752 hollows of the two ridges adjoining. The person who
directs the horse follows the cart, which is ojjen behind,
^. 1 .. L ■■ I * and with a crooked twopronged fork or dung-hack,
tf // {fig. 752.) drags out the dung, as the horse moves along,
\( into little heaps in the hollow of every third ridge, at the
distance from each other of from eight to ten feet Be-
hind follow three young persons, with each a two-pronged or three-pronged fork {fig. 753.), each walking
in the interval of a ridge, and spreading out the dung
in as regular a manner as possible ; as a cross section of
the ridgelets with the dung deposited in the intervals
would show {fig. 754.)
5391. Covering the dung. The dung is no sooner
spread in this manner than it is covered by the plough.
To this end is employed either the common plough, or
that with the double mould-board already mentioned :
these passing down the middle of each ridgelet split it
into two, so that a new ridgelet is formed, whose toj) is
immediately above the former hollow of the old ridgelet,
{fig. 155.) The dung is now completely covered, and a
new ridge for the reception of the seed is at once formed. The double mould-board plough performs this
754
operation at once, the common plough by going and returning up the middle of each ridge.
755
5392. Broad-cast dunging. Instead of depositing the manure in the manner described, it is sometimes
laid upon the stubble after harvest, and then ploughed in. This is only practicable where there is a supply
of manure remaining from the preceding year, or where it can be elsewhere procured ; and is only ad-
visable when the land is so clean as to require little preparation in the succeeding spring. As liberal an
expenditure as can be afforded of manure is always expedient in the case of this crop, the goodness of
which will much depend upon the fertility we are able to communicate to the soil. Ten or twelve tons
per acre may be considered the regular manuring on a turnip-farm, where a proper rotation of crops is
followed.
5393. Lime, sea-weed, ashes. Sometimes lime is applied to the turnip crop, together with dung. This
may be done by laying the lime upon the stubble after harvest, or better still, by spreading it upon the
ground, and harrowing it well immediately, before the forming of the ridgelets for the reception of the
dung. Putrescent manures, however, are considered superior to the calcareous for the production of
this plant ; and all of the former kind may be used with effect. Street dung is an exceedingly good
manure ; sea-weed will also be useful : this last, however, is not applied in the manner of the farmyard
dung, but is carried off as it is cast on shore, laid on the surface, and suffered to remain so till the land is
Book VI.
THE TURNIP.
857
ploughed. Ashes generally produce a good effect in causing the seeds to vegetate quickly, but the fer-
tilising powers of some of these do not appear to be of a permanent nature. Bruised bones and various
other substances have been used with much benefit; but it is to be observed, that putrescent ma-
nures form the main support of the turnip cultivator, and that the others are only to be regarded as
subsidiary.
5394. Sowing the turnips. The land being formed into ridgelets in the manner
described, is ready for the reception of the seed. Tliis is soven on tlie tops of the ridgelets
by machines of various forms.
5395. The most simple of these consists of a hollow cylinder of tin, fixed upon an axle, and moving round
with two light wheels, distant from each other twenty-seven or thirty inches, which are made to run in
the hollows of the ridges. (2688.) The seed is put into the cylinder through an aperture which opens and
shuts for that purpose: this cylinder turning round with the axle, the seed drops, through small equidistant
holes made in it, into a tin tube, by which it is conveyed to the ground. Immediately before this tube is
a hollow coulter of iron, sharp before, which incloses the forepart of the tin tube, and makes a track in
the ground from one to two inches deep, into which the seed drops. This simple apparatus is mounted
upon a light wooden frame- work, having two shafts behind, by which the workman holds and keeps it
steady in its course. It is then attached by a rope to a light wooden roller, in the shafts of which the
animal of draught is yoked. More perfect machines, however, may be employed where turnips are cul-
tivated upon a large scale, and we may refer to that of French (2688.) as one of the best.
5396. The preparation of turnip-seed for sowing, by steeping in the drainings of dung-
hills and other similar matters, has been recommended as a likely mode to prevent the fly ;
but it is not found to have this effect, and is never followed.
55'J7 The following mode of preparation is sotnctimes adopted : — Half new and half old seed are mixed
together ; then half is taken and steeped in water for three or four hours; afterwards both steeped and
unsteeped seed are mixed and immediately sown. The object of this preparation is to obtain four different
brairds or risings of the seed, which are supposed to give four chances of escaping the fly that attacks the
infant plants, instead of one. Another mode is to join radish-seed to the above, new and old, steeped in
the foregoing manner, it being found that the fly prefers the radish to the turnip. Some recommend
the mixing of an equal quantity of rape-seed with the turnip-seed, alleging, that if a fly cuts off the tur-
nips, the rape may be left for a crop ; and that if the turnips escape, the rape may be treated as weeds.
The most common precaution, however, as to the fly, is to sow thick, or to mix the seed with soot, lime,
or ashes.
5398. The quantity of seed used may be from two pounds to two and a half pounds
avoirdupoise per acre. It is necessary to give a sufficient quantity of seed, to pro-
vide against the loss of plants from the ravages of insects, and other contingencies. But
the quantity should not be excessive ; because the plants, when too thick, get interwoven
together, and thence become difficult to be thinned in a proper manner.
5399. The sowing process being completed^ the ridgelets remain flattened and com-
pressed. [Jig. 756.)
756
5400. The several operations of forming the ridgelets, spreading the dung, covering it
by the plough, and sowing the seed, ought to be carried on in close succession. The
dung must be immediately covered, that none of its powers may be lost by evaporation ;
and the seed, to ensure its early vegetation, ought to be sown as soon as possible upon
the moist earth turned up. The various works of the turnip culture, thus carried on at the
same time, furnish the best specimen which the culture of the fields affords of the bene-
ficial effects of a proper division of labour. The process has all the appearance and
effects of garden culture, with the difference of its being conducted with incomparably
greater economy and despatch.
5401. The period of sowing in the north of England and Scotland is from the 1st to
the end of June, though it is often continued to the middle of July. The turnips, how-
ever, sown after the latter of these periods seldom attain to a proper size ; and, when
sown earlier than the 1st of June, they are apt to shoot forth the seed-stem before winter,
by which not only the soil is deteriorated, but the nutritive juices of the root exhausted.
In the south of England they may be sown somewhat later than in the north.
5402. The time of sowing in other countries must be varied by the nature of the climate and soil. It is
to be inferred, that in warmer countries, where vegetation is more rapid, the sowing should be deferred
till a later period. At Roville, in the north of France, M, de Dombasle sometimes sows in August, and
yet obtains a medium crop.
5403. Hoeing. When the plants are an inch or more in height, or when weeds
r.ppear amongst them, the process of hoeing commences. This is done either by a small
J. lough drawn by one horse, going and returning along the hollow of each ridgelet, and
cutting of a slice of earth from the sides, as near to the turnips as possible (^fig. 757.)
757
or by the horse-hoe, of which there are various kinds. The most simple of these consists
of a flat triangular share {fig. 758. a), with two lateral arms (6, b), formed to set wider
or narrower, and fixed to a beam and handles by three upright coulters of iron ; or,
which is better, the lateral arms are omitted, the triangular share fixed to the beam, and
two moveable upright coulters attached by a cross bar.
858
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
5404. One of the best turnip horse-hoes is formed from the skeleton of a common plough {fig. 759.), by
759
two coulters of iron curved inwards {a, b), and fixed to wooden bars (e, f, and c, d), which last again are
hooked to the beam of the implement, and made, by means of a cross iron bar {g, h), to be set at a
greater or smaller distance from each other as it may be required. A broad iron share (i) moves in
the middle of the hollow of the ridges, while the two coulters on each side go as near to the rows of
turnips as can be done with safety ; and in this manner the intervals of the ridges are tilled, and the
weeds within them, and as near to the plants as the coulters can go, cut up and destroyed. By removing
the wooden bar and coulters of this machine, and hooking to it, on each side, a small cast-iron mould-
board, it is converted to the double mould-board plough also, as we have seen.
5405. The brakes w horse-hoes of VVilkie (2666.), Finlayson (2667.), or of Kirkwood (4955.% may easily
be set and arranged for this or any other description of culture ; so that it requires no new implements.
5406. The hand-hoers go to work, each having a little iron hoe, fixed upon a wooden handle about three
F^n.:r^-^— r — . z^z:,z:;r--- _r--, f^et in length [fig. 760.). The breadth of the blade id) of this
Yf '""^"' "" e^'^ ^^^ ^^ '^'^*^* '"^''^^s ; and the workers, standing in the hollow
X ir-^ R^iSflSjSp with their faces to the ridges, hoe the turnip plants, leaving
ity.) miiLtii2;ji a them standing singly, at the distance from each other of from
ten to twelve inches. By this operation the rows of the turnips are cleaned of all weeds ; the superfluous
plants cut up and pushed into the intervals, where they die ; and the plants to be preserved left standing
singly at the distance required. A transverse section of the ridges will then appear thus {fig. 761.), and
a longitudinal section thus : {fig. 1\
they may increase to a proper size.
The plants should not be nearer to each other than ten inches, that
762
5407. Second horse-hoeing. Soon after the operation in question, weeds will again sprout up in the
intervals of the ridges and amongst the plants. In the course, therefore, of twelve days or more the
horse-hoe again passes through the intervals of the ridges, cutting up all the weeds that may have sprung
up J and soon after the hand-hoers again go to work with the same instrument as before, cutting up all
weeds which may have grown amongst the turnips, and carefully singling any plants that may by chance
have been omitted in the first hoeing. After this process, a section of the ridges will appear thus : {fig. 763.)
763
5408. Third horse-hoeing. Sometimes the horse-hoe passes once more down the intervals after a short
period ; but more generally the previous hand-hoeing concludes the process upon all the drier lands, the
weeds being now kept down by the rapid growth of the plant, and tlie overshadowing of the intervals by
its leaves. Very commonly, however, at an interval of eight or ten days after the last hand or horse-
hoeing, the earth which had been taken from the roots of the plants by these several hoeings is again laid
back, either by the little one-horse plough already mentioned, or by the double mould-board plough,
passing down the intervals of the rows and ridging up the earth thus : {fig. 764.) The design in this ope-
764
ration is, that any weeds remaining in the intervals after the former hoeings may be destroyed, and that
the land and turnips may be kept more dry during wet weather and the months of winter. This concludes
the culture of the turnip, which now grows rapidly without further care ; and by the beginning of Sep-
tember the leaves of a good crop will have covered the entire surface, making a transverse section of the
ridges appear thus: {fig. 765.)
765
5409. The Swedish turnip is cultivated, used, and stored precisely in the same manner
as the common turnip ; but it is generally sown several weeks earlier. It does not.
attain to the same weight by the acre ; and, as it is more difficult to raise, it ought to
receive a greater quantity of manure, and to be always upon good land. The Swedish
has a property which the common turnip has not, that of bearing to be transplanted
Book VI. THE TURNIP. 859
when young ; so that, where blanks appear in a field, the spaces may be filled up by
transplanting. Analogous to the Swedish turnip, in hardiness and nutritive qualities,
is the large yellow or Aberdeen turnip. This root is perhaps superior to the Swedish
turnip, in so far as it may be raised with less difficulty. It serves the same purpose of
a succedaneum to tlie common turnip in spring.
5410. Consumption of the turnips. By the end of October or beginning of November,
when the pastures have decayed, the turnips begin to be used for food.
5411. When sheep are to be fed, the turnips are either pulled up by the hand, and carried away, as
wanted, into the fields, in which the sheep are kept, and there spread regularly upon the ground; or more
frequently and economically the sheep are at once driven into the fields of turnips, and suffered to con-
sume the roots as they stand. In this case the animals are not suffered to range over the whole field at
first, but are confined to a space of an acre or more, by means of nets, or a series of moveable rails or
hurdles. When the sheep have eaten the roots very nearly, the remnant in the ground may be picked up
by a little hoe {fi^. IQQ.) or by the turnip chopper already described (!2bl2.) ; and when the whole are
Y--/J consumed, the nets or rails, or hurdles, are moved to another
' "" division, and so on throughout the field, leaving the spaces before
cleared open to the sheep to move upon. This manner of con.
suming the turnips affords an admirable manure to the land, and
prepares it well for the subsequent crops of grain and herbage. In
feeding in this manner, it is frequent to place in the field a little
rack with a cover, containing a small quantity of hay, which seems
to be relished by the animals amid tjieir moister food.
5412. In the feeding of oxen, the turnips may be laid down on a dry field, as in the case first mentioned ;
but the proper and regular manner of feeding these animals is to supply them with the turnip in the
house or open yard, littering them at the same time plentifully and regularly with straw, and giving them
what they choose to consume of it as provender, with their turnip-food. Cattle are fed either by being
tied to upright posts in the house, or they are suffered to go at large in the straw- yard. This last is greatly
the better mode of feeding, the turnips being supplied from troughs or otherwise, and a shed for shelter
being always at hand and open to the cattle to repose in. It is well, however, that too many animals, of
different strength and size, be not put together, lest they disturb each other in feeding. Sometimes courts
are made and divided into separate compartments, holding only two cattle in each, and this is found to be
an exceedinjily good practice. When cattle are of value, and put up for quick fattening, it is common to
cut off" the leaves and tails of the turnip, giving the leaves to the younger and less valuable stock, and the
bulb only to tliat which is to be fed.
5413. Young cattle, not intended to be immediately fattened, receive only a limited portion of turnips,
their princijial provender being straw^. By receiving a portion of turnips with their drier provender, these
animals are kept in a much more healthy condition than if confined to the latter food, and continue to
grow throughout the whole season, instead of pining away at the time when green herbage can no longer
be found for them. With the design, too, of keeping them in a good condition, turnips are supplied in a
limited quantity to milch cows, and in particular at the time of calving. The turnip, however, though it
adds to the quantity of milk, gives it a strong and disagreeable flavour.
5414. Wheji both sheep and cattle are fed upon a farm, it is usual to pull up every alternate four or five
rows of turnips for the cattle, leaving the remainder on the ground for the sheep, so that the land on
which the turnips had grown may receive its proportion of the manure produced. {Quar. Jour. As.
vol. i. p. 2S6.)
5415. The advantages of eating turnips an the place qf their growth by sheep, both in manuring and
consolidating the g;-ound, are sufficiently well known to every farmer. One great defect of the inferior
sort of turnip soil is the want of tenacity ; and it is found that valuable crops of wheat may be obtained
upon very light porous soils, after turnips so consumed. It is not uncommon to let turnips at an agreed
price, for each sheep or beast, weekly. This varies according to age and size, and the state of the demand,
from four-pence or less, to eight-pence or more, for each sheep weekly, and from two shillings to five for
each beast. An acre of good turnips, say thirty tons, with straw, will fatten an ox of sixty stone, or ten
Leicester sheep. Supposing the turnips worth six guineas, this may bring the weekly keep of the ox to
six shillings and three-pence halfpenny, and of the sheep to about seven-pence halfpenny a week. In this
way of letting, however, disputes may arise, as the taker may not be careful to have them eaten up clean.
The person who lets the turnips has to maintain a herd for the taker ; and when let for cattle, and conse-
quently to be carried off, the taker finds a man and horse, and the letter maintains both. The taker has
to provide hurdles or nets for fencing the allotments to sheep ; but the letter must fence his own hedges
if necessary. The period at which the taker is to consume the v. hole is usually fixed in the agreement,
that the seller may be enabled to plough and sow his land in proper season. {Suppl. to Encyc. Brif)
The rule for selling turnips in Norfolk is calculated from the fact, that 07ie acre of good turnips is
stijpeient for 100 sheep for one week. Then, whether turnips be dear or cheap, the price per week may be
easily found — at 51. per acre. Is. per week per head, and sq^of all other prices. This is under the suppo-
sition that the crop is to be eaten ofFon the ground.
. 5416. The Sivedish and yelloio turnips are eaten greedily by horses ; and afTord a very nutritive and
salutary food along with hay or straw for working stock. The best mode is to steam them after pre-
viously passing them through the slicing machine, as no root requires so much cooking as the Swedish
turnip. Horses will also eat the white turnip, but not freely, unless they have been early accustomed to
them, as in some parts of Norfolk.
5417. Cattle fatten much faster with clean turnips than with such as are dirty, and therefore Waistell
recommends that they should never be given without being previously washed. " The earth upon unwashed
turnips," he says, " scours the cattle, and keeps their bodies too loose and open ; their dung being thin and
almost liquid, carries off' with it a white mucous matter from the bowels, which is frequently seen among
the dung, the loss of which must necessarily retard the fattening of the cattle ; but with washed turnips
their dung is wax-like, and figured similarly to the dung of cattle fed on rich meadow hay. Cisterns
are also found very useful in frosty weather ; for when frozen turnips are thrown into spring water, it
speedily draws out of them all the icy particles, which, when retained, must undoubtedly render them
much less nourishing and improving to the cattle that eat them." ( IVaisteWs Designs, Sfc. p. 40.)
5418. JVear large loivns the most profitable mode of disposing of turnips is to the
cow-keepers and green-grocers.
541 9. The application of turnips in domestic economy is well known. They may also
be used in the distillery ; and a wine is said to be made from them by the London manu-
facturers of imitations of foreign wine.
5420. The storing of turnips is attended with too much labour and risk to be of much
advantage in the greater part of the kingdom. Common turnips are never stored in
any great quantity, though sometimes a portion is drawn and formed into heaps, like
8G0 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut 111.
lK)tato camps, and lightly covered with straw, or preserved for some time under a shed.
On these occasions, before storing up, the shaws or leaves and the tap-roots must be cut
off and removed, to prevent heating and rotting. The heaps must not be covered with
earth-like potatoes, for in this case their complete destruction is inevitable. This root
contains too much water to be preserved for any length of time in a fresh and palatable
state, after being removed from the ground ; and though the loss in seasoijs unusually
severe, particularly in the white globe variety, is commonly very great, it is probable that a
regular system of storing the whole, or the greater part, of the crop eveiy season would,
upon an average of years, be attended with still greater loss ; besides the labour and
expense, where turnips are cultivated extensively, would be intolerable. {Supp. ^c)
5421. Taking up and replacing is a mode by which turnips have been preserved, by Blaikie of Holk-
ham, and some others. The mode is to cart the turnips from the field where they grow, to a piece of
ground near the farm-offices, before the winter rains set in, when, the tap-root being cut off, the plants
are set on the surface of the ground, in an upright position, as close to each other as they can stand, where
they keep much better than in a store during the whole season. The advantages of having them quite
close to the homestead, in place of bringing them most probably from a distant part of the farm in wet or
stormy weather, are so obvious, as fully to justify a recommendation of the practice.
5422. Replacing and earthing have also been tried with success, especially with the Swedish turnip.
Being pulled and freed from their roots and leaves, they are carted to a piece of well worked dry soil near
the farmery, and there deposited in rows, so close as nearly to touch each other in the bottom of shallow
furrows, the plough covering one row as another furrow is opened. In this way many tons are quickly
earthed in, and on a very small space, and they can be turned out when wanted with equal facility.
{Far7ner's Magazine, vol. xxiii. p. 282.)
5423. The produce of turnips cultivated in the broad-cast manner in England varies
from five to fifteen 4;ons per acre : the latter is reckoned a very heavy crop. In Northum-
berland and Berwickshire, a good crop of white globe turnips drilled usually weighs from
twenty-five to thirty tons per acre, the yellow and Swedish commonly a few tons less. Of
late there have been instances of much heavier crops, and in Ayrshire it would appear that
above sixty tons have been raised on an English acre, the leaves not included. [Farmer s
Magazine, vols. xv. and xvi.) But such an extraordinary produce must have been ob-
tained by the application of more manure than can be provided, without injustice to
other crops, from the home resources of a farm ; and where turnips form a regular crop
in the rotation, no such produce is to be expected under any mode of culture.
5424. The produce of the turnip in mitritive matter, as proved by Sir H. Davy, was
forty-two parts in a thousand ; of which seven were mucilage, thirty-four sugar, and one
gluten. Swedish turnips afforded sixty-four parts in a thousand of nutritive matter, of
which nine were starch, fifty-one sugar, two gluten, and two extract. According to Von
Thaer, 100 lbs. of turnips are equal to twenty -two of hay ; and an ox to get fat on
turnips ought to have one third of its weight daily.
5425. To raise turnip seed, the usual mode is to select the most approved specimens of
the variety to be raised at the season when they are full grown ; and either to remove all
others from the field and leave them to shoot into flower stems next year, or to trans-
plant them to a place by themselves, where they will be secure from the farina of other
plants of their genus. In either case they must be protected by earthing up from the
winter's frost and rains, and in the ripening season from the birds.
5426. The true sort of Swedish turnip can very easily be kept by only attending to the plants when in
flower. All the degenerated ones bear bright yellow flowers, which should be pulled out before the seed
ripens. The true sort have a brotvnish yellow flower. This saves the expense of transplanting if a corner
crone ridge of a field can be found convenient for saving.
5427. The Norfolk seed-growers have a sort of theory on the subject of transplanting turnips for seed
which it may be worth while to attend to. According to that theory, where turnip seed is collected from
such turnips as have been sown three or four years in succession, the roots are liable to be numerous and
long, and the necks or parts between the bulbs and leaves coarse and thick : and when taken from such as
have been transplanted every vear, these parts are liable to become too fine, and the tap-roots to be dimi-
nished in too great a proportion. Of course the most certain plan is to procure seed from turnips that are
transplanted one year and sown the next ; or, if they be transplanted once in three years, it is supposed,
that the stock may be preserved in a proper state of perfection. It is stated, that the method of perform-
ing this business in the best way, is to select such turnips as are of the best kinds and of the most perfect
forms from the field crops, and after cutting their tops oft", to transplant them, about the month of
November, or following month, into a piece of ground that has been put into a fine state of tillage by
repeated ploughing or digging over, and which should be situated as near the house as it can be, in order
that the birds may be better kept from it. The seed will mostly be ready for gathering in the end of July,
or in the following month.
5428. Others cultivators, however, advise that the seed collected from a few turnips thus transplanted
should be preserved and sown in drills, in order to raise plants for seed for the general crop, drawing out
all such as are weak and improper, leaving only those that are strong and which take the lead ; and that
when these have formed bulbs, such as do not appear good and perfect should be taken out, as by this
means turnip seed may be procured, not only of a more vigorous nature, but capable of vegetating with
less moisture, and of producing stronger and more hardy plants. The practice of transplanting the whole
of the turnips for seed for the main crops, they contend, is not only highly expensive, but injurious, by
diminishing the strength of the plants from the destruction of their tap-roots. Very good seed may, how-
ever, be raised in either of the methods that have been here described.
54'i9. The best Norfolk turnip-seed groirers are of opinion that unless the seed be altrays saved from
transplanted roots, the stock will infallibly degenerate in the manner here described. The statement that
transplanting once in three years is sufficient, was a mere pretence with some of the growers to enable
them to save two thirds of the heavy expense which attends transplanting turnips, and to get the same
price for their seed as if it had been properly saved. The only exception to this is in what the Norfolk
farmers calls the "pudding" or " long pudding" turnip, which is too tender to bear the winter. For a
stock, a few sorts are taken up and protected from cold like mangold wurzel ; and for a general crop the
Book VI. THE TURNIP. 861
seed is sown broadcast and not hoed, but suflfbrcd to grow like rape. So treated the plants form vory
small woody sorts, which are capable of enduring frosts. {J. L.)
5430. After the seed has become fully ripened, it is mostly reaped by cutting off part of the stems, and
afterwards tying them up into sheaves, which, when sufficiently dry, are put into long stacks, and kept
through the winter, in order to be threshed out about the time when it is wanted. But as in this way
much seed is liable to be lost, by its readiness to escape from the pods in which it is contained, it is advised,
as a much better practice, to have it immediately threshed out, either upon a cloth in the field where it
grew or in some other convenient place, being then put into bags proper for the purpose and placed in a
situation which is perfectly dry. From seed crops of this sort being subject to much injury, and loss in
different ways, the quantity of produce must be very different under different circumstances ; but it
may in general be stated at not less than from twenty to twenty-four bushels the acre. The price of
turnip seed being seldom less than seven or eight shillings the bushel, on account of the great demand for
it, it may at first appear to be a very advantageous sort of culture ; but from the exhausting nature of the
crop, the loss sustained in grain, and the quantity of manure afterwards necessary, it is probable that
turnip seed can only be grown to advantage in particular circumstances of soil and situation. In most
cases it is, however, well for the farmer to raise his own seed, as that of the shops is seldom to be fully
depended upon.
5431. The diseases and injuries to which turnips are liable are various. At their first
appearance their leaves are liable to the attacks of the fly (A^phisand HAltica,) the cater-
pillar, the slug, and the mildew. Their bulbs and roots are attacked by worms of
different kinds ; by a singular tendency to monstrosity, known provincially by the name
of fingers and toes ; by the anbury ; by canker, and by wasting or gangrene from water
or frost. Of all or most of these injurious diseases it may be observed, that they
neither admit of prevention or cure by art. Under favourable circumstances of soil,
climate, culture, and weather, they seldom occur ; therefore all that the cultivator can
do is to prepare and manure his land properly, and in the sowing season supply water
when the weather is deficient in showers or the soil in humidity.
5432. TheJIj/ attacks the turnip when in the seed-leaf, and either totally devours it, or partially eats
the leaves and centre-bud, so as to impede the progress of the plants to the second or rough leaves.
Whether the eggs of these flies are deposited on the plants or in the soil, does not appear to be ascertained;
in all probability they are attached to the former, as in the gooseberry caterpillar, and most cases of flies
and insects which feed on plants. Preparations and mixtures of the seed, as already treated of, are all
that have yet been done in the way of preventive to this evil.
5433. The catcrpUlar makes its appearance after the plants have produced three or more rough leaves;
these they cat through, and either destroy or greatly impede the progress of the plants. There can be
little doubt that the eggs of these caterpillars are deposited on the leaves of the plants by a species of
moth, as the caterpillar may be detected when not larger in diameter than a hair. As preventives to
the moths from fixing on the turnips for a depository for their eggs, it has been proposed to place vessels
with tar in different parts of the field, the smell of which is known to be very offensive to moths and all
insects ; or to cause a thick offensive smoke from straw or weeds to pass over the ground at the time when
it is supposed the moths or parent flies were about to commence their operations. To destroy the
caterpillar itself, watering with tobacco water, lime water, strong brine, and laying on ashes, barley
awns, &c. have been proposed.
5434. The slug and snail attack the plants both above and under ground, and eat both the leaves and
roots. Rolling, soot, quicklime, awns, &c. have been proposed to annoy them; but the only efffectual
mode is, immediately after the turnips are sown, to strew the ground with cabbage leaves, or leaves of any
of the ^r&ssica tribe. On these, especially if sweet from incipient decay, the slugs will pasture, and may
be gathered off" by women or children every morning. If as many cabbage leaves, or handfuls of decaying
pea haulm, or any similar vegetable be procured, as will go over a ridge or two, say at the rate of a leaf to
every square yard, a whole field may soon be cleared by picking off" the slugs and removing the leaves
once in twenty-four hours. This mode we have found most effectual, and it is extensively practised by
market and other gardeners. {Encyc. of Gard. 2275.)
5435. The mildew and blight attack the turnip in diffferent stages of its progress, and always retard its
growth. Its eff"ects may be palliated by watering and strewing the leaves with sulphur; but this will
hardly be considered applicable to whole fields.
5436. The worms attack the roots; and, when they commence their ravages at an early period, impede
their growth, and ruin or greatly injure the crop. They admit of no remedy or prevention.
5437. The forked excrescences, known as fingers and toes in some places, and as the anbury in others, are
considered an alarming disease, and hitherto it can neither be guarded against nor cured. The following
account of it is given by "William Spence, president of the Holderness Agricultural Society in 1811 : —
5438. In some plants, the bulb itself is split into severalfinger like-diverging lobes. More frequently the
bulb is externally tolerably perfect, and the tap-root is the part principally diseased ; being either wholly
metamorphosed into a sort of misshapen secondary bulb, often larger than the real bulb, and closely attached
to it, or having excrescences of various shapes, frequently not unlike human toes (whence the name of the
disease^ either springing immediately from its sides, or from the fibrous roots that issue from it. In this
last case, each fibre often swells into several knobs, so as distantly to resemble the runners and accom-
panying tubers of a potato; and not seldom one turnip will exhibit a combination of all these diff'erent
forms of the disease. These distortions manifest themselves at a very early stage of the turnip's growth ;
and plants, scarcely in the rough leaf, will exhibit excrescences, which diff'er in nothing else than size
from tho.se of the full-grown root.
5439. The leaves discover no unusual appearance, except that in hot weather they become flaccid and
droop ; from which symptom the presence of the disease may be surmised without examining the roots.
These continue to grow for some months, but without attaining any considerable size, the excrescences
enlarging at the same time. If divided at this period with a knife, both the bulb and the excrescences
are found to be perfectly solid, and internally to diff'er little in appearance from a healthy root, except
that they are of a more mealy and less compact consistency, and are interspersed with vadte numerous
and larger sap-vessels. The taste, too, is more acrid ; and, on this account, sheep neglect the diseased
plants. Towards the approach of autumn, the roots, in proportion as they are more or less diseased, be-
come gangrenous and rot, and are either broken (as frequently happens) by high winds, or gradually dis-
solved by the rain. Some, which have been partially diseased, survive the winter; but of the rest, at this
period, no other vestige remains than the vacant patches which they occupied at their first appearance.
There is no longer any doubt about the cause of this disease : it is the eff'ect of the deposition of the eggs
of a small fly (probably a Scarabae"*us) into the pitiiy parts of the roots, and the alburnous parts of the bulb,
which soon changing to a maggot, and ultimately to a perfect insect, eat their way out.
5440. For the prevention qf this disease, marl has been recommended by Sir Joseph Banks and others;
and where marl cannot be procured, it has been thought that an addition of moula of any kind, that has
not borne turnips, will be advantageous ; such as a dressing taken from banks, woodlands, ditches, &c.
and mixed up with a good dose of lime. But lime alone has been tried in vain ; and no great dependence
862 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part til.
can be placed upon fresh mould, as this disease has been known to prevail upon lands that had scarcely
ever before borne a crop of turnips {Farmer's Magazine, vol. xiii.)". The only effectual preventive would
be to hinder the insect from laying its eggs.
5441. The canker attacks the roots, and partly the bulbs, of turnips, and is known by the ulcerated ap-
pearance it produces. Some consider it owing to the presence of too much iron in the soil, and recommend
liming as a preventive.
5442. Wasting and putrefaction, from excess of water or frost, are to be prevented by earthing up the
bulbs, or taking up and storing.
Sect. III. The CaiTot. — T)auciis Carota L#. ; Pentandria Digynia L., and UinbelU-
ferce J. Carotte, Fr. j Gelbe Riibe, Ger. ; Carota, Ital. ; and Chirivia, Span.
5,443. The carrot is a biennial plant, a native of Britain ; but though long known as
a garden plant, it is comparatively but of recent introduction in agriculture. It appears
to have been cultivated from an early period in Germany and Flanders, and introduced
from the latter country to Kent and Suffolk early in the 16th century. As the carrot)
requires a deep soil, inclining to sand, it can never enter so generally into cultivation as
the potato or turnip; but, as observed by a judicious writer, it has been too much
neglected on lands where it would have yielded a more valuable product, perhaps, than
any bulbous or tap-rooted plant whatever. Several contradictory experiments in its
culture have been detailed in a number of publications, from which the practical hus-
bandman will be at a loss to draw any definite conclusion : but, in a recent communication
to the Board of Agriculture, from Robert Burrows, an intelligent Norfolk farmer, who
has cultivated carrots on a large scale, and with great success, for several years, so accurate
an account is presented of the culture, application, and extraordinary value of this root,
that carrots will probably soon enter more largely into the rotation of crops on suitable
soils. {Svpp. c^c.) This person had more experience than any one ; but he, after a few
years, discontinued to cultivate carrots so extensively as he did at tlie time the commu-
nication to the Board of Agriculture was made. The consumption of carrot seed in
Norfolk had, in 1821, diminished from three or four tons a year to as many cwts.
5444. The varieties of carrot cultivated in gardens are numerous, and readily increased
by the usual means ; but the only sort adapted for the field is the long red or field carrot.
New seed is most essential, as it will not vegetate in the second year. Old seed, or a
mixture of old and new, and also the mixture of the horn carrot, the seed of which is
sent over in large quantities from Holland, ought to be carefully avoided.
5445. 2%e best soil for the carrot is a deep rich sandy loam ; such a soil ought at least
to be a foot deep, and all equally good from top to bottom. On any other the field cul-
ture of the carrot will not answer.
5446. In preparing the soil for the carrot, it is essential to plough it before winter, that it may be pul-
verised by frost ; and to work it well by the plough and cultivator in spring, to at least the depth of a foot
This deep tillage may be perfectly accomplished either by means of the trench-plough following the
common one, or by the common one alone, with a good strength of team ; but the former method is to be
preferred, wherever the lands are inclined to be stiff or heavy. Three ploughings are mostly found suffi-
cient, where the land has been previously in a state of tillage; but more may in other cases be necessary.
The first ploughing should be made to the depth of ten, twelve, or fourteen inches, and be performed
when the soil is tolerably dry, about the beginning of October. It may remain in this condition till
towards the middle of February, when it shouid be turned over a second time, but in a cross direction, to
nearly the same depths. In March a third ploughing may be given, in order to the putting in of the seed.
This may be somewhat lighter than the preceding ones. As soon as the last ploughing has been given in
March, the land should be harrowed, and the surface made as fine as possible.
5447. In Suffolk the farmers sow carrots after turnips, barley, and peas set upon a rye-
grass ley ; the crops upon the first have generally been most productive ; next to that
they prefer the latter. In the first place, they feed off the turnips by the beginning of
February, and then lay the land up in small balks or furrows, in which state it remains
till the second week in March, when it is harrowed down, double furrowed to the depth
of about twelve inches, and the seed sown.
5448. The climate most suitable to the carrot is the same as for the turnip ; but, from
the depth to which their roots penetrate, they will thrive better than the turnip in a dry
and warm climate.
5449. Manure, according to some, should not be given to carrots the year they are
sown, as it is alleged that when the roots meet with it they become forked, scabbed, and
wormy. This, however, is chiefly applicable to cases in which recent unfermented
manure has been given, or where other manure has not been properly broken in pieces
and spread over the soil or in the drills. The Suffolk and Norfolk farmers, who are the
best carrot-growers, always use dung; a suitable proportion of well rotted farmyard
dung being constantly turned into the soil at the last ploughing in March . for it has been
fully shown, by various trials detailed in The Annals of Agriculture and other books on
husbandry, that though good crops of carrots may be occasionally grown without the use
of manure, it is only by the liberal appUcation of that substance that the greatest produce
possible can be obtained ; as they are in general found to bear a relative proportion to
the quantity that may have been employed.
5450. Burrows prepares the land with a good dressing of about sixteen cart-loads per acre of rotten
farmyard manure or cottager's ashes : the load is about as much as three able horses can draw; and, if
bought, costs about four shillings and sixpence per load, besides the carting on the land. He usually sows
Book VI. THE CARROT. 863
wheat stubbles after clover, ploughing the first time in autumn, and once more in the early part of the
month of February, if the weather permits ; setting on the manure at the time of sowing, which is about
the last week in March, or sometimes as late as the second week in April.
5451. In Suffolk, when carrots are intended to be soivn after peas, they usually plough the stubble as
soon as the harvest is over, in order that the land may clear itself of weeds ; in December it is laid up in
small balks, to receive the benefit of the frosts ; in February it is harrowed down, and manured at the
rate of fifteen loads per acre ; the manure is ploughed in to the depth of about four inches ; and in the
month of March the land is double furrowed, and the seed sown. By pursuing this method, they say, the
manure lies in the centre of the soil, and not only affords nourishment and support to the carrot in its
perpendicular progress, but renders it easy to be turned up by a single ploughing, and greatly promotes
the growth of the succeeding crop of barley. In Norfolk it is the practice to sow carrots after a crop of
turnips. The manure, after being put on the land in the beginning of March, is first ploughed in with a
common plough, and afterwards trench-ploughed about fourteen or fifteen inches deep ; it is then har-
rowed very fine, and the seed sown about the middle of March.
5452. The season preferred by Burrows for sowing the carrot is the last week in March
or first in April ; but he prefers the first period, having generally found early-sown crops
the most productive.
5453. The usual preparation of the seed for sowing, is mixing it with earth or sand, to
cause it to separate more freely ; but Burrows adds water, turns over the mixture of
seeds and moist earth several times, and thus brings it to the point of vegetating before
he sows it. " Having weighed the quantity of seed to be sown, and collected sand or
fine mould, in the proportion of about two bushels to an acre, I mix the seed with the
sand or mould, eight or ten pounds to every two bushels, and this is done about a fort-
night or three weeks before the time I intend sov/ing ; taking care to have the heaps
turned over every day, sprinkling the outside of them with water each time of turning
over, that every part of the sand heaps may be equally moist, and that vegetation may
take place alike throughout. I have great advantage in preparing the seed so long be-
forehand ; it is by this means in a state of forward vegetation, therefore lies but a short
time in the ground, and, by quickly appearing above ground, is more able to contend
with those numerous tribes of weeds in the soil, whose seeds are of quicker vegetation."
{Supp. ^c)
5454. Crude, the French translator of Von Thaer's work, describes in a note {torn. iv. 237.) a practice
nearly similar to that of Burrows. Crude uses sciure (night soil) instead of earth, and waters with the
drainings of dunghills. He keeps the mixture in a warm but shady situation for eight days ; by that
time the seed is nearly ready to vegetate, and he sows it immediately.
5455. The quantity of seed when carrots are sown in rows is two pounds per acre,
and for broad-cast sowing five pounds. Burrows sows ten pounds per acre in the
broad-cast manner.
5456. The usual mode of solving the carrot is broad-cast ; but a much better mode in
our opinion would be to sow them in rows at twelve or fourteen inches' distance ; draw-
ing the drills, and hoeing the intervals with any suitable drill and hoe.
5457. The most common practice, when carrots are best cultivated, is the hand or broad-cast method,
the seed being dispersed as evenly as possible over the land, after the surface has been reduced to a very
fine state of pulverisation by harrowing, in order to provide a suitable bed for it to vegetate in ; being then
covered in by means of a light harrow. As the seed of the carrot is not of a nature to be deposited with
much regularity by the drill, and as the young plants can be easily set out to proper distances in the opera-
tion of hoeing, this is probably the most appropriate method of putting such sort of seed into the ground;
and an additional proof of it is indeed found i]i its being that which is almost universally adopted in those
districts where carrot-husbandry is practised ro the greatest extent. But with the view of having the
after-culture of the crops more perfectly performed, and at the same time to save the great expense of
hand-labour in hoeing the crop, the drill method has been attempted by some cultivators, but we believe
without complete success. The work is finished in equidistant rows at the distance of from twelve to
fifteen or eighteen inches from each other, according to the mode of hoeing that is practised. In this
business some cultivators do not make use of drill-machines, but strike the land into small furrows by
hoes or other implements contrived for the purpose, and then cast the seed over the ground by the hand,
covering it in either by slight harrowing, or hoeing in the tops of the ridgelets. It is added, that " in this
method, where a drill-machine is used, it has been advised by an intelligent cultivator to deposit the seed
to the depth of one inch in the rows, leaving the spaces of fourteen inches between them as intervals ; the
seed in these cases being previously steeped in rain-water for twenty-four hours, and left to sprout, after
which it is mixed with saw-dust and dry mould, in the proportion of one peck and a half of each to a
pound of the seed. The land is afterwards lightly harrowed over once. Two pounds of seed in this mode
are found, as it has been observed, sufficient for an acre of land."
5458. The after-culture given the carrot consists entirely of hoeing and weeding.
5459. In Suffolk they are hoed generally three times in the season. The first time, as soon as the plants
can be distinguished from the weeds which surround them. The operation should be performed with
three-inch hoes, having handles not above two feet in length ; and it requires great attention, as it is ex-
tremely difficult to distinguish and separate the young carrots from the weeds. The second hoeing should
be given in three or four weeks afterwards, according to the forwardness of the crop ; it may be performed
with common hoes, care being taken to set out the plants at proper distances. From eight to fifteen or
eighteen inches, each way, are the common distances at which they are allowed to stand ; and it has been
proved, from many years' experience in districts where they are most cultivated, that carrots which grow
at such distances always proves a more abundant crop than when the plants are allowed to stand closer
together. The third hoeing is commonly given about the middle or end of June ; and in this, besides
destroying the weeds, another material circumstance to be attended to is, to set out the carrots at proper
distances, and also, wherever any have been left double at the former hoeings, to take the worse of the
two plants away.
5460. Carrots sown according to the plan of Burrows are ready to hoe within about five or six weeks.
He hoes three and sometimes tour times, or until the crop is perfectly clean : the first hoeing is with hoes
four inches long, and two and a quarter inches wide. The second hoeing invariably takes place as soon
as the first is completed, and is performed with six-inch hoes, by two and a quarter inches wide. By this
time the plants are set ; the first time of hoeing nothing was cut but the weeds. He leaves the plants nine
inches apart from each other j sometimes they will be a foot, or even farther asunder.
864 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
5461. Carrots are taken up generally in the last week of October. Burrows's prac-
tice is to let the work to a man who engages women and children to assist him. The
work is performed with three-pronged forks ; the children cut off the tops, laying them
and the roots in separate heaps, ready for the teams to take away.
5462. " / take tip in autumn a sufficient quantity to have a store to last me out any considerable frost or
snow that may happen in the winter months ; the rest of the crop I leave in the ground, preferring them
fresh out of the earth for both horses and bullocks. The carrots keep best in the ground, nor can the
severest frosts do them any material injury ; the first week in March it is necessary to have the remain-
ing part of the crop taken up, and the land cleared for barley. The carrots can either be laid in a heap
with a small quantity of straw over them, or they may be laid into some empty outhouse or barn, in heaps
of many hundred bushelsj provided they are put together dry. This latter circumstance it is indispensably
necessary to attend to ; for if laid together in large heaps when wet, they will certainly sustain mucn injury.
When selecting such as I want to keep for the use of my horses until the months of May and June, in
drawing over the heaps (which should be done in the latter end of April, when the carrots begin to sprout
at the crown very fast) I throw aside the healthy and most perfect roots, and have their crowns cut com-
pletely off and laid by themselves ; by this means, carrots may be kept the month of June out in a high
state of perfection." (Communications to the Boaid of Agriculture, vol. vii. p. 72.)
5463. Storing a whole crop of carrots niay be a desirable practice when winter wheat is
to follow them, in which case the same mode may be adopted as for turnips or potatoes,
but with fewer precautions against the frost, as the carrot, if perfectly dry, is very little
injured by tliat description of weather.
5464. The j)roduce of an acre of carrots in Suffolk, according to Arthur Young, is at
an average 350 bushels ; but Burrows's crops averaged upwards of 800 bushels per
acre, which considerably exceeds the largest crop of potatoes.
5465. The uses to which the carrot is applied in Suffolk are various. Large quanti-
ties are sent tq the London markets, and also given as food to different kinds of live
stock. Horses are remarkably fond of carrots ; and it is even said, that when oats and
carrots are given together, the horses leave the oats and eat the carrots. The ordinary
allowance is about forty or fifty pounds a day to each horse. Carrots when mixed with
chaff, that is, cut straw, and a little hay, without corn, keep horses in excellent condition
for performing all kinds of ordinary labour. The farmers begin to feed their horses with
carrots in December, and continue to give them chiefly that kind of provender till the
beginning or middle of M^y ; to which jieriod, with proper care, carrots may be pre-
served. As many of the farmers in that country are of opinion that carrots are not so
good for horses in winter as in spring, they give only half the above allowance of carrots
at first, and add a little corn for a few weeks after they begin to use carrots.
5466. The application of the carrot to the feeding of working cattle and hogs is thus detailed by Bur-
rows : — " T begin to take up the carrot crop in the last week of October, as at that time 1 generally finish
soiling my horses with lucern, and now solely depend upon my carrots, with a proper allowance of hay, as
winter food for my horses, until about the first week of June following, when the lucern is again ready for
soiling. By reducing this practice to a system, I have been enabled to feed ten cart-horses throughout
the winter months for these last six years, without giving them any coi-n whatever, and have at the same
time effected a considerable saving of hay, from what I found necessary to give to the same number of
horses, when, according to the usual custom of the country, I fed my horses with corn and hay. I give
them to my cart-horses in the proportion of seventy pounds' weight of carrots a horse per day, upon an
average ; not allowing them quite so many in the very short days, and sometimes more than that quantity
in the spring months, or to the amount of what I withheld in the short winter days. The men who tend
the horses slice some of the carrots in the cut chafi'or hay, and barn-door refuse ; the rest of the carrots
they give whole to the horses at night, with a small quantity of hay in their racks ; and with this food my
horses generally enjoy uninterrupted health. I mention this, as I believe that some persons think that
carrots only, given as' food to horses, are injurious to their constitutions ; but most of the prejudices of
mankind have no better foundation, and are taken up at random, or inherited from their grandfathers.
So successful have I been with carrots, as a winter food for horses, that with the assistance of lucern for
soiling in summer, I have been enabled to prove by experiments conducted under my own personal in-
spection, that an able Norfolk team-horse, fully worked two journeys a day, winter and summer, may be
kept the entire year round upon the produce of only one statute acre of land. I have likewise applied
carrots with great profit to the feeding of hogs in winter, and by that means have made my straw into a
most excellent manure, without the aid of neat cattle; the hogs so fed are sold on Norwich hill to the
London dealers as porkers." The profit of carrots so applied he shows in a subsequent statement,
together with an experiment of feeding four Galloway bullocks with carrots, against four others fed in
the common way with turnips and hay. {Conif?iunicatio7is, &c.)
5467. In comparing the carrot with the potato, an additional circumstance greatly in favour of the former* "I""
is, that it does not require to be steamed or boiled, and it is not more difficult to wash than the '•rtl
potato. These and other circumstances considered, it appears to be the most valuable of all roots for
working horses.
5468. The use of the carrot in domestic economy is well known. Their produce of nutritive matter, as
ascertained by Sir H. Davy, amounts to ninety. eight parts in one thousand, of which three are starch,
and ninety-five sugar. They are used in the dairy in winter and spring to give colour and flavour to but-
ter. In the distillery, owing to the great proportion of sugar in their composition, they yield more spirit
than the potato : the usual quantity is twelve gallons per ton. They are excellent in soups, stews, and
haricots, and boiled whole with salt beef,
5469. To save carrot seed, select annually some of the moi* perfect and best-shaped
roots in the taking-up season, and either preserve them in sand in a cellar till spring,
or plant them immediately in an open airy part of the garden, protecting them with
litter during severe frosts, or earthing them over, and uncovering them in March follow-
ing. The seed is in no danger of being contaminated by any other plant, as the wild
carrot, even should it happen to grow in the neighbourhood, flowers later. In August
it vnW be fit to gather, and is best preserved on the stalks till wanted. This is the most
Book VI. THE PARSNEP. 865
certain mode of procuring genuine and new seed, but still it will be found advisable to
change it occasionally.
5470. The diseases of carrots are only those which are common to most plants, such as
mildew, insects, &c. The mildew and worms at the root frequently injure crops, and
are to be guarded against as far as practicable by a proper choice of soil, season of sowing,
and after-culture.
Sect. IV. The Parsnep. — Fastindca sativa h. ; Pentandria Digynia 1j., and Umhel^
lifercE J. Le Panais, Fr. ; Pastinake, Ger. ; Pastinaca, Ital. ; and Zanahoria, Span.
5471. The parsnep is a biennial plant with a fusiform root like the carrot, and nearly
equal in its products of nutritive and saccharine matter. It is a native of most parts of
Europe and generally cultivated in gardens, but is only of late and very partial intro-
duction as a field plant. Its culture has been chiefly confined to the Island of Jersey,
where it attains a large size, and is much esteemed for fattening cattle and pigs. It
is considered rather more hardy than the carrot, and its produce is said to be greater. It
may be sown either in autumn or spring, and its seed admits of drilling by machinery.
The plants when they come up are more easily recognised than carrots, and consequently
their culture is on the whole more simple, less dependent on manual labour, and,
therefore, more suited to farming. For the rest, their culture is the same as that of the
carrot.
5472. The variety best suited for the field is the large Jersey, the seed of which should
be procured from the island, as that of the garden parsnep sold by the seedsmen never
attains the same size.
5473. The soil, preparation, and manure for this plant are the same as for the
carrot.
5474. The quantity of seed for sowing in drills is from four to five pounds per acre,
and for broad-cast six or eight pounds. It must always be new, as two years'
seed does not come up freely. It may or may not be prepared by steeping ; but it re-
quires no earth or sand, or rubbing, like carrot seed, as it passes freely through the same
drill that will sow tares or peas.
5475. The time of sowing is generally about the middle of February ; but some sow
in September, in which case the seed does not vegetate till early in spring. The latter
method, however, is obviously against the culture of the soil, which must thus remain a
year in a consolidated state.
5476. The manner of sowing is generally in drills at fifteen or eighteen inches' distance ;
but some sow broad-cast, and harrow in the seed ; and in Jersey parsneps and beans are
generally cultivated together. The beans are first dibbled in, and afterwards the parsnep
seed scattered over the surface and harrowed. It is acknowledged that a good crop of
both plants is never obtained ; and therefore, though this mode may be found to answer
in the mild climate of Jersey, it is not to be imitated in other places. Drills and broad-
cast without any intermixture of plants are the only advisable modes.
5477. The after-culture and taking up are the same as for the carrot, vnth this difference,
that the parsnep when sown broad-cast is generally thinned out to twelve inches, at an
average, plant from plant ; and, when in rows eighteen inches apart, to nine inches in
the row.
5478. The produce is said to be greater than that of carrots ; and the economical ap-
plication the same. In the fattening of cattle it is found equal if not superior, perform-
ing the business with as much expedition, and affording meat of exquisite flavour and a
highly juicy quality. The animals eat it with much greediness. It is reckoned that
thirty perches, where the crop is good, will be sufficient to fatten a perfectly lean ox of
three or four years old, in the course of three months. They are given in the proportion
of about thirty pounds' weight morning, noon, and night ; the large ones being split in
three or four pieces, and a little hay supplied in the intervals of those periods. Indeed,
the result of experiment has shown that not only neat cattle, but hogs and poultry, be-
come fat much sooner, and are more bulky, than when fed with any other root or vege-
table ; and that the meat is more sweet and delicate. The parsnep is excellent food for
cows ; and, with hay during winter, the cows of Jersey and Guernsey yield butter of a
fine yellow hue, of a saffron tinge, as excellent as if they had been in the most luxuriant
pasture. In these islands beans are cultivated along with parsneps, in double rows,
twelve feet asunder, and the beans eighteen inches apart every way. The beans are
planted first, and the ground afterwards harrowed, and the parsneps sown broad-cast.
{Com. to B. of Agr. vol. i. p. 215.)
5479. Parsnep leaves, being more bulky than those of carrots, maybe mown off before
taking up the roots, and given to cows, oxen, or horses, by which they will be greedily
eaten.
5480. The use of the' parsnep in domestic economy is nearly the same as that of the
carrot. They are much esteemed to salt fisli, and are sometimes roasted for that purpose.
3 K
866 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. ' Paut III
Their produce in nutritive matter is 99 parts in 1000, of which 9 are mucilage and 90
sugar. Gerarde says, that a very good bread was made from them in his time. They
afford as much spirit as the carrot, and make an excellent wine.
5481. To save parsnep seed, proceed as with the carrot. The parsnep, being more
hardy and luxuriant than the carrot, is less liable to the mildew and worms, but equally
so to become forked if the soil be not deep and well pulverised, and the manure minutely
divided and equally distributed.
Sect. V. The Field Beet. — l^eta L. ; Pentdndria Digynia L., and ChenophdecB J. Bet-
terave Champetre, Fr. ; Mangold-wurzel, Ger. ; Biettola, Ital. ; and Betarraga, Span.
5482. The field-beet, commonly called tlie mangold- wUrzel, and sometimes erroneously
the root of scarcity (in German majigel wiirzel), is supposed by Professor Thaer to be a
mongrel between the red and white beet. It has a much larger bulb than either, and
that bulb, in some varieties, grows in great part above ground. It has been a good deal
cultivated in Germany and Switzerland, both for its leaves and roots ; the leaves are
either used as spinach or given to cattle j and the roots are either given to cattle, used in
distillation, or in the manufacture of sugar. The culture of the field-beet in Britain is
very recent, and it may be questioned whether it has any advantages over the turnip for
general agricultural purposes. It admits, however, of being cultivated on ridgelets and
with as little manual labour as the turnip, while it will prosper on a stronger soil, and
near large towns it is not liable to the depredations usually committed on turnips or car-
rots, as the root is unpalatable either raw or boiled.
5483. The variety preferred in Germany is one slightly tinged with red for cattle, and
the pale yellow variety for the distillery and sugar manufacture. The seed must not
exceed a year old, and great care should be taken that the seed of the common red and
white beet are not mixed with it. The seed of every variety of beet is very apt to dege-
nerate.
5484. Any soil will suit this plant provided it is rich : immense crops have been raised
on strong clays ; but such soils are not easily prepared for this sort of crop, and are also
ill adapted for after-culture.
5485. The preparation should be exactly the same as for turnips; and the seed should be sown on the
ridgelets in the same manner. Some, however, dibble in the seed in order to save the expense of thinning.
The season of sowing is the same as for the parsnep, and should not be deferred later than the middle of
April. The afterculture consists in horse-hoeing, hand-hoeing, and weeding, as in the culture of the
turnip, and the plants are thinned out to about the same distance in the rows. Blanks may be filled up by
transplanting, or, as in the case of the Swedish turnip, whole crops may be reared in this way ; but the
produce is never so large. As the transplanting, however, takes place in May, more time is afforded, and
drier weather obtained for cleaning the soil. The plants are set by the dibbler along the centre of the
ridgelets, which are previously consolidated by rolling.
5486. The produce is, cceteris paribus, about the same as that of the Swedish turnip ;
but the nutritive matter afforded by the beet is 136 parts in 1000, of which 13 are
mucilage, 1 1 9 sugar, and 4 gluten. According to Von Thaer, they afford ten per cent,
of nutritive matter, and are in that respect to hay as 10 to 46, and to potatoes as 20 to
46. An acre would thus appear to afford more nourishment than turnips, carrots, or
parsneps.
5487. Practical men are not agreed as to the value of this root, compared with the Swedish turnip ; but
the majority seem to think, that as a food for milk cows, the mangold is to be preferred, more especially as
it gives no unpleasant taste to the milk and butter. It has this advantage over turnips, that it thrives
better than they do in a dry warm season, being a plant that naturally requires more light and heat than
the turnip.
5488. The application of the field-beet is almost confined to the fattening of stock, and
feeding of milch cows. Near London they are in repute for the latter purpose ; and,
according to Von Thaer, they cause a great increase of milk, as well as improve its
flavour. The tops are first taken off, and given by themselves ; and then the roots are
taken up, washed, and given raw. The roots are much more easily injured by frost than
the turnip, carrot, or parsnep, and are stored with difficulty. The leaves make a very
good spinach, but the roots cannot be used in cooking like those of the red beet.
In the distillery it is nearly half as productive as the potato ; but, according to Von
Thaer, it is not likely to yield much profit in the manufacture of sugar.
5489. The manufacture of sugar from mangold wiirxel is still, however, carried on in France, and,
although we think it can never ultimately compete with that from the cane, it seems of late years to be
on the increase. "We shall therefore give a short account of the process, premising that the greatest quan-
tity of sugar is not obtained from the greatest bulk of root, but rather from small roots produced from dry
calcareous soils, at the rate of from fifteen to twenty .five tons an acre. One cwt of sugar is the general
produce obtained by the most perfect apparatus from one ton of root. As soon as the leaves begin to turn
yellow, the root maybe said to have arrived at maturity; and it is time to take up the crop, and to begin
the process of sugar-making, an operation which continues from October to February in the larger manu-
factories. Take the roots up dry, and keep them so ; the smaller the heap the better, because the least
fermentation will effectually prevent the formation of sugar. The difference in amount and quality of
sugar is always in favour of that made at the beginning of the season. The root, in keeping, undergoes
a chemical change, often amounting to a total l(3ss of its saccharine matter ; although its outward appear-
ance indicates no such change.
5490. Process of sugar-tnaking. The roots should first be washed, and then rasped, to reduce thein to
a state of pulp. Of course, in large manufactories, they are provided with rasping machines ; and it is
Book VI. THE CABBAGE. Rfi7
somewhat difficult to find a substitute on a small scale. I should imagine, though, that a stout iron jilato,
punched with triangular holes, the rough edges of which are left standing, somewhat alter the manner of
a nutmeg-grater, might answer the purpose, only that I would have it somewhat concave instead
of convex. Upon the rough side of this plate 1 would rub the roots by hand. If there should be
a cider-mill and press within a reasonable distance, it might answer to take the roots thither, slice
them, and pass them through the mill. When by these or any other means they are retiuced to
pulp, the juice should be pressed from the pulp, which is thus done : — It is put into canvass bags,
not too fine, so as to impede the running of the juice, nor yet so coarse as to let the pulp through the
meshes. The bags should be so fitted as, when pressed, to occupy about an inch in depth. Most manu-
factories use about twenty-five of these bags at one pressing, but this depends on the power of the press.
Between every bag of pulp is laid a sort of osier hurdle, to allow the juice to percolate freely from the
press into the juice-cistern below. The operation of pressing should immediately follow that of rasping.
This point should be particularly attended to.
5491. Defecation. The juice being expressed from the pulp, the next process is the defecation of the
juice, and here, too, no time should be lost. This is effected by boiling : a copper boiler should be used.
Get up the fire till the thermometer indicates 170° or 178°. Then add sifted lime (quick) previously
mixed with water, at the rate of five or six pounds for every 100 gallons of juice. Stir it well up, and
skim the liquor. Heat it till the thermometer reaches 200° Add sulphuric acid in small portions,
diluted with six times its bulk of water, to neutralise the effect of the lime, stirring it briskly e.ich time.
The proper quantity is ascertained by carefully examining the juice every time the acid is added, with a
drop of syrup of violets in a spoon, which ought to turn of a green colour. About thirty ounces of the
acid to every 100 gallons of juice will be necessary This done, the fire is quenched, and the boiler left
to settle for half an hour ; at the end of which time, the liquor is drawn off": by some, bullock's blood
is added when the temperature of the juice reaches 190° in the proportion of two pints and a half to every
twenty gallons of juice. Some, too, apply the sulphuric acid to the juice when cold, instead of hot, viz.
before the boiler-fire is lighted ; and one recommends its being applied to the pulp before it goes into the
boiler : but all this practice will decide.
.'J49i?. Concentration. The next process is concentration of the juice, which means nothing more than
evaporating from it the water therein contained. This is effected by flat pans, over a brisk fire, but not
so as to burn the syrup, which is the great danger in this operation. When reduced in pan 1 from
4 to 12 inches or so in depth, it is put into a smaller pan (2), and reduced to the same depth, and after-
wards into a third pan. These three removals are the work of an hour and a half If the syrup rises,
and threatens to overflow the pan, put in a small lump of butter, which will make it subside.
5+93. Clarification. This the next operation, and may be carried on in one of the pans used for con-
centration. Animal charcoal (some have even used wood charcoal) is now applied, at the rate of half a
pound for every gallon of syruji, which renders it perfectly black and muddy. In this state, add blood
mixed with water (stirred up well with the syrup), in the proportion of about a pint and a half of blood
to every twenty gallons of syrup.
5494. Boil it a short time, after which it is filtered, and then boiled again, care being taken not to burn
the pan. Great care is necessary in examining the state of the syrup from time to time. The thermometer
ought to stand as high as 2.'54° ; on attaining which, the pan should be emptied : eighteen gallons of syrup
will be reduced, by boiling, to eleven gallons. The syrup is next cooled in a suitable vessel to 182° or
190", and then run into moulds ; but the cooling is very gradual. The pan is covered, and the heat kept
in by closing the edges with flannel. The syrup is then poured into large earthen moulds cone-shaped,
and with a hole at bottom, through which the molasses drains. This hole is temporarily stopped till the
mould is full A mould contains ten or twelve gallons, and requires a month to purge itself. As it cools,
it crystalises. The syrup, whilst filling, is at 67'^ to 77° ; but, in the course of purging, it is raised to 120<^
and even 14.50, which expedites the flow of the molasses. Our next process is turning the moulds, i. e.
setting the cones on their bases, and taking them out of the moulds. 'I'he point of the cone is moist and
syrupy : this is cut off, and boiled over again with the molasses. Thus far the process of making brown
sugar : refining is a different business, and one which there is no occasion to particularise here. It is to
be observed, that copper utensils are preferred to those of iron, the latter having a chemical effect on the
sugar. {Gard. Mag. vol. vi. pp. 150, 151.)
5495. To save seed, select the finest specimens, preserve them in sand during winter,
and plant them in an airy part of the garden in March. The rest is easy.
5496. To diseases no plant is less liable than the beet.
Sect. VI. The Cabbage Tribe. — Brdssica L. ; Tetradyndmia Siliqubsa L., and Cni-
ciferce J. Chou, Fr. ; Kohl, Ger. ; Cavolo, Ital. ; and Col, Span.
5497. The cabbage tribe is of the greatest antiquity in gardens, and most of the species
may be cultivated in the fields with success. For the common purposes of fanning,
however, there can be little doubt that they will afford less profit than any of the plants
hitherto treated of in this chapter ; but near large towns or sea-ports they may answer
the purpose of the farm-gardener. Cabbage culture, Brown observes, is much more
hazardous, far less profitable, and attended with infinitely more trouble, than that of
turnips ; while the advantages to be derived are not, in our opinion, of a description to
compensate the extra hazard and trouble thereby incurred.
5498. The culture of cabbage has been strongly recommended by several speculative
agriculturists, and examples adduced of extraordinary produce and profits ; but any plant
treated in an extraordinary manner will give extraordinary results ; and thus an inferior
production may be made to appear more valuable than it really is. One reason why so
much has been said in their favour, by Arthur Young and other southern farmers, is,
tliat they compare them with the produce of turnips, which, in the south of England, is
averaged at only fifteen tons per acre.
5499. The variety of cabbage, cultivated in the fields for cattle, is almost exclusively
the large field cabbage, called also the Scotch, Strasburg, drumhead, &c. For the pur-
poses of domestic economy, other varieties of early and late cabbage, as the York, Bat-
tersea, sugar-loaf, imperial, &c. are grown ; and also German greens, Savoy cabbage, and
even Brussels sprouts and broccoli.
5500. The cow cabbage. Cesarean cole, or tree cabbage (.Brassica olerJlcea L. var. acfephala Dec. ; Chou
cavalier, Chou a vaches, Chou branchu, Chou en arbre, Chou mille teles, Fr. ; Caulet, Flein,), is much cul.
3 K-2
868 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
tivated for milch cows in French Flanders, the Netherlands, and in Jersey and Guernsey; and it has
been introduced, at different periods, into this country, without having ever come into general culti-
vation. The Chou caulet de Flandre differs from the French variety in having red leaves; and the Chou
vert branchu, the Chou milletttes du Foitenu, differs from the first in not growing quite so high, and in
forming a somewhat tufted head. No variety among these, and the many that might be named, appear j so
suitable for field culture in the climate of Britain as the Scotch or drumhead cabbage.
5501. In Jcrsei/ the coiv cabbai^e is sown from aboui the 2()th of August to the 1st of September, in a
good soil, and planted out from November to January and February in succession, at from twenty to
thirty inches' distance, in a good, substantial, well manured soil ; as no plant is more exhausting, or
requires a better soil ; but perhaps no one plant produces so large a quantity of nutriment during its period
of vegetation. About the month of April they begin (from the first crop) to strip the under leaves ; cut
them in small pieces; mix them with sour milk and bran, or other farinaceous substances ; and give them
as food to ducks, geese, hogs, &c. During the whole summer tTiey continue stripping the plant as above
stated, until it attains the height of from six to twelve feet ; and if a scarcity of herbage prevails, thegreen
leaves form excellent food for cows and oxen, with alternate feeds of hay and straw. The tops and side
shoots are excellent at table during winter and spring. The longest of the stalks are frequently used to
support scarlet runners and other French beans, and as cross rafters for farm buildpigs, under thatch, and
have been known to last more than half a century, when kept dry, for the latter purpose. {Gard. Mag.
vol. V.)
5502. JlriJ/ soil that is rich will suit the cabbage, but a strong loam is preferred. The
best mode of preparation for field cabbage is that for potatoes or turnips, the plants being
dibbled along the centre of each ridgelet. For early cabbage no ridgelets are required,
as the plants are inserted in rows, by a line, at much narrower distances.
5503. The season for planting, for a full crop of field cabl)ages, is usually March ;
but cabbages may be planted as late as June, and produce a tolerable crop by
November; and in this way they may sometimes be made to succeed an unsuc-
cessful sowing of turnips. The plants used in March should be the produce of seed
sown, in an open loamy part of the garden, in the preceding August; but those planted
in May or June may be the produce of seed sown in the February or March of the
same year.
5504. The preparation given to the plants consists in pinching off the extremity of their tap-root, and
any tubercles which appear on the root or stem, and in immersing the root and stem in a puddle, or mix-
ture of earth and water, to protect the fibres and pores of the root and stem from the drought. The plants
may tlien be inserted by the dibber, taking care not to plant them too deep, and to press the earth firmly
to the lower extremity of the root. If this last point is not attended to in planting by the dibber, the
plants will either die, or, if kept alive by the moisture of the soil or rain, their progress will be \ ery slow.
When the distance between the ridgelets is twenty-seven inches, the plants are set about two feet asunder
in the rows ; and the quantity required for an acre is about 6000 plants. Some recommend sowing as for
turnips; but, by this mode, one of the advantages of a green crop is infringed on, viz. the time given
to clean the land. Where cabbages are sown, that operation must be performed at least a month sooner
than if they were planted ; consequently, the best month of the cleaning season is lost. To plant or sow
a green crop on land in good heart, that does not require cleaning, will seldom be found good husbandry.
It may succeed near large towns, where roots and other green produce sell high, but it can never enter into
any general system of farming.
5505. The after-culture consists in horse and hand-hoeing and weeding ; and the crop
is taken by chopping off the heads with a spade, leaving an inch or two of stalk to each.
They may be preserved by housing, btit only for a short time. The produce is said to
be from thirty-five to forty tons per acre. Sir H. Davy found that 1000 parts of cab-
bage gave seventy-three of nutritive matter, of which forty-one are mucilage, twenty-four
saccharine matter, and eight gluten.
5506. The application ofthejield cabbage is generally to the feeding of milch cows, and
sometimes to the fattening of oxen and sheep. For the former purpose, great care must
be taken to remove the outside decaying leaves ; otherwise they are apt to ^ive an un-
pleasant flavour to the milk and butter. Cabbages are also eaten by swine and horses,
and are reckoned excellent food for sheep that have newly dropped their lambs, and for
calves. A cow will eat from 100 to 150lbs. of cabbage per day, and a sheep ten or
twelve pounds, besides a moderate allowance of hay. Some farmers consider that ewes
fatten faster on cabbages than on turnips, and that ewes having lambs are much more
prolific in milk when so fed. (^Country Times, Feb. 8. p. 47.) Early or garden cabbages
are sold to green-grocers, or to the consumers, or to ships' victuallers for the purpose of
being pickled or made into sour crout.
5507. Salted cabbage, or sauerkraut, is thus prepared in Germany : — Any sort of cabbage or kail, or
even turnips and kidneybeans, may be prepared in this way ; but white, compact-headed, large cabbages
are preferred, and next compact-headed red cabbages. The first process of preparing them is to scoop
out the interior part of the stalk, with an iron instrument or scoop ; they are then cut into small shreds
by a wooden machine, composed of a flat board or tray, which has a ledge on two sides, to steady a box or
frame into which the cabbages are put. In the middle of the board are four flat pieces of steel, similar to
the steel part of a spokeshave, placed in an oblique direction ; and the near edge of each being a little
raised up, with small spaces between each, to let the shreds fall down into a tub placed underneath to
receive them. The cabbages are then put into the box before described, which is pushed backwards and
forwards, when the cabbages, being cut by the steel, fall in small shreds into a tub placed below. A barrel
stands by ready to receive them when cut, the sides of which are first washed with vinegar. A man stands
on a chair by the barrel, with clean wooden shoes on, whose business it is to salt and prepare them, which
is done in the following manner : the man first takes as much of the cut cabbage as covers about four
inches above the bottom ; he next strews upon it two handfuls of salt, one handful of unground pepper,
and a small quantity of salad oil; he then gets into the barrel, and treads it down with his wooden shoes
till it is well mixed and compact. He next takes another layer of cabbage, and puts salt and pepper on it
as before, and treads it again, and so goes on till the barrel is filled. A board is then placed on it, and
upon the board some very heavy weights are put ; and it remains so ten or fifteen days, when it partially
ferments, and a great deal of water swims on the surface : it is then put into the cellar for -use. Thp men
Book VI.
THE CABBAGE &c.
8C9
who prepare sauerkraut are Tyrolese, and carry their machine (fig. 7(57.), which has not been invcnti d
more than ten or twelve years, on their backs from house to house. This machine contains a cutting tray
t«), box mto wliich the cabbages are placed (6), scoop (c), and tub into which the shreds fall ((/^ iGoid.
Ma" vol.iiL p. 343.) '' ^
5508. Newton's machine /of- chopping cabbage or other vegetables, roots, or meat {Jig. 7GS ), con.'sists of
five knives let into an iron plate, and the latter
is screwed to the working bar. The knives are
fastened, by bolts passing through them, close
under and above the iron plate. 'I'he sliding
plate is for the purpose of preventing the meat
from being scattered; and to this plate are added
scrapers, which are screwed underneath, for the
purpose of cleaning the knives at every stroke.
A spring raises the knives, and enables any person
to chop at least twenty times as much meat, in
the same time, as can be done by the common
mode. The length of the knives being equal to
the breadth of the trough, no meat can possibly
escape the knives ; nor will the meat require so
much turning as is usually wanted. When it
does require turning, it is easily done by alter-
nately pressing the knive- at either end of the
trough, sliding them towards the middle. 'I'he
machine is also applicable for cutting fat, suet,
&c. previously to rendering them into tallow ;
likewise to chopping madder and other roots for
calico printers, or as used in their recent state
for dyers ; and for dividing potatoes, carrots, and
other esculent roots, cabbage for sauer kraut, and
roots used in feeding cattle. {Smith''s Mechanic, vol. ii. p. SeO.)
5509. To save cabbage seed, select a few fine specimens, and plant them by themselves
where they will be in no danger of being contaminated by others of the i^rassica tribe
when in tiower. The seed will keep many years.
5510. The diseases of cabbages are the same as those of the turnip, with the exception
of the forked excrescence. On the roots of the plants are frequently found knobs, which,
in the preparation for transplanting, should, as we have already observed, be carefully
remGvedrjrnxjj wni^
,'SJBCT>x,S5IJ[»h;- OfA^ Plants which might be cultivated in the Fields for their Roots or Leaves,
•itoui iljoxa 'jv. OS Food for Ma?i or Cuttle, in a recent State.
' '5M^1. livery hardy garden plant may be cultivated in the fields, and with very little
manual labour. Accordingly we find onions, spinach, cress, radishes, and even cucum-
bers, grown by farmers, or farm gardeners in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, and
also in other places. None of these plants, however, can be considered as belonging to
agriculture ; nor should we notice those which follow, but because they have been tried
and recommended by zealous cultivators, and are treated of in some works on farming.
No plant can be considered as belonging to agriculture that is not in sufficient demand,
or of sufficient general use in feeding stock, as to admit of its frequent occurrence in
rotations ; and such certainly cannot be said to be the case with the Jerusalem artichoke
and lettuce, now about to be noticed.
."JSIS. The Jevjisalem artichoke (//elianthus tuberbsus L. ; Topinambour, Fr.) is a tuberous-rooted plant,
with leafy stems from four to six feet high. It thrives well on soft moist soils, and even, it is said, on
moist peat soils ; and it is alleged that its tops will afford as much fodder per acre as a crop of oats, or
more, and its roots half as many tubers as an ordinary crop of potatoes. [Agricultural Magazine, 1807-8.)
The soil rtay be cultivated in all respects like the potato. The tubers, being abundant in the market
gardens, are to be had at little more than the price of potatoes. The Hbres of the stems may be separated
by maceration, and manufactured into cordage or cloth ; and this is said to be done in some parts of the
north and west of France, as about Hagenau, where this plant, on the poor sandy soils, is an object of
field culture.
3 K 3
870
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
.W1.3. The common Cos lettuce (Lactuca satlva /-.) has been grown for feeding pigs, and other purposes.
Arthur Young informs us, in his Calendar of Husbandry, that he first observed the sowing of lettuces
for hogs practised, on a pretty regular system, on tlie farm of a very intelligent cultivator (not at all a
whimsical man) in Sussex. He had every year an acre or two, which afforded a great quantity of very
valuable food for his sows and pigs. He adds, that it yields milk amply, and all sorts of swine are very
fond of it; and he thinks that the economical farmer who keeps many hogs should take care to have a
succession of crops for these animals, that his carts may not be lor ever on the road for purchased grains,
or his granary opened for corn oftener than is necessary. To raise this sort of cr' p, the land should have
been ploughed before the winter frosts, turning in by that earth twenty loads of rich dung per acre, and
making the ridges of the right breadth to suit the drill-machine and horse-hoes, so that in the month of
March nothing more may be necessary than to scarify the land, and to drill the seed at one foot equi-
distant, at the rate of four pounds of seed per acre. Where the stock of swine is large, it is proper to drill
half an acre or an acre of lettuce in April, the land having been well manured and ploughed as directed
above, being also scuffled in February and March, and well harrowed, repeating it before drilling : and at
this period, the crop which was drilled in March (a succession being essentially necessary) should be
thinned in the rows by hand, to about nine or ten inches asunder, if this necessary attention be neglected,
the plants, he says, draw themselves up weak and poor, and will not recover it. Women do this business
as well as men. When about six inches high, they should be horse-hoed with a scarifier or scuffler, having
the hoe about four inches, or at most five inches in width. With this sort of green food, some kind of
meal or other dry meat should be combined, as without it it is apt to prove very laxative, &c. This Sussex
cultivator is not likely to be followed by any rent-paying farmer who can grow any of the clovers, turnip.s, or
potatoes. The quotation affords a good specimen of Arthur Young's mode of writing on agricultural subjects.
5514. The chicccyry , wild endive, or succory (Cichbrium 7'ntybus L. ; Chicorte sauvage, Fr. fig. 769.) has
long, thick, perpendicular roots, a tuft of endive or lettuce-looking
leaves ; and, when it shoots into flower, its stems rise from one to
three feet high, rigid, rough, branched, and clothed with leaves and
blue flowers. It is found wild in dry calcareous soils in England, and
in most parts of Europe of similar or greater temperature. It is culti-
vated in France as an herbage and pasturage plant, and in (Jermany
and Flanders for its roots, from which a substitute for coffee is pre-
pared. It was first cultivated in this country, about 1780, by Arthur
Young, who holds it in very high estimation. It is of such conse-
quence, he says, for different purposes of the farm, that on various
sorts of soil the farmer cannot, without its use, make the greatest
possible profit. Where it is intended to lay a field to grass for three,
four, or six years, in order to rest the land, or to increase the quan-
tity of sheep food, there cannot, he thinks, be any hesitation in using
it. There is no plant to rival it. Lucern, he says, demands a rich
soil, and will always be kept as long as it is productive; but upon
inferior land it is not an equal object. Upon blowing sands, or upon
any soil that is weak and poor, and wants rest, there is no plant, he
supposes, that equals this. On such sort of blowing poor sandy lands
as many districts abound with, especially in Norfolk and Suffolk, it
will yield a greater quantity of sheep food than any other plant at pre-
sent in cultivation. On fen and bog lands, and peat soils, it also
thrives to much profit. On all land where clover, from having been
too often repeated, is apt to fail, chiccory may be substituted to great
advantage. It does very well for soiling cattle, both lean and fatten-
ing. It is of excellent use for those who keep a large stock of swine ;
and it docs exceedingly well in an alternate system of grass and
tillage, as it will last four, five, six, and even more years ; but it should
not be sown with any view of making hay in this climate, though it forms a considerable proportion of
many of the best meadows in the south of France, and in Lombardy. It has, however, he adds, been
objected to, on the ground of its rising and becoming a vivacious weed in succeeding crops : and if this
circumstance be not guarded against, it will, he says, happen ; but not more than with lucern, nor so
much. But who, he asks, ventures to forbid chiccory culture on account of this quality, which is really
founded on its merit ? When the land is ploughed, says he, only use a broad sharp share, and harrow in
tares for feeding or soiling, or break it up for turnips, and there is an end of the objection.
5515. The culture of chiccory is the same as of clover. As the plant is grown in gardens for culinary
purposes, the seed may be procured in the seed-shops, gathered in many places from wild plants, or saved
by the grower. It is small, flat, black, and resembling that of lettuce ; it should be procured fresh ; and
from eight to twelve pounds an acre are usually sown. The culture of this plant for its roots has been
noticed in giving the outline of the agriculture of Flanders, and will be adverted to in a succeeding Chapter.
5516. The rough cornfrey, (Symphytum asperrimum L. fig. 770.), a perennial from Siberia, has been
^ brought into notice by D.
' -^ Grant, a nurseryman at
Lewisham, and tried by a
number of cultivators. Cat-
tle of every kind are said to
be fond of this plant ; and so
great is its produce on good
soil, that Mr. Grant thinks an
acre might be made to pro-
duce thirty tons of green
fodder in one year. He has
grown it to the height of
seven feet as thick as it could
stand on the ground. The
plant is of easy propagation
by seed or division of the
roots ; the better way would
probably be to sow in a gar-
den, and transplant when the
plants were a year old. All
the symphytums are plants of
great durability, so that this species, if once established, would pro-
bably continue to produce crops for many years; and, in that point of
view, it would seem to be a valuable plant for the cottager who keeps
a cow. (Gard. Mag. vol. v. and Country Times, May 10th, 1830.)
5517. The day lily (T/emerocallis fulva L., fig. 771.) was brought into
notice by Mr. Elles, late of Longleat. In the years 1826-7, he observed, accidentally, how extremely fond
cattle were of this plant, even eating it down to the roots when an opportunity occurred ; and as he knew,
from long experience, that it would, even in dry ground, produce herbage in the middle and latter end of
Book VI.
CLOVER FAMILY.
871
April, equal in quantity to any water meadow, the extreme facility with which it may be propagated and
grown in almost any soil and situation, and also its apparently nutritious nature, he was induced to give
it a trial in a plot of ground of about twenty rods, attached to the cottage in which he lived. He did so,
and after two years' trial found the day lily produce a supply of green food in April and towards the
middle of May, when there is little or no pasture grass, and never could detect any unpleasant flavour
in the milk or" butter, though given in considerable quantities. The day lily, of which there are two
species, differing very little in appearance, H. fl^va and fulva, is a perennial of great duration, rapid
increase, and of easy propagation by division. It certainly well deserves trial as a permanent herbage
plant, especially for the cottager and small farmer. (Garrf, Mag. vol. v. p. 441.)
Chap. V.
Culture of Herbage Plants.
5518. The cultivation of clovers and other herbage plants, used exclusively as food for
live stock, is comparatively a modern improvement. They were known, as we have seen,
to the Greeks and Romans, and cultivated from a very early period in the low countries ;
but do not appear to have attracted much notice in Britain till the sixteenth century,
when our frequent intercourse with Holland led to the introduction of some of our best
field plants and agricultural practices. At present clovers enter largely into the succes-
sion of crops, on all soils, and in every productive course of management. Before they
were introduced into cultivation, it was necessary, when land was exhausted by grain
crops, to leave it in a state of comparative sterility for several years, before it became
either valuable as pasture or again fit for carrying corn : but at present clovers are not
only indispensable in the cultivation of white and green crops alternately, upon very rich
soils, but are the foundation of convertible husbandry on land that is not so rich as to
permit of a constant aration, and which therefore requires two or more years' pasturage
at certain intervals. Lucern and saintfoin, though of much less value as general crops,
are valuable plants in particular situations; more especially the latter, which will produce
good crops on dry chalky and limestone soils, where most other agricultural plants, and
even grasses, would barely maintain their existence.
5519. The characteristic points of culture of this class of plants are broad-cast sowing,
mowing, soiling, and hay-making ; and that when cut for the two last purposes, two or
more crops may be had in a season from the same roots.
5520. The nutritive products of the principal herbage plants are thus given by Sir
H. Davy . —
SystemaUc Name.
English Name.
In 1000 Parts.
WTiole quan-
tity of soluble
or nutritive
matter.
Mucilage, or
starch.
Saccharine
matter, or
sugar.
Gluten, or
albumen.
Extract, or
matter rendered
insoluble during
evaporation.
Trifulium pratense
medium - -
ripens -
jFfedysarum Onobrychis
MedicJlgo sativa -
Red clover -
Cow clover -
White clover
Saintfoin
Lucern - -
39
39
32
39
23
31 3
SO 4
29 , 1
28 1 2
18 1
2
3
3
3
3
2
5
6
4
Sect. I. The Clover Family. — Trifblium L. ; Diadelphia Decandria L., and Legumi-
nos(e J. Trefle, Fr. ; Klee, Ger. ; Trifoglio, Ital. ; and Trebol, Span.
5521. The clovers (fg. 772.) are a numerous famUy, chiefly natives of Europe : those
selected by the agriculturist are natives of Britain; and one species, the white or
creeping clover, is often found in great luxuriance in native pastures. As rye-grass is
very generally sown with clovers, it will be necessary to treat of its culture in connec-
tion with these plants, reserving, however, tlie more particular consideration of rye-grass
till we treat of the hciy grasses. (Chap. VI.) Many intelligent cultivators consider rye-
grass as a very severe crop for the soil ; and it is alleged that wheat does not succeed
well after the herbage with which rye- grass is intermixed in any considerable quantity.
Other plants have accordingly been recommended as a substitute for rye-grass, and
cock's-foot (Z>actylis glomerata) has been tried, apparently with great success, by Coke
of Holkham in Norfolk, and others ; but this is a very coarse grass when allowed to
rise to any height, and the use of it for hay has not yet been ascertained. Donaldson
considers the general introduction of clovers, and the cultivated grasses, as one of the
greatest improvements in modern husbandry. The commencement of improvements in
the diiferent species of live-stock, in the modes of cultivation, and in the superior quality,
as well as quantity, of the crops of grain, may all, he thinks, be dated from the period
when the sowing of clovers and grass-seeds was first introduced into the different districts
of the kingdom.
3K 4
872
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
5522. The species of clover in cultivation are : —
5523. The red clover (rrifblium pratense, J?^, 772. a), a biennial, and sometimes, especially on chalky
soils, a triennial plant, known from the other species by its broad leaves, luxuriant growth, and reddish
purple flowers. In its wild state a perennial.
774
5524. The white, or creeping, or Dutch clover {T. rfeyens, i), a perennial plant, known by its creeping
stems and white flowers.
5525. The yellow clover, hop-trefoil, or shmnroeh clover, the black nonsuch of the Norfolk farmers
««q (T. prociimbens, c), an annual, known by its procumbent shoots
' '*^ and yellow flowers. This species is seldom cultivated ; the yel-
low clover of the seed shops being the MedicJigo lupulina,"the
lupuline, or minctte doree of the French. {Jig. 773.)
5526. The meadow clover, cow-clover, cow-grass, or marl-
grass, the first the best name {T. medium, li), a perennial, re-
sembling the red clover, but of a paler hue, dwarfer habit, with
pale red or whitish flowers, and long roots very sweet to the
taste. This species is but partially cultivate!!, and it is ex-
tremely diificult to procure the seeds genuine. It comes into
flower from twelve to fifteen days later than the common red
clover, has a solid stalk, a narrower leaf, and both leaves and
flowers have a paler hue. A poor sandy soil, it is said, will i>ro-
duce a good crop of cow-clover that would not produce half a
crop of the common red clover ; it is also as good the second
year as the first. Some farmers sow it because the crop comes
in between the first and second cutting of the red clover as
green food,
5527. The Jlesh-coloured clover (Trifolium incarnatum Lin.; Farouche or Trejle de
Roussillon, Fr. fg. 774.) has long been cultivated in some of tlie southern departments
of France, and, though an annual, is found very advantageous on
dry sandy soils. The Agricultural Society of Nancy have lately
recommended it for culture in the province of Lorraine;" and a
writer in the Journal des Pai/s-Jias, as suitable to many parts of
the Netherlands. M. de Dombasle, a theoretical and practical
agriculturist in great estimation, sows it, after harvest, in the stubbles,
with no other culture than harrowing in. It grows all the winter,
and early in spring affords abundant food for sheep ; or, if left till
May, it presents a heavy crop for the scythe, and may be used for
soiling, or making into hay. (^Gard. Mag. vol. iv. p. 392. and vol. v.
p. 734.) It was introduced into England about the year 1824, by
Mr. John Ellman, jun. of Southover, near Lewis, whogives directions
for sowing it in March without a corn crop, and states that it will
be in full bloom and fit to cut by June. He says it is very produc-
tive ; but should not be sown with corns like other clovers, because
it grows so fast as to choke them. {Farm. Jour. Maixh 1 7. 1 828. )
5528. Trift)liu7n Molinhijiliforme (with yellow flowers), campestre (also with
yellow flowers), andfraglferujn, are cultivated in France ; but we believe chiefly
on the poorer soils. Seeds of them and of all the other species may be correctly
obtained from Vilmorin-Andrieux and Co., seed merchants in Paris.
5529. In the choice of sorts the red or hroad clover is the kind most generally cultivated on land that
carries corn and herbage crops alternately, as it yields the largest produce for one crop of all the sorts.
White and yellow clover are seldom sown with it, unless when several years' pasturage is intended.
5530. The soil best adapted for clover is a deep sandy loam, which is favourable to its
long tap-roots -. but it will grow in any soil, provided it be dry. So congenial is cal-
careous matters to clovers, that the .mere strewing of lime on some soils will call into
action clover-seeds, which it would appear have lain dormant for ages. At least this
appears the most obvious way of accounting for the well known appearance of white
clover in such cases.
5531. The climate most suitable for the clovers is one neither very hot nor very dry
and cold. Most leguminous plants delight both in a dry soil and climate, and warm
Book VI. CLOVER FAMILY. 873
temperature, and the clover will be found to produce most seed under such circum-
stances ; but as the production of seed is only in some situations an object of the farmer's
attention, a season rather moist, provided it be vi'arm, is always attended by the most
bulky crops of clover herbage.
5532. The preparation of the soil and the manures, which clover receives' tn ordinary
farm culture, are those destined also for another crop ; clover mixed with a certain pro-
portion of rye-grass being generally sown along with or among corn crops, and especially
with spring-sown wheat, barley, and the early varieties of oats. Unless, however, the
soils on which these crops are sown are well pulverised, and have been some years under
tillage, clovers will not succeed in them, it being ascertained that newly broken-up leys
or pasture grounds cannot be sown down or restored to clover and grasses till the soil
is thoroughly comminuted, and the roots of the former grasses and herbage plants com-
pletely destroyed.
5533. The time of souing clover-seeds is generally the spring, during the corn seed
time, or from February to May ; but they may also be sown from August to October,
and when they are sown by themselves, that is, unaccompanied by any corn crop, this
will be found the best season, as the young plants are less liable to be dried, up and im-
peded in their progress by the sun, than when sown alone in spring and^ remaining tender
and unshaded during the hot and dry weather of July. <. - ., - - *-%^
5534. Some prepare the seed for sowing by steeping in water or in oil as in Switzerland, and then mixing
it with powdered gypsum, as a preventive from the attacks of insects.
5555. The manner of sowing is almost always broad-cast. When sown with spring com, clover and
grass-seeds are usually put in immediately after the land has been pulverised by harrowing in the corn-
seed, and are themselves covered by one course more of the harrows ; or, if the corn is drilled, the small
seeds are sown immediately before or after hand-hoeing; and the land is then finished by a course of the
harrows. Clover is generally sown by hand, though of late years the broad-cast drill [fifr. 722.) has been
used, both in the case of the clovers and the grasses. A lighter harrow is generally employed in covering
such seeds, than that used for corn. When the land is under an autumn-sown crop of wheat or other
grain, though the clovers and rye-grass are still sown in spring, the proper period must depend both upon
the state of the land and the progress of the crops; and it may be often advisable to break the crust
formed on the surface of tenacious soils, by using the harrow before the clovers are sown, as well as after,
wards to cover them. Sometimes the roller only is employed at this time, and there are instances of clover
and rye-grass succeeding when sown, without either harrowing or rolling. But it is commonly of advan..
tage to the wheat crop itself, to use the harrows in spring, and the roller alone cannot be depended on,
unless the season be very favourable. In «ome cases grass-seeds are sown by themselves, either in autumn
or spring, but rarely on tillage land. Nature has not determined any precise depth for the seed of red
clover more than other seed. It will grow vigorously from two inches deep, and it will grow when barely
covered. Half an inch may be reckoned the most advantageous position in clay soil ; a whole inch in
what is light or loose. It is a vulgar error, that small seed ought to be sparingly covered. Misled by
that error, farmers commonly cover their clover seed with a bushy branch of thorn ; which not only
covers it unequally, but leaves part on the surface to wither in the air.
5536. In the operation of sowing some consider it best to sow the clover and rye-grass separately,
alleging that the weight of the one seed, and lightness of the other, are unfavourable to an equal distri-
bution of both.
5537. The quantity of seed sown on an acre is exceedingly various ; not only when more or less white or
yellow clover is sown along with grass-seeds and red clover, or when pasturage is intended ; but, even when
they are the only kinds sown, the quantity is varied by thequality of the soils, and the different purposes of
hay, soiling, or one year's pasture, to which the crop is to be applied. When pasture is the object, more
seed ought to be allowed than is necessary when the crop is to be cut green for soiling ; and for hay, less
may suffice than for either of the former. Finely pulverised soils do not require so much seed as clays, on
which clover and rye-grass are very frequently sown among autumn or winter-sown wheat, when there is
more danger of a part of it perishing from being imperfectly covered. In general, eight or ten pounds
may be taken as the minimum quantity, though there have been instances of good crops from less; and
from that to fourteen pounds or more per English statute acre. Rye-grass, commonly at the rate of a
bushel per acre, but in many cases only half, or two thirds of a bushel, is mixed with this weight of clover,
and both are sown at the same time. The rye-grass may be either of the perennial or annual variety, as
it is understood that the herbage is to be continued for only one year; and the annual is sometimes sown
in preference, as producing a bulkier crop than the perennial.
5538. When it is intended to retain the land in pasture for several years, the quantity of red clover is
diminished, and several kinds of more permanent herbage are added, the most common of which are white
and yellow clover, and ribwort. No general rule can be laid down as to the proper quantity of each of
these kinds ; in some cases red and white clover are sown in equal proportions, and in others the latter is
made greatly to predominate. The yellow clover and ribwort are not often sown at the rate of more than
two or three pounds per acre. It is scarcely necessary to add, that, in this case, the rye-grass should
always be of the perennial sort.
5539. In the selection of clover and rye grass seeds particular attention should be paid to their quality
and cleanness ; the purple colour of the clover seed denotes that it has been ripe and well saved ; and the
seeds of weeds may be detected in it by narrow inspection, if there are any; but various noxious weeds
are frequently mixed up with the seeds of the rye-grass, which it is difficult either to discover or to
separate from them. Between the seeds of the annual and perennial rye-grass the difference is hardly
discernible; and therefore, unless it is of his own growth, the cultivator must depend in a great measure
on the character of the person from whom he purchases it. Red clover from Holland or France has been
found to die out in the season immediately after it has been cut or pastured ; while the English seed
produces plants which stand over the second, many of them the third,, year {General Report of
Scotland, vol. i. p. 537.) ; thus remaining in the latter ca^e foilr summers in the ground from the time of
sowing. i .
5540. The after-culture of clover and rye-grass consists chiefly of picking off any
stones or other hard bodies which may appear on the surface in the spring succeeding
that in which it was sown, and cutting out by the roots any thistles, docks, or other large
grown weeds. After this the surface should be rolled once to smooth it for the scythe.
This operation is best performed in the first dry weather of March. Some give a top-
dressing of soot, gypsum, common lime, peat, or wood-ashes, at this time or earlier :
874 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
gypsum has been particularly recommended as a top-dressing for clovers, and tlie other
herbage legumes ; because as their ashes afford that substance in considerable quantities,
it appears to be a necessary ingredient of their food. Dutch ashes (427.) have been
strongly recommended as a top-dressing for red clover, and they also contain gypsum ;
but where the soil is in good heart, and contains calcareous matter, any description of top-
dressing, though it may be of advantage when it does not interfere with the general
economy of the farm, cannot be considered necessary. (Supp. E. Brit. art. Agr.)
5541. The taking of the clover, or clover and rye-grass crop, is eitlier by cutting green
for soiling, by making into hay, or by pasturing. It is observed in The Code of Agri-
culture, that it is a most important point to ascertain in what cases cutting, or feeding, is
more beneficial. If fed, the land has the advantage of the dung and urine of the pastur-
ing stock ; but the dung being dropped in irregular quantities, and in the lieat of summer,
when it is devoured by insects, loses much of its utility. If the dung arising from the
herbage, whether consumed in soilin-y, or as hay, were applied to the land, in one body,
and at the proper season, the operation would be more effectual. The smother of a thick
crop, continued for any time upon the ground, greatly tends to promote its fertility ; and
it has been pretty uniformly found, after repeated trials, upon soils of almost every de-
scription, that oats or any other crop taken after clover that has been cut, either for soiling
or hay, is superior to the crop taken after clover pastured by sheep.
5542. Soiling is a term applied to the practice of cutting herbage crops green for feeding or fattening live
stock. On all farms, under correct management, a part of this crop is cut green, for the working horses,
often for milch cows, and, in some instances, both for growing and fattening cattle. There can be no
doubt of the advantages of this practice, in regard to horses and cows; but for young and for fattening
beasts, a sufficient number of experiments are not known to have been yet made with any great degree of
accuracy. Young animals require exercise in the open air, and, probably, will not be found to thrive so
well in houses or fold- yards, during summer, as on pastures; and though in every case there is a great
saving of food, the long, woody, and comparatively naked stems of the plants, with leaves always more or
less withered, are perhaps not so valuable in the production of beef on fattening stock as a much smaller
weight of herbage taken in by pasturage. Milch cows, however, are so impatient of heat and insects, that
this way of feeding them, at least for a part of the day, in warm weather, ought to be more generally
adopted; and the convenience of having working horses always at hand, besides that they fill their
stomachs speedily, is of not less importance than economy. (See Communications to tlie Board oj
Agriculture, vol. vii. Brown's Treatise on Rural AJfairs, voL ii. General Rcpoi't of Scotland, vols. ii.
and iii.)
5.')43. In feeding cattle with green clover, attention must be paid to prevent swelling, or hoving, which
is very apt to take place when they are first put on this food, especially if it is wet with rain or dew ; and
cattle are exposed to this danger, whether they are sent to depasture the clover, or have it cut and brought
home to them ; though, if the plants are somewhat luxuriant, the danger is greater in the former case.
After being accustomed to this rich food for a few days, during which it should be given rather sparingly,
the danger is much diminished ; but it is never safe to allow milch cows, in particular, to eat large quan-
tities of wet clover.
55+4. The making herbage plants into hay is a process somewhat different from that of making hay from
natural grasses. All the herbage tribe ought to be mown before the seed is formed, and indeed before the
plants have fully blossomed, that the full juice and nourishment of the herb may be retained in the hay.
By the adoption of this system, the hay is cut in a better season, it can be more easily secured, and it is
much more valuable. Nor is the strength of the plant lodged in the seed, which is often lost. The great
advantage of converting under-ripe herbage and grass into hay is now beginning to be known. There is
much more saccharine matter in it, and it is consequently greatly more nutritious. A crop of clover or
saintfoin, when cut in the early part of the season, may be ten per cent, lighter than when it is fully ripe ;
but the loss is amply counterbalanced, by obtaining an earlier, a more valuable, and more nutritious
article ; while the next crop will be proportionably more heavy. The hay made from old herbage which
has ripened its seed will carry on stock, but it is only hay from herbage cut when young, and soon after
it has come into flower, that will fatten them. When the stems of clover become hard and sapless, by being
allowed to bring their seeds towards maturity, they are of little more value as provender than an equal
quantity of the finer sort of straw of corn.
5545. The mode of making clover-hay, ajid that of all herbage plants, as practised by the best farm-
ers, is as follows : —1 The herbage is cut as close to the ground and in as uniform and perfect a manner as
possible with a sharp scythe. The surface having been in the preceding spring freed from stones and
well rolled, the stubble after the mower ought to be as short and smooth as a well shaven grass-lawn. The
part of the stems left by the scythe is not only lost, but the after-growth is neither so vigorous nor so
weighty, as when the first cutting is taken as low as possible.
5546. As soon as the swath or row of cut herbage is thoroughly dry above, it is gently turned over (not
tedded or scattered) without breaking it. Sometimes this is done with the hand, or with a small fork ;
and some farmers are so anxious to prevent the swath from being broken, that they only permit the use
of the rake shaft. The grass, when turned over, in the morning of a dry day, is put into cocks in the
afternoon. The mode of performing this is very simple and expeditious ; and none but women, boys, and
girls, under the eye of a confidential servant, are usually employed. If the crop is heavy, a row of cocks
is placed in the middle ridge of three, and if light of five ridges. A distinct company of carriers and
rakers is allotted to every such number of ridges ; and the separate companies proceed each on its own
ground, and in the same manner as in reaping grain, which occasions a degree of competition among them
for despatch, clean raking, and neat well-built cocks. The carriers gather the hay, and carry it to the
ridge where the cock is to be built by one of the most experienced hands. A raker follows the carrier,
taking up and bringing to the cocks the remains of the swath. There may be, in general, about five people
employed about each row of cocks; a carrier and raker on each side of the ridge on which the cocks are
placed, and a person on the ridge, who builds them. But when the crop is not weighty, more rakers are
required, as a greater space must be gone over.
5547. As the cocks are thus placed in a line, it is easy to put two or more into one afterwards ; and the
larger cocks may be speedily drawn together, to he put into tramp-ricks, by means of ropes thrown round
their bottoms, and dragged along by a horse. It is impossible to lay down any rules for the management
of hay, after it is put into cocks ; one thing is, however, always attended to, not to shake out, scatter, or
expose the hay oftener than is necessary for its preservation. Sometimes the cocks have been put up so
large, that they never require to go to a tramp-rick, but are carted to the stack-yard, without ever
being broken, and put up in alternate layers with old hay. But where this is attempted, there must not
be much clover. The practice of mixing the new with the old hay is, however, a good one, and saves a
great deal of time and labour, at the same time that the old hay is much improved by the mixture.
Book VI. CLOVER FAMILY. 875
5.748. The best managers disapprove of spreading out the swaths of clover and rye-grass, though this is
often necessary with natural grasses, which are cut and harvested later in the season. The more the swath
is kept unbroken, the hay is greener, and the more, fragrant.
5549. Another mode of hay -making, said to have been originally practised in Lancashire, has been found
to answer well in the moist atmosphere of the west of Scotland. This is called tippling or rippling; and
if the grass is dry, the operation begins as soon as it is mown. " In making a tipple, a person with his
right hand rolls the swath inwards, until he has a little bundle ; then the same is done by the left, until
both meet and form eight to twelve pounds, or nearly so. This bundle is then set up against the legs, or
between the feet ; a rope is twisted of the grass, while the bundle is supported in this manner, and tied
round it near its top ; and from the top are drawn up a few straggling stems, which are twisted to make
the tipple taper to a point, and give it as much a conical shape as possible. If the crop is strong, there is a
row of tipples placed on each swath; if light, two of these are put into one row. After standing a few
hours, they become so smooth on the outside, that the heaviest rains seldom wet them through ; and when
wet, they are soon dried again in good weather. As soon as ready, they are put into the summcr-rick, or,
if very dry, even into the winter stack, but are never opened out or tedded, to make them dry, as they
never require it. By this method, not a blade is lost, and the hay is nearly as green as a leaf dried in a
book. In a moderate crop, one woman will tipple to one mower, and a woman will rake to two tipplers,
or two swathers. But where the crop is strong, it may require three women to keep pace with two mowers.
After the hay is put up in this manner, the crop may be considered secure, though it may continue wet
weather for a considerable length of time." {General Report of Scotland, vol. ii. p. II.)
5550. The making of clover hay, as practised in Courland, and adopted from that country in Silesia, is
said to save not only a number of hands, but the hay is better and more nourishing. The hay is prepared
by self.fermentation, whereby it retains its nutritious juices, and only loses its watery particles ; it is dried
more expeditiously by dissipation of its humidity, and contraction of the sap-vessels, and thus its nutri-
tious juices are concentrated. The process is conducted on the following principle, viz. the sap-vessels
are expanded by the circulation of the liquid juices by heat, and the superfluous humidity is exhaled : on
cooling, the sap-vessels contract, and thus future intestine fermentation is prevented, and the nutritious
quality is preserved.
5551. The clover intended for hay, after having been mowed, remains till four o'clock in the afternoon
of the following day in swath to dry ; it must then be raked together into small coils, and afterwards
made into large cocks in the form of a sugar-loaf, and such as it would require six or eight horses to
remove. To prevent the air from penetrating these cocks, and to produce a quicker fermentation, they
must, whilst forming, be trodden down by one or two men. If it be a still, close, warm night, the ferment-
ation will commence in four hours, and manifest itself by a strong honey-like smell : when proper fer-
mentation is begun, the cocks will, on being opened, smoke, appear brownish, and may then be sjjread
abroad. If in the morning the sun is warm, and a little wind arises, the clover-hay will quickly dry ; it
may then, towards noon, be turned with the rake or pitch-fork, and about four in the afternoon will be
sufficiently dried, so that it may be immediately carted into the barn, without any danger of a second
fermentation. By this method of management, the clover will require only three days, from the time of
mowing to its being housed, and very little work ; whilst, in the common way, even in good weather, it
requires six or eight days. In the old method it frequently becomes of a black colour; but in the new
method it is only brown, has an agreeable smell, and remains good and unchangeable in the barn. The
'armer has also another advantage, that if he has not carts enough to carry it into the barn, he need only,
at sun-setting, heap it again into large well trodden cocks, and thatch them with straw, in which state
they will remain the w])ole summer without damage or loss. This clover-hay is not only greedily eaten by
sheep and lambs, but also by horses, calves, and cows.
5552. This new mode of making liay depends principally upon two circumstances : first, that the mown
clover, when brought together in to large heaps, may ferment equally and expeditiously ; secondly, that
the day succeeding the fermentation be dry, sunny, and windy : on this account it may be proper to point
out what should be done when circumstances are unfavourable. Let us suppose, therefore, that the night
after the clover-grass has been placed in the great cocks is cold, damp, or rainy, the fermentation will yet
take place, although it may require a term of twelve, sixteen, or twenty-four hours to effect it. If it be a
second or a third crop, at which season the nights are colder, it may even require from thirty-six to forty-
eight hours before the fermentation ensues : it will, however, commence, and may be ascertained from
this circumstance, that you can scarcely bear your hand in the interior of the cock. Even if the night be
dry, yet if a strong cold wind blows, the cock may not ferment equally, but only in the middle, and on
the side opposite to the wind ; the ether parts may still remain green. In such a case the following rules
must be attended to : —
b552>. Rule first. If the cock has only fermented in the middle, and on that side where the cold wind
did not act upon it, the whole heap must nevertheless be opened on the following morning. That which
has already fei-mented must be separated and spread to dry ; it must be turned towards noon, and may be
carted into the barn in the evening ; but that part of the cock which has not fermented must be again
put together into large cocks, and fermented in the same manner as the preceding part, after which it
may be spread to dry, and brought into the barn.
5.5,54. Rule second. In such cases where a small portion of the cock has fermented thoroughly, but not
the greater part, the heap must be spread abroad in the morning, but must be again made into a close
cock in the evening, in such a manner that the part which has fermented be placed at the top or outside
of the cock, and that which has not fermented be inclosed within it; then on the ensuing morning, or,
if the weather be cold and rainy, on the morning afterwards, the clover-heap may be again spread abroad,
and the clover treated as in the case first mentioned.
^^555. Rule third. If, in spreading the heap abroad, it be found that nearly the whole of the clover
has fermented, it will not be necessary to delay the housing of the whole on account of some small
portion ; but the clever may be dried and carted into the barn. The small portion which remained unfer-
mented will not occasion any disaster to the other which has fermented ; for there is a material difference
betwixt hay thus managed, and the meadow-grass which is brought whilst damp, or wet with rain, into
the barn, which will grow musty and putrid.
5.5.56. Rule fourth. In such instances, where some of the cocks of clover have thoroughly fermented,
and it rains on the morning, they ought to be spread abroad, for the clover must be opened and spread,
even if it rains violently ; since, if it were suffered to remain longer in the heap, it would take fire, or its
juices would be injured by too much fermentation ; the leaves and stalks would become black, and the
clover unfit for food : therefore, if the rain continues, the spread clover must be turned from time to time,
but not carted into the barn till dry. This drying takes place, if the rain discontinues for a few hours,
much more expeditiously with the clover which has fermented, than with that made in the common way.
Besides which, it must be remarked, that the fermented clover remains good, even if it continues some
weeks exposed to the rain, provided it is at last suffered to dry before it is put into the barn ; otherwise the
wet from the rain will render it musty and bad. The clover which has been for so long a time exposed to
the rain will not, however, be so nutritious as that which has been well fermented and sooner dried ; but
it will be far superior to that which has been exposed to the rain, and got up in the common method.
{Klapmeyer in Thaer's Annalen, &c.)
55i)7. Hay is stacked in circular or oblong stacks, the latter form being most generally approved of, and
carefully thatched, as has been already observed in regard to corn. It is never advisable to allow this
kind of hay to become heated in any considerable degree, in the stack, though a slight exudation, with a
876 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
very gentle warmth, is usually perceptible, both in the field-ricks and in the stacks, for a few days after
they are built. But this is a quite different thing from that intentional heating, carried so far, in many
instances, as to terminate in conflagration.
5558. The after-growth or second crop qf clover is vigorous or weak, according to the proportion of clover
plants to rye-grass, to the time when the first crop was cut, and to the moisture and warmth of the season.
When the first cutting has been made early for soiling, there will sometimes be three cuttings in one
season. The first of these after-cuttings may be made into hay, and sometimes the second ; but in general
both arfe consumed by soiling or pasturing, unless in some dry warm districts, as Norfolk, and parts of
SuflTolk, Kent, &c., where the second growth is left to ripen its seed. In the northern counties the second
crop is seldom made into hay, owing to the difficulty of getting it thoroughly dried at a late period of
summer, when other more urgent operations usually employ all the labourers of a farm. If it is cut for
this purpose, the best method of saving it is to mix it up with straw, which will absorb a part of its
juices. It is often cut green, as a part of the soiling system ; or, where a sheep stock is kept, pastures by
the old ewes, or other sorts, that are to be fattened the ensuing winter on turnips.
5559. In consuming clover and other herbage plarits by pasturing, or eating down on the spot, three
methods have been adopted : tethering, hurdling, and free pasturage.
5560. Tethering may be considered a rude practice, and is chiefly confined to the north of Scotland and
Ireland. In The Agricultural Report of Aberdeenshire it is stated, that there are some cases where the
Elan of tethering can be practised with more profit than even soiling. In the neighbourhood of Peter-
ead, for instance, they tether milch cows on their grass fields, in a regular and systematic method ;
moving each tether forward in a straight line, not above one foot at a time, so as to prevent the cows from
treading on the grass that is to be eaten; care being always taken to move the tether forward, like a
person cutting clover with a scythe, from one end of the field to the other. In this way, a greater num-
ber of cows can be kept, on the same quantity of grass, than by any other plan ; except where it grows
high enough to be cut, and given them green in houses. In one instance, the system was carried to great
perfection, by a gentleman who kept a few sheep upon longer tethers, following the cows. Sometimes,
also, he tetheretl horses afterwards upon the same field, which prevented any possible waste ; for the tufts
of grass produced by the dung of one species of animal will be eaten by those of another kind without
reluctance. This system was peculiarly calculated for the cow-feeders in Peterhead ; as, from the small-
nes3 of their holdings, they could not afford to keep servants to cut, or horses to carry home, the grass to
their houses, to be consumed in a green state. {Code.)
5561. In hurdling off clovers or herbage crops, a portion of the field is enclosed by hurdles, in whicli
sheep are confined; and as the crop is consumed, the pen is changed to a fresh place, until the whole is
fed off. This practice is very extensively adopted at Holkham, and is peculiarly calculated for light and
dry soils. Its advantages are, that the grass is more economically consumed ; that the stock thrive better,
having daily a fresh bite ; and that the dung falls, being moie concentrated, is more likely to be of use.
5562. In the common pasturing of clover, the stock are introduced into the field earlier than in tether-
ing or hurdling, in order to avoid the loss that would be sustained by cattle or sheep treading ad libitum
on tall herbage. Indeed, the principal advantage of pasturing clovers is, that sheep and lambs may be
turned on them more early than on common grass-lands. Sometimes this advantage is taken for a month
or six weeks, in the beginning of summer, and the field afterwards shut up for a crop of hay; but more
frequently the red clovers are only mown. When white and yellow clovers are sown, the herbage is some-
times not mown at all, but pastured for three years or more ; and sometimes a little red clover being sown
along with these, a crop of hay is taken the first year.
5563. The produce of clover-hay, without any mixture of rye-grass, on the best soils
is from two to three tons per acre, and in this state in the London market it generally
sells 20 per cent, higher than meadow-hay, or clover and rye-grass mixed. The weight
of hay from clover and rye-grass varies, according to the soil and the season, from one
ton to three tons per English acre, as it is taken from the tranap-ricks ; but after being
stacked, and kept till spring, the weight is found to be diminished twenty-five or thirty
per cent.
5564. The value of clover and rye-grass hay, in comparison with the straw of beans
or peas, may be in the proportion of three to two j and with the finest straw of corn
crops, in the proportion of two to one. One acre of red or broad clover will go as far
in feeding horses or black cattle as three of ordinajy pastui'e; and when it is cut occa-
sionally, and given to them freslt, it will, probably, go still much farther, as no part of
it is lost by being trodden down. With the exception of lucern, and the herbage of
rich marshes, there is no crop by which so much stock can be supported as by clover.
It may be profitably employed in fattening sheep in spring, and with this food they will
soon be ready for the butcher. Afterwards, a crop of hay may be got, and two or three
weeks after the hay has been taken off, sheep intended to be fattened on turnips may be
turned in, and kept there, until the turnips are ready for them.
U 6565. The nutritive products of clovers wiW he found in the table. (5520.)
^'3''5566. The saving qf clover seed is attended with considerable labour and difficulty.
' Clover will not perfect its seeds, if saved for that purpose early in the year ; therefore it
is- necessary to take off the first growth either by feeding or with the scythe, and to
depend for the seed on those heads that are produced in the autumn. Seed -clover turns
out to good account in those years when the crops are not injured by the blight, which
is often fatal to them, or by the rains in the autumn, wliich sometimes prove their de-
struction ; for the time of harvesting this seed falling out late when rainy weather may
be expected, renders it, on that account, very tedious.
* 5.567. When the fast crop is fed off, it is eaten till about the end of May, frequently by ewes and lambs;
'itrtd this is understood to be an advantageous practice, because the land is less exhausted, and the green
"Ibod is of great value for stock in the spring months. It is not uncommon, however, to cut the first growth
foir a hay crop, atid this should be done earlier than usual The growth thus reserved for seed must be
suffbred to remain till the husks become perfectly brown, when it is cut and harvested in the usual
matmer, leaving it on the field till it is very dry and crisp, that the seeds may become more fully hardened ;
it may then be laid up dry, to be threshed out at the farmer's convenience. Much labour and expense arc
necessary in separating the seed from the capsule or seetl-coatj esfwcially when it is ertected by threshing,
which seldom costs less than from five to six or seven shillings per bushel, Dy the use of mills the work
may be done much cheaper,
Book VI.
LUCERN.
877
55R8. The inanagement of a crop of clover with a vieio to saving seed is thus given by a cultivator in
Buckinghamsliire. A moderate bulk of haulm is generally found most productive of seed, and a moderately
rich, sharp, dry soil is the best for having moderate haulm. The field may be pastured till the middle of
May, and then shut up till the ripening is completed. August is generally the ripening month, and the
maturity of the seed may be known by the leaves becoming brown and dropping of}". Observe the seed
from time to time, and when it has changed from a bright yellow to a deep purple, it is then ready for the
scythe. After the crop is cut down, disturb it as little as possible by fork or rake. Form it into small
cocks not larger than muck heaps. Should favourable weather ensue, nothing more is necessary than to
turn these cocks once over, shortly before carting home. And, should the weather prove fickle, these
small heaps of withered straw are very soon dried, perhaps in one good day, by turning up the bottom,
after the top has become a little dried. After remaining some time in the field, the cocks subside con-
siderably and become caked, by which the flowers adhere together and repel the rain ; of course, no loss
of top can be sustained by gently turning them to dry. It thus appears, that clover for seed is not so
liable to be injured as clover for hay. In general six or ten days of favourable weather render it fit to
carry to the rick-yard and stack. It may either be threshed by a light flail, or by threshing machines,
having a particular additional cover introduced below the drum or beater for that purpose.
5569. In threshing, whether by the flail or machine, the first operation is to separate the heads or spikes
of seeds from the haulm. This operation separates none of the seed, which remains firm in the withered
florets, and requires to be separated by a course of light thrashing, similar to that used for hummelling
barley. When on examination it is found that the seed is all separated^ the operations of sifting and
winnowing ought to be carried on in the usual manner with appropriate sieves; the clover sieve beihg
well known to the sieve-maker. The average produce per acre is three hundred weight.
5570. Seed may be saved from a second crop ; that is, after the first crop has been mown for hay j but the
sample is seldom so strong or plump as that from a first crop. ' ' i
5571. White clover, z-nd also yellow clover, lucern, and saintfoin, when intended for seed, awf' tifeit^
much in the same manner as red clover. {Farm. Mag. vol. xix. p. 276.) \. S'-'''-
5572. The produce in seed may generally be from three to four or five bushels per
acre, when perfectly clean, weighing from two to three hundred weight. But there is
great uncertainty in the produce of clover seed, from the lateness of the season at wliich
it becomes ripe ; and the fertility of the soil is considerably impaired by such a crop.
Yet the high value of the seed is a great inducement to the saving of it, in favourable
situations. {Dickson s Practical Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 863.)
5573. The diseases of clover are the blight or mildew, and suffocation or consumption,
from insects, slugs, and worms. It often happens that clover, after being repeated at
short intervals on the same soil, either fails or does no good ; whether that is owing to a
disease, or to a defect of some peculiar substance which enters into the food of the plant,
does not appear to be clearly ascertained. A top-dressing with ashes or lime is said to
be unfavourable to the slugj but where vermin of this sort are very numerous, the
most certain remedy is a naked fallow well worked in the hottest months. r^ j^nol
Sect. II. Lucern. — Medicdgo satlva L. ; Diadelphia Decdndria L., and Leguminoscei.
La Lucerne, Fr. ; Futterklee, Ger. ; Medica, Ital. ; and Mielga Span, (Jig. 775.)
5574. Lucern is a deep-rooting perennial plant, sending
up numerous small and tall clover-like shoots, with blue or
violet spikes of flowers. It is a native of the south of Eu-
rope, and appears to be acclimated in the warmer parts of
England. Lucern or medic is highly extolled by the
Roman writers, and also the cytisus, the latter a low ever-
green shrub. Lucern is much grown in Persia and Lima,
and mown in both countries all the year round} it is also
of unknown antiquity in old Spain, Italy, and the south
of France. It was introduced to England from the latter
country, according to Miller, in 1657. It is mentioned
by Hartlib, Blythe, and other early writers, and was tried
by Lisle ; but it excited little attention till after the publi-
cation of Harte's Essays, in 1757. It is now only culti-
vated in a few places, and chiefly in Kent. Columella
estimated lucern as the choicest of all fodder, because it
lasted many years, and bore being cut down four, five,
or six times a year. It enriches, he says, the land on
which it grows, fattens the cattle fed with it, and is often
a remedy for sick cattle. About three quarters of an acre of it is, he thinks, abundantly
sufficient to feed three horses during the whole year.
5575. Clover has found no great reception in this country, though it was so much esteemed by the
ancients, and has been long cultivated to advantage in France and Switzerland. If any good reason can
be given for this, it is, that lucern is a less hardy plant than red clover, requires three or four years before
. it comes to its full growth, and is for these and other reasons ill adapted to enter into general rotations.
Where the climate and soil suit, perhaps a field of it may be advantageously sown, adjoinmg the home-
stall, to afford early cutting or food for young or sick animals, for which it is said to be well adapted ; but
though it will produce good crops for eight or ten years, yet from the time the farmer must wait till this
crop attains its perfection, and from the care requisite to keep it from grass and weeds, we do not think it
is ever likely to come into general culture. The Highland Society have lately offered premiums for the
culture of this plant in Scotland, and crops have been produced in dry sandy soils in the neighbourhood of
Edinburgh ; the climate, however, and the alternate and convertible system of culture generally pursued
in the northern parts of the island, and which seems so well adapted to its agricultural circumstances,
forbid the hope that it can ever become general.
878 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
5576. Tliere are no varieties of the lucern deserving the notice of a cultivator.
5577. What is called the yellow lucern is the Medichgo falckta {Lucerne en famille, or Luzerne de
J-,. Suede, Fr. Jig. 77fi.). ^ much hardier and coarser plant, common in
1 ia «- ^i?s^ several parts of England, but not cultivated any where except in some
' ' " ^«*a/s4irfr> /^ poor soils in France and Switzerland.
5578. Medicugo maculhta and muricata are cultivated in France, but
to a very limited extent on poor soils. M. lupulina (lupuline, or
Minctte dore'e, Fr.) resembles our well known hop trefoil, black (from
its seeds) nonsuch, or yellow clover j but it is seldom cultivated in
Britain.
5579. The soil for lucern must be dry, friable, inclining
to sand, and with a subsoil equal to it in goodness. Unless
the subsoil be good and deep, it is in vain to attempt to
cultivate lucern. According to Young, the soils that suit
lucern are all those that are at once dry and rich. If, says
he, they possess these two criteria, there is no fear but they
will produce large crops of lucern. A friable deep sandy
loam on a chalk or white dry marly bottom is excellent for
it. Deep putrid sand warp on a dry basis, good sandy loam
on chalk, dry marl or gravel, all do well ; and in a word,
all soils that are good enough for wheat, and dry enough
for turnips to be fed on the land, do well for lucern. If
deficient in fertility, they may be made up by manuring,
but he never yet met with any land too rich for it.
5580. The preparation of the soil consists in deep ploughing and minute pulverisation ; and, in our
opinion, the shortest way to effect this, is to trench it over by the spade to two or three feet in depth,
burying a good coat of manure in the middle or at least one foot from the surface. This is the practice
in Guernsey, where lucern is highly prized.
5581. The climate for lucern, as we have already hinted, must be warm and dry; it
has been grown in Scotland and Ireland, and might probably do well in the southern
counties of the latter coimtry, but in the former it has not been found to answer the
commendations of its admirers.
5582. The season most proper for sowing lucern is as early as practicable in the
spring months, as in this way the plants may be fully established before the season be-
comes too hot. The latter end of March, for the more southern districts, may be the
most proper period ; and the beginning of the following month for those of the north.
When sown late, there is more danger of the plants being destroyed by the fly, as it has
been observed by Tull. If the plants are intended to be transplanted out in the garden
method, it will also be the best practice to sow the seed-bed as early in the spring as
the frosts will admit, in order that they may be strong, and fit to set out about the
beginning of August.
5583. Tlie manner of sowing lucern is either broad-cast or in drills, and either with or without an ac-
companying crop of corn for the first year. Broad-cast, with a very thin crop of barley or other spring
corn, is generally, and in our opinion very properly, preferred. Arthur Young, who has treated largely
on this plant, observes, that " the greatest success by far that has been known is by the broad-cast method,
which is nearly universal among the best lucern farmers, even among men who practise and admire the
drill husbandry in many other articles. But as they mostly (not all) depend on severe harrowing for keep-
ing their crops clean, which is a troublesome and expensive operation, he still ventures to recommend
drilling ; but very different drilling from that which has been almost universally practised, viz. at distances
of eighteen inches or two feet. Objections to these wide intervals are numerous. If kept clean hoed, the
lucern licks up so much dirt, being beaten to the earth by rain, &c., that it is unwholesome, and the plants
spread so into these spaces, that it must be reaped with a hook, which is a great and useless expense. For
these reasons, as well as for superiority of crop, he recommends drilling at nine inches, which in point of
produce, mowing, and freedom from dirt, is the same as broad- cast ; and another advantage is, that it
admits scarifying once a year, which is much more powerful and effective than any harrowing. These
facts are sufficient to weigh so much with any reasonable man, as to induce him to adopt this mode of
drilling, as nearer to broad-cast by far than it is to drills at eighteen to twenty-four inches, which open to a
quite different system, and a set of very different evils. Nine-inch rows might practically, but not literally,
be considered as broad-cast, but with the power of scarifying. And in regard to the material point, of with
or without corn, two considerations, he says, present themselves. One is the extreme liability of lucern
to be eaten by the fly, which does great mischief to many crops when very young, and against which the
growing of corn is some protection. The value of the barley or oats is another object not to be forgotten.
It is also gained in the lirst year's growth of the lucern, which is very poorly productive even if no corn
be sown ; so that he must own himself clearly an advocate for drilling in among corn, either between the
rows of nine-inch barley, or across drilled barley, at a foot, if perhaps the latter is the best method, as there
is less probability of the crop being laid to the damage of the lucern. The quantity of seed-corn should
also be small, proportioned to the richness of the land, from one bushel to a bushel and a half, according
to the fertility of the soil ; another security against the mischief of lodging. If these precautions are taken,
it would be presumptuous to say that success must follow, that being always, and in all things, in other
hands than ours ; seed may prove bad, the fly may eat and drought prevent vegetation ; but barring such
circumstances, the farmer may rest satisfied that he has done what can be done, and if he do succeed, the
advantage will be unquestionable."
5584. The quantity of seed, when the broad-cast method is adopted, is said to be from
fifteen to twenty pounds per acre, and from eight to twelve if drilled. The seed is
paler, larger, and dearer than that of clover : it is generally imported from Holland,
and great care should be had to procure it plump and perfectly new, as two-years-
Book VI. LUCERN. 879
old seed does not come up freely. The same depth of covering as for clover will
answer.
5585. Lucern may be transplanted, and when the soil is very rich and deep, it is said
to produce very large plants; but such plants, from the bulk of their stools, are not
likely to be so durable as those of a less size ; and on the whole, for this reason and others
relative to expense, the plan of transplanting does not seem advisable unless for filling
up blanks.
5586. The after-culture of lucern, sown broad-cast, consists in harrowing to destroy
grass and other weeds ; rolling, after the harrowing, to smooth the soil for the scythe ;
and such occasional top-dressings of manure as the state of the plants inay seem to
require.
5587. When lucern is drilled, horse-hoeing may be substituted for harrowing, which,
as already observed, is the only advantage of that mode of sowing. The harrowing
may commence the second year, and the weeds collected should always be carefully
removed : light harrows may be used at first, and in two or three years such as are
heavier. In succeeding years two harrowings may be required, one early in the spring,
and the other at the close of the summer. For these, and especially the last, Arthur
Young recommends the use of a harrow of weight sufficient for four horses, and which
does not cover a breadth of more than four feet. The mode of hoeing, either by the
hand or horse-hoe, or of stirring by the drill harrow, requires no description.
5588. The top-dressings given to lucern may be either of the saline or mixed manures.
Ashes are greatly esteemed, and also gypsum and liquid manure of any kind. Arthur
Young advises to apply dung, in the quantity of about twenty tons to the acre, every
five or six years. Kent, however, thinks it a better practice to put a slight coat on
annually in the spring season. Some recommend a slight top-dressing sown by hand
every spring. The farmer will in this, as in every case, exercise his own judgment, and
be guided by the wants of the plants, the return they yield for the expense bestowed on
them, and the equable distribution of manure among his other crops.
5589. The talcing of lucern by mowing for soiling, or hay, or by tethering, hurdling,
or pasturing, may be considered the same as for clover. Lucern frequently attains a
sufficient growth for the scythe, towards the end of April, or beginning of the following
month ; and, in soils that are favourable for its culture, will be in a state of readiness for
a second cutting in the course of a month or six weeks longer, being capable of under-
going the same operation, at nearly similar distances of time, during the whole of the
summer season. In this last sort of soil, with proper management, in the drill method,
it has been found to rise to the height of a foot and a half in about thirty or forty days,
affording five full cuttings in the summer. But in the broad-cast crops, in the opinion
of some, there are seldom so many cuttings affiarded in the season, three or four being
more common, as the growth is supposed to be less rapid than by either of the other
modes.
5590. The application of lucern is also the same as that of clover. The principal and
most advantageous practice is that of soiling horses, neat cattle, and hogs : but as a dry
fodder, it is also capable of affording much assistance ; and, as an early food for ewes
and lambs, may be of great value in particular cases. All agree in extolling it as food
for cows, whether in a green or dried state. It is said to be much superior to clover, both
in increasing the milk and butter, and improving its flavour. In its use in a green state,
care is necessary not to give the animals too much at a time, especially when it is moist,
as they may be hoven or blown with it, in the same vvay as with clover, and other green
food of luxuriant growth.
5591. The produce of lucern, cut three times in a season, has been stated at from three
to five and even eight tons per acre. In soiling, one acre is sufficient for three or four
cows during the soiling season ; and a quarter of an acre, if the soil be good, or half an
acre on a moderate soil, for all sorts of large stock, for the same period. Say, however,
that the produce is equal in bulk and value to a full crop of red clover, then, if continued
yearly for nine or ten years (its ordinary duration in a productive state), at an annual
expense of harrowing and rolling, and a triennial expense of top-dressing, it will be of
sufficient value to induce farmers, who have suitable soils and climates, to lay down a few
acres imder this crop near their homestalls.
5592. The nutritive product of lucern, according to Sir H. Davj^, is 2-^ per cent, and
is to that of the clovers and saintfoin as 23 to 39. This result does not very well agree
with the superior nutritive powers attributed to lucern.
5593. To save seed, the lucern may be treated precisely as the red clover, and it is
much more easily threshed, the grains being contained in small pods, which easily sepa-
rate under the flail, or a threshing machine," or clover mill.
5594. The diseases of lucern appear to be the same as those of clover. In Kent, blight
and the slug are its greatest enemies.
880 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
Sect. III. Saintfoin. — Hedj/sarum Onobrychis L. ; Diadelphia Decandria L., and Le-
guminosceJ. Bourgogne, or Esparcette, Fr. ; Esparzette, Gcr. ; Cedrmigola, Ital. ; and
Esparsita, Span, {Jig, 777.)
5595. Saintfoin is a deep-rooting perennial with branching spreading stems, compound
leaves, and showy red flowers. It is a native of England
and many parts of Europe, but never found except on dry,
warm, chalky soils, where it is of great duration. It has
been long cultivated in France and other parts of the
Continent, and as an agricultural plant was introduced
from France to England about the middle of the se-
venteenth century. It has since been a good deal cul-
tivated in the chalky districts ; and its peculiar value is,
that it may be grown on soils unfit for being constantly
under tillage, and wliich would yield little under grass.
This is owing to the long and descending roots of the saint-
foin, which will penetrate and thrive in the fissures of rocky
and chalky understrata. Its herbage is said to be equally
suited for pasturage and for hay, and that eaten green it is
not apt to swell or hove cattle like the clovers or lucern.
Arthur Young says, that upon soils proper for this grass no
farmer can sow too much of it ; and in The Code of Agricul-
ture it is said to be " one of the most valuable herbage
plants we owe to the bounty of Providence."
5596. There are no varieties of the saintfoin in England, but many other species of
the same numerous family might be cultivated, such, for example, as the French honey-
suckle, a biennial that might be substituted for red clover on rich soils. The French
have a variety which they call Sainfoin a deux coupes, and they also cultivated the Sain-
foin d'Espagne or Sulla.
5597. The best soil for this plant is that which is dry, deep, and calcareous ; but it will
grow on any soil that has a dry subsoil. Kent thinks that the soils most suited to the
culture of this sort of grass are of the chalky loam, and light sandy or gravelly kinds,
or almost any of those of a mixed quality, provided they are sufficiently dry, and have
a rocky or hard calcareous bottom to check the roots at the depth of a foot or fifteen
inches below the surface, which he conceives necessary, as the plants are apt to exhaust
themselves in running down ; and for this reason he considers it improper for being
sown where there is great depth of mould or soil. It is a plant that is asserted by
Marshal to afford a large produce even on those soils which are of the poorest quality,
and on such as are of a more rich and friable nature to frequently produce abundant
crops. Still, he conceives, that it is only in the calcareous soils, as the dry chalk and
limestone, or such as have been well impregnated with that sort of matter, that it suc-
ceeds in a perfect manner or becomes durable. The advantages resulting from growing
this plant on sandy soils in Norfolk have been already stated. (4744.)
5598. The best preparation which any soil fit for this plant can undergo is, unquestionably, trenching ;
and we have little doubt that in most cases, all things considered, it would be found the cheapest. The
usual preparatory culture, however, is the same as for clover, ploughing more deeply than ordinary, either
by means of the trench plough, or, what is better because more simple, by the common plough going twice
in the same track. Boys [Communications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. iii.) recommends as a pre-
paration for saintfoin : 1st year, pare and burn for turnips, to be eaten on the land by sheep, with the aid
of some fodder; 2d, barley, to be sown very early with clover seed; 3d, clover eaten off by sheep; 4th,
wheat; 5th, turnips with manure; and, 6th, barley with saintfoin. The corn crops must be carefully
weeded, and in particular cleared of charlock. Under this system, the produce has been great, and the
ground has been laid down in the highest order with saintfoin, or any other grass calculated for this species
of soil.
5599. With respect to the season ofsotving saintfoin, it may be observed, that the earlier (^
it can be put into the soil in the spring the better, as from the greater moisture of such ^h
soils there will be a greater probability of its vegetating in a perfect manner. Where '
the sowing is executed at a late period, and dry weather succeeds, Bannister thinks that
much of the seed is prevented from growing, and that the young plants are more ex-
posed to destruction from the fly ; thei-efore, according to this writer, the sowing of
saintfoin seed ought never to be deferred longer than the beginning of March, and it is
still better to complete this work in February. Some, however, suppose it may be de-
ferred to the middle of M&rcjj without injury, and this is soon enough if it is to be sown
with barley.
6600. The manner of sowing is generally broad-cast ; but it may be sown in drills and even transplanted,
though neither of these modes can be recommended. Some advise its being sown with about half the quan-
tity of barley usually sown for a full crop, which may shade and keep it moist during the first summer, and
at the same time not injure it from the crop being lighter, which is sometimes the case. Where the barley
is drilled, the saintfoin may afterwards be put in, in the same manner, but in a contrary direction. If
sown over the wheat, it should be harrowed in, and afterwards rolled. In whatever method it is sown, as
the seeds are larger than those of many other herbage plants, they should be covered in with more care,
and to a somewhat greater depth. By some tlic ploughing of the seed in with a very thin or shallow
Book VI. SAINTFOIN. 881
furrow is recommended. In most cases, especially m all the more light sorts of land in which this sort of
crop is grown, the use of the roller may be necessary immediately after the seed is put into the ground.
It is the practice in some districts to sow a small portion of clover seed with saintfoin, with the idea ot
increasing the first year's produce ; but as plants of different kinds seldom answer well when grown
together, from there being a continual contest in their growth for an ascendancy, it is perhaps a better
method to increase the proportion of the seed, without mixing it with that of other sorts. It is, however,
supposed by Marshal that such a practice is beneficial in ultimately procuring a fine clean crop of saintfoin
upon the land. It is a sort of crop that grows in so perfect a manner in the broad-cast method, that there
can seldom be any necessity for having recourse to the drill. It may, however, be cultivated in the latter
mode with much success ; and, in Norfolk, it is the practice with some cultivators to have it drilled at nine
inches across the barley crops which have been sown in the same way.
5601. The quantity of seed in the broad-cast method, which is that mostly employed, is about four
bushels the acre, though less is frequently given ; but on such soils as are proper for this plant it is always
necessary to have a full proportion of seed. By some, however, a much smaller quantity is made use of;
and where the drill system is had recourse to, a still smaller proportion is used, as from two to two and a
half or three bushels. It has been observed, that in Lincolnshire, where this plant is much grown, " the
common allowance of seed is five bushels to an acre, and that a gentleman south of Lincoln advises the
sowing a small quantity of trefoil with it (about four pounds on an acre)." The reason for this is, that in
that exposed country, the young plants suffer more by the sun in summer than by the frost in winter.
Ofcourse the trefoil coming to perfection the first year, and living only three, will be a shelter for the young
plants during the first year or two, and die off when the saintfoin wants its room.
.5602. In tfie choice of the seed the safest practice for the cultivator is to select it from the best and most
abiding plants in this particular soil, as that purchased from the seed-shops can rarely be depended upon.
A certain method of knowing the goodness of the seed is, by sowing a number of the seeds, and seeing how
many plants are produced by them. But the external signs of the seeds being good are, that the husk is
of a bright colour, and the kernel plump, of a light grey or blue colour, and sometimes of a shining black.
The seed may be good, though the husk be black, as that is owing sometimes to letting it receive wet in
the field, and not to its being half-rotted in the heap. If the kernel on being cut across appears greenish
and fresh, it is a certain sign that it is good : but if it is of a yellowish colour, and friable, and looks thin
and pitted, it is a bad sign. Others observe that the best seed is plump, heavy, bright, and of a yellowish
red colour, and that it should always be sown while quite fresh, as old seed, or seed that has been long kept,
never vegetates in a perfect manner j seed of this sort is in general from about three to five shillings the
bushel.
5603. The after-culture and management of saintfoin consists in occasional dressings
with manure, and, in the judicious intervention of mowing and pasturing.
5604. Some farmers do not mova in the first year, while others do ; but in the second year, and in the
succeeding summers, a crop of hay may be taken, and the after-grass fed down with any sorts of stock but
sheep, till towards December. These should not be permitted to eat it too close, as, from the largeness of the
roots, they might by so doing injure the crowns of the plants. In the following autumn there will, however,
be less risk in this respect, and sheep as well as cattle stock may be turned in and kept upon the pastures
till they are well eaten down, being always careful to shut them up as early as possible in the beginning
of the year. This is the opinion of Kent. As this sort of herbage is thought to be improved in its taste
by being nippeil by the frost, it may be a proper practice not to turn stock upon these leys too early in the
autumnal season ; perhaps not before the latter end of September, when this sort of rouen or after-grass
will be found to have much effect in promoting the flow of milk in cows, as well as in forwarding the con-
dition of fattening beasts ; great store of feed being still left for sheep. But with this sort of stock they should
uot be too closely fed down, nor should tJie sheep remain too long upon them. It has been suggested that
all sorts of cattle stock should be removed by the beginning of the year from these rouens, as much harm
might be done by their continuing longer.
5605. In top-dressmg saintfoin peat-ashes are the best material that can be made use of where they
can be procured in sufficient quantity ; and other sorts of ashes are likewise found beneficial where these
cannot be bad. They should be applied so as to form a thin, even, regular dressing over the whole surface
of the crop. In this view soot has also been found of great utiUty when spread evenly over such leys
about the beginning of January, in the proportion of about twenty-five or thirty bushels to the statute
acre J and malt-dust has been employed in the same way with great success and advantage, as shown by
Bannister in his Synopsis of Husbandry. It is supposed that where those sorts of top-dressings can be
applied every third or fourth year, the saintfoin crops, when well established in the soils, may be preserved
in a state of vigorous growth for ten or fifteen years, or more, and the land be considerably improved by
the roots striking so deeply into it.
5606. In taking and using the saintfoin crop, the same practices maybe followed as in
taking clover : it may be mown for soiling, hay, or seed ; and eaten on the spot by
tethering, hurdling, or common pasturing.
5607. In malting it into hay, it is cut immediately on its coming into full blossom, and as it remains but
a short time in this state, as much expedition as possible should be employed both in mowing and making
the produce into hay. It is remarked by the author of The Synopsis of Husbandry, who resides in a
district where the culture of saintfoin is frequent, that of all other hay plants, it requires the least pains in
making. When the season is favourable, the hay-makers may follow the scythe, and having turned over
the swaths, throw them into wind-rows the succeeding day after the crop is mown, when it may be imme-
diately formed into cocks, and the whole crop be fit for carting in a week, sometimes in three days after it
is mown. Though it may appear very green, and the stack when made take on or acquire a considerable
degree of heat, there is no danger to be apprehended, provided the weather has been fair during the hay-
making ; as it is so far from taking harm by heating in the stack, that the contrary state is the most to be
feared. For this reason great care is necessary not to suffer the fodder to continue long either in the swath
or in cocks, lest the sun and wind should dry it up too fast, and by exhaling its juices prevent the heating
in the stack, and thereby render it of little value. In order to preserve its succulence, in some places they
put a number of these cocks together, so as to form large cocks of a size to contain a load in each, and they
finish the stacks out of the cocks. It is likewise a practice with many farmers, where the crop is slight, to
turn the swaths, and then run them into cocks with a three-pronged barley fork, following with a wooden
dew-rake, the head of which is of sufficient width to cover the ground occupied by three or four swaths,
in this manner proceeding with the utmost despatch, and saving a deal of labour and expense m the
business. ^ e ■^ ■,.
5608. In regard to the frequency Of cutting saintfoin, it is probable that on the thinner sortsofsoils it can
seldom be done more than once; but on those of the deeper sorts two crops may som.etimes be taken, in
the same manner as with clover, care being taken in these cases that the future growth of the plants be
not injured by this means.
5609. The usual duration of saintfoin, in a profitable state, is from eight to ten years.
It attains its perfect growth in about three years, and begins to decline towards the eighth
3 L
882 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
or tenth on calcareous soils, and about the seventh and eighth on gravels. There are
instances, however, of fields of saintfoin, which had been neglected and left to run into
pasture, in which plants have been found upwards of fifty years from the time of sowing.
It has been cultivated upwards of a century on the Cotswold Hills, and there roots of it
have been traced down into' stone quarries from ten to twenty feet in length, and in Ger-
many Von Thaer found them attain the length of sixteen feet. In general the great
enemy to the endurance of saintfoin is the grass, which accumulates and forms a close
turf on the surface, and thus chokes up the plant.
5610. The quantity of produce in the state of hay, on a medium of soils and cultivation,
may probably be estimated at from about one and a half to two tons the acre ; and on the
poorer and thinner staple sorts of land it will, perhaps, seldom afford less than from a ton
to a ton and a half on the acre.
5611. The nutritive products of saintfoin are the same as clover; viz. 3^^, being l^per
cent more than those of lucern.
5612. In saving seed from saintfoin, it should remain on the land till the husks become
of a somewhat brownish colour, and the seeds are perfectly plump and firm ; as by these
means they will not only be better in their quality, but be in less danger of being injured
in the field, from the very short time that it will be necessary for them to remain, and also
less in danger of being hurt by heating when laid up for future use. It has been stated,
that it requires some experience to know of what degree of ripeness it is best to cut the
seeded saintfoin, because all its seeds do not ripen at the same time. Some ears
blossom before others ; and every ear begins to blossom at its lower part, and continues
to blow gradually upwards for many days ; so that before the flower is gone off at the
top, the seeds are almost mature at the bottom. From this cause, if the cutting be
deferred till the top-seeds are quite ripe, the lower, which are the best, would shed and
be lost.
5613. The best time to cut it is when the greater part of the seed is well filled, the first blown ripe, and
the last blown beginning to be full. The unripe seeds will ripen after cutting, and be in all respects as
good as those that were ripe before. Some, for want of observing this, have suffered their saintfoin seed to
stand till all of it has shed, and been lost in cutting. Saintfoin should never be cut in the heat of the day,
while the sun shines out; for then much, even of the unripe seed, will shed in mowing. The right time
for this work is the morning or evening, when the dew has rendered the plants supple. When the weather
is fine and clear, the saintfoin will soon dry sufficiently in the swaths, without turning them ; but if any
rain has fallen, and there is a necessity for turning them, it should be done very gently while they are
moist, and not with two swaths together, as in hay made of saintfoin before it has seeded. If the swaths
are turned with the handle of the rake, it is best to raise up the ear-sides first, and let the stub-side rest
on the ground in turning; but if it is done with the teeth of the rake, let the stub-side be lifted up, and
the ears rested on the earth. If it be cocked at all, the sooner it is done the better ; because, if the swaths
are dry, much of the seed will be lost in separating them, the ears being entangled together. When moist,
the seeds stick fast in the ear ; but when dry, they drop out with the least touch or shaking. It is, however,
the best practice, as soon as the proper degree of maturity has been attained by the crop, to mow it in as
short a time as possible, and let it remain exposed in the swath until the upper surface is fully dried, when
it must be wholly turned over, but in a very careful manner, so as to prevent the seeds from shedding and
being lost. When this side has been rendered perfectly dry and crisp in the same way as the other, the
crop should either be threshed out upon cloths in the field where it is grown, or laid up in stacks to be
afterwards threshed when the farmer has more leisure and convenience for the work.
5614. The work of threshing out the seeds in this kind of crop is much less troublesome
and expensive than in the clover kind. In cases where threshing-machines are in use,
the business may be executed by them with great ease and facility. It has, however,
been observed by a late writer, that " when the season is favourable, the practice of
threshing it out in the field is probably the most beneficial, as the stems or haulm may
be laid up for the purpose of fodder in the stack."
5615. As the threshing in the field cannot be done but in very fine weather, and while the sun shines in
the middle of the day, the best manner of performing it is to have a large sheet pegged down to the
ground, for two men to thresh on with their flails, while two others bring them fresh supplies in a smaller
sheet, and two more clear away the hay that has been threshed. The seed is emptied out of the larger
sheet, and riddled through a large sieve, to separate it from the chaff and broken stalks ; after which it
is put into sacks, and carried into the barn to be winnowed. Care should be taken not to let the hay get
wet, as in that case it would be spoiled. It is a very important, but difl[icult matter, to keep the seed that
has been threshed in the field from becoming wet. If it be winnowed immediately, and laid in a heap
or put into a sack, it will ferment to such a degree in a few days that the greater part of it will lose its
vegetative quality. During that fermentation it will be very hot, and smell sour. Spreading it upon a
barn.floor, though but seven or eight inches thick, will answer no end, unless it be frequently and regu-
larly turned until the heating is over : but even this will not make its colour keep so bright as if it were
well housed, well dried, and threshed in the winter. Laid up unthreshed it will keep without any danger
of spoiling, because it does not lie close enough to heat. The best way to preserve the seed threshed
in the field is to place a layer of straw upon a barn.floor, and upon that a thin layer of seed ; then
another layer of straw, and another layer of seed ; and so on. By this means the seed, mixing with the
straw, will be kept well, and come out in the spring in as fresh colour as when it was put in.
5616. In respect to the produce in seed, it is said to be usually " from about four to
five sacks in some districts, but in others it will probably be much less, especially on the
shallower sorts of saintfoin soils." But this must obviously be liable to great variation
from seasons, &c.
5617. The diseases of saintfoin are few, there being little danger of failure after it has
escaped the fly, wliich attacks the clover tribe in germinating.
Book VI.
BURNET, RIBWORT, &c.
883
Sect. IV. Various Plants (not Gramineee) which are or may be cultivated as Herbage
and for Hay.
5618. Among the inferior herbage plants which are occasionally cultivated, are burnet,
ribwort, furze, and spurry. Those which might be cultivated are very numerous, and in-
cludes several species of Ficia, iathyrus, Galega, Lotus, Trifolium, Medicago, and others
of the native Legumint)sa2, or pea-like flowering plants; and Achillea, Alchenulla
Cheiranthus, S'pArtium, ^'pium, and a variety of others of different families. With the
exception of the chiccory and furze, there are none of these plants that deserve the atten-
tion of the professional farmer ; ribwort and burnet are occasionally sown ; but they are
of little value as hay plants, and in most pastures their place might be more advan-
tageously occupied by one or other of the natural grasses. With respect to the other
plants enumerated, they have never been tried but by way of experiment, and are only
mentioned as resources under peculiar circumstances, and as a field of enquiry and exer-
tion for the amateur cultivator.
5619. The burnet {Pimprenclle grande, Fr. ; Potferium Sanguisorba Z. Jig. 778.) is a native plant, a hardy
perennial with compound leaves, blood-coloured flowers, and a long
tap-root. It was originally brought into notice by Roque, a commer-
cial gardener, at Walliam green, near London, who found means to
procure the patronage of the Dublin and other societies to this plant,
which, being a novelty, attracted the attention and called forth the
eulogies of Arthur Young, and other leading agriculturists of the day.
Miller, however, at the time observed, that whoever will give them-
selves the trouble to examine the grounds where it naturally grows,
will find the plants left uneaten by the cattle, when the grass about
them has been cropped to the roots ; besides, in wet winters and on
strong land, the plants are of short duration, and therefore very unfit
for the purjiose of pasture or hay, nor is the produce sufficient to tempt
any persons of skill to engage in its culture.
5620. Curtis says of burnet, that it is one of those plants which it
has for some years past been attempted to introduce into agriculture ;
but not answering the farmer's expectation, it is now in a great degree
laid aside. Cattle are said not to be fond of it; nor is its produce suffi-
cient to answer the expense attending its culture. It is to be lamented
that persons do not pay a little attention to the nature of plants before
they so warmly recommend them. A small plant, scarcely ever met
with but on hilly and chalky ground, and to which cattle in such situ-
ations do not show any particular attachment, is not likely to afford
better or more copious nourishment than the clovers and other plants
already in use.
5621. According to Boys, in The Agricultural Survey of Kent, it
affords herbage in the winter and spring months, but is not much liked
either by cattle or sheep.
5622. Dr. Anderson reports, that burnet retains its verdure pretty well during the winter months, but
affords such scanty crops as hardly to be worth the attention of the farmer.
5623. A correspondent in the Museutn RUsticum, a work very favourable to burnet, confesses with
reluctance that it is not deserving of any exalted character, but rather the contrary ; and that it is in no
degree to be compared to the common clover, which is cultivated at half the expense. It appears from
some accounts there that horses will not eat it at all, and that kine frequently will not take it without
great reluctance. Its slow growth is also made a great objection : being only about five inches high, and
having scarcely one head in flower ; whilst lucern, on the same soil, sown the same day and much thicker,
was eighteen or twenty inches in height It is not meant by this, however, to discourage that laudable
spirit of improvement wliich so happily prevails at present ; but to caution such as introduce any new plant
to make themselves well acquainted with its natural history.
5624. Those who wish to cultivate burnet, as an herbage and hay plant, may treat it exactly as directed
for saintfoin : as a pasture plant it is sown among the grasses in the same way as white or yellow clover.
A bushel of seed is commonly sown to an acre.
5625. The ribwort plantain {Plantain des Pres, Fr. ; Plantkgo lanceolkta L., Jig. 779.) is a hardy native
with a tuft of long ribbed leaves springing from the crown of the root,
long naked flower-stems, and a long moniliform tap-root It abounds
in dry soils, as do several other species of plantain, especially the P.
media On dry soils it affords little herbage, and is often left un-
touched by cattle. Curtis, Withering, and other British botanists,
speak unfavourably of the ribwort as a pasture herb ; but Haller
attributes the richness of the milk in the Swiss dairies to the flavour
of this plant, and that of the Alchemilla, in the mountain pastures.
In rich moist or watered lands its herbage is more abundant, and its
flavour altered, — a circumstance not uncommon in the vegetable king-
dom, but from which it does not always follow that the plant so altered
is deserving of culture. In conformity with this observation, though
the ribwort is a scanty and rejected herbage, on poor dry soils, it is said
by Zappa of Milan to grow spontaneously in every meadow of Lom-
bardy, especially in those which are irrigated. It vegetates early,
flowers at the beginning of May, ripens in five weeks, and is cut with
the Poa triviklis ; the height of the leaves is about one foot, and of
the stalk a foot and a half; it multiplies itself much by the seed, and
a little by the roots, which it continues for some time to reproduce.
Ribwort, more especially in a cultivated state, is eaten heartily by
every sort of cattle, and in particular by cows, who like it most in
May, when it has great influence on the milk, as the hay has on the
flesh. In Scotland it is a useful addition to the proper grasses on lands
to be pastured by sheep, at the rate of two or three head to the acre.
Where kept well fed down by stock, there can be no doubt of its being
a very good and nourishing pasturage plant for both cattle and sheep;
but it is by no means adapted for hay or soiling.
562a Young says, that he had long before recommended this plant for laying land to grass, and sowed
it on hia own farm. At the same time, he thinks it extravagant to propose dandelion and sorrel as plants
3L 2
8S4 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
proper for a cow pasture, and conjectures that those plants, being found among good ones, have qualities
given them which do not properly belong to them : he is likewise inclined to make the same conjecture
in respect to narrow-leaved plantain, ribwort, or rib-grass, and should even have preferred dandelion and
sorrel to it; but he is cautious of opposing theory to practice.
5627. Dr. Anderson states, that narrow-leaved plantain or rib-grass is well liked by horses and cattle,
and yields a very good crop upon rich ground tending to dampness, if it is at the same time soft and
spongy ; but that upon any soil which has a tendency to bind, or upon dry ground, it furnishes a very
scanty crop. It has been made use of in some parts of Yorkshire as a summer grass. As an article of
pasturage for cattle and sheep, it is there in high esteem : it is not, however, well eaten by horses. As
an article of hay, it is held to be detrimental to the crop ; retaining its sap an unusual length of time,
and when fully dry falling into a small compass, or being broken into fragments and left behind in the
field.
5628. The culture of the plantain is the same as that of clover; its seed is about the same size, and con-
sequently the same proportion of it will sow an acre.
5629. The whin, furze, or gorze {Ajonc, Jane ?narm, Gen^t tfpineux, Fr. ; V^'lex europai^a L.,Ji<r. 780.), is
a well known shrub, found wild on dry light soils, and in rather hilly
situations, in the warmer and more temperate parts of Europe ; but
not in Sweden, or in Russia or Poland, north of Cracow and Casan.
It has been known as a nourishing food for cattle from a very early
period, and has been sown in some parts of England for that purpose
and for fuel. Dr. Anderson knows few plants that deserve the atten-
tion of the farmer more than the whin. Horses are peculiarly fond
of it ; so much so, that some persons think they may be made to per-
form hard work upon it, without any feeding of grain : but he thinks
it tends more to fatten a horse than to fit him for hard labour, and
that therefore some grain should be given with it where the work is
severe. Cattle, he says, eat it perfectly well when thoroughly bruised,
and grow as fat upon it as upon turnips; but unless it be very well
bruised for them, they will not eat it freely, and the farmer will be
disappointed in his expectations. It has lately been found excellent
food for horses in the Highlands of Scotland. {High. Sac. Trans, vol. v.)
Cows fed upon it yield nearly as much milk as while upon grass, and
it is free from any bad taste. The best winter-made butter he ever
saw was obtained from the milk of a cow fed upon this plant. This
food should be made use of soon after being prepared. Two bushels,
with a proper allowance of hay, have been found to be sufficient for
a day for three horses performing the same labour as with corn. It
also seemed useful to horses labouring under broken wind and grease.
Poor hungry gravelly soils, which would not have let for five shillings
an acre, have been rendered worth twenty shillings by sowing them with furze-seed, in places where fuel
has been scarce ; the furze being frequently used for heating ovens, burning lime and bricks, and also for
drying malt : but it is not worth cultivating in countries where fuel of any kind is cheap, or upon such
lands as will produce good grass, corn, or other crops employed as the food of animals.
5630. The culture of the whin is thus given by the same author : — A field of a good dry loamy land,
being well prepared, he sowed, along with a crop of barley, the seeds of the whin in the same way as clover
is usually sown, allowing at the rate of from fifteen to thirty pounds of seed to the acre. The seeds, if
harrowed in and rolled with the barley, quickly spring up, and advance under the shelter of the barley
during the summer, and keep alive during the winter. Next season, if the field has not a great tendency
to run to grass so as to choke them, they advance rapidly after midsummer, so as to produce a pretty full
crop before winter. This you may begin to cut with a scythe immediately after your clover fails, and
continue to cut it as wanted during the whole of the winter ; but it is supposed that, after the month of
February, the taste of this plant alters, as it is in general believed that after that time horses and cattle
are no longer fond of it. He, however, observes, that never having had a sufficiency of whins to serve
longer than towards the middle of February or beginning of March, he cannot assert the fact from his
own experience. He has frequently seen horses beating the whins with their hoofs, so as to bruise the
prickles, and then eating them, even in the months of April and May ; and he says, that sheep which
have been used to this food certainly pick off the blossoms and the young pods at that season, and probably
the prickles also ; so that it is possible the opinion may only be a vulgar error. This is, he thinks, the
best way of rearing whins as a crop for a winter food for cattle or horses. But for sheep, who take to this
food very kindly when they have once been accustomed to it, less nicety is required ; for if the seeds be
simply sown broad-cast, very thin (about a pound of seed per acre) upon the poorest soils, after they come
up the sheep of themselves will crop the plants, and soon bring them into round close bushes, as this
animal nibbles off the prickles one by one very quickly, so as not to be hurt by them. Sheep, however,
who have not been used to this mode of browsing do not know how to proceed, and often will not
taste them j but a few that have been used to the food will, he observes, soon teach all the rest how to
use it.
5631. Another very econoinical way of rearing whins, but which he has seen practised rather than
experienced himself, is this : — Let a farm be enclosed by means of a ditch all round, with a bank thrown
up on one side, and if stones can be had, let the face of that bank be lined with the stones, from bottom
to near the top, this lining to slope backwards with an angle of about sixty or seventy degrees from the
horizon. Any kind of stones, even round ones gathered from the land, will answer the purpose very
well; upon the top of the bank sow whin-seeds pretty thick, and throw a few of them along the face of
the bank. Young plants will quickly appear. Let them grow for two years, and then cut them down
by means of a hedge-bill, sloping down by the face of the bank. This mode of cutting is very easy,
and as the seeds soon insinuate themselves among the crannies of the stones, the whole face of the bank
becomes a close hedge, whose shoots spring up with great luxuriance. If another ditch be made on the
other side of the bank, and if this be managed in the same way, and the hedge cut down only once every
second year (and in this way it affords very good food for beasts), the inside and outside being cut down
alternately, the fence will at all times continue good, as the hedge at the top will at all times be complete.
This mode of rearing whins is, he remarks, both convenient and economical. But where stones cannot
be obtained for making the facing, the bank very soon moulders down, and becomes unfit for the purposes
of a fence. Circumstances have prevented him from ascertaining what is the weight of the crop that may
be thus attained, but he thinks he may safely venture to say, that it is at least equal to that of a crop of
green clover; and if it be considered, that this affords a green succulent food during winter, on which
cattle can be fatted as well as on cut grass in summer, it will, he thinks, be admitted, that it must be
accounted even a more valuable crop than clover. After being cut, he also remarks, that it springs up the
following season with greater vigour than before, and in this situation acquires a degree of health and
succulence very different from what it is ever observed to possess in its natural state. He has seen shoots
of one season near four feet in length. The prickles too are so soft, and the stems so tender, that very little
bruising is necessary ; indeed horses, that have been accustomed to this food, would eat it without any
bruising at all ; but horned cattle, whose mouths seem to be more tender, always require it to be well bruised.
How long crops of this sort may continue to be annually cut over without wearing out, he cannot say, but
he believes a long while in favourable circumstances. One thing, however, it is necessarj' to attend to in
Book VI.
SPURRY, BROOM, PARSLEY, &c.
885
order to guard against its being destroyed : as, during the beginning of the season, nature seems to be
solely employed about the great work of fructification, and it is not till near Midsummer that the whin
begins to push forth its wood-bearing branches, which advance with great luxuriance during the latter
part of tJie season only, it may happen, that if care be not taken to have the grass that springs up on the
field, before the whin begins to send out its shoots, eaten close down, that grass will acquire such a
luxuriance before the young branches of the whin begin to advance, as to overtop them, and choke them
entirely. Whoever, therefore, has a field under this particular crop, must be careful to advert to this cir-
cumstance, or, if the field be in good heart, he will infallibly lose it. The field therefore should be kept as
a pasture, bare as possible during the beginning of the season, and the
cattle should only be taken from it when the shoots of the whin begin
to advance with vigour. Under this management, he presumes, it
may be kept for many years, and yield full crops ; but, unless the
mowers be particularly attentive at the beginning, to cut it as low as
possible, it will very soon become impossible to cut the field with a
scythe, as the stumps will acquire so much strength as to break the
scythe when it happens to touch them.
5632. The spurry (Spergule, Fr. ; Sp^rgula arv^nsis Z,., Jig. 781.) is
a diminutive annual weed, on dry sandy corn-lands, in most parts of
Europe. In Germany and the Netherlands, it is sown on the corn
stubbles, and in the intervals of time that occur between some crops
is fed with sheep. It may be sown and reaped in eight weeks, either
in autumn or spring. It is said to enrich the milk of cows, so as to
make it afford excellent butter ; and the mutton fed on it is preferable
to that fed on turnips. Hens eat spurry greedily, and it is supposed to
make them lay a great number of eggs. "Whether in hay, or cut green,
or in pasture, Von Thaer observes, it is the most nourishing, in pro-
portion to its bulk, of all forage, and gives the best flavoured milk and
butter. It has been recommended to be cultivated in England ; but it
is not likely that such a plant can ever pay the expense of seed and labour in this country, even on the
poorest soil, or at all events, as Pro essor Martyn observes, we have many better plants for such soils.
5633. The com?non broom {GcnUt commun, Fr. ; Spartium scopJirium i-,7?^-. 782.) is cultivated in the
southern parts of France, on the poorer
sorts of soil, in the same way as hemp,
for the purpose of stripping the bark
from it, and converting it into a kind
of thread. It is likewise cultivated in
these places as a winter-food for sheep,
and it is said they eat it with great
avidity, preferring it to many other
plants. It is, however, liable to pro-
duce diseases of the urinary passages,
by its diuretic qualities. It has been
recommended by Young to be culti-
vated in England as food for sheep
and horses, who are said to eat it
after they get accustomed to it ; also
for thatch, ropes, besoms, food for
bees, fuel, and burning on the spot to
improve the soil. Its culture is the
same as that of the whin ; but very
peculiar, indeed, must be that situ-
ation, where its culture is attempted
for any of the above purposes. It is !
a useful protection of game in plant-
ations, from which source abundance
may be had for besoms. The Spanish
broom (S. jijnceum L.,fig. 783.) might
te grown perhaps still more advantageously than the common species.
5^i. The parsley {Persil covimun, Fr. ; yi^pium Petrosellnum L.,fig. 784.) is a well known biennial
with a large sweet tap-root. It is a native of Sicily, but endures the
British winter like a native plant. It is sown along with clover and
grass seeds in some places, and especially in Lincolnshire, as a pre-
ventive of the rot in sheep. Fleet, of Hampshire, famous for curing
the rot in sheep, cultivates it largely with success : he sows half a
bushel to the acre, with a bushel of rye-grass with spring corn ; and he
finds that it lasts in the ground till it is permitted to seed. He feeds it
constantly ; it being excellent for sheep, and, when suffered to get
a-head, wonderfully fed upon by pigs in the autumn. After September,
it will not, he says, run to seed. When it was ploughed up he ob.
tained good oats. The land was poor, and in the next round of the
course, the clover was much the better for the parsley having been
•jiS-J * ^\ ^%^ sown or the clover omitted ; for in a field half parsley, half clover, when
*^ ^^ the clover came again to be sown, it was excellent on the parsley half,
hut bad on the clover part In laying down land to grass, Hoyte, in
the fourth volume of Communicatiuns to the Board of AgricnUure,
advises the sowing with twelve pounds of white clover, two pounds of
red clover, two pecks of rye- crass, and two pounds of parsley to the
acre, as the parsley stands two" years, and by its diuretic qualities pre-
vents the sheep from dying of the red-water, which too luxuriant
clovers are apt to produce. In Scotland, also, it has been sown with
success, and greedily eaten by horses, cows, and hogs. The seed
requires a longer period to germinate than that of any other agri-
cultural plant, and might probably be advantageously prepared by
steeping and turning. It must be fresh, as two-year-old seed will not
grow. It is easily procured by the pound or bushel, from the seedsman,
rnd as easily raised by letting a few drills in a garden shoot into flower-stems. ,,„/„,-, .u^
5G35. TheSpir<e^a Ulmaria L. ; queen of the meadows, Reine dcs Pres Fr. ; the Scabiosa arv^nsis; the
/fesperis matronfllis ; the Centaurea Jicea, are sown in France along with theperennialj^rasscs and their
seeds may be had in the French seed shops, but they cannot be recommended in soils and climates wherfe
any of the clovers or true grasses will thrive so as to form an abundant herbage. ^ ^ ^.
5636. The wallflotcer rCheiranthus Chehi U) is a well known garden flower, and at the same time^a
native, and very hardy on dry soils. Like the parsley it is an antiseptic, and has been recommended to b«
cultivated for the same puqioses, and in the same manner.
3 L/ 3
886:
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
787
788
5637. The bird's foot trefoil {Lotier, Fr. ; Lhtns comicul^tus L.,fig. 785.) has been tried as a substitute
for white clover on moist lands, and 786
seems to succeed very well, but to
have no particular advantages over
the clover. Lhtna m^jor has been
found by Mr. Sinclair to afford triple
the weight of green food and hay
afforded by Lotus cornicul&tus ; its
nutritive powers compared with that
plant are as nine to eight ; but on the
whole, he says, both species are greatly
inferior to white clover. {Gram.
Wob. 2d ed. p. 311.) Z5tus villbsus
and tetragon61obus, the Lotier cultiv4
of the French {fig. 786.), are a good
deal cultivated in France on light soils
The latter is an annual sown in our
gardens.
5638. The fenugreek {Sennegraiti,
Fr. ; Trigonellai^oe^num-graeYuml/.,
fig. 787.), Greek hay, was formerly
cultivated in Italy, and slill holds a
prominent place in the agriculture of
Egypt. In France it is cultivated to
a limited extent near Paris for its
seeds, which are used in medicine.
5639. The serradilla (Ornithopus satlvus of Persoon's Synopsis) was introduced for purposes of
field culture about the year 1818, from Portugal, and sown upon the light barren downs of Thetford in
Norfolk, and Ampthill and other places in Bedfordshire. It is said to have produced abundant crops, two
feet high, of excellent fodder,
where scarcely any thing else
would grow. Its culture,
however, is no longer in use
in England, and it does not
enter into the agriculture of
France.
5640. Galega officinalis ;M.
thyrus Cicera, latifblius, syl-
vestris,prat^nsis,hirsutus,he-
terophyllus, and tingita.nus ;
jE'rvum £rvf lia, and mon4n-
thos ; ibtus villbsus, and te-
tragon61obus ; Ficia angusti-
fblia, Crdcca, Pseudo- Crdcca,
biennis, sfepium, and liitea ;
vinth^llis vulnerkria ; and
.(istrigalus glyciph^'lios and
galegiformis, are all used as
herbage plants in the agricul-
ture of France.
5641. The oriental bunias
(5ilnias orient^lisZ.,^^. 788.
a) is a perennial plant, with
leaves, branches, and its ge-
neral habit of herbage, not
unlike the wild chiccory. It is a native of the Levant, and
has been cultivated by way of experiment in the grass
garden at Woburn. It is less productive than chiccory,
bears mowing well, and affords the same nutriment, in
proportion to its bulk, as red clover, {Agricultural Chem.
p. 374.)
5642. The yarrow {Millefeuille, Fr. ; .^chillfea Millefblium L.fig. 788. i), the common and alpine ladies^
mantle {Alchemilla vulgJlris and alplna L.), and others, have been tried among perennial grasses, sown
in parks, with a view to give flavour to milk, butter, mutton, and venison. Sinclair considers yarrow as
an essential ingredient of the most fattening and healthy pastures. In all the pastures most celebrated
for fattening or dairy produce, which he examined in Devonshire, Lincolnshire, and in the vale of
Aylesbury, yarrow was present more or less in every part of the surface. {Hort- Gram. Wob. 2d
edit. p. 412.)
Chap. VI.
Cultivated Grasses.
5643. The forage or hay and pasture grasses, of which we are now about to treat, are
found clothing the surface of the earth in every zone, attaining generally a greater
height, with less closeness at the root in the warm climates ; and producing a low, close,
thick, dark green nutritive herbage, in the cooler latitudes. The best grass pastures,
those which are most productive and nutritive, are such as are found in countries that
have least cold in winter, and no excess of heat in summer. Ireland, Britain, and part of
Holland and Denmark, may equal or surpass any countries of the world in this respect ;
but in every zone where there are high mountains, there are certain positions between
the base and summit, where, from the equability of the temperature, turf may be found
equal to that in marine islands. It is a singular circumstance with regard to grasses.
Book VI. HAY GRASSES. 887
that in the greater part of North America, the sorts that grow naturally on the plains
are almost all annuals, and consequently with the first frost they die, and the ground
remains naked till a fresh crop rises from the self-sown seeds next spring. Nearly the
same thing may be said of Poland and Russia, with the exception of the banks of rivers
and the mountains.
5644. The universal presence of the for a^^e grasses, and the rapidity with which all soils become covertd
with them when left uncultivated, are the obvious reasons why their systematic selection and culture are
but of recent date. Though the Romans cultivated clovers, and were careful of their meadows, it does not
appear that the seeds of the proper grasses were collected and sown by them. None of the agricultural
writers, from Peter of Bologna to Parkinson in 1640, say a word about sowing grasses, though they all
mention clover and lucern. This branch of culture appears to have originated in England about the
middle of the seventeenth century, and the grass made choice of was the rye-grass. The first mention
made of it for cultivation is in Dr. Plot's Oxfordshire, printed in 1677. " They have lately sown," says he,
" ray.grass, or the Gramen /oliilceum, by which they improve any cold, sour, clay-weeping ground, for
which it is best, but good also for drier upland grounds, especially light stony or sandy land, which is unfit
for saintfoin. It was first sown in the Chiltern parts of Oxfordshire, and since brought nearer Oxford by
one Eustace, an ingenious husbandman of Islip, who, though at first laughed at, has since been followed
even by those very persons that scorned his experiment." The first grass tried after rye-grass ai)pears
to have been the Phlfeum pratense, by Rocque of Walham Green, about 1760. Soon afterwards the seed
of cock's-foot grass was introduced from Virginia, under the name of orchard-grass, by the Society of
Arts. {Ann. Reg. 1765. 141.) ; fox-tail was tried at a later period, on the suggestions of Stillingfleet and
Curtis.
5645. Stillingfleet, about 1759, drew the attention of the reading agriculturist to the selection of different
species of grasses ; as did Dr. Anderson about the same time, and Swayne {Grdmina Pdscua) and Curtis
{Observations on British Grasses) soon afterwards. The origin of this attention to grasses and native
plants may be traced to the practice of forming local floras by botanists, and especially to the Flora Suecica
of Linnajus ; and the British Floras of Hudson, Withering, Lightfoot, Smith, &c. in which the medical
and economical properties of the plants were mentioned ; and, in imitation of Linnaeus, particular notice
taken of the animals which fed upon them.
5646. John Duke of Bedford made the latest and most laborious efTorts towards attaining a knowledge
of the comparative value of all the British and some foreign grasses worth cultivating. The result is given
in an appendix to Sir H. Davy's Agricultural Chemistry, and more at large in Sinclair's Hortus Gramineus
Woburnensis, 8vo. 2d edit. 1825, a work which may truly be said to form an epoch in this department of
agriculture, and which will probably long continue to be the ground- work of all that shall continue to bo
done in this branch of the subject.
5647. With respect to the general culture of grasses, though no department of agricul-
ture is more simple in the execution, yet, from their nature, considerable judgment is
required in the design. Though grasses abound in every soil and situation, yet, all the
species do not abound in every soil and situation indifferently. On the contrary, no
class of perfect plants is so absolute and unalterable in its choice in this respect. The
creeping-rooted and stoloniferous grasses will grow readily on most soils ; but the
fibrous-rooted species, and especially the more delicate upland grasses, require particular
attention as to the soil in which they are sown ; for in many soils they will either not
come up at all, or die away in a few years, and give way to the grasses which would
naturally spring up in such a soil when left to a state of nature. Hence, in sowing
down lands for permanent pasture, it is a good method to make choice of those grasses
which thrive best in adjoining and similarly-circumstanced pastures for a part of the
seed ; and to mix with these what are considered the very best kinds.
5648. The most important feature in the culture of pasture grasses is mixture of sorts. The husband-
man, observes one of the most scientific agriculturists in Scotland, who clothes his fields only with rye-
grass and clover, employs a limited machinery, the former being unproductive in summer, the latter
moderately so in spring; but when he, for this purpose, uses a variety of plants difTering in their habits
of growth, and periods of luxuriance, a numerous and powerful machinery is kept successively in fuH
operation. {Quar. Jour. Ag. vol. ii. p. 247.)
5649. The effect of a mixture of grasses maybe accounted for from some species putting forth their
foliage, and reaching a maximum of produce at different periods from other kinds. From some being
gregarious or social, and others solitary and never producing a close turf j by sowing seeds of several
species together, which are dissimilar in their habits of growth, and arrive at a maximum of produce at
different periods of summer and autumn, there is secured throughout the season a succession of fresh
herbage, rendered, by the erect and creeping foliage of the different species, so dense and abundant
as greatly to surpass in quantity that obtained from the cultivation of two or three kinds only.
{^Ibid. p. 246.)
5650. New and excellent varieties of many of the grasses, especially those used or fit
to be used in the convertible husbandry, might no doubt be obtained by selection and
cross-breeding, and it is much to be wished that this were attempted by cultivators.
5651. The grasses to be here treated of may be classed as tall sorts, or those best fitted
for hay ; and dwarf grasses, or those fit only for pasturage : those experimented on at
Wobum will next be noticed.
Sect. I. Tall-growing or Hay Grasses.
5652. The hay grasses for the purposes of agriculture may be advantageously divided
into those of temporary, and those of permanent duration. ^
SuBSECT. 1. Tall or Hay Grasses of temporary Duration.
5653. The most valuable of this division are the biennial, or, as it is commonly but
erroneously called, the annual, perennial, and subperennial rye-grass (fg. 789. a), the
3 L 4
888
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
cock's-foot grass(*), and woolly soft grass(c).
Where a crop of hay is desired within the
year, it is necessary to resort to such grasses
as are annuals in the strict sense of the word ;
and none can be better for this purpose than
the common oat (^vena satlva), cut and
made into hay when it comes into flower.
Next in order may be mentioned the other
cereal grasses and the annual varieties of
^romus : the latter, however, are very coarse
grasses, though prolific in culm.
5654. Tlie biennial rye-grass (iolium
per«inne var. bienne L.) is well known, as
being universally sown, either with or with-
out clover, among corn crops, with a view
to one crop of hay in the succeeding season.
It attains a greater height, and produces a longer broader spike of flowers, than the
perennial rye-grass, and the produce in hay is considered greater than that of any other
annual grass, equally palatable to cattle. It prefers a rich loamy soil, but will grow on
any surface whatever, not rock or undecayed bog.
5655. The perennial rye-grass (iolium per^nne L. Ivraie vivace, Fr. ; Daurende
Lolche, Ger. ; and Loglio vivace, Ital.) differs from the other in being of somewhat
smaller growth, and in abiding for several years, according to the variety and the soil
and culture.
5656. Many consider this grass coarse, benty, and very exhausting to the soil ; but, after all the experi-
ments that have been made on the other grasses, none have been found to equal it for a course of mowing
and pasturing for two, three, or seven years. It is sown in Italy, and especially in Lombardy, and also in
France and Germany, along with clover, for the same purposes as in this country; and, as Von Thaer has
remarked, though some have tried other species, both in these countries and in England, they have in the
end returned to rye-grass. When intended as a pasture-grass, if stocked hard, and v/hen for hay, if mown
early, the objections to it are removed. (Code of Agriculture.) G. Sinclair says the circumstance of its
producing abundance of seed, which is easily collected, and vegetates freely on any soil, its early perfection
and abundant herbage the first year, which is much relished by cattle, are the merits which have upheld
it to the present day, and will probably for some time to come continue it a favourite grass among farmers.
But the lattermath is inconsiderable, the plant impoverishes the soil in a high degree if not cut before the
seed ripens. When this is neglected, the field after midsummer exhibits only a brown surface of withered
straws. Let the produce and nutritive powers of rye-grass be compared with those of the cock's-foot
grass, and it will be found inferior nearly in the proportion of 5 to 18 ; to meadow fox-tail of 5 to 12 ; and
to meadow fescue of 5 to 17. (,Hort. Gram. Wob. 2d edit 215. and see \ 5662.) In a subsequent page he
observes, " The new varieties, however, of this species of grass, which have been discovered of late years,
remove in a considerable degree the serious objections which applied to the common rye-grass." {lb. 412.)
The varieties alluded to are all perennial, and as under :
Slender rye-grasi, common in dry impoverished pasture land.
Compound or broad spiked rye-gratt, found in rich soils, long
imder e^rass, and chiefty in beaten parts, as cart-wavs, &c. It
has a ^orl broad spike, crowded with spikelets at the top.
Pacey't ryegrass, found in rich meadow lands, and intro-
duced by Pacey, a cultivator in the uplands of Staffordshire ;
*pike nearly upright, spikelets shorter than in the compound
rje-grass, die stem furnished with long leaves, and the root
leaves large and numerous. Sinclair considers this the most
valuable variety of the rye-grass.
JVhitworth's rye^ass, introduced by G. ^Vhitworth, Esq.,
of Acre House, Lincolnshire, an eminent cultivator of the
pasture grasses, who, in 1823, had 60 varieties of I.61ium
perdnne under experiment.
Stickney's rye-grass, introduced by Stickney of Holdemess.
Russell's rye-grass, first cultivated by the late B. Holditch,
Esq., editor of TAe Farmer's Journal, from seed ohtained of a
Elant in a rich fen pasture, pointed out to Holditch by the
luke of Bedford.
Church bennet, or Church bent-grass, an excellent variety of
rye-grass, cultivated in some parts of Berkshire.
AU the above, except the first two, are excellent varieties. Pacey's and Russell's are considered
the best.
5657. The proportional value which the grass at the time of flowering bears to the grass at the time the
seed is ripe, is as 10 to 11. The proportional value which the grass of the lattermath bears to the grass at
the time of flowering, is as 4 to 10 ; and to grass at the time the seed is ripe, as 4 to 11.
5658. The seed of perennial rye-grass is not to be distinguished from that of the annual variety. It may
be collected by hand, in most parts of Britain, from old pastures, and a considerable quantity is annually
BO procured in Kent and Sussex. It is also grown purposely for seed in England and Scotland. Formerly
it was the practice for farmers to collect the seed which dropped from the hay used by their horses ; but
rye-grass, grown for hay, is now cut, by all judicious farmers, when it is just coming into flower ; and there-
fore to collect the glumes or empty husks can be of no use as seed. It has also been a common practice,
in regard to rye-grass, to let the mixed crop of that and clover stand till the seeds of the former have
attained a considerable degree of ripeness, when it is cut down and made into hay, in the usual manner;
and the seeds of the rye-grass are separated by the use of the flail, commonly before the hay is put into
the field-ricks. Sometimes, when but a small quantity is wanted, the hay is merely shaken well upon a
cloth, when it is building in the stack-yard ; or afterwards in the stable-loft, before it is put into the
horse's racks. But in all of these methods, in order to obtain good seed, the clover must remain uncut
beyond the proper season ; and it is thus materially injured in quality, while the value of the rye-grass
seed, in such a crop, is merely a secondary consideration.
56o9. When seed is the principal objectotthe culture of rye-grass, it ought not to be mixed with clover at
all, though it may be sown along with any of the kinds of corn, and treated the year after in every respect
as a crop of corn ; bound up in sheaves, built in stacks, threshed with the flail, and dressed by the win.
nowing-machine in the same manner.
5660. The difflculty of distinguishing between the annual and perennial varieties of rye-grass has led to
the practice, in some places, of cutting or pasturing the first year's crop, and taking a crop for seed the
second year. If the growth of the rye-grass plants be close and vigorous the second year, there is reason
to be satisfied that the seed is of the perennial variety; and though red clover was sown with the rye-grass,
a great part of it disappears by that time, and forms but a small portion of the second year's cutting. {Sup.
Encyc. Brit, art Agr.)
Book VI. HAY GRASSES. 889
566 1 . The cocVs-foot grass (Dactylis glomerata L. ,fig. 788. ft) is an imperfect perennial,
and grows naturally on dry sandy soils. This grass may be known by its coarse appear-
ance, both of the leaf and spike, and also by its whitish green hue.
5662. One writer says, he has cultivated it largely, and to his satisfaction, on wet loams oa a day marl
bottom, upon which the finer grasses are apt to give way in a few years to the indigenous produce. If
suffered to rise high, it is very coarse; but, fed close, is a very valuable sheep pasture. He has sown two
bushels an acre, and lOlbs. common red clover ; and when the clover wears out, the grass fills the lands
and abides well in it. It grows well in winter. It has been found highly useful as an early sheep feed. It is
early, hardy, and productive, but is a coarser plant than rye-grass, and requires even greater attention in
regard to being cut soon, or fed close. It does best by itself, and the time of its ripening being difFerent
from that of clover, it does not suit well to be mixed with that plant. The pasturage it affords is luxuriant,
and particularly agreeable to sheep. It is cultivated to a great extent, and with astonishing success, at
Holkham. The quantity of sheep kept upon it, summer and winter, is quite surprising ; and the land be-
comes renovated by lying two or three years under this grass, and enriched by the manure derived from
the sheep. A field, in the park at Woburn, was laid down in two equal parts, one part with rye-grass and
white clover, and the other part with cock's-foot and red clover : from the spring till midsummer, the
sheep kept almost constantly on the rye-grass ; but after that time they left it, and adhered with equal
constancy to the cock's-foot during the remainder of the season. In The Code of Agriculture (p. 497.
3d edit.) it is stated, that Sinclair of Woburn considers •' no grass so well suited for all purposes as
cock's-foot; " and in the second edition of the Hortus Gramineus Wobumensis, it is observed, that if one
species only is thought preferable to another in the alternate husbandry, that species is the Dactvlis glo-
merata, from its more numerous merits. But a certain supply of the most nutritious herbage throughout
the season will be in vain looked for from any one species of grass, and can only be found where nature
has provided it in a combination of many. None appear better fitted for mixing with Dactylis than
Festuca duriuscula and prat^nsis, Pba trivialis, //ulcus avenJlceus, Phlfeum pratense, iolium perenne,
and white clover. " A combination thus formed, of three parts cock's-foot, and one part of these species
just mentioned, will secure the most productive and nutritive pasture in alternation with grain crops, on
soils of the best quality ; and even on soils of an inferior nature, under the circumstances of unfavourable
seasons, will afford nutritive herbage, when otherwise the land would have been comparatively devoid of
it, if one species of grass only had been employed." ( Hort. Gram. Wob. 2d edit. 414.)
5663. The proportional value which the grass at the time of flowering bears to the grass at the time the
seed is ripe, is as 5 to 7 nearly. The proportional value which the grass of the lattermath bears to the grass
at the time of flowering, is as 6 to 10 ; and to the grass at the time the seetl is ripe, as 6 to 14. Sixty-fo»r
drachms of the straws at the time of flowering afford of nutritive matter 1-2 dr. The leaves or lattermath,
and the straws simply, are therefore of equal proportional value; a circumstance which will point out this
grass to be more valuable for permanent pasture than for hay. The above details prove, that a loss of
nearly one third of the value of the crop is sustained, if left to the period when the seed is ripe, though the
proportional value of the grass at that time is greater, i. e. as 7 to 5. The produce does not increase if the
grass is left growing after the period of flowering, but uniformly decreases ; and the loss of lattermath (from
the rapid growth of the foliage after the grass is cropped) is very considerable. These circumstances point
out the necessity of keeping this grass closely cropped, either with the scythe or cattle, to reap the full
benefit of its merits.
5664. The woolly soft grass (iiTolcus lanatus L.,Jig. 580. c) is an imperfect perennial,
and rather late flowering grass, of a short unsubstantial appearance, and found chiefly in
poor dry soils. It is, however, a very common grass, and grows on all soils, from the
richest to the poorest. It affords abundance of seed, which is light, and easily dispersed
by the wind.
5665. It was cultivated at Wohum on a strong clayey loam, and the proportional value
which the grass at the time the seed is ripe, bears to the grass at the time of flowering,
is as 11 to 1 2. Young of Essex observes of this grass, that it flourishes well on any
moist soil, and should be sown chiefly with a view to sheep, for it is not so good for
other stock : many acres of it have been cultivated on his farm for sheep, and it has
answered well when kept close fed. Marshal, in his Midland Counties, mentions it as
a good grass for cows and other cattle, but bad for horses. In his Rural Economy <^
Yorkshire, he, however, condemns it altogether.
5666. According to Sinclair, of Woburn, " it appears to be generally disliked by all
sorts of cattle. The produce is not so great as a view of it in the fields would indicate ;
but being left almost entirely untouched by cattle, it appears the most productive part of
the herbage. The hay which is made of it, from the number of downy hairs which
cover the surface of the leaves, is soft and spongy, and disliked by cattle in general."
The Woburn experiments lead to the conclusion that the J/olcus mollis is a better hay
plant than the species here noticed ; but as that is a more durable perennial it is less
fitted for the temporary purposes of this section.
5667. The culture of these grasses maybe considered the same as that of rye-grass,
which was discussed when treating of clover and rye-grass. (5540.) The seeds of all of
them are sold by the principal seedsmen, or may be gathered on grass-fields, or hedge
vi'astes, by women or children at an easy rate.
SuBSECT. 2. Tall or Hay Grasses of permanent Duration.
5668. No permanent grass has been found equal to the rye-grass for the purposes of
convertible husbandry, but others have been selected which are considered superior for
hay meadows. The principal of these are the fescue, fox-tail, and meadow-grass. Agri-
culturists, indeed, are not all agreed on the comparative merits of these grasses with rye-
grass ; but there are none who do not consider it advisable to introduce a portion of each,
or most of these species along with rye-grass, in laying down lands to permanent pasture.
The nutritive products of these grasses, of perennial rye-grass, and of that singular grass
florin, are thus given by Sir H. Davy : —
890
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
Sy sterna; ic Name.
English Name.
In 100 Parts.
Whole
quantity of
soluble or
nutiitive
matter.
Mucilage
or starch.
Saccha-
teror
sugar.
Gluten or
albumen.
Extract or
matter
rendered
insoluble
during eva-
poration.
Festuca /oli^cea (JtgjyO. c)
//olcus odorJltus
Anthoxantlmm vt'rinmi
^lopecixrus prat^nsis id)
Poa «rtiHs (e)
triviklis (/)
Cynos&rus ciistktus
/.olium per(5nne
^gr6stis stolom'fera
Spiked fescue grass
Sweet-scented soft grass
Sweet-scented vernal grass
Meadow fox-tail grass
Fertile meadow grass
Rougliish meadow grass
Crested dog's-tail grass
Perennial rye-grass
I'iorin
Fiorin cut in winter
ly
82
50
33
78
39
35
39
54
76
15
72
43
24
65
29
28
26
46
6i,
2
4
4
3
6
5
3
4
5
8
1
1
2
6
3
6
7
6
4
5
2
3
5669. Of the fescue grass there are three species in the highest estimation as meadow
hay grasses, viz. the meadow, tall, and spiked fescue. (Jig. 790. a, b, c.)
5670. The F. pratensis (a), or the meadow or fertile fescue grass, is found in most rich meadows and
pastures in England, and is highly grateful to every description of stock. It is more in demand for laying
down meadows than any other species except the rye-grass. By the Woburn experiments, the value of
this grass at the time the seed is ripe, is to that of the grass at the time of flowering, as 6 to 18. The loss
which is sustained by leaving the crop of this grass till the seed be ripe is very great. That it loses more
of its weight in drying at this stage of growth, than at the time of flowering, perfectly agrees with the
deficiency of nutritive matter in the seed crop, in proportion to that in the flowering crop : the straws
being succulent in the former, they constitute the greatest part of the weight; but in the latter they are
comparatively withered and dry, consequently the leaves constitute the greatest part of the weight It
may be observed here, that there is a great difference between straws or leaves that have been dried after
they were cut in a succulent state, and those which are dried by nature while growing. The former re-
tain all their nutritive powers ; but the latter, if completely dry, very little, if any.
5671. The tall or infertile fescue grass {Festuca elatior E. B. b) is closely allied to the Festxica pratensis,
from which it differs in little, except that it is larger in every respect. The produce is nearly three times
that of the F. prattnsis, and the nutritive powers of the grass are superior, in direct proportion, as G to 8.
The proportional value which the grass at the time the seed is ripe, bears to the grass at the time of flower-
ing, is as 12 to 20. The proportional value which the grass of the lattermath bears to that of the crop, is as
16 to 20 ; and to the grass at the time the seed is ripe, as 12 to 16 inverse. Curtis observes, that as the seeds
of this plant, when cultivated, are not fertile, it can only be introduced by parting its roots and planting
them out ; in this there would, says he, be no great diflSculty, provided it were likely to answer the ex-
pense, which he is strongly of opinion it would in certain cases ; indeed he has often thought that meadows
would be best formed by planting out the roots of grasses, and other plants, in a regular manner ; and that,
however singular such a practice may appear at present, it will probably be adopted at some future period :
this great advantage would, he says, "attend it, noxious weeds might be more easily kept down, until the
grasses and other plants had established themselves in the soil.
5672. The spiked fescue grass, or darnel fescue grass {Festuca loYihcedi L. c), resembles the rye-grass in
appearance, and the tall fescue grass in the infertility of its seeds. It is considered superior to rye-grass
either for hay or permanent pasture, and improves in proportion to its age, which is the reverse of what
takes place with the rye-grass.
5673. The meadow fox-tail grass (^lopecurus pratensis, d) is found in most mea-
dows ; and when the soil is neither very moist nor very dry, but in good heart, it is
very productive. It also does well on water meadows. Sheep and horses seem to have
a greater relish than oxen for this grass.
5674. In the Woburn experiments, it was tried both on a sandy loam and a clayey loam, and the result
gave nearly three fourths of produce greater from a clayey loam than from a sandy soil, and the grass
from the latter is comparatively of less value, in proportion as 4 to 6. The straws produced by the
sandy soil are deficient in number, and in every respect less than those from the clayey loam ; which
will account for the unequal quantities of the nutritive matter afforded by them ; but the proportional
, value in which the grass of the lattermath exceeds that of the crop at the time of flowering, is as 4 to 3 : a
diffference which appears extraordinary, when the quantity of flower -stalks which are in the grass at the
time of flowering is considered. In the Anthoxanthum odoratum the proportional difference between the
grass of these crops is still greater, nearly as 4 to 9 ; in the Poa pratensis they are equal j but in all the
Book VI.
HAY GRASSES.
891
latter flowering grasses experimented upon, the flowering straws of which resemblethoseof the yilopecJirus
pratensis, or Anthox&^nthum odoratum, the greater proportional value is always, on the contrary, found in
the grass of the flowering crop. Whatever the cause may be, it is evident that the loss sustained by
taking the crops of these grasses at the time of flowering is considerable. The proportional value which
the grass at the time of flowering bears to that at the time the seed is ripe, is as 6 to 9. The proportional
value which the whole of the lattermath crop bears to that at the time the seed is ripe, is as 5 to 9 ; and
to that at the time of flowering, proportionably as 13 to 24. Next to the fescue, this grass is in the
greatest reputation for laying down mowing grounds ; but it is unfortunately subject to the rust in some
situations.
5675. Of the meadow grass there are two species in esteem as hay plants, the smooth-stalked, and roughish.
These plants compose the greater part of the celebrated Orcheston meadows near Salisbury, and also of
the meadows near Edinburgh.
5676. The great or smooth stalked meadmo grass, the spear grass of America (Poa prat^nsis, e), is dis-
tinguished by its height, smooth stem, and creeping roots. According to Sole it is the best of all the
grasses : its foliage begins to shoot and put on a fine verdure early in the spring, but not so soon as some
other grasses. Every animal that eats giass is fond of it ; while it makes the best hay, and affords the
richest pasture. It abounds in the best meadows about Laycock and Chippenham, and has the valuable
property of abiding in the same land, while most other grasses are continually changing. According to
some it delights in rather a dry than a moist soil and situation, on which account it keeps its verdure
better than most others in dry seasons ; but it thrives most luxuriantly in rich meadows.
5677. Bi/ the Woburn experiments, the proportional value in which the grass of the lattermath exceeds
that of the flowering crop, is as 6 to 7. The grass of the seed-crop, and that of the lattermath, are of
equal value. This grass is, therefore, of least value at the time the seetl is ripe ; a loss of more than one
fourth of the value of the whole crop is sustained if it is not cut till that period ; the straws are then dry,
and the root-leaves in a sickly decaying state : those of the lattermath, on the contrary, are luxuriant
and healthy. This species sends forth flower-stalks but once in a season, and those being the most valu-
able part of the plant for the purpose of hay, it will, from this circumstance, and the superior value of the
grass of the lattermath, compared to that of the seed-crop, appear well adapted for permanent pasture.
It was of this grass that the American prize bonnet, in imitation of Leghorn, was manufactured by Miss
Woodhouse.
5678. The roughish meadow grass (P6a trivi^ilis L., f) delights in moist, rich, and sheltered situations,
when it grows two feet high, and is very productive. By the Woburn experiments it appears that the
proportional value in which the grass of the seed crop exceeds that at the time of flowering, is as 8 to 11.
The proportional value by which the grass of the lattermath exceeds that of the flowering crop, is as 8 to
12 ; and that of the seed crop, as 11 to 12. Here, then, is a satisfactory proof of the sui)erior value of the
crop at the time the seed is ripe, and of the consequent loss sustained by taking it when in flower ; the
produce of each crop being nearly equal. The deficiency of hay in the flowering crop, in proportion to
that of the seed crop, is very striking. Its superior produce, the highly nutritive powers which the grass
seems to possess, and the season in which it arrives at perfection, are merits which distinguish it as one of
the most valuable of those grasses which affect moist rich soils and sheltered situations : but on dry
exposed situations, it is altogether inconsiderable j it yearly diminishes, and ultimately dies off, not unfre-
quently in the space of four or five years.
5679. The above are six of the best British grasses, for either dry or watered meadows.
The seeds of the meadow fescue, fox-tail, and smooth and rough meadow grasses may
be had from the seedsmen, and they are sown in various proportions with the clovers and
rye-grass. The seeds of the two sorts of meadow grass are apt to stick together, and
require to be well mixed with the others before being sown. The tall and spiked fescue
grasses, having a number of barren flowers, are not prolific in seeds, and they are therefore
seldom to be got at the seed-shops j though they may occasionally be had there
gathered from plants in a wild state.
5680. As hay grassesy adapted for particular soils and situations, the cat's tail or
Timothy, floating fescue, and florin grass, have been recommended ; but it cannot be
said that the opinions of cultivators are unanimous in their favour. Timothy has
certainly been found to answer well on moist, peaty soils, and in several cases florin also.
5681. The cat's tail or Timothy grass (Phleumpratense L.,fig. 791. a) is a native plant.
and found both in dry and moist soils. It was first brought into notice by Timothy
Hudson, about 1780, who introduced it from Carolina, where it was in great repute.
On moist rich soils it is a prolific grass, but late ; on dry soils it is good for little, and
for cultivation in any way is disapproved of by Withering, Swaine, Curtis, and others,
as having no properties in which it is not greatly surpassed by the ^lopecurus prat^nsis.
5682. The Woburn experiments, however, present this grass as one of the most prolific for hay. Sixty-
four drachms of the straws afforded seven drachms of nutritive matter. The nutritive powers of the
892 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
straws simply, therefore, exceed those of the leaves, in the proportion of 28 to 8 ; the nutritive powers of
the grass, at the time of flowering, exceed those of the grass at the time the seed is ripe, in the i)roportion
of 10 to 23 ; and the nutritive powers of the lattermath, those of the grass of the flowering crop, in the
proportion of 8 to 10. The comparative merits of this grass will, from the above particulars, appear to
be very great ; to which may be added the abundance of fine foliage that it produces early in the spring.
In this respect it is inferior to Pba. fertilis and Fba angustifoUa only. The value of the straws at the time
the seed is ripe, exceeds that of the grass at the time of flowering, "in the proportion of 28 to 10, a circum-
stance whicli raises it above many others ; for from this property its valuable early foliage may be depas-
tured to an advanced period of the season, without injury to the crop of hay, treatment which in grasses
that send forth their flowering straws early in the season would cause a loss of nearly one half in the value
of the crop, as clearly proved by former examples ; and this property of the straws makes the plant
peculiarly desirable for hay. In moist and peaty soils it has in various instances been found highly
productive
5683. The floating fescue grass, Festuca fluitans (6), is found in rich swamps, especially
in Cambridgeshire, where it is said to give the peculiar flavour to Cottenham and
Cheddar cheese. It is also found in ditches and ponds in most parts of the country.
5684. It is greedily devoured by every description of stock, not excepting hogs and ducks, and geese
eagerly devour the seeds, which are small, but very sweet and nourishing. They are collected in several
parts of Germany and Poland, under the name of manna-seeds {schwaden), and are esteemed a delicacy
in soups and gruels. When ground to meal, they make bread very little inferior to that from wheat. The
bran is given to horses that have the worms ; but they must be kept from water for some hours afterwards.
Geese, and other water-fowl, are very fond of the seeds. So also are fish ; trout, in particular, thrive in
those rivers where this grass grows in plenty. It has been recommended to be sowed on meadows that
admit flooding j but Curtis justly remarks, that the flote-fescue will not flourish except in land that is
constantly under water, or converted into a bog or swamp^
5685. Hie water meadow grass (Poa aqudtica, c) is found chiefly in marshes, but will
grow on strong clays, and yield, as the Woburn experiments prove, a prodigious produce,
flowering from June to September. It is one of the largest of our grasses.
5686. In the fens of CambridgesAire, Lincolnshire, &c., immense tracts, that used to be overflowed and
to produce useless aquatic plants, and which, though drained by mills, still retain much moisture, are
covered with this grass, which not only affords rich pasturage in summer, but fonns the chief part of the
winter fodder. It has a powerfully creeping root ; and bears frequent mowing well It is sometimes cut
thrice in one season near the Thames. It grows not only in very moist ground, but in the water itself;
and with cat's-tail, burr-reed, &c., soon fills up ditches, and occasions them to require frequent cleansing.
In this respect it is a formidable plant, even in slow rivers. In the Isle of Ely they cleanse these by an
instrument called a bear, which is an iron roller, with a number of pieces of iron, like small spades, fixed
to it; this is drawn up and down the river by horses walking along the bank, and tears up the plants by
the roots, which float, and are carried down the stream. The grass was, however, cultivated at Woburn
on a strong tenacious clay, and yielded considerable produce.
5687. The Jiorin grass (^grostis stolonifera, d) is a very common grass both in wet
and dry, rich and poor situations. Few plants appear to be more under the influence' of
loc^d circumstances than this grass. On dry soils it is worth nothing ; but on rich marl
soils, and in a moist soil, if we may put confidence in the accounts given of its produce
in Ireland, it is the ibost valuable of all herbage plants.
5688. li was first brought into riotice by Dr. Richardson in 1809, and subsequently extolled, and its
c^lture detailed in various pamphlets by tire same gentleman. U appe^^rs to be exclusively adapted for
moist peat soils or bogs. In The Code of Agriculture it is said, " On mere bogs, the florin yields a great
weight of herbage, and is, perhaps, the most useful plant that bogs can produce." According to Sir H.
Davy, the florin gras«, to be in perfi^ction, requires a moist climate or a wet soil ; and it grows luxuriaiiitly
in cold cjays unfitted for other gr<isses. In light sarids, and in dry situations, its produce is much inferior
as to quantity and quality. He saw four square yards of horin grass cut in tire end of January, in a meadow
exclusively appropriated to the cultivation of florin by the Countess of Hardwicke, the soil of which is a
damp stiff clay. They afforded twenty-eight pounds of fodder, of Which one thousand parts afforded sixty-
four parts of nutritive matter, consisting nearly of one sixth of sugar, and five sixths of mucilage, with
little extractive matter. In another experiment, four square yards gave twenty-seven pounds of grass.
Lady Hardwicke has given an account of a trial of this grass; wherein twenty-three milch cows, and one
young horse, besides a number of jngs, were kept a fortnight on the produce of one acre. On the Dukeof
Bedford's farm, at Maulden, florin hay was placed in the racks before horses, in small distinct quantities,
alternately with common hay ; but no decided preference for either was manifested by the horses in this
trial. Fiorin has been tried in the highlands of Scotland, and a premium awarded in 1821 for a field of
three acres planted on land previously worth very little, at Appin, in Argyleshire. {Highl. Sac. Trans.
vol. vi. p. 229.) Hay-tea has also been made from fiorin, and found useful in rearing calves, being mixed
with oatmeal and skimmed milk. {Ibid. p. 233.)
5689. There are other species of Agrostis, as the A. palustris and repens, and some varieties of the A.
stolonifera, that on common soils are little different in their appearance and properties from fiorin. On
one of these, the narrow-leaved creeping-bent (A. stolonifera var. angustifulia), the following remarks are
made in the account of the Woburn experiments. " From a careful examination of the creeping-bent
with narrow leaves, it will doubtless appear to possess merits well worthy of attention, though perhaps not
so great as they have been supposed, if the natural place of its growth and habits be impartially taken into
the account. From the couchant nature of this grass, it is denominated couch-grass, by practical men;
and from the length of time that it retains the vital power, after being taken out of the soil, it is called
squitch, quick, full of life," &c.
5690. The culture of fiorin is diffierent from tliat of other grasses. Though the plant will ripen its seeds
on a dry soil, and these seeds being very small, a few pounds would be sufficient for an acre, yet it is gene^
rtlly propagated by stolones or root-shoots. The ground being well pulverised, freed from weeds, and laid
into such beds or ridges as the cultivator may think advisable ; small drills an inch or two deep, and six
or nine inches asunder, are to be drawn along its surface, with a hand or horse-hoe, or on soft lands with
the hoe-raka In the bottom of these drills, the fiorin shoots Cwhether long or short is of no consequence)
are laid lengthways, so that their ends may touch each other, and then lightly covered with a rake, and
the surface rolled to render it fit for the scythe. In six months the whole surface will be covered with
verdure, and if the planting be performed early in spring, a large crop may be had in the following autumn.
Any season will answer for planting, but one likely to be followed by showers and heat is to be preferred.
Those who wish to cultivate this grass will consult Dr. Richardson's Neiv Essay on Fiorin Grass (1813),
and also The Farmer's Magazine for 1810-14. Our opinion is, that neither fiorin, Timothy, nor floating
fescue, is ever likely to be cultivated in Britain ; though the latter two may perhaps succeed well on the
bogf and moist rich soils of IxeiandviWher^i tsi^ecowl the sifyuLeijee ,of the soil, there is a moist warm
climate. _ : .^h y> l- k ■■■■■■: .•:■-')> ur -uj- )v.r ^j.;,, ,-j\v ,j , ,
Book VI.
PASTURE GRASSES.
893
5691. A number of other species of tall grasses, well adapted for meadows and hay-
making, might be here enumerated ; but we have deemed it better to treat only of the
most popular sorts, of which seeds may be purchased ; all the others of any consequence
will be found in a tabular view (Sect. III.)) accompanied by a summary statement of
their products in hay and aftermath, nutritive matter, and general character.
5692. T/ie preparation of the soil, and the sowing of the usual meadow grasses, differ in
nothing from those of clover and rye-grass already given. The after-treatment of dry
meadows, including the making of natural hay, will be found in the succeeding Chapter
on the management of grass-lands ; that of watered meadows was naturally given when
treating of their formation. (443 1 . )
Sect. II. Grasses chiefly adapted for Pasturage.
5693. In treating of pasturage grasses we shall make a selection of such as have been
tried to some extent, and of which the seeds are in the course of commerce. On soils
in good condition, and naturally well constituted, no better grasses can be sown for
pasturage than those we have described as tall grasses for hay-meadows ; but for early
and late pasturage, and secondary soils, there are others much more suitable.
£694. The pas/we g7-asses for ear/y pasturage on all soils are the Anthoxanthum odorktum, ^61cus
odorSitus, Avhna pub^scens, and P6a annua.
5H9.5. The pasture grasses for late herbage on all soils are chiefly the different species of .^grostis and
Phlfeum.
.'J696. The pasture grasses for poor or secondary soils are the Cynosdrus cristatus, Festuca duri6scula and
ovlna, Pha. comprfessa, cristata, and angustifblia.
5697. The grasses that afford most nutritive matter in early spring, are the fox-tail
grass and the vernal grass j the former has been already mentioned as one of the best
hay-grasses.
5698. The sweet-scented vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odor^tum, fig. 792. a) is common in almost all
A.
pastures, and is that which gives the fragrance to natural or meadow-hay. It is chiefly valuable as an
early grass ; for, though it is eaten by stock, it does not appear to be much relished by them. From the
Woburn experiments, it appears that the smallness of the produce of this grass renders it improper for the
purpose of hay ; but its early growth, and the superior quantity of nutritive matter which the lattermath
affords, compared with the quantity afforded by the grass at the time of flowering, cause it to rank high
as a pasture-grass, on such soils as are well fitted for its growth ; such are peat- bogs, and lands that are
deep and moist.
5699. The downy oat grass {A\hx\& pub^scens, b), according to the Woburn experiments, possesses several
good qualities, which recommend it to particular notice ; it is hardy, early, and more productive than many
others which affect similar soils and situations. Its growth after being cropped is tolerably rapidj
although it does not attain to a great length if left growing ; like the Pha, pratensis it sends forth flower-
stalks but once in a season, and it appears well calculated for permanent pasture on rich light soils.
5700. The annual tneadow grass {Pha annua, c) is the most common of all grasses, and the least absolute
in its habits. It is almost the only grass that will grow in towns and near works where the smoke of coal
abounds. Though an aimual grass, it is found in most meadows and pastures perpetually flowering,
and affording an early sweet herbage, relished by all stock, and of as great importance to birds as wheat is
to man. It hardly requires to be sown, as it springs up every where of itself. However, it may not be
amiss to sow a few pounds of it per acre wherever perpetual pasture (not hay) is the object.
5701. The fine bent grass (^grostis vulgaris, d) is one of the most common grasses, and, according to the
Woburn experiments, one of the earliest. The A. palustris is nearly as early in producing its foliage,
though both flower late, and neither is very prolific either in bulk or nutritive matter.
5702. The narrow-leaved meadow grass (Pha angustifblia, e), though it flowers late, yet is remarkable
for the early growth of the leaves. According to the Woburn experiments the leaves attain to the length
of more than twelve inches before the middle of April, and are soft and succulent ; in May, however,
when the flower-stalks make their appearance, it is subject to the disease termed rust, which affects the
whole plant ; the consequence of which is manifest in the great deficiency of produce in the crop at the
time the seed is ripe, being then one half less than at the time of the flowering of the grass. Though this
disease begins in the straws, the leaves suffer most from its effects, being at the time the seed is ripe com-
pletely dried up : the straws, therefore, constitute the principal part of the crop for mowing, and they
contain more nutritive matter, in proportion, than the leaves. This grass is evidently most valuable for
permanent pasture, for which, in consequence of its superior, rapid, and early growth, and the disease
beginning at the straws, nature seems to have designed it. The grasses which approach nearest to this in
respect of early produce of leaves, are the Pba fiSrtilis, Diictylis glomer&ta, Phlfeura prat^nse, illopeciirus
prattnsis, Avhna el^tior, and ^romus littiireus, all grasses of a coarser kind.
8S4
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
.0703. The best natural pastures of England, examined carefully during various periods of tlie season,
were found by Sinclair of Woburn to consist of the following plants : —
yllopecurus prattinsis. PhlSum prat<5nse. Ffcia s6pium. />e)a innua.
Cactylis glomerata. Anthroxinthum odor^tum. Z-61ium per(5nne. A\^na. pratensis.
Fe«<uca prat^nsis. if ulcus avenaceus. Bromus arv^nsis (frequent).
These afford the principal grass in the spring, and also a great part of the summer produce : —
^vena flav^scens. Fesiiica duriviscula. Hdlcus lanhtus. iiSthyrus pratensis.
Hdrdeum prat^nse.
Cjnosurus cristatus.
f 6a trivialis. Trif 61ium pratense.
Pba prat(Jnsis. Trif olium ripens.
These yield produce principally in summer and autumn : —
Achillea Jtfillefi)lium. jlgrdstis stolonffera and palustris. Trfticum repens.
These vegetate with most vigour in autumn : —
Ranunculus acris. Plantkgo lanceolita. iliimex Acetosa.
The first and last of these plants are to be considered injurious ; and the other is of little value as
herbage. {Hort. Gratn. Wob. 2d edit. 133.)
5704. Th6 above mixture sown at the rate of four or five bushels to the acre, on well prepared soil with-
out corn or other crop of any kind, could hardly fail of producing excellent pasture in the following year,
and for an indefinite period. The best time for sowing is July or August, as spring-sown seeds are apt to
suffer with the droughts of June and July. Fifteen of the above sorts are to be had from the seed-shops ;
and all of them may be gathered from natural pastures, or bespoke from collectors. Sinclair of Woburn,
having entered into the seed and nursery business, and having expressed his intention to devote his par-
ticular attention to supplying the public with grass and other agricultural seeds, will probably render such
seeds more common in commerce. {Advt. by Connack, Son, and Sinclair.)
5705. Of late pasture grasses the different species of cat's-tail (Phleum) and bent-grass
f.^gr6stis) are the chief, and especially the Timothy and florin grass. The grasses, Sir
H. Davy observes, that propagate themselves by stolones, the different species of .^grostis,
supply pasture throughout the year ; and the concrete sap, stored up in their joints, ren-
ders them a good food even in winter.
5706. Of pasture grasses for inferior soils one of the most durable is the dog's-tail grass
(Cynosurus cristatus,^. 793. a). This is a very common grass on dry, clayey, or firm
surfaces. It is one of the best grasses for parks, being highly relished by the South Down
sheep and deer.
5707. The hard fescue grass {Fesiiica duriuscula, b) is one of the best of the dwarf sorts of grasses. It
is grateful to all kinds of cattle ; hares are very fond of it ; at Woburn they crop it close to the roots, and
neglect the Festuca ovina and Festuca rfibra, which grow contiguous to it. It is present in most good
meadows and pastures, and, with F. ovina, is the best for lawns.
5708. The Festuca glabra (c), and hoi- de if or mis {d), greatly resemble the hard fescue, and may be con-
sidered equally desirable as pasture and lawn grasses.
5709. The yellow oat grass (/Ivfena flav^scens) is very generally cultivated, and appears, from the Woburn
experiments, to be a very valuable grass for pasture on a clayey soil.
5710. Of pasture grasses for ijiferior soils and upland situations, one of the principal is tl\e Festuca
ovina, or sheep's fescue
794 ^^1\%7 H "^ifM .ff III P.^ grassifig.m.a). This
grass IS peculiarly
adapted for hilly sheep
p istures. It is a low
dwarf grass, but re-
lished by all kinds of
cattle. According to
nclair's experience,
" on dry soils that are
incapable of producing
the larger sorts, this
should form the prin-
cipal crop, or rather
the whole; for it is
seldom or never, in its
natural state, found
intimately mixed with
others, but by itself.
5711. TheVbaalpina
(b), Alopecurus alpl-
nus, and Aira ccespi-
tbsa (c), 'Brtza media'
{d), and minima, and Agrdstis humilis and vulgaris, are all dwarf mountain grasses, well adapted for hilly
parks or lawns.
Book VI. WO BURN GRASSES. 895
5712. On the culture of these grasses it is unnecessary to enlarge, as it must obviously
be the same as that of rye-grass or any of the others.
5713. T/ie chief difficulty is to get the seed in sufficient quantity, for which a good mode is to contract with
a seedsman, a year beforehand, for the quantity wanted. With all the pasture grasses, except the last class,
we should recommend at least half the seed to be that of tlie perennial rye-grass ; and we think it should
also form a considerable part of the seeds used in laying down all meadows, except those for the aquatic
or stoloniferous grasses. These, if they thrive, are sure to choak and destroy it, and therefore neither
rye-grass, nor any other grass, should ever be sown with Timothy grass or florin.
5714. The formation of grassy surfaces by distributing pieces of turf over them has long
been practised in gardening, in levelling down raised, or filling up hollow, fences, and
in other cases of partially altering a grassy surface.
5715. It is said to have been first used in agriculture by Whitworth, of Acre-house, Lincolnshire •
and in 1812 it was brought forward on a large scale by John Blomfield, of Warham, in Norfolk, a tenant
of Coke's. Blomfield planted eleven acres in this way. An account of the process, which is styled trans-
planting turf, or inoculating land with grass, has been published by Francis Blaikie, Coke's steward (Qn
the Conversion of Arable Land into Pasture, 12mo, 1817.)
5716. An abstract of the process of transplanting turf, and an opinion on it, are thus given in The Code
of Agriculture. A piece of good clean, sweet old turf, which ought principally to consist of fibrous-rooted
plants, is cut into small pieces of about three inches square, and placed about six inches apart on the
surface of ground prepared for that purpose. In this way one acre of turf will plant nine acres of arable
land. The pieces of turf should be carefully placed with the grass side uppermost, and the plants pressed
well into the ground. No more turf should be cut, carried, and spread in any one day than is likely to be
planted before night If the transplanted turf is found deficient in any particular species of favourite
plants, as white clover, permanent red clover, &c. the seeds of those plants should be sown upon the young
pasture in April. When the ground is in proper temper (between wet and dry) the pasture should be
frequently well pressed down by heavy rollers, which will cause the plants to extend themselves along
the ground rather than rise into tufts, which otherwise they would be apt to do. No stock should be pert
mitted to feed upon the transplanted pasture in the first spring or summer, nor until the grasses have
perfected and shed their seeds. Indeed the pasturing should be very moderate until the mother grass-
plants and their young progeny have united and formed a compact turf. The expense of this operation is
about 11. 10*. per statute acre ; without making any allowance for the charges incurred by summer
fallowing the arable land on which the turf has been transplanted ; nor for the year's rent, poor's rates
and taxes for that year ; nor for restoring the land whence the turf plants were taken, to its previous
state. This plan seems to be well calculated to promote the improvement of light soils, not naturally of a
grassy nature ; for the grasses and their roots being once formed on a rich soil, will probably thrive after-
wards even on a poor one, as they will derive a considerable proportion of their nourishment from the
atmosphere. For light and gravelly soils, therefore, where permanent pasture is desirable, the plan can-
not be too strongly recommended ; and if it were found to answer on peat, after the surface was pared
for the reception of the plants, and burnt to promote their growth, it would be a most valuable acquisition
to sheep farmers in many districts of the country. Thus far Sir John Sinclair; but, from facts related by
Sinclair of Woburn, it appears to be a plan of little or no merit, and only brought into notice bv its
novelty. (//. G. Woh. 2d edit. 420, 421.) ''
Sect. III. General View of the Produce, Uses, Character, and Valtie of the principal
British Grasses, according to the Result of John Duke of Bedford s Experiments at Woburn.
5717. In all permanent pastures, Sir H. Davy observes, nature has provided a mixture
of various grasses, the produce of which differs at different seasons. Where pastures
are to be made artificially, such a mixture ought to be imitated ; and, perhaps, pastures
superior to the natural ones may be formed by selecting due proportions of those species
of grasses fitted for the soil, which afford respectively the greatest quantities of spring,
summer, lattermath, and winter produce; a reference to the results of the Woburn
experiments, he adds, will show that such a plan of cultivation is very practicable.
57 18. The manner in which these experiments were conducted is thus described : — " Spots of ground, each
containing four square feet, in the garden at Woburn Abbey, were enclosed by boards in such a manner
that there was no lateral communication between the earth included by the boards, and that of the gar-
den. The soil was removed in these enclosures, and new soils supplied ; or mixtures of soils were made
in them, to furnish as far as possible to the different grasses those soils which seen^most favourable to their
growth ; a few varieties being adopted for the purpose of ascertaining the effect of different soils on the
same plant. The grasses were either planted or sown, and their produce cut and collected, and dried at
the proper seasons, in summer and autumn, by Sinclair, His Grace's gardener. For the purpose of deter-
mining, as far as possible, the nutritive powers of the different species, equal weights of the dry grasses
or vegetable substances were acted upon by hot water till all their soluble parts were dissolved ; the solu.
tion was then evaporated to dryness by a gentle heat in a proper stove, and the matter obtained carefully
weighed. This part of the process was likewise conducted with much address and intelligence by Sinclair,
by whom all the following details and calculations are furnished. The dry extracts supposed to contain
the nutritive matter of the grasses, were sent to me for chemical examination. The composition of some
of them is stated minutely ; but it will be found from the general conclusions, that the mode of determining
the nutritive power of the grasses, by the quantity of matter they contain soluble in water, is sufficiently
accurate for all the purposes of agricultural investigation." {Agr. Chem. app.)
5719. The leading results of these crperiments we have endeavoured to present in a tabular view ; farther
details will be found in the paragraphs (antecedent and posterior) referred to in the first column. On the
other columns of the table, it may be observed, that the height is given more by a guess than measurement,
and after the appearance of the plants in a state of nature or medium soils. It is to be regretted that the
height of the plants was not included in the published details. The time of flowering is given as it took
place at Woburn ; on which it is observed, that " to decide positively the exact period or season when a
grass always comes into flower, and perfects its seed, will be found impracticable ; for a variety of circum-
stances interfere. Each species seems to possess a peculiar life in which various periods maybe distinctly
marked, according to the varieties of its age, of the seasons, soils, exposures, and modes of culture."
5720. The soils, as denominated in the column devoted to them, are thus described. 1st, By loam, is
meant any of the earths combined with decayed animal or vegetable matter. 2d, Clayey loam, when the
greatest proportion is clay. 3d, Sandy loam, when the greatest proportion is sand. 4th, Brown loam,
when the greatest proportion consists of decayed vegetable matter. 5th, Rich black loam, when sand, clay,
animal, and vegetable matters are combined in unequal proportions, the clay, greatly divided, being in the
least proportion, and the sand and vegetable matter in the greatest. The terms light sandy soil, light
brown loam, &c., are varieties of the above, as expressed. The abbreviations of the names of books and
native soils, with all abbreviations used in this work, will be found explained in the General Index.
896
TRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
57
21.
Table of the Grasses experimented on at
11
|2
Systematic Name and
Authority.
English Name and Native
Country.
•Where
figured or
described.
Natural
Dura-
2
!l
5'"'
3
Time of
flowering
Wobum.
"Time of
the Seed
Wobum.
Soil at Wobum.
Natural Soil and
Situation as in
Smith's Flora
Brit.
5728.
Anthoxinthum odork- \
turn L. J
Sweet-scented vernal 1
grass, Brit. f
E.B. 647
Peren.
12
April 29.
June 21.
Brown sandy loam
Meadows
5729.
Hdlcus odoratus Hosi \
G. A. J
Sweet-scented soft grass, 1
Ger. J
Host, N.A.
Peren.
14
April 29.
June 25.
Rich sandy loam
Woods,moistmea.
5730.
Cynosuruscaertileus E.B.
Blue moor grass, Brit.
E. B. 1613
20
April 30.
June 20.
Light sandy soil
Pastures
5711.
f^lopeciirus alpin. E.B.
t/'iaalpina E.B.
Alpine foxtail grass, Scot.
E.B. 1126
Peren.
6
.May 20.
June 24.
Sandy loam
Scotch mountains
Alpine meadow grass.Scot.
E.B. 1003
Peren.
6
May 30.
June 30.
Light sandy loam
r Clayey loam
1 Sandy loam
Scotch Alps
5G73.
Alupeciims prat^nsis E. B.
Meadow foxtail grass, Brit.
E.B. 848
Peren.
24
May 30.
June 24.
Meadows
5676.
P6a prat^nsis E. B. |
Smooth-stalked meadow \
grass, Brit. J
E.B. 1073
Peren.
18
May 30.
July 14.
Bog earth and clay
Mead. & pastures
5732.
P6a caerulea var. pra-1
t^nsis B. B. S
Short blueish meadow \
grass, Brit. J
E. B. 1004
Peren.
14
May 30.
July 14.
Bog earth and clay
Meadows
5731.
/4vena puWscens E.B.
Downy oat grass, Brit.
—
Peren.
18
June 13.
July 8.
Rich sandy soU
Chalky pastures
5734.
f Fetliica hordeifoTmH. or
IPbn AordeifiSrmis H.C.
Barley-like fescue grass,!
Hungary J
-
Peren.
18
June 13.
July 10.
Manured sandy soil
Com fields
5678.
f 6a trivialis E. B.
Roughish mead. gr. Brit.
Glaucous fescue gr. Brit.
E.B. 1072
•
20
June 13.
July 10.
Man. light br. loam
Brown loam
Meadows
5734.
Fettuca gUica Curtii
—
Peren.
12
June 13.
July 10.
Chalky iiastures
5735.
Festiica glabra Wither,
Smooth fescue gr. Scot.
—
Peren.
9
June 16.
July 10.
Clayey loam
Mountains
5736.
Festtica rilbra WU/ier.
Purple fescue grass, Brit.
—
Peren.
12
June 20.
July 10.
Light sandy soU
Mead. & pasture*
5737.
Fett'uca ovina B. B.
Sheep's fescue gr. Brit.
E. B. 585
Peren.
6
June 24.
July 10.
Dry pastures
5711.
Briza media E. B.
Common quaking gr. Brit.
E.B. 340
Peren.
16
June 24.
July 10.
Rich brown loam
Pastures
5661.
Odctylis glomerata E.B.\
Rough-head cock's-foot \
grass, Brit. J
E. B. 335
Peren.
24
June 24.
July 14.
Rich sandy loam
Soft moist soils
Br6mustect6rum Host \
G. A. J
Noddingnencilled brome \
grass, Eur. J
-
Annual
12
June 21.
July 16.
Light sandy soil
Hedges
5738.
Festiica cdmbrica Hudt.
Cambridge fescue gr. Brit.
Annual
14
June 28.
July 16.
Light sandy soil
Dry pastures
5739.
Br6mus diandrus E. B.
Upright brome grass, Brit.
E.B. 1006
Annual
18
June 28.
July 16.
Rich brown loam
Com fields
5740.
P6a angustif6Iia With.
Narrow-lea. mea. gr. Brit.
—
Peren.
24
June 28.
July 16.
Brown loam
Meadows
5741.
^Aiina elatior Ci.rtw 7
<| Hdlcusavenaceus WU. V
/ en. \
Tall oat grass or 1
Knotgrass, Brit. J
E. B. 813
Peren.
50
June 28.
July 16.
- —
Arable lands
5742.
t P6a elatior Curtis \
t/lvtoa elatior, var. J
Tall meadow grass, Scot.
-
Peren.
30
June 28.
July 16.
Rich clay loam
Meadows
5743.
Festiica durittscula E. B.
Hard fescue grass, Brit.
E. B. 470
Peren.
12
July 1.
July 20.
Light sandy loam
Pastures
Br6mus erectus B. B.
Uprightperen.br.gr. Brit.
E. B. 471
Peren.
36
—
Rich sandy soil
Chalky pastures
5744.
Mflium effiisum E. B.
Common millet grass, Brit.
E. B. 1106
Peren.
40
July 1.
July 20.
Light saiidv soil
Woods
Festiica prat^nsis E. B.
Meadow fescue grass, Brit.
E.B. 1592
Pei-en.
30
July 1.
July 20.
Bog soil &£oal ashes
.Meadows
5655.
Lblium per^nne E. B.
Perennial rye grass, Brit.
E. B. 315
Peren.
24
July 1.
July 20.
Rich brown loam
Loamy pastures
5745.
Poa marrtima B. B.
Sea meadow grass, Brit.
E.B. 1140
Peren.
12
—
Light brown loam
Salt marshes
5748.
Festiica lolikcea E.B.
Spiked fescue grass, Brit.
Crested hair grass, Brit.
E.B. 1821
Peren.
36
Julyl.
July 28.
Rich brown loam
Moist pastures
Aim cristaU E. B.
E.B. 648
Peren.
9
July 4.
July 28.
Sandy loam
Sandy pastures
5706.
Cynosiirus cristatus E. B.
Crested dog's-tail gr. Brit.
E. B. 316
Peren.
24
July 6.
July 28.
Manured br. loam
PaslJr^
5746.
Avina prat^nsis E. B.
Meadow oat grass, Brit.
E.B. 1204
Peren.
24
July 6.
July 20.
Rich sandy loam
Pastures
6747.
Bromus multifldrus E.B.
Many fl. g. brome gr. Brit.
Wall fescue grass, Brit.
E. B. 1884 Annual
24
July 6.
July 28.
Clayey loam
Light sandy soil
Poor past., hedges
5750.
Fettitca My iiTus E.B.
E.B. 14121 Annual
9
July 6.
July 28.
Walls
Aixa. flexuosa E. B.
Waved moun. hairgr. Brit.
E.B. 1519
Peren.
9
July 6
July 28.
Heath soil
Dry soils & heaths
Hdrdeum bulbdsum ")
Hort. K. S
Festuca calamkria E. B.
Bulbous barley gr. Italy
—
Peren.
24
July 10.
July 28.
Man. clayey loam
Loamy pastures
5751.
Reed-like fescue gr. Brit.
E.B. 1005
Peren.
40
July 10.
July 28.
Clayey loam
Hedges
5752.
Bri>mus iitti)re»is Host \
G.A. S
Sea-side brome grass, Ger.
—
Peren.
20
July 12.
Aug. 6.
Clayey loam
Sea-shores
.5671.
Festuca elhtioT E.B.
Tall fescue grass, Brit.
E. B. 1593
Peren.
36
July 12.
Aug. 6.
Black rich loam
Meadows
5753.
Festiica fluitans E. B.
Floating fescue grass, Brit.
E.B. 1520
Peren.
18
July 14.
Aug. 12.
Str. tenacious clay
Ponds
5664.
Hdlcus lanatus W.
Meadow soft grass, Brit.
E.B. 1169
Peren.
24
July 14.
July 26.
Strong clayey loam
Black sandy loam
Moist meadows
Fs«/uca dumetirum W,
Pubescent fescue gr. Brit.
H. D. 700
Peren.
12
July 14.
July 20.
Woods
5760.
P6a fertUis Host G. A.
Fertile mead, grass, Ger.
Peren.
20
July 14.
July 28.
Clayey loam
.Meadows
5755.
At Ando colorkta Hort. K.
Striped-lea. reed gr. Brit.
Bulbous-stalked cat's- 1
tail grass, Brit. S
Meadow cat's tail gr. Brit.
E. b7402
Peren.
40
July 16.
July 28.
Black sandy loam
.Moist loams
5761.
Phl6um nod6sum With.\
Phl6um prat^nse WUh.
—
Peren.
18
July 16.
July 30.
Clayey loam
Dry pastures
5681.
_
Peren.
24
July 16.
July 30.
Clayey loam
Mead. & pastures
5756.
Hdrdeum prat^nse B. B.
Meadow barley grass, Brit.
E.B. 409
Peren.
24
July 20.
Aug. 8.
Man. brown loam
Meadows
Poa compressa E. B.
P6a aquitica B. B.
Flat-stalked mea. gr. Brit.
E.B. 365
Annual
12
July 20.
Aug. 8.
Man. gravelly soil
Walls
5685.
Reed meadow grass, Brit.
E.B. 1315
Peren.
72
July 20.
Aug. 8.
Str. tenacious clay
Ditches
^(raaquatica E.B.
Water hair grass, Brit.
E.B. 1557
Peren.
9
Water
5711.
/liracaespitdsa B. B.
Turfy hairgras^, Brit.
E.B. 1453
Peren.
9
July 24.
Aug7lO.
Str. tenacious clay
Clayey pastures
5757.
^vena flav^scens E. B.
Vellow oat grass, Brit.
E. B. 952 1 Peren.
18
July 24.
Aug. 1.5.
Clayey loam
Pastures
5758.
Bromus st^rllis E.B.
Barren brome grass, Brit.
E.B. 1050 Annual
24
July 24.
Aug. 20.
Sandy soil
Rubbish
5759.
H6lcas mdlUs Curtis
Creeping soft grass, Brit.
— 1 Peren.
30
July 24.
Aug. 20.
Sandy soil
Sandy pastures
5760.
Poa fertiUs var. B.Host \
G.A. i
^Kr<istLs vulgirU E. B.
Fertile meadow gr. Ger.
_
Peren.
24
_
Brown sandy loam
Meadows
5762.
Fine bent grass, Brit.
E.B. 1671
Peren.
18
July 24.
Aug. 20.
Sandy soil
Mead. & pastures
Marshy places
^grdstis paldstris B. B.
Marsh bent grass, Brit.
E.B. 1189
Peren.
20
.Tuly 28.
Aug. 28.
Bog earth
,
Panicum ddctylon E. B.
Creeping panicgrass, Brit.
Fiorin of Dr. Pjchardson, 1
Brit. i
E. B. 850
-
24
July 28.
Aug. 28.
Man. sandy loam
Arable lands
5687.
Agtdsth stolonlfera B. B.
E. B. 1532
Peren.
24
July 28.
Aug. 28.
Bog sou
Moist places
5689.
i^grdstis stolontfera var.'^
angustifolia J
Narrow-leaved, creep- 1
ing bent, Brit. J
- •
Peren.
24
July 28.
Aug. 28.
Bog soil
Moist places
Festiica pennata
Spiked fescue, Brit.
E.B. 730
,
24
July 28.
Aug. .-K).
Man. light san.sl)a
Meadows
(-^Krdstis canlna E. B.
Brown bent, Brit.
E. B. 1856
Peren.
9
July 28.
Aug. 28.
Brown sandy loain
Clayey pastures
\ .dgrdstis strfcta Curtis
Upright bent grass, Brit.
—
9
.Tulv 28.
Aug. 30.
Bog soil
Clayey pastures
5762.
-J^grdstisnivea •
Snowy bent grass, Brit.
—
.
9
Aug. 10.
Aug. 30.
Sandy soil
Clayey pastures
y .^grdstis fasciculkris T
L var. canina Curtis J
Panicum vfride Curtis
Tufted-lea. bent gr. Brit.
—
.
9
Aug. 10.
Aug. 30.
Light sandy soil
Clayey pastures
Green panic grass, Brit.
Lobed bent grass, Brit.
E. B. 875
Annual
36
Aug. 2.
Aug. 15.
Light sandy soil
Sandy
AgiosUs lobata Curtis
—
20
Au|. 6.
Aug. 20.
Sandy soil
Sandy pastures
5689.
^grdstis ripens WUh.
Black or creeping rooted!
bent, bl. couch, Brit. J
-
Peren.
26
Aug. 8.
Aug. 25.
Clayey loam
Arable lands
Trfticum ripens E. B. ■
Creeping rooted wheat!
gr. or couch gr. Brit. J
E.B. 848
Peren.
30
Aug. 10.
Aug. 30.
Light clayey loam
Arable lands
j41opeciirus agr^stis
Slender foxtail grass, Brit.
E.B. 1172
Annual
8
Aug. 10.
Sept. 8.
Light sandy loam
Road-sides
Bromus asper B. B.
Hairy stalked br. gr. Brit.
Mexican bent gr. S. Amer.
E.B. 1310 Annual
48
Aug. 10.
Sept. 10.
Light sandy soil
Black sandy soil
Moist san. places
A. mexicana Hort. K.
E.B. 1356
Peren.
24
Aug. 15.
Sept. 2.5.
Rich pastures
StlpapennataE. B.
lyong awned fea. gr. Brit.
E.B. 909
Peren.
20
Aug. 15.
Sept. ^5.
Heath soil
Peatbogs
M^liacffirtileaCurtM
Purple melic grass, Brit.
Peren.
20
Aug. 29.
Sept. 30.
Light sandy soil
Sandy pastures
PhdlarU canari^nsis E. B.
Com. Canary grass Brit.
E. B. 750
Annual
26
Aug. 30.
Sept. 30.
Clayey loam
Cultivated fields
DictylU cynosurOides 1
Amer. cock's footgr.N.A.
-
24
Aug. 30.
Oct. 20,
Clayey loam
Loamy pastures
Book VI.
WOBURN GRASSES.
897
Woburn, arranged
in the Order of their Flowering.
|l
at
i
Kind of
Koots.
Produce, at the Time of
flowering, per Acre in lbs.
Produce, when the Si ed
is ripe, per Acre in lbs.
Lo.sor
Gain, by
Cutting
wlien in
Flo«er,in
Nurilive
Matter,
in lbs.
Loss or
Gain, by
Cutting Produce of
when in the Latter-
Seed, in ' math, per
Nutritive FAcre, in lbs.
General Character.
Gr ss.
Hay.
2103
P
122
Grass.
Kay.
31"
Is
311
j
.5
2
i
1 Grass.
188 6806
1600 17015
1!
5728.
Fibrous
7827
6125
1837
4287
3828
An early pasture-grass.
5729.
—
9528
2441
7087
610
27225
9528
17696
2233
1600
.
.
1129
The most nutritive of early flow. gr.
5750.
5711.
5673.
Fibrous
f Fibr.
iFibr.
5445
5445
20418
8507
1452
6125
2552
3993
1429,-,
8.',
127
478
132
6806
12931
5819
7111
398
461
I
:
- 8167
235
Not deserving culture.
Not worth culture.
A good grass for lawns.
1 One of the best meadow grasses.
5G7G.
Creeping
10209
2871
7337
279
8507
3403
5104
199
79
79
- 4083
111
Good early hay grass.
5732.
Creeping
7486
2246
5240
233
5731.
_
15654
5870
9783
366
6806
136;
5445
212
154
154
.
6806
212
A good pasture-grass on a rich soil.
5734.
Fibrous
1367'i
4083
9528
478
5fi78.
57.14.
5735.
57.30.
5737.
5711.
Fibrous
Fibrous
Fibrous
Fibrous
Fibrous
Fibrous
7486
9528
14^93
10209
9528
2246
4811
5717
3557
3096
5240
5717
8576
6651
6431
233
44(;
44C
239
409
7827
9528
9528
10890
5445
9528
3522
3811
3811
4900
3335
4.-04
5717
5717
5989
6183
336
223
186
340
127
483
102
260
101
74
260
260
102
101
74
4764
6125
3403
3403
8167
11910
223
'47
79
60
255
A most valuable gr. in moist rich soils.
A good hay giass.
.A tolerably good pasture-grass.
Good lawn grass.
Good lawn grass.
56G1.
Fibrous
27905
11859
16015
1089
26544
13272
1327$
1451
562
362
-
362
281
A most productive grass, but coarse.
Fibrous
7486
3930
355C
350
.-
.
.
.
Of little value.
5738.
5739.
5740.
Fibrous
Fibrous
Fibrous
6806
20418
1837C
2892
8677
7810
3913
11740
10566
1450
9528
3811
5717
' 701
"
649
649
;
■
A good lawn grass.
Excellent hay grass.
6741.
Creep. \
& Knot J
-
16335
5717
10617
255
-
-
.
13612
265
A vile weed in arable lands.
574f,
Creep. \
& Knot 1
12251
4287
3617
669
-
-
-
■-
-
A vile weed in arable lands.
5743.
5744^
5655.
5745.
5748.
570G.
5746.
5747.
5750.
Fibrous
Fibious
Fibrous
Crteping
FibrSus
Fibrous
Fibrous
Fibr7us
^it;rs
18376
12951
12251
13612
7827
12251
163.15
1089(J
6125
6806
22460
95VS
8167
8269
6819
4747
6465
3322
4900
7146
4900
1837
1871
12.3.53
2858
3164
10106
7112
7504
7146
4494
7350
9188
5989
4287
4934
10107
6670
5002
1004
555
33J
957
305
861
765
340
406
239
17151
223
191
19075
19057
14975
10890
12251
9528
8575
7623
4492
4492
4900
2858
10481
11434
10481
4,46
446
643
337
71
558
5'l0
2'l2
558
510
212
3'37
'71
10209
3403
12251
5403
199
53
191
66
A good grass for hny or pasture.
Not worih culture.
Of little value.
Excellent early hay grass.
A well known and esteemed grass.
One of the most valu. gr. for hay & pas.
A good lawn -grass.
A good lawn-grass.
Unfit for culture.
A very inferior grass.
Fit for lawns.
6397
73.50
6670
553
478
148
—
23821
9826
13994
1302
-
-
-
.
-
Of little use.
5751.
—
54450
19057
35392
3828
51046
12123
58293
2592
1435
1435
-
Early and prolific.
5752.
—
41518
21278
20540
973
38115
1.5246
22869
2084
-
1111
nil
Early, prolific, and coarse.
5G71.
5753.
5664.
57G0.
5755.
Creeping
Creeping
51046
13612
19057
10890
14975
27225
17866
4083
6661
5445
7861
12251
33180
9528
12395
5445
7111
3988
372
1191
170
1052
1701
51046
19057
17866
3811
-
33180
15246
2392
8"l8
;
1596
3'72
1595
372
15654
978
An excellent meadow grass.
An aqua, or amphib. f.-r. of fiood qual.
Early and productive.
An early grass
Productive.
5761.
Creeping
12251
5819
6431
478
5681.
575G.
5685.
5711.
5757.
5758.
5759.
Creeping
Creeping
Fibr7us
Creeping
40837
8167
3403
126596
10890
10209
8167
29947
34031
17355
3267
1446
75957
3267
3318
2858
16845
13612
23481
4900
1956
50638
7623
6891
5308
13102
20418
1596
478
265
4945
382
319
478
2339
40837
12251
21099
19397
4900
8439
21439
7350
12659
3668
430
1155
I
2073
- ■ 47
1258
2073
47
1238
9528
4083
297
'79
An excellent hay grass.
Early and nutritive.
Most prolific, but coarse.
An excellent lawn grass.
A valuable grass.
Of little value.
A valuable grass.
5760,
,—
15654
6653
9000
733
14973
8235
6738
1169
436
.
436
4764
111
A valuable grass.
;57C2.
Cree^ng
9528
10i!09
31308
4764
4594
14088
4764
5615
17219
251
438
9783
13612
5445
8167
684
146
-■
146
I
-
An early grass.
Useful.
56S7.
Creeping
17696
7742
9732
967
19057
8575
10481
1042
74
• -i
-
.
Useful on bogs.
5689.
Creeping
16.335
7350
8984
765
•1 ■
la
j'l ■
\ '
5762.
^ =
20418
6125
7486
8167
2688
2713
12251
3437
4772
398
ffi
4764
1310
r 1
3454
148
^''.
J a
C —
2722
680
2041
85
-
5445
6806
2178
3403
3267
3043
127
319
-
-
-
'
--
■
-
Ofnoval^e.
5689.
Creeping
6125
2679
3445
287
-
-
-
-
-
-. ■
-
A vile weed on poor arable lands.
Creeping
12251
4900
7350
382
.
''
.
»
-a'
. ..
.
.
.
A vile weed in arable lands.
Fibrous
FibrTus
Fibr7u8
8167
13612
19057
9528
7486
54450
3164
4083
6670
3454
2807
17697
5003
9528
12387
6074
4679
36752
695
409
172
1876
\
:>J
■ j^''
',!'*
. -
.1;
-"
I
':
Unfit for culture.
Deserves trial.
Not worth culture.
A good lawn giass.
Grown for its seeds.
>
69423
41654
27769
1898
■
3 M
898 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II F.
5722. On the nutritive products, Sir H. Davy has the following valuable remarks, some
of which, concerning the mode in which the animal economy is operated on by the
different substances composing the nutritive matter, the agriculturist will find useful, as
applied to the tables before given (5000. 5190. &c.) of the nutritive products of the
corns, legumes, and roots. The only substances which Sir H. Davy detected in the
soluble matters procured from the grasses, are mucilage, sugar, bitter extract, a substance
analogous to albumen, and different saline matters. Some of the products from the
aftermath crops gave feeble indications of the tanning principle. In the experiments
made on the quantity of nutritive matter in the grasses, cut at the time the seed was ripe,
the seeds were always separated ; and the calculations of nutritive matter made from
grass and not hay.
5723. The order in which these substances are nutritive is thus given : — " The albumen, sugar, and mu-
cilage, probably when cattle feed on grass or hay, are for the most part retained in the body of the animal ;
and the bitter principle, extract, saline matter, and tannin, when any exist, probably for the most part
are voided in the excrement, with the woody fibre. The extractive matter obtained by boiling the fresh
dung of cows, is extremely similar in chemical characters to that existing in the soluble products from the
grasses. And some extract, obtained by Sinclair from the dung of sheep and of deer, which had been
feeding upon the LMium perenne, Dactylis glomerkta, and rrifi>lium ripens, had qualities so analogous
to those of the extractive matters obtained from the leaves of the grasses, that they might be mistaken
for each other. The extract of the dung, after being kept for some weeks, had still the odour of hay.
Suspecting that some undigested grass might have remained in the dung, which might have furnished
mucilage and sugar, as well as bitter extract, I examined the soluble matter very carefully for these sub-
stances. It did not yield an atom of sugar, and scarcely a sensible quantity of mucilage." Sinclair, in
comparing the quantities of soluble matter afforded by the mixed leaves of the Zolium perenne, i)actylis
glomer^ta, and TVifulium repens, and that obtained from the dung of cattle fed upon them, found their
relative proportions as 50 to 13.
5724. From these fads it appears probable that the bitter extract, though soluble in a large quantity
of water, is very little nutritive ; but probably it serves the purpose of preventing, to a certain extent, the
fermentation of the other vegetable matters, or in modifying or assisting the function of digestion, and
may thus be of considerable use in forming a constituent part of the food of animals. A small quantity of
bitter extract and saline matter is probably all that is needed ; and beyond this quantity the soluble mat-
ters must be more nutritive in proportion as they contain more albumen, sugar, and mucilage, and less
nutritive in proportion as they contain other substances
5725. In comparing the cofnposition of the soluble products afforded by different crops from the same
grass. Sir H. Davy found, in all the trials, the largest quantity of truly nutritive matter in the crop cut
when the seed was ripe, and least bitter extract and saline matter; most extract and saline matter in the
autumnal crop; and most saccharine matter, in proportion to the other ingredients, in the crop cut at the
time of flowering.
5726. The greater proportion c^ leaves in the spring, and particularly in the late autumnal crop, accounts
for the difference in the quantity of extract ; and the inferiority of the comparative quantity of sugar in
the summer crop probably depends upon the agency of light, which tends always in plants to convert sac-
charine matter into mucilage or starch. Amongst the soluble matters afforded by the different grasses,
that of the£'lyraus arenkrius {fig. 711. a) was remarkable for the quantity of saccharine matter it con-
tained, amounting to more than one third of its weight. The soluble matters from the different species
of Festhca, in general, affbrded more bitter extractive matter, than those from the different species of Pua.
The nutritive matter from the seed crop of the Pba. comprt5ssa was almost pure mucilage. The soluble
matter of the seed crop of Phlfeum prat^nse, or meadow cat's-tail, affbrded more sugar than any of the
Pba. or Festuca species. The soluble parts of the seed crop of the Holcus mollis, and //ulcus lanktus,
contained no bitter extract, and consisted entirely of mucilage and sugar. Those of the //olcus odorktus
affbrded bitter extract, and a peculiar substance having an acrid taste, more soluble in alcohol than in
water. All the soluble extracts of those grasses, that are most liked by cattle, have either a saline or
subacid taste ; that of the //61cus lanJitus is similar in taste to gum arable. Probably the //61cus lanitus,
which is so common a grass in meadows, might be made palatable to cattle by being sprinkled over with
salt
5727. No difference was found in the nutritive produce of the crops of the different grasses cut at the satne
season, which would render it possible to establish a scale of their nutritive powers; but probably the
soluble matters of the aftermath crop are always from one sixth to one third less nutritive, than those
from the flower or seed crop. In the aftermath the extractive and saline matters are certainly usually in
excess ; but the aftermath hay mixed with summer hay, particularly that in which the fox-tail and soft
grasses are abundant, would produce an excellent food.
5728. Anthroxunthum odaratum E. B. — The proportional value which the grass, at the time of flowering,
bears to that at the time the seed is ripe, is as 4 to 13. The proportional value which the grass of the
lattermath bears to that at the time the seed is ripe, is nearly as 9 to 13.
5729. Hrf/cws odoratus Host, G. A. — The proportional value which the grass, at the time of flowering,
bears to that at the time the seed is ripe, is as 17 to 21. The grass of the lattermath crop, and
that of the crop at the time of flowering, taking the whole quantity, and their relative proportions of
nutritive matter, are in value nearly as 6 to 10 •" the value of the grass, at the time the seed is ripe,
exceeds that of the lattermath in proportion as 21 to 17. Though this is one of the earliest of
the flowering grasses, it is tender, and the produce in the spring is inconsiderable. If, however, the
quantity of nutritive matter which it affords be compared with that of any of those species which flower
nearly at the same time, it will be found greatly superior. It sends forth but a small number of flower-
stalks, which are of a slender structure compared to the size of the leaves. This will account, in a great
measure, for the equal quantities of nutritive matter affbrded by the grass at the time of flowering, and the
lattermath.
5730. Cynoshrus c^rriUeus E. B. {Sesleria. c^rhlea K of P. 1070.) — The produce of this grass is greater
than its appearance would denote; the leaves seldom attain to more than four or five inches in length,
and the flower-stalks seldom arise to more. Its growth is not rapid after being cropped, nor does it seem
to withstand the effects of frost, which, if it happens to be severe and early in the spring, checks it so
much as to prevent it from flowering for that season ; otherwise, the quantity of nutritive matter which
the grass affords (for the straws are very inconsiderable) would rank it as a valuable grass for permanent
pasture.
5731. Avenq pubescens K B. {Trisetum pubescens E. of P. 1062.) — The prc^rtional value which the
grass at the time of flowering bears to that at the time the seed is ripe, is as 6 to 8. The proportional
value which the grass at the time of flowering bears to that of the lattermath, is as 6 to 8. The grass of
the seed-crop, and that of the lattermath, are of equal value. The downy hairs which cover the surface
of the leaves of this grass, when growing on poor light soils, almost entirely disappear when it is cultivated
on a richer soil.
5732. Vba cceriilea var. pi-atinsis E. B. — If the produce of this variety be compared with that of
Book Vl. WOBURN GRASSES. 899
Pha pratensis, it will be found less ; nor does it seem to possess any superior excellence. The superior
nutritive power does not make up for the deficiency of produce by 80 lbs. of nutritive matter per acre.
5733. Festfica hordeifortJiis H. Cant. — This is rather an early grass, though later than any of the pre-
ceding species : its foliage is very fine, resembling the F. duriuscula, to which it seems nearly allied, differ-
ing only in the length of the awns, and the glaucous colour of the whole plant. The considerable produce
it affords, and the nutritive powers it appears to possess, joined to its early growth, are qualities which
strongly recommend it to further trial
5734. Ye&thca. glauca Curtis. — The proportional value by which the grass at the time of flowering
exceeds that at the time the seed is ripe is as 6 to 12. The proportional difference in the value of the
flowering and seed crops of this grass is directly the reverse of that of the preceding species, and affords
another strong proof of the value of the straws in grass which is intended for hay. The straws at the
time of flowering are of a very succulent nature ; but, from that period till the seed be perfected, they
gradually become dry and wiry. Nor do the root-leaves sensibly increase in nuinber or in size, but a total
suspension of increase appears in every part of the plant, the roots and seed-vessels excepted. The straws
of the Pba. trivia.lis are, on the contrary, at the time of flowering, weak and tender; but as they advance
towards the period of ripening the seed, they become firm and succulent ; after that period, however, they
rapidly dry up, and appear little better than a mere dead substance.
5735. ¥e&t\xc& glabra Wither. B. — The proportional value which the grass at the time the seed is rii^e
bears to that of the crop at the time of flowering is as 5 to 8. The proportional value which the grass of
the lattermath bears to that of the crop at the time of flowering, is as 2 to 8 ; and to that of the crop, at
the time the seed is ripe, is as 2 to 5. The general appearance of this grass is very similar to that of the
Festiica durii'iscula : it is, however, specifically different, and inferior in many respects, which will be
manifest on comparing their several produce with each other ; but if it be compared with some others,
now under general cultivation, the result is much in its favour, the soil which it affects being duly
attended to.
5736. Festbca rubra Wither. B. — The proportional value which the grass at the time of flowering bears
to that at the time the seed is ripe is as 6 to 8. This species is smaller in every respect than the preceding.
The leaves are seldom more than from three to four inches in length ; it affects a soil similar to that
favourable to the growth of the Festiica ovina, for which it would be a profitable substitute, as it will
clearly appear on a comparison of their produce with each other. The proportional value which the grass
of the lattermath bears to that at the time the seed is ripe is as 6 to 8, and is of equal value with the grass
at the time of flowering.
5737. Festiica ovina KB. — The dry weight of this species was not ascertained, because the smallness
of the produce renders it entirely unfit for hay.
5738. Festiica cdmbrica Hud. — This species is nearly allied to the Festuca ovina, from which it differs
little, except that it is larger in every respect. The produce, and the nutritive matter which it affords,
will be found superior to those given by the F. ovina, if they are brought into comparison.
5739. Brdmus didndrus Curt. Lond. (B. madritensis E. of V. 1140.) — This species, like the Festuca
cambrica, is strictly annual ; the above is therefore the produce for one year ; which, if compared with
that of the least productive of the perennial grasses, will be found inferior, and it must consequently be
regarded as unworthy of culture.
5740. Pdfl! angustijolia With. 2. — In the early growth of the leaves of this species of Pba, there is a
striking proof that early flowering in grasses is not always connected with the most abundant early pro-
duce of leaves. In this respect, all the species which have already come under examination are greatly
inferior to that now spoken of. The culms are most valuable for the manufacture of the finest straw
plait.
5741. Avena elatior Cmt. (Hdlctis avendceus R of P. 14227.) — This grass sends forth flower-straws
during the whole season ; and the lattermath contains nearly an equal number with the flowering crop.
It is subject to the rust, but the disease does not make its appearance till after the period of flowering ; it
affects the whole plant, and at the time the seed is ripe the leaves and straws are withered and dry. This
accounts for the superior value of the lattermath over the seed crop, and points out the propriety of taking
the crop when the grass is in flower.
5742. Port elatior Curt. — The botanical characters of this grass are almost the same as those of the
A\hna. elktior, differing in the want of the awns only. It has the essential character of the HCAcl (florets,
male and hermaphrodite ; calyx husks two-valved, with two florets) ; and since the Avhna. elatior is now
referred to that genus, this may with certainty be considered a variety of it.
5743. Festuca rf«ri?iscM/rt E. B. — The proportional value which the grass at the time the seed is ripe
bears to that at the time of flowering, is as 6 to 14 nearly. The proportional value which the grass of the
lattermath bears to that at the time of flowering, is as 5 to 14 ; and to that at the time the seed is ripe as
5 to 6. The above particulars will confirm the favourable opinion which was given of this gra.ss when
speaking of the F. Aordeifurmis, and F. glkbra. (5733. and 5735, ) Its produce in the spring is not very great,
but of the finest quality, and at the time of flowering is considerable. If it be compared with those affect-
ing similar soils, such as Pha. pratensis, Festuca ovina, &c. either considered as a grass for hay or perma-
nent pasture, it will be found of greater value.
5744. Milium effiisum. — This species in its natural state seems confined to woods as its place of growth ;
but the trial that is here mentioned confirms the opinion that it will grow and thrive in open exposed
situations. It is remarkable for the lightness of the produce in proportion to its bulk. It produces foliage
early in the spring in considerable abundance; but its nutritive powers appear comparatively little.
5745. Port maritima E. B. — The proportional value which the grass of the lattermath bears to that at
the time of flowering, is as 4 to 18.
5746. Avena pratensis E. B. — The proportional value which the crop, at the time the seed is ripe, bears
to that at the time of flowering, is as 4 to 9.
5747. Bromus mtdtifihrus E. B — This species is annual, and no valuable properties have as yet been
discovered in the seed. It is only noticed on account of its being frequently found in poor grass lands,
and sometimes in meadows. It appears, from the above particulars, to possess nutritive powers equal to
some of the best perennial kinds, if taken when in flower; but if left till the seed be ripe (which, from its
early growth, is frequently the case), the crop is comparatively of no value, the leaves and straws being
then completely dry.
5748. Festiica loliacea Curt. Lond. — The proportional value which the grass, at the time of flowering,
bears to that at the time the seed is ripe, is as 12 to 13 ; and the value of the lattermath stands in propor-
tion to that of the crop, at the time of flowering, as 5 to 12 ; and to that of the crop taken at the time the
seed is ripe, as 5 to 13. This species of Festuca greatly resembles the rye-grass, in habit and place of
growth ; it has excellences which make it greatly superior to that grass, for the purposes of either hay or
permanent pasture. This species seems to improve in produce in proportion to its age, which is directly
the reverse of the iulium per^nne.
5749. Port cristdta Host, G. A. —The produce of this species, and the nutritive matter that it affords,
are equal to those of the Festuca ovina, at the time the seed is ripe : they equally delight in dry soils. The
greater bulk of grass, in proportion to the weight, with the comparative coarseness of the foliage, renders
the Pba cristkta inferior to the Festuca ovina.
5750. Festiica Myurus E. B. {Mygalurus caudatus E. of P. 1118.) — This species is strictly annual ; it is
likewise subject to the rust ; and, the produce being but little, it ranks as a very inferior grass.
5751. Festiica calamuria E. B. — The proportional value which the grass, at the time the seed is ripe,
bears to that at the time of flowering, is as 12 to 18. This grass, as has already been remarked, produces
3 M 2
900 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III
a fine early foliage m the spring. The produce is very great, and its nutritive powers are considerable.
It appears, from the above particulars, to be best adapted for hay. A very singular disease attacks, and
sometimes nearly destroys, the seed of this grass : the cause of this disease seems to be unknown ; it is
denominated clauus by some ; it appears bv the seed swelling to three times its usual size, in length and
thickness, and the want of the corcle. Dr. Willdenow describes two distinct species of it : first, the simple
clavus, which is mealy and of a dark colour, without any smell or taste ; secondly, the malignant clavus,
which is violet blue, or blackish, and internally too has a bluish colour, with a fetid smell, and a sharp
pungent taste. Bread made from grain affected with this last species, is of a bluish colour; and when
eaten, produces cramps and giddiness.
575:2. 'Rrbmus iittbreus Host. G. A. — The proportional value which the grass, at the time of flowering,
bears to that at the time the seed is ripe, is as 6 to 14, This species greatly resembles the preceding, in
habit and manner of growth ; but is inferior to it in value, which is evident from the deficiency of its
produce, and of the nutritive matter afforded by it. The whole plant is likewise coarser, and of greater
bulk in proportion to its weight. The seed is affected with the same disease which destroys that of the
former species.
5753. VestviCA fluitans Curt. Lond. {Glt/ceria flhftans E. of P. 1090.) — The above produce was taken
from grass that had occupied the ground for four years ; during which time it had increased every year.
It appears, therefore, contrary to what some have supposed, to be capable of being cultivated in perennial
pastures.
57.'i4. Vhafertih's Host, G. A. — If the nutritive powers and produce of this species be compared with
any other of the same family, or such as resemble it in habit ma the soil which it affects, a superiority
■will be found, which ranks this as one of the most valuable grasses. Next to the Pba. angustifblia, it pro-
duces the greatest abundance of early foliage, of the best quality, which fully compensates for the compa-
rative lateness of flowering.
57.35. Arundo coloruta Hort. Kew. — The strong nutritive powers which this grass possesses recom-
mend it to the notice of occupiers of strong clayey lands which cannot be drained. Its produce is great,
and the foliage will not be denominated coarse, if compared with grasses which afford a produce equal in
quantity.
57.56. Hdrdeum pra/ense E. B — The specific characters of this species are much the same as those of
the Poa f^rtilis, differing in the compressed figure of the straws and creeping root only. If the produce
were of magnitude, it would be one of the most valuable grasses ; for it produces foliage early in the spring,
and possesses strong nutritive powers.
5757. Avenajlavescens Curt. Lond. {Trisetum flavdscens E. of P. 1060 ) — The proportional value which
the grass, at the time the seed is ripe, bears to that at the time of flowering, is as 9 to 15 The propor-
tional value which the grass of the lattwrnath bears to that at the time of flowering, is as 5 to 15; and to
that iit the time the seed is ripe, as 5 to 9.
5758. Bibmus st&rilis E. B. — 64 dr. of the flowers afford of nutritive matter 2'2 dr. The nutritive
powers of the straws and leaves are, therefore, more tlian twice as great as those of the flowers. This
species, being strictly annual, is of comparatively little value. The above particulars show that it has very
considerable nutritive powers, more than its name would imply, if taken at the time of flowering; but if
left till the seed be ripe, it is, like all other annuals, comparatively of no value.
5759. Hdlcus m6llis. — 64 dr. of the roots afford of nutritive matter 5 2 dr. The proportional value
which the grass, at the time the seed is ripe, bears to that at the time of flowering, is as 14 to 18. The
above details prove this grass to have merits, which, if compared with those of other species, rank it with
some of the best grasses. The small loss of weight which it sustains in drying might be expected from
the nature of the substance of the grass ; and the loss of weight at each period is equal The grass affords
the greatest quantity of nutritive matter when in flower, which makes it rank as one of those best adapted
for hay.
5760. Vbafertilis var. (3. Host, G. A. — The proportional value which the grass, at the time of flowering,
bears to that at the time the seed is ripe, is as 12 to 20. The proportional value which the grass of the
lattermath bears to that at the time of flowering, is as 6 to 12 ; and to that at the time the seed is ripe,
as 6 to 20.
5761. Vhleum nodosum Wither. — This grass is inferior in many respects to the Phleum prat^nse. It
is sparingly found in meadows. From the number of bulbs which grow out of the straws, a greater portion
of nutritive matter might have been expected. This seemsHo prove that these bulbs do not form so valu-
able a part of the plant as the joints, which are so conspicuous in the Phlfeum prat^nse, the nutritive
powers of which exceed those of the P. nod5sum as 8 to 28.
.5762. Agrostis vulgaris Wither. — This is one of the most common of the bents, and likewise the earliest ;
in these respects it is superior to all others of the same family, but inferior to several of them in produce,
and the quantity of nutritive matter it affords. As the species of this family are generally rejected by the
cultivator, on account of the lateness of their flowering; and this circumstance, as has already been ob-
served, does not always imply a proportional lateness of foliage, their comparative merits in this respect
may be better seen, by bringing them into one view, as to the value of their early foliage.
Tlie apparent Difference Their nutritive The apparent Difference Their nutritive
qfTime. Powers. of Time. Punert.
Agt6itis \n\gkria - Middle of April - - 1'2| ./Igrdstis nfvea - Three weeks later - • 'i.
paiustris - One week later - - 2*3 littor&lis - Ditto ditto - - 3
stolonlfem - Two ditto - • - 3-2 ripens - Ditto ditto - - 3
canina - Ditto ditto - 1-3 mexickna - Ditto ditto - - 2
striata • Ditto ditto - • 1*2 fascicularis . Ditto ditto . 2
5763. Vdnicum sanguinale E. B. — This species is strictly annual ; and from the results of this trial, its
nutritive powers appear to be very inconsiderable.
5764. The grasses which qffb7-d the best culms for straw plait are, according to Sinclair, as follow : —
For heath or moor soil. Festitca OTina, duriiSscula, and hor- Moist toils. Af^6stis canina, fasciculkris, canina mCitica,
deifiSrmls, iVtirdus striata. sfolonlfera angustifolia, stolonffera cristala, alba, strteta.
Dry toils. Cynosiirus cristatus, P6a angustifolia, Hdrdeum repens, P5a nemoral'S, angustifolia.
prat^nse, Anthoxdnthum odorktum, v^^rostis lobata, splca Cereal /grasses. AVheat, spelt-wheat, rye, and oats have
■v^nti, flav^scens, and vulgaris miitica, Av^na pub^scens, Fei- been sown on poor soils, and cut green and bleached ; but are
tiica heterophylla. found inferior to the above grasses for the finest plait.
5765. The period for cutting the cidms is when they are in blossom. They are bleached by pouring
boiling water over them, in which they remain ten minutes, and are afterwards spread on a grass-plot for
seven or eight days. Sinclair found that by letting the culms remain in hot water from one to two hours,
only two or three days' bleaching was required. When bleached, they are taken up, washed clean, and put
in a moist state in a close vessel, where they are subjected to the fumes of burning sulphur for two hours.
Green culms, immersed for ten minutes in a strong solution of acetic acid, and then subjected to the sul-
phureous acid gas, are bleached perfectly white in half an hour. Green culms, immersed for fifteen
minutes in muriatic acid, diluted with twenty times its measure of water, and then spread on the grass,
became in four days as perfectly bleached as those culms which were scalded and bleached eight days on
the grass. The texture of the straw was not in the least injured by these processes. The application of
the sulphureous acid gas to the moistened culms, even after scalding and bleaching on the grass, had, in
every instance, the effect of greatly improving the colour, and that without being productive of the smallest
injury to the texture of the straw. {Hort. Gram. Wob. 2d edit. 427.)
Book VI. MEADOW LANDS. 901
5766. To imitate the Leghorn plait in the most perfect manner, the straws should be plaited the reverse
way of the common English split-straw plait. In the English plait, the straws are flattened by a small
hand-mill made for the purpose; but the Leghorn plait has the straws worked without flattening, and
pressure is applied after the plait is made. It is essential that these two points should be observed by
those who wish to rival the finest leghorn manufacture. By reversing the common mode of plaiting, the
finders have a much greater power in firmly and intimately knitting the straws ; and the round or un-
flattened state of the straws allows of their being more closely knitted, — a circumstance that gives an
appearance similar to the real Leghorn plait {Ibid.) The varieties of wheat or rye already mentioned
(5052. and 5057.) are now generally considered far preferable to any of the forage grasses for the purposes
of straw plait.
Chap. VII.
Management of Lands permanently under Grass.
5767. In every country by far the greater proportion of perennial grass lands is the work
of nature : and it is not till an advanced period in the progress of agriculture that much
attention is paid to their management. But as the extension of tillage, planting, and
the formation of parks and gardens, limit the range of the domestic animals, their focd
becomes more valuable ; and it then becomes an object to increase it by the culture of
roots and artificial herbage on some lands, and by the improved management of the spon-
taneous productions of others. In a highly cultivated country like Britain, therefore,
those lands retained in grass either are, or ought to be, such as are more valuable to the
owners in that state than they would be in any other. Such lands naturally divide them-
selves into two classes : those which are fit either for mowing or pasture ; and those which
are fit for pasture only.
Sect. I. Terennial Grass Lands fit for mowing, or Meadow Lands.
5768. Under the term meadow, we include all such land as is kept under grass chiefly
for the sake of a hay crop, though occasionally, and at particular seasons of the year, it
may be depastured by the domestic animals ; and we usually include under this term the
notion of a greater degree of moisture in the soil, than would be thought desirable either
for permanent pasture or lands in tillage. Where hay is in great demand, as near large
towns, and especially if a good system of cropping is but little understood, a great deal
of arable land may be seen appropriated to hay-crops ; but the most valuable meadows
are such as are either naturally rather moist, or are rendered so by means of irrigation.
There are three descriptions of these meadows : those on the banks of streams and rivers ;
those on the uplands, or more elevated grounds ; and bog-meadows ; and each of these
kinds may be stocked with grasses, either naturally or by art, and may be irrigated by
one or other of the different watering processes already described.
5769. Biver-meadows, or those which are situated in the bottoms of valleys, are in
general by far the most valuable. They are the most productive of grass and hay, yielding
sustenance for cattle through the summer and the winter, and producing an everlasting
source of manure for the improvement of the adjoining lands.
5770. The soil is deep, and commonly alluvial, having been deposited by water, or washed down from the
adjoining eminences ; the surface is even, from the same cause ; and, wliat is of considerable importance,
it has a gradual declivity or surface-drainage to the river or stream which almost invariably flows in the
lowest part of every valley, and which is essential to this description of meadow. The principal delects
to which such lands are liable are, the oozing out of springs towards their junction with the rising lands,
and the inundations of the river or stream. The former ei il is to be remedied by under-draining, and the
latter by embanking. Such meadows are generally stocked with the best grasses; and their culture con-
sists of little more than forming and keeping open a sufficient number of surface-gutters or furrows to
carry off the rain-water ; rooting out such tufts of rushes, or bad grasses and herbage, as may occasionally
ippear ; destroying moles, and spreading the earth they throw up; removing heavy stock whenever their
fteet poach the surface ; shutting up, bush-harrowing, and rolling at the commencement of the growing
season ; and finally so adjusting the mowing and pasturing as to keep the land in good heart without laying
on manure.
.'J771. The most suitable meadows for irrifsation are of this description ; the necessary drains and other
works are executed with greater care, and with less expense ; and the management, as we have seen (4380.),
is also comparatively easier than in watering sloping surfaces.
5772. Upland meadows, or mowing lands, are next in value to those of valleys.
5773. The soil is either naturally good, and well adapted for grass, or, if inferior by nature, it is so
situated as to admit of enrichment by ample supplies of manure. Of this last description are the upland
meadows or hay lands of Middlesex ; which, though on the most tenacious, and often stony clays, are yet,
by the abundance of manure obtained from the metropolis, rendered as productive as the best upland soils
employed as hay lands. The roots of perennial grasses, whether fibrous or creeping, never strike deep
into the soil ; and thus, deriving their nourishment chiefly from the surface, top-dressings, of well-rotted
manure, repeated on the same field for centuries, form at last a thin black stratum among the roots of
the_grass, which produces the most luxuriant crops.
'ili'i. The culture of uplaTid meadows requires more attention and expense than that of valleys; being
more difficult to drain, and requiring regular supplies of manure. The irregular surface of uplands is apt
either to contain springs or to stagnate the surface wat«r ; the first produce marsh plants and coarse
herbage, and the latter destroys or weakens whatever is growing on the surface, and encourages the growth
of moss. Both evils are to be remedied by the obvious resources of drainage. Moss is a very com.
mon enemy to grass lands, and is only to be effectUctUy destroyed by rich dressings of manure. Rolling,
and top-dressings of lime and salt, have been recommended for destroying it; but there is no mode by
3 -^I .'J
902 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
■which it can be subdued and kept under, but by adding strength to the grass plants, and thereby enabling
them to suffocate their enemy. Moss is never found on rich lands unless they are completely shaded by
trees. Besides mole-hills, upland meadows, when neglected, are frequently troubled with ants, which
form heaps or hillocks of grass and earth, more injurious and more diificult to get quit of than those of
moles. The mode of taking moles is a simple operation, and will be described in the proper place;
that of destroying ants is more complicated and tedious, and, being peculiar to grass lands, shall here
be described.
5775. Ant-hills, or habitations, are injurious to meadow lands, by depriving the farmer of a crop in pro-
portion to the surface they occupy, and by interfering with the operations of rolling and mowing. They
consist of little eminences, composed of small particles of sand or earth, lightly and artfully laid together.
which may often be computed at a tenth part, or more, of old grass-lands. In some places, where negli-
gence has suffered them to multiply, almost half the land has been rendered useless ; the hills standing as
thick together as grass-cocks in a hay-field: and what is very surprising, this indolence is defended by
some, who affirm, that the area or superficies of their land is thereby increased ; whereas it is well known
that very little or no grass ever grows thereon, and, therefore, if the surface is increased, the produce is
proportionably decreased.
5776. In order to remove ant-hills, and destroy the insects, it has been a custom in some places, at the
beginning of winter, and often when the weather was not very cold, to dig up the ant-hills three or four
inches below the surface of the ground, and then to cut them in pieces, and scatter the fragments about ;
but this practice only disseminates the ants, instead of destroying them, as they hide themselves among
the roots of the grass for a little time, and then collect themselves together again upon any little eminence,
of which there are great numbers ready for their purpose, such as the circular ridges round the hollows
where the hills stood before. It is, therefore, a much better method to cut the hills entirely off, rather
lower than the surface of the land, and to let them lie whole at a little distance, with their bottom up.
wards ; by this means the ants, which are known to be very tenacious of their abodes, continue in their
habitations until the rains, by running into their holes of communication, and stagnating in the hollows
formed by the removal of the hills, and the frosts, which now readily penetrate, destroy them. If a little
soot were thrown on the places, and washed in with the rains, it would probably contribute greatly to the
intended effect. The hills, when rendered mellow by the frosts, may be broken and dispersed about the
land. By this method of cutting the hills, one other advantage is gained ; the land soon becomes even
and fit for mowing, and the little eminences being removed, the insects are ex]X)sed to the wet, which is
very disagreeable and destructive to them. It would, perhaps, be a better practice than that of suffering
the hills to remain on the ground, to collect the parts of them which have been pared off into a heap, in
some convenient place, and then form them into a compost, by mixing a portion of quick-lime with them.
In wet weather these insects are apt to accumulate heaps of sandy particles among the grass, called by
labourers sprout-hills, which quickly take off the edge of the scythe. These hills, which are very light and
compressible, may be conveniently removed by frequent heavy rolling.
5777. In the Norfolk mode of cutting and burning ant-hills, the process is, to cut them up with a heart-
shaped sharp spade or shovel, in irregular lumps of from ten to fifteen inches in diameter, and from two
to five or six inches thick. These are to be turned the grass-side downwards, until the mould-side is
thoroughly dry, and then to be set the grass-side outwards, until they are dry enough to burn. The fire
may be kindled with brushwood, and kept smothering, by laying the sods or lumps on gradually, as the
fire breaks out, until ten or fifteen loads of ashes are raised in one heap, which the workmen formerly com-
pleted for a shilling or eighteen-pence each load of ashes. The places from which the hills have been re-
moved may be sown with grass-seeds. Besides the destruction of the ants, this is a ready, though by no
means an economical, way of raising manure, and in some cases ought not be neglected, on grounds where
such a process is required.
5778. What is called " gelding " ant-hills is thus described : — With a turfing-iron make two cuts across
the hill at right angles to each other ; then turn back the four quarters thus obtained from off the hill,
leaving it bare ; next cut out and throw to a distance the interior earth of the hill with all the ants ; turn-
ing their winter's hoard of provision, as well as all their excavated abode, to the very bottom. Now return
the quarters of turf to their former place, treading them down to form a basin to hold the winter's rain,
which will prevent the settlement of any new colony of the ants, and they, being thrown on the surface,
will perish by the frost.
5779. Where grass lands are sufficiently rolled with a heavy roller once or oftener every year, no ant-
hills will ever be formed greater than the roller can compress, and consequently no injury will be sustained.
In this, as in most other cases of disease, proper regimen is the best cure. In domestic economy, various
directions are given for destroying bugs, lice, and other vermin ; but who ever had any to destroy, who
attended properly to cleanliness ?
5780. The surface of some grass lands that have been long rolled is apt to get into that tenacious state
denominated hidebound. When this is the case, scarifying the turf with a plough, consisting only of
coulters, or harrow-teeth, or, in preference to all other implements, with Wilkie or Kirkwood's brakes,
so that the whole surface may be cut or torn, is to be recommended. That tenacious state, rolling tends
to increase; whereas, by scarifying, the surface is loosened, and the roots acquire new means of improved
vegetation. This operation seems particularly useful, when it precedes the manuring. When hay land
of a retentive quality is depastured by cattle or horses in wet seasons, it receives much injury from their
feet, and becomes what is technically called poached. Every step they take leaves an impression, which
fills with rain water, and then the hole stands full like a cup. This wetness destroys the herbage, not only
in the hole, but that also which surrounds it, while at the same time the roots of the grasses, as well as the
ground, are chilled and injured. No good farmer, therefore, will permit any cattle to set a foot on such
land in wet weather, and few during the winter months, on any consideration. Sheep are generally
allowed to pasture on young grasses in dry weather, from the end of autumn to the beginning of March ;
they are then removed, and it rarely happens that any animal is admitted till the weather be dry, and the
surface so firm as to bear their pressure without being poached or injured.
5781. In manuring upland meadows, the season, the sort, the quantity, and the frequency of application
are to be considered.
5782. With regard to the season at which manure should be applied, a great difference of opinion prevails
among the farmers of England. In the county of Middlesex, where almost all the grass lands are pre-
served for hay, the manure is invariably laid on in October {Middlesex Report, p. 224.), while the land is
sufficiently dry to bear the driving of loaded carts without injury, and when the heat of the day is so
moderated as not to exhale the volatile parts of the dung. Others prefer applying it immediately after
the hay-time, from about the middle of July to the end of August, which is said to be the " good old time "
{Com. to Board of Agriculture, vol. iv. p. 138.) ; and if that season is inconvenient, any time from the
beginning of February to the beginning of April. {Dickson's Practical Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 915.) It is,
however, too common a practice to carry out the manure during frosty weather, when, though the ground
is not cut up by the carts, the fertilising parts of the dung are dissipated, and washed away by the snow and
rains before they can penetrate the soil
5783. There is scarcely any sort of manure that will not be useful when laid on the surface of grass
grounds ; but, in general, those of the more rich dung kinds are the most suitable for the older sort of
sward lands ; and dung, in composition with fresh vegetable earthy substances, the most useful in the new
leys or grass lands. In Middlesex it is the practice of the best fanners to prefer the richest dung they can
procure, and seldom to mix it with any sort of earthy matei-ial, as they find it to answer the best with regard
to the quantity of produce, which is the principal object in view ; the cultivators depending chiefly for the
Book VI. MEADOW LANDS. 903
sale of their hay in the Ix>ndon markets. It is the practice to turn over the dung that is brought from
London in a tolerable state of rottenness, once chopping it well down in the operation, so as to be in a
middling state of fineness when put upon the land. It is necessary, however, that it should be in a more
rotten and reduced state when apj^lied in the spring, than when the autumn is chosen for that purpose.
{Dickson's Practical Agriculture., voL ii. p. 915.)
5784. Some interesting experiments have been made with diJTerent kinds qf manure, for the purpose of
ascertaining their effects, with regard to the quantity and quality of the produce on different kinds of land.
Fourteen lots, of half an acre each, were thus manured, and the grass was made into hay, all as nearly alike
as possible. The greatest weight of hay was taken from the lot manured with horse, cow, and slaughterhouse
dung, all mixed together, of each about an equal quantity. It lay in that state about two months ; and
was then turned over, and allowed to lie eight or ten days more, after which it was put on the land before
it had done fermenting, and spread immediately. To ascertain the quality of the produce of the different
lots, a small handful from each was laid down on a dry clean place, where there was little or no grass, and
six horses were turned out to them one after another. In selecting the lots, there seems to have been little
difference of taste among the horses ; and all of them agreed in rejecting two lots, one of which had been
manured with blubber mixed with soil, and the other with soot, in both instances laid on in the month of
April preceding. {Lancashire Report, p. 130. etseq.)
5185. The proportion of manure that is necessary must, in a great measure, depend upon the circum-
stances of the land, and the facility of procuring it. In the district of London, where the manure is of a
very good and enriching quality, from its being produced in stables and other places where animals are
highly fed, the quantity is usually from four or five to six or seven loads on the acre, such as are drawn
by three or four horses, in their return from taking up the hay to town. {Dickson's Pract. Agr. vol ii.
p. 916.
5786. Manure is laid on at intervals of time more or less distant, according to the same circumstances
that determine the quantity of it Though there are some instances of hay grounds bearing fair crops
every year during a length of years, without any manure or any advantage from pasturage, except what
the after-grass has afforded {Marshal's Review of Reports to the Board of Agriculture, p. 183. Western
Department) y yet, in general, manure must either be allowed every third or fourth year, in the land
depastured one year, and mown the other; " or, what is better, depasture two years, and mow the
third." {Northumberland Report, p. 111.) A succession of hay crops without manure, or pasturage, on
meadows not irrigated, is justly condemned by all judicious farmers, as a sure means of impoverishing
the soil.
5787. Bog meadows are the least valuable of any : they are of two kinds j peat bogs,
and earthy bogs.
5788. Peat bogs are situated in hollows or basins, which, from having no natural outlet for water, and
not being so deep or so plentifully supplied with that element as to constitute lakes, becomes filled up with
aquatic plants and mosses. By the decay of these after a certain time, and the drainage and culture of
art, a surface of mossy soil is formed on which some of the inferior grasses may be sown or will spring up
naturally. In warm moist climates, and where the mould of the bog is rich, fiorin or Timothy grass may
be found to answer ; but in general the woolly soft grass and cock's-foot are resorted to, unless indeed lime
be applied, or a coating of sand or earth, in which cases the clovers and better grasses will sometimes
answer. These bogs are in general too soft for pasturing any other animals than sheep.
5789. Earthy bog meadows are situated either in hollows or on slopes. They are formed by an accumu-
lation of water in the subsoil, which not finding a free passage in any one point, spreads under and filtrates
upwards through a considerable extent of surface. The grasses on such meadows before they are drained
are chiefly of the sprot or Juncus kind ; but by draining the quality of these is improved, and better kinds
appear. Such meadows yield a considerable produce of coarse hay; they abound chiefly in cold hilly
districts devoted to breeding.
5790. The culture and management of bog meadows differ in nothing essential from those of the river
kinds. A lighter roller is used in spring, the greatest care is taken in eating down the latter grass,
whether with small cattle or sheep ; and in some cases, in very dry weather in summer, the main drains
are dammed up for a few weeks in order to stagnate the water, and supply the soil with moisture. No
manure is ever given unless in the case of some cultivated peat bogs, which are dressed with earthy or
saline mixtures.
5791. ^s branches of culture common to every description of hay lands may be men-
tioned, the hay-making, the application of the after-grass, and pasturage.
5792. The making of natural or meadow hay has been carried to greater perfection in
the neighbourhood of London than any where else ; and it may therefore, with great
propriety, be recommended as an example to the rest of the kingdom. The following
account of it is drawn from Middkton's Agricultural Survey of Middlesex :
5793. When the grass is nearly fit for mowing, the Middlesex farmer endeavours to select the best
mowers, in number proportioned to the quantity of his grass and the length of time it would be advisable
to have it in hand ; which having done, he lets it out, either as piece-work, or to be mown by the acre.
In the latter way, each man mows from one acre and a half to an acre and three quarters per day ; some
there are who do two acres per day during the whole season. About the same time he provides five hay.
makers (men and women, including loaders, pitchers, stackers, and all others) to each mower. These
last are paid by the day, the men attending from six till six, but the women only from eight till six.
For an extra hour or two in the evening, when the business requires despatch, they receive a proportionate
allowance.
5794. The mowers usually begin their work at three, four, or Jive o'clock in the morning, and continue to
labour till seven or eight at night ; resting an hour or two in the middle of the day. Every hay-maker
is expected to come provided with a fork and a rake of his own ; nevertheless, when the grass is ready,
and labourers scarce, the farmer is frequently obliged to provide both, but for the most part only the rake.
Every part of the operation is carried on with forks, except clearing the ground, which is done with
rakes ; and loading the carts, which is done by hand.
6795. First day. All the grass mown before nine o'clock in Into what are called single windrows; and the last operation
the morning is tedded, in which great care is taken thoroughly of this day is to put it into grass-cocks.
to loosen every lump, and to strew it evenly over all the ground. 5796. Seamd day. The business of this day commences with
By this regular method of tedding grass for hay, the hay will tedding all the grass that was mown the tirst day after nine
be of a mora valuable quality, heat more equally in the stack, o'clock, and all that was mown this day before nine o'clock,
and will consequently not be so liable to damage or fire ; will Next, the grass-cocks are to be well shaken out into sladdles (or
be of greater Quantity when cut into trusses, and will sell at a separate plots) of five or six yards' diameter. If the crop
better piice ; for when the grass is suffered to lie a day or two should be so thin and light as to leave the spaces between these
before it is tedded out of the swath, the upper surface is dried staddles rather large, such spaces must be immediately raked
by the sun and winds, and the interior part is not dried, but clean, and the rakings mixed with the other hay, in order to its
withered, so that the herbs lose much, both as to quality and all drying of a uniform colour. The next business is to turn
quantity, which are very n.aterial circumstances. Soon after the staddles, and after that, to turn the grass that was tedded
the tedding is finished, the hay is turned with the same degree in the first part of the morning, once or twice, in the manner
of care and attention; and if, from the number of hands, they descrilied for the first day. This should all be done before
are able to turn the whole again, they do so, or at least as twelve or one o'clock, so that the whole may lie to dry while
much of it as they can, till twelve or one o'clock, at which time the work-people are at dinner. After dinner," the first thing to
they dine. The first thing to be done after dinner is to rake it be done is to rake the staddles into double wind-rows ; next, to
3 M 4
904 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part 111.
rake the Rrass into single wind-rows; then the double wind- cool and cloudy, no part of it probably will be fit to carrv. In
rows are put into bastard-cocks ; and lastly, the wind-rows are that case, the first thing set about after dinner, is to rake that
put into grass-cocks. This completes the work of the second which was in grass-cocks last night into double wind-rows ;
day. then the grass which was this morninc spread from the swaths
5797. Third day. The grass mown and not spread on the into single wind-rows. Afler this, thehay which was last night
second day, and also that mown in the early part of this day, is in bastard-cocks, is made up into full-sized cocks, and care
first to be tedded in the morning, and then the grass-cocks are taken to rake the hay up clean, and also to put the rakings
to be spread into staddles as before, and the bastard-cocks into upon the top of each cock. Next, the double wind-rows are
staddles of less extent. These smaller staddles, though last put into bastard-cocks, and the single wmd-rows into grass
spread, are first turned, then those which were in grass-cocks ; cocks, as on the preceding dnvs.
and next the grass is turned once or twice before twelve or one 5798. Fourth Jay. On this day the great cocks, just men-
o'clock, when the pcoji'e go to dinner as usual. If the weather tioned, are usually carried before dinner. The other oper-
has proved sunny and fine, the hay which was last night in ations of the day are such, and in the same order, as before
bastard-cocks will this afternoon be in a proper state to be car- described, and are continued daily until the hay harvest is
ried ; but if the weather should, on the contrary, have been completed.
5799. As general rides, the grass should, as much as possible, be protected both day and night, aj^ainst
rain and dew, by cocking. Care should also be taken to proportion the number of hay-makers to that ot
the mowers, so that there may not be more grass in hand at anyone time than can be managed according
to the foregoing process. This proportion is about twenty hay-makers (of which number twelve may be
women) to four mowers ; the latter are sometimes taken half a day to assist the former. But in hot, windy,
or very drying weather, a greater proportion of hay-makers will be required than when the weather i.s
cloudy and cool. It is particularly necessary to guard against spreading more hay than the number of
hands can get into cocks the same day, or before rain. In showery and uncertain weather, the grass may
sometimes be suffered to lie three, four, or even five days, in swath. But before it has lain long enough for the
imder side of thje swath to become yellow (which, if suffered to lie long, would be the case), jjarticular care
should be taken to turn the swaths with the heads of the rakes. In this state, it will cure so much in about
two days, as only to require being tedded a few hours when the weather is fine, previously to its being
put together and carried. In tliis manner hay may be made and put into the stack at a small expense,
and of a moderately good colour ; but the tops and bottoms of the grass are insufficiently separated
by it.
5800. The hay. tedding machine has been invented since Middleton described the hand process as above.
This machine {fig. 372.) is found to be a most important saving of manual labour. It is computed that a
boy and horse with the machine will ted as much in an hour as twelve or fifteen women. The hay-rake,
which may be added to the same axle when the tedder is removed, is also an equal saving, and a requisite
accompaniment to it; as where few or no women are kept for tedding, there must necessarily be a defi-
ciency of rakers. These machines are coming into general use near London, where the price of manual
labour is high and hands sometimes scarce. They are also finding their way among the proprietors
of extensive parks in all parts of the country, as saving much labour in making hay from natural
pasture.
5801. There are no haii-stacks more neatly formed, nor better secured, than those made in Middlesex.
At every vacant time, while the stack is carrying up, the men are employed in pulling it, with their hands,
into a proper shape ; and, about a week after it is finished, the whole roof is properly thatched, and then
secured from receiving any damage from the wind, by means of a straw rope, extended along the eaves,
up the ends, and on each side of the ridge. The ends of the thatch are afterwards cut evenly below the
eaves of the stack, just of sufficient length for the rain-water to drip quite clear of the hay. When the
stack happens to be placed in a situation which may be suspected of being too damp in the winter, a trench,
of about six or eight inches deep, is dug round and nearly close to it, which serves to convey all the water
fVom the spot, and renders it perfectly dry and secure.
5802. During the hay harvest it is of great advantage to the farmer, to give constant personal attendance
on every party, directing each operation as it goes on. The man who would cure his hay in the best
manner, and at a moderate expense, must not only urge the persons who make the hay, the men who
load the waggons, and those who make the stack, but he should be on the alert, to contrive and point out
the manner in which every person may do his labour to the most advantage. Unless he does this, one
moiety of the people in his hay-field will be of no material use to him; and if he should be absent for an
hour or more, during that time little or nothing will be done. The farmers of Middlesex engage many
liay-makers . some of them have been known to employ two or three hundred ; such men find it neces-
sary to be on horseback, and the work-people find tliem sufficient employment. A man of energy will
make the most of every hour, and secure his hay while the sun shines ; one of an opposite description
lounges Ills time away, and suffers his hay to be caught in the rain, by which it is frequently half spoiled.
Or if the latter should have the good fortiine of a continuanceof dry weather, his hay will be a week longer
in the field than his neighbour's, and the sap of it dried up by the sun.
5803. The ivaste of g7-ass, on being dried into hay, is supposed to be three parts in four by the time it is
laid on the stack; it is then further reduced, by heat and evaporation; in about a month, perhaps one
twentieth more; or 600 lb. of grass are reduced to 95 lb. of hay, and between that and 90 it continues
through the winter. From the middle of March till September, the operations of trussing and marketing
expose it so much to the sun and wind, as to render it considerably lighter, probab'y 80 ; that is, hay which
would weigh 90 the instant it is separated from the stack, would waste to 80 (in trussing, exposure on the
road, and at market for about 24 hours), by the time it is usually delivered to a purchaser. During the
following winter, the waste will be little or nothing. It is nearly obvious, that the same hay will weigh
on delivery 80 in summer, and 90 in winter. From this circumstance, and others which relate to price, a
farmer may determine what season of the year is the most advisable for him to sell his hay.
5804. In making the hay of bog meadows, considerable care is requisite both from the inferiority of the
climates where such bogs abound, and from the nature of the grasses they produce. In some cases, the
grass is of so soft a quality, that it is difficult to convert it into hay. To prevent its being consolidated in
the cocks, it must be frequently opened up, and when the weather permits, completely exposed to the sun
and wind; this sort of grass being only capable of sustaining a very moderate degree of fermentation.
5805. When the natural herbage is of a coarser description, it may be put into small cocks, in rather a
green or damp state, so as to go through the progress of " a sweating," or slight fermentation. The woody
fibres in coarse hay are thus rendered more palatable and nutritious, while its condition for becoming
fodder is considerably improvetl : but when any warmth becomes perceptible, if the weather will permit,
the hay should be spread out, and put into large cocks, the moment it is in a dried state.
5806. In the ?noister pastoral districts, in the north-west parts of Scotland, hay-barns, it is thought by
some, would be advantageous; the construction should be as open as possible, for thepurpose of drying,
as well as of preserving the hay. In some of these districts, a curious device has been fallen upon, of
making the dried hay into ropes of two fathoms in length, and then twisted twofold. Being thus com-
pressed, less room is required in the barn ; and in this shape it is carried, with greater facility, to distant
glens, for the use of cattle during stormy weather.
5807. In making florin hay (if hay it may be called, which is never dried) it is merely cut and put into
small cocks, from which it is commonly taken as wanted. When it is to be put into larger cocks, it must
be proportionally better dried. The stolones of this grass being remarkably vivacious, cannot easily be so
dried as to admit of stacking in large bodies.
.'JSOS. The salting of hay, at the time of stacking, has been practised in Derbyshire and in the North
Riding of Yorkshire. The salt, particularly when applied to the crop of rouen, or when the first crop has
received much rain, checks the fermentation, and prevents moulding. If straw is mixed with the hay,
the heating of the stack is still further prevented, by the straw imbibing the moisture. Cattle will eat,
not only such salted hay but even the straw laixed with it, more eagerly than better hay not salted, and
BcrK VI. PERMANENT PASTURES. 905
will also thrive as well upon it. The quantity recommended is, a peck of salt to a ton of hay. By this
application, hay that had been flooded was preferred by cattle to the best hay that had not been salted.
5809. To make fiay-tea. Boil at the rate of a handful of hay to three gallons of water, or, if the water
be poured boiling hot on the hay, it will answer nearly as well. Give it to the cattle and horses to (.rink
when cold ; or if the cattle and horses are anywise ill, and under cover, give it to them blood-warm. This
drink is so extremely nutritive, that it nourishes the cattle astonishingly, replenishes the udders of the
cow with a prodigious quantity of milk, makes the horse stale plentifully, and keeps him healthy and
strong ; and by this method one truss or hundred of hay will go as far as eight or ten would otherwise do.
The cattle and horses do not seem to like it at first ; but if they are kept till very thirsty, they will drink
freely of it ever afterwards. The hay, after bting used as before mentioned and dried, may be used as
litter for horses and cattle ; it will make very good manure, and save straw, which is a considerable
advantage, especially where there is a scarcity of that article. {Davis's Rep. of Wilts.)
5810. The after-grass on all meadows is generally fed off; on firm lands, and in the
dry season, by either sheep or heavy cattle ; but in tlie winter only by sheep, unless the
soil is so dry as not to be injured by the feet of cows or horses. The feet of the latter
are much less injurious than those of the former ; but their bite being closer is more apt
to tear up the plants, than the bite of the horned tribe.
5S11. Cattle are generally removed from meadow-lands in Middlesex in November ; horses in the month
following, and sheep allowed to remain till February. In Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, and on many
river-meadows, every description of stock is allowed to remain till April, and sheep till May. In some
districts, the whole of the after-growth is preserved from every species of stock till the following May,
when it is fed off with sheep : but this greatly retards the hay crop for that year. It is evident that a good
deal must depend ^n the farmer's other resources for keep for his stock.
58iy. The after-grass, where manure is very abundant, is sometimes mown and made into hay or rouen,
a soft and not very nutritive food, given to cows or sheep; but this is reckoned a bad practice, even in the
neighbourhood of London, where manure may be had in abundance. It is also the usage of some to
leave the after-grass on the ground without being eaten till spring, when it is said to be preferable, for
ewes and lambs, to turnips, cabbages, or any other species whatever of what is termed spring-feed. This
mode of management, which is strongly recommended by Young, and in some cases by Marshal also, is
unknown in the north ; where, though it is, in many instances, found beneficial, with a view to an early
spring growth, not to eat the pasture too close before winter, it would be attended with a much greater
loss of herbage, than any advantage in spring could compensate, to leave the after-growth of mown grounds
untouched till that season.
5813. A system of alternate mowing and feeding is practised on some hay lands, partly
to save labour and manure, and partly to subdue mosses and coarse grasses. On some
soils even rich grass lands, when annually mown, become subject to weeds ; for it tends
to encourage moss, and gives advantage to the stronger-rooted grasses, which gradually
change, and deteriorate the nature and quality of the herbage. The bottom becomes
thin, the white clover disappears, and coarser plants occupy the ground. When this takes
place, the pasture should be fed, instead of being mown, for the space of two or three
years, until the weeds have been subdued, and the finer grasses re-appear.
5814. By adopting the plan of mowing and feeding alternately, a farmer, it is said, may go on longer
without the application of manure, but his fields, in the end, will be ruined by it. It is contended, that
to maintain a proper quantity of stock, the land must be accustomed to keep it, particularly in the case of
sheep : that where land has been used to the sycthe, if manured for pastures, it will often produce more
grass ; but that grass will not {ccpteris paribus) support so much stock, nor fatten them nearly so well :
and that old pasture will not produce so much hay as land that has been constantly mowed; for each will
grow best as it has been accustomed to grow, and will not readily alter its former habits. On the other
hand, it is asserted, that many experienced farmers prefer the system of feeding aiid mowing alternately,
as they find that, under that system, the quality and quantity of the hay have been improved ; and the
pasturage, in the alternate year, has been equally sweet and productive.
Sect. II. Permanent Pastures.
5815. Permanent pastures may be divided into two kinds : rich or feeding lands ; and
hilly or rearing pastures. Under the former, we may comprehend all old rich pastures
capable of fattening cattle ; and under the second, such as are only adapted to rearing
them, or are more advantageously depastured with sheep.
SuBSECT. 1. Rich or feeding Pastures.
5816. Feeding pastures may include such as are equally fit for hay-lands, or for being
converted to arable husbandry ; their characteristic being, that they are used for feeding
stock, and keeping working animals and milch cows in good condition. We mentioned
in a former chapter, that pasturage for one year, or for two, or more, is frequently in-
terposed in the course of cropping arable land, to prevent that exhaustion of the soil which
is commonly the consequence of incessant tillage crops. The same culture and manage-
ment recommended here for rich grass lands are equally applicable to them ; there being
no difference, except that the latter are generally considered less suitable than rich old
turf for fatting heavy stock, such as large oxen.
58 1 7. The culture and management of feeding pastures, whether of a few years, or of
perpetual duration, may be considered in regard to those necessary operations already
noticed under the former section : such as the extirpation of weeds and noxious shrubs,
clearing away ant and mole-hills, the application of manure, the time of stocking, the
number of the animals and whether all should be of one or of different species, &c., the
extent of the enclosures, and the propriety of eating the herbage close or leaving it always
in a rather abundant state ; all these are questions which it is scarcely possible to decide
in a satisfactory manner, by the application of general rules. They can only be solved,
90S PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
with atiy pretentions to utility, by a reference to the particular circumstances of each
case ; for the practice of one district, in regard to these and other points, will be found
quite inapplicable to others where the soil and climate, and the purposes to which the
pastures are applied, are materially different.
5818. The weeding of pastures should be regularly attended to. Weeds in pastures
injure the farmer by the ground they occupy, the seeds they disperse, and sometimes, by
influencing the quality of milk, or the health of the cattle.
5819. On the large scale of a farm small creeping weeds cannot bo removed : but large perennial plants,
such as the dock, fern, nettle ; and biennials, such as the thistle, and ragweed ; together with rushes and
coarse tufts or tussocks of tall oat-grass, should never be permitted to shoot up into flower. The dock
ought to be taken out by the root with the dock-weeder, and the others cut over with spadlets or spuds.
Nettles may be mown over, as may some other weeds, and some descriptions of rushes ; fern is most
effectually killed by bruising or twisting asunder the stem, when the frond or herb is nearly fully ex-
panded. Smaller weeds may be mown, and this operation should never be deferred later than the ap-
pearance of the flowers. Where the sloe-thorn forms part of the enclosure hedges, or the English elm,
hoary poplar, and some other trees, grow in or around the field, they are apt to send up suckers ; these
should be pulled up, otherwise they will soon become a serious nuisance. In some parts of England,
especially in the central districts, the hedge wastes, from the spread of the sloe-thorn and creeping rose
{Rhsa. arvfensis), are sometimes six or ten yards in width.
5820. To prevent the growth of mosses is one of the greatest difficulties in the management of old
pasture land ; by these the finer species of grasses are apt to be overwhelmed, and the coarse sorts only
remain. Drainage, and the use of rich compost?, are in this case necessary. Harrowing and cross harrowing
with a common harrow, or with what are called grass harrows (^jf. 795.), which go from one to two inches
deep, with a sprinkling of grass-seeds afterwards, and some lime or well prepared compost, are the most
likely means of destroying the moss, and improving the pasture. Feeding sheep with oil-cake, and allowing
them to pasture on the land, has also been found effectual for the destruction of moss, and bringing up
abundance of grass. But the radical remedy is to plough up such grass lands upon the first appearanceof
moss, or before it has made any considerable progress, and sow them with corn.
5821. The removal of ant and mole hills should be attended to during the whole summer.
The manner of destroying ants has already been described ; mole-hills spread on grass
lands may be considered as of service rather than otherwise. These operations, together
with weeding, and spreading the manure dropped by the larger stock, should go on
together at intervals during the whole summer.
5822. The application of manures to grazing lands, which not being used as hay grounds
afford no means of supply, may certainly be considered a preposterous practice, and one
that must be riunous to the other parts of a farm.
5823. In the Code of Agriculture it is nevertheless stated, that " to keep grass in good condition, a
dressing of from thirty to forty cubic yards or cart-loads of compost is required every four years. The
application of unmixed putrescent manure will thus be rendered unnecessary, which ought at least to be
avoided, in meadows appropriated for the feeding of dairy cows, from its affecting thequality of the milk."
(p. 476.) Grass lands kept at an expense of this kind will seldom, it is believed, be found to remunerate
a farmer sufhciently. The same thing is recommended (probably from inadvertence or mere following the
track ofpreceding writers) in Dickson's Practical Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 953. But, except the dung dropped
by the pasturing animals, which should always be regularly spread from time to time, it may be laid down
as a rule of pretty extensive application, that if grass lands do not preserve their fertility under pasturage,
it would be much better to bring them under tillage for a time, than to enrich them at the expense of land
carrying crops of corn. {Sup. S(C. art. At'r.)
5824. Teathing or stacking on the field, or carrying to be consumed there during winter, the provender
that ought to have furnished disposable manure for the use of the farm at large, is another practice not less
objectionable. It is to no purpose that such a wasteful practice is defended on dry light soils, which are
alleged to be thus benefited by the treading of the cattle. {Marshal's Rural Economy of Yorkshire, vol. il.
p. 131.) During the frequent and heavy falls of rain and snow in winter, there is scarcely any land so
dry as not to be injured by the treading of heavy cattle ; and were there any thing gained in this respect by
this management, it would be much more than counterbalanced by the loss of a great part of the manure,
from the same cause. The able writer to whom we have just now referred very properly disai)proves of
carting on manure in winter ; and for the same reason, namely, the loss of it, which must necessarily be
the consequence, he ought to liave objected to foddering on the land, or teathing at that season. The
practice, however, is but too common in those districts, both in South and North Britain, where the
knowledge of correct husbandry has made but little progress. It is equally objectionahle, whether the
fodder is consumed on meadows where it grew, or on other grass lands. The fodder should, in almost
every instance, be eaten in houses or fold- yards, instead of the dung being dropped irregularly over the
surface; or, as must be generally the case, accumulated in some spots sheltered by trees and hedges, to
which the animals necessarily resort during the storms of winter.
5825. The time of stocking pastures in spring must evidently be earlier or later, ac-
cording to the climate, and iii the same climate according to the season j and the state of
Book VI. PERMANENT PASTURES. 907
growth, which It is desirable that the grass should attain before being stocked, must
in some degree be determined by the condition and description of the animals to be
employed in consuming it ; whether they are only in a growing state or approaching to
fatness ; whether milch cows or sheep, or a mixture of animals of different species. It
conveys no very precise idea respecting these points, though the remark itself is just, to
say that the herbage should not be allowed to rise so high as to permit the coarser plants to
run to seed ; and that it is bad management to suffer store stock to be turned upon a full
bite. {Marshars Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 129.)
5826. The great objects to be aimed at are, that the stock, of whatever animals it may consist, should be
carried forward faster or slower, according to the purposes of their owner ; and that no part of the herbage
should be allowed to run to waste, cr be unprofitably consumed. But nothing but careful inspection of
the land and of the stock, from time to time, can enable any grazier to judge with certainty what are the
best measures for attaining these objects. " Fatting cattle," says Marshal, " which are forward in flesh,
and are intended to be finished with grass, may require a full bite at first turning out ; but for cows,
working oxen, and rearing cattle, and lean cattle intended to be fatted on grass, a full bite at the first
turning out is not requisite. Old Lady-day to the middle of April, according to the progress of spring, ap-
pears to me, at present, as the best time for shutting up mowing grounds and opening pastures." {Marshal's
Yorkshire, vol. ii. pp. 152, 153.)
5827. In regard to the state of the growth of pastures when first stocked, some distinction should be made
between new leys and old close swards. To prevent the destruction of the young plants, whether of
clover or other herbage, on the former description of pasture, which would be the consequence of stocking
them too early, especially with sheep, they should be allowed to rise higher than would be necessary in the
case of old turf; and to secure their roots from the further injury of a hot summer, it is advisable not to
feed them close in the early part of the season, and probably not at any time throughout the whole of
the first or second season, if the land is to be continued in pasture. The roots of old and firm sward, on the
other hand, are not in so much danger, either from close feeding or from the heats of summer ; and they
are in much less danger from the frosts and thaws of winter.
5828. With regard to the stock which should be employed, all soils rather moist and of
such a quality, as is the case with rich clays, as to produce herbage suited to the fat-
tening of cattle, will, in general, be more advantageously stocked with them than with
sheep : but there can be no other rule for the total exclusion of sheep, than the danger
of the rot ; nor any other general rule for preferring one kind of stock to another, than
their comparative profits. {^Sup- art. ^gr.)
5829. Whether the stock should be all of one or of different kinds is another question to
be discussed.
5830. With regard to a mixed stock, the sentiments and practice of the best graziers seem to be in its
favour. " It is generally understood that horses and cattle intermixed will eat grass cleaner than any
species will alone, not so much from their separately affecting different grasses, as from the circumstance
of both species disliking to feed near their own dung." {MarshaVs Yorkshire, vol. ii. p 154.) " Some few
graziers follow the old custom of keeping only one kind of stock upon the same ground, whilst others, we
think, with more propriety, intermix with oxen and cows a few sheep, and two or three colts in each
pasture, which both turn to good account, and do little injury to the grazing cattle. In some cases sheep
are a real benefit, by eating down and destroying the ragwort (Senfecio JacobseV), which disgraces some of
the best pastures of the county, where oxen only are grazed." ['Northumberland Report, p. 126. ) In Lin-
colnshire, where grazing is followed to a great extent, and with uncommon success, as well as in most
other districts, the practice seems to be almost invariably, to keep a mixed stock of sheep and cattle on
the same pasture {Lincolnshire Report, p. 174.), in proportion varying with the nature of the soil and the
quality of the herbage.
5831. To estimate the number of animals that may be depastured on any given extent
of ground is obviously impossible, without reference to the particular spot in question ;
and the same difference exists with regard to the propriety of feeding close, or leaving
the pastures rough, that prevails in most other parts of this subject. Though there is
loss in stocking too sparingly, the more common and dangerous error is in overstocking,
by which the summer's grass is not unfrequently entirely lost. On rich pasture lands in
the neighbourhood of Banbury, in Oxfordshire, one ox and two sheep are calculated as
stock sufficient for one acre.
58.32. With respect to the size of enclosures, small fields are much to be preferred to
large ones, for heavy stock.
5833. Besides the advantages of shelter, both to the animals and the herbage, small fields enable the
grazier either to separate his stock into small parcels, by which means they feed more at their ease, or to
give the best pastures to that portion of them which he wishes to come earliest to market. The ad-
vantages of moderate-sized enclosures are well known in the best grazing counties ; but the subdivisions
are in some instances much more minute than is consistent with the value of the ground occupied with
fences, or necessary to the improvement of the stock. In all cases, says Marshal, where fatting cattle or
dairy cows make a part of the stock, and where situation, soil, and water will permit, every suit of
grazing grounds ought, in my idea, to consist of three compartments : one for head stock, as cows or
fatting cattle; one for followers, as rearing and other lean stock; and the third to be shut up to freshen
for the leading stock. {Marshal's Yorkshire, vo\. W. y>. 15^.)
5834. Large enclosures are in general best adapted for sheep. These animals are not only impatient of
heat and liable to be much injured by flies, in small pastures often surrounded by trees and high hedges,
but they are naturally, with the exception perhaps of the Leicester variety, much more restless and easily
disturbed than the other species of live stock. " Sheep," says Lord Kaimes, " love a wider range, and
ought to have it ; because they delight in short grass : give them eighty or ninety acres, and any fence will
keep them in ; confine them to a field of seven or eight acres, and it must be a very strong fence that keeps
them in." {Gentleman Partner, p. 203.) Though fields so large as eighty or ninety acres can be advisable
only in hilly districts, yet the general rule is nevertheless consistent with experience, in regard to all our
least domesticated varieties.
5835. With respect to the propriett/ of eating the herbage close, or leaving it rather in an
abundant state, an eminent agriculturist observes, that there seems to be a season, some
time during the year, when grass lands, particularly old turf, should be eaten very close,
908
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
not merely for the sake of preventing waste, but also for the purpose of keeping down the
coarser kinds of plants, and giving to the pastures as equal and fine a sward as possible.
5836. The most proper period must partly depend upon the convenience of the grazier j but it can
hardly be either immediately before the drought of summer or the frost of winter. Some time in autumn,
when the ardent heat of the season is over, and when there is still time for a new growth before winter,
may be most suitable for the land itself, and generally also for the grazier, his fat stock being then mostly
disposed of, or carried to the after-grass of mown grounds. The sweeping of pastures with the scythe
may be employed as a substitute for this close feeding ; the waste and labour of which, however, though
but trifling, it does not seem necessary to incur on rich grazing lands, under correct management.
(.Sup. E. Brit. art. Agr.)
58.')7. Fugging pasture lands is a practice which is sometimes adopted in districts where there is' a
scarcity of winter food. Under that system, fields in pasture are shut up early in May, and continued in
that state till November or December, when the farmer's stock is turned in, and continue to pasture till
the May succeeding. Such management, however, can
only be advisable on a soil of the driest nature, which will
not be injured by poaching in the wettest seasons. It is
practised in a few places in Cardiganshire; but is consi-
dered by the late Thos. Johnes, Esq., of Hafod, as the result
of necessity, the farmers not being able to bring sufficient
stock to eat it down in season, when its nutritive powers
are in their best state.
5838. Water should be provided for every
field under pasture ; and also shelter and shade,
either by a few trees, or by a portable shed,
which may be moved with the stock from one
enclosure to another. Where there are no trees,
rubbing posts are also found a desirable addition. In Germany they have portable sheds
which are employed both in summer and winter, and generally with a piece of rock-salt
fixed to a post for the cattle to suck at. {Jig. 796.)
SuBSECT. 2. mily and Mountainons Pastures.
5839. Hilly pastures include such low hills as produce fine short herbage, and are
with much advantage kept constantly in pasture, though they are not altogether inacces-
sible to the plough ; as well as such tracts as, from their acclivity and elevation, must
necessarily be exclusively appropriated to live stock. The former description of grass
lands, though different from the feeding pastures, of which we have just treated, in
respect to their being less convenient for tillage management, are nevertheless in other
circumstances so nearly similar, as not to require any separate discussion. These low
hills are for the most part occupied with sheep, a very few cattle being sometimes
pastured towards their bases ; and they frequently comprise herbage sufficiently rich for
fattening sheep, together with coarser pastures for breeding and rearing them.
5840i In, regard to the management of upland pastures, of the rules which judicious
farmers practise, the following deserve to be selected : —
5841. To enclose those pastures, as the same extent of land, when sheltered, and properly treated, will
feed a greater quantity of sto.k, and to better purpo.se, than when in an open and exposed state. Not to
overstock upland pastures; for when this is done, the cattle are not only starved, and the quantity of
herbage diminished, but the soil is impoverished. When the pasture ground is enclosed and subdivided,
so as to admit of it, the stock ought to be shifted from one enclosure to another, at proper intervals ; giving
the first of the grass to the fattening, in preference to the rearing, stock. This practice tends to increase
the quantity of grass, which has thus time to get up; and the ground being fresh and untainted, when
the stock returns to it, more especially if rain has fallen, they will feed with greater appetite and relish.
The dung dropped by the stock, while feeding, should be spread about, instead of being suffered to
remain where it was deposited, in a solid body. Where the larger and the smaller kinds of stock are to
be fed on the same pastures, the larger speciea should have the first bite ; and it is not thought by some
advisable to depasture land with a mixed collection of different species of live stock, unless the field is ex-
tensive, or unless the herbage varies in different parts of the field. It is generally found, that the grass
produced by the dung of cattle or horses is injurious to sheep, producing grass of too rich a quality for
that sjiecies of stock. There is no mode by which such pastures are more efifectually iinproved, than by
the application of lime, either spread upon the surface or mixed with the soil. In the latter case, it is
essential that the lime should be mixed with the surface soil only ; as lime is apt to sink, if covered
deeply by the plough. The coarse grasses would, in that case, regain possession of the soil, and the dung
afterwards deposited by the cattle will not enrich the land in the same manner as if the lime had been
incorporated with the surface only. {Code.)
• i 1 5842. Mountainous pastures, from which the plough is altogether excl tided, have been
commonly classed among waste lands ; even such of them as bear herbage by no means
of inconsiderable value ; as well as heaths and moors with patches of which the green
pastures are often chequered The general term wastes is therefore a very indefinite ex-
pression ; and, indeed, is not unfrequently made to comprehend all that extensive division
of our territory that neither prodvices corn nor rich herbage. Yet it is on such tracts
that by far the greater part of our butcher's meat and wool is grown, and not a little of
the former fully prepared for the market. Foreigners and superficial readers at home
must accordingly be greatly mistaken, if they imagine that what are called ivastes by the
Board of Agriculture, and other writers, on rural economy, are really altogether un-
productive ; and it would be a still grosser error to believe that all ; those wastes owe
their continuance to neglect or mismanagement; and that any exertions of human
industry can Jever render the greater pai-t of them, including all the mountainous tract
of Great Britain, more valuable than they are at present, without a much greater
Book VI. IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS LANDS. 909
expenditure of capital than, under almost any circumstances, they could possibly return
(Sitp. art. ^gr.)
5843. Menteathof Closehurn, in Dumfriesshire, has regenerated old pasture by paring up the turf with a
paring jjlough or spade, laying it to one side for a week or two, and again rei)lacing it where it was before,
after the subsoil had been stirred by ploughing and harrowing, and a little lime, ashes, or other manure
added. A field so treated was found, in four years, to keep fifteen head of cattle fully better than it did
ten in its former state. The improvement is considered to give of annual profit one third of the prime
cost, so that in little more than lour years it will clear itself. {Gard. Mag. vol. vi.)
5844. Improving pasture without taking a crop of corn. The same gentleman having had a considerable
extent of the poorest moorland in Scotland in his estate of Closeburn, Dumfriesshire, entertained the
opinion that it might pay for improving the pasture without taking a crop of corn from this poor soil, which
in general was a peat earth upon a gravel or sand or red freestone, and which he considered too poor to
l)roduce a remunerating crop of corn. He accordingly set to work to improve about a thousand acres of
this poor soil from four hundred to eight hundred feet above the sea, and sometimes pared and burned
nearly two hundred acres in one summer, which he ploughed in the autumn and allowed to lie in that
state till the next spring, when he laid on about one hundred and seventy bushels of quicklime, or lime
shells, as they are there called from their shelling or falling to pieces when watered, per English
acre, and in the month of July harrowed in between five and six bushels of //ulcus lan^tus grass seed.
The greatest part of this land has now been improved about twenty years, and is continuing to yield
abundance of grass, and is worth from 12*. to 144'. per acre, while in its natural state it was scarcely worth
2*. ; and Mr. M. is convinced it would pay amply for another dressing of lime, which a Scotch farmer, he
says, would not think of, as the plough is upon all occasions the implement in most active operation with
him. In the improvement of moor ground, Mr. M. thinks it highly important to state that the very worst
effects result from pulverising or bringing the peaty or vegetable soil to a complete state of putrefaction
or pulverisation, before being laid down to pasture ; and that this must certainly take place when two or
three corn crops are taken before sowing out. Moory peaty soil alter this treatment is liable to be
poached in wet weather, and in dry weather is almost equally incoherent, and is difficult to be again
restored without dung or great quantities of earth, (C. Cr. Stuart Menteath, March 1830, in Gard.
Mag. vol. vi.)
5845. The chief improvements of ivhich mountainous pastures are susceptible are, draining and sheltering
by plantations. Some parts might probably be enclosed by strips of plantation between stone walls, or by
stone walls alone ; but as the stock on mountain pastures are generally under the care of a herdsman, the
advantages of change of pasture and alternate eating down and saving or sparing the grass, by keeping
out the cattle, are obtainable without the use of fields.
Sect. III. Improvement of Grass Lands, by a temporary Conversion to Tillage.
5846. The practice of breaking up grass lands, either with a view^ to their being soon
after restored, or to their permanent retention in aration, has occasioned much discus-
sion, and even attracted the attention of the Legislature, and the Board of Agriculture.
In The Code of Agriculture it is stated, that a " much larger proportion of the united
kingdom, than is at present so cultivated, might be subjected to the alternate system of
husbandry, or transferred from grass to tillage, and then restored to grass." Much of
the middling sorts of grass lands, from 200 to 400 feet above the level of the sea, is of
this description ; and many husbandmen, and most indiscriminate friends of the corn laws
and the landed monopoly, regret that such lands are left in a state of unproductive pastur-
age, and excluded from tillage. Were the trade in corn free, the idea of tilling such
lands would be at least problematical.
5847. A very extensive enquii-y was made, in consequence of a requisition from the House of Lords to the
Board of Agriculture, in December 1800, " into the best means of converting certain portions of grass
lands into tillage, without exhausting the soil, and of returning the same to grass, after a certain period,
in an improved state, or at least without injury ;" and the information collected by the Board, upon that
subject, is in the highest degree satisfactory and important.
5818. On this subject the opinion of one of our first writers is, " that though it is impossible to deny that
much grass land iii England would be more productive, both to the proprietor and occupier, under a good
course of cropping, than under pasture ; yet it is no less certain, that there are large tracts of rich grazing
land, which, in the present state of the demand for the produce of grass lands, and of the law of England,
with regard to tithes, cannot be employed more profitably for the parties concerned, than in pasture. The
interest which the Board of Agriculture has taken in this question, with a view to an abundant supply of
corn for the wants of a rapidly increasing population, seems, therefore, not to have been well directed.
Instead of devoting a large portion of their volumes to the instruction of farmers, regarding the best
method of bringing grass lands into tillage, and restoring them again to meadow or pasture, without
deterioration ; the first thing required was, to attempt removing the almost insuperable obstruction of
tithes, by proposing to the legislature an equitable plan of commutation. If some beneficial arrangement
were adopted on this head, there is no reason to doubt, that individual interest would soon operate the
wished-fbr change; and that all grass lands capable of yielding more rent and profit under tillage than
under pasture would be subjected to the plough, as fast as the demands of the population might require,
(Sup. E. B. art. Jgr.)
5849. In giving the Essence of the^informati&n collected by the Board, we shall first state
the opinions as to such grass lands as should- not tietbrokcn up> and next the directions
for breaking up and laying down the othersi d'h .ri ^i <
,. , .. SuBSECT 1. Grass Lands thai ought not to be broken up by the Plough.
' 5850. There are various sorts of grass lands that ought not to be broken up ; as water
meadows ; salt marshes ; lands apt to be overflowed ; lands near large populous towns,
where the produce of grass land is always in demand, and consequently dear ; and low-
lying tracts, in the valleys of mountainous countries, particularly in chalky districts,
where old meadow land is scarce, and where a portion of it, to raise early and late food
for stock, gives a great additional value to the adjoining upland. But whether rich
lands, which have long remained in grass, and continue productive, should ever be
converted into tillage, is a question respecting which a great diversity of opinion has
been entertained. ttalfcv yiyii.
ne PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
5851. The lands considered as best adapted for permanent pasture are cf three kinds :
strong tenacious clays, unfit for turnips or barley, which are said to improve the more
the longer they are kept under a judicious system in grass ; soft clayey loams, with a
clayey or marly bottom or substratum ; and rich, sound, deep-soiled land, or vale land,
enriched by nature at the expense of the higher grounds, generally lying in a situation
favourable with respect to climate.
5852. The advantages of suck pastures are represented in the strongest light. It is affirmed, that they
feed cattle to a greater weight ; that they are not so easily scorched by the summer's drought; that the
grasses are more nutritive, both for sheep and cattle ; that milch cows fed upon them give richer milk,
and more butter and cheese ; that the hoofs of all animals pastured on them are much better preserved ;
that they produce a greater variety of grasses ; that, when properly laid down, they yield a succession of
pasture throughout the wliole season ; that the herbage is sweeter, and more easily digested ; and that
they return an immense produce at a trifling expense.
5853. To break up lands possessing these advantages, it is said, can only be justified by the most urgent
public necessity, and to prevent the horrors of famine. The real value of such lands will appear by con-
sidering their rent and produce. The grasslands in Lincolnshire are accounted the richest in the kingdom.
The rents are various; from 1/. I5s. to 31. per acre ; and the value of the produce from 31. per acre to 10/.
This produce arises from beef, mutton, and wool ; and is obtained subject to little variation from the
nature of the seasons, and at a trifling expense. The stock maintained per acre on the best grazing lands
surpasses what could be fed by any arable produce. It is not at all uncommon to feed at the rate of from
six to seven sheep in summer, and about two sheep in winter. The sheep, when put on the grass, may
weigh from 18 lbs. to 20 lbs. per quarter, and the increase of weight would be at the rate of 4 lbs. per
quarter, or 16 lbs. per sheep. But suppose in all only 100 lbs. at 8d. per pound, that would amount to 3/.
17s lOrf. The wool would be worth about two guineas more, besides the value of the winter keep; and
the total may be stated at about 7A per acre, got at little expense. Such lands, it is evident, cannot be
better employed than in feeding stock.
5854. Grass land on tenacious clays and heavy loatns, when brought in a succession of
years, or perhaps of ages, into a state of great productiveness, cannot be ploughed without
the risk of great injury, and are more profitable in the production of herbage tlian they
could be in the production of grain.
5855. Grass on deep-soiled sound vale lands would be productive of corn if ploughed ;
but would be probably injured by cultivation : from their texture being altered, and
rendered unduly loose and open by tillage ; from the native plants being more or less
destroyed or enfeebled ; and from the great decomposition and waste of the principles of
fertility resident in the soil.
5856. The extent of these descriptions of land, however, is not so great that the advan-
tages of breaking them up could probal)ly ever be a national object, or worth the risk of
injuring their future productiveness in grass. But there are pasture lands of an inferior
sort, which are too apt to be confounded with those already described; and respectmg the
propriety of occasionally appropriating them to arable culture, there can hardly be a
doubt. Such lands do not depend upon their intrinsic fertility, but upon annual supplies
of manure derived from the arable land in their neighbourhood.
SuBSECT. 2. Advantages and Disadvantages of breaking up Grass Lands.
5857. Tlie advantages of breaking up grass lands, not of the richest quality, will appear
by a comparison of their produce with that of arable lands.
5858. From the enquiry of the Board of Agrictdture, it appears that an acre of clover, tares, rape, potatoes,
turnips, cole, or cabbages, will furnish at least thrice as much food as the same acre would have done, had
it remained in pasture of a medium quality ; and, consequently, that the same extent of land would main-
tain at least as much stock as when in grass, besides producing every other year a valuable crop of corn ;
and this, independently of the value of the straw, which, whether consumed as litter, or as food for cattle,
will add considerably to the stock of manure. It follows that, with the exception of rich pastures, arable
land is, on an average, superior to grass land, with respect to furnishing articles of human food, in the
proportion of three to one; and consequently every piece of land unnecessarily kept in grass, the produce
of which will only maintain one person, is depriving the community of food capable of maintaining two
additional members.
5859. The principal objection to the conversion of old turf into arable land arises from an alleged infe-
riority, both in bulk and nutritive properties, in the new when compared to the old herbage. It is
certain, that by no art can we at once produce a surface of grasses which can be at all compared to some
of the richest pastures in Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Leicestershire ; but these are not the pas-
tures which any prudent agriculturist would recommend to be broken up, whatever might be the price of
corn ; and more especially in Britain, and with a prospect of the trade in corn being at no distant period
free Still, in by far the greater number of cases where the soil will admit of the convertible husbandry,
and where that husbandry is as well understood and practised as it is in the north of England and south
of Scotland, we should have no hesitation in leaving it to the farmer to break up whatever pastures he
thought he could do with profit during a fourteen or twenty-one years' lease. A gentleman who had a
large farm, principally consisting of strong rich clay (every field of which, with hardly any exception, he
occasionally broke up), was accustomed to lay them down with a crop of barley, and to sow fourteen
pounds of white clover, a peck of rib-grass, and three quarters of hay seeds, per acre. By this liberal
allowance of seed, he always secured a thick coat of herbage the first year, which diflTered from old pasture
in being more luxuriant. Such lands, therefore, under judicious management, will rarely be injured by
the plough. When laid down from tillage into grass, they may not carry for the first year or two such
heavy cattle as they would afterwards ; but they will support more in number, though of a smaller size,
and bring a greater weight of butcher meat to market. It is often desirable to keep one or two moderate-
sized enclosures, of from ten to twenty acres, according to the size of the farm, in perennial pasture, for
the feeding of cattle and sheep, and as a resource for the stock to go to in case of a severe spring or summer
drought ; but the retaining of any considerable portion of a farm in old turf, or permanent pasture, unless
of the richest quality, is in general injurious to the landlord, the tenant, and the public. The value of
any estate, where the system of permanent pasture has been carried to an unreasonable extent, maybe
easily and greatly augmented by appropriating the radnure of the farm to turnips and other green crops,
and by the adoption of the convertible system of husbandry."
Book VI. BREAKING UP GRASS LANDS. 911
5860. There are many cases where this doctrine, though in general to be recommended, ought not to be
carried to its full extent. In Norfolk, where the land is commonly light, and where the sheep are both
bred and fed upon the same farm, a proportion of permanent pasture is essential. Much injury, in parti-
cular, has been sustained by breaking up permanent pastures on such soils, more especially when subject
to rectorial tithes. Many lands of an inferior soil, which kept two sheep on an acre, paying only vicarial
tithes, and rented at ten shillings per acre, since they have been broken up cannot pay, even without rent,
the tithe of corn and the expense of cultivation. A farm in general lets best with a fair proportion of
grass land upon it, which admits of a mixed management} in consequence of which, if one object fails
another may \>e successful.
5861. WUh resided to the disadvantages of breaking %ip pastures, it is alleged in The Code
of Agriculture, that there is a risk of tenants breaking through their engagements (p. 473.
3d edit.) ; by which wq suppose is to be understood, the chance of their taking a fevv^
good crops from the nevs^ly broke-up lands, and then leaving the farm. Tenants who
would do this must certainly be as wicked as the landlords who would put in their power
would be imbecile. No other disadvantage is stated, and this may safely be left to work
its own cure.
SuBSECT. 3. Breaking vp Grass Lands, and afterwards restoring them to Orass.
5862. On the subject of breaking np and laying doion grass lands, the following parti-
culars are discussed in the Code of Agriculture, as the result of the information communi-
cated to the Board : — Whether any previous steps are necessary before lands in grass are
broken up ? the proper mode of effecting that object ; the course of crops ; the manure
necessary ; the system of management during the rotation ; the mode of laying down
the land again to grass ; that of sowing the grass-seeds ; and the subsequent management.
5863. If the land be wet, it is advisable to drain it completely, previously to its being
broken up ; for it is not improbable that its being kept in pasture was partly on account
of its wetness.
58S4. Land that has been long in pasture does not require dung during the first course of crops that is
taken after being broken up ; but the application of calcareous manure is always, in such cases, expedient.
Sometimes lime is spread on the ground before it is ploughed ; at other times when it is either under
summer. fallow, or a drilled crop of turnips. Marl and chalk also have been used for the same purpose
with great advantage. The land thence derives additional strength and vigour; the succeeding crops are
much improved ; the soil is commonly so softened in its texture, that it may be ploughed with half the
strength that would otherwise be necessary ; and whenever it is restored to grass, the herbage is abundant
5865. Wherever the soil is not too shallow, nor of a friable nature, or when the turf
cannot soon be rotted, if land is to be broken up from old pasture, the system of paring
and burning is proper. In this way, good tilth is speedily procured ; the damage that
might otherwise be sustained by the grub, the wire-worm, and other insects, is avoided,
while the soil receives a stimulus which ensures an abundant crop.
5866. Where paring and burning cannot take place, the land may be trenched or double-ploughed. This
is effected by means of two ploughs following each other, the first plough taking off a thin surface of about
three inches, and the second going deeper in the same place, covering the surface-sod with fine mould ;
both furrows not exceeding the thickness of the vegetable mould or other good soil. If the land is ploughed
with one furrow, the operation ought to be performed before winter, that it may receive the benefit of the
succeeding frosts, by which the success of the future operations will not only be promoted, but most of the
insects lodged in the soil will be destroyed. When one furrow alone is taken, the best size is four inches
and a half deep by eight or nine broad. The strain on horses in ploughing ley land is mostly from the
depth.
5867. The rotation of crops to be adopted, when grass lands are broken up, must partly
depend upon the soil, and partly on the manner in which it is prepared for cultivation.
As a general principle, however, it may be laid down, that unless by the course of crop-
ping to be pursued the bad grasses and other plants indigenous to the soil are extirpated,
they will, when the land is again laid down to grass, increase and prevail with more
rapidity and effect than seeds chosen by the farmer ; and the consequence must be, a
heavy disappointment in the future crops of grass, perhaps solely, or at least principally,
attributable to a previous defective management. It is necessary, therefore, to enter
into details upon this subject as applicable to clay, chalk, peat, loam, and sand.
5868. Clay. The process of conversion in clayey soils should be commenced with paring and burning,
especially where the grub is suspected. The following course may then be adopted : — 1. Rape, fed with
sheep; 2. beans; 3. wheat; 4 beans; 5. wheat; 6. fallow; 7. wheat, sown with grass-seeds. This may
seem severe cropping, but it is justified by experience when old grass clay.land is broken up. If the land
has not been pared and burnt, the first crop ought to be either oats or dibbled beans. To do justice to the
plan of restoring the land to grass, there ought to be, in all cases, according to the soil, either a naked or
turnip fallow, before the sowing of grass-seeds is attempted. But on mellow loamy clay land, consisting
of fine old grass pasture, where it is thought necessary or advisable to break up such land, it should be
done in detached pieces, so as to suit the convenience of the occupier, and the following course should be
adopted : — 1. Autumnal ploughing for oats in spring ; 2. fallow for rape, to be eaten with sheep ; 3. beans ;
4. wheat, sown with clover ; 5. clover ; 6. clover ; 7. wheat ; 8. rape, to be partially eaten, and hoed in
spring, and to stand for seed ; and 9. wheat with grass-seeds. This is a very profitable rotation, and ap-
plicable to the best grazing land in Lincolnshire.
5869. Chalk. Paring and burning are considered in this case to be indispensable as a preparation for
turnips, which ought, where manure can be got, to be raised two years in succession ; then, barley, clover,
wheat ; and, after one or two additional crops of turnips, the land may be laid down with saintfoin to
great advantage.
5870. Peat. On this soil paring and burning are essentially necessary. Under a judicious system, the
greatest and quickest profit is thus secured to the farmer, with advantage to the public, and without injury
to the landlord. Draining also must not be neglected. The crops to be grown on peat soils are, 1. rape
or potatoes; 2. oats; 3. turnips; 4. oats or wheat; and 5. clover or grass. seeds. A liberal application
912 PRACTICE OF. AGRICULTURE. PJL16 Ilf i
of lime, where it can be obtained, is of the greatest service in enabling such soils to bring corn to its full
perfection. In the fens of Thorney, the following course was recommended : — 1. Paring and burning
for rape ; 2. oats ; and 3. wheat witli grass-seeds ; if the land were safe from water, the Lammas sort, if
not, spring wheat. This short course, it is contended, preserves the land in heart; and it afterwards
produces abundant crops of grass. But long courses, in such a soil, run the lands to weeds and straw,
without quality in the grain.
5871. Loam. The courses of crops applicable to this soil are too numerous to be here inserted. If the
sward is friable, the following rotation may be adopted : — 1. Oats ; 2. turnips ; 3. wheat or barley ;
4. beans ; 5. wheat ; 6. fallow or turnips ; 7. wheat or barley, and grass-seeds. If the sward is very tough
and coarse, instead of taking oats, it may be pared and burnt for turnips.
5872. Sand. On rich and deep sandy soils, the most valuable that can be raised is a crop of carrots. For
inferior sands, turnips, to be eaten on the ground ; which should then be laid down with barley and grass-
seeds.
5873. According to the improved system of laying down lands to grass, land ought to be
previously made as clean and fertile as possible. With that view, all the green crops raised
ought to be consumed upon the ground ; fallow or fallow crops ought not to be neglected ;
and the whole straw of the corn crops should be converted into manure, and applied to
the soil that produced it. Above all, the mixing of calcareous matter with the soil,
either previously to, or during the course of, cropping, is essential. Nothing generally
improves meadows or pastures more than lime or marl : they sweeten the herbage, render
it more palatable to stock, and give it more nourishing properties.
5874. When turnips are raised upon light land, sheep should be folded on them ; whereas, if the land is
strong or wet, the crop should be drawn, and fed in some adjoining grass-field, or in sheds. If the land
is in high condition, it is customary to cart off half the turnips, and eat the other on the ground. But
this is not a plan to be recommended on poor soils.
5S75. It has been disputed whether grass-seeds should be sown with or without com. In favour of the first
practice, that of uniting the two crops, it is maintained, that where equal pains are taken, the future crop
of grass will succeed as well as if they had been sown separately, while the same tilth answers for both.
On the other hand, it is observed, that as the land must, in that case, be put into the best possible order,
there is a risk that the corn-crop will grow so luxuriantly as to overpower the grass-seeds, and, at any rate,
will exclude them from the benefit of the air and the dews. If the season also be wet, a corn crop is apt
to lodge, and the grass will, in a great measure, be destroyed. On soils moderately fertile, the grasses
have a better chance of succeeding ; but then, it is said, that the land is so much exhausted by producing
the corn-crops, that it seldom proves good grass land afterwards. In answer to these objections, it has
been urged, that where, from the richness of the soil, there is any risk of sowing a full crop of corn, less
seed is used, even as low as one third of the usual quantity ; and that a moderate crop of grain nurses the
ypung plants of grass, and protects them from the rays of a hot sun, without producing any material
injury. Where the two crops are united, barley is the preferable grain, except on peat. Barley has a
tendency to loosen the texture of the ground in which it grows, which is favourable to the vegetation of
grass-seeds. In the choice of barley, that sort should be preferred which runs least to straw, and which is
the soonest ripe. On peat, a crop of oats is to be preferred. The most recent practice of the best farmers
is in favour of sowing the grass-seeds without the addition of corn, or any other temporary plant.
5876. Tlie manner of sowing the grass-seeds also requires to be particularly attended to. Machines
have been invented for that purpose, which answer well, but they are unfortunately too expensive for
the generality of farmers. It is a bad system, to mix seeds of different plants before sowing them,
in order to have the fewer casts. It is better, to sow each sort separately ; for the expense of going several
times over the ground is nothing, compared to the benefit of having each sort equally distributed. The
seeds of grasses being so light, ought never to be sown in a windy day, except by machinery, an equal
delivery being a point of great consequence. Wet weather ought likewise to be avoided, as the least
degree of poaching is injurious. Grass seeds ought to be well harrowed, according to the nature of the
spil.
5877. When the corn is carried off, the young crop of grass should be but little fed during autumn, and
that only in dry weather; but heavily rolled in the following spring, in order to press the soil home to the
roots. It is then to be treated as permanent pasture. By attention to these particulars, the far greater
proportion of the meadows and pastures in the kingdom, of an inferior, or even medium quality, may be
broken up, not only with safety, but with great profit to all concerned.
Chap. VIII. /^
J, ,.„ /i.pPtewis cultivated on a linvUed Scale for various Arts ond Mamifactuf^f*,- ,i;^f,..,-„?
5878. The plants used as food for men and animals are by far the most generally
cultivated in every country ; and, next, those (f clothing, btiilding, and other arts of conve-
nience or luxury. The former are often called agricultural, and the latter commercial
or manufactorial plants. Of manufactorial plants, only a few are at present cultivated
in Britain ; the national policy rendering it preferable to import them, or substfj^j
tutes, from other countries. Some, however, are still grown in nearly sufficient quan^
titles for home consumption, as the hop, mustard, rape, and a considerable quantity of
flax, anise, and carraway ; some hemp, teazle, and woad are also raised. These and
other plants may be classed as^pw^jft};^ the Qlpthin^,, cU^^ilUn^,, brewing^ ,j:^.j|a^flg^^
and domestic ^ud medical art?.,^ ^^ ^^^^^ ,rs„II,mo.a f>ai.' ,-'w w.^^^tii bem'>^t.o
,..,....:. J. ,,, ........... ,:_;., ^. ,'i.^<i K.,,- .,•.<• .'i ..i ............ ;.; fti iJWOr; ?t boDS-Zfift
SEC!;r.,i|...; Plants grown chief y for the Clothing Arts,, ,<,„-i(;) n nAnu {(^
'^^SS^'^.'^T/i^iidthii^plaMs Sire flax, hemp, teazle, madder, woad, aaii^swol^ tift^lfirst
^-.io.'/.yfc yfullft t)cui siuai. .,uli! jJ) ih ■if; ijii^do <■■■ iar, ,-■!(:■,,>. w. Itv^ ,-r.i i,! ) uo^di oJ rnoo-j
Book VI.
FLAX.
91:
SuBSECT. 1. Flax. — JJimim us'Ualissiinum L. ; Pentanxlria Pentagyma L., and \Aneai
Dec. Lin, Fr. ; Flacks, Ger. ; and Lino, Ital. and Span. (fig. 797. a.)
^5880. The Jlax has been cultivated from the earliest ages, and for an unknown length
of time in Britain, of which it is now considered a
naturalised inhabitant. It is cultivated both for its
fibre for making thread, and its seed for being
crushed for oil ; but never has been grown in suf-
ficient quantity for either purpose. The legisla-
ture of the country, as Brown observes, has paid
more attention to framing laws regarding the
luisbandry of flax than to any other branch of
rural economy ; but it need not excite surprise
that these laws, even though accoirpanied by pre-
miums, have failed to induce men to act in a
manner contrary to their own interest. The fact
is, tlie culture of flax is found on the whole less
profitable than the culture of corn. It is one of
the most severe crops when allowed to ripen its
seed; but by no means so when pulled green.
5881. 2'lte varieties of the common fax are few,
and scarcely deserving of notice. Marshal
mentions the blue or lead-coloured flax as being
cultivated in Yorkshire, and Professor Thaer mentions a finer and coarser variety ; he
also, as well as some other agriculturists, has tried the Zinum per^nne (6), but though
it affords a strong fibre, it is coai-se and difficult to separate from the woody matter.
5882. The soils most proper for flax, besides the alluvial kinds, are deep and friable
loams, and such as contain a large proportion of vegetable matter in their composition.
Strong clays do not answer well, nor soils of a gravelly or dry sandy nature. But
whatever is the kind of soil, it ought neither to be in too poor nor in too rich a
condition : because, in the latter case, the flax is apt to grow too luxuriantly, and to
produce a coarse sort ; and, in the former case, the plant, from growing weakly, affords
only a small produce. ( Tr. on Rural Affairs- )
5883. If there is water at a smaU depth belotc the surface of tlie ground, it is thought by some still
better; as in Zealand, which is remarkable for the fineness of its flax, and where the soil is deep and
rather stiff, with water almost every where, at tlie depth of a foot and a half or two feet. It is said to be
owing to the want of this advantage, that the other provinces of Holland do not succeed equally well in
the culture of this useful plant; not but that fine flax is also raise<l on high lands, if they have been well
tilled and manured, and if the seasons are not very dry. It is remarked, in the letters of the Dublin
Agricultural Society, that moist stiff soils yield much larger quantities of flax, and far better seed, than
can be obtained from light lands ; and that theseed secureti froin the former may, with proper care, be
rendered full as good as any that is imported from Riga or Zealand. M. Du Hamel, however, thinks that
strong land can hardly yield such fine flax as lighter ground.
5884. The place off ax in a rotation of crops is various, but in general it is considered
as a corn or exhausting crop, when the seed is allowed to ripen ; and as a green, or pea,
or bean crop, when the plant is pulled green. - > . .-
5885. Flax, Donaldson observes, is sown after all sorts of crops, but is found to succeed best on lands
lately broken up from grass. In Scotland, the most skilful cultivators of flax generally prefer lands from
which one crop of grain only lias been taken, afteT having been several years in pasture. When such
lands have been limed or marled, immediately before being laid down to grass, the crop of flax seldom
or never misgives, unless the season prove remarkably adverse. In the north of Ireland flax is generally
sown by the small farmers after potatoes. In Belgium, it is supposed not to do well after peas or beans ;
nor to succeed if sown oftener on the same soil than twice in nine years. {Fon Thaer.)
5886. The preparation of the soil, when grass land is intended for flax, consists in
breaking it up as early in the season as possible, so that the soil may be duly mellowed
by the winter frosts, and in good order for being reduced by the harrows, when the seed
process is attempted. If flax is to succeed a corn crop, the like care is required to pro-
cure the aid of frost, without which the surface cannot be rendered fine enough for
receiving the seed. Less frost, however, will do in the latter than in the former case ;
therefore, the grass land ought always to be earliest ploughed. At seed-time, harrow
the land w ell before the seed is distributed, then cover the seed to a' sufficient depth, by
giving a close double harrowing with the harrows. Water-furrow the land, and remove
any stones and roots that may remain on the surface, which finishes the seed process.
5887. The ordijiary season of sowing flaxseed is from the middle of March to the
middle or end of April, but the last week of March and the first ten days of April are
esteemed the best time; and accordingly within these periods the greatest quantity of
flax-seed is sown in this country. In France and Italy it is often sown in the autumn,
by which a larger crop is produced, especially when seed is desired.
5888. The quantity of seed depends on the intention of the crop. When a crop of
seed is intended to be taken, thin sowing is preferable, in order that the glacitsiij^y have
room to throw out lateral shoots, and to obtain air in the blossoming and filling seasons.
3 N
914 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Tart III.
But it is a mistake to sow thin when flax is intended to be taken ; for the crop then
becomes coarse, and often unproductive. From eight to ten pecks per acre is the proper
quantity in the last case, but when seed is the object, six pecks will do very well. ( Brown. )
Thick-sown flax runs up in height, and produces fine soft flax ; if sown thin, it does not
rise so high, but spreads more and puts forth many side branches, which produce abun-
dance of seed, and such seed is much better filled, plumper and heavier, than the seed
produced from thick-sown flax. (Donaldson.)
5889. In the choice of seed, that which is of a bright brownish colour, oily to the feel,
and at the same time weighty, is considered the best.
5890. Linseed, imported from various countries, is employed. That brought from Holland is, however,
in the highest estimation ; as it not only ripens sooner than any other that is imported, but also produces
greater crops, and flax of that quality which best suits the chief manufactures of the country. American
seed produces, in common, fine flax'; but neither the quantity of flax nor of the pods, provincially the
♦' bolls," which contain the seeds, is so large as the produce from Dutch linseed. Riga seed yields a very
coarse sort of flax, but a greater quantity of seeds than any other. It is common in some parts of Scot-
land to sow ;eeds saved from the crop of the preceding year, especially when that crop was raised from
seed imported from Holland The success of this practice is found to depend greatly on changing the
seed from one sort of soil to another of an opposite nature; but the saving in the expense of purchasing
that sort of seed, in place of what is newly imported from Holland, is so inconsiderable, and tlie risk of
the crop misgiving so much greater in the one case than in the other, that those only who are ignorant
of the consequences, or who are compelled from necessity, are chargeable with this act of ill-judged par-
simony. Flax-seed is by some farmers changed every three years, but many have sown the same seed
ten years in succession without perceiving any degeneracy. When any degeneracy takes place, the seed
of flax grown on a difFt-rent soil, as moss, moor, sand, &c. without any view to the produce in fibre, will,
it is said, answer as well as foreign seed.
5891. 7%e manner o/" so wm^ is almost always the same; but when seed is the main
object, drilling may be adopted, by which seed will be saved in sowing, cleaning con-
ducted at less expense, and the plants rendered more vigorous and branchy by the stir-
ring of the soil and the admission of" air between the rows. The fibres of flax grown
in this way, however, will be shorter, and less equal in thickness throughout their length,
than flax grown by the broad-cast mode, and tolerably thick.
5892 The after-culture ofjiax consists chiefly in weeding, but sometimes it com-
mences with rolling the surfac-e, which is a very proper operation when the soil is very
dry, the season advanced, or the earth very porous. By this process the earth is pressed
firmly to the seeds, and they are thereby stimulated to vegetate sooner, and tlie drought
is kept out. On some soils, and in wet or stormy seasons, flax is apt to be laid, to guard
against which some cultivators run across their flax field slender poles fixed to stakes :
but a better method is to run small ropes across the field, both lengthwise and breadth-
wise, where necessary ; for these being fastened where they intersect one another, and
supported by stakes at due distances, form a kind of network, which is proof against
almost every accident that can happen from tempestuous weather.
5893. In Scotland a crop of flax, it is said, has been sometimes weeded by turning a flock of sheep at large
into the field. They will not taste the young flax plants, but they carefully search for the weeds, which
they devour.
5894. The Jlax crop is taken hy pulling, on which there is a considerable difference
of opinion. None, however, think of pulling it before it comes into flower, when fibre
is the sole object ; or before the seed in the capsules acquires a brownish colour, when
fibre and seed jointly are required, or when seed alone is the object.
5895. Some argue for it pulling while green, in order that its fibres may be softer and finer ; others, with
the same view, pull it up before its seeds are quite formed ; and others again think that it should not be
pulled till some of the capsules which contain the seeds have begun to open, being of opinion that the
fibres of green flax are too tender, and that they fall into tow. On the other hand, it is certain the fibres
of flax which has stood till it is very ripe are always stiff" and harsh, that they are not easily separated
from the reed, and that they do not bleach well. Here, therefore, as in most other cases, both extremes
should be avoided ; and it consequently seems most reasonable to think that the properest time for jjulling
flax, is when its stalks begin to turn from a green to a yellow, when its leaves begin to fall, and when its
seeds begin to be brown. Donaldson observes, that a crop of flax frequently grows short, and runs out a
great number of seed-bearing branches When that is the case, the seeds, not the flax, ought to be the
farmer's chief object, and the crop should be allowed to stand till the seeds are in a great measure per-
fected. But that when the crop thrives, and is likely to become more valuable for the flax than the seeds,
it should be pulled soon after the bloom drops off, and before the pods turn hard and sharp in the points.
When flitx is grown for its fibre, Brown considers it the safest course to take it a little early, any thing
wanting in quantity being, in this way, made up by the superiority of quality.
5896. The operation of pulling flux differs according to the intention of the crop. When it is grown for
the fibre it is pulled and tied into sheaves like corn, and carried off' immediately to be watered. But
when the seed is to be taken from the plant, it is pulled and laid in handfuls.
5897. In fulling Jlax, it is usual, when it is intended to save neither lie qu te in a line with each other, nor directly across,
the seeds, to lay it in handfuls, partly across e xh other; the but a !ittle slanting upwards, so that the air may easily pass
reason for which is, 'that the business of rippling is thereby through them. Some, instead of this method, tie the hancfiils
facilitated, as the ripplers, in place of having to separate each o' flax loosely at the top, then spread out thtir rooU-, and thus
handful from the bundle, find it by this simple precaution set several of them together upright upon their roots. In either
already done to their hand. Although it is of much import- of these ways, the flax is g n rally left twelve or fourteen days
ance, yet it very seldom happens that much atten ion is in the field to dry it. This drying is certainly not ntcessary
bestowed to separate the dliTerent sorts of flax from each other, for the rippling, because the tipple will separate the capsules
in pulling the crop. In most fields, there are varieties of from the flax as effectually before it has been dried as it w ill
soils ; of course some parts of a fi Id will prmiuce fine flax, afterwards ; and if it i:> done with a view to riiien the seed, it
others coarse ; some long, and some sliort : in a word, crops of should be considered, that the fl ix will be more hurt by the
mtferent len-ths and qualities. It cannot be supposed that all longer time of steeping, which wi 1 become necessary in conse-
these sorts of flax .ill undergo an equal degree of watering, auenceof (his drying, than th seed can be ben. fitid ; because,
grassing, breaking, and heckling, without ^ustaining great the more the membrane which connects the nbres to the reed
"Uo^o , „ ■ is dri d, the gre iter must be the degree of putrefaction neces-
.•iHSS. As the Jlax f pulled, il is laid together hy handfuls, sary to loosen and de.stroy the cohesion of this tonnec.ing
with the seed end turned to the south. These handfuls should membrane ; the finer parts of the flax itself must necessarily be
Book VI. TLAX. 915
destroyed by this degree of putrefaction ; and if the putref ic- equally detrimental to the flax. The practice adopted in some
tion does not arise to such a dejp'ee as to destroy the cohesion parts of Britany seems therefore mut-h more rational, which
of this membrane, tlie fibres of the fl^x will adhere so strongly is, lo ripple the flax after it has lain in the air two or three
to the reed, that the force necessary in scutching will prove days ; but even one day will be sufficient, if the weather is dry.
5899. In the process of rippling, which is the next operation, a large cloth should be
spread on a convenient spot of ground, with the ripple placed in the middle of it.
5900. In performing this business, the pods containing the seeds are forced from the stalks by means of
the iron comb called a ripple, fixed on a beam of wood, on the ends of which two persons sit, who, by
pulling the seed end of the flax repeatedly through this comb, execute the operation in a very complete
manner. It is remarked by the author of The Present State of Husbandry in Great Britain, that " those
who bestow much attention on the cultivation of flax in Scotland generally ripple oflTthe seed, even when
there is no intention of saving it; as it is found, when flax is put into water without taking off the pods,
the water soon becomes putrid, in consequence of which the flax is greatly injured."
5901. The management of the capsules, and the separation of the seed, form the next
operation.
5902. The capsules obtained should be spread in the sun to dry, and those which separate from the pods
of their own accord, being the fullest and ripest, should be set apart for sowing, in case the precaution of
raising some flax purposely for seed has not been attended to. The capsules are then broken, eitlier by
treading or by threshing, in order to get out the remaining seeds, the whole of which, as well as the others,
should be carefully sifted, winnowed, and cleaned. When the seed is laid up, it must be frequently stirred,
or ventilated, to prevent its heating. Even this second seed affords a considerable profit, by the oil which
it yielils, and also by being used when broken for fattening of cattle.
5903. To facilitate the separation of the fibre from the bark, it is necessary to accelerate
the process of decay or putrefaction. This may be done in different ways ; but the chief
are bleaching alone, and steeping and bleaching.
5904. Bleaching is a tedious and laborious operation when it is intended as a substitute for steeping,
but it is less likely to injure tlie fibre, and may be adopted on a small scale when steeping places are not
at hand. In Dorsetshire, and some other places, flax, instead of being steeped, is what is called dew-
retted ; that is, the stalks are allowed to arrive at that state in which the harl or woody parts separate
most easily from the boon, reed, or fibre, by a more gradual process, that of ripening by the action and
influence of the dew. This is nothing more than exposing the flax to the influence of the weather for a
longer period than is necessary, wlien the operation of watering has been previously performed. Steep-
ing, however, is the most universal practice both in Britain and on the Continent.
590;) Steeping or watering, however, is and will be the general practice till flax-dressing- machines come
into universal use. In performing this operation, the flax, whether it has been dried and rippled, or pulled
green, is loosely tied into small bundles, the smaller the better, because it is then most equally watered;
and these bundles are built in the pool in a reclining upright posture, so that the weight placed above may
keep the whole firmly down. The weights made use of are commonly stones placed on planks, or directly
on the flax.
5^*06. The Flemish mode of steeping flax, as described by RadclifT, is said to improve the quality of the
flax ; and greatly increase its whiteness. This mode ditt'ers from the common practice, in placing the
bundles in the steep vertically, instead of horizontally ; in immersing the flax by means of transverse
sticks, with that degree of weight annexed which shall not push it down to the bottom, but leave it
the power to descend spontaneously towards the conclusion of the steepage ; and in leaving at first a space
of at least half a foot between the bottom and the roots of the flax. The spontaneous descent of the flax
is an indication of its being sufficiently steeped ; and the strength and quality of the fibre are said to be
much better preserved by this mode, in which the temperature of the atmosphere acts with most force on
the upper part of the plant, which needs it most
5907. The water most proper for steeping flax should be clear, soft, and in standing pools. Compared
with running water, pools occasion the flax to have a better colour, to be sooner ready for the grass, and
even to be of superior quality in every respect. When soft, clear, stagnating water cannot be obtained
without art, a pit or canal is commonly formed, adjoining to a river or stream, whence water can be easily
brought. 1 his pit or canal is filled with water for some time (a week or two) before it is proposed to pull
the flax ; by this means the water acquires a greater degree of warmth than river-water possesses, which
contributes greatly to facilitate the object farmers have in view in immersing green flax in water, namely,
to make the harl or flaxy substance part easily and completely from the boon or reed.
5908. The period that flax ought to remain in the luater, depends on various circumstances ; as the state
of ripeness in which it was pulled, the quality and temperature of the water, &c. The most certain rule
by which to judge when flax is sufficiently watered is, when the boon becomes brittle, and the harl
separates easily from it. In warm weather, ten days of the watering process are sufficient ; but it is proper
to examine the pools regularly after the seventh day, lest the flax should putrefy or rot, which sometimes
happens in very warm weather. Twelve days will answer in any sort of weather; though it may be re-
marked, that it is better to give too little of the water, than too much, as any deficiency may be easily
made up by suffering it to lie longer on the grass, whereas an excess of water admits of no remedy.
{Brown.)
5909. Grassing or bleaching flax is the next operation, the intention of which is to rectify any defect in
the watering process, and carry on the putrefactive process to that point when the fibre will separate from
the bark, boon, reed, or harl (as the woody part of the stem is called), with the greatest ease. In perform,
ing this operation, the flax is spread very thin on the ground, and in regular rows ; the one being made to
overlap the other a few inches, with a view of preventing, as much as possible, its being torn up and scat-
tered by gales of wind. Old grass ground, where the herbage does not grow to any great height, is the
best for the purpose ; as when the flax is covered by the grass or weeds, it is frequently rotted, or at least
greatly injured thereby.
5910. The time allowed for grassing is regulated by the state of the flax, and seldom exceeds ten or
twelve days. During this time it is repeatedly examined ; and when it is found that the boon has become
very brittle, so that, on being broken, and rubbed between the hands, it easily and freely parts from the
harl, it is taken up, a dry day being chosen for the purpose, and, being bound in sheaves, is either sent
directly to the mill, which is the usual practice in the northern districts, or broken and scutched by a
machine or implement for the purpose.
591 1. Steeping flax in hot water and soft soap (said to be the invention of Lee, and for which he was
granted by parliament a secret or unenroUed patent) is said to separate the fibre from the woody matter
better than steeping in water simply ; and this in the short space of two or three hours, and either with
green flax, or such as has been dried and stacked for months or years. When flax is to be separated by
this new mode, the cultivator has only to pull it in handfuls, dry it, bind it into sheaves or faggots, and
put it up in stacks like corn, till wanted by the manufacturer.
5912. The dressing of flax consists of various operations, such as scutching, tracking,
i) N 2
916
PRACTICE OF AGRJGULTURE.
Part III.
or breaking, 'by which the woody part is broken ; and heckling or combing, by which the
fibre is sejiarated from the woody part, and sorted into lengths. These operations are
often all performed by the cottager, or small farmer, who grows flax for the purpose of
spinning the fibre in his own family. But there are also public flax mills, impelled
by water pr 9th9r,powers, ^>y^wl^ch il^x isj scutched,, and it i^^tl^en heckled by professed
5913. A method (^ preparing flat mtueh « manner as t»resimbla ^eotten' in -wfiiieness and softness, as
well as in coherence, is given in The Swedish Transactions for the year 1747. For this purpose a little
sea-water is to be put into an iron pot or an untinned copper kettle, and a mixture of equal parts of
birch-ashes and quicklime strewed upon it ; a small bundle of flax is to be opened and spread upon the
surface, and covered with more of the mixture, and the stratification continued till the vessel is suffi-
ciently filled. The whole is then to be boiled with sea-water for ten hours, fresh quantities of water being
occasionally supplied in proportion to the evaporation, that the matter may never become dry. The boiled
flax is to be immediately washed in the sea by a little at a time, in a basket, with a smooth stick at first,
while hot ; and when grown cold enough to be borne by the hands, it must be well rubbed, washed with
soap, laid to bleach, and turned and watered every day. Repetitions of the washing with soap expedite
the bieaohing ; after which the flax is to be beat, and again well washed ; when dry, it is to be workeii and
Iv.lliui icni ■
fVia qoiD 8idJ oj an
.noiJBTjf-
[Istdj^y/ hi
carded in the same manner as commcn cot
ton, and pressed betwixt two boards for forty-
eight hours. It is now fully prepared and fit
for use. It loses in this process nearly half
its weight, which, however, is abundantly
compensated by the improvement made in
its quality.
5914. Lee's method of breaking flax and
hemj>, ivithout dew-retting, was invented in
1810, and was the first step towards a great
improvement, brought nearer perfection by
the new patent machines of Messrs. Hill and
Bundy.
5915. Hill and Bundy'' s machines [fig. 789.)
are portable, and may be worked in barns or
any kind of out-house; they are also well
calculated for parish workhouses and chari-
table institutions ; a great part of the work
being so light that it may be done by chil-
dren and infirm persons ; and such is the
construction and simplicity of the machines,
that no previous instruction or practice is
required ; their introduction, therefore, into
those asylums would be the means of effect
ing a considerable reduction of the i>oor's
rate. The woody part is removed by a very
simple machine ; and, by passing through a
machine equally simple, the flax may be
brought to any degree of fineness, equal to
the best used in France and the K ether-
lands, for the finest lace and cambric. The
original length of the fibre, as well as its
strength, remains unimpaired; and the diflference of the produce is immense, being nearly two thirds;
one ton of flax being produced from four tons of stem. The expense of workmg each ton obtamed by
this method is only five pounds. The glutinous matter may be removed by soap and water only, which
will bring the flax to such perfect whiteness, that no further bleaching is necessary, even after the hnen
is woven ; and the whole process of preparing flax may be completed in six days.
5916. The produce off ax in seed is generally from six to eight, sometimes as high as
ten or twelve, bushels per acre ; and the price depends in a great measure on that of
foreign seed imported ; as, when sold to oil-makere, it is generally about one half of that
of Dutch seed sold for the purpose of sowing. ; ."./'/''/.! .,,',^ ..,.. ,,,^
5917. The price of home-cultivated Unseed is considerably advanced of late in some of the southern ariid
western counties of the kingdom, in proportion to what it is in the northern, owing to the circumstance
of its being much used as food for fattening cattle. The average price of the linseed cultivated m the
kingdom at large cannot, it is supposed, be rated higher than from three to four shillings the bushel. The
seed is separated into three qualities ; the best for sowing, the second best for crushing for oil, and the
inferior for boiling or steaming for cattle.
'{' 5918. The produce of fax infbre varies exceedingly. Before being sorted^ th^^^-o^s
'jptcduct of fibre varies from three cwt. to half a ton per acre. '' \ ,"
591 9. The use off ax in the linen manufacture is well known. The seed is crushed
for oil, which is that in common use by painters ; the cake or husk, which remains after
the expression of the oil, is sold for fattening cattle, and in some places as a manure ;
and the inferior seed, not fit to crush, is boiled and made into flax-seed jelly, which is
esteemed excellent nutriment for stock.
'" 6920. As the making of flax-seed jelly is an agricultural operation, we shall here describe it. The pro-
■• portion of water to seed is about seven to one. The seed having been steeped in part of the water for
eight-and-forty hours previously to the boiling, the remainder of the water is added cold, and the whole
boiled gently about two hours, being kept in motion during the operation, to prevent its burning to the
boiler. Thus the whole is reduced to a jelly-like, or rather a gluey or ropy, consistence. After being
cooled in tubs, it is given, with a mixture of barley-meal, bran, and cut chaff; a bullock being allowed
about two quarts of the jelly per day, or somewhat more than one quart of seed in four days: that is, about
one sixteenth of the medium allowance of oil-cake.
b'> - 5921. The diseases off ax are few, and are chiefly the fly^^>Khkh.fio;n\ejUitt£s attacks the
"'plants when young, the midew, and the rust. ^'' i- s^ ' • » ^ ' ;* ii"',' "''.;'^^
BboK VI. HEMP. H) yi)ir')/.HH 917
"Sif^mbt. ^^. ' Hemp. — Cannabis sativa L. ; Diiecia Pentdndria L., and Us-ffcim JL
SIP ^n.,ii' ■ Cfianvre, Fr. ; Ha7i/j Ger. ; Canapa, Ital. ; and Canomo, Span. '
5922. TAe /ie7Mp is a plant of equal antiquity with the flax. It is supposed to be a
native of India, or of some other Asiatic country, being too tender to be even naturalised
in Europe. It is one of the few plants employed in British agriculture in which the
male and female flowers are in different plants, a circumstance which has some influence
on its ctdture and management. It grows to a great height on good soils ; sometimes
to six or seven feet in this country, but in Italy generally higher ; and Crud states, that
in the Bolognese territory he has seen it fifteen feet eight inches high, and a friend of his
eighteen feet six inches: in both cases the fibre being of remarkable beauty. This
luxuriance of the hemp in warm countries may be one reason why it has never been
much cultivated in England. In the Isle of Axholme, in Lincolnshire, it has been
cultivated from time immemorial, and also for some centuries in Suffolk, but chiefly for
local manufacture. The culture, management, and uses of hemp are nearly the same
as those of flax. When grown for seed, it is a very exhausting crop ; but when pvilled
green, it is considered a cleaner of the ground, and is said to have the property of pre-
serving from insects any crop which it may surround. The objections to this crop are,
that its coming in the midst of harvest is embarrassing ; and that the attention it demands
in every state of its progress is too great, where it is only a secondary consideration.
5923. The soils most suitable for hemp are those of the deep black putrid vegetable
kind, which have a situation low and somewhat inclined to moisture, as well as the deep
mellow loamy or sandy sorts. But the quantity of produce is in general much greater
on the former than the latter ; though, according to some, of an inferior quality. Mellow
rich clayey loams do well ; and nothing better than old meadow land.
5924. The preparation of the soil, and the place in the rotation, are the same 'psifor flax.
5925. The season of sowing is towards the end of April, when there is no longer any
danger of frost injuring the rising plants. The quantity of seed is from two to three
bushels, according to the quality of the land. In quality the seed must be fresh, heavy,
and bright in colour. Broad-cast is the universal mode of sowing ; and the only after-
culture consists in keeping off* birds when it is coming up ; in weeding ; and sometimes
in supporting the crop by cross rods or lines, as in the case of flax. \ ■
5926. In taking the hemp crop, two methods are in use, according to ^e object-MJ vlpv.
When the crop is grown entirely for the fibre, it js pulled when in flower, and no dis-
tinction made between the male and female plants. But as it is most commonly grown
both with a view to fibre and seed, the usual practice is to pull the male plants as soon
as the setting of the seed in the females shows that they have effected their purpose. As
the female plants require four or five weeks to ripen their seeds, the males are thus pulled
so long before theni. ; . !'
5927. In the operation qf pulling the males, the pullers walk in the furrows between the ridges, aftd
reach across to the crown of the ridge, pulling one or two stalks at a time, and carefully avoiding to tread
down the female plants. The male stalks are easily known by their yellowish hue and faded flowers.
They are tied in small bundles, and immediately carried to the watering pool, in the manner of flax.
, 5928. The operntimi of pvlling the females commences when the seed is ripe, which is known by the
brownish or greyish hue of the capsules and the fading of the leaves. The stalks are then pulled and
bound up into bundles, being set up in the same manner as grain, until the seed becomes so dry and firm
•as to shed freely ; great care should be taken in pulling not to shake the stalks rashly, otherwise much of
the seed may be lost. It is advised that, after pulling the seed, hemp may be set to stand in shocks of five
sheaves, to dry the seed ; but, in order to prevent any delay in watering, the seed-pods maybe cut off with
a chopping-knife, and dried on canvass exposed to the air under some shed or cover. This last method of
drying the seed will prove of great advantage to the hemp, as the seed and pods, when green, are of such
a gummy nature that the stems might suflTer much by sun-burning or rain, which will discolour and injure
the hemp before the seed can be sufficiently dried upon the stalks. Besides, the threshing out the seed
would damage the hemp in a considerable degree.
5929. Hemp is imtered (provin. water-retted), bleached (provin. dew-retted), auA grassed
in the same manner as flax. Grassing is omitted in some places, and drying substituted;
and in other districts watering is omitted with the female crop, which is dried and stacked,
and dewed or bleached the following spring. On the Continent hot water and green soap
have been tried ; and here, as in the case of flax, it is found that steeping for two hours
in this mixture is as effectual in separating the fibre from the woody matter, as waterii^
and grassing for weeks. ,,.,,.
5930. Although hemp, in the process of rnanvfacturing, passes through the hands of the breaker, heckler,
spinner, whitester, weaver, and bleacher, yet many of these operations are frequently carried on by the
same person. Some weavers bleach their own yarn and cloth ; others their cloth only : some heckle their
tow,. and put it out to spinning; others buy the tow, and put it out ; and some carry on the whole of t^e
trade themselves. ,,
593 1 . Tlie produce of heirip ^JWf^yWnes iVom thMe to sii cWfc' ]^' dcre ; in seed fnrfm
eleven to twelve bushels. " '■ . • =» , .,7../. •
5932. The uses of henni are well known, as treU^asiitsr great' imp^trtanoeJtoriie'Biivy
for sails and corda^. ' ^^■' '^^ "-' '"' ^ " '' ' '" ■*"^'" "^*'" '''"^■^"^'^'^'''^
1 1.%33 Ezceedinglt) good huckaback is made fVom it, for towels and cominori table cloths. ' 'the'le^ priced
hempen cloths are a general wear for husbandmen, servants, and labouring manufacturers; the better
sorts for working farmers and tradesmen in the country ; and the finer ones, sevcn-cighths wide, are pre-
3 N 3
918
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Fart II :
ferred by some gentlemen for strength and warmth. They possess this advantage over Irish and other
linens, that their colour improves in wearing, while that of linen declines. English hemp, properly
manufactured, stands unrivalled in its strength, and is superior in this respect to the Russian. Consider-
able quantities of cloth are imported from Russia for sheeting, merely on account of its strength ; for it is
coarser at the price than linen : our hempen cloth, however, is preferable ; being stronger, from the
superior quality of the thread, and at the same time lighter in washing. The hemp raised in England is
not of so dry and spongy a nature as what we have from Russia and India, and therefore it requires a
smaller proportion of tar to manufacture it into cordage. Tar being cheaper than hemp, the rope-makers
prefer foreign hemp to ours ; because they can make a greater profit in working it : but cordage must
certainly be stronger in proportion as there is more hemp and less tar in it, provided there is a sufficient
quantity of the latter to unite the fibres. An oil extracted from the seeds of hemp is used in cookery in
Russia, and by painters in this country. The seeds themselves are reckoned a good food for poultry, and
are supposed to occasion hens to lay a greater quantity of eggs. Small birds in general are very fond of
them ; but they should be given to caged birds with caution, and mixed with other seeds. A very singular
effect is recorded, on very good authority, to have been sometimes produced by feeding bullfinches and
goldfinches on hempseed alone, or in too great quantity, — that of changing the red and yellow on those
birds to a total blackness.
5934. The hemp has few or no diseases.
799
SuBSECT. 3. The Fuller's Thistle, or Teasel. — ^ipsacusfuUonum L. ; Tetrandria Mo-
nogynial^., and Dipsacece 3. Chardon a foullon, Fr. ; Kardendistel, Ger. ; Dissaco,
Ital. ; and Cardencha, Span. (Jig. 799.)
5935. The fuller's thistle is an herbaceous biennial, growing from four to six feet high ;
prickly or rough in the stem and leaves, and terminated by rough burr-like heads of
flowers. It is a native of Britain, flowers in July, and ripens its seed in September. It
is cultivated in Essex and the west of England, for raising the nap upon woollen cloths
by means of the crooked awns or chaffs upon the heads ; which, in the wild sort, are said
to be less hooked. For this purpose they are fixed round the circumference of a cylinder,
which is made to turn round, and the cloth is held against them. In the Journal of a
Naturalist we are informed, that the teasel forms an article of culture in cottage gardens
in the clothing districts of Gloucestershire.
5936. There are no varieties of the cultivated teasel, and the wild species is not mate-
rially different from it, and may be used in its stead, though its chaff is not quite so rigid.
5937. The soils on which the teasel grows strongest are
deep loamy clays, not over-rich. The situation should be
rather elevated, airy, and exposed to the south. In a
rotation it may occupy the place of a green and corn crop,
Vv i 3^5ISS^S3I^. ^^/^ as in the first year the plants are treated like turnips, and
in the second the crop is ripened. The soil should be
.^^ - - ploughed deep, and well comminuted by cross-ploughings,
[W\^^^^^^^^^^^ JXfr>, or stirrings with pronged implements, as the cultivator.
\ M \ ^^^^(i'Kli^\PP^>^^^-^??W 593S. The sowing season is the beginning of April : the
quantity of seed is from one peck to two pecks per acre,
and in quality it should be fresh and plump.
59;)9. The mode of solving is almost always broad-cast, but no crop is
better adapted for being grown in drills, as the plants require hoeing
and thinning. The drills may be either sown on ridgelets or a flat
surface, in the manner of turnips, or by ribbing. The distance between
the rows may be from eighteen inches to two feet In Essex, caraway
commonly sown with the teasel-crop ; but this is reckoned a bad
plan.
5940. The after-culture of this crop consists the first
year in hoeing and stirring the soil, and in thinning out the
plants to the distance of one foot every way, if sown broad-cast, or to the distance of six
inches if sown in rows. Vacancies may be filled up by transplanting ; and a separate
plantation may be made with the thinnings, but these never attain the same vigour as the
seedlings. The culture in the second year consists also of hoeing, stirring, and weeding,
till the plants begin to shoot.
5941. When, the teasel is grown hroad-cast, the intervals between the plants are dug by means of spades
which have long narrow blades, not more than about four inches in breadth, having the length of sixteen
or eighteen inches. With these the land is usually worked over in the intervals of the plants three or four
times during the summer months; and in the course of the following winter, as about the latter end of
February, the land between the plants is to be again worked over by the narrow spades, care being taken
that none of the mould falls into the hearts of the plants Again about the middle of May, when they
begin to spindle, another digging over is given, the earth being raised round the root-stems of the plants,
in order to support and prevent them from being blown down by the wind. Some cultivators perform
more frequent diggings, that the ground maybe rendered cleaner and more mellow; consequently the
growth of the plants will be the more effectually promoted. This business, in Essex, has usually the name
of spaddling, and is executed with great despatch by labourers accustomed to perform it.
5942. The taking of the teasel crop, when no regard is had for seed, commences about
the middle of July, when the blossoms begin to fall from the top, or terminating heads
of flowers.
5943. It is the best method to have the heads cut as they become ripe ; but the work is mostly executed
at three times, at the distance of about ten days or a fortnight from each other. It is performed by means
of a knife, contrived for the purpose, with a short blade and a string attached to the haft. This last is done
in order that it mav be hung over the hand. A pair of strong gloves is likewise necessary. Thus prepared.
mt^
Book VI. MADDER. ' 919
the labourer cuts off the ripe heads along the rows or lines with about nine niches of stem, and ties them up
in haiidfuls with the stem of one that is more perfectly ripened. On the evening of the day on which they
are cut, they should be put into a dry shed ; and when the weather is fine and the air clear, they should
be taken out and ex[)osed to the sun daily till they become perfectly dry. Much care must, however, be
taken that no rain falls upon them. In doing this, some make use of long small stakes or poles, on which
these handfuls are hung during the time of their preparation.
59++. Js soon as they are completely dried, they should be laid up in a dry room, in a close manner, till
they become tough and of a bright colour, and ready for use. They should then be sorted or separated into
three kin.is, by opening each of the small bundles. These are distinguished into kings, middlings, and
scrubs, according to their different qualities. They are afterwards, the author of The Somerset Report
says, made into packs, which, of the first sort, contain nine thousand heads, but when of the second,
twenty thousand ; the third is a sort of very inferior value. By some, before forming them into pack.«,
they are done up into what are termed staves, by means of split sticks, when they are ready for sale.
5945. The produce of teasel varies from ten to fifteen packs on the acre ; nine packs
of kings, nineteen of middlings, and two of scrubs, are reckoned a large crop, with a
great bulk of haulm. Often, however, the crop fails.
5946. The use of the heads of the teasel has been already mentioned. The haulm is
of no use but for burning as manure. Parkinson observes, that this is a sort of crop
that may be grown to advantage on many lands, in a rotation, as a fallow to prepare for
wheat ; and by burning the straw and refuse stuff after the crop is reaped, it will be found
not to impoverish, but rather to improve the land. In their young state, the teasel plants
stand the winter without danger ; and are a good crop for clearing land of all weeds,
from their lateness in the process of hoeing, their being few weeds that vegetate at so
advanced a season. On all these accounts they become an advantageous crop for the
farmer.
5947. To save seed, leave a few of the very best plants uncropped, and then, when the
seed is ripe, cut off only the largest and terminating heads, from which the seed is easily
separated by beating with flails, and cleaned by the winnowing machine, or a sieve.
5948. The chief injuries to which the teasel is liable are those inflicted on it while young,
by the fly and slug.
SuBSECT. 4. Madder. — ^ubia tinctorum L. ; Tetrdndria Monogynia L.,and "RubiacecB 3>
Garance, Fr. ; Fdrberruthe, Ger. ; Robia, Ital. ; and Rubia, Span. (Jig. 800.)
5949. The dyers madder has a perennial root, and an annual stalk. The root is com-
posed of many long, thick, succulent fibres, almost as large
as a man's little finger ; these are joined at the top in a
head, like the roots of asparagus, and strike very deep into
the ground, being sometimes more than three feet in length.
From the upper part (or head of the root) come out many
side roots, which extend just under the surface of the ground
to a great distance, whereby it propagates very fast ; for
these send up a great number of shoots, which, if carefully
taken off in the spring soon after they are above ground,
become so many plants. It is a native of the south of
Europe, flowers in June, and seeds soon afterwards ; but
by them it is never propagated. Madder is mentioned by
the Greeks as a medical plant, but when it was first used
in dyeing is uncertain. It has been cultivated in Holland
and Flanders, and other parts of the Continent, for the latter
purpose for many centuries, and has been tried in this
country ; but unless the importation of the root from the
Continent be entirely prevented, it will not answer. Its
culture has been attempted at different times when our
commerce with the Dutch was interrupted, or when they raised the price of the article
exorbitantly high. At present it may be imported not only from Holland, but from
France, Italy, and Turkey.
5950. The soils most suited to the cultivation of madder are deep, fertile, sandy loams,
not retentive of moisture, and having a considerable portion of vegetable matter in their
composition. It may also be grown on the more light descriptions of soil, of sufficient
depth, and in a proper state of fertility.
5951. The preparation of the soil may either consist in trench ploughings, lengthwise
and across, with pronged stirrings, so as to bring it to a fine tilth ; or, what will often be
found preferable, by one trenching two feet deep by manual labour.
5952. The sets or plants are best obtained from the runners, or surface-roots of the old
plants. These being taken up, are to be cut into lengths of from six to twelve inches,
according to the scarcity or abundance of runners. Sets of one inch will grow if they
have an eye or bud, and some fibres ; but their progress will be injuriously slow for want
of maternal nourishment. Sets may also be procured by sowing the seeds in fine light
earth a year before they are wanted, and then transplanting them ; or "sets of an inch may
be planted one year in a garden, and then removed to the field plantation.
3 N 4
920 PRACTICE OF A'GHTCULTORE. pAiiTrii;
5953. -jF/^ season of planting is fotnmonly May or June, and the manner is generaliy
in rows nine or ten inches asunder, and five or six inches apart in the rows. Some plant
promiscuously iia beds with intervals between, out of which earth is thrown in the lazy-
bed manner of growing potatoes ; but this is unnecessary, as it is not the surface, but the
descending, roots which are used by the dyer.
OT 5954. The operation of planting is generally performed by the dibber, but some ley-
til^nt them by the aid of the plough. By this mode the ground is ploughed over with a
^li'ajlow furrow, and in the course of the operation the sets are deposited in each furrow,
leaning on and pressed against the furrow-slice. This, however, is a bad mode, as there
is no opportunity of firming the plants at the roots, and as some of the sets are apt to be
buried, and others not sufficiently covered.
5955. The ajler-culture consists in hoeing and weeding with stirring by pronged hoes,
either of the horse or hand kind. Some' earth wj^/buttfeisia unnecessary, and even in-
jurious, as tearing the surface-roots,
;, 5956. The madder-crop is taken at the end of the third autumn after planting, and
g^ierally in the month of October. By far the best mode is that of trenching over the
ground, which not only clears it effectually, but fits it at once for another crop. Where
niadder, however, has been grown on land prepared by the plough, that implement may
be used in removing it. Previously to trenching, the haulm may be cleared off* with an
old scythe, and carted to the farmery to be used as litter to spread in the straw-yards.
5957. Drying the roots is the next process, and, in very fine seasons, may sometimes
be effected on the soil, by simply spreading the plants as they are taken up ; but in most
seasons they require to be dried on a kiln, like that used for malt or hops. They are
dried till they become brittle, and then packed up in bags for sale to the dyer.
5958. The produce from the root of this plant is diflferent according to the difference
of the soil, but mostly from ten to fifteen or twenty hundred weight where they are suit-
able to its cultivation.
5959. In judging of the quality/ (f madder-roots, the best is that which, on being
broken in two, has a brightish red or purplish appear^uice, without any yellow cast being
exhibited.
5960. The use of madder-roots is chiefly in dyeing and calico-printing. The haulm
which accumulates on the surface of the field, in tlie course of three years, may be carted
to the farm-yard, and fermented along with horse-dung. It has the singular property
of dyeing the horns of the animals who eat it of a red colour.
5961. Madder-seed in abundance may be collected from the plants in the September
of the second and third years ; but it is never- so propagated.
5962. Madder is sometimes blighted ; but in general it has few diseases.
SuBSECT. 5, IVoad, — Isdtis tinctbria L, ; Tetradynamia Siliquosa L., and Crudferce J.
Pastel or Guedey Fr, j IFaid, Ger. ; Guade, Ital. ; and Gualda, Span. (fg. 801.)
5963. T/ie common woad is a biennial plant with a fusiform fibrous root, and smooth
br^Pfgliy stem rising from three to five feet in height. It is a native, or naturahsed in
England, flowers from May to July, and its seeds are ripe
jfrom July td September. It has been cultivated in France
for an unknown length of time, and was introduced to
England in 1582, and grown with success. It is now
chiefly cultivated in Lincolnshire, where it is a common-
practice to take rich flat tracts near rivers, at a high price,
for the purpose of growing it for two or four years.
Those who engage in this sort of culture form a sort of
colony, and move from place to place as they complete
tlieir engagements. It is sometimes, however, grown by{
stationary farmers. The leaves are the parts of the plant;
used, and it is considered a severe crop.
5964. T/iere is a variety of woad called the Dalmatian,
described by Miller, and also a wild sort ; but only the
common is cultivated in this country,
moi^ / \|M^m Ff j^^ 5965. r/«e soiY for woad should be deep and perfectly
"'"' t-. 'I ^wif^ fresh, such as those of the rich, mellow, loamy, and deep,
,bti«l - I "^^gilf vegetable kind. Where this culture is carried to a consi-
derable degree of perfection, as in Lincolnshire, the deep,
rich, putrid, alluvial soils on the flat tracts extending upon the borders of the large rivers,
are chiefly employed for the growth of this sort of crop ; and it has been shown by re-
peated trials that it answers most perfectly wh6n they are broken Up for it immediately
from a state of sward.
5966. The preparation of the soil, when woad is to be grown on grass land, may either
be effected by deep ploughings, with the aid of the winter's frost, cross ploughing arid'
I399K yi. J ^ELA ©jR I) YER'S WEED. 921
harrowing in spring ; by deep ploughing and harrowing iii^<S!piiug^j> byvpfurkigk and burn-
ing; or by trench-ploughing, or spade trenching. ■(.•■.<!.;>;:; > m!)/); n <i ro gni.i .-.'>,.
5967. The first mode appears the VDorsf, as it is next to impossible to' r^edtrfcCold'tirff iti' drt'e'y^aV.'^nd,
even if this is done, the danger from the grub and wire-worm is a sufficient argument against it. By
ploughing deep in February, and soon afterwards sowing, the plants may germinate before the grub is
able to rise to the surface ; by trench-ploughing, the same purpose will be better attained ; and, best of
all, by spade trenching. But a method equally eflfectual with the first, more expeditious, and more
destructive to grubs, insects, and other vermin, which are apt to feed on the plants in their early growth,
is that of paring and burning. Tliis is, however, chiefly practised where the sward is rough and abounds
with rushes, sedge, and other plants of the coarse kind, but it might be had recourse to on others, with
benefit.
5968. The time of sowing may be extended from February to July. Early sowing,
however, is to be preferred, as in that case the plants come up stroinger and afford mOre
produce the first season.
5969. The mode of sowing is. generally broad-cast, but the plant might be most advan-
tageously grown in rows and cultivated with the horse-hoe. The rows may be nine
inches or a foot apart, and the seed deposited two inches deep. The quantity of seed
for the broad-cast method is five or six pounds to the acre ; for the drill mode, two pounds
are more than sufficient, the seed being smaller than that of the turnip. New seed,
where it can be procured, should always be sown in preference to old ; but, when' of the
latter kind, it should be steeped for some time before it is put into the ground.
5970. The after-culture of the woad consists in hoeing, thinning, prong-stirring, and
weeding, which operations may be practised by hand or horse tools, as in the culture of
teazle.
i5971 . Gathering the crops. The leaves of the spring-sown plants will generally be ready
towards the latter end of June or beginning of July, according to the nature of the soil,
season, and climate; the leaves of those put in at a later period in the summer are often
fit to be gathered earlier. This business should, however, constantly be executed as soon
as the leaves are fully growai, while they retain their perfect green colour and are highly
succulent ; as when they are let remain till they begin to turn pale, much of their good-
ness is said to be expended, and they become less in quantity, and of an inferior quality
for the purposes of the dyer.
5972. In the execution of this sort of business, a number of baskets are usually provided in proportion
to the extent of the crop, and into these the leaves are thrown as they are taken from the plants. The
leaves are detached from the plants, by grasping them firmly with the hand, and giving them a sort of a
sudden twist. In favourable seasons, where the soils are rich, the plants will often rise to the height of
eight or ten inches ; but in other circumstances, they seldom attain more than four or five: and where
the lands are well managed they will often afford two or three gatherings, but the best cultivators seldom
take more than two, which are sometimes mixed together in the manufacturing. It is necessary that the
after-croppiiigs, when they are tal<en, should be constantly kept separate from the others, as they would
injure the whole if blended, and considerably diminish the value of the produce. It is said that the best
method, where a third cropping is either wholly or partially made, is to keep it separate, forming it into an
inferior kind of woad. • ■-
5973. The produce is mostly from about a ton to a ton and a half of green leaves.
The price varies considerably ; but for woad of the prime quality, it is often from twenty-
five to thirty pounds the ton, and for that of an inferior quality six or seven, and some-
times much more. ^
5974. To prepare it for tlie dyer, it is bruised by machinery to express tlie watery part ;
it is afterwards formed into balls and fermented, re-ground, and fermented in vats, where
it is evaporated into cakes in the manner of indigo. The haulm is burned for manure
or spread over the straw-yard, to be fermented along with straw-dung.
5975. The use of woad in dyeing is as a basis for the black and other colours.
5976. To save seed, leave some of the plants undenudfed of their leaves the second
year, and when it is ripe, in July or August, treat it like turnip-seed. ■ /
5977. The only diseases to which the woad is liable are the mildew and rust. Whe^
young it is often attacked by the fly, and the ground obligeil to be re-sown, and this
more than once even on winter-ploughed grass land8i'->iJ*>^<^
Sdbskct, 6. Weld, or Dyers Weed. — 'Reseda Lvteola L, ; Dodecdndria Trigynia Ij.,
i and ReseddcecB LindL Gaude, Fr. ; Waud, Ger, {Jig. S02.)
5978. Weld is an imperfect biennial, with small fusiform roots, and a leafy stem from
one to three feet in height. It is a native of Britain, flowers in June and July, and
ripens its seeds in August and September. It is cultivated in a few places in England,
and chiefly in Essex, for its spike of flowers, and sometimes also for its leaves, both of
which are used in dyeing. Its culture may be considered the same as that of woad,
only being a smaller plant it is not thinned out to so great a distance. It has this
advantage for the farmer over all other colouring plants, that it only requires to bp^
taken up and dried, when it is fit for the dyer. It is, however, an exhausting crop,,.^-^
,597.9. Weld. mil ^^ow^. on any soil^ but fertile loams produce the best crops. In Essex,
922 rilACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut III.
5980. The soil being brought to a fine tilth, the seed is sown in April or the beginning of May, generally
hroad-cast. The quantity of seed is from two quarts to a" gallon per
acre, and it should either be fresh, or, if two or three years old, steeped
a few days in water previously to being sown. Being a biennial, and
no advantage obtained from it the tirst year, it is sometimes sown with
corn crops in the manner of clover, which, when the soil is in a very
rich state, may answer, provided that hoeing, weeding, and stirring
take place as soon the corn crop is cut. The best crops, however, will
obviously be the result of drilling and cultivating the crop alone.
The drills may be a foot asunder, and the plants thinned to six inches
in the row. in the broad-cast mode, it is usual to thn them to six or
eight inches' distance every way : often, when weld succeeds corn
crops, it is never either thinned, weeded, or hoed, but left to itself till
the plants are in full blossom.
5981. The crop is taken by pulling up the entire plant:
and the proper period for this purpose is when the bloom
has been produced the whole length of the steins, and the
plants are just beginning to turn of a light or yellowish
colour ; as in the beginning or middle of July in the second
year. The plants are usually from one foot to two feet
and a half in height. It is thought by some advantageous
to pull it rather early, without waiting for the ripening
of the seeds ; as by this moans there will not only be the
greatest proportion of dye, but the land will be left at liberty for tlie reception of a crop
of wheat or turnips ; in this case, a small part must be left solely for the purpose of
seed.
5982. In the execution of the toork, the plants are drawn up by the roots in small handfuls ; and, after
each handful had been tied up with one of the stalks, they are set up in fours in an erect position, and
left to dry. Sometimes, however, they become sufficiently dry by turning without being set up. After
they have remained till fully dry, which is mostly effected in the course of a week or two, they are bound
up into larger bundles, each containing sixty handfuls, and weighing fifty.six pounds Sixty of these
bundles constitute a load, and, in places where this kind of crop is much grown, are tied up by a string
made for the purpose, which is sold under the title of weld cord.
3983. The produce of weld depends much on the nature of the season ; but from half
a load to a load and a half per acre is the quantity most commonly afforded. It is usually
sold to the dyers at from five or six to ten or twelve pounds the load, and sometimes at con-
siderably more. It is mostly bought by persons who afterwards dispose of it to the dyers.
The demand for it is sometimes very little, while at others it is so great as to raise the
price to a high degree. It is sometimes gathered green and treated like woad or indigo ;
but in general the dried herb is used by the dyers in a state of decoction.
5984. The use qfiveld in dyeing is for giving a yellow colour to cotton, woollen, mohair,
silk, and linen. Blue cloths are dipped in a decoction of it, which renders them green ;
and the yellow colour of the paint called Dutch pink is obtained from weld.
5985. To save seed, select a few of the largest and healthiest plants, and leave them to
ripen. The seed is easily separated.
5986. The chief disease of weld is the mildew, to which it is very liable when young,
and this is one reason that it is often sown with other crops.
SuBSECT. 7. Bastard Saffron. — Carthamus tinctbrius L. ; Sj/ngenesia Polygamia
^qndlis L., and Cynaroccphalce J. Carthame, Fr. ; Wilder Safran, Ger. {fg. 140.
P 174.)
5987. The bastard saffron is an annual plant, which rises with a stiff ligneous stalk,
two feet and a half or three feet high, dividing upwards into many branches, with ovate
pointed sessile leaves. The flowers grow singly at the extremity of each branch ; the
heads are large, enclosed in a scaly calyx ; each scale is broad at the base, flat, and formed
like a leaf of the plant, terminating in a sharp spine. The lower part of the calyx spreads
open, but the scales above closely embrace the florets, which stand out nearly an inch
above the calyx ; these are of a fine saffron colour, and this is the part which is gathered
for the use of the dyer.
5988. It grows naturally in Egypt and some of the warm parts of Asia ; but, being an
annual, our summers admit of its going through a course of existence in this country.
Sown in April, it flowers in July and August, and the seeds ripen in autumn ; but if the
season proves cold and moist, when the plants are in flower, there will be no good seeds
produced ; so that there are few seasons wherein the seeds of this plant come to perfec-
tion in England.
5989. It is cultivated in great jilenty in Germany, and was formerly grown in England. In Houghton's
Collections, it is related by a gentleman, in i68 5, that twenty- five acres in the Vale of Evesham, in Glouces-
tershire, were sown with this seed ; the soil a mixed sand of about fifteen shillingsan acre in value ; it bore
a crop of wheat the year before, was dressed for barley, and had a harrowing extraordinary. This piece of
ground was taken for two years by an adventurer in this seed, at the rate of twenty-five pounds per acre, in
consideration that this plant is said to be a great impoverisher of land. He sold the flowers in London for
10/. per pound ; a price, he said, much below his expectation. He gained above thirty shillings an acre
clear profit, except the price of the seed ; but of this there was a plentiful return (about one hundred and
forty bushels), which, had it been well managed, would have amounted to a considerable value. Like
IJooK VJ. SUBSTITUTES FOR DYEING PLANTS. 923
most other manufactorial plants it is considered an impoverisher of the ground; both by exhausting it,
and by affording but little haulm as manure.
5990. The soil it requires is light, and the preparation and culture, according to Von
Thaer, equal to that of the garden. The seed is sown in rows, or deposited in patches
two feet apart every way, and when the plants come up, they are thinned out, so as to
leave only two or three together. The soil is stirred and weeded during summer. In
August the flowers begin to expand : the petals of the florets are then to be cut off with
a blunt knife, and dried in the shade, or on a kiln, like the true saffron. This operation
is performed in the early part of the day, and continued daily till October. Tlie plants
are then pulled up, sheaved and shocked, and threshed for their seed.
5991. llie vse of the flower of bastard saffron is chiefly in dyeing. It is also put in
soups, pies, and puddings, like the leaves of the marigold or the common saffron. The oil
produced from the seed is used both in medicine and painting. The stalks of the plants
are commonly burnt for manure.
SuBsECT. 8. Various Plants which have been proposed as Substitutes for the Thread and
dyeing Plants groivn in Britain.
5992. Though few of these are likely to come into cultivation, yet it may be useful to
notice them, with a view to indicating our resources for extraordinary occasions ; to lead-
ing the young cultivator to reflect on the richness of that immense store-house, the
vegetable kingdom ; and to pointing out sources of experiment and research for the
amateur agriculturist. Every kind of limitation has a tendency to degrade the mind, and
lessen enterprise. The plants to be here enumerated, naturally arrange themselves as
thread plants and colouring plants.
5993. The thread plants that have been tried are the y^sclfepias syriaca, ZJrtlca dioica (or nettle), Ut-
tlca canadense (or Canadian nettle), the SpJlrtium ^unceuni, and C^tisus scopkrius (brooms), EpiKbium
angustifulium, Eri< phorum polystkchyon, &c. The ^scl^piaA syriaca, Syrian swallow-wort, or Virginian
silk, is a creeping rooted perenriial, with strong erect stems from four to six feet high. It is a native of
Virginia, and flowers in July. The flowers are succeeded by pods, containing a down or cotton, which the
poor people in Virginia collect and fill their beds with. In Germany, and especially at Leignitz, attempts
were macie, in 1790 and 1800, Von I'haer informs us, to cultivate the plant as a substitute for cotton. It
was found to grow readily on a poor soil ; but the growers could not undersell the importers, nor prociuceso
good an article. The Eri6phorum polystkchyon, or cotton grass, grows abundantly in our bogs, and its
seeds are furnished with a cottony substance, gathered by the country people to stuff pillows, &c. 'ihis
substance has been spun and woven into very good cloth. The common nettle affords a fibre which has
also been spun and manufactured. The fibre of the 6'partium junceum, rush .like, or Spmish broom, a
native of the south of Europe, but quite hardy in Biitain, is made into very good cloth both in the south
of France and in Spain. Ti e fibre of the common broom makes an inferior description of cordage in the
former country. The Epilbbium angustifi Hum, and other species of willow herb, common by the sides of
brooks, afford a very good fibre, as do a great variety of plants : and in Sweden a strong cloth is made from
the stems of the wild hop (Humulus Lupulus), and the same thing has been done in England. {Trans.
Soc. Ar/s. 179].) Indeed there are few plants the fibres of which might not be separated and rendered
available for the purpose of spinning threads (or weaving into cloth, or of mashing for making paper The
fibres of all nettles and square-stalked herbaceous plarts answer for the former purpose ; and both the
fibres and bark of several plants, for the latter. The fibres ot all the herbaceous mallows are uncommonly
white, and finer than camel's hair ; and in Germany they are used in making an imitation of India paper
for engravers. The filaments of the common field-bean are among the strongest yet discovered : these,
with a litUe beating, rubbing, and shaking, are easily separated from the strawy part, when the plant has
been steeped ten or twelve aays in water ; or is damp, and in a state approaching to fermentation, or what
is commonly called retting. Washing or pulling it through heckles, or iron combs, first coarse, and then
finer, is necessary to the dressing of bean hemp ; and is perhaps the easiest mode of separating the fila-
ments from the thin membrane that surrounds them. The fibre of the common nettle is very similar to
that of hemp or flax, inclining to either according to the soil and different situations in which it grows;
and it has been shown by experiment, that they may be used for the same purposes as hemp or flax, from
cloth of the finest texture down to the coarsest quality, such as sail-cloth, sacking, cordage, &c. {S?nith's
Mechanic, vol. ii.) It might be worth the attention of any one who had leisure to collect a few, pay only-
two, stalks, of a great number of species from a botanic garden, to immerse them a sufficient time in solt
soap and warm water, and prove their absolute and comparative value as fibre plants.
599 1. Broom Jlax is prepared by steeping the twigs or most flax, and steeped for some time in boilinfj water, the twig, or
vigorous .shoots of the former jear, for two or three weeks, more wood, becomes tough and beautifully white, and is worth, at a
or less, according to the heat of the season, in stagnant water, medium, from a shilling to i ightten-i>ence per pound for
or by boiling them for about an hour in water. This done, the making carpet brooms, &c. VI hen strip])cd fiom the twigs,
flax comes treely from the twigs ; and, where there is not ma- the flax requires only to be well washed in cold water, then
chinery tor the purpose, may be easily peeled or stripped off, by wrung and shaktn well, and hung out to Axy, previously to its
children or others, at any time when not quite dry, m the same being .sent off to the paper manufacturers. [Smitli'a Me-
way as hemp is peeled from the stalks. Being cleared of the chunic, vol. ii.)
5995. Of colouring plants, the number that may be, and even are employed, is almost endless. The
reader has only to look into any botanical catalogue, and observe the number of plants whose specific
names are formed from the adjective tinctbrius ; and these, though numerous, are still only a small part
On looking into the Flora Eritdnnica, or Flora Suecica, he will there find a number of plants, trees, and
even mosses and ferns used for dyeing. A number have been tried in this country and given up; as an
instance, we mention Galium vferum, which, in 1789, when the price of madcer was high, was tried under
the authority of the privy council for trade. The Croton tincturium, Genista tinctOria, /f h&mnus cathar-
ticus and infectbrius, and Plantago Psyllium, are cultivated in France as dyeing plants.
Sect. II. Plants cultivated for the Brewery and Distillery.
5996. Of plants grown expressly for their use in the brewery, the only one of conse-
quence is the hop ; the anise and caraway are grown on a very limited scale for the
distillery.
924
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Tart III
SuBSECT^ 1. The Hop. •— HUmulus Lupulus L. j Dwe^da Penldndria L., and Urtkece J.
Iloublon, Vr. ; Hopjyen^ Ger. ; Lvpolo, Ital. ; and Lvpiilo, Span. (Jig. 803.)
Im ^nidart'^^^^* '^'^'^ hop is a perennial-rooted plant,
^ with an annual twining stem, which, on poles or
in hedges, will reach the height of from twelve to
twenty feet or more. It is a native of Britain,
and most parts of Europe, in hedges, flowering
in June, and ripening its seeds in September,
The female blossom is the part used : and as the
male and female flowers are on different plaiits,
the female only is cultivated.
5998. When the hop teas Jirst used for preserving beer,
< or cultivated for that purpose, is unknown ; but its culture
■^ -was introduced to this country from Flanders in the reign
Y^ of Henry VIII. Walter Blith, in his English Improver
Improved, I&19, the third edition, 1653, p. 240., has a chap-
ter upon improvement by plantations of hops, &c. He
observes, tliat " hops were then grown to be a national
commodity : but that it was not many years since the
famous city of London petitioned the parliament of Eng-
land against two anusancies ; and these were Newcastle
coals, in regard to their stench, &c., and hops, in regard
they would spoyl the taste of drink, and endanger the
people ; and had the parliament been no wiser than they,
we had been in a measure pined, and in a great measure starved, which is just answerable to the prin-
ciples of those men who cry down all devices or ingenious discoveries as projects, and thereby stifle and
choke improvements."
"i 5999. The hop has long been cultivated extensively in many parts of England, but not much in Scotland
W Ireland. According to Brown, hops are not advantageous in an agricultural point of view ; because
IDUch manure is abstracted by them, while little or none is returned. They are an uncertain article of
gfrpwthv often yielding large profits to the cultivator, and as often making an imperfect return, barely
sufficient to defray the exj)enses of labour. In fact, hops are ex;)osed to more d-seases than any other
plant with which we are acquainted ; and the trade afTords a greater room for speculation, than any other
ftprcised within the British dominions. (Brown.) Parkinson in a paper on the culture of the hop io
ottinghamshire, published in the Farm. Mag. vol. xvi., observes that " the hop is said to be a plant very
properly named, as there is never any certainty in cultivating it."
9Y!
j 6000. There are several varieties of the hop. The writer of The Synopsis of Husbandry
mstinguishes them under the titles of the Flemish, the Canterbury, the Goldings, the
^arnham, &c., and says that the Flemish is held in the lowest estimation of any. ,.. ^
otfiOOl. The Flemish hop, he says, is of a smaller size, of a much closer contexture, and of a darker green
colour, than any of the rest, and grows on a red bind ; and has so near an affinity to the wild or hedge-hop,
that it would never answer for cultivation, did it not possess the property of re.<isting the blast with greater
vigour than the other kinds ; so that, in years when these last are covered with flies and lice, the Flemish
J^pp aj)pears strong and healthy. At picking time, likewise, this kind of hop, he says, takes less damage,
either by the sun or rain, than any other ; and upon these accounts, it may answer the views of the planter
'%6 have a few acres of it, which will secure him a crop in a blasting season, when those of the more valuable
Klass are destroyed, so as to be worth nothing.
bi .6002. The soils most favourable to the growth ff hops are clays and strong deep loams:
^xit it is also of great importance that the subsoil should be dry and friable ; a cold, wet,
tenaceous, clayey understratum being found extremely injurious to the roots of the
plants, as, when they penetrate below the good soil, they soon become unproductive, and
(idtimately decay.
Y- fi003. A chalky soil. Bannister says, is, of all others, the most inimical to the growth of this vegetable j
Ithe reason of which he takes to be the dry and parching quality of the chalk, by which the roots are pre-
vented from absorbing a quantity of moisture, equal to the supply to the vine or bind with sap during its
growth ; for though a dripping summer is by no means kindly to the welfare of the hop, yet since the vine
in a healthy state is very luxuriant, and furnished with a large abundance of branches, leaves, fruit, &c.,
it follows that the demand of moisture from the soil must be proportion ably groat to preserve the plant in
health and vigour ; and for this reason the ground ought not to be deficient in natural humidity. Hence
we generally find the most luxuriant vine growing on deep and rich land, as moulds, &c. ; and in these
grounds it is common, he says, to grow a load on an acre. But it is to be observed, however, that the
abundance of fruit is not always in proportion to the length of the vines; since those soils which, from their
l^rtility, cause a large growth ot vine are more frequently attacked by the blast, than land of a shallower
•etaple where the vine is weaker and less luxuriant.
I 6004. But though rich moukls generally produce a larger growth of hops than other soils, there is one
Exception to this rule, where the growth is frequently eighteen or twenty hundred per acre. This is on
(the rocks in the neighbourhood of Maidstone, in Kent, a kind of slaty ground, with an understratum of
Mone. On these rocks there is a large extent of hop-garden, where the vines run up to the tops of the
loiigest poles, and the increase is equal to that on the most fertile soil of any kind.
6005. Tlie most desirable situation for a hop plantation is ground sloping gently towards the south or
south-west, and screened, by means of high grounds or forest-trees, from the north and north-east. At
the same time it ought not to be so confined as to prevent that free circulationof air which is indispensably
necessary where plants grow so close together, and to such a height. A free circulation of air, in a hop-
ground, not only conduces to the health and vigour of the plants, but also prevents the crops from being
blighted, or what the hop-farmers call fire-blasted, which often happens towards the middle of a large
close-planted hop-ground ; while the outsides, in consequence of the more free circulation of air that there
taKes place, receive no injury whatever.
6006. Bannister asserts, that those fields which lie within a few miles of the sea, or in the neighbourhood
of marshy or fenny levels, are seldom favourable to the growth of hops, as such grounds generally miscarry
in a blasting year'; and though, fiom the fertility of the soil, they may perhaps bring a plentiful crop in
those seasons when the growth is general, such a situation is eligible for a hop ground. In Worcester-
shire and Hereibrdshire hops are very generali'y grown between the rows of fruit trees in dug or ploughed
orchards. • ■ ■
Book VI . J ; . . TATDU E II 0 1\ fi >IJ 110 A il H 925
6007. In preparing the soil previously to planting, considerable attentidn is necessary,
by fallowing, or otherwise, to destroy the weeds, and to reduce the soil to as pulverised a
state as possible. The ridges should also be made level, and dung applied with a liberal
hand. The most effectual preparation is trenching either by the plough or by manual
labour.
600S. The mode of planting is generally in rows, making the hills six feet distant from
each other ; though there are some people who, from avaricious motives, prefer a five-feet
plant. But as this vegetable, when advanced in growth, produces a large redundancy of
bind or vine, and leaves, it should seem that six feet cannot be too wide a distance ; and
that those which are planted closer will, from too confined a situation, be prevented from
enjoying a free circulation of the air ; from which much injury may proceed, as blasts,
mildews, moulds, and other accidents, not to mention the disposition of the vine to house
or grow together at the tops of the poles, whereby the hops are so overshadowed as to be
debarred the influence of the sun, and prevented from arriving at half their growth.
6009. As the planters differ in the numljcr of fiills to be made on the same given quantity of land, so are
they no less capricious as to the manner of placing thein ; some choosing to set them out with the most
cautious regularity in rows of equal distances, whilst others prefer planting in quincunx. The fonner method
has this advantage ; that the intervals may, in the early part of the summer, be kept clean by means of
the cultivator and harrow; but, in the latter method, tliose implements are rendered inadmissible by the
irregular station of the plants ; and the ground must be tilled with the hoe at a greatly increased expense,
as the same labour might be performed to as much advantage with one horse; a man, and a boy, who will
do more work in a day than half a dozen labourers can with a hoe.
6010. The ordinary season for 2^lantingi?> spring, in February or March; but if bedded
plants, or such as have been nursed for one summer in a garden, are used, then by
planting in autumn some produce naay be had in the succeeding year. But, according
to the autlior of T'he Nexo Farmer's Calejidar, " the time for planting is commonly that of
dressing and pruning the old vines when cuttings may be had, which is in March or
April ; but when root-sets are used, as on the occasion of grubbing up an old plant-
ation, Octol)er to the beginning of November. But at whatever period tliey are planted,
great care should be taken that the same sorts be planted together, as by this means there
are advantages derived in their after- culture."
6011. The plants or cuttings are procured from the old stools, and each should have
two joints or eyes ; from the one which is placed in the ground springs the root ; and
from the other the stalk, provincially the bind. They should be made from the most
healthy and strong binds, each being cut to the length of five or six inches. Those to
be nursed are planted in rows a foot apart, and six inches asunder, in a garden ; and the
others at once where they are to remain. ^ _ .
6012. T/ie mode of performing the operation of planting in Kent is as follows : -^ -.,■
6013. The land having been previously cleaned and prepared, dung is laid on the field in small hea0^
near the places where it is proposed to plant the hop slips or sets. These places are commonly marked off,
by infixing a number of stakes at proper and regular distances ; that done, small pits are formed by taking
out a spit, or spade's depth of earth ; and the earth below being gently loosened, a certain quantity, about
lialf a bushel, of dung is laid thereon ; then the earth that was formerly taken out is again replaced, and
^o much added as to form a small hillock. On this hillock, five, six, or seven sets, procured from the roots
or shoots of the old stock, are dibbled in. Tlie plants are placed in a circular form towards the top of the
hillock, and at the distance of five or six inches from each other. They are made to incline towards the
jgpntre of the hillock, where another plant is commonly placed.
60U. Another mode of planting is as follows : — Strike furrows with the plough at equal distances of eight
feet ; when finished, repeat the same across in the opposite direction, which will divide the piece inta
eight-feet squares. The hills are to be made where the furrows cross each other, and the horse-hoe may
be admitted between the rows both ways. According to the Suffolk husbandry, the plantations are formed
into beds sixteen feet wide, by digging trenches about three feet wide, and two or three feet deep ; the
earth that comes out being spread upon the beds, and the whole dug and levelled. Upon this they, in
March, form the holes six feet asunder every way, twelve inches diameter, and a spit deep, by which three
rows are formed on each bed. Into each hole they put about half a peck of very rotten dung, or rich
compost, and scatter earth upon it; and in each they plant a set, drawing earth enough to it afterwards to
form something of a hillock.
6015. An interval crop is generally taken in the first summer of a hop plantation.
jBeans are very generally grown ; and Bannister is of opinion that two rows of beans
may be planted in each interval without any damage to the hops, whether bedded sets or
cuttings. In the latter case, this method may be pursued in the second year, at the end
of which the vine from the cuttings will not be in a more forward state than that from
the bedded sets in the first autumn after planting. Others, however, think that neither
beans, cabbages, nor any other plants, except onions, should be put in.
6016, The after-culture of the hop, besides the usual processes of hoeing, weeding,
stirring, and manuring, includes earthing-up, staking, and winter dressing, j'^' '^.^J_,^, .^ ,^j
6017. Hoeing in hop plantations may always be performed by a horse implement; and oneinusefor'tbls
purpose in the hop counties, and of which the expanding horse-hoe {Jig. 3So.) is an improvement, is known
by the name of hop-nidget. When the hop-stools are Ibrmed in the angles of squares, the intervals may
be hoed both lengthwise and across, and thus nothing is left to be performed by manual labour but pulling
out any weeds which may rise in the hills.
6018. Stirring, in the hop districts, is chiefly performed in winter with a three-pronged fork (provincially
spud) ; but it might be equally well effected then or at any season of the year with the common plough,
and the expanding horse-hoe set with coulters or prongs. With the latter implement the soil might be
stirred to any desirable depth, either in summer or winter; and, with the plough, the surface could be
changed at discretion. Once going and returning would effect this, either by the paring or clearing out ;
926
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
that is, forming either a ridglet, or gutter between the rows, both lengthwise and acr(5ss. Twice or thrice
going in the same direction would also succeed, and would be the preferable mode of covering in manure.
6U19. In the npplication of inanurc, various modes are adopted. Some always use well rotted stable
dung ; others, composts of earth and dun-; ; and a few, littery dung. In laying it on, many prefer the
autumn to the spring, and heap it on the hills without putting any between the rows. Others put it all
between the rows, alleging that laying it on the hills encourages insects, exposes the dung to evaporation
and loss, and so.netimes, when mixed with earth, hinders the plants from coming up. A great deal will be
found in favour of, and against each of these modes, in the numerous works on the culture of the hop, which
have been written during the last three centuries ; but it must be obvious to any person generally conversant
with vegetable culture, that well rotted stable dung must be the best kind for use ; and early in spring the
best season for laying it on ; that little benefit can be derived by the roots when it is laid on the hills, and,
consequently, that it ought to be turned into the soil between the rows by the plough. Fifty cart-loads of
dung and earth, or thirty of liung, once in three years, is reckoned a good dressing ; but some give ten or
twelve loads every year. Too nmch dung renders the hops what is called mouldy, and too little causes
the crop to be poor and more liable to be eaten by insects.
6020. Earthin-^-up commences the first May after planting, whether that operation be performed in spring
or autumn. By the end of the spring season, the young shoots have made some progress, and the earth
is then drawn up to their roots from the surrounding Intervals, in order to strengthen them. The next
earthing-up is in autumn, when the hills are by some covereii with compost or manure; but by such as
prefer ploughing in the manure between the rows, this earthing-up is not given. Some give an earthing-
up of this kind in spring, and generally in February, chieriy to retard the plants, as that is found to render
them less liable to disease, and the attacks of insects ; for the shoots not beginning to grow till the weather
is warm, they then shoot more rapidly. In April and May, their progress is slow ; but in June and July,
when the nights are warm, they will grow nearly an inch in the hour. The only essential earthings
up, however, are those given the first year in May, and those given annually after the operation of
dressing, whether in autumn or spring, which indeed may be called replacings of earth, rather than
earthings-up.
6021. In dressing the hop plants, the operations of the first year are confined to twisting and removing
the haulm, to whijh some aud cuping or earthing-up in autunni.
ra'Iy commenced on the return of good weather, in March,
when the hills are spread out, :n or. er to give opportunity to
prune ana dress the stocks. The earth beini^ then c eared away
6022. The operation of twisting is confined to such plants as
have been planted in .spring, and are not expected to produce
any crop that seanon. It is performed in the end of June or in
July, and consists in twisting the young vines into a bumh or
knot ; so that, by thus discouraging their growth, the roots are
enabled to spread out more vigorously, and to acquire strength
previously to the approach of the » inter season.
6023. Removing he haulm takes place soon after Michaelmas,
and consists simply in cutting it ov^r with a sickle, and carry-
ing it off the field for litter or burning. Atiex this operation,
some add cuping, or covering the hill with a compost ; but this
does not appear necessary, and is in many cases left undone.
6024. The Jirtt year's dressiiif; of hops expected to produce
flowers, such' as those planted from bedded sets in the preceding
autumn, consists in supplying three or four half i>oles, that is,
poles of four or five fc-et m lengt i to each hill, and on removing
the haulm in autumn, as in the other case.
6025. The yearly diesaiiig of cstiibluhed hop ■plantations consists
of what is pro n;cially called picking. This operation is gene-
6026. The yearly operation of stacking or setting the poles commences towards the end of April, or at
whatever period, earlier or later, the shoots may have risen two or three inches.
the princi|)al rooU by an iron instrumtnt called a picker,
the remains of the former year's vines a e cut offi together with
the shoots which were not" allowed to attach themselves to the
poles in the former sea. on, and also any young suckers that
may have sprung up alwut the edges of the hills ; so that
no hing is allowed to remain that i^ likely to injure the prin-
cipal roots, or impede their shooting out strong v:gorous vines
at tlie proper season. After the roots have been properly cleaned
and pruned, the hills are again formed, with an addition, if
not evtry year, at least every second or third year, of a projier
quantity of compost manure, thit had been previously laid in
small heaps on the hop-ground in the course of the winter,
or in the early part of spring. At this season .such .sets are
procured as may be wanted for the nursery, or for new plant-
ations.
6027. The poles are straight slender shoots of unikrrvood, ash,
oak, chestnut, or willow, from sixteen to twenty feet high.
These poles are set two, but more frequently three, \o a h.ll ;
and are so placed as to leave an opening towards the south, to
admit the sunbeams. The manner of fixing them is by making
deep holes or openings in the ground with an iron crow. Into
these holes the root-ends are put, when the earth is rammed so
hard about them, that they very seldom alter from the position
in which they were placed, except on occ ision of very violent
gales of wind. Great care is necessary in placing the poles,
and no less judgment and exvetience in determining what
ought to be the proper ht ight. When very lon.^ pole> are st in
a hop-ground, where the stocks are too old or too voung, or
where tlie soil is of indifferent quality, the stocks are not only
greatly exhausted, but the crop always turns out unproductive ;
as, til th- vines reach the top, or rather till they overton the
poles, which depends on the strength of the stocks and the
quality of the soil, the lateral branches on which the hops
grow never begin to shoot out, or make any progress.
6028. Planlers are mxich divided in their sentiments as to the
number of poles to be set against each hill. Three poles are the
general allowance, observing to place the stoutest pole to the
nor; hem asi>ect of the hill ; though it is no uncommon prac-
tice to set four pol s, and in strong land five or six, to a bill.
In behalf of this latter mode it is urged, that, where the land
usually produces a great redundancy of vine, it is prudent to set
a number of poles answerable to the luxuri mcy of ;he shoots.
But, if a free circulation of the air be a matter of such im-
portance to the wi ll-being of a crop of hops as is generally
imagined (and this is a doc rine wliich, it is believed, cannot be
controverted), the incumbering of the hills with an additional
number of poles cannot fa 1 to be of infini e dis-service to the
future growth of the hops ; and it will be readily acknowledged,
that the quantity of hops on the sami' given nuinlier of hills
will be more considerable where- three poles only are set up, than
where the hills are crrowded with a larg! r number ; wheiher we
consider the mjs( hief li ely to accrue from the staunattd air, or
from the redundancy of the vine, by which the hops are pre-
vente<l from arriving to their proper size or growth. The chief
art in poling a hop-ground is, first, to pitch the hole to a proper
depth, aliout twenty inches; next, to set down the po'e with
some exertion of s'renath, so that being well sharpened it may
fix itself firmly at the bottom ; thirdly, that the tops of the jjoles
may stand in such a diiection as to lean outwards from the hill,
to prevent, as much as possible, the housing of the vine ; and
lastly, to tread the larth close to the pole with the foot. For
want of regard to these particulars in the labourer, a modera'e
bla.st of » ind will loosen the poles, so as not only to occasion a
double expense, but the hazard of injuring the future crop bv
tearing asunder the vine, which, from its great iuxuriancy, will
become twis ed together, or, as it is termed, housed at the ex-
treme parts of the poles.
6029. With respect to the species of moods proper for poles, it is
suggested that the hop appears to prefer a rough soft b irk, to one
which is more smooth and" polished. An experiet ced grower
particularises the maple, whose bark is peculiarly soft and
warm ; addiiur, that he has frequently observed, when the
morning has been cold, the .sensitive leader of a tender frehh
poled vine reclining its head against the velvet hark of the
maple, while others held theirs aloof, from chilly smooth-
barktd poles. This is probably more fanciful than coirect,
since we find the hop twining with equal luxuriance round the
smooth-barked ash and the rough-barked larch or acacia ; ai;d
with respect to chilly smoo.h poles, the hop is known to twine
with as much vigour round iron or copper wire as round any
wood whatever. (6'a»rf. Mag. vol. vii.)
6030. In regard to the size of the pole, hops, likewise, it is well
known, have their instincive choice or approbation, with
respect to the thickness of ihtir support ; embracing, witii
greater readiness, a pole that is mo.ierately sn;all, than one
which is thick at ihe bottom The ordinary circumference of
poles, at the thii kest end, mav be set down a from six to i:ir.e
inches, t«permg to the size of a walkingcane at he top ; and
the length from fifteen to twenty f et, or upwards. Differmt
ground.-, rt quire ditfijrent lengths of pole, in the rich grounds,
in the neighbciurlood of Miiidstone, the polts of giown hops
stand, in jjenetal, from fourieen lo sixteen f-et above the liils,
and have from eighteen inchts to two f..et beneath the surface.
But, on weaker Unds, poles are not seen to rise more than ten
to twelve feet high. Hence, a variety of ground is convenient ;
as the poles, by decaying at the roots, grow shorter, and, in a
course of \ ears, get too short for strong vines, on rich land.
They are,"in this case, sold, and transferred to less productive
lands, and vines of humbler urowth.
6031. Nerv pola have sometimes the hark shared off, under an
idea that it saves them from the worm ; while some men are
of opinion that there is a warmth in ihe bark, which is accept-
able to the young vines ; and although in two or three yt-Hrs the
bark drops off, the surface of the wood has, b- that time, ac-
quired a degree of softness. Whether a haid, smooth, polished
j)ole is unfriendly to the hop or not, to pe.l the poles would
evidently be improper, as promoting their decay.
6032. "short light poles are usunlty pointed in hand, without
other support ; but the tall heavy pole requires something to
keep the top steady. This is obtained by t> ing together three
poles of equal length, two or three feet from their tops ; and
setting them up in the form of what is called a triangle, in use
for loading timber on wheel-carriaf;es. The top of the pole to
be sharpened, being dropped in beiween the points or horns of
the trian-les, receives the requi:ed slay ; and a block is placed
in a convenient situation below to work upon. This sort of
work, whether on new or on old polrs, is sometimes done before
they are stacked, or set up in piles ; sometimes iinmediately
lief'ore they are used. In pointing poles that have bten ustd,
tlie part which stood in the ground the preceding year is, if
much tainted, struck off, and'a fresh point given to the sound
part : but, if the bottom part remains firm, it is sharpened
again for another season.
6033. IVtres ofa>pper or iron have been tried as substitutes for
wooden poles in the north of France ; but, having seen a plan-
tation treated in this way, we do not think it any improvement.
The wires are stretchetl horizontally in the direction of the row
of plants, the first wire five feet from the ground, the second
one foot above that, and so on, say to the height of fifteen fe.-t.
The plants are led to the lowest wire by short sticks, and left to
twine up or along the others at pleasure.
Book VI. THE HOP. 927
fyOo'i. Tying the shoots or vines to the poles is the last operation in the after or summer culture of the
hop. This requires the labour of a number of persons, generally women, who tie them in several different
places with withered rushes, but so loosely as not to prevent the vines from advancing in their progress
towards the tops of the poles. When the vines have got out of reach from the ground, proper persons
go round, with standing ladders, and tie all such as appear inclined to stray.
6035. The leason for this nperalion varies from the middle of brinj; ilie long-winged (ly. In such a sea.son it would be well
May to the end of June, ana one impor;ant part of the oper- woith while to tradicate all the vine which Hr»t appears, and
ation consists in selectini; the shooss. The forwardest vine trust to a later sb.oot, so as to protract the tying till ihe last week
should always be exiirpa ed, as it is well known that the in .May. This hmt was taken from the observ ^tions ir.ade in
branches arising from these early shoots will produce little, if such blasting years on the poor and thin lands where the vine
any.fruit. The s cond shoots, where the hil is are not overloaded is natura ly backward, ^nd seldom becomes fit for the tyers till
with pi ints, and where the ground is not of a nature to send towards the latter end of May, when th tt on the forward ground
forth a very luxuriant vme, may with s.-ifety be tied up : but will havu advanced nearly to the toiis of the poles, and to an in-
wh re the land is apt to push forwad a great redundancy of attentive observer seems to promise fai for a crop; whereas, to
shoots, where the vine is always strong and vigorous, and where those who have been conversant in th se matters, the lo.-sof the
the failure in the crop chiefly arises from thia cause, the greatest crop, tho gh the vine at that time be green and flourishing,
prudence is necessary, at the season for tying, to make choice may be easily foreseen ; whilst on the poorer soils there is gene-
of a proper vine ; especially in years which may be suppos d to rally a saving crop even in years when the blast is most preva-
be a't'jnd d with a blist; such as thos? wherein an easterly lent. These conside aliens have suggesteti the protracting of
wind has prevailed throughout the month of .March, whence the growth of the vine in the manner above mentioned, which
one may fairly conclude that the same weather will happen seems conformable to reason and experience,
during the course of the month of May, which never fails to
6036 Taking the crop is a most important operation in the hop economy
6037. Hops are known to be ready for pulling when they acquire a strong scent, and the seeds become
firm and of a brown colour, which, in ordinary seasons, happens in the fir.st or second week of September.
When the pulling season arrives, the utmost assiduity is requisite on the part of the planter, in order that
the different operations may be carried on with regularity and desp.dtch ; as the least neglect, in any de-
partment of the business, proves in a great decree ruinous to the most abundant crop, especially in pre-
carious seasons. Gales of wind at that season, by bre;iking the lateral branches, and bruising the hops,
prove nearly as injurious as a long continuance of rainy weather, which never fails to spoil the colour of
the crop, and thereby render it less saleable.
fiO.'S. As a preparation fur pttltiiif; the hops, frames of wood, in be unsupplied with hops ; and if it is found that the hops rise
number proportions d to the size of the ground, and the pickers faster than could have been expecttd, and that tbere are more
to be employed, are jilaced in th it part of the field which, by gathered in a day than can be conveniently dried ofl, some of
having be n most exposed to the influence of the sun, is soonest the worst pickers m ly l>e discharged ; it being v. ry prejudicial
ready. The^e frames, which. are calle<i hiiis or cribs, are v. ry for the green hops to continue long in the sacks before they are
simple in the construction, being only four pieces of boards put on the oas', as they will in a few hours begin to heat, and
nai ed to four posts, or legs, and, when finished, are about acquire an unsighly colour, which will not b^ taken off in the
seven or eight feet long, thre? feet broad, ami abo it the same drying, esjieci ally if the season be very moist ; though, in a wet
height. A man always attends the pickers, whose business i: is hopping, it is no easy matter to prevent ihe kilns from being
to cut over the vines near the ground, and to lay the poles on overrun, supposing ih it there were pickers enough to supply
the frames to be picked. Common'y two, but ssldom more them f the weather h d been dry, b cause in a wet cold time
than three, poles are laid on at a time. Six, seven, or eight the hops require to lie a considerable while longer on the kiln,
pickers, women, girls, and boys, are emp'oycd at the same in order that the superabundant moisture may be dr ed up. It
frame, three or four being ranged on each side. These, with is therefore expedient in this ca>e that each m^ asuring bedi-
the man who sorts the poles, are called a set. The hops, after vide<l into a number of green pockets or pokes. 'ITi'e number
being carefully separated from the leaves and branch s, or of bushels in a poke ought never to exceed el -ven ; but when
stalks, are dropued by the pickers into a large cloth, hung all the hops are wet, or likely to continue together some time before
round within-side the frame on tenter-hooks. When the cloth they go on the kiln, the better way is to put only eight bushels
is fu'l, the hops ae emptied into a large sack, which is carried in a sack, pocket, or poke
home, and the hops laid on a kiln to be dri -d. This is always 6040. Doruildson asserts that diligent hop-pickers, when the
done as soon as possibl » fter they are picked, as they are apt to crop is tolerably abundant, will pick from e ght to ten bushels
sustain considerable dama e, both in colour and flavour, if ea h in the day, which, when dry, will weigh about on" hun-
allowed to rem lin long in sacks in the green state in which they died weight; and that it is common to let the pickinir of hop-
are pulled. In very warm we ith.r, and when they are pulled grounds by the bushel. The price is extremely variable,
in a moist s'ate, they wi 1 often heat in five or six hours : for depending no less on the goodness of the cTop than on the
this reason the kilns are ke^it constantly at work, both night abundance or scarcity of labourers. The greatest p irl of the
and day, from the commencement to the conclusion of the hops cultivated in Eng'and is picked by )>eople who make a
hop-picking seison. prac'ice of coming annually from the remote part of Wales
bO,'59. To set on a sufficient number nf hands is a matter of pru- for that purpose,
dence, in the picking season, that the oasts or kilns may never
6041. The operation of drying hops is not materially different from that of drying malt ;
and the kilns, or oasts, are of the same construction.
6042. The hops are spread on a hair-cloth, and from eight to ten, sometimes twelve, inches deep, accord-
ing to the dryness or wetness of the season and the ripeness of the hops. A thorough knowledge of the
best method of drying hops can only be acquired by long practice. The general rules are, to begin with a
slow fire, and to increase it gradually, till, hy the heat on the kiln, and the warmth of the hops, it is
known to have arrived at a proper height An even steady fire is then continued for eight or ten hours,
according to the state or circumstances of the hops, by which time the ends of theho])-stalks become quite
shrivelled and dry, which is the chief sign by which to ascertain that the hops are properly and sufficiently
dried. They are then taken off the kiln, and laid in a large room or loft till they become quite cool. They
are now in condition to be put into bags, which is the last operation the planter has to perform previously
to sending his crop to market.
6043. When hops are dried on a coclle-oast, sea-coal is the usual fuel, and a chaldron is generally
esteemed the proper allowance to a load of hops. On the hair kilns, charcoal is commonly used for this
purpose. Fifty sacks of charcoal are termed a load, which usually sells for about fifty shillings. The
price for burning is three shillings per load, or twelve shillings for each cord of wood. The process of
drying having been completed, the hops are to be taken off the kiln, and shovelled into an adjoining
chamber called the stowage-room ; and in this place they are continually to be laid as they are taken off
the kiln, till it may be thought convenient to put them into bags, which is rarely done till they have lain
some time in the heap ; for the hops, when first taken off the kiln, being very dry, would (if put into the
bags at that time) break to pieces, and not draw so good a sample as when they have lain some time in
the heap; whereby they acquire a considerable portion of toughness, and an increase of weight.
6044. The bagging of hops is thus performed : —
6045. In the floor of the room, where the hops are Inid to cool, there is a round hole or trap, equal in
size to the mouth of a hop bag. After tying a handful of hops in each of the lower corners of a large bag,
which serve afterwards for handles, the mouth of the bag is fixed securely to a strong hoop, which is made
to rest on the edges of the hole or trap; and the bag itself being then dropped through the trap, the
packer goes into it, when a person who attends for the purpose puts in the hops in small quantities, in
order to give the packer an opportunity of packing and trampling them as hard as possible. When the
bag is filled, and the hops trampled in so hard as that it will hold no more, it is drawn up, unloosed from
the hoop, and the end sewed up, other two handles having been previously formed in the corners in the
manner mentioned above. The brightest and finest coloured hops are put into pockets or fine bagging,
and the brown into coarse or heavy bagging. The ft.rmer are chiefly used for brewing fine ales, and the
latter by the porter brewers But it is to be observed, that where hops are intended to be kept for any
length of time, it is most proper to put them into coarse cloih. The proper length of a bag is two ells and
a quarter, and of a pocket nearly the same, being one ell in width. The former, if the hops are good in
quality, well cured, and tight trodden, will weigh about two hundred and a half; and the latter, if of
tne Canterbury pocketing, about one hundred and a half. If the weight either exceeds or falls much
928 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
short of tins medium, it induces a surmise, that the hops are either in themselves of an inferior quality,
or have been injudiciously manufactured in some respect or other.
6046. Fa/lance's apparatus for packing and preserving hops, is an hexagonal case of wood, eighteen feet
long and two feet in diameter, with a piston or rammer, to be worked by a screw or other means so as to
compress the hops more closely than has hitherto been done. When the case is full, a lid is fastened down
by iron plates and nails, and any crack or joint that may appear is filled with cement, so as to exclude the
air. With this precaution, Mr. Fallance states, hops may be kept perfectly good for half a century.
{Newton's Journal, vol. vii. p. 12.)
6047. The stripping and stacking of the poles succeed to the operation of picking. It
is of some consequence that this business be executed as soon as possible after the crop is
removed ; not only because the poles are, when set up in stacks, much safer from thieves,
but because they are far less damaged by the weather than when dispersed about the
ground with the vine on them. The usual price for stripping and stacking is five shillings
per acre. At this time, such poles as may be deemsd unfit for further service should be
flung by, that the planter may have an early knowledge of the number of new poles
which will be wanted ; and thus the business of bringing on the poles may be completed
in the winter time, when the horses are hot required about other labour ; and these new
poles may be drawn from the wood on the ground, and adjusted to the separate stacks, as
the state of the different parts of the ground may require, and the whole business finished
before the poling season : whereas, when this method of flinging out the old poles is
neglected at the stacking, the planter, being ignorant of the number of new poles that
will be required for the ensuing year, often finds at the poling season that he has not
laid in a sufficient stock.
6048. In performing the operation of stacking the poles are set up in somewhat conical piles, or congeries
of from two hundred to five hundred each. The metnod of proceeding is this : — Three stout poles of equal
length are bound together, a few feet from their tops, and their feet spread out, as those already mentioned
for pointing the poles. These serve as a stay to the embryo pile ; the poles being dropped in on each side,
between the points of the first three, cautiously keeping an equal weight on every side; for on this even
balance the stability of the stack depends. The degree of inclination or slope, and the diameter of the
base of the pile, vary with the length and the number of poles set up together. A stack of three or four
hundred of the long poles of the environs of Maidstone, occupy a circle of near twenty feet in diameter.
It is observable, however, that the feet of the poles do not form one entire ring; but are collected in bun-
dies or distinct divisions, generally from three to six or eight in number ; each fasciculus being bound
tightly together, a few feet from the ground, with a large rough rope made of twisted vines, to prevent
the wind from tearing away the poles. The openings between the divisions give passage to violent blasts,
and tend to prevent the piles from being thrown down in a body : a circumstance which does not often
take place in screened grounds ; but, on the high exposure of Cox Heath, where great quantities of new
poles brought out of the W^eald are piled for sale among the Maidstone planters, it is not uncommon for
the piles to be blown down, and to crush in their fall the sheep or other animals that may have taken
shelter under them. A caution this to the inexperienced in the business of stacking ; and an apology, if
one is wanted, for the minuteness of the detail.
6049. The operation of stripping is generally performed by women ; being nothing more than tearing off
the bind or vines. Many people burn it on the ground ; others suffer it to be carried off by their work,
men for firing ; and there are some who tie it up into small bundles, which they bring home and form
into a stack, to answer the purpose of bavins in heating their ovens or coppers,
6050. The produce of the hop crop is liable to very considerable variation, according
to soil and season, from two or three to so much as twenty hundred-weight ; but from
nine to ten, on middling soils, in tolerable seasons, are considered as average crops, and
twelve or fourteen as good ones. Bannister asserts that sixty bushels of fresh-gathered
hops, if fully ripe, and not injured by the fly or other accident, will, when dried and
bagged, produce a hundred-weight. Where the hops are much eaten by the flea, a
disaster which often befalls them, the sample is not only reduced in value, but the weiglit
diminished ; so that, when this misfortune occurs, the planter experiences a two-fold
loss.
6051. To judge of the quality of hops, as the chief virtue resides in the yellow powder
contained in them, which is termed the condition, and is of an unctuous and clammy
nature, the more or less clammy the sample appears to be, the value will be increased or
diminished in the opinion of the buyer. To tliis may be added the colour, which it is of
very material consequence for the planter to preserve as bright as possible, since the pur-
chaser will always insist much on this article ; though, perhaps, the brightest-coloured
hops are not always the strongest flavoured.
6052. The duration of the hop plantation on good soil may be from fifteen to thirty
years ; but in general they begin to decline about the tenth year. Some advise that the
plantation should then be destroyed, and afresh one made elsewhere ; others consider it
the best plan to break up and plant a portion of new ground every two years, letting an
equal quantity of the old be destroyed, as in this way a regular succession of good plant-
ation will be kept up at a trifling charge.
6053. The expense of forming nei/> hop-plantations is in general very great, being estimated, in many
districts, at from not less than seventy to a hundred pounds the acre. The produce is very uncertain ;
often very considerable; but in some seasons nothing, after all the labour of culture, except picking, has
been incurred. Where the lands are of proper sort for them, and there are hop-poles on the farm, and
the farmer has a sufficient capital, it is probably a sort of husbandry that may be had recourse to with ad-
vantage ; but under the contrary circumstances, hops will seldom answer. In growing them in connection
with a farm, regard should be had to the extent that can be manured without detriment to the other
tillage lands. On the whole, the hop is an expensive and precarious crop, the culture of which should be
well considered before it is entered'^pon.
Book VI. THE HOP. 929
6054. The use of the hoj) in breioing is to prevent the beer from becoming sour.
6055. In domestic economy the young shoots are eaten early in the spring as asparagus, and are sold
under the name of hop-tops. They are said to be diuretic ; and taken in an infusion, to be good against the
scurvy. The herb will dye wool yellow. From the stalks a strong cloth is made in Sweden : for this pur-
pose they must be gathered in autumn, soaked in water all winter ; and in March, after being dried in a
stove, they are dressed like flax. They require a longer time to rot than flax, and, if not completely
macerated, the woody part will not separate, nor the cloth prove white or fine. Hence a farmer who
has a hop plantation need neither grow asparagus nor flax, and may, when the flowers fail from disease,
separate the fibre from the vine, and employ the poor, or machinery, in spinning and weaving it. A
decoction of the roots of hops is considered as good a sudorific as sarsaparilla ; and the smell of the flowers
is found to be soporific. A pillow filled with hops was prescribed for the use of George III. in his illness
of 1787.
6056. The hop is peculiarly liable to diseases. There is scarcely any sort of plant
cultivated as a field-crop that is more liable to become diseased than the hop. It is apt,
in the very early stage of its growth, to be devoured, as it rises above the surface of the
ground, by the ravages of an insect of the flea kind. At a more advanced stage,
it is subject to the still more injurious effects of the green or long-winged fly, red
spider, and otter moth : the first, by the depositing of their ova, afford the means
of producing lice in great abundance, by which the plants are often very greatly,
if not wholly, destroyed; and the larvae of the last prey upon the roots, and thus
render the plants weak and subject to disease. The honey-dew is another disease to
which the hop is exposed about the same time, and by which it is often much in-
jured. The mould occurs in general at a somewhat later period, and is equally
injurious. Hop-crops are also exposed to other injuries, as the blight and fire-blast ;
but which take place at diflferent times, though mostly towards the latter periods of the
growth of the plants.
6057. The flea, which is said to be an insect of the same kind as that which is so prejudicial to the
young turnip, is observed to make the greatest havoc in seasons when the nights are cold and frosty, and
the days hot and inclined to be dry; eating off the sweet tender tops of the young plants, which, though
not wholly destroyed, shoot forth afterwards in a far less vigorous manner, and of course become more
exposed to diseases. It has been found to commit its depredations most frequently on tlie plants in
grounds that have been dunged the same year : on which account it has been suggested that the manure
employed for the purpose of covering the hills should be previously well mixed and incorporated, as
directed above (601.').) ; and that it should be applied either over the whole of the land, or only the hills,
as soon as possible after the plants have been cut over ; but the former practice is probably the best. It
makes its greatest depredations in the more early, cold, spring months, as the latter end of April and
beginning of the succeeding month, disappearing as the season becomes more mild and warm. In these
cases, the principal remedy is that of having the land in a sufficient state of fertility, to enable the young
plants to shoot up with such vigour and rapidity as to become quickly incapable of being fed upon and
devoured by the insect. The frequent stirring of the mould about the roots of the plants with the hoe may
be of utility in the same view.
r)0;;8. The green or long-winged fly is highly destructive to the young leaves of the plants, and mostly
makes its appearance about the latter end of May, and in the two succeeding months ; being ignorantly
supposed to be produced by the prevalence of north-easterly winds about that period. Under such a state of
the wind, they are said to scarcely ever fail of covering the leaves ; and by dropping their ova, of producing
abundance of lice, which often much injure the crops ; as when they have once obtained complete possession
of the plant?, they seldom or never leave them before they have wholly destroyed them. Insects of this
sort generally attack the forwardest and most luxuriant hop-vines. Their removal chiefly depends upon
the wind's changing more to the south, and the setting in of more mild, warm, and temperate weather.
6059. The utter moth, by depositing its eggs upon the roots of the plants, renders them liable to be at-
tacked by the larva, and the healthy growth of the hops is thereby greatly impaired, the crops being of
course much injured in their produce. Stirring the earth well about the roots of the plants may probably
sometimes be serviceable in cases of this kind.
6060. The honey-dew mostly occurs after the crops have been attacked by some of these kinds of insects,
and when the weather is close, moist, and foggy. In these cases, a sweet clammy substance, which has
the taste of honey, is produced upon the leaves of the plants, and they have at first a shining appearance,
but soon afterwards become black. It is a disease that mostly happens in the more forward crops; and
thechief dependence of the planter for its removal, according to Bannister, is that of heavy thunder
showers taking place ; as by this means, when the destruction of the hops has not proceeded too far, they
are often much restored, the insects that devour the leaves and vines being greatly destroyed, the growth
of fresh shoots promoted, and a favourable bloom brought on the plants.
6061. The fen, mould, or mildew, is a disease to which the crop is exposed at a later period of its growth,
and which chiefly attacks the part where the hop is attached (o the stem. It is said that its production
is greatly promoted by moist damp weather, and a low situation ; those crops that grow on low, close, rich
grounds beirig most liable to be attacked by it : and it is found to soon spread itself over the whole crop,
after it has once seized upon any part of it. The nature of this vegetable disease has not been yet sufficiently
investigated. It has been suggested by Darwin and Willdenow to be a plant of the fungus kind, capable
of growing without light or change of air, attaching itself to plants already in a morbid condition, and by
its roots penetrating their vessels : and on this supposition, the best remedy is believed to be thinning the
plants, in order to afford a more free circulation of air, and admit the light more extensively, by which
the vigour of the hop-plants may be restored, and the disease be of course removed. In this view, it is
probable, by planting the hills more thinly, and making them at greater distances from each other, the
disease might in some measure be prevented from taking place. (See 1694.)
6062. Diseases termed blights are frequently met with in hop-crops, at different periods of the growth
of the plants, but mostly in the more early stages of their rising from the hills, while the nights are cold
and frosty in the spring months, and the days have much sun and heat; by which the living powers of
the plants are greatly exhausted in the day-time by the stimulus of heat, and of course much injured or
wholly destroyed in the nights, from being exposed to a freezing air, which is incapable of exciting the
actions necessary for the preservation of vegetable life. As the presence of this disease is supposed to be
greatly connected with the prevalence of winds from the northern or easterly quarters, there is often a flea
produced of a similar kind to that which attacks the shoots in their early growth. (6057.) It is highly in-
jurious, by preying upon the nutriment of the blossoms, and thereby diminishing their weight and chang-
ing them to a brown colour, which is very prejudicial in their sale at the market.
6063. Thefire-bUist is a disease that hop-crops are exposed to in the later periods of their growth, and is
generally supposed to proceed from the particular state of the air or weather. Others consider this disease
as nothing more than the result of the attacks of the red spider. It has been conjectured to be the effect
of lightning, as it takes place, for the most part, at those seasons when lightning is the most prevalent,
3 O
930
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Pakt hi;
and in a very sudden manner : and besides the most forward and luxuriant vines art ...t most subject to be
affected. It has been suggested, that in exposures where the crops are particularly liable to injury, it may
be advisable to plant thinner, to keep back the growth of the plants as much as possible, by extirpating
all the most forward shoots, and to employ a less proportion of the earthy compost in their culture.
6064. In respect to the duty on hops, it is best for the planter to have the acts before
him. But every grower of hops in Britain is legally obliged to give notice to the excise,
on or before the first day of September, of the number of acres he has in cultivation, the
situation and number of his oasts, and the place or places of bagging, which, with the
store-rooms, or warehouses, in which the packages are intended to be lodged, are entered
by the revenue officer. No hops can be removed from the rooms thus entered, before
they have been weighed and marked by a revenue officer ; who marks, or ought to mark,
not only the weight, but the name and residence of the grower, upon each package.
SuBSECT. 2. Culture of the Coriander and Caraway. {Jig. 804. a, 6.)
6065. The coriander {Coridndrum sativum L., Jig. 804. a) is a small-rooted annual,
with branchy stems rising from one foot to one
foot and a half in height. It is a native of the
south of Europe, and appears to be naturalised
in some parts of Essex, where it has been long
cultivated. It flowers in June and July, and the
seeds ripen in July and August.
6066. The culture and management of coriander consist
in sowing it on a light rich soil in September, with seeds
ripened the same year. Twenty pounds of seed will sow an
acre. When the plants come up, thin them to six or eight
inches' distance every way, and, next spring, stir the soil
with a pronged hoe. " In August the seed will be ripe, and
if great care be not used, the largest and best part of it will
be lost. To prevent this, women and children are em-
ployed to cut plant by plant, and to put them immediately
into cloths, in which they are carried to some convenient
part of the field, and there threshed upon a sail-cloth. A
few strokes of the flail get the seeds clean out, and the
threshers are ready for another bundle in a few minutes.
In Essex it is sometimes cultivated with caraway and
teazle. (See Caraway.)
6067. The produce of coriander is from ten to fourteen
cwt. on an acre. It is used by the distillers for flavouring
spirits, by the confectioners for encrusting with sugar, and
by the druggists for various purposes j for all of which it is said to have a ready sale.
6068. The caraivay {Cdrum Cdrui, b) is a biennial plant with a taper root, like
a parsnep, but much smaller, running deep into the ground. The stems rise from
eighteen inches to two feet, with spreading branches and finely cut deep green leaves.
It is a native of England, in rich meadows in Lincolnshire and other places, and has
been long cultivated in Essex. It flowers in May and June, and the seeds ripen in
autumn.
6069. The culture and management are the same as those of coriander. In all probability both plants
would answer if sown like clover among a crop of corn ; and hoed and thinned when the crop was removed,
and again in the following spring. The method of culture in Essex is, about the beginning of March to
plough some old pasture land : if it has been pasture for a century the better ; and the soil should be a very
strong clayey loam. Twelve pounds of caraway seed are mixed with ten pounds of coriander, and twelve
pounds of teasel seed : this is sufficient for one acre ; and is sowed directly after the plough, harrowing the
land well. When the plants appear of sufficient strength to bear the hoe, which will not be until about ten
weeks after sowing, it must not be omitted ; and in the course of the summer, the crop will require three
hoeings, besides one at Michaelmas. The coriander being annual, will be fit to cut about the beginning
cf July. It is left in the field after cutting, and threshed on a cloth in the same manner as rape
seed. About April following the caraway and teasel will want a good hoeing done deep and well ; and
another about the beginning of June. The caraway will be fit to cut in the beginning of July, and must be
threshed in the same manner as the coriander. This compound crop is mostly sown on land, so strong as
to require being a little exhausted to make it fit for corn. Caraway and coriander are oftener sown with-
out teasel : the latter being a troublesome and uncertain crop, and the produce of caraway much greater
without it.
6070. The produce of caraway, on the very rich old leys in the hundreds or low lands of Essex, has
often amounted to twenty cwt. an acre. There is always a demand for the seed in the London market.
6071. The uses of the caraway are the same as those of coriander, and its oil and other preparations
are more used in medicine. Dr. Anderson says, both the roots and tops may be given to cattle in
spring,
SuBSECT. 3. Plants which may be substituted for Brewery and Distillery Plants.
6072. .As substitutes for hops, we may mention the common box ( J?uxus sempervirens),
the leaves and twigs of which are said to be extensively used in all the beer brewed in
Paris. The marsh trefoil (Menydnthes trifoliata) is much employed in Germany, and
on the Continent generally ; and, it is said, was formerly used in this country. One
ounce of the dried leaves is considered equivalent to half a pound of hops. The plant is
of easy culture in moist soil : all the plants of the same natural order, Gentidnece, and
especially the different species of Gentiana, might be used in the same manner, more
particularly the G. lutea, rtibra, and purpurea. In Switzerland, a spirit is distilled from
the roots of G. lutea. Tlxe dried roots of Geura urbanum, common in hedges, are sliced,
Book VI. OIL PLANTS. 931
enclosed in a thin linen bag, and suspended in the beer cask, by the brewers of Germany,
to prevent, it is said, the beer from turning sour, and to give it the odour of cloves.
(Gard. Mag. vol. vi. p. 148.) In Sweden, Norway, and the north of Scotland, the heath
(£rica L.) and common broom were, and still are, occasionally used as substitutes for
the hop. In some parts of France and Germany nothing else is used but broom tops.
In Guernsey the Teucrium iScorodonia is used, and found to answer perfectly. In
England, the different species of mugwort and wormwood have been used for that
purpose ; and the foreign bitter, quassia, a tree of Guiana, is still used by the porter
brewers. "Whoever has good malt, therefore, or roots, or sugar, and understands how to
make them into beer, need be at no loss for bitters to make it keep.
607S. Carminative seeds, equal in strength to those of the caraway and coriander, are
furnished by a very considerable number of native or hardy plants, and of flavours to
which the drinkers of cordials and liqueurs are attached. Such are the fennels
(i^ceniculum) cultivated in Germany, parsley, myrrh, angelica, celery, carrot, parsnep,
co-w parsnep, and many other umbelliferous plants ; avoiding, however, the hemlock,
fool's parsley, aethusa, and some others which ai-e poisonous. In Dantzic, where
perhaps more seeds are used for flavouring spirits than any where else, several of the
above and other plants are employed. Kiimmel, their favourite flavour, is that of the
cumin (Cuminum Cyminum), an annual plant, a native of Egypt, and cultivated in the
south of Europe ; but too tender for field culture in this country. But caraway or fen-
nel seeds are very generally mixed with cumin, or even substituted for it in distilling
kiimmel- wasser.
Sect. III. Oil Plants.
6074. In Britain there are few plants grown solely for the production of oil ; though oil
is expressed from the seeds of several plants, grown for other purposes, as the flax,
hemp, &c. Our chief oil plant is the rape.
6075. Rape is the 'Brdssica t^dpus L. ; Navette, Fr. ; RUbsamen, Ger. ; Rapa sil^
vatica, Ital. ; and Naba silvestre, Span. It is a biennial plant of the turnip kind, but
witli a caulescent or woody fusiform root scarcely fit to be eaten. Von Thaer considers
the French and Flemish colza {Kohlsaat, Ger. ) a different plant from our rape : colza is
more of the cabbage kind, and distinguished by its cylindrical root, cut leaves, and greater
hardiness. Decandolle seems to be of the same opinion.
6076. Brdssica campestris oleifera, according to these writers, is the colsat or colza, or rape of the Con-
tinent, the most valuable plant to cultivate for oil; its produce being to that of the ^rassica iVapus, or
British colsat or rape, as 955 to 700. It is distinguished from the B. Nk^us by the hispidity of its leaves.
It would be desirable for agriculture, Decandolle observes, that, in all countries, cultivators would examine
whether the plant they rear is the B. cami)estris oleffera or the B. Nicpns oleifera, which can easily be
ascertained by observing whether the young plant is rough or smooth ; if hispid, it is the B. campestris ;
if glabrous, the B. A'apus. Experiments made by Gaujuc show the produce of the first, compared with
that of the second, to be as 955 to 700. {Hort. Trans, v. 23.)
6077. For its leaves as food for sheep, and its seed for the oil-manvfacivrer, rape, or
coleseed, haS been cultivated from time immemorial. It is considered a native, flowers
in May, and ripens its seeds in July. It may be sown broad- cast, or in rows, like the
common turnip, or it may be transplanted like the Swedish turnip. The culture of rape
for seed has been much objected to by some, on account of its supposed great exhaustion
of the land ; but where the soil and preparation are suitable, the after-culture properly
attended to, and the straw and offal, instead of being burnt, as is the common practice,
converted to the purposes of feeding and littering cattle, it may, in many instances, be
the most proper and advantageous crop, that can be employed by the farmer.
6078. The CuUeys in 'Northumberland used to cultivate rape on thin clays, as a preparation for wheat,
of which they had valuable crops afterwards. The land, in the early part of the season, was prepared as
for fallow, and the rape sown in June or July, and eaten off by sheep in September or October ; after
which the soil was once ploughed for wheat The rape may also be sown among a crop of drilled winter
beans in May,
6079. The soils best suited for rape are the deep, rich, dry, and kindly sorts ; but, with
plenty of manure and deep ploughing, it may be grown in others.
6080. Young says, that upon fen and peat soils and bogs, and black peaty low grounds, it thrives greatly,
and especially on pared and burnt land, which is best suited to it ; but it may be grown with perfect suc-
cess on fenny, marshy, and other coarse waste lands, that have been long under grass, when broken up
and properly prepared. As a first crop on such descriptions of land, it is often the best that can be em-
ployed. The author of The New Farmer's Calendar thinks that this plant is not perhaps worth attention
on any but rich and deep soils ; for instance, those luxuriant slips that are found by the sea-side, fens, or
newly broken up grounds, where vast crops of it may be raised.
6081. The preparation of old grass lands, if not pared and burned, need be nothing more than a deep
ploughing and sufficient harrowing to bring the surface to a fine mould ; and this operation should not be
commenced in winter, because the grub and wire-worm would have time to rise to the surface ; but in
February or March, immediately before sowing, or in July, or after the hay crop is removed, if the sowing
is deferred till that season. When sown on old tillage lands, the preparation is pretty much the same as
that usually given for the common turnip : the land being ploughed over four or five times, according to
its condition, as a fine state of pulverisation or tilth is requisite for the perfect growth of the crop. In
this view, the first ploughing is mostly given in the autumn, that the soil maybe exposed to the influence
of the atmosphere till the early part of the spring, when it should be again turned over twice, at proper
intervals of time ; and towards the beginning and middle of June one or two additional ploughings
should be performed upon it, in order that it may be in a fine mellow condition for the reception of the seed.
3 O 2
932 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
6082. In a rotation of crops, the place which rape occupies is commonly between two
of the culmiferous kind. On rich soils it may be succeeded to the greatest advantage by
wheat, as it is found to be an excellent preparation for that sort of grain ; and by its
being taken oflP early, there is sufficient time allowed for getting the land in order for
sowing wheat.
6083. The season for smving rape is the same as that for the common turnip, and the
manner, whether in broad-cast or rows, the same.
6084, The row method on the flat surface seems the best for newly broken up lands; and the rows on
ridglets, with or without manure, the best for lands that have been under the plough. Where the object
is the keep of sheep in autumn or winter by eating it down, the broad-cast method and thick sowing are
evidently the best, and are generally resorted to in Lincolnshire and the fenny districts. The quantity
of seed when sown thick may be a peck an acre ; but when drilled or sown thin, two or three pounds will
suffice. The seed should be fresh, black, and plump. Vacancies may always be filled up by transplanting;
6085. The season of transplanting begins as soon after the corn harvest as possible,
being generally performed on the stubble of some description of corn crop.
6086. One deep ploughing, and a degree of harrowing sufficient to pulverise the surface, are given ; and
the plants may be dibbled ni in rows a foot apart, and six inches in the row or narrower, according to the
lateness of the season of planting, and the quality of the soil ; for it must be considered that plants trans>
planted so late as September or October will be far from being fo strong in the succeeding spring, as those
sown in June and left where they are to run. The seed-bed from which the plants are obtainetl should
have been sown in the June or July preceding the transplanting season, and may be merely a ridge or two
in the same or in an adjoining field. We have already noticed (464.) the Flemish mode of transplanting,
by laying the plants in the furrow in the course of ploughing ; but as the plants cannot be properly firmed
at the lower part of the root, we cannot recommend it
6087. The after-culture of rape is the same as that of the turnip, and consists in hoeing
and thinning.
6088. The plants on the poorer soils may be left at six or eight inches apart or narrower, but on the rich
they may be thinned to twelve or fifteen inches with advantage to the seed. Few are likely to grow the
plant on ridglets with manure ; but, if this were done, the same distance as for turnips will ensure a
better crop of seed than if the plants were closer together. In close crops the seed is only found on the
summits of the plants ; in wide ones on rich soils, it also covers their sides. When rape seed is grown
purposely for sheep keep, no hoeing, thinning, or weeding, are necessary. Rape grown for seed will not
be much injured by a very slight cropping from sheep early in the autumn, but considerably so by being
eaten down in winter, or in the succeeding spring. The seed begins to ripen in the last week in June, and
must then be protected as much as possible from birds.
6089. In harvesting rape great care is requisite not to lose the seed by shaking, chaff-
ing, or exposure to high winds or rains.
6090. It is reaped with the hook, and the principal point is to make good use of fine weather ; for, as it
must be threshed as fast as reaped, or at least without being housed or stacked like other crops, it requires
& greater number of hands in proportion to the land, than any other plant. The reaping is very delicate
work ; for if the men are not careful, they will shed much of the seed. Moving it to the thre.shing.floor is
another work requiring attention. One way is to make little waggons on four wheels with poles, and cloths
strained over them ; the diameter of the wheels being about two feet, and the cloth body five feet wide,
six long, and two deep; these are drawn by one horse, and the whole expense is not more than SO*, or 40s.
In large farms, several of these may be seen at work at a time in one field. The rape is lifted from the
ground gently, dropped at once into these machines without any loss, and carried to the thresiiers, who keep
hard at work, being supplied from the waggons as fast as they ct^me, by one set of men, and their straw
moved off the floor by another set. Many hands of all sorts being employed, a great breadth of land is
finished in a day. Some use sledges prepared in the same way. All is liable to be stopped by rain, and the
crop much damaged ; it is, therefore, of very great consequence to employ as many people as possibly
men, women, and boys, to make the greatest use of fine weather. The seed is likewise sometimes cleaned
in the field, and put into sacks for the market. But when large quantities of seed are brought quickly
together, as they are liable to heat and become mouldy, it may be a better method to spread them out thinly
over a barn, granary, or other floor, and turn them as often as may be necessary.
6091 . The produce where the plant succeeds well, and the season is favourable for secur-
ing the seed, amounts to forty or fifty bushels or more on the acre. Marshal thinks, indeed,
that on the whole it may be considered as one of the most profitable crops in husbandry.
There have been, says he, instances, on cold, unproductive, old pasture- lands, in which
the produce of the rape crop has been equal to the purchase value of the land. The
seed is sold by the last of ten quarters, for the purpose of having oil expressed from it in
mills constructed for that purpose. The price, like that of all crops of uncertain and
irregular demand, is continually varying.
6092. The uses to which the rape is applied are the following : —
6093. The use qf the seed for crushing for oil is well known ; it is also employed as food for tame birds,
and sometimes it is sown by gardeners, in the same way as mustard and cress, for early salading.
6094. The jape-cake and rape-dust, the former adhering masses of seed husks, after the oil has been
expressed, and the latter loose dry husks, are used as a top-dressing for crops of different kinds. They
are reduced to powder by a malt mill or other grinding machine, and sometimes sown broad-cast over
young clovers, wheats, &c., arnl at other times drilled along with turnip seed. Four hundred weight of
powder sown with turnip seed will go over one acre in drills, but three times the quantity is required for
an acre sown broad-cast. Experience has proved, that the success of this manure depends in a great
measure on the following season. If rain happens to fall soon after the rape-dust is applied, the crop is
generally abundant ; but if no rain falls for a considerable period the effects of this manure are little dis-
cernible, either on the immediate cit)p or on those which succeed it. There are turnip tiril.'s contrived so
as to deposit the manure along with the seed.
6095. The use of the haulm to cattle-in winter is very considerable. The stover (pods and points broken
off in threshing) is as acceptable as hay, and the tops are eaten nearly as greedily as cut straw, and are at
least better than wheat straw. When well got, the smaller stalks will be eaten up clean. The offal makes
excellent litter for the farm- yard, and is useful for the bottoms of mows, stacks, &c. The haulm of this
plant is frequently burned ; and, in some places, the ashes, which are equal to potash, are sold ; by which
practice, if no manure is substituted, the soil must be greatly deteriorated. It is a custom in Lincolnshire,
Book VI.
PLANTS USED IN DOMESTIC ECONOMY.
933
sometimes to lay lands down with cole, under which the grass seeds are found to grow well. But this
sort of crop, as already observed, is most suited to freshly broken-up or burned lands, or to succeed early
peas, or such other green crops as are mowed for soiling cattle.
6096. The leaves as a green food for sheep are scarcely surpassed by any other vegetable, in nutritious
properties, and in being agreeable to the taste of the animals ; but in quantity of produce, it is inferior to
both turnips and cabbages. The crops are fed off occasionally from the beginning of November to the
middle of April : being found of great value, in the tirst period, for fattening dry ewes, and all sorts of
old sheep ; and, in the latter, for supporting ewes and lambs. Tlie sheep are folded upon them in the
manner practised for turnips, in which way they are found to pay from 50*. to 60s. the acre ; that quantity
being sufficient for the support of ten sheep, for ten or twelve weeks, or longer, according to circum-
stances. Rape has been found, by experience, to be superior to turnips in fattening sheep, and in some
cases, even to be ajrt to destroy them by its fattening quality. In The Corrected lleport of Lincolnshire
it is likewise observed, that rape grown on fresh land has the stem as brittle as glass, and is superior to
every other kind of food in fattening sheep ; while that produced on old tillage land has the stem tough
and wiry, and containing comparatively little nourishment.
6097. The Sesamutn orientule {Sesame-, Fr. ; Sesamo, Ital. ), Bignontace^, is cultivated
in Italy for its seeds, which are eaten roasted like those of maize, boiled like those of the
millet, made into a coarse flour like those of the beech or buck wheat, but principally
bruised for an oil used as a substitute for butter.
6098. Amo7ig other plants which may be cultivated by the Biitish farmer as oil plantSj
may be mentioned all the species of the J?rAssica family, the iSinapis or mustard family,
and the i?aphanus or radish family, with m.any others of the natural order of Cruciferae.
The seeds of these plants, when they remain too long on the seedsman's hands for growing,
are sold either for crushing for oil, or grinding with mustard seed. This includes a good
deal of wild charlock and wild mustard seed, which is separated in the process of clean-
ing grain by the farmers among whose corn these plants abound, and sold to the seed
agents, who dispose of it to the oil or mustard millers. Various other Cruciferae, as
the Jl/yagrum sativum, i?aphanus chin^nsis van oleifer, both cultivated in Germany, the
jErysimum, Sisymbrium officinale, Turritis, &c. , might also be cultivated for both purposes.
6099. The small or Jield poppy (Fapdver Rhoe^as ; Oilette, Fr.), and also the Maw seed
(p. somniferum, var. Pavot, i^r.), a variety of the garden poppy, are, as we have seen (467.),
cultivated on the Continent as oil plants ; the oil being esteemed in domestic economy
next to that of the olive. Other species might be grown for the same purpose. All
of them being annual plants require only to be sown on fine rich land in April ; thinned
out to six or eight inches' distance when they come up, according to the species ; kept
clear of weeds till they begin to run ; and to have their capsules as they ripen gathered
by hand and dried in the sun.
6100. The sunflower {Helidnthus annuus ; Tumesol, Fr. ; and Girasole, Ital.) has been
cultivated in Germany for its seeds, which are found to yield a good table oil j its husks
are nourishing food for cattle.
6101. The K'rachis hypogcB'a, Myagrum sativum, Hesperis matronalis, "Rdphanus sativtcs
oleifer, and Ricirius communis are cultivated in France as oil plants.
Sect. IV. Plants used in Domestic Economy,
6102. Among agricultural plants used in domestic economy, we include the Mustard,
Buck-ivheal or Beech-ivheat, Cress, Tobacco, Chiccory, and a few others ; with the exception
of the first, they are grown to a very small extent in Britain, and therefore our account
of them shall be proportionately concise.
SuBSECT. 1. Mustard. — Sinapis L. ; Tetradynamia Siliqubsa L., and Cruciferee J.
Moutarde or SSneve, Fr. ; Senf, Ger. ; Senapa, Ital. ; and Mostaza, Span.
6103. There are two species of mustard in cultivation in the fields, the white mustard
(Sinapis alba, ^^.805. a), and the black or common (Sinapis
nigra, b). Both are annuals, natives of Britain and most
parts of Europe, and cultivated there and in China, for an
unknown period. White mustard flowers in June, and
ripens its seeds in July. Black mustard is rather earlier.
Mustard is an exhausting crop, but profitable when the
soil answers, and especially in breaking up rich loamy
lands, as it comes off earlier, and allows time for preparing
the soil for wheat. In breaking up very rich grass lands,
three or four crops are sometimes taken in succession. It
cannot, however, be considered as a good general crop for
the farmer, even if there were a demand for it, as, like
most of the commercial plants, it yields little or no manure.
The culture of black or common mustard is by far the most
extensive, and is chiefly carried on in the county of Dur-
ham. The seed of the black mustard, like that of the
wild sort and also of the wild radish, if below the depth of
three or four inches, will remain in the ground for ages
without germinating : hence, when once introduced it is
3 O 3
534 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
difficult to extirpate. Whenever they throw the earth out of their ditches in the Isle of
Ely, the bank comes up thick with mustard ; and the seed, falling into the water and
sinking to the bottom, will remain embalmed in the mud for ages without vegetation.
6104. No such luxury as mustard, in its present form, was known at our tables previously to 1720. At
that time the seed was only coarsely pounded in a mortar, as coarsely separated from the integuments,
and in that rough state prepared for use. In the year I have mentioned, it occurred to an old woman of
the name of Clements, resident at Durham, to grind the seed in a mill, and to pass the meal through the
several processes which are resorted to in making flour from wheat. The secret she kept for many years
to herself, and, in the period of her exclusive possession of it, supplied the principal parts of the kingdom,
and in particular the metropolis, with this article ; and George I. stamped it with fashion by his approval.
Mrs. Clements as regularly twice a year travelled to London, and to the principal towns throughout
England, for orders, as any tradesman's rider of the present day; and the old lady contrived to pick up
not only a decent pittance, but what was then thought a tolerable competence. From this woman's resid-
ing at Durham, it acquired the name of Durham mustard. (Mec/t. Mag. vol. iv. p. 87.)
6105. Ani/ rich loamy soil will raise a crop of mustard, and no other preparation is
required than that of a good deep ploughing and harrowing sufficient to raise a mould
on the surface. The seeds may be sown broad-cast at the rate of one lippie per acre ;
harrowed in and guarded from birds till it comes up, and hoed and weeded before it begins
to shoot. In Kent, according to the survey of Boys, white mustard is cultivated for the
use of the seedsmen in London. In the tillage for it, the ploughed land is, he says,
harrowed over, and then furrows are stricken about eleven or twelve inches apart, sowing
the seed in the proportion of two or three gallons per acre in March. The crop is after-
wards hoed and kept free from weeds.
6106. Mustard is reaped in the beginning of September, being tied in sheaves, and left
three or four days on the stubble. It is then stacked in the field. It is remarked that
rain damages it. A good crop is three or four quarters an acre ; the price from 75. to
20s. a bushel. Three or four crops are sometimes taken running, but this must in most
cases be bad husbandry.
6107. The use of the white mustard is or should be chiefly for medical and horticul-
tural purposes, though it is often ground into flour, and mixed with the black, which is
much stronger, and far more difficult to free from its black husks. The black or com-
mon mustard is exclusively used for grinding into flour of mustard, and the black husk
is separated by very delicate machinery.
6108. The Frenck either do not attempt to separate the husk, ox do not succeed in it, as their mustard
when brought to table is always black. It is, however, more pungent than ours, because that quality
resides chiefly in the husk. The constituents of mustard seed appear to be chiefly starch, mucus, a bland
fixed oil, an acrid volatile oil, and an ammoniacal salt. The fresh powder. Dr. Cullen observes, shows
little pungency ; but when it has been moistened with vinegar and kept for a day, the essential oil is
evolved, and it is then much more acrid.
6109. The leaves of the mustard farnily, like those of all the radish and J5riissica tribe, are eaten green
by cattle and sheep, and may be used as pot-herbs. The haulm is commonly burned ; but is better era-
ployed as litter for the straw- yard, or for covering underdrains, if any happen to be forming at the time.
6110. As substitutes for either the black or common mustard, most of the Cruciferaj
enumerated when treating of oil plants (6098.) may be used, especially the 5inapis
arvensis, or charlock, S. orientalis, chinensis, and irassicata, the latter commonly cultivated
in China. The 7?aphanus Raphanistrum, common in corn fields, and known as the wild
mustard, is so complete a substitute, that it is often separated from the refuse corn and
sold as Durham mustard seed.
SuBSECT. 2. Buck-wheat. — Foli/gonum Fagopyrum L. ; Octdndria Trigynia L., and
Yolygonece J. Ble noir or Ble Sarrazin, Fr. (corrupted from Had-razin, i. e. red corn,
Celtic); Buchweitzen, Ger. ; Miglio, Ital. ; and Trigo negro, Span. (^jig. 806.)
6111. The buck-wheat, or more properly beech-wheat (from the
resemblance of the seeds to beech mast, as its Latin and German
names import), is an annual fibrous-rooted plant, with upright
flexuous leafy stems, generally tinged with red, and rising from a
foot to three feet in height. The flowers are either white or tinged
with red, and make a handsome appearance in July, and the seeds
ripen in August and September. Its native country is unknown ;
though it is attributed to Asia. It is cultivated in China and other
countries of the East as a bread corn, and has been grown from time
immemorial in Britain, and most parts of Europe, as food for poultry
and horses, and also to be ground into meal for domestic purposes.
The universality of its culture is evidently owing to the little labour
it requires : it will grow on the poorest soil, and produce a crop in
the course of three or four months. It was cultivated as early as
Gerard's time (1597), to be ploughed in as manure ; but at present,
from its inferior value as a grain, and its yielding very little haulm
for fodder or manure, it is seldom grown but by gentlemen in their
plantations to encourage game. Arthur Young, however, " recom-
mends farmers in general to try this crop. Nineteen parishes out
of twenty, through the kingdom, know it only l)y name. It has
B.HK VI.
BUCK-WHEAT.
935
niin:erous excellencies, perhaps as many to good farmers, as any otlier grain or pulse in
use. It is of an enriching nature, having tJie quality of preparing for wheat, or any
other crop. One bushel sows an acre of land well, which is but a fourth of the expense
of seed-barley." Its principal value is not so much in the crop as in the great good it
does the land by shading it from the heat of the sun. When the wheat fallow can be
perfectly cleaned before the middle of June, it is far better to sow the ground with buck-
wheat than let it be bare ; the wheat crop, whether the dung be laid on before or after
the buck- wheat, will be one third better than without it. {J. M.)
6112, There are different species in cultivation, and P. tataricum {fig. 807. a.) is said by some to be nearly
as productive as P. Fagop^rum. Von Thaer,
however, is of a different opinion. In Nipal
P. eraarginktum (6) is cultivated. According
to M. Decandolle, the farmers of Piedmont,
especially in the valley of Lucerne, chiefly
employ the P. tataricum ; because it ripens
more quickly, and is therefore less likely to
suffer from cold summers, or from being sown
on the sides of the mountains. The Pied-
montese distinguish the P. Fagop^rum by the
name of " Formentine de Savoie," and the
P. tataricum by that of " granette," and
" Formentine de Luzerne" I'he principal
objection to the latter is, that its flowers ex-
pand irregularly and unequally, and that the
flour is blackish and rather bitter. The P.
Fagop^rum is, however, cultivated in the
richest parts of Europe as a food for domestic
fowls or other birds, rather than for the use
of man. Cakes made of the flour of this spe-
cies, we are told by Thunberg, round, coloured,
and baked, are sold in every inn in Japan.
Loureiro states, that P. odoratum is cuU
tivated throughout the kingdom of Cochin
China, as an excellent vegetable for eating
with broiled meat and fish. [Bot. Beg.)
6113. In the culture of the buck-
wheat the soil may be prepared in dif-
ferent ways, according to the intention
of the future crop ; and for this there is time till the end of May, if seed is the object,
and till June if it is to be ploughed in. It will grow on any soil, but will only produce
a good crop on one that is tolerably rich. It is considered one of the best crops to sow
along with grass seed ; and yet (however inconsistent) Artliur Young endeavours
to prove that buck-wheat, from the closeness of its growth at the top, smothers and
destroys weeds, whilst clover and grass-seeds receive considerable benefit by the shade
it affords them from the piercing heat of the sun ! I
6114. The season of sowing cannot be considered earlier than the last week of April
or first of May, as the young plants are very apt to be destroyed by frost. The mode is
always broad-cast, and the quantity of seed a bushel per acre ; it is harrowed in, and
requires no other culture than pulling out the larger weeds, and guarding from birds
till the reaping season.
6115. Buck-wheat is harvested by mowang in the manner of barley. After it is
mown, it must lie several days, till the stalks are withered, before it is housed. It is in
no danger of the seeds falling, nor does it suffer much by wet. From its great suc-
culency it is liable to heat, on which account it is better to put it in small stacks of five
or six loads each, than in either a large one or a barn.
6116. The produce of the grain of this plant, though it has been known to yield seven
quarters an acre, may be stated upon the average at between three and four ; it would
be considerably more did all the grains ripen together, but that never appears to be the
case, as some parts of the same plant will be in flower, whilst others have perfected
their seed.
6117. The use of the grain of buck-wheat in this country is almost entirely for feeding
poultry, pigeons, and swine. It may also be given to horses, which are said to thrive
well on it ; but the author of The New Farmers Calendar says, he thinks he has seen it
produce a stupefying effect.
6118. It has been used in the distillery in England ; and it is a good deal used in that way, and also as
horse-corn, on the Continent. Young says, a bushel goes farther than two bushels of oats ; and mixed
with at least four times as much bran, will be full feed for any horse for a week. Four bushels of the meal,
put up at 4cwt. will fatten a hog of sixteen or twenty stone in three weeks, giving him afterwards three
bushels of Indian corn or hog-peas broken in a mill, with plenty of water. Eight bushels of buck-wheat
meal will go as far as twelve bushels of barley meal.
til 19. The meat of buck wheat is made into thin cakes called crumpits in Italy, and even in some parts of
England ; and it is supposed to be nutritious, and not apt to turn acid upon the stomach. {Withering.)
6120. The blossoms of this plant afford a rich repast to bees, both from the quantity of honey they con-
tain, and from their long duration. On this account it is much prized in France and Germany, and
Du Hamel advises bee farmers to carry their hives to fields of this crop in the autumn, as well as to heath
lands.
3 () 4
936 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Pakt III.
6121. The haulm of buck-wheat is said to be more nourishing than clover when cut while in flower.
Banister says, it has a peculiar inebriating quality. He has seen hogs, after having fed heartily on it,
come home in such a state of intoxication as to be unable to walk without reeling. The dried haulm is
not eaten readily by any description of animal, and affords but very little manure. On the whole, the
crop is of most value when ploughed in green for the latter purpose.
6122. As a seed crop, the author of The New Farmer's Calendar seems justified in
saying, it is only valuable on land that will grow nothing else.
SuBSECT. 3. Tobacco. — Nicotmna. L. ; Peyitandria Monogynia Li., and Solanets J. Le
Tabac, Fr. ; der TahaJc, Get. i Tababbo,1i^. ; Tabaco, Span. ; and Petum or Petunie,
Brasil. ■' '•<•";*.-'■• "'■'>>;-- O-
6123. The species cultivated are annuals, natives of Mexico, or other parts of America,
and, according to some, of both hemispheres. It was brought to Europe early in the
sixteenth century, after the discovery of America by Columbus, probably about 1519;
from Portugal to France about 1560, by John Nicot, after whom the plant is named;
and to England, according to Lobel, about 1 570 ; according to Hume by Ralph Lane,
in 1586, from the island of Tobacco in the Gulf of Mexico, whence the popular name.
6124. The custom of smoking is of unknown antiquity in Asia, Persia, and other eastern countries ;
but whether the plant used was tobacco is very doubtful. The natives of Mexico, in the present day, not
only use it as an article of luxury, but as a remedy for all diseases, and, when provisions fail them, for
allaying the pains of hunger and thirst. The use of smoking was introduced to England by Capt. Lane,
who had learned the custom in Virginia, in 1586. He brought home with him several pipes and taught
the custom to Sir Walter Ralegh, who soon acquired a taste for it, and began to teach it to his friends.
He gave, we are told, " smoking parties" at his house at Islington, when the guests were treated with
nothing but a pipe and a mug of ale and nutmeg. {Bio^. Brit.) Down to the time of Elizabeth, it was not
uncommon for ladies to smoke. During the reign of James her successor, most of the princes of Europe
violently opposed its use. James of England wrote a book against it ; the Grand Duke of Moscow forbade
its entrance into his territory under pain of the knout for the first offence, and death for the next. The
emperor of the Turks, the king of Persia, and pope Urban VIII., issued similar prohibitions, all of which
were as ridiculous as those which attended the introduction of coffee, or Jesuit's bark. At present, all
the sovereigns of Europe, and most of those of other parts of the world, derive a considerable part of their
revenue from tobacco.
6125. The cultivation of tobacco on the Continent was not attempted, except in gardens, till the beginning
of the seventeenth century. Under Louis XIII. and XIV., its cultivation was allowed in certain pro-
vincea of France ; and about the same time it was introduced as an article of cottage or spade culture, in
Holland, Germany, and part of Sweden. It also spread into Switzerland and Italy, and to various coun-
tries of the East. It is at present cultivated in almost every country of the world, but for commercial
purposes chiefly on the Continent and islands of North America, and more especially in Virginia, Cuba,
and St Domingo. In no other parts of the world is it so well manufactured for the purpose of smoking
as in Havanna.
6126. Tn England the practice of planting and growing tobacco began to creep in in the time of
Charles II. ; and an act was passed fixing a penalty of 10/. for every rood of land so cultivated, but making
it lawful, however, to grow small quantities, not exceeding half a pole, " in a physic or university garden,
or in any private garden for physic or chirurgery." This act and others were confirmed by different acts
during the reign of Geo. III. Notwithstanding this act, however, tobacco was much cultivated a few
years prior to 1782, in the vales of York and Ryedale. In the latter district it did not excite the notice of
regal authority; and was cured and manufactured by a man who had formerly been employed upon the
tobacco plantations in America ; who not only cured it properly, but gave it the proper cut, and finally
prepared it for the pipe. But in the vale of York the cultivators of it met with less favourable circum.
stances. Their tobacco was publicly burnt, and themselves severely fined and imprisoned. Penalties, it
was said, were paid to the amount of 30,000/. This was enough to put a stop to the illegal cultivation of
tobacco. But, perhaps rather unfortunately, it has likewise put a stop to the cultivation of that limited
quantity of half a rood, which the law allows to be planted for the purpose of physic and chirurgery, or
destroying insects.
6127. In Scotland, about the same time, tobacco was cultivated in various parts, more especially in the
neighbourhood of Kelso and Jedburgh. Its produce was so great, that thirteen acres at Crailing fetched
104/., at the low rate of 4rf. per lb. (being 480 lbs. per acre), and would have brought more than three times
as much, had not an act of parliament obliged the cultivator to dispose of it to government at that price.
{County Reports.)
6128. In Ireland, tobacco was introduced into the county of Cork, with the potato, by Sir Walter
Ralegh ; but the culture of the former does not appear to have made much progress, though, according
to Humboldt, it preceded that of the potato in Europe more than one hundred and twenty years, having
been extensively cultivated in Portugal at the time that Sir Walter Ralegh brought it from Virginia to
England in 1586. A writer in 1725, quoted by Brodigan, says, I have not heard that a rood of tobacco was
ever planted in this kingdom. An act of George III. repealed several preceding acts, that prohibited the
growth and produce of tobacco in Ireland; and this is the foundation on which Ireland now rests her
claim to that branch of culture. Until the year 1828, Brodigan observes, the culture was limited ; but in
that year there were one hundred and thirty acres under tobacco; and in 1829, one thousand acres in
Wexford alone. " It has been partially cultivated in the adjoining counties of Carlow, Waterford, and
Kilkenny, and in other places. In the province of Connaught an experiment was made in the vicinity of
Westport. It has been grown in one or two instances near Dublin ; in the northern section of the king,
dom two or three trials have taken place on a small scale ;" and Mr. Brodigan, the author of the treatise
from which we quote, has cultivated several acres in the neighbourhood of X)rogheda, preparing the soil
by horse labour as for turnips.
6129. The restrictive si/ste?n will probably, at no distant time, be removed from tobacco, and from every
other crop; but that tobacco ever will enter into the general course of crops of the British farmer, we do
not think likely ; because, when trade in this, as in every thing else, is once made free, the tobacco of
warmer climates will unquestionably be preferred to that of the British isles. At present there is a
number of gentlemen in the House of Commons who use tobacco ; but should its use become unfashion-
able among the higher classes, we should not be surprised to see an attempt made to lay such a tax on the
foreign commodity as would give the landed interest a monopoly of an inferior article, which would thus
be forced by the rich on the poor. We trust, however, to the growing political sense of the country, to the
force of opinion, in short, to the press, to avert such an evil. In the mean time, we ardently desire to see
the culture of tobacco permitted and successfully attempted in Ireland, in order to aid in employing the
population of that country ; and we should wish also to see every cottager in the three kingdoms growing
his half rood, which the law permits, and which, at a moderate calculation, ought to produce 4 lbs. of
tobacco for his own smoking or snuff, or for selling to his neighbours. For this purpose we shall enter
into the culture of tobacco at greater length than might otherwise be advisable.
Book VI.
TOBACCO.
9ti7
803
6130. The annual species of tobacco, like the annual species of almost all dicotyledonous
plants, may be grown in every country and climate ; because every country has a sum-
mer, and that is the season of life for annual
plants. In hot, dry, and short summers, like
those of the north of Russia and Sweden, to-
bacco plants will not attain a large size, but the
tobacco produced will be of delicate quality
and good flavour : in long, moist, and not
very warm summers, such as those of Ireland,
the plants will attain a very large size, per-
haps as much so as in Virginia, but the to-
bacco produced will not have that superior
flavour, which can only be given by abiuidance
of clear sunshine, and free dry air. By a skilful
manufacture, and probably by mixing the to-
bacco of cold countries with that of hot coun-
tries, by using different species, and perhaps by
selecting particular varieties of the Virginian
species, the defects in flavour arising from cli-
mate may, it is likely, be greatly remedied.
6131. Species and varieties. The species almost every
where cultivated in America is the N. Tabucum
{fig. 808.), or Virginian tobacco, of which there is a
variety or sub-species known as N. macrophylla, but
of which we have never seen any plants. N. r6stica
{fig. 809.), the common green tobacco [fuusse tabac of the French, and Bauern Tubac of the Germans),
i ;, o -)Q '^ very generally cultivated almost to the exclusion of the
"* — ^^"^ other species in the north of Germany, Russia, and Sweden,
where almost every cottager grows his own tobacco for
smoking. It also seems to be the principal sort grown in
Ireland. There is a variety of it cultivated in Wexford,
erroneously denominated Oronooko, and another commonly
called negro-head. Both are very hardy and very pro-
ductive, but the produce is not of a very good flavour.
There are other species grown in America; the best Ha-
vannah cigars are said to be made from the leaves of N. re-
panda [fig.d-lO. a], a species introduced to this country from
Havannah so late as 1823. The Indians of the Rocky Moun-
tains of North America are said to prepare their tobacco
from N. quadriv&lvis [fig. 810. 6), introduced in 1811, and
N. mkna. {fig. 810. c) introduced in 1823. These species are all
annuals, and the last requires the protection of a green-house
to make it ripen its seeds. There are several very distinct
varieties, if not species, cultivated in the Caraccas, of which
some account by Mr. Fanning, proprietor of the Botanic
Garden of the Caraccas, will be found in the Gardener's
Magazine, vol. vi. p. 327. There are also some other annual
species, and some species of the genus PetvinJa which
is nearly allied to the tiicotiana, the leaves of which
might be manufactured into very good tobacco. There
can be little doubt that the N. Tabacuttt, the seeds of
which may be purchased in every seed-shop, is alone de-
serving the attention of the British cultivator, as a first
experiment.
6132. Soil. In a strict sense, the native soil of the tobacco is unknown in this
country ; by which we mean the primitive earths or rocks to which it belongs. We
are inclined to attribute it to alluvium and sand-stone rather than to clay or lime. In
938 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
Virginia the best tobacco is grown in a rich loamy, but rather light soil, which has
been newly taken into cultivation. In Alsace, where we have seen stronger tobacco of
the Virginian kind than in any other part of France or in Germany, the soil is a brown
loam, rather light than heavy, such as would grow excellent potatoes and turnips, and
which has been for an unknown period under the plough. Wherever potatoes or turnips
may be cultivated, there we think tobacco may be grown.
6133. Climate. As it is beyond a doubt that the best tobacco is produced in countries
within the tropics, it is evident that it cannot be worth culture in Britain in situations
not naturally mild or warm. Tobacco can never be worth growing in situations much
above the level of the sea, nor on wet springy soils or northern exposures.
6134. Culture. We shall notice in succession the practice in the West Indies, Vir-
ginia, and Maryland, in Alsatia, in Holland, in the South of France, and in Ireland,
as lately practised by Mr. Brodigan, and suggest what we think the best mode. We
shall draw our information chiefly from a valuable article in the Nouveau Cours Complet
(T Agriculture, edition 1823, and from the treatise of T. Brodigan, Esq., 1830 ; looking into
Carver's Treatise on the Tobacco Plant, 1779; Tatham's Histoncal and Practical Essay,
1800; Jennings's Practical Treatise, 1830; and our own notes of 1813-15, 18, 19, and
1828, on Sweden, Germany, and France.
6135. Culture in the West Indies. In the island of Tortuga, the tobacco seeds are sown in beds twelve
feet square, and transplanted into the fields when about the size of young lettuces, in rows three feet apart,
and the plants three feet distant in the row. The soil is hoed and kept clear of weeds, and the plant
stopped when about a foot and a half high. The buds which push from the axilljE of the leaves are taken
out with the finger and thumb, in order to throw the whole force of the plant into the leaves. When the
edges and points of the leaves begin to get a little yellow, the stalks are cut over by the surface when the
leaves are wholly freed from dew ; they are then carried into a close house, so close as to shut out all air,
and hung upon lines tied across for the purpose of drying. When the stalks begin to turn brownish, they
are taken off the lines and put into a large bin or chest, and heavy weights laid on them for twelve days.
They are then taken out, and the leaves stripped from the stalks, again put into the bin, and again well
pressed, and complelely excluded from air for a month. They are now taken out and tied into bundles,
of about sixty leaves in each, which bundles are kept completely excluded from the air in a box or chest
till wanted for disposal to the manufacturer. {Dr. Barham, a contemporary of Sir Hans Sloan, in
Jamaica, as quoted by Brodigan, p. 121.) The species to which the above account refers, is, in all proba-
bility, the N. repanda.
6136. Culture in Virginia and Maryland. New soil of a medium quality is preferred : the seeds are
mixed with six times their bulk of wood-ashes or sand, sown on beds of finely prepared earth, as early in
spring as possible, and covered with straw, branches, or boards at nights when any danger is apprehended
from frosts ; they are of course kept clear of weeds. The field intended for the plants is in the mean time
well laboured with the plough ; it is laid into ridglets three feet wide, and along the centre of each a
row of plants is placed by means of a line marked with knots, at three feet apart ; the plants of the one
row alternating with tlie intervals of the other ; so that when the field is completed, the whole stand in
quincunx. The plants are taken from the seed-bed to the field when they have five or six leaves exclu-
sive of the seed leaf; but they maybe transplanted with fewer or more leaves in moist or cloudy weather.
They are taken up carefully, raising the earth under them with a spade, and carrying them to the field in
a basket, and they are planted with dibbers an inch in diameter and fifteen inches long. They are
inserted as deep as the seed leaf, but no deeper. In a month afterwards they will have grown a foot in
height, and will require to be hoed and weeded. When they have attained the height of two feet, the
summit of each plant is pinched out, and the lower small leaves, and any others dirtied or injured by
insects, picked off! From eight to twelve good leaves may now remain on each plant. The remaining
part of the culture consists chiefly in removing weeds or insects, and in pinching out the buds which
appear in the joints or axillae of the leaves. From the time that the tops of the plants are pinched of!', till
that when the crop is fit to be gathered, is generally about five or six weeks. During this time the plants
are looked over two or three times every week, for the purpose of pinching off the lateral buds, so as to
confine the entire effort of vegetation to the nourishing of the eight or twelve leaves. When the leaves
begin to change colour, droop at the extremities, begin to smell rather more strongly, to become furrowed,
rougher to the touch, and easily broken when bent, the plants are cut over by the surface when the dew-
is completely removed from them. Some cut them an inch under the surface, and others an inch above
it. Each plant is left on the spot where it is cut for one day, and turned in the course of that day three or
four times, to expose every part equally to get dried by the heat of the sun. Sometimes the plants are
gathered into heaps, and remain on the field during thenight in order to be spread out again the next day ;
but more generally they are collected together before the dew begins to fall, and put into a bin covered with
boards on which stones are laid, and left in that situation, excluded from the air, for three or four days to
ferment. Afterwards they are taken out, two and two tied together at the root end of the stem, or the same
effect produced by running a peg through them, then hung across lines or cross-beams, and thus dried in open
sheds. After the plants have been completely dried, they are taken down from the cords, poles, or beams,
to which they have been attached, in a moist day ; because if they were to be handled in a very dry day, the
leaves would fall to pieces, or crumble into powder. They are now spread on hurdles in heaps, and covered
with mats for a week or two to sweat : during this time the heap is frequently examined and turned, in
order that every part may be equally heated and fermented, and no part burnt. This is said to be the
most difficult part of the preparation, as it unquestionably is of the art of making hay ; experience alone
can teach its attainment. The fermentation being completed, the leaves are separated from the stems,
the latter thrown away, and the former separated into three classes, bottom leaves, top leaves, and middle
leaves. These leaves are now dried under cover, and tied together in bundles often or twelve, which are
called manoques or hands ; these are packed in regular layers into casks or boxes, and compressed so as to
exclude all air by means of a round board of the same diameter as the interior of the cask, and which is
every now and then put in and pressed down by means of a lever, which communicates a pressure of be-
tween 3000 and 4000 pounds. This manner of close packing is essential for the preservation of the tobacco.
The operation is always performed when the air is humid, because, as before observed, dried tobacco is
extremely brittle. Good tobacco thus prepared no longer ferments, except very slightly in the succeedmg
spring or summer, and which is found to be an advantage. The finest tobacco is ^rown in the west of
"Virginia and Maryland, near the Alleghany Mountains, where the temperature, during its growing season, is
between 60O and 70°. {N. Cours Complet d'Agr. 8fc.) The species in this case is unquestionably N. Tahhcum,
6137. Culture of the tobacco in Holland. The species is chiefly N. Tabacum, but sometimes N. rustica.
The culture is carried to a considerable extent, especially in the provinces of Guelders and Utrecht. The
seed is sown in hotbeds, ten feet broad, and of any convenient length ; the depth of the dung of the bed is
two feet, and the frame which is placed on it is sometimes covered with sashes, but more commonly with
mats only during nights. The plants arc transplanted into fields which receive a sort of garden culture.
Book VI. TOBACCO. 939
The surface is laid out into beds or ridglets two feet and a half wide, with alleys between of nine inches
or a foot. The beds are raised two feet above the alleys, and are composed of alternate layers of rich soil
and dung rotten almost to mould. The direction of the bed is north and south, and on each two rows of
plants are inserted at eighteen inches' distance between the rows, and at the same between plant and plant ;
the plants of one row alternating with the interstices of the others. The summer culture is the same as
in Virginia, but the gathering of the crop is differently performed. When the leaves have shown the
usual symptoms of maturity, the lowest, or those of the third quality, and the middle leaves, or those of
the second quality, are stripped off and kept separate, and from four to six at top left on for some time
longer. The leaves stripped off are separately dried, and in the mean time the plants watched, and every
sucker or bud which makes its appearance pinched off. The top leaves, or those of the first quality, are
gatheredwhen ready ; and all the remaining parts of the process with the three qualities is exactly the same
as in Virginia. {Ibid.)
()138. Culture in Alsatia, and generally in the north and west of France and south of Germany. The
seed, chiefly of N. Tabacimi, is sown in March, or even earlier, in beds of line mould in a garden, covered
at night, and till it comes up, during day also, with straw mats. When it begins to come up, these are
removed by nine o'clock in the morning, and put on again when the sun goes down. After the plants
have produced their seed leaves, the straw mats are supported by hoops or rods, so as not to injure the
plants. About the end of April, the plants will be found to have attained from two to four leaves, ex-
clusive of their seed leaves; and from this time to the middle of June is considered the season for trans-
planting them into the fields. The best crops, other circumstances the same, are obtained from plants
transplanted before the middle of May. Both in Holland and Alsatia, sheep's dung is found the best
manure for the tobacco. The ground is made as fine as possible, not laid into ridges unless wet, and the
plants are planted in rows, generally two feet and a half apart, and the plants alternating at the same dis-
tance in the row. Much of the value of the crop depends on the dryness and warmth of the summer, a
good wine year being invariably a good tobacco year. In cold wet seasons many of the lower leaves be-
come rusty or spotted ; and though these do not always appear before the second fermentation, yet they
ultimately become obvious by changing into holes after the last drying ; their inferiority then becomes
obvious to the purchaser. The top leaves alone are those used for manufacturing into snuff, and they
bring much the highest price. These leaves generally remain on the plant till the twentieth of August;
but the lower leaves are commonly gathered by the fifteenth of July. The tops of the plants are not
generally pinched off till about the beginning of August, and they continue gathering leaves from that
time till they are interrupted by white frost. Every eight days after the operation of topping, the side
buds are pinched off After the leaves are gathered, they are tied on the spot in bundles according to
their qualities ; and when they are taken to the drying shed, they are again separated and picked, and all
those of one quality threaded together on lines, leaving a space about the width of a finger between each
leaf The lines thus charged with leaves are stretched from one side to the other of the drying shed, or
lengthwise under the eaves of cottage roofs, which are made to project from one foot to three feet for the
purpose of drying tobacco and maize. The more extensive growers have large sheds or barns on purpose,
and these are always constructed with openings on all sides, so as to admit of the most perfect ventilation.
When the air does not circulate freely among the leaves, instead of drying yellow they dry green or
black, lose their grateful odour, and the midribs become rotten, and the whole leaf falls to pieces.
Leaves which on the plant were most exposed to the sun and dews, such as the top leaves, always dry to
the finest yellows. The leaves remain in the drying sheds till the weather has become decidedly cold in
November or December, though some of the leaves of inferior qualities are frequently purchased for the
manufacture of smoking tobacco in the month of October. But these must be immediately manufactured,
otherwise when lying together they contract a bad smell. The threads of leaves being ready to take
down, the leaves are not taken off the threads, but they are laid down in a humid mild day on a dry airy
floor, one above another to the depth of from fourteen inches to half a foot. Here they lie for some
time, being examined occasionally to see that they are not heating ; if they heat, they are immediately
hung up again ; if they do not, they remain in that position till wanted by the manufacturer. Often,
indeed, they are manufactured as soon as properly dried on the strings. (Ibid.)
6139. The culture of tobacco in the south of France is not materially different from what it is on the
south banks of the Rhine. The tobacco of the south of France is naturally of a better quality ; but the
care taken of it by the cultivators, especially in the drying and fermenting, being less than in less favour-
able climates, the quality becomes reduced, so that the tobacco of Alsace is preferred to that of Garonne.
The plants are cut over with all their leaves on as in Virginia, and they are hung up to dry in pairs across
strings or beams. Being thoroughly dried, the leaves are separated, tied up in hands, and laid in heaps to
ferment. These heaps are placed on boarded floors raised three or four inches above the surface of the
soil; they are made two feet broad and two feet high, the width requiring exactly two hands, half of the
one hand overlapping half of the other, and the ends or footstalks of the leaves of both being outwards.
This operation is commonly performed between the fifteenth of November and the fifteenth of January,
and the tobacco remains in that state till it is purchased by the manufacturer. 'I'he manufacturer having
agreed for the price, makes up the hands into round balls of three or four hundred pounds weight ; takes
these home, unrolls them, separates the leaves, classes them according to their quahties, and finally puts
them in hogsheads, packing them closely by means of presses. In these hogsheads the tobacco remains
till taken out to be made into snuff, cigars, or common smoking tobacco.
6140. The culture qf tobacco in Ireland, as practised by Brodigan in Meath, is thus given. Hotbeds like
those made for cucumbers are to be prepared in March, and the seeds, Mr. Brodigan does not seem to have
known what species he cultivated, sown any time from the fifteenth of that month to the first of April
In the beginning of May the plants may be hardened by exposure to the air, and by the fifteenth or twen-
tieth of that month they may be transplanted into the open field without injury. Forty thousand plants fit
for transplanting may be raised on an area of one hundred square feet. According to Carver, a square
yard will rear about five hundred plants, and allow proper space for their nurture till they are fit for
transplanting. The field was prepared in every respect the same as for turnips; the drills or ridglets
were eighteen inches apart, and the manure, of which a good supply was given, buried in the centre of
each ridglet. The plants were put in with spades, at eighteen inches apart, along the centre of the
ridglet, and afterwards watered. «' The planters were followed by women, with their aprons full of long
grass, with which they covered each plant, and confined it by placing a stone or lump of earth at both
ends ; this covering is indispensable, unless the weather prove wet and cloudy. Such is the extreme deli-
cacy of the plant, that it will not bear the heat of the sun, until it has so far set in the soil as to be able to
supply the loss by evaporation. This will not be for some days, during which time the cover cannot be
safely removed, and watering, to the extent of a pint a plant, may be daily used. Some of the respectable
planters m the county of Wexford have used pots as a covering for the plants, of which some thousands
will be necessary. Others have used large oyster shells, cabbage, or dock leaves. I tried all these methods,
and experience has satisfied me that the mode I practised has decided advantages. It protects the plant
sufficiently against the sun, and the water passes freely through it : whereas where pots or leaves are used,
they must be removed to admit water, and in case of rain the plants receive little or no benefit from it.
1 he operation of planting may be continued until the twentieth of June, but the earlier the better after
the frosts have passed away. In America and France, 1 found, that four months were generally considered
as necessary for the nutrition of the plants ; and that time in this climate cannot be allowed, unless they
are put down early." (p. 160.)
6141. The summer management qf tobacco,hy Mr. Brodigan, consisted in loosening the soil about the
plants, removing the weeds, watering " for weeks together," taking off the decayed leaves at bottom, top-
ping when the plant has from nine to fourteen good leaves, and removing the side buds as they appear.
940 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
■■iW - ■•
6142. The curing process, by Mr. Brodigan, is as follows : —About the middle of August, the plants having
gttained their full size, four or five of the bottom leaves of each plant are taken off, " suffered to lie on the
around for some time ; and when they lose their brittleness, and can be safely handled, they are carried
home to a barn, and tliere put in a heap for fermentation. The heap is turned, placing that in the centre
which was before in the bottom or exterior, and the temperature is not allowed to exceed 100° or 110°.
After remaining two or three days in this heap, the leaves are spread out and cooled, and strung by the
midrib on lines of packthread ; they are then hung up in an airy shady place, roofed in. When the
leaves thus suspended have acquired an auburn colour, they are fit for a second fermentation. " A
quantity of hay must be placed between the tobacco and the ground, and the heap may be made of an
oblong or conic figure, the eud of the stems being placed inwards. The heap being made, it is to be sur-
rounded with hay, blankets, or other close covering. The period for this fermentation will depend upon
the state of the weather, and the dryness and size of the leaves. In four or five days I generally found
the heat suflSciently high to penetrate and reduce the stems, and when that is accomplished the heap is to
be cooled by spreading it out to dry. In reducing very strong tobacco, I found it necessary to permit the
heat to ascend to 126o. In 60 hours I found the heat had attained lUP, and in 72 hours, 1260 ; but the
general range of the second fermentation was from 120° to 125° Fahrenheit. In some cases I had to resort
to a third fermentation of the same tobacco, but the heat did not rise beyond 90°. Upon this important
point of fermentation, or sweating the tobacco, 1 have given the result of my practice. For greater accu-
racy, and the benefit of the inexperienced, I have given it from a thermometer ; but, at the same time, the
hand and feeling of a practised overseer can direct the process. As soon as the tobacco has been perfectly
dried, by exposure to the sun and the weather, it is still necessary to dry any remaining moisture in the
midribs, for which purpose they must be packed so as to be outside, that the air may have its influence
upon them. When they are perfectly dry and hard, the tobacco may be considered as fit for use, although
it will po.ssess more or less of crudeness until the month of March following. To correct this crudity, or
any acrimony that may exist, different preparations are used in different countries. In Brazil the leaves
are steeped in a decoction of tobacco and gum copal. In Virginia, I understood, they sprinkle the tobacco,
in the packing process, with diluted rum and molasses ; and in Ireland they sprinkle, in the packing pro-
cess, with a decoction of the green tobacco stems, or a decoction of hay, with a small portion of molasses :
the effect of this innocent application is to soften and improve the flavour, darken the colour of the to-
bacco, and render it, in appearance, a more merchantable commoility. The next and last operation is to
tie the leaves in hands, and pack them in bales or portable packages." (p. 166.)
6143. Improvements in the curing process. Some of Mr. Brodigan's tobacco, he informs us, only wanted
age to be as good as Virginia, 'i'obacco improves by a sea voyage, as it undergoes a certain degree of fer-
mentation in the hogsheads in the spring or summer months. Drying houses heated by flues or steam, as
now erected in America, he tliinks would be an improvement in Ireland. Captain Basil Hall visited a
tobacco plantation on James River, and found the house in which the hands were hung up with fires of
wood made upon the earthen floor. The flavour of the wood burnt in this way, Mr. Brodigan states, is
now strongly perceptible in the tobacco of late years imported from America.
6144. As suggestions derived from considering what we have read and observed on the
subject of cultivating and curing tobacco, we submit the following.
6145. Where a farmer, who thoroughly understands and successfully practises the Northumberland
mode of cultivating turnips, intends growing tobacco as a field crop, we would recommend him to prepare
the soil exactly as for Swedish turnips, give a double dose of well rotted manure, mix the seed with fifty
times its bulk of sand or bone dust, and sow with Common's turnip drill, usually called P'rench's, about
the middle of May. When the plants come up, they may be thinned out as turnips are, to sixteen or
eighteen inches apart, and topped in the beginning of August The rest of the process may be conducted
as in Alsace, drying, however, in a barn or house heated by an iron stove. A cottager, or spade cultivator,
may find it worth his while to sow in a hotbed or in a flower pot, and transplant : he may dry his leaves
the first time under the eaves of his cottage, and the second time in his garret ; or if the quantity is small
for home use, in his kitchen. For his tobacco liquor, or sauce, he may grow a score or two of poppy plants,
collect the opium from them, and mix this with whisky or spirit of any kind, in which abundance of
peach leaves, or a few leaves of Laurus nobilis, or one or two of the common laurel, have been infused,
adding water and salt as directed above. A gardener, where there are hothouses and hothouse sheds,
may dry and ferment in them ; and indeed with such opportunities, and seeds of N. repandum, he ought
to grow better tobacco than any person whatever not in Virginia or the West Indies.
6146. Produce. According to Morse {American Geography), " An industrious person
in Maryland can manage 6000 plants, which, at a yard to each plant, cover considerably
more than an English acre of ground: — the produce of these 6000 plants is 1000 lbs.
of tobacco. * A hogshead,' says Warden, ' weighing 1350 lbs., is considered a good crop,
and sufficient employment for one labourer. In general four plants will yield a pound,
though very rich land will yield double the quantity. On the fresh, rich lands of Kentucky,
from 1000 to 1500 lbs. are raised per acre.' " (Brodigan, p. 189.) The leaves of four
plants in Virginia make one pound of tobacco. According to Brodigan, the average
produce in the county of Wexford is 1200 lbs, per English acre. In Meath, he has
had 1680 lbs. per English acre. The money cost of production he estimates at 1 8A where
the land is prepared by horse labour, and 30/. where it is prepared by manual labour, per
English acre. The produce, at 16/. 8s. per hogshead of 1350 lbs., barely pays the expense.
• 6147. To save seed. Allow a few of the strongest plants to produce their flowers ; they
^ill have a fine appearance in July and August, and in a favourable season each plant
will ripen as much seed in September as will sow a quarter of an acre by the drill
system of culture, or stock half a dozen acres by transplanting.
,, 6148. The value of tobacco as an agricultural crop is much diminished, from the cir-
»«umstance of its producing no manure.
"f'"6149. " The arguments of the immortal Jefferson against the culture of tobacco, and in favour of wheat,
have their weight in Virginia, where manure is not to be procured in proportion to the demand, and where
the produce of that state has to enter into competition with that of the fresh lands of the western country.
It is perfectly true, that where tobacco is generally cultivated, his picture of wretchedness is realised. It is
the same in France, in the wine districts, where the people, from the want of corn, and the hogs, poultry,
and other essential comforts it produces, are the most wretched of any in that country. It is with tobacco
in America as with sugar in the West Indies, both are cultivated from their relative advantages over
other crops. Sugar is more profitable than tobacco in the West Indies, although the tobacco grown there
is of superior quality, and tobacco is preferred in America to wheat, where the soil and climate admit its
cultivation. In some situations it is grown as a matter of necessity : such is the richness of their alluvial
and fresh lands, that wheat cannot be produced until that excess of fertility is reduced by a coarse of
Book VI. TOBACCO. 941
tobacco, maize, or hemp." {Brodigan, p. 84.) The farmers of Virginia, as the immortal Jefferson pre-
dicted {Hist, of Virginia), have now ascertained that it is l)etter to raise wheat at one dollar a bushel than
tobacco at eight dollars per hundred weight. [Ibid. p. 127.) As a source of labour, Mr. Brodigan thinks
the culture and cure of tobacco a desirable employment for the rural population of Ireland. Its great
advantage is that it affords employment for those intervals when the labouring poor are at present destitute
of occupation. " The cultivation of a potato crop is of vital importance to the Irish peasant ; but as soon
as that crop is planted, there is a long interval of idleness and distress. The stock of potatoes is then
generally exhausted or unfit for use, and the summer months are the most pinching times with the poor.
The planting of tobacco may be may be said to commence when the other is furnished ; and the field
management occupies the interval until the corn-harvest. Again, between the corn-harvest and the taking
up of the potatoes there is another interval of idleness, and that is occupied in the curing of the tobacco."
{Brodigan, p. 178.) As a cleaning crop and a preparation for wheat, it must be at least equal to the potato.
6150. The analysis of the tobacco stalk is given by Mr. Brodigan on the authority of
Mr. Davy of Dublin. The object was to ascertain whether the stalks contained any
quantity of the tannin principle, of alkali, or of any useful vegetable substance.
Gl.^l. The presence of the tannin principle could not be detected ; and the alkali afforded was not very
considerable. One thousand parts of the stalks yielded fifty-eight of ashes, which afforded three parts and
a quarter of alkali, mostly potash. The stalks contain nearly one tenth of their weight of tobacco ; and
where tobacco is employed either in fumigating or in making decoctions for the destruction of insects, it
may be useful to know, that ten parts of the stalk will always produce effects equal to one part of the leaves.
6152. Diseases and enemies. " In Virginia, the diseases and injuries to which tobacco
is liable, are, in the language of the planter, v/orm-holes, ripe-shot or sun-burnt, moon-
burnt, house-burnt, stunted by growth, torn by storms of hail or wind, injured or killed
by frost. In Ireland we are exempt from those damages, except what may arise from
heavy gales, which, in exposed situations, lacerate and break off the leaves ; or an early
frost, which is seldom injurious before Michaelmas, at which time, if the planter be care-
ful, he can have his tobacco off the ground." (Brodigan, p. 197.)
6153. The same writer, however, enumerates the enemies of the tobacco in Ireland, as " the red or ring
worm, which is so destructive in some situations to wheat and corn crops, the grub, slug, caterpillar, and
the tobacco-worm. Where the first two predominate in the soil, it is better not to plant tobacco ; for there
is no effectual mode of arresting their ravages. A correspondent in the county of Wexford has informed
me, that two gentlemen in his neighbourhood attempted the planting of si.K acres of tobacco this last
season, and the plants were no sooner put down than they were cut off by the red worm ; they planted again,
and the same fate attended them ; they planted a third time, and they were a third time destroyed. Thus all
their labour and expense were lost ; and in the month of July, they sowed the ground with turnips. The
grub, or rook-worm as it is called, marches from plant to plant beneath the soil, secure from observation ;
he attacks the roots of the plants when grown to a considerable height, and thus prostrates a whole fiekl
Where numerous, it is in vain that you seek for the enemy ;- but as soon as the plant appears sickly, it is
advisable to pull it up, and you are likely to meet a pair of grub.s, as they are companionable travellers.
The other enemies are visible, and not so destructive. The slug attacks the young plants in the seed-bed
and in the field, and devours the young leaves: he will also cut the leaves of the tobacco in every stage OS
its growth, which is a proof that its caustic or poisonous property does not attach to it in the green state.
The caterpillar generally appears in the warm month of July ; it is large and of a voracious aspect. As
soon as the leaves appear perforated, this enemy must be sought for, and he will be found in the day-time
in the shaded parts of the plants. The caterpillar appears to exist only in close and warm situations."
(^Brodigan, p. 161.) Limewater or cow urine effectually destroys slugs, snails, and worms, and probably
some of the sorts of caterpillars.
6154. The manufact-iire of tobacco we have slightly described in the Encyclopcedia (^
Plants- We have since had an opportunity of witnes.sing the progress of all the dif-
ferent operations carried on in preparing shag and other kinds of smoking tobacco, pig-
tail and other chewing tobacco, various snuffs, and different kinds of cigars, in one of
the most extensive manufactories in London ; and the conviction on our mind is, that
very little in the way of manufacturing can be attempted by the gardener or cottager.
That little we shall shortly describe.
6155. The tobacco, being properly fermented and cured, may be kept closely pressed and excluded from
air, in casks, till wanted ; or when the curing process is completed, smoking tobacco and snuff may be
made from it as follows : — Open out the leaves singly, and from each tear out the midrib. The midribs
are better adapted for rasping into snuff than for cutting into shag for smoking ; and being scented by
any essence, such as that of thyme, anise, lemon, or more especially by that of the root of /Vis florentina,
the orris root of the druggists, may be tied up in what are called carrots, or rolls, about eighteen or twenty
inches long, two or three inches in diameter in the middle, and half an inch at each end. They are tied
with packthread drawn as tight as possible, and the threads quite close, so as to compress the tobacco into
one solid substance, and completely to exclude the air. When snuff is wanted, unroll a part of the pack,
thread at one end, and rasp the tobacco into snuff with a file or grater. The carrot may then be laid in a
dry place till wanted for a fresh supply. The soft parts of the leaves may be treated in the same manner,
and a snuff produced which some prefer to the other. Gardeners may dry leaves of any odoriferous
fdant, such as thyme, mint, Alo^sia citriodbra, &c., and tie them up in the tobacco carrot as substitutes for
iquid scents ; and, if thought necessary, they may add a leaf or two of feratrum album to add pungency.
For cottagers, there are agrimony, wild thyme, and various other plants, which may be added. The soft
parts of the leaves, from which the midribs have been removed, may be slightly sprinkled with water,
without any admixture whatever, and twisted into a rope, about the thickness of a common straw rope.
The rope may then be coiled up in a ball, as firmly and compactly as possible, tied round in two or three
places with packthread, wrapped in paper, and placed in a dry situation, excluded from the air, till wanted
for use. When to be used for smoking, cut oft a few inches of the rope, open it out, and cut it into shreds
with a knife or chopper, so that it may resemble shag tobacco. If it is to be made into snuff, open out the
leaves, dry them over the fire or in an oven, and pound them in a mortar, adding to the powder any
scented water, or volatile odoriferous oil, at pleasure. If more snuff" is made than is wanted for immediate
use, put it in a glass bottle, and cork it closely. In manufacturing snuff various matters are added to give
it an agreeable scent, and hence its numerous varieties. The three principal kinds are rappees, Scotch,
or Spanish, and thirds. The first is only granulated, the second is reduced to a very fine powder, and the
third consists of the siftings of the second sort. The Scotch and Irish snuffs are, for the most part, made
from the midribs ; the Strasburgh, French, and Russian snuffs from the soft parts of the leaves.
6156. The process of forming cigars is very simple ; but, as it cannot be done well without much practice,
it would be of little use to offer a description. Whoever wishes to make himself master of all that is
know on the culture of tobacco in different parts of the world, and all the different modes of its raanufac
942
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
ture, may consult Cours d'Afrt-icuUure Complct, Paris, 8vo, edit. 1823, art. Tabac ; Carver's Treatise
London, 8vo, 1779; Tatham's Essay, London, 8vo, 180(); the Experienced Bremen Cigar Maker, or fun-
damental and practical instructions for making twenty-five sorts of cigars according to the latest expe-
rience, Chemnitz, Kretschmar, 1824, 8vo ; Schmidt's Tobacco Culture of the French and Dutch cmnbined
with the Mode of preparing the Plant for Use. Dresden, 8vo, 1824. Arndd. The two latter works are
in German.
SuBSECT. 4. OtJier Plants used in Domestic Economy, which are or may be cultivated in
the Fields.
6157. Many garden plants might be cultivated in the f elds, especially near large towns,
where manure is easily procured, and a demand for the produce exists. Among such
plants may be mentioned the cress, parsley, onion, leek, lettuce, radish, &c. There are
also some plants that enter into the agriculture of foreign countries where the climate is
not dissimilar to our own, which might be very effectually cultivated in this country were
it desirable. Among these is the chiccory, the roots of which are used as a substitute
for coffee. The lettuce might be grown for its milky juice, as a substitute for, or rather
a variety of opium. Of dwarf fruits, as the strawberry, currant, gooseberry, raspberry, &c.,
we add nothing here, having already alluded to them in treating of orchards.
6158. The agriculturist who attempts to grow any of the above plants can hardly expect to succeed
unless his knowledge extends beyond the mere routine of country husbandry, either by reading and the
study of the nature of vegetables, or by some experience in the practice of gardening. No farmer on
a moderately extensive scale will find it worth while to attempt such productions, whatever may be his
knowledge or resources ; and for the garden.farmer, or the curious or speculative amateur, we would
recommend observation and enquiry round the metropolis, and the reading of books on horticulture. All
that we shall do here, will be to give some explanation of the culture and management of cress and
chiccory.
6159. The garden cress (iepidium sativum L.), too well known to require any
description, is grown in the fields in Essex, the seed being in some demand in the
London market.
6160. It is sown on any sort of soil, but strong loam is the most productive. After being well pulverised
on the surface, the seed is sown broad-cast and lightly harrowed in. The season of sowing for the largest
produce is March, but it will ripen if sown the first week in May. The quantity of seed to an acre varies
from two to four pecks, according to the richness of the land ; the seed will not grow the second year. No
after-culture is required but weeding. The crop is reaped and left in handfuls to dry for a few days, and
then threshed out like rapeseed or mustard in the field.
6161. I'he use of the cress seed is chiefly for sowing to cut for young turkeys ; and for forcing salads by
the London cooks on hot moist flannels and porous earthenware vessels. A very considerable quantity is
also used in horticulture, it being one of the chief early salads, and cut when in the seed leaf. 'I'he haulm
is of very little use as litter, and, on the whole, the crop is exhausting.
6162. IVie cidture of the chiccory as an herbage plant has already been given (5514.) ;
when grown for tlie root to be used as a substitute for coffee, it may be sown on the same
soil as the carrot, and thinned out to the same distance as that plant.
6163. These roots are taken tiv in the first autumn after sowing in the same manner as those of the
carrot. When they are to be manufactured on a large scale, they are partially dried, and in that state sold
to the manufacturers of the article, who wash them, cut them in pieces, roast them on a kiln, and grind
them between fluted rollers into a powder, which is packed up in papers, containing from two ounces to
three or four pounds. In that state it is sold either as a substitute for coffee, or for mixing with it. But
when a private family cultivates this plant for home manufacture, the roots are laid in a cellar among sand,
and a few taken out as wanted, washed, cut into slices, roasted in the coffee roaster till they become of a
brown colour, and then passed as wanted through the coffee mill.
6164. The value qf the chiccory as a coffee plant. Von Thaer observes in 1810, is proved by its having been
cultivated for thatpuqiose for thirty years. Dr. Howison has written some curious papers on the subject
in The Caledonian Horticultural Memoirs (vol. iv.), and both that gentleman and Dr. Duncan approve of
its dietetic qualities. The former indeed says, he thinks it preferable to coffee, which may b? a matter of
taste, as some prefer the flavour of the powdered roots of dandelion to that of either cofffee or chiccory.
Dr. Duncan is of opinion that chiccory might be cultivated with great national advanUges as a substitute
for the exotic berry. {Disco, to Caled. Hort. Soc. 1820.) Bosc says the decoction of chiccory roots is whole-
some, but that it has nothing more belonging to it of coffee than the colour. He sees no objection to its use
as a substitute, but deprecates as fraudulent its mixture with the powder oi real coffee.
6165. The value of the chiccory as a salad plant appears to us not to be sufficiently appreciated in this
country. Great quantities of the blanched leaves of chiccory are sold in the markets ot the Netherlands
very early in the spring, and supply a grateful salad long before lettuces are to be had. Ihe roots are
taken up on the approach of winter, and packed in cellars in alternate layers of sand, so as to form ridires
with the crowns of the plants on the surface of the ridge. Here, if the frost be exchuled, they soon send
811 out leaves in such abundance as to
afford a supply of salad during winter.
If light is excluded, the leaves are per- . ^
fectly blanched, and in this state are M^S
known under the name of Ba^be de ^%\
Capuci7i. On ship-board it is customary
to use a barrel of sand with numerous
holes {Jig. 811.), or a hamper, for the
same purpose. {Gard. Mag. vol. ii. and
Ency. of Gard.)
6166. The Astragalus bce'ticus
(Jig. 812.;, an annual distin-
guished by its triangular pods, a
native of the south of Europe, is
cultivated in Hungary (§ 630.),
and in some parts of Germany,
for the seeds as a substitute for
coffee. The culture is the same
as that of the common pea or tare.
Book VI.
PLANTS FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES.
943
6167. In a former section (6055.) we have hinted that no farmer who cultivates the
hop need be without a vegetable equal to asparagus, or fibre similar to that of flax to
employ his servants in spinning ; and from the foregoing observations it would seem
that whoever has a garden may grow his own coffee and tobacco.
Sect. V. Plants which are or may he grown in the Fields for Medicinal Purposes.
6168. A number of medicinal pla7its were formerly grown in the fields ; but vegetable
drugs are now much less the fashion ; a few powerful sorts are retained, which are
either collected wild or are natives of other countries, and the rest of the pharmacopoeia
is chiefly made up of minerals. It may safely be affirmed that there are no plants
belonging to this section which deserve the notice of the general farmer ; but we have
thought it desirable to notice a few somelimes grown by farming gardeners, and which
may be considered as belonging almost equally to horticulture and agriculture, or as
points of connection between the two arts. These are the saffron, liquorice, rhubarb,
lavender, mints, chamomile, and thyme.
6169. The saffron, or autumn crocus (Crocus sa ivus Ij., Jig. 813. a), is a bulbous-rooted
perennial, which has been long cultivated in the south of Europe, and since Edward III.'s
time in England, and chiefly at Saffron Walden in Essex. It was abundantly cultivated
there, and in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Herefordshire, in the beginning of the seven-
teenth century ; but the quantity of land under this crop has been gradually lessening for
the last century, and especially within the last fifty years, so that its culture ss now almost
entirely confined to a few parishes round Saffron Walden. (Young's Essex.) This is
owing partly to the material being less in use than formerly, and partly to the large im-
portations from the East, often, as Professor Martyn observes, adulterated with bastard
saffron {Cdrthamus tinctorius) and marigolds (Calendula officinalis).
6170. The bulbs of the saffron are planted on a prepared soil, not poor nor a very stiff clay, but, if possible,
a hazel mould on chalk. They are planted in July, in rows six. inches apart across the ridges, and at three
inches' distance in the rows.
6171. The flowers, which are purple, and appear in September, are gathered, carried home, and the
stigmas picked out, together with a portion of the style ; these are dried on a kiln between layers of paper,
and under the pressure of a thick board, to form the mass into cakes.
6172. The crop of an acre averages two pounds of dried cake after the first planting, and twenty-four
pounds for the next two years. After the third crop the roots are taken up, divided, and replanted.
6173. The uses of saffron in medicine, domestic economy, and the arts, are various. It is detersive, re-
solvent, anodyne, cephalic, ophthalmic, &c. ; but its use is not without danger : in large doses it promotes
drowsiness, lethargy, vomiting, and delirium ; even its smell is injurious, and has been known to produce
syncope. It is used in sauces by the Spaniards and Poles ; here and in France it enters into creams, bis-
cuits, conserves, liquors, &c., and is used for colouring butter and cheese, and also by painters and dyers.
6174. The liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra Ij., fig. 813. b.; Liquoritia officinalis H.B.
10493. ) is a deep-rooting perennial, of the Leguminosae, with herbaceous stems rising four
or five feet high. It has long been much cultivated in Spain ; and since Elizabeth's time
has been grown in different parts of England.
6175. The soil for the liquorice should be a deep sandy loam, trenched by the spade or plough, or the aid
of both, to two and a half or three feet in depth, and manured if necessary. The plants are procured from
old plantations, and consist of the side roots, which have eyes or buds. In autumn, when a crop of liquorice
is taken up for use, these may be taken off and laid in earth till spring, or they may be taken from a
growing plantation as wanted for planting. The planting season may be either October or February and
March. In general the latter months are preferred. The plants are dibbled in rows three feet apart, and
from eighteen inches to two feet in the row, according to the richness of the soil. The after-culture con-
sists in horse-hoeing and deep stirring, in weeding, and in cutting over and carrying away the haulm every
autumn after it is completely withered. As the plants do not rise above a foot the first season, a crop of
onions or beans is sometimes taken in the intervals. The plants must have three summers' growth, at the
end of which the roots may be taken up by trenching over the ground. These are either immediately sold
to the brewers' druggists, or to common druggists, or preserved in sand, like carrots or potatoes, till
wanted for use. They are used in medicine and porter-brewing.
944
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
814
6176. The rhubarb (i2heum palmatum L.,Jig. 813. c) is a perennial, with thick oval
roots which strike deep into the ground, large palmate leaves, and flower-stems six or
eight feet high. Its leaves are the best of all the kinds of rhubarb for tarts. The Society
of Arts exerted itself for many years to promote the culture of this plant, as did Dr. Hope
of Edinburgh. It has accordingly been cultivated with success both in England and
Scotland ; though the quality of the root produced is considered by the faculty inferior
to that of the Russia or Turkey rhubarb, as Professor Martyn thinks, an inferiority pro-
bably owing to the moisture of our climate, and the imperfect mode of drying.
6177. In the culture of this plant, if bulk of produce be the object, then a deep, rich, loamy sand should
be chosen ; but if flavour, then a dry, warm, somewhat calcareous sand. Prepare as for liquorice,
and sow in patches of two or three seeds, in rows four feet apart, and the same distance in the rows.
Transplanting from seed-beds may be adopted ; but the roots are never so handsome and entire. As soon
as the plants appear, leave only one in a place. The plants will now stand in tlie angles of squares of four
feet to the side. The after-culture consists in horse-hoeing and deep stirring, both lengthwise and
across; in ploughing in the same directions; in never letting the flower-stems rise higher than two
feet, or show flowers or seed unless some is wantetl for propagation ; and in removing the decayed
haulm every autumn. The plants, having stood three or four sununcrs, may be taken up, and their main
roots dried in a very slow manner by any of the following modes : — The common Britisli mode of curing
or drying the rhubarb, after cleaning the roots, is to cut them into sections, an inch or more in thickness,
string them, and dry them in airy lofts, laundries, or kitchens, in a gradual manner. This has long been
the practice of private gardeners who grow the root for their own use, and has also been adopted by cul-
tivators for the druggists. The rhubarb is cured in Tartary by being thoroughly cleaned, the smaller
branches cut off, and then cut transversely into pieces of a moderate size ; these are placed on long tables
or boards, and turned three or four times a day, that the yellow viscid juice may incorporate with the
substance of the root. If this juice be suffered to run out, the roots become light and unserviceable ; and
if they be not cut within five or six days after they are dug up, tliey become soft and decay very speedily.
Four or five days after they arc cut, holes are made through them, and they are hung up to dry exposed
to the air and wind, but sheltered from the sun. Thus, in about two months, the roots are completely
dried, and arrive at their full perfection. The loss of weight in drying is very considerable; seven loads
of green roots yielding only one small horse-load of perfectly dry rhubarb.
6178. The Chinese in curing rhubarb, after having cleaned the roots, by scraping ofF the outer bark, as
well as the thin yellow membrane underneath, cut them in slices, an inch or two in thickness, and dry them
on stone slabs, under which large fires are kindled. They keep continually turning these slices on the
warm slabs; but as this o{)eration is not sufficient to dry
them thoroughly, they make a hole through them, and
suspend them on lines, in a place exposed to the greatest
heat of the sun, till they are in a condition to be pre-
served without danger of spoiling. A copious account
of all the experiments made in Britain for the culture
and curing of the rhubarb up to 180.'5, is given by Pro-
fessor Martyn, in his edition of Miller's Dictionary,
art. Rhtrum; and of the Turkey, Russian, and Chinese
rhubarb, in Thomson's Dispensatory, 2d edit. 1822, p. 4(19.
It has been alleged of late, that the true medicinal rhubarb
is not the /fhfeum palmatum as hitherto supposed, but the
It. austrJlle {fig. 814.) This species appears to be peculiar
to the great table lands of central Asia, between tne lati-
tudes of 31° and 40°, where it is found to flourish at an
elevation of 11,000 feet above the level of the sea. Large
quantities of the roots are annually collected for export-
ation in the Chinese provinces, within the lofty range of
the Himalaya. The best is that which comes by way of
Russia, as greater care is taken in the selection ; and on its
arrival at Kiachta, within the Russian frontiers, the roots
are carefully examined, and the damaged pieces re-
moved. Mr. Sweet has been informed that the stems of
the leaves have the same effect as the root ; only, of
course, a greater portion of them will require to be used.
They may be made up in a small tart, like the stems of the
common rhubarb. [Gard. Mag. vol. v. p. 161.)
6179. The lavender (Lavandula Sp^ca L. Jig. 813. </) is a dwarf odoriferous shrub of
three or four years' duration, grown in the fields in a few places round London, and
chiefly in Surrey, for the spikes of flowers used by the druggists, perfumers, and dis-
tillers. The soil should be a poor dry calcareous gravel. The seeds should be sown
in a garden in spring, and the plants may be transplanted in September or March fol-
lowing, in rows two feet apart, and kept free from weeds. The second season they
will yield a few flowers, and a full crop the fourth, after which the plants will continue
productive for five or six years. The spikes are gathered in June, dried in the shade,
and sold in bundles to the herbalists, druggists, &c.
61 80. Thyme, womnvood, marjoram, savory, and some other aromatics, are cultivated in
the same manner, and for similar purposes. Being usually smaller plants, they should
be planted closer ; but to have much flavour the soil must be dry and calcareous.
6181. Chamomile (^'nthemis nobilis) is a creeping perennial, grown for its flowers.
It only requires to be planted on a poor soil, in rows a foot apart, and hoed between.
It will produce abundance of flowers annually froin June to September, which are
gathered, and dried in the shade. They are sold by weight to the druggists and apothe-
caries. The double-flowered variety is, from its beauty, that commonly cultivated ; but
the single possesses more of the virtues of the plant according to its weight.
6182. The mints (Mentha), and especially the peppermint (il/entha piperita), are
creeping-rooted perennials, cultivated on rich marshy or soft black moist soils for dis-
tilling. The plants are grown in beds with trenches of a foot or more in width and
Book VI. MARINE PLANTS. 9?5
depth between, so as to admit of irrigation. The sets are obtained from old plantations,
and planted in rows across the beds at six inches' distance every way, in March or April.
No produce worth notice is obtained in the first year, but a full crop in the third, and
the shoots will continue to produce for five or six years. The spikes of flowers, and in
some cases the entire herbage, are cut over in June, as soon as the flowers expand, and
carried immediately to the druggist's still. Some growers distil it themselves.
6183. The common valerian {Valeriana oflicinalis L.) is sometimes cultivated for its
roots for the druggists. It is a native plant, and prefers a loamy soil. In Derbyshire
the plants, which are either procured from the offsets of former plantations, or from
wild plants found in wet places in the neighbouring woods, are planted six inches asunder,
in rows twelve inches apart. Soon after it comes up in the spring the tops are cut oflT, to
prevent its running to seed, which would spoil it. At Michaelmas, the leaves are pulled
and given to cattle, and the roots dug up carefully, and clean washed ; the remaining top
is then cut close off", and the thickest part slit down to facilitate their drying, which is
effected on a kiln, after which they must be packed tight, and kept very dry, or they will
spoil. The usual produce is about 18 cwt. per acre. This crop receives manure in the
winter, and requires a great deal.
6184. The orchis or salep plant (Orchis mAscula L.) is a tuberous perennial, which
grows plentifully in moist meadows in Gloucestershire, and other parts of the country.
It flowers in May and ripens seeds in July. It has been proposed to cultivate it for its
tubers to be used as salep ; but the plant is very difficult of propagation from seed, and
can hardly be multiplied at all by the root ; and, though it may answer to collect the
tubers and prepare them, it is not likely their culture will ever jiay. As the plant is very
abundant in some situations, it may be useful to know its preparation, which is thus
described in Phil. Trans, vol. lix.
6185. The bulb is to be washed in water, and the fine brown skin which covers it is to be separated by
means of a small brusli, or by dipping the root in hot water, and rubbing it with a coarse linen cloth.
When a sufficient number of bulbs are thus cleansed, they are to be spread on a tin plate, and placed in
an oven heated to the usual degree, where they are to remain six or ten minutes, in which time they will
have lost their milky whiteness, and acquired a transparency like horn, without any diminution of bulk.
Ueing arrived at this state, they are to be removed, in order to dry and harden in the air, which it will
require several days to effect ; or, by using a gentle heat, they may be finished in a few hours. By another
process, the bulb is boiled in water, freed from the skin, and afterwards suspended in the air to dry; it thus
gains the same appearance as the foreign salep, and does not grow moist or mouldy in wet weather, which
those that have been barely dried by heat are liable to do. Reduced into powder, they soften and dissolve
in boiling water into a kind of mucilage, which may be diluted for use with a large quantity of water or
milk. Thus prepared, they possess very nutritious qualities ; and if not of the very same species as those
brought from Turkey and used for making salep, they so nearly resemble them as to be little inferior. In
Turkey the different species of the O'rchis are said to be taken indifferently ; but in England, the (7'rchis
m^scula is the most common. {Gloucestershire Report, 317.)
Chap. IX.
Mamie Plants used in Agriculture^
6186. All marine plants may be used as manure with great advantage, either in a recent
state or mixed with earth. It is used in this way more or less in all agricultural coun-
tries bordering on the sea, and in Britain in all those friths and estuaries, where, from the
water not being at the maximum of saltness, the plants which grow in it are not suffi-
ciently charged with soda to render it worth while to burn them for the sake of the salt.
6187. The use of sea-weed, as an article from which kelp might be manufactured, seems to have been
practically recognised in Scotland about the beginning of the eighteenth century. The great demand for
kelp in the manufacture of glass and soap at Newcastle, and of alum at Whitby, seems to have intro-
duced the making of this commodity upon the shores of the Forth, so early as about the year 1720. It
began to be manufactured in the Orkney Islands in the year 1723, but in the western shires of Scotland
the making of kelp was not known for many years after this date. The great progress of the bleaching
of linen cloth in Ireland, first gave rise to the manufacture of kelp in that kingdom; and from Ireland it
was transferred to the Hebrides about the middle of the eighteenth century. On the shores of England
the kelp plants are not abundant.
6188.^ All marine plants may be used for the manufacture of kelp, but the principal
species in use on the British shores belong to the Linnean genus JPiicus. i^ucus
vesiculosus [fig. 815. a) is considered by kelp-makers as the most productive ; and the
kelp obtained is, in general, supposed to be of the best quality. JFiicus nodosus (6) is
considered to afford a kelp of equal value to that of the above species, though perhaps it
is not quite so productive. J^cus serrktus (c), or black- weed, as it is commonly called,
is neither so productive as the preceding, nor is the kelp procured from it so va-
luable. This weed is seldom employed alone for the manufacture of kelp ; it is in
general mixed with some of the other kinds. F^cws, digitatus (Laminaria digitata
H. B. 15, 343.) (rf) is said to afford a kelp inferior in quality to that obtained from any
of the others ; it forms the principal part of the drift-weed.
6189. The plants are cut in May, June, and July, anA exposed to the air on the ground till nearly dried,
care being taken to prevent them, as much as possible, from hemg exposed to the rain. They are then
3 P
946
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
III.
burned in a rude sort of kiln, formed by digging a pit in the sand, or by enclosing a portion of the surface
with loose stones. On the bottom of this kiln a i)eat fire is kindled, and the weed is gradually added, till
the fire extends over the whole floor ; the weed is then spread lightly on the top, and added in successive
portions. As it burns it leaves ashes, which accumulating towards evening, become semifused, and are
then well stirred. Another day's burning increases the mass ; and this is continued till the kiln is nearly
filled. On some occasions the kiln consists of a cavity in the ground, over which bars of iron are
placed ; and on this the ware is burned, the ashes falling into the cavity, where they are well worked by
the proper instruments.
6190. Kelp is generally divided into two kinds; the cut- weed kelp, and the drift-weed kelp ; the former
made from the weed which has been recently cut from the rocks, the latter from that which has been
drifted ashore. The latter is supposed to yield a kelp of inferior quality. Some specimens of kelp, how-
ever, made from sea-weed which had been drifted ashore, tend to prove that this is not always the case.
Weed which has been exposed to rain during the process of drying, affords a kelp of inferior quality. It
is of the utmost importance to the manufacturer of kelp, to keep his weed as much as possible free from
rain. For this purpose many employ sheds; when these are not at hand, the weed which has been laid
out to dry should be collected into one heap during the rain ; when this ceases, it should again be imme-
diately spread out. It has often been matter of dispute, how old the plants should be before they are cut.
In general, three years is considered sufficient: this, however, from some trials which have been made
to ascertain this point, seems to be too long. From experiment-^, it appears, that the produce of kelp, from
one ton of three years' old weed, is only eight pounds more than that from the same quantity of two years'
old ; from this we would conclude, that the weed ought to be cut every two years. Though perhaps less
weed may be procured from the same extent of ground occupied by weed of two, than of three years'
growth, yet the difference may not be so great as to render it worth while to allow the weed to remain for
three years.
6191. In order to increase the quantity of kelp., it has been suggested to the Highland Society, that the
seed of the SalsWa Soda might be imported and cultivated at a small distance from the shore, with the
design of mixing the plant with the sea-ware, for the improvement of the kelp. It was formerly imagined,
that the barilla plant would not produce any quantity of alkali, worth its cultivation, if planted in France ;
but in the year 1782, some spirited individuals procured a quantity of barilla seed, and made a plantation
of it near the coast of the Mediterranean, in the province of Languedoc, and had the satisfaction for
several years to find, that the barilla which they produced from these plants was of a quality equal to that
which they usually procured from Alicant. Why, then, may not a similar attempt in our own country
be equally successful ?
61 92. Other plants. If the growers of kelp could contrive to make some considerable
plantations of the most productive of the kali, or of fumitory, wormwood, and other
inland plants, which yield large quantities of potash, and collect the crop to burn with
the other materials, the carbonate of potash resulting from their incineration would
decompose the sea salt, and a great accumulation of carbonate of soda would be produced.
It was proved long ago by Du Hamel, that the marine plants produced soda merely in con-
sequence of their situation, for when they have been cultivated for some years in an
inland spot they yield only potash.
6193. There are immense tracts of shore on the mainland and islands of Scotland which may be easily
cultivated for the production of kelp, from which at present not one penny is derived. All the cultivation
requisite is, to place whin or other hard stones, not under the size of the crown of a hat, upon such vacant
spaces. Contracts have been made to plant shore lands in the Highlands with such stones, at the rate of
20/. per Scots acre. Such stones are generally to be found at high-water mark, on all the shores of the lochs
of the Highlands. They are put into a boat at high water, then carried to the ground to be planted, and
thrown overboard ; on the ebb of the tide they are distributed regularly over the shore, preserving a clear
space of one foot round every stone, which distance, after very minute examination, appears to be the
most eligible for producing the greatest crop of ware. It it evident these stones should be of a round
shape J as the more surface that is exposed to the alternate action of the air and water, so much more
kelp ware will be produced from a given space of ground. In four years the first crop may be cut, which,
on the above data will yield about four per cent on the original expense. But the crop may be manufac-
tured into kelp in every third year thereafter, which, on the same data, is equal to about five per cent. In
this improvement there is no hazard of bad crops ; and if the manufacture is begun early enough in the
season, there is little danger to be apprehended from bad weather, it being understood that the operation
of kelp-making can be carried on, should there be no more than two dry days in eight. (Highland Society's
Trans, vols. v. and vi.)
6194. The cultivation of barilla (Salsola Soda, Chenopbdeae, a native of Spain), on a
small scale, was tried in the gardens of Tynningham, the seat of the Earl of Haddington,
in 1789, but without success, although planted under a south wall, in a most sheltered
part of the garden. (J. M. in Gard. Mag.) The culture of tliis and other species is
practised to some extent in the neighbourhood of Alicant in Spain, and the details given
Book VI.
PLANTS INJURIOUS TO AGUICULTURE.
947
in the Cours Complet, ^c. art. Sovde. The ground is brought into good tilth, and
manured ; and the seed sown broadcast in October or November : in the following
spring the plants will be found an inch high, and must be kept clear of weeds till the
month of August, when, being at its full growth, it may be mown or pulled up (for it has
scarcely any roots), dried, and afterwards burnt in holes in the ground like kelp.
6195. The sea-wrack grass (Zostera marina; Fluviales) is found in abundance on
different parts of our own shores, as at Yarmouth, the bays of the Orkney Islands, and
other bays not exposed to the immediate fury of the ocean.
6196. It grows in banks of sand and mud, which banks appear to be heldtogetherprincipallyby the roots
of this plant, which are strong and succulent, and throw out numerous lateral fibres. It grows at such
depths as to be left nearly dry by the ebbing of spring tides. During the autumn and beginning of winter
these leaves are thrown on shore in large quantities. They are of a very imperishable nature, and may
be kept for any length of time in fresli or salt water, without any apparent decay. In the Orkney Islands
this grass is thrown ashore during winter in large quantities, and collected by the inhabitants with other
marine plants into heaps, for manure. In these heaps it is allowed to ferment, and sometimes, before
being applied, it is mixed with earth or other matters. It is also used as thatch, and forms a more durable
defence against the violent winds and heavy rains of that climate than straw. A few years ago, in con-
sequence of premiums offered by the Highland Society, this grass was applied as a substitute for horse,
hair, and stuffing mattresses and furniture : for this purpose it is carefully washed twice in fresh water,
then dried quickly ; and afterwards, any sea-weed that had got mixed with it picked out. In the Orkneys
it is steeped in fresh-water lakes for a week, then taken out and spread wet on the ground, and picked,
while in this state, from extraneous matters. Exposure to drought for one day will make it sufficiently
dry for packing. When dry, care must be taken, if the weather is windy, to gather it into heaps or cocks,
otherwise it may be blown away, being then extremely light. It is sent to market in large bags of sack-
ing, or twisted into ropes of the thickness of a man's waist, and then compactly made up in nets, formed
of ropes made of bent grass. It is sold at the Asylum for the Industrious Blind at Edinburgh, who em-
ploy it in stuffing mattresses. (Highl. Soc. Trans, vol. vi. p. 592.)
Chap. X.
Weeds or Plants injurious to those cultivated in Agriculture.
6197. Every plant which appears xvhere it is not wanted may be considered irrjurious,
though some are much inore so than others. A stalk of barley in a field of oats is a weed,
relatively to the latter crop, but a thistle is a weed in any crop ; weeds, therefore, may
be classed as relative and absolute.
6198. Relative weeds, or such cultivated plants as spring up where they are not wanted, give compara-
tively little trouble in extirpating them. The most numerous are the grasses when they spring up in fields
of saintfoin or lucem, or among corn crops in newly broken up grass lands. The roots of chiccory, in
fields that have been broken up after bearing that crop for some years, those of madder, liquorice, &c., are
of difficult extirpation. When the potato crop has not been carefully gathered, or mustard has been
allowed to shed its seed, they also occasion trouble. Other cases will readily occur to the practical man,
and need not be mentioned.
6199. Absolute weeds, or such native plants as are considered injurious to all crops, are very numerous, and
may be variously arranged. Some affect in a more peculiar manner corn-fields and tillage lands, and these
are chiefly annuals, as wild mustard, wild radish, poppy, blue-bottle, cockle, darnel, &c. ; or biennials, as
the thistle ; or perennials, as couch-grass, knot-grass, black-couch, polygonum, &c. ; on lands laid down
to grass for a few years, dock, ox-eye daisy, ragweed, &c. Others infest grass lands, and these are chiefly
perennials, such as crowfoot, one of the most difficult of weeds to extirpate ; thistles, docks, rushes, sedges,
moss, and an endless variety of others. Some are more particularly abundant in hedges; of which the
reedy and coarse grasses, as couch-grass, brome-grass ; the climbing and twining plants, as goose-grass
(Galium .Sparine) ; and the twiners, as bind-weed (Conv61vulus), are the most injurious.
6200. With regard to the destruction of weeds, they may be classed first according to
their duration.
.d-wort {fig. 816. a), and sorrel (6), are effectually destroyed by
cutting over the plant at anypoint below that whence the seed
All annuals and biennials, as
816.
leaves originated, as this prevents them from ever springing
again from the roots. Perennials of the fibrous-rooted kind
may be destroyed in the same manner, as the crowfoot, rag-
weed, the fibrous-rooted grasses, and many others. Some
fusiform-rooted perennials may also be destroyed by similar
means ; but almost all the thick-rooted perennials require to be
wholly eradicated.
6202. The perennial weeds, which require their roots to be
wholly eradicated, may be classed according to the kind of
roots. The first we shall mention are the stoloniferous roots or
surface shoots of plants, by which they propagate themselves.
Of this kind are the creeping crowfoot, goosefoot or wild
tansy, potentillas, mints, strawberries, black couch-grass, and
most of the Jgrostidea; and other grasses. The next are the
under-ground creeping roots, as the couch-grass. Convolvulus
arvensis, and other species of bind-weed, coltsfoot {fig. 816. c),
sowthistle, several tetradynamous plants, as toadflax, Scrophu-
Ikria, nettle, hedge-nettle (Stkchys), iamium, ^allota, &c.
Some of these, as the bilidweed and corn-mint, are extremely
difficult to eradicate : a single inch of stolone, if left in the
ground, sending up a shoot and becoming a plant. The creei)-
ing and descending vivacious roots are the most difficult of
all to eradicate. Of this class are the Polygonum amphibium
{fig. 817. a), the reed {AtimAo Phragmites), the horse-tail
(.Bquisfetum,^g.817. b), and some others. These plants abound
in deep clays, which have been deposited by water, as in the
carses and clay-vales of Scotland. In the Carse of Falkirk for
example, the roots of the Polygonum amphibium are found
3 P 2
94«
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II]
every where in the subsoil alive and vigorous. They send up a few leaves every year in the furrows and
on the sides of drains ; and when any field is neglected or left a year or two in grass, they are found all
over its surface. Were this tract left to nature for a few years, it would soon be as completely covered
with the Polygonum as it must have been at a former age, when it was one entire marsh partially covered
by the Frith of Forth. The horse-tail is equally abundant in many soils, even of a drier desceiption ; and
the corn-thistle (Serritula arvensis, j%. 817. c) even in dry rocky grounds. Lightfoot {Flora Scdtica) men.
tions plants of this species dug out of a quarry, the. roots of which were nineteen feet in length: it
would be useless to attempt eradicating the roots of such plants. The only means of keeping them under,
is to cut off their tops or shoots as soon as they appear; for which purpose, lands subject to them are best
kept in tillage. In grass lands, though they may be kept from rising high, yet they will, after being
repeatedly mown, form a stool or stock of leaves on the surface, which will suffice to strengthen their roots,
and greatly to injure the useful herbage plants and grasses.
6203. Tuberous and bulbous-rooted weeds, are not very numerous ; wild garlic, arum, and bryony are
examples ; and these are only to be destroyed by complete eradication.
6204. Ramose, fusiform, and similarly rooted perennials, oi -which rest-harrow, fern, and scabious are
examples, may in general be destroyed by cutting over below the collar or point whence the seed-leaves
have issued. Below that point the great majority of plants, ligneous as well as herbaceous, have no power
of sending up shoots ; though there are many exceptions, such as the dock, burdock, &c., among herbs,
and the thorn, elm, poplar, cherry, crab, &c., among trees.
6205. Holdich has taken a different view of the subject of weeds, and classed them, not
according to the modes by which they may be destroyed, but according to the injuries
which they do to the soil or the crop. He has divided them into two classes, weeds of
agriculture, or arable lands, and pasture weeds.
6206. Arable weeds are arranged as, 1. those which infest samples of corn ; 2. root or fallow weeds, and
such others as are hard to destroy ; 3. those which are principally objectionable as they incumber the soil ;
4. underling weeds, such as never rise with the crop, nor come into the sickle. Under these heads, each
weed in its respective division is treated of as to its deteriorating qualities and mode of destruction.
G'i.01. The weeds which infest the samplea.xe,l.'Da3me\{Lb\\}xm. Rhoe'as) ; 3. Blue-bottle (Centaur^a CJanus); 4. Mayweed
' ~ " " ■ _...._ ~ (.4'nthemis Cdtula) ; and 5. Com maiigold (Chrysanthemum
s^getum.
6'^09. The weeds called utiderlings, or such as never rise in the
crops, are, 1. Groundsel (Sen^cio vulgaris) ; 2. Annual meadow
grass (Poa innua) ; 3. Chickweed (Stellkria m6dia) ; 4. Shep-
herd's purse (ThMpsi bursa past6ris and erfeta); 5. Spurry
(Sp^rgula arv^nsis) ; 6. Chamomile (Matricaria Cnamomflla) ;
7. Fat-hen (Chenopddium Alburn); 8. Common com salad
(F^dia olitdria) , 9. Flix-weed (Sisymbrium Sophia) ; 10. Com-
mon fumitory (Furairia officinalis) ; 11. Sand mustard (Sink-
pis muralis).
6210. Pasture weeds are, 1. Dwarf-thistle (Cirduus acafilis) ; 2. Common chamomile (yl'nthemis n6bilis) ;
3. Star- thistle (Centaurfea Calcltrapa) ; 4. Ox-eye daisy (Chrysanthemum leuc&nthemum) ; 5. Great fleabane
(Conyza squarrosa) ; 6. Cheese-rennet (Gklium vferum) ; 7. Long-rooted hawkweed {Apkrgia autumn^lis) ;
8. Wild thyme (Thymus Serpyllum) ; 9. Sheep's sorrel {Rumex Acetos^Ua); 10. Knot-grass (Polygonum
aviculkre) ; 11. Yellow rattle (Rhinanthus Crista galli) ; 12. Common carline thistle (Carlma vulgaris).
6211. Pasture weeds which generally prevail in loamy soils, 6. Common ragwort (Sendcio Jacobae'a) ; 7. Common daisy
temul^ntum) ; 2. Cockle (.-Vgrost^mma Gith^go) ;
(fi'rvum tetrasp^rmum) ; 4. Melilot (T^ifdlium JIfeluotus om-
cinklis) ; 5. Wild oats (^v^na fetua) ; 6- Hariff (Galium Spa-
rine) ; 7. Crow needles (Sc^ndix P^cten) ; 8. Black bindweed
(Pol^gonuip Convdlvulus) ; 9. Snake- weed (Polygonum iapa-
thifblium) ; 10. Charlock seeds, (Sinapis, Ritphahus, and Br^s-
sica) in barley sometimes.
6208. Weeds which are principally objectionable as they encum-
ber the soil axe, 1. Charlock, a name which is applied to four
species of Cruclferse (viz. Sinapis arv^nsis and nigra, fiaphanus
Raphanfstrum, and Brdssica iV^pus) ; 2. Com poppy (Papkver
and such also as are prevalent in clayey and damp i
principally as follows -.— l. Yellow goat's-beard (Tragopbg
pratensis) ; 2. Marsh thistle (C^rduus paltistris);
choly thistle (C^ ■ ■ - — .
duus pratensis) i
choly thistle (C^rduus heterophyllus) ; 4. Meadow thistle (Cir-
sis) i 5. Common butter-bur (TussilJigo Petasites) ;
(B^Ilis per^nnis) ; 8. Common black knapweed (Centaurea
nigra) ; 9. Broad-leaved dock (Aiimex obtusifblius) ; 10. Orchis
(O'rchis msiscula, maculita, latifblia, m6rio, and pyramidklis) ;
11. Common cow-parsnep (Heracl^um f^honayiium) ; 18.
Sedge (Ckrex), various species.
6212. A catalogue of weeds could be of little use to the agriculturist, as the mere
names could never instruct him as to their qualities as weeds, even if he knew them by
Book VII. ECONOMY OF LIVE STOCK. 949
their proper names. Besides, weeds which abound most, and are most injurious in one
district, are often rare in another. Thus, the poppy abounds in gravelly districts, the
charlocks on clays, the chickweed, groundsel, nettle, &c., only on rich soils. A local
Flora, or any of the national Floras, as Lightfoot's Fl^ra Scotica, and Smith's British
Flora, and, we may be allowed to add, our own Encydopeedia of Plants and Hortus
Britannicus, by pointing out the habits of indigenous plants, may be of considerable
use to the agriculturist who has acquired a slight degree of the science of botany.
BOOK VII.
THE ECONOMY OF LIVE STOCK AND THE DAIRY.
62 IS. The grand characteristic of modern British farming, and that which constitutes
its greatest excellence, is the union of the cultivation of live stock with that of vegetables.
Formerly in this country, and in most other countries, the growing of corn and the
rearing of cattle and sheep constituted two distinct branches of farming ; and it was
a question among writers, as, according to Von Thaer, it still is in Germany, which was
the most desirable branch to follow. The culture of roots and herbage crops at last led
gradually to the soiling or stall-feeding husbandry, in imitation of the Flemings ; and
afterwards, about the middle of the last century, "to the alternate husbandry, which is
entirely of British invention, and has been more effectually than any thing else the means
of improving the agriculture of the districts where it is practised.
6214. // is observed by Brown, that " though horses, neat cattle, sheep, and swine are of equal importance
to the British farmer with corn crops, yet we have few treatises concerhing the animals, compared with
the immense number that have been written on the management of arable land, or the crops produced upoa
it But though so little has been written, the improvement of those animals has not been neglected ; on
the contrary, it has been studied like a science, and carried into execution with the most sedulous attention
and dexterity. We wish it could be stated, that one half of the care had been applied to the selecting and
breeding of wheat and other grains, which has been displayed in selecting and breeding the best propor-
tioned and most kindly feeding sheep. A comparison cannot, however, be made with the slightest degree
of success; the exertions of the sheep-farmers having, in every point of view, far exceeded what has been
done by the renters of arable land. Even with cattle considerable improvement has taken place. With
horses, those of the racing and hunting kinds excepted, there has not been correspondent improvement ;
and as to swine, an animal of great benefit to the farmer, in consuming offal which would otherwise be of
no value, it is to be regretted that very much remains to be done."
6215. The first important effort in the improvement of live stock was made by Robert Bal;ewell, who was
bom on his father's estate of Dishley, in 1726. Mr. Bakewell wrote nothing himself; so the first scientific
work on the subject was written by George Culley, in 1782, who had formed himself on Bakewell's model.
The systematic improvements of Mr. Bakewell were developed in various agricultural reports, and con-
sisted in attempts to lessen such parts of the animal frame of cattle and sheep as were least useful to man,
as bone, cellular substance, and appendages ; at the same time increasing such other parts, as flesh or muscle,
and fat, as become more important in the furnishing man with food. These ends he endeavoured to
accomplish by a judicious selection of individuals, possessing the wished-for form and qualities in the
greatest degree; which being perpetuated in their progeny in various proportions, and the selection being
continued from the most approved specimens among these, enabled him at length to establish breeds with
the desired properties. Later improvements have been grafted on these, and we find excellent observations
on the subject from the pens of Cline, Dr. Coventry, Sir J. Sebright, Hunt of Leicester, and the Rev.
H. Berry ; and we have witnessed the strenuous and successful efforts of a Russell, a Coke, an Ellman,
and others. The improvement in the sciences of comparative anatomy and physiology has also led to an
amended practice both in breeding and in pathology. The example of various opulent proprietors and
farmers in all parts of the empire tended to spread this improvement, by which the pursuit became
fashionable. Add to these the accounts of the management of live stock in almost every county of the
British Isles, as contained in Marshal's Works and the County Reports. From these sources we shall draw
the information we are about to submit, and shall adopt the arrangement of the horse, the ass, the mule
and hinny, the bull family and the dairy, the sheep, the swine, minor stock, and injurious animals or
vermin.
Chap. I.
The cultivated Horse. — E\uus Cabdllns L. ; Mammalia Belltus L., and Pachydermes
SoUpedes Cuvier. Chevd, Fr. ; Pferde, Get. ; Cavallo, Ital. ; and Caballo, Span.
6216. The horse family, by far the most important among the brute creation as a
servant to man, includes several species both in a wild and cultivated state, as the ^^quus
Ifemionus, or wild mule, a native of Arabia and China, and which it is supposed would
form' an excellent race of small horses, could they be reduced to a state of domestication ;
the E. ^sinus, or ass, well known ; the E. Zebra, or striped ass ; the E. Qmgga, by some
considered a variety of the zebra ; and the E. bisulcus, or cloven- footed horse, a native of
Chile, and by many supposed to belong to a distinct genus.
3 P 3
950 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Tart III.
6217. The cotrunon horse, justly considered as the noblest of quadrupeds, is found in a
wild state in the deserts of Great Tartary, in the southern parts of Siberia, and in other
parts of Asia, and in the interior of Africa. He has long been domesticated and cul-
tivated in most parts of the earth, for the various purposes of war, hunting, parade, the
saddle, and draught ; and in some places, partly for his flesh and the milk of the female.
The parts of a horse, when no longer endued with life, are applied to various useful pur-
poses. The blood is used as manure. The bones are broken and boiled, to produce oil,
and are afterwards ground into an excellent manure ; some of the bones are also employed
in the mechanical arts. The flesh supplies food for the domestic carnivorous animals,
the cat and dog ; for carnivorous birds, kept for amusement or curiosity ; for fish, &c.
\ye shall consider the horse in regard to its varieties, organology, anatomy, physiology,
diseases, breeding, rearing, training, feeding, and working
Sect. 1. Varieties of the Horse.
6218. The varieties of the domestic horse are numerous. The indigenous horse of every
country, operated on by climate, assumes that form best adapted to its locality. Man
would soon, however, be led to mix with the native breeds that variety which presented
in its aboriginal state the finest form and most valuable qualifications. This being
found centred in the horses of Arabia, Persia, and Barbary, the inhabitants of Europe
generally sought an amelioration of their own breeds by an admixture of oriental
blood.
6219. The Arabian horses {fig. 818. is a portrait of one brought by Buonaparte from Egypt, and now
818 living in the royal garden of Paris,) are reckoned the
best, and the solicitude with which the Arabs preserve
these horses pure and unmixed is remarkable. The
care with which they are nurtured, and the skill dis-
played in their equestrian management, are no less
admirable. None but stallions of the finest form and
purest blood are allowed access to their mares, which
is never permitted but in the presence of a professional
witness or public officer, who attests the fact, records
the name, and signs the pedigree of each. The Per-
sian horses are considered next in value ; and after
them the horses of Andalusia in Spain. The Barbary
horses are descended from the Arabian.', and much
esteemed. Jackson {Empire of Morocco, p. 42.) men-
tions one very fleet variety, used for hunting the
ostrich, and fed entirely on camel's milk. The horses
of India, though active and not ill formed, are small
and vicious, the climate being unfavourable to their
greater developement. Those of Tartary are of a
moderate size ; but strong, muscular, full of spirit, and active. The Tartars are considered skilful riders.
Like the Kalmucks, they eat the flesh of horses as we do that of oxen, and use their milk either in curd
or fermented.
6220. Of the European varieties of the horse, those of Italy were formerly in greater
esteem than at present ; but still those of the Neapolitans shine both under the saddle
and in traces. Great numbers are bred in Sicily ; those of Sardinia and Corsica are
small, but active and spirited. The Swiss horses partake of the same qualities.
6221. The Spanish horses have long been highly esteemed. The invasion of the Moors, in 710, brought
a vast influx of oriental blood into Spain ; and the continuance of the Moorish yoke during several cen-
turies produced altogether so improved a race there, that the best Spanish horses are preferred by some
to the Barbs. The Spanish Genette has long been celebrated for its elegance, sprightliness, and durability.
The best breeds of Spain are generally finely carcased, and well limbed, active, ready, and easy in their
paces, docile and affectionate to their owners, full of spirit and courage, but tempered with mildness and
good-nature; they are, for the most part, of a moderate size. Those which are bred in Upper Andalusia
are deemed the most valuable. The Portuguese horses, or rather mares, were famous of old for being
very fleet and long-winded ; but of late, it is said, tliey are much degenerated.
6222. France abounds in horses of all kinds, whose origin may be traced to a mixture of their native
breeds with the Asiatic introduced by the irruption of the Goths, and originally received from the
Scythians, and the true eastern blood received from Spain, Barbary, and Arabia. With these admixtures,
however, the horses of France have not yet borne a high character throughout Europe; and although
under the dominion of Napoleon more than two hundred pure Arabian stallions were imported, and the
northern states plundered of their choicest specimens, by which the breeds have been much improved ;-
still France imports yearly vast numbers from this country, particularly hunters and high bred carriage
horses. Of their own breeds, Limousin furnishes some good saddle horses, and hunters also. Next to
those, Normandy claims precedence for a well-formed and useful breed. There are also very good bidets,
or ponies, in Auvergne, Poitou, and Burgundy. Lower Normandy and the district of Cotentin furnish
some very tolerable coach horses, and which are more active and appear more elastic in their motions
than the Dutch horses. They have, however, a noble race of large draught horses equal to any seen in
England, and among which the chesnut colour seems to prevail. The French horses generally are apt
to have their shoulders although oblique, yet too loose and open, as those of the Barbs are usually too
confined and narrow.
6223. The Flemish horses are inferior in value to the Dutch, having usually large heavy heads and
necks ; their feet also are immoderately large and flat, and their legs subject to watery humours and
swellings.
6224. Holland furnishes a race of horses whicli are principally serviceable in light draught work : the
best come from Friesland.
6225. Germany is not destitute of good horses. The native breeds, heavy and ill-formed, received their
firat improvement from admixture with the Asiatic horses. In after-times the Germans obtained still
Book VII. VARIETIES OF THE HORSE. 951
finer breeds from the Arabs, Turks, and the Barbary states, which they still preserve with some care as
stallions : some good specimens are also obtained from Spain. In a general point of view, however, the
German horses are more fitted for the manege than for racing or hunting ; in which qualities they are
inferior to the Hungarian and Transylvanian horses. The horses of Bohemia are not distinguished by
any eminent qualities. The Hussars and Transylvanians are accustomed to slit the nostrils of their
horses, under a notion of giving their breath a free passage, and improving their wind, as well as to render
them incapable of neighing, which, in the field, would be often inconvenient. The Croatian horses are
nearly allied in qualities and character to the Hungarian and Bohemian : these, as well as the Poles, are
remarkable for being, as the French term it, btgut, or keeping the mark in their teeth as long as they
live.
6226. The Polish horses are hardy, strong, and useful, but they are generally of a middling size. In the
marshy parts of Prussia, and towards the mouth of the Vistula, there is a breed of tall strong horses, re-
sembling those of Friesland, but of inferior value.
6227. The horses of Russia are not much regarded by other nations. They are small but hardy, and
capable of enduring great fatigue. Great attention is, however, paid to such as are very fast in their trot ;
and such a breed is much encouraged for trotting matches on the snow and ice. Those of the Turkish
breed are handsome and finely shaped, but too slight and weak for heavy cavalry. The Kalmuck horses
are somewhat higher than the Russian common horses, and are so lasting and constitutionally strong as
to be able to run three or four hundred English miles in three days. They subsist, summer and winter,
solely upon grass in the great deserts which are between the rivers Don, Volga, and Yaik, where they are
collected in great herds of four hundred, five hundred, or even a thousand. They are excellent swimmers,
and pass the river Volga, where it is from one mile to two miles broad, with great ease.
6228. The horses of Sweden are low and small, and the Norway breed may be comprehended under the
same description, but they are strong, hardy, and active. Denmark, and also Holstein and Oldenburg,
boast a large variety of horses, which has long been esteemed as peculiarly adapted for heavy cavalry and
carriage uses, though they are apt to fail with respect to elegance of limb and symmetry of parts ; their
heads being large, their shoulders heavy, their backs long, with croups too narrow to correspond with
their fore parts. In the Islands of Feroe there is a race of horses of small growth, but strong, speedy,
and very sure-footed. They are never shod, and feed abroad without shelter both summer and winter.
In Suderoe, one of these islands, they have a peculiarly swift breed, of great use to the inhabitants, who
catch their sheep, which are wild, by hunting them with a dog, pursuing them at the same time with
their horses. The horses of Lapland are small of stature, but active and willing ; they are used only in
the winter season, in drawing sledges over the snow, and transporting wood, forage, and other necessaries ;
but in summer they are turned into the forests, where they form separate troops, strictly confined to their
own quarters.
6229. The British varieties of saddle horse may be reduced to the racer, the hunter, the
improved hack, the old English road horse, the galloway, and the pony ; the two latter
of which we shall consider in another place.
6230. The race horse {fig. 819.) is descended
nearly in a direct line from the Arabian, the
Persian, and the Barb. In an agricultural point
of view, this celebrated breed might at first sight
appear of little importance ; but it is probable,
that to the amusement afforded by it to the rich
and powerful, we are indebted for the principal
improvements in every other variety of this most
valuable animal. Races or courses were very
early a part of British sports ; and it is natural to
suppose that, on this account, endeavours would
be made to improve and enlarge the breeds of the
native horses. Roger de Bellesme, Earl of Shrews-
bury, is the first on record who imported a Spanish
stallion, the progeny of vhich was afterwards ex-
tolled by Michael Drayton, in his Poly-olbion ;
and, it is probable, the first amelioration of the
1^^^ native breeds was derived altogether from horses
brought from Spain and the southern parts of
Gaul. In the reign of Henry IV., public ordinances were made favourable to the improvement of the
breeding of horses, which would tend still further to extend the search after better specimens. There is
reason, however, to believe, that the courses of those times were little more than ordinary trials of speed
between the indigeno', or these slightly improved breeds; and it was not until the days of Henry VII. and
VIII., that the true eastern blood was collected in any considerable quantities. During these reigns,
however, it becoming very general to import stallions from Arabia, Barbary, and Persia, a new and hijfily
improved race rapidly extended itself This improvement was carried subsequently to its acme by an
equally careful selection of mares as of horses ; and thus we find king James importing a set of mares of
the purest blood, significantly called the royal mares. From these periods, the breeding of the race horse
was pursued with the utmost care, as well in regard to purity of blood, as in the increase of his bodily
powers, by the most nutritious food and duly apportioned exercise, during his training for the courses,
then becoming so fashionable in England. Thus has been produced a breed unrivalled throughout the
world for symmetry of form, swiftness of progression, and durability under exertion. The accounts on
record of feats performed by some of our horses on the turf are truly astonishing. Bay Malton ran at
York four miles in seven minutes and forty-three seconds. Childers, known by the name of the flying
Chitders, moved through a space equal to eighty-two feet and a half in a second. After these Eclipse,
Highflyer, Matchem, Hambletonian, and others, have contributed to keep up the reputation of the
English racer.
6i^31. Climate has a great influence over the form of animals, and that form is found indigenous to each
which best fits it for the purposes required of it. In the arid plains of the east, where herbage is scarce, a
form is given which enables its brute inhabitants to readily transport themselves from one spot to another j
and as in every situation the flesh of the horse is greedily sought after by the predatory tribes, so here,
where those are peculiarly strong and active, the horse is formed peculiarly agile and swift to escape their
attack, as well as peculiarly light, that his weight might not sink him in the sandy plains, nor his bulk
retard him in his flight. Removed, however, to more temperate climes, where vegetation affords by its
luxuriance more nutriment, and where the restrictions of danger have ceased to operate, we no longer
see him equally small and slender; but, with equal capacity for swift progression, we find him expanded
into a form capable of keeping up that progression with a durability unknown to the original breeds from
which he sprang. Symmetrically formed as we now see him, he at once evinces his claim to great speed.
His bony skeleton exhibits a base founded on the justest geometrical principles, presenting a series of
lengthened levers acting by means of a condensed muscular and tendinoiis organization of great power,
on angles capable of great flexion and extension ; while his pointed form fits him to cleave that atmo-
sphere, from which his deep chest enables him to draw by extensive inspirations wind and vigour to con.
tinue his exertions. Purity of blood, bv which is meant the result of confining to particular races or
S P 4
952
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTUHE.
Part III.
breeds the means of continuing their species, is observed with equal care and jealoiisy by the breeders of
820
the English race, as by the Arabians ; and turf jockeys
assert they can discover a taint or departure from this
purity to the sixteenth remove.
6232. The hunter {Jig. 820.) is derived from horses
of entire blood, or such as are but little removed from
it, uniting with mares of substance, correct form, and
good action. In some instances hunters are derived
from large mares of the pure breed, propagating with
powerful stallions of the old English road horse.
This favourite and valuable breed is a happy com-
bination of the speed of the Arabian, with the dura,
bility of the native horse. More extended in form,
but framed on the same principles, he is able to carry
a considerable weight through heavy grounds, with a
swiftness equalled only by the animal he pursues, and
with a perseverance astonishing to the natives of every
other country. Hence the extreme demand for this
breed of horses in every European country ; our
racing stallions being now sent to propagate in the
eastern climes, whence they were some of them origi-
nally brought.
6233. The improved hackney {fig. 821.) is derived, li'ke the former, from a judicious mixture of the
blood breed with the native horse, but exhibiting a greater proportion of the latter. Hackneys are now,
however, mostly bred from stallions possessing nearly
the same proportion of blood with the hunter ; but with
a form and qualities somewhat different. In the hack-
ney, as safety is as requisite as speed, we look particu-
larly to the fore parts to see that they are high and well
placed ; that the head is not heavy, nor the neck dis-
proportionately long or short ; that the legs stand straight
(that is, that a perpendicular line drawn from the point
of the shoulder should meet the toe) ; and that the
elbows turn out : and although a perfect conformation
in the hinder parts is necessary to the hackney, it is in
some measure subordinate to the same i)erfection in the
fore parts ; whereas in the racer and hunter, but par-
ticularly in the former, the form of the hinder is even
of more consequence than that of the fore parts.
6234. The old English road horse. I'his most useful
breed is now nearly extinct, although some northern
agriculturists appear to be making efforts to revive the
race. It has so long been known in this country that it
might almost be reckoned among its indigcn.e . although it is probable that it originally sprang from a
judicious culture from horses of Norman, German, or Flemish extraction, which horses were very early im-
ported to enlarge our small breeds, and to render
Qog them equal to the heavy loads they were accus-
"■^■^ tomed to carry as pack-horses ; and of which kind
the old English road horse unquestionably is,
(^g.822.) Neither is it at all impossible, that.in the
more fertile parts of the island, an original breed
existed of considerable power and bulk. Athel-
stan expressly prohibited the exportation of En-
glish horses, and the " scythed chariots drawn by
fiery steeds" of the ancient Britons struck terror
even into Caesar's legions. These accounts of the
antiquity of the English horse, receive additional
strength from the notices we obtain of the fossil
bones of horses having been found, according to
Parkinson, in various parts of the island. The
old English road horse possessed great power,
with short joints, a moderate shoulder, elevated
crest, with legs and feet almost invariably good.
The heights varied from fifteen hands to fifteen
hands two inches; and the colours were fre-
quently mixetl.
6235. The objection, however, to English horses, both of the original and of the more early improved
breeds, and which is even still seen among them, is, that they want grace or exjjression in their figure and
carriage ; that they are somewhat obstinate and sullen ; and that a certain stiffness in their shoulders, and
want of suppleness and elasticity in their limbs, render them unfit for the manege. As this is an im-
portant charge against the excellence of our breeds, it may be worth consideration how far it is founded
in truth. Commerce requires despatch, and England as a great commercial country makes every thing
subservient to an economical use of time. Conformably to these principles, many of the qualities of our
horses, but principally those of flexibility and safety in progression, are certainly sacrificed to speed, in
which they undoubtedly excel all horses in the world. It is well known that all animals intended by
nature for quick progression, are formed low in their fore parts, and have usually narrow upright
shoulders ; which delects are too common in English horses in general. On the contrary, in most of the
improved breeds of continental horses, the fore hands are elevated, and the shoulders wide and oblique ;
by which, flexibility and safety in progression are gained at some expense of celerity ; for the strong
lumbar muscles of horses so formed, operating on the lengthened spinous processes of the dorsal vertebrae
with increased advantage, elevate the fore parts higher ; and even in default of this form in the fore parts,
yet a corresponding effect is produced in foreign horses by the great strength and expansion of their
haunches and croups, and by the greater inclination in their hinder extremities towards the common
centre of gravity of the body : for as speed depends first on the extent to which the angles of the limbs
can be opened, and secondly, on the efforts of the body in its transit to counteract the tendency to the
common centre of gravity, the earth ; so it is evident that the form which is the most favourable to speed,
is less so to safety or flexibility in progression.
6236. The Irish road horse, or hunter, coeval with, or probably in some measure subsequent to, the
culture of the old English road horse, was a still more excellent breed. With similar properties, but
4n improved form, with a great acquired aptitude for leaping, it gained the name of the Irish hunter ;
»nd when the dogs of the chace were less speedy than they now are, this horse was equal to every
thing required of him as a hunter ; even now the possessors of the few which remain find, parti,
cularly in an enclosed and deep country, that what others gain by speed these accomplish by strength to
Book VII.
VARIETIES OF THE HORSE.
953
go through any ground, and activity sufficient to accomplish the most extraordinary leaps. As road.
sters, these horses have ever proved valuable, uniting durability, ease, and safety with extreme docility.
In form tliey may be considered as affording a happy mixture of an improved hack with our old
English roadster.
6237. The British varieties of saddle horse of more inferior description are very numerous, as cobs,
galloways, and ponies. Cobs are a thick, compact, hackney breed, from fourteen hands to fourteen hands
two inches high, in great request for elderly and heavy persons to ride, or to drive in low phaetons, &c.
Galloways and ponies are lately in much request also for low chaises; a demand which will lead to a
cultivation of their form: the number bred requires little increase, as several waste districts or moors
throughout England are already appropriated principally to the purpose of rearing ponies.
6238. The British varieties of war or cavalry horse, and qf carriage and cart horse, are considered to
have been derived from the German and Flemish breeds, meliorated by judicious culture. Most of the
superior varieties contain a mixture of Arabian or Spanish blood. Cavalry horses are found amongst the
larger sort of hackneys ; and the observations made in the late wars sufficiently show the justice of the
selection. Except in a few unhappy instances, where a mistaken admiration of the Hulans had led to
selecting them too light, the English cavalry horse possessed a decided superiority over the best French
horses in strength and activity, as well as over the Germans, whose horses on the other hand, by their
bulk and heavy make, were incapable of seconding the efforts of the British dragoons. The coach, cha-
riot, and stage horses are derived many of them from the Cleveland bays, further improved by a mixture
of blood. Others are bred from a judicious union of blood and bone, made by the breeders in Yorkshire,
Lincolnshire, and other midland counties.
6'.'39. The varieties of draught horse were originally as numerous as the districts in which they were
bred, each having its favourite breed; but since the intercourse among farmers and breeders has been
greater, those in common use are so mixed as to render it difficult to determine of what variety they
partake the most. At present the principally esteemed draught horses are the Suffolk punch, the Cleve-
land bay, the black, and the Lanark or Clydesdale. The native breeds of draught horses of England,
Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, are much too small for the purposes of agricultural draught as now con-
ducted ; but by cultivation, the improved breeds pointed out have furnished such animals as are equal to
every thing required of them.
6240. The black horse (Jig. 823), bred in the midland counties of England, is a noble and useful animal ;
and furnishes those grand teams we see in the coal,
82 J ^ ..aaaP^^^ flour, and other heavy carts and waggons about London;
^V .^SKK,ai^S&A. where the immense weight of the animal's body assists
his accompanying strengtli to move the heaviest loads.
But the present system of farming requires horses of less
bulk and more activity for tlie usual agricultural pur-
poses, better adapted for travelling, and more capable of
enduring fatigue ; consequently this breed is seldom
seen in the improved farms. The black cart horse is
understood to have been formed, or at least to have been
brought to its present state, by means of stallions and
mares imported from the Low Countries ; though there
®: appears to be some difference in the accounts that have
t^* been preserved, in regard to the places whence they were
•"^ — originally brought, and to the persons who introduced
^ them. \Culley on Live Stock, p. 32., and Marshal's
Econojny of the Midland Counties, vol. i. p. 306.) Mar-
shal, under too confined a view, and probably prejudice<l
against the breed on account of its fancied want of spirit,
as well as for the alleged tendency to become flat and
pommiced in the feet, is most unreasonably severe on it, when he says, " the breed of grey rats, with
which this island has of late years been overrun, are not a greater pest in it than the breed of black fen
horses; at least while cattle remain scarce as they are at present, and while the flesh of horses remains
to be rejected as an article of human food." {Marshal's Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 16i.) The present improved
sub- variety of this breed is said to have taken its rise in six Zealand mares, sent over from the Hague by
the late Lord Chesterfield, during his embassy at that court.
6241. The Cleveland bays {Jig. 824.), which owe some of their most valuable properties to crosses with
dlJZr'^Z^'e^^7^ ^^l '°"« celebrated as one of the best breeds in the island ; but they are said to have
remark/hi« f«; Ih^' ^^^^7 ^""^ ^^"^ *° ^ ^reat extent in Yorkshire, the fariners of which county are
haSp« fh«L K '^"o^'l'^g*^ »n every thing that relates to this species of live stock. In activity and
full hrpH «f,inl^,c f ^*' perhaps have no superior. Some capital hunters have been produced by putting
such I, hfvi c?.ffi -^ ^^!^^ °^^^J^ ^°^^ ' ^^^ *he chief object latterly has been to breed coach-horses, and
coals tr«vlmn„ "!"* strength for a two-horse plough. Three of these horses draw a ton and a half of
road • InH S, m'' " f ■" twenty-four hours, without any other rest but two or three baits upon the
^9i9 r*! c^^- »"y perform this labour four times a week.
bv the f^^J^'.f^"''f^yf «?V,-^ *^ ^ ^^'y "seful animal for rural labour, and is particularly esteemed
constitutS h^rHl?,"^"'il' ^"^'''^' ^"'^ ^''^''' ''"^ t'^e "^e"' of tf'is breed seems to consist more in
lo vSh or sorref wthT *1'^" '". u""^ apparent superiority of shape. " Their colour is mostly yel-
io\Msn or sorrel, with a white ratch or blaze on thefr faces; the head large, ears wide, muzzle coarse.
954
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
fore-end low, back long sometimes, but always very straight, sides flat, shoulders too far forward, hind-
825
quarters middling, but rather high about the hips,
legs round and short in the pasterns, deeiubellied,
and full in the flank. Here, perhaps, lies much of
the merit of these horses ; for we know, from ob-
servation and experience, that all deep-bellied
horses carry their food long, and consequently are
enabled to stand longer and harder days' works.
However, certain it is, that these horses do perform
surprising days' works. It is well known, that the
Suffolk and Norfolk farmers plough more land in a
day than any other people in the island ; and these
are the kind of horses every where used in those
districts." {CuUey on Live Stock, p. 27.) Since
Culley's time much pains have been taken to im-
prove this useful breed, and to render them, by cul-
tivation, fitted not only for heavy but for light work.
It is no uncommon thing for a Suffolk stallion to
fetch from 200/. to 300/. The best show of these
stallions in England is at Woodbridge Lady-day fair,
where Suffolk cart mares have brought from 100/. to
150/., and one mare and her offspring a few years
ago at this fair brought ]0(;0/. The figure (825.)
hardly does justice to the animal. (M.)
6243. The Clydesdale horse {fif:. 826.) has been long in high repute in Scotland and the north of England ;
and, for the purposes of the farmer, is probably equal to any
other breed in Britain. Of the origin of this race, various
accounts have been given, but none of them so clear, or so
well authenticated, as to merit any notice. They have got
this name, not because they are bred only in Clydesdale or
Lanarkshire, for the same description of horses are reared
in the other western counties of Scotland, and over all that
tract which lies between the Clyde and the Forth, but be-
cause the principal markets at which they are sold, Lanark,
Carnwath, Rutherglen, and Glasgow, are situated in that
district, where they are also preserved in a state of greater
purity than in most other parts. They are rather larger than
the Suffolk punches, and the neck is somewhat longer; their
colour is black, brown, or grey, and a white spot on the face
is esteemed a mark of beauty. The breast is broad ; the
shoulder thick, with the reaching cartilaginous portion of
the blade-bone nearly as high as the withers, and not so
much thrown backwards as in road horses ; the hoof round,
and usually black, with wide heels: the back straight and broad, but not too long; the bucks visible,
but not prominent, and the space between them and the ribs short ; the tail heavy, and well haired j
the thighs meeting each other so near as to leave only a small groove for the tail to rest on. One most
valuable property of this breed is, that they are remarkably true pullers, a restive horse being rarely found
among them.
6244. The Welsh horse (Jig. 827. a) bears a near resemblance, in point of size and hardiness, to the best of
the native breed of the highlands of Scotland, and other hilly countries in the north of Europe. It is too
small for the present two-horse ploughs; but few horses are equal to them for enduring fatigue on
the road. " 1 well remember," says Culley, " one that I rode for many years, which, to the last,
would have gone upon a pavement by choice, in preference to a softer road." {Observations on Live
Stock, p. 35.)
6245. The galloway (/>), properly so called as being found chiefly in that province of Scotland, has now
become very rare, the breed having been neglected from its unfitness for agricultural purposes. Galloway
is, however, used as a term for any horse between the pony size and the hack ; and in this point of view
is sufficiently numerous, and very commonly bred by small farmers on commons and wastes. The true
galloway is somewhat larger than the Welsh horse, and is said to resemble the Spanish horses ; there is
also a tradition, that some of the latter, that had escaped from one of the vessels of the Armada, wrecked
on the coast of Galloway, were allowed to intermix with the native race. Such of this breed as have been
preserved in any degree of purity are of a light bay or brown colour, with black legs, and are easily dis-
tinguished by the smallness of their head and neck, and the cleanness of their bone.
6246. The still smaller horses qf the Highlands and isles of Scotland, (c) are distinguished from larger
breeds by the several appellations of ponies, shelties, and in Gaelic of garrons or gearrons. They are
reared in great numbers in the Hebrides, or western isles, where they are found in the greatest
purity. Different varieties of the same race are spread over all the Highland districts, and the northern
isles. This ancient breed is supposed to have been introduced into Scotland from Scandinavia, when the
Norwegians and Danes first obtained a footing in these parts. " It is precisely the same breed that
subsists at present in Norway, the Feroe Isles, and Iceland, and is totally distinct from every thing of
horse kind on the continent of Europe, south of the Baltic. In confirmation of this, there is one peculiar
variety of the horse in the Highlands, that deserves to be noticed : it is there called the eel-backed
horse. He is of different colours, light bay, dun, and sometimes cream-coloured; but has always
a blackish list that runs along the ridge of the back, from the shoulder to the rump, which has a
Book VII. ORGANOLOGY OF THE HORSE. 955
resemblance to an eel stretched out This very singular character subsists also in many cf the horses of
Norway, and is nowhere else known." {Walker's Hebrides, vol. ii. p. 158.) " The Highland horse is
sometimes only nine, and seldom twelve hands high, except in some of the southern of the Hebrides, where
the size has been raised to thirteen or fourteen hands by selection and better feeding. Thebest of this breed
are handsomely shaped, have small legs, large manes, little neat heads, and are extremely active and
hardy. The common colours are grey, bay, and black ; the last is the favourite one." (General Report of
Scotland, vol. iii. p. 176.)
Sect. II. Organology/ or exterior Anatomy of the Horse-
6247. A just knowledge of the exterior conformation of the horse, to be able to form a
correct judgment on the relative qualities of the animal, forms the ne plus ultra of a
scientific horseman's aim ; but it is a branch of knowledge not to be obtained without
much study and experience. In considering a horse exteriorly, his age, his condition,
and other circumstances should be taken into the account ; without which attention it is
not possible to determine, with precision, the present or future state of a horse when he
is seen under various peculiarities. A horse of five years old, though considered as full
grown, yet experiences very considerable alterations of form after that period. He then
becomes what is termed furnished ; and all his points (i. e. his adult form), before hidden
in the plumpness of youth, or disguised by extreme obesity, now show themselves. From
the eft'ects of muscular exertion promoting absorption, he becomes more angular, and to
the painter's eye, would prove more picturesque, but less beautiful. A horse like-
wise low in flesh and condition, is hardly the same animal as one in full flesh and
condition ; and again, the sleekness acquired from relaxed labour, with full and gross
feeding, is very unlike the robust form acquired from generous diet with correspondent
exertion.
6248. The examination of the subject of organology is conveniently pursued by dividing
it into head, neck, trunk, or body, and extremities or legs. The greater number of well
proportioned horses, with the exception of the head and neck, come within a quadrangle ;
not one strictly equilateral as depicted by Lawrence (Richard) and Clark, but one
whose horizontal dimensions are usually between a twenty-fourth and twenty-eighth
greater than their perpendiculars. It must, however, be kept in mind, that with some
considerable deviations from this quadrangular form, many horses have proved superiorly
gifted in their powers ; and that a deviation from these proportions appears in some
instances, as in that of the race horse, not only favourable, but necessary also to his
exertions. Nature will not be limited, and the perfection of her operations is not alone
dependent on the arbitrary arrangement of parts, but on a harmony and accordance of
the whole, internal as well as external. To the artist, however, such admeasurement is
useful, inasmuch as it prevents any singular departure from a symmetrical appearance,
which is but too common among our animal draughtsmen. To the amateur it also
offers a convenient, though not an unerring guide. Our exemplification of the organ-
ology appears by placing a blood and a cart horse within the same square (Jig. 828.), by
which the differences between the various parts of the one and the other are readily
contrasted.
6249. The organs of the head. The head of the horse is remarkable for its dimensions,
formed by an elongation of the jaws ; yet in him, as in most of the grazing tribes, its
bulk is in an inverse proportion to the length of the neck, otherwise the muscles would
not be able to lift it. It is an important part considered as relative to beauty alone, it
being in the inferior heavy breeds but little marked by grace or expression ; but in the
improved varieties it presents lines worthy the painter's pencil and the poet's fancy.
Neither is it too much to say, that in no part of the body is this amelioration of breed so
soon detected as in the head. Can any thing be conceived more dissimilar than the
small inexpressive features of the cart horse, and the bold striking ones that grace the
head of the blood horse ? The quick succession of movements in his pointed ears, the
dilatations of his expanded nostrils, or his retroverted eyes, which give fire and animation
to the character of his head when under the influence of any excitement. This is the
more worthy of remark, when it is considered that some of the principal aids to expres-
sion in the human countenance are wanting in the horse. Man borrows much of liis
facial expression from his eyebrows, and when to tliese the varied action of the mouth is
added, it amounts to more than a half of the total expression. A great accession of
beauty is gained in the improved breeds by the increase of the facial angle, which in
them is about 25°, but in the heavy breeds is usually only 23° {a a a a).
6250. The ears {b b) in the improved breeds are small and pointed ; in the heavy they are not only large
and ill shaped, but they frequently separate from each other : these defects gave rise to the barbarous cus-
tom of cropping, now happily in a great measure abolished. The ears are criteria of the spirit, as well as
of the temper ; we have seldom seen a horse which carried one ear forward and the other backward during
his work that was not hardy and lasting. Being not subject to early fatigue, he is attentive to every thing
around him, and directs his ears different ways to collect sound from every quarter. The ears are also
indications of temper, and a horse is seldom either playful or vicious but his ears are laid flat on the neck.
It is fortunate that we are provided with such a warning, by an animal that does not want craft to surprise
us, nor strength to render his resentment terrible.
956
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part II!.
6251. The forehead next presents itself (c c), straight, and of a proper width in the improved bree.Is,
adorned by nature with an elegant portion of hair, which, detaching itself from the rest of the mane, flows
down the face to protect both that and the ears from the attacks of insects.
6252. The eyes {dd) deserve particular attention, not only for their utility, but as objects of beauty and ex.
pression. In the blood horse the orbitary fossje, or eye-sockets, are more prominent and more inclined, by
which the axes of his eyes diverge more from each other than those of the heavy breed ; by which not only
he is enabled to see further behind him, but the prominence of his eyes gives great beauty and expression to
the blood head. The further consideration of the eyes, and their criteria of soundness, will be postponed
to the anatomical detail. In old horses most of the fat of the body, which is more superficially placed in the
young, becomes absorbed ; in this way the eye, which is usually embedded in a vast quantity of this matter,
losing its assistance, sinks within its orbits, and thus the cavities above, called eye-pits, shows themselves
deeply in an aged horse.
6253. From the ears to the angle of the jaws {e e) large vessels and extensifve glands are situated. Within
these branches of the posterior jaw is lodged the throat, and it will be observed how necessary it is that
these branches should expand sufficiently to admit of the motions of the head, particularly of those in-
fluenced by the reining-in of the bridle ; otherwise the blood-vessels and other parts must be injuriously
pressed upon.
6254. The hollow between the jaws is called the channel, and at the under part of it (/) a considerable
branch of an artery proceeds from the inner side over and around the outer, which branch forms the most
convenient situation for feeling the pulse of the horse
6255. The face {g) of the improved breed of horses presents either a straight line, or one slightly
curved inward towards the lower part ; whereas, in the heavy breeds, it is very commonly found to be
curved outward. This part comprises, as with man, from the forehead to the lips. When the face is
covered with white, it is considered a blemish; but when a white spot only exists in the forehead, it is
considered a beauty.
6256. The markings in the face are useful to describe a horse by, and frequently lead to the recovery of
a strayed or stolen one._ In regimental accounts these marks are carefully noted. When a spot extends
down the face, it is termed a blaze; and when further continued into the muzzle, it is called blaze and
snip. When a star is distinct, but with it there are white markings which begin some distance below it,
and are continued downwards, it is called a race.
6257. The muxzle {h h) includes the lips, mouth, and nostrils ; the darker the colour of this part the
more is the horse esteemed : very dark brown horses are an exception, for in them it is usually of a tan
colour, and is praised both as a beauty and indicative of excellence. It is both a beauty and an excellence
that the nostrils be thin, angular, and large
62i8. The lips should be thin, firm, and by no means loose and pendulous, as is the case in the old and
sluggish. The lips in the horse are the principal organs of touch and discrimination, and hence are
exquisitely sensible.
6259. The form of the mouth, as receiving the bit, is important. It is also of more consequence than is
usually supposed, that its commissure or opening be sufficiently deep ; when shallow, it is not only in-
elegant, but it will not admit a bridle favourably into its proper resting place upon the bars. Within the
mouth are situated the teeth, which are so placed as to have interrupted portions of jaw above and below
of considerable extent. 'I'hese vacancies are called bars, and are parts of extreme importance to the horse-
man, as it is by means of agents called bits resting on these parts, and operating on their sensibility by
means of a lever, the long arm of which is in the hand of the rider, that he ensures obedience. In aid of
this mechanism, to one portion of this lever is attached a chain, called a curb, which acting on the outer
part of the chin, increases the pressure. This latter part has been called the barb ox beard, but its situation
is evidently above that
Book VII. ORGANOLOGY OF THE HORSE. 957
62G0. T/ie teeth (Jig. 829.), which present themselves on tlie lower parts of the jaws, are the incisive
and canine. The two front incisives are popularly called nippers or
gatherers (a) ; the two next adjoining, separators or middle teeth (i) ;
and the outer, the corners (c) ; but it would be more definite to say the
first, second, and third incisives, beginning at the comer. The tusks
or tushes (dd) occupy part of the intermediate space between the incisive
and grinding teeth. The teeth, as criteria of age, will be considered in
another place, and as organs of mastication, they will be further noticed
in the anatomical detail.
6261. The oreans of the neck. The exterior parts which compose the
neck are firsttheupper surface, which is furnished throughout its whole
extent with an elegant assemblage of hair called mane (Jig. 828. e e). In
some instances, as in stallions, it is of enormous length and thickness.
In dark-coloured horses it is commonly black, but in horses of colours
approaching to a light hue the reverse is frequently seen, and the mane
and tail are in these often lighter than the body,
6262. To make the hairs of the mane and tail lie smooth is an object with most horsemen, but the pulling
the hair out in tufts by wrapping it round the fingers is a most erroneous practice, and not only at the
time frustrates the end intended, but a mane so pulled will seldom hang well after. The writer of this
has always made use of a three-pronged angular mane-puller, which, if used two or three times a week,
will bring both mane and tail into perfect order, and will keep them so. This iron is manufactured and
sold by Long, veterinary instrument maker in Holborn, London.
6263. The upper surface of the neck (i) should form a moderate but elegant curve, which is greatly
favourable to beauty : this curve is, however, not so considerable in the pure eastern variety as in the better
sort of northern horse.
6264. The under surface qf the neck (k k) should be nearly straight ; in the cock-throttled horse it
arches outwards, and the upper surface in these instances is sometimes hollowed inwards in equal pro-
portions, when such horse is called ewe-necked. When this deformity is considerable, it prevents the
head from being carried in its true angle, and particularly so under the action ol the bridle ; in which
case the nose being projected forwards, carries the axis of the eyes upwards : such horses are called star-
gazers; and it is to be observed that they are seldom safe-goers. In mares and geldings a very just cri-
terion of a sluggish disposition, may be formed from the presence of a considerable quantity of flesh on the
upper surface of the neck : when the crest is very thick and heavy, it is almost an unerring prognostic of
a decided sluggard. In stallions it, however, forms a distinctive sexual mark, and therefore is less to be
depended upon in them. In a well-proportioned horse, the length of the neck, the length of the head,
and of the angle uniting the two, should give the height of the withers from the ground. When
the neck is too long, the head must of course gravitate by the increased length of the arm of the
balance ; it likewise seldom presents a firm or proper resistance to the bridle. When, on the contrary,
the neck is too short, the head is frequently ill placed, and the lever in the hand of the rider will be
too short also.
6265. The organs of the trunk or carcase are various. Considered as a whole, Clark
has not unaptly likened it, when separated from the limbs, to a boat ; within which are
disposed various important viscera. The bony ribs he likens to the wooden ones encom-
passing the vessel, and the sternum or breast-bone, being perpendicularly deep and
thin, carries the resemblance further, and fits the machine to cleave the air as the boat
does the water. Within this animal vessel, according with the justest mechanical
principles, the weightiest of the viscera, the liver, is placed in the centre, and the
others follow nearly in the relative order of their gravity ; so that the lungs, the lightest
of the whole, are stowed in front, where great weight would have been most disad-
vantageous.
6266. The shoulders (a a, b b) are commonly considered as extending from the withers above to the point
in front, and to the line behind formed from the elbow upwards : but a correct description considers them
as those parts immediately concerned in motion ; that is, the scapula or blade-bone, and its attachments.
The shoulders are too apt to be confounded with the withers above, and with the arm below, erroneously
called the point of the shoulders. From this confusion, great error is committed in appreciating their
nature and action ; but this is removed by recourse to the skeleton (fig. 830. i, A, /). The withers (e e) may
be justly proportioned at the same time that the shoulders may be narrow, straight, and altogether badly
formed, and vice versa. The shoulders should be muscular and narrow, but not heavy ; and to de-
termine between these essential points, requires the eye of experience in the viewer, and the presence of
condition in the viewed. A muscular shoulder is essentially necessary, when we consider that the fore
extremities are wholly connected by muscle, and not as in man, by the intervention of the bony union of
the clavicle or collar bone. In the horse, therefore, we find that large muscular masses unite the shoulder
blade, by its upper and inner surfaces, to the chest ; while other powerful muscles suspend as it were the
machine between them. By this contrivance, elasticity is preserved and strength gained ; for had the
shoulders possessed a bony connection, when the body is propelled forwards, its weight and force being
received by the fore extremities, painful and hurtful shocks would have been experienced at every step.
Powerful muscles for the shoulders are also as necessary for progression as for attachment. It is not
therefore with judgment that a very thin meagre shoulder is commonly preferred. It is by the union
of strength with just proportions, and a proper situation of the parts, that the value of the animal is
determined.
6267. The centre of action in the shoulders (c) is in their common centre, and the extent of action of
any part moving on its centre, is dependent on the length of such part ; the motion the shoulder enjoys
is confined to the perpendicular backwards, and to as great an elevation of the muscles as they will admit
of forwards. It will be therefore evident that the more oblique is the situation of the shoulder blade,
the greater number of degrees it can go through ; it must be as evident also that when the shoulder blade
is long and deep, as well as oblique, that this advantage is increased. It is commonly observed, although
it is not invariably the case, that when the shoulder is short, it is also upright (b b). Obliquity and
length in the shoulder favour the safety of the progression also : for as the angles formed between the
shoulder, the arm, and fore-arm, are consentaneous, and make, when in action, a bony arch ; so the
obliquity and length of the shoulders is favourable to a due elevation of the limb, on which, in a great
degree, depends the safety of progression. Thus mares are, ceterii paribus, more unsafe than horses,
their shoulders being short to correspond with the low mare-like forehand ; and their decreased obliquity
usually regulates an increased obliquity in the whole limb downwards, or as is familiarly expressed, they
stand with their legs under them. Unfavourable as is this form of the mare, both for the speed and safety
of their action, it was given for advantageous purposes : for, by such a position in the fore extremities, the
hinder are raised higher to afTord additional security against the evils of gravitation and dislodgement of
the foal from the pelvis. Few rules can be laid down in the exterior conformation that are more important,
or of such general application, as that a short and upright shoulder, particularly when united with an
958 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part HI.
inclined direction of the whole limb backwards, is a sure mark of an unsafe goer, and commonlj', though
not invariably, of a slow one also. Tt now and then hajjpens indeed, that horses having defective shoulders
l)rove speedy and good movers, which would appear to contravene these principles ; but it will be found,
that, wherever horses liaving these defects in their fore legs yet prove quick and safe in progression, they
invariably have hinder parts of great strength and proportion to make up tiie deficiency. Indeed, it
appears probable, that the hind and fore parts do not bear the same relative proportion in alt horses alike ;
in blood horses, the withers are not always high, and although their shoulders are commonly deep and
oblique, yet the fore limbs are altogether short in proportion to the hinder, in a great number of the
fleetest racers : for, as speed appears to be a principal end in their fomiationj and as comparative anatomy
furnishes us with abundant proof that all animals destined to make consideralile leaps (and the full gallop
is nothing more than a succession of leaps) are low before, the end of their formation is really best
answered by this arrangement of parts ; it is also more than probable that, although speed in the gallop
may be found with a defective forehand, yet, in the slower paces of the canter, trot, and walk, a justly
formed shoulder is more immediately requisite. This .subject will be still iurthcr elucidated when we treat
on the mechanical properties of the skeleton.
6268. The ivithcrs {e e) are formed by the long transverse processes of the dorsal vertebrse {fig. 830. y),
and as their use is to serve as levers to muscles, so their length characterised by the height of the withers
must be of great advantage, and enable such horses to go high above their ground ; for the muscles of the
back, acting to greater advantage, elevate the fore parts more forcibly. From this we may also learn that
the elevation of the fore parts, or the horse's going above his ground, as elevated action is expressed, is not
altogether dependent on the motion of the shoulders, nor on the height to which the animal may be
inclined to lift merely his legs ; but likewise, on the extent to which the fore half of the machine is alto-
gether elevated by the action of the dorsal and lumbar muscles. When the withers are high, or the fore-
hand well up, as it is termed, it is favourable to the celerity and to the safety of the action ; but as these
properties are less wanting in the heavy breeds, we find in them a considerable variation of form : in the
cart horse, weight of forehand is an essential requisite to his exertions ; for drawing being an efFort of the
animal to preserve himself from the tendency which his weight gives him to the centre of gravity when
he inclines forward, so the more weighty and bulky he is before, and the nearer he approximates this
centre, the more advantageously he will apply his powers. It is not here intended to be hinted that nature
gave him this form purposely to enable him to draw : this, indeed, would be an argument of necessity;
but this form has been judiciously imposed on him by men, by regulation of the sexual intercourse, and
by a careful selection of specimens having some of the requisites to propagate from, until at last we have
produced the massive weighty animal whose powers astonish as well as benefit us.
6269. The breast or counter iff) is the part between the point of the arms or .shoulders, and which
should be moderately wide and extended : when it is otherwise, the horse is seldom durable, or even
strong, although he may be .speedy ; neither have the lungs sufficient room for expansion, nor the
muscles great extent of attachment; frequently too it accompanies a general flatness of ribs, and want
of circular form in the carcase in general ; all which experience has shown to be necessary to the
perfection of the machine. The breast may, however, be too wide ; it may also hang over or project
beyond the perpendicular of the fore limbs, so as to overweigh the machine : this form, however, though
unfavourable to the saddle horse, for the reasons just assigned, is much desired in the heavy draught
horse.
6270. The back. Where the withers end the back commences (g) ; the length should be moderate only,
for a long cylinder cannot be so strong as one of less length ; long-backed horses are easy because the
action and the reaction are considerable; but what is gained in elasticity is lost in strength. When the
back is too short, the extremities are so much ai)proximated that they frequently overreach each other,
and the hind foot strikes that before it, in progression : the back should be nearly straight, it has naturally
an inclination in the line of its gravity ; but this exists in very diflerent degrees in different horses. When
the incurvation inwards is considerable, such horses are called saddle-backed, and are usually considered
weak; but, to keep up the counterpoise, the crest in such horses is generally good; they also ride plea-
santly, and commonly carry much apparent carcass ; sometimes indeed too much. When the back is
curved upwards, it is called roach-backed; when considerably so, it is unfavourable to theliberty of action,
as well as to the elasticity of motion : in these cases, to counteract the curve outward, the head is also
usually carried low. A short-backed horse is in considerable request with many persons, who do not con-
sider that when it is too much so there is seldom great speed ; for the hinder extremities cannot be brought
sufficiently under the body to propel the mass forwards.
6271. The loins {h) may be considered as the part which extends from immediately behind the hinder
edge of the saddle, when properly placed, to the rump. Anatomically it begins at the sacrum {fig. 830. x),
whose processes being sometimes defective or interrupted, leave an indentation, as though the union
between the back and loins were incomplete ; and such horses are said to be badly loined : but although
it may in some measure deprive the muscles of some slight attachments, yet the evil is not so considerable
as is imagined. The width of the loins is of considerable import to the strength of the animal, as it affords
a greater surface for the attachment of the powerful muscles of the back and loins ; and the muscles
themselves should be so prominent, as to seem to swallow the back-bone amongst them. When the pro-
tuberances of the ilium or haunch bone are very prominent, the horse is said to be ragged hipped ; but it
operates to his disadvantage only in appearance, as extent in these parts, being favourable to muscular
attachment, is always beneficial
6272. The croup extends from the loins to the setting on of the tail (n n). It should be long and only
slightly rounded, which is another characteristic of the blood or improved breed. In the cart horse, on
the contrary, it is seen short and much more considerably rounded (« n). A long croup is in every point
of view the most perfect, for it affords a very increased surface for muscular attachment, and although
the large buttocks of the cart horse would at first sight convey an idea of great strength and extent, yet,
attentively viewed, it will be found that the early rounding of the sacral line, the low setting on of the
tail, and the small space which necessarily exists between the hips and buttocks, all tend to lessen the
surface of muscular attachment, compared with the broad croup, wide haunches, and deep spread thighs
of the blood horse.
6273. The flank {k), is the space contained between the ribs and haunches; when too extensive it in-
dicates weakness, because it is the consequence of too long a back ; and such a horse is said not to be well
ribbed up. When the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebras are short, as in badly loined horses,
this part is hollow. The flank is usually looked to also as indicative of the state of respiration : thus,
when it rises and falls quicker than ordinary, unless violent exertion has just been used, it betokens pre-
sent fever, or otherwise, chronic disease of the lungs.
6274. The belly (?"). Having taken a tour round the upper parts of the carcase, we will carry the survey
downwards and forwards. Anteriorly, the ribs should be wide upwards, and as much deepened below as
possible, which affords what is termed great depth in the girth. This form greatly increases the surface
of attachment of the motive organs, the muscles, and also allows room for the free expansion of the lungs,
and consequently is favourable to the wind. Posteriorly, the ribs should form the body as much as pos-
sible into a circular figure, that being of all others the most extended, and affording the best surface for
the absorption of nutriment ; thus barrelled horses, as they are termed, are greatly esteemed, and found
to be lastmg in work and readily brought into condition, and more easily kept so. When the chest is too
flat and straight, the belly is also small : hence, neither can the blood absorb its vital principle from the
air, nor the lacteals the chyliferous juices from the intestines ; these horses are therefore seldom durable.
As less nutriment is taken up by the constitution, so less is eaten, thus also they are seldom good feeders ;
Book VII. ORGANOLOGY OF THE HORSE. 959
and as tlie pressure on the intestines must be considerable from tlie small containing surface, so they are
usually likewise what is termed washy ; that is, easily purged, whereby an additional cause of weakness
exists, from the too early passing off of the food. Such horses are, nowever, very commonly spirited and
lively, although not lasting. A knowledge of the advantages gained by a circular form of carcass or
belly, as affording the greatest capacity, is what constituted Bakewell's grand secret in the breeding of
cattle : he always bred from such animals as would be most likely to produce this form, well knowing that
no other would fatten so advantageously.
6275. The ivhirlbone (/), among the jockeys and grooms, is the articulation of the thigh bone, with the
pelvis, or basin, and forms the hip joint. The ligaments of this powerful joint are sometimes forcibly dis-
tended by violence, and a very obstinate lameness is usually the consequence. The situation of the thigh
{I, m) is in the horse, as in most quadrupeds, enveloped within the range of the trunk.
6276. The stifle (m) corresponds with the knee of the human figure, and is the point at the lower por-
tion of the flank. It is evident that the part below this, which is generally called the thigh or gascoin, is
erroneously so named. It should be very muscular and extended ; it should also make a considerable
angle with the femur or thigh, and form a direct line under the hip or haunch. Its length in all animals
destined for speed is considerable.
6277. The fore extremities or legs. In treating of the mechanical properties of the
skeleton, we shall have to point out the essential differences between the geometrical
structure and functions of the fore and hinder extremities. We shall here content our-
selves with a simple examination of the individual parts.
6278. The arm of the horse {h) is apt to be overlooked, nor, without some consideration, does it strike the
observer, that the arm covered with muscles, and enveloped within the common skin of the chest, extends
from the elbow (a) to the point of the shoulder, as it is termed, but correctly to its own point below and
before the shoulder blade. {Jig. 830.) The same reasons which render a muscular, oblique, and deep
shoulder advantageous, also make it desirable that this part should be muscular and extensive in length
and breadth, and that its obliquity should be proportionate to that of the shoulder : whence it results,
that the more acute the angle between them, the greater will be the extent of the motion gained by the
flexion and extension of the parts.
6279. The fore arm (c), which horsemen consider and call the arm, is placed upright to counteract the
angular position of the real arm and shoulder bones. As it is always found long in animals destined for
great speed, as we witness in the hare and greyhound, it should therefore be also of considerable length
in the horse, when speed is a requisite quality j but for the cadences of the manege, where the elasticity
is required to be distributed equally through all parts of the limb, it is chosen short. The fore-arm is
broad and large, particularly upwards, for here the powerful muscles that operate the motions of the parts
below, are almost all of them situated. To prevent incumbrance, and to give solidity, these muscles de-
generate into tendons and ligaments below the fore-arm ; but above, it is essentially necessary to strength
that they should be large and well marked.
6280. The knee {d), so called, is properly, with reference to human anatomy, the carpus or wrist It is
composed of many bones to enable it to resist the jar arising from the action of the perpendicular parts
above and below it. All the joints of the extremities, but particularly those of the knee and hock, should
be broad, that the surface of contact may be increased, and the stability augmented ; by this means, like-
wise, a more extensive attachment is afforded to muscles and ligaments ; their insertions are also thereby
removed farther from the centre of motion.
6281. As criteria of safe going, the knees should be particularly examined when it is contemplated to
purchase a horse, to see whether the skin has been broken by falls; and in this, very minute attention is
required ; for sometimes the wound heals so perfectly, or otherwise so much art is used in shaving the
hair, blistering, colouring, and rubbing it down, picking out the white or staring hairs, &c., that more
than common nicety is required to detect a slight scar. It is, however, prudent to remember, that it is
not every horse whose knees betray a scar, that is a stumbler : the best may have a fall in the dark. It is
also necessary to caution persons against the admission of a very common prejudice, that when a horse
has once been down, however little he may have hurt his knees, he is rendered more liable than before to
a similar accident. If his limbs have not been weakened by the accident, or if the cicatrix be not suffi-
ciently large to prevent the free bending of the knee, he is not at all more liable to fall than another
horse. If, therefore, a horse with a scar on his knee have the forehand good, and if his action correspond
thereto, he ought not to be refused on this ground : but with a different conformation he ought to be steadily
rejected, let the tale told be ever so plausible. In gross heavy horses a scabby eruption often seats itself
around the inner bend of the knee [h), which is called mallenders.
6282. The canon or shank {e) carries the limb down elegant, light, straight, and strong. Much stress is
deservedly laid on the necessity that this part of the limb should be wide when viewed laterally. Viewed
in front, its being thin is favourable, because made up as it is principally of bone and tendon, any addition
to it beyond these must arise from useless cellular matter, or otherwise from matter worse than useless,
being placed there by disease. Any thickening of the part generally or partially, should be looked on
with suspicion ; as, if natural, likely to interfere with motion without adding to strength ; or if acciden-
tal, as a mark of acquired injury likely to remain. In the bony skeleton may be seen within and behind
the knee an apparatus destined to remove the acting ligaments and tendons from the centre of motion,
by which great advantage is gained in strengthening and facilitating their flexions. It is a default in this
conformation that renders horses tied in under the knee, as it is usually termed. The limb below the knee,
instead of proceeding downwards of a uniform width, is seen suddenly narrowing immediately as it leaves
the knee. Such horses are invariably found to bear exertion badly ; their legs at an early period become
bowed or arched, and totter on the slightest exertion. In cart horses this conformation is very common ;
but in them it is of less consequence than in those destined for quicker motion, where the elevation of the
limb is so extensively and so frequently repeated. To render this subject familiarly clear, we will recom-
mend that a cord be placed round the ball of the thumb, and passed up close to the arm until it reaches
the bend : with the other hand, by straightening and extending this cord, but held close to the arm, en-
deavour to flex the hand and wrist inwards : operated in this way it will require great force to do it; but
remove the hand only two inches from the arm, and the bound hand will yield readily to a less force.
Exactly the same happens to the ligaments and tendons called back sinews which flex or bend the fore
legs ; for by an apparatus, fonned from the position of one of the carpal bones {pistfdrmis), they are, in
well formed legs, set out wide from the knee.
6283. The back sinews should not only be large and firm, but they should, like the limb generally, be
very distinct from the knee to the fetlock : in this course, if any thickening be observed, it betokens former
mjury, as extension or rupture of ligamentous fibres, which usually have a disposition to recurring weak-
ness. If a hard swelling appear on the inner side, not on the tendon, but on the bone, a splint is present
which IS more or less injurious as it is nearer or farther from the knee, or distinct from or situated among
the tendons and ligaments ; but when it is considerable in size, hot to the feel, and extends inwards and
backwards among them, it usually produces most injurious consequences. To detect these evils the eye
alone should not be trusted, particularly where there is much hair on the legs, as on cart horses, and even
on hackneys in the winter, but the hand should be deliberately passed down the shank before and behind.
Ari enlargement or scar situated close to and on the inner side of the knee, must not be mistaken for a
splint ; It more frequently arises from a custom some horses have when trotting fast, of elevating their
feet and cutting this part with their shoes, and it is thence called the speedt/ cut.
060 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
6284. The pastern and fetlock iff). General usage lias applied the term fetlock to the joint itself, and
pastern to the part extending from the fetlock to the oot ; properly speaking, the fetlock or footlock is
only the posterior part of the joint, whence grows the lock or portion of hair, which, in many horses,
flows over and around the hinder part of the foot ; a short and upright pastern is inelastic, and such
horses are uneasy goers ; they are unsafe also, for the pastern being already in so upright a position, re-
quires but little resistance, or only a slight shock, to bring it forwards beyond the perpendicular ; and the
weight of the machine then forces the animal over. Nor are these the only evils arising from this form,
ation, for the ends of the bones being opposed to each other in nearly a perpendicular direction, receive
at each movement a jar or shock, which leads to an early derangement of the joint, and to the appear-
ance called overshot. On the contrary, when the pasterns are too long they are frequently too oblique
also ; and although their elasticity may he pleasant to the rider, such formation detracts from the strength
of the limb. These joints both before and behind are very subject to what is called windgalls, which are
swellings formerly supposed full of air, whence their name ; but they are now known to contain an in-
creased quantity of the mucus destined to lubricate the parts in their motions. These pufFy elastic
tumours are originally small and hidden between the lower end of the canon and the flexor tendon, or
back sinew ; but when hard work has inflamed all the parts, the secretion within increases, and then
they become visible to the eye ; but unless they are so considerable as to obstruct the due action of
the parts, they are no otherwise objectionable than as they tell a tale of inordinate wear of the limbs
generally.
6285. The form of the pasterns influences the defect called cutting, which arises from a blow given to
either the fore or hind fetlocks by one leg to the other during its elevation. Horses narrow in the chest,
or which turn their toes out, or have other peculiarities of form, cut permanently, and are then very ob-
jectionable ; but others only cut when fatigued, or when very low in flesh. Horses often cut when young,
who leave it off when furnished, and of mature growth.
6286. The feet ig g). These essential and complex organs will be more fully examined in the anatomi-
cal detail, but much also presents itself to the consideration in an exterior examination. Horses might
be presumed to be naturally born with perfect feet ; but experience shows that defects in these organs are
hereditary. In some, the peculiarities of climate operate ; and in others, a constitutional predisposition
exists ; dependent on some cause with which we are unacquainted.
6287. Climate influences the form of the horse's foot. In the arid plains of the east, where every im-
pediment to an extensive search for food is removed, the feet are hard, dry, and small ; this form, not-
withstanding the alterations of breed and culture, in some degree still adheres to the blood or aboriginal
eastern horse : artificial habits have extended the evil, and now smaU and contracted feet are to be seen
in every variety, except in the coarse heavy breeds.
6288. Constitutional and hereditary causes operate on the feet. That a constitutional predisposition
exists in the production of a particular form of foot, we know from the fact, that dark chesnut horses
are more prone to contraction of the hoofs than any other coloured horse ; and that the form of the foot
is hereditary, may be gained from the known circumstance that some of the Lincolnshire stallions always
get large flat-footed progeny j while some full bred entire horses entail small upright feet on all their
offspring.
6289. Local situation will also affect the form of the feet. The effect of situation is remarkably exem.
plified in the horses which we used to obtain from Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and some parts of
Norfolk and Yorkshire, before the draining system was perfected. These horses had, almost invariably,
large, flat, heavy feet ; which, however convenient and natural they might prove to the animals while
moving on the quaggy surface of marshy districts, yet were found very unfit for quick light movements
in drier situations. Such horses go heavily and stumble : and as the horn of which these enormous
feet are formed is always weak, the anterior or front part yields to the heat and inflammation brought
on by exercise on hard roads, and falls inwards, which letting the weight of the body fall on the soles pushes
that downward ; and at last from a concave, it presents a convex surface. The feet cannot then bear
shoeing, but with much art and difficulty : pain and tenderness bring on lameness and uselessness ; and
therefore horses with such feet should be rejectetl. Feet preternaturally small are equally objectionable,
as betokening a disposition to contraction. Horses with a tendency to foundered feet stand with pain in
the stable, first placing one foot before, and then shifting it to place the other in the same situation. The
contraction usually begins in the heels, which are found higher than natural, and drawn inwards ; the
foot altogether is likewise narrower, and the sole hard and hollow. When a preternatural fulness is
seen around the coronets, ring-bone may be suspected ; and if heat and hardness be accompanied with
any tenderness in going, its existence is certain. But although too much horn is to be avoided, too little
produces a weak foot; in which the heels, quarters, and soles all participate : the thin horn cannot resist
the impressions of the stones on the road, and then lameness ensues. The under surface of the foot
should exhibit a full, healthy, wide frog, with bars prominent and properly inflected. The concavity of the
sole should be particularly attended to ; when less than natural, it is weak, when more, it indicates con-
traction ; whence such feet have been called too strong. White feet are objectionable, because they are
found more liable to this evil than others. Corns are an evil to which the under surface of the foot is
liable, and which should always be looked for on the purchase or examination of a horse ; for which pur-
pose, it would be well that the fore shoes should be removed, and the foot carefully pared by a judicious
and clever smith. Merely picking out the foot will often, also, detect the remains of former cuttings or
parings out of the corns. Some hoofs are very brittle, and a horse with this defect should, in every in-
stance, be rejected. The evil may in general be easily detected by the marks of the fragile parts detach-
ing themselves from every old nail-hole. This kind of foot, particularly in hot weather, breaks away till
there is no room for the nails to hold ; when the horse of course becomes useless. Sandcracks are also
another evil to which the feet are liable ; and which should engage the attention in the examination of a
horse : they consist of longitudinal fissures ; one only Is usually present at once ; but that one if deep is
fully equal to produce lameness. The subject of the feet will be concluded by an observation on their
general appearance, well worthy of attention. The eye should be directed to the degree and to the man.
ner in which the shoes are worn ; which will often save much useless trouble in trying a horse. A stum-
bling horse may be frequently, nay commonly, detected by simply lifting up one fore foot : for the unequal
wearing away of the shoe at the toe, while the other parts remain good, is a full proof of his going un-
safely and digging his toes.
6290. On a revieto of the conformation of the fore extremities, it may be remarked, that whereas the
hinder may be considered as more particularly concerned in impelling the machine forwards with its
requisite velocity ; yet, that upon a proper form and a true direction of the various component parts of the
fore limbs must depend the stability, the truth, and the safety of the movements. Viewed anteriorly, the
fore legs should stand rather widest at the upper part, inclining a little inwards below ; but when we view
them latterly, they should present a perpendicular from the arm downwards ; and the toe should place
itself directly under the point of the shoulder, as it is called. If the foot should stand beyond this, which
is seldom the case, the action will be confined, for the limb will have already passed over a point of its
ground ; such a horse, however, generally treads even, flat, and safe ; and, in proportion as it stands in the
direct line downwards, he generally inherits these desirable properties. When the foot stands behmd the
perpendicular line the defect is considerable, by the removal of the centre of gravity too much forward,
by which an increased tendency to stumble and fall is entailed ; and as this in general accompanies a want
of extent and obliquity in the shoulder, so it likewise lessens the speed.
6291. The hinder extremities. We have already described the thigh, correctly so
Book VIL ORGANOLOGY OF THE HORSE. 9G1
called, which is so concealed by muscles as frequently to escape this consicWat'on of it,
by which tJie part immediately below it popularly receives the name of thigh, but which
is, in fact, the leg,
6292. The leg (1, 2), commonly called the thigh, in well formed horses is powerfully furnished with
muscles, and very extended in its figure ; it siiould also make a considerable angle with the femur or real
thigh, and form a direct line under the hip or haunch ; for the same reasons that make it desirable to have
a long arm in the fore extremities, it is also advantageous that the leg should be so likewise, and this is
the form usual among all quadrupeds of speed.
6293. The hock {"i) is the important joint immg diately below the leg, or thigh commonly so called, and is
interposed between the tibia and tarsal bones [Jig. 830.), purposely to increase the extent of attachment,
and to break the shock of great exertion ; it may be considered as the most complex and important joint
of the body : like the knee, it should be extended and broad ; for, in proportion as the calcaneum or point
of the hock (5), and which is the real heel, extends itself beyond the other bones, so the powerful tendo
Achilles inserted into it, acts with a longer lever, and with a greater increase of power. This joint is sub-
ject to several important diseases, which, in the examination of a horse, require particular attention ; when
a soft puffy swelling is discovered in the ply or bend of the hock (3), it is termed a blood spavin, which will
be noticed among the diseases ; it is, in fact, a similar enlargement with the windgalls before mentioned,
and what has been said on them equally applies to these. When similar mucous capsules become enlarged
on each side of the hock, the enlargement receives the name of tho7-oush-pin. A small bursal enlargement
is sometimes found at the very point of the hock (5), and is then called a capulet ; to all which what has
been -said on windgalls applies, that they are only to be deemed of consequence when so large as to inter-
fere with the motion of the parts they are situated with or near ; or, as indicative of an undue portion of
work. The ligamects at the back of the hock sometimes become strained or extended, and heat, inflam-
mation, and sweJling follow, which is then called acurb. As rest or very mild treatment soon reduces it,
it is not to be considered as of great consequence. The inner part of the joint at the ply or bend, is some-
times attended with a skin affection similar to the mallendcrs before alluded to, and is called scllenders (4) ;
but the most serious disease to which the hock Ls liable, is a disease of the ligaments of some of the tarsal
bones. Sometimes one or more of these bones, or the ligaments which unite them, inflame, and an
exostosis or splint is formed: to detect the existence of this affection, the hocks should be attentively
viewed from behind, when any enlargement in the spavin place (3,4) may be easily detected. The me-
chanism of this joint wiU be further considered wlien we treat of the skeleton generally.
6294. The colour of horses does not depend on their real skin, as with man, but upon an
exterior beautiful covering which nature has given them, called hair ; nevertheless, the
hair is, in some measure, influenced by the skin, as light-skinned horses have light hair,
and when the hair is light, the eyes are usually so likewise : hair presents many varieties
of tint, so horses are said to be of various colours. Buffbn has conjectured that horses
were originally of one colour, which he presumes to be bay ; but such wild horses as have
been seen, and which have been supposed to be pure originals, have not justified this
opinion. This same author has divided the colours of tlie horse into simple, compound,
and strange or extraordinary.
6295. The simple colours are bay, chestnut, dun, sorrel, white, and black ; bayls a very prevailing tint
among European horses, and admits of many shades, but is admired in all : there are bright bays, blood
bays, dark and dappled bays ; broum bay is a very esteemed colour, and consists of bay and black in unequal
proportions in different horses : brown horses are highly prized ; the darker varieties have usually
beautiful tan markings, as abput the muzzle, &c. : they have commoiily also black manes and tails, with
legs and feet of the same hue; and it may be here remarked, that horses of compounded colours, of
whatsoever tint tbe mane and tail may be, will be found invariably formed of one of the compounding
colours ; thus ligfart greys, which area compouixl of black and white, have often white manes and tails :
sorrels, again, which are formed of white, with a small proportion of red, have also frequently white manes
and tails : chestnut, ■which is also a very common colour, admits of almost as many shades as the bay,
from the lightest tint to the deepest tone. Very light chestnuts have frequently still lighter manes
and tails, with mealy legs and light feet ; so marked, they are certainly not to be chosen for strength,
durability, or pliancy of temper : the Suffolk punch, however, may be considered in some degree an ex-
ception, although the true breed is hardly so light as those hinted at here Dark chestnuts are con-
sidered, and with justice, as fiery in their dispositions; they are also more subject to contracted feet tlian
horses of any other hue. Dun is a colour that has several varieties ; it is sometimes accompanied witli a
white mane and tail, at others they are seen even darker than the rest of the hair. In some, a list or line
of deeper tint extends along the back, which is regarded by some as an indication of hardihood; a
similar line is sometimes seen in the bay. Dun horses do not appear to be at all influenced in their quali-
ties by their colour, or rather no criteria are offered by it, for there are good, bad, and indifferent in all
the varieties of shade. The sorrel is a variety of the chestnut, but not a favourite one. White as a native
colour is not in much estimation, neither is it very common, for many horses are white only through age,
as all light-grey and flea-bitten horses become so. Black is a very usual colour, and in the large heavy
northern breed it seems to be an original tint ; and perhaps it is to this their goodness may be attributed,
for, among the lighter breeds, there are more indifferent black horses than of any other colour. The
tempers of black horses are commonly in the extreme, either sluggish to stupidity, or fiery to excess. The
colour itself admits of many shades ; but a perfect black horse is more unusual than it is generally tliought
to be : a star on the forehead is common to relieve the ebon hue ; and in the abseiu;e of that, a few white
hairs on the breast frequently interrupts the uniformity. It is, perhaps, on this principle that black horses
have white legs so often as they do.
6296. The compound colours may be considered as those in which the hairs are compounded, but not
the colours themselves ; otherwise the bay, the chestnut, brown, &c. might be considered as compounded
colours. ITie roan is a mixture of red and white : its varieties are the common, the red, and the dark.
All the roans are esteemed. Grey admits of a great number of shades and varieties, but all are com-
pounded of black and white, except the iron grey, %vhich receives a few bay hairs among the black and
white -, a considerable prejudice exists in favour of this colour. Greys are light or dark ; there are also
the dai»pled, the markings of which are extremely beautiful, and the silver grey. Grey horses become
lighter by age : many old white horses have been grey until age overtook them. Grey horses, like black,
admit of no settled character ; though, unlike them, they are not to be generally disapproved of. They
have, however, all the extremes within their range j the darker ones are usually good, the lighter ones not
generally so.
6297. The extraordinary colours are not very numerous, and it may be remarked, that white is alwayjs
the relieving tint, intermixed with distinct markings, in various proportions, of bay, brown, black, or
chestnut. Flea-bitten is grey or white, with small bay spots. When these six)ts are very large, and liave
a marginal surface of lighter markings, they give the name tiger coloured ; and although they are un.
common with us, they are not unfrequent in Germany and Barbary, Pied or pie-bald is one of the most
oumercms extraordinary colours, and is usually composed of two colours, in distinct large markings,
3 Q
962 • PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
Now and then a third interferes: there are pies of all original colours with white, and all are held in
estimation.
6298. Colour, as a criterion of mental and personal qualities, is laid much stress on by many persons ;
and long experience has shown that certain tints are usually accompanied by certain qualities of person or
disposition. As a general rule, dark-coloured horses are certainly the best ; but, as before observed, it is
peculiar that blaclc, as the darkest of all, should form an exception to this rule. Light shades appear un-
favourable to strength and durability ; they are also accompanied frequently with irritability and perverse-
ness of temper. Something like a general law in the animal economy seems to prevail, to make white a
distinctive mark of weakness. Age, which is the parent of weakness, brings with it white hairs, both in
man and in horses, and most other quadrupeds. The hair formed after a wound has robbed a part of its
original Covering is often white, because the new formed surface is yet in a state of debility. It is likewise
a fact well known among the observant, that the legs and feet when white are more obnoxious to disease
than those of a darker tone. The Arabs remarks, that light chestnut horses have soft tender feet. It is
the observance of these peculiarities that has at length guided our taste, and formed our judgment of
"beauty. With us much white on the legs is considered as a deformity, and is expressively called/ow/ marked,
■whereas pied markings in other parts are reckoned beautiful In Africa, however, Captain Lyon informs
lis a superstitious dependence is placed on horses with legs and feet stockinged with white. It does not ap-
pear that climate has the same influence on the colour of horses as on that of other domesticated animalsw
In all latitudes in which the horse can live, he is black or white indiscriminately ; but as he cannot endure
extreme rigour, it is not necessary that he should vary.
Sect. III. The Boni/ Anatomy or Osseous Structure of the Horse.
6299. All quad-rupeds are formed on an earthy base called bone, and the assemblage of
bony parts is called a skeleton. Bones are formed of earth and membrane (1881.) ; they
iare covered also by an investure called periosteum. The earthy part is the last formed,
and consolidates the bones as the animal becomes fitted to exert all his powers. This
deposit of earth in the bones appears to be hastened by any thing that permanently
quickens the circulation : heat does this, and hence the human and brute inhabitants of
warm climates come to perfection sooner than those of northern regions ; but they are
generally smaller, for by preternaturally hastening the earthy deposit before the mem-
branous part of the bones becomes fully evolved or grown, they do not attain the bulk
they would be otherwise capable of. Undue exertion has the same effect ; and thus we
learn why horses too early and too hard worked become stinted in their growth. Pres.-
sure likewise occasions an early, and also a preternatural ossification ; in this way the
parts of the spine which bear heavy loads present large masses of bone, brought on by
this cause alone. For the same reasons, horses early worked put out splints, spavins,
and other bony concretions. Bones are all of them more or less hollow : within their
caverns an oily fluid is secreted, called medulla or marrow, which serves for their sup-
port, and that of the constitution generally. The bones have nerves, blood-vessels, and
absorbents. Bones are capable of reproduction, as proved by their uniting when broken ;
and also by the yearly renewal of the antlers of the deer, which are not horn as in the ox
Or sheep, but pure bone. Bones are connected together by articulation : when such
articulation is moveable, it is termed a joint. In some cases bones articulate by suture
or indentation of parts, as in the skull. We shall consider, in succession, the anatomy
of the head, trunk, and extremities.
SuBSECT. ] . Osseoiis Structure of the Head.
■ 6300. The bones of the head axe as M\oMVS. The occipital (fig. S30. between a 8c b), which is the largest
t)one of the skull, in the colt is composed of several pieces which unite by age ; it articulates with the atlas (a)
or first of the cervical or neck vertebrae. At its posterior surface it is perforated by a large hole, which gives
passage to the spinal marrow. The two frontal bones {b) unite also by age; and behind them is lodged
the anterior and inferior portion of the brain. A division of their bony surfaces forms two cavities called
the frontal sinuses, which are lined by the nasal membrane throughout. The sagittal sature unites these
two bones. The remainder of the bones of the skull are the two parietals, the two temporals, divided into
a squamous and petrous portion, within the latter of which is situated the internal ear ; and to the former
the posterior or lower jaw articulates. The sphenoid and ethtnoidhones are hollow and irregular, serving
to intersect and attach the others ; and also to assist by their cavities in extending the pituitary or smelling
Membrane.
6301. The bones of the face are ten pairs and two single bones. The nasal (c) pair, within their union,
liold the septum n^rium or long cartilaginous plate which separates one nostril from the other. These
bones also greatly assist to extend the surface of the smelling organ. In the old heavy breeds, it was very
common to see these bones arched outwards ; but in the improved breed, particularly in those approach-
ing full blood, it is not uncommon to find them slightly curved inward. The fossas within these bones are
the principal seat of glanders. The two angulars form a considerable portion of the orbits of the eyes.
The two malar, jtigal, or cheek bones occupy also a portion of the orbits. The superior maxillary bones (e)
are the largest of the face bones, and contain all the upper molar teeth. The inferior or intermaxillary
bones {d) are wanting in man, in whom the face is short : these bones concur with the former in forming
alveoli or sockets for lodging the teeth. The superior palatines, the inferior palatines, the pterygoids,
the two anterior, and the two posterior turbinated bones, with the vomer or ploughshare, make up the
remaining facial bones, with the exception of the posterior maxillary or lower jaw bone (/), which on its
anterior edge is pierced to lodge the teeth ; at the upper part it extends itself into two angular branches,
each of which ends in two processes and an intermediate groove. The superior of these processes arti-
culates with the upper jaw. This bone throughout shows the most admirable mechanism ; the molar or
grinding teeth, on which most is dependent, and whose exertions are greatest, are placed near the centre
T)f motion : and as the upper jaw in most animals is fixed, or nearly so, it was necessary that the lower
should have considerable extent of motion for the purpose of grinding ; and it is accordingly so formed
as to admit of motion in every direction. The os hyoides is a bone situated within the head at the root of
the tongue, to which it serves as a support, and for the attachment of muscles.
6302. The teeth of the horse are the hardest and most compact bones of the body. There are usually
forty of them in the horse, and there are thirty six in the mare ; in which latter the tushes are usually
wanting. In anatomical language, they are divided into incisbres cuspidati, and moldres, or according
teethe lartguage of farriers and horsemen, into twelve nippers {fig. 829. a, b, cj, four tushes (dd), and
Book VII.
ANATOMY OF THE HORSE.
963
twenty.four grinders, which numbers are equally divided between the two jaws. The teeth are inserted into
indentations or sockets between the bony plates of the jaw, called alveoli, by cone-like roots. The bodies
of the teeth are principally comiwsed of two substances, one of the nature of common bone, giving bulk
and form, and one of extreme hardness, called enamel, placed in man and carnivorous animals wholly
without the teeth, to give strength and durtbility ; but in the horse and other Granivora, the latter
particularly, it is placed in the grinders, in perpendicular plates, within the body of the teeth ; by
which contrivance, a rough grinding surface is kept up; for the mere bony parts wearing faster than
the lamellas of enamel, it follows that ridges remain to triturate the vegetable matter that passes between
the teeth.
GS03. There are two sets of teeth, a temporaneous or milk set, and a permanent or adult set, in which
wise provision man and most brutes participate. The milk set are some of them, as the molars, apparent
at birth ; there being usually six grinders in each jaw, three on each side in the new-born foal, and which
number of this set is never increased. The nippers begin to appear soon after birth, and follow a regular
order of succession until the animal is three or four months old ; at which time he begins to require sup-
port from herbage as well as milk. The temporaneous set remove gradually one after another ; had they
all been displaced at the same time, or even had several of them fallen out together, the animal must
have suffered great inconvenience, and perhaps have been starved. This removal, which commences at
the age of two years and a half, and is comi>leted between the fourth and fifth year, is efTected by the
action of the absorbents on their fangs, and appears to be occasioned by the stimulus of the pressure
received from the growing teeth under them. For although these two sets appear with an interval of
some years between them ; yet the rudiments of both are formed at nearly the same period, and both
sets may be thus seen in a dissected jaw. Regulated by the stimulus of necessity, as soon as the tem-
poraneous set falls out, the permanent appears : and that such appearance follows the necessity is
evident ; for a premature or accidental removal of the colt's teeth is soon followed by the appearance
of the others. Dealers and breeders, aware of this, draw the milk teeth to make their colts appear as
horses. It was necessary there should be two sets of teeth ; for, as they grow slowly in proportion to
the jaws, had there been but one only, the disproportion of growth between the teeth and jaws must have
separated them.
6304. The forms of the teeth vary more than their structure. The incisive or nippers are round, which
is favourable for the pressure they undergo; the upper more so than the lower. On the upper surface a'
hollow is ?een in the young tooth, which, not extending through the whole substance, naturally wears
out with the wear of the tooth ; and as a considerable degree of regularity occurs in this wearing away
in all horses, it has gradually settled into the general criterion of age. The nippers are not all of them
exactly similar ; the corner teeth differ most in being nearly triangular, and in having an internal wall
or side, which does not become level with the rest until long after those of the others. The cuspidate
tusks or tushes are permanent, appearing at about five years or rather earlier ; those in the front jaw are
usually nearer the nippers than those below. Each presents a slight curve, which follows the direction of
all the canine or pugnatory teeth of other Mamm&lia. The pointed extremity wears away by age, leaving
merely a buttoned process, which may serve as a guide to the age when a horse is suspected to be Bishoped,
as it is called, from a man of that name who was peculiarly dexterous in imitating on old teeth the dis-
tinctive cavity of youth. The molar or grinding teeth are stronger in the upper than in the lower jaw ;
which was necessary, as they form the fixed point in the process of grinding. The upper surface presents
nearly a long square, indented from the alteration of the enamel with the bony portions ; and as the in-
terior or upper teeth hang over the posterior, so the ridges of the one set are received into the depressions
of the other.
63f)5. Wear of the teeth. The teeth, in a state of nature, would probably present a surface opposed to
each other for mastication, to the latest period of the most protracted life; but the removal of the animal
from moist food to that which is hard and dry, must occasion an unnatural wear in those organs ; and
hence, although the teeth of the horse, even in a domesticated state, are not subject to the caries of the
human ; yet the grinders are liable to become thus injured by continued exertion. In the young or adult
horse, the upper and under grinders do not meet each other horizontally ; on the contrary, they have
naturally an inclination obliquely inwards; and those of the upper jaw present small spaces between each
other, while those of the lower are more continuous ; by which means, as the food, particularly its inter-
rupted portions, as grain, becomes ground, it falls within the mouth to be replaced under the grinding sur-
3 Q 2
964 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
face, if necessary, by the joint action of the tongue and muscles of the cheek. This arrangement becomes
in a great measure frustrated in old horses, by the superior wear of the inner surface of the upper
grinders, as well as by the general misapplication of the surfaces of both upper and under teeth, by con-
stant attrition, when worn down nearly to the gums. The unfortunate animal feels sensible of this, and
endeavours to remedy it by throwing the wear on the outer edge, by an inclination of the lower jaw and
of the head in general ; and which is so particular in its appearance as to engage the attention of the
by-standers. This defect may be in a considerable degree remedied by casting the animal, and having
opened and wedged the mouth so as to keep it so, removing the inequalities with a well tempered con.
cave file, as much as may be. When the defect is considerable, and the horse is mild and quiet, it is
better to file the inequalities every day, which will gradually but effectually wear them down. It how-
ever happens, that the inclination thus to wear is commonly resumed, and gradually the same loss of
nutriment takes place: in which case, soft moist food, as carrots, mashes, soiling, or grazing, must be
substituted for harder substances, and if corn be actually necessary, let it be bruised. Whenever an old
horse betrays symptoms of want of condition, or weakness, and emaciation, that neither his mode of
feeding, nor his ratio of work will account for, and particularly if whole grains should be found in his
dung, his teeth should be examined carefully. This undue wearing of the teeth occasions another evil
often, which is ulceration of the cheeks, by reason of the projecting ragged surface of the uneven teeth,
which can only be remedied by the removal of such portions. These projecting portions are called by
farriers loolues' teeth.
SuBSECT. 2. Bony Anatomy of the Trunk.
6306. The trunk of the skeleton consists of the spine, the pelvis, and the thorax or
chest, composed of the ribs and sternum.
6307. The bony column called the spine is made up of seven cervical, eighteen dorsal, six lumbar, and
five sacral vertebrae, with the addition of thirteen or fourteen small tail-bones. The spinal bones are
thus divided on account of the varieties they present ; they have, however, some characteristics in com-
mon. Each is composed of a spongy bony body, with protruded points called processes, which processes
unite, to form a hollow through which the spinal marrow is transmitted ; and by some of these processes
the vertebrae are articulated with each other, as well as by their bodies, by which their strength as a
column is much increased. Though but little motion exists between any two vertebra, yet the flexibility
of the whole spine is considerable.
6308. The cervical or neck vertebrce {g, h) are called, by farriers and butchers, the rack bones. It is
remarkable, that, let the neck be long or short, the number of bones is the same in most quadrupeds.
The first and second differ from the rest in figure, and present some other peculiarities. The first is the
only one of them to which the great suspensory ligament of the neck does not attach itself, which would
have interfered with freedom of motion. It articulates with the second by receiving its tubercular pro-
cess within it, and from which process the second of these bones has been called dentata. Between these
two neck bones is situated a part, where the spinal marrow is exposed from any bony covering ; at which
part butchers plunge a pointed knife into what they call the pith of the neck, when they want to kill their
animals instantaneously, and without effusion of blood ; whence it is called pithing. The remaining five
neck bones are not very dissimilar from each other.
6309. IVie dorsal vertebrcB (y) are now and then, though rarely, nineteen in number ; they do not differ
materially from each other, but in the length of the spinous processes of the first seven or eight. It is to
these elongated spines that we owe the height of the withers; and as the intention of these parts seems
principally to serve as levers for the muscles of the back inserted into them, so we can readily understand
why their increased or diminished height is favourable or unfavourable to progression. These like tlie
former articulate with each other by processes, as well as by the anterior and posterior surfaces of their
bodies ; between each of which is interposed a substance, semi-cartilaginous in its structure, which is most
compressible at its sides, these permitting the motion of the spine.
6310. The six lumbar vertebi-<B differ from the foregoing in having a longer body, and very long trans-
verse processes to make up for the deficiency of ribs in the loins. These bones often unite by the pressure
of heavy weights, and sometimes spontaneously by age, and thus we need not be surprised at the stitthess
with which some old horses rise when down.
6311. The five sacral vertebrce (z) are united into one to give strength to the column, and to serve as a
fixed support to the pelvis, or basin, with which it is interwedged. From this detail it will appear how
admirably this spinal column is adapted to its important functions of serving as a flexible but powerful
support to the machine; and how by the formation of a large foremen within the substance of each
v^rtebree, a bony canal is offered for the safeguard of the spinal marrow, from which, through lateral
openings in these vertebra?, the spinal nerves are given off in pairs. The pelvis or basin (2) is composed of
the skcrum, the two ussa innominJlta and coccygis. The 6ssa innominata in the foetal colt before birth
are each composed of the ilium, the ischium, and the pCibis, all traces of which division are lost before
birth. The ilium is the most considerable, and forms the haunches by a large unequal protuberance
which, when very prominent, occasions the horse to be called ragged-hipped. The next largest portion
is the ischiu??i or hip bone, on each side. It forms a part of the cotyloid cavity, or cup for the thigh bone,
and then stretches back also into a tuberosity which forms the points of the buttocks. The pubis or share
bone is the least of the three : in conjunction with the former it forms the acetabulum or cup-like cavity
in which the head of the thigh-bone lodges. The pelvis or basin is attached to the sacrum by ligaments
of immense strength ; but it has no bony union, by which means, as in the fore extremities, some play is
given, and the jar of pure bony connection is avoided. The ussa c6cci/gis, or bones of the tail, vary from
eight to sixteen, but are very commonly thirteen or fourteen.
6312. The thorax or chest comprises the sternum or breast bone, and the ribs. The sternum, {w) of the
horse is inclined hke the keel of a ship, to which the ribs are attached by strong ties. The ribs [xx) are
usually eighteen to each side, of which eight articulate with the sternum, and are called true, while the
remaining ten, uniting together by intervening cartilages, are called false ribs. The centrals are the
longest, those anterior, as well as posterior, are less so : the first is placed perpendicularly, the second
less so ; and their obliquity, as well as dimensions, increase as they advance, so as to enlarge the chest to
an almost circular form, which is the most desirable ; but when they are less arched, the belly partakes
of the defect, and a flat-sided horse is commonly a bad carcased one also.
StJBSECT. 3. Bony Anatomy of the Extremities.
6313. An examination of the bony parts of the limbs excites our admiration at the
wonderful mechanism displayed in tlieir formation : osseous portions also present them-
selves, which may be regarded as principally subservient in keeping up that vast chain of
continuity and similarity observable throughout Nature's works. In the following ex-
planation we shall have qccasion to notice several of these.
6314. The scapula or shoulder blade {k, I), is a broad, flat, and rather triangular bone. It is very unlike
the human scapula, having neither acromion, coracoid, nor recurrent process : neither is its situation at
all similar to the human blade bone applied to the back ; for, in this instance, the horse may be said to
Book VII. . ANATOMY OF THE HORSE. 965
have no proper back, but to be made up of sides and chest. In man, the sc&pula is in a direct angle with
the humerus, but in the horse it does not pass out of the plane of the arm. Its superior surface is fur-
nished with a considerable cartilage (I, m), by means of which its surface is augmented without weight
The posterior surface ends in a superficial cavity called glenoid, which receives the head of the humerus
or arm bone. It is divided in its upper surface by its spine. The shoulder blade, as has been already
shown in the exterior conformation, has neither bony nor ligamentous union, but is held in its situation
by very powerful muscles, as the serrJitus m&jor, pector^lis, and others. Its usual situation is to a plane
perpendicular to the horizon, at an angle of thirty degrees ; and it has a motion in its greatest extent of
twenty degrees : hence, as it does not pass beyond the perpendicular backwards, so the more oblique its
natural situation, the more extensive ar*' its motions.
6315. The hmnerus or arm bone ini) is so concealed by muscles as to be overlooked by a cursory ob-
server, and hence the radius or next bone is popularly called the arm. It extends from what is called
the point of the shoulder, but which, in fact, is a protuberance of its own to the elbow, forming an angle
with the scapula, and extending obliquely bai 'wards as that does forwards. Near its upper extremity it
sends off a very powerful head to articulate with the shoulder blade. The motions of the humerus are
necessarily confined to a removal from its inclined point backward to the perpendicular line of the body.
When this bone is too long, it carries the fore legs too much under the animal, and if this defect is joined
to a shallow upright shoulder, the evil will be increased. It, however, fortunately happens that both the
angle and extent of these two parts are usually regulated by each other.
6316. The fore-arm [n n, o o) is composed of the radius {oo), and an appendage united to it, which, in
man and some animals, forms the lUna (nn), but which, as the leg of the horse requires no rotatory
motion, was unnecessary in him. Here, however, to keep the link of resemblance in all her children
of the higher order. Nature has stretched out a large process; which in the coit is really distinct, and
may then deserve the name of 61na ; and in the adult horse unites with the rkdius, and serves as an
•attachment to muscles. On the slightest inspection of the skeleton, it will appear how much the
motions of the fore leg must depend on the length and obliquity of this process; which, acting on the
principle of a lever in the extension of the arm, must necessarily, as it is either long or short, make all
the ditterence between a long and a short purchase. The breadth of the arm, as it is called, at this part,
will, from this reasoning, be seen to be very important. This bone articulates with the knee by its in-
ferior portion.
6 517. The carpus, or wrist, called the knee (pp), is composed of seven bones, whose principal uses appear
to be to extend the surface of attachment of ligaments and tendons, and by their interruptions to lessen
the shocks of progression. It may be remarked that all hoofed quadrupeds have the anterior extremities
permanently in the state of pronation, or with what is called the back of the wrist turned outwards.
The carpal bones articulate with each other, and have one investing capsular ligament, by which means
the smallest wound of the knee which penetrates this ligament has the effect of opening the whole joint :
hence the quantity of synovia or joint oil which escapes in these cases, and hence also the dangerous con-
sequences which ensue.
6318. The metacarpus {qq, rr), canon, or shank, is formed of one large metacarpal bone {q), and two
small ones (r). Here the wide palm of the human, and the paw of the digitated animal, is formed into
one solid cylindrical bone, and two small additamenta, called splint bones; which are united with it by
strong ligamentary attachment, converted by age into a bony one. Although these additions may some-
what increase the surface of attachment, their principal use appears to be to keep up the connection with
the digiti, of which they appear the rudiments. In the cow there are no splint bones, but the uniformity
is more perfectly kept up by the divided hoof: in her, therefore, the canon branches at its inferior sur-
face into condyles for the reception of the two claws.
6319. The pastern {t t). The rest of the extremity below the canon, consists of one phalange only, com-
lising all the mechanism, and a double portion of complexity of all the phalanges of the digitated tribes.
Four bones enter into its composition with two small sesatnoids (ss) to each fetlock ; placed there not
only to act as a spring and prevent concussion, but to throw the tendon of the foot which runs over them
farther from the centre of motion. The pastern bone is situated obliquely forward, and on this obliquity
depends the ease and elasticity of the motion of the animal : nevertheless, when it is too long, it requires
great efforts in the tendons and ligaments to preserve it in its situation j and thus long-jointed horses must
be more subject to fatigue and to strains than others.
6320. The lesser pastern or coronary bone {t, v) receives the great pastern, and below expands into a
considerable surface articulating with the cofhn and navicular bones.
6321. The cqjffin bone {v v) forms the third phalange, and corresponds in shape with the hoof. It is
very porous, and laterally receives two prominent cartilages. It is around the outer surface of this bone
that the sensible laminae are attached ; and the inferior surface receives the flexor tendon.
6322. The navicular nut, or shuttle bonCy is situated at the posterior part of the coffin, and unites with
that and the preceding bone.
6323. The posterior extremities differ much from the anterior^ not only in their superior
strength, and in the different lengths and directions of the parts, but also, in some degree,
in their uses.
6324. The femur, or thigh bone (3,4) is the largest of the body, its vast indentations and risings, almost
peculiar to it, show the great strength of the muscles inserted into it It articulates with the acetabulum
or hip joint by a strong head called the whirl-bone. In this situation it is held not only by a powerful
capsular ligament, and still more powerful muscles, but by an admirable contrivance resulting from a
ligamentous rope, which springs immediately from the middle of its head, and is firmly fixed within the
socket of the joint In its natural situation it is not perpendicular as the human ffemur, but inclines to
an angle of about forty-five degrees. This bone presents large protuberances for the attachment of very
powerful muscles called trochanters. Throughout it exhibits a mechanism uniting the combined qualities
of celerity and strength unknown to other animals. The inferior end of this bone is received by its
condyles into depressions of the tibia, while the patella, or knee-pan, slides over the anterior portions of
both bones.
6325. The patella (5), which is by farriers called the stifle, is nearly angular, and serves for the insertion
of some of the strongest muscles of the thigh , which are then continued down to the leg. It thus appears
to act as a pulley.
6j26. The tibia or leg bone (6, 6) is usually, in horsemen's language, called the thigh. It is a bone formed
of a large epiphysis, with a small attached part called the fibula (7), a long body, and an irregular inferior
end, adapted to the peculiarities in shape of the principal bones of the back, with which it articulates.
The obliquity in the situation of this bone corresponds with that of the f^mur, being as oblique back,
wards as the former is forwards. The length of the tibia is a prominent character in all animals of quick
progression ; in this respect it corresponds with the fore-arm, and the remarks made on that apply,
with even more force, to this — that length is advantageous to the celerity, but less so to the ease, of the
motion.
6327. The fibula (7,7) forms a prominent instance, in common with the splint bones, of what was re-
marked in the outset of our osteological detail of the extremities — that many parts, whose uses were not
apparent, would be found to be organs of harmony, placed in the body to prevent interruption to the
completing the general plan of animal organisation. ' In this way the fibula appears but a process spring,
ing from the posterior part of the tibia, forming but the rudiments of the humar bone of that name.
3 Q 3
966 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
In the ox it is wanting ; in the dog and cat, as requiring numerous motions in their iimbs, it is, on the
contrary, perfect.
6328. The tarsus, or hock oftkt horse (10, 10), is a striking instance of the perfect mechanism displayed
in the bony structure of this admired animal. It is formed by an assemblage of six bones, and sometimes
of seven ; while in the ox, sheep, and deer, there are seldom more than five. Between these bones there
is little motion, yet there is sufficient to give a spring to the parts, and to preserve the joints from the
effects of shocks, &c. As the human anatomy is generally received as the standard of comparison, we
must, in order to a proper consideration of the hock, consider it as the instep and heel ; and all the parts
beyond it as the foot. The human tarsus, and that of some beasts, as the monkey and some varieties of
the bear, makes a right angle with the tibia in standing or walking; but, in the horse, the hock makes
an open angle with the tibia, and is far removed from the ground. In him, and the greater number of
quadrupeds, all the bones, from the hock downwards, are much elongated, and form a part of the upright
pillar of the limb. In the horse, therefore, the point of the hock is the true point of the heel, and, as in
the human figure, the great twisted tendons of the gastrocnfemii muscles are inserted into it: but the
appellation of tendo Achilles would be too forced here A broad hock, as already observed in the exterior
conformation, may be now still more plainly seen to be very important to strength and speed ; for the
longer the calc^neum or heel bone of the hock, the longer must be the lever that the muscles of the thigh
act by ; and a very slight increase or diminution in its length must make a very great difference in the
power of the joint. It is by this tendon acting on this mechanism, that, when the animal has inclined
the angle between the canon and the tibia, or, in other words, when the extremities are bent under him
in the gallop or trot, he is enabled to open it again. The bones of the hock, like those of the knee, are
united together by strong ligamentous fibres ; and it is to an inflammation of those uniting the calc^neum
and cuboid bones, that the disease called cwrfi is to be attributed ; and to a similar inflammatory afl^ection
of the ligaments in the front of the hocks, that spavins of the first stage are owing : in the latter stages
the periosteum and bones themselves become affected. The remainder of the bones below do not differ
so essentially from the corresponding bones in the fore extremities as to need an individual description.
It may, however, be remarked, that the hinder canon or shank bone is longer than the fore, and that the
pastern is also the same, but is less oblique in its situation ; by which wise provision the horse is enabled
to elevate and sustain his body entirely on his hinder parts without danger j which would not have been
the case if the obliquity of those parts had been considerable.
SuBSECT. 4. General Functions of the Bony Skeleton.
6329. The skeleton of the horse must be considered as a mechanism of admirable wisdom and contrivance,
which having considered in detail, we offer the following summary of its functions generally as a whole.
It will be found to present nearly a quadrilateral figure, having an inclined cylinder resting on four sup-
porting pillars. The spinal column, as the inclined cylinder, serves as a base for the soft parts, and is
found not truly horizontal, but dipping downwards over the fore legs ; by which the propelling force of
the hinder extremities is relieved by the maximum of strength thus transferred. The increased weight
of the hinder part of the cylinder is admirably counterpoised by the head and neck, which are projected
forwards ; by these means leaving the line of direction near the centre of the whole. The length of a
cylinder may be such as not to support its own weight ; Nature, therefore, has limited the length of the
spines of animals : hence, ceteribus paribus, a long-backed horse must be weaker than a short one ; and
thus, likewise, small horses can carry proportionably more than larger ones. The four pillars which
support this cylinder are not perpendicular partially ; but they are so totally : for a perpendicular drawn
from their common centre of gravity will be found to fall nearly in their common base, by which means
they are supported as firmly as though their individual axes had been in a line perpendicular to the
horizon. Had they been perpendicularly opposed to each other, there could have been but little elas-
ticity, and consequent ease in motion ; every exertion would have proved a jar, and every increased eflfbrt
would have produced luxation or fracture. To increase our admiration of this mechanism, we need only
turn our attention to the contra-disposition of these angles in the fore and hinder supporting pillars.
Had these angles presented themselves in the same direction, the body must have been precipitated for.
ward or backward ; but each offering a counteraction to the other, the body is firmly sustained within them.
6330. The bony masses are operated on by muscles, for this deviation from a perpendicular direction in
the various bony portions of the limbs must necessarily have powers to correct it, which is effected by the
muscles; and wherever the angles are found most extensive, the muscles will be found proportionally
strong and large. This muscular exertion, to counterbalance the angular inclination, occasions fatigue ;
as the set of muscles immediately employed becoming weary, the animal is obliged to call another set into
action, which change is necessarily more or less frequent as the animal is weaker or stronger.
6331. The extent of the action of the bony portions of the extremities is the produce of the length and
direction of the various parts entering their composition, and of the diflferent angles they are capable of
forming ; as progression itself is effected by these angles closing, and suddenly extending themselves
again. The force of the action arises from the direction of the component parts of the ankles, in combin-
ation with the agency of the muscles. The repetition of the action is dependent on the muscles alone ;
but as the original action arose out of the length and direction of the parts, so it will be evident that in
every subsequent repetition, it will be more or less extensive, as these are more or less perfect in their
formation, even though the muscular exertions should be the same; thus, some strong animals cannot
move so fast as others with less strength, as the cart-horse and racer, or greyhound and mastifK
6332. The bony fnechanism of the fore and hinder extremities presents sotne differences. That of the fore
limb may be said to exhibit altogether a different character. The fore-leg bones are much less angular,
and appear framed purposely to receive the weight imposed on them by the impulse of the hinder limbs.
This weight they are destined to sustain, until the elevation is forced on them by the tendency the general
inclined mass has to meet the ground, or to find its common centre in the earth. The fore extremities,
under this view of the matter, could not have been placed with equal wisdom in any other situation, nor
have taken any other form. The hinder extremities having less weight on them, and at no time bearing an
increase of pressure, as the fore do by the impetus communicated from behind, are much more angular;
and their angles, by being thrown into a backward direction, afford the necessary impetus for the projection
of the body forward. This important operation of impelling the mass being almost wholly dependent on
the hind extremities, as that of sustaining it is principally confined to the fore extremities ; so the former
are also much stronger in point of muscular apparatus; by which their angles can be advantageously
opened and closed with superior effect in progression.
Sect. IV. Anatomy and Physiology of the soft Parts.
6333. We sJiall include under appendages to bone, the muscles and tendons, blood-
vessels, absorbents, nerves and glands, integuments, head, ear, eye, nose, mouth, neck,
chest, abdomen, organs of generation, and the foot.
SuBSECT. 1. Appendages to Bone, the Muscles, and Tendons.
6334. The appendages to bone are cartilages or gristle, periosteum, medulla or marrow, ligaments, and
synovia or joint oil.
Book VII. PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSE: 967
' 6335. Cartilages are of three kinds, articvlar (1887.)» which ctfver the ends of the'bories by a thin layer,
enabling them to slide easily on one another; non-articular, or such as are placed between bones im.
moveably joined ; unattached, as those of the ears and larynx ; and temporary, as the ends of bones in very
young animals before their earthy deposit is completed. The general nature of cartilage is smooth,
white, solid, elastic, and hard.
. Q^%. The periosteum is a general uniting membrane to bones and their appendages (1882.) ; on the skull
it is caWed pericranium ; when it covers ligaments, peridesmium. ; and perichondrium, when it invests
cartilage. Its uses appear to be to furnish vessels to the bones. It is little sensible, except under inflam-
mation, when it becomes highly so.
6357- Medulla, or marrow, is a soft fatty substance deposited in the cavities of bones.
6338. Ligaments (1891.) are close, compact, fibrous substances, of immense strength in the horse, neces-
sary to bones as a connecting medium ; ligament is also a common membrane in every part of the body.
Ligament is considered inelastic ; there are, however, many exceptions, of which the cervical and meta-
car]jal and metatarsal are instances. In some cases they are semicartilaginous. The suspensory ligaments
attach and suspend parts, as that of the thigh bone to its socket, &c, Capsular ligaments surround the
two opposed ends of jointed bones, and form a complete cavity.
6339. The synovia or joint oil, being secreted from the inner Siirface of the capsular ligaments, fills up
this cavity, and affords a slippery medium, which enables the bones to slidereadily over each other.
6340. Muscle is that part of the body of the horse which we term flesh, to distinguish it from skin, gristle,
bone, ligament, &c. Muscles appear composed of bundles of reddish fibres, the ultimate division of which
it is impossible to trace ; and as the motions of an animal are Very various, and as almost all motion is
Operated through the agency of the muscles; so the peculiar shape they take on is very varied. To the
generality of muscles, particularly to those ending in bones, is added a portion of a very different nature,
called tendon.
6341. Tendons are insensible, inelastic, tough, fibrous substances, of a whitish colour: expanded into
thin layers, they are called aponeuroses. The tendons are eminently useful to muscles, diminishing their
size without decreasing their strength. What would have become of the light elegant limb, had the large
muscular masses been continued to their terminations beloW^in equal dimensions ? Muscles are highly
vascular, as their colour testifies ; but the tendons are very little so, hence their powers of life are very
different : one can regenerate itself with ease, the other with extreme difficulty. The muscles also possess
a large share of nerves, and consequently of sensibility and irritability, to which properties the surprising
phenomena they exhibit must be attributed ; while their extreme vascularity furnishes them with powers
to keep the energies retjuisite for these agencies. They contract and shorten at pleasure, acquire a power
of acting dependent on their situation, and can change the fixed for the movable point, andvice versa.
6,342. Muscles are voluntary and involuntary. The former are immediately under the influence of the
will, as those of the legs, eyes, mouth, &c. Involuntary muscles are such as are not under the guidance
of the will, and whose functions go on without control, as the heart, the respiratory and digestive mus-
cular organs.. Muscles are many of them covered by a cellular or membranous covering, called /u'scia,
and their tendons by another, but stronger investure, called theca or sheath. At the tendinous extremity
there is usually a capsule containing a quantity of lubricating mucus, the diseased increase of which forms
what IS termed windgall.
SuBSECT. 2. Blood-vessels of the Horse'
6343. The arteries are long membranous canals, composed of three strata, which are called tunica: or
coats, as, an external elastic, a middle muscular, and an internal cuticular. Each of these coats is the
cause of some important phenomena, as well in disease as in health. The elastic power enaliles them to
admit a larger quantity of blood at one time than another, and thus they are turgid under inflammation :
by this also they can adapt themselves to a smaller quantity than usual ; otherwise a small haemorrhage
would prove fatal. The muscular tunic appears to exist in much greater proportion in the horse than in
man, and this accounts for his greater tendency to inflammation, and also why inflammatory affections run
to their terminations so much sooner in the horse than in man. The arteries gradually decrease in their
diameter as they proceed from the heart. Our knowledge of the terminations of these vessels is very
confined ; we know they terminate by anastomosis, or by one branch uniting with another. They ter-
minate in veins, and they terminate on secreting surfaces, in which case their contents become changed,
and the secretion appears under a totally diflTerent form. Another common termination of the arteries is
by exhalant openings, by which sweat is produced. The use of the ^irteries is evidently to convey blood
from the heart to different parts of the body, and according to the part the artery proceeds from, or pro-
ceeds to, so does it receive an appropriate name.
6344. The aorta is the principal member of this system. Originating from the left ventricle of the heart
it soon divides into two branches, one of which, the anterior, or aorta ascendens {fig. 833. p), proceeds
forward to be divided into two principal divisions : the carotids {q), by which the head is furnished, and
the axillaries, by which the fore limbs receive their blood, under the names of humeral, radial, and meta-
carpal arteries ; and the posterim-, or aorta descendens (o), which is distributed to the trunk and hinder
extremities.
6345. The pulmonary artery is a trunk of five or six inches in length ; arising o>it of the anterior ven-
tricle of the heart, and continued by the side of the aorta. It soon divides and enters the lungs, through
which it ramifies.
6346. The veins are also membranous canals which begin where the arteries end, and return that blood
which has been distributed by their means. They have less solidity, and possess two tunics or coats only.
They usually accompany the arteries in their course, but are more numerous, being wisely divided into a
superficial and a deep-seated set, to avoid the dangerous effects of interruption. To prevent the return of
the blood they are furnished with valves also.
• 6347. The original venal trunks of the horse are ten in number ; the anterior cava, the posterior cava,
and eight pulmonary, to which may be added the vfena p6rtaB.
6.348. The vena cava passes out of the heart by two trunks from separate parts of the right auricle.
The anterior, or cava ascendens (fig. 833. n), opposite to the first rib, divides into four principal trunks ;
two axillaries, and two jugulars, {fig. 833, r). The axillaries furnish the fore limbs under the names of the
humeral, the ulnar, and the metacarpals. The jugulars {r) run up one on each side of the trachea to
return the blood of the head. The posterior, or cava descendens (o), returns the blood from the body and
hinder extremities.
6349. The ve?ia p'Wtce is formed from the veins returning the blood from the viscera, which, uniting to
enter a sac of that viscus, are ramified through all parts of the liver, where the blood having undergone
some remarkable alterations is returned by the vt;na hepatica, and enters the heart by the posterior cava.
6350. The blood is a homogeneous fluid, contained in the heart, arteries, and veins, and constantly
circulating through the whole body. It appears formed with the body ; is red in the arteries, and purple
in the veins. The component parts of the blood are the criior or coagulum; the coagulable lymph, '
fibrin, or gluten ; and the s^rum. The coagulum is composed of red globules, whose intensity of colour
is less in the horse than in man. A red colour is not necessary to the essential properties of blood, see-
ing the blood of some animals is white ; and even some parts of the horse's body are furnished with
colourless blood, as the transparent part of the eye, &c. Ihe coagulable lymph or fibrin (1941.) appears
the most essential part of the blood, and that from which all the parts are formed. The sferum seems to
dilute the whole. The quantity contained in the body is uncertain : young animals possess more than
older, and hence bear bodily injuries better. It is less in quantity in fat than in lean animals ; and in
S Q 4
9«8 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
donoesticated than in those which run wild. An animal will lose one fifteenth before he dies. A horse
lost forty-four pounds without apparent injury. Probably the quantity contained in the bo<iy may vary
according to circumstances : between one eighth and one tenth of the whole mass is a fair medium.
63.')l, Tlie pulse. From the contraction of the heart and ccmsequent dilatation of the arteries to receive
the blood, and jiass it onward to all' parts of the body, which is called the diastole ; so a dilatation of the
heart and cotitraction of the arteries necessarily occurs, which is called the systole ; and these two causes
operating alternately produce the phenomena of circulation. The momentary increase in capacity in the
diameter of the artery is called \.\\e pulse. As there is seldom disease present, without some alteration in
the circulation also, so the pulse is attended to as an indication of health or disease. The circulation being
carried on over the whole body, the pulse may be felt universally ; but some situations are more favourable
than others ; as the heart itself, the pasterns, at the root of the ear, &c. : but the most convenient of all
is at the branch of the posterior jaw, where the maxillary artery may be readily detected {fig. 833. ().
The natural pulse in the horse is about 45 beats in a minute ; in the ox the same; in man 75; in tlie
dog 90. When the pulse is much accelerated, the circulation is accelerated also. If, with its quickness,
firtness of vessels and hardness are apparent, the circulaticm is morbidly hurried, and inflammation general
or partial is present
SuBSECT. 3. Absorbents of the Horse. ;' l^^ I ^ .^ ^
6"?^ . JWe abswbent Sjfs^m is a very extrawrdinary and a very important one ; far if the Uood builds up
and rei»airs s>arts, tlie absorbents .pull down, remove, and take them away agaJ«. , They ate eomposed of
the lymphatics and lacteals. Both kinds, altliough thin and transparent, are strong, and appear to have a
contractile power : where very minute they are called capillaries. The lacteal absorbents are situated in
the mesentery and intestines, whence they draw the chyle, or nutritious fluid by which the blood is
nourished and augmented. The chyle is carried forward from the mesentery into a tube called the thoracic
tttict, which, passing up by the side of the a6rta, pours its contents into the heart through the medium of
the jugular vein. Tbe If/mphatic absorbents differ from the latter only in being situated over the whole
body, and being the r«;ipients of the various matters of the body; whereas the lacteals apj)ear to absorb
tlve chyle only. From numerous facts, we know that the various organs are continually suffering a
destruction and a removal of parts, and that what the absorbents take away, the arteries renew ; and to
this constant change, most of ti>e alterations of the body are to be attributed with regard to the structure
of |>arts. We use our powei^bver these vessels in the horse medicinally. We stimulate the absorbents to
take up diseased solutions of fluids from various parts of the body, as in watery swellings in the legs by
mercury and by friction, or by pressureift the way of bandage. When deposits are made of hard matter,
or ligament or bone, we stimulate them by blistering or by firing. It is by stimulating the absorbents
that splints and spavins are removed. Exercise is a very powerful stimulus to absorbents; thus it is that
swelleii legs are removed by half an hour's exercise. In the horse, the lymphatics are more liable to
disease than the lacteals, but in man the reverse. Farcy diseases the lymphatics irreparably.
SuBSECT. 4. Nerves and Glands of the Horse.
GS'^3. The nervous system of the horse is composed of white medtiUary cords, springing fVom the brain and
spinal marrow, whence they are-generally distinguished into the cerebrsd and spinal nerves : the internal
structure of these bodies is fibrous, and their ramifications extend to evety part of the body; it is sup-
IKwed that the brain is the seat of sensation and volition, and tiiat the nerves are only the messengers ef
it. The sensibility of a part is usually proportioned to the number and size of its nerves ; nervous
influence occasions motion. Ffom some cause, unknown to us, some motions are voluntary, and some
involuntary ; but both are brought about by nervous agency. As the nerves are the media of sensation ;
¥o a division of their cords has lately been attempted, with success, to relieve certain painful affections ;
the most prominent instance is, in the division of the pastern nerves for the relief of the painful affection
of founder. Tetanus, or locked jaw. Which seems a morbid irritation on the nerves, has been recom-
mended to be treated in the same way.
fi354. The cerebral nerves, arising in pairs immediately from the brain, are the olfactory, optic, motores
<')culi, path^tici, trigcmini, abducents, auditory, lingual, par vagum, and the pair called the intercostal or
great sympathetic, from its extensive connection.
635.5. The spinal nerves are those which arise immediately from the spinal marrow, as the cervicals, hu-
merals, ulnar, metacarpal, and pastern nerves ; the dorsal, the lumbar, crural, sciatic, popliteal, sacral,
and the nerves to the posterior extremities, which correspond with those of the anterior.
6 )56. The glands are numerous, and placed in every part of the botly ; they may be characterised as se-
cretory bodies, composed of all the different vessels enclosed in a membrane ; their office appears to be to
secrete or form some fluid, as the livfer secretes bile, and the kidney urine. They are classed into follicu-
lose, globate, glomerate, and conglomerate ; they also receive specific names according to their situations,
or according to the fluid they secrete, as lachrymal, salivary, &c.
SuBSECT. p. Integuments of the Horse's Body.
fi357. The common integuments may be considered as the hair, the cuticle, the epidermis, or insensible
or outer skin, the r^te mucosum, which is immediately under this, the ciltis, sensible or true skin, the
cellular membranes, which contain fat and other fluids, and the panniculus carnbsus or fleshy pannicle ;
to these may be added, the imguis, nails or hoofs, which we shall describe separately.
6358. Hair is the clothing of brutes, and hence is very important to them, and as it enters largely into
the arts, it is also important to us. (1851.) It appears to be a production of the true skin, arising from a
bulbous end, which penetrates the rete and cuticle in the form of an elongated cone. In some parts hairs
appear singly, as about the muzzle ; in others in masses, as on the mane, tail, and over the body generally,
as an inclined congregated mass ; hair varies in colour, and therefore appears by nature intended both for
ornament and use.
6359. The cuticle is situated immediately under the hair (1845.), and appears a hard insensible covering,
purposely placed to guard or defend the sensible skin underneath. The cuticle lines many of the large
openings of the body^ as the mouth, whence it is continued into the stomach, lining one half of it. It is
perforated by innumerable small vessels that give out and take in various matters ; through these blisters
act on the true skin, inflame it, and force it to secrete a quantity of fluid, which thus pushes the cuticle
from the cutis. It exists before birth, and is speedily renewed afterbirth, when accidentally destroyed,
and, like the true skin, thickens by pressure; it is constantly undergoing changes; it exfoliates in the
form of powder, or little scales, over every part of the body, and is that substance called dandrifti which
grooms are so careful to remove with the currycomb.
6360. The rite mucosum. is a mucilaginous substance placed like a net between layers of cuticle and
cutis ; and although very universal in animated nature, its use is unknown.
6361. The cutis, cbrtum, or true skin. (1847.) This very general investure of the body is situated im-
mediately under the two former ; it is very vascular, and is furnished with innumerable small villous
processes of exquisite sensibility, and which, without doubt, were intended to constitute it as the real
organ of touch. It is much thickened by pressure ; asses, from the beatings they are subjected to, have
it of immense thickness on the rump. It naturally also exists in various degrees of density according
to the wants of the animal. Like the cuticle it is perforated by numerous openings which corresix)nd
with those of the latter membrane. Its composition appears principally gelatine, and hence it is em-
ployed in the manufacture of glue; its gelatine uniting with the matter called tannin, becomes insoluble
Book VII.
PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSE.
969
in water, and then forms leather ; and the value of the horse's hide in this particular is sufficiently
known.
6362. Adipose membrane and fat. These form very considerable parts of the body of most animals.
The adipose membrane is not so universal as the skin ; some parts are completely without it, as the eye-
lids, ears, sheath, and some portions of the extremities. It is cellular, but the cells fortunately do not com-
municate or the fat would gravitate. The fat is the unctuous juice poured or rather secreted into these
cells. It appears in greater quantities in some parts than in others, and in different degrees of consist-
ence ; in the belly of some it is lard, and suet in others ; within the bones it is oleaginous in all. Different
quadrupeds have their fat of different degrees of consistence, from the firm suet of the ox, and the tallow
of the sheep, to the soft lard of the hog, and the intermediate state of the horse; it guards the parts,. it
preserves warmth ; but above all, it is a depdt against occasional want : thus a fat animal can sustain itself
without food much longer than a lean one. The torpid bear comes from his hibernation emaciated, be-
cause his constitution has been subsisting on his fat.
6563. Cellular membrane. (1849.) This complete investure of the body enters every part, and is formed
of communicating cells ; as we see by the practice of butchers who blow up their meat ; and also by the
emphysematous eflects of a fractured rib, and the gaseous distention in some putrid diseases. It exists in
different quantities, and under various modifications of density throughout the body, and is a very uni-
versal medium of connection in the form of ligament.
63f)4. Panniculus carnhsus. (18+8.) The fleshy pannicle was kindly given to quadrupeds in lieu of hands,
to enable them to corrugate or pucker the skin, and thus to shake off dust and insects. It is a thin mus-
cular expansion peculiar to brutes, but not to all ; the swine family being denied it. By its attachments
it can operate variously, as we see by the uses the horse makes of it. It is very vascular and sensible, also,
from the numerous nerves which enter it.
SuBSECT. 6. The Head generally.
6365. Thfi parts qf the head are external and internal ; some of these have been touched on, as the in.
teguments, &c. : such as have not will follow in the order of their magnitude or situation.
6J66. T/ie brain of the horse {fig. 831. o, 6, c)y contained within the hollow of the skull, is so similar to
831
r- f ^
that of man, that to describe the one is to portray the other. Like the human, it is composed of ctrc-
brum (rt\ cerebellum (6), and medulla oblongata (c). The medulla spinfilis is a direct continuation
of the brain in the form of a medullary cord, called the pith or spinal marrow (Al, which jmsses o"t ot
the skull through the occipital foramen. The brain appears to be the organ of consciousness, and the
nerves which arise out of the medullary cord are the messengers by which sensation and volition are dis-
tributed to the various parts of the body.
SuBSECT. 7. The Ear.
6367. The ears of the horse are composed of inner and outer parts. The internal parts do not differ
from those of the human, but the outer are adapted to his situation and habits. These exterior parts aie
composed of the skin, the outer hair, the cartilages, and the muscles by which thoy are moved. 1 he skin
within the cars is furnished with sebaceous glands, which secrete a bitter matter, noxious to insects : an(J
further to guard against these, it is filled with hair ; which the false taste of grooms induces them to re-
move, and thus to expose the animal to dust, hail, rain, and insects.
970
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III,
6368. The form of the ear is dependent on the concha cartilage, which is found pointed and small in the
Arabian, but large and broad in the heavy breeds. The cavity within the concha is thrown into folds
throughout, which increases its surface, and reflects the sonorous waves. This outer ear is attached to
the internal, by connecting cartilaginous portions and appropriate ligaments. The parts of the internal
ear are, the meiitus auditorius intdrnus, or pa.ssage ; the membr^na tympani, or separating membrane
between the external and internal parts : the tympanum, drum, or barrel of the ear ; and the labyrinth.
The Eustachian tube is an opening at the upper and anterior edge of the hollow of the tympanum, form-
ing a duct which is in part bony, and in part cartilaginous; extending from the tympanum to a large and.
peculiar cavity at the posterior part of the nasal fossa.
6369. The sense of hearing is formed through the medium of the expansion of the soft portion of the.
auditory nerve over the internal ear ; sounds, therefore, entering the cavity of the concha, are reflected
alternately from its sides into the tympanum, whose oscillations are imparted to the brain.
SuBSECT. 8. The Eye and its Appendages.
6370. The appendages to the eye are, first, a funnel-shaped cavity formed by the concurrence of the bones
of the skull, called the orbit, not placed directly in front as in man, but inclining laterally, to enable the
animal to onbrace a larger field of view. The eyelids are an ujiper and under, of which the upper is the
most considerable, and enjoys the greatest motion. United, they form an admirable curtain to defend the
eye from dust, insects, and the light during sleep; and are moved by two appropriate muscles. Attached
to the edge of each is a cartilaginous rim, called the tarsus. The cilia, or eyelashes, are not, as in man,
above and below ; the upper lid only is furnished with hairs, and these are not placed in one row, but in
several smaller rows. The horse has no supercilia or eyebrows, unless we reckon as such the few long
hairs over the orbits The lachrymal gland is a body lodged within the upper part of the orbit ; it is fur-
nished with five or six excretory ducts, which secrete the lachrymae or tears to lubricate the surface of
the globe. The superfluous tears are carried off by two openings at the inner angle, called pUncta la-
chrymalia, by which means the tears are at once carried into the nose, and not as in man first into a
lachrymal sac. The caruncula lachrymalis is a small black substance in view at the inner canthus, whose
office appears to be to direct the tears aright in this course. The hair, or nictating membrane, is an im-
portant part, seen when the eye is drawn inwards, but which is at all other times hidden within the fatty
matter surrounding the globe of the eye. Though called a membrane it is cartilaginous, and when the
eye is forcibly withdrawn into the socket, it is pressed out from the inner angle, and passes completely
over the surface of the globe, to which its shape is adapted. A moderate pressure only shows about half
of it ; and it is thus seen in tetanus or stag-evil, by the action of the retractor muscle ; and under inflam-
mation of the eye it also becomes visible, which has led ignorant farriers to cut it off, under a suspicion
that it formed one cause of the disease. The use of this nictitating membrane cannot be for a moment
dubious. It is denied to man and to monkeys, because they, having hands, can with their fingers remove
dust and dirt from the eyes ; but to the horse and most other quadrupeds it is essentially necessary for
these purposes.
832 - , 6371. A diagram of the eye [fig. &32.) dis-
' ■ plays the transparent cornea in front of
its globe {a), the crystalline lens (6), its
posterior convexity (c), its anterior con-
vexity (rf), the iris, or curtain (e,/), the
anterior chamber occupied by the aqueous
humour of the pupil {g), the posterior
chamber filled with the vitreous humour
{h h), the retina (i), the choroid coat [k),
the sclerotic coat (Z), and optic nerve (»^),
rays of light showing the different degrees
of refraction they suffer in passing through
the humours of the eye (ww).
6372. The globe of the eye is composed of
coats, chambers, and humours, and is ope-
rated on in its movements by muscles. It may be considered as forming a large cup posteriorly, with a
smaller cup applied to its margin anteriorly ; or as though the segment of a large si>here were adapted to
that of a smaller one. The substance which gives figure and consistence to the larger segment is the scle-
rotic coat (/), which is very firm and fibrous. The anterior cup or segment is supplied by the c6rnea,
which is transparent, and formed of thin concentric plates of very different degrees of convexity
in different animals, and often in similar animals ; to a defect in which is ascribed the indistinct vision
or starting of some horses. The cornea («) is vascular and sensible, and in an inflamed state it admits
the red blood, as we see by the universal redness over the whole; at other times it admits only the
colourless parts of that fluid. Immediately within the sclerotic coat is a thin vascular membrane, called
the choroides {k), which is spread over it nearly as far as the cornea, where it turns in and expands into
the ciliary processes. It also by a peculiar fold forms a ligament, after which it produces another projec-
tion into the cavity of the eye, termed the uvea. It is here continuous, and presents a veil perforated in
the centre.
6373. The pupil of the eye {g) is the perforation which is seen annular in the human, oblong in the
horse, ox, and sheep, and perpendicular in the cat. The anterior surface of the luea is covered with a
membrane, termed iris, on which the colour of the eye depends : in man it is grey, brown, black, or
blue; in the horse it is usually brown, but now and then white, when the animal is said to be wall-
eyed. At the central margin of the Iris are seen, in a strong light, some little globular bodies or bags,
covered with a black pigment. They are usually attached to the upper margin only, but when any exist
on the lower they are small ; they have been mistaken for disease. The Iris {e,f) is capable of accom-
modating itself to circumstances ; that is, it can enlarge the diameter of the central aperture or pupil {g),
so as to admit or shut out the rays of light. Over the central surface of the choroid expansion is spread a
dark mucous substance, called nigrum pigmentum. In animals, whose vision is distinct at night, this
pigment is found of a lighter colour : in man it is very dark, and his crepuscular vision is, therefore, in-
distinct. In the grazing tribes it is of a greenish cast, lost in azure blue; in the predaceous tribes it is still
lighter. Under this pigment is the mucous expansion, peculiar to quadrupeds, called tapetum. The optic
nerve (m) penetrates the sclerotic coat, and becomes expanded on its inner surface, in a membranous lamen
of exquisite fineness, called retina. On this, it is supposed, objects are painted, and thus taken cognizance
of by the brain.
6374. The hinnours of the eye are the vitreous, the crystalline, and the aqueous. The vitreous humour
(A h) is of a jelly-like consistence, and occupies all the globe, except those parts taken up by the other
humours. The crystalline humour forms a lenticular body of moderate consistence, and is, therefore, more
properly called a lens (b). It is doubly convex (c, d), its posterior side resting in a concavity of the vitreous
humour. It is not of equal consistence throughout, being much firmer in the middle. Different animals
have the lens of different figures, to suit the purposes of their existence : in fishes it is nearly spherical,
but in quadrupeds, lenticular. It is a diseased opacity of this body that forms cataract. The aqueous
humour is a limpid fluid which fills up the spaces not occupied by those already described.
6375. The muscles of the eye. The motions of the eyeball are operated by seven muscles ; four recti or
straight, which elevate, depress, and draw to and from ; two oblique, which rotate the eye ; and a retractor
Book VII. PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSE. 971
or choanoid, peculiar to quadrupeds, to draw the eye within the socket and thus preserve it from danger,
which draws the globe inwards.
6376. The phenomena of vision. If the diagram oe examined, it will be evident that the eye of the
horse presents an optical instrument of exquisite workmanship and mechanism, admirably fitted to coIlec£
the luminous rays from the various objects around, and to transmit them with truth to the brain. If the
luminous rays reflected from objects passed through the eye in a rectilinear course, as they do through the
atmosphere, no cognisance at all useful to the animal could be taken of them by the eye ; all would be
glare and indistinctness : but being refracted or bent by the media through which they pass, the rays
finally meet at a point called their focus or focal point. Neither would one simple line of refraction
have been sufficient to answer all the purposes of perfect vision, under its various modifications. It is
necessary that the refraction should be increased in its passage by increased degrees of density in the
media of its transit (w n). In the passage of the rays through the cornea and aqueous humour, they must
encounter their first refraction ; and it is evident, that the more convex the anterior portion of the eye
may be, the more will this refraction be increased. We need not, therefore, be surprised that a goggler,
or horse with this form of eye, should start. The next and largest degree of bending which the rays receive
occurs in their passage through the crystalline lens, which from its lenticular form must necessarily be
considerable ; in their progress through the vitreous humour a farther refraction is effected, till meeting in
a point on the retina, a perfect representation of the object or objects viewed is obtained ; the rays forming
in their passage numerous cones, the bases of which will be the object viewed, and the apex of each a
radiant point. Amidst the number of objects around, it appears that the eye has a capability of collecting
rays from such only as are immediately necessary for the purposes of the animal it belongs to ; hence,
although the general field of view may fall under an angle of vision, yet such rays only as are im-
mediately capable of this convergency produce effect, all others are lost in the black pigment of the eye,
api)arently placed there purposely to absorb the superfluous rays. As the eye must necessarily have a
vast variety of objects painted on it whose distances are widely diflTerent, there must be some optical
adjustment of the powers of the part to enable it to effect a distinct vision of all objects near or remote;
but whether this takes place by means of the angle formed on the two opposite axes, or as has been more
lately taught, by a muscular power in the lens itself, is not yet satisfactorily ascertained : certain it is that
after the loss of one eye, time is required both in the human and brute subject for the remaining eye to
learn to adjust itself to judge of relative distances ; which fact is certainly in favour of the opinion that
an angle formed between the eyes regulates the judgment of distances. In this way we can account for
the well known fact, that hunters, which have before the loss of an eye been excellent and sure leapers,
have afterwards lost the power of measuring their leaps. Were it not for some adjustment of the optical
organ itself, the rays reflected from objects very near the eye would fall behind it, and those from distant
ones would, from being almost parallel, me?t together before the rdtina. The mechanical adjustment of
the focus is also assisted in some measure by the iris, which contracts almost to a point when we look at a
very rninute object ; and by this means only permits such rays to pass through as penetrate the centre of
the lens, by which such rays will be very much refracted ; but when the eye regards distant objects, the
\v'is becomes dilated, and the rays are then viewed through the edges of the lens, and their inchnation is
thereby lessened.
6377. The criteria of soundness in the eyes are gained by a careful examination of them ; and which ex-
perience has shown to be best made by placing the horse within a stable, with his head nearly approaching
the stable door, which should be fully open. Small eyes are found more prone to inflammation than large,
and large goggling eyes are more liable to accompany a starting horse than lesser ones : and when the
convexity is extreme, not only is the starting in proportion, but such eyes are more liable than others to
become affected with the disease popularly called glass eyes, but medically gtitta serena. It is not, however,
to be understood that all starters have defective eyes ; many are so from natural timidity, and still more
from harsh usage. The eyes should be examined together, not only to observe whether each presents an
equal degree of clearness in the transparent part and within the pupil, but also that an equal degree of
contraction exists between each of the pupils. This is of much consequence : if any inequality in size or
form be observable between the pupils, the least of them has been in some way affected, and will probably
become so again. It is even more suspicious when a turbid milkiness appears on any part of the transparent
portion ; and equally so, when the inferior part looks other than clear ; or, in a very strong light, with
a lively bluish tinge. When it is at all turbid, viewed under various aspects, regard it attentively, and
there may probably be found an inward speck of perfect white; which is the nucleus or central point of
an incipient cataract.
6378. A glassy greenish cast in the eye should occasion suspicion, and the hand should be i)laced over
such eye so as to exclude the light ; remove the hand suddenly and watch the motions of the Iris or cur-
tain of the pupil. If it do not contract, carry the examination' still further, and it will probably be found
such eyes are totally blind. A blind horse usually carries his ears about, as though in alarm, on his
leaving the stable; he also lifts his feet on such occasions, particularly in strange quarters, higher than a
sound horse.
SuBSECT. 9. The Nose and Sense of SmeUing.
6379. Theor^an of smell is, in most quadrupeds, the next in importance to that of vision, and in many
points of view it is even of more consequence. With the herbivorous tribe, it forms their principal means of
judging between the noxious and the innoxious. It is not therefore to be wondered at, that it should in,
these tribes form so large a portion of the head ; nor that it should be so exquisitely gifted with sensibility,
or so admirably formed to answer its important purposes. The external parts of the nasal organ are the
two nostrils, and as much of their convolutions and linings as come into immediate view. Internally
these two cavities are carried upwards into the pharynx, but completely divided by a cartilaginous sep-
tum {fig. 83]./). In this course they communicate with numerous openings and cavities, formed within
the bones of the skull (63()0.), the whole of which are lined by one continuous membrane of exquisite
vascularity and sensibility ; being largely furnished with blood-vessels, which gives them such a ready
tendency to inflame and become red, as we witness under only a slight degree of exertion, and as we see
more evidently when violent colds or inflammations on the chest are present. Its sensibility is derived
from the olfactory nerves, which are spread over all its surface. It is this membrane which is the peculiar
seat of glanders, becoming first inflamed, and next ulcerated throughout its extent ; and as the membrane
itself appears to be continued to the pharynx and larynx, so we need not wonder why the glanders pro-
ceeds to disease the lungs; nor why a common cold, which is at first a simple inflammation of this mem-
brane, so readily degenerates into inflammation of the lungs. The common integuments or coverings of
other parts are extended over the nose, but it is little furnished with fat. Of hairs it has a fine thin
covering to the edges of the nostrils, and a longer set, which are carefully removed in trimming. By a fold
of the skin, within which is a cartilage, the false nostril, as it is termed, is formed, whose use appears to
be to keep open the canal for the transmission of air, and yet to offer an interruption to extraneous matter.
When the nostrils are a little separated, a small canal may be seen, which is the nasal duct for the trans-
mission of the superfluous moisture from the eyes. The horse breathes or respires wholly through his
nostrils in all ordinary cases.
6380. The sense of smelling. The volatile particles from all odorous bodies are continually passing off
from them, and consequently some must reach the olfactory organs, whose capability of taking cognizance
of their qualities appears derived as before pointed out, by the expansion of nervous fibrillas from the olfac-
tory nerves which transmit impressions to the brain.
972 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Pakt ilJ.
I SuBSECT. 10. The Cavity of the Mouth*
vV€S81. The external parts of the mouth are the lips, cheeks, and beard. The lips are made up of fleshy
niftsses so disposed as to give them motion every way ; they are covered over with a very fine expansion
of skin almost devoid of hair, their exquisite sensibility forms them into an organ of touch ; and in this
point of view they ODiay be considered as supplying the part of the points of the fingers in man. Thecheeks
are equally muscular and moveable, but are more furnished with ha'r; and the beard, in addition to this
thin hairy expansion, has a set of long hairs.
fi382. The internal parts qf the mouth are the teeth already described (6260.), the gums, the alveolary
edges, the palate, the tongue, and the parts of the great posterior cavity. The gums are a spongy sub-
stance which embraces and holds fast the teeth in their alveolary sockets. The membrane which covers
the gums at the lower part of the channel forms a kind of fold to connect and confine the tongue on each
side. These folds are called the barbs, and are apt to be mistaken and cut off as excrescences. The bars
are the spaces in the jaw left between the grinders and nipper teeth ; and which man, ever ready to take
advantage of for his own purposes, has made use of to ensure obedience by placing on its sensitive surface
the pressure of the bridle-bit. The palate forms a bony arch, covered by membranous folds, which are
apt, when the stomach is affected, to become swollen, in which case the horse is said to have the lampas
or lampers. (6446.) By means of these rugose folds, the food is retained within the mouth. The curtain
oj the palate or vtlum palati, which is situated at the extreme end of the palatine arch, is stretched
directly across the hinder mouth, and is not intercepted as in man by the pendulous body termed uvula.
This palate curtain is intended to shut out the communication between the mouth and the great cavity of
the fauces, which it does at all times, except when the horse is swallowing, at which period the curtain
is forced back and the food passes. From this cause likewise the horse is prevented from breathing but
by his nostrils ; and when any air does pass by the mouth, as in coughing, crib-biting, &c. it is only
effected by a forcible displacement of the curtain.
6383. The tongue is a long fleshy mass {fig. 831. e), which adapts itself below to the form of the channel,
and above to the arch of the palate : its external surface is rough by means of papillee, which are inclined
backwards, and thus resist the loss of the food received within the mouth. In some animals, as the ox,
bear, &c., they are very large, and in the cat pointed. The tongue is a very principal organ in mastica-
tion, carrying, by its great mobility, the food into every direction until fully acted upon, and finally
passing it into the pharynx.
6384. Sense of tasting. It is not observed that this sense is so diversified in brutes as in man ; but it is
instinctively so correct, that it seldom errs in the herbivorous tribes ; and when it does, there is reason
to suspect some present defect in the organ, arising from morbid sympathy, which (as in the instance of
salt-water, of which at some times horses will drink immoderately,) prompts them to take in matters they
are accustomed to refuse. Taste was given to brutes to regulate their other senses, and thus there are
few plants or substances whose application to the tongue, under ordinary circumstances, produces an
agreeable effect but such as are proper for food. Nature, therefore, stimulates her creatures to search for
edibles by a double motive, the calls of hunger and the pleasures of taste j and these are usually in unison,
for the nausea of repletion destroys the appetite of taste.
6385. The pharynx. The cavities of the mouth and nose terminate in the great cavity of the fauces
called by this name, to which also is appended another lesser opening called the larynx, immediately ap-
propriate to the entrance of the trachea or windpipe. Within this great chamber, at the afterpart of the
mouth, shut from it by a membrane only, is the Eustachian cavity, into which the Eustachian tube opens,
and which great membranous hollow is unknown in man and most quadrupeds {fig. 831. d.) Its use is not
understood, but it is probably connected with the voice.
6386. The larynx is situated at the posterior part of the former cavity, and appears as a cartilaginous box
between the os hydidesj to which it is attached for support. This cartilaginous box, or entrance to the
windpipe, is formed of several pieces, and is furnished with a kind of movable door, which, in ordinary
ciises, exactly tills up the cavity left by the arch of the palate curtain, thereby shutting the cavity of the
mouth, and forcing the animal to breathe through his nasal openings. In extraordinary cases, as when
the animal swallows food, this cartilage is forced down, and then it becomes a door to the glottis or funnel
part of the trkchea, and thus prevents the entrance of extraneous matter into the lungs. All these parts
are operated on by numerous muscles.
6387. The voice. The larynx has also another important office in being the organ of the voice. The
cartilages of the larynx are very movable on one another, and are furnished with muscular cords, which
tighten or relax them ; besides which, they are also furnished with peculiar and appropriate sacs or cavi-
ties, independent of the tracheal opening, and which are of different magnitudes and directions in different
animals. The cartilages of the larynx being acted on by the cordae voc^les, produce different degrees of
density, and consequently different degrees of expansion in the laryngeal sacs ; by which, either in expir-
ation or inspiration, are produced different degrees of vibration, and consequent intonation. Neighing
appears produced wholly by expiration through the nose, as are most of the tones of the horse's voice.
This is proved by slitting the nasal cartilage, which wholly stops it. Knuckering, as it is termed, is only a
lesser neigh, with shorter, deeper, and less forcible tones. The former sound is used as a call, the latter
as either call or recognition. It is likewise, when used mildly, significant of joy and affection, and is then
b^utifuUy sonorous. The horse has an acute sound produced by inspiration, usually descriptive of lust :
ipmost other cases his intonations are accompanied by expirations ; nor does it appear that the tongue or
teeth of the horse are much concerned in the modulations of his voice.
6388. The parotid glands, or, in the language of farriers, the vives, are two considerable bodies on each
side of the head, extended from the base of the ear around the angle of the jaw. Each parotid is a con-
glomerate gland, furn'shed with numerous little ducts, which unite into one, and enter the mouth about
the second molar tooth. These glands furnish saliva for the use of the mouth, and it is an induration
aijd gathering, either in them or the maxillary glands, which form the strangles of young horses.
iVfsjstant to these in the furnishing of saliva are the maxillary glands, situated within the branches of
tbfttlpwec jaw, and the sublingual also.
SuBSECT. 11. The Neck.
the cervical
6389. The external parts of the neck are the common coverings which have been described ; the
ligament, the muscles, and the jugular or neck veins, &c. The cervical ligaynent {fig. 831. i), is a very
strong substance, in some parts semimuscular, and in all extremely elastic, stretched from the occipital
bone along the back of all the cervical vertebrEe except the first. Continued on the spinous processes of
the dorsal vcrtebr£B, it fills up the dip or depression of the spinal column of the neck, so completely as to
form the neck either into a plane, or an elegantly convex line upwards. By its extreme tenacity, the
ponderous mass of the head is preserved in its situation, without the necessity of an immense mass of
muscle which would, without this contrivance, have been necessary. It is to an injury received at the
upper and anterior part of this ligament, that the pole evil is owing. The muscles of the neck are too
numerous to allow of particularisation ; it is sufficient to say, they most of them run longitudinally. The
jugular veins run one on each side of the neck superficially, on the side of the trkchea and windpipe, and
form the vessel usually bled from {fig. 833. r). A few inches before they reach the angle of the jaw, each
divides to furnish the head.
6390. The mternal parts of the neck are the vertebrae, within which passes the spinal marrow. The
carotid arteries pass up under the jugular veins, near the cesophagus {fig. 833. s). The truchea or wind-
Book VII. PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSE. 973
pipe {Jig. 833. 1'), is a large canal for the transmission of air, formed by alternate rings of membrane and
segments of cartilage, rendering it at once flexible and cylindrically hollow. The cesSpkagus {figs. 831-'' A
& 833. s) is the continuation of the funnel-like cavity of the pharynx. It is externally muscular, and ini-
ternally membranous and cuticular, by which formation it is elastic, to allow of distention in the act of-
swallowing. The oesophagus penetrates the chest within the mediastinum, and passing along the spinet
{fig. 833. l)i through an opening in the diaphragm, terminates in the stomach.
-r.'i ,i>./i u,<(.' . i ; ■ j(ld3
SuBSECT. 12. The Thorax or Chest. '^•^"•'''"'^''','-^''''^^ 2»4\
6391. The chest of the horse is bounded anteriorly by the matters fining up the spaceljetween'theiw*'
first ribs, posteriorly by the diaphragm, laterally by the ribs, above by the v^rtebrse, and below by the
sternum or breast bone. In dissecting the horse, after the interior membranes, muscloSj &c. are thrown
back {fig. 831. bbbb), there appear the lobes of the lungs {cccc) ; the heart {d) ; mediastinum or mem-
branous division of the chest (ee); the sternum or breast-bone (/) j the ensiform cartilage (g) ; and.
tendinous centre of the diaphragm (A, »■). ' '
6392. When the chest is opened a smooth polished membrane is seen, which covers the surface, and then
is reflected over its contents ; this is called the pleura ; and by a junction of the two pleurae, a division
of the chest into two nearly equal portions is effected, which membranous division is called the rae-
diasfinum. By this division of the chest into two parts, very important benetits arise ; as when ongi
cavity is opened the lungs immediately collapse, but the respiration may be carried on by the other. In A
similar manner ulceration may proceed to destroy the lobes of one side of the chest, as in glanders, but^
may be checked by the mediastinum from proceeding to the other. The pleiira does not, as in man, ap*
pear to take on inflammation independently of the substance of the lungs ; thus the horse is not subjeot
to pleurisy. The thymus gland, which is a considerable body in the colt, and which forms the sweetbread
in calves, is hardly discernible in the old horse. It is situated between the folds of the mediastinum, but
its uses are unknown. i
&o9S. The diaphragfn or midriff {fig. 831. «, h) is a very important part of the body of the horse, dividing
the chest from the belly by its disk, but which is far from elliptical, extending much further backwards
than forwards. Its fibres radiate from their origins to unite in one tendinous centre (A). In a state of rest
it is anteriorly convex, and posteriorly concave ; but at each inspiration these appearances are nearly re-,
versed (6398.) It is perforated for the passage of the vena cava, the a6rta, the vfeiia azygos, thoracic duct,
and oesophagus, all which pass through it by means of three openings. It has been found ruptured in son»e
desperate cases'of broken wind. . !
6394. The heart {fig. 831. d) is the great agent of circulation, and is made independent of the will; werf^
it otherwise, man and other animals might cease to live at their own discretion. The pericardium i#,
first seen surrounding the heart so completely, that it swims within it by means of a little fluid termed;
liquor pericardii. The heart is a composition of membranous and muscular fibres, having four principal
cavities, and several openings. It is situated within the mediastinum, so as to occupy a cavity of its
own, distinct from either side of the chest. Its base is in a line with the dorsal vertebrte, and its apex is
directed to the left of the sternum, between the eighth and ninth ribs. Its two ventricles are imme-
diately within its body, and its two auricles are rather without, appended to it. The left ventricle con-
tains arterial blood, and from it originates all the arteries except the pulmonary. Tlie right ventricle is
the reservoir of the venous blood, and it receives all the veins except the pulmonary. Within the ventri-
cles are valves to prevent the return of the blood. The auricles are less muscular than the ventricles :
the left, or pulmonary, opens into the left ventricle; and the rightcommunicates with the right ventricle.
Into the right and larger auricle the anterior and posterior cavas enter by two openings, and into the left,
the pulmonary veins pass.
6395. The circulation of the blood may be shortly described as originating with the left ventricle of the
lieart, which sends its blood, by means of the great vessel called the aorta, to all parts of the body. The
blood thus distributed is collected again by the veins from all parts, and is by them returned into the heact
by means of the two cavas, which pour their contents into the right auricle, which immediately forces it,
into the right ventricle. From the right ventricle it is again forced out into the pulmonary artery,
which carries it throughout the lungs to undergo a change, and to be finally returned by eight
trunks into Uie left auricle, which immediately empties it into the left ventricle to renew the process
described.
6396. The lungs are spojigy masses divided into right and left, with less divisions called lobes. Their,
colour varies according to age : thus, in the colt they are of a light lively pink ; in the full grown horse'
they approach to a greyer tint ; and in the very old subject they are of a still deeper tone. The bronchi^
are continuations of the trachea or windpipe, which, dividing on its entrance into the chest, ramifies
throughout the substance of the lungs, giving these masses their spongy cellular structure, in which dis-
tribution the air vessels are accompanied by ramifications of the pulmonary artery and veins. From the
extreme vascularity of these parts they are very liable to inflammation.
6397. The theory of respiration. By some extraordinary sympathy, the colt at birth gasps, and air
rushes into the lungs before collapsed : having once felt this stimulus, by a common consent between
the diaphragm and intercostal muscles, the cavity of the chest is diminished to expel the air received, and
to inspire a fresh quantity ; and which process is then continued through life. The body appears vitally
nourished by two sources : the one through the medium of digestion ; the other by means of the blood
itself, which, in its progress through the body, gives out its vital principles of heat to the mass, and
vitality to the muscular fibre, for unless the blood eflfect its part in the contractile phenomena it will be
in vain for nervous influence to exert its power. Having given out these principles, it is returned by the
veins, and is passed forwards into the lungs, circulating throughout their substance, and imbibing, by
their contiguity or continuity with the air vessels, oxygen gas from the atmospheric air contained in them.
In return for the oxygen received, carbon is given out, which passes off in the form of aqueous vapour.
As the blood is renovated, so the air it acted on is deteriorated, and is therefore expired from the chest to
make room for a fresh inhalation, to oxygenate a fresh quantity of blood, and thus to renovate afresh the
vital powers subservient to its influence.
SuBSECT. 13. The Abdomen.
6398. The viscera of the abdomen include the stomach {fig. 833. a) ; lobes of the liver {bb); omentum
or caul attached to the whole inferior curvature of the stomach (c) ; the spleen (d) ; the kidneys {ee) ;
the rectum (/) ; the ov^ria {gg) : the iiterus {h) ; the bladder distended with urine («) ; the diaphragm
or muscular partition dividing the belly from the chest {k k) ; ces6phagus or gullet proceeding to the
stomach {I) ; trkchea {m) ; vfena ch.va. ascendens (n) ; a6rta descendens (o), which passes through the
abdomen {a a), as does the cJlva descendens {b) ; the a6rta ascendens (p) ; carotid arteries {q) ; jugular
veins (r) ; oesophagus (s) ; and maxillary artery, forming the most convenient situation for feehng the
pulse {t) ; which completes the viscera and general appearances of the horse when laid open.
6399. The abdbmen or cavity of the belly is the largest cavity of the body, and forms an extensive
oval vault, containing very important viscera, which may be considered as the chylopoietic, the
urinary, and the spermatic, all which are invested by a membrane called the peritoneum, which, after
covering each of these organs separately, is reflected over the cavity of the belly itself. It is very strong,
and very elastic, as we perceive by the effects of dropsy, great fatness, and likewise by the increase in
pregnancy. The o?ncntum or caul (c) is the fatty apron which first presents itself on opening an auimal's
074
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III,
^"..^^k'^K *®"'^'"f '". -"T^^ ^^ *''? ^°^' P'»' '^^- •"^'^ *h^ P^'^'^ 5 ^"t '" t'le Jiorse it is less considerable from
which he is not subjected to epiplocele as they are. Its uses are unknown. "crdoie, irom
6400. TV/e sto?nach and ifs digestive functions. The horse has one stomach only, and that a verv small
one, drawing a very wide line of separation by this means between his family and tiie ruminants. In fact
c<}o the stomach of the horse may
" be regarded as intermediate be-
tween the triturating muscular
one of fowls, and the mem.
branous one of the Graminf-
vora. It ispeculiarly constructed
to keep up this intermediate
character, being partly mem-
branous, partly muscular, and
partly cuticular; in which latter
/brmation much of its peculi-
arity consists, and which it
shares in common with asses,
rats, and mice; whose habits
of living on grain give them a
like claim to this wise provision.
In a state of rest, or only mode-
rately distended, its direction is
across the abdomen, with its two
orifices directed upwards; but
the cardiac or recipient orifice,
to which the ces6phagus is at-
tached, the most so ; while the
pyloric or expellent orifice is
rather lower, and more inclined
backward. The situation of
the stomach is immediately
contiguous to the diaphfragm
or great breathing muscle
{Jig. 833. k k), from which we
are at no loss to understand
why a very full meal obstructs
respiration ; and why it is so
imprudent to gallop a horse very
hard after drinking or eating
fully. Small as the stomach is
in a natural state, it is yet ca-
pable of great distention, as has
been witnessed in stomach stag,
gers, when upwards of half a
lundred weight of undigested
food has been extracted from
iit. The membranous portion
'of the stomach is gained from
the peritoneum ; within this is
situated its muscular part, prin.
cipally composed of longitudinal
and transverse layers, by which
-its motions in digestion are re-
'gulated. Around the cardiac
or recipient orifice, a strong band of circular fibres is very evident, which effectually constringes this part,
and prevents regurgitation or vomiting in the horse, except under extraordinary circumstances of mus-
cular relaxation and sympathy. It has been already shown that the anterior part of the alimentary
canal, as the mouth, throat, and gullet, are lined with cuticle or skin. This cuticle is continued into the
stomach, and lines nearly a half of its internal surface, whose office seems to be a more perfect com-
minution of the food, which the horse has no opportunity of remasticating like the ox, sheep, &c. The
villous or sensible portion of the stomach is thrown into folds, so as greatly to increase its surface : here
the comminuted food in its passage becomes saturated with the solvent gastric juice, and is then passed
forward into the intestines.
6401. The derangements of the stomach may be explained from its anatomy. Though small, and its
sensible parts still smaller, yet it is subject to more diseases, and to more frequent derangement, than is
generally supposed. It has been proved to be muscular, and that its digestive functions are performed
by means of its muscularity. It has also been shown that the contractile energy of the muscular fibre, is
mainly gained from the oxygen derived from the blood ; whatever tends to interrupt this separation, as
an unhealthy state of the lungs, too quick action of them, &c. must derange the action of the stomach
also. The perfection of its digestive powers is also derived from its secreting healthy gastric juice,
consequently whatever interrupts this process must likewise interfere with stomachic health ; and that
such health is more often impaired than is generally supposed, and that many ailments, attributed to
other causes, are really dependent on an affection of this organ, experience and observation will fully
evince. Out of condition is a most frequent complaint among horsemen ; their horses are out of
condition, and unfit for work : the appearances are various, but are all well known; yet it is seldom
considered that it is owing, in every seven cases out of ten, to the stomach being morbidly affected.
(64-25.) It is evident that too full feeding must derange it, not only by keeping it constantly dis-
tended, and thus weakening its capacity; but by entrenching too much on its secreting office, and
requiring an inordinate quantity of gastric fluid to saturate an undue quantity of farinaceous matter.
The bots, that are frequently found on its cuticular coat, and are there probably harmless, sometimes
displace themselves, and settle on the villous part, where they must occasion uneasiness and probable
inflammation.
6402. The intestines (Jig. 831. k, I) in the horse may be considered not merely as secerning organs alone, as
in man and many animals, but as really digestive organs, and continuations of the stomachic viscera.
This is more particularly the case with the small intestines, and may therefore entitle them to the term
of alimentary canal, and the large to that of the excremental; the former measure from twenty-one to
twenty.three yards in length, and the latter from seven and a half to eight yards and a half, according to
the size of the animal. The duodfenum is the first of the small intestines, commencing at the pyloric
orifice of the stomach; the jejunum, which is the next and larger portion, and the flium (fig. 831. e),
which is still longer, form the remainder. The alimentary canal in its structure does not difler from the
sensible part of the stomach, having like that two plans of muscular fibres, a circular and a longitudinal,
by which its peristaltic motions are regulated ; the longitudinal shortening the canal, and the circular
-diminishing its size. The alimentary part of the intestinal canal ends with this small gut, which itseli
Book VII. PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSE. 975
terminates abruptly in thn coecum or first of the large intestines [fig. 834 «), and which intestine com-
mences what has been termed the excrementitious canal. This entrance
is effected in such a manner as to leave, by a protrusion of its surface
inwards, a kind of valvular apparatus, which prevents the return of the
contents.
6403. The targe intestines {fig. 831. k k) in the horse are really deserving
of that name, being- very capacious; while in man and carnivorous animals
they are little different from the small. They occupy and completely fill
up the lower portion of the abdomen : the coecum occupies the right side,
and carries its blind end towards the diaphragm, which is not furnished
with an appendix as in man. A careful inspection of this intestine will show that the appellation of
excrementitious canal does not wholly apply to it; but that, on the contrary, it performs some of the
offices attributed to the smaller intestines. The colon commences small from the side of the base of the
coecum ; but soon enlarging, it makes a turn round the abdomen, when contracting it ends in the rectum,
and passes backwards to the anus. Along the course of the large intestines are muscular bands, which
throw their surfaces into folds, and also form them into a continuation of cells [fig. 831. w). By these
means, the matters are detained to be acted on more fully, and finally they are expelled in dry
hardened balls.
(5404. The digestive process in the horse is one of the most curious as well as one of the most important
which goes on in the bod}'. The various actions of an animal body produce relaxation and waste, which
are indicated by fatigue and hunger. To restore the one, rest is required, and to restore the other, food
becomes necessary. For the herbivorous tribes, vegetable matter is sought for, which being collected, is
masticated by the grinders and mixed with saliva, until it becomes a softened mass, when it is passed
backwards by the tongue and molar muscles, through the arch of the palate, in the form of a bolus. Re-
ceived into the pharynx, which rises to receive it, and the action of which forces down the epiglottis, all
impediment is removed to its falling in the open funnel of the oesophagus ; which having received it, the
spiral fibres of the oes6phagus force it inwanis into the stomach. While the food remains within the
cuticular part, it is acted on by pressure ; but being further removed, it meets the action of the gastric
fluid, by which it is reduced io a pultaceous mass called chyme. In this state it is passed into the small
intestines : for in the horse, as before observed, the process of digestion is by no means completed in the
stomach, as in man and many animals. The exertions of the horse require that he should eat largely and
nutritiously, but the bulky viscera of the ox would have ill suited with his necessities; for he is not
only strong, but his motions are designed to be quick also : it was therefore necessary that some speciality
should occur to meet these seeming discordances. This consists in the mode of digestion, which being but
partially completed in the stomach, requires a less bulk in that organ, the intestines participating in the
labour. A horse will eat two or three pecks of corn or ten pounds of hay at a meal, and yet in a natural
state his stomach will not hold half of either. He will also drink two pails of water, when the same organ
cannot hold one. What is taken into the stomach is therefore quickly passed through it, and more is
required. A horse cannot fast long without injury and pain ; his food does not |)roduce a lasting eff'ect in
the constitution as animal food does on the Carnivora. A dog fed once a day will thrive, and, when fed
every other day only, will not suffer materially; but no horse fed once a day would support himself: even
oxen and sheep, as having a slower digestion and more intestinal room, can bear fasting better than the
horse. As an animal destined for quick as well as great exertions, his wants prompt him to take in a
moderate portion of food only at a time, which his digestive powers peculiarly fit him to convert inio
nutriment quickly and efficaciously, by distributing the task through a long tract of canal ; instead of
confining it, as in man and the Carnivora, to one simple organ, the stomach.
6405. The chipne passes into the duodenum from the stomach, where it receives the addition of the pan-
creatic and biliary fluids, whose ducts open into that part of the intestinal tracts. Conducted onwards by
the creeping peristaltic motion, it passes through this long alimentary tract rather rapidly in the horse;
but it remains sufficiently long to receive further additions from the secreting surfaces of the smaller
intestines, and probably to have its work of division and absorption begun in it. Arrived at the larger
part of the intestinal tract, it is purposely delayed to be fully strained and separated, the open mouths of
the lacteals spread over the villous surface receiving the nutritious part under the name of chyle, and the
residue being carried backward, and thrown out as dung. The chylous orifices belong to minute tubes
termed lacteals, which pass onwards enveloped in membranous folds termed mesentery, until uniting in
one trunk called thoracic duct, their contents are poured into the heart, whereby they become mixed
with and converted into blood, producing an increase to its quantity; as the alteration it receives in the
lungs is an amelioration of its quality, which it has been shown is equally necessary to the animal.
6406. The liver mat/ also be considered as a digestive organ {fig. 833. b b), inasmuch as it secretes a fluid
whose office appears to be to quicken the action of the intestines ; at the same time that perhaps the very
matter separated tends to purify that blood which has been already distributed to the chylopoetic viscera.
All other animals, except the horse, ass, and deer, are furnished with a receptacle for the bile, where it
may be retained and rendered more acrid : b\it the horse has no gall bladder, and, in his foetal state,
another speciality presents itself in this organ, which is, that he is deprived of a canklis venbsus, and thus
the whole of the abdominal blood flows through the liver. From this simplicity of structure in the horse
he is seldom affected with obstructed or concrete bile ; but the organ itself is hable to inflammation, and
also to a chronic disease of it through the medium of the stomach.
6407. The pancreas is an assistant to digestion also, as we have reason to conclude by its pouring its
contents into the duodfenum with the bile. It is situated behind the liver, between the stomach and left
kidney.
6408. The spleen, or milt {fig. 833. d), is a spongy body situated at the greater extremity of the stomach.
Its use is likewise not clearly ascertained ; but it has been supposed to be that of a reservoir of blood for
the stomach.
6409. The kidneys are two excremental glands {e e) situated in the lumbar region, the right more forward
than the left. The structure of the kidneys exhibits an external reddish part, an internal whitish part,
and a cavity called the pelvis. From this cavity passes out the duct called the ureter, and brings with it
the urine which is secreted within the kidney. The ureters convey the urine to the bladder.
6410. The wine appears to be aftrcal separation from the blood, and is in some measure connected with
the skin in its office. Thus, when the perspiration is great, the urine is less; and on the contrary in winter,
when the perspiration is small, the urine is more considerable. The kidneys of the horse are more easily
stimulated into increased action by diuretics than those of man or of most other animals ; and substances
which would not appear potent act with violence on his urinary organs. Thus mow burnt hay, kiln.dried
oats, &c., will produce diabetes.
6411. The bladder of the horse {fig. 833. i) is a membranous sac for the reception of the urine. It rests
on the piibis, and is immediately under the rectum. It is in part muscular, by which it can expel its
contents almost to the last drop. At its neck is a kind of sphincter to prevent the invohmtary escape of
urine, and at its posterior part it is pierced by the urfeters. To the bladder is attached a membranous pipe
called the urethra, which passes through the penis, and by that means ejects the urine.
SuBSECT. 14. The Foetal Colt.
. 6412. The reproductive system is one of the mojt important of nature's works ; and, whether we examine
the subject anatomically or physiologically, we shall be convinced that the utmost wisdom and care have
976
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Pa .IT III.
been displayed to perfect the continuance of the species. The tender embryo, produced by the mutual
sympathies of both parents, becomes placed in a situation the best adapted to its necessities and safety.
6+13. Pregnancy and ecoUtiioti qfthejeetus. In the pregnant womb, the rudiments of the future animal
are covered with expansions from the neighbouring parts ; and derive nourishment from a communi-
cation with the mother by means of the umbilical cord, and farther, by a surrounding fluid. In this
state a speciality is observed in the foetal sanguineous circulation ; the whole of its abdominal blood pass-
ing through its liver (.^)733.) by which it gains a more early and perfect evolution to fit it at its first
entrance into life for active exertions. Under these circumstances it daily acquires increase, until the
distention it occasions becomes too great for the capacity, when the muscular fibres of the uterus, power,
fully assisted by the diaphragm and abdominal muscles, contract, and thus force both the foal and the
membranes into the world.
6414. The new-bornjoal, on its entrance into active life, finds its organs of immediate necessity in a
full state of capacity. Unlike the infant, it is far from indigent, but can run and perform the common
phenomena of an animal with dexterity and ease. Its powers are, however, not sufficiently developed to
enable it to live independent: it has therefore a necessity for seeking support from the mother, in the
form of milk ; and it may therefore be now considered in some measure as carnivorous. The milk is
derived from a bag furnished with two nipples, having excretory outlets and valves to prevent the acci-
dental loss of the fluid. These valves the instinct of the foal teaches it to displace by its nose. The milk
of the mare being higlily nutritious, its evolution rapidly increases and becomes fitted to perform all the
more matured functions, and when fully able to counteract its own wants, it sympathises only with itself;
when the parent's care being no longer necessary, the lactiferous secretion ceases.
6415. The period of gestation varies in different mares : one hundred and two mares were observed by
Tessier, of which 3 foaled on the 311th day, 1 on the 314th, 1 on the 325th, 1 on the 3'?6th, 2 on the 333d,
47 from the 340th to the 350th, 25 from the 350th to the 360th, 21 from the 360th to the 377th, and 1 on the
a94th day j which gives a latitude of 83 days in the time of gestation.
]SuBSEcs4 15. , ThetFooL<,
6416. The feet of the horse present in their united functions a series of springs with great complexity of
structure. An unreflecting observer considers only the horny box, and perhaps attaches as little merit to
its mechanism, as he would to a well turned wooden leg of a man. But a little examination will convince
him that all the complexity, all the admirable mechanism displayed in the assemblage of four fingers and
a thumb, are here concentrated within this horny box and its appendages. As the parts which compose
the hind and the fore feet do not materially differ, a description of one foot will serve for the whole.
6417. On examining a perpendicular section of the foot and pastern [fig. 835.), there appears the coffin
bone (a), the navicular or nut bone (6), the coronary or little pastern bone (c), the larger pastern
bone id), the back sinew or great flexor tendon of the foot (e), the same tendon sliding over the navicular
bone (/), Us termination or insertion into the bottom of the coffin bone (g), the elastic matter of the
sensible frog (h), the insensible or horny frog (/), the horny sole
(A), which includes the parts of the sensible foot ; the outer wall
of the hoof (Z), the elastic processes (w?), the attachment of the
extensor tendon to the coffin bone («), and its attachment to the
coronary bone (o), which completes the section.
6418. The coffin bone {fig. 835. «) adapts itself to the form of the
hoof, or rather is adapted by nature to this eligible form. The
eminence in front receives the insertion of the tendon of the great
extensor muscle of the foot, whose upper attachment is to the
humerus or arm bone where it is fleshy, but as it passes onwards,
it becomes tendinous, expanding ever every joint, both to prevent
friction, and to embrace and give attachments to each bone, by
which a simultaneous movement of the whole limb is made. In
the hinder limb, this extensor and its two less adjuncts arise
from the tibia and in part from the ffemur. To the sides of the
coffin bone are attached the lateral cartilages, and around its sur-
face are marks of the attachment of the laminated substance.
6419. The coronary or S7nall pastern bone (c), articulates with
the coffin at its posterior part, and articulating also with both
these is the navicular or nut bone (/), whose attachments to them
are effected by ligaments.
6420 Tfte hoof is conical, or rather, as Clark observes, slightly truncated, and is a secretion as well from
the vascular parts of the foot as from the skin, as our nails are from the portion of skin called the quick.
The structure of the hoof is firm and fibrous ; externally plane and convex, but internally concave and
laminated The quarters are the lateral parts. As the horn approaches the heels it becomes soft, and
is reflected inwards. The heels are parted by the homy frog {Jig. 836. b), and without the frog on each
side the hoof inflects its fibres to form the bars which are seen on the under surface [Jig. 836. c). In a
healthy foot {Jig. 837.) the heels are round, 837
wide, and smooth {a a), the frog fully ex-
panded (6), the bars or binders distinct (c), no
corns in the usual angle {d), the sole broad
and concave (d). In a diseased foot {Jig. 837.),
the heels are high and drawn together by con-
traction {a a), the frog narrow and filled with
fissures from contraction and thrush (6), and
the sole greatly shortened in its transverse dia-
meter, which is morbidly counterbalanced by
the increased heights in the truncated form
(c). When the hoof is removed, the sensible
or Jleshy sole {Jig. 835. k), above which it im-
mediately lies presents itself, covering the whole of the horny sole, except so much as is taken up by the
sensible frog 'h) This part is exquisitely sensible and vascular ; and thus we learn why injuries to it from
punctures produce such serious effects, and why very slight pressure from contraction of the hoof gives
60 much pain The sensible frog and the sensible sole form the insensible frog and sole ; but when from
pressure too much moisture, or other causes, the sensible frog, instead of forming horn, secretes pus or
matter as in thrush, the structure of the whole becomes injured -, and the horny frog, thus losing its sup-
port gradually wastes and decays. It is, therefore, evident that no thrush can be entirely harmless, as is
erroneously supposed. Above the sensible frog and sole is the great flexor tendon, or back sinew, insert-
ing itself into the vaulted arch of the coffin {fig. 835. e). This important tendon arising from its parent
muscle above the knee, whose origin is taken from the htimerus and iilna, in its passage unites with an
assistant flexor, but which latter is principally distributed to the pastern bones ; while ihe perforans, so
called because it is perforated by the assistant flexor tendon, is inserted into the vault of the cothn. in
the posterior extremities, the attachments of these two leading flexors, and a smaller lateral one, are
from the ftmur and tibia. „ . . . x- i ^i. ^ iv.„_^ „>«
6421. The sensible lamina. Around the surface of the coffin bone it has been noticed that there are
Book VII. DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 977
linear indentations, to which about five hundred semi-cartilaginous leaves arc atfachetl. Each of these Is
received between two of the horny lamell<e which line the interior of tlie horny hoof; and when it U
considered what a vast surface of attachment is formed by these means, the strengtii of the union will
not be wondered at. No common violence can separate these parts, and their use, as so' many springs to
support the actions of an animal, at once weighty, strong, and extremely agile, must be apjiarent. Th8 '
vessels and nerves of the foot are derived from the metacarpal arteries, veins, and nerves, which pass
behind the pastern, when the main trunks divide to proceed to each side of the foot, and. are ramified
from tlience throughout. It is a division of the metacarpal nerve on each side of the lesser pastern, or«(^
the larger, as occasion suits, which forms the nerve operation, now in vogue as a remedy for founder. . ', '
^. J' ■*•»' -•■■■•■) ir,.i ,na\
Sect. V. Diseases of the Horse. ^ •'> - y-u r-in^^'dwy.i
6422. The diseases of the horse are as numerous and as important as his complicatedlstruotuTe^and the aril,
ficial state of his present mode of life, would lead one to expect. Until of late the treatment of these
diseases was confined to the hands of ignorant farriers, i>resumptive grooms, or shoeing smiths ; and the
fate of the animals was commensurate with the wretched treatment they were subjected to. The esta-
blishment of a scliool for the veterinary art has disseminated an improved practice, and spread improved
practitioners throughout the country ; and we would earnestly recoimnend an application to one of esta-
blished reputation in all cases of difficulty and danger. But as it is not always that sucli a one is within
reach, to enable the agriculturist to have in his own liands the means of informing himself, or of being a
checli on others, we submit a concise view of the diseases of the head, neck, trunk, and extremities,
preceded by some general observations.
SuBSKCT. 1. General Remarks on the healthy and diseased State of theJ^npr^^, ^
6423. Condition qf horses. Being in condition, in stable language, signifies not only perfect health in.
ternally, but such an appearance externally as the philosopher would call unnatural, or at least artificial ;
while the amateur considers it as an essential requisite to the other qualities of the horse. I'his external
condition is denoted by a sleek, short, shining coat, with a degree of flesh neither bordering on fatness
nor emaciation. Even in this sense of the term, condition must be varied according to the uses of the
animJS. In the cart horse, provided there be sleekness of coat, looseness of hide, sound wind, freedom
from grease or swelled legs, with good digestion ; a fulness and rotundity of bulk, instead of detracting
from his beauty or impeding his exertions, will add to the one and assist the other. In the coacli horse,
the hackney, the hunter, and the racer, a different condition is expected, varying in different degrees from
that of the cart horse. In both cart horse and racer, it is equally necessary that the various internal organs
should be in a state to act uninterruptedly for the benefit of the whole ; but, in addition to this, it is
necessary to the racer, that the greatest possilile quantity of animal fibre should be condensed into the
smallest possible bulk ; and that the absorption of all useless fat and other interstitial matter should be
promoted by every possible means, as essentially necessary to unite lightness of body with full strength
and elasticity. It is in the attempts to produce such a state in its full perfection, that all the secrets of
training consist : but whether a total departure from natural rules, by unnatural heat, deprivation of
light, stimulating food, restraint from water, and excessive clothing, are best Calculated to promote it,
admits of much doubt; and it is to be observed, that the dawn of reason and science appears to be shin-
ing through the crevices of these darkened casements; for even at Newmarket the system h;is lately
much relaxed from its artificial rigour.
6424. To bring a horse into condition, not only should the purposes he is hitendcd for be taken into
account, but also his previous state. If he be taken up from grass with much flesh on him, it is evident
that what is required is, to remove the soft interstitial matter it may be supposed he has gained by grepn
food, and to replace it by hard flesh ; and also to produce a sleekness of coat and beauty of appearance.
To accomplish these end's, the horse should be accustomed to clothing and the full heat of the stable by
degrees only; and also by degrees only to the meditated change of foot!, which is best done by mashes.
In two or three days a mild dose of physic may be given, during all which moderat ' : ly should
be allowed, as walking, but which may be continued two hours at a time. After t! jt, begin
to dress his coat, increase his exercise and his food, and accustom him toan incfca,^ Infour
or five days' time again mash him for two days, and give a second dose of physic, <i » li.y mi.t.' stronger
than the first. (6544.) After this, still further increase his warmth, his exeicise, and iiis fo^, by which
his belly will be taken up, his flesh will harden, and his coat will begin, to fall. A third do»p of physic,
or urine balls, ftc, are only necessary in the training of hunters, &c., and even in these, a gradual increase
of exercise, rather long continue*! than violent, with propi-r food, will effect the end, if not so quickly,
more beneficially to the animal. To bring a lean horse into condition, a soinewiiat dir'crcnt plan should
be pursued. If from grass, still mash him for a day or two, by no means stint him in Ids water, and with
his mash let corn be also soaked. If corn be speared or malted, it will produce flesh sooner. But even
here, give the horse moderate walking exercise, and if he be not too much rc(iuccd, add a mild dose of
physic to prevent his heels flying, or his getting hide-bound by the increased fooil ; but if great emaciation ,
forbid the physic, give him nightly an alterative. ( Vet. Pharm. 6550. No. 1.) As his appiwrance, improycis,
gradually harden his food and increase his exercise.
G425. Diseased condition of horses. "What has been already said relates to that alteration from one state
to another, neither being an unhealthy one, which custom has rendered necessary ; thus a man in train-
ing for running or fighting, and a man out of training, are both considered equally healthy. -But there
are circumstances that prodtice a morbid state of condition, different from all these. It is coinmon;,to
hear persons sav, " My norse is sadly out of condition ; and I cannot tell eith( r v.-h.'A 'm. rho mattl^r with
him, or how to" get him into better case." Various arc the causes tli at > i Siidiljin
alteration of the food or temperature, or of habits altogether, may become ; =!i!i horse
from gfAss to a heated steble, full feeding, and hard exercise, wiH often d; - changes
should always be gradual. Bad food, as mow-burnt hay, musty oats^be-ans, ,\ ^ miiuTal waters,
foul air, &c., are IVcquent cau.ses. Diabfetes, or profuse staling, is often broiiji ^ ,); :■ tiiese means, and
the condition of the horse becomes greatly reduced. It is requisite, theiel(.;. i . c.w,u:ro whether any
of these errors are in existence, and to immediately remove them : but it often hai'i)ciis tliat the stomach
has become relaxed and the hide become bound ; neither of which readily remove, even though the
original evil may be amended. When the relaxed stomach has produced laijupari, treat the mouth as
described under that disease (6446.) ; but the stomach itself must be principally attended to, Pirst ma^h
and give a dose of physic ; after it has set, commence the treatment, if the horse be of a full habit, by a
moderate bleeding and a nightly alterative ( Vet. Pharvi. 6550. No. 1. or 2.) But if he be not in full, but
in low flesh, commence by a daily tonic {Vet. Phaiin. Qi)51. No. 1. or 2.), which will gradually remove th?
swelling within the mouth, and loosen the hide. A sudden cold applied to the skm often brings on a
want of condition with surfeit. In which cases bleeding, nightly alteratives ( Vet. Pharnu (x>50. No. 1. or 2.)
with or without an assistant dose of physic, as the habit of the horse may require, constitute the proper
treatment. Worms form another cause of morbid condition, which are to be removed as described, (6478.)
Excessive fatigue is also productive bf a bad state of condition, which often proves very obstinate. Turning
out to very good grass is the quickest cure, and when that is impracticable, soiUng in Uie stable, or ticeding
with carrots, parsneps, beet-root, &c.'wiU be gootl restoratives ; as medicines give tonics daily. {Vet. Pharm.
G551. No. 1. or 2.) It will be only necessary to add, that in considering the state of a house's cp»d//?a«.
978 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut III.
the effect is apt to be mistaken for the cause, and the symptoms for the disease. Hide boun 1 and lampas
are not in themselves any thing more than eilects, or symptoms ; the former being commonly, and the
latter being always, dependent on a deranged state of the stomach : both are, therefore, to be treated
accordingly. Exactly the same will apply to all the other symptoms of morbid condition.
Sl'bsect. 2. Inflammatory Diseases of the Horse,
6426. T/ie inflammatory diseases of the horse are numerous, but his fevers are few; a febrile state
being generally brought on by the inflammation of some important organ. Inflammation may be con-
sidered as general or diffused, and local or confined, and both seem to arise from an affection of the blood-
vessels, and perhaps from a peculiar state of the blood itself.
6427. Geiwral or diffused inflammation constitutes fever or extensive inflammatory affection, and
appears to consist in an increased action of the heart and arteries, accompanied with an increase of heat.
In some instances where the fever is purely symptomatic, and dependent on the inflammation of some
important organ, as of the lungs or the intestines, the circulation appears retarded rather than increased,
from interruption arising to its passage through the heart.
6428. Local or confined infl,ammation is also dependent on an affection of the blood-vessels, but con-
fined principally to the blood vessels of the part affected. It is betokened by redness in the skin, tumour
or swelling, heat, and tenderness, with pain. Inflammations, both diffused and local, are brought on by
excitements, such as over-feeding, excessive heat, the reaction produced after cold, and the reaction
produced by inordinate exertion. Those more exterior arise from injuries, the application of improper
substances, &c. Inflammations terminate in various ways ; but it is to be remarked, that in consequence
of the very large circulatory system in the horse, his febrile affections rage higher, and terminate sooner,
than in man. The usual termination of inflammatory affections in the horse is, by resolution, effusion,
suppuration, and gangrene. Schirrus is not at all a common termination of inflammation in the horse.
6129. Inflammation of the brain {phremtis), brain fever, phrensy fever, staggers, ?nad and sleepy.
There are few diseases more likely to be mistaken by inexperienced farriers than this ; it is not to be
wondered at, therefore, if indifferent persons should be led into error by it. It appears in two forms,
a violent frantic one, and a sleepy lethargic one; and the latter appearance is also common to a disease,
not dei>endent, as this is, on idiopathic inflammation of the brain, but on a paralytic affection of the
stomach, and thence it is called stomach staggers. This latter affection, however, may be distinguished
from the former by attending to the colour of the eyelids, nose linings, mouth, &c., which, in stomach
staggers, are usually more yellow than red ; whereas, in sleepy staggers, they are more red than yellow.
Inflammation of the brain shows itself, in general cases, by disinclination to food and motion, drowsiness,
accompanied by a heaviness and closing of the eyelids, with moisture and redness of them ; and also of
the linings of the mouth and nose. Sometimes these symptoms increase until the horse becomes comatose,
and after a few frightful struggles, he sinks to rise no more In these cases the pulse is apt to be oppressed
instead of increased ; but most frequently after the first stages he becomes furious, plunges about, and
is vicious to himself and others, approaching to a state of madness, in which state he continues till he
sinks from his own exertions, when he rises again to renew his violence.
64:30. The causes of staggers may be various : the immediate are either an original accumulation of
blood within the brain, or the translation of the inflammation of some organ to the brain ; as a remote
cause it is often brought on by too full feeding, without sufficient exercise, and particularly in horses at
one time working very hard, and at another suffered to remain inactive, but which horses, whether used
or not, are equally fed. Sudden cold, violence, &c., may bring it on.
6431. The treatittentqf sluggers should be begun by abstracting a very large quantity of blood promptly,
by opening both jugulars, and letting the horse bleed to the amount of ten or even twelve quarts ; repeat-
ing the same until the delirium ceases. After the first bleeding, back rake, throw up a laxative clyster
(.Vet. Pharm. 6564.), blister the head, promote a current of free air in the stable, and treat altogether as
directed under other febrile aff'ections,
6432. Locked jaw, stag-evil, or tetanus, arises from cold, excessive fatigue, sometimes perhaps from
worms, but more often from a wound of some part, as pricks in shoeing, &c. Such wound is seldom in a
recent state, but after two or three weeks' continuance, sometimes after it has healed even ; it follows
docking, gelding, and nicking frequently, and is preceded by a flabby unhealthy .state of the wound.
It is not always produced by an open wound ; it is sometimes consequent on a bruise, strain, &c. ; and
is sometimes brought on by cold, violent exertions, &c. &c. It appears as an affection of the brain, which
transmits its morbid irritation, particularly to the nerves attached to muscles, by which they become
cramped, or may be considered as in a high state of action, giving the horse a peculiar look of energy,
as though immediately stopped from full speed, with his nostrils extended, his head raised, and nose
carried forward ; his legs straddle wide, and his tail is cocked and quivers, as after violent exercise. The
jaws will now be found, if not closed, yet nearly so, when he is caWeA jaw -set.
6433. The treatment is not often successful ; but, however, it is sufficiently frequent that it' is so, to de-
serve the utmost attention. Blaine informs us that enormous bleedings have succeeded ; but he places
his principal dependence on the application of cold by the means of ice, or of constant dashing with cold
water, with an active blister applied the whole length of the spine. Balls of camphor and opium, to the
amount of two drachms of each, may be given every three hours. If any room remains in the mouth, the
ball may be passed up by means of a stick, or it may be given as a drink by means of a syringe ; and even
when the mouth is entirely closed, he informs us we may give a drink by the nostrils. Moorcroft used
cold also. Fearon, on the contrary, has experienced benefit from a bath, heated to ninety degrees, and
kept at that temi)erature for three hours. White recommends camphor and opium. Wilkinson, of
Newcastle, has been very successful by keeping up heat and stimulus over the skin in general, by means
of newly stripped sheepskins put on hot. Perhaps if the body were previously rubbed with oil of turpen-
tine one part, and common oil two parts, it might assist Wilkinson's plan. When locked jaw arises from
nicking, it might be prudent for a veterinary surgeon to dissect down on the nerves of the tail, and divide
them ; and when from docking, it would be advisable at once to cut off another portion of the tail ;
which practices, in both instances, would afford a moderate chance of saving the animal It is necessary
further to remark, that it is of great consequence that the bowels be kept free from fseces, by raking and
clysters. With regard to the latter they are very important in this disease, as a medium, commonly the
only one, of giving support. A horse has been kept alive on nourishing clysters alone for seven or eight
days. {Vet. Pharm. 6566.)
6434. Catarrhal fever, epidemic catarrh, infiuenxa, distemper, cold, morfoundering, Sfc. These names
apply to one common disease, which often in rainy, variable seasons appears as an epidemic, and affects
thousands of horses at once. It is observed to be particularly prevalent in this form in the spring of some
years, more than of others. It is not contagious, like the more malignant form, but is brought on as an
epidemic by the same causes being applied to nearly all subjects alike ; which are alternations of heat with
cold, moisture, and dryness, &c. In crowded cities and large towns it is more prevalent than in more
open situations, and it is more frequently found in the young than in aged horses. Where it does not
exist as an epidemic, it is brought on by an accidental cold taken. It is of great consequence to dis-
tinguish it from pure inflammation of the lungs, with which it is very apt to be confounded ; and which
mistake is often a fatal one, from the treatment being in some essential particulars diffterent. Inflamma-
tion of the lungs commences by a short cough, without much other disturbance to the health than the
pain it gives the horse to cough ; but which is often so considerable as to make him stamp his feet while
coughing. If a horse in the distemper coughs early, it is not a hollow, harsh-sounding, and distressing
cough of this kind ; if he expresses uneasiness, it is principally from a sore throat, which is very common
Book VII. DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 979
in distemiier, but by no noeans common in pneumonia. TJie sore throat in disteraper givcfs the horse a
disposition to refuse his food, or he chews it and lets the quid fall witliout swallowing it. He refuses
water, particularly if it be placed on the ground. His cough is quick, short, and usually sounds more moist
than harsh and dry ; but though common, this is not invariably the case. His eyes are heavy and moist,
his breathing is quickened, and his ears and legs are alternately hot and cold. His nose on looking into it
is redder than usual, and sometimes his glands, as well submaxillary or jaw glands, as his parotid or
vives, are tumified. On the second or third day excessive weakness comes on ; the cough becomes more
painful, the pulse is quickened, and the nose begins to run. After which the horse either runs off the
disease by this suppuration, or it goes on to destroy liim by the height of the fever, and degree of weak-
ness produced, or by suffocation from water in the chest Now and then, although recovery takes place,
an obstinate cough is left ; and in a few cases the disease terminates in glanders.
643.5. The treatment may in some cases be cut very short ; for as in almost every instance a shiv^^ing
fit begins the disease, so when many horses are in a stable, and the disease is very prevalent, those who
have not been attacked should be watched, and the moment such an attack does take place, give of
sweet spirit <if nitre, or when not at hand of spirit of fiartshorn, an ounce, in a pint of sound ale.
Exercise the horse briskly, then well hand rub him, clothe him warmly, and it is more than probable that
the disease will be cut short. But should it proceed, or should the disease have gone on unobserved to
the appearance of the symptom detailed, begin by bleeding moderately, if the horse be not already weakj
or if there have not appeared the running of matter from the nose. If there have, the bleeding had
better be dispensed with, unless the fever appear, from the quick full pulse and redness of the inner sur-
face of the nostrils and eyelids, to be still so considerable as to require it ; in which case we must not be
deterred from one moderate bleeding ; and which, if the febrile symptoms do not abate, may be even
repeated. It will, however, in general cases, be advisable to avoid bleeding after the second day of the
attack, or after the discharge has appeareil from the nose, or after considerable weakness has come oa
In all cases a very cool temperature is essentially requisite: hot stables or hot clothing is very per-
nicious, but particularly the former. A hood is not improper over the head, because it encourages the
running to make an early appearance ; and for this reason a warm mash may advantageously be hung
round the neck three or four times a day. Before the discharge commences, give night and morning the
fever powder {Vet. Pharm. 6578. No. 1. or 2.) in a mash or drink; after the running has come on, or aS
Boon as the weakness has become considerable, give night and morning either of the fever drinks. {Vet.
Pharm. 6579. No. 3. or 4.) Malt mashes, when the weakness is great, are proper; at other times bran
mashes with plenty of chilled water are best. To relieve the throat, rub the outside with mild liquid
blister {Vet. Pharm. 6563.) ; and if the weather be warm enough to allow it, two or three hours turning
out in a field each day is proper. Green meat in the stable, when it can be procured, should likewise
be given.
6436. Malignant epidemic, murrain, or pest. Now and then the distemper or Influenza assumes a
character of uncommon malignance ; which is happily not frequent here, but not unfrequent in con-
tinental countries ; sweeping off a third of the horses and kine, without any means being found sufficient
to arrest its progress. In these cases it is highly contagious, attacking almost all the horses as well a9
cattle within its .'sphere of action, or which communicate with each other. Dr. Layard, and Osmer,
English writers of established reputation, noticed the appearances of this disease long ago ; and their
descriptions are not different from the milder kind noticed (6434.) but in degree. The throat is intensely
sore, and the mouth ulcerated ; the glands of the head swell, and sometimes these and other parts sup-
purate and burst. The matter from the nose is bloody, and the stench intolerable; the weakness is also
peculiarly great, and shows itself early.
6437. 2'Ac treatment recommended by Blaine is the early use of malt mashes ; even ale is indispensable.
Green meat should be allowed, and a very cool stall is necessary, having a free communication with the
open air. As medicine, three doses are necessary, every day, of the malignant epidemic fever drink {Fct.
Pharm 6582.) ; half a pint of yeast with a pint of ale has been given, with good effect, three times a day ;
also, to prevent the infection from spreading, fumigate the stables and all the outhouses with the preven.
tive fumigation. {Vet. Phattn. 6583.)
SuBSBCT. 3. Diseases of the Head.
6438. Epilepsy, megrims, sturdy, or tumsick, are epileptic attacks of greater or less violence, and which
are apt to be confounded with the accidental strangulation that sometimes takes place, from a collar too
tight, or from driving a horse hard up hill, &c. The epileptic fit makes its appearance by a sudden stop ;
if the horse be in action he shakes his head, looks wild and irresolute, but after some time he proceeds ;
when more violent, he suddenly falls down, is convulsed, dungs and stales insensibly, and remains some
time before he recovers. This disease, like staggers, is generally the consequence of too full a habit ; and
is, therefore, best relieved by bleeding, and a more moderate diet j and, where it is convenient, a run at
grass should be allowed to alter the habit.
6439. The diseases of the horse^s eyes are not numerous, but they are very destructive. The principal
are ophthalmia and gutta serfena.
6440. The ojMhdbnia, lunatic, or moon-blindness, is a very peculiar disease among horses, affecting their
eyes generally about their full growth, but sometimes later, and seldom earlier. It is but little known
among mules and asses, and unknown in oxen and sheep. It does not, however, appear to be a disease
natural to the horse, as wild ones, or even those little subjected to artificial restraints, are not observed to be
subject to it : but among others, it is become so common as to have the tendency handed down in the breed,
the progeny of some stallions being more prone to it than others. It is often very sudden in its attack^
the eyelids being found swelled and almost closed to avoid the light; they are also very red within, and
the haw is half drawn over the surface ; the tears flow down the face perpetually, and the whole head
is hot : now and then these appearances come on gradually. The suddenness of the attack makes the
complaint to be attributed to accident, as blows, hay-seeds within the eye, &c.; and it is frequently
difficult to get the owner of such a horse to believe that a constitutional attack, as it usually is, can
come on so suddenly. Sometimes as it comes on quickly, so it goes off, the eye, from being opaque and
milky, in twenty-four hoias becoming clear and almost well. When such an attack has taken place,
even if nothing be done, the horse sooner or later amends, and the eye or eyes, — for it is sometimes one,
and sometimes both that are so attacked, — bt>come again clear and well, and remain so an indefinite period,
from five or six weeks to as many months. Another attack, however, sooner or later follows, to which
others succeed, each leaving increased milkiness on the outer coats, and some dimness within the pupil,
either speck-like or diffused; and fin.iUy the horse becomes Wind from cataract. When one eye goes
blind totally before the other, it is often the means of preventing the future attack on the remaining one ;
which has given rise to a custom of putting out one eye to save the other, and which has succeeded. As
this is a constitutional disease, brought on by artificial habits, as over-exertion, close unhealthy con-
finement, and heating food; so it is clear the abstraction of all these are necessary to remove the com-
plaint, and to prevent a recurrence; but particularly the close, dark, and unventilated state of the stable
should be attended to, as well as the removal of the htter, which retains the volatile alkali of the urine,
and irritates the eyes most injuriously. The food should be mild and cooling, and the exercise moderate,
but long continued. Under the height of the attack, however, rest is advisable, with moderate light, which
may be still further moderated by keeping over the eye or eyes a thick cloth wet with goulard water. ( Vet.
Pharm. 6575.) Sometimes one quarter of vinegar to three quarters of water has been found a useful
application ; and whichever is used, the eyes and eyebrows should be kept continually wet with it, which
3R 2
980 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. PaktIII.
by exciting evaporation will keep the part cooL A seton may be introduced under the eye or jaw. In some
cases, blistering the forehead or cheek is found useful ; but in every instance bleeding is proper, which
should be repeated until the disease lessens. When the Iiorse is very full and gross, physic and alteratives
assist the cure. When blistering is used in any part near the eye, the greatest care is requisite to prevent
the blistering matter from being rubbed into it. A very peculiar ophthalmic aft'ection is also sometimes
occasioned, particularly to the horses of hot climates, by the entrance of a filaria or thread-worm into the
globe of the eye, which swimming about in the aqueous humour, eventually occasions violent inflam-
mation. The cure consists in letting out the aqueous humour with a lancet, when, the filkria escaping
with the fluid, recovery follows.
6441. Gtilta serena or glass eyes, so called from the peculiar glassy appearance of the eye, arise from
a paralysis of the optic nerve. As the eye is not materially altered in appearance, a horse often be-
comes blind without its being noticed, until his cautious stepping, quick motion of his ears, &c., give
notice of the case. On examination it will be found that the pupil remains dilated, however great
the light, and the eye is irrecoverably lost. In the very early stages, blisters to the forehead and
stimulants to the eyes (as white vitriol a drachm, water four ounces,) may be tried, but with faint hopes
of success.
6442. Pole evil This complaint commonly requires the attendance of an experienced practitioner : but
the prevention is often in the power of owners, and others about horses ; and to this point we shall par-
ticularly direct their attention. Pole evil is commonly the effect of accident. Repeated small blows
of the manger, or continued pressure from hanging back on the halter, &c., will, if not remedied,
produce swelling at the nape of the neck, with some tenderness. In this early state, if the collar be
removed, and the part bo kept continually wet with vinegar and water, the swelling will often disperse:
but if, in spite of this, it proceeds to suppuration, let a vent be made for the matter by a seton (6537.)
so that it may readily flow out. Introduce nothing healing, but encourage a free discharge, and it may
yet heal at once. When such is not the issue, the disease attacks the ligaments, sinuses form, and the
matter burrows under the skin and muscles, when a seton must be introduced from the opening above and
should be brought out at the bottom : the seton should be then daily wetted with the liquid blister. {_Vet.
Phartn. 6562 ) Should this plan fail, escharotics will be required in the form of the scalding mixture.
{Vet.Pharm. 6586.)
6443. Strangles, vivcs, m- ivcs. This disease has been likened to the human measles ; because it usually
attacks every horse, and most of them at a young period, between three and five years. It is fortunate
when it attacks colts at grass, as it seldom occasions inconvenience, which has led some persons into
error by turning their horses out as soon as attacked ; but it is not found that stabled horses, thus turned
out, pass through the disease more mildly, but the contrary, except the disease exists under its very
mildest form. White has conjectured that colts breeding the strangles while at grass are afterwards ex-
empt from glanders, but this wants confirmation. Prosser has also athrmed, that inoculation by the matter
of strangles is good; because it mitigates the complaint, and renders the horse not Hable to any future
attack : but the practice has never gained ground. When the strangles occurs in the stable, and now and
then also in the field, it proves a severe disease, and shows itself under the appearance of a cold, with
cough, sore throat, and swelling of tlie glands under the jaws, or behind and under the ears. Sometimes
there is not much external swelling, and the tumours break inwardly, and nature eflects a cure; at others
they break outwardly, and the disease runs off" that way ; and sometimes the swellings disperse either by
nature or art, which breeders think unfavourable, as they suppose it renders the animal liable to a future
attack, but many so treated pass the remainder of their lives without more affection.
64^44. The treatment of strangles. When the swelling lingers, and neither comes forward nor recedes,
poultices are preferable to fomentations, which, by leaving the horse wet, promote evaporation and
produce cold. Peal recommends blistering the part, as the best means of promoting suppuration. The
horse should be kept very cool, and bran mashes with warm water should be his principle support, unless
the complaint last long, and produce much weakness, when malt mashes should be substituted. Bleeding
is only advisable when the early symptoms are violent, as heaving at the flanks, extreme soreness of
throat, with much swelling around it, and considerable cough, in which case bleeding and fever medicines
are proper.
6445. P'ives, or ives, is supposed to be a relic of the latter complaint, and it does appear now and then that
after the strangles the parotid or vive glands do remain enlarged (6463.), which occasions the disease in
question : resolution may be attempted by mercurial frictions ; suppuration should be avoided, otherwise
the gland may be destroyed.
6446. Diseases of the mouth, lampas. All horses, but particularly very young ones, are liable to enlarge-
ment of the rugtc or ridges of the palate, dependent not on any local disease confined to the part itself, but
occasioned by an affection of the whole passage of the ipouth, throat, and stomach. It is usual to attend
to the part only, which is scarified or burnt to little purpose, when a mild dose of physic, or gentle altera-
tives, would prove more certain expedients ; to which may be added rubbing the rugffi themselves with bay
salt, or with vinegar.
6447. Bridle sores. When the bit in colt breaking, or in hard-pulling horses, has hurt the bars, care is
requisite to prevent the bone becoming carious. Touch daily with segyptiacum, and cover the bit with
leather, unless total rest can be allowed. <
6448. Diseases of the teeth are fully treated of under the apatomical description of the bones. (6305.)
SuBSECT. 4. Diseases of the Neck.
6449. Fistulous withers are brought on usually by pressure from a saddle with too low or narrow a saddle-
tree ; and what has been said both with regard to prevention and cure on the subject of pole evil, will
equally apply here also. (6442.)
645(). Sore throat is common to horses in colds, in influenzas, and in strangles. (6434. 6443.) It is dis-
covered by the horse chewing his hay, but instead of swallowing he drops it from his mouth, or, as it is
called quids it. He likewise shows a disinclination to drink. In every case, the horse finds great difficulty
in reaching every thing that stretches his neck downarwds or upwards ; his water therefore should be held
to him, and his hay should be pulled for him : omission of these services greatly aggravates the suffferings
of horses labouring under sore throat
6451. Stvelled neck. A very serious swelling sometimes follows on bleeding with a rusty or poisoned lan-
cet, or fleam, and sometimes also from causes not apparent. (6547.)
SuBSECT, 5. The Chest.
6452. Inflammation of the lungs is a disease to which the horse is peculiarly liable ; as we might a priori
suspect, from the vast dimensions of his circulatory system, and the vast alteration from a natural state to
which we subject him, and thereby increase his pulmonary circulation.
6453. The causes are these deviations remotely, but the immediate attack is generally brought on by
sudden cold, acting on a heated surface ; and thus it is that knackers and collarmakers in frosty weather
expect a glut of horses that die from this disease. Hard riding is a very common cause, and high feeding
also. It often commences slowly, a hard dry cough has been slightly noticed, but which has occasioned no
alarm for two or three days : gradually, however, the cough appears to give the horse pain ; he occasionally
shivers, and his ears and feet feel colder than the rest of his body ; he heaves at the flanks, and the lining
of his nose is found to be much more red than usual, in the. worst cases it is seen of a purplish hue ; the
Book VII. DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 981
inside of the eyelids also are tinged with the inflammation. The appetite now becomes affected ; and
although there is not much apparent pain, except when the horse coughs, yet there is much anxiety of
countenance present. The pulse is usually small but quick. If in this state the horse accidentally or erro-
neously be taken out and subjected to considerable exertion, it is almost always fatal to him : it likewise
happens that this complaint is sometimes mistaken for distemper, and, from a fear of profuse bleeding, the
only remedy that is to be depended on is omitted, and the horse is lost At the veterinary college, in these
cases, a small dose of aloes is given every six hours, and after being bled and rowelled, the horse is turned
out in the open air; and it is affirmed that many recover from this treatment. Certain it is, that the
stable in which a horse is placed in this disease can hardly be too cool; but when entirely turned out,
his feet and legs cannot conveniently be hand-rubbed, or bandaged up to promote circulation ; neither
can we blister a horse when turned out, so conveniently ; and on blistering we depend as the second source
of cure.
&454. The treatment is to be commenced by attempts at lessening the action of the arterial system by
early and large bleedings, as seven or eight quarts from a large horse, and which should be repeated in five
or six hours if he be not relieved in his breathing. Immediately rub into the brisket, on the chest, and
behind t!ie fore legs, the blister. {Vet. Phar7n. 6559. No. 1.) Give half a dose of physic, and assist it by
mashes and warm water, which, if not readily taken, horn down. Back-rake also, and throw up the laxa-
tive clyster. {Fet. Pharm. 6')6i.) Avoid all exercise, clothe moderately, allow a free circulation of cool
air through the stable, and rub the legs frequently ; and when not under this process, keep them bandaged
up to the knees with hay-bands or woollen cloths. When the bowels are opened, give the fever drink
(ret. Pharm. 6580.) three times a day. The terminations of this complaint are various. It is not uncom-
mon for tlie horse to appear better, to eat and to drink, and to excite every hope of a perfect recovery ; but
on some sudden exertion he falls down and expires. On examination after death, it is found that etiusion
of a large quantity of serous fluid has taken place in the chest.
CA3B. Thick i/'iud is another termination of pneumotiia, by leaving the bronchial passages charged witii
coagulated blood. Moderate exercise and soiling in the stable, with mild mercurial physic, form the best
mode of treatment ; but frequently the cough resists all these, and terminates in broken v/ind.
fi456. Roaring is also a termination of pneumonia, in which case the lungs are not affected, but con-
gealed blood, under the name of coagulable lymph, remains in the trachea or windpipe, and obstructs the
free passage of the air ; by means of which the roaring noise is made. It is in vain to expect a cure :
blistering the throat sometimes slightly relieves it.
6467. Chronic cough is also a termination of pneumonia, and appears dependent on a peculiar irrita-
bility the disease leaves in the bronchial passages, which are found afterwards incapable of bearing any
sudden alteration of temperature : thus horses with this kind of cough are excited to it as soon as the
stable door opens, and by every exertion, by drinking, by eating, and, in fact, by any thing that alters
the situation of the body, or is new to the part. But, besides pneumonia or inflammation of the lungs
producing it, it is often brought on likewise by gross feeding, which, weakening the stomach, im-
poverishes the blood, and thus injures the lungs which are fed by that blood. Worms also by the same
means are a cause of chronic cough. It is thus that we expect to derive benefit by mediums acthig on
the stomach. Green food is often found useful, but particularly carrots. 1 he hay should bo excelleivt
in quality and small in quantity ; and it will be found that soiling in the stable, but particularly a course
of carrots, forms a better plan of treatment than turning out. • If worms be suspected, treat as under
that head. (6478.) Formula; of chronic cough balls are seen in the Vet. Pkartn. (65ti9.)
6458. Broken wind is also sometimes brought on by pneumhnia, and sometimes by occult causes. It is
often occasioned by over-exertion after full meals, in which the lungs become permanently weakened,
iwrhaps ruptured, in their air-cells. Inexperienced persons find some difficulty in detecting broken wind
from other chest affections, as chronic cough, occasional cold*, &c. &c.
6459. Criteria of broken wind. The cough which accompanies broken wind is a short deep hollow
grunting noise, and the short grunting expiration is peculiarly excited by turning a horse quickly round,
striking him smartly with a stick at the same time, which often produces the deep sound without the
cough : and which is so significant as never to be mistaken when once heard and attended to : but the
principal pecuharity arises from the beating of the flanks, which operate rather by three efforts than by
two as usual. In the first, the air is drawn in, in the usual manner, and the flanks fill up as in common :
but in the next, the falling of the flanks is by no means natural ; for it is not done by a gradual sinking of
the sides, but it takes place at once, with a kind of jerk, as though the horse were sighing; and then a
third effort takes place by a more slow drawing up of the muscles of the belly and flanks, to press out the
remaining air. Broken wind usually destroys the fecundity of the mare, and hence argues [*rmanent
alteration of structure; it is also always incurable, but horses may be rendered very useful that have it,
by feeding them very nutritiously, but with their food much condensed in bulk. Little hay should be
allowed, and that little should be wetted, water in any other way should be given but sparingly, for which
they are however very greedy : from which circumstance, as well as that they are peculiarly flatulent, we
learn, that the vitiation of the lungs is either aggravated by the deranged state of the digestive organs ;
or, which is more probable, that the digestive powers become weakened from the state of the lungs. In
some few cases a partial rupture of the diaphragm or midriff' has been observed in broken wind.
6460. Diseases of the belly. Inflamed stomach seldom attacks the horse as an idiopathic affection, but
it is not unfrequent for the stomach to become inflamed by mineral poisons as well as rendered inert by
vegetable ones. Over-distention may also inflame it.
6461. Mineral poisons inflaDie the stomach acutely, and produce excessive distress, and cold sweats ; the
animal lies down, rolls, gets up again, looks short round to his ribs, stamps with his fore feet, and his
pulse beats quick and short Whv n arsenic or corrosive sublimate have occasioned the malady, a viscid
mucus distils from the nose and mouth, and the breath is fetid. When copper in the form of vitriolic
salts or verdigris has been given, to the foregoing symptoms are usually added ineffectual attempts to
vomit Immediately the poisoning is discovered, pour down two ounces oi sulphuretted potash, in a quart
of water ; or in the absence of that, an ounce of common potash in the same quantity of water : or when
no better substitute is at hand, even strong soap-suds are advisable. Mineral poisons have also another
mode of acting, and are often received into the constitution, neither by design to do mischief, nor by
mistake ; but are purposely given as remedies. In this way, both mercury and arsenic are frequently
given for worms, glanders, farcv, &c., in daily doses, which, when even of considerable magnitude, occa-
sion for many days no inconvenience ; all at once, however, the constitution becomes fully saturated with
the poise n, and although before diffused throughout the blood, it now appears to return and act on the
stomach to the great surprise of the owner. In these cases the symptoms are not usually so violent as in
the former instance, but they are equally fatal A similar treatment with the one already prescribed is
necessarv ; and as soou as the first symptoms are abated, give laxatives. In all these cases, large quantities
of linseed tea should be horned down, the back should be raked, and clysters thrown up; blood should
also be taken away plentifully. As a preventive to this latter mode of poisoning, whenever mineral
agents are used, it is prudent every five or six days to stop a while, and then recommence, by which the
constitution will part with the previous quantity. „ . . . .. ^, ^ ...
6464 Salivation is also another mode of poisoning ; and though not equally injurious to the stomach, it
often proves distressing, and sometimes fatal. Whenever, therefore, mercurials are given, carefully
watch the gums, and as soon as they look red, and the horse quids his hay, give him a mild purge instead
of his mercurial. . , , -..i .., • ,
6463. Vegetable poisons also inflame the stomach ; but by no means m an equal degree with the mineral
poisons • nor is it supposed that it is the inflammation they raise that proves destructive, but by an effect
3 R 3
962 PRACTICE OF AGllICULTURE. Part III.
communicated through the stomach to the nervous system. DigitJklis purpiirea or foxglove, Tlixus
bacc&ta or yew, QJiifttithe crocata or water dropwort, Ciciita virosa or water hemlock, jPhellandrium aqu&-
ticum or water parsley, Cbnium niaculatum or common hemlock, are all poisonous in a high degree to
horses, and may be taken accidentally by the animal as food, or given injudiciously as medicine. Nicot'i-
ftna or tobacco, and the vegetable acid or vinegar, are also poisonous, and are sometimes productive of
injurious consequences by over-doses, when intended as remedies. It is little known that a pint of strong
vinegar has destroyed a horse. As we cannot remove the matters from the stomach, we must endeavour
to neutralise their effects by acids and demulcents, as oil, butter, &c. : thus, when narcotics have been
taken, a drachm of sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol maybe given in a quart of ale; or six ounces of
vinegar, with six of gin, and a quart of ale, may be tried. An excellent domestic remedy might be found
in two ounces of flour of mustard mixed with ale or other fluid.
64&i. Stomach staggers. This peculiar complaint, which is even yet but little understood, appears de-
pendent on a particular state of stomach, acting on particular foods ; and not on what is taken in acting
on the stomach, as was supposed by Coleman, White, and others. From later communications of White,
he also now appears to consider it as originating in " a peculiar state of stomach." Blaine appears always
to have characterised it as " a specific inflammation of the stomach." It apjKjars among horses of every
description, and at grass as well as in a stable ; and there is reason to think it epidemic, as it is prevalent
in some seasons more than in others. It may, perhaps, be regarded now and then as endemic also ; under
which circumstance it appears confined to low wet situations, where long marshy grass is abundant, and
where noxious aquatic plants mix themselves with the grasses. When it occurs at grass, the horse is
found stupidly dull or asleep with his iiead resting against something. This has occasioned the disease
to be called the sleepy staggers: and it has often been confounded witli the phrenitis, or inflammation of
the brain. (6129.) In the stable the horse dozes, and rests his head in the manger : he then wakes up and
falls to eating, which he continues to do until the distention of the stomach becomes enormous ; for the
peculiarity of the complaint consists in the total stop that is put to digestion, and the uneasy feel of the
distention consequent to such indigestion appears to deceive the horse, and by a morbid excitement to force
him to take in more. In this way he continues eating until the distention prevents the return of the blootl
from the head, and the animal dies apoplectic, or his stomach bursts with over-riistention. More fre-
guently, however, the stomach becomes flabby, inert, and paralytic, and after death presents marks ol
inflammation towards the pylorus.
6465. The treatment. When recovery has taken place, it has occurred only when the disease has been
very mild, and has been assisted by stimulating the stomach into action by purgatives, at once active and
invigorating, as an ounce of aloes dissolved in half a pint of gin. When a horse of extreme value is
attacked, croton oil might be tried to the amount of 20 or 25 drops in two ounces of tincture of aloes.
Warm water in small quantities, or mixed with common salt, should be frequently passed down. Remove
every eatable ; rake, clyster, and hand-rub j and, if the determination to the head be extreme, bleed, other-
wise avoid it
6466. Infiammaiion of the bowels, enterills, or red colic, is a very distinct disease from the gripes,
gullion, or fret, with which it is, however, very apt to be confounded to the destruction of many horses.
The peritoneal inflammation of the bowels, the one here treated on, is an affection of their outer
covering.
6467. The causes are various. It is not unfrequently brought on by a sudden translation of cold after
great heats, as swimming during hunting, or from the removal of a horse from grass at once into heated
stables ; neglected gripes, or long-continued costiveness, excessive riding, and the immediate drinking of
cold water, have brought it on. It begins by restlessness, loss of appetite, and some uneasiness ; the mouth
is hot and dry ; the inner membranes of the mouth, nose, and eyelids are olten redder than natural. As
the disease advances, the pain, before not violent, now increases so as to force the horse to lie down and
rise again frequently ; and when very violent, he kicks at his belly, or looks round at his sides, pawing
his litter very frequently. Tlie pulse is usually small, quick, or hard ; sometimes it is more full and
small, but always hard. Breathing is quickened, and the flanks heave ; the extremities are alternately hot
and cold, but continue longer cold than hot ; and the animal is costive : sonietimes pain may force away
a few hardened balls of fajces, but the principal contents are retained. Blaine has given the distinguishing
features between this disease and colic, under which head we have stated them.
64G8. The treatment must be active and immediate, or a fatal termination may be expected. Begin by
abstracting a considerable quantity of blood, from a large horse to the amount of seven or eight quarts ;
proceed to back-rake ; throw up a large clyster of warm gruel. Give by the mouth, if the expense be not
considered an object, a pint of castor oil, mixed by means of the yolk of two eggs, with half a pint of broth
or gruel. If the expense be objectetl to, give olive oil instead, following it up in half an hour by a gruel
drench, in which six ounces of Epsom salts have been dissolved. A sheep, skin, immediately as it is re-
moved from the sheep, may be applied to the belly, which should first be well rubbed with the stronger
liquid blister. {Fet. Pharm. 6562.) In four hours repeat the bleeding; if a considerable improvement
have not taken place, and if the bowels be not unloaded, give more oil, and clyster frequently, having first
back-raked. Avoid exercise ; first hand rub, and afterwards wrap up the extremities to the knees. As
a clear passage for the dung is found, the symptoms mitigate, and the animal slowly recovers ; but he
must be fed at first very sparingly.
6*69. Inflammation of the inner surface of the intestines is, in some measure, different from the former,
which, as before stated, is an affection of their outer covering; whereas this is usually confined to their
villous surface, and may be brought on by superpurgation from over-strong phy.sic, or from mineral acids
being taken in, particularly mercurials, which often exert more influence on the bowels than on the
stomach. It differs from the former in the symptoms being generally accompanied with purging ; neither
is there usually so much pain or uneasiness present, nor such cold extremities ; but where from the
violence of the inflammation these symptoms are present, bleeding to the amount of three or four
quarts is a proper preliminary, but can hardly be with propriety continued. The same stimulants to the
outside of the belly should be used as in the last disease ; but here, warm general clothing is recom-
mended as well as warmth in the stable, as also hand-rubbing to keep up the circulation in the extre-
mities. Give astringent drink [Vet. Pharm. 6552. No. 1. or 2.) with a pint of boiled starch every
three hours, and give the same by clyster with two quarts of pot liquor, or tripe liquor, free from salt.
6470. Dysenteric in^amtrmtion of the horse's boicels is happily not very common, but now and then
appears, and is then called by farriers molten grease ; they mistaking the morbid secretion from the in-
testines, for the fat of the body melted down and passing off thus : but dysentery is a peculiar inflam-
mation of the mucous surface of the intestines, not contagious as in the hunian, nor epidemic, nor
exhibiting a putrid tendency ; but is peculiarly confined to a diseased increase in the mucous secretions,
yet very different from simple diarrhoea, which is a mere increase in the peristaltic motion, by which the
common aliments are quickly passed through the intestines, and ejected in a liquid form by an increase
in their watery secretion. Whereas in the dysentery of the horse, the mucous of the intestines separates
from them in large quantities, and comes away with the dung surrounding it ; but when it does not pass
in this way it appears in membranous films hke sodden leather, or in stringy evacuations, like morsels of
fat floating in water ; sometimes there is a little bloody appearance. The usual symptoms of fever are
always present, but not in a very high degree.
6471. The causes are cold, over-riding, and not unfrequently acrid substances within the intestines :
change of food has occasioned it, and now and then superpurgation from strong physic.
6472. The treatment. In the first stages bleed considerably, and give, as the first internal remedy, six
ounoos of castor oil, which will amend the fa'cal evacuations considerably ; afterwards administer the
Book VII. DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 9B3
foWow'mg : — Potvdered ipecacuanha, a drachm; powdered opium, a scruple j liquid arrow-root, eight
ounces. Should this not check the evacuation, and should it continue as mucous as at first, again give
castor oil, and then follow it up by either of the drinks directed for the cure of scouring or looseness.
{Vet. Pharm. 6552.)
6473. Diarrhoea or looseness. This complaint originates in an increased peristaltic motion of the
intestines, with an increase of their watery secretion, and is distinguished from dysentery by the purging
being complete from the first, and seldom occasioning much fever or disturbance in the general health,
unless exceedingly violent. The stools are merely solutions of the aliment, and unmixed with mem-
branous films as in dysentery or molten grease. It sometimes succeeds to over-strong physic ; at others
the food itself enters into new combinations, and forms a purge. Some horses have their bowels consti-
tutionally weak, as lank-sided small-carcased ones, where the mechanical pressure hurries the contents
forwards' Salt mashes and sea water will purge horses violently sometimes. In violent cases, horn down
liquid starch, and throw up the same by clysters. Give astringents {l^et. Pharm. 6552. No. 1.) two or
three times a day ; keep the animal warm and quiet. In the milder cases and in habitual scouring change
the food. The change should be generally from one more moist to one less so, as beans, &c. Barley will
sometimes stop looseness ; malt usually increases it. Buck-wheat is often a check to habitual diarrha?a.
Efficacious astringents will be found in the Vet. Pharm. {6552.) Repeat either of these night and morning.
Give but little water and that little warm.
6474. Colic, flatulent or spasmodic, called also gripes, fret, or gullion, is an important, because a
frequent, disease, and because it frequently destroys either quickly by its irritation, or by its degenerating
into the red or inflammatory colic, when improperly treated or long continued. It is usually very sudden
in its attack.
6475. The causes qf colic are not always apparent. It is sometimes occasioned by intestinal stones,
which accumulate to a great size, remaining for years in the cells of the colon, until some accidental dis-
placement occasions an interruption to the peristaltic motion. Cold in its various forms is a parent of
colic ; but under the form of cold water given when a horse is hot it is most common. In some horses it
is so frequent as to become a constitutional appendage.
6476. The distinguishing marks between colic and inflammation qf the bowels are gained, according to
Blaine, by attending to the following circumstances : — In gripes the horse has violent fits of pain, but they
remit, and he has intervals of ease. The pain in red colic is more uniform and less violent. In gripes,
the pulse is, in general, natural ; in red colic it is quicker than natural, and commonly small. The ex-
tremities are not usually cold in gripes ; in red colic they usually are. In gripes, the horse attempts to
roll on his back, which in red colic he seldom does. There are no marks of fever with gripes, as red eye-
lids, inflamed nostrils, &c. ; but in red colic they are always present. When spasmodic colic has con-
tinued some hours, it is always proper to bleed to prevent its ending in inflammation : bleeding in the
mouth is quite useless. Back-rake, and throw up clysters of warm water, one after another, as fast as pos-
sible, which often overcomes the irritation. La Fosse recommends a curious remedy; but as it can always
be obtained, and has the sanction of long experience, it may be tried. An onion is pounded and mixed
up with some powdered savin; in default of which, use powdered ginger. This is to be introduced up
the rectum as high as possible, and the horse is to be then moved briskly about. An onion put up the
fundament whole has long been a domestic remedy. The following is recommended by Blaine : — Spirit of
vitriolic (Ether, an ounce ; powdered opium, one drachm ; oil of turpentine, three ounces; warm ale, a
pint. He also recommends the following more simple remedy as always at hand : — The expressed juice of
two or three large onions, cotnmon gin, common oil, of each half a pint ; mix and give. White recom-
mends a pint of brandy, or of gin, with water, as an excellent carminative. Clark, who has expressly
written on gripes, extols the virtues of a mixture thus made; which, if it have the qualities he attri-
butes to it, and which there is no reason to doubt, no agriculturist, coach or post master should be
without it : — Pimentobcrry, called also allspice, ground fine, half a pound ; spirits of wine, andof water,
qf each a pint and a half : infuse these together, and keep for use. Give a quarter of a pint every
hour until full relief is obtained ; hand rubbing, wisping, or fomenting the bowels with hot water at
the time.
6477. Inflammation of the intestines from wounds in the belly frequently occurs ; and these injuries may
happen in leaping over hedges or pale gates, or may be inflicted by the horns of a cow." Sometimes the
strong tendinous covering of the belly is ruptured, while the skin remains entire ; the gut then protrudes
and forces out the skin into a tumour. The first thing to be done is to put the gut back, taking care at
the same time, otherwise extensive inflammation follows, to remove any dirt or other matter that may be
sticking to it ; for which purpose, should it be found necessary, it may be washed with warm water, but
with nothing stronger. If the gut cannot be returned, from its being full of air, and the opening in the
belly be too small to put it back again, such opening may be carefully enlaiged to the necessary size ; but
if the animal can be thrown upon his back conveniently, a great deal may be done that cannot otherwise
be accomplished. After the gut is returned the skin only should be stitched up, and a cushion of several
folds of old linen and tow being placed in the wound, it should be kept in its situation by means of a wide
bandage rolled round the body, and carefully secured. The animal should then be copiously bled, and
have his bowels emptied by clysters. The only food he should be allowed is grass, or bran mashes, and
that only in moderate quantity. When the distention of the intestines wholly prevents their return, it
would be prudent to puncture them with a very fine instrument, and thus to suffer the air to escape,
which, although subjecting the horse to the risk of inflammation, is better than the certainty of death by
having the intestines protruded
6478. Worms of horses are of several kinds. First, hots in the stomach ; but which, as they mostly attach
themselves to the hard insensible part of that organ, seldom do harm. Clark fancifully supposes they do
good, and devises means for furnishing them when not in existence. The bot is the larva of the ffi strus
^qui, a fly which deposits its eggs, it is supposed, on the grasses on which horses feed, and probably on
parts of the horse himself, from whence they pass into the stomach by the food or by being licked oif!
Certain it is they get there, are hatched, and there remain hanging to the coats of it by two tentacuht;,
receiving the juices of the masticated food as nutriment. After a considerable time they make their way
out by the anus, drop on the ground, and are first transformed into chrysalids, and afterwards into parent
flies. When bots fix themselves on the sensible portion of the stomach they may do harm ; but no
medicine that we know of will destroy them. The teres, or large round worm, sometimes occasions mis-
chief, when it exists in great numbers, such as a staring coat, binding of the hide, irregular appetite, and
clammy mouth. The best remedy is the SpigMia marylandica or Indian pink, in daily doses of half an
ounce. TiB'nia are not common in the horse; now and then they exist, and are best combated by weekly
doses of oil of turpentine, three ounces at a time, mixed by means of the yolk of an &g-g with half a
pint of ale. The A'scaris or thread-worms are best removed by mercurial purgatives. The existence of
worms may be known by the appearance of a yellow matter under the tail, and by the disposition the
horse has to rub his fundament. Blaine recommends the following vermifuge : — Powdered arsenic, eight
grains ; pewter or tin finely scraped ; Venice turpentine, half an ounce : make into a ball, and give every
morning. He also recommends salt to be given daily with the food ; which agrees with our own expe-
rience as one of the best vermifuges known. It is a fact acknowledged by the residents along the sea-
coast, that horses troubled with worms will often voluntary drink largely of sea water, and thus cure
themselves.
Gt79. The diseases of the liver are acute inflammation or hepat)tis, and chronic inflammation or yellows.
Hepatitis is the acute inflammation of this organ, which, like the lungs, stomach, and intestines, may
spontaneously take on the affection. The svmptoms are not unlike those which attend red colic, but with
' 3 R 4
9^^ PIl^pT^^^C^ OF AGRICULTURE. Part 111.
less violeiHc. U it be not, hn\vever, arrested, the termination will be equally fetal. About the third day
f}>6 whites of the eyojs tiun yellow, and the mouth also. Bleeding, blistering, and purgatives form the
itiethods of cure as practiso<l'in red colic.
" fil-BO. Clironic i'iijftwtmation pr yellows. The liver of horses is less complex than that of many other
animals, and is therefore not very liable to disease; indeed some authors atfirm that the horse is never
affected with jaundice, but that the yellowness of skin is a mere stomach afFection : this is, however,
erroneous ; and not only does the liver become hardened and thickened occasionally, but the bile becomes
diseased and is thrown out in that state by the blood over the body. If fever be present, bleed, but if the
sypiptpms pi"ese;it no token of active inflammation, give each night ten grains of calomel, and every ten
day* work it off with a mild dose of physic. It is, however, necessary to remark, that it is not every
jf^lowness of the skin that betokens either an acute or chronic inflammation of the liver. It is the pro-
j^vty of every serious inflammation of any of the important organs of the chest and belly, to communi-
^^tc a jiortion of the evil to the other organs immediately in conjunction with the liver : thus an atrection
qf the stomach or intestines, of the inflammatory kind, very often occasions redness of the membranes of
t^ie pQso, eyelids, &c. &c.
.,j6-lSl. Diseases of the urinary organs. Inflammation of the kidneys is an idiopathic affection, not one
of frequent occurrence ; but as brought on by injuries, such as over-riding, heavy loads, or violent diu-
retics, it is not unfrequent ; when idiopathic, it may be the effect cither of cold, heating food, or a trans-
lation of some other inflammation ; in which cases, it comes on suddenly, and assumes the same febrile
api)earai>ces that other intestine inflammations produce; but there is not often great apparent pain, but a
fjtequent inclination to stale, the quantity made being so small as almost to amount to a stoppage of urine.
Which is less or more complete, as one or both kidneys are affected. What little urine is made is also at
first very thick, and then bloody. When the disease is the effect of external injury, the urine is not so
scanty, but is more bloody ; and this symptom precedes the other. There is usually much pain and stiff-
ness about the loiiis ; and we learn from Blaine, that a swelling and a paralytic affection of the hind leg,
;of the side of the affected kidney, sometimes is a feature in the complaint. To distinguish this inflam-
mation from that of the neck or body of the bladder, with which it may be confounded, the same author
tecoramends that the hand be passed up the rectum : when, if the affection belong to the kidneys, tlie
bladder, whether full or empty, will not be hotter than usual ; but the contrary occurs when any part of
the bladder is the seat of the disease.
6182. The treatment must be active, and in most respects similar to what has been recommended for
rt^d colic, as regards emptying the bov/els, and endeavouring to lessen the arterial action by bleeding ; but
here we must carefully abstain from irritating the kidneys by diuretics internally, or blisters externally.
A newly stripped sheepskin placed over the loins, or active fomentations of hot water, are the only
sources of counter-irritation that are proper ; neither should diluting liquors be pressed, on account of the
distention they occasion, but no evil can arise from frequent warm clystering.
(>t83. Injiamniation of the bladder. When the body of the bladder becomes inflamed, there is frequent
staling from the very first attack ; but when the neck of the bladder is the seat of the evil, the squeezing
out of a few drops will only take place v/hcn the bladder has become filled, which may be known by pass-
ing the hand up the rectum. The treatment will be alike in both cases, and is the same as recommended
for the last affection. It must be evident, that warm, mild, and frequent clystering must here be pecu-
liarly advisable.
6484. Strangury or siippression qf urines incontinence of urine, bloody urine. Strangury may arise
from an injury done to the kidneys, or to the bladder, by strains, or by the absorption of irritating matters.
In these cases, bleed if there be fever, and if not, merely give the horse absolute rest; mash him, give
gruel, and warm his water for drink. Bloody urine should be treated in the same way; some horses have
such a natural or acquired weakness of kidneys, as to stale blood with their urine on every occasion of
over- exertion : the means frequently used for relief are such as aggravate the complaint, and indeed are
often the occasion of it, which are diuretics. Strong diuretics injure horses more than strong physic, and
benefit them less than any other of the popular means made use of. In retentions of urine, but particu-
larly in the case of bloody urine, they are absolutely improper.
6485. Diabetes, profuse staling, or pissing evil. This disease is more frequently forced on the horse
by long-continuQd diuretics, or from a similar effect brought on by kiln-dried oats, mow-burnt hay, and
some green vegetables, than acquired from constitutional indisposition. The horse first stales often and
profusely, he then becomes weak and fiiint, and sweats on any exertion. If it be at all constitutional, his
hide is bound ft-om the beginning, and his urine will have a sweet taste ; but if his appetite were good,
and his coat sleek, bright, and clastic when the urine was first ob.served to be immoderate, the evil arises
from some fault in the feeding, clothiiia, exercise, or other management of the horse. Examine into
these matters, particularly into the food, and next the water. Enquire whether diuretics have been given,
under an erroneous supi>osition of increasing the condition, and alter what may be amiss. If this do not
remove the complaint, try the following, after Blaine's directions : — Liver ofstdphur, two drach7ns ; uva
ursi,fo%ir drachms ; oak barii, one ounce i catechu, half an ounce s alum, half a drachm : give as a daily
drink in a pint of water.
6486. Stone and gravel. Calculous concretions are not uncommon in the large intestines of horses,
where they grow sometimes to an enormous size, lodged in one of the cells usually, and where they occa-
sion but little inconvenience, except a displacement occurs, when serious evils, as colic, inflammation, or
total stoppage, follow. In the bladder, stone is very seldom found ; and there is reason to believe, that
though gravel is a common term in the farrier's list, that it seldom if ever occurs ; injuries of the kidneys
and bladder being usually mistaken for it.
SuBSECT. 6. Diseases of tlte SMn.
6487. Mange is a contagious disease not uncommon among low-bred and badly kept horses, but wliich
is seldom generated in those properly managed. When it is the effect of impoverished blood, a different
course of feeding must be substituted, not heating, but cooling though generous ; as, carrots, speared corn,
malt mashes, stable soiling, &c. When it arises in full-fed horses, bleed twice, lower the feeding, substi-
tuting for corn soilings, carrots, or barn mashes. Give a nightly alterative {Vet. Pharm. 65.50. No. 1. or 2.),
and dress with cither of the mange dressings. ( Vet. Pharm. 6589.) After a cure has been effected, care-
fully clean all the apartments with soap and water.
648S. Surfeit will now and then degenerate into mange, but more generally it is brought on by a fulness
of habit acted on by sudden transitions from cold to heat, or heat to cold ; it is likewise not unfrequently
the consequence of over-fatigue. If it show a disposition to spread, and the skin becom.e scaly and scurfy,
treat as under mange ; otherwise treat as directed under want of condition. (6425 )
6489. Warbles are of the nature of surfeits in many instances, in others Ihey are brought on by the
pressure of the saddle, which either suppurate and burst, or become indolent and remain under the name
of sitfasts. In the early state, bathe them with chamberlye or vinegar : if they proceed to suppuration,
refrain ; and wlien they neither go back nor come forward, put on a pitch plaster, and if this do not pro-
mote suppuration, let the sitfast be dissected out
649(). JVarts are common to old horses, and had better be put up with, unless they be situated in some
inconvenient or very conspicuous part. In this case, tie a thread tightly around the root, and the wart
will drop off, or it may be cut off. Blaine recommends the following, when warts are too numerous to be
so removed : — Crude sal ammoniac, two drachms ; pou'dercd savin, one ounce j lard, an ounce and a half.
G491. Hide bound is a stale nf the skin, where the interstitial matter between that and the fleshy pan-
Book VII. DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 965
nicle is not in a state to allow of its pliancy and elasticity. The binding down of the hide thus closely
acts on the hair, which it protrudes in a contrary direction to its naturally inclined position ; and thus a
staring coat usually accompanies hide binding. In considering the subject of condition (6425.), we have
seen that it is not a disease of itself, but is in every instance a symptom only.
SuBSECT. 7. Glanders and Farcy.
6492. The glanders is the opprobium mcdicorum, for hitherto no attempts have succeeded in the cure
of more than a few cases. By some peculiar anomaly in the constitution of the horse, although con-
clusive proofs are not wanting that this and farcy are modifications of one disease, and can each generate
the other ; yet the one is incurable, while the other is cured every day. When glanders has been cured,
the time and labour necessary to accomplish the end has swallowed up the value of the horse ; and has
also, in many supposed instances of cure, left the animal liable to future attacks which have occurred.
The experiments on glanders, pursued at the veterinary college and by White of Exeter, have thrown
great light on the disease itself, its causes, connexions, and consequences ; but have done little mora
From these we are led to conclude that glanders will produce farcy, and that farcy can produce glanders;
that glanders is highly infectious, and that such infection may be received by the stomach, or by the skin
when it is at all abraded or sore ; and it is also probable, that it is received by the noses of horses being
rubbed against each other. White's exi>eriments go to prove that the air of a glandcred stable is not in-
fectious ; but this matter is by no means certain, and should not be depended on without a greater body
of evidence.
()493. The marks of glanders are a discharge of purulent matter from ulcers situated in one or both
nostrils, more often from the left than the right. This discharge soon becomes glairy, thick, and white-
of-egg-like: it afterwards shows bloody streaks, and is fttid. The glands of the jaw of the aiiected side,
called the kernels, swell from an absorption of the virus or poison ; and as they exist or do not exist, or as
they adhere to the bone or are detached from it, so some prognosis is vainly attempted by farriers, with
regard to tiie disease ; for in some few cases these glands are not at all affected, and in a great many
they are not bound <'.own by the affection to the jaw. As there are many diseases which excite a secre-
tion of matter from the nose, and which is kept up a considerable time, so it is not always easy to detect
glanders in its early stages. Strangles and violent colds keep up a discharge from the nostrils for weeks
sometimes. In such cases a criterion may be drawn from the existence of ulceration within the nose,
whenever the disease has become confirmed. These gknuierous chancres are to be seen on opening the
nostril a little way up the cavity, sometimes immediately opposed to the opening of the nostril ; but a
solitary chancre should not determine the judgment. The health often continues good, and sometimes
the condition also, until hectic takes place from absorption, and the lungs participate, when death soon
closes the scene.
645)4. The treatment of glanders, it has already been stated, is so uncertain that it is hardly worth the
attempt ; however, when the extreme value of the liorse or tlie love of experiment leads to it, it may be
regarded as fixed by experience, that nothing but a long course of internal remedies, drawn from the
mineral acids, can effect it. These have all been trit^l in their endless variety : White recommends the
mildest preparations of mercury, as cethiops mineral; under the conviction that the m.ore acrid prepar-
ations disturb the powers of the constitution so much, as to destroy as effectually as the disease. At the
veterinary college the sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) has been long in use. Others have used the sul-
phates of iron and zinc. Clark recommends the daily administration of a drink or ball, composed of the
following ingredients : — Sulphate of zinc, 15 grains ; powdered cantharides, 7 grains ; powdered allspice
15 grains ; of the utility of which he gives one or two extraordinary proofs, and Mr. Sewell still attaches
much importance to its use, in such daily doses as the stomach will bear. Blaine appears but little san-
guine as to any medical treatment, but recommends a union of the mineral acids in the same proportions,
and with the same cautions, as are detailed under farcy. (6496.)
6495. The farcy is a disease more easily cured thun the glanders, of which our daily experience convinces
us ; farcy, or farcin, attacks under distinct forms, one of which affects the lymphatics of the skin, and is
called the bud or button farcy : the other is principally confined to the hind legs, which it affects by large
indurations, attended with neat and tenderness. A mere dropsical accumulation of water in the legs
sometimes receives the name of water farcy ; but this has no connection whatever with the true disease in
question. Farcy is very contagious, and is gained from either the matter of farcy or from that of glanders,
6496. Treatment of farcy. The distended lymphatics or buds may often be traced to one sore, which
was the originally ino(;ulatod part; and in these cases the destruction of this sore, and that of all the
farcied buds, will frequently at once cure the disease, which is here purely local. But when the disease
has proceeded farther, the virus must be destroyed through the medium of the stomach ; although, even
in these cases, the cure is rendered more speedy and certain, by destroying all the diseased buds, by caustic
or by cautery. Perhaps no mode is better than the dividing them with a sharp firing-iron ; or if deeper
seated, by opening each with a lancet, and touching the inner surface with lapis infernalis. The various
mineral acids may any of them be tried as internal remedies with confidence ; never losing sight of the
necessity of watching their effects narrowly, and as soon as any derangement of the health appears, to
desist from their use. Oxymuriate of quicksilver (corrosive sublimate) may be given in daily doses of
fifteen grains ; oxide of arsenic may also be given in similar doses. The subacetate of copper (verdigris)
may also be tried, often with great advantage, in doses of a drachm daily. Blaine joins these preparations,
and strongly recommends the following : — Oxy muriate of quicksilver, oxide of arsenic, subacetate of copper,
of each eight rains ; sulphate ofcojyper, one scruple i make into a ball and give every morning, carefully
watching the effects ; and if it be found to occasion distress, divide, and give half, night and morning.
The same author professes to have received great benefit from the use of the following : — The expressed
juice of clivers or goose-grass, a strong decoction of hempsceds, and of sassafras, of each six ounces, to be
given after the ball. It remains to say, that whatever treatment is pursued either with respect to farcy
or glanders will be rendered doubly efficacious if green meat be procured, and the horse be fed wholly
on it ; provided the bowels will bear such food : but if the medicines gripe, by being joined with green
food, add to the diet bean-meal. When green meat cannot be procured, carrots usually can ; and when
they cannot, still potatoes may be boiled, or the corn may be speared or malted. As a proof of the beneficial
effects of green meat, a horse, so bad with farcy as to be entirely despaired of, was drawn into a field of
tares, and nothing more was done to him, nor further notice taken of him, although so ill as to be unable
to rise from the ground when drawn there. By the time he had eaten all the tares within his reach, he
was enabled to struggle to more ; finally, he rose to extend his search, and perfectly recovered.
■ ji 11 '
SuBSECT. 8. Diseases of the Extremities.
6497. Shoulder strains are very rare, most of the lamenesses attributed to the shoulder belong to other
parts, and particularly to the feet Out of one hundred and twenty cases of lameness in the fore extre-
mities, Blaine found that three only arose from ligamentary or muscular extension of the shoulder.
When a shoulder strain does happen, it is commonly the consequence of some slip, by which the arm is
forced violently outwards. It is less to be wondered at than at first seems probable, that farriers mistake
foot lameness for shoulder strains, when we reflect that a contracted foot occasions inaction, and a dis.
position to favour the limb by pointing it forward, which thus wastes the muscles of the shoulder. Seeing
one shoulder smaller than the other, the evil is supposed to be there, and it is pegged, blistered, and fired,
986 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
or the horse Is swam for it to his torture, and the increase of the foot's contraction by the confinement.
In real shoulder strains, the toe is dragged along the ground while in motion ; at rest it is planted forward,
but resting on the point of the toe. When the lameness is in the foot, the horse points his foot forward
also, but he does so with the whole limb unbent, and the foot flat These differences are highly necessary
to attend to, as well as the peculiar difficulty which is always apparent in moving down hill, which he
does with reluctance, and by swinging his leg round to avoid flexing it This lameness may be farther
brought to the test by lifting up the fore leg considerably, which, if the evil be in the shoulder, will give
great pain. The muscles between the fore legs are likewise tumefied and tender in these cases.
G498. The treatment consists, when it is recent, in bleeding in the plate vein,rowelling in the chest, and
fomenting with hot water two or three times a day. When the heat and tenderness have subsided, first
bathe daily with the astringent wash for strains [Vet. Fharni. 6555. No. 1.) for a weekj and afterwards,
if necessary, proceed to blister in the usual manner.
6499. Strain in the whirl bone. (6324.) This important joint is sometimes strained, or its ligaments and
muscles unnaturally extended, from a greater force being applied to them than their structure is able to
bear, or their powers to resist : a Ifesion takes place of some of their fibrillae, or in lesser injuries their
elasticity is injured by being put on the stretch beyond their power of overcoming again. In all such
cases, the parts react, and inflammation follows ; by which heat, tenderness, and swelling ensue.
6500. Treatment. The first indication is the same in this as in all ligamentary strains, which is to
moderate the inflammation by fomentations, &c. &c., and when that has subsided, to endeavour by
astringents and bracers to restore the tone of the parts : after which, if any swelling remains, from the
extravasated blood becoming organised, to promote its absorption by mercurial frictions, and blistering.
This applies to all strains, and will direct the treatment therefore of that of strain in the articulation of
the thigh with the body also.
6501. Strain in the stifle, is treated in the same manner.
6502. Strain or clap in the back sinews. This is generally an injury done to the sheaths of the tendons,
or of the ligaments which bind them down. In very aggravated cases, it sometimes occurs that even the
tendons themselves are extended beyond their capacity. The heat, swelling, and tenderness are first to
be combated by fomentations, and if these be extreme, bleed also, and give a dose of physic. Next
proceed to poultice with saturnine applications, until the heat and swelling are reduced : then use tonics,
astringent wash {Vet. Pharm. 6555. No. 1. or 2.): bandage and exercise very carefully. If swelling
remain after lieat, pain, and lameness are past ; or when lameness only remains, after all heat is gone,
proceed to blister mildly twice. In all cases of ligamentary extension when the heat has subsided, the part
may be considered as in a state of atony ; and bandages judiciously applied are then proper, particularly
during the day.
6503. Rupture of the tendons and ligaments of the leg. It is very seldom that the tendons themselves
are ruptured, but the suspensory ligaments are more often so, and the evil is called breaking down. It is
usually very sudden, and the fetlock is brought almost to the ground. A perfect cure is seldom obtained ;
but the inflammation should be moderated by the means already described, and the heels should be raised.
A laced stocking or firm bandage, when the inflammation has subsided, is necessary ; and firing is often
prudent as a permanent bandage.
6504. Strains of the ligaments of the fetlock and coffin joints often occur, and may always be distinguished
by the heat, tenderness, and swelling. Treat as already described. In all strains of the leg, attended with
inflammation, a goulard poultice is a convenient and useful application. The goulard water should be
mixed with bran ; and a worsted stocking being drawn over the foot, and up the leg, it is first tied around
the foot ; the poidtice is then put in, and the stocking fastened around the leg above the injury. (f>536 )
6505. Mallenders and sellenders are scurfy scabby eruptions, affecting the back of the knee, and ply of
the hock ; common only in coarse, low-bred, and in cart horses. Wash with soft soap every day, after
which anoint with an unguent formed of equal parts of mercurial ointment, tar, and calamine cerate.
6506. Broken knees^ The usual cases of broken knees are referrible to wounds in general ; and the
treatment of them in nowise differs therefrom, with this caution, that here it is more immediately neces-
sary, both for appearance and safety, that if any flap of skin hang apart, to cut it off, or the wound will
heal with rugosed edges. But when the joint of the knee is broken into by the violence of the injury, it
becomes of a very different nature, and is known first by the extreme lameness and swelling that occur ;
and next, by the escape of a slippery mucus not unlike the white of an egg. If this continue to escape,
violent inflammation follows, and either the horse or the joint are lost by it Farriers are apt to attempt
to stop the flow of the joint oil, as it is called, by oil of vitriol, or other escharotics, which treatment is
usually followed by the most disastrous consequences. It is, however, necessary to stop the immediate
flow, by otiier means ; the best of which is by a fine budding-iron heated. Should the laceration be con-
siderable, this cannot be done ; but the treatment must then consist of saturnine poultices, bleeding,
low diet, and the other antifebrile remedies, until the swelling has subsided, when apply the astringent
paste recommended by Clark, made of piiie-clay and alum, every day ; but by no means introduce any
escharotics.
6507. Splints and bone spavins. The former are usually situated on the inner side of the canon or
shank before ; and as they are situated, so they are more or less injurious. When buried, as it were,
within the tendons or back sinews, they are very apt to lame the horse seriously ; but when situated on
the plain bone, unless they be very large, they seldom do much injury. If a splint be early attended to,
it is seldom difficult to remove. Blaine reconnnends the swelling to be rubbed night and morning for five
or six days, with a drachm of mercurial ointment, rubbing it well in ; after which to apply a blister, and
at the end of a fortnight or three weeks to apjily another. In very bad cases, he recommends firing in the
lozenge form.
6508. Bone spavin is an exostosis of the hock bones, the treatment of which in nowise diflFers from that
of splint ; except that as a spavin in general is more injurious than a splint, so it is more necessary to
commence the treatment early, and to continue it energetically. From the greater complexity of
structure in the hock, spavin is not so easily removed as sphnt, and more usually requires the application
of firing.
6509. Ring bone is of the same nature, being an exostosis or bony circle formed around the coronet, the
treatment of which is the same with that of splint and spavin.
6510. Blood spavin, bog spavin, and thoroughpin, are all of them originally of the nature of windgalls,
and are nothing more than enlargements of the bursal capsules described in the anatomy, as surrounding
tendons, ligaments, and bones, to furnish them with a lubricating medium. By over-exertion or hard
work these bursal bags become extended, and their contents increaseii and distended into puffy swellings
in the hock, called, when on the ply, bog spavin. The pressure of this sometimes occasions a varicose state
of the superficial vein, which passes directly over it on the inner side of the hock, and which enlargement
then receives the name of blood spavin. When the bursal enlargement extends through the hock, it is
called thoroughpin. When it is situated below, in the bursce of the flexor tendons, near the fetlock joint,
it receives the name of witidgnll.
6511. The treatment of all these cases must be similar in principle, and consists in lessening the dis.
tended sac ; not as was formerly practised, to the destruction of the horse often, by letting out the con-
tents of these windgalls ; but by strengthening the sides of the tumours by stimulants or by pressure. The
more active stimulants are the liquid blister (/W. Pharm. G562.), milder ones are found in the astringent
wash. [Vet. Pharm. 6555. No. 1.) Bandages assist greatly, when well applied to the part, and in desperate
cases firing has been resorted to, which is nothing more than a more violent stimuliint, and a more per-
manent bandage.
Book VIJ. DISEASES OF THB HORSE. »87
6">12. Capukt is a bursal enlargement of the point of the hock, and is to be treated by friction, astringents,
and bandage.
6513. Curb is an inflammation of the ligaments at the back of the hock, and is usually removed by
astringents. {Vet. Phai-m. 6555.) When it does not give way to these, the sweating liquid blister may be
applied. ( re/. PAflrm. 6563.)
6514. Cracks and grease maybe considered as modifications of one and the same affection, and are com-
monly brought on bv some neglect in all horses; but when they occur in any but the thick. heeled low-
bred animals, they are invariably so. Over-feeding or under-feeding, but much more frequently the former,
will bring it on. A very frequent cause of it is the practice of washing the legs of horses, and suffering
them to dry of themselves. In every case, without exception, washing the legs should be avoided, unless
they be rubbed perfectly dry afterwards. When horses have long hairs about their heels, and are washed
and then left wet, the evil must be doubled ; as the evaporation going on, cools and chills the heels, and
thus produces a species of chilblain : and we well know how difficult these are to heal when broken.
Cracks in the heels very often occur in horses removed too suddenly inlo full keep from previous straw or
grass, or from these to a hot stable ; which, by the heat and moisture of the litter, occasions a determin-
ation of blood and humours to the legs, and they break out into cracks or scabs, from which issue a bloody
ichor, or a more thick matter. Between the sores the hair stares and gets pen-feathered, and the horse
finds difficulty and pain in moving.
6515. The treatment must depend on the state in which the animal is at present. If there be reason to
suspect the horse to be full and foul, bleed, lower his food, soil him in the stable ; or mash and give a mild
dose of physic. But when some mismanagement is the sole cause, remove that, and if the case be a severe
one, by means of an old stocking drawn over the foot, bury the whole heel in a poultice, made of scraped
carrots or turnips ; which will subdue the irritation, and bring the parts into a state to bear the 'application
of the astringent paste {Vet. Pharm. 6557. No. 2.), or if more convenient, of the astringent wash. {Vet.
Pharm. 6555. No. 1. or 2.) Moderate exercise should be continued, and the heels carefully cleaned from
dirt by soft soap and water on each retuni therefrom ; after which, always again apply the astringent.
65ia Grease is nothing more than an aggravated state of the same affection, and is more common to the
hind than to the fore legs. Coarse fleshy-legged horses are peculiarly prone to the affection, from the
great accumulation that takes place in their legs ; and from the difficulty that the capillaries find in carry-
ing the increased quantity of lymph upwards. In these, long stable confinement should be avoided, and
when that is impossible, it should be counteracted by exercise frequently and judiciously administered.
Many cart horses never go out but to work : they often work three days incessantly, or nearly so; and
they perhaps rest two days entirely. Can it be wondered at, that the change occasions swelling, acting
on the weakness and exhaustion of previous fatigue? and could not this be avoided by turning out for
an hour, or walking for half an hour night and morning ? Stable soiling should be used ; bleeding and
physicking also in very bad cases; and when the inflammation and irritation or soreness are great, the
poultices recommended for cracks should be applied until these circumstances are removed : afterwards
commence the use of some of the astringents recommended. {Vet. Pharm. 6555.) White has stated two
remarkable cases of grease cured by the application of corrosive sublimate, in the form of a wash, as of
two drachms of sublimate to ten ounces of water j increasing it to three drachms, if the pain occasioned
by the first be not too considerable. Blaine says that the clivers or goose-grass has been known to be of
great service in bad cases of grease : half a pint of the expressed juice to be given daily as a drink ; and a
poultice of the herb to be applied to the heels. In some cases of long standing when the running has
ceased, a thickened state of the limb remains, which is best removed by firing, and which likewise is a
preventive to a return.
SuBSECT. 9. Diseases of the Feet.
6517. Founder of the feet is of two .kinds, acute and chronic. Acute founder is a disease that, until
lately, was less understood than almost any other. After a very severe day's work, or when very much
heated, if a horse get a sudden chill by standing in snow or cold water, it is not uncommon for him to be
seized with universal stiffness and every symptom of great fever. Such a horse is said to be body Joun-
dered. By degrees, however, it is observed that the animal has an extreme disinclination to remani on
his feet; from whence it will appear that the whole of them are affected. When the horse draws his
hind feet under him, his fore only are affected : and when he draws his fore feet under him, the hinder
feet are the seat of the complaint ; but which is seldom the case. On feeling the feet they will be found
intensely hot, and the pastern arteries will beat with great violence. After a few days, unless the disease
abate, a separation of the hoofs from the coronet takes place, and at last they fall entirely oft;
6518. The treatment. At the commencement of the disease bleed largely, as well by the neck as from
the toe of each affected foot, by paring, until the blood flows freely. After which immerse each foot in
a goulard poultice (6536.), give the fever powder or drink {Vet. Pharm. 6578 and 6579.), litter up to the
belly ; and if amendment do not take place, renew the bleedings, and blister round the pasterns.
6:519. Chronic founder, contraction or fever in the feet. The artificial life that horses lead subjects them
to many diseases ; one of the principal of which is that of contracted feet. Blaine considers a neglect of
sufficient paring of hoof, the application of artificial heat from hot stables, and hotter litter, the depri-
vation of natural moisture, constitutional liability, and the existence of thrushes, as among the principal
causes of this evil. It is more common to blood horses than to others ; and he observes, that dark chest-
nuts are of all others most prone to it. The appearances of a contracted foot, as contrasted with a healthy
one, we have already displayed. (6420.) It is there shown that the contracted hoof becomes longer,
higher, and narrower : the heels {fig. 837. a a) particularly are drawn in, and seem to screw the frog
between them, which becomes wasted and thrushy from this pressure. The hinder hoofs are seldom
6520. The treatment qf contraction in the feet. It is better to prevent, than to be under the necessity of
attempting to cure, the evil. Prevention may be practised by avoiding the acting causes. As soon as at
all suspected to be likely to occur, keep the hoofs pared low; never suffer the horse to stand on litter, nor
allow the stable to be too hot; feed moderately, and never allow the horse to go without daily exercise ;
whatever increases the general fulness of habit, flies to the feet. Above all, keep the feet moist by means
of wet cloths tied loosely around the coronet, falling over the whole hoof, but not extending beyond the
edge. Then moisten repeatedly, and stop the feet (6587) every night. When contraction has already
taken place, many plans have been recommended ; as jointed shoes by Coleman, Clark, and others ; but it
is not found that mechanical expansion in this way produces permanent benefit The most eflfectual mode
is to obviate all previous causes of contraction ; and then to thin the hoofs around the heels from each
quarter so thin as to be able to produce an impression by means of the thumb : in fact, to remove so much
of the horn as is consistent with safety, from the coronet downwards. It is also prudent to put in a score
or two from above downwards, drawn a quarter of an inch deep on each side towards the front of the hoof ;
but whether this be done or not, the front of the hoof should be rasped thin about an inch in width ; by
which means a hinge is formed, which operates most advantageously in opening the heels. After this is
done, tips should be put on, and the horse should be turned out to grass, where he should remain three
months, by which time the new formed heels will have reached the ground, and will bear a shoe. This
process is fully described by Blaine in his Veterinary Outlines, where a plate completely elucidates the
operation, and to which we would recommend the reader.
6.'321. The pumiced foot is a very common consequence of acute founder, in which the elasticity of the
lamina; becoming destroyed, the support of the coffin bone is removed, and it rests wholly on the sole,
988 PRA'CTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
which it gradually sinks from a concave to a convex surface, drawing with it the front of the hoof inwards.
In weak, broad, heavy feet, this evil comes on sometimes without founder ; the treatment can be only
palliative, a wide- webbed shoe exactly fitted to the foot, without at all pressing on it, prevents the lame-
ness consequent to the disease. A shoe exactly the contrary to this has been tried in some cases with
benefit, the form of which has been one with a web so narrow as only to cover the crust, but so thick as
to remove the feet from accidental pressure. In other cases, no shoe answers so well as a strong bar
shoe. (fitWI)
6522. Corns are most troublesome ailments, to which horses are very liable, and which injure and ruin
thousands. They are wholly accidental ; no horse having any peculiar tendency to them, but being always
■brought on them by some improper pressure, usually of the shoe, or from something getting in between
(the shoe and the horny heel. A shoe too long worn is a very common cause, and a still more frequent
'oiie is the clubbing the heels of the shoe; neither is it necessary to the production of corns, that the
shoe itself should press on the sole ; but they are equally produced when the outer horn of the heels or
of the bars is the immediate oftending part, rendered so by too luxuriant growth, by unequal wear, or
by secondary pressure from the shoe, or by gravel working in. (Ji^. 836.) It is the fleshy sole itself that is
bruised, from which a speck of extravasated blood follows ; and if not immediately relieved, it gathers,
ov the part becomes habitually defectivej and instead of forming healthy horn, it always afterwards forms
a siKjngy substance of extreme sensibihty, and thus is always liable to produce pain and lameness when
exposed to pressure.
6523. T/ie treatment of corns is seldom difficult or unsuccessful at their first appearance, but afterwards
it can be only palliative. Blaine directs that, by means of a fine drawing-knife, every portion of diseased
horn should be pared away, and the extravasation underneath likewise. Having done this, he advises to
introduce some hulter of antimony into the opening, to place over this some tow, which should be kept in
its place by means of a splint. If any contraction of the heels {fig, 8,36. a a) be present, it will materially
assHt the cure to loWer them, and to thin the hoof a little around the quarters, and afterwards to put on
a shoe without heels opposed to the corn, or a shoe chambered opposite the weak part ; or a bar shoe may
be applied, so framed as completely to leave the heel untouched. Introduce the butter of antimony once
or twice more, with the interval of two days between, and then turn the horse out to grass : in about six
weeks' time the foot will be sound. The treatment of corns, when of long standing, does not materially
tliffer; for although they are never wholly eradicated, they may be rendered but little troublesome. The
diseased part must be carefully pared out at each shoeing, and such a shoe put on as will completely free
the heel from pressure.
65'24. RnnniKg thmsh is ahvii/s a dangermis disease, and few errors in horse management are more
glaring than the common one of supposing they are necessary to carry oft" humours. If less food, more
exercise, cool stables, and dry standings, were substituted to correct the fulness, instead of thrushes,
which invariably contract the feet whenever they continue any length of time, many valuable horses
would be saved to the community. To the cure, begin by clearing out all the fissures of the frog
{jig. 836. na) from loose ragged horn, and then introduce to the bottom of the sinuses, by means of a thin
j>iece of wood, some of the thrush paste {Vet. Pharm. 65.54.), smeared on tow, which will enable it to be
held within the cleft, especially if it be guarded by splints of wood passed under the shoe ; renew the
dressing daily : turning out to grass may be practised to great advantage for thrushes by this mode of
dressing ; but without it the disease is sometimes aggravated.
b;>iJ5. Sandcrachs are fissures iii the hoofs, commonly of those before, and usually towards the inner, but
now and then towards the outer quarter also, from above downwards : from the crack, a little oozing of
blood or moisture is seen ; and the sensible parts underneath getting between the edges of horn, -become
pressed on and lame the horse. Fire the fissure crossways, so as to destroy the connection between the
<livided and the undivided parts of the hoof. With melted pitch close up the origin if the oozing be
moderate, and bandage tightly. Watch the foot, and if inflammation succeed this plan, remove the
dressing.
652(). Pricks or punctures in the feet are often very serious evils, either when received by nails in shoeing,
or by one picked up on the road, &c. The danger arises from the inflammation, which is always great from
any injury done to the sensible and vascular parts within the foot. This inflammation quickly proceeds
to suppuration ; and the matter is apt to make its way upwards, unless it find a ready vent below. When
it does not break out at the coronet, it will often penetrate under the sole, and finally disease the bones,
ligaments, or cartilages, and produce quittor. It is very seldom that a horse is pricked in shoeing, but
that the smith is aware of it by the peculiarity of the feel on the hammer, and by the flinching of the
animal. At such times were he to immediately withdraw the nail a little, enlarge the opening, and intro-
duce some spirit within the puncture, nothing would occur ; but on the contrary, he sends the horse home
to avoid trouble, who, tire next or following day, is found lame, and with his foot hot. If the nail be
only driven too near the sensible laminae, it will only require to be removed, to free the horse from his
evil ; but if it have been driven through, and have wounded them, then suppuration ensues, and on exa-
mining the foot by the pincers when the shoe is removed, he will flinch at the pressure on the diseased
part It is probable, on the removal of the shoe, that matter will at once flow out at the immediate nail
hole ; if not, the drawing-knife will soon detect the injury. If the heat be great, and instead of matter
bloody dark ichor flows out, wrap the foot up in a poultice; but if healthy matter flows out, this will not
be necessary : sometimes it is requisite to detach all the horn that is underrun by the matter; but when
the injury has not proceeded to this extent, apply over the part a pledget of tow steeped in friar's balsam ;
tack on the shoe lightly, and retain the dressing by means of splints, which are thin pieces of wood (the
withy which binds birch brooms is convenient for the purpose) passed under the shoe ; repeat the dressing
daily, and avoid moisture, which would encourage quittor. A nail picked up on the road, and which
passes througti the sole, below or through the frog, is to be treated in the same manner, and also when the
matter breaks out at the coronet ; but when a nail is picked up, and penetrates the coffin joint, which is
known by the synovia or joint oil appearing, such opening should be immediately stopped by paring
towards the wounded joint, and then applying a heated budding-iron, not to the capsular ligament itself,
but to the skin immediately near it ; if this be inconvenient, put a pledget dipped in a little butter of anti-
mony just within the opening, but do not press it into the cavity of the joint : if this be insufficient to
stop the flow, but more particularly if the original wound penetrated to the bone, it is probable that the
bone itself will become, in some measure, diseased, which is known by the rough grating felt at the point
of the probe when passed. In this case, enlarge the opening so as to be able to scrape the diseased bone
away. Bruises of the sole, from whatever cause, will all fall under some of these points of view, according
as the case may be.
6527. Quittor and canker are ike consequences of these injuries when neglected, or originally extensive.
In these cases either the bones, ligaments, or cartilages, or all, become diseased ; and a cure can only be
obtained by removing the diseased ])arts by the knife or by caustic.
6528. Treads., over-j-each, Sfc. A wound on the coronet is not uncommon from one foot being placed on
the other ; or the hinder foot may strike it, &c. First wipe away the dirt, and remove any loose edges
that cannot unite : avoid washing, unless stones and dirt are suspected to be within, and bind up, having
first placed over the wpund a pledget of lint or tow moistened with balsamic tincture, or tincture of
myrrh, or of aloes, &c. Over-reaching, or over-stepping, is often an injury done to the fetlock joint
before, by the hinder foot, or to the back sinew higher up. Sometimes it is simply a violent bruise, at
others the laceration is extensive, in which cases treat as a tread ; and when no laceration has taken i>lace
treat as a bruise or strain.
6529. Cutting is a defect to which some horses are liablo from their form, as when they turn their toes
Book VII. VETERINARY OPERATIONS. 9«9
out, or have bent leg8. Others cut only when they are lean, which, brings their legrs •Htarer together.
Weak liorst'S cut because they cross their legs when fatigued, and young unfurnished horses cut at
youthful periods, and grow out of it afterwards. 'I'he part in which a foot interferes with tlie opposed
iimb is very different. Wlien it strikes the shank high up it is called speedy cut, and is best remedied by
wearing knee-boots or rollers. When it is at the fetlock the cutting is at the side, or rather backward,
according to circumstances. Some horses cut by the edge of the shoe, others by the hoof at the quarters ;
and some by the point of the heels. It is to be remarked, that it is better to put up with the evil of
cutting, than to do as is too frequently done, which is, to pare away the hoof until it excites contraction.
The shoe may be feather edged, or it may be set a little within the cutting quarter ; but by no mean**
alter the size or the form of the hoofs themselves, and particularly avoid takijag liberties of this kind
with the fore feet. Boots, or rollers, are but little trouble to put on, and when not buckled too tight
never injure : whereas, to allow a horse to continue to cut produces a callus, and often throws the
animal down.
Sect. VI. Veterinary Operations.
6530. The general practices to be here enumerated are chiefly the treatment of wounds, the application
of fomentations, setons, blisters, clysters, and physicking ; and the operations of castrating, nicking,
bleeding, &c.
SuBSECT. 1. Treatment of JFonnds.
6531. A wound must be treated, in some measure, according to the part of the horse's body in which
it happens; but there are some |irinciplcs to be observed alike in all horse surgery. There are like-
wise a few, which, as they differ from the principles of human surgery, should be first noticed, and
which should guide the practice of those who might be misled by analogy. The wounds of horses,
however carefully brought together and confined in their situation, as well as shut out from the sti-
mulus of the external air, are seldom disposed to unite at once, or, as it is called in surgical language,
by the first intention. It is always, therefore, necessary to exj)ect the supi)urative process : but as the
adhesive inflammation does now and then occur, we should never wash a mere laceration with water or
other liquids, if no foreign matter, as dirt, &c., be suspected to be lodged within it, still less should we
stuff it with candle tow, or tents of any kind. On the contrary, it should be carefully and smoothly
brought together, and simply bound up in its own blood; and if it do not v.'holly unite at once, and by
the first intention, perhaps some portion of it may ; and, at all events, its future progress will be more
natural, and the disfiguration less than when stuffed with tents, tow, &c., or irritated with heating oils or
spirits. When an extensively lacerated wound takes place, it is common, and it is often necessary to insert
sutures, or stitches, into the lips of the wound : and here we have to notice another considerable variation
from the principles of human inflammation, which is, that these stitches in the horse, ox, and dog, soon
ulcerate out, seldom remaining longer than the third or fourth day at farthest. It therefore is the more
necessary to be careful, that by perfect rest, and the appropriation of good bandages, we secure the wound
from distortion. In this we may be assisted by strips of sticking plaster, made with diachylon and pitch ;
but these strips should be guarded from touching the wound itself by means of lint or tow first put over
it. When, in addition to laceration in a woimd, there is a destruction of substance, then the caution of
washing will not apply, as it will be necessary to bathe with some warming spirit, as tincture of myrrh,
tincture of aloes, or friar's balsam, to assist in restoring the life of the part, and in preventing mortifi-
cation. Bleeding must be stopped by pressure and astringents, as powdered alum : when it is very con-
siderable, the vessel from whence the blood comes niust be taken up. When great inflammation follows
wounds or bruises, counteract it by bleeding, a cooling temperature, opening medicines, and continual
fomentations to the part itself.
ScBSECT. 2. Balls and Drinks.
6532. Mode of giving a ball. Back the horse in his stall, and being elevated on a stool (not a bucket
turned upside down), gently draw the tongue a little out of the mouth, so as to prevent its rising to
resist the passage of the hand ; the tongue should however not be Laid hold of alone, but it should be
held firmlv by the fingers of the left hand apinst the jaw. The ball previously oiled, being taken into
the right hand, which should be squeezed mto as narrow a sljape as possible, inust be passed up close
to the roof of the mouth, and the ball placed on the root of the tongue, when both hands being with-
drawn, it will readily pass down. ITiis mode is much preferable, when a ix;rson is at all handy, to
using a balling iron. At Long's, veterinary surgeon's instrument maker, is sold a clever machine for
this purpose.
6533. Mode of giving a drink. Exactly the same process is pursued, except that a horn holding the
liquid matter is forced up the mouth ; the passage being raised beyond the level liiie, the liquid is poured
out from the larger end of the horn, and when the tongue is loosened it is swallowed. Clark, however,
ingeniously proposes to substitute the smaller end of the horn, the larger being closed, by which, he says,
the horn can be forced up the mouth between the teeth, and poured farther back so as to ensure its not
returning,
SuBSECT. 3. Fomentations and Poultices.
6534. Fomentations are very commonly recommended of various herbs, as rue, chamomile, St. John's
wort, wormwood, bay leaves, &c. ; but the principal virtue is to be found in warmth and moisture, which
unload the vessels : but this warmth ought not to be too considerable, except when the inflammation is
within, as in inflamed bowels. Here we foment to stimulate the skin, and cannot foment too hot : but
when we do it at once to an inflamed part, it ought not to be more than of blood heat ; and it should be
continued long, and when removed the part should be dried or covered, or cold may be taken, and the
inflammation increased instead of diminished. Anodyne fomentations are made of poppy heads, and of
tobacco, and are frequently of great use.
^Z5. The method of applying fomentations is conveniently done by means of two large woollen cloths
wrung out of the heated liquors ; as one is cooling the other should be ready to be applied.
6536. Poultices act in the same way as fomentations in allaying irritation and inflammation ; but are in
some respects more convenient, because they act continually. It is an error to suppose that poultices,
to be beneficial, should be very hot : however hot they may be applied, they soon become of the tera.
perature of the surrounding parts. When poultices are applied to the extremities, a stocking, as has
been before stated, is a convenient method of application. When it is drawn over the leg and bound
around the lower part of the hoof, or of the pastern, or otherwise, the matter of the poultice may be put
within, and it may be then kept in its situation, if high up on the extremity, by means of tape fastened
to one part of it, and-passed over the withers or back to the other side, and again fastened to the stocking.
In this way, also, loose bandages may be retained from slipping down. Cold poultices are often useful in
the inflammations arising from strains, &c. In these cases bran and goulard water form a convenient me-
dium ; but when the poultice is necessarily hot, a little linseed meal added to the bran will render it adhe-
sive, and give it consistence. It is a very necessary caution in this, as in every instance where bandages
are wanted around the extremities, to have them broad, and only so tight as to secure the matters con-
tained, as in a poultice, or as in common bandaging.
990 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
SuBSECT. 4. Setons and Rowels.
6537. Setons are often useful in keeping up a drain to draw what are termed humours ft-om parts ; or by
their irritations on one part, they lessen the inflammation in another part not very remote, as when applied
in the check for ophthalmia or inflamed eyes. They also in the same way lessen old swellings by exciting
absorption. Another useful action they have is to make a dependent or convenient orifice for the escape
of lodged matter : thus a seton passed from the upper part of the opening of pole evil, through the upper
part of the integuments of the neck, as low as the sinuses run, will often effect a cure without farther
application. The same with fistulous withers, which sometimes run under the shoulder blade, and appear
at the arm point ; in which cases a blunt seton needle, of sutHcient length to be passed down to that point,
and to be then cut down upon, will form the only efficient mode of treatment. Setons may be passed in
domestic farriery with a common packing needle and a skein of thread, or piece of tape ; but in profes-
sional farriery they are made by a proper needle armed witli tape or lamp cotton, or skeins of thread or
silk smeared over with digestive ointment. When the seton needle is removed, the ends of the tape
should be joined together, or otherwise knotted, to prevent them from coming out.
6538. Rowels in their intention act as setons, and as irritating a larger surface, so when a general drain
is required they act better ; as in grease, &c. : but when their action is confined to a part only, setons are
more convenient. Any person may apply a rowel by making an incision in the loose skin about an inch,
separating with the finger its adherences around, and then inserting in the opening a piece of round
leather with a hole in the middle smeared with a blistering ointment. Then plug the opening with tow ;
and in three days, when the suppuration has begun, remove it The rowel leather is afterwards to be daily
moved and cleaned.
SuBSECT. 5. mistering and Firing.
6539. Blistering answers the same purpose as setons ; and is practised by first cutting or shaving the
hair from the part, when the blistering ointment {Vet. Pharm. 6559.) should be well rubbed in for ten
minutes, or a quarter of an hour. Some of the ointment after the rubbing may be smeared over the part.
The head of the horse should now be tied up to prevent his gnawing or licking. If a neck cradle be at
hand, it may also for safety be put on ; in which case the head may be let down the third day.
654<). A neck cradle for blistered horses is very convenient for other occasions also, when the mouth is
to be kept from licking or biting other parts ; or to keep other parts from being rubbed against the head.
It is of very simple construction, and may be made by a dozen pieces of wood of about an inch and half
in diameter, as old broom handles, &c. These bored at each end admit a rope to be passed through ; and
as each is passed on, a knot may be tied to the upper part of the pieces of the cradle, two inches apart ;
and those which form the lower part, four inches : by which means the neck will be fitted by the cradle
when it is put on ; and the horse will be prevented from bending his head to lick or gnaw parts to be
protected. When the lower parts of the legs, particularly of the hinder, require blistering, it is necessary
to bear in mind that in gross full horses, particularly in autumn, grease is very apt to follow blistering ;
and almost certainly if the back of the heels below the fetlock be blistered. First, therefore, smear this
part over with lard or suet ; and afterwards avoid touching it with the ointment. After blistering in
summer, the horse is often turned out before the blistered parts are quite sound ; in this case guard them
from flies by some kind of covering, or they may become fly-blown : and likewise the fourth or fifth day
rub into the blistered part some oil or lard to prevent the skin from cracking.
6541. Sweating or liquid blisters {Vet. Pharm. 6563.) are only more gentle stimulants, which are daily
applied to produce the same effects on a diseased part without removing the hair. Of course less activity
is expected; yet as the action is repeated, they are often more beneficial even than blistering itself: as
in old strains and stiftiiesses.
6542. Firing, as requiring the assistance of an experienced practitioner, we shall not describe ; it will
be only prudent to point out that it is a more active mode of blistering ; and that it acts very powerfully
as a stimulant, not only while its effects last as blisters do, but also after its escharotic effect is over, by its
pressure ; and in this way it is that it operates so favourably in bony exostosis, as splints and spavins ;
and in this way it is so useful in old ligamentary weaknesses ; because by lessening the dilatibility of the
skin it becomes a continual bandage to the part.
SuBSECT. 6. Clustering and Phi/sicking.
6543. Clystering should always be preceded by back-raking, which consists in oiling one hand and arm,
and passing them up the fundament, and by that means to remove all the dung balls that can be reached.
The large pewter syringe for clystering is neither a useful nor safe machine. A much better consists in
a turned box pipe, to which may be attached a large pig or ox-bladder, by which four or five quarts of
liquid can be administered at one time. ( Vet. Pharm. 6564. to 6567.) The pipe should be previously oiled,
by which means it passes more easily : the liquor should then be steadily pressed up ; and when the pipe
is removed, the tail should be held down over the fimdament a little to prevent the return of the clyster.
In some cases of a spasmodic nature, as gripes and locked jaw, great force is made by the bowels to return
the clyster, and nothing but continued pressure over the fundament can enable it to be retained. Clysters
not only act in relaxing the bowels, but they may be used as means of nutriment when it cannot be taken
by the mouth ; as in locked jaw, wounds of the mouth, throat, &c. &c. In locked jaw, it was observed by
Gibson, that he kept a horse alive many days by clysters alone : and by clysters also many medicines may
be given more conveniently than by the mouth. ,
6544. Physicking of horses. It is equally an error to refrain altogether from giving horses physic, as it
is to give it on every occasion, as some do. Neither is it necessary for horses to be bled and physicked
every spring and autumn, if they be in perfect health, and the less so, as at this time they are generally
weak and faint from the change going on in their coats. Nor is it always necessary to give horses physic
when they come from grass or a straw yard ; provided the change from the one state to the other be very
moderately brought about But on such a removal, it certainly expedites all the phenomena of condition
(6423.), and such horses are less likely to afterwards fall to pieces, as it is termed. (6424.) In various
morbid states physic is particularly useful, as in worms, hide-bound from too full a habit, &c. &c. It is
not advisable to physic horses in either very cold or very warm weather. Strong physic is always hurtful :
all that physic can do is as well operated by a mild as by a strong dose, and with infinitely less hazard. No
horse should be physicked whose bowels havenot been previously prepared by mashing for two days at least
before. By these means the physic will work kindly, and a moderate quantity only is requisite. Most of
th» articles put into the purging balls for horses, to assist the aloes, are useless. Jalap will not purge a
horse, nor rhubarb either. Aloes are the only proper drug to be depended on for this purpose, and of all
the varieties of aloes the socotorine and Cape are the best [Vet. Pharm. 6584.) Barbadoes aloes are also
not improper, but «re thought more rough than the socotorine. For formulae of purging balls, see Vet.
Pharm. 6584. Blaine gives the following as the process : —
6545. Physicking process. The horse having fasted an hour or two in the'moming from food, but having
had his water as usual, give him his purge, and two hours after offer him a little chilled but not warm
water, as is often done, by which horses are disgusted from taking any : it may be here remarked that in
this particular much error is frequently committed. Many horses will drink water with the chill taken
off, provided it be perfectly clean, and do not smell of smoke from the fire, kettle, or saucepan : but few,
very few, will drink warm or hot water; and still fewer, if it be in the least degree greasy or smoky.
Book VII.
VETERINARY PHARMACOPOEIA.
991
After the ball has been given two hours, a warm bran mash may be offered, and a very little hay. He
should have walking exercise as usual, moderate clothing, and altogether he should be kept rather
more warm than usual. At noon mash again, and give a little hay, which should be repeated at
night, giving him at intervals chilled water. On the following morning the physic may be expected to
work ; which if it do briskly, keep the horse quiet : but should it not move his bowels, or only relax them,
walk him quietly half an hour, which will probably have the desired effect Continue to give mashes
and warm water, repeating them every two or three hours to support him. "When physic gripes a horse,
give him a clyster of warm water, and hand-rub the belly, as well as walk him out If the griping
prove severe, give him four ounces of gin in half a pint of sound ale, which will soon relieve him. On
the next day the physic will probably set, but should it continue to work him severely, pour down some
boiled starch ; and if this fail, turn to the directions under diarrhoea. (6473.) The horse should return to
his usual habits of full feeding and full exercise by degrees ; and if more than one dose be to be given, a
week should intervene. It is often requisite to make the second and third doses rather stronger than the
first. A very mild dose of physic is likewise often given to horses while at grass in very warm weather,
and without any injury. When worms or skin foulness are present, and mercurial physic is deemed
necessary, it is better to give two drachms of calomel in a mash the previous night, than to put it into the
purging ball.
SuBSECT. 7. Castration, Nicking, DocHng, ^c.
6546. The operations of castration, docking, nicking, and that of cropping (which is now seldom practised),
all require the assistance of a veterinary surgeon ; and it is only necessary to remark of them, that the
after treatment must be the same as in all other wounds. To avoid irritation, to preserve a cool tempera-
ture and a moderate diet ; and if active febrile symptoms make their appearance, to obviate them by
bleeding, &c. &c. It likewise is proper to direct the attention of the agriculturist who attends to these
matters himself, that the moment the wound following any of these operations looks otherwise than
healthy, locked jaw is to be feared, and no time should be lost in seeking the best assistance that can be
obtained. (6432.)
SuBSECT. 8. Bleeding.
65^1. Bleeding is a very common, and to the horse a very important operation , because his inflamma-
lory diseases, on account of the great strength of his arterial system, run to a fatal termination very soon,
and can only be checked in the rapidity of their progress by abstracting blood, which diminishes the
momentum of circulation. Bleeding is more particularly important in the inflammatory diseases of the
horse ; because we cannot, as in the human frame, lower the circulation by readily nauseating the stomach.
Bleeding also lessens irritation particularly in the young and plethoric, or those of full habit : hence we
bleed in spasms of the bowels, in locked jaw, &c., with good effect Bleeding is general or topicaL
General, as from the neck, when we mean to lessen the general momentum. Topical, when we bleed
from a particular part, as the eye, the plate vein, the toe, &c. Most expert practitioners use a large
lancet to bleed with ; and when the habit of using it is acquired, it is by far the best instrument, particu-
larly for superficial veins where a blow might carry the fleam through the vessel. In common hands the
838 fleam [fig. 838.), as the more general instrument, is best adapted to
the usual cases requiring the agriculturist's notice. Care should,
however, be taken not to strike it with vehemence ; and the hair
being first wetted and smoothed down, it should be pressed close
between the hairs, so that its progress may not be impeded by them.
^ A ligature should be first passed round the neck, and a hand held
'y I / over the eye, unless the operator be very expert, when the use of the
\1/ fingers will dispense with the ligature. The quantity of blood taken
is usually too small In inflammatory diseases, a large horse, parti-
cularly in the early stage of a complaint, will bear to lose eight or ten quarts : and half the quantity may
be taken away two or three times afterwards, if the violence of the symptoms seem to require it; and the
blood should be drawn in a large stream to do all the good it is capable of. After the bleeding is finished,
introduce a sharp pin, and avoid drawing the skin away from the vein while pinning, which lets the blood
escape between the vein and skin: wrap round a piece of tow or hemp, and next day remove the pin,
which might otherwise inflame the neck. In drawing blood, let it always be measured : letting it fall on
the ground prevents the ascertaining the quantity ; it also prevents any observation on the state Of the
blood, which if it form itself into a cup-like cavity on its surface, and exhibit a tough yellow crust over
this cavity, it betokens an inflammatory state of body that will require further bleedings, unless the weak,
ness forbid. After the bleeding, it now and then happens, from rusty lancets, too violent a stroke with
the blood stick, or from drawing away the skin too much while pinning up, that the orifice inflames and
hardens, and ichor is seen to ooze out between its edges. Immediately this is discovered, recourse must
je had to an able veterinary surgeon, or the horse will lose the vein, and perhaps his life.
Sect. VII. Veterinary Pharmacopoeia,
6548. The following formula for veterinary practice have been compiled from the works of the most
eminent veterinary writers of the present day, as Blaine, Clark, Laurence, Peel, White, &c. j and we
can, from our own experience also, confidently recommend the selection to the notice of agriculturists,
and the owners of horses in general. It would be prudent for such as have many horses, and particularly
for such as live at a distance from the assistance of an able veterinarian, to keep the more necessary
articles by them in case of emergence: some venders of horse drugs keep veterinary medicine chests;
and where the compositions can be depended on, and the uncompounded drugs are genuine and good, one
of these is a most convenient appendage to every stable. The best arranged veterinary medicine chest
we have seen was in London, at the veterinary elaboratory of Youatt of Nassau Street, Middlesex
Hospital.
6549. The veterinary pharmacopoeia for oxen, calves, and sheep has been included in the arrangement.
When any speciality occurs, or where distinct recipes are requisite, they have been carefully noticed ; it
will therefore only be necessary to be kept in mind, that with the exception of acrid substances, as mi-
neral acids, &c., which no cattle bear with equal impunity with the horse, the remedies prescribed
require about the following proportions : — A large ox will bear the proportions of a moderate-sized horse ;
a moderate-sized cow something less ; a calf about a third of the quantity; and a sheep about a quarter,
or at most a third of the proportions directed for the cow. It is also to be remarked, that the degrees in
strength in the different recipes are usually regulated by their numbers, the mildest standing first
6550. AUerativet.
1.
Levigated antimony, 2 drachms.
Cream of tartar.
Flower of sulphur, each half an ounce.
2.
Cream of tartar.
Nitre, of each half an ounce.
^thiops mineral.
Levigated antimony.
Powdered resin, each 3 drachms.
Give in a mash, or in com and bran a
little wetted, every night, or make into a
ball with honey.
6551. TVinfc Alteralivei.
1.
Gentian,
-Aloes,
Ginger,
Blue vitriol, in powder, of each 1 drachm.
Oak bark in powder, 6 drachms.
9S2
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Pakt III
Winter's bark, in powder, 3 drachms.
Green vitriol, do., one and a lialfdraclim.
Gentian, do., 3 drachms.
Make either of these into a ball with
honey, and ^ive every morning.
White viiriol, 1 drachm.
Ginger or pimento ground, 2 drachms.
Fowdered quassia, half an ounce.
Ale, 8 ounces Mix, and give as a drink.
4.
Arsenic, 10 grains.
Oatmeul, 1 ounce.
Mix and give in mash or moistened
corn nightly.
nt Mixtures for Diarrluta,
Scouring.
1.
Powdered ipecacuanha, 1 drachm.
Do., opium, half a drachm.
Prepared chalk, 2 ounces.
Boiled starch, 1 pint.
2.
Suet, 4 ounces ; boiled in
Milk, 8 ounces.
Boiled starch, (J ounces.
Powdered alum, 1 drachm.
ttnn^ent
recommended in some case;
of horses and cattle : —
Glauber's salts, 2 ounces.
Epsom do., 1 ounc».
Green vitriol, 4 grains.
Gruel, half a pint.
4.
When the lax or scouring at all ap-
proaches to dysentery or tnollen grease, the
following drink should be first given : —
Castor oil, 4 ounces.
Glauber's salts (dissolved), 2 ounces.
Powdered rhubarb, half a drachm.
Powdered opium, 4 grains.
Gruel, 1 pint.
6553. Astringent Balls for Diabetes or Piss-
ing Evil.
Catechu (Japan earth) , half an ounce.
Alum powdered, half a drachm.
Sugar of lead, 10 grains.
Conserve of roses to make a ball.
6554. Astringent Paste for Thrush, Foot-
rot, Foul iti tlie Foot, l\c.
Prepared calamine.
Verdigris, of each hMf an ounce.
White vitriol.
Alum, of each half a drachm.
Tar, 3 ounces : mix.
6555. Astrintfent Washes for Cracks in the
Heels, fVounds, Sprains, <StC.
1.
Sugar of lead, 2 drachms.
White vitriol, 1 drachm.
Strong infusion of oak or elm bark, 1
pint: mix.
Green vitriol, 1 drachm.
Infusion of galls, half a pint.
Mix, and wash the parts three times a
day.
6556. Ponder for Cracks, Si<.
3.
Prepared calamine, 1 ounce.
Fuller's earth, powdered.
Pipe clay, do., of each 2 ounces.
Mix, and put within gauze and dab the
moist surfaces of tlie sores frequently.
6557. Astringent Paste for Grease,
1.
Prepared calamine,
Tutty powdered.
Charcoal, do. of each 2 ounces.
Yeast enough to make a paste.
To the above, if more strength be re-
quired, add of alum and verdigris each
a drachm.
6558. Astringent Wathfbr Do.
3.
Corrosive sublimate, 2 drachms.
Spirit of wine or brandy, 1 ounce.
Soft -water, 10 ounces.
Rub the sublimate m a mortar with the
spirit tiU dissolved, then add the water.
•This is a strong preparation, and has often
proved successful in very bad cases of
^ease, which have resisted all the usual
remedies.
6559. Blisters.
1. A general one.
Cantharides powdered, 2 ounces.
Venice turpentine, do.
Resin, do.
Palm oil or lard, 2 lbs.
Melt the three latter articles togethar,
and when not too hot stir in the Spanish
fliet.
6560. A ttrong cheap Blister, but nut pro.
per to be used in Fevers or iHllamnuiitotis,
as qf the Lungs, Bowels, Src.
Euphorbium powdered, 1 ounce.
Oil of vitriol, 2 scruv>les.
Spanish flies, 6 ounces.
Palm oil or lard,
Kesin, of each lib.
Oil of turpentine, 3 ounces.
Melt the resin with the lard or palm
oil. Having previously mixed the oil of
vitriol with an ounce of water gradually,
an gradually add this mixture to tlie melt-
ed mass; which again set on a very slow
fire for ten minutes more: afterwards re-
move the whole, and when beginning to
cool, add the powders previously mixed
together.
6561. A mercurial Blister for Splints, Spa-
vins, and Ringbones.
Of either of the above, 4 ounces.
Corrosive sublimate, finely jKiwdered, half
a drachm.
4.
6562. Strong Liquid Blistr.
Spanish flies in gross powder, 1 ounce.
Oil of origanum, i dr ichms.
Oil of turpentine, 4 ounces.
Olive oil, 2 ounces.
Steep the flies in tlie lurjientine three
weeks, strain off, and add the o'.\.
5.
6563. Mild Liquid or Srveating Blister.
Of the above, 1 ounce.
Olive oil or goose grease, one and a half
ounce.
6564. Clysters, a Laxative one.
1.
Thin gruel or broth, 5 quarts.
Epsom or common salts, 6
6565. Clyster for Gripes.
2.
Mash two moderate-sized onions.
Pour over them oil of turj)entine,'2 ounces.
Capsicum, or pepper, half an ounce.
Thin gruel, 4 quarts.
6566. Nutritious Clyster.
3.
Thick gruel, 3 quarts.
Strong sound ale, 1 quart.
or 4.
Strong broth, 2 quarts.
Thickened milk, 2 quarts.
6567. Astringent Clyster.
5.
Tripe liquor, or suet boiled in milk, 2
pints.
Thick starch, 2 i)ints.
Laudanum, half an ounce.
or 6.
Alum whey, 1 quart.
Boiled starch, 2 quarts.
6568. Cordial Balls.
Gentian powdered, 4 ounces.
Ginger, do., 2 ounces.
Coriander seeds, do., 4 ounces.
Carraway do , 4 ounces.
Oil of anisee<l, a quarter of an ounce.
Make into a mass with honey, treacle,
or lard, and give one ounce and a half for
a dose.
6569. Chronic Cough Balls.
1.
Calomel, 1 scruple.
Gum animoniacum.
Horse radish, of each 2 drachms.
Balsam of Tolu,
Squills, each 1 drachm.
Beat all together, and make into a ball
with honey, and give every morning fast-
ing.
6570. Drink for the same.
2.
Tar water.
Lime water, of each half a pint.
Tincture of squills, half an ounce.
6571. Powder for the same.
3.
Tartar emetic, 2 drachms.
Powdered foxglove, half a drachm.
Powdered squill, half a drachm.
Calomel, 1 scruple.
Nitre, 3 drachms.
Give every night in a malt mash.
6572. Diuretic Balls.
Resin, yellow, 1 lb.
Nitre, half a poimd.
Horse turpentine, half a pound.
Vellow soap, quarter of a pound.
Melt the resin, soap, and turpentine
over a slow fire ; when cooling, add the
nitre. For a strong doee, an ounce and a
half; for a mild one, an ounce. It should
be kept in mind, that mild diuretics are
always equal to what is required ; and
that strong diuretics are always hurtful.
6573. Diuretic Powders.
Vellow resin, powdered, 4 ounces.
Nitre, do., 8 ounces.
Cream of tartar, ditto, 4 ounces.
Dose — 6, 8, or 10 drachms nightly,
which some horses will readily eat in a
mash.
6574. Urine Drink.
Glauber's salts, 2 ounces.
Nitre, 6 drachms.
Dissolve in a pint of warm water.
1.
Goulard's extract, half an ounce.
Spirit of wine or brandy, 1 ounce.
Soft water, 1 quart.
2.
Mindererus spirit, 4 ounces.
Water, 12 ounces.
6576. For Strains.
Bay salt, bruised, half a pound.
Crude sal ammoniac, 2 ounces.
Sugar of lead, quarter of an ounce.
Vinegar, 1 jiint and a half.
Water, 1 pint.
6577. For the Eyes.
1.
Sugar of lead, 1 drachm.
Wiiite vitriol, 2 scruples.
Water, 1 pint.
Brandy, 1 ounce.
Infusion of green tea, 4 ounces.
Tincture of opium, 2 drachms.
Infusion of red roses, 4 ounces.
3.
Rose water, 6 ounces.
Mindererus spirit, 3 ounces.
4.
Corrosive sublimate, 4 grains.
Alkohol, 1 ounce.
Lime water, 1 pint.
Alum, powdered, 1 drachm.
Calomel, half a drachm.
Mix and insert a little at one comer of
the eye. The custom of blowing it in
alEunis the horse.
6578. Fever Powders.
Antimonial powder, 2 drachn
Cream of tartar,
Nitre, of each 4 drachms.
6579. Fever Drink.
Sweet spirit of nitre, 1 ounce.
Mindererus spirit, 6 ounces.
Water, 4 ounces.
6580. Epidemic Fever Drink.
4.
Sweet spirit of nitre, 1 ounce.
Simple oxymel, 6 ounces.
Tartar emetic, 3 drachms.
6581. Malignant Epidemic Fever.
5.
Simple oxymel,
Mindererus spirit.
Beer yeast, of each, 4 ounces.
Sweet spirit of nitre, 1 ounce.
6582.
ng infectetl
Fumigations .
Stables, She,
Manganese, 2 ounces.
Common salt, ditto.
Oil of vitriol, 3 ounces.
Water, 1 ounce.
Put the mixed manganese and salt into
a bason ; then, having before mixed the
vitriol and water very gradually, pour
them by means of tongs, or any thing that
will enable you to stand at a sufficient dis-
tance, on the articles in the bason gra-
dually. As soon as the fumes rise, retire
and shut up the door close.
6583. Hoi f Liquid.
Oil of turpentine, 4 oimces.
Tar, 4 ounces.
Whale oil, 8 ounces.
This softens and toughens the hoofs ex-
tremely, when brushea over them night
and morning.
6584. Purging Medtanes
Bcdls — very mild.
Aloes, powdered, 6 drachms.
Oil of turpentine, 1 drachm.
Book VI I.
SHOEING OF HORSES.
993
Aloes, powdered, 8 drachms.
Oil of turpentine, 1 drachm.
Strong.
Aloes, powdered, 10 drachms.
Oil of turpentine, 1 drachm.
The aloes may be beaten with treacle to
a mass, adding, during the beating, tha
oil of turpentine. All spices, oil of tartar,
cream of tartar, ialap, &c. are useless, and
often hurtful additions.
6585. Liquid Purge.
Epsom salts, dissolved, 8 ounces.
Castor oil, 4 ounces.
Watery tincture of aloes, 8 ounces;.
Mix. — The watery tincture of aloes is
made by teating powdered aloes with tl'.e
yolk of egg, adding water by degrees ; by
these means half an ounce of aloes may
be suspended in eight ounces of water';
and such a purge is useful when a liall
cannot be got down, as in partial locked
Jaw.
658C* Scalding Mixture for Pole EvU.
Corrosive sublimate, finely i>owdered, 1
drachm.
Yellow basilicon, 4 ounces.
6587. Foot Stoppings.
Horse and cow dung, each about 2 lbs.
Tar, half a pound.
6588. Wash for coring out, destroying
Fungus, or proud Flesh, Sec. (Src.
J/unar caustic, 1 drachm.
AV'ater, 2 ounces.
65^9. Wash for Mange.
Corrosive sublimate, 2 drachms,
i^'pirit of wine orlarandy, 1 ounce.
Decoction of tobacco.
Ditto of white helleljore, of each 1 pint.
Dissolve the mercury
then add the decoctions.
H 1 pin
Dissolve the mercury in the spir.t, and
uld the decoctions.
6590. Ointments for Hfoling.
Turner's cerate, 4 ounces.
White vitriol, powdered, half a drachm.
Lard, 4 ounces.
6591. For Dtgesling.
2.
Turner's cerate, 2 ounces. " '' • ' • "
White vitriol, 1 drachm. .••■^ ' .• ■
Yellow basilicon, 5 oimdes. ■ ■ ; • ; '
•6592 ForMangei.
Sulphur vivum, 8 ounces.
Arsenic in powder, 2 drachms.
Mercurial ointment, 2 ounces.
Turpentinjej 'i ouncjs.
Lard, 8 ounces.
Mix, and dress with every morning.
6593. For Scab or Shiib in Sheep, Nallpi-
ders and Set fenders in Horses, find ,' '
Blotches and Eruptions in''
general. . . ^
Camphor, 1 drachm. . i , ?
Sugar of lead, half a drachm.
Mercurial ointment, 1 ounce.
Sect. VIII. Shoeing of Horses.
€)59i. The importance of the subject of shoeing to the agriculturist is sufficiently attested by the immtense
number of inventions which the ingenuity of philosophers and artists are every day devising, to render
839 t'^^ system complete. Almost every veterinary professor has his favourite
shoe ; and we find one of the most ingenious of the present day endeavouring
to force on our notice, and introduce into our stables, the French method ;
which, with the exception of the mode of nailing on, White observes, is
the very worst he ever saw. The French shoe [fis- 8.39 a) has a wide web
towards the toe, and is concave above and convex below {b), on the ground
surface, by which neither the toe nor heel touch the ground [c) ; but the
horse stands pretty much in the same way with an unhappy cat, shod by
unlucky boys with walnut shells. But as Blaine observes, in reference to
these inventions, " No one form of foot defence can be ftffcred as a uni-
versal pattern." It is, he continues, plain that the principles of shoeing
ought to be those that allow as little departure from nature as circum-
stances will justify. The practice also should be strictly consonant to the
principles ; and both ought to consist, first, in removing no parts but
those which, if the bare hoof were applied to natural ground, would re-
move of themselves. Secondly, in bringing such parts in contact with the
ground (generally speaking) as are opposed to it in an unshod state ; and
above all, to endeavour to preserve the original form of the foot, by fram-
ing the shoe thereto ; but never to alter the foot to the defence. The shoe
at present made at the forges of the most respectable smiths in the cities
and large towns throughout the kingdom, if it have not all the requisites,
has however, by degrees, been so improved, that with a few additional
c alterations, neither difficult to direct or adopt, it is the one we shall hold
up as the most eligible for general shoeing. It is not that a better might not be offered to notice ;
and, in fact, such a one we shall present to our readers; but so averse are the generality of smiths from
having any improvements forced on them, and so obstinately determined are they to adhere to the forms
handed down to them by their forefathers, that their stupidity or malevolence, or both, ft-equently
makes the improvement itself, when seemingly acquiesced in, a source of irreparable injury. It is for
these reasons we would recommend to agriculturists in general a modified shoe of the common stamp.
6595. 2%e improved shoe for general use (Jig. 840.), is rather tvider than what is usually made. Its nail
840
holes («) extend no further towards the heels than is actually neces-
sary for security ; by which the expansion of these parts is encouraged,
and contraction is avoided. To strengthen the attachment, and to
make up for this liberty given to the heels, the nails should be carried
around the front of the shoe (c). The nail holes, on the under or
ground surface of the shoe («),are usually formed in a gutter, techni-
cally called the fu/leiing; but in the case of heavy treading powerful
horses this gutter may be omitted, or if adopted, the shoe in that part
may be steeled. The web should be quite even on the foot or hoof
surface (i), and not only be rather wider, but it should also have
rather m(»re substance than is common : from half an inch to five
eighths in thickness, according to circumstance, forms a fair propor-
tion ; when it is less it is apt, in wearing, to bend to pressure and force
out the clinches. A great error is committed in setting shoes out so
much wider than the heels themselves : this error has been devised to
correct another, which has been that of letting horses go too long
without shoeing ; in which case, if the heels of the shoe were not too
wide originally, as the foot grew, they became lost within the heels ;
and were thus bruised and produced corns : but as we will suppose
that few will wish to enter into a certain error to avoid an uncertain one, so we recommend that the neels
of the shoe should stand only wide enough to prevent the expansion of the quarters pushing the heels of
the feet over the outer edge of the heels of the shoe : for wliich purpose, if the iron project rather less
than a quarter of an inch, instead of three eighths, or even half an inch, as it frequently does, many
advantages will be gained. Whoever attentively examines a shoe vre/l set ojff'at the heels, as it is termed,
will find only one third of its flat surface protecting the heels ; the remainder projects beyond, and serves
but to form a shelf to lodge dirt on ; or as a convenient clip for another horse to tread on ; or for the
wearer to cut his own legs with ; or to afford a more ready hold for the suction of clayey grounds to force;
oft" the shoe by. The heels of the common shoe are likewise not in general sufficiently long for the proc
tection of the foot; and which defect, more than a want of width, causes the tendency to press on the
crust of the heels. It is further to be observed, that if the decreased width of the outer standing of the
heels, and the increased width of the web, should make the inner angle of the shoe heel in danger of
interfering with the frog, the corner may be taken off. In forging this shoe, it may be bevelled, or left
plain on both surfaces, or rather nearly so, for it is usual with most smiths to thin it in some degree
towards the inner edge. This shoe is apphcable to most feet, is easily formed, and as such, in country
places is all that can be expected.
6596. The injurious effects of bad shoeing would only require to be known to excite every endeavour to
obviate them ; and there are some circumstances in the more common ahoes of country smiths that ought
3 S
994 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut III.
to be impressed on the mind of every agriculturist, and guarded against by every one who possesses a
horse. It is too frequently observed that the ground side of their shoe is convex, and that the inward
rrnii. when the toot is on the ground, is the lowest part ; on which it is evident tlie weight must first press •
and by which pressure, the crust will bo forcibly thrust on the extreme edge of the shoe; and the only
resistance offered to its being forced from it, depends on the nails and clinches, instead of its just appli.
cation to the ground, and the support derived from the uniform pressure of the whole. Every shoe should
therefore be perfectly level on its ground surface : nor should any shoe be put on that has not been tried
on a plane iron purposely made for such trial ; which irons are kept in some smithies, but are absent from
too many. The substance of the shoe should be the same throughout, forming two parallel Inies of upi)er
and under surface ; in plain language, the heels, instead of being clubbed as is too frequent, should be the
exact thickness of the toe. Neither s.iould the width at the heels diminish in the proportion it
usually does ; on the contrary, for a perfectly formed foot, the web should present a uniform width
throughout.
G597. Varieties in form of foot, diffircnces in size, weight, and uses of horses, will necessarilv make
deviations in the form and substance of shoes. The very shoe reconunended may be considered as a
variation from what would be immediately necessary, were the feet generally perfect ; but it is to be con.
sidered that there are but very few feet but what have undergone some unfavourable alteration in their
form, which makes them very sensible to concussion. It is for this reason, therefore, that it is recom-
mended that a shoe be used, for general purposes, somewhat wider and thicker than the common one. In
weak, tender, flexible feet, it will be found particularly advantageous ; and here the benefit of wide heels
to the shoe will be most apparent. Good as the roads now are, yet most horses are occasionally subjected
to travel on bad ones ; some know no other : to these the addition of one, or at the most, two ounces to
each shoe is nothing ; but the ease to the horse, and its superior covering, as well as support, is incalcu-
lable. In very young, very light, and very firm feet, the width and substance may be somewhat diminished
at pleasure, and particularly in situations where the roads are uniformly good : but a very long and ex-
tensive experience has assured us, that the shoe portrayed is one well calculated to meet the ordinary
purposes of travelling, and the present state of the art of horse-shoeing.
6598. An improved shoe on the present plan (/- 841.), would be found to unite all the perfections of the
841 modern English improvements, with some derived from our neigh-
bours the French. What has since been called a seated shoe was
introduced by Osmer ; but from the obstinacy and ignorance of smiths,
as it could not be brought into general use, it became little thought of,
until revived by Clark of Edinburgh ; by whom it was patronised and
recommended. It finally was taken up by Moorcroft, and has ever
since attracted some attention, and continues to be forged in some
shops where the work is superiorly done ; and where the employers
have liberality enough to pay for such work, and judgment enough to
discriminate between its advantages and those of the common shoe.
If to this shoe were added the French mode of fastening it to the foot,
we think the improvement would almost shut out all others. On ex-
amining the figure it will be seen that this shoe presents a flat surface
opposed to the ground {a), but a concave one towards the sole (b) ; but
that this concavity does not begin, as in some seated shoes, near the
outer edge, but embraces two thirds only of the web, leaving by this
means a sufficient surface for the crust: but this bevelling is not
intended to reach the heels ; it stops short of them (c), leaving the web
at this part plain for the heels to rest upon. The great advantages of this seating are, first, that as the crust
rests on a flat surface instead of an inclined plane, as most of the common forged shoes present, so its
position is maintained entire, and the inclination to contraction is in a great degree avoided. The nailing
on of this shoe we would recommend to be after the French method, which consists in conical nail holes,
punched with a square countersink {d), into which are received conical nails (e); which exactly fill up the
countersink; by which means so long as any part of the base of the nail remains, the shoe must be held
firmly on, and which is not the only advantage gained ; for the nail holes beiftg obliquely formed, and at
some distance from the outer rim, act less detrimentally on the crust of the foot.
6599. To prepare the foot for the application of the shoe is also an important consideration. Avoid
taking off more than one shoe at a time; otherwise the edges of the crust become broken away. Observe
that the clinches are all carefully removed. Let the rough edges of the crust be rasped away ; after which,
the sole should be pared throughout until a strong pressure with the thumb can produce some yielding :
too strong a sole tends to heat and contraction, too weak a one will not require paring. In this paring
imitate the natural arch of the sole as much as possible. The line of concavity should not begin, as it
usually is made to do, from the extreme margin of the foot, but should begin from the inner line of the
crust only ; by which means the crust, or outer wall of the hoof, will have a firm bearing on the flat surface
of the shoe. Let no heated shoe be applied to correct the inequalities that may be left, unless it is for a
moment, only to observe, but not burn them; but still more carefully avoid putting a plane shoe on an
uneven foot. The portion of sole between the bars and quarters {fig. 836. d) should be always pared out as
the surest preventive against corns. The heels also should be reduced to the general level of the foot,
never allowing their hardness to serve as an excuse for being left ; neither suffer the inner heel to be
lowered more than the outer. After all the rest has been done, the frog should be so trimmed as to re-
main on an exact level with the returns of the heels, and no more. The custom of taking away the point or
angle of the horny inflexions of the heels, under the false term of opening the heels, is to be carefully avoided.
Let all these operations be performed with the drawing knife. The butteris should never be allowed to
come near the foot of any horse but the largest and coarsest of the cart breed.
6600. The shoes for the hind feet are someivhat different to the fore, being a little squarer at the toe for
about an inch ; to which squareness the hoof is to be also adapted by rasping it slightly so, avoiding, how-
ever, to do it injuriously. By this mode a steady point of bearing is afforded to the hinder feet in the
great exertions they are often called upon to make in galloping, leaping, &c. They are, when thus formed,
less liable, also, to interfere with the fore shoes by clicking. When horses click or over-reach very much,
it is also common to square, or rather to shorten the toes of the hinder shoes ; but not to do so by the horn ;
by which, the hoof meets the middle of the fore shoe instead of the shoe itself; and the unpleasant noise
of the stroke or click of one foot against the other is avoided.
6601. Varieties which necessarily occur in shoeing. The bar shoe {fig. 842.) is the most important
variety ; and it is to be regretted that so much prejudice prevails against the use of this shoe, which can
only arise from its supposed unsightly appearance as betokening unsoundness. As a defence to weak thin
feet it is invaluable, as it removes a part of the pressure from the heels and quarters, which can ill bear
it, to the frog which can well bear it ; but a well formed bar shoe should not have its barred part raised
into an edge behind, but such part should be of one uniform thickness throughout the web of the bar,
which, instead of being the narrowest, should be the widest part of the shoe. The thickness of the bar
should be greater or less (a), so as to be adapted to take only a moderate pressure from the frog. When
the frog is altogether ulcerated away by thrush, the bar may be altogether plain; but this form of shoe
is still the best for these cases, as it prevents the tender surface from being wounded. In corns this
shoe is invaluable, and may then be so made as to lie off the affected part, which is the great desideratum
in corns.
6602. The hunting shoe is made lighter than the common one, and it is of consequence that it i*
L'ooK VII.
CRITERIA OF HORSES.
995
made to sit as flat to the foot as it can safely do without pressing on the sole ; by which the great suction
842 in clayey grounds is much lessened. Hunting fore-shoes should also be as
short at the heels as is consistent with safety to the foot, to avoid the danger
of being pulled ofFby the hinder shoes : nor should the web project at all. It
is the custom to turn up the outer heel to prevent slipping; which is done
sometimes to both fore and hind feet, and sometimes only to the latter. As
this precaution can hardly be avoided in hilly slippery grounds, it should be
rendered as little hurtful as possible by making the tread equal; to which
purpose, thicken the inner heel and turn up the outer. This is better than
lowering the outer heel to receive the shoe, which still leaves both the tread
and foot uneven.
6603. The racing shoe, or plate, is one made as light and slender as will
bear the weight of the horse, and the operations of forging, grooving, and
punching; to enable it to do which, it ought to be made of the very best
Swedish iron. Three, or at most four, nails are sutticient on each side ; and
to avoid the interfering of the hind with the fore feet, the heels of the fore
shoes are made as short as they can safely be. As racers are shod in the
stable, the owners should be doubly careful that the plate is an exact fit.
Many pairs ought to be brought and tried before any are suffered to be put
on, and this is more important than is at first considered.
6604. Grass shoes or tips are very short pieces placed on the toe alone, in horses turned to grass in
summer; at which time they are essentially necessary to guard the fore feet, which otherwise become
broken away, and irretrievably injured. They should be looked at occasionally to see that they do not
indent themselves into the soles.
6605. Frost shoes {fig. S\S a) have the ends turned up to prevent the foot from sliding; unless the
843 turning up or calkin be hardened, they soon wear level a!id require to be re-
newed, to the injury of the foot by such frequent removals. To remedy this,
many inventions have been tried; one of the best of these is that of Dr. Moore,
in which the frost clip iS" made distinct and moveable by means of a female
screw (A) worked in it, to which a knob or wedge (c) and male screw (rf) are
adapted ; a key (e) being used for fixing or removing it.
6606. High calkins, or turn-ups, however objectionable in general shoeing,
yet, in precipitous counties, as those of Devonshire, Yorkshire, and of Scotland,
&c., are absolutely necessary for their draught horses. It greatly obviates the
evils of uneven pressure, if a calkin be also put to tiie toe; and it would be stiH
better were these calkins steeled, particularly the fore ones.
6:)07. The shoeing of diseased feet is necessarily very various, and is too often
left to the discretion of the smith, by which the evils themselves are greatly
aggravated, if he be ignorant The most prominent alterations for these pur-
poses will be found described under the respective diseases of the feet requir-
ing them.
6608. Horse pattens are in use by some cultivators who occupy soft or mossy soils. Those esteemed the
best are constructed of alder or elm, and are fixed to the hoof by means of three links and a staple, through
each of which passes a leathern strap that goes twice round the hoof, and is fastened by a buckle. The
staple is placed behind the patten, which is ten inches one way, by ten and a half the other. The links
are about three inches in length, and rivctted through pieces of hoop iron to prevent the wood from split-
ting. After numerous trials, it has been found that pattens made in this way answer the purpose better
than any other kind. {Farm. Mag.)
Sect. IX. Criteria of the Qualities of Horses for various Purposes.
6609. The general criteria of the qualities of a horse are derived from inspection and trial. His outward
appearance among judges affords a pretty just criterion of his powers, and a moderate trial usually enables
the same judgme«it to decide on the disposition to exercise such powers.
6610. Tlie criteria of a horse derived from his colour have been already noticed. (6298.) As a general
principle dark are preferable to light horses, except in the instance of black, which has fewer good horses
within its range, particularly in the lighter breeds, than any other. Grey horses are also, in some
degree, an exception to the rule; for there are many good greys. Bay and brown are always esteemed
colours.
661 1. The criteria of action are derived from a due consideration of the form generally, and of the limbs
particularly ; as well as from seeing the horse perform his paces in hand.
6612. The criteria of hardihood are derived from the form of the carcase, which should be circular, or
barrelled ; by which food is retained, and strength gained to perform what is required. Such horses are
also generally good feeders.
6613. The criteria of spirit, vigour, or raetile, as \t is termed, are best derived from trial. It should
always be kept in mind, that a hot fiery horse is as objectionable as a horse of good courage is desirable.
Hot horses may be known by their disinclination to stand still ; by their mettle being raised by the slightest
exercise, especially when in company. Such horses seldom last long, and under accident are impetuous
and frightened in the extreme. A good couraged horse, on the contrary, moves with readiness as well
alone as in company : he carries one ear forward and one backward ; is attentive and cheerful, loves to
be talked to, and caressed even while on his journey; and if in double harness, will play with his mate.
Good couraged horses are always the best tempered, and, under difficulties, are by far the most quiet, and
least disposed to do mischief.
6614. The criteria of a race-horse, derived from form, are, that he have the greatest possible quantity
of bone, muscle, and sinew, in the most condensed form. There should be a general length of parts
to afford stretch, scope, and elasticity, with great muscles hardened by condition, to act on the length of
these parts advantageously. In particular his hind limbs should be furnished with ample thighs and broad
hocks, which should be low set. His fore-arm ought also to be broad, and the knee, like the hock, should
be near the ground,
6615. The criteria of a hunter are, that he have somewhat similar proportions with the racer, but
with more bulk to enable him to continue his exertions longer, ahd to carry more weight In him, a
good carcase is essentially necessary to fit him to go through a long chase; and the more, if he be
required to hunt more than one or two days in the week. Some light carcased horses will- do one day's
hunting work a week very well, but knock up at more. The hunter should be well formed in his
loins, and well let down in his thighs to propel him forward in his gallop, and give him strength to
rise sufficiently to cover his leaps. It is also of great use to a hunter to be a good trotter; many such
horses, when fatigued, break out of the gallop and relieve themselves by trotting, particularly over
heavy ground.
6616. The criteria qfa hackney. If it be necessary that the hackney be well formed behind to give him
strength, and to propel him forward, it is even of more consequence that he be well formed before ; and
in this kind of horse the hind parts are in some measure subordinate to the fore, as safety is preferable to
speed. The head in the hackney should be small, and well placed on a neck of due length and substance
to make a proper appui for the bridle, and that proper resistance to the hand, so pleasant to the feel, and
3S 2
996
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
so necessary for ease and safety. The shoulders should be oblique and well furnished with muscle, but
not heavy ; and tlie withers in particular should be high. The elbows should be turned rather out than
in, and the legs should stand out straight, and by no means fall under the horse, or it betokens a stumbler.
The pasterns should neither be too oblique, which bespeaks weakness ; nor too straight, which wears the
horse out, and is unpleasant to the rider. The carcase should be round, or the horse will be washy
and weak; the loins straight, wide, and ribbed home; the thighs of good substance; and although the
being cat-hammed, or having the hocks turned inwards, is defective in beauty, it often bespeaks a trotter.
6617. The criteria of a cavalry horse are, that he have considerable extention of bulk or size, to enable
him to carry weight, with good carcase to allow him to feed coarsely, and yet thrive at picket or on service.
He should have also liberty of action ; but great speed is not requisite. The best cavalry horses are those
formed of the united properties of hackneys and very light draught horses.
6618. The criteria of road horses for quick draught, or coach, chariot, stage and jwst chaises, &c., are
derived from the immediate purposes for which they are intended ; as requiring either strength or speed
in greater proportions. To make them safe, the fore-hand should rise, the back should be straight, the step
should be short but quick, which fatigues least. As they approach the hur>ter in fonn, they are best fitted
for quick work ; and as they resemble the best kind of light agricultural horses, they are calculated for
heavy draught, as coaches, &c. But in all, a portion of blood gives courage, durability, and condenses
strength into lessened bulk ; by which activity is gained. It is of great consequence to a coach-horse that
the neck and head be so formed as to be enabled to rein-in well to the bridle.
6619. The criteria of a dray-horse are, that he be very broad breasted and muscular, and thick in the
shoulders, which should not lie backward. Nor should the fore-hand be up, as reconunended in the road-
horse; for, by holding up their heads, such horses may be choked by the collar, as they would, if sa
formed, draw' too much by the throat, and their wind being thus stopped, would be in danger of falling
down. The neck of a dray-horse is not the better for being long, and the head should be proportionate to
it. Like ail horses, he should be chosen with short legs, and good strong hoofs. He ought to be thick in
his thighs, and large in bone ; but above all, he ought to be a steady collared horse, with courage to make
him true to a severe pull ; and yet, without a hot fiery spirit to make him fretful.
6620. The criteria of a waggon horse are, in some respects, dift'erent from those of the dray-horse. He
should be more weighty, and altogether larger. Rapidity of motion is greatly subordinate, in the heavy
stage.waggons usually seen on our roads, to strength. It is all collar work ; nothing is gained from the
momentum of the dragged mass, which, the instant the pull ceases, stands still. The waggon horse should
be patient in the extreme; willing to lie to his collar up-hill, and yet settle into his share of
work on level ground. As his exertions are constant, it is of the greatest consequence that he be a
good feeder.
6621. The criteria of a horse peculiarly adapted to the labours of agriculture, are thus given by Culley : —
His head should be as small as the proportion of the animal will admit ; his nostrils expanded, and muzzle
fine ; his eyes cheerful and prominent ; his ears small, upright, and placed near together ; his neck, rising
out from between his shoulders with an easy tajjering curve, must join gracefully to the head ; his
shoulders, being well thrown back, must also go into his neck (at what is called the jwints) unperceived,
which perhaps facilitates the going much more than the narrow shoulder ; the arm, or fore-thigh, should
be muscular, and tapering from the shoulder, to meet a fine, straight, sinewy, and bony leg; the hoof
circular, and wide at the heel ; his chest deep, and full at the girth ; his loins or fillets broad and straight,
and body round ; his hips or hooks by no means wide, but quarters long, and the tail set on so as to be
nearly in the same right line as his back ; his thighs strong and muscular ; his legs clean and fine-boned ;
the leg-bones not round, but what is called lathy or flat.
6622. The chief points in a farming cart-horse, in the opinion of the author of the New Farmer's
Calendar, are, " neck not long, nor too thick ; short legs, rather flat than round and gummy ; fore-feet
even, not too distant; wide chest; strong, but not high, shoulders; considerable length of waist, sup-
ported by a wide loin; quarters full, and rather raised; strong muscular thigh; size, fifteen hands one
inch to sixteen hands high. Being somewhat forelow gives them an advantage in draught ; and a mode-
rate length of waist insures speed in the walk.
6623. The horse used in husbandry, according to the writer of the Experienced Farmer, ought to be
larger, but in other respects like the road horse : and, instead of walking two or three miles an hour, be
able to walk four or five. In that case he would be able both to plough more land in a given time, and
work in the cart or waggon with more despatch, when wanted. In harvest time, a nimble and strong
horse is valuable. In drawing manure into the field, or corn to the market, the farmer will also find his
account in strength and activity ; for, as the draught in all these cases is light one way, such horses would
do their business with speed. The small farmer need not with this kind of horse keep an idle one ; he
might carry his master to market, and plough the remainder of the week.
6624. In a horse for the plough, according to Brown, both strength and agility are required ; a dash of
blood, therefore, is not disadvantageous. It is not size that confers strength, the largest horses being often
soonest worn out. A quick even step, an easy movement, and a good temper, are qualities of the greatest
importance to a working horse ; and the possession of them is of more avail than big bones, long legs, and
a lumpy carcase. To feed well is also a property of great value ; and this property, as all judges know,
depends much upon the shape of the barrel, deepness of chest, strength of back, and size of the hips or
hooks with which the animal is furnished. If straight in the back, and not over short, high in the ribs,
and with hooks close and round, the animal is generally hardy, capable of undergoing a great deal of
fatigue, without lessening his appetite, or impairing his working powers; whereas horses that are sharp,
pointed, flat ribbed, hollow backed, and wide set in the hooks, are usually bad feeders, and soon done up
when put to hard work.
66'25. The criteria of a horse's age are derived from the appearance of the teeth. According to La Fosse
the younger, there are these appearances. The horse is foaled with six molar or grinding teeth in each
jaw {fig. 844. a) ; the tenth or twelfth day after, the two front nippers (a) appear above and below, and in
d - f
fourteen or fifteen days from this, the two intermediate {b b) are pushed out ; the corner ones {c c) are
not cut till three months after. At ten months the incisive or nippers are on a level with each other, the
front less than the middle, and these again less than the corners ; they at this time have a very sensible
cavity (rf). At twelve months this cavity becomes smaller, and the animal appears with four molar teeth
on each side, above and below, three of the temporaneous or colts', and one permanent or horse tooth :
^t eighteen the cavity in the nippers is filled up, and there are five grinders, two of the horse, and three
temporaneous : at two years [fig. 845.), the first of the colt's molar teeth in each jaw, above and below,
?ire displaced ; at two years and a half, or three years, the front nippers fall and give place to the perma-
nent ones : at three and a half the middle nippers are likewise removed, at which period the second milk-
molar falls : at four years the horse is found with six molar teeth, five of his new set, and one of his
last : at four years and a half the corner nippers of the colt fall and give place to the;permanent set
Book VII. BREEDING OF HORSES. 997
{Jig- 844. e), and the last temporaneous grinder disappears : at five years old the tushes in the horse usually
appear : at five and a half they are completely out, and the internal wall of the upper nippers, which
845
before was incompletely formed, is now on a level with the rest; at this period the incisive or nippers
have all of them a cavity formed in the substance between the inner and outer walls (Jig. 844./), and it is
the disappearance of this that marks the age : at six years those in the front nippers below are filled up
{fiir. 845. e), the tushes are likewise slightly blunted : at seven years the mark or cavity in the middle
rippers is filled up, and the tushes a little more worn [fig. 845./) : at eight years old the corner nippers
are likewise plain, and the tushes are round and shortened (Jig. 845. g). In mares, the incisive or nippers
alone present a criterion {fig. 845. a) ; at this period the horse is said to be aged, and to have lost his
mark ; but among good judges the teeth still exhibit sufficient indications. At nine the groove in the
tushes in worn away nearly, and the nippers become rather rounded : at ten these appearances are still
stronger : at twelve the tushes only exhibit a rounded stump, the nippers push forward, become yellow,
fUid as the age advances, appear triangular and usually uneven.
()f)26. M. St. Bel, the late professor of the English Veterinary College, used to assert, that after eight
years the cavities in the anterior or upper incisive teeth are filled up with equal regularity; thus from
pight to ten the front ones were filled up, from ten to twelve the two middle, and from twelve to fourteen
ihose of the corner ; but though some pains have been taken to ascertain this, it does not appear that
the disappearance of the cavities in these teeth is attended with sufficient regularity to warrant implicit
confidence.
6627, To jnake a colt appear older than he really is, both breeders and dealers very commonly draw the
nippers, particularly the corner ones ; by which means the permanent set which are underneath imme-
diately appear, and the animal is thus fitted for sale before he otherwise would be.
6G28. To make a horse look younger than he really Is, dealers perform an operation on the teeth called
bishopping (from the name of a noted operator) ; which consists in making an artificial cavity in the nip-
pers, after the natural one has been worn out by age, by means of a hard sharp tool ; which cavity is then
burned black by a heated instrument. But no art can restore the tushes to their form and height, as well
as their internal grooves. It is, therefore, common to see the best judges thrust their finger into a horse's
mouth, contenting themselves with merely feeling the tush. To less experienced judges other appear-
ances present themselves as aid.s. Horses, when aged, usually become hollow above the eyes, the hoofs
appear rugged, the under lip falls, and if grey, they become white. In this country, where horses are so
early worked before the frame is consolidated, and where afterwards they continue to be exerted unceas-
ingly on hard roads, it is not uncommon to find a horse at six years old feeble, debilitated, and exhibiting
all the marks of old age, except in his mouth ; on the contrary, when the animal falls into other hands, at
ten or twelve he has all the vigour of youth, and his teeth are the only parts that present an indication
of age : it is, therefore, more useful to examine the general appearance of the animal, than to be guided
altogether by the marks in the teeth ; a too strict adherence to which, Blaine observes, lead into great
error on the subject of the age of horses. The commonly received marks, he says, grant not a criterion
of a third of the natural life of the animal, nor of one half of the time in which he is perfectly useful.
Many good judges will not purchase a horse for hunting earlier than eight years old, and regard him only
in his prime at twelve. A gentleman at Dulwich has a monument to the memory of each of three seve-
ral horses which died in his possession at the age of thirty-five, thirty-seven, and thirty-nine years ; the
latter of which was suddenly taken off by a fit of colic, having been in harness but a few hours before.
Culley mentions a horse of fortj'-five ; and an instance lately occurred of one which lived to fifty. Blaine,
in continuation, draxvs the following comparison between the relative situations of the state of tiie consti-
tution, between the horse and man, under the ordinary circumstances of care towards each : — The first
five years of the horse may be considered as equivalent to the first twenty of a man ; a horse of ten as a
man of forty ; of fifteen as a man of fifty ; of twenty as a man of sixty ; of twenty-five as a man of
seventy ; of thirty as a man of eighty ; and of thirty-five as a man of ninety. . ( Vet. Outlines, p. 35.)
Sect. X. Breeding of Horses.
6629. The general principles of breeding we have already laid down at length (2023.), and have here to
notice what are considered the best practices in the choice of stallions and mares, and in the treatment
of the latter during pregnane}'. Unfortunately, however, much less attention has been paid to breeding
horses, than to breeding cattle or sheep; though, as Brown has observed, a pound of horse-flesh is
worth two of that of any other stock ; and it costs just as much to breed a bad horse as a good one. Every
one, an eminent writer observes, exercises some degree of judgment in regard to the stallion ; but there
are few breeders, comparatively, who hesitate to employ very ill-formed and worthless mares, and often
solely because they are unfit for any thing else than bringing a foal. All the best writers on agriculture
reprobate this absurd and unprofitable practice. " In the midland counties of England, the breeding of
cart horses is attended to with the same assiduity as that which has of late years been bestowed on cattle
and sheep ; while the breeding of saddle horses, hunters, and coach horses is almost entirely neglected ;
or left almost wholly to chance, even in Yorkshire, — I mean as to females. A breeder b.ere would not
give five guineas for the best brood mare in the kingdom, unless she could draw or carry him occasionally
to market ; nor a guinea extraordinary for one which could do both. He would sooner breed from a rip,
which he happens to have upon his premises, though not worth a month's keep. But how absurd ! The
price of the leap, the keep of the mare, and the care and keep of her progeny, from the time they drop
to the time of sale, are the same, whether they be sold from ten to fifteen, or from forty to fifty pounds
each." [Marshal's Econo7fiy of Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 166.) A little consideration will show tiiis error in a
still stronger light, when we consider, that united with the characteristic marks common to the breed in
general, tiie progeny of two individuals always exhibits traits of resemblance to each; and as the defect?
are as certainly propagated as the excellencies, so a neglect in being equally careful in our selection of
the female as the male parent is actually bespeaking deformity. It being also now and then observed^
that a stronger resemblance is borne to the mother than to the father ; so the chances of a worthless
colt are increased. It having likewise been remarked, that every variety has a tendency to breed back
towards its original, so "a breed thus constituted can hardly admit of amelioration, but remains stamped
by its original erroneous selection. These remarks, it is hoped, will encourage our breeders to be less
indifferent to the choice of their breeding mares.
6630. In those districts tvkere the breeding of horses is carried on upoji a large scale and a regular plan,
the rearing of stallions forms in some degree a separate branch ; and is confined, as in the case of bulls
3 S 3
998 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
and rams, to a few eminent breeders. These stallions, which are shown at the different towns in the
vicinity, sometimes sent to be exhibited at a considerable distance, are let out for the whole season, or
sold to stallion men, or kept by the breeder himself, for covering such mares as may be offered, at a cer.
tain price per head ; and this varies according to the estimation in which the horse is held, and sometimes
according as the mare has more or less of what is called blood. For farm mares, the charge for covering
by a stallion of the same kind is commonly about a guinea, with half-a-crown to the groom ; and it is a
common practice in the NcAth, to agree for a lower rate if the mare does not prove with foal ; sometimes
nothing more is paid in that case than the allowance to the groom.
6()ol. In choosing the parents, or stallion and mare, regard must be had to the kind of stock desired to
be bred. Whatever may be the particular purjKJse of the breed, a stallion ought first to possess all the gene-
ral properties of a good horse, and next the characteristic criteria of the desired stock. The produc?,
whether a male or female, much more frequently acquires and retains the form, make, marks, and dis-
position of the sire than the dam. On this account, stallions with the least appearance of disease, blemish,
or bodily defect of any kind, where there is the slightest probability of its being transmittted to the off.
spring, should be rejected as improper. And it is even considered by some necessary to descend to the
minutisB of symmetry in the head, neck, shoulder, forehead, ribs, back, loins, joints, and pasterns, attend-
ing even to a strict uniformity in the form, make, and texture of the hoofs : it is also of importance to
ascertain the temper and disposition of both sire and dam, in order to avoid the procreation of vices or
imperfections. But provided either parents be free frora^hereditary infirmities, disorders which arise from
accident are of no consequence.
66o2. The general properties required in a breeding mare, are a good shape, a gentle disposition, a large
carcase conformably to ner height, and belly well let down ; she must be perfectly free from all sorts of
blemishes and defects. The size, frame, bone, strength, and blood, will of course be regulated by the pur-
poses of the breeder.
6633. The mare which is intended to srupphj draught colts should, according to the author of the Sy.
nopsis of Husbandry, be large-limbed, close-jointed, short-docked, wide-chested, home-ribbed, with a
capacious body ; her" eyes good, and her nostrils large and open ; in disposition she ought to he gentle and
tractable; of a constitution healthy and vigorous, free from any blemishes either hereditary or acquired.
The horse should be bold and spirited, well made, and of a kindly disposition j his constitution should be
strong, his temper good, and, in short, neither in mind or body ought he to be contaminated with vices or
disease of any kind ; since on the good qualities and strength of constitution in the sire and the dam de-
pends, in a great measure, the future welfare of the colt.
663k The age at which horses should be alloiucd to breed is not determined by uniform practice ; and is
made to depend, in some measure, on the degree of maturity, which, in animals of the same species, is
more or less early, according to breed and feeding. Yet it would seem, in general, to be an improper prac-
tice to allow animals of any kind to propagate, while they are themselves in a raw unformed state, and
require all the nutriment which their food affords, for raising them to the ordinary size of the variety to
which they belong. It may, therefore, be seldom advisable to employ the stallion till he is about four
years old, or the mare till she is a year older, and if the stallion be five also it is better, and still more so
if he be six or seven. But the greater number of mares left for breeding are not very young ; being in
many cases not allowed to bring foals till they are in the decline of life, or otherwise unable to bear their
full share in rural labour.
6635. Three months brforc a stallion is sexualli/ ernployed, he sjiould be fed with sound oats, peas, or beans,
or with coarse bread, and a little hay, but a good quantity of wheat straw ; he should be watered regu-
larly, and have long continued walking exercise every day, but he should not be over-heated. If he be
not prepared and put in condition, the colts will be likely to be weakly, and the horse himself will become
injured, begetting humours, or becoming broken-winded. If he be i>ut to too many mares, he will not
last long ; his mane and tail will begin to fall off through weakness, and it will be dilficult to get up his
flesh again by the next year. The number of marcs should be proportioned to his strength, and twelve,
fifteen, or at the most twenty, are as many as a horse will well serve for in a season. This number, indeed,
is thought by many too few, and in Suffolk, we are informed on the best authority, the stallions serve from
fifty to seventy, and even eighty mares in a season.
6636. The usual season fur the generative process is from the beginning of April to the beginning of
July. The month of June is considered the best season in this country ; although from the middle to the
end of May is more approved of on the Continent, particularly in Normandy, where the farmers devote
much of their attention to this branch of husbandry; and in which, especially in regard to useful farm
horses, they have succeeded, perhaps, beyond those in any other part of Europe. This difference, as to
the time when a mare should be allowed to take the horse, in the different countries, is easily reconcile-
able : a mare goes eleven months and a few days with foal ; and the great object with all farmers, where
practicable, is to have her covered at such a period as to ensure abundance of grass, and the return of
warm and comfortable weather at the period of foaling. An early colt is always to be preferred to one
that falls late in the season. It is generally understood, and is an opinion that is believed to be well
founded, that a mare may be covered on the ninth day after she has foaled, with a greater degree of suc-
cess than at any other period. This practice is, of course, often followed ; but in such cases the mare
ought, Donaldson thinks, to be fed in an extraordinary manner, otherwise it is impossible she can do jus-
tice to her present and her future foal. But modern farmers would probably, he says, come nearer
their purpose, were they to follow the example of the Romans, and content themselves with one foal in
the two years.
6637. At the season of parturition, there should be a suitable supply of food for the tnother and young. The
time of covering mares ought, therefore, to be partly regulated by a due regard to this circumstance, and
maybe earlier in the south than in the north, where grass, the most desirable food both for the dam and
foal, does not come so early by a month or six weeks. In Scotland, it is not advantageous to have mares
to drop their foals sooner than the middle of April ; and as the period of gestation is about eleven months,
they are usually covered in May, or early in June. But if mares are intended to bring a foal every year,
they should be covered from the ninth to the eleventh day after foaling, whatever may be the time ; and
the horse shonld be brought to them again nine or eighteen days afterwards.
6638. In breeding horses on a large scale it is easy to contrive so that all the foals may be brought forth
at a time when there is plenty of grass. About the end of May the marcs are to be put into an enclosure
capable of feeding them as long as the stallion is to be with them, or that they are in season. In this
enclosure all the mares are to be put together, as well those which are barren as others. The stallion's
hind shoes are to be taken off, but the fore shoes should be left, or tips put on to preserve his feet ; then
lead him forth, and let him cover a mare twice in hand, to render him more tame and gentle. After this
take off the bridle and turn him loose among the rest, where he will become familiar with them, and not
one of them will be horsed but when they are in season. There should be a little lodge built up in some
part of the enclosure, and peas, beans, oats, bread, and other good foot!, put into the manger in it, that
the horse may retire into it in the scorching heats, and eat what he likes best. He must be thus enter-
tained during the whole time he is with the mares, which is to be about six or seven weeks. Mares that
are very fat and gross do not hold well ; but those which are moderately fat conceive with the greate&t
success and ease.
6639. To bring a mare in season, it is a common thing to give her a quart of hemp-seed, or twice that
quantity, night and morning for eight days before she is brought to the horse. If she refuse it alone, it may
be mixed with beans or oats, and will go down ; and if the stallion eat of it, it will force him also; but
it must be remembered that these provocatives are unnatural, and often defeat their own purposes. They
Book VII. REARING OF HORSES. 999
are therefore seldom now resorted to among intelligent breeders. Still more improper is it to attempt an
early horsing, by injecting stimulating fluids up the vagina as is sometimes done ; for when it succeeds,
the future progeny seldom answers the expectation.
6640. The treatment of a pregnant mare is in general little different from that of any other hoj"se.
Mares of draught are worked in summer as usual, and more moderately in the ensuing winter, till near
the time of foaling ; when, if the season be somewhat advanced, even though the pasture be not fully
sullicient for their maintenance, they should be turned out to some grass field near the homestead, and
receive what additional supply of food may be necessary under sheds adjoining. It is both incon-
venient and dangerous to confine a mare about to foal in a common stable, and still more so to leave
her loose in a close stable among other horses ; and confinement is not much less objectionable after
dropping her foal.
66-il. Breeding mares are usually worked through the greatest part of the year, laying them aside only
for a week or two before foaling, and during the summer season, when giving suck to the young foal. In
this way, Brown observes, the strength and vigour of the mother is not only weakened, but the size and
power of the foal stand a great chance of being diminished, by the exertions of the mother when kept at
work. Under these impressions we are led to consider the working of breeding mares as an unprofitable
practice. Were they suffered to remain at ease, to roam upon coarse pastures, where sheds were erected
in which they might find shelter during inclement weather, we are almost certain that their progeny
would enter upon action with increased abilities. The expense of a breetling mare kept in this way would
not be great, whilst the advantages would be innumerable. In Yorkshire, and in those midland counties
where the breeding and rearing of horses is better understood than in any other part of the island, they
are often worked till the very time of foaling. Great care, however, is necessary in working and manag-
ing a mare heavy with foal : an over-heat, too severe exercise, a fright, or a sudden and violent jerk,
are very apt to cause an untimely birth, whereby the foal is lost, and the life of the mare very much
endangered.
6642. In the mountains of Wales, and in the Highlands of Scotland, the breeding mares are never
worked during the summer. They are driven to the hills and mountains at the close of the barley-seed
season, where they remain till the inclemency of the weather forces them to return for shelter. But their
scanty subsistence, the labour they are subjected to in procuring their food, and the moistness and cold-
ness of the climate in the latter part of the season, render both themselves and their progeny of but little
value and importance.
6643. Far7ns, consisting chiefly of pasture land unfit for feeding, are the situations where breeding is
generally carried on. Arable farmers may breed occasionally ; but the inconvenience of wanting any
part of their working stock at the time of foaling operates almost as a prohibition to the breeding of
horses. The greater number of horses are bred in situations where a small portion of arable land is
attached to farms chiefly occupied with cattle or sheep ; or where the farms are so small as not to afford
full and constant employment to the number of horses that must, nevertheless, be kept for the labour of
particular seasons.
Sect. XI. Reanng of Horses.
6644. Bearing includes the treatment qf the foal till it is fit to work, or to bo put in training for use, and
also the treatment of the mother till she has weaned her foal.
6645. In regard to the treatment of the mare till she has tvcaned her foal in England, and in the im-
proved parts of Scotland, a mare after having foaled is turned, together with the foal, into a pasture field,
and is allowed two or three weeks' rest, before she is again worked, either in plough or cart ; the foal
being allowed to suck at pleasure during the time. After having had a few weeks' rest, she is again
worked in the usual manner; the foal being commonly shut up in a house during the hours of working.
In Yorkshire, some farmers are particularly careful not to allow the mare to go near the foal, after her
return from labour, till her udder has been bathed with cold water, and not till most of the milk is drawn
from it. These precautions are used with a view of preventing any bad consequences from the foal's re-
ceiving over-heated milk. Another practice, and which is superior to the above, is also common in York-
shire, and in many parts of Scotland : — After the foal is a few weeks old, and has acquired strength and
agility enough to follow its mother, it is allowed to attend her in the field during the hours of labour, and
to suck occasionally. By this means, not only does the foal receive sufficient exercise ; nor can any pre.
judicial effect happen from the over-heated state of the milk, as the foal is allowed to draw it off repeatedly,
and at short intervals ; but the little animal becomes hardy, and loses all timidity, and afterwards requires
less breaking : these may be considered as the general modes of management in those parts of the king-
dom mentioned above, during the period while the foal is allowed to suck its dam, which is usually about
six months ; that is, from the time of foaling till Michaelmas, which is the period at which foals are
generally weaned, or prevented from sucking. Breeding mares are evidently unable to endure the fatigue
of constant labour, for sonte months before and after parturition : this has led a few farmers to rear foals
upon cow-milk ; but the practice is neither common nor likely ever to become so; and as it is a philo-
sophical fact, well established, that all animals partake, in some measure, of the nature of their foster
parent, so there is great reason to fear this practice would prove injurious to foals so reared.
6646. In weaning the foal at the end of six or seven months, great care should be taken to keep the
mare and foal from the hearing of each other, that neither may fret or pine after the other. The best
method will be to confine the foal in a small stable by itself, which should be furnished with a rack and
manger, where it may be fed with clean shaken hay, and clean sifteii oats, bruised a little in a mill, or
chopped carrots, or boiled potatoes. With this management, he will quickly forget his dam, and become
gentle and familiarised to his keeper, and in fair weather may be suffered to exercise himself in a pasture
adjoining to the stable; but this should be only for a little while in the middle part of a sunny day; the
tenderness of the young animal rendering it dangerous to keep him out in the night,
6647. The treatment of weaned foals in England, is to put them immediately into a good fresh pasture,
where they remain as long as the winter continues moderate. On the apprach of winter, they are fed
with a sufficient quantity of hay, placed in a stable or hovel, erected in the field for the purpose, and into
which they have free access at all times. I'he next summer they are put into other pastures, commonly
the most indifferent on the farm, where they remain till the beginning of the following winter, when they
are either allowed to range in the pasture fields, or brought home to the straw-yard. The inclemency of
the winter in Scotland, and the great falls of snow which generally take place, render it necessary
always to house the foals there during that season.
6648. During the first winter foals are fed on hay with a little corn, but should not be constantly con-
fined to the stable; for even when there is nothing to be got on the fields, it is much in their favour to be
allowed exercise out of doors. A considerable proportion of succulent food, such as potatoes, carrots,
and Swedish turnips (oil-cake has been recommended), should be given them through the next winter,
and beans and peas meal has been advantageously substituted for oats ; but which, if allowed in a con-
siderable quantity, are injurious to the thriving of the young animal, from their heating and astringent
nature.
6649. Ihxring the following summer their pasture depends upon the circumstances of the farms on which
they are reared. In the second winter they are fed in much the same manner as in the first, except that
straw may be given for some months instead of hay ; and in the third winter they have a greater allow-
ance of corn, as they are frequently worked at the' harrows in the cnsufng .'spring. {General Report of
Scotland, vol. iii. p. ISo.) When about tliree years old, the author of the New Farmer's Calendar advices
3 S 4
1000 PHACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
foals to be fed all winter with a little corn twice a day, w^h hay, oat-straw, &c. Where carrots can be
procured, they form a most excellent feed for colts of every age, on which they will thrive surprisingly.
With the use of carrots, no corn is necessary, nor any caution requisite against an over-heating effect froiri
a more stimulating diet. Care should, however, be taken to cul them properly, allowing a well littered
shed, or warm straw-yard. Colts fed at home with green meat, cut during summer, should have a daily
range on a common, or elsewhere, for exercise. Yearlings to be carefully kept separate from the milch
mares.
6ri50. The time for gelding coifs is usually the .same in both parts of the kingdom, which is, when they
are about a year old; although, in Yorkshire, this operation is frequently suspended till the spring of the
second year, especially when it is intended to keep them on hand, and without employing them in labour
till the following season. Parkinson disfijjproves of delaying this operation so long, and recommends
twitching the colts, a practice well known to the ram-breeders, any time after a week old, or as soon after
as the testicles are come down ; and this method, he says, he has followed himself with great success.
(^Parkinson on Live Stock, vol. ii. p. 74.) Blaine's remarks on the subject of castration appear worthy of
notice : he says, when the breed is particularly good, and considerable expectations are formed on the colt,
it is always prudent to wait till twelve months : at this period, if his fore parts are correspondent with liis
hinder, proceed to castrate ; but if he be not sufficiently well up before, or his neck be too long and thin,
and his shoulders spare, he will assuredly improve by being allowed to remain whole six or eight months
longer. Another writer suggests for experiment, the spaying of mares, thinking they would work better,
and have more wind than geldings. {MarshaVs Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 169.) But he does not appear to have
been aware that this is by no means a new experiment : for Tusser, who wrote in 1562, speaks of gelding
fillies as a common practice at that period. The main objection to this operation is not that brood mares
would become scarce, as he supposes, but that,- by uicapacitating them from breeding in case of accident,
and in old age, the loss in this expensive species of live-stock would be greatly enhanced. An old or lame
raare would then be as worthless as an old or lame gelding is at present.
6651. The rearing of horses is carried on in some places in so systematical a manner, as to combine the
profit arising from the advance in the age of the animals, with that of a moderate degree of labour, before
they are fit for the purposes to which they are ultimately destined. In the midland counties, the breeders
sell them while yearlings, or perhaps, when foals ; namely, at six or eighteen months old, but most generally
the latter. They are mostly brought up by the graziers of Leicestershire, and the other grazing parts of
the midland counties, where they are grown among the grazing-stock until the autumn following. At
two years and a half old they are bought up by the arable farmers, or dealers of Buckinghamshire,
Berkshire, Wiltshire, and other western counties, when they are broken into harness, and worked till
they are five, or more generally, six years old. At this age the dealers buy them up again to be sent to
London, where they are finally purchased for drays, carts, waggons, coaches, the army, or any other pur-
pose for which they are found fit. (Marshal's Economy of the Midland Counties, vol. i. p. 311.)
66.52. In the west of Scotland, a similar mode of transferring horses from hand to hand is common.
The farmers of Ayrshire, and the counties adjacent, who generally grow corn on not more than one fourth,
or at the most, one third of their arable land, and occupy the remainder with a dairy stock, purchase
young horses at the fair of Lanark and Carnwath before mentioned ; work them at the harrows in the
following spring when below two years old ; put them to the plough next winter, at the age of two and a
half, and continue to work them gently till they are five years old, when they are sold again at the Ruther-
glen and Glasgow markets at a great advance of price, to dealers and farmers from the south-eastern
counties. A Considerable number of horses, however, are now bred in the Lolhians, Berwickshire, and
Roxburghshire, the very high pi-ices of late having rendered it profitable to breed them, even upon good
arable ground ; but many farmers of these counties, instead of breeding, still prefer purchasing two and
a half or three and a half year old colts, at the markets in the west country, or at Newcastle fair, in
October : they buy in a certain number yearly, and sell an equal number of their work horses before they
are so old as to lose much of their value. [General Report of Scotland, vol. iii. p. 182.)
Sect. XII. Training of Horses.
6353. Horses are trained for various purposes, but principally for carrying our persons or drawing our
burdens. Formerly, burdens were principally borne on the back by pack-horses, but the improvements
in our roads have removed them from the back, to machines called carriages, drawn by means of harness
applied over the person of the horse. Under saddle, we train horses as racers, hunters, hackneys, or troop
horses. In harness we use them in coaches, stages, chariots, and various lighter vehicles, or we emi>loy
them in waggons, carts, ploughs, and various other agricultural or commercial machines. Horses are held
iu obedience by means of bridles, with appendages called reins, which are long or short, as used in riding
or driving. Horses are directed and urged forward by whip, spur, and language, and they are chastised
by the same means.
66j4. The directive language used to horses ought to be every where the same, which is the more easily
accomplished, as words or phrases are sufficient for giving every requisite direction to a horse. The first
of these words may be " on," or go on, or merely the common chuck of the tongue, &c as used by all
coachmen in the world ; the second to make the horse go to the right-hand side," right-hand;" the
third, to the left-hand side, " left-hand ;" the fourth to make thern stop, may be " stop," or " stand-still."
Any attempt to modify these directions ought to be given in the correct language of the country, and not
in provincial words, as go on, slowly, briskly, right-hand, a little round, or turn, left-hand, a little, or left-
hand and round, stop, or stand gently, &c. As a proof that only four words are requisite for giving every
requisite direction to horses, we may mention that foreigners in Stockholm, Petersburgh, and Moscow,
who know nothing of the language, require only four corresponding words of Swedish or Russian to
direct the native coachmen and sledge drivers to any street, house, or place, the situation of which they
know by the maps, or othervi^ise.
6655. The three natural and ordinary movements of horses are, walking, trotting, and galloping, to
which some horses naturally add another, which is known by the name of " ambling," or "pacing."
The trot is, perhaps, the most natural motion of a horse, but the pace, and even the gallop, are most easy
to the rider.
6656. In training saddle horses, the first thing is to make them familiar with man, and other general
objects, and which is best effected at the earliest periods, which then saves almost all the trouble of break-
ing, and docility follows as a matter of course : to efffect this, the greatest kindness should be used to the
colts from the moment they are dropped : they should be accustomed to be handled, should be fed with
bread patted in various parts of the body, have light matters put on their heads and backs, and subjects
of different colours and forms should be shown them with caution. While at foot, the mare and foal
should be led out into roads, and where carriages pass, during which time nothing should be allowed to
intimidate the foal. By this management, the animal will be easily prepared for the future operations}
and it is thus that the single foal the ploughed-land farmer breeds, and which daily follows the mother
in her work, as it were breaks itself.
6657. Backing is the next operation, and if the colt has been judiciously used, and taught familiarity
and docility by early handling and kindness, it is by no means difficult. It should be commenced before
the colt is two and a half or three years old. The first backing of a horse is a thing of great consequence,
as his value afterwards very much depends of it. The application of the saddle should be gradually done,
and without alarm to the horse. After a colt has become habituated to the saddle and bridle, and has
been exercised some time, morning and evening in them, and become somewhat obedient, it is usually
IJuoK VII. TRAINIiNG OF HORSES. 1001
recommended that he be taken to some ploughed land, where he Is to be walked and trottetl until he be
slightly fatigued. If the colt be very high spirited or refractory, or if he be not inclined to lift up his legs
sulticiently, it may be admissible to practise him on some very light-ploughed lands ; but if otherwise, it is
belter to dispense with this, and a field and a road alternately used will, in general cases, be found prefer-
able. It would bo well that this preliminary practice should be performed in a cavesson to ensure obedi-
ence. When he is perfectly tractable during his exercise, let a person used to him lay himself gently and
by degrees across his back ; and if he seem not to be alarmed, let him proceed at a foot-pace with his
burden. When this occasions no alarm, let one leg gradually be slid over his back, the person at his head
engaging his attention during the time, and encouraging him. The rider may then gradually raise himself
up. '1 he next step will be to mount him at once in the usual way, still having a judicious attendant at his
head : this must likewise by no means be done suddenly, or at a jerk, but very gradually and slowly, by
several risings and heavings. If he bear this patiently, the person is to seat himself firmly on his back ;
but if he be troublesome and not tame enough, the person is to forbear the attempt to mount, and he is to
be trotted in the hand over the same ploughed lands or other ground again, till he is more fatigued, and
willing to receive the rider quietly on his back : when this is done, the person who is on his back must
encourage him, and the man who has his head must lead him a few paces forward ; all the while en-
couraging him. The feet are to be fitted well in the stirrups, and the toes turned out ; afterwards the rider
is to shrink and move.himself in the saddle, and the person who holds his head is to withdraw his hand a
little farther from the mouth. As the rider moves his toes forward, the holder must move him forward
with the rein, till he is made to apprehend the rider's motion of body and foot, which must always go
together, and with spirit, and will go forward without the other's assistance, and stay upon the restraint
of the rider's hands. When this is accom[)lished, let him be cherished, and again have grass and bread to
eat; and then let the rider mount and alight several times, encouraging him between each time, and thus
he is to be managed till he will go on, or stand still at pleasure. This being done, thelong rein may be
laid aside, and the band about the neck, which are always used on this occasion, and notlung will be neces-
sary but the trenches and cavesson, with the martingal. A groom must lead the way before j or another
horse going only straight forwards, and making him stand still when desired. In this manner, by some-
times following, and sometimes going before another horse on the trot, the creature will by degrees be
brought to know that it is his business to be quiet and governable.
6i);;8. To teach a horse the different tnovements of ivalking, trotting, galloping, and ambling, comes next
in order.
fifijy. Walking \s the slowest and least raised of all a horse's movements. It is performed, as any one
may observe, by the horse's lifting up its two legs on a side, the one after the other, beginning with the
hind leg first. Thus, if he leads with the legs of the right side, then the firstfoot he lifts is the far hind
foot; and in the time he is setting it down (wiiich in a step is always short of the tread of his fore foot on
the same side) he lifts his far fore foot, and sets it down before his near fore foot. Again, just as he is
setting down his far fore foot, he lifts up his near hind foot, and sets it down again just short of his near
fore foot ; and just as he is setting it down, he lifts his near fore foot, and sets it down beyond his far fore
foot. This is the true motion of a horse's legs in a walk ; and this is the pace in which many things are
best taught ; for instance, when the horse is to be taught to turn to the right and left, or from one hand to
another, he is first to be taught it on the walk, then on the trot, and finally on the gallop. The walk is a
pace to which team, carriage, and road horses should constantly be well broke, as being of great use in all
such cases and intentions. It is an excellent pace too in a saddle horse, when well performed by being
properly taught.
f)ti6(). In trotting, the limbs are diagonally employed ; but their tenses or times, or rising and falling, are
very different, as it is conducted slow or fast. In the slow trot the diagonal legs are elevated and replaced
siiiailtaneously ; while those on the ground are preparing to elevate themselves, and the horse is for a
moment on tiptoe ; but until the original diagonal legs are set down, these are not wholly elevated : there-
fore thejiorse is during the moderate trot at no time without support. But it is very different when the
trot is accelerated, as to nine or ten miles an hour; for then there is a period in every spring made by the
diagonal members, when all the feet are
in the air at the same time; and the
body completely suspended from the
ground by these means. Thus during
this accelerated action, the off fore leg
and near hind leg having been elevated
in the air, before they meet the ground,
the near fore leg and the off" hind one
are not only prepared, as in the slow trot,
to elevate themselves, but actually do so
before the others are set down ; conse-
quently, the feet, at this precise time,
must be all in air. [fig. 8-lfi.) To speed
in the trot, it is necessary that a horse
pick up his feet quick, and extend them
far forward. To the safety also, it is
necessary he elevate his knee particu.
larly ; at the same time the general
elevation of the whole limb is operated by high withers and oblique shoulders.
6661. Three qualities are essentially necessary to make the trot useful. It ought to be extended, supple,
and even, or equal : these three qualities mutually depend upon each other, so that you cannot pass to the
supple trot without having first worked upon the extended trot ; and you can never arrive at the even
and ( qual trot without having practised the supple. The extended trot [Jxg. 846.) is that in which the
horse trots out without retaining himself, going directly forwards ; and this consequently is the kind of
trot With which you must begin. The svpple trot is that in which the hore, at every motion he makes,
bends and plays his joints by the elasticity of the organs composing them; which no colts or raw horses
can execute, who have not had their limbs suppled by exercise. The even or cqnal trot is that in which
the horse moves so equally and exactly, that his legs never cover more ground one than the other nor atone
time more than another. To go fromthe extended trot to the sujiple, you must gently and by degrees hold
in your horse ; and when by exercise he has attained sufficient ease and suppleness to manage his
limbs readily, you must insensibly hold him in still more and more, and by degrees you will lead him to
the equal trot.
666'2. The manner of trotting a colt irho has never been bached is as follows : — Put a plain snaffle in his
mouth ; fit a cavesson to his nose, to the ring of which tie a longe of a reasonable length. Let a groom
hold this longe, who having got at some distance from the colt, must stand still in the middle of the circle
which the horse will make. Let another follow him with a long whip or chambrifere in his hand. The
cold being alarmed, will be forced to go forward, and to turn within the length of the cord, the groom must
hold it tight in his hand ; by this means he will draw m, or towards the centre, the head of the colt, and
his croujie will of consequence be without the circle. In working a young horse after this manner do not
press or hurry him. Let him walk first, and afterwards put him to the trot. If you neglect this method
his legs will be embarrassed : he will lean on one side, and be more upon one haunch than the other ;
tiie inner fore foot will strike against the outer one, and the jwin which this will occasion will drive him
tv> seek some mcaris of defence, and make him disobedient. If he refuses to trot, the person who holds
1002 TRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
the chambriL-re will animate hira by trotting him, or striking the ground with it. If he offers to gallop
instead of trotting, the groom must shake or jerk the cord that is tied to the cavesson, and he will fall into
his trot {Bi-renger's Art of Horsemanship, vol. i. chap. 4.) The value of this longing in a circle is
incalculable, inasmuch as it supples the shoulders, and gives them a greater extent of action. It also in-
creases the action of the whole limb downwards, and accustoms the horse to effect other movements, to be
performed with an elevated hand.
&iii2. The gallop is the swiftest natural pace of a horse, in which the two fore feet become elevated
almost at the same moment, but one slightly takes the lead of the other, and must therefore be set down
beyond and somewhat after it : previous to this, however, the hinder legs have become elevated, with
also a little precedence in the leg of that side which has been led by the fore. Such is the natural gallop
of the horse; when it is performed with its utmost velocity the limbs are simultaneous and synchronous.
(6S64.) In galloping the horse may lead with which fore leg he pleases ; the most usual way is that with
the right, in which case the gallop is said to he just ; but whichsoever it be, the hind leg of the same side
must follow it next, which forms an even or equal gallop ; otherwise the legs are said to be disunited, and
the gallop to he false ; to remedy which disorder, the rider must stay the horse a little on the hand, and
help him on the spur on the contrary side to that on which he is disunited. However, this rule has not
been always strictly observed ; for hunting horses have been trained to lead indifferently with both legs,
because it has been found, that a horse which has never been suffered to gallop but with his right fore
leg, has been worn out on one side, when he has been fresh and sound on the other. In order to make a
stop in a gallop straight forwards, the rider should carefully put his horse together, without altering or
disturbing the appui, and throw his body back a little to accompany the action, and to relieve the horse's
shoulders. In doing this he should seize the time of making the stop, keeping the hand and body quite
still, exactly when he feels the horse put his fore feet to the ground, in order that by raising them im-
mediately by the next motion which he makes, he may be upon his haunches. When horses do not
answer to the lessons in the gallop, they should be galloped briskly, and then slowly again by turns, and
they will thus be compelled to obey the hand and heel. In the slow gallop, as well as in the trot, it is
sometimes necessary to close the heels to the horse's sides, which is called pinching ; but this should be
done in such a manner as not to make the horse abandon himself upon the hand, and care must be taken
that he be upon his haunches, and not upon his shoulders ; and therefore, when he is pinched, he should
be kept in the hand. To put a horse well together, and make him bring his hinder legs under him, the
rider must close his legs upon him, putting them very much back ; this will oblige him to slide his legs
under him ; at the same instant let the hand be raised a little to support him before, and yielding again
immediately. Let him be thus supported, and have the rein again from time to time, till he begins to
play and bend his haunches, and gallops leaning and sitting down, as it were, upon them ; let the rider
then press him with the calves of his legs, and he will thus become quick and sensible to the touch. If
a horse has too fine a mouth, gallop him upon sloping ground ; this will oblige him to lean a little upon
the hand, in order the better to put himself upon the haunches ; and through fear of hurting his bars, he
will be prevented from resisting the operation of the bit. If the horse is heavy in hand, gallop him up
sloi)ing ground j and when his appui is too strong, this will lighten him. The gallop serves to assure and
make steady a weak and delicate mouth, and also to supple a horse, and make him steady and active in
his limbs. {Bej-enger's History and Art of Horsemanship, vol. ii. p. 104., &c.) In galloping in a circle,
the horse is confined always to lead with his fore leg within the turnj otherwise he is said to gallop
false.
6o64. The varieties of gallop may be reduced to the gallop of speed, the ordinary or hand gallop, and
the canter : all others are but compounds of these. The gallop of full speed is the most simple of all the
paces, being nothing more than a succession of leaps ; but it requires repeated efforts to acquire its full
celerity : the fore parts being first raised and thrown forwards are followed by the hinder immediately;
as the velocity increases, the fore and the hind legs become opposed to the ground at almost the same
instant, thus forming a repetition of leaps. The ordinary or ha7id gallop does not differ from the gallop
(6i>(i"3.), except that the leading leg being elevated still earlier, and being carried still more forward, is
followed also by an earlier and a more considerable displacement of its fellow leg behind, which of course
retards the velocity considerably, and lessens the exertion. The school gallop is formed of this, with the
haunches drawn more under, and the fore hand more thrown up.
666;3. The canter is different from the gallop in some essential particulars. Whether the gallop be fast or
slow, still the legs are at one period wholly removed from the ground, and the horse is all in air. In the
canter, on the contrary, at no period is the horse completely elevated from the ground, but has always one
or more points of contact with it. Blaine describes its operation thus : — When performed on the right, the
horse commences by first placing his off" hind leg a little beyond the other ; at nearly the same instant he
elevates the fore hand, and places first the near lore leg on the ground ; the off doubling over and beyond,
is placed in an instant after it. In the next movement the hind legs are thrown in, and, while elevated,
the off fore leg becomes raised from the ground ; but the near fore leg is not elevated until the hinder
ones are replaced. The near fore leg is, therefore, the whole point of support in cantering at each re-
move, and thus it is that cantering horses always first fail on that leg.
6666. The amble is a peculiar kind of pace, by which the horse changes sides at each remove ; two legs
of a side being always in the air, and two on the ground. An amble is usually the first natural pace of
young colts, which, as soon as they have strength enough to trot, they quit. There is no such thing as an
amble in the modern manege ; the riding-masters allowing of no otiier paces besides walk, trot, and gallop ;
their reason is, that a horse may be put from a trot to a gallop, without stopping him; but not from an
amble to a gallop without stopping.
6667. The training of cavalry horses is exclusively performed in the military establishments, and there-
fore can never be required of the farmer or breeder.
6668. The training of coach horses commences with taming, walking, trotting, and repeated longing ;
and next with yoking and driving in a break or four-wheeled frame, with no other load than that of the
coach box or seat placed in the usual position, the driver and his assistant sitting on a board fixed to the
perch or hind axle, in order to be ready at a moment's notice to descend and restrain or direct the horses.
Coach horses, from fifteen to sixteen hands high, should walk light five miles an hour, and trot twelve.
They should be first accustomed to this exercise in the country, next in the outskirts of a large city, and
lastly in the most crowded streets.
6669. The age at which a horse is fit to he ivorked in a coach is four and a l.alf or five years ; but by the
fraudulent practice both of the country and town dealers, horses of three and four years old are frequently
employed. Tlie first business of the Yorkshire dealer, who has three or four years old colts to dispose of,
is to draw their corner teeth, in order to make them have the mouths of those of five. The also undergo
the operation of docking and nicking ; and after having been kept two or three months on mashes, made
of bran, ground oats, or boiled corn, they are sold to the London dealers, who, it is said, sell these three
or four years old horses as if they were five years old. They are then taken into immediate work, either
for the coach or saddle ; and in a few months are completely destroyed by this premature and too severe
labour. The drawing of the teeth is not a fraud practised on the London dealers ; they know the decep-
tion, and insist upon its being done by the country dealers. It is requisite to be done some months before
the London dealers finally sell them for use, or the tooth which denotes a horse to be five years old would
not be grown, consequently the deception could not have taken place.
6670. The training of cart and plough horses commences with taming before they are a year old, with
walking and rubbing them down in the stable when they are two, and with training to work when they
are of three years' growth. They should be placed under the charge of a very steady careful servant, who
Book VII. ART OF HORSEMANSHIP. 1003
will teach them to back, and to go into the shafts. They ought not, however, to be made to draw any
other than a very light empty cart till their fourth or litth year; nor ought they to be put into the siiafts
of a threshing machine before their fifth year. The first work to which an agricultural horse may be
applied is harrowing ; but this during the fourth year only half a day at a time, or with a light harrow
the whole day. Next he may be put to plough with similar care and caution in regard to strength. In
general, agricultural horses require very little training ; but one thing is too often neglected, and that is,
teaching plough horses a quick step, and keeping them at that step ever after in working them. By not
attending to this, and leaving the step to be regulated by lazy spiritless ploughmen, the loss to many
farmers is very considerable.
Sect. XIII. The Art of Horsemanship.
6()71. Horsemanship, as an art, is unquestionably of very ancient date, and it is curious how very dif-
ferent are the modes by which it is practised in different countries ; but which differences are yet prin-
cipally conlined to the situation of the legs of the rider ; for wherever the horse is used to carry the
person, it is by the rider placing himself astride the animal. Horses were used in this way for centuries
before any apparatus was used or applied to their bodies to spare fatigue to the rider ; and we know that
the first saddles were mere pads strapped round the body, but without the appendages of stirrups. In
England, riding is systematically divided into two kinds, which are manege and jockey riding.
6f)7'2. Manege riding, called also riding the great horse, in the strict application of the term, was formerly
more practised than at present ; and required a system of education for both horse and rider long and
severe. Horses perfectly broke for the manege were formerly taught several paces and motions, as ambling,
pacing, passaging, yerking, capriole, and cornetti. The practice of these artificial cadences, it is supposed,
injures the natural pace of the horse ; and this circumstance, imited to a particular form of horse (defective
for other purposes) being required for the elasticity of these actions, has tended to bring manege riding, as
formerly practised, into disrepute. Manege riding also taught the constant application of the seat of the
body of the rider to the seat of the saddle, during all the motions of the horse ; and as a severe edu-
cation, and a particular form, had bestowed ease and elasticity to the rudeness of the manege horse, the
inconveniences of this seat were not felt. But when another form of horse, capable of great speed over
excellent roads, was in general use, this kind of riding was found hurtful to both horse and rider; fatigu.
ing the one, and injuring the other.
6673. The art of proper riding, as practised among experienced horsemen, is derived from a knowledge of
the judicious application of the aids of the bridle, as taught in our schools, and as practised in the army
generally ; and also from a proper application or placing the body on the horse. These we certainly owe
to manege riding ; and a knowledge of them is as essential to the safety of the rider, as it is to the'grace
of his appearance as a horseman. The proper art of riding embraces all that is taught in the best schools,
or practised on the road ; and is equally applicable to both. This is allowed to its fullest extent by those
who have possessed themselves of the requisite information and practice on the subject ; but is denied by
those who, wedded to field riding, contend that the perfection of horsemanship consists in a snaffle bridle
and a jockey seat.
6674. The use of the curb bridle is considered in the schools to be essential to good riding : by it the
horse is not only restrained, but he is also aided and assisted. He is alternately thrown on his haunches, or
forced on his forehand, by which changes fatigue is prevented to both. Great nicety, however, is required
in the use of the curb; and without an inclination and ability to use it lightly and dexterously, a snaffle is
the best and safest bridle. The curb is to be operated by a gentle turn of the wrist only ; and the action of
the hand in this respect should be as fine and as pliable as the fishing rod and line. 1 he force of the
curb should in every instance be proportioned to the mouth of the horse.
667;>. The best form of saddle for general riding is one in which the cantle is not so high as the military,
nor so low as the racing saddle. The pommel sliould be no more raised than is necessary to keep the whole
completely free from the withers. The stirrups should be suustantial, not only to prevent breaking, but
al.«o that by their weight they may fall to the foot when accidentally slipped away ; which is of more con-
sequence than at first sight may appear. If they are of the spring kind, it is also desirable : but it is still
more so, that the spring stirrup leather should be used ; which prevents the danger arising bom horses
catching the leather in the projections of doors, gates, &c. Having saddled and briuled our horse, we will
proceed to mount our rider.
6676. If you ivould mount tniih ease and safety, says Hughes, stand rather before the stirrup than be-
hind it ; then, with the left hand, take the bridle short, and the mane together, help yourself into the
stirrup, with your right, so that, in mounting, your toe do not touch the horse. Your foot being in the
stirruj) raise yourself till you face the side of the horse, and look directly across the saddle ; then, with
your right liand, lay hold of the hinder part of the saddle, and, with your left, lift yourself into it. When
mounted, let your position on the saddle be square, and the purchase of your bridle such as not to pull
your shoulders : and let your body be in such an even posture as if you held a rein in each hand. In
holding the bridle, grasp the reins with your hand, which
QA7 should be held peri)endicular with the reins passed, the lower
° ' witiiin the hand, and the upper between the fore and next
fingers {fig. 847.). The reins are then brought over the fore
finger and firmly held by the thumb. It is often directed to
place the little finger between the lower reins; the practice
of this may be optional with the rider, and in a very fine hand
is desirable. The bridle should be held at such a length as to
enable you if your horse stumbles, to raise his head and support
it with your arms; and by throwing your body backwards at
the same time you frequently save a horse that would other-
wise fall.
6677. A graceful and proper seat on horseback is greatly de-
pendent on a right disposition of the legs and thighs, which
should hang nearly straight down, easily, and without force or constraint : all which is brought about
from above; by placing the body flat and evenly on the saddle, and opening the knees, whereby the fork
will come lower on the saddle, (fi'^. 848.) The thighs should be applied to the saddle and
. , to the sides of the horse by their inner surfaces, so as to bring in the knees and toes ; and
although the line may be properly broken by some little irregularities, yet the foot, the
knee, the hip, and shoulder, should deviate but little from one perpendicidar line. The
ball of the foot should rest within the stirrup, and should be even with the heel, or very
848 slightly elevated above it. Avoid any stiffness in the legs, thighs, or body ; all should be
lax, but in a state to be able to embrace the horse, either for support, or as aids to him.
The loins, particularly, should be lax and pliable, as a coachman's on his box; and for the
same reasons : for by sitting thus loosely, the rough motions of both are broken. To de-
pend on the embrace of the knees for support is to lose the benefit of a true equipoise of
body, and is rather to stick on a horse than to sit on one.
6678. When you are troubled with a horse that is vicious, which stops short, or, by rising
or kicking, endeavours to throw you off, you must not bend your body forward, as is com-
monly practised in such cases ; because that motion throws the breech backward, and moves
you from your fork, or twists and casts you out of your seat ; but the right way to keep your seat, or to
1004 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paht III.
recover it when lost, is to advance the lower part of your body, and to bend back your shoulders and upper
part In flying or standing leaps, a horseman's best security is the bending back of the body. The rising
of the horse does not affect the rider's seat ; he is chiefly to guard against the lash of the animal's hind
legs, which is best done by inclining the body backwards. But the usual method of fixing the knees in all
cases of danger only serves, in great shocks, to assist the violence of the fall. To save yourself from being
hurt, in these cases, you must yield a little to the horse's motion ; by which means you will recover your
seatjpif displaced, or keep it at such times as would dismount an unskilful horseman.
■6n79. If your horse grows unruly, take the reins separately, one in each hand, put your arms forward,
and hold him short, but do not pull hard with your arms low ; for, by lowering his head, he has the more
liberty to throw out his heels : but if you raise his head as high as you can, this will prevent him from
rising behind. Is it not reasonable to imagine, that, if a horse is forced towards a carriage which he has
started at, he will think ho is obliged to attack or run against it ? Can it be imagined that the rider's
spurring him on, with his face directly to it, he should understand as a sign to pass it ? These rational
queries are submitted to the serious consideration of such as are fond of always obliging their horses to
touch those objects at which they are, or affect to be, frightened.
6(>S0. htd'ifferent horsemen, Lawrence observes, should never venture on horseback without spurs.
Those who reflect upon the predicament of being placed between a deep ditch and a carriage, at which
their horse shies, will see the necessity of this precaution.
;6f)81.. Previously to mouHtin-g, every person will find his account in examining the state of both horse
arid furniture with his own eyes and hands; for, however good and careful his groom may generally be, it
ii>|a niaxim, that too much ought not to be expected from the head of him who labours with his hands.
l^sides, all such sedulously avoid trouble, particularly in nice matters. For example, see that your curb
isryrjght ;. that your reins are Jiot twisted ; that your girths, one over the other, still bear exactly alike ;
tkat the paid be not wrinkled up ; but, above all, that your saddle lies exactly level upon the horse's
back.
6i)8i 0/t getting off the horse's back, hold the bridle and mane hi the same manner as when you
mounted, hold the pommel of the saddle with your right-hand ; to raise yourself, bring your right leg over
the horse's back, let your right-hand hold the hind part of the saddle, and stand a moment on your stirrup,
just as when you mounted. But beware that, in dismounting, you bend not your right knee, lest the horse
should be touched by the spur.
6(i83. The jockey mode of riding is practised in its fullest extent in racing. With
some modification it is also in use by many who esteem themselves excellent fox-
hunters. With still greater modification it is by its advocates practised also on the
road. English post-boys unite these two kinds of riding in a manner at once easy to
themselves and horses. True jockey riding consists in the use of a snaffle bridle, which
is held firmly ; and, as an advocate for it expresses himself, to enable the rider to give
his horse the proper pulls. To this end, the same writer recommends a firm seat, up-
right, and as you would sit in a chair, with the knees nearly as much bent, and turned
inward; the toes somewhat out and upward; the leg falling nearly straight, and the
foot home in the stirrup {Jig. 849.) ; elbows close to the sides ; hands rather above the
horse's withers, or pommel of the saddle; and the view directed between his ears. The
same writer further advocates the jockey mode, by commenting on the decline of rid-
ing.house forms, and the universal preference given to expedition, which, as he says,
fully confirm the superior use and propriety of a jockey-seat. Indeed, our riding-
schools are now, he continues, considerably reformed from the stiffiiess of ancient practice in all respects.
It was the custom formerly in the schools, and indeed pretty generally upon the road, to ride with the
tip of the toe only in the stirrup; as if it were of more consequence to prepare for falling with safety,
than to endeavour to sit securely. Those who preserve a partiality for this venerable custom, we would
advise to suspend a final judgment, until they have made a few more essays upon a huge cock-tail half-
bred, of that kind which ' cannot go, and yet won't stand still,' and will dart from one side of the road to
the other, as if he really desired to get rid of his burden. Nor is the ball of the Coot a proper rest ; cliiefly
because inconvenient to that erect, or rather almost kneeling, posture, which is required in speedy riiling.
The riding-house seat is preserved by the balance or equipoise of the body solely; that recommended here
by the firm hold of the knee, which is obviously strengthened by the opposite directions of the knee and
toe, the one in, the other outward.
Sect. XIV. Feeding of Horses.
6684. The feeding of horses generally is an important feature in their management. In considering the
food for horses, we are apt to locate our notions to the matters around us, without taking into account
that every country has its peculiar products. White observes, that the best food for horses is hay and
oats; and had he added for English horses, it might have been just, but without such notice the assertion
is much too confined. " In some sterile countries, horses are forced to subsist on dried fish, and even vege-
table mould ; in Arabia, on milk, flesh balls, eggs, broth, &c. In India, horses are variously fed. The
native grasses I judge very nutritious. Few, perhaps no oats are grown in India. Barley is not commonly
given to horses ; indeed, it is rarely grown. In Persia, barley is a common food for good horses. In some
parts of India (in the Mahratta country), salt, pepper, and other spices are made up into balls, as big as
billiard balls, with flour and butter, and thrust down the animal's throat. It is supposed to give them
animation and fine coats : no doubt it promotes digestion. Meat broth (especially sheep's head) il also
given to horses. English gentlemen sometimes adopt these usages. Diflt'erent kinds of grain are given
to horses in different parts of India. In Bengal, a vetch, something like the tare, is used. On the western
side of India, a sort of pigeon pea, called gram (Cicer arietinum L.), is the usual food ; with grass in the
season, and hay all the year. Indian corn or rice is, I think, seldom if ever given to horses in India as
ordinary food. In the West Indies they are fed on maize, Guinea corn, and sugar-cane lops ; and, in
some instances, on the sugar itself, in the form of molasses. In France, Spain, and Italy, besides the
grasses, the leaves of limes, vines, the tops of acacia, the seeds of the carob tree, &c. are used."
6685. The food of British horses may be divided into herbage, grain, roots, and mixtures. Of herbage^
the principal kind is the proper gramina, eaten either moist or dried into hay. When eaten moist in
their natural state, such a horse is ^aid to graze ; but when these matters are cut, and carried into the
stable to a horse, he is said to be soiled. Hay is herbage cut during its flowering and seeding processes ;
which being subjected to the action of the sun and air a proper time, are then collected into large masses
called ricks, where a certain degree of fermentation takes place before the matter is fitted to become
wholesome or nutritious, or before it receives such alteration as fits it for resisting further decomjK),
sition and decay. The judicious management of this fermentative process forms one of the greatest desi-
derata in hav-making. Pursued to a proper extent, the remaining moisture acting on the farinaceous
parts, as the seeds, &c., in conjunction with the heat evolved during the process, as it were malts the
whole, and sugar is produced. Pushed beyond this, the hay becomes carbonised, and mow-burnt ; its nu-
tritive properties are lessened, and, its noxious qualities increased, it being found in this state to excite
diabetes, sweating, and extreme weakness and emaciation. (642.0.) The quality of the hay is too little
attended to, but which is of very great importance; and more particularly so where little corn but
much hay is given. Hay should therefore be of the best, whether meadow, clover, or mixed Many
horses thrive best on clover hav, particularly draught horses. It is very grateful to horses, and it saves
muc waste of saliva ; to sprinkle hay with water has the same effect, but it should only be done as it is
wanted.
Book VII. FEEDING OF HORSES. 1005
6()ofi. Hay should never he given in large quantities at a time ; horses breatlie on it, become disgusted,
and then waste it. They also, when it is gOod, eat too much, and distend their stomachs, and tlien be-
come crib-biters. Hay should not be kept in the stable in great quantities, otherwise it becomes impreg-
nated with the volatile alkali of the stable, and is then spoiled. As substitutes for hav, the straw of
wheat, barley, oats, and rye are used ; but these are much less nutritive, and rather serve to excite masti-
cation by mixing them with other matters, than to be depended on for animalisation. On hay, when
good, many horses subsist ; and when no exertions are required of them they are sufficiently nourished
by it.
6687. The grain used as horse food is of various kinds, possessing, it is sujiposed, different degrees of
nutriment, according to their different proportions of gluten, sugar, or farinaceous matter. In Soittii
Britain, oats are almost exclusively used as horse grain ; and which, according to the experiments of
Sjir Humphry Davy, as we have seen (§ .OOOO.), contain 748 j>arts of nutritious matter out of IKK). In
wheat, 9;xj parts of 1000 are nutritious; but wheat is seldom given with us except to racers and hunters,
or on extraordinary occasions when great excitement is required, when it is sometimes given in the form
of bread. Barley is more frequently given than wheat, and contains 920 parts in 10(;0 of nutritious par-
ticles. Made into malt, where its sugar is evolved, it becomes still more highly nutritious. Barley appears
to have been the principal horse food of the ancients.
6688. The pulse used as horse food, are the seeds of beans, peas, vetches, &c. Beans are seldom given
alone on account of their heating and astringent qualities, but are mixed with straw or hay, cut into chaff,
either whole or broken.
6689. The roots used as horse food, are such as contain much sugar, but in which the gluten is in small
proportion only. Carrots stand deservedly high on this list. They are favourable to condition, as the
skin and hair always look well under their use. They are highly nutritious we know, from the fattening
that occurs from them. They also generate good flesh, as we know horses can work on them, and have '
tiieir wind increased by their use ; indeed, so favourable are they to the proper action of the lungs, that
a course of carrots will frequently remove the most ob^tinate coughs. The parsiiep has similar pro-
perties. Swedish turnips, as having the saccharine particles in abundance, are also found good. Beet-
root likewise.
66G0. Mixtures, or mixed food, is formed of several kinds among agriculturists; and it possesses many
advantages, as it can be varied to every taste, and made either cooling as an alterative, or nutritious and
sllinuii.ting as a tonic. Although it is principally used for waggon, post, and farm horses, it would be
bc'tter were its use more univeri^al. Of th.s manger feeding, one of the best is formed from a chaff made
of one pait best meadow or clover hay, and two parts wheaten straw ; to three bushels of tliis mixture
add one of bruised oats. The importance of bruising or flattening the oats is very great. When used
whole, the grains are apt to slip between the teeth or the chaff in mastication. In fact, corn when either
given alone, or with chaff, would, in most instances, benefit by bruising. To horses under great exertion,
the stomach must be, to a certain degree, weakened also ; in such cases, by bruising their corn, not only
the work of mastication is much of it spared, but that of the stomach also. In old horses with worn teeth,
bruiseti oats are of great consequence. Fast-eating horses do not properly masticate more than one half
of their corn ; much of it remains in the dung so perfectly unaltered, that it will afterwards vegetate;
and an experienced agriculturist states, that during his residence in India, in a season of scarcity, half-
famished wretches actually followed the cavalry, and drew their principal subsistence from the unchewed
grains of corn extracted from the excrement of the horses. Of this manger food, three, four, five, or six
pecks may be given daily, according to size and exertions required; anu as but little hay is required, so
hard-worked horses are enabled to lie down much more, instead of standing: on their already fatigued
limbs to eat hay.
6691. Cooked food is also now much used by practical agriculturists for horses. The articles made use
of are potatoes, carrots, turnips, or parsneps. To horses with their digestion weakened by hard work, old
age, or other causes, food in sufficient quantities, thus already reduced to a pultaceous mass, resembling
chyme, witliout the loss of time, or the waste of saliva, may be very important : for, as Curwen very judi-
ciously observes, a horse will consume nearly six hours in eating a stone of hay, whereas he will eat a
stone of steamed potatoes in twenty minutes. Horses are observed of themselves to lie down after eating
cooked food sooner than other times.
6692. The quantity of food to be given to a horse must be regulated by circumstances, the principle of
which is the exertions or nature of the work required of him. If this be simply laborious, as drawing
of loads, or carrying of weights, all that is requisite is that the food be sufficiently nutritious. The bulk
from whence such nutriment is gained is not a matter of import : but if such exertions are to be com-
bined with celerity, as in our racers, hunters, &c., it is evident that such feeding is best adapted to the
end required which combines nutriment without bulk ; anu which increases the durability by increasing
the mental irritability, and thus giving tone and courage. These are found to be better derived from a
proportionate allowance of grain or corn, than any other mode of feeding at present known. It remains
only to add, that although experience has fully proved this, in all cases where the exertions are extreme,
yet it has also led to another evil, by introducing a plan of treating all horses of value alike. Thus, most
of the more valuable hackneys, the carriage horses of the wealthy, &c., are accustomed to be fed, not as
though their exertions were moderate, but as though they were unceasing, to the destruction of a vast
quantity of valuable corn. From thousands of such horses, at least one third of their hay and corn might
be advantageously abstracted.
6693. Too great a quantity of food injures not only the community but the horse also. 'Jhesfomach
becomes distended by over-feeding, and it then becomes weak and incapable of a healthy digestion ; crib-
biting, hide-bound, and pursiveness follow ; or when the stomach does digest this undue quantity, it
generate fulness, which shows itself in inflammations or foulness, appearing in the form of cracks and
grease.
6694. A horse in full work, of whatever kind, will require, according to his size, a peck of sound oats in
twenty-four hours ; and when the work is unremitting, as in post, stage-waggon, or other very large and
hard-working horses, even more may be required. Some post horses have an unlimited quantity given
them ; but this practice is always erroneous. If they eat more, it serves only to distend the stomach
unduly, and also to require stronger digestive powers : if they blow on it they leave it, and it is wasted,
or a more greedy one swallows it up without mastication ; and both stomach, horse, and master are
thereby robbed. It is of consequence that the oats, as an important part of horse food, should be perfectly
sweet, free from must, and not kiln-dried. The skin should be thin, but the grain plump and heavy, yield-
ing from thirty-eight to forty pounds the bushel. To encourage a slow and thorough mastication, sprinkle
them with water and spread them well over the manger. The quantity of hay required forsttddle horses
which are corn-fed is from six to eight pounds in twenty-four hours : if the quantity of cOrn be small, andw
the horse large, ten or twelve pounds is not too much. This quantity is also sufficient for carriage or coach-
horses, as they usually have either corn or mixed food in sufficient plenty also. For waggon and the
larger agricultural horses, from fifteen to twentv pounds may be requisite. When it can be con^
veniently done, the quantity of both hay and corn should l;e divided into four portions Tlie largest por,
tion both of hay and corn should be given at night ; the next in quantity in the morning ; the other two '
portions at noon, and about four in the afternoon. This, however, must depend on the work of the horse,
and other circumstances.
6695. Watering of horses is an important part of their management, and many errors are committed
relative to it. It is equally erroneous to debar them from it, as it is to allow them too much ; and the
former is much the most common evil. In summer, or when from great perspiration the animal juices
1006 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Vau: III.
are wasted, it generates fevers, and wastes the strength and spirits. All horses prefer soft Avater, and as
nature is unerring, there is no doubt but that it is the most wholesome. As some horses drink quicker
than others, it is not a good custom to take riding horses to a pond, unless at night, when the quantity
cannot injure them ; or when not intended for early work the next morning, as hunting, &c.
6698. The necessary quantity of water for a horse should be regulated by circumstances, as the weather,
the work, &c. In common cases, a large horse requires rather more than the half of a large stable pail
full twice in the day. At night a full pail should be allowetl. Horses should never be galloped after
drinking ; it has destroyed thousands, by gripes, inflammations, and broken wind. This custom also uses
horses to expect they are to run away directly they are accidentally watered at any time. Others, expect-
ing they are to be fatigued with a gallop, will avoid drinking at all. The most that should ever be done,
is to suft'er no horse to drink his fill at a river or pond; but having given hira half what is necessary, walk
him ten minutes, and then give him all that is required, and walk him again.
Sect. XV. Stabling and Grooming of Horses.
6697. The stabling of horses is likewise a most important point in their management, the more so as
being wholly a deviation from nature ; hence, under the most judicious management, it is liable to produce
some departure from health ; and as sometimes managed, is most hurtful to it. Clothing, dressing, or
combing, and exercise, are also highly important.
6fi98. Every stable should be large, cool, and airy. It is too common to suppose that warmth is so con-
genial to horses, that they cannot be kept too hot ; but there is reason to suppose that many of the diseases
of horses are attributable tc the enervating effects of unnatural heat, and of an air breathed and rebreathed
over again. Blaine says. Is it not alike repugnant to reason and experience, to expect to keep animals in
health, that from stables heated to sixty degrees, and further protected by warm clothing, are first stripped,
and then at once exposed to a temperature at the freezing point ? If it be argued that habit and exercise
render these less hurtful, it will be easy to answer that their original hardihood is lost by confinement
and artificial treatment; and that neither does exercise always tend to obviate the efliects of this sudden
change : for our best carriage horses, and hackneys also, have often to wait hours in roads and streets the
convenience of their owners, or the pleasure of the groom.
6699. The heat of a stable should be regulated by a thermometer, and the heat shown by it should never
exceed 50"^ of Fahrenheit in winter, or 6'-2° or 63° in summer. To renew the air, the stable should be well
ventilated; and which is best done by trunks or tubes passing from the ceiling through the roof.
67()0. A stable should not only be well ventilated, but it should be light also ; and the windows should be
so constructed as to admit light and air, without producing a current of wind on the bodies of the horses.
Darkened stables are very hurtful to the eyes; neither do they, as was formerly supposed at Newmarket,
tend to the condition or rest of a horse.
6701. A stable should have a close ceiling to keep the dust and dirt from .the hay-loft from entering the
horse's eyes. It i& also necessary to prevent the ammoniacal gases from ascending and lodging in the hay.
It is preferable that the hay-loft be altogether removed from over the stable; and if a very high ceiling
even to the roof were substituted, it would be for the benefit of the horses.
6702 The fortn of the rack and manger should be attended to. Sloping racks are disadvantageous, as
encouraging dust in the eyes. They should therefore be upright, and by no means so higli as they usually
are, by which the head and neck are put injuriously on the stretch. As a proof that this is unpleasant to
horses, many of then; first pull out all the hay, and then leisurely eat it. The manger should be wide at
the bottom, and of a proper height : care should be taken that no splinters are present to endanger the
lips, nose, and mouth. The halter reins should, in good stables, be suffered to run within a groove within
the manger post, to prevent the rein entangling the legs. It is become the practice in some stables appro-
priated to post, stage-waggon, and other hard-worked horses, to abandon hay-racks altogether ; but the
hay being placed on the ground before the horse encourages him to lie down and cat it; by which much
rest is afforded to the weary limbs, and much improvement to the feet
6703. The stalls of a stable should be wide. Strains in the back, and sometimes even worse evils, are the
consequence of the standings being too narrow. Bails are objectionable from the ease with which horses
can kick over them ; and also from the quickest feeder getting most food, when several horses stand toge-
ther bailed.
6704. The acclivity of the stalls is a matter of much dispute : when too much raised, as in dealers'
stables, they put the back sinews on the stretch, and fatigue horses much. It is more natural that they
should be even ; or that a very slight slope only be allowed to carry off the urine. The best mode, how-
ever, of carrying off the urine is by means of a small grating to each stall, communicating with a cess-
pool without doors, which should be closed up, that a current of air may not come through the grating.
Such a contrivance will effectually carry off the water, and prevent the volatile alkali of the urine from
impregnating the air around. For the same reasons, the dung should be removed, if possible, wholly
without the stable as soon as dropped ; for the exhalations from that are also ammoniacal, and con-
sequently hurtful. To this cause alone we may attribute many diseases, particularly the great tendency
stabled horses have to become affected in the eyes. The pungency of this effluvia is familiar to every one
on entering a close stable in the morning, and when the long-soiled litter is removed, it is absolutely
unbearable.
6705. The litter of horses should be kept dry and sweet, and should be often removed. When it is
suffered to remain, under the notion of making better dung, the horse may be ruined ; neither does the
manure benefit as is supposed ; for when it is removed to the dung pit, the close confinement does it more
good than the open exposure in the stable, when it parts with its salts, on which its properties as manure
partly depend.
6706. Hoj-ses should not stand on litter during the day, although very generally suffered to do so. Litter
is thought to save the shoes and even the feet, by preventing the uneven surface of the stable from hurt-
ing them : but it holds the urine ; it injures the feet ; and is very apt to encourage swelling at the heels :
as we know by removing it, when they immediately subside. A little litter may be strewed behind to
obviate the effect of kicking, or the splashing of urine in mares.
6707. The clothing of horses is apt to be carried to as erroneous an extent as the heat of their stables.
When horses go out in cold weather, and are intended to have merely a long walking exercise, then cloth-
ing is very proper : but it must be evident, that when taken clothed from a stable and exercised briskly
so as to produce perspiration, it is erroneous ; for not only are the clothes wetted and thus liable to give
cold, but the horse is unfitted to go out afterwards with a saddle only. Saddle horses kept in condition
stand clothed in a kersey sheet, and girted with abroad roller, with occasionally the addition of a quarter-
piece; the breast-plate is sometimes put on when going out to exercise; the hood is used to race horses
only, except in case of sickness. All horses, except racers, are best without clothing In the summer
season ; at the most a linen sheet only should be allowed to avoid the dust and flies.
6708. The groottiing or dressing of horses is generally thus practised : — Having tied up the horse's
head, take a currycomb, and curry him all over his body, to raise the dandriff or scurf, beginning first at
his neck, holding the left cheek of the head-stall in your left hand, and curry him from the setting on of
his head, all along his neck, to his shoulder, and so go all over his body to the buttocks, down to his hocks;
then change your hands, and curry him before on his breast, and laying your right arm over his back,
join your right side to his left, and curry him all under his belly to his chest, and so all over very well,
from the knees and shoulders upwards : after that, go to the far side, and do in like manner. Then take
a dead horse's tail, or a dusting-cloth of cotton, and strike that dust away which the curry-comb has
Book VIL MANAGEMENT OF RACE HORSES. 1007
raised. Then take a round brush, made of bristles, and dress him all over, both head, body, and legs, to
the very fetlocks, always cleansing the brush from that dust which it gathers, by rubbing it upon the
curry-comb. After that, take a hair-cloth, and rub him again all over very hard, both to take away the
loose hairs, and to help to lay his coat ; then wash your liands in fair water, and rub him all over with wet
hands, as well head as body ; for that will cleanse away ail those hairs and dust the hair-cloth left. Lastly,
take a clean cloth, and rub him all over till he be very dry ; for that will make liis coat smooth and clean.
Then take another hair-clotli (for you should have two, one for his body and another for his legs), and rub
all his legs exceedingly well, from the knees and hocks downwards to his very hoof, picking and dress-
ing them very carefully about tlie fetlocks from gravel and dust, which will lie in the bending of his
joints.
6709. The curry-comb should not be too sharp, or, at least, not used in a rude and severe manner, so as
to be an object of torture and dread, instead of delight and gratification to the horse. It is too often the
fate of thin-skinned horses to suflf'er much from the brutality of heavy-handed and ignorant fellows, who
do not recollect that the unhapjiy animal is suffering, every time he writhes and attempts to escape from
the comb or brush, the same tortures that they themselves experience when tickled on the soles of
their feet.
6710. The care of the legs and feet forms a most important branch of stable discipline. The legs must
be kept perfectly dry and clean. Dirt suffered to form a lodgment, or wet remaining upon the legs in cold
weather, will fret the skin, and cause cracked heels, grease, mallenders and sellenders, rat's-tail, crown-
scab, and such a train of stable plagues, as may baffle the most vigorous efforts during a whole winter.
If atiy disposition to swellings, cracks, &c. make their appearance on the legs, particularly in winter, mode-
rate bandaging, which every good groom knows how to perform, will contribute to remove the evil ; if it,
however, increase, have recourse to the veterinary directions. It forms a part of the constant attention
of a good horse-keeper to see that the feet of his horses be well cleansed beneath the shoe with the i)icker
from all small stones or gravel, at every return from abroad. The shoes must be examined, that tlieir
ends do not press into the crust, and that the nails be fast, and that the clinches do not rise to cut the
horse. In these cases, instant application must be made to the farrier : horses ouglit by no means to
remain in old shoes until the toe is worn away, or the webs become so thin that there is danger of their
breaking, unless in case of brittle hoofs, when it is an object to shoe as seldom as possible. Ui)on the
average, good shoes will wear near a month. Steeling the toes is, in general, a useful practice, but less
necessary when the best iron is made use of. Where any tendency to dry hoofs exists, the feet should be
stopped with equal parts of clay, cow-dung, and chamberlye every night ; otherwise, twice or three times
a week will be sullicient. A still better stopping is made by adding a little tar to tlie other matters. It is
also prudent, when the hoofs have any tendency to hardness and contraction, to water the front part of
the stall a little ; and also occasionally, or constantly, to hang around the hoois an apparatus, made by
doubling a circle of woollen cloth over a tape, which should be tied around the fetlocks loosely : the two
segments of the cloth will then fold around the hoof, and correspond to it in shape. This may be dipped
in water, and will be found very convenient in keeping the feet moist and cool. Very brittle hoois are
greatly benefited by brushing them over with a mixture of whale oil and tar. It is considered as benefi-
cial, in general, to take oft" the shoes of a horse who is necessitated to stand long in the stable, and who
does no work, and to substitute tips ; the growth of the crust and the enlargement of the heels being
thereby promoted.
6711. The care of the furniture and trappings is another part of the duty of a horse-keeper. These are
best kept in order by being instantly rubbed clean after use, and placed in a dry situation ; by which
method, neither oil nor scouring-paper is often found necessary. Great care should be taken to dry the
pads of the saddles after journeys, and never to put a hardened and damp saddle upon the horse's back.
The same is also necessary with regard to the body-clothes. The pads of the saddles ought to be kept per.
fectly soft, and free from dirt and sweat ; and, after use, should be dried either in the sun or by the fire,
and hung in a dry place: the body-clothes also should be washed much oftener than they generally are,
and ever kept perfectly dry, and in a sweet state.
6712. Tfie exercising of liurses is essentially necessary for their health, as it counteracts the effects of the
artificial life we force on them. High feeding, heated stables, and unnatural clothing are, particularly
the first, counteracted by proper exercise ; and without it, horses become pursive, fat, heavy, and greased j
for, when the secretions do not find themselves natural vents by perspiration, &c., they will find them-
selves artificial ones. Exercise keeps down the fat, and it also haidens and condenses the muscles by
drawing their fibres nearer together; it likewise enlarges the muscles. Thus the appearance, as well as
the feel, when we handle the flesh of a horse in condition by proper exercise, is totally different from
those of one merely full of flesh by fat, &c. Exercise increases the wind by taking up the useless fat, and
by accustoming the lungs to expand themselves.
67Io. Tlie quantity of exercise necessary for a horse must be regulated by a variety of circumstances ; as
age, constitution, condition, and his ordinary work. A young horse requires more exercise than an old
one, but it should be neither very long, nor very fatiguing. Some colts are observed to come out of the
breaker's hands with splints and spavins, owing to the severe exercise they have undergone. When horses
are in general work, a little walking exercise in the morning in body-clothes, if the condition be very high,
or the weather be very cold, is all that is necessary : but, on days when their common work is not expected
to occur, a full-fed horse should be exercised twice a day, an hour at each time ; or, if only once a day,
then an hour and a half or two hours' exercise should be given ; two thirds of which ought to be passed
in walking; the other should be passed in a moderate trot in the hackney, and divided into galloping
and trotting in the hunter. The racer has his regular gallops at stated periods ; but the exercise of
each should always finish with a walk of sufficient length, to bring the horse in cool, both in person and
temper.
Sect. XVI. Mayiagemenl and Working of Horses.
6714. The working of horses includes the racing, hunting, and journeying of saddle horses ; and the
treatment in harness of coach, waggon, cart and farm horses.
SuBSECT. 1. Management and Working of Bace Horses.
6715. In the managing and working of race horses, three things are to be considered, the preparation of
the horse, the conduct of the rider, and the after-treatment of the horse. The preparation of a race horse
for running a race is not the work of a few days, if there be any great dependence on the success. A
month at least is required to harden his muscles in training, by proper food and exercise, and to refine
his wind, by clearing his body to that degree of perfection that is attainable by art. It is first necessary to
ascertain correctly the present state of the horse, as whether he be low or high in flesh ; and in either
case a proper estimate should be formed of the time and means required to bring him into true running
condition.
6716. Jf a race horse be low in flesh, it is necessary to judge of the cause of such state, and to act
accordingly, the necessary proceedings for which were detailed in treating of condition. (6425.) It is
to be remarked, that spices are less to be depended on for this purpose than generous food, as malt
mashes ; and if any thing of the kind be used, let it be the simple cordial ball. ( Vet. Pharm. 6568.) Feed
frequently, and by little at a time : while he is thus low, let his exercise be walking only, and by no means
spare his water, or he will become hide-bound : carefully watch him, that full feeding may not disagree
J008 PRACTIGE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
by making his ht-els sweU, or his coat ii nth riflty ; arid if such appearances occur, masli him, and begin
his scourings, otherwise abstain fttomphysiclcing until he is in better health. As he improves in condition,
increase liis exercise, but not to such a degree as to make him sweat. His food must now be the best
oats and beans, with wheatenor barley bread ; the beans and oats are to be put into a bag, and beaten till
the hulls are all off, and th<si winnowed clean ; and the bread, instead of being chix)ped in the commot}
way, is to have the crust clean off ..■■■-
6717. If the horse be in good flesh and spirits when taken up for his month's preparation, cordials are
altogether unnecessary.; a«^ tbevcliief business wiH be to give him good food, and so much exercise as
will keep him in wind, without over-sweating or fatiguing him. When he takes larger exercise after-
wards, towards the. end of the'month, it will be proper to have some horses in the place t^ run against
him. iTbiS'Will put him upon his mettle, aild the beating them will give him spirits. This, howevef, fs
to be cautiously observed, that he has not an injurious, or in the language of jockeys, a bloody heat given
him for ten days or a fortnight before the plate is to be ruti for; and that the last heat that is given him
the day before the race must be in his clothes rthi.s will make hi)u run with greatly more vigour when
stripji^ for tlie race, and feeling the cold wind on every part. In the second week, the horse should have
the same food and more exercise ; and in the last fortnight he must have dried Oats, that have been hullbd
by beating ; after this jockeys wet them with the whites of eggs, beaten up, and then laid out in the sun tb
dry ; and when as dry as before, the horse is to have them : this sortof fofid being considered by thein as
very light of digestion, and very good tor the creature's wind. The beans in this time should bo given
more sparingly and the bread should be made of three parts wheat and one part beans, or of wheat and
barley in equal parts. If he should become costive under this course, he must then have bran-water to
drink, or some ale and whites of eggs beaten together ; and keep his body moist. In the last week all
mashing is to be omitted, and barley-water given him in its place ; and every day, till the day before the
raccj he should have his fill of hay;' then he must have it given h\vA more s'patingly, that he may have
time to digest it ; and in the morning of the race-ilay, heuntst have a toast or two of white bread soakcfl
in ale, and the same just before he is led out of the held 'I'his is an excellent method, because the two'
extremes of tXdncss and fasting are at this time to be equally avoided ; the one affecting his wind, and the
other occasioning a faintness that may make him lose. After he has had his food, the litter is to be shook
up, amV the stable k^)t quiet, that he may be disturbed by nothing till he is taken out to run.
6718. In the choice of a rider for winning a race, it is necessary, as far as possible, to select one that is'
not only expert and able, but honest. He must have a very close seat, his knees being turned close to the
saddle 'skirts, and held firmly there 5 and the toes turjied inwards, so that the spurs may be turned out-
ward to the horse's belly ; his left hand governing the horse's mouth, and his right the whip. During the
whole time of the race,' he must take care to sit firm in the saddle, without waving or standing up in the
stirrups. Some jockeys fancy the last a becoming seat; but it is certain, that all motions of this kind do
really incommotle the horse. In spurring the horse, it is not to be done by sticking the calves of the Icgij
close to the horse's sides, as if it were intended to press the wind out of his body ; but, on the contrary,
the toes are to be turned a little outwards, that the heels being brought in, the spurs may just be brouglFit
to touch the sides. A sharp touch of this kind will be of more service toward the quickening of a horse's
pace, and will sooner draw blood tlian one of the common coarse kicks. The expert jockey will never
spur his horse until there is great occasion, and then he will avoid striking him under the fore bowels
between. the shoulders and the girt; this is the tenderest part of a horse, and a touch there is to be.
reserved for the greatest extremity.
6719: As to vshipping the horse, it ought always to be done over the shoulder, on the near side, except
in very hard running, and on the point of victory ; then the horse is to be struck on the flank with a
strong jerk ; for the skin is the most tender of all there, and most sensible of the lash. When a horse is
whipped and spurred, and is at the top of his speed, if he clap his ears in his pole, or whisk his tail, it is
a proof that the jockey treats him hard, and then he ought to give him as much comfort as he can by
sawing the snaffle backwards and forwards in his mouth, and by that means forcing him to open his
mouth, which will give him wind, and be of great service. If "there be any high wind stirring in the
time of riding, the artful jockey will let his adversary lead, holding hard behind him, till he sees an op-
portunity of giving a loose ; yet, in this case, he must keep so close behind, that the other horse may keep
the wind from him ; and that he, sitting low, may at once shelter himself under him, and assist the
strength of the horse. If the wind hapjien to be in their back, the expert jockey is to keep directly
behind the adversary, that he may have all the advantage of the wind to blow his horse along, as it were,
and at the same time intercept it in regard to his adversary.
6720. When running on level smooth ground, the jockey is to beat his horse as much as the adversary will
give him leave, because the horse is naturally more inclined to spend himself on this ground; on the cbh-
trary, on deep earths, he may have more liberty, as he will there spare himself.
6721. In riding up hill the horse is always to be favoured, by bearing him hard, for fear of running him
out of wind ; but in running down hill, if the horse's feet and shoulders will bear it, and the rider
dares venture his tieck, he may have a full loose. If the horse have the heels of the rest, the jockey must
always spare him a little, that he may have a reserve of strength to make a jiush at the last post
6722. On the jockey's knowing the nature of the horse that is to run against him, a great deal depends ; for
by managing accordingly, great advantages are to be obtained : thus, if the oi)posite horse is of a hot and
fiery disposition, the jockey is either to run just behind him, or cheek by joul with him, making a noise
with the whip, and by that means forcing him on faster than his rider would have him, and consequently,
spending him so much the sooner; or else keep him just before him, in such a slow gallop, that he may
either overreach, or by treading on the heels of the fore-horse, endanger tumbling over. Whatever be
the ground that the adversary's horse runs worst on, the cunning jockey is to ride the most violently over; '
and by this means it will often happen, that in following he either stumbles or claps on the back sinews..
The several corrections of the hand, the whip, and the spur, are also to be observed in the adversary, and
in what manner he makes use of them : and when it is perceived by any of the symptoms of holding down
the ears, or whisking the tail, or stretching out the nose like a pig, that the horse is almost blown, the
business is to keep him on to this speed, and he will be soon thrown out or distanced. If the horse of the
opponent looks dull, it is a sign his strength fails him; and if his flanks beat much, it is a sign that his
wind begins to fail him, and his strength will soon do so too.
6723. The aftcr-mnnagement of a horse who has run includes the treatment between the heats, and the
treatment after the race is over. After every heat for a plate, there must be dry straw, and dry clothes,
both linen and woollen, ready to rub him down all over, after taking off the sweat with what is called a
sweat-knife ; that is, a piece of an old sword-blade, or some such thing. After the horse has been well
rubbed, he should be chafed all over with cloths wetted in common water, till the time of starting again.
When it is certainly known that the horse is good at the bottom, and will stick at the mark, he shoxdd be
rid every heat to the best of his performance ; and the jockey is as much as possible to avoid riding at
any particular horse, or staying for any, but to ride out the whole heat with the best speed he can. If,
on the contrary, he has a fiery horse to ride, and one that is hard to manage, hard-mouthed, and difficult
to be held, he is totie started behind the rest of the horses with all imaginable coolness and gentleness ;
and when he begins to ride at some command, then the jockey is to put up to the other horses ,- and if they
ride at their ease, and are hard held, they are to be drawn on faster ; and if it be perceived that their wind
begins to rake hot, and they want a sob, the business is to keep them up to that sjjeed ; and when they are
all come within three quarters of a mile of the post, then is the time to push for it. and use the utmost
speed in the creature's power.
6724. WJ en the race is over, the horse is immediately to be clothed upand rode home ; and immediately
Book VII. MANAGEMENT OF RIDING HORSES. 1009
otj his coriiing into the stable, the following drink is to be given him : — Beat up the yokes of three eggs, and
put them into a pint and a half of sound ale, made warm ; and let it be given with a horn. After this, he
is to be rubbed well down, and the saddle-place rubbed over with warm water and vinegar, and the places
where the spurs have touched, with the same ; after this he should have a feed of rye-bread, then a good
mash, and at some time after these as much hay and oats as he will eat His legs, after this, ghould be
bathed some time with a mixture of vinegar and water.
SuBSECT. 2. Management and Working of the Hunter.
6725. The managing and working of the hunter includes his preparation for hunting, his condition, and
his treatment while taking his regular day's work in the field, whether after buck, fox, or hare hounds.
6726. The preparation of the hunter must, like that of the race horse, be commenced by an estimate of
his state and condition. If taken fresh from grass, it should be in due time: first, that he may be well
prepared ; and next, because the gra.ss does not yield much nutriment in the heat of summer. A still
better method is to continue to let him run out in the day and graze, having a shed to house himself from
heat and rain. He is also to be fed and exercised, nearly as in the common training, for hunting condition.
In this way he is sure to be free from cracks, hide-bound, or surfeit ; and he will prove infinitely more
hardy afterwards. It is even the practice with some of the best sportsmen to allow their horses to run out
all the hunting season, unless the weather be very severe ; when they are only stabled in a loose place.
They are allowed as much corn as they can eat, and are found, if a little rougher in their coats, infinitely
superior in hardihood, and exemption from the dangers of cold.
6727. A hunter taken from grass or in very low case should be treated as already fully detailed
under condition. (6424.) Great care must be taken that all the alterations in heat of stable, clothing,
feeding, &c., are gradually brought about ; by which means his flesh will harden gradually, and by using
first walking exercise, and increasing it as he advances in flesh and strength, his wind also will become
excellent.
6728. In the physicking of hunters, particularly when they are low in flesh, much caution is requisite
that it be not over-done. It is the practice with some, and by no means a bad one, to give no physic ;
but to give more time in the preparation. Others, again, give mild grass physic, which is an excellent
plan, when the weather is fine. (See Physicking, 6.544.)
6729. The preparation of a hunter in full flesh and not from grass depends principally on regular
exercise, and the best hard food ; physicking him or not, according as he may be suspected to be foul, or
as his wind may seem to want mending; but above all, whatever is done, should be done regularly ; and
his exercise should be rather long continued than violent. Oats with beans are the proper hard food for
hunters, taking care that the beans do not constipate the bowels ; which must be ooviated by bran mixed
with the other food, if such should be the case. Bread is not necessary, but for tender delicate horses ;
but every thing should be of the best.
6730. The day before a horse is to hunt it is common to treat him somewhat differently, but this
is seldom necessary. It is evident he should be well fed, and that not late at night, that he may lie down
early. Some feed in the morning, which others avoid ; but when it is considered, as has been fully ex-
plained (6404.;, how ill a horse bears fasting, it will be at once seen, that if very early in the morning, as
by five o'clock, he could be fed with a moderate quantity of corn wetted, it would tend to support him
through the day.
(i731. On the return of a horse from hunting, the care bestowed on him should be extreme ; as on it
depends the immediate recovery of his strength. If he have fasted very long, and particularly if he be
disinclined to eat of himself, horn down a pint of ale, with two pints of thick gruel. No prudent sports-
man will bring in a horse hot; but if unavoidable accidents prevent this caution, let the horse be again
led out for a few minutes, hooded and clothed ; but he must have fresh clothes when afterwards dressed.
Encourage him to stale as quickly as possible, after which proceed to hand-rub him all over carefully,
placing before him a little of the best hay well sprinkled with water. If he refuse this, offer him three
quarts of very clean chilled water. When perfectly cleaned, let his feet be carefully examined, that
stubs have not pierced them, or that his shoes have not been forced awry by over-reaching, or by the
suction of clayey ground ; or that thorns be not lodged in his knees, hocks, and sinews. After all these
matters have been well attended to, remove him from his stall to a loose box, well bedded up. A loose
Ik)x is invaluable to a hunter; it gives room for stirring to prevent the swelling of the legs ; and is better
than bandaging when it can be avoided, which gives a disinclination to lie down. If the horse be off his
food the next day, give him a cordial ball {Fet. Pharm. 6568.) and a malt mash, and afterwards a few cut
carrots, which will assist to bring him round more speedily.
SuBSECT. 3. Working and Management of Riding Horses.
6732. The working and managing of hackney or riding horses include what is required for them as
pleasure horses for ordinary airings ; and what they require when used for purposes of travelling or long
journeyings. It embraces also their stable management in general, with tho proper care of horse and
stable appointments : all which are usually entrusted to a servant, popularly called a grcom, whose quali-
fications should be, moderate size, light weight, activity and courage, joined with extreme mildness and
good temper; and above all, a natural love of horses, by which every thing required is done as a pleasure
for the animal he loves, and not as a task for those he is indifferent to.
6733. The hackney for gentlemen's airings S'hoxxMi be in high condition, because a fine coat is usually
thought requisite; and here the groom ought to be diligent that he may keep up this condition by regu-
larity and dressing, more than by heat, clothing, and cordials. Whenever his master does not use his
horse, he must not fail to exercise him but principally by walking) to keep up his condition, and to kee^p
down useless fiesh and swellings of the heels. The horse appointments are to be peculiarly bright and clean.
The bridle should be billetted and buckled, that the bits may be removed to clean them without soiling
the leather, which cleaning ought not to be done with rough materials, but fine powder and polishing. On
the return from exercise, they should be wiped dry and then oiled. Two pair of girths should be used,
that a clean pair may always be ready, and the same if saddle cloths are used.
6734. The preparation for, and the care of a horse on, a journey involve many particulars whkh should
not escape the eye of the master. 1 he first is. Is the horse in hard travelling condition ? Next, Do his
appointments all fit, and are they in proper order ? The bridle for journeying should always be a double
curbed one. The snaffle can be ridden with, certainly ; but the snatfle cannot do the work of the curb,
in staying a horse, in saving him from the ground under stumbling or fatigue, or throwing him on his
haunches, or in lightening his mouth. The bridle should not be new, but one to which the horse is ac-
customed. It is of still more consequence that the saddle be one that the horse has worn before, and that
fits him thoroughly. The girths should also be of the best materials to prevent accidents ; and if the saddle
be liable to come forward, however objectionable the appearance, a crupper had better be used. Some
days before a long journey is attempted, if the shoes are not in order, shoe the horse ; but by no means
let it be done as you set off, otherwise having proceeded on the journey a few miles, you find that one foot
is pricked, and lameness ensues; or, if this be not the case, one or more shoes pinch, or do not settle Xo
the feet ; all which cannot be so well altered as by your own smith.
6735. // is always best to begin a long journey by short stages, which accustoms the horse to continued
exertion. This is the more particularly necessary if he have not been accustomed to travel thus, or if he
be not in the best condition. The distance a horse can perform with ease depends greatly on circumstances/
3 T
1010 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
Light carcassed horses, very young ones, and such as are low in flesh, require often baiting, particularly In
hot weather ; horses in full condition, above their work, and well carcassed, and such as are from seven
to ten or twelve years old, are better when ridden a stage of fifteen or twenty miles, with a proportionate
length of baiting time afterwards, than when baited often, with short stoppages : the state of the weather
should also be considered ; when it is very hot the stages should be necessarily shorter.
6736. To a proper consideration of the baiting times on a journey, the physiology of digestion should be
studied. (6400.) Fatigue weakens the stomach ; when we ourselves are tired, we seldom have much incli-
nation to eat, and fatigue also prevents activity in the digestive powers. To allay these consequences,
ride the horse gently the last two or three miles. If a handful of grass can be got at the road-side, it will
wonderfully refresh your horse, and not delay you three minutrs. In hot weather, let the horse have
two or three go-downs (gulps), but not more, of water occasionally as you pass a pond ; this tends to pre.
vent excessive fatigue. Occasionally walk yourself up-hill, which greatly relieves him, and at such time
remove the saddle, by shifting which, only half an inch, you greatly relieve him ; and during this time,
perhaps, he may stale, which also is very refreshing to him. It may be as well, in a flinty country, to take
this opportunity of examining that no stones are got into the feet likewise.
6737. When a horse is brought into an inn Jroyn his journey, if he be very hot, first let him be allowed
time to stale ; let his saddle be taken off, and with a sweat knife draw the perspiration away ; then, with
a rug thrown over him, let him be led out and walked in some sheltered place till cool, by which means
he will not afterwards break out into a secondary and hurtful sweat : but by no means let an idle ostler
hang him to dry without the stable. Being now dried, remove him to the stable, where let some good
hay, sprinkled with water, be placed before him : if very thirsty, give three or four quarts of water now,
and the remainder in half an hour, and then let him be thoroughly dressed, handrubbed, foot-picked, and
foot- washed ; but by no means let him be ridden into water ; or, if this practice is customary, and cannot
be avoided, let it be not higher than the knees, and afterwards insist on the legs being rubbed perfectly
dry; but good hand-rubbing and light sponging is better than washing. Having thus made him comfort-
able, proceed to feed him with corn and beans according as he is used.
6738. To feed a horse when very hard ridden, or if weakly and tender, it is often found useful to give
bread, or bread with ale : if this be also refused, horn down oatmeal and ale, or gruel and ale. It is of
the utmost consequence if the journey is to be of several days' continuance, or if it is to consist of a
great distance in one or two days, that the baitings are sufficiently long to allow the horse to digest his
food : digestion does not begin in less than an hour, and is not completed in less than three ; consequently
any bait that is less than two hours fails of its object ; and such a horse rather travels on his former
strength than on his renewed strength, and therefore it cannot continue. After a horse is fed he will
sometimes lie down ; by all means encourage this, and if he is used to do it, get him a retired corner stall
for the purpose.
6739. The night baiting of a journeying horse should embrace all the foregoing particulars, with the
addition of foot stopping ; and care that his stable be of the usual temperature to that to which he is ac-
customed: and that no wind or rain can come to him. Give him now a full supply of water : if he has
been at all exposed to cold, mash him, or if his dung be dried by heat, do the same ; otherwise, let a good
proportion of oats and beans be his supper, with hay, not to blow on half the night, but enough only to
afford nutriment.
6740. When returned home from a journey, if it has been a severe one, let the horse have his fore
shoes taken off, and, if possible, remove him to a loose box, with plenty of litter ; but if the stones be
rough, or the pavement be uneven, put on tips, or merely loosen the nails of those shoes he has on ; keep
the feet continually moist by a wet cloth, and stop them at night if the shoes be left on ; mash him regu-
larly, and if very much fatigued, or reduced, let him have malt or carrots, and if possible, turn him out
an hour or two in the middle of the day to graze': bleeding or physicking are unnecessary, unless the
horse shows signs of fear. If the legs be inclined to swell, bathe them with vinegar and chamberlye, and
bandage them up during the day, but not at night, and the horse will soon recover to his former state.
SuBSECT. 4. Horses in Curricles and Coaches,
6741. In working and managing horses in curricles, two- wheeled chaises, and similar cases, great feeling
and nicety is required, not to overload or overdrive the animal ; to see that the weight is duly propor-
tioned between the wheels and horse's back, and that the harness does not pinch ; but no directions on
this head can be of much
use, unless the driver be a
humane and considerate
person, and one who sets a
just value on the services of
the noble animal committed
to him. In Ilussia, the
drivers of two-wheeled car-
riages, as droscheys, sledges,
and others, corresponding to
our gigs and curricles, have
a barbarous custom of teach,
ing the horses to turn round
their heads, the one to the
left, and the other to the
right {fig. 850.), the sight of
which is very oflTensive to a
stranger.
6742. In working and managing coach horses, the same attention to grooming in all its departments is
required as for saddle horses. Coach horses should never be brought into full work before they are five
years old : when well fed on hard food, they may be worked at an average of thirty miles a day at twice.
In general they should not be longer than five or six hours in the yoke at a time. Their principal meals
should be in the morning and after their work is over for the day, as the action of trotting fast materially
impedes digestion.
SuBSECT. 5. Working of Cart, Waggo?iy and Farm Horses.
6743. In working and managing cart and waggon horses, a similar attention is requisite as for coach
horses, though perhaps in a somewhat less degree, the animal being hardier.
6744. The working and managing of farm horses includes the age at which they are put to work, the
quantity of work they should perform, and their feeding and general management.
6745. The age at which horses are put to full ivork, in the labours of a farm, is usually when four or
five years old, according to the nature of the soil, and the numbers of the team ; but they are always
understood to be able to pay for their maintenance after they are three years old, by occasional work
in ploughing and harrowing. Brown thinks it probable they might be put to work at four years old, were
the same attention paid to their breeding and rearing that is paid to cattle and sheep.
6746. The work which a farm horse ctight to perfortn is evidently a question of circumstances, which
does not admit of any precise solution : a two-horse plough may, on an average, work about an English
acre a day throughout the year ; and, in general, according to the nature of the soil, and the labour that
has been previously bestowed on it, a pair of horses, in ploughing, may travel daily from ten to fifteen
Book VII. MANAGEMENT OF FARM HORSES. 1011
miles, overcoming a degree of resistance equal to from four to ten hundred weiglit. On a well made
road, the same horses will draw about a ton in a two-wheeled cart for twenty or twenty-five miles every
day ; and one of the better sort, in the slow movement of the carrier or waggoner, commonly draws this
weight by himself on the best turnpike roads. In some places horses are in tne yoke, when the length of
the day permits, nine hours, and in others ten hours a day ; but for three or four months in winter, only
from five to eight hours. In the former season they are allowed to feed and rest two hours from mid-day,
and in the latter they have & little corn on the field, when working as long as there is day light, but none
if they work only five or six hours. {Sup. Enc. Brit. art. Jgr.)
6747. The feeding qffarm horses is a subject of great agricultural importance, and has excited consider-
able discussion among speculative agriculturists, who have generally urged the great expenses attending
it as an argument against horses, in favour of oxen. Others, without preferring oxen to horses, have.
Instead of corn and hay, proposed to feed them on roots, leaves, whins, and even haws from the hedges.
The latter have been given in large quantities by West of Hampshire, and, it is said {Co7nplete Farmer,
art. Team), were found to answer. Tliat horses as well as men may live on very inferior food is evident ;
but that either will be able to perform their work under such treatment, as well as if they were properly
nourished, is contrary to reason and experience. It is observed by the judicious writer so often quoted,
that horses can never perform their labour, according to the present courses of husbandry, on carrots,
turnips, potatoes, or other roots alone, or as their chief food. They will work and thrive on such food ;
but they will work as much more, and thrive as much better, -with oats or beans in addition, as fully to
repay the diflference in expense. One of the three meals a day, which farm horses usually receive, may
consist of roots ; and a few of them, every twenty-four hours, are highly conducive to the health of the
animals : but we have never had occasion to see any horse work regularly throughout the year, in the
way they are usually worked in the best cultivated districts, without an allowance of at least an English
peck of oats or mixed oats and beans, daily, less or more at particular periods, but rather more than this
quantity for at least nine months in the year.
6748. Brown does not approve of giving much grain to young horses, thinking it expensive, ar;«l not so
conducive to their health as when they are supported on green food. In the winter and spring months, a
few turnips are eminently beneficial to young horses, by keeping their blood in good order, swelling their
bone, and hastening their growth. A plentiful supply of grass in summer ought always to be allowed, aa
their condition through the winter depends greatly upon that circumstance. It is an object deserving of
attention, that flesh once gained ought never to be lost, but that every animal whatever should be kept in
a jirogressive state of improvement, and not suff'ercd to take a retrograde course, which afterwards must
be ma(,le up by extra feeding, or a loss be sustained, in a direct proportion to the degree of retrogradation
that has actually occurred.
(5749. The leanness of a farmer's working cattle, and their reluctant movements, clearly mark his un-
prosperous condition. There are particular operations, indeed, such as turnip-sowing, seeding, fallows,
harvest-work, &c., which require to be executed with so great despatch in our variable climate, that un»
usual exertions are often indispensable. At these times, it is hardly possible, by the richest food and the
most careful treatment, to prevent the animals from losing flesh, sometimes even when their spirit and
vigour are not perceptibly impaired. Such labours, however, do not continue long, and should always be
followed by a corresponding period of indulgence. It is particularly dangerous and unprofitable to begin
the spring labour with horses worn down by bad treatment during winter. [Sup. Enc. Brit. art. Agr.)
67.''0. Donaldson observes, that the coarse garbage with which farm horses are commonly stuffed, profit-
ably or otherwise, is the real causeof the frequent occurrence among them of blindness, grease, and colic;
more particularly the last, which, with care, might be prevented from happening so frequently. The
remedy lies in physic, once or twice a year ; either the regular aloetic dose, or salts given in pails of warm
, water, or sulphur and cream of tartar ; one third of the latter mixed in the corn. All horses kept in the
stable become, more or less, internally loaded j and it is an error to suppose cart-horses are not equally
benefited with others by purging physic.
6751. I'he cleaning and dressing of farm horses was formerly very little attended to ; but at present its
importance to the health of the animal is better understood. Donaldson recommends that the heels, legs,
bend of the knee, and hock, the twist under the flanks ; in short, all parts out of sight, of cart horses,
whilst standing in the house, should be kept perfectly free from dirt and scurf, and the skin supple ; the
parts more in sight will take care of themselves. In a deep country, it is much the better practice, not-
withstanding the prejudice to the contrary, to trim their legs coach-horse fashion. It is now well under-
stood, the editor of The Farmer's Magazine observes, that the liberal use of the brush and the currycomb
twice a day ; frequent but moderate meals, consisting of a due proportion of siurculent joined to more
solid food ; abundance of fresh litter, and great attention to method and cleanliness, are as indispensable
in the stable of a farmer (as far as is consistent with a just regard to economy) as they have alwa)'s been
held to be in the treatment of horses kept for pleasure. Good dressing, with all well informed and atten-
tive men, is considered to be no less necessary to the thriving of the horses than good feeding j according
to a common expression, it is equal to half their food.
67">2. 'J'he general tnanagejnent of f aim horses in the improved districts of the north may be presented
as a good example. There, for about four months in summer, horses are fed on pastures ; or on clover
and rye-grass, and tares cut green, and brought home to the stable or fold-yard ; the latter method being
by far the most economical and advantageous. -For the other eight months, they are kept on the straw of
oats, beans, and peas, and on clover and rye-grass hay. As soon as the grass fails towards the end of
autumn, they have hay for a few weeks, and when the days become so short as to allow of no more than
from six to eight hours' work, they are very generally fed with different kinds of straw, according to the
circumstances of the farm ; in the month of March they are again put to hay till the grass is ready for
being cut. Throughout all the year they are allowed more or less corn, when constantly worked ; and
during the time they are on dry fodder, particularly when on straw, they have potatoes, yams, or Swedish
turnips, once a day, sometimes boiled barley, and, in a few instances, carrots. A portion of some of these
roots is of great importance to the health of horses, when succulent herbage is first exchanged for hay at
the end of autumn ; and it is no less so towards the latter end of spring, when hay has become sapless, and
the labour is usually severe. At these two periods, therefore, it is the practice of all careful managers to
give an ample allowance of some of these roots, even though they should be withheld for a few weeks
during the intermediate period.
6753. The quantity of these different articles of food must depend on the size of the horses, and the
labour they perform ; and the value upon the prices of different seasons, and, in every season, on the
situation of the farm with respect to markets, particularly for hay and roots, which bring a very different
price near large towns, and at a few miles distant. It is for these reasons that the yearly expense of a
norse's maintenance has been estimated at almost every sum, from 15/. to 40/. But it is only necessary to
attend to the expense of feeding horses that are capable of performing the labour required of them, under
the most correct and spirited management. Such horses are fed with oats, sometimes with beans, three
times a day, for about eight months ; and twice a day for the other four, when at grass ; and, at the rate
of eight feeds per bushel, each horse wili eat fifteen quarters of oats, or twenty bolls Linlithgow measure
in the year. When on hay, he will require about one stone of twenty-two pounds avoirdupoise daily, and
five pounds more if he does not get roots. One English acre of clover and rye-grass, and tares, may be
necessary for four months' soiling ; and a quarter of an acre of potatoes, yams, or Swedish turnips, during
the eight months he is fed with hay or straw. The use of these roots may admit of a small diminution of
the quantity of corn in the winter months, or a part of it may be, as it almost always is, of an inferior
quality.
.'} T 2
1012
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
6754. The expense qf feeding a horse tkroiighout the year may therefore be estimated, in regard to quan-
tity, as follows : —
Straw for other four months, half the price of hay.
FotAtoes, yams, or Swedish turnips, ^ acre.
(Sup., Sfc. art. Agr.)
Oats, fifteen quarters.
Soiling, one acre of cloTer and rye-gresa, and tares.
Hay part of October and November, March, April, and
May, li ton.
6755. The extent of land requiredfor a horse's maintenance, supposing the soil to be of a medium quality,
may be about five acres ; that is, for oats three acres, soiling one, and one more for hay and roots. On
rich soils four acres will be sufficient ; but on poor soils, and wherever horses are kept at pasture, the pro-
duce of six acres and a half, or seven acres, will be consumed by one of them, when worked in the manner
already mentioned. The straw of about two acres must be allowed for fodder and litter, the last of which
has not been stated above ; because, at a distance from towns, what is allowed for litter must, at any rate,
be converted into dung. If sixty acres, therefore, should be assumed as the average extent of land that
may be kept in cultivation by two horses, according to the best courses of modern husbandry, the produce
often acres of this will be required for their maintenance ; or, a horse consumes the produce of one acre
out of every six which he cultivates,. according to a four or six years' course, and something more than
one acre out of every five which he ploughs annually. {General Report qf Scotland, vol. iii. p, 192.) -
Chap. II.
The Ass. — E^quus Aslnus L. Ane, Fr. ; Esel, Ger. ; Asno, Span. ; and Asino, Ital.
675 S. The ass is a native of the mountainous deserts of Tartary, of Arabia, Persia,
and other parts of the Asiatic continent ; and at present is very generally domesticated
throughout most civilised countries. The wild ass feeds chiefly on the most saline or
bitter plants of the desert, as the kalis, atriplices, chenopodium, &c. ; and also prefers the
saltest and most brackish water to that which is fresh. Of this the hunters are aware,
and usually station themselves near the ponds to which they resort to drink. Their
manners greatly resemble those of the wild horse. They assemble in troops under the
conduct of a leader, or sentinel; and are extremely shy and vigilant. They will, how-
ever, stop in the midst of their course, and even suffer the approach of man, and then
dart off with the utmost rapidity. They have been at all times celebrated for their swift-
ness. Their voice resembles that of the common ass, but is shriller.
6757. The excellencies and defects of the common ass have amply engaged the lively pens of several
descriptive writers on the history of animals ; and of none with more happy effect than those of the
eloquent Buffon, and the ingenious Abb6 la Pluche. The ass, in his natural temper, is humble, patient,
and quiet, and bears correction with firmness. He is extremely hardy, both with regard to the quantity
and quality of his food, contenting himself with the most harsh and disagreeable herbs, which other
animals will scarcely touch. In the choice of water he is, however, very nice; drinking only of that
which is perfectly clear, and at brooks with which he is acquainted. He is yery serviceable to many
persons who are not able to buy or keep horses ; especially where they live near heaths or commons, the
barrenest of which will keep him ; being contented with any kind of coarse herbage, such as dry leaves,
stalks, thistles, briers, chaff; and any sort of straw. He requires very little looking after, and sustains
labour beyond most others. He is seldom or never sick ; and endures hunger and thirst longer than most
other kinds of animals. The ass may be made
use of in husbandry to plough light lands, to
carry burdens, to draw in mills, to fetch water,
cut chaff, or any other similar purposes. The
female {fig. 851.) is also useful in many cases
for her milk, which is excellent ; and she might
be of more advantage to the farmer if used, as
in foreign countries, for the breeding of mules.
The skin of the ass is extremely hard, and
very elastic, and is used for various purposes ;
such as to cover drums, make shoes, or parch,
ment. It is of the skin of this animal that the
Orientals make the fagri, or, as we call it, sha-
green. The milk of the ass is the lightest of all
milks, and is recommended by medical men
to persons of delicate stomachs ; the flesh, and the hair of the tail and mane, are used as those of the
'67.58. The ass attains his full groivth in three or four years, and may then be put to work. Like the
horse he will live to 25 or oO years : it is said the female lives longer than the male; but, pernaps, this
happens from their being often pregnant, and at those times having some care taken of them, mstead of
which the males are constantly worn out with fatigue and blows^ They sleep less than the horse, and do
not lie down to sleep, except when they are exceedingly tired. The male ass also lasts much longer than
the stallion ; the older he is, the more ardent he appears ; and, in general, the health of this animal is
much better than that of the horse ; he is less delicate, and not nearly so subject to maladies. Ophthal-
mia, which may be reckoned among the indigenee of the cultivated horse, is almost unknown to the ass.
Contraction of the feet also is very seldom observed in him. .,. , . ,
6759 The different breeds or races of the ass are much less known than those of the horse ; t^cause in
this country they have not been taken the same care of, or followed with the same attention. 1 ravellers
inform us that there are two sorts of asses in Persia; one of which, being slow and heavy, is used for bur-
dens ; and the other is kept like horses for the
saddle. The latter have smooth hair, carry their
heads well, and are much quicker in their motion ;
but when they ride them they sit nearer the but-
tocks than when on horseback. They are dressed
like horses, and like them are taught to amble ;
and they cleave their nostrils to give them more
room for breathing. According to Dr. Russell,
there are two sorts in Syria, one of which is like
ours, and the other very large, with remarkably
long ears; but both kinds are employed for the
purpose of carrying burdens and sedan chairs.
{fig. 852.)
Book VII. THE MULE AND HINNY. 1013
6760. In breeding from the ass, the game^general rules should be attended to as in the horse breeding.
The male ass will procreate at the age of two and a half years, and the female still earlier. The stallion
ass should be chosen from the largest and strongest of his species ; he must at least be three years old,
but should not exceed ten; bis legs should be long, his body plump, head long and light, eyes brisk,
nostrils and chest large, neck long, loins fleshy, ribs broad, rump flat, tail short, hair shining, soft to the
touch, and of a deep grey. Those are reckoned the best shaped that are well squared, have large eyes,
wide nostrils, long necks, broad breasts, high shoulders, a great back, short tail, the hair sleek, and of a
blackish colour.
6761. The best time for covering is from the latter end of May to the beginning of June, nor must the
female be hard worked whilst with foal, for fear of casting ; but the more the male is worked, in moder-
ation, the better he will thrive. She brings forth her foal in about a twelvemonth, but, to preserve a
good breed, she should not produce more than one in two years. She should be covered between the
months of March and June. The best age to breed at is from three years old to ten. When the foal is
cast, it is proper to let it run a year with the dam, and then wean it by tying up and giving it grass, and
sometimes milk • and, when it has forgot the teat, it should be turned out into a pasture; but if it be in
winter, it must then be fed at times, till it be able to shift for itself.
6762. The ass may be brokerkand trained at the end of the second year ; but should not be worked sooner
than the third year. Breaking is easily effected when two years old, or it may be let alone still longer, as
till three years. It is easily done by laying small weights on his back, and increasing them by degrees ;
then set a boy upon him, and so increase the weights as may be proper, till they are sufficiently heavy.
6763. The age of the ass is known by his teeth in the same manner as the horse. At two years and a
half old, the first middle incisive teeth fall out, and the other on each side soon follow j they are renewed
at the same time, and in the same order.
6764. The anatomy and physiology of the ass do not differ from those of the horse essentially. The
concha cartilages ot the ears are, however, considerably more elongated ; the spinous processes of the
dorsal vertebrae forming the withers are less extensive j and the bones of the extremities in general are
less angularly placed, from whence results his inferiority in speed. It is also to the unbending lines of
the spine, that his motions are rendered so uneasy to a person placed on the middle of his back. Some
specialty occurs in the feet, which, like the horses of arid climes, are small and upright. His laryngeal
sonorous sacs and c6rdaB vocales are not altogether like those of the horse, from whence his aptitude to
bray instead of neighing. In the ass there are three laryngeal sacs as in the horse ; but instead of a wide
opening into them, there is a small round hole, and the interior sac is a real bag of considerable size. In
the horse there is also, at the commissure of the cordae vocales, a slight membranous fold not visible in
the ass. These organs in the mule are compounded of these forms. Braying appears produced through
the mouth, whereas neighing is principally effected by the nose. There is a hollow membranous cavity
at the back of the mouth that is greatly assistant to this trumpet-like noise, which is effected by convuL
sively displacing the velum palkti by alternate inspirations and expirations.
67C5. The diseases of the ass, as far as they are known, bear a general resemblance to those of the horse.
As he is more exposed, however, and left to live in a state more approaching to natural, he has few
diseases. Those few, however, are less attended to than they ought to be ; and it is for the veterinary
practitioner to extend to this useful and patient animal the benefit of his art, in common with those of
other animals. The ass is seldom or never troubled with vermin, probably from the hardness of its skin.
6766. The ass is shod with a narrow web, and with heels projecting beyond the heel of the foot, and
slightly turned up, for he seldom overreaches ; but much care is required in using small nails, and in very
carefully driving them. The hinder shoes differ little from those used for the fore feet.
Chap. III.
The Mule and Hinny, Hybrids of the Horse and Ass.
6767. The mule (Wguns Astnus var. y Millus L. Grand H^tE^^Fr. ; Grosser
MaulesseU Gex, ; Mula, Span, and Ital.) is the hybrid produce of an ass with a mare;
having a large clumsy head, long erect ears, a short mane, and a thin tail.
6768. The hinny {IS'quus Asinus, var. S Hinnus L. Bardeau or Petit Mulet, Fr. ;
Kleiner Maulessel, Ger. ; Mulo, Span, and Ital.) is the hybrid produce between the she-
ass and a stallion ; the head is long and thin, the ears are like those of a horse, the mane
is short, and the tail is well filled with hair. The hinny is much less common than the
mule ; because, being less hardy and useful than the other, he is never cultivated.
6769. The mule, commonly so called, is much valued for the saddle, and for drawing
carriages in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the East, and in the warmer parts of America.
In those countries vt^here great attention is paid to the breed, it is as tall as the horse,
exceedingly well limbed, but not so handsome, especially about the head and tail. These
animals are mostly sterile ; some, indeed, have thought that they are altogether incapable
of producing their kind ; but scone few instances have occurred in which female mules
have had foals, and in which even the male has impregnated females both of the ass and
horse species, though such instances are exceedingly rare.
6770. The mules made use of in the southern parts of Europe are now brought to an astonishing perfec
tion as well as great size. {fig. 853.) They are usii&lly black, strong, well-limbed, and large, being mostly
bred out of fine Spanish mares. They are sometimes fifteen or sixteen hands high, and the best of
them worth forty or fifty pounds. No creatures are so proper for large burdens, and none so sure-
footed. They are much stronger for diaught than our horses, and are often as thickset as our dray-
horses, and will travel several months together, with six or eight hundred weight upon their backs.
Some think it surprising that these animals are not more propagated here, as they are so much hardier
and stronger than horses, less subject to diseases, and capable of living and working to twice the age of a
horse. Those that are bred in cold countries are more hardy and fit for labour than those bred in hot ;.
and those which are light made are fitter for riding than horses, as to the walk and trot ; but they are
apt to gallop rough ; though these do it much less than the short-made ones. The general complaint
made against them is, that they kick and are stubborn ; but this is owing to neglect in breeding them, for
they are as gentle as horses in countries where they are bred with proper care.
6771. In the breeding of mules, mares that are of a very large breed and well made should be employed.
They should be young, full of life, large barrelled, but small limbed, with a moderate-sized head, and a
gooA forehand. It is found of advantage to have the foals from the time of their being dropped often
3 T 3
1014
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Pakt III.
liandled, to make them gentle : it prevent? their hurting themselves by skittishness and sudden frights;
and they are much easier broken at the proper age, and become docile and harmless, having nothing of
nM|^... that viciousness which is so
85'J \^\. Jlk^^ B^^^^\ commonly complained ot In
these animals. They may be
broken at three years old^ but
should never be permitted to
do much hard work till four, as
they are thus secured from
being hurt by hard labour, till
they have acquired strength
enough tO bear it without in-
jury. An expert breeder of
tliese animals found, that feed-
ing them too well while young,
was not only incurring a much
larger expense than was any
way necessary, but also made
them wonderfully nice and de-
licate in their appetites ever
after. He therefore contented
himself with giving them food
enough to prevent their losing
flesh, and to keep up their
growth without palling their
appetites with delicacies, or making them over-fat : he also took care to defend them from the injuries of
the weather by allowing them stable-room, and good litter to sleep on, besides causing them every day to
be well rubbed down with a hard wisp of straw by an active groom. This was scarcely ever omitted,
particularly in cold, raw, wet weather, when they were least inclined to exercise themselves. When
three years old, mules are proper for use.
6772. The shoe for the mule is by some made not unlike the bar shoe before, and the
common shoe behind ; by some both fore and hind shoes are made to project considerably
beyond the toe, under an idea of increasing tlie points of contact witli the ground : but
the most usual shoe is one formed between the usual horse and ass shoe.
Chap. IV.
Neat or Horned Cuttle. — 'B6s L. ; Mammalia Pecora L., and RuminuleeB Cuv. Betes
a come, Fr. ; Vieh, Ger. ; Ganado, Span. ; and Bestiame, Ital.
677U. The neat or horned cattle used in agriculture are included under two species of
B6& ; the B. Taurus or ox, and the B. /mbulus or buffalo ; the latter less used in
Britain than on the Continent and in other countries. These animals are more univer-
sally used as beasts of draught and burden than the horse, and have the additional ad-
vantage of furnishing excellent food and other valuable products. There is scarcely a
country in which the ox or the buffalo is not either indigenous, or naturalised and culti-
vated; while in many parts of the world the horse is either wanting, or reserved for the
purposes of war or the saddle.
Sect. I. The Ox. — B05 Taurus L. ; Ochs, Ger ; Bauf, Fr. ; Buey, ^paB^ljlhid
Bve, Ital. ■--
6774. The male ox is the bull {Taureau, Fr. ; Stier, Ger. ; Toro, Span, and Ital.) and
the female the cow ( Vache, Fr. ; Kuh, Ger. ; and Vaca, Span, and Ital.). The bull and
cow inliabit various parts of the world, and, as already observed, are domesticated every
where. In most countries, hov.ever, they are the mere creatures of soil and climate, the
same attention in breeding and rearing that is bestowed on the horse being withheld ; the
natural habits little restrained or the fomi little improved for the purposes of milking,
fattening, or for labour. It is almost exclusively in Britain that this race of animals has
been ameliorated so as to present breeds for each of these purposes, far superior to what
are to be found in any other country. Notwithstanding this, however, much certainly
remains to be known regarding the nutriment afforded by different kinds of herbage and
roots ; the quantity of food consumed by different breeds, in proportion as well to their
Aveight at the time, as to the ratio of their increase ; and the propriety of employing large
or small animals in any given circumstances. Even with regard to the degrees of im-
])rovement made by fatting cattle generally, from the consumption of a given weight of
roots or herbage, no great accuracy is commonly attempted ; machines for weighing the
cattle themselves and their food, from time to time, not being yet in general use in any
part of Britain. We shall consider this valuable family as to variety, criteria, breeding,
earing, feeding, working, fattening, and milking : the manufacture of milk will be
reated of in a succ^*eding chapter.
SuBSECT. 1. Varieties and Breeds of the BvU.
6775. The varieties qf the wild ox are the bonasus and the bison {fig. 112.) ; the first with a long mane,
and the last with a gibbous back. They inhabit the woods in Madagascar and many other countries of
the East : and the bison is even said tolje found in Poland.
Book VII.
VARIETIES OF THE BULL FAMILY.
1015
6776 The varieties of the European cow, according to Alton, are innumerable. The pliancy of their
nature is such, that they have been formed into many diversities of shape, and various qualities have been
given them, very dift'erent from the original stock. The uris, or cows of Lithuania, are almost as large
as the elephant ; while some of those on the Grampian hills are little above the size of a goat ; and cows
are found of every diversity of size between the one and the other. They are not less varied in their
shapes. The bison, which is a species of the cow family, and which readily propagates with our cows,
wears a strong shaggy mane, like the lion ; a beard, like the goat ; as much hair under its neck and breast
as covers its fore legs ; a hump upon its shoulders, nearly as large as that worn by the camel (sometimes
forty or fifty pounds in weight), with a tail that scarcely reaches the top of its buttock ; and it resembles
the lion much more than it does our domesticated cows, or other varieties of its own species. {Aiton.)
6777. The diversity qf qualities in the cow faviily is also very great. Our cows are so grovelling and
inactive, that they scarcely know tlie road from their stall to their pasture ; while those of the Hottentots
are so tractable as to be intrusted with the charge of other animals, and keep them from trespassing on
the fields of grain, or other forbidden ground. They also fight their master's battles, and gore his enemies
with their horns. Our dairy cows are so feeble and inactive, that they are hurt by travelling twice a day,
even slowly, one mile from the byre to their pasture ; while those of Tartary are used as riding animals,
and in drawing carriages. Those of Hindostan draw the coaches, and maintain their rates with horses at
the full trot; and the Hottentots teach their cows to hunt down the elk antelope. Cows of the wild
neglected breed can with difficulty be removed from one enclosure or one hill to another ; while those on
whom due attention has been bestowed are docile, and submit to perform all sorts of labour. Some cows
will yield upwards of twenty Scots pints of milk per day, wliile others will not give so much in ten, perhaps
not in twenty days. These are not so many different species of animals, but all of them one and the same
species, all capable of generating with each otlier a perfect offspring. Al! these varieties have been formed
from the parent stock, partly by the diversity of soil and climate, or other accidental or adventitious cir-
cumstances; and partly of late by human skill and industry. {Dairy Husbandry, p. 17.)
6778. The varieties of the cultivated ox are the European, Indian, Zebu, Surat, Abyssinian, Madagascar,
Tinian, and African. From the European variety have been formed the different breeds cultivated in
Britain. They are very numerous, but we shall only notice such as are in most esteem. These different
breeds are generally distinguished by the length or flexure of their horns ; by the absence of horns ; by
the districts where they are supposed to have originated, or in which they abound, or exist in the greatest
purity ; or by the name of the breeder.
6779. The long-horned or Lancashire breed qf cattle {fig. 853.) is distinguished from others by the length
854 of their horns, the thickness and firm texture of
their hides, the length and closeness of their hair,
the large size of their hoofs, and their coarse,
leathery, thick necks : they are likewise deeper in
their fore quarters, and lighter in their hind quar-
ters, than most other breeds ; narrower in their
shape, less in point of weight than the short horns,
though better weighers in proportion to their size ;
and though they give considerably less milk, it is
said to afford more cream in proportion to its quan-
tity. ITiey are more varied in their colourthan any
of the other breeds ; but, whatever the colour be,
they have in general a white streak along their back,
which the breeders term finched, and mostly a white
spot on the inside of the hough. {Culley, p. 53.) In
a general view, this race, notwithstanding the sin-
gular efforts that have been made towards its improvement, remains with little alteration ; for, except in
Leicestershire, none of the subvarieties (which differ a little in almost every one of those counties where
the long horns prevail) have undergone
:&St 8 '5 "5 ^"y radical change or any obvious im-
.<^_i uo provement The improved breed of
Leicestershire {fig. 854.) is said to have
been formed by Webster, of Caiiley, near
Coventry, in Warwickshire, Jjy means of
six cows brought from tlie banks of the
Trent, about the beginning of the present
century, which were crossed with bulls
from Westmoreland and Lancashire.
Bakewell of Dishley, in Leicestershire,
afterwards got the lead as a breeder, by
selecting from the Cauley stock ; and the
stocks of several other eminent breeders
have been traced to the same source.
{Mar hal's Midland Counties, vol. i.
p. 318)
6780. The short-horned, sometimes
called the Dutch breed {fig. ^55.), is
known by a variety of names, taken from
the districts where they form the prin-
cipal cattle stock, or where most atten.
tion has been paid to their improvement : thus, different families of this race are distinguished by the
names of the Holderness, the Teeswater, the Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland, and other breeds.
856 'Ihe Teeswater breed, a variety of short horns,
established on the banks of the Tees, at the head of
the vale of York, is at present in the highest esti-
mation, and is alleged to be the true Yorkshire
short-horned breed. Bulls and cows from this stock,
purchased at most extraordinary prices, are spread
over all the north of England, and the border coun-
ties of Scotland. The bone, head, and neck of these
cattle are fine ; the hide is very thin ; the chine
full ; the loin broad ; the carcase throughout large
and wen fashioned ; and the flesh and fattmg quality
equal, or perhaps superior, to those of any other
large breed. The shoit-horns give a greater quan-
tity of milk than any other cattle ; a cow usually
yielding twenty-four quarts of milk per day, making
three firkins of butter during the grass season :
their colours are much varied, but they are generally
red and white mixed, or what the breeders call flecked. The heaviest and largest oxen of the short-
bornod breed, when properly fed, victual the East India ships, as they produce the thickest beef, which,
f3 T 4
1016
jf ^f ^T|C3^ o^ ^pj^wy^xum.
JPAaxHI.
by retaining its juices, is the best adapted for such long voyages. Our royal n^vy should. also.be victualled
from these ; but, from tlie Jobs made by contractors, and from other abuses, it is feared our honest tars
are often fed with beef of an inferior quality; however, the coal ships from Newcastle, Shields, Sunder-
land, &c., are wholly supplied with the beef of these valuable animals. These oxen commonly weigh from
60 to 100 stone (14 lbs. to the stone) ; and they have several times been fed to 120, 130, and some particular
ones to upwards of 150 stone, the fore-quarters only. {,Culley, p. 48.)
6781. Jn companng the breeds of long and short horned cattle, Culley observes that the long-horns
excel in the thickness and firm texture of the hide, in the length and closeness of the hair, in their beef
being finer-grained, and more mixed and marbled than that of the short-horns, in weighing more in pro-
portion to their size, and in giving richer milk ; but they are inferior to the short-horns, in giving a less
quantity of milk, in weighing less upon the whole, in affording less tallow when killed, in being generally
slower feeders, and in being coarser made and more leathery or bullish in the under side of the neck. In
few words, says he, the long-horns excel in the hide, hair, and quality of the beef; the short-horns in the
quantity of beef, tallow, and milk. Each breed has long had, and probably may have, its particular
advocates ; but if he may hazard a conjecture, is it not probable that both kinds may have their particular
advantages in different situations? Why not the thick firm hides, and long close-set hair, of the one kind,
be a protection and security against those impetuous winds and heavy rains to which the west coast of
this island is so subject ; while the more regular seasons and mild climate upon the east coast afe inc^e
suitable to the constitutions of the short-horns. r
6782. The middle-horned breeds comprehend, in like manner, several local varieties, of which the nfiast
noted are the Devons, the Sussexes, and the Herefords ; the last two, according to Culley, being varieties
of the first, though of a greater size, the Herefords being the largest. These cattle are the most esteemed
of all our breeds for the draught, on account of their activity and hardiness ; they do not milk so well as
the short-horns, but are not deficient in the valuable projperty of feeding at an early age, whejt^ flpt
employed in labour. . xq «
'€?83. The Devonshire rattle {fig. 856.) are of a high ted colour (if any white spots they reckon the breed
impure, particularly if those spots run one into another),
with a light-dun ring round the eye, and the muzzle of
the same colour, fine in the bone, clean in thei^k,
hornstjf a medium length, bent upwards, thin-faced,
and fine in the chops, wide in the hips, a tolerable
barrel, but rather flat on the sides, tail small, and set on
very high ; they are thirv-skinned, and silky in handling,
feed at an early age, or arrive at maturity sooner than
most other breeds. {Culley, j). 51.) Another author
observes, that they are a model for all persona who
breed oxen for the yoke. {Parkinson on Live Stock,
vol. i. p. 112.) The weight of the cows is usually from
SO to 40 stone, and of the oxen from 40 to 60 ; the North
Devon variety, in particular, from the fineness in the
grain of the meat, is held in high estimation in Smith-
field. {Dickson's Practical Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 120.)
6784. Lawrence says that the race of red cattle of North Devon and Somerset is doubtless one of our
original breeds, and one of those which have preserved most of their i)rimitive form : the excellence of
this form for labour is best proved by the fact, that the fashionable substitution of horses has made no
progresg in the district of thesfe cattle, bv their high repute as feeders, and for the superior excellence of
their beef, which has been acknowledged for ages. Thoy are, he says, the speediest working-oxen in
Kngland, and will trot well in harne:^s ; in jioint of strength, they stand in the fourth or fifth class. They
have a greater resemblance to deer than any other breed of neat Cattle. They are rather wide than middle-
horned, as thev arc sometimes called ; some, however, have regular middle-horns, that is, neither short
nor long, turned upward and backward at the points. As milkers, they are so far inferior to both the long
and short horns, both in quantity and quality of milk, that they are certainly no objects for the regular
dairy, however pleasing and convenient they may be in the private family way.
6785. T/te Sussex and Her 'oi-dskire cattle {fig. 857.) are of a deep red colour, with fine hair and very thin
hides; neck and head ckan, the face
usually white ; horns neither long nor
short, rather turning up at the points; in
general, they are well made in the hind
quarters, wide across the hips, rump, and
'l''feirloin, but narrow in"the chine ; tolerably
Ikib ft'etraight along the back, ribs too flat, thin
ba.ii ,, )fn the thigh, and bone not large. An ox,
six years old, will weigh, when fat, from
60 to 100 stone, the fore-quarters gene-
rally the heaviest : the oxen are mostly
worked from three to six years old, some-
times till seven, when they are turned off
for feeding. The Hereford cattle are
next in size to the Yorkshire short-horns :
both this and the Gloucester variety are
highly eligible as dairy stock, and the
females of the Herefords have been found to fatten better at three years old than any other kind of cattl^
except the spaved heifers of Norfolk. {Marshal's Economy of Gloucestershire.)
6786. The polled or hornless breeds. The most numerous and esteemed variety is the Galloway breed
859 (j?^r.858.\ so called from the province of that name, in the
south-west of Scotland, where they most abound. The
true Galiowav bullock " is straight and broad on the back,
and nearly level from the head to the rump, broad at the
loins, not, however, with hooked bones, or projecting
knobg, so that when viewed from above, the whole body
appears beautifully rounded ; he is long in the quarters,
but not broad in the twist • he is deep in the chest, short
in the leg, and moderately fine in the bone, clean in the
chop and in the neck ; his head is of a moderate size, with
large rough ears, and full but riot prominent eyes, or heavy
eyebrows, so that he has a calm though determined look ;
his well proportioned form is clothed with a loose and mel-
low skin, adorned with long soft glossy hair." {Galiowav
Report, p. 23a) The prevailing colour is black or dark
brindled, and, though they are occasionally fbund of every
colour, the dark colours are uniformly preferred, from a belief tliat they are connected with superior hardi-
new of constitution. The Galloways are rather undersized, not very different frdm the size of the I>evon8,
but as much less than the long-horns, as the long-horns are less than the short-horns. On the best larms.
Book VII. VARIETIES OF THE BULL FAMILY. 1017
the average wcfJght of t)ullDcks three years and a half old, when the greater part of them are driven to the
south, has been stated at about 40 stOne, avoirdupois ; and some of them, fattened in England, have been
brought to nearly 100 stone.
6787. The general properties of this breed are well known in almost erery part of England, as well as in
Scotland. ITiey are sometimes sent from their native pastures directly to Smithfield, a distance of four
hundred miles, and sold at once to the butcher; and in spring they are often shown in Norfolk, immedi-
ately after their arrival, in as good condition as, or even better than, when they begin their journey ; with
full feeding, there is perhaps no breed that sooner attains maturity, and tlieir flesh is of the finest quality.
euUey was misinformed about the quantity of milk they yield, which, though rich, is by no means abuni
dant. It is alleged not to be more than seventy or eighty years^ince the Galloways were all horned, and
very much the same in external appearance and character with the breed of black cattle which jH'evailed
over the west of Scotland at that period, and which still abounds in perfection, the largest.sized ones in
Argyleshire, and the smaller in the Isle of Sky. The Galloway cattle at the time alluded to were coupled
With some hornless bulls, of a sort which do not seem now to be accurately known, but which were then
brought from Cumberland, the effects of which crossing were thought to be the general loss of horns in
the former, and the enlargement of their size: the continuance of a hornless sort being kept up by select-
mg only such for breeding, or perhaps by other means, as by the practice of eradicating with the knife
the horns in their very young state. {Coventry on Live Stack, p 28.)
6788. The Suffolk duns, according to Culley, are nothing more than a variety of the Galloway breed.
He supposes them to have originated in the intercourse that has long subsisted between the Scotch drovers
ewrOalloway cattle, and the Suffblk and Norfolk graziers who feed them. The SuiFolks are chiefly light
dtins, thus diftering from the GalTQways, and arc considered a very useful kind of little cattle, particularly
for the dairy. {CuUey, p. 66. Parkinson, \o\.\. p. lid) , .
-^Wi. The Ayrshire breed {Ji^.SW.\ accftrdhig to Alton {Apiculture of Ayr, p. 421.), is the most
improved breed of cattle to be found in the island ; jiQt only for the dairy, in which they have no parallel.
860
under similar soil, climate, and relative circumstances ; but also in feeding for the shambles. They are,
in fact, a breed of cows that have, by crossing, coupling, feeding, and treatment, been improved and
brought to a state of perfection, which fits them, above all others yet known, to answer almost in every
diversity of situation, where grain and grasses can be raised to feed them, for the purposes of the dairy, or
for fattening them for beef [Aiton.)
6790. TIte origin of the Ayrshire breed of cattle is to be found 'u\ the indigenous cattle of the county of
Ayr, "improved in their size, shapes, and qualities, chiefly by judicious selection, cross-coupling,
feeding, and treatment, for a long series of time, and with much judgment and attention, by the industrious
inhabitants of the county, and principally by those of the district of Cunningham." {Aiton.) The whole
dairy breed in the county of Ayr is of mixed white and brown colours.
6791. The size qf the Ayrshire ifnprot>ed dairy cows " varies from ^20 to 40 stones English, according to
the quality and abundance of their food. If cattle are too small for the soil, they will soon rise to the size
it can maintain ; and the reverse, if they are larger than it is calculated to support." {Aiton.)
6792. The shapes most approved o/'are as follows : — " Head small, but rather long and narrow at the
muzzle ; the eye small, but smart and lively ; the horns small, clear, crooked, and their roots at consider-
able distance from each other ; neck long and slender, tapering towards the head, with no loose skin
below; shoulders thin ; fore-quarters light ; hind-quarters large; back straight, broad behind, the joints
rather loose and open ; carcass deep, and pelvis capacious and wide over the hips, with round fleshy
buttocks ; tail long and small ; legs small and short, with firm joints ; udder capacious, broad, and square,
stretching forward, and neither fleshy, low hung, nor loose ; the milk veins large and prominent ; teats
short, all pointing outwards, and at considerable distance from each other; skin thin and loose; hair soft
and woolly ; the head, bones, horns, and all parts of least value, small; and the general figure compact
and_wcll proportioned." {Alton.)
67D3. The form of the Cumimghame Ayrshire cow, according to Robertson, is " very elegant, but must be
seen to be well understood. So far as it may be explained in words, it is thus : — The neck is small, the
head little, the muzzle taper, the horns short, curved, and bending upwards ; the countenance mild ; the
body straight along the back from shoulder to tail ; the limbs slender ; the udder shaped like a well turned
punch-bowl, and the pai)s widely set. The head, the neck, and the udder are the chief distinguishing
points. The colour is generally brown, of many hues, from dark to yellow, intermixed and mottled in
many a varied form and proportion with white. Some few have a black ground, without any change in
character; but almost none are of one colour only. In a whole hirsel of forty or fifty, there will not two
of them be alike in colour, in this respect exhibiting a diversity not unlike to a bed of tulips, and of as
many hues and shades, in an endless variety of beauty. The bulls are generally good tempered, and, like
the cows, are also mild in the countenance. The usual produce of butter from these cows is ascettaiiied
to be about half their own weight (meaning the four quarters) in a year ; but this requires that the pa^
ture be goo<l, and the cow otherwise well kept the whole season over." The produce of such a cowiwj
kept will equal 242 lbs. imperial weight per annum of butter, and double that quantity of cheese. The
medium produce in butter from Ayr.shire milk is from five imperial quarts. {Rural Recollections, p. 565.)
6794. The qualities of an Ayrshire dairy-cow " are of great importance. Tameness and docility of
temper greatly enhance the value of a milch cow. One that is quiet and contented feeds at ease, does not
break over fences, or hurt herself and other cattle, will always yield more milk, and is easier to manage,
than those that are of a turbulent disposition. To render them docile, they ought to be gently treated ;
frequently handled when young, and never struck or frightened. Some degree of hardiness, a sound con-
stitution, and a moderate degree of life and spirits, are qualities to be wished for in a dairy cow, and what
those of Ayrshire generally possess. The most valuable quality which a dairy cow can possess is that
she yields much milk. A cow in Ayrshire that does not milk well will soon come to the hammer. 1 have
never seen cows any where that, under the same mode of feeding and treatirrent, would yield so much
milk as the dairy breed of that district. Ten Scotch pints per day is no way uncommon. Several cows
yield, for some time, twelve pints, and some thirteen or fourteen pints per day. Another quality of the
1018
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
dairy breed of Ayrshire is, that, after they have yielded very large quantities of milk for several years,
they are as valuable for beef as the Galloway cow, or any other breed of cows known in Scotland. They
fatten as well, and their beef is not inferior to that of any other breed of cattle known in Britain." {Aiton.)
6795. The cattle of the Highlands of Scotland are divided into a number of local varieties, some of which
differ materially from others, probably owing to a difference in the climate and the quality of the herbage,
rather than to their being sprung from races originally distinct, or to any great change eH'ected either by
selection or by crossing with other breeds. It is only of late that much attention has been paid to their
improvement, in any part of this extensive country ; and in the northern and central Highlands the cattle
are yet, for the most part, in as rude a state, and under management as defective, as they were some centuries
ago. These cattle have almost exclusive possession of all that division of Scotland, including the Hebrides,
marked off by a line from the Frith of Clyde on the west, to the Murray Frith on the north, and bending
towards the east till it approaches in some places very near to the German Ocean. Along the eastern
coast, north of the Frith of Forth, the Highland cattle are intermixed with various local breeds, of which
they have probably been the basis. There are more or less marked distinctions among the cattle of the
different Highland counties ; and, in common language, we speak of the Inverness-shire, the Banffshire,
&c., cattle, as if they were so many separate breeds ; but it is only necessary in this place to notice the
two more general varieties, now clearly distinguishable by their form, size, and general properties.
6796. The most valuable of these are the cattle of the Western Highlands and Isles, commonly called the
ggl Argyleshire breed {fig. 861.), or the breed of the Isle of
, Skye, one of the islands attached to the county of Ar-
'' gyle. The cattle of the Hebrides are called kylbes, a
name which is often applied in the south to all the
varieties of the Highland cattle, not as a late writer
{Dickson's Practical Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 1124.) has
imagined, from the district in Ayrshire called Kyle,
where very few of them are kept, but from their crossing,
in their progress to the south, the kt/loes or ferries in
the mainland and Western Islands, where these cattle
are found in the greatest perfection. {General Report of
Scotland, vol. iii. p. 26.)
6797. The cattle of Orkney and Zetland are of a most
diminutive size; an ox weighing about sixty pounds a
quarter, and a cow forty-five pounds. They are of all
colours, and their shapes are generally bad : yet they
give a quantity of excellent milk ; fatten rapidly when
put on good pastures : and, in their own district, are considered strong, hardy, and excellent workers,
when well trained to the yoke, and so plentifully fed as to enable them to support labour.
6798. Of the Fifeshire cattle, Culley observes, " You would at first imagine them a distinct breed, from
their upright white horns, being exceedingly light-lyered and thin-thighed ; but I am pretty clear that it
is only from their being more nearly allied to the kyloes, and consequently less of the coarse kind of short
horns in them. {Culley, p. 69.) Notwithstanding this opinion, the cattle of the north-eastern counties of
Scotland require, for every useful purpose, to be mentioned separately from the HighLmd herds ; and as
all of them have a general resemblance, it will only be necessary in this place to notice the Fife cattle in
particular. There are various traditions about the origin of this variety. It is said to have been much
improved by English cows sent by Henry VIL to his daughter, the consort of James IV., who usually
resided at the palace of Falkland, in that county; and as there is some resemblance between the cattle of
Fife and Cambridgeshire, they are supjwsed to have been brought originally from the latter county.
Others ascribe the origin of the present breed to bulls and cows sent by James VI. (James I. of England),
in payment of the money which his obliging neighbours in Fife are said to have advanced for his equii)-
snent, when he went to take possession of the English throne. {Report of Nairn and Moray, p. S05.)
6799. The prevailing colour of the Fife cattle is black, though sometimes spotted or streaked with white,
and some of them are altogether grey. The horns are small, white, generally pretty erect, or at least
turned up at the points, bending rather forward, and not wide spread like the Lancashire long-homed
breed. The bone is small in proportion to the carcass; the limbs clean, but short; and the skin soft.
They are wide between the hook-bones ; the ribs narrow, wide set, and having a great curvature. They
fatten quickly, and fill up well at all the choice points ; are hardy, fleet, and travel well, and are excellent
for labour, both at plough and cart A good cow of this breed gives from eighteen to twenty-four
quarts of milk per day, yielding from seven to nine pounds of butter, and from ten to twelve pounds of
cheese per week (twenty-four ounces to the pound), for some months after calving- {Fife Report,
p. 251. and 253.)
6800. The cattle of Aberdeenshire, the largest of which are said to have been produced by crossing with
Fife bulls, have been long highly esteemed in the southern markets. It is observed, that every succeeding
generation of them has increased in size for the last thirty years ; and that the native breed has doubled
its former weight since the introduction of turnips. {Aberdeenshire Report, p. 468.) The colour is
commonly black, but there are many of a red and brindled colour. They are thinner in the buttock, in
proportion to their weight : and deeper in the belly, in proportion to their circumference, than the west
Highlanders, and they yield a much larger quantity of milk. Many of them are brought to the south of
Scotland, and kept during winter in the straw-yards, for which they suit better than smaller cattle, as
they are not so impatient of confinement. The ordinary weight of middle-sized oxen, at from three to
five years old, is from forty to fifty stone ; but after being worked for some time, and thoroughly fattened,
they have been known to reach double this weight.
862 6801. Of the Welsh cattle {fig. 862.) " there seem to
be two distinct kinds. The large sort are of a brown
colour, with some white on the rump and shoulders,
denoting a cross from the long-horns, though in shape
not the least resembling them. They are long in the
legs, stand high according to their weight, are thin in
the thigh, and rather narrow in the chine; their
horns are white and turned upwards ; they are light
in flesh, and next to the Devons, well formed for the
yoke: have very good hoofs, and walk light and
nimbly. 'Ihe other sort are much more valuable:
colour black, with very little white; of a good useful
form, short in the leg, with round deep bodies ; the
hide is rather thin, with short hair; they have a likely
look, and a good eye ; and the bones, though not very
small, are neither large nor clumsy; and the cows are
considered good milkers." {Parkinson on Live Stock, vol. i. p. 135.)
6802. The Alderney cattle are to be met with only about the seats of a few great landholders, where
they are kept chiefly' for the sake of their milk, which is very rich, though small in quantity. This race
is considered, hy very competent judges, as too delicate and tender to be propagated to any extent \n
Britain, at least in its northern parts. Their colour is mostly yellow or light red, with white or mottled
faces ; ihev have short crumpled horns, are small in size, and very ill-shaped -, yet they are fine-boned m
Book VII. CRITERIA OF THK BULL FAMILY. 1019
general ; and theirbeef, though high-coloured, is very well flavoured. I have seen, says Culley, some very
useful cattle bred from a cross between an Alderney cow and a short-horned bull
6803. The Irish cattle, Cullev thinks, are a mixexl breed between the long-horns and the Welsh or
Scotch, but more inclined to the long-horns, though of less weight than those in England.
6801. The la.st variety of cattle we shall mention is one entirely of luxury, it is the wild breed {Jig. 86a)
which is found only in the parks of a few great proprietors, who preserve the animals as curious and
863
ornamental, or for the sake of their high-flavoured beeC Those kept at Chillinghara Castle, in North-
umberland, a seat belonging to the Earl of Tankerville, have been very accurately described in the
Northumberland Report, and in Culley 's book on live stock, so often quoted. Their colour is invariably of
a creamy white ; muzzle black ; the whole of the inside of the ear, and about one third of the outside,
from the tips downward, red ; horns white, with black tips, very fine, and bent upwards ; some of the bulls
have a thin upright mane, about an inch and a half or two inches long. The weight of the oxen is from
thirty-five to forty-five stone, and the cows from twenty-five to thirty-five stone the four quarters (fourteen
pounds to the stone'. The beef is finely marbletl, and of excellent flavour. From tlie nature of their
pasture, and the frequent agitation they are put into by the curiosity of strangers, it is scarcely to be
expected they should get very fat ; yet the six years old oxen are generally very good beef, from which it
may be fairly supposed that, in proper situations, they would feed well
6805. The habits of these animals are entirely rude ; at the first appearance of any person they set off
in full gallop, and at the distance of about two hundred yards, make a wheel round and come boldly up
again, tossing their heads in a menacing manner; on a sudden they make a full stop, at the distance of
forty or fifty yards, looking wildly at the object of their surprise, but, upon the least motion being made,
they all again turn round, and fly off with equal speed, but not to the same distance, forming a shorter
circle, and again returning with a bolder and more threatening aspect than before; they apprdach
much nearer, probably within thirty yards, when they again make another stand, and again fly off: this
they do several times,' shortening their distance, and advancing nearer and nearer till they come within
such a short distance, that most people think it prudent to leave them, not choosing to provoke them
farther.
6806. When the coics calve, they hide their calves for a week or ten days in some sequestred situation,
and go and suckle them two or three times a day. If any person comes near them, the calves clap their
heads close to the ground, and lie like hares in form, to hide themselves. This is a proof of their native
wildness, and is corroborated by the following circunutance that happened to the writer of this narrative
(Bailey of Chillingham), who found a hidden calf, twodays old, very lean and very weak : — On stroking
its head it got up, pawed two or three times like an old bull, bellowed very loud, stepped back a few steps,
and bolted at his legs with all its force ; it then began to paw again, bellowed, stepper! back, and bolted as
before ; but knowing its intention, and stepping aside, it missed him, fell, and was so very wiealc that it
could not rise, though it made several efforts : but it had done enough ; the whole herd were alarmed,
and, coming to its rescue, obliged him to retire; for the dams will allow no person to touch their calves
without attacking him with impetuous ferocity.
6807. IMten a calf is to be castrated, the jark'-keepcr marks the place where it is hid, and when the l^erd
are at a distance, takes an assistant with him on horseback ; they tie a handkerchief round the calFs
mouth to prevent iu bellowing, and then perform the operation in the usual way, with as much expe-
dition as possible. When any one happens to be wounded, or is grown weak and feeble through age or
sickness, the rest of the herd set upon it and gore it to death. {CtiUei/, p. 73.)
6808. The mode of kiiJing them was, perhaps, the only remains of the grandeur of ancient himting.
On notice l)cing given that a wild bull would be killed on a certain day, the inhabitants of the neigh-
bourhood came mounted and armed with guns, &a sometimes to the amount of a hundred horse, and
four or five hundred foot, who stood upon walls or got into trees, while the horsemen rode off the bull
from the rest of the herd, until he stood at bay, when a marksman diimounted and shot At some of
these huntings, twenty or thirty shots have been fired before he was subdued. On such occa.sions, the
bleeding victim grew desperately furious from the smarting of his wounds, and the shouts of savage joy
that were echoing from every side ; but, from the number of accidents that happened, this daffgerous
inode has been little practised of late years, the park-keeper alone generally shooting them with a rifled
gun at one shot
SuBSECT. 2. Criteria of Cattle for carious of^ects and purposes.
6809. The criteria qf a well-made bull, to whatever breed he mav belong, are, according to Culley, as
follows:— The head should be rather long, and the muzzle fine; his eyes lively and prominent, his ears
long and thin, his horns wide, his neck risitig with a gentle curve from the shoulders, and small and fine
where it joins the head ; the shoulders moderatelv broad at the top, joining full to his chine or crops and
chest backwards, and to the neck-vein forwards ; his bosom open, breast broad, and projecting well before
his legs ; his arms or fore-thighs muscular, andtaj)ering to his knee ; his legs straight, clean, and very fine-
boned ; his chine and chest so full as to leave no hollows behind the shoulders ; the plates strong, to keep
his belly from sinking below the level of his breast; his back or loin broad, straight, and flat; his rib*
rising one above another in such a manner that the last rib shall be rather the highest, leaving only a
]020 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
email space to the hips or hooks, the whole forming a round or barrel-like carcass ; his hips should be
wide placed, round, or globular, and a little higher than the back ; the quarters from the hip to the rump
long, and instead of being square, as recommended by some, they should taper gradually from the hips
backward, and the turls or jwtt-bones not in the least protuberant ; rump close to the tail, the tail broad,
well haired, and set on so high as to be in the same horizontal line with his back. Bulls should be con-
stantly well fed, and kept in proper enclosures, never being suffered to rid£ before they are three years
old, as when the contrary is the practice they never attain so perfect a growth. It is observed by Law-
rence, that the above description delineates that barrel-shape which Bakewell supposed most advan-
tageous for all kinds of animals intended to be fed for slaughter, or even used for labour.
6810. The criteria of excellence in neat cattle in general are thus given by John Wilkinson of Linton,
near Nottingham, an eminent breeder. {Retnarks on Cattle, Sfc. 1820.) " The head ought to be rather
long, and muzzle fine; the countenance calm and placid, which indicates a disposition to get fat; the
horns fine; the neck light, particularly where it joins the head; the breast wide and projecting well before
the legs ; the shoulders moderately broad at the top, and the joints well in, and when the animal is in
good oojidition, the chine so full as to leave no hollow behind it ; the fore flank well filled up, and the
girth behind the shoulders deep ; the back straight, wide, and flat ; the ribs broad, and the space between
them and the hips small; the Hank full and heavy; the belly well kept in, and not sinking low in the
middle, but so formed that a cross section of it would resemble an oval, whose two ends are of the same
width, arid whose form approaches to that of a circle, or of an ellipsis whose eccentricity is not great (the
whole forming, not a round or barrel. like carcass as some have expressed it, for this would leave a defi-
ciency both in the upper and lower part of the ribs) ; the hips globular, wide across, and on a level with
the back itself; the hind quarters, that is, ftrom the hips to the extremity of the rump, long and straight ;
the rump points fat, and coming well up to the tail; the twist wide, and the seam in the middle of it .so
well tilled that the whole may very nearly form a plane perpendicular to the line of the back ; the lower
part of the thigh small ; the tail broad and fat towards the top, but the lower part thin ; the legs straight,
clean, and fine-boned ; and when the animal is in high condition, the skin of a rich and silky appearance.
These appear to be the most material points for the formation of true symmetry in cattle : there are others
of a minor consideration, which will readily be suggested by attention and experience."
6811. The criteria of an ox well adapted to labour differ from the above only in requiring long and
stroivg legs, and broad hardy feet and hoofs.
6812. The criteria of a beautiful cow, according to Wilkinson, may be thus expressed : —
She's long in her face, she's fine in her horn,
h( Shu'U quickly get fat, without cake or corn,
' i(\ ;. She's clear in her jaws, and full in her chine,
,,g| .^^ Slie's heavy in flank, and wide in her loin.
t Yi ; •
■ vj jj She's broad in her ribs, and long in her rump,
"TO ji .... ■ - - . . - A straight and flat back, with never a hump ;
in sniwo j'rtaii V ;./ >n>'She'8 wide in her hips, and calm in her eyes,
.» tiM&tu^t 9th ,riJwoig lluShe's fine in her shoulders, and thin in her thighs.
■Mix^lo f^Hiimi iKoia iShe's light in her neck, and small in her tail,
)t s>rlJ jjniii'^ \y> ii..JiJf (She's wide in her breast, and good at the pail,
« no f . vci. il.*''' >rf) She's fine in her bone, and silky of skin,
(O She's a grazier's without, and a butcher's within.
1^13. CuUey''s marJcs of a good cow are these : —Wide horns, a thin head and neck, dewlap large, flill
breast, broad back, large deep belly ; the udder capacious, but not too fleshy ; the milk-veins prominent,
and the bag tending far behind ; teats long and large, buttocks broad and fleshy, tail long and pliable, legs
proportionable to the size of the carcass, and the joints short To these outward marks may be added a
gentle disposition, a temper free from any vicious tricks, and perfectly manageable on every occasion. On
the Qther hand, a cow with a thick head and a short neck, prominent back-bone, slender chest, belly
tucked up, small udder or fleshy bag, short teats, and thin buttocks, is to be avoided as totally unfit
for the purposes either of the dairy-man, the suckler, or the grazier. The most valuable cows are those
which are bred in Yorkshire, Staffordshire, and upon the etrong lands in other part of England, and in
Ayrshire in Scotland,
eSlk The criteria of excellence in cattle, as derived from colour, are of no importance; and all that can
be said is, that white and red cattle are less hardy than the black-haired.
6815. The criteria of age in cattle are derived from the teeth and horns. At the end of about two years
they shed their first four teeth, which are replaced by others, larger, but not so white ; and before five
years all the incisive teeth are renewed. These teeth are at first equal, long, and pretty white; but, as
the animals advance in years, they wear down, become unequal, and grow black. These animals, according
to some, likewise shed their horns at the end of three years ; and they are replaced by other horns, which,
like.Uie second teeth, continue; this, however, is totally or partially denied by practical men, and our
statement of it as a fact witlrout qualification has been objected to in the " American Farmer."
The manner of the growth of these horns is not uniform, nor the shooting of them equal. The first
year, that is, the fourth year of the animal's age, two small-pointed horns make their appearance,
iieatly formed, smooth, and towards the head terminated by a kind of button. The following year
this button moves from the head, being impelled by a horny cylinder, which, lengthening in the same
manlier, is also terminated by another button, and so on ; for the horns continue growing as long as the
animal lives. . These buttons become annular joints or rings, which are easily distinguished in the horn,
and'by which the age of the creature may be easily known ; counting three years for the point of the
hoijn, and one for each of the joints or rings. The cow continues useful for more than twenty years, but
the bull loses his vigour much sooner. It is common with dealers to obliterate these rings, by shaving
the horns, in order to conceal the age of the beast.
6816. 'The terms applied to different ages are as follows ; — A young castrated male, after the first year,
is called a stirk j when a year older, a stot, or steer ; at five years old, an ox. A female, after the first
year, is called a heifer, or quey ; when about to bring a calf, she is called a young cow. A castrated
female is called a spayed heifer. Certain of the Welsh and Scots cattle, of rather a coarse and sturdy
kind, are denominated runts. Bullock is the general term for any full-grown male cattle, fat or leaa
6817. T/ie natural duration of life with the bull and cow may be stated at upwards of twenty years,
to nearly the end of which the latter is useful with her milk, but the former generally loses his vigour,
consequently his use, many years sooner.
. ^ ^ ^ SiUBSECT^. 3* Breedi-ng qf Horned Cattle*
6818. The objects to be kept in view in breeding cattle are, forms well adapted for fattening, for producing
milk, or for labour. These three objects haveeachof them engaged the attention of British agriculturists;
but experience has not hitiierto justified the expectation that has been entertained of combining all these
desirable properties, in an eminent degree, in the same race. That form which indicates the property of
yielding the most milk, diHerg materially from that which we know from experience to be combined with
early maturity and the most valuable carcass ; and the breeds which are understood to give the greatest
Book VIl. REARING OF HORNED CATTLE. 1021
weight of meat for the food they consume, and to contain the least proportion of offkl^ are not those which
possess, in the highest degree, the strength and activity required in the beasts of labour.
68 19. A disposition to fatten, and a tendency to yield a large quantity of milk, cannot be united. The form
of the animal most remarkable for the first, is very different from that of the other ; in place of being flat
in the sides, and big in the belly, as all great milkers are, it is high-sided and light-bellied : in a word, the
body of the animal well adapted to fatten is barrel-formed, while that of the milker is widest downwards.
It is not probable, therefore, that the properties of two breeds of cattle, so opposite in form and general
appearance, can ever be united in the same animal
6820. The long and short horned breeds have hitherto been in possession of the best part of the island ;
but various others, as the Ayrshire, the Galloway cattle, and kyloes, might be bred with advantage in
many situations, so as to be more profitable than either the short-horns or the long-horns. These breeds
of cattle, as true quick-feeders, and being kindly-fleshetl, or excellent eating beef, have established their
character in the first market in the island. The Scotch or kyloes are better adapted to cold, exposed,
heathy, mountainous situations, than any other breed we have. Particular breeds are probably best
adapted to particular situations; on which ground, breeders of cattle should endeavour to find out what
breed is the most profitable and best suited to their situations, and to improve that breed to the utmost,
rather than to try to unite the particular qualities of two or more distinct breeds by crossing. The latter
is a precarious practice ; for we generally find the produce inherit the coarseness of both breeds, and rarely
attain the good properties which the pure distinct breeds individually possess. In order to have good
cattle of any breed, particular regard must be paid in selecting those that are the most complete and perfect
in their form, shape, and other qualities, and to breed from them.
6821. An extraordinary degree of attention has been paid to the breeding of cattle in England since the
time of Bakewell, and some illustrious names might be mentioned in addition to those of professional
farmers. Pedigrees of the best cattle have been preserved with no less care, in several places, than those
of race horses ; and, in the selection of breeders, the properties of the family from which they have de-
scended are matters of scarcely less importance than the form of the young animals themselves. The
extraordinary prices paid for the best-bred bulls and cows show that this attention has not been without
its reward.
6822. The best bulls are either let out for the season, or cows are brought to them at a certain rate per
head. The practice of letting bulls is said to have originated with Bakewell {Marshal's Midland Counties,
vol. i. p. 3.'54.), who, early in his career, let a bull for one hundred and fifty-two guineas, to be used only
four months {Parkinson, vol. ii. p. 469.) ; and five guineas per cow were about that time commonly paid to
him and other eminent breeders.
fiSS*/. The age at which bulls should begin to be emplcyyed, and the number of seasons they should be
allowed to serve, as well as the age at which the females should begin to breed, are points regarding which
practice is by no means uniform. In the midland counties, the bulls are pretty commonly allowed to leap
while yearlings ; and if good stock-getters are kept on as long as they will do business, perhaps till they are
ten or twelve years old. In other places they are employed only three seasons, for the first time at two
years old. Tlie females, in many instances, bring their first calf at the age of two years, but more com,
monly, perhaps, not till they are a year older; and in some of the Highland districts, where, owing to a
want of proper nourishment in their infancy, they are later in coming to their full growth, the females do
not often become mothers till they are about four years old.
6824. The period of gestation with cows has been found, upon an average of a great number of experi-
ments, to be about forty weeks. M. Tessier communicated to the National Institute of France the fol.
lowing observations on this subject : — Of 160 cows, 14 calved from the 241st to the 266th day ; 3 on the
270th ; 50 on the 280th ; 68 on from the 280th to the 290th ; 20 on the 300th ; and 5 on the 308th. Cows
seldom bring more than one calf at a time. "When they produce twins, one of them a male and the other
a female, the latter, which is called a free martin, is commonly considered to be incapable of procreation ;
yet there seem to have been well authenticated instances to the contrary. [Farma''s Magazine, voU vii.
p. 462. ; and vol. viii. p. 466.)
6825. The most desirable period for putting cows to the bull is midsummer, in order that they may be
dropped in spring, and have the whole of the grass season before them. Where no regular system is fol-
lowed, and cows are sent to the bull merely because they are in heat, calves will be dropped at all seasons;
but, except in those districts where the fatting of calves is an object of importance, spring is probably the
most advantageous time ; as the calves, having all the grass season before them, become sufficiently
strong for enduring the change to a less agreeable food in the ensuing winter. A calf newly weaned
seldom thrives well during that period, unless it is pampered with better food than usually falls to the
share of young animals. By midsummer the cows are readier to take the bull than at any other season,
and will bring calves in proper time. If a cow goes till after May before she calves, the calf will be too
weak in the winter following; and the dam will not be so ready to take the bull again, but will often grow
barren.
6826. It is not always the best milch coto that has the best calf, even though the external circumstances
should be similar ; and vice versa, a sorry cow may have a good calf. These remarks apply to this breed
as well as to others. The immediate progeny of a good milker may be an indifferent milch cow ; but in
the second remove, the good milking quality of the grandam returns. This has often been observed,
and without any of the causes being imputable to the size. {Robertson, p. 571.) 'n^n'{'\
\, ' u.'M ,ifi'
SuB.sECT. 4. Rearing of Homed Cattle. '"* ' '*
^27. The mode of rearing calves is various. There can be little doubt but that the best and most natural
mode is that of allowing them to suck their dams, at least for some length of time after they are brought
forth.
6828. In Yorkshire, and most parts of Scotland, the usual method is to give them milk to drink, there
being few instances where they are allowed to suck. For the first two or three weeks, they mostly get
milk warm from the cow ; but for the next two or three weeks, half the new milk is withdrawn, and
skim-milk substituted in its stead ; and at the end of that period, the new milk is wholly withdrawn : they
are then fed on skim-milk alone, or sometimes mixed with water, till they are able to support themselves
by eating grass, or other food of that sort.
6829. In Cheshire, the practice is to allow the calves to suck for the first three weeks. They are then
fed on warm new whey, or scalded whey and buttermilk mixed ; with the green whey water is frequently
mixed, and either oatmeal or wheat and bean flour added. A quart of meal or flour is thought sufficient
to mix with forty or fifty quarts of liquid. Oatmeal gruel and buttermilk, with an addition of skimmed
milk, are also used for the same purpose. Some one of these prepared kinds of food is given, night and
morning, for a few weeks after the calves are put on that diet, but afterwards only once a day till they are
Ihree months old or more.
6830. In Gloucestershire the calves are not allowed to suck above two or three days ; they are then fed
on skim-milk, which is previously heated over the fire. When they arrive at such an age as to be able
to eat a little, they are allowed split beans, or oats and cut hay, and water is mixed with the milk.
6831. In Sussex it is common to allow the calves to suck for ten or twelve weeks, or to wean them at the
end of three or four, and give them a liberal allowance of skim-milk for six or eight weeks longer.
6832. In Middlesex it is usual, in rearing calves, to give them a pailful, containing about a galloft, of
milk warm from the cow, morning and evening, for eight or ten weeks; or, which is certainly the most
1022 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paet III.
agreeable to nature, and therefore to be preferred to any other that can be adopted, to allow the calf to
suck its dam, as it is sometimes done in the county of Sussex, and generally in W igtonshire.
6833. According to Marshal, the best method is this : —The calves suck a week or a fortnight, according
to their strength (a good rule) ; new milk in the pail, a few meals; next, new milk and skim-milk mixed,
a few meals more ; then, skim-milk alone, or porridge made with milk, water, ground oats, &.c. and some-
times oil-cake, until cheese-making commences ; after which, whey porridge, or sweet whey, in the field ;
being careful to house them in the night, until warm weather be confirmed. {Midland Counties, vol. i,
p. 338 ) This method of suckling is not, however, free from objection ; and, in the ordinary practice of
rearing calve.s, it is held to be a preferable plan to begin at once to teach them to drink from a pail. The
calf that is fed from the teat must depend upon the milk of its dam, however scanty or irregular it may be ;
whereas, when fed from a dish, the quantity can be regulated according to its age; and various substitutes
may be resorted to, by which a great part of the milk is saved for other purposes, or a greater number of
calves reared upon the same quantity. {General Report of Scotland, vol. iii. p. 51.) Yet it would seem to
be a good practice to allow calves to suck for a few days at first, if there were no inconvenience to be
apprehended, both to themselves and their dams, from the separation afterwards.
()8;34. When fed from the pail, the average allowance to a calf is about two English wine gallons of milk
daily, for twelve or thirteen weeks ; at first, fresh milk as it is drawn from the cow, and afterwards skim-
milk. But after it is three or four weeks old, a great variety of substitutes for milk are used in different
places, of which linseed-oil cake, meal, and turnips, are the most common.
fi835. Where calves are reared with skim-milk, it should be boiled, and suffered to stand until it cools to
the temperature of that first given by the cow, or a trifling degree more v/arm, and in that state it should
be given to the calf Milk is frr<juently given to calves warm only ; but that method will not succeed so
well as boiling it. If the milk be given over-cold, it will cause the calf to skit or purge. When this is the
case, jmt two.or three spoonfuls of rennet in the milk, and it will soon stop the looseness. ]f,on the con-
trary, the calf is bound, bacon-broth is a very good and safe thing to put into the milk. One gallon of
milk per day will keep a calf well at first. The usual allowance is about double after the first eight or ten
days, and this is increased with the age of the animal. After it is thirteen weeks old, it will do very well
upon grass or other food, without any milk at all. A calf may then be supported without milk, by giving
it hay, and a little wheat-bran, once a day, with about a pint of oats. The oats will be found of great
service as soon as th^ calf is capable of eating them. The bran and oats should be given about mid-day ;
the milk in portion^, at eight o'clock in the morning, and four in the afternoon. But whatever hours are
chosen to be set apart for feeding the calf, it is best to adhere to the particular times, as regularity is of
more consequence than many people think. If the calf go but an hour or two beyond his usual time of
feeding, he will find himself uneasy, and pine for food. It is always to be understood, that calves reared
in this manner are to be enticed to eat hay as early as possible; and the best way of doing this is to give
them the sweetest hay that can be got, and but little at a time. Turnips or potatoes are very good food,
as soon as they can be eaten by them ; and they are best cut small, and mixed with hay, oats, bran, and
such articles. It may be observed, that it is not absolutely necessary to give milk to calves after they are
one month old : to wean them gradually, two quarts of milk, with the addition of linseed boiled in water
to make a gruel, given together, will answer; and by diminishing the milk gradually, the calf will soon do
without it. Hay tea will do, with the like addition of two quarts of milk ; but it is not so nutritious as
linseed. It is a good method of making this, to put such a proportion of hay as will be necessary into a
tub, then to pour on a sufficient quantity of boiling water, covering up the vessel, and letting the water
remain long enough to extract the virtues of the hay. When bacon or pork is boiled, it is a good way to
preserve the liquor or broth, and mix it with milk for the calves.
68S(). In summer, calves may sometimes be reared on whey only ; but, when reared in winter, they must
be fed tvith hay ; and clover-hay is probably the best of any for this use. Calves may also be raised with
porridge of diflt'erent kinds, without any mixture of milk. It is sometimes a good and convenient plan, the
author of the New Partner's Calendar says, to bring up calves under a step-mother; an old cow, with a
tolerable stock of milk, will suckle two calves, or more, either turned off with her, or at home, keeping
them in good condition, until they are old enough to shift : they ought to suck the first of their mother's
milk for two or three days, although many are weaned without ever being suffered to suck at all. Calves,
whether rearing or fattening, should also always suck before milking, the cow being milked afterwards,
as the first and thinnest of the milk is sufficiently rich. Old milk will, perhaps, scour a very young calf;
but the effect will go off without any ill consequences. He observes, that the Duke of Northumberland's
recipe is to take one gallon of skimmed milk, and to about a pint of it add half an ounce of common treacle,
stirring it until it is well mixed ; then to take one ounce of linsecd-oil cake, finely pulverised, and with
the hand let it fall gradually, in very small quantities, into the milk, stirring it in the mean time with 'a
spoon or ladle, until it be thoroughly incorporated ; then let the mixture be put into the other part of the
milk, and the whole be made nearly as warm as new milk when it is first taken from the cow ; and in
that state it is fit for use. The quantity of oil-cake powder may, from time to time, be increased as
occasion may require, and as the calf becomes inured to the flavour of it. Crook's method is to make a
jelly of one quart of linseed, boiled ten minutes in six quarts of water, which jelly is afterwards mixed
with a small quantity of the best hay tea. On this he rears many calves without milk : he thinks many
calves are annually lost by artificial rearing, and more brought up with poor and weak constitutions.
6837. When calves are dropped during the grass season, Donaldson observes, they should be put into
some small home-close of sweet rich pasture after they are eight or ten days old, not only for the sake of
exercise, but also that they may the sooner take to the eating of grass. When they happen to be dropped
during winter, or before the return of the grass season, a httle short soft hay or straw, or sliced turnips,
should be laid in the trough or stall before them.
6838. Castration is performed both on male and female calves, when neither are intended for procre-
ation. On cow calves, however, it is generally omitted : but in Norfolk no distinction is made as to sex ;
males and females are equally objects of rearing, and are both occasionally subject to castration, it being
a prevailing custom to spay all heifers intended to be fatted at three years old ; but such as are intended
to be finished at two years old are, it is believed, pretty generally left " open ;" as are, of course, thot,e
intended for the dairy. There are two reasons for this practice : they arc prevented from taking the bull
too early, and thereby frustrating the main intention ; and by this precaution may lie more quietly, and
are kept from roving at the time of fatting. This may be one reason why spayed heifers are thought to
fatten more kindly at three years old, and to be better fleshed, than open heifers.
6839. The time of performing the operation of castration in horned cattle, as in all kinds of live stock, i»
while the animals are yet very young, and just so strong as to endure this severe operation without any
great danger of its proving fatal. The males, accordingly, are cut commonly when about a month old, and
the females at the age of from <.ne to three months ; but in Galloway, where more heifers are spayed than
perhaps in all the island besides, this is seldom done till they are about a year old.
6840. The best time for rearing calves is the spring; but that operation must depend in some degree
on the time when the calf was dropped. Such as are weaned during autumn or winter, however, seldom
do any good. At the season when the calf is weaned from the teat, it ought to be turned abroad, in the
day-time, into a small close or orchard near the yard where there is a good bite of grass, which may be
expected at the time of the year when the wealiing-calves are of this age; and, as there will generally
be more than one calf weaned in a season, they will each be company for the other and become in a short
time reconciled to their situation. It is to be observed, that this pasture should be at seme distance from
that whereon the dams are turned, and that there be neither ponds nor ditches, nor any annoyance
which might endanger the lives of these youthful animals j and, in order to habituate them still more
Book VII. FATTENING CALVES. 1023
to their pasture, milk-pottage should be carried to them at each of their feeding hours. For the first
month or six weeks, the calves ought every night to be brought out of the meadow, and lodged in the pens ;
but after this time they may be left in the pasture as well in the night season as in the day ; and at this
time their food may be lowered by degrees, till it be at length reduced to simple water only ; for, when
the calves get to the age of twelve or fourteen weeks, they will no longer require the aid of this sustenance,
but will be able to satisfy their appetites with grass. Care, however, must be taken throughout the sum-
mer that they be frequently shifted from one pasture to another, in order that they may be kept up in good
flesh, and enabled to grow away with the utmost celerity. At Michaelmas, or soon after, the calves should
be taken into the yard ; and if they were allowed the indulgence of a small close to themselves it would be
still better.
6841. The treatment of young cattle, from the time they are separated from their dams or are able to sub-
sist on the common food of the other stock, must entirely depend upon the circumstances of the farm on
which they are reared. In summer, their pasture is often coarse, but abundant ; and in winter all good
breeders give them an allowance of succulent food along with their dry fodder. The first winter they have
hay and turnips ; the following summer coarse pasture ; the second winter straw in the fold-yard, and a few
turnips once a day, in an adjoining field, just sufficient to prevent the straw from binding them too much ;
the next summer tolerably good pasture; and the third winter as many turnips as they can eat, and are
in every respect treated as fatting cattle. [Culley, p. 47.)
68i2. The method of managing young cattle during the first winter is, according to Donaldson, pretty
generally the same in every part of the island. They are generally housed : sometimes bound up to the
stall ; but more frequently allowed to remain at freedom. The w^ay of feeding them in England is chiefly
with hay or hay and straw mixed ; and in Scotland sometimes with hay, but more frequently straw and
turnips. They are mostly turned out on some of the inferior pastures on the farm in the following,
summer, and maintained the second winter on straw in the straw-yard, or in houses or sheds erected
for the purpose. Some farmers in the more northern parts of the kingdom, from being situated at
a distance from any market at which they can dispose of stall-fed beef, very frequently give a consider-
able part of their turnip-crop to their young cattle. This is, he thinks, an excellent practice; and
one that ought to be followed, even by those who, from being better situated with regard to markets, can
adont other methods of using turnips to advantage. The benefit of green winter food for live-stock is so
great, that there is probably, he says, no way in which turnips can be used, by which the farm or the
farmer would reap greater benefit, than by giving the young cattle a daily allowance during the first two
or three winters.
SuBSECT. 5. Fattening Calves by Suckling.
6843. The most advantageous stock for sue/cling calves for the butcher is that sort of cow which gives the
greatest quantity of milk, richness of quality being not so great an object, or so well adapted to the desired
purpose. The Holderness cows are to be preferred in this view; not, however, to suckle calves of the
same, but of a smaller breed: perhaps Devon calves surpass all others as sucklers, whether for quick-
ness of proof, or beauty of the veal ; they are not, however, to be procured but in or near their own
country.
6844. The method most commonly employed in fattening calves is, to allow them to suck ; as by this^
method the object is probably not only sooner, but more effectually attained than by any other means.
The period which is necessary for fattening calves in this way must be different, according to circum-
stances, but it is generally from seven to nine weeks ; however, in the dairy districts, where milk is con-
sidered a valuable article, scarcely half that time is allowed. These is another method, which is, to give
them the milk to drink ; and when that is done, it is given them morning and evening warm from the
cow, and the quantity increased according to their age and strength. In whatever way they may be
managed, they should be kept in pens in a close house, and well littered. The author of the Synopsis of
Hnshandry observes, that as it is necessary that the calves should lie always quiet, in order that they may
indulge in sleep at those times when they are not employed in sucking, it seems proper that the cow-
house should be situated in the most retired part of the yard, and that the pens should be kept as dark as
possible. But notwithstanding this caution, the calves should by no means be suffered to lie too hot in
the summer time, which would be apt to produce a sickness amongst them. To admit, therefore, an>
occasional draught of fresh air, let a window be cut in each pen, with shutters adapted to the same, and
let these windows be opened whenever the closeness of the atmosphere indicates it to be necessary. In
the summer season, they should rarelj', if ever, be closely shut ; and when it is required, the stream of
air may be increased by opening the cow-house door at the opposite end of the building. Each calf should
have a collar round his neck, with which the attendant may direct him in his sucking, but should never
be fastened up in the pen. It is necessary that the pens be kept constantly well littered with the cleanest
wheat straw, a proportion of which should be thrown in to them every day ; cleanliness being a most
essential article in the fattening of every animal, and not more necessary to any than to the calf, which,
but for this precaution, would in a short time demonstrate the ill effects of lying on his accumulated dung^
which of all animals is the most offensive and of a quality highly septic. As the calves are yeaned, they
are to be taken into the pens, and suckled by their own dams, which at first will yield a far greater quan-
tity of milk than is necessary for their offspring, so that another calf may be suckled thereon ; or the cow-
may be milked, and the cream be reserved for butter, or applied to any other use that the owner may think
proper. As the calf increases in size, it will require a larger quantity of milk ; but whilst calves are
young, one good cow will yield a noble supply for two ; and when the whole produce is demanded for one
calf, another new milch cow should be provided, and these two cows will abundantly supply the three
calves with milk till the oldest is fit for the butcher; after which, if necessary, a fresh suckler may be
brought in, and the business be carried on progressively by keeping the house constantly supplied with
calves, so that the whole milk may be sucked, as the dairy and the fattening of calves by suckling cannot
be conveniently united.
684;5. The only advantage which suckling can have, over giving calves milk to drink, is, that the action
of sucking induces " a greater secretion of saliva, which, by promoting digestion, accelerates the growth
and fattening of the young animal, cannot be doubted ; but the secretion of that fluid may be likewise
promoted, by placing an artificial teat in the mouth of the calf, and giving it the milk daily and at the
natural temperature. In the dairy districts of Scotland, the dairymaid puts one of her fingers into the
mouth of the calf when it is fed, which serves the purpose of a teat, and will have nearly the same effect
as a natural teat, in inducing the secretion of saliva. If that, or an artificial teat of leather, be used, and
the milk given slowly before it is cold, the secretion of saliva may be promoted to all the extent that can
be necessary ; besides that secretion is not confined to the mere period of eating, but, as in the human
body, the saliva is formed, and part of it swallowed at all times. {Aiton's Dairy Husb. p. 87.)
6846. Young calves, when permitted to suck their fill, are often seized with a lax or scouring : to prevent
which, the calves for the first fortnight or three weeks may be stinted in their allowance ; and at the
same time due care should be taken that they do not pine or decrease in flesh for want of milk. But after
this age they should be allowed to suck as long as they choose ; and every means ought to be made use of
to increase their appetite, and render them more eager after their food. Chalk may be given for this
purpose, as well as for giving to the flesh a delicate whiteness. An excellent astringent remedy has been
already given. (655*) Salt sprinkled in the trough will likewise act as a stimulus to the appetite ; besides
which, it is a common practice with some people to cram their calves with balls compounded of flour,,
pounded chalk, and milk, with the addition of a small quantity of common gin. Of these balls they give
1024 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part [II.
two, about t;#e Hire of a walnut, once a day, or oflener, to each calf. These balls, being very nutritioug,
in some degree supply the place of milk, and at the same time the spirituous mixture operates on the
creatures as a soporific, and thus, by composing them to sleep, increases their disposition to fatten ; but
where milk can be had in sufficient abundance, it is never worth while to have recourse to these factitious
aids. When the demands of the calf, however, are beyond the ability of the cow, these balls come season-
ably to their relief In order that the calves may be provided with sufficient store of milk, the pastures
should be changed, whenever the cows are found to be deficient in this particular; and in the winter
lime, such food as is of a succulent nature, as grains, turnips, &c., should be always at hand to supply the
want of grass; and these, with a due allowance of the sweetest hay, should be their constant aliment
during the time that the cows are confined to the yard.
6847. The prices of suckling calves vary according to the goodness of the young animal, and the time of
year wherein the purchase is made. In general, sucklers fetch the largest price in summer, when veal
sells the cheapest ; and the reason of this arises from the smaller number to be met with at that time than
in the spring. When calves are slaughtered at six weeks or two months old, the veal is seldom of a good
colour ; neither has the flesh of these young calves a taste equal to that of animals sutfered to live a few
weeks longer. To attain colour and flavour, it is necessary that the calves should be maintained with
plenty of milk, and managed as before directed, till they arrive at the age of eight or ten weeks, according
to the season of the year, the more or less kindly state of the calf, the particular demand of the markets,
or other accidental circumstances. In the summer season, it may be proper to dispose of them at an
earlier period than in the winter; not only on account of their growing away with greater celerity in
warm weather, but likewise because of the increased demand for small veal, which is then most saleable.
During the last three or four weeks, blood should frequently be drawn from the calf, which will be a
likely means towards rendering the veal of a colour delicately white; a circumstance so much attended
to by the butcher, that he will commonly depreciate such calves as, from the appearance of their eyes, are
likely to die black, as they term it, though in other respects not to be despised.
6848. Calves suckled on their own dams will, generally speaking, fatten in a shorter time than those
afterwards brought in to supply their places. The first obvious reason for this difference in their favour
is, their having been permitted to remain in the place where they were first dropped, and having always
continued to suck the milk of their dam, which must in all reason be supposed of a more nutritious quality
to them than that of any other cow. Secondly, the cow having so lately calved, the aliment nourishes and
fattens in a higher degree than when the animal becomes stale-milched. Cow calves are observed to fatten
more kindly than the male or bull-calves ; and the latter are much coarser grained than the former, and
their flesh less delicate in taste. Calves of the largest size are fattened in Essex, where the business of
suckling seems to be better understood, and more properly conducted, than in any other county, and where
the farmer keeps the calves to a greater age than in any other part of the kingdom.
' 6849. Marshal is clearly of opinion, that to suckle calves in general after they are ten weeks old is bad
management; for his account in this respect is uniform, those of nine or ten having paid as much a week
as those of twelve or thirteen ; and, although a calf of six weeks old may suck nearly as much milk as a
calf of twelve weeks old, yet for the first month or five weeks the quantity is considerably less, and this
advantage of their infancy is doubly as valuable to nine as it is to twelve weeks. There can be no doubt
but that the profit of this system of fattening depends materially upon the quickness of return.
'-■ 6850. In some districts, barley-meal, linseed boiled into a kind of jelly, and similar articles, are given to
calves in the course of fattening ; but the methods above described are greatly superior, although it must
be allowed that they may sometimes be considerably more expensive.
6851. The art of fattening calves for the butcher is practised in the parish of Avondale or Strathaven,
with a degree of success, according to Alton, which has had no parallel in Scotland. The superior excel-
lence of the Strathaven veal has long been proverbial in the Glasgow and Edinburgh markets, where
Strathaven veal and that of the best quality have become synonymous terms. The mode of feeding thera
is easy and natural. They are fed on milk, with seldom any admixture ; and they are not permitted to
suckle their dams, but are taught to drink the milk from a dish. The only art used in feeding calves in
the vicinity of Strathaven is, to give them, after the first two or three weeks, abundance of milk ; to keep
plenty of dry litter under them, in a place that is well aired, neither too hot nor too cold ; and to exclude
the light, as they are apt to become too sportive when exposed to much light If a calf becomes costive^
a little bacon or mutton broth will give it ease ; and if it begins to purge, a small quantity of the rennet
used in coagulating milk will cure the disease. {Aiton's Dairy Husb, p. 89.)
SuBSECT. 6. Fattening Homed Cattle.
6852. The fattening of cattle demands considerable aiul constant attention, and the grand object is to
fatten quickly. An animal when in a state of rearing may be considered as a vessel open at both ends, in
which the supply and the waste being nearly equal it can never be filled : fattening an animal may be con-
sidered as an attempt to fill the vessel, and this can only be done by excess of supply. The waste being
the same as before, this excess must be great ; if it is not so, the vessel may be filled to a greater height
than before without ever becoming full. An important hint might be taken from this simile by many
fairmers, who know little of the difference between feeding and fattening. We have known cattle, sheep,
and swine kept for months, and fed with a view to fattening them, without their gaining a pound of meat
6853. The food on which cattle is fatted in summer is grass, commonly on pastures, but, in a few in-
stances, cut and consumed in feeding-houses or fold-yards : in winter by far the greater number are fatted
on turnips, along with hay or straw ; oil-cake, carrots, potatoes, and other articles of food, are used occa-
sionally, and in particular districts, oil-cake chiefly for feeding the larger animals ; but few, compara-
lively, are fatted on any of these without the addition of turnips of one or other of the varieties generally
cultivated. A considerable number of cattle are also fatted on the offals of distilleries, when dis-
tilling from com; a source of supply, the frequent interruption of which has been much felt in those
situations where the soil does not permit the extensive cultivation of turnips. It is seldom or never the
practice of the best managers to fatten cattle with roots or other winter food on the field, during that
season ; but to confine them to houses or fold.yards, where they are well littered, regularly fed, not liable
to be disturbed, and sheltered from the inclemency of the weather, and where the manure they make is
an object of very considerable importance, and of much greater value than if it were dropped at random
over a whole field.
6854. The age at which cattle are fatted depends upon the manner in which they have been reared;
upon the properties of the breed in regard to a propensity to fatten earlier or later in life ; and on the
circumstances of their being employed in breeding, in labour, for the dairy, or reared solely for the butcher.
In the latter case, the most inproved breeds are fit for the shambles when about three years old, and very
few of any large breed are kept more than a year longer. As to cows and working oxen, the age of fat-
tening must necessarily be more indefinite ; in most instances the latter are put up to feed afler working
three years, or in the seventh or eighth year of their age. In general, it may be said, that the small breeds
of cattle are fatted on pastures, though sometimes finished off on a few weeks' turnips ; and that large
cattle, at least in the north, are chiefly fatted in stalls or fold-yards, by means of turnips, and the other
articles before mentioned
6855. Stall-feeding is the most common, and, when judiciously conducted, probably the most eligible
method, in regard to the cattle themselves, the economy of food, and the expense of farm buildings. The
small shed and foldyard, called a hammel (2831.), are used only for the larger breeds; but they do not
Book VII.
MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY COWS.
1025
seem well calculated for an extensive system of fatting by those who do not breed, but purchase stock
every year from different parts. {Sup. E. Brit. art. Agr.)
6856. The two great points in feeding anitnals to proof, according to the author of the Farmer's Calendar,
are, regularity, and a particular care of the weaker individuals. On the latter account there ought ever
to be plenty of trough or rack room, that too many may not feed together ; in which very common case
the weaker are not only trampled down by the stronger, but they are worried, and become cowed and
spiritless, than which there cannot be a more unfavourable state for thriving ; besides, these are ever com-
pelled to shift with the worst part of the meat. This domineering spirit is so remarkably prevalent amongst
horned cattle, that he has a hundred times observed the master-beasts running from crib to crib, and abso-
lutely neglecting their own provender for the sake of driving the inferior from theirs. This is, much
oftener than suspected, the chief reason of that difference so visible in a lot of beasts, after a winter's keep.
It is likewise, he says, a very common and very shameful sight, in a dairy of cows, to see several of them
gored and wounded in a dozen places, merely from the inattention of the owner, and the neglect of tipping
the horns of those that butt. The weaker animals should be withdrawn and fed apart j and, in crib-
feeding in the yard, it is a good method to tie up the master-beasts at their meals.
6857. Fattening cattle, Donaldson observes, are usually put to grass in May or June, according to the
season and situation in regard to climate. The period necessary for fatting an ox for the butcher depends
on several circumstances; as the condition he was in when put to grass, the nature of the pasture, and
many others ; but, in ordinary cases, an ox will be completely fattened in three months. There is, he says,
one method of fattening, connected with the grazing system, that the farmers in England are, from the
superior excellence of the climate, enabled to adopt with success, which can never be attempted with pro-
priety in Scotland. It is very common, at the close of the grass season, when the fattening stock happen
not to be fully in condition for the butcher, to render them so, by giving them hay two or three times a
day in the field, or in hovels erected for the puri>ose, into which they have access at pleasure.
6858. When turnips are employed for tlie purpose of fattening cattle, especially if they are put up to
the stalls in proper condition, which, considering the season of the year (November), must, with ordinary
attention, always be the case, from ten to thirteen weeks is fully sufficient to render them fit for market.
68.-9. The fattening of cattle with grainsmay, in some respects, be considered as a branch of the distillery
business j but yet there are some instances wherein those who cultivate farms practise it with a double
view — the obtaining of a profit on the sale of cattle, and the acquisition of a valuable treasure of useful
manure. Adam, the renter of the farm of Mount Nod, near Streaiham, in the county of Surrey, erected
a very complete building, for the purpose chiefly of fattening cattle on grains. In this building might
sometimes be seen several hundred head of cattle.
6860. The method of fattening cattle with oil-cake, com, cut chaff, &c. is practised in many of the English
counties, with a degree of success sufficient to warrant farmers in other parts of the island to follow the
same practice. The cattle are commonly put up to fatten at the end of the grass season. The usual al-
lowance of oil. cake, after it is broken in a large mortar, or, in the fruit districts, in a cyder-mill, is about
half a peck per day, one half in the morning, and the other in the evening ; to which is added hay, and
in some cases ground corn, that is, oats or barley of inferior quality, and cut straw, provincially "chaff."
As bullocks fattened in this manner get regularly five, and sometimes six, meals a day, it is sufficiently
evident that, although it may be, upon the whole, an expensive mode of fattening, yet it must be both
expeditious and eftectual.
6861. Booth's ettabliahmeni for fuHemng cattle at Brenlfurd is
one of the most extensile in the neighbourhood of London. It
w as forni«l for the purpose of consuming on the sjjot the grains
and wash of the extensive distillery of that family. The build-
10 feet high, with 20 windows on each side, and 8 windows
at each end, not glazed, and a few glazed skylights in the
roof. The roof forms one ridge, and the centre part of it
affords space for an ample hay-loft; it is supported by cast-
iron and wooden pillars, so niimirous as to have the appear-
ance, on first entrance, of a fortst of columns. A passag:e of six
ft-tt, the centre of which is paved with plates of cast-iron, is
cortinuetl round the whole building, and lietween every two
rows of cattle are passages of the same width and description.
The whole is lighted by thirty-six gas-lights. The cattle stand
in stalls seven feet and a half wide ; and the space from the
manger to the gutter behind the cattle is about ten feet : the
gutters liave an inclination to one end, and there are also under-
ground drains having a similar inclination, into which the
liquid from the gutters runs through iron gratings. There
is a common manger which extends the whole length of each
row of cattle, the bottom of which is on a perfect level. The
portion of this manger contained in every double stall has a
second bottom, with two ends let into it, the second or upper
bottom descending to within three inches of the bottom com-
mon to the whole manger. In the upper trough so formed, and
which, in length, occupies about half of the length of the por-
tion of the manger belonging to each stall, is put the grains,
or other solid food ; the common manger being for the re-
ception of the wash, or other liauid food or drink. The
immense quantity of wash produced by the distillery is kept in
a cistern or tank above the level of tliese mangers, and in a
ipes from this tank are
_ .nmunicate with each of
them, so that by turning a cock the whole of the catt'e
in any one of the ranges are instantly supplied with wash. This
article serves both as food and drink, as it contains the liner
particles of the ground malt, and the greater part of the barley
meal used in the mashing process. The grains are kept in deep
pits about twelve feet square, and ten or twelve feet dcep,some-
what narrower at b6ttom than at top, lined with brick set in
cement ; and when the grains are trodden in, and raised like
the ridge of a house, they are covered with road stutfto exclude
the air, and protect them from the weather. Little or no litter
^isused, and neither green food nor hay uncut is ever given.
Oil -cake is used, but not always ; it beingfound that rough clover
chaff mixed with the grains and wash will fatten to any ex-
tent.
6862. This hulliUng, though erected at great expense, is very
unsightly, and far from complete. It is much too cold in win-
ter from the openness of the roof, and, exteriorly, very un-
pleasing to the ey f.om its great heigh^ Within, the view it
utterly disfigured by seemingly innumerable posts, three fourths
of which are of little or no use. For one third part of the cost
an equally useful, and much handsomer structure might have
been erected. It has never paid a profit to its owners, who, if
they could sell their wash and grains at the present market
price, calculate that their profits would be considerably greater
than by consuming it on tlie premises.
ScJBSECT. 7. Management of Cows kept for the Dairy.
6863. Milch cows are kept for the manufacture of butter and cheese, for the suckling of calves for the
butcher, and for the immediate use of the milk.
6864. The kind of cow used by the dairyists who supply the London market is chiefly the Holderness,
a variety of the short-horned breed, with large carcasses and short horns. They are bred chiefly in York-
shire and Durham ; but in part in most counties. The Edinburgh dairies are supplied by short-horned
cows from Roxburghshire, and other pastoral districts in the south of Scotland. For private dairies, the
864 variety bred in Ayrshire {fig. 864.) have a decided pre-
ference, as giving a rich milk and large proportion of but-
ter ; and the cheese made from the milk of this breed,
known as Dunlop, is decidedly celebrated. In Lancashire,
the native long-horned breed is said, in the Report of that
county, to obtain the general preference : but in Hodgson's
dairy at Caton, in the same district, it was found that a
short-horned cow, upon an average of twelvemonths, will »
yield nine quarts of milk in the day, and four and a half 4
pounds of butter in the week ; and a long-horned cow gives i
eight quarts of milk in the day, and four pounds of butter '
in the week, for the same period. The cows of both kinds
had constantly the same kind of food; but, in order to have
the clear result, the quantity of food consumed by each cow
of the different breed should have been fully ascertained.
The produce of milk and butter is on the side of the short.
3 U
1026 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
hornetl sort ; but it is not ascertained whether the neat balance is in favour of the short or long-horned;
{Lancashire Rep. 561.) The Guernsey breed is valued by some for the richness of the cream and butter •
but, both for the dairy and butcher, it is very unprofitable.
6865. Where butter is the principal object, such cows should always be chosen as are known to afford
the best milk and cream, and in the largest quantity, of whatever breed they may be. But the weight of"
butter to be made from a given number of cows must always depend on a variety of contingent circum-
stances : such as the size and goodness of the beasts ; the kind and quantity of the food ; and the distance
of time from calving. As to the first, it need scarcely be mentioned that a large cow will give greater
store of milk than one of a smaller size ; though cows of equal size differ as to the quantity of cream
produced from the milk of each : it is, therefore, on those cows whose milk is not only in large abundance,
but which, from a peculiar inherent richness, yields a thick cream, that the butter dairyman is to place
his chief dependence ; and where a cow is deficient in either of these, she should be parted with, and her
place supplied by one more proper for this use. As to the second particular, namely, the kind and quality
of the food, those who would wish to profit by a dairy ought to provide for their cows hay of a superior
goodness, to be given them in the depth of winter, and this in an unlimited degree, that they may always
feed till they are perfectly satisfied ; and, when the weather will permit, the cows should be indulged with
an outlet to marshes or low meadow-grounds, where they may feed on such green vegetables as are pre-
sent; which is far preferable to the practice of confining them the whole day on dry meat, will enable
them to yield greater plenty of milk, and will give a fine yellow colour to the butter even in the winter
season.
6866. In the vales of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, very great numbers of cows are kept for the
purpose of butter. These fertile lands maintain a breed of large cows, which yield great store of milk;
so that it is no uncommon circumstance for one farmer to keep a herd of fifty or sixty, and to collect a
quantity of cream sufficient to fill a barrel.churn of sixty gallons in a week. The butter made from this
cream is sold by the farmer or dairyman to persons who make it their business to purchase this article at
a stated price from Michaelmas to Lady-day, and at an inferior rate from Lady-day to Michaelmas. The
butter thus collected is sent to London every week in waggons. It is consigned to the dealers, who retail
it to the consumer ; and no small profit from this traffic accrues to the waggoner and the butter-merchant
This butter is mostly made up in lumps of two pounds each, and for that reason it has obtained the name
of lump-butter. Its flavour is peculiarly sweet and agreeable, which is chiefly owing to the goodness of
the pasture whereon the cows are fed ; for this intrinsic merit would in vain be sought for in butter made
from ordinary pastures, how great soever may be the skill of the dairy- woman. Though the grass should
be equally luxuriant, the cows of the same breed, and the cream in like abundance, yet would a decided
preference still remain in favour of the vale-fed cows ; for, as a fattening beast on rich land will thrive
much quicker than on thin soils, though the herbage be shorter on the former than on the poor ground,
so will cows give a larger store of milk, and that of a more nutritious quality, when fed on deep fertile
meadows, than if depastured on those of inferior goodness or quality.
6867. Epping butter has long been held in the highest estimation ; and great quantities are manufac-
tured in Cambridgeshire and the adjoining counties. The Cambridge butter is sent in small pans ; it has
an additional quantity of salt mixed with it, to insure its keeping for ten days or a fortnight ; and is gene-
rally perfectly free from any rancid taste. Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and other neighbouring counties,
where the land is rich and fertile, likewise supply large quantities of butter, which is salted and put into
tubs for the southern markets.
6868. Where cheese is the principal object, the management in respect to the cows must be the same.
6869. When the object is the suckling of calves, the farmer should provide himself with a breed of cows
suited to the quality of his land. Where the farm abounds with fertile pastures, watered with wholesome
streams, and not far distant from the yard, so that the cows may be turned immediately out of the suckling
house upon their feed, the benefit will be in every respect superior to what can be expected from an arable
farm, or where the green land is in a small proportion to the ploughed ; for, in this latter case, the cows
must depend for their sustenance chiefly on artificial fodder ; such as clover, rye-grass, turnips, and other
roots and herbage.
6870. The cow-house should be of a size adapted to the number of the beasts. Each cow should be
driven into the house at suckling-time, and her head confined in a proper manner, having some fodder
lying constantly before her, and a space left between every beast. When they become accustomed to
this kind of restraint, they will without any trouble come into the places destined for them, when the
calves may be suckled with the greatest ease and facility.
6871. The time cows should become dry before their calving is not agreed on, some contending that they
may be milked almost to the time of their dropping the calf without injury ; while others maintain that
it is absolutely necessary that they should be laid dry from one month to two, both for the advantage of
themselves and their calves. It is probable that much in this business must depend on the manner in
which they are kept ; as when well fed they may be continued in milk till within a week or two of their
calving, without suffering any injury from it; but in the contrary circumstances it may be better to let
them run dry for a month, six weeks, or more, according to their condition, in order to their more fully
recruiting their strength. It appears not improbable, but that the longer the milking is continued, the
more free the cows will be from indurations and other affections of the udder ; which is a circumstance
deserving of attention. Where only one or two cows are kept for the supply of a family, it is likewise
useful to know, that by good feeding they may be continued in milk without any bad consequences till
nearly the time of calving.
6872. Cows sometimes slip their calves before they are sufficiently grown. Where this occurs, it is
essentially necessary to remove such cows immediately from the cow-yards, or from mixing with the other
cattle, for a few days. But where cows are much subject to such accidents, it is the best method to get
quit of them as soon as possible, as they will seldom turn out profitable afterwards.
6873. Cows should be kept constantly in good condition ; as where they are ever suffered to become very
lean, and that in the winter season, it is impossible that they can be brought to afford a large quantity of
milk, by getting them into perfect condition in the summer months. Where cows are lean at the period
of calving, no management afterwards is ever capable of bringing them to afford for that season any
thing near the proportion of milk that they would have done if they had been supported in proper condi-
tion during the winter. Food of the most nourishing and succulent kinds should therefore be regularly
given in suitable proportions in the cold inclement months, and the animals should be kept warm, and well
supplied with pure water. Some advise their being cleaned by combing and other means ; l)ut this is a
practice which, though useful in making them yield their milk more freely, can perhaps seldom be advan-
tageously employed on an extensive scale.
6874. Where the herd of cows is extensive, an account should always be kept of the time when each cow
takes the bull, that she may be dried off" at a reasonable distance of time before the expected term of
gestation be completed. The usual time when the cow is dried off" is two months before her calving,
when she ought to be suffered to lie quiet, and should not be brought up with the other cows at milking
or suckling-time. According to some, if a cow be continued in milk nearer to the time of calving than
the period above allotted, it will not only greatly injure her future progeny by rendering it weakly and
stunted, but will also have an ill effect on her own health : while others, as we have seen (6871.), consider
ten days or a fortnight as sufficient. When a cow is four months gone with calf, the fact may easily be
ascertained by pressing upon her off"-flank, when the calf will be felt to kick against the hand.
6875. Cows may be known to be near the time of calvi7ig, by springing at the udder or at the bearing.
By springing at the udder is meant the collection of liquid iu the bag, which, a few weeks before the time
13ookVII. management of dairy cows. 1027
of gestation is accomplished, assumes, in some degree, the appearance of milk, and may be drawn from
the teats. To spring at the bearing, is when this part is more than ordinarily large and distended. Heifers
are said to spring soonest at bearing, and old cows at the udder. Some cows are peculiarly given to abor.
tion.s ; and where this happens, they should never be continued long m the herd, as being unlikely to
yield any considerable degree of profit to their owners.
6876. Coius which are expected shortly to calve ought to be lodged at night in a large convenient out-
house, or some other place, for a week or two previously to calving, as it may be the means of saving the
life of the calf, and perhaps that of its dam : for, when a calf drops in the yard or field under such cir.
cumstances, the hazard of its perishing through the inclemency of the weather is very great, and it may
considerably endanger the life of the cow. But if, from inattention or other causes, the creature should
catch cold by calving abroad in sharp winter nights (which may be perceived by a refusal of her food, and
by her trembling joints), she ought immediately to be driven into a warm shed, together with her calf,
and fed with sugar-sops and ale, and with tlie best and sweetest hay, and should not be suffered to drink
any cold water. By this treatment she will mostly recover in a few days ; but should the disorder hang
about her, balls composed of aromatic cordial substances may be given.
6877. A milch cow is in her prime at Jive years old, and will generally continue in a good milking state
till ten years old or upwards ; but this depends greatly on the constitution of the animal, some cows, like
other animals, exhibiting marks of old age much earlier than others.
6878. Cows of large size yield great store of milk when turned on pastures where the grass is in sufficient
abundance, or fed with a constant supply of such food as, from its succulency, conduces much towards the
nutriment of the creature, and enables her to give large quantities of milk, such as turnips, grains, garden
vegetables, &c. But as these large cows require a more ample provision than would fall to their share on
the generality of farms, it would seem that they should not be kept by those farmers whose land is not of
the most fertile kind ; for, on ordinary keep, a small cow will yield a fairer profit than one of the York-
shire or Staffordshire breed, which, having been bred on the best kind of land, would be starved where a
Scotch or a Welsh cow would find an ample supply of food.
6879. Those who wotcld make the utmost advantage from cows, either as calf-sucklers, dairymen, or
milk-sellers, should always provide a bull to run in the herd, to obviate the perpetual trouble of driving
them perhaps a mile or more to the bull, and in order to jjrevent the loss and inconvenience of their be-
coming frequently barren. One bull will generally be sufficient for twenty cows. These animals are in
their prime at two years old, and should never be suffered to continue longer in a state of virility than to
the fifth year ; as, aller that time, bulls which before were gentle and lay quiet in the cow pastures, are
mostly apt to contract vicious dispositions, and become very unmanageable. Whenever this happens,
they should be immediately castrated. In the principal town dairies of Scotland, such as Edinburgh,
Glasgow, &c. the cows are never allowed to take the bull, but are sold off, after being kept a year or less,
to the butcher, and fresh cows bought in their place. This is one very remarkable difference between
the management here and in the town dairies of England.
6880. For feeding of stalled cotos, the following directions are given to the cow-feeder in an improved
dairy establishment near Farnham, in Surrey : — " Go to the cow stall at six o'clock in the morning,
winter and summer ; give each cow half a bushel of the field beet, carrots, turnips, or potatoes cut ; at
seven o'clock, the hour the dairy.maid comes to milk them, give each some hay, and let them feed till
they are all milked. If any cow refuses hay, give her something she will eat, such as grains, carrots, &c.
during the time she is milking, as it is absolutely necessary the cow should feed whilst milking. As soon
as the woman has finished milking in the morning, turn the cows into the airing ground, and let there
be plenty of fresh water in the troughs ; at nine o'clock give each cow three gallons of a mixture com-
posed of eight gallons of grains and four gallons of bran or pollard ; when they have eaten that, put some
nay into the cribs; at twelve o'clock give each three gallons of the mixture as before; if any cow looks
for more, give her another gallon ; on the contrary, if she will not eat what you give her, take it out of
the manger, never at one time letting a cow have more than she will eat up clean. Mind and keep your
mangers clean, that they do not get sour. At two o'clock give each cow half a bushel of carrots, field
beet, or turnips ; look the turnips, &c. over well before you give them to the cows, as one rotten turnip,
&c. will give a bad taste to the milk, and most likely spoil a whole dairy of butter. At four o'clock put
the cows into the stall to be milked ; feed them on hay, as you did at milking time in the morning, ever
keeping in mind that the cow whilst milking must feed on something. At six o'clock give each cow three
gallons of the mixture as before. Rack them up at eight o'clock. Twice in a week put into each cow's
feed, at noon, a quart of malt dust."
6881. Directions to the dairy-maid : — " Go to the cow stall at seven o'clock ; take with you cold water
and a sponge, and wash each cow's udder clean before milking ; dowse the udder well with cold water,
winter and summer, as it braces, and repels heat. Keep your hands and arms clean. Milk each cow as
dry as you can, morning and evening ; and when you have milked each cow, as you suppose, dry, begin
again with the cow you first milked, and drip them each ; for the principal reason of cows failing in their
milk is from negligence in not milking each cow dry, particularly at the time the calf is taken from the
cow. Suffer no one to milk a cow but yourself, and have no gossiping in the stall Every Saturday night
give in an exact account of the quantity of milk each cow has given in the week." (Farm. Mag. vol. xv.
p. 314.)
6882. Harley's dairy establishment at Glasgoio has been celebrated since 1813. The object of the pro-
prietor, who is engaged in various extensive concerns, is to supply the public with new milk free from
adulteration, and to have the cow-house, cows, and milk kept in a more cleanly state than by the usual
mode.
6883. Harley's cow-house Is fitted up upon a new construction. ing up the milk, and at the same time of admitting air, pre-
The cattle stand in rows, twelve in arow, across the house, head vents adulteration by the retailer. The cows £ire not ftirmed
and head, and tail and tail, alternately ; there is a passage out to milkmen as in London.
behind for cleaning, and one in front for feeding. In front of 6SS6. The stuck of corns for some time back has been 120,
each cow is a wire grating, hung like a window sash, which averaging eleven English quarts each per day ; but both quality
lifts up when giving the soft food and cleaning the cribs, and and quantity depend much upon the kind of food. Harley gives
is put down when they get hay, &c. The contrivances for a decided preference to the Ayrshire breed of cows. They are
washing the cribs, collecting the urine, ventilating the house, bought chiefly at country fairs, either newly calved, or a few
&c., give peculiar advantages to the establishment, which may weeks before calving, and never tumtd out till they go to the
he summed up in the following items : — The health of the butcher.
cattle ; the preservation of the timbers ; the diminished danger 6887. The food of the cows ilurine summer consists of cut grass
from fire, there being no hay-loft above the cattle ; the pre- and green barley mixed with old hay; and during winter
servation of the provender ; and the flavour of the milk. The Harley uses a good many turnips and potatoes, all of which are
heat is regulated by thermometers. A circulation of air can steamed and mixed with cut hay and straw ; also grains and
be produced, so as to keep the cattle comfortable in the hottest distillery wash, when these can be pot.
weather, by which their health is promoted. The ventilation 6888. Wli£ii there is more nerv mt/k than supplies the demand,
also prevente the timl)er from rotting ; makes the cows eat part is put in the milk-house till next day, when the skimmed
their fodder better, as their breath is allowed to escape, instead milk is sold at half price, and the cream sold at Is. C»l. per
of being thrown back upon the food, as is the case when their quart. When any cream is left, it is put in a churn, and made
heads are placed opposite a wall. It is well known that milk into butter once a week or fortnight.
easily takes a taste from any other substance ; of course, if the 6889. A table of retfulatiotis has been adopted for the times of
cow-house is filled with bad air, the milk, while passing from feeding, milking, currying the cattle, cleaning the house, &c.
the teat to the pail, and during the time it mav stand in the Each person has a currycomb and a hair cloth for cleaning the
house, will be impregnated with the foul atmosphere. cows twice a day, and a mop and pail for the house, which is
6884. In feeding, and preparing the food, Harley has made washed and sanded twice a day.
many experiments: and by the mode he now follows, the 6890. The ckanln slate of the cattle and house makes it a treat
cattle fatten and milk better, than by the ordinary process ; for visitors to see the establishment ; and the way the vessels
and the milk has no taste from turnips or other vegetables. and milk-house are kept has made some people fond of milk
eSSS. T/i£ arrangement for milking, insures the cow to be who formerly were disgusted at it, from the manner in wliich
clean milked, and also prevents fraud ; and the mode of lock- many town dairies are conducted.
3U 2
1028
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
II.
fi891. The advantage of irrigating grata lands with the corv'n
urine almost exceeds belief. Last season some small fields of
old grass were cut six times, averaging fifteen inches in length
at each cutting, and the sward very thick. The soap-suds of a
public washinn-house are applied to the same purpose with
considerable advantage.
6892. The advantiige of this St/stem to the owner of the cattle
is shown by the following ab^tract, in Harley's own words ;
but the benefit of a liberal supply of genuine milk to the
community at large, particularly to children, it is not easy to
estimate : —
litauuii - - - - - I
To the iireixntion of a disease called grain I j r
sickness, when fed on grains - . r '"^ 1
To the prevention ofsn-elliiig, by eating young |
and wet f;rass - - - -J
To the pretention nf (hoking, when feeding
on turnips or potatoes, &c. - - 15
To sating in the expense of feeding, by im-
proved modeN of cooking, &c. - - 20
To «a. ing of labour in feetlinsj, dunging, &c.
50 per cent, as one person will do as much
as two on the old plan ; but allow 25 of
this for draining, &c., leaves 25 per cent,
profit on servants' wages ...
To sat'ing of timber in the building, as they
will last more than double the time 50 per cent.
6893. Harley has a steam-engine for driving the following
machinery : —
A small threshing-mill.
A straw-cutter.
A turnip and potato slicer.
The churning apparatus.
Pumping water, &c.
Thesameboiler that drives the engine steams the food,
warms water, &c.
6S91. After much study, lahour, and expense, the establish-
ment is now brought to such a state of perfection, that it re-
ceives the cordial approbation of all whoha ,e seen it ; furnish-
ing the community with genuine milk at a comparatively low
price. It is admitted, that the greater part of the system is
original, and is not to be met with in any part of the kingdom.
{Farm. Mag. xv. 189.)
6895. The merits of Harley's system are now considered to be
greatly exaggerated in the above account. Taking the system
altogether, it may be dt-scribed as essentially that employed by
the dairy-farmers in Holland and the Nether ands, described
at length by Radcliff and Sinclair, and noticed in preceding
sections of the present work from the above and other writers.
25 do.
6896. The London dairies of most eminence are the two at Islington, belonging to Mr. Laycock and
Mr. Rhodes, and the Metropolitan Dairy in the Edgeware Road. From 1822 to 1829, a number of other
dairies sprang up, and made a conspicuous figure for a time ; but, like other bubbles of those years,
they have nearly all burst, and none now remain worth notice. We examined the Islington and Metro-
politan dairies in October 18iO, and the following is a brief outline of the result : —
6897. Rhodes's Islington dairy is the most complete of the three
establishments. It has been m existence for upwards of thirty
years, having been commenced by the father of the present
possessors, and carried on for a considerable time in the neigh-
bourhood of Greenwich. The number of cows kept by the
present Messrs. Rhodes exceeds, on an average of the year,
four hundred; at one time these individuals are said to have
had upwards of a thousand cows in their different establish,
ments. The surface on which the buildings are placed is a
slope of two or three acres, facing the east ; and its inclination
is about one inch in six feet. The she<ls run in the direction
of the slope; as well for the natural drainage of the gutters,
and the more easily scraping, sweeping, and wheeling out of
the manure, as for supplying water for drinking to small cast-
iron troughs, which are fixed in the walls, at the heads of the
cattle, in such a manner as that the one trough may be sup-
plied from the other throughout the whole length of the shed.
The sheds are twenty-four teet wide ; the side walls about
eight feet high ; the roof of tiles, with rising shutters for ven-
tilation, and with panes of glass, glazed into cast-iron skeleton
tiles, for light. The floor is nearly flat, with a gutter along
the centre ; and a row of stalls, ea<h seven feet and a half wide,
and adapted for two cows, runs along the sides. The cows are
fastened by chains and rings, which rings run on upright iron
rods, in the comers of the stalls ; the common mode being de-
parted from only in having iron rods instead of wooden posts.
A trough or manger, formed of stone, slate, or cement, of the
ordinary size of those used for horses, and with its upper
surface about eighteen inches from the ground, is fixeti at
the head of each stall. Four sheds are placed parallel and close
to each other, and in the party walls are open ngs, about a foot
in breadth and four feet hi-h, opposite each cow. The bottom
of these openings is about nine inches higher than the upper
surface of the troughs, and is formed by the upper surface of
the one-foot-square cast-iron cisterns, which contain the water
for drinking. Each cistern serves two cow s, which of course
are in different sheds, but adjoining and opposite each other.
All these troughs are supplied from one large cistern by pipes,
in a manner which can be so readily conceived, that we shall
not stop to offer a description. Each of these troughs has a
wooden cover, which is put on during the time the cows are
eating their grains, to prevent their drinking at the same time
and droppinjj grains in the water. At the upper end, and at
one comer ot this quadruple range of sheds, is tlie dairy, which
consists of three rooms about twelve feet square : the outer, or
measuring room; the middle, or scalding room, with a fire-
place and a boiler ; and the inner, or milk and butter room,
separated by a passage from the last. At the low nr end of the
range is a square vard, surrounded by sheds ; one .< x fattening
the cows when they have ceased to give milk, and the others
for store and breeding pigs. The pigs are kept for the purpose
of consuming the casual stock of skim milk which occasionally
remains on hand, owing to the fluctuations in the demand.
This milk is kept in a well, walled with brick laid in cement,
about six feet in diameter, and twelve feet deep. The milk
becomes sour ihere in a very short time; and, as it is well
known, is found most nourishing to the pigs when given in
tliat state. Breeding swine are found most profitable; the
sucking pigs being sold for roasting. Beyond this yard is a deep
and wide pit or pond, into which the dung is eniptjed from a
platform of boards projecting into it. The only remaining
building wanted to complete the dairy establishment is a house
or pit for containing the exhausted malt (grains), on which the
cows are chiefly fed. Messrs. Rhoi'.es have a building or pit
of this description at some distance, where they have a smaller
establishment. There are a stack-yard, sheds, and pits for
roots, straw, and hay, a place for cutting hay into chaff, cart-
sheds, stables, a counting-house, and other buildings and places
common to all such establishments, which it is not necessary
to describe-
6898. The corvain Rhodea's dairy are purchased newly calved
in the cow market held in Islington every Monday. They
are kept as long as they continue to give not less than two
gallons of milk a day, and are then fattened on oil-cake, grains,
and cut clover hay, for the butcher. The short-homed breed
is preferred, partly for the usual reason of being more abun-
dant milkers than the long horns, partly because the shortness
of their horns allows them to be placed closer together, and
partly because this breed is more frequently brought to market
than any other. The Ayrshire breed has been tried to the
number of 150 at a time, and highly approved of, as affording
a very rich cream, as fattening in a very short time when they
have left off giving milk, and as producing a beef which sold
much higher than that of the short horns. The difficulty.
however, in procuring this breed was found so great, that
Mr. Rhodes was obliged to leave it off. The length of time
during which a cow, treated as in this establishment, continues
to give milk, varies from six months to the almost incredible
period of two years. We were assured of there being at this
moment several cows among the 390 which we saw, that had
stood in their places even more than two years, and continued
to give upwards of one gallon of milk daily.
6899. The treatment of the corns in Rhodes's dairy differs from
that in most other establishments. The cows are never untied
during the whole period that they remain in the house. In
most other establishments, if not in all, stall-fed cows or cattle
are let out at least once a day to drink ; but these animals have
clear water continually beforethem. They are kept very clean,
and the sheds are so remarkably well ventilated, by means of
the openings in the roofs, that the air seemed to us purer
than that of any cowhouse we had ever before examined;
probably from its direct perpendicular entrance through the
roof, this, in moderate weather, bein^ certainly far preferable
to its horizontal entrance through the side walls.
6900. The principal food of the cores in Rhodes's dairy, as in all
the other London establishments, consists of grains ; that is,
malt after it has been used by the brewer or the distiller. As
the brewing seasons are chiefly autumn and spring, a stock of
grains is laid in at these seasons sufficient for the rest of the
year. The grains are generally laid in pits bottomed and lined
with brickwork set incement, from ten to twenty feet deep,
about twelve or sixteen feet wide, and of any convenient length.
The grains are firmly trodden down by men, the heaps being
finished like hay -ricks, or ridges in which potatoes are laid up
for the winter, and covered with from six to nine inches of
moist earth or mud, to keep out the rain and frost in winter,
and the heat in summer. As a cow consumes about a bushel
of grains a dajr, it is easy to calculate the quantity required
to lie laid in. The grains are warm, smoking, and in a state
of fermentation when put in, and they continue fit for use
for several years ; becoming somewhat sour, but they are,
it is said, as much relished by the cows as when fresh. It is
common to keep grains two or thrf e years ; but in this esta-
blishment they have been kept nine years, and found perfectly
good. The exclusion of the air almost prevents the increa.se of
the fermentation and consequent decomposition. What is
called distiller's wa.sh, which is the remainder after distillation
of a decoction of ground malt and meal, is also given to cows,
but more frequently to such as are fattening than to those in
milk. The present price of brewers' grains is four-pence half-
penny per bushel ; of distillers' grains, on account of the meal
which they contain,
gallons for sixpence.
6901 . Salt is given to the cows in Rhodes's dairy at the rate of
two ounces each cow a day. It is mixed with the grains which
are supplied before milking, about three o'clock in the morn-
ing; and in the afiemoon, about two o'clock, just before
milking.
6902 Of green food or roots portions are supplied alternately
with tlie grains; and in winter, when tares pr green grass can-
not be procured, after the turnips, potatoes, or mangold wurzel
have been eaten, a portion of dry hay is given.
6903. The produce of this dairy is alniost entirely milk and
cream for private families and for public hospitals and other
institutions. A number of the public establishments are sup-
plied directly from the dairy, by contract ; but private
families are principally supplied by milk-dealers : these have
what are called milk-walks ; that is, a certain number of
customers whom they call upon with supplies twice a day ;
and they are tlius enabled to ascertain the average of what
their customers consume, and to contract with Messrs. Rhodes
for this average. The latter calculate the number of cows
sufficient to give the dealer the supply wanted, and this
number the dealer undertakes to milk twice a day, to wit, at
three o'clock in the morning and at three o'clock in the after-
noon. The milk is measured to the dealer, and should he
have milked more than his quantity it remains with the
dairy-man ; but should the cows have been deficient in the
quantity, it is made good firom the milk of other cows milked
on account of the contracts of the establishment. As the
supply of the cows and the demand of the dealers are con-
tinually varying, it often happens that considerable quantities
of milk remain on the dairy-man's hands, frequently, we are
told, as much as sixty or seventy gallons a day. This quantity
is placed in shallow earthen vessels, to throw up the cream in
the usual manner ; this cream is churned, and the butter sold,
and the skim-milk as well as the butter-milk is put in the
cesspool for the pigs.
Book VII.
WORKING OF HORNED CATTLE.
1029
6904. The management of Rhndet's dairy is committed to three
persons :— A clerk, who keeps the books, collects debts, pays and
receives; a man, who superintends the feeding and the treat-
ment of the stock , and has the general care of the premises ;
and a dairy-woman, who sees the milk measured to the
dealers, and superintends the dairy. The cows are purchjised
and sold bv regular salesmen.
G90,5. Larjcock'i dairy establishment is also situated at Isling-
ton, and covers a number of acres. The cows vary in amount
from 400 to 700; but there are open sheds sufficient to
shelter from 8000 to 9000 head of cattle, and these sheds are
accordingly appropriated to taking in cattle for the nights pre-
vious to the days on which Smithfield market is held. We
shall only notice those pcirticulars in which this establishment
differs from that of Jlessrs. Rhodes. The cows are fed in the
same manner, with the exception of not receiving any salt
among their grains ; but the hay is salted when put into the
rick. They are turned out once "a day to drink from troughs
in the yards, remaining out from half an hour to three hours,
according to the weather and the season of the year. From
the end of June till Michaelmas, the cows are turned into the
fields from six o'clock in the morning till eleven o'clock, and
from two o'clock in the afternoon till about three o'clock in
the following morning. The remaining hours of the twenty-
four they are in the cow-houses for the purpose of being milked.
The cows are kept in use much longer than at Messrs. llhodes's
establishment. Those which become barren are fattened in
the same manner on grains, oil-cake, and, u hat is rather un-
common, boiled linseed. This linseed is boiletl in a common
boiler, and when reduced to a pulp, let out by tubs into large
wooden cisterns, where it is mixed with ciover-chaff, roughly
cut, and sometimes with grains, and afterwards given to
the cattle. Those cows which are good milkers are allowed
to take the bull, for which purpose eight bulls are kept. The
usual period of keeping the cows is three or four years ; the
calves are sold in Smithfield, when only a few days old, to
those whose business it is to take them to the country and feed
them for the butcher. Mr. Laycock has an extensive farm at
HoUoway, another at Enfield, and one at Clapton ; at one or
other of 'these farms the cows in calf are ke^it when, dry. The
hair of the tails is kept short to avoid the risk of dirtying the
milk, and their bodies are sometimes curry-coml)ed. The
fattening cows stand with their hind feet on planks, laid as
part of the pavement, the latter consisting of rather small
sharp stones. The pigs, in addition to milk kept till it be-
comes sour, are fattened with ground linseed and grains.
The manure made by the cattle and pigs is very consi-
derable, and is all use'd on Mr. Lavcock's own farms. The
establishment here, as well as a dairy and cattle repository,
may be considered as a central farm-yard to three hay-farms,
ana there are, accordingly, implements of various kinds,
stables, a carpenter's shop, smith's shop,wheel.wright,&c. &c.
Mr. Laycock himself seems to take the entire management,
assisted by a clerk and a very active house-keeper, with a dairy-
woman.
6906. The Metropolitan Dairy establishment is situated in the
Edgeware Koad ; it was founded by the late Mr. Rhodes fifteen
years ago, and after undergoing various changes, and amoni;
"others being possessed by one of the bubble companies, from
which its present name is derived, is now the property ot
Mr. Wilberforce. It stands on less than an acre of ground, and
is well arranged. It is calculated for 360 cows, and it now
contains 320, most of which are in milk, but some are
fattening. The cowhouses are in parallel ranges twenty-
four feet wide, the side walls eight feet high, the space
allowed for each cow about three feet nine inches, and the
greater number of cowhouses without stalls. There is one
gutter in the centre, and no raisid foot-path there; it being
found that the latter is very apt to make the cows stumble,
when turned out upon any occasion. It is true, these occasions
are rare, for the cows here", as in Messrs. Rhodes's establishment,
are never untied from the day they are put into the milking shed
till they are removed to the fittening sheds, or till they are
taken out to be sold, or to be sent into the country to remain
till calving time. A cow so treated seldom produces more than
two calvesj remaining after each calf, at an average, eighteen
months in milk. There is one cow here, however, which has
given milk upwards of three years since she calved, still pro-
ducing a gallon and a half a day. The co\vs are milked at
three o'clock in the morning, and two o'clock in the afternoon,
and the milk disposed of to dealers. The food consists of grains,
which, instead of being kept in pits in the open air, are pre-
served in the cellar, or lower part of a building, about four-
teen feet deep, the upper floor serving as a hay-loft, or chaff-
cutting room. To protect the grains from the influence of the
air, they are covered to the depth of a foot with cow-dung.
Grass arid roots constitute the rest of their food ; dry hay being
seldom given, and the chart' of clover hay being always mixed
with grains or wash. The cows are never turned cut to water ;
but from a large cistern pipes are conducted to every cow-
house, and at a certain hour every day (one o'clock) the water
is turned into the manger, which is on a perfect level, and it
runs slowly past each cow, who drinks at pleasure. AV'hen any
cow becomes sick, she is bled, and purged by giving her one
pound of Epsom salts, with two ounces of flower of sulphur,
and abundance of warm water. This mode of treatment
seldom or never fails. Four bulls are kept for the cows ; and at
there .'s no farm belonging to the establisliment, when a cow in
ry or nearly so, she is sent to any grass
the countrj', till near her .calving time. To render a (
calf becomes dry
so, she is sent to any grass farm in
le. To render a cow dry,
it is only necessary to give two or three extra-doses of salt in
her food. The quantity of salt given here daily with the
grains is not much more than an ounce a day, on account
of its drying quality. Manure has been sent from this
establishment to Yorkshire; but this is found not to pay;
and of so little value is it considered as manure, that as
m\ich as possible of the fluid part is discharged by the com-
press the more consistent material into small squares like
peats for fuel. By a hvdraulic press we have no doubt that
a two-horse cart load of any common cow-dung might be re-
duced to the size of a cubic foot. The cows in this establish-
ment, as in the two others, are very sparingly littered ; what is
given is chiefly laid about their fore legs, and in consequence
the other parts of the cowhouse, for want of under-ground
gutters, as in Holland and Germany, are always watery and
dirty.
6907. The defects of the London dairy establishments appear to us to be chiefly want of cleanliness, and
imperfect ventilation. The first is to be removed by under-ground gutters, covered with oak plank pierced
with numerous holies ; and by the more abundant supply of litter : the second by openings in the roof as
at Messrs. Rhodes's establishment, which, as we have said before, seems the most perfect in that respect
of the three just examined. Compared with the Dutch and German dairies (p. 525. 587. and 61 1.), and with
that of Harley of Glasgow (p. 6882.), they are very deficient both in original design and in management.
It is a great mistake to suppose that they are lucrative concerns ; and the idea is by no means pleasing of
consuming milk chiefly manufactured from grains and distiller's wash, and produced by cows deprived of
all exercise in the open air. Not more agreeable is the knowledge of the fact that the London market is
supplied with so large a proportion of cattle fattened chiefly on oil-cake. According to a calculation we
formed, the three establishments mentioned must supply, at an average of the year, nearly thirty fat
cattle weekly. Booth's establishment, already described (6861.), probably furnishes half that number at
the average of the year ; and taking into consideration other establishments for fattening on oil-cake and
grains, local and provincial, we shall probably not be far wrong in estimating that this description of beef
is at all times the prevalent one in the London market. The cattle fed in pairs in hammels, (^ 28.'31.)
that is, permitted to walk about in an open shed, as in Berwickshire and East Lothian, must produce
a very different description of beef. The time will no doubt arrive when oil-cake beef will not find a
market in England, but when the cattle so fed will be sent alive in steam boats to the Continent, or
other parts of the world, where the taste of the inhabitants in the article of butcher's meat is less refined.
Already country dairies have sprung up at the distance of from five to twenty miles from London, and the
milk and cream are sent to town in close vessels in spring carts, which go at a rapid trot. When, instead
of these spring carts, rail-roads are established, on which carriages may go at the rate of thirty miles an
hour, the milk and butter used by the commonest people of London will be of as good a quality as that
now used almost exclusively by gentlemen who have country seats.
SuBSECT. 8. Working of Horned Cattle.
6908. The arguments for and af^ainst the working of oxen have been already stated. (4828.) Though
horned cattle are gradually disappearing as beasts of labour, it is probable they will in many places be
occasionally used as a substitute for horses, or to get up one or two additional teams on extraordinary
occasions. Indeed we see no objection to tlie occasional use of both oxen and cows for this purpose ; more
especially in cases likely to occur in the farming of an extensive proprietor, such as breaking up his park,
or cutting down and carting away timber, earth, gravel, &c. to a greater extent than can be readily per-
formed by the ordinary teams of the establishment. For these and similar purposes of amateur farmers,
and probably for some purposes on the farms of rent-paying cultivators, the horned cattle of the farm may
afford a valuable resource. For these reasons, it seems fitting in this work not to consider the working of
oxen as altogether an obsolete practice; and we shall, therefore, notice the training, harnessing, shoeing,
age of being put to work, and general treatment of these animals so employed.
6909. The training of the calf intended for labour, according to some, should commence at an early
period ; and after being accustomed to be handled, he should be taught to present his foot to the shoeing
smith, as readily as the horse, which is partially the practice in some places. No animal, however, is so
easily broke as the ox at any age ; and in most countries, where they are used in labour, they are never
handled till harnessed and put in the plough, or to drag a tree. This is the case both in Devonshire and
i5 U 3
lOSO
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
Herefordshire, and as they are only worked a few years it does not seem desirable to be at any great ex-
pense in their training. The Roman practice, in this particular, may deserve imitation. (99.)
6910. Working oxen taken kept in a house are generally confined to their places by the same sort of
fastening used for cows, {Jig. 865.), in which their neck has free play between two upright spars; but in
865 some establishments a ring
of a particular description
(Jig. b66.) is used, to which
they are tied by a halter
attached to a head strap or
bridle. The ring is gene-
rally screwed into the front
of the manger or eating
trough. The cattle fasten-
ing used in Devonshire is
a wooden bow put on their
necks and fastened to a
round post. The bow con-
sists of two pieces; the yoke, which has two slits terminating
in round holes ; and the bow, which is made of split ash, and
has a knob at each end. These knobs being put through the
round holes, the elasticity of the bow forces it along the slit
and prevents it from returning.
6911. Harness for labouring cattle is of three kinds: that for bearing as saddles some sorts of oxen
yokes ; that for drawing or pushing, as traces, brechins of saddles, &c. ; and that for guiding the animals,
as bridles, halters, reins, &c. These articles are of considerable expense, but when taken care of, kept
dry, and the iron joints and leathers oiled occasionally, they will last a long time. In making all harness
for beasts of labour great care ought to be taken to avoid superfluous materials which only encumber, and
ornaments which only add to the expense. The London harness is much too heavy for agricultural pur-
poses ; that of Berwick or Newcastle is much more light and sufficiently strong.
6912. The most approved kind of harness for the ox is little different from that of the horse, except in
867 the shape of the collar. In many places however, and especially
on the Continent, the ox draws solely by the withers, by means
of what is called a yoke and bow. (fig. 867.)
6913. The shoeing of oxen is a practice which is yet far from
being performed in a perfect manner. Clark says, that in many
parts of France, wliere the ox is used for draught, it is some-
times necessary to employ eight shoes, one under each nail ; or
four, one under each external nail ; and sometimes only two,
one under the external nail of each fore foot. In this country
two pieces or shoes to each foot are generally made use of, being
mostly fixed on, especially in the northern districts, with three
or four large-headed nails to each shoe. They are fitted on in
a similar manner to those of the horse. But, as the shoes of
these animals from the smallness of the pieces are so liable to
break, it has been suggested to have them shod with whole shoes in the manner of the horse ; but how
far this practice would answer, must depend upon future trials. As there is much trouble in the shoeing
869 of oxen, from the necessity for casting them
each time, it has been found requisite to have
recourse to contrivances for shoeing them
standing (fig. 868.)
6914. An ox shoe (fig. 869.) consists of a flat
piece of iron, with five or six stamp holes on
the outward edge to receive the nails ; at the
toe is a projection of some inches, which, pass-
ing in the cleft of the foot, is bent over the
hoof, so as to keep the shoe in its proper
place. This projection is not, however, em-
ployed in the general practice of making
these shoes.
6915. The age at which an ox may be worked is from two and a half to three and a half
years. Some begin at two, but it ought to be for very light operations, and such as
are not of long duration. The period to which the ox is worked varies from his fifth
to his tenth year.
6916. Parkinson's father used to make up occasionally an ox team for the plough of four oxen and one
horse as a leader, which he found did about two thirds of the labour of two horses. There are, he says,
great objections to ox-teams in the plough. He has, however found them useful in some sorts of farm-
work, from their slow, steady pace; as in scarifying, leading dung, &c., as the work suits them from its
being easy, and having a great deal of standing : they are, says he, much more cheaply kept than horses,
and eat straw in the winter, and are valuable for making dung. He never saw this practice injure their
growth. They may be worked from two till five years old, without any loss of time, as they grow to that
age, and are then both larger and better beef than three-year-old steers. He therefore recommends ox-
teams for leading dung and the other odd jobs, but not to plough and harrow. If they are worked to
the age of eight or ten years, it is, he thinks, a real injury to the public, and an unprofitable practice to
the farmer.
6017. Bakewelt used to work his heifers moderately, whilst carrying their first calves ; an unobjection-
able practice, provided they are well fed. Bulls are generally allowed to be good labourers, and capable,
if high fed, of vast exertions.
6918. The length of time per day which an ox is kept in the yoke varies according to the kind of labour,
and the age and keep of the ox. If an ox is fed on hay, oats, and some roots, he will plough four days a
week ; but if on straw and roots only, not above three days. In the former case he is worked two whole
days and two half days, and in the latter case six half days. The latter is the best plan, for which reason,
where oxen are regularly worked, two pairs should be kept for each ploughman.
6919. The most desirable breeds of oxen to work are the Devonshire and Herefordshire varieties, which
are long-legged, quick-stepping animals. Lord Somerville, who has carrietl the working of oxen to greater
perfection than any one else, prefers the Devon breed, which most cultivators consider the quickest
walkers in England. When horned cattle are only worked occasionally, whatever sort of animals are on
the farm, whether bulls, cows, or oxen, of good or bad breeds, will necessarily be employed.
6920. The food cf horned cattle employed in labour must be substantial. It is a great mistake to suppose
they can work on straw alone. Unless they have roots added to straw in winter, and green food in summer,
it will be an idle attempt to harness animals so nourished. The best and indeed the only way is to feed
them well with straw, coarse hay, roots, green herbage, or pasturage, as the season and other circum-
stances may indicate.
Book VII. PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BJJLL AND COW. lon
SuBSECT. 9. Anatomy and Physiology of the Bull and Cow.
6921. The general structure of the bull and cow presents some peculiarities when compared with the
horse, whose anatomy having been fully explained, will be taken as the subject of comparison. The ox,
9S an animal machine, displays less complexity of structure than the horse ; but the principal differenced
between the two will be found to arise from the evident intention of nature to bound the locomotion of
horned cattle : the limbs of the ox are therefore not found favourable to speed ; nor does his general mass
betrav that symmetrical proportion and mechanical composition that would fit it to be acted on to advan-
tage, "as it regards quick motion, by the powerful muscles he evidently possesses j for strength alone will
not produce speed.
6922. The skeleton of the ox is formed under the above view; and though the number of his bones differs
little from that of the horse, the general form differs materially; — the frontal, the occipital, and indeed
most of the bones composing the skull are broad and extended, while to the former are appended the horns.
These, as we have seen (18;39.), partake of the nature of true bone, placed within a membranous envelop-
ment of & mixed nature between cuticle and cartilage. The ox has no upper nippers ; the grass being
cropped into a tuft by means of the tongue, is cut off by the under nippers j whereas in the horse it is
nipped off by the approximation of both incisive teeth.
6923. The vtrtebrce or neck bones are the same in number and form as in the horse ; but from the dimin.
ished elevation of the head, and the peculiarity of attachment of the great suspensory ligament, the ox
has no cervical crest. The dorsal vt^-rtebrs are thirteen, with spinous processes, or withers less high. The
lumbar vertebra are six, and the sacral four ; the coccyx or bones of the tail are indefinite in number,
from eighteen to twenty-five. The pelvic bones in the ox are very large; and the rugged outline of the
rump in cattle arises from the great rising of the spine of the ilium, and tuberosity of the Ischium : the
ribs are thirteen, eight of them true, and five false ; and upon the former rest the scapulae, which do not
materially differ from those of the horse.
6924. The fore-limb bones are, the arm, and the fore-arm, which, as in the horse, is composed of the radius
and ulna, and bears a general resemblance to that of the horse. The knee is composed of four bones in
the first row, and two in the second, which renders that joint inferior to that of the horse in complexity
and elasticity : the same holds good with regard to the hock, where the bones entering its composition are
also less numerous than in the horse. The canon or shank has no splint bones attached to it, but it is
lower, and enlarges into two articular portions corresponding with the metacarpal before, and metatarsal
bones behind : thus, from the pastern downwards, the limb is double, and ends in two separate hoofs, which
present, individually, a similarity of structure and design to the single hoof of the horse, but less developed ;
to the posterior part of each are appended two imperfect phalanges or claws, thus keeping a connection
with the digiti.
6925. The hinder limbs present nothing remarkable, but preserve the same increased simplicity of struc-
ture with the fore.
6926. The viscera of the chest offer no peculiarities from those of the horse to deserve notice; neither is
the economy of the organs concerned different.
6927. The viscera of the belly of the ox have some specialities, the principal of which consist in the
digestive organs, which differ in form, structure, and economy, in some essential particulars, from the
same system in the horse
6928. The ox has four stomachs, in which formation the goat, sheep, camel, and deer participate. As
it is necessary that these animals should collect much herbage for their support; and as it would fatigue
and keep them too long in motion to gather and masticate such a quantity at the same time, so a peculiar
provision has been made for them, by which they first hastily collect their food, pass it into a reservoir,
and afterwards commence the mastication of it at their leisure.
6929. The fit si stotnach, rumen, or paunch, is a very large membranous and muscular bag, principally
occupying the left side, and extending, when full, from the middle of the ribs to the haunch, into which
the unruminated food is received ; consequently, it is the over-distention of this which occasions the
malady called hoven : it is in this stomach also that the concretions called hair balls are found. It presents
numerous processes to assist in the retention of the food.
6930. The second stomach, called also reticulum, bonnet, or kingshood, would appear as a globular ap-
pendage to the paunch merely, were it not for its peculiarity of structure, which resembles the cells of
the honey-comb, and which is well known to the eaters of tripe. The oes6phagus, or gullet, enters at the
junction of this with the first stomach, and is continued in the form of a muscular ridge, or segmental
tube along the line of junction between these two stomachs, which is thence continued into the many-plies.
In the hornless ruminants, the second stomach is exclusively designed as a reservoir for water, and is
capable of holding and preserving a vast quantity of it. A little of this water is passed up, as wanted, to
be mixed with the dry matters chewed during rumination. In the deserts of Arabia, where water is met
with only at long distances, this reservoir is peculiarly advantageous to the camel and dromedary ; and
the Arabian travellers, when famishing for water, save themselves frequently at the expense of their
camels, by killing of which, and taking out this stomach, they find a supply.
6931. The third stom.ach \s naraed alXer it§ foliated structure many. plies ; there are about eighty or
ninety of these septa or folds, which are covered with cuticle, in common with the two former stomach.s,
by which some resemblance is kept up between the digestive processes of the horse and ruminants. By
the comparative insensibility of these stomachs, they can also bear potent medicines, which would be
destructive to the Carnivora. By this curious extension of surface, the ruminated food is applied and re-
applied to the sides of the bag, to be acted upon in its early stage of digestion.
6932. The fourth stomach, called also the red bag, abomJisum, fah'scus, and ventriculus intestinalis, is
about two feet nine inches long in an ox, and resembles the simple digestive stomach of the MammJlUa. It
is in this stomach that the pultaceous mass of the chyme undergoes a more perfect animalisation by being
mixed with the gastric fluid, which appears to be wholly secreted here, and thus it is that this stomach
only produces rennet. The red bag, to increase its secreting surface, has likewise about nine longitudinal
plicae to each side, with an intervening rugose structure.
6933. Bumination, or chewing the cud, is the process whereby the ruminant animals having collected
their food, and having passed it into the paunch, with little or no mastication or expense of saliva, begins
a new operation. The paunch being full, the animal is stimulated to seek rest and quiet, and he usually
lies down. The paunch begins now to exert its extraordinary powers of separating a portion from the
contained mass, and to return it into the mouth, where it undergoes a complete mastication and mixing
with the saliva. It is then again passed down the throat ; but instead of again entering the first stomach,
the muscular gutter forms itself into a tube, and carries it at once into the third stomach, where, having
to undergo a further change, it is passed into the red bag, or fourth stomach ; to undergo a further
solution by means of the gastric fluid, preparatory to its being converted into nutriment under the
name of chyle.
6934. The intestines of the ox have not their divisions into great and small so well marked as in the
horse ; yet the tract is very extended, to admit of a perfect separation of all the chylous particles. In the
intestines of the horse it has been shown (6402.) that much of the digestive as well as the operative process
goes on ; but the chymous mass is more broken down in the stomachs of a cow than by the united forces
of the stomachs and intestines of the horse. Grass, containing less organical mol^culae than grain, requires
to be minutely acted on to affbrd nutriment; and thus the well-fed horse, after having been sufficiently
nourished, passes off dung containing much of the original principles of his farinaceous food, and which
forms excellent manure ; while that of the ox, becoming almost wholly decomposed and nearly feculent, is
very inferior for that purpose.
'A U 4
1032 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
6935. The liver of the ox is large, and presents a gall-bladder, which that of the horse does not. This gall
bag is furnished by several hepatic ducts leading into the neck of the gall duct. By the existence of a
gall bladder the bile is evidently more concentrated ; but it is difficult to understand why this should be
necessary to the ruminants and not to the horse.
6936. The pancreas of the ox is of a lozenge form. The spleen is very large, and is placed on the left side
of the paunch. The biliary and pancreatic ducts unite together. The principal fold of the oTweWaw ir.
very large, and incloses the four stomachs, and part of the intestines. The renal capsules are flat and
triangular. The kidneys are tabulated.
6937. The organs of generation in the cow differ but little from those of the mare and other Mam-
malia. The penis of the bull is more pointed and taper than that of the horse. The vesiculae seminkles
are wanting, but have a small ligamentous bridge instead. The prostatas are two.
SuBSECT. 10. Diseases of Homed Cattle.
6938. Cattle are subject to some very dangerous diseases ; but as their life is less artificial, and their
structure less complex, they are not liable to the variety of ailments which affect the horse. The general
pathology of the horse and the ox being little different, the fundamental rules for veterinary practice,
and the requisite medicines, when not particularised, will be found in the Veterinart/ Pharmacopoeia,
already given. (6548.)
6939. Mild fever, pantas or pantksia. Cattle sometimes appear affected with heat, redness of the
nostrils and eyelids ; they refuse food, are dull, evacuate and stale with difficulty ; and the urine is high
coloured. These symptoms are often aggravated every other day, giving it the appearance of an inter-
mittent affection. The complaint is often brought on by over-driving in very hot weather, occasionally
by pushing their fattening process too fast. If there be no appearance of malignancy, and the heaving be
considerable, bleed, and give half an ounce of nitre in a drink night and morning; but unless the weather
be cold do not house the animal.
6940. Injiaynmatory fever is called, among farriers, cow-leeches, and graziers, by the various names of
black quarter, joint felon, quarter evil, quarter ill, showing of blood, joint murrain, striking-in of the
blood, &c. Various causes may bring this on. It is sometimes epidemic, and at others it seems occasioned
by a sudden change from low to very full keep. Over-driving has brought it on. No age is exempt from
it, but the young oftener have it than the mature. Its inflammatory stage continues but a few days, and
shows itself by a dull and heavy countenance, red eye and eyelids : the nostrils are also red, and a slight
mucus flows from them. The pulse is peculiarly quick ; the animal is sometimes stupid, at others watchful,
particularly at first ; and in some instances irritable. The appetite is usually entirely lost at the end of
the second day, and the dung and urine either stop altogether, or the one is hard, and the other red.
About the third day a critical deposit takes place, which terminates the inflammatory action : and it is to
the various parts on which this occurs that the disease receives its various names. The deposit is, however,
sometimes universal, in the form-of a bloody suffusion throughout the whole skin. In others, swellings
form on the joints, or on the back or belly ; and in fact, no part is exempt from their attack. Sometimes
the animal swells generally or partially, and the air being suffused under the skin, crackles to the feel.
After any of these appearances have come on, the disease assumes a very malignant type, and is highly
contagious.
6941. Treatment of inflammatory fever. Before the critical abscesses form, or at the very outset of the
disease, bleed liberally, and purge also: give likewise a fever drink. (6579.) If, however, the disease be
not attended to in this early stage, carefully abstain from bleeding, or even purging ; but i nstead, throw
up clysters of warm water and salt to empty the bowels, and in other respects treat as detailed under
malignant epidemic. (6436.) It may be added, that four drachms of muriatic acid in three pints of oak
bark decoction, given twice a day, has proved useful. The swellings themselves may be washed with
warm vinegar, both before and after they burst. The cowhouse should be fumigated daily.
6942. Catarrh or influenxa in cattle, also known by the name oi felon, is only a more mild form of the
next disease. Even in this mild form it is sometimes epidemic, or prevalent among numbers ; or
endemical by being local. Very stormy wet weather, changing frequently, and greatly also in its tem.
perature, are common causes. We have seen it brought on by change of food from good to bad ; and from
too close pasturage. It first appears by a defluxion from the nose ; the nostrils and eyelids are red ; the
animal heaves, is tucked up in the flanks, and on the third day he loses the cud. There is a distressing
and painful cough, and not unfrequently a sore throat also, in which case the beast almost invariably holds
down his head. The treatment does not at all differ from that directed under the same disease in
horses. (6434.) Bleeding only the first two days, carefully sheltering, but in an open airy place, and
littering well up.
6943. The malignant epidemic influenza is popularly called the murrain or pest ; and has at various times
made terrible havoc among cattle. Ancient history affords ample proof of its long existence; and by the
accounts handed down, it does not seem to have varied its types materially. In 1757 it visited Britain,
producing extreme fatalitv among our kine. From 1710 to 1714 it continued to rage on the Continent with
unabated fury. {Lancisi's' Disputatio Historica de Bovilla Peste.) j;he years 1730 and 1731, and from 1744
to 1746, witnessed its attack, and produced many written descriptions of it, among which stand pre-eminent
that of Sauvages, the celebrated professor of medicine at Montpelier. The British visitation of the malady
in 1757, elicited an excellent work from the pen of Dr. Layard, a physician of London, which was after-
wards translated into several other languages.
6944. Symptoms of the jmirrain. Dr. Layard describes it as commencing by a difficulty of swallowing,
and itching of the ears, shaking of the head, with excessive weakness and staggering gait, which occa-
sioned a continued desire to lie down. A sanious fetid discharge invariably appeared from the nostrils,
and eyes also. The cough was frequent and urgent. Fever exacerbating, particularly at night, when it
usually produced quickened pulse. There was a constant scouring of green fetid dung after the first two
days, which tainted every thing around: even the breath, perspiration, and urine were highly fetid.
Little tumours or boils were very commonly felt under the skin, and, if about the seventh or ninth day
these eruptions become larger, and boils or buboes appeared with a lessened discharge of faeces, they
proved critical, and the animal often recovered; but if, on the contrary, the scouring continued, and the
breath became cold, and the mouth dark in colour, he informs us, mortality followed. Sauvages describes
the murrain as showing itself by trembling, cold shivers, nose excoriated with an acrid discharge from it;
purging after the first two days, but previous to which there was often costiveness. Great tenderness about
the spine and withers was also a characteristic, with emphysema, or a blowing up of the skin by air dis-
charged underneath it.
6945. Dissectiotis of those that have died of this disease, according to Sauvages, have shown marks of
great inflammation, and of a great putrid tendency ; but the solid parts seldom ran into gangrene. The
fluiS secretions, however, always were sufficiently dissolved and broken down by putridity. The paunch,
he says, was usually filled with undigested matter, and the other stomachs highly inflamed ; the gall bladder
was also commonly distended, with acrid thick brown bile. Goelich, who likewise dissected these subjects,
describes the gall as particularly profuse and intolerably fetid. According to him the whole alimentary
canal, from the mouth to the anus, was excoriated ; and Lancisi, contrary to Sauvages, found the viscera
of the chest and belly, in some cases, sphacelated and gangrenous. Gazola describes the murrain as
accompanied with pustulous sores ; and so great was the putrid tendency, that even the milk, before it
dried up, which it usually did before the fourth day, became fetid.
Book VII. DISEASES OF HORNED CATTLE. 1033
6946. The treatment of the murrain. In the very early stages, all eminent authors rfecommend bleeding ;
but which should not only be confined to the very early periods, as to the first two days, but also to such
subjects as by their previous health and condition can bear it. The animals should be placed in an open
airy place; the litter should be frequently renewed ; and the place itself should be fumigated with the
preventive fumigation. (6582.) It has been recommended to burn green boughs with pitch as a substitute :
even charcoal fires occasionally carried round the j)lace would be useful. Dr. Layard advised the body to
be washed with aromatic herbs in water ; but vinegar would have been better. In the early stages, saline
purgatives, as from ten to twenty ounces of Epsom salts, are to be invariably used. If the scouring have
already come on, still, however, purge ; but with only half the quantity : an artificial purge will carry off
the morbid bile ; and if excessive weakness do not come on, the same may be advantageously repeated.
Setons are also recommended in the dewlap. When abscesses appear, they may be opened, and their con-
tents discharged, washing the wound with brandy or vinegar, if putrid sloughing takes place. The em-
physematous swellings or cracklings may also be opened, and the air discharged. The other essentials of
medical treatment, as detailed under malignant epidemic among horses, is here applicable in every par-
ticular. When recovery takes place, it is usually a very slow process, and requires care to prevent other
diseases supervening. The animals should continue to be housed, and neither exposed to sun or wind for
some time, and the feeding should be nutritious.
6947. The prevention of the ir.urrain, or the prevention of its spreading, in many respects is even more
important than its medical treatment. Where it has already appeared, all the out-buildings, but particu-
larly the ox-lodges or stalls, should be daily fumigated with the preventive fumigation (6582.) ; and even
the whole of the infected districts should have frequent fires of green wciod made in the open air, and
every such district should be put under a rigorous quarantine. The cattle on every farm should be care-
fully examined three or four times every day, and the moment one is found to droop, he should be removed
to a distance from the others. In very bad weather, while it is prevalent, the healthy cattle should
be housed, and particularly well fed ; and their pasture should also be changed. The bodies of those who
die of the disease should be buried with their skins on, very deep in the earth, and quick-lime should be
strewed over them.
6948. Phrenxy fever, or inflammation of the brain, called also sough, now and then, but by no means
frequently, attacks cattle. The symptoms differ but little from those which attack horses. The treatment
must be exactly similar.
6949. Inflammation of the lungs occasionally occurs in cattle, in which also the symptoms, progress, and
proper treatment are similar to those detailed under that head in horse pathology.
6950. Inflammation of the stomach sometimes occurs from poisonous matters ; and in such cases, when
the nature of the poison is discovered, the /?rfl<wen< detailed under poison in horse pathology must be
pursued. But there is a species of indigestion to which cattle are liable in the spring, from eating vora-
ciously of the young sprouts of wood ; to which some woods are more conducive than others. The symp-
toms are heat, thirst, costiveness, lessened urine, quick and hard pulse, with heat and redness in the mouth
and nose ; the belly is hard and painful, and the stools, when they appear, are covered with glair. When
the mouth and nose discharge a serous fluid, the animal usually dies.
6951. Treatment. Bleed at first, open the bowels by saline purgatives. (6585.) After this give large
quantities of nitrated water, and glister also largely.
6952. The hove or blmxsn in cattle is also an inflammatory affection of the paunch, ending in paralysis and
rupture of its substance. From the frequency of its occurrence, it has become a subject of investigation
with almost every rational grazier, and a particular matter of enquiry with every agricultural body;
whence it is now very successfully treated by the usual attendants on cattle, when skilful ; but when
otherwise, it usually proves fatal. It is observed to be more frequent in warm weather, and when the
grass is wet. When either oxen, cows, or sheep meet with any food they are particularly fond of, or of
which they have been long deprived, — as potatoes, turnips, the different grasses, particularly red clover, —
they eat greedily, and forget to lie down to ruminate, by which means the first stomach, or paunch, be-
comes so distended as to be incapable of expelling its contents. From this inflammation follows, and
fermentation begins to take place : a large quantity of air is let loose, which still adds te the distention, till
the stomach either bursts, or, by its pressure on the diaphragm, the animal is suffocated. The situation of
the beast is known by the uneasiness and general s'welling of the abdomen ; with the circumstances of the
animal being found with such food, or the presumption that it has met with it.
6i'53. Treatment. There are three modes of relieving the complaint, which may be adverted to according
to the degree of distention, and length of time it has existed. These are internal medicines ; the intro-
duction of a probang of some kind into the paunch by the throat ; and the puncturing it by the sides.
Dr. Whyatt, of Edinburgh, is said to have cured eighteen out of twenty hoved cows, by giving a pint of
gin to each. Oil, by condensing the air, has been successfully tried. Any other substance, also, that ha&
a strong power of absorbing air may be advantageously given. Common salt and water, made strongly
saline, is a usual country remedy. New milk, with a proportion of tar equal to one sixth of the milk, is
highly spoken of. A strong solution of prepared ammonia m water often brings off a great quantity of
air, and relieves the animal. Any of these internal remedies may be made use of when the hoven has
recently taken place, and is not in a violent degree. But when otherwise, the introduction of an instru.
ment is proper, and is now very gener^y resorted to. The one principally in use is a species of probang,
invented by Dr. Monro, of Edinburgh. Another, consisting of a cane of six feet in length, and of con-
siderable diameter, having a bulbous knob of wood, has been invented by Eager, which is a more simple
machine, but hardly so efficacious. It is probable that, in cases of emergency, even the larger end of a
common cart-whip, dexterously used, might answer the end. But by far the best instrument for relieving
hoven cattle, as well as for clystering them, is Read's enema apparatus, which is alike applicable to horses,
cattle, and dogs. It consists of a syringe {fig. 870. a.), to which tubes of different kinds are applied,
according to the purpose, and the kind of animal to be operated upon. There is a long flexible tube for
giving an enema to horses and cattle [a), and a smaller one for dogs, ifi) To relieve hoven bullocks
effectually, it is necessary not only to free the stomach from an accumulation of gas, but from the fer-
menting pultaceous mixture which generates it ; for this purpose a tube (/)is applied to the extremity of
the syringe, and then passed into the animal's stomach through the mouth (rf), and being put in action,
the offending matter is discharged by a side opening. When the same operation is performed on sheep,
a smaller tube (e) is made use of The characteristic excellency of Read's instrument is, that there is no
limit to the quantity of fluid that may be injected or extracted. The same syringe is used for extracting
poison from the stomach of man, for smoking insects, extinguishing fires, and syringing fruit trees.
lEncyc. of Gard. 2d edit. 1419.) The introduction of any of these instruments may be efffected by the help
of an assistant, who should hold the horn of the animal by one hand, and the dividing cartilage of the nose
with the other ; while the operator himself, taking the tongue in hisleft hand, employs his right in skilfully
and carefully introducing the instrument : the assistant bringing the head and neck into such an attitude
as to make the passage nearly straight, which will greatly facilitate the operation. But when no instru-
ments can be procured, or as cases may occur when indeed it is not advisable to try them, as when the
disease has existed a considerable time, or the animal has become outrageous, or the stomach so much
distended with air that there is danger of immediate suffocation or bursting; in these instances the punc-
ture of the maw must be instantly performed, which is called paunching. This may be done with the { .
greatest ease, midway between the ilium, or haunch-bone, and the last rib of the left side, to which the j «.
paunch inclines : a sharp penknife is frequently used ; and persons in veterinary practice should always ij \
keep a long trochar, which will be found much the most efficacious, and by far the most safe, as it permits I
the air escaping certainly and quickly, at the same time that it prevents its entrance into the cavity of the
ilnduA^ ^t^tMj
1034 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. JPart III.
abdomen, which would occasion an equal distention. As soon as the air is perfectly evacuated, and the
paunch resumes its office, the trochar may be removed ; and, in whatever way it is done, the wound
870
should be carefully closed with sticking plaster or other adhesive matter. It is necessary to observe, that
this operation is so safe, that whenever a medical assistant cannot be obtained, no person should hesitate
a moment about doing it himself. After relief has been aftbrded by means of either the probang or the
paunching, a stimulant drink may yet be very properly given, such as half a pint of common gin ; or one
ounce of spirit of hartshorn in a pint of ale, or two ounces of spirit of turpentine in ale, may any of
them be used as an assistant stimulus. When also the cud is again chewed, still some relaxation of
the digestive organs may remain; at first, therefore, feed sparingly, and give, for a few mornings, a
tonic. (6551. No. 1.)
6954. Inflammation qf the bowels, or red colic, is by no means unknown in cattle pathology ; the
symptoms of which do not differ from those common to the horse, and the treatment also is in every
respect the same. (6i66.)
6955. Inflammation of the liver, or hot yellows, sometimes occurs, in which case, in addition to the
symptoms detailed under hepatitis in the horse (6479.), there is, from the presence of cystic bile in the ox,
a more determined yellowness of the eyelids, mouth, and nostrils ; the treatment must be similar. (t?479.)
6956. Inflammation of the kidneys, called red water by the cow-leeches, is not uncommon among cattle,
and is, perhaps, dependent on the lobulated form of these parts in them. The animal, to the other symp-
toms of fever, adds stiffness behind, and often straddles, but always shrinks on being pinched across the
loins, where frequently increased heat is felt; the urine is sometimes scanty, and now and then increased
iTi quantity, but it is always first red, then purple, and afterwards brown or black, w'hen a fatal termin-
ation may be prognosticated. The treatment has been fully detailed under nephritis, in the horse patho-
logy (6481.), and it consists in plentiful bleedings, &c., carefully abstaining from the use of diuretics, as
advised b^ ignorant cow-leeches.
6957. The black water is only the aggravated and latter stages of the above.
6958. Inflammation qf the bladder also now and then occurs, and in nowise differs from the cystitis of
the horse in consequences and treatment. (6483.)
6959. The colics qf cattle arise from different causes : they are subject to a spasmodic colic, not unlike
that of horses, and which is removed by the same means. (6474.) Costiveness also brings on a colic in
them, called clue bound, fardel bound, &c. which often ends in the red colic, unless early removed ;
the treatment of this we have fully detailed. (6476.) Another colic is accompanied with relaxation of
bowels.
6960. Diarrhoea, scouring, or scouring cow, is common in cattle, and is brought on by exposure to rain,
improper change of food, over-driving, and other violences. It is essentially necessary that the animals be
taken under cover, kept warm and dry, and have nutritious food allowed them. The medical treatment
has been detailed. (6473.)
6961. Dysentery, or braxy, bloody ray, and slimy flax, differs from simple scouring, in a greater degree
of fever attending it, and in its being an inflammation of a particular kind, and part of the intestines. It
is frequently dependent on a vitiated putrid state of the bile, brought on by over-driving in hot weather,
low damp pastures in autumn, &c. 7'he discharge is characterised by its bad smell, and by the mucous
stringy patches in it, and also by its heat and smoking when voided : all which are very different from the
mere discharge of the aliments in a state of solution in diarrhoea, and which differences should be carefully
marked, to distinguish the one from the other : treat as under dysentery in the horse. (6470.)
6962. Yellows. W'hen active fever is not present, and yet cattle are very dull, with great yellowness of
eyelids, nostrils, &c., it arises from some biliary obstruction, to which oxen and cows are more liable than
horses, from their being furnished with a gall bladder ; it is a more common complaint in some of the
cold provinces on the Continent, where they are housed and stall-fed all the year round, than it is in
England. The treatment is the same as detailed for chronic inflammation of the liver in horses, (6480.)
adding in every instance to it a change of pasturage, and if convenient, into salt marshes, which will alone
often effect a cure.
6963. Loss of the cud. This enters the list of most cow-leeches' diseases, but is less a disease than a
symptom of some other affection ; indeed it is evident that any attack sufficient to destroy the appetite,
will generally occasion the loss of the cud. It is possible, however, that an occasional local affection or
paralysis of the paunch may occur, particularly when it is distended with unhealthy substances, as acorns,
crabs, the tops of some of the woody shrubs, &c. The treatment, in such cases, consists in stimulating
Book VII. THE DAIRY. 1035
the stomach by tonics, as aloes, pepper, and gin mixed : though these, as liquids, may not enter the stomach
in common cases, yet in this disease or impaired action of the rumen they will readily enter there.
6964. Staggers, daisey, or turning, are sometimes the consequences of over-feeding, particularly when
from low keeping cattle are suddenly moved to better pasturage. Treat with bleeding and purging.
6965. Tetanus, or locked jaw, now and then attacks cattle, in which case it presents the same appear-
ances and requires the same treatment as in horses. (6432.)
6966. Cattle surgery is in no respect different from that in practice among horses, the wounds are treated
in the same manner. Goring with the horns will sometimes penetrate the cavity of the belly, and let out
the intestines : the treatment of which is the same as in the horse. (6477) Strains, bruises, &c. are also
to be treated like those of horses.
6967. Foul in the foot. This occasionally comes on of itself, but is more often the effect of accident:
cleanse it well, and keep it from dirt : — apply the foot paste. (6587.)
6968. Wornals, or puckeridge, are tumours on the backs of cattle, occasioned by a dipterous insect which
punctures their skin, and deposits its eggs in each puncture ; these tumours are erroneously attributed to
the fern owl or goat-sucker (Caprimiilgus europas^us L.). When the eggs are hatched, and the larvae
or maggots are arrived at their full size, they make their way out, and leave a large hole in the hide,
to prevent which the destruction of the eggs should be attempted by nipping the tumour, or thrusting in
a hot wire.
6969. Cattle obstetrics are not very varied ; young cows of very full habits have sometimes a super-
abundant secretion of milk before calving, which produces fever and heat ; sometimes, from cold taken ;
the same will occur after calving also : in either case, give mild dry food, or hay ; bathe the udder also
with vinegar and water ; in some cases, warm fomentations do best If the fever run high, treat as under
fever in horse pathology.
6970. The process of calving is usually performed without difficulty ; sometimes, however, cross present-
ations take place, and sometimes a constriction of parts prevents the natural passage of the calf. To act
properly on these occasions, great patience is required, and much mildness : many cows have been lost by
brutal pulling ; we have seen all the men and boys of the farm mustered to pull at a rope affixed about a
calf, partly protruded, which, when it was thus brought away, was forced to be killed, and the mother
soon died also from the protrusion of parts this brutal force brought with the calf. A steady moderate
pull, during the throes of the animal, will assist much ; having first directed the attention to the situation
of the calf, that the presentation is such as not to obstruct its progress; if it does, the calf must be forced
back, and turned or placed aright.
6971. Whethering, or retention of the after-birth or burden. — It sometimes happens that this is retained ;
for which no better remedy has been hitherto discovered than warm clothing and drenching with ale,
administered as a forcer.
6972. The diseases of calves are principally confined to a species of convulsions which now and then
attacks them, and which sometimes arises from worms, and at others from cold. When the first cause
operates, it is then relieved by giving a mild aloetic purge, or in default of that, a mild dose of oil of tur-
pentine, as half an ounce, night and morning. In the second, wrap up the animal warm, and drench with
ale and laudanum a drachm. Calves are also very subject to diarrhoea or scouring, which will readily yield
to the usual medicines. (6552.)
Sect. II. The Buffalo. — B(>s hiibulus L. Buffle, Fr. ; Buffaloy Span. ; Buffilochs,
Ger. J and Brifle, Ital.
6973. The buffalo is found wild in India, America, and various parts of the globe, and
is in some degree domesticated in many countries. He is gregarious, docile, alert, and
of surprising strength j his carcass affords excellent beef; and the horns, which are jet
black, and of a solid consistence, take a polish of wonderful beauty: they can be con-
verted into fabrics of use and ornament, such as mugs, tumblers, knife- handles, &c. In
this way they sometimes apply them ; and when ornaments of silver or mother-of-pearl
are employed, the contrast with the polished black of the horn is agreeably striking.
The boss on the shoulders is, as well as the tongue, extremely rich and delicious, and
superior to the best English beef. It is usual to cure the tongues for sale. The buffalo
far surpasses the ox in strength. Judging from the extraordinary size of his bones, and
the depth and formation of his chest, some consider him twice as strong as the ox ; and,
as an animal of labour, he is generally preferred in Italy. In this country the ingenious
physiologist. Hunter, has caused buffaloes to be trained to work in a cart. At first they
were restive, and would even lie down ; but afterwards they became steady, and so tract-
able, that they were driven through the streets of London, in the loaded cart, as quietly
and steadily as in Italy or India.
6974. The biffalo is kept in several gentlemen's parks as an object of luxury, and has
been trained and worked by Lords Sheffield, Egremont, and some otiier amateur agri-
culturists. Many prefer his flesh, and some his milk, to that of the bull family.
6975. The breeding, rearing, and general treatment of the buffalo may be the same as
those of the bull family.
Chap. V.
The Dairy and its Management.
6976. The manufacture of butter and cheese is of necessity carried on where the milk
or raw material is at hand. The subject therefore forms a part of farm management,
more or less on every fann ; and the principal one in dairy farms. In most of those
counties where the profit of the cow arises chiefly from the subsequent manufacture of
the milk, the whole care and management of the article rests with the housewife, so that
the farmer has little else to do but to superintend the depasturing of his cattle ; the
i036 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
milking, churning, and in short the whole internal regulation of the dairy, together with
the care of marketing the butter, where the same is made up wholly for home consump-
tion, falling alone upon the wife. In this department of rural economy, so large a
portion of skill, of frugality, cleanliness, industry, and good management, is required in
the wife, that without them the farmer may be materially injured. This observation will
indeed hold good in many other parts of business which pass through the hands of the
mistress in a farm-house ; but there is none wherein he may be so greatly assisted, or so
materially injured, by the good conduct or want of care in his wife, as in the dairy. The
dairy husbandry is more extensively and successfully pursued in England than in Scot-
land or in Ireland. " As to dairy husbandry on any thing like an improved plan," says
Aiton, " it is still confined to a mere corner of Scotland." This corner is the district
of Cunninghame, in Ayrshire, of which he observes : " The excellence of the improved
breed of cows in Ayrshire, as well as the superior quality of Strathaven veal, the Glasgow
butter and milk, and Dunlop cheese, to all others in Scotland, are things that cannot be
disputed." {AitorCs Dairy Husbandry, Pre/, p. 18.) We shall in giving the dairy hus-
bandry of England glance, at the same time, at the peculiarities of the Ayrshire dairy
husbandry, as given by the author last quoted.
6977. The operations of the dairy in all its branches are still conducted perhaps more empirically than
those of any other department of husbandry, though it would appear that science, chemistry in particular,
might be applied to discover the principles, and regulate the practice, of the art, with facility and precision.
We have heard it admitted, an eminent author observes, even by experienced dairymen, that the quality
of their cheeses differs materially in the same season, and without being able to assign a reason. Every
one knows how different the cheese of Gloucester is from that of Cheshire, though both are made from
fresh milk, the produce of cows of the same breed, or rather, in both counties, of almost every breed, and
fed on pastures that do not exhibit any remarkable difference in soil, climate, or herbage. Even in the
same district, some of what must appear the most important points are far from being settled in practice.
Marshal, in his Rural Economy of Gloucester shite, has registered a number of observations on the heat
of the dairy-room, and of the milk when the rennet was applied in cheese-making; on the time required
for coagulation, and the heat of the whey after, which are curious, only because they prove that no uni-
form rule is observed in any of these particulars. The same discrepancy is observable in all the subsequent
operations till the cheese is removed from the press, and even afterwards in the drying room. One would
think the process of salting the cheeses the most simple of all; and yet it is sometimes, as in the west of
Scotland, mixed with the curd ; in other instances poured into the milk, in a liquid state, before being
coagulated ; and still more commonly, never applied at all till the cheeses are formed in the press, and
then only externally. In treating of the dairy, we shall first offer a few remarks on the nature of milk,
and the properties of that of different animals ; and next consider the dairy house and its furniture, milk-
ing, churning, cheese-making, and the different kinds of cheese, butters, creams, and other products of
the dairy.
Sect. I. Chemical Principles of Milk, and the Properties of the Milk of different
Animals-
6978. The milk used by the human species is obtained from various animals, but chiefly the cow, ass,
ewe, goat, mare, and camel ; that in most general use in British dairying is the milk of the cow, which in
modern times has received great improvement in quantity as well as quality, by ameliorations in the form
of milch cows, in their mode of nourishment, and in the management of the dairy. Whatever be the
kind of animal from which milk is taken, its external character is that of a white opaque fluid, having a
sweetish taste, and a specific gravity somewhat greater than that of water. Newly taken from the animal,
and allowed to remain at rest, it separates into two parts; a thick white fluid called cream, which collects
on the surface in a thin stratum; and a more dense watery body, which remains below. The quantity
and quality of cream, and the time it requires to separate from the milk, vary according to the nature of
the milk and the temperature of the atmosphere. Milk which has stood some time after the separation of
the cream, first becomes acescent, and then coagulates. When the coagulum is pressed gently, a serous
fluid is forced out, and the remainder is the caseous part of milk, or pure cheese.
6979. Butter, or solidified cream, one of the most valuable products of milk, is obtained artificially by
churning ; an operation analogous in its effects to shaking or beating, by which the cream separates from
the caseous part and serum, in a more solid form than when left to separate spontaneously. It is after-
wards rendered still more solid by beating with a wooden spatula.
6980. Cheese is obtained by first coagulating the milk, either with, or deprived of, its cream, and then
expressing the serum or whey; the consolidated curd so produced forms cheese. The milk may be
coagulated in various ways, but that effect is chiefly produced by the use of rennet, which is prepared by
digesting the coat of young ruminating animals, especially that of the calf The rennet is poured into the
milk when newly brought from the cow, or the milk is warmed to "0° or 100° for that purpose. The rich-
ness of cheese depends on the quantity of cream which the milk may have contained ; its quality of keep-
ing on the quantity of salt added ; and the degree of pressure used to exclude the whey.
6981. Whey expressed from coagulated milk, if boiled, and the whole curd precipitated, becomes trans-
parent and colourless. By slow evaporation it deposits crystals of sugar, with some muriate of potash,
muriate of soda, and phosphate of lime. The liquid which remains after the separation of the salts is
converted by cooling into a gelatinous substance. If whey be kept it becomes sour, by the formation of
an acid, which is called the lactic acid ; and it is to this that the spontaneous coagulation of milk, after it
remains at rest, is owing. Milk may, after it is sour, be fermented, and it will yield a vinous intoxicating
liquor. This is practised by the inhabitants of the most northerly islands of Europe, with buttermilk, and
by the Tartars with the milk of the mare. Milk is likewise susceptible of the acetous fermentation.
6982. The constituent parts of milk are found to be oil, curd, gelatine, sugar of milk, muriate of soda,
muriate of potash, phosphate of lime, and sulphur. These sul)stances enter into the milk of all animals,
but the proportions vary in different species. The various milks in use as food are thus distinguished :—i
6983. Coiv's milk produces a copious, thick, and yellow cream, from which a compact consistent butter
is formed ; the curd is bulky, and retains much serum, which has a greenish hue, a sweet taste, and con-
tains sugar of milk and neutral salts. The milk of the buffalo is essentially the same as that of the cow.
6984. Ass's milk throws up a cream resembling that of woman's milk ; the butter made from it is white,
soft, and disposed to be rancid ; the curd is similar to that of the woman, but not unctuous j the whey is
colourless, and contains less salts, and more sugar, than that of the cow.
6985. Etve's milk throws up as mucli cream as that of the cow, and of nearly the same colour ; the butter
made from it is yellow and soft ; the curd is fat and viscid ; the whey is colourless, and contains the
smallest quantity of sugar of any milk, and hut a small portion of muriate and phosphate of lime.
6986. Goat's milk produces abundance of cream, which is thicker and whiter than that from the cow ;
Book VII.
DAIRY-HOUSE AND FURNITURE.
1037
the butter is white and soft, and equally copious, and so is the curd, which is of a firmer consistence than
that of the cow, and retains less whey.
6987. Mare's milk produces a very fluid cream, similar in colour and consistence to good cow's milk
before the cream appears on the surface; the butter made from it has but little consistence, and is readily
decomposed. The curd is similar to that obtained from woman's milk, and the whey has little colour, and
contains a large proportion of saccharine matter, and of saline substances.
6988. Camel's milk throws up little cream, which is whitish and thin, affording insipid whitish butter;
the curd is small in quantity, and contains but little whey, which is colourless and somewhat saccharine.
6989. Sotv's milk. In China, especially about the city of Canton, no other milk can be had but that of
the sow. It is rather sweeter than cow's milk, but very similar in all other respects.
6990. Jn the use of these milks, that of the camel is chiefly confined to Africa and China, and that of the
mare toTartary and Siberia. In India the milk of the buffalo is preferred by the natives to that of the
domestic cow. The milk of the goat is more generally used in Italy and Spain than in any other coun-
tries in Europe; thev are driven into Leghorn, Florence, Madrid, and other towns, in flocks early in the
morning, and milkedin the streets. The goat will allow licrself to be sucked by the young of various other
animals, and a foal which has lost its mother has been suckled by a goat, placed on a barrel to facilitate
the operation. As the butter of goat's milk contains a larger proportion of gelatine, and less oil than that
of the cow, it is recommended by physicians as nearly equally light as ass's milk ; it is the most prolific of
all in curd, and forms excellent cheese ; but it is an error to suppose that the Parmesan (a skim-milk
cheese) is made from it Ewe's milk is gradually wearing out of use, though it makes excellent cheese,
and some milking ewes as well as goats might be kept for that purpose, by those who have extensive up-
land grass-lands. The milk of the ass comes the nearest to that of the woman, and being the lightest of
any is much recommended in pulmonary and hepatic affections. Soda water and warm cow's milk is
taken as a substitute, and found almost equally light. The milk in universal use, as an article of food in
Britain, is that of the cow.
6991. Lactometers for ascertaining the value of milk, relatively to butter and cheese, will be described
among the utensils of the dairy in the succeeding section.
Sect. II. The Dairy House, its Furniture and Utensils.
6992. The dairy house, for general purposes, consists of at least three separate apart-
ments, the milk room, the dairying or working room, and the cheese or store-room.
The two former are generally separated by a passage or lobby ; and the latter is very
frequently a loft over the whole, entered by a stair from the lobby.
6993. The properties requisite in a good milk-house are, that it be cool in summer, and moderately warm
in winter, so as to preserve a temperature nearly the same throughout the whole year, or about 45 de-
grees ; and that it be dry, so as to admit of being kept clean and sweet at all times. For these reasons &
northern exposure is the best, and this as much under the shade of trees or buildings as possible ; if it
can be so situated that the sun can have no influence either on the roof or walls, so much the better.
6994. A well constructed butter dairy should consist of three apartments; a milk-house, a churning-
house, with proper boiler, as well as other conveniences for scalding and washing the implements, and a
room for keeping them in, and for drying and airing them, when the weather will not permit of its being
done without doors.
6995. The cheese dairy should likewise consist of three apartments ; a milk-house, a scalding and press-
ing-house, and a salting-house. It is essential to the cheese dairy to have a command of heat during the
cold season. When milk is exposed to a degree of cold below 50° at any time, from the moment it is drawn
from the cow, till the cheese is not only pressed, but, to a great extent, dried, the cheese will not be good.
" It is not enough that the milk be again heated ; it must never be allowed to become too cold at any
time, not even in the press ; or if it is, the quality of the cheese will be much injured." {Aitofi's Dairy
Husb. p. 82.) To these should be added a cheese-room or loft, which may with great propriety be made
above the dairy. This is, however, generally separate from the dairy. But a milk dairy requires only a
good milk-house, and a room for scalding, cleaning, and airing the utensils. The size of the milk-house,
according to Aiton, ought to be suificient to contain one day's milk of all the cows belonging to it.
6996. A dairy for the private u^e of any farmer or family need not be large, and may very economically
be formed in a thick walled dry cellar, so situated as to have windows on two sides, the north and east in
E reference, for ventilation ; and in order that these windows may the better exclude cold in winter, and
eat in summer, they should be fitted with double sashes, and on the outside of the outer sash should be a
fixed frame of close wire netting, or hair cloth, to exclude flies and other insects.
6997. Of dairies for dairy farmers there are different sizes and shapes.
6998. A dairy-house connected with a coto-house, and mill for preparing food for the cows, churning,
and washing the family linen, is thus arranged. {Jig. 871.) The dairy (a, b, c, d) is at the north end, has
871
f f ?
_ti<iFcet
X—L
I I \^Z!L
HX
hollow walls, double doors, double sashed windows, and an ice-house under. The milk room {a) is sur-
rounded by milk coolers, and has a butter slab and jet in the centre. The jet is supplied from a cistern
over the steaming house (/, g), to which the water is raised from a well by a forcing-pump worked by the
1038
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
paet in.
pin wheel. Besides supplying the jet, it furnishes, by cocks and pipes, water for the usual dairy purposes
the steaming or boiling of food for the cows, their drink, and washing out the cow-house, the washing
machine, &c. The churning room (6), is separated from the milk-room by double doors, as is the latter
872 --- ■'■--. ^"^""^ ^^^ cheese-room (c) and store closet (d). The gin wheel (e)
is worked by one or two horses, or oxen or asses, according to the
work to be done. The steaming and washing room (/, g) is a large
roomy apartment properly fitted up, and furnished with two boilers,
a machine for steaming cattle food, another for washing linen by
steam ; one impelled by the gin wheel operating on an axle with
beaters or lifters {Jig. 872.), and a cylinder of open spars, which
turns round in a box of water for washing potatoes or other roots.
The cow-house (A, h) is calculated for forty cows to be fed from
abroad patssagein the centre. At the south end is a large apart-
ment (i) open to the roof for hay, straw, green herbage for soiling,
turnips, and other food ; and under it is an urinariura vaulted, and
from which the liquid is drawn by a Buchanan pump (4494.) out-
■■• •■' side of the building, and some yards distant
6999. The dairy-house recommended by Dr. Anderson is surrounded by double walls, the inner of brick
or stone, nine inches or a foot in thickness ; and the outer about two feet distance, built of stone or turfj
or a bank of earth faced with turf may be placed against the inner walls.
7000. The size of the dairy house should vary according to that of the number of cows. Marshal found
in Gloucestershire one for forty cows to be twenty feet by sixteen, and one for one hundred, thirty by
forty. The North Wiltshire dairy-rooms have in general, he says, outer doors, frequently opening under
a pent-house or open lean-to shed ; which is a good conveniency, affording shade and shelter, and giving
a degree of coolness to the dairy room. In one instance he observed two doors : a common close-boarded
door on the inside, and an open-paled gate-like door on the outside ; giving a free admission of air in close
warm weather, and, at the same time, being a guard against dogs and poultry. A conveniency which, he
thinks, would be an improvement to any dairy room in the summer season. The inside wall may be
seven or eight feet high in the sides, on which may be placed the couples to support the roof, and the walls
at the gables carried up to the height of the couples. Upon these should be laid a roof of reeds, or thatch,
that should not be less than three feet in thickness, which should be protluced downward till it covers the
whole of the walls on each side to the ground : but here, if thatch or reeds be not in such plenty as could
be wished, there is no occasion for laying it quite so thick. In the roof, exactly above the middle of the
building, should be placed a wooden pipe of a sufficient length to rise a foot above the roof, to serve occa-
sionally as a ventilator. The top of this funnel should be covered, to prevent rain from getting through
it, and a valve fitted to it, that by means of a string could be opened or shut at pleasure. A window also
should be made upon one side for giving light, to be closed by means of two glazed frames, one on the out-
side, and the other on the inside. The use of this double sash, as well as the great thickness of the wall,
and of the thatch upon the roof, are to render the temperature of this apartment as equal as possible
at all seasons of the year, by effectually cutting it off from having any direct communication with the
external air.
7001. The dairy-house made use of by Wakefield of Liverpool contains three apartments; a milk -house,
churning-room, and the room for the utensils. In the milk-house were the coolers ; a slab for laying
butter on after it is made up ; cocks for drawing off the milk from the coolers ; a large cock to throw
water on the floor, which slopes a little from that part ; cocks at the back part of the coolers, for letting
in water ; a door, latticed ; and another door most commonly used, but panelled. In the churning-room
is a fire-place, a boiler, a large copper, also used when brewing. The room for drying or airing the uten-
sils is also used occasionally as a laundry. Over the whole are apartments for the servants.
7002. A very neat dairy for a private family may be made under the shade of two or three tall trees, in
the following manner : — Build the walls of bricks, and hollow
in Silverlock's manner, by which every course of brick-work
is laid on edge, and forms oblong cavities {fig. 873. a), the
bricks of the one course being laid alternately lengthways {b),
and crossways (c), and those of the next breaking joint with
these, by the cross ones being placed on the middle of the long
ones (rf). The elevation of such a wall {e,f,g) should of course
__j be founded on solid work, of breadth and thickness according
1 i J^ li nU li |] Z to the height of the wall, and nature of the foundations. The
"^ ■ >^ v^=-nS-\ rti;i-t=UI'* plan ofa dairy with such walls should contain the three usual
apartments for milk, churning, and utensils {//), and should
have double doors and windows : the latter guarded by fly-
wire. The elevation (i) may be of any style of simple archi-
tecture.
7003. As a complete dairy on a large scale, we submit the
following. The plan {fig. 874.) is of an oblong form, and con-
fiists of the three usual principal apartments, enclosed by walls of four inches in thickness, and surrounded
by a passage two feet wide to the north, and three feet to the south, which is again surrounded by a nine-
874 ;
inch wall. The passages communicate with the roof by covered openings, in the ridge of which and by
the windows ventilation is completely effected. In detail, the plan exhibits two principal entrance
porches (o), back entrance (&), copper for healing water (c), churning-room (rf), milk-room (f), utensils
Book VII.
DAIRY-HOUSE AND FURNITURE.
1039:
and cheese-press (/), boiler for heating milk {g), store closet or butter-room (h), cheese-room (i), passage
Burroundiiig the wliole (A), water-closet (/), and windows to cheese-room {m).
7004. A section (Jig. 875.) taken across the milk-room
{fig. 874. n n) exhibits the ventilating funnel in the roof («),
projecting eaves (6, c), cheese-room {d), passage on the
north side (e), raised part of the roof for ventilation
{f,g), fountain in the centre of the dairy (A), and south
passage (/).
7005. The elevation {fig. 876.) presents a simple shed
roof, varied, however, by projections and recesses : it pre-
sents no windows or doors to the south, and therefore
that side, if other circumstances permit, may be covered
with vines or other fruit-trees, or with ornamental
creepers.
7006. The fixtures of the dairy are, in the scalding-room, a copper boiler fixed over a
fire-place, for boiling water to wash and scald the utensils ; next, some benches and
shelves in this room and the cheese-room j and a bench or table not more than two feet
wide surrounding the milk-room. It is very desirable, also, that there should be a jet,
or fountain, or pump, or spring, in the centre of the milk-room, in order to cool down
the air in summer, and to supply clear water at a moderate temperature at all times.
7007. The utensils of the dairy are, pails for milking into ; sieves of hair-cloth or
silver wire-cloth for passing the milk through, to free it from hairs and other impurities ;
milk dishes, or coolers, for holding the milk till it throws up its cream ; a cream-knife
of ivory for separating, and skimming dishes of willow or ivory for removing, the cream ;
bowls and barrels for holding it, or other preparations of milk-churns, butter-makers,
butter-prints j one or more tubs for hot or cold water, in which to immerse vessels that
require extraordinary purification ; and a portable rack for drying dishes in the open air.
All these utensils are requisite where butter only is to be produced.
7008. The utensils requisite if cheese is to be made, are the cheese-tub, in which the curd is broken, and
prepared for being made into cheese; the cheese-knife, generally a thin spatula of wood, but sometimes
of iron, used for the purpose of cutting or breaking down the curd while in the cheese-tub. The cheese-
cloth is a piece of thin gauze, like linen cloth, in which the cheese is placed in the press; the cheese-
board is circular, and on it the cheeses are placed on the shelves of the cheese-room ; their diameter must
be somewhat less than that of the interior or hoop part of the vat. The vat is a strong kind of wooden hoop
with a bottom, which, as well as the sides, is perforated with holes to allow the wliey to escape while the
cheese is pressing : the size of vats must depend on that of the cheese and the number required, as of most
of the other implements on the extent of the dairy. The cheese-press {fig. 877-) is a power generally
obtained by a screw, though sometimes by a dead weight,
and is used for forcing the whey from the curd while in
the vat. The cheese-tongs is a wooden frame, occasionally
placed on the cheese-tub, when the vat is set on it in order
to drain the whey from the curd. To these implements
878
10
some add a lactometer, one kind of which {fig. 878.), is a
glass tube a foot long with a funnel at top.
The upper two inches of the tube are
marked in small divisions, and when the
instrument is filled to the height of one foot
with milk, the depth of cream it yields is
noted by the gradations on the upper part.
Another lactometer " for ascertaining the
richness of milk from its specific gravity, by
its degree of warmtli taken by a thermometer,
on comparing its specific gravity with its
warmth," was invented by Dicas, of Liver-
pool, but never came into use. Another
invention for the same purpose was made by
Mrs. Lovi, of Edinburgh, in 1816. It con-
sists of aereomctric beads, by which the
specific gravity of the milk is tried first when
new-milked, and next when the cream is
removed. When milk is tried as soon as it
cools, say to 60°, and again, after it has been thoroughly
skimmed, it will be found that the skimmed milk is of
considerably greater gravity ; and as this increase depends
upon the separation of the lighter cream, the amount of
the increase, or the difference between the specific gravity
of the fresh and skimmed milk, will bear proportion to,
and may be employed as a measure of, the rehitive quan-
tities of the oily matter or butter contained in different
milks. The specific gravity of skimmed milk depends
both on the quantity of the saccharo-saline matters, and
of the curd. To estimate the relative quantities of curd,
and by that determine the value of milk for the puriwse
of yielding cheese, it is only required to curdle the skim-
milk, and ascertain the specific gravity of the whey. The
1040
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE,
III.
whey will, of course, be found of lower specific gravity than the skimmed milk, and the number of
degrees of difference affords a measure of the relative quantities of the curd. According to this hypo-
thesis, the aereometric beads may be employed to ascertain the qualities of milk, relatively both to the
manufacture of butter and cheese. {Trans, of the High. Sue. sect. v. part i.)
7009. In milk coolers and ehurns there is considerable variation of form. Milk coolers are generally
made of earthenware or wood ; but of late years they have been formed of lead, marble, slate, and cast-
iron. Their general form is round, and diameter from one to two feet j but in extensive dairies they are
often made several feet or yards in length, and from two to three feet wide, with holes at one or more
corners to admit the escape" of tlie milk after the cream is removed. The safest dish is wood, though
it requires most labour to keep it sweet ; next is earthenware or China, tliough on the leaden glaze
of the former the acid of the milk is apt to operate. I^eaden dishes or troughs, though very general
in Cheshire, are the most dangerous; and the objection to slate coolers is the joinings of the plates,
which are always unsiglitly, imperfect, and liable to be operated on by the lactic acid. The an-
nealed and tinned cast-iron dishes of Baird's invention (in 1806, and which are now becoming universal
in Scotland {Alton's Dairy H., p. 81.), are perhaps the best for such as do not choose to go to the expense
879
of China dishes. They are durable from the nature of the
material, not liable to be broken by falls by being annealed,
easily kept clean from being turned smooth, and also very
economical, and said to throw up more cream from a given
quantity of milk than any other.
701(1. Besides the common plunge and barrel churns,
there are various improved sorts. One of the best for
using on a small scale is the patent box churn {fig. 879.) ;
and on a large scale, the plunge churn, worked by levers
put in motion either by a man or horse. The Derbyshire
churn {fig. 880.), which works on the principle of the
barrel churn, is an excellent implement on a large scale.
The bottom is a segment of a circle, and the advantage of
the plan is, that when the butter is made, the lid (a) being
880
removed, the beaters (6) may be taken out at pleasure by withdrawing the spindle (c) to admit the removal
of the butter, or the cleaning and scalding of the churn.
7011. The Lancashire plunge churn {fig. 831.) is a simple and efffective implement, worked by the.
operator standing on the levers (a, b), throwing his whole
weight alternately on each, so as by means of the line (c, d)
connected with the churn staff" to raise it and turn it round,
and lower it and turn it round alternately.
7012. The most exquisite cleanliness in the dairy is an
essential requisite, as to the walls, floor, shelves, benches,
and in the diffferent utensils.
7013. The milk coolers and all the dishes in which milk is
put, as well as the churn, must be scalded, scrubbed, rinsed,
and dried every time they are used. Scalding is less fre-
quently requisite in the cheese utensils, but they also must
be almost daily washed in hot water, dried, and aired.
When any vessel becomes tainted with the acidity of
milk, it operates like leaven on what is put into it : if this
taint cannot be removed by ordinary scalding, it may by
boiling or immersing in water impregnated with alkali ; but
afterwards it must be well boiled, or a day or two immersed
in pure water.
Sect. III. Milking and the general Management of Milk.
7014. The times of milking vary greatly in different districts. In most places cows
are milked twice in twenty-four hours throughout the year ; but in the best managed
dairies where they are abundantly fed, they are milked at morning, noon, and the approach
of night : the additional quantity thus obtained is very considerable, but according to the
experiments of Parmentier it must be inferior in quality ; for he found twelve hours re-
quisite for the due preparation of the milk in the cow. Where quantity of milk or cheese
is an object, three times milking must be decidedly preferable ; but it is certain that in
the best butter districts of England the cows are only drawn twice a day, between five
and six o'clock morning and evening. Whatever may be the times of milking, it is essen-
tial that the milk be drawn off clear ; for if the milk which the cow can be made to yield
at the time be not completely taken away, the quantity left vnW be reabsorbed into the
system, and no more will be generated than is necessary to supply the quantity actually
drawn off.
7015. The operation qf milking is performed by men in many districts, but taking Britain generally it is
more commonly the work of women. The milker, whether a man or woman, ought to be mild in manners
and good tempered. If the operation be performed harshly, it becomes painful to the cow, who in this
Book VII. BUTTER. 1041
case often brings into action her faculty of retaining her milk at pleasure ; but if gently performed, it
seems rather to give pleasure, as is exemplitied on a large scale in Tiviotdale, and Switzirlanii, wliere the
cows come to be millied at the call of the milkers. Many instances have occurred, Ur. Anderson observes,
in which cows would not let down a single drop of milk to one dairy-maid, which let it flow in abundance
whenever another approached them ; exhibiting unequivocal marks of satisfaction in the one case, and
of sullen obstinacy in the other. For the same reason, when cows are ticklish, they should be treated
with the most soothing gentleness, and never with harshness or severity j and, when the udder is hard and
painful, it should be tenderly fomented with luke-warm water, and stroked gently, by which simple expe-
dient the cow will be brought into good temper, and will yield her milk without restraint. Lastly, as it
sometimes happens that the teats of cows become scratched or wounded, so as to produce foul or corrupt£:d
milk, whenever this is the case, such milk ought on no account to be mixed with the sweet milk, but should
he given to the pigs, without being carried into the milk-house ; lest, by continuing there, it should taint
the atmosphere, and consequently prove injurious to the rest of the milk.
701G. To ■promote cleanliness in regard to milking, cows are in some places curried, combed, brushed,
and clothed like horses ; before milking, their udders and teats are washed and dried, and their tails trussed
up. It would be well if a part of this refinement were adopted in all dairies ; that of using the comb
and brush, and washing the udder, is indispensable in every establishment where clean milk is an
object. According to Mowbray, snufF-takers, sluts, and daudles are unfit to be dairy-women, and no
milker should ever be suffered to enter the dairy in a dirty apron covered with hairs from the cow-
house.
7017. The following aphorisms respecting the management of milk in the dairy are from
the " Recreations" of Dr. Anderson, one of the most scientific writers on this subject.
1. Of the milk drawn from any cow at one time, that part which comes off at the first is always thinner,
and of a much worse quality for making butter, than that afterwards obtained; and this richness con-
tinues to increase progressively to the very last drop that can be obtained from the udder.
2. If milk be put into a dish, and allowed to stand till it throws up cream, the portion of cream rising
first to the surface is richer in quality, and greater in quantity, than that which rises in a second equal
space of time : and the cream, which rises in the second interval of time, is greater in quantity, and richer
in quality, than that which rises in a third equal space of time ; that of the third is greater than that of the
fourth, and so of the rest; the cream that rises continuing progressively to decrease in quantity, and to
decline in quality, so long as any rises to the surface.
3. Thick milk always throws up a much smaller proportion of the cream which It actually contains
than milk that is thinner ; but the cream is of a richer quality : and if water be added to that thick milk,
it will afford a considerably greater quantity of cream, and consequently more butter than it would have
done if allowed to remain pure ; but its quality is, at the same time, greatly debased
4. Milk, which is put into a bucket or other proper vessel, and carried in it to a considerable distance,
so as to be much agitated, and in part cooled before it be put into the milk-pans to settle for cream, never
throws up so much, or so rich cream, as if the same milk had been put into the milk-pans directly after it
was milked.
7018. Fro7n these fundamental facts, the reflecting dairyist will derive many important practical rules.
Some of these we shall enumerate, and leave the rest to be discovered. Cows should be milked as near
the dairy as possible, in order to prevent the necessity of carrying and cooling the milk before it is put into
the creaming dishes. Every cow's milk should be kept separate till the i>cculiar properties of each is so
well known as to admit of their being classed, when those that are most nearly allied may be mixed toge-
ther. When it is intended to make butter of a very fine quality, reject entirely the milk of all those cows
which yield cream of a bad quality, and also keep the milk that is first drawn from the cow at each milk-
ing entirely separate from that which is last obtained, as the quality of the butter must otherwise be
greatly debased without materially augmenting its quantity. For the same purpose, take only the cream
that is first separated from the first drawn milk. Butter of the very best quality can only be economically
made in those dairies where cheese is also made ; because in them the best part of each cow's milk can be
set apart for throwing up cream, the best part of this cream can be taken in order to be made into butter,
and the remainder, or all the rest of the milk and cream of the dairy, can be turned into cheese. The spon-
taneous separation of cream, and the production of butter, are never effected but in consequence of the
production of acid in the milk. Hence it is that where the whole milk is set apart for the separation
of cream, and the whole of the cream is separated, the milk must necessarily have turned sour before
it is made into cheese ; and no very excellent cheese can be made from milk which has once attained
that state.
Sect. IV. Making and Curing of Butter.
7019. The milk from xvhich butter is to be made may either be put at once into the
churn, and left there till it send up the cream ; or it may be made to cream in milk
dishes, and the cream alone churned.
7020. The last is generally considered the best mode, and in carrying it into effect, the milk being
drawn from the cow, is to be strained into the creaming dishes, which should never be more than three
inches deep, and of about a gallon and a half or two gallons in capacity. In general the best cream will
be fit for removal in seven or eight hours, though for ordinary good butter it may stand twelve hours;
but where the very best butter is wished, and such arrangements are formed as admit of converting the
milk to cheese, or some other use while it is sweet, it may be separated after standing only two or three
or four hours. In performing the operation, first pass the cream knife round the edges of the vessel, to
separate the adhering stratum of cream, and then draw it to one side, lift it off with the skimming dish,
and put it in the cream bowl to be carried to the cream barrel.
7021. Creatn may be kept from three to seven days before it is churned. Where quantity more than
quality is desired, the whole of the milk is churned, without separating any cream ; the milk is kept in
the churn or in large barrels for two or three days, till it begins to get sour. The operation of churning,
where the cream and milk are both to agitate, is necessarily tedious and laborious ; but a great weight of
butter is undoubtedly obtained, the quality and flavour of which will depend a good deal on the peculiar
properties of the milk. The milk of Galloways, Ayrshires, and Alderneys, so treated, makes excellent
butter.
7022. In the process of churning great nicety is required ; a regular stroke in plunge or pump churns,
and a regular motion in those of the barrel or turning kind, must, if possible, never be deviated from. A
few hasty irregular strokes or turns has been known to spoil what would otherwise have been excellent
butter. Twamley (Essays on the Dairy) recommends the selection of a churner of a cool phlegmatic
temper, of a sedate disposition and character ; and advises never to allow any individuals, especially the
young, to touch the churn without the greatest caution and circumspection. To those who have been
accustomed to see cream churned without being properly prepared, churning may, perhaps, appear to be
severe labour for one person in a large dairy ; but nothing is more easy than the process of making butter,
where the cream has been duly prepared.
7023. The best time for making butter, during summer, is early in the morning, before the sun acquires
much power ; and if a pump chum be used, it may be plunged a foot deep into a tub of cold water, where
3 X
1042 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
it should remain during the whole time of churning ; which will very much harden the butter. During
winter, from the equality of temi)erature, which (if it be properly managed) will generally prevail in a
dairy, it will very rarely, if ever, be necessary to churn near the fire. Should any circumstance, however,
require this, care should be taken not to churn so near the fire as to heat the wood ; as it would impart a
strong rancid taste to the butter. As soon as the butter is made, it must be separated from the milk, and
be put into a clean dish ; the inside of which, if of wood, should previously be well rubbed with common
salt, to prevent the butter from adhering to it. The butter should then be pressed and worked with a flat
wooden ladle or skimming-dish, having a short handle, so as to press out all the milk that may be lodged
in the cavities of the mass. A considerable degree of dexterity, as well as of strength, is requisite in this
manipulation: for, if the milk be not entirely removed, the butter will infallibly spoil in a short time;
and if it be much worked, the butter will become tough and gluey, which greatly debases its quality. In
some places it is the practice to beat up the butter with two flat pieces of board, which may, perhaps,
answer very well. In this operation, some persons pour cold water upon the butter, for tiie purpose of
washing it : this practice, however, is not only useless, for the butter can be perfectly cleared of the milk
without it, but it is also pernicious, and debases the quality of the butter in an astonishing degree. Nothing
is so detrimental in a dairy as water improperly used ; which, if mixed in any way, either with milk or
butter, tends greatly to debase the quality of the latter.
7024. The best temperature for churning butter has been very satisfactorily determined by a number of
experiments, sanctioned by the Highland Society of Scotland, and published in their Transactions. From
these experiments it is concluded, that the most proper temperature at which to commence the operation
of churning butter is from 50° to 55°; and that afno time in the operation ought it to exceed 6.5° : while,
on the contrary, if at any time the cream should be under 50° in temperature, the labour will be much
increased, without any proportionate advantage being obtained ; and a temperature of a higher rate than
65° will be injurious, as well to the quality as the quantity of the butter. {Highl. Soc. Trans, vol.vii. p. 198.)
7025. The making tip of butter is the next process.
7026. Before being sejit to table or market, sweet or fresh butter is made up into various forms ; some-
times into rolls or cylinders, six or eight inches long, and from half an inch to two inches in diameter; at
other times into small round figures, or casts, with impressions in relief from butter moulds. When the
butter is too soft for the last purpose, it may be put into small wooden vessels, which may be allowed to
swim in a tub or cistern of cold water; or they may be set in an ice-house for an hour or two; or the
water in which the small vessels float may be iced. At all events, whatever motle is adopted, no water
ought to be allowed to touch the butter. When formed into the desired shapes, it may be placed in dishes,
and set in the margin of the central cistern of water till wanted.
7027. In salting or curing butter the vise of wooden vessels is preferable ; and these
vessels should be made from timber which has been previously boiled for four hours, to
free it from the pyroligneous acid ; or they should be formed from the lime tree, which
is confidently asserted {Highl. Soc. Trans, vol. vii. p. 355.) to be without this acid.
Whatever description of casks are used, they should previously be rendered as clean and
sweet as possible, well rubbed with salt, and tlie cavity between the bottom and sides
filled in with melted butter.
7028. An excellent composition for preserving butter may be made, by reducing into a fine powder, and
carefully mixing together, sugar and nitre, of each one part, and two parts of the best common salt. Moir
to each pound weight of salt adds four ounces of raw sugar. Of this composition, one ounce should be
thoroughly mixed with every sixteen ounces of butter, as soon as the latter has been freed from the milk ;
and the butter must be immediately put into the firkin, being pressed so close as to leave no air-holee, or
any kind of cavities, within it. The surface must be smoothed ; and, if a day or two be expected to elapse
before mofe can be added, the vessel must be closely covered up with a piece of clean linen, upon which
should be laid a piece of wetted parchment, or (if this be not procurable) with a piece of fine linen dipped
in melted butter, that is exactly fitted to the edges of the vessel all round, so as to exclude the air as
much as possible. When more butter is to be added, these coverings are to be removed ; the butter is to
be applied close upon the former layer, pressing it down, and smootning it as before, till the vessel be full.
The two covers are then to be spread over it with the greatest care ; and a little melted butter is to be
poured all round the edges, so as to fill up every part, and effectually to exclude the air. A little salt
may then be strewed over the whole, and the cover be firmly fixed down. Butter thus cured does not
taste well till it has stood at least a fortnight after it has been salted ; but after that period it acquires a
rich marrowy taste, and will continue perfectly sweet in this climate for many years. As, however, its
quality is liable to be impaired by being improperly treated while it is using, it will be necessary, when the
firkin is opened, first to pare off a small portion of the whole surface, especially near the edges, in case the
air should, by any accident, not have been entirely excluded. If it is to be quickly consumed, it may be
taken up as it is wanted, without any other precaution than that of keeping it carefully covered up ; but,
on the contrary, if it is to be used very slowly, and if the person employed to take it up be not very careful
in closing it up each time with the covers, the part which is thus exposed to the air will be liable to con.
tract a small degree of rancidity. To prevent the occurrence of this inconvenience, when the vessel is
opened, a strong brine of common salt (strong enough to float an egg) should be poured, when cold, upon
the surface of the butter ; and although the quality of the latter will be slightly injured by the action of
the water upon it, yet that is a much less evil than the slightest rancidity would occasion.
7029. Butter casks. The following is the plan adoi)ted by Moir: — "Cut the wood into deals of the
lengths wanted; have a boiler of a square form, the length of the wood, full of water : put in the wood
with a weight or pressure, to keep it immersed in the water, and have a wooden cover on the boiler, as it
must be done by close evaporation. When thus boiled for four hours, the whole of the pyrolignous acid
will be extracted. The wood is then dried for use. It becomes closer and more condensed, from the
fibres being contracted. By this method, while the wood continues hot, it can be easily brought to any
.shape, and used for various purposes ; and this is the only mode by which barrels for salted butter should
be made. {Highl. Soc. Trans, vol. vii. p. 356 )
7030. When butter is to be exposed to the heat of a luarm climate, it should be purified by melting before
it is salted and packed up. For this purpose, let it be put into a proper vessel, and this be immersed into
another containing water. Let the water be heated till the butter be thoroughly melted : let it continue
in this state for some time, when the impure parts will subside, leaving at the top a perfectly pure trans-
parent oil. This, when it cools, will become opaque, and assume a colour nearly resembling that of the
original butter, being only somewhat paler, and of a firmer consistence. When this refined butter is be-
come a little stiff", but while it is still somewhat soft, the pure part must be separated from the dregs, and
be salted and packed up in the same manner as other butter ; it will continue sweet much longer in hot
climates, as it retains the salt better than in its original state. It may also be preserved sweet, without
salt, by adding to it a certain portion of fine honey, perhaps one ounce to a pound of butter, and mixing
them together thoroughly, so that they may be perfectly incorporated. A mixture of this sort has a sweet
pleasant taste, and will keep for years without becoming rancid : there is no doubt, therefore, but that
butter might thus be preserved in long voyages without spoiling.
Book VII. CHEESE-MAKING. 1045
7031. As winter-inade butter is mostly pale or white, and, at the same time, of a poorer quality than that
made during the summer months, the idea of excellence has been associated with the yellow colour :
hence, various articles have been employed in order to impart this colour. Those most generally usedj
and certainly the most wholesome, are the juice of the carrot, and of the flowers of the marigold, carefully
expressed, and strained though a linen cloth. A small quantity of this juice (and the requisite proportion
is soon ascertained by experience) is diluted with a little cream, and this mixture is added to tue rest of
the cream when put into the churn. So small a quantity of the colouring matter unites with the butter
that it never imparts to it any particular taste. *
70."2. The butter uiost esteemed in London is that of Ejjping and to market in dishes, containing half a pound each, out of which
Cambridge : the cows which produce the former feed during it is taken, washed, and put into different forms by the butter-
summer in the shrubby pastures of Enping forest, and the men of Bath and Bristol. The butter of Gloucestershire and
le.ives of the trees and numerous wild plants which there of Oxfordshire is very good ; it is made up in half-pound packs
abound are supposed to improve the flavour of the butter. It or prints, packed up in square baskets, and sent to the London
is brought to market in rolls from one to two feet long, weigh- market by wajjgon.
ing a pound each. The Cambridgeshire butter is produced 7034. The butter of the monniaim of M''ales and Scotland, and
from the milk of cows that feed one part of the year on chalky the moors, commons, and heaths of England, is of excellent
uplands, and the other in rich meadows or fens; it is made up quality, when it is properly managed; and though not equal in
into long rolls like the Epping butter, and generally salted, not quantity, it often is confessedly superior to that produced from
cured, before brought to market. By washing it, and working the richest meadows. Bad butter is more irequently the result
the salt out of it, the London cheesemongers often sell it at a of m ismanagement, want of cleanliness, and inattention, than
high price for fresh Epping butter. of any other cause. Ireland would produce the finest butter
7033. The Suffolk ami Yorkshire butter is often sold for that of in the empire, were it not for the intolerablv filthy state of their
Cambridgeshire, to which it is little inferior. The butter of cows, and the want of cleanliness in their dairies.
Somersetshire is thought to equal that of Epping ; it is brought
7035. In packing fresh butter, or butter salted only for immediate use, the leaves of cabbage, white beet,
or of the garden orache ( ^'triplex hort^nsis) are to be preferred. The bottom of the basket should be
bedded with a thick cloth, folded two or three times ; then a thin gauze, dipped in cold water, spread over
it, on which the prints or rolls of butter are to be placed, each with one or more leaves beneath, and
smaller ones over it. The lowermost layer being adjusted, fold half of the gauze cloth over it, put in
another layer in the same way, and then cover with the remainder of the gauze. The butter should be
put into the basket, as well as taken from thence, without being touched.
70S6 Whey butter, as its name implies, is butter made from the whey which is taken from the curd,
after the milk is coagulated for the manufacture of cheese. It is chiefly made in those counties where
cheese is manufactured, and where it forms no inconsiderable part of the profits of the dairy. In the
county of Derby more butter is said to be made from whey than from the cream of milk, or from milk
churned altogether.
7037. Whey is divided into tivo sorts, green and white, the former escaping readily from the curd, while
the latter is freed from it by means of pressure. " There are difierent methods of extracting the whey.
In some dairies the whole whey, when taken from the cheese-tub, is put into pails or other vessels, v/here
it remains for about twenty-four hours ; when it is creamed, and the whey is applied to the use of calves
and pigs, which are said to thrive as well on it, after the cream has been taken from it, as before. The
cream, when skimmed off the whey, is put into a brass pan and boiled, and afterwards set in pans or jars,
where it remains till a sufficient quantity for a churning be procured, which, in large dairies, happens
generally once, but sometimes twice, in the week." In Ayrshire whey is given to horses.
7038. Butter forming an important article of commerce as well as food, the legislature
has passed various statutes respecting its package, weight, and sale. The principal of
these are the 36th and 38th of Geo. III.
Sect. V. Process of Cheese-making.
7039. The jyroduction of cheese includes the making of rennet, the selection of a colour-
ing matter, the setting of the curd, and the management of the cheese in the press.
7040. The miVt fresh drawn from the cow is to be immediately strained into tlie dishes or shallow
troughs, if these are used, in order to promote cooling, as the surest guard against fermentation. The
same object may be attained by repeatedly drawing off the milk from the coolers, and pouring it back
again.
7041. To understand what rennet is, and its uses, it is necessary to premise that milk is
no sooner taken into the stomach, than it becomes curdled by the operation of the gastric
juice, as every one who has seen much of infant children must have observed. What is
called rennet is nothing more than the stomach of an animal in which the gastric juices
are preserved by means of salt.
7042. The application of any kind of acid will cause milk to coagulate, as well as the infusion of several
plants, as ladies' bedstraw (Galium verum), butter-wort (Pinguicula vulgJlris), and others. With the
former plant the Jews coagulate the milk for all their cheese ; the Mosaic law prohibiting them to mingle
meat with milk, and rennet they consider as meat.
7043. The maw or stomach of rwninating animals, which admit of obtaining the gastric juice Ln a lesg
mixed state than those of others, and chiefly of a young calf that has been killed before the digestion is
perfected, is almost universally preferred as rennet. This bag or maw is cleaned and salted in different
ways in different districts ; but the following method, described by Marshal in his Rural Economy of
Norfolk, is considered as one of the best. " lake a calf's bag, maw, or stomach ; and having taken out
the curd contained therein, wash it clean, and salt it thoroughly inside and out, leaving a white coat of
salt over every part of it. Put it into an earthen jar, or other vessel, and let it stand three or four days ;
in which time it will have formed tlie salt and its own natural juice into a pickle. Take it out of the jar,
and hang it up for two or three days, to let the pickle drain from it. Re-salt it, place it again in a jar,
cover it tight down with a paper pierced with a large pin, and in this state let it remain till wanted for
use. In this state it ought to be kept twelve months ; it may, however, in case of necessity, be used
a few days after it has received a second salting ; but it will not be so strong as if kept a longer time."
7044. In order to prepare this reimetfor use. Marshal gives tiie following directions : — " Take a hand-
ful of the leaves of sweet-briar, the same quantity of the leaves of the dog-rose, and the like quantity of
bramble leaves ; boil them in a gallon of water, with three or four handfuls of salt, about a quarter of an
hour; strain off the liquor, and, having let it stand till perfectly cool, put it into an earthen vessel, and
add to it the maw, prepared as above. To this is added a good sound lemon, stuck round with about a
quarter of an ounce of cloves, which give the rennet an agreeable flavour."
704.5. The strength of the rennet thus prepared will increase in proportion to the length of time during
which the bag remains in the liquor ; the quantity to be used for the purpose of coagulating milk can,
therefore, be ascertained only by daily use and occupation. In general, however, it may be stated, upon
the average, that somewhat less than half a pint of wine measure will suffice for fifty gallons of milk,
for which quantity, in Gloucestershire, the practice is to employ about one third of a pint. Throughout
the whole process of preparing and preserving rennet, too much attention cannot be given to its clean.
3X2
1044 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
liness and gweetnees ; for if it be kept too long, so as to become foul or tainted, the cheese will invariably
become affected by it, and will prove unfit for use.
70t6. In Holland a small quantity of the muriatic acid is used instead of rennet ; and it is the use
of this article which gives to the Dutch cheese that pungent relish which induces so many persons to
prefer it.
7047. Coloiinng matter. As cheese in its native state, that is, such as is well manu-
factured, being put together in proper time, the milk being of a proper degree of warmth,
and in all other respects properly pressed, salted, and dried, is uniformly of a bright
yellow cast, the idea of excellence is generally attached to cheese of such a colour.
Hence it has become necessary for the dairyman, who would dispose of his cheese to
advantage, to impart a light yellow orange colour to it by artificial means.
70 i8. Turmeric, marigolds, hawthorn buds, and other vegetables, were formerly employed for this pur-
pose ; but these have long since been rejected for the Spanish Arnotto, which is unquestionably the best
ingredient of the kind that can be used for the colouring of cheese. It is a preparation of the roucon
or arnotto tree {Bixa Orellana Li\n.,fig. 166.), which is a native of America. The red pulp, that covers
the seeds of this tree, is suspended in hot water, and allowed to subside, and when dry, is formed into
cakes or balls, which are further set aside, until they become completely dry and firm. One ounce of this
substance, when genuine, will be sufficient to colour an hundred weight of cheese ; and this is the com-
mon allowance in the county of Gloucester; in Cheshire, the weight of a guinea and a half is considered
to be sufficient for a cheese of sixty pounds weight. The usual mode of applying the arnotto is to dip a
piece, of the requisite size and weight, in a bowl of milk, and rub it on a smooth stone until the milk
assume a deep red colour. This infusion is to be added to the milk, of which cheese is intended to be
made, in such a quantity as will impart to the whole a bright orange colour, which will become the deeper
in proportion to the age of the cheese. The mixing of the arnotto in no respect affects either its taste or
smell.
7049. In the county of Cheshire, however, a somewhat different practice obtains. There, when the
colouring matter is wanted, it is usual to tie up as much of the substance as may be deeijied sufficient in
a linen rag ; putting it into half a pint of warm water, to let it stand over night. In the morning, im-
mediately before the milk is coagulated, the whole of this infusion is mixed with it in the cheese-tub, and
the rag is dipped in the milk, and rubbed on the palm of the hand, until all the colouring matter is com-
pletely extracted. A more simple method is directed by Parkinson : — " Take," says he, " a piece about
the size of a hazel nut, put it into a pint of milk the night before you intend to make cheese, and it will
dissolve. Add it to the milk at the time the rennet is put in. The quantity will suffice to colour a cheese
of twenty pounds weight" {Parkinson on Live Stock, vol. i. p. 62.)
7050. Setting the curd. The proper season for making cheese is from the beginning
of May till the close of September, or in favourable seasons till the middle of October.
Very good cheese, however, may be made in winter, provided the cows be well fed. A
certain elevation of temperature is requisite to the coagulation of milk, and it may
naturally be supiDosed to be nearly that of the stomachs of milk-taking animals. Marshal
is of opinion that from 85 to 90 degrees of heat, and two hours of time, are the fittest
for coagulation.
7051. Climate, season, weather, and pasture may require that these limits should sometimes be violated.
Milk produced from poor clays will require to be coagulated at a higher temperature than that which is
procured from rich pastures. In some dairies the milk is heated to the proper temperature ; but the most
approved practice is to mix boiling water in such a proportion as shall render the milk of a proper degree
of heat to receive the rennet ; this the thermometer should be used to determine. In hot weather the
milk in the cows' udders is liable to become very much agitated by their running about, or being driven
to too great a distance : so that if rennet be put to it in this state, the curd, instead of coming in one or
two hours, will require three, four, or five hours, and will be so spongy, tough, and in every respect so
imperfect, as to be scarcely capable of being confined in the press or vat ; and when released from the
press, it will heave or split, and be good for little. Whenever, therefore, cows are discovered to be in this
state, which perhaps can scarcely be avoided during very hot weather, where cows are pastured abroad,
in unsheltered grounds, or where water is not within their reach ; it will be advisable to add some cold
fresh spring water to the milk as soon as it is brought into the dairy. The quantity to be mixed, in order
to impart the proper degree of heat, can in this case only be regulated by experience and the use of the
thermometer. The effect of the water thus added will, in both cases, be to make the rennet take effect
much sooner, and consequently to accelerate the coagulation of the milk.
7052. The proportion of rennet and time requisite for coagulation have been already mentioned (7045.
7050.) : too much rennet ought not to be put in, otherwise the cheese will be ready to heave, as well as
become rank and strong ; the same effects will also be produced if the rennet be made with bad or foul
materials, or if it be too strong to operate in the given time (two hours). During the process, the milk
ought to be covered so as not to lose more than five or seven degrees of its original heat. One or two
handfuls of salt added previously to mixing the rennet will promote coagulatioii. Some put in a bowl,
which is an absurd ancient custom, and injurious rather than useful.
7053. When the coagulation has taken place, the curd is broken or cut with a cheese-knife, which causes
the whey to rise through the incisions, and the curd sinks with more ease. After a short time the cutting
is repeated, still more freely than before ; and is continued until the curd is reduced to small uniform
particles. This operation will require about three quarters of an hour : the cheese-tub is again covered
with a cloth, and is allowed to remain for the same time. When the curd has sunk to the bottom of the
vessel, the whey is taken off by the hand, or by means of a skimming-dish ; another quarter of an hour
should now be allowed for the curd to settle, drain, and become solid, before it is broken into the vat, as it
prevents the fat from being squeezed out through the fingers, and of course contributes to improve the
quality of the cheese. Sometimes, in addition to the skimming-dish, a semicircular board and weight,
adapted to the size of the tub, are employed. The curd is again cut as before, in order to promote the free
separation of the whey, and pressure is again applied till it be wholly drawn off Great attention is re-
quisite in conducting this part of the business ; and if any particles of slip curd should be seen floating
in the whey, it ought to be carefully laded off with the whey ; as it will not incorporate with the solid
curd, but dissolving in the cheese, causes whey-springs, as already mentioned, and materially impairs its
soundness. If the whey be of a green colour, when loaded or pressed out, it is a certain criterion that the
curd has been properly formed : but if it be of a white colour, it is equally certain that the coagulation
is imperfect, the cheese will be sweet, and of little value, and much valuable caseous matter will be com-
pletely thrown away. In the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, the cheese manufacturers have recourse to
a somewhat different method for extracting the whey, which is worthy of notice : when they think the
milk sufficiently coagulated, they lay a strainer in a basket made for the purpose ; into which they put the
curd, and suffer it to remain there for some time to drain, before they break the curd. When the curd
is sufficiently drained, it is put into two or three separate vessels, and is broken with the hand as small as
Book VII. CHEESE-MAKING. 1045
possible. During this part of the process salt Is scattered over the curd, and intimately mixed with it ;
the proportion, however, has not been correctly ascertained, and is regulated by experience.
7054. Management in the press. The breaking and salting completed, a cloth jfs
spread over the cheese vat, and the broken curd being packed into it, and covered up
with the cloth, a smooth round board is laid over the vat, which is usually filled to the
height of one inch above the brim, to prevent the curd from shrinking below its sides,
when the whey is squeezed out.
7055. The whole is then put into a press for two hours, and as it is of the utmost importance that every
drop of whey should be expressed, skewers are thrust into the cheese through the holes in the lower part
of the vat to facilitate its escape. The two hours expired, the cheese is taken out and put into a vessel
of warm or hot whey for an hour or two, in order to harden its skin. On taking the cheese out of the
whey it is wiped dry, and when it l)as become cool, is wiped in a clean dry cloth, of a finer texture, and
again submitted to the press for six or eight hours. The cheese is now turned a second time, and is taken
to the salting room, where it is rubbed on each side with salt ; after which it is wrapped in another dry
clotli, of a finer texture than either of the preceding; clotHs, and is again pressed for twelve or fourteen
hours; if any edges project these are paired off; and the cheese being laid upon a dry board, is turned
every day. In the salting-room cheese should be Jcept warm until it has had a sweat, or has become regu-
larly dry and somewhat stiff"; as it is Warmth that ripens cheese, improves its colour, and causes it when
cut to Jiave a flaky appearance, which is the surest sign of superior excellence.
7056. Management in the cheese-room. After the jirocesses of salting and drying are
completed, the cheeses are deposited in the cheese-room or loft, which should be airy and
dry ; but on no account should hard and soft cheeses be placed in the same room, for
the dampness or moisture arising from the latter will cause the hard cheese to chill,
become thick coated, and often spotted. Throughout the whole process of cheese-
making, the minutest attention will be requisite ; for if the whey be imperfectly ex-
pressed, or the rennet be impure, or the cheese be not sufficiently salted, it will become
rank and pungent. For this defect there is no remedy. The imperfect separation of
the whey will cause cheese to heave or swell, as well as to run out at the sides.
7057. In order to prevent as well as to stop ttiis heaving, the cheese must be laid in a'moderately cool and
dry place, and be turned regularly every day. If the heaving be very considerable, the cheese must be
pricked on both sides in several places, particularly where it is most elevated, by thrusting a skewer into
it : by this pricking, though the heaving will not be altogether prevented, a passage will be given to the
confined air, the heaving or swelling will consequently be considerably reduced, and the cavities of the
cheese will be less offensive to the eye. Another remedy for heaving in cheese consists in applying a
composition of nitre and bole armoniac, which is vended in the shops under the name of cheese-powder.
It is prepared by mixing one pound of saltpetre with half an ounce of bole armoniac thoroughly together,
and reducing them to a very fine powder. About a quarter of an ounce of this is to be rubbed on a cheese,
when put a second and third time into the press, half on each side of the cheese at two different meals,
before the salt is rubbed on, that the cheese may be penetrated with it. This preparation is very binding,
and sometimes proves serviceable, but the nitre is apt to impart an acid taste ; and if too much be applied,
and the cheese should be exposed to too great heat, the quantity of air already confined in it will be in-
creased by fermentation, and the cheese will swell much more than it would if no powder had been rubbed
in. The greatest care, therefore, will be necessary whenever this remedy is adopted.
7058. Hard and spoiled cheese may be restored in the following manner : take four ounces of pearlash,
and pour sweet white wine over it, until the mixture ceases to effervesce. Filter the solution, dip into it
clean linen cloths, cover the cheese with them, and put the whole into a cool place, or dry cellar. Repeat
this process everyday, at the same time turning the cheese, and, if necessary, continue it for several weeks.
Thus the hardest and most insipid cheese, it is affirmed, has frequently recovered its former flavour.
Sect. VI. Catalogue of the different Sorts of Cheeses and other Preparations made
from Milk.
7059. Of cheeses, we shall first enumerate the British sorts, and next those peculiar
to foreign countries : the description of each will be such as to enable any ingenious
dairyist to imitate them.
7060. The brick-bat cheese is so named from the form of the mould ; it is formed of new milk and cream
in the proportion of two gallons of the former to a quart of the latter. It is principally made in Wiltshire,
in the month of September, and should not be cut until it is twelve months old.
7(X51. Chcdder cheese, so named from the vale of that name in Somersetshire, where it is exclusively
made. It is made in cheeses about thirty pounds each, which have a spongy appearance, and the eyes
are filled with a limpid and rich, but not rancid oil.
70G2. Cheshire cheese is in universal esteem ; it is made from the whole of the milk and cream, the
morning's milk being mixed with that of the preceding evening, previously warmed. The general weight
is sixty pounds each cheese.
7063. Dunlop cheese (so called from its having been first brought to the Glasgow market by a carrier
who lived in thep.arish of Dunlop, in Ayrshire,) has been made in thedistrictof Cunningham in Ayrshire,
from time immemorial. The quality of this cheese has certainly not been equalled in any other part of
Scotland, and scarcely surpassed in England. According to Alton, it is " milder in its taste, and
fatter, than any English cheese whatever." The following directions are from this author's Dairy
Husbandry,
7064. When as many corns are kept on one farm as that their have been described, and placed in the milk-house till as much
Viilk TVillform a cheese of any lolerulie size every time they are is collected as will form a cheese of a proper size. When the
milked {twice a day), the milk, as it comes from the cows, is cheese is to be made, the cream is skimmed from the milk in
pa^d' through a sieve (provinciallv termed a milsey) to remove the coolers, and without being heated is, with the nnlk that is
impurities into a bovn (vat), and when the whole is collected, drawn from the cows at the time, passed through the sieve mto
it is forratd into curd by a mixture of rennet. As milk requires the curd-vat ; and the cold milk from which the (.ream has
lo be coagulated ^ nearly as possible at the temperature of been taken is heated, so as to raise the temperature of the whole
animal heat, and as it must cool considerably during the oper- mass to near blood heat ; and the whole is coagulated by means
ation of milking from several cows, and in passing through the of rennet carefully mixed with the milk. The cream is put
sieve, it is necessary for those who set their curd in the natural into the curd-vat, that its oily parts may not be melted, and the
heat to make up some part of that which is lost, by mixing a skimmed milk is heated as much as to raise the whole to near
quantity of hot water into the curd vat. animal heat. The utmost care is always taken to keep tlie
706.0. When the caws on a farm are not so numerous as to yield milk in all stages of the operation free, not only from every
mitk sufficient to make a cheese every time they are milked, the admixture or impurity, but also from being hurt by foul air
milk k' stored about six or eight inches detv in Uie coolers that arising from acidity in ar^ milky rubstance, putrid water, the
3X3
1046
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
stench of the byre, dunghill, or any other substance ; and like-
■wi*e to prevent the milk from becoming sour, which when it
happens greatly injures the cheese.
70G6. The temperature at which the milk is kept from the
time it is drawn from the cows till it is formed into cheese,
ready to be put up to dry, is a matter of great importance, and
should be carefully attended to. The milk, when taken from
the cow, ought to be as soon as possible cooled to below 55",
or between that and 50° on Fahrenheit's scale : to cool it
speedily, and to facilitate the separation or rising of the cream,
a small quantity of clean cold water is generally mixed with
the milk in each cooler; and when the stone or iron coolers
that have been described are u?ed, the milk will cool in them
much sooner than in the wooden dishes formerly in use. If
the milk is kept warmer than 55* of temperature, it will not
projjerly cast up the cream, which it is thought necessary it
should do even when the whole is to be formed into cheese,
and the milk will soon become sour, and acquire a bad taste,
if it is not brought to near that degree of temperature ; but if
it gets into a lower temperature than about 50« the milk ac-
quires an insipid and unpleasant taste, of which it cannot be
again divested ; it does not coagulate nearly so well, and the
cheese made from it is soft and inadhesive, the curd difficult
to be separated from the whey, and the milk and cheese are
never well tasted.
7067. Milk ought to be coai^ultled at nearly its natural heat
when drawn from the com, or from 90 to 95 degrees of tempera-
ture, and for tliat pupose a thermometer ought to be used in
the milk-house. If coagulated much warmer, the curd is
tough, harsli, and too adhesive; much of the butteraceous
matter is melted, and goes off with the whey, and the cheese
becomes hard, dr\-, tough, and tasteless; and if the milk is too
cold when coagulated, the curd is soft, does not part with the
serum, and the cheese continues to be so soft that it is with
difficulty that it can be kept together. Even when the utmost
pains are taken to extract the whey, and to give it solidity and
firmness, putrifying holes, which in dairy language are termed
" eyes," whey -drops, or sprijjgs, frequently break out on the
cheese ; and it is always soft, tough, and of an insipid taste.
70G8. Whenever the milk is completely coagulated, the curd is
broken, in order to let the serum or whey be separated and
taken off. Some break the curd slightly at first, by making
cross-scores with a knife or a thin piece of wood, at about one
or two inches distance, and intersecting each other at right
angles ; and these are renewed still more closely after some of
the whey has been dischcu-ged. But others break the whole
curd rather more minutely at once with the skimming dish,
the hand, or any thing convenient ; but they do not break or
churn it, as is done in England. When this last method is
pursued, the whey comes ott' rather too white and rich, or with
too much of the cream at first ; but it comes most copiously,
and it is only for a few minutes at first that the whey is too
rich. By the method first mentioned, the whey does not come
off so copiously nor so rich at first, as when the curd is more
minutely broken.
7069. When the coagulum has been formed at a proper tempera-
ture, neither too cold nor too hot, breaking the curd minutely,
but gently and softly, seems to be most proper : for though the
whey is a little too white at first, that is soon over; it comes
off abundantly pure in a few minutes after ; and it flows more
copiously than when the curd is slightly broken at first, 'i he
advantage of a speedy discharge of the whey, as it saves time,
and prevents the curd from becoming too cold and acquiring
any bad taste or flavour (which it often contracts when neg-
lected at that stage of the operation), is an ample compensation
for any small quantity of the oily parts that may come off at
first breaking.
7070. But if the milk has been either too cold or too hot when
coagulated, 1 would recommend breaking the curd as slightly
and easily as possible at first : if too hot, the whey naturally
comes off^copiously, but it is too white, and contains a portion
of the butteraceous matter in the curd ; and the complete
breaking at first adds to that evil, and brings off still more of
the oily substance from the curd, to the impoverishment of the
cheese. Such quick agitation too tends to render the warm
curd still more tough and adhesive. AVhen the milk has been
too cold at the time the cutd was formed, it will be by far too
soft to be minutely broken at first ; and when that is done,
some of the curd will come off with the whey : in that case the
curd should be dealt with as gently as possible.
7071. -lifter the curd has been broken, the whey ought to be
taken off as speedily as it can be done, and with as littlefurther
breaking or handling the curd as possible. It is still necessary,
however, to turn it up, cut it with a knife, or break it gently
with the hand, in order to facilitate the separation of the whey
from the curd.
7072. When the curd has consolidated a little, it is cut with the
cheese knife, gently at first, and more minutely as it hardens,
so as to bring pit' the whey. When the whey has been mostly
extracted, the curd is taken up from the curd-boyn, and being
cut into pieces of about two inches in thickness, it is placed
into a sort of vat or sieve with many holes ; a lid is placed over
it, and a slight pressure, say from three to four stones avoirdu-
poise ; and tlie curd is turned up and cut small everj ten or fif-
teen minutes, and occasionally pressed with the hand sMong as
it continues to discharge serum. When no more whey can tie
drawn off by these means, the curd is cut as small as possible
with the knife, the proper quantity of salt minutely mixed into
it in the curd-boyn, and placed in the chessart within a shift of
thin canvass, and put under the press.
7081. Gloucester cheese is in very considerable demand from its mild taste, which suits most palates,
especially those of the young and of simple habits : there are two kinds, double and single, the first made
from the milk and cream, and the latter with tlie milk deprived of about half the cream : the latter are of
course the least valuable; but as they may be often mistaken for the former, upright dairymen, Marshal
observes, impress a heart-shaped stamp upon them to distinguish them from the former. They are made of
various sizes, from twenty to seventy, or even eighty pounds weight, but generally from fifty to sixty pounds.
7082. Green, or sage-cheese, is made by steeping over night in a proper quantity of milk, two parts of
sage, one part of marigold leaves, and a little parsley, after they have been bruised. On the following
morning, the greened milk is strained off, and mixed with about one third of the whole quantity intended
to be run or coagulated. The green and white milks are run separately, the two curds being kept apart
until they be ready for vatting : these may be mixed, either evenly and intimately, or irregularly and
fancifully, according to the pleasure of the manufacturer. The management is the same as for conuuon
cheese. Green cheeses are made in the vale of Gloucester, as also in Wiltshire.
7073. All these operations ought to be carried on rviih the least
possible delay, and yet without precipitation. The sooner the
whey is removed after the coagulation of the milk, so much
the better. But if the curd is soft, from being set too cold, it
requires more time, and to be more gently dealt with ; as other-
wise much of the curd and of the fat would go otf with the
whey. And when the curd has been formed too hot, the same
caution is necessary. Precipitation, or handling the curd too
roughly, would add to its toughness, and expel still more of
the oily matter : and, as has been already mentioned, hot water
or whey should be put on the curd when it is soft and cold ;
and cold water put on when the curd is set too hot.
7074. After the cheese is piU into the press it remains for the
first time about an hour, or less than two hours, till it is
taken out, turned upside down in the cheese-vat, and a new
cloth put round it every four or six hours till the cheese is
completed ; which is generally done in the course of a day and
a half, tv, o, or at most three days after it was first put under
the press.
7075. r/te process of salting is very differently conducted in
the Scotch dairies from what it is in England. In Scotland, the
salt is minutely mixed into the curd after it has been rendered
as dry as possible, and cut very small by means of the cheese-
knife, as has been already mentioned. This seems to answer
the purpose just as well as the mode pursued in England, to be
afterwards described, which is far more troublesome, and must
be much more expensive, both in waste of salt, in apparatus,
and in labour. The greatest defect I can perceive in the salt-
ing in Scotland is, that the salt is generally applied to the
cheese merely by guess, whereas it ought to be more carefully
regulated. Half an ounce of salt to every English pound of
cheese, or at most thirteen ounces to twenty-four pounds
English, is a sufficient quantity. Too much salt renders the
cheese dry, tough, and hard ; and if a sufficient quantity is not
given, the cheese will become putrid.
7076. Cheeses made in Scotland axe never washed or greased
with butter, as is done in Cheshire. The Scots cheeses contain
the grease internally, and not on the outside.
7077. When the cheeses in Scotland are ultimately taken from
the press, and wliich is generally after two or three days from
the time they were first placed under it, they are exposed for
a week, to the drought and heat of the farmer's kitchen ;
not to excite sweating, but merely to dry them a little before
they are placed in the store, where a small portion of heat or
drought is admitted. While they remain in the kitchen, they
are turned over three or four times every day ; and whenever
they begin to heurden a little on the outside, they are laid up on
the shelves of the store, where they are turned over once every
day or two days for a week or so, till they are dry ; and twice
every week afterwards.
7078. The store-lwuses fbr cheese in Scotland are in proportion
to the size of the dairy, generally a small place adjoining the
milk-house, or at the end of the bam or other buildings, where
racks are placed, with as many shelves as hold the cheeses
made for the season. Mhere no jiarticular place is prepared,
the rac ks are placed in the barn, which is generally empty
during summer ; or some lay the cheeses on the floor of a g2uret
over some part of their dwelling-house.
7079. Wherever the clueses are stored, they are not sweated or
put into a warm place, but kept cool, in a place in a medium
state l)etween damp and dry, without the sun being allowed to
shine on them, or yet a great current of air admitted. Too
much air, or the rays of the sun, would dry the cheeses too fast,
diminish their weight, and make them crack ; and heat would
make them sweat or perspire, which extracts the fat, and tends
to induce heaving. But when they are kept in a temperature
nearly similar to that of a barn, the doors of which are not
much open, and but a mo<ierate current of air admitted, the
cheeses are kept in proper shaiie, neither so dry as to rend their
skins, nor so damp as to render them mouldy on the outside,
and no partial fermentation is excited, but the cheese preserved
sound and good.
7080. On the comparative taste of the Scots and English cheese
it is difficult to offer any opinion : there is not only such a
diversity in the taste, not only of cheeses made in dirterent dai-
ries, at the different seasons of the year, stages of the cow's milk,
state of the weather, and many slighter accidents; but there
is also such a diversity in the taste of the consumers, that it is
imiKJSsible to speak with any degree of precision as to the
standard of perfection of the taste of cheese. The taste of man-
kind as to cheese varies so much that it is found necessary to
bring forward bo-.h Scots and English cheeses, of different
sorts and ages, some sound and others unsound or putrid, and
to ask each lady and gentleman at table which they prefer.
Do you eat Scots or English ? coloured or white ? old or
new ? sound or unsound ? &c. The taste of some is so
vitiated, as to like best the putrid parts, which abound with
animalcula, and touch the olfactory nerves before they reach
the mouth ; others prefer that which is sound. The Scots
cheese is generally less smart, acrid, and pungent in the taste
than the English cheese. It is not so high flavoured, owing
probably to the inferiority of the pasture and cUmate, or partly
to the rnode of manufacturing it. It is milder in the taste, and
generally fatter, than the English cheese. A small morsel of
English cheese after a good dinner may be better felt in the
mouth than the softer and milder cheese of Scotland ; but if
any considerable quantity is to be eaten, the latter will not be
felt so hot and heavy in the stomach as the same quantity of
English cheese.
Book VII. CHEESE-MAKING. 1047
7083. Idncolnshtre cheese Is made by adding the cream of one meal's milk to that which comes imtrcdi-
ately from the cow ; it is pressed gently two or three times, and is turned for a few days previously to
being used. It is chicHy made in spring, but the richest is that made in autumn. It will not keep above
three months.
7084. Norfolk cheese is made from the whole of the milk and cream ; the size is from thirty to fifty
pounds ; it is generally coloured yellow, and is reckoned a good keeping cheese.
7085. Sqft, or slip-coat cheese, is made from new milk hot from the cow, and the afterings; and what is
required to make one pound of butter, will, in general, make one pound of cheese : this is a small soft rich
cheese, which must be used immediately.
7086. Stilton cheese, which, from its peculiar richness and flavour, has bieen called the Parmesan of
England, is made in the following manner: — The night's cream is put to the morning's milk with the
rennet ; when the curd is come, it is not broken as is usual with other cheese, but is taken out whole, and
put into a sieve to drain gradually ; while draining, it is gently pressed till it becomes firm and dry, when
it is placed in a vat, a box made exactly to fit it ; as it is so extremely rich, that without this precaution
it is apt to bulge out, and break asunder. It is afterwards kept on dry boards, and turned daily, with cloth
binders round it, which are tightened as occasion requires. After being taken out of the vat, the cheese
is closely bound with cloth till it acquires sufficient firmness to support itself: when these cloths are re-
moved, each cheese is brushed once every day for two or three months, and if the weather be moist, twice
every day ; the tops and bottoms are treated in a similar manner daily before the cloths arc taken off.
Stilton cheese derives its name from the town where it is almost exclusively sold ; it is made principally
in Leicestershire, though there are also many who manufacture it in the counties of Huntingdon, Rut-
land, and Northampton. Sometimes the cheeses are made in a net, resembling a cabbage net, which gives
them the form of an acorn ; but these are neither so good nor so richly flavoured as those made in vats,
liaving a thicker coat, and being deficient in that mellowness which causes them to be in such general re-
quest. {Bath Papers, vol. iii. p. 152, 1.'33.) Stilton cheese is not reckoned to be sufficiently mellow for
cutting until it is two years old, and it is not saleable unless it is decayed, blue, and moist. In order to
mature them the more rapidly, it is a frequent practice to place the cheeses in buckets, which are covered
over with horse-dung. Wine is also reputed to be added to the curd, in order to accelerate the ripening
of the cheese.
7087. Cottenham cheese, from the town of that name in Cambridgeshire, is a thicker kind of cream
cheese than the Stilton : its superior delicacy and flavour are attributed to the fragrant nature of the
herbage on the commons on which the cows are pastured, and, according to Professor Martyn, to the
prevalence of Pua aquatica and pratensis.
7088. Suffolk, or skim cheese, is made of skimmed milk ; it forms a part of every ship's stores, not being
so much affected by heat as richer cheese, nor so liable to decay in long voyages.
7089. Wiltshire cheese is made of new milk coagulated as it comes from the cow : sometimes a small
quantity of skimmed milk is added. In some dairies it is manufactured in winter as well as summer ; in
the former case it is liable to become scurfy and white coated j the last of which defects is frequently con-
cealed by a coat of red paint.
7090. Of foreign cheeses, the most common is thfe Dutch cheese ; this is prepared much
in the same manner as the Cheshire cheese, excepting that muriatic acid is used instead
of rennet, which renders it pungent, and preserves it from mites; that of Gouda is
preferred.
7091. Parmesan cheese (formaggio di grana, cheese used in a granular form,) is made in the Duchy
of Parma, and in various places in Lombardy. It was formerly supposed to be made from the milk of
goats, but it is merely a skim-milk cheese, the curd hardened by heat, well salted, pressed, and dried, long
kept, and rich in flavour from the rich herbage of the meadows of the Po, where the cows are pastured.
7092. The process, according to Frvce, ( Bath Papers, vol. vii.) off, water poured round the bottom of the cauldron outside to
is as follows :— The evening's milk, after having been skimmed cool it, so as to admit of a cloth being passed below the curd,
in the morning, and standing till ten o'clock, and the mom- which is thus brought up and placed in a tub to clear. ^Vhen
ing's milk skimmed about two hours after it is drawn from the drained, it is put into a wooden hoop, and about half a hundred
cow, are mixed together. The mixture is then suspended in weight laid on it for half an hour ; the cloth is then removed,
a copper cauldron over a wooden fire {,fig. 33.), and frequently and the cheese being replaced in the hoop is laid on a shelf;
stirred till it attains about 82" of Faiirenheit ; the reimet is here it remains for two or tliree days, at the end of which, it
then put in, and the copper being removed from the fire, the is sprinkled over with salt ; this sprinkling is rei)eated every
coagulation quickly takes place, and the curd is afterwards second day for about thirty davs if it be summer, and for
worked with a stick till it is reduced to a small grain. The about forty or fifty-five days if it be winter, after which no
whey now occupies the surface, and a part of it being taken out, further attention is required. The best Parmesan cheese is that
the cauldron is again turned over the fire, and iU contents which has been kept for three or four years, but none is ever
brought to nearly a boiling heat. A little saffron is nov/ added carried to market for sale until it has been kept at least six
to impart colour, the whole being all the while well stirred, months. A short account of a Parmesan cheese dainr, situated
and the superintendant examining it from time to time with his thirteen miles from Milan, is given in Cadell's Journey m
finger and thumb, to ascertain the exact moment when the Camiola, 8vo, 1818, and quoted in Farm. !Uag. vol. xxi. p. 161.
curd shall have become sufficiently solid. When this is t)ie The process is there carried on in conformity with what is
case, the cauldron is removed from the fire, and the curd above stated.
allowed to subside ; three fourths of the whey is then drawn
7093. Swiss cheese is of several varieties, mostly of skimmed or partially skimmed milk, and manu-
factured like the Parmesan. Its varied and rich flavour is more owing to the herbage of the pastures
than the mode of making ; and some sorts, as the Gruyfere (so called from the bailiwick of that name in
the canton of Fribourg), are flavoured by the dried herb of Melilutus officinalis (Jig. 43.) in powder.
Gruycre cheeses weigh from forty to sixty pounds each, and are packed in casks containing ten cheeses
each, and exported to the most distant countries. This cheese requires to be kept in a damp place, and
fehould frequently be washed with white wine, to preserve it from the depredations of insects. Neufchatel
is celebrated for a very fine sort of cheese made there, which, in shape, resembles a wash-hand ball.
7094. Westphalia cheese is of the skim-milk kind, and of a different character from any of those hitherto
described. The cream is allowed to remain on the milk till the latter is in a sub-acid state; it is then
removed, and the milk placed near a fire spontaneously to coagulate. The curd is then put into a coarse
bag, and loaded with ponderous stones to express the whey : in this dry state it is rubbed between the
hands, and crumbled into an empty clean milk vat, where it remains from three to eight days, according
as the cheese is intended to be strong or mild. During this part of the process, which is called mellowing,
the curd undergoes the putrid fermentation, and acquires a coat or skin on the top, before it is taken out
of the vessel, and kneaded into balls or cylinders, with the addition of a considerable portion of carraways,
salt, and butter ; or occasionally a small quantity of pounded pepper and cloves. When over-mellowed, a
third part of fresh curds, likewise crumbled into small pieces, is superadded, to prevent or correct its
putrid tendency. As the balls or cheeses do not exceed three or four ounces each in weight, they soon dry
in the open air, and are then fit for use. When nearly dry they are sometimes, for the palate ot epicures,
suspended in a wood-fire chimney, in a net, for several weeks or months ; and both their taste and flavour
are said to be remarkably improved, whether kept in a dry air, or subjected to the action of smoke. Ihis
sort of cheese M. Hochheimer, who describes it, affirms to be preferable to the Dutch, Swiss, and even
Parmesan cheese. It is sometimes to be had in London, but is not very common.
7095. Blue milk cheese is made in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, by Mr. Johnston, of Hill House. It
is similar to the Stilton, to which it is said to be not inferior. Mr. Johnston never puts his curd into a
cheese press, but into a^bag or net, in which it is suspended, and frequently shitted, till it is sufficiently
dry and solid. The cheeses arc small ; about five or six pounds each.
3X4
1048 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paiit III.
7096. Potato cheese is a German manufacture, of which there are three sorts. One of the best is thus
prepared : — Select mealy potatoes, and only half dress them in steam j for h\ bursting their flavour and
efficacy are diminished. I'eel them, and then grate or beat them into a fine pitip. To three parts of this
mass add two parts of sweet curd, knead and mix them, and allow them to stand three days in warm, and
four or five days in cold, weather; form into small pieces like the Westphalia cheeses, and dry in the same
manner. A still better sort of potato cheese is formed of one part of potatoes and three of the curd of
sheep's milk. This sort is said to exceed in taste the best cheese made in Holland, and to possess the
additional advantage that it improves with age, and generates no vermin.
7097. The preparations of viilk, which can neither be included under butter nor
cheese, are various, and constitute a class of wholesome luxuries or rural drinks. We
shall do little more tiian enumerate them, and refer for further details to the cookery
books.
7098. Curds and tvkey is merely coagulated new milk stirred up, and the curd and whey eaten together,
with or without sugar and salt.
7099. Curds and a-eam ; here the whey is removed and cream substituted, with or without sugar. The
milk coagulated is often previously skimmed.
7100. Sour cream ; cream allowed to stand in a vat till it becomes sour, when it is eaten with fresh cream
and sugar, or new milk and sugar, and is found delicious.
7101. Corst07-phm cream, so named from a village of that name, two miles from Edinburgh, from which
the latter city is supplied with it. The milk of three or four days is put together with the cream, till it
begins to get sour and coagulated, when the whey is drawn off and fresh cream added. It is, therefore,
simply sour curd and fres/t creayn. It is eaten with sugar as a supper dish, and in great repute in the
north.
7102. Devonshire cream is a term applied in the county of that name, sometimes to sour curd, and some-
times to sour cream ; in either case mixed with new milk or fresh cream, and eaten with sugar like the
Corstorphin cream.
7103. D,evonshire scalded or clouted cream. The milk is put into tin or earthen pans, holding about ten
or twelve quarts each. The evening'* meal is placed the following morning, and the morning's-milk is
placed in the afternoon, upon a broad iron plate heated by a small furnace, or otherwise over stoves,
where, exposed to a gentle fire, they remain until after the whole body of cream is supposed to have
formed upon the surface ; which being gently removed by the edge of a spoon or ladle, small air bubbles
will begin to rise that denote the approach of a boiling heat, when the pans must be removed from off the
heated plate or stoves. The cream remains upon the milk in this state until quite cold, when it may be
removed into a churn, or, as is more frequently the case, into an open vessel, and then moved by hand
with a stick about a foot long, at the end of which is fixed a sort of peel from four to six inches in diameter,
and with which about twelve pounds of butter may be separated from the buttermilk at a time. The
butter in both cases being found to separate much more freely, and sooner to coagulate into a mass, than
in the ordinary way, when churned from raw cream that may have been several days in gathering, and
at the same time will answer a more valuable purpose in preserving, which should be first salted in the
usual way, then placed in convenient-sized egg-shapetl earthen crocks, and always kept covered with a
pickle, made strong enough to float and buoy up about half out of the brine a new-laid egg. This cream,
before churning, is the celebrated clouted cream of Devon. Although it would be reasonable to suppose
that the scalding the milk must have occasioned the whole of the oily or unctuous matter to form on the
surface, still experience shows that this is not the case, and that the scalded skim-milk is much richer and
better for the purposes of suckling, and makes far better cheese than the raw skim-milk does. The ordi-
nary produce of milk per day, for the first twenty weeks alier calving, is three gallons, and is equal to the
producing of one pound and a quarter of butter daily by the scalding process. The scald skim-milk is
valued at one penny farthing per quart, either for cheese-making or feeding hogs. The sum of the trials
procured to be made on the milk in several parts of this district gives an average of twelve pints of milk
to ten ounces of butter (less than ten quarts to a pound of sixteen ounces). When cheese is to be made,
great care is taken that the milk is not heated so far as to produce bubbles under the cream. {Vancoitver'g
Survey qf Devon, p. 214.)
7104. Clotted cream. The milk, when drawn from the cow, is suffered to remain in the coolers till it
begins to get sour and the whole is coagulated. It is then stirred and the whey drawn off, or the cream
(now in clots among the curd) and the curd removed.
7105. Hatted kitt. A gallon of sour buttermilk is put in the bottom of the milk-pail, and a quart or
more of milk drawn from the cow into it by the milk-maid. The new warm milk, as it mixes with the
acid of the sour milk, coagulates, and being lighter, rises to the top and forms a creamy scum or hat over
the other ; whence the name. Th\s surface stratum is afterwards taken off and eaten with sugar.
7106. Milk syllabub is formed in a similar manner over a glass or two of wine, and the whole is then
eaten with sugar. Both sorts may be formed by those who have no cow, by warming the sweet or new
milk, and squirting it into the wine or sour milk.
7107. Skim-viilk is milk from which the cream has been removed. When this has been done within
twelve or fifteen hours from the time of milking, it is sweet and wholesome, and fit either for being heated
or coagulated in order to make cheese, &c., or used as it is with other food ; but if allowed to remain
twenty or thirty hours, it becomes sour, coagulates spontaneously, the whey separates from the curd ;
and if it remain a certain period, generally three weeks longer, in a warm temperature, the vinous fer.
mentation takes place, and a wine or a liquor, from which ardent spirit may be distilled, is produced.
7108. Buttermilk is that which remains in the churn after the butter has been taken off. When butter
has been made from cream alone, it is seldom of much value ; but where the whole milk has been churned,
and no water poured In during the process, it is a very wholesome cooling beverage. Some prefer it when
it has stood a few days and become sour. In England it is chiefly given to pigs ; but in Ireland it forms
a very common diluter to porridge, potatoes, oat cakes, peas cakes, and other food of the labouring classes,
and especially of the farm servants. In the Orkney Islands and other northern parts of Britain, as well
as in Ireland, buttermilk is sometimes kept till it undergoes the vinous fermentation, when it is used to
procure intoxication.
7109. Sour milk, Alton observes, requires considerable care in the manufacturing, and the use of the
thermometer ought never to be omitted. " When the operation is carried on at a low temperature, the
milk swells when agitated in the churn, appears of a white colour, throws up air bubbles, and makes, when
agitated or churned, a rattling noise. But when it is in proper temperature the milk does not swell or
rise in the churn, it is of a straw or cream colour, emits a much softer sound, and does not cast up air
bubbles so plentifully as when colder. When milk is either overheated or churned too hastily, the butter
is always soft and of a v/hite colour. From two to three hours is a proper time for performing the oper-
ation of churning. In the manufacture of sour milk, and in every branch of dairy husbandry, the utmost
attention to cleanliness is indispensably necessary. The milk must no doubt become sour, and even
coagulate before it is churned ; but if that souring is not natural, but brought on by any foulness in the
vessels through wliich the milk passes, or by any sort of admixture, or even by the milk being kept in a
damp place, in one too hot or too cold, or even by exposure to an impure atmosj)here, the acidity will not
be a natural one, nor the taste of the milk or butter agreeable, but acrid and unpalatable. Every vessel
through which the milk passes must be as clean, and every part where it is kept before being churned
must be as free from dampness, and every species of impurity or bad air, as if it were intended to keep the
Book VII. VARIETIES OF SHEEP. J049
milk long sweet for skim-milk cheese. Buttermilk is used more or less by the kbourlng cLisscs in
all parts of Scotland, and in i)articu1ar in the city of Glasgow ; on the authority of the secretary to the
Hoard of Agriculture, it is adjudged to the pigs in England ; but in the western counties of Scotland,
as well as in Ireland, it is used to a vast extent as human food. It is used as drink, and is certainly far
superior to the miserable table-beer generally drank in England. It serves as kitchen to pottage, bread,
potatoes, &c. ; and when a linen bag like a pillow-slip is filled with it, and hung up till the serum drop,
and a small quantity of sweet cream is mixed with what remains in the bag, and a little sugar when
the milk is too sour, it forms a dish that might be placed on the table of a peer of the realm.
7110. The inethod of making, butter and buttermilk in Holland is somewhat different from the mode in
the vicinity of Glasgow. After the milk is cold it is put into a pan or vat, and well stirred with a wooden
spoon or ladle two or three times a day, to prevent the cream from separating from the milk ; and this sort
of stirring or partial churning is continued till the milk becomes so thick and clotted that the laule or
spoon stands erect in the milk : after wliich it is put into the churn, and beat or churned for one hour or
so. Cold water is poured in, to help to collect the butter and separate the milk from it ; after which the
butter is washed in cold water. By this method the Hollanders imagine they obtain more butter from the
milk than they can do any other way. They also say, that both the butter and buttermilk are better when
made in that way than when churned as is done in England.
7111. Whey, when new and of a pale green colour, forms an agreeable beverage, and with oatmeal makes
an excellent gruel or porridge. I^eft till it gets sour, it undergoes the vinous fermentation as readily as
buttermilk ; and man, who m every state of civilisation feels the necessity of occasionally dissii)ating"the
cares of his mind, when he cannot find tobacco, opium, malt liquors, or ardent spirit, has recourse to f©ur
whey.
Chap. VI.
The Sheej}' — O^vis A\ies L. ; Mamvialia P^cora L , and RuminaleeB Cuv. Brcbis, Fr. ;
Schaf, Ger. ; Oveja, Span. ; and Pccora, Ital.
7112. The shee-p is an inhabitant of every part of the globe, from Iceland to the regions
of the torrid zone. The varieties of form and clothing necessary to fit it for existing in
so many climates are of course numerous. In most of these countries it is cultivated for
its wool or flesh, and in many for both ; but it is m.ost cultivated in Europe, and espe-
cially in France, Spain, and Britain. In the latter country its cidture has attained an
astonishing degree of perfection. Besides the 0. -^Vies, or common sheep, there are
three other species ; the 0. A'mmon or Siberian sheep, the Pudu or South American,
and the 5'trcpsiceros or Cretan slieep. By some these are considered mere varieties. Tlie
Cretan and Siberian are cultivated in Hungary and Siberia.
7113. The common sheep in a wild state prefer open plains, where they herd together in small flocks,
and are in general active, swift, and easily frightened by dogs or men. When comi>leteIy domesticated,
the sheep appears as stupid as it is harmless. It is characterised by Buffon as one of the most timid, im-
becile, and contemptible of quadrupeds. When sheep, however, have an extensive range of pasture, and
are left in a considerable degree to depend on themselves for food and protection, they exhibit a more
decided character. A ram has been seen in these circumstances to attack and beat off a large and formid-
able dog. Sheep display considerable sagacity in the selection of their food ; and in the approach of storms
they perceive the indications with accurate precision, and retire for shelter always to the spot which is ,
best able to afford it. The sheep is more subject to disorders than any of the domesticated animals ; gid-
diness, consumption, scab, dropsy, and worms frequently .seizing ujwn and destroying it. That ])opularly
called the rot is the most fatal, and is supposed to arise from the existence of animals called fluke worms,
of the genus Fasc'iola, which inhabit the vessels of the liver. Other parasitic animals attack and
injure them, as the hydatids within the skull, producing symptoms called sturdy, turnsick, staggers, &c.
Frontal worms, deposited by the sheep fly, in some cases prove very injurious also.
7114. Of all the dvmeUic anbnals of Britain, Brown observes, sheep are of the greatest consequence, both
to the nation and to the farmer ; because they can be reared in situations, and upon soils, where other
animals would not live, and in general afford greater profit than can be obtained either from the rearing
or feeding of cattle. The very fleece, shorn annually from their backs, is of itself a matter worthy of con-
sideration, affording a partial return not to be obtained from any other kind of stock. Wool has long been
a staple commodity of this island, giving bread to thousands who are employed in manufacturing it into
innumerable articles for home consumption and foreign exportation. In every point of view, sheep hus-
bandry deserves to be esteemed as a chief branch of rural economy, and claims the utmost attention of
agriculturists. For many years back it has been studied with a degree of diligence and assiduity not
inferior to its merits ; and the result has been, that this branch of rural management has reached a degree
of perfection favourable to those who exercised it, and highly advantageous to the public.
Sect. I. Varieties of Sheeji.
7115. The varieties of the Q. A\ies, or common sheep, dispersed over the world are,
according to Linnasus, the hornless, horned, blackfaced, Spanish, many-horned, African,
Guinea, broad-tailed, fat-rumjied, Bucharian, long-tailed. Cape, bearded, and morvant;
to which some add the Siberian sheep, cultivated in Asia, Barbary, and Corsica, and the
Cretan sheep, which inhabits the Grecian islands, Hungary, and Austria; by Linnaeus
considered as species.
7116. The varieties of British sheep are so numerous that at first sight it appears almost
impossible to reduce them into any regular classes. They may, however, be divided in
two ways : first, as to the length of their wool ; and secondly, as to the presence or
absence of horns. A third classification might be made after the place or districts in
whicli such species are supposed to abound, to be in greatest perfection, or to have
originated.
1050
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Pakt 3i:
7117. The long-woolled British sheep are chiefly the • Teeswater, the * old und *new
Leicester, the * Devonshire nots, Exmoor, and the Heath sheep.
^ 7118. l^he short-rvoolled sheep are chiefly the Dorsetshire, * Hereford or Ryeland, the
* South Down, the Norfolk, the * Cheviot, the * Shetland sheep, and the * Merinos.
7119. The hornless breeds are those in the above classes marked (*), the others have
horns. These breeds, and their subvarieties, may be further arranged according as they
are suited to arable or enclosed lands, and to open or mountainous districts.
7 1 20. The sheep best suited to arable land, an eminent writer observes, in addition to
such properties as are common in some degree to all the different breeds, must evidently
be distinguished for their quietness and docility ; habits which, though gradually ac-
quired and established by means of careful treatment, are more obvious, and may be
more certainly depended on in some breeds than in others. These properties are not
only valuable for the sake of the fences by which the sheep are confined, but as a proof
of the aptitude of the animals to acquire flesh in proportion to the food they consume.
7121. The long-ieoulled large breeds are those usually preferred on good grass-lands ;
they differ much in form and size, and in their fatting quality as well as in the weight
of their fleeces. In some instances, with the Lincolns or old Leicesters in particular,
wool seems to be an object paramount even to the carcass ; with the breeders of the
Leicesters, on the other hand, the carcass has always engaged the greatest attention :
but neither form nor fleece, separately, is a legitimate ground of preference ; the most
valuable sheep being that which returns, for the food it consumes, the greatest market-
able value of produce.
7122. The Lincolnshire, or old Leicestershire breed, have no horns, the face is white and the carcass
long and thin ; the ewes weighing from 14 to 20 lbs., and the three- year-old wethers from 20 to SOlbs. per
quarter. They have ihick, rough, white legs, bones large, pelts thick, and wool long, from ten to eighteen
inches, weighing from 8 to Hlbs. per fleece, and covering a slow-feeding, coarse-grained carcass of
mutton. This kind of sheep cannot be made fat at an early age except upon the richest land, such as
Romney Marsh, and the richest marshes of Lincolnshire; yet the prodigious weight of wool which is
shorn from them every year, is an inducement to tlie occupiers of marsh. lands to give great prices to the
breeders for their hogs or yearlings ; and though the buyers must keep them two years more, before they
get them fit for market, they have three clips of wool in the mean time, which of itself pays them well in
those rich marshes. Not only the midland counties, but also Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland,
can send their long-woolled sheep to market at two vears old, fatter in general than Lincolnshire can at
three. Yet this breed, and its subvarieties, are spread through many of the English counties.
7123. The Teeswater sheep (Jig. 882.) differ from the Lincolnshire in their wool not being so long and
882 heavy ; in standing upon higher, though finer boned legs, supporting
a thicker, firmer, heavier carcass, much wider upon their backs and
sides; and in afl^ording a fatter and finer grained carcass of mutton :
the two-year-old wethers weighing from 25 to 35 lbs. per quarter.
Some pai'ticular ones, at four years old, have been fed to 55 lbs. and
upwards. There is little doubt that the Teeswater sheep were ori-
ginally bred from the same stock as the Lincolnshire; but, by
attending to size rather than to wool, and constantly pursuing that
object, they have become a different variety of the same original
breed. {Cullet/ on Live Stuck, p. 122.) 'J'he present fashionable
breed is considerably smaller than the original species ; but they are
still considerablv larger and fuller of bone than the midland breed.
They bear an analogy to the short-horned breed of cattle, as those of the midland counties do to the long-
horned. They are not so compact, nor so complete in their form, as the Leicestershire sheep ; neverthe-
gg3 less, the excellence of their flesh and fatting quality is not doubted, and
their wool still remains of a superior staple. For the banks of the Tees,
or any other rich fat-land county, they may be singularly excellent. -
7124. The Dishley, or new Leicester breed {Jig. 883.), is distinguished
from other long-woolled breeds by their clean heads, straight, broad, flat
backs, round barrel-like bodies, very fine small bones, thin pelts, and
inclination to make fat at an early ag^jjifhis last property is most pro-
bably owing to the before-specified qualmes, and which, from long expe-
rience and observation, there is reason to believe extends through every
species of domestic animals. The Dishley breed is not only peculiar for
its mutton being fat, but also for the fineness ot the grain, and superior
flavour, above all other large long-woolled sheep, so as to fetch nearly as
good a price, in many markets, as the mutton of the small Highland and short- wfiolled breeds. The weight
of ewes, three or four years old, is from 18 to 26 lbs. a quarter, and of wethers, two years old, from 20 tff
301b. The wool, on an average, is from 6 to 8 lbs. a fleece. (CM//<?y, p. 10(1)
7125. The Devonshire Nots {fig- 884.) have white faces and legs, thick necks, narrow backs, and back-
bone high; the sides good, legs short, and the bones large; weight
much the same as the Leicesters; wool heavier, but coarser. In the
same county, there is a small breed of lon§,-w()olled sheep, known by the
name of the Exmocr sheep, from the pla*e where they are chiefly bred.
They are horned, with white faces ancUegs, and peculiarly delicate in
bone, neck, and head ; but the form of the carcass is not good, being
narrow and flat-sided. The weight of the quarters, and of the fleece,
about two thirds that of the former variety.
1
7126. The shorter-woolled varieties, and such as, from their
size and form, seem well suited to hilly and inferior pastures,
are also numerous. Generally speaking, they are too rest-
less for enclosed arable land, on the one hand; and not
sufficiently hardy for heathy mountainous districts, on the
other. To this class belong the breeds of Dorset, Hereford, Sussex, Norfolk, and
Cheviot.
Book VII.
VARIETIES OF SHEEP.
1051
7127. The Dorsetshire sheep {fig. 885.) are mostly horned, white faced, stand upon high small white
legs, and are long and thin in the carcass. The wethers, three
years and a half old, weigh from 16 to 20 lbs. a quarter. The wool
IS fine and short, from 3 to 4 lbs. a fleece. The mutton is fine
grained and well flavoured. This breed has the peculiar property
of producing lambs at almost any period of the year, even so early
as September and October. They are particularly valued for sup-
plying London and other markets with house lamb, which is brought
to market by Christmas, or sooner if wanted, and after that a con-
stant and regular supply is kept up all the winter.
7128. The Wiltshire sheep are a variety of this breed, which, by
attention to size, have got considerably more weight ; viz. from 20
to 28 lbs. a quarter. These, in general, have no wool upon their
bellies, which gives them a very uncouth appearance. The varia-
tions of this breed are spread through many of the southern coun-
ties, as well as many in the west, viz. Gloucestershire, Worcester-
shire, Herefordshire, &c. ; though some of them are very different from the Dorsetshire, yet they are,
CuUey apprehends, only variations of this breed, by crossing with different tups ; and^ which variations
contiime northward until they are lost amongst those of the Lincolnshire breeds. [Cvlley, p. 131.)
7129. The Herefordshire breed {fig. 8S6.) is known by the want of horns, and their having white legs
and faces, the wool growing close to their eyes. The carcass is tolerably
well formed, weighing from 10 to 18 lbs. a quarter, and bearing very fine
short wool, from 1^ to 2^ lbs. a fleece : the mutton is excellent. The store
or keeping sheep of this breed are put into cots at night, winter and sum-
mer, and in winter foddered in racks with peas-straw, barley-straw, &c.,
and in very bad weather with hay. These cots are low buildings, quite
covered over, and made to contain from one to five hundred sheep, ac-
cording to the size of the farm or flock kept. The true Herefordshire
breed are frequently called Ryeland sheep, from the land formerly being
thought capable of producing no better grain than rye; but which now
yields every kind of grain. A cross between this breed and the merinos
was extensively cultivated by the late Dr. Parry, of Bath, an eminent
wool-grower, and promoter of agricultural improvement.
7130. The South Down sheep {fig. 887.) are without horns : they have dark or black-grey faces and legs,
fine bones, long small necks; are low before, high on the shoulder, and
light in the fore quarter; the sides are good, and the loin tolerably broad,
back-bone too high, the thigh full, and twist good. The fleece is very short
and fine, weighing from gj to 3 lbs. The average weight of two years old
wethers is about 18 lbs. per quarter, the mutton fine in the grain, and of
an excellent flavour. These sheep have been brought to a high state of
improvement by Elman, of Glynd, and other intelligent breeders. They
prevail in Sussex, on very dry chalky downs, producing short fine herbage.
7131. In the Norfolk sheep the face is black, horns large and spiral ; the
carcass is very small, long, thin, and weak, with narrow chines, weighing
from 16 to 20 lbs. per quarter; and they have very long dark or grey legs,
and large bones. The wool is short and fine, from If to 2 lbs. per fleece.
This race have a voracious appetite, and a restless and unquiet disposition, which makes it difficult to
keep them in any other than the largest sheep-walks or commons. They prevail most in Norfolk and
Suffolk, and seem to have been retained chiefly for the purpose of folding. As fatteners, they are not
profitable ; but the mutton produced is inferior to none. A three or four year old Norfolk wcdder will
produce a haunch, which, if kept two or three weeks, will vie with that of any animal excepting a buck.
7132. The Cheviot breed are without horns, the head bare and clean, with jaws of a good length, laces
and legs white. The body is long, but the fore-quarters generally want depth in the breast, and breadth
both there and on the chine; though, in these respects, great improvement has been made of late. They
have fine, clean, small-boned legs, well covered with wool to the hough. The weight of the carcass,
when fat, is from 12 to 18 lbs. per quarter ; their fleece, which is of a medium length and fineness, weighs
about 3 lbs. on an average. Though these are the general characters of the pure Cheviot breed, many
have grey or dun spots on their faces and legs, especially on the borders of their native districts, where
they have intermixed with their black-faced neighbours. On the lower hills, at the extremity of the
Cheviot range, they have been frequently crossed with the Leicesters, of which several flocks, originally
Cheviot, have now a good deal both of the form and fleece. The best kind of these sheep are certainly
a very good mountain stock, where the pasture is mostly green sward, or contains a large portion of that
kind of herbage, which is the case of all the hills around Cheviot, where those sheep are bred. Large
flocks of them have been sent to the Highlands of Scotland, where they have succeeded so well as to
encourage the establishment of new colonies ; yet they are by no means so hardy as the heath or black-
faced kind, which they have, in many instances, supplanted.
7133. Of those races of sheep that range over the mountainous districts of Britain, tlie
most numerous, and the one probably best adapted to such situations, is the /jea^/r breed,
distinguished by their large spiral horns, black faces and legs, fierce wild-looking eyes,
and short, firm carcasses, covered with long, open, coarse shagged wool. Their weight
is from 10 to 16 lbs. a quarter, and they carry from 3 to 4 lbs. of wool each. They are
seldom fed until they are three, four, or five years old, when they fatten well, and give
excellent mutton, and highly flavoured gravy. Different vaiieties of these sheep are to
be found in all the western counties of England and Scotland, from Yorkshire north-
wards, and they want nothing but a fine fleece to render them the most valuable upland
sheep in Britain.
7134. The Herdwick sheep {fig. 886.) are peculiar to that rocky
mountainous district at the head of the Duddon and Esk rivers,
in the county of Cumberland. They are without horns, have
speckled faces and legs, wool short, weighing from 2 to 2^ lbs. per
sheep, which, though coarser than that of any of the other short.
wooUed breeds, is yet much finer than the wool of the heath sheep.
The mountains upon which the Herdwicks are bred, and also the
stock itself, have, time immemorial, been farmed out to herds,
and from this circumstance their name is derived.
7135. The dun-faced breed, said to have been imported into Scot-
land from Denmark or Norway at a very early period, still exists in
most of the counties to the north of the Frith of Forth, though only
in very small flocks. Of this ancient race there are now several
1052 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
varieties, produced by peculiarities of situation, and different' modes of raanagemcnt, and by occasional
intermixture with other breeds. We may, therefore, distinguish the sheep of the mainland of Scotland
from those of the Hebrides, and of the northern islands of Orkney and Zetland.
7136. The Hcbridean sheep is the smallest animal of its kind. It is of a thin, lank shape, and has usually
straight shorn horns. The face and legs are white, the tail very short, and the wool of various colours ;
sometimes of a bluish grey, brown, or deep russet, and sometimes all these colours meet in the fleece of one
animal. Where the pasture and management are favourable, the wool is very fine, resembling in softness
that of Shetland ; but, in other parts of the same islands, the wool is stunted and coarse, the animal sickly
and puny, and frequently carries four, or even six horns. The average weight of this poor breed, even
when fat, is only 5 or 5^ lbs. per quarter, or nearly about 20 lbs. per sheep. It is often much less, only
amounting to 15 or 16 lbs. ; and the price of the animal's carcass, skin and all, is from Ms. to 14s. Fat
wedders have been sold in the Long Island at 7*'. a head, and ewes at 5s. or Qs. The quantity of wool
which the fleece yields is equally contemptible with the weight of the carcass. It rarely exceeds one
pound weight, and is often short of even half that quantity. The quality of the wool is different on dif-
ferent parts of the body ; and inattention to separating the fine from the coarse, renders the cloth made
in the Hebrides very unequal and precarious in its texture. The average value of a fleece of this abori-
ginal Hebridean breed is from M. to 1*. sterling. From this account it is plain, that the breed in question
lias every chance of being speedily extirpated. {Macdonald's Report of the Hebrides, p. 447.)
7137. Of the Zetland sheep it would appear that there are two varieties, one of which is considered to
be the native race, and carries very fine wool ; but the number of these is much diminished, and in some
places they have been entirely supplanted by foreign breeds ; the other variety carries coarse wool above,
and soft fine wool below. They have three different successions of wool yearly, two of which resemble
long hair more than wool, and are termed by the common people/ors and scudda. When the wool begins
to loosen in the roots, which generally happens about the month of February, the hairs, or scudda, spring
up ; and when the wool is carefully plucked off, the tough hairs continue fast until the new wool grows up
about a quarter of an inch in length, then they gradually wear off; and when the new fleece has acquired
about two months' growth, the rough hairs, termed fors, spring up and keep root until the proper season
for pulling it arrives, when it is plucked off along with the wool, and separated from it, at dressing the
fleece, by an operation called forsing. The scudda remains upon the skin of the animal as if it were a thick
coat, a fence against the inclemency of the seasons, which provident nature has furnished for supplying
the want of the fleece. The wool is of various colours ; the silver grey is thought to be the finest, but the
black, the white, the mourat, or brown, is very little inferior, though the pure wliite is certainly the most
valuable for all the finer purposes in which combing wool can be used. {Sir John Sinclair on the different
Breeds of Sheep, Sfc. Appendix, No. 4. Account of the Shetland Sheep, by Thomas Johnston, p. 79.) In
the northern part of Knicardineshire, as well as in most other of the northern counties, there is still a
remnant of this ancient race, distinguished by the yellow colour of the face and legs, and by the dishevelled
texture of the fleece, which consists in part of coarse, and in part of remarkably fine wool. Their average
weight in that county is from seven to nine pounds a quarter, and the mutton is remarkably delicate and
highly flavoured. {^Kincardineshire Report, p. 385. Sup. E. Brit. art. Agr. 176.) The Highland Society
of Scotland have offered premiums for the improvement of this breed, and some experiments are now in
progress. See vol. vi. of their Transactiofis ; and for a particular account of the breed itself, and its
management, see Shirreff 's Survey of Orkney and Shetland.
7138. The Spanish, or Merino breed, bears the finest wool of the sheep species; the
889 males (Jig. 889.) usually have horns
of a middle size, but the females
(Jig. 890.) are frequently without
horns ; the faces and legs are white,
the legs rather long, but the bones
fine. The average weight per quar-
ter of a tolerably fat ram is about
seventeen pounds, and that of ewes
about eleven pounds.
7139. The shape of this race is far from being perfect, according to the ideas of English breeders, with
whom symmetry of proportion constitutes a principal criterion of excellence. The throatiness, or pen-
dulous skin beneath the throat, which is usually accompanied with a sinking or hollow in the neck, pre-
sents a most offensive appearance, though it is much esteemed in Spain, as denoting both a tendency to
fine wool, and a heavy fleece. Yet the Spanish sheep are level on the back, and behind the shoulders ;
and Lord Somerville has proved that there is no reason to conclude that deformity in shape is, in any
degree, necessary to the production of fine wool. . .
7140. Thefleece of the Merino sheep weighs, upon an average, from tliree to five pounds ; in colour, it is
unlike that of any English breed : tnere is on the surface of the best Spanish fleeces a dark brown tuige,
approaching almost to a black, which is formed by dust adhering to the greasy properties of its pile ; and
the contrast between this tinge and the rich white colour below, as well as that rosy hue of the skin whicli
denote* high proof, at first sight excites much surprise. The harder the fleece is, the more it resists any
external pressure of the hand, the more close and fine will be the wool: here and there, indeed, a fine
pile may be found in an open fleece, though this occurs but rarely. Nothing, however, has tended to
render the Merino sheep more unsightly to the English eye than the large tuft of wool which covers the
head : it is of a very inferior quality, and classes with what is produced on the hind legs ; on which
account it does not sort with any of the three qualities, viz. rafinos, or prime ; finos, or second best ; and
tercenos, the inferior sort ; and, consequently, is never exported from Spain.
7141. Merinos were first brought into England in 1788, but did not excite much interest before his
Majesty's sales, which began in 1804 : the desirable object of spreading them widely over the country, and
subjecting them to the experiments of the most eminent professional breeders, has been greatly promoted
by the institution of the Merino Society in 1811, to which belonged some of the greatest landholders, and
the most eminent breeders in the kingdom. For some years past, this breed has been on the decline.
{Sup. E. Brit, art Agr) A considerable importation was made by Colonel Downic, of Paisley, which
distributed the breed throughout different parts of Scotland. See the Renfreivshirc Survey. It is not
understood that they have answered the expectations that were once formed of them; and 1 am not aware
that there are any flocks in the possession of rent-paving farmers. The only successful experiment in
Scotland seems to have been that of the late Mr. Malcolm Laing, in the Orkney Islands ; and it is not the
pure race, but crosses into other breeds. See the General Report of Scotland, vol. iii.
Sect. II. Criteria of Properties in Sheep.
7142. The criteria of an excellent ram, as given by CuUey, combines qualities which ought to be found
in every breed of slieep cultivated for its flesh and wool. His head should be fine and small ; his nostrils
wide and expanded ; his eyes prominent, and rather bold or daring; ears thin ; his collar full from hisbrea.st
and shoulders, but tapering gradually all the way to where the neck and head join, which should be very
Book VII. BREEDING OF SHEEP. 1053
fine and graceful, being perfectly free from any coarse leather hanging down ; the shoulders broad and
full, which must, at the same time, join so easy to the collar forward and chine backward as to leave not
the least hollow in either place ; the mutton upon his arm or fore-thigh must come quite to the knee ;
his legs upright, with a clean fine bone, being equally clear from superfluous skin and coarse hairy wool,
from the knee and hough downwards ; the breast broad and well formed, which will keep his fore-legs at
a proper wideness ; his girth or chest full and deep, and instead of a hollow behind the shovilders, that
part, by some called the fore-flank, should be quite full ; the back and loins broad, flat, and straight,
from which the ribs must rise with a fine circular arch ; his belly straight, the quarters long and full,
with the mutton quite down to the hough, which should neither stand in nor out ; his twist, or junction-
al the inside of the thighs, deep, wide, and full, which, with the broad breast, will k«ep his four legs open
and upright ; the whole body covered with a thin pelt, and that with fine, bright, soft wool.
7143. The criteria of a sound healthy sheep are, a rather wild or lively briskness ; a brilliant clearness
in the eye ; a florid ruddy colour on the inside of the eyehds, and what are termed the eyestrings, as well
as in the gums ; a fastness in the teeth ; a sweet fragrance in the breath ; a dryness of the nose and eyes ;
breathing easy and regular ; a coolness in the feet ; dung properly formed ; coat or fleece firmly attached
to the skin, and unbroken ; the skin exhibiting a florid red appearance, especially upon the brisket. Where
there are discharges from the nose and eyes, it indicates their having taken cold, and should be attended
to by putting them in dry sheltered situations. This is a necessary precaution also in bringing them
from one situation to another while on the road.
7144. The criteria of the a^e of sheep is the state of their teeth ; by their having, in their second year,
two broad teeth ; in their third year, four broad teeth ; in their fourth year, six broad teeth ; and in their
fifth year, eight broad teeth before. After which, none can tell how old a sheep is while their teeth remain,
except by their being worn down. Abouttheendof oneyear, rams, wethers, and all young sheep, lose the
two fore-teeth of the lower jaw; and they are known to want the incisive teeth in the upper jaw. At
eighteen months, the two teeth joining to the former also fall out ; and at three years, being all replaced,
they are even and pretty white. But as these animals advance in age, the teeth become loose, blunt, and
afterwards black. The age of all horned sheep may also be known by their horns, which show themselves
in their very first year, and often at the birth, and continue to grow a ring annually to the last period of
their lives.
7145. The different ages and conditions of sheep have different names in different districts. After being
weaned, the ram, or wedder lamb, is sometimes termed hog, hoggit, or tag, during the whole of the first
year; and the female lamb, an ewe, or gimmer lamb, and ewe tag. The second year the wedder has
the title of shear hog, or a two-toothed tag ; and the ewe is called a thaive, or two-toothed ewe. In the
third year, a shear hog, or four-toothed wedder ; and a four-toothed ewe or thaive. The fourth year, a
six-toothed wedder, or ewe ; and in some places, from the time of lambing till that of salving, the males
are called tup-lambs ; and from that period, till the time of shearing, tup-hogs, and ever afterwards,
tups : the females in the same order being termed, ewe-lambs, ewe-hogs, gimmers, young ewes, old
ewes. The gelded male lambs, castrated wedder lambs, wedder hogs, dummonds, wedders. Crones
also signify old ewes; and there are several other provincial names, which are explained in their
proper places.
Sect. III. Breeding of Sheep.
7146. In the breeding of sheep a greater degree of perfection has been attained than in
any other live stock ; and in this branch, in particular, the breeders of England stand
higher than those of any other country.
7147. Bakewell, by careful selection during several generations, raised his stock to a state of excellence,
in regard to fattening at an early age with a moderate consumption of food, and with the smallest pro-
portion of oftal, which has been with difficulty equalled, certainly has not been exceeded, by the most
skilful of his successors. It is a striking instance of the division of labour and skill, that there are breeders
who devote themselves entirely to the breeding of rams for the purpose of letting out on hire. This prac-
tice originated in Lincolnshire, where, in the early part of the last century, rams were let out at from
10s. to 20.V. each ; but so great has been the improvement since that period, that they are now let out to
common graziers at from 1 to 10 guineas, and to breeders of rams at from 20/. to 200 guineas. The breed-
ing rams are shown for hire at certain times and places during the summer, where every one may select
such as promise to maintain or improve the particular state of his flock, and at such prices as his means
and experience may justify. Two or more individuals frequently join together in the hire of one ram, to
which they put the best of their ewes, for the purpose of obtaining superior males for the future service of
the rest of their flocks; and in particular cases, when the owner of the ram does not choose to part with
him, even for a season, ewes are sent to him to be covered at a certain price per head ; superior animals
ofthis class being very seldom sold altogether. Much as this mode of doing business has been repro-
bated as a monopoly, and much as there sometimes may be of deception in making up rams for these
shows, all intelligent practical men must agree, that there can be no better method of remunerating emi-
nent breeders, and of spreading their improvements most widely, in the shortest period, and at the least
possible expense, A single ram thus communicates its valuable properties to a number of flocks,
often in distant parts of the country, without distracting the attention of ordinary breeders from their
other pursuits.
7148. The two methods of breeding common to all animals are also adopted in breeding sheep. Breeding
from different families of the same race, commonly called breeding in and in; and breeding from different
races, generally called cross breeding. Bakewell, according to Sir J. Sebright {On improving the Breeds
of domestic Animals, S;c.), effected his improvements by breeding from the same family ; but according to
Hunt, who has written an able answer to Sir J. Sebright's pamphlet {A Letter, ^c. to Sir J. Sebright, Sfc),
he bred from different relationships of the same family ; it being out of his power to breed from different
families of a race which he was at the time employed in forming, and cross breeding he did not approve
of. Breeding in and in is so repugnant to human feeling, that it is difficult to avoid considering "it an
unnatural practice ; for it does not follow that a flock of sheep in a wild state must necessarily breed in
the nearest relationships, as father and daughter, &c. ; on the contrary, it is more probable that remoter
relationships would be chiefly bred from, as these must necessarily be'much more numerous. In a flock
of sheep, or a herd of savage men, springing each from one pair, every parent must necessarily have many
more cousins, and cousins many times removed, than he can have mothers or daughters.
7149. Breeding from different families of the same race is the more general and approved practice.
When a number of families of any breed have been for some time established in a variety of situations,
and have had some shght shades of difference impressed upon them, by the influence of dift'erent soils and
treatment, it is found advantageous to interchange the males, for the purpose of strengthening the excel-
lencies, or remedying the defects of each family. Of this advantage Bakewell could not avail himself;
but it has been very generally attended to by his successors. Culley, for many years, continued to hire
his rams from Bakewell, at the very time that other breeders were paying a liberal price for the use of
his own ; and the very same practice is followed by the most skilful breeders at present. In large con-
cerns, two or more streams of blood may be kept distinct for several generations, and occasionally inter-
mixed with the happiest effects, by a judicious breeder, without having recourse to other flocks. {Sup.
E. Brit. art. Agr. Yll.)
1054 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
7150. In breeding from two distinct races, the object is to acquire new properties or remove defects.
The mode of effecting this by cross breeding is atten<led with greater difficulties than in breeding from
the same race. The very distinction of breeds implies a considerable difference among animals in several
respects; and although the desirable property be obtained, it may be accompanied by such others as are
by no means advantageous to a race, destined to occupy a situation which had excluded that property
from one of its parents. To cross any mountain breed with Leicester rams, for example, with a view to
obtain a propensity to fatten at an early age, would be attended with an enlargement of size, which the
mountain pasture could not support; and the progeny would be a mongrel race, not suited to the pastures
of either of the present breeds. If the object be to obtain an enlargement of size, as well as a propensity
to fatten, as is the case when Cheviot ewes are crossed with Leicester rams, the progeny will not prosper
on the hilly pastures of their dams, and will be equally unprofitable on the better pastures of their sires.
But the offspring of this cross succeeds well on those intermediate situations on the skirts of the Cheviot
hills, where, though the summer pasture is not rich, there is a portion of lowland for producing clover
and turnips. (Supp. Encyc. Brit, art Agr. S^c.)
7151. As general rules in crossing breeds, it is to be noticed that in every case where the enlargement of
the carcass is the object, the cross breed must be better fed than its smaller parent. The size of the pa-
rents should also be but little disproportioned at first ; and when some increase has been produced, one or
more crosses afterwards may raise the breed to the required size. With tliese precautions, there is little
reason to fear disappointment, provided both parents are well formed. {General Report of Scotland,
vol iii. p. 14. 18.)
7152. The most advantageous and proper age for ewes taking the ram in the different breeds has not
been fully shown ; but from a year to a year and a half old may be sufficient, according to the forward-
ness of the breed and the goodness of the keep. Some judge of this by the production of broad or sheep's
teeth. It should not be done while too young in any case. Ewes commonly bring their first lamb when
two years old ; in the hilly and mountainous districts of Scotland commonly not for a year after. Of
course, they are usually eighteen or nineteen months old when they take the ram, throughout all the
lowland districts.
7153. In regard to the season of putting the rams to the ewes, it must be directed by the period at which
the fall of the lambs may be most desirable, which must depend on the nature of the keep which the par-
ticular situation affords ; but the most usual time is about the beginning of October ; except in the Dor-
setshire ewes, where the intention is suckling for house-lamb, in which case it should be much earlier,
in order that the lambs may be sufficiently forward. But, by being kept very well, any of the breeds will
take the ram at a much earlier period. Where the rams are young, the number of ewes should seldom
exceed sixty for each ram ; but in older rams a greater number may be admitted without inconvenience,
as from one to two hundred; but letting them have too many should be cautiously avoided, as by such
means the fanner may sustain great loss in the number of the lambs.
7154. JVith respect to the period of gestation, the ewe goes with lamb about the space of five months,
consequently the most common lambing season is March, or the early part of April ; but " it has been
observed that in many of the more southern districts, where sheep-husbandry is carried on to a consi-
derable exte:it, some parts of the ewe-stock are put to the rams at much earlier periods, so as to lamb a
month or six weeks sooner ; a practice which is attended with much profit and advantage in many
situations where early grass-lamb is in great demand. It is usual for the rams to remain with the
ewes for a month or six weeks, and in some cases longer, in order to complete the business of im-
pregnation, which in some districts is ascertained by smearing the fore-bows of the rams with some
colouring substance."
7155. The practice of turning a number of rams a7nong the flocks formerly adopted is highly exception,
able, as tending to prevent the main object and injure the rams. A better way is to let each ram have a
proper number of ewes, and with very choice stock to keep the ram in an enclosed small pasture, turning
a few ewes to him, and as they are served replacing them with others. By this means there is more cer-
tainty, and more ewes may be impregnated. In such sort of fine stock, it is likewise of great utility to
keep the rams during this season in a high manner. In this view a little oats in the straw, or a mixture
of barley and pea meal, are excellent. Where ewes are backward in taking the ram, the best means to be
employed are those of good stimulating keep. The rams should always be continued with the ewes a
sufficient length of time.
7156. The ewe will breed twice a year, if it be made a point to produce such an effect by attention and
high keep; since she will receive the male indifferently at any season, and, like the rabbit, very soon after
bringing forth. Lisle gives an instance of thi-ee of his ewes, well kept, lambing at Christmas, fattening
off their lambs at Lady-day, and producing lambs again the first week in June. It seems they stole the
ram immediately after lambing, but brought the second time only single lambs, although of a breed that
generally produces twins. There is no doubt but the sheep would produce young: thrice a year were the
bad practice resorted to, which has been so currently recommended with the rabbit, of allowing the male
immediately after parturition ; the ready way to render both the female and her progeny worthless.
Could the lambs be advantageously weaned at two months, sufficient time would, ho conceives, remain
for the ewe to bring forth twice within the year. For example, suppose the young ewe tupped in August,
the lamb would be dropped in the middle of January, ani might be weaned in mid March, the ewe again
receiving the ram on the turn of the milk, like the sow, perhaps in or before April, she would th«i bring
forth within the twelve months or in August. This plan would, continues Lisle, at least injure the dam
infinitely less than suckling during gestation.
7157. When ewes are in lamb they should be kept in the pastures, and as free from disturbance as possible,
being carefully attended to in order to prevent accidents which are liable to take place at this time, such
as those of their being cast in the furrows, &c. Where any of the ewes slip their lambs, it is advised by
Banister that they should be immediately removed from the flock. They also require, under these cir-
cumstances, to be kept as well as the nature of the farm will admit, in order that there maybe less loss at
lambing-time from the ewes being stronger, and the lambs more healthy and better capable of contending
with the state of the season at which they may be dropped. The shepherd should at this period be parti-
cularly careful and attentive to afford his assistance where it may be necessary. He should constantly
have regard to the suckling of the lambs, and to see that the udders of the ewes are not diseased. His
attendance will often be required in the night as well as the day. At this season covered sheep-folds are
often of very great advantage in saving and protecting both ewes and their lambs.
7158. In respect to the number of lambs at a birth it is remarked by Lawrence, that the ewe brings most
commonly one, next in degree of frequency two, rarely from three to five lambs at a birth. This property
of double birth is, he says, in some instances specific ; the Dorset sheep usually yeaning twins, and the
large polled Belgic sheep, with their descendants our Teeswater, doing the same, and producing occasionally
more at a birth. Other breeds bring twins in the proportion of one third of the flock, which is supposed
to depend considerably on good keep. A certain number of ewes per centum prove barren annually : the
cause ve'ry rarely natural defect ; sometimes over-fatness, a morbid state of body from poverty or neglect
of the ram ; in other words, want of system in the shepherd.
7159. The keep of sheep after lambing, where rich pastures or other kinds of grass lands cannot be
reserved, should consist of turnips or other kinds of green food provided for the puqiose, and given them
in a suitable manner; but where it can be done, it is always better to leave this sort of food untouched till
about the period of lambing, when it should be regularly supplied in proportion to the necessity there may
be for it. The ewes also demand at this time much care to see that they are put upon a dry sheltered
pasture, free from disturbance, and that neither they nor their lambs, sustain injury from the too great
Book VIL REARING OF SHEEP. 1055
severity of the season. Whenever this is the case, they should be carefYilIy removed into a proper degree
of warmth and shelter till perfectly restored. It is likewise a necessary as well as useful practice, as they
lamb down, to take them and their lambs away from the common stock, putting them into a piece of
turnips or fresh dry pasture where there is shelter when necessary, as by this means much fewer lambs
would be lost than would otherwise be the case. It is also found, that by a proper supply of turnips or
other similar green food at this period, the milk of the ewes is much increased, and the growth of the
lambs greatly promoted ; which is of much future importance, as when they are stinted at this early
period of their existence, they never turn out so well afterwards for the farmer. With the green and
root crops and preserved after-grass, hay, straw, corn, and oil-cake are in som ? cases made use of in the
winter support of sheep stock. With turnips, where the soil is not sufficiently dry to admit the sheep, it
is the practice to draw them and convey them to a sound firm pasture, that the ewes may be baited upon
them once or twice in the day as there may be occasion, care being taken that they are eaten up clean, as
the circumstance of their being thus eaten may serve as a guide to the farmer for the supply that may be
daily necessary. In this way this sort of food will be consumed with the greatest economy. Where the
land is perfectly dry, and the intention is to manure it for a grain crop, eating the turnips on the land, by
means of iwrtions hurdled off as wanted, is a good practice. With this sort of food, especially where it
produces scouring in the ewes, green rouen hay, cut straw, or peas haulm should constantly be given, and
also with rape, &c.
7160. The castrating lambs may be performed any time from the age of a fortnight or three weeks to
that of a month or six weeks, and in some districts it is deferred to a considerably later period. It is,
however, the safest method to have it executed early, as there is less danger of too much inflammation
taking place. But in all cases the lambs should be in a healthy state when it is done, as under any other •
circumstances they are liable to be destroyed by it. The operation is usually performed by the shepherd,
by opening the scrotum or cod and drawing out the testicles with the spermatic cord. This he often docs
with his teeth in the young state of the animal ; but where the operation is performed at a later period,
it is usual to have recourse to the knife, the arteries being taken up and secured by means of ligatures, or
the searing iron. The business, if possible, should be done in fine weather, when not too warm, and the
gelded lambs be kept in a dry, sheltered, quiet situation for a few days, until the inflammation is gone off.
If it should happen to be wet at the time, it may be advisable to have them under some sort of shelter
where they can have room to move freely about.
7161. The weaning of lambs should be effected when they are three or four months old, as about July;
but it is done more early in some districts than in others. A proper reserve of some fresh pasture grass,
where there may be a good bite for the lambs to feed upon, should be had recourse to, as it is of much
consequence that an ample provision of this sort be had, in order that the growth of this young stock may
not sufler any check on being taken from the mother. Where they have been continued so long as to
graze with the dams, little check will be sustained in their separation if turned upon such good feed.
Some advise clover in blossom as the most forcing sort of food in this intention, and with others sarntfoin
rouen is highly valued for the same purpose. When good feed is not provided of some of these kinds, the
lambs soon decline in flesh, or, in the technical language of the flock, are said to pitch ; and when once
this happens they never afterwards thrive so well, however good the management may be. With regard
to the ewes, they should be removed to such distant pastures or other places as that they may not be heard
by the lambs, which would cause them to be disturbed in their feeding; and where the ewes sustain any
inconvenience from their milk, as by their udders swelling, it should be drawn once or twice, as by this
means bad consequences may be prevented : and as soon as the lambs have been removed, the ewes are
returned upon the pastures destined for their summer support. There is, however, one caution to be
attended to in first turning the lambs upon rich keep, which is that of letting them be in some degree
satisfied with food previously, that they may not be surfeited by too quick and full feeding, and heave or
hove as it is termed; keeping them gently moving about the field has also been advised in this intention.
In some places, where the lands are of the more poor kind, it is a custom to send the lambs to the more
rich vale or marsh districts, to be brought forward in condition or fattened. In those cases where the
lands of the male kind are reared on the home lands as wethers, they are usually restored to the flock in
the latter end of the year, but which is not by any means a good practice, as they often suffer for want of
proper keep in the winter, and lose what they had previously gained in growth and condition. A practice
the reverse of this has long been in use among the store-masters of Scotland. They send their lambs, as
soon as weaned, to some rough coarse pasture, often at a distance of several miles, where they remain for
six or eight weeks. The opinion is, that this renders them more hardy. Some grounds are occupied
chiefly for this purpose, being kept for summering lambs, as it is called, the owner of the lamb paying a
penny or three halfpence a week for each. The practice, it is believed, is not now so common as it has
been.
Sect. IV. Rearing and general Management of Sheep.
7162. In the practice of sheep husbandry different systems are had recourse to, according
to the extent and nature of the farms on which they are kept, and the methods of farming
that are adopted on them ; but under all circumstances the best sheep-masters constantly
endeavour to preserve them in as good condition as possible at all seasons.
7163. With the pasture kinds of sheep this is particularly the case; and with the view of accomplishing
it in the most complete manner, it is useful to divide them into different parcels or lots in respect to their
ages and sorts, as by that practice they may be kept with greater convenience and benefit than in large
flocks together under a mixture of different kinds ; as in this way there is not only less waste of food, but
the animals thrive better, and the pastures are fed with much more ease. The advantage of this manage-
ment has been fully experienced in many of the northern districts, where they usually divide the sheep
stock into lambs, yearlings, wethers, and breeding ewes : and in this method it appears not improbable
that a much larger proportion of stock maybe kept, and the sheep be preserved in a more healthy condition.
With a breeding stock the sheep-master must act according to his circumstances, situation, and capital
which he possesses, either selling the lambs to go to keep, fattening them for grass lamb, suckling them for
house lamb, or keeping them on to be grazed and sold as store or fat wethers; the ewes being sold lean or
in store condition, or fattened, as circumstances, profit, and convenience may point out.
7164. Another practice, but which requires much capital as well as knowledge, experience, and atten-
tion, is that of breeding and fattening off all lambs, both wethers and ewes, especially where markets for
their sale when fat are conveniently situated ; or this system may be partially acted upon, varying the
plan according to capital, circumstances, and the nature of the times. In which case, whenever store
stock become extravagantly high, it is mostly a good way to sell.
7165. The sheep farming of the arable or low warm districts of the kingdom conse-
quently differs in various particvilars from that of the hilly and mountainous districts ;
we shall, therefore, first give a general view of the sheep management of arable lands,
and next of mountainous districts.
1056
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
SuBSECT. 1. Healing arid Mm'ingeffikn't of Sheep mi'f^dfi gf-ass hhd arable Lands.
7166. The most general sheep husbandrij on rich laiuls, or where turnips and other
grcen^'^c^^ik^Jdr^ld' f(ST^ "^^fftl^ cBi^^llftSpticfti, is to cambiue tlic breeding and feeding
branulits, leaning to each according to the returns of profit.
7^<>J-:..^: m'lihods[e4iyMm?VQ?t-ftvipm,(V)ablfi.Jar:iii^ii;hf^^ \f. ^^tewle4 H.-ith,tl3e least troyble and
Q^5WStl,^tJljatta|;,DBf^ft^ g f6^^flqcfei«ag lancil^fiUi^Hei-s qnU what;^re<t^vwMiQ?Q»ies, opqULewes ;
some ot the last sort often proving with lamb, may be fattened off with them to good account. It is like-
wise often the case that ewes are •^ijpojedjOt'iiiJiynb, o^i^h lambs by their sides, in what are termed
couples, in which circumstaRcei~IFis frequfeiftlyT good p?Mice to make aninial purchases of them, in
order to the fattening of botp, and selling theii in that stat^mthin the year, fn the purchasing of sheep,
which is often done from very distant fairs and markets, ^jch care and circumspection is necessary,
wliatever the sort or intention with which Ifhey are boug^^nay be. In these cases much advantage,
especially when at a considejrable distance, may be dtjrived hyjemploying a salesman on the spot.
7168. The ti-eatmerk of the lambs\h the first le&nsideration in the mixed sheep hus-
bandry. 0
7169. Lambs ai-e either sm Ued or fattened '^iffYass, or so^ in autumn as lean stock. With regard to
those that have been suckle I or fattened in the house, imurh attention is required to have them early, to
jnd^cryrieanly kopt .nid .^uckled, as well as to the ewes being of the right
rovidefl, and to their being fuJ.IysuppHeU with food of the most
Tiieir tails and udders should have the v/ool well clipped away from
servc^l in a i)ert'ei'tly cltuiii state. The^ lambs also require, especially
tt) have re^nilar suii])Ues of barley, wlieat, and peas-meal,, ground
le green roiKiu hay. When these have been sokt off, the lambs which
will be ready to Succeed them at the market>, in the spring knd
Je.tbUowcti by the sale of the store lambs, at the different autumnal fairs.
mb-stock is the first brtsiness of sheep^riiiamifge-
Ikers tl
ucculent kinds
at they ma|
; of their f;
i nation with
ed on the be;
andiliese w
selection
ment afCW*he4ambs h
7171. It is generally perforfned in the month of July or August, at which period the fairs for the sale of
l^p^ iJjq^MK t^^ pJa^^ri^JM^flf^ffiSW' ftJȤ{J^.e,wJ>s>lo,ar^, collected together for drawing into.different
lots,,il,,is,^.v,^-^ suita^e pf5i/^4,5i^,,seTpqtipg,eiivh,oosi»ig those that atf!,to supply such deficiencies in the
breeding flocks. li» Iios Calcudfir of/Uushandry, Yomjg has remarked, that iu making thiii selection tie
farmer or hi» slieplierd u.sually (whatever the breed may be) rejects aU that manifest any departure from
i.ei;t:'.iu tit^n^s uf tlje true breed : thus, in a Norfolk flock, a white leg, aud.a face not of a hue sutticiently
dark, would be excludv'tlj liowever well ftained; in the .s^me manner a white face on the South Downs ;
Jlij Wiltsiure, a black face would be an exclusion,, or a horu, that does not fall back j in Dorsetshire, a horn
♦^] at I U.e^Oiul project, &c.
^ , jyi'T. TJie selection of the grown .sfot:^- generally takes place after the lambs are weaned,
y§rj i;\t alj ex eats, before tupping season, tboagh wetliers may be drawn out of the flock
at any time. A certain number of old ewes or crones are removed every year, and these
'?lfd*'^ii2tfet^?ii'Vv#h(e|S;ai:e fed pit' foj; the, butcher, either cwv grass, artificial herbage, or
.Tootsj. acGordiiig to tlie situation and circmiistances of the faa-ni, and season of the y^jar.
71 7 '.. The shearinu: if sJierp is an ammal operation, which includes several preparatory
measure's and after-pvocesse s. Tliese are, washing} separatiwi, catching, clippings Hiark-
4JJg5famlrt%ilo|!Wtting. K) ,/iiu-/: i-. /...,, i"
noWJik: Thn^^rdper time for cUpplng or shearing sliccp miist be directeti-byt tbe sfa^e (»fth.e.w«athet and
l\he cliijiate in the particular district, as by this means the daager of injury by cold from^depriving the
.sheep of their coats at too ear>y a season, and from heat by permitting them to continue on them too
'long, may l>e avoided in the best manner : but ahother circumstance that should likewise be attended to
in this business, is that of the wool being fully grown or at the state of maturity ; as where the clipping
precedes tliat period, it is said in the Annals of Agriculture to be weak and scarcely capable of being spun,
ancl if protracted later, it is yellow, felted, and of an imperfect nature. It has been stated, that for the
more warm sheltered situations in the southern parts of the kingdom, the beginning or middle of June,
^jvheutho weather is line, may be in general the most proper ; but in the more exposed districts in the
northern parts of the island, "the middle or latter end of the same month may bd more suitable, provided
''fiieS(?ason be favourable. But witli the fattening sho<eji in tlie enclosures, it will mostly be necessary to
lieifbim- iJie WOfk »t amebrfiet p?rtcfliiO ^yery^itu§t:i#n4j^9 ttif gj;eat increase of heat from the setting
in of tne summer weather, added to the warmth t)f the fleece, becomes very oppressive and injuri()us to
them in their feeding. There never can be any difficulty in ascettaininj^ the proper time for shearing,
;tap^te«>fibeJ4eparation Qf the old wool from the new ia alway»> distinctly marked ip a thriving sheep ; and
j^yMsJnttlfenfreariier or later according to the age and conditicju of the aniiual. Hence, fromthe beuinning
9«BM^JIpOPi«irli€r, till the first week of July, shearing goes oiiiu different districts ; bcginninj< with the
''fet Leicester wedders, and ending witli the gnuill nursing ewes of the Highland districts. From the middle
;J«f May to the middle of June is the busiest period.
0^7175. Sheep-shearing in liomney Marsh commences about midsijramer, and finishes about the middle
"ofJulv. Those who shear first tliink they escape the eifects of the fly, and those that shear late appre-
jfaend they gain half a pound weight in every fleece, by the increased ; i^erspiration of the sheep. In parly
shearing, the.wool lias not the condition which it afterwards acquires ; but the hot weatliier occasifllns a
good deal of tl'ouble in detecting the fly The lambs tli at are sold in bmithfield !i|narket aiJe, we bejieve,
iseklom or ever shoro. All over the north of England, and throughout Scotland^ lambs arp never shorn,
a'hey lose their first fleece. when about fifteen months old. i if
''^ ■ 7176. Clipping off the coarse soiled loooZ^ about the thighs and docks, some weeks before
the usual time of washing and clipping the sheep, is an excellent practice ; as by this
means the sheep ai-e kept clean and cool when the season is hot, and with ewes the uddprs
:afe prevented tVom becoming sore.
,' 7177. In separating for the piirjyosc of xoa siting, the flock is brought to the side of the
washing-pool, and there lambs and sheep of different kinds, fit to be washed, are put into
separate fit4ii^ ; alid sudi lambs as are too young to be clijiped are not washed, but con-
fined lii a foliforeiTcltisilfe of aiiy kirid, at stitli a distance fr'om'the.wji^hjogil^la^i^.gsj^^
they may not disturb their mothers by tljcir bleating. The object of washing is simply
Book VI L
MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP.
1057
to free the fleece from dust and dirt of various kinds. In Devonshire and Spain, the
short-woolled sheep are not washed.
7178. In performing the operation of washing, it Was formerly the method, and it still exists in the north,
to have the washers standing up to the breast in the water; but from the inconvenience and danger of it,
the men requiring a large supply of spirituous liquors, and being liable to be attacked with colds, rheu-
matisms, and other diseases, as well as being apt to despatch the work with too much expedition, so as to
leave the wool insufficiently clean, it has been proposed by Young, in his Calendar, to rail offa portion
of the water in a stream or pond f^fig. 891.)> for the sheep to walk into by a sloping mouth at one end (a).
and to walk out bv another at the other end (ft), with a depth sufficient at one part for them to swim;
and to pave the whole : the breadth need not be more than six or seven feet. At one spot on each side
of this passage, wiiere the depth is just sufficient for the water to flow over the sheep's back, a cask or
box (c), water tight, should be fixed, for a man to stand in dry ; the sheep being in the water between
them, they wash in perfection, and pushing them on, they swim through the deep part, and walk out at
the other mouth, where a clean pen (rf), or a very clean dry pasture, is ready to receive them ; of course
there is a bridge railway to the tubs, and a pen at the first mouth of the water (e), whence the sheep are
turned into it, where they may be soaking for a few minutes before being driven to the washers. But
other more cheap contrivances maybe provided, where there is clean water at hand for the purposes.
7179. After sheep are washed, they should on no account be driven on dry or dusty roads; but should
have a clean hard pasture for a few days, until they are perfectly dry and in a proper condition to be
shorn.
7 1 80. The common method of catching the sheep, iti order to lay it on it on its back to be
shorn, is by the hinder leg, drawing the animal backward with a crook (Jig. 892. a, 6, c)
to the adjacent shearing place ; the hand holding the leg to be
kept low, when at the place it is turned on its back ; or they are
moved bodily, or one hand placed on the neck, and another be-
hind, and in that manner walked along : the first or common
mode he thinks the most safe. Sheep fed on rich pastures, and
fleshy, if handled hard and bruised, the parts are liable to fatal
mortifications ; an accident which often happens, on which ac-
counts pens upon some lands are obliged to be lined with woollen,
or many would die from bruises.
7181. In performing the operation of shearing, the left side of
the sheep is placed against the shearer's left leg, his left foot at
the root of the sheep's tail, and his left knee at the sheep's left
shoulder.
7182. The process commences with the shears at the crown <rf the sheep's
head, with a straight cut along to the loins, returning to the shoulder, and
making a circular shear around the off side to the middle of the belly ; the
off hinder leg next : then the left hand holding the tail, a circular shear of
the rump to the near huck of the sheep's hind leg ; the two fore feet are next
taken in the left hand, the sheep raised, and the shears set in at the breast,
when the remaining part of the belly is sheared round to the near stifle ;
lastly, the operator kneeling down on his right knee, and the sheep's neck
being laid over his left thigh, he shears along the remaining »ide.
7183. The method in Northumberland, introduced by the Messrs. Culley,
is to begin at the back part of the head, in order to give room for the shears
to make their way down the right side of the neck, to the middle of the breast
The man then sits down upon his right knee, laying the head of the sheep
over his left knee bent, and beginning at the breast, clips the underside of the
throat upwards to the left cheek ; then takes off the back of the neck, and all the way down below the
left shoulder. He then changes to the contrary side, and makes his way down to the open of the right
flank, lliis done, he returns to the breast, and takes off the belly, after which it matters not which side
he clips, because bpi."o- able to clip with either hand, he meets his shear points exactly at the middle of the
back, all the way, until he arrive at the thighs or legs. He then places the sheep on its left side, and
putting his right foot over the neck, and the other forward to the undermost hind leg, clears the right
side ; then turning the sheep over, finishes the whole.
7184. The fleece being removed, is wound up ; that is, deprived of any clotted wool or dirty part, and
lapped with the sliorn side outwards, beginning at the breech and ending at the shoulders, where the neat
wool serves as a bandage.
3 Y
1058 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
7185. Markhg is performed on each sheep about a week after the fleece is removed.
The object is to identify the individuals as the property of the master. Sometimes initials
are impressed, and at other times other marks. They are impressed by stamps, or merely
chalked or painted on. A stamp dipped in warm tar is the most durable mode. Some
place the mark on different parts of the sheep, according to its age ; others cut the
margin of the ears in different w^ays.
7186. Shortening the tails of the sheep is performed in almost all the sheep districts of
the kingdom except in Dorsetshire, which seems to be a useful practice, especially with
long-woolled sheep, in keeping the animals more clean behind, and of course less liable
to be stricken with the fly.
7187. It has, however, been suggested in the ninth volume of Annals of Agriculture, that by this custom
the sheep may be rendered less able to drive away the flies. The general prevalence of the practice
would, however, seem to i)rove its being of advantage. There is much difference in the manner of per-
forming the business in different districts in respect to the length, but four or five inches being left is
quite sufficient. It is usually done while the animals are young. In all sheep pastures the hedges should
be well cleared from briars, as their coats are often injured by being torn by them. And all sorts of per.
nicious reptiles should be as much as possible destroyed, and removed from such land.
7188. 2Vie mode of pasturing sheej), or of feeding them on herbage or roots having been
described when treating of these crops, the more general practices of rearing and
management of lowland sheep husbandry may be considered as developed. Some pecu-
liar practices and the mode of fatting lambs will be found in subsequent sections.
7189. The practice of giving salt to sheep deserves to be generally recommended. It is given in small
long troughs every day throughout the year, and in rainy weather twice a day, or under cover, that it
may not be washed away. The practice is particularly recommended, when sheep are first put to turnips.
A* to the quantity for each sheej), it is said that any quantity may be laid before them, and that no danger,
but the reverse, will result from their having at all times as much as they will voluntary take.
SuBSECT. 2. Bearing and general Management of Sheep on Hilly and Mountainous
Districts, or ivhat is generally termed Store Sheep Husbandry.
7 1 90. The best store farmers in Britain are unquestionably those on the Cheviot hills,
which border the two kingdoms ; and an account of their management may be considered
as applicable to the mountainous districts of the whole kingdom. It is, indeed, applied
by the migrations of the Cheviot and Teviotdale farmers, both in the North Highlands,
on the Sutherland estate, and in Wales. No regular system of store farming, as ob-
served by Napier ( Treatise on Store Farming), appeared previously to his own ; and
accordingly from this work, and an excellent account published in the Supplement to the
Encyclopaedia Britannica, we have extracted what follows.
7191. A general idea of the extent and nature of a store farm may be obtained by referring to that of
Thirlstane in Ettrick forest, a plan of which {fig. 893.) is given by Captain Napier. It contains one thou-
sand six hundred and fifty-one acres ; of which one thousand four hundred and sixty-four acres are in
open hill pasture, seventy in plantation, forty in arable and meadow, about sixty in six enclosures, and
the rest in shepherds' and other cottagers' houses, with their allowance of ground for a garden and cow.
What distinguishes this farm from most others is the number of stells, or small circular enclosures ( O )
for sheltering and feeding sheep during storms of snow, which are distributed over it; being no fewer
than thirty-seven. The advantages of these stells in districts where sheep are liable to be buried by snow
Captain Napier considers very great, and to promote their more general introduction seems to have been
one principal inducement for publishing his book. We shall recur to the subject in the following section,
when treating of cotting, folding, housing, &c. In the mean time, we are informed that Captain Napier's
round stells are not generally approved of, but that one is preferred which has four concave sides. See
Fijirbair?i's Treatise on Store Farming, Edin. 8vo. 1825.
7192. In the practice of store farming the rams are put to the ewes for the purpose of copulation in
November, a little earlier or later, according to the prospect of spring food, but seldom before the eighth
or tenth of that month. The number of rams required is more or less, according to the extent of the
pasture, and their own age and condition. If the ewes are not spread over an extensive tract, one ram to
sixty ewes is generally sufficient. It is usually thought advisable to separate the gimmers (sheep once
shorn) from the older ewes, and to send the rams to the latter eight or ten days before they are admitted to
the former. Notwithstanding this precaution, which retards their lambing season till the spring is farther
advanced, ewes which bring their first lamb when two years old, the common period on the best hill farms,
are often very bad nurses, and in a late spring lose a great many of their lambs, unless they are put into
good condition with turnip before lambing, and get early grass afterwards. This separation, and difference
in the time of admitting the rams to the ewes and gimmers, should therefore be always attended to.
When a farm under this description of stock has the convenience of a few good enclosures (as in Thirl-
stane farm for example), still more minute attention is paid by skilful managers. It is not sufficient that
the rams are carefully selected from perhaps double the number, the ewes also are drawn out and assorted,
and such a ram appropriated to each lot as possesses the properties in form or fleece in which the ewes
are deficient. In other cases, the best ram and the best lots of ewes are put together. When neither of
these arrangements can be adopted, owing to the want of enclosures, it is the practice to send the best
rams to the ewes for a few days at first, and those of an inferior descriptions afterwards. In every case,
when the farmer employs rams of his own flock, he is careful to have a few of the best ewes covered by a
well-formed and fine-wooUed ram, for the purpose of obtaining a number of good ram-lambs, for preserv-
ing or improving the character of his stock.
7193. The stock through lointer, in a mere breeding farm, consists of ewes and gimmers, which should
have lambs in spring ; ewe lambs or hogs ; and a few young and old rams. All these are sometimes
allowed to pasture promiscuously ; but on the farms around Cheviot the ewes and ewe hogs are kept
separate, and the ewe hogs are either put on rough pastures, which have been lightly stocked in the latter
end of summer, or get a few turnips once a day, in addition to the remains of their summer pasture.
The most effectual preventive of the desolating distempers to which sheep of this age are liable is turnips ;
and though they should never taste them afterwards, a small quantity is frequently given them during
their first winter. After the rams have been separated from the ewes, they are usually indulged with the
same feeding as the hogs.
Book VI I.
MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP.
1059
7194. The ewes, during winter, are seldom allowed any other food than what their summer pasture
affords, except that a small part of it may sometimes be but lightly eaten, and reserved as a resource
893
against severe storms. When these occur, however, as they often do in the Cheviot district, there is little
dependence on any other food than hay. When the snow is so deep as completely to cover the herbage,
about two stones avoirdupois of hay are allowed to a score of sheep daily, and it is laid down, morning
and evening, in small parcels on any sheltered spot near the house, or under the shelter oi steUs or clumps
of trees, on diftferent parts of the farm.
7195. The ewes in March, at least the gimmers or young ewes, are commonly allowed a few turnips once
a day, on farms on which there is any extent of arable land; which are either carted to their pastures, or
eaten on the ground, by bringing the sheep to the turnip field through the night A part of the field, in
the latter case, is cut ofFby nets, or by hurdles, which enclose the sheep in the same way as if they were
intended for fattening. When they are ready to drop their lambs, they are no longer kept on the turnip
field, and get what turnips may be left on their pastures. But it is seldom that the turnips last so long,
though it is desirable to nave a few remaining to be given to the weakest ewes, or to such as have twins
in a separate enclosure.
7196. A few daijs before the time of lamhinff, the ewes are collected for the purpose of being udder-
locked. The sheep are raised upon their buttocks, their backs next to the operator, who then bends
forward and plucks off" the locks of wool growing on or near the udders, for the purpose of giving free
access to the expected lambs. At the same time he ascertains the condition of the ewes, and marks such
as do not appear to be in lamb, which may then be separated from the others. This operation is not
without danger, and several premature births are usually the consequence. It is therefore not so general
a practice as it was formerly, though still a common one on many, if not on most farms.
7197. The separation of the hogs from the ewes, where these have been allowed to pasture promiscuously,
should always take place at the commencement of the lambing season, and the lowest and finest part of .
the pasture be exclusively appropriated to the nursing ewes. On the Cheviot hills the hogs are generally
pastured apart on the coarser herbage.
7198. The lamhing season commences with the first or second week of April, according to the time at
which the rains were admitted ; and such as have twins, generally lamb among the first of the flock. At
this season, the most constant attention is indispensable on the part of the shepherds, both to the ewes in
labour and to the newly dropped lambs. Though the Cheviot ewes are not so liable to losses in partu-
rition as some larger breeds which are in higher condition, and though they make good nurses, unless they
are very lean, and their food scanty, yet, among a large flock, there are always a number that need assist-
ance in lambing, and in a late spring not a few who have not milk sufficient for their lambs, particularly
among the gimmers or young ewes. A careful shepherd at this time always carries a bottle of milk along
with him, which he drops from his own mouth into that of the lamb tliat may need it; brings the ewes
that have little milk to a better pasture, or to turnips, and confines such as have forsaken their lambs in
a small pen, or barrack as it is called, temporarily erected in some part of the farm-steading. The same
confinement is necessary when it is wished to make a ewe that has lost her own lamb, nurse that of
another ewe that has had twins, or that has perished in lambing, or is from any other cause incapable of
rearing her lamb. The ewe, after being shut up a few hours with the strange lamb, usually admits it to
the teat, and ever after treats it as her own ; though sometimes a little deception is necessary, such as
covering the stranger with the skin of her own lamb. At this important season, an enclosure of rich
early grass, near the shepherd's cottage, is of vast advantage. Thither he carries the ewes and twins,
3 Y 2
1060 PRACTICE OP AGRTCUOLTURE. Part III.
such as have little milk ; those that have been induced to adopt another^soffiipriiigi;andigeneEaJly, all
that need to' be frequently inspected, and are iji want of better treatment than the rest of the flock.
{Supp. Sfc. 178.)
7199. Cnstration is performed in the male lambs when a few days old, the cwo Limbs are never ?payed :
mild weather is chosen, and the operation performed in a fold on small quantities at a tnue. ^,
7200. The late lambing ewes are separated from the ewes and lauibs at tiio end of the lambing season,
and kept by themselves, that they may be more under the eye of tlie shepherd, than if scattered over all
the pasture. It is desirable to allow them tine grass for a few weeks after lambing, that their lambs may
come to be nearly equal to tlie rest of the flock when weaned ; or if they are too late for this, that they
may get ready for the butcher by the month of August, beyond which period the ewes must be much
injured by suckling them. {Supp. Sfc, art. Aj^r. 179.)
7201. Washing, in store-farming, is performed when the wool has risen sufficiently, which is easily known
by the appearance of a new growth. The barren sheep are first brought to the washiiig ppoL : StJinetimes
they are hand-Washed by men who stand in the pool, and have the sheep forced towards them singly ;
but more commonly, the Cheviot sheep, especially if the flock be numerous, are compelled to leap into
the pool in a body for three or four times successively ; and it is desirable that they should have room to
swim a little, and come out on a green low bank on the opposite side. After being washed, the sheep are
preserved as f^r as possible from rubbing against cartlien dykes or banksj and from lying down on any
dirty spot which might soil their wool [Supp. S(C.)
7202. Marking, as in general sheep-farniiiig (7185.), takes place before the shorn sheep are turned out
to pasture: they are marked, commonly with the owner's initials, by a stamp, or boost in provincial
language, dipped in tar heated to a thin fluid state ; and it is not unusual to place this mark on different
parts of the body, according to the sheep's age.
7203. The weaning of iambs takes place when they are about three months old, sometimes sooner.
When the ewes are gathered to be washed or shorn, the ewe lambs to be kept tor supplying tlie place of
the old ewes occasionally sold are stamped in the same way as the ewes. The store-lambs are sent to
some clean grassy pasture for a few weeks; and where the farm docs not atFord this accommodation, they
must be swnmered, as it is called, at a distance. Several farms near Cheviot, and on the Lammermuir
bills in Berwickshire, are appropriated to tiiis purjrose, the owner of the lambs paying so much a head fbr
six or eight weeks. In the mean time the ewe hogs, or gimmers, as they are denominated after shearing,
havejoinetl the ewe stock, and the lambs, when broiight home, go to the pasture which they had occupied.
Wherever they may be kept in winter, it is always desirable to allow them a few turnips, along with a
full bite of coarse herbage.
7204. The ■practice of viilking ewes after the separation of the lambs is still continued in a few places.
This very objectionable management is generally continued for six or eight weeks. The value of the inilk
of each ewe for this time may not exceed from one shilling to one shilling and sixf>encea head, and the
sheep are injured to at least three times that amount, independent of accidents at the milking fold. The
cream is separated from the ewe milk, and made into butter for smearing, and the milk itself mixed with
cow milk, and converted into cheese. The most skilful store-masters, however, have either laid aside
milking, unless for a few days, or have shortened the period to two or three weeks.
7205. The selection of the crones or old ewes to be sold generally takes place in September or October,
when they are sold to the feeder, and replaced by lambs of the cuiTent year. On the lower hills, ewes ate
generally disposed of after having lambed three seasons, or under four and a half years of age. In some
situations they are kept on till a year older ; but when they are purchased, as they usually are, to be kept
another year on lower grounds, it is commonly for the interest of the store-farmer to sell them when still
in their full vigour. Skilful managers do not content themselves with drafting them merely according to
age ; for as there is no disadvantage in keeping a few of the best another year, they take this opportunity
of getting rid of such of the flock of other ages as are not of good shapes, or are otherwise objectionable.
As soon as the ewes to be disposed of are drawn from the flock, they are kept by themselves on better
pasture, if the circumstances of the farm will admit of it. Sometimes they are carried on till they are
fattened, and turnips are often purchased for them at a distance. When this is the case, it is not thought
advisable to keep them longer than till between Christmas and Candlemas, as an old ewe does not improve
like a wether in the spring months. {Supp. 4'C.)
7206. The salving or smearing of sheep is an operation scarcely known in England, and not practised by
the Welsh : some store-farmers in the milder districts of the northern counties consider it unnecessary,
but in all very cold situations it is still employed. The object of this operation is to destroy vermin, to
prevent cutaneous diseases, and to promote the warmth and comfort of the animal during the stnrms of
the ensuing winter. It is not necessary with sheep kept on low grounds, and well fed during winter, and
it may occasionally be omitted for one season, particularly with old sheep, without material injury; but
notwithstanding the ridicule that speculative writers have attempted to throw upon the practice, it is
almost universally considered necessary and beneficial on high exposed situations, by the store-farmers of
the border hills. Smeared wool does not sell so high as white wool, but the greater "weight of the former
more than compensates for the difference in price. [General Report of Scotland, vol. iii.) The season of
salving or smearing is usually towards the end of October or beginning of November, before the rams are
sent to the ewes. The most common materials are butter and tar, mixed in difTerent proportions ; a greater
proportion of tar being employed for the hogs or young sheep than for the older ones. The proportions
are also different on almost every farm, and more tar is thought to be necessary, according to their greater
elevation and exposure. In Roxburghshire, some mix two gallons of tar with thirty-six pounds of butter,
as a suflicient allowance for three score of sheep ; but for the same number if is more common to allot only
one stone (twenty-four pounds) of butter to two gallons of tar. [Roxburghshire Report, p. 155). A com.
mon proportion of late has been about fourteen pounds of butter to two Scotch pints of tar (nearly ^ quarts
English wine measure), for ewes, and eleven pounds to the same quantity of tar for hogs. This mixture
should smear from twenty to twenty-five of each, which is the number one man can do in a day. The
expense, according to present prices, will be about nihe-pence for each sheep: other articles, such as oil,
palm-grease, tallov/, &c., have been recommended in place of butter ; but none of them are in general use,
and the only addition that is approved of is a little butter-milk. The butter is slowly melted and poured
upon the tar, and the mixture is constantly stirred till it becomes cool enough for use. The wool is accu-
rately parted into rows from the head to the tail of the animal, and the salve is carefully sjiread upon the
skin with the point of the finger at the bottom of each row. {Supp. En. Brit. art. Agr. 180.) The practice
of salving has undergone a change within these four years, and is not so general now as formerly, the low
price of smeared wool having forced the store-masters to try other ingredients than tar. In the Farmer's
Magazine, vol. xxv. are some notices of these experiments on smearing ; which have not, however, been
so long in use as to afltord certain results. The object at present is as far as possible to dispense with tar,
by which the wool is rendered unfit for certain sorts of manufacture.
7207. The care of sheep during storms is a business requiring constant attention. In storms of wind
and rain, or what are called black storms by the shepherds, the sheep will, in a great measure, take care
of themselves, by pasturing in situations naturally sheltered. All that is required is to remove any of
the more delicate into a covered fold or sheep-house; though such conveniencies are seldom to be found
on mountain farms. But in a storm of snow the natural shelter to which the sheep haive recourse be-
comes the great receptacle of drift, and the harbinger of death to the flock. It is in such situations that
Captain Napier purposes to place his stalls, or circular folds [Jig. b>93. O ), into which the sheep should be
driven, or will naturally enter on the commencement of the storm. The round form for these stalls or
folds is decidedly preferable to any figure with straight lines, as these invariably harbour drift. Where no
Book VII. FOLDING OF SHEEP. lOGl
artificial shelter is provided^immetue losses sometimes take place on mountain farms. The sheej) are
' ' ' '" uciA '-'■* ^'"■"^'- ' ' buried many feet deep in the snow ; and though the shepherd,
o9'* with such assistants as he can procure, armed with poles and
spades, and aided by the sagacity of his dojr, maydig out a few, yet
the greater number perish. While the sheep remain in artificial
shelters of any kind they must of course be fed ; and tlie only
convenient food in such cases is hay, straw, ojr dried spray (the
latter seldom resorted to in this country), which should be put
into baskets, or racks. (Jig. 8D4.) The Kyeland breed of sheep in
Herefordshire, and some of the flocks in the Highlands of Scot-
land, are put under cover nightly throughout the year : a prac-
tice which has probably originated in security, and been continued
as matter of coaveaience and habit.
.n [£91 oJ f>9(f9<imo3 oiB .fciJOT'fuun 9d A'y^ii odJ 1: :(l!J> if-M ,<ji'jf1a Jor/yf'O 9dj ,i{If unnmu > '^
jnoot -3/Bn bluorl-; yortJ Ji^dt jtf' i-gf^; *V1."""- F^liBflg&f^ep. '^"^ ''-' '''^'^^* ■"''■ V "<' ^ ",'.. '
t^O^t'toithig or fotdtn'g is a practice more or less extensively followed with particular
breeds amd in particular districts, but now generally on the decline.
7209. It was formerly thought to be indispensably necessary to the success of the farmer in different dis-
tricts ; but of late a different opinion has prevailed, except in particular cases, and it is considered as
merely euriching one field at the expense of another. The practice may, however, be beneficial where
there are downs, heaths, or commons. Folding has been chiefly confined to England, and a small part of
Wales and Ireland. The object is to enrich the arable land ; but as this is done at the expense of the
pasture, it is truly, as Bakewell expressed it, " robbing Peter to pay Paul."
T210. The sheep best adapted to tliefold are those of the more active, short-woolled varieties, such as the
Norfolk, Wiltshire, and South Down breeds ; the heavy long-woolled kinds being less hardy, and some of
them, as the Leicesters, much too valuable for a mode of treatment that converts them into dung carriers.
The following calculation by Marshal will show, that though, in open lands, the practice may be in some
cases tolerated on the ground of conveniency or expediency, it can possess no recommendation as a pro-
fitable mode of management in other circumstances.
7211. This >«o?-«/>/^ (September i;2. 178()),>measure<l a sheep-fold, set out for six hundred sheep, con-
sisting of ewes, wedders, and grown lambs. It measures eight by five and a half rods, which is somewhat
more than seven rods to one hundred, or two yards to a sheep.
7212, August 29. 1781. X.ast autumn made an accurate experiment, on a large scale, with different
manures for wheat, on a sandy loam, summer fallowe<l. Part of an eighteen acre piece was manured with
fifteen or sixteen loads of tolerably good farm- yard dung an acre; part with three chaldrons of lime an
acrej the rest folded upon with sheep twice ; tlie first time at the rate of six hundred sheep to a quarter
of aq acre (as in first minute), the second time thinner. In winter and spring, the dung kept the lead ;
and now, at .harvest, it has produced the greatest burden of straw. The sheep-fold kept a steady pace
from seed-time to harvest, and is now evidently the best corned, and the cleanest crop. The lime, in
.T^inter and spring, made a poor apjiearance, but after some showers in summer it flourished much, and
i8,pow a tolerable crop, not less, 1 apprehend, than three quarters of an acre.
7213, From these data the value of a sheep-fold, in this case, may be calculated. It appears from the
first minute, that one hundred sheep manured seven square rotls daily. But the second folding was
thinner ; suppose nine rods, this is, on a par of the two foldings, eight rods a day each folding. The dung
could not be worth less than half a crown a load, and the carriage and spreading ten shillings an acre ;
together fifty shillings an acre; which quantity of land the hundred sheep teathed twice in forty days.
Supposing them to be folded the year round, they would, at this rate, fold nine acres annually ; which, at
fitly shillings an acre, is twenty-two pounds ten shillings a hundred, or four shillings and sixpence a head.
In some parts of the island, the same quantity of dung would be worth five pounds an acre, which would
raise the value of the teathe to nine shillings a head j which, at two.pence a head a week, is more than
the whole year's keep of the sheep. It does not follow, however, that all lands would have received equal
l^enefit with the piece in consideration ; which, perhaps, had not been folded upon for many years, y>QX-
haps never before j and sheep folds, lilie other manures, may become less efficacious the longer it is used
on a given piece of land. {Marshal's Rural Economy of Norfolk, vol. ii. p. 29.)
7214. To fold on land in tillage all the year is nearly impracticable j and where it could be done, the
manure would be greatly diminished in value from rain and snow, to say nothing of the injury to the
jsheep themselves. So that the estimate of four shillings and sixpence, or nine shillings a head, is evi-
dently in the extreme.
,, 7215. According to Arthur Young {Farmer's Calendar), the same land will maintain one fourth more
stock when the animals are allowed to depasture at liberty, than when confined during the night in folds,
^e injury to the stock themselves, though it is not easy to mention its precise amount with any degrep
of accuracy, cannot well be doubted, at least in the case of the larger and less active breeds, when it is
considered that they are driven, twice a day, sometimes for a distance of two, or even three miles, and
that their hours of feeding and rest are, in a great measure, controlled by the shepherd and his boy.
When they are kept in numerous parcels, it is not only driving to and from the fold that affects them,
but they are in fact driving about in a sort of march all day long, when the strongest have too great an
advantage, and the flock divides into the head and tail of it, by which means one part of them must
trample the food to be eaten by another. All this points the very reverse of their remaiiiing jjerfectly
Quiet in small parcels.
\ 7216. The result of Parkinson's experience is, " that were the pasture sheep of Lincolnshire to be gpt
into a fold once a week, and only caught one by one, and put out again immediately, it would prevent thew
becoming fat." [Parkinson on Live Stock, vol. i. p. 367.) The only sort of folding ever adopted to any
extent bv the best breeders is on turnips, clovers, tares, and other rich food, where the sheep feed at their
ease, and manure the land at the same time, ^,,
7217. Folding in Uttered yards is described by Dickson {Complete Farmer, art Sheep) as combining all
JJi? advantages of folding on arable lands without any of its disadvantages. By this practice the sheep
are confined at night in a yard well and regularly littered with straw, stulible, or fern j by which means
Jtlje flock is said to be kept warm and healthy in bad seasons, and at the same time a surprising quantity
Of ra.mure itccumuUited, A great improvement on this method, it is said, would be, giving tJie sheep all
their ^fo'od [except their pasture) in such yard, viz. hay and turnips : for which purpose they may bo
i)rought up not only at night, but also at noon, to be baited; but if their pasture be at a distance, they
should then, instead of baitii.g at noon, come to the yard earlier in the evening, and go out later in the
.ihorning. This is a practice, he says, that cannot be too much recommended ; lor so warm a lotiging is a
^reat matter to young lambs, and will tend much to forward their growth : the sheep will also be kept in
good lu-alth ; and, wliat is a point of consequence to all farms, the quantity of dung raised will be very
great. If this method is pursued through the months of December, January, February, March, and
April, with plenty of litter, one hundred sheep, will make a dunghill of s^X least sixty loads of excellent
stulf, which will amply manure two acres of land; whereas ppe ^,un4)EVd gj^^sn fti^d; (supi«>sing the
glass dry euQutft) viii not, in tha^ time, equally raaiuire,an acifp., nj^ii ^ivv. oJ oImbtjI- lu "''•'■
"' 3 Y 3 :^
1069 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
71!lf<. Onr Ofn'nion i\f this sort qf/olditifi, bo warmly recommended by Sir J. Sinrlair and A. Voung, in the
huslMndry «>r S-titlnnd, roincidus with that ol'u very itupcrlor judKe, who 8.iv», " that such a method may
he .nlvaotaKtHiiis in {mrtii-ular eases, it would Ik' rash to deny ; but generally it is not advisable, either on
aet'ount of the sheep, or any alleged adviuitage from the manure thev make. As to the sheep, this driving
and contlnement, e!t|H*eially in summer, would be just as hurtful as folding them in the common way, and
It has been found that their w(h>1 was much injured by the broken litter mixing with the fleece in a man.
ner not to be easily separateii ; besides, now that it is the great object of every skilful breetler to accelerate
the maturity of hi's sheep, as well as other live stock : among other means, by leaving them to feed at
their ease, and if eircuin.stances |>ermit, in small itarceis; such a practice as this can never be admissible
in their management ; and with regard to manure, there can be no difficulty in converting into it any
quantity of straw, stubble, and fern, by cattle fed in fold-yards, on green herbage in summer, and
turnips, or other succulent foo<l, in winter; while the soil, e8i)ecially if it be of a light iK)rous quality,
is greatly bencfite«l IxHh by the dung and treading of sheep, allowed to consume the remainder of both
sorts of food on the ground. It is true, that the dung of sheep has been generally sup{HJsetl to be more
valuable than that of cattle, but accurate experiments have not been made to determine the difference
in this resiKK-t, among these and other |X)lygastric animals. The greater improvement of pastures by
sheep is probably owing as much to their mode of feeding, as to the richer quality of their dung."
[StijK E. BiU. art Agr.)
Sect. VI. Of Fatting Sheep and Lambs.
7219. The suf^ject of fatting sheep may be considered in regard to the age at which
fktting is commenced, the kind of food, and the manner of supplying it.
7220. Tk€ age at which sheep are fatted de|)ends upon the breed, some breeds, such as the Leicester,
maturing at an earlier age than others, under the same circumstances ; and also in the abundance and
quality of the food on which they are reared ; a disposition to early obesity, as well as a gradual tendency
towards that form which indicates a propensity to fatten, being materially promoted by rich food, while
the youug animals are yet in a growing state. On gooii land, the Leicester wethers are very generally
brought to a profitable state of fatness before they are eighteen months old, and are seldom kept for
fiitting beyond the age of two years : the Highland breeds, on the other hand, though prepared, by means
of turnips, a year at least sooner than they could be in former times, usually go to the shambles when from
three to four years old. The ewes of the tirst description are commonly fatted after having brought lambs
Ibr three seasons, that is, after they have completed their fourth year,' and those of the small breeds, at
firom five to seven years of age, according to circumstances. {Sup. E. Brit, art Agr.)
7221. The kinds ttf food on which sheep are fatted are good pastures, permanent or temporary ; herbage
crops, as clovers, tares, &c ; turnips and other roots ; and linseed cake, grains, or other etiible refuse of
the oil manufactory, brewery, and distillery.
I'itL The made qf feeding on rich pastures, herbage, and turnips has already been descrilietl when
treating of these cn^ ; and it remains only to notice the modes of using grains and oil cake. These, and
also bran, oats, peas, and other grains and meals, whether given in winter or summer, should always he
aerompanied with pasture or dry food of some sort, especially hay. All food of this sort should Ix.' given
In moveable troughs, divided in the middle, so that the sheep may feed on each side, with a sloping roof
over them, so as to cover the sheep's heads and necks while feetling, as wet is not oidy prejudicial to the
sheep but spoils the food. A rack for hay, fixed over the trough, might j)robabIy be made to answer in
^is intention, while it would be very convenient for holding that material and preventing waste. The
whole should be fixed on wheels and made to stand steady, and a sufficient number fxjr the quantity of sheep
be always in readiness. In the fattening of wethers tlie use of barley meal, with grass or some other sort
of green food, has likewise been found highly beneficial; and, when it can be procured at a reasonable
rate, should not be neglected, as it is quick in rendering them fat, and the mutton is excellent A i)ound
of oil-cake or of meal per day, with hay or turnips, for each crone or wether, is reckoned a fair allowance
in Lincolnshire. In the report of tliat county several instances of oil-cake feeding are given, by which it
appears that that sort of food fattens in a shorter time than any other, is the most suitable food for fatten.
I^old sheep, and a rapid promoter of the growth of the wool.
T22S. Imfatteming sheep as well as other animals, it should l>c made a rule never to allow them to lose
flab, from the eaiuest age till they are sent to the butcher. It is found of much advantage, with a view
to speedy fattening as wdl as to the economy of footl, to seiwrate a flock into divisions, corresponding withi
its different ages, and the purpose of the owner as to the time of carrying them to market : and the
cliange from the food of store to fatting stock, from that which is barely capable of sup|X)rting trie condi-
tion which they have already attained to that which, is adapted to their si)eedy improvement in fatting,
ought to be gradaal and progressive. Thus very lean sheep are never, in good management, put to full
turnips in winter, nor to rich pastures in summer : they are prepared for turnips in go<xi gniss land ;
often on the after-grass of mown grounds and kept on second year's leys, and afterwards a nuKlerate allow-
ance of turnips if they are fatted on pastures. It is a common practice, in the instance of the Leicesters,
to keep all that are not meant for breeding always in a state of fatness, and after full feeding on turnips
through winter and spring, to finish them on the first year's clover early in summer, when the prices of
meat are luuallj the highest
7224. Thf fattening of lambs during summer requires notliing more than keeping tJieir
mothers and them on the richest and best pasturage, and supplying such artiiicial food
as the situation, season, or other circumstances may require : but the fatting of hinibs
winter and spring requires attention to three things ; the l)reed, or if any breed bo
indifierently, the period of dropping, the lamb-house, and the feeding.
78SS. Wi^h respect to the breed, as the sheep will take the ram at any season, any variety mav lie so
' at to drop their lamtM at any period of the year ; but it is found by ex|H rience, that the Dorset-
is easiest nude to yean, and therefore this is the sort generally employed in Middlexex for
' is called bouse- lamb for the mctroix>li8. The selection of the rami- for lirccding the lambs
■ Is, accordinjf to Middleton, founded on the f i' nrklcrs, nales-
lors at London are aware that such lamb^. <>i Hieir li|M
after being butchered, anH ? rurally blunt
TbU knowledpr ' '-l tlu- latter
;si:
mm eutaUtf of a deep colour
do m eetOUtf fntdmee fiMr m
ktadbei^kcptCBrfiBBw, and
hs: the
i Dencc
majbei
icyarefc - . - , - ,
I sivtv to one hundred and eighty lamb* at a time should lie seventy feet long and
cit*iCccn fete b(««(J, wi*b three coops of diflirrent *ize» at each end, to constructed lu to divide the lambs
d beiaf kcft fiir faow, and sent into DorseUhin the tolour of
the flesh of hOMoJanhs: the issue of such rams r . im at always
•dbaftaWflhcrprieei hence arose the mistaken no;..... i.,... ..,„„,,. .^ - ^^- ny to procure
, be any close shed, cow-house, or other spare house, or, even on a small M-ale, a
thcjr are built on purpose by the extensive dealers in thi« article ; and «ine to suckle
Book VII.
MERIKO SHEEP.
106S
ApfaacTa
ltl«wfc<iijlwiilr<fi
' dMBtelta'
895
>«ilk neks tot the Aeep (»}.
896
ic cHrca b^ Knft ia bAi
Tte
rq.
^m
CZ1_
• c
Twwr
J
ff
897
ia tlie
tDvcr, with
iintfa the
Themof boc;
wwkUfcaB7.)»a
j|iiutacat> thtrtui '
AnioKlhe Bicbt,utii
e Lnofa* are men put
•^ntly weB
■>T fiwaureftg lambt in htritfa.
foUovs:— The
e doce daring the
utiiii we} nave imidaecd tiwintj
■noua^ vrhich it kept
and cfcdk.botfa in lomt
-Girder, ii provided fiir thrtw to iicfc, in oider to piwcnt kwaeneK, and
nmivetbe landw in iwritfa. A« apte>cntionag«nrtgnawiMtiie
eating each ethef^ wool, a htOe wheat atnw » placed, with the
nniC at ^fftt o*cioclc.
"'ciock the BKOthcn '
eoiine oT which tiny
laaMte of their own ar
■MtthcnorihelMaht
7£2BL IMfawdndo
CiieM«|ifauaMlflrpr'
avbcraSttacearf
of the jrear at ahoot t
exeew of eshatistion.
I plaoed, wit
in a tack within their reach, with which they amuae them,
Twfcieh they eat a nan quantity. In this beuw they are kept,
are and attentaon. OftU fit isr the batcher.
rnothert of tke bimtt are turned, erery ni
~etothcteoAprii«. At aiz o'doek '
tedf
eve* as have )oBt their own laaAa, and thoae ewes whose
It in and beU by tiie head till the lambs bjr tuma
^re then tamed Into the patfure, and at twdre
-<a*tare into the laab-hoaae fiir an hour, in the
At fiMir o'dodi an the ewes that hare not
.id lor the land* to cock; and at eight th^
toraips, cole, rye, tar
crop nay in i
cades, a*
I
rocHprs select socfa of tbe lambs as become
- -nd send them to markets during De.
om one goinea to Coor, and the rest
ewes, and come of tbem die under
of food ; for when preen food (viz.
?iven them in troughs, and second-
th plenty of milk ; for if that should
not be ^MHidant, the laxobi w.ruM Uxozne bunted, in which ca»e no food could fatten tbem. {Midtt/etez
Sect. VII. Probable Iwprorxment to be derioed Jrom Crosses of the Merino Breed of
Sheep.
72.30. The Zferino, or Spanuh variety of the O^vis >^ries, is supposed by Rozier and
other French writer* to have been originally imported from Africa to Spain. It is,
however, at leairt as probable that they are indigenous to that country, or, if originally
imported, that t^iey liave become modified to what they are by the soil and climate.
723 J . lUrinotfirtt altracUd attemticm m tkis c<miUry in 1704, in consequence of the reports of travellers,'
and a letter by Don John Bowler to Peter CoUinson, published in the GentlemauU Magazine for that
vear. A few were imported in 1788, and more in 17'Jl, and placed on the king's farm at Windsor, under
the care of Sir Jom^j Banks, who was then constituted bis Majesty's shepherd. Tbe first sale of stock
was made in MOO; and from these, a flock iB^orted from Spain in 1801 by Lord Somerville, and some
other inqxHtations by (fiflferent persons stdMe«inentIy, hare sprung all the Merinos and Merino rams in
the emj^re Since that period, a number of eminent breeders and scientific agriculturists have cultivated
t- - brted both alone and by crossing, but especially Dr. Parry and Lord Somerville; and though the
I.' •■ which its introduction may ultimately prove to the country can by no means be estimated at
pr«'M-;;t, that it lias already done much ^'ood by directing the public attention to the subject there can be
no djjubt ; afid many are of ' • i<y it the deeces of our short. woollcd sheep may be so imprm-ed
as txj render them fit subrtit • c-d Spaclsb wool
7i:32L Dr. Parry't erpfrim Merino breed were begtui nearly at the same time with the
king's. His (arm was elevated, txjx>i4cd, and unfit for any other purpose than breeding ; and he fixed
on the ByetaiKl breed, as one of the finest wooDed varieties of British sheep, for crossing with Merino
rams, ^ii only abject was the improvement of the fleece.
7231 The tjfeet qf thrjvmrlh crmt of tit' »' -n, according to the opinion of sheep cultivators on
the Continent, on any breed of ewcL bow id long in the fleece, will be to give progeny with
■hect wool equal to the Spanish. Of ttx proposition, however. Dr. Parry justly expresses
•oose doubts, derived from his own exper^^ ...at of others. But it is certain, he adds, that on«
cross more will, in most cases, effiact the dekii*«i purpose. If we »upix>fce, he says, the result of the admix-
tore of the blood of the Merino ram to be always in an exact arithmetical proijortion, and state the
native Mwxl in the ewe as C*; then the first cross would give fj of the Merino; the second ^|; the
third ^^ ; tlje fourth ^ ; the fiRh |f ; the sixth g^, and so on. In other words, the first cross would leave
tliirty.two parts in sixn-four, or half of the F.nfli^h quality •, the second sixteen parts, or one fourth j
the third eight part*, ' ' ' *' ' . - , ^. ' - . - . .:xteenth ; the fifth two parts, or one
thirt>-s««<Hid ; the ^ ;w, if the filaments of the Wiltshire,
or any other a^rne v it is oljvious, that, according to the
alA^e fcUteinent, it w; ;..,..,.. ^^^\., ....^ ..-.,« ... .- -- -.--„ Lliu hybrid wool of th<; former to the
fame fineiuss as tliat id the latUr. i hu, be bebeve», very txaaly corresponds with the fact The dif-
ri Y 4
1064 PRACTiq^ OF AGRICyLTURE. Part III.
ference between ooe eighth ^ndones^teeath is very considerable, and raust certainly be easily perceived,
both by a good microscope, and in the cloth which is manufactured from such wooL In the latter method,
he adds, " it certainly has been perceived; but I have hitherto had no opportunity of trying the difference
by the former. The fifth cross, as I have before observed, brings the Merino-Wilts wool to the same
standard as the fourth of the Merino Ryeland." {Com. to the Board of Agr. vol. v. p. 438.)
T2SA. In the lambing; season, the Ryeland breed are usually cotted, because the new-born lambs are very
thinly covered with wool. As January was considered the best lambing season for the produce of the
cross, Dr. Parry found cotting was doubly necessary. Every night the flock were well sheltered ; and
they were allowed, in addition to the pasture which they could pick up in the day-time, linseed jelly,
ground oil-cake, «r grains, cal>bages, rouen, winter and spring vetches, and tares. Salt, he says, I never
gave to my flock but once, and that in the following way : — A small field of lattermath, cut in September,
had been so often wetted, that I despaired of its ever being eaten. While it was putting into the rick, I
strewed some salt between the layers ; the consequence was, that cows and sheep greedily devoured it,
scarcely leaving a single blade. {Com. to the Board of Agr. vol. v. ]\ iM5.)
7235. The shearing of the sheep was performed in the second week of June, and of the lambs at the end
of July, The finer'fleeced lambs need not be shorn till the secojid season. Washing previously to shear-
ing Dr. Parry disapproves of; because the fleece is so thick, that when thoroughly soaked with water, it
is very long in drying; and if the weatlier prove wet and cold, the sheep are evidently much incommoded j
he therefore recommends cleansing the wool, after being shorn, as in Spain.
7236. The produce of wool, considered as the result of Dr. Parry's well conducted experiments, was
found to be 14 lbs, 14 oz. per acre, which at 5s. per lb. in the yolk throughout the fleece gives £/. 4s. l^d. per
acre on land certainly not worth on an average 26s. {See Comm. to the B. of Agriczdturc, vol. v.)
7237. Lord Somerville's experiments may be considered as of equal, if not more importance than these
of Dr.Parry. His Lordship tried crosses with several short-woolled breeds, but was most successful with the
South Downs and Ryeland.s. Morris Birkbeck, a professional farmer of the first order, found that the
fleeces of the first cross between Merinos and South Downs, washed, are to the parent South Downs as
six to five in weight, and as three to two in value per pound, and believes that the improvement of the
wool may go on, without detriment to the carcass, until we shall obtain a breed of sheep with Spanish
fleeces and English constitutions ; but this must be the result of careful and judicious selection.
7238. Merino flocks are now established in most districts oi the empir^, and but few years can elapse
before their value to the fanner and the country be practically ascertained and evincctl. (See Sir J. Banks
tj^ Annals of Agriculture, Com. to B. of Agr. Bath Society's Papers, Dublin Sociefi/''s Transactions, TAe
Farmer's Magazine, Farmer's Journal, Lord Somerville's and Dr. Parry's Tracts on Wool and Merinos,
Qjt4{V(triQus other works.) .• .
• iKiiO .aTl.; TO o-.vi lo
w;ii9rir Sect. VIII. Anaitymy mid Phudology of Sheep. M ,^'ioA o^T i-cir
ment-r '^ ^ o^ ^ ^ .., ^^^j.j„^j^, „.rtjj^
7939. The general structure of the sheep resembles that of the ox very intinlatfely.
Sheep however, like the ox, experience considerable variations in size, form, and qualities ;
resulting from the physical and moral agencies which they become exposed to, under
various climates: and also, as whether fostered by cultivation, or left to the natural
operations of nature around them. These circumstances have operated on even the
bony base of the machine, as we see in the formations of the three- horned breed (0\"i3
polyc^rata Lin.), natives of the north ; in the spiral-horned (0. S'trepsiceros J. in.), which
inliabit Wallachia; and the long-horned (Capra A'mmo/i Lin.), which are found in the
countries bordering the Mediterranean : and which have been thought to be the parents
of the present cultivated British sheep.
7240. Cultivation v^eakens the otherwise inherent aptitude io return the original stamp of nature; and
we find, therefore, that by these means, the original form of the sheep has submitted to vast alterations.
We see some of them wholly without horns; we also find that the bony structure is otherwise subjected
to our command, by becoming much more slender, though more compact. Accidents are also laid hold
on by man to produce particular forms : thus a breed has been cultivated in America, called the ancott or
otter breed, remarkable for crooked and deformed legs; which, by continued breeding from specimens
that presented this originally accidental deformity, is become now a fixed and permanent breed, valuable
for their incapacity to wander or climb. {Dwight.) The dunky, or wry-faced bree«l, is another instance
of accidental deformity cultivated into a permanent variety : as the monstrous rump of the Tartarian
sheep, and the over-grown tails of some breeds in Turkey, and the Cape of Good Hope, are similar
instances in the softer parts of the body.
7241. The skeleton of the sheep presents an assemblage of bones, which bears a general resemblance to
that of the ox in number and direction. Like him, the head naturally is surmounted by horns springing
from the frontal bones. Like him, his frontal sinuses are large and open, and thus liable to the entrance
of insects. The skull bones are wide and extended ; his orbits are more lateral than central; and his
iPaciaJ an^le is about thirty degrees. His vertebral column is the same as the ox, and his ribs also. The
extremities descend on the same construction, ending in a divided hoof
7242. The visceral and soft pa>ts are but little dissimilar likewise. His brain is as one two-hundredth
to the whole body ; and his cerobpllum to the brain generally, as one to five. The pigment of the eye is
of a pale yellowish green, varying occasionally to a blue. The \-iscera of the chest correspond with the
ox ; and those of the belly also, the stomachs being the same, and the economy of rumination not diflfer-
ing. The liver, pincreas, and spleen are similar. The penis is taper, vesiculae seminiStles wanting, and
prostrates two.
7243. The wool of the sheep is but a crisped hair ; and indeed in some foreign varieties, the outer coher-
ing its of long hair like that pf oxen; while in others, the hair and wool are mixed. '
1UU .bi'iii -^^JTiyvi-ijiir il.jJjiiSi'int.'nr • i )l .-loir^ itDdJ >.
^nF w-f?.oR o-^of J.Tft v-j.dT qoo.la i^^"^^' ^^' -Diseases of Sheep. .-,.,,,., ^^ z,.^n. Vt
,, '7244. The diseases of sheep are numerous ; for these animals are now so highly culti-
)?ated that they may be regarded in some respects as artificial machines ; and thus, as a
natural consequence, they are subjected to a variety of artificial defects or maladies.
7245. The rot is a popular term among shepherds, and includes within its range diseases widely dif-
ferent We shall not, therefore, follow the custom of treating the different rots of sheep together ; but we
shall allow them to fall in their natural order, according to the plan pursued with the diseases of oxen.
7246. The inHammatory and putrid fever, popularly known by the names higharh striking, or hlood strik-
ing, does not differ materially from the same disease in oxen and cows ; and is in sheep also sometimes
epidemic ; appearing by panting, dulness, watery mucus from the nose and eyes ; and great redness of all
such parts as are usually white.
7247. The red water. The inflammatory fever sometimes resolves itself into an universal secretion of
serum throughout all the cavities ; in which case, after a few days, the lymph tinged with blood will come
Book VII. DISEA^El^^^Or^jrt^EP. * -^^ * 1065
away ft-om* the nosfe and moiith in large quantities. Sometimes after deStfj the H6bdy sertfiH' is found
suffused tiirougViout the skin as in the blood striking of skins.
7248. The clavcau or sheep, pox is also another variety of this disease, in -which it takes on a pustular
form. About the third dav stnall variote appear : sometimes they are rather blotches than ptistules. The
weakness is usually extreme, and the putridity great. This form of the disease is seldom seen with us;
but is still known on the Continent, where the pastures are very poor and low, and the general keep
meagre.
7249. The treatment oi diW these in nowise differs from that directed under the inflammatory putrid
fever of the ox ; the doses of medicine being about a third of what is directed for them. f
7250. Malignant epidernic or murrain. Sometimes an epidemic prevails, which greatly resembles the
murrain of oxen : in appearances, termination, and treatment, it resembles the malignant epidemic of
oxen. (6943.)
7251. Peripneurnhnia or inflamed lungs, rising of the lights, glanderous rot, hose, ^c. These terms are
all modifications of an inflamed state of the viscera of the chest, caught by undue exposure, bad |)as.
turage, and often from over-driving. The cough, the tremblings, the redness of the eyes and nostrils, and
the distillation of a fluid from them, with the heavings and hot breath, are all similar to those which
characterise the pneumbnist'br rising of the lights in oxen. We remember to have seen the disease
strongly marked in the February of 1808, on a farm in the neighlwurhood of Streatham ; where eleven
sheep were attacked almost together, after a very stormy night. They were first affected with a'lbfe*s of
a{)petite ; next with a fixed stedfast look, which was common to every one. After this, they reeled about,
fell backwards, and became convulsed. When seen, five were already dead, whose internat appedntnces
fully confirmed the nature of the disease. The rest recovered by bleeding and drenching, with drenches
comi)osed of nitre and tartar emetic. Sometimes the symptoms of pneumonia do not kill immediately,
but degenerate into an ulceration of the lungs; which \s then caMed the glanderous rot. This stage is
always fatal: the others may, by early attention, be combated by judicious treatment, as detailed under
the same disease in oxen.
7252. A chronic cough in !>heep, when not symptomatic of rot, is always cured by a change of pasturage,
pariicularly into a salt marsh.
7253. Inflammation of the stomach occurs from various causes. A common one arises froiri 'eating
jioxiOus vegetables ; and produces the affections termed tremblings. It also produces tlVe ^rnss ill in
lambs; which latter is always accompanied with black, fetid fteces, and is readily removed by an ounce
of castor oil ; while the fOrmcr usually yields to half an ounce of oil of turpentine, beaten Qji\vith' the
yolk of an egg. Some herbs (as Pi'tro^n Belladonna) when eaten produce spasmodic atffeetiens, which are
called by shepherds the leaping ill : in such cases, the watery solution of aloes ( Fet.PfiiSrir^^XlaSS.yiti^oses
of two or three ounces is useful. Daflf^'s elixir we have also known to be given with good effect.
7254. The hove, blastf or wind colic. Siieeii.are fts ikaWft t<X:i)e diitefe^fed.withan enormous collection
within the maw as oxen. An instrument, similar to that invented by Dr. Monro, is also made for them ;
and when not relieved by tiiese means, the saBae remedies are applicable as-«i:e directed for <&etk'((B5o.)
72.55. A Ufind colic will also spmetimcjs afiept sheep more from the quality than the quauti^j^of what
they eat ; it is best relieved by an ounce of castot- or salad oil with an oiinOG ofgin.
7256. Infla?ned liver, blood rot, or hot i/elloins, nve liver atfbctions, arising from fever settling- lii that
organ; or from obstructed bile irritating it. ^jvvetimes there are great markti of ftiverj and a^rOti^ers
more of putridity ; according to which, treat as may be gathered from ox pathology.
7257. Jaundice also now and then occurs, when refer to that disease in oxen:" (fikl^.) ' i^'^S"
7258. Dysentery, gall scour, braxy, are all affections brought on by sudden changes of temperature or
of undue moisture acting with cold pasturage. It is often seen in sultry autumns ; and, by a judicious
observer, has been said to be peculiarly frequent in hogs or sheep of one year. Like other dysenteries it is
frequent in sultry autumns. The above authority recommends, when its origin may be supposed to arise
from a previous costive state, to remove the afliected (as is practised by the store-masters of Scotland) into
turnips. The general medical treatment does not differ from ox braxy. (6961.)
72^»9. Scouring is the diarrhoea of sheep, and in very hot weather soon carries them off. It should be
early attended to, by abstracting the affected, and housing them. The trecttment is seen under diarjrhoea
of oxen (6960.), which it closely resembles. ,, :
7260. Pinning, tag-belt, break-share. The two former are only the adhesion of the tail to th* wool,
and the excoriation brought on by diarrhcea; the latter is the diarrhoea itself, knox»Ta.to. some by this
term. i
7261. The rot in, sheep is also called great ro/, and hydropic rot, &c. ; but it is more popularly knctwn by
the single term of rot. Many causes have been assigned for it, as the Fascioila hepaticai.or fluke worm;
some particular plants eaten as food ; ground eating ; snails, and other ingesta; but, as most of the sup.
posed deleterious herbs have been tried by way of experiment, and have failed to produce tfce disease, so
it is attributable to some other cause. Neither is there satisfactory reason to suppose that tlie fluke worm
is the original cause of it, but a consequence, since we know that the biliary vessels of other ammals,.as
horses, asses, rats, &c., often have them : and above all, because that they are not alw;.ys presMit in the
rotted subject. From long experience, and the almost invariable effect produced by a humid state of
atmosphere, soil, and product, we are warranted in concluding these are the actual and immediate
agents : perhaps the saturated food itself is sufijcient to do it. The morning dew has been supposed equal
to it. Bakewell, wlien his sheep were past service, used to rot them purposely, that they might not, pass
into other hands, 'i'his he always readily did by overflowing his pastures. But great ditterences' of
opinion exist as to the quantity, form, and varieties of moisture, productive of this fatal disease. It is
said that land on which water Hows, but does not stagnate, will not rot, however moist : but this- is con.
tradicted by the ex{ierience of Bakewell, who used merely to flood his lands a few times only to rot his
sheep. It is also said that they are safe from rot on Irish bogs, saltjnarshes, and spring- flooded jneadows,
which experience seems to verify. It is also said that the very hay niatiejrom unsound laiKlWtU rot;
but this wants confirmation. When salt marshes are found injurious, it is only in years when the rain
has saturated or rather supertsaturated such marshes.,, That patrid; exhalations untaceorapar>ied;with
moisture can occasion jjot wants Conftrmation also; for these commonly, go ;toge«beri)and it as^^itlictrit to
separate their effects. It is not, perhaps, the actual quantity of water immediately received by land, but
the capacity of that land to retain the moisture, which makps.it particularly of a rotting quality.
7262. The signs of rottenness are suffleiently familiar to persons about sheep. They first lose flesh, and
wfeat, remains is &abi}y andrpate j , they also lose their vivacity. The uf^ked parts, ag <4"S sl'P^, tongii^, &c.,
look livid, and are alternately hot and cold in the advanced stages. The eyes look sad and glassy, the
breath'is fetrd, the urine small in quantity and higli-colourcd ; and the bowels are at one time cdStYve,
and at another affected with a black purging. The pelt will come off- oh the' slightest pull in almcfet all
cases. The disease has difllerent degrees of rapidity, but is always fatal at last, 'i his ditlerencc in degree
occasions some rotted sheep to thrive well under its progress to a certain stage, when they suiulenly full
off, and the disease pursues the same course with the rest. Some graziers know this crisis of decltinsion,
as it has .been called, and kill their sheep for market in the immediate nick of time with no, loss. In
these Cases, no signs of the disease are to be traced by ordinary inspectors, but the existence of the flukes,
and still more, a certain state of liver and of its secretions, are characteristic mark,s tq Itlje wary and
experienced. ' ' '
7263. The treatment of rot is seldom successful unless when it is early commenced, or when of a mild
nature; a total change of food is the first indication, and of that to a dry wholesome kind : all the farina
are good, as the meals of wheat, barley, oats, peas, beans, &c. Carrots have done good mixed with these :
1066 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
broom, burnet, elder, and melilot, as diuretics, have also been recommended ; but it is necessary to ob-
serve, that there is seldom any ventral effusion but in the latter stages of the complaint. As long as the
liver is not wholly disorganised, the cure may be hoped by a simple removal of the cause, which has been
shown to be a variable temperature, with excessive moisture of pasturage, whicli may also be aided by
such remedies as assist the action of the biliary system ; salt acts in this way, and thus salt mashes are
good ; salt may also be given in the water. Salt appears the principal ingredient in Flesh's patent resto-
rative for sheep; for it states it to be composed of turpentine, sal ammoniac, turmeric, quicksilver, brim-
stone, salt, opium, alkanet root, bark, antimony, camphor, and distilled water ; but of this medley none
of the articles can be in sufficient quantity to prove useful but the salt. In the more advanced stages of
the disease, when the liver has become materially affected, it is prudent to rub the belly of each sheep
with half a drachm of mercurial ointment every other day for a week : give also the following, every
morning : — Watery tincture of aloes, half an ounce ; decoction of willow bark, four ounces ; nitric acid,
twenty-five drops.
7264. The pelt rot, hunger rot, or naked disease, is a variety of the former, but with this difference, that
whereas the liver in the hydropic rot is principally affected ; in this the whole of the chylopoietic viscera
are injured ; the mesenteric glands are always swollen and obstructed, and from thence arises the ema-
ciation and' unhealthy state of all the secretions, by which the wool becomes incapable of receiving nutri-
ment, and fals off, leaving the body bare, and in the last stages the teeth and horns also loosen. In-
tlifferent, unhealthy keep is a very common cause of this malady, and a contrary course of feeding is the
best remedy when the disease has not gone on too long.
7265. The scab, shab, ray, or rubbers, are sometimes erysipelatous eruptions, and sometimes they are
psoric or mangy ones. In the former instance they are universal and very red, occasioning a great heat
and itching, and are thence called the rubbers : in such cases, nitre administered quickly relieves, with
change of food. The eruptive scab is seldom cured without an external application ; either of those di-
rected for mange, lowered to half the strength, will relieve it at once. (See I'et. Pharm.)
7266. Foot rot. Sheep have a secretory outlet between the claws peculiar to them, which is liable to
become obstructed; for which soaking in warm water and afterwards wrapping up the foot, having first
dressed it with tar, is sufficient. The feet of sheep are also sometimes injured by long travelling, when the
same treatment is proper. The most serious foot rot is that which is, in some instances, simply produced
by a lon;4-continued series of humid weather, which predisposes the feet to this injury. In others it ap-
pears to be both epidemic and endemial, and has been thought contagious. When the season has been un-
favourable, house and soil under cover. The medical treatment consists in removing all diseased portions,
and then dressing with the thrush paste, or foot-rot application {Vet. Phami. 6554 ), and afterwards wrap-
ping up from external exposure. Professor Stonig extols the following application : — Take two parts of
tar, and one of oil of turpentine ; which having mixed, one part of muriatic acid, known as spirit of salt,
is to be added slowly, to which afterwards add four parts of blue vitriol, with which dress the affected
feet. {Joztrti. dc Med. VeL et Comp.)
7267. Staggers, gid, turnsick, goggles, worm under the horn, sturdy, watery head, and pcndro, are all
popular terms for hydatids, or an animal now known as the Ta!"*nias gl6bulus, which, by some unaccountable
means, finds its way to the brain, and settles itself there, either in some of its ventricles, or more fre-
quently on its substance. Their size varies from the smallest speck to that of a pigeon's egg, and the
sheep it attacks are usually under two years old. These animals are likewise occasionally found in all the
natural cavities of the body.
7268. The appearances of cerebral hydatids are, stupidity, a disposition to sit on the rump, to turn to one
side, and to incline the head to the same while at rest. The eyes glare, and from oval the pupils become
round. An accurate examination will now usually discover some softness at a particular part of the skull;
generally on the contrary side to that on which the animal hangs the head : when no softness of the skull
is discernible, the hydatid usually exists in some of the ventricles, and the destruction of the sheep is certain
and quick, from the greater disturbance to the functions of the brain; but when it is situated on the sur-
face, it sometimes requires many months to destroy ; an absorption of the bone taking place as the h jdatid
increases, which produces the thinness in the skull opposite to the attected part.
7269. "This disease is not incurable, as has been supposed, but it is only relieved by a manual operation.
In France it has been successfully treated by the application of the actual cautery : a pointed iron, heated
red-hot, is forced through the skin and skull, to the surface of the brain; the principal nicety of which
is in penetrating the hydatid with the hot iron without wounding the brain itself. In England, some shep-
herds are very dexterous in iviring, which they do by thrusting a wire up the nostrils till it rests against
the skull. In the passage of the wire the hydatid is usually ruptured ; others elevate the skull (by means
of a trephine, or even a knife) opposite to the softened portion, and extract the hydatid, if possible, whole;
which a little care will effect, by drawing it away with a blunt pincer, gently moving it from side to side.
Tapping is merely letting out the fluid contents of the hydatid by an awl, which is practised by some shep-
herds with success; and if the instrument be not thrust to far, the sheep is not injured : to avoid which,
it is passed obliquely. A well hardened gimlet is a very proper instrument, with which the skull is easily
penetrated, and an opening by the twisting of the instrument is made, sufficiently large in the hydatid
itself, to discharge its contents, which is all that is sufficient to ensure its destruction, and which, if no
other exists, is followed by immediate recovery. A French author states, that when he fed his sheep on
cioquefoil he had less staggers than at any other time.
7270. Frontal tvorms. Sheep are observed to gather together, with their noses thrust inwards to avoid
the attack of the ffi'strus ovis, or riy, that lays its eggs on the inner margin of the nose, which having be-
come hatched, the larva creep up into the frontal and maxillary sinuses, to the torment of the sheep, and
sometimes to their speedy destruction. The Continental shepherds trepan an opening into these cavities,
and effect their removal; but our shepherds have not succeeded in the operation.
7271. Fluke worms are a parasitic animal, found in the biliary sinuses, not only of the sheep, but of the
horse, ass, goat, deer, &c., and whose existence is rather a consequence than a cause of morbidity.
7272. Pining, the Vinquish in Galloway (languishing), is a disease described by Mr. Hogg, the Ettrick
shepherd, in a recent number of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, xi. p. 697. He says, " It is most
fatal in a season of drought ; and June and September are the most deadly months. If ever a farmer per-
ceives a flock on such a farm having a flushed appearance of more than ordinarily rapid thriving, he is
gone. By that day eight days, when he goes out to look at them again, he will find them lying, hanging
their ears, running at the eyes, and looking at him like so many condemned criminals. As the disease
proceeds the hair on the atiimal's face becomes dry, the wool assumes a bluish cast ; and if the shepherd
have not the means of changing the pasture, all those affected will fall in the course of a month." {Q.uar.
Jour. Ag. Highl. Soc. vol. ii. No. XI.) ^. ^ . ,. ,
7273. The diseases of laitibs are principally indigestion, producing sometimes colic, which is relieved as
in sheep, and sometimes diarrha>a, to be likewise cured by the means detailed for them. Sheep are also
liable to an eruptive disease which begins on the rump, gradually extending along the chine, and when
it becomes more universal, it usually destroys. The cure consists in giving daily drinks of half a drachm
of cream of tartar, and one drachm of sulphur, in four ounces of chamomile decoction. Anoint also with
mild mercurial ointment and Turner's cerate in equal quantities. Lambs droppetl in cold weather, or in,
wet situations, become paralytic : bathe in warm water, hand-rub and house, giving milk and bean meal.
Book VI L SWINE. 106'
Chap. VII.
The Swine. — Sus Scrofa L. Cochon, Fr. ; Schwein, Ger. ; Puerco, Span. ; and
Porco, Ital.
7274. Of swine there are several species, but none in general domestication, or much
used as food when taken wild, excepting the common sort, which includes the wild
hog or wild boar, the original stock of our domestic breed, the European hog, and the
Chinese hog.
7275. The common hog is found either in a wild or domestic state, in almost all the temperate parts of
Europe and Asia ; but it is not met with in the most northern parts of these continents. It is found in
many parts of Africa. Mr. Pennant asserts, that the wild boar was formerly a native of this country, and
hunted from the middle of November to the beginning of December ; and it is asserted by Fitz-Stephens,
that the vast forest which in his time grew on the north side of London, was the retreat of stags, wild
boars, and balls.
7276. The wild boar is still found in the forests of Germany, and in other parts of the Continent; and
OQ„ although now extinct in Britain, appears
°"" from ancient paintixigs {fig. 898.) to have
been hunted by our ancestors. It feeds
upon roots, acorns, and other vegetables :
it is generally as large as the domestic hog,
and is either dark grey or blackish, when
full grown, and pale red or rusty brown
when young. Between the bristles, next
the skin, is a finer or softer hair of a woolly
or curling nature. The snout is somewhat
longer in proi)ortion tlian that of the do-
mestic animal ; but the principal difference
is in the superior length and size of the
tusks, which are often several inches long, and capable of inflicting the most severe and fatal wounds.
The hunting of the wild boar forms one of the principal amusements of the great in some parts of Ger-
many, Poland, &c. and is a chase of some difficulty and danger, not on account of the swiftness, but the
ferocity of the animal. Wild boars, according to Butlbn, which have not passed the third year, are called
by the hunters beasts of company, because previous to that age they do not separate, but follow their com-
mon parent. They never wander alone till they have acquired sufficient strength to resist the attacks of
the wolf. These animals, when they have young, form themselves into flocks, and it is upon this alone
that their safety depends. When attacked, the largest and strongest front the euemy, and by pressing all
round against the weaker, force them into the centre.
7277. OfUte tame hog, white is the most general colour ; but other colours are often intermixed in various
proportions. In some respects, the hog seems to form an intermediate link between the whole and the
cloven-footed animals : in others he seems to occupy the same rank between the cloven-footed and digitated.
Destitute of horns ; furnished with teeth in both jaws ; with only one stomach ; incapable of ruminating j
and producing at one birth a numerous progeny : the imion of these faculties confers on the hog a remark-
able peculiarity of character. He does not, like other animals, shed his fore teeth and put forth a second
set, but retains his first set through life.
7278. Hogs secTTi to enjoy none of the powers of sensation in eminent perfection. They are said to hear
distant sounds ; and the wild boar distinguishes the scent of the hunter and his dogs, long before they
can approach him. But so imperfect is their feeling, that they suffer mice to burrow in the fat of their
backs without discovering any uneasiness, or appearing even to notice it. In their taste they show a
singular degree of caprice. In the choice of herbs they are more delicate than any other herbiferous
animal, yet devour the most nauseous and putrid carrion with more voracity than any beast of prey.
At times they do not scruple to eat their own young ; they will even mangle infants out of de.sperate
voracity.
7279. Hogs are remarkable for the smallness qf their eyes : lience a person whose eyes are very diminu-
tive, and deep sunk in his head, is said to be pig-eyed. The form of the hog is inelegant, and his carriage
is equally mean as his manners. His unwieldy shape renders him no less incapable of swiftness and
sprightliness, than he is of gracefulness of motion. His appearance is always drowsy and stupid.
He delights to bask in the sun, and to wallow in the mire. An approaching storm seems to affect his
feelings in a very singular manner. On such an occasion, he runs about in a frantic state, and utters
loud shrieks of horror. Hogs are infested with lice, and are subject to many disorders, such as the
scurvy, scab, and scrofula. The sow brings forth in the beginning of the fifth month after conception,
and she has often two litters in a year. She generally produces a numerous progeny at a birth ; but
her first litter is less numerous than those that follow. Hogs, when suffered to see the natural term
of life, live from fifteen to thirty years. Their size and strength continue to improve till they are five or
six years old.
7280. Tame hogs are often very troublesome in cultivated grounds, ploughing them up with their snouts,
and thus entirely frustrating the labours of the agriculturist. Worms, the wild carrot, and other roots,
are the objects of their search. The wild boar having a longer and stronger snout than the domestic variety,
digs deeper, and continues his furrow nearly in a straight line. The inhabitants of America find the hog
very beneficial in clearing their lands of rattlesnakes and other serpents, upon which he constantly preys,
without apparently suffering any injury.
7281. The hog is, in a very considerable degree, beneficial to mankind. His flesh is pleasant, substantiaf,
and nutritious. It affords numberless materials for the table of the epicure ; among these is brawn, whi(;h
seems peculiar to England. Pork takes salt better than the flesh of any animal, and is, in consequence,
preserved longer, and always makes an important article in naval stores. The lard of the hog is essential
to the cook and confectioner; it is used in various medical preparations, and is compounded by the per-
fumer into pomatums. The bristles are made into brushes, and are, moreover, of great use to the slioe-
maker. The skin is worked into coverings for pocket-books, and other articles.
7282. The hog in British farming is in general viewed as a subordinate .«pecies of live stock, and chiefly
valuable as consuming what would otherwise be lost. There are, however, swine husbandmen who keep
large herds to advantage, especially millers, brewers, distillers, and dairymen, to whom they are an object
of importance ; and return, for the offal they consume, a greater weight of meat, according to some double
the weight, than could be obtained from cattle. In those parts where potatoes are raised as a fallow crop,
much beyond the demand for them as human food, — as is the case in particular in Ireland, and the west of
Scotland, — the rearing and feeding of swine, the most of them sent to a distance in the state of bacon and
pickled jwrk, is a branch of management on which great dependence is placed for the payment of their
rents and other charges. The prolific nature of this animal, however, rendering it so easy to increase tlie
supply beyond the demand, the price of swine flesh varies more than tliat of any other sort of butcher's
1068
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
meat, and their cultdre can nevetbe bo much depended on by the general former as that of cattle or sheep.
A writer in the Fanner's Magazine observes, that the swine are the only variety of granivorous animals
that can be fed upon the<jffal of grain, or such articles as would otherwise go to waste about a frtrin-
steading. Since the erection of threshing machines, a much greater quantity of light grain is beat from
the straw, than was gained when the flail was employed. To use this extra quantity to advantage becomes
An important concerh to the occupiers of land ; and this writer thinks that the using of it in raising and
supporting swine is by far the most profitable mode of consuming an article, which, in other resijects, is
eWmparatively of little value.
Sect. I. Varieties of the Common Hog.
'7283. ne domesticated European variety of the common hog {Jig. 899.) is too well
899
900
-jni oi
jknown to require any de-
^•^'/scription. '
':' ' - . 7281. Tlie Chinese hog {fig. 900.)
is distinguished fron the commonj
by having the upper part of its
bo'-Jy almost bare, its belly hanging
nearly to the ground ; its legs are
very short, and its tail still more
disproportionately short. The
flesh of this variety is whiter
and more delicate. The colour
is commonly a dark grey. It
dMfan^^ in China, and is diffused through New Guinea, and many islands in the South Sea. The Kew
Hebrides, the Marquesas, the Friendly and the Society Islands, possess this animal, and cultivate it with
great care, as it is almost the only dofnestic animal of which they can boast. The varieties of hog culti-
vated in Britain, are partly the result of climate and keep in the European variety, and partly the effbcts
of crossing with the Chinese. At the same time, it is ohly in particular districts ttjatso much attention
has been paid to this animal, as to give rise to any accurate distinction of breeds; and nowhere has it
received any considerable portidn of that care in breeding, which has been so advantageously employed
on the other animals of which we have treated. Yet, among none of the varieties of those i« there so
great a difference as among tiie breeds of this specieS;, in regard to the meat they return for the consump-
tion of a given quantity of food. Some races can with difficulty be made fat, even at an advanced age,
though fed from the trough with abundance of such food as wouUl fatten any other animal ; while others
contrive to ra?se a valuable carcass out of materials on which no other creature could subsist.
■ 72S5. The Chinese race, according to Culley, has been subdivided into seven varieties or more; and it"
would be easy to point out twice the number of as prominent distinctions among the sorts in the third
elass. But such an affectation of accuracy is as useless as it would be tedious. One general form,
approaching to that of other animals kept for their carcass, ought certainly to be preferred ; and the
Siz^, which is the other distinguishing characteristic, must be chosen with a view to the fooil provided
fbr their maintenance, and not because it is possible to raise the individuals to a great, and probably,
unprofitable weight. The fineness of the bone, and the broad, though also deep, form of the chest,
denote in this, as in the other species, a disposition to make fat with a moderate consumption of food ;
alid while It may be advisable to prefer the larger breeds in those places where bacon and flitches are
in most demand, the smaller breeds are most esteemed for pickling, and are, beyond all doubt, most
profi^table to those farmers who allow them little else than the range of the furm-yard and the offals of
the kitchen.
7286. The Berkshire breed {fig. flOl.) a distinguished by being in general of a tawny, white, or reddish
901 .O^rHO \o ^y colour ;' snotted with black; large ears hanging over the eyes;
^o 9a
thick, dose, and well made in tlie body ; legs short ; small in
the bone; having a disposition to fatten quickly; and when
well fed, the flesh is fine. Berkshire lias betfn long famous for
its breed of swine, which, as it now stands, is, in the third
class, in point of size, excellent in all respects, but particularly
as a cross for heavy, slow-feeding sortS; It has extended itself
from the district from which it takes its name over most parts
of the island ; is the sort mostly fattened at the distilleries ;
feeds to a great weight ; is good for either pork or bacon ; and
is supposed by many as the most hardy, both in respect to their
nature and the food on which they are fed.
T2B1. The Hampshire breed {fig. 902.) are large, longer in the
body and neck, but not of so compact a form as the Berkshire;
thev are mostlv of a white colour, or spotted, and are well disposed to fatten, coming up to a great weight
^hk\ properly 'managed in respoct^o food. Lawrence says they are generally dark spotted, some black, of
QQC) a longer and flatter make than those of Berks, ears more pointed,
head long and sharp, resembling the Essex.
ig3!5iYr,^fi^HBi^^^|8^:^^ 7288. The' Shropshire breed is another large breed of hogs, which
are found valuable where the keep is in sufficient abundance for
8' '"WHU^PWR'S^S^^ ^^*'»^1 their support. They are not so well formed as those of the Berk.
"" shire kind, or equal to them in their disposition to fatten, or to be
supported on such cheap food. The standard colour of this breed is
white, or hrindle<.l : Shropshire has long bred stores for the supply of
the London feeders, and of the Essex farmers, who thus turn their
clovers to the most profitable account.
7289. The Gloucestershire breed is likewise a larger breed, but In.
ferior to either of the above, being tall and long in shape, and by no
meang so well formed. The colour is in general while. It has two wattles hanging from the throat.
7290 The Herefordshire breed {fig. 903.) is also a large useful breed, but perhaps without possessing any
one! advantage over those that have been described above.
-^^^ 7291. The liitdgviick breed is a large kind of swine, which the au.
thor of the Snrvei/ (if Middlesex says is the largest in the island,
met with at the village of that name, on the borders of Sussex and
Surrey. They feed to an extraordinary size, and weigh, at two
years old, nearly double or triple the usual weight of other sorts of
hogs of that age'. As large breeds pay the farmers best in many cases,
such a breed deserves to be attended to in the system of hog ma-
nagement
7292. The large spotted Woburn breed is a breed introduced by the
late Duke of Bedford, being large in size and of various coloui*;'
isf.aii JttiiS'a-hard, well formed, prolific Wit, rising dttj^ly'fo'a Wi*e
^TOivro n'»riJ height; • < o./.;;iu. o .i^uu;v Jria „ i^fto. .)»;,.>>! vi.-r
Book VII. BREEDING AND REAaiNG OF SWINE. 10G9
7293. The Wiltshire breed is a long-bodied, low hog, hollow at)out the shoulder, and high onr the rump,
middling large pointed ears, round bone, light in colour.
7"94 Yorkshire breed. This, in the old breed, was probably the worst large variety we had ; extremely
lone legged and weak-loined, their constitution not of the soundest, and bad sty-pigs m the winter
season -they were yet quicker feeders than some of the superior breeds. They have been improvmg some
years from the Berkshire cross, but are still inferior to the norUi-westem stock, rendering a less price at
""729?' The Northamptonshire breed was formerly a handsome, light-eared, white, deep-sided pig, with
middling bone, and quick of proof : the breeders have since tried the new Leicester
7296 The Leicestershire breed is, in the original stock, large, deep, and flat-sided, light.spotted, with
rather handsome head and ears. The Bakewell variety has much merit <• v fu » u-
7297 The Liucolnshire breed was formerly lighUcoloured and white, like those of >orthamptou8hirc,
manvbfthem having curled and wooly coats. They are middle-sized, quick-proving pigs.
7298 The Norfolk breed is a small, short, up-eared porking sort, various in colour, white, bluish,
striated, generally an inferior kind, which it would be to the interest of that great coru county to im-
prove • they are, however, of a thin-skinned, quick-proving kind. But in the vicinity of I.ymi, and
generally on the Lincoln side of the county, there is a larger spotted variety of very good form and quality,
which should be encouraged. , ,. , .^ - . v r. ^ 1 7 ^
7299 Suffolk breed, (fig. 904.) This is a small, delicate, white pig, which has for many years had great
" ' q04 reputation ; and at this time there is not only a string prejudice in
^ ^ their favour in their own county, but they have maiiy advocates out
of it They are shorter and more pug-formetl than the Norfolks, and
by their dish-face, and pendent belly, it may be supposed that the
variety proceeded originally from the white Chinese. Some of the
Suffolks are very handsome, and very regularly shaped.
73U0. The Essex breed 3ire up-esircd, with long sharp heads, roachr
backed, carcasses flat, long, and generajly high upon the leg, bone not
large, colour white, or black and white, bare of hair, quick feeders,
but great consumers, and of an unquiet disposition,
7501. The small, white, English breed is met with in many districts
it is of a white colour, thick, compact, and well made in the body;
short in the leg; the head and neck well formed, and the ears slouch-
ing a little downwards. It is well disposed to fatten, and perfectly hardy. It prevails much in the
northern districts. .,.,„.,,.. , ..
7302. Sunng.tailed breed. This is a useful sort of the smaller kmd of hogs, hardy m its nature, and of
considerable weight in proportion to its size. ' .
7303. There are many other varieties and subvarieties in England which it is unnecessary to notice here.
Donaldson remarks, that the Berkshire and Hampshire hogs are the largest; but that it is most probably
from the Berkshire stock that the greatest number of the varieties of the country have sprung.
7304. Of the Highland breeds, that of the Hebrides, supposed by Dr. Walker to be the original, is of the
smallest size, neither white nor yellow, but of a uniform grey colour, and shaggy, with long hair and
bristles ; they graze on the hills hke sheep ; their sole food is herbage and roots, and on these they live
the whole year round, without shelter, and without receiving any other sustenance. In autumn, when
they are in the best order, their meat is excellent, and without any artificial feeding ; but when driven to
the low country, they fatten readily, and rise to a considerable bulk. {Walker's Hebrides, vol. ii. p. 17.)
In the Orkney islands they are commonly of a dark red or nearly black colour, and have long bristles, with
a sort of coarse wool beneath them. ij , i.. cvi. ; ■ . i.'
730.5. The old Irish breed are a long-legged, thinsided, lank, haggard, unprofitable (SOU.ittTcflm'iaei tlml
where they have been crossed with the Berkshire, they are considerably improved. yi'ir -.!/>' -.'it
^: ,,,.,,, Sect. 1 1. Breedbig and Bearing bf Sunne. ,Qp
7^^. In the breeding of swine, whatever be the variety, the most :per£»6t and best
formed boar and sow should be chosen, and a due regard paid to their age, time of
copulation, period of gestation, farrowing, castrating or spaj-ing, and weaning. s-
7307. In choosing the boar and sow, regard must be had to their size, as well as perfection of form.
Where food is abundant, or the object of the progeny is the production of bacon and flitches, the larger
breeds, as already observed, are to be preferred : but where food is scarce or uncertain, as in the case of
the cottager's stock, or rearing for suckled pork, fresh pork, or pickled pork, the smaller breeds, as the
Berkshire, are to be preferred. A breeding sow ought to have a large capacious belly, and not to be too
much inclined to obesity. To check tliis tendency, some allow them to breed five times in two years.
7308. The age of the boar should not be less than a year, as he will then be at his full growth ; nor that
of the female less than ten months. They may be used in breeding for three or five years, and then fed
ofT for the shambles.
7309. The period of gestation in swine is about four months, so tliat two litters may be easily produced
in a, year, five in two years, or ten in four years.
7310. The best tijnes for copulation are November and May ; because then the progeny are brought
forth in mild weather, and when green food is to be had. They should not be allowed to farrbw in winter,
as yopng pigs are exceedingly tender, and can with difficulty be preserved in very cold weather ; lior at a
tiiflfie when food is scarce, as is generally the case upon corn farms in sumriier, if the stock of them is
laige. When the object is suckled pigs for the shambles, copulation should be so contrived as to produce
parturition at all seasons.
75ll. The usual producers from about eight to ten or twelve pigs in the large but more iw the smaller
breeds, which in general bring the greatest number, and the most early. I'wenty swine are estimated to
bring at an average seven pigs and a half each for their first litter ; but the number varies much, and
many young pigs are lost soon after their birth by the unkindness of their dam, and by casualties, to which
they are more exiiosed than most other young animals.
7312. TAe pregnant swine should be separated from the herd some time before she is exp«;ted to farrow^
carefully watched, and littered with a small quantity of dry short straw. Too much straw is improper,
both at the time of farrowing, and for a week or two afterwards, as the pigs are apt to nestle beneath it
unperceived by the sow, and are thus in danger of being smothered when she lies down. A breeding sow
should be well fed, particularly when nursing; and it is advantageous early to accustom the pigs to feed
from a low trough on milk or other liquid food, mixed with meal or bran. Such of the pigs of both sexes
as are not to be kept for breeding are usually castrated or spayed when about a month old, and the whole
may be weaned at the end of six or seven weeks.
7313. The food allowed to growing swine depends in almost every case upon the circumstances o£ their
owners ; for, as already observed, it is a doubtful point whether swine wUl pay when all their food both in
rearing and fatting is to be purchased. The cottager's pig must be contented with the scanty offals of his
kitchen and of his dairy, the produce generally of a single cow ; towards the end of autumn a few potatoes
are added for the purpose of preparing it for the slaughter, and perhaps a little meal is mixed with boiled
potatoes for a week or two before. Such pig^,ho\(,jever,; often thrive amazingly, make themselves mode,
rately fat, and form a most valuable addition to the winter stores of their owners. In the south-eastern
1070 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
counties of Scotland, the hinds or married ploughmen are commonly allowed to keep a pig each, which
they feed in this manner, and from which their families derive much benefit at very little expense. Near
woods, acorns, mast, and other seeds, as well as some roots and vermin, afford excellent nourishment.
On many corn farms, the chief, and not unfrequently the only, dependence of swine is on the straw-yards.
The sweepings of the barn floor, corn left upon the straw, and oats found among the dung of horses, with
a share of the turnips given to the cattle in winter, and of the clover in summer, affbrd ample subsistence
to swine, in the proportion, perhaps, of one to every five or six acres under corn, clover, and turnips. The
kitchen and dairy give some assistance to pigs newly weaned, and also to such as are soon to be slaughtered.
A great many are killed when about a year old, that have never been fed at any expense that can be
estimated. A few pigs, if of a good breed, will always be moderately fat at that age with the run of the
straw- yard, and their flesh is of an excellent quality.
7314. To prevent swine from digging in the soil, the best method is to cut the two strong tendons of their
snouts with a sharp knife, about an inch and a half from the nose. This may be done with httle pain,
and no prejudice, to the animal when about two or three months old. The common practice of restrain-
ing them by rings fixed in the snout is painful and troublesome : they must be replaced as often as they
give way, and that happens so frequently that rings afford but little security against this nuisance.
Sect. III. Fattening of Swine-
7315. The following sj/stem of rearing and fattening swine on an arable farm is recom-
mended by a writer in the Farmers Magazine.
7316. Upon a tillage farm consisting of three hundred acres, whereof two hundred are kept under the
plough, he is of opinion that a considerable sum may be annually gained from keeping swine, were the
management arranged in a systematic manner. One main advantage of such a branch of rural economy
arises from little or no capital being required to carry it on, while the trouble and outlay attending it
scarcely deserve notice. With the addition of one acre of broad clover, and one acre of tares, for the
summer and autumn months, and the like extent of ground for turnips and yams during the winter and
spring months, this stock of swine may be amply supported.
7317. Were two breeding sows kept on a farm of the size mentioned, and their produce reared by the
farmer, it may be calculated that forty swine, weighing seven or eight stone each, would be annually fed
off, in the month of January and February each year, the time when pork is most in demand. That
such a number of swine can be supported and fed upon the offals of a three- hundred-acre farm, and the
other auxiliary articles specified, may be pronounced a certain fa(;t.
7318. The breeds he recommends are the hardy smaller sized varieties ; because he has found that such
breeds will thrive and grow fat where larger and finer breeds would starve.
7319. The mode of management is, that a boar and two good sows of a proper age should constantly be
kept, and that one young sow shall annually be reared, in order to supply the others when they pass
maturity. He would cast off the oldest sows, i. e. feed them when they arrive at three years of age,
which, of course, would cause four sows to be in hand at one time. These annually would produce more
than the forty pigs which are to be held on ; but the remainder might be sold as they are weaned, there
being a regular and steady demand in most parts of the country for young pigs. He has for a number of
years kept a stock of swine in the way recommended. They go at large in the court or yard belonging to
the farm, and receive a feeding of ofial grain in the morning, and of yams or turnips in the evening; and
the meat fed in this way has constantly drawn the highest price. They get also the dish-washings of the
house, any milk or whey that remains unconsumed, and have the dunghill to roam upon, where perhaps
more food is to be gathered, especially if the horses are fed upon unbroken grain, than is commonly
imagined. It will readily be concluded that, under this mode of management, the latter end of summer
and the harvest months is the critical period for carrying on a stock of swine. During these months
little threshing goes forward, and horses seldom receive any corn for aliment ; hence all that can be con-
sistently attempted is to keep the animals in a growing state, and prepare them for fattening cleverly,
when food of a more nutritious quality can be procured. Clover and tares will do this effectually, the
last particularly so when in a podded state. Turnips can also be got by the end of September ; and it
must be recollected, that through the summer months a considerable quantity of milk and whey can be
given, upon which swine will be found to thrive heartily. He does not know a more beneficial stock upon
a farm than swine, so long as the quantity kept is in proportion to the extent of offals about the premises.
The other articles recommended are merely meant to render the consumption of offals more beneficial, to
carry on the stock at periods when such offals are scarce. The charge of attendance is very small ; indeed,
the benefit gained by the dunghill will more than compensate the expenses incurred. To make as much
profit from cattle or sheep requires a great advance of money ; but in the article of swine hardly any is
necessary, while the most part of the articles consumed cannot, in any other way, be converted to such
beneficial purposes.
7320. In fattening for bacon and flitches, the larger breeds are cliosen; and in breweries, distilleries,
cileries, and dairies, fed on grains, oil-cake, and milk ; but where arable farmers keep swine of this de-
scription, as is the practice in some of the western counties, the method is to rear chiefly on raw potatoes
and Swedish turnips, and to fatten on these roots, boiled or prepared by steam, with a mixture of oat,
barley, or bean and pea meal. Their troughs should be often replenished with a small quantity of food
at a time, and kept always clean ; and their food changed occasionally, and seasoned with salt. If proper
care be taken, says a late writer, a feeding pig should not consume more than six Winchester bushels of
oats made into meal. It ought to be shelled before it is ground, the same as for family use, but need not
be sifted. {Henderson's Treatise on Swine, p. 26.) .
7321. In fatting sucking pigs, all that is requisite is to keep the mother well lodged and nourished.
Weaned pigs when to be fatted are kept constantly on whey, or skim-milk or buttermilk, with frequently
an addition of peas or beans, or barley-meal. Such good keeping not only makes them increase rapidly
in size, but renders them fit for the butcher at an early age. Swine are sold to the butcher at different
ages, and under different names ; as pigs when a few weeks old ; as porkers at the age of five or six
months ; and as full grown hogs at from eighteen months to two years old. The young pigs are commonly
roasted whole; the porkers are used as fresh or pickled pork ; and the full grown hogs are for the most
part converted into ham and bacon. The demand for porkers, which for London in particular is very
great, and which continues almost throughout the year, is chiefly supplied from the dairies within reach of
that metropolis.
Sect. IV. Curing of Pork and Bacon.
7322. The curing or pickling of pork is carried on to a considerable extent at many of
our sea-ports.
7323. The carcass is cut in pieces, and packed in cases or kits made for the purpose, containing from
one to two hundred weight. Salt is dissolved in water till the mixture be strong enough to swim an egg;
it is then boiled, and, when cold, poured upon the pork ; when the end of the cask is fixed in, the article
is ready for being sent to market Henderson, a late writer, has given particular directions for the curing
of bacon, founded upon a long course of experience, which, therefore, deserves to be more generally
known.
BookVII. the goat. 1071
7324. The curing of bacon is thus described by Henderson, after much experience ; —
7325. After the carcass has hung all night, lay it upon a strong table, or bench, upon its back ; cut off
the head close by the ears, and cut the hinder feet so far below the hough as will not disfigure the hams,
and leave plenty of room to hang them by; then take a cleaving knife, and if necessary, a hand maltet,
and divide the carcass up the middle of the back-bone, laying it in two equal halves : then cut the ham
from the side by the second joint of the back-boue, which will appear on dividing the carcass ; then dress the
ham, by paring a little off the flank or skinny part, so as to shape it with a half round point, clearing off
any top fat that may appear ; the curer will next take off the sharp edge along the back-bone with his knife
and mallet, and slice off the first rib next the shoulder, where he will perceive a bloody vein, which he
must take out ; for if it is left in, that part is apt to spoil. The corners must be squared off where the ham
was cut out
7326. In killing a number of sivi'ne, what sides you may have dressed the first day lay upon some flags
or boards, piling tliem up across each other, and giving each pitch a powdering of saltpetre, and then cover,
ing it with salt : proceed in the same manner with the hams, by themselves, and do not omit giving them
a little saltpetre, as it opens the pores of the flesh to receive the salt, and besides, gives the ham a pleasant
flavour, and makes it more juicy. Let them lie in this state about a week, then turn those on the top
undermost, giving them a fresh salting : after lying two or three weeks longer, they may be hung up to
dry in some chimney, or smoke house; or, if the curer chooses, he may turn them over again without
giving them any more salt, in which state they may lie for a month or two without catching any harm,
until he has convenience for drying them. Henderson practised for many years the custom of carting his
flitches and hams through the country to farm-houses, and used to hang them in their chimneys and other
parts of the house to dry, some seasons, to the amount of five hundred carcasses : this plan he soon found
was attended with a number of inconveniences, and therefore he invented a smoking-house.
7327. Henderson's smoking-house is about twelve feet square, and the walls about seven feet high : one
of these huts requires six joists across, one close to each wall, the other four laid asunder, at proper dis-
tances. To receive five rows of flitches, they must be laid in the top of the wall ; a piece of wood strong
enough to bear the weight of one flitch of bacon must be fixed across the belly end of the flitch, by two
strings, as the neck end must hang downwards : the piece of wood must be longer than the flitch is wide,
so that each end may rest upon a beam ; they may be put so near to each other as not to touch ; the width
of it will hold twenty-four flitches in a row, and there will be five rows, which will contain one hundred
and twenty flitches ; as many hams may be hung at the same time above the flitches contrived in the best
manner we can. The lower end of the flitches will be within two and a half or three feet of the floor,
which must be covered five or six inches thick with sawdust, and must be kindled at two diffferent sides;
it win burn, but not cause any flame to injure the bacon. The door must be kept close, and the hut must
have a small hole in the roof, so that part of the smoke may ascend. That lot of bacon and hams will be
ready to pack up in a hogshead, to send off in eight or ten days, or a little longer, if required, with very
little loss of weight After the bacon is salted, it may lie in the salt-house as described, until an order is
received, then immediately hang it up to dry. Henderson found this smoke-house to be a great saving,
not only in the expense and trouble of employing men to cart and hang it through the country, but it did
not lose nearly so much weight by this process.
7328. In the disposal of bacon, whatever is shipped for the London market, or any other, both bacon and
hams, must be packed into a sugar hogshead, or something similar, to hold about ten hundred weight
Bacon can only be cured from the middle of September until the middle of April. {Henderson's Treatise
on Swine, p. 39.)
Sect. V. Diseases of Swine,
7329. Sivine are subject to various diseases, but according to Lawrence they are not
easily doctored.
7330. They are subject, he says, to pox or measles, blood striking, staggers, quincy, indigestion, catarrh,
peripneumonia, and inflammation of the lungs called heavings. When sick, pigs will eat, and they will
take medicine in their wash ; when they will not eat, there is no help for them. As aperients, cleansers,
and alteratives, sulphur, antimony, and madder are our grand specifics, and they are truly useful As
cordials and tonics, treacle and strong beer, in warm wash, and good peas and pollard. In the measles,
sulphur, &c. and, if the patient require it, give cordials now and then ; in staggers, bleeding, fresh air,
and perhaps nitre ; in catarrh, a warm bed, and warm cordial wash ; and the same in quincy, or inflam-
mation of the glands in the throat If external suppuration appear likely, discharge the matter when
ripe, and dress with tar and brandy, or balsam. The heavings or unsoundness of the lungs in pigs, like
the unsoundness of the liver in lambs, is sometimes found to be hereditary; there is no remedy. This
disease in pigs is often the consequence of colds from wet lodging, or of hasty feeding in a poor state ; in
a certain stage it is highly inflammatory, and without remedy. Unction with train oil, and the internal
use of it, have been sometimes thought beneficial.
Chap. VIII.
Of the Goat, Rabbit, Hare, Dormouse, Deer, and various other Animals, that are or may
be subjected to British Agriculture.
7331. The goat (Capra .^'gagrus L., fig. 905.) is a native of many mountainous parts
905 of Europe, Africa, Persia, and India : he is domes-
ticated throughout Europe, feeds on branches of
shrubs, on lichens, hemlock, &c. ; is seldom destitute
of horns, of active habits like the deer, treacherous,
petulant, roaming, and lascivious ; gravid four months
and a half, brings from one to two at a birth, and
lives ten or twelve years. The female will allow
itself to be sucked by the young of various other
animals ; and a foal which has lost its mother has
been seen thus nourished by a goat, which, in order
to facilitate the process, was placed on a barrel. The
attachment between the nurse and foal appeared
strong and natural : in its internal structure, it ex-
1072 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
tremely resembles sheep, but is far superior to thera in alertness, sentiment, and intelli-
gence. The goat approaches man without difficulty, is won by kindness, and capable of
attachment. The extremely unpleasant odour attending these animals is supposed to be
beneficial, and horses appear so much refreshed by it, that a goat is, on this account, often
kept in tlie stables of the great. It is a singular local peculiarity, that in Angora only,
the animals of the Capra, OVis, and i^pus tribe, have long soft silky hair.
7332. The Angora goat, a native of Turkey, is chiefly valued for its exquisitely fine hair down, which
grows under its coarse hair, and of which the Cashmere shawls are manufactured. The down is obtained
by gently combing them. A considerable number of this breed were imported into France from Persia, in
1819, and stationed at St. Omers, with a view to their increase, and the establishment of the shawl manu-
facture The kids of this flock are said to be abundantly covered with down and hair, and superior
in strength and appearance to indigenous French kids of the same age. It is a common opinion, that the
down of this goat degenerates when the animals are removed from the pasturage of Angora ; but this is
likely in part to arise from the neglect of cleaning and washing them, which at Angora is so assiduously
attended to. By a late Report of M. Terneaux to the Paris Agricultural Society, the French Angoras
have increased in number, and prosper equally with the native variety.
7333. The Syrian goat (Jig. 906.) is remarkable for its pendulous ears, and is common throughout the
East, in Egypt, and on the coast of Africa. It has likewise been
introduced into Sicily, but can only be kept in health in very
warm situations.
7334. The Chajnois goat, a native of Switzerland, is a species of
antelope, and will be allerwards noticed.
7335. The goats of Wales are generally white, and are both
stronger and larger than those of other hilly countries. Their
flesh is much used by the inhabitants, and often dried and salted,
and substituted for bacon. The skins of the kids are much
valued for gloves, and were formerly employed in furniture, when
painted with rich colours, of which they are particularly capable,
and embellished with ornamental flowers, and works of silver
and gold. The goat may be of some advantage in rocky barren
countries, where nothing else can get a support for life. They
will climb the steepest I'ocks, and there browse upon briers,
heath, and shrubs of various kinds, which other creatures will
not taste of. They will feed on grass in pastures ; but, as they
love browsing on trees much better, great care should be taken
to keep them from valuable plantations.
7336. The produce of the goat, from which advantage is chiefly obtained, is the milk, which it yields in
large quantities, and which is accounted the best milk of all animals. They mix this and cows' milk
together in some parts of the kingdom, and a very valuable cheese is made from it. Besides this, the kids
or young goats are very fine food, and the best kinds bring forth two or three at a time, and that twice a
year.
7337. Goat's hair is also valuable ; it may be sheared as the wool from sheep, and is excellent for making
ropes that are to be used in the water, as they will last a great while longer than those made in the com-
mon way. A sort of stuff is also made of it in some places.
7338. The suet of the goat is also in great esteem, and many of the inhabitants of Caernarvonshire kill
them merely for the sake of their fat, which makes candles of a superior quality to the common. Of their
horns excellent handles are made for tucks and penknives. The skin is peculiarly well adapted for the
glove manufactory, especially that of the kid, as it takes a dye better than any other skin. The old skin
is also of great use, being preferred to that of the sheep, and the flesh affords a cheap and plentiful pro-
vision in the winter months, particularly when the kids are brought to market. The haunches of the goat
are frequently salted and dried, and supply all the uses of bacon : this by the Welsh is called coch yr wderit
or hung venison.
7339. Tfie kind qf goats for keeping to advantage should be chosen in this manner: — The male
should have a large body, his hair should be long, and his legs straight and stiff; the neck should be plain
and short, the head snuiU and slender, the horns large, the eyes prominent, and the beard long. The
female should have a large udder, with large teats, and no horns, or very small ones. Goats should be
kept in flocks, that they may not straggle ; and they should have good shelter both in summer and in
winter, the heat and cold being both prejudicial to them, and coupled in December. They should have
no litter in winter, but only a paved floor kept clean. The kids are to be brought up for the table in the
Same manner as our lambs are.
7340. The Cashmere shawl goat has been successfully introduced into England, by C. T. Tower, Esq. of
Weald Hall, Essex ; and as that gentleman by this time must have some of his flock to dispose of, we think
their introduction among cottagers for their wool, and also, as suggested {Gard. Mag. vol. v. p. 53-2.), for
their milk, a fair subject for some of our female readers to speculate on. This variety of the common goat,
or probably it may be a distinct species, is a fine-looking animal, and would be very oniamental in a park,
on a ruin, on the roof of a cottage, or in a churchyard. It would also be very pleasant to have a home-
made Cashmere shawL We shall therefore give all the information we can on the subject from Mr. Tower's
account, as published in the last volume (xlvi.) of the Transactions of the Society of Arts. The Cashmere
goat was brought from Persia to France during the time of Napoleon, and under his patronage, by the
celebrated M. Terneaux, in 1823. Mr. Tower, happening at that time to be in Paris, purchased four of them,
two males and two females, and succeeded in conveying them safely to his residence in Essex. The soil of
the park at Weald Hall, where they have been kept ever since, is moist, and the situation is much exposed.
The animals have, nevertheless, continued in health and multiplied rapidly ; so that his present flock
consists of twenty-seven, including the four original ones. Of these latter a polled female, which was old
when purchased by him, has every year produced at least one kid, and has twice had twins. Those indi-
viduals of which the horns cross are in Persia esteemed the best ; and one of Mr. Tower's last year's kids
has this peculiarity. They show no impatience of cold, and are very healthy, requiring only the occa-
sional shelter of a shed, in very rough weather. In spring, summer, and autumn, they graze like sheep ;
and during winter have been fed with hay, and refuse vegetables from the garden ; but their favourite
food is gorse ( C/^lex europie'^a), which they devour eagerly, without being annoyed by its prickles. They
damage young plantations, but not more than other goats or deer will do. They breed very early ; three
of Mr. Tower's goats this year produced kids before they were themselves a twelvemonth old. A few
produce brown wool ; but that of far the greater proportion of the goats is white, and this latter is more
valuable than the other. The coat is a mixture of long coarse hair, and of short fine wool: this latter
begins to be loose early in April ; and is collected easily and expeditiously by combing the animals two or
three times, with such a comb as is used for horses' manes. A good deal of the long hair comes off at the
same time, but the manufacturer has found no diflSculty in separating it. The produce of a male is about
four ounces, and of a female about two ounces. Two pounds of wool as it comes off the goat's back may
be estimated to make one shawl, fifty four inches square. It will therefore require ten goats, male and
female, to furnish materials for one shawl. Mr. Tower has this year had three shawls made of his wool.
Book VII. THE RABBIT. 1073
one of wjiich was examined by?th0 coinmlttee of manufacturers. . The ynrn was spun, by IVIessrs. Pease,
of Darlington, and was woven by Messrs. Miller and Sons, of I'aisley. Mr. Tower's sliiawl was compared
with one made in Scotland, of French shawUgoat wool, to which it was evidently far superior. It 'was
also compared with a shawl of M, Terneau's own make ; and was considered by very competent judges
to be superior to this also. {Trans. Soc. Arts, vol. xlvi. as quoted in Card. Mag. voL vii.)
7341. The rabbit (iepus funiculus L.,Jig. 907.) is indigenous in most temperate
climates, but not so far to the north as the hare.
907 7342. Li a wild slate it forms long winding burrows ; keeps its
hole by day j feeds morning, evening, and night on vegetables
and grain ; is the i)rey of hawks, badgers, polecats, and caught
by ferrets ; gravid thirty days, brings from four to eight young,
five, and sometimes as many as seven times a year. The varieties
common in Britain are the white, black, variegated, and silvery
grey. The hare and rabbit are distinguished from each other
externally, chiefly by the proportional length of the hind legs to
^-_ ^^^ °^ the back, and in tne ears of the hare being longer, and
J ^>>^)iL^^^Sa^^^^^ those of the rabbit shorter than the head. The haunts of rabbits
^^^^ "'*^^~ gj.g ggijgj warrens ; which are most numerous in the sandy soils
«f Norfolk and. Cambridgeshire. They sometimes extend to 2000 or 3000 acres, and many have been
hitherto considered to pay better in that state than in any other. Arthur Young, however, has shown in
iJbis Survey qf Luicoln^hire, that though a rabbit warren may afford a high interest on the capital of the
occupier, yet the rent it affords to the owner of the soil is less than would ultimately be obtained by plant-
ing or breaking up, and laying down with chiccory or some other suitable herbage plant. In the mean
time, as they continue to exist, and are subjected to a kind of management, we shall submit a short
outline of it under the heads of extent, soil and situation, fencing, stocking, breeding, rearing, and pro-
duce. Afterwards we shall take a view of the mode of managing rabbits in hutches.
I,, 7343. Tlie extent of. warrens varies from 100 to 3000 acres, but a convenient size is considerotl to be 1500
;or 2000 acres. The soil and situation should be dry, sandy, warm, and poor ; rich grass or herbage being
i£bund to produce a scouring, which sometimes carries off the greater part of the stock. VVarreps are
, generally enclosed with walls either of stone or turf, an essential addition to the latter being" a; coping
^of furze, reeds, or stiff straw. Palhig is used in some places, but a brook is found insuthcient, as the rab-
bits have been found to swim across.
• : 7344. Warrens are often stocked by nature, and all that art has to do in that case is to protect the pro-
^4uce; but in some cases they are formed on ground where rabbits do not exist naturally, or where they
i;|ES.ist it is considered desirable to change the breed.
7345. In stocking a warren, whether the surface be flat or hilly, artificial burrows are sometimes made,
c^to reconcile the rabbits to the ground, and to preserve them from vermin, until they have time to make .
.;ltheir own burrows. These are bored with an auger of a diameter large enough to make a burrow of a
p^thcient width. In a level warren, these augers may, from time to time, be found useful in forming
.«uch holes. They, however, in most cases, are capable of making burrows for themselves. Some warren
lands are stocked in the proportion of three couple to an acre ; while in others it is in a considerably
larger proportion. In Lincolnshire, one buck or male rabbit is said to be sutficient for one hundred does,
or females; but this is certainly a much larger proportion than in most other districts. On the wold
warrens of Yorkshire, according to Marshal, one male is considered sufficient for only six or seven females,
and the nearer they can be brought to that proportion the greater the stock of young ones that naay be
expected, it being the nature or economy of the males to destroy their young, esixx;ially when the propor-
tional number is too great.
7346. 7'Ae varieties employed as stock for warrens are the common grey and silver grey breeds : the
former of which is found to be oonsiderably more hardy and much better for the purposes of food; but
the latter has greatly the advantage in the value of the skin. Till lately, the common grey rabbit, pro-
bably the native wild rabbit of the island, was the only species. At present, the silver-naired rabbit is
sought after, and has, within the last few years, been introduced into most warrens. The skin of the grey
rabbit is cut ; that is, the wool is pared off the pelt, as a material for hats : whereas, that of the silver-
haired rabbit is dressed as fur ; which, it is said, goes principally to the East Indies. The colour is a black
ground, thickly interspersed with sirxgle white hairs. The skins of this variety sell for about four shillings
a dozen more than those of the common sort ; a suthcient inducement for propagating it in preference to
the grey breed.
7347. T/te rabbit begins to breed at an early age, as at eight, ten, or twelve months, going only about
thirty days with young, the young being little more than three weeks old before they apjjear from the bur-
rows, during which time they are suckled twice In the day by the mother. It is, therefore, evident that
they may breed seven times in the course of the year under good keep, as the does take the buck almost
immediately after producing their young. In warrens that are enclosed it is, however, said that they
\tseldora breed more than two or three times in the year.
7348. T/ie management of a rabbit warren is a very simple business. Birds and beasts of prey are to be
kept off by taking them in traps ; dogs and cats kept off, and rats, moles, mice, and other vermin destroyed
if abundant or troublesome. Man himself is to be guarded against in some situations. Additional food
is to be supplied in the winter season, when the weather is severe, such as fine green hay, saintfoin, clover,
tumipR, and others of the same sort, which must be distributed over the warrens. It is supposed that
turnips answer the best in deep snows, as the rabbits can discover them by the scent This sort of food is
given in the quantity of two or three large cartfuls to a thousand couple per day, and one load of hay in
the same time during a storm. It is likewise sometimes the practice to distribute billets of new cut ash
boughs, gorse or whins, and other similar woods in the warrens, the bark and other parte of which is
eaten, by which the proportion of hay is lessened in a considerable degree. In great snows it is necessary
to clear it away from the ditches or fences to prevent Uie rabbits from getting over them.
734©. This sort of stock is mostly taken by nets or traps, set in the form of a fold between the places
where they run and those where they feed, the rabbits being hunted into them as they return from feeding.
Sometimes they are taken by ferrets and terriers. 'I'he wold warreuersj Marshal says, have three ways of
catching their rabbits ; with fold nets, with spring nets, and with types, a species of trap. The ibid nets
are set about midnight, between the burrows and the feeding grounds, the rabbits being driven in with
dogs, and kept enclosed in the fold until morning. But the spring net when used is, be believes, generally
laid round a haystack or other place where rabbits collect in numbers. It is added, that the trap is a
more modern invention. It consists of a large pit or cistern, formed within the ground and covered with
a floor, or with one large falling door, having a small trap-door towards its centre, into which the rabbits
are led by a narrow mouth. This trap, on its first introduction, was set mostly by a haystack, hay being
■at that time the chief winter food of rabbits, or on the outside of the warren wall, where rabbits were
'^tobserved to scratch much, in order to make their escape. Since the cultivation of turnips as a winter food
■* for this species of stock has become a practice, the situation of the trap has, he says, been changed. Turnips
^being cultivated in an enclosure within the warren, a trap is placed within the wall of this enclosure. For
*;k night or two the mouth is left open and the trap kept covered ^with a board or triangular rail), in order
'tb give the rabbits leave to retreat. .,
7350. The annual produce per acre is mostly estimated at from three or four to eight or ten couple,
yielding a profit of from eight to ten, or even fifteen shillings, where they are conducted under a good
3 Z
1074
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
system of management. The produce is the largest on new lands; however, much of the profit must
always depend on situation, so as to be near good markets. These animals are in what is termed season
from the end of October to the beginning of January, in which period the best skins are produced : of
course a large proportion of them is killed in this short time. The farmer often sustains great loss in
what by the purchasers are called half skins, quarter skins, and racks, sixteen of which are only consi-
dered as a whole skin. The rabbits are disposed of by the hundred, six score couple being considered as
an hundred.
7o"jI. The breeding and rearing of tame rabbits is carried on in hutches or stores of boxes placed in
sheds or apartments of any kind secure from vermin. We shall give a view of the practice as to rabbitry
and furniture, varieties, breeding, feeding, and produce.
73.52. The rabbit-hmcse should be particularly dry and well ventilated, as these quadrupeds are very sub-
ject to the rot and to liver complaints like sheep.
7353. The huts or hutches [Jig. 908.) are boxes or chests, eighteen inches or more high, and from two and
a half to three feet wide, generally divided in two (a and b), and the rooms
thus formed communicating by a sliding door, the use of which is to confine
the rabbits in the inner division {a), whilst the outer, which has a wire door
{fig. 909.), is cleaning. Generally these 909
hutches are placed in rows above each _^ — —
other against one side of the rabbit-house,
and sometimes they are placed in the open
air against a wall, \vithin a wired or netted
enclosure. Sometimes they are ranged
along the floor; but the neatest mode is to place them on brackets
round the room, or on stands about three feet high on the floor. In
both these cases it is to be understood that they are not allowed to run
about the rabbit-room, the use of which is solely to enclose and protect
them in an atmosphere of moderate temperature, and to contain a bin
with corn, a truss of clover hay, and any such food as sheep will live
and thrive upon. The utensil for feeding rabbits so hutched is simply a trough (c), which may be formed
of pewter, very hard wood, earthenware, or cast iron, as rabbits are very apt to gnaw them ; and it should
be divided on the surface crossways every four or six inches, to prevent them from scratching and throw.
ing out their corn. Some add a small rack for their clover, but that will not be lost if given on the floor
in small quantities.
7354. The rabbits of the Angora breed yield in Normandy a wool which serves as a primary material in
several considerable manufactures. It is used alone, and also mixed up with sheep's wool and cotton.
The rabbits are found to delight more than any thing in the leaves of the Robin/rt pseud. Acacia; and as
this plant grows on common sandy soils, it has been proposed to cultivate it for the sake of these rabbits.
{Com. to Board of Ag. vol. i. p. 259.)
735.5. There are numerous varieties of tame rabbits ; but the broad-chested and short-legged are the
most hardy, and fatten most expeditiously. There is a large variety of the hare colour, which has high-
coloured and high-flavoured flesh, more savoury than that of the common rabbit; they make a good dish
cooked like the hare, which at six or eight months old they nearly equal in size. The large white and
yellow and white species have whiter and more delicate flesh, and cooked in the same way will rival the
turkey. The Turkish or French rabbit is esteemed by some, but differs little from the common variety.
All these and other varieties are to be had from the London dealers and poultrymen.
7356. Breeding. The doe will breed at the age of six months ; and her period of gestation is thirty or
thirty-one days. It should be premised, that the buck and doe are by no means to be left together ; but
their union having been successful, the buck must be immediately withdrawn, and the doe tried again in
three days : in fact, with rabbits this business is conducted on the same principle as in the stud. Like
chickens, the best breeding rabbits are those kindled in March. Some days before parturition or kindling,
hay is to be given to the doe, to assist in making her bed with the flue which nature has instructed her to
tear from her body for that purpose. She will be at this period seen sitting upon her haunches and tearing
off the flue, and the hay being presented to her, she will with her teeth reduce and shatter it to her pur.
pose. Biting down of the litter or bed is the first sign of pregnancy. The number produced, generally
between five and ten ; and it is most advantageous always to destroy the weak or sickly onee as soon as
their defects can be perceived ; because five healthy and well grown rabbits are worth more than double
the number of an opi)osite description, and the doe will be far less exhausted. She will admit the buck
again with profit at the end of six weeks, when the young may be separated from her and weaned : or the
young may be suckled two months, the doe taken back at the end of five weeks, so that the former litter
will leave her about a week before her next parturition. A notion was formerly prevalent of the necessity
for giving the buck immediately after the doe had brought forth, lest she should pine, and that no time
should be lost; and if it were intended that no time might be lost in destroying the doe, such indeed
would be the most successful method. Great care should be taken that the doe, during her gestation, be
not approached by the buck, or indeed by any other rabbit ; as, from being harassed about, she will almost
certainly cast her young. One doe in a thousand may devour her young; tiie sign that she ought to be
otherwise disposed of Some does admit the buck with difficulty, although often apparently in season : such
should be immediately fattened off; since it can never be worth while to keep any individual for breeding
of a stock to be, produced in such multitudes against which there lies an objection. Should the doe be
weak on her bringing forth, from cold, cough, or other causes, she will drink beer-caudle as well as any
other lady ; or warm fresh grains will comfort her, a salt mash, scalded fine pollard, or barley-meal, in
which may be mixed a small quantity of cordial horse ball. With due attention to keeping them warm
and comfortable, and guarding against every sudden impression from cold, and more particularly moist
air, and with the aid of the best and most nourishing food, rabbits may be bred throughout tue winter,
with nearly equal success as in the summer season ; but in truth their produce is so multitudinous, that
one might well be satisfied with four or five litters during the best part of the year, giving the doe a winter
fallow.
7357. Feeding. According to Mowbray, it is better to feed three times than twice a day. The art of
feeding rabbits with safety and advantage is, always to give the upper hand to dry and substantial food.
Their nature is congenial with that of sheep, and the same kind of food, with little variation, agrees with
both. All weeds and the refuse of vegetation should be banished from rabbit feeding. Such articles are
too washy and diuretic, and can never be worth attention whilst the more solid and nutritious productions
of the field may be obtained in such plenty, and will return so much greater profit. Rabbits may indeed
be kept, and even fattened, upon roots, good green meat, and hay ; but they will pay for corn, and this
may be taken as a general rule : — Rabbits which have as much corn as they will eat can never take any
harm from being indulged with almost an equal portion of good substantial vegetables. However, the test
of health is that their dung be not too moist. Many or most of the town feeders never allow any greens
at all ; the reason, I suppose, because they feed almost entirely on grains. The corn proper for rabbits is
oats, peas, wheat, pollard, and some give buck-wheat : the greens and roots the same as our cattle crops ;
namely, carrots. Jerusalem artichokes, and if potatoes, baked or steamed ; lucerne, cabbage leaves, clover,
Jares, furze. Mowbray has had them hoven from eating rape ; and not improbably field-beet might have
a similar effect. The best dried herbage is clover and meadow hay, and pea and bean straw.
7358. Rabbits are generally sold from the teat, but there is also a demand for those of larger size, which
may be fattened upon corn and hay, with an allowance of the best vegetables. The better the food, the
Book VII.
HARE, GUINEA PIG, DORMOUSE.
1075
greater weight, better quality, and more profit, which is generally the case in the feeding of all animals.
Some fatten with grains and pollard. Mowbray tried wheat and potato oats comparatively, but could find
no difference in the goodness of their flesh. The rabbit's flesh being dry, the allowance of succulent greens
may tend to render it more juicy ; and probably the old complaint of the dryness of the flesh in Devon
beef, entirely fed with hav, might be remedied in the same way. Rabbits are in perfection for feeding at
the fourth or sixth montli ; beyond which period their flesh becomes more dry and somewhat hard. It
requires three months, or nearly so, to make a rabbit thoroughly fat and ripe; half the time will make
them eatable, but by no means equal in the quality of the flesh : they may yet be over fattened, as appears
by specimens exhibited a few years since at Lord Somerville's show, which were loaded with fat, without
and within, like the best-feeding sheep.
7359. The flesh of the rabbit is esteemed equally digestible as that of fowls, and equally proper for the
table of the invalid.
7360. Caslrated rabbits might be fattened, no doubt, to the weight of upwards of ten pounds, at six or
seven months old. It is said to be successfully practised in Sussex, near Chichester, where on the average
not one in three hundred is lost by the operation, which is performed at five or six weeks old. With
respect to the quantity of corn consumed in fattening, a young buck which weighed three pounds,
fit for the spit, was put up in good case in August, and was only one month in feeding, consuming not
quite four quarts of oats, with hay, cabbage, lucerne, and chicory ; the skin, silver and black, worth four-
pence.
73fil. In slaughtering full-grown rabbits, after the usual stroke upon the neck, the throat should be per-
forated upwards towards the jaws with a sinall-pointed knife, in order that the blood may be evacuated,
wliich would otherwise settle in the head and neck. It is an abomination to kill poultry by the slow and
torturing method of bleeding to death, hung up by the heels, the veins of the mouth being cut ; but still
more so the rabbit, which in that situation utters horrible screams. The entrails of the rabbit, whilst
fresh, are said to be good food for fish, being thrown into ponds.
7362. The rabbit is a caressing animal, and equally fond with the cat of the head being stroked ; at the
same time it is not destitute of courage. A whimsical lady admitted a buck rabbit into her house,
when he became her companion for upwards of a twelvemonth. He soon intimidated the largest cats so
much, by chasing them round the room and darting upon them, and tearing off" their hair by mouthfuls,
that they very seldom dared to approach. He slept in the lap by choice, or upon a chair or the hearth,
rug, and was as full of mischief and tricks as a monkey. He destroyed all the rush-bottomed chairs within
his reach, and would refuse nothing to eat or drink which was eaten or drank by any other member of the
family.
7363. Diseases. No live stock is less liable to disease than the rabbit, with regular and careful attention,
such as has been pointed out ; so that any sudden and accidental disorder is best and most cheaply remedied
by a stroke behind the ears. But want of care must be remedied, if at all, by an opposite conduct, and
improper food exchanged for its contrary. Thus, if rabbits become pot-bellied, in the common phrase,
from being fed on loose vegetable trash, they must be cured by good hard hay and corn, ground malt or
peas, or any substantial or absorbent food. Their common liver complaints are incurable, and when such
are put up to fatten, there is a certain criterion to be observed. They will not bear to be pushed beyond
a moderate degree of fatness, and should be taken in time, as they are liable to drop off' suddenly. The
dropsy and rot must be prevented, as they are generally incurable j nor is a rabbit worth the time and
pains of a probable cure.
7364. The hare (iepus timidus L., Jig. 910.), if taken young, may be tamed and do-
910
-=^^tt
mesticated, and has occasionally been
nursed by a cat. Sonnini the naturalist,
and Cowper the poet, had hares in a
complete state of domestication. As the
fur of this animal is of greater value for
hat-making than that of the rabbit, it
would be a very desirable circumstance
if it could be substituted for that animal
in warrens. Its flesh would certainly be
deemed preferable, and in general it is a large animal. It lives on the same sort of food
as the rabbit, produces generally three young ones at a time, and breeds at least three
times in a year. It is not improbable that in some situations, where the soil is dry and
poor, a hare warren or pack might be found to answer ; the price in the metropolis being
never less than ten times that of rabbits.
7365. There is a hare warren near Banstead Downs : it contains about three acres of ground : 200
brace are usually kept in it : they are fed in the summer on clover, rape, &c. ; and in the winter, on hay.
The warren is surrounded by a brick wall about ten feet high, with openings at regular distances, within
which are wire gratings on hinges : these give way to the hares, when they enter the warren ; and they
are so constructed, that they immediately close after them, and so prevent their escape.
7366. The Guinea pig, or restless Cavy {Cdvia Cobaya l^.,fig. 911.), is a native of
911 Brazil, but domesticated in Europe, and treated and
used like the tame rabbit. In Italy, the flesh is con-
sidered a delicacy, and the skins are nearly as valuable
as those of rabbits.
7367. The Guinea pig is one of the most prolific of animals, and
Buffbn calculates that in twelve months only 1000 might be pro-
duced from a single pair, as the female has been known to bring
forth young when two months old only : the time of gestation is
only three weeks ; and she will produce at least every two months. The young are six or seven months
before they arrive at their maturity of growth, but within the short period of twelve hours from their
birth are nearly as alert and active as those fully grown, and therefore require parental assiduity only for
a little time. Vegetables form their food, and on a great variety of these they will flourish and fatten.
They drink but little, appear after eating to ruminate, and are extremely apt to be aff'ected by cold. They
are uncommonly clean in their habitations, and are often to be seen smoothing and cleansing their fur
with particular attention and perseverance.
7368. The fat dormouse (Ifyoxus Glis i.) is a native of the woods of Germany and
Russia ; and has a good deal of the habits of the squirrel. It feeds on fruits, lays up a
winter store, forms its nest in hollow trees, sleeps by day, and grows very fat in autumn.
3 Z 2
1076
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
It was cultivated by the Romans, and highly prized by them as food. Tlie body is six
inches long.
7369. Of the deer (C^rvus L.) there are three species in cultivation in this country :
the stag, roe, and fallow deer. The latter are now almost exclusively cultivated in
parks, as articles of luxury, and, it is conceived, might answer to a small extent in
farming.
7370. The stag {C. £'lephas L.^fig. 91S. a) is found in nearly all the temperate climates of Europe and
912
Asia. It is also found in North America, but attains its largest size in Siberia. From the branchiness of
its antlers, the elegance of its form and movements, and the strength of its limbs, it deservedly attracts
particular admiration, and may be regarded as a principal embellishment of the forest The stag is
remarkable for a fine eye, and an acute sense of smelling. His ear also is exquisitely sensible, and musical
sounds appear to possess over him the power of exciting complacency, if not rapture. His enemies not
unfrequently employ the shepherd's pipe to decoy him to his destruction ; and Playford, in his Introduc-
tion to Music, states that he once met a herd of twenty stags near Royston, which readily followed the
tones of a violin and bagpipe, played by their conductors, but stopped whenever the music was suspended.
Their whole progress from Yorkshire to Hampton Court was attended, and it was supposed extremely
facilitated, by these sounds. The stag is simple and unsuspicious, and employs no arts to avoid detection
or pursuit, until after having received considerable molestation. His food consists in winter of moss and
bark ; in spring, of the catkins of willow and hazel, and the flowers and buds of cornel ; in summer, of
the grain of rye, and the tender shoots of the alder; in autumn, of the leaves of brambles, and the flowers
of heath and broom. He eats with slowness, and ruminates ■with some considerable effort, in consequence
of the distance between the first stomach and the mouth. In March, generally, he sheds his antlers,
which are not completely renewed till August. He will live to between thirty and forty years of age, and
was formerly, amidst the other vulgar errors of antiquity, supposed capable of attaining most extra-
ordinary duration. The stag is supposed to have been introduced from France into England, where he
has latterly been made to give way to the fallow deer, an animal more gentle in its manners, and more
valuable as food. In some parts of Scotland he is yet to be found in his original wild state. A stag of
five years old is, in hunting, termed a hart ; the female, hinds ; and the young, fawns.
7371. The roe (C. Caprfeolus L.,fig. 912. b) is the smallest of the deer tribes which are natives of Europe:
it is generally of a reddish brown colour ; graceful, sprightly, and courageous, particularly cleanly, and
delighting in dry and mountainous situations : it leaves a strong scent behind it, but possesses such arts of
defence, that by various doublings and intermixtures of past with present emanations from its body it
frequently baffles the most experienced dogs, and remains in a state of security, while the full pack passes
almost close by its retreat, distinguishing it neither by sight nor smell. It differs from the stag in the con-
stancy of its attachment, and the parents and their young constitute a family, never associating with
strangers : two fawns are generally produced by the female at a birth, one of each sex, which, living
together, form a mutual and invincible attachment. When a new family is to be nursed, the former is
driven off to provide for itself, but returns again after a certain interval to the mother, whose former
affection is restored : a final separation speedily takes place, however, soon after this return, between the
fawns of the season preceding the last and their dam ; and the former remove to a distance, constituting
a distinct establishment, and rearing an offspring of their own. When the female is about to bring forth,
she secludes herself in some remote recess of the forest, from which she returns at the end of about ten
days with her fawns, just able slowly and weakly to follow her steps : in cases of danger she hides them
in a place deemed by her most secure from the enemy, and attracts the attention of the latter from them
to herself; happy, by her own perils or even destruction, to effect the security of her offtpring. In winter,
these animals feed on brambles, broom, heath, and catkins ; and in spring they eat the young wood and
leaves of almost every species of tree, and are said to be so affected, as it were with intoxication, by the fer-
mentation of this food in their stomachs, that they will approach men and other enemies (whom they
generally shun with great care) without apprehension or suspicion. The flesh of these animals is excel-
lent, though after two years of age that of the males is ill-flavoured and tough. The roe exists now in no
part of Ireland, and, in Great Britain, only in a few districts of the Highlands.
7372. The fallow deer {C. Dama L.,fig. 912. c) is in general much smaller than the stag ; but in Spain is
nearly equally large. In France and Germany it is rarely to be found, and it has never been known to
have existed in America. It has the elegance of the stag, connected with a much more tractable dispo-
sition. It sheds its antlers, which, as in the stag species, are peculiar to the male, every year ; is stated to
live to the age of twenty years, and arrives at its maturity in three ; it is by no means fastidious in its
food.
7373. Deer husbandry. The author of the Agricultural Survey of the County qf Hertford observes,
that, " the Earl of Clarendon, justly considering that there is no more impropriety in converting one ani-
mal to profit than another, makes deer an object of husbandry. As soon as the rutting season is over, or
usually about the 10th of November, his lordship selects from the herd the weak ones, some of which
would probably die in the winter, and keeps them in a small yard that has a shed on one side, and a net
over the whole against pigeons, &c. ; the spot very warm, and well sheltered. Their antlers £ire imme-
diately sawn off, the place is well littered, and they are fed at a very small expense on pea-straw, hay, &c,
warmth making up for the want of better food. At times, during the winter, they have clover-hay cut
into chaff, and if they do not eat it well, a little salt is added. They have always plenty of water, and are
Book VII.
DEER, ANTELOPE.
1077
kept perfectly clean : much attention should, he says, be paid by the keeper to make himself familiar with
them, that he may enter the place without disturbing them. The first week in March he gives them oil-
cake, about half a cake each a day, with chaff, which fattens them so quickly that all are gone in May.
Before killing they have some green meat given, to take away any ill flavour from the cake, supposing
such to be the effect of the food; for it is certain that the venison is exceedingly good. As to weight, a
haunch usually weighs about 24 pounds; a brace is sold for 15 guineas : the skin, worth 2^. 2s., is the
keeper's perquisite; so that the value of a brace amounts to 111. ns. exclusive of some trifling articles.
The purchaser sends for them." It is added, that his lordship usually fattens nine brace : his whole
winter stock rises to 350 head, in a park of £50 acres, but much of it is thickly covered with timber ; thirty
sheep and ten cows also feed on it The park consumption of hay amounts to thirty-two loads, being
reduced to that quantity by the use of much browse; all ash, elm, and Scotch pine being brought for that
purpose before faggoting, which not only saves hay, but improves the flavour of the venison.
7374. Bi/ castrating the males of deer when newly dropped, which is not in the least dangerous, it affords
the means of having good venison until Christmas, without any other sort of food than the common grass :
they also fatten more quickly j the operation must, however, be performed while they are quite young.
{Devonshire Report.)
7375. The moose deer, or elk (C^rvus ^'Ices i.), is indigenous in Europe, America,
and Asia, as far as Japan, and vi^as formerly vv^ild in this country, though now extinct.
It is of the size of a horse ; gentle, except when teazed by the gad-fly ; feeds on twigs
and branches of trees, and marsh plants ; goes on its hoofs with a shambling gait at the
rate of fifty miles a day ; has a skin so hard as almost to resist a musket ball, but flesh
tender and good. This animal might be introduced as an inhabitant of parks, where it
would add to the variety of animated woody scenery and of venison.
7376. Tfie reindeer (C^rvus Tarandus Li., Jig. 913.) is an inhabitant of the alpine
mountains of America, Europe, and Asia, and is
too remarkable an animal, and too well known,
to require a particular description or account of his
habits.
7377. The tame variety have been introduced more than
once into this country by the Hon. Daines Barrington, Bul-
lock, and others, but cannot be kept in parks on account of
the want of their particular lichen. As this lichen abounds
on several mountains in Yorkshire, and on many in Scotland
and Ireland, some patriotic and curious noblemen might
attempt its cultivation. The milk and cream, as Ur. Clarke
states, are most excellent, and also the flesh ; and even as an
article of profit, the sale of the animals as breeding stock
would pay for a time. Lichen hay might no doubt be im-
ported at an easy rate from the gulf of Bothnia ; and the
animal by degrees in the course of a few generations might
be habituated to grsas or the spray of trees.
7378. The antelope {Antelope L.) is a beautiful and numerous genus of animals, par-
taking of the nature of the goat and deer. Two species, the A. Saiga, or scytheon,
and the A. iJupicapra or chamois, are natives of Europe, but the rest of hot climates.
7379. Antelopes, Pennant observes, are animals generally of a most elegant and active make, of a restless
and timid disposition, extremely watchful, of great vivacity, remarkably swift and agile, and most of
their boundings so light and elastic as to strike the spectator with astonishment What is very singular,
they will stop in the midst of their course, gaze for a moment at their pursuers, and then resume their
flight As the chase of these animals is a favourite amusement with the Eastern nations, from that may
be collected proofs of their rapid speed. One of the highest compliments that can be paid to female beauty
in the Eastern regions is, Aine el Cxazel, * You have the eyes of an antelope.' Some .species of antelopes
form herds of two or three thousand, while others keep in troops of five or six. They generally reside in
hilly countries, though some inhabit plains : they often browse like the goat, and feed on the tender shoots
of trees, which gives their flesh an excellent flavour.
7380. The comrmon antelope {A. Cervicapra L.) abounds in Barbary, and in all the northern parts of
Africa. It is somewhat less th^n the fallow deer : its horns are about sixteen inches long, surrounded
with prominent rings almost to the top, where they are twelve inches distant from point to point. The
horns are remarkable for a beautiful double flexion, which gives them the appearance of the Ivre of the
ancients. The colour of the hair on the back is brown, mixed with red ; the belly and inside of the thighs
white ; and the tail short
7381. The chamois antelope {A. .Rupicapra, J?g. 914. a) was formerly considered as belonging to the genus
Ckpra, and is generally called the
914 OfrJI J\ chamois goat It is found on the
'^ mountains of Switzerland, where it
is very shy, and hunted both for its
flesh and skin. (342.)
7382. The Scythian antelope {A.
Saiga L.) bears a good cfeal of
resemblance to the common goat,
and it is fully as easily tamed. They
are found in immense flocks on the
banks of Borysthenes and other parts
of Russia, where they are valued
both for the flesh and their skin,
which is equal to that of the chamois
for gloves.
7383. The nilgau, or white-footed
antelope {A. picta L. fig. 914. b), is a
large and beautiful species, known
only within the space of a few years
past Its height is four feet one
inch to the top of the shoulders ; its length, from the bottom of the neck to the base of the tail, four feet ;
and the colour a fine dark grey. The nilgau has of late years been often importeil into Europe, and has
bred in England- In confinement, it is generally pretty gentle, but is sometimes seizetl by fits of sudden
caprice, when it will attack with great violence the object of its displeasure. The nilgau is said to go
3 Z 3
1078
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
I feVn""^^*^""^ "'"" ^°'^^^^' ^"f> to produce sometimes two at a birth : the young is of the colour of
naS^s\s^bfr.?<fonMv^,rv"°'i5h °^^u- '^f""''^' u ^"t'^'ope« "^i§ht probably be acclimated and introduced in
parks as objects of luxury The cultivator who first succeeded in breeding them would find an amnio
demand at his own price if they happened to come in vogue. ^
7385. The camel (Camelus L.) is a genus of which there are several species, three
of which, the dromedary, or Arabian camel
(Jig. 915.), the Bactrian camel, and the
lama or Peruvian sheep, might certainly be
partially acclimated in England, as the
first is in Italy. (297.) They live upon
a very little of the coarsest herbage ; might
have a warm house well littered to retire to
in winter, or in cold nights, and would form
a singular ornament to park scenery. Be-
sides their hair and skin are valuable, and
they might be sold perhaps to romantic tra-
vellers or cavalier quacks.
7386. T/ie lama (Camelus Glama L.,
Jig. 916.) is the camel of South America;
and appears to hold a middle place between the sheep, deer, and camel.
7387. Befwe the entrance of the Spaniards,
lamas were the only beasts of burden known to
the South Americans. Like camels, they travel
slowly, but are persevering, tractable, ariii very
sure-footed. Since the introduction of mules,
they are much less cultivated ; but before they
were depended on to carry the ores dug out of
the rich mines of Potosi. The lama is furnished
as the camel with ability to abstain from water,
by keeping a quantity in its second stomach.
Like the camel, its feet also divide, and spread ;
but by no means equal to those of the camel. It
is also furnished with a singular protuberance or
spur behind, which enables it thel)etter to lay hold
on the ground. Tiie tame are of various colours,
and some of them are smooth and others rough.
The height of the lama is about four feet, and
its length from the neck to the tail about six
feet. It has a capacity of throwing out the
saliva to a considerable distance, but which is
not possessed of any acrid quality.
7388. The camelopard (Camelopardalis Girciffa L.), a most singular and noble animal,
seventeen feet high, and as tame and gentle as the camel, might also be naturalised. It
lives on the green spray of trees and grass, and frequents forests.
7389. The elephant, rhinoceros, musk ox, and a variety of other exotic domestics,
might be so far acclimated as to live in Britain as they do in the Jardin des Plantes at
Paris, viz., with an enclosure for each sort, and a lodge or house for protection in winter
or during inclement weather. Were as much attention paid to acclimating .foreign
animals as there is directed to the same branch of culture in plants, we should soon
possess a rich Fauna ; and tlie public taste may in time take this direction.
7390. In acclimating the more tender animals, it might be desirable to rear a few
generations, first in the south of Italy or in Spain, next in Inance, and afterwards in the
south of England. But the camel, musk ox, zebra, quagga, and antelope might be had
at once from the acclimated stock in Italy.
7391. The dog (Csiuh familihrh) is an animal of universal utility and interest. From
the earliest ages he has been the companion and assistant of the herdsman ; and without
his aid the flocks must have been confined to narrow limits, and consequently their
propagation would have been greatly lessened. But hardy and bold, he watched by
night, and toiled by day ; securing his charge from the human thief, or the ravenous
predatory beasts in the one, and collecting and organising their march during the other.
Without the dog, sheep-faraiers of the present day would be often at a loss to restrain
the wanderings of their flocks ; nor is he less useful in guarding the yard by niglitly
watchings.
7392. The genus Cants includes other animals, as the wolf, the fox, the jackal, and the hya?na : and
many naturalists have supposed our subject, the dog, to be only a mixed animal, originating from the
union of some of these. Such is the opinion of Guldenstadt, Pallas, and Pennant; while the higher
names of Blumenbach and Cuvier are ranged among those who assign him a distinct and specific origin.
Blaine, who has long successfully advocated the cause of the dog, has bestowed much research on this
Eoint; and appears clearly to have traced the dog through his numerous varieties, to a specific origin ;
ut whether originating from a specific or a spurious source, the dog has descended down into such innu-
merable varieties, that a detail of the forms and properties of them, as they appear among us only, would
be utterly impossible. The wants as well as the luxuries of man have, however, laid hold on some of
these varieties, and have fixed them into permanencies, by confining the sexual intercourse to their con-
geners alone; and of this number there are no less than forty. It would be unnecessary to draw the
character of the dog as stated at length bv Linnieus and others ; the outlines are the same in all
Book VII.
DOGS.
1079
7393. The shepherd's dog, in an agricultural point of view, ranks foremost among the numerous varie-
ties ; indeed, tlie fanciful Bufton makes him the father of the whole race of dogs. But did no other dilB.
culty arise, an insuperable one would be found in the opposite characters which different breeds of this
dog possess. Few animals can be more unlike than the small sheep-dog of the Highlands of Scotland and
the monstrous drover's dog of Smith field.
7' 94. The English sheep-dog {fig. 917.) is usually larger than the northern, is longer on the legs, and
has been so long accustomed to have the tail taken off nearly close to the rump, that in some instances
917 the custom has operated on nature ; and these dogs are sometimes pupped
tailless. The shepherd's dog is not, however, usually bred so large as the
real cattle or drover's dog ; but is yet sufficiently strong and fierce. Their
colour is in general black and white, with half-pricked ears : they are ex-
tremely docile and intelligent, and seem almost to understand the looks of
tlie shepherd. Some of them are smooth-coated ; but by far the greater
number are rough, and have their hair crisped, which enables them better
to bear the effects of continued exposure. The dog very erroneously de-
scribed by minor naturalists as the cur dog is nothing more than the shep-
herd's dog, confined principally to the operations of the farm ; and often
bred taller, and either smooth or rough, according to circumstances. The
very term cur destroys all individuality of breed ; it being applied to characterise any dog of spurious
origin : neither in these farm-yard dogs is any characteristic difference whatever observed in forms,
qualities, or uses. When the sheep-dog is generally employed in watching the farm-yard, he becomes
more fierce and aclive ; he accommodates his powers to the particular circumstances required of him; he
knows every field, and every beast, and keeps the whole in subjection. His bite is keen, and principally
directed at the heels of cattle, by which he keeps himself safe, and does not injure them.
7395 The sheep-dogs of Scotland are varied in form and size (figs. 918. and 919 ), but are all of them
usually smaller tnan those in use in England : they are, nevertheless, without competitors in sagacity and
91y excellence. Their general characters are, ears partially upright, head
rather pointed, shaggy coat, and a remarkable villosity or fulness of tail
beneath. Immense flocks of sheep may be 91 9
seen ranging the wilds, without other con-
trol save the shepherd and his dog, which
receives his commands, executes them, and
then waits for further instructions : or he
often aits with great judgiiient and prompti-
tude fiom the impulses of his own sagacity,
in which, perhaps, these dogs never shine
more than in their readiness to distinguish
the individuals of their own flocks, and their adroitness in keeping out intruders. In driving a number
of sheep to anv distance, a well trained dog never fails to confine the sheep to the road : he watches every
avenues that leads from it, where he takes his stand, threatening every delinquent; and pursues the
stragglers, forcing them into the ranks without doing them any injury. If the herdsman be at any time
absent, he rests satisfied, knowing his dog will not abandon his charge, but will keep them together; and
the moment he returns, the sagacious animal gives up his trust, or conducts them to his master, according
to the word or signal given.
7396. The tnastijfot guard {fig. 920.) is a noble animal, derived from the Dane; but by selection and
(.'/----^ cultivation is rendered thicker and heavier, though less tall than his
//^•-A 920 r~'^"vf^ original. The powers of this dog are immense ; and as a guard he is
Ij U j^f^^^m unrivalled; having the ferocity of a tiger to a stranger, with the gen-
* V >^/ "^ .3*^ tleness of a lamb towards those he knows. His sagacity in detecting
the attempts of robbers, and his fidelity in resisting all their bribes,
are such, that it is to be lamented his breed has given place to
that of the Newfoundland dog, whose qualities as a guard are cer-
tainly not equal to his. The mastiff is characterised by small pen-
dulous ears, smooth coat, colour various, often reddish or brindled.
The lips are pendulous, jaws of immense strength, but seldom under-
hung; and his general form is symmetrical for strength.
7397. The bull-dog can no otherwise be considered as connected
with agriculture, than as he is too often used in the disgraceful and
inhuman sport of bull-baiting: and however we may admire his in-
vincible fortitude, and his contempt of pain and danger, we must
allow him to be the most useless among the dog species. In his attack on cattle he always aims at the
front, ar*d generally fastens on the upper lip, where he will hang in spite of every effbrt of the animal to
disengage himself
73*'8. The Mrier (fig. 921.) is a dog of very great utility, and of very varied form and size. His qualities
have gained him the greatest care in selection, training, and continuing the numerous distinct breeds we
90 J witness. The principal varieties may be reduced into the rough and the
smooth breeds. The rough breed is originally derived from Scotland,
where it is still preserved in a few families in its original purity. These
specimens are seldom large, but are exceedingly rough and shaggy in their
hair, which is much crisped and brindled. Tne rough breed in England
has become larger, and is very often seen white. When mixed with the
bull breed, this terrier becomes fierce, much inclined to combat, and forms
an excellent guard. The s7nooth breed produces endless varieties; the
principal of which is an elegant black animal with tan markings. A
second variety is of varied colours, smaller, thicker, and longer ; and is
used for earthing foxes, badger-baiting, and vermin killing in general.
For rabbit hunting, a wry-legged breed is in considerable request. Although particular varieties are
often appropriated to particular purposes, yet all have a common property which renders them invaluable
to the agriculturist; which is tiieir determined hostility to those animals termed vermin, as foxes, otters,
badgers, polecats ; with rats and mice. To attack the former, they are bred strong, and have a portion of
the bull breed in them : for the latter, their hardihood, activity, and keenness of gripe are particularly
studied, in which the middle-sized breeds are frequently found to excel
7399. The pointer, setter, and spaniel {fig. 922.) it might seem at the first view unnecessary »:o intro-
duce to the notice of the agriculturist; but a httle examination of the subject will show that they may be
made an object of considerable importance to the farmer. Few dogs command such prices as sporting
dogs ; and few persons have such opportunities of rearing them so cheaply, or so well, as farmers. Many
farmers shoot game; most of them do it more or less : and it would be very easy to make two brace of
pointers or setters, with one or two brace of spaniels, pay a considerable part of the rent of the farm, with-
out other expense than skim-milk and potatoes, or occasionally a little barley meal. We will suppose
that a farm has on it three pointer bitches, and one pointer dog, all of acknowledged excellence, and two
out of the three bitches may be expected to go to heat early, and to produce progeny between the seasons
of shooting, when they are wanted : from these, four brace of puppies may be saved, and by continually
following the servants and their master, they will beromc so handy, that their breaking may be cflected
3 Z 4
1080 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
daily, and without any other trouble than what occurs In restraining them when a little wiJd, If tfieir
breed is very good, their stopping and backing will commence towards the end of the first season, and dur-
ing the periods between this and the next autumn they may be steadied and practised in fetching their
game, &c., as directed in good sporting works. At the commencement of the following season, if they have
l>een well attended to, although only fifteen months old, the whole may be sold to the London or country
dealers, to average six or seven guineas each : or if sold privately, they will fetch from eight to twelve and
fifteen guineas each, out of which, perhaps, not more than half a guinea can fairly be deducted for keep,
&c. The trouble occasioned to the master will be trifling, because connected with a pleasing employ to
him as a sportsman, and who will thus have his own sporters for nothing.
7400. Setters, as more valuable, will fetch a higher price ; but they do not always command so ready a
sale, and are more troublesome to break.
7401. Spaniels are commonly thought, but most erroneously, almost to bre^ themselves. A really well
broke spaniel, however, is so rare, that instead of being worth two or three guineas, which is the usual
price, it will fetch from five to ten pounds. It would be even less difficult to the farmer to rear spaniels
than pointers ; and by following him continually about the grounds they might be taught perfect obe-
dience, and close rangings, which are the grand requisites, without trouble or expense. In this way, four
or five brace might he easily brought every season to mari.et, and would always command a ready sale,
and a price according to the perfection of their breaking.
7402. In the breeding and rearing of dogs for the above purposes, it is necessary to observe the greatest
care in their original selection ; that the breed be of the very best, and one which as it were breaks itself,
for this shows the nurity of the breed. It is likewise no less necessary that the breed be carefully pre-
served so; to do which, the moment the dogs begin to smell at a bitch, shut her and the intended male
closely up, in a confinement inaccessible to other dogs, and there let them remain a fortnight It is like-
wise almost equally necessary, that the dogs peculiarly appropriated to agriculturists, particularly the
shepherd's dog, should be bred as pure ; for no animal is more liable to sport into varieties. No crossing
can on any account be permitted j but choice may be made among families of the same variety. In the
rearing of this dog, his education should be early and carefully attended to, to make him hardy and fami-
liar with all the signs of the shepherd, who ought himself to be equal to the regular education of his own
dog.
7403. The diseases of dogs are very numerous. The following are described by Blaine
as the most prevalent, with their methods of cure.
7404. The canine asthma is hardly ever observed to attack any but either old dogs, or those who, by
confinement, too full living, and want of exercise, may be supposed to have become diseased by these de-
viations from a state of nature. It is hardly possible to keep a dog very fat for any great length of time,
without bringing it on. This cough is frequently confounded with the cough that precedes and accom.
panics distemper ; but it may be readily distinguished from this by an attention to circumstances, as the
age of the animal, its not affecting the general health, nor producing immediate emaciation, and its less
readily giving way to medicine.
7405. Tfie cure is often very difficult, because the disease has in general been long neglected before it is
sufficiently noticed by the owners. As it is usually brought on by confinement, too much warmth, and
over-feeding ; so it is evident the cure must be begun by a steady persevering alteration in these parti-
culars. The medicines most useful are alteratives, and of these occasional emetics are the best. One grain
of tartarised antimony (i. e. tartar emetic), with two, three, or four grains of calomel, is a very useful and
valuable emetic. This dose is sufficient for a small dog, and may be repeated twice a week with great
success, — always with palliation.
7406. Of diseases of the eyes, dogs are subject to almost as great a variety as ourselves, many of which
end in blindness. No treatment yet discovered will remove or prevent this complaint.
7407. Sore eyes, though not in general ending in blindness, is very common among dogs. It is an afflic-
tion of the eyelids, is not unlike the scrofulous affection of the human eyelids, and is equally benefited
by the same treatment : an unguent made of equal parts of nitrated quicksilver ointment, prepared tutty
and lard, very lightly applied. Dropsy of the eyeball is likewise sometimes met with, but is incurable.
7408 Cancer. The virulent dreadful ulcer, that is so fatal in the human subject and is called cancer,
is unknown in dogs; yet there is very commonly a large scirrhous swelling of the teats in bitches, and of
the testicles (though less frequent) in dogs, that as it sometimes becomes ulcerated, so it may be charac
terised by this name. In the early state of the disease discutients prove useful, as vinegar with salt, and
camnhor and Spanish flies, with mercurial ointment, have sometimes succeeded; taking care to avoid
irritating the part so much as to produce blister. But when the swelling is detached from the belly, and
liangs pendulous in the skin, it had better be removed, and as a future preventive suffer the bitch to
breed. Scirrhous testicles are Ukewise sometimes met with ; for these no treatment yet discovered suc-
ceeds but the removal of the part, and that before the spermatic chord becomes much affected, or it will
be useless.
7409. Colic. Dogs are subject to two kinds of colic ; one arising from constipation of the bowels, the
other is of a kind peculiar to dogs, apparently partaking of the nature of rheumatism, and also of spasm.
From a sudden or violent exposure to cold, dogs become sometimes suddenly paralytic, particularly in the
hinder parts ; having great tenderness and pain, and every appearance of lumbago. In every instance of
this kind, there is considerable affection of the bowels, generally costiveness. always great pain. A warm
bath, external stimulants, but more particularly active aperients, remove tne colic. Colic arising from
costiveness is not in general violently acute from the pain it produces; sometimes, however, it appears
accompanied with more spasm than is immediately dependent on the confinement of the bowels. In the
former give active aperients, as calomel with pil. cochije, i. e. aloetic pill and glysters j in the latter ca«tor
oil with laudanum and ether.
7410. Cough. Two kinds of cough are common among dogs, one accompanying distemper, the other in
an asthmatic affection of the chest. (See 7404. 7411.)
7411. Distemper. This is by far the most common and most fatal among the diseases of dogs ; hardly
any young dog escaping it ; and of tlie few who do escape it in their youth, three fourths are attacked
with it at some period afterwards : it being a mistake that young dogs only have it. It, however, generally
Book VII. DISEASES OF DOGS. 1081
attacks before the animal arrives at eighteen months old. When it comes on very early, the chances of
recovery are very small It is peculiarly fatal to greyhounds, much more so than to any other kind of
dog, generally carrying them off by excessive scouring. It is very contagious, but it is by no means neces-
sary that there should be contagion present to produce it ; on the contrary, the constitutional liability
to it is such, that any cold taken may bring it on : and hence it is very common to date its commencement
from dogs being thrown into water, or shut out on a rainy day, &c. There is no disease which presents
such varieties as this, either in its mode of attack, or during its continuance. In some cases it commences
by purging, in others by fits. Some have cough only, some waste, and others have moisture from the eyes
and nose, without any other active symptom. Moist eyes, dulness, wasting, with slight cough and sick-
ness, are the common symptoms that betoken its approach. Then purging comes on, and the moisture
from the eyes and nose from mere mucus becomes pus, or matter. There is also frequently sneezing, with
a weakness in the loins. When the disease in this latter case is not speedily removed, universal palsy
comes on. During the progress of the complaint, some dogs have fits. When one fit succeeds another
quickly, the recovery is extremely doubtful. Many dogs are carried off rapidly by the fits, or by purging ;
others waste gradually from the running from the nose and eyes, and these cases are always accompanied
with great marks of putridity.
74iy. The cure. In the early stages of the complaint give emetics ; they are peculiarly useful. A large
spoonful of common salt, dissolved in three spoonfuls of warm water, has been recommended; the quan.
tity of salt being increased according to the size of the dog, and the difficulty of making him vomit :
while a dog remains strong, one every third day is not too much. The bowels should be kept open, but
active purging should be avoided. In case the complaint should be accompanied with excessive loose-
ness, it should be immediately stopped by balls made of equal parts of gum arable, prepared chalk,
and conserve of roses, with rice milk as food. Two or three grains of James's powder may be advantage,
ously given at night, in cases where the bowels are not aflfccted ; and in the cases where the matter from
the nose and eyes betokens much putridity, we have witnessed great benefits from balls made of what is
termed Friar's balsam, gum guaiacum, and chamomile flowers in powder : but the most popular remedy
is a powder prepared and vended under the name of distemper powder, with instructions for the use
of it. Dogs, in every stage of the disease, should be particularly well fed. A seton we have not found
so useful as is generally supposed : where the nose is much stopped, rubbing tar on the upper part is
beneficial ; and when there is much stupidity, and the head seems much affected, a blister on the top is
often serviceable.
7413. Fits- Dogs are peculiarly subject to fits. These are of various kinds, and arise from various
causes. In distemper, dogs are frequently attacked with convulsive fits, which begin with a champing of the
mouth and shaking of the head, gradually extending over the whole body. Sometimes an active emetic
will stop their progress, but more generally they prove fatal. Worms are often the cause of fits in dogs.
Tliese deprive the animal wholly of sense; he runs wild till he becomes exhausted, when he gra-
dually recovers, and perhaps does not have one again for some weeks. Confinement produces fits ana
likewise costiveness. Cold water thrown over a dog will generally remove the present attack of a fit ;
and for the prevention of their future recurrence, it is evident that the foregoing account of causes must
be attended to,
7414. Inflamed bowels. Dogs are very subject to inflammation of their bowels, from costiveness, from
cold, or from poison. When inflammation arises from costiveness it is in general very slow in its progress,
and is not attended with very acute pain, but it is characterised by the want of evacuation and the vomiting
of the food taken, though it may be eaten with apparent appetite. In these cases the principal means to
be made use of are, the removal of the constipation by active purging, clysters, and the warm bath. Calo-
mel with aloes forms the best purge. But when the inflammation may be supposed to arise from cold,
then the removing of any costiveness that may be present is but a secondary consideration. This active
kind of inflammation is characterised by violent panting, total rejection of food, and constant sickness.
There is great heat in the belly, and great pain ; it is also accompanied with great weakness, and the eyes
are very red. The bowels should be gently opened with clysters, but no aloes or calomel should be made
use of. The belly should be blistered, having first used the warm bath. When the inflammation arises
from poison, there is then constant sickness ; the nose, paws, and ears are cold; and there is a frequent
evacuation of brown or bloody stools. Castor oil should be given, and clysters of mutton broth thrown up ;
but it is seldom any treatment succeeds.
7415. Inflamed lungs. Pleurisy is not an uncommon disease among dogs. It is sometimes epidemic,
carrying off great numbers. Its attack is rapid, and it generallv terminates in death on the third day, by
a great effusion of water in the chest. It is seldom that it is taken in time j when it is, bleeding is useful,
and blisters may be applied to the chest
7416. Madness. The symptoms of madness are concisely summed up by Daniel, in the following words : —
*• At first the dog looks dull, shows an aversion to his food and company, does not bark as usual, but seems
to murmur ; is peevish and apt to bite strangers ; his ears and tail droop more than usual, and he ai^ears
drowsy : afterwards he begins to loll out his tongue and froth at the mouth, his eyes seeming heavy and
watery. If not confined he soon goes off, runs panting along with a dejected air, and endeavours to bite
any one he meets. If the mad dog escapes being killed, he seldom runs above two or three days, when he
dies exhausted with heat, hunger, and disease." As this is a subject of no slight importance, we shall
stand excused for introducing the criteria as described by Blaine, whose account of the disease, founded
on long experience and attentive observation, is calculated to remove many unfounded and dangerous
prejudices relative to it. He describes it as commencing sometimes by dulness, stupidity, and retreat
from observation ; but more frequently, particularly in those dogs which are immediately domesticated
around us, by some alteration in their natural habits ; as a disposition to pick up and swallow every
minute object on the ground ; or to lick the parts of another dog incessantly ; or to lap his own urine, &c.
About the second or third day the disease usually resolves itself into one of two types. The one is called
raging, and the other dumb madness. These distinctions are not, however, always clear ; and to which is
owing so much discrepancy in the accounts given by different persons of the disease.
7417. The raging madness, by its term, has led to an erroneous conclusion, that it is accompanied with
violence and fury ; which, however, is seldom the case : such dogs are irritable and snappish, and will
commonly fly at a stick held to them, and are impatient of restraint : but they are seldom violent except
when irritated or worried. On the contrary, till the last moment they will often acknowledge the voice
of their master and yield some obedience to it. Neither will they usually turn out of their way to bite
human beings ; but they have an instinctive disposition to do it to dogs ; and in a minor degree to other
animals also : but, as before observed, they seldom attack mankind without provocation.
7418. Dumb madness is so called because there is seldom any barking neard, but more particularly
because the jaw drops paralytic, and the tongue lolls out of the mouth, black, and apparently strangulated.
A strong general character of the disease is, the disposition to scratch their bed towards their belly ; and
equally so is the general tendency to eat trash, as hay, straw, wood, coals, dirt, &c. : and it should be
remembered, that this is so very common and so invariable, that the finding these matters in the stomach
after death, should always render a suspicion formed of the existence of tTfe disease confirmed into
certainty. Blaine is also at great pains to disprove the notion generally entertained, that rabid dogs are
averse from water ; and neither drink nor come near it This error he contends has led to most dangerous
results; and is so far from true, that mad dogs from their heat and fever are soHcitous for water, and lap
it eagerly. When the dumb kind exists in its full force, dogs cannot swallow what they attempt to lap ;
but still they will plunge their heads in it, and appear to feel relief by it : but in no instance out of many
hundreds did he ever discover the smallest aversion from it. He lays very great stress on the noi.sc made by
1082 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut III.
rabid dogs, which he says is neither a bark nor a howl, but a tone compounded of both. It has been said by
some that this disorder is occasioned by heat or bad food, and by others that it never arises from any other
cause but the bite. Accordingly this malady is rare in the northern parts of Turkey, more rare in the
southern provinces of that empire, and totally unknown under the burning sky of Egypt. At Aleppo,
where these animals perish in great numbers, for want of water and food, and by the heat of the climate,
this disorder was never known. In other parts of Africa, and in the hottest zone of America, dogs are
never attacked with madness. Blaine knows of no instance of the complaint being cured, althougii he
has tried, to their fullest extent, the popular remedies of profuse bleedinijs, strong mercurial and arsenical
doses, vinegar, partial drowning, nightshade, water plantain, &c. ; he therefore recommends the attention
to be principally directed towards the prevention of the malady.
7419. The preventive treatrueyit of rabies or tn :diu'ss is, according to Blaine, always an easy process in
the human subject, from the immediate part bitten being easily detected ; in which case the removal of
the part by excision or cautery is an efi'ectual remedy. But, unfortunately for the agriculturist, it is not
easy to detect the bitten parts in cattle, nor in dogs ; and it would be therefore most desirable if a certain
internal preventive were generally known. Dr. Mead's powder, the Ormskirk powder, sea-bathing, and
many other nostrums are deservedly in disrepute ; while a few country medicines, but little known be-
yond their immediate precincts, have maintained some character. Conceiving that these must all possess
some ingredient in common, he was at pains to discover it ; and which he appears to have realised by
obtaining among others the composition of Webb's Watford drink. In this mixture, which is detailed
below, he considers the active ingredient to be the J?tixus or box, which has been known as a prophylactic
as long as the times of Hippocrates and Celsus, who both mention it. The recipe detailed below nas been
administered to nearly three hundred animals of different kinds, as horses, cows, sheep, swine, and dogsj
and appears to have succeeded in a very great majority of the cases, where it was fairly taken and kept on
the stomach. It appears also to have strong prophylactic powers in the human subject ; but as it would be
most imprudent to trust to it alone, where excision can be practised, so it will be long before the extent of
such power can be ascertained in man. The box preventive is thus directed to be prepared : —
Take of the fresh leaves of the tree-box 2 ounces,
of the fresh leaves of rue - - 2 ounces,
of sage - . ... I ounce.
Chop these fine, and boil in a pint of water to half a pint ; strain carefully, and press out the liquor very
firmly ; put back the ingredients into a pint of milk, and boil again to half a pint ; strain as before ; mix
both liquors, which forms three doses for a human subject. Double this quantity is proper for a horse or
cow. Two thirds of the quantity is sufficient for a large dog ; half for a middling-sized, and one third for
a small dog. Three doses are sufficient, given one on each of three subsequent mornings fasting; the
quantity directed being tliat which forms these three doses. As it sometimes produces strong effects on
dogs, it may be proper to begin with a small dose ; but in the case of dogs we hold it always prudent to in-
crease the dose till effects are evident, by the sickness, panting, and uneasiness of the dog. In the human
subject, where this remedy appears equally efficacious, we have never witnessed any unpleasant or active
effects ; neither are such observed in cattle of any kind. About forty human beings have taken this
remedy, and in every instance it has succeeded equally as with animals : but candour obliges us to notice,
that in the maj )r part of these, other means were used, as the actual or potential cautery ; but in most of
the animals other means were purposely omitted. I'hat this remedy, therefore, has a preventive quality,
is unquestionable, and now perfectly established ; for there was not the smallest doubt of the animals men-
tioned either having been bitten, or of the dog being mad that bit them, as great pains were in every in-
stance taken to ascertain these points.
7420. To prevent canine tJiadness Pliny recommends worming of dogs; and from his time to the i)resent
it has had, most deservedly says Daniel, its advocates. He tells us that he has had various opportunities
of proving the usefulness of this practice, and recommends its general introduction. Blaine, on the con-
trary, asserts, that the practice of worming is wholly useless and founded in error ; that the existence of
any thing like a worm under the tongue is incontestably proved to be false ; and that what has been taken
for it is merely a deep ligature of the skin, placed there to restrain the tongue in its motions. He also
observes, that the pendulous state of the tongue in what is termed dumb madness, with the existence of
a partial paralysis of the under jaw by which they could not bite, having happened to dogs previously
wormed, has made the inability to be attributed to this source, but which is wholly an accidental circum-
stance, and happens equally to the wormed and unwormed dog.
7421. Mange. This is a very frequent disease in dogs, and is an affection of the skin, either caught by
contagion or generated by the animal. 'l"he scabby mange breaks out in blotches along the back and neck,
and is common to Newfoundland dogs, terriers, pointers, and spaniels, and is the most contagious. The
cure should be begun by removing the first exciting cause, if removable ; such as filth or poverty, or, as
more general the contrary (for both will equally produce it), too full living : then an application should
be made to the parts, consisting of sulphur and sal ammoniac; tar-lime-water will also assist. When
there is much heat and itching, bleed and purge. Mercurials sometimes assist, but they should be used
with caution ; dogs do not bear them well.
7422. Worms. Dogs suffer very much from worms, which, as in most animals so in them, are of several
kinds ; but the effects produced are nearly similar. In dogs having the worms the coat generally stares ;
the appetite is ravenous, though the animal frequently does not thrive ; the breath smells; and the stools
are singular, sometimes loose and flimsy, at others hard and dry : but the most evil they produce is occa-
sional tits, or sometimes a continued state of convulsion, in which the animal lingers some time, and then
dies: the fits they produce are sometimes of the violent kind ; at others they exhibit a more stupid cha-
racter, the dog being senseless and going round continually. The cure consists, while in this state, in
active purgatives, joined with opium and the warm bath; any rough substance given internally acts as a
vermifuge to prevent the recurrence.
7423. The worming of whelps is performed with a lancet, to slit the thin skin which immediately covers
what is called the worm ; a small awl is then to be introduced under the centre of the worm to raise it up ;
the farther end of the worm will, with very little force, make its appearance, and with a cloth taking hold
of that end, the other will be drawn out easily. The advocates for worming direct that care should be
taken that the whole of the worm comes away without breaking; and it rarely breaks, unless cut into by
the lancet or wounded by the awl.
7424. The cat (JPelis Catus L.) is distinguished from the lion, tiger, leopard, and others
of the genus jpelis, by its annulate tail.
7425. Its habits are thus given by Linnsus : — " Inhabits woods of Europe and Asia; domesticated
every where ; when tranquil purrs, moving the tail ; when irritated is very active, climbs, spits, emits a
fetid odour ; eyes shine at night, the pupil by the day a perpendicular line, by night large, round ; walks
with its claws drawn in ; drinks sparingly ; urine of the male corrosive ; breath fetid ; buries its excre-
ments ; makes a horrid mewling in its amours; mews after and plays with its kittens ; wags its tail when
looking after prey ; the lion of mice, birds, and the smaller quadrupeds ; peaceful among its tribe ; eats
flesh and fish ; refuses hot or salted things and vegetables ; washes behind its ears before a storm ; back
electric in the dark; when thrown up, falls on its feet; is not infested with fleas; gravid sixty-three days;
brings three to nine young, blind nine days ; delights in marum, cat-mint, and valerian."
7426. The cat is qf great use in the farmery in catching mice, rats, and even birds. It is most desirable
to keep males, as where females are kept the noisy gallantry of tlie adjoining tom-cats is exceedingly an-
noying.
iJoOK VII.
POULTRY HOUSES.
1083
7427. The Genet cat (Fiverra Genelta) is a species of weasel, with an annulate tail and slotted blackish
tawny body. It is a native of Asia, Spain, and France ; is mild and easily tamed ; and answers all the pur.
poses of a cat at Constantinople and other places.
7428. The ferret (Mustela, Furo L., Jig. 923.) is an animal of the weasel and polecat
923 kind, distinguished by its red fiery eyes.
7429. It is a native of Africa, but is tamed in Europe for
the purpose of catching rabbits. It procreates twice a year,
is gravid six weeks, and brings from six to eight young ; smells
very fetid. The ferret is very susceptible of cold, and must
be kept in a box provided with wool or otiier warm materials,
and may be fed with bread and milk. Its sleep is long and
profound, and it awakes with a voracious appetite, which is
most highly gratified by the blood of small and young animals.
Its enmity to rats and rabbits is unspeakalile, and when either
are, though for the first time, presented to it, it seizes and bites them with the most frenzied madness.
When employed to expel the rabbit from its burrows it must be muzzled, as otherwise it will suck the
blood of its victim and instantly fall into a profound sleep, from which it will awake only to the work of
destruction, committing in the warren, wliere it was introduced only for its services, the most dreadful
waste and havoc. It is possessed of high irritability, and when particularly excited is attended with an
odour extremely offensive.
Chap. IX.
Animals of the Bird kind employed in Agriculture.
7430. Though poultry form a very insignificant part of the live stock of a farm, yet
they ought not to be altogether despised. In the largest farm a few domestic fowls
pick up what might escape the pigs and be lost ; and on small farms and among cot-
tagers, the breeding and rearing of early chickens and ducks, and in some situations the
rearing of turkeys and the keeping of geese, are found profitable. There are few who
do not relish a new egg or a pancake, not to say the flesh of fowls ; and there are some
of these comforts which happily can be had in as great perfection in the cottage as in the
palace. The various kinds of domestic fowls and birds which are used in agriculture
may be classed as gallinaceous, or with cleft feet ; anserine, or web-footed ; and birds of
fancy or luxury. Before proceeding to the first division we shall offer some remarks on
poultry hovels.
Sect. I. Poultry Houses and their Furniture and Utensils.
7431. The situation of the poultry house should be dry, and exposed either to the east
or south-east, so as to enjoy the sun's rays in winter as soon as he appears above the
horizon. Though in many cases all the commoner sorts of poultry are lodged in the
same apartment ; yet to be able to bestow on each species its proper treatment, they ought
to be separated by divisions, and enter by separate doors. Apartments for aquatic fowls
may be made in part under those of the gallinaceous tribe, and the peacock often prefers
roosting on a tree, or on the roof of high buildings, when it forms an excellent watch
bird to the poultry-yard or farmery.
7432. Where a complete set of poultry houses are intended, then a situation should be fixed on near or
close to the farmery, and with ample space around for the fowls to disperse over in the day-time, and one
or more ponds for the aquatic sorts. A space thirty feet by fifty feet may be made choice of for the build-
ings and yard (fig. 924); the building may be ranged along the north side, and the three other sides
enclosed with a trellis or wire fence from six to eight feet in
height, and subdivided with similar fences according to the
number of apartments. The hen-house {a) and turkey-house (6)
may have their roosts (c c) in part over the low houses for ducks
(rf)'and geese (e), and besides these there may be other apart-
ments (/, g, h) for hatching or newly hatched broods, for fat-
tening, to serve as an hospital, or for retaining, boiling, or
otherwise preparing food, killing poultry, and other purposes.
A flue may pass through the whole in moist or very severe
weather ; the walls should be built hollow in the manner al-
ready described (7002.), which will at the same time be a saving
of material ; and the windows ought to have outside shutters,
both for excluding excessive heats and excessive colds. In
every apartment there ought to be a window opposite the door, in order to create a thorough draught when
both are opened, and also a valve in the roof to admit the escape of the hottest and lightest air. Every
door ought to have a small opening at bottom, for the admission of the fowls when the door is shut. The
elevation [fig. 925.) should be in a simple style, and there may be a pigeonry over the central building.
1084
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
III.
7433. In ordinary cases, where poultry are kept on a farm merely to consume what would otherwise
be lost, one or two comi)artments of the low range of buildings on the south side of the yard are usually
devoted to them, or any dry convenient place, according to the general plan of the farmery.
7^4. The furniture or fixtures of the poultry houses are very few ; the roost is sometimes a mere floor
or loft, to which the bird« fly up or ascend by a ladder ; at other times it is nothing more than the couji-
ling timbers of the roof, or a series of cross battens : but the most approved mode is a series of rough
polygonal or angular battens or rods rising in gradation from the floor to the roof, as already explained
(^8W. and 2812.) ; the battens placed at such a distance horizontally, as that the birds when roosting
may not incommode each other by their droppings. For this purpose they should be a foot apart for hens,
and eighteen inches apart for turkeys. The slope of the roost may be about 45°, and the lower part should
lift up by hinges in order to admit a person beneath to remove the dung. No flying is requisite in the
case of such a roost, as the birds ascend and descend by steps.
7435. Nests are sometimes fixtures, in which case they are nitches built against the wall, not unlike
wine bins; where there is more than one tier on the ground floor, each superincumbent range must
have a projecting balcony in front of about a foot in width, with stairs of ascent at convenient distances.
7436. A small boiler for preparing food may sometimes be requisite, though on a small scale this may be
done in the kitchen. Watering troughs are generally fixed in the yards. In confined situations there
should be a large cistern of sand, in which the fowls may nestle and roll about in order to free themselves
from vermin ; there should also be a spot composed of gravel, sand, and soft earth, for nearly the same
purpose, but more especially for exercising the young chickens. A roof for shelter and protection from
the sun may very appropriately be placed over this last compartment, or a part of it.
7437. The utensils are the portable nest, [fig. 926. a), coops (6 c), portable shelter (</) ; feeding dishes,
926
corn bin for retaining a store of food, egg basket, and feather bags. We avoid enumerating the utensils
used in cramming, considering that unwholesome and disgusting practice as unfit for the present age.
An improved poultry feeder (fig. 927.) has
lately been published in the Transactions qf
the Highland Society. It is made to hold
half a quarter of grain, not one particle of
which can be lost. Wlien once filled, it re-
quires no more trouble, as the grain falls
down into the receiver below, as the fowls
pick it away ; and the covers on that, which
are opened by perches, and the iron cover
above, which is secured by a padlock, com.
pletely keep the grain from the rain, so that
the fowls get it always quite dry ; and as
nothing less than the weight of a hen on a
perch can lift a cover on the lower receiver,
sparrows, and other small birds, are com-
pletely excluded, whilst the small cross bars
through which the fowls pick prevent cattle
and other large animals from getting at the
grain. It is astonishing with what facility
the fowls learn to leap upon the perch, and
so open the cover of the receiver which
covers the grain.
<j-2ii
Sect. II. Ganiiiaceotis Fowls, their Kinds, Breeding, Rearing, and Managetnent.
7438. Under the order GaUin&s are included the common hen, tuikey, Guinea, and
peacock ; and we shall here treat of each of these birds in succession.
743a The different species of fowls, that is, of cocks and hens, inhabit in their native state the continent
and islands of Asiatic India. Naturalists have not agreed whether
these numerous varieties of this most useful bird, seen in a domes-
ticated state, have originated from one or from two species. M. Tem-
minck considers the Bankiva co(;k (Gallus Banklva) as the origin of
our domestic poultry ; while others think they may have sprang from
the Jungle cock {fig. 928. G. SonnerJit»), still found in tne greatest
plenty in the forests of India. The term chicken is applied to the
female young of gallinaceous animals till they are four months old;
afterwards they are called pullets, till they begin to lay, when they
oecome hens. The male is a chicken till he is three months old,
then he is a cock bird till the age of twelve months, when he becomes
a cock ; unless, indeed, he has been artificially deprived of the faculty
of procreation, when he becomes a capon ; and when the ovarium is
taken from a pullet or hen, she is called a hen capon.
7440. The varieties of a bird so long under culture may naturally
be expected to be numerous ; those most esteemed in Britain, at the
present time, are the following : —
7441. The common dunghill cock and hen, middle size, of every
colour, and hardy.
7442. The game cock and hen {fig. 929.), rather small in size, deli-
cate in limb, colour generally red or brown ; flesh white, and su-
Book VII.
GALLINACEOUS FOWLS.
1085
perior to that of any other variety
richness and delicacy of flavour ; eggs small, fine shaped, and
extremely delicate : the
chickens are difficult to
rear from their pugna-
city of disposition. The
game cock has long been
a bird both of cruel and
curious snort in this as
well as other countries ;
but the taste for these
amusements^ like that
for others suited to times
of comparative leisure
and ignorance, is now
happily on the decline
in Britain.
7443. The Dorking
cock and hen (Jig. 930. ),
so called from the town
in Surrey of that name,
is the largest variety ;
shape handsome ; body
long and capacious ; legs
short, five claws on each foot j eggs large, and lays abundantly ; colour of the flesh inclining to yellowish
or ivory. Both hens and cocks often made
into capons.
7444. The Poland cock and hen {Jig. 931.
a) were originally imported from Hol-
land. The colour shining black, with
white tops on the head of both cock and
hen ; head flat, surmounted by a fleshy
protuberance, out of which s|)ring the
crown feathers, or top, white or black,
with the fleshy king David's crown (the
celestial in heraldry), consisting of four or
five spikes; their form plump and deep;
legs short, feet with five claws ; lay
abundantly ; are less inclined to set than
any other breed ; they fatten quickly, and
are more juicy and rich than the Dorking.
On the whole, this is one of the most use-
ful varieties. There is an ornamental
subvariety known as the golden Poland [b),
with yelk)w and black plumage.
744o. The every-day cock and hen is a
subvariety of the above, of Dutch origin ; they are of smaller size, and said to be everlasting layers. Their
tops are large, and should be pe-
riodically clipped near the eyes;
otherwise, according to Mowbray
{Treatise on Domestic Fowls, 24t.
and 115.), they will grow into the
eyes of the fowls and render them
very subject to alarm.
7446. The banta?n cock and hen
(Jig. 932 ) is a small Indian breed,
valued chiefly for its grotesque
figure and delicate flesh. Mowbray
mentioiis a subvariety, extremely
small, and as smooth-Iegged as a
same fowl. From their size and
delicacy they are very convenient,
as they may always be used as sub-
stitutes for chickens, when small
ones are not otherwise to be had.
They are also particularly useful
for sitting upon the eggs of par-
tridges and pheasants, being good
as well as good layers. There are two varieties of this breed, of which the more common is re-
932
markable for having the
legs and feet furnished
with feathers. The other,
and more scarce, variety
is even smaller ; and is
most elegantly formed, as
well as most delicately
limbed. There is a so-
ciety of fanciers of this
breed, who rear them for
prizes, among which Sir
John Sebright stands pre.
eminent.
7447. The Chittagong or Malay hen (Jig. 933.) is an Indian breed,
and the largest variety of the species. They are in colour striated,
yellow, and dark brown ; long necked, serpent-headed, and high upon
the leg ; their flesh dark, coarse, and chiefly adapted to soup. They
are good layers ; and being well fed produce large, substantial, and
nutritive eggs : but these birds are too long-legged to be steady sitters.
7448. The Shack-bag, or Duke of Leeds' breed, was formerly in great repute, but is now nearly lost. It
is sometimes to be met with at Wokingham (Oakingham), in Berkshire, and is so large, and the flesh so
white, firm, and fine, as to afford a convenient substitute for the turkey.
7449. The improved Spanish cock and hen is a cross between the Dorking and Spanish breed, also to be
found in and around Wokingham. It is a large bird with black plumage, white and delicate flesh, the
largest eggs of any British variety, and well adapted for capons.
1086 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
7i50. Breeding. The common variety is easily procurable; but the others must either be procureii
from those parts of the country where they are usually bred, or from the poulterers and bird fanciers in
large towns, and especially in London. It should be a general rule to breed from young stock ; a two-
year-old cock, or stag, and pullets in tlieir second year. Pullets in their first year, if early birds, will,
indeed, probably lay as many eggs as ever after; but the eggs are small, and such young hens are unsteady
sitters. Hens arc in tlieir prime at three years of age, and decline after five, whence, getierally, it is not
advantageous to keep them beyond that period, with the exception of those of capital qualifications. Hens
with a large comb, or which crow like the cock, are generally deemed inferior; but I have had hens with
large rose combs, and also crowers, which were upon an equality with the rest of the stock. Yellow-
legged fowls are often of a tender constitution, and always inferior in the quality of their flesh, which is
of a loose flabby texture, and ordinary flavour.
7451. The health of fowls is observable in the fresh and florid colour of the comb, and the brightness and
dryness of the eyes ; the nostrils being free from any discharge, and the healthy gloss of the plumage.
The most useful cock is generally a boki, active, and savage bird, sometimes cruel and destructive in his
fits of passion, if not well watched, to his hens, and even to his offspring. Hens above the common size
of their respective varieties are by no means preferable either as layers or setters. The indications of old
age are paleness of the comb and gills, dulness of colour, and a sort of downy stiffhess in the feathers, and
length and size of talons, the scales upon the legs becoming large and prominent
7452. The number of hens to one cock should be from four to six. the latter being the extreme number,
with a view of making the utmost advantage. Ten and even twelve hens have been formerly allowed to
one cock, but the produce of eggs and chickens under such an arrangement will seldom equal that to be
obtained from the smaller number of hens. Every one is aware that the spring is the best season to com-
mence breeding with poultry, and in truth it scarcely matters how early, presupposing the best food, ac-
commodation, and attendance, under which hens may be suffered to sit in January.
7453. The conduct of the cock towards his hens is generally of the kindest description, and sometimes, as
in the Polish breed, so remarkably so, as to be quite incredible to those who have not witnessed it. It is
not an uncommon occurrence, however, for the cock to take an antipathy to some individual hen ; when
it continues for any length of time it is best to remove her, and supply her place by another, taking care
that the stranger be not worried by the hens. Spare coops or houses will be found useful on such
occasions.
7454. The change qf a cock, from death or accident, is always attended with interruption and delay, as
it may be some considerable time before the hens will associate kindly with their new partner ; and fur-
ther, a new cock may prove dull and inactive from the change, however good in nature. This frequently
happens with cocks of the superior breeds, purchased from the London dealers, in whose coops they have
been kept in such a high state of temperature, that they are unable to endure the open air of the country,
unless in the summer season. Such being removed in autumn, winter, or early in spring, if immediately
turned abroad with hens, are liable to become aguish, torpid, and totally useless ; perhaps, in the end,
turning roupy or glandered. The only method of safety in this case is to keep such a cock in the house,
upon the best and most nourishing food, turning the hens to him several times in the day, and permitting
him to be abroad an hour or so, the weather being fine, until, in a few weeks, he shall be accustomed to
the air.
7455. In making the nests, short and soft straw is to be preferred ; because, the straw being long, the hen,
on leaving her nest, will be liable to draw it out with her claws, and with it the eggs. The hen, it is
ascertained, will breed and lay eggs without the company of a cock; of course, such eggs are barren.
7456. Eggs for setting should never exceed the age of a month, the newer to be preferred, as nearly of
a size as possible, and of the full middle size; void of the circular flaw, which indicates the double yolk,
generally unproductive, nor should there be any roughness or cracks in the shells. The number of eggs,
according to the size of the hen, from nine to fifteen, an odd number being preferable, on the supposition
of their lying more close. The eggs to be marked with a pen and ink, and examined when the hen
leaves her nest, in order to detect any fresh ones which she may have laid, and which should be imme-
diately taken from her, as they, if at all, would be hatched too late for the brood. It is taken for granted
the box and nest have been made perfectly clean for the reception of the hen, and that a new nest has not
been sluggishly or sluttishly thrown upon an old one, from the filth of which vermin are propagated, to
the great annoyance of the hen, and prevention of her steady sitting. Eggs Iwoken in the nest should
be cleared away the instant of discovery, and the remaining washed with warm water, and quickly re-
placed, lest they adhere to the hen, and be drawn out of the nest; if necessary, the hen's feathers may
also be washed, but always with warm water.
7457. With respect to the capriciousness of some hens, in the article of sitting, it is a risk which must be
left to the judgment of the attendant, who has to determine whether the hen which appears desirous of
sitting may be safely trusted with eggs. Leaving a number of eggs in the nest is an enticement. Very
frequently a hen will cluck, and appear hot for incubation, yet after sitting over her eggs a sufficient
number of hours to addle them, will then desert them ; and, probably, in the course of a lew days will be
taken with another fit of incubation. ]\fuch useless cruelty is too often exercised to prevent the hen from
sitting, when eggs, rather than chickens, are in request. A late author recommends to thrust a feather
through the hen's nostrils, in order to prevent her from sitting ; and to give her half a glass of gin, then
swing her round until seemingly dead, and confine her in a pot during a day or two, leaving her only a
small breathing hole, to force her to sit ! It is full time that those and a hundred other such utterly
useless and barbarous follies of former days, practised uix)n various animals, should be dismissed with the
contempt they merit. The pamphlet alluded to is the Epicure, by Thomas Young, a publication replete
with good things on the interesting subjects of eating, wnies, spirits, beer, cider, &c. It is written with
haut gout. {Mowbray.)
7458. Moulting. Every succeeding year after the third, the hen continues to moult later in the season,
and laying fewer or no eggs during the moulting period, which is sometimes protracted to two or three
months. It should seem that old hens are seldom to be depended upon for eggs in the winter, such being
scarcely full of feather until Christmas ; and then, probably, may not begin to lay till April, producing at
last not more than twenty or thirty eggs. In general, it is most profitable to dispose of hens whilst tney
are yet eatable or saleable for that purpose, which is in the spring of the third year. Nor do delicate
white hens lay so many eggs in the cold season as the more hardy-coloured varieties, requiring warmth
and shelter, particularly by night. Moulting, or the casting and renewal of feathers, lasts with its effects
from one to three months, according to the age and strength of the bird. Whilst under this natural course,
poultry are unfit for the table, as well as for breeding. It is the same with respect to young poultry,
whilst shedding their feathers in the spring. The regular moulting of full-grown fowls begins in the
autumn.
7459. In some hens the desire of incubation is so powerful, that they will repeat it five or six times in
the year ; in others it is so slight, that they will probably not sit more than once or twice in the season.
A skilful breeder will take advantage of these qualities, and provide abundance of eggs from the one
variety, and of chickens by means of the other. Hens, when sitting, drink more than usual : and it is
an advisable practice to place water constantly before them when in this state, and food (say corn) at
least twice a day. The time of incubation is twenty, one days. '
7460. Hatching. The chicken, hitherto rolled up like a ball, with its bill under the right wing, like a
bird asleep, begins generally on the morning of the twenty second day to break its way through the shell ;
neither the hen, nor can the art of man, with safety render them aid in this very interesting and won-
derful operation. The parental affection of the hen, as Mowbray and Parmentier have observed, is always
Book VII.
BREEDING OF POULTRY.
1087
intensely increased, when she first hears the voice of the chicks through the shells, and the strokes of
their little bills against them. The signs of a need of assistance, the former author observes, are, the egg
being partly pecked, and the efforts of the chicken discontinued for five or six hours. The shell may then
be broken cautiously, and the body of the chicken carefully separated from the viscous fluid vviiich lines
it Reaumur gives "it as his opinion, that no aid ought to be given to any chickens but those which have
been near twenty-four hours employed without getting forward in their work.
7461. The chickens first lintched should be taken from the hen, lest she be tempted to leave her task
unfinished. Those removed may be secured in a basket of wool or soft hay, and kept in a moderate heat,
if the weather be cold, near the fire. They will require no food for many hours, even four-and-twenty,
should it be necessary to keep them so long from the hen. The whole brood being hatched, the hen is to
be placed under a coop abroad, upon a dry spot, and, if possible, not within reacn of another hen, since
the chickens will mix, and the hens are apt to maim or destroy those which do not belong to them. Nor
should they be placed near numbers of young fowls, which are likely to crush young chicks under their
feet, being always eager for the chickens' meat. The first food should be split grits, afterwards tail wheat ;
all watery food, soaked bread, or potatoes, is improper. Eggs boiled hard, or curd chopped small, are much
approved as first food. Their water should be pure and often renewed ; and there are convenient pans
made, in such forms that the chickens may drink without getting into the water, which often, by wetting
their feet and feathers, numbs and injures them. A bason whelmed in the middle of a pan of water will
answer the end, the water running round it generally ; and, independently of situation, and the disposition
of the hen, there is no necessity lor cooping the brood beyond two or three days ; but they may be con-
fined as occasion requires, or suffered to range, as they are much benefited by the scratching and foraging
of the hen. They must not be let out too early in the morning, or whilst the dew remains upon the
ground, far less be suffered to range over the wet grass, one common and fatal cause of disease. Another
caution is of the utmost consequence, to guard them watchfully against sudden unfavourable changes of
the weather, more particularly if attended with rain. Nearly all the disorders of gallinaceous fowls arise
from cold moisture.
7462. For the period of the chickens quitting the hen, there is no general rule : the most certain is, when
the hen begins to roost, leaving them ; if sufficiently forward, they will follow her ; if otherwise, they
should be secured in a proper place, the time having arrived when they are to associate with the young
poultry, as nearly of their own age and size as possible, since the larger are apt to overrun and drive from
their food the younger brood
7463. Hatching by artificial heat is an Egyptian practice, mentioned by Diodorus and Aristotle, and was
brought into notice about the middle of the eighteenth century, by Reaumur in his •' Art de faire iclore,
ijc. des Oiseaux domestiques." The requisite degree of heat is 90 degrees, which is supplied by fire, steam,
hot water, or fermentible substances ; after hatching, the birds are placed in a cage, in which is placed a
lamb-skin suspended from the roof of a box, and enclosed by a curtain of green baize; or, according to
Parmentier, they may be placed under a capon, which, after being prepared for receiving pleasure from
feeling the chickens under its belly, by depriving it of the greater part of the feathers and excoriation, is
to be coiifinetl with them in the same coop, and after being fed together for a day or two, it is said the
capon will become an excellent nursing mother. Excepting as matter of curiosity, however, it is not at
present worth while either to hatch or rear chickens artificially in this country. Whether Reaumur's
mode of hatching be adopted, or Mrs. D'Oyley's of depriving hens of their chickens as soon afi hatched,
and thus causing one hen to hatch five or six broods in succession, the human attention required, and the
risk of failure are so great, that the surest modes, under all the present circumstances, are such as are
natural. Where it is tried for experiment or curiosity, the heat of tan or dung is more likely to prove
steady than that from amoke, air, or steam, probably even than that of hot water, successfully tried,
however, and, we believe, still practised in the neighbourhood of Paris. An enclosure in the middle of a
broad vinery or hothouse might serve at once to hatch and rear early chickens; and such a mode of rearing;,
at least in tlie winter season, certainly deserves the attention of those who are curious in having this
luxury in February and March. In 1822 or 1823 some interesting experiments were exhibited bv Mr. Bar-
low at the Egyptian Hall, London, relative to an improved method which he had invented, of hatching
eggs by artificial heat. The method, and the machine necessary to practise it, seem to have come very
little into use.
7464. The incubation of chickens by hot water is the invention of M. Bonnemain, physician, of Paris,
in 1777 ; and still alive when we were in that capital in 1828. Chickens hatched in this way at St. Ger-
main's, under M. B.'s direction, it is said, supplied the table of Louis XIV. The boiler of the apparatus
is called a calortfere, {color, heat, and fero, to bear,) and consists of a small boiler (Jlg. 934. a), a box or
building (6) for hatching the eggs, a cage or coop (c) for rearing the chickens, tubes (d) for circulating the
hot water, a supply tube and funnel (e), and a safety tube (/). Supposing the water heated in the boiler-
it wHl rise by its specific levity through the tube (a, d), move progressively through all the tubes, and
return again to the boiler by the tube {g), which is inserted in the hd like the other, but passes down to
its lower \yart (A). This circulatory movement, once commenced, continues so long as the water is heated
in the boiler, because tlie temperature is never equal throughout all parts of the apparatus. We may
readily conceive that a perfect equality of temperature can never exist, on account of the continual loss
of heat, which escapes from the exteriors of all the tubes. Meanwhile, the temperature of the air en-
10S8 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Paut III.
closed in the box differs but little from that of the numerous tubes which traverse it j and as the bends of
the tubes on the outside of the box afford but little surface to be cooled by the surrounding air, f.o the
force of the circulation, which is always in the ratio of the difference between the temperature of the
waters passing out of the calorif fere and re-entering it. does not become greatly diminislied, even after
having expended a large portion of its heat on the outside of the box, in maintaining a gentle heat in the
cage (c) adjoining to it. We see, therefore, that the more the water is cooled which passes through the
last circumvolutions of the tul)€«, the more active is the circulation in all parts ; and, consequently, the
more equal is the temperature of all the tubes which heat the box, and of the air within it : intie'ed, to
prevent the loss of heat as much as possible, the boiler, and all those parts of the tubes which are placed
on the exterior of the box, are enveloped in lists of woollen cloth. M. Bonnemain having thus applied
these principles with so much skill, is always enabled to maintain in these twxes an equal temperature,
varying scarcely so much as half a degree of Reaumur's thermometer ; but, as if it was not sufficient to
have thus far resolved the problem, he contrived that this degree of temperature in all parts of the stove
should be maintained at that point which was found most favourable for promoting incubation. It was by
means of an apparatus for regulating the fire that he attained this desirable object. The action of this
regulator is founded on the unequal dilatation of diffbrent metals by heat. A movement is communicated
near to the axis of a balanced lever, which lever transmits it by an iron wire to a register in the ash-pit
door of the furnace. Combustion is by these means abated or increased. The details of this piece of
machinery are fully described and delineated in GUI's Tcchnolosical Register (Feb. 1828, p. 70.).
7465. When we would hatch chickens by hot water, we light the fire and raise the temperature till we
obtain that degree of heat in the box which is fitted for incubation ; we then place the eggs near to each
other, upon the shelves, with borders to them (i, f), which are fixed under each row of tubes. It is con-
venient not to cover, on the first day, more than a twentieth part of the superficies of the shelves, and to
add every day, for twenty days, an equal quantity of eggs : so that, on the twenty-first day, the quantity
of eggs first placetl will be, for the greatest part, hatched : so that we may obtain every day nearly the
same number of chickens ; but which may, nevertheless, be occasionally regulated by the particular season
of the year.
7466. During the first days of incubation, whether natural or artificial, the small portion of water
contained within the substance of the egg evaporates through the pores in its shell : this is replaced by a
small quantity of air, which is necessary to support the respiration of the chick ; but as the atmospheric
air which surrounds the eggs in the box at that degree of temperature is either completely dry, or but
little humid, so the chick would greatly suffer, or finally perish, from this kind of desiccation. The
aqueous vapour which exhales from the breathing of the old fowls while hatching, in some degree prevents
this ill effect ; but, nevertheless, in dry seasons, the vapour is hardly sufficient : and thus, in order that
the eggs may be better hatched in the dry seasons, the hens cover them with the earth of the floor of the
granary. In artificial incubation, to keep the air in the stove constantly humid, they place in it flat
vessels^ such as plates (Jc, k), filled with water. When the chickens are hatched, they are removed from
the stove, and carried to the cage (c), where they are fed with millet, and nestle under a sheep's skin
with wool on it {I), suspended over them. They also separate, by means of partitions in the cage, the
chickens as they are hatched each day, in order to modify their nourishment agreeably to their age.
Artificial incubation is exceedingly usefid in furnishing young Ibwls at those seasons when the hens will
not sit, and, in some situations, to protluce, or, as we may say indeed, to manufacture a great number of
fowls in a small space. {,GUl''s Technological Repository, No. viii. p. 73. as quoted in Gard. Mag. voL iv,
p. 307.)
7467. The products of the cock and hen are eggs, feathers, and the carcass.
7468. Eggs become desiccated, and, in consequence, lose great part of their substance and nutritive
quality, by keeping ; and every body knows the value of a fresh-laid egg. They will retain their moisture
and goodness, however, three or four months, or more, if the pores of the shell be closed and rendered
impervious to the air, by some unctuous application. We generally anoint them with mutton suet melted,
and set them on end, wedged close togetner, in bran, stratum super stratum, the containing box being
closely covered. Laid upon the side, tne yolk will adhere to the shell. They thus come into use, at the
end of a considerable period of time, in a state almost equal to new-laid eggs, for consumption ; but ought
not to be trusted for incubation, excepting in the case of the imported eggs of rare birds.
7469. TAetor^esf <'^i?s will weigh twoouncesandahalf, those of the Chittagong hen perhaps three ounces.
To promote fecundity and great laying in the hen, nothing more is necessary than the best corn and fair
water; malted or sprouted barley has occasionally a good efffect, whilst the hens are kept on solid corn :
but if continued too long they are apt to scour. Cordial horse-ball is good to promote laying in the cola
season, and also toast and ale, as every henwife well knows. It must be noted, that nothmg is more
necessary towards success in the particular of obtaining plenty of eggs, than a.good attendance of cocks,
especially in the cold season ; and it is also especially to be observed, that a cock whilst moulting is gener-
ally useless. Buffbn says, a hen well fed and attended will produce upwards of one hundred and fifty eggs
in a year, besides two broods of chickens. Mowbray observed, that a hen generally cackled three or four
days previously to laying ; and that some half-bred game hens began to lay as soon as their chickens were
three weeks old ; the consequence of high keep and good attendance of the cocks.
7470. Feathers or down intended for use should be plucked as soon as possible after the bird is dead, and
before it is cold, otherwise they are defective in that elasticity which is their most valuable property, and
are liable to decay. The bird should, besides, be in good health, and not moulting, for the feathers to be
in perfection ; and being plucked, and a sufficient number collected, the sooner they are dried upon the
oven the better, since they are else apt to heat and stick together.
7471. The feathers of birds are applied to various purposes of utility and ornament. " The plumassier
collects and prepares the delicate feathers of birds, and gives them the most brilliant colours, m order to
vend them to the embroiderer, and the manufacturer of artificial flowers, who introduces them into their
embroideries, and forms them into bouquets and garlands, to add to the elegancies of dress and furniture,
according to the tastes indicated by fashion. The plumassier only employs the feathers of the ostrich, the
heron, the peacock, the swan, the goose, and the cock ; these he prepares and disixjses in a fit manner to
adorn our hats, robes, &c. ; he also makes aigrettes, and an infinity of other objects. The workman who
forms the feathers for these uses is termed a plumassier. All the kinds of feathers which possess great
brilliancy, extent, and fineness, are also employed in a great variety of circumstances, although those are
preferred which we have above mentioned." {Gill's Tech. Rep. voL vi. See p. 248.)
7472. Where hens are kept more than a i/ear they are sometimes plucked towards the end of the spring
season for the sake of their feathers. This operation, where it takes place, ought to be performed in the
most tender and careful manner, and the birds housed afterwards for a time sufficient to enable them to
endure the air : but the practice is cruel, and we trust it is not likely to come into general use.
7473. Feeding andfatteningthe carcass. Fowls will become fat on the common run of the farm-yard,
where they thrive upon the offals of the stable, and other refuse, with perhaps some small regular daily
feeds ; but at threshing time they become particularly fat, and are thence styled barn-door fowls, pro-
bably the most delicate and high flavoured of all others, both from their full allowance of the finest corn,
■and the constant health in which they are kept, by living in a natural state, and having the full enjoy-
ment of air and exercise. They are also confined during a certain number oi weeks, in coops, those fowls
which are soonest ready being drawn as wanted. It is a common practice with some housewives, to coop
their barn-door fowls for a week or two, under the notion of improving them for the table^ and increasing
their fat ; a practice which, however, seldom succeeds, since the fowls generally pine for their loss of liberty.
Book VII. FEEDING OF POULTRY. 1089
and slighting their food, lose instead of gaining additional flesh. Such a period, in fact, i« too short for
them to become accustomed to confinement.
7474. Feeding-houses should be warm and airy, with earth floors well raised, and capacious enough to
accommodate twenty or thirty fowls ; the floor slightly littered down, and the litter often changed. Sandy
gravel and a little lime rubbish should be placed in different places, and often changed. A suflScient
number of troughs, for both water and food, should be placed around, that the stock may feed with as
little interruption as possible from each other, and perches in the same proportion should be furnished
for those birds which are inclined to perch, which few of them will desire after they have begun to fatten
but which helps to keep them easy and contented until that period. In this mode fowls may be battened
to the highest pitch, and yet preserved in a healthy state, their flesh being equal in'quality to that of the
barn-door fowl. To suffer fattening fowls to perch is contrary to the general practice, since it is supposed
to bend and deform the breast-bone; but as soon as they become heavy and indolent from feeding, they
will rather incline to rest in the straw ; and the liberty of perching in the commencement of their coop,
ing has a tendency to accelerate that period, when they are more inclined to rest on the floor. Fowls,
moreover, of considerable growth will have many of them become already crooked breasted from perch-
ing whilst at large, although much depends upon form in this case, since we find aged cocks and hens of
the best shape which have perched all their lives with the breast bone perfectly straight
7475. The privation of light, by inclining fowls to a constant state of repose, excepting when moved by
the appetite for food, promotes and accelerates obesity ; but a state of obesity obtained in this way cannot
be a state of health, nor can the flesh of animals so fed equal in flavour, nutriment, and salubrity, that of
the same species fed in a more natural way. Economy and market interest may perhaps be best answered
by the plan of darkness and close confinement; but a feeder for his own table, of delicate taste, and am-
bitious of furnishing his board with the choicest and most salubrious viands, will declare for the natural
mode of feeding ; and in that view, a feeding, yard, gravelled and turfed, the room being open all day, for
the fowls to retire at pleasure, will have a decided preference, as the nearest approach to the barn-door
system.
7476. Insects and animal food form a part of the natural diet of poultry, are medicinal to them in a
weakly state, and the want of such food may sometimes impede their thriving.
7477. For fattening the younger chickens,' the above feeding-room and yard is well calculated. These
may be put up as soon as the hen shall have quitted her charge, and before they have run off the sucking
flesh ; for generally, when well kept and in health, they will be in fine condition and full of flesh at that
period, which flesh is afterwards expended in the exercise of foraging for food, and in the increase of
stature, and it may be a work of some time afterwards to recover it, more especially in young cocks,
and all those which stand high upon the leg. In fact, all those which appear to have long legs should be
fattened from the hen, to make the best of them ; it being extremely difficult, and often impossible, to
fatten long-legged fowls in coops, which, however, are brought to a good weight at the barn-door.
7478. In the choice of full.sixed fowls for feeding, the short-legged and early hatched always deserve a
preference. The green linnet is an excellent model of form for the domestic fowl, and the true Dorking
breed approaches tlie nearest to such model. Of course the smaller breeds and the game are the most
delicate and soonest ripe. The London chicken butchers as they are termed, or poulterers, are said to be
of all others the most dexterous feeders, putting up a coop of fowls and making them thoroughly fat
within the space of a fortnight ; using so much grease, and that perhaps not of the most delicate kind, in
the food. In the common way this business is often badly managed, fowls being huddled together in a
small coop, tearing each other to pieces, instead of enjoying that repose which alone can ensure the wished-
for object; irregularly fed and cleaned, until they are so stenched and poisoned in their own excrement,
that their flesh actually smells and tastes of it when smoking upon the table. Where a steady and regular
profit is required from poultry, the best method, whether for domestic use or sale, is constant high
keep from the beginning; whence they will not only be always ready for the table, with very little extra
attention, but their flesh will be superior in juiciness and rich flavour to those which are fattened from
a low or emaciated state. Fed in this mode, the spring pullets are particularly fine, and at the same time
most nourishing and restorative food. The pullets which have been hatched in March, if high fed from
the nest, will lay plentifully through the following autumn ; and not being intended for breeding stock,
the advantage of their eggs may be taken, and themselves disposed of thoroughly fat for the table in
February, about which period their laying will be finished. Instead of giving ordinary and tail corn to
fattening and breeding poultry, it will be found most advantageous to allow the heaviest and best, putting
the confined fowls upon a level with those fed at the barn-door, where they have their share of the
weightiest and finest corn. This high feeding shows itself not only in the size and flesh of the fowls, but
in the size, weight, and substantial goodness of their eggs, which in those valuable particulars will prove
far superior to the eggs of fowls fed upon ordinary corn or washy potatoes ; two eggs of the former going
further in domestic use than three of the latter. The water also given to fattening fowls should be often
renewed, fresh and clean ; indeed, those which have been well kept will turn with disgust from ordinary
food and foul water.
7479. Barley and wheat are the great dependence fo7' chicken poultry-, oats will do for full-grown hens
and cocks, but are not so good as barley ; both, when they have their fill of corn, will eat occasionally cab-
bage or beet leaves. Steamed potatoes and oatmeal mixed together make an excellent mess, but must not
be given in great quantities, otherwise it renders the flesh soft and flabby.
7480. Cramming. Barley and wheat meal are generally the basis or chief ingredient in all fattening
mixtures for chickens and fowls ; but in Sussex ground oats are used, and there oats are in higher repute
for fattening than elsewhere, many large hogs being fattened with them. In the report of that county,
the Rev. Arthur Young says, " North Chappcl and Kinsford are famous for their poultry : they are
fattened there to a size and perfection unknown elsewhere. The food given them is ground oats made
into gruel, mixed with hog's grease, sugar, pot-liquor, and milk ; or ground oats, treacle, and suet, sheep's
plucks, &c. The fowls are kept very warm, and crammed morning and night. The pot-liquor is mixed
with a few handfuls of oatmeal and boiled, with which the meal is kneaded into crams or rolls of a proper
size. The fowls are put into the coop two or three days before they are crammed, which is continued
for a fortnight ; and they are then sold to the higglers. These fowls, full grown, weigh seven pounds
each, the average weight five pounds; but there are instances of individuals double the weight. They
were sold at the time of the survey (1809) at four to five shillings each. Turner, of North Chappel, a
tenant of Lord Egremont, crams two hundred fowls per annum. Great art and attention is requisite to cut
the capons, and numbers are destroyed in the operation."
7481. Oakingham in Berks is particularly famous for fatted fowls, by which many persons in that town
and vicinity gain a livelihood. The fowls are sold to the London dealers, and the sum of 150/. has been
returned in one market-day by this traffic. Twenty dozen of these fowls were purchased for one gala at
Windsor, after the rate of half a guinea the couple. At some seasons, fifteen shillings have been paid for
a couple. Fowls constitute the principal commerce of the town. Romford, in Essex, is also a great market
for poultry, but generally of the store or barn-door kind, and not artificially fed.
7482. The Oakingham method of feeding is to confine the fowls in a dark place, and cram them with
paste made of barley-meal, mutton-suet, treacle, or coarse sugar, and milk ; and they are found completely
ripe in a fortnight. If kept longer, the fever that is induced by this continued state of repletion, renders
them red and unsaleable, and frequently kills them. Geese are likewise fed in the same neighbourhood, in
great numbers, and sold about midsummer to itinerant dealers ; the price at the time the survey was made
(1808), two shillings to two and three-pence each. It appears utterly contrary to reason, that fowls fed
ujion such greasy and impure mixtures can possibly produce flesh or fat so firm, delicate, high flavoured,
4 A
1090
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part llj
or nourishing, as those fattened upon more simple and substantial food ; as, for example, meal and milk
without the addition of either treacle or sugar. With respect to grease of any kind, its chief effect must
be to render the flesh loose and of indelicate flavour. Nor is any advantage gained, excluding the com-
mercial one.
74^3. The methods of cramming by confining in a box the size of the body of the fowl, and allowing it';
head and vent to project for intromission and ejection ; of blinding the bird for this purpose ; or of nail-
ing it to the board ; and also the mode of forcing down liquid food by a particular kind of pump, worked by
the foot of the feeder ; all these and other cruel practices we wish we could abolish in practice, and obli-
terate from the printed page.
7484. Castration is performed on cocks and hens only in some districts, and chiefly in Berkshire and
Sussex. The usual time is when they have left the hen, or when the cocks begin to crow, but the earlier
the better. It is a barbarous practice and better omitted. Capons are shunned both by hens and cocks
which, it is said, will not roost on the same perch with them. The Chinese mode of making capons is fully
described and illustrated with cuts in the Farmer's Magazine, vol. vi. p. 46.
7485. Pinioning of fowls is often practised to restrain them from roosting too high, or from flying over
fences, &c. ; and is much more convenient than the cutting their wing feathers only. But in the ordinary
methods of merely excising the pinion, it is frequently fatal ; and almost always so to full-grown birds or
fowls, by their bleeding to death. To prevent tins in the long-winged tribes, as ducks, geese, &c., pass a
threaded needle through their wing, close by the inside of the
smaller bone {fig. ^o. a), and making a ligature with the thread
across the larger bone, and returning it on the outside of all, the
principal blood-vessels are secured, which could not be accom-
plished by a ligature confined to the surface only. After the
blood-vessels have been thus secured, cut off the portion of wing
beyond the ligature with scissars or shears. In the Gallinkcea or
short-winged tribes, as cocks, hens,&c., the operation is rendered
, . ,^ ,. ^ ^ safer by being performed on the beginning of the next joint (6),
making the ligature embrace all the vessels between these two bones by passing it twice through, and
securing each bone individually, and passing the ligature around the whole of that part of the wing
generally. In this way also birds which have been accidentally winged in shooting may be preserved.
7486. The turkey (ilieleagris Gallipavo L.,fig. 936.) is a native of America, and was
introduced into this country from
Spain soon after the discovery of
the former country. The colour
in the wild state is black, but do-
mestication has produced great
variety.
7487. In a state of nature they are said
to parade in flocks of five hundred, feed-
ing, in general, where abundance of
nettles are to be found, the seed of which
and of a small red acorn is their common
food in the American woods. They get
fat in a wild state, and are soon run down
by horses and dogs. They roost on the
highest trees, and since the clearing of
extensive tracts in America, have be-
come rare in many places : their antipa-
thy to any thing of a red colour is well
known. In this country they are sup-
posed to be of a tender constitution, which only applies to them when young; for when grown up they
will live in the woods with occasional supplies of food, as is actually the case to a great extent in the
demesne lands of the Marquis of Bute, in Bute.
7488. The varieties are few, and chiefly the copper and white, said to be imported from Holland, the
former too tender for general culture ; the black Norfolk is esteemed superior to all others.
7489. Breeding. One turkey cock is sufficient for six hens or more, and a hen will cover according to
her size from nine to fifteen "eggs. The hen is apt to form her nest abroad in a hedge, or under a bush,
or in some secure place ; she lays from eighteen to twenty-five eggs or upwards, and her term of
incubation is thirty days. She is a steady sitter, even to starvation, and therefore requires to be regularly
supplied with food and water. Buffon says she is a most affectionate mother ; but Mowbray observes, that
from her natural heedlessness and stupidity, she is the most careless of mothers ; and being a great tra-
veller herself, will drag her brood over field, heath, or bog, never casting a regard behind her to call in her
straggling chicks, nor stopping while she has one left to follow her. The turkey differs from the common
hen in never scratching for her chicks, leaving them entirely to their own instinct and industry ; neither
will they fight for their brood, though vigilant in the discovery of birds of prey, when they will call their
chickens together by a particular cry, and run with considerable speed. Hence, when not confined within
certain limits, they require the attendance of a keeper.
7490 Turkey chicks should be withdrawn from the nest as soon as hatched, and kept very warm by
wrapping them in flannel, or putting them under an artificial mother in a warm room or other warm
place. Various nostrums are recommended to be given and done at this season, as a peppercorn and a
tea-spoonful of milk, immersion in cold water, &c. Mowbray wisely rejected all these unnatural practices,
and succeeded by giving curd and hard eggs, or curd and barley meal kneaded with milk, and renewed
with clear water rather than milk, as he found the last often scoured them. A sort of vermicelli, or
artificial worms, made from pulling boiled meat into strings, he found beneficial for every species of
gallinaceous chicken. Two great objects are, to avoid superfluous moisture, and to maintain the utmost
cleanliness, for which purposes as little slop food is given as possible. A fresh tuft of short sweet grass
should be daily given as green food, but not snails or worms as scouring, and no oats ; nettle seed, clover,
rue, or wormwood gathered, as recommended by the elder housewives. Water is generally preferable to
milk. When the weather is favourable, the hen is cooped abroad in the forenoon. During the rest of the
day and night, for the first six weeks, she is kept within doors. After this the hen may be cooped a whole
day externally for another fortnight, to harden the chickens ; and afterwards they maybe left to range
within certain limits, or tended by an old man or woman, being fed at going out in the morning and
returning in the evening. Their ordinary food may be that of the common cocks and hens. They will
prefer roosting abroad upon high trees in the summer season, but that cannot generally be permitted with
a view to their safe keeping.
7491. Fattening. Sodden barley, or barley and wheat-meal mixed, is the most approved food ; and the
general mode of management is the same as that of the common cock and hen. I'hey are generally fed so
as to come in at Christmas, but they may be fattened early or late. Sometimes though, but rarely, they
are caponised. BufTon says, the wild turkey of America has been known to attain the weight of sixteen
pounds ; the Norfolk turkeys are said sometimes to weigh twenty and thirty pounds; but Mowbray says,-
Book VII.
AQUATIC FOWLS.
1091
he never made any higher than fifteen pounds ready for the spit. The living and dead weight of a turkey
are as 21 to 14.
7492. Feathers. Turkeys are sometimes plucked alive, a barbarous practice which ought to be laid
aside. Parmentier proposed to multiply the breed of white turkeys in France, and to employ the feathers
found on the lateral part of the thighs instead of the plumes of the ostrich.
7493. The Ghiinea hen (Numidiail/eleagrisi.,
Jig. 937.) is found in a wild state only in Africa,
from whence it has been diffused over every part
of Europe, the West Indies, and America. In a
state of nature these birds associate in flocks of
two or three hundred. They delight in marshy
places, but always perch during the night in trees,
or high situations. It is bigger than a large cock,
and is active, restless, and courageous ; and will
even attack the turkey, though so much above its
size.
7494. The properties of the pheasant and the turkey have
been said to be united in this bird ; its flesh is more like that
of the pheasant than that of the common cock and hen both
in colour and taste, and is reckoned a very good substitute
for the former bird. It is also very prolific, and its eggs are nourishing and good. It assimilates per-
fectly with common fowls in its artificial habits and kinds of food ; but it has this peculiarity — that tjie
cocks and hens are so nearly alike, that it is difficult to distinguish them, and it has a peculiar gait, and
cry, and chuckle.
7495. The peacock (Pavo cristatus X.) is a native of India, and found in a wild state
in Java and Ceylon, where they perch on trees like the turkey in America. The age of
the peacock extends to twenty years, and at three the tail of the cock is full and com-
plete. The cock requires from three to four hens ; and where the country agrees with
them, they are very prolific, a great ornament to the poultry yard and lawns, and useful
for the destruction of all kinds of reptiles. Unfortunately, they are not easily kept
;3y within moderate bounds, and are very destructive in gardens.
They live on the same food as other domestic fowls, and
prefer barley. They are in season from February till June ;
but though a peacock forms a very showy dish, the flesh is
ill-coloured and coarse, and they are therefore kept more as
birds of ornament than of use.
7496. The crested curassow (Crax y^lector L. Jig. 938.) is a
beautiful and majestic bird, nearly the size of a turkey ; it
is common in some parts of tropical America, and is men-
tioned as being abundant in Paraguay. In those coun-
tries it is tamed, and readily associates with the other do-
mestic poultry. Like most gallinaceous birds, it lives in
flocks of about a dozen, feeds upon Indian corn, rice, and
other grain during the day, and roosts on high trees at night.
Its size, disposition, and the delicacy of its flesh, all recommend our attempting to do-
mesticate it in this country.
SEct. III. Anserine or Aquatic Fowls.
7497. The order anseres comprehends the duck, goose, swan, and buzzard. Under «
regular system, Mowbray observes, it would be preferable to separate entirely the aquatic
from the other poultry ; the former to have their houses ranged along the banks of a piece
of water, with a fence, and sufficiently capacious walks in front ; access to the water by
doors, to be closed at will. Should the water be of considerable extent, a small boat
would be necessary, and might be also conducive to the pleasure of angling.
7498. The duck (^^nas .B6schas L.,fig. 939.) is a na-
tive of Britain, and found frequenting the edges and
banks of lakes in most parts of Europe. The flesh of
this and various other species of the duck is savory and
stimulant, and said to afford preferable nourishment to
that of the goose, being less gross, and more easily
digested The flesh of the wild duck, though more
savoury than that of the tame, is reckoned still more
easy of digestion. The ancients went even beyond our
greatest modern epicures in their high esteem for the
flesh of the duck : and Plutarch asserts, that Cato pre-
served his whole household in health by dieting them
on duck's flesh. .. t>i.
7499 Varieties and species. There are the Rhone,
the Aylesburyt the canvass-backed, and the Mus-
covy.
7600. J^e Rk^ iucfc is originaUv from .Fran<^. and ge- ducks ^a- ba^ so cons^^^^^^
«voul-v, tlian the E..KUsh duck ; bul somewhat coMse. Rhone when tl>e> chance to hd% e hght-colour^l tle>.h, are never ot m
4 A 2
1092
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Pam III.
hteh and savoury flavour as the darker colours. Muscovy, and
other foreifjii siiecies of the duck, are kept rather out of cu-
riosity than for the tahle.
7501. The while Aytcshiirt/ are a heauliful and ornamental
stock, matching well in colour with the Jinibden Reese.
are said to be early breeders.
They
7502. The canvatt-baclcetl, bred only on the Potowmac and
Susquehanna rivers, are of very recent introtluction from
America, and are only to be found in a few places near Liver-
pool ; they are said to be the best in the world, and if so will
soon become better known.
7503. The Muscovy duck [A. moschata L.) is a native of Brazil, but domesticated in Europe. It is a
curious dark-coloured bird, distinguished by its naked face, kept more out of curiosity than use ; to be re-
tained in any place, they must be reared there from the egg, otherwise they will fly away.
7501. Breeding. One drake is generally put to five ducks ; the duck will cover from eleven to fifteen
eggs, and her term of incubation is thirty days. They begin to lay in February, are very prolific, and are
apt, like the Turkey, to lay abroad, and conceal their eggs, by covering them with leaves or straws. The
duck generally lays by night, or early in the morning : white and liglit-coloured ducks i)roduce similar
eggs ; and the brown and dark-coloured ducks, those of a greenish blue colour, and of the largest size In
setting ducks, it is considered safest to put light-coloured eggs under light ducks, and the contrary; as
there are instances of the duck turning out with her bill those eggs which were not of her natural
colour.
7505. During incubation, the duck requires a secret and safe place, rather than any attendance, and
will, at nature's call, cover her eggs, and seek her food, and the refreshment of the waters. On Iiatching,
there is not often anecessity for taking away any of the brood, barring accidents ; and having hatched,
let the duck retain her young upon the nest her own time. On moving her with her brood, prepare a coop
upon the short grass, if the weather be fine, or under a shelter, if otherwise : a wide and flat dish of water,
often to be renewed, standing at hand ; barley, or any meal, the first food. In rainy weather particularly,
it is useful to clip the tails of the ducklings, and the surrounding down beneath, since they are else apt to
draggle and weaken themselves. The duck should be cooped at a distance from any other. The period
of her confinement to the coop depends on the weather and the strength of the ducklings. A fortnight
seems the longest time necessarj ; and they may be sometimes permitted to enjoy the pond at the end of
a week, but not for too great a length at once, least of all in cold wet weather, which will affect, and cause
them to scour, and appear rough and draggled. In such case they must be kept within a while, and have
an allowance of bean or pea meal mixed with their ordinary food. The meal of buck- wheat and the
former is then proi)er. The straw beneath the duck should be often renewed, that the brood may
have a dry and comfortable bed ; and the mother herself be well fed with solid corn, without an ample
allowance of which ducks are not to be reared or kept in perfection, although they gather so much
abroad.
7506. Duck eggs are often hatched by hens, when ducks are more in request than chickens ; also as
ducks, in unfavourable situations, are the more easy to rear, as more hardy ; and the plan has no objec-
tion in a confined place, and with a small stock, without the advantage of a pond ; but the hen is much
distressed, as is sufficiently visible, and, in fact, injured, by the anxiety she suflTers in witnessing the sup-
posed perils of her children venturing upon the water.
7507. Ducks are fattened, either in confinement, with plenty of food and water, or full as well restricted
to a pond, with access to as much solid food as they will eat ; which last method is preferable. They
fatten speedily, in this mode, mixing their hard meat with such a variety abroad as is natural to them,
more particularly, if already in good case; and there is no check or impediment to thrift from pining, but
every mouthful tells and weighs its due weight. A dish of mixed footi is preferable to white corn, and
may remain on the bank, or rather in a shed, for the ducks. Barley, in any form, should never be used
to fatten ducks or geese, since it renders their flesh loose, woolly, and insipid, and deprives it of that high
savory flavour of brown meat, which is its valuable distinction ; in a word, rendering it chickeny, not un-
like in flavour the flesh of ordinary and yellow-legged fowls. Oats, whole or bruised, are the standard
fattening material for ducks and geese, to which may be added pea-meal, as it may be required. Tlie
house-wash is profitable to mix up their food under confinement ; but it is obvious, whilst they have the
benefit of what the pond aflfbrds, they can be in no want of loose food. Acorns in season are much
affected by ducks which have a range ; and they will tlirive so much on that provision, that the quantity
of fat will be inconvenient, both in cooking and upon the table. Ducks so fed are certainly inferior in
delicacy, but the flesh eats high, and is far from disagreeable. Fed on butcher's offal, the flesh resembles
wild fowl in flavour, with, however, considerable inferiority. Offal-fed duck's flesh does not emit the
abominable stench which issues from oflTal-fed pork. When live ducks are plucked, only a small quantity
of down and feathers should be taken from each wing.
7508. Decoys for wild ducks. Wild ducks, and other aquatic birds, are frequently taken by the device
termed a decoy, which, in the low parts of Essex, and some other marshy districts, may be considered as
connected with husbandry, A decoy is a canal or ditch, provincially pipe of water {fig. 940.), with a grassy
sloping margin (1) at its junction with a river or larger piece of water (8), to invite aquatic fowls to sit on
and dress their plumage ; but in other i)arts, covered with rushes and aquatic plants for concealment
Along the canal of the decoy are placed reed fences (2, 2), to conceal the decoy-man and his dogs from the
sight of the ducks. There is an opening in this fence (3), where the decoy-man first shows himself to th«
birds to force them to take the water ; and having taken it, the dog drives them up the canal, the roan
Book VII. THE GOOSE. 1093
looking through the fence at different places (4, 5, 6) to frighten them forward. At the end of the canal
is a tunnel net (7), where the birds are finally taken. In operating with this trap, as the wild duck is a
very shy bird, and delights in retirement, the first step is to endeavour to make the given water a peaceful
asylum, by suffering the ducks to rest on it undisturbed. The same love of concealment leads them to be
pirtial to waters whose margins abound with underwood and aquatic plants ; hence, if the given water is
not already furnished with tiiese append iges, they must be provided ; for it is not retirement alone which
leads them into these rec-esses, but a search after food also. At certain times of the day, when wild fowl
are off their feed, they are equally delighted with a smooth grassy margin, to adjust and oil their plumage
upon. On the close-pastured margins of large waters, frequented by wild fowl, hundreds may be seen
amusing themselves in this way ; and perhaps nothing draws them sooner to a water than a conveniency
of this kind: hence it becomes essentially necessary to success, to provide a grassy, shelving, smooth-
shaven bank (1) at the mouth of the decoy, in order to draw tlie fowl, not only to the water at large, but
to the desired part of it. Having, by these means, allured them to the moutli of the decoy ; the diflicul-
ties that remain are, those of sjetting them off the bank into the water, without taking wing, and of
leading them up the canal to the snare which is set for them in the most ea.sy manner.
7>()9 /« order to ^el them off the bnnic into the uyater, a dog is necessary (the more like a fox the better),
which should steal from behind the skreen of reeds, (2, 2,) which is placed by the side of the canal to hide
the decoy-man as well as his dog, until the signal be given. On seeing the dog, the ducks rush into the
water ; where the wild fowl consider themselves as sate from the enemy which had assailed them, and of
course do not take wing. Among the wild fowl, a parcel (perhaps eight or ten) of decoy-ducks should be
mixed, which will probably be instrumental in bringing them, with greater confidence, to the bank. As
soon as these are in the water, they make for the decoy, at the head of which they have been constantly
fed, and in which they have always found an asylum from the dog. The wild ducks follow ; while the dog
keeps driving behind ; and, by that means, takes off their attention from the trap they are entering.
When, as soon as the decoy-man, who is all the while observing the operation through peep-holes in the
reed skreen, sees the entire shoal under a canopy net which covers and encloses the upper part of the
canal, he shows himself, when the wild fowl instantly take wing, but their wings meeting with an imper-
vious net, instead of a natural canopy, formed of reeds and bulrushes, they fall again into the water, and,
being afraid to recede, the man being close behind them, they push forward into the tail of the tunnel
net, which terminates the decoy. In this way, nine dozen have been caught at a time.
7510. The form of the pipe or canal ought to resemble the outlet of a natural brook, or a natural inlet or
creek of the principal water. The mouth ought to be spacious, and free from confinement, that the wild
fowl, on their first rushing into the water, and while they have yet the power of recollection, may be in-
duced to begin to follow the tame ducks ; and for the same purpose it ought to be crooked, that its inward
narrowness, and ihe nets, may not, in the first instance, be perceived. The lower part of a French horn
is considered as the best form of the canal of a decoy that can be had. A material circumstance remains
yet to be explained. It is the invariable nature of wild fowl to take wing with their heads towards the
wind ; and it is always imprudent to attempt to take them in a decoy, unless the wind blow down the pipe ;
for, while their enemy is to leeward of them, they have less scrujjle to go up the pipe, making sure of an
escape by their wings. But, what is of still more consequence, if the wind set up the pipe when they take
wing under the canopy net, some of them would probably escape (a circumstance always to be dreaded),
and those uhich fell again into the water would fall, of course, with their heads towards the wind, and
would with greater difficulty be driven info the tunnel This point is so well known by decoy.men in
general, that every decoy is, when circumstances will admit of it, furnished with three or four different
canals, pointing to distinct quarters of the horizon, that no opportunity may be lost on account of the
wind being in any particular point.
751 1. The goose (.<4^nas ^'nser L.,Jig. 941.) is a native of Britain, and most parts of
the north of Europe, but less common than the duck.
7512. The flesh of the common and various species of geese is
highly stimulant, strong in flavour, viscous, and of a putrescent
tendency. The flesh of the tame goose is more tender than that
of the wild, which tastes offish ; but either kind is only adapted
for good stomachs, and powerful digestion, and should be spar-
ingly used by the sedentary and weak, or persons subject to cu-
taneous diseases. The fat of the goose is reckoned peculiarly
subtle, penetiating, and resolvent, and is generally carefully
preserved for domestic applications. The goose attains to a great
age, well authenticated instances being on record to the extent
of seventy and eighty years. The best geese in England are
probably to be found on the borders of Suffolk and Norfolk, and
in Berkshire ; but the greatest numbers are in Lincolnshire,
whence they are sent in droves to London to be fed by the
poulterers, some of whom fatten in the vicinity of the metro,
polls above five thousand in a season.
7 j13. Of varieties and species there are several, the former
differing in colour, as black, white, and grey, and also in size.
There is also the Spanish white goose, and large white Embden
goose, the latter in most esteem. When one has seen a wild
goose, says Pennant, a description of its plumage will, to a feather, exactly correspond with any other :
but in the tame kinds, no two of any species are exactly alike ; different in their size, their colours, and
frequently in their general form, they seem the mere creatures of art ; and having been so long dependent
upon man for support, they seem to assume forms entirely suited to his necessities.
7ol4.. There is a Chinese species [A. cygnnldes), and an American goose {A. canadensis). The Chinese
species is a domestic bird, but as yet little known in this country. It is longer and narrower in the body
than the common goose, and stands higher on the legs. The Canadian goose is domesticated in several
places, and is not considered uncommon in England. It is the most ornamental of the goose kind on water
in pleasure-grounds, and is abundant in the Duke of Devonshire's park at Chiswick.
7;3I5. Breeding. One gander is generally put to five geese : the goose lays from eleven to fifteen eggs ;
and the period of incubation is from twenty-seven to thirty days. A nest should be prepared as soon as
the female beg'ns to carry straw in her bill, and by other tokens declares her readiness to lay. This is
generally in March, and sometimes two broods are produced within the season ; an advantage obtainable
by high feeding through the winter with sound corn, tnd on the commencement of the breeding seaspn
allowing them boiled barley, m?lt, fresh grains, and fine pollard mixed up with ale or ether stimulants. A
good gander sits near his geese whilst they are sitting, and vigilantly protects them. Feeding upon the
nest is seldom required ; and it is unnecessary to take any of the goslings from the mother as hatched}
but pen the goose and her brood at once upon dry grass %vell sheltered, putting them out late in the morn-
ing, or not at all in severe weather, and ever taking them in early in the evening. The first food may be
similar to that recommended for the duck, such as barley meal, bruised oats, or fine pollard, with some
cooling green vegetables, as cabbage or beet leaves intermixed.
75ia Rearing. At first setting at liberty the pasturage of the goose should be limited j otherwise, if
allowed to range over an extensive common, the gulls or goslings will become tired and cramped, and
some of them will fall behind and be lost, Mowbray advises to destroy all the hemlock and nightshade in
4 A 3
J 094
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
their range; and he says he has known them killed by swallowing sprigs of yew. As the young become
pretty well feathered, they become also too large to be brooded beneath the mother's wing, and as thev will
then sleep in groups by her side, they must be well supplied with straw beds, which they will convert into
excellent dung. Being able, says Mowbray, to frequent the pond and range the common at large, the
young geese will obtain their living, and few people, favourably situated, allow them any thing more, ex-
cepting the vegetable produce of the garden. But it has been his constant practice always to dispense a
moderate quantity of any solid corn or pulse at hand to the flocks of store geese, both morning and even-
ing, on their going out and their return, together, in the evening more especially, with such greens as
chanced to be at command : cabbage, mangel-wurzel leaves, lucerne, tares, and occasionally sliced carrots.
By such full keeping his geese were ever in a Heshy state, and attained a large size; the young ones were
also forward and valuable breeding stock. Geese managed on the above mode will be speedily fattened
green, that is, at a month or six weeks old, or after the run of the corn .stubbles. IVo or three weeks
after the latter must be sufficient to make them thoroughly fat. A goose fattened entirely on the stubbles
is to be preferred to any other; since an over-fattened goose is too much in the oil-cake and greese-tub
style, to admit even the ideas of delicacy, tender firmness, or true flavour; but when needful to fatten
them, the feeding-houses already recommended for hens (7474. 'i are most convenient. With clean and
renewed beds of straw, i)]enty of clean water, oats, crushed or otherwise, pea or bean meal (the latter,
however, coarse and ordinary food}, or pollard mixed up with skim-milk, geese will fatten pleasantly and
speedily.
7517. Feathers. Pennant, in describing the methods used in Lincolnshire in managing geese, says,
" They ar^ plucked five times in the year ; first at Lady.day for the feathers and quills, and lour times for
the feathers only, between that and Michaelmas." He says, he saw the operation performed on goslings
of six weeks old, from which the feathers of the tails were plucked, and that numbers die of the operation,
if the weather immediately aflerwards proves cold. This seems a cruel practice, and surely would be
better left off. Lean geese furni.sh the greatest quantity of down and feathers, and of the best quality.
7518. The mute or tame swan (Cygnus mansuetus L.,fig. 942.) has long been known
in England, but is only found wild in Rus-
sia and Siberia. It has been preserved by
the severity of the laws, which have long
accounted it felony to steal their eggs. For-
merly they were fattened at Norwich for the
city feast, and commanded a guinea each.
The foot of the swan possesses nearly the
same property as that of the goose ; and the
skin was formerly held to contain medical
properties. At present swans are chiefly to
be considered as ornamental in pleasure-
grounds, clearing water from weeds, and
occasionally affording cygnet and some swan down feathers and quills. It is a curious
circumstance that the ancients considered the swan as a high delicacy, and abstained from
the flesh of the goose as impure and indigestible.
7519. Other species are, first, the swan goose {A. cygnS'ides L.). This is of an intermediate size between
the tame swan and the common goose, with the last of which they will breed ; and although they vary
considerably in their colours, the species is always known by a knob on the bill The two others which
have been domesticated with us are the Canadian and the Egyptian species. The first is equally valuable
with the common goose, and is very ornamental in ponds ; the latter is now become very rare. The black
swan, once considered a prodigy, is abundant in various parts of New Holland or Australia.
7520. Rearing. The swan feeds like the goose, and has the same familiarity with its keepers, kindly
and eagerly receiving bread which is offered, although it is a bird of courage equal to its apparent pride,
and both the cock and hen are extremely dangerous to approach during incubation, or whilst their brood
is young, as they have sufficient muscular force to break a man's arm with a stroke of their wing. They
both labour hard in forming a nest of water plants, long grass, and sticks, generally in some retired part
or inlet of the bank of the stream or piece of water on which they are kept. The hen begins to lay in
February, producing an egg every other day until she has deposited seven or eight, on which she sits six
weeks, although Buffi)n says it is nearly two months before the young are excluded. Swans' eggs are
much larger than those of a goose, white, and with a hard and sometimes tuberous shell. The cygnets
are ash-coloured when they first quit the shell, and for some months after; indeed they do not change
their colour, nor begin to moult their plumage, until twelve months old, nor assume their perfect glossy
whiteness untd advanced in their second year.
7521. Feathers and doton. Where the living swan is plucked, only the ripe down should be taken from
each wing, and four or five feathers. This may be repeated to the extent of three times in the course of
a summer.
7522. The bustard (O^tis tArda L., Jig. 942.) is a native of England, the largest indi-
genous land bird in Europe, the cock generally weigh-
ing from twenty-five to twenty-seven pounds. The
neck a foot long ; the legs a foot and a half. It flies
with some little difficulty. The head and neck of the
cock ash-coloured ; the back barred transversely with
black and bright rust colour. The greater quill fea-
thers black, the- belly white; the tail, consisting of
twenty feathers, marked with broad black bars : it has
three thick toes before, and none behind.
7523. Three species of bustard are found in England ; that
called the little bustard (0. tfetrax) differs chiefly in size, not
being larger than a pheasant. Bustards were known to the an-
cients in Africa, and in Greece and Syria ; are supposed to live
about fifteen years ; are gregarious, and pair in spring, laying
only two eggs, nearly of the size of a goose egg, of a pale olive
brown, marked with spots of a darker hue. They sit about five
weeks, and the young ones run, like partridges, as soon as deli-
vered from the shell. The cocks will fight until one is killed or
falls. Their flesh has ever been held most delicious : they arc
. Book VII. BIRDS OF LUXURY. 1095
fed upon tlie same food as the turkey. There were formerly great flocks of bustards in this country
upon the wastes and in the wolds, particularly in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, and Dorset, and in various
parts of Scotland, where they were hunted with greyhounds, and were easily taken. Buflfbn was mis-
taken in his supposition that these birds are incapable of being propagated in the domestic state, chiefly
on account of the difficulty of providing them with proper food, which, in their wild state, he describes to
be heath-berries and largg earth-worms. Probably the haw or whitethorn berry might succeed equally
well. To those who aim at variety and novelty in this line, the bustard appears peculiarly an object for
propagation and i.ncrease, since the flesh is of unrivalled excellence ; and it is probable this fowl will
render great weight of flesh for the food consumed.
Sect. IV. Diseases of Poultry,
7524. The diseases of poultry are generally the result of improper nourishment and
lodging, and the best mode of cure is by the immediate adoption of such as is proper.
When that will not succeed, very little help can be derived from medical assistance ; at
least as that art stands at present with respect to poultry. In fact, as Mowbray observes,
the far greater part of that grave and plausible account of diseases to be found in our
'common cattle and poultry books is a farrago of absurdity, the chief ground of which is
random and ignorant guess-work.
7525. Common fowls are attacked by the pip, roup or catarrh, the flux, constipation, and vermin. The
pip is an outside skin or scale, growing on the tip of the tongue, and is cured by tearing off the skin with
the nail and rubbing the tongue with salt. Imposthume on the rump is called the roup, which term is
also applied to catarrh, to which gallinaceous fowls are very subject. The imposthume is to be opened, the
core thrust out, and the part washed with salt and water. Generous food and warmth is the only cure in
the catarrh. The flux is to be cured with good solid food ; and its opposite, constipation, with scalded
bran mixed with skim-milk or pot liquor, adding a small quantity of sulphur. Vermin appear in conse-
quence of low keep and want of cleanliness ; the simplest remedy is to allow plenty of sand and ashes for
the birds to roll in, and to keep their houses and roosts sweet and clean, white- washing them two or three
times a year.
7526. The roup is a very common, and one of the most fatal, complaints to which chickens are subject.
Those attacked by the disease are constantly coughing and gasping for breath. Upon dissection the wind-
pipe is found almost closed up by great numbers of small red worms, which, in a certain stage of their
growth, congregate into bundles large enough to stop respiration, and which, if the sufferer cannot dis-
charge at the mouth, soon produces suffocation. Decoctions of the common yellow Lin&ria vulgiiris {Hort.
Brit. 15845.) is given as drink, which, being nauseously bitter, is supposed offensive to the worms j but
perhaps some mercurial preparation, taken inwardly or applied outwardly, would answer the purpose, and,
if effectual, would save thousands of chickens every year. This suggestion has never been tried.
7527. But the catarrh is the chief disease to which chickens and fowls are liable ; and when the malady
becomes confirmed with running at the nostrils, swollen eyes, &c. they are termed roupy, and the disease
is infectious. They should now be separated, and kept in a warm apartment and well fed, Roupy hens
seldom lay, and their eggs are unwholesome. In chickens this disease is called the chip : they are seen
shivering, pining, and dying in corners, apparently from cold, though they are in fact in a fever. Abundant
warmth and rich food are the only remedies.
7528. Broken legs, wings, or toes may be set and spliced, and will recover : the head being raw and the
eyes blinded from fighting, wash the eyes with milk and water, and the head alternately with brandy in
which is a few drops of laudanum, and with fresh butter. A cock's spurs being too long, impeding his
walk and wounding his legs, they should be cut carefully with a sharp pen-knife, but not too near the
quick, every three months.
7529. Geese are subject to the gargle, or stoppage in the head, the consequence of cold. House the
patient, and give garlic beat up with fresh butter j or toast and ale, with a little confinement, will succeed
equally well.
7530. All poultry, when young, are apt to be carried off by rats and other vermin, which must either be
vigilantly guarded against or destroyed.
Sect. V. Birds of Luxury which are or may be cultivated by Farmers.
7531. Birds of luxury include the pigeon, pheasant, partridge, quail, grouse, singing
birds, and birds kept as curious objects.
7532. Of the pigeon (Columba L.) there are three species and many varieties in culti-
vation. The species are the common, ring, and turtle doves, all natives of Britain.
The varieties of the common pigeon enumerated by Linnaeus amount to twenty-one ;
but those of the pigeon-fanciers to more than double that number. The ring-dove (C
Palumbus L. ) and the turtle-dove ( C. T^irtur), with the greater number of the varieties,
are cultivated only by a few persons, known as pigeon-fanciers ; but the common pigeon
of different colours is cultivated for the table.
7533. The flesh of the young pigeon is very savoury and stimulating, and highly valued for pies ; that of
the full-aged pigeon is more substantial, harder of digestion, and in a considerable degree heating. Black
or dark feathered pigeons are dark fleshed and of high flavour, inclining to the game bitter of the wild
pigeon. Light-coloured feathers denote light and delicate flesh. The dung of pigeons is used for tanning
upper leathers for shoes ; it is also an excellent manure. Pigeons are now much less cultivated than for-
merly, being found injurious to corn fields, and especially to fields of peas ; they are, however, very
ornamental. A few may be kept by most farmers, and fed with the common poultry ; and some who breed
domestic fowls on a large scale may, perhaps, find it worth while to add the pigeon to their number.
7534, The variety of pigeon most suitable for the common pigeon-house is the grey pigeon {fig. 944.),
944 ^^ inclining to ash-colour and black, which generally shows fruitfulness
■^^ by the redness of the eyes and feet, and by the ring of gold colour
which is about the neck.
7535. The varieties of the fancy breeders are numerous, and dis-
tinguished by a variety of different names, as carriers [fig. 945. a),
croppers, powters, horsemen, runts, jacobines, turbits, helmets, nuns,
tumblers (6), barbs, petits, owls, spots, trumpeters, shakers, turners,
finikins, &c. From these, when differently paired, are bred bastard
pigeons ; thus from the cropper or powter and the carrier is bred the
powting horsemen (c) ; from the tumbler and the horsemen dragoons^
&c.
4 A 4
30?6 TRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part TIT.
7586. Tht stocking of pigron-hottses is best i)erfonned in May or August, as the birds are then in tn«
be»l eondition. Young birds called squeaker* should be chosen, as the old are apt to fly away.
945
^ >ili^ Oli. c - i.i*. ' . -^^^k '■•i'ii. <> >!=»/.*Xl li'J.U l^1>l-i
?l .■■■ >l! i!rt !:
^OHK b i^-t)l sold
M ni^'^rt tEjr III* J.) ti');i. -171.1 ti .11.1U
,nOr-.i*(jj ^O'/t-J-Jliij ((jB-J ■Ju 'jIhOlfXf
7537. /n 5>rerfinK''tt»6 p!gebn Wf*tTfb''^Arhfte'e^g»,''#Mch produce young ones of different sexes. When
the eggs are laid, tne female sits fifteen days, not including the three days she is employed in laying, and
is relieved at intervals by the male. The turns are generally pretty regular. The female usually sits
from about five in the evening till nine the next morning ; at which time the male supplies her place,
while she is seeking refreshment abroad. Thus they sit alternately till the young are hatched. If the
female doss not return at the expected time, the male seeks her, and drives her to the nest ; and should
he in his turn be neglectful, she retaliates with equal severity. When the young ones are hatched, they
only require warmth for the first three days ; a task which the female takes entirely upon herself, and
never leaves them except for a few minutes to take a little foot!. After this they are fed about ten days,
■with *hat the old ones have picked up in the fields, and kept treasured in their crops, from whence they
satisfy the craving appetite of their young ones, who receive it very greedily. This way of supplying the
Toimg with food from the crop, in birds of the pigeon-kind, differs from all others. The pigeon has the
largest crop of any bird, for its size ; which is also quite pecufiar to the kind. In two that were dissected
by an eminent anatomist, it was found that, upon blowing the air into the windpipe, it distended the crop
or gullet to an enormous size. Pigeons live entirely upon grain and water ; these being mixed together
in the crop are digested in proportion as the bird lays in its provision. Young pigeons are very ravenous,
which necessitates the old ones to lay in a more plentiful supply than ordinary, and to give it a sort of
half maceration in the crop, to make it fit for their tender stomachs. The numerous glands, assisted by
air and the heat of the bird's body, are the necessary apparatus for secreting a sort of pap, or milky fluid
(commonly called pigeon's milk) • but as the food macerates, it also swells, and the crop is considerably
dilated. If the crop were filled with solid substances, the bird could not contract it ; but it is obvious the
bird has the power to compress its crop at pleasure, and, by discharging the air, can drive the food out
ahb, which is forced up the gullet with great ease. The young usually receive this tribute of affection
from the crop three times a day. The male for the most part feeds the young female, and the old female
performs the same service for the young male. While the young are weak, the old ones supply them with
food macerated suitable to their tender frame; but, as they gain strength, the parents give it less prepar-
ation, and at last drive them out, when a craving appetite obliges them to shift for themselves ; for when
pigeons have plenty of food, they do not wait for the total dismission of their young ; it being a common
thing to see young ones fledged, and eggs hatching at the same time and in the same nest.
15SS. The teiins applied to pigeons of different ages are, the youngest, when fed by the cock and hen,
squabs, at which age they are most in demand for pies. Under six months of age, they are termed
squeakers ; at that age they begin to breed, and then, or earlier, they are in the fittest state for removal
to a strange situation.
^5^. In respect to food, pigeons are entirely granivorous, and very delicate and cleanly in their diet ;
they will sometimes eat green aromatic vegetables, but are fondest of seeds; and tares, and the smallest
kind of horse-beans, is the most suitable food both in point of economy and fattening qualities. Peas,
wheat, buck-wheat, and even barley, oats, &c., are also eaten by pigeons, but old tares may be reckoned
their very best food ; new tares, peas, or beans, are reckoned scouring. Wherever pigeons are kept, the
best way to keep them chiefly at home, and thereby both prevent their being lost, and their doing injury
to corn-crops, is to feetl them well : this is also the only way in which, in modern times, they will afford
abundance of fat and delicate squabs for the table, which, well fed, they will do every month in the year,
and thus afford a constant supply of delicate stimulating food. Pigeons are generally fed in the open air
adjoining their cote or house; but in inclement weather, or to attach new pigeons to their home, both food
and water should be given internally. That this may be done without waste, and without frequently dis.
turbing the birds, two contrivances are in use : the first is the meat-box, or hopper, from whence grain
or pulse descends from the hopper as eaten out of a small shallow box ; the next is the water-boitle, an
ovate, long, naked bottle, reversed in a small basin to which it serves as a reservoir. Any bottle will do,
but the pigeons are apt to alight on and dirty such as when reversed present a flat top.
'7540. Pigeons being fond of salt, what is called &pigeon.cat is placed in the midst of the pigeon-house,
at in the open air near it. It seems these birds are fond of salt and hot substances, and constantly swallow
small stones to promote digestion. The salt-cat is thus composed. Gravel or drift-sand, unctuous loam,
the rubbish of an old wall, or lime, a gallon of each (should lime be substituted for rubbish, a less quan-
tity of the former will suffice) ; one pound of cummin-seed, one handful of bay-salt; mix with stale urine.
Inclose this in jars, corked or stopped, holes being punched in the sides, to admit the beaks of the pigeons.
These may be placed abroad. They are very fond of this mixture, and it prevents them from pecking the
mortar from the roofs of their houses, which they are otherwise very apt to do.
7o41. Cleanliness is one of the first and most important considerations : the want of it in a dove-cote
win soon render the place a nuif^ance not to be approached ; and the birds, both young and old, will be so
cpyered with vermin, and besmeared with their own excrement, that they can enjoy no health or comfort,
and mortality is often so induced. Mowbray's were cleaned daily, thoroughly once a week, a tub standing
at hand for the reception of the dUng, the floor covered with sifted gravel, often renewed.
Ij^Z. Pigeon-houses are of three kinds, small boarded cases fixed on posts, trees, or against the ends of
houses ; lofts fitted up with holes or nests ; and detached buildings. The first are generally too small to
contain a sufficient brood, and are also too subject to variations of temperature ; and the last, on the other
hand, are now-a-days too large, and therefore the most suitable for the farmer is a loft or tower rising
from a building in which no noisy operation is carried on. The lofts of any of the farm-buildings at a
distance from the threshing machine are suitable, or a loft or tower over any detached building will
answer well ; but the best situation of all is a tower raised from the range of poultry-buildings, where
there is such a range, as the pigeons can thus be more conveniently treated, and will feed very readily
with domestic poultry. Tor a tower of this sort, the round form should be preferred to the square; be-
cause the rats cannot 'so easily come at them in the former as in the latter. It is also much more com-
roodious i as, by means of a ladder turning round upon an axis, it is possible to visit all the nests in the
house, without the least difficultv ; which caiihot be so easily done in a house of the square form. And
in order to hinder rats from climLing up the outside of it, the wall should be covered with tin-plates to a
Book VII.
PHEASANTS.
109:
943
<^
certain height, as about a foot and a half; which should project out three or four inches at the top, to prevent
their getting up more effectually. A common mode in France is to raise a boarded room on a strong post
powerfully braced (Jig. 94d), the interior sides of which are lined with boxes for the birds {a), and the
exterior east and west sides with balconies, or sills for them to alight
on and enter their boxes (b). The north and south sides are lined
with boxes inside, but without openings, as being too cold on the one
front, and too warm on the other.
7513. The interior of the pigeon-house must be lined with nests or
holes ; subdivided either by stone, as in the ancient mural pigeon-
houses ; by boards ; or each nest composed of a vase or vessel of
earthenware fixed on its side. Horizontal shelves {Jig. 947.), divided
-] [| 11 rr7 vertically at three feet distance, are generally es-
\r-r~." 1 teemed preferable to every other mode ; the width
-^ I — L -; ^____^ I ■ = of the shelf may be twenty inches, the height be-
ll—, 1 \i I tween shelf and shelf eighteen inches; and a slip
J!L - J_^J [j 1 li I \= of board three or four inches high is carried along
the front of the partitions to keep in the nests.
Sometimes, also, a partition of similar height is
fixed in the middle of each three-feet division,
which thus divides it into two nests. This Mow-
bray and Girton concur in recommending, as likely
to prevent the young from running to the hen
when sitting over fresh eggs, and perhaps occasion,
ing her to cool and addle them ; for when the young
are about a fortnight or three weeks old, a good hen
will leave them to the care of the cock, and lay
again. Some prefer breeding-holes with no board
in front, for the greater convenience of cleaning
the nests ; but as the squabs are apt to fall out by
this practice, a good way would be to contrive the board in front to
slip up and down in a groove, by which each nest might be cleaned
at pleasure. As tame pigeons seldom take the trouble of making a
nest, it is better to give them one of hay, to prevent the eggs from
rolling. There are also straw buckets made in the form of ne.sts,
and also nests or pans of earthenware. Where pans are used, it is
common to place a brick between them (two being placed in a breed-
. ing hole), for the cock and hen to alight on ; but on the whole straw
nests are best. The pigeon-house has two entrances, one a common-sized door for man, either on the
ground level, or to be ascended to by a ladder, as used formerly to be the case ; and the other on a rising
above the roof, and consisting of small holes three or four by twelve or fourteen inches, for the entrance
of the pigeons. A series of ranges of these are generally placed over each other, in a boarded front looking
to the south, with a shelf to each range, and surrounded by a row of iron s})ikes to protect them from cats.
The elevation of pigeon -houses (^^. 943.), as already described, are of endless variety.
754+. The breeding holes constitute the fixtures of the pigeon-house ; its
utensils are the hopper and bottle already described (7539.), a barrel or box
for food, a step ladder to reach the nests, and some other articles not pccu-
liar to this department of rural economy. The pigeon-trap, for enticing and
entrapping the pigeons of others, we do not describe.
7545. Pigeons in new lodgings are apt sometimes to forsake their habit,
ations. Many nostrums have been recommended to prevent them from doing
so; but if squabs be selected, cleanliness and security attended to, and a salt
cot placed in or near the house, there will be little danger of this taking
place. Fumigation with highly odoriferous drugs, or even assafoetida, is
also said to attract pigeons to a neglected dovecote, or attach them to a new
one
75ia Diseases of pigeons. Fancy pigeons, being many of them monstrous
productions, are very subject to diseases. Girton enumerates upwards of a
dozen, with their cures, including the corruption of the egg in the uterus
from over high feeding ; a gorged crop from voracious feeding ; insects from
filthiness in the pigeon-house, and the canker from cocks fighting with each
other. Little can be done in the way of curing any of these diseases other-
wise than by recurrence to the proper regimen : if this does not speedily
take effect, it is better to put the bird hors de peine, both for humanity's sake
and to prevent infection. Fortunately, the common pigeon reared for the
table is little liable to diseases.
7547. Laws respecting pigeons. By the 1st of James, c. xxvii., shooting,
or destroving pigeons by other means, on the evidence of two witnesses, is
punishable by a fine of 205. for every bird killed or taken ; and by the 2d of Geo. III. c. xxix. the same
offence may be proved by one witness, and the fine is 20s. to the prosecutor. Any lord of the manor or
freeholder may build a pigeon-house upon his own land, but a tenant cannot do it without the lord's
licence. Shooting or killing within a certain distance of the pigeon-house, renders the person liable to
pay a forfeiture.
7548. The common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus i.) is a native of the old continent,
but not of America, and has long been naturalised in the wanner and most woody-
counties of England. It is very common in France, and before the Revolution used
to be a great nuisance to the farmers, even to the gates of Paris. The pheasant runs
fast, but flies low and heavily ; it crows not unlike the common cock, being of the same
genus, and is supposed to live six or eight years.
7549. Pheasants are both granivorous and carnivorous; they feed upon all sorts of insects and vermin
like the peacock, and are said to be greedy of toads, when not too large to swallow ; whereas, according
to report, they will not touch the frog, of which ducks are so fond. They are prized in park scenerv for
their beautiful plumage and showy figure, and as game for the delicacy of their flesh, which is of a high
flavour and alkalescent quality. It is in season in autumn, and most esteemed when under a year old, and
very fat. Every gentleman who has a well wooded, well enclosed park, and in who.-^c woods are abundance
of such evergreens as the spruce fir, hollv, box, broom, Ac, may stock it with pheasants ; and he may
preserve his stock if he will continue to sujjply them with abundance of food, and deter thieves, pole-
cats, &c. The more common the pheasant becomes, the less will it be subjected to the attacks of those
enemies.
1093 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
7550. Varieties. Besides that which may be considered common or wild in this country, and %vhich is
generally of a brown colour, there is the gold and stiver, natives of China, and very hardy in this country,
and good breeders. The ring-necks, natives of Tatary, bred in China, very scarce; their plumage very
beautiful. The white and pied ; both sorts will intermix readily with our common breed, as will the
Bohemia, one of the most beautiful of its kind, and equally scarce. The golden variety is generally of
the highest price, and the common most hardy, and of the largest size.
7551. Breeding. In a wild state the hen pheasant lays from eighteen to twenty eggs in a season, but
seldom more than ten in a state of confinement As this bird has not hitherto been domesticated, and as
the flesh of those brought up in the house is much inferior to that of the wild pheasant, they are chiefly
bretl for show, for replenishing a park, or for turning out in well enclosed recluse scenes, which they will
not readily leave if well fed, and not much disturbed. Hence every proprietor may naturalise them at
least on a part of his grounds ; say, for example, a wood with glades of pasture enclosed by a close paling
or high wall. The natural nest of the pheasant is made on the ground, and composed of dry grass and
leaves, which being provided for her in confinement, she will always arrange properly. They will breed
freely with the common fowl; but as neither flesh nor form are improved by the cross, this is seldom
resorted to.
7552. In stocking a pheasantry, the general mode is to procure eggs from some establishment of this
sort or otherwise ; and the following are the directions of Castang, as given in Mowbray's Treatise on
Poultry : — Eggs being provided, put them under a hen that has kept the nest three or four days ; and if
you set two or three hens on the same day, you will have the advantage of shifting the good egg's. At the
end of ten or twelve days, throw away those that are bad, and set the same hen or hens again, if setting-
hens should not be plenty. The hens having set their full time, such of the young pheasants as are already
hatched put into a basket, with a piece of flannel, till the hen has done hatching. The brood now come,
put under a frame with a net o^er it, and a place for the hen, that she cannot get to the young pheasants,
but that they may go to her ; and feed them with boiled egg cut small, boiled milk and bread, alum curd,
ants' eggs, a little of each sort, and often. After two or three days they will be acquainted with the call
of the hen that hatched them, may have their liberty to run on the grassplat, or elsewhere, observing to
shift them with the sun, and out of the cold winds ; they need not have their liberty in the morning till
the sun is up; and they must be shut in with the hen in good time in the evening. Every thing now
going on properly, you must be very careful (in order to guard against the distemper to which they are
liable) in your choice of a situation for breeding the birds up; and be less afraid of foxes, dogs, polecats,
and all sorts of vermin, than the distemper. Castang had rather encounter all the former than the latter;
for those with care may be prevented, but the distemper once got in is like the plague, and destroys all your
hopes. What he means by a good situation is nothing more than a place where no poultry, pheasants, or
turkeys. &c. have ever been kept; such as the warm side of a field, orchard, pleasure-ground, or garden,
or even on a common, or a good green lane under circumstances of this kind, or by a wood side ; but then
it is proper for a man to keep with them, under a temporary hovel, and to have two or three dogs chained
at a proper distance, with a lamp or two at night He has known a great number of pheasants bred up in
this manner in the most exposed situations. It is proper for the man always to have a gun, that he may
keep oft" the hawks, owls, jays, magpies, &c. The dogs and lamps shy the foxes more than any thing ;
and the dogs will give tongue for the man to be on his guard if smaller vermin are near, or when strollers
make their appearance. The birds going on as before mentioneil, should so continue till September^ or
(if very early bred) the middle of August Before they begin to shift their long feathers in the tail, they
are to be shut up in the basket with the hen regularly every night ; and when they begin to shift their
tail the birds are large, and begin to lie out; that is, they are not willing to come to be shut up in the
basket : those that are intended to be turned out wild should be taught to perch (a situation they have
never been used to) ; this is done by tying a string to the hen's leg, and obliging her to sit in a tree all
night : be sure you put her in the tree before sunset ; and if she falls down, you must persevere in putting
her up again till she is contented with her situation; then the young birds will follow the hen, and perch
with her. This being done, and the country now covered with corn, fruits, and shrubs, &c. they will
shift for themselves. For such young pheasants as you make choice of for your breeding-stock at home,
and likewise to turn out in spring following, provide a new piece of ground, large and roomy for two pens,
where no pheasants, &c. have been kept, and there put your young birds in as they begin to shift their
tails. Such of them as you intend to turn out at a future time, or in another place, put into one pen
netted over, and leave their wings as they are ; and those you wish to keep for breeding put into the other
pen, cutting one wing of each bird. The gold and silver pheasants you must pen earlier, or they will be
off. Cut the wing often ; and when first penned feed all your young birds with barley-meal, dough, corn,
and plenty of green turnips.
7553. A receipt to tnake alum curd. Take new milk, as much as your young birds require, and boil it
with a lump of alum, so as not to make the curd hard and tough, but custard-like. Give a little of this
curd twice a day, and ants' eggs after every time they have had a sufficient quantity of the other food.
If they do not eat heartily, give them some ants' eggs to create an appetite, but by no means in such abun-
dance as to be considered their food. The distemper alluded to above is not improbably of the same
nature as the roup in chickens, contagiou.s, and dependent on the state of the weather, and for preven-
tion requiring similar precautions. When a pheasantry is connected with a piece of ground covered with
bushes or shrubbery, the birds may be bred in houses or pens, and afterwards put out into small enclo-
sures, say one hundred feet square, with fences twelve feet high, each containing abundance of low ever-
greens, especially the spruce fir, and an artificial or natural supply of water. Under such an arrangement
the hen pheasant will hatch her own eggs, and the following directions are given as to attendance by the
same experienced person : — Not more than four hens to be allowed in the pens to one cock. And in the
out covers, three hens to one cock may be sufficient, with the view of allowing for accidents, such as the
loss of a cock or hen. Never put more eggs under a hen than she can well and closely cover, the eggs
fresh and carefully preserved. Short broods to be joined and shifted to one hen. Common hen pheasants
in close pens, and'with plenty of cover, will sometimes make their nests and hatch their own eggs : but
they seldom succeed in rearing their brood, being so naturally shy ; whence, should this method be desired,
they must be left entirely to themselves, as they feel alarm even in being looked at Eggs for setting are
generally ready in April. Period of incubation, the same in the pheasant as in the common hen. Phea-
sants, like the pea-fowl, will clear grounds of insects and reptiles, but will spoil all wall-trees within their
reach, by picking off" every bud and leaf
7554. Feeding. Strict cleanliness to be observed, the meat not to be tainted with dung, and the water
to be pure and often renewed. Ants' eggs being scarce, hog-lice, ear- wigs, or any insect may be given ;
or artificial ants' eggs substituted, composed of flour beaten up with an egg and shell together, the pellets
rubbed between the fingers to the proper size. After the first three weeks, in a scarcity of ants' eggs,
Castang gives a few gentles, procured from a good liver tied up, the gentles when ready dropping into a
pan or box of bran ; to be given sparingly, and not considered as common food. Food for grown phea-
sants, barley or wheat ; generally the same as for other poultry. In a cold spring hempseed, or other
warming seeds are comfortable, and will forward the breeding stock.
7555. In keeping fancy pheasants, as the gold, silver, or other breeds, the best mode is to enclose a few
poles of ground containing trees and bushes with a well painted copper netting, and in some concealed
part to have a house or lodge for supplying water and food. This forms by far the most elegant aviary,
and is the only one that at all times appears clean. They will thrive very well, however, in an aviary on
the common construction.
Book VI]
PARTRIDGE, GROUSE, LARK.
10<19
7556. The partridge ( Tetrao P^rAxix,Jig. 949.) is a native of all the temperate regions
y^y ^-c^T^ °^ Europe, but unable to sustain rigorous cold or intense
heat.
7557. Partridges are highly valued as food on most parts of the Con-
tinent, and as a table luxury in England. In the Ukraine both partridges
and pheasants are more abundant than any where else in Europe : they
were formerly so common in France, that Rozier informs us that the cul-
tivators were obliged to sow three or four times the corn that was necessary
to raise a crop, and that even this had often to be done three or four times
in a season. The bird feeds like the pheasant on insects and seeds, and is par-
ticularly fond of those of the wild mustard. It has not been domesticated,
but may be hatched and reared in the same manner as the pheasant.
7558. The quail (Ti^trao Coturnix,^^. 950.) is a native of the East, and abounds in
Egypt, as appears from the supplies the Israelites obtained
while in the wilderness, and also in the islands of the Archi-
pelago, and in Italy. They migrate from warmer to colder
regions. They are naturalised and breed in England, chang-
ing their residence within it on the approach of winter, from
the more exposed to the more temperate districts. They are
very abundant in France, and are caught in snares and nets
(described by Rozier), and sent both to the Paris and London markets. The bird was
951 proverbial among the Romans as captious and quarrel-
some, and is employed among the Chinese for the
same amusement as game cocks are in England. Here
it is not domesticated, but may be reared and preserved
in the same manner as the pheasant and partridge,
and its food is nearly the same as that of the latter
bird.
7559. The red grouse, or moor cock, ( T^'trao scoticus,
Jig. 951.) is an esteemed variety of Gallinacea, pursued
with avidity by sportsmen in the mountainous districts
of England, Wales, and Scotland, in which latter it abounds, there feeding in plenty
among the heather, its favourite food. Its beautiful
plumage, and its exquisite flavour, render it an object
of considerable interest.
7560. The black grouse, or black cock ( T^trao Tetrix,
Jig. 952.), is less common than the red grouse, and is
therefore more highly prized. It is also larger, weighing
nearly four pounds. Its plumage is a rich mixture of
black with blue, relieved by marking of white. Its
legs are also covered with very fine minute feathers ;
and it draws a peculiar characteristic from the curvi-
linear form of the tail, which brajiches out at the end
In wet seasons a great mortality is frequently observed
among the grouse from intestinal worms.
7561. The wood grouse, or cock of the wood ( Tetrao Urogallus, Jig. 953.), is, after the
bustard, the largest bird among those we call game ; it
being little less than a turkey. It was originally com-
mon in the mountainous parts of Britain ; but is now
nearly if not wholly extinct with us ; though still com-
mon in the northern parts of Europe, where it lives in
pine forests, on the cones of which it is supposed to sub-
sist, and which at some seasons gives its flesh a terebin-
thinated taste : at other times it is delicious eating, and
is often sent to England frozen. Like the other grouse,
he has the scarlet patch on his head, his legs are defended
in the same manner by a feathered covering, and his
whole markings are equally varied and beautiful. From
the richness of the plumage in all the varieties of the
r^trao, and from the extreme delicacy of their flesh as
an article of food, it is to be lamented that attempts are not made to domesticate them in
addition to our other poultry. It is thought by observant sportsmen and scientific
naturalists, that this might be attended with less difficulty than the domesticating the
partridge and pheasant ; and the attempt is recommended to the patriotic amateur.
7562. The lark (^lauda arvensis L. ) and other birds were reared and fatted by the
Romans for the table. The lark is caught by nets and other means in some of the open
districts of England, as about Dunstable, Cambridge, &c., and brought to market for
the table, as are various other birds by a particular class of men known as bird-catchers.
It is an idle uncertain kind of life not to be recommended.
into two crooked expansions.
ilOO
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
955
■ff.U^a ■■
: 8no[ !■> •:
■ X9 »I , 'OlliiJ'.
• /ode Jibud , «'^
/1)li9<l0d ,i1- ;* :
s dbuut -.■
.i^i 1 !**•
7563. Of singing birds, a great variety are domesticated ; and their breeding and rear-
ing forms a very peculiar and curious branch of rural economy. Not only all the birds
which please by the natural song are domesticated and kept in cages, as the canary,
nightingale, lark, linnet, finch, thrush, &c. ; but even some which do not sing in a wild
state, as the sparrow, hammer, &c., are by art taught the notes of other birds.
7564. Wild singing birds are caught by various devices, according to the species of bird and season of
the year. The jiairing season in spring, generally March and April, is on the whole the best season, and
the common means are a net called a cl jp-trap ; a bird of the species to be caught, called a call-bird, to
attract the wild one ; and another, a female, called a brace-bird. Bird-lime is also very generally used ;
and for nightingales, a small hole dug in the ground covered with a perforated board, or a small round
spring trap, called a nightingale trap, is resorted to. Glasses called larkers are useit to call larks, and
hawks are used to frighten some species, to render them more reaiiily taken A* it is only the male birds
which sing, or at least are of any value for their song, it is a very material part of the bird fancier's art to
know the male from the female when they are both young; in general he is larger and longer.
75G"). In breeding and rearing tame birds the chief art consists in teaching them to sing. This is fre-
quently done by the human voice alone, but more
commonly by the aid of the flageolet or a small barrel
954k organ. The organ is used in Germany in teaching
the nightingale-notes to the canary; and in teaching
regular tunes, as marches, waltzes, &c. to the bulfinch,
which after being so taught are called piping bul-
finches, and cost from 5/. to 7 or 8 guineas each in
London. In Italy the canary is taught various notes
and tunes by thg flageolet. In France, and also in
this country, one bird is taught by another being placed
in a cage near it When not taught at all, and not
within the hearing of other birds, each bird utters its
natural notes but very imperfectly. In general they
are more ready to imitate the note of any bird they
hear, even of a hen or duck, than to utter those which
are natural to the species. This certainly appears
singular, but it is a well known fact.
75tW. The aviary, or place for breeding and keeping
singing birds, may be a long narrow ajiartment front-
ing the south ; the front to be covered with wire
netting, and within this glass sashes which may be
removed in summer. There should also be a flue in
the floor or back wall to supply heat in coUi weather.
In such a buiMing various birds may be kept in cages,
or a few sorts in compartments. 'I'hus a considerable
space may be allotted to the breeding of the canary,
for which there is the greatest demand ; the next
largest to the linnet and nightingale ; and any others may be kept in cages. Indeed, /^^
singing bird; are invariably found to sing best when kept in separate cages, and apart
from each other. In gardens or pleasure-grounds these cages may be suspended Jrom
trees, or supported by light iron props ijigs. 954, 955.) ; and those who would wish to
pursue this branch, either as one of amusement or profit, will tind ample instructions
in Thomson's Bird Fancier, and other similar works.
7567. Foreign aquatic birds may be kept in the artificial waters of
pleasure-grounds by shortening the feathers of one wing, and without
any other care than a duck-house or shelter during night.
7568. J'he training of hawks and other birds fur hunting, of decoy birds of different sorts,
as ducks, singing birds, pigeons, &c., belongs more to sportmanship than agriculture, and
may be learned in Daniel's Rural Sports, and various old books, such as The Country
Gentleman's liecreation, &c.
//MW',
\mw
Chap. X.
Fish and Amphibious Animals subjected to Cultivation,
7569. The cultivation offsh is carried on to a very limited extent in Britain, owing
to the great superiority of the sorts obtained by fishing in rivers or the sea, and to the de-
cline of the catholic religion, which no longer renders fish an article of importance on cer-
tain days and seasons. However, in a few places fish are bred and reared for the market,
and in gentlemen's grounds in the interior of the country some attention is generally paid
to stocking the ornamental pieces of water with appropriate fish. Bakewell, in his in-
structive Travels in the Tarantaise, suggests the idea of introducing exotic fish and natu-
ralising them in our lakes and rivers, and he mentions some Swiss species that he thinks
would be particularly valuable. In the Edinburgh Beview for 182'2, is a curious paper
on the possibility of rearing sea-fish in our fresh water lakes. See also Brande's Quarterly
Jmimal, Nos. x'xxiii. and xxxiv. It appears that the flounder and the mullet have
been naturalised to fresh water ; and that it is probable the whole of the fishes of
analogous habits, and particularly those of the genus Pleuronectes, might be habituated
to inland lakes.
7570. TTie mode of constructing ponds for retaining water for general purposes has been already
described. (4467.) Ponds, expressly for the purpose of breeding and rearing fish, are formed at leas*:
expense in deep valleys, and slight depressions between hills, where there are rivers or waters; ana
Book VII.
FISH,
1101
m&m^-
different ones may often be made on the same line, the head of one constituting the bottom of that above
it. The extent of them must be regulated by the nature of the situation, and the supplies of water that
can be procured. In situations of this nature, the principal expen.se consists in constructing the banks or
heads across the valleys, for keeping up the waters, and providing them with suitable sluices, which, where
the land is of the loamy or clay kind, may be cheaply effected in the manner that eartli works are usually
performed. Tlie foundations b; ing laid sufficiently deep, and the earthy materials well applied by proper
puddlinur and ramming, in the way of making embankments. The heights and strength of the dams or
heads being regulated by the nature of the situations, and the quantity of water tliat is to be dammed
up. The slopes should be the greatest which are next the waters. There must also be diverting channels
for taking off the superabundant waters in the time of floods, which may be formed along the sides ; the
sluices being placed in the lowest parts, and being well made of seasoned oak, and tightly rammed in with
the earthy materials. Detailed instructions on this subject will be found in the Quarterly Journal of
Aei'iculture, vol. i. p. 297.
7571. Sen water fish-ponds are unknown on the Continent, and not common in England. In Scotland,
however, there are several, which are stocked chiefly with turbot, cod, haddock, whiting, thornback,
coal.fish, and salmon. One of the largest and best of these fish ponds is that of Macdonnel of I^ggan,
in Wigtonshire, which has been in existence for upwards of thirty years. {Macdiarmid's Sketches from
Nature, and Highland Soc. Trans, vol. vii. p. 297.)
7572. The kinds ofjish adapted for ponds are chiefly the carp, tench, perchj gudgeon,
eel, and pike.
7573. Tlie carp (C^prinus C&rpio L. fig. 9BQ. a) is by far the best fish for artificial management, and
- especially that variety known in England
" as the Prussian carp. Carj) inhabits the
slow and stagnant waters of Europe and
Persia, and was introduced into Britain
in the year 1.514; about four feet long;
grows fast and is very long-lived ; feeds
on herbs, fat earth worms, and aquatic
insects, and any soft substance ; is ex-
tremely fertile, and the prey of larger
fi.sh, aquatic birds, and frogs ; body above
blue-green, the upper part of the sides
greenish-yellow and blackish, beneath
whitish ; tail yellow ; scales large, longi.
tudinally striate ; of the gall is made a
green paint, and of the sounds or air-
bladder a fish-glue.
7574. In raising carp, it is often the practice to have three ponds : — One for the purpose of spawning the
fish in, and in which they should be left during the rest of the summer and the following winter, as they
mostly spawn from the beginning of May to the latter end of July ; another for the convenience of nurs-
ing up the young fry, into which they should be put about the latter end of March or the beginning of
April, choosing a calm but not sunny day lor the business; after which they should be carefully pre-
vented from coming to the sides and being destroved : in this pond they may remain two years, and be-
come four, five, or six inches in length, and good for use. The third or main pond is destined for the
reception of the grown fish, as those that measure a foot or more, including the heads and tails. The
proportions in which these different ponds are advised to be stocked are these: — For each acre of the first
sort, " three or four male carps, and six or eight female ones ;" the most suitable sort for this use being
" those of five, six, or seven vears old, in good health, with full scale, fine full eyes, and a long body,
without any blemish or wound." The ponds should be previously cleared of all sorts of voracious fishes
and other animals, as " perch, pike, eel, and trout ; the water-beetle, and also the newts or lizards."
Such ponds as are warm and have an open exposure, with soft water, are the most proper for this use ; all
kinds of water fowl being kept from them. For the nursing ponds, a thousand or twelve hundred may
not be more than sutticient for an acre; and for the main ponds, one to every square of fifteen feet is the
proportion advised, as their growth depends greatly on the room and quantity of food that is allowed.
The best seasons for performing the business in this case are those of the spring and autumn. Some ad-
vise, in these cases, the sto( king with carp or tench in the proportion of three to a square perch. In first
stocking large ponds or waters, as where they are to the extent of three or four acres, carp, in the pro-
portion of three hundred to the acre, are recommended ; and where they do not extend to such sizes, not
so great a portion. And in stocking, after two or three years, four hundred to the acre.
7575. The tench (Cyprinus Tinea L., b) inhabits almost every where in stagnant waters ; grows quickly,
and reaches from four to eight pounds weight ; is very fertile and tenacious of life, and will live all the
winter under the ice ; feeds on worms and water plants ; is very foolish, and may be easily caught ; body
covered with a thick mucus, and small scales which adhere firmly to the skin ; above dark-green, the sides
above the line green, beneath yellow, belly white ; varies in its colours by age, sex, or the waters it in-
habits; flesh white, sort, and well tasted.
757(3. In stocking v'ith tench the number per acre may be more than of carp. In Berkshire, where there
are many ponds for the preserving of fish, they usually stock with tench or carp in the proportion of one
hundred to the acre, the fish remaining four years in them : but in the management of Sir Harry fea-
therstone, in Sussex, in a pond of twenty acres reduced to sixteen by the deposition of mud, the stock is
generally in the proportion of twelve hundred carp and an equal number of tench ; or at the rate of seventy.
five brace to the acre. And in this proportion they are said to succeed well.
7577. The gudgeon (Cyprinus Gobio L., c) is a very inferior fish to the carp or tench ; but being of easy
culture and rapid increase, is kept in many places as food for pike and perch. It inhabits gentle streams
and lakes of Northern Europe; is tenacious of life, and very fertile; about eight inches long; feeds on
herbs, worms, insects, the fry of other fish, and parts of carcasses : body narrow, spotted, above livid, the
sides above the line blue, beneath whitish yellow, but it varies its colours by age, the different waters it
inhabits, and its food ; flesh white, and very grateful.
7578. The perch (Perca fluviatilis L., d) is an excellent fish, and though naturally found in streams in
Europe and Siberia, yet will live in large ponds or lakes, provided the water be clear. It grows to two
feet long ; back and part of the sides deep green, with five broad black bars, which are sometimes dark
green or blue, and very rarely wanting ; belly white, tinged with red ; swims with great swiftness and at,a
certain height in the water; is tenacious of life, but eagerly takes a bait; feeds on aquatic insects and
smaller fish ; spawns in May and June, and is very prolitic ; it has no real air-bladder ; and from its inte-
guments may be obtained a kind of glue; flesh very delicate. ■. <\\
1519. In stocking with perch, as they are great breeders, six hundred to the acre may be sufficient.
7.580. The pike (£'sox Z-iicius L., e) inhabits most lakes of Europe, Lapland, Northern Persia, anifl
North America, and is found even in the Caspian Sea ; swims, and grows very rapidly, one to eight feet
long ; is extremely voracious and long-lived ; feeds on almost any thing which comes in its way, even its
own tribe; spawns from February to April ; body above black, the sides cineraceous spotted with yellow,
beneath white dotted with black ; rarely orange spotted with black or green ; scales small, oblong,
bard. The pike is best reared in deep ponds bv itself in which some gudgeons may be put to bread
1102 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
for its food. It will thrive in waters partaking of the chalybeate quality, in which few other fish
would live.
7581. The gold fish (Cfprinus aurfitus L.) is an inhabitant of the rivers of China and Japan, and is
naturalised almost every where on account of its elegance and vivacity ; the colours vary greatly, but
are naturally and mostly of a most splendid golden hue; scales large. It is bred in small ponds in
gardens near London and Paris for sale, as an ornamental inhabitant of crystal vases, or garden basins
of water.
7582. The minnow (C^prinus Phoxinus L.,f), the dace {C. lentlscus Z), and the roach (C. rutilus
L.), are very small fish, which abound, the first in gravelly streams, and the others in still waters ; both
are useful as affording food to other fish, and may therefore be put into fish ponds. They are also very
good to eat.
7r.83. Of the trout and salmon famfli/ there are several species, as the lake trout, gilt and red charr,
which inhabit Alpine lakes in northern countries, and might probably be introduced with advantage into
the lakes of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and the Highlands of Scotland. The red charr is caught in
Keswick lake. The salmon and salmon-trout (Sdlmo 5Jllar, and 5. Triitta,) require salt water and a river;
and the fresh water trout {S. i^rio) requires too rapid a stream for art to imitate ; they succeed, how-
ever, to a certain extent, in very slow-running waters which are clear.
7584-. The salmon is a very prolific fish ; both male and female are frequently fit for propagation during
the first year of their age. The roe of the female is found, on an average, to contain from 17,000 to
20,000 ova or eggs. During the months of August, September, and October, the reproductive organs,
both of the male and female salmon, have more or less completely reached maturity, at which period the
instinct of propagation impels them eagerly to seek rivers, and to ascend nearly to their sources, in order
to find a place suitable for the deposition of their spawn. They no longer, as in the winter and spring
months, roam over the coast and shores, and return backwards and forwards with the flowing and ebbing
of the tide; but pursue the most direct route by the mid-channel up the rivers, and make the greatest
efforts to overcome every obstacle, either natural or artificial, that may impede their progress. The
spawning is accomplished in the months of November, December, and January. When the parent fishes
have reached the spawning ground, they proceed to the shallow water, generally in the morning, or at
twilight in the evening, when they play round the ground two of them together. After a turn, they
begin to make a furrow, by working up the gravel with their noses rather against the stream ; as the
salmon cannot work with his head down the stream, for the water then going into his gills the wrong
way, drowns him. When the furrow is made, the male and female return to a little distance, one to the
one, and the other to the other, side of the furrow. They then throw themselves upon their sides, again
come together, and rubbing against each other, both shed their si>awn into the furrow at the same time.
This process is not completed at once ; as the eggs of the roe must be excluded individually, from eight
to twelve days are required for completing the operation. When the process is over, they betake them-
selves to the pools to recruit themselves. The spawn thus deposited is afterwards covered with loose
gravel ; and m this state the ova remain for weeks, or sometimes much longer, apparently inert, like
seeds buried in the soil. In an early spring the fry come forth early, and later when the spring is late.
Generally, they begin to rise from the bed about the beginning of March, and their first movement is ge-
nerally completed by the middle of April. The appearance which they present is that of a thick braird of
grain rushing up in vast numbers. The tail first comes up, and the young animals often leave the bed
with a portion of the investing membrane of the ovum about their heads. From experiments that were
made upon the roe, it appears that they can only be hatched in fresh water ; for when a portion of the
roe was put into salt water, none of the ova ever came into life; and when a young fish that had been
hatched in fresh water was put into salt water, it showed symptoms of uneasiness, and died in a few
hours. When the evolution from the ova is completed, the young fry keep at first in the eddy pools, till
they gain strength, and then prepare to go down the river, remaining near its sides, and proceeding on
their way till they meet the salt water, when they disappear. The descent begins in the month of March,
continues through April and a part of May, and sometimes even till June. The reason why the fry thus .
descend by the margin in rivers, and the mid-channel in estuaries, is apparently, according to Dr. Flem-
ing, because the margin of the river is tiie easy water, and consequently best suited to their young and
weak state : but when they reach the estuary or tide- way, then the margin of the water being the most
disturbed, the fry avoid it, and betake themselves to the deepest part of the channel, disappearing alike
from observation and capture, and so go out to sea. After remaining some weeks at sea, the smelts or
samlets, as the fry are called, return again to the coasts and rivers, having obtained a pound or a pound
and a half of weight; by the middle of June they weigh from two to three pounds, and are said to in-
crease half a pound in weight every week. They are now known in Scotland by the name of grilses, and
by the end of the fishing season they have obtained the size of seven or eight pounds. In the first five
months of its existence, that is, from April to August, both inclusive, it may be stated that the salmon
reaches, in favourable circumstances, eight pounds weight, and afterwards increases, though more slowly,
yet so as to have acquired the weight of thirty-five pounds in thirty-three months. After the process of
spawning is completed in the river, the parent fishes retire to the adjoining pools to recruit. In two or
three weeks from that time, the male begins to seek his way down the river ; the female remains longer
about the spawning ground, sometimes till April or May. The fishes which have thus spawned are deno-
minated kelts. In their progress to the sea, when they reach the estuary, they pursue a course precisely
similar to the fry, not roaming about the banks like clean fish, but keeping in the mid-channel. They are
at this time comparatively weak ; and in thus betaking themselves to the deepest part of the channel, they
are better able to resist the deranging effects of the flood-tide, and to take advantage of the ebb tide
in accelerating their migration to the sea. It appears that some which descend as kelts in spring return
again in autumn in breeding condition, a recovery which is no less remarkable than the early growth of
these animals. The sea seems to be the element in which the salmon feeds and grows. When caught in
fresh water, not only is their condition comparatively poor, but scarcely any thing is ever found in their
stomachs. In estuaries and on coasts, on the other hand, they feed abundantly, and their stomachs are
often found full of sand-eels. {Edin. New Phil. Jour. Jan. — April, 1828.)
7585. The eel (A/urae'na ^^nguilla L.) inhabits almost every where in fresh waters ; grows sometimes to
the length of six feet, and weighs twenty pounds ; in its appearance and habits something resembles the
serpent tribe ; during the night quits its element, and wanders along meadows in search of snails and
worms ; beds itself deep in the mud in winter, and continues in a state of rest ; is very impatient of cold,
and tenacious of life : the flesh of such as frequent running water is very good ; is viviparous, and has
116 vertebra;. One advantage of the eel is, that it will thrive in muddy ponds of very small size, where
no other fish would live.
7586. On the subject of cultivating fishes it may be observed, that the waters of some ponds are better
adapted for raising some sorts of fish than others. Thus, those where the water is rich and white are
more adapted for carp; while such as have a thicker appearance, and where there is a greater deposition
of muddy matter, are better suited to tench. Perch are capable of being raised in almost any sort of
Knds. Eels succeed best where the ponds are not very large ; but where fed by a spring, and there is a
•ge portion of rich sediment. Pike should never be kept in ponds with carp or tench ; but in separate
breeding-ponds, where the supplies of small fry are considerable and not wanted for stores. Carp, tench,
and perch are the sorts principally cultivated with a view to profit, with a few eels occasionally. But
perch and eels should not be admitted where the ponds are but thinly stocked, as they are great devourers
of the young fish. Carp and tench answer best together where the extent of the ponds are pretty large ;
as, in other cases, the former, from being a much more powerful fish, beats and deprives the latter of his
Book VII.
THE ESCULENT FROG, TORTOISE.
1103
food. Carp seldom afford much profit in ponds of less extent than half an acre ; but tench thrive well in
those of almost every size, being often found good in ponds of only a few perches square. Carp, perch,
and eels succeed well together ; and also tench and eels. Carp more frequently injure themselves by
breeding than tench, though it sometimes happens with the latter. It is not improbable, but that in small
ponds it may be the best practice to keep the carp and tench separate. The produce or profit afforded by
fish-ponds has not yet, perhaps, been sufficiently attended to in different situations to afford correct con-
clusions ; nor is it well ascertained what is the annual increase in weight in fish of different kinds, in
different periods of their growth, and under different circumstances of soil and water. Loveden {Annals
of Agriculture) states, that in Berkshire a pond of three acres and a half, drawn after being stocked three
years with stores of one year old, produced of carp 19;) lb. weight, of tench 230 ditto ; together 425 Ibi,
which sold for 20/. 10*. or' nearly 17. 6s. per acre per annum.
7587. T/ie taking tf cultivated fish is generally done with nets, and sometimes by emptying the pond of
water. Whatever way is adopted, only those fit to be used are taken, and the rest returned to grow
larger. No fish is taken, or fit to be used, for a month before and after the spawning season, which with
most fresh water fish is in April, May, or June. The Marquis de Chabanes proposes to catch fish, both in
fresh and salt water, by immersing a burning lamp in an air box with mirrors, and round which he has
traps into which the animals are to be entangled, while approaching the light and the multiplied images
of their own species. For this contrivanr e he has taken out a patent. Salmon are sometimes caught by
torch -light.
7588. The castration offish has been successfully practised both in this and other countries, and both
with the male and female. Castrated fish attain to a larger size, and are in season at any period of ttie
year. The mode of jierforming the operation is described in Rees's Cyclopedia, art. Fish, Castration of;
and in the Philosophical Transactions, vol 48. part ii. p. 106.
7589. Of the amphibia which are or may be cultivated for food or ornament, the prin-
cipal are the frog and tortoise.
7590. The esculent frog (iJkna escul^nta Z-.^g'. 957. a), though generally despised in this country, is
957 yet an excellent article to those who are accustomed to
it; and there are few Englishmen who have eaten a
fricassee of the thighs of this animal in France or Italy,
but what would wish to do so again. The body of this
frog is green, with three yellow lines, the middle ones
extending from the mouth to the anus, with the angles
of the mouth distended in a globular form ; the male
makes a continual croaking in an evening, especially
before rain; when irritated will pursue and destroy a
pike. It is rare in England, but very common on the
Continent, where it is in season for the table in June.
7591. The tree frog {Rkna. arburea /.., h), is green
above, and whitish beneath, with a yellow curved line
on the side. In elegance and activity it is superior to
every other European species. In summer it resides in
the woods, and haunts the trees in quest of insects,
which it approaches on its belly in the same manner as
a cat to a mouse, and at length seizes with an elastic
and instantaneous spring. It is particularly noisy on
the approach of rain. In winter it takes up its abode in
the bottom of the waters, remaining till the spring in a
state of torpor. The noise of this frog is by many con-
sidered musical, and it is often kept in houses in Germany
both as a curiosity and as a weather guide. It certainly
deserves introduction to this country. We brought one
from C'arlsruhe, in 1828, which has remained in a glass
jar covered with gauze at the top, living on flies, till the
present day, Nov. 2. 18J0.
7592. There are two species of tortoise which might be cultivated ; the common, and the mud tortoise.
The common tortoise (Testudo grse'^ca. L.fig.958. a) weighs three pounds, and the length of its shell is about
953 seven inches. It abounds in the countries surrounding
the Mediterranean, and particularly in Greece, where
the inhabitants not only eat its flesh and eggs, but fre-
quently swallow its warm blood. In September or Oc-
tober it conceals itself, remaining torpid till February,
when it re-appears. In June it lays its eggs, in holes
exposed to the full beams of the sun, by which they are
matured. Tortoises attain most extraordinary longe-
vity, and one was ascertained to have lived in the gar-
dens of Lambeth to the age of nearly one hundred and
twenty years. It will answer the purpose of a baro-
meter, and uniformly indicates the fall of rain before
night, when it takes its food with great rapidity, and
walks with a sort of mincing and elate step. It appears
to dislike rain with extreme aversion, and is discomfited
and driven back only by a few and scarcely perceivable
drops.
7593. The mud tortoise ( T. lutkria, b) is common both
in Europe and Asia, and particularly in France, where
it is much used for food. It is seven inches long ; lays
its eggs on the ground, though an aquatic animal;
walks quicker than the land tortoise ; and is often kept
in gardens, to clear them from snails and various wing.,
less insect. In fish ponds it is very destructive, biting
the fishes, and, when they are exhausted by the loss of
blood, dragging them to the bottom and devouring
them. The tortoise may be fed on any vegetable refuse,
milk, worms, offal, or almost any thing. Linnaeus says
they are in all things extremely slow, and m copulation frequently adhere together a month, and live
several days after the head is cut off, {Show's Zoology.)
1101
PRACTICE or AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
Chap. XI.
Insects and Worms which are or may he suhjected to Culture.
7594. The silkworm and the honey-bee are the two most valuable insects in Europe.
The first, from its great importance, has recently engaged the attention of the legislature,
no less than of private individuals, who have embarked large sums in the attempts now
making to introduce its culture in this country on a large scale.
7595. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a moth (^ombyx mori F.,Jig. 959.) :
93c
it is a native of China, and was introduced into Europe A.D. 160. When full grown
the worm is nearly three inches long, of a yellowish grey colour, with a horn-like pro-
cess on the last joint of the body.
7596. In Italy and other silk countries the eggs are carefully preserved in some place of cool and even
temperature, where they remain until the new leaves of the white mulberry, which is its natural food,
are produced. The object is to hatch the eggs precisely at this time, that the new-born worm may be fed
on food suitable to its infant state. A grower of silk never hatches his whole stock of eggs at once, as a
night's frost will frequently destroy the leaves. Lettuce answers well in this stage of the worm's exist-
ence; but if it is fed entirely upon this plant the silk is of a very inferior descniition, and is, indeed,
perfectly useless. The pabulum of the while mulberry, in fact, is superior in nutritious matter to that of
all others. The leaves in the autumn succeeding to those stripped in the spring, are commonly given to
cattle and pigs, who fatten upon them exceedingly. There is an unfounded prejudice in many silk
countries that the silk produced from the second leaf is inferior to the spring crop, and in France and Italy
the vernal leaf only is u.sed. In India the mulberry tree is grown in moist places, like the osier in England,
and produces from three to six crops annually : the prejudice therefore of the Italian and French growers
against the second crop is unfounded. The real fact seems to be, that the worms are more difficult to
breed in autumn than in spring, from the great change of temperature, against which the growers in
general make no artificial provision. Another reason may probably be, that the silk is reeled with greater
economy and advantage in the height of summer, when the length of the days, and the lieat of the weather,
is then sufficient to dry the thead in this operation. The native reelers of these countries are entirely un-
accustomed to use artificial methods for creating a regulated temperature in houses or manufactories.
7597. The ventilation and cleatilincss of the nursery or feedirig apartments, and the preservation of a
regular heat within them, are highly important to the health of the worm. These points are much neglected
on the Continent, where the nurseries are usually situated in the midst of the mulberry plantations, ex-
posed to the external air, and seldom cleaned. It was satisfactorily ascertained by M. Guyton de Morveau
a few years ago, that a ruinous and unexpected mortality, which then raged among the worms, arose
chiefly from want of ventilation and cleanliness. It has likewise been proved, by experiments lately made
on a sufficiently large scale in Devonshire, that less mortality prevails among the worms in England than
either in France or Italy.
7598. In about six weeks the worm reaches its full size, previously casting its skin four times, and ab-
staining from food for some time before each change ; at these periods the worms are very sickly, and a
creat mortality generally takes place. When full grown and about to spin, they exhibit symptoms of rest-
lessness and uneasiness; small twigs of birch, or of other slender trees, are set up in the boxes or shelves;
upon these the worms climb, each fixing upon its own berth. As it sometimes happens that two worms
spin together, formingwhat is called a double cocoon, this must be carefully prevented by separating them;
such a cocoon not only being difficult to run off when reeled, but two fibres are produced injurious to the
size of the thread : the double cocoons are therefore always wound off" by themselves. In preparing its
case or cocoon, the worm first forms a loose envelopement of silken fibres, and then proceeds to enwrap
itself in a ball or case of an oval form, and finally changes into the pupa or chrysalis ; and after being thus
enclosed for about fifteen days, becomes a moth. This, however, is always prevented when the animal is
not kept for breeding, otherwise the hole formed by the moth in eflTecting its escape would destroy the
continuity of the silk, and prevent its reeling. The chrysalides are killed by two processes, by baking in
an oven, or by letting steam into a tight chest enclosing the cocoons. The latter method is preferable, as
the heat can be better regulated.
7599. The cocoon, after the chrysalis is killed, is either reeled off at once, or sold to others who make
this a distinct trade. The silk, as formed by the animal, is so very fine, that if each cocoon was reeled
separately it would be totally unfit for use ; the ends of four are therefore joined and reeled together out
of warm water, which softening their natural gum, makes them stick together so as to form one strong
smooth thread. When the filament of any single cocoon breaks, or is exhausted, its place is supplied by
a new one, so that the united thread may be wound to any length ; the single filaments of the newly added
cocoons are simply joined by being laid on the thread, to which they adhere by their gum. The old appa.
ratus for reeling merely consists of a large metal basin of water, under which is a fire to keep it hot, and a
reel of a poor and even rude construction : some important improvements, however, have been recently
made in this machine. In reeling it is desirable that a round thread of equal thickness and smoothness
should be produced, having the filaments of which it is composed as equal and as firmly united as possible.
When the skein is quite dry, it is taken off the reel, and a tie is made with refuse silk at its two ends ; it
is then doubled into a hank, and is ready for sale. In this state it arrives in England, and is called raw
Book VII. SILKWORM, HONEY BEE. 1105
silk : the principal part is afterwards sent to a mill to be thrown, that is, to be twisted singly, or to have
two or more ends of it doubled and twisted together to form singles, tram, or organzine, in order to fit it
for the loom. There are, however, purposes for which a single untwisted thread is applied. We have
before stated that a single thread is generally composed of the filaments from four cocoons, and four of
these threads compose the organzine, or that used as the warp of fabrics ; each thread is first spun or
twisted, and then the four are thrown together into one. The weft or tram generally consists of four raw
threads simply twisted together. The reason of drawing so fine a silk on the reel as that composed of four
cocoons, is, that the fileuse, or attendant at the basin, cannot perfectly see more cocoons in one set, so as
to replace the ends when the cocoons are exhausted. If a thread of sixteen cocoons were to be reeled, the
Jileuse could not ensure regularity. Sometimes she would have only eight or ten running, and at the next
moment possibly twenty; consequently a most uneven silk would thus be produced : to prevent this evil,
four cocoons are only run at once, and combined as before described. The important invention of
Mr. Heathcoat, which we shall hereafter notice, applies to the object of drawing off sixteen or -more
cocoons at once on the reel, so as to form a thread as even as that produced by four cocoons, and thus
abridge the expense of the subsequent processes of throwing. We understand this invention is fully ap.
predated by the reelers abroad, and by the manufacturers at home, and that it produces an astonishing
improvement in the quality of the silk, and a great reduction in its price. Mr. H. has obtained patents in
the silk countries no less than in England for this invention, which there is every reason to think will be
generally adopted.
7600. Culture of the silkworm in England. It is well known to those who have considered the subject,
that the silkworm will breed and thrive very well in England, where the range and extremes of tertipera-
ture are within narrower limits than in France or Italy; The white mulberry ffourishesequally well with
us as in those countries. It remains, however, to be proved whether the weight of leaves produced on a
given space of ground is equal to the average crop in warmer climates. This is evidently an important
consideration in the question, of whether England can compete with foreign countries in the production of
raw silk. The high value of land in a country 30 densely peopled as England, and the fact that the mul-
berry tree not only requires great space for its perfect growth, but also a clear ground beneath, renders the
prospect of profit from this branch of agriculture very questionable. A joint stock company, in the manage-
ment of which all the cabinet ministers were more or less concernedi was established in 1825, by the name
of " The British, Irish, and Colonial Silk Company." They possessed a very large capital, and had
formed extensive plantations of trees i« several parts of England and Ireland, particularly near Windsor
and Cork. Mr. John Heathcoat of Tiverton, in Devonshire, has also applied himself to the iuA'cstigation
of this important subject with great ardour; and, previously to the formation of the company above alluded
to, had made considerable progress in the cultivation of the tree and the management of the worm. With
the true liberality of a man of science, he presented to the company several thousand Italian plants destined
for his own plantations, that they might commence their establishments without delay. It ought to , be
generally known, that to this gentleman we are indebted for the cheap production of that beautiful article
called bobbin-net lace, which has become so important a branch of manufacture in England. It was in
the attempt to render silk sufficiently even for his use in lace, that he made the discovery in reeling which
we have before mentioned ; and it is from the result of his investigations that the attention of govern-
ment has so lately been directed to the subject. Admitting, as we have done» that no natural impedi-
ments exist against the successful culture of silk in England, it will naturally be asked why all attempts
hitherto made have been unsuccessful? This question embraces a variety of considerations, into which
our limits will not permit us to enter at large. We may, however, observe, that neither the mulberry tree
nor the silkworm are indigenous to Britain. Centuries elapsed before even the south of Europe began
their culture, which, commencing in the east of Asia, was propagated slowly and at distant periods west-
ward. It obtained firm root in France during the reign of Henry IV., after great resistance on the part
of the people, whose prejudices against the application of land to this purpose excited frequent rebellions.
The unsuccessful attempt of James I. to establish it in England is not accounted for; but the times which
succeeded were unfavourable to the introduction of new arts and inventions. The manufacture of silk
goods was introduced into this country in the fifteenth century, and received a great stimulus by the re-
vocation of the edict of Nantes in 16a^. By this intolerant and disgraceful measure Louis XIV. drove
thousands of his most industrious subjects to seek an asylum in foreign countries ; of whom it is supposed
not less than 50,000 emigrated to England. From this period the manufacture of silk goods became an
important branch of trade in England. The common and even still existing prejudice, that our climate is
unfitted for the growth of the tree, and the production of the worm, would probably be still more invete-
rate in former times. The acknowledged fact that England is much colder than the south of France or
Italy, would naturally induce the idea that it was unsuitable both to the tree and the worms. Individuals
among our countrymen have, however, constantly asserted the contrary, and numerous insulated experi-
ments have been brought forward in support of their opinion. Miss Croft of York, in 1792, sent to the
Society of Arts a specimen of silk produced by worms fed entirely upon lettuce leaves. We are not told,
however, whether proper trials were made by subsequent experim.ents to prove its quality ; and we have
already observed that such silk, for purposes of manufacture, is perfectly useless, even in Italy. Yet we
know it to be the opinion of men now perfectly conversant with the subject, that the various experiments
and trials that have been hitherto made would long ago have succeeded, had we been fully informed on
all the requisite points connected with the management of the tree, the worm, and its produce the cocoon.
Our experimentalists have all laboured under one difficulty, —they were ignorant of the reeling process ;
and this probably aroee from their experiments having been conducted on too small a scale to render it
necessary to import or require the skill of winding the silk from the cocoon. This difficulty has at length
been overcome by the exertions of Mr. Heathcoat, at whose establishment in Devonshire the improved
method of reeling is now carried on with complete success.
7601. The recent attempt to establish the culture of the silkioorm in Britain appears to have completely
failed for the present. After collecting a great quantity of mulberry trees, and establishing considerable
plantations in Devonshire and near Windsor in England, and in the vicinity of Cork in Ireland, the
company in 1828 gave up the whole, without, in our opinion, having given the attempt a fair trial. As
the mulberry will produce abundance of leaves as far north as Stockholm, and as the worms have to bQ
hatched and brought forth in artificial heat even in France, there cannot be a doubt as to the success of
this branch of culture in any part of the British islands. W hether it would pay is a different thing ; we
by no means think it would, even in Ireland.
7602. This common honey bee{jt'p\?> mellifica Z,. ) inhabits Europe in hollow trees, but
is chiefly kept in hives, being domesticated every where. Perhaps more has been written
on the economy of this insect than on any other animal employed in agriculture,. and
certainly to very little purpose. After all that has been done in England, France, and
Italy, the bee is still more successfully cultivated, and finer honey produced, in Poland,
by persons who never saw a book on the subject, or heard of the mode of depriving bees of
their honey without taking their lives. Much as has been written in France and England
on this last part of the subject, it is still found tlie best mode to destroy the hive in taking
the honey. Unanswerable reasons for this practice are given by La Gren^e, a French
apiarian, which are elsewhere quoted by us at length (Encyc. of Gard. ari^ S^es), and
4 B
106
rUACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
allowed to be conclusive as to profit even by Huish. The honey produced by any hive
or aj)iary depends much more on tlie season, and the quantity and kind of flowers with
which the neighbourhood abounds, than on the Ibnn of the hive or artificial management.
Viewing the subject in this light, we shall avoid noticing the mode of operating with
glass, storying, cellular, or other curious hives of recent invention, and treat only of the
simplest methods. The author we shall follow is Howison.
1603. The apiary, or place where the bee-hives are placed, should in very warm situations be made to
face the east, and in colder districts the south-east It should be veil protected from liigh winds, which
not only prevent the bees from leaving the hive in quest of honey, but they also surprise them in the fields,
and often kill tlicm by dashing them against the trees and rocks or into rivers. The hives in an apiary
should always be placed in a right line ; but should the number of the hives be great, and the situation not
capacious enough to admit of their being placed longitudinally, it is more advisable to place them over one
another on shelves {fifr. 417) than in double rows on the ground. A bee, on leaving the hive, generally
forms an angle of about forty-five with the horizon ; the elevation of the hive should therefore be about
960 two feet from the ground, in order to protect it from humidity. The greater the
elevation of the hive, the longer is the flight of the swarm ; and when they are
at a certain point of elevation, the swarms are lost for ever to the proprietor. I£.
the hives are to be placed in a double row, the hinder ones should alternate with,
and be placed at such a distance from, the front ones, that when the bees take
their flight no obstruction is oflTered to their ascent. Huish recommends placing
every hive upon a single pedestal, and at two or three feet distance from each other.
By this means, when any thing happens to one hive, the others are less likely to
be disturbed than when placed on a shelf in a bee-house; and the hive may be
chained down and locked, {fig. yCO.) It is usual to have three or four legs or
supports to the bee-boards ; but those who have tried one will never resort to
more, as one is a much better protection from vermin and insects. The space in
front of the apiary should be kept clear of high plants for two or three yards.
7604. The variety of bees employed is a matter of some consequence. To the
common observer all working bees, as to external appearance, are nearly the
same ; but to those who examine them with attention, the difference in size is
very distinguishable; and they are, in their vicious and gentle, indolent and
active natures, essentially different. Of the stock which Howison had in 1810, it
required 250 to weigh an ounce; but they were so vicious and lazy that he changed it for a smaller variety,
which possesses much better disjxjsitions, and of which it requires 295, on an average, to weigh an ounce.
Whether size and disposition are invariably connected, he has not yet had sufficient experience to de-
termine.
7605. The best material and form for hives is a straw thimble or flower-pot placed in an inverted position.
Hives made of straw, as now in use, have a great advantage over those made of wood and other material^,
from the effectual defence they afford against the extremes of heat in summer and cold in winter.
7606. The size of hives should correspond as nearly as possible with that of the swarms. This has not
had that attention paid to it which the subject demands, as much of the success in the management of the
bees depends on that circumstance. From blind instinct bees endeavour to fill with combs whatever hive
they are put into, before they begin to gather honey. Owing to this, when the hive is too large for its
inhabitants, the time for collecting their winter store is spent in unprofitable labour; and starvation is the
consequence. This evil also extends to occasioning late swarming the next summer; it being long before
the hive becomes so filled with young bees as to produce a necessity for emigration, from which cause the
season is too far advanced for the young colonies to procure a winter stock. A full-sized straw hive will
hold three pecks ; a small-sized from one and a half to two pecks.
7607. T/ie Polish hive (Pasieka Pol., fig. 961.) appears to us to be the second in merits to that described,
961 and perhaps it may deserve the preference, if the mode of using it were gene-
rally known. It is simply the trunk of a tree, of a foot or fourteen inches in
diameter, and about nine feet long. It is scooped out (boring in this country
would be better) for about six feet from one end, so as to form a hollow cylinder
of that length, and of six or eight inches diameter within. Part of the circum-
ference of this cylinder is cut out during the greater part of its length, about
four inches wide, and a slip of wood is made to fit the opening. On the sides
of this slip or segment (a) notches are made every two or three inches, of suffi-
cient size to allow a single bee to pass. This slip may be furnished with hinges,
and with a lock and key ; but in Poland it is merely fastened in by a wedge.
All tliat is wanting to cdux plete the hive is a cover at top to throw oft" the rain ;
and then it requires only to be placed upright like a strong post in the garden,
so as the bottom of the hollow cylinder may be not nearer the ground than two
feet, and the opening slip look to the south. When a swarm is to be put in, the
tree, with the door or slip opened, is placed obliquely over it ; when the bees
enter the door is closed, and the holes stopped with clay till the hive is planted
or placed upright. When honey is wanted, the door is opened during the finest
part of a warm day, when most of the bees are out ; its entire state is seen from
top to bottom, and the operator, with a segar in his mouth, or with a lighted
rag, to keep oflPthe bees from his hands, cuts out with a crooked knife as much
comb as he thinks fit. In this way fresh honey is obtained during the summer,
the bees are never cram.ped for room, nor does it become necessary to kill them.
The old comb, however, is annually cut out, to prevent or lessen the tendency
to swarming, which, notwithstanding this and the size of their dwelling, they
generally do once a year ; for the lav.'s of nature are not to be changed. 1 hough
it be a fact that a small swarm of bees will not do well in a large hive ; yet, if the
hive extend in length and not in breadth, it is admitted both by Huber and
Huish that they will thrive in it. " If too great a diameter," says Huber, " be
not given to the abode of the bee, it may without danger be increased in the elevation ; their success in
the hollow trees, their natural domicile, incontestably proves the truth of this assertion."
76t>8. The feeding of bees is generally deferred till winter or spring ; but this is a most erroneous prac-
tice. Hives should be examined in the course of the month of September, or about the time of killing the
drones • and if a large hive does not weigh thirty pounds, it will be necessary to allow it half a j)ound of
honey, 'or the same quantity of soft sugar made into syrup, for every pound that is deficient of that
weight ; and in like proportion to smaller hives. This work must not be delayed, that time may be given
for the bees to make the deposit in their empty cells before they are rendered tori)id by the cold. Sugar
simply dissolved in water (which is a common practice), and sugar boiled with water into a syrup, form
compounds very differently suited for the winter store of bees. When the former is wanted for their imme-
diate nourishment, as in spring, it will answer equally as a syrup ; but if to be laid up as store, the heat of
the hive quickly evaporating the water, leaves the sugar in dry crystals, not to be acted upon by the trunks
Book VII. HONEYBEE. 1107
of the bees. Hives may be killed with hunger while some pounds' weight of sugar remain in this state in
their cells. The boiling of sugar into syrup forms a closer combination with the water, by which it is pre-
vented from flying off, and a consistence resembling that of honey retained. Howison has had frequent
experience of hives, not containing a pound of honey, preserved in perfect health through the winter with
sugar so prepared, when given in proper time and in sufficient quantity.
7609. To protect hives froyn the cold, they are covered v/ith straw or rushes, about the end of September,
or later, according to the climate and season. This is an essential business, as well covered hives always
prosper better the follov.ing season than such as have not been covered. In October, the aperture at which
the bees enter should generally be narrowed, so as only one bee may pass at a time. Indeed, as a very
small portion of air is necessary for bees in their torpid state, it were better, during severe frosts, to be
entirely shut up, as numbers of them are often lost from being enticed to quit the hive by the sunshine (/
a winter day. It will, however, be proper at times to remove, by a crooked wire, or similar instrument,
the dead bees and other filth, which the living at this season are unable to perform of themselves. Ti
hives, whose stock of honey was sufficient for their maintenance, or those to which a proper quantity o<
sugar had been given for that purpose, no further attention will be necessary until the breeding season
arrives. This, in warm situations, generally takes place about the beginning of May ; and in cold, about a
month after. The young bees, for a short time previous to their leaving their cells, and some after, require
being fed with the same regularity that young birds are by their parents ; and if the store in the hive be
exhausted, and the weather such as not to admit of the working bees going abroad to collect food in suffi-
cient quantity for themselves and their brood, the powerful principle of afiFeCtion for their young compels
them to part with what is not enough for their support, at the expense of their own lives. To prevent
such accidents, it is advisable, if during the breeding season it rain for two successive days, to feed all
the bees indiscriminately, as it would be difficult to ascertain those only who require it.
7610. The swarming of bees generally commences in June, in some seasons earlier, and in cold climates or
seasons later. The first swarming is so long preceded by the appearance of drones, and hanging out of
working bees, that if the time of their leaving the hive is not observed, it must be owing to want of care.
The signs of the second are, however, more equivocal, the most certain being that of the queen, a day or
two before swarming, at intervals of a few minutes, giving out a sound a good deal resembling that of a
cricket. It frequently happens that the swarm will leave the old hive, and return again several times,
which is always owing to the queen not having accompanied them, or from having dropped on the ground,
being too young to fly to a distance. Gooseberry, currant, or other low bushes, should be planted at a
short distance from the hives, for the bees to swarm upon, otherwise they are apt to fly away ; by attending
to this, Howison has not lost a swarm by straying for several years. When a hive yields more than two
swarms, these should uniformly be joined to others that are weak, as from the lateness of the season, and
deficiency in number, they will otherwise perish. This junction is easily formed, by inverting at night
the hive in which they are, and placing over it the one you intend them to enter. They soon ascend, and
apparently with no opposition from the former possessors. Should the weather, for some days after
swarming, be unfavourable for the bees going out, they must be fed with care until it clears up, otherwise
the voung swarm will run a great risk of dying.
7611. The honey may be taken from hives of the common construction by three modes, partial depriv-
ation, total deprivation, and suffocation.
7612. Partial deprivation is performed about the beginning of September. Having ascertained the
weight of the hive, and consequently the quantity of honeycomb which is to be extracted, begin the
operation as soon as evening sets in, by inverting the full hive, and placing an empty one over it; par-
ticular care must be taken that the two hives are of the same diameter, for if they ditFer in their dimen-
sions it will not be possible to effect the driving of the bees. The hives being placed on each other, a
sheet or large table-cloth must be tied round them at their point of junction, in order to prevent the bees
from molesting the operator. The hives being thus arranged, beat the sides gently with a stick or the
hand, but particular caution must be used to beat it on those parts to which the combs are attached, and
which will be found parallel with the entrance of the hive. The ascent of the bees into the upper hive
will be known by a loud humming noise, indicative of the pleasure in finding an asylum from their
enemy; in a few minutes the whole community will have ascended, and the hive with the bees in it may
be placed upon the pedestal from which the full hive was removed. The hive from which the bees have
been driven must then be taken into the house, and the operation of cutting out the honeycomb com-
menced. Having extracted the requisite quantity of comb, this opportunity must be embraced of inspecting
the hive, and of cleaning it from any noxious matter. In cutting the combs, however, particular attention
should be paid not to cut into two or three combs at once, but having commenced the cutting of one, to
pursue it to the top of the hive; and this caution is necessary for two reasons. If you begin the cutting
of two or three combs at one time, were you to extract the whole of them, you would perhaps take too
much ; and secondly, to stop in the middle of a comb would be attended with very pernicious conse-
quences, as the honey would drop from the cells which have been cut in two, and then the bees, on being
returned to their native hive, might be drowned in their own sweets. The bees also, in their return to
their natural domicile, being still under the impression of fear, would not give so much attention to the
honey which flows from the divided cells ; and as it would fall on the board, and from that on the ground,
the bees belonging to the other hives would immediately scent the wasted treasure, and a general attack
on the deprivated hive might be dreaded. The deprivation of the honeycomb being effected, the hive
may be returned to its former position, and reversing the hive which contains the bees, and placing the
deprivated hive over it, they may be left in that situation till the morning, when the bees will be found to
have taken possession of their native hive, and, if the season proves fine, may replenish what they have
lost. {Huish's Treatise on Bees.)
7613. Total deprivation is effected in the same manner, but earlier in the season, immediately after the
first swarm ; and the bees, instead of being returned to a remnant of honey in their old hive, remain in the
new empty one : which they will sometimes, though rarely, fill with comb. By this mode, it is to be ob-
served, very little honey is obtained, the bees in June and July being occupied chiefly in breeding, and
one, if not two, swarms are lost.
7614. Sujgrbcation is performed when the season of flowers begins to decline, and generally in October.
The smoke of paper, or linen rag soaked or smeared with melted sulphur, is introduced to the hive by
placing it in a hole in the ground, where a few shreds of these articles are undergoing a smothering com-
bustion ; or the full hive may be placed on an empty one, inverted as in partial deprivation, and the sul-
phureous smoke introduced by a fumigating bellows, &c. 'I'he bees will fall from the upper to the lower
hive in a few minutes, when they may be removed and buried, to prevent resuscitation. Such a death
seems one of the easiest, both to the insects themselves, and to human feelings. Indeed, the mere
deprivation of life to animals, not endowed with sentiment or reflection, is reduced to the precise pain of
the moment, without reference to the past or the future; and as each pulsation of this pain increases in
effect on the one hand, so, on the other, the susceptibility of feeling it diminishes. Civilised man is the
only animal to whom death has terrors, and hence the origin of that false humanity, which condemns the
killing of bees in order to obtain their honey ; but which might, with as much justice, be applied to the
destruction of almost any other animal used in domestic economy, as fowls, game, fish, cattle, &c.
7615. On the produce and profit of bees much has been said by the patriotic apiarians. Both, however,
are extremely uncertain ; and as to the profit, it can never be great, while there is the competition of ail
Europe to contend with as to honey and wax, and no great demand for swarms. Bees, however, are
interesting creatures; are supported at almost no expense j and a hive or two is therefore very desirable
in the garden of every farmer and cottage*
4 B 2
1108 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III.
7616. The craiv or crat/Jish (Cancer ^'stacus L.,fig. 962.), called sometimes the fresh
962 water lobster, inhabits still rivers, and forms
holes in the banks.
7617. They are said to be nutritious and of an
excellent flavour, and are prepared in cooking like
lobsters or shrimps. In former times they were
celebrated for sundry medicinal virtues, but these
seem to be now forgotten. The flavour of these ani-
mals, nevertheless, depends entirely on the nature
of their food. Like all others of their tribe, they feed
principally upon flesh. They might be advantageously
cultivated in ponds and marshes, but should not be
put into fish ponds, as they are detrimental to the
fry. A breeding stock may frequently be purchased
in Covent Garden market, or procured from any of
the small rivers near London ; they are also said to
be plentiful near Alnwick in Northumberland.
7618. The edible snail (Helix pomatia L., fig. 71. a), although a native of the Con-
tinent, has been long naturalised in some parts of England.
7619. It is the largest species found in Europe. The animal being fleshy, and not of an unpleasant
flavour, has been used as food from early times. It owes its introduction into England to certain medicinal
virtues, no less than to its repute on the Continent as an article of food ; but the first of these properties
has long since been forgotten, and no progress has yet been made in introducing it on our tables. It is
not so abundant in Italy as the common garden snail (H. hort^nsis L.), which may be seen, exposed in
cages, in the markets of Genoa and other cities. "We have no certain information which of these species
was held in repute among the Romans, who had their cochlearia or stews, where snails were bred, and
fattened upon bran and sodden lees of wine. The H. pomatia is preserved near Vienna in large pits,
covered with boards, and fed with cabbage leaves and other vegetables.
7620. The medicinal leech (^irudo medicinalis L.) grows to the length of two or
three inches. Tlie body is of a blackish-browTi colour, marked on the back with six
yellow spots, and edged with a yellow line on each side ; but both the spots and the lines
grow faint, and almost disappear at some seasons. The head is smaller tlian the tail,
which fixes itself very firmly on any thing the creature pleases. It is viviparous, and pro-
duces but one young at a time, which is in the month of July. It is an inhabitant of
clear running water ; but in winter the leech resorts to deep water, and in severe weather
retires to a great depth in the ground, leaving a small aperture to its subterranean habit-
ation. It begins to make its appearance in Marcli or April. Water alone is not the
natural element of leeches, as it is supposed, but conjointly with ground or mud.
7621. The usual food of the medicinal and trout leech is derived from the suction of the spawn of fish ;
and leeches will not unfrequently be found adhering to the fish themselves : but frogs form the most con-
siderable portion of their food; hence, the best leeches are found in waters much inhabited by these
animals. The medicinal and trout leech do not, like the horse leech, take any solid food ; nor have they
the like propensity to destroy their own or any other species of the genus ; but these the horse-leech will
not hesitate to devour. {Newton's Journal, vol iv. p. 313.) If put into shallow clear ponds it will breed
freely, and this is practised by some herbalists and apothecaries in the neighbourhood of London.
7622. The use of leeches for the purpose of local bleeding is very considerable. There are four principal
importers of leeches in London alone, whose average imports are said to be 150,000 per month each ;
making a total of 600,000, or seven millions two hundred thousand in one year. On the Continent, where
they are obtained at a much cheaper rate, the numbers emjjloyed are enormous. {Ibid.) The London
market is partly supplied from the lakes of Cumberland, where the leeches are caught by women, who go
into the water bare-legged, and after a few have fastened, they walk out and pick them off! A good many
are also brought from Holland.
Chap. XII.
Animals noxious to Agriculture.
762S. Almost every^ animal may he injurious to the agriculturist in some way or other.
All the cultivated live stock will, if not excluded by fences, or prevented by herding, eat
or tread down corn crops or other plants in culture. Those animals, as the dog and
ferret, which assist him in deterring or in catching noxious animals which would prey on
others, will tliemselves become depredators if not attended to ; and even man, the only
rational, and therefore the most valuable of agricultural servants, will prove, under certain
circumstances, the greatest of all enemies to the agriculturist. We shall glance at the
different animals more especially noxious in the order of their usual classification.
Sect. I. Noxious Mammalia.
7624. Of noxious Mammalia man, in a demoralised state, is the most injurious. The
remedy is furnished by the law ; — the preventive is good education, and civil and kind
treatment by the master.
7625. The fox (C^nis Tulpes) commits great ravages among Iambs, poultry, geese, &c. To destroy it,
the farmer must take a sheep's paunch and fasten it to a long stick; then rub his shoes well upon the
waunch, that the fox may not scent his feet. He should then draw his paunch after him as a trail, a mile
Book VII. NOXIOUS ANIMALS. 1109
or upwards, till he gets near some large tree ; then leave the paunch and ascend Into the tree with a gun ;
and as the night comes on, he may see the fox come after the scent of the trail, when he may shoot him.
The trail should be drawn to the windward of the tree, if he can conveniently contrive so to do. — Or, set
a steel-trap in the plain part of a large field, distant from paths and hedges ; then open the trap, place it
on the ground, cut out the exact shape thereof in a turf, and take out just so much earth to make room
for it to stand, and then cover it again very neatly with the turf you cut out. As the joint of the turf
will not close exactly, procure some mould of a mole-hill newly thrown lop, and stick some grass on it,
as if it grew there. Scatter some mould of the mole-hill very thin three different ways, at the distance of
ten or twelve yards from the trap; let this mould be thrown on spots fifteen or sixteen inches square;
and where the trap is placed, lay three or four small pieces of cheese ; and then, with a sheep's paunch,
draw a trail a mile or two long to each of these three places, and from thence to the trap, that the fox
may approach one of the places first ; for then he will advance to the trap more boldly ; and thus you will
be almost always sure of catching him. You must take care that your trap be left loose, that he may draw
it to some hedge or covert, or he will otherwise bite off his leg, and so make his escape. — Or near the spot
where the fox uses much to resort, fix a stick or pole, much in the same manner as for a woodcock. To
explain this more exactly : tie a string to some pole set fast in the ground, and to this string fasten a small
short stick, made thin on the upper side, with a notch at the lower end of it ; then set another stick fast in
the ground, with a nick under it ; bend down the pole, and let the nicks or notches join in the slightest
degree : then open the noose or string, and place it in the path or walk of the fox. By strewing flesh-meat,
pieces of cheese, &c., as you pass along, you may entice the fox to take the same road.
7626. To shoot a fox, anoint the soles of the shoes with swine's fat, a little broiled ; then go towards the
wood, and, in returning, drop here and there a bit of swine's liver, roasted and dipped in honey, drawing
after you a dead cat ; and by these means he will be allured to follow you.
7627. The fox is sometimes taken with a hook, made of large wire, and turning on a swivel like the collar
of a greyhound ; it is usually hung so high from the ground, that he is compelled to leap to catch at it j
and baited with fresh liver, cheese, &c., and if a trail be run with a sheep's paunch, as before directed, he
will be drawn to the bait with the greatest ease.
7628. The pole-cat {FU\s Putbrius L.) may be caught and destroyed by a dead-fall, constructed in the
following manner: — Take a square piece of wood, weighing forty or fifty pounds: bore a hole in the
middle of the upper side, and set a crooked hook fast in it ; then set four forked stakes fast in the ground,
and lay two sticks across, on which sticks lay a long staff, to hold the dead-fall up to the crook ; and under
this crook put a short stick, and fasten a line to it : this line must reach down to the bridge below; and
this bridge you must make about five or six inches broad. On both sides of this dead-fall place boards or
pales, or edge it with close rods, and make it ten or twelve inches high. Let the entrance be no wider
than the breadth of the dead-fall. — A pigeon house, surrounded with a wet ditch, will tend to preserve
the pigeons ; for beasts of prey naturally avoid water.
7629. The weasel, or Foumart (Ffelis vulgJiris L.), though in some respects beneficial, in as much as when
domesticated it destroys rats, mice, moles, and other noxious vermin, is nevertheless, in a wild state, a
formidable foe to poultry and rabbits. Weasels may be destroyed by putting in their haunts small pieces
of paste, consisting of pulverised sal ammoniac, mixed up with the white of an egg, wheaten flour, and
honey. The strewing of rue round the place where hens nestle, is also said to drive away these depre-
dators ; as also will the smell of a burnt cat ; as all animals are terrified at the burning of one of their own,
or of a similar species.
7630. The badger ( IZ-'rsus Mfeles L.) destroys great numbers of young pigs, lambs, and poultry, every
year. Some use a steel-trap, or a spring, such as foxes are taken in, to catch them. Others sink a pit-fall,
five feet in depth and four in length, forming it narrow at top and bottom, and wider in the middle ; they
then cover it with small sticks and leaves, so that the badger may fall in when he comes on it. Foxes
are sometimes taken in this manner. Others, again, pursue a badger to his hole, and dig him out : this is
done by moonlight.
7631. The mote (Talpa europaeV) is injurious by the subterraneous roads and hills of earth which it
forms in grass lands. With regard to the removal of mole-hills various practices are in use ; but the most
effectual is that derived from the experience of a successful mole-catcher, and communicated to the public
by Dr. Darwin, in his Fhytologia. This man commenced his operations before sun-rising, when he care-
fully watched their situation ; and frequently observing the motion of the earth above their walks, he
struck a spade into the ground behind them, cut off their retreat, and then dug them up. As moles
usually place their nests at a greater depth in the ground than their common habitation lies, and thus
form an elevation or mole-hill, the next step is to destroy these nests by the spade; after which the fre-
quented paths are to be distinguished from the bye-roads, for the purpose of setting subterraneous traps.
This object may be effected by marking every new mole-hill with a slight pressure of the foot, and ob-
serving the next day whether a mole has passed over it, and destroyed such mark ; and this operation
should be repeated two or three mornings successively, but without making the pressure so deep as to
alarm the animal, and occasion another passage to be opened. Now, the traps are to be set in frequented
jjaths, and should be made of a hollow wooden semi-cylinder {jig. 292.), each end of which should be fur-
nished with grooved rings, containing two nooses of horse-hair, that are loosely fastened in the centre by
means of a peg, and are stretched above the surface of the ground by a bent stick or strong hoop. As
soon as the mole passes half way through one of these nooses, and removes the central peg in its course,
the hoop, or bent stick, rises in consequence of its elasticity, and of course strangles the mole. The sim-
plicity of this mode of destroying mole-hills and moles recommends itself to general adoption, as those
whose grounds are thus infested may easily extirpate them, by teaching this practice to their labourers.
7632. The domestic or Norwai/ rat {M<xs Rattus L., fig. 963.) is now generally diffused throughout this
953 country, where it has almost extirpated the indigenous black rat. It
is the most noxious quadruped we have, as it is destructive both to
the live and dead stock of the farmer. The following methods for de-
stroying it are preferable to all others, and are given in JVillick's
Domestic Economy, vol. iii. : — Fry a piece of sponge with salt butler in
a pan ; then compress it between two plates, and cut it into small
pieces, and scatter them about the holes frequented by rats and mice.
This preparation is devoured with avidity; it excites thirst in the
animals, which should be gratified by exposing shallow vessels con-
taining water. On drinking this fluid, after having swallowed the
burnt sponge, it distends their stomach, and proves a fatal repast. —
Or, a capacious cask of moderate height must be procured, and put
in the vicinity of places infested with rats. During the first week this vessel is only employed to allure
the rats to visit the solid top of the cask, by means of boards or planks arranged in a sloping direction to
the floor, which are every day strewed with oatmeal, or any other food equally grateful to their palate ;
and the principal part of which is exposed on the surface. After having thus been lulled into security, and
accustomed to find a regular supply for their meals, a skin of parchment is substituted for the wooden top
of the cask, and the former is cut for several inches, with transverse incisions through the centre, so as to
yield on the smallest pressure. At the same time, a few gallons of water, to the depth of five or six inches,
are poured into the empty cask. In the middle of this element a brick or stone is placed, so as to project
one or two inches above the fluid ; and that one rat may find on the former a place of refuge. These pre-
paratory measures being taken, the boards as well as the top of the cask should now be furnished with
proper bait, in order to induce them to repeat their visits. No sooner does one of these marauders plunge
4 B 3
1110
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
through the section of the parchment into the vessel, than it retreats to the brick or stone, and commences
its lamentations for relief. Nor are its whining notes uttered in vain; others soon follow, and share the
same fate; when a dreadful conflict begins among them, to decide the possession of the dry asylum.
Battles follow in rapid succession, attended with such loud and noisy shrieks, that all the rats in the
neighbourhood hasten to the fatal spot, where they ex])erience similar disasters. Thus hundreds may be
caught by a stratagem, which might be greatly facilitated by exposing a living rat talicn in a trap, or pur-
chased from a professional rat-catcher.
7633. A successful mode of enticing rats has been lately practised by Broad, a farmer at Thruxton in
Herefordshire. He uses a bore trap, two feet long, eight inches wide, and nine inches deep, and little
different in construction from the common one. His secret consists in scenting light-coloured malt, and
also some wheat straws, with oil of caraways, and not setting the traps for a day or two till the rats have
been accustomed to eat the malt without fear. {F. Mag. xiv. p. 431.)
7634. Paul qf Star ston's rattery is thus described by S. Taylor, Esq. in the Gardener''s Magazine : —
76.'55. This rattery was invented by Mr. R. Paul of Starston, in
Norfolk. He bestowed much labour and time to bring it to
perfection ; and, though living in a situation peculiarly ^vour-
able for encouraging the breed of rats, used to boast that he
had completely subdued them. In fact, I have heard him say
that he offered a reward to any one who would bring rats on
his premises; and that having marked and turned off one
particular pair, he betted a wager that he should soon catch
them both ; which, in the course of a very few days, he did.
He selected, as the site of his rattery, some outhouse where rats
were known to freouent, and which he could lock up, and keep
sacred to his own devices and operations. Heie he fixed his
tra]), the construction of which will be best understood bv re-
ferring to the accompanying sketches C/fg:*. 9G4, 1)66.). This
The same letters refer to each of the
figures.
End view of the trap, with the tub
Csection).
B, I^ongitudinal section of trap.
Birdseye vie
tion ot trap.
a. Doubting Castle.
i. Forlorn Hope.
f , Slough of Despond.
</, Partition wall.
t. Ground level.
/, Pipe of brick or tile.
g, Falling floor, or bottom of trap.
h. The weighted end of the fall, to
bring it back into iu place.
J, The end of the fall, that gives way
under the rats.
/, Trough, or thoroughfare, in wliich
the trap (a) is placed.
m. The feeding end of the trough.
n, The end at which the rats enter.
0, Loose wood, to serve Vioth as a
cover and a road into the trap.
p, A slip of wood, to which the rats
spring fV-om the pipe /, and which
gives way under them, and lets
3iem into the water btlow.
Book VII.
NOXIOUS ANIMALS.
nil
spot he endeavoured to make as inciting and comfortable to
the animals as possible ; for which purpose he placed faggots,
loose wood, and even straw, with an occasional wheat sheaf,
on and about the trap. His plan was, to render the trouijh {!)
a complete thoroughfare ; for which purpose the trap or falllnc
bottom (g) was, for several days, secured by a pin, and the end
7636. The beauty of Paul of Starston's trap is, that, when once
set, and the catch (r) regulated to ite proper pitch, it requires
no further trouble. One is sufficient for the whole premises.
The great object is, to give them time enough to get acquainted
with it ; for which purpose every thing should be done to attract
them to the spot, and to make them feel themselves at home.
A little pale malt, slightly tinctured with oil of caraway, will
prrove to be the most inviting dish you can set before thein ; and
it will be well to bear in mind, that no part of the trap, not even
Uie straw or the wo d by which it is surrounded, ought to be
touched by the naked hand without first rubbing the skin with
a jjortion of the oil of caraway. Do not scatter the malt upon
the bridge dtf), but s])read it carelessly, as it were, about the
ftedingenil of the trough (m). It will thus be in sight from
the other end (k) ; and, to get it, the rats must pass the
bridge (g) ; for it will be seen at.^^'. 964. B, that the entrance to
the trap is now (by means of the wood piled up) at the end of the
trough In), although at first it had an entrance at each end,
apd was, as I have stated, a complete thoroughfare. Indeed,
some have them on this plan still ; having no particular feed-
ing place, and trusting entirely to time and chance for what
they may catch ; having first taken pains to make the trap a
run, and the place itself a harbour for rats. I do not know
that it is requisite for me to add many more words. The
drawings sufficiently explain the principle ; and as to dimen-
sions, those ran be determined by the projector, and must, in
some degree, depend on the size and convenience of the build,
ing to which the rattery is attached. The traj) itself should
not be above three or four inches wide, and twelve or fifteen
inches long; in order to allow jilenty of room for the fall of a
large rat. " The forlorn hope" into which he dropjied from
(»n) used as a feeding place. After the rats had got accustomed
to the sjiot, and passed the bridge with confidence, he took out
the pin which secured it, and every rat that attempted to |ias»
tliereafter w<is taken prisoner. I should here observe, that
great care is netiessary in the construction of this jiart of the
trap. It is not enough that the floor give way under the
rat, 2md be merely brought back inio^ its place
again by the balance weight at the end of
the bridge (ft)- <J"p ''at might he accidentally
so caught, but you would not catch a second.
They are, as is well known, remarkably cunning
and suspicious in their dispositions ; and are
in the habit of trying the bridge with their fore-
feet, in order to ascertain its soundness, previously
to adveniuring the weight of their bodies thereon.
It is olivious, therefore, that unless the bridge is
sufficiently fastened to enable the rat to make this
trial, the trap will be no trap to them ; and yet the
catch or fastening should not be so stiff but that it
will suffer the bridge to give way under their weight
when once ui)on it. 1 catmot show this catch in
my sketches; they are so small, but (eniat^rng the
scale) it is, when the bridge is viewed sideways,
something like the annexed sketch Ifg. 965.). g
is tlie bridge or fall of wood tipped with thin sheet
iron at the end (i), which works into the catch (r).
This catch should be sufficiently rank to bear the
trial already spoken of; and yet not so rank but that
it suffer the' bridge to fall when wanted (as shown by
the dotted lines ji)- It is brought back by tijc
weight (A), and moves on pivots at a.
" doubting castle,"— for, you will observe, my friend had the
Pilgrim's Progrets in his eye when he was thus labouring to
entrap sinners,— " the forlorn hope," I say, should he suffi-
ciently deep to prevent the rat from making any attempt to
reach the bottom of the trap ig) ; for which purjiose it should
be of a conical form, and perfectly smooth mside. Once in
" the forlorn hope," therefore, he has no means of egress but by
the pipe or drain (/), the length of which is immaterial, and
which conducts to a tub or cistern of water called, not inaptly,
" the slough of despond." Against the side of this tub is fixed
a flap (w), upon which, as the only chance of escape, the rat
jumps from the mouth of the pipe {/). It gives way under
him, as shown by the dotted line, and he soon ends his career
in " the slough of despond." it will be observed, that the
operation of this trap is so silent, and yet so eftectual, that
hundreds may be caught in quick succession without any alarm
being given to the remainder ; for it appears that they continue
but a very short time in " the forlorn hoiie," leaving it almost
immediately for " the slough of despond ;' their immersion in
which (it being at such a distance from the trap) is unattended
with any noise: whereas, had the water been immediately
under the fall {g), each rat would have occasioned more or less
of disturb mce, and thus have intimidated many. Besides, the
mere examination of tlie cistern, and taking out the captured,
would have be-n a constant source of annoyance ; whereas, in
its present situation, it inay be examined every day without in
the lenst interfering with the traji. My friend had a mouse-
trap on the same principle, only on a smaller scale, and of lighter
materials, which answered extremely well. The mice dropped
through the trap into a little cistern of water l)eneath. {Gard.
Slag. vol. vi. p. 585.)
966
7637. The long-tailed field mouse (M6s sylvaticus L.,fig. 966. a), and the short-tailed field mouse (A),
are both rather larger than the common mouse. Of late years they
have appeared in vast numbers in some parts of England, and caused
incalculable damage to the agriculturist. In 1814, and the following
year, the extensive plantations in Dean and New forests were nearly
destroyotl, over an extent of five hundred acres : the devastation was
caused by these vermin attacking the five-year-old oak and chestnut
plants, which they barked round at the bottom, and consequently
destroyed. Ash, larch, fir, and holly plants were served in the same
way ; and, in many instances, the roots were gnawed through two or
three inches below the surface. Lord Glenbervie observes, that this
alarming havoc first became apparent in 1811, and increased to such a
degree in the three foUowing years, that the greatest alarm was felt by
government for the safety of the growing timber on these extensive
forests. Seven or eight different sorts of traps were set, a great variety
of poisons tried, cats were brought in numbers and turned loose in those
enclosures most infected, and crows, magpies, and owls were impressed
into the service ; but the number of these animals was so prodigious
that no sensible diminution was perceived. At length a vast number of
pits were dug ; and as this method produced the most beneficial results,
we shall describe it. The pits were made from eighteen to twenty inches deep at the bottom, about two
feet in length, and one foot and a half in width, and, at the top, only eighteen inches long and nine wide,
or, indeed, as small as the earth could be got out of a hole of that depth ; for the wider they are below,
and the narrower above, the better they answer their purpose. They were made twenty yards asunder, or
about twelve on an acre ; or, where the mice were less numerous, thirty yards apart. By this method
thirty thousand mice were caught in a short time, but a far greater number had been taken out of the
holes, either alive or dead, by stoats, weasels, crows, and especially hawks. It was for a long time
supposed that this damage had been caused by rabbits ; and it is very probable that similar injuries are
frequently attributed erroneously to these animals. Some years ago an extraordinary quantity of mice
created similar devastation in Lord Bagot's extensive woods in Staffordshire, and in those of Lord Downes
in Yorkshire {Zool. Journal, No. 4. p. 433.).
7638. The field mouse, in the forest of Dean, had become so destructive in 1813, that after trying traps,
baits with poison, dogs, cats, &c. with little success, at last the plan of catching tnem by holes was hit
upon. These holes were made from eighteen inches to two feet long, sixteen or eighteen inches deep,
about the width of a spade at the top, fourteen or fifteen inches wide at the bottom, and three or four
inches longer at the btittom than at the top. The object was to get the bottom of the hole three or foui
inches wider every way than the top, and the sides firm; otherwise the mice would nui up the sides and
get out again. The holes were made at twenty yards apart each way, over a surface of about 3200 acres :
30,00() mice were very soon caught, and the ground was freed from them for two or three years. As many
as fifteen have been found in a hole in one night ; when not taken out soon, they fell on and ate each
other. These mice, we are informed, used not only to. eat the acorns when newly planted, but to eat
through the stems of trees seven and eight feet high, and one inch and a half in diameter ; the part eaten
througii was the collar, or scat of life. {Billington's Facts on Oaks and Trees, SjC. p. 43.)
4 B 4
1112 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part HI-
Sect. II. Birds injurious to Agriculture.
7639. Of birds, the most decidedly injurious to man are the different hawks and
kites, as most of the species attack and devour young poultry.
7640. Various methods have been proposed for remedying this evil, but they evince little acquaintance
Avith the habits of these birds. Mr. Swainson recommends that the prevalent custom, of nailing such as
have been killed against barn-doors or outhouses, be exchanged for the following: — In such parts of the
country as are frequented by these birds, let two or three poles, ten or twelve feet high, be placed in the
farmer's poultry yard, each pole being furnished with an iron spike six or eight inches long; pass this
spike through the body of a dead hawk in the direction of the back-bone : it will thus be firmly secured,
and give the bird an erect position ; the wings being free will be moved by every breeze, and their unna-
tural motion will prove the best scarecrow either for ravenous or granivorbus birds, more particularly the
latter. Destruction by the gun is of course the most effectual,
7641. Whether granivorovs birds are more injurious than beneficial to the farmer, is
very questionable.
7642. TAe crow, rook, raven, sparrow, magpie, and starling are commonly called granivorous ; yet this
is an error, for they are all omnivorous, that is, feeding both upon animal and vegetable substances, and
more particularly upon insects. We are annually told of large crops being either wholly or partially
destroyed by insects of some sort or other; but we never hear that these injuries have been occasioned by
birds. These complaints have certainly been more numerous of late years than formerly, and this is
attributed by Mr. Swainson to the destruction of small birds (as waste lands are brought into cultivation) ;
to the great diminution of rookeries; and to the foolish prejudice which the generality of farmers have
taken up against these latter birds, which they destroy without mercy. In this instance we have been
less wise than our ancestors, who protected and cultivated them, and by whom they were justly considered
of the greatest benefit to mankind. Nature seems, indeed, to have pointed this out to us, for she has dis-
tributed the crow in all parts of the habitable world. Yet the farmer will enquire, " What good can these
birds do me, when they come on my newly sown land, and root up the seed F' The answer is very short.
The crows and rooks do not come for the express purpose of eating or destroying the seed, but for
devouring the insects, snails, and grubs turned up by the plough or harrow; these are their favourite
food, and while so occupied, the small quantity of seed they may eat or displace is returned to the farmer
ten-fold by that saved from the insects. Wallis, in speaking of the destruction caused by the hedgechafter
or cockchaffer, says, that "whole meadows and corn-fields were destroyed by them ;" and judiciously
concludes by observing, " that the many rookeries with us is the reason why we have so few of these
destructive insects." {Hist, qf Northumberland.)
Sect. III. Insects injurious to Agriculture.
7643. Insects, above all other animals, are by far the most injurious to the agriculturist ;
not only from their numbers, but from their attacking the produce of the earth in all its
stages of growth and maturity. We have already pointed out the advantage, not to say
the necessity, of a certain knowledge being acquired respecting insects, by all persons
engaged in agricultural pursuits. We shall now explain, in popular language, the dif-
ferent tribes or orders into which they are divided ; the changes they undergo ; and the
injuries they produce to man, and the animals and vegetables which he cultivates.
Numerous insects, much more destructive than those we shall enumerate, are found in
other climates, but from which the British agriculturist has, happily, nothing to fear, and
therefore need not be acquainted with. The reader will, however, find much valuable
information respecting them concentrated in Kirby and Spence's LUroduction to Euto-
mologT/, vol. i.
SoBSECT. 1. Phi/siology of Insects.
7644. Insects are distinguished from tcorms (Fermes L.) by always having feet in their perfect state,
as the beetle, butterfly, && Worms crawl upon their bellies and have no feet, as the earth-worm, slug,
snail, &c. The generality of insects have only six feet; but some few, generally called by this name, have
a great many, as the wood-louse, centipede, &c.
764o. Nearly all insects are oviparous ; that is, produced from an egg. These eggs are seldom found
singly ; they are small in size, and do not grow. The eggs of some species are hatched in a few days,
while those of others remain during the winter, and the young do not come forth until the season at which
the leaves of the plants upon which they feed beghi to expand.
7646. The second state of the insect is called the eruca, or larva in systematic language, and is known to
the vulgar by various names. Caterpillars are those larvze which are exposed, and feed upon leaves and
plants, as the caterpillar of the common cabbage butterfly {fig. 971. a). The larva; of beetles usually live
in the earth, in the trunks of trees, or in the substance upon which they feed; they are generally of a
whitish colour, thick and clumsy in form, and are called grubs. The larva of the common cockchafer
(^g- 970. b), and of the nut-beetles {fig. 970. c), are of this description ; while the name of maggots is usually
given to the larvse of flies, bees, ants, &c., all of which live in the same confined state as those of beetles.
It is in this stage of existence that insects are most voracious, and consequently most destructive to plants.
7647. When the larva has attained to its full size, it changes into the papa or chrysalis state. This is
done in different situations, according to the tribes to which they belong. The chrysalis of butterflies
{Jig. 971. b, e) are naked, and are either suspended or attached to trees, branches, walls, &c. Those of
moths are either concealed in a case like the cocoon of the silkworm, or the caterpillar undergoes its
change in the earth. The period in which insects remain in this state varies according to the species ; but
in most cases they are inactive and torpid.
7648. The imago, or perfect insect, is produced from the chrysalis, and is the only state in which all its
parts and members are fully developed. The appearance and economy of perfect insects, in general, is
totally diflPerent from those of the larvae and pupae, and it is only in its final stage of existence that the
species can be ascertained. With the exception of such insects as form the A'ptera of Linnaus, all others
are furnished with wings, cither four or two in number. Some few exceptions, however, occur to this
rule ; the female of the glow-worm and of some few moths are apterous, while many beetles (although
furnished with hard winged cases) are destitute of real wings.
IJOOK VII.
INSECTS.
1113
7G49. The duration qf insects Is extremelv variable: the greatest proportion appear to be annual*
emerging from the egg and passing through tne three stages of their existence within the space of a year-
JBut there are a great number of species, particularly among the beetles, which pass three, and even four,
years in the caterpillar state ; and instances are on record of beetles remaining in timber from ten to
fifteen years. The greatest proportion of moths are biennial, passing the winter in the chrysalis state
and closing their existence in the succeeding summer. The transitory life of the Ephemera is proverbial ;
the perfect insect indeed exists but for a day, and seems born only to continue its species j yet in the larva
state it enjoys a life of one, two, or even three years.
SuBSKCT, 2. Arrangement or Classification of Insects*
7650. All insects, as Macleay observes, may be divided into two groups ; 1. Apterous insects, having either
no metamorphosis, or only that kind of it the tendency of which is confined to the increase of the number
of feet : these, as their name implies, are destitute of wings. 2. True insects, or those whose metamorphosis
has a tendency to give wings to the perfect or image state, but never more than six feet.
76.51. True insects are again divisible into two primary groups ; the first of these are organised for mas-
tication in their i)erfect state, and the second are organised for suction alone. Each of these divisions,
according to the system of Macleay, contains five separate orders, the principal characters of which we shall
endeavour to make intelligible in common language.
7652. T/ic Mandibvlata, or masticating insects, are furnished with jaws of a horny or membranaceous
substance, infinitely diversified in their form and structure. They are divided into the following orders : —
1. Trichdflern. The wings are four, soft, and generally
transparent ; the upper pair slightly hairy, and the lower
folded when at rest. The insects of this order are compar-
atively few. The caddy, or cadis worm, is the larva of 'the
spring fly ( Phryg^ea), and lives in the water, concealed within
a tube of its own construction. There are many species in this
country, well known, in their perfect state, to all lovers of ang-
ling. Phryganea rhdmbica Qig. 967. c) may s€arve en an ex-
ample of this order.
2. Bymenijitera. 1 he wings are four, clear and transparent.
The tareus (or outer division of the foot) is composed of five
joints, and the body is armed wiih a sting. The bee, the ant,
and the wasp, are familiar examples.
3. Colciiptera. This well defined and most extensive order
comprehends all insects known by the name of beetles. They
have two wings, concealed beneath a pair of hard wing-cases,
•wluch meet close together in a straight line down the back.
There are many tribes of these insects, which, both in their
larva and perfect state, are extensively injurious to man.
4. Orfhiiplera. The true wings are but two, very large i
expanded, and folded lengthways when at rest. They are co-
when
vered, either partially or wholly, by two wing-cases of a thin,
tough, and rather opaque substance, somewhat resembling
parchment, and reticulated with small neives. The leading
Characters of this order are exemplified in the Cl^tta, or cock-
roach ; the pest of tropical countries, and frequently trouble-
sonie in our kitchens and larders.
6. Nmrdptera. The wings, with very few exceptions, are four
in number, clear, transj)arent, and reticulated with numerous
areolets, or irregularly square divisions ; the tail of the female
is not armed with a sting. Few, if any, of these insects maybe
considered as injurious: some are, indeed, beneficial ; as, from
their predatory habits, they attack and devour a vast number
of smaller insects. This is more particularly the habit of the
(freen dragon-fly (A'grion ydgo. Jig. 967. a), which every one
may see, during summer, hovering over ponds, and flying about
like a hawk in search of its prey. The fiph^mera, or day-fly
\B. migkta. Jig. 967 -b), likewise belongs to this order; and,
although not very numerous in this country, is so abundant on
the Continent, that they are collected annually in barrows, and
afford to the agriculturist a rich and valuable manure.
7653. The Haustellaia, or suctorial insects, likewise contain five orders. Although apparently destitute
of jaws, there is every reason to believe, from the observations of the celebrated Savigny, that the rudi-
ments of the masticating organs exist in these insects, but that they are so slightly developed as to be totally
useless, and only discoverable under a very strong magnifier. The suctorial insects in their larva state
are mostly furnished with strong and well defined jaw.s, and feed voraciously upon animal and vegetable
bodies ; yet, from the perfect insect being supported by suction alone, it is obvious that in this state they
can do no injury to the agriculturist. The orders into which they have been divided are these : —
1. Lepittiipiera. The wings are four, thin, membranaceous, and
covered with a fine powdery substance, which, by the magnify-
ing glass, is shown to consist of minute scales, lying one upon
another, like those on fishes. The butterfly and moth tribes
are familiar to every one, as well known examples of these in-
sects, the larva of which are called cateniillars. The Papflio
urticsB.or small tortoise-shell butterfly ( fig. 968.), will svrve as
a good example of the egg {a a), larva (b), and pupa state (c) of
most day-flying lepidopterous insects.
2. Dtptera. The wings are two, clear and transparent,
like those of the common house-fly. This order is very nu-
merous, and contains many insects which are injurious to vege-
tables as larvK, and troublesome to man in a winged state ; as
the gnat (Ciiiex), whane-fly (Tabanus), crane-fly (Tlpula), &c.
3. A'ptera. Entomologists of the last century arranged all
insects without wings under this order ; but it is now restricted,
by Latreille and Macleay, to such only as have a bivalve articu-
lated sheath to their mouth or rostrum, and nowings,as in the
case of the common flea.
4. Hemtptera. Insects of this order are furnished with two
folded wings, covered by wing-case;, also crossing over each
other, of a semi-corneous substance, and which are likewise
useful as organs of flight. The tarsi are composed of three,
two, or sometimes only of one joint, and the body is much flat-
tened. The various insects cornmonly called field-bugs, which
emit a strong and disagreeable smell when handled, are all ar-
ranged under Uiis order.
•O. Hmndptera. Tliese insects have a great resemblance to
the last ; but the bcxly, instead of being depressed and flat, i*
1114
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
r..iiT in.
__ _ and thick ; the win^s also, Instead of beinj? folded orer drop of froth of its own making, and is then commonly known
each other, are deflexetl, and embra.e the sides of the body. as the cuckoo-svit insect; by teedinjj upon the sap it causes the
Thereare,comparalively, few homopterousinsectsin England ; leaves to curl up, and the growth of young plants is thus ma-
but the frog-hopper (Cichda spumaria L.) is a good example terially checked,
•when in its perfect or winged state. The larva resides in a
7654. The different orders of insects we have now enumerated are connected by others of an inferior
extent, and which are called osculent orders. But as a description of these is not essential to our present
purpose, and as they do not contain any decidedly injurious insects, we shall merely refer the reader to
the Hdrae Entomologicae of Macleay, and the Entomology of Messrs. Kirby and Spence.
SuBSECT. 3. Insects injurious to live Stock.
7t555. All organised beings, whether animal or vegetable, are subject to be attacked and destroyed by
insects. Even man himself is not exempt from the dominion of these small but formidable creatures.
For some wise but unknown purpose, there are peculiar species appropriated to receive their nourishment
from man alone, and which cannot exist in any other situation. The remedies for these must be pre.
scribed by the physician ; but it is the business of the intelligent agriculturist to make himself acquainted
with sucli as are injurious or hurtful to the animals and plants, upon which, the success of his operations
mainly depends : for there are as yet no agricultural physicians, to whom the farmer can apply for advice
or information when his labours are counteracted by insect devastators. We shall therefore briefly notice
the domesticated animals and cultivated plants most subject to these injuries, pointing out the most
efficient modes by which they may be checked.
7656. The horse. The principal foes to this noble animal are the horse-bee (ffi'strus fequi) and gad-fly
{6E. hajmorrhoid^lis). The first deposits its eggs on such parts of the body as are liable to be licked by
the tongue ; and the animal, unconscious of what it is doing, thus conveys its enemy into its stomach ; the
young larvae are there nourished, and become whitish rough maggots'(jzg. 9G9. c), which are known by
the name of bots. They attain their full size about the latter end of May, and are voided by the anus
from that time until the end of June. On dropping to the ground, they find out some convenient retreat,
where they change into a chrysalis ; and in six or seven weeks the fly appears. The female (A) is distin-
guished from the male («) by the lengthened shape of her body. The inside of the knee is chiefly selected
for depositing her eggs, which will frequently amount to four or five hundred on one horse. The other
species (CB. hsemorrhoidalis L.) is still more troublesome ; it deposits its eggs upon the lips, and causes ex-
cessive and distressing uneasiness to the animal. Mr. Bracy Clark, who has investigated the history of
these insects with great ability, observes that in ordinary cases it is not improbable that they are beneficial
to our cattle, by acting as perpetual stimuli or blisters ; yet, when they exceed certain limits, they produce
disease, and sometimes death. (Clark in Linn. Trans, vol. iii.) The prevention of bots belongs to tlie
farmer, the cure to the veterinary surgeon. The first may be effected by watching the animal at the
season when the female deposits her eggs (usually in August and September), and should the horse ap-
pear much agitated in its pasture, there will be good reason to suspect it has been attacked by the fly ; the
eggs may then be removed by the brush and currycomb, or by a pair of scissors. When the disease is
certain, one of the best methods to destroy the insect is to fasten a bag net on the horse, for the purpose
of catching the excrement, as well as the full-fed larva?. By throwing the dung every morning into a deep
pit, any larvae that may be enclosed in it will thus be prevented from working their way to the surface
when their last transformation is about to take place, and their death will cut off a numerous progeny.
There are other dipterous insects which feed upon the blood both of horses and cattle ; the most formi-
dable of these are the horse-flies (TabJini, k, I) ; others, much smaller (Stomeixys calcitrans), assail him in
every situation during summer, and dart their long probosces into his legs and belly. But none are more
trying to him than the forest fly (Hippob6sca equina L.), which runs sideways or backwards like a crab,
and shelters itself in those parts least covered by hair : it may, however, be caught by the hand, when the
animal is in his stall ; but its substance is so hard, that it can only be destroyed by rolling it between the
finger and thumb.
7657. Hoi-ned cattle are likewise subject to the attacks of a peculiar species of gad-fly (ffi. bbvis, d, c, /),
which causes them great terror and distress. The larva (e) is smooth and fat: and the chrysalis (/)
opens by a lid {m) when the insect (d) emerges from it. The herdsman may know when this insect ap-
pears among his flocks, by the agitation they exhibit ; the whole herd, with their tails erect, or carried
in some grotesque attitude, gallop about and utter loud lowings. When oxen are employed in agricul-
ture, the attack of this fly is often attended with danger, as they become quite unmanageable, and, whe-
ther in harness or yoked to the plough, will run directly forward. Their harness at this season should
therefore be so constructed as to be easily loosened. The eggs are deposited within the skin of the animal,
and in a wound made by a tube resembling an auger, with which the female is provided. These flies
only attack young and healthy subjects ; but, independently of the terror they create, do not appear to
occasion any material injury. The cattle of Hungary and the neighbouring countries, as also those
of Abyssinia, are subject to more deadly enemies, which fortunately are unknown in England.
7658. Sheep are also infested by another species of gad-fly (ffi. ovis L., e, h, i), which deposits its
eggs in the inner margin of their nostrils. The moment the fly touches tnis part of the sheep, they
shake their heads, and strike the ground violently with their fore feet ; at the same time, holding their
noses close to the earth, they run away looking about them on every side, to see if the fly pursues : they
will sometimes crowd together in a rut or dusty road with their noses close to the ground. The larvaj (/)
are white, flat on one side and convex on the other ; they inhabit the cavities of the maxillary sinuses,
and crawl, when the animal is dead, into those of the herns and frontal sinuses; when full grown, they
Book VII. NOXIOUS INSECTS. 1115
fall through the nostrils, and change to the chrysalis (A), which produces the fly (g) in about two montlu.
Swine, pigeons, and all kinds of poultry are subject to fleas, and lice of various kinds, but never to such
a degree as to occasion death.
76a9. FLih, in their young or fry state, are the food of the larvae of water beetles (Dytisci). These
insects are frequently seen in great numbers in ponds : they may be caught by a hand net (made of
very small meshes), inserted beneath the insect, as he reposes (with his head downwards) on the surface,
and then suddenly drawn upwards.
SuBSECT. 4. Insects injuricus to Vegetables.
7660. The ravages of insects upon plants commence from the time that the seed is committed to the
ground, and continue until the produce is gathered into the barn. These various injuries, in one shape
or other, are annually experienced ; and many of them, beyond all doubt, will hereafter increase to an
alarming extent, if the great body of agriculturists persevere in their mistaken prejudice against crows,
rooks, and other useful birds, which Providence has kindly given us, to keep the insect tribes within due
limits. We have already noticed the destructive insects which are in a great degree peculiar to certain
plants, as wheat, barley, &c. inageneral way (Part 111. Book VI.) : we shall now enumerate those that
infest the grains, clover, pastures, cabbages, and fruits, plantations, as well as those universal destroyers
of all vegetables, the wire-worm, the plant lice, and the different species of crane-fly.
7661. Wheat, in every state, is subject to many insect depredators. Mr. Marsham describes a small grub
(by some mistaken for the wire-worm), which eats into the young plant about an inch below its surface,
devours the central part, and thus causes its immediate death. Out of fifty acres sown with wheat in
1802, ten had been destroyed in this way so early as October. At a later period this grain is attacked by
a fly nearly related (according to Mr. Kirby) to theMosfllus arcu^tus of Latreille. It makes a lodgement
in the heart of the principal stem just above the root, which stem it invariably destroys, giving the crop
at first a most unpromising appearance ; but it proved ultimately that the plant, instead of being injured,
derived great benefit from this circumstance; for, the main stem perishing, the root (which was
not hurt) threw out fresh shoots on every side, so as to yield a more abundant crop than in other fields
where the insect had not been. When first observed in England, this insect caused great alarm among
agriculturists, who thought it might prove the Hessian fly. When the wheat blossoms, it becomes ex-
posed to the attack of a small orange- coloured gnat, which deposits its eggs in the centre of the flower j
the larva or grub devours the pollen, and thus prevents the impregnation of the grain. The weevil, a
small coleopterous insect {Caldndra granaria F.), is extremely destructive to wheat when in the granary,
where it feeds both in the larva and perfect state : against the first, we are acquainted with no remedy,
as it lives in the grain ; but as this is larger than the perfect beetle, the latter may be in a great measure
collected by means of a sieve, large enough for the insect (but not the grain) to pass through : it is often
found in such numbers, that they have been collected and destroyed by bushels. The same insect, or one
very near it, often infests sea biscuit ; and can only be killed by baking or heating the biscuits over again
in an oven.
7662. Bye is subject to the attacks of a small fly (Mtisca pumilionis), which introduces its eggs into the
heart of the shoots, and occasions a loss of from eight to fourteen plants in a square of two feet. No remedy
has yet been proposed for this pest, which, if not extensive, may be checked by plucking the injured ears,
and burning them.
7663. Barley, besides other insect foes, has one peculiar to itself, in the shape of a small moth (TYnea
h6rdei K). This fly deposits from twenty to thirty eggs on a single grain ; when hatched, each of the larvaa
disperses, and selecting a grain for itself, enters from without, and lies totally concealed : should these
moths be observed in a granary, the injury may be stopped by carefully covering the grain, leaving a few
handfuls exposed ; upon these the moths will deposit their eggs, and by roasting or destroying this small
quantity, the rest may be saved from infection.
7664. Oats are subject to few diseases ; but, like all other grain, the plants are liable to be destroyed by
that universal devastator the wire-worm, of which a more particular account will be found in treating of
insects universally injurious to vegetables.
7665. The diseases of peas are mildew and blight, but these are only occasional ; its insect enemies,
however, are formidable. The principal of these is the plant louse (A^phis), one species of which is pecu-
liar to this plant. In the year 1810, the crops of peas throughout the whole kingdom w^as so much
destroyed by it, that the produce was not more than the quantity sown ; and many farmers turned their
swine into their pea-fields, not thinking them worth ga^^her-ng. {Kirby and Spence, i. p. 177.) Beans are
exposed to the same injury from another species of A^phis of a black colour, which begins at the top of the
plant, and multiplies downwards. In both cases the most effectual remedy is to top the plants at an early
period of the infection, an<l burn the parts so gathered ; this plan is likewise advantageous, as it improves
both the quality and quantity of the crop. The earlier peas are sown, the better chance they stand of
escaping this pest; or if a small quantity of quick-lime is sprinkled upon them when they are a few
inches high, experience has shown that the plants remain uninjured, while the A^phis is totally de-
stroyed.
7666. The diseases of beans are the rust, honey-dew, and mildew. The insects which infest it, and their
eradication, have already been noticed. (5256.)
7667. Twrwi);* are subject to several peculiar diseases, and are the food of many noxious insects. On
the first appearance of the cotyledon leaves, a whole host of little jumping beetles (Haltica n^morum),
called by farmers the fly and blackjack, attack and devour them, so that the land is often obliged to be
resown. An eminent agriculturist has calculated, that from this cause alone the loss sustained in the
turnip crops of Devonshire in 1786 was not less than 100,000/. {Young's Annals, vii. p. 102.) Nearly as
much damage is sometimes caused by a little weevil (Curciilio contractus Marsham), which in the same
manner pierces a hole in the cuticle ; watering with lithe water, &c. may serve to check both these
evils.
7668. The caterpillar of a saw-fly (Tenthredo L7) , entirely sure, be enticed and destroyed, like the true wire-worm, which
of a black colour, appears on the plants so soon as they have also does extensive injury to turnips. The small knob or tu-
produced three or four rough leaves : these have sometimes bercle, often observed on the roots, is inhabited by another
occasioned considerable mischief, particularly in lys."?, when kind of grub, probably the larva either of Curciilio contrdc-
many thousand acres were, on this account, ploughed up. tus M., or KynchaeSius assfmilis F., two small weevils. These,
These caterpillars are sought after with so much avidity by however, do not seem to atiect the growth of the plant.
crows, rooks, and magpies, that those farmers, whose good 7670. The vegetable lUteatea cfthe turnip are the mildew (by
sense have led them not to destroy, but rather to encour;ige, some considered the effect of insects), dLstortion of the root
these useful birds, need not fear anygreat damage from this (known prjncipallv by thenameof fingers and toes), the anbury,
insect. To destroy it in the most efieciual way, watering or the canker, and gangrene, or wasting from water and frost,
sprinkling with lime has beon strongly recommended. None of these injurious diseases, as far as is known, admit
7669. The caterpillar of the turnip buiterjly (Pler;« nkps F.) either of prevention or cure : under favourable circumstances
is also sometimes found on the turnip in great numbers : nearly of soil, culture, climaie, and weather, they seldom occur; and
fifty of the grub, which so much resembles the wire-worm, and therefore all that the cultivator can do is to prepare and i
which we have before alluded to (766.), have been found just his land proijerly, and in the .sowing season supply water when
below the leaves of a single bulb. These may, in a great mea- the weather is dry.
7671. The hop is liable to many external and internal diseases : by the first term we must be understood
as alluding to mjuries caused by insects, while those which belong to the vegetable are certainly internal.
When the plants first emerge above the ground, they are infested by a small beetle, vulgarly called the
flea. In a more advanced state the tops and branches are devoured by the hop A'^phis, known to some by
the name of the green fly, while at the same period the rrcts are "ubjf^t to the attack of the caterpillar
1116
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
of a singular species of moth, named by collectors the ghost. The vegetable diseases incident to the hop
are, the honey-dew, the mould, the blight, and the fire-blast, all of which take place at diflferent times,
though mostly when the plant is full grown.
appearance towards the end of May, and during the two next
months. These insects propagate so prodigiously, that when-
ever they have once made a settlement upon a hop plantation,
they seem to have baffled every art of man, either to extirpate
them, or even to check their increase. It is a vulgar error to
suppose that they come or are carried away by any particular
wind ; or that mildly warm weather will affect their removal.
It is true, that on such days the perfect insects are seen on the
wing ; but it is only to extend their destructive race to other
filantations, and to establish new colonies. Sudden and vio-
ent showers of rain, or gusts of wind, causes the death of mil-
lions ; and vast quantities are devoured by sj^rrows and other
small birds ; yet these are accidental and insufficient palliatives.
It is, therefore, strongly recommended, that the process de-
scribed by Curtis, of throwing pulverised lime by the instru-
ment he used, be tried on hops infected by the AVhis ; and we
venture to predict that it would be attended with considerable
success.
7674. The gliott moth (Heplalus hiimuli F.) deposits its eggs
near the roots of the hop plant, upon which the larva or
caterpillar feeds, sometimes doing them considerable injury.
The nest preventive is to destroy the moth, and this may be
done by attracting it at dusk to a candle and lantern, carried
by a boy over the grounds, who could knock down very many
with his hat. The moth is of a tolerable size ; and one sex is
entirely white, so that it may be seen, even at night, with ease.
It hovers over a small spot of ground, so that a good catcher
of insects might clear the plantation in a few evenings. In
1826 the ghost moth appeared in many parts of Warwickshire,
in very considerable numbers.
7672. The hop insect, improperln/ called tliejlea, has no other
resemblance to that animal, than that it is small, and jumps.
It is, on the contrary, a beetle (H^ltica concfnna), of a species
elosely allied to that which infects young turnips. In its per-
fect state it commits great havoc, by eating the tender shoots
of the young plants. It has been said, that this insect abounds
most in seasons when the nights are cold, and the days hot
and dry. Others assert, that it is most frequent on plants in
grounds that have been dunged the same year, on which ac-
count it has been recommended, that the manure used for
covering the hills should be previously well mixed as before
directed (6019.), and applied either over all the land, or only on
the hills ; but this and various other plans do not appear to
have originated in a due knowledge of the subject. Nothing
as yet appears known regarding the nature or habitation of
this insect in its larva or grub state; and unless it is ascer-
tained to live, during that period, in manure, the above plan
will inevitably prove abortive. The deadly effects of li me upon
insects, however small, has been extensively proved, and should
be resorted to in all cases where the expected value of the crop
•will bear the expense of its application. Mr. Samuel Curtis
has stated in the Horticultural Transactions (vol. 6. part 2.
p. 124.) the very great advantages he has derived by applying
pulverised quick-lime to fruit-trees; and there is no doubt "that
the same remedy would be equally successful if extended to the
turnip and hop plants, so soon as the young leaves begin to ap-
pear, or on the first symptom of their being attacked by this
insect.
7673. The hop louse, called by some the green or long-winged
fly, is a species of A'phis peculiar to the plant; it makes its
7675. Clover is very subject to be injured by a very small weevil (A''pion flavifemorktum K.), which at
all seasons feeds upon the seed of the purple clover, while another species of the same tribe (A. fl&vipes)
devours that of the white or Dutch clover; the injury, unfortunately, cannot be known while the plants
are growing, as they have then every appearance of being perfectly healthy. The young shoots of the
purple clover are often devoured by the same little jumping beetles (H<icai^.) which attack both turnips
and hops.
7676. Pastures in general are often destroyed to a very great extent by the larva or grub of the cock-
chafer (970. a), known in different parts of England by the following provincial names : — Brown tree-beetle,
blind beetle, chafer. Jack homer, Jeift-y cock, May-bug, brown-clock, dor, and miller.
7677. Th* ravages of the larva are even ex-
ceeded by those of the perfect insect, which
sometimes appears in this country in prodi-
gious multitudes, and, like a flight of locusts,
devour every green thing on the face of the
earth. The eggs of this terrible devastator are
white, and are deposited in the ground, where
they soon change into a soft whitish grub with
a red head, and about an inch and a half
long (b). In this state it continues four years,
during which time it commits most destruc-
tive ravages on the roots, not only of grass,
but of all other plants and young trees. Whole
acres of the richest pastures are thus rendered
unproductive; all verdure is lost, and the
turf will roll up almost with as much ease as
if it had been cut with a spade. The whole
of this injury being carried on under ground,
admits neither of preventive nor palliative
measures ; but the destruction to be expected
from the perfect insect may yet be prevented.
If the dried and withered turf is now re-
moved, the soil underneath will appear turned
into a soft mould for about an inch in depth,
like the bed of a garden ; in this will be
found the grubs, lying on their backs in a curved position,
and vast quantities may be gathered and given to pigs and
poultry. When full grown, the larvae dig in the earth to the
almost incredible depth of five or six feet, spin a smooth case,
and then change into a chrysalis. In this inactive form thev
dropping, and became fat upon this unusual food : even the
lower orders of the people, from tliese insects having eaten up
the produce of the earth, adopted a mode of dressing them.
remain until the following sprmg.
7678. The perfect insect or beetle then comes from the ground,
and commences an immediate attack upon the leaves of all
trees. Their numbers are sometimes so immense, that, was
not the following account fully authenticated, we should al-
most doubt its correctness :_ln 1688, the cockchafers appeared
on the hedges and trees in the county of Gal way in clusters of
thousands, clinging to each others' backs in the manner of
bees when they swarm. During the day they remained quiet,
but towards sunset the whole were in motion, and the humming
noise of their wings sounded like distant drums. Their num-
bers were so prodigious, that for the space of three miles they
darkened the air ; and the noise they made in devouring the
leaves was so loud, as to have been compared to the distant
sawing of timber. In a very short time the leaves of atl the
trees for some miles were destroyed, leaving the whole country,
in the middle ot summer, as naked and desolate as it would
have been in winter. Swine and poultry devoured them in
vast quantities; they waited under the trees for the clusters
are said to have suddenly disappeared ; and we have no account
of their having been seen in any considerable numbers the fol-
lowing year. (Phil. Trans, xix. p. 743. &c.) These grubs did
so much injury about seventy years ago to a poor farmer near
Norwich, that the court of that city, out of compassion, allowed
him 25/. ; the man and his servjuit declaring that they had
gathered eighty bushels of these beetles. The best, and indeed
the only effectual remedy for the destruction of the perfect in-
sect, is to shake the trees or bushes at noon, when they are
either asleep, or in a state of stupor, and then to sweep or gather
them up. One person in this way has been known to capture
a thousand in a day, which, on a moderate calculation, pre-
vented no less than one hundred thousand eggs from being laid.
Some judicious farmers plough the ground when they have
reason to think it is infested by the grub, and this is generally
indicated by the rooks attempting to reach them. They are
also greedily devoured by crows, magpies, and jays, whose sole
employment, for nearly three months in the spring of the year,
is to search for insects of this sort ; and the destruction they
cause among them is above all calculation.
7679. Cabbages and other esculent vegetables are well known to be greatly injured by the caterpillars of
two different kinds of white butterflies {fig. 971.), one of these (Pieris brdssicae,c) is much larger than the
other : the caterpillar is pale yellow, with black spots (a) : when full fed, it shelters itself on walls, pales, or
trunks of trees, and changes into the chrysalis state (6), in which it still preserves the same cast of
colouring : the perfect insect (c) appears early in spring, and continues until the end of summer. The other
species of caterpillar is green {d) ; the chrysalis {e) is of the same colour ; and the butterfly (/) is produced
about the same time as the preceding. Various methods have been recommended to prevent the winged
insect from depositing its eggs upon those plants which nature has given them the instinct to select ; these
are, however, ineffectual, and in many cases sufficiently ridiculous : handpicking the larva, and searching
for the chrysalis, are the only plans we can recommend, either for these or the gooseberry and currant
caterpillars.
7680. Fruit trees of all kinds, and their produce, are attached and devoured by a great variety of insects,
an enumeration of which will be found in our Encyclopiedia of Gardening. We shall, however, advert to
those curious minute insects ( TTirips Ph^sapus,^^. 972. /, h) so often seen in flowers and blossoms during the
spring, and which, in their natural size (/), appear like short black lines. Nearly all fruit trees are liable
to considerable injury fpom different species of C6ccus or cochineal insects. They are mostly so small
Book VII.
NOXIOUS INSECTS.
1117
{fig. 972. a, d), that their form cannot be well distinguished without the aid of a magnifying glass ; many
of them resemble small scales or scabs fixed on the bark and shoots. One is entirely of a brown colour
(Coccus persicbrum a) : when magnified (6) it somewhat resembles the tortoise beetle (Cassida L.), the legs
and head being only discernible when the insect is turned on its back (c). Another (C. fbl. quercus.
973
d,e,e)does much injury to the oak ; while the C. fagi attacks the twigs of the beech (g-), and causes
email round excrescences to appear ; these are, however, very different from the gall apples of the oak {j )>
which are often found of a considerable size, and are produced by the Cynips quercus folii L. ( k), or
oak gall-fly, and always contain either the larva or imperfect insect. The weevils (Curculi6nidffi) form an
exceedingly numerous family, subsisting principally upon fruit, seed, and grain. One of the largest found
in this country is the nut-weevil (C. nCicum, Jig. 970.e, e), the larvae of which (c, d) are the maggots so fre-
quently found in this fruit.
7681. The insects injurious to plantations are less numerous in this country than on the Continent, yet
we have two species whose devastations of late years have caused
much alarm and extensive injury. The pine plantations in
various parts of Britain have suffered from the great saw-fly
(Urocerus gigas La/.), the larvaof which, feeding upon the heart
of the tree, and boring it in all directions, soon destroys it. Another
small insect of the beetle kind (Scolytus destrfictor F.,fig. 973. d
magnified) is equally deadly to the elm ; and from beingmore com.
mon, and propagating very rapidly, is more to be dreaded. The
sudden destruction of a large proportion of the elms in St. James's
and Hyde Parks has recently called the attention of government to
this beetle ; and at the request of the noble rangers, Mr. Macleay
undertook to investigate the evil : the result of his observations
have been since published {Edinb. Phil. Journal, No. 21.). It ap-
pears that the female [a) may be found upon the trunk of the elm
from March to September : she first penetrates through the bark,
and then proceeds to form a passage between that and the wood,
depositing her eggs during her progress on each side; when these
are exhausted, the parent dies, and is often found dead at the
extremity of the passage {b) thus formed. When the eggs are
hatched, the young larva; immediately begin to feed by working
nearly at right angles (cc) from the path of the parent, each pro-
ceeding in a parallel direction and close to his neighbour : in this
state they may be found in January. To stop this mischief as
much as possible, Mr. Macleay recommends that the trees should
be inspected twice a year : in summer, when the perfect insect is
on the wing; and again in wintar, when infected trees should
be cut down and burned, or subjected by fumigation to such a
degree of heat as may destroy the larvas ; or the bark may be
covered with a mixture of tar and train oil, in March, to a certain
l;eight from the ground, applying this composition only to such
trees as there are still hopes of preserving.
1118
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
7682. The A'phides or plant lice, next to locusts, are the most universal devastators of the vegetable
world : almost every plant has its peculiar species ; their fecundity is so prodigious, that Reaumur has
calculated that in five generations one A^phis may be the progenitor of 5,904,900,000 descendants; and
it is supposed that in one year there may be twenty generations ! Those which attack the different kinds
of grain seldom multiply so fast as to be very injurious ; but those peculiar to pulse increase rapidly,
and take such possession, that the plants are greatly injured and frequently destroyed before the seeds
are matured.
7683. These insects are equaUy injurious
1 their iarva or apterous state ^»I mag-
nified) ; they are a favourite food of sparrows and other birds.
, „ „ their winged
{,fie. 972. / magnified) and in their larva or apterousstate (»
would soon be cleared from the ravages of plant-li
974
larvaj of several bee-like tlies (S^r-
phus F., c) are no less useful in
this respect. Their form very much
resembles that of the leech, havinj;
no apparent head. Some species
are green, with a white stripe down
the middle; others brown, variegat-
ed with darker shades. They are
always found upon those plants most
infected by A'phides, upon which
they solely depend for nourishment ;
hence they become most beneficial,
and should on no account be de-
stroyed. As palliative measures,
the application of powdered quick-
lime may be resorted to ; or the in-
fected shoots may be topped oiFbefore
the insects are greatly multiplied,
repeating the same operation before
the time that the winter stock of
eggs are deposited. By the first
pruning a verv numerous present increase will be prevented ;
and by the second, the following year's breed may, in a great
measure, be destroyed. {Phil. Trans. 41. p. IS\.)
7684. The wire-ivorm is a name that has been given, without discrimination, to the larvjB or grubs of
various insects, totally different from each other : hence it is, that much confusion and contradiction will
be found respecting it in agricultural books. The true wire- worm is the grub of a small beetle (E'later
segetis Marsham), and it derives its name from its slender form and uncommon hardness. It lives in the
larva state nearly five years ; during which time it is supported by devouring the roots of wheat, rye, oats,
and grass, which it attacks indiscriminately, and causes annually a large diminution of produce : it
abounds chiefly in newly broken-up land, and is particularly destructive in gardens recently converted
from pasture land. In the larva state it may be decoyed by oft'ering it more tempting food ; but no method
has yet been devised for destroying the perfect insect.
7685. The grub is a general name for several larvae of crane flies ( ripiilada;), called by the country
people long-legs, or gaffer long-legs.
who destroy numbers : they are likewise exposed to other deadly
and cruel enemies ; one of these is a small hy menonterous insect,
which deposits its egg in the body ; it is there hatcned, and feeds
upon the intestines ; in a short time the A'phis swells, becomes
hard, and, from beinfj green, changes to a dark red colour. The
artful destroyer within, when he finds his victim dying, eats a
hole through its belly, and fastens the A^phis, by that part, to a
leaf or twig. When the parasite has thus devoured the inside,
and is ready to emerge as a perfect insect, he opens a passage
for himself by cutting out a round hole in the side, leaving the
piece, like a door on its hinges, adhering to the body ( »« ).
But the most inveterate and destructive foe to the plant-lice is
the lady-bird or lady-cow (Coccin^Ua /-., Jig. 974. a), which,
in its larva state {b), feeds entirely upon these insects; and
the havoc msde among them may be conceived, from the
myriads upon myriads of these )>retty little creatures which
are usually seen in years when the plant-louse abounds ;
every one, probably, destroying tens of tliousands of A'phides
before he becomes a beetle. On this account the lady -bird is
the greatest friend to tlie gardener and farmer ; and could there
be any method devised of increasing these useful insects at
will, our hot-houses, gardens, fields, and hop plantations.
7686. One of the moil SetlruHive among these insects to the
roots of grass and grain is the Tfpula ojeracea. The larva is
said, by some authors, merely to loosen the roots by burrowing
among them ; but others assert, that it likewise feeds upon the
fibres. However this may be, the evil produced is evident ; for
in many parts of England it cuts off a large proportion of the
wheat crops, especially if sown upon clbver-lays. Reaumur
informs us, that sometimes in France, particularly in marshy
lands, the grass of whole districts has been so destroyed by it,
as not to produce the food necessary for the sustenance of the
cattle. No efTectual remedy has yet been discovered for this
evil ; and Steckney observes, that the insect is not killed by
lime, even when applied in much larger doses than usual.
7687. There are several other species of a large size, as the
rfpula crocata {Jig. 975. a), and Tlpula riv6sa (c), which, in a
less degree, are also injurious to such lands as are moist and
humid.
'7688. Another minute species is particularly destructive to
com, and is generally known as the wheat-fly (T^pulatrftici, b):
its history and economy has been ably investigated by Mr.
Marsham and Mr. Kirby. The injury first appears in the
ear, several of which, on being opened, will be found to contain
an orange-coloured powder ; in this are concealed very minute
larvae (/ ), which, on being magnified (/?), are seen to be thick
at one end, extending and contracting themselves at pleasure.
and freqtienlly jumping half an inch at one spring; they take
their station in the longitudinal furroMr of the giain, and by
sucking its milky juice causes it lo shrink up, and become
what the farmers call punf^led: the last sown wheat always ap-
pears the most infected. In the beginning of June the per-
fect insect (i) may be seen in innumerable multitudes, flying
in the evening in all directions over Uie corn-fields; but during
the day not one is to be perceived. The female lays her eggs
(d e magnified) by means of a retractile tube, which encloses ;»
very long and acute sting resembling a hair ; but this can only
be distinctly seen when the insect is magnified (A). The wheat-
fly would soon become a formidable enemy to mankind, were
not its race exposed to an inveterate foe, scarcely larger than
themselves ; this is the /chneuraon T^pulae, the female of which
carefully searches out the grubs of the wheat-fly, and deposits
in each one of her eggs : these are hatched, and ultimately the
larva devours the body which gave it life. One ichneumon
will thus cause the death of many dozens, and prevent the fu-
ture multiplication of thousands. The only palliative that has
been recommended for stopi)ing the progress of this insect has
originated in Mr. Kirby ; this consummate naturalist thinks
much benefit would bs? derived by fumigating the com with
tobacco and sulphur, when the wind is in a favourable quarter :
this must be done as soon as the ear begins to shoot from the
leafy stalk. (Linn. Trans.)
SuBSECT. 5. Insects injurious to Food, Clothing, ^c
7689. The manufactured produce of our fields and gardens, whether as food or clothing, is still
exposed to the ravages of other tribes of insects, which take up their residence in our dwellings, and on
every thing about us. Fortunately, however, these domestic enemies are much less numerous and hurtful
in this country than in the tropical regions of America, India, and Africa, where their devastation is
almost incredible. Amongst the few that are indigenous, or that have been naturalised in Britain, the
principal are the cock-roach, tlie house-cricket, and the bacon- grub.
Book VII.
NOXIOUS INSECTS.
1119
7690. The cock-roach, called by some the black beetle (^latta orientalis, fig. 97(3. c), was originally im-
ported from India, but is now naturalised in every tem-
perate part of Europe. Like most of its tribe, it shuns
the light, both natural and artificial. In the London
houses, particularly in the rooms on the ground-floor,
it is very abundant, and indiscriminately devours bread,
meat, flour, and even clothes. As soon as light appears
they all scamper off" as fast as they can, and vanish in
an instant. It is said to be killed by devouring red
wafers. The young are contained in a singular horny
case (rt), which is divided into a number of transverse
partitions or chambers ; it is rather flattened, and quite
smooth except one side, which is toothed. The larva
and pupa [J)) are both without wings, and generally
larger tlian the perfect insect (c).
7691. The house-cricket (Gryllus dom^sticus L.) is
sometimes as abundant in farrn-houses as the cock.roach
is in those of London and other large towns : both insects
devour every kind of food, and are often found drowned
in pans of water, milk, and other fluids; it is said they
will even attack stockings, or linen hung out to dry.
They require great warmth, and are therefore mostly
found in kitchens and bakehouses. Another species is
peculiar to pastures, which, in conjunction with the
male cricket, feeds only upon roots : both these, how-
ever, are too local in this country to be very extensively
injurious.
7692. The bacon-grub (Derm^stes lardarius L.) is a
great pest to the winter provisions of the farmer, devouring hams, bacon, and all sorts of dried meats.
This is principally done when the insect is in its larva or grub state {fi,g. 970. /). When full fed it be-
comes a chrysalis (g), wliich ultimately changes into a small beetle (A) about a third of an inch long, of a
dusky brown colour, witli the upper half of tlie wing-cases whitish or ash-coloured, marked with black
specks. The grub, from lying concealed in the meat, cannot be effectually removed ; but by watching
the time when the perfect insects appear, they may then be destroyed, and a recurrence of the evil in a
great measure prevented.
7693. JVoollen clothing of every description, furs, SfC. are liable to be devoured by the larvse or caterpillars
of no less than five distinct species of small moths. Most of these enclose themselves in little tubular cases
of a silky texture, and are so well disguised externally by fragments of the stuff" they feed upon as often to
escape immediate observation. The receipts for preventing these ravages are numerous, but few of them
can be depended upon. As a preventive, pieces of Russia leather, or tobacco leaves, may be laid between
the folds of garments (in drawers) wliich are not often used. If there is reason to fear the moths are in
the house, these garments should be frequently opened, and aired by exposing them to the sun. When
furs of any kind are laid by for the summer, they may either be sprinkled with snuff" or camphor, and.
Russia leather or tobacco leaves put in the drawer or box. Should the moth actually have got into furs,
the only way of checking the evil is to put them into an oven moderately heated, and by keeping them in
this situation a quarter of an hour every grub will be effectually killed ; the degree of heat may be asccr-
tained, in the first instance, by putting in some common feathers, which should come out uninjured.
7694. The jn-incipnl insects injurious to the agriculturist have now been enumerated : there are many
others which feed upon cultivated vegetables and domestic stores, but in a less extensive degree. Let us
not suppose, however, that these little animals have been created for our punishment or annoyance. We
have but taken a view of one side of the picture ; the other would show us innumerable benefits, either
immediate or remote, which we derive from this race of beings. The silkworm, the honey-bee, and the
cochineal insect must not be forgotten ; and myriads of others are created, whose sole occupation during
life appears to be that of devouring and keeping within due limits those tribes that are injurious and
hurtful to man.
SuBSECT. 6. Operations for subduing Insects.
695. Tlie operations for destroying insects, or counteracting their injurious effects, are various, and in
most cases must be regulated according to (he species. These we have already pointed out in treating
upon the insects themselves, or of the particular plants upon which they feed. It only remains to offer
such general rules as are more or less applicable to all destructive insects ; these are of three kinds, pre-
ventives, palliatives, and efficient processes.
7696. The preventive operations are those of the best culture as relates to the choice of seed nor plant,
soil, situation, treatment, and climate : the four first are under the control of man, and an attention to
them will undoubtedly lessen the risk of injured crops ; but as regards weather, neither his foresight nor
care can avail any thing.
7697. The palliative operations are tiwnerotis ; and such as are eminently successful may be considerefl
as efficient ; inasmuch as it rarely if ever happens that any insect can be exterminated, even from one
district : its numbers may be diminished, but the species will still jemain, although in such small num-
bers that its operations may escape notice. Most insects will be injured, and in part destroyed, by artifi-
cial bad weather, such as excessive waterings, stormy api)lication of water with a syringe, and violent
wind produced by shaking the tree or plant : many will thus be bruised, and others that are shaken to
the ground can be destroyed. Insects may be further injured by watering the plants upon which they
feed, either with tobacco "or lime-water, or bv scattering upon the leaves powdered quick-lime, soot, ashes,
barley awns, &c. 1 he smell of tar is particularly offensive to all insects, and the effects produced by the
fumes of tobacco, sulphur, urine, &c. are well known. Hot water may be applied with much advantage.
Water heated to I'JO or 130 degrees will not injure plants whose leaves are fully expanded, and it may be
increased to 200 for such as are without leaves.
7698. Insects ynay be destroijcd in a much more eff"ectual manner by enticement, or placing in their way
other food as a trap. The late noble and generous Sir Joseph Banks has the merit of having recommended
and made known this most efficient method. It simply consists in cutting slices of potatoes or turnips,
sticking them upon skewers, and then burying them near the seeds sown : the vermin will collect upon
them during night, and by examining them every morning, vast numbers may be destroyed ; this plan
has been very advantageously tried with the wire-worm, and no doubt would be equally beneficial in
clearing all crops that are attacked bv under-ground feeders. Mr. Kirby .states, " that it was very suc-
cessfully employed in 1813, by J. M. liodwell, Esq. of Barham Hall, near Ipswich, one of the most skilful
agriculturists in Suffolk, to preserve some of his wheat-fields from the ravages of a small grey slug, which
tlireatened to demolish the plant. Having heard that turnips had been used with success to entice the
slugs from wheat, he caused a sufficient quantity to dress eight acres to be got together ; and then, the
tops being divided and the apples sliced, he directed the pieces to be laid separately, dressing two stetches
with them, and oniitting two alternately, till the whole field of eight acres was gone over. On the fol-
1120
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
Part III.
lowing morning he employed two women to examine and free from the slugs (which they did Into a
measure) the tops and slices ; and when cleared, they were laid upon those stetches that had been omitted
the day before. It was observed invariably, that in the stetches dressed with the turnips, no slugs were
to be found upon the wheat, or crawling upon the land, though they abounded upon the turnips; while,
on the undressed stetches, they were to be seen in great numbers both on the wheat and on the land.
The quantity of slugs thus collected was near a bushel. Mr. Rodwell is persuaded that by this plan, he
saved his wheat from essential injury. {Kirby and Spence, Int. to
Entomology, i. p. 182. note.)
7699. The turnip net {fig. 917.) is an instrument invented by Mr. Paul
of Starston in Norfolk. It is the most successful expedient that has yet
been thought of for the capture and destruction of the little beetles
called by farmers the black jack, and by hop-growers the flea. It con-
sists of two pieces of stout wood, the ends of which, at one extremity,
are fixed into a handle in a forked direction : the other ends are left
thick and curved upwards, for the purpose of passing the instrument
smoothly and easily over the surface of the ground : towards this end,
the sticks are connected by a cross-bar formed by a thin iron rod, that
may be taken on and off at pleasure ; these three sides constitute the
frame work for supporting a long and ample bag, made of strong glazed
calico. The method of using it is by the operator shoving it before
him on the ground, over the tops of the turnips or other plants ; by this
means the insects that are upon the leaves fall into the bag, which may
be occasionally shaken during the process, so as to bring them to the
bottom (which is made narrow) where they will remain. Vast quanti-
ties of insects, which from their smallness and agility defy hand-pick-
ing, will be thus captured. The turnip net may be made either large
or small ; perhaps two feet and a half for the side sticks Is the best
length ; it being obvious that the wider they are apart, the greater
space will be brushed at once,
7700. Tfic' Ume-dustcr {fig. 978.) is a recent invention by Mr. Samuel Curtis of Glazenwood, near
Coggcshall, Essex, and has been used by him with great success in throwing pulverised quick-lime
973 over apple trees infected by caterpillars and other insects. His orchard, con-
taining many thousand fruit trees, and occupying fifty acres, had been for many
years completely divested of most of their foliage and young fruit in the spring
months. Washing the stems and branches with lime and water (as might have
been expected) was found ineffectual for the destruction of insects which fed only
on the young buds and leaves. The instrument in question consists of a canister
twelve inches long, seven inches wide at its broadest, and four inches on its nar.
rowestpart; the handle (a) is five inches and a half long. The top of the handle
is fitted with a cap (6), which is put on when the lime is to be thrown on low trees ;
but when high trees are to be operated upon, the cap is removed, and a pole of
sufficient length to reach the height required is inserted into the handle. Quick-
lime pulverised (and often sifted through a fine sieve) is put into the canister,
and shaken over the young foliage just as it was expanding. The time for doing
this is in the dew of the morning, or whenever the leaves are damp; and if there
should be a gentle breeze, sufficient to carry the dust obliquely through the head
of each tree, it is the more quickly performed. Under favourable circumstances
of this nature, Mr. Curtis says, " I found that three men, provided with the
powder in a large box on a light wheelbarrow, could dress from two to three
thousand trees in a day : when the wind changed, I had the trees dressed on the
other side. Although used ever so freely, no person need fear any injury, from
the caustic quality of the lime, on the most delicate and fresh expanded foliage ;
it is only prejudicial to insects of all kinds, and to dead vegetable matter."
{Hart. Trans, vol. vi. p. 2. page 124.) We know not whether the lime-duster has
ever been tried upon hop plantations infected by the green fly or plant louse ; but it appears to us equally
well adapted to etFect a great destruction among those insects.
7701. Grain qf all descriptions that is infected by weevils, or by the grubs of other insects, should be
spread in the sun, and frequently turned : the warmth will bring the animals out of the grain, and consi-
derable numbers may be destroyed. It has been said that they may be kept away by strewing boughs of
elder or branches of henbane among the grain, but this wants confirmation.
7702. Hand-picking, independent of the foregoing methods, is too tedious and too ineffectual for general
adoption in large crops, but is probably the best that can be resorted to in gardens or small enclosures.
In this way the different esculent vegetables, and the common and low kinds of fruit trees, as currants,
gooseberries, &c. may be cleared of a vast number of caterpillars.
7703. Catching the perfect insect is undoubtedly the most certain plan for preventing a return of the
same injury the following year, for the death of one female will cut off a generation of a hundred
larvse ; but from the difficulty that attend* an extensive adoption of this plan, it is not likely to be much
attended to.
Sect, IV. Worm-like Animals injurious to Agriculture.
TIM. Of worms ( Fermes L.) generally so called, there are but few which may be considered as injurious
to agriculture. The principal of these are the various species of slug ( Ariora F., iimax L.) and the large
and small snails (Hferix hort^nsis and nemor^lis L.), mostly found in garden plantations. The earth or
dew worm (Lumbrtcus terr^stris L.), unless existing in great numbers on a single spot, cannot be ranked
among injurious animals, notwithstanding the prejudices of farmers and gardeners against them. With-
out worms the earth would soon become hard, cold, incapable of receiving moisture, or of giving nourish,
ment to roots : they are, in fact, the great promoters of vegetation, by boring, perforating, and loosening
the soil beneath, and by manuring it above with their excrement, which is thrown up into lumps called
worm casts. The wire-worm does not belong to this tribe, but is the larva of a small beetle already
noticed.
7705. Worms of the slug kind are without shells. There are several species inhabiting Britain, all of
which subsist on leaves, roots, and vegetables. The most common is the X,imax agrfestis {fig. 979. a), of
which there are several varieties injurious to the agriculturist and gardener ; they devour the young
shoots of turnips, wheat, and indeed all kinds of grain, frequently to a ruinous extent : their eggs {h) are
small, round, of a semipellucid whiteness, and are deposited in the earth. The methods of destroying or
eradicating the perfect animal have been already described.
7706. The shell slug (Testacdllus nuingiF., c) is a native of Teneriffe, and has likewise been found in
several parts of France and Spain ; it has recently been discovered in some gardens near Bristol, by
Mr. Miller, of that city. It is a highly curious animal, remarkable for feeding upon earth worms ;
and may, therefore, be beneficially introduced into such gardens as are overstocked by that otherwise
Part IV. Book I.
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
1121
useful animal. It is readily distinguished from all other slugs in this country by having a thin oval shell
(rf) affixed to the hinder part of its
' -^ - body. Slugs in general are easily
enticed by cabbage leaves, scattered
near such garden vegetables as they
appear to injure most
77U7. Snails, are slugs covered by a
shell. The two species most preju-
dicial to cultivated vegetables, arc
the garden snail (Helix aspersa
Gm.), and the variegated snail
(Helix nemoralis, e) : both these seek
the same description of food, and are
equally injurious, as slugs; and, like
them, may be enticed by cabbage
leaves and other juicy vegetable re-
fuse.
PART IV,
STATISTICS OF BRITISH AGRICULTURE.
7708. After having considered agriculture as tjo its history, as to the scientific prin-
ciples on which it is founded, and the application of these principles to the different
branches of practice ; it remains only to take a statistical survey and estimate of its present
state and future progress in the British isles.
BOOK L
OF THE PRESENT STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE BRITISH ISLES.
7709. 2'he present state of British Agriculture, as to knowledge and the details of prac-
tice, has been the subject of the former parts of this work : but its importance in the
general economy of society, can only be learned by a view of the manner in which
it is actually carried on ; the modifications to which it has given rise in the pursuits of
those who have embraced the art as a source of livelihood ; of the kinds of farms culti-
vated by different orders of agriculturists ; of the principal practices of each of the dif-
ferent counties of Britain and Ireland as to agriculture ; of the British authors who have
written on the subject ; and of the professional police and public laws relative to hus-
bandmen and agriculture.
Chap. I.
Different Desciiptions of Men engaged in the Practice or Pursuit of Agriculture.
7710. Agriculturists may be arranged as operators, or serving agriculturists ; dealers, or
commercial agriculturists ; counsellors ; professors, or artists ; and patrons.
Sect. I. Operators, or serving Agriculturists.
7711. The lowest grade in the scale of this class is farm labourers, who may be either men, women, or
children ; and either local residents, periodical visitants for particular labours, as hay-making, reaping, &c.,
or itinerant workmen for taking jobs, as ditching, stocking, &c. None of this class of operators are
supposed to have received any other professional instruction than what they have derived casually, or
from observing others.
7712. Apprentices are little known in agriculture ; but they occur sometimes, either as the children of
other operators, whose parents bind them a certain number of years, during which they are to work for
their food and clothes, and 51. or 10/. to be received at the end of the term according to conduct ; or sons
of richer persons, who pay a premium for the instruction to be received, and for boarding with the master.
The former class of apprentices generally look forward to being ploughmen, shepherds, head ploughmen,
or inferior bailiffs ; the latter to being first bailiffs, stewards of estates, or to farming on their own account.
Parish boys are sometimes bound apprentices of the first class, and various noblemen's sons from almost
every kingdom of Europe have been included in the second.
4 C
1122 STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. Part IV.
7713. The term journeyman is as little known in agriculture as apprentice. Those who answer to that
term are the professional operators of a farm, such as ploughmen, cattle herds, shepherds, and hedgers
These rank decidedly above labourers of all-work. A ploughman may not unaptly be considered as of the
rank of an apprentice till he can fear or set out ridges, and after he can do this as of the rank of journcj-.
man till lie can stack and sow. He may, then be considered as a master of his art, entitled to work tlie
best pair of horses, and if twenty-five or thirty years of age, to enter into the marriage state.
7714. A hedger is a professional operator, who may be considered as ranking with a master ploughman.
His business is to plant, clean, prune, cut, lay, plash, and repair hedges ; prune forest and orchani trees
and effect other operations with ligneous plants on the farm. In Berwickshire hedgers are generally very
intelligent men, and keep the fences on the farms in the border counties in excellent order, and the hedge-
row trees handsomely pruned.
7715. A woodman is an operator employed to prune trees and manage hedges, and is of the same rank
and requires the same kind and degree of professional knowledge as the hedger. Generally he is more
conversant with barking trees for the tanners, converting copsewood and measuring timber, than the
other, being more engaged with woods than hedges.
7716. A head ploughman, on small farms, is to be considered as the bailiff in the absence of the master.
He works the best pair of horses, and assists the master in stacking and sowing. On larger farms, where
a regular bailiff is kept, there is also a head ploughman, who acts as substitute for the bailiff in his tem-
porary absence, as far as operatives and overlooking operations ; but not in money matters or contracts.
7717. A farm baU\ff"is, or should be, a person of tolerable education, who understands accounts, mea-
suring of work, land, and timber, and can draw up agreements for hiring servants. He should have
practised every part of farming himself, from tending poultry, swine, and sheep, to stacking and sowing.
When employed by a gentleman, or one who has no skill in farming, he should not be under twenty-five
years of age ; but a farmer's bailiff need not exceed twenty-one years, is to be considered as a sort of
apprentice, and will be directed in all leading matters by his master.
7718. A bailiff and gardener, or gardener and grieve, as they are called in some places, is a sort of hybrid
upper servant, who seldom excels either as a iarmer or a gardener, and is only nt for situations of limited
extent, and an indifferent style of performance.
7719. The forester or head woodman is to the woods of an estate what the bailiff is to the farm lands in
hand. He directs and superintends the woodmen and their labourers, in planting, rearing, and pruning
plantations, and in the felling of timber or copse, barking, charcoal making, and in short every thing con.
nected with timber, trees, copses, or hedges.
7720. The land steward {Factor, Scotch ; Facteur, Fr. ; Factor, Ger. ; and Fattore, 1 tal.) is to a whole estate
what a bailiff is to the demesne or a particular farm. His business is to control the managers of the lands
in hand, as the forester, gardener, bailiff, &c. ; to see that farmers fulfil the covenants of their leases ;
to attend to repairs, roads, public and parochial matters in behalf of the landlord ; and generally to receive
rents.
7721. Under stewards, or steward's bailiffs, as they are called, ard assistants to the main steward, ot
have the care of detached estates, containing a few farms or woods.
7722. Demesne stewards are such as are kept chiefly for regulating the affairs of demesne lands ; that is,
lands surrounding the mansion in hand, or of an estate of small size, where all the lands are in hand, but
where an extensive establishment of horses, servants, a large garden, &c. are kept up. Here the steward
performs the duties of bailiff, forester, and in some degree of house-steward, by his connection with the
stables and game-keeper, and other domestic rural matters.
7723. Court farmer {Hoffmeyer, Ger. ; Grangero de la corte. Span. ; Agronome de la cour, Fr. ; and
Fattore delta corte, Ital.), may be considered the highest step, the summum bonum of agricultural ser-
vitude. The late Ramsay Robinson, Esq. was bailiff to Geo. IH. ; his sister. Miss Robinson, was royal
dairy-woman ; and Sir Joseph Banks, royal shepherd.
Sect. II. Commercial Agrictdturists.
T19.^. The lowest grade here is the jobbing farmer, who keeps a team, a cart, plough, pair of harrows, and
probably one or two hand implements. He hires himself by the day, week, or by the acre, to plough, sow,
or labour, the small spots of ground of tradesmen who keep a cow but no labouring stock ; or to assist
■farmers who are behind with their labours. The contractors for executing works devised by the agricul-
tural engineer (7754.), though widely separated in point of wealth from the common jobber, yet belong to
the same species ; both agree in selling their labour and skill in a raw state, not when manufactured into
produce like the other commercial agriculturists.
7725. Itinerant agriculturists are of two kinds : such as take grounds for the culture of one or two crops
of particular sorts of plants, as woad, flax, &c. (5963.) ; and such as travel with a plough and pair, &c. to
teach that operation to young farmers or their servants, a practice at one time carried on in Ireland under
the patronage of the Dublin Society.
7726. Cottage farmers are such as possess a cottage and an acre or two of land, which they may either
keep in aration or pasture; disposing of the corn, green crops, or dairy produce in various ways, according
to local circumstances.
7727. Poultry farmers, such as devote themselves chiefly to the breeding, rearing, and fattening of
poultry, and the growing of feathers and quills.
7728. Garden farmers are such as possess lands near large towns or sea-ports ; and grow the commoner
garden vegetables, as peas, onions, cabbages, &c. for the market, or herbs for the distillers and druggists.
7729. Seed farmers. Small farmers who devote themselves chiefly to the growing of garden seeds for
the London seedsmen, and for the distillery. They are to be found only in a few counties in the central
and southern districts of England, and chiefly in Kent and Essex. (See Encyc. qf Gard. 2d edit. 7390.)
7730. Orchard fariners are such as farm grass or arable orchards, sometimes joined to hop lands and
garden farms ; often with a small dairy; with rearing of poultry, rabbits, &c., and sometimes with the
breeding and training of dogs; the latter a very lucrative branch when well understood.
7731. Hop farmers, such as make hops a principal article of cultivation, to which are sometimes joined
garden and orchard farming.
7732. Milk or cowfartners, such as keep cows for selling their milk in an unmanufactured state. These
farmers are of course limited to populous neighbourhoods. Cow-keepers differ from cow-farmers, in having
their establishments in towns, and in purchasing, not growing, their cow provender.
7733. Dairy farmers, such as keep cows and manufacture their milk into butter or cheese. These are
most common in rich moist flat districts, as Chesiiire, part of Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, &c.
7734. Graziers, farmers whose chief business consists in buying, feeding, and selling cattle and sheep.
Their farms are chiefly in old pasture, and they are more commonly feeders than breeders. The most
extensive in England are in Leicestershire an^J^incolnshire.
7735. Stock farmers, such as devote themsdves to breeiiing and rearing different kinds of live stock,
especially horses and cattle. They are most common in Yorkshire.
7726. Store farmers, breeders who devote themselves chiefly to the sheep and cattle families. They are
common in the border counties, in Wales, and in the Highlands.
7737. Hay farmers are confined to a small district round London ; where they grow chiefly natural or
meadow hay for the London coach and saddle horses, and for cow-keepers.
7738. Corn-farmers, as opposed to hay, dairy, grazing, and breeding farmers, is a term employed to such
as occupy lands more adapted for the plough than for pa.tuiage, as arable clays and loams.
Book I. AGRICULTURAL ARTISTS. 1123
7739. Wood-farmc, ,, 6uch as rent woodlands, to ho periodically cut for fuel, bark, fence-wood, charcoal,
or other purposes.
7740. Quarry-farmers, such as rent quarries of lime or other stone, gravel pits, clay-fields, marl-pits, fkc.
7741. Mine-farmers, or master miners or mine-holders, suchjjs rent coal-mines, or mines of iron, lead,
or other metals.
7742. Salmon or river-farmers, or fishery renters, such as rent rivers or ponds for the sake of their fish.
774'). Commercial or professional farmers, such as farm lands f<jr profit. Those who farm an extent of
good land under one hundred acres are considered small farmers ; under three hundred acres, middling
farmers ; above and under five hundred acres, large farmers ; and exceeding that quantity, extensive
farmers : a very proper title, for few arable lands can be profitably cultivated to a greater extent in one
farm or by one establishment than five hundred acres, and those which exceed that quantity are generally
breeding or other stock farms, characterised by their extent
7744. Gentlemen farmers, are professional farmers on a large scale, who do not associate with their
minor and personally working brethren ; but who afFect in their style of living the habits and manners of
independent men or gentlemen. It is a character extremely liable to ridicule by the vulgar yeoman and
purse-proud farmer on the one hand, and those persons who are gentlemen by profession and men of
family on the other.
7745. Yeomen farmers, small proprietors who farm their own lands, but yet aspire not to the manners
and habits of gentlemen.
7746. Farming landlords, proprietors who farm their own lands on a large scala
Sect. III. ylgricultural Counsellors, Artists, or Professors.
7747. The land-measurer is the lowest grade of agricultural artists: he is very often the village
school-master, and is called in to measure work done by the job; as mowing, reaping, hedging, trench-
ing, &c. ' , .
7748. The agricultural salesman is a person who attends at fairs, markets, &c., and acts as agent to
buyers and sellers of corn and cattle. There are also salesmen purposely for hay and straw, others for
green food, turnips, potatoes, &c.
7749. The appraiser, or valuer of farming-stock, cotncs next in order. This professor values the live
and dead stock, and crop, tillages, manures, &c , and sometimes also the remauiders of leases between out-
going and incoming tenants, or betwixt tenants and their landlords. Occasionally the appraiser is em-
ployed to value lands, but this is generally the business of the land- valuer.
7750. The land-surveyor generaWy confinQs his avocations to the measuring and mapping of lands; or
to their subdivision, or the arrangement of fences and other lines ; but sometimes he joins the business of
appraiser and valuer, and even timber-measurer.
7751. The timber surveyor and valuer confines himself in general to the measurement and valuation
of fallen or standing timber; he also measures and estimates the value of bark, faggots, roots, charcoal,
ashes, willows, hoops, and various other products of ligneous plants.
775i2. The land-valuer not only values the rental, but tlie price or fee-simple of lands, buildings, woods,
quarries, and waters. He does not often meddle with metallic or saline mines ; but he sometimes values
fisheries, stone and lime quarries, brick-earth, gravel, chalk, &c. This profession requires not only a
general knowledge of agriculture in the most extensive sense of the word, but a very extensive acquaint-
ance with the country in which the proi>erty lies, and great experience in business. There are local and
general land-surveyors and land-valuers : the general professors live in the capital cities or in the metro-
polls, and generally unite the business of land-agent.
775.3. The land-agent may or may not be a land-valuer, but at all events he should possess the know-
ledge of the valuer in an eminent degree. His business is to effect the transfer of property by
purchase, sale, hiring, or letting; and also to collect rents, and often to re-let farms, and effect other
business belonging to the land-valuer. Land-agents are very frequently attorneys, who know little of
agriculture ; but who save their employers the trouble of employing both a land-steward of superior
abilities, and a lawyer to draw up agreements and leases. It is the opinion of the best informed agricul-
turists both of Britain and France, that the employment of attorneys as land-stewards and agents has
been one of the chief causes of the retardation of agriculture throughout Europe. Chateauvieux has
clearly shown how this cause has operated in France and Italy; and Dr. Henderson, Arthur Young,
Marshal, and various' others, have deprecated its influence in Britain. The love of precedent, which
these men cannot abandon from habit ; the love of litigation, to which they adhere from taste and interest j
and the ignorance of agriculture, from the nature of their education ; are the causes that have counter-
acted the tendency to change and amelioration.
7754. Of agricultural engineers there are considerable variety. The drainer, for laying out drains and
water-works ; the irrigator, for watering the surface of grass-lands ; the road engineer, for laying out
roads ; the mineral surveyor, for searching for, measuring, mapping, and valuing mines and minerals ;
the coal viewer, for estimating the value of coal works ; the rural architect, for designing and superin-
tending the execution of agricultural buildings ; and the hydrographical and canal engineers, for canals,
harbours, mills, and the greater water-%vorks.
7755. The veterinary surgeon, or agricultural doctor, is to be considered as a rural professor ; and as
subordinate grades, may be enumerated the farrier {Ferrier, Fr. j Ferrajo, Ital., a smith, froxaferrum, Lat.
iron), cowleech, and castrator or gelder. . .
7756. The agricultural draftsman, or artist by way of eminence, is employed in designmg and pamtmg
live-stock, implements, plants, and cultivated scenery ; the plans of farms are taken by the land-surveyor,
designs of buildings made by the architect, and new inventions in machinery and implements are drawn
by the inventors, whether millwrights or agricultural mechanists.
7757. The agricultural author may be considered as the most universal kind of agricultural counsellor,
since his province includes every branch of the art, and comprehends times and practices past, present,
and to come. The simplest variety of this species is the author of single papers m magazmes, or the
transactions of societies ; the most extensive, he who embraces the whole of the subject ; and the most
valuable, he who communicates original information.
7758. The professor of agricultural science {Professeur d' Agriculttire ou d'Economie Rural, Fr. ; Hock-
lehrcr von Ackerbaii, or H. von Landwirthschaft, Ger. ; Professor d' Agricultura, Span. ; and Professors
d' Agricultura, Ital.), when appointed by a permanent or national institution, may be reckoned the higJiest
grade of agricultural counsellor : since he is not a self-constituted instructor, like the author ; but con-
stituted by competent judges as capable of instructing the public. The first public professor of agricul-
ture appointed in Britain was Dr. Coventry of the University of Edinburgh, about 1/90; »"" the next
Sir Humphry Davy, Lecturer on Agricultural Chemistry to the Board of Agriculture, about 1807 = "otn
highly eminent as agricultural counsellors, independently of their other merits. There are agricu turdi
professors in Dublin and Cork. In almost every University on the Continent there is an agricultural
chair, and in some of the German and Russian Colleges there are chairs for gardening (Gartnerey), forest-
culture ^Forstwissenschaft), and rural architecture ( Landbaukunst).
Sect. IV. Patrons of Agriculture.
77.59. Every man being a consumer of some description of agricultural produce, may be considered a
promoter of the art by causing a demand for its productions. The more valuable consumers are sucn as
4 C 2
1124 STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. Part IV.
live on the best bread, butcher's meat, fowls, and dairy products ; and the greatest of all patrons, both of
agriculture and gardening, are such as fare sumptuously every day.
7760. Amateur agt iculturists, lovers of agriculture, promote the art by the applause they bestow on its
productions ; of which, to a certain extent, they become purchasers, as of farming books, prints of cattle,
implements, &c.
7761. Connoisseurs, critical or skilful lovers of agriculture, promote the art in the same way as the
amateur, but much more powerfully, in proportion as approbation founded on knowledge is valued before
that which arises chiefly from spontaneous affection. By the purchase of books, models, attendance at
agricultural exhibitions, &c., connoisseurs encourage both counsellors and commercial agriculturists.
Sometimes, also, by their writings, of which Sir John Sinclair is an eminent example.
776-2. Employers of agriculturists, whether of the serving class, as bailiffs, stewards, &c., or of the order
of professors or artists, are obvious encouragers of the art.
7765. Amateur farmers are patrons on the same principle as employers ; and sometimes, also, they effect
improvements, or communicate valuable information to the public. Cline, the late eminent surgeon,
and the late physician. Dr. Parry, were eminent examples.
7764.. Noblemen and proprietor farmers are conspicuous patrons. They render the art fashionable; and
by the general attention so directed, and consequent occupation of many minds on the same subject, new
ideas are elicited, and dormant talents called forth and employed. The names of Ru.ssel, Coke, Curwen,
and Soraerville stand preeminent among this species of patrons, and many others migiit be added.
776.5. Noblemen and gentlemen improvers, whether by planting, building, road-making, establishing
villages, canals, harbours, &c. are evidently greater patrons of agriculture than noblemen farmers, since
their improvements affect society more extensively. As decidedly at the head of this species of patron
may be mentioned the late Duke of Bridgewater and the present Marquess of Stafford, and to these names
might l)e added a number of others. '•^
Chap. II.
Different ICinds of Farms in Britain relatively to the different Classes of Society who are
the Occupiers.
7166. Cottage farms form the first link in the chain of temporary terrestrial possessions. They consist
of one or more acres appended to a cottage, for the purpose of enabling the occupier to keep a cow : if any
.part of this farm is in aration, the labour is either hired of some jobbing agriculturist, or done by spade ;
or two or more cottagers join together and form a team of their cows, with which, and implements bor-
Towed from the village carpenter or smith, they accomplish their labour.
7767. Farms of working ?ncc/ianics. These are larger than the former, and are rented by country black-
smiths, carpenters, &c., who often keep a horse or a pair of horses. Both this and the former sort are very
often injurious to the occupiers, by drawing off their attention from their principal source of income ;
though it must be confessed at the same time, that the idea of occupying land, and raising one's own corn,
clover, milk, butter, eggs, pulse, &c. is highly gratifying; gives a sort of sense of property, and has an air
of independence and liberty, highly valued by men in general.
7768. Farms of village tradestnen and shopkeepers. Many of these men, such as bakers, butchers,
grocers, i&c. keep a horse at any rate ; by renting a few acres they are able to keep another, and add a
cow, and other minor species of live stock. The attention required from the master forms a healthful
recreation, and agreeable variety of occupation ; and if this recreation does not interfere with main pur-
suits, there is a gain of health and respectability.
7769. Farms occupied with a view to profit by town and city tradesmen. These are on a larger scale
than the last, and held by stable-keepers, cow-keepers, butchers, corn-dealers, &c. They are often of
considerable size, mostly under grass, and managed by bailiffs. Arable farms in such hands are rarely
well managed, as every thing is made to depend on manure ; but as less skill and vigilance is required in
managing grass-lands, hay or pasture farms of this description are generally well manured, and conse-
quently productive. They are seldom, however, profitable, and it is only because the renter reaps the double
profit of grower and consumer, has some enjoyment in the idea of the thing, and some increase of liealth
from the requisite visits to it, that he finds it suitable to continue his farming operations.
7770. Farms occupied by city tradesmen for recreative enjoyment. These are of various descriptions,
and generally managed by bailiffs. They may be considered as affording recompense only by the amuse-
ment, exercise, and health which they afford, and the interest in country matters which they excite.
Many a worthy man thus throws away, almost at random, on agriculture, what he has gained "by trade
with the greatest industry and frugality, often joined to skill and ingenuity. When the farm promises
well, the tradesman is sometimes tempted to sell his trade and turn farmer for good (as it is called, i. e.
for a principal occupation), and often ends in impoverisliing, or even ruining himself
7771. Farms attached to the villas and country houses of wealthy citizens. On these the wealthy citizen
plays at agriculture, aided by a skilful manager or bailiff Immense sums of money are thus expended in
the neighbourhood of large towns ; many ingenious practices are displayed; and though nothing in the
way of profit is ever expected to be gained, yet on the whole an attention to agriculture is excited in the
minds of wealthy commercialists, who buy books on the subject, procure bailiffs, approved implements and
Tjreeds of stock ; and thus give encouragement to these and other productions connected with the subject.
The history of farming for the last twenty years round Edinburgh, Liverpool, and London, affbrds some
curious, singular, and extravagant examples of this description of farming, and some of a much more
judicious description.
7772. Demesne farms, or such as are occupied by the landed proprietors of the country. These are of
a great many different kinds ; some regularly appended to the park ; some comprising a part of the park
separated by temporary fences ; and others taken into occupation without regard to situation. Some pro-
prietors take all the farms on their estate successively into their own hands, cultivate them for a few years,
bring them into excellent order, and then let them to farmers. Much good is often done by proprietors
occupying land themselves ; new practices, and new kinds of vegetables and live stock, are exliibited and
disseminated ; and the landlord himself, being instructed by experience in the practice of farming, is
better able to judge what his land should let for ; and more likely to appreciate good tenants, and sym-
pathise with the losses of his farmers in bad seasons. Add also, that a proprietor in this way procures
Ijetter butcher-meat of every kind than he could generally purchase in the neighbouring markets'; and, if
he chooses, better legumes and roots, and even better cabbages and other culinary vegetables than he could
grow in his kitchen garden. The bailiffs on such farms are, or ought to be, well educated men, brought up
to farming in the best districts. They should be well paid, and have sub-baihffs under them. The establish-
ments of Bedford, Coke, Curwen, Albemarle, &c. are or were among the most complete in this kind of
farming.
7773. The farms of professional farmers. It must be obvious, that this class includes more than nine
tenths of all the farms in the country. They are of every description of soil, climate, situation, &c. which
tl>« country affords ; of all manner of sizes, according to the demand created by such as follow farming as
a business ; and either devoted to the general purposes of corn and cattle, or more particularly for jwultry.
Book I. AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF ENGLAND. 1125
milking, dairying, garden crops, hops, orchard crops, grazing, breeding, hay, corn, wood, minerals, aa
stone quarries, &c., or to fisheries. At the origin of what we now call farming, or when the hiring of land
by cultivators succeeded to cultivating them for the landlords, or in partnership with the landlords, as is still
the case in Italy and most other countries, farms would of course be small, and farmers' men of scarcely
any capital or consideration in society. Just emancipated from a state of bondage and villanage, the new-
created independent tenant could not easily throw off the chains which formerly shackled his mind and
prevented his energies from being brought into action, and he could have little or no property when he
had no means of acquiring it but by plunder, or preserving it but by concealment. Hence the first tenants
were assisted by their landlords ; and one remnant of this practice, that of allowing farmers to have a year's
rent always in hand, or, in other words, not to demand the rent till half or a whole year after it is due,
still exists in some parts of Scotland and Ireland. In process of time, however, and from various direct
and indirect causes, farmers at length acquired some degree of capital and respectability ; and as they
naturally thought of employing the former, of course farms began to be enlarged to afford scope, and
leases granted to afford security. This practice has been gomg on in Britain for more than two centuries
past, and receives a fresh impulse whenever the prices of grain rise high, and continue so for some time.
At no period have they been so high as about the commencement of the present century, and during no
period have the riches and respectability of farmers so much increased. More recent political changes,
however, have proved singularly disastrous to farmers ; and till the corn laws are either obliterated, or
regulated on some permanent and more moderate principle, agriculture and its practisers of every descrip-
tion will remain liable to the extremes of profitable occupation and ruin.
Chap. IIL
Topographical Sui'vey of the British Isles in respect to yigriculture,
ITU- The British isles, as we have already observed (1280.), are, in their present state, naturally and
politically more favourable to the practice of the agriculture of ale, butcher-meat, and wheat, than any
other country in the world. They have their disadvantages both in climate, and in civil and political
matters ; but, notwithstanding, there is no country in the world where farmers or proprietors are so
respectable a class of men, and where such excellent corn, herbage, roots, and hay, either raw, or in their
manufactured state of bread, ale, and butcher-meat, are brought to market.
nix The following outline of the state of agriculture in each of the different counties of the United
Kingdom is taken from the Surveys published under the authority of the Board of Agriculture, or the
Dublin Society ; from Marshal's remarks on these surveys, and his other writings ; and, in some cases,
from our own observation, having at various periods, since the year 1805, been in almost every county in
Britain, and in most of those in Ireland. Agricultural improvement is often of so variable and fleeting a
nature, that, notwithstanding our utmost care, some things may be found here inserted as such that no
longer exist ; and from the period, varying from twelve to twenty years, which has elapsed since the
surveys were published, many improvements may have been made deserving of insertion which are
omitted. These arc unavoidable defects attendant on this part of our work ; but though we cannot render
it perfect, yet we are of opinion we can bring together a sufficient number of facts, as to the natural and
agricultural circumstances of each county, as to render it both interesting and useful to the reader. We
regret much, that notwithstanding our most earnest invitation to the readers of the Gardener's Magazine
to send us corrections and additions for this part of the work, yet we have received so few, that we are
unavoidably obliged to send into the world the second edition of this chapter, in November, 1830, almost as
imperfect as was the first, in November, 1825.
Sect. I. Agricultural Survey of England.
1T!&. The surface of England is estimated at from thirty-two to thirty-six millions of acres, with the
exception of some mountains in Cumberland and Westmoreland, almost every where cultivated, and
nowhere incapable of cultivation ; in most places varied, gently and beautifully in some districts, and
abruptly and on a grander scale in others. The most high and mountainous districts are those of the
north, and the most level those of the east. The most humid climates are those of the north-western
counties ; as Cheshire and Lancashire ; and the most dry those of the south-east, as Norfolk and Suffolk,
The richest grass lands are in the vales of the great rivers, as the Severn, Trent, and Thames. The
richest arable lands, in Worcestershire, Warwickshire, and in part of various other counties ; and the
best forming, in Northumberland, Durham, and Cumberland. The greatest variety of farming may be
seen in the counties round London ; and the greatest sameness, regularity, order, science, success, and
the wealthiest farmers in Northumberland and the coanty of Durham. The geology and minerals of
the kingdom are most ably indicated in StnitJi's Geological Map of England, Wales, and part of Scotland,
1x15; Smith's County Geological Maps, 1819 to 1824;' and Smith's Geological Table of British Organised
Fossils, 1819. These works are of the greatest importance to landed proprietors.
7777. MIDDLESEX is part of the north side of a vale watered by the Thames, and contains 192,000
acres, exhibiting a great variety of agriculture. {Middlet07i's Survey, 1806. Marshals Review, 1818.
Edin. Gaz., 1827.)
1000 acres is loxrered at an average fire feet from the brick
earth dug out, which of ordinary quality has produced 4000/.
per acre; and -when marly, for maims or white bricks, 20,000/.
per acre. Brick earth formerly 100/. per acre, now 500/. per
acre. An acre at four feet deep yields four millions of bricks.
Mineral strata. 1. Cultivated surface. 2. Gravel of flints,
5 or 10 feet in thickness. 3. Lead or blue clay, 200 or 300 feet
in depth. 4. Marine sediment, 3 or 4 feet in depth. 5. Loose
sand, gravel, and water, the latter arising in such quantities as
to prevent digging deeper.
Water. Abundant and excellent. The Thames, from Ox-
ford to Maidenhead, falls about 24 feet in ten miles; from
Maidenhead to Chertsey Bridge, 19 feet in ten miles i thence
to Mortlake, 13 feet i>er ten miles ; and to London, one foot
per mile ; from London the fall diminishes till it is lost in the
sea. Tide flows twenty-three miles up the Thames. Spring
water found at various depths, from 5 to 300 feet ; the latter,
the depth of Paddington.
Mineral maters at East Acton, Hampstead, and Bagnigge-
wells ; chalybeates little used.
Fish caught in the Thames. Sturgeon, salmon, tenchj barbel,
roach, dace, chub, bream, gudgeon, rutfe, bleak, eels, smelts,
and flounders.
1. Geographical State and Circmnstances.
Climate, Healthy; warmer near London, from the fires
kept there, which coiBume 800,000 chaldrons of coals annu-
ally ; stationary winds from the S. W. and N. E., those from
the S. W. blow 6-12ths of tlve years, N. E. 8-12ths. Greatest
falls of rain from a few points \V. of S. and are of the longer
continuance when the wind has passed through the east to the
south. In spring, frost in the hollows, when none on the hills,
thermometer has been as high as 83°, and as low as C below
zero.
Soil. By long continued manuring, the surface soil almost
every where looks like loam. Sand and gravel on Hampstead
Hill. Loamy sand from Hounslow to Colnbrook. Sandy loam
on west side of Hanwell and Hounslow. Strong loam about
Ryslip, Pinner, Harrow, and South Mimms; loamy clay
between Uxbridge Common and Harefield. Clay of the most
jidhesive and ungrateful kind about Hendon and Highwood
Hill; peat from Rlckmansworth to Staines, on a substratum
of the gravel of flints. Marsh land or rich loam deposited from
still water in the Isle of Dogs, and on the Lea and Coin.
Surface. Gently waving ; highest towards the north. Hamp-
stead 400 feet above the level of the sea. One mile from
London on the Kingsland lload, the surface of upwards of
4 C 3
1126
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
IV.
2. State of Propetti/.
Estatet and ilteir management. Generally under the care of
attorneys, and badly niaiianed.
Tennrea. Much freehold, considerable extent of copyhold,
lome church, college, and corporation land.
3. Buildings.
Hituses ofprojirietort. Ntimerous, splendid, commodious.
i-'iinn-hou3es, offices, repairs. Oldest built wiUi timber lathed
and plastered, roofs thatched ; erected piei-emeal ; situated in
■villages, sides of lanes, and near large jionds. Those built
within the jwesent century, of brick, and covered with tiles.
Farmery of^ Sutton Court, Chiswick, VVickKreen, and Isle-
worth, models of their kind. Very few builmngs required on
hay farms.
Coltanes, hrick and tiled, and generally in villages ; formerly
with right of common, now done away by enclosures.
4. Mode of Occupation.
Size of farmt. Generally small compared with other coun-
ties ; three cow-farms near town, from 500 to (iOO acres each,
rentetl at from 2000/. to 3000/. each. Many of 200/. ; average
of county 100/.
Cluiracter qf the farmers. Four classes. 1 . Cow-keepers,
gardeners, and nurserymen. 2. Amateur farmers of fortune.
3. Amateur farmers, who have left other pursuits. 4. Com-
mercial or professional farmers, equal in number to half tlie
others.
Rural artijiccrt. Bad ; impossible to get any agricultural
implement or machine madeon a good principle by the country
artificers ; but able mechanics in London ; Cottam and Ilallen,
VVykes and Philliiis, Snowden, and especially AVeir, a Noi th-
unilierland man, and practically acquainted with agriculture.
Rtitt paid in money, sometimes a small part in but'er and
cream at tixed prices. Varies from 10*. to 10/. per acre, or
Tithes in many places taken in kind, in some compounded
for annually, or for a fixed period.
Poor, ami the rales for their relief, average Zs. 6d. per acre.
Leases, general. Often for fourteen and twenty-one yeaK,
drawn up by lawyers — " a composition of obsolete unintelh-
gible covenants."
Expense and profit. Expenses on entering a farm, greater
than in distant plaices : profits seldom more than a mere sub-
sistence to the farmer. The increase of canals, and the pro-
bpect of steam carriages and locomotive steam-engines on rail-
Toads, is rapidly rendering distant and near farms and farmer^'
profits on a level.
5. Implements.
All bad ; plough barbarous ; threshing mills rare.
6. Enclosing.
Now mostly enclosed. Nineteen commons enclosed from
1800 to 1806, containing 20,000 acres and upwards. Old
fences of a mixture of white and black thorn, maple, hazel,
briar, crab, damson-plum, &c.; new of white thorn with ditch
and bank ; gates most'y five-barred, and of oak; euclosuies too
numerous.
7. Arable Land.
About 14,000 acres; wretchedly managed, ploughed with
teams of three or four horses ; rotation generally fallow, wheat,
beans.
8. Grass Lands.
Meadows better managed ; hay-making good.
9. Gardens and Orchards.
From Kensington through Hammersmith, Chiswick, Brent-
ford, Isleworth, and Twickenham, seven miles of garden
ground ; may be denominated the great London flruit g.vrden,
north of the Thames. An upj>er and under croj) taken at the
same time; the upper the fruits on trees; the txnder straw-
berries and various herbaceous crops. To increase shelter and
warmth in autumn, they raise banks of soil 3 feet high, facing
the south, and sloi>ed to an angle of 43'' ; on these they plant
endive in September, and near tlie bottom, from October to
Christmas, they drill a row of pens ; the endive is presen-ed
ft-om rotting, and the i)eas come to maturity nearly as early as
if imder a wall. The springs here lie eight or ten feet under
the surface, and the water Is raised from the wells by a bucket
and lever, balance*! by a stone. (./'>,'• 152.) Three thousand
acres of garden grournl here, employing hve jiersons, a man,
his wife, and three children, per acre, tluring the winter half-
year, and during summer, hve persons more, chiefly AV'elsh
women. Estimated protliice lOO/. per acre.
Kitchen gardens. Much fresh littery dung rccpiired for
growing mushrooms, early cucumbers, salads, potatoes, aspa-
ragus, &c. Consumption of the metropolis and its environs,
for fruits and vegetables, estimated at uiiwards of a million
sterling i)er annum. Several farming gardens pay 1000/. per
annum.
Nursery grounds. About 1300 acres, producing 73,000/.
a year.
10. Woods and Plantations.
Copses ami woods decreashig for ages : still a few acres near
Hampstead and Highgate.
Hedge-row timber much disfigured by being pt^Iarded or
I>runed to may-poles.
iVillows or osiers. Many islets on the Thames, rented by
basket-makers, and planted with osiers ; also, wet borders of
the river so planted. Species 6'alix vitelllna, umygditlina, or
almond-leavetl, and viminalis, or osier; willows when cat
made up in bundles, or boults, forty-two inches rowid, at six-
teen inches al)ove the hut-ends.
11. hnprovements.
Draining, to carry off surface water. The mode of making
surface gutters on meadows, by means of an addition to cart-
wheels (3979.), invented by the reporter.
Manure produced in London by 30,000 horses, 8000 co« s,
and 700,0t)0 human beings, equals 500,000 loads; of which,
half is carried into the Thames Dy the sewers, including ninety-
nine per cent of the night soil.
12. Livestock.
Less live stock on the farms of this county than in any other :
no breeding. Short homed cows of Holdemess chiefly used by-
milkmen: number kept 8300; average produce nine quaru
j>er day ; fed on hay, turnips, brewer's grains, linseed cake and
jelly, and grass : retail dealers adulterate the milk, preferring
dirty water to clean; and adulterate the cream by adding
molasses and a little salt. Very little butter made in the county.
Brewer's drays supplied with horses from the Berksliire far-
mers, who buy them young from Northamptonshire, and work
them two or three years before they sell them. Not more than
one dove-hous'C in the county ; but many pigeons kept in
empty wine pipes set upon posts, fifteen or twenty fett high,
and many kept by journeymen tradesmen, pigeon "fanciers in
the poorer parts of London, and most other tovms-and villages
of tire county.
13. Rural Economy.
Half the manual labour done by the job ; labourers ruined in
morals and constitution, by the public houses. Gentlemen's
servants a bad and contaminating set.
14. Political Economy.
Highways of the parishes good, turnpike roads generally
managed on Macadam's principle, and good ; several canals
terminate in or near London ; and New Kiver for supplying
water ; fairs on the decline. Uxbridge the greatest com market
next to Mark Lane. Great cattle markets, Houiiblow and
Smithfield. Commerce great. Manufactures not many ; con-
sidering agriculture as a manufacture, and the soil as the raw
material, and worth ICs. per acre, at an average of England ;
it is increased in value to 3/. or 325/. per cent. Distilleries and
breweries numerous.
15. Obstacles to Improvement.
Tithes, land-agents being attorneys, bad leases, bad rural
artificers, bad and thieving servants.
16. Miscellaneous Observations.
Society of Arts, Veterinary College, excellent institutiros.
Fines called heriots should be removed ; weights and measures
lately regulated ; much damage is done by game.
17. Means of Improvement.
Ample in the metropolis, and the progress rapid; in the
country, want of intelligence the grand drawback.
7778. SURREY. A surface of 519,040 acres beautifully varied : poor and heathy in the west, chalky
in the east, and clayey in the south. I'he field cultivation of clover and turnips appears to have first taken
place in this country. {Stevenson's Survey, 1813.
I^aith's Geological Map, 1821. Edin. Gaz., 1827.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
dimale. Healthy winds S.W. and W. : seldom blows from
any point between N.W. and N-E. for any time. East winds
in spring, and then weather cold, raw, and drizzling. Most
rain falls when the wind is S.S.W. or S.
Soils. A'arious and most irregularly distributed ; a broad
zone of tenacious clay bordering Sussex : patches of brick earth
at Walworth, Sutton, and Stoke. Considerable extent of chalk
hills from Croydon to Nuttfield, and thence narrowing to the
western extremity of the coimty. A good deal of black rich
land interspersed among all the soils.
Surface. St. Anne's Hill, Cooi)er's Hill, and Richmond Hill
celebrated; I.«ith Hill the highest, commands a prospect of
from thirty to forty miles on every side.
Minerals. Iron ore, fuller's earth, firestone, limestone, and
chalk. Iron-works on the decline, en account of the dearness
of fuel. Abundance of fuller's earth in the southern part of the
county, which has been dug since the beginning of the eigh-
teenth century. Excellent firestone : when first quarried soft ;
kept under cover a few months becomes compact, and able to
endure the action of a common fire. Owing to this stone,
Dawson, projmetor of the Vauxhall plate-glass works, can
make plates of such a size as to surprise tlie French, from
whom lie discovered the art of plate-glass making in the dis-
guise of a common labourer. Excellent limestone at Dorking,
which hardens under water; contains a little flint. Chalk
used chiefly as a manure. The sand about Kyegate the finest
in the kingdom, and in considerable demand for egg and
hour glasses, writing-sand boxes, &:c. At Nonsuch, there is a
l>ed of brick earth, from which fire bricks and crucibles are
made.
Water. Scarce in many places, particularly on the chalk.
Several sup)>lies prociurcd round London, by boring down from
one hiuidred to hve hundred feet to tlic chalk suatuui, where
Malcolm's Survey, 1809. Marshal's Bevieiu, 1818.
the water is excellent, soft, and abundant. Artesian (frcm the
county of Artois, where such wells were first brought into
notice',) wells are now ao numerous in the neighbourhood of
London, that in places where the water formerly rose in the
Lore three or four feet above the surface, it will now scarcely
reach Uie surface. {Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. ii. and iii.)
fish ponds common on the heaths, at the western side of
the county ; have been used for upwards of two centuries,
for breeding and rearing carp and other fish. One of the
largest, confining one hundred and fifty acies, is near
Her!>ham.
Mineral rvalers numerous. Epsom M-ater is irrn>regnated
with sulphate of magnesia, and is purgative. Ei>som salts
originally made there, now chiefly from common salt water at
Lyhiington in Warwickshire. I'he other springs are more or
less impregnated with sulphate of magnesia, carbonate of lime,
and iron.
2. State of Property.
No large estates : largest 10,000/. a year. Veomanry not
numerous ; but some gentlemen round Guildford lami their
own estates of from 200/. to 40(J/. per annum. Estates mostly
managed by attorneys; so far proi>er as to law terms, but as
absurd as to agricultural restrictions, as it would be to employ
a farmer to draw up the covenants in technical language. Till
the farmer becomes active, inquisitive, free from prejudice,
and intelligent, no covenants, or care of attorneys and stewards,
will prevent him from injuring himself and his landlord by
bad husbandry. A\hen he becomes active, &c. he will take
care of the landlord's interest for the sake of liis own ; and the
first steji to forcing the farmer to become active and intelligent
is to leave him to the exertions of liis own mind. Tenures
cliieily freehold.
3. Buildings.
Few counties that can vie with Surrey in the nun:bcr and
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF SUSSEX.
1127
elegance of its country seats. {Enexjc. qf Garden, Surrey.) Pos-
sesses a great advantage over the north and east of Middle-
sex and Es=ex, in this resi)ect, as the prevalence of the S.W.
winds drives away the smoke of London. Proprietors
generally reside on their estates, and eagerly introduce im-
jirovements.
Farm houses and qfficu. Ruinous and mean in the weald, or
clayey district bordering on Sussex; better in other places.
OJdest of brick covered with slate, stone, or brick nogging and
tiles ; situations seldom central or convenient to the farm, in
villages. Stables not divided into stalls. Cow-houses near
London, good. Cottages often large, convenient, and pictur-
esque ; with a porch, a flower-plat, and vine in front.
Drinking ponds. . Great attention paid to these on the Surrey
hills ; generally a first pond,.where the water deposits its gross-
est dirt and mud before it enters the second..
4. Occupation.
Farms of all sizes, but mostly small, forty and fifty acres to
three hundred. Largest farm between Guildford and Famham
is Wanborough; it contains 1,600 acres; formerly occupied
by Morris Birkbeck, and now by his son. Average size one
hundred and seventy acres. Tendency to large farms, by which
the public is unquestionably benefited, certainly by the saving
of labour, and, in all probability, by the superior cultivation
and increased produce. The driven out farmer may generally
support or enrich himself equally well though in a different
line of life. " But in every country, in all situations and cir-
cumstances, and in our own country, particularly in the situ-
ation in which it is now placed, it is ot the highest importance
to consider, whether a mere increase of wealth may not be
purchased too dearly ; whether it be prudent or wise to dimi-
nish the number of those whose souls are knit to their native
land, by stronger ties than are known to the mere manuf.c-
turer. To the patriot, it can be little satisfaction to see his
country the richest in the world, if the measures and causes
which make it rich diminish in the most trifling degree, its
independence ; either by raising any passion above the love of
our country, or by diminishing the number of those who must
be its most natural and powerftil defenders. To the moralist it
can afford little pleasure to be told, that by the saving of agri-
cultural labour, the manufactures of his country will be ex-
tendetl or increased, if he perceive that by the change of
employment the health and virtue of part of the community
are sacrificed." (Stevenson.)
Farmers. Old class about the clayey wealds, equal enemies
to improvements in agriculture, and relaxations in morals :
have no idea of e<lucatmg their sons, and so little of the spirit
of commerce, that they prefer selling their grain to an old
customer at a lower price than taking a higher from a new
one. Go to market in round frocks, the dress of their fore-
fathers, and shy and jealous to strangers. Nearer town the
farmers are more on a level with the age; but either unable
or unwilling to communicate information ; some exceptions
of liberal, enlightened, and communicative men. Many trades-
men have turned farmers, and occupy lands near town.
Rent low. Tithe rigidly exacted, poor's rates and other out-
goings high.
Leases general, for fourteen or twenty-one years, or on three
live"
5. Implejnenfs.
Great variety of ploughs, swing ploughs, the Scotch swing
plough used only in two places ; bad effect of so many different
sorts of ploughs on the servants. The cultivator used by Birk-
beck, and highly approved of : —with six horses, goes over eiglit
acres in a day. I^ester's friction threshing-machine introduced
in a few places, and found to succeed : but it threshes very
slowly, and has no advantages over Meikle's, but that of not
breaking the straw of wheat. This advantage is too trifling
ever to render it general. Very few winnowing machines.
Sowing troughs in use, the advantage of which is, that the
sower fills it himself instead of having a woman, toiling through
rough ground. Smut machines also in use, in one or two in-
stances. ('2796.)
6. Arable Land.
Proportion considerable, tillage bad. Drilling,' though intro-
duced by Duket of Ksher, and strongly recommended, is con-
fined to a few adjoining parishes, where the soil is light.
Fallowing on clays general, but most imperfectly executed.
Kotations generally good.
Turnips, supposed to have been grown in Surrey as long or
longer than in any county in England. Sir K. Weston, of
Sutton, having described the Flanders culture in 1645, and
as he addressed his book to his sons, it is thought they would
attempt culture. Very badly cultivated at present, and seldom
in raised drills. The Siberian turnip has been tritd ; it is a
variety between the cabbage and turnip, but with a root in-
ferior in point of size and flavour to the latter, and a branchy
loose top : it does not seem adapted for field culture, though as
a novelty it deserves trial and attention. Carrots answer well
on the sandy soils. Potato tops sometimes given to cows, cut
when in flower ; a bad plan with a view to the tubei-s. Clover
introduced by Sir R. Weston at the same time as turnips.
Saintfoin succeeds well on calcareous soils, producing good
crops for eight years. In forming a new road though a field of
saintfoin, between Croyflon and Godstone, the roots were found
to have penetrated several yards below the surface. The culture
of hops, brought from Suffolk to Famham about A.D. 1600;
prefer a calcareous sub-soil: occupy 800,900 acres. Famham
hops esteemed more than others, because picked earlier, and
hence more delicate, and better sorted. Peppermint, lavender,
wormwood, chamomile, liquorice, and poppy, grown near
Mitcham; and more extensively than in any other county.
One hundred acres of peppermint. Elecampane, rhubard,
soapwort, coltsfoot, vervain, angelica, rosemary, the damask
and red roses, hyssop, horehound, marsh mallow, pennyroyal, .
and several acres of daisies, wall-flowers, sweet-williams, prim-
roses, violets, pinks, batchelors-buttons, and the like, are also
grown for Covent Garden market, where they are carried,
either as entire plants in flower with balls for planting in town,
flower-pots or in pots, or the flowers are gathered and sold for
nosegays. Weld is grown in a few places.
: 7. Grass Land.
But in small proportion to the rest ; most pasture in the
wolds. Paring and burning considered by Birkbeck as the best
first step of breaking up old grass lands.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
AspMagus grown in great quantities at Mortlake, East
Sheen, and Battersea. Radish and other seeds also grown
extensively at Battersea. Onions for seed at Mortlake and
Barnes: though chiefly at Deptford. Three thousand five
hundred acres of Surrey employed in raising vegetables for the
London market. Orchards attached to many of the farms,
sufficient to supply firom four to twelve hogsheads of cider.
Generally in a very bad state of cultivation ; trees covered with
moss; many walnuts grown at Norbury, and at some other
places; produce 20 to 50 bushels per tree.
9. Woods and Plantations.
The wold formerly a wood : some copse there still : shoots for
hoops grown; charcoals for gunpowder made from hazel, dog-
wood, &c.; common charcoal, hoi)-poles and faggots. Box Hill,
formerly called Whitehill, by tradition originally cultivated, till
the Earl of .'Vrundel, in the reign of Charles I., brought box
trees from Kent, and planted there. Many with good reason
think it not planted, but aboriginal. Soil of the hill, pale loam
or chalk; timber now all cut; brought only five pounds per
ton. Many fir trees on chalk hill : at Crowhurst, one fifty feet
high and thirty-six in circumference. Brooms made from
the ware or spray of birch to a great extent. Fine limes at
Beckworth. Osier holts or grounds about Chertsey and Byfleet,
brought the same rent one hundred and fifty years ago which
they do now. Furze grown for the burning of bricks; sown
both broadcast, and in drills ; cut every three years, and bound
like com, then stacked.
10. Heaths, Commons, and Common Fields.
Extensive heaths on south-west; surface flat, soil back sand,
and gravel. A number of commons, and great extent of com-
mon-field lands.
11. Improvements.
Draining, iparing, and burning. Manuring with London
manure of a great variety of kinds.
12. Live Stock.
Venr inconsiderable ; only six hundred and nineteen cows,
kept for supplying London with milk.
Duket of Esher used to rear calves to a great extent; many
structed extensive buildings for cattle, and stall-feeds six
hundred at a time. Sheep kept in considerable numbers on
the chalk hills and wealds. Birbeck has been very successful
in cross-breeding with merinos, that is, with the Ryeland
merino of Dr. Parry, and the South Down. Immense number
of pigs fed at the distilleries, and of geese kept on the wealds.
Dorking hens are well known. (7443.) A hare warren near
Banstead Downs, already described. (7365.)
13. Rural Economy.
Hands scarce; servants unsettled; prejudiced, like many
of their masters, against £ill new practices.
14. Political Economy.
Bad roads, though flints and other good materials abound
in many places. An iron rjiilway between Wandsworth and
Westham for general use ; the first in the kingdom of that
kind, the rest being confined to the carriage of goods belong-
ing to individuals; this open to all who choose to employ the
waggons ; as a canal is open to all who choose to employ the
boats. Though on a level, and admitting of carriage both ways,
yet not found to pay. The first canal locks in England were
erected on the VVev. Sir li. Weston, of Sutton, brought the
contrivance from Holland ; and, under his direction, the Wey
was rendered navigable from Guildford to Weybridge, about
1690. Numerous fairs; several flour, paper, ana oil mills. An
extensive iron work at Garratlane, near M''andle ; a mill for
staves at Stoke; a delft manufactory at Mortlake. A hori-
zontal air-mill of a new construction at Battersea bridge;
several distillers, brewers, and starch manufacturers. Poor,
numerous and degraded. Poor's rates enormous.
7779. SUSSEX. A maritime county of upwards of 900,0(X) acres ; distinguished by chalk hills and ex-
tensive wealds, a rich soil, but little excellence or variety of agriculture : excels in South Down sheep.
(^. Young's Sussex, 1809. Marshal's lieview, 1818. Smith's Geological Map, 1819. Edin. Gaz., 1827.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate. Warm in western parts, bleak on South Down hills ;
westerly gales violent, unroof stacks, hedges injured by the
spray of the sea.
Soil. Chalk nearly the universal soil of the South Down
hills; clay of the wealds, which constitutes more than half
the surface of the county. Rich land about Chichester, and
sand and gravel in a few places.
Surface hilly, most so where the soil is chalk. No high
hills.
Minerals. Sussex or Petworth marble used by the statuaries,
but not generally. Limestone, ironstone, sandstone, chalk,
niarl, and fuller's earth.
2. State of Property.
Largest estate 7500/. a year. Most proprietors hold land
in their own occupation, and pay great attention to its cul-
4
ture, as E. of Egremont, D. of Richmond, E. of Chichester,
Lord Sheffield.
3. Buildings.
Noblemen's seats splendid, of stone ; farm-buildings gene-
rally of stone ; on the South Downs built of flints : houses
very generally faced with tiles, which keeps the walls dry.
Com generally stacked on circular stone piers, which prevents
vermin. Sheep-yards, or permanent folds walled round, and
furnished with sheds and hay-racks, have been built by EUman
and some other eminent sheep farmers on the Downs. I^arge
wooden bams. Cottages of stone, and on the Downs of flints,
and more comfortable than in many parts of England. Mag-
nificent semicircular piggery, erected by E. of Egremont, at
Petworth.
4. Mode of Occupation.
The most extensive farms on dry soili. Average of the
C 4
1128
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Tart IV.
wealds 100 acres. Sfze on the Downs laOO to 2000 acres,
lithe taken in kind in manj places, m others compounded
for. Poor's rates higft. '^^ ^ "^
5. Implements. '"' ' '; Z^. '"-
Plough with two wheels, lar^e ani smgufartj clumsy. The
Kotherham plough introduced, and deemtd a real improve-
ment. Several excellent new implements introauced by the
noblemen already mentioned.
6. Enclosing.
County enclosed from earliest antiquity ; fields small ;
hedges very irregular and broad. White thorn fences at Good-
wood, by the Duke of Richmond, trained in a masterly man-
ner ; being like walls, or rather hogged manes of verdure rising
trom the earth. ^
7. Amble land.
Tillage bad, three or four horses to a plough with a holder
and driver ; plough from one ha'f to three quarters of an acre
a d ly ; fallowing general on the stiff soils. Rotation biid,
liarley often follows wheat. Wheat trod in on the sandy lands ;
threshed by flail, and generally cleaned with a shovel and
br.iom ; one or two threshing and winnowing machines. Oats
a great deal cultivated on the wealds. Pea* much cultivated
on tlie South Downs. Hops much cultivated on the eastern
part of the county ; but not found profitable. Rhubarb, and
the poppy for opium cultivated by K. of Egremont. The roots
of the rhubarb, after growing seven or eight years, are taken
up, washed, dried in the sun, and then cut in slices and diied
on the hot-house flues. (6176.) Incij>ions are made in the poppy
heads, and the exuded .juice, wlieii dry, scraped off into an
earthen vessel, dried in the sun, and preserved tor use. Inci-
sions are made as long as milk flows. AndnJ, the domesiic
surgeon, uses the hoirje-grown rhubarb jmd opium, and no
other. Saintfoin does well on the chalky sols, and lucerne
near Eastbourne and Brighton. Lord Kgremont tried 100
acres of chiccory, and found it support nmc-h stock, '.hough on
a poor soil. "
8. Grass Land.
Badly mana*;ed ; owrrun with rubbish. One person trLd
hiy oiled when stacking ; hft.oiled every layer, witli a watering
pan and rose, lightly with linseed oil ; the'hav came out moist
and clammy; and it is s:iid that heists, and "sheep were fond
of it, but it was deemed too hot for horses. Salt sprinkled
o\ hay when a little damaged found a great advantage : it is
done in stacking.
9. Orchards.
Some considerable orchard*, and cider made. One or two
fig orchards at Tarring, near Worthing. (See Eiicyc. of Gard.
Siuiex.)
10. IVoods and Plantations, 17.'),000 acres.
County celebrated from the remotest antiquity for the grow h
of its timber, especially Oiik. County at the conquest one
continued forest, which extended from Hampshire to Kent.
Underwoods out at twelve years, for hoops and hop-poles.
Ash the most profitable underwood. Finest oak timber at
Petworth.
11. Wastes.
Of considerable extent to the north of the county. Some
hundreds of acres impcaved by E. of Egremont answer well.
1% Jmprovetneuts.
,!&. of Egremont sent for Elkington to find water to fill a
l?lk». E. undertook to do so ; but alt his trials and predictions
of the eilect of certain borings and open cuts, which he caused
^ J^e made, proved abortive and false : no water was found,
failed in three remarkable instancL«at Petworth, but drained
a meadow very we;i. l,ord Egremont considers him as not
a scientific drainer, but a veiy good common drainer and
nothing more. '
13. Livestock.
Cattle and sheep among the best in the kingdom ; total
amount of sheep kept is about «0,000 ; cattle red r little
dairying; generally breeding and fe.ding. Oxen worked ex-
tensively by t. of Egremont and Lord ^hetfield ; broken to
the yoke at two yeirs and a half; yokes ftv.- fed long used
and preferred by Loid Egremont. Lord Sheffield harnesses
the same as tor horses l twelve oxen and nine horses rtnnired
to work 200 acres in tillage. ' For hoven cattle one quart of
Imseed oil given, which vomits them directlv, and never fails
m giving relief. South Down sheep celebrated. Eltman the
first breeder both of cows and sheep; bretds from the same
race. New Leicester and Spanish breeds introduced to the
county by Lord Sheffield. Rabbits abound and flourish every
where, and are the nuisance of the county. FowU fattened to
great perfection at .North ( happel and Kinsford : food, oats
ground, hog's grease, sugar, pot liquor, and milk, all mixed;
or oats, treacle^ and snet y also, shtep's plucks ; they are kept
very waiin, and crammtd morning and night; put into the
coop two or three days before they begin to cram them , which
is done for a fortnight, when they weigh 7 or 8 lbs. each, and
are sold to the higglers ; average weight l> lbs., but some weigh
double. One of Lord Egremont's tenants crams 200 fowls a
year ; many capons fed in tiiis manner; great art requisite in
castr.iting them, and numbers die in the operation. 'ITie
Dorking or Darking fowls extensively raised in the wealds of
bussex ; Horsham princiiial market for them.
The fis'i-j.mtds on the weald are innumerable : carp the
chief stock ; t ut tench, perch, eels, and pike, are raised. A
stroam should always flow through the pond, and a matly
soil is best. Carp fed with peas in marlphs have weighed
23 lbs. per brace. Can> kept five years before selling ; then
twelve to fifteen inches long; 100 stores, or one-year-old carp
will stOLk an acre. At one year old, carp is three" inches long
at two years o'd, seven; at three, tleven or twelve inches-
at four, fourteen or fifteen ; and then they breed. J^rd Egre-
mont has brcednig and feeding ponds; fishes them every three
years.
l-i. Rural Economy.
Labour high, as smuggling attracts away many young men.
1.5. Political Econo7>iy.
Roads bad on the clayey districts, good on the chalkv. P.other
river render* d navigable at Lord Egremont's expense. Fairs
numerous. Manufacturesof iron, charcoal, gunpowder, paper,
bricks, and potash. I.arge court of poor-houses at Eastbourne,
of which a plan and elevation is given in ihe " Report." In
1772, a society was establislied at Lewes for the encourage-
ment of agriculture, manufacture, andindustry, by John Baki r
Holroyd, Esq., now Lo' d Sheffield, and premiums ofKirtd ;
but. on the breaking out of tl e war in 1778, it was dropped.
In 1797 I.ord Egremont established a society at i-ewes, and
gave large premiums. This society stiU exists. The patriotic
and charitable exertions of E. of Egremont are most exten-
sive. He gives away to proper objects immense quantities of
clothes ; food twice a week ; feasts all the laliouring cla-\ses at
Christmas : and keeps a surge<<n, apothecary's shop, and mid-
wife, entirely for their service: they eure also inoculated, and
instructed gratis, &c.
7780. KENT {Caiit or Angle) forms the south-east corner of the kingdom, and extends over !'00,6r0
acres. It is diversified by chalky eminences in some places, low marshy grounds on the Thames and part
of the sea-coast, and an inland, flat, and woody tract bordering on Sussex, called the Weald, or wood
(Saxon), It is one of tiie oldest cultivated counties in England ; it was noted even by Julius Ca>sar, as
" the civilest place of all this isle, and full of riches." Viewed from the great road from Dover to London,
it has, witli the exception of the Downs near Dover, a more garden-like appearance than any county in
IJritain. Its agriculture is various j and it is celebrated for the culture of hops, fruits, barley, and various
giwden crops. {Boy's Kent, 1796. MarshaVs Remew, 1818. ^^^Juitti'sQcvlogical MaprlSl^ ^iJHtyGax.,
i. Geographical State and Circitmstemces,
'Climate. Subject to cold winds; the preyaillng are the
N;E.'a"tl S-W. ; former In winter, attended bv «eve|re frosts,
tweNe inches of ice, and the d.-struction of turnips. Milder
m S.W. part of the county. In Sheppy and Thanet an early
harvest, commences July 20. on flie'hills 1st .\ugusf.
Sml. That of Thanei rich on rock ehalk ; ofXaSr-Kent
vety Tarious; ohalk, loam, strong loam, hazel mould, s;iff
clay, llinf, gravel, sand. Isle of Shei>^ Strong stltt' claV ;
\VtBt Kent very various, but chalk and loam on chalk rock
prevails; We(»Id chieflv clav, but mould, sand, and gravel in
a few places. Romtiey Marsh sediment of the sea ; a soft loam
and clay.
Surface. Gently varied hills of chalk ; Downs not so hi"h as
tftose of Sussex.
'MirfHils, Numerous chalybeate springs, at Tunbridge Wells
Z. State qf Property.
Much divided; number of yeomanry on the incretise; 9000
freeholds, and a good deal of church and college lands; soiage
and jta^el kind tenures prevalent.
3. Buildings.
T»«enty or thirty noblemen's seats, and many seats of gen-
tlemen and citizens, merchants, bankers, &c.; few modem-
built farm-houses ; old ones of oak or chestnut, and ill con-
trived; thatched; now improving con.siderahlv. Cottages are
in gener.d comfort.-iWe, b-.-ili with bricks and tiles.
4. Mode qf Occupation.
Si/e of farms greatest on poor lands; rnmiv farms from ten
to fourteen acres each, few exceeti i!00 acres, some 600 to 1500
acres. Tithes in mmy parts collected in kind. Leases for
fonrieen yoais most common. Mam church leas'js oh three
lives, some on twenty-one years, renewaLle.
B. 'Implemejifs.
Kentish tumwrest jilough almost the onlv one known in the
county, drawn by four horses in heavy, and "three in Hght, soils.
Com rakes in u^* Aftfer rtiown com. Stubble rakes to drag
Stubble together ; first thresWns-niadune erected at Bctsh-
anh'e)'' hy the reporter.
6. Skclosing. - - (
No cdTnmcn -field lands but several commons ;' fences o'd and
bro.d, l^t^f co|>se more frequent tb«n thoin hfeelges. V\ atcr
fences eight to fourteen feet wide, and from three to five fee
deep in' the marsh 1-nds ; poit and rail fences prevalent ir
Romniy !\Iar.sh. Neither fences, drains, nor vater ftrrowy
wanted in 'i'l.anet, m here com is grown, and often, for years i.
succession, without manure.
7. Arable Lands.
Plough for all croi>s from five to seven inches deep. Fallow
always made on poor lands. Rotations good. Pe;is of varioc.
kinds for podding are sown from the middle of Feliruary to th.
end of March. Leadman's dwarf and the pariy grey' tlibughi
the most prolific. Canai^ seed and radish seed much cultivaleo
in Thanet and East Kent for -tfie London seedsmen. Radish
seed sown in March, and croff seldom fit to reap before October,
and is sometimes out on tKe fields at Christmas without receiv-
ing any injury frenn wet weather t-reqmres muoh- r»ii>-t«-fet
the pods that it may thrt>sli ; ^-ill produce from eight to twer|tv-
fonr bushels per acre. SpinSih sown,.hi March In Tharit ;
when in blossom the msle plants (it being a'diopcious p!^t)
are pulled and given to pigs, with adv^Jltage. Crop threshed
on the field; produce, two to five quarters ^ler ar re. Kidrtey-
beaits much cultivated at Sawlwich aind in Thanet for |he
London seedsmen; plant from five to ten gal'bns per acreie-
tween the Sth and 20th of May ; if earlier in- danger of -frosts ;
pulled up by roots from Angust to Oitober, tied up in bunches
and hung on i)o'es to ripen ; proeUice, ten to twenty bushels per
acre. Cress and white mijst^rd sown at the rate of two ojr three
g iUous jier acre in March ; reajjed in .luly and threshed i« the
field; produce, eight^to twenty bcshels per acre. M'eld 4own
among tieans at the last hoeing in the beginning of July I ten
or twe've lbs. of seed pe* acre; (JuUed when in b'oom, w]hich
happens the second jcai;, in Ju'y, and tied in single hanjlfuls
to dry ; when dry bound in bund'es, weighing thirty lbs. .•fiixty
of these a load ; produce", ftoip- one half tft onejnd n hajjf Ipad
per acre, ^metinies reijruiins in stooks *rDEains for several
years for want of a m.avket ; at othor times 21i. per load ; eene-
raliy bought by speculatiijg merchsmts, who supi'.ly; the idvers
with it as opportuniiy offers. J\iat'.der fom-.erly n*jch ciilti-
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF ESSEX.
1129
Tated in the eastern part of the county, now given up; first
culti rated on a large scale near Feversham.
8. Grass.
Hay chiefly produced in the marshes and the weald ; pas-
tures for dairying on every farm ; but no dairy farms of any
extent in the county; lands in Kent seldom changed from
prass to arable, or the contrary. Hay- making badly conducted
in most parts of the county, owing to the scarcity of hcmds.
InThanet and East Kent lean sheep and cattle brought in and
put on the marshes and meadows till fit for the butcher.
9. GardfTis and Orchards.
Near all the great towns a considerable jiortion of land de-
voted to the cultivation of vegetables ; at Deptford and Graves-
end are whole fields of asparagus, onions, cauliflowers, &c. ;
at Maidstone, many fields of from one to ten acres of fruit
trees; apples, cheiries, and filberts, raised among hops, the
culture of which causes the former to grow with great luxu-
riance ; common nractice to plant 800 hop hills, 5iOO filberts,
and forty apple and cherry trees per acre ; the hops stand twelve
years, filberts thirty, and the apples and cherries an unknown
length of time. S"ome:imes apples and cherries in alternate
rows with two rows of filberts between; filberts also raised
among hops without any o:her trees ; trees planted in holes two
feet square, and two sjiits deep ; pieces of rock taken out ; trees
stalked and their stems brushed over with lime and night soil,
which is said to make them grow exceedinirly. 'J'he golden
rennet apple and black huartcherries, when a few years planted,
found to gum and die ; yet many old trees in full vigour : cher-
ries do best with land laid down to grass ; fill)erts answer on
few soils ; best cider maker Stone of Slaidstone, mixes all sorts
of apples ; golden pippin makes good cider alone ; no occasion
to watch the fermentation of cider in order to rack it off at
any particular time, as alleged in Herefordshire ; eating apples
sent to London by the hovs, and to the north of England by
the coal vessels. Fruit orchards, considered the most valuable
estates. Tithe on fruit 2*. per pound on sales. Cherries require
a deep soil, and bear well for thirty years ; filberts a stony,
shattery, sandy loam, rather inferior; they will not bear in
rich soil ; principal hop grounds about Canterbury and Maid-
stone, on aeep rich loam with a subsoil of loamy brick earth ;
produce two to fourteen or fifteen cwt. per acre ; average
seven cwt.
10. Woods and Plantations.
Principal produce hop poles, fuel /husbandry wood, and some
little for the dock yards ; few artificial plantations.
11. Improvements.
Open drains made between flat ridges by deepening the fur-
rows; turf and brushwood drains in use; chalk will answer
when below the reach of frost; sea beach and refuse bricks also
used. Several windmills which drive pumps to drain the water
from marsh lands. Some bogs drained under the direction of
Elkington, and now good meadows. Sea-weed used as manure ;
several thousand loads are sometimes thrown ashore by one
tide, and washed away by the next ; generally mixed with some
yard dung, which it helps to rot; sand spread on stiff soils
without bt ing of any use ; powdered ke'p sown at the rate of
twenty cwt. par acre on pasture, saintfoin, and clover, without
any perceptible benefit; weeding a general practice; county
long noted for its clean crops of corn. Thistles in grass lands
mown while in bloom never come up again. Some land in
Thanet i-ecently embanked from the sea ; bank thirty -six feet
at base, nine UrA high, and three fcet wide at top; base of
outside angle twenty-two, of inner eleven feet. Borders of the
Medwaj below Rochester oiler great scope for embanking, and
perhaps warping.
VI. Live Stock.
Neither a dairying nor grazing connty r little attention paid
to ths breed of cattle. Romney Marsh "breed of sheep remark-
able for fatting early. Fine teams of heavy horses kept at a
great expense. A few rabbit wjiirens ; the rabbits within these
few years affected with the rot. Formerly many pigeons, now
few ; few poultry but for home consumption ; few bees.
!.'>. Rural Economy.
Labour generally done by job ; servants, scarce, dear, and
saucy.
14. Political Economy.
Roads generally good, formed of chalk and flints; or lime-
stone and gravel ; roads in the wea'd very bad for want of ma-
terials. As clay is there abundant, if duty taken otf bricks they
might be burned on the spot and the roads paved; 340,000
will pave a road one mile long and nine feet wide. No canals,
but one near (iravesend ; fairs and weekly markets very nu-
merous. Agricultural commerce of county consists chiefly in
exporting corn to London markets. Manufactures trifling.
At Down and Maidstone paper mil'.s ; at the Isle of Grain salt
works ; in the Weald iron works ; and at 'W'hitstable and Dept-
ford copper works. Gunpowder made at Deptford and Fever-
sham ; calicoes printed, and linens whitened, at Crayford.
Poor well taken care of; earn from forty to sixty pounds per
annum, by hop picking and other rural employments for their
wives and children.
1.5. Miscellaneous Observations.
Kent Agricultural Society, established at Canterbury in
1793, by Sir E. KnatchbuU "and F. Honeyman, Esq. Some
potatoes dried on an oat kiln were found to retain iheir pro-
perties during long voyages, as attested by letters from the vic-
tualling office.
7781. ESSEX, 942,720 square acres, the greater part marshy grass lands near the Thames, and the rest
arable lands of a mixed culture, chiefly of corn and herbage. It is an old cultivated county ; contains
many small gardens and seed-farms near the towns, and is one of the few districts in the south-east of
England where the plough is drawn by only two horses. {Young's Survey, 1810. Marshal's Review, 1818.
SmWi's Geological Map, 1820. Edin. Gaz. 1827.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate mild; north and east the prevailing winds, which
bring blights to plants, and cold and hoarseness to animals;
ague general both in the high and low lands.
Soil almost every where a lo.im, and more generally heavy
than light. Generally well adapted for grass or com. _
the Stour ; also very fine from Sharbur.v to Harwich.
W^ter abundant, in rivers, creaks, and springs.
,2. state of Property.
Estates vary much in size from bl. to 20,000/. a year : in no
980
county 3 greater population of small and moderate-sized farms
occupied by tlieir owners. Managers of large estates sometimes
attorneys, cav'ital far-
sorts ; land ht'ld by far-
mers on short leases,
often at will,sometimes
on eight, ten, or twen-
ty-one years' leases.
Some of the seed or
garden farms neatly
laid out (./(>. 9S0.).
3. Buildings.
Wanstead one of the
largest houses in the
kingdom ; in 1825
pulled down. Andly-
endwell known. Misty
Hall a most striking
place. Gosslield and
'I'homdon, the latter
finely wooded bv the
scientific Lord tetre.
Many others: hut some
districts of the county
with very few seats.
Farm houses good,out-
buildings numerous
and convenient ; ex-
)>ensiverick covers and
bants. Cottages not
9«2
^-^'HH4.
5 a.
i
L.ri_n_lL I ii run-J
foSn
very good ; some bnilt on a better plan (.fig. 981.) by the
Duke of Buckingham, with a garden of one fourth of an
acre to each. Joseph French, at East Horndon, finding labour
dtjar, and servants difficult to be got, took the plan of fixing
them by building them cottages and attaching gardens.
4. Occupation.
Some of the largest farms in the kingdom ; so early as 17G7
Arthur Young found some at 1500/. and 200/. a year. Lord
Braybrook farms 1100 acres. Lord Pttre 14G8. Many f rmers
men of information, ingenuity, and exertion. Tithes average
is. 'id. to C«. ptr acre when comiwunded for. Many farms
huld on running leases, terminable or renewable every seven
years. The reftsal of leases increasing.
.'5. Implements.
Essex plough, a large unwieldy implement, with two wheels.
A great variety of swing ploughs, all bad compared with the
R«lheram kind or Northum'berland plough. An iron road-
cleaning plough by Western: a concave roller and scraper
attached, delineated in the report, but no reason given for the
shape. Many cultivators, scuHlers
(fig. 982.), &:c. delineated, and a
donkey hoe. Some of I'asmore of
Doncaster's threshing-mills, and
winnowing machines, in use. The
Scotch cart, plough, and other
improved implements introduced
by Western. Flemish scythe
tried, but found not to answer ;
did not understand its use. Pat-
tison of Maldon has made an inge-
nious iraprovementof the common
sowing basket ; he has made the bottom a wire sieve for sifting
out the seetls of weeds in the motion of sowing, and attached
a cloth bag beneath for catching them. An ant-hill machine.
Good specimens thereof amateur improvements on implements.
6. Enclosing.
Essex for ages an enclosed county ; still some waste to en-
close. Hedges broad and mixed plants, and with pollard trees.
7. Arable Lands.
Cultivated l)ettcr than nine in ten of the other counties :
plough with two horses or three horses abreast without a dri-
ver ; fallows universal ; rotations good ; potatoes cultivated to a
great extent for the London market. Carrots in various places
planted for seed three feet apart ; protluce five or six cwt. per
acre, sometimes ten or twelve; rye-grass disliked generally ;
wire-worm comes after it, and is sure to destroy wheat. Rape,
ribwort for seed ; hops in a few parishes. Saintfoin suc-
ceeds well on poor calcareous soils; some lucerne. Wire-
worm often injurious to young wheat, after clover leys ; rolling
and treading lessens its effects; on strorn; soils slugs vtry
troublesomo. Famed for the excellence of its wheat, which
always obtains a high price in the London market.
8. Grass Lands.
Extensive marshes and salt-ings (or salt-islets).
9. Gardens and Orchards.
Some cherry orchards at Bumham ; many cottages without
garden?.
1130
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Va&'i IV.
10. Woods and Plantations.
Fifty thousand acres, chiefly natural and ornamental scenerj'.
Some fine old elms at Gossford. At Saint Osyih the three
oriijinal Lombardy {wplars which Lord Rochford" brought from
Italy about 1758, and from which the greater part of those in
the kingdom have been raised ; they are seventy feet hi^h and
seven feet three inches in circumference, five feet from the
KTound ; a Portugal laurel more than fifty -two yards in circum-
ference, and a very large il'rbutus. The largest abele trees in
Kngland at Kellhouse, Aveley; large elms; Lord Petre has
sold thirtten oaks for 600/. at 13/. a load including top and
bark. Oaks at Hatfield worth 100 guineas each. Hatfield
broad oak celebrated, but now in ruins. An oak at Wimbish
increased in girth four and a half inches in thirteen yecurs ; a
l;irch, two feet nine inches in the same time; the larch, how-
ever, was younger.
11. Wastes.
Fifteen thousand acres ; said that in James the First's time
almost the whole county was waste.
12. Improvements.
A good deal of draining; a machine in use like the Flemish
mouldeboe.'t {Jrg. 59.) for lowering the surf ice of ploughed
lands at those places where they intend making cioss-furrows
to carry off the water from the regular furrows. The drain-
ing w heel (3978.) in use, inventor not mentioned. Chalk much
used as a manure.
13. Live Stock.
Essex never famous for this branch. The largest dairy
farms at or near Kpiiing, famous for its butter and cream ;
no ])articular sort of cows kept ; Derby and JjCicestershire
lireeds preferred, but any taken ; fed on natural and artificial
grasses in summer, and hay and grains in winter : dairies built
on the north sides of the farm-houses ; milk kept in trougtis
lined with lead, which hold nine to ten gallons of^milk, live to
six inches in depth. This in winter is skimmed four, and in
summer two or three times, and the cream, after being kept
three or four days, churned ; milk given to hogs. A few cows
Iwpt for milk ; in other places for suckling calvi?s, and feeding
on the marshes. Western has the finest swine in the county ;
feeds them in what he calls a hog case ; a cage which etterlually
prevents the animal from taking exercise. A hog half fat put
into a case gains fifteen pounds a week, if well fed with barley
meal and water. A miller, near Maldon, has made a treble
case on wheels, to keep moving about on grass land, for its
impiovement. A jjortable bridge, carried on a pair of wheels,
for passing sheep over marsh ditches, in use by AVakelield of
Bournham. {fg. 983.) A decoy for ducks and other aquatic
son tliat approaches a decoy takes a piece of lighted tu.f stuck
on a table fork in his hand, to prevent the ducks from smelling
man. Without this caution they will quit the pond. A decoy
at Goldhanger, at which one waggon load and two cart loads of
dun biids were taken at one haul of the nets ; but the disturb-
ance so frightened such as escaped, that no more were taken
that season. Seven fish ponds at Spaines Hill for carp, tench,
and eels. A chain of ponds at Leigh's Priory, belonging to
Guy's Hospital, near a mile in length, and occupying about
thirty acres, once completely sluiced and carefully cultivated,
now dry and neglected.
14. Rural Economy.
Labour done generally by the piece.
15. Political Economy.
Roads mostly good ; few canals ; various fairs ; and some
cattle markets. In the creeks of Crouch, Blackwater, and
other rivers and estuaries, considerable quantities of oysters
are deposited for breeding. The produce is afterwards dredged
and deposited at Wivenhoe and other places for feeding.
What are called Colchester oysters are fed there, and sent to
Hamburgh, Flanders, and France, in time of peace, as well as
to London. Oysters are also dredged on the Hampshire coast,
and fed in the Coin, or Colchester beds. No distinct account
of the oyster economy, however, is given in the report. TJicre
are salt-water ponds" for various sorts of sea fish in Foulness
island ; the fish are caught in weirs on the extensive sandy
coists, and deposited, when plentiful, in these ponds, whence
they are dragged for with small nets, as wanted.
Mamtfactures of woollen have existed from time immemorial
in the county ; also of sacks, hop bags, calicoes, baize, lime,
bricks. Much baize made at Colchester, Coggeshall, and
other places, for Spain. A society of agriculture at Chelmsford.
7782. HERTFORDSHIRE. A surface of upwards of 400,000 acres, the north part forming a chalky
ridge, which extends across the kingdom in this direction ; the general features are rich, woody, and the
agriculture various, chiefly tillage ; the corn produced equal in quality to any in the kingdom. Ellis, a
well known agricultural autlior, farmed in this county. ( Walker's Report, 1795. Arthur Young's Survey^
107. Marshal's Review, 1818.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climiite, dry and healthy.
Soil, chiefly loam and clayey loam, next chalk, and a small
part Iwrdering on Middlesex gravel; vales, rich sandy loams,
chiefly under pasture, and woods very beautiful. Naturally
barren, but rendered fertile by careful cultivation.
]\Iu:;h divided, the county being a favourite one for wealthy
persons building villas and other i-etreats. 7000/. a year the
largest estate; great part copylold, which sells here at six
years' piirchase lass than freehold.
3. Buildings.
Hatfield, Cashioburv, Ashridge (partly also in Bucks), Gor-
hambury. Brocket, the Hoo, the Grove, Gilstone, Ware Park,
&c. noble mansions. BroM-n's farm- yard, at North Miras,
one of the best in the county. Immense bams at North
Mims and Bedfordbury. Gutters to the eaves of farm buildimjs
at Alkenham ; wide Fattening stalls, with conveniences for
giving hay, water, and oil-cake. Cottages seldom with land
attached. A moveable sheep-house at Hillhouse, a cumbrous
expensive affair, of which plans, sections, &c. are given in the
report.
4. Occupation.
Farms small, largest 500 acres ; many of the very small
farmers who rent 30/. a year worse off than day labourers. Sir
John Sebright, of Beachwood, a scientific breeder, farms 700
acres, 300 of which are in arable and well cultivatetl. The
Earl of Bridgewater, at Ashridge, farms 500 acres, besides the
park of 1080 acres. The Marchioness of Salisbury farms '^90
acres, besides the park of 1050 acres, and has made many cu-
rious experiments ; a prejudice a;^ainst leases.
5. hnplenients.
Plough large and unwieldy, with two large wheels, the same
as figured in old farmmg books 150 years ago. One or two
threshing machines of Meikle's kind. (fig. 984.)
6. Enclosures.
Various, but still some commons and open fields ; old fences
of mixed species; new ones of thorn; planting well under-
stood, but the cut with the bill made in a direction downwards
instead of upwards, as in Berwickshire, by which the stem
throws out a brush of small twigs at the woimd, instead of a
few strong healthy shoots.
7. Arable Land.
By far the greater part of the county in tillage : crops chiefly
■wheat, barley, and oats ; turnips and clover supposed to have
l)cen introduced in the time of Oliver Cromwell: depth of
ploughing generally four or five inches. Greg, who has written
a tract on managing clay lands without naked fallows, ploughs
as deep as the staple will admit. Rotations various, generally
with a naked fallow, once in three, five, or seven years, or
oftener. Combing or ribbing in use in some places instead of
drilling. Turnips cultivated broad-cast, and very poor crops
jffoduced ; the introduction of turnips in this county attributed
to Cromwell, who is said to have settled lOOL a year on the
farmer who first grew them. Cabbages.grown to a large size by
the Marchioness of Salisbury, for cows ;' large red sort prcferrctf.
Carrots, parsneps, beets, &o. cultivated by the Marchioness on
htr experimental farm. Good sainlfoin on the chalks. Drilling
com crops with Cooke's drill practised in various placef . Water-
cress for the London maiket, cultivated in the streams at
Rickmansworth. Sixty acres of furze for faggots at Ashridge.
8. Grass.
Quantity small, and chiefly a ^larrow margin near Bamet,
on which hay is grown for the London market ; some good
meadows on the Stort.
9. Orchards.
Apples and cherries abound in the S.W. comer of the
county on farms of from twenty to fifty acres. In ten years
after planting, cherry trees begin to bear; produce till the
twentieth year, six dozen pounds ; when full grown, fifty
dozen pounds; price, ten-pence to three shiUings a dozen.
Caroon, and small black, the favourite sorts. Kentish will not
thrive here. None of the apples for cider: orchards kept in
grass, but not mowed.
10. Woods.
The copse kind abound in the northern and in many parts of
the county ; produce faggot wood and hurdles; cut at twelve
years; black willow, ash, and hazel, best for hurdles; alders
bought by turners and i)atten-makers. Fine woods, natural
and artificial, at the Earl of Clarendon's, the Grove, near
Watford. A superb oak at Panshanger, Earl Cowper's ; seven-
teen feet round at five feet from the ground ; called the great
oak in 1709: on'a soil gravelly above, but, doubtless, clay be-
low. The timber in Moor Park of great antiquity, and "in a
state of decay ; many immense pollards ; and, on the whole,
one of the most forest-like parks near London. Vast oaks and
beeches at Ashridge and Beechwood. Beech excels there ; alsi
cedars and the oak, ash, larch, spruce, and common pine excel-
lent. Beech sold to turners, chair- makers, and for barrel staves.
Book 1.
AGRICULTURE OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.
1131
11. Jntprovements.
Viiderdraining clay by numerous parallel cuts filled with
«traw, wood, or stones general: manuring well understood;
much brought from Jx)ndon of every sort ; bones, soi;t, sheep
trotters, nij^ht soil, oil-cake dust, rags, leather clippings, fur-
riers' clippings, horn -shavings, nialt-dust, hair, sticklebacks,
&c. Top dressings more frequent than in any other county,
('halk a very common manure on clayey soils ; laid on un-
burned, and left on the surface to lie pulverised by heat and
rains, or frosts and thaws ; then harrowed with a bush harrow,
to spread it, and ploughed in. Some irrigated meadows at
Kickmansworth and other places ; but the frequency of mills
ii against the process.
ii. Livestock.
All the spare clover, hay, and straw carried to London, and
manure brought out in return. 8ir .1. Sebright prefers Suf-
folk cows and horses, and uses the Wiltshire sheep. A good
many house lambs suckled about Kickmansworth, fid with
grams and malt-dust in winter. Folding sheep generally ap-
proved of. Soiling with clover and tares common. Grey works
Suffolk o.von in harness, four to a team. Hon. G. Villiers
prefers the Glamorganshire oxen for work ; and thinks stall-fed
oxen can hardly be kept too warm ; prefers oil-cake for finish-
ing to every thing else ; Lady Salisbury has the wild breed of
pigs, which fatten to forty -eight stone ; feeds on lettuces, which
IS found to answer well. Stevenson, the bailiff, bred a gar-
dener, which renders him a superior cultivator of green cri)i>s.
Lord Clarendon feeds deer (7373.) and sells them. Poultry at
the Grove kept in wheeled coops about twelve feet long and
two and a half wide, boarded on one side and open on the
other ; these are wheeled up and down the paik, and a boy at-
tends them to keep away hawks. In the poultry-yard distinct
houses for all sorts of fowls ; the roosts so contrived that they
may not dung on one another.
13. Rural Economy.
I'loughmen generally hired by the year.
14. Political Economy.
Good roads ; few manufactures excepting plaiting straw,
which is very general in the county, especially alx>iit Dun-
stable, St. Albans, Hedbum, &c. Weak wheat straw from
chalky and white land, and such as grows under trees or near
hedges preferred. The plaiters give from two-pence to four-
pence a pound for it, and sort it themselves. Much malt made
about Ware and Hertford for the London market.
7783. BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 478,720 square acres of hilly surface, and chiefly of clayey or loamy
soil ; a considerable part chalky, and the agriculture nearly equally divided between tillage and grass.
(Survey by St. John Priest, Secretary to the Norfolk Agricultural Society, 1810. Malcolm's Survey, 1794.
Marshal's Mevicw, 1818. Smith's Geological Map, 1820. Edin. Gaz. 1827.)
1. Geograp/u'cal State and Circumstances.
Climate, cold and windy on the Chiltem Hills.
Soil, chiefly clay and chalk, with some gravelly loam ;
Chil terns wholly chalk ; vales generally clay.
Mimrals. Some ochre, usetf in painting ; a quarry of good
marble at Newport, but too deep to be profitably worked; a
freestone quarry near Olney.
Water. Numerous rivers and canals for sending produce to
market; but often fille<l with weeds, bushes, and other ob-
structions, which, after heavy rains, occasion frequent floods:
a " commission of waters" proposed by the reporter as a re-
medy.
2. Property.
■ Some large estates, as those of the Dukes of Bedford, Buck-
ingham, &c. : tenures very various: a description of lands
here called yard lands (virgaia terra), which entitle the holders
to certain rights of common.
3. Buildings.
Stowe, and Ashridge (the latter partly in Herts), the first of
Grecian, the other of Gothic arcnitecture, the two noblest
mansions in the county. Tyringham, Wycombe Abbey, &c.
also very good houses, and many others: some good farm-
houses, ami the dairies very clean and neit ; churning often
i>erformed by horse machinery ; the chums of the barrel kind,
.ord Carrington has built some go< d fa meries, and the
Duke of Buckingham some very complete cow-houses. Drake
has a good circular jiigeon -house, with brick cells or lockers in
rows, with shelves bdbre for the pigeons to light upon ; fre-
quently white-washed, to keep them free from hugs. A foot-
bridge at Fawley Court, moveable upon two pivots at its ends.
and being heavier on one side than the other, always hangs
ing when any one walks upon its light
ihen the weight of the person keejis it flat: hence it
admits the passage of men, but not stock : cottages good, and
mostly with gardens attached : some at Brickhill worse than
piggeries. Sir J. D. King gives premiums for the l)e«t culti-
vated gardens ; also gives clothing ia\\X other rewards for good
conduct in servitude.
4. Occupation.
Size of farms moderate : number in the county 2039 ; one
of lOCK) acres, one of 900, four or five between COO and 700
acres, ten between .^00 and 600, twenty-four between 4(X) and
600, and the rest from 400 down to ten acres; average, 179
acres. Westcar, of Kres'ow, a celebrated grazier, occupies
S(X) acres, of which only between sixty and seventy are arable.
Very few leases, and those given with very objectionable cove-
nants. Ix)rd Carrington and other more enlightened pro-
prietors grant leases.
5. Implements.
Swing ploughs and four horses in a line common.
6. Enclosing.
Has gone on rapidly ; old hedges mixed, and with many ash
and oak pollards.
7. Arable Land.
Ridges high, crooked, with waste spaces between, around, or
at the ends {ftg- 085 ). Fallow in general every tlurd year.
most common rotation fallow, wheat, beans : chief grains,
wheat and barley ; beans drilic-d and hand-hoed : some turnips
on the light lands.
8. Grass.
P<xstures a prominent feature ; those in the vale of Aviesbury,
especially thence to Hicester, very rich; generally fed, but oc-
casionally mown. Removing ant-hills called batiking, a piece
of management to which the_renters of grass lands are gene-
' ^y skinning,
thistles are
rally bound in their leases. They are removed by skinning,
gelding, or gutting, and kept down by rolling
spudded ; size of grass fields from 20 to :
9. Gardens and Orchards.
Few of either worth notice : cherries are g»own at Hackwell
Heath, for the London and Aylesbury market.
10. Woods and Plantations.
Willow pollards planted round the margins of fields, on soils
suitable for hurdle wood. Burch, the most common timlier, very
abundant ; chiefly used for manufacturing chairs : woods con-
stantly fiill of young plants from the mast, which grow up and
succeed those which are felled; thus the same timber on the
same soil and surface for ages. At Shardeloes, a beech sevenlv-
five feet from the ground, to the first bough : oak and beech
trees in Ashridge Park, containing from three to six loads of
tiiiiber ; very fine bet.chcs at Missftnden ; ntast given to pigs.
11. Imjrrovcments.
Draining much wanted ; well performed on some bogs on the
Duke of Buckingham's estates by digging a well and boring
in the bottom till the spring was tapped, andthen leading it off
in an underdrain ; paring and burning in general use for
bringing grass land to tillage : chalk much used a!!>a manure,
sixty or seventy loads per acre, once in twenty-one'years, cw
forty once in twelve years ; allowed to lie on the surface for one
winter at least before being pldughe<l in. Only one instance of
irrigation worth noUce, which is at Chejnies, by a tenant Otthe
Duke of Bedford.
10. Live Stock.
Cattle kept chiefly for beef and butter, seldom for cheese pt
work ; Hereford oxen preferred, and next the Devon ; Holder-
ncss cows for the dairy ; some prefer the long horned Lan-
caster, and others the Suffolk ; many of the Holdemess cows,
after being kept a few years, are sold to the London cow-
kei|)ers ; men are generally the milkers ; only one instance
found of wom«i performing that operation. Earl of Bridyp-
water keeps eight teams of Welsh, one of Sussex, and one of
Durham oxvn, all yoked as horses; five used in the cart, anil
four in a i)lough; a few other gentlemen have ox teams ; cattle
gi nt rally fed off in summer ; cows kept during wintrr Rtl on
straw, hay, and oU-caJte ; little herbage or ro«ts in vee j milk
1132
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV
generally kept in flat vessels of lead; some wooden trays,
tinned, in use ; skimmed every twelve hours ; in some few
E laces three times a day ; cream from first two skimmings kept
y itself; the third skimming makes Avhat is called after-
butter ; skimming dish, if tin, circular, a foot in diameter, with
holes in it, and a handle upon the top of it ; butter made twice
a week, in chums of the barrel kind, usually turned by a horse ;
time allowed for the butter to come, an hour and a half; butter
made up in lumps of two pounds each, and sent to London in
square flat baskets, eleven inches deep, holding from thirty-six
to 120 pounds. They have each on three of their sides three
marks, the number' of pounds the basket holds ; a letter,
denoting the farmer's name from whom it is received, and the
name and residence of the carrier. The baskets and butter
cloths are the property of the carrier ; all that the farmer has
to do is, to carry his butter to the nearest point where the car-
rier passes, and to make his agreement with his butter-factor
in London, and receive monthly, or otherwise, the payment.
Quantity of butter made, six j)ounds per cow per week, at an
average, when in good keep, and not nearly dry. Calves ge-
nerally sold to sucklers ; a few suckled in the county, and a tew
brought up as stock.
Sheep. Culture directed to the fattening of lambs, and the
breeds preferred are the Dorset, and next the Gloucester and
Berkshire. '
Horses generally soiled ; five or six put to a plough in many
places, and never less than three. A team of asses kept by
the Duke of Buckingham for the use of liis garden ; many
used at the potteries at Amcrsham.
Ho/;*, an important article on account of the milk from
the dairies ; breed the Berkshire, and next, the Chinese and
Suffolk.
Ducks, a material article at Aylesbury and places adjacent ;
breed white, and of an early nature. They are bred and
brought up by poor jjeople, and sent to London by the weekly
carriers. One poor man had before his door a small pit of
water, about three yards long and one yard broad : at two
comers of this pit are places of shelter for the ducks, thatched
with straw ; at night the ducks are taken into a house. In
one room belonging to this man (the only room he had to live
ill) were on the 14{h of January, 1S08, ducks of three growths,
fattening for the London market ; at one corner, about
7784. BEDFORDSHIRE. An irregular parallelogram of 290,000 acres, not much varied in surface,
and for the most part of a clayey soil. 'Ihe agriculture chiefly directed to the raising of wheat, barley,
and beans, but of an inferior description in many respects. Little pasturage ; scarcely any market orchards,
but good vegetable gardens established at Sandy, on the east of the county, from time immemorial. Great
exertions made in every department of culture by the late and present Duke of Bedford, by whom were
employed many valuable men in conducting improvements, as Farey, Smith, Salmon, and Pontey. A
valuable set of experiments on grasses, conducted by Sinclair under the direction of the present Duke.
{Stone's Bedfordshire, 1794. Batchelor's Bedfordshire, 1808. Marshal's Review, 1818. Smith's Geological
Map, 1820.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate, mild, genial, and favourable to the growth of ve-
getables ; rather later than Hertfordshire ; prevalent winds
S.W. ; coldest winds N.E.
Soil, chiefly clay, next sand, and lastly in the southern ex-
tremity embracing Herts, chalk. Some of the sands grey silts,
and producing nothing but heath, others more loimy, as about
Sandy, which is supposed to contain the best garden-ground in
the county.
Minerals, some ironstone ; limestone abounding with comua
and other shells, petrifitd wood, gryphites belem-
seventeen or eighteen, four weeks old ; at another comer, a
brood a fortnight old ; and at a third comer a brood a week
old. Ducks six weeks old sold at that time for twelve shillings
a couple. Besides the above, there are other persons who
breed many more ducks than the person now men!ione<t, and,
as far as it was possible to discover, this person sends 400 ducks
in a year to London. Allowing, then, forty persons to send
only as many, at an average of five shillings per duck, the
return of ducks from Aylesbury alone will amount to 4000/.
per annum. This return has been magnified into 20,000/. per
annum.
13. Political Economy.
Bye-roads extremely bad and dangerous ; diflRcult to be dis-
covered from mere drift ways ; turnpike-roads, not to be com-
mended ; canals various and useful ; grain sent to Ix>ndon at
two shillings per quarter. Box clubs generally established for
the poor ; no agricultural society in Bucks. Principal manu-
factures paper and lace.
It. Miscellaneous.
In calculating the number of acres. Priest the Reporter tried
the mode, first shown by the Bishop of Llandaff, of weighing
the .portion of pajier containing the map ; he next took an
exact copy of Gary's map upon' paper, by tracing its outline,
after the map was strained upon a canvass blind at a window.
This copy was cut out with ^eat exactness by a sharp pointed
knife, and then divided into pieces, which were so neatly laid
together, as to form a right-angled parallelogram : another
piece of paper was cut into the form of an assumed parallel-
ogram longer than necessary, upon which the pieces of the
copy were laid, and cemented by gum-water, so as to fill all
parts of a right-angl«l parallelo"gram shorter than that as-
sumed ; the dillerence between the assumed parallelogram
and that formed by the pieces of the copy of the man, was ac-
curately measured and subtracted from the assumed parallel-
ogram, and the remainder gave 391,040 acres, the measure of
the number of acres in Bucks. Thus then we have the num-
ber of acres taken from Cary's map, by weight 396,013, by
measure, 391,040. From which, if we take an average, we
shall probably state it as accurately as it can be found to be,
393,526 statute acres ; which, for the sake of round numbers,
we wiil call 393,600 statute acres.
mti
frei stone, chiefly lime, at Tattemhoe,
Water. Principal river the Ouse ; several mineral springs.
2. State of Property.
Duke of Bedford's estates the largest, next Lord St. John's
and Whitbread's : united rental estimated at 40,000/. a year.
Estate managers attorneys and considerable farmers.
3. Buildings.
Several farm-houses were formerly the seats of gentlemen
who farmed their own estates. Farm-houses in general badly
situated, seldom at the centre of the farms to which they
belong, and generallv consist of piecemeal erections. Francis,
Duke of Bedford, erected an octagonal farm house, on a most
commodious plan. {.fig. 986.) On the ground floor it con-
tained a|lirge kitchen (o), bake and brewhoiise, and -wash,
house (h)* a ball or master's room, witha cellar under (c), i
good piirjpur (./), a dairy (e), besides a paittry (/), closets, and
beer and ale cellar under. On the first floor were five, and on
the second [flg. 987.) two good bed-rooms. The expense of this
house on the octagonal plan was 671/. ; had it been built in the
Book I,
AGRICULTURE OF EEDFORDSHIRE.
1133
square form if would have cost 733/. It is built of brick,
slated, and was designetl by Mr. R. Salmon, a well known
mechanist, resident at Woburn. The same accommodations
on a square plan forms a house more convenient for placing
furniture {,fif;. 988.) Wattle and dab, that is, clay plastered
on hedge-work of splinters, or on wood frame-work, and also
the I'ise' manner of clay-working, in use in some i)laces, both
for farm-houses and cottages. Pise walls found warmer and
cheaper than any other, and when whitewashed said to make
good cottage walls.
4. Occupntion.
Many farms of from 200 to 500 acres; average 150 acres;
Duke of Bedford's farms generally of the average size. Farm-
ers much improved by the example of Wobura ajid the an-
nual meetings. The experiments made by
Francis Duke of Bedford were to ascertain
the quantities of hay consumed by working
oxen ; comi)arison between large and small
cattle as to food ; comparative value of
different footls, &c. Tithes mostly in lay
hands; farms held generally from year to
year, some on leases of fourteen or twenty-
one years.
5. hnplements.
Plough of the swing kind, with a wooden
board and a wedge nailed on as a mould
board, one fixed handle, and a loose one
called a plough staff; the whole singularly
rude, though in general use throughout the
county. Improved forms of all machines
introduced by the Duke of Bedford's North-
umbrian manager, Jlr. ^\'ilson, and other
enlightened men. A good straw cutter
winnowing machine, a hay tedder, and also
an excellent weighing machine, invented
by the late Mr. Salmon, an engineer of ge-
nius, resident on the Duke's estate, and em-
ployed by him as an agent.
6. Enclosing.
Formeily three fourths of the county unenclosed, now chiefly
enclosed.
7. Amble Land wretchedly ploughed
Fallows, which occur on the clays generally once in three
years, badly worked. Usual crops are fallow, wheat, beans,
or fallow, barley, beans ; turnips common on the sands and
chalks, sown broad-cast, and hand-hoed. Chiccory was tried
by the Duke of Bidford, who found it yield ample produce;
had twelve acr^s which, in 1797, kept six sheep per acre from
the second week in April till Michaelmas; four and a half kept
ten sht-ep an acre from the second week in April till '22d July,
and then seven ner acre to end of October, bheep thrive well
and free from diseases.
8. Grass Land.
Of very limited extent, and in many places covered with
sedge (Carex), and ant-hills.
9. Gardens and Orcfinrds.
Oaidens of Sandj and Girtford long celebrated for the ex-
cellence and abundance of their cuhnary vegefables. Soil a
deep sarid, of a yellowish brown colour; products )>eas, beans,
cucumbers, potatoes, parsneps, and carrots, radishes, cabbage
plants, and turnips, sent to market in all directions to the
distance of sixty miles. Cucumber chiefly to London, and
sold at ten and twenty shillings a bushel for pickling. Orch-
ards small. Potatoes, gooseberries, and otlier small fVuits
grown in cottage gardens.
10. Woods and Plantations,
About 7000 acres, situated on the slopes of hills on cold
marly clays. Various newj)lantations formed by the principal
]>roi)rietors, especially the Duke of Bedford. Furze grown on
some of the sandy lulls, for burning lime. Some fine trees of
the ulver fir, and others of the genus Pinus at \Voburn,
planted under the direction of the celebrated Miller; a fine
beech, fiu'ured by Pontey in his Forest Primer.
n. Wastes.
Four thousand acres of chalky down at Dunstable, not much
any where else.
12. Improi'ements. '
A good deal drained, especially bogs. Elkington's mode said
to have been tried with very partial success. Bush and straw-
draining attempted on the clayey soils, and the mole plough a
good deal used in the furrows. Irrigation introduced by the
Duke of Bedford, and various examples are to be found in
diHerent parishes on his Grace's estates. Peat is used as fuel,
and also burned for the ashes as a manure ; ample experi-
ments made on manures, by Dr. Cartwright, at Woburn ; but
no agricultural experiments on a small scale can be depended
on. The dairy at AVoburn (fig. 989.) is a fanciful struc-
ture In the Chinese style; but the plan and arrangement
is not well calculated fat keeping milk and butter coot and
sweet.
13. Live Stock.
Cattle a mixe<l breed of long and short homed Aldemey, &c.
Some dairying conducted as in Buckinghamshire. Some
sheep, but of no particular breed; folding generally practised
and approved of; horses a heavy bteed from Huntingdonshire;
rabbit warrens destroyed as much as possible ; geese kept by
many from an idea that they preserve the health of the pastur-
ing animals where they feed. Turkeys and pigeons kept before
the enclosure in various places, but now much on the decline.
Bees kept by a few cottagers and small farmers.
14. Rural Economy. .
Husbandry business {generally performed by day labourers ;
though on most large farms a horsekeeper, cow keeper, sliep-
herd, and kitchen maid hired by the year.
15. Political Economy.
Almost all the cross roads, and many of the main roads, very
bad. Grand Junction Caual passes tlurough a part of the
county, and is very useful ; fairs and markets various ; manu-
factures chiefly plaiting of straw and lace; children of ten^
twelve years of age acquire the art of plaiting, while their
mothers sort and bleach the straw. Lace-making a inora
sedentary employment, and the women and chi!dreji generallB
apiiear sickly, 'i'here are school-niisrresses for tea&)4(^^ Iwta
straw plaiting and lace-making. Begin to learn to make lace at
six or seven years of age ; do little good for two yeaiii, attaijjeafl
earn two shillings a week, at sixteen as much as cij(n be mad|
by the business, or nearly bix shillings a week; wprk in sumi
mer from six o'clock in the morning till sunset, and in winter
from nine till eleven at night ; maid servants scarce in consal
quence, but poor rates kept down. Some rush mats made n«*
the Ouse to the west of Bedford. ,<-
Bedford Ho se of Iiuhistr,y. — " The poor in the house are
eniployed in the following manner : A manufacture ef coarse
baize furnishes employment for all the boys five jea s of age,
and some of the men ; the remaining part of tlie men cultivate
1134
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
an acre and a half of Ranlcn-firound, and weed and keep in
order twenty-five acres of sward land attached to the house.
ITie old women spin flaic to make linen for the use of the
family ; the other wonjen (exclusive of those engaged in domes-
tic concerns), and girls above six years old, make thread lace.
One-sixth of the earnings of the jpoor is paid weekly to those
who work, by way of gratuity. The Governor of the House of
Industry adds, that the above employments have answered
professional rat catchers ; some farmers keep ferrets for the rats.
J«u-ks destroy a great deal of new sown wheat. They, with
other birds, are very abundant in IJedfordshire, esjiecially about
Dunstable, where they are caught in traps, in quantities for
tlie Ixjmlon market. Wire-worms supposed to be increased by
artificial grasses.
17. Miscellaneous.
An agricultural society founded t)y the Duke of Bedford in
1801 ; various premiums ollered and paid, to the extent of
100/. a. year in some years. Cheap publications on agricul-
ture, it is tiiou<,'ht, would be a con&iderable means of im-
provement.
Uie most sanguine expectations of the directors of the estab-
lishment."
Many useful benefit clubs.
Ifi. Obstacles to Improvement.
Want of knowledge and leases. Rltce generally destroyed by
7785, HUNTINGDONSHIRE. A dull flat surface of above 200,000 acres; till Edward the First's
time one continued forest. The name of the county is said to be derived from the facility it afforded for
hunting. The soil is almost uniformly good, but injured by water; it is chiefly under tillage, but
remarkable for no excellence in agriculture. Rape-seed and mustard are more cultivated than in most
other comities, and timber more rare. {Stow's Huntingdonshire, 1793. Maxwell, 1793. Parkinson, 1811.
Marshal's Revietv, 1813. Smith's Geological Map, ISiJI. Edin. Gaz. 1827 )
after rape ; hemp sown in a few places ; mustard cultivated
with great success : sometimes l>ays 40/. an acre on land worth
not more than 50/., but very uncertain. I'arkinson tliiiiks
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate, tolerably healthy, considering that the east part is
skirted by fens, and but a small part supplied by water from
*^^oT-
Ix)am prevalent, but the county every where spotted
•with roundish patches of clay, sand, marl, fen, moor, or lakes,
which, in the map of soils annexed to Parkinson's Report, as-
sumes a very singular appearance.
Waier chiefly supplied from ponds ; Ouse and Nene the only
rivers ; the meres are natural ponds, surrounded by reeds and
other aquatic plants, and a considerable zone of marsh or bog,
according as the soil may be loam or sand. ^Vhittlfcsea Mere
contains 1570 acres, but is not above two feet deep. It abounds
with fish and wild fowl.
2. State of Property.
Old enclosed lands in tlie hands of a few proprietors ; half
the county freehold, the remainder almost all copyhold.
3. Buildings.
Farm-heuses very inconveniently situated, partly owing to
the want of high and dry sites on central parts of farms ; some
good cottages lately erected as the only means of retaining farm
servants for any length of time with the same master.
4. Occupation.
Many large farms, though small ones predominate ; leases
frequent ; tithe in kind.
5. Implements.
Plough, with one handle, originally from Holland; one wheel,
a circular plate of iron wluch is kept sharp, acts as a coulter.
6. Tillage.
Plough, with a pair of horses, or three abreast ; two crops
and a fallow the common rotation ; chief crops, wheat, oats,
and beans ; rape sown on the fens ; lands either once ploughed
out of grass, or pared and burned ; also on uplands; manured
and treated as turnips ; seed threshed in the field ; straw
generally burned, or used for yard fences ; wheat succeeds well
7786. CAMBRIDGESHIRE. A flat or little varied surface of 437,040 acres, generally of good soil,
and having about one third under tillage; remarkable only for the extent of its fen lands, and their
embankment and drainage, both very imperfect. The valley watered by the Cam is called the Dairies,
being almost entirely appropriated to dairy farms. Horses are a good deal bred in the county, and also
pigeons. {Vancouver's Cambridgeshire, l~95. Gooche's Cambridgeshire, 1807. Marshal's Jicview, ISI.3.
Edin. Gaz. 1827.)
hemp, flax, rape-seed, and mustard, should be encouraged, a*
they enrich the farmer, and ate all good preparatives for
wheat. The only way, he says, to enrich the so.l, is to enrich
the farmer first.
7. Grass.
Some gootl meadows on the Ouse and Nene ; the pastures
lie remote from the farm buildings, but are in general ricli,
though neglectetl ; require to be pared and burned, and
brought under aration.
8. Woods and Plantations.
A good many pollard willows in the fens, and some osier
plantations.
9. Improvements.
Great want of a general county drainage, such as that of the
Bedford level, in the adjoining counties of Luicoln, Cambridge,
and Northampton. Tiie advantages of such a drainage is ably
pointed out by Parkinson. Embarkments very extensive, and
the soil being in general a loose porous sand, puddle walls ara
generally made in the middle of the mound.
10. Livestock.
Stilton cheese, now chiefly made at I-i.tleDalby, in Leicester-
shire; is no longer made at Stilton, though it is supposed to
have been originally made there about 1720; or, according to
some, by a Mrs. Orton, in 17.30. A good many horses bred,
and a mixture of Lincoln and Leicester ; folding sheep much
practised. No fewer than 271 pigeon-houses in this county,
and a few bees ; one gentleman cultivates rabbits.
11. Political Economy.
Bad roads ; a lace manufactory at Kimbolton ; a paper mill
at St. Neots ; two sacking manufactories at Staiidgrouud ; an
agricultural society at mmbolton.
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate. On the uplands dry and healthy, but in. the fens
the contrary ; there the inhabitanU suffer most when the fens
are driest. Agues have somewhat diminished since the fens
began to lie better drained".
Snils are very irregularly distributed ; loam, clay, and rich
blr.ck earth extend themselves in irregular masses, and nearly
of the same extent. The soil of the fens, is rich, black and
deep, and may occupy a third of the whole surface. The rich
marshes in the vicinity of Wisbeach consist of a mixture of
sand and clay, or silt, a sea-sand, finely pulverised by the action
of the feaves ; and the uplands consist of chalk, gravel, loam,
and tender clay. There are no minerals.
Riveri. The Ouse, the Granta or Cam. The Ouse and
Nene also cross part of the county, and the old and new Bed-
ford rivers. All these are navigable for barges, and are kept
open in frosty weather by ice boats, drawn down the stream by
eight horses, four on each side.
2. Estates.
Vary much in size. Those of Lord Hardwicke, Duke of
Be<lfcrd, Duke of Rutland, Sir H. Peyton, and Thorpe, are
the largest ; greatest part of the county in estates of from 200/.
to 500/. and 1000/. per annum ; many from 20/. to 50/. and
even 400/. a year, occupied by their owners ; tenures of all
sorts, and a variety of college-land tenures.
3. Buildings.
Fam-houses and premises in general bad and inconvenient ;
lath and plaster, or clay and wattle, the common materials, and
clunch or clay walls in general use. Jenyns, of Bottisham,
has adopted Arthur Young's plan of building stacks on frames,
which run on an iron railway, and are pulled into the bam,
where they are forked on to the platform of the threshing
machine. Cottages " wretchedly bad," except a few built by
Lord Hardwicke, and some other gentlemen.
4. Occupation.
Farms from 20 to 100 acres ; many from 100 to 1000, but few
exceed the latter number ; tithes taken in kind in many places.
5. hnplcments.
Ploughs, with a sharp iron wheel, or running coulter, as in
Buntingdonshire. Shepherd, of Chippenham, has invented a
variety of imjilements. Some threshing machines, and the
best Lothian implements, at Lord Hardwicke's. The Ely
bear roller is an iron roller, with a number of pieces of iron like
small spades fixetl into it. It is used in the fenny districts for
cutting up the weeds, which choke up the slow running rivers.
The horses walk alongthe bank, and draw it several times up
and down the river. Tlie weeds are thus rooted up, and car-
ried down the stream by the first flood.
6. Arable Land.
Ploughed and cultivated in general as in Huntingdonshire ;
hemp IS cultivated more extensively ; flax is grown, and mus-
tard, near Wisbeach and Outwell ; a few lentils, as in Hun-
tingdonshire, but are considered of less value than tares. The
reporter says, a second crop of mustard is obtained by what
shells from the first, and that mustard springs up in land where
it has not been cultivated for upwards of a century. Woad is
in cultivation, and for every forty acres a woad mill, it is said,
is required. No crop pays equal to the reed, which require*
no culture but cutting and bunching ; owing to the improve-
ment of the fens, they are now becoming scarce. Whiteseed
(P6a aqu^tica), or fen hay, is produced on many parts of the
fen lands, and even on such parts as have been dug for peat.
The land is inundated till the crop appears above the water,
and then, wherever it can be effected, it is let off; in other
cases the grass grows to a great height in the water, is mown
twice in the season, and often produces two tons per acre each
time. The hay is esteemed valuable for cows ; causing them
to produce much milk, and, it is said, giving the parUcular
flavour to Cottenham cheese.
7. Grass Lands.
Extensive ; some under no management, and of little value ;
others very productive, both as hay and feeding lands. In
the district called the Wash, they will carry from one to two
bullocks, and from five to twelve sheep per acre f6d the
greater part of the year.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
Good market and fruit gardens at Ely, Soham, Wisbeach,
&c. which supply Lynn and various places, by water carriage,
with apples, cherries, and veget.-\bles.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Some young plantations. The Rev. G. Jenyns, of Bottis-
ham, " does not cut off the tap roots of oaks in the usual
manner, and finds they thrive faster." (That he is mistaken,
see 3927.) Osiers are grown in various places for the basket
makers, and found to pay as well as any crop.
10. Wastes and unimproved Fen.
In 1794, 158,500 acres.
11. Improvements.
In no part of the island draining and embanking SO much
■wanted as in the fens of this county.
The former slate qf the fen lands, and their degradation to their
present state, is given at length in the report, chiefly from a
pamphlet by Lord Hardwicke. It was the opinion of Atkins
(a commissioner of sewers in the reign of James I., 1601) that
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE.
1 1 31
these fens (a space of upwards of 280,000 acres) were once " of
the nature of land-meadows, fruitful, healthy, and very gain-
ftil to the inhabitants, and yielded much relief to the high-
land counties in time of great droughts." Sir W. Bugdale
(who was bom 1605, and died 1686) was of the same opinion,
adding as a proof, " th-it great numbers of timber trees (oaks,
firs, <Sc.) formerly grew there, as is plain from many being
found in digging canals and drains, some of them severed from
their roots, the roots standing as they grew, in firm earth, below
the moor."
On deepening the channel of Wisbeach river, in 1635, the
workmen, at eight feet below the then bottom, discovered a
second bottom, which was stony, with seven boats lying in it,
covered with silt. And at Whittlesea, on digging through the
moor at eight feet deep, a jierfect soil was Ibund with swards
of grass lying on it, as they were at first mown. Henry of
Huntingdon ( who lived in the reign of Stephen, 1135,) de-
Scribed this fiimy country " as pleasant and agreeable to the
eye; wateretl by many rivers which run through it, diversified
by many large and small lakes, and adorned by many woods
and islands." And William of Malmsbury (who lived in the
first year of Henry II., ll.")4) has painted the state of the
land round Thorney in the most glowing colours : he says, " it
is a very paradise, in pleasure and delight it resembles heaven
itself; the very marshes abounding in trees, whose length
•without knots do enmlate the stars." " The plain there is as
level as the sea, which, with the flourishing of the grass,
allureth the eye ; in some parts there are apple-trees, in others
vines." It appears then, on the authority of the authors
quoted, that the fens were formerly wood and pasture. The
engineers were of opinion that the country in question, for-
merly meadow and wood, now fen, became so trom partial
embankments preventing the waters fi-om the uplands gnir;g
to the sea by their natural outfalls; want of proper and suffi-
cient drains to convey those waters into the Ouse ; neglect of
such drains as were made fiar that purpose ; and that these
evils increased from the not embanking the river Ouse, and the
erection of sluices across it preventing the flux and reflux of
the sea; the not widening and deepening, where wanted,
the river Ouse ; and from not removing the gravels, weeds, &c.
which have from time to time accumulated in it.
The Jint attempt at draininf; any part of the fens appears to
have been made in the time of Edward I. (1272, Sec.) ; many
otliers with various success followed. The famous John of
Gaunt (or Ghent, who died in 1593), and Margaret, Countess
of Richmond, were amongst the draining adventurers; but
Gough, in his addition to Camden, says " the reign of Eliza-
beth may be properly fixed on as the period when the level
began to become immediately a public case. Many plans were
proposed and abandoned between that time and 1634, when
King (Charles I. granted a charter of incorporation to Francis
Earl of Bedford, and thirteen gentlemen adventurers with
him, who jointly undertook to drain the level, on condition
that they should have granted to them, as a recompense,
95,000 acres (about one third of the level). In 1649, this
charter was confirmed to A\'iUiam Earl of Bedford, and his
associates, by the Convention Parliament ; and in 1653, the
level being declared completely drained, the 95,000 acres were
conveyed to the adventurers, who had exl>ended 400,000/.,
■which is almost 4/. 4*. per acre on the 95,000 acres, and about
1/. Ha. on the whole breadth, if the whole level contain 285,000
acres, and it is generally supposed to contain 500,000 acres.
In 1664, the corporation called " Conservators of the great
level of the fens" was established. This body was empowered
to levy taxes on the 95,0(X) acres, to defray whatever expenses
might arise in their preservation ; but only 83,009 acres were
vested in the coriwration, in trust for the Earl of Bedford and
his associates ; the remaining 12,000 were a'lotted, 10,000 to
the King, and 2000 to the Earl of Portland. At first the levy
■was an equal acre tax ; but upon its being deemed unjust, a
gradual one was adopted, which is now acted upon. In the
year 1697, the Bedford level was divided into three districts,
north, middle, and south ; having one surveyor for each of the
former, and two for the latter. In 1753, the north level was
separated by act of parliament from the rest. In addition to
the public acts obtained for draining the fens, several private
ones have been grantetl, for draining separate districts with
their limits, notwithstanding which, and the vast sums ex-
pended, much remains to be done ; a great part of the fens is
now ( 1806) in danger of inundation : this calamity has vit,ited
them many times, producing effects distressing and extensive
beyond conception, indeed many hundred acres of valuable
land now drowned, the misfortune aggravated by the proprie-
tors being obliged to continue to pay a heavy tax, notwith-
standing the loss of their land."
The interior drainage if the fits is performed in most places
by windmills, which are very uncertain in their efllects. Steam
has been tried, and there can be no doubt would be incompa-
lably preferable, as working in all weathers.
Etnbankhig may be considered a necessary accompaniment
of draining on the fen-lands. The fens are divided into three
large levels, and each of these levels are subdivided into nu-
merous districts by banks; but as these banks are made of
fen-moor, and other light materials, whenever the rivers are
swelled with waters, or any one district is deluged, either by
rain, a breach of banks, or any other cause, the waters speedily
pass through these bright, moory, porous banks, and drown all
the circumjacent districts. The fens have sometimes stis-
tained 20,000/. or 30,000/. damage by a breach of banks ; but
these accidents seldom happen in the same district twice in
twenty years ; the water, however, soaks through all fen banks
every year in every district ; and when the water mills have
lifted the waters up out of the fens into the rivers in a windy
day, a great part of the water soaks back through the porous
banks in the night upon the same land again. This water that
soaks through the bank, drowns the wheat in the winter, washes
the manure into the dykes, destroys the best natural and arti-
ficial grasses, and prevents the fens from being sown till too
late in the season. This stagnant water, lying on the surface,
causes also fen agues, &c. ; thus the waters that have soaked
throiigh the porous fen banks have done the fertile fens more
real injury, than all the other floods that have ever come upon
them. The remedy for the soaking through of the water is
obviously that of forming a puddle wall in the middle, which
appears to have been first thought of among the fen bank-
makers by Smith of Chatteris, a profi^sed embanker, who thus
dcscnbts hii) mode of putting a vertical sUatum of puddle in
old mounds: " I first cut a gutter, eij;htecn inclies ■wide,
through Ihe old bank down to the clay i^the fen substratum
being generally clay) ; the gutter is made near the centre, but
a little on the land side of the centre of the old liank. The
gutter is afterwards filled up in a very solid manner with tem-
)jered clay ; and to make the clay resist the water, a man in
boots always treads the clay as the gutter is filltd up. This
plan was tried last summer (1794), on a convenient farm, and
a hundred acres of wheat were sown on the land. The wheat
and grass lands on this farm are now all dri-, whilst the fens
around are covered with water. This practice answers so well
on this farm, that all the farmers in the parish are improving
their banks in the same manner, and some have begun in ad-
jacent parishes."
With respect to embanking from the sea, Vancouver is of
opinion, that the ground ought to be covered by nature with
samphire or other plants, or with grass, before an attempt is
made to embank it; there is particular danger in being too
greedy. " If the sea has not raised the salt marsh to its fVuit-
ful level, all expectation of benefit is vain, the soil being im-
mature, and not riirened for enclosure ; and if, again, witli a
view of grasping a great extent of salt marsh, the oanks or sea
wall be pushed furiher outwards than where there is a fimi
and secure foundation for it to stand upon, the bank will blow
up, and in both cases great losses and disappointments w ill
ensue."
Paring and burning is every where approved of, and consi-
dered the sine qua turn of the fen district, in breaking up turf.
Without it corn crops are destroyed by the grub and wire-
Irrigatton Col. Adeane, of Barbraham, has 300 acres of
meadows which have beeir irrigated from the time of Qut'en
Elizabeth. " Pallavicino, who was collector of Peter's pence
in England, at the death of Queen Mary, having 50,000/. or
40,0011/. in his hands, had the art to turn Protestant on the
accession of Queen Elizabeth, and appropriatetl the money to
his own use; he bought with it an estate at Barbraham, and
other lands near Bournbridge ; and i)rocuring a grant from the
crown of the river which passes through them, was enabled
legally to build a sluice across it, and throw as much of the
water as was necessary into a new canal of irrigation, which he
dug to receive it in the method so well known, and commonly
practised in Italy long before that period. The canals and
the sluices are all well designed, and are the work of a man
evidently well acquainted with the practice ; but in taking the
waters from them, for spreading it by small channels over the
meadows, there does not seem to be the least intelligence, or
knowledge of the husbandry of watering. No other art is
exeried but that merely of opening in the bank of the river
small cuts for letting the u ater flow on to the meadows always
laterally, and never longitudinally, so necessary in works of this
kind. The water then finds its own distribution, and so irre-
gularly, that many parts receive too much, and others none at
all. trom the traces left of small channels in ditfierent parts
of the meadows, it would appear tliat the ancient distribution
formed under Pallavicino is lost, and that we see nothing at
present but the miserable patch-work of workmen ignorant of
the business. Irrigation has not spread from this example,
but might be extensively practised on tlie banks of all the
rivers."
12. Live stock.
Cattle a breed peculiar to the county ; but soine of all sorts.
Butchers give more for a Cambridge calf than a Suffolk one,
fancying the former whiter veal. The Cottenham cheese
ascribed to the excellence of the grass, in great part i-'oa
aqucitica.
The cow tysfem consists chiefly in suckling of cajves and
making of butter ; there is not much cheese made, except the
noted ones of Soham and Cottenham. The suckling season is
from Michaelmas to Lady-daj. It requires, on an average,
two cows to fatten a calf. The cows, ■» hen at a distance from
home, are milked in the pasture, and the milk brought home
by a horse or ass, in tubs, slung across : women could not do
this work, the travelling being, after the least rain, very bad,
even when there is no water to go through. The butter is sold
rolled lip in pieces of a yard tong, and about two inches in
circumference j this Is done for ttie converiiency of colleges,
where it is cut into pieces, called " parts>" arid .so sent to
table ; its quality is nowhere excelled.
Bullocks of various kinds fattened on grass, and when not
ready in autumn, put up and finished on corn or oil-cake.
Col. 'Adeane buys in London at a falling market, and keejjs till
a rising one before he sells.
Shtep chiefly as in Huntingdonshire; aome Noifolks and
South Downs ; folding on the uplands.
Horses of the cart kind much bred, and considered an article
in which the county excels; they are very large and bony ;
black ; with long hair from the knee to the fetlock trailing on
the ground. A cart stallion has cost 255 guineas, and his coltn
have sold for sixty guineas. Horses kipt in th.e stable through-
out the year, at a great exj)ense, because on dry food ; herbage
plants, artificial grasses, and roots being neglected, and no soil-
ing practised.
The deer in Wimpole Park attacked by a singular disease, a
sort of madness; tlse diseased animal begins by pursuing the
herd, then sequesters himself, breaks liis antlers against the
trees, and gnaws large pieces of flesh from his sides, &c. be-
comes convulsed, and soon expires.
Pigeon-houses on almost every farm ; kept in a great measure
because if any one were to give them up, he would be obliged
to keep the i)igeons of others ; destroy thatched roo&, and oblige
every farmer to sow more seed than he otherwise would ; pro-
duce sent to Ix)ndon and other parts; often 100 dozen per
annum from one pigeonry ; dung highly prized.
13. Rural Economy.
Peat, sedge, or thin turf, and dried cow -dung used as fuel.
The cow-dung is spread on grass, about an iiich and a half
thick, and cut into pieces, eight or twelve inches square ; there
it lies till dry.
14. Political Economy.
Roads miserably bad ; canals or navigable cuts in the fens in
all directions; a few fairs; a jwttery at Elv for coarse ware;
excellent white bricks made there, and at Chatteris and Cam>
bridge; lime burned at various places.
1136
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
7787. SUFFOLK. A crescent-like flat surface of 800,000 acres, the soil chiefly in patches of clay, poor
sandy soil, and rich loam, and the agriculture directed to the growing of corn. The county is, however,
famous for its breed of cows, horses, and hogs, and it is one of those in which carrots are a good deal
grown. One of the largest sheep fairs in the kingdom is held at Ipswich, where it is said as many as
150,000 or 200,0(X) sheep and lambs have been exposed for sale. The celebrated Arthur Young was a
native yeoman of the county, and farmed his own estate near Bury. {Young's Suffolk, 1810. Smith's
Geological Map, ISly.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climnttf. One of the driest in the kingdom ; the frosts severe ;
and the N. E. winds in sjiring, sharj) and prevalent.
Soil. The predominating a strong loam on a clay-marl bot-
tom in the centre of the countj ; chalk also occurs extensively
as a substratum ; a zone of sand stretches along the coast;
and some sand and fen land in the north-west angle; no
minerals.
2. Property.
Chiefly in the hands of rich yeomanry, who cultivate their
own estates of from 100/. to 400/. a year ; one estate of 1500/. a
year ; and two or three of 10,000/.
3. Buildings.
Great erections have been made for the convenience of men
of large fortunes ; but not so many for those of smaller incomes ;
farm-houses improved, but still inferior to what they might be ;
often of lath and plaster, and wanting requisite repairs ; bams
uselessly large ; cottages in general bad habitations ; the door
generally opens from the external air into the living room;
reparation bad, and the deficiency of gardens general.
4. Occupation.
Farms generally large; some from 20/. to 1001. a year;
generally fiom 150/. to 900/. ; the largest on the sandy districts.
Leases for seven, fourteen, and twenty-one years; but little
land held at will.
5. Implements.
The Suffolk swing plough, though known as one of the best
of the old English swing ploughs, is now giving way to im-
proved forms ; various threshing machines, and other improved
Implements introduced ; circular harrows ifig. 9'JO.) were used
on the farm of the late celebrated Arthur Voung.
6. Enclosui-es.
Suffolk one of the earliest enclosed counties in England; a
few recent enclosures.
7. Arable Land.
Plough, with two horses, one acre a day on stiff soils, and one
and a quarter to one and a half on sands ; ploughmen skilful,
and subscribe prizes among themselves for such as draw the
straightest furrow, &c. Besides all the common crops, a larger
proportion of peas grown than is usual in most counties. Hops,
cabba;
few pi
sandy districts, and that of rape for seed, and of hemp, to the
fenny angle of the county. A. Young seems to have been the
chief cultivator of chiccory, having had " ninety acres of it for
sheep." Hemj ' .... . ^ , ,■
the seed as we]
is the greatest breadth to be met with
8. Grass.
Pastures coarse and not extensive ; both these and meadows
badly managed, overrun with mole and ant hills, bushes, tufts
of bad grasses, weeds, &c. Hay-making badly performed.
I of course, confined to the
tip is grown both by cottagers and farmers, and for
ell as fibre, but never on a large scale ; five acres
9. Gardens and Orchards.
Garden walls built of the width of a brick, by making them
wavy. [Enct/clojpanlia of Gardaiitif;, 1567.)
10. Woods and Plantations.
Few, and pay badly ; but large oak timber formerly produced
in the clay districts.
11. Improvements.
Wheat substituted for rye. Draining much practised on the
clays; bushes, straw, or stubble used for Hlling them ; claying
and marling the sands practised, but sand laid on clay found of
no use, or marl on clay, according to the old adage —
Marie clay, throw all away ;
Marie sand, and buy land.
Some workmen procured from Gloucestershire to execute
irrigations in the manner of that county.
12. Live Stock.
In cows, horses, and hogs, Suffolk excels. The Suffolk
breed of cows spread over the whole county. To keep the
breed polled, homed calves are never reared, but sold to the
sucklers. Cows in prime give eight gallons of milk y>er day,
and great part of the season six gallons ; best milkers red brin-
dle, or yellowish cream coloured; not always the best feeders.
Often fed in winter with cabbages. A point oF bad management
is, that the bulls, when three years old or thereabouts, are
either sold or castrated for fatting, by which means, when a
good stock-getter is thought to be discovered, when searched for
he is no more ; thus no improvement can be made in the breed,
but by accident. Cows are allowed to range over turnip fields
and eat where they please, and often the same as to cabbages.
In some cases they are tied to posts in the open field, littered,
and the vegetables brought to them ; both barbarous modes of
management. Dairy management not particularly good ; wo-
men in general the milkers; milk generally seven or eight
cows an hour; one for a wager milked thirty in three hours.
Quality of milk depends not only on the food, but on the con-
dition of the cows as to health and fatness. Chafing dishes of
charcoal kept in the dairies during frost, but the cream does
not rise so well. Butter generally salted in firkins.
The sheep used are ot various breeds, and the practice of
folding is universal.
Horses of the l>est variety found on the sandy soils, as about
Lowestoff, AVoodbridge, Orford. About the middle of last
century, a considerable spirit of breeding, and teams drawing
against teams for large sums, existed. The old breed were
ugly, with slouching ears, ill shaped head, and low in the fore
end ; a great carcass, short legs and short back ; they could
only walk and draw, and no more trot than a cow ; of late, by
aiming at coach horses, the breed has become handsomer, and
one of the best for draujfht in England. In the east district,
horses are turned out ot the stable in winter at night, about
eij^ht o'clock, into a yard well littered with straw, with plenty
ot oUen and barley straw lo eat, but no hay; so treated, they
are found to keep free from diseases, and work several years
longer than if kejit constantly in stables.
The Iw^s fatten early and at little expense, but are not great
breeders-
Rabbits. Many warrens in the sand district ; one at Bran-
don returns 40,000 rabbits in a year; twenty rabbits per acre
usual produce; carcass defrays rent and taxes, and the skin
profit ; so that no mode of farming can be more profitable to
the occupier.
Poultry. Turkeys generally cultivated, but chiefly for home
us^.
PigeoM abound on the borders of Cambridgeshire.
Vo. Political Economy.
Roads very good ; made with flints and gravel ; some canals.
Ipswich and" Bury excellent markets; a good deal of fishing on
the coast; spinning and combing wool, and spinning and
weaving hemp, among the cottagers. Says and silk manufac-
tures ai Sudbury. Various hundreds in this county incorjior-
ated by charter" for erecting houses of industry for the poor ;
they manufacture netting for the fishers, sjiin, &c., and cul-
tivate a few acres of land ; they are admirably kept and
aged, and the poor five like the pensioners in Chelsea
college ; but these houses of industry have little eltect in lower-
ing the poor rates. The best managed are of very expensive
tendency, and of equivocal eflect as to comfort and morality.
Those badly managed are nurseries of idleness and vice,
attended with great discomfort and expense. Marshal con-
siders them as the grave of morality and independent policy,
and as we are informed, by a gentleman who has been a director
of one of them for many years, with perfect truth.
14. Obstacles to Itnprovement.
The great abundance of game in the county is such, that in-
stances are given of com having been injured to the extent of
half and three fourths of its value by hares and i)heasants,
which arc common every where, and on the sand district more
especially.
An agiicultural society, called the Milford society, meets al-
ternately at Milford and Buiy,
7788. NOHFOLK. A flat surface of 1,288,000 acres, chiefly of a loamy and sandy soil, and devoted to
the growth of corn, and the fattening of cattle and sheep. This county has acquired celebrity for its ge-
neral culture, and especially for that of turnips and clover. It displays a great variety of practices, and
abounds in wealthy larmcrs. It is also noted for the estate of Coke, a true and cocsistent patriot for
upwards of half a century, the most munificent of landlords, and the greatest friend to farmers. Norfolk,
in short, was formerly reckoned the finest county in England for agriculture, as Northumberland is at
present. Mackie's nursery at Norwich, the property and under the direction of a lady, is one of the most
extensive and best managed of provincial nurseries. {Kent's Norfolk, 1795. Young's Norfolk, 1801.
Marshal's Review, 1813. Dr. Rigby's Holkham, its Agriculture, &c. 1819. Stnith's Geological Map,
1819. Edin. Gaz. 1^27.)
Book 1.
AGRICULTURE OF OXFORDSHIRE.
1137
1. Geographical Slate and Circumstances.
Climiite colder and more backward than Suffolk ; N. B.
winds severely felt in spring ; salubrity of the air artected b.¥
the fen» of I-incolnshire and Cambrid^'eshire to the extent of
6 or fiOO.OOO acres, which lie on the west side of the county.
Suit. A sandy loain or sand; Kent savs, similar and equal
in value to ihdt of the Austrian Netherland-i. There is a small
patch of sil or warp clay on the borders of Lincolnshire, ar.d
of rather stiftl-r clay on the borders of Cambridgeshire.
IVater. The sea and rivers for navigation; watering ponds
for caftle made at Holkham, each to serve four encio ures,
forty-two feet square at bottom, twelve and seven feet deep,
bottom and sides well covered with sand; within a yard of
the top, the clay two feet thick, and paved with bricks set on
edge. These ponds made by men from Gloucestershire, at two
and sixpence per superficial yard. To divide the ponds for four
fields, a largs; stone with a hole wrought in it to receive a post
is necessary at the centre, and the post has mortices to receive
r;uls from the sides.
2. Property.
Estates of all .-.izes ; one of 25,000/. a year ; one of 14,000/. ;
one of 13,000/ ; two of 10,000/.; many of 5000/. Land sells
currently at thirty years' purchase. Tenure by freehold three
fifths, church, collegiate, and corporau; tsUles one fifih, and
copyhold under lay lords one fifth.
3. Buildings.
Some noble seats of proprieors. Kent says farm buildings
are on too large a scale ; " they are iJways crying out for barn-
room, though wheat is preserved cheap-T and better on st id-
dles;" barns on a farm of KM)/, a year that have cost 300/.
Coke has expended above 100,000/. on farm-houses; barns
at Holkham 120 feet long by 30 broad and 30 high, surrounded
with sheds for sixty head of' cattle; walls of fine white brick,
and roof of blue slate. At Lyderstone an immense barn of
(Poke's, containing the crop of 140 acres. Seven men neces-
sary on the gofPor mow, at the unloading of every waggon, and
dare not venture to tread the corn for fear of bursting the
barn ; farmers fond of innnense barns. In building. Coke has
substituted milled lead for ridge tiles to the roofs ; copper
wards to ali locks ; front edges of mangers are rollers covered
with tin; mangers themselves plated with iron; bottoms of
the stall fences of Penryn slate. In building walls not to be
roofed, they are drawn in to a brick's length at top. Lime-wash
used as a preservative to boards, walls, &c. : it is composed of
lime fViesh from the kiln, and clean sharp sand, mixed with hot
water, and laid on hot ; stirring it up so as always to lay on
sand with the lime. An excellent plan. At Holkham a brick
manufactory, where bricks of all forms are made, euid common
bricks are cur, five parts in six, through in various directions,
so as to give half and quarter bricks, angles, &c., without break-
ing and waste. This is one of the most complete manufactories
in the kingdom. At Belwy a capital farmery, labourers' cot-
tages, and gardens. Sharp clean sand dashed on new paint
found to answer the end of im itating stone, &c. A. Yomig did
not see a good farm-yard in the county.
Cottages much wanted ; some built of tlint-work.
4. Occupatian.
Farms large on the dry soils, and smaller on the wet ones ;
2000 acres arable, tlie largest measuring from 400 to 600.
Farmers famous for their improvements, excellency of thejr
management, and the hospitable manner in which they live,
and receive their friends and sUangers. The farming-mind
of the CO mty has undergone two revolutions, one between 1730
and 17G0, when great improvements were made ; and the next
about 1T90, when drilling began to be introduced. Coke liegan
to promote farming ; and the South Down sheep were intro-
duced aiiout that time. The great improvements for seventy
years past effected in conieaiience pf twenty-one years' leases.
The advantages of leases ably advocated by Kent. Coke ad-
lieres steadily to this term, while some olbexs are reducing it
to seven and nine years.
F). Implements.
For more than half a century these remained stationary j
now improvements making ; Norfolk plough has a high-pitched
beam, wheels near to tlie siiare, and is reckoned hghter than
most wheeled ploughs.
6. Enclosures.
Many since middle of eighteenth century. In planting
hedges on a loamy soil, the plants being laid in, and the bank
over them raised to the usual height, the face of it, and also
of the ditch, for one foot or more bWow the original surface is
plastered over with clayey stuff taken out of the bottom of
the ditch, to the thickness of two or three inches, or more
about the sets. The advantage of this plan is, that this loamy
puddla, from the bottom of the ditch, is without the seeds of
weeds itself, and by its compactness excluding the air from
tliese in the mould below, it prevents them from gjrimnating ;
the consequence Is, hedges plantetl in this manner re<juire
little or no weeding for several years.
7. Arable hand.
riough with two or four horses very shallow; carefully pre-
serve the hard basis formed by the sole of the plough, which
is called the pan of the land; breaking this up is said to let
down the riches into the hungry subsoil, &c. Culture of tur-
nips erroneously stated by Kent to have been introduced fri/in
Hanover by Townsend, in the reign of George I. ; — doubtless
has increased since that period. Clover very general, and
wheat on the clover ley ; tun.ips all broadcast, or if drilled,
never on ridgelets, but on the flat surface ; rotations good, such
as turnips, barley, clover, wheat, &c. Turni])s fed oft" with
sheiep, or given to cattle in stalls, or the open yard; sometimes
carted on the sown wheats in February, and eaten off them
by sheep or bullocks, the soil being very dry and loose ; clover
eaten off, or mown for soiling or hay ;— most generally eaten
off by ewes and lambs. Wheat dibbled in some places, a prac-
tice which originated in this county, and has scarcely been
adonted in any other. Carrots not so much cultivated as in
Suffolk; a good deal of mustard from March to VVisbeach ;
on the rich black lands, four cro))s of mustard taken in succes-
sion, and then wheat ; produce three to four quarters per acre.
Hemp and flax cultivated in the spots of ground belonging to
houses of industry, and in some other cases, but to no extent.
Saintfoin not much cultivated ; Coke had 4(10 acres. lAiceme
at a few places ; mangolil wurzel introduced by Sir Mordaunt
Martin, who continues to cultivate it. Drilling and dibbling
or' wheat and peas generally practised on the sandy soils.
Coke drills all his com. Arable culture, in everv department,
greatly improved since 1790 A paper, by Kent, entitled
Faliiwin^ exploited, has been justly condemned by Marshal,
and other men of more general experience in culture : his
notions of shallow p'oughing, and contmual tillage and crop-
ping without rest, most erroneous, and contrary to expe-
rience.
8. Grass.
Very little of natural turf in the coimty ; transplanting turf
recently introduced. (5716.)
9. Gardens and Orchards.
Orchards to most of the farm-houses ; some public ones near
the large towns. Norfolk beetin an excellent apple, and much
used for baking drv in ovens, a very particular operation known
only to a few bakers. They are repeatedly taken out of the
oven, and pressed flat with the hand, and tiien put in agziin.
10. Woods atM- Plantations.
Much planting Jias taken place on the poorer sands; Mar-
sham of Stratton.the chief planter, and next Bcrney of Bracon,
Coke, and Windtiam. ;From 17S1 to IMOl, Coke planted 718
acres, with upwards dfctwo millions of trees and shrubs, of
more than fifty kinds. 'Bevan, of Uiddlesworth, 966,000 trees.
Maquess 'Towiiehendieeds cattle, sheep, and deer, with the
trimmings of plintiti&is. Sheep are fond of the bark of the
Scotch fir and a3». .;
11. Improvements.
A good deal of draining done of late years ; very little irri-
gation ; among the manures are reckoned marl, lime, gyp-
sum, oyster shells, sea ouse, sea weeds, pond weeds, burnt
tarlh, sticklebacks, oil cake, rape cake, ashes, soot, malt dust,
ploughing in growing buck-wheat, yard dung, leaves, burning
stubbles, river mud, and town manure. Marling, or claviiig
as it is called, has lieen much used for an unknown length of
time, and is found of great use on the sands ; laid on at all
seasons, but chiefly on the clover ieys in autumn, and spread
in spring, liefore ploughing ibr peas or oats ; quantity, twenty
to eighty loads an acre; duration, twenty to tiftv years. Sea
ouse, a calcareous mud, fortv loads \>ex acre. The sea mud
is chiefly part of a stratum of' rotten timber on the sea-shore,
and which is washed out by the tides ; it is perfectly black and
rotten, and ten loads manures an acre. Burnt earth is the
burnt ant-hills of moo- y meadows ; ashes of cottagers who bum
turf, &c. i,eaves raketl, stublles burned, &c. by some. Some
judicious and successful embankments madSiun the Ous ^ near
J.ynn, by the late Count Bentick, and conUnued by his son,
the present Governor Bentick.
12. Live stock.
Predominant cattle Scotch, bought in every year from the
drovers, for feeding. Norfo k black-legged sheep gradually
giving way to South Downs; fo'ding on the decline. Poultry
gooti, especially the turkey, owing to the dryness of the soil, and
gieat range of pasture. Decoy;^ and pigeon houses, formerly
numerous, but now on the decliite. Babbits, bares, pheasants,
partridges, and rooks abundant.
13. Political Economy.
Charles II. observed, that Norfolk should be cut into roads
for all tlie rest of England ; few canals.
7789. OXFORDSHIRE. An irregular, inland, elevated surface, of 450,000 acres, chiefly in aration,
and in a very backward state as to agriculture. There are rich grass lands, subjected to the same dairy
management as in Buckinghamshire, and some natural wood lands. The principal agriculturist and
patriot of the county is Fane, of Wormsley. (Davis's Report, 1794. Arthur Young's Oxfordshire, 1809.
Marshal's Review, 1813. Smith's Geological Map, 1823.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Cthnale cold and bleak. On the Chiltern hills, cold, moist,
and foggy.
Soi7 in three great divisions, red land, stonebrash, and chil-
tern, or chalky hills ; the basis of all these soils is calcareous ;
there is also a considerable portion of loamy soil.
2. Property/.
Few large estates ; church tenures very common ; one estate
of 20,000/. a year, one of 12,000/., one of 7000/., one of 5000/.,
-and so on.
3. Buildings.
Blenheim, the noblest in England ; Maylands' house at
Broadeaton, recorded bv Young a.s a model for houses, which
cost about 20,000/. building. In farm buildings the best thing
is the coped stone rick and granary stands ; farm buildings ge-
nerally of stone, covered with stone slate; wretchedly contrived,
and badly executed, in most parts of the county. Gardens to
nu>st of the cottages. Bishop of Durham has built some very
. comfortable ones at Munij-eweU.
4. Occupation.
Farms generally smaller than in most other counties; few
above 500 acres. I^.-isss of fourteen nnd twenty-one years not
uncom:i:on; many of seven years. Farmers in general very
ignorant, and much prejudiceci against new practices.
.5. Implements.
The prevailing plough a swing wooden-boarded implement,
drawn by from three to six horses, and incapable of making
good work under the guidance of the best ploughman.
6. Arable Land.
Very badly managed in general ; on heavy lands two crops
and a fallow,, but the fallow kept unploughed for the sake of
attbrding couch-giass leaves for the sheep. Davis of Bloxham,
an extensive farmer and land-surveyor, " never saw any land
upon which a naked fallow is necessary ; not even on the stifl'est
soils ;" has been in mapy counties, and employed on twenty -six
commis-sions of enclosure at tlie same time ! Wheat sown early,
and either ploughed in or folded ; often both. A scantlet of
lentils cultivated. Turnips in most parts seldom bigger than
4 D
H38
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
apples. A pood deal of saintfoin on the Chiltem, and other
calcareous soils, also on the stonebrash, which is chiefly lime.
7. Grass.
Some good meadows near Oxford, on the Thames and Isis ;
very rich grass land at Thame.
8. IVoods and Plantations.
Of considerable extent. A great part of the forest of 'Which-
vood belongs to the government. Great attention paid by Fane
of Wormsley to pruning; many l)eech woods on the Chillern
hills ; young wood at Blenheim neglected. The natural forests
of Whichwood and Stoken Church chiefly of beech, but some
oak, ash, birch, and aspen.
9. Improvements.
Fane, Prat, Davis, and others are of opinion, that the agri-
culture is much suuerior to what it was thirty years ago, chiefly
from the introduclTon of a better breed of stock, the use of roots
and herbage plants, and the enclosure of commons and common
fields.
Scotch Farming. In 1809 an attempt was made to improve
the estate of Great Tew, by letting it to Scotch farmers. As
this originated in consequence of a pamphlet which the com-
piler of the present work published in 1808, it might be deemed
a defect in this sketch if the circumstance were passed over
•without particular notice. It will, no doubt, long be recollected
in the county as at least a ruinous project of wild adventurers; .
this being the very mildest term applied to failures in similar
cjises. At this distance of time, looking back on the matter, as
far as the result affected ourselves, with our natural saiigjroid,
we shall state our opinion as to the causes of failure. This re-
sulted principally from too great anxiety, both in the landlord
and tenants, to reap a large benefit ; and secondly, from the
general fall of prices, both of land and produce, which suc-
ceeded to the published report of the Bullion t^ommittee in
1807. Anxiety to increase the rent-roll induced the landlord
to let the whole of his estate of nearly 4000 acres, then under
nearly a score of tenants, to two cultivators, instead of trying
first the elfect of one or two moderate-sized farms under the
new mode. The same anxiety induced the tenants to olf'er too
high rents, and to attempt a profit by subletting. Before the
estate had been eight months let, it was sold on the new rental
for nearly four times the sum at which it was offered for sale
only a year before ; but the title not proving satisfactory to the
purchaser, the purchase was never completed. The landlord
became involved in difficulties, owing to the expenses of new
buildings, roads, drainages, the purchasing up of certain out-
going tenants, and other causes : he found, that though one
person had been willing to buy the estate held on twenty -one
years' leases, yet thzit it would sell much better if held by
.tenants at will ; and was thence induced to buy up from the
Scotch tenants the leases granted them two years before, and
was still unsuccessful in endeavouring to sell the estate. At
last the proprietor found himself with the greater part of his
lands in hand ; and one farm, it is proper to observe, was put
under the management of an Irishman, who rendered himself
notorious by some parts of his conduct, and finally left the
country clandestinely ; and whose actions have unfortunately
often been confounded with those of the Scotch farmers, after
all the latter had completely left that part of the country.
When peace was concluded in 1814, land fell still lower ; and
finally this estate was sold for less than half what it had been
sold for in 1809 : but still (which may be considered as re-
markable) for about double what was asked for it in 1807. It
-was in 1823 probably not worth a third part of what was
given for it by the purchaser, from the change in the times; so
that even had the original scheme and sale worked well, it is
probable that by that time both landlord and tenants would
have been ruined ; for more money might have been raised by
mortgage on such an estate in 1810 than it would have sold for
in 1820. The depreciation of the estate has been attributed to
the breaking up of old turf; a most unfounded error, as there
were not 1000 acres to break up, and of them only 250 were
ploughed, and, as would have been proved had the convertible
system been continued a few years, greatly to the benefit of the
whole. We regret that the landlord, a most amiable and
patriotic man, siiould have suffered in this business ; but he
entered into it aware that he was incurring an extraordinary
chance of loss for an extrjiordinary chance of benefit, and of
course he takes the result as every man ought to do. Besides
he has still a very handsome fortune.
As a trail uj'the sjiirit oJ'tJte Biiard of Agriculture at this time,
we may mention that Arthur Young examined the estate a few
weeks after it was sold at so high a rate, and drew up a remark-
able report (a MS. copy of which, from his office, is in our pos-
session) in favour of Scotch farming, which was published in
the first edition of Sir John Sinclair's Husbandry of Scotland.
In that report a disin^.'nuous attempt is made to attribute to
the Board the merit of the introduction of Scotch farming into
this and other counties ; whereas it was and is perfectly well
known, that the Farmer's Magazine, the Scotch farmer Gour-
lay, lite of Wiltshire, and our pamphlet, were the true causes.
By the time a second edition of the Husbandry of Scotland was
called for, Scotch farming had l)ecome unpopular, and the Re-
port mentioned, and all the compliments to the Board of Agri-
tmlture for hiving introduced it, were withdrawn. A general
account of all the operations on Tew estate by Scotch farmers
will be found in Designs for Farms and Farm Buildings in the
Scotch Style, adapted to England, ^-c. 4to. 1812.
10. J.ive Stock.
There is a good deal of dairying in the county ; the perma-
nent grass lands being chiefly occupied in this way. The prac-
tices are almost entirely the same as in Buckinghamshire. The
butter is taken to London by waggons from al the principal
towns. Much good dairying at Atterbury. A. Young asked
John Wilson, of that neighbourhood, if he ever fed on straw ?
Answer, " No ; straw be a good thing to lay on."
Sheep, the Berkshire, Gloucester, Wiltshire, Leicester, and
other hardy breeds. Fahe has tried crossing the Ryelands and
South Downs with Merinos. Several other ja-oprietors of farms
have also tried Down Merinos and other crosses; and some the
pure breed.
11. Political Economy.
Forty years ago ro:ids " formidable to the bones of all who
travelled on wheels ;" now they are much changed for the
better. Birmingham canal and the Thames of immense im-
portance to Oxfordshire. A gootl deal of wool , formerly woven
into blankets at Witney ; now very little. About the beginning
of the last century the manuf'ac;ure of polished steel w£is intro-
duced at Woodstock, and flourished for half a century ; at
present nearly extinct. Steel chains have been made here
weighing only two ounces, and sold for 170/. Scissors from
five shilUngs to three guineas. The steel is wholly made from
old nails of horse-shoes. Leather breeches-making and glove-
making have succeeded to the steel manufacture, and the latter
thrives well : from 360 to 400 dozen of gloves are manufactured
weekly.
12. Miscellaneous.
Dr. Sibthorpe, the late professor of botany at Oxford, left
200/. a year to endow a professor of agriculture and rural eco-
nomy, to be established as soon as the Flora Grix\a is completed.
This will not be for some years.
7790. BERKSHIRE. One of the most beautiful counties of England; occupies a surface of 474,000
acres, of which about 200,000 are enclosed, or in parks or plantations ; 190,(X)0 in common fields and
downs ; 40,000 in forests, wastes, and commons; and 8977 in roads. Its productions are almost equally
corn and stock ; it produces a good deal of butter and cheese, and the breed of swine is noted for its ex-
cellence. The celebrated Jethro Tull was a yeoman in this county. George III. and E. L. Loveden, Esq.
were among its most noted farmers. On the whole it is a county much more indebted to nature than to
art (Pearce's Berkshire, 1794. Mavor's Report, 1808. Marshal's Review, 1813. Smith's Geological Map,
1821.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate diversified, but in every part the air pure and salu-
brious ; in elevated situations pure, piercing, and braces by its
sharpness ; in the vales relieves the weak organs of respiration
by its soft and balsamic qualities ; no storms known in the
county. About Reading vegetation nearly a fortnight earlier
than in some parts of the county.
Soil calcareous in general, but in some places gravel, and in
a few clay; vale of the 'White Horse entirely chalk.
Minerals. None excepting chalk, Sarsden stones, a sort of
large siliceous pebble, in lumps scattered over the AViltshire
and Berkshire Downs, and frequently blasted and used for pav-
ing. In the vale of Kennet is a considerable stratum of peat,
formed from prostrate trees and other vegetable bodies, and
used for fuel, and also burned for the ashes as a manure. The
ashes abound in sulphate of lime.
■ Water. Some artificial lakes for breeding fish. Loveden has
one of thirty acres, and a " (ish-house" or cottage, with an
apartment in which are three stews with covers, which lock,
so as to prevent even the cottager fi-om stealing the fish. Many
gentlemen have ponds, which are let to tenants, and produce a
crop, if it may be so termed, every third or fourth year, of carp
and tench. The occupier stocks with yearlings about two
inches long, obtained chiefly from Yately, on the neighbouring
confines of Hampshire. The breeders are about eight or nine
pounds weight; but in the Berkshire ponds they are never
suffered to breed, but are sold olf to the inns at Henley and
other places, when the ponds are drawn, which is generally
once in four years, «nd weigh at that age about three or four
pounds each. The value of land thus applied cannot average
less than about twenty shillings per acre. The ponds are re-
gularly laid ernpty, and the fish with which they are stocked,
which are uniformly carp and tench, are taken out every third
or fourth year. The pond is afterwards allowed to lie fallow
for the remainder of the summer season, and is again stocked
early in the ensuing year with yearling fry of the same species.
The ponds in one parish are all subject to an abundance of
coarse, bony, insipid fish, denominated Prussian or German
carp. As this species is carefully destroyed, it is wonderful they
should increase with the rapidity and universality which they
appear to do. Every acre of pond, properly stocked and well
situated, must produce an annual increase of from eighty to
one hundred pounds weight. If artificially fed, the increase
would be greater ; or less, if the pond is not so situated as to
receive manure from the circumjacent lands. By retail, the
fish here are generally sold at a shilJing per pound ; but under
particular circumstances they may sometimes be had as low a»
tenpence.
2. State of Property.
Largest estate 8000/. a year ; a Cew of 5, 6, or 7000/.: Earl
Craven and E. L. Lovetlen, Esq. the largest proprietors ; several
handsome seats with land not exceedinje 100 acres, and many
small freeholders and yeomanry. Some curious customs; at
Enbome and Caddleworth manors, belonging to Earl Craven
and R. W. Nelson, Esq., the widow of a copyholder, guilty of
incontinency or marrying again, lost her freebench or life in-
terest, unless she submitted to the ceremony of riding into the
court on a black ram, and of repeating some well-known con-
fessional lines. (See Addison's Spectator.) In the manor of
Great Farriiigdon the customary tenant's daughter, on being
convicted of incontinency, was to forfeit the sum of forty
pence to the lord, or to appear in court, carrying a black sheep
on her back, and making confession of her otfl
I postejioris mei.'
fence in these
Many other curi-
words : " Ecce porta ptido
ous customs.
3. Buildings.
Windsor Castle and many fine seats ; houses of the yeoman-
ry genteel and elegant: farm-houses geneially comfortable.
Loveden's ample but ill arranged ; cottages of the poor gene-
rally in a bad state, some present erections better. (Jig. 991-)
Farmeries on collegiate or corporate lands generally in bad
repair, because the fines for renewal of the leases take all the
S])are money, &c.
Chelsey Farm, near Wallingford, in ISOO, the property of
I>ord Kensington, and formerly reputed to be the largest and
most compact farm in England. Rent 1000/. per annum.
Before the dissolution of monasteries it belonged to the A bbot
of Reading, who had a seat here. The great barn in which his
Book I.
AGRICULTURE Oi^' BERKSHIRE.
1139
tithes were deposited is yet standi n;?, anil meastires 101 yards
In length aiiU eighteen in ureaUlh. The side walls are only
tight feet hish, but the roof rises to a great height, and is sup-
ported by seventeen stone pillars, each four yards in circum-
ference. This' construction is obviously judicious; high side
walls, unless tied together by cross beams, would have been in
danger of being thrust outwards when the barn was filling with
com. This, as we have seen (7788.), is the case with the hand-
some high-walled barns of Coke.
4. Occupation.
One third of the county occupied by proprietors. Farms of
all sizes under 1000 or l-2<3() acres, but few exceeding 600 acres
<jr under b(U. a year. Character of the Berkshire farmer stands
high. " A hospitable style of liWng, liberality of sentiment,
and independence of principle, are characteristic of the Berk-
shire former ; to which he unites persevering industry and in-
tegrity in his dealings, which render him worthy of the comforts
he enjoys." {Dr. ilavor-)
:'>. hnplements.
The Berkshire waggon, one of the lightest and best imple-
ments of the waggon kind. The sort of draught chain described
and recommended by Gray (2755), is in use on one estate ; " the
object is to prevent the draught of the trace horse firom pulling
down the thiller." The county plough, a clumsy implement
wuh wheels; a pressing plough (2714.) recently invented: it
has three wheels with the tires wedge-shaped, and is intended
" to press in the grips or channels made by the common
ploughs, that no hollow places may remain for the seed to be
buried too deep," &c. This sort of improvement is usual among
amateur agriculturists, who have one implement invented to
correct the faults of another, both of course bad. A number
of other inventions, including a curious hand threshing
machine, ingenious enough, but quite unnecessary, are figured
and described. The Duke of Gloucester has, at Bagshot Park,
one of the most complete threshing machines in the empire,
which has been arranged under the direction and agreeably to
the plan of his present farm manager, Mr. Bumes. Having
received a plan of it too late for introduction here, we intend
giving it in an appendix, for the benefit of agriculturists in
countries where manual labour is dear, and where running
■water abounds.
6. Arable land.
Plough generally with four or five horses at a snail's pace-
Oeorge III. had two farms, one of 800 acres, cultivated in the
Norfolk manner, and another of 450 acres, managed in the
Flemish manner ; 450 of the former, and 150 of the latter,
were arable. The whole delegated to the care of N. Kent, of
Craig's Court, land-agent, and author of " Hiids to Gentlemen of
Landed Property;' 1790. Kye cultivated on the Royal farms
near Windsor, and on the Downs. Some hops, woad, flax, and
other plants not usually cultivated ; seventy acres of lavender at
Park Place, on the side of a chalky hill, originally planted by
General Conway, who distilled it himself at nis coke manufac-
tory. As the plants die they are replaced by others from a
small nursery plantation. It begins to flower about the end
of July, when nearly one hundred women and children are
employed in cutting off the flower spikes, which they tie up in
bundles, and send to the still-house in baskets, carried by two
men. The lower part of the stalks are then cut oft', and the
heads are put into the still, and distilled- The chemical oil,
beinj; separated, is poured into copper jars for sale.
7. Grass.
About one fifth of the county under permanent grass, exclu-
sive of the Downs and wastes. A tract of excellent meadow on
the Thames, from the windings of the river, 105 miles in length,
little irrigated, but a good deal flooded after heavy rains.
Excellent meadows at Reading ; those on the Kennet, over the
stratum of peat, of rattier a coarse quality. Manuring meadows
not general, though they are for the most part mown once a
jear ; upland pastures manured wlien mown. Herbage, plants,
and artificial grasses, a good deal sown. Meadows chiefly fed
by oxien after being once mown. The dairy farmers occupy
the poorer upland grassy districts, and the breeders of sheep the
Downs.
8. Gardens and Orc/iaixls.
About forty acres of market garden and orchard at Reading,
where onions are raised in great quantities ; asparagus for the
London and Bath markets, and cabbage seeds for tne London
seedsmen ; good apples there and at other places ; some cider
made, and a good many cherries grown for market. Near
.Abingdon an orchard of twenty-one acres, containing 541 trees.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Extent of AV'indsor Forest, belonging to the crown, 5454
acres, including wood and water ; private property, called
Forest Lands, 29.000 acres; encroachments 600 acres. The
forest is under the government and superintendence of a lonl
warden, who appoints his deputy lieutenant, the rangers or
head keepers of the several walks, and the under keepers.
Great part of the timber on the forest sold, as well as that
retained, is truly venerable and picturesque in appearance, but
rotten or mildewed to the heart in such a way as to be (it only
for fuel. This rot, or mildew as it is called, seems to he the
natural process of decay, and is particularly fatal to beech trees,
which are by no means so long lived as the oak, ash, and others.
Various young plantations on difTerent estates, especially those
of Loveden, Fishe Palmer, Wheeble, &c. Osier beds on the
motst parts of the Thames meadows. Extensive plantations
have lately been made on the Duke of (jloucester's uemesne at
Bagshot, under the direction of his very intelligent managers,
Christie, Barnes, and Toward. (See Gaid. Mag. vol. vii.)
10. Improvements.
An account of the culture of George III. "s farms, by Kent,
dated 1798, is given as of the greatest national conseouence, &c.
Oxen £u-e used both in farm and road-work, and tlie ploughs
are the Norfolk wheel plough and the Suffolk iron plough. At
a later period the Kothernam plough, and with which two
oxen, yoked in collars, will plough, on the light soil of the forest,
an acre a day. Draining in the Essex manner a good deal
practised ; the drains filled with straw, rubbish from brick
kilns, wood, cinders, or gravel.
Peat tahea is a manure almost peculiar to Berkshire, though
they might be obtained by the same process wherever peat of
similar quality abounds, and are so olitained in Holland, and
the ashes extensively used there, and sometimes shipped to this
country. In the year 1745 peat was first burnt in Newbury,
by a Thomas Rudd, who at the same time spread the ashes on
clovers, for which they have ever since been famous. An acre
of peat land at that perio<l sold for 30/. : it has since sold,
according to itscmality, for 5(X)/. and 400/., and, in one instance,
reached alxiut 800/. i>er acre. Over the stratuin of peat, which
is about five or six feet deep, is a good meadow soil, and under
the peat is gravel. The peat varies in colour, but the blackest
is reckoned the best, and is used for firing, the ashes of Avhich
are most esteemed, and have the reddest colour. What i«
burnt for sale, is mixed with turf and other substances, which
gives it a pale whitish hue. It is usually dug with a long-
handled spade.from the middle of May to the end of June,and
is conveyed from the spot in little wheelbarrows, to a short
distance, where it is spread on the ground, and after lying about
a week, the pieces are turned. This being three or tour times
repeated, aheap is made in the middle of the place where the
peat is spread, and in the centre of this heap some very drj
peat is put, which being lighted, the fire communicates slowly
to the rest of the heap. When it is completely lighted, an ad-
iinfd, which generally
rning is not approved
takes a month or six v.-eeks, as quick burning is not approv
of. Rain seldom penetrates deep enough to extinguish the
fire. The heap is commonly of a circular form, and rather flat
at top. At first it is very small ; but at last it is sometimes two
or three yards deep, and six or seven yards in diameter. The
ashes being riddled, are conveyed away in uncovered carts, to
a distance sometimes of twenty milts, and put into a house, or
under a shed, to keep them from the wet, till they are wanted
to he put on the ground.
Tlie usual time of applying peat ashes is March and April.
They are generally taken in carts, and sown on the ground be-
fore or after the seed is sown on the land. 7"he quantity is
usually from twelve to fifteen Winchester bushels per acre,
according to the soil and crop. It is supposed that too large
a quantity would be injurious. For barley, wheat, and peas,
they are not in much estimation ; but for all sorts of artificial
grass, more especially, they are preferred to all other manures.
In turnips they assist to prevent the ravages of the fly ; and in
grass se«ls the farmers reckon on an acre, manured with ashes,
producing nearly a ton of hay beyond what it would have
yielded without them. The effect is supposed to be of no longer
duration than two years. On meadow land, from fifteen to
twenty bushels may advantageously be put; they much improve
the grass.
11. Live Stock.
No particular breed of cattle; long homed most common.
A dairying tract in the west of the vale of White Horse ; much
butter made, and some cheese of the single Gloucester kind.
Calves a good deal suckled in some places. Buscot parish
famous for cheeses, in the shape of \>ine apples ; they are of most
excellent flavour, and sell higher than other cheeses. The
curds are well worked with the hands, then pressed into a
wooden mould in the shape of a flower pot, and afterwards sus-
pended from beams, rafters, or pegs, in an airy apartment, in a
net, whose meshes indent their surface like a pine apple. Salt
is then rubbed over them, or they ure steeped m brine ;
weight, 51bs. The milk is conveyed from the field to the
dairies in what is called a Unkard, drawn by a horse or ass.
S/ieen, a native breed known as the Berkshire polled, ornotfi
( fie. 992.) ; strongly marked, but in much less repute than for-
merly ; it is now difficult to be met with pure ; they are
considered as very hardy, and particularly adapted for the
low strong lands, and for folding.
Horses of the common heavy black race. Pearce calcu-
lated in 1794, that 12,000 horses were kept in Berkshire for
the purposes of agriculture, and that one third of the number
might be save<l by the use of improved implements : most of
the horses are bought from the Northamptonshire breeders ;
many, after being kept a year or two at work, are sold for
the London drays. , , , . „ . .
Ho^s, the native breed one of the best m Britain ; a cross
4 D 2
1140
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
with the Chinese, now more common than the pure native
breed. Wherever there is a dairy, hogs are kept, but they are
not counted a profitable stock to be fed with what would fatten
cattle or slieep. Carcass chiefly made into bacon ; cured in
the usual way, and dried in rooms heated with wood or coal.
Loveden has a bacon house, heated by a stove and flues. In
rarm-houses, much is smoke-dried in the chimneys with wood
fires, which is supposed to have the best flavour.
lialibUs kept in warrens, in one or two places
tleraan rears tame rabbits of a pure wliite, the
seil hi^jU for trimmings.
Part IV.
; and one cMi-
skins of which
Poultry. Near OaVmgham, many are crammed for the
TOarket : they are put up in a dark place, and crammed with a
paste made of barley-meal, mutton suet, and some treacle,
or coarse sugar, mixed with milk, and are found to be com-
pletely ripe in a fortnight. If kept longer, the fever that is
induced by this continued state of repletion renders them
red and unsaleable, and frequently kills them. In the eastern
part of the county, many geese reared on the common.
Pif^eoTU in considerable numbers.
Beei, not very common. Sir William East, of HuUplace, a
celebrated apiarist. In the forest district, bees are most com-
mon. One gentleman removes his liives to a heath at the
flowering season.
12. Political Economy.
Roads for the most part good, especially since a part has
been put under the care of M' Adam. Gravel, flint, or chalk,
abound-, in most places. Canals and navigable rivers so inter-
spersed, that no part of the county is further than twelve miles
from water carriai>e. Cloth for sacking and hammocks, ma-
nufactured at Abingdon and Maidenhead, also some sail-
cloth, and rush, and twine matting. Cotton mills at Taplow.
Paper, and formerly blankets and other woollens, at Newbury.
A parchment manufacture at Oakingham. At Reading, a
pin manufactorv, and the weaving of galoon, satin, ribands,
and other light fabrics ; a floor cloth manufactory ; twine and
rope making ; sail making, sacking, &c.
r/te Berkshire AgricuUurul Society, established in 1794.
7791. GLOUCESTERSHIRE. A surface of nearly 800,000 acres, in three natural divisions; the
Cotswold hills, the vale of the Severn, and the Forest Lands. Great part of the county is under meadows,
pastures, and orchards ; and cheese and cider are its known agricultural productions. It is also a
inanufactunng county, and its fine broad-cloths are celebrated, as well as its iron, tin-plates, and pins.
1 here is no very eminent gentleman agriculturist, nor any agricultural society in the county, but Dr.
iennant farmed a small estate on the Chilterns. {^Turner's Report, 1794. Rudse' s Report, 1807. Mar-
shars Reoiew, 1818. Smith's Geological Map, 1821.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate, cold and bleak on the Cotswold hills; mild in the
vale, which lies open to the south winds ; on the sandv soils of
the forest district, the harvest is sometimes cut a fortnight
earlier than in the vale.
Suit of the Cotswold is all calcareous loam or stonebrash;
in the vale, a fine black loam, or fertile red loam, and in some
places a strong clay and peat earth ; the finest soil is generally
sand^ loam, sand, or peaty earth.
Minerals. None in the Cotswolds, but iron and coal in the
•Forest of Dean, both worked. Lead found in the limestone
*ocks of the lower part of the vale; not worked. Though
Ironore be abundant in the Forest of Dean, only a small quan-
tity is raised, it being found more profitable to bring the richer
ore of Lancashire, which is burnt with the coke of the forest
coal for cast-iron, and plates for tinning. Coal pits numerous,
and worked at a shallow depth, for want of proper machinery
to exhaust the water ; three sorts delivere<l, kitchen coal,
smith's coal, and lime coal. Claystone and freestone found in
▼arions parts of the forest ; paving stones, grindstones, yellow
and grey stone tiles raised in different parts of the Cotswolds ;
eypsum is raised for stuccoing, and sent to Bath from Han-
bury ; it is also used £is alabaster for chimney pieces, &c.
Water. Produce of tlie Severn is roach, dace, b!eak, floun-
ders, eels, elvers, chub, carp, trout, and perch. The sea-fi^
taken within the limits of the county, in the Severn, are
salmon, lampreys, lampems, chad, soles, shrimps, cod, plaice,
conger-eel, porpoise, and sturgeon. Salmon formerly ?aught
in great abundance, but now comparatively scarce. Great
mischief done by the use of small meshed nets, wliich take the
samlets or fry.
Ponds for tvater made on the Cotswold hills, as already de-
scribed (4467), in the vale in the common manner. The wa-
ters, which rise through beds of blue clav, are often strongly
sJdine, as at Cheltenham, &c.
2. Property.
Largest estate 8000/. a year among the nobility, and 3000/.
among the gentry ; tenures chiefly freehold, some copyhold,
and about one fortieth corporate or ecclesiastical. Estates un-
der the see of Gloucester, leased out on lives ; those of the cor-
poration of the city the same ; usual fine for renewal of a life,
pne year and a half of the Improved aimual value.
3. Buildings.
Many handsome seats ; farm-houses and cottages on the
Cotswolds built of freestone, and covered with stone tiles ;
often as many on an estate of 100/. a year as are required for
a farm of 500/. a year, under the correction of modem im-
proyement ; barus, however, of a moderate size ; wheat stacked
on stone staddles. Cottages, as in most counties, neglected, and
uncomfortable; some JucUcious remarks on the sut>}ect by
Kudge.
4. Occupation.
Farms differ much in siie ; few exceed lOOOL or fall short
of 50/. a year- Some grazing farms in the vale of 500 acres,
but 200 and 300 more common. Leases of three years most
common, next of seven years, not many of fourteen, and those
of twenty-one on corporate property.
5. Itnplements.
A narrow-wheeled waggon in general use among farmers.
Various ploughs ; a short-beamed one-wheel plough in use
on the Cotswolds ; in the vale a clumsy swing plough. Lum-
bert's draining-plough much in use with the improved draught
apparatus, and in the old way. Various improved plouijhs
and other implements, as well as threshing and winnowing
machines, introduced. A thistle drawer (.fe. 221.) in use for
extracting, tiie com thistle (Serr^tuU arv^nsis) from corn-
fields ; cradle-scythe used for cutting beans.
6. Enclosing.
The first enclosures during Queen Anne's reign ; eleven duv
ing the reign of Geo. II. ; and upwards of seventy during the
reign of George III. Hedges of white thorn, on which the
reporter observes medlars might be grafted, and raised in great
plenty. Black thom (Primus spinosa) hedges, he says, never
sutfer from the blight ; a most erroneous idea.
7. Arable Land.
300,000 acres ; much ploughing on the Cotswolds lightens
the staple of the weak soils : seven horses often used in the vale
teams ; ridges in the vale so high that a person six feet high
may stand in the furrows, and not be able to see the crown of
the second ridge from him ; to reduce them a small ridge often
begun between them. Fallowing practised on the clavs,
then wheat and beans, or oats. Rotation on the Cotswolds
— 1 turnips, 2 barley, 3 and 4 clover mown the first year,
5 wheat, 6 oats, tares, or peas ; if oats, frequently laid
down with saintfoin. On crumbly soils wheat is sown and
ploughed in during rather wet weather, otherwise the seedling
plants are apt to be thrown out with the first frosts ; the same
thing attended to in Oxfordshire and various other counties;
this is called seven-field husbandry. Beans either drilled or
dibbled ; a broad bean, the mazagaii, used when the land is in
goo<l heart, and ticks when less so. The Burbage pea, an
early grey variety, most in use. " Some lands have the pecu-
liar quality of raising siddorv peas, or such as boil freely;" on
thfm the Charlton is grown, and sold for splitting: clay lands
never have this property. Tares common, and among these a
sort called dill, supposed by Marshal to be the £'rvum hirsittum
L., but erroneously termed ^n^thum by Rudge. "Turhips on
the Cotswolds always broad cast, and sometimes after wheat
or tares, and then called stubhle turnii)S ; consumed by sheep
in hurdle folds ; sometimes given to horses, and found to induce
them to eat ham chaff" with a better appetite. Some flax
raised ; teasels a good deal cultivated formerly, now not 100
acn*of them in the whole coimty.
8. Grass.
Very rich meadows on the Severn, overflown during winter
and spring, on which the farmers depends for a crop. When
the salt water overflows, the meadows are termed marshes, and
f razed by horses and cattle that require rest and sj)ring physic,
n general meadows are mown and pa^^tured alternately, ex-
cepting near Gloucester, where abundance of manure is ob-
tained. Herbage, plants, and rye grass sown on the Cotswolds,
but little in the vale ; saintfoin much cultivated on the stone-
brash soils. Grass lands fed in general from May to the end of
September, and then the cattle, unfinished, are taken in and
completed with hay, oil-cake, and other artificial food, but
seldom with roots. The O'rchis miscula so common in the
meadows, that it has been gathered, Rudge informs us, and
made into sago. (6184.)
9. Gardens and Orchards.
Most of the cottages, such as they are, have gardens, and
almost every farm its orchard ; but large ones, so as to admit of
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE.
ll-Jl
making cider for sale, are found only on the sides of the hills and
in the vale and forest district. The stocks are planted in the
orchard when six or seven feet high, ten or twelve yards asunder
on pasture, and sixteen or seventeen on arable lands. A year
after planting they are grafted. Sometimes fruit trees are
plantt^ in the hedge rows ; hedges are often comjiosed of apple
seedlings, raised from the kernels in the cider mast ; and here
and there the farmer often leaves a stem to rise above the
l^neral height of the hedge, and grafts it ; frequently also
wildings are allowed here and there to rise into trees, antl their
fruit in used with that from grafted trees, in crushing for cider.
Grafts are inserted in the cleft manner, at seven feet from
the ground, two in each stock : if both succeed, one is removed
the following spring, and the stock sloped to the remaining
graft, to prevent the lodging of water, and clayed afresh, to
facilitate the growth of bark over the wound. After grafting,
" braids," that is, inverted wicker baskets, rising about two
feet high, are fitted to the stock, which serve at once to guard
the grdfts, and direct their shoots to a proper form. The stock
is next protected from cattle or the plough harness, by four
posts placed round it, with six tier of rails ; by three posts and
six tier of rails ; by two broad posts and rails ; by a bundle of
thorn branches; by planting a thorn or briar along with the
stock ; or by twisting a shoot of the creeping rose (Rbsa atvensis)
round the st ock. The mode of planting a creeping rose with the
stock, and twisting it round the stem, is said to be found the
cheapest and best ; but it must evidently impoverish the soil.
Pruning is not attended to on young grafted trees, or any
others, as it ought to be, nor the removal of moss and misletoe.
Grafting the branches of old trees often practised with great suc-
cess ; a youngstock grafted will probably not produce a bushel of
apples in twenty years, but a branch grafted bears the second
year. Dr. Cheston, of Gloucester, practises root grafting, but
which is quite unsuitable for field orchards. Grafted trees bear
little till twenty years of age ; their produce increases till
fifty years, and is then ten or fifteen bushels ; an apple will
bear 100 or more years from this period, and often much
lonjjer. A pear tree at Minsterworth 3(X)vears old at least.
Cider-makintf. Best orchardists shake offthe fruit, and never
beat the tree, which destroys the blossom-buds ; limb by limb
is shaken by a person in the tree, and those which adhere
allowed to remam some time longer to rijien : the horse-mill
used by large, and the hand-mill by small farmers ; the cylin-
ders of the hand-mill of wood, and fluted; sometimes there
are two pair of cylinders, one finer fluted under the first pair.
and in other cases the cylinders are set wide the first time the
apples are passed through, and closer the second ; the other
processes as usual. Of the various apples grown, the white-
styre of the Forest district makes the strongest and richest
cider ; it is often valued equally with foreign wine, and sold at
extravagant prices. Ciders from the Hagloe crab, golden pip-
pin, and Longney russet, are next in esteem. The white-
must, woodcock, and half a dozen others, are fine old fruits,
but now going off.
Perry from the squash pear is esteemed the best ; and next
from the Huffcap and sack.
Tablefruils, where farmers live near canals, pay much better
than those of the cider kind ; especially those of the keeping
varieties, such as the golden and Moreland pippin, Longney
russet, &c.
10. Woods and Plantations.
Most extensive on the Cotswolds ; the sorts there beech and
ash ; timber sold to dealers, who convert it on the spot to
scantling for gun-stocks, saddle-trees, bedsteads, chairs, and
other cabinet work, and staves for sugar hogsheads. Some fine
old specimens of chestnut, elm, oak, and ash in the vale.
Tortworth chestnut, 500 years old, in the time of liing John.
In the Forest of Dean a considerable quantity of good timber
belonging to government, and nearly 3000 acres lately planted
with acorns. The method of planting is, first, to mark out the
ground ; then taking off about a foot square of turf, to set two
or three acorns with a setting-pin ; afterwards to invert the
turf upon them, and, by way or raising a fence against harw
and rabbits, to plant two or three strong white thorn sets
round. They are seldom thinned till they have attained the
size of hop poles, and then are left at twelve feet distance fronj
each other, with the view of again thinning them, by taking
out every other one, when they are thirty years old, and have
attained the size of five or six inches diameter. By growing
thick, no side-shoots are thrown out, which supersedes the ne-
cessity of pruning ; the young trees which are drawn at the
first thinning are transplanted, jmd, as it is thought, grow
equally well with those that have not been removed, and pro-
duce timber as full at the heart, compact, strong, and durable,
as " that which is raised immediately from the acorn." The
" whitten," or small-leaved lime (Tllia cordata i.), is found in
several coppices on the Welsh side of the Severn ; and, what is
singular, ropes for halters, plough traces, cider presses {Jifj.
994.), draw wells, and fishery boats, &c. are made from it as
in Russia. These ropes are found to contract and expand less
froni moisture or drought than hempen ropes. The bark is
stripped off about Midsummer, dried like hay in the sun, and
manufactured on the spot or elsewhere. Many walnut trees
in the parish of Arlingham ; the fruit shipped to distant
places, and the timber sent to Birmingham for gwn-stocks.
Arlijicidl plantations, to a great extent, made round gentle-
men's seats on the Cotswold hills. The osier in beds on the
Severn.
11. Improvements.
On the lands adjoining the Pevem inundations were fre-
auent ; but a commission of sewers have t reefed banks and
flood-gates, which protect upwards cf 12,000 acres. At other
places private banks or floodgates on the rivers or banked
ditches are placed, and operate by the alternate influence of
the tides and accumulated inland waters.
Drainin/r much practised ; both in the turf, stone, wood,
" 'th Lumbert's plough ; the plough drawn by
orked by a long lever and axle (2643.), by
which one horse ^ains the power of thirty. Before the mole
draining plough is used, it is a good practice to turn off the
Sward with the common plough ; then to make the incision for
the drain in the centre of this ; the sward being afterwards
turned back to its place, completely covers the aperture, and
protects it from the effects of a subsequent dry season. The
long-continued drought of the summer of 1806 opened many
drains which were cut by Lumbert's plough, so much that the
bottom was clearly seen ; while many that have been done by
hand have formed still wider chasms, and will probably not
answer the purjrose intended at all. In both instances there is
reason to thmk, that this would nc
ration had been performed in autunm,
first fumed back, as recommended.
The accinniilated water of umter^ronnd draim raised from low
meadows in one parish by a wheel driven by the water of sur.
face ditches.
Panttg and burning practised on the Cotswolds ; weeding
com general.
Imniition chiefly pursued in the valleys of the Cotswolds, ad-
joining rivulets, and es]<ecially the Coin and Chum. Carried to
greatest perfection in the parish of South Cemey ; first bejian
hereunder tbe Hev.W.Wright.who wrote several tracts on the
subject. W hen the first great rains in November bring the
waters down in a muddy state, it is let into the meadows. In
December and January the land is kept sheltered by the waters
from the severity of frosty nights ; but every ten days, or
thereabouts, the water is let entirely off, to give air and pre-
vent the roots from rotting. In February great care is re-
quired. If the water now remains long on the meadows, a
white scum will generate, which is found to be very injuriou*
to the grass. On the other hand, if it be taken off, and the
land exposed to a severe frosty night, without being previously
dried for a whole day, much of the tender grass will be cut off.
Towards the middle of this month less water is used than be-
fore, keeping the land rather wet than watered. At the bo-
ginning of March there is generally in such meadows plenty of
pasturage for all kinds of stock ; the water, however, should
be taken off nearly a week before cattle are fumed on, and a
little hay at night during the first week is very proper. It is
the custom with some to spring-feed with ewes and lambf
folded, with a little hay. The meadows, however, must be en-
tirely clear of stock by the latter end of April. If May be at all
intruded on, the hay crop will be much injured, and the grass
become soft and woolly, like lattermath. After spring-feeding,
the water is let in agam for a few days. It is remarked, that
autumnal, winter, and spring watering will not occasion rot in
sheep ; but if the water be used for a few days in any of th^
summer months, the pasturage becomes unsaffe for such stock.
This is conformable to the general idea of rot; viz, that it is
occasioned by summer moisture, and is seldom known to any
considerable extent without a long continuance of warmth and,
rain. A wet summer, therefore, is always productive of this
disease in the vale. The general advantages of watering are,
that the land and herbage are continually improving, without
manure ; and the crop is not only full and certain, but also
early.
Warpin/s might be practised to a considerable extent on the
hanks of the Severn, if the commissioners were to direct their
attention to the subject.
12. Livestock.
The dairy the principal obiect with most of the vale farmers.
Good milkers preferred, without much regard to perfection of
shape. Gloucestershire breed resembles the (ilamorganshire
excepting in colour, which is red or brown, bones fine, horns
of middlhig length, white with a black tip at the ends, udd'-r
thin in flesh and large. In the liigher vale the improved long
4 D 3
1142'
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV
horned Cows of B^kewell and Fowler in most repute.
Ilevons, Herefords, =iiid various others in use. Tlie best land
«loes not always produce the most marketable cheese ; often-
times the reverse , if it has either bean much manuretl with
liunf;, or sheei> feedin^i the quantity of millc will be increased,
but the quilitv muerially altered. This is probably owin!» to
the introduction of plants, which did not s^ow there before,
or to the destruction of sortte that did. The cause does not
orii^inate with the ct»\v, but the herbage on which she feed^.
The same cow, on two pastures, sei>aratetl only by a hedjje, will
give milk of diitereiit qualities : from one shall be made fine,
rich, and close cheese ; while from the other shall be made
rank," heaving," hollow, uu))leasant to the palate, and unfit
for the market. In the parish of Haresfield, two grounds ad-
joining eadi olhur were alternately used for the pasture of
cows : while they were on one, excellent cheese was made ; but
on the other, it wa-Vdifficult to make any tolerably good. The
latter had been lately well dressed with manure, which pro-
duced plants unfavourable to the dairy ; and the dairy woman
herself remarked, that if the farmer continued to enrich the
herbage with dung, she must give up making cheese. It is
proper, therufori-, that milking-cows should not be removed
ftom onejrasture to another indiscriminately, but that certain
jfrounds, in proportion to the stock, should be assigned to their
nse ; and this is the practice on many farms where cow
pastures have for time immemorial bee-i appropriated exclu-
sively to the use of the dairy. The dung of the cow, indeed,
bein ; of a cooling nature, is the best m mure for cow -pastures.
Other aniniil.s, such as colts and sheep, may occasionally be let
in to eat the refuse grass, but not more than one sheep should
be allowed to an acre. Among the plants which are useless,
or unfavourable to the miking of good cheese, are white
clover (TrifMium repens), the different kinds of crow-foot
(Raniinculus), and garlic (.4MUum). Wliite clover is brought
forward by manure and sheep stock, and is a proof of good
land, at least of land in a state of high cultivation ; hence it
has a tendency to raise the quality of the milk, and make the
cheese heave.
Cliente-making. Best cheese not attempted while the cows
are on hay ; generally commences about \lay, when the cows
are turned into the pastures. Cows milked twice a day, at
four in the morning, and at the same hour in the afternoon ;
the cheese-factor discovers the " hoved " cheese by treading
on them.
Sheep. Principal breed the Cotswolds ; now very much mixed
by crosses with the Leicester and South Downs. The liver rot
common in the vale, and therefore few bred there. WUtshires
are bought in and fed otf".
Horses, no particular breed.
Pif;eoiis, formerly numerous, now on the decrease.
13. Political Economy.
On the hilly districts, where stone abounds, the roads greatly
improved of late ; those under M'Adam excellent; but the
vale roads in many p\aces very bad. Manufacture of woollen
broad-cloths, chiefly superfine from Spanish wool, extensively
carried on in the district called the Bottoms. Carpet weaving
and thin stuffs at Cirencester ; stocking frame knitting at
Tewkesbury ; wire, cards, rugs, blankets, iron and brass wire,
tin plate, pins, writing paper, felt hats, manufactured at dif-
ferent places. Spinning of flax the winter work of women in
the vale of Evesham. Extensive iron works in the forest ; the
best iron in the kingdom matle at Huxley ; nails made at Little-
dem. Articles of agricultural commerce, cheese, bacon, cider,
per»v, grain, and salmon, to the extent of 4000^. per annum ;
in manufacturing commerce, broad-cloths and pins are of the
greatest importance.
7792. WORCESTEllSHIRE. A surface of 431,360 acres, according to the official estimates laid before
parliament, though some of the calculations which have been published make it amount to 599,040 acres,
tiistinguished by the two extensive vales of Worcester and Evesham. In the fertility of its soil, and the
amenity of its situation, surface, and natural embellishments, very few districts of similar extent are equal
to it — scarcely one excels it. And its agricultural products are not only more abundant, but more various,
than those of other counties ; not corn, cattle, and dairy produce only, but fruits, liquors, and hops, rank
among its productions, {Pomeroi/'s Worcestershire, 1794. Pitt's Report, 1807. Marshal's Review, 1818.
Edin. Gaz. 1827. )
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate of the middle, south, and west of the county, re-
rnarkably mild, soft, and salubrious ; the vales of the Severn,
Avon, and Teme, with the contiguous uplands, rising to 150
feet above their level, ripen their proditcts from a fortnight to
a month earlier than what takes place in elevated counties,
even with a similar soil and surface; sixty yards perpendicu-
lar = one degree more to the north ; conformably to tftis idea,
early at Worcester, and late at Birmingham. Apparently
much less rains falls here, than in counties more elevated and
more inward.
Soil. Ten thousand acres of deep rich sediment deposited by
the Severn, and a good deal on the Avon, Teme, and Stour ; half
the rest of the county, rich clay and loam : some light sandy soils
about Kidderminster, and springy gravel about Bromsgrove.
Minerals. Brick-clay, gravel, sand, marl, freestone, coal, at
lUamble ; quartzem, a siliceous stone, forms the basis of the
Malvern hills. Extensive lime quarries and coal mines at
Dudley ; excellent common salt at Droitwich.
Water. Kivers, but no lake, pool, or pond formed by nature.
Malvern well, a good chalybeate ; it is limpid, without smell
or taste.
Fish in the Severn, salmon, shad, lamprey, and lampem ;
the lamjirey grows to twenty-six inches long, and is often three
er four pounds in weight; it leaves the sea in the spring, and
is esteemed a great delicacy, but unwholesome when eaten too
freely. The lampem goes "to the sea at certain seasons ; is ten
or twelve inches long, about the size of a man's finger, and
common in Worcester, potted or preserved ; vast quantities
sold for baits to the cod fishery.
2. Property.
Variously divided among all classes ; many resident families
of considerable opulence and fortune.
3. Buildings.
Some magnificent residences ; farm-houses erected at dif-
ferent times, and no way remarkable, unless for being badly
situ.ited and arranged ; great want of sheds for cattle. Cot-
tages have nothing to recommend them ; often built of timber
and plaster, and covered with thatch. Some good stone bridges
over the Severn, and an iron one of one arch, 150 feet span and
lifty feet rise, at Stourport.
. 4. Occupation.
Farms small from 40?. to 400?. a year, but some larger;
seldom held on lease ; but when a tenant takes a farm on strong
lands, where the course is fallow and three crops, he holds
it by custom for four years. Knight, of Lea Castle, farms
.^30 "acres in a masterly style; large farmers have a turn for
improvement; small ones have seldom an opportunity ; many
inventions proposed and introduced, but the sensible farmer
unfortunately finds few of them that will answer.
Picturesque farming In/ Knight. About 200 acres around
Lei Castle, formerly in irregular uncouth divisions, with witle
slovenly hedges, are now laid, or laying together, the roads
better disposed both for convenience and appearance, and the
hedges stocked up ; but the trees, which are in abundance,
carefully preserved, to give a park-like appearance ; this is di-
vided into lots bj temporary hurdles.
Militaiy fanning. The same gentleman, when the volun.
teer cavalry were raised, sold bis heavy farm horses, and
bought light ones, chiefly Clevelands,on which he mounted ten
of his own servants for military service. The horses doing all
the farm work, and occasionally serving for saddle horses, or to
draw his carriage.
5. Implements.
Plough two-wheeled, and drawn by three horses in a line,
walking in the furrow ; in the vale of Evesham, a heavy swing
plough ; these ploughs are seen nowhere else ; they are all
wood, excepting the share and coulter ; very long in "the tail,
throat, and sideboard ; a load for a team ; the four-wheeled
trolley is a low waggon, usetl for harvest work. Knight uses
improved implements, and ploughs with two horses abreast.
Vajious drills for sowing wheat, and stirring the soil between
the rows [fig. 995.), manufactured at Evesham, and used in
the neighbourhood.
6. Arable Land.
Fallows ploughed four times, which is rather rare in Eng-
land; rotations generally a fallow and two com crops, with
an intervenhig leguminous herbage, or turnip crop. Drilling
in use for wheat, in the vale of Evesham and other places;
beans commonly dibbled. Turnips cultivated broad-cast ; and
Carpenter, author of A Treatise on Practical and Experimental
Agriculture, has discovered since he published his t>ook, that
the fly is to be prevented or destroyed by steeping the seed in
sulphur before sown, and harrowing as soon as the fly is dis-
covered ; " then sow eight bushels per acre of dry lime, or fine
.-ishes, when the dew is on the leaves, so as it may adhere to
them." Carrots sown by Knight and others in the neigh-
bourhood, where a good ileal of seed is raised for the London
seedsmen.
Hops grown to great perfection, and fruit trees generally
planted among them, at the rate of forty-eight to an acre;
1000 stools of hops are considered an acre, whatever ground
they may stand on, and labour is paid fur accordingly. Gold-
ing-vine, mathon-white, red, nonpareil, and Kentish grape,
local names for varieties distinguished by very slender shades.
Land stirred between the plants with the plough ; only two
poles to a stool ; picking chiefly hy M'elsh women. When
tithe of hops is taken in kind, the parson may either take
every tenth beisket when green, or every tenth sack when dried ;
in the latter case, allowing 25». per cwt. for drying, sacking,
and duty. The culture of hops having been carrie<l too far,
the trade here, as elsewhere, is on the decline ; com, on the
average of years, is found to pay better.
Asparagus, cucumbers, and onions, grown in the fields of
Evesham, and sent to Birmingham market, though thirty
miles distant ; also, poppy-heads for the London druggists.
Clover for seed in various parts of the county.
7. Grass.
The banks of the rivers chiefly under meadow of the very
richest kind ; employed chiefly in fatting cattle and sbe^ ;
clovers and rye grass cultivated.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
IVIarket gardens near most of the principal towns ; produc*,
besides local consumption, is sent to Bath, Bristol, and Bir-
mingham. Orchards, long and successfully cultivated in the
middle, south, and western parts of the county ; round
towns, villages, and farm-bouses ; and all the hedge-rows of a
farm often planted with fruit trees, and very productive. In
a plentiful year, or what is called a " hit of fruit," it will not
pay for carriage to market from remote places ; no casks can
be got for all the juice. In 1784, cisterns were formed in the
ground to receive the liquor, but they ran out ; in Pershore, it
IS said currents of perry ran into the common sewers. Larjje
quantities of apples rot, or are devoured by hogs ; cider in
such a year sold for 'Als. a hc«shead, in Woi
'orcester market :
ic«sn
two or three tons of cherries often sold in Worcester markt
in the morning before five o'clock ; six tons have been sold
there in one morning ; 2000/. has been paid for the tonnage of
fruit on the Trent and Severn canal in one year : canal forty-
six miles long, tonnage li<^ per ton per mile; 7000 tons must
I3oOK I.
AGRICULTURE OF MONMOUTHSHIRE.
IMi
996
therefore have passed. The stocks are not grafted here till
thiee years after plantinK out, and saddle grafting of a pecu-
liar kind {,fig. 996.) is pre-
ferred to the cleft manner
used in Gloucestershire. Some-
times the boughs of the stock
are each grafted in the whip
manner. vVhen cleft-rafting
is performed, the cleft is made
with a saw, and afterwards
smoothed with a knife ; little
care paid to the trees after-
wards ; they bear at five years,
are at perfection at thirty,
and continue in full bearing
1 1 for at least thirty years more.
Sheep should be excluded from
the orchards, and coarse grass
or straw burned in them on
the first appearance of a blight ;
this fumigation destroys my-
riadi of insects. Fruit is ga-
thered as it falls from the tree ;
no force used till the leaves
are mostly fallen, and then
only shaking or striking with a light pole. Cider made as
in Gloucestershire, but with no great attention to the mixture
of fruit, or its previous sweet and clean state. Pomeroy pro-
poses to separate the core and kernels from the pulp, by forcing
a cutting ivlinder through each apple, and then grinding the
core and piiln apart, as much of the Havoiu- of cider depends
on bruising the seeils.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Abundjmce of oak and elm. Croome, Hagley, &c. well-
wooded. Forest of Wire, near Bewdley, supplies oak poles,
rails, hurdlts, laths, hoops, &c.
10. Improvements.
Earl of Coventry drains his park by open cuts wide, and their
sides turfed to the bottom ; all the attention they require is
preventing the establishment of large weeds or coarse tufts of
grass, which would interrupt the water ; some embankments
on the Severn, and some meadows irrigated, but mostly by
floods.
11. Live Stock.
No particular breeds ; land too good for breeding ; feeding
chiefly attended to, and some dairying; some soiling, and a
good deal of oil-cake used for finishing autumn-fed oxen.
Mules used in agriculture in some parts of the county, espe-
cially near Bewdly ; rise to fifteen hands or more ; Skey's
carriage mules bred from grey or white mares and a white
spotted foreign ass. The great age to which they attain is one
of their chier advantages ; at perfection at thirty, and work till
seventy or upwards. Asses employed by Carpenter, of Broms-
grove, farmer and author.
12. Political Economy.
Principal roads good; cross-roads very bad. A subterranean
canal near Dudley A road club, established in the vale of Eve-
sham in 1792, the members of which bind themselves to become
road surveyors, gratis, in their turns, and strictly to enforce all
laws, and to take all the means in their power for procuring
and keeping good roads. Several canals, fairs, and markets.
Manufactures of gloves in Worcester, and also of porcelain and
cabinet furniture: of woollen cloth and glass at Stourbridge; of
glass and nails at Dudley ; leather-making from sheep-skins at
the same place ; nails, needles, Iinen,wool-combing and spinning
at Bromsgrove and Hedditch ; tanning in most places ; carpets
at Kidderminster ; various iron works on the Stour ; stocking
frames at Tewkesbury and Bredon.
Druittvich salt marks on record from 816. The strata over the
salt are, mould five feet, marl thirty-five feet, talc, a gypsuni or
alabaster, forty feet, then a reservoir of brine twenty -two inches,
then talc seventy-five feet, then a rock of salt, into which the
workmen bored five feet. The brine is inexhaustible ; on
boring through the talc, it immediately rises and fills the pit.
Salt made here and sold in one year, from April 5. 1771, to
Aprils. 1772, 604,579 bushels; of which exported abroad,
110,120 bushels. Duty paid into the salt-office, London,
61,457/., which was then nearly one third of the whole revenue
from salt in England. The process of making salt at Droit-
wich is as follows : — A little common water is first put into
the pan, to keep the brine from burning to the bottom ; the
pan IS then filled with brine, and a small piece of resin thrown
in to make it granulate fine ; when the brine is boiling, the
salt first incrusts at the top, and then subsides to the bottom ;
when subsided, the persons employed ladle it out with an
iron skimmer, and put it into wicker barrows, each containing
about half a bushel, in the shape of a sugar lojif, and let them
stand at the side of the pan for some minutes to drain ; they
then drop the salt out of^ the barrow, and place it in the stove
to harden. In 1775, Baker, a druggist, from London, spent
12,000/. in a project for conveying the Droitwich brine in pipes
to the Severn, without success. Dr. Nash, from experiment,
believes Droitwich salt to be neither manure in itself, nor ca-
pable of exciting any vegetative principle on the earth, as animal
or vegetable salts or lime may do ; it produces bad effects on
ploughed lands, by increasing their dryness in hot weather, and
by making them greasy, and what the farmers call raw, in
damp weather. He has found it serviceable to scatter foul salt
upon large heaps of manure, to kill weeds and destroy their
seeds, but not to enrich ; care must be taken that it be not
laid near the roots of the trees, as it will certainly destroy them.
If laid at the bottom of pools, it enables them to hold water ;
it is wholesome to granivorous and graminivorous animals, but
pr^udicial to cjornivorous ones.
13. Means of Improvement.
The establishment of village and parish libraries recom-
mended ; and a paper on the subject copied, which appeared
in the Worcester newspaper. From the books recommended,
as well as other evidence, the writer of this paper is Sir
Richard Phillips. The plan is excellent, and would probably,
in the course of a generation, effect a complete change in the
lower classes of society. Le Couteur"s treatise on apple trees and
cider, as applicable to the Isle of Jersey, appended to the survey.
7793. MONMOUTHSHIRE. A surface of 316,800 acres varied by hills, some of which are of con-
siderable height ; more distinguished by its woods and its mineral products than its agriculture. A part
of the coal basin of South Wales a fund of wealth of immense consequence to Britain, extends into Mpn-
mouthshire, and, with the iron works, forms an important source of industry and wealth. {Hassal's
Report, 1811.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate. Mild in the vales and cold on the confines of
Breconshire, where the snows sometimes remain on the ground
till a late period in spring ; atmosphere humid, as in most
western counties ; highly favourable to the growth of grass.
Suil. Clay, loam, and grey soil on rock or marble, and beds
of limestone. Caldicot and Wentlog levels on the Severn ;
under tlie court of sewers is a rich silty loam. Soil of the hills
a reddish loam. No poor soil in the county.
Minerals. Coal, iron, and lime. Upwards of twenty iron
works in the coal district ; coal not brought into general use till
1792, when the canals and rail -roads were completed. Prin-
cipal proprietors of the mineral district. Sir Chas. Morgan,'
C. Leigh, Esq., B. Hall, Esq., and the Earl of Abergavenny.
A particular description of the mineral basin of South Wales
given by Martin {Phil. Trans. 1806).
2. Property.
Duke of Beaufort and Sir Chas. Morgan the chief proprie-
tors ; next class, 1000/. to 3000/. a year ; a third class, 300/. to
1000/. a year. Many proprietors occupy a part of their estates,
and cultivate them well; some very small proprietors of or-
chards and grass lands.
3. Buildings.
Some tine old seats ; farm-houses of the oldest date, timber
thatched ; new ones covered with tile stone ; seldom any farm-
yards; but cattle-houses and bams scattered about at random;
cottages on the most frugal plan, generally with a garden.
4. Occupation.
Size of farms, 60 to 300 acres ; 140
acres about the average ; leases not
.very general.
5. Implements.
The proprietors of iron works have
introduced many improved forms from
the north ; very neat iron gates and
posts, (^ff. 997.)
6. Arable Land.
Less than the pasture ; tillage chiefly
by oxen. " Many farmers are so
circumstanced, as to be ever on the
watch, lest the avarice of their land-
lords should interfere with their in-
dustry, by taking advantage of any
ke in the
7. Grass Land.
" Some farmers insist on it that rushes shelter and protect
grass, and will not allow them to be removed by draining or
otherwise."
8. Gardens and Orchards.
The latter very general on a small scale; apples for eating
much in demand at the iron mills ; best orchards and hop-
grounds in the hundred of Ragland.
9. Woods and Plantations.
County long famous for the size of its oaks ; stock now much
diminished.
10. Livestock.
Mixed cattle ; some dairying, but feeding more general ;
Hereford horses a good deal bred ; asses and mules In use about
the iron works ; the mules found better than horses for carrjing
charcoal from the woods to the iron works.
11. Political Economy.
Valentine Morris, Esq., of Piercefield, being examined as to
the roads of the county, before Parliament, w£is asked, —
Q. What sort of roads have you in Monmouthshire ?
A. None.
Q. How do you travel then ?
A. In ditches.
This was thirty years ago (1800) ; they are now (1830) im-
proved, but still bad ; various railways and canals.
12. Means of Improvement.
Leases ; embanking the river meadows ; drainage j knowledge.
such unfair dealing is become too
frequent, is much to be lamented, and
can only be guarded against by leases.''
4 D 4
1144
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
7794. HEREFORDSHIRE. A surface of 600,000 acres, studded with hilla, hillwks, and minor swells
of various heights and dimensions ; almost every where of a rich soil, devoted exclusively to agriculture,
and highly productive in corn, cattle, fruit, cider, hops, and timber. The most distinguished cultivator
in the county is 1'. A. Kniglit, Esq., known in agriculture by his 'Ireatise on tlie Aj)ple and Fear,
many valuable papers in the Transactions of the Royal Society, and communications to the Board of Agri.
culture ; and in gardening by numerous essays and improvements, and his honourable office of President
of the Horticultural Society. {Clark's Herefordshire, 179*. Duncombe's Report, 1808. Marshal's lie.
view, 1818.)
1. Geographical fState and Circmnstances.
Climate, remarkably healthy ; west winds the coldest r warm-
est <md earliest part about Ross.
Soil. A marly clay of great fertility extends OTer most of the
county. The heaviest crops of wheat proiluced on a cfayey
tract between Hereford and Ledbury ; the lightest lands in the
south-east about Wormelow, and known as the " Rye lands,"
from the prevailing jiroduce there in formtT times.
Mineratt. Iron ore in the sandy district, but none manufac-
tur, d at present. Red and yellow ochres, pipe-clay, and fullers'
earth, but only the latter worked for.
Water abounds ; salmon caught in the Wye, but, owing to
ths weirs and illegal practices, not so abundantly as formerly.
2. Property.
(iny's Hospital, Puke of Norfolk, Earl of Oxford, Earl of
Essex, Sir (A. Cornwall, &c. the largest proprietors. Their
estates divided into farms of from 200 to 400 acres. A number
of estates from 400<. to 1000/. per annum constantly resided
on by their owners, and cultivated and managed in good style,
witha view to tlie introduction of the best 2igricultural prac-
tices. The tenures of gavelkind and borough-englisli exist in
a few places, but are generjilly nullitied by will,
a Buildings.
Some fine seats of proprietors, as Horn Lacy, Hampton
Court, Downton Castle, &c. Old farm-houses of svood, ill de-
signed, and placed : some good new ones on the Guy's Hospital
and other estates. (Cottages very humble, and of an inferior
construction. Strawberries lately cultivated by some cottagers,
for the Hereford market, with siiccess and proiit.
4. Occupation.
Small farms on the decline ; few opportunities now by which
an industrious couple can devote 50/. or 100/., acquired by
personal labour, to stock a few acres, and bring up their family,
and pass their latter years in comparative independence. Hence
matrimony on the decline, and hcentiousness on the incresise.
Hence Duncombe humanely recommends proprietors to forego
the temporary advantages of throwing the whole of their estates
into large f^rms, and advises some ot all sizes, from 5 to 500
acres, as ultimately best for the country. " The old-fashioned
farmer of Herefordshire receives any new experiment in agri-
culture with great hesitation, if not reluctance. When its
utility is confinned by repeated trials, he slowly and gradually
falls into the practice ; but he wisely leaves the experiment and
the risk to those who recommend or suggest it ; and happily
the county is at this moment well provided with agricultur-
ists, who }>ossess the means and the spirit to undertake the
patriotic task." Liases of twenty-one years most commonly in
three periods of seven years, determinable at the end of each
period by either landlord or tenant.
5. Implements.
Plough called the light lammas, without a wheel, and drawn
by three or four oxen generally in a line, abreast ; but often the
yoke is the usual mode of harnessing. Various improved im-
jplements by the amateurs, but none in general use.
6 Arable Land.
Wheat principal grain cultivated, and generally sown on a
feUow. Change of seed procured from the chalk hills of Ox-
fordshire; steeped in brine and lime, to guard against vermin
and smut. Kni«ht, late of Eaton, now of Downton Castle,
steei>5 in water and then envelojies in lime, and his wheat was
^ freo from smut and other diseases as that of his nci;?hbours
from changed seed. Hops a goo<l deal cultivated, and chiefly
disposed of to Bristol dealers,
7. Grass,
Fertile meadows on the Wye, Frome, and Lug ; rncivm and
ft>d. Not a dairy county for home consumption, seldom for
exterior markeU, or Smithtield. Butter supi)lied from Wales,
and cheese from Shropshire and Gloucestershire. " The
general soil of Herefordshire appears to be unfavourable to the
making of cheese. T. A. Knight, with that accuracy and skill
which he is known to possess on all subjects connected with
agriculture and natural historv, has proved by experiment,
that equal quantities of milk in Htrefordshire and Cheshire will
produce unequal quantities of cuid, highly to the advantage of
Cheshire : and farther, that better cheese has been produced
in that county, from milk, half of which has been jireviously
skimmed, than is produced in this from milk altogether un-
skimmed. The want, therefore, of complete success in Uiis
valuable branch of rural economy is not solely to lie attributed
to the want of skill in our dairy -maids ; and the cause of failure
is rendered more difficult of discovery, and consequently more
<lifficult to he remedied, from an observation that the plants
were nearly the same in the Herefordshire and Cheshire pas-
tures, on which the above experiments were made: white
clover abounded in each, with the crested dog-tail grass and
rye-grass mixed with others in small quantities. Of such plants
the pastures of Herefordshire are generally composed
A mode nf managing tottiid meadmvi and jiastures has lately
been tried, and attended with a great increase of produce.
The grass is mown as soon as it is in blossom, and c:onsequently
previously to the formation of seed. The after-grass is not
grazed until it begins to contract a yellow appearance, in the
latter end of October or beginning ot November. In this case
the ground remains covered during the winter with a portion
of dead herbage, through which the young grass springs with
the greatest yijpjur at an early period of the succeeding
spring'
8. Gardens and Orchards.
Fruit trees first extensively planted in Herefordshire in the
time of Charles I., by Lord Scudamore, of Home I^acy. Or-
n>iards and hedge-row trees of the apple and pear kind are
fnimil on every asjiect, soil, and under every culture. The soil
b« St adapte<l to most kinds of apples. Is a deep rich loam when
pnder the culltire of the plough j the Slyre and golden pippin.
in particular, form exceptions, and flourish most in a hot and
shallow soil, on a lime or sandstone. The best sorts of pear
trees also prefer the rich loam, but inferior kinds will even
flourish where the soil will scarcely produce herbage. The
apples are divi-led into old and new sorts; ejich class com-
prises some called kernel fruits, namely, the fruit growing on
Its native roots, as a distinction from those pro<luced by the
operation of grafting. The old sorts of apples are those which
have been long introduced, sueh as the Styre, golden pippin,
hagloe-crab ; several varieties of the Harvey ; the brandy
apple, red-streak, woodcock, nioyle, geniiet, red, white, and
yellow musks; fox whelp, loan, and old pearmains; dymock
red, ten commandments, and others. Some of these names
are descriptive of the fruit, and others are derived from the
places where they have lieen first found, or found in most
ahundance. The old pears held in most estimation are, the
squash, so called from the tenderness of its pulp; the oldtield,
from having grown as a seedling in a field of that name ; the
huftcap, from the quantity of fixed air contained in its liquor ;
the barland, from fields in the parish of Rosbury, called the
Barlands; the sack-pear, from its richness; and the led pear,
from its colour. Of more common sorts, tlie long-land is the
most valuable, and for the general use of tlie farmer perhaps
the best of any.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Oak very abundant, and more rapid in its growth in this
county and Monmouthshire than in most parts of England,
Lord O.'tford's estates and Croft, Castle contain the finest old
trees in the couMty ;. fine woods at Foxley, U. Price, Esq. ; most
Uixuriant oak tiinber and coppices at Moccas Court and Stoke
Park ; a curious weeping oak at iMorcas. Most productive ash
coppices at Hampton Court and Ledlmiy ; cut every thirteen
years for crate ware, hurdles, &c. and bring from 18/. to 35/.
per wood acre, which is to the statute acre as S to 5. Elm trees
are interspersed in the hedge-ruws with fruit trees.
10. Improvements.
Draining much wanted, hut practised chiefly by proprie-
tors ; watering little practised, though introduced in 1610 by
R. Vaughan, Esq. of New Court, whose tract on the subject
has been already mentionetl. ^.^VG.) One of the greatest expe-
riments in this way which have been attempted of late years in
Herefordshire, has been attended with complete success on the
estate of T. A. Knight. By making a weir on the river Teme,
with proper courses for the water, that gentleman is now
enabled to irrigate two hundred acres of land, which were never
watered before, with the a-ssistance of the least flood ; and one
half of that quantity even in the driest season.
11. Live Stock.
Hereford cattle esteemed supf-rior to most, if not to all, other
breeds ; those of Devon and Sussex nearest them in appearance.
Large size, an athletic form, and unusual neatness, character-
ise the true sort ; the prevailing colour is a reddish brown,
with white faces. The rearing of oxen for agricultural pur-
poses universally prevails ; nearly half the ploughing is per-
formed by them, and they take an equal share in the laliours
of the harvest. Thej are shod with iron in situations which
frequently require their exertions on hard roads. The show of
oxen in thriving condition at the Michaelmas fair in Hereford,
cannot be exceeded by any similar annual collection in England ;
on this occasion they are generally sold to the principal graziers
in the counties near the metropolis, and there perfected for the
London markets.
Herefordshire wrf heins « daining cnunti/, breeders direct
their attention to producmg that form of aiiimal best adapted
for feeding rather than milking. " The whole attention of
the I^icestershlre breeder has been directed to the improve-
ment of his cow ; and for the use of the grazier, he has made
her an excellent animal. The Herefordshire breeder, on the
contrary, has sacriliced the qualities of the cow to those of the
ox ; he does not value bis cow according to the price which the
grazier would give for it, but in proportion as it possesses that
form and character whi<:h experience has taught him to ba
conducive to the excellence of the future ox. Hence the cow
of Herefordshire is comparatively small, extremely delicate,
and very f-minine in its characters. It is light-fleshed when
in common condition, but capable of extending itself vmiver-
sally in a short space of time, when fattening. Experience
seems fuUv to have proved, that these qualities in the cow are
necessary to perfection in the ox ; and that when the cow is
large and masculine in its character, and heavily loaded with
flesh, the ox will be coarse and brawny, and, consequently,
unkind and tedious in the process of fattening. It may here
be remarked, that there is an extraordinary difference betwei n
the weight of a Herefordshire cow and the ox bred from her ;
perhaps other sorts, eminent for producing fine oxfn, are
similarly distinyuished; but it is a fact, that a Herefordshire
cow will not unlrequently be the mother of an ox of nearly
three times her own weight. T. A. Knight, who made this
observation, recollects no instance of this great disproportion
in the weight of the males and females of the long-homed
cattle. That gentleman farther observes, that he is unable to
discover what advantage the public have derived, or are likely
to derive, from a breed of cattle which are neither calculated
for the dairy nor for breeding oxen. The difference in the
dairy between a good and an indifferent milking cow, on the
pasture which is adequate to the keep of the latter, will
seldom exceed five pounds, and if the animal be good, a very
poor pasture will be sufficient; but the difference between a
good and bad ox will ofttn exceed twenty pounds, where both
have consumed in fattening equal quantities of food : individuals
and the public are, therefore, equally and evidently interested
in the improvement of the labouring ox. Persons of little ex-
perience. Knight adds, in the breeding of cattle, may perhaps
think that a sott is obtainable which will unite the tw<i objects J
but exjierience will convince thtm, tl^ io «ideay«|uttag to
Book I
AGRICULTURE OF SHROPSHIRE.
1145
approach two opposite points at tlie same time, they -will never
be al)le to reach either. Where the soil is well calculated for
the dairy, every attention should he paid to olitain and improve
the l)est sorts of milking cows ; and where the ox is ke|>t lo a
)iroper age as a Ijeast of draught, nothinf; conducing to his
excellence ought to be neglected. A cow must, however, frive
milk enough to keep its calf fat, or it is disqualiried for breeding
a good ox ; liecause the calf would be spoiled before it had
acquired the proi>er age to be weaned.
Slieep. The provincial breed, the Kyeland, named from the
sandy district m the neighbourhood of Ross. They lamb in
February and March ; but during winter, and particularly in
time of "lamlring, the store flocks are generally confined by
night in a covered building, provincially termed a cot, in which
they are sometimes fed w-ith hay and barley straw, but much
more frtquenlly with peas-haulm. Some breeders accustom
them to the cot only in very severe weather, and in lambing
time. The prac'.ice was derived from the Flemings, and intro-
duced into England about the year 1660. A cross has lieen
made between the Kyelandsand'the new Leicester sorts, to the
advantage, perhaps, of the breeder who Is situated on pood
land, but ctrrtainly to the detriment of the wool. A cross
between the Ityeland and real Spanish seems the most pro)>able
mode of adding to its fineness and value. Dr. I'arry's experi-
ments have l)een already related. (7232.)
12. Kurnl Ectmomy.
" If a certain proportion between the price of labour and the
average price of -wheat could be fixed by law, so as to render the
apjilications for parochial aid necessary only in cases of a very
large family, of unusual illness, of scanty seasons, or any other
real emergency ; the measure, it is presumed, would be honour-
able to the country, would stimulate industry and fidelHy,
would check dishonesty, and endear to a numerous class their
native soil."
13. Political Economy.
Roads formerly bad ; now improving ; materials, coarse
limestone. Gloves, to a small extent, manufactured in Here-
ford. An agricultural socie^ established in 1797, which has
given many premiums, and done much good. ,
7795. SHROPSHIRE. A surface of 890,000 acres ; in general flat, but with hills of considerable height
on some of its margins. The soil is chiefly clay, but in part light turnip land ; both are devoted to the
raising of corn. crops. Breeding and dairying is also practised to a moderate extent. The greatest im.
prover in the county is the Marquis of Stafford, whose extensive and important operations on the estate
of I/illeshall are described at length bv Loch, in his Improvements on the Marquis of Stdfford's Estates,
1819. {Bishton's Shropshire, 1794. iHijmleifs Shropshire, 180'. MarshaFs Review, 1819.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate. Considerable difference according to the soil and
surface ; more warm on the eastern side than in the middle of
the county. E. winds prevail in spring, and W. in autumn.
Soil. Nearly an equal quantity of wheat and turnip land, the
former rather predominant. S.W. side of the county variable ;
thin soil upon clay or rock ; extensive tracts of hills and waste;
and most sorts of soils except chalk and flint.
Minerals, Lead in granulated quartz very productive. Cop-
per ore found but not worked . Coal of excellent quality on
the eastern sid» of the county ; lime, building-stone, chaly-
beate and spa waters, at different places. At Kingly Wick a
spring of salt water, used for making soda at a work estal>lished
at Woimbridge. Extensive iron works at Colebrook Dale, where
the first cast-iron bridge was erected by Mr. Telford about 1780.
Wafers. Tweiity-two sorts of fish found in the Severn in
Shropshire. Salmon in season from Michaelmas to May.
2. Property.
Estates of from 10 to 2.'',000 acres, and an infinite number
of freeholders : yeomanry estates of all inferior sizes : much
copyhold, but the lords upon some customary manors have en-
franchiicd the copyholders upon receiving an equivalent in
money.
3. Buildings.
Some good new mansions ; above eighty of these named
in old matw become farm-houses. Farm-houses genera'ly in
vilbiges. Excellent new ones on the Marquis of Stattbrd's
estates. {Jig. 998.)
Comfortable cottages with gardens much wantetl. Some
judicious observations by Plymley ; prescribes no particular
forms, but suggests the impropriety of making them, or in-
deed any other object, bear an outward apjiearance, intended
to contradict their inward use; all castellated or gothicised
cottages, all churchlilre bams, or fortlike pigsties, he conceives
to \ie objectionable. They are intended to deceive, and they
tell you that they are intended to deceive. It is not pleasant
to encourage any thing like deceit, but in these instances im-
position etiected is rarely gained ; it amounts only to imposition
attemi>ted; or, could the deceit succeed, it would only present
Almost eviTy species of country building has a g<
effect, if ])roj)erly placed and neatly executed ; and what are
the least ornamental, or indeed the most disgusting, of their
appendages, cease to shock when supported by the relative
sitnatinn they stand in, showing their necessity and their use.
A dunghill in a farm-vard creates no disagreeable idea ; but
connectctl with a Gothic gateway or embattled tower, it is bad.
Cattle protected by the side of a bam form a picturesque group ;
but sheltering under a Grecian portico, the improjiriety i>
Linen hanging to dry on the hedge of a cottage
garden may be passed without displeasure; but the clothes of
glaring.
. women, and children surrounding the cell of an anchor-
ite, or the oratory of a monk, have their natural unseemliness
increased by the contrast. On the other hand, a fine-dressed
lawn with miserable cottages may be compared to the laced
clothes and diJty linen some foreigners were formerly accused
of wearing. '1 he whole of a gentleman's estate should be his
pleasure-ground : the village should be one object in the scene;
not shut out from it. There may be a little more polish about
the mansion, but it should not be an unnatural contrast to the
surrounding objects. The face of no country is bad but as it
is disfigured by artificial means ; and the cheapest and best
improvement is merely to remove what offends, and to take
care that the buildings or fences thai are wanted are neat and
appropriate, exhibiting distinct ly their real intention. Plymley
is a friend to single cottages, because two families under one
roof may have more causes of contention arise l>etween them.
On the other hand, in illness poor peoi)le have frequently the
merit of forgetting their differi nces ; and then tlie assistance
they are incUn^ tc give each other is made more easy by near*
1146
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Taut IV
ness of situation. It is possible, however, where two, or even
three liouses are joined togeilier, to contrive the 'gardens in
such a manner that tliere may be little interference ; and some-
times three neighbouring families may do better together than
two.
4. Occupation.
On the borders of Wales the farms are small, many not ex-
ceeding twenty acres ; on the east side of the county from one
to 500 acres : farmers in general very industrious ; work along
with their servants; wives brew, bake, dairy, and at spare
hours spin, and get up a piece of linen cloth for sale every year.
Leases for lives formerly very common. Bishton of Kilsall
has taken great pains to prepare printed leases, which answer
very well. The term he recommends is seven, fourteen, or
twenty -one years. By being printed the farmer can read them
at his leisure.
5. Implements.
Plough with two wheels, drawn by four or five horses, or six
or eight oxen, in the strong lands, and two horses with a boy
to driw in the turnip soils. Various improved implements and
threshing-machines : some excellent mills on Lord Stafford's
estates, driven by steam.
6. Enclosinff.
Much practised, and still going on. Plashing hedges is
usually very ill done in Shropshire ; it is a business which re-
quires great nicety and judgment, and has the most ignorant
o{>trators to perform it in general ; who in the first place cut
downwards, through mere idleness, instead of upwards, and so
expose the heart of the plant to the weather. Many miles of
hedges lately planted on the Stafford estates.
7. Arable Land.
Fallowing very badly done on tlie strong lands. Common
crops of the county wheat, barley, oats, peas, and turnij)s. Teas
found not to boil well unless grown on a sharp gravel or sand ;
those prown on clay given to pigs and horses. Some hemp and
hops cultivated.
8. Grass.
Some natural meadows on the Severn and other rivers ; not
much attention paid to them. Artificial herbage and grasses
grown on the turnip soils.
9. Gardens and Orchards.
Many farmers have small orchards, from whence they make
a little cider for home consumption ; and on the confines of
Herefordshire and Worcestershire the orchards are larger, and
cider is made for sale.
10. Woods and Plantations.
A good deal of hedge-row timber, and some fine o4k woods ;
also numerous young plantations. Narrow-leaved elm reckoned
an excellent hedge-row tree, but the broad-leavfd better tim-
ber, and less difficult as to soil and situation. In this county
few persons will bury their relations in any but the best oak
timber, which contributes much to its scarcity.
11. Improvements.
Marl used, and some irrigation. A good deal of draining
done with brick, stone, and faggot wood. Some bogs drained
in Elkington's manner. On the Lilleshall estate of Ix)rd Staf-
ford ( /i^-. 999.), in 1816 and 1817 there has been executed about
17,000 yards of embankment; 27,000 yards of water course
deepened and scoured ; 46,000 yards of main ditches made or
deepened ; ,"15,000 yards of fence-ditches deepened, scoured,
and straightened : 49,000 yards of old fences stocked; 50,000
yards of new quick fences niade ; 21,000 yardsof turf draining;
and 462,000 yards of under-ground draining, laid with tiles
and filled with stones ; besides the erection of many new farm-
eries of the most commodious plans and substantial execution.
But to have an adequate idea of these and other improvements
effected by this munificent and patriotic nobleman, it is ne-
cessary to peruse the very interesting work of Loch already re-
ferred to.
On the Wildnwor estate of Lord Stafford (,fe. 1000.) excellent
roads have been forme<i ; so that several parts, before inaccessl-
blt in winter and duringwet weather, may now be approached
at all times with ease. The effect, as Loch observes, has thus
been to add so many acres to the estate. But the most consi-
derable work executed upon these estates is the drainage of the
extensive district alluded to, called the Wildmoors. The ex-
tent and nature of this improvement is such as to deserve a
particular and detailed description. Some adjoining properties
nave benefited by this work, and contributed to the expense of
it, which was done under the authority of an act of parliament ;
but as almost the whole of the land belongs to the Marquis of
^>taf!brd, and the expense having been chiefly borne by him.
the direction of its progress, and its preservation hereafter, is
entirely vested in a surveyor chosen by his lordship.
These moors consisted of an extensive tract, amounting, with
the land_ similarly circumstanced, to near twelve hundred
acres. The soil is composed of a fine black peat, incumbent
on a bed of re<l sand, full of water. They are bounde<l chiefly
by the upland part of these estates, and surround the parish of
Kynnerslev, which also belongs to it, and which is composed
of some of the finest turnip and barley soil in the kingdom.
They had evidently formed the bottom of an extensive lake.
The different brooks from the surrounding country held their
course through them. These brooks are known in the country
by the name of Strines, being distinguished from each other by
the name of the places from which, or past which, they flow.
Their course to the Team (which river drains the whole of
this country into the Severn) wcis devious and crooked in the
extreme, injuring to a great extent the land through which
they ran.
A great proportion of these moors vas occupied by the tenants
of the adjoinmg forms, who turned their stock in upon them
for a portion of the summer season only. During tlie rest of
the year it was impossible to use them. They affordtd b\it a
small quantity of food, and were in most places so wet that it
Book I.
AG-RICULTURE OF SHROPSHIRE.
1147
was at all times difficult to walk over them, it being necessary
lo select the hardest places to step on. They were covered
with water after almost eveiy severe rain, owing to which the
inhabitants of the neighbourhood were subject to frequent
attacks of ague. The adjoining lands be:>ides, to an extent
exceeding six hundred acres, were kept in nearly a state yjS
nature, owing to there being no level by which they could be
drjiined while this extensive district continued subject to such
inundations.
The difpcully which occurred in draining this tract of land
arose from the want of level, and from the river Team being
pounded so high by the mill-pools as to throw the water back
to a great distance upon the land. The plan for draining this
extensive district was extremely well conceived and judiciously
laid out, in the double view of securing this object and of in-
lerfering as little as possible with private property and the ex-
isting establishments situated on the Team. It was suggested
by John Bishton, Esq., the first commissioner under the Act.
1 he great object was to gain as much additional level as would
create a run throughout the whole extent of the moorlands.
This was to be obtained by beginning the cut which was to
carry off the water a considerable way lower down the Team
than the water had hitherto been discharged into that river ;
and a pood deal below the mill-pool at Long, which occasioned
this poundage. The original courses of the strines were straight-
ened £md widened, but they were still made to convey the water
from the uplands, and to discharge them into the Team in
their original direction. To prevent them overflowing the ad-
joining lands, and to cut off the effects of the back poundage
of the Team on the upper moors, these brooks were embanked
for the whole length of their course through the Wildmoors.
These are technically callfed argue banks. At the back of these
banks deep ditches were carried, but in a more direct line than
the course of the strines. Into these ditches the drainage of the
moorljmds is emptied. The level which was thus brought from
the river Team, from below Long Mill, was carried in a tunnel
under the Shrewsbury canal, and was conducted bi-low the
several strines in siphon culverts, and thus communicated with
the ditches described as having been made behind the banks
which confined the waters of these brooks.
In some instances it has been necessary to construct one set
of culverts over another, in order that the waters coming from
the uplands may be kept in the several brooks through which
thev had constantly flowed, and that this water flowing from
the"uplands might not fall into the back drains ; it being again
explained, that the water flowing from the higher grounds is
still confined to the original strines or brooks on an upper level ;
the drainage water alone of the moorlands being thrown into
the ba'k drains. Thus hcts a great additional level been ob-
tained, and the whole of this district is now entirely relieved
of water, and such a thing as a flood has not been known for
years. This district is in some instances so flat, that the old
course of the Preston strine, which formerly conducti-d the
water of that brook in one direction, has with little difTiculty
been made a part of the drainage, and to carry the drainaga
water in exactly the contrary direction, a new channel having
been cut for the strine. Taking advantage of this drainage,
main ditches upon a regular system have been carried into flX
the neighbouring parts of the estate, thereby enabling the laud-
lord and the tenant to execute various otlier improvements. .
ThU district has been subsequently divided into rtgular en-
clnturet, by great ditches, which fall into the main drains ;
and wherever it has been possible, these ditches have been
made to serve this purpose, as well as that of a fence to the
new roads which have been constructed across these moors.
In one iustanie, one of these roads has been carried in a
straight line for about two miles. On each side of this road
trees have been planted, at regular distances, which will soon
form one of the finest avenues in England. These moors have
besides been all regularly under-drained by turf drains, which
stand remarkably well. In the different ditches are placed
flood-gates, to pound back the water during the summer,
preherving the meadows in a state of perpetual verdure.
The water is let off" at least once in every fourteen days, and
l>eing drawn off with as much velocity as possible, it scours
and keeps clear both the ditches and the underground drains ;
— the mouths of these latter are all defended with liles. The
moorlands have been greatly improved by very heavy and re-
ptaicd rollings and top-dressings ; and their value as let to a
farmer, in many instances, is fully doubled. This improve-
ment has cost a very large sum of money ; which was increas-
ed beyond what was necessary, owing to the inefficiency of the
late surveyor belonging to the commission, which is not yet
closed. The drainage, however, has lately been put under a
survevor (X>ewis), approve<l of by Lord Stafford in terms of
the A'ct, and the expense is diminished, and the whole put in
better order.
A very rapid improvement has taken place on these lands.
In place of being the very worst part of the estate, they are
rapidly becoming equal to the l)est and finest meadows on
it. In order to shelter them from the blasts which come
round the Wrekin, from the Welsh mountains, they have
been intersected with various plantations. A plan of the
Wildmoors previous to {Jin. 1000.), and another subsequent
to, this improvement (.fi^.lOOl.), will serve to give an accu-
rate notion of what has been done; the whole being well
worthy the examination and inspection of an intelligent agri-
culturist and improver, (ioc/i, p. 226.)
1148
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
12. Live Stock.
Cattle of mixed breeds : some dairying, chiefly for butter to
the manufacturing towns; some cheese, but not very good.
Calves raised as stock, and sometimes suckled for veal. Sheep
in breetling (locks of various kinds. Stock in seneral neg-
lected as to imjirovement ; all sorts of crosses permitted, so
that the oriftinal breeds of sheep and hogs are now lost. Pork
and bacon are much used among the poorer people, when they
can procure them ; therefore the sort which is to be fed with
the least trouble is to be preferred. A mixture of the Shrop-
shire and Chinese has, in this respect, been found to answer
for bacon, and a cross of the wild breed for pork.
Geese, reared on the commons, and sold to farmers, who fat-
ten them on their stubbles.
Turkeys, reared in large quantities by some farmers, and
sold tohiglers, who drive them to Birmingham and other large
towns. Markets in general well supplied with fowls. It is to
he lamented that they are generally carried alive to market.
Death is no misfortune to an animal that has no previous ap-
prehension of it. But poultry, carried in bags or baskets to
market, have several hours of previous suffering, and the bur-
den and trouble of carrying them thither seem much in-
creased thereby.
13. Political Economy.
Roads generally bad ; various canals ; trade of Shrewsbury,
flannel, and Welsh webs, used for clothing for the slaves in the
^Vest Indies and South America. Manufactures in the
county numerous ; iron, pottery, porcelain, glass, dyeing cloth,
woollens, flannels, linen, gloves, &c. An agricultural society
at Drayton.
779fi. STAFFORDSHIRR 765,000 acres of hill and dale, some parts rugged and others smooth, but
on the whole more a mining and manufacturing than an agricultural county. The Marquis of Stafford,
Lord Anson, and the Marquis of Anglesea, are the chief improvers. Excellent markets for produce within
the county in consequence of the numerous manufacturing towns and villages. {Pitt's Report, 1808.
MarshaVs Review, 1815. Loch's Improvements, 1819. Edin. Gaz. 1827.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climaie, Air sharp and cold, and inclining to wet ; annual
rains thirty-six inches ; those of London twenty or twenty-one
inches ; of Upminster, in Essex, nineteen inches and a quarter ;
Lancashire forty-two; of Ireland forty-two to fifty. Annual
rain on tlie west side of the kingdom double that on the east
side.
Surface. In the north side of the county hills arise, forming
the commencement of a ridge, rising gradually higher and
higher into Scotland, under different names : here called
Moorlands, then Peak, then Blackstone Edge, then Craven,
then Stanmore ; and then, parting into two horns, called
Cheviots.
Soil. Very various ; about one third of the county strong
loam or clay ; one third mixed soils of almost all sorts, and the
remainder li};ht, calcareous or alluvial ; no chalk.
Minerals. Valuable and extensive ; 50,000 acres or upwards
of coal. Iron ore and lime of unknown extent.
2. Property.
Largest estates 10,000/. a year, and many of all sizes, from
that amount down to 40j. a year. Attornejs generally the ma-
nagers, but some excellent examples of gentlemen of from
.OOt)/. to 5000/. a year managing their estates themselves ; re-
siding on them, and cultivating a part, and giving every en-
couragement to their tenants.
3. Buildings.
Some noble mansions, as Trentham, Beaudesart, Ingestree,
&c. Excellent farm-houses constructed on some estates, as
Trentham , Lord Stafford's; but the majority ,as in other counties,
bad, and badly situated. A farm-yard has been constructed at
the family seat of the Ansons, for a demesne farm of 2000
acres. It was built by S. Wyatt, of London , and consists of the
farming steward's house at one end ; a range of building along
one side contains a brewhouse upon a large scale, a water corn-
mill for the family and farm use, and in which corn is ground
for the neighbouring poor gratis, and a malt-house : the oppo-
site side and end are occupied by stalls for feeding cattle, store-
rooms, stables, and other api)endages ; and in the middle of the
yard is a very complete hoggery, built of large stones set edge-
ways, and covered with slate, with a boiler for heating hog-
footl, a cold bath supplied by the mill stream, for giving an oc-
casional swill to the young pigs. In this building a number of
hogs are fr.tted on dairy refuse, boiled roots or vegetables,
}>ulse, ground barley or bran, supplied by the mill near at
hand. At seme distance above is the stack-yard and bams,
where a powerful threshing-machine is worked by the same
stream that afterwards supplies the garden, and turns the com
mill in the farm-yard.
4. Occupation.
Farms of all sizes, from twenty-five to 500 acres ; many con-
solidated since 1795. Some very good cottages with gardens,
and containing comfortable and commodious accommotlation
for agricultural or manufacturing operatives. A specimen of one
is given (.^g-. 1002.),which contains a living-room(u), working
or lodging room (A), pantry, dairj-, cellar, &c. (c), cow-house (</),
with a water closet, and three bedrooms over. Leases generally
granted for twenty-one years. Little made by farming unless
1002
with a combination of all, or most of the following circum-
stances:—First, an easy rent ; second, a pretty good and extensive
farm ; third, economy and industry ; and fourth, length of time.
In the present system of farming, at a moderate rent, the writer
of this knows from experience, that it requires not only the
most diligent industr>-, but also the most prudential economy,
to keep the balance on the right side To which Marshal adds,
" I have rarely found a fanner making a fortune by his profes-
.sion alone, unless on fresh land, on virgin marsh, old gra/.ing-
gro«uid, ancient sheep-walk, or well soiled common ; a fortune.
I mean, any way resembling that which, with the same ability
and industry, and with a small share of the outset capital.
5. Implements.
Very various ; double furrow-ploughs drawn by four horses,
a good deal in use in the light lands. Excellent threshing-ma-
chine, and various new implements introducing by proprietors,
and especially by the Marquis of Stafford.
5. Arable Land.
Most annual field-crops cultivated, including hemp and flax.
7. Grass.
Meadow on the rivers and brooks, and artificial grasses
sown ; feeding in general preferred to dairying.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
Common to many farm-houses ; but few or no sale orchards,
and scarcely any fruit crushed for liquor.
9. Timber and Woodlands.
Best-timbered estate Blithfield Park, Lord Bagot ; the park
contains many hundred trees of extraordinary bulk, containing
from 200 to 400 feet of timber each ; much of it is mentioned by
Dr. Plott as full grown in 1686. Chillington and Beaudesart
also remarkably well timbered. The remains of Needwood
forest, chiefly remarkable for its beautiful hollies. On the
whole the country abundantly wooded. Sneid's coppices cut
once in six years to make crates and large hampers for the
potterips.
10. Improvements.
Irrigation and draining practised, the former only to a mo-
derate extent. Jessop, the engineer, suggests that nine parts
in ten of the waters of the kingdom at present run away in
waste, a great partof wliich might be usefully employed ; nay,
further (putting expense out of the question), that every stream
in the kingdom may be made to run equally through the whole
year. This position, however extraordinary, is easily demon-
strable ; for if, upon any given stream, one or more reservoirs
be made, capable of containing its flood water, and through the
dam or dams be laid a pipe or pipes, whose apertures will just
discharge the average produce, the business is done : and
though there may be no probability of this business being ever
brought to so great a nicety, yet from hence some idea may be
formed of the prodigious extent to which improvements by
water may be carried.
Great and radical improvemenit have been effected on the
Trentham estates. The first object was the laving the lands
together, in farms of considerable extent, varying in size ac-
cording to the nature of the soil, and other circumstances. In
effecting these necessary changes, wherever the old tenant was
removed, which was done as seldom as possible, he was, unless
he took a farm elsewhere, accommodated with his house and
his best grass crofts for his life, at a low and inadequate rent ;
and in every case where it was possible to treat with the person
beneficially interested in the lease, and whose continuance in
the farm was incompatible with the new arrangement of the
land, his interest was purchased either for an annuity or a
sum of money, to enable him to look out for, and to stock a new
farm. The size of the farm being thus enlarged, it was neces-
sary to enlarge the size of the inclosures, and to lay several
closes into one, and, where possible, to give them a more regu-
lar and uniform shape. This arrangement enabled the land-
lord to get rid of the long useless lanes, by which a considerable
addition to the number of arable acres was acquired.
In order to give each tetianf every advaiitaf>e in draining hit
farm, the great lines of ditches were executed by the land-
lord; and wherever it was possible, these were made the
boundaries of the farms. Thus the whole drains on the es-
tate were conducted according to one uniform plan, by which
the system of drainage was rendered much more complete,
and the interests of the whole, and not that of any individual
tenant, were consulted, nor was any one allowed to interfere
with tlie interests of his neighbour. Such a perfect system will
have the eftisct of rendering the condition of these estates more
complete in this respect than that of any other in England.
Attention has also been paid, in the execution of these works,
to make the water availalile for the construction of water-mea-
dows, and for impelling the threshing-machines of the respec-
tive farms.
In conse<iuence of the complete state of ruin in which the
firm buildings on these estates were found, it was necessary to
incur a serious expense in constructing new ones. In this way
it has been necessary to erect thirty-seven new, and to repair
throughout eight other, extensive sets of farm offices, besides
the smaller repairs which such estates necessarily require.
They have been executed in the most substantial manner.
They are built of the best ]>ossil>]e brickwork, covered with
tiles or slates ; and their cost, including the exi)ense of those
thoroughly repaired, may, on an average, be stated at from
1500/. to 1600/. each.
We have already given examples of these buildings (2955.
and 2957.), which are remarkably complete in design, and sub-
stantial in execution ; and several of tliem are Ivmishcd with,
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF STAFFORDSHIRE.
iI49
threshing-machines, driven by water or steam, a thing rare in
Kntjland, excepting in Northumberland. It is believed. Loch
observes, that they unite as many advantages with as few faults
as any buildings of the sort, and that they will supply useful
hints to others.
It had been at one period the custom to permit huts to be
erected in all parts of the estate. These huts amounted in
number to many hundreds ; they were inhabited by the poorest,
and, in many instances, by a profligate population. They were
not regularly entered in the rental book, but had a nominal
payment fixed upon them, which they pai<I annually at the
court leet. These cottages were built on the sides of the roads,
and u|>on the lord's waste, which was gradually absorbed by the
encroachments which the occupiers of these huts made from
time to time, by enclosing that which lay next to them. They
gradually fell into the hands of a body of middlemen, who
underlet them at an extravagant rent to the actual occupiers.
In this manner the poor people were oppressed, and the land-
lord was in danger of losing his projierty.
To remedy the evils arising out of this system, f'C ccrttagerl rvere
made immediate tenants to the landlord, and their rents made
payable at the half-yearly audits; an arrangement perfectly
satisfactory to them, as they were no longer exposed to the
vexations of an intermediate possessor, and, in many instances,
their rents to their landlord were less than they had been accus-
tomed to pay to those from whom they had hitherto held their
houses. Since they have been placed in this situation, greater
attention has been necessarily paid to their conduct and cha-
racter, as well as to their wants. As they know that their
good conduct will now be noticed by, and meet with the ap-
probation of, their landlord, a considerable improvement in
their habits has taken place. There can be no doubt but that
these important and necessary arrangements were far from
being agreeable to those who sulfered from them. In alter-
ing such a system, not only was the direct interest of the exist-
ing middlemen affected, but also the expe<-tant interests and
influence of many who conterni>lated the chance of one day
benefiting from their favour. These were not few, and it did
not always happen that the person who expressed his dissatis-
faction loudest, was the one most likely to succeed in his wishes ;
and in proportion as this object was near its completion, was
the vexation and discontent of those who were disappointed.
To the larger farms some of these cottages have been added,
to enable the occupier to put into them married farm-servants,
who have thus a great inducement to behave honestly and in-
dustriously, and to attend with good will and zeal to the inter-
est and the business of their master. It is by giving such
inducements as this, and by making them feel an interest in
acting right, that this most invaluable class of labourers can
alone be maintained and supported.
Wkttt hat been done by the proprietor, lias been rvcll seconded by
the exertitms of his tenants. A more respectable and enterpris-
ing body of men do not exist ; and, while they are in a better
situation of life than a great body of this class, they have not
allowed themselves to forget, that it is by a constant attention
to their business, by their keeping in the line of life to which
they belong, and never attempting to commit the manage-
ment of their affairs to bailiffs, that they have gone on steadily
improving and bettering their condition. In the knowledge
of stock, in their capacity as excellent market-men, in the man-
agement of their grass land, and in the cultivation of and in
cleaning their lighter soils, they are surpassed by no farmers
in the kingdom. The rotation they follow is the Norfolk hus-
bandry; and in the cleanness of their crops, and the excellence
of thfir drill turnips, they cannot be surpassed. The breadth
of turnip annually sown is very great, and the rapidity with
which they have adopted the drill system of husbandry is as
credit ible to them as it is satisfactory" in the result.
Except ploHf^hing niith too many horses, and not being suffi-
ciently active m getting in their harvest, they have fewer prac-
tices to abandon, and there are fewer things which they have
to adopt from any other of the well cultivated districts of the
island, than is generally the case. Every means has been used
to explain to them the advantages of ploughing with fewer
horses; and there is every reason to expect that their good
sense will soon see the projiriely of these suggestions, as many
of them have already adopted this system. The fact is, that
the difficulty consists in being able to persuade the ploughmen
to adopt it as the laboujr of holding the plough is more severe :
it is impossible for one or two individuals to contend success-
fully against the feelings of a country ; but when undertaken
by so numerous and wealthy a tenantry, supported by the
influence of the landlord, these feehngs must speedily give
way.
This mode of ploughing hai made rapid progress at Trentham.
The reason of which is, that it is more generally admitted, that
this system is calculated to suit the stiff better than the lighter
soils, inasmuch as two ploughs, drawn by two horses abreast,
do much more work than a double plough, drawn by four
horses, can do in such soil : the superiority of the work, also,
is very conspicuous. On the other hand it is argued, and with
some apparent force, that on liKht soils the double plough,
drawn by four horses, and guided by one man, can do as much
work as two ploughs drawn by two horses each, and guided by
trvo men. In this way the labour of one man is saved. It
must be admitted that the argument would be in favour of the
double plough, were it not that the work it performs is neither
so neat, so perfect, nor can it plough so deep as is done by the
two-horse system. It is remarkable that this mode of plough-
ing with two horses should be confined to the eastern parts of
England, from which it was adopted, at no very distant period,
in Scotland, where the ploughing with a number of horses
yoked alomj with oxen existed to an extent never practised in
any part of this country.
In order to encourage these men to make this change, an
annual ploughing-match has been instituted, at which prizes are
distributed to the best ploughmen. The eflfect this has already
had is very considerable ; and at the exhibition in October
1S14, no fewer than fifty ploughs started for the premiums.
The progress of such a system must Iw also slow ; as it cannot
be expected that the tenants should at once lay aside all their
old miplements, and purchase new. The difficulty of procur-
ing Eood ploughs ojierated much against the adoption of this
mo<le of ploughing. In removing this inconvenience, there
has been established, both in Shroi)shire and in Staffordshire,
a manufactory for the construction of the more improved im-
pleinenU of modem husbar.drv: and it is strongly recom-
mended to the persons who have been thus established, that
tliey should take their apprentices entirely from the lads of
the country.
It is in the management cf their stijf lands that tenants are
most defective. Of late, however, they have made so great ex-
ertions in draining their lands, that it is hoped they are begin-
ning to adopt a l)etter system. The defect of their manage-
ment consists in their ploughing very shallow ; the effect of
which is, that the depth of soil is not sufficient to protect the
roots of the plant from being chilled with the cold and wet
(which is upheld by the impervious nature of the subsoil), when
the ground is wet, and exposes it to the too rapid action of the
drought when the weather is dry. To plough deeper is, there-
fore, the first, the most simple, and the most important im-
provement which can be adopted in these soils.
Thev also, until lately, hurt these colil lands by making use of a
large quantity of a bad sort of red clay marl, which they dug out
of every field. The effect produced was, to increase the tena-
city of the soil, and to render it still less fit for the purposes of
agriculture. Of this fact, all the intelligent part of the tenants
are themselves convinced, though some of those who are still
wedded to their old customs, lament the regulation which
prohibits them from using this article. Vn those farms where
the inclosures have been entirely renewed, and where, in con-
sequence, a portion of several of the ancient inclosures have
been thrown into one close, the bad effects of thi« system of
marling is perceived in a remarkable degree, and a distinct
line in the appearance of the crop, points out with precision
the land which had been formerly so treated, from that which
h 'd not. The consequence of this prohibition has been, that
the tenants have applied themselves much more to the use of
lime as a stimulant, which has repaid them, as might have
been exjiected. It has also put a stop to the rapid deterior-
ation of property, which was occasioned by the digging of the
pits, which every where disfigure and destroy a considerable
portion of the farms of this district.
To level down these marl-pits, and to render them again Jil for
the purposes of husbandry, has been an object of great attention.
In this way there was applied the labour of a great propurtion
of the parishioners, to wliom, from time to time, employment
had been afforded, in those years when the circumstances of
the country renderetl such an exertion of the landlord's bounty
necessary. This was more particularly the case in 1817; in
which year a vast body of men was employed on each of the
Marquess's estates.
In another particular, the manngemeitl of the stiff' soils might
be considerably amended ; which is, in the mode otworking the
fallows, whicn are left too generally to grow full of weeds, in
place of being cleaned as they ought to be. The muck, also,
IS laid on at an improper season of^the year, by which its good
effects rather go to encourage the growth of weeds, than to
improve the crop. At Trentham, the strong soils are of a far
superior quality, fit in every respect for the most improved
system of wheat and bean husbandry. But the lands were so
much subdivided, and the capital of a large proportion of the
tenants, until lately, was so inadequate to the right cultivation
of their land, that no improvement could take place or be
expected, and this estate remained stationary, amidst the
general progress which was so conspicuous in the other parts
of the county. These defects have been remedied in both
instances ; and the introduction of some skilful fanners from
Shropshire and Cheshire, at Trentham, has given rise to that
spirit of enterprise which at present characterises the tenants of
these estates, and which must prove so beneficial to the
country, by the additional surplus produce which will be
brought to market.
The rotation rvhich they follorved, on both estates of the stiff
soils, was, fallow, wheat, oats, clover. That is now altered,
by clover being substitutetl after the wheat ; and an attempt
has been made to induce them to try a six-shift course of hus-
bandry, by introducing beans into their rotation. Little pro-
gress, however, has as yet been made in this experiment.
To this they have considerable objection, which arises from the
defective mode of cultivating tlieir bean-crop. In the first
place, they are unwilling to sow them in drills. They are,
besides, longer in planting them, and allow them to stand later
in the year than they ought to do. The consequence is, that
their crop is often damaged, and tlie nutritious matter of tlie
bean-straw is entirely lost. They cannot be persuaded, there-
fore, that it forms an excellent and nourishing food for horses
and cattle ; and the complaint that they make of its being an
exhausting crop is quite correct, in consequence of their per»
miffing it to stand so long upon the grounci.
One improvement the tenants have paid much attention to,
and a more valuable one they could not adopt, which is the
construction qf niater-meadorvs. They have lost no opportunity
in, making use of whatever water they could obtain for this
purjiose. They were allowed the rough materials to construct
the ffood-gates, and the example was shown them as to what
could be done in this respect to a very great extent at Tren-
tham. The value of this improvement is well known to
every experienced agriculturist in England, and no opportu-
nity should be lost in taking advantage of every circumstance
to j)romote its adoption. There has been lately finished a new
water-meadow on the home farm at Trentliam, at the expense
of about twenty pounds an acre, which will now let for near
four pounds an acre, besides the advantage derived to the ad-
joining upland. This meadow was not worth ten shillings an
acre previous to such an improvement. It consists of a small
deep dingle, with steep banks, in which a copious spring rises
near the top : the up5)er part being formed into a fish-pool.
From this head the M'ater is conducted on the different levels
on each side, with the proper catch-water drains carrying the
water round the various knolls. The whole being adorned by
some fine trees, it forms for its extent a very perfect union of
useful and ornamental farming. It shows how much may be
made of such a piece of land, incapable of any other sort of
useful occupation.
Much money, horvevcr,in this neighbmirhood has been thronm
arvay by watering land which has not been previously tho-
roughly drained ; this latter improvement is the foundation of
all others. Another mistake has also been fallen into, by at-
tempting to convert into water-meadows peat soils, without
first bringing them to a proper state of consistency by means
of rej)eated heavy rollings and top-dressings. A proportion of
ten acres of water-meadow to every hundred Acres of pasture
or arable land, adds at least two shillings and sixpence an acre
1150
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
to the vahip of every acre of such a farm, in addition to a fair
rent beinij put ujion the meadow.
The attention arul injluence of Lord Stafford has been used in
■whatever way it could be employed beneficially in extending
the comfort or advancing the pood behaviour of his cottaijers ;
a conduct so characteristic of the great and wealthy proprietors
of these kingdoms, that it must ever distinguish them in the
history of human benevolence.
Schools, wherever they have been necessary, have been en-
couraged, either aiding them by subscription, or by granting
the accommodation of school-houses. Two Banks for Savings,
one at Lilleshall and another at Trentham, of which Lord
Stafford is the treasurer, have been established, and the whole
details are conducted by his managers, assisted by the parochial
clergymen and the principal tenantry, and their success among
the agricultural labourers has been very gratifying.
The charitiet of this family are worthy of aii English noble-
man ; and during the residence of the Marquess and Mar-
chioness at Traitham, there is distributed daily to every poor
object, who is travelling along the road, and who applies for
the same, a portion of good wholesome bread, in quantity
about fourteen ounces to each full-grown man, and less in
proportion to women and children, with a pint of good table-
beer. The number of people who received th's donafon in
18;9, amounted to 9504 men, 2376 women, and 1789 children,
consuming 1590 loaves, and HO."? gallons of beer. From this
charity are excepted all soldiers and sailors receiving the
King's pay, all persons residingwithin the parish of Trentham,
or in its immediate vicinity. Other distributions take place on
particular occasions ; for example, to those who reside in the
parish, annually on St. Thomas's day, there is a distribution
of a certain quantity of beef to the poor. During 1819, there
•were 12,785 quarts of rich soup, and above 8500 quarts of milk,
distributed within the parish, besides 14,134 quarts of milk
given away under the head of allowances. Such facts are
strongly illustrative of the beneficial effects derived to the poor
from tlie residence of the great families of England on their
r^ective estates.
"The foregoing statement would have been given with some
hesitation, had not the facts been of a nature rather to exhibit
and illustrate the character and extent of the charities distributed
by the /^reat families of England in general, than as being at all
peculiar to the instance to which the details belong ; and
these facts may help to explain to foreigners the nature of the
connection which exists between the richer and poorer cleisses
in this country .
The town of Lane. Etui, one of those which compose the
Staffordshire potteries, is partly situated on, and is jiartly
contiguous to the east end of the Trentham estate. The inha-
bitants being ill supplied with water, carried in barrels, they
petitioned to be provided with this necessary article, which re-
quest has been complied with ; and this town, jtfter a very
considerable outlay, now enjoys a regular supply of water, con-
veyed in iron pipes.
7797. WARWICKSHIRE. A surface of nearly 639,760 acres, mostly flat, but generally rich in soil and
beautiful in appearance. It is chiefly a corn county, and produces excellent wheat ; but also many fat
cattle, and formerly much cheese. There are no distinguished agriculturists in the county ; but it has
produced more good to agriculture than many others, by giving birth to Elkington, who gave rise to much
discussion on draining. {Hedge's Report, ll9i. Murra^s Ilepor 1,1808. Marshal's Review, \8\3. Edin.
Gaz. 1827.)
The character of t/ie numerous cottagers ujmn lite estates is
also an object of great solicitude, and without any interfer-
ence with the manner in which a man may choose to occupy
himself, their regular and decent behaviour is made the sub-
ject of care and attention ; and the steward has strict directions
to watch carefully over them, and where possil>le to promote
their improvement. Wherever a potato garden can with ad-
vantage be added to their cottage, that accommodation is
afforded them. In the vicinity of "Trentham the cottages are
of the best sort, and with their gardens kept in the nicest
order. To almost every one of them is attached land for the
maintenance of one or two cows. It is a circumstance worthy
of remark, that of all the labourers who possess a cow, none
receive relief from the poor's rate, except one widow at Tren-
tham, who has a large family, and even in this instance, the re-
lief she receives is in a less ratio than any person labouring under
similar difficulties. [Loch in 1819.)
11. Live Stock.
Cattle generally of the long-homed breed. The StafTord-
shire cow is generally considered a tolerable milker, as well as
feeder.
Sheep. Three sorts considered native breeds : the grey-faced
hornless, or Cannock heath sheep, with fine wool ; the black-
faced homed, with fine wool ; and the white-facetl hornless,
with long wool.
Srvine. A cross between the slouched -eared and dwarf
breeds ; require little attention or feeding, and easily get fat on
the refuse of the dairy or barn. Pitt, the reporter, had a very
fine sow, which littered ten at the first litter.
Habits. "Wild in the sandy lands. A good many bees kept ;
Thorley's plan tried, but bees are found to succeed best hi
straw fiives thatched in autumn. " Those which have not
raised a sufficiencv of foo<l for winter, it is doubtless humanity
to destroy, as sudden suiibcation is better than a prolonged but
certain starvation."
12. Political Economy.
Roads now generally good ; numerous canals; several pri-
vate rail-roads. Manufactures, iron, hardware, nails, glass,
toys, japanned goods, potters' ware, cotton cloth, silk fabrics,
leather, woollen, linen, and many others. Manufactures some-
times carried on in the country in straggling groups of houses,
but for the most part in towns. Many thousands both of men
and women employed in makir\^ nails. An agricultural society
at Newcastle, and another at Litchfield.
Experimental Farming. " It would be a wholesome plan for
the Board to commence farming upon their own ideas, parti-
cularlv in counties where the modes of agriculture seem impro-
per ; for instance, Lancashire, Westmoreland, Cumberland,
Northumberland, &c. ; by which ocular demonstration their
plan might be imitated ; for hearing or reading of any particu-
lar practice will not do for farmers in general."
reporter's opinion, in ours a most erroneous one.
Such is the
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate, mild and healthy. S. W. the prevailing winds :
effects of an easterly variation felt till the middle of May,
and vegetation checked ; not, however, by excess of damp or
frost.
Soil, chiefly clay or sand, marl, and limestone. The portion
of sandy or moorish soil very small. The tract of land called
the county of Coventry is a rich, red, sandy loam, chiefly in
grass. The land near Birmingham is generally either sand or
stiflTclay.
Minerals, coal, limestone, freestone, iron, blue flagstone,
marl, blue clay, and soapy clay, which the late Earl of Warwick
attempted to prepare for" sale as a soap.
2. Property.
Largest estate Stoneleigh, Chandos Leigh, Esq., 25,000
acres ; but a great variety of extent, and some curious and ab-
surd tenures.
.'5. Buildings.
Warwick Castle and Ragley first-rate edifices. Old farm-
houses built of mud and timber, and frequently at the extre-
mity of the farms. The Duke of Buccleugh, at Dunchurch,
has constructed some good farmeries.
4. Occupation.
Farms from 80 to 500 acres ; 150 the average size ; on the
increase. Farmers in general exceedingly shy and jealous ; one,
considered as at the head of his profession, told Murray
" he did not see any advantage the county of Warwick would
derive from such a survey ; that it must do a great deal of hurt
instead of good ; and that such being his opinion, he declined
giving any information on the different heads of queries put to
him." Lands generally held at will, but very low rental.
Cheap farms, in general, area drawback on industry and im-
provements : farmers that have cheap farms may farm well ;
out those that have dear farms must farm well, or their career
will soon terminate.
5. Jmplements.
Ploughs the double and single Rotherham with wheels, the
double drawn by five or six horses In a line, the single plough
by thrf* and four, or five horses in a line, and in both cases with
a driver. Small's plough, with two horses abreast, and no
driver, the reporter remarks, would make better work, and do
more of it. Some winnowing and threshing machines in use
by proprietors.
6. Tillage.
Large crooked ridges gathered very high with a small one
l>etween ; go only one yoking per day throughout the year.
Fallowing general, and then two white crops.
7. Grass.
235,000 acres in meadows and pastures, and 60,000 in arti-
ficial herbage. Formerly dairying common, and Warwick-
shire cheeses produced in abundance ; but now breeding is
fast assuming its place. Old pastures overrun with ant-hills
and rubbish. Murray very prophetically observes, that if
j)eace were to take place, grass lands would be safer for the
farmer than corn lands. Dairying and feeding both in practice.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
The gardens of the Marquis of Hertford, at Ragley, noted
for their pine apples ; few sale orchards of any extent.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Oak and elm every where abounds ; the Leigh estate the
best wooded, but every where abundance of timber
10. Improvements.
Much draining done in the northern part of the county ; but
it is rather singular that the names of Farelev, Elkington, or
their farms, are not once mentioned in Murray's report.
Joseph Elkington lived at Princethorp, in Stretton on Duns-
moor, six miles S. W. of Coventry, and afterwards in Birming-
ham. He died in 1800. He was a mere empiric practitioner,
and knew nothing of geology, the only foundation fbr drain-
ing on scientific principles ; "less even than some of his con.
temporaries, as Farey has ably shown in the Derbj-shire report.
Irrigation practised in a few places on a small scale.
11. Live Stock.
No particular breed of cattle ; but as feeding is the prevailing
practice, farmers buy in whatever breed they think will pay
them best.
Sheep a good deal attended to; the large-polled sheep, or
ancient Warwickshire, now generally mixed with other breeds.
The first cross of a Leicestershire ram and Warwickshire ewe
produces the best sheep for the butcher.
Horses, the heavy black Leicestershire breed ; a good many
bred, of cart, coach, riding, and hunting horses.
Poultry abounds, owing to the prevalence of small farms;
great quantities sent to Birmingham and I-/Ondon.
Gayne, as pheasants, partridges, and hares, more than com-
monly abundant.
12. Political Economy.
Roads tolerablv good ; several canals ; irmumerable manu-
factures, especially at Birmingham, for iron, and others of the
metal kind, and Coventry for r'bands.
13. Means of Improvement.
Leases ; a more economical mode of labouring ; draining ;
drilled root, and herbage crops, and better rotations.
7798. LEICESTERSHIRE. 522,240 acres of gently varied surface and fertile soil ; distinguished for
its pastures, and for the progress that has been made in the improvement of cattle and sheep. It is tne
county of Bakewell, whose name will ever stand at the head of breeding farmers. {Monk s Report, 1794.
Pitt's Report, 1809. Marshal's Review, 1813. Smith's Geological Map, 1821.)
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF LEICESTERSHIRE.
1151
• 1. Geographical State and Circuinstances.
Climate mild and temperate ; no mountains or bogs to pro-
duce a cold or moist atmosphere.
Soil ; no stiff" chiy or sand, no chalk ; the peat bogs which
existed have been long since drained, and btcome meadow soil ;
clayey loam, sandv loam, and meadow, compose tl;e soil of the
county. Dishley farm, so well known, consists of a mild friable
loam, of a good depth, on a clay or marl bottom.
Minerals; coal, lime, lead, iron, s!a;e, and freestone; all
Worked. A mineralspring at Burton Lazars.
2. Property.
Estates generally large ; that of the Duke of Rutland has
been much improved, and always managed in the most liberal
and lienevolent manner.
3. Buildings.
Many very magnificent, as Belvoir Castle, Donnington Priory,
i&c. Farm-houses not built since the commencement of this
century are of very inferior construction ; timber and plaster
covered with thatch. In general, the modem enclosed parishes
have the worst fatm-houses, they being almost always cooped
up in the villages ; in the more ancient inclosures, farm-houses
have been erected in the midst of the occupations, and built
with better materials. Dishley farm-house is of ancient con-
struction, and has probably been built at different times,
whence it wants regularity and compactness ; it has, however,
taken altogether, a style of pastoral simjjlicity, united with
neatness, and exhibits a specimen of that judgment and t.iste
which joins convenience with economy, so far as it can be at-
tained without regular design ; the out-buildings too seem to
have been put up at separate times, as wanted ; the yards and
pavements are remarkable for neat cleanliness, and the whole
Farm business for being conducted with good order and system.
The houses of other principal breeders are comfortable and
substantial, and of course fitted up in a style suitable to the
taste and situation in life of the occupier.
Cottages generally in villages, and formed of mud %valls and
thatch ; a few good new ones of brick and native slate.
4. Occupation.
Farms of all sizes : a great many from 80 to 100 acres, on
•whirh tha farmers work with their own hands ; near market-
towns, many under 100 acres, occupitd bv tradesmen and ma-
nufacturers ; general size, 100 to aOO acres; and those of the
principal breeders, from 200 to 600 acres. Land chiefly in
pasture for sheep, the dairy feeding cattle, breeding horses, and
hay for winter use : dairj- farms have also sufficient arable land
to produce straw and turnips for their own use ; the most in-
ferior soils in aration. The Duke of Rutland has 2000 acres
In hand, including the park, woods, gardens, &c. At Don-
nington, Lord Moira had 370 acres, under a Northumbrian
bailiff', besides the park of 450 acres. Dishley Farm, near
Loughborough, in the occupation of the family of ihe Bakewells
for three generations, and now of Robert Honeyboume, nephew
to the last Robert Bakewell, who died a bachelor, contains
between 400 and 500 acres.
Irrigatum is judiciously practised, and the culture of the
arable uplands has been long conducted on so correct a sys-
tem that few weeds now come up; the most troublesome is
chickweed . Heifers of three or four years old draw in the cart
or plough; three of them form a team, and work nine hours a
day. tarmers in general intelligent. Leases not universal.
5. Implements.
Plough with two wheels, and drawn by three, four, or five
horses, or cattle in a line walking in the furrow. Thirty vears
ago, wheels were first applied to the fore end of the beamj and
it was found that fiy pitching the ploughs a little deeper, and
setting the wheels so as to prevent its clrawing in too deep, the
wheels were a sufficient guide, and the plough nquited no one
to hold it, except in places of difficulty ; one person attending
was theiefore sufficient to drive on the tear.', turn tl.e plough
in and out at the ends, or guide it in particular hard or soft
places. Soon after another furrow was added, by slipping an
additional beam to the off side of the former one, somewhat
lengthened, with foot-share and shelboard; the same number
of wheels, viz. one on each side, guiding the two furrows.
Among the uncommon implements may be included, a rack
and manger for four colts on wheels, to be drawn from one
pasture to another. It is square in the plan, and therefore each
colt has a side to itself, and cannot kick or bite at the others ;
a break for shoeing oxen ; a fastening for ewes, to lessen the
fatigue of the ram during copulation ; and also several ploughs,
rakes, &c. the invention of Ifanford and Co. at Haihern, near
Leicester.
6. Arable Land.
Many farms have none. Drilling com crops principally in-
troduced; but not for turnips, even at Dishley; thought to
lose ground ; cabbages and rape a good deal cultivated on the
soils too strong for turnips.
7. Grass.
Excellent meadows on the rivers and rills ; fertilised by in-
undations; upland pastures sometimes manured. Stilton
cheese made in most villages about Melton Mowbray. On
the Trent, considerable patches of reed, which pay as well as
the best meadow land.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
Gardens much wanted to cottages ; orchards rather neglect-
ed, though the soil is in many places weU adapted for them.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Few, excepting about gentlemen's seats, and in the hedge-
rows. Willows, as pollards, grown on Dishley and other farms,
to supply stuff for hurdles, rails, and gates.
10. Improvemertts.
Elkington was a good deal employed by the proprietors. Ir-
rmation more extensively practised in this county than in most
others.
11. Live Stock.
Cattle, the long-homed breed. What was the particular
■breed of cattle in I^icestershire before the middle of the last
century, about which time Bakewell began his exertions, it is
difficult to determine ; perhaps there was not any distinct
breed, with particular specific characters, whereby they might
be distinguished ; although there were always great numbers
bred, yet the produce was never equal to the supply of the
county : there always was, and still is, an Influx from Ireland,
AV'ales, Scotland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire,
Northumberland, and Lancashire ; the latter of which were
most probably the stock from which Bakewell began his
breed: His first best cows, it is believed, were artfully obtained
from Webster of Can ley, in Warwickshire ; and his famous
bull. Twopenny, was bred from one of these cows, or from one
procured fiom Phillips of (Harrington, and a bull from North-
umberland. From these beginnings, with great judgment
and attention, in a short time he reared some beautiful cattle ;
they were long and fine in the hom, had small heads, clean
throats, straight backs, wide quarters, and were light in their
bellies and offals ; they were gentle and quiet in their tempers ;
they grew fat with a small proportion of food, but gave less
milk than some other breeds. Some years ago, Bakewell put
three new-milched cows in three separate stalls, a Holdemess,
a Scotch, and one of his own breed; the Holdemess ate most
food, and gave much the greatest quantity of milk ; the Scotch
ate less food, and gave less milk, but produced most butter ;
his own cow ate least food, gave the least milk, and made the
least butter, but laid on the most flesh : hence it will follow
that the Dishley cattle are most adapted for the grazier, and
the produce of beef. No man, perhaps, ever made more com-
parisons between the difTerent breeds of c;ittle than Bakewell,
and no one that was able to tell so much has told us so little
about them. Many capita! herds of cattle in the county, and
a number of dairies, from which great quantities of cheese is
sent to market.
Sheep. The present stock consists of three varieties, the old
and new Leicester, and the forest she p. The old breed, which
is spread over Northamptonshire, Warwick, and Ijncolnshire,
are an improvement on the ancient stock of the common fields.
The new breed Bakewell produced by breeding from selected
sheep from his neighbours' flocks, or those of the Gibbers. A
ram society was formed by Bakewell and others, and still
exists, the object of which was a monojioly of ram-letiing. The
late Bakewell bound himself, and his successor, Honeyboume,
binds himself, not to engage nor show his rams to any person
till the members of the society have seen them and are sup-
plied, and not to let a ram to any person within fifty miles of
Leicester, for a less sum than fifty guineas, for which, and
other privileges, the society pay a large annual sum ; and
Honeyboume, and the other members of the society, con-
fine themselves not to sell, nor to lety their ewes at any
price, nor to show their rams at any public fair, nor at any
other place than their own houses, and that only at stated
times, from the 8th of June to the 8th of July, and again
from the 8th of September till the end of the season ; with
several other regulations of a similar tendency.
Ram-letting alone has produced to Bakewell .1000/. in one
year. The greatest prices were paid about 17S9 ; since that
time they have decliner ; still, about 1807, from sixty to one
hundred guineas have been given for the use of a ram for one
season. Much curious information on this subject will be
found in the report.
FoliHng is not practised.
Fatting is practised as usual with grass, and in winter and
spring with artificial food. Bakewell frequently fattene<l sheep
in stalls; in three days they were reconciled to their confine-
ment, and began to feed. " Further than this,'' the reporter's
informant, Bakewell's successor, " knows not, or is not inclined
to communicate."
The forest sheep are confined to Charrwood : they are grey-
faced, and partially homed, but now almost extinct.
Horses have been bred in Leicestershire from time imme-
morial, and the breed considered superior. Bakewell went
through Holland and Flanders and purchased some Friesland
mares, which excelled in those points wherein he thought his
own horses defective, from whicTi, with great labour, expense,
and judgment, he produced some capital horses, and in par-
ticular, his famous horse Gee, the noblest, and most complete
and beautiful, creature of the kind that had been seen in
Europe. How far his elegant points were adapted for the
labour that horses of this sort are principally designed to per-
form, is a question, perhaps, undetermined ; be this as it may,
beyond all controversy he was strong and handsome, and com-
manded the admiration of all who saw him ; for a time he was
the first subject of conversation, and almost the wonder of the
day ; he was taken to Tattersall's, and shown there to the
nobility and gentry, with great approbation ; and Bakewell
had the honour ot showing him personally to Geo. 1 II. ; he
is said to have been very quiet and docile, and Bakewell, in de-
scribing his points, invited his majesty to touch him, which
was declined. He was killed by lightning, in his pasture.
The present horse-system at Dishley is this :— Three or four very
capital black stallions are constantly kept ; these are occasion-
ally worked, and are always rendered docile enough for that
purpose, if wanted ; those kept at home cover at two guineas
the mare, and those let out never at less than one guinea.
Eight or ten brood mares, of the same stout black breed, arc
also kept, but no geldings ; these do all the farming work of
between 400 and 500 acres, with occasional assistance from the
stallions, as well as from bullocks and heifers ; of the mares, all
that are fit are put to the horse, of which three are reckoned
upon the average to rear two foals, allowing one in three for
casualties.
Asses used in many parts of the county for carrying burdens,
and lately introduced as farmer's stock ; esi)ecially for clearing
green crops from clayey soils, in wet weather, their step being
light. The tumip panniers open at bottom, to let out the load.
Lord Moira had Spanish stallion asses, fourteen hands high,
which he let out to cover at two guineas a mare.
Mutes have long been in use for the saddle, road-work, and
the plough.
Hogs greatly improved by various breeds. Honeyboume's
seem to have a cross of the wild boar. Astlej's is between the
Chinese and Berkshire. At Donnington is a German boar, the
bacon from whose progeny is of extraordinary sweetness and
good flavour.
Bees attended to, but not so much as they deserve.
12. Political Economy.
The roads in the north-west of the county, in the nagnbour.
hood of Loughborough and Ashby, are many of them laid out
upon the concave system. „ . t -^
Biikewell and others were advocatvs for this system ; but it
does not appear that they are considered to be attended with
152
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
anv advantaaes bv those who live beside them, and constantly
use them. Various railways and canals. Manufactures, wool-
combing, woollen yarn, worsted, and especially worsted stock-
inp; also cotton-works, hats, patent net -lace for veik, &c.
The Leicestershire and Rutlandshire agricultur4l society esta-
eat from the crib, it is turned half round for them to tread and
dung, &c. in the opposite direction. {Jig. 1004 .) Tumip-slicers,
cliatf-cutters, bruisers, slate cisterns'as milk vessels. Sec.
1004
7799. DERB\ SHIRE. A mountainous and hilly surface of 622,080 acres of great variety of soils, but
more remarkable for, its mining and manufacturing productions than its agriculture. It is, however, at
the same time both a corn and pasture county, and noted for its cheese ; it is every where full of ingenuity
and interest ; and the Report by Farey, in three volumes, is one of the most interesting and valuable of
the county reports : it is an example of extraordinary industry, research, and excellent general views,
and will be read with great profit by every class of readers. Farey, indeed, was a philosopher ahead of
the age in which he lived. {Brown's Derbyshire, 1794. Farey's Agricultural and Mineral Survey,
3 vols. 1811 to 1815. Marshal's Rev. 1812.) " ' :f a if,
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate. Cold on the hills, but mild in the plains ; in the vales
hoar frosts often injurious ; no prevailing winds ; rain about
twenty-eight inches per annum.
Soil very various, chiefly calcareous.
Minerals. Lead and iron those chiefly worked ; also some
line, calamine, black jack, manganese, sulphur, &c. ; coal,
lime, alabaster, slate, freestone, paving stone, rolling, grinding,
scythe, and cutlers' stones, and a variety of others, both for use
and ornament, as spar, &c. Clay in some districts, as at Over-
inoor, is bum«l by S]iadefuls, dried, and mixed with small coals
in heaps, for the roads. K. M. Mundav, Esq. of Shiplev, formed
his private roads of a sort of bricks, made without tlie corners
to avoid the duty.
• Water. VVheii scarce, drinking ponds made by puddling and
paring in the (iloucestershire manner. An artificial pond di«-
coverwl in 1808, concealed under peat, the head of which was
I>uddled in the centre : a proof that puddling is no new art.
Stone cisterns, placed in the lines of neatly cut thorn hedges,
serve to supply two fields : the water brought to them in thin
rinc pipes, as being cheaper, and perhaps more durable than
lead.
2. Estates.
Of various sizes as in other counties ; managed by attorneys,
at a low salary, who make it up by law business, and otlier-
wise.
3. Buildings.
Chatsworth, Keddlestone, and some other noble stone man-
sions in this county ; some good houses, covered with cement
(known in London as Atkinson's), made from clay stones found
on Lord Mulgrave's estates in Yorkshire, and which Farey con-
siders as superior to that made from the clajlialls of the London
clay stratum. Grottos frequent, fitted up with the spar of the
county. At Ashover a frize of a chimney-piece, representing a
section of the strata taken across the parish. At Chatsworth,
and various places, the spits in the kitchens turned by water-
wheels, of the overshot kind, supplied by small lead pipes. Hair
lines, in covered boxes, placed on drying parts, and the lines
wound and unwound by a handle, for drying clothes. At several
houses foot lath-wheels, turning spindles, on which were other
wheels, dressed with emery for cleaning knives; also brush
spindles for boots and shoes, as at the Angel Inn, Oxford ; boot-
rack, in which boots are reversed on upright pins and taken off
by a stick, which prevents dust settling inside the boot.
Farm-houses as m other counties ; a few good ones recently
erected. One of the most complete farmeries is that of the
Earl of Chesterfield, at Bretby Park ; it is of hewn stone, slated,
and combines a general farm-yard, dairy court, and twopoultry
courts, including pheasantries. Buildings in general roofed
with grey stone or other slate ; water, in some cases, conduc>e<l
down from gutters by a light wooden rod, down which the
>vater runs as well as if it were in a spout or tube, and not
blown about by the winds, as it would if no rod were there.
Fire-proof floors made by arching them with hollow bricks ;
in the cottages, cast-iron ovens by the sides of the fires very
fc ■ ...
common, and also iron cisterns for hot water ; both these
Cottnges better than in most other counties ; some good ones
erected by the principal manufacturers and noblemen. \'irgin's
bosver, or other beautiful flowering creepers, and shrubs, and
plants, are not uncommon at the cottage dcors in this county,
among other indications of their attention to neatness and of
their comforts, compared with the inhabitants of the miserable
huts in many other districts.
4. Occupation.
■ Farms generally of small size ; farmers rank higher in intel-
ligence than those of most southern counties ; nothing but
leases and larger occupations wanting to render this one of the
most improved counties of England. Best farmers also at
same time manufacturers or miners.
5. Implements.
Swing ploughs and pair ; one-horse carts ; good harrows
IJig.lOOj.) ; weeding scissars, for clipping off weeds among com
1003
close, or rather under ground ; weeding pmcers ; threshing-
machines ; cast-iron rick staiul^; cattle cribs mounted on
))osts, which turn round on a pin, so that when the cattle hnve
Well trodden the litter on the two opiKjjite sides, in standing to
6. Enclosures.
In setting out fences, less attention paid to separating the
different kinds of soils than is requisite ; walls fre<]uent ; and
holes often made in them for passing sheep; to be closed when
not wanted by a flat stone; slacked lime plastered on the face
of a newly planted hedge (as clay is in Norfolk), to prevent the
weeds from rising. Young thorn hedges, with a northern
aspect, do best, as the morning sun in spring injures the bud of
those facing the south when previously covered with frost.
Roots of thorns, sometimes planted as sets with success ; old
thorn-hedges effectually renewed by cutting off the shoots
below the surface of the ground ; the roots then throw up
vigorous shoou. Neatly dipt hedges at Ashbourne. Magne-
sian, limestone, and marly soils found to suit the holly better
than any other.
7. Arable Land.
Only one fifth of the county in aration ; formerly six horses
were generally employed in ploughing, now only two ; turnips
drilled in the Northumlierland manner in various places; some
wheat dibbled ; oats a good de^l cultivated, and oat-cakes or
Haver (Ger.) cake made, by pouring sour dough on a hot stone :
a sprinkling of pars'ej- sown with clover to prevent cattle hov-
ing ; sides of oat ricks tucked in with a spade, to leave no loose
straws for sparrows to rest on.
CItamomile " is cultivated to a very considerable extent on the
limestone and cdal strata near Ashover;" the flowers are
picked by chi'dren, dried first in the shade and then on a
malt-kiln, afterwards packed tight into bags, and sent to the
London druggists ; the crop stands tliree years, and then gets
weedy and declines."
Wmtd cultivated on a small scale.
Widinv-rvort (Genista tinct6r;a) infests old pastures, and is
pulled when in flower, and dried and sold to the dvers.
Yarrmv (y4chill6rt Jtf illefolium) is in some places also taken
up, tied in bunches, and dried for the dyers.
Valerian {Valeriana officmklSs^ is grown at Ashover, and also
elecampane (i'nula Hel^nium), lavender, peppermint, and
rhubarb, on a small scale, in one or two places.
Truffles (Tiiber cibarium) collected in various places, espe-
cially undsr the shade of the beech trees, and on dry hedge ton ks.
Roses formerly cultivated for tlie flowers, but not at present.
8. Grass.
Three fifths of the county under permanent grasses (though
it appears by the marks of ridges to have been formerly every
where arable), and the application chiefly cheeseniaking.
Droppings of cattle and horses on pastures spread by rakes,which
injure the grass less than any other implement. Fern and other
weeds collected from wastes, and dried and burned, and
their ashes made into balls, and laid a.side, to be used as ley for
washing. This practice declines with the frequency of enclo-
sures. When worms are engaged forming worm-casts in
fields, scatter barley chaff, fresh and dry from the winnowing
machine, which, sticking to the worms when they come out,
prick them, and prevent their return to their holes, till rooks,
&c. devour them.
9. Gardens and Orchards.
Good market-gardens at all the principal towns, and few of
the farm-houses and cottages without gardens. " Samuel
Oldknow, Esq. of Mellor keeps a professed gardener, on three
acres of rich sheltered land, by the river Goyte, on the Cheshire
side of it, who cultivates, gathers, prepares, and delivers all
the useful vegetables and common garden fruits in season to
his cotton mill work-people and tenants, and renders an account
once a fortnight to the mill-agent, who deducts what they
have purchased from the garden from their several wages ;
the perfection and utility of his arrangement for these purposes
cannot but prove highly gratifying to those who wish to see the
labouring classes well and comfortably provided for from the
fruits of their industry. Proper rooms, for drying, cleaning,
and preserving garden-seeds and fruits, and his wool-chamber
and other like offices, are attached to the gardener's house, and
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF DERBYSHIRE.
1153
the wood penetrated an inch or
iron spout (j
placed under his care." A most productive garden at Belner,
on a very poor soil, hut irrigated in winter troni a cesspool, in
which centres the liquid manure of lifty cottages, belonging to
Messrs. Strutt's cotton mills.
Orchards seldom planted, though tlie soil is well adapted for
them in many places.
10. Woods and Plantations
A good many coppices, the produce of which is much in
demand both for mining and agricultural purposes. Sir Joseph
Banks, at Ashover, has planted some exposed sites in a new
manner : first planting narrow slips of bcotch fir at the dis-
tance of 100 yards, then intersecting them by others, so as to
leave the surface checkered ; after the Scotch firs are grown a
few years, it is the intention to fill the intervening patches with
.arches, at such a distance as that thev will never require anv
thinning. This plan, as Farey justly hints, is more ingenious
or fanciful than likely to be useful ; the mixture of the larch
and Scotch firs, with a proper attention to thinning, would lie
a more effectual, speedy, and economical mode of producing
timber. Some judicious observations on pruning trees, and the
propriety of Fontey's mode, pointe<l out by various examples.
Hedge row trees, sparingly introduced and well trained, are
noarly all that fertile agricultural land ought to contribute to the
national stock of timber. Key-bearing ash trees, or any forest tree
much given to bearing seeds, no longer increases much in tim-
ber, and therefore ought to be cut down ; hence male ashes ])re-
fcrable to females, or such as have both male and female flowers
on the same tree. The use of the spray and buds of the oak
as bark recommended, as practised in Cheshire and South
Wales; when collected, they should be immediately sent to a
mill and crushed. A most complete seasoning kiln for timber at
Helper. Timber often sold by tidket sale, — thus described : the
vender meets the proposetl purchasers, writes his price in an
envelope, and puts it in a g'ass ; the oiVerers do the same ; the
vender opens the envelopes, and if any price comes up to his,
then he accepts it, if not, the processes three times repeated,
and then the vender must show his price, if none has come up,
but not if any one has gone beyond it. In felling trees with an
axe.cutrfisAin^', if young shoots are expected to succeed, as the
sooner the centre rots thebetter the wavers thrive. Larch trees
bear neglect better than any others, as they never produce
timber boughs.
Birch wine has been made from an open grove of about 100
birch trees, near Overton Hall, for sixty or seventy years past.
Thirty trees or more are tapped in a season, about six or eight
inches above the ground, ill March. A piece ofbark, about three
auarters of an inch in diameter, is cut out with a gouge, and
-.-■-. • (Ji^.l005.a).
1005
is then driven into the bark below the hole, which conducts the
sap a bottle (c). In warm weather the holes soon grow up,
and will cease to run in four or five days ; but in windy weather
they will run for a month. Some trees will run twenty-four
gallons in twenty-four hours, others not half a pint. The
water is sold at sixpence a gallon, to those who make small
wine as a substitute for small beer. If the water is scalded
(not boiled), it may be kept a month before it is made into
wine ; if not, it will not keep above a day or t«o. For making
the wine, two pounds of coarse sugar, and a quarter of a pound
of Malaga raisins, are added to every gallon of birch water,
when cold : it is then boiled about an hour, until it is observed
to grow clearer, when it is set to cool ; and when about at the
same heat that beer is set to work, a toast of bread, spread
with yeast, is put into it, and for four days suffered to work
freelv", when it is barrelled, and the same quantity of raisins as
before, and about an ounce of isinglass to every twenty gallons
is added. It seldom works out of the barrel, and in two or
^ter it is fit for drinking, but is the better for keeping longer.
11. Improvement.
Magnesian or hot lime very thinly spread has its inimical
projierlies ; and it would seem such limes may be used where
a stimulant rather thari an addition of calcareous earth is
required. Lime over-burned melts and runs together, will not
slack, and becomes nseless ; the consequence of too strong a fire
being applied to magnesian limes more especially. Might
not the dried mud of limestone roads be used instead of
lime y Many bone mills in use : they are composed of
ratchet-like iron wheels and rollers, between which the back-
bon.* of horses, with their adhering ribs, pass with facility, and
are crushed into small pieces ; the bones collected in London,
from the churchyards and other sources ; seven quarters dress
an acre. Coal ashes almost entirely neglected, though a valu-
able manure. Importance in di-aining of bearing in mind the
difference between surface and spring draining, and bog and
upland draining.
12. Livestock.
Cow stock for the dairy the prevalent stock in Derbyshire ;
no particular breed ; noticed nine breeds and nine crosses of
these. Many consider that ratlier poor land makes the best
cheese, and old sward more and better than artificial grasses.
In some cases some slacked and powdered lime strewed on the
willow trees within the reach of cows, to prevent their eating
them, and tasting the butter. Milk set to raise its cream ui
yellow dishes, with lips ; in some places in slate troughs ; car-
ried home in suspended tubs. (fif;. 1006.)
Sheep. Ten diffferent breeds, and seven crosses of these and
others ; wool chambers generally form a part of the accommo-
dations of the farmeries.
Hintei. Those of Derbyshire ranked next to those of
Leictstersljire, for being stout, bony, and clean-legged.
006
Asses in considerable number \ised by the smaller manufac-
turers, and in the coal-works, potteries, &c. ; also on the iron
railways.
Swine. The Earl of Chesterfield supplies his table with
delicious sucking iiigs, of a fortnif;ht old, from his Otaheite
sow ; plan of shaving off the gristly or homy projection of the
snout, to prevent digging, recommended. Tethering by the
neck also suggested for eating down sturdy herbage crops. A
pin and screw to be use<l like those for fixing down Salmon's
harmless man-trap. {Trans. Soc. Arts, vol. xxvii. p. 183.)
Poultry. The Earl of Chesterfield's poultry yards at Bretby,
perhaps as complete as any in the kingdom. Theroosting-
nouse is well contrived, with covered places for the ducks and
geese under the fowls, and the whole is constantly keptstrewe-d
with fresh saw -dust. The sitting-house, and which serves also
for laying, is furnished with flues, to preserve an equal temper-
ature in frosts. In the feeding-houses, the fronts, partitions,
and floors of the pens, are all of lattice-work, which readily
take out in order to wash them thoroughly ; shallow drawers
with fresh sawdust pass under each pen to catch the dung.
The fatting poultry are fed twice a day, and after each the
food is taken away, and the daylight excluded, for thetii to
rest and sleep.
A breed ot brown American tiirket/s at Brailsford ; they roost
upon trees or the high parts of buildings ; cocks weigh twenty
pounds when fat, but the hens much smaller.
Geese when let out have a stick about two feet long slung Ix;-
fore the breasts of the old ones, which is found to prevent
them creeping through hedges, &c. ; feed on Festiica fluffans,
&c. When waters are much impregnated with lime, the
ef^s of geese and dui;ks that frequent them are so much thick-
ened that hatching becomes difficult.
Hens. At Fleshy a fine breed of black fowls ; round Wingrr-
worth many game fowls kept for cocking. In Taiisley the
cockpit converted into a methodist meeting-house. Egp pre-
served hung in nets, and turned bito a fresh position each day ;
this being the main essential in preserving eggs, whose yolks
subside slowly when left unmoved, and come at length to touch
the shells on the lower side, when rottenness almost immedi-
ately commences.
ISees kept in various places.
Fish. Certain ponds in Sir Thomas Windsor Hunlocke's
Park, in Wingerworth, are appropriated to the feeding of cas-
trated male carp and tench, which are found very superior
in size and flavour to other fish ; the late Sir Windsor H unlocke
saw this practised in Italy, many years ago, and had one of his
servants, who was with him, instructed in performing the ope-
ration ; which is' less difficult or dangerous than mignt b6 sup-
posed, and in consequence of which, not more than one in four-
teen or fifteen of the fish die.
Angling permitted at Combs-brook reservoir of forty-five
acres, the angler paving sixi>ence per pound for the fish taken.
Salmon pass and tr;lp on the Derwent, at Belper bridge.
31. Rural Economy.
Rewards are offered by the Agricultural Society at Derby, as
by most others in the kingdom, for long and meritorious hired
or day service, but seldom for having performed the greatest
tjuantities of Job work, or earned the most money by such at
fair prices. At thehcginningof thepresent century,ifwas cal-
culated, taking the labourer's wages at two shillings and six-
pence per day, that he must work four and a half times as many
days to earn the same ijuantity of food, as from three to five
centuries back hecou'd, when his daily wages was from fbur-
pence to twopence per day ! Part of this was doubtless occa-
sioned by the many idle saints' days which the church of
Home imposed oii the people at the earlier periods.
14. Political Econotn^, , ,
Vai-ious concave roads formerly, made through the influ-
ence of Joseph Wilks, Esq. of- Measham ; these in a very in-
different state, and illustra'e the absurdity of the jirinciples on
which they ai^ construcfed. To level across a road a string
level used. It consisted of a jiiece of boxwood eleven inches
long, one and a hajf broad, and one and, a <|tiattfir d^'^P, into
the top of which a fpirit-ie>-el tubs was deeply sunk, &fA to the
top, at each end ot this le*el, several yards <f strong whipcord
was fastened. In using th^ instrument, ^ labourer was placed
on each side oF the road, bavijig the cojW iA his hand, which
they pulled va-y tightly, and steadily against earh otSier, and
thereby made the, bubble assume the middle of the tute or
either end, according as-the two "ends o£, the? string were held
level or one higher than the other. ' '
Some remains cif wavy roads (3551.), but nothing to justify
any deviation from the general form of slightly convex roads,
with straight or even surfaces as to len;;th. The road between
Ri))ley and Little Eaton, where washing or iiTifjation has been
adopted as a mode of clearing (Com.B.Ag.vol. i.) was "miser-
ably deep, loose, and bad."
In Manufactures Derbyshire ranks next to Lancashire, Staf-
fordshire, and Warwickshire.
Blanket-weaving, and scouring.
Bone-crushing mills.
4 E
1154
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
Butter.
Button-moulds, of horn and bone.
Candle making, of tallow.
Carpet-weaving.
Cheese.
Curriers or leather-dressers.
Fellmongers.
Fulling mills.
Glue-makers.
Leather mills, for oiled and chamois leather.
Meat, beef, lamb, mutton, pork, veal.
Shoe factory.
Skinners, or leather-dressers, chamois, &c.
Soap-makers.
Stockings, of worsted.
Tanyards.
Woollen-cloth factories, yam spinning, weaving, and cloth
dressing.
Worsted spinning, for the hosiers, by hand and jennies.
2. Trade), S(c. depending on Animal Substancet, imported.
Hat-making and unsplit straw hats.
Silk-spinning mills.
Silk-stocking weaving.
3. Trades, Jj-c. depending mi Vegetable Productions of the county.
Basket and wicket making.
Besom or broom do.
Boat or barge building, for the canals
Breweries.
Chamomile flowers.
Charcoal burning and grinding.
Charcoal mills, tor grinding it.
Com, barley, beans, oats, peas, wheat.
Hoops for casks, of wood.
Malt-makers.
Mattresses, chair-bottoms, &c. of straw.
Millers, flour or meal makers.
Sieves, or riddles for com.
Shelling, or oat-meal mills.
Timber.
Turning mills, for wood, bobbins, bowls, cheese-vats, dishes,
tool-handles.
4. Trade*, Sfc. depending on Vegetable Substances, imported.
Bleaching-houses, and grounds.
Calico-prinling.
Calico-weaving.
Cambric-weaving.
Candle-wick, bump or bomp spinning-mills
Cotton-spinning mills.
Dye-houses.
Flax-spinning mills, linen-yam mills.
Fustian-weaving, thicksets.
Hoi>-bag spinning and weaving, wool-bags, &c.
Lace-weaving, or warp frame-lace making.
Lace-working, or needle-working of firame-lace.
Linen-weaving, sheeting, checks, &c.
Muslin-weaving.
Nightcaps, of cotton frame knitting.
Packthread spinning, string, twine.
Paper-making.
Rope-making, cords, halters.
Sacking weaving, corn-bags.
Sail-cloth weaving.
Stocking-weaving; principally of cotton, some of worsted
frame-knit.
Tape-weaving mills.
Thread-spinning.
Whijicord-spinning.
5. Trades, iSfc. depending on Mineral Products of the county.
Bakestone making.
Boiler-making, of wrought iron, for steam-engines.
Brick-making, building, draining, fire, paving.
Building-stone, or free-s'one, ashler, caping, eaves-slates,
gable-stones, paving, ridging, grey slates, or tilestones and
stack posts.
Cannon-balls, or shot and shells.
Cannon-casting and boring.
Chain-making, iron and cast-iron.
China-stone, or white potter's chest-pits.
Cisterns and troughs of stone, to hold water.
Clay-pits, brick, china, fire, pipe, pottery, and tile.
Coal-pits.
Coke-burning.
Copperas-stone, brasses or pyrites pits.
" ms of iron.
Frymgpan
Crrind-mil
Gypsum, alabaster, plaster.
Han ■■■ "
Hoo. ,
Iron forges and furnaces.
Ironstone pits, argillaceous ore.
Lead-mines, or veins of lead ore.
Lead-smelting cupolas, and slag-mills.
Lime-kilns.
Limestone quarries.
Malt-kiln plates, of perforated cast-iron.
Marble quarries.
Marble sawing and polishing mUls.
Marl pits, for manuring.
Mill-stone quarries.
Nail -making, of cast-iron.
clasp (or carpenter's), and spikes, &c.
horse-shoe.
shoe-makers.
Ore dressing washing, huddling.
Patten rings, or clog irons.
Pipe-making, tobacco pipes.
Pipes, of earthenware, hollow bricks, for conveying water.
— of lead, drawn.
— of zinc.
Plaster of Paris works, gypsum.
Potteries, earthenware, stoneware.
Pot -stones, pye or lump stones for the iron forges.
Pimcheons, stauncheons or props, for the coal pits.
Bed-lead works, minium.
Rivets, of iron, softened, for coopers, boiler-making.
Rolling and slitting mills, for iron bars, plate Iron, nail rods.
Rotten -stone, or polishing earth.
Sand-pits, casting or founders', house-floor, mason's mortar,
scouring, and scythe-stick sand.
Saw mills, for stone and wood, also with circular saws.
Screws, carpenters', for wood.
Scythe-sticks and stones for sharpening scythes, hay-knives.
Sheet-lead, milled lead, rolled lead. Common sheet -lead is
cast by most of the plumbers and glaziers of the county.
Shot, leaden.
Slitting mills.
Spar-workers, petrifaction workers, gypsum, calcspar, fluor.
Sulphur-works, annexed to the principal smelting houses.
Tenter hooks, of cast-iron, softened.
Tile-kilns, draining, gutter, hip, pan, ylaixc and ridge.
Tire for carriage wheels.
Whetstones, nibbers, hones.
White-lead works.
Wire-drawing, steel.
Wire-working, safes, sieves, screens.
Zinc mines, blend and calamine.
— work, malleable plates, wire pipes, &c.
6. Trades, i\c. depending principa/ty on Mineral Substances, ittv.
ported.'
Axes, hatchets, bills, adzes.
Brass foundry.
Bridle-hits and buckles.
China factories.
Chisels, gouges, plane-irons, and other edge tools.
Clock and watch making.
Colour-grinding mills, paint.
Cotton machinery makers, for the cotton-spinning mills.
Cutlery, knives, forks, &c.
File-making, rasps.
Flint- grinding mills, for jxittery glazing.
Frame-smiths, stocking-loom makers.
Glass-making.
Gunpowder-making.
Hoes (garden, turnip), paring shovels, trowels, &c.
Implement makers, agricultural tools.
Malt miUs, steel mills.
Mangles, for linen clothes.
Mechanists, machine, tool and engine makers.
MUlwrights.
Needle-making.
Reaping-hooks, smooth-edged.
Scissars, of cast-iron, cemented to steel.
Scythe-smiths.
Sickles, toothed reaping tools.
Snuffers.
Soda wat<;r makers.
Spades, shovels.
Spurs, of steel.
Stirrup-irons of cast-iron, ceniented.
Tin-plat<
late workers, tm-men.
Washing machines for clothes.
Worsted machinery maker, for the worsted spinning-mills.
Notwithstanding that many of tlie manufactures and pro-
ductions above mentioned are separately of small importance
and may contribute little or nothing towards an export trade
from the county, yet, taken in the aggregate, they must be
admitted to present a most flattering picture of the varied and
great manufacturing industry of the county ; showing it to
contribute far beyond most oiher counti -s towards the supply
of all its own wants, and contributing at the same time, in no
small degree, towards the supply and general trade of the king-
dom at large.
Edtication,
Among the labouring cleisses, the reporter observes, is better
attended to than in most of the adjoining counties. He ap-
proves of the great attention paid to bringing up children in
habits of frugality and industry ; and contemplates, as " the
great and desirable end, their complete emancipation from
the moral slavery of poor-law dependence, and its attended
vices and misery." There are some persons, no doubt, who
may not approve of all that Mr. Farcy has advanced on this
subject ; for where is the writer that can please every reader ?
but there are none, we hope, who would not be gratified with
his sincere and ardent desire for the more general and uni-
versal happiness of the British poor. Though we are of opinion
that very little amelioration of that division of society which
constitutes the agricultural or labouring class can be eftijcted
•without an alteration in the laws; yet we are equally con-
vinced, that no great alteration of what are called the poor
laws would be advisable, till the poor are prepared for it, by
having imbibed such a degree of knowledge as would enable
them to meet the consequences with advantage, or at least
without an increase of misery.
AVe agree with the reporter, that the case is somewhat
different with the operative manufacturers, and mechanics
congregated together in towns ; for the wages of their labour
depends, in most cases, as the wages of all labour ought to do,
on the de-nand and the supply ; whereas the weekly wages of
the agricultural labourer depends but too often on the decision
of the parochial vestry. The consequences of this state of
things are ruinous to the rusUc labourer, and call loudly for
legislative interference and general sympathy. The extraor-
dinary exertions at present making by the difl^erent classes of
mechanics, to enlighten and ameliorate themselves, cannot
fail in a short time to awaken the dormant powers of the
country labourer.
1.0. Means of Improvement.
There are reading societies in most of the principal towns :
to be regretted that the funds of the board ot agriculture do
not permit it to circulate cheap agricultural books ; agricul-
tural books have as large a sale m Derbyshire as in most other
counties ; some take the " Farmer's Magazine," and a great
number the " Farmer's Journal;" which, if the stamp duty
were taken off", would greatly increase in circulation, and be
an incalculable source of improvement. An agricultural so-
ciety at Derbv, since 1794 ; a society for fat wether sheep at
Repton : at Hayfield, a society of moimtain sheep keet)ers,
since 1790. A list given by Farev of ninety-three agricultural
societies in England and Wales. The late Harl of Chesterfield's
Sremiums annually to his tenants, as recorded in the Fanner's
ouraal, 5i7th December 1813, and 10th January 181C.
Book 1.
AGRICULTURE OF LINCOLNSHIRE.
1155
7800. NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. 495,000 acres of uneven or hilly surface, in great part a sandy soil, and
more a corn than a pasture county. It contains the Forest of Sherwood, the only one belonging to the
Crown north of the Trent. This forest was once celebrated as being the scene of the adventures of the
famous Kobin Hood. Very little wood, however, now remains. The report is one of the most defective
and least interesting which the board have published, and is, besides, above a fourth of a century old.
(Lowe's litiwrt, 1798. Manhars Review, 1812. Smith's Geological Map, 1821. EUm. Gaz. 1827.)
1. Geographical State and Circu7nstances.
Climate, remarkably dry.
Hoil, chielly saiiily, great part clayey, and the remainder i
lime and coal district.
Minerals. Stone, lime, coal, gypsum, and marl.
2. Property.
Kitates from 12,000/. a year, downwards.
3. Buildings.
Few countries contain more gentlemen's seats in proportion
to its size. Alston Grove, a noble residence ; the gardens
formerly in the ancient style, but lattly modernised. Clum-
ber I'ark contains four thousand acres. Newstead Abbey,
celebrated as having been the residence of the Byron family ;
but now sold and divided. Thoresliy park, thirteen miles
round. AV'elbeck Abtiey, the scene of the liorticultural im-
provements of Mr. Speechly. Woolciston Hall, a singular
mansion of the date of Queen Elizabeth, by 'J'hoi-pe, the same
architect who built Holland House, near London. Farm-
houses " not very spacious," of brick and tile, sometimes
thatched ; nov/ and then of stud and mud. Good farmeries,
and centrical on the new enclosures.
4. Occnpatiun.
Few farms exreed 500/. per annum : generally from 100/.
to 'Ml. Few leases.
5. Implements.
Rotheram plough general ; waggons lave wide frames move-
able for hai-vest use.
(). f'arious.
Enclosing going on rapidly ; in arable culture, rotations good,
but n>» remarkable practice mentioned ; various hop-groimds
and orchards, many woods and (ilaiitations ; extensive woo<ls
raised from seed on the Welbeck and Clumbear estates; the
ground is first cleared of surface incumbrances, then cropped
with corn two years, and turnips one year; the fourth year
acorns, at the rate of four or six bushels, ash keys four, haw-
thorn berries one, and Spanish chestnuts one bushel, are sown
broadcast on an acre, and ploughed in. The stoi-king and
lace trade, cotton and silk manufacture, pottery, and various
others carried on at Nottinf^ham and otlitr towns.
7801. LINCOLNSHIRE. 1,848,320 acres of uplands, vale and water formed lands. The soil in most
places rich, and chiefly devoted to grazing ; yielding on an average more beef and mutton per acre than
any county in the island. Examples of embanking, draining, and warping, are numerous along the sea-
coast and the Humber. (Stone's Report, 1799. Arthur Young's, 1794. Marshal's Review, 1812.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate, formerly unhealthy in the low parts, now the ague
much less frequent. N.E. winds prevail in spring ; much of
the rain in summer from the northern ;ind eastern quarters.
Surface, a great extent of low land, once marsh, and fen
along the cozt>t, now rich land in consequence of the embank-
ments and drainage, which have been going on for nearly two
centuries. Adjoining the lowlands are the w olds or calcareous
hills, and the mainland part of the country is in general flat
and uninteresting. Some parts of the county, however, as
about D.ilby, Spilsby, Stainton, &c. are varied and wooded,
and command Hne views of the low country.
Soil. There are large districts of clay, sand, loeun, chalk,
peat, and considerable extent of mixed soils.
2. Properti/.
Very much divided in the isle of Axholm ; inhabitants col-
lected in hamlets and villages, and almost every one is pro-
prietor and farmer of from one to forty acres, as in France ;
and, as in that country, every farm cultivated by the hands of
the family, and the family poor as to money, but happy as to
their mode of existence. " The poorer farmers and other fa-
milies work like negroes, and do not live half so well as the
inhabitants of a poor-house ; but all is made amends by pos-
sessing land." Lord Carrington, Sir John Sheffield, and
— Goulton, Esq. great proprietors in the county ; largi;st estate
U5,000l. a year, others of 14, 11, 10, 8, 7, &c. and six of
2000/. a year. Lacely, a pretty ifillage, " where tach man lives
on hLs own."
In the management of a great ettate, " I remarked a circum-
stance at Reevesby, the ui^ of which I experienced in a multi-
tude of instances. The liberality of Sir Joseph Banks opened
every document for my inspection ; and admiring the singular
facility with which he laid his hand on papers, whatever the
subject might be, I could not but remark the method that
proved of such sovereign efficacy to prevent confusion. His
office, of two rooms, is contained in the si)ace of thirty feet by
sixteen ; there is a brick partition between, with an iron plated
door, so that the room in wliich a fire is always burning might
be burnt down without affecting the inner one ; where he has
156 drawers of the size of an ordinary conveyance, the inside
being thirteen inches wide, by ten broad, and five and a half
deep, all numbered. There is a catalogue of names and sub-
jects, and a list of every pajier in every drawer ; so that whether
the enquiry concerned a man, or a drainage, or an enclosure,
or a fjarm, or a wood, the request wjis scarcely named before a
mass of information was in a moment before me. Fixed ubles
are before the windows (to the south), on which are spread
maps, plans, &c. commodiously, and those labelled are ar-
ranged against the wall. The first room contains desks, ta-
bles, and book-case, with measures, levels, &c. and a wooden
case, which when oiien forms a book-case, and joining in the
centre by hinges, when closed, forms a package ready for the
carrier's "waggon, containing forty folio paper-cases in the form
of books ; a repository of such papers as are wanted equally in
town and countrv. Such an apartment, and such an appa-
ratus, must be of incomparable use in the management of any
eat estate.
lage
great estate, or, indeed, of any considerable uusiness. At
Wintringham, Lord Carrington has a man employed, whase
only business is to be constantly walking ovei every part of the
estate in succession, in order to see if the fences are in order :
if a post or rail is wanting, and the quick exposed, he gives
notice to the fanner, and attends again to see if the defect is
remedied." {Young's Report.)
3. Bui/dings.
Several good new farm-houses; old cottages of stud and
mud, thatched ; but new ones of brick, and tiled.
4. Occupatio7i.
Farms on the AVolds from 300 to 1500 acres, on the rich
lands 400 and 500 acres, downwards ; many very small. The
late Sur Joseph Banks declined throwing his farms together,
because he would not distress the occupiers, though he lost
considerably in rental by it. Farmers met wiih at ordinaries,
liberal, industrious, active, enlightenetl, free from all foolish
and expensive show, or pretence to emulate the gentry ; they
live comfortably and hospitably, as good farmers ought to
live ; and in my opinion, are remarkably void of those rooted
prejudices which sometimes abound among this race of men.
'' I met with many who had mounted their nags, and quitted
their homes, ]mr]i6sely to examine other parts of the k"
and had done it with enlarged
5. Implements.
Plough with wheel coulter used in the fen tract as in other
fens ; the wheel coulter being considered as littler adapted for
ploughing among stubble and couch-grass than the sword one.
Plans given of a cover of canvass and boards for ricks, and a
boat with a net fence round for conveying sheep; at btst, we
fear, but an expensive iiicunibrancc on agriculture.
6. Arable Land.
Near Market Deeping the common fields in alternate ridges
of pasture and arable, the latter gaihered high ; three to five
horses used in both plough and cart te..ms ; wood extensively
cultivated by Cartwright, at Brotherstoft farm, near Boston.
Parsley sown along with clover to prevent the rot.
7. Various.
" Rich grazing land the glory of Lincolnshire." In some
places wi! I carry six sheep jier acre, or four bullocks to ten acres.
One of the most extensive graziers was T. Fydell, Esq., M.P.
at Boston. Very few orchards; some considerable young
plantations on the Wolds, but not much old timber.
8. Improvetneuls.
Most extensive drainages and embankments. Deeping Fen
drained, which extends eleven miles to Spalding. 10,000 acres
taxable, for maintaining the drains and banks, which are ma-
naged by a commission. Through all the fens what is called
the soak exists; viz. water, supposea to be that of the sea, rising
and falling in a subtratum of silt : hence low-lying land al-
ways charged with moisture to a certain height. Sticklebacks
sometimes sold at a half-penny a bushel, and used as munure.
In the \Volds dry straw spread on the land and burned.
EmbankmeiUs. Since 1630, 10,000 acres have been saved
from the sea in the parish of Long Sutton, and 7000 acres i^iore
might now be taken in, by altering the channel of Uie river.
Holland Fen is a country that absolutely exists but by the stcu-
rity of its banks ; they are under commissioners, and very well
attended to. . j:^ x.
At Humberstone there is a large piece taken m from the sea
by a low bank, which is well sloi«d to the sea, but too steep to
the land; so that if the sea topped it, the bank must break.
Great tracts of valuable land remain yet to be taken in from the
sea about North Somercots, and other places on that coast;
but " I do not find that any experiments have been made in Sir
Hyde Page's method of making hedges or gorse facmes, and
leavmg the sand to accumulate of itself into a bank. Mention-
ing this to Neve, he informed me, that he had observed at least
a hundred times, that if a f^orse bush, or any other impediment,
was by accident met bv the sea, it was sure to form a hillock of
sand." The extent of sand dry at low water on this coast is
very great ; Uie difference between high and low water maik
extending even to two miles. . , ,
In die reparation of the banks which secure the marsh land
from the sea, the frontage towns are £t the expense; but m
case of such a breach as renders a new bank nfccess;iry, the
expense is assessed, according to the highest tides ever known,
by level over all the country below such level of high water,
under the direction of the commissioners ot sewers ; the
distance from the sea subject to drainage will, therefore, vary
according to the level of the country. ^ „„ „„„ . , . .
SouthHo'land, grossly estimatedat 100,000 acres, within tie
Old SL-a-dvke bank, has long been an object of embankment.
Itavenbank, the origin of which is ouite unknown, appears to
have been the thirdTiank which had been formetl for securing
a small part of this tract from the sea, leading from Coubit to
Tidd St. Mary's. About six miles nearer to the sea is another
bank, calletl the Old Sea dyke bank, which is unquesUonably a
^^ A V "ry'curious circumstance is, that a fifth bank, calkd the
New Sca-dvke bank, two mi'es nearer than the Roman one, re-
mains, but" it is utierlv unknown when or by whom it was
made. The new bank mentione<l above takes m about two
miles more in breadth. In staking the levels for makmg the
new drain! itxvas found that the surface of the country, on
coniine to the Roman bank, suddenly rose six teet, licmg six
f et higher on the sea-side than on the land-side, and then con-
tinues on that higher level, l«ing the depth of warp, or si.t,
depositetl by the sea since since that bank was made.
The first navigable canal that was made in tngla id is, in
all probabilitv, that which was madefirom Lincoln to 1 orksey
their own cultivation."
lews, and to the benefit of
Leases rare.
4 E
r reviSrapart"oftheC:;^<iike,animmen.seRo^^^^^^^
which served to prevent the living wate« from ^""'"g "°*'*
upon the fens, aiid, skirUng the whole of them, from rrterU*-
2
1156
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
rough to Lincoln, afforded a navigation of the utmost conse-
quence to this fertile country.
Some irrigation ; and rvarping, on the Humber, where, as
already described (4441.), it was invented.
9. Livestock.
More attended to in this county than the culture of corn.
The Durham short-homed cattle are preferred, but any sort
fatten well, and there is little dairvin;^.
Sheep. County carries one sheep and an half per acre at an
averaf^e. Lincoln breed preferred ; Leicester much tried, and
crosses lietween them frequent ; upon inferior land the Leices-
ter preferred, as fatting easier ; since the enclosure no folding ;
several ram societies.
Horses, of the heavy black kind a good deal bred both for
carts and coaches ; in 'various places saddle horses also ; some
farmers keep their horses all the winter in open sheds, with
littered yards for them to go out and in at pleasure. Ground-
sel eaten, said to cure the grease ; oats malted in salt water
given for three vceks or a month, found preferable to spring
physic.
Rabbits. Several warrens on the wolds.
Geese formerly much kept in the fens, and plucked four or
five times a year. " The feathers of a dead goose worth six-
pence, three giving a pound. But plucking alive does not
yield more than three-pence per head, per annum. Some
wing them only every quarter, taking ten feathers from each
goose, which sell at five shillings a thousand. Plucked geese
pay in feathers one shilling a head in Wildmoor fen.
10. Political Economt/.
Roads in many places made of silt ; " dreadfully dusty and
heavy in dry weather : on a thaw or day's rain like mortar." A
number of canals, and, as already observed (3802.), the first in
England, made from Lincoln to the sea. A fabric of brushes
and sacking at Gainsborough ; flax spun in various places. An
agricultural society at Falkingham, established in 1796.
7802. RUTLANDSHIRE. 91,000 acres, resembling in soil and surface the uplands of the adjoining
county of Lincolnshire. The western part of the county is under grass, and the eastern chiefly in aration.
The soil is almost every where loamy and rich ; and the agriculture partaking of that of Lincolnshire and
Leicestershire. The operative classes seem more comfortable in this county, and more humanely treated
by the proprietors and farmers, than in many others. The Earl of Winchelsea has made great exertions
to this effect. [Crutchley^s Report, 1794. Parkinson's General lievieiv, 1808. Marshal's Revieiv, 1812.)
1. Btiildings.
Some comfortable cottages built by the Earl of Winchelsea,
Containing a kitchen, parlour, dairj-, and cow-house, &c. with
two bed-rooms over.
Others for three cows, and with a calf-house, piggery, dairy,
kitchen, living-room, and two bed-rooms over.
A third sort for operatives without a cow, containing a
kitchen, pantry, closet in the stair over, and two bed-rooms,
one with a fire. Several with small farms of from five to
twenty acres attached. (Jig. 1007.)
J007
2. Arable Lands.
Generally better managed than in Lincolnshire, and very
productive. The barley said to be of very superior quality.
3. Pasture.
Chiefly upland. The custom of letting part of it to labourers,
and also of taking in labourers' cows at so much per head, pre-
vails, and is encouraged hy the Earl of Winchelsea.
4. Several Orchards.
In several places the cottagers take small portions of fields
from the farmers to use as gardens. At one place, three acres
and a half is divided into fourteen gardens ; and at Oakham, a
field of three acres is divided into twenty-four gardens, and let
at five sliillings per garden.
5. Improvements.
Parkinson, one of -the reporters, and a man of sound judg-
ment, has altered his opinion on the subject of irrigation, and
says, it is now in conformity with that ot a correspondent who
thus writes to him : — " In my opinion waterin;; renders the
quality of the herl)age and the land the worse for the process.
Where land is tolerably productive, and in a situation where a
quantity of grass food is not requured, I should certainly not
advise it. I think the land may be turned to better account
without it. But I think there are many situations, particularly
on gravel, sand, or open soils, where it may be very advantage-
ous ; the produce, by such means, is certainly much increased,
and, in some instances, rendered larger when very little other-
wise would be produced. Though the produce is increased,
yet it becomes in time, in a few years, of so coarse a nature, and
mixed with rushes and plants, that cattle frequently refiise to
eat it ; and when it is eaten, the appearance of the cattle jiro-
claims it far from being of a nutritious nature." He adds, " I
was formerly an advocate for irrigation, and am still on such
soils as are clescribed in the above extract ; but having had since
opportunities of viewing several water meadows which have
been of long standing, which have operated to the disadvantage
of both the herbage and land, I have been obliged, in a great
measure, to alter my opinion."
6. Live Stock.
Not much breeding, but chiefly feeding. P. considers that
much depends on the application to fallow, and is of opinion,
that the large Durham ox did not eat more food to raise him to
that enormous size, than some others would to brin:; them to
half the size or weight at the same age. Nor is it at all probable
that Lambert, of i^icester, who arrived at such an astonishing
weight, had eaten more food than Powell, the celebrated
pedestrian, who was a very thin man. An animal for tbe
shambles is seldom too large if he has an aptitude to fatten :
and much depends on the constitution of an animal in this
respect.
A good plan for washing sheep at Burleigh ; but not so sim-
ple as the Duke of Bedford's.
Horses of a very heavy, slow, unprofitable sort are raised in
the county.
Otbees, 1176 hives kept by the cottagers.
7. Political Economy.
The Leicestershire and Rutlandshire Agricultural Society
established in 1806, meet at Melton Mowbray and Oakham
alternately. Less want of knowledge in this county than in
most others.
7803. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 617,600 acres of billowy surface, rich in woodlands and pasture
lands, but much behind in the culture of corn. The soil is almost every where excellent ; and by the
introduction of good husbandry, the marketable produce of the county might be amazingly increased.
{Donaldson's Report, 1794. Pitt's Report, 1806. Marshal's Review, 1812.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate. Favourable both to health and vegetation ; exempted
from deep falls of snow and long-continued rains ; highest point
in the county supposed about 800 feet above the level of the
s?a, and there is neither mountain nor bog. Donaldson found
that wheat harvest generally commences here about a fortnight
earlier than in Perthshire.
Hoil. Great part on a calcareous bottom, limestone, schistus,
or slate, and the remainder of sandstone. The surface earths
may be classed as strong and deep loam, light thin reddish soil,
thin light clay, an^ fen and meadow.
Mitierals. Clay, limestone, marl, freestone, and slate.
2. Property.
Almost wholly in large estates ; thirtv-seven of or above 3000/.
a year, half of which are from 5000/. to 10,000/. ; managed by
stewards.
3. Buildings.
Althorpe, Burleigh, and Castle Ashby, noble mansions.
Farm-houses " as badly constructed as improperly placed ; "
built of stone or brick, and covered w ith slate or straw ; farmers
and their farmeries crowded together in towns and villages ;
cottages of mud and thatch.
4. Occupation.
No large farms ; 130 acres the average of open fields, and
200 the average of inland farms ; few or no leases.
5. Implements.
" Plough a clumsy piece of work, Avith a long massy beam
and timber mould, being drawn by four or five horses in a
line." Donaldson says, a small plough, with two horses abreast,
will make better work ; but Pitt (who seems to know very
little of the matter) joins with Smith of Tuchmarsh, who
says, " I have heard and read much on the subject, and tried a
great variety of ploughs ; but it is ridiculous to assert that t»vo
norses can plough abreast in almost any part of this county. I
have met with no ploughs which serve so well(!) or run so easy
a* the ploughs in common uses." So much for the ignorance
and presumptiou of Farmer Smith, and the prejudiced
opinions of Pitt the reiwrter. A ribbed or plated roller,
formed bv letting in sixteen bars of iron lengthways of the
ro'ler, is found preferable either to a spiky or smooth roller for
breaking cl«ls.
6. Arable Land.
Fallow, wheat, and beans, the common rotation, but others,
which include turnips and clovers, beginning to be introduced
on the light lands. Most of the other plants in cultivation tried
by amateurs or others. Woad cultivated by two woad growers,
who live in the county ; it requires rich old pasture land, for
which the woad grower pays the landlord from .5/. to 11. per
acre, per annum, for two or three years, the farmer being com-
pelled to give it up for that term, and to take to it again after-
wards at the old rent. The land is ploughed early in spring,
well harrowed, and sown broadcast, as thick as^ain,by hand-
fuls; a great il°al of harrowing and dressing is necessary to
bring it to fine tilth. When the jjlants appear, they are hoed,
and kept perfectly clean, in a garden style of cultur ■, and the
crop appears somewhat like a broadcast crop of spinach ; the
leaves are gathered by hand, in baskets, three times in a season
(except a plot sometimes saved for seed), and carted to a mill,
where they are ground to a pulpy mass, hy vertical wheels,
crossed with iron plates, and moved round by horses : this
pounce, or jelly, is then formed into balls, by hand, and dried
on hurdles, in a shed ; these balls are afterwards broken up,
and fermented, and finally dried in small lumps, somewhat re-
sembling horse-dung in colour and appearance; it is then
packed up in casks for use.
Onions cultivated to great perfection about Northampton;
220 quarters known to have been sent to Daventry fair at one
time.
Tobacco cultivated by some farmers for the purpose of dress-
ing sheep for the scab.
I-'iirze m a few places for oven-fiiel.
7. Grass.
Supposed to cover 375,000 arres ; 40,000 acres in meadow,
on the borders of the Nen and other rivers. One farmer says,
" A great improvement.on all mowing meadows, incapp.ble of
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF YORKSHIRE.
1157
being watere<l, is to graze, once in two or three years as bare as
sibie, and finish with st " ... . «, . .
sg<
dairying sind breeding he
shut it up at Christmas
top-aressing." Feeding sheep
and cattle the chief application of the grass lands, ami next.
for mowing ; this
store sheep ; shut it up a
i as good as a top-dressing." Te
8. Gardens and Orchards.
Good market gardens and orchards about Northampton : all
common articles grown there well, but melons, grapes, peaches,
and pine-apples to be had from London cheaper than they can
be grown in the county.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Very extensive ; there are forests, chases, purlieu woods, and
woods and plantations being freehold property. Rockingham
forest the most considerable, nearly twenty miles in length,
and covering 8 or 10,OuO acres. Whittlewood eleven miles,
and 7000 acres, with Salcey forest, making in all 20,000 acres :
the chases and other classes are supposed to amount to 20,000
acres more, making in all 40,000 acres of wootUand in the
county. The forest lands are in general very unprofitably
managed ; the Crown has a right to the timber, the Duke of
Grafton and others to the underwood, and the township to the
pasturage, &c. ; woods which are private and entire property
are better managed.
10. Live Stock.
Cattle of the county, the long-homed breed : but Tarioua
others introduced for fatting and the dairy.
Sheep of various breeds ; a good many new Leicesters.
Horses of the strong black breed, bred for the coach, the
army, or large waggons. Ulood horses formerly bred, but left
off, as the least blemish renders them unsaleable.
Hogs, a breed between the Berkshire and the Tonquin.
11. Political Economy.
Bad roads, but maivy handsome bridges ; some canals. Ma-
nufactures ; — shoes for the army and navy, and exportation ;
bone lace, woollen stuffs, as tammies, callimancoes, and' ever-
lastings. Several small friendly societies for the promotion of
agriculture, consisting chiefly of farmers. The Lamport So-
ciety is one of those which was founded in 1797, meets at
Lamport ; it has a fund for purchasing books on agriculture
and domestic economy, and seems to be a description of asso-
ciation very commendable. A great source of improvement
would be the breaking up of the inferior grass lands, and the
temporary laying down of the continually cropped tillage lands.
Donaldson has drawn an able comparison between the manage-
ment of lands in the Carse of Gowrie, in Perthshire, and those
of Northamptonshire, which shows how very far behind the
latter county is in arable culture.
7804. YORKSHIRE, 3,698,380 acres divided into three Ridings, each of which is as extensive as the
generality of other counties.
7805. West Riding of Yorkshire. 1,5&8,000 acres of irregular country, hilly and mountainous
towards the north, and more level on the east. It contains a great extent of surface well adapted for
husbandry, and is the seat of large and extensive manufactures. A survey of this Riding, of singular
ability and interest, was made by three Scotch farmers ; and the reprinted copy, as it contains the notes of
several gentlemen of the county, will in future times be considered as a curious document ; displaying as
it does local opinions so difFerent from those considered as liberal and enlightened. {Brown's West
Biding, 1799. MarshaVs Beview, 1818. Smith's Geological Map, 1821.)
1. Geographical State and Circmnstances.
Climate, moderate and healthy, excepting on the low surface
near the Ouse; rain at Sheffield about thirty -three inches in
the year.
Surface irregular, but the middle and eastern parts nearly
level ; arable lands generally enclosed with walls and hedges.
Suit various, from deep strong clay to peat.
Minerals. Coal, lime, ironstone, lead and some copper, which
have been wrought for ages past.
Rivers. Ouse, Don, Calder, Aire, and Wharfe, all consider-
able, besides others of lesser importance.
2. Property.
Much divided, but some large estates, as those of the Duke of
Norfolk, E. Fitzwilliam, E. Harewood, &c.
3. Buildings.
Wentworth House one of the largest and most magnificent
in the kingdom ; farm-houses bad and badly situated as in
most English counties; Lord Hawke has erected a commo-
dious and elegant farmery for liis own use. Great want of
cottages for farm operatives.
4. Occupation.
Farms small ; for one of 400 acres a dozen under fifty ; occu-
pier of 100 acres styled a great farmer ; few leases ; the tenants
on one estate warned off because they had become methodists ;
tenantry in general much plagued by attorney stewards, who
must have business or make it.
5. I?nplements.
Rotheram plough general over the whole district, but one-
horse carts and other improved implements, as well as better
ploughs, are w<mting.
6. Arable Land.
Round manufacturing towns great part of the land held by
manufacturers, that by farmers not well managed compared
with Scotland, but tolerable compared with other districts of
England. No grain will ripen on the eastern moorlands at an
elevation of 800 feet; but on the calcareous wolds of the East
Riding it ripens considerably higher, and at 500 feet better
than here at 800. Such is the effect of a calcareous soil. Be-
7. Grass.
Great part of the county under old pastures, including some
meadows, chiefly applied to the feeding of homed cattle ; cattle
generally made fat on grass, and finished by stall feeding on
turnips ; sheep sometimes fed on turnips, by hurdling. Grazing
much better understood than aration.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
A particular species of plum grows at Sherborne and in the
neighbourhood, called the winesour. It grows well both upon
gravel and limestone, is hardy, a good bearer, and answers
upon any soil ; but does not bear so well, noi is its flavour so
good, on any as on limestone or gravel. On a strong deep land,
the trees run too much to wood, and do not bear fruit in pro-
portion. These plums blossom better than any other sort, and
are produced from suckers. The fruit sells from 2U. per peck,
when sound and good, to 4«. 6rf. when cracked and damaged.
They are easily hurt by rain. Plants are to be had from most
public nurseries, and i
layer of lime or chalk.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Much oak and ash wood grown, and a ready market found at
the shipping and manufacturing towns.
10. Waste Lands.
Two himdred and sixty- five thousand acres capable of culti-
vation.
11. Improvements.
Warping the most remarkable; ably described by Lord
Hawke, and Day of Doncaster.
12. Livestock.
A great variety of breeds of cattle and sheep in use, but no
one generally preferred. Near Leeds, when milk tastes of
tumips, a tea-cup full of dissolved nitre is put among eight
gallons of milk, which entirely removes the flavour. Horses
generally used in draught : not many bred excepting in the
eastern part of the district ; sort in use among the farmers 9
small hardy race.
13. Political Economy.
Many good and many bad roads ; various canals . Nunieroua
manufactures of shalloons, callimancoes, flannels, and every
branch of woollen goods. At Sheffield every kind of cutlery,
since Chaucer's time ; at Rotherham, iron-works. These and
other manufactures the cause of the wealth of the West
Riding.
14. Means of Improvement.
Leases, division of commons, enclosing of wastes, better ro-
tations, &c.
7806. North Riding of Yorkshire. 1,311,187 acres of bold hilly country, with some fertile vales and
extensive moor lands, chiefly remarkable for breeding horses, and especially the sort known as Cleveland
bays. {Take's Beport, 1799. Marshal's Bevieu), 1808. Smith's Geological Map, 1821.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate dry, like that of other districts bordering on the
German Ocean. Cold east winds during the first half of the
year. Milder in June, when west winds begin to prevail, ve-
getation not vigorous till June.
Soil and surfiice: on the coast, clays, and lightish soil on alum
strata ; a loam upon freestone, and in some valleys west of
Whitby a deep rich soil: of Cleveland, fertile chalk, and sur-
face liilly ; vale of York gtneraUy a rich soil.
Mitierals. Inexhaustible beds of alum in the hills of the
coast and Cleveland ; and the only alum w orks in the island car-
ried on there ; pyrites being found in the alum mines, sulphur
was formerly extracted from them ; but as it re<juircd a good
deal of coal, and pyrites are equally abundant in the coal at
Newcastle, the manufactory of sulphur was transferred to the
latter place. Some coal and ironstone in the moors, but not
much worked ; also copper, lead, freestone, slate, marble, marl,
&c. little worked or abandoned.
2. Property.
One third of the Riding possessed by yeomanry ; rent of
estates from 500/. to 18,000/. per annum ; many gentlemen's
seats, and the proprietors reside most part of the year on them ;
tenures mostly freehold.
3. Buildings.
Mansions and farm-houses, as in the West Riding, but
rather inferior ; cottages decidedly infierior ; small and low.
rarely with two rooms ; damp and unwholesome hovels. Close
wainscoted beds used, as in the poorer parts of Scotland,
which are sources of insects and infection, and every way
unwholesome.
4. Occupation.
Farms on the whole small, many very small : farmers sober,
industrious, and orderly ; most of them have been educated, and
educate their children. Few leases.
5. Implements.
Rotheram or Dutch plough : hay sweep for drawing hay to-
gether with ft horse and a simple sort of^cart {Jig. 1008. a) in
use, formed almost wholly of timber, and to be drawn by one,
two or three horses abreast (/>) ; wheels entirely of wood (c) ;
when to be emptied, the shaft horse is taken out, but not the
others. Another variety for harvest work ( fig. 1009.).
6. Arable Land.
In the vale of York one third in tillage ; about Cleveland
one half; on the moors much less. Culture and rotations as
in the West Riding. Rye more frequently sown than wheat
on the light sandy soils ; often mixed with wheat, and then
called M&lin.
Tobacco much cultivated a few years prior to 1782 in tlie
vale of York and Kyedale. In the latter district it did not
excite the notice of regal authority ; and was cured and nianu-
factured by a man who had formerly been employed upon the
tobacco plantations in America; who not only cured it pro.
4 E 3
1159
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
perly, tut gave it t^e proper cut, ami finally prepared it for
the pipe. But in the vala of York the cultivators of it met
with less favourable circumstances: their tobacco was pub-
1008
licly burnt, and th?ms Ives severely fined and imprisoned.
PenalUes.it was said, were paid to the amount of thirty thousand
pounds. This was enoui;'.i to put a stop to the illt-gal cultiva-
1009
tion of tobacco ; but, perhaps rather unfortunately, it has
likewise nut a stop to the cultivation of that limited quantity,
half a rod, which the law allows to be planted for the purposes
of physic and chirurgery, or destro; ins? insects.
Mustard grown in considerable quantities in the neighbour-
hood of York, and fields of it may be met with in other parts
of the Ridinft. It is prepared for use in the city of \ ork,
where there are mills and machinery for the purpose ; and it is
afterwards sold under the name of Durham mustard ; sown
either on land pared and burned, or prepared and manured as
for turnips. Seed, one to two pecks per acre broadcast, in the
early part of Mav. No <mlture whilst growing, except hand-
weetlinj;, if necessary. Shorn with the sickle in September,
and (generally stacked in the field, and threshed out upon a
cloth, at the' convenience of the farmer. Two quarters per
acre is thought a good crop.
Teasel grown on strong soils ; seed, two pecks a little before
May-dav ; surface dug or forked over in .June, October, and
Lady-day ; reaped in August ; 10 pecks an acre a good crop ;
each pack 1350 bunches, of ten teasles each ; price, 3 to 5
guineas per pack.
7 Grass.
Old pastures and meadows very badly managed ; uplands
overrun with moss and ant-hills ; meadows with rushes ; and
so ne;flected, that what would be worth 200/. tinder a proper
course of husbandry, is dear at 7s.; chiefly devoted to the
liairy.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
Have made but little progress, in this Riding owing to the
want of manufactu' ing towns to create a demand; rarmers'
gardens, as in most places, much neglected.
9. Woodlands.
Of small extent ; a good deal of timber in hedge-rows in va-
riotis places.
10. Live Stock.
Short-horned cattle chiefly prevalent. Stall feeding carried
to less extent than dairying. Cows taken in at Martinmas, and
tied on turnips, and straw or hay if there are no turnips; butter
chiefly made and salted in firkins, and sold to the factors, who
ship it to London ; a good many cows brought up for London,
and any surplus stock for the Ijncolnshire graziers.
Sheep. In the bleaker parts, the Cleveland breed, large, coarse-
lioned, slow feeders, and the wool dry and harsh. All the new
breeds introduced, and several professed ram breeders in the
vale of York.
Horsei. This Riding long famed for its horses, particularly
those of Cleveland. In the northern pirt of tlie vale of York
a light breed for saddle and coach ; in Cleveland, a fijUcr-boned
horse, very strong and active, and well adapted for either
E lough or coach. In all the other districts horses are generally
red ; on the western moorlands Scotch gallowavs are put to
the stallions of the country, " and rear a hardy and strong
race in proportion to their size." Before the war mules were
bred, and sent to the West Indies. Some farmers do not breed,
but buy colts and work them till four or five years old, and
then shoe them for the first time, and sell them to the London
dealers for coich horses.
The farmers rrho breed horses, generally breed from those
mares which are employed in the business of the fcirm ; these
are often worked until" the very time of foaling, after which
they have usually two or three weeks' rest, before they are
again taken to work ; the foal, during the time the dam is
working, especi.Jly whilst it is young, is shut up in a stable;
and it is the practice of some, before she is suftered to go to
the foal, after returning from work, to bathe her udder with
cold water, and to draw most of the milk from it, to prevent
the milk, which may have been heated by labour, from hav-
ing any hurtful eflect upon the foal. Some continue this
practice as long as the toal sucks : others, after the foal ha.s
got sufficient strength to travel a'ong with t!ie mare, take it
along with hei into the fields, and frequently sufTer it to suck,
from an opinion, that by the milk being frequently drawn, less
danger arises of its being heated, or of possessing any quality
prejudicial to the foal. The general time of foaling is about
May-day (from which day the age of all horses is reckoned),
and that of weaning about Michaelmas, when the foals are
put into good Eifter-grass, or the best pasture the farmer pos-
sesses : they remain there as long as the weather permits (If
there be sufficient food), and, on the approach of winter, have
a little good hay given them, where there is a stable, or hovel,
that they can go into at their pleasure. UTie colts are usually
gelded in the .spring following, and in summer are allowed
only an inferior pasture ; the next winter they make their
living in the fields, or in tha straw-yard, except they are in-
tended to work in the spring, which is frequently expected of
those of a strong kind : such are rather better kept as the time
of labour draws nigh, and are only put to light and easy work,
and generally work only h;;lf a day at once. Some keep their
rolts a year longer, before the operation is performed, and find
that such become the stronger and handioraer horses. The
foal always receives a great check by being weaned, which it
does not well reopver before it gets the fresh pasture of the
following summer. The foals which are gelded at one year
old receive a second check, at the very time they should begin
to recover from the first ; whereas at two years old they appear
to be in the best condition for the operation, and recover at
least as well as at one year old, and are much improved by the
keeping of the preceding year.
ExjMrtatioti of horses. The horses which are sold for the
London market, if for the carriage, are chiefly bay geldings,
with but little white on their legs and faces, those which
have much white, with chestnut, roan, and other unusually
coloured horses and mares, generally do not liearan equal price
in the London market ; but with other slight and undersized
horses, are more sought after by foreigners, and eagerly pur-
chased by them for exportation ; or are exported by people of
this country, who c^rry them to the foreign markets, and
ultimately obtain a price equal to that obtained for those sold at
home : bv these means of exportation, contrary to an usually
received tut ill-founded opinion, has a strong tendency to re-
duce the price of those horses which are calculated for the home
market ; and since as many fillies as colts are naturally bred,
and one third of the colts at least will either have too much
white for the home market, or be of some other colour than that
■which is fashionable at the time, if the breeder had not a mar-
ket for those, which appear to be two thirds at least of all he
unavoidably breeds, he would be compelled to put such a price
upon the one third which happene;! to suit the home market,
or variable taste of the moment, as would pay for the other two
thirds ; which last would either be unsaleable, or fetch very
inadequate prices. The consequence naturally flowing from
this would be, that the price of horses used at home would be
far greater than at present, when a foreign demand procures to
the breeder nearly as good a price for the horses that would
otherwise be useless and unsaleable, as for those which are
valued at home.
Rnhbils are kept in one or two warrens ; in one the silver
grey is kept, the skins of this variety being worth double
those of the greys : not used for felts like the common skins,
but dressed as furs, and exported to Cliina to be worn by the
Mandarins.
1 1. Political Economy.
Koads in an improving state ; bridges better attended to
than in most counties; but guide-posts neglected, which an
annotator on Tuke's report justly remarks, is a sort of revert-
ing to barbarism ; as an attention to these sort of minutiae
is one of the most striking marks of civilisation. Various
canals.
Mamifiicfitres of sail-cloth and cordage at Whitby and
Scarborough ; at various places in its neighbourhood," alum
works ; 4000 tons of this article anually shipped fi-om MTiitby ;
linens, cottons, woollen, and paper manufactured in various
places.
7807. East Riding of Yorkshire. 819,200 acres of rrjoderately wavy surface, intersected with numer-
ous, deep, winding valleys ; not remarkable either for its arable lands or pasturage; but productive of
horses for the coach and saddle, and of the excellent Holderncss breed of cows. ( Leatham's General View,
1794. Strickland's View, 1812. MarshaVs Review, 1812. Smith's Geological Map, 1821.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climatt of the wolds severe and variable; N. and N.E. winds
prevail in winter and spring; in the vales milder; mild, but
not very healthy, on the Humber ; rain at Hull twenty-seven
inches and a half yearly at an average.
Soil of the wolds calcareous loam ; of Ho'.derness ftnlile cla/
and stiff retentive clay. On the banks of the Humlier, from
I'aul nearly to Sperm Point, there are 1,T or 14,000 acres of
warp-land, of a strong clayey loam, the productiveness of which
oan hardly be equalled.
Sunk Island on the Humber is a modem creation bv that
estuary. It first began to show itself about 16(57, at ebb tide,
and as no man pretended title to it (it being a detached island),
a grant of it was made by the crown in the same year. In 1787
1600 acres of the land were embanked and under tillage, pro-
ducing a rental of 900/. a vear.with a chapel and several farm-
houses erected on it. That part of Sunk Island which was first
embanked was originally about two miles from the shore, and
many persons are still living who recollect vessels passing be-
tween it and the mainland, to which it is now united by a
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF DURHAM.
1159
bridge across a narrow channel, serving as a drain to the adja-
cent country. It contains at present within the banks about
4700 acres and twenty-four families, and is continually increas-
ing in size, an extensive tract having been recently embanked,
with a probability of its being still further enlarged.
Minerals. Chalk and a very hard shelly limestone, producing
a lime little valued either by the farmer or builder. Chalk of
the wolds much harder than that of the southern counties.
Marl in many places. Gypsum in some places, but no mineral
veins or coal, and in many places not even clay for bricks.
2. Property.
Less divided on the East Riding than in other parts of the
county ; ptrhaps less than in most parts of England ; which
arises a good deal iirom the nature of the county : one half of
wolds where land is held in little estimation, and occupied in
larger tracts ; the other a flat low country, partly rich and
clayey, and partly sandy and barren. Most of the families
have possessed their estates for many centuries, and some from
the Norman conquest : largest 15,000/. a year; ten at 10,000/.
a year. t)nly three noblemen have seats in this Riding.
3. Buildings.
Seventy-four manorial houses, of which twelve are going to
decay ; nineteen let to tenants, or remain empty ; forty -one
occupied by their owners [Temp. Eliz.) ; ninety-two families
bearing arms resident in the county.
Farm-houses generally good, excepting on the wolds, where
they are built of cha'.k, thatched, and miserably bad ; generally
in villages, excepting those built lately.
Cottages more comfortable than in many places ; generally
two rooms below and two bedrooms over them : a disposition
in the proprietors to let their cottages go to decay.
Village com club. A plan for insuring cows having been
lately adopted on an extensive scale, and with striking success,
in the north of Lincolnshire, from which it appears that an
average payment of about three halfpence per cow per week (or
six shillings per year) is fully adequate to replace the ordinary
losses of cows by death, it is proposed to institute a similar club
in the contiguous parts of the East and North Ridings of York-
shire, with a view of securing to the labourer and his family,
at a trifling expense, the great benefits of that useful animal,
without his risking more than one sixth part of her value, upon
certain conditions.
4. Occupation.
Farms in general small ; one or two of 1200/. per annum,
but from 200/. to 20/. more common. Leases so rare that the
surveyor could not recollect of one, unless under suspicious
circumstances, where something incorrect is aimed at, some
advantage intended to be given or taken ; where either the
landlord wanted something more than customary from the
tenant, or the tenant was disinclined to trust his landlord :
great estates are let in full confidence in this Riding, where a
lease was never asked for, probably never wished for ; because
the tenure is equally secure, and more permanent without
than with one. Many estates have been occupied by the pro-
genitors of the present tenants, during two, three, or four
generations.
5. Implements.
Waggons here of a bad construction ; but well yoked in the
German manner. The four horses are yoked two abreast, in
the same manner as they are put to a coach, two drawing
by the splinter-bar and two by the pole ; those at the wheel
drawing also by a swinging bar, which the wheel-horses of
every carriage ought to do, as they thereby obtain considerable
ease in their draft, and are less liable to be galled by the col-
lar than those which draw by a fixed bar; the driver then,
being mounted on the near-side wheel horse, directs the two
leaders by a rein fixed to the outside of each of their bridles,
they being coupled together by a strap passing from the inside
of each of their bridles to tlie collar of the other horse. In
this manner, when empty, they trot along the roads with
safety and expedition ; arid when loaded, the horses being
near'their work, and conveniently placed for drawing, labour
with much greater ease and effect than when placed at length.
Were the wagf;on, indeed, of a better construction, the team
would be excellent.
The peas-hook and the bean-hook, both made out of old
scythe-blades, and used in reaping peas and beans, are pecu-
liar to this idding ; as was the lime-burner's fork till lately.
(See./(/<. 682. b, c.)
The moulding sledge is a useful implement for levelling the
small inequalities of meadow and pasture land, and spreading
the dung dropped by the cattle. It is a frame of wood about
five feet square (the sides of which are about four inches thick
to give it weight and strength), having three bars of iron fixed
to the lower side, the points of which are thinned to sharp
edges. When in use, some thorns are drawn under the hinder
wooden bar, and above the middle one, to which they are fixed
by cords. If it is wanted to be removed from one field to
another, it is turned the other side up, which preserves the
edges of the bars from injury. It is drawn by two horses, and
win go over a great extent of land in a day.
6. Enclosing.
The taste for this has been carried too far, and land enclosed
which has not and probably never will repay the expense.
7. Arable Land.
Two thirds of the wolds, and one third of the rest of the
Riding, under the [ilough ; fallow, wheat, oats, or fallow, bar-
ley, beans, common rotations.
8. Grass.
The marshy meadows adjoining the Derwent, a few grazing
pastures in Hbldemess and Howdenshire, and the small garths
or paddocks in the immediate vicinity of the towns and villages,
form the principal part of natural grass lands.
The salt-marshes on the outside of the embarkments are of
no great extent. Unless the mud is so elevated as to be con-
stantly above water for a few days at neap tides, no plants take
possession of the surface ; but when vegetation can go on, the
first plant which takes possession is the Salicdmia or samphire,
and next the f 6a marftima, which in a short time covers the
surface with a close short sward. A few sheep are occasionally
put on it when not too much dirtied by the mud of the spring
tides.
In laying land to grass, caraway and narsley sown among it
by sonie, to preserve the health of the sheep.
9. Gardens and Orchards.
Almost unknown, excepting among the higher classes ; farm-
ers rarely use any other vegetable than potatoes and turnips ;
cotta^'ers cultivate their gardens with more care than the
farmers.
10. Woodlands.
Of no great extent in proportion to the Riding ; extensive
plantations made on the wolds.
11. Improvements.
Holderness drainage an extensive work of the kind, on the
east side of the river Hull ; it extends over nearly 12,000 acres,
and is managed by commissioners. Various other extensive
drainages.
12. Live stock.
Holderness cattle, remarkable for their large size and abun-
dant supply of milk, prevail universally. This breed is supi>osed
to have been introduced from Holland about a centurv ago,
and improved by attentive management. The late Sir George
Strickland the greatest modem breeder in the district, lireed-
ing a principal object in most parts of the Riding, and feeding
in Holderness when the pastures are rich.
Sheep formerly the Holderness breed, resembling that of Lin-
colnshire and tlie Wold sheep ; now the Leicester and various
other breeils.
Horses for the coach and saddlo, the grand branch of breeding
in this Riding, and as many or more produced, in proportion
to its extent, than in any other. But it is allowed by all that
the breed has of late much degenerated, owing to the inatten-
tion of the farmers. About twenty years ago, a cross of blood
was introduced, by which, though good saddle horses were pro-
duced, the coach horse was lost. This error discovered, an
opposite and still more pernicious one was produced by the in-
troduction of heavy black staUions from Lincolnshire. These
produced a mongrel breed, which will not be got rid of for
several generations. In breeding, some castrate the foal while
sucking, and think it a preferable practice to that of the North
Riding.
Rabbits. About twenty warrens, containing together probably
10,000 acres.
13. Political Economy.
Not more than 140 miles of turnpike road in the whole
Riding ; few of these good, and the cross roads and lanes very
bad ; manufactures few ; white lead, glue, glass, iron-foundry,
oil-mills, cordage, sailcloth, patent whalebone, brick, tile, pot-
tery, &c. at Hull. White-lead and Spanish-white for whitening
prejiared from chalk, at Hessel. Howden coarse canvass for
mail bags ; near Drillield spinning and weaving tow ; other ma-
nufactures near York. Several agricultural societies; one for
books and implements at Howden.
7808. DURHAM. 582,400 acres of surface, in some places mountainous, and in most places hilly; the
soil in great part poor ; the agriculture generally approaching the best model, that of Northumberland ;
and the county distinguished by the Durham or Teeswater breed of cattle, and by its lead and coal mines.
The celebrated farmer and breeder Culley was a native of this county, and farmed here as well as in
Northumberland. {Granger's General View, 1794. Bailey's General View, 1810. Marshal's Review, 1818.
Smith's Geological Map, 1824.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate fine and mild in the lower districts ; but on Crossfell,
the highest land in England, being 3400 feet above the level
of the sea, snow frequently lies from November till the middle
or end of June. General time of harvest from the b^inning
of September to the middle of October.
Soils principally clay loam and neat ; the latter prevails in
the western part of the county or leatl-mine district ; there is
a tract of calcareous soil in the interior of the county.
Minerals: coals found over a considerable portion of the
county, workable to the extent of 100,000 acres; those in
the northern parts of the county wrought for exportation, in
the western and southern parts for lamt sale only. In various
parts of the coal districts are dykes or fractures (fg. 1010.
a, b), and consequent derangement of the strata, which throw
the liedsof coal (cc) on one side of the dyke often many feet up
or down. The fissure between being commonly filled with
clay, stops the water in its course along the different beds
td, e), interrupts the drainage, and greatly damages the work-
ing of the coal.
Lead-mines numerous in the western district ; the ore
mostly in vertical fissures of limestone and other rocks like
the dykes.
Millstones, grindstones, freestones, slates of the grev or free-
4
1010
stone kind, silver sand,
limestone, whinstone, clay
stone or black metal stone,
and yellow ochre, also
found.
Water. Salmon fishery
on the Tyne has greatly
declined, owing to the
building of wears, which
prevent their petting up.
Bailey remarlcs, that if
dams of this description
were put across the river
Tweed, a revenue of
nearly 16,000/. per year,
received for rents of fish-
ings, and 60,000/. a year,
the value of the fish taken
in that river, would be
reduced to a mere trifle,
in a few years.
Salt springs, from which
salt is made near Britt
and other places. A spa
E 4
1160
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
or snlt s\i'.phur spring near Durham, and another on Lord
Durham's estate, with public baths and dressins-rooms.
Various others of less note.
2. Property.
Largest estates, 20,000/. to 22,000/. a year ; several from
1(X)0/. to 3000/., from which they descend by regular gradations
to the smallest sums. Some estates let by proposal ; but the
general mode is to ask a rent, and treat with tenants six or
seven months before the existing leases expire.
3. Buildings.
Generally of stone and slate ; cottages of one storv, covered
with thatch or tiles.
4. Occupation.
Largest farm about 1000 acres, greatest number from 150
to 50 acres. The larger farmers almost only those who have
made improvements ; among these, Messrs. Culley and Charge
first led the way, and have' been followed by Messrs. Collins,
Mason, Taylor, Trotter, Nesham, Seymour, and many others,
by whose exertions and judicious selection of stock this district
will be lastingly benefited.
Greatest number of small labouring farmers greater slaves
than their servants, being generally employed through the
summer, in some kind of work or other, from four o'clock
in the morning ti:l eight at nir^ht ; and jn every other sea-
son of the year from twilight to twilight ; and may truly be
said " to rise early, take rest late, and eat the bread of
carefulness."
Leases, three, five, and seven years, excepting church and
corjjoration leases for 21 years, and lives. "Those farms let for
short terms remain stationary, as no prudent man will lay
out his money in improvements, for which, when completed,
he will be rewarded by an advance of rent, proportioned to
the improvement he has made.
.'5. Implements.
Swing p'oughsof the Rotherham kind ; of late the Small's
plough ; vnrions other good implements, and in many parts
now (1S30) the improved forms of Northumberland and
Berwickshire.
6. Enclosing.
On dry soils hedges are frequently planted on a raised
mound, forty inches broad, and the height twelve inches;
a small ditch is cut on each side to make it, and the quicks
.->re planted in the middle. In this mode the land may be
p'oughed nearly to the mound, and when the thorns are
grown to a sufficient htight, almost close to the hedge.
\Vhen they are five or six years old, every other stem is cut
clean off, within two or three inches of the surface, and the
remaining ones stripj>ed of their principal branches; then
stakes of thirty inches high are driven in at proper distances,
and the splashing stems, having a slight cut on one side to
make them tend easier, are wound amongst the stakes at an
angle of about twenty- five degrees, and a single adder is
wound round the top to keep the stakes tight.
7. Arable lands.
Ploughing generally well executed, but in some places tha
subsoil prevents sufficient depth of furrow, j. e. six inches.
The turnip culture, rotations, and general manaiiement of
arable land, the same as in Northumberland ; that is, of the
most improved kind ; seventeen tons of Riita baga are equal
to thirty -one tons of white turnip in feeding cattle or sheep.
Mustard was formerly much grown in this county, and
Durham mustard was proverbial for its excellence. At pre-
sent a crop of mustird is rarely met with. It is generally
sown upon pared and burned land in April, one pound per
acre. The produce about twenty bushels per acre ; and price
from eight to sixte<!n shillings per bushel.
Potatoes in the village of Hamstely have been the principal
article of trade, and" the principal employment of several
families for eighty years ; they are very particular in havinjf
good sets, each with two eyes; use reddish or pink sorts,
plant in March and April, and both horse and hand-hoe ; no
curl appears among them, but sometimes they " run wild,"
or tend to that state, producing more flowers tiian usual, and
continuing flowering much later, sometimes till Michaelmas,
and producing few tubers and slender stems. WTienever this
is observed, the tubers of such potatoes are no longer used
for propagation.
8. Grass.
Not much old surface, what there is chiefly upland.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Scampston elm, from a place of that name in Yorkshire,
but supposed originally from ^'Vmerica, will make shoots from
grafts, in one year, of 5 or 6 feet ; introduced in young plant-
ations by Messrs. Falla, eminent nurserymen of Gates-
head ; vale of Derwent well wooded ; Sir J. Eden a great
planter.
10. Emharikmcnts.
Begun on the Tees in 1740, and about 1500 acres secured
between that period and ISOO.
11. Live Stock.
Short-homed cattle. The famous Durham ox bred by
Charles Colling of Kellan, in 1796.
Sheep. Teesivater and Leicester breed ; stock bred, reared,
and fed in the most scientific manner, especially by the larger
farmers mentioned above (4).
VL Political Economy.
Turnpike roads first made in 1742 ; materials, whinstone,
limestone, river gravel, and freestone. Roads excellent where
materials are broken sufficiently small : they are also in good
repair. Milestones on some roads. Hollow triangular prisnos
of cast-iron, with projecting letters and figures. They are
two and a half fret high, and fixed on an oak post, four and
a half feet long, sunk two and a half feet in the earth. Guide-
posts much wanted. No iron railways, and no public roads
or canals.
Mamifactures. Wrought iron foundries, glass-houses, pot-
teries, salt, copperas, sal ammoniac, coal tar, paper, woollen,
cotton, and linen cloth. Several a;;ricultural societies; the
first established at Darlington in 1783.
7809. NORTHUMBERLAND, including those detached parts of the county of Durham, called
Northamshire, Islandshire, and Beddingtonshire, compreliends a surface of 1, '267,200 acres, chiefly
mountainous or breeding districts, but including 450,000 acres proper for tillage. The celebrity of this
county both for its tillage and breeding is well known. Here turnips were first extensively cultivated
in tile drill manner, and the best principles of breeding practised by Culley. To this gentleman and
Bailey agriculture owes much : the latter was, perhaps, one of the most enlightened and accomplished
of modern agriculturists. {Bailey and Culley's General View, 180'). Mars/uirs Review, 1808. Smith's
Geological Map, 1824.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Cliituite subject to great variation of temperature ; snow to
a considerable depth on the mountains, when there is none
in the lower districts ; weather runs in extremes ; very cold
in spring, and seldom mild before June.
Soil aiul Surface. Strong fertile loam along the coast ; sandy,
gravelly, and dry loam on the Tyne, from Newborn to Halt-
whistle, on the Coquet about Rothbury ; on the Aln, from
Alnwick to the sea; down Tweedside, but chiefly in the
vales of Breamish Hill and Beaumont. The hills surround-
ing the Cheviot mountains are mostly a dry sharp gravelly
loam. Moist loam occupies a large portion of the county,
unsafe for sheep, and unfit for turnips, and peat earth pre-
vails in the mountainous districts.
The aspect of the surface is marked with great variety ;
along tha sea-coast it is nearly level ; towards the middle
more diversified, and thrown into large swelling ridges,
formed by the principal rivers. These parts are well enclosed ;
in some places enriched with wood and recent plantations,
hut the general appearance is destitute of those ornaments.
The western part (except a few intervening vales) is an ex-
tensive scene of open mountainous district, where the hand
of cultivation is rarely to be traced. Of the mountainous
dlitricts, those around Cheviot are the most valuable, being
in general fine green hills, thro\pn into numberless variety
of forms, enclosing and sheltering many deep, narrow, and
sequestered glens.
Minerals. Coal in abundance in the greatest part of the
county : it is like that of Durham of the caking kind, antl is
found in the south-east quarter of the best quality ; quan-
tity exported, chiefly for the London market, 956,250 London
cha'ders. Calculated that the whole coal of the counties of
Newcastle and Durham will be exhausted in 550 years. Lime-
stone, stone-marl, clay-marl, lead- ore, and ore of zinc in small
quantities ; freestone, whinstone, and iron are all worked.
Water. The Tyne and Tweed have been long celebrated
for their salmon fisheries: in the latter a rent of 800/. a year
is paid for a fishing of two hundred yards in length, near the
mouth of the river ; and the same rent is paid for each of two
other fishings above the bridge, not more than two hundred
and fifty yards in length each. The fish taken here are, the
salmon, bull-trout, whiting, and large common trout, and
nearly the whole of them sent to London ; in the conveyance
of which, a great improvement lias tafcen place of late years,
by packing th?m in pounded ice ; by this means they are
presented nearly as fresh at the London market, as when
taken out of the river. For the purpose of carrying them.
and keeping up a constant and regular supply, vessels called
smacks sail three limes a week, and being purposely con-
structed for swift sailing, frequently make their run in forty-
eight hours. These vessels are from 70 to 120 tons burden ;
on an average twelve men are employed in each vessel, and
make about fourteen voyages in a year; and not less than 75
boats and 300 fishermen are employed in taking the fish in
the River Tweed.
2. Property.
One estate upwards of 40,000 acres, the rest vary from
10 to 20,000; small estates rare in the northern part of the
county. Few counties in which estates have been so rapidly
improved ; several instances of the value trebled in forty
years ; piincipal cause letting large farms on twenty-one years'
leases. Usual mode of letting farms is to fix a rent six or
twelve months before the expiration of the lease ; but upon
one of the largest estates in the county (the Earl of Tank-
erville's), the tenants have an offer of their farms two years
and a half or three years before the expiration of the lease,
which is a mutual benefit to both lantllord and tenant, and
is attended with so many advantages, that it is in a fair way
of being generally adopted.
3. Buildings.
Farmeries formerly very shabby and ill contrived, now totally
ditferent. The most approved form of distributing the various
offices is, on the east, west, and worth sides of a rectangular
parallelogram Ififf. 1011.) which is generally divided into two
iold-yards for cattle of different ages, the south being left open
to admit the sun ; and for the same reason, and also for the
sake of cleanliness and health, the farm-house (n) is removed
in front thirty or fortv yards; tetween which and the south
wall of the fold is a small court for coa's and yqung poultry ; tt\e
bam {l>) is IS feet by CO, with threshing-machine driven by
horses, water, wind, or steam j on each side are sheds (c c),
ovcT which are granaries; beyond these, as wings to the main
square, are sheds ((/ (/), upon which are built corn-stacks. One
ot these sheds is for wintering yearling calves, the other for
holding implements of the larger kind. On the east of the
main square is the stable (e), and in the west a house for cows
and fatting oxen if), each 16 feet by 48 feet. Over the pig-
sties {g) are poultry houses which open into the court-yard of
the house, as the piggeries do into the fold-yards for wintering
young cattle (A It).
Coitii^es of stone and lime and tiled ; floor of lime and san4 ;
the living room fifteen feet by sixteen, and the cow-house nine
feet by sixteen.
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF CUMBERLAND.
1161
4. Occupation.
Farms generally large in the north, some from 200/. to 400/.
a year ; in various parts farms from 50/. to 100/ , and from 100/.
to 1000/. or 1500/. a year. The capital necessary
for such farms entitles the farmers to a good edu-
cation, and gives them a spirit of independence
and enterprise, that is rarely found amoni^st the
occupiers of small farms and" short leases. Their
minos being open to conviction, they are ready to
try new experiments and adopt every beneficial im-
provement that can be learned in other districts ;
for this purpose, manv of them have traversed the
most distant parts of the kingdom to obtain agri-
cultural knowledge, and have transplanted every
practice they thought superior to those they were
acquainted with, or that could be advantaf^eously
pursued in their own situation , and scarcely a
vear passes without some of them making exten-
sive agricultural tours, for the sole purpose of
examining the modes of culture, of purchasing or
hiring the most improved breeds of stock, and
seeing the operations of new invented and more
useful implements.
5. Implements.
Of the most approved kind ; and some of these,
as the plough, drill, horse-hoe, &c. owe their chief
merits to the improvements of Bailey. A pair of
pruning shears recommended as preferable to
those in common use for cutting hedges. They
consist of a strong sharp knife, six inches long,
moving betwixt two square-edged cheeks; the
upper handle is two feet six inches long, and the
other two feet three inches. {Sie Eitcijclopaedia
(if Gardening, 2ded. 1334..fe. 122.)
6. Enclosures.
Size of fields varies with the size of the farms ; in some parts
from two to six or eight acres ; in the northern parts, where the
farms are large, from 20 to 100 acres. The quicks should
never be planted nearer each other than nine inches, and, upon
good land, a foot. Quicks four or five years old, with strong
clean stems, are always to be preferred to those that are
younger and smaller. It is a custom in some parts to clip
young quicks every year : this makes the fence look neat and
snug ; but it checks their growth, and keeps them always weak
in the stem, and, when they grow old, open at bottom ; while
those that are left to nature get strong stems and side branches,
which, by interweaving one with another, make a thick and
impenetrable hedge, and if cut at proper intervals (of nine or
ten years), will always maintain its superiority over those that
have been cipped from their first planting. In point of profit,
and of labour saved, there is no comparison ; and for beauty,
we prefer nature, and think a luxuriant hawthorn, in full
bloom, or laden with its rii>ened fruit, is a more pleasing, en-
livening, and gratifying object, than the stiff, formal sameness
produceil by the shears.
7. Arable Land.
Trench ploughing practised by a few in breaking up grass
lands. About 1793, when horses were scarce and dear, a good
many oxen wtTe used for ploughing and carting about the
farm ; butafter a few years' trial, they were given up : they were
harnessed both with yokes and collars, and only ploughed half
a day at a time.
FalUming on all soils once in three or four years, was general
through the county till the introduction of turnips. On soils
improper for this root, the naked fallow still prevails ; but the
quantity of fallow probably on all soils will, after a long series
of good culture, become less necessary, and may in many cases
be finally dispensed with.
Turmpt were first grown in the northern parts of the county
about 1723. Proctor, the proprietor of Roch, brought Andrew
Willey, a gardener, to cultivate turnips at Roch, for the pur.
pose of feeiling cattle ; that Willey afterwards settled at Les-
Dury, as a gardener, and was employed for many years to sow
turnips for all the neighbourhood ; and his business this way
was so great, he was obliged to ride and sow, that he might
despatch the greater quantity.
Hoeing turnips was mtroduced at the same time, and at first
practisKl by gardeners, and other men, at extravagant wages.
Ildeston, about thirty years since, had the merit of first reduc-
ing the price of hoeing, liy teaching boys, girls, and women
to perform the work equally as well, if not better than men.
The mode he took was simple and ingenious : by a light jilough,
without a mould-board, be divided the field into small squares
of equal magnitude, and directetl the boys and girls to leave a
certain number of plants in each square. In a short time they
became accurate, regular, and expert hoers ; and, in a few
years, all the turnips in the county were hoed by women and
boys, at half the expense, and better than by men.
The broadcast culture of turnips, in the northern parts of the
countv, was not inferior to any we ever saw ; and in respect to
accurate, regular, clean hoeing, superior to what we ever ob-
served in Norfolk, Suflblk, or other turnip districts which we
have frequently examined . ( Bailey. )
I>riUing turnips was first introduced to the county about
1780. ftilling this, as well as other crops, evidently originated
with TuU, whose first work. Specimen of a Work on Horse.
Arbigland, in Dumfirieashire, began to drill turnips about 1745 ;
and next we find Philip Howard of Corby drilling in 1755;
and I'ringle drilling "from hints taken from Tull's book," in
1011
LJlJ-
I I I I I
^pfeet
1756 or 1757. William Dawson, who was well acquainted
with the turnip culture in England, having been purposely
sent to reside in those districts for six or seven years, wher-; the
btst cultivation was pursued, with an intention, not only of
seeing but of making himself master of the manual operations,
and of all the minutiae in the practice, was convinced of the
superiority of Pringle's mode over every other he had seen,
either in Norfolk or elsewhere; and in 176i<, when he entered
to Frogden farm, near KeUo, in Koxburghshire, he imme-
diately adopted the practice upon a large scale, to the amount
of 100 acres yearly. Though none of Pringle's neighbours fol-
lowed the example, yet, no sooner did Dawson, an actual or rent-
p lying farmer, adopt the same svstem, than it was immediately
followed, not only by several farmers in his vicinity, but by
those very farmers adjoining Pringle, whose crops they had
seen, for ten or twelve years, so much superior to their own :
the practice in a few years became general.
8. Chass.
Not much old grass in the county.
9. Woods.
Not very numerous, though a considerable demand for small
wood by the proprietors of the collieries and lead mines. Arti-
ficial plantations rising in every part of tlie county.
10. Improvements.
Embanking and irrigation practised in a few places which
require or admit of these operations.
11. live Stock.
Cattle the short -homed, long-homed, Devonshire, and wild
Sheep, the Cheviot, heath, and long woolled. The modem
maxims of breeding were introduced into the county by one of
Bakewell's first disciples, Culley of South Durham, well known
for his work on Live Stock, previous to which, " big bones"
and " large size" were looked upon as the principal criterion
of excellence, and a sacred adherence to the rule of never
breeding within the canonical degree of relationship : but those
prejudices are at this period in a great measure done aw^ ;
and the principal farmers of this district may now be classed
amongst the most scientific breeders in the kingdom, who have
pursued it with an ardour and unremitting attention that have
not failed of success. ^ ^ . ,
Horses for draught brought from Clydesdale. , . „, .
Goats are kept in small numbers on many parts of the Cheviot
hills, not so much as an object of profit, but the shepherd asserts,
that the sheep flocks are healthier where a tew goats do pas-
ture. This probably may be the case, as it is well known that
goats eat some plants with impunity that are deadly poison to
other kinds rf domestic animals. The chief profit made of
these goats is, from their milk being sold to invalids, who come
to Wooler in the summer season.
12. Political Economy.
Roads of whin or limestone, and mostly good. Manufac-
tures, gioves at Hexham, plait straw for cottagers' and labourers'
hats, and also for those of the higher classes. Woollens in a
few places ; and a variety of works connected with the coal
trade and mines at Newcastle. No agricmltural societies, these
Bailev holds in little estimation; but thinks if public farms
were established in each county, and supported by a rate on the
income of its proprietors, they would be the most effectual
means of promoting agricultural improvement.
hoeing Husbandry, appeared in 173 1. It appears that Craig, of
7810 CUMBERLAND. 970,240 acres of mountainous district, remarkable for its picturesque beauty,
and also of late greatly improved in its agriculture. The exertions of the late Bishop of Llandaft m plant,
ing, and of J. C. Curwen, Esq. in field culture, have contributed much to the improvement of this county,
which, as far as its soil and climate permit, may be considered as on a par with Northumberland. (Prm
gle's General fteview, l'9i. General View, by J. Bailey and G. Culley, 1804, ~"" " " -—'"■•
Smith's Geological Map, 1824.)
MarshaVs Eeview,
1. Introductory Ohservatwns.
Pringle informs us that " trres and plants, being altogether
passive, accommodate themselves very slowly to a change of
climate : but the idea has been already thrnwn out, that even
those of the torrid zone may l« made to flourish in the northern
regions ; may be even gradually inured to the climate ; that the
climate itself may be changed" for the better ; and that some
thousands of years hence, rejiosing under their own olive trees,
future Britons may qualftheir own wine, or sip their own tea,
sweetened with the juice of their own sugTr-cane."'
Pringle " found it impossible" not to mention to the Board
that he was remarkably well treated when he surveyed the
county, which " filled him with peculiar feelings of pleasure
and respect." Some of those feelings he voids on Sir John
Sinclair, in the following terms :— " WTiat gratitude is due to
him (!) who first called the attention of the nation to its most
important interests, and whose unremitted efforts are directed
to promote the good of his country ! How well does he deserve,
and what a sure road has he chosen to, immortal fame that will
survive the ravages of time, and smile at the fleeting celebrity
1162
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
of martial achieTements ! " " This," Marshal observes, " most
assuredl^r means, not him, but me. '
In some prcUminari) observations to this report by Watson,
Bishop of Llandatr, are sugfjestions for settling poor people in
cottages on the wastes, as has been done in Spain, and on the
advantages which would result from planting them, especially
with the larch and oak.
y. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate. Healthy, though subject to great and frequent falls
of rain, especially in autumn, which renders harvest late and
precarious: snow on the mountains for six or eight months.
Average rain at Keswick seventy inches.
Soil. Clays and loams on the better parts of the valleys and
hill sides, aiid peat earth on the mountainous districts.
Surface. Beautiftilly and greatly diversified, chiefly moun-
tainous, and incajiable of being improved by the plough ; but
part of the valley and i)!ains are cultivatable soils.
Minerals. Chiefly coal, lime, and lead ore; there are also
black lead, copper, gypsum, lapis calaminaris, and excellent
slate and freestone.
Waters. Sixty-seven miles of sea-coast, several large and
small rivers, and the lakes well known for their beautv, and
the excellent char, trout, and other fish which some of them
produce.
o. Property.
Few counties' where land is in such small parce's, and these
occupied by their owners. The annual value of these tene-
ments vary "from 5/. to 50/. a year; generally from 15/. to .>0/.,
some few 100/. Largest estate in the county 13,000/. a year.
Tenure of by far the greater part of the county ' customary
tenure," a species of vassalage, by which the holder is subject
to fines, heriots, and various services to the lords of manors- A
good deal h£is been enfranchised. Copyhold and leasehold are
rarely met v/ith ; what is not customary is freehold.
4. Buildings, Implements, Arable Land, 8(C.
Approaching to tliat of Northumberland. A great manv
young plantations rising on the sides of the mountains.
5. Live Stock.
Cattle of various kinds ; breed of the county a small long-
homed kind ; but the most improved varieties are now intro-
ducetl.
Sheep bretl in the county the Herdwicks, a hardy mountain
sheep. Some horses bred" by the farmer, and bees very com-
mon. In every parish the taking of moles is let at a certain
sum, and defrayed by a parochial rate per acre j a plan which
will soon eradicate this animal from the coimty.
6. Improvements.
Various kinds, as draining, watering, planting, &c. made by
Watson, Bishop of Llandalf, at Colgarth Park. Those of
J. C. Curwen, Esq, of Workington, especially in feeding and
fatting stock, have made a distinguished figure in agricultural
writings; but their practical merits have been questioned.
We paid a high compliment to Curwen in the first edition of
this Encyclopnedia, on which a scientific and practical man,
who was personally acquainted with him, made the following
note : — "I doubt if Curwen has any right to the compliments
here paid him. If I may judge, both from his writings and
conversation, he is certainly not a first-rate farmer, and, what
in his situation is worse, not very much the firiend of farmers.
He admitted to me, indeed, that his management was not
profitable, which is saying all in one word."
78] 1. WESTMORELAND. 540,160 acres, chieflj' of mountain and moor, but with some few tracts of
vale lands, cultivated or capable of cultivation. On the whole it is naturally the most -infavourable county
to agriculture or comfortable living in England, owing to its wet and cold climate, ungrateful soil, and
rugged surface. {Pringle's General Vieiv, 1794. Marshal's Review, 1808. Smith's Geological Map, 1824.
Edin. Gaz. 1827.)
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate. S. W. winds and rains prevjul for eight months in
the year: in 1792 eighty-three inches, medium forty-five or
fifty inches, whiclj is twenty inches above the medium quan-
tity that falls in Kurope. Air pure and healthy ; winters long
and severe. In 1791-2 thirty six pounds were paid for cutting
in the snow ten miles of horse tract between Shap and Kendal.
The soil most prevzilent on the low lands is a dry gravelly
mould, and peat on the mountains.
Surface. Mountainous and hillv, and in most places incapable
of cultivation by the plough. Large tracts of black barren
moors, called the Fells.
Minerals. Some trifling veins of leid; limestone in abund-
ance in most parts of the county ; excellent blue slates ; gypsum
used for laying floors; freestone, and marble near ICendal.
Water. Several rivers and some lakes, corresponding in
beauty and products with those of Cumberland.
2. Property.
As in Cumberland; land-owners called statesmen (for
estatesmen), as in Ireland.
3. Buildings.
Very indifferent ; few mere cottages ; the labourer and
mechanic generally reside in a small farm-house, and occupy
more or less land.
4. Occupation.
Farms small ; and farmers, who are generally proprietors,
" live poorly and labour hard," in the fields in summer, and
weaving in winter ; wear clogs, the upper part of leather, and
the soles of birch, alder, or sycamore. The culture of arable
land is very limited, and, like that of grass land, was in a very
backward state at the time the reporter wrote, but gradually
improving. Dairying in a small way is generally practise<l, but
little attention to the sort of cow or breeding. The Earl of
Lonsdale, and Watson, Bishop of Llandaffj were among the
first to set the example as to planting.
5. Manufactures.
Woollen cloth, or Kendal coatings, stockings, silk, gun-
powder, &c. A private carpet manufactory at Lowther, by
the Earl of Lonsdale.
7812. LANCASHIRE. 1,150,000 acres ; (1,155,840, Brook's Gaz. 1809, 12,000,000! Edin. Gaz. 1827),
included in a very irregular outline, extending above a degree, or about seventy-four miles from north to
south, containing mountainous and moory surface, and a large portion of low, flat, or moderately varied
lands, of good quality. The soil in great part sandy, and chiefly in pasture. The early introduction and
successful culture of the potato distinguishes this county, and also the immense extent of its cotton
manufactures, and very considerable foreign commerce from Liverpool. It is also the country of Brind-
ley, the engineer. [Holt's General Vieiv, 1795. Dickson's General View, prepared by Stevenson, 1815.
Marshal's Review, 1808.)
I. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Climate. Air every where pure and salubrious, but on the
elevated parts cold and sharp ; protected, however, by the
northern and eastern ranges of mountains form the N. and E.
winds; not much snow or long continued severe frosts. In
1819-20, when the thermometer in gardens near London had
fallen te-l degrees below zero, that in the botanic garden at
Liverpool never fell to zero. Average of rain in the county
probably about forty-two inches: in 1792, sixty-five; and in
some ye"ars fifty. From a register of the times during a series
of years, at which potatoes, asparagus, and gooseberries were
first brought to the Liverpool market, it appears that the dif-
ference between an early and late spring is not less than six
weeks.
Soil. On the mountains and moors rocky and peaty ; on the
northern part of the lowlands moist, cold, and rushy silt ; on
the rest chiefly sandy loam.
Minerals. Principally coal, copper, lead, and iron ; the first
and last very abundant; there is also slate, grey-slate, and
flagstones, freestone, and limestone.
Waters. Seventy-five miles emd upwards of sea-coast, and
several rivers and meres.
2 Property.
Very variously divided ; a considerable number of yeomanry
from 10/. to 700/. per annum : a general spirit for possessing
land and agricultural improvement ; tenures, as usual, chiefly
freehold.
3. Buildings.
Old farmeries the work of chance and random ; houses often
there formerly occupied by proprietors, and offices without
order or design , but various new erections on the most approved
plans; cottages in many places comfortable, with good gardens,
especially those occupied by operative manufacturers and me-
chanics. Those in the less improved, parts of wattled studd
work, y)lastered or wrouglit in with tempered clay and straw;
j>rovincially " cat and clay."
4. Occupation.
Farms in general small ; education and knowledge of most
of the small occupiers very circumscribed ; larger farmers more
enlightened, and having more command of capital, are improv-
ing the culture of their farms.
5. Implements.
Little improvement, but the Northumberland plough cind
SIcikle's threshing-machine introduced; horse pattens are
almost peculiar to this county, and are used in cultivating
light peaty soils.
6. Arable Land.
Less prevalent than grass ; but great attention paid to the
culture of potatoes, both by farmers and cott.^gers ; the former
generally cultivated in drills, and horse-hoed ; the latter in beds
or dibbled in rows, and hand-hoed. The method of growing
early potatoes, and several crops on the same soil in one season,
has 'already been given. (5321.) Onions are cultivated exten-
sively near Warrington, and rhubarb and madder have been
trial, and grown to very great perfection, but not so easily
dried and prepared for sale as to induce a continuance of the
practice.
7. Grass Lands.
Extensive, but chiefly coarse upland pastures ; some good
meadows and productive marsh lands. Application chiefly for
the dairy for home consumption of milk and butter ; not much
cheese made, excepting on the Cheshire side of the county.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
Excellent market gardens near most of the large towns.
Liverpool remarkably well supplied : great quantities of cab-
bages and onions used by the shipping, and of dried herbs and
onions exported ; the dried herbs sent to Africa. " There is a
certain farm in Kirkby, about eight milesnorth-eastfrom Liver-
pool, the soil of a small part of which is a black loamy sand,
and which produces great quf.ntities of early and strong aspa-
ragus, and another farm, a part of which is of the same na-
ture at a place called Orre!, about four miles north-west of
Liverpool : both which produce this plant with less attention
and less dung than requisite in the rich vale of Kirkdale, aliout
two miles from Liver^iool, where the greatest quantity of land
in any place of this neighbourhood is appropriated solely to
horticulture."
Gardens of Mechanics. " A small patch of ground appended
to his cottage furnishes the weaver, smith, or carpenter with
health and pleasure, and contributes to his sobriety ; intempe-
rance not unfrequently proceeding from want of recreation to
fill up a vacant hour. This smsill space is devoted to nurtur-
ing his young seedlings, trimming his more matured plants,
contemplating new varieties, in expectation of honours through
the medium of promised jiremiums. Thus, starting at inter-
vals from, his more toilsome labours, the mechanic finds his
stagnating fluids put in motion, and his lun^s refreshed writh
the fragrant breeze, whilst he has been raising new flowers
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF CHESHIRE.
lies
of the auricula, carnation, polyanthus, or pink, of tlie most ap.
proved qualities in their several kinds ; and which, after being
raised here, have been dispersed over the whole kingdom. But
not only flowers, but fruit, have been objecti of their attention.
The best gooseberries now under cultivation had their origin in
the county of Lancaster ; and, to promote this spirit, meetings
are annually appointed at different places, at which are public
exhibitions of different kinds of flowers and fruits, and pre-
miums adjudged. These meetings are encouraged by master
tradesmen and gentlemen of the county, as tending to "promote
a spirit which may occasionally be diverted into a more im-
portant channel. Those little societies for promoting the im-
proved culture of the goosel)erry prevail most in the southern
parts of the county. Th-.-y have unquestionably had much in-
fluence in bringing the difftrent scrts of this fruit, and the cur-
rant, as well as some others, to th.eir })resent state of improve-
ment. The gooseberry, both of the red and white kind, is now
in most placts grown to a very considerable size, in some situa-
tions as large as a pigeon's egg. This is chiefly effected by
keeping tlie plants much cut in their branches, and having
well rotted rich manure applied frequently about their roots,
the land being kept perfectly clear aliout them. The annual
publications, called The Manchester Gooseberry-book, and The
Manchester tlorver-bouk, contain the names of ths principal so-
cieties, and of the prizes awarded each year, and a vEiriety of
other information." {Dickson, p. 428.)
An orchard of sixty-four acres on the banks of the Irwell,
near Manchester, and some others in sheltered places near the
principal towns ; but tl'.e prevailing wtst v;inds is much against
their increase.
9. Woods and rinntations.
A good deal of planting going forward in most parts of the
county, but not much old timber or copse.
10. Improvements.
Of moss bogs and marshes there is great extent, .nnd we have
already notice<l the principal modes of improving them. (15.35.)
A good deal of diaining, paring, and burning, and liming
has been done, and also irrigation in several plac.,s. A good deal
of low sod embankment along the northern part of the coast,
especially at Rosshall, by Hesketh. It was pvo5>oFed some years
?go to embank Lancaster and Ulverstone sands, by w'hich
nearly 40,000 acres of sandy soil would have been gauied at an
to the difficulty of getting the small proprietors of fisheries and
other trifling interests to agree, the idea was dropped at the time
and not resumed. The proposed modes of procedure for this,
and other intended emliankments, are given in the report.
JBog lands have been extensively cultivated by the celebrated
Itoscoe, of which some account has been already given. (4549. )
11. Live Stock.
Cattle, the I-ancashire, or loni;-homed, made the basis of
Bakewell's improvements ; a good many short-homed also
bred, when the dairy is the objet^t. Larger grass farms near
the populous towns furnish milk, the smaller ones butter,
and the remote farms cheese. 100 cows kept in Wakefield's
dairy near Liverpool. Cheese made resembles that of Che-
shire, and chiet'y from thelonghorntd, or native breed.
Sheep not very common in this district.
Horses very generally bred of the strong team kind, stout
compact saddle horses, and middling size and bone for the
stage and mail coaches.
12. Political Economy.
Roads bad in most places, owing to the want of good mate-
rials, and the moist climate. In the coal tracts about Man-
chester, Bolton, and Wigan, the roads are all paved, as it was
thought no other would stand tlie heavy tiafRc on them.
These pavf d roads are said to be the most expensivo, and most
disagreeable of any ; but lh< y have here no other kind of ma-
terial that will stand heavy cartage.
An ingenious road-maker in the neighbouriiood of Warring-
ton has of late exploded ihe common convex form, and adopt-
ed that of one inclined plane; the inclination just sufficient to
throw off" occasional water. The road between Worsley and
Chowbeat was made in this form, but it was found not to an-
swer, as, though it threw off the water, high and heavy
laden waggons were exposed to much danger of being over-
turned.
Various canals and iron railw?ys ; those of the Earl of Bridg-
water the most celebrated, but others of recent date mote
extensive. Many different manufactures ; cotton in its differ-
ent branches the most important ; also, woollen, flax, iron,
and, in short, almost as great a variety as in Deibyshire. Seve-
ral agricultural societies ; that of Manchester established in
17G7.
7813. The ISLE OF MAN contains about 220 square miles. {Edin. Gax. 1827.)
General Viem. The interior is mountainous, ridges of hills
being sejiarated by high table lands ; the climate is moist, with
frequent fogs ; and the soil is chiefly loam, on a bottom of stiff
clay. No minerals of any consequence are found on the island,
except lead, and some copper, and iron. Limestone, thin blue
slate, greyw acke, and granite are found in several places ; an
immense tract called the Curragh, which was formerly a bog,
extends nearly across the island. It now produci-s excellent
crops ; but an extensive stratum of i)eat is still found under the
gravel and clay, containing trunks of very lar^e oaks and pines,
which all lie in one direction, as if overturned or deposited by
a common impulse.
The Duke of Athol was formerly lord proprietor of the whole
island, but the sovereignty was purchased from him by the
English government, 17f>5.
Apricidiure has of late years mat^e some progress, though
nearly two thirds of the island still lemain in a state of na;u;e,
and are only used for grazing ; there is a good deal of wood in
the north part of the island ; wheat was formerly not ctiltivated
on account of a prejudice which prevailed respecting its liabi-
lity to be infected with the smut ; large crops are, however,
now raised, of the cleanest and best quality. Barley and oats
are raised in great quantities, as are also turnips and potatoes-
Flax and hemp are j^rown in rich enclosures. Many of the finer
sorts of fruit, however, cannot be reared. The sheep are small
pnd hardy, and their flesh is excellent ; the wool of a particu-
lar breed", called the Loughton, is thought of a venr superior
quality. Great numbers of cattle are fattened here for export-
ation ; and 30,000 hogshet.ds of butter aie sent to En};land an-
nually. Poultry, eggs, and" fish, are abundant and cheap.
Thin oatcakes are the usual breail of the inhabitants.
Political Economj). The roads to the principcd towns are
tolerably good, but the by-ways are almost impassable. The
island is considered healthy, and the inhabitants generally at-
tain a great age.
7814 CHESHIRE. 665,600 acres of verdant surface, exclusive of upwards of 10,000 acres of naked
sands in the estuary of the river Dee. It is one of the most productive grass-land districts in the kingdom,
the grass retaining its growth and verdure, in a great degree, during the whole year, owing to the moist-
ure and mildness of the climate. The department of husbandry in which it excels is cheese-making ;
and it is also noted for its salt-works from brine springs and rock. {Medges' General View, 1794. Hoi.
land's General View, 1806. Marshal's Review, 1809.)
1. Geographical State a7id Circumstances.
Climate, supposed the most rainy in the kingdom.
General surface an extendei! plaiie, apparently thickly cover-
ed with wood. Barren hills on Ihe eastern margin of the
county.
SoiVi chiefly clayey or sandy ; clay prevails, but very generally
the two earths blended together, producing clavey loam and
sandy loam.
Siilisoil chiefly clay, or marl ; but also rnmmel, foxbench, gra-
ve', or red rock. Kammel is a composition of clay, sand, gravel,
and oxide of iron ; it is in strata of fi-om eighteen to thirty
inches, on white-coloured sand, or clay marl. Foxbench is iron
ore or oxide, which crumbles to pieces when exposed to the
air ; but is hard and rocky when under the soil, and is more
injurious to trees than rammel, as it cannot be penetrated by
their roots.
Minerals. Fossil salt and coal both extensively worked.
There is also copper, lead, and freestone, but very litt'e lime-
stone. Salt is made from brine springs, as at Droitwich (7792.),
and from beds of fossil salt. The former have lieen worked
from time immemorial, and the latter from alKiut 1670. By
the operation of blasting, and the mechanical instruments
usually employed in mining, the rock is obtained in masses of
considerable size, differing in form and purity. The purer
rock is pounded and used without other preparation ; but the
less pure is dissolved and refined in the same manner as brine.
Water. Several rivers and meres ; the former are very
muddy afer rains, and not remarkable for the - fish ; but the
latter abound in pike, bream, perch, dace, and eels.
2. Property.
Few counties of ec^tial extent with so many wealthy land-
owners. Fifty proprietors resident in the countv, with estates
of from thre ■ to 10,(X)0/. a year, and as many from one to 3000/.
" From the advantages which have been derived from trade,
and from the eSects of the increase of taxes, which have pre-
vented a man living with the same degree of comfort on the
same portion of land he could formerh, many of the old owners
have been induced to sell their estates, and new proprietors
have sj)read themselves over the countrv, very different in
their habits and prejudices. It may be doubtful whether the
change on the whole has been disad"vantageous. Land, when
transferred, is generally improved bv its new possessor. A\ ith
a view, and often a more enlightened view, of its advantages
and resoiu-ces,he brings with him the means and the disposition
to try experiments, and to give to his new acquisition its greatest
value. He feels the want of comforts and conveniences, « hich
custom had rendered familiar to -a former occupier; he builds,
drains, and plants ; and, by his spirit and example, stimulates
all around him to increased exertions.
3. Buildings.
Many noble mansions, especially that of the Earl Grosvenor,
at Eaton.
Farm btiildings, on the large dairy farms, in the middle of
the county, extensive and convenient ; in other places the
reverse, and crowded in villages ; old buildings of shed-work,
wattled work, and clay, and coverid with thatch; new of
brick and slate. An ex"cel!ent set cf buildings {fig- 1112.) has
been erected at Bromfield, near Warrinf;ton, on the estate of
Sir P. Warburton. " A gentle descent from the ground at
the front of the house has afforded Beckett, the occupier of this
farm, the opportunity of conveying from a pond («) a small
stream through the farm yard, with whtch he irrigates the
meadows below the buildings. The superior richness of vege-
tation in these meadows furnishes abundant proof of the ad-
vantage which Beckett derives from availing himself of this
assistance."
Beginning with the dwelling-house of this farmery, it con-
tains an entrance and passage (1), house-place (2), servants,
dining-room (3), back parlour (4), dairy, with whey pans and
sink-stone (5), room for the cheese after it is taken out of the
salt (6), milking-house and salting-room (7), .stairs to cheese-
room (8), parlour with a cellar under (9}, pantry (10). The
immediate appendages of the house chiefly connected with the
dairy are ranged on three sides of the inner yard (11), and con-
sist of a coal-house (12), wash-house, with ])ipeon-house over
it (l.l), pump (14), pipe to boiling-pans (15), boiler for pig
meat (16), privy (17), place for asht>s(lS), privy (19), inner
pig-cot (20), outer pig-cot (21), passage (22), inner pig-cot (23),
outer pig-cot (24), inner n'g-cot (25), outer pig-cot (id), pas-
sage (27), inner pig-cot (2S), outer pig-cot (29).
The farmyard consists of a court, containing a large duck-
pond and dunghill, surrounded by a broad pa.ssage, and en-
closed on the west, east, and south sides by buildings, the
north tide being tlie wall of the inner yard. These buildings
1164
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
consist of a cow-house (30), double cow-house (31), double
cow-house (32), fodder-bin (33), cow-house (34), corn-bag (35),
threshing-floor (36), corn-bag (37), corn-bag (38), corn-bag
(39), threshing floor (40), corn-bag (41), cart-hovel, with
granary above it (42), stable (43), stable or calf-cot (44), calf-
cot (45). ■"
1112
SoF^rt
Cottages much the same as in other counties; improving
with the age. All the intelligent persons whom Dr. Holland
conversed with have invariably found, that the attachment of
a small portion of land to the cottage of the labourer has been
the direct means of rendering his situation in life more comfort-
able and easy, and of inducing those habits of honest independ-
ence, of temperance, and of industry, which are most effica-
cious in promoting the happiness of individuals, and, conse-
quently, the general interests of society.
Lord Penrhyii'a poultry-houses, at Winnington, are supposed
the most magnificent that have ever been built. They are
ututed in a building, which consists of a handsome regular
front, extending about 140 feet : at each extremity is a neat
pavilion, with a large arched window. These pavilions are
united to the centre of the design by a colonnade of small cast-
iron pillars, painted white, which support a cornice and a
slate roof, covering a paved walk and a variety of different con-
veniences for the poultry, for keeping eggs, corn, &c. The
doors into tl^ese are all of lattice-work, also painted white, and
the framing green. In the middle of the front are four hand-
1 a beautiful mosaic iron gate ; on one side of this gate is an
elegant little parlour, beautifully papered and furnished;
and at the other end of the colonnade a very neat kitchen, so
excessively clean, and in such high order, that it is delightful to
view it. This front is the diameter or chord of a large semi-
circular court behind, round which thtre is also a colonnade,
and a great variety of conveniences for the poultry : this court
is neatly paved, and has a circular pond and pump in the middle
of it. The whole fronts towards a rich little field or paddock,
called the poultry paddock, in which the poultry have liberty
to walk al)Out between meals. It happened while the reporter
was there to be their dinner-time, at one o'clock. At this hour
a bell rings, and the beautiful gate in the centre is opened.
The poultry being then mostly walking in the paddock, and
knowing by the sound of the bell that their repast is ready for
them, fly and run from all comers, and rush in at the gate,
even- one striving who can get the first share in the scramble.
At that time there were about 600 poultry of different kinds in
the place, and although so large a number, the semicircular
court is kejjt so very neat and clean, that not a sjjeck of dung is
to be seen. This poultry place is built of brick, excepting the
pillars and cornices, and the lintels and Jambs of the floors and
windows, but the bricks are not seen, being all covered with a
remarkably fine kind of slate from his lordship's estate in
U'.-.k's. These slates are closely jointed and fastened with screw
nails, on small spars fixed to the brick ; they are afterwards
painted, and fine white sand thrown on while the paint is wet,
which gives the whole an appearance of the most beautiful
freestone.
4. Occupation.
Farms very small ; a great many under ten acres ; only one
or two at 350 or 400 acres ; excluding all those under ten acres,
the average ol the county may be seventy acres. Large and
small farmers completely diflTerent characters ;—difIerent in
their habits, and, by consequence, in their ideas. Industry and
excellent management of the dairy-women of this county much
to be commended ; leases generally for seven \ears.
o. Implements.
Kotherham plough and other good implements. A short
stronp scythe, with a blade twenty inches in length, and con-
cave m the middle, is used for scooping out the crowns of rush
stools.
6. Arable Lands.
In small proportion to the pastures. Cabbages a good deal
cultivated for cattle. Carrots near Altringham for the Man-
chester maiket, and also seed for the London seedsmen.
t)nions also for the Lancashire markets. The soil about
Altringham dry and loamv ; the carrots large, coarse, and fit
only for horses and cattle.
7. Grass.
Natural meadows numerous, rich, and fertile. They are
situated on rivers, which, from the frequency of heavy rains,
overflow and enrich them. Extent of upland pasture very
considerable ; that on a tolerably stiff" clay soU, especially with
a substratum of marl, is reckoned the best for the dairy ; more
milk may be had from cows pastured on a rich loamy soil, but
it is esteemed inferior in point of qualitv. Many farmers com-
plain that their land is too rich for the dairy, by which the ad-
hesive properties of the cheese is diminished : feeding of cattle
little practised.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
Good gardens to most of the farm-houses. " All the varieties
of raspberries, currants, strawberries, and gooseberries are
to be met with in the farm and cottage gardens in Cheshire.
The culture of the latter fruit has been particularly attended
to of late years ; and there are several meetings in different
parts of the county, where small premiums are adjudged to
those who produce, out of their own gardens, gooseberries of
the greatest weight. The common fruit trees, such as the
apple, pear, cherr>-, and plum, are likewise grown in almost
every garden. Of the latter kind, the damascene plum is by
much the most common; and is an article of considerable
profit to the cottager.
Orchards not numerous, and rather on the decline.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Few of large extent, yet the quantity of timber very greatly
exceeds what would be a fair average for the kingdom at
larye. In the northern and middle iiarts the number of trees
in the hedge-rows and coppices is so considerable, that, from
some points of view, the whole county has the appearance of
an extensive forest. The most considerable ancient woods in
the Earl of Stamford's park at Durham Massey. Few spots
can boast such an assemblage of stately oaks, elms, and beeches.
During a storm of wind, on the 21st of January, 1802, several
hundred trees were torn up by the roots. One of these, when
biirked, contained 403 feet of timber, and was sold at six
shillinss and sixpence per foot, to the extent of 373i feet. An
elm blown down at the same time measured 146 feet. A colo-
ny of herons had for ages fixed their residence on the summits
of these trees ; but on one of them being torn up, they retreated
to a neighbouring grove of beeches, where they have ever since
enjoyed a secure abode.
A ilantaHon of 1000 acres at Taxall, F. Jodrell, Esq. ; it was
planted by \Vhite, the landscape gardener of Woodlands,
Durham, at five jiouiids per acre, half the trees to be (irs. Ex-
tensive plantations by Ashton, on Delamore forest.
Whiteiy, an ingenious tanner, at Ashley, near Knutsford,
made some experiments a few years ago with the twigs and
ends of the boughs of oak, as a substitute for the bark. These
ground down, and used in the same way as the bark, mani-
fested strongly Eistringent properties: but the necessity there
was found to be for their immediate application took away
very greatly from their value ; and their use is now almost en-
tirely discontinued, though the plan at that time was adopted
by several other tanners.
10. Improvements.
Draining a good deal practised, especially with bricks and
stones. Paring and burning, marling, sanding, claying, and
liming, also practised to different degrees of extent. Sand of
advantage, chiefly by altering the texture of the soil, as that
used contains no calcareous matter.
11. Live Stock.
Present stock of dairy cows a mixture of the long and short
horned, the Derbyshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Welsh,
Irish, Scotch, and New Leicestershire cattle. Those cows
reckoned best which are bred on the farm. Calves reared from
the best milkers, and at two years old put to the bull. Cows
housed about the middle of Novemlier ; permitted to go dry ten
weeks before their time of calving : usual drv foods, wheat,
barley, and oat straw, hay, and crushed oats. I'he two former
kinds of straw are found to make cows go drv much sooner
than the latter; and another generally allowed effect attri-
buted to such straw is, that more than the usual time will be
required to chum the cream of cows when so fed ; but wheat
straw is esteemed much more wholesome than barley straw,
as having less of those effects attending it. Three or four
weeks before calving, hay given ; and from calving to turning
to grass, some ground or cn>shed oats twice a dav. The cows
are turned into an outlet (a bare pasture field near the build-
ings), about ten o'clock in the morning, and housed again about
four in the afternoon the winter through, or earlier if they
showed an inclination to return; but have no fodder in the
outlet. Turning the cows out to grass in good condition is a
matter much attended to, in order that they may, as the term
is, "start well;" for if a cow- is not in good condition when
turned out to grass, or has been too much drietl with barley
straw, it is a long time before she gets into full milk.
The ox-cabbage and Swedish turnip are the kinds of green
food most esteemed and cultivated in Chesliire. TI "
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF HAMPSHIRE.
1165
tisuall; given to the cows when the after-grass is consumed ; it
is sometimes given in the spring to cows that have newly
calved. The large sugar- loaf cabbage has been occasionally
used, when the pastures begin to fail and the after-giass is not
ready ; a circumstance which frequently happens, especially in
dry weather. Turnips are given to the cattle in the winter,
while they are feedmg on straw ; and as, at this time, no
cheese is made, any objection to their use, from the flavour
they give to the milk, is of little consequence. The repoorter
made enquiries from several fanners, with a view of ascertain-
ing whether the staJI -feeding of their milch cows might not be
continued during the whole year, but he found the general
opinion to be against this practice ; though it did not apjiear
that anv experiments, sufficient for the decision of the point,
had hitherto been made. It was suggested to him, how-
ever, that it would be an improvement upon the present ma-
nagement, to let the cows stand in their houses during the
heat of the day in summer, where, by giving them a few
cabbages or tares, the milk would continue forming, and the
cattle be defended from the gad-fly, which, by tormenting
them in the fields, frequently injures both the quantity and
quality of the milk.
Time of calviit^ March and April. At calving-time the cow -
man, or the master, are frequently up two or three times in the
course of a night, to see whether any thing is amiss. The racks
and mangers are every day well cleaned out, while due atten-
tion is paid to the appetites of the different beasts, and the
quantity of food is governed accordingly. After this is done,
the master himselt generally goes round from stall to stall
just before bed-time, and adds to or diminishes the quantity of
fodder as occasion may require.
In malcDti' butler the whole of the milk and cream is churned
together. Cheese made from the whey pressed from the curd
used in making cheese.
Cheeae-inakiiig has remained stationary in Cheshire for many
years; best size of cheeses sixty pounds. Cows milked during
summer at six o'clock, morning and evening. " The evening's
milk (of suppose twenty cows) having stood all the night in
the coolers and brass pans, the cheese-maker, in summer
about six o'clock in the morning, carefully skims off the cream
from the whole of it, observing fii-st to take off all the froth
and bubbles, which may amount to about a pint : this not being
thought proper to be put into the cheese, goes to the cream
mug to be churned for butter, and the rest of the cream is put
into a brass pan. While the dairy-woman is thus employed,
the servants are milking the cows, having previously lighted a
fire under the furnace, which is half full ot water. As soon as
the night's milk is skimmed, it is all carried into the cheese
tub, except about three fourths of a trass pan full (three or four
gallons), which is immediately placed in the furnace of hot
water in the pan, and is made scalding hot; the half of the
milk thus heated in the pan is poured also into the cheese-tub,
and the other half is added to the cream, which, as before
observed, was skimmed into another brass pan- By this means
all the cream is liquified and dissolved, so as apparently to form
one homogeneous or uniform fluid, and in that state it is
poured into the cheest-tub. But before this is done, several
bowls or vessels full of new milk will generally have been
poured into the cheese-tuli, or perhaps the whole morning's
milk. Care is taken to skim orf all the air bubbles which
may have formed, in jKMiring the new milk into the cheese-'.ub.
The night and morning's milk, and melted cream, being thus
all put into the cheese-tub, it is then ready to receive the
rennet and colouring, or, in the terms of the art, to be set
together. The rennet and colouring being put into the tub,
the whole is well stirred together, a wooden cover is put over
the tub, and over that is thrown a linen cloth. The usual
time of coming is one hour and a half, during which time it is
frequently to be examined : if the cream rises to the surface
before the coming takes place, as it often does, the whole must
be stirred together so as to mix again the milk and cream, and
this as oflen as it rises, until the coagulation commences. A
few smart strokes on different sides ot the tub, with the cheese
ladder, &c. will forward the coagulation, if it is found to be too
long in forming.
The curd it t« the next place broke by the knife and hand%
and then left iialf an hour to subside; then it is gently pressed,
the curd broken by the hand, and the whey ladled out of the
tub as it drains from the ciu-d. Afterwards, the curd is
broken in a brass pan and salted, and next put into the cheese-
vat, and pressed with a sixty pound weight, till all the whey
is removed. It is then again broke, washed with warm whey,
and finally put in the press under a weight or power of about
14 cwt. After being forty-eight hours m the press, it is put
in the salting tub, where it remains three days covered with
salt ; it is then taken out and placed on the salting benches,
where it is turned once a diy ; it is tlien washed in warm
water with a brush, and wiped dry with a cloth ; in two
hours it is smeared over with whey butter, and then put in
the warmest part of the cheese-room. In the cheese-room
it is well rubbed, to take off the sweat or fermentation which
takes place in cheese for a certain time after it is made, and
turned daily tor seven days, and smeared with whey butter ;
afterwards it is turned daily, and rubbed three times a week
in summer, and twice in winter.
The cheese-rooms are commonly placed over the cow-houses ;
and this is done with a view to obtain that moderate and
necessary degree of temperature so essential to the ripening
of cheese, to which the heat arising from the cattle underneath
is supposed very much to contribnte. On dairy farms, one
woman servant is kept to every ten cows ; these women are
employed in winter in carding, spinning, and other house-
wifery" business; but in milking, the women, both night and
morning, during summer, where large dairies are kept, are
assisted by all theother servants, men and boys, except the man
who drives the team.
Sheep little attended to in Cheshire.
Horses brought from Derbyshire and Leicestershire.
Hofis, a mixture of long and short eared breeds.
Poultry of the common kind abundant in most farms for
their eggs. Geese kept by the cottagers till midsummer or
later, and then sold to the farmers, who fatten them on their
stuhbl.s.
Dees to be found at many of the farm-houses, and at some
of the cottages.
12. Political Economy.
Koads bad ; various canals ; an extensive commerce of coal
and salt, and manufactures of silk, woollen, linen, and cotton.
An experimental farm established at 'NVaverham, near North-
wich, by some gentlemen and farmers of the neighbourhood,
but it was soon found so expensive and losing a concern as to
be abandonetl. Those on the plan suggested by Bailey (7809.)
seem the most likely to be effective and permanent.
7815 HAMPSHIRE. A maritime county, which includes also the Isle of Wight: the latter contain*
&4.,0(X) acres, and the continental part of the county 968,150 acres. The climate of this county being
remarkably mild, and the soil in many places being calcareous, and consequently warm,^vcry early arable
crops are produced in some places, and peas grown better than in many districts. 1 he culture ol the
county, however, has little to recommend it, either in its tillage or pasturage. Its woods are extensive.
(A. and W. Driver's General View, 1794. Vancouver's General View, 1808. Warner s Isle of Wight,
ITg*. Marshal's Review, 1817.)
1 Geographical State and Circumstances. '^,^1^^%.t^l\^%'^r^'f;^Zt.fll^'^^'^^dl^^
I^rrnMr/enlk^p^i-ts a strong flinty calcareous loam: in often sown before Christmas, or in January. " A considerable
other parts generally uravelly, or sandy and calcareous. The
soil of the Isle of Wight is partly a clayey and calcareous loam,
and in part lishter.
Minerals : none of any consequence ; potter's clay, sand, and
building-stone in different places.
Water scarce in dry seasons in the chalk districts, where it
is preserved in tanks, and drawn up from wells 3()0 or 400 feet
deep. In some parishes, after a long dry autumn, there has
been more strong beer than water. A good deal of fishing on
the coast ; of eels after floods in the smaller streams ; and some
fish ponds on Bagshot Heath.
2. Property.
Largest estates on the chalky districts; largest 8000/. per
annum. Great bulk of the lands held and cultivated by
yeomanry ; tenures, copyhold and leasehold, from the superior
lords or freeholders.
3. Buildings.
Houses of proprietors numerous : farm-houses mostly of great
antiquity ; those of the larger kind were formerly grange or
manor-houses ; out -buildings numerous, and generally ruin-
ous ; cottages often of mud {pim-in. cot) walls, but better on the
•whole than in some other counties. Some fanciful rustic struc-
tures as shelters or temporary lodges for cattle, in the forest
district. ( /.Vf. 1113.)
4. Occupation.
Farms various, rather small.
5. Implements.
Hampshire plough, an extraordinary bulky clumsy struc-
ture; the Suffolk plough is used in the southern parts of the
county, and in the Isle of Wight. The patent Hampshire
waggon is formed by uniting two carts, corresponding with the
fore and hind parts of a waggon, by liolting them together.
The thrill of the hind part passes under the bed, and rests on
the pillow of the fore-cart. The union is simple, yet so com-
nlete as to render this waggon as strong as the common kind,
if not stronger.
6. Arable Land.
Tillage difficult and expensive in the chalk district, light
and easy in the vale of Avon. Peas a good deal cultivated on
mvstery still seems to hang over certain properties of these peas,
with regard to their boiling well for soup or porridge; good
boilers being sometimes sown upon fields which have never
been known to refuse yielding a produce possessing a similar
quality, but that effect afterwards ceasing, and a hard indis-
soluble pea has been produced that continued for several suc-
cess'ive periods; whilst, on the other hand, land that had never
been known or even suspected of being able to communicate a
boiling quality to its peas, would unexpectedly give to the
produce of a hard and almost impenetrable pea all the pro-
perties of being excellent boilers. Through all the cedar-co-
loured sand and gravelly loams in Devonshire, good boilers are
stated to be uniformly produced, and in continued succession.
The same kind of soil, and in every respect under similar cir-
cumstances, in the Isle of Wight will only occasionally, and
by accident as it were, produce good boiling ))eas. Some
opinions seem to refer this eflect to a iieculiarity in the seasons;
but this cannot stand against a well known truth, that good
boilers are produced every season."
1166
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
IV.
Saxntfoin cultivated with success on the chalky soils, and very
Vroductive. Hops on the borders of Surrey. A vineyard was
planted at UnderclifF, in the Isle of VVisht, by the late Sir
Kichard Worsley, in 1792, and an Anjoii vine-tlresser brought
over to attend it"; the extent was about two and a half acres,
and a lif;ht wine was made; but in 1S08, when M. Vancouver
called to see it, he found the vines had been {ji^ibbed up, and
the groimd changed to a lawn of turf.
7. Gras< Lands.
The county famous for water meadows, which are well ma-
naged, and productive ; they are chiefly in the neiglibourhood
of Winchester, on the Xtchen ; but there are instances on most
of the other rivers and streams.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
Excellent market gardens near Gosport and Portsmouth ;
Portsea island noted for its broccoli ; white-washed mud walls,
with copings of thatch used as fences, and for wall fruit in some
cases ; and fruit walls only half a brick thick, and waving at the
rate of one foot in twenty in use. In other ca;es angular walls
are in use, the angles being right angles, and the sides ten feet
each. The advantage in bo;n cases is the saving of bricks ;
but it is evident they cannot be carried very high, nor, sub-
ject as they are to the driving and drawing of nails, can they
be of great duration. (See Eiicydopeedia of Gardening, 1567.)
Orchards in various places, ind cider made both in tha
county and in the Isle of Wight.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Extensive beech i\oods on the chalk district, those of Ditch-
am grove very fine ; elm scarce in the count , but abundant in
Strathfieldsay Park (now the Duke of Wellington's). Oak
abundant in the New Forest district, and many young plant-
ations there, and throughout the county. Co' ibett rajspj a great
many American trees of various species at Botley. 'I'here are
several considerable forests, viz. the New Forest, Alice Holt,
Woolmer, and liere.
The Nerv Forest is situated on the south side of Hampshire ;
it was formerly bounded on the east by Southampton river, and
on the south by the British Channel, being near thirty miles
in length, and ninety in circumference ; but, since the disattbr-
estations by Henry the Tnird and E;lward the First,' its bounil-
aries are much reduced, and now only extend from Gadshill,
on the north west, to the sea, on the south-east, about twenty
miles ; and from Hardley, on the east, to Kingwood, on the
west, about fifteen miles ; containing within those limits about
92,363 acres, the whole of which does not now belong to the
crown, as several manors and freehold estates, to the amount
of 24 ,797 acres, are private propertv ; about C25 acres are
copyhold, belonging to His Majesty's manor of Lyndhurst;
1004 acres are leasehold, held under the crown ; 902 acres are
encroachments; 1193 acres are held by the master- keepers
and groom keepers, attached to their respective lodges ; and
the remaining 63,844 acres are the woods and waste lands of
theforest. The other forests are of much Ims extent and interest.
10. Improveynents.
Good examples of draining by tapping were exhibited hi
Elkington, on Cadland Park estate: the strata Iving at a small
angle with the horizon, enabled the principles of what is call;>d
Elkington's mode of draining to be carried completely into
effect. In the eastern part of the Isle of Wight are various
tracts of marshy ground, the largest of which, Brading Haven,
containing about 900 acres, was granted by James I. to one
Gibbs, a groom of the bed-chamber. The owners of the
adjoming lands contested this grant, which the king was very
earnest in supporting. After a verdict obtained in the Court of
Exchequer against the gu-nilemen of the island, Gilibs sold his
sh we for 2000Z. to Sir Bois Thelwall, a page of the king's bed-
chamber, who admitted the famous Sir Hugh aiiddleton to a
share. They employed a number of Dutchmen to enclose and
recover the l.avt-n from the sea. The first Uking of it in cost
4000/. and 1000/. more was expended in building a dwelling-
house, bam, water-mill, trenching, quicksetting, and other
necessary works; so that, inclurlin;' the original purcheise, the
total expenditure ^imounted to 7000/. But after all, the value
of the ground did not answer the expect Uions of the under-
takers ; for though that part of it atljoining Brading proved
tolerably good, nearly one half of it was found to be a light
running sand; nevertheless, an incontestable evidence ap-
peared, by the discovery of a well, cased with stone, near the
middle of the haven, that it had formerly been good ground.
Sir Hugh Middleton tried a variety of experiments on the bind
which had been taken in, before he sold his share ; sowing it
with wheat, barley, oats, cabb^^Je, and finally with rapes=ed,
which last was alone successful : but the greatest discourage-
ment was, that the sea brought up so much ouze, weeds, and
sand, which choked up the passage for the discharge of the
fresh water. At length, in a wet season, when the inner part
of the haven was full of fresh water, and a high spring tide, the
waters met under the bank, and made a breach. Thus ended
this expensive iwoject; and though Sir John Oglander, who
lived in the neighbourhood, confessed himself a friend to the
undertaking, which, besides its principal object, tended to
render that part of the country more healthy , he declared it as
his opinion, that the scheme 'could never be resumed to any
profitable purpose.
11. Live Stock.
No exclusive breed of cattle. The Sussex, Suffolk, Leicester,
Hereford, Devon, &c. are indiscriminately met with. Several
ox teams.
Sheep. In the "Woodland district the heath sheep, old
Hampshire, or Wilts breeds, but most of tlie improved breeds
also to Ite met with.
The horses used in teams generally large, heavy, inactive
animals. Small horsfs bred in vast numliers upon the heaths
and forests, and which have not improperly acquired the name
of heath croppers. Their ordinary height is about twelve hands.
They propagate indiscriminately upon these wastes, where they
seck'tbeir living throughout the year, and at foiur years old may
generally be purchased at above five pounds.
The native hog of this county is a coarse, rav; -boned, flat-sided
animal, agreehig in no respect with the idea entertained of it
in other parts of the kingdom. The great number fed for a tew
weeks in the close of autumn, upon the acorns and mast which
the forests and other woodlands produce, in the county, and the
excellent mode of curing hog-meat practised by tlie house-
keepers, have contributed in a far greater degree to establish
that superior'ty ascribed to Hampshire bacon, than any in-
herent excellence in its native breed of ho^s. Very few,
however, of the genuine native hog are to be met with, the
common stock being either the native Berkshire breed, or a
considerable predominance of that blood m the native swine of
the county.
12. Political Economy.
Iloads in ginieral good, especirdly in the New Forest. Several
canals, and various manufactures and public works at Ports-
mouth and other places. The machinery for making blocks
(1830) is reckoned the most ingenious and comp etc of its kind
in the kingdom.
7816. WILTSHIRE. 870,000 acres of varied surface, partly chalky downs, and partly rid. vale land ;
and both a corn and grass county. It produces excellent cheese and butter, fat cattle, pigs, and store
sheep. The agricultural report of this county vi^as drawn up by T. Davis, steward to the Marquess of
Bath, at Longleat, a man of great experience as a land steward, surveyor, and farmer, and universally
respected. He divides the county into two districts, the south-east and north-west ; a very judicious plan
for giving correct agricultural information. {Davis's Wiltshire, 1794. Marshal's Review, 180L'. Edin.
Gaz. 1829.)
7817. South Wiltshire.
Wiltshire downs contain about 600,000 acres of hilly sur-
face, mostly unenclosed and in common pasture; the atmo-
sphere cold and sharp, with a chalky soil, seldom varied by
patches of loam, sand, or other earths. There is scarcely a
river or brook in this district that is not applied in some way or
otlier to the purposes of irrigation.
1. Property.
Near large towns property is generally subdivided when sold ;
in this district, when any is sold it is generally bought up by
such as are considerable proprietors : hence estates generally
large. Shape of the manors shows that many of them were the
property of one lord; each borders on or contains a rivulet to
supply water and the accompaniment of rivulets in that dis-
trict, meadow land, with hill for wood ; or, where these were
wanting, they were supplied by a grant of those articles from
other property. Proprietors generally resident on their estates.
2. Buildings.
Farm-houses generally crowded together in villages, for con-
venience of water. Soine of late years erected centrical to their
farms, by the Earl of Pembroke, and other proprietors ; wells
and ponds an important article in these erections.
3. Occupation.
Farms of two kinds ; those in severalty, or not subject to
rights of common, are from 150/. to 500/., and one or two at
1000/.. a year; customary tenements, subject to rights of com-
mon, are from 25/. to 40/. or 50/. per annum. There are exten-
sive sheep commons and cow commons, to which the occupiers
of both descriptions o*" lands have a right to turn in stock, ac-
cording to certain fixed and customary regulations. Leases
seven, fourteen, or twenty -one years.
4. Implements.
A heavy two- wheel and one- wheel plough in use; the latter
sometimes with a foot instead of a wheel.
5. Arable Land.
An old error exists, that of over-pulverising the uplands by too
frequent ploughings, by which the wheats were thrown out dur-
ing winter, or if they stood the winter, the March winds blew
away the earth from their roots, and " hanging by one leg," and
thus not receiving any assistance from the coronal root, the
plants are weak in straw, and produce small thin ears. " Many
modes have been introduced to prevent this evil, by giving a
sufficient texture and firmness to the land previous to a wheat
crop. The best farmers have made a point of getting their
lands clean ploughed by midsummer, and treading it as firm as
possible with the sheep-fold a long time before sowing; whila
the slovenly farmers have invented, and generally practise, a
very short and cheap way of attaining this firmness in the land.
Thev rafter the land (as they call it), that is, they plough half
of the land, and turn the grass side of the ploughed furrow on
the land th,it is left unploughed. They do this as soon as they
can spare the feed of the summer-field, and leave it in that
state till near seed-time, when they harrow it down and plough
it for sowing. Tliis rafter is usually ploughed across the ridges,
or what is better, diagonally ; the latter mode bemg less sub-
ject to drive the land up in heaps before the plough. The land
thus raftered is sometimes ploughed twice, but more frequently
only once, previous to sowing ; and after it is sown they drag it
two, three, or four times, and harrow it four, five, or six times.
A very heavy kind of drag is used; and as Wiltshire Down
farmers are very cautious ot' ploughing their land too much,
they make much use of these drags instead of ploughing, and
frequently let in their seed- wheat with them. This practice
having been found to answer, has been gradually improved
upon. The down lands of this district willnot bear fallowing,
especially in hot dry weather; they are too thin and light
already, and require rest. Two years' rest for wheat is equal to
the best coat of dung. Dung may give the quantity, but rest
must give the quality.
The course of crom was formerly fallow, wheat, barley, oats ;
but now, even on the common fields, is wheat, barley, clover,
mowed one year, and fed two years, till it is necessary to plough
for wheat. Turnips, Swedes, and rape grown for winter food
iFor sheep, though less necessary than in districts less amply
provided with water meadows. Error that of sowing too much
Gardens near Devizes, Lavington, Warminster, Westbury, &c.
Many families subsist by tins kind of husbandry, occupying
from two to five acres each as garden ground. The produce
supplies the adjacent towns in the district, and Frome and
Bath, in the county of Somerset, with cabbage-plants, peas,
beans, carrots, turnips, and vast quantities of potatoes.
Orchards in some places, and cider made ; but as the district
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF DORSETSHIRE.
1167
is famous for its barley and ale, the predilection for this bever-
age renders the want of cider little felt.
Wooda not numerous, but a great spirit for forming plant-
ations; and some excellent remarks on the subject in the
Report. ^
Irrigation inftoduced into^is district the end of the seven-
teenth, or the beginning of the eighteenth century. Many of
the most valuable and best-formed meadows, i>articularly
those in the Wyley Bourne, were made under the directions of
one Farmer Baverstock of Stockton, between the years 1700
and 1705.
Between 15,000 and 20,000 acres watered ; its great value m
April between " hav and grass," by which the farmer is en-
abled to breed early lambs." As soon as the 1 .mbs are able to
travel with the ewes (perhaps about the middle of March), the
flock is put into the water-meadows. Care is, or ought to be,
taken to make them as dry as possible for some days before the
sheep begin to feed them ; and on account of the quickness of
the grass, it is not usual to allow the ewes and lambs to go into
them with empty bellies, nor before ihe morning dew is gone.
The general hours of feeding are from ten or eleven in the
morning, till tour or five in the evenini;, when the sheep are
driven to the fold, which at that time of the year is generally in
the barley fallow. The grass is daily hurdled out in portions,
according to the number of sheep, to prevent their trampling it
down ; but a few spaces are left in the hurdles for the lambs to
get through and teed forward in the rich grass. One acre of
good grass will be sufticient for 500 couples for a day : the great
object is to make the water-grass last till the barley sowing is
finished; the meadow is then laid up for hay.
The rvaiermeadotvs of Orcheston, a village six miles N. W .
of Amesbury, have been long celebrated. What is called the
long grass of these meadows is said by Davis to be the ^griSstis
stolonftera, or black couch ; but this has been subsequently as-
certained to be a mistake. The grasses which compose these
meadows were examined by Thomas Tanner, a scientific bota-
nist, in 18 11, and reported on in the Farmer's Magazine, vol, xiv.
p. 129. ; and the following very interesting extract deserves the
attention and reflection of the farmer, for other reasons besides
its botanical information. It appears probable from it that
deep dry soil, which will admit the roots of saintfoin and other
long-rooted herbage plants, may, one year with another, yield
as much nutriment as rich irrigated surfaces, and probably at
much the same expense :— " Much has been said of the excellent
quality of the hay, when well made ; that, for instance, it will
fatten pigs; and that it abounds with the saccharine quality
more than other grasses. If the testimony of the present occu-
pier and his neighbours can settle this question (and 1 see no
reason why they should not), the acreable produce is not of
greater value, take seven years together, than aif acre of good
saintfoin, or other artificial grasses. There is more risk in
making the meadow-grass than the field-grass, it being very
soon spoiled by bad weather, arising from its uncommon luxu-
riancy. I visited this meadow, for the first time, in the month
of May, 1811, and found the major part of the crop to consist
of Pba. trivialis, or rough-stalked meadow-grass, with a few
cuimi of the Trlticum r6i>ens, or common couch, and meadow
foxtail. In the last spring I again examined the meadow very
particularlij, and found the crop to consist of the same grasses
as before, varying a little in their proportions. The Trfticum
r6pens made a greater appearance. In the month of Au^ist
1 took another ride to see if fiorin was taking the lead of the
other grasses. This 1 was prepared for, and expected to find ;
but it was by no means the case : I could discover no more of
the stolonlfera than before. On examining the hay of the
second crop, it consisted of the culmi of grasses common to all
meadows, with the exception of the Triticum ripens. The
grass, at this season, prevailed. In soils in general, when biid
down to pasture, the common couch (TWticum) soon wears
out, it n'ill iwt bear the constant treading of cattle. Where-
ever this grass is found in pasture, it proves either that the
field has not long been laid to pasture, or the soil remarkably
rich. The latter is tlie case in this instance. But you will say.
What is the long grass of which we read so much ? It remains
for me to mention a peculiarity in the grasses in this meadow,
and some others in its vicinity, which 1 do not recollect to have
seen in any other to the same degree, arising probably from the
rvannth and richness of the soil. When the water begins to re-
cede, in the late spring months, the culmi of all the grasses
(the Pba. Uivialis in particular), from their great luxuriancy,
lodge on the soil, and form a coiiiplele mat, and in this state
throw out roots at their joints, and appear, before their jianicles
show, to he the stulones of some alotoniferoiis grasses. Let a
person, not previoualv informed of this circumstance, visit the
meadow in the latter "end of April, and he would prol>ably, with
others, suspect the whole, or greater part of the produce, to be
a stuloniferous production. 1 have traced the culmi, for in-
stance, of the P. trivialis and foxtail amongst the mat of other
grasses, tor fourteen or, fifteen feet, with roots at aU ihe joints, till,
at the last, they shot up erect, and were tnken orf by the scythe
only about two feet long. The mat of culmi on tlie ground is
left untouched bv the scythe when mown, very similar to the
stalks of an overgrown crop of vetches. The /Igrdstis stolonifera
is one of the latest grasses we have, and never was known, even
in a cultivated state, to produce a crop till the autumnal
months. But it is asked, ' How is it that it grows so rapidly in
its natural state, as to enter largely into a iiay crop, cut the
last week in May ?' Here is the mistake ; — the culmi of other
grasses, throwing out roots at their joints, have been considered
as the stoloncs of this ylgrdstis." (Farm. Mag. vol. xiv. p. 151.)
These meadows are not laid out in any regular form for water-
ing, the supply of water hemg too partial, but they depend en-
tirely on the floods; and being situated at a sharp turn of a
narrow part of the valley, the water makes an eddy, and de-
posits its sediments upon them. The substratum of these
meadows is an almost entire bed of loose flints.
On examining other meadows in different bournes of this
district, we find the same grass uniformly to abound in those
situated near the spring-heads, and which in some years have
plenty of water, and in others none at all. The same remark
on its variation in quality and quantity, according to the wet-
ness or dryness of the winter, is equally just. The most pro-
bable way of accounting for it is, that it is almost the only
grass common to water-meads that will stand wet and dry ; for
though it nourishes most when under water, yet no dry weather
will kill it.
Live Stock. Cattle few in this district ; oxen not generally
under the plough ; sheep the chief stock and the basis of thd
AViltshire Down husbandry ; object, folding and wool ; breed-
ing a consequence rather than a cause of keeping sheep. Horse*
a heavy, very unsuitable breed; great error in principle of
breeders here as every where among the old school, that of en-
larging Jhe size of the animal.
7818. North Wiltshire.
Climate milder than that of the S.E. district; soil not so
uniibrm ; under stratum broken stones, and surface reddish
calcareous loam.
Property more divided than in the east side of the county.
Buitdirigs. Charlton, a noble pile, by Inigo Jones, t arms
generally enclosed, and chiefly under grass, and applied to the
making of cheese ; leases from fourteen to twenty-one years.
Scotch farmers. " Within these few years several of the
great landholders in Wiltsliire have introduced mto this dis-
trict Scotch farmers, who, from a supposed superior skill in the
science of agriculture, have leases for twenty -one years, with ^
scircely any restrictions as to husbandry. The ancient pastures
are allowed to be broken up ; buildings are erected for their ac-
commodation at a low rate of interest ; and a degree of counte-
nance and patronage given to them above the other tenants of
the day. These men give nominally a large rent for their
farms ; but as their maxim is to pay neither repairs, tithes, nor
parochial taxes of any description (these dues and services being
all included in the rent received by the landlord), 1 have strong
doubts whether the advantages held out to the landowners will
be, ultimately, any increase of net cash into their pockets. In
strong loamy counties, or in richsands, 1 am aware much profit
may be made by an economical system of husbandry in the til-
lage ; but the practice of the Scots farmers not embracing
sheep, or water-meadows, will never make them rich on the
Dow n farms of Wiltshire ; and if the Downs be broken up by
the tenants, who have no stock to maintain them, the land and
the farmer will soon come to poverty together." [Davis, 174-5.)
Among these farmers was the unfortunate Gourlay, who was
ultimately ruined by the speculation. Of his farming we know
notliing, nor are we aware what description of Scotch farmers
they can have been whose husbandry m an inland turnip district
did not embrace sheep. On the Earl of Suffolk's estate at
Charlton, some Berwickslrire farmers were introduced in part
through our means, whose chief object was the sheep system.
The Lord Suffolk, however, of that time being a weak man,
without an opinion ot his own, got so alarmed by his family at
the idea of breaking up old turf, that he bought up the leases of
these farmers almost as soon as they were granted.
The arable part of this district is on the north-west verge,
being a part of the Cotswolds hills, and treated like them.
Grass land prevails almost to the exclusion of arable on all
wet and heavy lands : their management of late much im-
proved by draining, manuring, winter burning, early mowing,
and feeding and mowing every piece of land alternately. The
grand object in these improvements is, to get an early bite
for the cattle in the spring, and thereby, in fact, to shorten the
winter.
The cheese of this district was many years sold in the London
market by the n.:me of Gloucester cheese ; but it is now per-
fectly well known hy the name of " North Wiltshire Cheese."
It was at first, doubtless, an imitation, and perhaps an humble
one, of that made in the vale of Gloucester, but it is now
allowed by many to be at least equal, if not superior, to the
cheese of the favourite district of Gloucestershire, the hundred
of Berkeley.
Gardens not numerous : some near Wootton Basset, for sup-
plying the markets of Cricklade, Cirencester, &c.
Orchards frequent as an appendage to farm-hous'JS, but no
cider made.
Wood frequent in hedgerows, but not in masses.
Irrigation not common ; springs scanty, and land too ab-
sorbent ; alleged they produce coarse grass, but this is owing
to its not being mown in time.
6. Live Stock.
Cattle of the long-homed breed ; Devons bred, and found
better for fatting, but it is questionable if they are so good for
the dairy. Breeding cattle not the fashion. " The dairymen
say, that the advantages which their situation gives them of
sending their veal to London and Bath markets, makes it more
their interest to fat their calves than to wean them for stock ;
but the opponents of the long-horned cows say, that the oxen
are generally so ugly, and the heifers frequently such bad
milkers, that the farmers are never certain of breeding such as
they would wish to keep; and therefore they prefer buying
cows (of which tiiey can have a choice) to breeding them, and
to use horses for the plough instead of oxen."
Many sheep bred in the district; some for folding, and others
purposely for fatting ; for these purposes a kind to walk, and a
kind to stand still, necessary : the Wiltshire answers the former
purpose, and the Leicester the latter.
There are yet left in North Wilts a few flocks of the native
Wiltshire homed sheep, posstssing qualities of perfection, l)oth
for folding and fatting. They stand short in the leg, with wool
under their bellies; are wide and heavy in the bmd-mjarter,
light in the fore quarter and in all their ofl'als, with the Roman
nose, and quick piercing eyes. The^e are in the hands of a few
farmers near Broad Hinton.
7. Political Economy.
As applicable to both districts it is observed, that the turnpike
roads are numerous and good in most places ; three canals ;
extensive woollen manufactures at Salisbury ; also cutlery of
superior excellence there ; carpets at Wilton, and fancy
woollens ; and of superfine broad-cloths at a great many place*.
No agricultural societv, but mnny farmers and others are mem-
bers of the Bath and West of England Society.
7819. DORSETSHIRE. 711,250 acres of undulating surface, in great part chalky soil, and celebrated
from the time of the Romans for its pleasantness and fertility. Like Berkshire and some other counties,
\t is called by the inhabitants the garden of England, It is chiefly under grass, and is celebrated lor its
1168
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
breed of sheep, which bring three lambs in two years ; and for its watered meadows, of which Boswell, of
this county, has given a valuable account {Clan'dge's General View, 1793. Stevenson's General View,
1812. Marshars Review, 1817. Edin. Gaz. 1829.)
1. Geographical State and Circu7nstances.
Climate dry and salubrious rather than mild and bland ;
sui)posed colder since the elevated Downs were denudi;d of their
native forests.
Soil chiefly chalk, next clay, then sand, and of loam, gravel,
&c. nearly equal and moderate portions. Chalky and sandj
sMls of the uplands very thin.
No metallic mine* or cauls, but the peninsula of Portland, four
miles and a half in length by two in breadth, one entire quarry
ot Portland stone, so extensively used, especially in London.
P.itters' clay found in various parts of the county.
2. Properfi/.
Estates large compared with those of other counties ; some
of the principal under the care of land-surveyors, others of
Iswyers. Tenures chiefly freehold and leasehold.
3. Buildings.
Farm buildings as in other counties ; generally ill situated,
bailt of stone, and covered with reeds or thatch.
4. Occupation.
Farms very large, 1500 or 2000 acres of sheep farm being fre-
quently to be met with. Many of the proprietors great farmers.
Leases of twenty -one vears common till the beginning of the
present century, now for shorter periods.
5. Implements.
Two sorts of uncooth wheel -plough in use. Small's plough
tried in one or two places ; from the difficulty of ploughing flinty
soils, wheels are deemed an advantageous appendage to what-
ever sort is adopted. Threshing, winnowing, and various other
modern implements introduced in a number of places. The
wattled hurdles of Dorsetshire consist almost invariably of ten
stakes, which the hurdle-makers drive into augur holes, that
are made for that purpose in a piece of timber, which is sup-
ported at a convenient height from the ground by other pieces
of timber, and then the stakes are wattled. Stones set on edge,
and rublestone walls used as fences in various parts.
6. Arable Land.
Deep nloughing generally less approved of on the chalky
soils, and cross ploughing never practised, even for turnips;
two or three horses form a team. Fallowing general all along
the coast ; but what is here termed a summer fallow is, in
most cases, no other than a preparation of ley ground for a crop
of wheat, by ploughing it three or four times, the first plough-
ing being given in June or July, and sometimes as late as
August.
Upon the thin chalky soils around Blandford, and upon the
hills in the neighbourhood of Abbey Milton, the course of crops
with the hest farmers is as follows : viz. one seventh of the land
Is in saintfoin, and the rest of the arable is cultivated in the
rotation of one, wheat ; two, rye, winter barley, or winter
■vetches, to be fed with sheep in the spring, and the whole fol-
lowed by tumip-i, rape, &c.; three, barley or oats; and four
and five, artificial grasses, to be followed bv wheat cis before.
Upon the thin chalks and shallow flinty loams, wheat is gene-
rally sown on the back of a two years' clover ley ; but, even on
those thin soil-;, a great deal is sown after turnips, rape, &c. fed
offwith sheep early enough to sow it in the same autumn, and
in most instances a good crop is producetl of a fine sample. On
the better sorts of chalky and gravelly soils, the same practice
prevails, except upon the ley-ground, which continues in grass
but one year instead of two ; the wheat is taken after the first
year's ley, and is supposed to answer lietter than it would in the
second year, upon tne latter description of soils. Old saintfoin
leys broken up without paring and burning. Hemp and flax a
good deal cultivated.
7. Grass.
300,000 acres, or about three fifths of the county ; 6000 acres
of meadow in the chalky district irrigated. -Application of the
meadows ; fatting cattle, and of the uplands the dairy.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
Both are frequent appendages to farm-houses and cottages;
some of the cottage gardens are small enclosures taken from
the sides of the highways. The goosefoot ( Chenop6dium b6nus
Henricu*; cultivated by a few persons here, as in Lincolnshire
and elsewht^re, and calculations made by Batchelor, to show
what would be the expenses and profits of an acre for the
London market. The plant is greatly inferior to spinach, but
might be used as a substitute for it in spring, as it is a perennial ,
and very early in leaf. Sea-cale, which grows on the shores
near Burton, is now generally introduced into the gardens of
farmers.
Orchards to the extent of 10,000 acres ; application cider,
in making which hops are sometimes addetl to make it keep ;
proportion one pound to a hogshead. Twenty bushels of apples
will make a hogshead of cider.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Timber scarce, and chiefly to be found in parks and hedge-
row^s. Many young plantat<<>ns lately mads on the heath
lands.
10. Itnprovements.
Irrigation carried to considerable extent and great perfection.
and one of the best books on the subject ft by Boswell of
Piddletown. A dry meadow of" good quality is worth fortv
shillings ; watered, sixty-five shillings per acre ; produce of hay
two loads per acre. The streams in Dorset are in general
shallow, and have a considerable fall ; the meadows are narrow,
and the water is supplied with comparative regularity, in con-
sequence of its having to filter through immense masses of
chalk previous to its exit at the springs ; and hence the process
of irrigation is much facilitated.
The theep of Dorsetshire are well known as supjilying the
metropolis with house-lamb at a very early season. Parkinson
considers the Dorset ewe as tlie best horned ewe in the kingdom,
those of Somerset excepted ; and they are so nearly alike, that
which some contend is the true breed of the county. Lowman
of Portland observes, it is the practice there to fold these
dwarfish animals from Candlemas to Martintide, putting them
in late at night, and letting them out early in the morning.
The mutton is deemed the best in England, and the w^ool as
good as the South Down kind. Some of them have been pur-
chased by sheep-breeders, with a view to obtain a cross be-
tween these and the Merinos. Both ewes and wethers are
kept, and generally till they are five years old ; sometimes they
remain till a greater age, but it is not thought a profitable
method. Such as are fatted are put into a common, at the
northern part of the island, which is pretty good land, and
remain there from the 12th of August to the 5th of November,
on which day Portland sheep-fair is held. All the sheep of the
island are kept pretty generally upon the commons from No-
vember the 21st to Candlemas. The Portland mutton is sold
by the quarter in general at ten shillings and sixpence. It is
never weighed, but would come to one shilling a pound when
common mutton is only seven-pence : it seldom weighs more
than ten pounds a quarter. Several flocks of pure JMerinos,
Down Merinos, and other breeds.
General maiiagement of sheep. The lambs which are b.ed for
the refjular supply of the flock are dropped at Christmas, or
soon afterwards, and the couples are kept in the best ewe-leazes,
&c. on grass, hay, and turnips, if necessary ; and such as have
watered meadows, dejiasture their sheep there, on the early
grass, till old May-day, when the lambs are weaned, and the
sheep go to fold ; but sonietiraes_the two latter circumstances
. ilace as early a
and kept on the Downs, on artificial grasses and other p.istures.
take place as early as Lady-day. The ewes are folded constantly.
till near the ensuing Christmas, at which time they hav
another crop of lambs, the rams having been put to the Hoik
about the end of July.
Th re is, probably, no part of England where the practice
of sheep-folding is more admired, or more earnestly pursued,
than in the county of Dorset. Fifteen dozen of hurdles, with
a like number of stakes and withes to confine them together,
will enclose a statute acre of ground, and will contain 1200 or
1300 sheep very commodiously . The hurdles are moved every
morning; consequently the same number of sheep will manure
an acre of land daily. The real value of the fold there is no
means of ascertaining; it is undoubtedly very benelicial to
the arable land, but it has reduced the Downs to a state of
poverty.
Ewes are generally kept till they are four years and a half
old, when they are sold to the dealers. A singular custom
prevails of colouring them with ochre, for which no other
reason is given than that of being able to distinguish them from
the Somerset sheep.
Asses were formerly kept by some farmers, but are now given
up, having been found destructive to hedges, &c. " It ap-
peared that six asses would plough as much land of any kind
in a given time as thee horses, and four asses were sufficient
to plough broken land. It is believed that two asses will per-
form as much work as one horse, and they do it more conve-
niently in the hill v part of the county, as they carry their lading
in panniers, where it would be difficult to use w heel carriages.
Geese kept on the com pastures in Purbeck, from an idea that
they promote the health of the cattle.
Bees kept in various places ; does not answer to feed them ;
the only way to render them profitable is, after the honey -sejison
to destroy all hives under twenty pounds weight.
11. Political Economy.
Roads of flint, and in general good : an iron railway, of three
miles and a half, for conveying potters' clay from Nortlen to a
place opposite Poole, where it is shipped for Liverpool. No
canals. Manufactures of flax and hemp at Bridport and Bea-
minster ; upwards of 2000 people employed in making sail-
cloth, cordage, sacking, tarpaulin, &c. ; flannel at Shaftesbury,
and woollens at Lvme Regis ; twisting and making up raw silk
into skeins at Sherbourne and other places ; shirt buttons ex-
tensively at Shaftesbury, Blandford, and the surrounding vil-
lages; the buttons made of wire and thread ; many thousands
of children in this manufacture: wicker baskets, with a small
hole at top, called lobster pols, at various places on the coast,
and a variety of other articles. Many very uncommon pro-
vincial terms used in this county.
7820. SOMERSETSHIRE About one million of acres, chiefly of meadow and pasture land, hilly and
mountainous in some places, and with marshes and bogs in others, but on the whole, though far behind
in artificial culture, celebrated for its natural fertility. The climate is various, in general cold and
boisterous on the elevated parts, but almost without a winter near the sea. The county is divided itito the
north-east, middle, and south-west districts, by its very able reporter, J. Billingsley, Esq. of Ash wick Grove,
{Billingsley's General View, 1797. Marshal's Review, 1817.)
7821. North-east District.
Surface very irregular, intermixed with lofty hills and rich
fertile plains: climate various ; soil chiefly clay, and in part
l>eat ; application chiefly pasturage ; several thousands of acres
overflown by the tide in the river Veo ; 4000 acres protected by
a wa'l of stone and lime, elevated ten feet above the level of the
land within, but high tides frequently break over it and make
breaches.
worked, for want of a proper level to cairv
Coal abounds, and is work&l for the supply of Bath, Wiltshire,
and Somersetshire; from SOO to 1000 tons raised weekly.
Property. Manv large proprietors from 2000/. to COOO/. per
annum, but the greater part in the possession of respectable
yeomanrv, from 50/. to 5001. a year.
Buildihf;s. There are many splendid gentlemen s seats.
Book I.
AGIlICULTUllE OF DEVONSHIRE.
ll6-8>
ornamented wWi extensive pUintattons, In this district, and the
farm-houses and cottages ar? for the most part commodious
ard conlfortahle ; but, on all the dairy farms, a shametiil inat-
tention prevails in respect to outhouses and sheds for thtir
«tock to rehire to in the winter months. Cattle are almost uni-
versally served with their provender in the field ; and many
a dairy farmer, with twenty cows, scarcely makes, in tl^e
whole winter, a quantity of duns suiGcieut to manure one acre
of land.
Occupation. Farms seldom exceed 20(»/. a year ; some of the
dairy farms are so small as not to exceed fiW. or 70/. per year;
and many instances can be produced of such littie f.irmers
hrin>j;ing up a large family in a very rc-spectable way- In such
instances, it is f;enerally found tliat tne wife undertakes the
whole management of the cows, and the husband goes to daily
labour.
Im]>li-ments. Plouch with a foot or wheel ; spade with the
<>Iade curved in its bread-.li, to prevent adhesion of soil ; it is
much narrower and lonijer than those used in otlier counties,
eightem inches by six inches.
Arable land but in small proportion, and little attended to.
Teazles and woad grown for the clothiers ; potatoes cultivated
to a very considerable extent. The reporter has known thirty-
two successive crops of potatoes from the same field, and the
produce as good at the latter part of the term as at the be-
ginning- This will inizzle the theoris*, with his pecu'iar sub-
stancas of nutrition. A sack of potatoes is equal to a hundred
weight of hay.
Grass the predominating surface. " On the rich marsh land
near the Bristol Chaiuiel, the grazing system prevail;;. In the
vicinity of Bristol and Bath, the scythe "is in constant use; and
at a greater distance nothing is scarcely seen but the miiking
pail : on the stonebrash, and freestone {.Tit soil, saintfoin takes
the lead : next to saintfoin, rye grass, marl grass, and white
Dutch c'over are in deserved repute, when the land is intended
to remain some years in grass ; but when it is intended to be
ploughed again in the course of a year or two, broad clover is
yre'erred to all others.
Uny-tea (1807.) much in use, by ivhich means it is consi-
dered as much nourishment is obtuine'd as if the hay were
epten, while after boiling the cu'ms may be dried and used rs
Litter .' In some places, however, a prejudice exists against
u^ing hay for litter, on the supposition tliat it bree<ls vermin in
fettle.
Market G/irderu for the supply of BristoUnd Bath. A clergy-
n an has eight or ten acres of nursery ground, the labour of
which amounts to 25/. per acre.
Orchards abound throughout the whole district ; t1'€ favourite
ajiple, both as a table and cider fruit, is the court of wick pip-
l m, a seedling from the golden pippin.
Wouds ami Planiatiotit not numerous.
Liue Stock. Cattle mostly short-horned ; the long-homed
I reetl of North Wiltshire have tieen tried, but the customary
i reed prefierred. Both cheese and butter made.
K)Kid> pretty good ; some cniiaU ; woollen ra:\nufacture i
tensive, and thai of knit worstetl stockings considerab'e.
78252. Middle District.
Between 4 and 500,000 acres of varied surface and goil.
and mild climate ; including a great eient of marsh and f n
land, great part ofwlich h;:s been draine
Half this district occupied by the owners.
:s been drained and embanked.
Grass the chief
product; farms from 40/. to GOO/, per annum, partly grazed
with hdfers, but chiefly by cows for the dairy ^ the cows let
out to dairymen, as in Dorsetshire.
Arable Land, iJax and hem^ extensively cultivated, and also
turnips.
Oreharit numerous and very productive ; soil particularly
suitable ; plantitions few.
Live Slock. Small cows, well fed, preferred for the dairy,
and the object chiefly cheese ; that of Clicddar much admired,
the others in general sold in London as double Uloucciter. A
dairy-maid can manage t'he »nilk of twenty cows.
liuads excellent, especially from Wells to Bridgwater ; ex-
tensive woollen manufactures, many of hemp and flax, and
some of gloves.
7823. South-west District.
Kougb mountainous hills, and rich frrtile slopes :md plains;
farms rather less than in the last district, but the husbandry
much the same; more land in tillage; mountains uncultivated,
and pasture with sheep and young bullocks; in the viciuit; of
these hills the principal com "crop is oats.
Fences. The beech hedges around Dulverton, Dunster, &c.
are not only beautiful to the eye, and excellent fences and
shelter, but are a source of annual profit to the proprietors.
Ths banks on which they are planted are six or seven feet high,
and between four and five feet wide at the top ; the moulder-
ing of the sides is frequently prevented by a dry stone wall,
four feet hjfih. ThtTe is no oileh ; and the hedge consists of
thr. e rows of beech, p'anted on the lop of the hank, at about
one foot distancf>. Their growth is very rapid, and they seem
to defy the destructive qualities of the sea breezes, so fatal to tha
white-thorn, and most other plants ; when at maturity, tlm
middle row is cut to the ground, and the outsii!e rows plashed.
The quantity of fuel supplied by these hedgr-s is very consider-
able ; and the only olijection that can be made to them is, that
the earth us< d in the construction of the hanks is so consider-
able a qur.ntity, that a large portion of the field is roblK-d of its
vegetable matter, and rendered for some years unproductive.
.'<ome Norfolk farmers introduced on the Barnard estate,
and rhubarb cu'tivaied to preit perfection by Br.Il, at Wil-
liton, near ^^'atchet. Many orchards, and excellent cid< r
made ; not much wood, but elms attain to a large size in the
hedges.
Live Stock. North Devon cattle and Dorset sheep used round
Taunton D^'an ; oxen worked chi flc in yokes. Manufactures
at Taunton on the decline. A salmon aiid herring fisherv at
Porlack, Minehoad, and Watchet.
tm. DEVONSHIRE. 1,505,3C9 acres of stroi.glv marked hilly surface, including the vale of Exeter,
the garden of the west ; " the Forest of Dartmoor, a barren waste ; and Nortli, West, South, and East
Devonshire, each with distinct features. The county is cclebr.ited for its breed of cattle, its dairy, and
Its orchards, and of late years lor extensive improvements undertaken in Dartmoor, where is also the im-
ricnse depot for lO.fXX) prisoners of war. (^^.1114.^ {ryrtvhitrs Tracts on the Iwprore?nents ai Dartmoor,
J8j9. r'raser's Ge?ieral rii'Vf,l~Di. Vancouver'' s lit "' ' " " "
''lew, 18()7. Marshal's Review, 1817.)
1114
1. Geof^rnphical State ajid Circumstances.
Cl.imUe in North Devon less mild than in «outh Devon, but
St il myrtles are used as garden Ledges; in South Devon the
chn f.te is supposed more mild and ssdubrious than in any other
\ ilof EngU^id.
SvU in great variety, but in general ca'careous.
Mxnerals. Some iron and copper worked, also freestone.
In tstone, and marble, &c.
2. Property.
ft'uch divideU, only a few large estates ; formerly Uiting for
li\« much m use. It has frequenily bap; ruetl, that in letting
an estate, tl.e Innd'ord agreed todischarpe tithes and all parc-
el ial payme: ts. About the ytars 18(M) and ISOl, the rent of
several estate.; in this county was absolutely in-suflicient to meet
such disbursements, and consequently all the estates so circtini-
ttanced brought their proprietors in debt.
3. Buildings.
Houses of proprietors too generally going to ruin from non-
residence. " We defy ingenuity to plan and place farm-houses
worse than they are." " (Jarden-walls, farm-houses, bams,
stables, liine-kilns, village fences, and cottages, are all built
4 F
1170
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
with mud, and left without rough-cast, or whitewash, to con-
ceal the native colour of the loain."
4. Occupation. ] 1 1 5
Farms of all sizes from 10/.
to 600/. a year.
5. Implements.
Plough of the swing kind,
■with a wooden mould board.
Scarifiers, called tormentors.
Two sorts of grubbing mat-
tocks are in use tjig. 1 1 I5.a,b) ,
one called the hoe mattock
(a), and the other a two-bill
or double-bitted mattock (6).
Paring-shovels (e) are very
well constructed. Corn-stacks
in harvest secured from the
sudden and heavy thundtr
showers to which this coun-
try is liable, by canvass cover-
ings, like those used in Mid-
dlesex for covering bay ricks.
6. Arable Land.
Much less than the grass
land ; not much to be learned
from its culture ; artificial herbage not generally sown, and
rotations bad.
7. Grass Lands.
In the low tracts of good quality ; application, breeding and
the dairy ; butter good, cheese indifferent, and generally con-
sumed in the county.
8. Orchards, Woods, and Plantations.
Very abundant in most parts of the county, and excellent
cider made in the Herefordshire manner. Fruit trees rather
neglected than otherwise ; generally pasture beneath ; often in
the hedgerows.
The Forest of Dartmoor is parcel of the Duchy of Cornwall,';
extensive improvements have lately been proposed, and in part
ceUTied into execution, under the direction of Sir J. Tyrwhitt,
the steward of the Duchy. Extensive salt marshes on some
parts of the coast.
9. Improvements.
Draining and irrigation not much practised. The Rev. M.
Froude, of Darlington parsonage, communicated to Vancouver
a mode of emptying the water from a pond without the ne-
cessity of attending to it personally when full. It is more matter
of curiosity than ingenuity or use. The water, when the pond
is overflowing, flows by a gutter into a basin, suspended be-
jond the head, which when full, by means of a lever, raises
a plug at the bottom of the pond. After a lime, the box being
leaky, it becomes empty, and when the pond is nearly -empty,
the plug re-drons in its place. If the plug were placed nearer
the surface of the water, it would in general cases be more
useful, and less likely to lose the fish.
10. Livestock.
The North Devon cattle well known for their superior adapt-
ation, both for feeding and draught. For the uses of the dairy
or for milk, it is a breed by no means held in general estimation,
as their aptitude to look well (without being fleshy) is derived
from the peculiar nature of the animal, which disposes its se-
cretions in the accumulation of fat, rather than in the produc-
tion of milk. For the purposes of labour, this breed can no-
where be excelled for docility, activity, or hardihood, in proof
of which no stronger circumstance can be adduced, than that
it is a common day's work, on fallow land, for four steers to
plough two acres with a double-furrow plough ; and that a
general use is thus made of them, and for most of the other
purposes of draught in the county where they were originally
found, and in others to which they have been '
planted,
smce trans-
The rules generally pursued in breeding and raising this va-
luable animal,may be considered as follows : — The greatest num-
ber of calves fall between Candlemas and May, and some much
later ; but, among the best breeders, such late calves are not
so generally approved of. The usual mode of raising them is,
to let the calf suck as much as it will three times a day, for the
first week; then bring it to the finger, and feed it with warm
new milk, in like mariner for three weeks longer. This is the
ordinary treatment for the first month, and the calf is then
fed for two months longer, twice a day, with as much
warm scalded skim-milk as it will drink ; when, gradually
abating its morning and evening meals, at the end of four
months the animal is weaned from all milk draughts, and left
to itself. Small portions of finely pounded linseed cakes are
often used, and recommended to be mixed with the skim-
milk, particularly in the first period of its being given in the
place of new milk.
The full-sized North Devon cow, when fattened to its frame,
will not exceed eight score per quarter; and the ordinary
average of its ox, at five years old, and equally well fattentd,
must not be rated higher than three score per quarter above
the weight of its fattened mother.
The usual practice in this district, is to sell the steers, at four
or five years old, to the graziers in the county of -Somerset, who
feed them for a supply, to the Bath, Bristol, and London mar-
kets. Very few in the proportion raised are fed in the district,
which may in a great measure be ascribed to the great indif-
ference hitherto manifested in the culture of green food for a
winter supply ; and for which, indeed, a sufficient reason may
be dravfn, from the deplorable wet state in which the lands are
suffered to remain from the want of draining.
In South Devon we find a mixture of the North Devon with
a larger animal of the same kind, called the Old Marlborough
Red. This breed is said to have originated from the South
Malton stock, although at this time they differ very materially
from them in size, and in having a dirty brown, or rather
blackish colour at the ears, nose, and encircling the ejes, and
in all such parts as the orange hue prevails in the genuine
North Devon breed. A cross with this breed is, however, much
preferred, as it produces a greater ap'.itude to fatten in a given
time than is experienced in the South Devon stock, which in
all its points is a much coarser animail, and produces a greater
offal. There does not appear to be any particular choice with
regard to colour in this breed.
Sheep, the Exmoor breed, a homed animal, with a moder-
ately long staple of wool, which heretofore, and before the cloih
manufacture fled from this county into Yorkshire, was much
used by the clothiers of North and South Malton, CoUumpton,
Thorverton, Tiverton, and other places in the county.
The sheep most approved in the division of Tiveiton are the
Hampton Notts. Tne first cross of this breed with the New
Leicester is growing greatly in esteem, from its improving the
form, and bruiging the animal three months sooner to market.
The sheep generally depastured on the moorlands are the
Bxmoor, Dartmoor, and the light hardy breed of the lower
moors and commons in the county. The autumnal rains fre-
quently inundating the cold clay lands, are very apt to occasion
the caw, or rot, among them, and which has been sometimes
experienced to an alarming extent.
The Merinos, Ryelands, Downs, and other fashionable breeds
have been tried by amateurs ; but Devon is less a sheep than a
cattle county. Native breed of hogs large, and long-legged.
Horses, a small compact breed ; with the exception of the
farm-horses in Ireland, those in Devonshire have perhaps as
hard a measure of neglect and ill-usage dealt out to them, as
is any where to be met with in the united kingdom.
11. Political Econo77iy.
Had the roads of this county been laid out in the judicious
manner practised by the Indians of North America, they
would have lieen found to follow the water courses in all casts
where they might lead in their general direction, towards the
point assigned for carrying them. In doing this, infinitely
more judgment would have been displayed, and a far greater
benefit secured to posterity, than in that which has been
adopted by the original projectors of some of the most important
and most frequented roads in this country. This is clearly de-
monstrated by the road between Barnstaple and Ohumleigh,
which, instead of being conducted through the vsdley of the
Taw, is carried over the highest brows of the river hills, where
the traveller is unceasingly compelled to ascend and descend
the sharpest hills in the county. The same may be said of the
road between Bideford and Torrington, by the great omission
of its not being carried along the foot of the rivtr bills, and
through the vallev of the Torridge river.
Manufactures of woollen of various sorts were formerly com-
mon ; but are at present on the decline ; many manufactures
and works employing numerous hands at PIj mouth. Two
agricultural societies, but both ill attended and on the de-
cline.
Education of Vie Poor, or Lorcer Classes. Vancouver concludes
his report by some pages of observations which, hajipily, are
seldom equalled in illiberality ; and, viewing the subject as we
do, they compel us to look on him as an enemy to human na-
ture, and to turn from his book, his name, and memory, with
feelings of dislike. " It is an incontrovertible truth," he says,
" that the restless disposition of the Irish, and their emigration
to America, is owing to their being generally instructed to read
and write. The disposition of the Scotch and Germans to
emigrate arises from the same reason, and the English peasant
under the same influence will be acted on in the same man-
ner." He " respectfully submits to the consideration of the
Honourable Board, the projmety of opposing any measure that
may rationally be supposed to lead to such a fatal issue." This
man, like Charles X. and his ordonnances of 1830, and M'el-
lington, with his speech against reform of the same year, may
have done good without knowing it.
Marshal, whose considerate and humariC spirit justly objects
to the term peasantry, as at all applicable to the operative
classes of Britain, has the following excellent remarks on this
subject : —
says, " for Ireland and America, that they do so. The one is
overstocked with the class that furnishes work-people ; the
other wants enlightened workmen. Of slaves and savages it
has enow. The unlettered Irish stay at home, to riot, plot,
and murder ; to commit acts of treason, stratagem, and spoil ;
or emigrate to England, to revel awhile in outrage, and be
hanged."
On Vancouver's ideas on education. Marshal observes, " After
some other groundless arguments, the reporter sums up in
Italics, and with the aid ot foreign tongues, in the foUowine
ultra-royal manner : — ' In short, the peasant's mind should
never be inspired with a desire to amend his circumstances
by the quitting of his cast' (this, says Marshal, is Hindoo),
' but every means the most benevolent and feeling heart can
desire should be employed to make that situation as comfort-
able and as happy to him as possible ; and to which end nothing
more essential could contribute than by exciting a general
emulation to excel in all their avocations, even to those
of breaking stones for a lime-kiln, or for repairing the high-
ways.' 'Hear, hear!' says Marshal — ' This is English.'
Good heaven I And is there an Englishman (or a Dutchman
— they are brothers in sentiment) with nerve enough to write
the two first lines above quoted ! .' ! He surely could not
know that many men of ' the brightest genius,' and who are
much more estimable members of a community,— many great
and good men have, in England, been moulded and nuitured
in the ' peasant cast.' "
" Fortunately for society in England, the writer's exotic
notions have not taken root. Seminaries, for civilising the
children of the labouring classes, have been, and are rapidly
increasing."
" In a civilised nation, early schooling tends to reclaim
children from savage propensities, and to prepare them for
civilised society ; inculcates a propriety of behaviour, one of
the very first lessons a child should be induced to learn in a
civilised nation. In the savage state, savage manners may be
deemed a virtue, as being, in that state, conducive to self-
preservation."
" Attendance in a school inures children to a requisite degree
of restraint ; and a division of time employs their minds, and
prevents idleness, and other vicious habits, from taking root;
thus tending to raise them to the rank of rational beings.
While the unfortunate oflTspring of indigence, that are suffered
to loiter away their earlv days on commons, in lanes, and bye-
places, acquire habits of indolence and pilfering ; give a loose
to their own wills and unrestrained tempers; commit acts of
mischief, and add to them the guilt of lying (the seed-bed of
fraud) to screen them from correction."
" The discipline of a well-governed school impresses on
youthful minds subordination, industry, patience, and its
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF CORNWALL.
H7i
consequent, nerocverance ; and thus habituates them to receive I in the world ; and we hope all those whom he designateg pea-
instructions/' santry, who may ever happen to read the above extracts, will
Where Vancouver Is at present we do not know ; we hope he I see the necessity of fortitjing themselves, by knowledge and
may lonu live to witness the extension of education which
now taking place, not ou;y in this, but in almost every country
7825, CORNWALL. A peninsular hilly surface, of 758,484 acres, remarkable for its mines, and of
late greatly improved in its agriculture, the object of which is chiefly corn It is the country of Sir
H. Davy, who may be considered as having eminently contributed to agricultural science by his agricul-
tural chemistry. The inhabitants have been remarkable from the time of the Romans for their mildness
and complacency of temper, urbanity, hospitalitv, courteousness, and liberalitj'. {Fraxer's Cornwall, 171)1.
iForgan'sCornwall, 1810. Marshal's Review, 1817. Edin. Gaz. abridged, 1829.)
1. Geographical Slate and Circumstances.
Climate, like that of other peainsular situations lying far to
the south and west, inconstant as to wind and rain, and mild
as to heat and cold. Plants, shrubs, and even the most hardy
trees on the sea-coast, sustain much injury from the violence of
the westerly wind, and the salt spray of the sea, which it drives
with great force before it; hence crops of wheat and turnips
have been totally destroyed. After a storm, the plants have
their roots much torn, and their leaves corroded and shrivelled
as if scorched, and taste of a pungent saltness. Trees and
shrubs shrink and lean away to the eastward, and appear as if
clipped by the gardener's shears. The only shrub which seems
to bear the sea air is the tamarisk.
Surface remarkably unequal ; ascents and descents follow in
rapid succession; some hills very steep.
Soil generally slaty and loamy, mixed in a manner that ren-
ders it almost impossible to designate the boundaries and extent
of each.
Mineriilt chiefly tin and copper; for the former Cornwall has
been famous f;om the remotest antiquity, as some think, from
the days of the Phoenicians.
2. Property.
Very much divided, subdivided, and vexatiously intermixed.
Esta-es from twenty a'Tes to 500 acres, very few exceeding
400Z. per annum. Many gentlemen and clergymen in this
county occupy their own estates and glebes, and keep their
grounds in a very superior state of cultivation. The manage-
ment of great estates is generally given to attorneys.
Entailed estates. " I was in hopes that 1 had been a singular
stifferer in Cornwall, from this kind of deceptive tenure ; it
would then not have been worthy of notice ; but in my excursions
through the county I have met with fellow-sufferers, and wi.h
others who are likely to become so. As such cases have oc-
curred, and may occur again, it behoves every man who is
about to occupy a f.;rm for a term by lease, to make enquiry
whether it be an entailed estate or not ; because the possessor
having the power of letting for his own life only, in case of his
death, the occujiier is. left entirely at the mercy of his suc-
cessor." (ITorg-aji'i Survey, 22.)
3. Buildings.
Old farm-houses of mud and thatch ; the lower divisions con-
sist of a kitchen, and an apartment dignified with the name of
parlour, but called (provincially) the hifjher side, a cellar, and
dairy-room ; but these latter are frequently under a lean-to
roof; the rooms very low, not ceiled, and two bed-chaml)ers
over; the floors of the chambers are of oak plank ; the groimd-
floor erTth, lime-ash, or flag-stone.
The farm-offices, built of the same materials, consisting of a
bam, cow and ox sheds, and hog-sties, stand in confusion about
the dwellmg. The intervening^ and circumjacent ground is
called the farmer's town-place ; for as to that essential append-
age, a regular farm-yard, it is a convenience not often met with
in any part of the county.
Sume good new farmeries erected centrically on newly en-
closed lands. One for forty-six acres has a very neat elevation
(,fig. 1116.), and the plan (fig. 1117.) contains a feeding pUice
into which the turnips are carried (the cart being backed mto
it), and from whence the sheep and oxen are fed («) ; place for a
yoke of oxen (A), either for soiling or winter-feeding : the oxen
are tied to posts (cc) ; there are troughs for turnii)S (rf); cribs,
or racks for hay or straw (c) ; lean-to, for store sheep (/) ; lean-
to, in which hiilf a score sheep are kept to fatten, the number
being completed again soon as any are sold (yg-) ; fodder house,
used £is a bam (A) ; open shed for tools (t) ; hanging doors wiih
1116
bolt inside, and through which the fodder is handed to suppjy
1117
the cattle, and is thus kept always dry (k) ; door and staircase
leading up to the wool chamber (l). 'The stairs rise quick, so
as to be quite out of the way of the ox feeding in that side of the
house.
Cottages. " I had occasion often, in my dreary walks during
my survey, to take shelter in some of these miserable dwellings,
and found the poor inhabitants busy in placing their bowls,
crock,;, and ^lans, to catch the water pouring in at the roof.
However, the meanest cottage generally has that great source
of comfort, a garden, attached to it." Some very comfortable
plans of cottages, by Captain Fenson of Ethy, are described by
the surveyor.
4. Occupation.
Farms from three or four to three or four hundred acres,
mostly from 501. to 60/. a year. Leases on rack-rented farms
generally from fourteen to twenty-one years.
5. Implements.
. No county atlbrds a greater varieW of wheel and other car-
riages. The harvest waggon (^. 1118.) has a lade before and
1118
behind, and is open in the middle , it carries about 300 sheave
of corn. When drawn by horses, shafts are iipplifcd ; when by
oxen, a pole. An arch of boards over the hina wheels prevents
the com from bearing on them.
Tin wain is another light useful carriage for carrying com
sand hay. It consists of a light, open, long body, borne upon two
wheels ; a railed arch over the wheels prevents the load from •
bearing upon them; it will carry from 200 to 230 sheave*
which are secured by ropes, it having no sides or lades.
A ileJge for com, hay, orfaggots {Jig. 1119. a) ; slide butt (*) ;
II.
^ P
4 F 2
1172
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
quanr butt for earth or stones (r); dung-pots or dung-pan-
niers (rf) for dung or stones ; and panniers with hooks, tor faggot
wood and sheafed corn {e), are also in use.
and grass barrows (.fig. lliiO.) are also
1120
The Cornish plough is a small swing plough with a straight
piece of wood as a mould board.
Barn boards for threshing on are four or five nianks laid
across beams, but about one third of an inch asunder ; so that
the com as it is threshed may fall through and not be l)rui»ed.
In some places wheat is separated from the straw by beating it
on a barrel or inclined plane, usually by women. Fences gene-
rally made of stone, or raised banks of stone, slate, and earth,
•ometimes planked.
6. Arable Land.
The pilez, or naked oat, cultivated on worn-out ground ; its
straw very tine, and reckoned nearly as good as hay. A quantity
of potatoes exported yearly , but not enough of wheat grown for
home consumption.
7. Grass.
Chiefly near towns and villages, on sheltered slopes, and the
uncultivated lands known as moors, downs, crofts, and wastes;
•ome meadows watered.
8. Gardens.
Common to cottages and farms, and better attended to than
in most counties ; orchards also attached to many farms.
9. IVoods and Plantations not abundant.
10. Improvements,
Draining practised to a considerable extent, and one or two
examples of embanking.
The maritime situation of Cornwall presents the farmer with
three valuable manures ; fish, sea sand, and sea-weed. In some
ye;irs the farmers who live in the vicinity of fishing towns have
an opportunity of buying the bruised and small pilchards ;
which l)eing deemed unfit for market, are rejectsd and called
" cotf ;" four cart-loads of twelve bushels are considered as the
proper quantity for an acre. Tha usual mode of management
IS to bury the cofF in a pile of earth, deep enough to secure it
from dogs and hogs, adding to the pile a sufficient quantity of
sand, well mixing and turning all together after having lain
some months. Without this practice the fish would not decay
sufficiently for perhaps a year or two. The fish are sometimes
used alone ; they are then spreaui thinly over the ground before
the plough, and turned under furrow. One pilchard cut up
smill will amply dress one square foot of ground.
ThL' old salt which has b°en use<l to cure the pilchard, and
judged to be no longer fit for that purpose, is advantageously
applied for a barley or a turnip crop ; twenty to thirty bushels
per acre. It is commonly hand-sown. In the manner of com ;
and it should remain on the land five or six davs before the seed
is sown. It is best adapted to light lands, particularly furze
crops. Twenty bushels per acre have been strewed over grass
lands, and over a wheat crop, in the month of March, with
evident advantage.
Another ar icle of manure obtained from this useful fish is
the Kcjuor which drains from it while under the process of
curing, consisting of blood, brine, and some oil which escapes,
and which is caught in pits; the diligent farmer carts thi»
away in casks, for the purpose of pouring over and mixing with
his piles of earth and sand, which it greatly enriches.
11. Livestock.
Devonshire cattle prevail ; but it is only among the more en-
lightened and spirited breeders that the genuine North Devon
are to be met with. Cows are kept in winter in sheds open to
the south ? one of which for seven cows and a fatting calf t^.
1 121.), described by the surveyor, contains cribs for hay or straw
in winter, and lucem, vetches, &c. in summer (a) ; troughs for
turnips, potatoes, cabbages, &c. (/)) ; beds or platforms for the
cows to stand and lie on (c) ; gutters sunk two or three inches
to receive the dung (</) ; head-way and feeding place (e) ; dark
place for fatting a calf (/) ; the d"ivision outside {g) for a cow
tliat has, or is near having, a calf. She is not tied up.
1121
1
^
cof
^
A
cH
^-
d
c >
e
h c fl'l ^ 1 1
^
y
6
*
The cows are tied to posts by means of a strong chain and
rope, which by means of a ring runs on a long stajJle.
Oxen very generally worked both in plough and cart ; shod
in brakes, and yoked in the bow.
Sheep a mixed breed ; Cornish breed lost among crosses.
Horses a small hardy active breed, well adapted to the hilly
nature of the county.
Cornish hos always white ; a long-sided razor -backed animal ;
crossing by the Devon, Suffb'k, and Leicester breed, has taken
off length and sharpness, and added breadth and depth ; a
mixture of Chinese and Suffolk is another variety.
12. Political Economy.
Public roads tolerably good ; lanes bad. Some traveller*
who met I'argan, the reporter, hoped he would notice with
reprehension the straw -traps that the farmers lay in some of
the cross roads, and wliich, concealing the deep ruts, endanger
their horses, gigs, and their own necks.
ilanuftictures few ; some of woollen carj'ets, and paper. The
three great staple commodities for export, are tin, fish, and
copper, the moor stone, China stone for porcelain, barley, oats,
potatoes, and some wheat.
782a The islands of JERSEY, GUERNSEY, ALDERNEY, and S ARK, which lie in the Bay of St.
Micliel, and form the remnant of the ancient Duchy of Normandy, tliough naturally belonging to the con-
tinent of France, have yet for nine centuries been subject to the British Government. The agriculture
of all of them is nearly the same ; but we shall follow the Reporter to the Board of Agriculture in con-
sidering first that of Jersey, and next Guernsey. These islands are chiefly remarkable for their breed of
cattle, their parsneps, and the degree of perfection to which many plants arrive in the open air, which
are kept in England under glass. {Quayle's General View, SfC. of the Nor?nan Islands, 1812.)
7827. JtiRSEY, 39,580 acres of warm and rather moist climate, diversified soil, and features : the soil is
for the most part light, on granite or schi^tus, and there is some peat and marsh. No calcareous soil or
rocks ; granite and gneiss quarries worked ; and granite pillars of fifteen feet in length extracted. Water
abounds ; and belief is still entertained in the efficacy of the divining rod for discovering springs.
1. Property.
Minutely divided, and mostly in the hands of a resident
yeomanry. Some singular laws and customs as to tenures, as,
for example, the retrait ligmiger and retrait seigneurial oufoedal ;
also the legitimation of children not bom in wedlock, by the
marriage of their parents, as in Scotland, and most other
countries of Europe except England.
2. Buildings.
Those of all classes substantially built of stone, sometimes
rough-cast, neatly lined in imitation of squared stone-work.
Farm houses generally covered with thatch or pantiles. Cot-
tages generally of stone, with a vine in front.
3. Occupation.
Farms small, and fields diminutive ; farmers frugal, and
their wives good manaigers, and industrious.
4. Implements.
Plough with wheels, resembling that of Hampshire ; some-
times drawn by two bullocks, and six or eight horses ; a sort
(Of large plough used for p'ougbing deep, for parsneps, and
held in partnership by several farmers ; instances of this plough
brang drawn by six ojen, and sixteen horses, (p. 64.)
5. Enclosing.
Fields very small and irregularly shaped, and the fences of
hij^'h eartlien mounds, often twelve feet wide at least, and six
feet high, crowned with a hedge, or timber trees and pollards.
6. Arable Land.
Soil deep, and 4e«i ploughing generally practised, but no
improvement in it for ages ; no naked fallows. The spelt
wheat (Trtticum Speitu), here called bU tremais,frumentum iri-
mestre, here enters into rotation ; it is sown in February, pro-
duces shprt stiff straw, is difficult to thresh, but never lodges.
Pars'ups are grown by every farmer, and either by the spade
/culture alone, by the plough and spade, or by the small and
ereat plough ; any soil in good heart and tilth suits them, but
peculiarly a deep loam ; and in the same spot generally are
raised beans, peas, cabbage, and occasionally potatoes.
When the ploughing or digging ,is jcompleted, the field is
pnce liarrowed ; straight lines are thcp drawn across, by means
of a gardener's rake, usually from north to south ; women
then proceed with dibbles, and set the beans in rows, at a
distance of four inches or five inches from bean to bean ; in
four, three, and sometimes in two ranks of beans, leaving
intervals of five or six feet between each of the sown rows.
In the use of the dibble, and in dropping the beans, the
women have acquired considerable dexterity. In many in-
stances, they are followed by children, who drop into each hole
made by the dibble, after the bean, three or four peas; the
parsnep seed is then sown, at the rate of one third to one sixth
of a bushel to the acre. .
The parsnep, not usually relished elsewhere as an article of
human food, is here consumed by all classes of people ; it is
eaten with meat, with milk, and with butter ; but not, as is
the common mode of using it as human food in England, with
salt fish ; or, as in Ireland, together with potatoes.
The next most valuable application of this root is hog-feed-
ing ; at first it is given to the animal in a raw state, afterwards
boiled or steamed, and finally, for a week or a fortnight with
bean and oat meal. A hog, treated in this wav, is sufficiently
fatted for killing in about six weeks. Its flesh is held superior
to that arising from any other food, and does not waste in
boiling.
Bullocks are also fatted with parsneps, in about three months ;
their flesh is here considered of superior flavour to any other
beef, and commands, on that account, an additional half-
penny in the pound on the price. To milch-cows they are also
usually given ; on this diet the cream assumes a yellow colour ;
by the accounts here given, it appears, in proportion to the milk,
to be more abundant than when the animal is kept on any
other food whatever. When the cow receives at the rate of
thirty-five pounds per day with hay, seven quarts, ale-measure,
of the milk produce seventeen ounces of butter. It is generally
allowed, that the flavour of the butter is superior to any other
produced in winter.
Geese are sometimes shut up with the hogs, to fatten on
parsneps, which they will eat raw. The root is ako given
boiled, and for a week before killing they are fed with oats or
barley onlv. Horses eat this root greedily ; but in this i^and
it is ncvergiven them, as it it alleged, that when on this food.
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF NORTH WALES.
117J?
their eyes are Injured, About Morlais, horses are not only
ordinarily fed on parsneps, but they are considered as the best
of all food, superior even to oats.
Lucem a good deal cultivated, and found productive.
Hopt to a moderate extent ; the reporter could not find that
theTeucrtM»« Scorod^nia was employed asa substitute, as related
in some botanical works. A species of Cyp6ru« (most likely
Ckrei. arenaria) used for twisting into halters and other ropes.
7. Grass Lands.
Of very limited extent, but meadows very productive.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
Ver\- productive, and in general careftiUy attended to. Chau-
tnontelle pears brought to great perfection, and with grapes,
bulbs of the Guernsey lily, parsnen seed, and some flower seeds,
sent to the London fruiterers and seedsmen.
Orcharils generally attached to all farms. Jersey cider in
much esteem, and a'principal article of export. Most of the
farm-houses have large arched doors, made wide on purpose
for the passage of cider-casks. A valuable work on the subject
of cider by the Ilev. F. Le Conteur, entitled Apercu sur la Cut-
iure det Pirmmes, Jersey, 1806. The pomeril, lamme, noir-toit,
and gros-amer, the cider-apples at present in vogue.
9. Woods and Plantations.
Very limited extent, and the waste ground a little more so ;
«nly about 300 acres of rocky summitsof hills ; these might be
planted.
10. Improvements.
No calcareous manures found on any of the Norman islands.
Sea shells tried on clay with great advantage; and sea weeds
{yrcnc, whence vrack). Irrigation in'a simple manner, practised
in the narrow valleys from time immemorial. Sea encroaching
ill some places, and jetties and embankments proposed, but
nothing done.
11. Livestock.
Aldemey cattle well known. Though there can be no
doubt that the breed was derived from the contiguous Conti-
nental coast, yet it is not known that in any part of it at present
the" same breed is preserved in equal purity. Next, perhaps,
to the possession of vraic, the treasure highest in a Jerseyman's
estimation is his cow. She seems to be a constant object of
his thoughts and attention : that attention she certainly de-
serves, but she absorbs it too exclusively ; his horse he treats
unkindly ; his sheep most barbarously ; but on this idolised
cow his affections are rivetted as firmly as those of an Eastern
Bramin on the same animal. It is true that in summer she
must submit to be staked to the ground ; but five and six times
in the day her station !« shifted. In winter she is warmly
housed by night, and fed with the precious parsnep. \^'hen
she calves she is regaled with toast, and with the nectar of the
island, cider, to which powdered ginger is added. Could she
be prevailed upon to participate in all her master's tastes, there
is no doubt but that he would willingly bestow on her the
quintessence of rriac itself.
To guard the purity of her genpalogy, and to prevent others
from being conveyed to England, under the semblance of
Jersey cows, he has invoked the interference of the insular
legislature. On the 8th of August, 1789, an act of the States
passed, by which the importation into Jersey of cow, heifer,
calf, or bull, is prohibited under the penalty of 'iiOO livres, w ith
the forfeiture of boat and tackle. A line of fifty li\Tes is also
imposed on every sailor on board, who does not inform of the
attempt. The offending animal is to be slaughtered without
enumerated descriptions are exported, a certificate of theiy
being natives of the island is to accompany them. On the
vessel's return, another certificate is requiied, that the same
identical number, and no more, have l)een landed.
There is, indeed, at present, little danger of the occurrence
of that evil which the Jerseyman so much deprecates, as
he will not speedily become a convert to any heretical o))inions
which he may haj)pen to hear from an Englishman ; for
in this, as in every thing else, it may be observed, that
the rooted opinions of a people are more powerful than jmy
law.
The oxen are distinguished by rising to a stature and bulk
much suptrior to the female. Persons who have not seen any
other than Aldernev cows, would le surprised to witness the
si^e attained by sonie oxen of the same breed, which may be
seen in the Jer>.ev carts.
The object of tlie dairy is butter: the cows are milked thrice
a day from the mi'ldle' of ^pril to the middle of July, and
twice a day during the rest of the year; the milk is kept in
glazed earthenware dishes till it throws up the cream, which
is separated, kept five or six days, and then churned by itself.
Theprime milkers are not generally exported. After the young
cow has borne a calf or two, it is sometimes significantly re-
marked, " qu'elle est bonne pour I'Aujileterre ;" and she goes tp
the cow -jobber.
As to the meriU rfthe Jertey com the reporter observes, if the
palm can be contested with them by any, it will be by a breed
little known in the south, the Dunlop (in Aj-rshire) cattle,
cross between the shon-homed and the Aldemey.
Sheep a bad-shouldered coarse-boned breed, small homed,
and between a black and brown colour; largest flock in the
island forty ! weight of carcass fifty pounds ; in the winter
many perish from want, and many by dogs.
Horses a hardy small breed, very ill treated.
Swine, white, long-legged, flap-eared.
Geese are plucked alive, when the feathers begin to drop, as a
measure of economy, and also to prevent the grazing-ground
being injured. It is also thought a relief to the animal.
Pifictyjis. Here, as in France, the Droit de Co/omhier is at-
tached to certain residences ; but not exclusively, as appeared
to be the case in France, to those held by a noble tenure.
Bees. The flavour of Jersey honey highly vaunted, probably
from the numerous flowering plants, legumes, fruit-trees, gar-
den plants left to seed, &c.
12. Political Economy.
Roads numerous, narrow, winding, crossing each other, and
consequently intricate ; flanked by high earthen fences ovet-
canoj)ied by trees. In rainy weather they are canals of mud.
Two carts meeting each other on the chemin du roi could not
pass; one or the other must back till it reachtd the nearest
field, gateway, or some other recess, to which it might retreat
during the passage of the other. To this little circumstance in
their intemal economy, and the disputes which it engendered,
may, perhaps, in part," be attributed the remarkable proficiency
of the Jersey populace in swearing.
Manvfacturest'evi : some boots, shoes, and cordage exported ;
an oyster fishery to the east of the island. English law as to
poor-rates exists ; but as the poor are few, it is not necessary to
act on it. Dialect of Jersey a corrupted French, ^d a bad
English,
7828. Guernsey. A rocky hilly surface, of which 8000 acres are under cultivation ; the climate rather
moister than that of Jersey, and the soil generally light, on granite, gneiss, or schlstus. The operative
classes resemble those of England more than those' of Jersey.
Agriculture much the same as in Jersey ; Guernsey figs much
esteemed. Some land embanked and sold with permission of
government, and the pioduce applied to improving the roads.
Lire stock. Guernsey cattle are larger-boned, taller, in every
respect more stout and coarsely made than those of Jersey.
The front is wide, boms divergent and thick, but not long;
never with the graceful short curve observed in some Jersey
cattle, and in the short-homed breed. The dewlap is also
coarse and pendant. They are deep-chested, and the carcass,
compared with their neighbours, more bulky. Their coat is
also not so fine : and the colours, though varying as in Jersey,
on the whole appear more dark. Some, but not so many,
are found cream-coloured, and the breed may safely be pro-
nounced more stout and hardy. In one respect, a similarity
appears in the best milkers in each island : these are observed
to have a yellow circle round the eye i the hide yellowish ; and,
in particular, the skin of the tail at its extremity appears of a
deep yellow, approaching an orange colour. The same circum-
stance has been since observed to exist in good milkers of other
breeds ; but in Guernsey at least, on examination, this yellow-
ness is general and striking. The butter ]>roduced by the milk
of each breed is also naturally of a rich yellow colour.
As to the question of superiority between the cattle of either
island, it is settled most decidedly by the inhabitants of each,
as may be supposed, in their own favour. The people of Jersey
have gone furthest in swrpwt of their opinion. By the third
section of their law of 1789, respecting cattle, they expressly
apply " aux lies voisines " the same penalties and restriction on
importation of cows, heifers, and bulls, as on importation from
any other quaiter. Into Guernsey, where no similar restric-
tions exist, Jersey cows have occasionally been imported. The
comparison between cows of each breed, as milkers, leads to
that result which, in the place where it is made, might be an-
ticipated.
Next it may be noticed, that though the exportation of
Guernsey cows, compared with that of the same animals in
Jersey, is not extensive; yet that their price in Guernsey is
higher. One was noticeel for which a farmer had oflered a price
of thirty guineas, for his own use, and had the oHer refused.
As to the quality of the butter also, in each island, it may be
observed, tnat the preference is usually given to that of Guern-
sey. In this article, indeed, in some degree the difference may
arise from their different practices in the process of churning.
The cream is here left unskimmed, till the milk,becomes coa-
gulated : on the third day milk and cream are churned toge-
ther. As little attintion has yet been given to the improve-
ment of the breed of cattle, as in Jersey.
Road* improved pnder the government of Sir John Doyle.
Bricksand tiles manufactured, and some spirits distilled, which
formerly found its way into England under the name of French
brandy.
Sect. II. Agricultural Survey of Wales.
7829. A hilly mountatnovs surface of 5,206,000 acres, with a climate colder than that of England, and
more moist in the proportion of thirty-four, the average number of the inches of rain which falls in Wales,
to twenty-two, the number for England. The soil is generally of an inferior descrijition, and the great
proportion of mountainous surface is fit only for pasturage and planting. Little exertion was made in
cultivation till the middle of the eighteenth century ; from that period to the present agriculture has been
gradually improving. A general view of it, as in 1809, has been published by the Rev. W. Davis of
Montgomeryshire^ whose work we shall adopt as our guide.
7830. NORTH WALES. 1,974,510 acres, chiefly of mountainous surface, in six counties, including the
Isle of Anglesea. The climate humid and cold in elevated situations, but warmer in the vales and near
the sea. Tne soil moory, coarse, clayey, and otherwise unfavourable in most places, excepting in the vales
on the banks of streams. Minerals chiefly copper, lead, and iron. The famous Mona and Paris Copper
xnincs in Anglesea have been worked since 1768 ; lead is chiefly worked in Flintshire. Excellent slate
4 F 3
1174
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
h found in various parts of Caernarvonshire, and worked to a great extent, especially on Lord Penrhj'n's
estate. Marble is worked in Anglesea ; and limestone, freestone, and other stones and minerals abound
in different places.
1. Property.
Estates from thirty shillings to 30,000/. The effect of the
custom of gavelkind, which prevailed all over Wales, was a too
minute division of property. Equality and poverty went hand
in hand. But when the custom was abolishe<l, arid alienation
permitted, an accunmlation of property was the necessary con-
sequence, which became very prevalent in the two last centu-
ries : and having arrived at its maximum early in the eigh-
teenth century, it has, since that period, shown some instances
of retrogradation : but subdivision and accumulation of estates
will naturally fluctuate. Here are petty lairds or tacltsmen,
as in Scotlimd and Ireland.
Gentlemen of moderate income, and residing in the countrj-,
transact the affairs of their own estates. Those of greater pro-
perty commit the whole care of rents, repairs, and contracts of
sale or purchase, to the management of agents ; who, in gene-
ral, are persons well qualified for the undertaking, brought up
solely to the business, and make it a point of honour and inte-
grity to do justice to the landlord, and a point of conscience
not to oppress the tenant. Some of the lawyer agents, having
by their own indiscretion and rapacity destroyed the very via
vitcE of litigation in the people, necessarily diminished the num-
ber of their successors.
Only two copyhold tenements have been noticed in the whole
district. All tlie other estates are held either mediately or im-
mediately in cajiife of the king, by a kind of mixed tenure, be-
tween the feudal and allodial, going under the common appel-
lation of freehold.
2. Buildings.
Some fine castles, as Powys, Penrhyn, and Chirk. Of farm-
eries, about seven in ten are in a very wretched state ; good
new ones in Anglesea, and Caernarvonshire, Flintshire, and
Merionethshire.
Cotta^et in these and other counties are truly the habit-
ntjons of wretchedness. One smoky hearth (for it should not
be styled a kitchen), and one damp litter-cell (for it cannot be
called a bedroom), are frequently all the space allotted to a
labourer, his wife, ancj four or five children. The consequences
are obvious ; filth, disease, and, frequently, premature death :
ind they would be more obvious, had not these evils an almost
unsubduable vigour of constitution to encounter. Threa
fourths of the victims of the putrid fever perish in the me-
phitic air of these dwellings. However, in some parts, espe-
cially near lime-works, mines, coll eries, &c., the example of
one neat cottager is followed by others. Here, their dwellings
are frequently white-washed ; their children are industrious
in collecting road manure, which is preserved within circles of
loose stones, for the use of their gardens. These minutiae,
though trifling, are worthy of record, as they are descriptive of
their general character.
Some exceptions in different places, and especially on Lord
Penrhyn's estate. The reporter gives an exce'lent plan of a
cottage for a cottage farm, and also plans of farms of difierent
si^es, adapted to such cottages.
The cottage farm-houte (.fig.- 1 122.) contains a kitchen (a^,bed-
1122
>-
r1- 1
&
c
e
/
—J
a
FT"
1
9
1 l::
\
room or parlour (6), pantry (c), barn-floor {iT), two biys (e and
/), cow-house (g'), calving place and calf-house (/»), pigsty (i),
and stairs (A:) to garret and bedrooms.
One coUa/refarm for the same house, and nine acres of land,
containsseven small enclosures (./?g. 112.'5.a) including the gar-
den. One for six acres, contains six enclosures (b) including
the garden.
3. Occupation.
Largest farm of cultivatalJe land about 600 acres, on the
mountains 1000 acres and upwards, at one shilling, or one
shilling and sixpence per acre : size on the increase, and ad-
mitted to be favourable to wealth by the reporter, who adds,
" yet that weilth should be valued, not in proportion to its
national aggregate, or quantity in the abstract, but as it is
a 1123 b
■widely and generally diffusfd. An analogy exists between
monopoly in all its forms and a macrocejjhalous constitution,
which never can possess the energy of a body symmetrically
proiiortionate.
t armers, properly so called, are, as we may naturally ex-
|)ect them to be, rather too tenacious of old customs. It is,
however, iUiberal to charge them with obstinacy, in delaying
the adoption of pretended improvements ; for, as it is not all
gold that gli'.ters, neither are one half of the pa-ent implements
and machines, nor one tenth of the writings of visionary theo-
rists, better than lumber and trash ; for which the farmer
should not throw away his hard-earned money, before they
are put to the test of experience, by those who have opulence
enough to bear disaiipointinent ; and who, from tlie advantage
of superior education, may be better qualified to form a judg-
ment of the probable eflects. Show the farmers then: true in-
terest, and, in general, their minds are as open to conviction,
and as susceptible to reason, as any other class of men what-
ever.
Leaset out of repute. It cannot be denied that leases have
done good in Scotland. We are, therefore, driven to the
necessity of supiwjsing, that the Scotch and Welsh tenantry
are very different kinds of beings. The circumstance that ren-
ders the Welsh leases inellectual, is the want of capital ; and
what enhances the evil of this want is, the ignorance of many
farmers in the right application of what small capital they have.
By tilling too many acres, they, as well as the public, suffer
loss in every acre. Many a farmer, who has means barely sutV
ficient to manage a farm of Ml. a year tolerably well, thinks
a fann under 100/. or 150/. beneath his notice; and granting a
lease to such a tenant, who has not one fourth of the capital
requisite to carry on improvements, would be preposterous.
Lord Penrhyn executed draining, fences, roads, and all im-
provements requestetl by his tenants, and approved of by his
agents, at five pounds per cent on their amount added to the
rent.
4. hnplements.
The original Welsh plough, a clumsy wooden fabric, still in
use in Caernarvonshire, and a few places in other counties ;
about 16()0, Lammas's variety of the Rotheram introduced,
and now common ; Scotch plough now generally known and
approved; the other improved implements tritd by tho
amateurs.
5. Arable Larid.
" That farmers convert too much of the lands which wers
formerly in tillage, into pasture, is but a groundless cause of
alarm. Farmers should, and always will, consult their own
interests ; and whether the conversion of their lands into
tillage or into pasture be found the most profitable to them-
selve.s, the seune will eventually be found most beneficial also to
the public."
The com raised in North Wales not equal to its consump-
tion : fallows general and defended as necessary. In Anglesey,
a rotation of five white crops in succession ; most of^them
barely return the expenses. Very little wheat grown, main
corn-crop oats, and next barley. Scarcely any flax or hemp
grown ; potatoes beginning to become a general crop. On the
whole, the management of arable land wretched, excepting by
the amateurs or proprietors.
6. Grass.
Land well adapted for tillage ; is commonly left too long in
pasture; by which neglect it becomes mossy, and in some
instances covered with ant-hills. It has been said of some
meadow-lands in Wales, that a man may mow in them all
day, and carry home his day's work at night. This may a)>pear
hyperbolical ; but it is so far true, that in some meadows the
mark of the swath nev.T disappears ; and a mower may be cer-
tain of having followed the same line, to a half-inch width, for
twenty or any number of years back. In such meadows, the
trouble of raking the hay together is the great work of harve^it.
In the eastern parts of the counties of Denbigh, Flint, and
MontgomcT)', consisting of the most fertile vales, the princi))al
object of the farmers is to convert their hay and grass, as much
as Possible, into butter and cheese.
In the hilly parts of the afore-named counties, and in Angle-
sea, Caernarvon, and IMeryonydd, their peculiar province is to
rear cattle, to be sold lean to the graziers of other districts.
There are but few acres of land that will fatten cattle ; the
vales of the Severn andVymwy in Monmouthshire, the banks
of the Dee in Flintshire, and the vale of the Clwyd in Den-
bighshire, are the principal places where the pastures ailord
sutKcient nutriment for that purpose.
7 Gardens.
Much wanted for the cottagers, e.specially in Caernarvon
and Merionethshire. Too many poor cottagers have not as
much as a leek or a potatoe, except what they either beg or
buy. In the greater part of the district, the planting of orch-
ards would be thought a very wrong application of the soil.
On the borders of England are some orchards ; and in plenti-
ful years, a few farmers make eitlier cider or perry for their
own beverage.
8. Woods.
Have been abundant m former times, especially in Anglesea ;
now very scarce there and in Caernarvonshire ; more in Den-
bighshire, especially round Chirk Castle, Wynnstay, Erthing,
Vale of Clwyd, &c. Extensive young plantations made in
these counties, especially at Wynnstay and Lord Penrhvn's.
A great deal of wood ; various young plantations in Meri-
onethshire, and much timber, wood lands, and planta-
tions in Montgomeryshire, which will long be the best
wooded county in North Wales. Proprietors planting
upon a large scale, and not raising trees from seed in
their own nurserii-s, formerly used to procure seedlings
of larch, firs, and pines, &c. from Scotland ; but ow-
ing to their heating in close bundles, and otherwise
damaging upon the road, not above one fourth, and fre-
quently not above one eighth of the number could be ex-
pected to grow. They are now more given to encourage
nursen'men at home, and nurseries are accordingly esta-
blished in different parts of the district. " One and two
year old seedlings of all sorts of forest trees, nearly a*
cheap as in Scotland, reckoning carriage, and one thou-
sand worth two of thtirs." This is true when the tenderness
of seedlings, distance of carriage, and length of time, are con-
sidered. AVilliams, and other nurserymen, insure trees of
their own growth and planting for a number of years.
9. Improvements.
A marsh of 3000 acres in the southern comer of the island
of Anglesea attempted to be embanked in 1790. The embank-
ment was brought forward from both sides at the same time,
and was intended to be joined in the middle of the marsh,
where the force of the tide was greatest ; when within about
twenty roods of a complete jimction, owing to some of the
proprietors withholding their dividends, the work was de-
serted, after exi)ending nearly 12,000/., and when a few jwunds
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF NORTH WALES.
1175
more would h ave completed the whole, as the materials were
already crirried on the spot. On the 23d of January, 1796, an
imcommonly high tide added twenty roods more to'the breach,
in which state it now lies. The bank was made of furze fag-
gots, bound with double cordage, covered with sand, then with
sods, and on the sea-side with a stone pavement, eighteen
inches deep at the top, and diminishing to nine inches at the
bottom. It was fifty-one yards wide at the base, four yards at
the summit, and five y.irds high ; the slope of the sea-side to
that of the land-side, as seven to four.
The embankment and improvement of Traeth-Man'r and
Tratth-Bychan sands, between Caernarvon and Merioneth-
shires, have been above 170 years in contemplation, and never
jfet performed. In 1625, Sir John Wynne, of Gwydir, in-
tended to have brought over Sir HughMyddleton, the cele-
brated engineer, to undertake the work; but no materials
were wasted, save ink and paper. In the year 1719, some
Dutch adventurers made a proposal to the proprietors, but to
no effect. In 1770, the late Bell Lloyd, Ksq. who was always
active in works of public utility, and others, brought the sub-
ject afresh under consideration ; at the same time proposing
a nearer road from London to Dublin, across the Traeth-Mawr
sands, when embanked. Golbome, the engineer, was sent
down by the Duke of Ancaster, and two estimates were made.
The late Dr. WorUiington was peculiarly active in forwarding
the work. He had gone so far as to procure subscriptions to
the amount of 29,000/. and upwards, when the whole scheme
was frustrated by the mean spirit and refractoriness of some
neighbouring proprietors.
In 1S09, ^V. A. Madocks, Esq. M.P., having a considerable
estate on the Caernarvonshire side, and having there em-
banked Penmorva marsh with great profit (./iff. 1124. a), and
founded the village of Tremadoc (6), commenced embanking
the sands of Tiaeth-Mawr (c), by carrying out from both
shores an immense bank (d) of stony materials deposited and
left to find their own slope by the washing of the tides. The
two banks were within less than a furlong of being joined in
the middle ; but owing to the force of the tides, and the em-
barrassments of the very spiritedproprietor, it was not com-
pleted before he was ruined. The persons, however, into
whose hands the property fell brought it to a successful con.
elusion ; and its proprietor, who had settled in the neighbour-
hood, and is lately dead, yet lived long enough to see realised
by others all that he had anticipated, and for which he had
sacrificed a very considerable fortune.
The River Dee Company, established by Act of Parliament
in 1740; by several embankments made in the vears 1754,
1763, 1769, and 1790, on the river Dee, in Flintshire, to keep
out the tide and land-floods, they have been enabled to gain
3100 acres, which are now covered with good crops of com
of lucem, and of artificial grasses ; and the whole redeemed
waste is incorporated into a township, bearing the very appro-
priate name of Sealand .
" In various parts of the coast of Anglesca, and the other
maritime counties of North Wales, there is still much to be
done by embanking. Caernarvonshire has been eminently
fortunate in the acquisition of W. A. Madocks among its lead-
ing improvers. Indeed his improvements are of such magni-
tude and variety, designed with such taste, and executed with
such facility, that a minute report of them would appear, to
those who have not personally visited the place, more like the
reveries of romance, than the narrative of genuine description.
In harbours, embankments, canals, buildings, roads, plant-
ations, and rural and commercial improvements in general,
nothing less than a Tremadoc Guide pamphlet can do justice to
the founder."
10. Livestock.
Cattle and copper the staple exports of Anglesea. When
numerous herds are bought in the island for the English mar-
kets, they are comiielled to swim in droves across the strait of
the Menai ; and although numbers of the weaker sort are
sometimes swept down by the force of the current for some
miles, yet losses seldom or never happen. A chain bridge has
been thrown across this strait.
The characteristics of a choice Anglesea ox, must agree
in most points with those of a lioman one, as described by
t^.olumella : coal-black colour, with whit* appendages ; re-
markably broad ribs; high and wide hips; deep chest; large
dcvvlap; flat face; and long horns, turning upwards. Bake-
WL-n thought, that in some points they were nearer his idea of
perfection in shape, than any other he ever saw ; his own Im-
proved breed excepted. Some farmers aspiring at a select
stock, by having their he-calves gelt under their dams, their
boms become of a yellower colour, longer, and finer than com-
mon ; and, upon the whole, nearer the present idea of sym-
metry. The average weight of their quarters, when fat, at
three or four years old, is from eight to eleven score pounds.
The promontory of Lleyn and Lvionydd, in Caernarvonshire,
having the same kind of undulated surfece, though not al-
together so good a soil as Anglesea, has likewise a breed of
cattle similar in several of their characteristics.
The cattle in the remaining part of Caernarvonshire, and in
the whole of the county of Meirionydd, some few select stocks
excepted, seem to be diminutives of the above breeds of Angle-
sea, Lleyn, and Evionydd ; having nothing to recommend
them, save their extreme hardiness, and consequent cheapness
of rearing. The highlands of the counties of Denbigh and
Montgomery abound with the same puny race. In the vales,
and in the county of Flint, the cattle are of a superior kind,
larger, and of all varieties of colours. The natives of the sea-
coast from Abergeien to Holywell, and thence £ilong the Dee
towards Cheshire, are reckoned very quick feeders.
Neither good butter nor cheese are made in North Wales by
ordinary farmers.
Sheep. The largest of the native breeds is that of Anglesea;
they have white legs and faces, and are generally without
horns.
The second kind of sheep in North AVales is that peculiar to
the mountains. They have generally white faces and legs ;
some have horns, and others none. The smaller sort of th&m
weigh from seven to nine pounds per quarter ; and give wool
from three quarters of a pound to one pound and a half.
The third kind is peculiar to the Kerry hills in Montgo-
meryshire ; being, perhaps, the only species in North Wales
which produces perfect wool -. that of every other Welsh
4 F 4
1176
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
iv.
• breed beincf more or less mixed with coarse Iohr hairs, called
by the manut;ic-turer» kemjis, making the articles in whicti they
api>ear of much less value. The characteristics of this breed
are, larije woolly clieeks, white bunchy foreheads, white le^s
covered with wool, no horns, and a l)road beaver-like tall.
They are very hardy, and comparatively tame; being not so
much disposed to ramble as most other wild sheep. In shape,
however, they are far short of compact symmetry ; and were
this dtffeej jirvproved by the care and attentioa of the farmers,
the breed would be worthy of being universally adopted
throughout the princil»lity. The> weigh, when fat, from ten
to fourteen i)ounds per quarter. The averaije of wool, indud-
iiig the whole flock, is ten stone, of fifteen pounds, each, from
every 100 sheep.
The fourth kind is 'the black -faced and fine-woolled sheep,
bred on the Long Mountain, near Welsh Pool; and on other
hills, on the borders of England, in a line from thence to
Wrexham.
The flavour of the mutton of the sheep feeding upon the
Llanymyneich and Porthywaen lime-rocks is reckoned very
delici«us,by tl»e nicepalated pupils of the Epicurean school :
nnd their woof is as fine as any in England ; that of the Rye-
land breed, jicrhaps, excepted. A person in travelling through
the country may observe several other kinds of sheep ; being
crosses from some or other of the above four distinct breeds :
but they are in genenil the offspring of chance and ir>stinct,
■without being directed by any choice or system.
The Merinos with their different crosses ; the Leicester,
Downs, and others, bred by amateurs.
lionet. In Anglesea, for want of fences, the hordes, as well
BS the sheep, are commonly fettered. Wei-e colts of the best-
shaped bre-.'d in existence thus fettered as soon as they are
■weaned from their dams, and the practice used from generation
to generation, their natural gait and shape must necessarily be
changed, at length, into awkwardness and deformity. Few
English italiions hav2 as yet been introduced into the island;
and those that have do not appear to have done much towards
improving the native breed.
In the county of Meirionydd, and the hilly parts of Mont-
gomeryshire, great numbers' of jionies, commonly called mer-
lins, are reared. They are excee<lingly hardy, havinp, during
winter as well as summer, only the range 'of the hdls, from
whence they are never l>rought down until they are three years
eld, and fit for sale. What has t.-'nded to, and will in time
destroy, the shape and good qualities of this hardy race, is,
that in the propagation of their species they are left entirely to
chance and instinct.
They are driven from the hills to fairs, like flocks of wild
sheep ; and tlie place of sale exhibits, in some degree, an am-
phitheatre, where manhood and ponyhood strive for the vic-
tory. When a chapman has fixed upon his choice at a distance,
the' wrestler, being generally the seller's servant, rushes into
the midst of the herd, and sei'/.es the selected animal; which,
never before touched by human hand, struggles with all its
might to extricate itself; and in some particular situations,
both have tumbled topsy-tarvy from the summit cf a steep
hill down into a river beneath : the biped still continuing his
grasp, and the quadruped disdaining tamely to submit.
Another breed, somewhat larger than these, and prob.ibly
raised by a series of crossing between the English and the na-
tives, are hardy, handsome, and exceecUngly active. Some of
them are too small for the team ; but for the road, imder mo-
derate weight, they have no rivals. " They will ascend and de-
scend our mountainous staircases" with the greatest at'ility ;
and without giving their riders, who have more fool-hardiness
than humanity, the trouble of alighting. The larger kind of
them is exceedingly well adapted for the team, on small or steep
mountainous farms ; where the great strenpth and sluggishness
of the heavy kind of horses woidd be egregiously misapplied.
The vales of Montgomeryshire have long been notetl for an
♦xcellent breed. Some attribute this su|>eriority to a stud of
hors^ kci)t by Quet-n Elixabeth at Park, near Caer Sws, in the
Kevem vale, and to others brought into this part of the country
from Spain by Robert Earl of Shrewsbury.
Gentlemen in most parts of the district, and farmers in the
vales of the' three counties bordering on England, have for some
time furnished themselves with'exci-llent draught horses, both
for the coach and the waggon j which, when the markets are
open, are sold in great numbers. They are generally either
black or bay, strong, active, well made, and measure from fif-
teen to sixteen hands high.
A custom, very injurious to the growth, strength, and sound-
ness of horses, prevails over the greatest part of the six counties ;
that is, working them too youni;, whan their bones have not at-
tained firmness from their cartilaginous state, nor their power
of elasticity, contraction, and extension, which is necessary to
endure exertion and labopr. Instances have, however, oc-
curred of burses being worked from two to twenty years old,
without any apparent detriment saving a diminution of their
natural si-ze.
" The predilection which farmers manifest in favour of horse
teams ma-, in time, rtduce the nation to the dilemma of en-
acting a law to repeal the Mosaic law, and enjoin the flesh
eatable."
Tender fu^ze, bruised with mallets or groimd m mills erected
for the purpose, was form<rly a great article of fodder in the
counUes of Anglesea and Caernarvon. Farmers were then ac-
customed to sow furze for their horses, and sometimes to let the
crop at a certain price i)er acre, which was frequently found to
pay better than a crop of wheat; but Ceres at length seems to
have grown ashamed of such husl.andry, and the Ia'.iils are ir>
general converte<l to bear more useful crops.
Ho^'t. The original Welsh breed had smnll er.rs, which,
probably by a cross with the Bei kshirrs, produced the slouch-
eared hogs, which were lately general throuiih the country.
They are slow fee<iers, and the" rearing of them is now upon the
decline, md'^^g place tothat of more improved breeds, espo
Bees, " The ancient Welsh he'.d these industrious insects
in great veneration^ and believed them to be of Paradisiacal
origin." {n^olluti's Leaei Wallictr, p. '254.) For thisreasoii their
priests taught tliat the chanting of mass was not acceptable to
the Deity unless the lighted tajiers were made of their wax-
Out of their dulcet stores they brewed their iwtional liquor,
methegiin, or the medicinal beverage.
AVhen the country was almost one continued wilderness,
almost every hollmv oak was an apiary. Their nests on the
wa.stes were the property of the lords of the soil, and rented by
some of their vassals. On freehold lands they were claimed by
the respective proprietors. The discoverer of a swarm was
entitled by law to a reward of one penny, if they were domesti-
cate<l bees ; and one penny and a dinner, or in lieu of these the
whole of the wax, if they were of the witd race- WTioever cut
a tree upon another person's property, in order to get at the
nest of bees, -was to be amerc^<l the full value of both tree and
bees. The resjiective prices of difterent swarms were ascer-
tainetl by law.
Early swarms were reckoned of fu'l value by the first of Au-
gust ; such as swarmed after that day were not valued above
fourpence until the following May.
In comparison with the prices of other articles at the time
the Welsh laws were firamed, bees seem to have been very dear,
and consequently scarce ; but the price set upon them by law
was much abovj the real price in commerce between buyer and
seller. This was owing to the veneration they were held in by
the legislature, and inu;nded to deter the suliject from offend-
ing against the statutes made to preserve them. As a confirm-
ation of this opinion, every thing that belonged to bees had its
value exaggerated in law ; even a bee-hive was appraised at
two shillings, when a new plough without irons was valued only
at twopence, a co-.v forty-eight pence, a yearling calf fourteei»
pence, and a sucklii^ calf one peni'^.
The sacred esteem in which bees were held at length declin-
ing, apiaries were gradually retluced to their present fewness of
number. However, several persons still execrate the proline
act of disposing of their bees for money ; but will nevertheless
let them out tor one half share of the honey and. wax when
they are kiiled annually in autumn, and the whole livestock
to be parted equally between them at the end of the fourth
year.
In Wales, as in Polsnd, when riiirit? and beer became more
common, the use of methegiin declined, and bees were ne-
glected. Hence it may be inferred, that the veneration in
which this insect was held in these and other countries was
owing to its aflbrding almost the only, and at all events the
cheapest and most powerful, means of indulging in that which
man, in all ages and countries, has considered the svmmum
bonum of enjoyment — intoxication ; an enjoyment which, whe-
ther, with Noah, it te procured legitimately from that " tran-
scendant liquor" wine; with the Ameiican Indians, from
eiver; or, with the Turks, from opium, has these advantages
over all others, that it is more immediate and more intense ;
that it is within the reach of every one ; that every one can
have it to the full ; and that for the enjoyment of it no man is
envied by his neighbour.
11. Political Economy.
Great improvements have been mat'te in the roads and lirUlges.
of late years, especially by Lord Penrh.n, Wynn, Madocks,and
govem'ment, under the direction of Telford. Previously to the
year 17S5, the annua! export of slatrs fix)m I^ord Penrhyn'-i
quarries at Dolawen did not exceed 1000 tons ; which, owing
to the ruggidness of tlie road, were conveyed from the quarries
to the port, a distance of six miles, in panniers on horses' backs.
His lordship formed a new road, which gave immediate employ
to about VM broad-wheeled carts and waggons ; and from the
quarries he extended the road nine miles further to Capel Craig,
through Nanttlranco and the romantic interior of Snowdon, at
his own expense, the whole tract being his property. The in-
crease of the slate trade caused his lordship afterwards to have
an iron railway, the length of six miles, from Dolawen quarries
to Port Penrhyn.
The chain bridge erected across the IVfenai by Telford is one
of the most extraordinary works of the kind in existence.
Of canals there are several, with stU|>endous aqueducts and
bridges. The aqueduct of the Ellesmere canal, thrown over the
Dee, is the first in Europe. It was opened in November 1805.
Manufactures chiefly blue cloth, blankets, flannels, and Welsh
plains or cottons. The best Welsh flannels manufactured in
Alontgomervshire. 'Welsh flannels made since the time of
James the First have the warp of fleece wool, and the^woof a
mixture of one third or one half of Welsh wool. Knitting
stockings and caps very general among the females of cottages
and small farms. Argillaceous schi^tus is converted into slates,
for the roofing of houses and other purposes, to a very great
amount within tliis district.
Pyroligneous acid extracted from brushwood, at Hope in
Flintshire, for the use of cotton dyers. A variety of other
manufactures to a moderate extent. Several agricultural so-
cieties.
7831 SOUTH WALES. Six counties, and some islets, comprising together 2,470,400 acres of hilly
and mountainous surface ; generally of a salubrious climate; cold on the mountains ; but, on the whole,
more temperate than the air of North Wales. The soil argillaceous red loam, or calcareous, but gene-
rally rich in the vales and declivities. Of minerals there is abundance of iron, coal, hme, and a good deal
rally rich
of lead.
1. Properly and Biir'ld/ngs.
As in North Wales. In gou;h ^Vales the custom of white-
washing cottages is prevalent. In Glamorganshire, not
only the inside and outside of houses, but barns and stables
also, walls of yards and gardens, the stone banks of quickset
hedgss, and even solitary stones of large dimensions, .house
blocks, &c. near the houses, are white-washed. This practice
is traced to a very remote antiquity. Dio<loru<i Siculus is
qiiotetl as mentioning the Biitish custom of white-washing
houses. Gentlemen's seats are distinguishable from cottages,
not only by their size and plans, but also by tlieir colours. In
Glamorganshire gentlemen mix ochre with lime, to make theur
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF SOUTH WALES.
1177
ie.ats of Isabella y.Ilow. In the north of rembrokeshlre, SiC.
the taste U reversed ; the cottages are of a very dingy colour,
and gentlemen's houses are white-waslud ; the maxim is - not
to be what the lower classes are ; not to coincide with the vulgar
in their practices.
2. Occupation.
Farms of all sizes ; two mountain farms of 1400 acres each ;
eeneral run from thirty to one hundred acres ; average of the
district between fifty and sixty aires. In the uplands rearing
of stock is the main object, without neglecting the produce of
the dairy ; whilst they find convenience, though without profit,
in a scanty and precarious tillage. In the lowlands, or moist
loams, especially in the more humid climature of the western
counties, grazing is considered, and generally recommended, as
the most profitable.
Upon an average of the whole, the district may be said to
be occupied in that kind of system called mixed husbandry;
breeding, dairying, and tillage ; varying in the proporiion of
ea<h in different places, according to the imperiousness of
existing circumstiJices, which will be hereafter more fully ex-
plained.
Farmers may be classed as proprietors farming a part of their
own estates, small proprietors or yeomen, farmers of the old
school, and book -farmers.
" Book-furmers, the aerialists of Marshal, are those who
know agriculture only by reading about it. Theory is their
tie ytiu ultra, as they generally grow tired before they are
much acquainted with practice. The practice of the country
tliey come to reside in is all wrong, and the inhabitants all
savages. They bring ploughs and ploughmen generally from
a distance; and when the masters retire, the ploughmen re-
turn ar.d the ploughs are laid aside. Ti.ey hold thefarmtrs
of the old school, as they call them, in sovereign contempt;
w ho in return deride their puerilities, and, in their own quaint
phrase, style their ineffectual attempts to establish a system of
improved agriculture ' a Jlash in the plan ' They do consider-
able gootl in the vicinity they dwell in by employing labourers ;
and by their imported implements thev ojien the eyes of me-
chanics. Most of the harm they do is to themselves. They
injure others mostly by an exorbitant advance in the wages of
servants, especially of such as pretend to be farm bailifFs. They
rive double the wages that the old established farmers in the
iKst cultivated counties, Salop or Hereford, &c. will give.
They have generally very exalted notions of the value of land,
and the powers of soil. They read of the high returns of crops
in England or elsewhere, and calculate there upon the value
of laud in the uplands of Wales ; which, if they have farms to
let, makes it extremely difficult to deal with them. Their
opinion of manure depends on the book they have read last.
li Jethro TuU is their favourite author, soil requires nothing
but ploughing and stirring. With A. lime is evert/ thing ; with
his brother B., only a few miles distant, and on the same kind
. of toU, liine is nothing."
3. Implements.
The Welsh plough is in common use; and perhaps a more
awkward, unmeaning tool is not to be found in any civilised
country. It is not calculated to cut a furrow, but to tear it
open by main force. The share is like a large wedge; the
coulter comes before the point of tbe share sometimes, and
sometimes stands above it; the earth-board is a thing never
thought of, but a stick (a hedge-stake or any thing) is fastened
from the right ^ide of the heel of tlie share, and extends to the
hind part of the plough : this is intended to turn the furrow,
■which it sometimes performs, and sometimes not ; so that a
field ploughed witli this machine looks as if a drove of swine
had been moiling it.
The Rotheram and other improved ploughs are in use
among the proprietor and book -farmers, and the Scotch plough
is coming into very general use. A gentleman, a naval officer,
in Cardiganshire, introduced the light Rotheram, and insisted
on his ploughmen using them. As soon as he turned his back,
the new ploughs were dismissed the service, and the old ones
brought into the field. One day, in a rage, he committed the
old to the flames, and set the new ploughs a-going. Afterwards
taking a ride to cool hiji self, and returning, he found tlie new
plou','hs in the ditch, and old ploughs borrowed fi-om the neigh-
bours at work : the master then thinking it useless to persevere,
gave up the contest. " I have," said he, " seen various kinds
of human beings, in different parts of the globe, from latitude
ten to latitude fifty-four, but none so obstinately bent on old
practices as the Welsh."
H. 1-ewis, Esq., of Gallt y Gog near Caermarthen, being
equally tmsuccessful in etlecting a revolution at once, tried the
plan of altering the old ploughs in a slight degree, and hopes, by
one alteration after another, at length to transform them into
Kotheram ploughs " unawares to his sturdy jiloughmen."
WOf^^mis and clumsy two and three horse carts are in general
tise; almost every farmer of forty pounds a year rent has a
waggon. Single horse cartsgain ground but slowly. Thev were
introduced into the vale of Towy, several years ago, by Lord Ro-
bert Seymour ; into Caidiganshire, by the late '1 homas Johnes,
Esq. ; and into Brecknockshire, by Sir Edward Hamilton.
A hay rake, with the head forming unequal angbs with the
handles, is in use in Glamorganshire, the only advantage of
which is said to be that of not obliging the raker to step his
foot backward at every reach.
4. Arable Land.
In general wretchedly managed, especially the fallows. The
reporter proposes to send farmers' sons to improved districts to
serve apprenticeships, as better than examples set by strangers,
which have been tried without success. A patriotic land pro-
prietor brought what were considered as enlightened farmers
firom Scotland into South Wales ; but as Hassel very judi-
ciously observes, " New practices in husbandry will be most
likely to succeed through the medium of the n-itives of the
country. Thev have an unconquerable dislike to every thing
introduced by strangers ; and not without some reason, as most
of the people who have come into this country from the
Knglish counties, and commenced farmers, were in bad circum-
stiuices at tl;e outset, and therefore have not succeeded in their
undertakings; and the natives, eager to reprobate any thing
new, readily attributed tlieir failure to defective prac'ice, rather
than to the real cause, want of capital. This ol^servation will
he found to be generally true in every country. Few persons in
good circumstances can be tempted to migrate; whilst others
of a different description are frequ«ntly utjder the necessity of
doing it; and, generally, it can only tend to hasten their total
failure. Then the teaching of the natives, as recommended
above, would have a much superior effect in estabbsiiirg the
doctrines of tlie new schools, than the introduction of any
strangers into the country.
The sand banks checking the progress of the tides into a flat
tract in Glamorganshire, in order to render them more firm,
they are mat'ed with the roots of the sea mat-weed (^riindo
■ • ). The Hon. T. Mansell Talbot binds each of his te-
the labour of a day or more, in projwrtion to his holding,
kind of statute diity, for the planting of this reed;, and expe-
rience has proved its good effects.
5. Grass.
By a correct map of the rivers of a district, with a scale of
their fall in a given number of furlongs or miles, and of -the
mountains from which they flow, and those distinguished by
kinds of ' ' quality colours," a geologist might give a fair estimate '
of the quality of the soils and grasses of the respective valbys
intersecting that district, though anomalies frequently form
executions in valleys as well as on sideland places.
The practice of fogging pastures, almost peculiar to Cardi-
ganshire, has been already described. (5837.) The reporter saw
a piece that had been fogged successively for sixteen years ; and
according to the tenant's information, was improving annually.
When land has been mowed too long, one year's fogging is sup-
posed to recover ii. Mossy pastures are benefited by it. It
replenishes the soil with seeds, that by this means are suffered
to ripen and shed on the ground ; and it is said that two years'
fogging will recover lands, let them be ever so run out by tillage
or mowing. Cattle used to fog wil quit hay that may be given
them, and clear away the snow with their feet to get at the fog.
The fields proper to be kept in fog must be of a dry, sound,
and close soil ; the aruillaceous rather than the siliceous earths
should prevail in it : but not so much as to be over-retentive of
water.
The late Thomas Johnes, Esq., of Hafod, observes, " Fog-
ging is getting out of repute : it must have orii^inattd in
chance, and want of a summer stock of cattle."
Clover is grown in some few places for seed, which is separ-
ated from flie heads in a common com mill, tbe upper mill-
stone being replaced for a time with a square piece of oak
furnished with eight wings studded with nails on their upper
surfaces. These spokes, by their rapid motion, soon beat out
the seed.
8. Gardens.
On the maritime coast of South Wales generally very pro-
ductive ; those of the cottagers better attended to than in other
parts of the district; a pleasing mixture of flowers, small fiuits,
and vegetables.
Orchards in Radnorshire and Brecknockshire thrive well in
the valleys, but more especially in the vales of Wve and Usk.
Not much cider made, except on the Wye.
7. Woods and Plantations.
" It appears from old deeds, that estates were formerly sold
at an inferior price, in consequence of their being crowded
with timber, i'imes are now changed."
There are a great many oak woods and coppices in hilly
parts of the district, and many thriving plantations in every
part of it. It is calculated that at an average six millions of
trees are annually planted ; if tliis be the fact, it is probable
nine tenths of them either die or are doomed to come to nothing:
for at this rate, in fifty years, there would be 150 trees for every
acre in South Wales, which, added to the old wood and copse,
■would give 300 trees, or enough to render the country one en-
tire forest.
8. hnprovetneiits.
Numerous enclosures have been made, and fencing, draining,
and, in some cases, watering practised as in other counties-
There are nearly 15,000 acres of fen and sands on the coast of
Cardiganshire, which are considered highly improvable, and
which it has been at different times in contemplation to em-
bank. Of one of the worst parts of this land, the late agricul-
turist Dr. Anderson, who was much with Johnes of Hafod,
said he could make it carry wheat in five years.
9. Live Stock.
From ancient records it appears that the colours of Welsh
cattle were white, with red ears, like the wild breed at Chil-
lingham (6S04.); they appear to have been in a wild state so
late as the time of king John. The present stock are of four
kinds : the coal-blacks of Pembrokeshire ; the brownish blacks,
or dark browns, of Glamorgan ; the black runts of Cardigan-
shire, Caerm?.rthenshire, and the western parts of the counties,
of Brecon and Radnor ; introduced breeds, from Herefordshire
and Shropshire, into the eastern and more fertile parts of Bre-
con and Radnor.
Cows are kept for breeding, and making buiter and skim-milk
cheese. Johnes has proved, that at Hafod cheese may be
made at will so nearly resembling Farniesan, Stilton, Glou-
cester, or Cheshire, that the difference cannot be perceived by
good judges ; and that the whole mystery consists in various
modes of producing it from the milk^
The sheep of South Wales are of four kinds : mountaineers,
Glamorgan vale sheepi Glamorgan Down sheep, and crossi-d
and intermixed breeds.
Mvuntaineert occupy the hills in the several counties of the
The Glamorgan vale sheep is the only breed in Wales, not
introducetl within memory of man, that produces combing
The Glamorgan Down sheep is a beautiful and excellent
small breed. Feeding upon the oldest and sweetest pasture*
of the limestone tract, their mutton is superior in quabty to
most, and inferior to none ; their wool is of the short clothing
kind, and fine. They are generally polled.
With crossed and intermixed breeds many experiments have
l>een tried within the district, and most of them confessedly
w ithout the expected success. I'articular breeds of sheep have
their peculiar diseases, which continue in their constitiition,
wherever they are removed. The limestone tract may be con-
sidered as the healthiest for sheep within the district,"but even
there the imported modern breeds have brought with them
the scab, the foot-rot, tlie goggles, maggots, and a long train
1178
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Paut IV.
of diseases nerer heard of before in Wales ; these are to be
ranked among the profits of commerce.
Horses. The small Welsh merlins or palfrevs are now in many
parts nearly extinct : they are a piemy race, and may now and
then be found in the hilly walks of the interior of the district.
There were formerly a very good breed of hardy strong punches,
fit for riding and walking upon the farm, being a cross between
a good-sized horse and the small merlins ; and very useful they
■were; but the breed has alipost been totally neglected and
lost : for they cross now too much with the lajge and sluggish
cart-horses.
10. Political 'Economy.
Roads as in North Wales, or worse. Road ploughs in use ;
a characteristic l)Oth of their state and of the nature of the
materiils. Good limestone, however, in the coal districts, and
eipecially in Glamorganshire. Manufactures of woollen in
many places ; and, owing to the abundance of oak copses, many
hides tanned. Potteries on a large scale at Swansea, Cardiff,
and other p'.aces. Extensive iron and coal works, lime works,
and a slate quarry in Cardiganshire, &c.
T/ie Lias Itmetione, (lime and iron combined, the stone of a
bluish or greyisli colour,) though found in many parts of
England, is nowhere so valuable as that at Aberthaw. Wlien
burnt into lime, it is of a buiF colour, the characteristic, ac-
cording to the engineer Smeaton, of all limes setting in water.
Lias limestone in all parts has a peculiarity of stratification
and exterior character, so that a rock of. it may be known at a
distance. The stiau are of various thickness, from a few-
inches to a few feet ; and those commonly separ.ited by a few
inches' thickness of marley clay. Th.e ferruginous ingredient
seems to be concentrated in the interior part of each stratum ;
the outer sides thereof l>eing more porous, and of a paler colour.
In inland places the strata are burnt altogether, the argillaceous
as well as the ferruginous calcite. Here, at Aberthaw, or other
maritime coasts, the strata tumbled down, within reach of the
tides, are broken and rolled about, until they are reduced to
rounded pebbles or nodules, from a few ounces to many pounds
weight ; and these consist only of the nucleus or kernel part,
the more useless shell being worn off by the abration or Uie
furious tides. These rounded lias pebbles are driven on sliore
in inexhaustible quantities.
Of agricultural societies there are several ; that of Brecon
instituted in 1735, the earliest in Britain after tliat of Edin-
burgh.
Sect. III. Agricultural Survey of Scotland.
7832. The surface of this country is estimated at 18,944,(XX) acres, in three natural divisions. The first
lies north of the chain of Highland lakes, which stretches from Murray to Mull, and consists of little else
than dreary mountains and some moors : the second, or middle division, extends from this chain of lakes
to the rivers Forth and Clyde; it is mountainous, but cultivated in the valleys, and on the eastern shore
to a considerable extent : the remaining division is covered by hills with some mountains, but almost
every where cultivated or improvable, and highly favourable for most branches of agriculture. Though
Scotland, as elsewhere observed (770.), was far behind England in cultivation till the middle of the last
century, it has now greatly outstripped that country, especially in arable husbandry ; a proof that this
is the general opinion of enlightened men may be deduced from tlie notices just given of the English and
Welsh counties, in which it appears that the improvements introduced or attempted to be introduced on
arable land are, with few exceptions, the implements and practices of Scotland. In the management of
meadows or old pasture, Scotland cannot be conspicuous ; as the climate is not naturally calculated for
that kind of husbandry. The winters are too long and severe, and the surface too irregular. In regard
to live stock, the palm of improvement was till lately borne away by England ; but though there is not
that enthusiasm in Scotland, nor such large prices given for capital specimens, it may be safely asserted
that breeding and feeding are conducted as systematically and successfully there as in England. We shall
glance at the different counties in the order of their proximity, beginning with that containing the capital.
It may be sufficient to mention here that leases are universal in Scotland, generally for nineteen years,
often fbr twenty-one, sometimes for fourteen, but seldom for a shorter period. The poor are supported by
voluntary contributions at the church doors; though an assessment on property, half paid by the pro-
prietors and half by the tenants, may be made if necessary, which is not generally the case. Assessments
for the poor are common in the border counties and the Lothians, and occasional assessments, imposed
upon the same principle, are resorted to in most of the other counties. Voluntary contributions are
found inadequate, except in the most thinly-peopled districts. It is therefore a great though common
mistake in England, to suppose that there are no poor-rates in Scotland ; but they are comparatively
moderate, and will likely continue so while the power of assessment remains with those (the landed pro-
prietors) who have to bear an equal share of the burden with their tenants. It is here that an essential
distinction exists between the poor-laws of England and Scotland. Tithes were commuted for their
value in land and land's produce at an early period. Every parish has a schoolmaster, who is paid jointly
by the proprietors and the farmers. There is a professorship of agriculture in the Edinburgh University,
ably filled by Dr. Coventry, a man of whom it may be truly said, that he is universally esteemed and
beloved. The best account of the agriculture of the Scotch counties is to be found in Black's edition of
the Encyc. Brit. Edinburgh, 4to, 18!2!>.
7833. MIDLOTHIAN, or EDINBURGHSHIRE, contains 230,400 acres; one third hilly and inac-
cessible to the plough, and two thirds in tillage, pasture, or wood. 1 he store sheep farming is practised on
the hills, and a mixed agriculture on the low grounds. Green crops and potatoes are extensively culti-
vated for the Edinburgh market, and most farmers are more indebted to the manure they receive in
return, than to the soil, or their superior skill : many of them are townsmen, amateurs, and speculative
cultivators. The Dalkeith Farmers' Society, one of the most useful that has been formed, and which
still exists, belongs to this county ; and in it also was founded the British Wool Society, now extinct.
A variety of interesting information respecting the progress of improvements in this county, and in East
and West Lothian, will be found in Rural Recoliectioiis, 8vo, 1829, by George Robertson, author of
several county surveys, and whose personal knowledge extends from 1/65 to the present time. {Robert,
son's Survey, 1795. Edin. Gaz. abridged, 1829.)
1. Geographical State and Circiitnstances.
Climate free from extreme heats or colds ; snow seldom falls
on the low parts of the country before December, lies from
three to ten weeks. In eight years, the greatest quantity of rain
that f.K in any year was 3G.8 inches, and the least quantity
9.6 inches.
Soil much diversified ; lands hanging to the north always
the most fertile.
Miturals. A bed of coal extends across the county from
S. W. to N. E. from seven to eight miles in breadth ; worked
for two centuries. Limestone, freestone, granite, and whinstone
very abundant. Millstones in the parish of Pennycuick, also
marble. Some copper and iron ore, marl, and ja.sper pebbles
on Arthur-seat.
Water. Streams inconsiderable. Esk [Usk, Gael.) the largest
river ; few fish from tiie rivers or streams, but abundance from
the firth or sea.
2. Property.
About 540 estates in the county, dividrd by the reporter into
seven classes; first class from Y to 3000/. or upwards; fifth
class 100/. and upwards ; sixth class, least properties ; seventh
class, properties of corporate bodies. Total rental in 1795,
191,000/. ; Duke of Buccleugh the first proprietor.
3 Buildings.
Many gentlemen's seats, and some fine ruins of castles and
religious houses.
A farmer's mains, as it is here called, consisted formerly of a
set of low buildings, in the form of a square ; one side was occu-
pied by the master himself, whos'? haliitation was comjKiscd of
two or three dismal apnrtments, on an earthen floor, having a
low c i'ing and a few diininutive lights. C)n another side stood
the barn, in which the roof timbers, from the idea of giving
more strength, were built into the wall from the foundation ;
the wall itself not being more than five feet in height. Oppo-
site to the bam were the stables and the byre, or cow-house.
The stables were totally without division, and the horses fed
in common ; but the neat-cattle, less p.issive, were each con-
fined to their stakes. The cottages occupied the remaining
side : in the midst of all lay the dunghill. These buildings
were made of turf and stone altemateiy, or with stone, and
clay for mortar : the roof of thatch, or of thatch and dii ot (turf
or sods) intermixed. Further details on this subject will be
found in Robertson's Rural Recollections, p. 70.
Farmeries now in the first style of commodiousness. An
example given of Gogarbank farm.
Cottages formerly very mean, now much improved. Robert-
son, m his Recollections, gives a figure of a modem Lothian
cottage in its last stage of refinement, which is by no means
inviting.
Farms vary from 100 to 300 acres. Farmers divided into
three classes; speculators, converts from other professions;
industrious labourers who have acquired some property ; and
farmers sprung from farmers.
Speculators. " In the immediate vicinity of the town, the
greater part of the lands are cultivated, not by actual farmers,
but what may be more properly termed speculators in agricul-
ture, people with whom farming is but a secondary object;
thiir chief employment being still what was their original pro-
fession, as bjikers, brewers, innkeepers, or some other distinct
occupation ; and who are oftener to be found in their town
lodgings, or in thrir compting-houses, than in the midst of
their forms, attending to the operations of husbandry. One
certain effect, which the speculations of this class produce, u,
that the rent of land is raised ahove its natural level; fbr, as
thuy have always some other business to live by, they are
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF MIDLOTHIAN.
1179
enaWed to affbrd mow rent ; and in fact glre more than an
Actual farmer, whose sole dependence is uuon husbandry, is
able to pay ; while their exertions in agriculture, though in
g^ieral founded on pood principles, commonly end in disap-
pointment to themselves, for want of that unceasing attention
•which is indispensible to eood cultivation, but which their
other avocations ))revent them from bestowing."
The moor litnd farmers, as if in conformity to the soil, which
lias undergone very little melioration, and to the climate, which
is naturally severe, seem still to retain a strong cast of the man-
ners of their forefatliers, and to live and toil under tlie same
uncomfortable circumstances. Their houses are damp, smoky,
and diminutive ; their fare simple and limited ; and their
labours hard and even oppressive. But they have days of re-
laxation, in which they enjoy themselves at fairs and markets ;
their marriage festivities are almost boundless, and their
funerals are jrompous and ostentatious. Religion is maintained
in all the austerity of Oliver Cromwell and the covenant.
These farmers are the only ones in a county containing a
capital town, wlio are likelv to better thsir condition. Being
inured to the practice of the most rigid economy, they will,
■when translated to a warmer climate and more genial jioil, very
forcibly feel a melioration in their circumstances ; and if tliey
have fortitude enough (as the first race of them generally will)
to persevere in their original habits of frugality, they may, by
dint of mere saving, at the rate, perhaps, of two and a half jier
cent yearly on their capital, accumulate, in a lifetime, a sum
that may be esteemed considerable. But this thriving state
will only last during the first generation. Their sons ha-
bituated in time to an easier mode of life, will, amid the great
luxury with which they are surrounded, lose their primitive
simplicity of manners, and with it the faculty of saving, on
•which alone their prosperity depends.
4. Implements.
Old Scotch plough, long and henry, and drawn by four or
six horses or oxen, and till about 1768, when Drs. Grieve and
Carlisle, clergymen, tritd wheel ploughs of a lighter construc-
tion, which thev had seen in use in Dalkeith Park. Soon
afttrwards Small's improved plough came into notice. Ho-
bertson mentions that the olden race of farmers were very
geni-rally their own p'ough-wrights, and makers of their own
implements of husbandry, with very little assistance from the
professional mechanic. These implements were indeed made
m a very clumsy manner, but otherwise strong and handy
enough. Thev had all of them a set of wright's tools for the
puri>ose. {Rural Recollections, p. 84.) The late Mr. Thomas
Shiells, at Grolhill, near Edinburgh, made with his own bands
the first winnowing machine u^ in the Lothians, from a
model of one importtd from Holland. {Ibid. 148.)
5. EnclQsing.
No commons or common-fields. Hedges first planted about
1760.
6. Arable Land.
When ridges are raised high, they should not l)e laid south
and north, as the crop on tbe east side of such ridge is com-
monly found very dettctive. The same thing holds in the
county of Lancaster.
7. Gross.
Very little permanent grass exclusive of the hills and moor-
lands. Alluvial lands on the banks of streams so liable to
immense floods, bringing down soil, &c. that if in grass it
■ftould often be much injured ; considered therefore more
profit .ble to keep them in corn. There is some very pro-
ductive meadow land near Edinburgh, irrigated by tbe water
■which flows from town, carrying along with it night-soil, &c.
Tbe produce of twelve or fifteen acres of this meadow so'd in
18i:6 at an average of 42/. per acre ; part of it reached n. arly
CO/., the purchaser cutting and carrying it off, and incurring
all other charges. This, of course, isonly for one summer, but
it will yield four or five cuttings during that seaon, or rather
between the end of spring and the beginning of winter.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
Henry Prentice, who died about 1786, was the first who cul-
tivated white peas, potatoes, turnips, and sundry other culi-
nary plants, on an extensive scale, for the Edinburgh market,
about the year 1746. Before that period, the supply was li-
mited to what could be carried in baskets ; his cart being the
first that appeareil with kitchen stuff in the streets. He even
raised cucumbers in the fields ; but his cart-load of these met
■n'ith so little sale, as not to encourage a repetition. Though
he died a pensioner on the poor's funds of the Canongate, his
name deserves to be noticed with respect, not only as having
introduced several of our best vegetables into cultivation, but
from his practice as a cultivator, which was spirited and judi-
cious, however little it turned out to his own account.
Sfrarvberriet About 200 acres on the banks of the Esk, and
chiefly near Roslin. Crop continued on the same ground
without end ; but digging down and replanting every fourth
year. To changis every twenty or thirty years esteemed a better
practice. Lands in nursery 200 acres. Mawer's hothouses at
Dairy, and hotwalls of his invention, figured and described.
The hothouses heated by steam. Ma^wer was a Lane ishire
man, and formerly gardener and steward to the Earl of Aber-
com. He was an excellent gardener and farmer ; a man of
very general information, and highly respected. He was exten-
sively employed as a layer out of gardens and roads, and had
the general "charge of the gardening and tree department on
some gentlemen's estates. The comjiiler of this Encyclopa;dii
More need for weedhig on the arable lands of thb county than
in those of any other in Scotland j supposed from more town
manure being used. The town manure contains the seeds
brought in from the country in hay and straw, which are of
kinds; but chiefly wild mustard, ■wild radish, dock.
was his pupil,
years preceding his death.
amanuensis.
draughtsman for the three
fhich happened suddenly from
apoplexy in 1800.
9. Woods and Plantafions.
About 5000 acres so occupied, the greatest part artificial, and
Klanted since 17o0. Hedgerow trees never come to any thing
)r want of shelter ; belts do no good unless twenty row's thick
at least.
10. Wastes.
None : but extensive tracts very poor.
11. Improvements.
Draining well understood and CTtensivelv practised. Johnston,
•who wrote an account of Eikington's mode of draining, a na-
tive of the county. Edinburgh and Leith afford about 40,000
cubic yards of street dung annually, which is commonly laid
on the lands within five miles of town. Horse dung, however,
caxricd twelve miles or further.
thistle, poppy, couch-grass, &c.
12. Live stock.
Little attention was formerly paid to this depirtment ; but
it is now conducted on improved principles. A great many
cows are kept in Edinburgh, and well kept as ■well as judi-
ciously selected. See the art. Dairy in Sup. to Ency. Bnt.
art. Agriculture. Galloway and Ayrshire cows preferrtd, and
Clvdesdale horses. Some bufi'aloes of the Mysore variety in-
troduced by Col. Murray : not supposed to turn to any advan-
ta"e, either as milkers, or for work, or the butcher, but form a
variety in parks. Lord Morton subsequently introduced the
quagga (i'quus Qudgga) on his park at Morton Hall for the
same purpose. Bees a very popular species of live stock with
all classes.
AS. Rural Economy. ^ ,., ^ j.
Well suppUed with work-people from the highlands and Ire-
land. AVith the exception of some farm servants in the imme-
diate vicinity of Edinburgh, they are, in geneKal, orderly and
moral. Children taught in the parish schools ; reading at one
shilling and four-pence, writing and arithmetic at two sniiungs
and sixpence per quarter ; LaUn, &c. in proporUon. J he cot-
tages of ploughmen consist generally of two rooms on the
ground floor, with a pigstye, and 100 square yards, or upwards,
of garden ground. The furniture consists of two lieds, a tew
chairs or stools, table, chest of drawers, clothes-press, &c. ;
and they are all ambitious of having a time-piece, it it were
only a cuckoo clock. The whole may be worth from ten to
twe'lve pounds. The Sunday's dress of a young ploughman
consists generally of a coat of blue cloth, at five shillings and
sixpence the yard; velveret vest, corduroy breeches, white
cotton stockings, calf-skin shoes with black silk shoe-knots,
shut with rufiles at the breast, white muslin fringed cravat,
and a hat worth eight or ten shillings. The shoe-knots and
ruffles are, indeed, rather uncommon, but all the other arti-
cles are very much in use. They make a «ry good appear,
ance, and even pay attention to the fashion. In their fo<>d th^
still live in much the same simple way as their -forefathers.
Oatmeal forms the basis, or principal part of their sustenance.
They have it regularly to breakfast and to supper, made into
pottace, which they eat ■nith a small allowance of butter-milk,
^t dinner they eat it in bread, in addition to their kale, a kmd
of soup made of barlev -broth, intermixed with greens andjpot.
herbs. To this they add at times potatoes, and hsh of differ-
ent kinds; Sfldom wheat bread, anS still more -f rely hutchert
meat. This mode of living, in which, although with no great
variety, there is always abundance of food, seems o be very
conformable to the natural constitution of the people, as Uiey
are foun.l to go through their labour without ffl"ig them-
selves oppressed, and enjoy a state of health which is very
seldom interrupted. At an average, they are not above two
*Wha't is"above"*tated refers chiefly to the condition of farm
servants, who are hired by the year, and whose Vrinwi'^l em-
ployment is about the horses, in the fields, or on t'le ro^-
There is, however, another class of work-people attached to a
farm, who are hired by the day, or by the week, and w-how
employment is usually in jobbing about the bams, the fences,
or the water furrows. These are called labourers, and .m the'
circumstances and mode of living there is a considerable
difference between them and the others. .... „.„ .. ,„
Although their wages are in general at a higher rate than
the hired servants, yet they make not such a good appearance
in their dress, nor are so well seen to in their ^«='"f l%f* *«f '
They are generally, as we term it,/rom hand to mouth, always in
want; which se^ms to arise principally from gettrng their
whole wages in money from week to week, which le.ids thera
continually to market, providing their daily sustenance; a pro-
vince left generally to the charge of their wives, who, from this
constant running about, get into habits of idleness and want
of attention to that good housewifery which is the glory of a
decent cottager's wife. , , ■ i. »
The quantity of coal used by the common labourers is about
three fourths of a ton for each person m the family yearly, by
farmers about two tons, and in families of the highest rank
about six tons. The price at the pit is from five si iling*
to seven and sixpence the ton, according to lU vicimty to
^Such'w^s the state of things hi 1795. Now (lS30),atthe
distance of five and thirty years, they are doubtUss materially
altered. The use of wheaten bread is general ; butcher's meat
much more common, and cottages more commodious.
14. Political Economy. ^ , . ^^
Roads so bad previously to 1714, that wheel carriages for the
purposes of agriculture were very little used ; even till 1 / 00
hav and straw carried to Edinburgh on horseback, and the
dung taken back the same way in bags. Sledges a good deal
employed in those times : they are mentioned in the turnpike
act of "1751, but unnoHced in that of 1755, whxh shows they
had been di^used ; a proof of the extraordinary progress of
improvement when once commenced, in consequence ot a
demand or desire for it. Forced improvement goes on very
differenUy. The roads of this county are now under one of
the M'Adam family. Some recent canals and rail-roads have
l)een formed. One of the most important nnproveinents is the
Union Canal from Edinburgh to the Forth and CKde Canal at
Falkirk, which has added greatly to the value ot property qn
each side of its line. See Edinburnhihire.&nA Canal, m Sup.
to Enc. Brit, and also Robertson's Rural RecoUectton.. Gla^.
roiies, and soap the chief manufactures. Iron works at Cra-
mond, where nails, spades, tiles, &c. are extensively fabncated.
Several pai^r mills, flour mills, and various mmor manufac-
tories and works for local consumption.
1.5. Obstacles to Improve.jnent.
Illiberality of landlords, game, thirlage, the dogs of Edin-
burgh, who greatly harass the sheep, the chief obstacles.
16. Miscellaneous Observations.
The Farmers' Society of Dalkeith, for the prosecution of
thieves and encouragement of agriculture, instituted in 1760,
still exists, and has done much good. It is composed almost
entirely of practical farmer*. Small's plough, the winnowinjc
1180
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Paiit IV.
and thresUnp machines early noticed and recommended by
ihii society. The farmers in this county have long had in con-
templation to get instituted by leijal authority a society for
the creation and management of a pensionary fund for the
widows and orphans of farmers, on principles similar to those
which govern the widows' fund of the ministers of the Church
of Scotland.
An appeiulijt to the report contains thirteen papers, some of
■which are curious in an liistorical point of view ; and as showing
how soon, In a rapidlv Improving age, a man's best ideas and
remarks are distanced liy those of a fevr years afterwards. One
of these papers describes the origin and progess of the British
Wool Society, which was begun in this county by Sir John
Sinclair, in 1791. The economy of Johnston's dairy is deserv-
ing of notice for accuracy in the details, and for new practices,
such as making butter from whey, feeding cows on whins, &c.
Macknight, another amateur, and Hepburn, an ingenious
landlord and cultivator, are also worth reading.
ISSi. EAST LOTHIAN. 190,363 acres of surface, under an exceedingly variable climate, the greater
part of excellent soil, and well adapted for cultivation ; but the southern district, Lammermuir, hilly
and mountainous, with a moory soil, severe climate, and chiefly under native grass and herbage. Some of
the most distinguished Scotch agricultural patriots, authors, and mechanics belong to this county, as
Cockburn of Ormiston, Thomas sixth Earl of Haddington, Fletcher of Salton, Adam Dickson, Robert
Brown of Markle, the projector, and for a long time editor, of the Farmer's Magazine, Somerville, author
of the agricultural Report, Mcikle, inventor of the threshing machine, and various others. {Somerville' s
General View, 1805.)
1. Properii/.
(renjrally in considerable estates; the largest about 15,000/.
and not many under 100/. a yesir. Tenure generally of the
crown (j. e. freehold), some hold of subjects susierior (cojiy-
hold), and some of the corporate towns of Haddington and
Dunbar.
2. Buildinprs and Implements.
It may be sufficient to state that they are such as we have
described in the body of this work as of the best description.
Farms generally large; medium of the county about 400i. a
year ; highest 1500/. to 1800/. The first enclosures were made
about 1720; farmers were introduced from Holland in 1710;
tho two-horse plough in 1772 ; and the first threshing-machine
in 1786. Fallowing was introduced from England about the
same time as hedges. The sixth Earl of Haddington was the
first i>roprietor, and John Walker, of Beanston, near Dunbar,
the first farmer. He took the hint from some English travel-
li'rs, while they spmt a night at his house, and with whom he
had a good deal of conversation upon the subject, so much to
his satisfaction, that he made an experiment upon six acres the
following summer, w^hich he carried through in spite of the
animadversions of his neighbours, who were divided in their
opinions as to the sanity of his mind, or the stability of his cir-
cumsiances. The result of the experiment gave them a better
opinion of both, and the return was so abundant as to induce
him to extend his next year's fallow break to twenty acres ; soon
after which the practice began to spread, and so early as the
year 1724, fallowing upon all the deep strong soils was common
throughout the county, and has continued to be so ever since.
Th re can be no doubt that the early excellence of the East
Lothian agriculture wJis in a great measure owing to the intro-
duction of fallowing, which, together with the use of drill
crops, have continued to place it at the head of the Scotch
counties. Potatoes introduced to field culture about 1760;
turnips fii-st by Cockburn, of Ormiston, about 1720; re-intro-
ductl and cultivated in the drill manner in 1760. Flax sown
from time immemorial, bu* chiefly on a small scale, and for the
Isome consumption of the coimtry inhabitants. Every cottager
his a small quantity, from ha'f a peck to a pei^^k sown, the pro-
duce of which furnishes linen for the use of his family.
Lucent tried with the greatest care ; but, owing to the cli-
mate, it was found to produce less bulk of herbage than red
clover.
3. Grass.
Natural meadows and pastures are not admitted into the
East Lothian system of husbandry, as they are found only where
nature, or certain local circumstances, render them, in s.me
measure, unavoidable, and are never kept voluntarily, or from
an idea of profit. Many farmers fallow land to lie for a few
years in grass, especially where it has been exhausted by long
and imperfect tillage; but fields of this description are not to
be ranked as permanent pastures, for the object is to restore
them, as soon as possible, to a state capable of bearing corn-
crops to advantage.
Clovers introduced by the sixth Earl of Haddington and
Cockburn, about 1720 or 1V22, but made little progress till
1740; now generally sown wi.h rye-grass- Application, graz-
ing, soiling, and hay, but chi-fly soiling.
4. Gardens aitd Orchards.
Some few market gardens and nurseries ; but the climate
does not admit of orchards, which are very rare. Every cottage
has a garden anueied, sufficient to produce the various com-
mon kitchen vegetables for the cottager's family. This class
of people are remarkably attentive to the cuUivaaon of their
Uttle spots, and derive great advantage from them, at small
cost ; the labour is entirely performed after their ordmary work
is finished.
.'5. Woods and Plantations.
Scarcely any of tha former, and none of the latter, of any ex-
tent, excepting in gentlemen's parks. 800 acres on Tynning-
ham demesne planted by the sixth Earl of Haddington, who
wrote a treatise on planting, about 1715. Osiers cultivated by
the late Mr. Sherritf, of Capt=iin Head, for which, in 1803, he
received the gold medal of the Society of Arts.
6 Wastes and Commons.
Are in this as in other Scotch counties generally enclosed,
■which is here an easy matter in comparison to what it is in
England, in consequence of a general Act of Enclosure by the
Scottish Parliament, in 1695.
7. Improvements.
Paring and burning little kno^fcn, and not wanted, because
■very little ground is kept long in pasture that can Ije profitably
employed in tilUige, and new grass lands do not require these
operations.
One attempt at irrigation on a sandy waste near Dunbar, the
levels of which were taken by, and the water turned on under
- the direction of, the compiler of this work, in 1805.
8. Live stock.
The practice of East Lothian, in tl.is department, does not
present much that can be generally interesting, (irazing, in
nine cases out often, is carried on only as subservient totillaiie,
and therefore held a secondary oliject by cultivators. Many
cattle are led, but very few reared, in the county. Almost
every person who practises the sheep husbandry, in the lower
districts, buys and sells within the year. Some recent attempts
have been made to keep flocks of full bred sheep, and, there is
reason to believe, with considerable success ; but, taking the
county generally, such attempts are of little importance.
Cat.le. Every farmer keeps a small number of milch cows,
but few keep more than are sufficient to furnish a regular supply
through the whole year, of milk, butter, and cheese, for their
own families. The same attention accordingly is not paid to
the kinds of cattle, as in other districts, where they form a more
important object of farm management.
A very considerable number of black cattle are purchased
annually at fairs and markets, to be wintered in the fold-yard,
or f3d on turnips in the house. Cattle kept for the dairy, or fed
for the butcher-market, comprehend all that are To be found
in the county ; none are employed in labour. Every part of
farm-labour, in which beasts are employed, is executed by
horses.
Sheep. Permanent flocks, and regular sheen managemen*,
may be said to be almost confined to the higher parts of the
county. In the low country they are kept chiefly to eat the
turnips, and sometimes sown grass, which is permitted to lie
a year or two for pasture. Flying flocks are therefore general'y
kept ; and as soon as they are fattened for the market, which
is usually within the year, they are sold off. A considerable
number of lambs likewise are reared, only so far, however, eis
to render them fit for the butcher.
As the great object in the lower districts is feeding, little
attention is paid to particular kinds ; every farmer keeps those
which he thinks are likely to pay best for the food which they
consume. The black -faced, or Tweed-dale breed, are most
generally preferred for feeding on turnips, because they are
most esteemed in the m£u:ket ; but many of the Cheviot breed
are likewise kept, and even some of the improved Leicester.
1"he kind of sheep bred, and most generally kept, in Lam-
mermuir, is the black -faced, or more properly what is called
the brocked-faced, a sort of dirty-looking mixtiire of black and
white ; they are for the most part horned : when they are fed
the wedders weigh from ten to twelve pounds per quarter, and
the ewes from eight to ten on an average.
The Bake well breed has been tried, but not extensively till
lately. Leicesters are now mux:h more common in East Lo-
thian than they were twenty years ago.
The Cheviot sheep were introduced several years ago, and
are Icejit with advantage in many places. It is not the general
opinion, however, that they can ever universally supplant the
native breed, or even become equally numerous, with profit.
Of horses very few are bred in the county, not one perhaps
in a dozen that are kept. In a district so well calculated for
raising com, it is more profitable to purchase horses, ready
for work, than to be at the trouble and expense of rearing
them. The farmers here are supplied with this part of stock
chietly from the dealers of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, who col-
lect many of them in these counties, and procure not a few
from Ireland. The horses generally kept are of that moderate
size, which may be considered as equal perhaps to any others
for combining strength with activity. They m.iy be' stated,
generally, to be about fifteen or sixteen hands high, and strong
built. Many teams are well matched, very handsome, capable
of great exertion, and kept in excellent condition.
One will hardly be at a loss to determine the character of a
farmer, from the" condition of his horses. Very fine high bred
horses, exhibiting an appearance of being prepared for the
market, may rather suggest the idea of idleness than of labour ;
but, on the other hand, lean spiritless creatures, worn out by
toil and hunger, are the certain indicatives of a bad farmer, of
one who is not thriving, and does not deserve to thrive. The
man who uses bad instruments cannot have his -work well
done ; and one important and primary step towards good farm-
ing, is to keep the labouring stock in pood condition. Horses
regularly fed and regularly wrought will perform a great deal
of labour without falling off either in strength or appearance ;
it is of great importance, therefore, to distribute the labour as
equal y as possible, through the various seasons of flie year;
and if, as must sometimes be the case, an extraordinary exertion
ought to be made, they are in a proper condition for making it.
M'hen horses do fail off, it requires much more to restore them,
than might have kept them in a good state.
Ho^fs are kept in considerable numbers, in this county, at dis-
tilleries, starch work, mills, and breweries. Every farmer
keeps a few, chiefly for supplying his own table, and the gene-
rality are able to sell some annually. Farm servants too, vvho
have houses, are generally allowed to keep a pig for each family,
which adds greatly to their comfort.
Poultry, ptgeons, and bees, kept to a moderate extent for home
use. Much land on the coast, whi<-h would be thought by many
unfit for any thing but rabbit warrens, now bears turnips and
r}e.
9. Rural Economy.
There are not, perhaps, in the island more active or correct
labourers than the farm servants here, and certainly none more
sober and respectable ; and this may, in a great measure, 1«
ascribed to the terms on which they serve. Those servants,
who lodge in the houses of their msusters, are, generally speak-
ing, on tho tame footing here as In other places; there is no-
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF BERWICKSHIRE.
1181
thing, with respect to them, which merits particular notice.
A small proportion of farm servants, however, belong to this
class ; married servants are uniformly preferred ; those who
reside in their master's house are, in many cases, not employed
in regular labour, but perform that sort of extra work, and
kind of household drudgery, which requires some liands on
every considerable farm.
The far greater part of the regular labour is performed by
marritd servants, called hinds; a class more numerous here
than in other districts. These dwell in houses provided by
their masters, and receive their wages wholly or chiefly in
kind ; the circumstances are so comfortable under which they
are gcneially placed, as to secure a full supply of such servants
at all times. They are more steady generally than young i
curity for their continuing longer in their places.
Tlie hind occupies a house provided by his master, for which
his wife works in harvest ; lie has a cow kept £ill the year
round, generally ten bolls of oats, three bolls of barley, two bolls
of v>eas, all of the best quality upon the farm, seed-corn ex-
cepted. He has likewise a peck of flaxseed sown, and aliout
the sixteenth part of an acre of ground, well prepared, and
sufficiently dunged for planting potatoes ; his fuel is carried ;
he has his victuals during harvest, which is always four weeks,
sometimes six ; and when he carries corn to market, he has an
allowance, provincially called mags. Those who are employed
in sowing and building the corn-ricks have, besides the ordi-
nary wages, a pair of shoes and half a boll of wheat. On all
well-managed farms, the labour is carried on regularly at set
hours : and though it is not understood that servants, who work
horses, are absolutely exempt from extra work, yet they are
very seldom required to do any thing of this nature.
It is evident, that the value of hinds' wages, in money, can-
not be accurately stated ; that must vary according to the mar-
ket price of the articles in which he is paid. On an average of
The circumstance which deserves particular attention with
regard to this class, and which renders their condition so much
more comfortable than that of the labourers m many other
places, is the receiving payment of their wages in the neces-
saries of life. They are far more comfortable than those who
receive the same rate of wages in money, any where ; they are
generally more faithful to their employers, and infinitely more
attentive to the interests of their families. They have all the
necessary articles of food continually at hand, and seldom need
to purchase any thing considerable, except shoes. Their wives
make linen from their own flax sufficient for their families,
and often cloth, for other articles of dress. The quantity of
com which they can afford to sell, with the surplus pro<iuce
of their cows and hens, brings them as much money as fully
answers every demand, and enables them to give a better edu-
cation to their children than is sometimes obtained by per-
sons, considerably above their condition, in some other parts
of the island. There are few of this class in East Lothian who
cannot read, most of them can write; none of them fail to
have their children instructed in these necessary branches of
education, including the rules of arithmetic. One sees, about
every faim-house, a number of children, vigorous and healthy.
decently clothed, and exhibiting every appearance of being well
fjd. Not an instance occurs of any of these people solii iting
relief fi-om the public, unless they are by some accident dis-
abled from future labour, or overtaken n^ the infirmities of
age. Indeed the times which are hardest for the lower classes,
in general, are usually favourable for them ; because the com
and other articles which they have to sell bear a better price,
while what they have to purchase is not so much affected.
The cottage system, which found many advocates some time
ago, was inferior in every view of the matter to the manner in
which labourers in agriculture are accommodated here. Many
of those who laboured to introduce the new cottage system, de-
served all praise for the purity of their motives : every friend
of humanity will honour ihem for the generous interest which
they felt in behalf of the labouring poor ; but if they had un-
derstood the condition of the hinds in this county, they would
have found out a much better plan for accomplishing their
object, than giving to every cottager land to produce his sub-
sistence. A hind here receives as much com as such a cot-
tager might be expected to raise ; his labour is not interrupted
to his employer, nor himself worn out by extra and excessive
labour ; he has no care upon his mind, no rent to paj, no bad
seasons to dread ; for whatever may be his master's crop, he is
sure of his full share. If the labourer profit by this system,
the employer and the public profit still more : the em))loyer
does not pay a man who wastes half his strength at other work,
nor rely on a servant who may sometimes disappoint him, by
attending to other concerns. The public must gain in the
increased quantity of human food protiucetl ; for, without doubt,
an acre of land occupied by a cottfiger wiil not yield as much,
at as liitle expense, as if it made part of a farm cultivated by a
person with sufficient capital.
Were all the farm servants over the kingdom paid in kind,
it may be safely affirmed, from the experience of the places
where this practice prevails, that the advantage would be great
to themselves and to the public. The master might probably,
in some case, find it more convenient to give money, but he is
far more than recompensed for any trifling disadvantage at-
tending the other mode, by the valuable moral habits which it
is calculated to preserve. Every masUr, who properly under-
stands his interest, will admit, that he had better pay sober,
honest, and industrious seivants, than have those of a uifFerent
description almost for nothing. From their being accustomed to
have little money pass through their hands, many of the farmers'
servants in tliis county acquire such habits of saving, that they
lay up a few pounds for o'd age, or to meet any contingency
which may require more than their ordinary income.
10. Political Economy.
The first turnpike bill for Scotland was obtained for this
county in 1750. 1 he mjdn roads are on the whole good ; but the
bye-roads still admit of much improvement. The commerce
is chiefly in grain from North Berwick and Dunbar. There are
ovster and other fisheries on the coast; and starch-works, dis-
tilleries, and breweries, but no manufactures deserving notice.
The agricultural society of Edinburgh, the earliest in the United
Kingdom, was founded chiefly by gentlemen of this county,
and especially Cockbum of Orm"iston. There are now two
county societies ; one, that meets at Haddington, and another
at Salton. They give prizes annually for the best cattle, &c.
and seem to be in a flourishing condition.
much grain as one of equal size entirely I'.nder perpetual
tillage, and will produce in addition as much I e.f, and mut-
ton, and wool, as a separate farm of 200 or SCK) acres under
1125
7835, BERWICKSHIRE. 285,440 acres (Edin. Gaz. abridged, 1829.), chiefly of gently varied surface,
but partly of hilly and mountainous pasture. The soil, in the cultivatable part of the county, is chiefly
clay ; the mountainous part, which occupies fully one third of it, is a continuation of the Lammermuir
hills. Climate of the higher parts comparatively dry, but cold and late ; of the lower parts, which stretch
down to the Tweed, comparatively warm and early. There are no metals or coal in the county ; very
little lime, but some stone quarries of the trap, and other coarse stones. Every one knows that this
county is one of the best cultivated and most systematically managed in the island, and that its pro-
ducts are nearly equally stock and corn. It is the county of Lord Kaimes, one of the greatest patriots
and best agricultural authors, and the first to propose a board of agriculture. It is also that of Small,
well known as the improver of the plough. {Kerr's Berwickshire, 1808.)
1. Property.
No very large estates ; largest from 8000/. to 10,000/. a year.
Many of the owners reside on their estates ; some farmers have
of late years become respectable proprietors. Ilcsident propri-
etors usually draw their own rents ; and those who live at a
distance emplov an agent, or, if only temporarily absent, have
it sent in a bank bill. Proprietors and tenants live in harmony
and mutual good will, the rents of the former progressively ad-
vancing with the improvements of the country, and the for-
tunes of the latter augmenting continually, by industrious and
judicious attention to improved agricultural practices, and to
the amelioration of live stock.
2. Buildings.
Farm-houses formerly of rough stone, clay, and thatch, now
greatly superior to the houses that were occupied by the mid-
dling gentry, forty or fifty years ago. An excellent plan of a
farmery given ; but the cottages of the hinds appear uncom-
fortably small, and are calculated for close-panneled beds,
which, wherever h.ealth and cleanliness are objects, ought to
be discarded. These cottages contain only one apartment, and
a sort of dark lumber place, foimed by the position of the pan-
neled beds. We much wonder that the reporter, who talks so
much of the commodiousness of the houses of farmers, should
not have displayed a little more feeling on the subject of the
accommodations of cottagers. These remarks apply more par-
ticularly to three plans of cottages, given in Kerr's Report,
Dec. 14, 1830, in the general plan of a farmery. [PL facing
p. 97.) A detached plan of a cottage ( fig. 1125.) is given,
rather better arranged than these double ones, but still, in our
opinion, highly objectionable. It has two windows, whereas
the others hav
' one each.
the
. ^ ^ ^ , The larger window
kitchen (a) , the smaller in the back place (4) ;these are separated
by two beds (c) ; in the kitchen are shown a plate-rack and
dresser (rf), table (e), and two chests iff). In the lobby a place
for coals («•). No water-closets in any of the plans.
3. Occupation.
Farms generally large, and held on lease for different periods,
from ten to thirty years, but commonly for nineteen years.
Motle of culture aralion and pasturage alternately. " Under
this system of alternation, judiciously conducted, "it may con-
fidently be asserted that a farm of 1000 acres will raise as
n
Z2 iCLl:
;1 [ ' 1
t ""i
—1
fl
;! ' h r"
1 w h
permanent grass. If this estimation be well founded, of which
the reporter has no doubt, this alternate system is obviously
of superior profit to the tenancy in the first place, to the
landed interest secondarily, by increased rents, and to the
public ultimately and always, in the proportion of at least
1182
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
twenty-five per cent beyond what can be produced from the
two branches separately pursued on tlie same extent of equal
land.
In the hill district, the lands are mostly occupied as breed-
ing sheep farms ; taking advantage of all the favourable pieces
of land, susceptible of cultivation, for raising a little grain to
supply the farmer's family, servants, and horses; to afford
littei- and fodder from the straw during winter, by which dung
is produced ; to apply that dung to raise turnips, to carry on
their sheeii stock during winter , and, finally, to produce crops
of artificial or sown grasses, for hay and early pastures, and to
the great amelioration of permanent grass lands.
In the neighbourhood of towns and villages, various small
possessions, from two or three acres or less, to twenty or more,
are let on leases of various endurance, but mostly for short
periods to villagers who keep one or two horses, which they
chiefly occupy in It jding materials for road makers, coals to
the other villagers, lime, or any such employment as may occur.
The great mass of the land throughout the county is let in
farms of every variety of size, from 40 to 50 acres, up to 1000
or more, to tenants on leases of fixed endurance, mostly for
nineteen years.
The character of farmers in a large district of country must
be various ; but those of Berwickshire are very generally most
respectable and inf-ligent, and their success has been de-
servedly proportional. They have almost universally ris'jn
completely above the operative class in knowl'.'dge, education,
and manners, assimilating in every respect to the character of
country gentlemen. In every comer of the county they are
to be seen carrying on extensive and costly improvements, by
draining, enclosing, liming, and marling ; and by careful and
judicious improvements of their live stock, sheep, cattle, and
even horses, with all the eagerness and intelligence of com-
mercial speculators. They trust to the certain profits of future
years to reimburse their large expenditures with reasonable
profit, which they are enabled to do through the sufficiency of
their capitals, and the security of their lyases. The former is
derived from their own successful and intelligent industry, or
that of their fathers; the latter from the gcoi sense of the
landlords, in seeing their own interests most materially inter-
woven in the security and success of their tenants.
4. Implements.
No waggons or wheel ploughs, and, though drilling turnips
is universal, on'y one or two sorts of drills in use. Few imple-
ments, and those of a simple construction, suffice for the best
practicians in every art.
5. Enclosing.
The cultivatable lands are universally enclosed, and subdi-
vided into regular fields, generally by hedges ; but sometimes
by stone walls. In the mountain district, the farms are neither
enclosed nor subdivided. The boundaries of each farm are
indicated by landmarks, and round each farmery there are
generally two or three small fields for convenience or cultiva-
tion. Trees very generally planted in hedge-rows; hedges al-
ways cut with a bill in the wedge shape ; never clipped and
rounded, or broader at top than bottom ; the sure means of
hindering the production of side shoots, and in time producing
naked places and gaps in that part of the hedge.
6. Arable Land.
Ample details of the turnip culture in drills is given.
7. Orchards. Woods.
None of the former worth notice. Some native copses and
■woods, and artificial plantations, but not much woodiness, ex-
cep ing round gentlemen's seats.
8. Improvements.
In this county were begun about 1730, when Swinton of
Swinton drained, marled, and completely enclosed his whole
estate. Nearly about the same time, Hume of Ecclea effected
similar Improvements. Both of these gentlemen were aetuateil
bv the example and acquaintance of Cockburn, of Ormiston.
Henry Home, Lord Kalmes, was one of the early improvers
of this county about 1746, at Kaimes, now Besborough. About
1750, the ardour of enclosing and improving the land spread
generally among the Berwickshire proprietors.
Paring and burning, irrigation and embanking, not practised
or required.
9. Live Stock.
The cattle of Berwickshire are so much mixed by crossing,
as scarcely to admit of any particular description. Upon the
whole, they are short homed, thin hidetl, and kindly feeders,
and have been much improved by crosses with bulls of the
Teeswater breed, which is the kind chiefly admired in this
district. Generally speaking the oxen are not carried on to
any age, and they are never worked. They are well fed from
their youth up, and are generally fed off for market in their
fourth year, very tisw reaching five years old, Cows, on the
contrary, are generally old before they are fed off. Great
numbers of smaller cattle are bred upon the lower hills, and
are disposed of to graziers in the low country for feeding,
either on gr.'ss or turnips, or by a succession of both ; and
many Highland cattle of various descriptions are bought in
yearly for consuming straw, or for feeding on turnips during
winter, and on grass in spring and summer.
The sheep bred in Berwickshire are of several kinds. In the
most exposed of the Lammermuir and Lauderdale hills, the
flocks are mostly of the black faced, or Tweeddale kind, and
are there exclusively kept for breeding. In the cultivated
tract the new I^icester breed, in a great variety of degrees of
perfection, now universally prevails ; and it is believed that no
other known breed, in the peculiar circumstances of this
county, could be so profitable to the farmer. They require,
however, always to nave abundance of food, and easily pro-
cured ; for, being short-legged, heavy-bodied, and carrying
a great weight of wool, they are unable to undergo much
fatigue or hardship, and do not thrive unless plentifuUv sup-
plied at all seasons. This supply the agricultural system of
the district amply affords, and is indeed admirably calculated
for providing. On some of the best interior hills, and upon the
higher exterior lands, verging on Lammermuir and Lauderdale,
called the moor-edges, the Cheviot breed, or long sheep, are
kept. An intermediate breed between the Cheviot and Lei-
cester, usually called half-bred sheep, is vevy prevalent upon
the best of these situations. As a singidar circumstance, the
reporter records the case of a ewe of this county, which pro-
duced eleven lambs in three succeeding seasons.
Horses, as in East Lothian, brought from the west of Scot-
land.
10. Rural Economy.
Farm servants managed as in East Lothian, and, indeed,
almost every where in the low country of Scotland.
11. Political Economy.
Commerce chiefly grain, wool, and salmon; scarcely any
manufactures, excepting the paper-mills. The salmon fishery,
including Berwick bounds and the English side of the river,
employs about seventy small boats, and nearly 300 fishermen.
All their fish are sold to a very respectable fraternity of traders
in Berwick, named coopers, from their former business of mak-
ing kits, and boiling the fish, which is now entirely discon-
tinued. By them the salmon are packed in ice, and sent to
London, to be disposed of by factors on commission. This em-
ployment of ice was first essayed by IMessrs. Kichardson, of
Perth, on the suggestion of George Dempster, of Dunnichen,
Esq. who had accidentally read that such a practice was not
unusual in China.
7836. ROXBURGHSHIRE or TEVIOTDALE contains 448,000 acres, of which about three fifths are
in sheep pasture, and the remaining two fifths, are occasionally under the plough, except about 8000 acres
occupied in woods, pleasure-grounds, and the sites of towns and villages. The surface is exceedingly
irregular, being in some places ninety, and in others 2000 feet above the level of the sea. The climate
is equally various, and excessive rains, winds, frosts, and even hail and snow are by no means uncommon
in spring and harvest. There is a good deal of moss and peat soil in detached portions over the county ;
but the general character of the district is, that the low or arable part consists chiefly of a light or turnip
soil, and the hilly division of dry green pastures. There is a good deal of high, wet, barren land ; but this
is by no means the character of the county at large. Limestone abounds in most parts of the district, and
coal has been found, but is not worked. The agriculture of the arable lands is in all respects the same as
that of Berwickshire, and that of the pastures resembles the store farming of the latter county and East
Lothian. Dawson, of Frogden, belongs to this county, and may be looked on as one of the greatest im-
provers of British agriculture. [Douglas's Roxburghshire, 119^. Edin. Gaz. abridged, 1829.)
times as much, had not an Act of Parliament obliged the cul-
tivator to dispose of it to Government at that price. This
county lost about 1500/. sterling by that Act, which passed
while the tobacco was growing; yet it excited not so much
murmuring and clamour among the sufliirers as have been
elsewhere repeatedly raised, with less reason, against other
Acts in no respect so arbitrary cmd oppressive.
3. Gardens and Orchards.
Thrive better in the lower parts of this county than in those
on the east coast. At JMelrose, Jedburgh, and Kelso, are the
remains of orchards planted by the priests several centuries ago,
the pear-trees of which are very productive. Wonderful
stories are told of their fertility. A single tree of the Thorle
pear at Melrose has for these fifty years past yielded the interest
of the money paid for the garden where it stands, and for a
house let for seven pounds sterling yearly. Another tree there
has carried fruit to the amount of three pounds annually, at
an average for the same period. In the year 1793, two trees
there brought to perfection about 60,000 pears, which were
sold for eight guineas. These facts are well authenticated.
There are also several more recent orchards near the same
places, and 120 acres of nurseries- Of these one of the oldest .
and largest in Scotland is that of Messrs. Dicksons, of Hawick.
4. Woods and Plantations.
To the extent of 5290 acres ; nearly two thirds artificial.
5. Live stock.
Cattle, a mixed breed, as in Berwickshire. Sheep of the
Cheviot kind said to be greatW improved by a cross with the
1. Property.
Generally in large estates, and little change of proprietorship
has taken place for many years. The largest between 25,000/.
and 35,OO0Z. a year.
2. Lnplpments. Arable Land.
Fanners, the reporter states, were first made in this county
by one Rogers, a farmer, of a mechanical turn, near Hawick,
in 1733, or at least before 1737, who is said either to have seen
a model, or a description of one, which had been brought from
Holland. {Report of North m.) Robertson states {Rural Red-
uctions, p. 147.) that he himself conversed with an old fcirmer,
the late Mr. Thomas Shiells, at Grothill near Edinburgh, who
with his own bands made the first winnowing machine in
the Lothians, from a model of one imported from Holland."
Arable land enclosed, partly by hedges and partly by walls of
loose stones, without mortar.
Ploughing with two horses, without a driver, was practised
in this county before it was in any other. It was taught by
Dawson, of Frogden, who introduced the drill culture, to
James Macdougal, farmer, at Linton, in Tweeddale, alive at the
lime of making up Douglas's report : it spread rapidly afterwards
through the countv, and the neighbourine ones of Northum-
berland, Berwickshire, East Lothian, and Tweeddale. Potatoes
first planted in large beds about 1754 ; in 1768, in drills in the
fields. Tobacco, during the American war, was cultivated to
a considerable extent in the neighbourhood of Kelso and Jed-
burgh, and in some other spots. 1 ts produce was so g: eat, that
thirteen acres at Crailina fetched 104/. at the low rate of four-
pence per pound and would have broujjht more than tliree
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF DUMFRIESSHIRE.
183
risliley breed, introduced about 1765, by Robson, a pupil of
CuUey ; but this is stoutly denied by most of the Cheviot
breeders. Merinos and other sorts hare been tried, but suffi- |
cient time has not elapsed to ascertain the result. |
6. Rural and Political Economy.
Farm servants on the same jilan as in East IxHhian. Roads
improving ; no canals; little commeroe, and almost no manu-
factures.
7837. SELKIRKSHIRE. 172,160 acres, almost wholly of mountainous surface, the lowest part 300
feet above the level of the sea ; many houses are 600 and some more than 1000 feet above its level. The
highest mountain is 2370 feet. These mountains are generally of granite or whinstone, and the surface
soil is commonly gravelly and dry. In the valleys are clay, peat, morass, and lakes. The climate is cold
and rather moist. There are no metals, nor coal, lime, or freestone. The most remarkable thing attend-
ing this county is, that its hills and mountains are almost every where clothed to their summits with
sound sheep pasture, of which there are estimated to be 148,000 acres ; 8800 acres in aration, 2000 in wood,
and the rest in gardens, houses, roads, lakes, &c. {Douglas's GeneralView, 1796. Edin. Gaz. abridged, 1829.)
Property in few hands, and in large estates. The farms are coimties. There is a -woollen cloth raanufactor>', and an ex-
large, and the leases generally shorter than on arable farms. ceWent porter brewery, by a pupil of Meux, at (Jalashitls.
The sheep are a variety of the Cheviot produced by repeated Some pgricultural societies were attempted in this and the
crosses with the native mountain black-faced breed. In all adjoining counties about 1795, but they were of very short
respects the husbandry of this county may be considered the duration,
same as that of the mountainous districts of the preceding
7838. PEEBLESHIRE or TWEEDDALE. 229,778 acres, mostly of mountain, moor, and bog, but
with about one tenth part arable. The lowest part of the county is 400 feet above sea-level, and grain is
cultivated to the height of 1000 feet. The climate is late, cold, and moist, and the soil moory, clayey, or
sandy, according as the water is pent up ; the rocks of the mountains are freestone, granite, trap, or clay-
stone. The only minerals worth notice are lime, whinstone, and freestone. 'Ihe general appearance of
the country is wild, and rather dull and dreary, than romantic or sublime. The agricultural survey of
this county is by the Rev. Charles Findlater, and it abounds with more valuable matter on political agri.
culture, on leases, prices, restrictions, markets, &c., than any survey that has been published, without a
single exception. In fact, it was found to take such a masterly view of the moral incitements to agricul-
tural industry ; to expose the system of tithes, entails, lawyer's leases, &c., that it was rejected by the
Board, as likely to offend the English clergy and higher classes, and the author was reduced to publish it
himself. It has certainly, through the medium of the extracts from it published in the Farmer's Magaz/ne,
been the moans of enlightening thousands, both of farmers and landlords. The fundamental principle
which Findlater lays down and illustrates under the heads of leases, size of farms, usury, capital, dearth,
monopoly, forestalling, government interference, tithes, poor, and other topics, is, " That the best demo
of ensuring the invention and prosecution of the most advantageous measures is, an arrangement wliich
shall communicate to th( so on whom their execution is devolved a sufficient personal interest in their
invention and execution." To some he doubts not such views will be considered as foreign to the report
of a county; whilst to others they will constitute its most essential value.
The state of property and husbandry of the country may be considered as the same as that of the other
mountainous districts. The black faced sheep are in almost universal use, except in milder situations,
where the Cheviot has been introduced. There is no commerce but by retail, and only some very trifling
woollen manufactures in the county.
In the Appendix an account is given of the improvement of the Whim, a flow-moss of 100 acres, twenty-
feet deep, and at an elevation of 700 feet above the level of the sea. It was begun to be drained in 1731,
and in ten years a mansion was built, and surrounded by woods and pleasure-grounds, which show, as the
Dukeof Buccleugh, the proprietor, intended, the wonderful influence of art over nature. " The plant-
ations (originally extensive) have been improved and enlarged since the property came into possession of
the Lord Chief Baron ; and he has also greatly enlarged the house, adding a court of offices upon a large
scale, and ornamented in front, extending also the lawn. The place has, ujxjn the whole, an air of mag-
nificence. In the pleasure-grounds there are several artificial pieces of water. East of the house (where
the soil is dry and covered with sweet grasses) the surface is agreeably diversified by gentle swells, tufted
with trees. A wild wilderness walk, through a small wood, lands you upon the banks of an artificial lake,
with islands, covering an extent of six or seven acres of surface. What chiefly strikes the visitor at Whim
is the strongly marked contrast betwixt the improvements ot human art, and nature in her wildest form,
here found in immediate contact. Your cars are at once saluted with the warblings of the blackbird and
thrush from the plantations, and the wild notes of the plover, the curlew, the grouse, and other moss birds
from the flow-moss." {Findlater's Report, 8$c. 1804.)
7839. DUMFRIESSHIRE. 644,385 acres of maritime, vale, and mountain lands, in the proportion of
one, four, and seven. The climate is variable, comparatively mild, but moist. The soil of the maritime
district is light, and generally on sand, gravel, or rock ; that of the vale or midland district is gravelly,
sandy, or moory. The mountains are of schist, whinstone, or red freestone, and thinly covered with cor-
responding soils or moss. In some places they are covered with dry pasture, but more frequently with a
mixture of grass and heath. The principal metallic ore found in the county is lead ; but several others,
as iron, copper, antimony, &c. exist, and the latter has been worked. Coal has been found, but not in
strata sufficiently thick to be workable. Marble also and slate have been worked, and lime, freestone,
and whinstone in abundance. There are several mineral springs in the mountain district, the principal
of which is the spaw at Moffat. Fish, and especially salmon, are caught in moderate quantities in the
Nith aiul Annan. The celebrated improver Craik was a proprietor in this county, at Ardbigland, near
Dumfries, now the property of his son. {The Rev. Dr. Singer's General View, 1812.)
1. Minerals.
The lead mines occupy very barren grounds, remarkably bleak
and elevated ; but they are a great fund of industry and riches.
and they furnish a part of the county with an excellent market
for the surj)lus grain produced in that part. Lead hills, with
the mines, are in the county of Lanark, and belong to the Earl
of Hopetown, who draws about 7000/, a year from these mines.
Wanlockhead mine is in Dumfriesshire, belonged to the Duke of
Quecnsbury, and returns to the proprietor near 5000/. a year.
2. Property.
In large estates, owned by 453 persons. The Duke of Buc-
cleugh's estate of very great extent. Some estates are managed
by their owners, and others by commissioners having power to
let. In large properties it is common to entrust the collecting
rents, and arrangements relative to leases, buildings, fences,
and courses of crops, to factors residing on or near the lands,
who represent their constituents (if not personally present) in
county and parish meetings. Millar of Dalswinton has gone
over an estate of 5000 acres in twentv-five vears, and improved
the whole of it, with the exception of a portion which, in 1812,
was under process and promised to be soon completed. His
plan was not to farm his lands himself, but to prepare them, by
improvement, for being Itt to farmers.
3. Buildings.
While the reporter expatiates on the ample accommodations
of the modem farm-houses in this and other counties, he gives -
the following information as to cottages, which, we regret to
find, SL>em by no means improved, either in this or in other
parts of Scotland, in the same ratio as the habitations of infe-
rior animals. " A common, and not inconvenient, cottage is
put up as Ibllows, viz.: stone and lime walls, seven feet high,
thirty -six feet long, and fourteen to sixteen feet ivide within ,
Ihe roof of Scots fir, which is preserved from the worm by
smoke, and covered with Ihatcli ; a chimnry at one end, and
an open passage for smoke in the other ; affording two apart-
ments below, one of them a kitchen, and a central apartment
opposite to the door ; the one end boarded ovtr, and the other
open. Such a cottage may be erected for about ."30/. or 40/. ;
and, with half a rood for a garden, it would let at 3/. a year, or
more, according to its finishing.'" Doubtless the reverend gen-
tleman made but short prayers when he visited the sick in such
smoky cottages : the surgeon need not dismount from his horse ;
he may speak to his patient through the window, and feci liis
pulse with the butt end of his whip.
4. Occupation.
Sheep farms from 500 to ."000 acres ; arable farms from 50
to 600 acres. Leases universal, and generally for nineteen or
twenty-one years. Wilkie's variation of Small's plough is in.
general use, as clearing the mould-board better in soft soils.
The Berwickshire system of culture is practised on the turnip
soils ; the East Lothian on such as are loamy or clayey ; and
the store system on the mountain district. The cattle are
of the Galloway breed, and sheep, Cheviots, or the black-faced
mountain kind. More poultry is kept than in most other
countier., in order to consume the light grain. Manv of the
fowls and cpgs go to Edinburgh ; but the greater part of tbe
produce and sales in eggs go in small oval baskets, packed in
1184
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Pari IV.
carti, to Berwlrk, for the Lontlon market. In one or two
instances the H(51cus lanatus has been cultivated on reclaimed
bogs with success, but is intended to be succeeded by better
jrasies as soon as they will bear them. The drill culture of
turnips was introduced by Cralk about 1745. Draining has
be^n extejisivfly practised, irrieation in a few places, and some
embankments made on the Solway Firth, and the Xith and
Annan. There are few orchards. Some remains of coppice
and forest, which, according to appearances and authentic
records, seem in former times to have spread over great part of
the county ; and numerous young plantations. Some years
ago many young Scotch firs died from the al tacks of the Teredo
pinorum, as some suppose ; but the cause does not seem clearly
known. Some very large oaks, beeches, elms, ashes, and larch
firs are described in the Report.
5. Improvements.
A&a. specimen, we shall give some notices of what has be>?n
done on the estate of Mi)unt Annan, by General Dirom. The
extent of Mount Annan estate is 27 JO acres. Th 3 general began
his improvements in 1793, and planted, before 1S19, 16S acres.
Assisted in laying out a considerable extent of public road and
building bridges, the road passing through the estate. IMade
an improvement in the construction of lime-kilns, since per-
fected by Booker of Dublm. (3863.) The lime quarried and
dried by means of a small stream from more elevated lands ;
this stream being made to turn an overshot wheel, which
works two pumps. The village of Bridekirk began in 1800
(3S50.) on the new road, and where the river Annan affords
ample falls for machinery. Farms arranged of different sizes,
and three eminent farmers settled with a view to improvement.
Cottage farms, one or two ; cottages ; improved stock on tl.e
demesne farm ; improved fjirm buildings ; leases for fifteen
vears ; stone quarries opened, others drained and improved ;
brick clay found, and bricks made ; salmon fishery improved.
Irrigation, fiorin, spring whea', moss composts, mole plough,
and steaming apparatus introduced. A cross moss-cutting
machine, invented by tha overseer, William HoUiday, for
cutting the furrows across in improving moor, instead of cross-
ploughing ; the latter operation beina not only very laborious,
but one which seldom succeeds in cutting thefurro-.vs into pieces
small enough to be afterwards easily harrowed. This machine
consists of two circular knives, if they may be so called, six iiiches
. the blade, with a blunt edge fixed upon ^nd embracing
the whole of the exterior circle of two small liroad wheelj,and
as they go round the knives cut the farrows across. 'I'he ax e
and frame of a roller are used for tl)e?e wheels, so that the
weight may be increased by loading the box of the frame, if it
should be necessary to make the knives cut through the fur-
rows. It is dragged with great ease across the ploughed moor
by one horse; and when it is moist the furrows are cut through
with the greatest facility, in |)ieces of any length, according to
the number of turns taken by the machine. The furrows, when
a little dry, are then turne<l over by the brake (break) harrow,
and being all cut into small pieces, are in the best state for
being reduced by repeated harrowing, or for being thrown to-
gether in heaps and burnt.
6. Weekly Reports.
" In carrying on the improvements which have been men-
tioned, at a considerable tlistance from my general residence,
they have been greatly facilitated by requiring my overseer, or
manager, to send nie a weekly report ot what was doing upon
the farm and the estate. It shows how the servants and horses
have bfen~employed during every day ; contains a journal of
the weather, and of the progress of ditforent works; and a state
of his receipts and disbursements during the week. These re-
ports, besides enabling one to judge of what is doing, and to
give any ciirections that may be necessary, are extremely \iseful
to refer to, and excite the overseer and servants to be diligent
in my absence."
Increase of population on the estite in fifteen years, 39G;
viz. : from 175 to .071 inhabitants. Total expense of purchase
and imjirovements up to 1811, .30,0(10/. Clear annual rental
at that time, '21 )00/. a year, exclusive of the value of timber, and
of the mansion, garden, and hot -house, &c. as a gentleman's
residence.
7. Political Economy.
Improving roads, and some canals and railways; some con-
merce by sea with the jwrt of Dumfries ; manufactures incon-
siderable ; paper, stockings by frames, muslin weavers. A sm ill
?li, : • • ■ -
iron-work at Kirkc
1 which from three
■ dozen
Slides daily are made. Cotton spinniiij; and weaving in a few
places. Carp t weaving, &c. " Salt, trom the richest parts of
the sea sleecn, collected with horse drags in dry weather in
summer, and then placed so I's to he washed and' filtered, and
the bimo that runs out of it boiletl."
deep i
7840. KIRCUDBllIGHTSHIRE, 561,641 acres, and WIGTONSHIRE 288,960 acres {Ed. Ga%. ahr.
1829), possessing great similarity of agricultural character, have been included in one report, as tlio
district of Galloway. The climate moist but rather warm ; in some parts of Wigtonshire, in genial
seasons, tigs ripen on the open garden walls. The soil and surface of Galloway is exceedingly various.
Almost the whole of Wigtonshire is very little elevated above the surface of the sea, hut great part
of Kir;;udbrightshire is hilly and mountainous. The better soils are for the most part light, and of this
and hazfl loam there is a considerable portion in Wigtonshire, In some places in Kircudbrightshire it is
clayey or alluvial ; and there is a great deal of peat-moss, and bog, as well as improved, or grass-bearing
peat. Tiie rocks of the county are argillaceous, granite, or whinstone with some freeatoua Some mineral
veins have been found ; and one of lead, near Gate House of Fleetj was worked at the expense of the
compiler of this work for some time, but without success. In an agricultural point of view, Galloway is
chiefly remarkable for its breed of cattle. Gladstone, a millwright, who has invented a reaping maciiine,
and proposed some improvements on the threshing machine, and other implements, is of this district.
{Smith's General Fietu, 1810.)
1. Propertt/.
More divided than in most of the counties of Scotland.
Largest estate, 30,000/. a year. Earl of Uallowa;.'s, in Wigton-
shire. Estates in general well managed : landlords in general
advance money at five, six, or seven and a half per cent, for
buildings, fences, drains, mineral manures, roads, &c. Dun-
bar Earl of Selkirk, a disciple of Craik's, one of the first who
set the example of improvement, which has been persevered in
by the same family to the present time.
2. Occupation.
In the moors, where breeding cattle and sheep is the object,
farms sometimes seven or eight miles square, some ten or
twelve. Arable farms 300 to 600 acres ; 200 acres perhaps the
average. Leases nineteen or twenty -one years, to which the
Lite Earl of Galloway superadded the tenant's lite. " From
this two good effects were supposed to result ; Ist. That the
landlord was freed from the expenses of buildings and repairs.
2dly. That the tenant presuming (as we always do) on the
continuance of life, would be disposed to go on with his iin-
Srovements to the last. There is certainly, however, much
bsrality in the idea."
3. Enclosing.
Galloway dykes (.3060.) very generally in use ; some useful
remarks on the necessity of bonding tl.eni sufficiently, and
working the coping-stones to a flat under-surface.
4. Arable Land.
Till the middle of the eighteenth century, four and some-
times six horses yoked abreast in the old Scotch plough, and
tumbrils (carts with low wheels without spokes) and cars in
use ; now all the improved implements ; the husbandry of
East Lothian on the alluvial lands and loams, too h-^avy for
turnips ; that of Berwickshire on the turnips soils ; cattle bred
on the mountains and moors ; carrots cultivated in some
places, and found to answer well ; fiorin tri' d on bogs ; some
irrigation ; embanking near Wigton and at Kjrkcv.dbright,
and much draining ; also paring and burning', and various other
means of improving bogs and flow-mosses tried, in conjunction
with draining. Corn in the late districts gaited. (3176.)
Barley is a good deal cultivated, and thin hot barley cakes,
from clough, baked the same morning, and spread first with
butter, and then with honev, and folded or rolled up (like the
teff of the Abvssinians), form a part of the breakfast bread of
all who can afford it in Wigtonshire.
5. Orchards.
Uare. " Some proprietors furnish their tenants with fruit-
trees for their gardens, when they are willing to be at the
trouble of cultivating them. But, from the scarcity of fiuit in
the country, and the idea that the plundering of an orchard is
a very venial trespass, such as do cultivate them, frequently do
not gather the fruite. In this we believe there is nothing
peculiar to Galloway. There are a few market gardens and
several nurseries."
6. Woods and Plantations.
Of a very limited extent, but rapidly increasing. John Earl
of Stair planted extensively at Mount Kennedy, in the be-
ginning of the eighteenth century ; and Douglas Earl of Sel-
kirk soon afterwards. The Earl of Galloway, the present E:trl
of Selkirk, Murray of Bioughton, and various others, are great
planters.
7. Live Stock.
The Galloway brexl of cattle is well known. The breeders per-
haps, in general, understand the management of cattle as well
better than, most others i
idisting'.sish a good bull i
the kingdom. They all know
how to disting'.sish a good bull or a gootfcow from a bad one :
and fail not to select from their own stock such as are best
adapted for the improvement of the breetl ; and from this ge-
neral attention, it no doubt arises, that the cattle in Galloway
are pretty uniformly good. But among them have arisen no
enthusiasts in the profession ; none who have studied it scien-
tifically, or dedicatetl their talents almost exclusively to this
one object. No fair test has yet been given, of what might be
done by aproper selection of the choicest indiridjials of both sexes
for breeders, and uniting them in such a manner, as seemed
best calculated to diminish their faults and heighten their
properties, by crossing the progeny of these from time to time ;
and still carefully pursuing proper combinations of the most
approved males with the finest females, till the improvement
was carried to the greatest perfecion of which the breed is
susceptible. No Bakewells, no Culleys, no Collings have yet
appeared in Galloway ; who, with a skill, the result of long
study and experience, have united sufficient capital, and by
the success of their experiments have made great fortunes, and
transmitted their names to the most distant parts of the king.
dom. Few of the Galloway cattle Ccompara.ively) are fed for
home consumption. Dairying with Ayrshire cows has lately
been introduced, and very good Dunlop cheese made.
The sheep for the low districts are of various breeds, those of
the highlands the same as in the mountain districts of the
counties already describtd. The South Down is found to an-
swer well in Wigtonshire, and also the I^icester.
Horses. Gallov/ay formerly possessed a breed of horses pe-
culiar to itself, and' In high estimation for the saddle ; being,
though small, exceedingly hardy and active. Accustomed to
a rugged and mountainous countiy, and never employed in the
draught, these were sure-footed, and travelled with spirit in
very bad roads. They were of a larger size than the ponies of
Wales, or the shelties of the north, being from twelve to four-
teen hands hi«h. It is reported that this breed originated
from Spanish horses, which escaped from a vessel of the Ar
mada, that had been wrecked on the shores of Gallowa;
it appears probable from some passages i
iway : but
Shnkspeare, that the
earlier period. It is
much to' be regretted that this ancient breed is now almost
lost. This has been occasioned chiefly by the desire of farmeri
to breed horses of greater weight, and better adapted for the
Book
AGiaCULTUIlE OF LANARKSHIRE.
118 J
draught ; and from the little value attached, in times of tranquil-
lity, lo liorses well calculated for predatory excursions. As the
soil and climate of Galloway are peculiarly adapted ftjr rearing
horses, there cannot be a doubt that under proper management,
they would in general become excellent, and add much to the
value of its produce. Hitherto few more have been bred than
what were necessary to supply the demands of the district-
Snitte increasing since the introduction of potatoes ; and the
prejudice against eating the flesh common to this and most
districts of Scotland gradually declining. Ringing not pr;«:-
tiied ; but the two strong tendons of the snout cut by a sli^lt
Incision, about an inch and a half above ti.e nose, when the
animal is about two months old.
Bees of this district proiince honey equal, if not superior, to
any in the world ; its excellence supposed to depend on the
profusion of wild flowers, especially white clover and heath.
Came cibiuidaut ; a few ptarmigans in the highest moun*
tains.
8. Politicai Economy^
Roads greatly improved rf late ; and some cotton, woolletit
paper, and other maimfactuies introduced.
7841. AYRSHIRfi. 664,960 acres of irregular but not mountainous surface, and clayey or mossy soil,
under a moist climate j half the coiinty bog, hilly pasture, or waste, and the rest chiefly under alternate
grass and corn. The agriculture followed is in great part the dairy system; Dunlop cheese, already
<lescribed (7063.), being chiefly produced in this county. (Alton's General View, 1811.)
1. Minerals.
Coal and limestone ai-e to be found in most parts of the
county, and there are several kinds of building- stone, but no
metallic ores worth working, excepting iron. Coal is the sta-
ple miners, and is exported in large quantities to Glasgow and
other towns, along the west coast, northward and southward.
2. Buildings.
Someaood castles and mansions, as Culzean, Loudon, Eg-
Hnton, &c. Farm buildings are improving, though but
slowly. Some neat elevations, and comfortable interiors on
Lord£glintoa's estates ; single (^. 1126. a), and double (6).
Each rf such cotta(^ is surrounded by a neat garden, con-
taining a pigsty, pump, and bee-house ; and the house con-
taining a porch (1), kitchen, oven, and stair to bed-rooms (2),
parlour (.^^, store closet < 4), bed closet (5), pantry (6), coal
closet (7), back entrance (8), tool house (9), and water closet (10),
with two garret bed-rooms over.
3. Occupation,
Farms small, from 50 to 150 acres, and their culture imper-
feet and irregular, though rents are high from the population
of the manu&cturing towns.
4. Livestock.
Horses are bred and sold under the general name of Lanark-
shire or Clydesdale, and are in great demand ; as are the Ayr-
(hire.cows for the Edinburgh and Glasgow dairjmen. Indeed
Ihese cows, as we have seen (6789.), are preferred to all others
in most parts of the low country of Scotland. The native
horses began to be improved by crosses about 1740. In that
year Robert Woodbum, in Mains of Loudoun, sold what was
then considered the best stallion in the countv, at the price
of five guineas. The common price of draught horses did
7842. LANARKSHIRE or CLYDESDALR 556,800 acres, \n great part mountain, moor, and peat,
bog, with a portion of friable loam, and some retentive clays. The climate is cold, moist, and unfavour-
able, excepting in the low vales, where vegetable is chiefly injured by spring and autumn frosts. Aver-
age of the rain which falls at Glasgow, SOS inches. The minerals are lead, ironstone, coal, limestone,
freestone, and whinstone, all worked to a considerable extent The lead mines at Leadhills have been
already noticed under Dumfriesshire. The husbandry of the county is chiefly distinguished for its breed
of horses, and for orchards, the latter a rare production in Scotland. John Naismith, the author of a
work on Industry, another on the Elements of Agriculture, and also of the Report, seems to have been •
native of this county. {Naismith's General View, 1803.)
1. Property.
not then average more than 3/. each. Till about 1780, the
work usually done by farm-horses was not more than one half
of what they now perform. Four horses were then yoked to
every ploufjh, while as much is now turned over by tw«
horses. (Aiton't Dairu Httsbandry, p, 180.)
5. Woods and Plantations.
Most of the proprietors are extensive planters. On the
Culzean estate are extoisive woods, raised in the face of the
west winds; most of the trees lean to the east, excepting the
common maple, which is generally erect, or nearly so, and is
one ctf the best trees for an exposed sea-coast. There are a few
native coppice-woods, and some fine old birch, ash, and oak
trees round EgUnton Castle.
6. Improvements.
Captain Smith, the proprietor of a small jHace abounding
with peat bogs, about 1790, began to drain and dig, and lime
the surface, and succeeded in reducing the peat to a black
mould, andrearing tolerable cropsof oats, potatoes, andclovtr.
After five or six years, he was able to venture horses and cattle
on these bogs ; but at first every operation was manual.
7. Political Economy,
Carpet and other woollen manufactures at Kilmarnock J
thread at Beith, cotton at Catharine, iron at Muirkurk, salt
and kelp on the shores, and earthenware and the usual minor
manufactures, as leather, hats, &c., at various places.
The harbour and other works carried on at Ardrossan,
under the auspices of the Earl of Eglinton, and the harbour of
Troon, and the railway ftom thence to Kilmarnock, formed
almost entirely at the expense of the Duke of Portland, are
worthy monuments, no less of the enlightenc-d judgment and
energv, than of the wealth of these two patriotic noblemen.
The harbour lately completed is one of the safest, most
capacious, and most accessible on the west coast of Hritain ;
possessing many advantages over the harbour in the Frith of
Clyde, situate in a narrow chaimel, which can be navigated
only when the wind blows from particular points, and which,
for upwards of twenty miles below Glasgow, is both shallow
and dangerous. A circular pier of 900 yards was finidied in
1811, and every thing was then ready to begin the wet-dock,
which, according to Telford's plan, was to contain from 70 to
100 vessels, in water sixteen feet deep. The other works have
rather languished of late, and are not likely to be completed
soon without public aid. It was part of the Earl of Eglinton's
plan to raise a neat regular-built town at Ardrossan, in which
some progress has been made; and he has constructed excel-
lent baths, which draw to it a number rf visitors at the proper
season.
The harbour at Ardrossan was only a part of the general
plan, and that from which, view«i by itself, the smallest ad-
vantages perhaps were to be expected. The leading idea was
to open a direct communication between Glasgow, Paisley,
and other large towns in the vicinity and the west coast, in-
stead of the present circruitous passage by the Frith of Clyde.
A canal was therefore to be cut from Glasgow to Ardrossan,
about thirtv-one miles and half, at the estimated expense of
125,000/. "Of this a third part was executed, that is, from
Glasgow to Johnstone, and this part, it is said, cost about
90,000/.
The harbour at Troon, connected, as it now is, with Kilmar-
nock, by means of an excellent railway, seems to possess almost
all the advantages of that of Ardrossan, and promises to be-
come, in a much shorter period, of vast utility to tlie populoua
country around it.
Three fourths of the surface the property of great land-
holders ; the rest much divided. Farm-houses and oflices were
formerly very indifferent ; but in this as in other adjoining
counties, wheie the leases of farms fall in, the landlord gene-
rally enlarges or renews the buildings, as a necessary step to
getting the full rental value for the land. A good deal of
pound feued out to operative mechanics, weavers, &c for
building cottages.
2. Occupation.
Much the same as in Galloway. Breeding farms are large,
and corn farms moderate. The mountainous district is occu-
pied mostly with flocks of sheep : upon the ridges on the E. and
W. sides, where the ground is marshy, and less proper for
sheep, and the exposure too bleak to encourage the cultivation
of com, cattle are mostly pastured, and those generally milch
cows and their young, many of which are reared; a small
quantity of com only being cultivated, principally for the sake
of Winter provender. The less rugged and less exposed parts
are more occupied in the culture of com ; and the banks of
the Clyde, between HamUton and Lanark, with orchards.
3. Gardens and Orchards.
Glasgow is abundantly supplied with the common culinarr
vegetables from market gawfcns. Orchards are chiefly found
in two districts in Scotland, in Clydesdale, and the Carse of
Gowrie. " The Clydesdale orchards lie mostly between the
bottom of the lowest fall of the river, and the mouth of the
south Calder. They are chiefly of apples, with a mixture of
pear trees, and some plums. Cherries are more rarely culti-
vated, being much subject to the depredations of birds. Few
of the orchards are large, but many small ones are planted up
and down the country. The whole may cover 340 acres or
upwards, and are on the increase. The produce is very pre-
carious, the fruit lieing frequently destroyed in the blossom, by
spring frosts and cateriiillars. The valiie of the fruit is not
always in proportion to the number and dze of the trees.
Those who cultivate the ground around the trees, taking care
not to injure the roots, and giving manure from time to time,
have finer fruit, and a much greater quantity in proportion,
than those who do not. Much also depends on adaptii^g
the trees to the .soil and exposure. These orchards are mostly
planted on very tteep hanging banks, and on nich they h»v*
4 G
1186
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
been found to succeed better than on plains, as subterraneous
■water flows most quickly away. Most of them stand on soils
greatly cohesive, and on such the trees have been supposed to
be surer bearers than on open sandy soils : yet there are in-
stances of orchards, on friable and gravelly soils, uncommonly
productive. Plum trees are generally planted round the verge
of the orchard, and are profitable, not only for the fruit they
bear, but for sheltering the other trees. The depredations
committed on the orchards are become more frequent and
daring, as the manufactures of the county have increased, and
are a great discouragement to this species of cultivation, par-
ticularly that of small orchards, which cannot defray the ex-
pense of watching in the night."
Besides the larger fruit, great quantities of gooseberries and
currants are cultivated, and, when well managed, are said to
pay very well. The gooseberry and currant trees are dug
around annually, kept on a single stem, and dunged every
second year.
Copsetvoods, or native timber trees, are not abundant ; the
oldest trees are on the Clyde, in and near Hamilton Park and
Bothwell Castle. Many new plantations are forming in every
part of the county.
4. LiiK Stock.
Cattle a mixed breed; the Ayrshire begbining to become ge-
neral. Oxen formerly employed in labour, and still used by a
few of the amateurs in spite of the better sense of tifieir tenants
and bailiffs. Few sheep kept, excepting on the mountains,
■where the black -faced sort prevails.
The daught horset of Clydesdale have long been in high esti-
mation. Dealers from different parts of England come to the
Glasgow and Rutherglen markets to purchase them, and prefer
them to the Derbyshire blacks. Those of the upper
■ward, where the greatest number are bred, are es-
teemed the best. The native breed began to be
improved by crosses from England ana Flanders
about 1760.
The Lanarkshire breed of horset vary In height from
12 to 18 hands; but from 14 to 16 hands Is consi-
dered the proper size. " His general aspect (Jig. 1 127.)
is stately, handsome, and dignified. He is round,
fleshy, well proportioned, strong, and heavy, with-
out being coarse or clumsy. His countenance is sweet
and agreeable, yet lively and spirited ; and his motions
are steady and firm, but nimble and alert. His head
is in due proportion to his body, rather small than
large, no way clumsy, and not so full and prominent
below the eyes as some of the English breeds. His
nostrils are wide, his eyes full and animated, and his
ears erect. His neck is neither long nor slender, but
strong, thick, and fleshy, with a good curvature, and
the mzme strong and bushy. He is broad in the
breast, thick in the shoulders, the blades nearly as
high as the chine, and not so much stretched back-
■wards as those of roa^ horses. The arm tapers to the
knee. The leg rather short ; bone oval and strong, but
solid and clean. The hoof round, of a black colour,
tough and firm, vrith the heels wide, and no long
hair on the legs, except a tuft at the heel. The
body round and heavy; the belly of a proportional
size, neither small nor large, and the flank full.
The back straight and broad, but not too lonp; the loin
broad and raised a little. Hucks visible, but not prom.r.erit,
and but a short space between them and the ribs. The
sides, from the shoulders to the hip, nearly straight ; the
thighs thick, and meeting each other so close under the fun-
dament, as to leave only a small groove fur the tail to rest on.
The tail strong, stiff, heavy to lift, and well haired. A large
sheath (vagina) is considered to be one of the marks of a good
horse, and a small one the reverse." Aiton. They have been
much improved of late, and are still improving, especially in
size and weight.
Hogs. " A kind of Jewish abhorrence of swine seems to
have taken place, about the rigid times of the Reformation,
in the western counties of Scotland. They were unclean
beasts ; it was sinful to eat their flesh, and neither creditable
nor profitable to keep them ; and though these prejudices are
now pretty much worn out, pork is not yet, in general, a fa-
vourite food, and, of course, the number of hogs kept and fed
are not considerable."
5. Political Economy.
The roads are in many places bad, but have lately been im-
proved ; though the materials begood and abundant, the wj/
climate is much against them. There are several canals, th&
river Clyde, navigable to Glasgow, and some railways. The
manufactures and commerce of Glasgow are of great extent
and ■well known. There is a corresponding agricultural
society there, and some minor societies.
1127
7843. DUNBARTONSHIRR 147,300 acres of exceedingly irregular surface, in two parts, distant
from each other SIX miles ; possessing little agricultural interest The arable lands are of very limited
extent, and he chiefly on the banks of the Clyde and Leven : the greatest part of the county consisting of
lofty mountains mcapable of cultivation. Coal, lime, freestone, and ironstone abound, and are exten-
sively worked. There is also ochre, schistus abounding in alum pyrites, which are made into copperas,
and a large quarry of blue slate. Lochlomond is weU known for its scenery. {Whi/te and Macfarlane's
Report, 1811.)
1. Property/.
Two large estates ; one exceeds 30001. a year. One third of
the county under entail, which greatly retards its improve-
ment.
2. Buildings.
More than a common shire of elegant villas and gentlemen's
houses. The most magnificent is Roseneath, the Duke of
Argyle, built by Bonomi, in 1 803 etseq. It is 1 84 feet long, and
121 in breadth, with two magnificent fronts, both ornamented
■with columns of the Ionic order. On his Grace's farm, which
is cultivated in a very superior style, there is also a large set of
farm offices, surmounted -with a high tower. Common farm-
houses and cottages formerly very wretched, beginning to im-
prove, but the progress slow. Dunbarton bridge 300 feet in
length, and twenty-five feet high in the centre.
3. Occupation:
Average extent of arable farms fifty acres ; sheep, or moun-
tain farms, average 600 acres. Farmers men of limited edu-
cation, without capital, and implicitly following the practices
of their fbrefathers. There exists among the labouring class in
this district an inveterate attachment to the possession of land.
When a young man is disposed to marry, he looks out for a
small farm, takes it at an extravagant rent, stocks it on credit,
and draws from it a scanty subsistence, while at the end of his
lease his effects are often unequal to pay the debt which has
accumulated during its currency. In fact the feudal state of
society has not entirely disappeared in this county. There were
lately, on many estates, and are still on some, farms let to three
or four tenants, « conjunct lessees, to be cultivated by their
united, or rather discordant exertions. Lands always let on
lesse, seldom for a shorter period than nineteen years.
4. Implements.
Curved harrows of a semicircular form are used by the best
formers for dressing their potato ridges. The diameter is equal
to the distance between the drills or ridges, generally near three
feet ; and they are used, before the young shoot of the potato
springs, to dress the surface of the ridge, and destroy any weeds
which may have begun to appear. The highland hand-harrow
is still in use in some comers of the highland district. It is
about two feet long and fifteen inches broad, consisting of three
bulls, and as many cross bars, with twenty-seven teeth and two
handles bent, like a hoop, with which it is wrought. It is em-
ployed on bits of land which have been dug with the highland
spade, either on account of their being too steep to be tilled by
the labour of a horse, or from their consisting of a number of
small comers among rocks and large stones, to which a common
harrow could not find access. AVilkie's wheel plough, with a
shifting muzzle ( fig. 1128.), is used to clear water-furrows on
wet lands, and also for the common purposes of plouRhmg
strong clays when wet; the muzzle being set so as both horses
may walk in the furrow.
5. Enclosing.
Gentlemen who pay particular attention to their hedges
never allow them to be cut with shears. In place of that
implement a hedge-knife is used, with a short and slightly
curved blade, thick in the middle, and tapering to a thin
and very sharp edge on each side. By cutting always upwards,
the twigs are cut clean over without being bruised or cankered,
and the hedge is kept, of what is universally allowed to be the
best shape, broad and bushy at the bottom, and contracting to
a sharp ridge at top.
Book L
AGRICULTURE OF WEST LOTHIAN.
I&7
6. Arable Land.
Potatoes cultivated bett« than any other crop in the county,
and with the greatest success. They are planted on every va-
riety of soil, and thrive even on the stillest clays where there is
a sufficient declivity to carry off the surface water ; but a gra-
velly loam suits them best : about twenty tons of manure per
acre is the common dressing. Drilling and dibbling are the
■common modes in the lowlands, and by large beds m the up-
lands ; average produce twelve tons, buteighteea are frequently
obtained.
7. Grass Land.
Some bog meadows, but no others ; some pasture fieldi round
.gentlemen's houses, but none on lowland farms; mountains
wholly in natural pasture, moss, lieath, bog, and moor.
8. Woods and Plantations.
Coisewoods form a very important and prominent article in
the produce o)f this county. They cover some thousands of
acres of soil which would otherwise be altogether or nearly
■useless, and yield an income to the proprietors little inferior to
what they derive from their best arable land. Tire steep slop-
ing banks of Loch Lomond and Loch Long, where the bases of
<he mouivtains run into the lake, are in mimy places covered
with them. The thin dry soil w hich appears in small patches
among the rocks seems to be particularly adapted to the growth
of oak coppice, which, from its .superior value, is chiefly en-
■couraged in such situations, while the moister and more unfa-
vourable spots are allowed to be occupied by less valuable trees.
These are chiefly ash, yew, holly, mountain-ash, birch, hazle,
aspen, alder, crab, thorn, and willow. The seven last kinds are
considered inferior in value to the rest, and commonly known
by the name of barren timber.
Copsewoods are cut from the twenty-second to the twenty-
fourth year ; after the latter period the bark of oak. becomes
fiard and corky, and of less value to the tanner.
Planiaiiont very generally formed on the uplands. 1000 acres
Jilanted at Luss previously to 1794. The Duke of Montrose, a
treat planter in Stirlingshire, and partly in this county, allows
200 Scotch pine, 400 larch fir, and 1000 hardwood trees, to an
■acre; prrfers oak plants of several years'.growth; and after thej
have beenestabliihtd several years, cuts them down, when they
push long and strong shoots. Plants by stellate slits, as already
aescribed (3953.), as pits in a retentive soil only serve as a re-
ceptacle for water. Firs, pines, and all trees'now regularly
Yruned. In the Isle of Skye, Lord Macdonald planted, in
821, 47,500 trees, and received the honorary premium of the
iJighland Society of Scotland. {Trans. Higid, Soe. vol. vi.
p. 268.)
The finest tree in thecounty is an ash in Bonhill churchyartl.
Jts trunk is about nine feet high, and, where smallest, upwards
of eighteen tiset in circumference. Of the three principal arms
into which it branches, the largest is eleven, and the smallest
near ten feet in ciriuniference. The branches ^wead in every
direction with uncommon regularity, covering an area of near
100 feet in diametcr-and the general aspect i« singularly vener-
able and majestic. There are no data from which its age can
he coiyectured. Nearly 100 years ago it was remarked by Mar»
sham of Stratton, near Norwich, a celebrated planter, as one
of the first ashes he had seen ; and a tendency to decay in son)e
of the boughs seems to indicate that it has stood there for 3e.
vera! centuries.
Yew trees and hollies abound on the banks of Loch Lomond.
A yew at Rosedoe is twelve feet round, and very high ; one at
Stockintibbert twenty-eight feet round, and the top spreading
in proportion. -
9. Improvements,
Some proprietors have drained bogs, and rendered them
tolerable meadows ; and drained and planted moors. Mosses
sometimes burned, the ashes ploughed in, and the land cropped
with oats, &c.
Irrigation, by means of the rills on the hill sides, tried in some
places with success.
Btt^MtikmenU have been made on a smail scale, and some oi
considerable extent might be formed with success.
10. Livestock.
Highland cattle from Atgyleshjre in general use ; but little
feeding, dairyiug, or breeding of this species of stock. Sheen
of a small black-faced kind bred in the county, to the extent
admitted by the upland pastures. Horses, a small hardy breed.
Hops increase as the prejudice against pork disawears. aD9
fallow deer occupy two of the largest islands of Lot-h Lomond.
The stag, or red4eer of the jncumtainsj has disappeared since
the introduction of sheep. A few roes still inhabit the wood-
lands.
Beet common.
11. Political Econffmy.
Manufactures of iron, g'ass, cotton, paper, alkali ; prlntinjj
and bleaching works, &c.
Window glass manufactured extensively, and equal in quality
to any in the kingdom. Pay 50,000/. a year of excise duties ;
employ iOfiOO tons of shippiiig, and consume 1200 tons of kelp.
The distillery of pyrolignous acid at Milbum employs about
seven hands, and consumes daily a ton of small timber, chiefly-
oak, from which the liquor, a kind of coarse vinegar, is ex-
tracted. The process beautifully simple. A number of iron
ovens, or retorts, are placed in a now, and filled with the timber
cut into small pieces. A iireaf coals or charcoal is kindled in
a furnace attached to each, and by its heat forces the acid to fly
off in the form of vapour. This vapour is conducted .by a small
tube, proceeding from each retort, into a refrigeratory, or loi^
metal pipe, on whicli a jet of cold water from above is conti-
nually falling. Here the acid is condensed, and runs from the
end of the pipe in a considerable stream, of a reddish brown
colour. Bt sides the Kquor thus procured, which is employed
in mixing colours for the calico printers, there is a considerable
quantity of tar and charcoal produced during the process, tlie
value of which is esteemed equal to Uie expense of fuel.
7844. STIRLINGSHIRE. 450,560 acres, much diversified by rivers, mountains, woods, and valleys,
■containing some rich alluvial soil, extensive peat-bogs or mosses, and some bleak hilly districts. The
culture of wheat and beans is the chief agricultural feature. Potatoes first cultivated in the fields in this
county by Prentice, a farming gardener at Kilsyth. {Belsche's General Fiew, 1796.)
Principal river the Forth, and mountain Benlomond ; the
Matter a cone, upwards of 13262 feet high, of sheep-walk, be-
longing to the Duke of Montrose.
Lime, coalj ironstone, granite, whinstone, and freestone
■abundant.
The cane lands constitute one of the xnost remarkable soils
in the county. They lie in a low situation on the banks of the
Forth, and extend about thirty miles in length and two in
breadth, at an average. They are elerated from ten to twenty-
five feet above high-water mark, and a small portion of them
in some places is overflowed at times by the river. The soil is
universally allowed to be the alluvion deposited by the Forth
«nd its tributary streams, and consequently to be the spoils of
the higher grounds, through which the river takes its course.
ft chiefly consists d a hazel-coloured clay, a small quantity of
sand, and a pretty large mixture of once organised matter. In
some places are patches of till of various colours ; but not a
«tone, so Iso'ge as to obstruct the plough, is to be found. The
soil of the best quality ; when dug first from the natural befl
is of a bright blue colour, and ot a substance TesenrfbMng the
richest soap, and sometimes even serves as a substitute "fax
fuller's eartn. In many ptaces the clay is excellently fitted for
making brick5, tiles, and a coarse kind of crockery ware. The
dejiths are from five to fifty feet. The subsoils are various, as
a stiff brick clay, hard till, and sea- shells in a natural state.
These beds of shells are from a few inches to four yards in
thickness : they are chiefly large oyscers, with a mixture of
cockles, whelks; and some other shells at present found in the
frith. These lands are in farms from fifteen fo 100 acres eac^
In the higher parts of the county the extent is frcw twenty to
1000 acres.
Of moors above 90,000 acres.
Coppice Ti'oods extensive, and plantations eoasiderable.
Carron iron- works of great extent, and well known. Large
cattle feirs held at Fafkirk. Chief commerpe the shipping oi
Carron articles for London and other places.
7845. WEST LOTHIAN or LINLITHGOWSHIRE. 71,580 acres of gejitly varied surface, without
liills or mountains ; clayey soil, and rather cold and variable climate. The minerals are coal and lime in
abundance ; freestone, whinstone, and some lead and iron, but the latter are not now worked. The coal
at Borrowstonness has been worked tipwards of five centuries. In an agricuUUKd view, the county may
be considered on a par with Mid-I.K)thian. (Trotter'$ General View, 1811.)
^
JB-
1129
□
01
a
ibJk
a
Property is in the hands of about forty proprietors.
Xord Stair is supposed to have introduced the culture
of clover, turnips, and cabbages at Newli&ton, in this
county, as early as 1720 ; and also the Rotheram plough,
for which purpose he sent a mechanic to England, to
acquire the art of constructing them. A hay drag, of a
very simple btit convenient construction, is used in this
county. Plans of a more decent form of cottages {Jig. 1 1 29.)
are given than are to te found in some reports. Each
cottage consists of two rooms (a, b) ; the one to be used
as a kitchen has a space for two press or close beds (c),
and in the other room there is a space for one bed {d) ; in
each room is a cupboard (e), but no closet, which is a great
defect.
The contrivance for making horses draw equally in
threshing-machines (2786.), was invented in this county,
hjr G. Henderson, of Bonhard. The culture pursi ed is the
East Lothian husbandry on the clays, and the Perwick-
»hire on the turnip soils. The chief commerce is from
the port of Borrowstonness, and there is scarcely any
manufactures, unless spinning, knitting, and tair.bourin«
in private families may be named.
«JJ?^nrFi5'\»!^^!^iPc'VM?^J^^' ^'"^^^ «'^'"«*» pnncipally of carse land, on the north bank of tht
nver Forth ; but partly of hilly district, belonging to the Ochills. [Erskine's General View, 1795.)
4 G 2
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE,
1188
The carse lands are rerv fertile j but part of the hilly and
moorr di>trict of little or n6 value. The agriculture is similar
to that of StirlinRshire. After the invention of the threshmR-
machine, one of the first was erected at Kilbagie, by George
Meikle, n 17S7 ; it is driven by water. A curious source of
manure is found in this county. The moss floated down from
Blair Drummond (21S9.) accumulates in the bays, and is
Siied as deposited with the sea-weed driven on shore by the
tide This moss and weed is taken out and fermented with a
Part IV.
small proportion of stable dung ; or the farmers spread it over
their cattle-yards, and it forms most excellent manure. Thus,
what is a complete hinderance to improvement forty miles dis-
tant, is brought here by the river at no cost, and forms a most
valuable addition to the resources of the cultivator. Till 1760,
no wheat was grown in this county, though it appears by old
abbey rentals that wheat was paid as rent at Cambus Kenneth
so early as 1147. Now wheat enters into almost every rota-
tion.
7S47 KINROSS SHIRE 47,642 acres, of varietl surface, but generally low. There are extensive
• jiosses and muirs, and not niuch rich soil. Their agriculture is mixed, and of no great interest. ( ire's
General View, 1793.)
where he sets an example of knowledge, industry, and good
management to all his neighbours."
Adam, of Blair Adam, the son of the celebrated architect,
the most extensive improver in the county ; draining, enclos-
ing, planting, more especially the larch and Scotch pine, and
building commodious cottages, extensively and judiciously
pursued.
Lochleven occupies 3308 acres ; three small streamlets run
into it, and the difference between its highest and lowest
surface, at diilerent seasons, is three feet. 1 he trouts of this
lake in high esteem ; those of the river Leven larger, weigh-
ing five pounds and upwards. - . . „ • »i,
^' Ur. Coventry, the learned Professor of Agriculture in the
University of Edinburgh, possesses an estate in this county,
7848 FIFESHIRK 322,560 acres, exhibiting almost every variety of surface and soil, from the moun-
tain to the plain, and from gravel to moss. The climate is generally mild, owing to the surrounding
waters • and what adds to the value of the county, both for culture and for the formation of country-seats,
it is rather drier than that of other counties equally far north. The agriculture is mixed, and may be
said to excel both in the corn and cattle department. The reverend reporter displays more than the usual
share of adulatory phraseology for that " highly patriotic individual, Sir John Sinclair," our " gracious
Sovereign," the Board of Agriculture, and the Government, " chalking out to the people a path by whicli
they may rise to opulence and consideration." {Thomson's Gemral View, 1800.)
6. Grass.
One fifth of the county inaccessible to the plough, and in
store sheep and cattle pasture; some bog or coarse lushy
meadows on peat, and a few spots of good alluvial meadow.
7. Gardens and Orchards.
The remains of an orchard at Lindores, but none of modem
formation. Some market-gardens near the towns, but most
of the inhabitants have gardens of their own. Some good
nurseries. Sang, an eminent nurseryman, and manager of
^ntlemen's plantations,— a valuable man to the county,— has
introduced an excellent system of planting, pruning, and
draining. Some of the first private gardens in Scotland jire in
this county, as that of Keith, Wemvss Castle, &c.
8. Woods.
Not extensive, but young plantations very numerous and
well managed. More' cedars and rare sorts of trees in this
county than in any other.
9. Live stock.
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
Coal, lime, and the usual rocks abound ; ironstone and lead
and copper ore abound, but none worked. Nearer Burntis-
land, upon the shore, and also in some other parts of the
county, there are quarries of hard stone, of a dark colour, with
the peculiar property of resisting the force of fire. It will
endure for many years, without being wasted or broken, though
exposed to the most intense heat. On this account it is used
for the soles of ovens, and for the sides of chimney grates.
Common and fire bricks manufactured of an excellent quality.
{Thomson's General View, 1800.)
2. Property.
Estates moderate ; largest, SOOOi. a year.
-3. Buildings.
Few counties so richly studded with noblemen and gentle-
men's houses ; about a hundred enumerated as deserving of
notice. Many magnificent buildings in ruins. Religious
houses, castles, and Falkland Palace. Farm-houses and cot-
tages formerly very bad, now greatly improved, and superior to
those in most counties.
4. Occupation.
Farms from 50 to 500 acres of arable lands, and some of
mountain pasture twice as large. Some of the largest and best
farmers are men who have emigratetl from other counties to
this less improved district ; but the greater number are sons of
local fanners, and not a few farms have been in the same
family for several generations. The reporter is an advocate for
corn-rents, a mode first revived in this county with the im-
provement of not taking the com, but paying in money,
according to the average prices. Leases for nineteen years ;
some formerly for one or more repetitions of the period ; in
general the restrictions reasonable, for the managers of estates
in this county are generally resident factors, and not Edin-
burgh lawyers.
5. Implements.
Ploughs with convex mould boards preferred for loose soils,
especially when in a wet state ; they free themselves more
reEulily of the earth, and make a neater furrow. An addition
to the plough, called a ridder (./^. ILW. a.), adopted in some
places, and found to clear away the stubble from the coulter.
1130
heard an English dealer say, that a Fife bullock of forty stone
will bring an equal, and often a higher, price at the London
market than an English bullock ten stone heavier, and equally
fat. A good Fife cow will give from five to seven gallons of
milk per day, from seven to nine pounds of butter, and from
ten to twelve pounds of cheese per week, tron weight, for some
months after calving.
Breweries, distilleries, flour and barley mills, frequent. The
linen manufacture extensive. Salt made from the sea. Tan-
neries, vitriol, &c.
The Fife Farming Society and the Inverkeithing Cltih, sup-
ported chiefly by tarmers,' are considered useful institutions.
The first was formed about six vears ago, and at present
consists of nearly 200 members. The principal objects aimed
at by this institution are, a mutual communication of disco-
veries and improvements in husbandry ; common protection
against thieves and depredators who shall unjustly invade
their property ; and raising a joint stock or capital for the be-
nefit of their widows and children, and of members reduced to
distress or indigence. Members pay one guinea at their entry,
and half-a guinea yearly. None are admitted but men of good
character ; and such members as shall be found guilty of crimes
and misdemeanors punishable by the laws of the land, are
liable to expulsion, and a total deprivation of all benefit from
the Society's fund. No member can draw any thing from the
fund till it amounts to 500/. ; neither can any one be entitled
to any eillowance until five years after his admission. "The
allowance fixed for a member fallen into distress or indigence,
is thirty shillings per quarter ; but this allowance is granted
upon the express condition, that he has not brought the distress
upon himself by drunkenness, or any other kind of disorderly
conduct. And during the time he is receiving the allowance,
if he shall be found guilty of dissolute or immoral behaviour,
it is put in the power of the managers to deprive him of
it. "The widow of a member is allowed twenty-five shillings
quarterly, so long only as she remains his widow, and main-
tains a good character. And the children, when no widow is
left, are entitled to draw the half of what their father contri-
buted. If a member shall die, and leave neither widow nor
children, his next heir, or whoever shall be appointed by him,
shall be entitled to the half of what he has contributed, after
deducting a proportional share of the expenses incurred by the
society since his entry. This society is, at present, in a very
respectable and flourishing condition.
7849. PERTHSHIRE. 4,068,640 acres, almost everywhere mountainous, but with intervening vales
of strong clayey soils, fertile in corn ; some gravelly tracts, and many mosses, bogs, and moors. The
mountains on the southern side of the county, where they are less high, are covered with pasture to the
summits ; those in the northern parts with pasture, heath, and copse. The minerals are coal, lime, free-
stone, slate, whinstone, granite, &c. the metallic ores, iron, lead, and copper, neither of which are at pre-
sent worked. This county serves to divide that part of Scotland on the south, which is generally adapted
to the raising of grain, from that of the north, which, with few exceptions, is more fitted for pasture It
also divides those parts of the kingdom on the north, where firs abounded in former times, and are still
found in the mosses, from those in the south, which carried oaks and a variety of other wood, but no
natural firs. It is also the general boundary, in regard to coal and granite, though both are found to a
moderate extent, the former in the north, and the latter in the south. The husbandry of Perthshire is
noted for its clay, or carse land culture, and for its plantations of larch trees. Its great improvers
Book 1.
AGRICULTURE OF PERTHSHIRE.
1189
hav6 been, or are, Lord Kaimes, the Duke of Athol, and Lord Breadalbane.
Fiew, 1813.)
{Dr. Robertson^s Genera,
1. Property.
Estates are ot all sizes, but the peaiet number large. The
management of the great estates was uniformly committed in
former times to the factor or chamberlain ; but agriculture
has become so much the amusement of the country gentlemen,
since the middle of the last century, that many of the proprie-
tors, besides the general superintendence of their estates, have
a farm in their own possession, which they manage by an over-
seer. Many of our improvements in agriculture are suggested
by the gentlemen of the army, in consequence of their remarks
on the practice of other countries. The gentlemen of the law,
during the recess Of their courts of judicature, turn much of
their attention to the cultivation of their estates ; and their
habits of application to the former study, quickens their ardour,
and ensures their success in pursuit of the latter.
If the property be extensive', besides an overseer on the land-
lord's farm, there is generally a factor or steward, and some-
times two or more are appoin'ted to manage the more distant
parts of the estate. In these cases, unless the landlord have a
turn for business, he is apt to lose sight of the detail of his own
affairs ; and if he be indolent, he has a good apology for neg-
lecting his interest, because he pays another person for taking
that charge otThis hand. The prosperity of the estate, and the
comfort of the tenants, depend in these cases very much on the
disposition of the factor.
The boundaries of estates are marked according to the na-
ture of the country. In the valleys of the highlands, different
properties are separated either by substantial stone-walls with-
out mortar (provincially dry stone dvkes),or by a river, or a
brook, or a range of rocks, or some other natural limit. The
lower hills too are sometimes bisected by these walls; but
more generally by bounding stones, fixed in the ground, and
set up singly ; in other instances, if the stones be small, they
are piled in heaps. The higher mountams are frequently
divided in a similar manner, especially when different pro-
tjrietors occupy the same side ; but when they occupy different
aides of the same ridge or general line of mountain, as com-
monly happens between parallel glens, their properties are
determined as wind and water divides, which means the line
of partition on the top of the mountain between the windward
ana lee-side, or as it is still more nicely marked by the tendency
of rain water, after it falls upon the ground.
had recourse to wadsetts, or feued off a part of his property at
a quit-rent, which was greater or less, according to the amount
of the premium that was paid in hand. The wadsetts are paid
up ; but the feus, being irredeemable, remain.
2. Occupation.
Arable farms from 30 to 500 acres. Farms in the moun-
tains large, and their extent generally defined by miles. Leases
seldom shorter than nineteen years' endurance. Kent, in a
few instances, partly in money and partly in the money value
of corn, on an average of two or three by -gone years, accord-
ing to the modem system. The culture requires scarcely any
remark, since there are only two kinds of aration in Scotland,
that of the clay soils of East Lothian, in which a fallow and
alternate com and green crops are introduced ; and that of
Berwickshire, which substitutes turnips for fallow, and allows
from two to five years of pasture, according as the soil is
. weaker or stronger as resting crops. A full account of the clay-
land culture has been given by Donaldson. In the mountain-
ous region, cattle chiefly, and sheep to a certain extent, are
bred and sold for feeding in the low arable districts, and sent to
the south of Scotland and England.
3. Gardens and Orchards.
In the Carse of Gowrie, a number (perhaps thirty) of orchards
of apples and pears, the fruit of which is sold to the neighbour-
ing towns. A few other parts of the county adapted to open
orchards, as the banks of the Tav, Earn, &c. In the valleys of
the highlands, geans and cherries abound. The trees thrive
well, live long, and carry fruit of the finest flavour and most
savoury taste; The cream-coloured cherry of Ardvorlich, and
the black gean of Castlemenzies, are highly esteemed in re-
spect of beauty and relish.
4. Woods and Plantations.
The Highlands of Scotland formerly covered with wood, as
the trunks of oaks and firs in the mosses, from that of Moss-
Hunders, near Stirling, to the bogs of Sutherland and Caith.
ness decidedly prove. Planting did not become general in
Perthshire till after the middle of the eighteenth century.
The county is now distinguished by its extensive tracts of larch,
common pine, and other trees, and by the enclosure of oak,
birch, ana hazel ; copses and woods formerly left open to the
browsing of deer and cattle. Different accounts have been given
7 of the introduction of the larch into this county. Dr. Kobcrt-
^«on states it as " said to he brought to Athol, from Camiola, by
„r one of the Dukes of Athol." According to others, the first plants
gi were obtained from a nursery at Edinburgh, and planted at
.j.Dunkeld in 1741, having been previously introduced into Scot-
Y. land, by Lord Kaimes, In 1754. {Encyctopxdia ofGard. 2d edit.
,.7053.) Some of the first planted larches in the low grounds,
;r near Dunkeld, have grown to the height of 120 feet in fifty
years, which gives an average of two feet four inches and a
quarter a year. It is stated by the Duke of Athol, in a commu-
nication to the Horticultural Society, made in June, 1820,
that on mountainous tracts, at an elevation of 1.500 or 1600
feet, the larch, at eighty years of aee, has arrived at a size to
produce six loads (300 cubic fec-t) of timl er, appearing in dura-
bility and every other quality to he likely to answer every
purpose, both by sea and land. (Hort. Trans, iv. 416.)
" The largest larches in Perthshire, or perhaps in several
counties around it, are at Monzie, the seat of (General Camp-
bell, which measure five feet in diameter, and about fifteen i
circumference. There are larches of a great size at Blair
Prummond, Gleneagles, Rossie, and many other places in
Perthshire. Posts of larch, which had been put into a moist
soil about fifteen years a^o, seemed still to be rresh and strong.
It is onlv of late that this tree has been generally planted, and
its excellence kuown in this country. It is the most rapid in
Its growth of any tree we have, an4 the most valuable species of
the pine, it is closer in the pores, has fewer knots, and the
wood is more durable than the common pine, and withal it in-
creases double the number of cubical feet, in any given time;
which is a singular property. It may vie in growth and profit
with the Huntington willow, which has been said to buy the
horse, before any other tree could buy the saddle."
There is a natural^)- wood on the south side of I-och Rannoch
which covers 2566 acres. One formerly existed on the Breadal-
bane estate, but there are now only a few gleanings.
There are more oak rvoods, and of greater value, in this
county than in ail the rest of Scotland. The counties of Dun-
barton, Argyle, and Stirling, come next to that of Perth. The
of oak is I
copse <
; cut once in twenty-four or twenty -six years. A
ji nic Adiiit; reason u is lounu lo
hip : its closeness in the grain
wing to frequent checks by early
Before agricultural improveme
few spare trees of the most promising appearance and of the
best figure are left at proper distances, from one cutting to
another, and sometimes tor three or four cuttings. The
straightest are generally spared, without attending to this
circumstance, that crooked oak is more eagerly sought aft6r
by ship- builders, and brings a higher price, than oak which
is straight. Yet as coppice wood is the object, straight trees
injure it least. Scotch oak has been found in general too close
in the grain to bend into planks for the sides of ships, and even
for the same reason it is found to snap when used as ribs to a
is the effect of slow growth,
early and late frosts,
agricultural improvements were so well understood
they are of late, or occupied so much of the attention of all
ranks in this country,many moorish tiacts of lands were deemed
incapable of cultivation, or of making a return in any other
way equal to their being planted. Proprietors, even in the
Carse of Gowrie, and in the Stormont, being actuated by
this principle, about thirty years ago, planted the waste
lands of their estates with Scotch firs. They have now found
that this soil, by being wrought, will make good arable land,
and will be more profitably employed in tillage. Some thou-
sands of acres have accordingly been cleared ; the plantations
rooted up; and the soil subjected to the plough, which now
lets at a progressive rent, in some cases amounting already to
twenty shillings the acre. Betwixt Cupar, Angus, and Perth,
a tract of thirteen miles, the plantations on two thousand acres,
upon both sides of the public road, have been grubbed up ;
and the operation is still going on, both there and in other
places. So powerful is the principle of imitation, that we all
go frequently one way until we have gone too far. All men
can imitate example, but all men cannot reason so far as to
form a principle of action to themselves. In a certain degree
this operation is salutary; but if carried to excess, it will leave
the face of the country naked ; and, perhaps, in all cases, the
cost is not counted, nor the balance fairly stated between the
plantation and the produce arising from some poor soils by an
arable system ; yet it must be admitted, that no trees are equal
in value to com and grass, either to the landlord or the public,
where the cultivation of these can be prosecuted with success.
5. Wastes.
The mosses and moors of this county are very extensive, and
great and successful efforts have been made for their improve-
ment. The most remarkable is that of Kincardine moss,
commenced by the late Lord Kaimes, and already described.
(21S3.) Draining, paring and burning, irrigating, embanking,
and all the different modes of improving land, have been prac-
tised ; and some, as draining and burning, to a very consider-
able extent.
6. Live Stock.
Breeds of cattle very various ; none peculiar to the county;
Angus, Fife, and Argyle herds common among the farmers.
English, Ayrshire, and most of the approved breeds of the
south tried by the proprietors. Breeding is the chief object,
and next the butter dairy.
Sheep. The ancient breed of sheep in this county were the
white-faced. They were few in number, compared to the flocks
at present ; and in the highlands were housed in cots every
night in winter 2md spring. About forty years ago, the black-
faced or mountain breed was introduced 'from the south, and
bought in, either when lambs, or at a year old. Their numbers
have increased beyond all expectation, since that time, over the
whole highlands of Scotland. In gentlemen's enclosures we
see different kinds, according to their fancy, or the superior
profit expected from one kind more than others-
Horses. The original breed were ponies, twelve to thirteen
hands high, and too light for two-norse ploughs. Four of
them -were used abreast, as is still the case in some remote
places. In the Carse of Gowrie and other lowland districts
oxen were employed to draw the plough, till about 1779 ; and
the horses were only employed to harrow in the seed, to carry
out the dung, and bring home the corn to the stack-yard.
When oxen were discharged from the plough, it became neces-
sary to purchase larger horses than were then bred in the county ;
and the markets of (ilasgow, Falkirk, Stirling, and Perth were
resorted to for that purpose ; which practice still continues.
At present some Northumberland stallions have been pro-
cured by proprietors, and lent to their tenants in order to raise
an improved breed.
Snnne. The prejudice against swine's flesh was such, that,
not many years ago, no highlander would touch it ; that is now
fast wearing off, and the culture of swine extending;.
There is a rahbit warren at Dunkeld, and red deer and roes
in one or two places. There are also three or more kinds of
fallow deer in the county.
Bees much attended to, and found profitable. Paterson of
Castle Huntley sows mignonette for his bees, which gives the
honey a most delicate flavour. Rosemary does the same. The
honey of beans is pale ; the honey of heath brown. "Their fla..
vour is also different.
7. Political Economy.
Roads wretched before 1745 : still only bridle roads in many
places of the interior. No canals ; salmon fishery to a meW
extent on the Tay. Linen manufacture, bleaching, and va-
rious other manufactures and public woiks. "The principal
salmon fishery is rented by Richardson from different proprie-
tors, and for the sum of 7000/. a year. There are flv» ethei«,
which produce from 100 to 200/. a year.
4 G 3
1190
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURIT.
Tart IV.
7850. ANGUS or FORFARSHIRE. 532,243 acres, one half, or more, of clayey and alluvial lowlands,
and the remainder mountain pasture, moor, and bog. The climate cold, moist, and variable. It is both
an agricultural and manufacturing couiity,and in respect to antiquities, facilities of furtner improvement-
natural productions, &c. of great interest. The botanic family of Don are of this county, A most valu-
able report has been furnished by the Rev. James Headrick, and is the last of the Scotch reixirts whi«l>
has been published, {Headrick's General View, 1813,)
1. Geographical State and Circwnstances.
The Grampian mountains abound in granite, which contains
topazes„cr rock cr,stals. Quartz, mica, porcelain stone, lead,
limestone, slata^ jasper,, porphyry, breccia, and shell marl occur
in various places. The Loch of Forfer abounds with shell
marl, which is taken out by scoops, and thrown into boats, by
•which it is conveyed to the shore* The scoop consists of a
large iron scrauer, somewhat similar t»the Dutch hoe, which
has a lon^ wooden handle listened into it, and a ba^ of strong
feather fastened by whipcord arotmd its rim.. The bag is i.>er-
fcrated by small holes, to allow the water to drain off, and has
a thong at its bottom, by which it can be turned over, and its
contents discharged into the boat. After the boat is firmly
fastened by anchors, extended from each end, one man forcibly
presses down the scoop to the bottom, by nxeans of a long pole
at the stern of the boat, while another man, by means of a
windlass, or wheel and axle, fixed in the opposite end of the
boat„ drags the scoop along the side of the boat, by a rope at-
tached to it, and then raises it up to the boat's side, where the
contents of the bag are emptied into the boat. When the boat
has received her load, the marl is thrown out upon a wooden
platform at the side o€ the loch, to drain.
Sandstimejlaga are very abundant in the neighbourhood of
Arbroath, and are qjiarried and. exported in great quantities.
Principal quarry, Gai-mylie ; the fla^ rise from three to six
inches of any portable dimensions. They are called siate-stone
flags, but are m fact sandstone in plates,,coated with scales of
mica or tick, of a greyish blue colour; and this mica occasions
their easy separation firora each other. With very thin plates,
called slatestones, houses are covered ; they sure laid in " plaster
lime" or moss (Sphagnum patustreji, but they seldom make a
roof that is water tight, and slate i« now considered cheaper.
A most valuable properly of the flagstone is, that when laid as
pavement on wet s«l, they never show this on their upper sur-
face; so that they are excellent for paving kitchens ,.pa.ssages,
paths in hot-houses, &c. Coal searching for, at the time the
leport was printing, but with no great hopes of success, the
district being considerably out of the boundary of the known coal
fields of Scotland. No minerals worked : various chalybeate
•prin^. No rivers, but a number of streams that are of mode-
tate size. Considerable sea, and some salmon, fisheries. The
herring fishery has been tried in the open sea, and considerable
<]uantities taken in June, July, and August. Those earliest
taken were plump and fat, which shows that all former theo-
ries concerning this most nutritive and abundant of all fishes
are erroneous, and how much it imports the interests of Bri-
tain, that the herring fishery should be conducted according
to tiie Dutch method, in the deep sea, and, as in the Isle of
Man, from May to September. Garvies or sprats, and spir-
lings or smelts, abound in the Frith of Tay. The sprats
resemble herrings, though of smaller size, and different flavour.
They are taken in great quantities at Kincardine, and other
places near the junction of the Forth with its estuary, by nets
or wicker traps, sunk in the ebb of the tide. The smelts are
tmaller than the sprats, and when fresh, emit a smell resem-
bling that of green rushes ; but when fried, make delicious
food. They are caught during spring, along the Forth, often
as ftr up as the Bridge of Stirling, by nets in the form of bas-
kets, fastened to the end of long poles.
Haddocks^ whitings, &c. cured by smoke, a practice first
»«ggested by Headrick, the reporter, in an essay jpublished by
the Highland Society of Scotland. Dempster, of Dunnichen,
in this county, first suggested the idea of conveying salmon to
London packed in ice. Reporter remembers when servants
in the neighbourhood of Stirling used to stiptilate that they
»houId not have salmon oftener than thrice a week ; now they
seldom have them once a year.
Every river is said lo have Us particular breed of salmon. They
have recourse to fresh water, to escape the attacks of seak.
Otters, and jiorpojses, and to get rid of the sea-louse, a small
black hiatal, whose attacks seem to inflict upon th«m excru-
ciating twtures. A few gulps of river water seem either to
kill the sea-louse, or to deaden the pa^ ix inflicts, Salmon
never remain longer in flresh water than is necessary to effect
the puri)Oses which brought them there ; but sometimes they
are surprised in the rivers by long droughts, and cannot get
over mill-dams, and other obstructions which lie between
them and the sea. When this happens, they soon get lean
and mangy, and die, theii bodies covered with white worms.
But in fresh water, they take various kinds of bait, and eagerly
catch at flies, and hence become a source of amusement to the
angler. During autumn, the salmon always rim up the rivers
to deposit their spawn.
The sparvnine of salmon seems to be a very slow and laborious
process ; and they get very lean, and even become unwhole-
some food^ while they are engaged in it- The scene of this
operation is generally where a stream begins to issue from a
stagnant pocf, oyer a sandy bottom. They begin by digging
a nole in the bottom, by pushing the sand and gravel before
them with their snouts, in the direction of the current, until
they raise it into the form of a bank, which checks the rapidity
of Oie current, while it allows the water to iiercolate slowly.
The male seems tc exert himself most in this work ; and be-
fcre its commencement, his snout becomes longer and harder
than usual, while, before it is finished, it is often worn entirely
?iway. While depositing their spawn, the male and female rub
their bellies upon each other ; the latter throwing out her roes
or eggs, while the male emits among them a milky juice,
which seems to effect their impregnation. After one stratum
of eggs is deposited in the ^rtificialnollow described, they cover
them with light sand, to prevent them from being washed
away by the water; and thus they form alternate layers of
cgps and sand, until the hollow be nearly filled up. The eggs
being dropped into a hollow place, are warmed into life by the
nun's rays, in early spring. The fry, being then very small,
easily escape from their covering of loose sand, and soon ac-
quire the size of small trouts, and are called salmon fry, or
smolti i which seems to be a contraction of latnititt The fiiit
flood now wasBes them 'mio the sea r and they are generaflT
swept from ott* rivers befbre the mMdie oTMay.
Salmon trout, or grilses, which ascend the rivers towards the-
close of the fishrng- season, are try some considered a dlstihcs
species of fish; but some Caithness fishers assured the re--
porter, that they proved by esperhiient, that grilses are oiHy
salmon of one year's growth, (ittj). p. it)3.)
The sea trout resembles the salmon, and frequeiitj all tSe
streams where it abounds.
Fresh water eels, contrary- to the practice of salmon, breedit»
the sea, and thrive and fatten in the fresh-water lakes and
ponds. During summer, myriads of their young fry are seen
constantly ascending the fresh-water streams, where they keep
near the sides, that they may avoid the current. In places-
where they meet with intemiption, such as behind a mill-
wheel, they often accumulate in lanre masses, and frequently
make their way up the crevices ofthe buiWing, or over the
dry land, until they reacih the stream above, in which they
continue their course. The larger ech are caught in thi*
county, while they are descending the streams during autumn,
probably to deposit their spawn in- the sea.
The observations of the reporter on various other species of
fish, and on salmon and other fisheries, are, like every thing
which flows from his pen, new and interesting.
2. Property.
Much divided, largest estate 12,000/. a year: property, at an
average, changes its proprietor every forty years. During the-
dark night o£ superstition, a man could take n»step n^pecting
bis property, or his domestic concerns, without l»a-»ing half a
dozen or a score of priests to advise him r and he was obliged
to compound for the safety of his soul, and the security ofhia.
property, by ample donations to the church. When a mar*
died without granting the.se donations, it was presumed to be
his intention to do so j. and what was originaHv an alms, or
fa-Tour, was claimed as a rij^ht. In our days, a nian can hardly
venture upon any step-of impertanse without having a posse
of lawyers at his elbow ;, and, after all, often finds hunself as:
fex from his purpose as if he had not employed them.
3. Buildings.
Sixty gentlemen^ seats ehnmerated ; not many with hand-
some buildings. Farm-houses and cottages most wretched,,
and slowsr o5 impioveme.it than in most other counties.
4. Occupation.
Farms of all sizes, but chiefly small. On the' Grampian*,
estimated by the number of sheep they will maintain.
5. Implements.
Old Scotch plough still used in a few remote places, antf
found an instrumeitt well adapted for breakingup waste, land
that is encumbered with the roots of shrubs,.or with stones.
At no remote period, it was usual to yoke four or six horses,
-1, ^ !.- .!.!_ . . ,- •^^- J.- "-' backwards before
make them come
forward. At present this plough is commonly drawn by four
sometimes by six horses, which are yoked in pairs, and the
driver walks beside them. But, except for the purposes al/-
ready specified, the plough which was first invented by the lat«
Small, near Dalkeith, and from him named Small's plough,
is universally used.
A threshin^-nuich , , _ ^
to very high falls of water, erected at Howmuir, by Stirling,
an ingenious man ; but is not yet perfected, and if it were,
could never become general.
A pick or lever with a tread, used in the same manner as a
fork or spade, for loosening hard ecurth or gravel : in fict it may
be called a one-pronged fork.
6. Tdlage.
Fallowing general. Seed-wheat washed with a ley of sofl
soap, to remove the smut. Potatoes introduced to the gardens
in 174.5, but not to the fields for manv years afterwards. The
late Dr. Walker, Professor of Natural History in the Univer-
sity of Edinburgh, was in the habit, especially during years of
scarcity, (rf uskig yams in place of bread in his own family.
He cut them into thin slices, and either boiled them over the
fire, or dressed them in the frying-p.in with as much butter as
prevented the pan from burning. When dressed in this way,
their taste was very pleasant ; and they were used in ail cases
where bread is commonly used.
7. Garden:^ and Orchards.
A great prejudice in favour of covering wall trees with
nets, to preserve the blossoms from the frost ; woollen ikets pr».
ferred.
8. Woods and Plantations.
Pew woods, but many plantations. In the mosses the trunks
of large trees found.
9. Rural Economy.
Farm-servants live chiefly on oatmeal, and potatoes and
milk. Their breakfast is porridge, which is made by stirring
:neal among bailing water, or milk, in a pot over thefire, with
a little salt ; and when it cools it is eate-n with milk. Or they
use brose, which is made by pouring warm water upon meal, in
a wooden dish, with a little salt, taking care to stir it well. Thii
too is eaten with milk, or with beer which is furnished in
place of milk, w^hen the latter is scarce. Sometimes, when
they are in a hurry, they mix the liquid with the meal in a
cold state. Their usual dinner is oat-cake, with sometime*
butter or skim-milk cheese, and milk. Their supper ia
the same -with breakfast, except that sometimes they US9
sowens or potatoes, in the place of porridge or brose. Butcher's
meat Is only used on particular ocpasions ; and fish by thos«
who are near the rivers and the sea-coast.
Much ridicule has been thrown on the Scotch, on account
of their immoderate use of oatmeal. This has been repre-
sented as inflaming their blood, and producing their favourite
disease called the Scotch, fiddle, and other cutaneous eruptions.
But oatmeal is as much used ui some districts of England as
in any part of Scotland ; and cutaneous eruption are much
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF ABERDEENSHIRE.
1191
more frequent In some of these districts than they are here,
where they are seldom or never heard of. The latter ought
rather to be ascribed to dirty linen or clothing, than to oat-
meal, or any particular species of food. Oatmeal, -when it is
sufficiently diluted with any sort of liquid, is known to be a
laxative aperient, wholesome, and at the same time a
strengtliening food for those engaged in hard labour. Engi-
neers, who superintend the excavation of canals, have assured
the reporter, that those labourers who lived entirely upon oat-
meal and milk did a third more work than those who used
butcher's meat, beer, and spirits. All of the former saved
money, while many of the latter involved themselves in debt.
As this sort of work is done by the piece, it affords a fair
comparison, not only of the wholesomeness of oatmeal in
promoting health, but of its power in supplying labour.
All families that have a house of their own use tea and
wheaten bread ; but among cottagers this is a rare and always
a ceremonious entertainment, at christenings and other solemn
occasions.
Several agricultural societies ; the first founded by Dempster
ofDunnichen, an eminent improver. An. account of the na-
tive plants and animals of the county by Don, the celebrated
Scotch botanist, who resided at Forfar, possesses great interest
for the naturalist. Indeed the whole survey ranks, in this re-
spect, with that of Farej of Derbyshire.
; 7851. KINCARDINESHIRE or MEARNS. 243,444 acres, chiefly of mountain, but containing about
one third of culturable surface. The climate is severe and hilly. The soil is gravelly, mossy, or clayey,
and scarcely any where naturally fertile. The only minerals are lime, found in a few parts, and granite,
whin, and freestone. Improvements commenced in this county about the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury, and have since been carried on with great spirit [Robertson's General Vietv, 1795.)
niture; for tea- drinking has now found Its way every where.
It seems to be gentle species of ebriety, which sets the imagin-
ation and the tongue at work, without incurring the imput-
1. Property.
In few hands : largest estate 40,715 acres, the rest in eight;
or ninety estates.
2. ' Buildings.
Some old farm-houses still remain, built of stone and turf,
and in all respects wretched ; but as leases are renewed, new
farmeries are erected on the most improved plans, with com-
modious dwelling-houses. So much cannot be said of the
cottages, which have undergone very little alteration in struc-
ture, for a long space of time. The" habitation of the farmer
may have advanced in elegance and accommodation a hundred
fold; but the cottager still lives in the same simple kind of
fabric as his ancestor did in the most remote ages of civilis-
ation. A cottage built of stone and turf, or more generally of
Stone and clay, commonly consists, like the ancient farm-
house, of two apartments divided by the furniture. In each
of these there is a tire-place and a window. The fire is still
without a grate ; but the window has two, and in some cases
four, panes of ^lass. The house may be about thirty feet in
length, and twelve feet (seldom more) in breadth, in the in-
side. The walls never exceed six feet in height ; and the roof
is covered first with thin sods, and next with thatch, carefully
renewed from time to time, and tied firmly on with straw
ro])es. The whole has much the appearance of a low hay-sow.
Kvery cottager has a little garden or kail-yard ; and many
of them bestow much care, and show no little taste, in its cul-
tlvation. Besides raising different kinds of coleworts, cab-
bages, onions, carrots, &c., for the pot, they frequently have
rows of gooseberry and currant bushes, together with roses and
ether flowermg shrubs. Some of them decorate the walls of
their houses with honeysuckles, or with ivy ; and in some in-
stances witl) cherry and apple trees.
The furniture o'f a Mearns cottage consists, in general, of
two close wooden beds, which are so arranged as to make a
separation between two apartments ; one or two wooden
chests for holding clothes ; a cask for holding meal ; a set of
dairy utensils ; an iron pot or two for cooking the victuals ; a
girdle, or heating iron, for toasting the bread ; and a few
dishes, some of wood and some of stone ware Two or three
chairs or stools, and a a press or cupboard for holding the
crockery ware, and the bread, the cheese, the butter, and, at
times, the whisky bottle. A tea equipage, on a small scale,
bas also of late become an indispensable article of cottage fur-
ation of drunkenness, or breaking any one precept, human or
divine. Wherever it is once introduced, it keeps its ground as
certainly as snuff or tobacco, and becomes nearly as inveterate
a habit ; but happily it serves as an article of food, at the same
time that it is a luxurious gratification. The value of the furni-
ture of a cottage may be estimated at from ten to twenty
pounds^
The cottagers are moderate and plain in their food ; but they
are not so m their clothing. Hardly any thing but English
manufacture will serve them. At kirk and at market, it is
difficult to distinguish the man from the master, and still
more so, the maid-servant from her mistress. Either the one
or the other have seldom less than five pounds worth of clothes,
and often twice that value, on their back at once.
The village of Laurence-kirk was founded by the late Lord
Gardenstone, about 1760, and in 1781 he procured a charter
by which it was declared a burgh of barony. There is an
excellent inn here, with a library and museum for the use
of the traveller. There is a manufactory of sycamore snuff-
boxes; and the lands in the neighbourhood have been raised in
value from ten shillings to three and four pounds per acr^.
3. Occupation.
Arable farms of various sizes : many small ; some 400 or 500
acres. Hill pastures let in tracts by the thousand acres. One
farm occupies 30,000 acres. Leases formerly let on periods of
two, three, and four times nineteen years, with sometimes a
life-rent after ; of late the term seldom exceeds nineteen or
twenty-one years, unless when great improvements are ex-
pected to be made by the tenants. The arable land is culti-
\-i;t d under judicious rotations, in which either turnips or
fa lo>v enters, according as the soil is light or clayey. The
mountains are devoted to the breeding of cattle. There are
few or no public gardens or orchards, but great extent of young
plantations, and some patches of native birch and hazel cop-
pice. The cattle are a small, hardv, kindly feeding breed.
Horses of the Clydesdale variety are reared by many farmers,
and most kinds of improved stock have been tried. Bees are
generally kept. There is a good deal of sea-fishing, and some
valuable salmon fisheries ; but excepting ropes, nets, canvass,
&c. there are no manufactures of any consequence.
7852. ABERDEENSHIRR 1,270,744 acres, one sixteenth of Scotland, and one fiftieth of the area of
Creat Britain. The surface for the greater part not very irregular, but hilly and mountainous in the di.s-
trict adjoining Inverness-shire : the soil in general clayey and moory ; the climate milder in winter
than that of Middlesex, owing to the circumambient sea, but the summers short and cold : the agricul-
ture assiduously pursued, and the products chiefly corn and cattle ; — great part planted with trees. The
report of the county is more than usually intelligent, and contains two preliminary sections, on the lessons
which other counties may derive from Aberdeenshire, and on the improvements which this county may
derive from others. Aberdeen exhibits a successful example of spade and plough culture combined, in the
small holdings of tradesmen, mechanics, cow-keepers, and gardeners ; and may profit from other counti^es
southwards, by greater attention to collecting manure, employing women and children in the lighter ope-
rations of husbandry, and limiting tenants to a certain number of subtenants. The celebrated Ur. Jamea
Anderson farmed extensively in this county at Mounie, now the property of his eldest son, Alexander
Anderson Seaton, a distinguis^hed horticulturist. {Keith's General Fiew, 18]1. I
1. Geographical State and Circumstances.
No metals or coal, and very little limestone, but abundance
©f excellent granite, which is used for every sort of building at
home, and exixjrted to London in great quantities. Besides
the durability, there is one other excellence attending the use
rf this stone ; the expense of carving it has simplified the style
of architecture. The Braemar mountains abound with cairn-
gorms and other precious^ stones ; some topazes and beryls
have been found, the laUer of great value.
2. Property.
Much divided ; only two or three large estates. Lord Aber-
deen's the most valuable, consists of 50,000 arable acres, and
25,000 waste.
3. Buildings.
A number of ruined castles and religious buildings, and a
few handsome modem houses. An ample descriptive list of
gentlemen's seats, which are very numerous. Farm-houses,
formerlj wretched structures of clay, turf, and thatch, are
now greatly improved ; cottages improving. " Decent farm-
hotues " first began to be thought of al)OUt 1760. In 1794, Dr.
Anderson observes in his report of the county on which the
present one is founded, that they are " for the most part v?ry
poor. This is," he adds, " highly impolitic. Nothing contri-
butes more to the content and conveniency of a farmer, than
good and well disposed buildings. It elevates his mind ; gives
him spirit to pursue his operations with alacrity ; and contri-
butes, in many instances, to augment his profits. I never yet
saw a thriving tenant who had not good nouses. But on no
account should he be induced to expend that stock upon
building houses, which should be employe* in extending his
own proper business. It ought always to be done by the land-
lord ; and, in general, a good set of houses upon a farm, will
briDg him much greater additional rent than the interest of
Edin. Gax. 1S27.)
the monev expended upon them Nothing will prove such an
allurement as good buildings, and long leafies on equitable
terms." Since 1794, when Dr. Anderson wrote the above para-
graph, we have got farmers from Berwickshire, Angus, Meams,
and other southern districts, who have taken farms in Aber-
deenshire, and many of whom have shown excellent examples
in agriculture, as well as improved their own capital ; and the
native farmers of the county, in consequence of their example,
both in requiring good houses, ^nd in raising good crops, are
now in a much more flourishing situation.
4. Occupation.
The greatest diversity in the size of farms ; from six acres to
thousands ; scarcely a mechanic, journeyman, or master, who
has not a farm of one acre or two, or a garden ; besides the
produce, they find the labour highly conducive to health, by
counteracting the effect of in-door confinement, and prolongeql
tmfavourable bodily postures, or contaminating respiration.
5. Implements.
Turnips formerly sown from a small tin box, nine inches
long, and one inch square, with two or three holes at oiie end,
through which the operator shook out the seeds ; thinned by
a part of the blade of an old scythe fastened to a bit of iron liktj
a common hoe ; the advantages of the latter are. its sharpness,
but it is easily broken. A child's cradle rocked by water.
6. Enclosures
Stone fences, or ditches and earthen banks, the commop
fences ; this fVees the land from loose stones, whic^i abound
every where, or serves to drain it.
7. Arable Land.
Potatoes, as well as various other improvements, first intro-
duced to field culture after the calamitous year 1782 ; not liked
by farmers so well as the turnip. The reporter tried various
experiments in distiUiDg from potatoes, which are recorded ia
4G 4
1192
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
IV,
the Farmer't Magasine, Yellow turnips very much sown, and
generallj preferred by the cow-keepers. R\ita b^ga in great
repu'e ; but requires to be earlier sown than the yellow, and,
consequently, does not admit of so thoroBghly cleaning the
({round. Carrot, beet, scorzonera, £ind other roots, fennented
and distilled by the rej>otter, the best spirit and Kreatest quan-
tity from carrot. White beet grown, but foiBia to yield less
produce than turnip, carrot, or cabbage.
8. Gardens and Orchards.
The coanty of Aberdeen is distinguished bejond any other
county in the island, for the preparatory branch of all good
gardening, viz. trenching the toil to a proper depth. We have
a numerous class of gardeners in the vicinity of Aberdeen, who
cultivate the lands in the neighbourhood of that city, and
whose practice deserves to be generally known, and generally
imitated. They, in fact, are kitchen gardeners, seedsnven, and
mirserymen. Tliey raise all sorts of roots for the inhabitants of
the cities of New and CHd Aberdeen, various seeds for the use
of the country at large, and nurseries so extensive, and so care-
fully managed, that, besides serving the landwl proprietors in
the county, and the owners of villas near the towns, they export
considerable numbers of plants to England.
A few good private orchards > the largest that of Ferguson
«f IMtfour, of ten acres. The site of k, nearly 6CH» years ^o,
contained the Abbey of Deer, founded in I'ZlS, and the garden
belonging to the monastery. It is a striking proof of the lux-
ury of the Romish clergy, and of their uncommon skill in the
raising of fruit-trees, that when Ferguson was laying out his
new orchard, he found in the abbey garden, tirst, rich soil
above three feet deep; secondly, a well-paved causeway of
granite ; thirdly, a bed of pure sand, one foot deep ; fourthly,
another causeway of granite ; and below the whole, a consider-
able depth rf rich mould. No greater precaution could have
lieen taken to hinder the roots ot tlie fruit-trees from being in-
jured, b^' piercing into a cold or wet subsoil.
y. Woods and Plantations.
In tbe higher division of Mar, occupy nearly lOO square
Biilesrin some pljices very thickly planted, and in others raised
by nature, at very different distances between the trees. Nearly
one third has been both enclosed and planted ; one third ha;
been raised by nature, without either enclosing or planting the
ground; and the remainder has been surrounded by fences
for keeping out the cattle, and then been stocked with wood,
raised from seed, either blown by the wind, or carried by the
rooks, who, by some instinctive impulse, carry the cones of the
Scotch pine in their bills, to provide habitations for their oH-
■pring, at a remote period ; when the seeds contained in these
eones become trees, in which they may build their nests. This
supposed instinct in the rooks is more probably called forth
with a view to a firm surface to break the cones on; and on
such an open surface, also, the cones are sooner opened by the
heat of the sun, which enables tlie rooks to find the seeds with-
out labour. In these higher diitricts, wood groM's so easily,
that the prt^wietor need only enclose an extent of hilly ground,
•nd thus shut out the cattle. The wind and the craws will, in
time, supply him with seads. But when these natural woods
grow very irregularly, it is found prudent to assist nature, by
sowing, or oocasionally scratching into the soil, a number of
seeds of the trees which are wished to be reared in the vacant
spaces. The greater proportion of these woods consists of
Scotch pine; it grows slowly at first, but is very valuable.
Where the soil is most barren, and the trees grow very slowly,
he wood of the Scotch pine is of the best quality. A remark-
able free, at Invercauld, was cut down about forty years ago ;
and the numbei rf concentric cirdes near its root, viz. 229^.
showed it to have grown and increased in size for 229 years,
besides the time that it continued stationary. Its wood was
declared, by all who saw it, to be much superior in qua.ity to
any that had ever been imported from the north or Europe.
There are thousands of pine trees in Braemar, some of which
are iiearly six feet in diameter, which are superior, in point of
quahty, to any wood of that denomination that was ever im-
ported into any place in Great Britain.
10. Improveinents.
Trenching has been already mentioned : witMn three miles
of Aberdeen, above 5000 acres trenched ; some acres paid b^l.
per acre for granite bowlders for exportation. Practice of
trenching very general throughout the county.
Irrigation ado^ited on poca- iron-stone clay, not worth tw»
shillings per acre, but raised in vilue to two pounds. The ope-
rator brought from G-loucester, by Ferguson rf Pitfour.
11. Live Stock.
More cattle bred than in any other county. Scotch cattle
first improved by crossing some English cows sent down by
Henry VII. to his eldest daughter, queen of James IV'. The
Eroduce was known as the Falkland breed. Williamson's three
rothers sell armually about 8000 head of cattle of various
breeds, in the south-country markets. They decidedly prefer
tbe true native, unmixed, and raised by good keeping, to the
mixture of the Falkland, or Fifeshire breed, with that of this
county ; and consider both these to be much superior to the
English, or to any foreign breeds. They justly remark, that
the food, or keep, should be always above the breed, and not
the breed above the keep. They consider the small highland
cattle, which are generally bought by inferior dealers, a& too
restless and impatient for feeding well. They prefer the native
low country breed to the larger ones, as they' are most easily
maintained, more hardy in work, have flesh of the finesf
and pay better in proportion to the goodness of thei]
aintained, more hardy in work, have flesh of the finest grain,
goodness of their ke
Every succeeding generation, for the last thirty years, has iii-
keep.
creased in size, and that by good keeping ; the native breed is
double its former size (f . e. weighs at least double its former
weight) since tjie introduction ofthe turnip husbandry. They
are also decidedly of opinion, that wherever a landed proprietor
breeds more than one year for family use, the stot should not
be tied up, but allowed to feed loose, in order to get gentle ex-
ercise along with his food ; that the second year he may be put
to high feeding, and be tied up, and may be corrtimied with
this high feeding as long as he seems to thrive; but that he
ought to be killed whenever he loaths his food, or appears to
be sickly, or not thriving.
The sheep few, and of a mixed breed. Horses are native
ponies, or purchased from Clydestlale. Poultry very common ;
great demand for eggs, both for the Aberdeen and London
markets. Red deer in great numbers in Braemar, and roes oa
the hills of Cromar.
12. Mamifactures.
County long celebrated for its woollen mannfactures. About
1660, Garden of Gilconeston, a wealthy sheep fasiner and ma-
nufacturer, had a daughter, who married Lieutenant Cadogan
of Cromwell's army, who afterwards was made a peer, and
from whom s{»ang the Duke of Richmond, Earl of Leicester,
Lords Cadogan, Vemey, Holland, C. J. Fox, and the heads of
other eminent English families-
Woollen, linen, and cotton, now extensively manufactured.
Knitting of stockings and spinning tint formerlv common, but
little attended to since the introduction of machinery.
7853. NAIRNSHIRE and MORAYSHIRE, forming together 512,000 acres of mountainous surface,
and some narrow arable vales, are included in one survey. The climate along the Moray Frith has always
been noted for its mildness, which is partly owing to its localities, and partly to the general prevalence of a
drv sandy soil On the mountains the climate is more severe. Lead, iron, lime, marl, freestone, slate, &c.
are found, but the first two are not worked at all, and of the others, only the freestone, to any extent,
(Leslie's General View, 1810.)
1. Property.
In very large estates ; as, for example, those of the Duke of
Gordon, and Earls of Findlater, Moray, Fife, and Lord Cawdor.
2. Buildings.
Considerable as lias been the alterations in the houses of
proprie.ors, it is nothing to that which has taken place in those
of farmers. Prior to the year 1760, in the dwellings of tenants
there were n«ther flo<ws, ceilings, nor chimneys. In a few of
them, the low wall was riKlcly raised of stone, and clay mor-
tar, and had a small glass window ; in one only of the apart-
ments was any plaster, and it wjis raked over the walls iir the
most artless manner; a loft, on which the roof rested without
any side wall, distinguished a very few of the most respectable
habitations. There was in general but one fire (which served
all domestic occasions) in the apartment, where the servants
and master, with his wife and maiden daughters, lived and fed
together. In the higher parts of the district, matters were
much worse. Now, upon every fhrm of any consideration, the
buildings are substantial, commodious, and' neat.
3. Occupation.
As in Kincardineshire ; but the arable lands being generally
light, the turnip husbandry is more prevalent. It is a singular
fact, that in an island in a lake, Loughnadurb, in this county,
the turnip is found more plentifully in a wild state than any
where else in Britain, This island contains a fortress, and the
ret>orter conjectures that turnips being introduced at an early
period from the Continent, the small plot of ground within the
walls could not be occupied by any crop more convenient for
its temporary inhabitants than that of turnips and coleworts.
It may be conjectured that the last crop, probably sown from
300 to"400 years ago, had never been gathered. Until of late
the turnips' in this island sprung up annually in a thick bed,
without cnlture. The root, in some fevoured situations, it i«
said, had been found of one pound weight; but they resembl*
in general the wild kind, havmg a long root like a small radish,
of acid juice, and a rough pointed leaf. Some plants of red
cabbage were also distinguished among them. Both were used
as pot-herbs at the tables of the coumry people, on which ac
count thev were sometimes raised in their gardens. When
they begaii to run to seed on this island, young cattle were fer-
ried in to feed on them. The Rev. Francis Forbes, minister of
Grange, has seen rentals ofthe family of Crp.igyvar, from which
it appears that turnips were paid as an article of rent in the end
of the seventeenth centurv. The quantity (about 200 bushels)
shows that thev must have been applied as food for cattle. By
the famine which unfortunately took place at that period, how-
ever, every agricultural branch of industry was so deranged,
that this important object, instead of being extended, was, even
there, wholly abandoned.
The cultivation of turnips, as a food for cattle, was first in.
troduced into this district, from the county of Norfolk, by the
late Earl of Findlater, about the year 1760,
When the artificial glasses and herbage plants were intro-
duced, only regtilar gardeners were employed to sow them ;
now common country operatives perform the operation. Few
orchards ; apples itnported from England ; a few natural
woods, and extensive artificial plantations. In general it may
be observed, thjkt in this, as in the other counties of the north,
everv description of improvement has been tried, and such as
are found to answer, as draining, burning, irrigation, planting,
road-making, &c. carried to a great extent. All the improved
implements have been tried, and the rep<Mrter even proposes an
addition to them, in the form of circular harrows; the circle of
cast iron, and the tines of wrought iron, screwed in or fastened
with nuts and screws. (See.fe, 7787.) There is a good deal of
fishing carried on along the coast, smd in the Moray Frith.
7854. The shires of ROSS, NAIRN, and CROMARTY are three adjoining mountainous districts, con-
taining 2,204,800 acres. Tbe soil is in general light, sandy, or peaty. Minerals of various kinds have been
found, but only building-stones and lime are worked. {Mackenzie's General View, 1810.)
1 . Property. I knowledge of the state of agriculture in these and other north-
Is in few hands, and till of late underwent but few changes. em coimties, previously to the rebellion in the year 1745, can be
There are no sources of information from wliich a precise | dcnved; but from what it has been smce that time, unul about
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF SUTHERLAND.
Ii92
fortable, in tlie capacity of servants to substantial tenants, then
in their present situation. The dwellings of cottagers are not
worse than those of the native farmers. The same roof covi rs
men, women, children, cattle, dogs, pigs, poultry, &c. It must
afford great pleasure to every lover of his country to observe the
neat cottages that are erecting in every part of tHe country ; but
it will be long ere the jjeople will learn the comforts of cleanli-
ness and the use ot chimneys. In many |)laces where these
have been constructed, the people do not" use them, but prefer
br. aking a hole in the roof of the house, and lighting their fire
oil the floor. Smoke, they say, keeps them warm.
The occupation and management of land is the same as in
other mountain districts. Some grain, chiefly oats, is raised in
the low grounds, with root and herbage crops, and the pastures
are devoted to the breiding of cattle and sheep. Every im-
provement is tried by the principal proprietors; and enligiiteiud
farmers from the south of Scotland, accustomed to breeding,
induced to settle on their estates, by long leases and moderate
rents. From these the smaller native farmers take an example
sooner than they would from the operations of jiroprietors,
which they are apt to consider as at least of dul ious value.
When a rent-paying farmir, however, adopts plans new to
them, the case is very different. Of woods, in this district,
there are very few ; but many plantations have been lately
made round gentlemen's seats, especially Lord Seaforth's. Jn
1.S21, Colin Mackenzie, Esq. of Kilcoy, plante<1 200 acres with
5000 trees; the sorts, oak, Scotch pine, larch, alder, birch,
ash, and some ornamental trees. (HiM. Hoc. Trans, vol. vi.
p. 2.58.)
The great post roads in this district have been made, in part
by government, and in part by the proprietors. Thtre is a
cotton manufactory at Cromarty, and the reporter suggests the
idea of manufacturing tar from the trunks of fir trees, found
bedded in all the mosses of tliis and other highland districts.
7855. CAITHNESS. 395,680 acres, three eighths of which is deep, mossy, and flat moors, covered with
heath ; three eighths mountain, moor, and some hilly pasture ; and the remainder in cultivatable land, lakes,
&c. There is very little wood, either natural or artificial ; but excellent lime and freestone On the whole
it is one of the coldest, wettest, and most dreary counties of Scotland ; and is in no way remarkable, unless
for bemg the scene of Sir John Sinclair's practical attempts at improvement. Of these tiie chief seems to
have been the enlargement of tlie town of Thurso; of which, and of various other schemes, ample in-
formation is given in the report, and in a number of appendices to it, by Sir John himself. {HenUerson's
General View, 1812.)
1760, it may safely be concluded, that agricultural knowledge
was neither sou .ht for nor djsired. The mode of management
which hEis been practised in these counties, and in other parts
of the highlands, and which has been handed down from
father to son for many generations, is still to be found in the
midst of the most improved districts. We still see the arable
l:<nd divided into small crofts, and many of the hills occupied
as commons. ()n the west coast particularly, the ground is
seea covered with heaps of stones, and large quantities are col-
let ted on the divisions between the fields ; so that a consider-
able portion of the land, capable of culUvation, is thus rendered
Useless, by the indulgence of the most unpardonable sloth.
The man^ement of the native farmers is most destructive.
The soil of one field is dug away to be laid upon another;
and crop .succeeds crop, until the land refuses to yield any
thing. It is then allowed to rest for a season, and the weeds
get time to multiply. Such, we must suppose, was the system
of farming before the rebellion ; we caimot imagine it to have
been worse.
2. Bui/dings.
The old highland tenantry are universally ill accommodated.
Thf y live in the midst of filth and smoke ; that is their choice.
But wherever farms have been laid out on a proper scale, and
are occupied by substantial end well-educated men, we find the
farm-houses and office* handsome and commodious. Every
proprietor who wishes to see his estate rapidly improved, will
erect suitable building-;, at his own expense, before he invites a
good tenant to settle upon it. The interest of his money will
be always cheerfully paid ; and if the landlord agrees that the
repairs shall be maae at the mutujil expense of himself and his
tenant, the latter will thrive, and the former will never have
to demand his rent twice. The present race of highland
tenants will yet find themselves much happier, and more com-
1. Property.
Is in a tew hands, and the Irish practice of tacksmen tenants
exists, and has existed from time immemorial in the county.
These tacksmen, as they are called, generally occupy a part
of the land themselves, and sub-let the remainder to the small
farmers, for a certain money-rent, payments in grain, customs,
and service (the latter in many cases unlimited) ; so as to have,
upon the whole, a surplus rent for the trouble and risk of reco-
vering their rack-rents from the sub-tenants.
A few young men from the south of Scotland have been
brought to this county, to superintend the proprietors' farms or
domains, for the purpose of introducing the practice of modem
husbandry. These, from time to time, have taken farms in
this county ; but whether their agricultural skill was superfi-
cial, or that they did not understand the mode of farming best
adapted to this cold and moist climate, they have neither in-
creased the crops, nor improved the landlords' farms placed
under their direction ; nor has their industry or skill produced
better crops on their own farms than what is raised by a similar
class of the coimty farmers, who have never been out of it.
78.'}6. SUTHERLAND. 1,872,000 acres, chiefly of mountain and moor; and a climate about a fort".
night later than that of Edinburgh. The greater part of the county is the property of the Marquess of
Stafford, whose astonishing, masterly, and successful improvements have been amply detailed in Loch's
work, from which we derived so much information for Staffordshire and Shropshire, and to which we
again recur. {Henderson's General View, ^c. Loch's Improvements of the Marquess of Staffoid, Sfc. 1819.)
The principal farmers in the county under review are intelli-
gent gentlemen, who have been for some tirne in the army, or fol-
lowed other avocations, either in the southern counties of Scot-
land or in England, who work their farms upon the principles
of modem agriculture, as practised in the southern counties of
Scotland, as far as the state of the county, as to climate, roads,
the means of improvement, markets, &c. will admit, but at a
much greater expense than is done to the southward, and, of
course, much less benefit to themselves. In general they have
other sources of income, which enable them to live in a social
and comfortable state in society ; they are better educated than
farmers paying a similar rent in England; agricultural know-
ledge, therefore, is soon circulated amongst them.
"The smaller class of farmers, with but few exceptions, are in-
dustrious, sober, sagacious, and moral in their behaviour. They
have, unfortunately, a turn for litigation, and expend more
money than they ought to do in law, by which their circum-
stances are often injured.
The estates of Sutherland have only lately undergone that
change which began to operate in England as far back as the
reign of Henry VII. This change had for its object the cre-
ation of a middle class, by the depression of the barons and the
raising up of the next class of the community. This obji ct
was gradually and successfully accomplished in England by the
time of Queen Elizabeth, and in the south of Scotland soon
after the union of the two kingdoms : but the highlands, or
most northerly counties, underwent no change till the discom-
fiture of the pretender, and the abolition of the heritable juris-
dictions then existing in the north, in 1747. This invaluable
act having brought the highland chieftains within the pale of
the law, and placed them on the same footing as the other
gentlemen of the land, they began rapidly to acquire the same
tastes, to be occupied with the same pursuits, to feel the same
desires, and to have the same wants as their brethren in the
south. In order, however, to indulge the.-e propensities, and
to be able to appear in the capital with due effect, it was ne-
cessary that they should convert their estates to that mode of
occupation most suited to their circumstances, and from which
they could derive the greatest income. I.uckilv in this, as in
every other instance in political economy, the 'interest of the
individual and the prosperity of the state went hand in hand.
And the demand for the raw material of wool by the English
manufacturers, enabled the highland proprietor to let his lands
for quadruple the amount they ever before produced to him.
These arrangements continued to be carried into effect from
time to time, in the southern and central highlands, up to
about the commencement of the French revolution war ; not
al« ays, however, without seriotis resistance on the part of the
people.
'rhe northern highlands still remained to underco that change
mhich the rest qf the island had alteady adopted. In this district
it naturally began to be followed in the counties situated near-
est to those into which it had already been introduced. In
Ross-shire, accordingly, it was undertaken on a great scale, in
1792. The dissatisfaction produced was so great, that the
most serious affrays took place, and the militaiy had to act,
and blood was shed before quiet was restored. Between that
time and 181.'), the greater portionof the county of Sutherland,
bt'longing to Lord and Lady Stafford, was arranged according
to those plans so universally adopted. This ancient condition
of society prevailed longer on the estate of Sutherland than in
any other part of the island, on account of its diflScult access
across the Dornoch and other friths, and the total want of
roads in the county till 1809. The estate of Sutherland
{fifr. 1131. a, a, a), including the barony of Assynt (6, ft, A), and
trie late purchases made bv the Marquess of Stafford, up to
1819, was computed to contain more than 800,000 acres. The
estate of Lord Reay (c) is more than half that extent ; it was
purchased some tinie ago by the Marquess of Stafford, and an-
nexeel to his own estate. The residue of the county belongs to
different smaller proprietors (d to n).
In 1809 was begun a line of road, conducted according to
the best principles of the art, and made in the most perfect
manner, from the taun of Inverness by Beauly and Dingwall,
to the boundaries of the county of Sutherland ; two excellent
stone bridges, consisting of five arches each, hav'nfc been built
across the Beauly and Conon rivers. The two principal ob-
structions these roads had to contend with and to surmount
wi re those which were occasioned by the two fi iths of Dornoch
(.fig- 1131. 1.) and of Loch Fleet (2). The former, tsp cially,
presentid obstacles of considerable moment, arising out of tlie
width of the channel, and the want of a proper foundation on
which to construct a bridge. If the same plan had been fol-
lowed in this instance, which has been adopted on the two
southern ferries, namely, of ascending to the point at which
the frith terminates and becomes a river, it would haye carried
the road so much into the interior, as to counterbalance those
advantages which are at all times obtained by the substitution
of a bridge in the place of the most perfect ferry which can he
establishetl. To avoid either of these inconveniences, a very
careful survey of the whole frith was made ; and the engineer,
Telford, determined to recommend the con.struction of an iron
bridge of magnificent dimensions (See an engraved view in the
Bd. Encyc.y at Bonar, a point where the frith narrows itself
considerably, and above which it again expands, though not
to its former dimensions. This structure consists of an exten-
sive embankment, with two stone arches of fifty and sixty feet
span, respectively ; and one iron arch of 150 feet span. It cost
1.3,971/. From this point, the heritors of Sutherland have con-
structed a road (4,4) to Tongue (c), the seat of Lord Keay,
situated upon the Northern Ocean.
In many places, these roads are cut through the hardest
rock : in others, thev are obliged to be supported on bulwarks
of solid masonry, fixpensivedrains to protect them from the
mountain floods, and bridges over the innumerable streamt
that rush from the hills in every direction, are required. The««
1194
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV
must be formed of the most durable materials, and the best ,
■workmanship, to resist the impetuosity of the torrents. No-
thing will set this m so striliing a point of view, as to state, that
upon the projected road to Assynt, a distance of forty-six mUes,
1131
three bridges of three arches each, two bridges consUting of
one arch of forty feet span, fiye of twenty feet span, three of
twentjr.four, six of eighteen, two of twelve, besides many others
of inferior dimensions, would be required. On the Stafford
estate excellent inns, often combining farmeries, have been
built in a number of places at an enormous expense. As an
example, we may refer to one ifie. 1132.) containing an outer
kitchen and servants' stair (a), with a pantry (A), two best par-
lours, with movable partition for great occasions (c), principal
entrance (</), a small parlour (e), small room {f), kitchen fe'),
back kitchen and servants' stair {h). Over are five bedrooms,
and nine garrets for beds.
Thus, m the course of twelve years, has the county
of Sutherland been intersected, in some of its most im-
portant districts, with roads, in point of execution
superior to most roads in England. And owing to the
equally praiseworthy exertions of the counties of Ross
and Inverness, on the one hand, and of Caithness on the
other, the same perfect means of communication now
exists, from the burgh of Inverness to the town of
Thurso upon the North Sea.
Ferv dittricU of Scotland possas so small a proportion
of laiUl fit fur cultivation, compared with its extent, as
Sutherland ; and previously to the year ISll but even a
sniall portion of that was brought into cultivation.
Each shore is fringed (if the expression maybe used)
with a narrow border of arable land, which, on the
south-east coast, extends from a few hundred yards to
about one mile in breadth : the interior consiste entirely
of mountains.
The lands were let to tacksmen, as in Ireland, till in
latter times, when a certain district was let to the
whole body of tenants resident in each " town or town-
ship," who bound themselves, conjointly and severally,
for the payment of the whole rent. This land was
held, as expressed in Scotland, " run rig," or like com-
mon field land in England.
The effect of this arrangement was to scatter thickly a hardy,
but not an industrious race of people up the glens, and over
the sides of the various mountains; who, faking advantage of
every spot which could be cultivated, and which could with
any chance of success be applied to raising a precarious crop of
inferior oats, of which they baked their cakes, and of here,
from which they distilled their whiskey, added but litUe to the
industry, and contributed nothing to the wealth, of the empire.
Impatient of regular and constant work, all the heavy labour
was abandoned to the women, who were employed, occasion-
ally, even in dragging the harrow to cover in the seed.
_ Vo build their hut, or get in their peats for fuel, or to per-
form any other occasional labour of the kind, the men were
ever ready to assist; but the great proportion of their time,
when not in the pursuit of game, or of illegal distillation, was
spent in indolence and sloth. Their huts were of the most
miserable description. They were built of turf, dug from the
most valuable portions of the mountain side. Their roof con-
ftisted of the same material, which was supported upon a rude
wooden frame, constructed of crooked timber, taken from the
natural woods belonging to the proprietor, and of moss-tir dug
from the peat bogs. The situation they selected was uniformly
on the edge of the cultivated land, and of the mountain pas-
tures. They were placed lengthways, and sloping with the
declination of the hill. This position was chosen, in orilpr that
all the filth might flow from the habitation without further
1132
exertion upon the part of the owner. Under the same roof,
and entering at the same door, were kept all the domestic
animals belonging to the establishment. The upper portion
of the hut was appropriatetl to the use of the family. In the
centre of this upper division was placed the fire, the smoke
from which was made to circulate throughout the whole hut,
for the purpose of conveying heat into its farthest extremities.
The effect being to cover every thing with a black glossy soot,
and to produce the most evident Injury to the appearance and
eyesight of those most exposed to its influence. The floor was
the bare earth, except near the fire-place, where it was rudely
paved with rough stones. It was never levelled with much
care, and it soon wore into every sort of incouality, according
to the hardness of the respective soils of which it was composed.
Every hollow formed a receptacle for whatever fluid happened
to fall near it, where it remained until absorbed by the earth.
It was impossible that it should ever be swept ; and when the
acc-imulation of fiith rendered the place uninhabitable, an-
other hut was erected in the vicmity of the old one. Tbe old
Book T.
AGRICULTURE OF SUTHERLAND.
1195
rafters were used In the construction of the new cottage, and
that which was abandoned, formed a valuable collection of
manure for the next crop.
The introduction of the potato, in the first instance, proved no
blessing to Sutherland, but only increased this state of wretch-
edness, inasmuch as its cultivation required less labour.
So Ions '^ ^^^^ system just describ-d remained in full force,
no attempt could be made to improve or meliorate the situation
of these poor people. To better their condition, however ; to
raise them from such a state of continual poverty and occasional
want ; to supply them with the means, and to create in them
the habits of industry, was, and is the bounden duty of the
owners of every such property. And it was not less their duty
to do so, because the same arrangement which was calculated
to produce this salutary effect, was at the same time the best
suited to increase the value of their property, and to add to
the fjeneral wealth of the community.
The futtdametttal ptindple of ttgriculiuml improvement in this
case was derived from no speculative reasoning, but from what
has actu:illy taken place in a different but similarly circum-
stanctd part of the kingdom.
Jt is well known that the borders of the two kmgdoms were
inhabited bv a numerous population, who, in their pursuits,
manners, and general structure of society, bore a considerable
resemblance to that which existed in the highlands of Scotland.
>Vhen the union of the crowns, and those subsequent transac-
tions which arose out of that event, rendered the maintenance
of that irregular populaUon not only unnecessary, but a burden
to the proprietor to whom the land belonged, the people were
removed, and the mountains were covered with sheep. So thai
it had been for a length of time proved by the experience of the
stock farmers of those mountain tracts w hich comprise the
northern dibtricts of England, and the southern parts o Scot-
land, that such situations were peculiarly suited for the main-
tenance of this species of stock. Taking this example as their
guide, experience had still further prove<l, that the central and
western highlands of Scotland were eqtiallv well calculated for
the same end. Reasoning from this success, and observing
that the climate of Sutherland, owing to its vicinity to the
ocean, and to its being considerably intersected bv arms of the
sea, and much more moderate than this latter district, it was
fairly concluded that this county was even better fitted for this
system of management than the heights of Perthshire and
Inverness-shire. The inferior elevation of its mountains con-
tributed still further to this effect, and held out every encour-
agement to adopt the same course which had bc'cn pursued
with such success in both parts of the kingdom.
The propriety of converting the mountainoua parts nf the ctmnly
into sneep-tral/et was in this way rendered evident, provided the
people could be at the same time settled in.^ituations, where,
by the extrcise of their honest industry, they could obtain a
decent livelihood, and add to the general mass of national
wealth, and where they should not be exposed to the recurrence
of those privations, which so frequently and so terribly afOicted
them, when situated among the mountains.
i principle of providing for the loner chut of tenant* by the
tttuhliahment of fisheries was thus derive<l " " ' "
The
- „„ It had long been
known, that the coast of Sutherland abounded with many
diflerent kinds of fish, not only sufficient for the consumption
of the county, but affording also a supply, to any extent, for
more distant markets, or for exportation when cured and
saltt'd. IJesides the r^ular and continual supply of white fish,
with which the shores thus abound, the coast of Sutherland is
annually visited by one of those vast shoaU of herrings which
frequent the coast of Scot-
settle there. Such ij the policy of Lord Stafford'! qpera-
tions, in which he has expended, and continues to ex-
pend, independently of the cor.t of improvements on the
mansion (./?§•. 1134.J and park of Dunrobin, immense sums.
Happily the success has equalled the most sanguine expecta-
tions ; but for the very interesting details of execution, our
limits oblige us to refer to the work of Loch, which, as already
observed (7795.), we consider of very singular agricultural
interest.
land. Itseemedasifithad
Veen pointed out by nature,
that the system for this re-
mote district, in order that
it might bear its suitable
importance in contributing
its share to the general stock
of the county, was, to con-
vert the mountainous dis-
tricts into sheepwalks, and
to remove the iJthabitants to
the coast, or to the valleys
near the sea. Several sea-
ports were improved by the ^'
construction of piers {fig.
1133. u) and breakwaters
(6) ; and the plan of a town
being formed, the inn,
churi-h, post-office, market-
place, and other public
buildings, were erected by
Lord Sutherland, and the
rnost liberal encouragement
given by loans of monev,
grants of land at little or no
feu di.ty, fee. to fishers,
manufacturers, tradesmen,
«c., both on a large and
(mall scale, to come aod
1134
1196
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
7857. INVERNESS-SHIRE. Upwards of 7,000,000 of by far the most mountainous region in
Scotland. It reaches from sea to sea on the main land, and comprehends many islands, which are scat-
tered far and wide. The hills and moors were formerly covered with fir woods, the remains of which are
dug up in all the moors in abundance. The climate is rainy, mild on the west coast, but less so on the
east. The soil of the vales is loamy or gravelly. The principal economical minerals are granite, lime-
stone, and slate ; but lead, iron, marble, &c. have been found in different places. The county is remarkable
for its native fir woods, and for that stupendous national work, the Caledonian Canal. Improvements
were first commenced about Inverness by Cromwell's soldiers, {Robertson's General View, 1810.)
1. Property.
In few hands ; larffest. Lord Macdonald, of the Isle of Skje,
the only nobleman who resides in the county. The mountain
farms are large, and, as in similar cases, reckon by miles, or
by the number of sheep they are supposed to carry.
2. Gardens and Orchards.
To be found in a few places ; and some old pear trees, planted
bv the monks, are still in a bearing slate at Beauly, and one or
two other places. There is an eicellent fruit and forest tree
nursery at Inverness.
3. Woods and Plantations.
The Scotch pine, for the most part, took possession of the
south side of the valley, and made choice ot a northern ex-
posure ; the birch, the hazel, and the oak, occupied the warm-
est side of every district ; while the alder and a few ashes
ran along the streams. Not only the continental parts had
this natural mantle, but the islands of this country appear,
from the fragmenU of trees found in the mosses, to have been
at some remote period, mostly, if not wholly, under forests.
The only remains of growing wood at present in the islands are
at Portree and S'ate in Skye, anda little in the island of Kaasa.
Trees were burned or felled to make room for men, by en-
larging the pasturage of catt'e, and affording fresh surface for
com. At present the Scotch pine covers more surface in this
county, than all the other kinds of trees taken together ; and
the natural pine-woods of Inverness-shire exceed tt<e quantity
of this wood growing naturally in all the rest of Britain. In
Strathspey alone, it is reported, upon authority which cannot
be ca'led into question, that fifteen thousand acres of ground
are covered with natural firs. On the south-side of l/ochai;-
kaig, of Glengarry, of Glenmoriston, Strathglas, Glenstra-
faras, and at the head of Lochsheil, as mentioned above, the
bounds of country under this wood are reckoned by miles, not
by acres. The oak woods of this county are not so large, nor
so well taken care of, as they are in Perthshire.
There are extensive birch woods, the timber of which is used
for fencing and the coarser articles of husbandry, and the bark
for tanning.
4. Live Stoclr.
Cattle are of the Skye or Ky'oe breed, usually, however,
known as the highland breed, and already descrii)ed. (6796.)
The cows yield only half the quantity of milk of the breeds of the
low counties; generally from two to two gallons and a half;
but it is rich, and productive of butter of excellent flavour. The
diseases of highland cattle are few. The manner of disposing
of cattle is as follows : AVhen the drovers, from the south and
inferior of Scotland, make their appearance in the highlands,
which always happens during the latter end of April, orth^
bpginning of May, they give intimation at the churches, that
upon a particular day, and in a central place of the district,
they are ready to purchase cattle from any who offer them for
sale. The drovers are of two descriptions : either tho^e who
buy by commission for persons of capital, who, being diffident
of their own skill, or averse from fatigue, choose to remain at
home ; or those who purchase cattle on their own account.
Much address is used on both sides, to feel the pulse of tl^e
market at these parochial meetings, before the price of the
season is mutually settled ; and it may happen, that many such
small trysts or meetings take place "in dilferent parts of the
highlands, before the price be finally determined. The anxiety
on both sides is sometimes so great, that the cattle are given
away upon a conditional contract, that if the price rises within
7858. ARGYLESHIRE. 2,43.'?,000 acres; the eleventh part of Scotland, and the thirtieth of Great
Britain, and nearly the whole of the Scottish kingdom from A. D. 503 to the subjugation of the Picts in
843. The surface of the country is rough and mountainous : in the northern parts " Alps piled on Alps
hide their heads in the clouds." The climate is moderately mild, very moist in the vales and on the coast,
but cold and severe on the elevations. The soil of the vales is generally light ; the minerals are copper,
lead, iron, coal, strontian, freestone, granite, limestone, marble of several different colours, slates, &c., but
the two first are not worked at present. There are numerous bays, inlets, and lakes, in some of which
excellent fish is caught. The county is in no respects remarkable' in an agricultural point of view ; it
furnishes immense quantities of catlle and sheep to the graziers and feeders of the south ; and there are
some oak coppices and artificial plantations. {Smith's General View, 1810. Edin. Gaz. 1827.)
a limited time, the seller will receive so much more ; but if
the lean cattle fall in value, the drover will get a reduction.
Sheep are extensively reared, and generally of the Linton or
Lammermuir black-faced sort. The Cheviots are also very
prevalent.
Horses either the native pony or improved breeds from the
low coimtries farther south.
Roes are frequent in a wild state in all the woody and warm
glens.
5. Political Economy.
Roads and bridges have been going forward at the expense
of Government ever since 1743, and earlier ; and the Cale-
donian Canal is well known for its magnitude and the excel-
lence of its execution. There are various fisheries on the
lakes and coasts ; but few manufactures.
As one of the obstacles to improvement, common to this and
the other highland counties, and indeed to every county, the
reporter mentions the stubbornness of the common people, in
adhering obstinately to old and slovenly habits. As men rise
in years, the reluctance to make any uncommon exertions, and
particularly to introduce change into any thing, which relates
to their personal accommodation, gradually grows upon them.
Having been long accustomed to a certain course of employ-
ment, of gratification, of lodging, of dress, and of food, they
resist strenuously the relinquishment of any of these habits ;
they move on in the current of human life mechanically, like a
wheel, without any apparent alteration in their motion, unless
it be accomplished by some external force ; and, if left to them-
selves, tliey never change their course. This propensity to
remain the same men, and to retain the same customs, is more
unconquerable among the illiterate and ignorant, than among
the learned or enlightened part of mankind. By means cf so-
ciety, of conversation, and of reading, the latter acquire an
enlargement of the mind, to which the former are strangers ;
and if they be accustomed to reflect on what they hear and see,
they are always more open to convtction. When that mulish-
ness of the disposition, which, whether in the rich or the poor,
the uncultivated oi the refined, is still the child of ignorance,
takes fast hold of the mind, it becomes so obstinate, that it can
seldom or never be removed. Its universality would lead to
the opinion, that it is an original j)rinciple in the human frame;
its progressive influence, which increases with age, and the
apofogy which such men urgt in tbeir own defence, that their
fathers did such things before them, would imply that it is the
fcffVx^ of imitation.
The reporter, notwithstanding the above sentiments, goes on
to state tnat he considers that the prosperity of the world would
bo jnore promoted by the stendiness and obstinacy of men living
in error, than it would be by a spirit of fickleness, and a desire
of change. It mifjht easily be sho.vn that the real meaning of
such a sentiment is, that those who are already prosperous,
that i.«, those who have already a sufficient share of the good
things of life, will stand least charcc of losing what they have,
while things remain as they are. The prosperity of the world,
it unfortunately happens, has hitherto been too frequently un-
derstood to mean the prosperity of those only who are already
prosperous. This state of things is in the natural course of
the progress of society from darkness to light : but it will pass
away in its turn, and the time will come when the prosperity
of a people will really mean what the wotds import. When
this time arrives, what the reporter would proliabfy call fickle-
ness, and a desire of change, will be found to have had some
share in bringing it to pass.
1. Property.
In the hands of 156 owners. Farms of the smaller size
reckoned by acres, the largest by miles. One, supposed to be
the largest m Britain, is eighteen or twenty in length, by three
or four miles in breadth ; several contain from two to six square
miles : object, as in Inverness-shire, tlie bleeding of cattle
chiefly, and next sheep.
2. Improvements.
Have been made by most of the proprietors : some plans of
farmeries are given by the reporter. One is circular, and con-
sists chiefly of cattle sheds ; but the elevation is of ihjit mongrel
Gothic, which is displayed in most of the modem highland
chateaus. The fin-share or Arg\leshire plough (2618.) was in-
vented in this county by the reporter.
3. Woods and Plantations.
There are about 30,000 acres of coppice, chiefly oaV, birch,
and hazel, which, being now valuable for the bark, and the
poles to be uSed as spokes for wheels, is beginning to be en-
closed from the sheep bv stone walls. The Duke of Argyle i*
the chief plante-, and his larch plantations are of great extent,
and contain an immense quantity of valuable timber. The
oldest and largest of the trees. at Inverary are supposed to have
been planted by the Marquess' of Argvle between the vears 1650
and 1660. Those of the next larireat size and age were raised
from the seed by Archibald Duke of Areyle (called a tree-
monger by \V'alpoIe), in 1746 or 1/47. These consist chiefly
of larches. New England pines, spruce and silver firs.
4 Live Stock.
Cattle, the west h'ghland breed ; the best in the districts of
Argjie, Lorn, Hay, Colonsay, and Mull.
Sheep, till lately, much neglected.
Horses, a hardy native breed, larger than the pony.
5. Political EconoJny.
Rnails as in Invemess-sbire. A canal from the coal works in
Campbelton to the sea: few manufactures. An agricultural
society at Kintyre.
7859. The HEBRIDES, including BUTESHIRE, consist of nearly 300 islands, eighty-six of which
are inhabited, and contain 2,037,760 acres of rocky, hilly, and, in some islands, mountainous country, with
a severe, unsteady, moist climate, and a soil generally light. Almost all the minerals are found with
which the continental part of Scotland is furnished. Slate, lime, granite, marble, and freestone, are in
great abundance ; and coal has been found in various places, though it has not been successfully worked.
Steatite, or soapstone, from which porcelain is manufactured ; fullers' earth, and a great variety of other
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF THE HEBRIDES.
1197
economical minerals, besides rare and curious species,
1796. Macdonald's General View, 1811. Edin. Gaz.
1. Property.
In the hands of forty -nine proprietors ; highest rental 18,000/.
and acres 312,300. A great many tacksmen. Those of Hay
are said to " combine with the spirit and elegant hospitality
indigenous to this countrj', the accuracy in dealing, the punc-
tuality in paving, and all the useful qualifications of first-rate
low country farmers. It must not be forgotten, in mentioning
the order of tacksmen, that they are exceedingly useful, and
often necessary, for maintaining good order and government in
the countrv. Without their aid, the efforts of the clergy and
officers of justice would be painful and unavailing : and there-
fore they ought not to be rashly banished, were they to be
viewed in no other light than merely as subsidiary to the police
and moral administration of the Isles.
2. Buildings.
Farm-houses throughout the Hebrides are either houses of
tacksmen, of tenants, or subtenants. Tacksmen's houses, though
still far behind those of considerable farmers in the principal
counties of England and the lowlands of Scotland, are, how-
ever, in general, beginning to be tolerably decent and comfort-
able ; and on all the large esUtes they have been very much
improved within the last twenty-five jears. Most of them are
now built of stone and lime, and roofed with blue slates, two
stories high, and furnished with kitchens and other accommo-
dations. In many instances, indeed, the office-houses are still
in a deplorable state, but even these are rajiidly improving;
and should this order of farmers exist for half a century longer,
their houses will, probably, be as commodious, and their ofhce-
houses as judiciously planned, as those of the same description
of men in any part of Great Britain.
The houses of the occupying tenants are, generally speaking,
\tretched hovels, and those of the subtenants na.sty and miser-
able beyond description. Pennant describes them as habit-
ations made of loose stones, without chimney or doors, excepting
the faggot opposed to the wind at one or other of the apertures
permitting the smoke to esc^pe in order to prevent the pains
of suffocation. Furniture corresponds : a pot-hook hangs from
the middle of the roof, with a pot hanging over a grateless fire,
filled with fare that may rather be called' a permission to exist
than a support of vigorous life : the inmates, as may be sup-
posed, lean, withered, dusky, and smoke-dried.
It cannot be denied, that this picture is, in some degree,
realised in a few of the Hebrides, even at the present day.
The cottages in the Hebridci are almost universally so miser-
able, both in plan and execution, that they deserve mention
only as proofs, that a sensible and sagacious race of men may,
by a combination of tmfavourable circumstances, not only be
gradually brought to endure privations, which, to their equals
in other countries, would seem in tolerable, 'but also, in the
course of time, they may lose the power, and even the will, of
surmounting thc-m. Three fourths of the 40,000 cottagers of
these isles live in hovels which would disgrace any Indian
tribe ; and many of them are found on islands of the
first rank in point of population and extent. At least
7000 of the natives of Lewis (for instance) know no-
thing of a chimney, table, glass window, house floor-
ing, or even hearth stone, by their own experienct' at
home ; and what we call their furniture is, as may be
imagined, wretched and scanty beyond description,
corresponding with their shabby exterior.
In the woods of the park at Bute were formerly fine
specimens of Swiss cottages and other fancy wooden
buildings, {.fig. 1135.)
3. Occupation.
In estimating the size of Hebridean farms, the com-
mon plan is to attend to three leading objects : first,
the numlier of live stock which the farms'in question
can maintain ; secondly, the number of bolls of grain
which can be sown, or of ploughs requisite for their
tillage ; and, thirdly, the quantity of kelp that can be
made upon them.
Grazing farms, whether for sheep or cattle, must
gradually be enlarged ; and kelp, or merely agricultural
ferms, must as naturally become limited and confined
in point of extent. The hay on many of the grass-
farms, and sometimes the com on arable grounds, is obliged
to be dried by hanging on poles, trees, or rods {fig. 1136.), as in
Sweden.
1136
, are found in different islands. {Headrick*is Survey^
1827.)
The cloni-maik, or wooden tongs, for drawing thistles, &C.
differs little from those in use in England.
5. Arable Land.
Tillage is in its infancy over the Hebrides, in all the isle*
northward of Mull ; excepting half a dozen farms in Skye, a
part of M'Leod, of Rasay's estate, two farms in Uist, and a
little lately done in Lewis, near Stornaway, and by Campliell,
of Islay, on a small island between North Uist and Harris.
These improvements have been carried on within the last fif-
teen years.
It would be rather ludicrous than useful to describe the til-
lage generally practised in the Hebrides ; and, accordingly, we
shall not dwell upon it, or insult the common sense of the na-
tives, by seriously rcquestiijg them to abandon the many barba-
rous customs which have so long disgraced their country. A
man walking backwards, with his face towards four horses
abreast, brandishing his cudgel in their noses and eyes, to make
them advance to their enemy, followed by a ristle-plough em-
ploying a horse and two men, the three commonly altogether
superfluous, still followed by four horses, dragging clumsy har-
rows, fixed by hair ropes to their tai's, and almost bursting their
spinal marrow at every tug and writhing of their torttxred car-
casses. All this cavalcade on ground unenclosed, undrained.
4. Implements.
Some are nearly pet'uliar to the Hebrides, as the caschrom
or crooked spade (Jig. 1137.), which, in two parishes in the
Isle of Lewis, entirely supersedes the use of ploughs in the
raising of com and potatoes. The great advantage of this in-
strument is, that it enables the operator to work in mosses or
bogs, where no horses can vMilk, and in stony ground inacces-
sible to the plough. Many districts of Harris and of Skye
would be unsuscepiible of tillage without it. Its superiority to
the common trenching spade, or to any tool which penetrates
the ground perpendicularly, is very great, resulting both from
the ease with which the operator wields it, and the length of
the horizontal clod which its powerful lever enables him to
turn over.
The ritile, or sickle plough (a sort of paring plough), is used
for cutting the strong sward of old land, or the tough roots of
plants, which would otherwise greatly impede the passage of
the plough.
and yielding at an average little returns for the seed
sometimes lost altogether by the depredations of cattle, or by
accident in a late harvest, is a barbarous spectacle, which must
gradually vanish. It will soon give way, as it has already done
in Islay, Colonsay, and part of Skye, to improved systems of
tillage.
6. Gardens and Orchards.
It is not to be expected that much should be done in garden-
ing, in a district of which by far the greater part of the propri-
etors are non-resident, nor is the climate suitable for that art.
The winds are too violent, and the sun too shy of showing his
face. Until trees and other sorts of shelter become, therefore,
more general, the gardens and orchards of tlie Hebrides will
probably be little more than an empty name.
7. Woods and Plantations.
In the sixteenth century it appears most of these isles were
covered with woods, and even so late as Buchanan's tin>e.
One exhilarating remark, ho^vever, occurs to the traveller who
traverses those bleak and woodless recesses, amidst the melan-
choly impressed upon him by comparing their present aspect
with the description which he reads in Buchanan and Monro,
namely, that where trees have formerly grown they will grow
again ;' and that any regions which were «jnce sheltered and
adorned by the hand of nature, mav still be in a far higher de-
gree improved and embellished by the industry of man.
In Bute the late Lord Bute, in islay Campbell of Shawfield,
and in Skye Lord Macdonald, have planted extensively and
successfully, and other proprietors are following the example.
The present Marquess-has almost naturalised the turkey in the
plantations of Bute Park.
8. Live stock.
The ancient Hebridean breed of rattle is now no longer to
he found. Some persons imagine it to be the Skye, others the
Mull, and others again the Lewis or Long Island variety. A
person habituated to accurate observations on cattle, can easily
distinguish those different breeds from one another, afld a 1 of
them firom the larger breed now introduced into Islay, Colon-
1193
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
«ay, and some parts of the Long Islanil, especially Barray, by
persons who pay attention to so important a department of
agrestic economy.
Sheep. Only lately attended to. There are now three differ-
ent breeds to be met with in almost all the larger islands, yiz.
1. The native alwrieinal breed, common to the whole Hebrides
forty years ago, and still more numerous than the other two
breeds taken together ; 2. The Linton, or black -faced sheep of
the south of Scotland ; and, 3. The well known, fine-wooiled,
Cheviot breed. The historian Laing has a large flock of Me-
rinos in the Orkneys.
Horset. The Hebridean breed of horses resembles that which
Ve find in almost all countries of the same description of ch-
elate and surface. It is small, active, and remarkably durable
and hardy. It possesses the prominent marks of pertection in
this sort of animal, i. e. it is strong and nimble, of a good form
and proper size for its work, healthy, patient, good-tempered,
and very easily kept in good condition. It is found in the
Highlands of (Scotland, in Wales, Norway, Sweden, Switzer-
land, Tyrol, Hungary, and Transylvania, and with little va-
riation in shape and size, in all the hilly districts of Europe.
The average height of what are deemed sizeable horses is
from twelve to thirteen hands ; but that of the lower tenants'
horses in Mull, Jura, and the northern isles, rarely exceeds
eleven or twelve hands. They are handsomely shaped, have
small legs, large manes, little neat heads, and manifest every
symptom of activity and strength. The common colours are
grey, bay, and black ; the last -mentioned colour is the favourite.
Excepting in Islay, and in a few gentlemen's farms, not ex-
ceeding two dozen in number in all the Hebrides, very Httle
has hitherto been done for bringing this breed to perfection, or
preventing it from degenerating.
The breeding of horses for sale is not carried on to a consi-
derable extent in the Hebrides, nor does any of them export at
an average of ten years more than it importa, excepting Islay,
and perhaps Arran and Eigg.
Ho^s. Considerable numbers of hogs are now reared in the
Hebrides, where the ancient prejudice against pork has gradu-
ally vanished, since their more intimate connection with the
lowlands of Scotland and England.
Goais stiil maintain their ground on several islands, and in
certain circumstances constitute a valuable stock. But wher-
ever wood is to be reared, and enclosures guarded and preserved
with attention, they must be banished; for, being more a
browsing than grazing animal, the goat will strain every nerve
to crop twigs and plants of every description, and is a mortal
enemy to every species of growing woods.
New specks, or varieties of stock. Excepting the ass, and per-
haps the mule, it is not clear that this extensive region would
pam by introducing any new sorts of domesticated animals ;
mdeed, the great want felt by the Hebrides is not that of ani-
mals, but of food in winter and spring for those which they
possess. The native breeds of cows and horses are, perhaps,
the very best possible for the country to support, and mav, by
due attention to feeding, and to selecting the strongest and
handsomest pairs as breeders, be improved to an indefinite
pitch of excellence. The breeds of sheep already recommended
and described may be improved, and reared to five timts their
present numbers, without seriously injuring the agriculture or
other interests of the country ; and a vast accession of wealth
and food might accrue from breeding a competent number of
hogs, for which these isles, abounding in potatoes, are ex-
tremely well adapted. But all these improvements must go
on progressively and slowly, and they must advance in the
train of other agricultural and economical improvements.
9. Political Economy.
Roads much wanted, and, excepting in Bute, Islay, and Skve,
in a very wretched state. No iron railways or canals. No
equal portion of European population, not even excepting the
Ku'^sians, and most uncivilised Poles and Croatians, possesses
so few manufactures as the people of the Western Islands of
Scotland. This is, among other causes, a principal source of
poverty and depression of the people. It makes the little mo-
ney acquired by the fisheries, and drawn in exchange for black
cattle, kelps, and the other productions of the district, conti-
nually flow out of it, and prevents that gradual advancement
in wealth, comfort, and agricultural and economical improve-
ments, which are conspicuous in all other parts of Scotland ;
and although it does not absolutely keep these isles in a quies-
cent state, it greatly retards their progress.
Kelp is a well known Hebridean manufacture, and is in an
advancing state. Macdonald, of Staffa, is distmguished for
his attentions to this branch of Hebridean economv ; and has
accordingly preserved for his kelp a character, whfch enables
him to disjpose of it at a higher price than the average of the
Hebrides obtains. This results principally from its being i)egun
early in summer, its being duly attended to in the carriage and
drying of the sea- weeds, and especially its being kept clean and
unmixed with clay, sand, stones, and all other impurities,which
greatly diminish the value of kelp on many Hebridean estates.
7860. The ORKNEY ISLANDS are thirty in number, and contain about 384,000 acres.
Many of them are uninhabited, and only afford pasture for
sheep. The soil is generally peat moss or bog, but sand, clay,
and gravel are found in some of the valleys. The soil is seldom
more than one or two feet in depth, lying on a bed of rock.
Husbandry is in a very backward state. 'The plough used is
generally the single-stilted one ; the manure is chiefly sea-weed,
and on the quantity procuretl the farmer relies for his crop.
The plan of husbandry is to till very shallow, and to harrow
sparingly. Fallows are rarely used, and a proper rotation of
crops never followed. Black oats are sown about April, and
barley early in May ; the crop is generally gathered in August ;
and if it remain "till after tjie fetinning of September, it is
frequently lost from the violent gales and storms which follow
the autumnal equinox. Except some stunted birch and hazel
trees, and a few juniper bushes, scarcely a tree or shrub is to
be seen ; the climate is variable, and not healthy ; violent
storms of wind and rain, mingled with snow, visit the islands
even in the month of June, and check the progress of vege-
tation. From the shortness of the days in winter, the sun in
December and January not being more than four hours above
the horizon.very little agricultural work is done in that season.
The summer days are proportionaMy long, and it is light
enough to see to read at midnight. The principal animals are
smallhorses, black cattle, sheep, pigs, and rabbits. The sheep
are very numerous, and it is calculated that there are above
30,000 in the islands ; their flesh is, however, coarse and dry,
and, from their proneness to feed upon sea-weed, it has a dis-
786!. The SHETLAND ISLES are about eighty-six in numbor, of which forty are inhabited;
whole contain about 48,000 acres, nearly equally divided between pasture land and arable
agreeable flavour. Till within the present century, the Ork-
ney sheep were suffered to run wild about tbe hills, without any
care being taken of them ; when in this state, the weight of
the entire carcass rarely exceeds twenty-five or thirty pounds,
and the wool seldom one pound and a ha:f ; when' carefully
treated, however, they grow much larger, and the flesh becomes
very good.
One of the greatest curiosities in these islands is the circum-
stance of large seeds being frequently wfished on shore by tiie
Atlantic. Tney are called Molucca or Orkney beans, and are
supposed to be of American and West Indian origin. Pods of
the Mimosa sc^ndens are the most common. Strange fishes,
marine shells, and even exotic fowls, are also sometimes cast on
shore in violent weather. There are many varieties of wild
fowl in the Orkneys, and eagles are not only common, but so
large as to make great havoc among the lambs. The islanders
have a law, by which every man who kills an eagle is entitled
to a hen from every house in the parish where it was killed.
The corby (Cdrvus Cdrnix) is also a dangerous enemy to the
newly dropped lambs. The inhabitants on the coast live by
fishing and making kelp. The staple article of trade in the
other parts of the islands, is wool, which used formerly to be
torn from the sheep by the fingers; the sheep are now shorn,
and as they are never smeared (except when actually ill of the
scab), the wool is remarkable for itssofmess. (Edin.'Gax. 1827
Blakie on Sheep Husbandry in Orkney, in Trans. Highl. Soc.
vol. iv. p. 599.1
the
The climate is very humid, and cold northern and easterly
winds are extremely prevalent. Winter may be said to occupy
full six months in every year, and if the harvest is not over in
September, the crops are generally spoiled from tempests.
There is a great diversity of soil; often deep moss on a bottom
of sand, though sometimes the moss or peat is only a foot thick
on a bed of clay. There are scarcely any trees or shrubs, ex-
cepting juniper, and occasionally a few mountain ash ; the
roots of large trees are, however, often discovered on digring
deep into the ground. Turf and peat are used for fuel. The
Shetland horses are well known ; they are very small, rarely
exceeding ten hands in height, and are celebrated for their
spirit, and their power of enduring fatigue. The cattle are also
very small, though they feed well, and weigh astonishingly
heavy, in proportion to the size of theii bones ; they give gene-
rally about three English quarts of milk a day, though in rich
pastures they sometimes produce double that quantity. The
number of sheep kept in the Shetland Isles is calculated to be
between 70,000 and 80,000. The wool is very short, and though
generally fine, is sometimes nearly as coarse and hairy as that
of a goat. The islands are well supplied with fish, and have
multitudes of aauatic birds ; the inhabitants are much annoyed
by eagles and otner birds of prey ; there are no rivers, but abun-
dance of lakes and rivulets, which afford an ample supply of
fresh water. The chief employment of the inhabitants is in the
manufacture of woollen stockings and gloves of extraordimry
fineness, and in their fisheries, from the produce of which thqr
annually export about 1000 tons of cod, tusk, and ling ; they
also export annually about 500 tons of kelp. Agriculture is at
a very low ebb ; the farming implements are of the worst pos-
sible description, and of the rudest construction ; the farm-
houses are wretched hovels, and the roads mere foot-paths.
The small portion of land, however, which is tolerably well
cultivated, is very fertile. Granite, freestone, and limestone
are abundant, as is the beautiful and comparatively rare stone,
called diallage rock. Bog iron ore abounds : a copper mine
was formerly worked, but has been abandoned ; very recently
chromate of iron has been found at Unst. Various other mi-
nerals are found upon the islands ; and occasionally porcelain
earth ; but no potteries have as yet been established. {Ediu.
Gaz. 1829.)
Sect. IV. Agricullural Survey of Ireland.
7862. IRELAND, the largest island in Europe next to Britain, contains above 20,000,000 of acres,
much less varied in surface, soil, and climate than the latter island. There are several mountainous or
hilly districts, chiefly in Ulster in the north, and Munster in the south, and very extensive flat bogs in
the middle districts, and tipland bogs or moors vherever there are hills or mountains. All these bogs,
whether low or high, are on good soil, which, indeed, may be considered in connection with the moist
warm climate as their chief cause. Nine tenths of the soil is a loam on a limestone bottom, fertile, or
capable of being rendered so at little expense ; the remainder is chiefly thin clay or limestone. The bo^s
aroJigre considered as mere coverings to soils ; their surface exceeds 1,000,000 of acres. The climate is
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF KILKENNY
1199
milcler and more equable than that of England ; and with the dry soil, as Wakefield remarks, is admi-
rably adapted for pasturage and occasional aration.
7863. Of the agricultural cfrcumslances of Ireland generally, we have already given a condensed
account (807), and shall here submit some brief notices as to each county. Tliese unavoidably present a
degree of sameness incompatible with much interest or instruction. There are acricultural surveys of but
a few of the Irish counties ; so that we have drawn our resources principally from the copious and highly
interesting work of Wakefield, and some more recent statistical writers and tourists. When the first
edition of this Encyclopaedia appeared, the statistical portion, as far as respects Ireland, was objected to
in the Irish Farmer's Journal, as representing the agriculture of Ireland as being in the same state in
1823 as that in which it was in 1816, the date of Wakefield's Ireland. We have noticed this in the
Gardener's Magazine (vol. iii. p. 229.), and have, since then, used every exertion in our power to procure
later information from books or correspondents, but without much success. In fact, from all that we have
been able to learn, we are compelled to conclude, that even now (1830) agriculture in Ireland is not
materially different to what it was in the time when our text-book (Wakefield) was first published.
786*. DUBLIN. 228,211 acres; one eighth in mountain and waste, a tenth in buildings, roads,
rivers, &c., and the remainder in arable and pasture. [^Archer's Statistical Survey, 8[C. 1801. Sup. Encyc.
Brit. Edin. Gaz. 1827.)
The climate of this county is drier than that of some others ;
east and north-east winds are less frequent than in England,
but storms from the south-west and west are more frequent.
Average numbtr of dry days in Dublin lor ten years, 179 ; or
nearly half the year wet, and half dry.
The soil is generally shallow, and the substratum almost
univeisally a cold clay. There is very little turf bog in the
northern parts, but some considerable ttacts among the moun-
tains in the south. Freestone, granite, Irish slate, ochres,
jiotter's clay, marl, beautiful pebbles, porphyry, crysUls, lime-
stone, and limestone gravel, aDound in various parts.
Landed properly in this county is a much more marketable
commodity than in most other districts of Ireland. There are
here no large territorial domains. Leases vary in their terms,
but commonly include a life, for the purpose of creating a vote.
Farms are in general very small ncarthe city, seldom more than
twenty or thirty acres; but at a distance, from 50 to 150 acres.
The farm bilildings are, for the most part, very insufficient.
Near the city, the fences are of white thorn ; but in the remote
parts, they are nothing more than a bank and ditch. Lime,
limestone gravel, and marl are used as manures. The city of
Dublin might aifbrd the means of enriching a tract of several
miles around it; but its street dung is so little valued, that it is
ballast.
sometimes brought to Scotland by coasting vessels as
and much of it is thrown into the Liffey.
On the aralAe lands, two crops of wheat in succession, and after
these two of oats, without fallow or green crop, are frequently
taken, according to Archer. Oats and potatoes are the standard
crops. Barley is not cultivated extensively. The natural
pastures are, with few exceptions, of an inferior quality. There
are few or no flocks of sheep in the possession ot farmers. In
the city, and within four miles of it, about ItiOO cows were kept
in May, ISOl, according to Archer, where there were formerly
near 7000. The old Irish breed of cows is almost extinct, and
their place is supplied by the short-horns and other breeds from
England. Fuel is scarce and dear ; peat and bog often cannot
be procured, and the tenant is obliged to substitute straw, or
any other combustible material that he can get.
There is a considerable salmon fishery on the Liffey, in
which also abundance of eel and pike are caught. There are
sea fisheries of herrings, white hsh of difi'erent kind^, and
oysters both in natural and artificial beds ; the shells of some of
the fed oysters have been found as large as a horse-shoe.
The tnanufactures of the county are chiefly of linen of dif-
ferent kinds, but they are of little importance. The colonial
commerce with Dublin is considerable.
"7865. WICKLOW. 500,000 acres, in great part mountains and bogs, and without inhabitants.
xer's Survey of Wicklow, 1801. Sup. Encyc. Brit.)
{Fro-
The climate so mild, that the myrtle flourishes in such pro-
fusion, as to have been sometimes used for making stable-
brooms. The common laurel, Portugal laurel, and Arbiitus
attain a great size, and can scarcely be recognised to be the
same shrubs. Dublin is supplied with early potatoes and
house-lamb from the sea-coast of Wicklow, the climate of
■which, according to Mr. Wakefield, is decidedly different from
that of the rest of Ireland. This is the only part of that country
where he ever saw grapes growing out of doors.
Metallic ores are supposed to abound ; copper and lead have
been worked, and gold has been found.
There are no navigable rivers or extensive lakes. Some of
the streams precipitate themselves from considerable heights,
forming beautiful cascades ; the most remarkable one is at
Powerscourt, where the water falls from a height of 360 feet.
Landed property in the centre of the county in large estates :
7866. WEXFORD, 597,760 acres, mountainous on the north and west, a light soil and tolerable cultiva.
tion on the east, and in other parts a cold stiff clay, unimproved by culture. ( Wakefield. Frazer's Survey
of Wexford, 1807. Sup. Encyc. Brit.)
Earl Fitzwilliam's nearly 100,000 acres. The sea coast it
much divided, and abounds with villas, the temporary residence
of the wealthy citizens of Dublin. " It appears to me," says
Wakefield, " to contain more gentlemen's seats than the same
space in the vicinity of London." The common period of
leases is twenty-one years and a life. Potatoes, and all the
usual kinds of" corn, are cultivated ; but turnips, clover, and
other ameliorating crops, only partially. Marl and limestone
gravel are the principal manures. Irrigation is practised. A
breed of fine-woolled sheep, peculiar to the mountains of this
county, exhibit the only traces of a distinct race of short-woolled
sheep in Ireland .
The herring fishery in the bay of Wicklow is the best in Ire-
land after Galway. Flannels'are extensively manufactured,
but scarcely any linen.
The climate is mild and favourable to the growth of timber,
which abounds here more than in most counties. There are
some large mvrtles in the open gardens.
The landed estates are large, from 2000/. to 10,000/. a year,
and firms of various sizes; but there is little of that minute
division which is common in other parts of Ireland ; nor are
the»e any rich grazing farms. Dairies, at which the principal
article is butter, are numerous ; but generally under bad ma-
nagement. The cows themselves are of a very inferior descrip-
tion ; and the same character belongs to their sheep, which
forms a very inconsiderable part of the live stock. In their
modes of cultivation, however, the farmers here are more ad-
vanced than in many other parts of the island. The baronies
of Forth and Bargie have been long noted for their great crop*
of barley ; beans, too, are cultivated with success, as well as
clover and turnips ; the drill system is common for potatoes,
and preferred to any other method ; and lime, though brought
from a distance at a great expense, and also marl, are very ex-
tensively employed as manure. The tenantry, including the
cottars, are accordingly in a much better condition, indus-
trious, provident, and many of them comparatively wealthy.
Here, as in Cork and Waterford, whole fields are kept under
fiirze, which, in this mild climate, is pretty much used as fuel.
The bakers employ it for heating their ovens, of which a con-
siderable number are employed, as a good deal of wheaten
bread is consumed in these coimties.
7867. KILKENNY. 510,000 acres, mountainous, but with some rich and beautiful vales on the banks
of the Barrow, Suir, and Noire, and a climate so mild that in winter the thermometer seldom falls below
the freezing point, while in summer it ranges between seventy and seventy-five degrees. There is less
humidity than in Dublin and Wicklow, as well as less of the east and north winds. {Tigke's Survey of
KUkenny, 1802. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gaz. 1827.)
country seats ; and its flat districts, where the tillage farms are
more extensive than in most parts of Ireland, present a pros-
pect very different from what is oflen met with in that
country.
The soil is for the most part on limestone of good quality, and
some of the valleys of extreme fertiUty. There are very few
bogs ; for the land declining about 500 feet from the northern
to the southern boundary, the water which falls upon the sur-
face is carried off with sufficient rapidity to prevent its making
the ground marshy. The largest colliery in Ireland is at CasUe
Comber, near the northern boundary of the county. It is a
stone coal raised in immense pieces, but of a sulphurous qujdity,
which renders it disagreeable, and sometimes noxious ; and it
is, therefore, less fit for being used in families. For this reason,
ami also firom the great ex)>ense it which it is raised, English
cohl is used in preference, even within a few miles of the works.
There are several quarries of marble, chiefly of a black colour,
of which a few tons are exported. Excellent sandstone and
minganese, and iron and lead ores, have been observed in
ditferent parts.
Properly in land is in several large estates, and many of a
moderate extent, not exceeding a rental of 2000/. a year. The
principal proprietors are Lords Bexborough, Clifton, and
Ormond. The leases are in general for three Uves, and part-
nership leases are common, though prohibited on one of the
largest properties. On this estate the tenant is allowed to
transfer his lease to one individual, but not to divide hi*
farm.
Of the husbandry the most important department is the
dairy, which extends over the greater part of it. The most
considerable dairies are in the district called the Welsh, or
Walsh Mountains ; a tract of dry grassy land fit for tillage, but
still in its natural state, and not enclosed. About 2000 Irish
acres of the land were held in 1800 by one family, who kept
120 cows. The cattle are not for the most part housed m
winter, and only those that are about the time of calving get a
little hay on the fields, where the horses also are kept all the year.
They fatten pigs to the weight of five hundred weight. The
produce of the best dairies is one hundred weight and a half, or
three firkins of butter per cow, and each cow requires from one
and a half to three Irish acies. The practice of letting cows to
12C0
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
dairymen, which is common in Munster, is but little known in
Kilkenn;, the cows belonging to the dairymen themselves,
who, in some situations, breed them on their own farms, and
in others prefer buying them at a proper age. Too little atten-
tion is paid to cleanliness in their dairies, especially in the
northim district ; and for this reason, according to Wakefield,
though Irish butter, when fresh, is preferable to any in Europe,
yet it " is in the lowest estimation m the London market, as it
»s almost always hiavily salted, and very frequently tastes
smoky, fishy, and tallowy." The cattle of this county are a
mixed tace from the native breed and the English long-horned,
and th'.ir sheep hava been, in some parts, improved by the
I^icesters. The Merinos have been introduced within "these
few years by Messrs >«owlan, the proprietors of a woollen
factory, who have now 600 of the pure racp ; and they find that
both the quality and the weight of the fleece have improved
since the sheep were imported. The usual com crops are
raised here, but clover and other green crops not in a suitable
proportion. It is the custom to work oxen intermixed wi h
noi-ses, in teams of six, or three pair deep, the oxen placed fore-
most. Yet the fallows are better managed here than in any
other part of Ireland. Irrigation has been practised for many
years, but not extensively. {Sup. Encyc. Brit. Kilkeimy.)
Salmon are caught in the rivers, and sent to Dublin packed
in boxes of ice. Woollen is the chief manufacture. Messrs.
Nowlan and Shaw produce excellent sviperfine clotl-.s, from an
establishment as celebrated in Ireland as that of Owen at
Lanark is in Scotland.
78fi8. KILD.A RE. 392,397 acres, four fifths arable, meadow, and pasture, and the rest bog. {Rawson's
Survey of KMare, 1807. Sup. Encyc. Brit.)
Part of the Bog of Allen and other similar tracts occupy a
large portion of the western side of this county. The surface is
varied by a number of small hills and gentle declivities ; lint for
the most part it is flat and nearly level ; and when viewed from
a commanding station, presents a rich, and, on the banks of
lis rivers, a beautiful landscape. The Curragh of KiUlare, ex-
tending to about 5000 acres, has been long celebrated for the
softness of its turf and the fineness of its pastures. But the cli-
mate of Kildare is said to be more moist than that of any other
part of Ireland, which, if the statement be correct, is a very
unfavourable circumstance, as a clay soil prevails very gene-
lallv, and much of it is < xceedingly tenacious of moisture.
There are a few large estates in Kildare, particularly the
Duke of Leinster's, which extends over a third of the county ;
and several proprietors, according to Wakefie'd, have from
6000/. to 7000/. a year ; yet manv are less considerable, and
propertv seems to be more divided here than in most of the
other districts in Ireland.
The common size of farms is from ten Irish acres to 200 ; and
these farms are frequently held in partnership. Large firms,
however, are less rare here than in the arable tracts of the otber
counties. The leases were formerly for thirty-one years, but
are now mostly for twenty-one years and one life. All parish
and county taxes are paid by the" tenant. With few exceptions,
the course of cropping is the same as it has been for a century,
viz., fallow, wheat, oats. Potatoes are universally cultivated.
Oxen are employed in ploughing, and horses for carriages ;
but in many instances oxen and horses are mixed together in
the plough team, which sometimes consists of six, and never
less than four animals. A number of mules are also kept on the
farms.
There are several streams and two canals. A woollen manu-
factory at Celbridge ; and a catholic seminary at Mayuooth for
above 200 students.
78fi9. KING'S COUNTY. 457,000 acres, half of it bog, mountain, and waste; and the remainder
arable, meadow, and pasture, of a medium quality. {Coote's Agricultural Survey, 1801. Sup. Encyc. Brit.)
been erected by some of the proprietors, were for some time
allowed to stand unoccupied.
1138
The Bog of Allen occupies a considerable tract on the north-
east coast, and the mountains are on the side of Queen's
County. The soil of the arable land is either moorish or gra-
velly ; the former productive in dry, and the latter in moist
seasons, but neither of them naturally fertile. Limestone and
limestone gravel, the means of their improvement, abound
every where. The pastures, though in many parts fine, are
not luxuriant ; better adapted for sheep than cattle, and very
favourable to the growth of fine wool. Much of the mountain
district lias an argillaceous soil, thickly intersi)ersed with rocks
of sandstone, and a deep irreclaimable bog often occurs at its
base ; but towards the centre of this range, where limestone
prevails, there is much good pasture ; and here the base of the
nills, which is composed of a stiff clay, produces abundant crops
of com.
Lamkd property is in large estates, and many of their owners
do not reside ; but much of the land is held on leases in perpe-
tuity, and the holders of these form a respectable class. The
principal proprietors are Lords Digby, Rosse, and Charleville.
Farms were formerly very large, not unfrequently of the extent
of 2000 acres ; hut their size has been diminished, and such
as are considered large do not now exceed, on an average, 400
English acres. Many are as small as twenty acres, though the
medium size of the smaller class may be double this. Most of
the arable land is tolerably enclosed ; chiefly with hedges of
whitethom, which grows here to a great size. Partnership
leases and sub-tenantcy are less common than in some other
parts of Ireland ; yet the condition of the tenantry and the
peasantry does not seem to be materially more improved. The
farm-buildings of every description are generally very bad ; the
cottages in particular ; and yet those who have been long ac-
customed to these miserable "cabins are said to prefer them to
more comfortable dwellings {Jig. 1138.), which, after having
Wheat, oats, barley,
and potatoes are the
most common crops.
The average produce
of whe it is no more
than sixteen bushels ;
of barley and oats it is
about thirty-two bush-
els ; and "of pota'oes
only four tons per acre.
Both oxen and hor>es
are employed in . la-
bour ; the plough is
sometimes drawn by
only two of either ; in
a few instances by two
heifers ; yet this and
their other implements
are not generally of a
The threshing-machine has been in use in
good construction
this district for about twenty vears.
The leases were formerly for thirty-one years, or three lives ;
but the more common period of late is twenty-one years, to
which the life of the tenant in ])Ossession at the end of it is fre-
quently added. Some tenants hold for lives renewable for ever,
paying a renewal fine equal to half a year's vent, or more, on the
tall of every life. Modern leases often contain a i)rohiliition
against alienating. Nothing is so much complained of among
the tenantry as the mode in which tithes are collected.
There are no considerable manujiictures, no fisheries, and no
minerals worked.
7870. QUEEN'S COUNTY. 384,000 acres, generally of a level surface, three fourths of which is of a
productive soil cultivated, and the rest bog and waste. {Coote's Agricultural Survey, 1801. Sup. Encyc.
Brit.)
Coal of the Kilkenny kind (7867.) is the only mineral worked;
but there is iron ore, freestone, marble, &c. "in different parts.
The Barrow and Nore are navigable rivers.
Estates are from 5000Z. to 15,000/. a year, and upwards.
Some of the most valuable, having been let on perpetuad leases,
atfbrd a large income to the lessees. It is these lessees who
form the middle class of gentry, with clear incomes of from
100/. to 800/. per annum, obtained from tenants to whom their
lands are sublet at rack-rent, and commonly in very small farms.
Here, and in King's County, Wakefield observed some of the
best farming in Ireland, with much more attention to a sys-
tematic course of cropping, and to keeping the land in good
heart. Oxen and horses are used for the plough, the farmer
generally preceding the latter. A good deal of cheese is made
here for the Dublin market. In other respects the mral eco-
nomy of this district does not differ materially from that of the
Irish counties already described.
The manufactures are linen and coarse woollens, but to no
great extent.
7871. C ARLOW. 220,098 acres, of undulating surface, with some hills and mountains ; the lowlands
a fertile loam, and the uplands a light gravel ; one tenth in mountains and bogs. ( Wak^ld's Statistical
Account, S(c. Young's Tour, S[C. Sup. Encyc. Brit.)
The minerals are various, but little known
There are no large estates in this county; and very little
minute description of property. The hiring tenant is generally
the occupier, except of small pieces. There are some excellent
flocks of long-woolled sheep. Four sheep of the Irish breed
and five of the English are called a " collop," and three collops
are allotted to two acres of the best land. For its dairies. Car-
low is not excelled by any county in Ireland. The farmers
spare no trouble or expense to procure good cows. From
twenty to fifty are generally kept ; and during the season each
cow produces, on an average, about one hundred weight and a
half of butter. The dairy system pursued in Devonshire, Dor-
setshire, and some of the northern counties of Ireland, of letting
cows to dairymen, is followed here ; but this custom was more
prevalent when the Catholics could not legally purchase land,
as they then employed their capital in hiring cows. The butter
made in Carlow is divided into three sorts, according to its
quality. The first in point of quality is sent to Dublin and
England, and thence exported to the East and West Indies.
It is highly esteemed in the London market, where it is often
sold as Cambridge butter. That of the second quality is ex-
ported to Spain, and the worst to Portugal. It is all packed in
large casks, weighing upwards of three hundred weight.
There is not "much wheat grown, and it is not of a bright
colour or very good ouality : but the barley of Carlow is excel-
lent ; according to Young, the best in Ireland. At the time of
his tour it was the only interior county which produced it ; and
at present more is grown here than in any other part of the
kingdom. It is principally consumed by the illicit distilleries
in the north of Ireland, by the breweries at Cork, or by the
malting houses at Wexford. The potatoes grown in Carlow
are excellent. There is little or no flax. The county is toler-
ably wooded. In the vicinity of Carlow a great many onions are
grown, which are sold all over Ireland.
In Carlow, coarse cloth, reaping hooks, scythes, shears, &c.
are made. At Leighlinbridge is one of the largest com mills
in Ireland, capable of grinding more than 15,000 barrels a
year.
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF CORK.
1201
7872. EAST MEATR £26,700 acres, of low, flat, rich surface ; a clayey or loamy soil on limestone or
gravel, with little wood, few mansions, and only one twelfth of bogs. {Curuien's Observations, 1818. Tfiotn.
son's Survey of Meath, 1802. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gaz. 1827.)
Tillage farms are larger here than in most parts of Irelanil ;
but, according to Curwen, tlie system of management is little
better than on the small farms of other ilistricts. The houses
and fences are, for the most part, of the worst description, es-
pecially the cabins of the farm labourers, which are miserable
mud- walled hovels, sunk below the level of the ground adjoin-
ing, and occupied by cows and pigs, in common with the
family. The principal food of this class is potatoes with churn-
milk, and occasionally oatmeal ; butcher's meat being rarely
used even among the farmers; and, to add to their privations,
fuel is very scarce in different parts of the county. An unin-
terrupted succession of oats and other com crops for several
vears is common ; in a few instances even for twenty years.
'The common rotation is wheat, oats, fallow, potatoes, clover,
all vrithout the application of manure. It is customary to
work horses intermixed with oxen, of which six are generally
yoked together, three pair deep, to a very ill-constructed plough ;
yet, notwithstanding this management, the wheat crops are in
some parts excellent. Agriculture has, of late vears, extended
very much , and at present nearly three fourths of the county are
under tillage.
Manxifactureg do not afford employment to any considerable
part of the population, though here, as in most parts of Ireland,
that of linen is carried on to some extent ; anil also the weaving
of cotton. On the Blackwater and the Boyiie there are several
extensive flour mills.
The landed property of Meath is divided into large estates, a
great many of which yield an income of upwards of 2000/. a
year. These are for the most part let out on leases of twenty-
one years and a life ; but on some of them there are leases in
perpetuity, which have now become more valuable than the
freehold property.
Grazing was, till very lately, a more important object in this
county than tillage. Slany persons fattened from .^00 to 500
cows in a season, besides bullocks and sheep. These they
Surchase at the beginning of the grass season, and dispose of
uring the summer and autumn, as they are ready, instead
of keeping a regular stock all the year. The pastures are con-
sidered too valuable to be applied to the rearing of stock. Dairy-
ing is not carried to any extent, and the butter made here is
said to be held in little estimation. In some instances, where
farms are let out for the dairy, the landlord supplies a succes-
sion of cows in milk, horses, and land, and the tenant furnishes
labour, utensils, &c., paying at the rate of from 6/. to 'I. 10».
per annum for each cow. The English long-horned cattle
were introduced many vears ago into this district, which now
contains some of the test specimens of the breed. Some
marshes on the Moynalty river feed an immense number of
horses in the summer season ; and the Kilcrew hills, in the
■western angle adjoining Cavjm, are remarkable for fattening
sheep. The sheep are brought from other counties, and, like
the cattle, the same stock is kept only for a season.
7873. WESTMEATH. 378,880 acres of surface. The surface of this district is exceedingly diversified
with woods, lakes, streams, bogs, and rich grazing lands ; in no parts mountainous or flat, but gently un-
dulating, or rising into hills of no great elevation. Some of these are cultivated to their summits, and
others covered with wood, presenting, in several parts, some of the finest scenery in Ireland. {Wakefield's
Statistical Survey of Ireland. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gaz. 1827.)
sheep occupy the grazing grounds, which extefnd over much
of the best part of the district. Tillage is accordingly upon a
limited scale, though more com is raised than the inhabiunts
consume ; and besides the crops common in other places, flax,
hemp, and rape are cultivated, with clover and turnips ; the
two latter, however, not generally. The soil is mostly light ,
but in some parts it is rich and deep.
Few or no manufactures.
The principal river is the Shannon ; and there are a number
of beautiful lakes well stocked with fish ; the trout in Lough
Dim are said to have an emetic quality. One of the largest of
the lakes is full of wooded islands.
There are few large estates, but many gentlemen of mode-
rate fortunes, from 2000/. to 3000/. a year, most of whom are
resident. The leases are commonly for twenty-one years and
a life, though in some instances for "thirty -one years and three
lives. A great many fine long-homed cattle and long-wooUed
7874. LONGFORD. 234,240 acres, in great part bog, mountains, and waste ; the climate on an average
giving 140 dry days in the year. ( Wakejield, ^c. Sup. Encyc. Brit.)
Landed property is in estates of from 3000/. to 7000/. a year, i plough. It is chiefly occupied in grazing, in which the resi-
Leases are commonly for twenty-one years and a life. Farms dent gentry almost exclusively employ the farms which they
are, for the most part, very small, where tillage is the principal 1 retain in their own hands. Some linen manufacture,
object ; but only a small proportion of the district is under the J
7875. LOUTH. 177,926 acres, mountainous towards the north, but in other parts undulating and fer-
tile, with little waste land, no considerable lakes, and a great number of gentlemen's seats, of which Col-
Ion is the chief. {Wakefield. Edin. Gaz. 1827.)
productive. Yet a spirit for agricultural improvement hai
lately happily apjjeared in this county, and many of the tenants
are in easy circumstances, well clothed, use meat in their fa-
milies, and in every thinji but their houses and farm buildings
are in a condition superior to that of the'r brethren in most
other parts of Ireland. It is common to renew the leases some
time before the old ones expire, so that the tenants arenot often
changed ; but fines are frequent ly paid on these renewals, which
carry away much of the capital that should be applied to the
soil. Tithes are very seldom taken in kind ; their value is as-
certained about the end of harvest, and the tenants grant their
notes for the amount, which, though payable in November, is,
in some cases, not exacted till almost twelve months after. The
linen manufacture is carried on to a considerable extent.
Landed property is in estates from 1500/. to 2000/. per annum.
Farms are, in general, larger than in most other pau-ts of Ire-
land ; but there are still many very small ; in some parishes,
scarcely one above twenty-five acres, and in others they do sel-
dom extend to eighty acres. As the land is chiefly occupied
in tillage, little attention is paid to the improvement of cattle
and sheep ; of the latter, though a few are kept on most farms,
the number is inconsiderable. Wheat and oats are the prin-
cipal com crops, barley being very little cultivated. The other
crops are potatoes, flax, and a little hemp. Clover and turnips
are almost confined to the farms of proprietors. It is only on
these that the general management is good ; that of the com-
mon £anners being, for the most part, slovenly ; and their
lands requiring heaver dressings of lime and marl to keep them
7876. WATERFORD. 454,400 acres, the greater part hilly and mountainous, but rich and productive
on the south-east ; the climate so mild, that cattle sometimes graze all the year round. ( Wakefield, Cur~
wen, Ssc. Sup. Encyc. Brit.)
Some very large estates, of which the most extensive belongs
to the Duke of Devonshire. Leaises are commonly for twenty-
one years and a life ; and on the banks of the rivers, where the
land is most valuable, farms are small. According to Wake-
field's information, " In this county, whea the eldest daughter
of a farmer marries, the father, instead of giving her a portion,
divides his farm between himself and his son-in-law; the next
daughter gets one half of the remainder ; and this division and
subdivision continues as long as there are daughters to be dis-
posed of. In regard to male children, they are turned out mto
the world, and left to shift for themselves the best way thev
can." The rent is chiefly paid from the produce of the dairy',
which is conducted on a greater or smaller scale over all the
county, and from the pigs, which are partly fed upon its offals.
Some of the dairy farmers, most of whom are in easy circum-
stances, pay 1000/. a year of rent ; and a great deal of butter is
made, even among the mountains, where small cows, suited to
the nature of the pastures, form the principal stock. In the
neighbourhood of Waterford, cows were let for sixteen pounds.
eighteen pounds, and even twenty pou
There are very few sheep, and those of a bad descriiition ;
twenty jiounds, for the season,
rijiti
comparatively, but a small portion is in tillage. AVhere lime is
and.
used as a manure, it must be brought from a distance, as there
is no limestone to the east of Blackwater, and it costs upwards
of five pounds for an acre. Orchards are numerous on the
banks of this river, and extensive plantations of timber-trees
have been formed in various parts. Fur/e is so much used as
fuel, that whole fields are kept under this slirub for tlie pur-
pose.
Hogs are an important branch of trade at Milford Haven ;
glass and salt the principal manufactures.
7877. CORK. 1,048,799 acres of Irish plantation measure of greatly varied surface ; bold, rocky, and
mountainous on the west, rich and fertile on the south and east, romantic and sublime in many places,
and one fourth part waste. {Wak<field. Townsend's Survey of Cork, 1810. Sk/j. Encyc. Brit. Edin.
Gaz. 1827.)
The climate is mild ; but a very general opinion exisU that it
IS changing for the worse.
The rivt-rs of this county flow with rapidity for the most
part ; a circumstance unfavourable to their being rendered na-
vipable, but presenting many eligible situations for the erection
of machinery.
The most uteful Jbttilt are limestone, marble, and slate ; coal
and ironstone have been discovered, but not worked to any ex-
tent.
Eitala sore generally large ; tillage farms are very small, sel.
dom above thirty acres : and, when they are larger, often held
in partnership, and the shares of each further diminished by
the common practice of dividing the paternal possessions among
the sons. The leases used to lie for thirty-one years, or three
lives ; b\it of late the term has been reduced to twenty-one
ye.ars, or one life; and the farms, instead of being let out to
middlemen, who used to relet the land in small portions to oc-
cupiers on short leases or at will, are now held in most cases by
the occupier from the proprietor himself. Thtre is here the
usual minute division of tillage lands, cultivated by the spade
in preference to the plough ; the usual dependence on potatoes,
* almost ex(
as the common and almost exclusive article of food ; with miser.
4H
1202
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
able cabins, crowdetl with filth, poverty, and indolence. The
crops are potatoes, in favourable situations, succeeded by wheat
and oats, for one or more years ; sometimes barley follows the
wheat. Flax is cultivated in many small patches. Hemp very
rarely. Turnips and clover are seldom to be seen on tenanted
lands. Sea sand, sea-weed, and lime, form a useful addition to
the stable ami farmyard manure ; which is, however, in many
cases, allowed 'o bt washed away by the rains, and t;reitly re-
duced in value by careless mana!»em'-nt. Paring and burning
is practised in every part of the county, as an established mode
of preparation for the first crop in the course. The imjilements
of husbandry are K^nerally b;id : the common Ir.sh plough and
harrows, seldom furnished with iron tines, drawn by horses or
mules, and, in a few instances, by o.ien ; wheel cairiafjes have
become common. A considerable number of dairies are kept
in the vicinity of the city of Cork, where the produce, in the
shape of butter and skim-milk, finds a ready market. In general
the cows, which are chiefly of the half Holdeniess breed, are
let out to a dairyman, at a certain rate for each, bv tlie year ;
m many farmers conduct the business of the dairy themselves.
The average number of cows in a dairv may be from thirtv to
forty. A few sheep are kept on every iTarm, commonly in'liet-
ters, and upon the most worthless pastures. l*i-oprietors have
introduced straru^er breads, and find tliem to answer ; but
sheep can never become an object of importance in a district
whe-e farms are so small.
Tithes, of which no inconsiderable part are lay propertv, are
generally paid by a composition with the farmers. The usual
mode is to have them valued before harvest, and to appoint
d.iys of meeting with the parishioners, for the purpose of letting
them.
The principal manufactures are sail-cloth, duck, carvass,
and drilling; osnaburgs for negro clothing; coarse woollens ;
spirits at several large distilleries in Cork; and gunpowder in
tie nei','hbourhood of the same ciiv, the only manufactory ot
that article in Ireland ; it belongs to Government.
7878. TIPPERA RY. 883,' 98 acres, diversified with heaths, mountains, and fertile vales ; of which the
Golden Vale is among the richest land in the kingdom. Tlie climate so mild, that cattle graze out all the
year. There are ,3ti,0()0 acres of bog in this county, including part of the Great Bog of Allen. From the
survey made by Mr. Ather, under the direction of the commissioners for enquiring into the nature and
extent of Irish bogs, it appears that this waste land might be easily drained. {Wakefield,
Brit. Ediii. Gax.)
Minerals. Slate, lead, and coal are worked.
Ettales are of various sizes, some <rf them very large, hut a
greater number of a medium extent, worth from 4000/. to 6000/.
a year. Of the proprietors, the influence of Lord 1,1 mdatt'is l)y
far the most considerable, though several others have estates
worth from 10,(X»0/. to 15,000/. a \ear and upwards. The
graziers here, as in Roscommon, have leasehold properties, fre-
quently of much greater value than the freeholds, of whi<h,
also, they often become the purchasers. Properti-s of tbis de-
scription, worth from 2000/. to 1000/. a year, are very common.
Tillage farms, however, are generally" of small extent, one of
ninety Irish acres being thought large ; yet the man igement is,
in many instances, more respectable than in most other parts
of Ireland. But the principal business is grazing, every variety
of this kind of laud btdng found here. The exemption of graz-
Sup. Encyc.
ing land from every kind of tithe operates as an encouragement
to i>ersevere in this system. I.eases are coirmionly for twenty-
one years and a life. " The cattle, which are long-ho.ne<l, may
be ranked wi'h the best in Ireland, and manv of the fine flocks
of long-woolbd sheep are not inferior, in Wakefield's opinion,
to those of I/eiccstershire. The rich lands produce a kind of
flax, very different from that which is raised in the north : it
grows to a great height, and appears to be exceedingly well
ad 'pted for ssil- cloth.
The manufacture of broad-cloth is carried on to some extent
at Carriek ; and that of linen, worsted, and coarse woollens, as
branches of <lomeslic industry. But the wealth of this extensive
district chiefly consists in its cattle and slieep, corn, and other
land produce.
7879. LIMERICK. 622,975 acres, of low-lying fe
field, ^c. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gax. 1827.)
Landed property is in large masses, generally let to tacksmen,
on long leases, and sub-l'.:t almost aj infinitum. The land seems
to be of greater yearly value than in most parts of Britain at a
distance from large towns ; for, according to Wakefield's in-
formation, the green acres would have let, in 1808, for three
guineas the Irish acre, or almost forty shillings the English.
Considerable farms brought five guineas the Irish acre, and in
some instances more. 'Phe rent of the mountain land had in-
creased in a still greater proportion than the grazing and com
fiirms. One grazier held land of the value of lO.fXlO/. a year ;
and in one season slaughtered, in Cork, SOO head of cattle.
Manv of the best long-homed cattle of the United Kingdom
are fattened here, and also a considerable number of sheep.
Two-vear-old wethers sold then, without theh: fleece, at from
2/. Id*, to 3/.
tile lands, surrounded by higher grounds. {TVake-
Only a small proportion of the land is in tillage ; the produce
of this, and some of the adjacent counties, in proportion to the
seed, is stated by the same author to be at a medium : of wheat
ten, bere seveniVen, barley twelve, oats nine, and potatoes ten.
Hemp was formerly cultivated extensively on the rich low
grounds, calUd the Carcasses, on the banks of the Shannon ;
but this tract is now occupied in grazing. Flax of an excellent
quality for sail-cloth is still grown in several parts. The com-
mon <erm of leases is thirty-one years and three lives. Great
p.irt of the provision and corn trade is possessed by the city of
Limerick.
The soil is remarkably fertile, and consists chiefly of fine
mould covering a light limestone gravelly soil ; it produces all
kinds of grain m abundajice.
7880. CLARE. 932,560 acres, nearly half productive land, and the remainder moors, mountains, and
bogs, with more than 100 lakes interspersed. The climate, though moist, is not unfavourable to health
and longevity ; fevers, which sometimes prevail to a great extent here, being occasioned chiefly by the
dampness of the houses, and inattention to domestic and personal cleanliness. {Button's Survey of Clare,
1808. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gaz. 1827-')
Limestone abounds, and coil, ironstone, black marble, lead,
&c., have been found, but not worked.
Landed property is in a few large estates, of which the most
noted was that belonging to the Marquess of Thomond's heirs,
lately sold and divided.
The size of farms varies greatly. Those under tillage are
from one or two acres to fifty, but of the latter size there are
few. Grazing farpis extend from 100 to 800 acres, several of
■which, and sometimes in distant situations, are held by one in-
dividual. Frequently several i)ersons join in the occupation of
an arable farm, and have about ten acres each. The general
term of leases from proprietors is for three lives or thirty-one
years ; sometimes, but not often, for three lives and thirty-one
years ; twenty -one years or one life, and twenty-one years and
a life. The tenure of under tenants is variable, and often
arbitrary.
All the difftrent species of grain are cultivated with consider-
able success. Rape and flax, the former chiefly for its seed,
and the latter for home manufacture, are sown to a moderate
extent. Potatoes occupy a part of every farm, and their cul-
ture is conducted with more care and judgment than that of
any other crop, though at a greater expense of time and labour
than would be thought neccssarv in most other places. In re-
gard to the kinds of crops cultivated, the greatest defect is in
what are called green crops, com being, with potatoes, the
chief and almost the only objects of attention to the arable
farmer; and turnips and cultivated herbage being either grown
on a very small scale, or, as is the case throughout she greater
part of the county, altogether disregarded or unknown. The
com crops thus necessarily follow each other, until the soil is
exhausted ; and where extra manure, such as sea-weed arid sea-
sand, both of which are used as manure with good efTect, can-
not be procured, it must be left in an unproductive sute for
several years afterwards. Potatoes ?.xe in most cases planted
upon land that has l)een prepared by burning ; and the same
crop is sometimes taken for two years more without manure;
in the fourth year wheat follows, and then rei)eated crops of
oats, as long as they will replace the cost of seed and labour.
The implements in common use are generally rudely con-
structed, and imperfect as well as expensive in their operation ;
in many parts, even where the soil is light and dry, the plough
is drawn by four horses abreast, with traces of rope, and collar
of straw. But from the roughness of the surface, the poverty of
the tenantry, and the minute division of farm lands, t! e spaue
is much more' extensively employed than the plough, over all
the arable land of this county.
The pastures of the Carcasses or low grounds, on the rivers
Shannon atid Fergus, are equal to the fattening of the largest
oxen. This rich tract extends from Paradise to Limerick,
about twenty miles, and is computed to contain about 20,000
acres, ofw deep dark-coloured -soil, over a bluish or black day,
or moory substratum ; producing, owing to the indolence of its
occupiers, along with the most valuable herbage, a great quan-
tity of rushes and other useless weeds. The rent of this land
for grazing was, several years ago, as high as 5/. per acre,
t<iual to about 3/. Is. per English acre, and for meadow, in
many instances, much more. These meadows are said to
produce at the rate of more than four tons of hay the English
acre. The cattle of this county are almost all long-homed,
good milkers, and very hardy. The sheep have been greatly
improved in shape, by crosses with Iveicester rams; but there
is a general complaint that the fiuality of the native wool has
been deteriorated. A vast number of mules are bred here ;
asses are very generally employed by the poorer classes ; but
little attention is paid to the breed of horses, which has dege-
nerated.
Clare was formerly noted for its orchards, and for cider of a
— ^ lality, made from the
'hich is still found near the small t
" An acre of trees," says Young, " yields from four to ten hogs-
heads per annum, average six ; and, what is very uncommon
in the cider counties of England, yields a crop every year." It
does not appear from the latest accounts, that any considerable
quantity of this cider is now produced here, though what tl.ere
is seems to maintain its former character, and is held in great
estimation.
Manufactures are yet in their infancy. All the linen made in
the county is used for home consumption.
7881. KERRY. 1,128,320 acres, more than three fifths mountainous and waste : the sea-coast and
islands being the most westerly land in Europe. Some of the mountains 3000 feet high. {Smith's History
of Kerry. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Blcheno's Ireland, 1830, S^c.)
Book I.
AGRICULTURE OF LEITRIM.
1203
The mountains are chiefly occupied with youn^ cattle and
^oats ; sheep, apparently the most profitable animal in such
situations, are neither numerous nor of a valuable kind ; and
the little cultivation to be found here is so generally jjerformed
with the spade, that, in some enUre parishes, as Young assures
us, there was not a single plough.
The prevailing soil in the low grounds is clay, of different
qualities ; some of it seems to be a species of pipe-clay, and
other sorts might be converted into bricks and earthenware.
Estates are very large, both in extent and value ; some of
them, according? to Wakefield, worth 30,000/. a year. Leases
are in general for thirty-one years and three lives, and a con-
siderable portion of the whole county is let to partnership
tenants. Few of the tenants in the north quarter about Kerry-
head occupy so much land as to require them to employ labour-
ers; they pay their rents by the sale of butter and pigs, and by
turf which they carry to Limerick. It is the practice for farmers
to hire large tracts, which tliey stock with cows, and these cows
are tlien let out to dairymen upon such terms as leave them but
a very small return for thdr labour. The best com land is about
Tralee, and towards Dingle, where more flax is rsiised than in
any other part of the county.
The principal articles which Kerry affords for export are its
raw produce, beef, butter, hides, and taHow. It does not raise
more corn than is necessary for its h me consumption, and
carries on no manufacture for sale but that of coarse linen,
which is only on a small scale.
Agriculture is at a low ebb; and the general face of the
country gives the imjiression of wildness and discomfort. In-
stead of hedges, mounds of earth and stone, called ditches, are
every where to be seen ; and as these afford but a slight pro-
tection against the trespassing of cattle, it is customary lo tie
the legs of each quadruped together with wisps of straw, and
sometimes to yoke two together ; even fowls and turkeys are
thus bound. {Bicheno.)
7882. ROSCOMMON. 556,847 acres of flat surface, in some places sprinkled with rocks, and in many
interrupted by extensive bogs ; the richest land on limestone, and adapted either for aration or pasture.
{tt'akefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gax. 1827.)
Coal and iron works were formerly carried on, but are now
neglected.
Estates were once very large ; but they have been broken
down in some instances, by the granting of leases in perpetuity ;
a practice which has given rise to a class of landholders, inter-
posed between a few great proprietors on the one hand, and a
numerous body of cultivators on the other.
Some of the best long-homed cattle and long-woolled sheep
In Ireland fed, but there are few dairies. During the late vsar.
Its fine green pastures, under this management, afforded a very
ample rent, and tillage was therefore conducted on a small
scale ; but the plough has been more in request since the
peace, both here and in other parts of Ireland ; and the soil of
such rich grazing lands, requiring nothing more than the com-
mon operations of tillage to yield large crops, the growth of
corn throughout Ireland has been greatly increased ; yet, within
these few years, agriculture was here in a very backward state.
" In Roscommon," says Wakefield, " I heard of horses being
yoked to the plouirh by" the tail, but I had not an opportunity
of seeing this curious practice. I was, however, assured by
Dean French, that it is still common with two-year-old colts
in the spring." Potatoes, oats, and flax are the principal
crops. There are several fine lakes, and the Shannon runs
along nearly the whole of the eastern boundary.
7883. GALWAY. 1,6.^9 .."jSO acres of varied surface; above a third part bogs, mountains, and lakes,
and very unproductive, and thinly inhabited. [Button's Survey of Galway, 1824. Wakefield. Sup.
Encyc. Brit., Sfc.)
The east part of the county is flat, warm, and fertile, with
many seats, though none of note. Rivers and lakes al>ound.
liOiigh Reagh and Lough Coutia are fine pieces of water ; the
latter is said to possess all the beauties that hills, woods, and
islands can impart to that feature of landscape.
Several large estates, affording an income of from 5000/. to
10,000/. a year, and upwards. One of these, the most exten-
sive in the British Isles, stretches along the sea-coast for seventy
miles. Only a small portion is held by absentees. A full third
of the land is let on partnership leases, to an indefinite number
of persons, very often twenty, who by law are joint tenants, and
entitled to the benefit of survivorship. The leases are com-
monly for three lives or thirty-one years. " These people,"
says Wakefield, " divide the land and give portions to their
children, which consist of a fourth or fifth of^what they call
• a man's share ; ' that is, of the land which originally belonged
to one name in the lease. A certain portion of 'the whole
farm, or take, as it is styled, is appropriated for tillage, and
this portion is then divide"d into lots, perhaps twenty or thirty.
These lots are again subdivided into fields, which are parti-
tioned into small lots, each partner obtaining one or two
ridges ; but these ridges do not continue in the hands of the
same occupier longer than the time they are in tillage. The
pasture is held in common ; and the elders of the village are
the legislators, who establish such regulations as may be judged
proper for their community, and settle all disputes that arise
among them. Their houses stand close to each other, and
form what is here called a village."
The cattle of Galway are long-homed and of an excellent
-^ " "' ■ field, to any;
rt of their live
iy an
description, fully equal, in the oi)inion of Wakefield, to any in
England. But sheep form the most valuable part of their
stock ; " some of the first flocks in the world," says the same
writer, " are to be found in this county." The crops are the
same as in other parts of Ireland, but potatoes are not culti-
vated to so great an extent. They plant potatoes on an oat
stubble, or on ley that has been burned or manured, and follow
with wheat, here or barley, or oits ; the latter kind of grain is
not unfrequently taken after wlieat and barley. Paring and
burning the soil is very common. The greater part of the rent
of some of the estates on the shore is paid from kelp, which
with the greater part of Ireland, Galway em-
ploys some of its people in the linen manufacture, and it seem*
to be the only maniuacture in it worth notice.
7884. MAYO. 1,270,144 acres, in great part mountains, bogs, and lakes ; half-heathy mountains, with
valleys very fertile, but neither woods nor plantations, excepting on one or two estates. {M'Farian's
survey qf Mayo, 1802. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gax. 1827.)
Many valuable fossils ; iron formerly made, but discontinued
for want of fuel. Excellent slate ; and petro-silex semilucidus,
similar to what is u»ed in the English potteries. The low
grounds of the county are composed of limestone, or limestone
gravel, and are equally well adapted to tillage i
The estates worth "from 7000/. to '20,000/. a year ; but their
to tillage or pasture.
extent, owing to their containing a great proportion of waste
land, is still greater than the ratio of their value.
The size of farms varies with the nature of the soil and sur-
face ; but, though several hundred acres are sometimes let out
in one farm, yet, as the farms are commonly held in partner-
ship, the space allotted to each tenant is generally only a few
acres. As each of them keeps a horse, it is computed that
there is one for every ten or twelve Irish acres. The leases are
for different periods, fifteen years, twenty-one years, and one,
two, and sometimes three lives, or thirty-one years.
Agriculture is in a very backward state. The plough, com-
monly drawn by four horses abreast, is of the worst descrip-
tion, and the harrows are often furnished with tines of wood,
instead of iron. It is still the practice, in the mountain dis-
trict, to yoke the horses by the tail. But in some of the baro-
nies, the plough is seldom or never employed at all, the tillage
being performed by the spade ; and in others they use the
spade in cultivating potatoes, and the plough only for com.
\ et potatoes, oats, and on the sea-coast barley, are sown to a
considerable extent, and also flax. AVIieat is cultivated only in
particular spots, and chiefly by proprietors, a few of whom have
also introduced turnips, peas, beans, rape, £uid cabbage. There
is some excellent grazing land for cattle in the barony of Ty-
rawley, and good sheep pastures in Kiliiiain. Some graziers
hold 3000 Irish acres. The English long-homed cattle, which
were imported by the principal proprietors, have greatly im-
proved the native breed.
The habitations of the labourers, or cottars, are in general
very wretched, and shared by them with their cow and pig
7885. LEITRIM. 407,260 acres, one half bog, waste, and water, and the remainder dark fertile soil,
incumbent on limestone. {M^Parlan's Survey cf Leitrim, 1802. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin.
Gax. 1827.)
Coal, ironstone, lead, copper, &c. are found, but not worke<l.
Estates large, and nearly all the great proprietors are absent-
ees. The leases are commonly for three lives or thirty-one
years. Agriculture is here in a very low state. The tillage
farms are small, seldom exceeding fif% or sixty acres, and these
are almost always occuiued in common by a number of tenants.
The plough is very little used. The most common implement is
the loy, a kind of spade eighteen inches long, about four inches
broad at the bottom, and five or six inches at the top, where it
is furnished with a wooden handle about five feet long. The
first two crops are potatoes, which are followed by flax, and
then oats for one or more years. Clovers and other ereen crops
are unknown to the practice of the tenantry. The county
raises grain and potatoes sufficient for its own consumption,
but exports very httle of either. Its cattle have been much
improved by the introduction of English breeds, to which
some of those now bred and reared in it are said to be not in-
ferior. There are no considerable dairies, yet a good deal of
butter is made throughout the district. The sheep are of the
native race, small, and but few in number.
About the beginning of the eighteenth century, Leitrim is
said to have been almost a continued forest. There is now lit-
tle wood in it, and no considerable plantations. The proprie-
tors, however, have of late paid some attention to this method
of improvement, and several large nurseries have been esta-
blished for the sale of forest and other trees.
There are several bleach-fields, and some coarse potteries ;
and a number of peojile are employed in weaving. But the
linen made here, as well as the coarse woollen goods, is chiefly
for the use of the inhabitants themselves. The houses of the
lower classes are of the worst description ; even the more re-
cently erected farm buildings, including a little bam and cow-
house, do not cost more than ten or twelve pounds. Turf is
their only fuel, and potatoes and oaten bre.'d the chief articles
of food, meat being used on extraordinary occasions only.
4 H 2
1204
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Tap-t IV
788fl SLIGO r97,0r0 acres, a third part bogs, mountains, and waters, and the remainder fit for tillage
or grazing. {M' Parian's Survet/ qf Sliao, IS02. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin.Gaz.lStn.)
The soil is generally of a light, sandy, pravelly loam, or
moorv ; in some parts the lands are rich and fertile, but the
8ul)soil of a considerable tract is a grey flap, provincially leaclea,
unfavourable to vegetation. Numerous streams and lakes ; the
wooded islands and scenery around Louf;h Gill very striking.
On the Sligo and Moy, considerable salmon fisheries ; trouts
abound, and white fish on the shorts. '
Estaint of almost every size- A few are worth from 500;.
to 9000/. a year ; yet a considerable proportion of the county is
divided into small properties. The principal proprietors are
absentees. Farms vary in size, from three Irish acres to 500 ;
the larger farms, however, are not held by individual tenants,
but in "partnership. The leases are for tliirty-one years and
three lives, and, in some mstances, for sixty -one years and
three lives ; bein:j, in general, longer here than in other parts of
Ireland. Tillage-farming is still in a very backward state.
The plough is worked by three or four horses yoked abreast.
by
barley, and potatoes are the principal crops. Ot the two former,
a great proportion is consumed in illicit distillation, which,
within these few years, was carried on in almost every part
of the county. It was to the sale of these spirits that many of
the small tenants looked as the means of paying their rents. In
some parts, both cattle and sheep are kept in considerable
numbers, and a great deal of butter is exported from the town
of Sligo ; but the land occupied in this way bears but a small
proportion to the whole ; to grow corn, being the principal
object. Limestone and limestone-gravel, which are in abund-
ance in most places, are in generaluse as manures ; also marl,
and, on the coast, sea-weeds. Among the hills are several
large lakes, and abundance of rivers.
The mamificturei for export are linen, salt, and kelp.
The cabins, food, fuel, and clothing of the lower classes, seem
to be as uncomfortable as in any of the Irish counties.
7887. C AVAN. 499,957 acres, almost entirely covered with hills ; the surface, soil, and climate, being
alike bleak and uncomfortable. There are no fewer than 91 bogs, occupying 17,000 acres. {Coote's Sta-
tistical Account. JVakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gax. 18'27.)
Near Famham, the ajipearance of the country is favourable ;
the lakes there are picturesque, and communicate with each
other by a river. The fossils are vai ious, but neglected.
Two estates are of 50,000 and 26,000 acres ; besides these
there are none of very great extent. Nearly the whole of the
land is under tillage, but the agriculture in every respect is
very bad. The size of the farms is from 50 to 100 acres ; but
th«e are generally subdivided into farms of from two to twenty
acres, which are re-let to the manufacturers or " cottars," who
pay a high rent for them, by means of their other employments.
Their principal object is to raise a sufficient quantity of oats
and potatoes to feed their femilies, and of flax to give employ-
ment to the women and children. Most of the land is dug
with the spade, and trenched : where the plough is used, they
put three or four horses to it ; and when Young visited the
county, he found that all over it the horses were yoked to the
ploughs and harrows by the tail ; that practice, however, is
now disused. .Almost the only grain sown is oats, which are
reckoned to be in the proportion of seventy to one, to all other
grain ; there is scarcely any wheat. In 1809, there were 4.300
acres of flax, from which 6600 bushels of seed were saved.
Though the very tops of the hills are tilled, yet it does not ap-
pear that this county produces more grain than is necessary for
Its home consumption ; nor has the bounty on the inland car-
riage of com to Dublin, increased the very trifling quantity
brought to that market. From the coldness and moisture of
the climate, all the com of Cav.m is obliged to be kiln-dried.
The stock-farms generally consist of about 100 or 150 acres,
the farmers buv young cattle, and sell them again without fat-
tening ; a few, however, fatten bullocks or sheep, but the latter
are very poor. There are very few dairy farms, though from
these, as they are in the richest parts of the CDunty, a good
deal of butter is sent. Many pigs are kept by the cottars ; and
near all the cabins are to be seen goats tethered to the tops of
the banks, or " ditches," as they are here called, which divide
the fields.
Cavan was formerly celebrated for its extensive woods, and
trees of an immense size ; but at present it is, in general, hare
of timber, except near Kilmore, Famham, and a few other
places. Wakefield remarks, that the ash is confined to parts
of the county, and to Tyrone and Fermanagh.
The linen manufacture is the staple. .
7888. FERMANAGH. 450,000 acres, in great
surface rugged and mountainous, but better wooded
eye. B)it. Edin. Gax. 1827.)
The ash grows in the hedge-rows ; beeches come to a large
size, and also the yew, near Lough Erne ; and fir, oak, and
yew are found in the bogs. Thejjrand feature in the natural
scenery of this county is Lough Elrne, which occupies about
one eighth of the surface, anil contains more than three hun-
dred islands. It contains most of the fish that are found in
other fresh water lakes, and is noted for its sahnon and eels,
particularly the latter. Four of the eel weirs near the falls of
Baeleck afford a rent of 100/. each.
Estates »ie \aipe ; three proprietors mentioned bv Wakefield
have 13,000/. a year each, and other three from 6000/. to 7000/.
The leases are most commonly for twenty-one years and a life.
In the northern part of the county, the farms are larger and
part covered by water, and much of the rest of the
than other parts of Ireland. ( Wakefield. Sup. En-
more productive than in most other parts of Ulster. Oats, bar-
ley, potatoes, and flax are the principal crops : very little wheat,
clover, or turnips being cultivated, except in small patches
near the towns. The high grounds are chiefly occupied in
rearing cattle, and much of the better pastures with dairy
stock. There are no large flocks of sheep, and their breed of this
animal is of a very inferior description. Agriculture is in a very
backward state, and as lately as the year 1808 the peasantry
were accustomed to fasten their ploughs to the horses' tails.
Linen, seven eighths wide, manufectured to some extent ;
and there are several bleach-fields, which finish for sale the
linens sent to England. Illicit distillation is said to be very
general.
7889. MONAGHAN. 288,500 acres of low grounds, with detached hills, and a considerable space
occupied by bogs and small lakes. {.Coote's Survey of Monaghan, 1801. Wak^ld. Sup. Encyc. Brit.
Edin. Gaz. 1827.
There are B.few large estaieSf\txA the greater part small ones,
many of which do not even yield a freeincoihe equal to the or-
dinary wagss of labour. A few years ago, there were only 172
freeholders of 50/. and upwards, out of nearly 6000 ; most of
the considerable proprietors are absentees; and very little of the
landed property is in the hands of Catholics.
Farms were so small a few years ago, as not to average ten
Irish acres over' the whole county ; and the management, as
might be expected, was exceedingly unskilful and unproduc-
tive. The spade was used much more than the plough : the
latter being an implement which, with the team required to
work it, and the party to attend and direct it, could be brought
into action only by the united efforts of several tenants. The
general term of leases is twenty -one years and a life, or some-
times three lives. The principal crops are oats, potatoes, and
flax, with wheat and barley in a small proportion ; these last,
however, extend over a much greater tract now than they did
a few years ago. They make a good deal of butter, but there
are no large dairies. Goats are in greater numbers than sheep,
which is of itself a sufficient proof of the low state of its agri-
cuhure.
The linen manvfadure is said to have averaged, twenty years
ago, about 200,000/. a year. It is carried on by the greater
portiomof the inhabitants of both sexes, all Uie small farm
being also weavers.
7890. TYRONE. 813,440 acres in great part mountainous, and containing, among other mountains,
Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, celebrated in song. The territorial value of this inland and northern district
is much inferior to that of most others. {M*Evoy*s Survey of Tyrone, 1802. Sup. Encyc. Brit.)
Various valuable /o«it/j found, but not worked : the best pot-
tery in Ireland, near Dungannon. Lough Neagh, the largest
lake in Ireland, covers 1 10,000 acres, but is not celebrated for
its scenery.
Estates are of very great extent, many of them worth from
5000/. to 7000/. a year, and the productive or arable land di-
vided into very small farms, not often exceeding twenty Irish
acres. The chief proprietors are the Marquess of A ber com.
Lords Belmore, Northland, and Mountjoy. The leases are for
various periods, thirty-one .years and three lives, three lives,
and twenty-one years and a life. On some estates the land
passes through the hands of middlemen, in portions of various
sizes, till it reaches the actual cultivator, for the most part, in
very minute subdivisions. It is customary for several persons
to be concerned in one townland, which is held in what is
called rundale ; the cultivated land being divide<l into shares,
which are changed every year, and the cattle pasturing in
common — a system utterly inconsistent with profitable occupa-
tion, or the amelioration of the soil and live stock. The cattle
7891. DONEGAL. 1,100,000 acres of ragged, boggy, and mountainous surface, with a cold, wet
climate, and neither woods nor plantations to shelter from the blast iM* Parian's Survey of Donegal, 1802.
Wakefield. Sup. Enci/c. Brit)
and sheep are accordingly of a very inferior description ; and
the latter, which are not numerous, may frequently be seen
tethered upon the small patches of herbage which are inter-
spersed among the shares of these partnerSiip concerns. The
tillage land, too, is more frequently stirred with the spade than
the plough ; and where a plough is used, the team, consisting
of horses, bullocks, and even milch cows, must be supplied by
the contributions of three or four neighbours, who unite their
means for the purpose, each attending the operation, lest his
poor animal should have more than his proper share of the la-
bour. Potatoes, oats, and flax are the principal crops.
The linen manufacture is carried on to a great extent, and the
potteries and collieries employ a considerable number of
hands ; to which we may add illicit distillation, which prevails
throughout the north-western counties of Ireland. The food
of the lower classes is oatmeal and potatoes ; wheaten bread
and butcher-meat never being used but on extraordinary
occasions.
Book a.
AGRICULTURE OF ANTRIM.
1206
iMndtd properly Is in few hands.
A^cuUure is in a very backward state in Donegal. The use
of the plough is confined to a small proiKjrtion of the cultivated
land, and is generally of a bad construction ; spade labour is
preferred in most places. Barley is the chieftain crop, and
it is almost all used in distillation ; oats are only grown for
home consumption, and wheat is confined to a few favourite
spots. There are only two flour mills in the county. The cul-
ture of flax is considerable in the barony ofVRaphoe, and is ex-
tending even in the mountain districts. Potatoes are cultivated
every where ; turnips, clovers, and other green crops, are al-
most unknown among the tenantry. Village or partnership
forms still abound, but farms now begin to be let to individuals
as separate holdings. In the low country they are from ten to
fifty acres in extent, and from 40 to 500 in the mountains. The
fences are commonly nothing better than ditches, with banks
of turf or clay, so that the cattle require.to be herded while
the crops are growing ; and in many parts they are allowed to
graze promiscuously as soon as the crops are "removed. Sea-
weed and shell-sand are used as manures, but very little lime-
stone, or limestone gravel. Thepracticeof paring and burning,
so common in many parts of Ireland, is seldom Ksorted to in
this county. Leases are granted for twentj-one years and a
life.
The gtapte manufacture of Donegal is linen. Women are
much employed in knitting stockings. Ke^) is prepared alonf;
the north-west coast.; and, during the fishing season, three or
four salt-pans used to be kept in full work. But whisky, sa;«
Dr. M' Parian, particularly in the mountain region, and all
around the coast, is the chirf manufacture. " It is by runnine
their barley into this beverage that they provide fbr one half
year's rent. This is, therefore, a tax raised by the rich on the
morals and industry of the poor."
7892. LONDONDERRY. 510,720 acres, generally mountainous, fertile and beautiful in the valleys,
and containing every variety of soil {Sampson's Survey of Londotiderrt/, 1802. IVakeJield. Sup. Encyc
Brit. Edin. Gaz. 1827.)
Landed property. With the exception of lands belonging to
the church, and "the towns of Londonderry and Coleraine, and
certain portions reserved by the crown to be afterwards erected
Into freeholds, the whole of Londonderry w:as granted by
James I. to the twelve companies or guilds of London. The
estates arc, therefore, held from these companies, either in per-
petuity, or on determmable leases. The principal proprietors
or leaseholders are I>ords Waterford and Londonderry, ConoUy,
Ogilby, and the families of Beresford and Ponsonby.
The average tise offarmt is from five to twenty Irish acres,
or at a medium little more than fifteen acres English. Whole
districts are subdivided into patches of seven or eight acres,
but in a few situations there are farms of upwards of 300 acres.
The leases, though most commonly for twenty-one years and
one life, are frequently for such verv short periods, as to be a
great drawback upon agriculture. The practice of letting land
upon short leases is, however, only recently introduced.
The principal ernpt are potatoes, barley, oats, and flax.
Wheat is not in general cultivation. Turnips are very rarr,
and sown grasses and clovers far from being common. No
uniform rotation of crops is recognised in practice, but it is
usual to take two crops of oats successively, and sometimes flax
the year following. Florin is the predominating plant in the
meadows, where it grows spontaneously with great luxuriance.
The live stock presents nothing worthy of particular notice.
Grazing grounds are not extensive, and there are few dairies.
On the east side of the Bawn there are two extensive rabbit-
warrens.
The principal manufacture is linen ; the value exceeds halt a
million sterling, besides brown or unbleached linens.
Granite, freestone, sandstone, and those beautiful rock
crystals, which, when cut, are termed Irish diamonds, are
found in various parts. Iron, copper, lead, and coal have also
been found.
7893. ARMAGH. 293,871 acres of varied and rather interesting surface of mountain, plain, and bog ;
with rivers, streams, and lakes, and a climate mild for the latitude ; 244,000 acres are esteemed fit for
cultivation. The celebrated George Ensor is a native of this county, and resides on his own estate at
Loughgall, near Armagh. {Coote's Survey of Armagh, 1804. Wak^eld. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin.
Gaz. 1827.)
MarUe of an excellent quality, and of great beauty, is wrought
in Armagh. The chain of mountains called the Fews, of
which Sleive GuUian is the highest, present many highly
sublime and picturesque scenes.
Ettatet in this county are not large, there being only seven or
eight proprietors who possess them of the annual value of from
6000/. to 10,000/. The farms also are small, being commonly
from five to twenty acres, and seldom exceeding forty or fifty.
Neither the arable nor the pasture husbandry of this county
present much that is worthy of notice. Potatoes, flax, and
oats are the chief produce of the arable districts ; and those
are cultivated in a very rude and inferior manner, in conse-
quence of the ignorance of the farmers, and their want of
capital.
There are no extensive dairy farms, nor are there any farmers
exclusively in this branch of husbandry; nevertheless a con-
siderable quantity of butter is made here. One hundred weight
per cow is considered as the average produce. The proportion
of the milch cows to the size of the farms Ls, on small farms
under five acres, one cow ; on farms exceeding five, and under
ten acres, perhaps two cows, seldom more. A considerable
number of cattle are i eared. From tlie low country they are
sent to the mountain farms, and frequently afterwards sold in
the Scotch market. They are in general of a small stunted
breed. The native sheep are an awkward breed ; the wool
coarse, and in small quantity ; very little of it is exposed to
sale, there being hardly sufficient for domestic use. Goats,
iltr
swine, and poultry abound. Wild geese, swans, wild ducks,
■ birds, are indig*
ere much attended to, but
and several other species of aquatic birds, are indigenous to the
Formerly bee
lakes and rivers.
at present they are neglected.
The roada in general are bad ; and, what is extraordinary,
the turnpikes are tlie worst, and the cross roads the best.
The principal manufacture is that of linen.
7894 DOWN. SSg.PQ.") acres, of which one eighth are mountainous and waste, the remainder hilly and
productive, cultivated by small manufacturers, and embellished by plantations, bleaching grounds, and
neat white-washed habitations. The climate is variable, but not subject to extremes. {Dubourdieu's
Survey of Down, 1802. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin, Gaz. 1827.)
Landed property. There are some large estates, though in
general it is much divided, and has all the diflerent gradations,
from the most opulent nobleman to the tenant in perpetuity
who farms his own land. Most of it is freehold. The rental
was above the average rental of the besC counties in Scotland,
as returned to the commissioners of the property-tax in 1811.
"The farms may be divided into two kinds : the first, such as
are possessed by farmers who have recourse to no other branch
of industry ; the second, such as are held by weavers and other
tradesmen. The former run from twenty to fifty, and, in
some instances, so far as 100 acres ; the latter are of every size,
from one to twenty acres. It has been remarked that the
divisions of the farms are so minute, as to be extremely pre-
judicial to agriculture. The rent is always paid in money ;
personal services are never extracted. Some leases are for lives
and years, others for lives alone. Fences consist chiefly of a
ditch and bank, without quicks of any kind, or sometimes with
a few plants of furze stuck into the face of the bank ; but dry
Stone walls are frequent in the stony mountainous parts.
Great improvement has been made in its agriculture within
these twenty vears. Threshing-mills and two-horse ploughs
have been introduced ; but it cannot be said that a good system
prevails generally, which the small size of the farms, indeed,
renders impracticable. A regular rotation is rarely followed in
the crops ; fiiUows, clovers, and turnips, are upon a very small
scale ; and from the greater part of the arable land, it is still
the practice to take crops of grain in succession, only partially
interrupted by potatoes, flax, and peas. Oats, the principal
grain, are grown on all soils ; barley is usually sown after
potatoes, and also wheat to some extent on the coast. Of flax
they sow fo<ir bushels an Irish acre, and the medium produce
is fifity stones. Rye and peas occupy but a small space. Ijme,
marl, shelly-sand, and seaweed, are used as manures. Paring
and burning are confined to the mountains*
7895 ANTRIM. 622,059 acres ; on the east and north mountainous, destitute of plantations, and
abounding in bogs : the other parts more level and fruitful, and the climate drier than in some nth^r
counties. {Nevienham's Statistical Survey. Wakejidd, Duboiirdieu's Survey qf Antrim, 1812. Sv-
Encyc. Br-t.)
4 H 3
There are extensive mtadotvs on the banks of the Bann and the
Laggan ; but the soil, except on the mountains, is thought to be
better adapted to tillage than pasture. A gootl many beasts are
fatted, but cows are the prevailing stock, kept in small numbers
on every farm. They are long-homed, thin in the sides, and deep
in the belly, but yield much milk when well fed, and each of
them from 60 to as much as 120 pounds of butter in the year,
or about two thirds of the medium produce of the butter dairies
of England. Numerous horses are reared in the mountainous
districts ; and goats, furnishing the inhabitants with milk are
seen around all the cottages. Sheep, in flocks of any size, are
confined to the mountain districts. They are very small, many
of them, when fat, not weighing more than seven or eight
pounds a quarter. On the low ground there are a few, seldom
exceeding half a score, on almost every farm. A great number
of ho|K are fattened; many of them bred in the county, but
not a few brought from the west of Ireland. The dry hills of
this county, covered with heath and odoriferous herbs, are well
adapted to' bees, but the number of hives has greatly decreased
within these twenty years.
The principal manufacture is linen, which is carried on in
all its branches. Kelp is also an article of commerce.
Copper and lead are found within the precincts of Down, and
marine exuviaj among the hills at a great distancs from the sea.
There is also black marble susceptible of a high degree of polish,
slate, coal, freestone, and crystals. Natural woods are seen i i
some parts, but plantations are scarce ; there are a good many
orchards, a small one being attached to almost every cottage in
the bleaching districts on the low grounds. Bleaching is con-
ducted on a considerable scale upon the banks of the rivers ;
and vitriolic acid is made in several of the towns. Fish alound
on the coast ; but the inhabitants of Down derive littl* benefit
from the bounty of nature in this particular.
1206
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Pakt IV.
Minerale. Besides basalt, limestone, gypsum, coals, fossil -
•wood, or wood-coal, sandstone, &c. are found. The fossil-
•wood, or wood-coal, in most places, is covered with columns of
basalt, and is curious sis explanatory of the orifjin of coal. Not-
withstanding the compressed state in which it is found, the
bark and knots are quite distinct, and the rings denoting the
annual fjrowth of the wood may be counted. In some instances
the roots of the trees may be traced. Of the only two coal
mines which are wrought in the province of Ulster, there is
one in Antrim, at Bally Castle. The coals are bituminous,
and of a bad quality ; a great part of them are exported.
Landed Property'. Estates are in general freehold, being
cither immediate grants from the Crown, or held under those
grants. The exceptions are the properties under the see of
Connor. Some of the estates are very large. The Marquess
of Hertford and the Antrim family possess the fee of the major
part of the county. The former has 64,000 f^reen acres ; that
IS, land capable of tillage, and independently of bog and
mountain. Most of the Antrim estate is let on perpetuity, in
farms worth 2000/. or 3000/. per annum. The other great
proprietors are the Marquess of Donegal, Lord Templeton, and
Lord O'lVeil. The estate of Lord Templeton, however, is
only leasehold under the Marquess of Donegal, who lets his land
for sixty -one years and a life, but renews at the end of a few
years for a price.
The farms are in general very small. The principal feature
in the tillage system is the potato fallow. The small size of
the farms, and, in some places, the rockiness of the soil, precludes
the use of the ordinary means of culture, and therefore a part
of the land Is dug with the spade. The quantity of potato-land
is regulated by the quantity of mariure that can be collected.
After potatoes, flax is sown, and the quantity of fl ix ground is
regulated by the ability to purchase the seed. A crop of oats
finishes the regular rotation. When the ground is exhausted,
it is turned to rest, that is, it is suffered to lie till it is covered
with natural grass. Such is the most general plan of husbandry
pursued in Antrim. In those parts nhere the farms are too
large for the spade culture, the land is ploughed by three or
four neighbours umting their strength; one si\pplying the
plough, and the others bringing a horse, bul'.ock, or even a
milch cow. Wheat is a plant of very modern introduction in
Antrim, and very little of it is sown.
The most important crop is flax.
The cattle consist chiefly of milch cows, belonging to small
occupiers, of a small stunted breed. Sheep are very little
attended to ; and the few that are kept are of a very inferior
kind. Goats are numerous in the mountainous ])arts of the
county. Pigs also are kept in great numbers.
This county by no means abounds with wood ; nor are fruit-
trees cultivated in great abundance, or with very much success.
Of the apple, however, several new and valuable Varieties have
lately been introduced, and advantageouslv cultivated.
Antrim has long been distinguished for its liiten mamijiidure ;
but latterly the manufacture of cotton has, in some measure,
supplanted it, especially in the vicinity of Belfast.
There is a considerable salmon-fishing on the coast.
The stupendous assemblage of basaltic columns, called " the
Giant's Causeway," lies on the maritime confines of Antrim.
Chap. IV.
Literature and Bibliography/ of Agriculture.
789G. The first books on agriculture were written by the Greeks before the Christian
aera, and by the Romans about the commencement of that period. Hesiod is the only
writer of the former people exclusively devoted to husbandry : the earliest Roman author
is Cato ; and the latest, Palladius, in the fourth century A.D. The works of these and
the other agricultural writers of antiquity have been already enumerated (25. and 44.),
and the most interesting have lately been re-translated (7110. anno 1800).
7897. In the dark ages few books were written except on religion. The first author
that appeared on the revival of the arts was Crescentius in Italy, in the fifteenth cen-
tury; and soon after, in the sixteenth, Fitzherbert in England, Olivier des Serres in
France, Heresl)ach in Germany, and Herrera in Spain. Since these works appeared,
many others have been published in every country in Europe, especially in England,
France, and Germany. Though our business is chiefly with the works which have
appeared in Britain : yet we shall, after enumerating the chief of them, notice also what
has been done in other countries ; many foreign works, especially of France, Germany,
and Italy, being familiar, either in the original or by translations, to the reading
agriculturists of this country. All the works of importance, whether foreign or domestic,
published or to be published since 1825, will be found noticed or reviewed in the Gar-
deners Magazine, commenced in that year, and in continuation,
Sect. I. Bibliography of British Agriculture.
7R98, A general view of the literature of British agriculture having been already given (801.), we have
here only to supply the bibliographical enumeration confirmatory of that view. Of agricultural books very
few at the present day are worth reading for their scientific information ; they are chiefly to be considered
as historical documents of the progress of opinions and practices ; and this is the reason we have arranged
them in the order of their appearance, instead of classing them according to the subjects treated of.
Those who wish to see them so classed will be amply gratified by Watts's Btbliographia Britdnnica. In
our list we have omitted many works on subjects belonging to political agriculture, as the corn laws, tithes,
poor-rates, &c. ; and also most of those on veterinary surgery, horsemanship, bees, hunting, planting, &c.,
as not strictly belonging to the subject, and as being for the greater part, those on the veterinary art in
particular, worse than Useless. In short, the improvements in chemistry, animal and vegetable physio,
logy, and the comparatively clear views of political economy which have taken place chiefly since the
commencement of the present century, have rendered most books on agriculture, whether political or
professional, not published within the last ten years, of very little value, and a number of them more
injurious than useful. This second edition of British authors on agriculture is considerably reduced, in
order to render it more select ; and, through the obliging disposition of Mr. Forsyth, perhaps the only man
in existence thoroughly acquainted with the bibliography of British agriculture and gardening, it is
rendered much more accurate.
1557. Tusser, Thomas, styled the British Varro,
was born near Witham, in Essex, 1515 ; received a
liberal education at Eton School, and at Trinity
Hall, Cambridge ; lived many years as a farmer in
Suffolk, and afterwards removed to London, and
published his experience in agriculture and gar.
dening. He died in 1580.
1. A hundreth good Pointes of Husbandrie. Lond. 4to.
2. Five Hundreth Points of Good Husbandry, suited to as
many of Good Huswifere ; with divers approved lessons con-
cerning Hops and Gardening, Lond. 4to. 1.^73.
1581. Mascall, Leonard, author of a work on
sowing, planting, and grafting trees, &c. 1572.
1. The Husbandlye Ordering and Government of Poultrie,
&c. Lond. 8vo.
a. The First Book of Cattel, &c. Lond. 1587. 4to.
."i. A Booke of Fishing with Hooke and Line, and all other
Instruments thereunto belonging ; another of Sundrie Engines
1500. Qroshede, Bishop of Lincoln.
Here begyneth a Treatyse of Husbandry, v.liich Mayster
Groshede, sotyme Bysshop of Lyncolne, made and translated
out of Frenssheinto'Englyshe. Lond. 4to.
1523. Fitxherbert, or Fitxherbarde, Sir Anthony,
a very learned lawyer, and also known as the father
of English husbandry, was born at Norbury, in Der-
byshire, and died there in 1538. He was made judge
of the Common Pleas in the 15th of Henry VIII,,
and wrote several books on law.
1 . The Book of Husbandry, verv profitable and necessarj-
for all persons. Lond. 1523, 4to ; "1.-53?, Ifimo.
2. Surveying. Lond. 1525, 4to; 1539, l6rao.
^. De Externa Manerii. Lond. 153'J.
1558. Benese, Sir Richard, Canon of Marton Ab-
bey, near Losidon.
The Manner oi'Measuryng all Maner of Land. IGmo.
Book i.
BRITISH WORKS ON AGRICULTURE.
1207
and Trappes to take Polecats, BiiEards, Rats, Mice, and all
other kindes of Vermin and Beasts whauoever ; moste pro-
fitable for all Warriners, and suche as delight in this kinde
of sporte and pastime. Lond. 1590. 4to.
1601. Anon.
God speede the Plough. Lond. 4to.
1601. Plat, Hugh.
The new and adiiiirable Arte of setting of Come, with all
the necessarie Tooles ; and other Circumstances belonging to
the same. Lond. 4to.
1610. f'aughan, Rowland.
Most approved and long experienced Water Works : con-
taining the Manner of hummer and Winter drowning of
Meadow and Pasture bv the Advantage of the least liiver,
Brooke, Fount, or ^Vat,"f Trill adj-.cent. Lond. 4to.
1613. Markham, Gervase, Jarvise, or Gervas. An
author who wrote on a great variety of subjects
during the reigns of James L and Charles I., and
died about 1C8.5. He appears, says Harte {Es.
says, ii. 32.) to be the first Englishman who deserves
to be called a hackney writer.
1. The English Husbandman ; 2 Parts. Lond. 1613. 4to.
2. Farewell to Husbandry. Ixind. 1620. 4to.
3. Cheap and Good Husbandry, for the weli ordering of all
Beasts and Fowls, &c. Lond. 1616, 1631. 4to.
4. Enrichment of the Weald of Kent, &c. Lond. 1620,
1G31. 4to.
1616. Stevens and JJebault.
Maiion Rustique, or the Country Farm ; translated into
English by Richard Surflet, Practitioner in Physicke, newly
reviewed, &c. ; and the Husbandrie of France, Italy, and
Spaine reconciled and made to agree with any here in
England. By Gervase Markham. Lond. fol.
1635. Calthorpe, Charles.
The Relation between a Lord of a Manor and the Copy-
liolder, his Tenant. Lond. 4to.
1639. Plattes, Gabriel, author of some tracts on
Gardening ; a poor man but a useful writer. Harte
says, he had a bold adventurous cast of mind, and
preferred the faulty sublime to faulty mediocrity.
As great a genius as he was, he was allowed to drop
down dead in London streets with hunger ; nor had
he a shirt upon his back when he died. He be-
queathed his papers to Hartlib, who seems to have
published but few of them.
1. Discovery of infinite Treasure, hidden since tlie World's
beginning, in the Way of Husbandry. 4to.
2. Discoverie of Subterraneal Treasure, viz. all manner of
Mines and Minerals, from the Gold to the Coal, &c., with di-
rections for the finding them. Lond. 1653. 4to.
3. Observations and Improvements in Husbandry, with
Twenty Experiments. Lend. 1653. 4to.
1642. Vermuyden, Sir C, a native of Holland, and
a colonel in Cromwell's army.
Discourse touching the Dre.ning the great Fenns lying within
the several Counties of Lincolne, Norihamjiton, Huntingdon,
Norfolke, Suflolke, Cambridge, and the Isle of Ely. 4to.
1645. Weston, Sir Richard.
Discourse of Husbandry used in Brabant and Flanders, shew-
ing the wonderful Improvements of I>and there. Lond. 4to.
1649. Blith, Walter, an officer in Cromwell's
army, who, with other English gentlemen holding
commissions at that time, was eminently useful in
introducing improvements into Ireland and Scot-
land.
1. The English Improver, or a new Survey of Husbandry,
discovering to the kingdom that some Land, loth Arable and
Pasture, may be advanced Double and Treble, and other. Five
and Ten fold. Lond. 4to.
2. The English Improver improved ; or the Survey of Hus-
bandry surveyed. Lond. 1652. 4io. 3tl Edit.
1651. Hartlib, Samuel, an ingenious Writer on
agriculture, and author of several theological tracts.
He was the son of a Polish merchant, and came to
England, according to Weston, about 1640 ; but the
time when he died is unknown. He was a great
promoter of husbandry during the times of the com-
monwealth, and was much esteemed by all inge-
nious men in those days. Milton addressed to him
his treatise on education, and Sir William Petty
inscribed two letters to him on the same subject.
Cromwell allowed him a pension of 100/. a year.
1. Legacy; or, an Enlargement on the Discourse of Hus-
bandry used in Brabant and Flanders. This work is said in
the CeTUM LUeraria to be written by Robert Child. Witli an
Appendix. 1651. 4to. Lond.
2. Appendix to the Legacy, relating more particularly to
the Husbandry and Natural History of Ireland. Lond. 1652. 4to.
3. Essay on the Advancement of Husbandry and Learning,
with propositions for erecting a College of Husbandry. Lond.
1651. 4to.
4. Tlie Reformed Husbandman ; or, a brief Treatise of the
Errors, Defects, and Inconvenience of our English Husbandry,
in ploughing and sowing for Com ; with the Reasons and ge-
neral Remedies, and a large yet faithful Offer or Undertaking
for the Benefit of them that will joyn in this good and public
Work. Lond. 1651. 4to.
5. Design for Plenty, by a Universal Planting of Trees ; ten-
dered by some well-wishers to the Public. Lond. 1652. 4to.
6. Discovery for Division or Setting out of Land in England
and Ireland. Lond. 1653. 4to.
7. The Complete Husbandman ; or, a Discourse of Hus-
bandry, both Foreign and Domestic And a particular Dis-
course cH the Nattiral History of Husbandry in Ireland. Lond
1659. 4to.
1659. Speed, Adam,
1. Adam out of Eden; or, an Abstrast of divers excellent
Experiments, touddng tlie Advancement of Agriculture.
Lond. 12mo.
2. Husbandman, Farmer, and Grazier's Complete Instructor.
Lond. 1697. 12mo.
1662. Du^dale, William.
History of the embanking and drayning of divers Fens and
Marshes, both in forrain parts and in this kingdom. Lond.
fol. 2d edit. pt. 1772. Revised by C. N. Cole, Esq.
1664. Forster, John.
England's Happiness increased ; or a sure and easie Method
against all succeeding dear Years, by a Plantation of the Roots
called Potatoes, &c. Lond. 4to.
1665. Doflson, Colonel William.
The Design for tl e perfect Draining of the great Level of the
Fen, called Bedford Level, with Maps, &c. Xond. 4to.
1669. IVorlidge, John, gentleman, author of some
works on gardening.
Systema Agricultura, &c. Lond. fol.
1670. Smith, John, Gent
England's Improvement revived ; plainly discovering the se-
veral Ways of improving the several Sorts of waste and barren
Grounds, and of enriching all E.-uths ; with tl e natural Quality
of all I.ands, and the several Seeds and Plants which naturally
thrive therein, observed ; to„'ether with the manner of planting
all Sorts of Timlier Trees and Underwoods; experienced in 30
Years' Practice ; in 6 Books. Lond. 4to. 1673.
1681. Houghton, John, F.R.S.
A Co iection of Letters for the Improvement of Husbandry
iond. 4to. Again in ir~
by R. Bradley
and Trace. Lond. 4to. Again in 172S, 4 vols. 8vo, revised
Um. Lister, Martin, M.D., an eminent physician
and natural philosopher ; was born in Buckingham,
shire about 1638 ; practised in London; died 1711-12.
He wrote various works.
Cf Plants which may be usefully cultivated for Grass or Hay.
1C96. (PhU. Tram. A\ Mr. iv. 136.)
1685. Moore, Sir Jonas, Knight, F.R.S., a very
respectable mathematician, and surveyor-general of
his majesty's ordnartce, was born in Lancashire,
lfil7 ; died 1679.
1. History or Narrative of the great Level of the Fens called
Bedford Level ; with a laree Map of the said Level, as drained,
surveyed, and described. 8vo.
2. England's Interest; or the Gentleman and tarmer's
Friend. Lond. 1695. Svo.
1694. Floyd, Edivard.
1. Account of Locusts in Wales. (PhU. Trans. ^Ir. iii.
2. On the spontaneous Combustion of several Hay -stacks, &c.
(/fc. p. 618.)
1C97. Donaldson, James, a native of Scotland,
and one of the earliest and most useful writers on
the agriculture of his country.
Husbandry Anatomised; or an Enquiry into tlie present
manner of Tilling and Manuring the Ground in Scotland.
Edin. 12mo. - _, r^ ,
1697. Meager, Leonard, author of The English
G.irdener and other works.
IheMvstery of Husbandry. Lond. 12mo.
1700. 'Xourse, Timolhy, F.R.S.
Campania Felix ; or a Discourse of the Benefits and Im-
provements of Husbandry. Lond. Svo.
1707. Mortimer, John, author of some tracts on
religious education. His works on husbandry were
translated into Swedish, and published in Stock-
holm, in 1727. , „ .
The whole Art of Husbandry, in the way of Managmg and
Improving Land. lyond. Svo. ■, , ■,
1717. Laurence, Edward, brother to John Lau-
rence, a clergyman, author of a work on gardening.
(See A. D. 1726.)
The Duty of a Steward to his Lord; with an Appendix on
Farming. Lond. 1727. 4fo. „ „ ^ j -r. r *■
im. Bradley, Richard, F.R.S., and Professor of
Botany in the University of Cambridge; a most vo-
luminous writer on gardening, botany, &c. ; died
1732. {Encyc.ojGard.T(>.\W2..] , ,. , .
1. Philosophical Treatise of Husbandry and Gardening.
3. Experimemal Husbandman and Gardener. Translated
from the German cf G. A. Agricola. Lond. 4to^ 1726.
of Hus-
4. A Complete Body of Husbandrj'. Lond. 1727.
5. The Weekly Miscellanv for the Improvement
bandrv. Arts, and Science?. 21 Nos. 1727. 8vo.
6. -l-he Science of (iood Husbandry, or the Economy of Xe-
nophon ; translated from ti.e (Jreek. Lond. 1 / 27. »7°-
7. The Riches of a Hop Garden explained, w^ith the Observ-
ations of the most celebrated Hop Planteis m Bntam. Lond.
1729. Svo.
A'TreaiL"''"ncemmg the Manner of fallowing Ground,
raisin» of Grass Seeds, and training of Lme and Hemp. tdrn.
^^"mi^llawrence, John, M. A., author of The Cler-
gV7nan's Recreation, a gardening work of use in its
time ; he died in Durham, 1732. {Encyc. of Gard,
The New System of Agriculture; being a complete Boiyot
Husbandry and Gardening in all the parts of them. LonU. tol.
1729. Mackintosh, Borland.
Essay on Ways and Means for Inclosing, Fallowing, Planting,
Sec. Scotland, and that in sixteen Years at farthest. Edin. Svo.
1730. Richards, John. ■ . , a
The Gentleman's Steyvard and Tenants of JIanors insUuctcd
Lond. 8vo.
4 II 4
1908
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
1790. Rye, George.
ObserTations on Acriculture. Dub. 8»o.
1731. Tull, Jeihro, was born in Oxfordshire ; he
was a barrister, and made the tour of Europe j after
which he settled on his paternal estate, which he
cultivated with so much attention as brought on a
disorder in his breast. He then went abroad, and,
on his return, fixed his residence on a farm in
Berkshire, where he renewed his experiments in
horse-hoeing husbandry : lie died in 1740. His son,
John Tull, was an officer in the army, but ruined
himself by projects, and died in the Fleet in 1764.
(Gent. Mag.) Mr. TuU's farm was "situated at a
place called Prosperous (probably so called from his
great success), in a tract of very indifferent land,
lying on the north side of the Hampshire hills, near
the borders of Wiltshire, but being itself in the
county of Berks. It is, I believe, in the parish of
Ink-pen. I visited it in the company of Mr. Budd
of Newbury, who had visited it long; before with
Arthur Young, who, like me, visited it in the cha-
racter of a pilgrim, and in honour of the memory
of the real founder of every recent improvement
that has been made in the agriculture of England."
ICobbeWs Treatise on Cobbett's Corn, chap, vi.)
1. Specimen of a Work on Horse-hoeing Husbandry. Lond.
4to.
2. New Horse-hoeine Husbandry; or an Essay on the Prin-
ciples of Tillage and VeKetation ; wherein is shown a Method
ot introducing a sort of Vineyard Culture into the Corn Fields,
in order to increase their Product, and diminish the common
Expense by the use of Instruments, described in Cuts. 1733.
fol.
3. Supplement to the New Horse-hoeing, &c. Lond. 1739.
1732. Ellis, Wllliatn, a farmer at Little Gaddes-
don, near Herael Hempstead, in Hertfordshire.
1. The Modem Husbandman; or. Practice of Farming.
Lond. 1744. 8 vols. 8vo.
2. The Country Housewife's Family Companion. Lond.
1750. 8vo.
3. The Complete Planter and Cyderist. Lond. 1757. Svo.
4. Ellis's Husbandry abridged and methodised. Lond. 1772.
8 vols. 8to.
1737. Phillips, Robert.
Dissertalion concerning the present State of the High Iloads
of England, especially those near London ; wherein is proposed
a New Method of repairing and maintaining them. Lond.
Svo.
1741. Blackwell, Alexander, M.D., a native of
Aberdeenshire. Blackwell studied physic under
Boerhaave at Loyden, took the degree of M. D.,
practised as a physician at Aberdeen, and afterwards
at London, but meeting With no success, turned
printer, and became bankrupt in 1731. About 1740 he
went to Sweden, turned projector, and laid a scheme
before his Swedish Majesty for draining the fens
and marshes. He was suspected of being concerned
in a plot with Count Tessin, and was beheaded
August 9. 1748. His wife Elizabeth was the author
of a curious herbal.
A new Method of Improving cold, wet, and barren Land,
particularly clayey Grounds, &c. Lond. 8vo.
1743. Maxwell, Robert, an eminent Scotch im-
prover.
1. Select Transactions of the Honourable Society of Im-
f rovers in the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scotland. Edinb.
743. Svo. Plates.
2. The Practical Husbandman. Edin. Svo. 1767.
1744. Claridge, John.
The Shepherd of Banbury's Rules to know of the Cliange of
the Weather. Lond. Svo.
17.'37. Home, Francis, M.D., Professor of Materia
Medica in the University of Edinburgh.
The Principles of Agriculture and Vegetation. Lond. 8vo.
17;T7. Lisle, Edward, Esq., late of Crux-Easton,
in Hampshire.
Obsf-rvations on Husbandry. Lond. 4to, and 5! vols. 8vo.
1759. Stillingjlcet, Renjainin, grandson to the
bishop of that name, and an ingenious naturalist
and miscellaneous writer, interesting in agricul-
ture as a promoter of the introduction of artificial
grasses ; was born about 1702 ; died 1771-
1. Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Natural History, Hus-
bandry, and Physic. Translated from the Latin ; with Notes.
Xiond. 8vo.
2. Calendar of Flora, Swedish and English, made in the
jearl755. Lond. 8vo. 1761.
1759. Mills, John, F.R.S., author and translator
of several works, and among others of Gyllenborg's
Natural atid Chemical Elements of Agriculture, an
ingenious work for its time and country.
1. A Practical Treatise of Husbandry, collected by Du-
hamel, and also the most approved practice ol the best English
farmers. Lond. 4to.
2. A New and Complete System of Practical Husbandry.
Lond. 1762-5. 6 vols. Svo.
3. An Essay on the Weather ; with Remarks on the Shep-
herd of Banbury's Rules for Judging of its Changes, and Di-
rections for preserving Hives aud Buildings from the fatal
effects of Lightning. Lond. 1770. Svo.
4. A TreaUse on Cattle, &c. Lond. 1776. Svo.
1760. Ilitt, Thomas, gardener to Lord Manners,
at Bloxholme In Lincolnshire, and author of a me-
ritorious work on fruit trees.
A Treatise of Husbandry ; or the Improvement of dry and
barren Lands. Lond. Svo.
1761. Mordant, John.
The Complete Steward ; or the Duty of a Steward to his
Lord. Lond. 2 vols. Svo.
1762. Dickson, Adam, A.M., minister of Dunse in
Scotland. Considered a good classical scholar, and
an excellent practical farmer. He died before The
Husbandry of the Ancients was prepared for the
press, which is the occasion of some defects in that
work.
1. Treatise on Agriculture. Edin. Svo. This is one of the
best works on tillage that ever has appeared.
2. The Husbantfiy of the Ancients. Edin. 1778. 2 vols. Svo.
1763. Anon.
Museum Rusticum et Commerciale ; or Select Papers on
Agriculture, Commerce, &c. Ix)nd. 6 vols. Svo.
1764. Ladnar, of Kroy, in Yorkshire.
The Farmer's New Guide. Lond. Svo.
1764. Randall, J., some time master of the aca-
demy at Heath, near Wakefield, Yorkshire.
1. The Semi-Virgilian Husbandry, deduced from various
Experiments. Lond. Svo.
2. Construction and extensive Use of a new-invented Seed
Furrow Plough, suited to all Soils; of a Draining Plough ; and
of a Potato Drill Machine ; with the Tlieory of a Common
Plough ; illustrated with 7 plates. Lond. 1764. 4to.
1765. Fordyce, George, M.D., F.R.S., a distin.
tinguished physician, and teacher of medicine in
London ; was born at Aberdeen, 1736 ; died 1802.
Elements of Agriculture and Vegetation. Edin. Svo.
1766. Homer, Henry, an excellent classical scholar,
was born in Warwickshire, 17.^2 ; died 1791.
1. An Essay on the Nature and Method of ascertaining the
specific Shares of Proprietors upon the Inclosure of Common
Fields. Lond. Svo.
2. An Inquiry into the Means of Preserving and Improving
the Public Koads of this kingdom. Oif. 1767. 8vo.
1766. Anon.
7"he Complete Farmer : or a General Dictionary of Hus-
bandry in all its branches, &c., by a Society of Gentlemen,
Members of the Society of Arts, Manufactures, &c. London.
Fol. Plates.
l>ondon, 1807, 2 vols. 4to, 5th edit, entitled The Com-
plete Farmer, or General Dictionary of Agriculture and Hus-
bandry, &c., wholly re-written and enlarged. Plates.
1767. Young, Arthur, F.R.S., an eminent agricul-
turist, secretary to the Board of Agriculture, was the
son of Arthur Young, a prebendary of Canterbury,
and author of An Historical Dissertation of Corrup-
tions in Religion. He was born in 1741. He served
his apprenticeship to a wine merchant; but on
entering into the possession of his paternal estate,
near Bury St. Edmunds, he became a farmer, and
impoverished himself by experiments. After this
he set up as a teacher of others, and in 1771 pub-
lished a volume called The Farmer's Calendar,
which was followed in 1784 by The Annals ofAgricul.
tare, in which^he had Ralph Robinson, George lll.'s
farming baiUfF, for a correspondent. Young also
made excursions through the British islands and on
the Continent, to collect information on subjects of
rural economy. At length a Board of Agriculture
was established, of which he was appointed secre-
tary, with a salary of six hundred a year. He became
blind some years before his death, which happened
February 20. 1820. His works are numerous, and
his travels amusing. (Annual Biography.)
1. The Farmer's Letters to the People of England, &c.
Lond. Svo.
2. The Farmer's Letters to the Landlords of Great Britain.
Lond. 1771. Svo.
3. A Six ^\'eeks' Tour through the Southern Coimties of
England and Wales. Lond. 1768. Svo.
4. Tre.itise on the Management of Hogs. Lond. 1769. Svo.
5. A Six Months' Tour through the North of England.
Lond. 1770. 4 vols. Svo.
6. The Farmer's Guide in Hiring and Stockmg Farms, &c.
Lond. 1770. 2 vols. Svo.
7. Rural Economy ; or Essays on the Practical Part of Hus-
bandry. Lond. 1770. Svo.
8. A Course of Experimental Agriculture. Lond. 1770.
2 vo!s. 4 to.
9. The Farmer's Tour through the East of England. Lond.
1770. 4 vols. Svo.
10. ObservaUons on the Present State of the Waste Lands in.
Great Britain. Lond. 1772. Svo.
11. Tour in Ireland; with General Observations on the
Present State of that Kingdom, made in 1776-7-8, and 9.
Dub. 1780. 2 vols. Svo.
12. An Ess^ on the Culture of Cole-seed for feeding Sheep
and Cattle. Svo.
13. Annals of Agriculture, and other useful Arts. Pub-
lished in Nos. Bury St. Edmunds, 1790, 40 vols. Svo.
14. Travels during the years 1787-8, and 9, undertaken more
particularly with a View of ascertaining the Cultivation,
Wealth, Biesources, and National Prosperitv of the Kingdom
of France. Bury St. Edmunds, 1792. 4to. 2 vols.
15. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Suf-
folk ; drawn up for the Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1797.
Svo.
16. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Lin-
coln ; drawn up for the Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1799.
Book I.
BRITISH WORKS ON AGRICULTURE.
1209
17. An Enquiry Into the Proprletj of appljlne Wastes to the
Maintenance and Support of the Poor. Ixmd. 1801. Svo.
18. The Farmer's Kalendar, containing the Business neces-
sary to be performed on the various kinds of Farms during
every month of the year. Lond. 1800. 4 vols. 8vo.
19. Essay on Manures. Lond. 1804. 8vo.
20. General View of the Agriculture of Hertfordshire;
drawn up for the Board of Agriculture. Lond. Ig04. 8vo.
21. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Nor-
follc. Lond. 1804. 8vo.
22. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Essex.
Lond. 1806. 2 vols. 8vo.
23. General Report on Inclosures. Lond. 1807- 8vo.
24. General View of the Agriculture of Oxfordshire. Lond.
1808. 8vo.
25. A General View of the Agriculture of the County of
Sussex ; drawn up for the Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1808.
8vo.
26. Advantages which have resulted from the Establishment
of the Board of Agriculture. Lond. 1S09. 8vo.
27. On the Husbandry of those celebrated British Farmers,
Bakewell, Arbuthnot, and Ducket. Lond. ISU. 8vo.
1768. Dossie, Robert, Esq.
Memoirs of Agriculture, &c. Lond. 3 vols. 8vo.
1770. Peters, Matthew.
1. The Rational Farmer. Lond. 8vo.
2. Vl^inter Riches. Lond. 1771. 8vo.
1770. Comber, Thofnas, LL. D., Rector of Buck-
worth and Morborne, in Huntingdonshire, died
1778.
1. Free and Candid Correspondence on the Farmer's Letters
to the People of England, &c., with the Autlior and Anhur
Young, Esq. Lond. 8vo.
2. Real Improvement in Agriculture, on the Principles of
A. Young, Esq. To which is added, a Letter to Dr. Hunter of
York, on the Rickets in Sheep. Lond. 1772. 8vo.
1770. Hunter, Alexander, M.D., F.Ii.S L. and E.
was born at Edinburgh, 1733 ; settled as a physician
at Gainsborough, at Beverley, and finally at York,
where he dietl, 1809.
1. Georgical Essays; in which the Food of Plants is parti-
cularly considered. Ix>nd. 4 vols. 8vo.
2. Outlines of Agriculture. York. 1785. 8vo.
3. A new Method of raising Wheat for a Series of Years on
the same Land. York. 1796. 4to.
1772. Varlo, C. Esq.
A New System of Husbandry. Lond. 3 vols. Svo.
1774. Barron, WiUia?n, E.R.S.E., Professor of
Logic and Belles Lettres in the University of St.
Andrew's,
Essays on the Mechanical Principles of the Plough. Edin. Svo.
1775. AieK/, A'aCAflnje/, of Fulham, Middlesex. He
studied agriculture in Flanders, and became an
emjnentland valuer and agent. He was also for some
time farm bailiff to George 111. He died in 1S18.
1. Hints to Gentlemen of Landed Property. Lond. 8vo.
2. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Nor-
folk ; drawn up for the Board of Agriculture and. Internal
Improvement. Norwich, 1796. 8vo.
3. Account of the Improvements made on the Farm in the
Great Park of His Majesty the King, at Windsor. (Nicholton'a
Juurnal, iii. 428.) 1799.
1775. Harrison, Gustaims, Esq.
Agriculture Delineated ; or, the Farmer's Complete Guide,
being a Treatise on Lands in general. Svo.
1775. Anderson, James, LL.D., an eminent agri-
cultural writer, was born at Hermiston, a village
near Edinburgh, in 1730, on a farm which his
parents had possessed for some generations, and
which he was intended to inherit and to cultivate.
He lost his parents at an early age, but his education
was not neglected ; he studied chemistry under
Dr. CuUen, and soon leaving his farm near Edin-
burgh, took one in Aberdeenshire of 1300 acres,
which, after improving and cultivating for twenty
years, he let, and enjoyed an annuity from it during
his life. He settled, after leaving Aberdeenshire, in
the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, where he pub-
lished the Bee, in weekly sixpenny numbers, till
it extended to 18 volumes. In 1797 he removed to
Isleworth, near London, where he published Recrea-
tions in Agriculture, in six volumes, and his De-
scription of a Patent Hothouse. Here he enjoyed his
garden, and died of a decline in 1808, aged 69.
Besides the works which bear his name, he wrote
the reviews of books on rural matters for the
Monthly Review for many years.
1. Essays relating to Agriculttire and Rural AfTaixs. Edin.
Svo. Lond. 3 vols. Svo.
2. Miscellaneous 'Thoughts on Planting and Training Tim-
ber Trees, by Agricola. Edin. 1777. Svo.
3. An Account of the Present State of the Hebrides and
Western Coasts of Scotland, with Hints for encouraging the
Fisheries, and promoting other Iii.provements in these coun-
tries ; being the Substance of a Report to the Lords of the
Treasury. Edin. 1785. Svo.
4. A Practical Treatise on Peat Moss, considered as in its
Natural State fitted for affording Fuel.or assusceptibleofbeing
converted into Mould, capable of yielding abundant Crops of
useful Produce, with full Directions for converting and culti-
vating it as a Soil. Edin. 1794. 8vo.
5. A General View of the Agriculture and Rural Economy
of the County of Aberdeen, with Observations on the Means of
its Improvement. Chiefly drawn up for the Board of Agricul-
ture, in two parts. Edin. 1794. 8vo.
6. A Practical Treatise on Draining Bogs and Swampy
Grounds ; with cursory Remarks on the Oiighiallty of Elkin«.
ton's Mode of Draining. Ix>nd. 1794. Svo.
7. Recreations in Agriculture, Natural History, &c, Lond.
1799. 6 vols. Svo.
1776. Home, Henry, usually called Lord Kames,
an eminent Scotch lawyer, philosopher, and critic,
was born at Kames, in Berwickshire, 1796; died
1782. He farmed his own estate in Berwickshire
many years ; he afterwards removed to Blair Drum-
mond, near Stirling, where he made various and
extensive improvements, the most important of
which was the clearing, cultivating, and peopling
great part of Flanders Moss.
The Gentleman Farmer; being an attempt to improve
Agriculture, by subjecting it to the test of Rational Principles.
Edin. Svo.
1777 — 1816. Anon.
Letters and Papers on Agriculture, Planting, &c., selected
from the Correspondence of the Bath and W'est of England
Society. Bath. 14 vols. Svo.
1777. Clarke, Cuthbert.
The true Theory and Practice of Husbandry, deduced from
Philosophical Researches and Experience, &c. Lond. 4to.
1778. Forbes, Francis, gentleman.
1. The extensive Practice of the New Husbandry. Lond.
Svo.
2. The Improvement of Waste Lands. Lond. 1778. Svo.
1778. Wight, Andrew, a farmer in East Lothian,
and one^f the earliest writers among that class in
Scotland.
The Present State of the Husbandry in Scotland. Edin.
6 vols. Svo.
1777. Black, James, of Morden, Surrey, a;surveyor,
in his day in great practice.
Observations on the Tillage of the Earth, and on the Theory
of Instruments adapted to this end. Lond. 4to.
1778. Marshall, William, Esq., a native of York-
shire, brought up to trade ; he was some years in
the West Indies, as a planter; returned about 1775,
and took a farm in Surrey ; went down into Norfolk
as agent to Sir Harbord Harbord's estate in 1780 ;
he left this situation in 1784, and went and resided at
Stafford, near the junction of the four counties of
Leicester, Warwick, Stafford, and Derby, where he
remained till 1786, occupied in collecting materials
for his Economical Surveys, and in printing some of
his works. From this time till about 1808, he re-
sided chiefly in Clement's Inn, London, in winter,
and visited different parts of the country during
summer. He spent one summer in Perthshire,
chiefly on the Earl of Breadalbane's estates at Tay.
mouth ; and partly also on the Earl of Mansfield's
at Scone. He proposed arrangements for the tenant-
able land, and also the park and woody scenery on
various estates ; and finally retired to a considerable
property he purchased in his native country, in the
vale of Cleveland, in 1808, where he died at an ad-
vanced age in 1819. He was a man of little educa-
tion, but of a strong and steady mind ; and pursued
in the most consistent manner, from the year 1780
to his death, the plan he originally laid down ; that
of collecting and condensing the agricultural prac-
tices of the different counties in England, with a
view to a general work on Landed Property, which
he published ; another on Agriculture, which he did
not live to complete ; and a Rural Institute, in which
he was supplanted by the Board of Agriculture.
1. Minutes of Agriculture, made on a Farm of 300 acres, of
various Soils, near Croydon, Surrey. Lond. 4to.
2. Experiments and Observations concerning Agriculture
and the Weather. Lond. 1779. 4to.
3. The Rural Economy of Norfolk. Lond. 1788. 2 vols.
Svo.
4. The Rural Economy of Y'orkshire. Lond. 1788. 2 vols.
Svo.
5. The Rural Economy of Gloucestershire. Glouc. 1789.
2 vols. Svo.
6. Rural Economy of the Midland Counties. Lond. 1790.
2 vols. Svo.
7. Rural Economy of the West of England. Lond. 1796.
2 vols. Svo.
8. The Rural Economy of the Southern Counties of England.
Lond. 1798. 2 vols. Svo.
9. Proposals for a Rural Institute, or College of A gricultuxe,
and other Branches of Rural Economy. Lond. 1799. 8vo.
10. On the Appropriation and Enclosure of Commonable and
Intermixed Lands. Lond. 1801. Svo.
11. An Elementary and Practical Treatise on the Landed
Property of England, containing the Purchase and Improve-
ment of Landed Estates. Lond. 1804. 4to.
12. Treatise on the Management of Landed Estates. A
General Work for the Use of Professional Men, being an
Abridgment of the former. Lond. 1808. Svo.
13. A Review and Complete Abstract of the Reports of the
Board of A griculture from the several Departments of England,
Lond. 1817. 5 vols. Svo.
14. Of the Black Canker Caterpillar which destroys the
Turnips in Norfolk. (PhU. Tram. Abr. xv. 386.) 1783.
1780. Boswell, George, a cultivator of his own
estate in Gloucestershire.
Treatise on Watering Meadows ; wherein are shown the
many Advantages arising from that Mode of Practice, particu-
larly on coaTK, boggy, or barren Lands. Lond. Svo.
1210
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE:.
Fart> IV
1784. TiPamIey,J.
Dairving cxemjilitieii ; or the Business of Cheesemaking laid
down from aiiproved Rules, &c. Warwick, 8vo.
1784. Small, Jatnes, a plough-wright, and small
farmer in Roxburghshire ; but afterwards settled at
Edinburgh as an agricultural machinist
Treatise on Ploughs and Wheel Carriages. Edin. 8vo.
1784. Turner, NicAoliis.
An Essay on Draining ind Improving Peat Bogs. Lond.
8vo.
1785. Stone, Thomas, lately a surveyor and land-
agent to the Duke of Bedford ; died at Paris, 1815.
1. An Essay on Ajjriculture, with a View to inform Gentle-
men of Landed Property whether thtir Estates are managed to
the fireatest Advantage. Lond. 8vo.
2. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Hun-
tingdon. Lond. 1793. 4to.
3. General View ot" the Agriculture of the County of Bed-
ford. Lond. 1794. 4to.
4. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Lin-
coln. Lond. 1794. 4to.
5. A Review of the corrected Apricultiiral Survey of Lin-
colnshire, by Arthur Young, Esq. Lond. 1800. Svo.
6. A Letter on the Drainage of the East, West, and Wild
Moor Fens. Lond. 1800. Svo.
7. Letter on the intended Drainings and Inclosures of tlie
Moor Fens in the County of Lincoln. 1801.
1786. Young, David, of Perth.
Natural Improvements in Agriculture, in Twenty-seven
Essays. Edin. 8vo.
1786. Cullei/, George, born at Denton, in the
county of Durham. In 1762 he went to Dishley,
and remained some time a pupil with Bakewell : he
then returned, and took the farm of Fenton, in
Northumberland, in 1767, and died in that county,
a:t Fowberry tower, in 1813, aged 79.
1. Observations on Live Stock ; containing Hints for choosing .
and improving the best Breeds of the most useful Kinds of
Domestic Animals. Ix)nd. 8vo.
2. General View of the Agriculture of Northumberland.
(See Bailey, J., A.D. 1797.)
1787. Ley, Charles, land surveyor.
The Nobleman, Gentleman, Land Steward, and Surveyor's
Complete Guide; in which is described every Circumstance
relative to the prop« Management of Estates ; comprehending
the Duty and Office of a Land Steward in all its Parts ; with
some useful Hints to Surveyors : also the Current Prices of
Estates througriout the Kingdom, by which any Gentleman or
Steward may ascertain the exact Value of any Estate, whether
in Fee, Copy, or Leasehold. Lond. Svo.
1787. Winter, George, a practical agriculturist.
A new and compendious System of Husbandry : containing
Uie mechanical, chemical, and philosophical Elements of
Agriculture. Brist. 8vo.
1789. Adam, James, Esq.
Practical Essays on Agriculture. Lond. 2 vols. Svo.
1789. Wright, Rev. Thomas, Rector of Auld, in
Northamptonshire,
1. Account of the Advantages and Method of Watering
Meadows by Art, as practised in the County of Gloucester.
Lond. 8vo.
2. The Art of Floating Land, as it is practised in the County
of Gloucester, shown to be preferable to any other Method in
use in this Country: with Minute and Plain Directions, and
Three descriptive Plates. Lond. 1799. Svo.
3. On the Formation and Management of Floatrd Meadows ;
■with Corrections of Errors found in the Treatises of Messrs.
Davis, Marshall, Bosweil, Young, and Smith, on the Subject
of Floating. ISIO. Svo.
1790. Naismith, John, an ingenious cultivator in
Clydesdale.
1. Thoughts on various Objects of Industry pursued in
Scotland. Edin. Svo.
2. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Clydes-
dale. 1794. 4to.
3. Observations on the different Breeds of Sheep, and the
State of Sheep Farming in the Southern Districts of Scotland.
Edin. 1795. 4to.
4. Elements of Agriculture ; being an Essay towards esta-
blishing the Cultivation of the Soil, and promoting Vegetation
on steady Principles. Lond. 1807. Svo.
1789. Curtis, William, an eminent botanist, born
in Hampshire, 1746, died 1799 ; author of various
works on practical botany and the culture of plants.
Practical Observations on the British Grasses best adapted to
the laying down or improving of Meadows and Pastures.
Lond. Svo.
1790. Swayne, G., A.M., vicar of Pucklechurch,
Gloucestershire.
Gramina Pascua : or, a Collection of the Specimens of the
Common Pasture Grasses. Lond. fol. 8 pages, and 6 plates.
1790. Sinclair, Right Hon. Sir John, Bart, LL.D.,
M.P., Founder of the Board of Agriculture, author
of The Code of Health and Longevity, and various
other compilations.
1. Report on the Subject of Shetland Wool. Lond. Svo.
2. Address to the Society for the Improvemtait of British
Wool, constituted at Edinburgh, 1791. Lond. Svo.
3 Account of the Origin of the Board of Agriculture, and
its Progress for Three Years after its Establishment. Lond.
1796. 4to.
4. Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Blight, the
Rust, and tlie Mildew. 1809. Svo.
5. An Account of the Systems of Husbandry adopted in
the more improved Districts of Scotland ; with some Observ-
ations on the Improvements of which they are susceptible.
Fidin. 1812. Svo., with numerous plates.
6. The Agriculture of the Netherlands. 1816. Svo.
7. The Code of Agriculture. 1820. 8to.
1793. Elstobb, W.
Historical Account of the great Level of the Fens, called
Bedford Level, and other Fens, Marshes, and Low Lands, in
this Kingdom, and other Places. Lynn, Svo.
1793. Lebrocq, Philip, M. A. and curate of
Ealing.
The Outlines of a Plan for improving the Tract of Land
called the Nhw Forest. Lond. Svo.
1793. Eraser, Robert, Esq.
1. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Devon.
Lond. 4to.
2. General View of the Agriculture and Mineralogy, pre-
sent State and Circumstances, of the County of Wicklow.
Dub. 1801. Svo.
3. Gleanings in Ireland ; particularly respecting its Agricul-
ture, Mines, and Fisheries. Lond. 1802. Svo.
4. A Letter on the most effectual Means for the Improve-
ment of the Coasts and Western Islands of Scotland, and the
Extension of the Fisheries. Ixind. 1803. Svo.
3. Statistical Survey of the County of Wexford. Dub. 1807.
Svo.
1794. Rennie, George, Esq , an eminent East Lo-
thian farmer, and also a proprietor.
General View of the Agriculture of the West Riding of York
shire, by Messrs. Rennie, Brown, and Shirreff". Lond. 4to.
r,94. Pringle, A.
General V'iew of the Agricultvure of the County of Westmor-
land. Edin. 4to.
1794. Malcolm, William, James, and Jacob, of
Stockwell, near Clapham, nurserymen.
1. General View of the Agriculture of Buckinghamshire.
Lond. 4to.
2. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Surrey.
Lond. 1794. 4to.
1794. Maunsell, William, LL.D.
Letter on the Culture of Potatoes from the Shoots. Lond.
Svo.
1794. Leatham, Isaac.
General View of the Agriculture of the East Riding of York-
shire. Lond. 4to.
1794. Monk, John, of Bear's Combe, near King's-
bridge, Devon.
1. An Agricultural Dictionary ; consisting of Extracts from
the most celebrated A uthors and Papers. Lond. 3 vols. Svo.
2. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Leices-
ter. Lond. 1794. 4to.
1794. Driver, Abraham and William, land sur-
veyors and agents, London.
General View of the Agriculture of the County of Hants.
Lond. 4to.
1794. Donaldson, James, land surveyor, and land
steward for some extensive estates, and author of
some of the County Surveys.
Modem Agricu ture ; or the present State of Husbandry in
Great Britain. Edin. 1795-6. 4 vols. Svo.
1794. Ainos, William, of Brothertoft, Lincoln-
shire, farmer.
1. The Theory and Practice of Drill Husbandry, &c. Lond.
4to.
2. Minutes of Agriculture and Planting, &c. Lond. 1804.
4to.
17S4. Davis, Thomas, Esq., steward to the Mar-
quis of Bath at Longleat ; a man of strong mind and
great integrity, universally respected ; he died about
1818.
General View of the Agriculture of Wiltshire. Lond. Svo.
1794. Clark, John, F.S A., land surveyor, Builth,
and at Pembroke.
1. General View of the Agriculture of Brecknock. Lond.
4to.
2. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Radnor.
Lond. 1794. 4to. , „
3. General \'iew of the Agriculture of the County of Here-
ford. Lond. 1794. 4to. ^ , ,^ „
4. An Inquiry into the Nature and Value of Leasehold Pro-
perty. Glouc. Svo.
1794. put, William, of Pendeford, near Wolver-
hampton. ^ _
1. General \'iew of the Agriculture of the County of Staf-
ford. Lond. Svo.
2. A General View of the Agriculture of Northamptonshire.
Svo.
3. A General View of the Agriculture of Worcestershire.
1795. Cochrane, Archibald, Earl of Dundonald,
an amateur chemist and agriculturist
1. A Treatise showing the intimate Connection that subsists
between Agriculture and Chemistry. Lond. 4to.
2. The Principles of Chemistry applied to the Improvement
of the Practice of Agriculture. 1799. 4to.
1795. Holt, John, of Walton, near Liverpool, was
born in Cheshire, 1742 ; died 1801.
1. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Lancas-
ter ; with the Observations on the Means of its Improvement ;
drawn up for the Board of Agriculture. Lond. Svo.
2. An Essay on the Curl of Potatoes.
1795. Robertson, George, formerly farmer at Gran-
ton, near Edinburgh, now living in Ayrshire.
1. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Mid-
Lothian. Edin. Svo.
2. Rural Recollections ; or the Progress of Improvement in
Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Irvine. Svo. 1829.
1795. Macphail, James, twenty years gardener to
the Earl of Liverpool in Surrey, and author of The
Gardener's Reme?nbrancer, an esteemed work.
Hints and Observations on the Improvement of Agriculture.
Lend. Svo.
Book I.
BRITISH WORKS ON AGRICULTURE.
I SI I
1796. KirJepatn'ck, H.
An Account of the Manner In which Potatoes are cultivated
and preserved, and the Uses to which they are applied in the
Counties of L,ancaster and Chester ; together vlth a Descrip-
tion of a new Variety of Potatoes, peculiarly convenient for
forcing in Hot-houses and Frames. Lond. 8vo.
1796. Boys, John, farmer at Betshanger in Kent.
A General View of the Agriculture of the County of Kent.
Lond. 8vo.
1796. Anstruther, Sir John, Bart.
Remarks on the Drill Husbandry. Lond. 8vo.
1796. Wright, Sir James, Bart.
Observations upon the important Object of preserving Wheat
and other Grain from Vermin. Lond. 4to.
1796. Kirwan, Richard, LI..D., F.R.S.L. and E.,
P.R.I.A., an eminent philosopher and various au-
thor; died 1812.
On the Manures most advantageously applicable to various
Sorts of Soil, and the Causes of tlieir Beneficial Influence in
each particular Instance. Lond. 8vo.
1796. Lawrence, John, a veterinary surgeon.
1. Philosophical and Practical Treatise on Horses. Lond.
8vo.
2. The Sportsman, Farrier, and Shoeing Smith's new Guide;
being the Substance of the Works of the late C. de St. Bel.
1796. 8vo.
3. The Modem Land Steward. Lond. 1802. 8vo.
4. A General Treatise on Cattle. Lond. 1805. 8vo.
6. The Farmer's Pocket Calendar. 1808.
6. The New Farmer's Calendar. 1S09.
7. History and Delineation of the Horse in all its varieties,
with 15 engravings by Scott. Lond. 1810.
8. The Horse in all his Varieties and Uses, &c. Lond. small
8vo. 1829.
1797—1819. Anon.
Communications to the Board of Agriculture. Lond. 7 vols.
4to. New Series, 1 vol. 8vo.
1797- Mo7-ley, Christopher.
Practical Observations on Agriculture, Draining, &c., In two
Letters addressed to Sir John Sinclair. Lond. 4to.
1797. Johnstone, John, land surveyor and drainer
at Edinburgli.
An Account of the most approved Mode of Draining Land,
according to the System practised by the late Mr. Joseph Elk-
ington. Edin. 4to. Subsequent editions in Svo.
1797. LawsoH, John.
Essay on the Use of mixed and compressed Cattle Fodder,
particularly adapted for Horses and Cattle on Shipboard, in
Camps, or in Garrisons, with useful Tables, &c. Lond. Svo.
1797. Dix, William Spier.
Remarks on a newly invented Patent Machine, for clearing
Grain from the Straw, instead of threshing it with the Flail.
Lond. 4to.
1797. Bailey, John, Esq., originally a schoolmaster,
afterwards steward to Lord 'lankerville ; a man of
enlightened mind, various useful and elegant ac-
quirements, and sound practical agricultural know-
ledge. He was much respected by ail who knew
him.
1. A General View of the Agriculture of the County of
Northumberland, by J. Bailey and J. Culley. Newcastle. Svo.
2. A General View of the Agriculture of Durham, &c. Lond.
1811. Svo.
3. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Cum-
berland. Svo.
1798. Smith, Rev. John, D.D., minister of Kil-
brandon, in Argyleshire, afterwards one of the mi-
nisters of Campbelton.
A General View of the Agriculture of the County of Argyle.
Edin. Svo.
1798. Douglas, Robert, D.D., minister of Gala-
shiels.
A General View of the Agriculture of the Counties of Rox-
burgh and Selkirk. Edin. Svo.
1798. Tatham, William.
1. Remarks on Inland Canals, the System of Interior Navi-
Ration, and various Uses of the Inclined Plane. Lond. 4to.
2. The Political Economy of Inland Navigation, Irrigation,
and Drainage; with Thoughts on the Multiplication of Com-
mercial Resources, and on the Means of liettering the Condition
of Mankind by Construction of Canals. 11 Plates. Lond. 1799.
4to.
3. Communication concerning the Agriculture and Com-
merce of America; containing observations on the Commerce
of Spain with her American Colonies in the Time of War.
Written by a Spanish Gentleman, and now edited with sundry
other Papers relating to the Spanish Interest. Lond. 1800.
Svo.
4. An Historical and Practical Essay on the Culture and
Commerce of Tobacco. Lond. 1800. Svo.
5. National Irrigation; or the various Methods of Watering
Meadows ; affording Means to increase the Population, Wealtli,
and Revenue of the Kingdom, by an Agricultural, Commer-
cial, and general Economy in the Use of Water. Lond. 1801.
Svo.
6. Auxiliary Remarks on an Essay on the comparative Ad-
vantages of Oxen for Tillage in competition with Horses. Lond.
1801. Svo.
7. Two Reports on the Navigation of the River Thames.
Lond. ISO.!. «vo.
1798. Middleton, John, Esq., land survevor, Lon-
don.
1. A View of the Agriculture of Middlesex. Lond. Svo.
2. Observations on the various Kinds of Manure. (Nichol-
toa's Journal, iii. 340.) 1799.
1799— ISl.'J. Anon, and W. Dickson, the author of
Practical Agriculture.
The Commercial and Agricultural Magazine. 13 vols. Svo.
to 1808. Continu/^ by Dr. W. Dickson, London, from 1808 to
1799-1830. Anon.
Prize Essavs, and Transactions of the Highland Society of
Scotland. Edin. to 1820. 6 vols. Svo. New Series, pub'ished
in The Quarterly Journal (\f Agriculture, commencing 1828, to
1831. 2 vols, forming the 7th and Sth.
1799. Wrinht, Thomas.
The Art of Floating Land, as it is practised in the County of
Gloucester. Lond. Svo. 3 Plates.
1799. Parkinson, Richard, of Doncaster, a farmer,
traveller in America, and afterwards steward to Sir
Joseph Banks, in Lincolnshire.
1. The Experienced Farmer. Lond. 2 vols. Svo.
2. A Tour in America, in 1798, 1799, and 1800; exhibiting
a particular Account of the American System of A grioulture,
with its recent Improvements. Lond. 1805. 2 vols. Svo.
3. The English Practice of Farming, exemplified in the Ma-
nagement of a Farm in Ireland. Lond. 180(>. Svo.
1799. Brown, Robert, Esq., formerly farmer at
Markle, near Haddington, one of the projectors,
and for many years editor, of the Farmer's Maga-
•xine (see 1800.) ; a man of vigorous intellect, sound
knowledge in political economy, energetic language,
and an excellent bean and wheat farmer.
1. General View of the Agriculture of the West Riding of
Yorkshire, surveyed by Messrs. Rennie, Brown, and Shirieff,
in 1793. Lond. Svo.
2. Treatise on Rural Affairs ; oriijinally published in the
Edinburgh Encyclopffidia. Lond. 1811. 2 vols. Svo.
3. Letterson the Distressed State of Agriculturists. 181G.
1799. Banister, John, Gent, of Horton Kirby, in
Kent.
A Synopsis of Husbandry. Ixmd. Svo.
1799. SomervUle, Right Hon. John, Lord. He died
at Vevay in Switzerland, on his way to Italy, about
1815, was buried in the churchyard there, and after-
wards disinterred and brought to England.
1. Address to the Board of Agriculture on the Subject of
Sheep and Wool. Ix)nd. Svo.
2. The Svstem followed during the Two last Years by the
Board of Agriculture, &c. ISOO. 4to.
3. Facts f'nd Observations relative to Sheep, Wool, Ploughs,
and Oxen, &c. Lond. 1803. Svo.
1799. Robertson, James, D.D., minister at Callan-
dar, Perthshire.
1. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Perth.
Perth. Svo.
2. General View of the Agriculture of Invemess-shire. Svo.
3. Genersd View of the Agriculture of Kincardineshire.
1811. Svo.
1800— 182,'). Anon. (R Brown of Markle, near
Haddington, farmer, and afterwards J. Cleghorn of
Edinburgh, accountant.)
Farmer's Magazine. Edin. 26 vols. Svo. Plates.
1800. Washington, Gen. George, first president of
the United States of America, and commander in
chief of the armie.'!, was born in the county of Vir-
ginia, 1732; died 179!). The most illustrious charac-
ter of the age in which he lived ; his mantle seems
to have fallen on General Lafayette.
1. Letters from him to Sir John Sinclair, on Agricultural
and other interesting Topics ; engraved from the original
Letters, so as to lie an exact Fac-simile of the Handwriting of
that celebrated Character. Lond. 4to.
2. letters to Arthur Young, Esq., containing an Account of
his Husbandry, with a Map of his Farm ; his Opinions on
various Questions in Agri<ulture, and many Particulars of the
Rural Economy of the United States. Lond. 1801.
1800. Thomson, Rev. John, D.D.
General View of the Agriculture of the Coimty of Fife. Edin.
Svo.
1800. Slaccy, Rev. Henry Peter, LL.B., F L.S.
Ob ervations on tbe Failure of Turnip Crops. Lond. Svo.
ISOO. Parry, Caleb Hillier, M.D., F.R.S., physi-
cian, Bath. He cultivated his own estate, and
greatly improved the Merino ryland breed of sheep.
Facts and Observations, tending to show the Practicability,
and Advantage to the Individual and the Nation, of producing
in the British Isles Clothing-wool equal to that of Spain ; toge-
ther with some Hints towards the Management of fine-wooUed
Sheep. Lond. Svo.
1800. Dalrymple, William, Esq.
Treati.se on the Cultiu-e of ^Vlleat Lond. Svo.
1800. Darwin, Erasmus, M.D., F.R.S., an emi-
nent physician, philosopher, and poet, was born
near Newark, in Nottinghamshire, 1731 ; died 1802.
Phytologia ; or the Philosophy of Agriculture and Gardening.
Lond. 4to.
1802. Alderson, John, M.D., physician at Hull.
On the Improvement of Poor Soils, in Answer to the follow-
ing Question : — " What is the best Method of cultivating and
improving Poor Soils, where Lime and Manure cannot be
haa.'" I^nd. Svo.
1802. Bartley, Nehemiah, Esq., secretary to the
Bath Agricultural Society.
Some cursory Observations on the Conversion of Pasture
Lands into Tillage, and, after a certain Course of Crops, relay-
ing the same into Pasture, &c. Lond. Svo.
1802. Tighe, William, Esq.
Statistical Observations relative to the County of Kilkenny.
Dub. Svo.
1213
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part IV.
1802. Bell, Benjamin, F.R.S.E., surgeon, Edin-
burgh.
Kssa;s on Agriculture. Edin. 8to.
1802. Findlater, Rev. Charles, minister of the pa-
rish of Newlands, in the county of Peebles ; a man
of sound views of political economy, whose work,
and whose communications to the Farmer's Maga-
zine, have greatly enlightened the farmers in Scot-
land, on the subjects of rent, demand and supply,
market prices, value, &c.
General Survey of the Agriculture of the County of Peebles.
Edin. Sto.
1804. Knapp, J. Z,., Esq., F.L. and A.SS., author
of The Journal of a Naturalist.
Gramina Britannica, or Representations of the British
Grasses; with Remarks and occasional Descriptions. LKjnd.
4to.
1804. Dickson, R. W., M.D., of Hendon, Middle-
sex, author of various works. He died in London,
in penurious circumstances, in 1824.
1. Practical Agriculture. Plates. Lend. 2 vols. 4to.
2. Agricultural Ma:;azine ; or Farmer's Monthly Journal of
Husbanur>- and Rural Attairs, &c. From July 1S07, to De-
cember 1808. 8 vols. 8vo. (Se» 1799.)
3. The Farmer's Companion ; being a complete System of
Modem Husbandry. (Being I'ractical Agriculture, with a
new title-page ! ) Lond. 1 8 1 1 . 4to •
4. An improved System of Cattle Management. Lond. 1S22.
2 Tols. 4to.
1804. Forsyth, Robert, Esq. advocate, Edinburgh,
author of Elements of Mural Science, and other
esteemed philosophical works.
Principles and Practice of Agriculture systematicilly ex-
plained; being a Treatise compiled for the Fourth Edition of
the Encyclopaedia Britannica, ^evi^ed and enlarged. 2 vols. 8vo.
1805. Luccock, John, woolstapler at Leeds.
1. The Nature and Properties of Wool illustrated; with a
Description of the English Fleece. I^eds. 12mo.
2. An Essay on Wool ; containing an Examination of the
present Growth of Wool in every District throughout the
Kingdom, and the Means pointed out for its Improvement.
180f.
1805. Pearson, George, M.D., F.R.S., senior phy.
sician to St. George's Hospital, lecturer in chemis-
try, and on the theory and practice of medicine in
London.
A Communication to the Board of Agriculture, on the Use
of Green Vitriol, or Sulphate of Iron, as a Manure ; and on the
Efficacy of Paring ana Burning depending partly on Oxide
of Iron. Lond. 4to.
1805. Somerville, Robert, a surgeon in Hadding-
ton, and for some time joint editor with Brown of
Markle of The Farmer's Magazine. (See 1799.)
He died in 1803.
General View of the Agriculture of East Lothian, from the
papers of the ^<e Robert Somerville. Lond. 8vo-
1805. Alton, Williajn, sheriff-substitute for the
middle ward of Lanarkshire, author of various
papers in The Farmer's Magazine.
1. Essay on the Origin, Qualities, and Cultivation of Moss
Earth. Glasg. 8vo.
2. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Ayr,
with Observations on the Means of its Improvement. Glasg.
1811. 8vo.
3. General View of the County of Bute, &c. Glasg. 1816.
8vo.
4. A Treatise on Dairy Husbandry. Edin. Svo. 1825.
1805. Barber, William, a London architect.
1. Farm Buildings ; containing Designs for Cottages, Farm-
houses, Lodges, Farm-yards, &c. Six Plates. I-ond. 4lo.
2. A Description of the Mode of Building in Pis^. 1806.
4to.
1805. Hood, Thomas Sutton, Esq. ; sometimes
called Sutton Thomas Wood.
A Treatise on Gypsum ; on its various Uses, and on its Ap-
plication as a Manure. 8vo.
1805. Malcolm,James, land surveyor to the Prince
of Wales, &c.
A Compendium of Modem Husbandry, &c. Lond. 3 vols.
8vo.
1806. Smith, William, engineer and mineralogist ;
a man of extraordinary exertion and merit, more
especially as having been the first to compose a
geological map of England, and also most valuable
county geological maps.
1. The Improvement of Boggy Land by Irrigation, as carried
into effect by hira. Lond. Svo.
2. Observations on the Utihty, Form, and Management of
Water Meadows, and the Draining and Irrigating Peat-bogs ;
with an Account of Prisley Bog, and other extraordmary Im-
frovementi conducted fcr the Duke of Bedford. Lond. 1809.
vo.
3. Geological Map of England and Wales and part of Scot-
land. 1815.
4. Geological Table of British organised Fossils. 1819.
5. County Geological Maps. 1819.
1806. Ainslie, John, a land surveyor at Edin-
burgh.
1. Tables for computing the Weight of Hay, Cattle, &c. by
Measurement. Lond. I'imo.
i. Farmer's Pocket Companion. Edin. 1812. 8vo.
1807. Vancouver, Charles, land valuer.
1. A General View of the Agriculture of the County of
Pevon. Lond. Svo.
2. (leneral View of the Acriculture of Hampshire, including
the Isle of Wight. 1811. 8vo.
1807. Holland, Henry, Esq., M.D., honorary mem-
ber of the Geological Society, author of Travels
in Greece, and other works; an eminent London
physician.
tieneral View of the Agriculture of Cheshire. Lond. Svo.
1807. Headrick, James, a clergyman in Angus,
shire, an excellent chemist, a good naturalist, and
an agricultural philosopher.
1. View of the Mineralogy, Agriculture, Manufactures, and
Fisheries of the Island of Arran, &c. Edin. Svo.
2. General View of the Agriculture of the County of Angus.
1813. Svo.
1808. Tibbs, Thomas, farmer.
The Experimental Farmer. Svo.
1808. Coventry, Andrew, M.D., professor of agri-
culture in the university of Edinburgh ; a learned,
ingenious, and most benevolent man. He cul-
tivated his own estate in Kinross-shire, and was
extensively employed as a land valuer and rural
counsellor. He died in December 1830.
1. Discourse explanatory of the Nature and Plan of a Course
of Lectures on Agriculture and Rural Economy. Edin. Svo.
2. Observations on Live Stock, in a Letter to Henry Cline,
Esq. Edin. Svo.
3. Notes on the Culture and Cropping of Arable Land.
Edin. 1812. Svo.
1808. Gray, Andrew, a retired machinist at Edin-
burgh.
Plough-wright's Assistant ; or, a Practical Treatise on
various Implements employed in Agriculture ; illustrated with
16 Enj^ravings. Edin. Svo.
1808. Beddocs, Thomas, M.D.,born in Shropshire,
17fiO, was lecturer in Boton, at Oxford, and after-
wards physician at Bristol, where he died, 1808.
1. Good Advice for the Husbandman in Harvest, and for all
those in Labour in Hot Births; as also for others who will
take it in Warm Weather. Svo.
2. On the Means of foretelling the Character of the Summer
Season, and the Benefits to be expected from the Cultivation
of Grasses which vegetate at low Temperatures. (JVic. Jcntr. r.
131.) 1802.
1808. Bnkewell, Robert, Esq., an eminent geolo-
gist and mineralogist, author of Travels in the Ta-
rentaise, S(C. j an instructive and entertaining work,
published in 1823.
Observations on the Influence of Soil and Climate upon
Wool, with an easy Method of improving the Quality of
English Clothing Wool, and Hints for theTVIanagement of
Sheep, &c. ; with occasional Notes and Remarks by the Right
Hon. Lord Somerville. Lond
1808. Button, Hely, Esq., landscape gardener.
1. Statistical Survey of the County of Clare. Dublin, Svo.
2. Statistical Survey of the County of Galway. Dublin, 1824.
Svo.
1808. Curwen,John Christian, M.F., of Working-
ton Hall, Cumberland.
1. Hints on the Economy of Fee<ling Stock, and bettering
the Condition of the Poor. Lond. Svo.
2. A Tour in Ireland. 2 vols. Svo. 1819.
1809. Stevenson, W., Esq., M.A., librarian to the
Treasury, author of various works, and a writer in
the principal encyclopaedias. He died in 1829.
General View of the Agriculture of the County of Surrey.
Lond. 8vo.
1809. Kerr, Robert, surgeon, F.R. and A.SS.
Edinburgh, an excellent naturalist and general
scholar ; died, 1814.
Statistical, Agricultural, and Political Survey of Berwick-
shire. Svo.
1809. Williamson, Capt. Thomas, upwards of 20
years in Bengal.
Agricultural Mechanism ; or, a Display of the several Pro-
perties and Powers of the Vehicles, Implements, and Machinery
connected with Husbandry. Lond. Svo.
1810. Davies, Walter, A.M.
A General View of the Agriculture and Domestic Economy
of North Wales. Lond. Svo.
1810. Hunt, Charles Henry, Esq.
Treatise on the Merino and Anglo-Merino Breeds of Sheep.
Lond. Svo.
1810. Adams, George.
A New System of Agriculture and Feeding Stock. Lond. Svo.
1810. Farish, John, Dumfries.
A Treatise on Fiorin Grass. Svo.
1810. Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, Esq., F.R.S.
and M.R.I. A., civil engineer, resident at Edge-
worth Town, Ireland, author of various works.
An Essay on the Construction of Roads and Carriages.
Lond. Svo.
1811. Keith, George Skeene, D.D.
A General View of the Agriculture of Aberdeenshire. Svo.
1811. Henderson, Robert, farmer at Broomhill,
near Annan, Dumfriesshire.
Treatise on the Breeding of Swine and Curing of Bacon ; with
Hints on Agricultural Subjects. Edin. Svo.
1811. Farey, John, sen., mineral surveyor. A
man of sound views on all subjects ; a philosopher
and an agriculturist, and territorial improver of
great experience.
General View of the Agriculture and Minerals of Derby-
shire. Lond. 3 vols.
1811. Loudon, John Claudius, F.L.G. Z. andH.S.,
landscape gardener, author of the Encyclopaedia of
Gardening, and other works, and founder and con.
Book I.
BRITISH WORKS ON AGRICULTURE.
1213
ductor of the Gardener's Maprazine, and of the
Magazine of Natural History/; born in Lanark-
shire in 1782, began to practise in 1803 ; to farm
extensively in Oxfordshire in 1809, and in Mid-
dlesex in 1810; travelling on the Continent in
181o-U.15, in 1819, and again in 1828-29 j now
residing at Bayswater.
1. Designs for laying out Farms and Farm Buildinj^ in the
Scotch Style, adapted to Kngland ; comprising an Account of
the Introduction of the Berwickshire Husbandry into Middle-
sex and Oxfordshire. Lond. 4to.
2. An Encyclopsedia of Agriculture. Lond. 8to. 1823.
1813. IValker, W.
An Essaj on Draining Land by the Steam Engine. Lond.
8to.
1813. Davy, Sir Humphry, president of the Royal
Society, LL.D., V.P.R.I., F.U.S., Edin. M.R.I.A.,
&c.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry ; in a Course of Lectures
for the Board of Agriculture. 4to and 8vo.
1814. Shirreff, J>hn, farmer at Captain Head, near
Haddington, Scotland, and one of the authors of
the Survey of the H'est Riding of Yorkshire, along
with Mr. Brown and Mr. Reiinie (see 1799) ; after-
wards a land agent, and finally steward to a noble,
man near Stirling.
General View of the Agriculture of the Orkney Islands.
Edin. 8vo.
181.5. Moubray, Bonnington, I^sq.
A practical Treatise on the Method of Breeding, Rearing,
and Fattening Domestic Poultry, Pigeons, and Habbits. 8to.
1815. Little, John.
Practical Observations on the Improvement and Manage-
ment of Mountain Sheep and Sheep Farms. 8vo.
1814 — 1815. Simpson, Finder.
1. Treatise on the Cultivation of Mangold Wurzel, as Win-
ter Food tor Cattle. Lond. 8vo.
2. On the improved Beet-root as Winter Food for Cattle.
1815. Birkbeck, Morris, Esq., formerly a farmer in
Suffolk, afterwards an extensive proprietor and
resident cultivator in the Illinois. Drowned there
in 1825.
1. Notes in a Journey through France from Dieppe, through
Paris and Lyons to the Pyrenees, and back through Toulouse
in 1814 ; describing the Habits of the People, and the Agri-
culture of the Country. 8vo.
2. Notes in a Journey in America, from the Coast of Vir-
ginia to the Territory of Illinois. Lond. 1818. 8vo.
1815. Hornby, Thomas, Esq., surgeon, York.
Dissertation on Lime, and its use and abuse in Agriculture,
embracing a View of its Chemical Effects- 8vo.
1816. Anderson, William, farmer, Angusshire.
Observations on a new Mode of Stacking Com, peculiarly
adapted to Wet Seasons ; recommending a Plan, successfully
practised, by which com may be stacked with advantage soon
after being cut down. 8vo.
1818. Macwillia?n, Robert, Esq. architect and sur-
veyor, London.
An Essay on the Origin and Oi>eration of the Dry Rot ; to
which are annexed. Suggestions for the Cultivation of Forest
Trees, and an Abstract of the Forest Laws. 4to.
18)9. Radcliffe, Rev. T.
A Survey of the Husbandry of Eastern and Western Flan-
ders, made under the Authority of the Dublin Farming
Society. 8vo.
1819. Williams, T. W.
The Farmer's Lawyer ; containing the Whole of the Law
and local Customs in regard to Agricultural Possessions, Pro-
perties, and Pursuits. 8vo.
1819. Swinbourne, R.
The Farmer's New and Complete Account Book.
1819. Blaikie, Francis, first gardener, and after-
wards steward to T. W. Coke, Esq. M.P. of Holkham.
1. On the Conversion of arable Land into Pasture, and on
other rural Subjects. Lond. 1819. 12mo.
2. On the Management of Farm-yard Mauure, and on other
rural Subjects. Lond. 1819. 12mo.
3. A Treatise on the Management of Hedge and Hedgerow
Timber. 12mo.
4. On the Economy of Farm Yard Manure, &c. 12mo.
1820.
5. On Mildew, and the Culture of Wheat. 12mo. 1821.
6. On Smut in Wheat. 12mo. 1822.
1820. Rigby, Edward, M.D. F.L.S.
1. Framlingham, its Agriculture, &c., including the Eco-
nomy of a small Farm. 8vo.
2. Holkham, its Agriculture, &c. 8vo. 1821.
182(J. Grisenthwaite, William, apothecary, of
Wells, in Norfolk.
A new Theory of Agriculture, in which the Nature of Soils,
Crops, and Manures is explained, many prevailing Prejudices
are exploded, and the Application of Bones, Gypsum, Lime,
Chalk, &c. determined on scientific Principles. 12mo.
1820. Monieath, Robert, a forester in considerable
practice as agent and valuator.
The Forester's Guide. Stirling. 12mo. 2d edition with Ad-
ditions, &c. Edin. 8vo. 1824, plates.
1820. Mather, John, Castle Hill, Carse of Gowrie.
The Farmer and Land Steward's Assistant ; or, a Specimen
of Farm Book-keeping, exhibiting, in a concise and simple
Form, the Transactions in the arable, grazing, and woodland
Departments; a general Cash Account; and an Account of
the Charge and Discharge upon each Department ; the Whole
(elected from Books of real Business. 4to.
1820. Johnson, Cuthbert William, F.L. and H.S.
An Essay on the Uses of Salt for Agricultural Purposes, with
Instructions for its Employment as a Manure, and in the
Feeding of Cattle, &c. New Edition in 1827.
1820. Burroughs, Edward, Esq.
Essays on Practical Husbandry and Rural Economy, 8vo.
1820. Beatsori, Major General Alexander, late
Governor of St. Helena, &c.
A new System of Cultivation without Lime or Dung on
Summer Fallows, as practised at Knowle Farm, in the County
of Sussex. Lond. 1820, 8vo, Plates, and Supplement. 1821,
8vo, Plates.
1822. Finlayson, John, of Kaines, near Muirkirk,
Inventor and Patentee of the self-cleaning Ploughs
and Harrows, a practical farmer and an ingenious
man.
A Treatise on Agricultural Subjects. 8vo, plates. Subse-
changed to The British Farmer, &c. London. 1830.
quently <
8vo.
1822. Salisbury, W'l, formerly a botanical nursery,
man, now a private teacher of botany, &c.
The Cottager's Agricultural Companion. 12mo.
1822. Mutiro,'Co\onel Innes
A Guide to Farm Book-keeping, founded upon actual Prao.
tice, and upon new and concise Principles. Royal 8vo.
1822. Napier, Hon. William John, F.R.S. Edin.
post captain in the Royal Navy ; a vice-president
of the Pastoral Society of Selkirkshire, &c.
A Treatise on Practical Store Farming, as applicable to the
Mountainous Region of Ettrick Forest, and the Pastoral
District of Scotland in general. With Engravings. 8vo.
1822. Cleghorn, James, Esq., formerly a practical
farmer, afterwards editor of The Farmer's Maga.
zine, author of the article " Agriculture" in the
Supplement to the Encyc. Brit., and of various
articles in that work. One of the best modern
writers on agriculture. Mr. C. is now an accountant
in Edinburgh.
On the depressed State of Agriculture. Edin. 8vc.
1823. Fairbam, John.
A Treatise upon Breeding, Rearing, and Feeding Cheviot
and Black-faced Sheep in high Districts ; with Observations on
laying out and conducting a Store Farn\ &c. Berwick. 8vo.
1823. Low, David, Esq. said to be editor of the
Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.
Observations on the present State of Landed Property, and
on the Prospects of the Landholder, and the Farmer. Edin.Svo.
1824. Morice, Francis.
An Essay on Agriculture, and the Management of Landed
Estates. Aberdeen. 8vo.
1824. Sinclair, George, F.L.S F.H.S., formerly
gardener to the Duke of Bedford, at Woburn, now
of the firm of Cormack, Son, and Sinclair, nursery-
men. New Cross, Deptford.
Hortus Gramineus Wobumensis ; or, an Account of the
Results of various Experiments on the Produce and Fattening
Properties of different Grasses, and other Plants used as the
Food of the more valuable domestic Animals ; instituted by
John Duke of Bedford. To which is added, an Appendix,
pointing out the ditftrent Grasses best adapted for the Manu-
facture of Leghorn Bonnets, &c. Lond. Koyal 8vo.
1824 Western, C. C, Esq. M.P.
A few Practical Remarks on the Improvement of Grass
Land, by means of Irrigation, Winter-flooding, and Drainage ;
in a Letter to the Owners and Occupiers of Land in the
County of Essex. Lond. 8vo.
1824. Slaney, Robert A., Esq. barrister.
Essay on the beneficial Direction of Rural Expenditure.
Lond. 12mo.
1825. Holditch, Benjamin, a farmer on the Duke
of Bedford's estate, near Peterborough, and for
some time editor of the Farm. Journ. newspaper.
Essay on the Weeds of -Agriculture. Lond. 8vo. Edited by
G. Sinclair, for the benefit of his widow.
1825. Hayward, Joseph, author of the Science of
Horticulture.
The Science of Agriculture, comprising a Commentary
lnv( ■„ ■ ", ■ ' , ' ' '
Humphry
Code "of Agriculture of Sir John Sinclair, Sir Joseph Banks,
mistry of Mr. Kirwan, ar
of, the Agricultural Che-
Davy ; and the
and other Authors on the subject : with Remarks on the Rust,
or black Blight in Wheat ; of which the true Cause and it*
Prevention are explained. Lond. 8vo.
1825. Anon.
A Treatise on Milk. Lond. 8vo.
1825. Bayldon, J. 5. , land-agent and appraiser.
The Art of'^valuing Rents and Tillages, and the Tenants
Right on entering and quitting Farms. 2d edit. Lond. 8vo.
1825. Buchanan, George, civil engineer.
A Treatise on Road-making, Railways, Wheel Carriages,
and the Strength of Animals.
1825. Cleghorn, James, accountant in Edinburgh,
conductor of the Farmer's Magazine.
"Thoughts on the Expediency of a General Provident Institu-
tion for the Benefit ofthe Working Classes, &c. &c. Edin. 8vo.
1826. Steele, Andrew, a proprietor in the neigh-
bourhood of Edinburgh.
The National and Agricultural History of Peat Moss, &c.
Edinburgh, 8vo.
1826. Withers, William, junior, Esq. of Holt,
Norfolk.
A Memoir addressed to the Society for the Encouragement
of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, on the Planting and
Rearing of Forest Trees, &c. &c. Holt and London, 8to.
pamph.
1826. Waistell, Charles, Esq., chairman of the
1214
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Pa
V.
Committee of Agriculture, of the Society of Arts.
Edited by Joseph Jopling, architect, member of the
Institution of Civil Engineers, inventor of the Sep-
tenary System of generating Lines by simple con-
tinuous Motion, Instruments for drawing Curves,
&c. &c.
Designs or Agricultural Buildings, &c. &c. : to which are
added. Plans and Remarks on Caterham Farm-yard, as it
formerly was ; and also as it has been improved. Lond. 8vo
1826. Collyns, fV., Esq., surgeon, Kenton, near
Exeter.
Ten Minutes' Advice to my Neighbours, on the Use and
Abuse of Salt as a Manure, &c. Exeter, pamph. Svo.
1826—1831. Fleming, — , and J. Main.
Fleming's British Farmer's Magazine. Lond. 2 vols. Svo.
Continued under the name of the British Farmer's Magazine,
2 vols. Svo.
1827. Anon.
The Farmer's Register and Monthly Magazine of Foreign
and Domestic Events. Glasgo'v. In 8vo numbers, monthly.
Completed in one volume.
1828. Meadows, Arthur, Esq.
Hints to the Farmers of the Baronies of Forth and Bargy
on the Cultivation of Mangold Wurzel, Be<ins, Carrots, and
Parsneps. Wexford, Svo.
1828—1831. Anon, believed to be David Low,
Esq.
The Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. Edinburgh, 2 vols.
Svo.
The Prize Essays and Transactions of the Highland Society
of Scotland are publishing along with this work. See 17S9.
1828. Kennedy, Lewis, Esq., son of Mr. Kennedy
the late eminent nurseryman of Hammersmith,
steward to Lord Willbughby De Eresby, author of
the Tenancy of Land in Great Britain, &c.
1. On the Cultivation of the Waste Lands in the United
Kingdom, for the i)urpose of finding Employment for the able
Poor now receiving Parochial Aid, and thereby diminishing
the heavy Burdens of the Poor Rates ; and on the Expediency
of making some Provision for the aged and disabled Paupers of
Ireland. Lond. Svo.
2. The present State of the Tenancy of Land in Great Bri-
tain ; showing the principal Customs and Practices between
incoming and outgoing Tenants, &c. Lond. Svo.
1829. Lambert, Joseph, Esq.
Observations on the Rural Affairs of Ireland, or a Practical
Treatise on Farming, Planting, and Gardening, adapted to
the Circumstances, Resources, Soil, and Climate of the Coun-
try. Dublin, Svo, pp. 3^7.
1829. Stephens, George, drainer, member of the
Nerecian and Wermiandska Agricultural Societies
in Sweden.
The Practical Irrigator; being an Account of the Utility,
Formation, and Management of Irrigated Meadows, with "a
particular Account of the Success ot irrigation in Scotland.
To which is added, a Practical Treatise on straightening
JVater-courses, protecting River Banks, and embanking Low
Lands. Edin. Svo.
1829. Doyle, Martin.
Hints originally intended for the small Farmers of the
County of Wexford ; but suited to the Circumstance^ of ni:iny
Parts of Ireland. Dublin, 18mo.
1829. Fall, Thomas, Surveyor of Roads.
The Surveyor's (iuide ; or, every Man his own Road maker :
comprising the whole Art of making and repairing Roads,
Prices for Work. East Retford. 12mo.
1829. Harley, JVillia?n, originally a manufacturer
in Glasgow ; afterwards a great cow-keeper and
builder there. He died in London in 18.30.
The Harleian Dairy System, and an Account of the various
Methods of Dairy Husbandry pursued by the Dutch. Also, a
new and improved Mode of ventilating stables ; with an Ap-
pendix, containing useful Hints (founded on the Author's ex-
perience) for the Management of Hedgerow Fences, Fruit
Trees, &c., and the Means of rendering Barren Land fruit-
ful. Lond. Svo.
1829. Strickland, G., Esq.
A Discourse on the Poor Laws of England and Scotland,
on the Poor of Ireland, and on Emigration. Lond. Svo.
1829. Trimmer, Joshua Kirhy.
Practical Observations on the Improvement of British Fine
Wool, and the National Advantages of the araMe System of
Sheep Husbandry ; with Remarks on the Saxon and Fre.ich
Systems.
1830. Ancm.
The Library of Useful Knowledge; Farmer's Series. Svo,
13 numbers to January 1, 1831.
1830. Jennings, James, Esq., author of the Family
Cyclopaedia, &c.
1830. Berry, the Rev. Henry, an extensive farmer
in Worcestershire, and understood to be the prin-
cipal proprietor of the British Farmer's Maga-
zine.
Improved Short-horns, and their Pretensions stated ; l)eing
an Account of this celebrated Breed of Cattle, derived from
authentic Sources : to which is added, an Enquiry as to ihfir
Value for General Purposes, placed in Competition with the
improved Herefords. Lond. pamph. Svo. 2d edit.
1830. Brodigan, Thomas, Esq.
A Botanical, Historical, and Practical Treatise on the To-
bacco Plant, In which the Art of growing and curing Tobacco
in the British Isles is made familiar to every Capacity, as
deduced from the Observations of the Author in the United
States of America, and his Practice in Field Cultivation in
Ireland. I^nd. Svo.
1830. Davey, John, Esq.
Observations on the Disease which has lately been so de-
structive to Sheep, called Bane or Coath ; particularising the
Causes, and minutely describing the Modes of effecting its
Cure ; and pointing out those Means which ought to be adopted
to prevent its Recurrence. Bath, pamph. Svo.
Sect. II. Bibliography/ of Agriculture in Foreign Countries.
7899. Numerous works on agriculture are published in the French and German languages, and a con.
siderable number in the Italian ; but a great proportion of these are translations from British authors.
Very few agricultural books have been printed in the Dutch, Flemish, Danish, Swedish, Polish, Spanish,
or Portuguese languages, and scarcely any in those of Russia or Hungary. We shall notice the principal
French, German, and Italian works, exclusive of translations, and add a few American books.
SuBSECT. 1. Bibliography of French Agriculture,
7900. Of French books on agriculture we have given a selection only : those who wish to see a complete
list are referred to the Bibliographic Agrotiotnique, Paris, Svo ; in which are given the titles of upwards
of 2000 works, including translations and books on gardening. A general idea of French culture in all its
branches may be obtained from the Nouveau Cours Complet d" Agriculture, 16 vols. 8vo (edition of 1821.),
compiled by the members of the Section of Agriculture of the French Institute, each of whose names are
given to the articles he contributed.
1600. Serres, Olivier de, the Lord of Predel in
Languedoc. He was born in 1539, and died in 1619,
at the age of 80 years. He was employed by Hen.
ry IV. to form a plantation of the white mulberry
in the garden of the Tuilleries ; and he is generally
considered as the father of the culture of that tree
in France. He published a great many useful
works, the principal of which is his Theatre d' Agri-
culture, the first edition of which was published in
1600, and the 20th in 1675.
Le Theatre d'Agriculture et Mesnage des Champs. Paris,
small Svo. An enlarged edition in 2 vols, 4to, with volumin-
ous Notes, and a Historical Introduction, in 1S04.
1602. Letellier.
Brief Discours contenant la Mani6re de nourrir les Vers a
Sole, &c. Avec de belles Figures. Paris, in 4to.
1604. Laffknas, Barthelemy de, valet de chambre
to Louis XIII.
La Fa?on de faire et semer la Graine de Mftriers, les ^l^ver et
replanter, gouvemer les Vers a Sole au Climat de France,
Paris, in I'-imo.
1607. Vinet, Elie, a learned professor at Bour-
deaux, author of a work on land surveying.
La Maison Champestre et Agriculture. Paris, in Ita
1529. Etienne, Charles, et J. Liebault, physicians.
Etienne, i.e. Stephanus or Stephens, in the beginning
of the sixteenth century published various small
tracts on Gardening and other rural topics ; and in
1529 he collected them together and published them,
under the title of Pr<ediu?n Busticum, treating of
gardens, trees, vines, fields, meadows, lakes, forests,
orchards, &c. Having married his daughter to
Liebault, they afterwards studied agriculture con-
jointly, and published the Maison Rustique, the
modern editions of which are still the most popular
agricultural works in France.
1. Prasdium Rusticum ; in fol.
2. L'Agriculture et Maison Rustique. Paris, in 4to, 1570.
1569. Hesson, Jacques, of Dauphiny^
De I'Art et Science de trouver surement lesEaux, Sources, et
Fontaines cach^es sous Terre, autrement que par les Moyens
Vulgaires des Agriculteurs et Architectes, in 4to.
1583. Hegemon, Philibert, a lawyer born at Cha-
lons-sur-soane. Died in 1595.
La Colombidre et Maison Rustique, contenant une Descrip-
tion des Douze Mois et des Quatre Saisons de I'Ann^, avec En-
»eignement de ce que le Laboureur doit faire par chaque Mois.
Paris, In 8to.
Book
FRENCH WORKS ON AGRICULTURE.
121 5'
1663. Patin, Charles, son of a physician of that
name.
Traits des Tourbes Combustililes. Paris, in 4to.
1703. Z.iger,Z,OM/«, born 1658, died in 1717. In the
latter part of his life he seems to have been a book-
seller, or an author by profession.
1. Dictionnaire General des Termes propres a I'-Agriculture,
avec leurs Definitions et Etymologies. Paris, in 15ino.
'i. La Nouvelle Maison rustique, ou Economic GtSn^rale des
Biens de la Campagne. Paris, '2 vols, in 4to. 1755.
3. L'Economie G^n^rale de la Campagne, ou Nouvelle Mai-
son rustique. 1 76'2.
4. Nouveau Sjsteme d'Agriculture. 3 vols, in Svo. 1775.
1749. Boucher d'Arg/s, Antunine Gaspard, advo-
cate and author of some works on jurisprudence.
Code Rural, ou Maxiraes et Reglemens conoemant les Biens
de la Campagne, 2 vols.
1749. RecumUr, Rend, Antoine Ferchanlt, sieur
de, a learned naturalist, born at Rochelle in 16S3,
died in 1757.
Art et Pratique de I'Art de faire dclorer, en toutes Saisons,
des Oiseaux Domestiques de toutes Especes. Paris, Imprim.
Royale, 3 vols, in 12ino, avec fig.
1750. Hainel, Du Moucrau, Henry Lewis du, a
famous French writer on Rural Economy and Vege-
table Physiology, was born at Paris, 1700 ; died there
1782.
1. Traits de la Culture des Terres. Par. 6 vols. 12mo.
2. Elfemens d'Agriculture. Par. 17f>4, 2 vols. 12mo.
3. Traits de la Conservation des Graines, et en particulier
du Froment. Par. 1754. 12mo.
4. Traits des Arbres et Arbustes, qu» se cultivent en France,
en pleine Terre. Par. 1755, 2 vols. 4to.
5. Traits coraplet des Hois et des Forets. Par. 1758, 6 torn.
4to.
6. Des Semis et Plantations des Arbres, et de leur Culture.
Par. 1760. 4to.
7. Histoire d'un Insecte qui devore les Grains de I'Augou-
mois. Par. 1762. I2mo.
8. De I'Exploitation des Bois, ou Moven de tirer Parti des
Taillis demi Futayes et hautus FuUyes. Par. 1764. 2 vols.
4to.
9. M^moire sur la Garence et sa Culture, in 4to. 1765.
10. Du Transport, de la Conservation, et de la Force du BoLs.
1767. 4to.
1751. Desbois, Francis Alexander Aiihert de la
Chesnaie, a. \abor\o\is Dictionary-maker; was born
at Ern^e in tlie Maine, 1699 ; died 1784.
Dictionnaire d,'Agriculture. 2 vols. Svo.
1755. Blavet, librarian to the Prince of Conti.
Essai sur I'Agriculture Modeme. Paris, in 12mo.
1755. Tillet, du, of Bourdeaux, a zealous agri-
culturist, author of several works. He died in
1791.
Dissertation sur la Cause qui corrompt et noircit les Graines
de Bie dans les E'pis, in 4to.
1756. Hastfer, F. IV.
1760. Alletz, Pons Augustin, an advocate, and in-
defatigable compiler.
L'Agronome, ou Dictionnaire portatif du Cultivateur, 2 vols.
in 8vo.
1760. BucVox, Pierre Joseph, a physician, and
member of several societies ; born at Metz in 1731,
died in great distress at Paris in 1807. He wrote
above three hundred volumes relative to medicine,
agriculture, the veterinary art, and natural history.
A plant (Buchozia/jo) was named after him by
L'Heritier.
1. Lettre sur la M^thode de s'enrichir promptement et de
conserver sa Sant^ par la Culture des Vdg^taux, in Svo.
2. Lettre surle B16 de Smyrne, in Svo. 1768.
3. Histoire des Insectes nuisibles k I'Homme, aux Bestiaux,
&c. in 12mo. 1781.
4. Manuel usuel et ^conomique des Plantes, contenant leur
Propria^s pour les Usages economiques. Paris, in l2mo.
5. Histoire des Insectes utiles h Homme, aux Animaui, et
aux Arts. Paris, in 12mo. 1785.
6. Traits de la Peche, ou I'Art de soumettre les Poissons &
I'Empire des Hommes, precede de I'Histoire Naturelle de ces
Animaux, in 12mo. 1786.
7. Dissertation sur la Betterave et la Poirfe, leur Culture,
M^thode pour en tirer du Sucre, &c. fol. 1787.
8. Dissertation sur le Cochon, in fol. 1789.
9. Dissertation sur le Lin de Sib^rie, in fol. 1789.
lO.Dissertation sur la Taupe; les Moyens de la prendre, in
11. Dissertation sur le Tirage dela Sole, in fol. 1792.
12. Manuel Tabacal et Sternutatoire des Plantes, ou Traits
des Plantes qui sont propres a [faire ^ternuer, avec la Mani^re
de cultiver le Tabac, de le preparer, et de jueer de ses bons
Effetsdans la Society, in Svo. 1799.
13. Manuel Territorial des Plantes, in Svo. 1799.
14. Manuel V^t^rinaire des Plantes, in Svo. 1799.
15. M^moire sur le Bl^ de Smyme, sur le Bl^ de Turquie, le
Millet d'Afrique, et la Poherbe d'Abyssinie, Plantes Alimen-
taires pour I'Homme ; in Svo. 1824.
16. M^moire sur la Mani^re de former des Prairies Natu-
relles, in Svo. 1805.
1760. Turbilly, Louis Franqois Henri de Menon,
Marquis de, a proprietor in Anjou, who had been
in the army, but who retired to his estates and
broke up and improved a number of acres, of which
he published an account, well known at that time
in England, Arthur Young, when in France in
1787, was anxious to visit the Marquis ; but after,
with difficulty, finding out the estate of Turbilly,
he found the Marquis had died in 1776. having
ruined himself by establishing a pottery. There is
a very interesting account of this visit in Young's
Tour, part I. p. 294. et seq.
1. M^moire sur les Defrichemens, in 12mo.
2. Pratique des Defrichemens. Paris, in 12mo. 1701.
1761. Guillot, Julien Jean Jacques.
Discours sur les Branches d'Agriculture les plus arantageuses
k la Province de Normandie.
1761. Neuve-Eg/ise, Louis Joseph Belleplere de,
an officer in the army.
1. L'Agronomie, ou Corps complet des Principes de I'Agri-
culture, &c. 8 vols, in Svo.
2. Boussole Agronomique, ou le Guide des Labourcurs, in
Svo. 1762.
1762. Desplaces, Laurent Bcnoist.
1. Preservatifcontre rAgronomie,ou I'Agriculture r^duitei
ses vrais Principes. Paris, in 12mo.
2. Histoire de I'Agriculturejancienne, extraite de I'Histo're
Naturelle de Pline, avec des EclJiirciisemens tt des Remarquts.
12nio. 1765.
1762. Despotnmiers.
L'Art de s'enrichir promptement par I'Agriculture. Paris,
12nio.
1762. Lafaille, Clement, advocate, and member
of several societies.
1. Memoire sur les Moyens de multiplier ais^ment les
Pumiers dans le Pays d'Aunis.
2. Essai sur I'Histoire naturelle de la Taupe ; sur les d'f-
ferens Moyens qu'on pent employer pour la detruire. La
Rochelle, in 12mo, fig. 1768.
1762. VEiang de la-Salle, Simon Philibert de, of
Rheims, a lawyer.
Des Prairies artificielles, ou Moyens de perfei tionner I'Agri-
culture dans toutes les Provinces de France, surtout en
Champagne, par I'Entretien et le Renouvellenient de I'Engrais;
avec un Traite sur la Culture de la Luzerne, du Trifle, et du
Sainfoin, et une Dissertation sur I'Exportation du Bie. Paris.
Svo.
1763. Barthez de Marmorieres, an officer, secre-
tary of embassy, and member of various societies.
^Iemoires d'Agriculture, &c. Svo.
1763. Duverge, a physician of Tours.
AnaUse ch^mique des Terres de la Province de Touraine,
des dirferens Engrais propres a les ameliorer, et des Semences
convenables h chaque Esp6ce de Terre. Tours. Svo.
1763. Franqois, Nicholas, de Neufchateau, mem-
ber of the Institute, the Senate, &c., a distinguished
member of the Paris Agricultural Society, and
author of numerous papers in their memoirs.
2. Essai sur les Moyens de tirer le Parti le plus avan-
tageux de I'Exploitation d'un Domaine bom^, ou Syst6me
d'Agriculture pour les petits Proprietaires. Neufchateau. Svo.
1790.
3. Essai sur la Necessity et les Moyens de faire entrer dans
I'lnstruction publique I'Enseignement <le TAgriculture ; lu h
la Society d'Agriculture de la Seine, &c. Svo. 1802.
4. Rapport sur le Perfectionnement des Charrues, fait k la
Society Libre d Agriculture du D^partement de la Seine. Paris,
Svo.
5. Rdpertoire universel et raisonn^ d'Agriculture. Paris,
12mo. 1804.
1763. Prefontaine.
Maison Rustique k I'Usage des Habitans de la Partie de la
France dquinoxiale, connue sous le Nom de Cayenne. Svo.
1763. Thierat. An officer of the royal forests,
author of some tracts on gardening.
Instructions familieres en forme d'Entretien sur lesprin-
cipaux Objets qui concemtnt la Culture des Terres. Paris.
12mo.
1764. Bertrand, Elie, a clergyman at Orbe, in
Switzerland, and member of various societies.
1. Traite de I'Irrigation des Pr^s. 12mo.
2. El^mens d'Agriculture, fond^s sur les Faits et les Rai-
sonnemens, k I'Usage du Peuple de la Campagne. Svo.
1764. Bertrand, Jean, brother of Elie B.
De I'Eau relativement a I'Economie Rustique, ou Traitfe de
I'lrrigation des Pres. Lyons, 12mo.
1764. Dupont, of Vemouns, formerly a member
of the constituent assembly.
1. Lettre sur la Difference qui se trouve entre la Grande et
la Petite Culture. Soissons, Svo.
2. Journal d'Agriculture, &c. Svo. 1766.
1765. Chambray, Louis, Marquis de, an amateur
apple grower and ciderist.
L'Art de cultiver les Pommiers, les Poiriers, et de faire les
Cidres, selon I'Usage de Normandie. Paris, 12mo.
1765. Sarcey-de-Sutieres, an officer in tjie army,
and " gentilhomme servant " of the king.
1. Agriculture experimentale k I'Usage des Agriculteurs,
Fermiers, et Laboureurs. Paris, 12mo.
2. Cours complet d'Agriculture, ou Leoons p^riodiques sur
cetArt. 1788.
1768. Lesbros-de-la. Versane, Louis, of Marseilles.
Traite de la Garance, ou Recherches sur tout ce qui a Rap-
port a cette Plante. Svo.
1768. Marchand, Jean Henri.
Les Deiassemens Champetres. 2 vols. ] 2mo.
1768. Palteau, Gxdllaiime Louis Formanoir de, of
Sens, author of a work on bees.
1210
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
IV
1769. Chanvallon, a clergyman.
Manuel des Champs; ou llecueil choisi, instructlf, et amu-
sant de tout ce qui est lo plus Utile et le plus N^cessaire poui
viyre avec Aisance et Agr^meut a la Campagne. Paris.
12mo.
1769. Le Breze.
Essai sur le Haras ; ou Examen des Mojens propres pour
^tablir, dirif;er et faire prosperer Ics Haras : suivi d'uue
Methode facile de bieu examiner les Chevaux que I'oiit veut
acheter. 8vo, fig.
176.<^. Rignud de VIsle, of Crest, in Daiipliiny.
Jlemoire iur la Culture de I'Esparcette, ou Sainfoin. Paris.
8vo.
1769. Sieuve.
1. Meinoire et Journal d'Obserrations sur les Moyens de
garantir les Olives de la piqure des Insectes et nouvi "lie Me-
thode pour en extrairel'Uuile plus abondante par I'Jnvention
d'un Moulin domestique, avec la Manii!re de la garantir de
toute Ilancissure. Paris, I'imo.
Y. Memoires sur diverses Constructions en Terre ou Argile,
propres a faire jouir les petits Manages de TEconomie des com-
bustibles. Poitiers, 8vo. 1804.
1770. Amiot, Le P., missionary at Pekin.
Reflexions sur I'Agriculture, et sur ceux qui s'y consacrent :
tiroes de I'^oge de U Ville de Moukden et de ses Environs.
Poeme compost par Kien-Long, Empereur de la Chine et de
la Tartaric, actuellemen remnant, traduit en Fran^ais par le
P. Amiot, et publie j>ar M. Deguignes, Membre de I'-Acadernie
Royale des Inscriptions et Belles liCttres, et Professeur des
Langues Orientales au College Royale. Paris, 8vo. Cet
ouvrage est curieux sous plus d'un rapport.
1770, Beaunid, Aiitoine, an eminent French che-
mist, was born at Senlis, 1728 ; died 180.5.
M^moire sur les Argiles ; ou, Recherches sur la Nature de
Terres les plus propres h I'Agriculture, et sur les Moyens de
fertiliser celles qui sont SuJriles. i'aris, 8vo.
1770. Bicm.
Encyclop&lie Economique, ou'Systeme g^n^ral d'Economie
rustique, contenant les meilleures Pratiques pour fertiliser les
Terres, la Conservation des Grains, iVc. ; par quelques Mem-
bres de la Soci^t^ d'Agriculture de Berne. Y verdon, 16 vols.
8vo.
1770. Rozier, Franqois, born in Lyons, 1734, and
killed there on the 29th September 1793, during the
siege of that city, by a bombshell, which buried his
shaitered remains in the ruins of the apartment
which he occupied ; he began his career as an
author, by writing in the Journal de Physique et
d'Histoire Naturelle, of which Gauthier Dagoty was
editor. He next occupied himself with his Agricul.
tural or Rural Dictionary^ the work by which
he is chiefly known. He cultivated a farm near
Beziferes, which Arthur Young went to see when on
his tour in France in 17S7 ; but the Abb^ had left
it on account of the Bishop of Beziferes, who kept a
mistress somewhere near, and for his more com-
modiously visiting her, got a road made across the
farm at the expense of the province. This occa-
sioned a quarrel between theAbbeand the Bishop,
which ended in the former being obliged to quit his
farm. The Abbe, like all other men who depart
from common practices, was looked on as a fanciful
and wild cultivator ; and, because hepaved his stables
and cow-houses, it was reported by his neighbours
that he paved his vineyard. He wrote a great
many works, chiefly on agriculture.
1. L'Art du Ma^on piseur, extrait du Journal d'Observ-
ations sur la Physique, in 12mo.
2. Trait<5 de la meiUeure ManlSre de cultiver la Navette et
le Colsa, et d'en extraire une Hitile DfJpouillde de son manu-
vaise Oo(it et de son Odeur d<?sagrt?able. Paris, in 8vo. 1774.
3. Cours Contplet d'Agriculture, Tli^orique, Pratique,
Economique, etc ; ou JDictiomiaire universel d'Agriculture.
12 vols, in 4to. 1-96.
1773. Bexon, Gabriel Leopold Charles Ame, a
French miscellaneous writer, was born at Reniire-
mont, 1748 ; died at Paris 1784 : he had a great turn
for Natural History, and assisted Buffon in the latter
volumes of his great work.
1. Le Syst^me de la Fertilisatipn, 8vo.
8. Cat^chisrae d'Agriculture, ou Biblioth^que des Gens de
la Campagne. 1773. liimo.
1773. Trotber. . .
I/Art de fertiliser les Terres, et de preserver de la Gel^e,
commod^ment et k peu de Frais, les Arbres et Arhrisseaux,
les Vignes, &c. Methode d' Education nationale et particuli^re.
Paris. 3 vols, in 8vo.
1774. Lerouge, a friar of the order of Citeaux, in
the abbey of Trisay.
Principesde Cultivateur, ou Essai sur la Culture desChamps,
&c. avec un Traits abr^g^ des Maladies des Cultivateurs, de
leurs Bestiauz, et des Remedes pour les gu^rir. 2 vols, in 12mo.
1778. BuUiard, died at Paris in 1793.
Aviceptologie Fransaise ; ou Traiti gen«5ral de toutes les
Ruses dont on peut se servir, pour prendre les Oiseaux qui sont
en France. Paris, in 12mo.
1779. Ameithon, Hubert Pascal, a librarian in
Paris, and member of the legion of honour.
Journal d'Agriculture, Sec. depuis Janvier. 1779; jusqu'en
D^cembre, 1783. Paris. 15 vols, in 12mo.
1779. Maupin, valet de chambre to the queen of
Louis XVI.
1. L'Art de la Vigne, contenant une nouvdle Methode Eco-
nomique de cultiver la Vigne. In 8vo.
2. Avis iur la Vigne, les Vins et les Terres. In Svo. 17SC
3. Almanach, ou Manud des V'lgneronj de tous les Pavs.
Paris, in8vo. 1789.
1780. Bauthier, advocate at Vienne in Dauphiny.
Le Citoyen k la Campagne, ou Rdponse a la Question : quelles
sont les Connaissances N«5cessaires a un Proprititaire qui fait
valoir son Bien pour vivre ii la Campagne d'une Maniere
utile pour lui et les Paysans qui I'environnent ; dans le Cas
oil les Proprietaires ne den^eurent point dans leurs Biens,
quelles seraient ^galement les Connaissances N^cessaires pour
que les Cur^s, independamment de leurs aiigustes Fonctions,
pussent etre utiles a leurs Paroissiens. Ueniive, in Svo.
1780. Copineau, Abbe.
Omithotrophie artificielle. Pans, in 12mo, avec fig.
1780. Mallet, Robert Xavier, author of various
works on gardening and rural subiects.
Pr^is Elfementaire d'Agriculture, &c. Paris, in 12mo. an. iii.
1781. Parmentier, Antoitie Augustin; born 1737,
at Montdidier, in the department of La Somme,
one of the most distinguished chemists and careful
philosophers which have appeared in France ; author
of a great number of works, and co-operator in
many others, as the Annates de Chimie, Nouveau
Cours d'Agricultwe : he is mayor of Enghien, and
has a small garden there, said by some to be more
richly stocked with rare plants than any other in
Europe of its size. (See Encyc. of Card. p. 1119.)
1. iCecherches sur les V^g^taux Nourrissans, qui, dans les
Tems de Disette, peuvent remplacer les Alimens Ordinaires.
Paris, in Svo.
2. fllethode facile nour conserver a peu de Frais les Grains
et les Farines. In 12rao. 1784.
3. Observations sur les Moyens de maintenir et de rdtablir
Salubrity de 1' Air dans la Uemeure des Animaux Domestiques.
an. xii.
4. Instruction sur les Moyens de rendre le BIE MouchetE
propre h la Semence. Imp. roy. 1783.
5. M^moire sur la Con.servation et I'Usage des Bids de Tur-
quie. Bordeaux, in 8vo. 1785.
6. Mdmoire sur les Semailles. 1790.
7. MtSinoire sur la Nature et la Manidre des Engrais. 1791.
8. M^moire sur les Clotures.
9. Traits sur les Pommes de Terre, in Svo. Hg.'j.
10. Avis sur la Culture et les Usages des Pommes de Terre>
in Svo.
1 1 . Tra-t(5 du Mais, in 12mo.
1782. Berthclot, engineer to Louis XVI.
La Mfecanique appliqude aux iA rts, aux Manufactures, it I'Ag-
riculture et i la Guerre. Paris, 2 vols, bound, in 4to, fig.
1782. Cadet de Vaux, Antoine Alexis, a distin-
guished patriot, founder of various useful institu-
tions, and author of many projects for the public
advantage, which have been carried into effect with
success ; author of, and co-operator in, many eco-
nomical publications.
1. Avis sur les Bles germds, in Svo.
2. Bibliotheque des P.oprietaires Turaux, .Toumal d'Econo-
mie Rurale et Domestique ; par une Soci6td de Savans et de
Proprietaires.
1782. Parmentier, Deyeux, and others See 1781.
Bibliothdque Phvsico- Economique, initructive, etamusante,
a I'Usage des Vllles et de Campagnes. (Paris, published
monthly) 12mo. 68 vols, to 1823.
1784. Dumont, Cottrset, of Boulogne, where he
cultivates his own estate of Courset, and has pub-
lished a useful gardening work. ; {.Encyc. oj. Gard.
p. 112L A.D. 1802.)
Mdmoires sur I'Agriculture du Boulorinais, et des Cantons
Maritim4s voisins. Boulogne, in Svo.
17^5. Chabert, Philippe, inspector general of vete-
rinary schools, and member of the legion of honour.
1. Instruction sur la Mani6re de conduire et gouvemer lea
Vaches i^actiereg, in 8yo.
2. Alteration du Lait de Vache, ddsign^e sous le Nom de Lait
bleu, in Svo. 180.3.
3. D'une Alteration du Lait de Vache, &c. Paris, in Svo.
1805.
1786. Servieres, B. De.
Instruction sur la Martiere de cueillir les Feuilles des Arbres,
de les conserver et de les donner k manger auxBestiaux; pub-
liee par Ordre du Rol. In Svo.
1787. Amoreux, a physician at Montpelier.
1. Mdmoire sur les Haies destinies k la Cloture des Pres,de8
Champs, des Vignes, et des Jeuues Bois. Paris, in Svo.
2. M^moire sur la Ndcessite et les Moyens d'amfeliorcr
I'Agriculture dans le District de Montpellier, Avignon, &c, Ip
Svo.
1787. Brousonnet, Pierre Marie Auguste, member
of the legislative assembly, of the commission of
monuments, and author of a number of papers in
the Memoirs of the Paris Agricultural Society.
1. Annde rurale, ou Calendrier h. I'Usage des Cultivateurs.
Paris, 2 vols, in 12mo.
2. Feuille du Cultivateur. 8 vols, in 4to. 1788.
1789. Cliquot, Blervache, of Rheims, inspector of
manufactures and commerce.
L'Ami du Cultivateur, ou Essais sur les Moyens d'amfliorer
en France la Condition des Laboureurs, des Journaliers, des
Hommes de peine, vivant dans les Campagnes, et celle de leurs
Femmes et de leurs Enfans. Paris, 2 vols, in Svo.
1789. Varenne, de Fenille, P. C, bom at Bresse,
and condemned to die by the revolutionary tribunal
at Lyons in 1794, a zealous agriculturist, and much
respected.
1. Observations, Experiences et MEmoires sur I'Agriculture,
et sur les Causes de la Mortality du Poisson daiis les Etaiigs.
Lyons, in Svo, fig.
Book I.
FRENCH WORKS ON AGRICULTURE.
1217
2. Observations sur les Etanes. 8vo, 1798,
5. ffiuvres d'Agriculture lieVarenne F^nille, troisi^me et der-
ni^re Partie; Mijmoires et Exji^riences sur I'Agriculture, et
particuUerement sur la Culture et I'A melioration des Terres,
le DesstSchement et la Culture des Etangs et des Marais, la Cul-
ture et !• Usage du Marais, &c. 8vo. 1808.
1790. Colte, L., a priest of the oratory, author of
some meteorological tracts.
1. Lemons ^'ementaires d'Agricu!ture> par Demandes et par
R^ponses, k I'Usage des Enfaus, avec une Suite de Questions
sur r.^griculture. 12mo.
2. Catfechisme a I'Usage des Habitans de la Campagne, sur
les Dangers auxquels leur Sant6 et leur Vie sent exposes, &c.
I2u50 1799.
1790. Dubois, J. B., author of an interesting me-
moir on the hay-forks made of the forked branches
of the nettle tree in common use in the south of
France.
Feuilie d'AgricuIture, d'Economie Rurale et Domestique, a
rUssge des I'ropri^taires, &c. 4to.
1790. Mayet, Etienne.
M^moire sur les Moyens de mettre en Culture la plus Avant-
^euse les Terrains sec et arides, principalement ceux de la
Champagne. 8vo.
1791. ^if ///(', P., of Toulon.
Observations de la Soci^td d'Agriculture sur la Question
snivante, propos^e par le Comited'^igriculture et de Commerce
de I'Assembl^e Nationale; I'Usage des Domaines cong^able
est-il utile ou non au Progr^s de ['Agriculture ? 8vo.
1791. Lamoignon Malesherhes, Chritien Guil-
laume, a statesman, born at Paris, 1721 ; guillotined
1793 : he was esteemed a patriot, a man of correct
morals and elegant taste.
Id^es d'un AgricuItLur Patriote sur le D^frichement des
Terres incultes, st-ches et maigres, connues sous le Nom de
Landes, Garrigues, Gatines, Friches, &c. 8vo.
1791. Paillef.
Instructions sur la Plantation, la Culture, et la R^colte du
Houblon. 8vo. A translation from the English.
1791. Tessicr, Henri Alexandre, professor of agri-
culture and commerce in the central schools : he
has paid great attention to the Merino breed of
sheep, and the Angora variety of goat, of which
government has put a large stock under his care.
1. Avis aux Cultivateurs, sur la Culture duTabac en France.
Publi^e par la Soci^t^ Royale d'Agriculture. . Paris, in
8vo.
2. Journal d'Agriculture k I'Usage des Habitans de la Cam-
pagne. 8vo. 1791.
3. Annalesde I'Agriculture Fransoise, par MM. Tessier and
Box. 12 numbers annually, amounting now (1850) to several
volumes 8vo.
4. Instruction sur les Moyens de d^truire les Rats des
Champs et les Mulcts: publi^e par Ordre du Ministre de I'ln-
terieur. 8vo.
5. M^moire sur I'lmportation k France des Chevres h
de Duvet Cachemere. 8vo, pp. 3U. Paris, 1819.
1792. Cointereaux, Francois, an architect, but
more occupied as an author.
1 . Architecture Rurale, &c. Paris, in Svo.
2. Cours d'Architecture Rural Pratique, &c. Svo, avec
figures, 1792.
3. Les Erreurs de mon Si^cle sur I'Agriculture, 1793.
4. Almanach periJ^tuel des Cultivateurs. Paris, in 12mo.
1794.
6. Nouveau Traits d'Economie Rurale. Svo. 1803.
6. Des nouvelles Bergeries, de ce qui les constitue bonnes
et tr^s salubres. Svo. 1805.
7. Des nouvelles Disi>ositions et Constructions des Faisan-
deries, et des Movens de multiplier les Faisins, avec la Ma-
ni^re d'elever les Oiseaux, &c. 1805.
8. Ecole d'Architecture Rurale. Lyons, in Svo, an iv.
9. La Ferme. In 4to.
10. Nouveaux Murs de Terrasses solides et durables, et qui
dispensent de cette Profusion de Mat^riaux qu'on y emploie :
Ouvrage utile k tous les Pays ; principalement aux Architects,
Ing^nieurs, Mayons, et tous Propri^taires, Agens, et Fermiers.
Svo. 1805.
11. Trait«5 de I'ancien Pis^ des Romains, &c. Traits gui
indique les Qualites des Terres propres au Pis^, les Enduits,
&c. Traite sur !es IVIanufactures et les Maisons de Campagne.
Traits qui enseigne le nouveau PiS^, la Manidre de le faire lors
des Pluies, des ?st>iges et des Frimas. Svo.
1794. Belair, A. P. Julienne de, an engineer, for-
merly in the service of Holland and Prussia ; he has
written also on military subjects.
M^moire sur les Moyens de parvenir k la plus grande Per-
fection de la Culture et de la Suppression des Jach^res. Svo-
1794. Bertrand, inspector-general of roads and
bridges.
Avis important sur I'Economie Politique et Rurale des Pays
de Montagnes, et sur la Cause et les EiVets Progressives d^
Torrens, &c. Paris, in Svo.
1794. Fontalard, Jean Frangois de, of Lorrain.
Principes raisonnes d'Agriculture, ou I'Agriculture d^mon-
tr^e par les Principes de le Chimie Economique, d'apr^s les Ob-
servations de plusieurs Savans ; Ouvrage traduit en Frangais,
sur la Version Latlne de Jean Gottschalk Valerius de Stock-
holm. Paris, an ii.
1794. Huxard, Jean Baptiste, veterinary surgeon
of Paris, and member of several societies ; Madame
Huzard is the principal agricultural bookseller of
Paris, as Harding was of London.
1. Essai sur les Maladies qui aftectent les Vaches laitidres des
Environs de Paris. Svo.
2. Comte rendu k I'lnstitut de la Vente des I-aines, et de 161
B^tes du Troupeau National de Rambouillet, faite en prairial,
an ix. 4to. 1801.
3. Comte rendu k la Classe des Sciences, Math^matiques et
Physiques, de I'lnstitut National des Ameliorations qui se font
I dans I'Etablissement Rural de Rambouillet, et prlnclpalemesU
de celle de Betes k Laine et de la Vente qui a eu Ueu le 26
prairial, an xi. 4to. 1803.
1794. Freaudeau-Chemilli/ Ei/gcne.
D-s Haies consider^es corame Clotures; de leurs A vantages,
et des Moyens de les oblenir. Svo.
1795. Cels, Jacques Martm, member of the Insti-
tute, of the Paris agricultural society, &c.
1. Annuaire du Cultivateur, ou Repertoire universel d'Agri-
culture. 4 to.
2. Avis sur les R^coltes des grains, publi^e par le Conseil d'
Agriculture du Miiiistere de 1 Int^rieur. Paris, in Svo. an vi.
3. Instruction sur les Eft'ets des Inondations et D^bordemens
des Rivieres, relativement aux Prairi'.s, aux Kecoltes de Foins.
Svo. 1802.
1797. Gilbert, Frangois Hilaire, born atChatelle-
rault, in 1737 ; died at St. lldefonso, near Madrid,
in 18U0, when in search of a flock of merinos; a
man of great zeal for agriculture.
1. Instruction sur les Movens les plus propres k assurer Li
PropagaUon des Betes k Lziine de Race d'Espa^ne, et la Con-
servation de cette Race dans toute sa Purete : publi^e par le
Consiil d' .Agriculture. Svo.
2. Memoire sur la toute du Troupeau National de Rambouil-
let, la Venle de ses Laines et de ses Productions disponibles.
4to. 1797.
3. Recherclies sur les Esp^cos de Prairies arfificielles qu'on
peut cultiver avec le plus d'.V vantage en France. Parist, in
12mo. 1799.
1798. Barbl Marbois, of Metz, who filled various
civil offices, and was a grand officer of the legion of
honour.
1 . CuUure du Tre'fle, de la Luzerne, et du Saiofoin. Metz,
in Svo.
2. La Richesse des Cultivateurs ; ou Dialof,ues entre Benja-
min .Tacbere et Richard Trifle, Laboureurs, sur la Culture du
Trefle, de la Luzerne, et du Sainfoin. Svo. 1803.
1799. Lnstcijrie, Charles Philibert de, member of
various hterary, philosophical, and agricultural so-
cieties, an active patriot, and zealous philanthro-
pist.
1 . Traite des B6tcs a Laine cVEspagne ; leurVoy ages, la Tonte,
le Lavage, et le Commerce des Laines, les Causes qui donnent la
SS^?
Finesse aux Laines : auquel on ajoute I'Historique des Voyages
que font les Moutons des Bouches-du-Rhone, et ceux du Roy-
aume de Naples; I'Origine, le Succes, I'Etat actuel du Trou-
peau de Rambouillet, et les Moyens de propager et de conser-
ver la Race Espagnole dans toute sa Purete. Svo.
2. Histoire de I'lntroduction des Moutons a Laine fine d'Es-
le dans les divers Etats de 1' Europe, et au Cap de Bonne-
.perance; Etat actuel decesAnimaux ; diHerentes Manidres
dont on les eieve, les A vantages qu'en retirent I'Agriculture, le*
Fabriques, et le Conmierce. 2 vols, in Svo. 1803.
3. Memoires sur ditierens Points d'Economie Rurale. Paris,
an viii.
4. Du Cotonnier et de sa Culture, ou Traite sur le diverse*
Espices de Cotonniers, sur la Posiibilite et les Moyens d'accli-
mater cet Arbuste en Franco, sur sa Culture dans ditierens
Pays, principalement dans le Midi de I'Europe, et sur les Pro-
prietes et les A vantages Economiques, Industriels, et Commelf-
eeaux du Coton. Paris, in Svo, avec Planch. 1S08.
5. Collection de Machines, d'lnstrumens, &c. employes dans
I'Economie, Rurale, Domestique, et Industriale, d'apr^s les
Dessins fails dans diverses Parties de I'Europe. 2 vols, in 4to.
200 Planches avec Texte. Paris, 1S20.
1800. Ducouedic, a great bee master.
Notice sur les Tourbieres, et sur le IVIaniere de les exploiter ;
avec I'Art d'en creer dans toutes les Proprietes Rurales, pour
augmenter la (iuantite des Engrais et des Combustibles. Isle of
Vilaine. Svo.
1800. Fabre.
Essai sur la Theorie des Torrens et des Rivieres, contenant
les Movens les plus simples d'en empdcher les Ravages, d'en
retrecir le Lit, et d'en faciliter la Navigation. Paris, in 4to.
1801. Dralet, of Toulouse, Director of forests,
member of several societies. In 1810, his MolC'
catcher had gone through nine editions. {Bibliog.
Agronomique, 315.)
L'Art du Taupier. Svo.
1801. Lacoste, of Plaisance, professor of Natural
History at Clermont-Ferrard, and afterwards of
morals at Toulouse.
Quelques Oliservations concemant I'Agriculture dans les
Montagnes du Department du Puy-de-D6iiie. Svo.
1802. Daubenton, Jean Louis Marie, born 1716,
died 1799, co-operator with Buffon in the compo-
sition of his Natural History. " BufFon," says Cu.
vier, " only listened to his imagination, while
Daubenton always dreaded the influence of that
faculty of his mind."
Instruction pour les Proprietaires de Troupeaux, avec d'au-
tres Ouvrages sur les Moutons et sur les Laines. A posthu-
mous -work, Svo. „
1802. Fromage de Feugre, C. Michel K, vetermary
professor of Alfort, and author of many works on
his profession.
Des Chenilles, des Avoines, et des Moyens d'empC-cher leur
Ravages. Paris, Svo.
1&02. Pictet, Charles, of Geneva, one of the con-
ductors of the Bibliothique Britannique.
1. Faits et Observations concemant la Race des Merinos
d'Espagne k Laine superfine, et les Croisemens. Svo.
2. Quelques faits concemant la Race des Merinos d'Espagne,
k Laine superfine, (leneve, in Svo, fig. an viii.
3. Comparison detroiaCharrues. Svo, pp. 12S. avec planche.
(ier.eve, IS23. , , , . ,
1802. Ranch, F. A., engineer of roads and bridges.
Harmonie hydro- vfegfetale et M6t6orologique, ou Recheichcs
4 I
1218
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Part. IV.
4ur les Moyens de reorder, avec nos For^ts, la Force des Tempe-
ratures et la R^gularite des Saisons par des Plantations raison-
nees. 2 vols, in 8vo.
1803. Depradt, D., archbishop of Malines, almoner
to Nap. Bonaparte at Warsaw, and since the restor-
ation of the Bourbons, author of various political
works, wliich have excited considerable interest.
1. De I'Etat de la Culture en France, et de ses Amfelior-
ations. 2 vols, in 8vo.
2. Voyajje Asronomique en Auvergne. Paris, 8vo. 1828.
1803. Dourches, Charles, member of several so-
cieties.
1. Traitfe des Prairies et du leurs Irrigations, in Svo.
'Z. Aperc'u General des For^ts. 2 vols, in Svo. an xiii.
1803. Sinety, Andr6 Louis Esprit, member of seve-
ral societies.
L'Agriculture du Midi, ou Traite d'Agri culture propre aux
D6parteniens Meridionaux, &c. Marseilles, 2 vols, in 12ino.
1804. Jacquin, M. E.
Instructions sur I'Economie Rurale etDomesfique au'x Habl-
tans des Campagnes : publiees par la Societe d'Ajjriculture du
D^partement des Deux-S6vres. Svo.
1805. Aigoin, member of the Agricultural Society
of Ivret-.
Mfemoire sur I'Am^lioration du Troupeau de Merinos et de
B^tes a Laine indigenes fetabli a la Mandria de Chiva.?, De-
partement de la Loire, et sur les Progr^s d'Agriculture dans
ce Domaine. In Svo.
1805. Tollard, Claude, member of various socie-
ties, and who visited most parts of the Continent ;
afterwards a nurseryman near Paris, and finally
a corn-merchant
Traitfe des Vegfctaux qui composent rAgricultuve de I'Empire
Fran9aise, &c. 12mo.
1806. Bagot, member of the Agricultural Society
of the Seine.
1. Mfemoire sur 'es Produits du Topinainbour, comparfc
avec ceux de la Luzerne, et de plusieurs Kacines l^gumineuses.
Paris.
2. Annales de I'Agriculture Francaise, contenant des Obser-
vations et des Mfemoires sur toutes les Parties dc I'Agricul
ture.
1806. LulHn, Ch.J.M.
Des Prairies artificiellcs d'Et^ et d'Ifiver ; de la Nourriture
des Br^is, et des Ameliorations d'une Ftrme dans les Kn-
Tirons de Geneve. 2e edit, revis^e et considerablement au^-
mentee. Geneve, Svo, pp. S.'jy.
1807. Gagon Dnfour, Marie Armande Jeanne.
Dictionnaire Rural Kaisonne, dans lequel on trouve le Detail
des Plantes Preservatives et Cursttives des Maladies des Bes-
tiaux.
1807. Morel de Vindi, peer of France, a i)roprietor
of a beautifully situated estate near Marly, in the
neighbourhood of Paris.
1 . Mfemoire sur I'Exacle Parite des Laines INIerinos de Fiance
et des Laines Merinos d'Espagne, suivi de quelques Eclaircisse-
mens sur la vraie Valeur que devraient avoir dans le Commerce
les Lsdnes M6rinos Fran^aises. Svo.
2. Quelques Observations pratiques sur la ThA)riedes Assole-
mens. Paris, Svo. 1822.
3. Essai sur les Constructions Rurales Economiques, contenant
leurs Plans, Coupes, Elevations, Details, et D^vis etablis aux
plusbas Prix possibles. (Les Details de Constructions et D^vis
par A. L. Lussoo, Architecte.) Paris, in folioj pp. 40. avec 5G
Planches, 1822.
1807. Prevost, Benedict
M6moire sur la Cause immMiate de la Carie ou Chnrbon des
Bles, et de plusieurs autres Maladies des Plantes, et sur les Pre-
servatives de la Carie. Montauban. Svo.
1809. Calvel, Etienne, member of the Museum of
Toulouse, and of other societies, author of various
scientific works on rural subjects.
Mfemoire sur I'Ajonc, on Genet epineux consid^rt sous le
Rapport de Fourrage, de I'Amendement des Terres Steriles,et
de Supplement au Bois. Paris, in Svo.
1812. Thouin, M. Andri, Le Chevalier de, profes.
sor of culture in the University of Paris ; author of
various memoirs on gardening and agriculture, in-
serted in the French encyclopasdias, dictionaries,
and periodical works, and in the transactions of their
learned bodies ; ah excellent man, and esteemed
one of the first gardeners in Europe. He died in
1824. (See Encyc. of Gard. p. 1117.)
Description de I'Ecole d'Agriculture Pratique du Museum
d'Histoire Naturelle. 4to.
1815. Delabergerie, J. B. R , membre de plusieurs
soci^teg savantes nationales et ^trangures ; ancien
prefet.
Histoire de rAgriculture Fran^aise, considferfee dans ses Rap-
ports avec les Lois, les Cultes, les Moeurs, et le Commerce ; pre-
cfedte d'une Notice sur I'Empire des Gauleset sur I'Agriculture
des A miens. Paris. Svo.
1816. Bonnemain, a physician, member of several
societies.
Observations sur I'Art de faire feclorer et ^ felever la Volaille
sans le Secours des Poules, ou Examen des Cases qui ont pu
emp^cher aux diverses Tentatives qui ont et4 faitet en Europe,
pour imitcr les Egyptiens. Paris, in Svo, pp. 36.
1816-1830. Anon.
Journal d'Agriculture d'Economie Rurale et des Manu-
factures du Rovaume des Pajs-Bas, &c. Brussels, Svo, in
monthly numbers.
1816. Chatelain, le Ckenalier, a cavalry officer.
Memolre sur les Chevaux Arabes ; Projet tendant h ang-
menter et a am^liorer les Chevaux en France ; Notes sur les
dlflferentes Baces qui doivent 6tre preftrees k ce sujet, &c. &c.
Farift, Svo.
1817. Bornot, M. A., a notary at Savoisy.
Pratique Raisonnde de la Culture du Tr6fle et de Sainfoin.
Pari.;, 8vo, pp. 100.
1818. Avrouin, Foulon, mayor of Serablanc^ay.
Essai sur les Defrichemens des Landes, et le Desfechement
des Marais. Tours, Svo, pp. 40.
1819. Pey rouse. Baron Ptcot de J a.
A SlvCtch of the Agriculture of a District in the South of
France. Translation with Notes. Svo.
1819. Villeneuve, Connie Louis de.
Essai d'un Manuel d'Agriculture, ou Ext>osilion du Systfeme
de Culture suivi pL-ndant 19 ans dans le Uomaine d'Hanterive,
Comnnme de Cartres, DeparteinLut du Tours. Toulouse, Svo,
pp. 908.
1819. Yvasf, A. Victor, Member of the Institute,
and one of the writers in ihcNouvcau Cows d^ Agri-
culture, &c.
1. Excursion Agronomique en Auvergne, principalement
aux Environs des Monts d'Or et de Puyde-Dome ; suivie de
Recherches sur I'Ktat, et I'Importance des Inigations en
France. Paris, Svo, pp. 218-
2. Considerations generales particuli^res sur la Jachereet
sur les meilleurs Moyens d'arriver graduellement k sa Sup-
pression avec de grand Avantagcs. Imiaime par Ordre de la
Sotiete Rovale et Centrale d'Agricultnre. Paris, 8vo, pp. 220.
avec Planches, \%'U.
1829. Audouin, Maurice.
Expose du Projet d'Etabiissement d'une Ferme experimen-
tale dans chaque Departcment du Royaume. Paris, Svo, pp. 8.
1820. Crud, Le Baron E. V. B., the translator of
Thaer's works from the German.
Economie de I'Agriculture. Geneve, 4to, pp. 414.
1820. Deslandfs.
Eiemens de I'Agriculture et des Sciences qui s'y rapportent,
&c. Paris, 2 vols. 12mo, pp. COO.
1821. GuiUaume, Ch.
Instrumens aratoires, inventes, perfectionnes, dessines, et
graves. Par Ch. G. Paris, oblong folio, pp. 28. avec Vi
Planches.
1821. Lajons, M. de, mayor of Atigat.
Abrege el6menlaire d'Agriculture Pratique, d'ajires les
Principes de Rozier, Arthur Young, Duhamef, &c. : principes.
applinufes a la Nature du SoUes Pyrenees, a sa Temperature,
&c. Toulouse, Svo, pp. 532. avec fig.
1822. Adnmson, Madame Aglae.
La Maison du Campagne. Paris, 3 vols. 12mo. pp. 1098.
1822. France!', Ainl
L'Art de la Sttrcoration , ou les Loisirs d'un Agriculture
Practicien retire a la Campagne ; Methode pour fabriquer
une Quantite imiirense de Fumiers qui dureront 8 Atis, fandis
que les Fumiers ordinaires sont evaporfo dans deux aimees.
'Toulouse, Svo, pp. 48.
1822. Moroenes, Baron de.
Essai sur les Moyens d'amfeliorer I'Agriculture en France,
particu'Jdrement dans les Provinces les moins riches, et no-
tamment en Soulogne. Paris, 2 vols. 8yo, pp. 932.
1822. Thiertj, P. J. (otficier comptable du depot
royal d'etalons de Strasbourg.)
Memoii-e sur I'A melioration des Chevaux en Alsace, par le
Croisemcnt des Races et I'Education, et particulrirenient sur te
Moyens de les preserver de la Cecite. Mfemoire Couroftne, &c.
Strasbourg, 4to, pp. 160. 1822.
1822. PoUgnac, Comte Charles de. '
Rapport au Roi sur les Troupeaux de pure Race, exptiquaht
les Motifs et Ils Developpeipens des nouveaux nihcipes
d'.'Vdministration pratiques dans sons Efablissement Rural de
Calvados. Svo. Caen, 1822.
1823. Chaptal, Comte, a distinguished rhemist
and statesman, who cultivates a considerable part
of his own estate.
La Chiniieappliquee a I'Agriculture. Paris, 2 vo's. Svo.
1823. Bosc, r/*., vice president de la Sopit'te d'Agri-
culture du Dents. . i ■
1. Rapport sur VEmploi du PUtre en Agriculture fait,^
Conseil Royal d'Agriculture. Paris, Svo, pp. 108.
2. Traite eiementaire de Physique vesetale appliquee h
I'Agriculture. PSris, 1824. 8vo,pp. 110
1824. Dubois, Louis. . ■ > . . : .
Courscomplot et simplifie d^Wicviltore «t d'Ec«nqjnifi Ru-
rale et Domestique. Paris, 6 vols. 12ino, , ^ .,. .
1824—1830. Mathieu deDombasle, C-J. A, .
Annales Agricolesde Rovillc, ou Melanges 'd Agrfc^tture,
d'Economie rurale, etde LegislationAgricoIe. Paris, .Svb,.5vol9.
1824. Do?nbasle, C. J. A. Matthieu de. IDirecteur
de I'Etablissement Agricole exemplaire de RoviUe,
&c. &c. , ,
Calendrier du Bon Cultivafeur, ou Manuel de I'Agriculteur
Praticien. Paris.
1824. Mortemari-Boiise, le Baron de.
Recherches sur les differentes Racts des Betes ^ Laine dp la
Grande Bretagne, et partic^ijierpflJKit sut. la nouveile Race de
Leicestershire. Paris, 8vo. , ;,
1824. Polonceau, M. . ' .'
Notice sur les Chievres Asiafiques a Jf>uTie); du Cachepne^, et
sur un premier l^^ssiai tente pour augriienter leur Duvet, et Iuj.
donner des Qualites nouvelles, &c. Paris, Svo.
182.5. La Societe d' Agriculiure.de l^aria.
Annuaire de la Societe Rpyale et Centrale d'Agriculture,
Svo. {CoiiHnutd Annvallv.) . ^..
1825. Douette.Richardot, Nicolas, et redige par,
Richardot Taine, juge de Paix ^Verry, Dtpartement
de la Marne.
De la Pratique de I'Agriculture; ou Recueil.&c. Pans,
1 vol. Svo.
1825. Legris, geometrical engineer.
La Nouveile Mfechanique Agricole, &c. Paris, 8vo, deux
planches.
1825. ■ Bubrunfaut, M.
L'Art de fabriquer le Sucre deBetterares. Paris, Svo.
Book I.
GERMAN WORKS ON AGRICULTURE.
1219
1823. Ferussac, Baron de, conductor.
Bulletin des Sciences Agricoles et Economiques. Paris, 8to.
Monthly Numbers.
1825. Ckabrol De Volvie, Comte de, councillor of
state, and prefect of the Seine.
Statistique des Provinces de Sarone, d'Oneille, d'Acqui, et
de Partie de la Prorence de Mondovi, formant I'ancient D6-
partement de Montenotto. Paris, 2 vols. 4to, plates.
1825. Chabonille Dupetitmont, M., cultivator.
Manuel Pratique du Laboureur. Paris, 2 vols. 12mo.
1825. Payenet Chevalier, MM.
Traitfe de la Ponime de Terre. Paris, Svo.
1825. Pinteux, senior butcher and syndic of the
shambles of Paris.
Reflections sur la Production et la Population des Bestiaux
en France. Paris, 8to.
1826 Senac, M., and the Baron de Ferussac.
Bulletin des Sciences Agricoles et Economiques. Paris, 8vo,
in Monthly Numbers.
182ti. Gilbert, H. F., a distinguished agriculturist.
Traiie des Prairies artificiel'.es; ou Recherches sur les Es-
p^ces de Plantes qu'on peut cultiViT avec le plus d'A vantage
en Priiiries artilicielles, et sur la Culture qui leur convient le
mieux. Paris, 1 vol. 8vo.
1826. Pontier, P. H., senior, inspector of woods
and waters.
Memoire sur la Connoissance des Terres en Agricu'lure.
Paris, 8vo.
1826. Puvis, M. A.
Essai sur la Mame. Bourg. Svo.
1826. Anon.
Annuaire de la Society Royale et Centrale d'Agriculture.
Paris, 12mo.
1826. Anon.
Essai sur les Associations Agricoles. Toulouse, Svo. 1 leaf.
1826. Lepinois, M. E. B. de.
Petit Cours d'Agriculture, ou Manuel du Fermier, &e. &c.
Paris, Svo.
1826. Paupaille, M., author of a Treatise on Che-
mistry in the Encyclopddie Portative.
Discours sur les Applications de la Chimie ii I'Agriculturc et
a la Botanique. Pamph. Svo.
1826. Bard, C. P.
Min^ralogie Populaire ; ou Avis au Cultivateurs et aux Arti-
sans sur les Terres, les Pierres, les Sables, &c. Paris, ISmo.
1826. Delpierre, Leocade.
Nouveau Guide du Fermier. Chateauroux. Pamphlet,
18mo.
1«26. Un Jardinier Agronome.
Annuaire du Jardinier et de 1' Agronome, pour 1826. Paris,
ISmo.
1828. Legarr^, J. D., Esq.. editor.
The Southern Agriculturist, and Register of Rural Affairs ;
adapted to the Southern Section of the • United States.
Charleston. In Svo Numbers, monthly.
18i;8. Delpierre, Leocade.
Manuel du Fermier. Paris, 18mo.
1828. Ano7i.
M(5moires d'jVgriculture, d'Economie nirale et domestique :
publics par la Society Kojale et Centrale d'Agriculture. Paris,
8vo, 1 vol.
1829. Anon.
Journal de la Socifete d'Agronomie pratique (auauel s'est
rfeuni I^ Journal des Jardins). Pans. In Svo Numbers
monthly.
1829. Moleon, J. G. V. de, cond.
Recuejl Industriel, Agricole, et CommerciaJ. Paris, Svo
monthly Numbers.
SuBSECT. 2. Bibliography of German Agrictdture
7901. The German agricultural works are as numerous as those of the French, but chiefly translations,
and these, for the most part, from the English. We have given a very limited selection, the Germari Ian-
guage being less generally understood than either the French or Italian. In forest management iForst..
wissenschaft) the German bibliography is very rich ; and it is chiefly these books, and descriptions of local
practices, which can be of any interest to the British cultivator. The older German works in rural aflTairs
are enumerated in Haller's Bibliography ; and the modern ones, and new editions in Ersch's Handbuch
der Deutschen Litteratur, and the Leipsic Catalogues, published annually. Thaer of Moeglin is decidedly
the highest in repute as an author, and Sickler's Deutsche Landicirthschaft, a voluminous work, will give
8 general idea of every part of German husbandry.
1578. Heresbacht'tis, Conradus, counsellor to the
Duke of Cleve ; was born in 1508, died in 1576.
He wrote various theological works, besides his
Ret RustictB, libriiv., which was published in 1570,
and his Legum rusticarum et Operarum persingu-
las Menses digestce, in 1595. The former was trans-
lated by Barnaby Googe, of Lincolnshire, with the
following title : —
Foure Bookes of Husbandrie, containing the whole Art and
Trade of Husbandrie, Gardening, Graffing, saA Planting, with
the Antiquitie and Coramendauon thereof. Newly Englished
and increased by BamebeGo<^e, Esquire. At Ix>ndon, 4to.
1578. Leaves 194, besides the Dedication, Epistle and Table
at the beginning ; and Olde English Rules in Xerx for pur-
chasing Lande, at the end.
His authorities extend from the Bible and doctors
of the church, through the Greek and Roman
writers. Homer, Cato, &c., to the moderns as low
as Ruellius, Fuchsius, Matthiolus, Cardanus, and
Tragus. He subjoins a list of his friends and
others who assisted him. S. Nich. Malbee, M. Cap.
Byngham, M. John Somer, M. Nicas. Yetzwert, M.
Fitzherbert, M. Willi. Lambert, M. Tusser, M. Tho.
Whetenhall, M. Ri. Deering, M. Hen. Brookhu 1
M. Franklin, H. King, Richard Andrews, Henry
Denys, William Fratte, John Hatche, Philip Par-
tridge, Kenworth Daforth.
The work is in dialogue. The persons arc Cono,
a gentleman retired into the country ; Rego, a
courtier ; Metella, wife of Cono j and Hermes, a
servant
1591. Colerus, J.
1. Calendarium oeconomicum et perpetuum. Wittebergae.
2. Economiae Pars prima ; qua tractatur quemadmodum
bonus CEconomus faraulos suos regere debet et Bona sua augere
potest per veras honestas Artes, et utilia Compendia circa Res
domesticas, Agriculturum, Piscatum, Aucupia,yenationes et
Vinearum Culturum. Wittebergie, 4to. 1593.
1592. Porta, J. B.
VilliE, lib. xiii. Francofurti, 4to.
1735. Zeigerus, Antoine.
Introductio rationalis ad CEconomiam et Artem perficiendae
Agriculturae, in qua Methodus exponitur Experien ia confir-
mata Omnegenus Agrorum sine consueta Stercoratione fecun-
dandi. 4to.
1754. Eckhart, J. Gli. von.
Experimental Oekonomie Uber das Animalische Vegetabi-
lische, und Mineral Reiche, oder vollst^ndige Hausbaltungs-
nnd Landwirthschaftskunst. Jena, 1754. Svo.
1760. Der Schweizer.
Gesellschaft in Bern Sammlung von Landwirthschaftlichen
Dingen ; oder Abhandlungen und Beobachtungen durch die
ekonomische Gesellschaft in Bern gesamraelt. Zurich, Svo.
1762. Wiegand, J.
Wohlerfahmer I^ndwirth ; oder Anleitung wie der Land-
wirthschafts Oekonomie zu verbessem. Wien, Svo.
1766. Cramer, John Andrew, died 1777.
Anleitung /.urn Forst-wesen. Braunsch. fol.
4
1766. DMeule.
M^moires de i'Agriculture en gfen^rale, et de TAgriculture
de Pologne en particulier. Berlin, Svo.
1769. Luders, Ph. E.
Grundriss einer zu errichtenden AcVerschule, in welcher
die Landjugend zu einer richtigen Erkenntnias und Uetiung
im Landbau engcfiihrt und zubereitet werden kBnne. Flens^
burg, Svo.
1773. Krunifz, J. G.
Okonomische technologischeEncvklopadie, oder allgemeines
System der Staats, Stadt, Haus, und Landwirthschaft in AU
phabetischer Ordnung. Berlin, Svo.
1775. Albrecht, J. F. E.
Zootomische und Phvsikalische Entdeckungen von der in-
nem einrichtung der 'Bienen, besonders der art ihrer begat-;
tung. Golha, Svo.
1775. SuckovD, G. Adg.
Abhandlung vom Nutzen der Chemie zum Behuf des bilr-
gerlichen Lebens und der Oekonomie. Manheim, Svo.
1779. Borcke, H. A. Grafen, Count de.
Account of the Management of his Estate of Stargordt, in
Pomerania. Berlin, 4to.
1780. Christ, J. L.
Patriotische Nachric^ten, &c.; or, Patriotical Accounts
and Instructions concerning the profitable Culture of Tobacco,
and more especially of that called Asiatic Tobacco. "
Looacco,
Francf.
1781. Rossig, Karl Glo., author of some works on
gardening and forest management.
Versuch einer pragmatischen Geschichte der Oekonomie,
Polizey und CamEeralwissenschaften, seit dem IC ten Jahr-
hunderte, bis auf unsere Ztiten. Deutschland I.«ipzig, Svo.
2. Die Geschichte, der Oekonomie der vorziiglichsten Lan-
der und Velker der altern mittlem und neuern Zeit in einem
kurzen EntwUrfe dargestellt. Leipzig, Svo. 1798.
1784. Hiltenbrand, Ant.
Erste Aufangsgrunde der zur Landwirthschaft nSthigen
Mechanik. Wien, Svo.
1784. Hofmann, Gli. Bd. Freyherr von.
Die Landwirthschaft fUr Herm und Diener. Prag. Svo.
1785. Fischer, C. F. J.
Geschichte des Deutschen Handels, der SchiflfTahrt, Fiscbe-
rey, Erfindungcn, Kilnste, Gewcrbe, der Landwirthschaft
PoUzey des ZoU-Mttnz-und Bergwesens, der Staatswirthschaft
und des Luxus. Hanover, 2 vols. Svo. .
1786. Harfig, Fr. Grafen von.
Historische Untersuchung liber die Aufaabme und den
Verfall der Feldwirthschaft bey verschiedenen Volkem. Pr.g.
und Wien, Svo.
1786. Bizhaub.
Brevis Rei rusticae Descriptio. Giessen, 12mo.
1790. Hartiz, Georges Louis.
Observations HistoriqUes sur les Proer^s et la Decadence de
I'Agriculture chez diff^rens Peuples. Vienne,6 vols. Svo.
1791. Anon.
Kleine Schriften zur Stadt-und Landwirthschaft von der oko.
nomischen Gesellschaft in Bern lierausgegeben. Zurich, Svo.
1791. Nan, Bh. Seb.
Theoretisch praktisches Handbuch filr Oekonomie, Ber^-
baukunde. Technologic und Thierarzneywissenschafl (m
Alphabctischer Ordnung) von einer Gesellschaft bearbeiteh
' Zurich, Svo.
I 2
1220
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
IV.
1792. Bosc, K. Ad, H. von.
Katechetische Unterriclit zum FeWbau oder fieuntUchaft-
liche Gesprache Uber die vorzUijlicbsten Oe?;enstande der
alien und neuen l.andwirthschaft ; nebst einem Anhatij^e,
wie die Wohn-und V\'irthschafLsgebaude unf kleinen llitter-
j?iltern und grossen BauergUtem , be<iuem und woWful anzu-
iegen. Halle, 8vo.
1792. Riem, J.
1. Monathlich ^Mraktlsch Skonomiscbe Ericyklopadie fiir
Peutsche, cder zusaminenliangeiider Lehrbef^rilt'der semein-
niltziffen praktischen \Virthsi;hcifiskunde, &c. l«ip/.iK, 8\o.
2. Modell Magazin fdrOekonomen ; o<ler Abbilduiigen und
Besclireibungen der niitzlu^hsteii und bequemsten Gerath-
scbafien, Werkzeuge und Geschirre ftlr llausbattung I>and-
■wirthschaft, Viezucht, &c. Leipzig, 1802, 4to, mit KUp-
fern.
1794. Stumpf, G.
Biographie und Scbicksile des {jfconomisch cameralistjchen
Instituts zu Jena ; mil den nUtbigsten Docuraeuten. Jena,
8vo.
1796. Hubcr, Francis, member of the Society of
Natural Philosophy and Natural History of Ge-
neva.
Nouvelles Observations sur les AbeiUes, adressees k M.
Charles Bonnet. Par. I'imo.
1796. Zchmens, Cp. H. Adf. von.
System der Landwirthschaft, nach physischen und chemis-
schen Grundsatzen b-handelt, und durch laiige Erfahrungen
geprilft. J^ipzig, 8vo. ■
1797. FiscJier, H. L.
Katechismus der llaushalt und des Ac^erbaues zum Ge-
brauch in Schulen. Braunscliweig, 8vo.
1797. Kranfx., Guillaume.
De I'Agriculture comme Souice principala du Bien-etre et
de la Prospiritfe d'une Nation. Vienne, Svo.
1798. Thner, Alb., of the establishment of Moge-
lin in Prussia, one of the most enliglitenecl German
agriculturists, author of numerous works, all in high
repute. (576.) He died at an advanced age, and
deeply regretted by all, who had the happiness of
being his pupils, in 1829.
1. Einleitvng. zur Kenntniss der Engljschen Landwirth-
schaft. Hjanover, 8,vo. ,
2. Vermischte Landwirthschaftliche Scliriften aus der drey
ersten Jahrgangen der Annalen der niedersg-chischen J^and-
wivtshschalT, artsgewablt und anszugsweise in .\usehung der
eignen Arbeiten verbessert. Hanover, ,8vo. 18V(>.y
3. Grundsatze der rationellen Earidwlrthschafl. Berlin,
4to. 1809. • , ■ '
4. Annalen der niedersacbsischen Landwirthschaft heraus-
gegeben von der Braunsch^*eigi»chen Landvvirthscluifts Gesell-
schaft durch Alb. Thaer urid J; K.r. Benec'ke. Zelle. 8vo.
1799.
1799. Anton, K. Glo.
Versuch einer (Jeschfchte der deutscben Landwirthstnaft
von den altesten Zeiten bis zu Ende des 15 ten Jahrbunderts.
GOrlitz, Svo. ■ ,
1800. Ruckert, G.Ck. Alb. • '
Bemerkung uber Thaers Einleitttng eur Kenntniss der
Engiischen Landwirthschaft. Wieny 8va. ■
1800. Steindel, A. H. von.
Bemerkungen Uber Thaers ^'chrei^en, &c. Leipzig, Svo.
1801. Huber, P., of Lausanne, in Switzerland,
and son of Francis, previously mentioned.
1. Memoirs concerning the Influence of the Xvc, and several
easeous Substances, on the Germination of various Kinds of
Grain. Geneva, 8vo.
2. Recherches sur les Moeurs des Fourmis Indigenes. Par.
1810.
1802. Costa, Ch.
Essai sur I'A melioration de rAcriculture dans les Pays
Montueux, et en particuUer dans la Savoie. Svo.
^mi. Eschenbach, Ch. Ghld.
Kunstmagazin der Mechanlk und technischen Cbemie ; oder
Sammlung von Abbilddungen under Beschreilumgen er-
Srobter Maschinen, zurVervoUkommnung des Ackerbaues, der
lanufacturen und Fabriken. Leipzig, 4 to.
1802. Gotthard, J. Ch.
Das Ganze der Landwirthschaft ; ein Systematisches Lehr-
buch fUr Oekonomen, so wie fiir jeden, der sich dieser Wissen-
schaftwidmet. Mainz, Svo.
IWiS. Eiigel, Lud. Hm. Hs. von.
Anvrendung der Engiischen Landwirthschaft auf die Deut-
sche und beide g^en einander gestellt nach Thaer"* Einlei-
tung. Leipzig, Svo.
1803. Hermbsfddt, Sgm. F.
Archiv der Agricultur-Chemie, fiir denkende Landwirthe ;
oder Sammlungen der wichtigsten Entdeckungen, Erfahrrun-
gen und Beobachtungen in der Physik und Cheinie,&c Berlin.
1803. IVeber, F. Bd.
Handbuch der (ikonomischen Litteratur ; oder Systematische
Anleitung zur Kenntniss der Deutschen okonomischen Schrif-
ten, die sowohl die gesammte Land-und Hauswirthschaft, als
die mit denselben verbundenen Hulfs-und Nebenwissenschaf-
ten angehen ; mit Angabe ihres Ladenpreises uijd Bemer.
kung ihres WerthS. Berlin, Svo.
1804. Richter, K. F.
1. Chemisch Oekonomisches Taschenbuchfllr Wirthschaft-
beamte, oder Darstellung der chemischeri Elementargesetze
welche mit der Oekonomie in der engsten Verbindung stuhen.
Chemnitz und Leipzig. Svo.
2. Historische, Tabellarische Darstelhmgen der in jedem
Monathe vorkommenden Landwirtbschafilichen Arbeiten : nuf
jedes Fahr anwendbar, ftlr Riftergutsbesitzer, Pachter und
Verwalter. Chemnitz und Leipzig, fol. 1804.
1805. Sickler, F. Ch. L., son to the celebrated
Gorman pomologist, and author of some interesting
gardening work.s. (See Encyc. of Gard. p. 1126.)
Le Spirodiphire, ou Char k plajiter le 1116, avec deux Planch.
Parjs, SvQ.
1808. FcUcnberg, Emmanuel, of the celebrated
agricultural establishment of Switzerland, already
noticed. (350.)
1. Ilapport a S. Ex. le L-indaminan et a la Diete des 19
Cantons de la SuiNse, sur les Etai.lissemcns agricoies de M.
Fellenberg a Hofwyri, par M. M. Huer, &c. Paris et Geneve,
Svo.
2. Vues relatives a I'Agriculture de la Suisse, et aux Moyens
de la perfictioiuier. (jeneve, 180S.
3. Anstalten der Schweitzer Lanawirthschaft und des
zweckmassigsten Mittets sie'zu vervoUkonnnheri. Carlsnihi-,
Svo. 1809.
1808. Eschsr, von Berg.
Briefe Uber die Fellenbergische Wirthschaft zu Hofwyl.
Zurich, Svo. '
1808. Theress, Thdr.
Thooretisch-Praktiscbes Handworterbuch der gesammtan
Landwirthschaft ; oder Anweisung zur Ivenntniss, Beband-
lung und Benutzung aller Landwirlhschaftlichen Gtgen-
staiide ; als des Fe'.d-und Gaitenbaues, der Viehzucht, &«,*•
Gottingen, Svo.
1809. Hiiff'mann, A.
Ueber Fellenber^s Wirthschaft in Hofwyl; nebst Arimcr-
kungen und eine N^achschrift von Alb. Tliaer (aus den Anna-
len des Ackerbaues.) Berlin, Svo.
1809. Schejfuld, L.
Berichtigung des helvetischen National Rapports ttber die
Landwirthschaftlichen Anstalten des Hernis t.ii\. Fellcnl)ergs
zu Hofwyl. Erlangen, Svo. ,
1809. Trantmtm, Cp.
Lehrplan der Landwirthschaft. VVi«n, Svo.
1810. Schonlentner, M.
Nachrjchten Uber die kSnigliche Landwirthschaftschule in
Weihenstephan und uber das dort eingefubrte Thaersche
Ackersystem. Munch^n, Svo.
182t Vogfit, Baron von, a proprietor and culti-
vafcor at Flotbec^ on tise Elbe, near Hamburg.
Meine Ansicbt tier Stiitik des Landbaues. Hamlmrgh, Svo.
1825. Uubcr, M.
, Ueber die Urbarmarcluing des Flugsandes. Berlin, 8vo.'
i8'..'5. Anon.
. iW*rtcrat«rgischer Correspondenz des landwirthschaft Ve-
reins. Vol.8.
182). Frnnque,Br. -■■ ' • ^ "
Die Lehre voa dem Korperbau, &c. Wiesbaden, avo,
1 thsil. , ,,, V
1825, Schuslcr, J; undi M. Haberle, professocein
the IJniversity of Hungary. ' ' '
De Stipa Xoxa. Perth, l2mo. • '■
1825. Wcidcnkpller.
Archiv fur I'f.rdektnntniss, &c. Svo.
1825. Leitchs, Cliar.
VoffstlYidi^^ AiircUuhg zur JIastung der Tbjere, &c. N»-
i^mbrt'i^, SVO.' '
1825. ifir«r^i, M rft', councillor of stata , -;,- 1
Gt'kroente Preisschrift uebet Gueter-Arrondining, jjfC.
Munich, Svo. '
1825. Schwertz, N., director of the Flxperimental
Agricultural Institution of the King of Wirtemburg,
author of some excellent works on Uie agriculture
of the Netherlands and A Isatia.
Anleitung zum praktischen Ackerbau, &e. Stnttgard, Svo.
1825. GrcUfen, F. G.
Auf Erfahrung gegrUndet Unterricht, &c. LeipSig, SvQ.
182.7. Rcider, T.
Das Ganze des lCa»den distelbaues. --NurembeTg, 12mo.
1826. Hazzf, M. de, c6unCiHor of state of Bavaria,
author of an Essay on the Union vf Iktached Pro-
perty.
Vom DUnger als Lebens princip der Landwirthschaft, &c.
Munich, pamph. 4to.
1826. Wittmann and Denglaez, superintendants
of the domains of the Archduke Charles of
Austria ■
Landwirthschaftlich Hefte. Vienna. 3 sheets.
1826. Ribbe, M., Professor in the University of
Leipsic.
Dai Schaaf und die AV'olle, &c. Leipsic, Svo.
1826. Galb, L.
Anleitung fur der Landmann, &e. Treves, pamph. Svo. .
1826. Closcn, Baron de.
Die landwirthschaftliche Erziehungsanstalt m Gem. Mu-
nich, Svo.
1S26. Metzger, J., gardener to the University of
Heidelberg.
Europteische Cerealien, &c. Heidelberg, fol.
1826. Anon.
Loudon's Encyclopiidie des Landwirthschaft, he. Trans-
lated from the English. Weimar, Svo.
1828. Hazxi, M. von, knight, councillor of state
to the King of Bavaria, member of many societies ;
editor of the Bavarian Agricultural Journal, and
author of various works. The father of agriculturfe
and of agricultural schools in Bavaria.
Neuster Katechismus des Feldbaues, &c. Munich, 12mo.
1828. Kops, M., professor of botany and rural
economy at the University of Utrecht.
Etat de I'Agriculture dans le Rojaume des Pays Bas pendant
I'annee 1825. The Hague, pamph. Svo.
1828. Wagner, J. Ph.
Ueber Merinos-Schafzucht. Konigsberg, Gr. Svo. 7 plates.
1829. Eisner, J. G.
Uebersicht der Europ, veredelten Schafzucht. Prague.
2 theUe, 8vo.
Book I.
ITALIAN WORKS ON AGRICULTURE.
1221
SuBSECT. 3. Bibliography of Italian Agriculture.
7902. A number of Italian agricultural works have been published ; such as they are, perhaps more of
them are original than of the books of the French or Germans, because the culture of other parts of
Europe is but ill adapted for Italy. The vine, olive, mulberry, orange, and the irrigation of lands, have
a good deal occupied the Italian writers. Re may be reckoned their general and popular author, and his
Nuovi Elemcnti, 4 vols. 8vo, 1815, and Annali del Agricultura, &c. 2.1 vols. 8vo to 1814, will give a good
idea of Italian husbandry and gardening, the two arts in that country being for the most part combined.
1790. Rocca, Abbd Della,\icar general of Scyros.
TraitC' complet sur les Abeilles, Sec. i. c. A Complete 'l>ea-
tise on the Miina^eineiit of Bees, as practised at Kc^ros, tofjether
■with an account of that Island. I'aris. Svo.
1791. CaroHelli, Pietro.
1471. Crescentius, Crescenxio, or Be Crescentiis,
was born at Bologna about 1-233; died 13'i0.
., 1. Opus Ruralium Commodorum, sive de Agricultiura, libri
xii. Augsburg, fol.
2. I)e Agricultura, OinnibuEque Plantarum et Animaiium
Generibus. Basil, 1538.
1496. Bertoclius, Dionysius, of Bologna, who
printed some very early works at Vicenza.
Scriptores de Re Hustica. This contains tlie Ajo:icu!tural
works of Columella, Varro, Cato, and also of Palladius, &c.
1546. Alamanni, Luigi.
La Coltivazio'.ie e Kli epigiammi, coUe Api di Gio. Rucellai,
ed amiutaz. Rome. Svo.
1564. Gallo, Agostino.
1. Le dieci giornate della vera AgricoUura, e riaceri della
villa: in Dialogo. Bresc. ap. G. B. Bozzola. 4to.
'i. La Vinti Giornate dell' AgricoUura, e de' Piaceri della
Villa. Turin, 1579. 4to.
1622. Sode7-ini, Giouanvettorio, e Bernardo Dava-
zati.
(^olti vazione Toscanadelle viti e d' alcuni alberi. Aggiuntovi
Coltivazione degli Olivi, di Pietro A'ettori. Firenxe. 4to.
• 1628. Castelli, Benedict, an Italian mathematician,
and the particular friend of Galileo, was born at
Brescia, in the year 1577 ; died about 1640.
Treatise of tlie Mensuration of Running Waters ; also. Let-
ters and Considerations touching the Draining of Fens, Divi-
sions of Rivers, &c. Translated by Thomas Salisbury. Lond.
16G1. fol. Published at Rome in "1628.
16.58- Fanara, Vincenzo.
L'Econoniia del Cittadino in villa. Roma, in 4to.
1718. Bona, Alessandro del.
Dimostrarioni e prove sopra I'Altivita, ed uso vantaggioso
del Gran Coltro. Milano, in 4to, fig.
1736. Aquino, Charles d'.
■ Komenclator Agriculturse. Romoe, In 4to.
1758. Gavellus, Nicholas.
Storia distinta, e curiosa del Tabacco, concemante la sua
scoperta.la Introduzione in Europa, e la I\Ianiera di coltivarlo,
conservarlo, e prepararlo. Pesaro. Svo.
1767. Cattaneo, Gfacoino.
Delia Idropisia de' Gclsi. IMilano, in Svo.
1772, or earlier. Tarcllo, Comillo.
1. Pvicordo d'Agricoltiira coUe note del Padre Scottoni. Ve-
nezia, in 4to.
t. Ricordo d'Agric<>ltnra corredato d'Annotazipni.da Paolo
Sangiorg;o. Milano, lSlt>', in Svo.-
llKLCaneiana,
, Saggi sopra la Legislaziope promia alle arti dell' AgricoUura.
Udin^j'in 8«d.
1777. Salvini, Gio. '
Istruxione »l suo-fattore di cai»p;^na, iwetii si da Uhal pieiia
notizia di,t^tto.cip p^i' anpavtitaie all* nnpggior. j^l^oiQoxione
deir'itrte'agraria, esuoi metQtli, ec. Venezia, in'Svo. ,
, nl».^ Cantiini, Carlo Anto7iio. '" '^'' ^ "'.':^"',
Istruzioni pratiohe intorno all' AgricoUura. e tenuta.de! fei-
gatii. Berg.lnfivo. ',/''"''''
1778. Castellef, Cons fans. ' ' i -
|str«;ciorti circa il modo di coi'.HviBrtj i ^tsi, di alliJvare i'ba-
Qhi da s^ta^ie.di lijfir .Ic ;sete, CMtt;nuoVe avpUcaziim eir^es*
^oni. Tofino, in Svo. r ...t^,, /
1778. Bidet^ M. . „„ , , ,, , , ,,,..,„,..3.,ini ;,j.:.:,.i*
nm. Bertrand. , ,, ...I'^'a
■ Elementi di AgiieoU«rk; fondati sui fatti 6;si\i raziocjpSipd
uso delle personc di campigna. Vicenza, in 8vO. '
1780: Cttrrern, Antonio.
. Dis.serta/,ione suU' Econoinia Rurale. Yenezia, in Svo.
178 1 . By^gnbne, Gio. , ,
1. Trattalo delle razze.de' cavajli, col dis(gno <}qlla fabbrica
del»a '**g?a' <V!anara di ChlVaisoj e quelle dei pascoli e pratj.
Torino, in Svo, lig. ' ■ '
2. Boometria, 0 sia deila oonforifiazione eattma del' corpo
delle bestie bovine, delle loro bellezze e difi tti, e dplle avver-
tenze da aver^i neUa lojo coropra. . 'forino, 1S02, in Svo.
3.' Iiijiomttfia, o sia della conibrraazione esterna del Cavallo,
dell' Asino e del Mulo, de'le loio '.itile/ze e difetti, e delle at-
tenzioni da aversi :i.ella lorb coinpva. Torino, 1802, In Svo.
1785. Anwretii.
1. Istruzioni t.ubblicate della Societa Pfitfriottica di Milano,
intonv>^<i alcuni que.^iti della medesima propo»ti jwr I' anno
2. Delia coltivazione delle Patate, e loro uso. Milano, 1801,
in Svo, fig.
."5. Delle Torbiere esistenti nel dipartimento d'Olona e 'limi-
trofi, e del loto vantasgj ediusi. Milano, 1S()7, in 4to.
4. Coltivazione delle Api nel Regno d'ltalia. Milano, 1811.
in SVo, fig. ,
5. Della Torba e della lignite nel Regiio d' ItaUai Milano,
in Svo, fig.
G. Domande relative all* AgricoUura. Mil. in 4to.
11^5. Barbara, Marco. ,
Experimenti sopra il grano fermentato. ed altre agrarie sco-
pertc. Milano, in Svo.
tratte dalle opere de' due insigni agronomi Catone e Varrone.
Venezia, in Svo.
2. L'Agricoltura Italiana ridotta in ])roverbi, ovvero istru-
zioni per via di mas.sime tratte dalle ojiere de' due insigni agro-
nomi Catone e V'arrone. Venezia, 1807, in Svo.
1793. Lastri, Fruposto.
Calendarj dodici, o sia Corso completo d'Agricoltura pra-
tica. Venezia, vol. iv., in Svo.
1798. Comparetti.
Saggio suUa coltura e governo dei Boschi. Padova, in Svo.
1798. Doria, Luigi.
Istituzioni georgiche per la Coltivazione de' grani ad uso
delle campagne Romaiie. Roma, in Svo, Hg.
1800. Livy, Cav.
Three Memoirs on Agriculture; 1. On the Use of the .<4'lga
marina in Agriculture and in the Arts ; -i. On the Treatment
of Vines ; 3. On the Economy of the Flour which flies away
in the Mill, and during the separation of the Bran. Palermo.
1801. Simonde de Sisfnoiidi, a distinguished lite-
rary character, who formerly managed an estate iu
the Vale of the Arno.
Tableau de I'Agiiculture Toscane. Geneve.
1802. Fabbroiii, Adamo.
Dissertazione sopra il qucsito : indicare le vere Teorie, con le
quali devono eseguirsi le stime dei terreni, ec. Fireuza, in
Svo.
2. Della economla agraria dei Chinesi. IMemoria. Venezia,
1802, in Svo.
1802. Targioni, I.uigi.
1. Lezioni di AgricoUura specialmente Toscana. Flrenze»
vol. vi., in Svo.
2. Memorie su 1' AgricoUura, la Past orjzia.e rApplicazione
dei Naturali prodotti.agli usi desU ahitaiitl dell' italia, ed alia
loro indusiria. Napoli, 1814, vol. ix-, in Svo, fig.
1803. Carradori, Gioachino. .., ... .
Delia fertim^ deUa tenra. Pisa, jn 8vo. . :■,. .
1803. rallJe, Alexandre. \ ■ ., i ;
Instructions glementaires d'Agriculture, ou Guide Necessaire
au Cullivateur traduit de ritalien de FaUbroni.
1804. Ronuconi, Ignaxio.
Dizionario d'AgricoUura, o sia la CoUivazione Italiana, in
cui si contiene la coltura e conservazione del diversi jirodotti
riguardanli le terre scminalive, i prati, i boschi, le vigne, ed i
giardini^ ec. Vfcnjezia,_v,o^. v., jUrSvo. • . , -, Vi-
1805. Fiacenxa, Giovanni.
Nuovo metodo di fare le mi»ure dei fieni, a chesi aggiungc
qua! sia la migfiore Agricoltiira de' prati. Milano, in Svo.
1807. Barclh', Ginscppe. .
1. Delia Malattia della Golpe del grano tureo. Milano, in
Svo, lig.
\ 2. Saggio intomo la Fabbricazione del Cacio detto Parmi-
! giauo. Slilano, 18US, in Svo.
3'; 'MbtiogrStia Agroiiomica dei Cereali dvl Frumento,
trattato diviso in tre parti. Milano, 1809, in Svo, con rami e
tavole.
18()7. Biroli, Giovanni.
1. Del riso, trattato tconomico ru.^tico. ]\IiIano, Svo.
2.' Trattato di AgricoUura. Xovaia, li.12, \ol. iv, in Svo,
con tavole.
I 1807. Galeotte, Francesco.
' "Meto^/i psrm.glioriire ed accrescererAgticoltuianuHo stato
|di Parma. Par. aa, in Svo.
\ 1807. Gauticri, Gitt^eppe, inspector of woods and
I forests to the Viceroy of Loinbardy, author of a tract
,OB forfests; ' {See Encyc. of Gard. p. 1128.)
! 1. Delia ruggine del Frunjento. Mifano, iif Svo, fig.
I 2. Dei vantaggi e dei danni denviuiti delle ciiyre ih con-
^fronttj delle iJecore. Mil. ISKi, in Svo.
1808. Ahbaie, Antonio. ,,
CohlVazfene'deS Bigrttti''o' i?ja' Metodo praticb per larli nas-
cere, coliivarii nei v;ivii periodi dfUa lord vita, e fabbricame la
semente. Milano, Svo. - i
1808. Be, Filippo, librarian to the Patriotic Society
at Milan, afterwards in the employ of Government,
at Turin, where he died in 1820 or 1821. He wrote a
great number of works on rural and econoijaical
subjects.
1. Element! di economia campestre, ad uso de' Licei. Mi-
lano, in Svo, carta fina.
2. Annali dell' Agricoltura del regno d'ltalia cominciati in
Gennajo 1809, e terminate in (jiugno, 1814, fascicoli CC, for;
manfi 22 vol. in Svo, cpn circa 30 rami e tavole.
3. Del Cotqne, e delle. awerlenze >>er ben coltivarlo. Mi-
lano, 1811, in Svo.
4. Nuovi Elemei
a S. A. R. Francesco IV. d'Este, Duca di Modena, ec. ec.
5. Dei Letami e delle ahre sostanze adoperate in Italia, per
niiglioraraittrreni e del come protittanie; Saggio. MUano,
1815, in Svo.
6. Saggio sopra la Storia c il Coltivamcnlo dejl' Erba Medica.
Milano, 1817, in Svo.
4 I
1222
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
Pakt IV.
7. Saggio storico suUo stato e siille vjcende dell' Agricoltura
Antics dei paeai posti fra I'Adrlatico, I'Alpe, e I'Appennino,
sino al Fronto. Mil. 1817, 8vo.
1807. Tupputi,D.
Reflexions sur I'Etat de I'Agriculture, et de quelques autres
parties de I'Administration dans le Royaume de Naples, sous
Ferdinand IV. ; prtcedees d'une Intioduction ou Coup-d'oeil
sur I'ancien Etat de ce Fays, et suivies d'un Jlemoire, intitule
Recherches sur la Plante vulgairemcnt noinmee fStorta dans le
Royaume de Naples. 8vo.
1809. Arduinio, Luigi.
1. Memorid intorno la coltura ed usi economici del Cino-
suroCorakan. Mil.Svo, fig.
2. Nuovo metodo per estrarre lo zucchtro dalle canne dell'
Olio di Cafreria. Padova, 1811, 8vo, ftg.
1809. Toxzetti, Oct. Targ., M. D., professor of
agriculture at Florence, and director of different
national establishments there.
1 . Dizionario dei Nomi di Botanica e di AgricoUura, Latino-
Italiano e Italiano-Latino. Firenze, '2 vols. 8vo.
2. Lezioni d'Agricoltura. Firenze, 6 vols. 8vo.
1810. Benetti, Satito.
L'accorto Fattor di Villa, o sia Osservazlonl utili ad un fat-
tore pel
Colon!.
1810. Spadoni, Paolo.
1. Modo di coltivare il Napo Silvestre detto volgarmente
Ravizzone, e del metodo di cavame 1' olio alia maniera dei
^lognesi. Venezia. 8vo.
2. Dello stabilimento, piantagione e conservazione delle
siepi, con il disegno jwr ben formarle. Venezia, 1810. 8vo.
1811. AU)ertaxxi, Jacopo Antonio.
II Padre di famiglia in casa ed in campagna. Milano, vol. vi.
12mo.
1811. Giacinto, P. Carlo, professor of botany in
Malta.
Agricultural Essays, adapted to the Island of Malta. Mes-
sina.
1811. Lampadius, Augusta Guglielmo.
Esperimenti sopra lo zucrtiero dj Barbabietole. >fovara.
8vo.
1811. Losana, Mntteo.
Delle Malattie del Grano in erba
ciute. Carmagnoli. 8vo.
1811. Bassi, Agostino.
1. II Pastore bene instruito. Milano. 8vo.
2. Dell' utilita ed uso del Porno di Terra, e dei metodo
migliore di coltivarlo. Lodi, 1817. 8vo.
1812. Dandolo, Vincen^.'
1. Nuovi cenni suUa coltivazione de' Pomi di Terra, e van-
taggi della medesima, rapporto al ben essere dell' uomo e
dello stato, Lettera al Cav. Filippo Re. Como. 8vo.
2. Enologia, ovvero 1' Arte di fare, conservare, e far viaggiare
i vini del Regno d'ltalia. Milano, 1812, vol. ii. 8vo, tig.
Gagliardo, G. B.
Catechismo agrario per uso dei curat! di campaipie, e de'
fattori delle ville. Napoli, terza edizione, con aggiunte. 8vo.
1815. Gnllixwti, Filippo.
SuUa dimora alia campagna dei ricchi possidenti e dell'
curate o ben conos-
utilita dell' jstruzione degli ecclesiastioi nell' agricoltura.
Firenze. 8vo.
1815. Malenotti, Ignazio.
II padrone contadino, osservazioni agrario-critiche, Colle.
Svo, lig.
181ti. Finorchi, Anton. Maria.
Regole teoriche-pratiche e rustico-legali per fare le stime dei
predj rustici. Firenze. Svo.
1816. lifcci', Jacopo.
1. Catechismo Agrario. Firenze. Svo.
2. Del vino, delle sue malattie, e dei suoi rimedj, e dei
mezzi uer iscoprime le falsiticazione ; dei vini artiticiali, e
della fabricazione dell' aceto. 8vo.
1816. Onoratt, Niccola Columella.
1. Delle {>atate, loro coltura, uso economico, e maniera di
fame il pane. Milano. 18mo.
2. Saggi di economla campestre e domestica pel dodici mesi
deir anno, ad uso degli agricoltori, dei pastori, e di altra ger.te
industriosa. 18mo.
3. De' Vinaccioli e del modo di estrame 1* olio, e di altvi
vantaggi che si possono attenere da' medesimi. Napoli, 1818.
8vo.
1817. Landeschi, — — — , parish priest of Saint
Miniato.
1818. Fcrrario, G.A.
L'Agente in Campagna o sia regola esperimentata per mi-
gliorare i prodotti d'ogni genere d'Agricoltura secoiulo le terre
del regno d'ltalia; opera accommodata all' intelligenza de
contadiiii per loro maggior profitto. Milano. Svo. ,
1818. Gialdi, Giuseppe.
Lezione proemiale d'Agricoltura practica ragionata. Parma.
Svo.
1818. Redolfiy Cosimo.
Memoria sopra un nuovo metodo per ottener la farina di
patate; suU' orzo, suU' acido muriatico, sulle zuppe econo-
miche, e suUa ruggine del grano. Firen. Svo.
1823. Giacinto, Carlo.
Mezzo stabile di prosperity per le Isole di Malta e Gozo.
Malta. Svo.
1825. Anon.
Afti del real institute d'incoraggiamento, &c. Di Napoli.
torn. i.
1826. Le Privot de Rivolta.
Nuovo metodo di Agricoltura. Lodi. 16mo.
1826. Anon.
II fattore di campagna. A monthly agricultural journal.
Milano. Svo.
1826. Moretti, Dr. G., editor, professor of rural
economy in the university of Pavia.
Biblioteca agraria. Milan. 16mo, vol. i.
1826. Sartorelli, G.B.
Osservazioni sopri i mezzi di conservare i Boschi mediante.
1827. Bomifbtis, M. Mathieu, Director of the
Experimental Garden of the Royal Central Agri-
cultural Society of Turin.
Osservazioni ed Esperienze agrarie. Turin. Svo.
SuBSECT. 4. Bibliography of the Agriculture of the other Countries of Europe.
7903. Germany and Britain are the only countries in Europe in which it answers to print agricultural
books for the sake of the indigenous readers. In Britain, education is so general among the middling and
lower orders, that reading among them is a necessary convenience of life ; in Germany, education and
reading are equally general and essential : and consequently, in either of these two countries a book will
pay by its sale within the country. But this is not the case in any other European country. In France
the mass of the people do not read, but books printed there pay, because they are in a language more
universal than any other, and perfectly understood by all men of education in Europe. Italian bocAs pay,
because they are enquired for by the agriculturists of the south of France, all Spain, and in part of
Spanish America.
7904. Spanish and Pcyrtirguese books on agriculture are in much too limited a demand for production.
The earliest Spanish author is Herrera, in 1596 ; and there are scarcely half a dozen since. After the
most particular researches of a book agent at Madrid, he was only able to send a list of translations, and
the transactions of the Economical Society of Madrid ; who have also published Herrera's work with
notes Y'ithin the present century. In 1815, a professor at Madrid p'jblished Lecciones de Agricvltura
explicadas en el Jarden Botanico, 2 tomes 4to. An anonymous author, Disertaciones sobre varies Piantos
Agronomicos, 1 torn. 4to. Of Portuguese books we could hear of none.
7905. Of Flemish and Dutch books on agriculture there are scarcely any. These languages are very
limited, and every reader in Holland or Flanders understands French or German. Many works have
been published in the Low Countries in Latin and French, but these cannot be considered indigenous.
The few Dutch works on culture belong almost all to gardening {Encyc. of Gar. 7695.). The result of our
correspondence with Amsterdam is a Nieuwe Naamlifst van Boeken, SfC, from which we see little worth
taking. There are several translations from British works on culture, and French veterinary books,
and the following seem the latest on husbandry.
Magazijn van Vaderlandschen Landbouw, door J. ICops, Commissaris tot den Landbouw. 6 deelen
kompleet met register.
Aanwijzing ter verbetering van de Akkerbouw en Landhuishoukunde, in de Nederlanden, door Prow
fessor A. Bruchausen. 2 deelen.
De Boeren Goudmijn, of kunst, om van verschillende soorten van Landerijen, het meeste nut te trek-
ken, meer Vee te kunnen houden, en andere Wetenswaardigheden tot den Landbouw, door J. F. Ser-
rurier en J. Kops, met platen.
Lichterveldc, J. F. de. Member of the Royal Society of Agriculture and Botany of the city of Ghent:
La Beche, ou la Mine d'Or de la Flandre Orientale. Brussels. Svo.
Cale's, M. f. M., M.D. at Liege: Instructions sur le Parcage des Moutons; ou, Moyen d'engraisser
les Campagnes en faisant coucher les Moutons dans les Champs. Li&ge. Pamph. 8vo.
7906. Of Stvedish and Danish books on agriculture, there are necessarily very few; these languages
being of very limited use, and the mass of the people too poor to be able to afford to read about
ordinary matters, or what they consider as already well known to them. The time such a people give to
reading will be devoted to religious subjects, heroic and romantic poetry, or history. The universities of
Stockholm and Upsal, every one knows, have produced some useful naturalists • some of these have
Book 1.
rOLICE AND LAWS OF AGRICULTURE.
1223
written tracts on agricultural improvements, especially on planting fruit-trees (Frukt-Trad.) and culti-
vating culinary vegetables {Kochs-och Krydd). A few of such works we have enumerated in our Biblio-
graphy of Gardening (7696.), but we can scarcely find any fit to be inserted here as agricultural. The
Natural and Chemical Elements of Agricultm-e, by Count Gustavus Adolphus Gyllenborg, a learned
Swedish statesman, were translated by John Mills in 1770, and may be considered as the prototyi)e of
Davy's Agricultural Chemistry. There are several treatises on the culture of the potatoe in the Swedish
Transactioas ; also on tobacco, on the management of sandy soils, on the cultivation of the Cerealia ; and
on the hop and plants for fodder.
1825. Anon. : Kongl. Svenska Landtbriiks Academiens Annala. Year 9. Part I. 8vo.
1826. Winstrup, M., machinist to the king at Fredericksberg, near Copenhagen : Afbildwinger af de
bedste og nyeste Agcrdyrkningsredskaber, Sec. Copenhagen. 4to.
7907 Of Polish and jhissian books on agriculture, it may be easily conceived, there are very few. Some
translations from French works were made into the Polish language under Fred. Augustus II. ; but few
or none since that time, the German of French being universallv understood by the reading class. Books
of agriculture in the Russian language could be of little use. The only things printed in that way there
are in the transactions of the Economical Society of St. Petersbnrgh, by foreigners resident there, and in
Latin or German. The best informed Russian nobles read French or German like the Poles. There is
an agricultural society at Warsaw, which occasionally prints its transactions ; and another has lately been
established at Moscow, u hich publishes an agricultural newspaper. {See Gard. Mag. vols. i. and ii.)
1825. Pnrlof, M. : Zemliedeltcheskaia Chiniia. Moscow. 8vo.
182.i. Apraitin, M., a noWeman possessing one of the largest houses in Moscow: Zeralitidi^ltchesky
Journal, &c. Moscow. 8vo. •
1825. Anoni Avantages resultant dc I'lntroduction de la Culture vari(5e des Terres. Warsaw. 8vo.
SuBSECT. 5. Agricultural Bibliography of North Amenca^ ^
7908. There are a few American books of agriculture, and republications there of most of our best works
on the subject. Dean's Nevo England Farmer's Dictionary and Dwight's Travels may be considered
as giving an idea of the husbandry of that part of the country, and Roughley's Jamaica Planter of the
agriculture of the West India Islands. A number of interesting pajjers on the subject will be found in
the transactions of the American, New York, Philadelphia, and other societies.
1744.. Bartram, John, M.D., Philadelphia.
On the Salt Marsli Jfusell : On Oyster Banks and the Fresh
Water Musell of Penns> Ivania. [Phil. Traiu. Abr. ix. p. 70.)
17^4. Flcmyng, or Fleming, Malcolm, M.D,
of
Brigg,
A Proposal in order to demonstrate the Progress of the Pis-
temper among Homed Cattle : supported by Facts. York. Svo.
1755. Belgrove, Williatn.
A Treatise upon HusbaKidry and Planting. Boston, New
England. 4to.
1764. Elliot. . '
Essays upon the Husbandry in New England. Lond. 4to.
1779. Carver , Jonathan, Esq., born in America in
1732 ; died at London, 1780, in great poverty.
A Treatise on the Culture of the Tobacco Plant, with the
Manner in which it is usually cured, adapted to Northern
Climates, and designed for the U.se of Landholders of Great
•Britain, with two Platte of the Plant aixl its Flowers. Lond.
Svo.
178i^l826. Anon.
Memoirs of the Philadelphia Society for promoting Agricul-
ture; containing CommuniCFitions on various Subjects in Hus-
bandry and Rural Affairs. Philadelphia. Svo.
1789. Antill, Hon. Edward, Esq., of New Jersey.
1. An Essay on the Cultivation of tlie Vine, and the making
and preserving of Wine, suited to the diif'erent Climates of
North America. i^Americ. Trmta. i. 181.)
•i. The l\Iethod of curing Figs ; an<l Observations on the
rauiing and dressing of Hemp. [lb, 1. 266.)
- 1789. Bartram, Moses.
Observations on the Native Silk M^orms of North America.
{Americ. Tram. i. 294.)
1789. Carter, London, of Sabine Hall, Virginia.
Observations concemina the FIv-weevi! that destroys the
"Wheat ; with some useful Discoveries and Conclusions. [Tram.
Americ. Sec. i. 274.)
1790. Bean, Dr.
New England Farmer's Dictionary.
1796. Higgins, Jesse, of Delaware.
A, Method of draining Ponds in Level GrcKMiHti^iJVaa*^
.^nuT. Soc. vol. jii. p. 325.) :■'•■' , . '
179 . Greenway, Dr. James, of Dinwiddie county,
in Virginia. .
Of the Beneficial Effects of the Cassia Chamaecrista in re-
cruiting worn-out Lands, and enriching such as are naturally
Poor. (Trims. Amer. Hoc. iii. p. 226.)
1800. Deslere.
La Science du (^ultivateur -American ; Ouvrage destind aux
Colons et aux Commer^ans. Svo.
1801. Bordley, J. B.
Essays and Notes on Husbandry and Rural Affairs. Phila-
delphia. 8vo.
1812. barton, Benjamin Smith, M.D., professor of
natural history and botany in the university of
Philadelphia.
On the Native Country of the Solanum tuberosum, or Po-
tato. (A'ic. Jour. xxxi. 290.)
1821—1826. Anmu
Jlemoirs of the Board of Agriculture of the State of New
York. Albany. Svo. 5 vols, to 1826.
1822. Fessenden, Thomas G.
The New England Farmer ; containing Essays, original and
selected, relating to Agriculture and Domestic Economy, with
Engravings and the Prices of Country Produces. Boston.
5 vols. 4to to 1827.
1823. Roughlcy, Thomas, nearly twenty years a
sugar planter in Jamaica.
The Jamaica Planter's Guide ; or, a System for planting and
managing a Sugar Estate or other Plantations in that Island,
and throughout the British West Inches in general. Illustrated
with interesting Anecdotes. Svo.
182.5. Anon.
The PLoughboy. Vol. u. 4to.
1825. Anon.
Massachiissetts Agricultural Repository and Journal.
4to.
1828. Anon.
New York Farmer and Horticultural Repository.
York. 4 to.
1829. Lathrop, E. L., Esq.
• ' ■ The F.irmer's Library ; a Series of Essays and Papers for the
Fronvotion of the Studj of Agriculture. (Windsor, U. S. 12mo.
vols.
New
Chap. V
Professional Police and Public Laws relative to Agriculturists and Agriculture..
7909. Pi/ professional police we mean those associations which agriculturists have
Formed, at diiferent times and in different manners, for mutual benefit or instruction ;
and also those institutions for the same purpose established by the legislature, or of such
a nature as to be considered public or national. By laws we allude to those special
legislative enactments which affect more particularly agriculture. These are so nu-
merous that we must refer the reader to his lawyer or law dictionary.
7910. There arcfeiv or no agricultural lodges of the nature of those of masonry or gardening. In Scot-
land it would appear something of this kind had existed among ploughmen at one time, as the passwords
and initiatory ceremonies arc talked of in some of the counties by old men. In Forfar, Kincardine, Banfl,
4 14
12'2-i
STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE.
l\uiT IV.
&c. it is not uncommon for ploughmen, as well as various descriptions of operatives, to belong to gardeners'
lodges. In the southern districts where sheep farming is followed there are some shepherds' societies-, for
mutual interchange of experience, and aid in case of losses of such sheep as are the shepiierd's jH^rquisite.
There are some ploughmen's clubs in different places, and various associations among them of tlje nature
of benefit societies ; but these do not come under the description of professional.
7911. Agricultural societies for interchange of knowledge are of modern date, but they have increased
rapidly since 1791: the number at present or lately existing in the British isles is at least equal to the
number of the counties. Societies of this description are either general, as tlie Board of Agriculture and
Society of Arts ; national, as the Highland Society and Dublin Institution ; particular, as the Bath and
West of England Society j provincial, as county societies ; or parochial, as being limited to a few indi%i-
duals within one parish. Of this kind are farmers*' ctubs, ploughing societies, &c. In regard to the end
in view, these societies either embrace the arts in general; the rural arts in general ; some branch of the
rural art, as agriculture; or some department in that branch, as live stock, sheep, wool, &c.
7912. All these societies hold meetings at stated periods. Most of them offer premiums for ^xlrticular
objects, — specimens of vegetable or animal culture or produce, agricultural operations, moral and profes-
sional merits as servants, &c. ; some of them form a library and museum of models or full-sized imple-
ments; a few publish transactions; and one or two, as the Dublin Society, send out itinerant ploughmen
and agricultural mechanics to instruct practical farmers. These societies are almost Wholly supi>orted,
and the funds for premiums raised, by the subscriptions of members, and by voluntary donations_, legacies^,
&c. ; but some, as the Board of Agriculture and the Dublin Society, have receiveil assistance from go-
vernment.
7913 Of English agrictdtural societies the oldest is the Society of Arts, founded in 17»4 oy Lord Folk-
stone, Lord Komney, Dr. Hales, and Shepley. They have published many volumes of transactioiw,
awarded immense sums in premiums, and on the whole done much good. (See Rees's Cyc. art. Society.)
7914. The Bath and West of England Six-ict,y was founded in
K77, for purposes similar to those of the tondon Soc-ety of
Arts. They have published some valuable volumes of trans-
actions, and distributed various rewards, &c. ' {Ree.i's Cyc. Xcc.)
7y 15« Tht Hoard of 4jf rtctiHu»-e was founded, under the au-
thority of government, in 1793. Much was expected from
this Board ; but, eicept the publication of the county reports,
and the general attention which it called to agriculture, \\ may
well be asked what advantages arose from it. Their Conimti-
mcationi, in several quarto volumes, contain fewer v^UiaVle
Ijapers, in proportion to their total number, than the jjublica-
ticftis of either the IxmAon Society of Arts or the Bath Society.
In short it has been ably shown, in The Fanner's Magazine and
the article Agriculture in the supplem^t to the Eiiojc. Brit.,
that the Board never directed its etTorts in a manner'suitalile
to its powers and consequence; and that, in-stead of discussing
modes of culture, its attention ought to have been directed to
the removal of the political obstacles to agriculture, and to the
eliciting of agricultural talent by honorary rewards, &c. No
idea is more erroneous than that of such a Board>or any other,
doing, much good by a national " experimentfil farm." The
government withdre<v its supiKnt from this Boattl about IS16;
^nd tliere being no longer funds for a handsome salary for a
secretary, it soon after fell to pieces, and is ndw o'lily remem-
bered, at least by us, for its lofty pretensions and Us woise thaa
inutility, i : i t ' ,....,
7918. Of Welsh societies there are only two or three, of inferior note, which have been already notioetl
in the topography of the country. , ,.
7917. Of Scotch societies the principal now eJsisting are the Highland Society and the Dalkeith Farming
Society. ,; ; i •
7918. Tht HiglUand Society of Scotland was established, in
1715, to enquire into the state of the highlands, to consider the
nieEkns of their itinprovement and the presen'ation of their lan-
guage ;• it is chitf ly su{>i>ortcd by thfe subscriptions of its mem-
bers, at a guinea each a year, and soon after its establishment
it had a gr^nt of 3000/." from government. It has jiublished
7 vwls. of prize eisays and papers, and now extends its prizes to
all the low ctniuties of Scotland. {Farm. Mag. vol. 16. p. 316.)
7919. Of Irish societies the principal are the Dublin Society and the Cork Institution;
79'20. The Dublin Society was established in 1731, and incor-
porated in 1749. Arthur Young observes, that it was the
parent of all the similar societies how existing In Kuroiie; but
the Edinburgh Agricultural Society, as we have seen {17f>. and
801.), was established nearly ten yeais beffwe, The, Dublin
Society, in its present advanced state, is one of the most c'om-
pl.;te establishments of the kind. {Rees's Cyc. art. Dublin.)
70'il. The FariningSociett/ of Ireland was established under
the patronage of the Dublin So<:iety, in 1800. The object is to
Improve the agriculture and lire stock of the klngdnm. {Archer's
DuUin, 160.)
79Si2. The Cork Institution, for applying science to the com-
mon purposes of life, originated in private subscriptions, about
the beginning of the present century. It has since been incor-
porated, and has received the assistance of government. It
possesses a. house and a large botanic garden, and under its
auspices are delivered lectures on chemistry, botany> agricul-
ture, &c, ; it is not, however, in a flourishing state, and has
never been of much use.
7923. The priticipat county societies in the three kingdbrhg
have been noticed in the topography of agriculture : many of
them were established several years before the Board of Agri-
culture.
7924. The only other institutions for the improveinent of agriculturists and agriculture are public jprofe^
BOTships. Of these there is one in the tmivcrsity of Edinburgh, established in 1795 ; one in Dublin, sup-
ported by the Dublin Society ; one in Cork ; and one is destined to be established at some future pericJdfa
Oxford, agreeably to the will and donation of Dr. Sibthorpe (806. and7789.), professor of botany there.
/•..ft ,,.., .,
BOOK II.
THE FUTURK rROGRESS OF AGRICULTUEE IN BRITAIN.
7925. 2''he improvement of agriculture, like that of every art, manufacture, or com-
modity, necessarily depends on demand and production : a powerful or effectual de-
mand will ensure produce, and excellent produce will, to a certain extent, create
demand. A general nicety of taste in coach or saddle horses will call forth a superior
description of these animals, and superior animals will tempt purchasers ; if the inha-
bitants of any district who live chiefly on barley or oats indicate a preference for wheat,
and a willingness to pay for that grain, wheat will be produced, and so on. Again, as
the object of every individual who engages in art or trade is to acquire gain, the ad-
vancement of an art will depend mainly on the profits it affords ; an art or occupation
which affords less than the average profits on capital will only be followed by such a^
from habit or other reasons, cannot apply themselves to any thing better, but extra-profits
Book II, IMPROVEMENT OF AGRICULTURE. J225
will command both capital and skill. From these considerations it is obvious, that the
improvement of agriculture depends on the profits on capital employed in it, on the taste
of those who purchase its products, and on the knowledge of those who are engaged in
agriculture as a profession. The first subject would lead us further into political
economy than would be of much use in a work of this kind; and therefore we shall limit
ourselves to a few remarks on the other topics.
Chap. I.
M^i^OMsment of jigrlcuUure, by refining the Taste of the Purchasers of its Products, and
;" ' ' increasing the Knowledge of Agricultural Patrons.
7926. The desire of being comfortable is the first step towards improvement ; but before
any thing can be desired, we must know what it is. Men, when they know of nothing
better, rest satisfied with what they have ; and therefore one of the rhain sources of im-
proving the taste both of those who purchase agricultural produce from necessity, and of
those patrons of agriculture who purchase from the conjoined imjiulses of necessity and
choice, is the increase of knowledge. However paradoxical it may seem, discontent is
the parent of all improvement, as certainly as the acorn is the germ of the future oak,
or the time present that of all future times. The grand achievement of the present age,
an eminent writer observes {Examiner, Jan. 9. 1831.), " is the diffusion of superficial
knowledge ; " and on this diffusion, superficial though it may be, the progress of agri-
culture and of every other art depends far more than on any thing else.
7927. In Scotland and Ireland could a taste for wheaten bread and butcher's meat be introduced
generally among the operative classes, the advantages to agriculture would be immense. Could the same
persons be taught to desire a greater degree of cleanliness, light, and warmth in their cottages ; a greater
variety of potherbs, salads, fruits, and flowers in their gardens ; and handsome dresses for their wives and
daughters, how great the general benefit! Much may be done to bring about this change, by the opulent
who are willing to reside on their estates and to take a little trouble. Building good and comfortable
cottages ; attaching proper gardens stocked with trees and plants from the demesne garden ; and offering
little premiums, or marks of distinction for keeping them in the nicest order, and for decently clothed
well-bred children, would soon have a sensible effect. Attending to that kind of education which consists
in teaching infants civility and jwlitencss, with mutual respect and restraint as occasion requires ; and
instructing grown children how to work at almost every thing likely to come in their way, as done in the
improved German and Swiss schools, would, independently of reading and writing, do a great deal to soften
and humanise the peasant mind. Encouragement should be given to save money for unforeseen wants,
or against old age ; and the certain effects pointed out of early marriages, followed by a numerous
offspring. These and a variety of similar means would be productive of some change of taste in the
operative part of rural society.
7ri28. The introduction of inanvfacturing establishments, wherever it could be properly done, woiiM
contribute to the same effect : those who work at manufactures, and even common mechanics, generally
live better, and are better clothed and lodged, than the common country labourer ; therefore their example
would be of use in introducinig a salutary degree of luxury. " The endeavouring to impress on the minds
of the lower classes the propriety of being contented with the simplest and cheapest fare, is extremely
pernicious to the best interests of mankind. Encomiums ought not to be bestowed on those who are con-
tented with mere necessaries : on the contrary, such indifference ought to be held disgraceful. A taste
for the comforts, the enjoyments, and even the luxuries of life, should be as widely diffused as possible,
and, if practicable, interwoven with the national character and prejudices. This, as it appears to us, is the
best mode of attempting the amelioration of the condition of the lower classes. JLuxuries, and if you will
have it ^, even wasteful habits, are incomparably better than Uiat cold, sluggish apathy, which would
content itself with what can barely continue mere animal existence." Mr. Peel observed in the
House of Commons that " he thought it one of the first duties of the legislature, to do all in its power
to excite a taste in the humbler classes of society for those comforts and those enjoyments — those
luxuries, he might add — of civilised society, the desire for which, and the habitual possession of
which, would form the best guarantee for their good conduct, and the best guarantee that the higher
classes could have for the possession of their property and their power, as at present enjoyed."
{Manual of Cottage Gardening, Husbandry, and Architecture, S(C.) " In those countries," Ricardo
judiciously observes, "where the labouring^ classes ha^^e the fewest wants, and are contented with the
cheapest food, the people are exposed to the greatest vicissitudes and miseries : they have no place of
refuge from calamity; they cannot seek safety in a lower station ; they are already so lov/ that they can
fall no lower. On any deficiency of the chief article of their subsistence, there are few substitutes of
which they can avail themselves, and dearth to them is attended with almost all the evils of famine."
(Sup. Encyc. Brit. art. Com Laws.) Such is the case in Ireland, where, amidst the germs of the greatest
riches and luxury, the inhabitants are contented to live on less than any other people in the world.
79-'9. The taste of the superior patrons of agriculture is to be improved by visiting the best cultivated
districts, reading agricultural works, attending agricultural societies, and, above all, by cultivating a farm,
and establishing on it a systematic order and regularity in every detail. Let such observe the hedges,
gates, verges of fields, and the beautiful rows of turnips, of Berwickshire or Northumberland ; the cor-
rectly drilled beans of East Lothian ; and the live stock of Leicestershire. But few are the proprietors of
lands who either employ a proper bailiff or demesne steward ; and of those who do, how few who do not
limit and fetter them in their operations, or else neglect them and leave them to sink into that supine state
in which the uppermost wish is to enjoy the comforts of the situation with the least possible degree of exer-
tion ! Some proprietors desire to have their home farm managed with a view to profit, as the cheapest way
of getting hay, straw, mutton, &c. ; these are sordid patrons. A home farm ought to combine an elegant
orderly style of management, high-kept horses, harness, implements, &c., well clothed servants, and every
thing in a superior style to what is seen on common farms. Particular attention ought to be paid to the
buildings, which should combine architectural design, fitness, strength, and elegance ; the roads ought to
be like approaches to a mansion ; the hedges like those of gardens ; the green verges round the fields kept
mown like lawns or grass walks, and the ditches, bridges, and gates in corresponding neatness ; the finest
trees ought to be encouraged in proper situations, and correctly pruned ; substantial watering places
formed and kept supplied ; every operation on plants, or the ground, performed in a garden-like manner;
and no individual of any species of stock kept, of which a drawing might not be taken and preserved as a
beauty. Even the dress and deportment of the servants on such a farm ought to harmonise with the rich
culture, orderly display, and high keeping of the whole.
1226 STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. Pakt IV.
Chap. II.
Imp-ovenient of Agriculture, by the letter Education of those ivho are engaged in it as a
Profession.
7930. By education is generally understood that portion of knowledge which is
obtained at schools; but in a more extended sense (as Mills observes), it may be
defined the means which are employed to render man competent for pursuing
the part which he undertakes to perfonn in life, with" increased satisfaction to himself
apd otliers. Education may thus be considered as extending to every thing which
(^lerates on the body or mind, from the earliest periods of our existence to the final
Extinction of life. It is unnecessary here to embrace the subject in its full extent;
but we shall oflTer some remarks on the education of practical men in general, on
the professiortSl ^ttcation of- an d^culturist, and on the general conduct and economy
Sect. I, Degree ^f Knowledge vihich may he attained by Practical Men, and general
Powers of tlie human Mind as to Attainments.
7931. The kind and degree of education that we think ought to be given to every human being in this
and in every country, and in every state of civilisation, may be thus defined : — All tlie knowledge and
iiccompUshments that a child's body or mind, and the state of knowledge and the art of teaching at the
time, will admit, previously to the age of puberty ; giving preference to those branches of knowledge con-
sidered the most useful, and those accomplishments and manners considered the most humanising,
by the wise and good of the age. It seems unreasonable to employ ^ny child in aiding to procure the
nfieans of its subsistence, or that of its parents, before the age of pliberty. Previously to that age, by
Aleans of infant schools, and of the adoption of the various improvements that have been recently made
in modes of teaching, all that is worth knowing may be taught more effectually than common reading,
writing, and arithmetic are, during the same time, by the common methods. Man, so trained and
instructed, and living under an enlightened government, will become as difl'erent an animal from what
he is at present, even in Britain, as the most enlightened modern moralist and philosopher of Europe
is from an African savage. " It is not necessary," says Lequinio, writing in 1792, '* to render an agricul-
tural labourer a learned man ;" but I am well assured, from my own experience, that the knowledge of
every thing useful, and of much that is agreeable, both in knowledge and manners, is perfectly consistent
with a life of labour in the fields. But hitherto the education of the labouring classes in the country has
proved rather an obstacle to the developement of reason than otherwise. Eight or ten years are employed
m filling the head of a child with chimeras and prejudices, which twenty years of study will scarcely suc-
ceed in entirely rooting out. It remains for national philosophical institutions to destroy this national
evil ; and we shall one day have under the thatched cottage of the country hamlet thinking men endowed
with reason, and capable at once of taking a part in the political and moral affairs of their country, and
holding the plough or guiding the cart on their own farm. *' II faut," says this admirable writer, " que
les premieres le<;ons soient I'apprentissage des droits de Thomme, et qu'ils soicnt enseignf s sans aucun
melange des perfides principes du fanatisme et des fruits barbares des gothiques prejuges, de quelqu' espece
que ce puisse tire. L«s notions de la raison et du bou sens tombent sous tous les intellects. Les droits de
Phomme interessent tous les individus, et I'esprit et le cceur seront bientot d'accord pour s'en faire une
science imperissable ; graves une fois, je le repute, ils ne s'efFaceront jamais; ils se congoivent avcc
aisance, et ils se fixeront bien plus solidement que ces antiques assertions donnees sur la foi d'autrui, et
transmises a travers les t^nebres des si^cles les plus obscurs ; assertions ridicules, et qui, pour la plupart,
n'ont seulement pas en leur la simple vraisemblance ; ils se fixeront, sur-tout, parcequ'ils seront aisi^ment
et avantageusement compares a toutes ces faussettes miraculeuses et foUes dont le n^ant alors dclatera
pour tous, et parcequ'ils seront encore plus avantageusement mis en parall^le avec ces myst^res absurdes
•que I'homme no-pouvait admettre qu'en rcjetant I'evidence, et en se depouillant totalement de son intel-
ligence et de sa raison. • C'est par ce simple enseignement que s'elfevera tout d'un coup dans nos campagnes
line espece raisonnante et libre. Sortie, par cette creation morale, du cahos t^nebreux, et de I'existence
Hthargique Oil, depuis le commencement des si^cles, elle croupissait sous lejoug de tousles impudens
habiles qui se permettaient de la dominer, nous la verrons une race nouvelle, intelligente et hardie, lais«er
un espace incommensurable entr'elle et les gt^m^rations qui I'ont preced4e." {Les Prejuges dt'truits, par
J. M. Lequinio. Paris, 1792. Parochial Institutions ; or, an Outline of a Plan for a National Edu-
cation Eitahlishment, ^c. : and Des Etablissemcns pour VEducation Publique en Baviere, dans le Wvr-
tetnberg, et dans le Pays de Bade.)
79S2. A high and equal degree qf education has some powerful advocates in North America, and, it is
thought by many, will, at no distant period, be adopted in several of the states. The New York Daily Sentinel
and the Working Man's Advocate are two of several newspapers which support what are called ' working
men's measures." Among these the first and most important is a '* republican education, free for all,
equal for all, and at the expense of all ; conducted under the guardianship of the state, at the expense of
the state ; embracing every branch of useful instruction, moral, intellectual, and operative, and extending
to the entire protection, maintenance, and guidance of children and youth, male and female, without dis-
tinction of class, sect, or party, or reference to any of the arbitrary distinctions of the existing state of
society." {Si.v Essays on Public Education, New York, 1830 ; Cooper's Lectures on Political Economy, as
quoted in the Spectator, Dec. 4. 1830 : aYid Gard. Mag. vol. vii.)
7933. This high and equal degree of education we consider to be as much the birthright of a child in a
community where there is a high degree of civilisation, as food and clothes are its birthright in the rudest
state of society ; because, without it, a man or woman is ushered into society without a fair chance of being
able to procure those means of subsistence and of happiness which belong to human nature under the given
degree of civilisation ; in short, without a fair chance of making the most of life. To introduce an igno-
rant youth into a highly civilised country, under the supposition that he could obtain the requisite degree
of prosperity and happiness, would be more absurd than to turn an educated child into a country of
savages. This is one view of the subject, and it is a view on which all who can aflfbrd the expense act
with respect to their own children. If we regard the subject in the light of humanity, and the sympathy
of one part of society with another, this principle will equally dictate the duty of bestowing, as far as
practicable, that good on others which we feel to be a good in ourselves, and which we are convinced
would add to the general happiness. Viewed as a matter of public policy, and considering that the grand
object of every government ought to be, with reference to its subjects, their happiness and prosperity ;
and, with reference to other governments, its own stability ; reason dictates the use of the most important
means for gaining these ends ; and that it would be prudent, no less than just, in government so to legis-
late, as that every individual subject should have the degree of education above defined. Let none.
Book II. IMPROVEMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 1227
therefore, exist in society who have not their minds matured by the care and culture of public teachers,
as their bodies are by the nourishment and clothing of their parents. The religious and humane owe this
to the poor as a part of human nature ; the benevolent, as sympathising with the miseries they suffer ;
the enlightened, in order to raise them to their rank in the scale of creation ; the rich, to give them a
greater chance of possessing property, in order that they may respect the property of others ; the pru-
dent, that they also may become prudent; and government, that they may not 'be made the tools of
faction, foreign or domestic. {Parochial Institutions, SjC.)
7934. Knowledge gives power ; and if one part of society has the degree of cultivation desired, and the
other has it not, it is evident that there can be very little sympathy between them. The experience of
ages shows the continual tendency of the powerful in wealth or in skill to oppress the weak ; and the
continual tendency of the weak to re-act by personal force, by cunning, or by numbers, on the strong.
Materials so discordant can never form the basis of a sound, healthy, and permanent state of society :
the poor and ignorant becoming, under such circumstances, little better than slaves to the rich and
enlightened, regard them as their enemies, and often finding them to be such, must and will rebel ; and
the result is, sooner or later, a subversion of society. It would evidently contribute to the stability and
harmony of society to moderate this action and re-action, by a more equal distribution of power ; and,
as knowledge gives power, the most obvious and effectual way of attaining the end proposed is, by
diffusing such a high and equal degree of school education as we have defined. It must be evident, we
think, that the state of society which this degree of education will sooner or later produce, will include
in it every amelioration and happiness of which human nature, under any given circumstances, is
susceptible. {Ibid.)
1935. The knowledge of languages, hi>,tory, geography, arts, sciences, and literature, which an agricul-
turist, whether a ploughman, shepherd, bailitt; steward, or rent-paying farmer, daily occupied with his
profession, may acquire by his own exertions, provided he begins at the earliest moment, eay at fifteen
years of age, and continues to employ his leisure hours in reading till he is twenty or twenty-five, is by
no means inconsiderable ; not that he can or need become learned ; but, if desirous, he may become
generally intelligent, render himself fit, as far a.s conversation is concerned, for good, society, prove
instructive and entertaining to others by his conversation, and provide a reserve fund of enjoyment, by
laying up a store of ideas for reflection in misfortune, disease, or old age.
: 7936. The utility of knowledge to that part of mankind who are doomed tc a life of mechanical labour,
or rather who suffer themselves to be doomed to it, has been questioned; it is said to render them dissa-
tisfied with their condition, to produce various other evils, and at all events in no way to add to their
happiness or the good of society. To a man whose business in life is the mere mechanical performance
of operations which any other animal might perform if furnished with hands, education is doubtless less
necessary than to a man whose business is to direct the operations of others ; but it does not follow, that
though less necessary, it may not be highly useful : if, for example, it renders him dissatisfied with his
condition, it will, at the same time, be more likely than any thing else to lead him to some proper mode
of improving it ; or if almost unimprovable, education certainly will be more likely than a state of igno-
rance to teach patience and submission, by enabling him to reflect on the folly of grieving at what is
inevitable, and the consequences of committing what is unjust or criminal to relieve himself. " The low
Irish," Marshal remarks, " are sufficiently dissatisfied with their condition ; those who know how to alle-
viate it by emigration, go to Britain or America ; those who know nothing, stay at home, commit acts of
violence, and are hanged."
7937. To decide as to the utility of knowledge to the operative parts of society would perhaps require a
previous decision of the question, " What constitutes happiness ? " The general answer is, the exercise of
all our faculties of body and mind : every one who has lived thirty or forty years in the world, knows
that there is no such thing as absolute happiness : the Prince de Ligne, a man of great natural parts,
with every advantage of person, birth, and wealth, and in favour at all the courts of Europe ; fond alike
of war, literature, gallantry, and agriculture, and who lived to be upwards of 90 years of age, has left on
record that he was only perfectly happy two or three times in his life, and only for a few minutes each
time. Forsyth {Principles of Moral Science, vol. i. chap. 1.) says perfect happiness is a thing not to be
thought of; and that all that men and women can do in order to make the most of their existence, is to
occupy themselves and make progress in whatever they engage in : progress in enjoyment, or approxima-
tion to happiness, is therefore the object to have in view.
7938. The utility of knowledge to every human being is consequently, in our opinion, unquestionable, on
the mere principle of adding to enjoyment ; nor do we believe that there is more danger from excess of
knowledge in any particular class of society, high or low, than there is from excess in their eating or
drinking. A number of men possessed of property or power by inheritance, favour, or chance, who are
very conscious that they never could have acquired those advantages by the common competition of talent
and industry, and who are in fact wrapt up in selfishness, are naturally jealous of the progress of know,
ledge ; their secret maxim is to keep down the lower orders, and to impress on their minds only the
duties of loyalty, religion, and, as Vancouver adds, hard work. This monopoly of power and knowledge,
however, cannot be maintained for ever, and in every country it is found rapidly yielding to the general
progress of society. It is only those who have to dread this progress that fear the diffusion of education
and liberal principles.
7939. Education in all countries, in as far as it has been carried, has had the effect of rendering the poor
content. Compare the poor of Sweden and Germany with those of England. The uneducated are prone
to consider wealth and happiness as synonymous, a delusion which knowledge quickly dispels ; philosophy
teaches its fallacy, and history exemplifies it. P"or our own part, we can see nothing in education but
increased security to the rich, and increa.sed happiness to the poor. One of the great evils which at pre-
sent afflict society in this country is over-production ; not only of manufactured goods, but also of human
beings. We are apt to believe that even this calamity might be remedied, if every labourer in the
country considered a high and equal degree of education as a necessary of life, and no more to be dis-
pensed with in a child than food or clothing; as in that case he would not think of marrying till he could
bestow this degree of education on his children. If any labourer acted otherwise, he would bring himself
into disgrace among his own class ; he would suffer a loss of reputation for good sense and good taste ; and
his wife and himself would no longer be able to associate with their neighbours, either from the extraor-
dinary exertions which they must make, in order to educate their children up to the general level, or in
consequence of not being able to do so, and having it done for them by the parish as paupers. The dread
of the reflections and neglect of the children when they arrived at maturity, and found that they were
indebted to the parish more than to their parents for their education, and that they had, in fact, to pay
the parish for this education themselves, would also act as a powerful inducement to prudential conduct.
Besides, when parents themselves have once enjoyed the degree of education defined, they will consider
it cruel and unjust not to bestow the same degree of education on their children. This is, in fact, the
feeling of all educated parents ; and one great object that we have in view is to communicate the same
feeling to the very lowest member of society. We are justified in concluding that universal education
would do so, by what actually takes place at present among the educated classes. {Parochial Institu.
tions, 8(c. ; and The Objects to be obtained by Refm-ni in Parliament, 8{C.)
7940. The terms knowledge and ignorance are entirely relative : the knowledge of a modern chemist's
porter would have subjected him to be hanged and burned in the days of the first popes ; and any brick-
layer's labourer of the present day, who reads the London newspapers, has more correct ideas of the prin-
ciples of political economy than nine tenths of the nobility in Russia and Spain. It is impossible to set
limits to the knowledge which may be obtained by those who are destined even to the most severe and
constant labour ; the intelligence of the miners in Scotland and Sweden may be referred to as proofs
1228 STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. ■ rAin IV.
The miners at Leadhills have a regular library and reading society ; and the works 'tht*y make choice of
are not only histories, voyages, travels, &c. but even works of taste, such as the British classics, and best
novels and romances. I'he degree to whicli knowledge will prevail among any class of labouring men
will depend jointly on their own ambition, on the demand for knowledge, or the reputation in which it is
held, and on the opportunities of acquiring it. A dull, stupid person, with little native activity, will never
desire to know more than what enables him to supply the ordinary wants of life ; but where the workmen
of any art are required to have technical knowledge of any particular kind, they will be found invariably
to possess it. Thus carpenters and masons require some knowledge of the mechanical principles of archi-
tecture, and working engineers of the strength of materials; and these kinds of knowledge are acquired
by them without an hour's interruption of their daily labour : on the contrary, the habit of evening study
renders them more steady, sober, and industrious than other workmen : than bricklayers and paper-
hangers, for exami)le, whose employments require much less intellectual skill. If every cook-maid,
boforo she could obtain a first-rate place, were required to be able to read Apicius in the original
tongue, there would be no want of learned cooks ; and if no bailiff' could obtain a first-rate situation who
had not written a thesis in Greek, or who had not made the tour of Europe, there would soon be found
abundance of bailiffs so qualified. A Caledonian, when he comes to the low country, soon acquires the
English tongue, and, if he has been taught Latin, thus knows three languages. The servants at the inns
on some parts of the Continent, frequented by ditferent nations, often acquire a moderate knowledge of
three or four languages : a late custom-house officer on the island of Cronstadt spoke and wrote ten lan-
guages ; and the bar-maid at the hotel de Londres, at which we lodged in Moscow, in 1814, could make
herself intelligible in Swedish, Russian, Polish, German, French, Italian, and English.
794'1. The certain imy of obtaining any thing is to be impressed with the necessity of possessing it,
cither to avoid the evil of being without it ; or to satisfy the desires of others as to ourselves; or our own
desires. There is scarcely any tiling a rational man can desire that he may not obtain, by maintaining on
his mind a powerful impression of the necessity of obtaining it ; pursuing the means of attainment with
unceasing perseverance, and keeping alive that entimsiasm and ardour which always accom])any jwwerful
desires. AH may not acquire, by the same degree of labour, the same degree of eminence ; but any man,
h^y labour, may attain a knowletlge of all that is already known on any subject, and that degree of know-
ledge is respectable ; what many never attain to, and what few go beyond.
' '!?'942. The grand drawback to every land of improvement is, the vulgar and degrading idea that certain
things are beyond our reach ; whereas the truth is, every thing isattainable by the employment of means ;■
and nothing, not even the knowledge of a common labourer, without it : there are many things, which it
is not desirable to wish for, and which are only desired by men of extraordinary minds ; but let no man
fancy any thing is impossible to him, for this is the bane of all improvement. Let no young i)lough-
man, therefore, who reads this, even if he can but barely read, imagine that he may not become eminent
in any of the pursuits of life or departments of knowledge, much less in those of his profession : let him
never lose sight of this principle — that to desire and apply is to attain, and that the attainment will be ia
proportion to the application.
J, Sect. II. Professional Education of JgricuUurisls.
.'79431 In order that a professional man should excel as such, every other acquirement must be keptsub-
servient to that of his profession. No branch of knowledge should be pursued to any extent that, either/
of itself, or by the habits of thinking to which it gives rise, tends to divert the mind from the main object
of pursuit ; something, it is trqe, is due to relaxation in every species of acquirement ; but judicious-
relaxation only serves to whet the appetite for the vigorous pursuit of the main object. By the pro-
fessional education of agriculturists, we mean that direction of their faculties by which they will
best acquire the science and manual operations of agriculture, and we shall suppose agricultural
pupils generally to have no other scholastic education than some knowledge of reading, writing-, and-
arithmetic.
7944. All young men iv/io intend embracing agriculture as a profession, whether as ploughmen, bailiffs,
stewards, land-valuers,, or rent-paying farmers, ought to undergo a course of manual labour for one year
or more, in order to acquire the mechanism of all agricultural operations. When the pupil is not
destined for any particular county, then he should be sent to a farmer in a district of mixed agriculture ;
as, for example. East Lothian, where he would, if placed in a wheat and bean culture farm, see at no groat
distance the turnip system and feeding, and a few miles off", the mountain sheep-farming or breeding :•
when the pupil is intended to be settled in any particular county, he ought to be sent to a county as near
as possible of similar soil and climate, where the best practices are in use ; as from all the turnip counties^,
pupils should go to Northumberland or Berwickshire; from the clay counties to East Lothian, or then
Carse of Gowrie ; from a mountainous district to the Cheviot hills, and Twceddale, &c. ; <-
7945. Tlie term of apprenticeship completed, the future time of the impil ought to be regukited accordit*
Ing to the ultimate object in view : if he is intended for a ploughman, shepherd, or hedger, perhaja to^
introduce new practices in other counties, he may remain for a year or two longer with other mastiersir*
the same district,, in order not merely to acquire but to habituate himself to all the improved f)|>erations
and practices. If he is intended for a bailiff, then, after having been two years on one character of farm,,
let him engage himself for a second two years in a district of an opposite or at least of a diff'erent cha-
racier ; and for a third two years, on a third character. There are, as already shown, only three descri}*-;
tions of farming in Britain : the bean and clover, or clay-land farming, which includes feeding by soiling ;
the turnip farming, which includes feeding both by soiling and pasturage; and the hill, or mountain, or
pasture farming, which includes all the varieties of breeding. A young man therefore of ordinary intel...
lect, who has worked two years in East Lothian on a clay farm, two years in the lower Berwickshire, of !
in the low part of Northumberland, and two years on the Northumbrian hills, must have a very com{x;tcnt
knowledge of that part of agriculture known as farming or husbandry. •
7946. The higher branches qf agriculture, oi \\'ha.t may he caWcd the engineering, valuing, and estate-
agency departments, can only be completely acquired by first going through the course above described,
as suitable for bailiff's and common stewards, and next placing themselves under an eminent' steward^
land valuator, drainer, road engineer, irrigator, &c. as the case may be ; making choice of a steward who;, '
has extensive woods and plantations, and also, if possible, some quarries, fisheries, or even mines under>
his care, and of s land valuer or drainer in full employment When a solid foundation is laid by a
thorough practical knowledge of all the operations of common agriculture, the higher part is attained
with ease, and maybe practised with confidence; but, on the contrary, when young men who know
nothing of common country work are sent direct from school, or from an attorney's office, to a land-
steward or agent, in order to acquire the art of managing landed estates, the worst consequences may
be dreaded, both to the proprietors and the occupiers of the territory which may be subjected to them;'
The condition of many estates and tenants, managed by attorneys, may be referred to in proof of outt''
assertion.
7947. Young men intended as rent-paying farmers, after two years' labour as common servants^'
should be kept as assistant bailiff's on other farms, till they are at least 25 years of age : no young manj,
in our opinion, ought to be put in a farm on his own account, or employed as a master tKtiliff, at An
earlier period.
7948. In all cases when young men are destined for particular purposes, they should be sent chiefly to
particular districts; as, for example, young men intended for road-surveyors, to where roads are best
managed, drainers to a draining country, embankers to Lincolnshire, warpers to the Humber, irrigators
to Soulh Ccrney, hedgers to Berwickshire, woodmen and foresters to Dunkcld, or Blair in Athol, &c. It
Book II. ECONOMY OF AGRICULTURISTS. 1229
would contribute much to the improvement of agriculture in the backward counties, if landed gentlemen
would prevail on their tenants to send their sons as appreiitices, or even as ploughmen or farm labourers,
to the improved counties; or if lads brought up by the parish were sent there with a view to their
acquiring the use of the improved implements.
79+9. Whatever is the kind of professional knowledge to be acquired, the means of attainment is the
pupil's paying such attention to what he sees and hears as to fix it in his memory. One of the lirst things,
therefore, that a young man should do is to cultivate the faculty of attention, which he may do every
hour of the day, by first looking at an object and then shutting his eyes, and trying whether he recollects
its magnitude, form, colour, &c. ; whether he would know it when he saw it again, and by what special
mark or marks he would know it or describe it. When he goes from one part of the farm to another, or
is on a walk or journey, let him pay that degree of attention to every thing he sees and hears, which will
enable him to give some account of them when returned from his walk or journey; and let him try
next day, or some days afterwards, if he can recollect what he had seen then, or at any particular tirne
and place.
7950. The attention to be exercised in such a way as to impress the memory, and enable the observer or
hearer, not only to recollect objects, but to describe them, must be exercised systematically. A thing or
a discourse must be attended to, not only as a whole, but as a composition of parts ; and these parts must
be considered not only as to their qualities of dimension, colour, consistency, &c., but as to their relative
situation and position. To be able to give an account of a town or village, for example, the first thing is
to get a general idea of the outline of its ground-plan, which may be done by looking from a church
tower or adjoining hill ; next, its relative situation to surrounding objects, as what hills, or woods, or
waters join it, and in what quarters ; next, the direction.of the leading street or streets must be noticed ;
then the intersecting or secondary streets, the principal public buildings, the principal private ones, where
the lowest houses and narrowest streets are sit ;ated, and what is the character of the greatest number of
houses composing the whole assemblage.
7951. To treasure up in the mind the characteristic marks of particular varieties and subvarieties of stock
is a most important part of an agriculturist's professional education. To do this effectually, some know-
ledge of sketching is of great use, and, if possible, ought to be acquired by every person intending to fill
the situation of bailiff or steward. 'I'he knowledge of soils, plants, and their culture is a very simple
business compared with the knowledge of stock, which is not otily of difficult and tedious acquirement,
but easily forgotten or lost : for one gentleman's bailiff that knows any thing of stock there are at least a
score that know nothing.
7952. In connection with professional studies, the pupil may find it necessary, if his education has been
neglected, to go on at his leisure hours with all the usual branches of education, either assisted by book's
alone, or by books and the best assistance he can procure, if his school education has extended to arith
metic, mensuration, mathematics, and drawing, he should occupy himself in acquiring a knowledge of
botany, zoology, geology, and mincralbgy,' without a tolerable knowledge of each of which he will ever
be in the dark among modern agriculturists, and in reading books on the subject. Next, let him study
the various arts and manufactures that have any relation to agriculture, and store his mind with all he
can acquire from one of the best general Encyclopaedias, as that of Rees, or the Encyclopwdia Britannica,
with its excellent supplementary volumes. If he will go farther, and if he wisherto know the extent to
which he may go, he may consult what we have advanced on the subject of education ^li^^he^c^c/wp^rfj'a
of Gardening, ' . i
-mninuiuiA i&imuv'liL: \<G!^ttuet>imd'Ectynbm2i'(yf an Amculturist' s Life. \
7953. A pl<mfor'fhe general cmiditci of life should be fixed on by every one when he arrives at man-
hood, and steadily pursued for the time to come : most commonly such a plan is fornfied by the parents
soon after the child's birth, and, at the kitcst, when the boy is taken from school. The boy arrived at
manhood, however, is entitled to examine this plan, and amend it, or devise anotlier more congenial to his
own notions; but the risk of any change of this sort by persons so young and inexperienced is so great,
that no youth ought to venture on it without the utmost consideration, and the firmest persuasion in his
own mind : where the parent has dbne his duty, such changes of plan will not often be attempted; for, by
the early infusion into the mind of a child of ideas relative to the pursuit that is intended for him, a
taste for that pursuit or employment will grow up with him, and become as it were his owh natural inclifir
ation. This will happen in most cases, but in some children the bias or force of nature for some parti-
cular purpose is so strong, that by no parental intreaties or reasoning can it be overcome ; even where a
sense of duty induced compliance with a parent's wishes for a time, the dormant inclination has at last
broke out and taken the lead. In such cases, the parent may generally conclude, that where the pursuit
or purpose is not bad, the force of natural inclination will be more likely to command success than the in-
fluence of jjarental authority ; and that a pursuit or business, commonly of little profit or repute, will be
more profitable and respectable when followed by a genius powerfully impelled to it, than a profitable and
reputable business followed by any one against his inclination.
7954. The plan and conduct of life are in most cases determined by accidental circumstances. The son
of the labouring man grows up without any regular training or education for a particular end, and finds
himself at the age of manhood engaged in rural labour, and apparently incapable of any other j hisnotionj.
and his ambition are so limited that he dare not venture to desire a change for the better ; for no man ,
ever desires that which he thinks it impossible to attain, and the mere idea of this impossibility, howevei^,^
erroneous, effectually restrains the attempt at improvement. The life of the ploughman or labourei*,
much as it differs from that of a man of eminent natural powers and superior education, is capable of
much amelioration by being directed to a suitable end or object as the ultimatum, or in other w^ords, by
proceeding on a plan ; plan indeed, as we have elsewhere observed {Encyc. of Gard. 2d edit. 7778.), is
predestination, as conduct is fate.
7955. The greater part of mankind enter on life without any fixed plan or object in view, or, if they have
some general notion of acquiring wealth or distinction, they form no plan by which it is to be accom^^
plished ; the consequence is, that such persons, after blundering on through their best years, arrive at the*
end without having gained any thing but experience, now of no use to them. No man is born in posses-
sion of the art of living, any more than of the art of agriculture ; the one requires to be studied as well as
the other, and a man can no more expect permanent satisfaction from actions performed at random, than
he can expect a good crop from seeds sown without due regard to soil and season. When we look round
and observe the quantity of misery in the world, the greater proportion is, or seems to be, the result of a
want of plan, or of a bad plan of life. How many parents are unsuccessful in their struggles to maintain a
large family, the result of too early marriages : how many find themselves arrive at old age with no other' .
resource for support but charity, the consequence of want of foresight in expenditure : how many arq,'
suffering under poverty, brought on by their own want of frugality, or positive extravagance; or undef
disease from excesses and irregularities committed in the heyday of life : and how many among those not
born to inherit property, who, at no period of their life, have any other alternative between hard labour
and deficient food, than disease and want !
7956. Want of plan may not in every case be the cause of all this misery, because accident enters into
life for something, both on the unfavourable as well as the favourable side of the question : but we have
no hesitation in asserting, that want of plan, as a cause of misery, is as ninety-nine to a hundred : any
plan at all, even a bad plan, is better than none ; because those who set out on any plan will, in all proba-
bility, sooner discover its errors if a bad one, and correct them, than those who set out on no plan will
1230 STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. Part IV
discover the want of one and form a good plan. The young man who is just setting out in life may well
tremble at the consequences of proceeding on the journey without the guide of a judicious plan ; this plan
he must form himself, because he alone feels what he wants, and what he can do to gratify them; all that
we can do is to offer a few hints.
7957. In order to he able to form a plan it is previously necessary to determine the object to be attained
by it Happiness is the object of every action of human life, and consists in the gratification of certain
wants and desires : some of these desiderata are peculiar to youth, and others to old age ; but many, as
clothing, food, rest, relaxation, entertainment, &c., begin with the earliest, and continue to the latest
period of life. All these gratifications are procured by labour; in savage life, by hunting, fishing, and
gathering fruits, till the man, no longer possessing strength enough for these labours, is obliged to lie down
and die of want: in civilised society, they are also obtained by labour ; but here what is called property
exists, and man, in the vigour of his days, when the supplies of his labour are greater than tlie demands
of his wants and desires, or when he chooses not to gratify the latter to the full extent admitted by the
former, can, as it were, embody a part of his labour, to be made use of when he is no longer able to per-
form it with ease : a man in this case is said to arrive at independence, instead of want, as in the case of
the savage, or of beggary, as in the case of the improvident.
7958. Independence is the grand object which every man destined to live by the exercise of his labour or
talents ought to have in view. At certain periods of life, when the imagination is vivid, and health and
animal spirits in their utmost vigour, some may prefer present enjoyment, mere animal gratifications, or
imaginary distinctions, amatory conquests, titles, rank, military glory, and high literary or professional
reputation : it is a noble attribute of our nature to prefer some of these to the mere accumulation of
money ; but a great warrior, poet, or painter, arrived at old age and want, if the latter be brought on by
common improvidence, will not find himself surrounded by many marks of distinction ; and though it may
possibly be some consolation to him that the three or four letters composing his name will be sometimes
pronounced together after he is dead, yet it will not be much.
7959. The exercise of his profession is the most rational mode in which an agriculturist, of whatever
grade, can pursue independence. Only extraordinary circumstances can justify a change of profession ;
in common cases it indicates a want of steadiness of character, or a want of success, and the latter is
commonly attributed to want of skill ; it is better, therefore, to pursue unremittingly the profession to
which we have been educated, even though we should not be very successful in it, than to risk an
infringement on character by adopting another. The practice of agriculture, as we have already seen,
(7710.) is carried on by three different classes, serving, commercial, and artist agriculturists : on each
of these classes we submit a few hints to aid them in forming a plan of life, and regulating their
expectations.
7960. The greater number of agricvlturists must ever belong to the tourer grades of the serving class ;
and act as ploughmen, herdsmen, shepherds, hedgers, woodmen, and labourers of all-work. These form
the greater proportion of mankind in every civilised country, and must ever remain the bulkiest material
in the social fabric. Comparing one age and country with another, however, there may be the greatest
difference in their intellectual and physical condition. The ploughman of Russia is but a remove from
his horse. The ploughmen in different parts of Britain are as intelligent as their emplovers : in Scot-
land they have the Bible by heart, are familiar with the history of their country, and not ignorant of its
literature ; they lead a laborious life, but they enjoy the inestimable blessings of health, sound sleep, and
peace of mind, till the latest period ; they are almost always independent, either from their labour, their
savings, or, in old age or sickness, fVom the assistance they receive of their children in return for
what was laid out on their education. These men are as happy, relatively to their capacity for happi-
ness, as any other class whatever : if their measure is smaller, it is as full as the largest ; for the essen.
tial materials of comfort and happiness are the same in all classes, and in all classes a man's wants and
wishes accommodate themselves to the means of gratifying them. The rich have no wants, and their
desires for the most part are no sooner expressed than gratified ; the pains and pleasures of life are
neutralised into a kind of insipidity, till ennui brings on disease, which to this class becomes a blessing,
by procuring for them the occupation of taking medicine, the duty of attending to the doctor's regula-
tions, and the pleasures of convalescence.
7961. Constant labour, even that of the humblest description in the country, when it is not oppressive,
and where it is accompanied with abundance of food, sufficient clothing, and good health, is by no means
inconsistent with happiness. It is a common but most erroneous idea, that happiness is confined either to
the rich or the independent. Health and activity are the woods, and a rich man who has nothing to
do is unquestionably more miserable than any ploughman in the empire " Happiness," says one who
has thought much on the subject, " is the full and vivid satisfaction of the mind ; and it consists in
content and uninjurious enjoyment, that is, enjoyment not injurious either to oneself or to any other.
Among the very first requisites to this satisfaction, it will readily be perceived, is employment,
either bodily or mental ; and the more energetic, without exhaustion, is the employment, the more full
and vivid will be the satisfaction. The human mind is naturally active; and, except in sleep, if even
then, cannot with impunity be motionless or torpid. Occupation is as necessary to its health as circulation
of the blood is to the body's. Employed it must be, to know content or feel enjoyment ; for, by any want
productive of pain, either bodily or mental, especially the latter, content and enjoyment are, according to
the degree of the pain, destroyed or diminished ; and the want, which the unemployed mind invariably
feels, is as invariably productive of uneasiness, of listlessness, and lassitude, and their inseparable
attendant, mental pain. Indeed this pain is, not unfrequently, altogether unendurable. * All the impor-
tunities and perplexities of business,' says Dr. Johnson, ' are softness and luxury compared with the
incessant cravings of vacancy and the unsatisfactory expedients of idleness.* ' It is this intolerable
vacuity of mind,* says Paley, * which carries the rich and great to the race-course and the gaming-table.'
It is this vacuity, says experience, which often arms them against themselves, and hurries them to self.
destruction. If, also, employment is necessary to the health of the mind, exercise is to that of the body.
Employment to the mind and exercise to the body are in some degree substitutes for each other; but, for
the full content and enjoyment which constitute happiness, they both, in due proportion, are necessary."
(Co-operative Magazine, vol. i. p. 6.)
7962. The plan of life suitable for the operative agrinilturist may very well be founded on the condition
of this class of men in the northern counties of Northumberland, Berwickshire, East Lothian, and others.
We have already (7809. and 7834.) described in general terms the manner in which farm servants are hired,
lodged, and paid in these counties; and details by an eminent Northumberland farmer will be found in
the sixth volume of the Gardener's Magazine (p. 589.). The essence of the mode consists in the employer
providing the employed with comfortable cottages and gardens, and paying them chiefly in the necessaries
of life, in so much meal or flour, so much ground to grow potatoes and flax or hemp, a cow's keep, the
run of a pig, if a shepherd so much wool or so many sheep, the loan of a team to bring home coal or other
fuel, and a certain proportion of money. By this mode of payment the operative countryman is always
sure of a comfortable home and food,' sure of milk, butter, meal, bread, and potatoes, the produce of a
pig, poultry, and bees, and of the produce of his garden ; and tliis, however high may be the prices of
these articles in the public market. These good things can only be rendered nugatory by the evil of a bad
wife. All country servants hired by the year might be accommodated and paid more or less in this man-
ner ; and to this mode of life and payment they ought to look forward as the ultimatum of their grade in
the scale of operative agriculturists. By prudent conduct, in regard to the increase of their family, and
by frugality, they may live in decency and comfort, educate one or two children, and save something for
old age, or unforeseen occurrences.
Book II. ECONOMY OF AGRICULTURISTS. 1231
7963. The Northumlterlnnd ploughman is tlip hapiuest of labourers, and never feels a bad season. His
wages are certain ; and with frugality and cCre, his wife may bring up a large family upon this income.
The reverse is sometimes the case ; but this is attributed to a bad wife, who weistcs the produce of the
cow. The small stock of the hind being always his own, and the cow generally so, makes him prudejit and
careful during single service to save as much of his wages as will set him up for himself. To this, and
the fact that the wages of labour are never paid out of the poor's rate, the enviable state of the Northum-
brian labourer is to be attributed. It appears to operate as a preventive check upon population, and beau-
tifully illustrates Mr. Malthus's theory ; or, in the words of Burns, it teaches them to " know that pru-
dent cautious selj'-caritrol is wisdom's root." They are all anxious to give their children such eduoation
as they can command. When they are within the reach of a charity-school they thankfully avail tliem-
selves of it, and we find in every hamlet some person who teaches the younger children the rudiments ;
and several of these, when they get older, work and save the wages of summer to pay for putting them-
selves to schools in winter. (J. C. in Gard. Mag. vol. vi. p. 591. See also Benson's Peasant's Voice.)
7964. TAe day labourer trho has no particular employer, and probably no tixed residence, is much
less comfortable than the yearly servant; in England more especially, under the present system of poor
laws and parish management, which is calculated to degrade him, and effectually to prevent any attempt
at improving his condition. If, as Slaney observes, " by unremitted industry, he has been enabled to do
without parochial relief, and bring up his children decently, it is as much as could be expected ; for an
attack of illness, or the temporary loss of eraplovment, he is in general totally unprepared ; he thinks not
much of the morrow, and, as it stands, it is perhaps well for him that he does not anticipate evils which
lie cannot prevent. Every one knows how beneficial to the community, how advantageous to the indi-
vidual, the hope of bettering his condition in life is : it cheers him in adversity, encourages his industry,
promotes his content, yet from this hope the major part of the agricultural labourers of England are
excluded ; they toil indeed, but it is to continue, not to better their existence." {Essay on the bene-
ficial Direction of Rural Expenditure, p. 170. ; see also the succeeding chapters of these' judicious and
intelligent essays.)
7965. The condition of the labouring classes has lately been considered by the editor of the Scotsman, in
an article in his xivth volume (Nos. 1131, and 1132.), which is also published separately in a tract entitled
The Scotsman's Advice to the Labouring Classes. The condition of the labouring classes, it is observed
in this tract, may be deteriorated in two ways ; " by increasing their numbers too rapidly, and by
diminishing the capital which provides them with employment. Now capital is either diminished, or
its natural growth is impeded, by the enormous sums paid to the government, by the tax on corn imposed
for the benefit of the aristocracy, and by the many absurd restrictions on industry, which have arisen
from the ignorance or misconceptions of our legislators. To repeal or reduce taxes, and relieve industry
from the restrictions which fetter it, benefits the working classes by enlarging the fund which creates a
demand for their labour. The sufferings of these classes are therefore, in no small extent, imputable to
the exactions and misconduct of the government. Culpable and injurious, however, as the extravagance
of the government has been, I am convinced that were all the public burdens annihilated, and all the
obstacles to freedom of industry removed, the relief given would be but temporary. The misery of the
working classes might be mitigated by such means, but it cannot be eradicated by legislation, nor by any
human means except such as shall put some check on the increase of their numbers. Scientific thinkers
regard this conclusion as established on the clearest evidence ; how then is the principle of increase to be
checked ? Only in one way : by enlightening the minds of the working classes ; by inspiring them with
feelings of self-respect ; by teaching them the immense importance of habits of prudence, forethought,
and self-control to their own happiness ; by giving them true notions of their situation as moral agents,
responsible for the consequences of their acts, and endowed with powers which, if rightly used, would make
them to a great extent masters of their own destiny."
7966. A radical evil in human conduct, is that *' in the article of marriage men consider life as a lottery,
and they rush into the most important of all ties, without making any provision for discharging the
obligations it lays upon them. This applies to the middle ranks as well as to the lower." Thousands
and tens of thousands marry every year whose earnings hardly suffice for their own subsistence ; and
multitudes throw their offspring on the world " with as little rational consideration about its future
well-being, as the crocodile shows when she drops her egg in the sand, and leaves it to the sun and the
winds to hatch her young into life." Such persons shelter their thoughtless conduct under the plea of
trusting to Providence : but what is trusting to Providence but trusting to chance ? Nature has endowed
us with reason to regulate our conduct, and in most of the common concerns of life has enabled us to
foresee the consequences of our acts. After making all the use of our reason that we can, enough will
still be left for chances, which may turn out, as every day shows, as much against us as for us, " To
neglect the admonitions of reason, and then trust to Providence to free us from the evils induced by our
own thoughtlessness, is to call upon the Deity to work a miracle in our favour ; and this, instead of pro-
moting our improvement, is only to harden us in our folly."
7967. There are two truths of vast importance to the well-being of the labouring classes ; the first is,
that as no efforts of legislation can lift them out of their misery, their happiness must always depend
on their own habits of prudence, forethought, and self-control. The second is, that no man has a right to
bring human beings into the world, who.is not able to provide for their support and education. The law
punishes severely the act of exposing a child ; but the man who marries and becomes the fatiier of
children, without having any reasonable prospect of being able to keep them from beggary with all its
attendant miseries, is guilty of the same crime in a lower degree.
7968. To convert the burthens which marriage brings with it into money, the Scotsman suggests the
following scheme : he takes the case of an industrious mechanic beginning to earn ISs. per week at the
age of eighteen, and he shows what he could accomplish by living economically, and deferring marriage
till he was twenty-eight :i he supposes him able to live upon 12«, 6rf. per week, and to place 3j. &d. pet
week in a savings' bank, by which his stock, including interest, will amount in ten years to about 100/.
At his marriage he is supposed to spend 30/. of this 100/. in furnishing a house, &c. and to dispose of the
remaining 70/. to provide against the following casualties.
7969. The first casualty after marriage which he has to provide against is sickness, which may be done
by a weekly contribution of 4</. for himself and his wife. -
7970. The second casualty i& the infirmity of old age. This is to be provided against by an annuity
from government, or a benefit society ; and 17/. Is. 9d. paid at once, or an annual payment of 9*. Qd. by-a
man at the age of twenty-eight, will obtain an annuity for him of 20/. per annum for whatever number of
years he may live beyond the age of sixty-eight.
7971. The third casualty to be provided for is the possible widowhood of his wife : this he may do by
paying down 32/. 12s., for which a man of twenty-eight may secure for his wife, supposing her age to be
the same, an annuity of 10/. for Jife, in the event of her being left a widow, at whatever period it may
happen. On this subject the benevolent and philosophic author of the scheme observes, " When society
is more enlightened, it appears to me that a provision against the chance of widowhood will be con-
sidered as indispensable at marriage as a suit of wedding clothes.
7972. The fourth casualty is the chance of the death of the father before his child is able to shift for
itself; that is, before it is fifteen or sixteen years of age. To enstire each child against this casualty, it is
proposed to secure a small annuity to it in the event of his death, of say 3s. per week, up to its fifteenth
year. This, the father being aged thirty, he calculates may be purchased for 51. paid down the first year
of the child's life. " A similar deposit of 5/. would be requisite at each addition made to the family ; and
as a marriage is assumed to produce on an average four children, the whole sum expended under this head
would be 20/." Those who have more than four children must make extraordinary exertions.
1232 STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURi:. Part IV.
7973. A reasonahie degree of security against ths casualties of life may bo afTordod to a working man
about to enter into tlie married state and his family for the sum of "lOO/., which it is shown he might save
by the age of twenty-eight. That sum would be disposed of thus :
Furniture, exclusive of what was provided by the wife . .. ^30
Annuity for himself in old age of 20/. per annum . - 17
Annuity of 10/. per annum for his widow - - . S3
Provision for four children . . ... .20
.^100
Therefore, let no man whatever, not even the most humble country labourer, think of marrying before he
has saved 100/. ; and let him beware of spending any part of this sum, even that part which is allotted for
his furniture, before he has provided for the four casualties of the married state.
7974. To carry this scheme into effect, mutual assurance societies by the working classes themselves, or
benetit societies, would probably be the best mode, and government and the more wealthy members of
society ought to lose no time in assisting in their formation. It is justly observed, however, that it cannot
be too often inculcated upon the working classes, that the improvement of their condition must be their
own work. Were this scheme carried into practice, " it would diminish their numbers relatively to capi-
tal, and as a consequence, their wages would rise. Secondly, it would rescue them and their families from
extreme poverty, give them independence of character, secure to all of them the advantages of education,
and thus break down the barrier which confines them to the sphere they are born in, and precludes them
from obtaining any of the higher prizes in the lottery of life. To society the system would be equally
beneficial; poor's rates, with all the abuses they engender, would be done away; crimes would be rare
when pauperism was eradicated; and by the Qniversal diffusion of education, all the talent in society
would be made available. And last, not least, when every grown-up man had either a small stock of
savings in hand, or investments in a common fund, we should have the very best guarantee for the public
tranquillity. Did the working classes fully understand this scheme," its excellent author continues,
" nine tenths of all the poverty, misery, and crime which we see around us would disappear; we should
in fact find ourselves in a new world, full of intelligence, peace, and good order, in which life and projjerty
would be ten times more secure, happiness more equally distributed, and an admirable foundation laid for
the further amelioration of the lot of mankind." {Scotsman, 'Nov. 13. 1830.)
7975. The plan of life for the directive class of agriculturists need hardly be pointed out ; the rise from
a farm bailiff to a steward's bailiff, or to a demesne bailiff or steward, and thence to tlie general steward or
factor of an estate, is an obvious object of ambition. In another direction he may rise through the differ-
ent gradations of the commercial agriculturist, or, adopting the rank of counsellor or artist, he may be-
come a salesman, appraiser, timber or land-surveyor, land- valuer, agent, or agricultural engineer : rarely,
however, can he attempt the veterinary profession, or that of draftsman, author, or professor.
7976. The remuyieration to which a directive agriculturist is naturally entitled, should be regulated by
his professional abilities and experience; that which he will commonly receive will be regulated by tlie
quantity of agricultural talent and experience in the market ; it ought always to be such as will render it
worth his while to be honest, assiduously attentive to the interest of his employer, and of polite and
obliging manners. A handsome salary to such a servant is wise economy.
7977. The object of the artist or counsellor agriculturist may be fither to ascend to the rank of author
or professor, conditions of more honour than profit ; or to realise property and become a proprietor culti-
vator. For a rent-paying farmer, no artist or author is at all adapted-
7978. The legitimate object of a commercial agriculturist is to rise in the different grades of his class,
and become either a large farmer, a gentleman farmer, or, best of all, a proprietor cultivator.
7979. The profits to which a commercial agriculturist is entitled, comparatively with those of other com-
mercial men, are theoretically determinable by the risk attending the employment of his capital, and the
skill requisite to prosecute his art; but, practically, this remuneration will depend on the quantity of
skill and capital in the market. The risk attending capital employed in the culture of the useful products
of the soil, is evidently less than the risk of capital employed in many or perhaps most manufactures;
and the skill requisite to enable any one to become a farmer, according to the customary practices of the
country surrounding him, is less than that required for almost any branch of manufacture. In conse-
quence of these things, there are men every where ready to become farmers ; hence the profits of farm-
ing are naturally less than those of most other pursuits ; but, to counterbalance this, the farmer has
several advantages peculiar to his profession. First, the nature of his residence in the county', which
assumes a certain degree of consequence from its connection with a considerable group of out-offices, sur-
rounded by a garden, orchard, fields, woods, and other rural scenery, all in his occupation, and inhabited
by servants in cottages, horses, cattle, sheep, and other domestic animals, in subjection to him, gives him
a degree of consequence both real and apparent ; and assimilates him more nearly to a lord of the soil,
and to the possessor of that sort of rural retirement and independence which is the object of almost every
commercial man's ambition, than any other mode of life could do. Secondly, many trades and professions
preclude (according to general prejudices) their followers from being gentlemen : whereas, though every
farmer is not a gentleman, yet any gentleman may become a farmer, without in any degree lowering his
rank and character ; a farmer may, therefore, if he chooses to adopt the habits and manners of a gentle-
man, be reckoned as such. Thirdly, the farmer's products are in universal demand, and he is sure of a
market at some reasonable rate, a fact otherwise with many manufactures. Fourthly, he is sure of a
home, of the necessaries of life, and, in general, of most vigorous health. Fifthly, he is generally a man
of more parochial influence than the tradesman or manufacturer.
7980. Scarcely any farmer makes a fortune by his profession : the utmost exertions of the most skilful
and industrious men, in the most improved districts, seldom do more than enable them to keep pace with
the times ; and the great majority, in all countries, lead a life of great labour and anxiety, and end as
they began. No farmer, in a general way, can raise more than one corn crop in a year, and in this respect
the farmer of Russia and Poland has the advantage of the British farmer; for the lands of the former
being from five to eight months under snow, all root-weeds are destroyed, and the ground so loosened by
the frosts and thaws, as to require very little stirring for the seed : the rapid summer which suceeeds
ripens all annual plants that will grow there, nearly as well as in England, and better than in many parts
of Scotland and Ireland. The British farmers, however, have the great advantage of perpetual pastures,
owing to the mildness of our winters; but still no art of man will shorten the period of animal gestation,
and originate a lamb or a calf in shorter periods than five months and forty weeks. How often does the
tradesman or manufacturer turn his capital in that time ! There are three varieties of professional
farmers, however, who occasionally realise some property : the grazier who feeds with oil-cake, grains,
and other artificial foods ; the dealer in corn or cattle, who has the art to buy at a falling and sell at a
rising market ; and the dealer or jobber in farms, who sublets or sells his lease, or in purchases of land,
who subdivides and sells estates. The profits of the first are not great, and those of the last two are at-
tended with great risk : the only farmer whose lot is to be envied, lives under a landlord who does not
take the full marketable price for his lands : such as Burdett, Coke, Bedford, Northumberland, and many
others in the south j but few in the north, or in the west. ■ *
CALENDARIAL INDEX.
Though agricultural operations, in general, require less nicety as to the exact time of
performing them than many of those of gardening, yet there are exceptions in respect to
some field crops ; for example, beans and turnips. It is proper to observe, therefore,
that the almanac time in this Calendar is calculated for the meridian of London ; but as
a Calendar of nature is given for the metropolitan district, the almanac time may, in
every part of the empire, be varied to suit the local climate and vegetation.
In general, other circumstances being alike, four days may be allowed for every de-
gree, or every 70 miles north or south of London ; in spring, operations may be com-
menced earlier in that proportion southwards, and later northwards ; but in autumn the
reverse, and operations deferred as we advance southwards, and accelerated as we pro-
ceed to the north. In every case allowing a due weight to local circumstances.
Our notices under each month extend only to a few of the leading features of country-
■work ; — to attempt to insert every thing, or even most of the things that require attend-
ing to, we conceive impossible ; and, if it could be done, quite useless. A man will
always act better when guided by his own judgment, than when following implicitly
that of another. Calendars should only be considered as remembrancers, never as
directories.
.''-:.■■ JANUARY.
'tVeather
Lbntlon -
Edinburgh
-'bublin -
Averaj^e of
the Xher-
moraeter.
Greatest
Variation
from the
Average.
-jje-
Average
of the
Barometej:.
29 56
'2'J \Si
29 n\
1-957 inch,
2-994
2-697
REMARKS.
A cold Jaimary is reckoned seasonable ; the air bein^
drier during a low state of the thermometer than -when it
is a Utt:e above or below the freezing point ; -winter-HjoUl
is generally less feit by animals tlian that of March.
Winds often prevail during this month. . Tlje , caleudar
of animatc<rnature is much more to be depehiled on
than the vegetable calendar; for except the (-atilns on
trees the state of the other plants during this month
depends much on the character of the preceding autumn .
■^^ \i! Calendar of Animated Nature round London.
''til the first n'tek: shelless snails (Hfelix) and earth-worms
' (JiiimbricuJ terr^stHs) appear.
iiitcoiul rvee/( : redbreast (JUotacflla Rubico'.a) whistles, nut-
, hatch (.Sitta ^uropaeV) chattersi mi^el thrush (2'ardus viscf-
vorus) sipgs, and wagtails (Tl/otaclUa albai't tlkva) appear.
'■' TJtird weeA:; the common lark (.41auda arvc^tisis) congre-
i-'gatts. • : ■
, j^ , : Fimrtk ipcek : snails (Helis.hprti^nsifO and slugs .(i:.\max ater
, et hvalinus) abound in the sheilercd parts of gardens ; the
■ hedge sparrow (il/otacrila mouul.ar'is) whistles, the large tit-
'Wiouse (Farus major) sings, and flie»i ap]>ear ort windo\W.
'•' ' i?. Calendar of Vegetable Nature round London.
f Jnthe fifst rveek: some plants accidentally in flower; and
lOthers, a* the Laurust>nUs, continued from December.
. ^ecQiui rvMk : winter aconite (Erintlus hyemilis), Christmas
rose (HelMborus foc'tidus) in flower, and hazel (C'drylus ^vel-
' tkna) catkins beginning to appeal* : common honeysuckle
' tJ-'onic^ra^feTicl^menum) buds begin to appear.
Tti4rd iveek : primrose (Primula -julgaris) flowers in sheltfred
. plfices ; daisy (B6ilis per^nnis) and chickweed (jllsine m^dia)
oegin to flower.
Fmirlk rveek .- mezereon (Djiphne Mezireum) begins to flower ;
and sometimes spurry (SjHjrgula arv^nsi^), pansey (Fiota trf-
color), white scented violet (Kiola odorata), archsmeel
(/.amium riilirum), and coltsfoot (Tussilago purpiirea et ooo-
rata) show blossoms.
■;■■ '3. Farm.yard. (2902)
^'' Atteiid to ctittte, whether in the opefi yard oh straw and a few
- turnips (5411.), in hammels for feeling (6855.), or in stalls
(0^'2.). See that the weak are not driven ftom their proper
shkre of green food by the strong ; notice any ia bad condition,
arid put them in a place by themselves for a few weeks. AVhen
the hay or straw is of inferior quality or flavoiir, s^jrinMe with
salt water, which will make it moi-e palatable.
Thrcahhi^ [5109.) goes on pretty regularly it this season for
the sake of a supply of ^traw. In some districts it is common
to thresh an hour every morning by candle-light during the
'three winter months, the candles bsing hung up in lanterns.
See that the gudgeons and other places are kept oiled, and
the teeth of wheels greased or soapod, or coated with anti-
. attrition.
Implements not now in use may he repaired, also harness
greased, ropes spliced, and various evening jobs executed,
' ^here it is customary to work a part of the winter evenings.
Men's lodge. (4160.) In some districts the unmarried ferm-
Servante have a common living-room in the farmery, with
i sleeping-room over, or sleeping-rooms over the horses. It is
the duty of the finrmer or bailiff" to see that these youttg men
are properly occupied during the long winter evenings. A
portion of every man's time will be taken up in mending his
clothes or shoes, and sometimes in oiling and cleansing horse
harness ; the rest they ought to be encouraged to pass in read-
to the rest ; one may jristmct the oth^s on fWy subject ; a
master nily be got in for an h«UT or twoe^ery eiiening,- who
would teach them all. A Hvaster suitable ficff; this ,piirp0s«( will
often be found among the married servants, or anippj the
village mechanics. To serious studies may be joined recreative
ones, such as' the flute, violin, stbrvtellmg, singirig, sfl^ech-
making, dramatic attempts, &c. The bailirt'or farmer'Sbould
occasionally pome and examine each lad, and bestow some
mark of approbation on the Hjpst deserving.
: 4. Live Stock. (6216.)'
J>tore farms (7191-). whether of sheep or cattle, reqv4re,<^n-
sjdernLle attention during ^e winter and spring months to
supply straw and hay, with such ifTeen food as can be spkrbd,
to stock on scanty "pastures ^ and to shelter during std:fms,
especially of snow.
Lurnbi are dropped during jhis month by the Dorset gheep,
and near I^ndon are generally kept in thehouse arid fed. (/ 2?*-)
I'heie require regular Attention.
Calves fatting at this, season (684.5.) should be kept "^ry
clean, and their supplies of mitk liberal. Calves to be reared
as stock should never be dropped sooner than April. , :
Figs (72S5.), po«i<,T/,(7438.), and stock in general, should be
kept In good heart at this season, otherwise in'the spHng
months they will be fit for nothing, and half the summer will
elapse brfore they recover the badeiiects of winter starvation.
pisii, when the ponds are covered with ice, requir<; attention,
to break holes to admit air. (7572.)
eees if dormant A6 not reouire to be fed ; but if the weather
is so mild, or they are placed in so warm a situation as to occa-
sion their flying about, they should be examined ^ to asceclaia
if feeding be requisite. (7602.> . :lt
5. Grass Lands. (.5643.) >.< ■
Vnj sails and uplands should alone be, stookedwM* csaXOapt
young horses at this season. (5839.) Sheep should not. be
allowed to graze either on wet marshy meadows or on young
drivers. (5,543.y Grass lands, «ndet a systeiH of irrigatitei', may
now bo kept covered. (4387.) Clayey soils and others not pro-
perly drained should now have that operation effectually per-
forpied on the surface (4294.) or under it (1282.), according to
circumstances.
Worms (7704.) on some soils do considerable injury to grass.
M'here the labour is not considered too much, and there is a
water barrel at any rate, they may be killed by mixing powder
of lime with the water, at tlie rate of one pint to ten gallons.
On lawns, and in small paddocks, or in the case offermei
orvi(^f«'j getting rid of worm casts is an object worth attendWij?
to ; andthis month, February, and October, are the best seasons
for the ojjeration. ; •: s i
6. Arable Lands. (4925.)
Plough when the soil is not too wet. Lead out dung and
form field dunghills, also compost heaps, with peat or other
matters. See that drains, ditches, and. water-furrows run
ing, or otherwise instructing themselves. One may^read aloud- 1 iircoly, aad-an-swer their respective ends.
4 K
1234
CALENDARIAL INDEX.
Deans (5222.) arc in some dry situations planted in the last
week of the mouth ; and also psas, and sometimes oats, are
Bown. Oil the whole, however, it is better to defer the beans
and peas till the first and second weelis of February, and tlie
oats till the two last weelcs of that month.
Sprin/^ tvlteat of the common kind (5025. ) may be sown where
the soil is suitable.
7. Fences (2960.), Roads (3523.), and Drains.
(4213.)
HamOiorns may be planted in fence-lines, in any of the dif-
ferent modes. (2972.) Ditches, wails, palings, and all other
fences of the common kind may be formed ; but none where
hollies or other evergreens are to be used. Kepair by the dif-
ferent modes. (2987.) Koadi and drains may be formed at all
times and seasons.
8. Orchards (4079.) and Ilop-grounds. (5997.)
Prune tre » and free them of moss. Where digging round
each tree is practised, this is a Rood season. Stake and tie
newly planted trees. Plant orchards. Trench ground for hop
plantations. (6007.)
9. Wood-lands and Plantations. (3906.)
Prepare ihe soil for planting. I'lant deciduous hcird-wooded
trees in mild weather. Plant and sow the larger tree seeds,
whether in places where they are finally to remain, or in
nursery -grounds.
Fell timber and coppice not valuable on account of its bark.
Stock up roots, stack them, and char them.
Prune dtciduous trees ; fill up vacancies. Cut hawthorn
hedges. (2983.) Gather any tree seeds not before gathtred.
Drain wood-lands and cut paths or other openings required
through them, the leaves being now off the deciduous sorts.
FEBRUARY.
Weather
at
Average of
the Ther-
mometer.
Greatest
VariaUon
from the
Average.
Average
ofthi
Barometer.
Quantity
a- Rain.
REMARKS.
This month (the spring or sprout kale month of the Saxons)
is usually subject to much rain or snow ; eitber is ac-
counttd seasonable: the old proverb being, " February
fill dike with either black or white." Round London,
the sap in vegetables shows evident symptoms of motion
about the middle of the month, and sometimes a week
earlier. The animal calendar, and inflorescence of
native trees for this month, will generally be found very
correct.
London -
Edinburgh
Dublin -
42 3
36 6
43 78
5
29 91
29 556
30 091
0-873 inch.
1-209
2-21
1. Calendar of Animated Nature round London.
In the first week : bees (A\is, melllfica) come out of their hives,
(jnats (Culex) play about, insects (Ins^cta) swarm under sunnv
hedges, and the earth-worm (I.umbricus terr^stris) lies out";
hen-chaffinches (FringfUa) flock, and the song-thiush, or
throstle (Tiirdus miisicus), and coimnon lark (^laada arv^nsis)
sing.
Second meek: the buntings (Emberlza ilba), and linnets
(Fringflla Lin6ta), appear in flocks ; sheep (OSis .4*ries) drop
their lambs; geese (/l>nas ^'nser) begin to lay.
Third week : rooks ; Corvus firugllegus) begin to pair, and re-
sort to their nest-trees; house-sparrows (Fringilla domestical
chirp, and begin to build; the chaffinch (Fringllla coeMebs)
&ings.
Fourth meek: the partridge (Tdtrao P^vdix) begins to pair,
the blackbird (Turdus AT^rula) whistles, and the wood-lark
(^laiida arv^nsis et arbdrea) sings; the hen (Phasianus Giillus)
sits.
2. Calendar of Vegetable Nature round London.
In the first tvcek : the snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis), whin
(I/Mex europaeVi), white deadnettle (Lamium Alburn), poly-
anthus (IMmula v^ris) flowers ; and the elder (6'ambiicus
nigra), and some roses and honeysuckles, begin to expand their
leaves.
Second week : common crowfoot (ftaniinculus ripens), dande-
lion (L^ontodon Tarjlxacum), and the female flowers of hazel
(C(5rylus AveUhna) appear.
Third meek : Verdnica agr&tis in flower ; many of the poplar
and willow tribe show their catkins ; and also the yew (Taxus
baccata), alder M'lnus commfinis), the tulip (TiUina), crown
imperial (Fritillkria imperialis), and various other bulbs,
boldly emerging from the ground.
Fourth meek: the ifrica'camea, wood strawberry (FragAria
v6sca), some speedwells •( Veninica), the groundsel, and some-
times the stocks and wall-flower (Cheirdnthus) in flower.
Home sorts of gooseberries, apricots, and peaches, beginning to
open their buds.
3. Farm.yard. (2902.)
See last month. In taking in stacks to thresh, destroy ver-
min as much as pos?4l)le. (0632.) Clear away the bottoming of
straw, faggots, or other temporary matter, and leave the site
perfectly neat and clean : the poultry will pick up what grains
may have dro)H>ed. Ba vigilant in keeping slock of every de-
scription in order; wintering cattle by frequent supplies of
fresh straw and turnips, or other roots ; horses by sounil corn,
and good jieas-straw, or clover-hay, dispensing as much <Ts
possible with wheat and oat straw. The evening food should,
ocrasir.naily at least, be of carrots or potatoes.
Poultry now lay freely ; and if some indicate a desire to incu-
bate, so much the better where an early brood is an obiect.
Men's lodge. There are still a good many hours for mental
improvement.
4. Live Stock. (6216.)
Sheep generally begin to lamb during this month, and re-
quire unremitting attention from the shepherd. (7112.) At-
tend to feeding lambs as before (7224.), and to milch cows
(6.S03.) and fattening calves. (0843.)
5. Grass Lands. {5QV3.)
See last month. Manures, where applied to grass lands,
may be laid on at this season ; and such old mossy lands as are
to be broken up may now be pared with a view to burning
next month.
The watering of meadows in warm situations may be par-
tially left off towards the middle of the month, to encourage
the growth of the grass. (438.5.)
6. Arable Lands. (4925.)
Beans should be put in during this month. (52^2.) Peas for
podding, and for a ripened <Top, rhay be sown at different
periods (5121.), and tares for soiling or seed. (5257.) Oats .sown
from the middle of this month to the middle of March (5120.)
unless on very old turf, where they may be sown later. It is a
common but erroneous opinion, that old grass lands intended
to be broken up and sown with oats or beans, should be ploughed
as early as possible, so as the frost may have some effect on
the furrow before seed-time. But this, though most plausible,
is a most dangerous doctrine, it being found from experience,
that lands so ploughed and sown are always more subject to
have the plant of com destroyed by the grub, wire-worm, or
other larvae. The only safe mode with such lands, is not to
plough them till about the middle of March, and then to
plough, sow, and roll immediately afterwards. It would aj.
pear that by this practice the larvae of insects are buried so
deep, that they have not time to reach the surface before the
gram has germinated and grown out of the reach of their
attacks, or probably they may be so deeply buried as to be
obliged to remain another season under ground ; it lieing known
to naturalists, that the eggs, larvae, and chrysalidie of many
insects, like the seeds of many plants, will, when buried too
deep, or otherwise placed in circumstances not favourable for
their immediate hatching or germination, remain there, re-
taining their i>rinciple of life, till they can make their way, or
are by accident placed in circumstances favourable for tlieir
development. The safest plan, however, to break up old
grass land is to pare and bum. (5805.)
Spring wheat of the common kind may now be advantage-
ousW sown (5004.), and barley is also sown in some warm spots
in the last week of the month.
7. Fences (4213.), Roads (3523.), Drains, Ditches
(2960.), Ponds. (4467.)
Hedges may lie plantetl (297S.), grown ones pruned (29S1.),
old ones plashed or cut down (2987), and imperfect ones re-
paired. Walls built (3056.), water fences and ponds form-
ed. (4467.)
8. Orchards (4079.) and Hop-grounds. (5997.)
See last month.
9. Wood-lands and Plantations. (3906.)
As in last month, WTiere there is a nursery store, nut and
kernel tree seeds may now be sown.
MARCH.
Weather
at
Average of
the Ther-
mometer.
Greatest
Variation
from the
Average.
Average
of tllS
Barometer.
a-S
REMARKS.
The beginning of March usually concludes the winter ;
and the end of the month is generally indicative of the
succeeding spring ; according to the proverb, " March
comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb." The
Saxons called this month the lengthening month, in allu-
sion to the increasing of the days. This is a lalicrious
and trving month, both for men and cattle engaged in
field operations.
I>ondon -
Edinburgh
Dublin -
46 4
41 7
44 09
4
30 20
28 886
29 707
2-364
1. Calendar of Animated Nature round London.
In the first meek : the ring-dove (roHimba Palumbus) coos ;
the white wagtail (JWotacflla 41ba) sings, and the yellow wag-
tail (4/otacilla fIJiva) appears. The earthworm (Lumbricus
terr&stris), and the snail HMix) and slug (Limax) engender.
Hccoiid week: Uic jackdaw (C'urvus Jfonedula) begins to come
to churches; the tomtit Parus caeruleus) makes its spring
note; brown wood-owls (Strix U'lula) hoot; and the small
tortoise-shell butterfly (Papflio urticse L.) appears.
Third meek : the marsh titmouse (Pirus j)alustris) begins hi»
notes. Various flies (Jlfusca;) appear. The fox (C'anis Kulpes)
smells rank. The turkej-cock (il/el^agris Gallo-P^vo) strut*
and gobl'les.
CALENDAIUAL INDEX.
1235
Fourth meek: the ydlowhammer (Embertza Citrtnfella) and
RTeeii wood-pecker (rtcus viridis) sin« ; rooks, ravens (C'orvi),
and house pigeons (Columbae) baild ; the goldfinch (FringiUa
Cardiidlis) sings. Field-crickets (iJcarabae^i) ©iien their holes ;
and the corainon flea (Pdlex irritans) appears.
2. CalendaJ- of Vegetable Nature round London.
In the first week: various species of the pine, larch, and fir
tribe in full flower ; the rosemary (Aosinarmus officinalis), the
willow (i'alix) and bay (Lavirus nobilis) in blossom ; various
trees and shrubs beginning to open their buds.
Second week: the common honeysuckle (Lonicira Periciyme-
num), and some roses in leaf; Cibcus v6mus, and other sub-
species, and some ScXllae in flower. Pilewort (Ficaria), and
creeping crowfoot (Ranunculus r^jtens), Hepatica, and elder
(i'anibficus nigra), sometimes in leaf.
Third week ; i'axlfraga oppositif olia, Draba vfema, DiSphne
{>dntica,and coUina ; and I,onic6ra nigra, in flower.
Fourth week: the ^each, nectarine, apricot, C<)rchorus ja-
pdnicus, P^rus japdnica, crown imperial, Saxlfraga crassifolia,
fiiixus sempervirens, and other plants, in warm iituations, in
flower, or just advancing to that state.
3. Farm-yard. (2902.)
Wintering cattle should be liberally supplied with food from
this time, till they can be wholly turned to grass : as straw and
hay gets drier at this season, more should be given, and the
supply of turnips, or other roots, rather mcrdastd than dimi-
nisheti. Where oil cake, brewers' grains, and similar articles
can be obtained, they are va'uable auxiliaries. Fatting cattle
(6852.) and milch cows (6863.) require continued attention to
food, cleanliness, and moderate exercise. Working horses
must be ke|)t in good condition j if they fiUI off now, they will
not recover themselves for several months. Potatoes may now
be cut into sets preparatory for next month.
4. Live Stock. (6216.)
Sheep now drop their lambs freely ; and none pay better
than such as are turnip fed at this time, and finished off in
April, on forward pasture. As tuniiiw begin to run to flower
about this time, they are apt to prove more than usually laxa-
tive, and therefore the stock supplied with them sliould have
an extra supply of hay.
5. Grass Lands. (56i3.)
Meadows intended for mowing (57C8.) should now be shut
up, their surface having been freed from stones or other extra-
neous matters, the furrows or water gutters made completely
fiilective, and, if the weather will permit, the surface bush-har-
rowed, and rolled. Meadows which have been flooded duruig
winter will, in favourable situations, show a considerable crop
of grass by the beginning of this month. Turn off' the water a
week or ten days, till the surface gets firm ; then feed with
ewes and lambs, giving a little hay in the evening. Calves may
also be turned on these meadows, but nothing heavier. The
•best mode is to hurdle off the grass in strips, in the manner of
eating tumii>s or clover in the places of tneir growth. Moles
(7631.) and worms (7704.) are best destroyed at this season.
6. Arable Lands. (4925.)
There are few hardy seeds, whether of agriculture or garden-
ing, that may not be committed to the soil during this month.
Spring wheat of the common kind (5001.) may still he sown ;
but if possible, not later than the middle of the month ; oats
(5120.f. rve (5069.), barley (5080.), canary com (5169.), buck-
wheat (6111.), beans (.5222.\ peas (5121.1, tares (5257.), &c.
Clovar and rye grass (5621.) may now be eowit .viOTsp yoong
wheats after naked fallows, or among spring com in lauds in
good heart and fine tilth.
Field beet (54S2.), carrots (5413.), parsneps (5471.), and
Swedish turnips should be sown the last fortnight of Jie montJi,
provided the land is dry enough to be sutUciently cleaned, and
pulverised to the depth of at least a foot. It more fvojutntly
happens that this cannot be got done till the beginning ot -A prif,
and hence tins class of seeds is seldom got in before the mid-
dle of that month. The carrots should be first sown, and the
Swedish turnip will bear to be the latest. Lands intended for
potatoes, carriages, turnips, transplanted Swedish turnip, and
other plants of tlie Br&sica kind should be brought forward by
such ploughings, cross ploughings, and workings with the grub-
ber, as their nature and state may require. It is one great ad-
vantage of the common white turnip, that it admits of two
months more time for preparing the soil than other root or
Cr^ssica crops. Summer or wheat fallows rtxiuiie at least aaet
furrow in course of the month.
7. Fences (2960.) Roads (3523.), and Drains. (4213.)
Thorns and other hedge plants may be put in, but the earlier
in the month the business is completed the better, lliis is an
excellent season for making or repairing roads (3727.), drains,
ponds, embankments, &c., the ground being still moist, and the
days sufficiently long to admit of a man's labouring ten hours,
or from six to six. In January, the ground is often too tvet, or
frozen, or covered with snow, and the days too short for advan-
tageous day labour. In July and August the ground is too dry
and hard for spade work, and day labour high on account of tllB
proximity of hay time and harvest.
8. Orchards (4079.) and Hop Grounds. (5997.)
Finish pruning fruit-trtes (4111.), and also digging round
their stems, if that is practised. (4119.) Where young orchards
are grazed, see that the guards or fences to the single trees are
in repair.
Form plantations of hops (5997.), and ojien up and dress the
hills of established plants, returning the mould to their root*;.
(6025.)
9. Wood-lands and Plantations. (3906 )
In the tree nursery, finish sowing acorns, keys, nuts, mast,
berries, stones. Sow also the lignter trees, cis poplar seed
(where it can be got), willow, birch, alder, elm, &c. Trans-
plant from the seed bed, or from narrow to broadtT interveds,
and attend to other paits of the usual routine culture.
New plantations may still be planted, endeavouring if possible
to finish putting in deciduous trees with the month ; using the
puddle in dry weather (.3940.), and fixing by Mater. (3952.)
Where large Uces are introduced, the latter generally require
to be staked-
E vergreens of the harder kinds, as the Scotch pine, spruce fir,
&r, may be transplanted in the last week of the month, but not
safely before. They are often put in during aiw of the winter
months, but the result shows the impropriety of^the practice.
Fill up blanks (5983.) in young plantations and hedges, and
fell timber, cut over coppice woods, and thin out yoi'ng woods
as in last month. When plantations are to be raised from seed
where they are to remain for timber (3926.), this is the month
for most seed, but April is better for the pine and fir tnbe.
Sow the others in the second or third week of the month ; and
If resinous trees are to be mixed, a sprinkling ctiXmt seed* can
be sown (»ver the others in April,
APRIL.
Weather
at
-meter. from^^e
Average
ofthl
Barometer.
Qu-intity
of Kain.
REMARKS.
The weather of this month is distmguished by the ra-
pidity of its changes. It is generally stormy, inter-
and occasionally violent storms of wind. It is a month
of the utmost activity to the cultivator of arable land,
who during its course finishes the sowing of spring corns
and grasses, and begins that of roots and leaves.
I^ndon -
Edinburgh
DubUn -
49 9 3
46 3 - .
51 125
29 77
29 873
32 909
1-460 hich.
2-414
2-561
1. Calendar of Animated Nature round London.
In the firtt week: the viper (Tdluber b^rus) and woodlouse
(Onfscus ylsellus) appear ; the misseltoe thrush (Turdus viscf-
vorus) pairs ; frogs (iianee) croak and spawn, and moths (Pha-
Ite'na;) appear.
Second week : the stone curlew (Charhdrius (Edim^mus) cla-
mours ; young frogs (Hana temjior^ria) appear. The pheasant
(Phasianus) crows, the trout (idlmo Triittu) rises, and spiders
(/4 rknefc ) abound .
Third week : the crested wren (A/ofacflla R6gulus) sings ; the
blackbird (Tiirdus Merula), raven (Cdrvus C^rax), pigeon (Co-
Idmba domestica), hen (Phasianus G^illus), and duck {A*nas
bdscha) sit; variou> insects appear; and the feldf'are (Turdus
pilkris) is still here.
Fourth week : the swallow (HinSndo nSstica) returns ; the
nightingale (ATotacilla Luscfnia) sings ; the bittern [A'rdea ro-
tellaria) makes a noise; the house martin (Hinindo ilrbica)
appears ; the blackcap (Motacflla Atricapflla) whistles ; and
the common snake (Cdluber JVatrix) appears.
2. Calendar of Fegetable Nature round London.
In the first week: the dafTodil (ATarcfssus Pseddo-narcfssus),
the garden hyacinth (ifyadnthu* otientalis), the wallflower
(Cheirdnthus Cheiri), the cowslip (Primula officinalis), the peri-
winkle (Klnca), sloe (Prvinus spinosa), and various other herbs
and trees in flower.
Second week: the ground-ivy (Glech6ma Aedericea), gentia-
nfella (Gentiin/i acaulis), PulmonJirik virglnica, the auricula,
Jb^ris sempervirens, Omphal6des vferna, and most of the com-
mon fruit-trees and fruit-shrubs in flower.
Third week : some Robinice, Andr<5med<F, Kilmice, and other
American shrubs ; DjSphne Laur^ola, l;'lmus camp<;3tris,Chry-
sospl4nium oppositlfiilium, Mexcvxialis per^nnis, and other
plants in flower.
Fourth meek .- the beech (Fkgus) and elm (Uarnus) in flower :
ivv-berr;es drop from the racemes ; the larch in leaf, and the
tulip and some white narcissi and fritillaries in tlpsver.
3. Farm-yard. (2902 )
This month will in most situations terminate the wintering
of cattle in the straw-yard. Straw is now very dry, therefore
tumiiw, or other green food or roo^s, should be added in pro-
portion.
Horses should be kept in high order, on account of the hard
work and extra exertion often required of them during this
month. If there are carrots or potatoes to steam for them
onie a day, that will greatly aid hay and com ; if not, steam a
part of the hay-
The accidental supplies of food for store pigs and poultry arte
less abundant during this month, because less time can be
spared for threshing. Theie are fewer wintering cattle, and
the yards are generally now cleaned out for the field dung-
hills.
4. Live Stock. (6216.)
The end of this month is a good time for mares to foal (6629.),
and they should have the horse accordingly. (6631.) Attend
at the proper i>eriods, first to moderate working, and then to
entire ease before foaUng time. (6641.)
Cows must still be well fed with roots or steamed food, within
doors, letting them taste the grass occasionally towards the end
of the month. (6863.)
Sheep and lambs generally require a good deal of .nrtificial
food during the first half of this month. AVben the turnips are
expended, clover hay, grains of barley which have been maUed,
rape cake, or linseed cake, are the next rtsources. (6094.)
About the end of the month they may tie turned on the jict-
turcs, and then it is that mutton generally drops in price:- a
hint to the farmer to sell all he can in the early part of April.
4 K 2
1236
CALENDARIAL INDEX.
Wliere thera are water-meridows, the sheep and lamhs will
have been fattening on these during the whole of the month,
— an immense advantage to a farmer.
Poultry of most kinds have now hatched their broods, and
require looking after, to see they do not injure one anotlier, nor
are attacked by stronger enemies.
5. Grass Lands. {')6i3.)
8ee that the fences are kept up, and the gates regularly shut
and fastened ; as cattle newly let out are very apt to wander,
and more ready to break through fences than when the herbage
is more abundant.
Water.meatlmvs (4371.) are generally shut up for hay about
the end of the month, the ewes and lambs being then turned
on young artificial grasses, or common provincial pastures, in
a sufficiently for vard state.
Mowing-meadows of the common kind (5768.), and clovers,
and mixed grasses for hay, should be hand-picked, bush-
harrowed, and rolled, early in the month, and then shut up for
the scythe.
6. Arable Lands. (4925.)
Finish totoiag all the spring corns (5080.), peas, tares, lu-
cerne (5574.), saintfoin, and all other herbage, plants, and
grasses. (5643.)
Summer rvheat (5004.) may be sown during the whole of the
month, also barley in late situations (.3080.), peas for late pod-
ding, and under peculiar circumstances, tares for cutting green
in October and November.
Mamifuclorial plants, as woad, madder, flax, hemp, mustard,
&c. ; oil plants, as rape, poppy, and such plants as are grown
for medicinal purposes or peculiar uses in domestic economy,
as rhubarb, liquorice, buck or beech wheat, cress, &c. may all
be sown or planted from the middle of last to the middle of this
month. The first week in April will, in the greater number
of seasons, soils, and situations, suit the most of tl.em.
Carrot (5443.], field beet(5482.),parsnep(5417.), and Swed-
ish turnip (5409.), if not sown the last week of March, should
be finished during the first ten days of April. A bed of S wedish
turnips should be sown in the garden for transplanting in the
field by the end of the month, or the first week in May.
The last fortnight of the month is the best season for planting
potatoes (6316.) ; in the earliest situations this is soon enough
for a full crop ; in the latest, the middle of May will answer
better. For very early croi)S for the supply of summer markets,
dry rich sheltered fields may be planted in March. In the
moors of Scotland they oftea plant in June, and still have a
crop ; there the potato" is alike obno.\ious to late spring and
early autumnal frost.
7. Fences (2960.), Roads (3523.), and Drains.
(4213.)
All these should have been put in order before, so as to leave
the hedger of the farm (7714.), and the labourer of all work
(7711.), time to assist in getting in planted crops, as potatoes,
cabbages, &c. in the fields, cropping the garden, mowing, or
otherwise dressing the orchard, shrubbery, lawn, or such orna-
mental or enjoyment ground as the fanner indulges in round
his house.
8. Orchards (4079.) and Hop-grounds. (5997.)
In some cases fruit-trees may be so over-run with insects
towards the end of the month as to make it worth while to bum
wet straw under them ; but this rarely happens before the
middle of May, and even then farm orchards may almost always
be left to the birds and vigour of the trees. Hops are generally
poled in this month, and the ground between the hills after-
wards stirred with the cultivator or nidget as it is called in
Kent. (6026.)
9. Wood-Iands and Plantations. (3906.)
Alt planting and pruning of deciduous trees should be
finished tlie first week of the month. Afterwards the plantirig
and pruning of evergreens may commence; first the common
pine and fir, and afterwards the holly, yew, and other forest
evergreens. (39.17.) If these can be watered, and staked, so
much the better. Barking oaks may in some warm situations
be felled the last week of the month, but May is the more ge-
neral time. (4050.)
MAY
Weather
at
Average of
the -rher-
mometer.
Greatest
Variation
from the
Average.
Average
of the
Barometer.
Quantity
iJRain.
REMARKS.
Vegetation now goes on with great vigour, though there
are often verv cold and even frosty nights, which ma-
terially injure the Mos.soms of fruit-trees, and sometimes
the young .-.hoots of the hop and potato. Man, in com-
mon with other animals, being now full of life and
vigour, the consummation of animal desire is frequent;
but marriage Is better deferred till Se^nember, when the
offspring will be bwn in the May or June following, a
season of the year when the poor man can better support
the expenses of an accouchement than in the cold month
respondent to marriages in May.
London .
Edinburgh
Dublin .
56 61
50 4
52 193
2 5
30 02
29 585
30 061
0-794 inch.
1-945
1-812
1. Calendar of Animated Nature round London.
In the first week : the titlark (^laiida pratfensis) sings, the
cuckoo (CiicuLus can6rus) is heard; the gudgeon (Cy'prinus
G6blo) spawns ; the redstart (.fl/otacfila i'hceniciirus), swift
(Hirfindo^*p"s), whitethroat (JHotacfila Sylvia), and stinging-
fly (Cdnops calcitrans) appear.
Second week: the turtle-dove (Coliimha Tlirtur) coos; the
red ant (Formica rubra), the laughing wren (3/otacflla Currtica),
the common flesh-fly (jMtisca vomitdria), the lady-cow (Cocci-
ntUablpunct^ta), grasshopper lark (.^laiida Lociistae v6cls), and
willow- wren (Afotacflla oalic^ria) appear-
Third week : the blue flesh-fly (Jttusca vomit6ria) appears ;
black snails (H^lix nigra) abound, and the large bat appears.
Fourth week ; the great white-cabbage butterfly (Papflio
brissicae) and dragon fly (Libellula 4-maculata) appear ; the
glow-worm shines, and thefem-ow), or goat-sucker (Caprimnl-
gus europeeNis), returns.
2. Calendar of Vegetable Nature round London.
In the first meek : G^um urbknum, .^rtemfsia campestris ; lily
of the valley (Convalliria majalis), water-violet (Hott6nirt pa-
lastris), tulip-tree (Liriodendrontulipffera), and numerous other
plants in flower.
Second week: the oak, ash, sweet chestnut (Casthnea v^sca),
hawthorn (JHespilus Oxyac^ntha), the common maple (.i4'cer
campfestre), horse-chestnut (..SI'sculus Hippocdstanum), bar-
berry ( B^rieri> vulgaris), and the A'juga r^ptans in flower.
Third week : the water scorpion-grass, or forget-me-not
(^fyos6tis scorpiiildes), lime-tree (Tflia), milk-wort (Pol^gala
vulgaris), nightshade (A'tropa Beliaddnna), and various -Ameri-
can shrubs in flower, and rye (Secale hyb^mum) in ear.
Fourth week: oaks, ashes, and beeches now generally in leaf,
and the mulberry (JlTbrus nigra) beginning to open Its buds.
The cinnamon rose and some other hardy roses in flower ; and
also the bramble (iiiibus fruticdsus), moneywort (iysimhchia
Nummulkria), columbine (Aquil^gla vulgaris), and various
other trees and shrubs in blossom.
3. Farm-yard. (2902.)
Feeding and wintering on straw and roots generafly ends,
and soiling (5542.) or pasturage (3562.) commences, in the
first fortnight. Where high-flavoured milk and butter arc pre-
ferred to quantity, then pasturage on dry -bottomed uplands is
to be preferred ; but where quantity and riclmesc is the olytct,
soiling with clover and tares, and two or three hours' pasttfrage
per day, for the sake of exercise, is the preferable system.
Even on farms where there is nothing to mow but old meadow,
soiling with that will be found more economical than pastur-
ing it. A field of meadow in good heart, mown and eaten
green, will, at a rough estimate, produce treble the quantity of
milk it would have done if pastured, and four times as much as
it would do in the form of dry hay.
The.varrfJ and pits are generally cleared of dung, urine, &c.
at this season ; and if no soiling goes on, they should be kept
clean during the summer, excepting what room is required for
the dung of the few stock which are there constantly, as
pigs and poultry, or occasionally, as horses while harnessing,
4. Livestock. (6216.)
In turning cattle to grass, consider the different systems of
pasturing (5816.); adopt what suits your circumstances, and
pursue it regularlv. See that water Is not wanting to each
field (4463.) ; nor shade, rubbing posts, and shelter. (5838.)
Lean stock are generallv dear during this month, from the
number of persons who liuy in and feed off on grass. When
cattle or sheep are verv numerous, they are found to feed better,
and do less injury to the grass, in small herds or flocks, than in
large ones.
Mares may have the horse during the first week, but not later
considering the season of parturition. (6(;37.)
5. Grass Lands. (5643.)
As most grasses send up their flower -stalks during this
month, it is of importance so to stock pastures, as to eat these
down. This is only to be accomplishid in recently sown down
lands by overstocking, and not then completely if ryegrass pre-
vails. \Vhen grass lands are to be mown, the best crop of hay
will be obtained bv not pastvuring after the middle of April.
Some may think that where cattle and sheep are fed till May
or June, the stalks left will come in as hay ; but as such fields
cannot be mown till the end of .Tuly, the stalks have long be-
fore shed their seed and become dry, and so shrivelled as to be
unfit for food.
Where ■paring and tmming are wanted, this is a favourable
season. (3209.)
Water-meadows, having been eaten down in April, are gene-
rally watered for the first three or four weeks of this month, to
bring forward the crop of hay. (4429.)
6. Arable Lands. (4925.)
Summer wheat (5004.) and grass seeds (5873.) may still be
sown, but not profitably after the first week or ten days.
Swedish turnip (5409.), marvgold, and yellow turnip may be
profitably sown, and also early crops of common white turnip
where the soil is clean and duly prepared. (5594.)
The preparation of turnip fallotvs is the great business of this
month, and next the stirring of naked fallows (4944.), and the
culture, by horse and hand hoes, of corns and pulse in drills.
In late situations potatoes may be planted during the whole
month (5316.) ; and hemp and flax sown during the first fort-
night. (5880. and 5922.) Tares for successional supply. (5257.)
7. Fences (29§0.), Boads (3523.), and Draini.
(4213.) ^ ^
Clean young Iieilge.rows. (2982.) Drains may now be advan-
tageously designed, as the springs show themselves more con-
spicuously during winter. The rest in this department is mer«
CALENDARIAL INDEX.
1237
8. Orchards (4079.) and Hop-grounds. (5997.)
Grufted trect should be looked over occasionally, and any that
the clay has dropped troin re-covered. Keraove suckers and
»uj>erfluous side shoots.
btir and clean the hop-plantations ; place the poles, tie the
■t-ines where necessary ; and towards the end of the month,
when the number of shoots wanted have taken the lead ; cover
the stool or centre of the plant with a small hill of soil, to pre-
vent it from sending up more shoots.
9. Wood-laiids and Plantations. (S90fi.)
Continue to bark oak trees, and also the larch, and BUrh
others as are adapted for the farmer (4044.), but finish, if pos-
sible, by the middle of the month. Keep newly planted larRC
trees properly staked, and all kinds of cultivated ground clear
of weeds.
JUNE.
Weather
at
fhTxTer"'
mometer.
Greatest
Variation
from the
Average.
^Jf'tSI''
Barometer.
^a
REMARKS.
The weather Is sometimes cold at the beginning, but is
generally agreeable and steady towards the middle of the
month. By observing the columns indicating the
greatest variation, of the thermometer in each month, it
will be seen that it varies, in London, only two d. grees in
June, which is less than in any of the preceding months.
In July and August the variation is the same; but in
March and October it is twice as much.
London -
Edinburgh
Dublin -
63 22
67 2
58 76
2
29 93
2:) 666
30 06
0-332 inch.
1-935
0-860
1. Calendar of Animated Nature round London.
In the first week : the sedge-sparrow ( Passer arundinacea), the
fly-catcher (Muscfcapa AtricaplUa), the wasp (Kespa vulgaris),
and several species of the bee and butterfly appear.
Second tveek: the burnet moth (Sphfnx filip^ndulae';, and
forest-fly (Hippobdsca equina) appear; bees swarm.
Tliird week : several AIls, butttrtlies, moths, beetles, and other
insects appear.
Fourth rveek : insects abound ; and singing-birds begin to
retire to the woods, and leave oft" singing.
2. Calendar of Vegetable Nature round London.
In the first neek : water-lilies (A'ymphae'a et A'fiphar) flower;
also iVis Pseud-iicorus, ^'nthemis Cu'tula, Polygonum Versi-
c^ria, ;W<llva rotundif61ia, and numerous other plants.
Second rveek : the vine, raspberry, and elder in full flower ;
also various Scotch roses (/Josaspinosfssiraa), broom (Sji^rtium),
nettle (f/rtica), and wheat in the ear.
Third tveek: the (Orchis, Epilobium, IVis JTlphium and
*iphioldes, the hardy /'xiae and Gladioli, and a great variety of
garden and field plants in flower ; also the wheat and many of
the pasture grasses.
Fourth rveek ; some black and red currantstipe, strawberries
in abundance ; young shoots of trees and shrubs have nearly
attained their length. Oats and barley in flower ; blue-bottle,
scabious ( Centaur^a Cyinus), and numerous others in bloom.
3. Farm.yard. (2902.)
Soiling is the principal ojieration now going forward (5542.),
and requires the utmost attention to the cleanliness of the
animals, whether fatting cattle, feeding milch cows, or horses.
4. Ltve Stock. (6216.)
Wash and shear shtep (7201.); examine flocks individually
as to the fly (7173.) ; see to shade for every description of stock
when the weather is hot. Bees swarm during this and next
month.
5. Grass Lands. (5648 )
Hay-makirtg is now a principal business (5544. and 5792.)
Any tussocks or flower-stalks (bents) which appear, notwith-
standing the close feeding of April and May, should now be
mown (5772.); thistles and similar weeds cut out close by the
root (6ii02.) ; pare and bum as in May (3209.) ; clean out
pond.s, water-courses, wells, &c. See that clovers, tarts, or
other soiling crops are mown close to the soil.
6. Arable Lands. (4925.)
Great part of the turnip process goes on during the three
first weeks of this month and the latter half of May. (5373.)
Dung fallows and otherwise bring them forward (4568.), drain-
ing (4213.), levelling, altering ridges, &c. as the case may re-
quire ; weed broad-cast crops, £uid stir the soil between such
as are in rows. Warping, where it can be practised, mav now
be commenced (4450.) ; thin out the first sown turnips. (5406.)
7. Fences (2960.), Roads (3523.), and Drains.
(4213.)
Weed hedges, but avoid clipping them, which only creates a
close surface of feeble shoots, tnat in the end becomes so thick
as to exclude light and air from the central stems, and occa-
sions their languishing and death. (2985.)
Dig and otherwise prepare materials for roads (3635.) and
drains. (4284.)
8. Orchards (4079.) and Hop-grounds. (5997.)
Insects, or other effects of what are called blights, can seldom
be destroyed on so large a scale as that of the farm-orchard or
hop-garden. Burning weeds or wet straw, litter, &c. will do
something; and on a small scale, washing with lime-water,
soap-sudsj tobacco-water, or a mixture of these, will prove
efl^ectual. (6056.) Those who tie the binds or vine of the hop
to the poles, instead of leaving them to nature, have generally
completed the operation by the middle of the month. In some
early spots the superfluous shoots are cut off about the end of
the month.
9. Wood-lands and Plantations. (3906.)
The woodman is now chiefly employed in trussing up the
branches of barked trees, and otherwise disposing of what is
unfit for timber purposes. (4049.) Old copses or stools of trees,
woods, or hedges, may now be advantageously stocked up,
stacked, and when dry, charred for fuel. (4068 •)
JULY.
Weather
at
Average of
the Tlier-
mometcr.
Greatest
Variation
from the
Average.
Average
ofthl
Barometer.
otS
REMARKS.
This was called hay month by the Saxons ; and though
hay-making near London is generally finished in June,
yet in places where manure is le.ss abundant, it is chiefly
made in this month. The farmer's prospects as to
crop may now be determined as to almost every article
cultivated.
Edinburgh
Dublin -
66 3
60 6
61 13
2
29 89
29 445
29 929
2-194 inch.
2-546
2-614
1. Calendar of Anhnati^d Nature round London.
In the first week ; the cuckoo ( Ciiculus can6rus) leaves off sing-
ing ; the stone-curlew (Charadrius (Edicn^mus) whistles occa-
sionally late at night, and the golden-crested wren (JKotacfUa
Rfegulus) now and then chirps.
Secottd week : the quail ( r§trao ierrugfneus) calls ; the cuckoo-
spit, or frog-hopper (Cicada .spumkria), abounds.
Third week: young frogs migrate. Hens moult.
Fourth rveek : the great horse-fly (Tabanus iovinus) appears ;
and partridges fly.
2. Calendar of Vegetable Nature round London,
Jn Vie first rveek: enchanter's nightshade (CircaeV lutetikna)
and lavender (Laviindula spica) in flower, and pinks and car-
nations in full bloom.
Second rveek : the fallen star (Trem61la Ndstoc) appears ; also
puff-balls (Lycop6rdon Ii<.v{sfa), and sometimes the common
mushroom (..igdricus campfetris).
Third meek : raspberries and gooseberries ripe, potatoes in
flower, asparagus in beiry, the liliums in perfection.
Fourth week : the truffle (Tuber cibkrium) now hunted or dug
up in commons and forests; nightshade (Solanum nigrum),
devil's bit ( Scabi6sa succisa), burnet saxifrage (Pimpin611a Saxi-
fraga), and a great number of plants in flower.
3. Farm.yard. (2902.)
As in June ; between hay and com harvest is generally a
very good time for the farmer to make a tour to observe more
extensively the practices of his own district, and to witness
those of other districts.
4, 5. Live Stock (6216.) and Grass Lands. (5648.)
Lambs are now weaned (7 161.) when not fattened off; at first
they require the richest keep. As green food will now ba
abundant, every animal about a farm that can live and thrive
or answer its end by the soiling system, should be so treated.
The weather being hot, cattle or sheep in fields must be fre-
quently looked to, ES to shade, water, and abundant keep.
Suffering from thirst, or a want of food, they are very apt to
break through fences, which at this season is more than usually
injurious, on account of the state of the com crops.
6. Arable Lands. (4925.)
Attend to weeding, hoeing, and otherwise moving the soil
between rowed crops, more especially potatoes and turnips.
Towards the end of the month, the first-sown white turnips
will be in a state to thin out ; and a farther thinning may he
advantageously given to field beet, carrots, &c., at this season.
AVhere peas are sown for podding, they will now be in abund-
ance forgathering; in warm situations sooner. Buck-wheat
may now be sown for autumnal food for game. (61 ll.>
7. Fences (2960.), lioads (3523.), and Drains.
(4213.)
As in June.
8. Orchards (4079.) and Hop-grounds. (5997.)
Cherries, strawberries, gooseberries, &c., where grown as
field-crops, are now in gathering, and towards the end of the
month, fallen apples and^ums for tarts. Hop-grounds are
looked over, and the su|ietfluous vine pnuied ofl', &c. In Kent
4 K 3
1296
CALENDARIAL INDEX.
aol oAer jA-tm SiPse prunliicj are often a perquisite of Uie
Vrun. r, who lays them iiside as fodder for cows.
9. lVood-Ui7vfs and Plantations. {S90(i.)
As ill Jime; aiid i>rune the Rcan, which at other seasons is
at>t to Weed. (jJ'JS.) Tills seasoii answers perfectly for pruning
all sorts of trees ; and If tlielr leaves arul spray were an object
for fodder, as in Sweden and Italv, no doubt it would be pre-
ferretl. (3i*"J4. and 399G.) Wounds in trees do not now b;eed
as they sometimes do in sjiring and autumn ; and they he.il,
and are in part covered over with bark. befcM'e the approach oT
winter. (3933.'
AUGUST.
Weather
at
thTlTer"'
mometcr.
Greatest
Variation
from the
Average.
A^i^erage
of the
Barometer.
s-s
REMARKS.
This Is the l>am or harvest month of the Saxons ; and, ag
every Ixxly knows, the busiest month of the agriculturist.
It Is, in consequence, the most profitable season for the
lalxmrer and his family, who are generally in full em-
ploy, and at an increase of wages, or perquisites, for four
or six weeks at this season.
Jx^ndon -
Edinburgh
Uublin -
65 M
m 6
62 82
2
, 30 06
29 828
30 172
0-824 inch.
1-996
5-858
1. Calendar of Animated Nature round London.
In ihefiis! week: flying ants (Formica) ippear ; bees kill thjir
firones; and tlie swallow-tai'.ed butterfly (Papflio Machion)
appears.
Second meek : young martins { ffinindo rirbica) and swallows
(Hinindo nistlca, bi.gin to congtegate, and swifts (Hiriindo
^Vs) to dL'iiart ; thj whame, or burrel-fly (CE'strus 66vis}, lays
eggs on horses.
Third week : the black -eyed marble butterfly ( Papfiio S^mele)
apjiears. Various birds re-assume their spring notes.
Fourth week: the nuthatch (SUta europa;*a) chatters, the
stone-curlew (Charadrius OEiliL-n^mus) whistles at nig it, the
goat-sucker (Caprimiilgus europasVs) ami young owls (i'trix
l/'iula) make a noLse in the evemng ; robin -reilbreast (JKotacllla
Uubfcola) sings ; and rooks roost on their nest-trees.
2. Calendar of Fei>etable Nature round London.
In thefrst meek: me!ilot (Trifblium officinkle), rue («iita
praveolens}, yellow succory (PlcrisAieracioides), burdock (.4'rc-
tium L^piia) in flower ; the bread-corns ripe.
Second week: wild clary (Salvia V&chenkca), meadow-rue
(Tlialictium flavum), ploughman's spikenard (Conyza squar-
>osa), and various other natives in (lower.
Third week : the mallow {Milva. Lavatrta), hollyhock (vllcea
r6sea), and lobelias, among the garden-tlowers ; and the i>oly-
eonuins and potamogetons amtwig the wild plants now in
blossom.
Fotirlh n'Ot-fc: the autumnal crocus (Wlchicum autumnale),
.4'ster Solidago, .Sen6:-io pa'udbsus, teasel (Dipsacus fullonum),
and various oiher plants in flower. The earlier varieties of all
the hardy kernel fruits ripe.
S. Farm-yard. (2902.)
The nck-i/ard should now lie attended to (2906.); stack-
stand-s repaired or put in order : bottoming of faggots, and
straw or rape haulm got together; thatch in readiness, and
ropes made. (3184.)
At any spare period the teams may be employed carting out
the summ. r matle dung to the wheat fallow*, or to fcrm field
dunghills for spring crops, &c.
4. Live stock. (6216.)
Select the stock of larnhs to be kept as breeders. (7170.)
Swine commonly bring their second litter of jiigs in this month ;
which, owing to the dropping com, is generally one of abund-
ant keep, both for them and poultry. Farmers in some places
look to the stubbles as a source of good food foi tlieir cows, as
others do to the fallows for keep for their sheep. Where
either is the case, the culture must be of a very inferior de-
scription.
5. Grass Lands. (5643.)
\VTiere nmtdjws are manured, that operation generally goos
on aft;.T thi; hay is removed, or during winter ; the surface in
the former case being hard with drought, and in the latter by
frost. After griss should in general be shut up and reserve<l for
later keep, and in some ca^es as a winter resource. Ket-p down
weeds, tussocks, ant-hills, &c. Turn the water on meadow-
lands as soon as the hay is removed, and let it remain till a
third crop is in forwEtrdness. (4.387-)
6. Arable Lands. (49^5.)
Weed aad itir among green crops, earth up potatoes (5336.),
but by no means turnips, unless the snil is very dry indeed, as
that oi>eration only prevents them from attaii-.ing a full size.
Reaping commences in all the southern districts in the fist
week ot this month, and in some by the middle of July. When
the operation is executed by day work, the mast unremitting
inspection of the master is necessary ; and even when the greatly
preferable mode of reap'ng by the acre is adopted, he should be
continually in motion nom one party to another, to seethut the
operation is perfi>rmcd low and clean.
Naked Jidloits in late situations receive the seed furrow dur-
ing this month, excepting in cases where the seed is ploughed
ini an operation generally d.feired to the middle of September.
So.v cabbage-seeds (4497.) for plants to put out in April next.
Sow turnips after early l>eas which have been podded (5209.),
or early cut wheat, tares, cabbages, &c., or after hemp and flax,
which are generally pulled by the middle of this month. (5880.
and 5922.) Grass seeds sown alone at this season (5G;>2.) will
generallv succeett better than at any otlur ; they germinate a«
well in spring ; but the heats of July ofien burn up the tender
plants.
7. Fences (2960.), Roads (3523.), and Drains.
(4213.)
As in the two preceding months.
8. Orchards (4099.) and Hop^grounds. (.'5997.)
Apples and plums of some sorts are now rine. Grafts may ia
general be untic-<l. Budding performe<l, and pruning, if desir-
able, as observed last month under woods and plantations*
9. Wood-lands and Plantations. (3906.)
See last month.
SEPTEMBER.
. Weather
IhT^rer^
roometer.
Greatest
Variation
from the
Average.
Average
of the
Barometer.
otS
REMARKS.
The tcmnerature begins now to decline and to vary ; the
nights begins to lengthen, and heavy dews and dimi-
nished tr.inspiration and evaporation promote the
growth of grass, herbage, plants, and es})eciany turnips.
This is still a bu-sy month with the agriculturists ; in
the warmest situations he is finishing harvest-work, and
in the latest commencing it. Animals of most sorts are
now fat; fruits are ripe; honey abundant; and most
producU of the earth in perfection and plenty.
I/ondon -
Edinburgh
Dublin -
59 63
54 ?i
59 35
3 5
30 09
29 739
30 239
0 482 inch.
3-470
3021
1. Calendar of Animated Nature round London.
In (he first week: young broods of goldfinches (Fringflla Car-
(lu61is) -ippear. The linnet [Fnniiil'a. Lin6ta) congiegates. The
bull (B(5s Taiinjs) makes his shrill auiumnal noise ; and swal-
lows (Hirundo riistica) sing.
Second week: common owls (Strfx fldmmea) hoot. The
satfron butterfly (Papflio H^ale) and willow red under-wing
moth (Phalae'na pfcta) appear. Herrings (Ciiipea Har^ngus)
are now cheap.
Third meek : the ring ouzle (Turdus torquKtus) appears. The
fly -catcher (Muscfcapa Atricapflla) withdraws.
Fourth meek: the stare (Stiirnus vulgaris) congregates. The
votxl-lark (^laVida arb6rea) sings. The woodcock (Sc(5Iopax
rustlcnl i) and fielilfare (rUrdus pil^i.sj appear; and the sw;d-
low (Hinindo riistica) departs.
2. Calendar of Vegetable Nature round London.
In tkcjirsi meek : some fungi and BaI16ta ilha appear, travel-
ler's joy (Clfematis ^Iba) and Pamdssia paliistris in flower.
Second meek : catkins of the hazel and birch formed ; blossoms,
and green, red, -md black berries found on the bramble at the
name time. Leaves of the sycamore, birch, lime, mouutain-
as!i anr tlmtl>e:;in to change colour.
Third week: tlie ivv y/edcra Heli,\), laurel (PrClnus Lauro-
«erasiis and furzc; ' l/'idl eurc;-*\.; in flower.
Fourth meek : hips, haws, and nuts ri))e. I>eaves of plane-
tree (Pliltanus) tawny; of the hazel, yellow; of the oak, yellow-
isii -green; of the sycamore, dirty brown; of the maple, pale
yellow ; of the ash, fine lemon ; of the elm, orange; of the
hawthorn, tawny yellow; of the cherry, red; of the hornbeam,
bright yellow ; of the willow, hoary.
3. Farm-uard. (2902.)
The rick-yard is now the chief scene of operations, in getting
earli'T crops thatched (3185.) and later ones stacked. (3276.)
In all operations in this department attend, as far as circum-
stances will permit, to neatness. In the case of a proprietor or
amateur, neatness, order, and high keeping are essential in
every department.
4. Liiv Stock. (6216.)
There is genera'ly abundance of fat cattle and sheep in the
market dt-.ring this and next month. I^an stock, esper-ial Iv
crones and wedders, are now brought in, and wintered or fed
off" on turnips. Wintering cattle (6855.) also about the end of
the month. Poultry and pigs are now fat, and honey may be
taken from bee-hives.
5. Grass Lands. {B6^.)
As in August. Newly sown grass lands should now be
sparingly fcd, in order to strengthen tlie plants for the wiiitsr.
CALENDARIAL INDEX.
1239
f5. Arable Land^. (4925.)
This is the cliief season for sowing winter wheat, whether on
naked fallows or after clover, tares, rape, or early crops of peas
and beans. Potatoes are generally not taken up till the end
of the month, in which case the sowing after that crop is later.
(5015.) Sow tares to stand the winter (5257.), and grass seed,
for permanent pasture ; or a hay crop next season will succeed
on good soils, it sown before the middle of the month. (5553.)
7. Fences (29(30.), Eoads (3523.), and Drains.
(4213.)
Routine operations of mending, &c. as before.
8. Orchards (4079.) and Hop-grounds. (5997.)
Gather /rutVi for immetliate sale, the keeping sorts not being
yet rips. (4085.) Walnuts for pickling not later than the first
week. (410-2.)
Hop-pickiiif; and dryiitfr, in the districts where this plant is
much cultivated, is the great business of the month. (6036.)
9. Wood-lands and Plantations. (3906.)
Routine operations as in the two or three prece<ling months
Plant evergreens during the three last weeks, and deciduous
trees the last ten days. (3937.)
OCTOBER.
Weather
at
Average of
the Ther-
mometer.
Greatest
Variation
from the
Average.
Average
of the
Barometer.
Quantity
of Kain.
REMARKS.
The weather of this month is very uncertain. Before
those rains, snows, or frosts which constitute the practi-
cal commencement of winter, there is generally two or
three weeks of settled weather ; sometimes these weeks
are in October, sometimes partly in November. These
weeks aftbrd a last resource for bringing forward neg-
lected operations.
London -
Edinburgh
52 81
49 7
51
4
29 69
29 339
29 76
2027 inch.
3-3.34
2-798
1. Calendar of Animated Nature round London.
In Vie Jirst week: the red-wing (IMrdus illacus) arrives.
Snakes and vipers bury themselves.
Second week: hooded crows (Cdrvus Cdmix) and wood-
pigeons (ColilmbaPal6mbus) arrive; hen-chaffinches (i?Yingllla
cneVebs) congregate, and prepare for migration, leaving their
males in this country.
Third week: the snipe (Sc(jlopax Gallinkgo) appears in the
meadows. Wild-geese (^*nas sylvestris) leave the fens, and go
to the rye-lands.
Fourth meek: the tortoise (Testiido graeVa) begins to bury
himself in the ground ; and rooks visit their nest-trees. Some
larks (^latidse) sing, and the woodcock (4i«51opax rustlcola)
returns. Spiders' webs aboimd.
2. Calendar of Vegetable Nature round London.
In the first week: strawberry-tree (.4'rbutus Ij'nedo), holly
(i'lex ^quiiblium), China hollyhock (.41c6a chin^nsis), and
China aster (j4'ster chinensis), in bloom.
Second week: catkins of some species of Salix formed ; leaves
of the asp almost all oft"; of the Spanish chestnut, yellow ; of
the sugar-maple (/4'cer sacchirinumj scarlet; of the common
birch, yellow and gold; and of the weeping-birch, gold and
bright-red coloured.
Third week: Clematis calycina in flower. Some horse-chest-
nuts and acacias quite denuded of leaves.
Fmu-th week: various plants, especially annuals, continue
in flower. Leaves of marsh-e'.der (Sambucus E'bulus), of a
fine pink ; of stag's-hom sumach, of a purplish-red ; of the
Aratrican oaks, of fine shades of yellow, ora:ige, red, and
purple.
3. Farm-yard. (2902.)
This is the season of rural plenty, aflfording an opportunity,
both to men and animals, for laying in a large stock of health,
to enable them to support the severity cf the coming winter.
Operatives should now buy in their winter stores of potatoes,
fuel, &c. and ridge up their garden ground, not under crop,
for the winter.
Corn crops being generally in the rick-yard by Michaelmas,
and the root and herbage crops not taken being at or near
maturity, the first of October is the most suitable season for a
farmer to take stock and ascertain his annual profit or loss.
Michaelmas being also the most general term of entry and
removal, especially in the case of arable farms, is another
reason why agricultural accounts are conveniently made up to
this period. (4883.) Examine your household accounts, and if
your expenses have exceeded your income, or even come up to
it, look over the particulars with your wife or housekeeper, and
see on which you can retrench. This is an essential process for
all who would proceed in life with any thing like peace of
mind, or the permanent respect of their neighbours. (4921.)
Kemember that very small indeed is the net income of a rent-
paying jigriculturist.
Michaelmas is also the general term for hiring farm-servants
by the year ; but the seldomer agricultural operatives are
changed the lietter, unless in the case of senseless, indolent,
or viciously inclined persons, who degenerate unless frequently
removed.
i. Livestock. (6216.)
iJatile and aheep not sufficiently fatted on grass or herbage,
whether by pasturage or soiling, should now be put on other
food, to complete thum for the butcher. Oil-cake, grains, tur-
nips, carrots, or, in dc-fault of these, bruised com may be used.
Ihe same observations may be applied tp hogs, which are
generally in good condition at this season. (73150
Hog' porridge. A mixture of oatmeal and water, or any
other meal and water, left till it becomes sour, as practised by
the millers in the northern counties, will feed hogs rapidly ;
but milk and peas meal make the finest pork in the world.
The teams which have been soiled during summer, may now
be put on hay, straw, and carrots, or other roots, by degrees.
(6752.)
5. Grass Lands. (5643.)
%Vhere these are manured, this is a good season for the ope-
ration (5782.) ; choose dry weather.
6. Arable Lands. (4925.)
Potatoes (5291.), carrots (5443.), field beet (5482.), parsuep*
(5471.), and Swedish turnips, njay now be taken up and
housed, and the ground sown with wheat. This gr^iin (5001.),
rye (5069.), barley (5080.) in some situations^ and tares (5257.)
may still be sown in the milder districts. Embrace every op-
portunity to give the first furrow to fallows (4944.), whether
for green crops or otherwise. In general all lands that are to
have two or more furrows before they are sown or plemted,
should be ploughed as soon as possible after harvest ; but not
so lands that are to be sown on one furrow, which are better
ploughed in January and February. It is a great mistake to
suppose that ploughing land in autumn destroys the eggs or
larva; of insects (7695.), or the seeds of weeds; on the con-
structive, from being devoured by birds. There are few sub-
jects less generally understood than the economy of nature in
regard to the eggs of insects and worms. (Turn to 7644. and
7 70 1 .) .See that water furrows and drains run freely, and that
fences and gates are in repair.
7. Fences (2960.), lioads (3523.), and Drains.
(4213.)
Hedges mav now be advantageously planted (2978.), grown
ones pruned {2983.), old ones plashed (2989.), and imperfect
ones repaired. (2993.) The Northumberland practice as to
hedges (7809.) well deserves the study of the more southern
agriculturalist. Roads and drains may be made or repaired at
this season, and in spring, with better effect than during the
heat and drought of summer. Road materials now bind
better, and land-springs show themselves more distinctly.
8. Orchards (4079.) and Hop-grounds. (5997.)
The winter fruits may now be gathered, and either spread in
an airy loft or upper floor, there to remain till used, or sweated
in heaps, to extract a part of their moisture, and then buried
in dry sand, or packed in close boxes or casks, to be kept in a
cool and dry cellar. ( 1834. and Encyc. qf Gardening, 2a Edit.
2289.)
Fruits trees of every kind may now be planted (4105.) and
pruned. (4111.)
Hop-picking is generally completed the first week of the
month ; and as soon afterwards as convenient, the vine and
roles removed, and the latter stacked till next spring. (6047.)
Young hop plantations may be formed (6005.), and the .=oil
among established groiuids manured and ploughed. (6019.)
9. Wood-lands and Plantations. (.3906.)
Hedges and plantations of evergreen trees may be made during
the first week of the month ; and no period of the year 5
better for transplanting all kinds of hardy shrubs.
Timber and coppice may be felled, and in general every ope-
ration preparatory to planting, as wd' as the. operation itself,
may go forward.
NOVEMBER.
Weather
at
Average of
the Ther-
mometer.
Greatest
Variation
from the
Average.
Average
of the
Br.rometer.
REMARKS.
also cold and moist, and one of the most disagreeable
for the labouring agriculturists ; but he may console him-
self with the shortness of the day, and hail the approach
of evening, w hen he may l-.y aside his wet dress and
fortify liis mind by converse with books, or enjoy the
comforts of his fire-side, and the solace of his wife and
cl.ildren; readirg to or otherwise instructing tliem, or
inend'.ng his boots or shoes.
London -
Edinburgh
Dublin .
44 44
41 1
43
4
; :
29 68
29 638
29 74
2-5S7 inch.
4-.5lft
0-394
■1 K 4
,240
CALENDARIAL INDEX.
1. Calendar of Animated Nature round London.
In the first week: the buck (C^rvus Capr^olus) grunts.
Second week: the golden plover {Charadrius pluvialls) ap-
pears.
Third Tveek : snails (ilmax) and slugs (Hdlix) bury them-
selves.
Fourth tveek: greenfinches (Fringilla Montifringflla) flock.
The winter moth (Gecjmetra brumaria Sum.) and the com-
mon flat-body moth (Gecimetra applana Sam.) appear in
gardens about the end of the month.
2. Calendar of Vegetable Nature round London.
In the first meek: a few plants in flower, by accident, chiefly
annuals, accordinff to the season.
Second week : the fungus Helvetia mitra appears. Laurus-
tinus in flower.
Third week : Chunon^nthus firkgrans in flower.
Fourth week : some primroses show flowers at this season ;
and some plants, unnaturally in flower, still continue if the
weather is temperate.
3. Farm-yard. (2902.)
Wintering cattle are now introduced to the straw-yards ('2902.)
oc hammels (2831.), and others to stalls for feeding or fatting.
Live stock in general ought to be kept in good condition at this
«eason, otherwise they are apt to fall off" towards spring.
Threshing goes on at intervals to supply straw. {,ZV3'6. and
2773.)
4. Livestock. (6216.) .
See Farm-yard.
5. Grass Lands. (5643.)
Manure in dry weather (5782.) ; turn the water on meadow*
adapted for irrigation (4387-) ; destroy ant-hills (5773.) ; drain
by surface gutters, or other means, where that operation is
requisite; c.ear out water furrows for the same purpose ; admit
cattle and horses only on the driest pastures ; see that sheep
have shelter, and especially Dorset ewes likely to lamb next
month.
6. Arable Lands. (4925.)
See that water furrows and drains run unobstructed ; plough
and cart out manure, as weather and other circumstances
permit.
7. Fences (2960.), Roads (3523.), and Drains.
(4213.)
As in last month ; and see that they are in effectual repair,
and fairly used.
8. Orchards (4079.) and Hop-grounds. (5997.)
Complete the operations of last month, where interrupted,
deferrc-u, or neglected.
9. Wood-lands and Plantations. (3906.)
As in last month, excepting when the weather is unfavour-
able. Felling all kinds of timber and coppice not adapted for
barking for the tanner, may now go on freely. ('1044.) Willows
for baskets may be cut over (4042.), and baskets, hampers,
crates, and hurdles, made by the woodman and hedger.
DECEMBER.
Weather
at
Average of
the Ther-
mometer.
Greatest
Variation
from the
Average.
Average
of the
Barometer.
otS
REMARIvS.
Winter month. Sax. Cold but dry. The agricultural oper-
ations are chiefly of the laborious kind ; but the days are
short and the nights long. In the last week the young
operator should examine himself as to his professional
and intellectual progress during the bve-past year, and
form plans for further improving himself for the year to
come. Knowledge is a lever by which a man may raise
himself as high as he desires.
London -
Edinburgh
Dublin -
41 4
38 9
36 34
3
29 64
29 66
29 723
M24 inch.
2-598
2-916
1. Calendar of Animated Nature round London.
The mole (Tajpaeuropae'a) throws up hillocks. The De-
eember moth (Eriogaster pdpuli Sam.) appears about the
beginning, and the yellow-line quaker (A'dctua flavihnea
Sam.) about the end oif the month.
2. Calendar of Vegetable Nature round London.
Some of the last month's plants continue in flower, according
to the weather.
3. 4. Farm-Yard (2902.), and Live Stock. (6216.)
Threshing, and otherwise preparing corn and straw for the
market, and the use of the working, fattening, wintering, and
store stock are the main operations. Next, the regular supply
of live stock with food, and cleaning and littering them. Fat-
ting stock should be particularly attended to, especially house
lamb (7227.) and calves. (6855.)
The supply of turnips for cattle and sheep is liable to be in-
terrupted by " .~ . .. „, .
tity (5420.), __ „ ,
Where oil cake, rape cake, or dust (6094.), brewers or distillers*
severe frosts, if the precaution of housing a quan-
(5420.)', or setting them (5421.), is not taken in time.
grains (5112.) are used, supplies must be secured; and where
hogs or cattle are fed on meal and water mixed and sotired, a
quantity must always be kept in mixture ; as a week or ten days
in temperate weather, and a longer period during frost, is re-
quisite to induce the fermentation-
5. Grass Lands. (5643.)
See that they are not poached : that water furrows, gutters,
drains, and ditches are in repair; and where manuring is prac-
tised, cart it out in frosty weather where there is no danger of
injury from the feet of horses or cart-wheels. Unless labour is
▼ery cheap, carting earths or earthy composts on grass lands
will not pay the expenses ; they produce more effect on arable
lairds.
6. Arable Lands. (4925.)
See that all the modes of drainage are efTective. (4278.)
Plough and cart out mjinure according to weather and other
circumstances.
7. Fences {9960.), Roads (3523.), and Drains. (4213.)
Plant hedges (2977.) and build walls only in temperate
weather, as frosty air injures the roots of plants, and freezes
humid mortar, thereby effectually preventing its setting.
Roads and drains may be made and mended in all weathers
that admit these operations.
8. Orchards (4079.) and Hop-grounds. (5997.)
Clear old trees of moss or misletoe ; but prune only in mild
weather. Dig and dung at any time.
9. Wood-lands and Plantations. (3906.)
Fell timber or copse of sorts not adapted for barking. (4044.)
Stock or grub up tree roots, stacking them for fuel or charcoal.
(40G8.) Trench, dig, or otherwise prepare ground for plant-
ing ; but lift plants from the nursery, and re-insert them in
plantation-s only in mild weather, and when the soil does not
poach by treading, &c. The rest as in November.
Evergreen*, as Mr. MT^Tab has ably shown and proved by
experience, may be planted at any period during winter, when
the weather is mild. He says, " I have planted evergreens at
all seasons of the year with nearly equal success, except from
the middle of June to the middle of August, and even during
this period 1 have planted some : but unless the weather is
very dull and moist, and even with such weather, it is difficult
to prevent the plants suffering considerably, and in manv
ca.ses it is years before they recover. Although, however, 1
have planted evergreens ten months out of the twelve, with
little difference in the success, yet one season has a preference
over the others with me ; and when there is the power of
choice, I would recommend late in autumn, winter, or early
in spring ; that is, any time from the middle of October to the
middle of February, and in general the beginning of this
period is the best ; that is, from the middle of October to the
middle of December, always providing that tire weather and
the ground are favourable ; "that is, supposing there is no frost,
no drying wind, nor much sunshine, and that the gro\md is
not too ihuch saturated with wet, either from continued rain,
or from the nature of the soil. One of the principal things to
be attended to in planting evergreens is, to fix on a dull day
for winter planting, and a moist day for spring and autumn
planting. There can be no secret in the proper treatment of
evergreens ; if there were, I should say, that it is in preventing
their roots becomiiig dry when out .of the earth ; to choose
moist and cloudy weather for planting ; and still better, if we
had the power, by foresight or otherwise, to secure a con-
tinuance of such weather some time after they have lieen
planted." (M'Nab's Hints on the Planting and General TrciU-
ment of Hardy Evergreens in the Climate of Scotlaiul, i^-c. p. 17.)
Mr. Cruikshank has shown that poor waste ground, which,
if trenched or ploughed would not bear a crop of grain, will,
after being planted and kept under wood for some years, be-
come fit for every purpose of agriculture. " On a rising ground ,
not far from the village of Ellon, a piece of ground of a dry
gravelly nature, which has lately been cleared of a crop of fuli-
grown Scotch firs, was trenched in a very partial and imper-
fect manner, the roots of the trees beirtg scarcely eradicated. It
was then sown with oats, without receiving lime, dung, or
manure of any other description ; yet the croii was so luxu-
riant, that a great part of it lo<lged. The following spring,
the ground was agam sown with the same species of grain,
without receiving any enrichment; and, when harvest ar-
rived, the crop was unequalled by that of the richest fields,
in a neighbourhood which is generally considered fertile.
The experiment was tried a third time, still without manure,
and the return was again considerably above an average.
The soil, as has already been remarked, was dry and gravelly,
and far from possessing any natural qualities that could have
been the cause of such extraordinary productiveness. ^V'^len
planted, it had been covered with heath, and in that state had
not been superior to those waste lands wliich we occasionally
see improved at a vast expense, and which will produce no
kind of crop till they receive a great quantity of manure."*
{Cruikshank'a Practical Planter, S^c)
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
*** In this Index both Pages and Paragraphs are referred to ; the letter p. is prefixed to the former
to the latter the letter s. *
j^ BRAD ING earth, earth crumbling down from
the effects of frost, page 483.
Absorbent soil, soil so constituted a,s to absorb
moisture from the atmosphere, 772.
Absorbent system, explained in s. 6352. p. 968.
Aecli7natising vegetables or animals, inuring them
to a climate in which they i re not indigenous.
The term naturalising is sometimes substituted,
but erroneously. See Naturalising.
Acetcenf, entering a state of acid fermentation, s.
6978. p. 1036.
Aeration, exposing the soil to the air, p. 507.
Aereometric beads, hollow beads of glass contain-
ing air, for ascertaining the specitic gravity of
milk, s. 7008. p. 1039.
After-grass, the second crop of grass from lands
which have been previously mowed the same
year, p. 905.
Aftermath, the second mowing of perennial mea-
dow lands in the same season, p. 515.
Agricidture is used in its most extensive sense in
the third line of the title-page, and generally in
the historical part of the work (Part I.), as in-
cluding territorial economy and husbandry. In
most parts of this work, for example, in the
words of the title-page, " animal and vegetable
productions of agriculture," as synonymous with
husbandry. In several places as synonymous with
aration ; that is, the culture of arable lands, as
opposed to pasturage, or wliat may be called agri-
culture proper. In every case the reader will be
able to gather, from the scope of the sentence or
paragraph containing this term, in which of these
three senses it is meant to be understood.
Aigrettes, tufts of feathers, p. 1088.
Ails, small islands, or islets, in streams.
Alburnous parts, soft woody parts, p. 661.
Alburnum, the soft sappy wood just under the in-
ner bark, p. 646. See Lindley's Outlines of the
Principles of Botany, p. 17.
Alien waters, a brook or stream passing from one
area through another, which has been embanked
from a river or the sea, p. 715.
Allodially, independently of any superior, p. 552.
Alluvial soil, soil deposited by streams, p. 747.
Aloetic purge, a purge composed of the socotorine
aloes, p. 1035.
Alterative, alterative medicines are those which
induce a change in the blood and juices for the
better, without any manifest operation or evacu-
ation, p. 977.
Alveolary sochets, sockets like the cells In a honey-
comb, p. 972.
Ambling, explained, s. 6666. p. 1002.
Amerciament, a pecuniary punishment arbitrarily
imposed, p. 769.
Ammoniacal gases, s. 6701.
Afnorphous stones, without regular shape, s. 3005.
p. 483.
Anbury, a.x\ excrescence in some plants of the natu-
ral order Cruciferfe, and chiefly in the turnip,
produced by the puncture and depositing of the
eggs of an insect, s. 5437. p. 861.
Anime, a chemical product obtained from plants,
s. 1468.
Anomalous, irregular, p. 682.
Aorta, the great artery of the heart, p. 967.
A6rta asce'ndens, the ascending great artery of the
heart, p. 967.
Aorta descendetis, the descending great artery of the
heart, p. 967.
A/ipui, a reciprocal action between the mouth of
the horse and the hand of the rider ; the bit and
rein forming the line of communication. Thus a
horse with a sensitive mouth has a good appui, and
the same may be said of the rider if his hand be
good, s. 6;i(i3. p. 1002.
Aqueous humour, the watery humour of the eve;
the first or outermost, and thinnest of its three
humours, p. 970.
Aration, ploughing or tillage, s. 3562. p. 573.
Arenariuus grasses, grasses suitable for sandy soils.
p. 749.
Averruncator, a pruning instrument, consisting of
two blades fixed on the end of a rod, acting like
scissors, by means of a line fixed to one of them,
and pulled by the operator, s. 3155. p. 512.
Awns, the beards or long bristles which project
from the chaffs ; they are plentiful on spring
wheat, and on barley, p. 812.
Axillaries, explained, s. 6344. p. 967.
Azote, the radical principle of the atmospheric air,
p. 814.
B.
Backing ahorse, explained, s. 6657. p. 1000.
Back-raking, an operation in farriery, by which
hardened faeces are withdrawn from the rectum,
s. 6543. p. 990.
Back-rents, rents paid subsequently to reaping, p.
768.
Bagging, explained, s. 3173. p. 575.
Bails, a substitute for fixed standings or stall
divisions, s. 6799. p. 1006.
Band-win ridges, ridges formed of such a width as
to be reaped by what in Scotland is called a band
of shearers or reapers, s. 3250. p. 526.
Barbs, explained, s. 6382. p. 972.
Bastard-cocks, small preparatory liaycocks, s. 5797.
p. 904.
Battering, as applied to fences, leaning inward, s.
4594. p. 754.
Baulk, in Scotland, ground left unturned between
the furrow-slices in ploughing, p. 711.; in England
the same thing, and also strips of ground usually
in grass between ploughed ridges, as in common
field lands.
Bavins, brush-faggots, s. 3626 p. 584.
Bear, an iron instrument used in the Isle of Ely to
eradicate weeds in water-courses, s. 5686. p. 892.
Bents, the dead stems of grass in pasture grounds
which have borne seeds.
Bigg, a variety of winter barley, s. 5085. p. 823.
Billet, a term variously employed. A wooden
billet is often used in docking a horse, and often
forms a separation between carriage horses,
8. 6733 p. 100.9.
Binding and stocking, binding sheaves of corn, and
placing them in shocks or stocks, s. 3175. p. 515.
Binot, a variety of double mould-boarded plough,
s. 2620. p. 396.
Blanch holding, a mode of legal tenure in Scotland,
s. S401. p. 55'2.
Blast, a disease in the stomach of sheep and oxen
from wind j also a term for the mildew in wheat,
p. 1065.
Blinding, filling up interstices between stones on
roads with gravel, &c. s. 3654. p. 589.
Blood spavin in horses, 961.
Blowing lands, lands whose surface-soil is so light as
to be liable, when dry, to be blown away by the
wind, p. 870.
Blmuing sand, p. 749. See Blowing lands.
Boles of trees, the trunks of trees, p. 656.
Boll, a measure for corn in Scotland ; in wheat and
beans, equivalent to four Winchester bushels ; in
oats, barley, and potatoes, to six bushels, p. 842.
Bone spavin, explained, s. 6507. p. 986.
Boulder stones, large round stones, p. 481.
1'24Q
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Bout of the plough, tlie going and returning with
the plough along a land or ridge under ploughing,
s. 32m. p. 529.
Box drains, explained, s. 3607. p. 581.
Boyn, a vat or tub, s. 7064. p. 1045.
Brairds, from braird, to spring up, s. 5397. p. 8.>7.
Brake, a large harrow, s. 26t)4. p. 405. In machine-
ry, a constraining wheel divided into joints,which
stops when needed another wheel that revolves
within it.
Brainhle bonds, bands made of the long shoots of
the bramble or blackberry, s. 3191. p. 518.
Braxy, explained, s. 7258. p. 1065.
Break-share, explained, s. 7259, 7260. p. 1065.
Breaking over a hedge, cutting it down, p. 4S9.
Breechin, that part of the horse's harness attached
to the saddle, and hooked on the shafts, which
enables him to push back the cart or other
machine to which he is harnessed.
Breeding in the line, or in the same line, explained,
p.301.
Breeding in and in, explained, p. 301.
Breeding, cross, explained, p. 301.
Brochen ligger, a quarter-cleft rod, as thick as the
finger, and four feet in length, used in thatching,
p. 518.
Brose, a Scotch dish made by pouring boiling wa-
ter on oatmeal, and sometimes on the meal of
peas, and immediately mixing them by stirring ;
leaving the meal in small knots or lumps about
the size of marbles. It is afterwards eaten with
milk or butter, s. 5217. p. 837.
Burgage-holding, explained, s. 3404. p. 552.
J!>««5, short angular ridges, short irregularly shaped
lands or ridges in the corners of fields, s. 3253.
p. 527.
Byre, cow-shed, s. 6777. p. 1015.
C.
Cadence, as applied to horsemanship, an equal
measure or proportion observed by a horse in all
his motions when he is thorouglily managed, and
works justly at a gallop, terra a terra, so that
his motions or times have an equal regard to each
other, s. 6672. p. 1003. See Crabb's Technological
Dictionary.
Caissons, temporary chests in which foundations in
deep water are built, s. 4357. p. 718.
Calcareous soil, soil abounding with lime, p. 775.
Callipers, or calibers, explained, s.'V.iJd. p. 663.
Color if ere, from calor, heat, SLWdfero, to bear, ex-
plained, s. 7464. p. 1087.
Camping potatoes, explained, s. 5345. p. 851.
Canon of the horse, explained, s. 6232. p. 959.
Cantle, the protuberant part of the saddle behind,
s. 6675. p. 1003.
Capillaries, the hair-like extremities of the arte-
ries and veins, s. 6552. p. 968.
Cap 0/ sfrflK', explained, s. 3195. p. 518.
Capi'ioles, leaps made in one and the same place
without advancing forward, s. 6672. p. 1003. See
Crabb's Tech. Diet.
Capulet, explained, s. 6512. p. 997.
Cat otid arteries, two principal arteries which carry
the blood to the head, s. 6398. p. 972.
Carotids, 967. See Carotid arteries.
Carpus, explained, s. 6317. p. 965.
Carriage in irrigation, explained, s. 4408. p. 726,
Carse, explained, s. 4554. p. 747.
Carunctila lachri/malis, explained, s. 6370. p. 970.
Caseous, of the nature of cneese, s. 6979. p. 1036.
Castrate, to incapacitate male animals from engen-
dering offspring, s. 7306. p. 1069. See Spay.
Catch-drain, explained, s. 4419. p. 727.
Catch-ioork meadows, explained, s. 4428. p. 727.
Cai'csson, a sortof nose band, either of iron, leather,
or wood, fastened round the nose of a liorse to
forward the suppling and breaking of the horse,
s. 6657. p. 1001. See Crabb's Tech. Did.
Cellular membrane, an important membrane in
animals in which the fat is lodged, p. 785.
Cereal grasses, the kinds producing corn, p 723.
Cerebral hyatids, explaineii, s. 7267, 7268. p. I066.
Cervical liga?nent, an aiK)i>eurosis or strong band-
age of packwax, which runs along the neck and
upholds the head, p. 972.
Chambriere, a kind of long whip used in riding
houses, s. 6662. p. 1001.
Char wood, to, to partially burn it to enable it to
resist wet, s. 3039. p. 492.
Charlock, the .9inHpis arvcnsis, a wild species of
the mustard family, p. 8aO.
Chloride of calcium, quicklime, 8. 4988. p. 850.
Chyle, a milky fluid secreted from the aliments in
the lacteal vessels.
Clujme, that poultice-liko mass to which the food is
reduced in the stomach of every animal, s. 6404.
p. 975.
Cicatrise, to heal over v/ith a scar, p. 513.
Cilia, eyelashes, p. 970.
Claveau, explained, s. 7218. p. 1065.
Clinches, cramps or holdfiists ; to clinch, to turn
the points of nails which have been driven, as in
the shoeing of horses, s. 6710. p. 1007.
Clough, explained, s. 4455. p. 732.
Cob, a kind of wicker basket, made so as to be car-
ried on the arm ; hence a seed-cob, or seed-lip,
is a basket for sowing from, p. 378.
Cockle oast, a kind of kiln for drying hops upon,
s. 6043. p. 927.
Cojf, a Cornish term for offal pilchards, p. 1172.
Coffin bone, a bone in the foot of the horse, s. 6417.
p. 976.
Coherent soil, a soil whose parts stick together, p. 772.
Collar-blade or hai?us, short segments of wood or
metal, embracing the nock of the. horse, to which
the traces are attached, s. 323.5. p. 524.
Collop, explained, s. 7871. p. 12(J0.
Commutation of tithes, the substituting a fixed
money payment, or a portion of land, instead of a
tenth of the produce.
Concha cartilages, the gristles of the ear, s. 6764.
p. 1013.
Condition of a horse, the state of health and
strength, p. 977.
Consecutive, following, p, 525.
Copyhold, explained, s. 3395. p. 552.
Cord^ vocales, or chordas vocJlles, tendons called
into action by braying in the ass, s. 6765. p. lol.S.
Cornea, the first or outer coat of the eye, s. 6371.
p. 970.
Cornetti, a mode of riding, s. 6672. p. 1003.
Corollary, a consequent truth gained from some
preceding truth or demonstration, s. 4961. p. 804.
Coronal roots, explained, s. 4983. p. 808.
Coronary, explained s. 6il7. p. 976.
Cotyledon, the first or seed leaf or seed lobe of a plant.
Couples, chains, collars, or mechanical contrivances,
by which dogs, &c. are coupled together.
Courses, explained, s. 3189. p. 518.
Crest, upper part of a hedge -bank, p 483.
Croppers, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Cross-breeding, explained, s. 2023. p. 301.
Crown and, furrow-ploughing, explained, s. 3256.
p. 527.
Crown scab, a disease in the horse, p. 1007.
Crystalline humour, explained, s. 6374. p. 970.
Culmi, stems of grasses, p. 1167.
Culmiferous crops, crops of plants whose stems
yield straw, as wheat, barley, &c., p. 768.
Curb, explained, s.6513. p. 987.
Cicrl, explained, s. 5371. p. 854.
Curvilinear, formed of curved lines.
Cut over, to cut off the top crop, s. 4043. p. 658.
Cutting in horses, explained, s. &529. p. 988.
Cut-water of a bridge, the projecting part of the
pier of a bridge, which is opposed to the current,
and divides it, s. 3612. p. 582.
Dandriff, scurf, s. 6738. p. 1006.
Dashing, or dashed. See Lipped and harled.
Dead hedges, hedges made with the prunings of
trees, or with the tops of old hedges which have
been cut down.
Dead timber, any timber not growing, p. 502.
Deciduous, shedding the leaves in autumn.
Decorticated, deprived of the bark, p. 655.
Defecation, explained, s. 4591. p. 867.
Dendrometer, an implement invented to ascertain
the quantity of timber in standing trees, p. 663.
Deportation, carrying away, removal, p. 519.
Dew-retting, spreading liemp or flax on grass to
expose it to the action of the dews, which exi>o-
dite the separation of the fibre from the feculent
matter, s. .OgO^ p. 916.
Dewstone, the name of a species of limestone in
Nottinghamshire, s. 3639. p. .587.
Diagram, an explanatory sketch, p. 757.
Diarrhoea, explained, s. 6473. p. 983.
Diastole, explained, s. 6351. p. 96S.
Digging his toes, in horses, explained, s. 6289. p 960.
Dike, explained p. 496. In Cambridgeshire a ditch
is called a dike. .
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
1243
DicecUnts plard. a j^ant bearing its male blossoms on
one plant and its female on another, s. 31-Sl p. 517.
Disbarkcd timber, timber deprived of its bark,
s. 4053. p. 660.
Dished, applied to a wheel, explained, 8.3732. p. 605.
Dishes, in farming, hollow places in the fields, in
which the water lies, p. 802.
Diuretics, food or drink causing a copious dis-
charge of urine, s. 6il0. p. 975.
Docking and nicking, cutting off part of a horse's
tail, and cutting a notch or nick on the under side
of what remains, for the alleged purfxise of making
liim carry it well ; now almost obsolete, s. 6669.
p. 1002.
Domical, shaped like a dome or an arch, s. 4507. p. 740.
Dorsal vci-tebra, joints of the back bone, a. 6764.
p. 1013.
Doitl}le broaches, broaches or splits are two-feet
lengths of split hazel branch es,employed in thatch-
ing, p. 57a
Double wi7id-rows,(lovib\e ranges of new-made hay,
S.5797. p. 904.
Dowel together, to join so closely as to form a
smooth surface, s. ^10. p. GOO.
Doxxm shares, breast ploughs to pare off the turf on
downs, S.3215. p. 521.
Dragoon, a variety of pigeon, p. i09.x
Drain sluice, explained, s. -WOO. p. 726.
Drata cut, explained, s.3151, 31.52. p. 512.
Droscheys, the name of a four-wheeled carriage
in Russia, s. 6741. p. 1010.
Dry stone walls, walls built without mortar; a
common practice in stony countries, s. 3065. p. 497.
Duvdinujn, the first of the intestines, and con-
nected with the stomach, s. 6405. p. 975.
Duct, a passage through which any thing is con-
ducted.
Dynamometer, or draught machine, explained,
s, 25(>3— 2565. p. 385.
Earth, as applied to the surface of the globe, one
or more of the earths, as lime, clay, sand, &c., in
a friable or divided state, and either alone or
mixed ; but without the addition of much organic
matter.
Emphysematous swellings, swellings filled with a
windy humour, s. 6946. p. 1033.
Enteritis, explained, s. 6466. p. 9821
Ergot of rye, spur of rye ; a disease in the kernels
of that grain, p. 822.
Eriica, the larva state of insects, p. 1112.
Estuary, an arm of the sea, the mouth of a lake
or river in which the tide ebbs and flows, s. 3425.
p. 555.
Etiolated, drawn out into a weak state, p. 808.
Eustachian tube, explained, s. 6385. p. 972.
Evolve, to unfold, disentangle, develope, or separata
Eye in plants, a bud.
Eyes in cheese, explained, s.-TOoT. p. 101&
F.
Faeri, or shagreen, ass's skin, s. 6757. p. 1012,
False ribs, explained, s. 631i!. p. 964
Farcy, explained, s. 6495. p. 985.
Farmer (from fermier. Ft.), farming agriculturist,
farming cultivator, professional farmer, commer-
cial farmer, rent-paying farmer, &c. ; a proprietor
cultivating his own estate is notcorrectly speaking
a farmer ; to be such he must pay a rent A pro-'
prietor who cultivates his own soil may be a gen-
tleman or yeoman agriculturist or husbandman,
apj-opridtaire cultivateur, but not a farmer.
Farmery, the homestall or farm-yard, p. 677.
Farming, renting land and cultivating it, or em-
ploying it for the purposes of husbandry.
Feather boarding, sometimes called weather board-
ing, boarding, in which the edge of one board
overlaps a small portion of the board next it.
Feculence of cider, the lees or dregs, p. 673.
Fee farmJiold, explained, s. 3394. p. 551.
Feeding pastures, pastures used for feeding stock,
p. 90a
Feiring, explained, s. 3251. p. 527.
Felon, a disease in cattle, explained, s. 6942. p. 1032.
/"emwr, the thigh-bone, p. 965.
Ferrugineous waters, water impregnated with iron,
p. 724.
Feu-holding, explained, s. 3402. p. 552.
Feu a house, to hold a house on a feu right,
S.38G1. p.6-'4.
FJmla, explained, s. 6327. p. 965.
Fikuce, explaintxl, 3. 7599. p. 1105.
Pinched, explained, s. 6779. p. 1015.
Fingers and toes, explained, p. 861.
Finikins, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Finos, the second best wool off Merino sheep, 8.7140.
p. 1052.
Firlot of tares, a measure used in Scotland, in
wheat and beans, equivalent to the English bushel,
s. 5268. p. 842.
Flakes, hurilles or portable pales for fencmg,
s. 3046. p. 493.
Flcaking, explained, s. 3190. p. 518,
Flecked cattle, explained, s. 6780. p. 1015.
Flight. See Glufne.
Ftooders, explained, s. 4449. p. 731.
Flow bog, or flow moss, a peat bog, the surface of
which is liable to rise and fall with every increase
or diminution of water, whether from rains or
internal springs, s. 3628. p. 58.5.
Flowing meadows, explained, s. 445?7. p. 727.
Fluke, a disease in sheep, p. 1049.
Fluke wonns, animals of the genus Fasclola, s. 7271.
P.10C5.
Fcettis, a young animal in the womb, p. 976.
Fogging pasture lands, explained, s. 5837. p. 908.
Foliage crops, plants, cultivated for their leaves to
be used green, and which will not make into hay,
as the cabbage tribe.
Foot rot, explamed, s. 72G6. p. 1066.
Forage plants. See Herbage plants.
Fore-rents, rents paid previously to the first crop
being reaped, p. 767.
Fors and scicdda, explained, s. 7137. p. 10.52.
Forsing, explained, s. 7137. p. 1052.
FowmAt of the feet of horses, explained, 6. 6517. p. B87.
Free martin, explained, s. 6824. p. 1021.
Freehold, explained, s. 3393. p. 551,
Fret, colic, gripes, or gullion.
Friable soils, crumbling soils, p. 802.
Frondose branched trees, full of branches, which
are flat and spread horizontally, like the fronds
of ferns, as in the spruce fir, s. 3987. p. 648.
Frontal worms, explained, s. 7270. p. 1066.
Frustum, a i)iece cut off from a regular figure,
s. 3732. p. 605.
Furnished, explained, s. 6247. p. 95.5.
Fusiform root, shaped like a spindle, as the carrot,
parsnep, &a p. 865.
Gaites, single sheaves tied in a particular manner,
p.5ia
Gaiting, explained, s. 3176. p. 516.
Gangs, courses or slips in thatching, p. 518.
Gastric juice, the juice of the stomach of any
animal, p. 974.
Gaw furrows, explained, s. 4956. p. 803.
Gelding ant-hills, explained, s. 5778. p. 902.
Gean, wild cherry, s. 3994. p. 650.
GibbmiJi, protuberant, bearing excrescences, S.6T75.
p. 1014.
Gid, explained, p. 1066.
Gl-air, the mucous evacuation in the scouring of
horses, s. C9r>0.
Glanders, explained, p. 985.
Glenoid, the hollow or socket in one bone at a joint
which receives the knob, boss, or head of the ap-
proximate bone, p. 965.
Glumes, the husks or chaff of cora Oat flights
are the glumes of the oat, p. 88a
Gluteti, a tenacious, ductile, and elastic substance.
forming a constituent part in wheat flour and
other vegetable bodies, p. 771.
Go-downs, explained, s. 6736. p. 1010.
Goggles, explained, s. 7267. p. 1066.
Grass-cocks, hay-cocks, p. 904.
Grasses, all the natural order of Gramfneje, of Lm.
nfEUS and Jussieu. Cereal grasses, those grown
for bread corn. Pasture grasses, those grown
chiefly for pasturage. Fccneous or fceniferoua
grasses, those grown chiefly for hay.
Grassing flax, bleaching it on the ground, p. 91.5^
Grease, a disease in horses, explained, s. 6514. 6516.
p. 987.
Great rot, explained, s. 7261. p. 1063.
Green acres, land capable of tillage, p. 120a
Grouting, filling up, s.3711. p. 600.
GCtta Serena, explained, s. 6441. p. 980.
Gutter, a furrow-channel or drain, s. 4418. p. 726.
Gypsum, a genus of calcareous earths, consisting
of carbonate of lime, and united with sulphuric
acid. The principal species is the Gypsum .llab.is.
trum, plaster of I'aris, or alabaster. See Crabb's
Tech. Diet
1244
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Ha-ha, a sunk fence, p. 474-
Hacking and picking. See Picking.
Hainault mowing, explained, s. 3172. p. 515.
Hainmel, a small shed, with a yard for feeding
one, or at most two animals, p. 469.
Hands of tobacco, leaves tied up by their footstalks,
so that the leaves spread out like the hand, s.
3945. p. 641.
Hangs, slopes, s. 3945. p. 641.
Hurled, p. 497. See Lipped.
Hash, explained, s. 2716. p. 419.
Hatches, flood-gates, p. 726.
Hatted kitt, explained, s. 7105. p 1048.
Hattocks, shocks, s. 3173. p. 51.5.
Haulm, the base of the stalks or stems of all crops,
after the seeds are reaped or gathered. Tne
haulm of paas is in some places called pea ryse.
Head and heel of gates, explained, p. 500.
Heading down ^recs, lopping or cutting off the heads
of trees, p. 651.
Heading sheaves, the hood sheaf or sheaves of
shocks of corn, p. 515.
Headmain, explained, s. 4411. p. 726.
Heckles, iron combs, p. 923.
Heckling flax, combing, p. 916.
Helmets, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Hepatic affections, affections of the liver, p. 1037.
Herbage plants, forage plants, such as clover and
other plants cultivated chiefly for the herb, to be
used either green or made into hay.
Hide-bound, a disease in horses and cattle when the
skin cleaves to the sides, s. 6425. p. 977.
Hink, explained s. 5171- p. 832.
Hinny, explained, s. 6768. p. 1013.
Hlrsel, a Scotch term of the same meaning as the
English term " herd," s. 6793. p. 1017.
Hoars, thick mists, p. 772.
Holmes, small islands, but larger than aits.
Hood-sheaf, a sheaf placed on the summit of other
sheaves for a covering, p. 516.
Hook bones, bones in the hind quarter of cattle, s.
6799. p. 1018.
Horny frog of the horse, the prominence in the
hollow of a horse's foot, p. 976.
Horsemen, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Horses, pieces of wood used in barking trees,
p. 659.
Hot fur, explained, s. 5906. p. 824.
Hot yellows, explained, s. 7256. p. 1065.
Hove, explained, s. 72.54. p. 1065.
Huckaback, a kind of cloth, s. 5933. p.917.
Humerus, the arm bone, p. 965.
Hummelling machine, explained, p. 440.
Hunger rot, explained, s. 726t. p. 1066.
Hungry soil, barren soil needmg much manure,
p. 773.
Husbandman, one who farms generally ; that is,
who both produces corn and cattle, and attends to
the dairy, the poultry, the woodlands, and the or-
chard. A farmer may confine himself to grazing,
or to breeding or haymaking, or milking or raising
green crops for the'market, &c., but in none of
these cases can he with propriety be called a hus-
bandman. This term husbandman, therefore, is
not exactly synonymous with farmer.
Husbandry, the culture of arable grass and wood-
lands, the management of live stock, the dairy,
poultry, &c., and, in general, what constitutes the
business of the head of a family living by agri-
cultural industry in the country.
Hybrid, bastard or spurious, p. 1013.
Hydatid, the Tte^nia globulus, an insect occurring
in the skull of the sheep, p. 1049.
Hydropic rot, explained, s. 7261. p. 1065.
Hygrometer, an instrument for ascertaining the de-
gree of moisture in the atmosphere, p. 773.
Imago, the perfect state of insects, p. 1112.
Impinge, to strike against, s. 4361. p. 719.
In and in system of breeding, p. 301.
Incision of objects on roads, the marks, traces,
tracks, or ruts made, s. 3571. p. 575.
Increments, proportional rates of increase, s. 3552.
p. 572.
Indigence, peculiar to, springing out of the nature
of, p. 1012.
Induration, hardening, p. 717.
Infield, an obsolete Scottish term for enclosed lands
near the farmstead, as opposed to such as are at
a distance from it, and uninclosed, s. 802. p. 130.
Ings. See S.illings.
Iris, the coloured circle in the eyes of animals, s.
6371. p. 970.
Isometrical perspective, explained, p. 472.
Isosceles triangle, a triangle which has only two of
its sides equal, p. 503.
Itinerating libraries, libraries, the books of which
are carried from one place of deposit to another,
and thence issued, p. 756.
Jacobines, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Jumper, a tool used by masons for boring holes in
land stones to be reft by gunpowder, p. /43.
Juynping pole, a long stiff pole, by which persons in
the fens are enabled to jump across ditches or
drains twenty feet wide, by planting the pole
towards the middle of the drain, and springing
from bank to bank : a small piece of boaid, called
a quant, is fastened to the bottom of the pole to
prevent its sinking into the mud. See Quant.
Kelp, the ashes of any description of Fhc\ or other
seaweed, p. 1205.
Knees for ship-building, crooked pieces of timber,
having two branches or arms, and generally used
to connect the beams of a ship with her sides,
8. 3034. p. 491.
Knuckering, explained, s. 6387. p. 972.
Kyloes, the name given to the cattle of the He-
brides, s. 6796. p. 1018.
Lachrymal gland, the gland which §ecretes or sup-
plies the lachrymcc or tears, p. 970.
Lacteals, the absorbents of the mesentery, which
originate in the small intestines, and convey
the chyle from thence to the thoracic duct, p.
968, See Crabb's Tech. Diet.
Lactometer, explained, s. 7008. p. 1037.
Lampas, a swelling of the wrinkles or ribs in the
roof of the horse's mouth j analogous to the gum-
boils in man, p. 980.
Land, a term employed in Cambridgeshire and
other counties, to designate what more generally
is termed a ridge ; that is, one of those compart-
ments which lie between gutter and gutter in
arable fields. The ridge, in Cambridgeshire, is
the highest part or central line of the lands, just
as the ridge of a house is the highest part of its
roof. In Scotland, a ridge includes the whole of
the surface between gutter and gutter. Land.ap.
pears the fitter term.
Land, ground, earthy surface in opposition to wa-
ter or rocks. The term ground is generally ap-
plied to a comparatively limited extent of surface,
as garden grounds, hop grounds, &c. in opposition
to arable lands, wood lands, &c.
Land-fast stones, stones fixed or imbedded in the
soil, p. 483.
Land-reeve, explained, s. 4638. p. 760.
Larvce, the grubs/maggots, or caterpillars of insects,
803.
Laryngeal sonorous sacs, hollows in the windpipe
which modulate the voice of animals, s. 6764.
p. 1013.
Larynx, the windpipe or trachea, p. 972.
Lateral shoots, shoots emitted on the sides of
branches ; laterally ; quite distinct from latter
shoots, with which they are occasionally con-
. founded, p. 478.
Laying in hedge-planting, laying down the sets
or plants horizontally on the bed prepared for
them, s. 3944. p. 640.
Laying an old hedge, explained, s. 3026. p. 490.
Leaping ill, explained, s. 7253. p. 1065.
Leasehold, property held on lease, p. 552.
Legget, explained, s. 3193. p. 518.
Legnminous crops, crops of the various kinds of
pulse, as peas, beans, tares, saintfoin, lucern,
clover, &c., p. 800.
Levelling, explained, p. 535.
Leverage, the act of using levers, or the power ac-
quired by the use of them, p. 575.
Light-lyered, the dew-lap of a light colour, s. 6798.
p. lois.
Ligneous plants, woody plants, as trees or shrubs,
p. 476.
Lipped and harlcd, a wall built of stor.es without
mortar, but which has the joints afterwards filled
with mortar, and the whole wall plastered over
with what is called rough-cast, or harling in Scot-
land. The mixture used for harling is lime, sand,
and small stones about the size of peas. Dashing
in England is the forcible casting of omall stones
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
1243
like the above, only washed quite clean, into the
soft recent plaster of exterior walls, in order to
resist the action of rain.
Loarn, any soil in which clay and organic matter
exist in considerable proportions, and so as to ren-
der it neither very adhesive or hard, nor soft and
loose.
Lock spit, explained, s. 3823. p. 620.
Longe, a long leather thong, used in the process of
longing or lunging horses, p. 1(X)1.
Lymph, a clear, colourless, rather viscid humour,
separated from the blood, and specifically heavier
than water, s. fiooO. p. 967.
Lymphatics, lymphatic vessels, are the absorbent
vessels that convey the lymph into the thoracic
duct, and form, with the lacteals, what is called
the absorbent system. The use of these vessels
is to draw in by a capillary attraction the fluids
contained in the circumjacent cavities, p. 968.
See Crah. Tech. Diet.
Lymphatic absorbents, 968. See Lymphatics, and
Lacteals.
M.
Maceration, the act of steeping or soaking in water,
p. 869.
Malic acid, an acid obtained from apples, by satu-
rating the juice with alkali, and pouring in the
acetous solution of lead, until it occasions no
more precipitate. See Crabb's Tech. Diet.
Mallinders, a disease in horses, s. 6710. p. 1007.
Manege riding, explained, s. 6672. p. 1003.
Martingal, a thong of leather, fastened at one end
to the girths under the belly, and at the other to
the noseband of the bridle, to prevent a horse from
rearing, p. 1001.
Maturation, the process of ripening, p. 816.
Maxillary glands, the glands belonging to the jaw
bones, p. 972.
Meal of milk, the quantity yielded at one time of
milking : thus, the morning meal, the evening
meal, s. 7103. p. 1048.
Medi'dla, marrow, p. 967. In plants it signifies the
pith.
Meers or meres, cattle ponds in Derbyshire, p. 735.
Mcmel timber, fir timber from the port of Memel in
Prussia, in the Baltic, p. 504.
Mere, a lake, pool, or pond.
Mesentery, a membrane in the cavity of the abdo-
men attached to th - vertebree of the loins, and
to which the intestines adhere, p. 975.
Meslin, a union of flocks, s. 736. p. 118.
Meslin, mesling, inescelin, moslin, or tnescledine,
corn that is mixed, as wheat, rye, &-c., to make
bread. This term occurs in old acts of parliament
for the regulation of rivers, as that of the Cam;
mescelin being in former days a frequent lading
in that neighbourhood.
Mesta, explained, s. 736. p. 118.
Metacarpus, the shank, i). 965.
Metal bed of a road, explained, s. 3630. p. 585.
Metalliferous ores, ores which contain metals, p.
629.
Metals of a road, the material of which a road
is formed, as broken quarry stone, boulder stones,
ai;d other kinds, p. 612.
Metayer system, the system of farming lands in
many parts of the Continent, in which the produce
is equally divided between landlord and tenant,
p. 184.
Midden, dunghill, p. 807. " The midden is the mi-
thcr o' the meal kist."
Milsey, a provincial term for a sieve, in which milk
is strained, s. 7064. p. 1045.
Mortices, holes, cells, or receptacles made in posts,
&c to receive the tenons of rails, &c., p. 493.
Mould, organic matter in a finely divided and de-
composed state, with a little earth mixed, as ve-
getable mould, leaf mould, peat mould, &c.
Mourat, explained, s. 7137. p 1052.
Mow, a compartment in a barn, into which corn in
the straw is stacked or packed.
Movj-burn, to heat by fermentation in the mow, p.
825.
Murrain, a wasting, contagious, and most fatal
disorder among cattle, s. 6943. 7250.
N.
Naked disease, explained, s. 7264. p. 1066.
Naturalising animals and vegetables, introducing
them to a new climate, in such a manner that they
shall in future perpetuate themselves in that cli-
mate without the aid of man. See Acclimatising.
Navicular or nut bone of the horse, explained.
s. 6417. p. 976.
Nicking. See Docking.
Nictitating membrane, explained, s. 6370. p. 970.
Nuns, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Nurses for young plants, plants of an inferior and
rapidly growing kind, planted round those which
are choicer and of slower growth, both to shelter
them and expedite their growth, p. 653.
O.
Obstetrics, considerations appertaining to the foaling,
calving, yeaning, &c., of animals, s. 6969. p 1035.
Odometer, from odos, a way, and metrco, to mea-
sure, an instrument by which the quantity of
space passed over on foot, or in a conveyance, may
be ascertained, s. 2506. p. 376.
OEsophagua, the weasand or gullet, p. 972.
Omtntum, the caul, p. 973.
One bout stitch, a ridgelet formed by the going
and returning of the plough, s. 5235. p. 839.
Ophthalmia, an inflammation in the coats of the
eye, proceeding from arterious blood got out of the
vessels, and gathered together between the coats,
s. 6758. p. 1012.
Optic nerve, a nerve which perforates the bulb of
the eye, and communicates with the brain ; so
that every sensation derived from sight depends
on the optic nerve, p. 970.
Outfall, the lower end of a water-course, p. 711.
Outfield, uninclosed farm lands at a distance from
the farmstead, s. 802. p. 130.
Owls, a variety of pigeon, 1095.
Pacing, one of the motions taught the horse,
s. 6672. p. 1003.
Pancreas, the sweet bread. It is composed of in-
numerable small glands, the excretory ducts of
which unite and form one duct, called the pan-
creatic duct, that conveys a fluid very similar to
saliva into the intestines, called the pancreatic
juice, which mixes with the chyle in the duode-
num.— Crabb.
Pane of ground, a four-sided compartment of grass
ground, adapted for irrigation, p. 726.
Panicle, an irregularly divided branch of flowers,
as in the oat, p. 826.
Pantile, a gutter tile, p. 708.
Papier tnache, mashed paper, which, when mixed
up with glutinous substances, may be moulded
into various shapes, p. 810.
Paring and burning, taking off" the turf or surface
of grass or waste lands, and incinerating it by
means of fire, in order to prepare the soil for
aration, p. 520.
Parotid glands, explained, s. 6388. p. 972.
Passaging, one of the motions taught the horso,
s. 6672. p. 1003.
Pastern, explained, s. 6319. p. 965.
Patella, explained, s. 6325. p. 965.
Paucity, fewness, p. 784.
Peelers, the same as barkers. Persons employed
to deprive trees of their peel or bark, p. 662.
Pellicle, little skin or coat, p. 822.
Pelt rot, explained, s. 7264. p. 1066.
Pendro, explained, s. 7267. p. 1066.
Penultimate, the last but one, p. 801.
Percolate, to strain, or trickle through, p. 581.
Percolation, the act of straining, purification or
separation by straining, p. 522.
Ptrforans of the horse's foot, explained, s. 6420.
p. 976.
Perichondium, explained, s. 633a p. 967.
Pericranium, explained, s. 6336. p. 967.
Peridesmium, explained, s. 6336. p. 967.
Periosteum, a general uniting membrane to bonea
and their appendages, s. 6336. p. 967.
Periphery, the circumference or orbit, p. 429.
Peripneumonia, explained, s. 7251. p. 1065.
Peristaltic ^notion, the vermicular, worm-like, or
creeping motion of the intestines ; by which they
contract their spiral fibres so as to propel their
contents, p. 975.
Pctits, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Pharynx, explained, p. 972.
Picking and hacking, loosening with a pick-axe or
mattock, and by separating with some cutting
tool, s. 3322. p. 538.
Picking of hop plantations, explained, s. 6025. p. 926.
Piecework, work done and paid for by the measure of
quantity, or by previous estimation and agreement.
1246
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
In contradistinction to work done and paid for by
the measure of time, p. 976.
Pigeott-cat, explained, s. 7540. p. 109(5.
PifTgery, the compartment in a farm-vard, with
sties and other accompaniments allotted to pigs.
Pile, the shag or hair on the skins of animals. Each
hair may be called a pile, s. 7140. p. 1052.
Pillow-slip, pillow-case, p. 1049.
Pining, explained, s. 7272. p. 1066. ;
Pinning, explained, s. 7260. p. 1065.
Pip, explained, s. 7525. p. 10.95.
Pipe drain, explained, s. 4296. p. 710.
Pith and Pithing, by butchers, explained, s. 6308.
p. 954.
PI me table, a square board with lines drawn on its
upper side, used in taking angles and in measuring
land, s. 299S. p. 481.
Plashing an old hedge, interweaving the stems in
hedges, s. 3025. p. 490.
Plumassier, one who prepares feathers for orna-
mental purposes, p. 1088.
Pluviometer, rain gauge, s. 4742. p. 773.
Pneumdnia, an inflammation of the lungs, p. 981.
Podders, persons employed to collect the green pods
of peas off the plants, p. 837.
Polders, salt marshes in Holland and Flanders, p.774.
Pole evil, or poll evil, a disease of the poll or head,
usually at its hind part, or in the nape of the neck,
s. 6142 p. 980.
Polled, hornless, devoid of horns, s. 6786. p. 1016.
Pommage, the pulpy mass to which apples are] re-
duced by grinding in the cider counties, prepar-
atory to pressing out the juice, p. 672.
Pommel, the prominence in the front or fore part of
a saddle, p. 1003.
Potato pies, explained, s. 5314. p. 851.
Pouters, a variety of pigeon remarkable for its habit
of pouting, p. 1095.
Preventive pruning, explained, s. 3990. p. 619.
Probang, a flexible piece of whalebone with a sponge
fixed to the end, used occasionally in probing the
throat, s. 695 5. p. 1033.
Puddling, explained, p. 620.
Pulls, hills or elevated parts of a road, requiring
extra pulling in draught animals, s. 3237. p. 525.
Pulmonary artery, explained, s. 6345. p. 967.
PiUtaceous, of the consistence of a poultice, p. 1005.
Pumiced foot, explained, s. &)21. p. 987.
Puncta lachrymAlia, explained, s. 6370. p. 970,
Piipa, the chrysalis state of insects, p. 1112.
Purchase of the bridle, the command or control of
it, s. 6;>76. p. 1003.
Pursiveness, pursincss, shortness of breath, s. 6693.
p. 1005.
Pyrites, firestone, s. 3228. p. 523.
Pyroligncous acid, acid produced by distillation of
the spray of trees, p. 493.
Quadrant, a mathematical instrument ; the fourth
part of a circle, s. 3350. p. 544.
Quant, a small piece of board at the bottom of a
jumping pole to prevent the pole sinking into the
mud by the weight of the jumper's body.
Qnarter-cleft rod, a measuring staff having four
sides, s. 3195. p. 518.
Quarte^ring, the division of planks of wood length-
wise into small four-sided pieces.
Quarters of the horse's hoof, explained, s. 6420. p. 976.
Quick, a live fence or hedge formed of some grow-
ing plant, usually hawthorn.
Quick bends, sharp turns, p. 573.
Quicken tree. See Roan tree.
Quickset hedge, a hedge formed of sets or plants that
are quick ; that is, alive.
Quincunx, trees planted in rows, at the same dis-
tance between the rows that the trees are in the
rows, and the trees of one row opposite the vacan-
cies in the other, s. 3928. p. 638.
Quit-rent, a small rent or acknowledgement payable
by the tenants of most manors, s. 1117. p. 179.
Quitter, explained, p. 988.
Rabbet, a moulding, s. 4334. p. 71.'>.
Rahinos, explained, s. 7140. p. 1052.
Rafter, a piece of four-sided timber used in roofs.
Rqftering land, ploughing half of the land, and
turning the grass side of the ploughed furrow on
the land that is left unploughed, p. 1166. ; as ap-
plied to limber, sawing up planks of trees into
pieces of greater depth than width for rafters to
roof buildings. j
Rake hot, to steam or reck hot, s. 672.1 p. 1008.
Ramose-headed trees, trees whose heads abound in
branches, p. 649.
Ra?nose-rooted trees, trees whoso roots are much
branched, p. 634.
Rath ripe, the property of being early ripe, s. 5082.
Rat's tail, a disease in horses, which causes the hair
of the tail to fall off, and not be again produced,
s. 6710. p. 1007.
Ray, a disease in sheep, explained, s. 7625. p. 1066.
Rectangular fields, fields whose angles are right
angles, p. 680.
Rectangular parallelogra7n, a figure of four sides,
whose opposite sides are equal, and all its angles
right angles, p. 443.
Red roan, explained, s. 5106. p. 82.5.
Redivater, explained, s. 5106. p. 1064.
Rite mucdsum, p. 963. A mucous membrane depo-
sited in a net-like form, between the epidermis
and the cutis : it covers the sensible cutaneous
papillEP, connects the epidermis with the cutis,
and gives the colour to the body. — Crabb.
Retina, the true organ of vision, formed by a net-
like expansion of the pulp of the optic nerve,
p. 970.
Rhomboid, a figure whose opposite sides are parallel
and equal, but all its sides are not equal, neither
are its angles right angles, p. 414.
Ribbing, explained, s. 325.5. p. 527.
Ricking, explained, s. 3176. p. 516.
Riddle, a large coarse sieve, s. 3655. p. 589.
Ridging, laying the soil up in ridges, p. 508.
Rifting by gunpowder, riving, splitting, or dividing,
s. 4065. p. 661.
Right angles, where a room is exactly square, each
of the corners of it is called a right angle : in
scientific language it is thus defined, as the fourth
of a circle; or thus, when one straight line,
standing on another straight line, makes the ad-
jacent angles or corners equal to one another,
each of the angles or corners is called a right
angle.
Ring-bone in horses, a disease in the feet of the
horse, p. 960.
Rippling of flax or hemp, the operation of sepa-
rating the boles or seed pods, by striking them
against a board, or piece of iron, p. 915.
Ristle-plough, explained, p. 1197.
River-7neadows, explained, s. 5769. p. 901.
Roan tree, the mountain ash.
Roguish plants, spurious varieties, s. 5220. p. 838.
Rooflet, explained, s. 319-5. p. 519.
Root crops, esculent plants cultivated for their
tubers, bufos, or other enlarged parts produced
under or immediately on the ground, and chiefly
connected with the root, as the potato, turnip,
carrot, &c.
Roots, the fibres and other ramifications of a plant
under ground, and by which it imbibes nourish-
ment. Tubers, bulbs, and other fleshy protuber-
ances under ground, are employed by nature for
the pur])Oses of propagation or continuation, and
therefore ought never to be confounded with
common roots, which serve to nourish these
tubers, bulbs, &c., in common with other parts of
the plant.
Rot, explained, s. 7245. p. 1064.
Rouen, the aftermath, the lattermath, or second
crop of hav cut off the same ground in one year,
s. 3169. p. 515.
Rough pile in cattle, coarse hair or wool, p. 784.
Roup, explained, s. 7526. p. 1095.
Rowels, explained, s. 6538.
Rubbers, a disease in sheep, explained, s. 7265. p.
1066.
Rubble stones, loose stones, brick-bats, and the like,
which are put together to conduct water ; so called
because they are rubbed together.
Rumbling drains, drains formed of a stratum of
rubble stones, p. 581.
Runner, explained, s. 4140. p. 675.
Runts, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Rurql economy, rural affairs, geoponics, agro-
nomics, terms considered as synonymous with
husbandry.
Rust, a disease to which the cereal and other
grasses are subject, and which occasions their
herbage to be of a rusty colour, s. 574!. p. 899.
Rut, to cut a line on the soil with a spade, p. 482. ;
also the copulation of deer in the rutting season ;
also the track of a cart-wheel.
Rutting. Sec Rut.
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
1247
Saccharo-saline, partaking the properties both of
sugar and salt, p. 1039.
Snddle-grnfting, explained by figures, p. 1143.
Salin, explained, s. 5360. p. 853.
Saliva, the spittle of animals.
Salt-cat, a mixture given to pigeons to promote
their digestion, p. 1096.
Saltings or ings, salt-water marshes, p. 747.
Sandcracks, explained, s. 6525. p. 98a
Sauer kraut, explained, s. 5507. p. 868.
Scab, explained, s 7265. p. 1066.
Scalene triangle, a triangle with three unequal
sides, s. 4343.
Scantling, all quartered timber under five inches
square, s. 4002. p. 652. In masonry, a terra ex-
pressive of the size of stones.
Scarcement, a rebate or set-back in the building of
walls, or in raising banks of earth, p. 481.
Scarification, cutting through the bark and soft
wood of a thick branch with an edge tool, pre-
viously to sawing through the hard wood, s. 3164.
p. 513.
Sciipula, the shoulder blade, p. 9i>4.
Scarifier, a machine to excoriate and disturb the
surface of soil, p. 528.
Sclerotic coat, a coat of hard consistence, p. 970.
Scoop wheel, a large wheel with numerous scoops
fastened in its periphery, s. 4277. p. 706.
Scoria of founderies, the'refuse or dross of the me-
tals, s. 3643. p. 588.
Screening, the act of sifting earth or seeds through
a large oblong sieve or riddle, called a screen, p.
Scudda. See Forx and Scudda.
Scvfflcr, a kind of horse-hoe, p. 528.
Scutching flax, breaking the woody part of it pre-
paratory to separating it from the fibrous parts,
p. 915.
Sea-ooxe, the alluvial deposit, the mud or slime
loft by the sea where its waters have subsided,
p. 745.
Seed-lobes, the cotyledons, or very first leaves dis-
played on a seedling plant.
Sellenders, in horses, exi)lained, s. 6293. p. 961.
Seminal roots, the first roots, those emitted from
the seed itself, p. 808.
Sensible frog of the horse, explained, s. 6420. p. 976.
Sensible Idmince, explained, s. 6421. p. 976.
Septic, causing putridity, producing putrescence,
s. 6844. p. 1023.
Serum, whey, or the remainder of milk after its
better parts have been taken away ; also, the yel-
low and greenish fluid wliich separates from the
blood when cold and at rest, s. 6980. p. 1036.
Sesamoids, little bones found at the articulation of
the toes (in man) ; so called from their supposed
resemblance to the seeds of the plant called sesa-
mum, s. 6319. p. 96.5.
Setons, explained, s. 6537. p. 990.
Set-sod, explained, s.3014. p. 486.
Sets and eyes of potatoes, slices of the tubers of the
potato, each slice being furnished with at least
one eye or bud, p. 848.
Shab, explained, s. 7?6'j. p. 1066.
Shagreen, or fagri, the prepared skin of the ass,
s. 6757. p. 1012. '
Shakes in the boles of trees, fissures, clefts, or rents,
p. 656.
Shakers, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Shaking quags, shaking bogs j wet spongy soil, p.
694.
Shaley soil, explained, s. 4750. p. 774.
Shearer, a reai>er, s. 32.^. p. 526.
Shearing, reaping, p. 51.5.
Sheath, land guard of embankments, e. 4362. 4566.
p. 719, 720.
Shearing rivers, the process of mowing the plants
which abound in rivers; the instrument with
which this is eflTected is formed of a line of scytlie-
blades, rivetted together by their extremities, and
which line of scythe-blades is worked or moved
along over the surface of the mud by levers at-
tached to the line, operated upon by men in boats,
s. 3171. p. 515.
Shift of crops, an alternation or variation in the
succession of crops, p. 814.
Shifting beach, a beach of gravel liable to be shifted
or moved by the action of the sea, or the current
of rivers, s.4332. p. 714.
Shingles, pieces of thin board used as tiles, a com-
mon practice in timber countries on the Continent
and in America, s. 3051. p. 495.
Shocks, stooks or hattocks , assemblages of sheave.^,
never of more than ten sheaves in those places
where the tithe is paid in kind, as this arrange-
ment facilitates the taking of the tithe ; in Scot-
land, from six to twelve, independently of the
two or four hood or roof sheaves, p. 515.
Shoughed, earthed in, p. 640.
Sidduw peas, such as boil freely, s. 7791. p. 1140.
Siliceous, of the nature of sand or flint, p. 587.
Siloes, repositories, explained, s. 4988. p. 810.
Single wind-rows, a single range of new-made hay,
before it is packed into cocks, p. 903.
Skirting or peat ticrning, explained, s. 3210. p. 520.
Skrecn plantations, plantations made for the purpose
of skreening or sheltering, p. 753.
Slab, the outer bo.ird sawed from the trunk of a tree.
Sleepers, explained, s. .3785. p. 613. In Suffolk the
root stocks, when left in the soil, of such trees as
are sawed offlevel with the surface.
Slip-coat cheese, explained, s. 7085. p. 1047.
Slit planting, explained, s. 3953. p. 642.
Slob farrow, explained, s. 3213. p. 521.
Sludger, explained, s. 2518. p. 378.
Snaffle, a bridle with a single rein, and without a
curb, s. 6734. p. 1009.
Sruig pruning, pruning or cutting off branches so as
to leave snags, s. 4027. p. 655.
Snags, stumpy bases of branches left in pruning,
s. 3993. p. 650.
Sob, a convulsive spasm of the air passages to re-
lieve congestion, s. 6723. p. 1008.
Soil, earth, either of one or of several sorts, mixed
with decomposed organic matters.
Soiling, feeding horses or cattle in houses or sheds
with clover or other herbage in a green state, p. 874.
Sough, a box-drain, s. 4254. p. 700.
Soivens, explained, s. 5146. p. 828.
Spay, to incapacitate a female animal for pro-
ducing young, s. 7306. p. 1069. See Castrate.
5pAace/rtto/, withered, blasted, mortified, gangrened,
s. 694.5. p. 1032.
Spinous processes, projections resembling spines or
prickles, s. 6764. p. 1013.
Spired, grown, shot out into spires, s. 5108. p. 825i
Spifful qf earth, a spadeful of earth, p. 507.
Splint, in horses, a preternatural excrescence of
bone, or a hard tumour, s. 6293. p. 961.
Spots, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Spray drain, a drain formed by burying the spray
of wood in the earth, which keeps open a channel,
s. 4284. p. 708.
Spray of a tree, the twigs of the branches of a tree,
p. 649.
Spring feed, herbage produced in the spring, p. 90.5.
Squeakers, pigeons under six months of age, p. 1096.
Stacking stage, explained, s. 3289. p. 533. In Cam-
bridge, the object of the stage is effected by a stage
hole left in one side of the upper part of the rick
Stack guard, explained, s. 3288. p. 532,
Staddles, explained, s. 5796. p. 903.
Stake and rice, a fence composed of stakes driven
into the ground and interwoven with branches
retaining their spray, or with rods without their
spray ; the latter is frequently called a wattled
fence, p. 487.
Staggers, a disease of the horse, explained, p. 978.
Straw mow, a stack or rick of straw formed in a
barn, s. 5045. p. 818.
Steining a well, lining it with stone or brick, s, 4479.
p. 735.
Stifle of the horse, explained, s. 6276. p. 959.
Stire, a sort of cyder apple, s. 4082. p. 665.
Stock, the animals of agriculture called live stock ;
also, the implements and other lifeless articles of
property on a farm, called dead stock.
Stocking a pasture, putting in as many head of
cattle as the pasture will maintain, s. 5285. p. 906. ,
Stoloiws, the creeping rooting shoots of some grasses,
and other plants, by which they increase, p. 904.
Stolonifcrous grasses, grasses producing stolones,
p. 887.
Stone-brash, a sub-soil composed of shattered rock
or stone, s. 4519. p. 742.
Stooks, shocks or hattocks, p. 817.
Stools of a coppice, the stumpy root-stocks of trees
previously cut down, p. 662.
Stover of rape, the pods and points broken off in
freshing, p. 932.
etrull, a bar so placed as to resist weight, p. 498.
Stubs, stocky stumpy portions of the stems of trees
and shrubs, p. 1009.
Stud, a post, a stake, an upright, in a building,
p. 500.; a collection of breeding horses and mares.
1248
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Stumming, explained, s. 4132. p. eV-t.
Sturdy, explained, s. 7'2()7. p. 1066.
Subcarbonate of soda, a salt in which soda predo-
minates, p. 837.
Sublingual, under the tongue, s. 6388. p. 972.
SuccedaTieum, a substitute, p. 846.
Swath, the bands or ridges produced by mowing
with the scythe, p. 903.
Swath balk, the line between two swaths where the
stubble is cut least closely, presenting a little ridge
of stubble, p. 514.
Sivays, long bramble rods used in thatching with
reeds, p. 518.
Sweating of hay, a slight fermentation, p. 904.
Swing plough, any plough without wheels, p. 390.
Switching bill, an instrument used in pruning
hedges, p. 485.
Switching hedges, cutting off the one year's growth
which protrudes from the sides of hedges, s. 4005.
p. 652.
Synchronous, at one time, at the same time, con-
temporary, p. 1002.
Synopsis, the seeing all at once, or at one view ; a
comprehensive volume, p 881.
Synovia, joint oil, p. 965. 967.
Systole, explained, s. 6351. p. 963.
T.
ra^-6eZf, a disease in sheep, explained, s. 7260. p. 1065.
Tail drain, explained, s. 4414. p. 726.
Tapetum, explained, s. 6373. p. 970.
Tarsus, explained, s. 6328. p. 96d
Teathing, explained, s. 5824. p. 9(J6.
Tecernos, explained, s. 7141. p. 1052.
Tedding hay, scattering, spreading, turning, and, in
short, making hay, p. 903.
Tenon, a projection in a rail, &c., made to fit a
mortice.
Tenon joint, a joint formed by a tenon and mortice,
p. 598.
Tenure, a holding or occupying, p. 179.
Territorial economy, whatever relates to the valu-
ation, purchase, sale, exchange, arrangement, im-
provement by roads, canals, drainage, &c., of
territorial surface, including interposing waters,
as rivers, lakes, and also mines and minerals.
Territorial improvements are mostly effected by
the proprietors of lands or their agents and
stewards, and not to any great extent by renters
of land, or farmers.
Tetanus, a spasmodic affection, accompanied by
rigidity, one species of which is known by the
popular name of a locked jaw, s. 6370. p. 970. ;
s. 6432. p. 978 ; s. 6965. p. 1035.
Tethering, restraining grazing animals by a rope or
chain, fastened to the animal at one end, and to
the earth at the other, s. 5560. p. 876.
The line of draught, the direction in which an ani-
mal is pulling or drawing, s. 2592. p. 390.
Theodolite, an instrument used in surveying, and
chiefly in taking angles, p. 544.
Thill, the beam or draught tree of a cart or waggon.
Thiller or Thill horse, the horse that is put under the
thill, or into the shafts or draughts, p. 1139.
Thoracic duct, the trunk of the absorbent vessels,
so called from its being placed in the thorax or
chest, p. 968.
Thorough-pin, explained, s. 6293 p. 961.
Threave, twenty-four sheaves of straw or corn,
s. 3168. p. 517.
Thrush paste, explained, s. 6554. p. 988.
Tibia, the leg bone, p. 965.
Ticks, a variety of bean, called the tick bean, s.
5225, 5226. p. 838.
Tie, a bar so placed as to resist a drawing or twisting
power, p. 498.
Till, coarse obdurate land, p. 746.
Tiller, to send forth numerous stems from the root ;
applied only to culmiferous plants, s. 4984. p. 808.
Tillering. See Tiller, s. 5130. p. 82a
Tilth, the degree or depth of soil turned by the
plough or spade, that available soil on the earth's
surface, into which the roots of crops strike, p. 803.
Tippling, as applied to hay-making, explained,
s. 5549. p. 875.
Tithe, the tenth of the produce of the soil, paid to
the clergy of England.
Tithing-man, a person employed by the clergyman
in a village to set out and collect his tithes.
Torrefied earth, earth subjected to the action of
fire, p. 522.
Trachea, the windpipe, p. 972. .
Tracking fiax, breaking the woody part in the
stems of flax, s. 5912. p. 915.
Tramp, an instrument used in making hedges, p 4^1.
Tramroad, explained, s. 3795 p. 615.
Translucent, transparent, diaphanous, allowing
light to shine through, p. 811.
Tremblings, explained, s. 7253. p. 1065.
Trench, explained, s. 4412. p. 726. To trench, to
turn over and mix soil to the depth of two, three,
or more spades, or spits.
Trench drain, explaineil, s. 4413. p. 726.
Trindle, to allow to trickle or run down in small
streams, p. 611.
Trochar, an instrument resembling a pipe, used for
making incisions, when water or air is received
out of the incision through the trochar, p. 1034.
Truncheons, large sets, stakes, or poles, of willow,
poplar, &c. planted to form trees speedily, p. 749.
Trumpeters, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Tubers, knobs, fleshy bodies at the roots of plants,
as in potato, yam, pignut, &c.,p. 511.
Tumblers, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Turbits, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Turners, a variety of pigeon, p. 1095.
Turnsick, explained, s. 7267. p. 1066.
Tussocks of grass, clumps, tumps, tufts, or mi-
nute hillocks of growing grass, p. 518.
Twibil and hink, explained, o. 5171. p. 832.
U.
Urinarium, a receptacle for urine, s. 6998. p. 1038.
V.
Vilum palutt, explained, s. 6382. p. 972..
Vena cava, explained, s. 6348. p. 967.
Venn cava ascend ens, explained, s. 6348. p. 937.
Vena cava desce'ndens, explained, s. 6348. p. 967.
Vi-na p6rtce, explained, s. 6349. p. 967.
Vinquish. See Pining.
Viscid, thick, glutinous, gummy, p. 1036.
Vivacious, living, sprouting, very lively, very fi'ee
of growth, p. 803.
Vives, explained, s. 6388. p. 972.
W.
Wads, explained, s. 5208. p. 836.
Walls dashed with lime. See Harled.
Walls en pise, wa.Us built of mud rammeil in be-
tween a frame of boards, p. 457.
Warbles, explained, s. 6489. p. 984.
Ward-holding, explained, s. 3402. p. 552.
Warping, explained, s. 4452. p. 7 >2.
Watering of hemp, the maceration, steeping, or
immersion of the stems of the hemp plant, in
water, s. 677. p. 107. 917.
Water-retted, watered, s. 5929. p. 917.
Water tables across a road, sunk pannels, wliich
conduct the surface water into drains, p. 582.
Water-tabling, exp\2i\ned, s. 3014. p. 486.
Watery head, explained, s. 7267. p. 1066.
Wattle, to weave, to interlace, or plat branches or
rods.
Wattled fence. See Stake and Rice.
Wattled hurdles, hurdles wattled with rods.
Way pane, explained, s. 4416. p. 726.
Wear, a dam made with stakes and osier twigs in-
terwoven, as a fence against water, p. 722.
Well-bred, explained, s. 2064. p. 305.
Whethering, explained, s.6971. p. 1035.
Whin, furze, gorz, gorse, or goss, p. 510.
Whinstone, explained, s. 3654. p. 5^9.
Whipping out grain, striking the ears against a
stone or the edge of a board, till the corn is se-
parated from the straw, p. 5l!>.
Whipping in plants, to bruise, abrade, or injure,
by rubbing or striking against another, as the
competing branches of neighbouring trees, s.
4014. p. 653. ^ ^
Whirlbone of the horse, the articulation of the
thigh bone with the pelvis, 959.
Whitten, the small-leaved lime, p. 1 141.
Wilding, trees sprung up from seeds naturally dis-
tributed, i. e. by winds, birds, running waters,
&c., p. 675.
Winlesti-atos, the withered flower -stalks of grasses
standing in the fields; in English, bents, s. 50j8.
Womais or puckeridge, explained, s. 6968. p. 1035.
Woodward, a land-reeve or ground officer, s. 4638.
p. 760. Y
Yellows, explained, s. 6480. p, 984.
Ycrking, one of the motions taught to horses, s. Gd/.^.
p. 1(03.
GENERAL INDEX.
*** TJie Nutfibers refer to the Paragraphs, not to the Pages, except in the case of the List of Authors, where
they refer to the page and the year in which the Author published : in such cases the word page and
letters A. D. are prefixed.
JlBBATE, Antonio, his work on agriculture, page
1221. A.D. 1808.
Abeille, F., his work on agriculture, page 1217. A. JJ.
1791.
Aberdeenshire, statistics of, 7852.
Abortion in plants, 1683.
Abyssinia, climate, surface, and soil of, 1067 ; agri-
cultural products of, 1068; live stock of, 1069;
agriculture of, 1070.
Acclimating of plants, 1764 ; the more tender ani-
mals, 7390.
Account books, farmers', 4886
Accounts, keeping and auditing, 4708; keeping,
4883 ; necessity of a regular system of, 3381.
Acid, fluoric, in animals, 1924 ; muriatic, in animals,
1925 ; pyroligneous, distillery of, at Milburn in
Dunbartonshire, 7843.
Acids, 1423 ; oxalic, 1424 ; acetic, 1425 ; citric,
1426; malic, 1427; gallic, 1428; tartaric, 1429;
benzoic, 1430; prussic, 1431; vegetable, consti-
tuents of, 1432 ; animal, 1953.
Adam, James, his work on agriculture, page 1210.
A. D. 1789.
Adam, of Blair Adam, 7847.
Adams, George, his work on agriculture, page 1212.
A. D. 1810.
Adanson, Madame Aglae, her work on agriculture,
page 1218. A. D. 1822.
Adansbnza digitata, 1109.
Africa, general description of, 1066,
After-grass on meadows, 5810.
Agricultural Institution of Moegelin, 576.
Agricultural Society, Australian, 104.3.
Agricultural Societies of Hanover and Celle, 593.
Agriculture among the Romans, decline of, 178.
Agriculture, as influenced by climate, 1248; by tem-
perature and light, 1259 ; by elevation, 1260 ; by
soil, 1263 ; by moisture, 1264 ; by the state of so-
ciety, 1270 ; by civilisation, 1271 ; by political
circumstances, 1272 ; by religion, 1273 ; by the
character of a people, 1274.
Agriculture, bibliography of, 7896.
Agriculture during the seventeenth century, 234.
Agriculture, earliest Spanish works on, 713.
Agriculture, history of, in the ages of antiquity, 5 ;
in Egypt, 8 ; among the Jews, 17 ; of the Greeks,
24; of the Persians and Carthaginians, &c. 36;
among the Romans, 42 ; during the middle ages
in Italy, 180; in France, 185 ; in Germany, 192 ; in
Britain, 195 ; in ultra-European countries, 47.
Agriculture, improvement of, by refiningthe taste of
the purchasers of its products, and increasing the
knowledge of agricultural patrons, 7926 ; by the
better education of those engaged in it, 7930.
Agriculture in England during the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries, 210 ; in the fifteenth centurv,
211; in the sixteenth century, 216; early in the
sixteenth century, 221 ; during the reign of Eliza,
beth, 222.
Agriculture in ultra-European countries during the
middle ages, 257, 258.
Agriculture may be practised without any know-
ledge of its theory, 1286 ; object of the art of, 1287 ;
study of the science of, 1289.
Agriculture of Britain, classification of the, 1280 ;
improved by the Norman conquest, 204.
Agriculture of irrigation, geographical extension of
the, 1254 ; of manures and irrigation, 1255 ; of
draining and manures, 1256 ; of science, 1276: of
habit, 12^7; barbarian, 1278; of savages, 1279;
of water-fed lands, 1266 ; of sun-burnt lands, 1267 ;
of mountains, 1268 ; common, 1269.
Agriculture, origin of and imiwrtance ; practice of,
in early times ; recent discoveries in ; arrange.
4
ment of the subject in this work, pages 1 to 3;
the operations, 3111 ; the physical circumstances
affecting, 1258 ; traditional history of, 1, 2 ; works
on, during the commonwealth, 250.
Agriculturists, commercial, the different kinds of,
7724 ; itinerant, 7725 ; professional education of,
7942.
Aigoin, his work on agriculture, page 1218. A.D.
1805.
Ainslie, John, his works on agriculture, page 1212.
A. D. 1806.
Air, fresh, proper for domestic animals, 2076;
noxious in wells, 4480.
Aitoji, William, his works on agriculture, page 1212.
A. D. 1805.
Alamanni, his work on agriculture, page 1221.
A.D. 1764.
Alamanni, Luigi, his work on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1546.
Albania, agriculture of, 7.'j8.
Albertaxxi, Jacopo Antonio, his work on agricul-
ture, page 1222. A. D. 1811.
Albrecht, J. F. R, his work on agriculture, page
1219. A. D. 1775.
Albumen, 1344. 1406 ; in animals, 1939 ; use of,
1940.
Alderson, John, M. D., his work on agriculture,
page 1211. A. D. 1802.
^^Igae, utility of the, 1333.
Algiers, description of the territory of, 1095.
Alkalies, vegetable, 1500 ; utility of, 1501.
Alletx, Pons Augustin, his works on agriculture,
page 1215. A. D. 1760.
Almond tree, the, at the Cape of Good Hope, 1122.
Aloe, the, in Spain, 723 ; of the Cape of Good
Hope, 1123.
Amazonia, agriculture of, 1244.
Ambergris, 1949.
.imeithon, Hubert Pascal, his work on agriculture,
page 1216. A. D. 1779.
America, agricultural operations of, 1170; field
libours in, 1171.
America, North, temperature of the eastern parts
of, 2352, ^
Amiot, Le P., his work on agriculture, 1216. A. D.
1770.
Ammonia in animals, 1929.
Ammoniac, 1474.
Amoretti, his works on agriculture, page 122 J.
A. D. 1785. ^
Amoreux, his works on agriculture, page 1216. A. D.
1787. . ,,
A7nos, William, his works on agriculture, page
1210. A. D. 1794.
Amphibia, 7589. ^ . ,
Analysation of plants, mechanical and chemical
processes for the, 1392, 1393.
Analysis, vegetable, products of, 1394; compound
products of, 1395. .
Anderson, James, LL. D., his works on agriculture,
page 1209. A. D. 1775. . ,^
Anderson, William, his work on agriculture, page
1213. A. D. 1816. , ^„
Angler, the, injurious to young salmon, 389Z.
Anglo-Saxons, origin of the, 200.
Angus, statistics of, 78.W.
Animals affected by climate, 1249.
Animals, androgynous, 1984; gemmiparous, 1985;
hybridous, 1986 ; dead, as a manure, 2245 ; distri-
bution of, on the face of the globe, 1999 ; local
distribution of, 2005 ; domestic, the rearing of,
2066
Animals, external covering of, 1844; importance
of, in the arts, 2013. 2019 ; as articles of food, 2015 ;
in medicine, 2018 ; influence of soil and climate
1250
GENERAL INDEX.
on the general properties of, 2024 ; killed by acci-
dent not unwholesome, 2097; more numerous
than plants, 1998; necessity of a partial know-
ledge of, 1837 ; of Britain, 1838 ; noxious to agri-
culture, 7623; reared by the Romans, 156; the
classification of, 1842 ; the elementary substances
composing, 1917; the mode of describing, 1840;
viviparous, reproduction of, 1974; vertebrated, dis-
tribution of, 2002 ; marine, distribution of, 2003.
Anim6, from what obtained, 1468.
Annuaire de la Soci^tfe Royale et Centrale d' Agri-
culture, Anon, page 1219. A.D. 1826.
Annuaire du Jardinier et de 1' Agronome, pour 1826.
Anon, page 1219. A.D. 1826.
Annuals, 1569.
Anomalies in plants, 1589; in the parts of plants,
1320.
Anstruther, Sir John, Bart., his work on agricul-
ture, page 1211. A.D. 1796.
Ant and mole hills, removal of, on pastures, 5821.
Antelope, the, 7378 ; the common, 7380 ; the cha-
mois, 7381 ; the Scythian, 7382; the white-footed,
7383.
Ant-hills, 5775; to remove, 5776 ; Norfolk mode of
cutting and burning, 5777 ; gelding, 5778.
Antilly Hon. Edward, Esq., his works on agricul-
ture, page 1223. A. D. 1789.
Anton, k. Glo., his work on agriculture, page 1220,
A. D. 1799.
Antrim, statistics of, 7895.
Aphides, the, or plant lice, 7682; of beans, 5256.
Apiarv, the, 2845. 7603.
Apples, baking, most suitable for orchards, 4088;
cider, the most approved sorts of, 4086 ; table of,
4089; dessert, fit for orchards, 4090; orchard,
Ronalds's select list of, 4098 ; Pearson's select list
of, 4099.
Apple-mill, the, 4145.
Appraiser, agricultural, 7749.
Apprentices, agricultural, 4879. 7712.
Apraxm, M., his work on agriculture, 7907.
Aquatics, influence of altitude on the habits of, 1737.
Aquino, Charles d', his work on agriculture, page
1221. A.D. 1736.
Arabia, extent of, 883; general surface of, 884;
agricultural products of, 885 ; plants and trees of,
886 ; live stock of, 887 ; agricultural implements
and operations of, 889.
Architecture of Thibet, 1019.
Ardrossan, the harbour at, 7841.
Arduinio, Luigi, his works on agriculture, page 1222.
A. D. 1809. •
Argyleshire, statistics of, 7858.
Armagh, statistics of, 7893.
Armature of plants, 1318.
Arrangement of plants, the artificial and natural,
1302 and 1303.
Arrow-root, the, of the West Indies, 1219.
Artichoke, Jerusalem, 5512.
.4^rum escul^ntum, 1217.
Ash tree, large, in Bonhill churchyard in Dunbar-
tonshire, 7843.
Ashes for lixiviation, 682.
Ashes of plants, 1498; analysis of, 1499.
Asia Minor, climate of, 861.
Asia, the islands of, 1020.
Asparagus, treatment of, in the Netherlands, 493.
Aspect in regard to farming lands, 4771.
Assafoetida, 1482.
Ass, the, 6756; excelleiicies and defects of, 6757;
the diffferent breeds or races of, 6759; breeding,
6760; breaking the, 6762; to know the age of,
6763; anatomy and physiology of the, 6764; dis-
eases of, I66.'5 ; shoeing of the, 676a
Asses, the, of Egypt, 1087.
./Astragalus bo/ticus, culture of, 6166.
Atmosphere, substances composing the, 2333 ; action
of, on plants, 2344 ; changes in the, 2345.
Atti del real institute d'incorragiamento, &c. Anon,
page 1222. A. D. 1825.
Auditor of accounts, the most essential duty of an,
4715.
Audouirtt Maurice, his work on agriculture, page
1218. A. D. 1829.
Auger, the common draining, 4314 ; the horizontal,
4317 : use of the, in well-digging, 4481.
Australia, the islands of, 1034.
Austria, state of agriculture in, 619 ; landed pro-
perty of, 620 ; crown lands in, 622 ; appearance of
the country of, 623 ; instruments of agriculture
in, 624 ; agricultural produce of, 625 ; vine, cul-
ture of, 627 ; culture of plums in, 629 ; culture of
silk in, 630 ; bees in, 631 ; live stock of, 632 ;
homed cattle of, 633; horses of, 634; swine of,
635; poultry of, 636; the land tortoise of, 637 i
implements and operations of agriculture in, 638 ;
forests of, 639 ; improvement of the agriculture
of, 640.
Author, the agricultural, 7757.
Authors, agricultural, in the time of Elizabeth, 231 j
Roman, 44.
Autumn, temperature of, influence of, on plants,
1729.
Aviary, 7566.
Avrouin, Foulin, his work on agriculture, page 12181
A. D. 1818.
Awns of barley, method of rubbing off the, 2798.
Axe, the, 2490.
Axles, Burges's improvement in, 2751.
Axle-trees, the best for preserving roads, 3737.
Ayrshire, statistics of, 7841.
Azote, in the atmosphere, 2341.
Bachapins, description of the, 1138.
Bacon-grub, the, 7692.
Badger, the, 7630.
Bagging corn, 3174.
Bttjiot, his works on agriculture, page 1218. A. D.
1806.
Bailey, John, Esq., his works on agriculture, page
1211. A. D. 1797.
Bailiff and gardener, 7718.
Bailiff, choice of a, 4867.
Bakewell, Robert, Esq^ his work on agriculture,
ftage 1212. A. D. 1808; improvements by, in the
ive stock of Britain, 787.
Balsam of Peru, 1488 ; of Tolu, 1487.
Balsams, 1483.
Bamboo, the, uses of, 908.
Banister, John, his work on agriculture, page 1211.
A. D. 1799.
Bank formed with piles, brushwood, and stones,
4350.
Bar Loch, drainage of, 4276.
Barbara, Marco, his work on Agriculture, page
1221. A. D. m^
Barbe-Marbois, his works on agriculture, page 1217.
A. D. 1798.
Barber, William, his works on agriculture, page
1212. A. D. 1805.
Bard, C. P., his work on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1826.
Barelle, Giuseppe, his works on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1807.
Barilla, cultivation of, 6194.
Bark of trees, drying, 4051 ; chopping, 4052.
Bark, spent, tanner's, as a manure, 2242.
Barking trees, 4050.
Barley, frosted, 4998.
Barley, 5080 ; species and varieties of, 5081 ; soil
for, 5093; manure for, 5097; climate for, 5098;
sowing, 5099 ; culture of, in a growing state, 5104 ;
harvesting of, 5107 ; stacking, 5109 ; threshing
and dressing, 5110; produce of, 5111; uses of,
5112 ; diseases of, 5119 : insects injurious to, 7663.
Barometer, use of the, 2346. 2408 ; the words en-
graved on the, 2416.
Barron, William, F.R.S.E., his work on agricul-
ture, page 12(9. A. D. 1774.
Barrow-drill, the turnip, 2578.
Barrows for hay and straw 2540.
Barthex de Marmoriferes, his work on agriculture,
page 1215. A.D. 1763.
.Sarf/fv, Nehemiah, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1211. A. D. 1802. ,
Barton, Benjamin Smith, M. D., his work on
agriculture, page 1223. A. D. 1812.
Bartram, John, M. D., his work on agriculture,
page 1223. A. D. 1744.
Bartram, Moses, his work on agriculture, page
1223. A. D. 1789.
Base of a road, preparation of the, 3622.
Baskets, 2525.
Bassi, Agostino, his works on agriculture, page
1222. A. D. 1811.
Bastard saffron, 5987 ; soil for, 5990 ; use of, 5991.
Bath and West of England society, the, 7914.
Bauers, German, farming of the, 605.
Bavaria, former state of agriculture in, 614 ; agri-
cultural improvement of, 615; surface of, 616;
crops c\iltivated in, 617; forests of, 618.
Bayldon, J. S., his work on agriculture, page 121S.
A. D. 1825.
GENERAL INDEX.
1251
Beaks of birds, 1862.
Beans, Carob, 1104.
Bean drills, 2683 ; Weir's expanding, 2684.
Beans, 5222 ; drilling of, 5223 , varieties of, 5224 ;
choice of, 5226 ; the best soils for, 5227 ; climate
for, 5232; sowing, 5233; dibbling, 5237; after
culture of, 5240 ; reaping, 5244 ; stacking, 5247 j
threshing, 5248; produce of, 5249; application
of, 5251 ; diseases of, 5255.
Beans, insects injurious to, 7666.
Beasts of labour, 2014.
Beatson's contrivance for preventing ruts in roads,
3746.
Beatson, Major-General Alexander, his work on
agriculture, page 1213. A. D. 1820 ; new theory
of roads, 3695.
Beaunie, Antoine, his work on agriculture, page
1216. A. D. 1770.
Bed of a river, &c., 4420.
jBerfrfoes, Thomas, M.D., his works on agriculture,
page 1212. A. D. 1808.
Bedford House of Industry, 7784.
Bedfordshire, statistics of, 7784.
Bee, the common, 76()2; feeding, 7608; swarming,
7610 ; suffocating, 7614 ; produce and profit, 7615.,
Bees in Perthshire, 7849; in the 16th century, 248;
of Galloway, 7810; rearing of, in Hungary, 631 ;
in Poland, ^S.
Bclair, A. P. Julienne de, his work on agriculture,
page 1217. A. D. 1794.
Belgrove, William, his work on agriculture, page
1223. A.D. 1755.
Bell, Benjamin, F.R.S.R,his work on agriculture,
page 1212. A. D. 1802.
Bell's reaping machine, 2737.
Bend, a, 4417.
Bends for ship-timber, mode of pruning, for produc-
ing, 4000.
Benettl, Santo, his work on agriculture, page 1222.
A. D. 1810.
Benin, description of, 1106.
Benzoin, 1484.
Berkshire, statistics of, 7790.
Berry of plants, 1S55.
Beri-y, the Rev. Henry, his opinion on the choice
of live stock for breeding and feeding, 4851 ; his
work on agriculture, page 1214. A. D. 1830.
Berthelot. his work on agriculture, page 1216. A. D.
1782.
Bertrand, Elie, his works on agriculture, page 1215.
A. D. 1764.
Bertrand, his work on agriculture, page 1217. A. D.
1794; his work on agriculture, page 1221. A.D. 1780.
Bertrand, Jean, his work on agriculture, page 1215
A.D. 1764.
Bertrochus, Dionysius, his work on agriculture,
page 1221. A. D. 1496.
Berwickshire, statistics of, 7835.
Besoms used in farming, 2468.
Betel leaf of Sumatra, 1024.
Bexon, Gabriel Leopold Charles Ame, his works on
agriculture, page 1216. A. D. 1773.
Bibliography, agricultural, of North America, 7908.
Bibliography of British agriculture, 7898 ; of French
agriculture, 7900 ; of Gerjnan agriculture, 7901 ;
of Italian agriculture, 7902.
Bidet, M., his work on agriculture, page 1221, A. D.
1778.
Billington's opinion on pruning, 3990.
Binot, the, 2620.
Birch wine, 7799.
Birds, foreign aquatic, 7567 ; gallinaceous, (see cock
and hen), 7439; injurious to agriculture, 7639;
of luxury which are or may be cultivated by
farmers, 7531 ; singing, 7563 ; breeding and rear-
ing, 7565.
Birkbeck, Morris, Esq., his works on agriculture,
page 1213., A.D. 1815.
Birman empire, climate of the, 934; seasons of the,
935 ; soil of the, 936 ; cattle of the, 937 ; plants
and trees, 938 ; animals of the, 939.
Biroli, Giovanni, his works on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1807.
Bitter principle, the, in vegetables, 1421.
Bixa Orellana, 1230.
Bixhaub, his work on agriculture, page 1219. A. D.
1786.
Black, James, his work on agriculture, page 1209.
A. D. 1777.
Blackwell, Alexander, M. D. , his work on agricul-
ture, p4;e 1208. A. D. 1741.
Blaikte, Francis, his works on agriculture, page
1213. A. D. 1819.
Blair Drummond, the moss of, 2183; the water
wheel at, 2187.
Blanks in plantations, filling up, 3983.
Blavet, his work on agriculture, page 1215. A.D. 1755.
Bleaching flax, 5904
Blight, the, 1687 ; from cold and frosty winds. 1688 ;
from sultry and pestilential vapour, 1689 ; from
want of nourishment, 1690; originating in Kmgi,
1691.
Blith, Walter, his works on agriculture, page 1207.
A. D. 1649.
Blood, as a manure, 2252.
Bloom, 1470.
Blubber, as a manure, 2247.
Blues, vegetable, the finest of, for dyeing, 1415.
Blythe's Improver improved, 251.
Board of Agriculture, the, 7915.
Bogs, drainage of, 4254; improvement of, 4547;
meadows, 5787 ; making the hay of, £804; of Ire-
land, examination of the, 820.
Boilers, 2806.
Boiling machines, 2806.
Bolting-machine, a hand, 2552.
Bonafous, M. Mathieu, his work on agriculture,
page 1222. A. D. 1827.
Bone-ashes as a manure, 2303.
Bone-breaking machine, 2554.
Bones of animals, 1881 ; increase in size of the, 1884 ;
reproduction of the, 1886; articulation of the,
1888 ; as a manure, 224a
Bone manure, 4979.
Bonnemain, his work on agriculture, page 1218.
A.D. 1816.
Book farmers, p. 1177.
Book-keeping, farm. Trotter's method of, 4885.
Books on agriculture, Spanish and Portuguese,
7904 ; Flemish and Dutch, 7P05 ; Swedish and Da-
nish, 7906 ; Polish and Russian, 7907 ; American,
7908.
Bootan, climate of, 1014 ; surface of, 1015.
Boots worn in irrigation, 4403.
Borcke, H. A. Grafen, his work on agriculture, page
1219. A.D. 1779.
Bordley, J. B., his work on agricultore, page 1223.
A. D. 1801.
Borer, use of the, in well-digging, 4482.
Boring instruments. Good's improved, 2507.
Boring the earth for spring water, 4485 ; operation
of, 4486.
Boring trees, 1674.
Borneo, agriculture of, 1028.
Bornot, M. A., his work on agriculture, page 1218.
A.D. 1817.
Borro, Alessandro del, his work on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1718.
Bosc, K. Ad. H. von., his work on agriculture, page
1220. A.D. 1792.
Bosc, Th., his works on agriculture, page 1218. A. D.
1823.
Bostrichus pinip^rdus, 537.
Boswell, George, his work on agriculture, page 1209.
A. D. 1780.
Boucher d'Argis, Antohine Gaspard, his work on
agriculture, page 1215. A. D. 1749.
Bourbon, Isle of, 1143.
Botithier, his work on agriculture, page 1216. A. D.
1780.
Bot/ce's first attempt at a reaping machine, 2732.
Bays, John, his work on agriculture, page 1211.
A.D. 1796.
Bradley, Richard, F.R.S., his works on agriculture,
page 1207. A. D. 1721.
Brain, the, 1913 ; functions of the, 1915.
Brake, the common, 2700 ; Wilkie's parallel adjust.
ing, 2656.
Branches of a plant, 1309 ; of trees, anomaUes in the,
1601.
Brazil, description of, 1232; vegetable productions
of, 1233 ; live stock of, 1238.
Bread-corn, the, of temperate climates, 1784.
Breast -plough, used in irrigation, 4394.
Breed, when improved, 2040.
Breed of animals, improvement of a, 2023.
Breeding, choice of Uve stock for the purpose of,
4835.
Bridekirk, plan of the village of, 3850.
Bridges, 3110 ; on roads, 3611.
Bridge, portable, for passing sheep over marsh
ditches, 7781.
Bridgewater, Duke of, the father of canals in Eng-
land, S804.
Britain, agriculture o^ benefited by the revolution,
763 ; progress in the agriculture ol, from the revo.
L 2
125a
GENERAL INDEX.
tution to the mkldle of the eighteenth century,
773; improvenvent in the agriculture of, since the
American war, TJi; severe shock sustained by
the agriculture of, 775 ; improvements in the
agriculture of, during the eighteenth century, 799 ;
agriculture of, during the middle ages, 195 ; classi-
fication of the agriculture of, 1£80 ; introduction
of agriculture into, 176; the chief mineral sub-
stances of, 3854 ; the climate of, 2437 ; deterior-
ation of the, 2439
Broadcast sowing, 3149.
Brodigan, Thomas, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1214. A. D. 18.30.
Bromeka Pinguin, 1221.
Broom, the common, 5633.
Broom flax, 5994.
Broom rape of the Flemish farmers, 470.
Brousonnety Pierre Marie Auguste, his works on
agriculture, page 1216. A.D. 1787.
Browrit Lieutenant, his system of paving roads, 3722.
Brown, Robert, Esq., his works on agriculture, page
1211. A.D. 1799.
Brown's vegetable for dyeing, 1418.
Brugnone, Gio., his works on agriculture, page 1221.
A.D. 1781.
Buchanan, George, his work on agriculture, page
1213. A.D. 1825.
Buch'ox, Pierre Joseph, his works on agriculture,
page 1215. A.D. 1760.
Buckets, Chinese, for raising water, 995.
Buckinghamshire, statistics of, 7783.
Buck- wheat, 5188, 6111 ; species of, in cultivation,
6112; culture of, 6113; sowing, 6114; harvesting,
6115; produce of, 6116; use of, 6117; as a seed
crop, 6:22.
Buds of plants, 1360; anomalies in the, 1603; rege-
neration of, when injured, 1680.
Buffalo, the, 6973; breeding, rearing, and general
management of, 6976 ; of Egypt, 1085.
Buildings, agricultural, materials, and construction
of, by Waistell, 2943 ; to delineate, 3364.
Buildings, good, policy of erecting for the labouring
classes, 7852.
Bulbs of plants, 1313. 1361.
Bull, see horned cattle, 6773.
Bu/liard, his work on agriculture page 1216. A. D.
1778.
Bunias, the oriental, 5641.
Burgcs's improvement in the construction of axles,
2751.
Burnet, the, 5619
Burning clay, 3223 ; an improved method of, 3225 ;
by lime without fuel, 3227: use of pyrites in,
3228.
Burning out grain, 3203^
Burning lands, 3209. 4536,
Burroughs, Edward, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1213. A. D. 1820.
Bust's borer for quicksand, 2518.
Buschire and its territory, 864.
Bustard, the, 7522; species of, 7523.
Buteshire, statistics of, 7859.
Butter of cacao, 1448 ; of cocoa, 1449 ; of nutmeg,
14.10.
Butter tree, the, 1110.
Cabbage, 5497 ; culture of, 5498 ; varieties of, 5499;
soil for, 5.502 ; planting, 5503; after-culture of,
5505 ; application of, 5505 ; saving the seed of,
5509 ; diseases of, 5510.
Cabbages and other esculent vegetables, insects in-
jurious to, 7679.
Cabbage tree, 1056.
Cadet de Faux, Antoine Alexis, his works on agri-
culture, page 1216. A. D. 1782.
Caithness, statistics of, 7855.
Cale's, M. V. M., M. D. his work on agriculture,
7905.
Calf, see horned cattle, 6773.
Calf.pens, 2835 ; in Gloucestershire, 2S36.
Callipers, Broad's, for measuring standing timber,
4075.
Calthorpe, Charles, his work on agriculture, page
1207. A. D. 1635.
Calvel, Etienne, his work on agriculture, page 1218.
A. D. 1809.
Cambodia, agriculture of, 953.
Cambridgeshire, statistics of, 7786.
Camel and dromedary in Egypt, 1083.
Camel of Persia, 872.
Camel, the, 7385; in Hindostan, 917.
Caraelopard, the, 738S.
Camphire, preparation of, 979.
Camphor, H89.
Campo Morto, account of the farm of, in the Ma-
remmas, 303.
Canada, climate and surface of, 1192 ; soil of, 1193;
products of, 1194.
Canal bill, the princ-ipal heads of a, 3813.
Canals, 3798 ; Dr. Smith's opinion of, 3799; genera!
arguments in favour of, 38(X) ; the great advantages
of, 3801 ; first made in Egypt, 3S02 ; rise of, in
Britain, 3804.
Can-il, the first step towards forming a, 3806 ; es.
timating the expense of, 3811 ; powers granted
by government in the forming of a, 3812 ; execu-
tion of a, 3817.
Canary grass, 5169; culture of, 5170; reaping of,
5171 ; common produce of, 5172 ; use of the seed
of, 5173.
Canary Islands, the, 1146.
Canciana, his work on agriculture, page 1221. A. D.
1776.
Cantuni, Carlo Antonio, his work on Agriculture,
page 1221. A. D. 1778.
Caoutchouc, 1490.
Cape Breton, Islaml of, 1196.
Cape of Good Hope, climate of the, 1114; surface
of the, 1115; soils of the, 1116; lamled property
in the, 1117; farms of the, 1118; agricultural
products of the, 1119; live stock of the, 1125;
agricultural implements and operations of the,
1132 ; tribes in the interior of the, 1134.
Capital required by the farmer, 4820.
Capsule, valves of the, in plants, IS-^O.
Caraway, 6068 ; culture and management of, 6069 ;
produce of, 6070; uses of, 6071; substitutes for,
6073.
Carbon, as a vegetable aliment, 1536 ; emitted by
the skin of animals, 1878; in animals, 1918.
Carcass of cattle and sheep, the chief object, 2031.
Carlow, statistics of, 7871.
Caronelli, Pietro, his works on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1791.
Carradori, Gioachino,his work on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1803.
Carrera, Antonio, his work on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1780.
Carrots, 5443 ; varieties of, 5444 ; soil for, 5445 ;
climate for, 5448 ; manure for, 5449 ; sowing,
5452; after culture of, 5458; taking up, 5461;
storing, 5463; produce of, 6464; uses of, 5465;
saving the seed of, 5469 ; diseases of, 5470.
Carrying, 3115.
Carp, 7573 ; raising, 7574.
Cay-pent er''?, work-room on a large farm, 2869.
Carse lands of Stirlingshire, 7814.
Carter, Landon, his work on agriculture, page 1223.
A. D. 1789.
Carthage, agriculture of, 38.
Curthamus tinctbrius, 1083.
Cartilage of the bones of animals, 1887.
Cart, market, of Poland, 652; improved Russian,
Cart, the, of Hindostan, 920 ; the Scotch one-horse
coup, 2752; the Scotch corn, 2753; the Scotcli
two-horse, 2754; the com, 2756; the improved
quarry, 2761 ; the three-wheeled, 2762 ; of Thes-
saly, 757.
Carts, 274'1. ; improved two-horse, 2755.
Cart-sheds, 2865.
Carts, three-wheeled, used in irrigation, 4400.
Carver, Jonathan, Esq., his work oti agriculture,
page 1223. A. D. 1779.
Castelli, Benedict, his work on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1628.
Castellet, Constans, his work on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1778.
Casualties of life, security against, 7967.
Cat, the, 7424 ; the genet, 7427.
Catch drain, a, 4419.
Catch-work watering, an example of, 4441.
Catechu, extract of, 1409.
Cattanco, Giacomo, his work on agriculture^ page
1221. A. D. 1767.
Cattle-hammels, 2831.
Cattle, in Elizabeth's reign, 224; of Scotland in 1598,
228 ; the Hebridean breed of, 7859.
Cattle-sheds, 2830.
Cattle-stock account, form of a, 4899.
Cattle-weighing machine, 2567.
Caudex of plants, 1364 ; structure of the, 1365, 13^.
Causeways, 3696.
GENERAL INDEX.
.2z;3
Cavan, statistics of, 7887.
Cayenne, or French Guiana, agriculture of, 1210.
Celebesian Islands, agriculture of the, 1U31.
Cels, Jacques Martin, his works on agriculture,
. page 1217. A.D. 1795.
Cementation, the mode of adhesion by, in animals,
1897.
Ceylon, climate of, 927 ; soil of, 928 ; cultivation in
the interior of, 929 ; agricultural implements of,
930 ; a farm-yard in, 931.
Chabert, Philippe, his works on agriculture, page
1216. A. D. 1785.
ChaboiiilU, Dupetitmont, M., his work on agricul-
ture, page 1219. A. D. 1825.
Chaff-cutter, 2560.
Chambray, Louis, his work on agriculture, page 1215.
A. D. 1765.
Chamomile, culture of, 6181.
Changes in the animal economy, 2055.
Channel for a river, to cut a new, 4373.
Chanvallon, his work on agriculture, page 1216.
A. D. 1769.
Chaptal, Comte, his work on agriculture, page 1218.
A. D. 1823.
Charcoal, 1493 ; properties of, 1494.
Chariot, the, of the Flemish farmer, 514.
Charm drawn by the Singalese on their threshing-
floor, 930.
Charring wood, 4066.
Ckatelain, le Chevalier, his work on agriculture,
page 1218. A. D. 1816.
Cheese, Parmesan, 270.
Cheese-making, in Cheshire, 7814. '
Chelsey farm, 7790.
Cherry, as an orchard fruit, 4101.
Cheshire, statistics of, 7814.
Chestnut, Spanish, 4102.
Chiccory, 5514; culture of, 5515. 6162; value of, as
a coffee plant, 6164 ; as a salad plant, 6165.
Chick pea, the, 5286.
Chilblains in plants, 1703.
Chile, agriculture of, 1229; plants of, 1230.
China, its canals, 3803; state of agriculture in, 960;
Dr. Abel's opinion respecting cultivation in, 961 ;
Livingstone's observations on agriculture in, 96J ;
climate of, 963; surface of, 964; soil of, 965;
landed property in, 9<i6 ; agricultural products of,
967; tea districts of, 968 ; culture of the tea plant
in, 969; the white cabbage of, 988; edible and
useful vegetables, 989; live stock of, 990; wild
animals of, 992; birds of, 993; fisheries, imple-
ments, and operations of agriculture in, 995, 996 ;
manures of, i)99 ; terrace cultivation in, 1009 ;
forests of, 1011 ; natural agricultural fete of, 1C12.
Chocolate plant, the, 1231.
Christ, J. L., his work on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1780.
Cider, when best for bottling, 4133.
Cider, manufacture of, 4122 ; produce of, by the
acre, 4137.
Cider casks, the best, 4149.
Cider cloths, 4147.
Cider-making in Gloucestershire, 7791 ; machinery
and utensils necessary for, 4138.
Cider-mill, Devonshire, figured and described, 4140 ;
of the south of France, 4143 ; for a private family,
4144.
Cider-press of Herefordshire, 4146.
Cider-presses made from the small-leaved lime, 7791.
Cider-vat, 4148.
Cisterns for urine, used in Flemish farmery, 441.
Cistus ladaniferus, 731.
Civilisation, as influencing agriculture, 1271 ; in-
fluence of, in increasing the number of plants in a
country, 1770.
Clackmannanshire, statistics of, 7846.
Clare, statistics of, 7880.
Claridge, John, his work on agriculture, page 1208.
A. D. 1744.
Clark, John, F. S. A., his works on agriculture,
page 1210. A. D. 1794
Clarke, Cuthbert, his work on agriculture, page
1209. A. D. 1777.
Clarke's opinion on draining roads, 3615.
Claws of animals, 1864.
Clay, burnt, action of, on the soil, 3220; application
of, as a manure, 3229 ; drying and burning, for
manure, 3219.
Cleaning cattle, 3233.
Cleaning roots, &c., 3137.
Cleanliness, essential to the health of animals, 2080.
Cleghorn, James, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1213. A. D, 1822.
"¥ 4
Clergy, the Norman, fond of agriculture, €05.
Climate, as influencing agriculture, 1248; in respect
to farming lands, 4718 ; of the British Isles, 2437 ;
deterioration of the, 2439.
Clipping plants, 3155.
Cliquot, Blervache, his work on agriculture, page
1216. A. D. 1789.
Closcn, Baron de, his work on agriculture, page
1220. A. D. 1825.
Cloud-berry, use of the, 701.
Clouds, 2356 ; simple modifications of, 2357 ; inter-
mediate modifications of, 2358; compound modi-
fications of, 2359.
Clover, insects injurious to, 7675.
Clover, introduction of, 235.
Clover, 5521 ; the red, 5522 ; the white, 5524 ; the
yellow, 5525 ; the flesh-coloured, 5527 ; soil for,
5530 ; climate for, 5531 ; sowing, 5533 ; after cul-
ture of, 5540 ; taking the crop of, 5541 ; soiling,
5542 ; nutritive products of, 55^5 ; saving the seed
of, 5565 ; threshing, 5569 ; produce in seed, 5572 ;
diseases of, 5573.
Clover-hay, mode of making, 5545 ; produce of, 5563 ;
value of, 5564.
Clydesdale, see Lanarkshire, 7842.
Coal, 3855 ; indications of, 3856 ; discovery of, 3857.
Coal fields of Britain, 3858.
Cochin-China, agriculture of, 954.
Cochineal, the Mexican, 1189.
Cochrane, Archibald, Earl of Dundonald, his works
on agriculture, page 1210. A. D. 1795.
Cock and hen, the Bankiva, 7439 ; the jungle, 7439 ;
the common dunghill, 7441 ; the game, 7442 ; the
Dorking, 7443 ; the Poland, 7444 ; the every day,
7445 ; the bantam, 7446 ; the Chittagong, or Ma-
lay, 7447 ; the shack-bag, or Duke of Leeds's,
7448 ; the improved Spanish, 7449 ; breedingr-7450 ;
health, 7451 ; moulting, 7458 ; hatching, 7460 ;
hatching by artificial heat, 7463 ; incubation of
chickens by hot water, 74o4 ; products, 7467 ; eggs,
7468; feathers or down, 7470; feeding and fatten-
ing the carcass, 7473 ; feeding-house.s, 7474; fat-
tening younger chickens, 7477 ; choice of full-sized
fowls for feeding, 7478; cramming, 7480; the
Oakingham method of feeding, 7482 ; castration,
7484; pinioning, 7435; diseases of, 7524.
Cockburn, John, notice of, 792.
Cockchafer, the, 7676.
Cock-roach, the, 7690.
Cocoa-nut tree, description of the, 901.
Cod-fishery, 3877.
CoflTee-tree, the, 1215 ; cultivating the, 1216.
Cointeraux, Frangois, his works on agriculture, page
1217. A. D. 1792.
Coke oven and lime-kiln, I^eathorn's, 628.
Cold, influence of, on the vital principle of plants,
1664 ; most hurtful in hollow places, 2319 ; greatly.
excluded by a slight covering, 2321.
Coldingen, near Hanover, farm of, 599.
Colerus, J., his works on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1591.
Co/li/ns,W., Esq., his work on agriculture, page 1214.
A.D. 1826.
Colmata, the Italian process of flooding lands, 2208,
Colombia, description of, 1241.
Colouring matter, the, in vegetables, 1414.
Comber, Thomas, LTv. D, his works on agriculture,
page 1209. A. D. 1770.
Comfort, necessary for domestic animals, 2081.
Comfrey, the rough, 5516.
Commercial and Agricultural Magazine, Anon, page
1211. A.D. 1799—1815.
Commonable lands, 3476 ; general principles of ap-
propriating, 3^90.
Communications to the Board of Agriculture, Anon.
page 1211. A. D. 1797—1819.
Coniparetti, his work on agriculture, page 1221.
A.D. 1798.
Complete farmer, &c. &c. Anon, page 1208. A. D.
1766.
Composts and other manures, 4976.
Conduct and economy of an agriculturist's life,
7952.
Congo, 1108 ; useful plants of, 1110; live stock of,
1112.
Consolidating of landed property, 3471.
Consolidation of soils, 2172.
Constantia wine, the, 1121.
Consumption in plants, 1714.
Continents, temperature of, 2353.
Contortion in plants, 1712.
Conveniences of farm-houses and detached offices,
as arranged by Waistell, 2923.
L 3
1254
GENERAL INDEX.
Convexity, degree of, proper for roads, 3675.
Copaiva, balsam of, 1462.
Copal, 1467.
Copineau, Abb^, his work on agriculture, page 1216.
A. D. 1780.
Copse- woods, improvement of, 4026; products of,
4043.
Corals and corallines, as a manure, 2253.
Coriander, 6065 ; culture and management of, 6056;
produce and use of, 6067 ; substitutes for, 6073.
Corium of animals, 1847.
Cork, 1491.
Cork Institution, the, 7922.
Cork, statistics of, 7877.
Cork tree, the, in Spain, 747.
Corn, early exportation of, 240.
Corn, whether it ought to be sown broadcast or in
drills, 4989 ; preservation of, after being threshed,
4989.
Corn-barn, 2847 ; the English, 2848.
Corn-bin, the, 2530.
Corn-bruising machine, 2558.
Corn crops cultivated in Britain, 4982.
Corn drill, Cooke's three-row, 2681.
Corn farmers, 7738.
Corn, frosted, 4996.
Corn-laws, the, 765.
Corn-measures, 2533.
Corn-rake, the, 2451 ; of East Lothian, 2452.
Corn-sacks, S534.
Corn-screen, the, 2524.
Corn-stacks of the square sort, proper sizes of, 3277.
Corn-stands, 2908.
Cornwall, statistics of, 7825.
Costa, Ch., his work on agriculture, page 1220. A. D.
1802.
Cottage, a double, for two married ploughmen, 4180 ;
a double, of only one floor, 4178 ; on a smaller
scale, 4179; a good mechanic's, 4182; a labourer's,
•with cow-house and piggery, 4181.
Cottage cow, the best modes of keeping a, 3846.
Cottage farmers, 7726.
Cottage fit for a tradesman, mechanic, or bailiff, 4177.
Cottages, establishment of, 3845.
Cottages for labourers, 2876—2900; in Dumfries-
shire, 7839; in the Hebrides, 7859; in Staffordshire,
7796; in West Lothian, 7845'; of Kincardineshire,
7851; of Moldavia and Wallachia, 760; orna-
mental, 2897—2900 ; picturesque, 4183.
Cotte, L., his works on agriculture, page 1217. A. D.
1790.
Cotton plant, culture of, in Jamaica, 1213 ; in Sicily,
318.
Cotton trees in China, 983.
Cottons of Sumatra, 1026.
Cotyledon of plants, 1347.
Court farmer, 7723.
Covenants of leases, 4688.
Coventry, Andrew, M.D., his works on agriculture,
page 1212. A. D. 1808.
Coventry, Dr., 7847.
Cow, see horned cattle, 6773.
Cow cabbage, the, 5500.
Cowhouse, Harley's, 2852.
Cows, breeding of, on the farm at Moegelin, 587.
Cowshed, Cornish, 7825.
Cradle-scythe, 2480.
Cramer, John Andrew, his work on agriculture,
page 1219. A. D. 1766.
Craw, the, 7616.
Crawfish, the, 3904.
Crayfish, or more properly crawfish, 7616.
Crescent used in irrigation, 4396.
Crescentius, his works on agriculture, page 1221.
A.D. 1471.
Cress, garden, 6159 ; soil for, 6160 ; use of, 6161.
Cribs for cattle used in Derbyshire, 7799.
Cromarty, statistics of, 7854.
Crops, importance of a judicious rotation of, 4912.
4927 ; rotation of, 2217 ; rationale of, 2218 ; Gri-
senthwaite's theory of, 2220 ; the principles of,
2221 ; influence of, in destroying insects, 2223.
Cross-breed, when advantageous, 2062.
Cross-cutting machine. Brown's, 2715.
Cross moss-cutting machine, used at Mount Annan,
in Dumfriesshire, 7839.
Crossing, the good effects of, 2053 ; the bad eflffects
of, 2054. 2056.
Crossing, vegetable, 1632 ; anomalous effect of, 1635.
Crossings of roads should be at right angles, 3558.
Croton, a species of, in Brazil, used as tea, 1237.
Crtid, Le Baron E. V. B.,his work on agriculture,
page 1218. A. D. 1820.
Cruickshank's opinion on pruning, S989.
Crust of our earth, the, 2101.
Crusts of animals, 1872.
Cryptog5.mia, favourite habitations of, 1734.
Cuba, agriculture of, 1 198.
Culley, Messrs. Matthew and George, pupils of
Bakewell, 789.
Culley, George, his works on agriculture, page 1210.
A. D. 1786.
Cultivator, Bartlett's, 2710; Wilkie's parallel ad-
justing, 2556; Finlayson's self-cleaning, 2657;
Weir's improved, 2658 ; the Scotch, 2659 ; Parkin-
son's 2660 ; Hayward's, 2662 ; Beatson's, 2663.
Culture, effect of, on woody plants, 3970 ; on the lig-
neous plants in common use in planting and gar-
dening, 3971 ; in the north and in the south of
Europe, characteristics of, 1251 ; the general
effect of, on plants, 1766 ; influence of, on fruits,
1768; influence of, on plants of ornament, 1769.
Culture of plants, the greatest refinement in, lul.
Cumberland, statistics of, 7810.
Cumming's opinion respecting the form of wheels
proper for roads, 3734.
Curassow, the crested, 7496.
Curcvilio palm^rum, the, of Surinam, eaten as a
luxury, 1243.
Currant, as an orchard fruit, 4104.
Curtis, William, his work on agriculture, page 1210 ;
A. D. 1789.
Curwen, John Christian, M.P , his works on agri.
culture, page 1212. A. D. 1809.
Cuscuta europa2X 1759.
Cuticle of animals, 1845.
Cutting over old hedges, 2968. 3021.
Cutting plants, 3151.
Cutting trees, the best mode of, 4016.
D.
Dairy, the, and its management, 6976 ; operations
of, 6977.
Milk, 6978; butter, 6979; cheese, 6980;
whey, 6981 ; constituent parts of milk,
cow's milk, 6983; ass's milk, 6984; ewe's
milk, 6985; goat's milk, 6986; mare's
milk, 6987; camel's milk, 6988; sow's
milk, 6989 ; use of these milks, 6990 ; lac-
tometers, 6991.
The dairy-house for general purposes, 6992 ;
properties requisite in a good milk-house,
6993 ; a butter dairy, 6994 ; cheese dairy,
6695 ; dairy for private use, 6996 ; dairies
for dairy farmers, 6997 ; utensils of the
dairy, 7007.
Milking, 7014 ; management of milk, 7017.
Making and curing of butter, 7019; the
making up, 7025; the salting or curing,
7027.
Cheese-making, 7039 ; rennet, and its uses,
7041 ; colouring matter, 70t7; setting the
curd, 7050; management in the press,
* 7054; management in the cheese-room,
7056.
Catalogue of the different sorts of cheeses,
and other preparations made from milk,
1045 ; British cheeses, 7059 ; foreign
cheeses, 7090 ; preparations of milk,
7097.
Dairv farmers, 7733.
Dairy at Woburn, 7784.
Dairies of Ireland, 841.
Daisy-rake, the, 2454.
Dalrymple, William, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1211. A. D. 1800.
Dandolo, Vincenzo, his works on agriculture, page
1222. A. D. 1812.
Dartmoor, dep6t for prisoners of war at, 7824.
Darwin, Erasmus, M.D. F.R.S., his work on agri-
culture, page 1211. A. D. 1800.
Date tree, the, in India, 907 j of Persia, 868.
Daubenton, Jean Louis Mane, his work on agricul-
ture, page 1217. A. D. 1802.
Davey, John, Esq., his work on agriculture, page
1214. A. D. 1830.
Davies,, Walter, A. M., his work on agriculture,
page 1212. A. D. 1810.
Davis, Thomas, Esq., his work on agriculture, page
1210. A. D. 1794.
Davy, Sir Humphry, his work on agriculture, page
1213. A.D. 1813; his opinion as to the application
of farm-yard manure, 2239; result of his dis-
GENERAL INDEX.
1255
cussion on the effects of saline substances on ve.
getation, 231] ; his table of the nutritive products
of, 5000.
Davy, Sir H., table of the nutritive products of the
principal herbage plants, 5520. ; table of the nutri-
tive products of grasses, 5668.
Dawson, an improver of Scottish agriculture, 796 ;
his opinion of lime as a manure, 4975.
Day lily, the, 5517.
Day's work of a farm labourer, 4904.
Dealings, commercial, of the agriculturist, 3384.
Dean, Dr., his work on agriculture, page 1223. A. D.
1790.
De Chabrol de Volvie, Comte, his work on agricul-
ture, page 1219. A. D. 1825.
Decortication of trees, 1682.
Deer, the, 7369.
Deer husbandry, 7373.
Deer in Wimpole Park, 7786.
Delabergerie, J. B. R., his work on agriculture, page
1218. A. D. 1815.
Delpierre, Leocade, his work on agriculture page
1219. A. D. 1826—1828.
Dendrometer, Rogers's, for measuring standing tim-
ber, 4076 ; Gorrie's, 4075 ; Monteith's, 4075.
Denmark, commencement of agricultural improve-
ment in, 562; farm-houses of, bdo; the farmer's
family in, 564.
Deposits, alluvial, 2105.
Depradt, D., his works on agriculture, page 1218.
A. D. 1803.
Der Schtoeizer, his work on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1760.
Derbyshire, statistics of, 7799.
Derieule, his work on agriculture, page 1219. A. D.
1766.
Desbois, Francis Alexander Aubert de la Chesnaie,
his work on agriculture, page 1215. A. D. 1751.
Deslandes, his work on agriculture, page 1218. A. D.
1820.
Desplaces, Laurent Benoist, his works on agricul-
ture, page 1215. A.D. 1762.
Despommiers, his work on agriculture, page 1215.
A. D. 1762.
Destere his work on agriculture, page 1223. A. D.
1800.
Development of vegetables, process of the, 1565.
Devonshire, plan of a new village sea-port in, S852 ;
statistics of, 7824.
Dew, 2364 ; phenomena of, 2365; cause of, 2366.
Deyeux, and others, their work on agriculture, page
1216. A.D. 1782.
Dibber, the common, 2471.
Dibblers, frame of, used in Sweden, 703.
Dibbling machine, Coggin's, 2473. 2577 ; the horse,
2686 ; the bean or potato, 2574.
Dibbling wheat, 5034.
Dickson, Adam, his works on agriculture, page 1208.
A.D. 1762.
Dickson, R. W., M. D., his works on agriculture,
page 1212. A. D. 1804; and page 1211. A. D. 1799
—1815.
Dicotyledbnea?, distribution of, 1780.
Digging, 3123.
Digging up crops, 3182.
Dirom, Gen., commenced the village of Bridekirk,
3850.
Dirt-eating, among the West Indians, 1224.
Diseases of animals, 1991.
Diseases of plants, 1685.
Distribution, general, of plants, 1722 ; physical,
1724 ; effects of temperature on the, 1725.
Distribution, local, of animals, 2005; effect of tem-
perature on, 2006; effect of situation on, 2009;
effect of the rapacity of carnivorous animals on,
2010 ; effect of man on, 201 1.
Distribution of animals on the face of the globe,
1999.
Ditch, the simple, 2967 ; the double, 2960.
Ditch fences, 2965.
Ditch and hedge, the double, 2971.
Division of lands, 3307.
Dix, William Spier, his work on agriculture, page
1211. A. D. 1797.
Dodson, Col. William, his work on agriculture, page
1207. A.D.. 1665.
Dog, the, 7391; the shepherd's, 7393; English
sheep, 7394: Scotch sheep, 7395; the mastiff or
guard, 7396; the bull dog, 7397 ; the terrier, 7398 ;
the pointer, setter, and spaniel, 7399 j breeding and
rearing, 7402 ; diseases, 7403.
Dombasle, C. J. A., Mathieu de, his works on agri-
culture, page 1218. A. D. 1824—1830.
4 1
Donaldson, James, his works on agriculture, page
1207. 1210. A. D. 1697 and 1794.
Donegal, statistics of, 7891.
Doria, Luigi, his work on agriculture, page 1221.
A. D. 1798. **
Dormouse, the fat, 7368.
Dorsetshire, statistics of, 7819.
Dossie, Robert, Esq., his work on agriculture, page
1209. A.D. 1768.
Double-dibber, 2472.
Douette-Richardot, Nicolas, his work on agricul-
ture, page 1218. A. D. 1825.
Douglas, Robert, D. D., his work on agriculture,
page 1211. A.D. 1798.
Dourchex, Charles, his works on agriculture, page
1218. A. D. 1803.
Down, statistics of, 7894.
Downs, 4563 ; sandy, on the sea-shore, improvement
of, 4564.
Doxat's machine for assisting human power, 2580.
Doyle, Martin, his work on agriculture, page 1214.
A.D. 1829.
Draftsman, agricultural, 7756.
Drag for two-wheeled carriages, Kneebone's, 2760.
Drag-cart, Lord Somerville's, 2757.
Dragging out dung or earth, 3129.
Dragon's blood, 1463.
Drain of conveyance, the, 4283 ; of collection, 4284 ;
the boxed and rubble, 4285 ; the brick, 4286 ; the
gravel or cinder, 4288 ; the wood, 4289 ; the spray,
4290; the straw, 4291 ; the turf, 4292 ; the wedge
or triangular sod, 4293 ; the hollow furrow, 4294 ;
the earth, 4295; the pipe of turf, 4296 ; the mole,
4299 ; the wheel, 4300.
Drainage of the estate of Spottiswoode, in Berwick-
shire, 4255; of roads, 3602; Paterson's, 3604; of
wet or boggy grounds, 4234; of mixed soils,
4250.
Draining, the implements for, 4307.
Draining mines, quarries, pits, ponds, and lakes,
4273—4277.
Draining-spades, 4311.
Draining, 4213 ; theory of, 4214.
Draining retentive soils, 4267.
Draining-scoop, the, 4308.
Draining-shovel, the, 4300.
Draining sod-knife, 4310.
Drains, formation of, 4278 ; the different sorts of,
4282; the best season for making, 4303; the du-
ration of, 4304 ; the expense of, 4305 ; the enemies
of, 4306.
Drain sluice, a, 4409.
Dralet, his work on agriculture, page 1217. A. D.
1801.
Draught machine, 2563 ; More's, 2564 ; Braby's, 2565.
Drawuig, 3116.
Drift-sands of the outer Hebrides, improvement of,
4565.
Drill and horse hoe, Cooke's improved, 2679.
Drill barrow, the common hand, 2575.
Drill machines, the best, 2695.
Drill rake, the, 2455.
Drill roller, the, 2691 ; the Norfolk, 2713.
Drills, turnip, 2687.
Drill-watering machine, 2692; estimate of its ope-
rations, 2693 ; its construction, 2694.
Drills for stirring the soil between the rows, 77J)2.
Drill, the Norfolk, 2680; the block-plough, 2G85.
Drilling, 3266.
Drilling wheat, 5032.
Driver, Abraham and William, their work on agri-
culture, page 1210. A. D. 1794.
Driving carts and waggons, 3272.
Droitwich salt works, 7792.
Dromedary of Arabia, 887.
Dropsy in plants, 1697; in succulent plants, 1G98.
Drupe of plants, 1354.
Drying the bark of trees, 4051.
Dublin, statistics of, 7S64.
Dublin Society, establishment of the, 813.
Dublin Society, the, 7920.
Dubois, Louis, his work on agriculture, page 1218.
A.D. 1824.
Dubois, J. B., his work on agriculture, page 1217.
A.D. 1790.
Dubrunfaut, M., his work on agriculture, page 1218.
A.D. 1825.
Duck, the, 7498; varieties and species of, 7499;
breeding, 7504 ; incubation of, 7505 ; fatteaiing of,
7507 ; decoys for wild, 7508.
Ducks of Buckinghamshire, 7783.
Ducoue'dic, his work on agriculture, page 1217. A. D.
1800.
4
1256
GENERAL INDEX.
Dugdale, William, his work on agriculture, page
1207. A. D. 1662.
Dumfriesshire, statistics of, 7839.
Dmnonf, Courset, his work on agriculture, page
1216. A.D. 1781.
Dunbartonshire, statistics of, 7813.
Dung, farm-yard, management of, 4959.
Dung of birds, as a manure, 2257 ; of sea-birds, as a
manure, 22o8 ; of domestic fowls, as a manure,
2261 ; of cattle, as a manure, 2263 ; of sheep and
deer, as a manure, 2264 ; of horses, as a manure,
2265; treatment of, 2266; of the street and road,
as a manure, 2267 ; to preserve, 2278.
Dung-drag, the, 2156.
Dung-yard and pit, the, 2903.
Dunrobin, mansion and park of, in Sutherland,7856.
Dupont, his works on agriculture, page 1215. A. D.
1764.
Duration of plants, anomalies in the, 1621.
Durham, statistics of, 7808.
Dutton, Hely, Esq. his works on agriculture, page
page 1212. A. D. 1808.
Duverg^, his work on agriculture, page 1215. A. D.
1763.
Dwelling-house of the farmer, 2870.
Dt/ce's method of blasting granite rock, 4526.
Earth, the, surface of, 2109.
Earth's surface, nature of the, afFecting plants, 1740.
Earth-hack, the, 2457.
Earths contained in plants, 1502. 1531 ; proportions
of the, 1532.
Earths, how produced, 2100 ; variously composed,
2110.
East Lothian, statistics of, 7834.
East Meath, statistics of, 7874.
Eckhart, J. Gli von, his work on agriculture, page
1219/ A. D. 1754.
Edge railways, on the middle or sides of public
roads, 3797.
Edgeworth's opinion on keeping a road in repair,
3759 ; on the breadth and strength of roads, 3597 ;
road fences, 3617 ; on laying out roads, 3550 ; with
respect to the preservation of roads, 3729.
Edgewo7-th, Richard Lovell, Esq., F. R, S. and
M. R. I. A., his work on agriculture, page 1212.
A. D. 1810.
Education, improvement of agriculture by means of,
7931 ; of the poor, remarks on, 7824 ; profession-
al, of agriculturists, 7942.
Eel, 7585.-
Eels, fresh water, habits of, 7850.
Eggs of birds, impregnation of the, 1975.
Egypt, climate of, 1071; surface of, 1072; fertility
of, 1073 ; limits of cultivated, 1074 ; landed pro-
perty in, 1075; the cultivators of, 1076; agricul-
tural products of, 1077 ; fruit trees of, 1083 ; live
stock of, 1084 ; agricultural implements of, 1089 ;
operations of agriculture in, 1090 ; soil of, 14.
Elder tree, use of the, 4103.
Electricity, the nature of, 2328 ; a profitable appli-
cation of, 2329.
Elemi, 1458.
Elephant, the, in Hindostan, 916.
Elevation, as influencing agriculture, 1260; effects
of, on the habitation of plants, 1732 ; anomalies
of, 1736 ; influence of, on plants in various ways,
1735; influence of, on aquatics, 1737.
Elevation of lands relatively to farming, 4764.
Elevations and depressions on paper, to protract,
3348.
Elk, the, 7375.
Elliot, his work on agriculture, page 1223. A. D.
1764.
Ellis, William, his works on agriculture, page 1208.
A. D. 1732.
Eisner, J. G., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1829.
Elstobb, W., his work on agriculture, page 1210.
A. D. 1793.
Embanking origin of, 4320 ; theory of, 4323.
Embankment, the earthen mound, 4340; the
mound with puddle wall, 4346 ; the earthen wall,
4339 ; the oldest, in England, 4321.
Embankments, first made, 239; for fixing drifting-
sands, shells, or mud, 4353 ; in Cambridgeshire,
7786: in Lincolnshire, 7801; of Egypt, 12; of
cast iron, 4357 ; of roads, 3611.
Embryo of the seed of plants, 1346.
Enclosures, size of, 5832.
Engel, Lud. Hen. Hs. von, his work on agriculture,
page 1220. A. D. 180a
Engineers, agricultural, 7754.
England, state of agriculture in, from the restor-
ation to the middle of the 18th century, 776; in
the beginning of the 18th century, 777.
Epidendrum fl6s &eris, the, 1761.
Epidermis of plants, structure of, 1369.
Epsom water, 7778.
Equisetkceae, 1329.
Ergot of rye, 5079.
Eschenbach, Ch. Ghld., his work on agriculture,
page 1220. A. D. 1802.
Escher, von Berg, his work on agriculture, page
1220. A. D. 1808.
Essai sur les Associations Agricoles. Anon, page
1219. A. D. 1826
Essex, statistics of, 7781.
Estates have good and bad characters, 4668; im-
mense, in Hungary and Austria, 620 ; landed,
the laying out of, 3467 ; consolidation of, 3471 ;
management of, 4624.
Etienne, Charles, and J. Li^bault, their works on
agriculture, page 1214. A.D. 1529.
Etiolation in plants, 1706.
Euphorbium, 1477.
Europe, present state of agriculture in, 2.59.
Evergreens, season for planting, according to Mr.
M'Nab, page 1240.
Excitability of plants, 1657.
Exercise, moderate, necessary for domestic animals,
2078.
Exotics, curious hot-house, of Britain, application
of, 1820 ; native habitation of, 1821.
Expenses, personal, of farmers, 4921.
Experience, the foundation of all knowledge, 1825.
Experiments, the Woburn, on the culture of
grasses, 5717.
Experiments, use of, in agriculture, li"5.
Extract, vegetable, as the food of plants, 1528 ;
Saussure's experiment respecting, 1529.
Extractive, in animals, 1942.
Extracts, vegetable, 1408 ; utility of, 141.
Fabbroni, Adamo, his works on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1802.
Faftre, his work on agriculture, page 1217. A.D. 1800.
Faggoting, 3206.
Fairbairn, John, his work on agriculture, page
1213. A. D. 1823.
Falkland Islands, 1246.
Fall, Thomas, his work on agriculture, page 1214.
A. D. 1829.
Fallow deer, the, 7372.
Fallowing lands, 4944 ; operation of, 4950 ; expense
of, 4957 ; of soils, 2174 ; objections to, 2177 ; ori-
gin of, 217.
Fallows, the working of, 4944.
Fanaro, Vincenzo, his work on agriculture, page
12-21. A. D. 1658.
Fanners, when first made in Roxburghshire, 7836.
Farcy, John, sen., his work on agriculture, page
1212. A. D. 1811.
Farcy's opinion of the width of roads, 3596 ; on
the size of wheels for roads. 3730 ; on the best
foi-ms of axles for roads, 3788.
Farish, John, his work on agriculture, page 1212.
A. D. 1810.
Farm, an arable, commodious arrangement for,
2955 ; the subdivisions of, 2962 ; a grazing in a
mountainous country, Waistell's plan for, 2948 ;
for a small arable and grazing, 2949.
Farm, extent of land suitable for a, 4781 ; stocking
a, 4826.
Farm under mixed husbandry. Marshal's arrange.
ment of, 2951.
Farm, subsoil relatively to the choice of a, 4760.
Farm bailiff, 7717.
Farm buildings, the arrangement of a set of, 2919;
in the colder latitudes of Europe and America,
2920 ; Waistell's form for, 2921 ; at Bromfield in
Cheshire, 7814.
Farm house and outbuildings of the largest dimen-
sions, by Waistell, 2959.
Farm house and offices, Beatson's arrangement of a
small, 2952.
Farm houses, Danish, 565.
Farm houses, examples of, 2871—2874; in the
Hebrides, 7859 ; on the Marquess of Stafford's
estates in Shropshire, 7795.
GENERAL INDEX.
1257
Farm labour, arrangement of, 4910 ; rules for the,
4913.
Farm labourers, 7711.
Farm lands, arrangement of, 4186; example of
laying out, from a newly inclosed common, 4204 ;
improvements of, 4571 ; sheltering, 4584 ; the moral,
and intellectual means of improving, 4604.
Farm road, 3594.
Farm stables in Scotland, 2821.
Farms, the proper size of, 4151 ; enlargement or
diminution of, 4152.
Farms, cottage, 7766 ; of working mechanics, 7767 ;
of village tradesmen and shopkeepers, 7768 ; oc-
cupied with a view to profit by town and city
tradesmen, 7769; occupied by city tradesmen for
recreative enjoyments, 7770 ; attached to the
villas and country-houses of wealthy citizens,
7771; demesne, 7772; of professional farmers,
7773; Hebridean, 7859.
Farmstead, the particular requisites of a, 2950.
Farm.yard dung, management of, 4959.
Farmer, personal character and expectations of a
professional, 4812; capital required by the,
4820.
Farmer, the jobbing, 7724.
Fanner's account books, 4886.
Farmer's apprentices, 4879.
Farmers, modes of improving, 4606.
Farmer's Magazine, Anon, page 1211. A.D. 1800 —
1825.
Farmer's Register, &c. Anon, page 1214. A. D.1827.
Farmers' Society of Dalkeith, 7833.
Farmeries, Alpine, of Norway, 1260.
Farmery, a commodious and very complete, 2956 ;
with a threshing machine driven by steam, 2957 ;
a convenient Berwickshire, 2954; a Flemish, 439;
corn and stall feeding, anomalous design for a,
4173; examples of different descriptions of, 4158;
example of an economical, of 50 or 60 acres, 4166;
example of an improved Berwickshire, 4167;
example of a Northumberland, of from 400 to 500
acres, 4161; for an arable farm near London of
350 acres, example of a, 4170 ; for a hay farm,
an anomalous design for a, 4172 ; for a meadow
farm of 250 acres near London, 4174 ; for a turnip
soil, example of one of from 600 to 900 acres, 4168 ;
improving the plan of a, 4572; old, improving,
4573; requisites for a, 4156; the first thing to be
observed in erecting a, 2812.
Farming lands, climate in respect to, 4718 ; soil in
respect to, 4743 ; elevation relatively to, 4764 ;
character of surface in regard to, 4769 ; aspect in
regard to, 4771 ; situation of, in regard to markets,
477a
Farming landlords, 7746.
Farming, Scotch, in Oxfordshire, 7789.
Farming Society of Ireland, the, 7921.
Farriery, as applied to cattle, 2083.
Fasting, the power of, in some animals, 1995.
Fat, 1950.
Fearn farmery, 4162.
Feathers of animals, 1858 ; as a manure, 2250.
Feeding cattle, 3234.
Feeding, choice of live stock for the purpose of,
4835 ; for extraordinary purposes, 2084 ; for pro-
moting the produce of milk or eggs, 2090 ; to fit
animals for hard labour or long journeys, 2091.
Feeding tub, the, 2527.
Fee-simple value of lands, 3409.
Feet of animals, effects of the leverage of, on roads,
3573.
Fellenberg, Emmanuel, his works on agriculture,
page 1220. A. D. 1808.
Felling timber, proper time and season for, 4056 ;
operation of, 4062.
Felling trees. 1679.
Fen plants, 1746.
Fence, the chain horizontal, 3044 ; the rope, 3045;
the moveable wooden, 3046 ; the willow or wat-
tled, 3049; the upright and horizontal shingle,
3051; the warped paling, 3052; the light open
paling, 3053 ; the primitive paling, 3054 ; the iron
for parks, 3055; the wall, 3056; the Devonshire,
3029 ; the furze, 3038 ; the sunk, or ha-lia, 2969 ;
the paling, 3039.
Fences, along the sides of roads, 3617 ; emplacement
or disposition of, on a farm, 2961 ; in Ireland, 840.
Fens of Cambridgeshire, drainage of, 7786.
Fenugreek, the, 5638.
Fermanagh, statistics of, 7888.
Fermentation of cider, 4128 ; of manures, 2271 ;
checking the, 2273.
Ferns, extirpation of, 4534.
Ferrario, G. A., his work on agriculture, page 1222.
A. D. 1818.
Ferret, the, 7428.
Ferussac, Baron de, his work on agriculture, page
1219. A. D. 1825.
Fessenden, Thomas G., his work on agriculture,
page 1223. A. D. 1822.
Fete, agricultural, of the Chinese, 1012.
Fibre, woody, 1492 ; as a manure, 2240.
Fibrin, in animals, 1941.
Fibrine, 1407.
Field-beet, 5482; best variety of, 5483; soil for,
5484; produce of, 5486; application of, 5488;
saving the seed of, 5495 ; diseases of, 5496.
Field-gate, Dutch, 52; Menteath's, S095; Hunter
of Thurston's, 3096.
Field ponds, the situation of, 4475.
Fields, floating, of the Mexicans, 1179.
Fields, the form and size of, 4187.
Fife Farming Society, the, 7848.
Fifesh ire, statistics of, 7848.
Fig, the Indian, in Spain, 724.
Figs of the Morea, 753.
Filbert, as an orchard fruit, 41C4,
Pilices, 1329.
Filtering apparatus for salt water, 4509.
Filtering, operation of, 4505.
Flndlater, Rev. Charles, his work on agriculture,
page 1212. A. D. 1802.
Finland, state of agriculture in, 689.
Finlayson, John, his works on agriculture, page
1213. A. D. 1822.
Finlai/son's rid-plough, 4540.
Finorchi, Anton. Maria, his works on agriculture,
page 1222. A. D. 1816.
Fiorin hay, 5807.
Fir, the Norway, great value of, 700.
Fischer, C. F. J., his work on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1785.
Fischer, H. L., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1797.
Fish, as a manure, 2246.
Fish, cultivation of, in Britain, 7560; kinds of,
adapted for ponds, 7572 ; castration of, 7588.
Fisheries in Sutherland, 7866 ; marine, 3875 ; river,
lake, and inland, 3885 ; of China, 994.
Fishing and hunting as the only means of subsist-
ence, geographical extension of, 1257.
Fish-ponds, 7570 ; sea water, 7571 ; in Berkshire,
7790.
Fitz/ier berths book of surveying and improvements,
220.
Fitxherhert, Sir Anthony, his works on agriculture,
page 1206. A. D. 1523.
Flail, the, 2474 ; threshing by the, 3198.
Flax, culture of, in Egypt, 1080 ; in the Nether-
lands, 479 ; in Russia, 677 ; varieties of, 5881 ;
soils for, 5882; preparation of the soil for, 5886 ;
sowing, 5887 ; after culture of, 5892 ; taking the
crop, 5894; dressing, 5912; produce of, 5916;
use of, 5919 ; diseases of, 5921.
Fleming, his work on agriculture, page 1214. A. D,
1826.
Flemyng, Malcolm, M. D., his work on agriculture,
page 1223. A. D. 1754.
Floating upwards, 4443.
Floodgate, 4344.
Flooding, 2207 j an example of the benefit of,
4442.
Flora, British, purchasable, 1808; application of
the, 1813 ; the purchasable of, 1829, 1822 ; the
artificial, 1804; native countries of the, 1805;
dates of the introduction of, 18C6 ; obvious cha-
racter of, 1807 ; genera of, 1802 ; uses or appli-
cation of the, 1803.
Flour-mill, a hand, 2551.
Flour-mill, the potato, 2559.
Flower of a plant, 1322; anomalies in the, 1611;
short lived, 1719.
Flowering, premature, 1684,
Flowers, the most showy herbaceous, of the tem-
perate zone, 1792.
Flower-stalk of a plant, 1323.
Flower-stalk of plants,1357.
Floyd, Edward, his works on agriculture, page 1207.
A. D. 16S4.
Fluids, animal, 1956.
Flux of juices in plants, 1699.
Flying, the action of, 1907.
Fogging pasture lands, 5837.
Fontalard, Jean Francois de, his works on agricul-
ture, page 1217. A.D. 1794.
Food, the best way of supplying it to animals, 2071.
1258
GENERAL INDEX.
Food of plants, 1521 ; as supplied by manures and
culture, 1533.
Footpaths, 3537.
Forbes, Francis, his works on agriculture, page 1209.
A. D. 1778.
Fordyce, George, M. D., F. R. S., his work on agri-
culture, page 1208. A. D. 1765.
Forester, 7719.
Forests of China, 1011.
Forests of the Morea, 755.
Forfarshire, see Angus, 785a
Forking, 3128.
Forking up crops, 3182.
Forks, the various kinds of, 2448 j used in irri-
gation, 4402.
Form of cattle, to obtain the most improved, 2050.
Forms, the best, for cattle, 2043.
Forster, John, his work on agriculture, page 1207.
A. D. 1664.
Forsyth, Robert, Esq., his work on agriculture, page
1212. A. D. 1804.
Foulah country, description of the, 1104.
Fowls, gallinaceous, their kinds, breeding, rearing,
and management, 7438; anserine or aquatic, 7497.
Fowls, fattening of, for the London market, 2086.
Fox, the, 7625 ; to shoot, 7626.
Fractures in trees, 1676 ; treatment of, 4029.
Frame for drying corn on in Russia, 683.
France, agriculture of, during the middle ages, 185;
first agricultural survey of, 380; favourable cir-
cumstances of, 381 ; present state of agriculture
in, 382 ; retrospective view of the agriculture of,
383,384; agriculture of, in 1819, 385; surface of,
386 ; soil of, 387 ; climate of, 388 ; the central cli-
mate of, 389 ; the vine and maize climate of, 390 ;
the olive climate of, 391 ; the lands of, 393 ; value
of landed property in, 394 ; the farming of lands
in, 395 ; corn farming in, 396 ; meadows of, 397 ;
sheep of, 398 ; beasts of labour in, 399 ; dairies of,
400; goats of Thibet in, 401 ; poultry in, 402;
6wine of, 403 ; fish ponds of, 404 ; implements and
operations of the farms of, 405 ; the large farms
of, 406 ; plants grown in, 407 ; forest culture of,
408 ; leaves as food for cattle in, 409; farm-houses
and offices in the warm districts of, 411 ; the old
plough of the warm districts of, 411 ; one handled
plough of the south of, 411 ; rotation of crops in
the south of, 412 ; live stock of the south of, 413;
chick pea of the Provencals, 413; vine in the
south of, 414; white mulberry in the south of,
415 ; the olive in the south of, 417 ; the fig in the
south of, 418 ; the almond in the south of, 419 ;
the caper in the south of, 420; the orange in the
south of, 421 ; the winter melon in the south of, 422.
Frances, AIne, his work on agriculture, page 1218.
A. D. 1822.
Francois, Nicholas, his works on agriculture, page
1215. A. D. 1763.
Franqite, Dr., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1825.
Fraser, Robert, Esq., his works on agriculture, page
1210. A. D. 1793.
Friction, effects of, on roads, 3572.
Friesland, swing plough of, 604.
Frog, the esculent, 7590 ; the tree, 7591.
Frontage de Feugr^, C. Michel F., his work on
agriculture, page 1217. A. D. 1802.
Frond of a plant, 1311.
Frost, origin of, 2373.
Fruit of plants, 1326 ; anomalies in the, 1616 ; ma-
turation and decay of, 1720.
Fruiting, premature, 1684.
Fruits, of the northern hemisphere, 1787 ; of the
E. Indies, 1788; of China, 1789; of Africa, 1790;
of S. America, 1791.
Fruit trees, insects injurious to, 7680.
Fry's means of preserving roads, 3739.
Fry's opinion of narrow roads, 3601.
Fuller's thistle. See Teasel.
JVingi, 1335; uses of the, 136a
Funnel formed in circular stacks, 3284.
Furrow-roUer, the, 2712.
Furrow-slice, breadth and depth of the, 3241 ; degree
to which it turns over, 3242 ; the most generally
useful breadth of, 3246.
Furzre-bruiser, 2553.
Furze fence, the, 3038.
Ga^on Ditfour, Marie Armando Jeanne, his work
on agriculture, page 1218. A, D, 1807.
Gagliardo, G. B., his work on agriculture, page
1222.
Gaiting of com, 3176.
Galb, J., his work on agriculture, page 1220. A. D.
1826.
Galbanum, 1473.
Gallicia, state of agriculture in, 648.
Gallinaceous fowls, their kinds, breeding, rearing,
and management, 7438.
Gallizioti, Filippo, his work on agriculture, page
1222. A. D. 1815.
Gallo, Agostino, his works on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1564.
Galloway, statistics of, 7840.
Galway, statistics of, 7883.
Gamboge, 1480.
Gangrene in plants, 1704.
Gaps of plants, 1389.
Garden farmers, 7728.
Gardens appended to the labourers' cottages, 2918.
Gardens of mechanics in Lancashire, 7812.
Gas, azotic, in animals, 1921 ; carbonic acid, in the
atmosphere, 2337 ; carbonic acid, its effects upon
germination, 1524.
Gases, as the food of plants, 1523.
Gate, the, 3075 ; construction of, 3076 ; the hanging
of, 3081 ; the improved swing, of the northern
counties, 3093; Parker's improved swing, 3094;
the tressel bar, 3101; the slip bar, 3102; the
chained slip bar, 3103 ; the double or folding, 3105 ;
Clark's window sash, 3106; Parker's compens-
ation hinge for, 3082.
Gate posts, 3086.
Gates, fastenings of, 3088 ; iron, 3085 ; iron, used in
Monmouthshire, 7793 ; of fields, the proper situa-
tion for, 4202.
Gathering, 3136 ; orchard fruit, 4120.
Gautkri, Giuseppe, his works on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1807.
Gavellus, Nicholas, his work on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1758.
Gelatine, in animals, 1937 ; use of, 1938.
Gems of plants, 1359.
Generation, equivocal, 1640.
Gentlemen farmers, 7744.
Georgia, 1246.
Germany, agriculture of, in the time of the Ro-
mans, 175 ; agriculture of, during the middle
ages, 192 ; present state of agriculture in, 547 ;
soil, surface, and climate of, 548 ; landed property
in, 549 ; farmers of, 550 ; consequence of the
regulations of landed property in, 551 ; agricul-
tural produce of, 553 ; culture of the mulberry
and rearing of the silkworm in, 5.54 ; the common
cultivation of, 555; the best pastures and mea-
dows in, 55Q ^ operations and implements of agri-
culture in, 5o7 ; the live stock of, 558; forests in,
559 ; general state of common agriculture in, 560.
Germination, 1512; the first condition necessary to,
1513; the second condition, 1514; a third condi-
tion, 1515 ; a fourth condition, 1516 ; a fifth con-
dition, 1517 ; period necessary to complete, 1518 ;
physical phenomena of, 1519; chemical pheno-
mena of, 1520 ; effect of carbonic acid gas in,
1524 ; effects of oxygen, nitrogen gas, and hydro-
gen gas on, 1525—1527.
Ghost moth, the. 7674.
Giacinto, Carlo, his work on agriculture, page 1222.
A. D. 1811. and 1825.
Gialdi, Giuseppe, his work on agriculture, page
1222. A. D. ISia
Gibbs's select list of orchard fruits, 4097.
Gilbert, Frangois Hilaire, his works on agriculture,
page 1217. A. D. 1797.
Gilbert, H. F., his work on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1826.
Girdling trees, 1675.
Gladstone's attempt at a reaping machine, 2734 j his
machine for reaping beans, 2740.
Glands of plants, 1314.
Glossology, 1292.
Gloucestershire, statistics of, 7791.
Gluten, 1405.
Glyc^ria fluitans, 5187.
Goat, the, 7331 ; the Angora, 7332 ; the Syrian,
7333; the chamois, 7334 ; the Welsh, 7335; pro.
duce of the, 7336 ; hair of the, 7337 ; suet of the,
7338 ; choice of, for keeping, 7339 ; the Cashmere
shawl, 7340 ; the Hindustan, 914.
Goats on the Cheviot HiUs, 7809.
God speede the Plough, Anon, Page 1207. A. D.
1601,
Gold fish, 7581.
GENERAL INDEX.
1259
Gongylus of plants, 1363.
Good's improved boring instruments, 2507.
Goose, the, 7511; flesh of, 7512; varieties and
species of, 7513; breeding, 7515; rearing, 7516;
feathers, 7517.
Gooseberry, as an orchard fruit, 4104.
Gotthard, J. Ch., his work on agriculture, page
1220. A. D. 1802.
Graffen, F. G. his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1825.
Grafting trees, 1678.
Grain, principal, of Ireland, 837.
Grain drill-machine, Morton's improved, 2682.
Granary, agricultural, construction of, 2858 ; a de-
tached, 2859; commercial corn, 2860 ; to preserve
corn for many years, 2861.
Granary in barns with threshing machines, 2857.
Grasping, the action of, in animals, 1895.
Grass lands, breaking up, 5846 ; advantages of,
5857 ; disadvantages of, 5861 ; that ought not to
be broken up, 5850.
Grass, the cock's foot, 5661 ; the woolly soft, 5664 ;
the fescue, species of, 5670; the meadow foxtail,
5673 ; the cat's tail, or Timothy, 5681 ; the float-
ing fescue, 5683 ; the water meadow, 5685 ; the
florin, 5687 ; the sweet-scented vernal, 5698 ; the
downy oat, 5699 ; the annual meadow, 5700 ; the
fine bent, 5701 ; the narrow-leaved meadow, 5702;
the hard fescue, 5707 ; the yellow oat, 5709 ; the
forage, 5643 ; the hay, 5652. 5680 ; the pasturage,
5693; late pasture, 5705; waste of, on being
made into hay, 5803.
Grass, cutting second crops of, 3169.
Grass crops, cutting, for being converted into hay,
3168.
Grass-harrow, 5820.
Grasses affording the best culms for straw-plait,
5764. ^ '
Grasses, cereal, culture of, 4982.
Grasses, indigenous, of Ireland, 839.
Grasses, mixture of, in pastures, 5717; nutritive
products of, 5722; pasture, for inferior soils,
5706; for inferior soils and upland situations,
5710 ; Sir H. Davy's table of the nutritive pro-
ducts of, 5668.
Grassing flax, 5909.
Gravel for making roads, 3642.
Gravity, centre of, in the plough, 2636.
Gray, Andrew, his work on agriculture, page 1212.
A. D. 1808.
Graziers, 7734.
Grecian agriculture, products of, 34.
Greeks, agriculture of the, 25; beasts of labour of
the, 32
Greenland, rural economy of, 556.
Greenway, Dr. James, his work on agriculture,
page 1223. A. D. 1828.
Grilses, 7850.
Grinding, effect of, on roads, 3577.
Grinding fruit for cider, 4125.
Grisenthwaite, William, his work on agriculture,
page 1213. A. D. 1820.
Grist mills, 3842.
Groshede, Bishop of Lincoln, his work on agricul.
ture, page 1206. A. D. 1500.
Grounds, wet or boggy, drainage of, 4234.
Grouse, the red, 7559; tlie black, 7560 ; the wood,
7561.
Grub, the, 7685.
Grubber, Kirkwood's improved, 4955.
Guaiac, 1464,
Gudgeon, 7577.
Guide-posts, improved, 3724.
Guillawne, Ch., his work on agriculture, page 1218.
A. D. 1821.
Guillot, Julien Jean Jacques, his work on agricul.
ture, page 1215. A. D. 1761.
Guinea hen, 7493.
Guinea pig, the, 7366.
Gum, excessive exudations of, to remedy, 4036 ;
exudations of, in plants, 1701 ; uses of, 1397.
Gum-resins, 1472.
Gunpowder, rending rocks or stones by, 4524.
Gutter, a, 4418.
Gypsum, as a manure, 2296; the nature of, 2297 ;
operation of, 2298.
Habit of plants anomalies of the, 1618.
Habits, old, adherence to, by the illiterate, 7857.
Hacks used in irrigation, 4402.
Ha-ha, the, or sunk fence, 2969.
Hail, 2375.
Hainault mowing, the, 3172,
Hair as a manure, 2250.
Hairs differ in form, 1855, grow by the roots, 1856 ;
of animals, 1851 ; colour of, 185-1 ; durability of,
1857.
Hamburgh, state of the proprietors of free lands
near, 603.
Hamel, Du Monceau, Henry Lewis du, his works
on agriculture, page 1215, A. D, 1750.
Hammers, 2490.
Hammocks of the Brazilians, 1239.
Hampshire, statistics of, 7815.
Handbarrows used in irrigation, 4399.
Hand-drill, the broad-cast, 2576.
Hand-drilling machines, 2573.
Hand-hoe, the, 2458 ; for turnips, 5406.
Hand-hoeing, 3130.
Hand-machines, agricultural, 2537.
Hand-machines, the essential, 2583.
Hand-raking, 3132.
Hanover, agriculture of, 592 ; agricultural societies
of, 5'i}3 ; landed property in, 594 ; land of religious
corporations in, 595 ; occupiers of land in, 596 ;
free landed property of, 597 ; the large farmers
of, 598 ; farming of the cultivators of free lands
in, 602 ; farming of the bauers of, 605 ; way to
improve the agriculture of, 606.
Happiness, the constituents of, 7960.
Hardiness of constitution, advantage of, in live
stock, 2025.
Hare, the, 7364; hare warren near Banstead
Downs, 7365.
i^ar/ey's cow-house at Glasgow, 2832.
Harley, William, his work on agriculture, page
1214. A.D. 1829.
Harnessing cattle, 3235.
Harrison, Gustavus, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1209. A. D. 1775.
Harrow, the, 2696; the Berwickshire, 2697: the
angular-sided hinged, 2698 ; the grass seed rhom,
boidal, 2699 ; the levelling, 2701 ; Morton's re-
volving brake, 2702, 27Q3 ; the brush, 2705 ; the
only essential, 2706,
Harrowing, 3261.
Harrows, circular, 7787 ; Finlayson's self-cleaning,
- 2657.
Hartig, Fr. Grafen von, his work on agriculture,
page 1219. A. D. 1786.
Hartix, Georges Louis, his work on agriculture,
page 1219. A. D. 1790.
HarUib's Legacy, 252.
Hartlib, Samuel, his works on agriculture, page
1207. A. D. 1651.
Harvest waggon of Cornwall, the, 7825.
Hash, the Sithney, 2716.
Hastfer, F. W., his work on agriculture, page 1215.
A. D. 1756.
Hatches, 4410.
Hawks and hunting birds, 7568.
Hay, mode of drying, in the Hebrides, 7859 j salt-
ing of, 5808.
Hay-barn, the, 2856.
Hay-binding machine, 2561.
Hay farmers, 7737.
Hay-knife, the, 2484.
Havmaking, general rules for, 5799 j in Middlesex,
5792.
Hay-rake, the, 2450.
Hay.stack, proper size for the, 3278 ; the building
of, 3286 ; of Middlesex, 3287. 5801.
Hay-stands, 2910.
Hay swoop, the, 2729.
Hay.tedding machine, the, 2728, 580O.
Hay-tea, to make, 5809.
Hay-ward, Joseph, his work on agriculture, page
1213. A. D. 1825.
Haxzi, M. de, his works on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1825, 1826, 1828.
Head of a meadow, 4423.
Head driver of slaves in Jamaica, 1202,
Head main, 4411.
Heading down on resinous trees, 3999.
Eeadrick, James, his works on agriculture, page
1212. A.D. 1807.
Heads of loose stones for confining rivers, 4379.
Heads for the confinement of water in artificial
lakes, 4378.
Health of domestic animals, how to preserve, £082.
Heat, a certain quantity of, necessary for animals,
2075 ; influence of, on the vital principle of
plants, 1659; the nature of, 2314; radiated by the
1260
GENERAL INDEX.
sun to the earth, 2315 ; reflected back by dense
clouds, 2316 J arrested by fogs, 2317.
Heath lands, improvement of, 4635.
Hebrides, statistics of the, 7859.
Hedge, after management of the, 2982— -2986. 3020.
Hedge and bank, the, 3027.
Hedge, breasted over, after management of, 3023.
Hedge and dead hedge, the, 3031.
Hedge and ditch, the single, 2996 ; Stephens's mode
of forming and planting, 2997; with belt, of
planting, 3036 ; with row of trees, 303k
Hedge fences, 2972.
Hedge in the face of a bank, 3028; in the middle or
in the face of a wall, 3033.
Hedge and wall fence, 3032.
Hedge-bills, 2489.
Hedger, 7714.
Hedge-row timber, neglected, to improve, 4027 ; ob-
jections to, 4'-'00.
Hedges, Stephens's opinion on planting trees in,
3035
Hedges, cutting, with a knife, 7843.
Hedges, filling up gaps in, 2993 ; forming in
curved lines, 3007 ; gates and gate posts in, 3019.
Hedges, dead, 2973 ; how made, 2974.
Hedges, live, 2975 ; old management of, 2987 ; to
mend the defects of, 2994;- cutting over, 2988.
3021; the plashing of, 3025; the laying of, 3026;
operation of cleaning, 3012; pruning, 3(;i3 ; pro-
tecting fence for, 3015; protecting by a paling,
3016; protecting by stake and rise, 3017; pro-
tecting by a turf wall and single rail, 3018; the
proper choice of plants for, 2976 ; age at which
they ought to be used, 2978 ; size of, 2979 ; assort-
• ing of, 2980 ; dressing and pruning of, before they
are put into the earth, 2981 ; with posts and rails,
3030 ; preparation of the soil for, i'977 ; season of
planting, 3008 ; implements for forming and ma-
naging, 2998 and 3010.
Hedge-shears, 2486.
Hedging and ditching, 3205.
Hes;emon, Philibert, his work on agriculture, page
1214. A. D. 1583.
Hemp, 5982 ; soils for, 5923 ; sowing, 5925 ; taking
the crop of, 5926 ; produce of, 5931 ; uses of,
5932; culture of, in Russia, 677 ; use ot, in Egvpt,
1081.
Hen, see Cock and hen, 7439.
Henderson, Robert, his work on agriculture, page
1212. A. D. 1811.
Hepaticae, 1331.
Herbs, oleraceous, of temperate climates, 1786.
Herding, 3232.
Herefordshire, statistics of, 7794.
Heresbachius, Conradus, his work on agriculture,
page, 1219. A. D. 1578.
Hermbst'ddt, Sgm. F., his work on agriculture,
page 1220. A. D. 1803.
Heron, the, destructive to young salmon, 3890.
Herring fishery, 3876.
Hertfordshire, statistics of, 7782.
Hesiod, his writings, 26.
Hesson, Jacques, his work on agriculture, page
A. D. 1214. A. D. 1569.
Highland Society of Scotland, the, 7918.
Higgins, Jesse, his work on agriculture, page 1223.
A. D. 18'28.
Hills, improvement of, 4514.
Hills and mountains, to measure the elevations and
shapes of, 3350.
Hiltenbrand, Ant. his work on agriculturej page
1-219. A. D. 1784.
Hinds in East Lothian, 7834 ; plan of maintain-
ing, in the best cultivated districts in Scotland,
4870.
Hindustan, climate and seasons of, 890; surface of,
891 ; soil of, 892 ; landed property in, 893 ; agri-
cultural products of, 894 ; fruits of, 909 ; natural
pastures of, 910; live stock of, 911; implements
and operations of agriculture in, 919 ; artificial
watering in, 921 ; culture in the hilly districts of,
924 ; harvests in, 925.
Hinny, the, 6768.
Hitf, Thomas, his work on agriculture, page 1208.
1760,
Hives, best material and form for, 7605; size of,
7606 ; Polish, 7607 ; protecting from the cold,
7609; taking the honey from, 7611.
Hoe and castor wheel, the, 2675.
Hoe, the Dutch, 2460 ; the thrust, 2461 ; the Spa-
nish, 2462. ; the pronged, 513.
Hoe-fork, 2463.
Hoe scythe, the, 2676.
Hoeing between rows of crops, 3131.
Hoes, improvements in, 2459.
Hoffman, A., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1809.
Hofmann, Gli. Bd. Freyherr von, his work on agri-
culture, page 1219. A. D. 1784.
Hogs of Buckinghamshire, 7783.
Hog sties, 2837.
Holdich's classification of weeds, 6205.
Holditch, Benjamin, his work on agriculture, page
1213. A. D. 1825.
Holland, climate of, 425; landed property of, 426;
agriculture of, 427 ; field implements, buildings,
and operations of, 428 ; simple fieklgate of, 428.
Holland, Henry, Esq., M. D., his work on agricul-
ture, page 1212. A. D. 18U7.
Hollowness in trees, to remedy, 4032.
Holt, John, his works on agriculture, page 1210.
A. D. 1795.
Home, Francis, M. D., his work on agriculture,
page 1208. A. D. 1757.
Home, Henry, his work on agriculture, page 1209.
A. D. 1776.
Homer, Henry, his works on agriculture, page 1208.
A. D. 1766.
Honey, Polish, its three classes, 655.
Honey-bee, see Bee, 7602.
Honey-dew in plants, 169.5.
Hood, Thomas Sutton, Esq., his work on agricul-
ture, page 1212. A. D. 18U5.
Hoofs of animals, 1863.
Hop, the, 5997 ; varieties of the, 6000 ; soils for the,
60U2 ; planting of the, 6008 ; after culture of the,
6016 ; dressing the plants of, 6021 ; taking the crop
of the, 6036; produce of the crop of the, 605C ;
use of the, 6u54 ; diseases of the, 6056 ; substitute
for the, 6072.
Hop, the insects injurious to the, 7671.
Hop farmers, 7731.
Hop flea, the, 7672.
Hop louse, the, 7673.
Hop-poles, setting, 6026.
Hops, culture of, in the reign of Henry VIII., 217 ;
culture of, in the Netherlands, 484; drying, 6041 ;
bagging, 6044 ; duty on, 6064.
Horn as a manure, 2249.
Hornby, Thomas, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1213. A. D. 1815.
Horned cattle, 6773 ; the ox or bull, 6774; varieties
of, 6775 ; wild varieties, 6775 ; bonassus and bison,
6775; varieties of the European cow, 6776; uris,
or cows of Lithuania, 6776 ; diversity of milk in
cows, 6777 ; varieties of the cultivated ox, 6778 ;
long-homed or Lancashire breed, 6779; short
horn or Dutch breed, 6780; Holderness, Tees-
water, Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland
breeds, 6780 ; middle-horned breeds — Devons,
Sussexes, and Herefords, 6782; Devonshire cattle,
6783; Sussex and Herefordshire cattle, 6785;
polled or hornless cattle, 6786 ; Galloway cattle,
6786; Suffolk duns, 6788; Ayrshire cattle, 6789;
origin of, 6790 ; size, 6791 ; shape, 6792 ; qualities
of an Ayrshire cow, 6794 ; Highland cattle, 6795 ;
Argyleshire cattle, 6796; Fifeshire cattle, 6798;
Aberdeenshire cattle, 6800; Alderney cattle,
6802 ; Irish cattle, 6803 ; wild cattle, 6S04; habits
of, 6805 ; calving, 6806 ; • castration of the calf,
6807 ; killing the calf, 6808 ; criteria of a well
made bull, 6809; criteria of excellence in neat
cattle in general, 6810 ; criteria of an ox well
adapted to labour, 6811 ; criteria of a beautiful
cow, 6812; Culley's marks of a good cow, 6813;
criteria of excellence as derived from colour,
0814 ; criteria of age, 6815 ; terms applied to dif-
ferent ages, 6816 ; natural duration of life with
the bull and cow, 6817 ; breeding, 6818 ; rearing,
6827 ; fattening calves by suckling, 6843 ; fatten-
ing cattle, 6852 ; Booth's establishment for fat-
tening cattle at Brentford, 6861 ; management of
cows kept for the dairy, 6863; Harley's dairy
establishment at Glasgow, 6882; the London
dairies of most eminence, 6896; defects of the
London dairy estabhshments, 6907 ; working of
oxen, 6908 ; harness for labouring cattle, 6911 ;
shoeing of oxen, 6913 ; anatomy and physiology
of the bull and cow, 6921 ; diseases, 6938.
Horns of animals, 1859; the markings of the, 1860;
colour of the, 1861.
Horns, and similar parts, composition and use of,
1867, 1868.
Horse, the, 6216 ; varieties of, 6218; the Arabian,
6219; European varieties of, 6220 ; the Spanish,
6221; the French, 6222; the Flemish, 6223; the
GENERAL INDEX.
1261
Dutch, 6224. ; tho German, 6225 ; the Polish, 622fi;
the Russian, 6227; the Swedish, 6223; Eritish
varieties of saddle, 6229; the racer, 6230; the
hunter, 6232; the improved hackney, 6233 ; the
old English road, 6234 ; the Irish road or hunter,
6236 ; the British varieties of saddle, of more in-
ferior description, 6237 ; British varieties of war
or cavalry, 6238 ; varieties of draught, 6239 ; the
black, 6240 ; the Cleveland bavs, 6241 ; the Suf-
folk punch, 6242; the Clydesdale, 6243; the
Welsh, 6244 ; the Galloway, 6245 ; smaller horses
of the Highlands and isles of Scotland, 6246.
Horse, organology or exterior anatomy of the, 6247 ;
organs of the head, 6249; the ears, 6250; the
forehead, 6251; the eyes, 6252; the face, 6255;
the muzzle, 6257 ; the lips, 6258 ; the teeth, 6260;
organs of the neck, 6261 ; organs, of the trunk or
carcass, 6265; the shoulders, 6266; the withers,
6268 ; the breast or counter, 6269 ; the back, 6270 ;
the loins, 6271 ; the croup, 6272 ; the flank, 6273 ;
the belly, 6274; the whirlbone, 6275; the stifle,
6276; the fore extremities or legs, 6277 ; the arm,
6278 ; the knee, 6280 ; the cannon or shank, 6282 ;
the pastern and fetlock, 6284; the foet, 6286;
the hinder extremities, 6291 ; colour, 6294 ; co-
lour as a criterion of mental and personal qua-
lities, 6298.
Horse, bony anatomy or osseous structure of, 6299 ;
bones of the head, 6300 ; bones of the face, 6301 ;
teeth, 6302; the trunk, 6306; the limbs, 6313;
general functions of the bony skeleton, 6329.
Horse, anatomy and physiology of the soft parts of,
6333 ; appendages to bone, 6334 ; muscles, 6340 ;
tendons, 6341 ; blood-vessels, 6343 ; absorbents,
6352; nerves, 6353; glands, 6356; integuments,
6357 ; the brain, 6366 ; ears, 6367 ; the eye and its
appendages, 6370 ; nose and sense of smelling,
6379; the mouth, 6381 ; the tongue, 6383; sense
of tasting, 6384; the voice, 6387 ; the neck, 6389;
the chest, 6391 ; the heart, 6394 ; circulation of
the blood, 6395 ; lungs, 6396 ; respiration, 6397 ;
the abdomen, 6398 ; the foetal colt, 6412 ; the foot,
6416.
Horse, diseases of, 6422 ; general remarks on the
healthy condition and diseased state of, 6423 ; in-
flammatory diseases of, 6426; diseases of the
head, 6438 ; diseases of the neck, 6449 ; diseases
of the chest, 6462; diseases of the skin, 64S7 ;
diseases of the extremities, 6497 ; diseases of the
feet, 6517.
Horse, veterinary operations on, 6530 ; treatment
of wounds, 6531 ; giving balls, 6532 ; giving
drinks, 6533; fomentations and poultices, 6534;
setons, 6537; rowels, 6538; blistering, 6539;
firing, 6542 ; clustering, 6543 ; physicking, 6544 ;
castration, nicking, docking, &c., 6546 ; bleeding,
6547.
Horse. Veterinary pharmacopceia, 6548.
Horse. Shoeing, 6594 ; improved shoe for general
use, 6595 ; injurious effects of bad shoeing, 6596 ;
improved shoe on the present plan, 6598 ; to pre-
pare the foot for the application of the shoe, 6599 ;
shoes for the hind feet, 6600; the bar shoe, 6601 ;
the hunting shoe, 6602; the racing shoe, 6603;
grass shoes, 6604 ; frost shoes, 6605 ; high calkins,
6606; shoeing of diseased feet, 6607; horse pat-
tens, 6608.
Horse, criteria of the qualities of, for various pur-
poses, 6609; of action, 6611 ; of hardihood, 6612 ;
of spirit, 6613; of a race-horse, 6614 ; of a hunter,
6615 ; of a hackney, 6616 ; of a cavalry horse,
6617 ; of road horses for quick draught, 6618 ; of
a dray-horse, 6619 ; of a waggon horse, 6620 ; of
a horse peculiarly adapted to the labours of agri-
culture, 6621 ; of a horse's age, 6625.
Horse, breeding of, 6629; choosing the parents,
6631 ; properties required in a breeding mare,
6632 ; age proper for breeding, 6634 ; season for
the generative process, 6636 ; to bring a mare in
season, 6639 ; treatment of a pregnant mare, 6640.
Horse, rearing of, 6644 ; treatment of the mare till
she has weaned her foal, 6645; treatment of
■weaned foals, 6647 ; time for gelding colts, 6650.
Horse, training of, 6653 ; directive language used
to, 6654 ; of saddle horses, 6656 ; backing, 6657 ;
teaching the different movements of walking,
trotting, galloping, and ambling, 6658 ; of coach
horses, 6668 ; of cart and plough horses, 6670.
Horse. Horsemanship, 6671 ; manege riding, 6672 ;
the art of proper riding, 6673 ; use of the curb
bridle, 6674 ; best form of saddle, 6675 ; to mount
with ease and safety, 6676 ; a graceful and proper
scat, 6677 ; to sit a vicious horse, 6678 j to manage
an unruly horse, 6679 ; advantage of spurs, C680 ;
what should be done previously to mounting,
6681 ; dismounting, 6582 ; the jockey mode of
riding, 6683.
Horse, feeding of, 6684 ; food of British horses, 6685 ;
hay, 6686 ; grain, 6687 ; pulse, 6683; roots, 6fi89 ;
mixtures, 6690 ; cooked food, 6691 ; quantity of
food, 6692 ; a horse in full work, 6694 : watering,
6695.
Horse, stabling and grooming, 6697; the stable,
6698 ; form of the rack and manger, 6702 ; stalls,
6703 ; litter, 6705 ; clothing, 6707 ; grooming or
dressing, 6708 ; the curry-comb, 6709 ; care of the
legs and feet, 6710; care of the furniture and
trappings, 6711 ; exercising, 6712.
Horse, management and working of, 6714; ma-
naging and working race-horses, 6715 ; treatment
of a race-horse in low flesh, 6716; treatment of,
in good flesh and spirits, 6717 ; choice of a rider,
6718 ; whipping the horse, 6719 ; running on level
smooth ground, 6720; riding up hill, 6721 ; after
management, 6723 ; treatment when the race is
over, 6724 ; managing and working of the hunter,
6725; physicking of hunters, 6728; working and
managing of hackneys or riding horses, 6723;
working and managing horses in curricles, 6741 ;
working and managing cart and waggon horses,
6743.
Horse of Arabia, 886. 2057 ; of India, 2058.
Horses, breed of, in the time of Elizabeth, 227;
breeding of, in the time of Henry VIII., 218; of
the Cape of Good Hope, 1130 ; draught, of Clydes-
dale, 7842 ; description of, required by the farmer,
4833: of Egypt, 1086; of Galloway, 7840 ; of the
Hebrides, 7859; the Hungarian, 634; the La-
narkshire, 7842; of Leicestershire, 7798; of Perth-
shire, 7849 ; labour of, in a day, 3238 ; large, for
farmers, Davis's objections to, 4834 ; laws for
turning, to grass in Scotland during the 16th cen-
tury, 229.
Horse-hoe and drill-plough, Wilkie's, 2668.
Horse-hoe and harrow, Amos's expanding, 2674.
Horse-hoe for turnips, 5404.
Horse-hoeing, 3264.
Horse-hoes, 2665 ; the only essential, £677: Weir's
expanding, 2669; Blaikie's inverted, 2670; the
Scotch, 2671; the Northumberland, 2672; and
drill-harrow, Wilkie's, 2666; Finlayson's self-
cleaning, 2667.
Horse-rake, the common or Norfolk, 2724.
Horse-raking, 3271.
Horse roads, 3536.
Hortus Britannicus, the, of 1829, 1822.
Hot water, incubation of chickens by, 7464.
Hottentots, huts of the unimproved, J 135 ; cattle of
the, 1136.
Houghton, John, F. R. S„ his work on agriculture,
page 1207. A. D. 1681.
Hours of consecutive labour to which animals are
subjected, 3237.
House-cricket, 7G91.
Housekeeping, hints respecting, 4922.
Housing crops, 3290.
Huber, Francis, his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1796.
Huber, M., his work on agriculture, page 1220. A.D.
1825.
Huber, P., his works on agriculture, page 1220. A.D.
1801.
Hummeling barley, cheap method of, 2799.
Hummeling machine, Mitchell's, 2797.
Hummeling mashes, hand, 2800.
Hunger, the cause of, and means of allaying, 1964.
Hunt, Charles Henry, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1212. A. D. 1810.
Hunter, Alexander, M.D., F. R.S.,L., and E., his
works on agriculture, page 1209. A. D. 1770.
Hunting and fishing as the only means of subsist-
ence, geographical extension of, 1257.
Huntingdonshire, statistics of, 7785.
Hurdles, 3046 ; ornamental wooden, 3047 ; iron, 3048.
Hurdling off clover crops, 5561.
Huzard, Jean Baptiste, his works on agriculture,
page 1217. A.D. 1794.
Hybrids, 1631.
Hydrogen in animals, 1919.
Hygrometer, use of the, 2419; Professor Leslie's,
2425; the steel-yard, 2422 ; the hair, 2424.
I,
Ice, 2378.
Iceland, rural economy of, 566.
1262
GENERAL INDEX.
II Fattore di Campagna. Anon, page 1222. A. D. 1826.
Implements, agricultural, choice of, 4832 ; the fun-
damental, 2584; invention of, 10; for forming
and managing hedges, 2998. 3010 ; of husbandry
among the Anglo-Saxons, 203 ; after the Norman
conquest, 206 ; of irrigation, 4392 ; pronged til-
lage, 2650 ; the only essential, 2664 ; tillage, of
agriculture, 2585.
Impregnation, in birds, 1975 ; in fishes and reptiles,
1976 ; in insects, 1977.
Impregnation of the seed, 1625 ; changes consequent
upon, 1636.
Improvements, execution of, 4600 ; general cautions
respecting the, 4616.
Incisions in trees, 1673.
Independence the grand object of labour, 7957.
Indigo the finest of vegetables blue for dyeing, 1415.
Indigo plant, the, in Hindustan, 896.
Indigo of the West Indies, 1214.
Inflorescence of plants, 1325.
Insects, injurious to agriculture, 7643 ; physiology
of: 7644 : arrangement or classification of, 7650 ;
MandibulJlta, 7652 ; Trich6ptera, 7652 ; Hymenop-
tera, 7652; Cole6ptera, 7652; Orth6ptera, 7652;
Neur6ptera, 7653; Haustellkta, 7653; Lepid6p-
tera, 7653; Diptera, 7653; A'ptera, 7653; He-
miptera, 7653 ; Hom6ptera, 7653.
Insects injurious to live stock, 7655 ; to the horse,
7656 ; to horned cattle, 7657 ; to sheep, 7658 ; to
fish, 7659.
Insects injurious to vegetables, 7660 ; to wheat, 7661 ;
to rye, 7662; to barley, 7663; to oats, 76t54; to
Eeas, 7665 ; to beans, 766*5 ; to turnips, 7667 ; to
ops, 7671 ; to clover, 7675; to pastures, 7676; to
cabbages and other esculent vegetables, 7679; to
fruit trees, 7680 ; to plantations, 7681,
Insects injurious to food, clothing, &c., 7689 ; the
cock-roach, 7690; the house-cricket, 7691; th^
bacon-grub, 7692.
Insects, operations for subduing, 7695 ; preventive
operations, 7696 ; palliative operations, 7697 ; by
enticement, 7698 ; the turnip net, 7699 ; the lime-
duster, 7700 ; amongst grain, 7701 ; hand-picking,
7702 ; catching the perfect insect, 7703.
Insects injurious to trees, to destroy, 4037.
Instinct of plants, 1669.
Instruments, essential, of labour, 2495 ; the only
essential scientific, 2521 ; scientific, 2496 ; used in
agriculture, the, 2476.
Integuments of the seed of plants, 1341.
Interest the grand mover of animals, 2069.
Introsusception of nourishment by plants, 1538.
Inverkeithing Club, the, 7848.
Inverness-shire, statistics of, 7857.
Iodine in sponge, 1926.
Ipecacuana plant, the true, 1234.
Ireland, state of agriculture in, 807 ; during the 13th,
14th, and 15th centuries, 808; in the reign of
James I., 809 ; after the rebellion of 1641, 812 ;
in the beginning of the present century, 815 ; cli-
mate of, 816 ; territorial surface of, 817 ; soil of,
818 ; the bogs of, 819 ; landed property in, 821 ;
circumstances in favour of, 822; leases in, 823;
farming in, 824 ; rent of land in, 825 ; the nine
agricultural districts of, 826 ; agricultural imple-
ments and operations of, 836 ; principal grain of,
837 ; the potatoes of, 838 ; indigenous grasses of,
839; dairies of, 841 ; cause of the depressed state
of agriculture in, 842 ; condition of the labourers
of, 844 ; contradictory circumstances of, 845 ; sys-
tem of under-letting lands in, 847 ; the tithes in,
848 ; fertility of, 856 ; progress of agriculture in,
857 ; general view of, 7862.
Iron in animals, 1933.
Irrigating a meadow from both sides of a river, 4438 ;
an irregular surface from one side of a river,
4439
Irrigation, 4381 ; antiquity of, 4382 ; theory of, 4385 ;
implements made use of in, 4392 ; of arable lands,
4460; artificial, 4429; in Cambridgeshire, 7786.
Irrigation, necessity of, 2203 ; surface, 2204 ; sub-
terraneous, 2206; rationale of, 2212; by sea- wa-
ter, 4445 ; expense of, 4446 ; objections to, 4447 ;
the principal impediments to, 4448; the form-
ation and arrangement of surfaces for, 4449 ;
Parkinson's opinion on, 7802; subterraneous,
4461 ; in Britain, 4462 ; terms made use of in,
4404 ; a very complete example of, 4440 ; in Wilt-
shire, 7817.
Irritability of plants, 1667.
Island, a floating one, 1180.
Italy, agriculture of, during the middle ages, 180 ;
climate of, 164 j surface of, 165 ; soil of, 166 ; na-
tive productions of, 167 ; present state of agricu!'
tare in, 260 ; writers on, 251.
Jackall, the, of Hindustan, 918.
Jacob's opinion of the farm at Moegelin, 582 ; of the
agriculture of Saxony, 613.
Jamaica, description of, 1199 ; landed property in,
1200 ; agricultural operations of, 1210 ; agricultu-
ral productions of, 1211; the clovers of, 1223;
vermin of, 1224.
Japan, climate and surface of, 956 ; soil of, 957 ;
agriculture in, 958 ; live stock of, 959.
Java, agriculture of, 940 ; landed property in, 941 ;
crops raised by the farmer for home consumption
in, 942; crops raised by the colonists of, 942;
live stock of, 944 ; implements and instruments
of, 945 ; the poison tree of, 946 ; roads of, 947.
Jennings, James, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1214. A. D. 1830.
Jersey, statistics of, 7827.
Jews, agriculture of the, 18.
Johnson, Cuthbert William, F. L. and H. S., his
work on agriculture, page 1213. A. D. 1820.
Johnstone, John, his work on agriculture, page
1211. A. D. 1797.
Joints, the true, of the bones of animals, 1890.
Jones's kiln-drying apparatus, 2532.
Journal d' Agriculture, &c., des Pays-Bas, &c. Anoa
page 1218. A. D. 1816—1830.
Journal de la Soci^t^ d' Agronomic pratique, &a
Anon, page 1219. A. D. 1829.
Journeyman agriculturist, 7713.
Juan Fernandes, the island of, 1245. .
Juice, the proper, of plants, 1496.
Juice, proper, descent of the, in plants, 1561.
Juices, flux of, in plants, 1699.
Juices, vegetable, circulation of, 1579.
Junctions, motionless, of the bones of animals.
Kaimes, Lord, his description of the tenantry of
Scotland, 791.
Keeping orchard fruit, 4121.
Keith, George Skeene, D.D., his work on agricul-
ture, page 1212. A. D. 1811.
Kelp in the Hebrides, 7859; manufacture of, 6188.
Kennedy, Lewis, Esq., his works on agriculture,
page 1214. A. D. 1828.
Kent, Nathaniel, his works on agriculture, page
1209. A. D. 1775.
Kent, statistics of, 7780.
Kentish or Herefordshire wheel, 2631.
Kerr, Robert, F. R. and A. SS., his work on agri-
culture, page 1212. A. D. 1809.
Kerry, statistics of, 7881.
Kidneybean, the, 5287.
Kildare, statistics of, 7868.
Kilkenny, statistics of, 7867.
KiUing animals, effect of the mode of, on their
flesh, 2092 ; the Jewish modes of, 2096 ; prepar-
ation before, 2098.
Kiln-drying oats and other corns in the straw,
5142.
Kincardineshire, statistics of, 7851.
King's county, statistics of the, 7869.
Kinross-shire, statistics of, 7847.
Kircudbrightshire, statistics ot, 7840.
Kirkpatrick, H., his work on agriculture, page
1211. A. D. 1796.
Kirwan, Richard, LL. D., &c., his work on agri.
culture, page 1211. A. D. 1796.
Kitchen-garden, 2916.
Kleine Schriften zur stadt und Landwirthschafl,
&c. &c. Anon, page 1219. A. D. 1791.
Knapp, J. L, Esq. F. L. and A. SS., his work on
agriculture, page 1212. A. D. 1804.
Knight, George, his system of paving roads, 3720.
Knight's opinion respecting cider-making, 4129.
Knollwall farmery, 4164.
Knowledge, utility of, 7935.
Kops, M., his work on agriculture, page 1220. A. D.
1828.
Krantz, Guillaume, his work on agriculture, page
1220. A. D. 1797.
Krunitz, J. G., his work on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1773.
Kylanderie, the, 511.
GENERAL INDEX.
1263
Labdanum, 1460.
Labour, farm arrangement of, 4910 : rules for the,
49ia
Labour, the rate of, 4905.
Labourers of Ireland, condition of, 844.
Labourers on a Jamaica sugar estate, 1203.
Labourers, proposals for the well-beuig of, 7964.
Labourers required on a farm, 4877.
Lac, 1469.
Lacoste, his work on agriculture, page 1217. A. D.
1801.
Ladder, the common, 2538.
Ladies' mantle, the common and alpine, 5642.
Ladnar, of Kroy, in Yorkshire, his work on agri-
culture, page 1208. A. D. 1764.
Ladrone Isles, the, 1057.
Lafailte, Clement, his works on agriculture, page
1215. A. D. 1762.
Laffenas. Barthelemy de, his work on agriculture,
page 1214. A. D. 1604.
LajonSy M. de, his work on agriculture, page 1218.
A. D. 1821.
Lakes, method of draining, 4275.
Lama, 7386.
Lambert, Joseph, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1214. A. D. 1829.
Lambing, early, how to promote, 2089.
LamoignoTif Malesherbes, Chretien Guillaume, his
work on agriculture, page 1217. A. D. 1791.
Lampadius, Augusto Guglielmo, his work on agri-
culture, page 1222. A. D. 1811.
Lanarkshire, statistics of, 7842.
Lancashire, statistics of, 7812.
Land, extent of, suitable for a farm, 4781.
Land, improvement of, by water, 4880.
Land, modes of dividing, 3307; new- warped, the
best mode of cultivating, 4459 ; the practice of
inclosing, origin of, 211 ; price of, among the
Romans, 169 ; rent of, 4790 ; in Scotland, 4795 ;
in England, 4797 j in a state of culture, improve-
ment of, 4568.
Land-agent, 7753.
Landed property in Egypt, 13.
Land-guard of loose stones, 4366.
Land-measurer, the, 7747.
Land-reeve, 4638.
Land-steward, 4629. 7720 : his place of business,
4643.
Land-stewardship, general principles of business re-
latively to, 4659.
Land-surveyor, 4642, 7750.
Land-valuer, 7752.
Lands, changing the condition of, as to solar in-
fluence, 2214; sheltering, 2215; shading, 2215;
commonable, 3476 ; general principles of appro-
priating and dividing, 2490.
Lands, waste, improvement of, 4512.
Landescht, his work on agriculture, page 1222.
A. D. 1817.
Lanes, 3532.
Langton, Mr., his process of seasoning timber,
4063.
Laos, description of the kingdom of, 952.
Laplanders' cottages, 694.
Lark, the, 7562.
Lasteyrie, Charles Philibert de, his works on agri-
culture, page 1217. A. D. 1799.
Lastri, Proposto, his work on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1793.
Latch for ornamental gates, 3090 ; the reversed,
for gates, 3091.
Lathrop, E. L., Esq., his work on agriculture, page
1223. A. D. 1829.
Laurence, Edward, his work on agriculture, page
1207. A. D. 1717
Lavender, culture of, 6179.
Lawrence, John, M.A., his work on agriculture,
page 1207. A. D. 1726.
Lawrence, John, his works on agriculture, page
121 1. A. D. 1796.
Laws, Anglo-Saxon, respecting cattle, 196.
Laws of pasturage among the ancient Welsh, 197.
Lawson, John, his work on agriculture, page 1211.
A. D. 1797.
Layers, annual, of perennials, 1573; concentric lig-
neous, of plants, structure of, 1373—1376 ; diverg-
ent ligneous, of plants, 1376 ; cortical, of plants,
structure of, 1372.
Laying out of landed estates, 3467.
Lead mines in Dumfriesshire, 7839.
Leaf, fall of the, 1718.
Leaf of a plant, 1310.
Leaf-collecting machine, Snowden's, 2730.
Leaf-stalk of plants, 1358.
Leases in Ireland, 823.
Leases of farms, 4677 ; rents and covenants of, 4688.
Leaping, the action of, in animals, 1905.
Leatham, Isaac, his work on agriculture, page
1210. A.D. 1794.
Leaves of plants, anomalies in the, 1605.
Leaves, reproduction of, when injured, 1681.
Le Breze, his work on agriculture, page 1216.
A. D. 1769.
Lebrocq, Philip, M. A., his work on agriculture, page
1210. A. D. 1793.
Leech, the, 3905 ; the medicinal, 7620 ; food of, 7621 j
use of, 7622.
Ligarre, J. D., Esq., his work on agriculture, page
1219. A. D. 1828.
Leghorn manufacture of wheat straw, 5052,
Leghorn plait, to imitate, with the culms of grass,
5766.
Legris, his work on agriculture, page 1218. A.D.1825.
Legumes, the cultivated, 5189.
Leicestershire, statistics of, 7798.
Leipsic, land near, 612.
Leitrim, statistics of, 7885.
Lentil, the, 5281 j soil for, 5283 ; produce of, 5284 ;
use of, 5285.
Lepinois, M. E. B. de, his work on agriculture, page
1219. A.D. 1826.
Lerouge, his work on agriculture, page 1216. A. D.
1774.
Lesbr OS-de-la- Versane, Louis, his work on agricul-
ture, page 121.5. A. D. 176&
L'Etang de la-Salle, Simon Philibert de, his work
on agriculture, page 1215. A.D. 1762.
Letellier, his work on agriculture, page 1214. A. D.
1602.
Letters and papers on agriculture, planting, &c.
Anon, page 1209. A. D. 1777—1816.
Letting farms, 4671.
Lettuce, the common Cos, 5513.
Leucks, Char., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A.D. 1825.
Level, the, 2497; Parker's, 2498; the common,
2499 ; the water, 2500 ; the American or triangu-
lar, 2501 : the square, 2502 ; used in irrigation,
4393.
Levelling, 3300.
Levelling harrow, 2721.
Levelling machine, the Flemish, 2720.
Levelling staff, the, 2504.
Lever, the, 2442.
Ley, Charles, his work on agriculture, page 1210.
A. D. 1787.
Library of Useful Knowledge, Farmer's Series.
Anon, page 1214. A. D. 1830.
Licence of rivers, 4359.
Zichfenes, utUity of the, 1334.
Lichiervelde, J. F. de, his work on agriculture, page
7905.
Life of animals, term of the, 1990 j circumstances
regulating the, 1991.
Lifting, 3114.
Ligaments of the bones, 1891.
Liger, Louis, his works on agriculture, page 1215.
A. D. 1703.
Light, as influencing agriculture, 1259; influence
of, on the vital principle of vegetables, 1658—1762 ;
regulation of, for plants, 1829; the nature of,
2325
Lightning, cause of, 2396; effects of, on trees, to
remedy, 4033.
Lilleshall estate of Lord StaflTord, 7795.
Lime, as a manure, 2284 ; effect of, on wheat crops,
2289 ; general principles for applying, 2290 ; pro-
motes fermentation, 2291; phosphate of, as a
manure, 2302.
Lime n animals, 1930.
Lime, burning, in heaps, 3862. 3870.
L4me, and its management as a manure, 4970.
Lime in plants, 1503.
Lime, use of, in China, 1004.
Lime-duster, the, 7700.
Lime-kiln, Booker's, 3863 ; the Menteath or Close-
burn, 3864 ; Heathorn's, S868 , a Yorkshire, 3869.
Limerick, statistics of, 7879.
Limestone, as a manure, 2292; magnesian, as a
manure, 2294 ; test of magnesia in, 2295 ; machine
for pounding, 2808. 3871.
Lincolnshire, 7801.
Line and plummet hygrometer, 2423.
1264
GENERAL INDEX.
Line and reel, the, 2i92.
Line and reel used in irrigation, 4394.
Lines, to lay out, on lands, 3316.
Linlithgowshire. See West Lothian, 78t5,
Linseed-cake, as a manure, 2236.
Liquorice, the, 6174; soil for, 6175.
l,isle, Edward, Esq., his work on agriculture, page
1208. A. D. 1757.
Lister, Martin, M.D. his work on agriculture, page
1207. A. D. 1683.
Literature of English agriculture from the revo-
lution, 801.
Little, John, his work on agriculture, page 1213.
A. D. 1815.
Live stock, choice of, for the purposes of breeding
or feeding, 4835.
Live stock of Moldavia and Wallachia, 760.
Live stock required for labour, 4828.
Live stock of British agriculture, improvement of
the, 786.
Liver, to promote the growth of, in geese, 2087.
Livi/, Cav. his work on agriculture, page 1221. A. D,
1800.
Loango, 1107.
Lochleven, 7846.
Lodges, agricultural, 7910.
Lombardy, climate of, 262 ; soil of, 263 ; lands and
landed property, 265, 266 j irrigation of, 267 ; ira-
plements and operations of agriculture in, 268 ;
cattle of, 269 ; dairies of, 270 j sheep of, 271 ; ro-
tations of crops in, 272 ; herbage crops in, 273 j
trees grown by the farmer in, 274.
Londonderry, husbandry of, 811 ; statistics of, 7892.
Longford, statistics of, 7874.
Loochoo Islands, description of the, 1032.
Losana, Matteo, his work on agriculture, page 1222.
A. D. 1811.
Loudon's Encyclopadie des Lands wirtsch aft. Anon.
page 1220. A. D. 1826.
Loudon's H6rtus Brit&nnicus, plants enumerated
in, 1795.
Loudon, John Claudius, F.L., G., Z., and H.S., his
works on agriculture, page 1212. A. D. 1811.
Louth, statistics of, 7875.
Low, David, Esq., his work on agriculture, page
1213. A. D. 1823.
Low's machine for raising large stones, 2810.
Luccock, John, his works on agriculture, page 1212.
A. D. 1805.
Lucern, 5574 ; varieties, 5576 ; soil for, 5579 ; climate
for, 5581 ; sowing, 5582 ; transplanting of, 5585 ;
after culture of, 5586 ; top-dressings for, 5588 ;
taking the crop of, 5589; application of, 5590;
produce of, 5591; nutritive product of, 5592;
saving the seed of, 5593 ; diseases of, 5594.
LUders, Ph. E., his work on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1769.
LuUin, Ch. J. M., his work on agriculture, page
1218. A. D. 180a
Lumbert's mole-plough machinery, 2644.
Lupine, the white, 5288.
Lure, the, of the Swedish shepherd, 688.
iycopodineae, 1329.
Xycopbdium coxnplana.tum as a dye, 698.
M,
M* Adam's opinion respecting the breadth of wheels
for roads, 3735 ; system of repairing roads, 3763 ;
theory and practice of road-making, 3581.
Machine, Chinese, for pounding seeds, 995.
Machine for reaping beans, Gladstone's, 2740 ; for
reaping the heads of clover, 2741; for mowing
clover hay, 2742.
Machine for chopping cabbage, Newton's, 5508.
Machinery, Lumbert's mole-plough, 2644.
Machines for laying land level, 2719.
Macirone, Colonel, his system of paving roads, 3721.
Mackerel fishery, 3879.
Mackintosh, Borland, his work on agriculture, page
1207. A. D. 1729.
Macphail, James, his work on agriculture, page 1210.
A. D. 1795.
Macto/Z/eawz, Robert, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1213. A. D. 1818.
Madagascar, island of, 1141.
Madder, 5949; soils for, 5950; planting, 5953;
after-culture of, 5955; taking the crop of, 5956;
drying the roots of, 5957 ; produce from the root,
5958 ; use of, 5960 : collecting the seed of, 5961 ; dis-
eases of, 5962 ; culture of, in the Netherlands, 486.
Madeira cider, recipe for making, 4135.
Madeira, island of, 1147; lands of, 1148; live stock
of, 1151; fruits of, 1152.
Magnesia, as a manure, 2304 ; in arumals, 1931 ; in
limestone, test of, 2295 ; in plants, 1505.
Maidenhair tree, the, in China, 981.
Main, J., his works on agriculture, page 1211. A. D.
1826—1831.
Main, upper side of a, 4424.
Maize, 5149; as a bread corn, 5150; varieties of,
5151 ; soil and climate for, 5152; culture of, 5153;
sowing, 5155 ; mode of planting in America, 5156 ;
transplanting, 5157 ; after-culture of, 5158 ; top-
ping the plants of, 5159 ; harvesting, 5160 ; shell-
ing or threshing, 5161 ; produce of, 5162 ; ap[)li-
cation of, 5163: diseases and enemies of, 516S;
the Mexican process of sowing, 1183; of the
West Indies, 1222.
Maize-sheller, the, 2549.
Malacca, agriculture of, 948,
Malcolm, James, his work on agriculture, page
1212. A. D. 1805.
Malcolm, William, James, and Jacob, their works
on agriculture, page 1210. A. D. 1794.
Malenotti, Ignazio, his work on agriculture, page
1222. A. D. 1815.
Mallet, Robert Xavier, his work on agriculture,
page 1216. A. D. 1780.
Malt-dust, as a manure, 2235.
MammJilia, noxious, 7624.
Man, Isle of, statistics of, 7813.
Management of landed property, 4624.
Manager of an estate, and his assistants, 4627 ;
duties of, 4658.
Manganese, in animals, 1934.
Manillas, the, or Philippine Islands, description of,
1030.
Manna, the, of Calabria, 322.
Manufactories, establishment of, 3843.
Manufactory, evils of a populous, according to
Marshal, 3844.
Manures, 2224; animal and vegetable, 2227; or-
ganic, 2226 ; treatment of organic, 2231 ; applica-
tion of, to pastures, 5822 ; of the Chinese, 1000—
1008 ; collection of, in China, 999 ; curious source
of, in Clackmannanshire, 7846; liquid, 2269;
farm- yard, application of, in Scotland, 2276; in a
recent state, 2275 ; organic, the management of,
2270; earthy and saline, 2279; fossil, 2283; sea-
son when it is applied, 4968.
Manuring, origin of, 1826.
Manurings, frequent, of the Flemish farmer, 494.
Maps, delineation of, 3358 ; writing on, 3359.
Marchand, Jean Henri, his work on agriculture,
page 1215. A.D. 1768.
Maremmes, the, in Italy, extent of the district of,
298; climate of, 299; surface of, 300; estates of,
301 ; agricultural implements and operations of,
302.
Marine plants, 1745.
Mariott's improved maize separator, 2550.
Marjoram, culture of, 6180.
Markets, situation of farm lands in regard to, 4773.
Markham, Gervase, his works on agriculture, page
1207. A. D. 1613.
Marking with the line, 3125.
Marl as a manure, 2288.
Marquesas Isles, the, 1058.
Marshal's opinion on repairing roads, 3758.
Marshall, William, Esq., his works on agriculture,
page 1209. A. D. 1778.
Marshes, fresh water, 4558 ; salt water, 4560; on the
Thames, 4561 ; improvement of, 4557.
Mascall Leonard, his works on agriculture, page
1206. A. D. 1581.
Massachussetts Agricultural Repository and Jour-
nal. Anon, page 1223. A. D. 1825.
Mastich, 1456.
Mastiff, the, 7396.
Materials for making roads, the best, 2^ ; prepar-
ation of, 3645.
Materials of roads, depth of, 3664 ; order and mode
of laying out the, 3684.
Mather, John, his work on agriculture, page 1213.
A. D. 1820.
Matter, organised, of two kinds, 1836.
Mattock, the, 24 13.
Maturity, early, advantage of, in live stock, 2027.
MaunselL, William, LL.D., his work on agriculture,
page 1210. A. D. 1794.
Maupin, his works on agriculture, page 1216, A. D.
1779.
Mauritius, description of the, 1142.
Maw seed, the, 6099.
GENERAL INDEX.
1265
Maxims, agricultural, of the Romans, 157 ; of order
and neatness, 3373.
Maxivell, Robert, his works on agriculture, page
1208. A. D. 1743.
Mayet, Etienne, his work on agriculture, page 1217.
A. D; 1790.
Mayo, statistics of, 7884.
Mead, process of brewing, in Poland, 660.
Meadow lands, 5768.
Meadows, Arthur, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1214. A. D. 1828.
Meadows, flowing, 4487 ; catch-work, 4428.
Meadows, upland, 5772 ; culture of, 5774 ; manuring,
5781.
Meager, Leonard, his work on agriculture, page 1207.
A. D. 1697.
Mearns. See Kincardineshire, 7851.
Measuring chain, the, 2505.
Measuring of land, 3295 ; solid bodies, 3296 j by the
eye, 3297.
Measuring rod, the, 2505.
Meers, artificial, of Derbyshire, 4474.
Meme's threshing machines, 2786—2791. 7782.
Melons in Persia, 875.
Membrana of plants, 1342.
Memoires d' Agriculture, &c. Anon, page 1219.
A. D. 1828.
Memoirs of the Board of Agriculture of the State of
New York. Anon, page 1223. A. D. 1821—1826.
Memoirs of the Philadelphia Society for promoting
Agriculture. Anon, page 1223. A. D. 1785—1826.
M^Mieser wine, 628.
Merino sheep, introduction of, 790.
Merinos of the Cape of Good Hope, 1128.
Mesta, the, in Spain, 736.
Metxger, J., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1826.
Mexico, climate of, 1175; surface of, 1176; soil of,
1177; agriculture of, 1178; breeding of animals
in, 1188; fruits of, 1190.
Middle-men, the, in Ireland, 846.
Middlesex, statistics of, 7771.
Middleton, John, Esq., his works on agriculture,
page 1211. A. D. 1798.
Midlothian, statistics of, 7833.
Migration of animals, 2007.
Mildew of plants, the, 1694.
Mildew in wheat, 5065.
Milestones, improved, 3723.
Milk or cow farmers, 7732.
Milking tasting of turnips, to improve, 7804.
Mill, olive, in Spain, 727.
Millet, 5174; the common, 5175; in China, 987;
the German, 5176 ; the Italian, 5178 ; the Polish,
5179 ; the great or Indian, 5180 ; soil for, 5182 ;
harvesting, 5183.
Mills, establishment of, 3837.
Mills, John, F.R.S., his works on agriculture, page
1208. A. D. 1759.
Mim6sa nilotica, 1105.
Mine-farmers, 7741.
Mines, cautions respecting, 3873 ; methods of drain.
ing, 4273 ; prejudice against, as a species of pro-
perty, 3853.
Minnow, the, 7582.
Mints, the culture of, 6182.
Misletoe, the, 1758.
Mixture of fruits in cider-making, 4124,
Mocaranga, description of, 1140.
Models of mountainous estates, 3360.
Moegelin, agricultural institution of, 576; Jacob's
opinion of, 582.
Moisture, influence of, on lands, 1264; regulation
of, for plants, 1828 ; natural to vegetables, 1738.
Moldavia, agriculture of, 759.
Mole, the, 7631.
Moleon, J. G. V. de, his work on agriculture, page
1219. A. D. 1829.
Mole-traps, 2581.
Moluccas, or Spice Islands, description of the, 1033.
Mommon's invention for guiding the operation of
boring, 4498.
Monaghan, statistics of, 7889.
Monk, John, his works on agriculture, page 1210.
A. D. 1794.
Monmouthshire, statistics of, 7793,
Monocotyledbneie, distribution, 1779.
Monteath, Robert, his work on agriculture, page
1213. A. D. 1820.
Monteith's directions for making trees crooked,
4O01.
Months, the hottest and coldest, 2436.
Moon, influence of, on the weather, 2402,
Moore, Sir Jonas, Knight, F.R.S., his works on
agriculture, page 1207. A. D. 1685.
Moors, agriculture among the, 114.
Moors, improvement of, 4538.
Morasses, improvement of, 4541.
Moravia, favourable state of, for agriculture, 626.
Morayshire, statistics of, 7853.
Mordant, John, his work on agriculture, page 1208.
A. D, 1761.
Morea, agricultural circumstances of the, 752;
plough of the, 752 ; figs of the, 753; oxen of the,
755 ; forests of the, 756.
Morel de Vindd, his works on agriculture, page 1218.
A. D. 1807.
Moretti, Dr. G., his work on agriculture, page
1222. A. D. 1826.
Morice, Francis, his work on agriculture, page
1213. A. D. 1824.
Morley, Christopher, his work on agriculture, page
1211. A. D. 1797.
Morocco, description of the empire of, 1098; mode
of enriching the land of, 1099 ; the live stock of,
1100.
Morogues Baron de, his work on agriculture, page
1218. A.D. 1822.
Mortemart-Boisse, his work on agriculture, page
1218. A. D. 1824.
Mortimer, John, his work on agriculture, page 1207
A. D. 1707.
Moss of Kincardine, the, 2183 ; manner of floating
oft; 2184.
Mosses on pastures, to prevent the growth of, 5?20.
Motions, muscular, of animals, 1898.
Moubray, Bonnington, Esq., his work on agricul-
ture, page 1213. A. D. 1815.
Mouldebaert, the, 508.
Mound, the earthen, 4340 ; with puddle- wall em.
bankment, the, 4346.
Mound faced with stones, 4349.
Mounds with reversed slopes, 4348 ; pj-otected by a
wicker hedge, 4351.
Mount Annan, in Uumfriesshire, improvement of,
7839.
Mountains, improvement of, 4513.
Mouse, the long-tailed field, and the short-tailed
field, 7637 ; in the forest of Dean, 7638.
Mowing, 3166 ; the Hainault, 3172,
Mowing and feed alternately, 5813.
Mucus in animals, 1944.
Mud walls for cottages, 2894.
Mulberry tree in China, 983 ; in Hindustan, 897 ;
the white, in Spaia, 730.
Mules of Persia, 872.
Munro, Col. Innes, his work on agriculture, page
1213. A. D. 1822.
Miisci, 1330.
Muscles, the, of animals, 1892 ; functions of, 1894.
Museum Rusticum et Commerciale, &c. Anon.
page 1208. A. D. 1763.
Mustard, the white and black, 6103 ; soil for, 6105,
reaping of, 6106 ; use of, 6107 ; substitutes for, 6110.
Myrrh, 1481.
Myrtle, wax of, 1452,
N.
Nails of animals, 1865,
Nairnshire, statistics of, 7853, 7854,
Naismith, John, his works on agriculture, page 1210.
A. D. 1790.
Names of plants, rules in forming the, 1297.
Nan, Bh. Seb., his work on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1791.
Napier, Hon. William John, F.R.S., his work on
agriculture, page 1213. A. D. 1822,
Narcotic principle, the, in vegetables, 1422.
Neapolitan territory, the farming on the, 312 ; me-
tayers of, 313; trees of, 314; maize of, 315;
plants and fruit of, 318—324 ; oysters of, 325.
Neat cattle, see horned cattle, 6773.
Neatness, 3372.
Nelumbium, the, of China, 985.
Nervous system in animals, the, 1912; functions of
the, 1915.
Netherlands, present state of agriculture in the,
429 ; idea of husbandry in, 431 ; political secret of
husbandry in, 432 ; present state of agriculture
in, 433; climate of, 434; surface of, 435; con-
fusion of the Dutch and Flemish, 436 ; landed
property of, 437 ; farmeries of the, 438 ; a farmery
of the, 439 : arable lands of, 442 ; fallows in, 443 ;
soil and culture of, 444 ; the polders or embanked
4M
1266
GENERAL INDEX.
lands of, 447 ; culture of the polder of Snaerskirke
in, 4*8; reclaiming lands in, 449; mills for raising
water in, 451 ; cultivation of some particular
crops in, 460 ; wheat in, 461 ; rye in, 462 ; buck-
wheat, 463; rape, 464; cultivation of the poppy,
467 ; the red clover, 470 ; the turnip, 471 ; the
potato in, 472 ; the carrot in, 474 ; the white
beet in, 476; manufacturing beet-root sugar in,
478 ; culture of flax in, 479 ; culture of spurry in,
482 ; culture of the hop in, 484; culture of madder
in, 486 ; culture of woad in, 491 ; culinary ve-
getables of, 492 ; treatment of asparagus in, 493 ;
manures in use in, 495 ; agricultural implements
of, 505 ; plough of, 506 ; agricultural operations
in, 515; trenching in, 516; live stock in, 517;
the horse of, 518; dairies of, 523 ; woodlands of,
526 ; artificial plantations in, 527 ; the pine woods
of, 529 ; preservation of trees in, 532 ; royal
forests of, 533; management of the coppices in,
536 ; sorts of trees cultivated in, 537 ; domestic
circumstances of the farmers of, 538 ; farm ser.
vants of, 540 ; day labourers of, 541 ; beggars of,
542 ; clothing of the peasantry of, 5-13 ; farm-
houses of, 544 ; labourer's cottage of, 545 ; cha-
racter of the farmers of, 546.
Neuve-Eglise, Louis Joseph Bellepifere de, his
works on agriculture, page 1215. A. D. 1761.
New Britain, agriculture of, 1052.
New Brunswick, agriculture of, 1195.
New Caledonia, agriculture of, 1052.
New Guinea, agriculture of, 1053.
New Hebrides, the, agriculture of, 1052.
New Holland, as a country for emigrants, 1036 ;
general account of, 1037; mineral productions
of, 1038 ; soil of, 1039 ; the productions of nature
in, 1040; state of cultivation in, 1041.
New Ireland, agriculture of, 1052.
New South Wales, as a country for agricultural
emigrants, 1042.
New York Farmer and Horticultural Repository.
Anon, page 1228. A. D. 1828.
New Zealand, agriculture of, 1054.
Newstead farmery, 4165.
Nicole's mode of distilling palatable water at sea,
4510.
Night soil, as a manure, 2259.
Nitre, as a manure, 2307.
Norfolk, statistics of, 7788.
Normandy, climate of, 392.
North America, climate of, 1153 j suriace of, 1154;
agriculture of, 1155.
Northamptonshire, statistics of, 7803.
Northumberland, statistics of, 7809.
Northumberland ploughman the happiest of la-
bourers, 7962.
Norway, climate of, 687 ; cottages in, 693 ; domestic
customs of the farmers in, 707.
Norwegians, Alpine, habits of the, 1260.
Nottinghamshire, statistics of, 7800.
Nourishment, abundant, necessary to produce a
perfect-formed animal, 2051.
Nourse, Timothy, his work on agriculture, page
1207. A. D. 1700.
Nova Scotia, 1195.
Nubia, 1091.
Nucleus of the seed of plants, 1343.
Nutmeg tree, description of the, 1033.
NutsheU of plants, 1353.
Oak trees, valuing of, 4074.
Oat, the, in China, 980 ; varieties of, 5121 ; soil for,
5134 ; climate for, 5136 ; sowing, 5139 ; after-cul-
ture of, 5140; harvesting, 5141 ; kiln-drying, 5142;
produce of, 5144 ; use of, 5146 ; diseases of, 5147.
Oatmeal, remarks on, as a principal food, 7850.
Oats, frosted, 4997.
Oats, insects injurious to, 7664.
Object staff, the, 2503.
Objects, organised or unorganised, 1290.
Obstacles in hedge-making, to avert, 3005.
Odometer, the, 2506.
Ogle's machine for reaping and sheaving com,
2739.
Oil, olive, 1436 ; of almonds, 1437 ; jape-seed, 1438 ;
of behen, 1439 ; linseed, 1441 ; nut, 1442 ; poppy,
1443 ; hempseed, 1444.
Oil plants, 6074—6098 ; cultivated in France, 6101.
Oil of vitriol, as an hygrometer, 2421.
Oil-cake bruiser, 1554.
Oils, animal, 1947 ; the properties <rf, 1952,
Oils, vegetable, fixed, 1434; fat, 1435; drying, 1440;
volatile, 1445.
Olibanum, 1478.
Olive, the, in Spain, 727.
Olive tree of the Morea, 752.
Onorati, Nicola Columella, his works on agriculture,
page 1222. A. D. 1816.
Operations of husbandry after the Norman conquest,
207.
Operators on farms, gradation of, 3368.
Opobalsamum, 1461.
Opoponax, 1476.
Orchard, the, 2917.
Orchard farmers, 7730.
Orchard fruits, Gibbs's select list of, 4097.
Orchards, choosing trees for, 4105.
Orchards in Clydesdale, 7842.
Orchards, formation of, 4079 ; aspect, soil, and situ-
ation for, 4081 ; sorts of trees for, 4085 ; manner
of planting, 4106; after-management of, 4110;
gathering and keeping the fruit of, 4120.
Orchis, the culture of, 6184.
Order and neatness, necessity of, 3370 ; maxims of,
3373.
Organs, decomposite, of plants, development of, 1580.
Orkney Islands, statistics of the, 7860.
Orobanche, the, 1760.
Osier grounds, produce of, 4042.
Otaheite Island, 1061 ; soil of the, 1052 ; produce
of the, 1063; livestock of the, 106*.
Otter, the, an enemy to fish, 3891.
Ovary, fecundation of the, 1627.
Oven, a baking or roasting, 2807.
Overseer of slaves in Jamaica, 1201 ; his house,
1205.
Ox, see horned cattle, 6773.
Ox, the common, of Hindustan, 912 ; of Thibet, 882 ;
of the Morea, 755.
Oxfordshire, statistics of, 7789.
Oxides, metallic, in vegetable ashes, 1507.
Oxygen, in animals, 1920.
Oxygen, in the atmosphere, 2341 ; use of, to vege-
tables and animals, 2342.
Oyster fishery, 3884.
Oysters of the kingdom of Naples^ 325.
Pail, the, 2528.
Paillet, his work on agriculture, page 1217. A. D,
1791.
Palm, the areca, of Sumatra, 1025; the fan, in
Spain, 725.
Palm trees in Hindustan, 901.
Palmyra, the, of Hindustan, 906.
Palk, Sir Lawrence, a new village seaport in Devon-
shire formed by, 3852.
Paling fences, 3039.
Paling, the simple nailed, 3040 ; the jointed hori-
zontal, 3041 ; the upright lath, 3042; the hori-
zontal, of young firs, &c., 3043.
Palteau, Guillaume Louis Formanoir de, his work
on agriculture, page 1215. A. D. 1768.
Pane of ground, 4415.
Pane, upper, in a meadow, 4425.
Paraguay, description of, 1231.
Paring and burning lands, 3209.
Paring lands, 4536.
Park, extent of, on an estate, 3517.
Park-gate, the improved, 3097 ; Parker's sympa-
thetic, 3107.
Parks, number of, in the time of Elizabeth, 225.
Parkinson, Richard, his works on agriculture, page
1211. A. D. 1799.
Parlof, M., his work on agriculture, 7907.
Parmentier, Antoine Augustin, his works on agri-
culture, page 1216. A. D. 1781.
Parr^,Caleb Hillier, M.D. F.R.S., his works on agri-
culture, page 121L A. D. 1800.
Parsley, 5634.
Parsnep, 5471 ; best variety of, 5472 ; soil, prepar-
ation, and manure, 5473 ; sowing, 5474 ; after-cul-
ture, and taking up, 5477 ; produce of, 5478 ; use
of, 5480; saving the seed of, 5481.
Partridge, the, 7556.
Pastures, the best natural, of England, plants com-
posing, 5703; feeding, 5816; culture and manage-
ment of, 5817; hilly, 5839; improving, without
taking a crop of corn, 5844 ; insects injurious to,
7676 ; mountainous, 5842 ; improvement of, 5845 ;
permanent, 5815 ; permanent, lands best adapted
for,5851; old, to regenerate, 5843 : upland, manage-
ment of,> 5340; weeding of, 5818 ; stocking, 5825.
GENERAL INDEX.
1267
Patagonia, agriculture of, 1245.
PatersoiVs opinion of broad wheels, S732 ; of
M' Adam's road-making, 3593 ; of the breadth of
road, S599, his system of draining roads, 3604 j
his system of repairing roads, 3760.
Patrons of agriculture, 7759 : improving the taste
of, 7929.
Paupaille, M:, his work on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1826.
Pavement, defects of the common, and theory of
its wear, 3716.
Pavements, 3696 ; improvements in laying, 3713.
Paving roads, 3697.
Payen et Chevalier, MM., their works on agricul-
ture, page 1219. A. D. 1825.
Pea, the, 5191 ; varieties of, 5192 ; choice of sorts,
5196; soil for the, 5198; climate of the, 5199;
sowing the, 5200; after-culture of the, 5206; har-
vesting, 5207; threshing, 5211; produce of the,
5212 ; use of, 5216 ; saving the, 5220 ; diseases of
the, 5221.
Pea-straw, use of, 5219.
Peacock, the 7495.
Pears, baking and dessert, fit for orchards, accord-
ing to Nicol, 4093 ; to Gorrie, 4094 ; to Gibbs,
4097.
Pears, cider, the most approved sorts of, 4091.
Pearson, George, M.D. F.R.S., his work on agri-
culture, page 1212. A. D. 1805.
Pearson's select list of orchard apples, 4099.
Peas, insects injurious to, 7665.
Peat ashes as a manure in Berkshire, 7790.
Peat .borer, the, 2519.
Peat-burning, 3210.
Peat mosses, improvement of, 4541.
Peaty matter, as a manure, 2241.
Peebleshire, statistics of, 7838.
Pellew Isles, agriculture of, 1056.
People, character of a, as influencing agriculture,
1274.
Pepper, the intoxicating, of Borneo, 1029.
Pepper plant of Sumatra, 1022.
Perch, 7578.
Perennials, and their annual layers, 1573.
Pericarp of plants, 1349.
Periodicals, agricultural, 805.
Periosteum of the bone, 1882.
Perrv, manufacture of, 436; produce of, by the
acre, 4137.
Perthshire, statistics of, 7849.
Persia, climate of, 863; surface of, 864; soil of,
865 ; landed property of, 866 ; agricultural pro-
ducts of, 867; fruits of, 869; saline deserts of,
870 ; live stock of, 871 ; mode of hunting the
quail in, 873; implements and operations of agri-
culture in, 874 ; artificial watering in, 876 ; forests
of, 877.
Perspective, isometrical, 32^.
Peru, agriculture of, 1228.
Peters, Matthew, his works on agriculture, page
1209. A. D. 1770.
Petsai, the, a species of white cabbage, of China.
988.
Peyrouse, Baron Picot de la, his work on agricul-
ture, page 1218. A. D. 1819.
Pheasant, the common, 7548; varieties of, 7550;
breeding, 7551 ; feeding, 7554.
Phillips, Robert, his work on agriculture, nage
1208. A. D. 1737.
Phoenicia, agriculture of, 37.
Phosphate of lime, as a manure, 2302.
Phosphorus in animals, 1922.
Phytography, 1925.
Piacenza, Giovanni, his work on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1805.
Picardy, climate of, 392.
Pick, the, 2443.
Picking, 3122.
Pickling wheat for sowing, 5026.
Pictet, Charles, his works on agriculture, naee
1217. A. D. 1802. ^ ^
Piers, caution requisite in the use of, 4364: con-
struction of, 4365.
Pigeon, the, 7532 ; flesh of, 7533 ; varieties of, 7535 ;
breeding, 7537 ; terms applied to, 7538 ; food of,
7539 ; cleanliness of, 7541 ; diseases of, 7546 ; laws
respecting, 7547.
Pigeon's dung, as a manure, 2260 : use of the, in
Persia, 875.
Pigeon-houses, 7542; the interior of, 7543: breeding
holes in, 7544.
Pigeonry, the, 2844.
Pig-house, Harley'8, 2839.
Pigs of the Cape of Good Hope, 1131.
Pike, 7580.
Pilchard fishery, 3882.
Pine plantations, management of, 4017.
Pinteux, his work on agriculture, page 1219. A. D.
1825.
Pipe-draining, Pearson's method of, 4297.
Pitch, 1455.
Pith of plants, structure of the, 1371.
Pithing cattle, 2092; Du Gard's observations on,
2093.
Pits, method of draining, 4274.
Pitt, William, his works on agriculture, page 1210.
A. D. 1794.
Pitting system of planting, 3945, 3951.
Plaiting straw, 5058.
Plan of life, necessity of forming a, 7954.
Plans of estates, to make, 3351.
Plantain, the, culture of, in the West Indies,
1218.
Plantations, as skreens on farms, 4585 ; filling up
blanks in, 3983; pruning and heading down
trees in, 3987 ; the formation of, 3922 ; enclosing,
3923 ; preparation of the soil for, 3924 ; whether
should be sown or planted, 3926; disposing the
plants in, 3928 ; mixture of trees in, 3958 ; insects
injurious to, 7681 ; near roads, 3621 ; neglected,
improvement of, 4022; for shelter, 4585 ; of spruce
and silver firs, management of, 4018; thinning
out, 4009 ; the proper season for, 4020.
Planting, 3142 ; as applied to seeds and tubers, 3143 ;
as applied to plants already originated, 3144.
Planting trees, a general principle of guidance in,
3910 ; the fittest situations for, 3911 ; near build-
ings, 3913; sort of product desired from, 3921;
orchard trees, 4106 ; seasons for, 3937 ; with the
diamond dibber, 3948 ; with the planting mattock,
3949; with the forest planter or ground adze,
3950.
Plants, action of the atmosphere on, 2344 ; of Brazil,
with fibres adapted for economic purposes, 1236 ;
of Britain, distribution of, 1795 ; social and anti-
social habits of, 1772 ; colouring, 5995 ; composite
organs of, 1368. 1568; elementary organs of,
1378. 1566; conservative appendages of, 1312;
conservative organs of, 1306 ; constituent ele-
ments of, 1510 ; cotyledonous and acotyledonous,
of Britain, 1797, 1798 ; distribution of, 1799, 1800;
geographical distribution of, 1801 ; cultivated
for oil in Hindustan, 900; cultivated for their
roots or leaves, 5289; nutritive products of,
5290; cultivated for their use in the brewery,
5996; substitutes for, 6072; definition of, 1670;
diseases of, 1685 ; distribution of, with respect to
their systematic classifications, 1776; food of,
1521 ; general distribution of, 1722 ; green succu-
lent, as a manure, 2233; herbage, 5518 ; Sir H.
Davy's table of the nutritive products of the
principal, 5520 ; imperfect, 1328 ; to increase the
number and improve the nutritive qualities of,
1825 ; injuries and disorders incident to, 1671 ;
introsusception of nourishment by, 1538; mari-
time, 1748; fluviatic, 1749; champaign, 1750;
dumose, 1751; ruderate, 1752; sylvatic, 1753;
alpine, 1754 ; parasitical, 1755 ; domesticated,
1765; mode of describing, 1299; the most uni-
versal, 1782 ; the native countries of, 1774 ; natu™
ral decline of, 1716; decay of the temporary or-
gans in, 1717 ; decay of the permanent organs of,
1721 ; physical virtues of, changed by cultivation,
1620 ; preparation of, for planting, 3145 ; insertion
of, in the prepared soil, 3146 ; reproductive organs
of, 1321 ; appendages of the, 1327 ; the total num.
ber of species of, 1794 ; the true nourishment of,
2147 ; the two methods of arranging, 1302 ; useful
and edible, of China, 989 ; virtues of, where resi-
dent, 1497 ; of visible sexes, 1777 ; of invisible
sexes, 1778 ; which distinguish the various kinds
of soils, 2122.
Plashing an old hedge, 3025.
Plat, Hugh, his work on agriculture, page 1207.
A.D. 1601.
Plattes, Gabriel, his works on agriculture, page
1207. A. D. 1639.
Plough, Arabian. 885; the common, of Castile, 744;
the Chinese, 995 ; draining, 2626 ; wheel, 2627 ;
of Ezerum, 874; forms of the different parts of,
2591 ; at Moegelin, 588 ; of the Morea, 752 ; of
Osterobothnia, 703 ; the Walloon. 507 ; Weather-
ley's movable stilt, 2612; the ribbing, 2612; Duck-
et's skim coulter, 2613 ; the double share, 2615 ;
the mining or trenching, 2616 ; Somerville's
double furrow, 2617 ; this Argyleshire, 2618 j the
4 M 2
1268
GENERAL INDEX.
double mould-boarded, 2619 ; the binot, 2620 ; the
marking, 2621 ; Clymer's, 2622 ; Stothard's, 2623 j
Morton's trenching, 2624; Gladstone's water-fur.
rowing, 2625 ; the improved Scotch, with one or
two wheels, '2629 ; the Beverston, 2630 ; the Nor-
folk wheel, 2632; Wilkie's single-horse wheel,
2634; Wilkie's improved friction-wheel, 2637;
theparing wheel, 2638; Clarke's draming, 2639;
Morton's draining, 2641; the gutter, 2642; the
mole, 2643 ; the Duke of Bridgewater's draining,
2646 ; the pressing, 2648 ; Wilkie's wheel, with a
shifting muzzle, 7843 ; wheel and swing, 2587 ;
•construction of, 2588 ; materials of, 2597 ; turn-
wrest swing, 2609 ; the Scotch swing, 2598 ; the
Scotch, 2600; Small's, 2601; the Northumber-
land and Berwickshire, 2602 ; Wilkie's swing,
2603; Finlayson's iron, 2604; the heath, or self-
cleaning, 2605 ; Finlayson's Kentish skeleton
self-cleaning, 2606 ; Finlayson's line, 2607 ; the
Somerville swing, 2608 ; Gray's turn-wrest swing,
Ploughboy, Anon, page 1223. A. D. 1826.
Ploughing, 3239 ; shallow, 3247 ; steep lands, 3254 ;
relative to time, 3257 ; relative to season, 3258.
Ploughing in wheat, 5031.
Ploughman, choice of, 4868 ; plan of maintaining in
the best cultivated districts of Scotland, 4870;
slowness of, in some districts, 4881.
Ploughman, a good one described, 33.
Ploughman, head, 7716.
PluckneVs attempt at a reaping-machine, 2733.
Plum, the, well deserving of cultivation, 4100.
Plums, baking, the best sorts of, for an orchard, 4095.
Plums, culture of, in Austria, 629.
Plums, dessert, for an orchard, 4096.
Plumule of plants, 1348.
Poaching salmon, 3901.
Pocket- rule, the, 2505.
Pointer, the, 7399.
Poison tree of Java, 946.
Poland, present agriculture of, 641 ; landed estates
in, 642 ; houses of the noble postmasters in, 642 ;
climate of, 644; surface of, 645 ; soil of, 646 ; the
southern part of, 647 ; the landed estates of the
vice-regal portion of, 649; the cultivators, 650;
arable culture of, 651 ; implements and ojierations
of agriculture in, 652; the live stock of, 653 ; the
forests of, 654 ; management of bees in, 655 ; im-
provements in the agriculture of, since 1814, 662.
Pole-cat, the, 7628.
Police, professional, relative to agriculture, 7909.
Polignac, Comte Charles de, his work on agricul-
ture, page 1218. A. D. 1822.
Political circumstances, as influencing agriculture,
1272.
Pollard-trees, 4055.
Polonceau, M., his work on agriculture, page 1218.
A. D. 1824.
Pond, a, 4421.
Ponds for collecting rain water, mode of construct-
ing, 4467 ; the Gloucestershire, 4473 ; method of
draining, 4275.
Pontei/'s methods of planting, 3952; opinion on
pruning, 3989.
Pontier, P. H., his work on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1826.
Pool- fishing, 3903.
Poppy, the, in Hindustan, 898 ; the small or field,
as an oil plant, 6099.
Pores of plants, 1388.
Porpoise, the, an enemy to fish, 3893.
Porta, J. B., his work on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1592.
Portraying of rural objects, 3347.
Portugal, agricultural circumstances of, 749.
Pot tree, the, of Brazil, 1235.
Potash in animals, 1927.
Potato, the, 5921 ; as human food, 5295 ; value of,
as a fallow crop, 5298; varieties of the, 5300;
soil for, 5307 ; cUmate for, 5310 ; season for plant-
ing, 5311; preparing the sets of, 5312; modes of
planting, 5316 ; after-culture of, 5327 ; taking of
the crop of, 5338 ; storing and preserving, 5342 ;
produce of, 5348 ; application of, 5349 ; the ex-
traordinary applications of, 5361 ; application of,
as food for live stock, 5365 ; machine for washing,
5367; the boiling of, 5368: frosted, 5369 j diseases
of, 5370.
Potato cleaner, the, 2547.
Potato dibber, 2470.
Potato scoop, Edinburgh, 2494.
Potatoes, introduction of, 238 : of Ireland, 838 : in
Spain, 726.
Potato-set scoop, the, 2493.
Potato-weighing machine, 2569.
Poultry. See Cock and Hen, 7439.
Poultry farmers, 7727.
Poultry.house, interior arrangement of the, 2842.
Poultry houses, 2840. 7431 ; furniture or fixtures of,
7434 ; utensils of, 7437 ; at Winnington, Lord
Penrhyn's, 7814.
Poultry-yard, 2914.
Power requisite to estimate, 3320.
Preaudeau-Chemilli/, Eugene, his work on agricul-
ture, page 1217. A. D. 1794.
Pr^ifontame, his work on agriculture, page 1215.
A. D. 1763.
Pressing plough, the, 2714.
Prevost, B^nfedict, his work on agriculture, page
1218. A. D. 1807.
Prevot de Rivolta, his work on agriculture, page
1222. A. D. 1826.
Prize essays, and Transactions of the Highland
Society of Scotland. Anon, page 1211. A. D.
1799—1830.
Professor of agricultural science, the, 7758.
Professorships of agriculture, 806 ; public, 7924.
Profit of the Roman farmers, 168.
Profits to which a farmer is entitled, 4799.
Propagation by seeds, 1641 ; by gems, 1646 ; by
leaves, 1649; by runners, 1650; by slips, 1651 ;
by layers, 1652 ; by suckers, 1653 ; by grafting and
budding, 1654.
Propagation of the species of plants, causes limiting,
1655.
Propago of plants, 1362.
Property, landed, in England, the different kinds
and tenures of, 3388 ; in Scotland, 3400 ; in Ire-
land, 3406; valuation of, 3408 ; purchase or trans-
fer of, 3455 ; consolidation of, 3471.
Propriety, 3371.
Pruning, 3158 ; objects of, 3159 ; for promoting the
growth and bulk of a tree, 3160 ; for lessening the
bulk of a tree, 3161 ; for modifying the form of
the tree, 3162 ; for adjusting the stem and branches
to the roots, 3163; for renewal of the head, 3164 ;
for curing diseases, 3165 ; coppice woods, 4003 ;
deciduous trees, 3997 ; eft'ect of, on timber trees,
3972; frondose or resinous trees, S988; hedges,
4005 ; hedge-row trees, 4006 ; orchard trees, 4111 ;
trees, 1677; the manner of, 3993; plantations,
3989; the general seasons of, 3994; implements
necessary for, 3996.
Prussia, improvements in the agriculture of, 567.
575 ; surface and soil of, 568 ; soil of the maritime
provinces of, 569 ; landed estates in, 570 ; general
course of cultivation in, 571 ; live stock of, 572;
implements of husbandry of, 573 ; produce of the
soil of, 574; culture of the vine in, 590; good
effected by the present king of, 591.
Pubescence of plants, 1319.
Puddling canals, 5824.
Puddling, 3827 ; history of, 3829.
Pulling crops, 3181.
Pulp of plants, structure of the, 1370.
Pulverisation of soils, 2163.
Pumps for raising water, 4500.
Purchase of landed property, 3455,
Pushing, 3117.
Putiriy Charles, his work on agriculture, page 1215.
A. D. 1663.
Puvt's, M. A., his work on agriculture, page 1219.
A. D. 1826.
Pyrites, use of, in burning clay, 3228.
Q.
Quail, the, 7558 ; Persian mode of hunting, 873.
Quarries, method of draining, 4274; working of,
3861.
Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, Anon, page 1214.
A. D. 1828—1831.
Queen's county, statistics of, 7870.
ftuercus Suber, in Spain, 747.
Quinquina, extract of, 1411.
R.
Rabbit, the, 7341 ; warrens of the, 7343 ; varieties
of, for stocking warrens, 7346 ; breeding and rear-
ing of, 735i. 7356; the Angora, 7354; feeding,
7357 ; flesh of, 7359 ; diseases, 7363.
Rabbitry, the, 2843.
Rabbit's dung, as a manure, 2262.
GENERAL INDEX.
1269
Radcliffe, Rev. T., his work on agriculture, page
1213. A.D. 1819.
Rags, woollen, as a manure, 2250.
Rail-roads, 3543.
Railways, 3785 ; advantage of, 3791 ; forming and
constructing, 3792 ; of stone, Matthews's, 3703.
Rain, 2367 ; phenomena of, 2368 ; cause of, 2369 ;
monthly and annual quantities of, 2372.
Rain-gauge, use of the, 2426.
Rain water, collecting, from roads in ponds, 4465.
Rake, the, 2449; the horse or stubble, 2725; the
couch-grass, 2726 ; Weir's improved hay or corn,
2727.
Raking machines, 2723.
Ramenta of plants, 1317.
Randall, J., his works on agriculture, page 1208.
A. D. 1764.
Rape, 6075; soils for, 6079; sowing, 6083; trans,
planting, 6085; after-culture of, 6087 ; harvest-
ing, 6089 ; produce of, 6091 ; uses of, 6092.
Rape-cake, as a manure, 2234.
Raspberry as an orchard fruit, 4104.
Rat, the domestic or Norway, 7632.
Rattery, Paul of Starston's, 7634.
Rat-traps, 2581.
Ranch, F. A., his work on agriculture, page 1217.
A. D. 1802.
Re, Filippo, his works on agriculture, page 1221.
A. D. 1808.
Reaumur, Rene, Antoine Ferchault, sieur de, his
work on agriculture, page 1215. A. D. 1749.
Reaping, 3173. 3178; by the acre, 3180; wheat,
5043.
Reaping-hook, the, 2481 ; the smooth, 2482 ; Hut-
ton's improved, 2483.
Reaping machines, 2731. & 2737.
Reaping machines, 2731.
Rearing domestic animals, 2066.
Receptacle of plants, 1324.
Recollection of surfaces and of country of great in-
terest to the agriculturist, 3298.
Redolfi, Cosimo, his work on agriculture, page 1222.
A. D. 1818.
Reds, vegetable, for dyeing, 1416.
Reed, method of thatching with, 3190.
Reider, T., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1825.
Rein-deer, the, 7361.
Religion, as influencing agriculture, 1273.
Rennie, George, Esq., his work on agriculture, page
1210. A. D. 1794.
Rent of grazing farms, 4796 ; of land among the
Anglo-Saxons, 202 ; in Scotland, 4795 ; in Eng-
land, 4797.
Rents of landed estates, receiving of, 4702.
Rents of leases, 4688.
Repairs in drains, 4266.
Reproduction in animals, 1972.
Resin, Botany Bay, 1467 ; green, 1466.
Resins, vegetable, 1453 ; use of, 1471.
Rhubarb, 6176 ; culture of, 6177 ; Chinese mode of
curing, 6178.
Ribbe, M., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1826.
Ribbing, 3255.
Ribbing wheat, 5033.
Ribworm, plaintain, the, 5625.
Ricci Jacopo, his works on agriculture, page 1222.
A. D. 1816.
Rice, 5185 ; cultivation of, in Egypt, 1078.
Richards, John, his work on agriculture, page 1207.
A. D. 1730.
Richardson's machine for raising large stone.*, 4523.
Richter, K. F., his works on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1804.
i?fcinus commtmis, 862. 978.
Ricking of corn, 3176.
Rick-stand, Waistell's circular, 2909.
Ridder, the, an addition to the plough, 7848.
Ridges, 3249 ; on dry, porous, turnip soils, 32,'30 ;
mode of forming straight, and of uniform breadth,
3251 ; the direction and length of, 3253 ; in Buck-
inghamshire, 7783.
Ridging, 3127.
Rid-plough, Finlayson's, 4.540.
Riem, his work on agriculture, page 1216, A-D. 1770.
Riem, J., his works on agriculture, page 1220. A. D.
1792.
Rigaud de I' Isle, his work on agriculture, page
1216. A. D. 1759.
Right/, Edward, M. D., F. L. S., his works on agri-
culture, page 1213. A, D. 1820.
Rein-deer moss, 696.
Rippling, 3204.
4
Rippling flax, 5899.
River farmers, 7742.
River-meadows, 5769.
River plants, 1745.
Rivers, altering the course of, 4371 ; a common
cause of injury to the banks of, 4362 ; the natural
licence of, 4359 ; operations for improving, 4360 j
raising to a higher level, 4377; sometimes inju.
rious to lands, 2202.
RUckert, G. Ch. Alb., his work on agriculture, page
1220. A. D. 1800.
Roads, the best materials for making, 3635.
Roads, breadth of, 3595; ought to be wide and
strong, 3597 ; narrow, 3601 ; drainage of, 3602.
Road-bridges, 3611.
Roads, concave, 3670 ; convex, 8671 ; semi-convex,
5674 ; advantage of good, 3523 ; M' Adam's plan
of making, 3527 ; paving of, 3697 ; junction of,
3620 ; laying out ovet a hill, 3.W9 ; direction of,
through an extensive estate, 3562; machine for
scraping, 3749; machine for sweeping, 3751 ; Bid-
die's machine for repairing, 3757 ; arrangement
of, on farms, 4210 ; national, 3530 ; parochial, 3531 ;
of estates, 3533 ; of farms, 3594 ; paved, 3538 ;
planked, 3542 ; the laying out of, 3.'545 ; the line of
direction in, 3547 ; on an inclined plane, 7812 ;
preparation of the base of, 3622 ; preservation of,
3727 ; repair of, 3744 ; the proper degree of con-
vexity for, 3676 ; proper width of, 3566 ; strength
of, 3567; durability of, 3569; smoothness of,
3.570; wear or decay of, 3571; washing, 3754 ;
Paterson's system of repairing, 3760; M' Adam's
system of repairing, 3763.
Road embankments, 3611.
Road fences, 3617.
Road-harrow, Harriott's, 3745.
Road-making, M'Adam's theory and practice of,
3581.
Robertson, George, his works on agriculture, page
1210. A. D. 1795.
Robertson, James, D.D., his works on agriculture,
page 1211. A. D. 1799.
Rocca, Abb6 Delia, his work on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1790.
Rocc6lla tinctbria, as a scarlet dye, 697.
Rocks, improvement of, 4517; primitive, 2102; of
transition, 2103 ; floetz, 2104 ; volcanic, 2106 ; re-
lative situation of, in Britain, 2107 ; how con-
verted into soils, 2111.
Rocks or stones, modes of rending, by gunpowder,
4524.
Roe, the, 7371.
Roller, the, 2707; the parted cast-iron, 2708; the
spiky or compound, 2709; the only essential,
2717.
Roller and water box, 2711.
Rolling, 3269.
Rolling newly laid on road metals, S694.
Rolling roads, 3755 ; Telford's directions for repair-
ing, 3774: the best seasons for repairing, 3780.
Roman authors, 44 ; Cato, 45 ; Varro, 46 ; Virgil,
47 ; Columella, 48 ; Pliny the elder, 49 ; PalladiuS,
50.
Romans, ass, use of, among the, 105; mules, 106;
horse, 108 ; dog, 108 ; plough of the Romans,
110; wheel ploughs, invention of, 113; brake,
114; hoes, 117— 119; spade, 120 ; instruments,
Roman 114—123; reaping hook, 123 ; ploughing,
among the Romans, 127 ; fallowing, 128 ; manur-
ing, 129 ; marl, 130 ; sowing, among the Romans,
131 ; reaping, 132 ; reaping machine, Roman, 133.
Romans, culture and farm management of the, 71 ;
farm, choice of one, directed, 72 ; soil, 74 ; villa,
origin of the, 75 ; position of a, 80 ; divided into
three parts, 81 ; servants, agricultural, 85 ; bailiff,
86 ; ploughman, Roman, requisites of a, 88 ; wages
in agriculture amongst the Romans, 89 ; beasts of
labour used by the Romans, 93; breeding of
cattle, 93; training cattle, 98; oxen, how fed and
used, 100 ; direction for purchasing, 104 ; thresh-
ing, 135; winnowing, 137; hay-making, 138;
weeding, 139 ; corn, pasturing, and harrowing,
140 ; watering lands, 141 ; draining, 143 ; fencing,
144; trees, management of, 145; fruits of the,
146; grasses, cereal, 148; legumes, 149; sesa-
mum, 150; plants, herbage, 151; crops used in
the arts, 152 ; crops, ligneous, 153 ; fruit trees,
154 ; animals, 156 ; maxims, 157.
Romney marsh, 4559.
Ronalds's select list of orchard apples, 4098.
Ronconi, Ignazio, his work on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1804.
I Root, anomalies of the, 1590.
Root-breaker, 2557.
M 3
1270
GENERAL INDEX.
Root of a plant, 1307.
Roots, edible, of the old world, 1785.
Root-house, the, 2862.
Roots of trees, use of, 4065.
Rope-twisting machine, 2562.
Roscommon, statistics of, 7882.
Roseneath, in Dunbartonshire, 7843.
Rosin, 1454.
Bossig, Karl Glo., his works on agriculture, page
1219. A. D. 1781.
Ross-shire, statistics of, 7854.
Rotation of crops, necessity of a judicious, 4912.
4927.
Rotations suited to different soils, examples of,
4933.
Rotting in trees, to prevent, 4030.
Roughly, Thomas, his work on agriculture, page
1223. A. D. 1823.
Roxburghshire, statistics of, 7836.
Roxier, Frangois, his works on agriculture, page
1216. A. D. 1770.
Rubbing-post for pigsties, 2838.
Rules for the arrangement of farm labour, 4913.
Rush, the esparto, in Spain, 722.
Russia, portion of, fit for aration, 664 ; climates of,
665 ; surface of, 6.)9 ; soil of, 670 ; landed pro-
perty in, 671 ; the farmeries of, 672 ; agricultural
products of, 673 ; farming crops of the more
southern regions of, 674; the culture of herbage
plants in, 675 ; plants grown for commercial uses
in, 676 ; fruits generally grown in, 678 ; live stock
of the farmer in, 679 ; forests of, 680 ; implements
and operations of husbandry in, 683 ; field oper-
ations of, 684 ; faaprovement of agriculture in,
685.
Rutlandshire, statistics of, 7802.
Rye, 5069 ; varieties of, 5070 ; soil for, 5071 ; climate
for, 5072; when sown, 5U73; after-culture, har-
vesting, and threshing of, 5074 ; use of, 5075; as a
green crop, 5076 ; spur, or ergot of, 5079 ; insects
injurious to, 7662.
Rye, George, his work on agriculture, page 1208.
A. D. 1730.
Rye, insects injurious to, 7662.
Rye-grass, the biennial, 5654; the perennial, 5655;
the new varieties of, 5656.
Sack-barrow, the, 2541.
Saddle-grafting, a peculiar mode of, practised in
Worcestershire, 7792.
Saffron, the, or autumn crocus, 6169, uses of, 6173.
Saffron, extract of, 1412.
Sagapenum, 1479.
Saintfoin, 5595 ; varieties of, 5f;96 ; soil for, 5597 ;
sowing, 5599 ; after-culture and management of,
5603 ; taking and using the crop of, 5606 ; dura-
tion of, 5609; produce of, 5610; nutritive pro-
ducts of 561] ; saving the seed of, 5612; thresh-
ing out the seeds of, 5614; produce in seed of,
5616 ; diseases of, 5617.
Salep plant, culture of the, 6184.
Salesman, agricultural, 7748.
Saline solutions, as a manure, 2308.
Salisbury, W., his work on agriculture, page 1213.
A. D. 1822.
Salmon's attempt at a reaping-machine, 2735.
Salmon, 7584; enemies of the young, 3889; fishery
of, 3885 ; in rivers, 7830 ; spawning of, 7850 ; va-
rious modes of taking, 3895; weirs for. Marshal's
opinion of, 3900.
Salmon trout, 7850.
Salop, 1401.
Salt, as a manure, 2306 ; good for most animals,
2074 ; production of, 3872.
Salts, as part of the food of plants, 1530.
Salvini, Gio., his work on agriculture, page 1221.
A. D. 1777.
Sandarach, 1457.
Sandwich Isles, the, 1059.
Sang's opinion on pruning, 3989.
Sap, 1495; ascent of the 1539—1544 ; causes of the,
1545 — 1550 ; -elaboration of the, 1551 ; perspir-
ation of, 1555 ; of plants, 1475.
Sarcey-de-Sutiires, his works on agriculture, page
1215. A. D. 1765.
Sartorelli, G. B., his work on agriculture, page 1222.
A. D. 1826.
Sauerkraut, .'5507.
Saussure's experiment respecting vegetable extract
as the food of plants, 1529.
Savory, culture of, 6180.
Savoy, agriculture of, 854 ; land in, S55 ; lands of
the monasteries in, 356 ; peasantry of, 357 ; four
modes of occupying land in, 359 ; land near towns,
560; farming land in, 361; occupying land in,
by grangers and by tacheurs, 362, 363 ; leases
granted to the farmers and grangers in, 364 ; pas-
turage in, 365; public dairies in, 366; sheep in,
367 ; vineyards in, 368 ; walnut trees in, 369 ;
walnut harvest in, 370 ; tobacco in, 373 ; artificial
grasses in, 374 ; grass lands and water meadows
of, 375 ; agricultural improvements in, 376 ; salt-
works of Montiers in, 377.
Saw, the, 2490.
Sawing, 3150.
Saxony, state of agriculture in, 607 ; culture of the
vine and silkworm in, 608; the wool of, 609; ge-
neral rotation of crops in, 610; cows of, 611 j
Jacob's opinion of the agriculture of, 613.
Scales of animals, 1869.
Scammony, 1+75.
Scarcement in hedgemaking, arguments for and
against a, 3009.
Scarifier, Henry's improved, 2673.
Scarifier or hash, the Sithney, 2716.
Scheffold, L., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1809.
Schonlentcr, M., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1810.
Schuster, J., and M. Haberle, their work on agricul-
ture, page 1220. A. D. 182.5.
Schwertz, N., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1825.
Scirpus tuber^sus, the, of China, 986.
Scorer, the, 2491.
Scotland, agriculture of, after the Norman Con-
quest, 208 ; during the thirteenth, fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries, 213 ; in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, 215 ; agriculture of, in the
sixteenth century, 2:^6. 241 ; in the seventeenth
century, 242 ; agriculture in, during the Revolu-
tion, 770 ; first improvement in the roads of, 771 ;
benefit to the agriculture of, 772 ; general remarks
on, 7832.
Scraper, the, 2464.
Scraping, 3133.
Scraping roads, 3748.
Scythe, the Hainault, 509. 2479; the great Bra-
bant, 510 ; the cradle, 2480 ; for reaping grain
crops, 3179 ; used in irrigation, 4401.
Seal, the, 3893.
Seas, inconsiderable, temperature of, 2351.
Season for cutting trees whose barks are not made
use of, 4044 ; for sawing, cutting, or clipping living
trees, 2156.
Season, a wet, 2435.
Seasoning of timber, 4063; by steeping, 4064.
Sea-trout, 7850.
Sea wall embankment, 4352.
Sea-water, as a means of irrigation, 4445.
Sea- weed, use of, 6187.
Sea-weeds, as a manure, 2237.
Sea- wrack grass, 6195.
Secretions, unctuous, of the skin, 1875 ; viscous,
1876.
Seed, dispersion of, 1642.
Seed-basket, 2526.
Seed-corn, choice of, 4855.
Seed farmers, 7729.
Seed harrow for wet weather, Gray's, 2704,
Seed sown, returns of, mentioned by the ancients,
167.
Seeds of trees, use of, 4041.
Selkirkshire, statistics of, 7837.
Senac, M., and the Baron de Ferrussac, their work
on agriculture, page 1219. A. D. 1826.
Senna, extract of, 1410.
Sensation of plants, 1668.
Serpent's motion, the, 1903. 1906.
Serradilla, the, 5639.
Serves, Olivier de, his work on agriculture, page
1214. A. D. 1600.
Servants, choice of, for the farmer, 4866 ; the mode
of hiring at public statutes, 4869; management
of, 4900.
Servants, female, required in a farmery, 4878.
Servih-es, B. de, his work on agriculture, page 1216.
A. D. 1786.
Sesamum orientJlle, 978. 6097.
Setters, 7400.
Settlers in the United States, practice of, 1165.
SexcA of plants, 1622.
Shade ami shelter for certain plants, necessity of,
1827.
GENERAL INDEX.
1271
Shafts, double, advantage of, on roads, 3742.
Shakes in trees, to remedy, 4031.
Shapes which indicate a propensity to fatten
soonest, 2031.
Sheath, the, or land-guard of loose stones, 4'366.
Sheaves of corn, an improved method of setting
up, 3177 ; methods of drying, 704.
Sheaving of corn, 3175
Sheds, portable, for pasture lands, 5838.
Sheep, the, 711'2j the common, in a wild state,
7113 ; value of, to the British farmer, 7114.
Sheep, varieties of, 7115; the long-woolled British,
7117; the short-woolled, 7118; the hornless
breeds, 7119; sheep best suited to arable land,
7120; the long-woolled large breeds, 7121 ^ the
shorter, wool led varieties, 7126 ; sheep that range
over the mountainous districts of Britain, 7133 ,
the Spanish or Merino breed, 7138.
Sheep, criteria of properties in, of an excellent ram,
714-2; of a sound healthy sheep, 7143; of age,
7144 ; names of the different ages and conditions
of sheep, 7145.
Sheep, breeding, 7146 ; season of putting the rams
to the ewes, 7153 ; period of gestation, 7154 ; keep
of sheep after lambing, 7159 ; castrating lambs,
7160 ; weaning of lambs, 7161.
Sheep, rearing and management of, 7162 ; on rich
grass and arable lands, 7166 ; treatment of the
Jambs, 7168; selection of the lamb stock, 7170;
selection of the grown stock, 7172; shearing,
7173 ; washing, 7177; marking, 7185 ; shortening
the tails, 7186 ; rearing and management on
hilly and mountainous districts, 7190; store farm-
ing, 7192.
Sheep, folding, 7208.
Sheep, fattening, 7219; fattening lambs, 7224.
Sheep, the Merino breed, 7240; introduction of,
7231 ; Dr. Parry's experiments with, 7232 , shear-
ing of, 723) ; produce of the wool of, 7236; Lord
Somerville's experiments with, 7237.
Sheep, anatomy and physiology of, 7239; skeleton
of, 7241 ; the visceral and soft parts, 7242 : wool
of, 7245.
Sheep, diseases of, 7244 ; of lambs, 7273.
Sheep, the Berkshire polled, 7790 ; of Berwick,
shire, 7835 ; in Buckinghamshire, 7783 ; of the
Cape of Good Hope, 1 127 ; of the farm of Coldin-
gen, near Hanover, 600 ; of Dorsetshire, manage-
ment of, 7819; of the Hebrides, 7859; of Hin-
dustan, 913 ; the Hungarian, 632 ; improvement
of, on the farm at Moegelin, 585 ; in Leicester,
shire, 7798; of Perthshire, 7849; of Spain, 735;
management of, 737—742 ; when first fed on the
ground with turnips, 237.
Sheep-shearing in Spain, 741.
Shell-fish fishery, 3883.
Shell sand, as a manure, 2288.
Shell slug, the, 7706.
Shells of animals, 1870.
Sheltering farm-lands, 4.584.
Sheltering and shading lands, 2215, 2216.
Shepherd, the, 4876.
Shetland Isles, statistics of the, 7861.
Shirreffy John, his work on agriculture, page 1213.
A. D. 1814.
Shocking of corn, 3175.
Shoeing of horses in Flanders, 520.
Shoots, annual, 1569.
Shorelands, improvement of, 4567.
Shovel, the, 2446.
Shovelling, 3124.
Shropshire, statistics of, 7795.
Siam, the kingdom of, 949 ; agriculture of the, 950 j
soil of the, 951.
Sickle, for reaping grain crops, 3179.
Sickler, F. Ch. L., his work on agriculture, page
1220. A. D. 1805.
Slda filiffifblia, use of, in China, 982.
Siebe's rotatory pump, 4501.
Sierra Leone, description of, 1105.
Sieuve, works on agriculture, p. 1216. A. D. 1769.
Sieves, 2523.
Sifting earth or gravel, 3135.
Silicia in animals, 1932 ; in plants, 1504.
Silk, culture of, in Hungary, 629.
Silkworm, the, 7595 ; breeding of, 7596 ; in the
south of France, 415.
Simonde, J. C. L., his work on agriculture, page 1221.
A.D. 1801.
Simpson, Finder, his works on agriculture, page
1213. A. D. 1814, 1815.
Sinclair, George, F.L.S., F.H.S., &c. his work on
agriculture, page 1213. A. D. 1824.
Sinclair, Right Hon. Sir John, Bart., LL D., &a
his works on agriculture, page 1210. A. D. 1790.
Sinety, Andrfe Louis Esprit, his work on agricul-
ture, page 1218. A. D. 1803.
Situation for a landed proprietor's mansion, the most
desirable, 3506.
Skeibo farmery, 4163.
Skin and leather, refuse of the manufactures of, as
a manure, 2251.
Skin, secretions of the, 1874.
Skins of animals, use of the, 2017.
Skirting lands, 3210.
Skreen plantations, 4585.
Sleep, the positions assumed by animals during,
1910.
Slceping-rooms for single men, 2868.
Sligo, statistics of, 7886.
Slit method of planting, 3947.
Slit-planting, an expeditious mode of, 3953.
Slugs, 7705.
Sluice, a, 4406.
Small, James, his work on agriculture, page 1210.
A. D. 1784.
Smith, John, his work on agriculture, page J207.
A. D. 1670.
Smith, Rev. John, D. D., his work on agriculture,
page 1211. A.D. 1798.
Smith, William, his works on agriculture, page 1212.
A. D. 1806.
Smith's attempt at a reaping machine, 2736; hi»
opinion on irrigation, 4387.
Smithy, on a large farm, 2869.
Smoking tobacco, antiquity of, 6124.
Smut, the, in corn, 1693. 5064.
Smut machine, the, 2796.
Snail, the edible, 7618.
Snails, 7707.
Snow, 2376 ; of great use to the vegetable kingdom,
2377 ; heat produced from, 2324.
Societies, agricultural, 7911 ; lately formed in Bri-
tain, 800.
Society of Arts, the, 7913.
Society of Improvers in the Knowledge of Agricul-
ture, in Scotland, institution of the, 793.
Society, state of, as influencing agriculture, 1270.
Soda in animals, 1928.
Soderini, Giovanvettorio, his work on agriculture,
page 1221. A. D. 1622.
Soil among trees, culture of, 3980.
Soil, as influencing agriculture, 1263.
Soils, exhaustion of, 1534; fertility of, restored,
1535; how distinguished from masses of earth,
2114; classification of, 2117; naming the genera
of, 2118; naming the species of, 2119; table of,
2120 ; to discover the value of, 2121 ; indicated by
the plants growing on them, 2122 ; the qualities
of, discovered by chemical analysis, 2133; the
qualities of, discovered mechanically and empiri-
cally, 2137 ; the absorbent powers of, 2145 ; po-
pular distinctions of, 2157 ; chemical agency of,
2160; improvement of, 2162; pulverisation of,
2163; consolidation of, 2172 ; aeration or fallow-
ing of, 2174; alteration of the constituent parts
of, 2180 ; the capacity of, for retaining water, to
ascertain, 2144 ; incineration of, 2191; burning of,
2192 ; water with respect to, 2199.
Soils, mixed or secondary, 1743 ; aquatic, for plants,
1744 ; earthy, of plants, 1747 ; vegetable, of plants,
17.55.
Soils, the most proper, for irrigation, 4386; Smith's
opinion respecting, 4387; peaty, 2112; spurious
peaty, 21 13 ; power of vegetables to exhaust, 2219 ;
in respect to farming lands, 4743 ; retentive,
mode of draining, 4267 ; use of the, to vegetables,
2145. 2148 ; the constituent parts of, which give
tenacitj', 2149; power of, to absorb water by
capillary attraction, 2152; power of, to absorb
water from air, 2153.
Solar rays, influence of, on vegetation, 2326.
Solids, animal, 1957 ; the soft, 1961 ; the hard, 1962.
Solomon Isles, the, 1052.
Somersetshire, statistics of, 7820.
Sotncrville, Right Hon. John, Lord, his works on
agriculture, page 1211. A. D. 1799.
Somerville, Robert, his work on agriculture, page
1212. A.D. 1805.
Soot, as a manure, 2268.
Soaper's waste, as a manure, 2310.
South America, climate, surface, and soil of, 1226.
Sowing, 3148.
Sowing of pine seed in Flanders, 529.
Spade of the bushman, 1139; the Flemish, 2445;
used in irrigation, 4395 ; the trenching, 512.
4 ]\I 4
1272
GENERAL INDEX.
Spadoni, Paolo, his works on agriculture, page 1222.
A. D. 1810.
Spain, agriculture of, in the middle of the 18th cen-
tury, 714 ; during the 19th century, 115 ; climate
of, 716 ; surface of, 717 ; soil of, 718 ; landed pro-
perty of, 719 ; bad feature in the old government
of, 720; agricultural products of, 721 ; rotations
of common crops in, 733; live stock of the agri-
culturist in, 734 ; sheep of, 735 ; implements of
agriculture in, 744 ; operations of agriculture in,
745 ; forests in, 747 ; improvement of agriculture
in, 748 ; cause of the decline of agriculture in, 712.
Spaniels, '7401.
Speed, Adam, his works on agriculture, page 1207.
A. D. 1659.
Speculators of Midlothian, 7833.
Spermaceti, 1948.
Splitting the roots of trees, 31.
Sponges, as a manure, 2253.
Sponge, a good hygrometer, 2420.
Spottiswoode, the estate of, an example of successful
drainage, 4255.
Spray of trees, uses of the, 4039.
Springs, artificial, 4503.
Springs on lands, injury done by, 2201.
Spring'latch for gates, 3089.
Spring, temperature of, influence of, on plants, 1727.
Spur of rye, 5079.
Spurry, 5632 ; culture of, in the Netherlands, 482.
Spurs of animals, 1866.
Stable, the, 28ia
Stacey, Rev. Henry Peter, LL.B., F.L.S., his work
on agriculture, page 1211. A, D. 1800.
Stack-borer, the, 2488.
Stack-cover, the, 2912.
Stack-funnel, the, 2911.
Stack.guard, the, 3288.
Stack-yard, the, 2906 j Mitchell's, 2907.
Stacking, 3276.
Stacking stage, 3289.
Stacking wood for fuel, &c., 3207, 3208.
StaflPordshire, statistics of, 7796.
Stag, the, 7370.
Staircases to cottages, economical mode of forming,
2895.
Stake and rice, protecting hedges by, 3017.
Standing, in animals, 1899.
Stanley, Robert A., Esq , his work on agriculture,
page 1213. A. D. 1824.
Starch, 1400 ; plants producing, 1402 ; uses of, 1403.
Steam-engines, employment of, in draining, 4277.
Steaming house, tl)e, 2863.
Steaming machine, on a simple and economical
plan, 2805.
Steaming and washing machine, economical, 2804.
Stedman, Captain, his residence in Surinam, 1243.
Steele, Andrew, his work on agriculture, page 1213.
A. D. 1826.
Steelyard, Ruthven's farmer's, 2570.
Steeping flax, 5905.
Steindel, A. H. von, his work on agriculture, page
1220. A. D. 1800.
Steining wells, 4479.
Stem of herbaceous plants, structure of the, 1377.
Stem of plants, anomalies in the, 1597.
Stephens, George, his work on agriculture, page
1214. A. D. 1829.
Stephens's mode of forming and planting the single
hedge and ditch, 2997.
Steuart, Sir Henry, his system of removing large
trees, 3955 ; his "conclusions respecting the influ-
ence of culture on timber trees, 3973.
Stevens and Li6bault, their work on agriculture,
page 1207. A. D. 1616.
Stevenson's opinion on the direction of roads, 3547 ;
opinion on the drainage; of roads, 3607 j base of
roads, 3627.
Stevenson,W., Esq., M. A., his work on agriculture,
page 1212. A. D. 1809.
Steward, under, 7721 ; demesne, 7722,
St. Helena, 1144.
Stickleback fishery, 3881.
Stile of falling bars, 3109.
Stiles, 3108.
Stillingfleet, Benjamin, his works on agriculture,
page 1208. A. D. 1759.
Stimulants, artificial, to the vital principle of
plants, 1666.
Stipulae of plants, 1316.
Stirlingshire, statistics of, 7814.
Stock farmers, 7735.
Stocking a farm, 4826.
Stocking pastures, 5825.
Stone, Thomas, his works on agriculture, page 1210.
A. D. 1785.
Stone tracks in roads, advantages of, 3540.
Stones, breaking, 3121.
Stone-breaking machine impelled by steam, 2556.
Stones, Eclgeworth's mode of breaking, for roads,
3656.
Stone-hewing machine, 2809.
Stones on lands, to get rid of, 4518.
Stones, large, Low's machine for raising, 2810.
Stones, machine for breaking, for roads, 3659.
Stones, proper size of, for roads, 36G2.
Stop-drag for carriages going down hill, Rapson's,
2759.
Storax, 1485.
Store farmers, 7736.
Streams, artificial, 4464.
Strobile of plants, scales of the, 1356.
Stubble, as a thatch for ricks, 3187.
Stubble or dew rake, 2453.
Stubble-rake, the, 272.5.
Stumming cider-casks, 4132.
Stumjtf, G., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1794.
Straw of barley, use of, 5118.
Straw of corn, uses of the, 4990.
Straw of rye, manufacture of, into plaits, 5077.
Straw of wheat, uses of, 5051.
Straw, dry, as a manure, 2238.
Straw-house, the, 2864.
Straw-rope making, 3184.
Straw-rope twister, 2469.
Straw-yard, the, 2913.
Strickland, G., Esq., his work on agriculture, page
1214. A. D. 1829.
Structures, agricultural, of the Mexicans, 1185.
Sty rax, 1486.
Subsoil, relatively to the choice of a farm, 4760.
Succession, natural, of trees, 3918.
Suckow, G. Adg., his work on agriculture, page
1219. A. D. 1775.
Suction, mode of adhesion by, in some animals, 1896.
Suffocation of plants, 1707.
Suffolk punch, the, 6242.
Suffolk, statistics of, 7787.
Sugar, 1398 ; utility of, 1399; culture of, among the
Moors, 711 ; in animals, 1946 ; from the beet
root, manufacture of, in the Netherlands, 476.
Sugar-cane, culture of, in Jamaica, 1212 ; in Ma-
laga, 729 ; management of, in Egypt, 1082 ; the,
in Hindustan, 895.
Sugar plantation, buildings required for a, 1204;
live stock of a, 1209.
Sulphate of iron, as a manure, 2300.
Sulphate of potassa, as a manure, 2307.
Sulphur in animals, 1923.
Sumatra, description of, 1021 ; live stock of, 1027.
Summer-fallowing in Scotland, when first practised,
794.
Summer, temperature of : influence of, on plants,
1728.
Sunflower, the, as an oil plant, 6100.
Sutherland, statistics of, 7856.
Surface, character of, in regard to fanning lands,
4769.
Surface, general, of land estates, to portray, 3351.
Surfaces, grassy, formation of, 5714.
Surface-gutters made by cart wheels, 4301.
Surfaces, primitive, affecting plants, 1741.
Surgeon, veterinary, 7755.
Surinam, climate, surface, and soil of, 1242 ; pro-
ducts of, 1243.
Surrey, statistics of, 7778.
Sussex, statistics of, 7779.
Swan, the mute or tame, 7518 ; other species, 7519 ;
rearing, 7520; feathers and down, 7521.
Swayne, G., A. M., his work on agriculture, page
1210. A. D. 1790.
Sweat of animals, 1877.
Sweden, state of agriculture in, 686 ; climate of,
687 ; surface of, 688 ; soil of the valleys of, 690 ;
landed property of, 691; cottages of, 692; the
fence in general use, 691 ; agricultural products
of, 695; live stock of the farmer in, 702; imple-
ments and operations of agriculture in, 703 ; fo-
rests of, 705 ; the chase in, 706 ; improvement of
the agriculture of, 708.
Sweeping, 3134.
Sweeping roads, 3750.
Sweepings of houses, as a manure, 2267
Swimming, the action of, 1908.
Swinbourne, R., his work on agriculture, page 1213.
A. D. 1819.
GENERAL INDEX.
J '273
Swins, abhorrence of, in the western counties of
Scotland, 784'2.
Swine, 7274. ; common hog, 7274 ; wild boar, 7276.
Swine, varieties of the common hog — the European,
7283; the Chinese, 7284; the Berkshire breed,
7286 ; the Hampshire breed, 7287 ; the Shropshire
breed, 7288 ; the Gloucestershire breed, 7289 ; the
Herefordshire breed, 7290; the Rudgwick breed,
7291 ; the large spotted Woburn, 7292; the Wilt-
shire breed, 7293 ; the Yorkshire breed, 7294 ;
the Northamptonshire breed, 7295 ; the Leicester-
shire breed, 7296 ; the Lincolnshire breed, 7297;
the Norfolk breed, 7298 ; the Suffolk breed, 7299 ;
the swing-tailed breed, 7302 ; the Highland breed,
7304; the old Irish breed, 7305.
Swine, breeding and rearing of, 7306.
Swine, fattening of, 7315 ; curing or pickling of
pork ; 7322 ; curing of bacon, 7324.
Swine, diseases of, 7329.
Swine of Perthshire, 7849; of Hindustan, 915; of
Hungary, 635; wild, of Paraguay, 1231.
Switzerland, agriculture in, 326; landed property
in, 329 ; valleys of the Alps of, 330 ; eboulemens
of, 331; Mont Grenier, in, 333; avalanches
of, 334 ; glaciers of, 335 ; cottages of, 33Q ;
villages of, 337 ; the vine in, 338 ; fruit trees
of, 339; woods ind forests of, 340; timber,
341 ; the chamois goats of, 342 ; pastures and
mowing grounds of, 343 ; cows, goats, and sheep
of, 344 ; cheeses of, 346 ; Schabzieger cheese of,
347 ; Gruyfere cheese of, 348 ; ewe-milk, cheese
of, 349 ; agricultural establishment at Hofwyl in,
350.
System, the circulating, in animals, 1970.
Table of cider apples of established reputation,
4089.
Tacambac, 1459.
Tail drain, 4414.
Tallow, 1951 ; of Croton, 1451.
Tallow-tree of China, 976.
Tameness, a proper, desirable in live stock, 2028.
Tkmus elephantipes, 1137.
Tannin, description of, 1419 ; utility of, 1420.
Tar, 1455.
Tarello, Camillo, his works on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1772.
Tares, 5257 ; varieties of, 5258 ; soil for, 5262 ; sow-
ing, 5264 ; after-culture bf, 5270 ; reaping for soil-
ing, 5271 ; produce of, 5274 ; application of, 5276 ;
diseases of, 5279.
Targioni, Luigi, his works on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1802.
Tartary, Independent, extent of, 878 ; climate of,
879 ; surface of, 880 ; soil of, 881 ; produce of, 882.
Tartary, Chinese, agriculture of, 1013.
Tatham, William, his works on agriculture, page
1211. A. D. 1798.
Taxes, and other burdens, 4802.
Taxonomy, 1301.
Tea districts of China, 968.
Tea plant, culture of the, in China, 969 ; gathering
of the leaves of the, 970 ; curing of the leaves of
the, 971 ; the different sorts of, 972 ; the more se-
lect sorts of, 973 ; substitutes for the, 974 ; the
oil-bearing, 975.
Teasel, the, 5935 ; varieties of, 5936 ; soils for, 5937 ;
sowing, 5938; after-culture of, 5940; taking the
crop of, 5242 ; produce of, 5945 ; use of, 5946 ; to
save seed of, 5947 ; injuries to which it is liable,
5948.
Telford's directions for repairing roads, 3774 ; opi-
nion on wheels proper for roads, 3731 ; opinion of
the width of roads, 3596 ; side-drains for roads,
3608 ; road fences, S6i9 ; base of roads, 3627.
Temperature as affecting the distribution of plants,
1725 ; variations in the, 2350 ; as influencing agri-
culture, 1259 ; of a country, rules for determining,
1730; effects of, on the distribution of animals,
2004; in the three zones, the most remarkable
circumstances respecting, 1731.
Tenancy, different species of, 4672.
Tenants, management of, 4665; proper treatment
of 46^.
Tench, 7575 ; stocking with, 7576.
Tendrils of plants, 1315.
Tenure on which lands are held for farming, 4786.
Terms, technical, of science, use of, 1293,
Terra del Fucgo, 1246.
Terra Firma, climate, surface, soil, and produc-
tions of, 1227.
Terrace, cultivation of the Chinese, 1009.
Terrier, 7398.
Tessier, Henri Alexandre, his works on agriculture,
page 1217. A. D. 1791.
Testa of plants, 1341.
TestudinJlria elephantipes, 1137.
Tethering cattle on clover crops, 5560.
Teviotdale. See Roxburghshire, 7836.
Textures, the fibrous, of animals, 1958 ; the cellular,
of animals, 1959; the pulpy, of animals, 1960
Thaer, Alb., his works on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1798.
Thatch, application of, to stacks, 3186.
Thatching, 3185.
Thatching hay and corn stacks in England, 3188 j
the roofs of buildings, 3189 ; with reed, 3190.
Thatching-knife, the, 2487.
Theress, Thdr., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1808.
Thermometer, use of the, 2431.
Thermometers, scales of the different, 2432.
Thessaly, agricultural circumstances of, 757.
Thessaly, the plain of, 757.
Thibet, climate of, 1014; surface of, 1015; agricul-
ture of, 1017 ; animals of, 1018 ; architecture of,
1019.
Thierat, his work on agriculture, page 1215. A. D.
1763.
Thiery, P. J., his work on agriculture, page 12^8.
A. D. 1822.
Thinning out plantations, 4009 ; the proper season
for, 4020.
Thinning plants, 3141.
Thinnings of trees, use of, 4040.
Thirst, the cause of, 1965.
Thistle-drawers, 2467.
Thistle extirpator. Baker's, 2466.
Thistle-hoe, the, 2676.
Thouin, M. Andre, his work on agriculture, page
1218. A. D. 1812.
Thomson, Rev. John, D.D., his work on agricul-
ture, page 1211. A. D. 1800.
Thread plants, 5993.
Threshing bv the flail, 3198.
Threshing floor, 2849; in Gloucestershire, 2850;
boarded, 2851 ; earthen, 2852 ; of brick, 2853 ; of
wood, 2854.
Threshing machine, first notice of one, 795 ; the first,
2775 ; second attempt at a, 2776 ; third attempt
at a, 2777; Meikle's two-horse, 2789; Meikle's
water, &c., 2788. 2791 ; Weir's portable two-horse
power, 2793; Lester's portable, 2794; Forrest's
portable, 2795; the hand, 2546; a locomotive
steam, 2548 ; of a peculiar construction, erected
by Stirling at Howmuir, 7850; portable, 2792.
Threshing and preparatory machines, 2773; im-
provements on, 2779 ; advantages of, 2782.
Threshing-mill barn, the, 2855.
Threshing wheat, 5044.
Thunder, cause of, 2390 ; season of, 2393.
Thunder clouds, 2395.
Thunderbolts, 2394.
Thyme, culture of, 6180.
Tibhs, Thomas, his work on agriculture, page 1212.
A. D. 1808. . ,^
Tiehe, William, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1211. A. U. 1802.
Tillage, Chinese, object of, S97.
Tillet, du, his work on agriculture, page 1215. A. U.
1155.
Timber, price of, 4077.
Timber surveyor and valuer, 7751,
Timber trees, the most useful, of temperate and
warm climates, 1793. _ . ^„-_
Timber trees, the usual modes of disposing, 4078.
Timber, valuation of, 4069.
Time-book, the, 3382.
Tipperary, statistics of, 7878.
Tithes, 4798 ; in Ireland, 848.
Tobacco, species of, cultivated, 6123 ; annual speciea
of 6130; species and varieties of, 6131 ; soil for,
6132 ; climate for, 6133 ; culture of, 6134 ; summer
management of, 6141; curing process of, 6 42;
suggestions respecting, 6144; produce of, 6146;
saving the seed of, 6147 ; value of, as an agricul-
tural crop, 6148; diseases and enemies of, 6152;
manufacture of, 61.54 ; of the Cape of Good Hope,
1124 ; in Hindustan, 899.
Tokay, preparation of, 627.
Tollard, Claude, his work on agriculture, page 1218.
A. D. 1805.
Toll-gates, improved, 3276.
Toll-house at Edgeware, 3726.
1274
GENERAL INDEX.
Tomato, in Sicily, 319.
Tonquin, description of, 955.
Tool-liouse, the, 2866.
Tools for boring. Good's, 2507.
Tools, essential, of agriculture, 2475.
Tops of trees, stunted, cause of, 403 ; withered or
decayed, cause of, 4034.
Torpidity of animals, 2008.
Tortoise, the common, 7592; the mud, 7593; the
land, of Hungary, 637.
Towers for watching in used by the Mexicans, 486.
Town, forming the plan of a, 3849.
Toxxetti, his works on agriculture, page 1222. A. D.
1809.
Tradesman's yard, 2915.
Tranquillity necessary for domestic animals, 2079.
Transfer of landed property, 3455.
Transplanting, 3144.
Trantman, C. P., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1809.
Treatise concerning the manner of fallowing
ground, &c. Anon, page 1207. A. D. 1724.
Treatise on Milk. Anon, page 1213. A. D. 1825.
Treatise on Husbandry, the first English, 219.
Trees, the beauty of, 3i)06 ; the best mode of cut-
ting, 4046 ; culture of the soil among, 3980 ; large,
the transplantation of, 3954 ; mixture of, in plant-
ations, 3958 ; natural succession of, 3918 ; the
ordinary products of, 4038 ; placed round ponds,
effect of, 4476 ; suitable for different soils, 3919 ;
for different climates, 3920 ; treatment of wounds
and casualties in, 4028.
Trefoil, the bird's foot, 5637.
Trench, 4412.
Trench drain, 4413,
Trenching, 3126.
Trentham estates, the, 7796.
Trimmer^ Joshua Kirby, his work on agriculture,
page, 1214. A. D. 1829.
Troon, harbour of, 7841.
Trout, the, 7583.
Tripoli, description of, 1093.
Trother, his work on agriculture, page 1216. A. D.
1773.
Truck, the, 2543.
Trunk, a, 4407.
Trunk of a plant, 1308.
Trussing straw or hay, 3196.
Tube, flexible, for cattle, 2531.
Tubers, edible, of China, 984.
Tubes of plants, 1380 ; large, 1381 ; simple, 1382 ;
porous, 1383; spiral, 1384; false spiral, 1385;
mixed, 1386 ; small, 1387.
Tullt Jethro, agricultural improvement introduced
by, 777 ; his works on agriculture, page 1208.
A. D. 1731.
Tull\ system of husbandry, 778 — 785.
Tunis, agriculture of, 1094.
Tunnels across a road, 3614.
Tupputi, D , his work on agriculture, page 1222.
A. D. 1807.
TurbUly, Louis Francois Henri de Menon, his
works on agriculture, page 1215. A. D. 1760.
Turbot fishery, 3878.
Turf-draining, the Cheshire mode of, 4298.
Turf-knife, the, used in irrigation, 4397.
Turf-spade, the, 2447 ; used in irrigation, 4394.
Turkey, the, 7486 ; in a state of nature, 7487 ; va-
rieties of, 7488; breeding, 7489; fattening, 7491;
feathers, 7492.
Turkey, Asiatic, 860 ; plants and animals of, 862.
Turkey, European, climate and seasons of, 751 ; the
poorest agriculture in, 761.
Turkish empire, the, 750.
Turn of water, a, 4422.
Turner, Nicholas, his work on agriculture, page
1210. A. D. 1784.
Turnip, the Swedish, 5409.
Turnip chopper, 2572.
Turnip drill, the improved Northumberland, 2687 ;
French's, 2688; the Northumberland one-row,
2689 ; Weir's manuring one-row, 2690.
Turnip farm of 500 acres, anomalous design for a,
4175.
Turnip-hoeing, 3265.
Turnip net, the, 7699.
Turnip roller, the hand, 2579.
Turnips, 5373 ; drilling, 5376 ; in Northumberland,
7809; varieties of, 5377; introduction of, 236;
soil for, 5385 ; climate for, 5386 ; field culture of,
5387 ; sowing, 5394 ; hoeing, 5403 ; insects inju-
rious to, 7667 ; consumption of, 5410 ; application
of, 5419 J storing, 5420 ; produce of, 5423 ; raising
the seed of, 5425; diseases and injuries of,
5431.
Turnips, growing wild, in Loughnadurb, 7853 ; hoe.
Ing of, in Northumberland, 7809; in Surrey.
7778.
Turnip slicer, 2571.
Turnip tray, the, 2529.
Tuscany, Sismondi's picture of the agriculture of,
276 ; climate of, 277 ; soil of, 278 ; irrigation, 279;
plains of, enclosed, 280 ; arable lands of the plains
of, 281 ; rotation of crops in the plain of, 282 ;
cattle in the plains of, 283; farm-houses of the
plain of, 284 ; farmers of the plains of, 285 ; cul-
ture of the hills and declivities of, 286 ; soil of the
hills of, 287 ; culture of the olive in, 289 ; culture
of the vine on the hills of, 290 ; the potato in,
291 ; the hill farmers of, 292 ; culture of the
mountains of, 293 ; management of sheep in the
mountains of, 294 ; forests on the mountains of,
295; the mountain farmers of, 296.
Tusser, Thomas, his works on agriculture, page
J 206. A. D. 1557.
Twani/ey, J., his work on agriculture, page 1210.
A. D. 1784.
Tweeddale. See Peeblesshire, 7838.
Twisting crook, 2469.
Tyrone, statistics of, 7890.
U.
Underletting of lands in Ireland, a great evil, 847.
Under steward, 4639.
United States, climate of the, 1156 ; seasons of the,
1157; surface of the, 1158; soil of tl)^, 1159;
landed property of the, 1160; mode of dividing
and selling lands in the, 1161 ; price of land in the,
1162; agriculture of the, 1163; political circum-
stances of the, 1167; agricultural products of the,
1168; live stock of the, 1169; civil circumstances
of the, unfavourable to emigration, 1172 ; want of
servants in the, 1173; as a country for a British
emigrant, 1174.
Urea, in animals, 1945.
UrinJlrium, the, 2905.
Urine, as a manure, 2254.
Utensils, the essential agricultural, 2536.
Utensils, the principal agricultural, 2522.
Utricles of plants, 1379.
V.
Valerian, the common, culture of, 6183.
ValUe, Alexandre, his work on agriculture, page
1221. A. D. 1803.
Valuation of landed property, 3408.
Valuation of timber, 4069.
Valuation of work done, to estimate, 3324; of labour
and materials, 3325 ; of materials alone, 3326 ; of
live stock, 3327; of buildings, 3328; orchards,
hop grounds, &c., 3329; of young plantations,
3330 ; of saleable trees, 3331 ; of fields for rent,
3332 ; of a farm for rent, ^oo ; of leases, 3335 ; of
freehold landed property, 3340 ; of estates, 3342;
of mines and minerals, 3346.
Vancouver, Charles, his works on agriculture, page
1212. A. D. 1807.
Van Dieman's Land, general description of, 1044 ;
surface of, 1045; soil of, 1046; animals and ve-
getables of, 1047 ; the agricultural faculties of,
1048 ; great advantages of, 1049 ; the system of
farming in, 1050; as a country for emigrants,
1036. 1051.
Vapour, 2355.
Varcnne, de Fenille, P. C, his works on agriculture,
page 1216. A. D. 1789.
Varieties of vegetables, to form new, 1832.
Varlo, C, Esq., his work on agriculture, page 1209.
A. D. 1772.
Vaughan, Rowland, his work on agriculture, page
1207. A. D. 1610.
Vegetable culture, the whole art of, 1835.
Vegetables, as distinguished from animals, 1291;
the colouring matter in, 1414; physical distribution
of, 1724 ; increase in the magnitude of, how to be
obtained, 1830 ; to increase the number and mag-
nitude of particular parts of, 1831 ; to form new
varieties of, 1832 ; to propagate and preserve from
degeneracy, 1833 ; preservation of, for future use,
1834.
Vegetable kingdom, divisions of the, 1298.
Vegetable soils, 1755.
GENERAL INDEX.
1275
Vegetation, influence of the aspect of, on man, 1775;
territorial limits to, 1723.
Vermin injurious to trees, to destroy, 4037.
Vermuyden, Sir C, his work on agriculture, page
1207. A. D. 1642.
Village, establishment of a, 3848 ; forming the plan
of a, 3849.
Villeneuve, Baron Picot de la, his work on agricul-
ture, page 1218. A. D. 1819.
Vine, culture of, in the 16th century, 230 ; exud-
ation of sap in the, 1700; field culture of, when
first introduced to Britain, 209 ; at the Cape of
Good Hope, 1120; culture of, in Hungary, 627;
in Madeira, 1149; in Spain, 728.
Vinet, Elie, his work on agriculture, page 1214.
A. D. 1697.
Vineyards of the Jews, 21.
Virtues of plants, changed by cultivation, 1620.
Vitality of vegetables, 1656.
Vitellus of plants, 1345.
Vitriol, as a manure, 2300.
Voght, Earon von, his work on agriculture, page
1220. A. D. 1824.
W.
Waggons, 2763 ; of the Cape of Good Hope, 1132 ;
of Germany, 537 ; the Gloucestershire, 2767 ; the
Berkshire, 2768; the Norfolk cart and, 2769;
Rood's patent, 2770 ; Gordon's one-horse, 2771.
Wagner, J. Ph., his work on agriculture, page 1220.
A. D. 1828.
"Wain, the, of Cornwall, 7825.
Waistell, Charles, Esq., his work on agriculture,
page 1213. A. D. 1826.
Wnistell's arrangement of farm buildings, 2921 ;
materials and construction of, 2943.
WaistclVs cottages for labourers, 2881.
Walker, W., his work on agriculture, page 1213.
A. D. 1813.
Walker's opinion of the width of roads, 3596 ; side
drains for roads, 3608 ; road fences 3618.
Walking, the action of, in animals, 1900.
Wall, the earthen, embankment, 4339.
Wallachia, agriculture of, 759.
Wallflower, the, 5&^.
Walls, 3056 ; of dry stone, 3057 ; of round or land-
stones, 3058 ; of quarried stones, 3059 ; the Gallo-
way, 3060; of stone and lime, 3061 ; of stone and
clay, 3063 ; of dry stone, lipped with lime, 3064 ;
of dry stone, lipped and harled, 3065; of dry
stone, pinned and harled, 3066 ; of drystone, 3067 ;
of brick, 3068 ; frame, 3069 ; of turf, 3070 ; of
stone and turf, 3071; of mud, 3072; of rammed
earth, 3073 ; of stamped earth, 3074 ; of brick-
built cottages, economical mode of constructing,
2893 ; heat produced by, 2323.
Walnut trees, where serviceable, 4102.
Warping lands, 2207. 4450 ; theory of, 4451 ; effect
of, 4453 ; method of executing, 4454 ; season for,
4456; expense of, 4457.
Warwickshire, statistics of, 7797.
Washing machine, economical, 2804.
Washington, Gen. George, his works on agriculture,
page 1211. A. D. 1800.
Waste lands, improvement of, 4512.
Wastes, woody, improvement of, 4528.
Water, artificial means of procuring, 4463 ; as the
food of plants, 1522 ; cisterns for, the best, 4511 ;
for common purposes, to obtain, 4504 ; composition
of, 2330 ; necessary to vegetation, 2331 ; exists in
the atmosphere, 2334 ; the decomposition of, by
plants, 1560; effect of, on roads, 3579 ; influence
of the qualities of, on plants, 1739 ; mode of cool-
ing during harvest, & 
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